Previously: Chapter 10: To Kill a Venomfang
An Evening of Festivities
After dancing with Penny, Willowbark quietly makes her way outside, and wanders the quiet streets of Maplemere for a while, listening to the wind blowing over her and the sound of the cheering of the people that emanates from the tavern. Looking to the north, she remembers the farm with the cows she is so fond of, and starts making her way towards the enclosure.
Granny, noticing that Willowbark has disappeared, and seeing that the rest of her party members are enjoying herself also makes her way out of the inn, and heads towards the forest to the east. She sits down, and takes out her bagpipes, playing a song on it. A few nearby woodland critters hear the music and run away.
Back at the inn, Penny is getting more and more intoxicated, and wanting to save some gold, decides to hijack a tankard that someone just put down, managing to swipe it and getting herself half of a free beer. Demetrius, sitting in a corner next to some folks, tries to observe the crowd to see if anything sticks out, but apparently it is just a jolly bunch of townsfolk enjoying some time off. He decides to not worry too much about it, and enjoys himself.He suddenly notices that Penny, in her drunken state, is trying to climb onto the roof of the tavern, but not wanting to face the wrath of a drunk tiefling, he doesn’t stop her. She eventually gets up. Lying on the roof, Penny tries to talk with Morgan, asking where he is, before falling asleep. In the distance, she can hear someone playing bagpipes.
Willowbark finds the cows, and takes a seat with them, giving them pets and scratches, as well as asking them how they are, making sure they are treated nicely. After a while, she decides to go check on the horses, and heads to the stables on the outskirts. Finding them in the middle of eating, she greets them, and makes sure that they are happy, to which they respond that they are, but they are eager to get moving, liking the life on the road better than the stables. The halfling owner of the stables, Tawna, is putting some equipment back, so Willowbark greets her, asking about how things are going. She’s doing just fine, as her business is always needed in a town where travelers are abundant. Willowbark mentions their travels when she asks about it, but when she mentions that they fought a dragon, Tawna gets noticeably uncomfortable and says she has bad memories about dragons, and excuses herself, wishing Willowbark a good night. Willowbark thinks nothing of it for now, and heads back to the cow enclosure to sleep among them.
The rest of the party eventually finds their way to a bed, a comfortable patch of grass, or a roof. During the night, Willowbark dreams about the forest, wandering through it, exploring and feeling content at first, but suddenly gets a sensation of being watched by something. In front of her, she is suddenly faced with a massive floating green eye, staring straight at her.
A Hint of Civilization
The next morning, having gotten their sleep, they all awake where they fell asleep, with Willowbark looking up at an angry farmer staring down at her. “I told you not to come back here” he says. She quickly gets up and leaves, apologizing profusely while saying goodbye to the cows. Granny wakes up in the grass field outside of the forest, with several animals surrounding her, but as soon as she wakes up and emerges from her shell, they all scatter. She picks up her bagpipes and heads back to the inn for some breakfast. As Willowbark returns to the inn she can see Penny on top of a roof, trying to get down, which she eventually does, but she takes the fast route, falling off and hitting the ground hard. She helps her up, and goes inside the tavern where the rest of the party is already waiting for them.
During breakfast, Willowbark says that she wants to go to the forest, as she feels she needs to enter it in order to find answers. Theren would very much like to just relax in town for a bit, as he noticed that there was a bath in the inn. Willowbark tells them about her dreams, about wandering through the woods and facing the eye, trying to convince them to join her. The party is concerned, but willing to listen, so she tells them more about her exile from the tribe, and from the way that she describes the situation it almost sounds like the tribe exiled her not just for their own safety, but for hers as well. She has had dreams like the ones she has now, but not as intense, and she tries to explain that the tribe was scared that the dreams were connected to the sickness. Theren asks her to hold out her hand, and takes out his book and the pearl, doing a magic ritual, but he determines that she is not under the effect of anything at the moment, at least nothing that he can detect. As he does the ritual, an elderly lady walks past the window, and she and Theren share a look. When asked about it, he tells them that he grew up with her grandson, waving it off.
The whole group decides to pay for a proper bath, having been on the road for quite a long time. They pay for a bodacious woman who takes each one to the back where a tub with hot water and soap is waiting, and offers to clean the members of the party, for an extra charge. Some take her up on the offer, but others want privacy. Demetrius is unsure if the woman, who introduces herself as Shaena, is a proper “lady of the night” or just an assistant, but don’t dare ask. He is visibly disappointed that it is not a proper luxurious bath house like the ones back in Cantalos. Willowbark is not used to the experience, and tries to eat the soap, but finding it disgusting, she spits it out, and figures it’s probably for cleaning.
More Than Meets the Eye
Theren finishes his bath first, and as the rest of the party await their turn, he leaves the inn to look for the woman who passed by. Going north, he spots her heading into a back alley, almost as if she was waiting for him. When he follows her, she is nowhere to be seen, but he can suddenly feel a presence behind him. Turning around, she stands there, aiming a crossbow at him, and fires.
Theren ducks out of the way, just in time, shooting back with his eldritch blasts, but the lady easily dodges most of them, but is hit by one, prompting her to teleport to the top of the roof. As she vanishes, Theren follows her by teleporting to the top himself, but she foresaw this, and so comes straight at him with a dagger, and everything suddenly goes dark.
When he comes to, the woman is sitting on a nearby chimney, waiting for him to regain himself. Next to him he can see an empty bottle, suggesting that she used a potion on him to bring him back. She remarks that he is slower than she has been told, with Theren quipping back that he didn’t want to harm an old woman. She laughs at this. Theren realizes the woman is a member of his organization, and asks why she is following him. She replies that Delphine sent her, and she’s wondering why he is with the party, as this isn’t what he is here for. He explains that he has a lead that will help the mission, and the woman simply responds that she hopes he’s right. Walking to the edge of the roof, she turns around, and tells him that next time she won’t hold back, so he has to practice, before teleporting down into the alley and disappearing around a corner.
When Theren returns to the group, they immediately see that he has been in a fight, but he assures them that he is fine. Willowbark heals him up, and demands to know what happened. He tells them that he simply had a friendly bout with an associate, and that he is okay. The party realizes that they aren’t going to get any decent answers out of him, so they don’t push the matter further. Kal remarks that the coffee pot that Penny purchased is a really good buy that benefits the party, so it’s only fair that they split the cost, which Penny appreciates. They chip in, giving Penny the gold. Willowbark asks if they have thought any more about heading into the forest, and the party agrees to at least take a look to see what they can find.
Silence of the Woods
The party gathers their stuff, and decides to leave the horses in the stables, in case it is dangerous. Willowbark is the first one who enters the woods, and although she can feel the eerie sensation of the corruption, she gets a calm feeling of being back “home” where she belongs. She decides to sit down and do a ritual, to see if she can be guided on the correct path. After completing the ritual, asking for guidance from her god, the forest grows completely silent, almost eerily so, and the whole party can feel a cold breeze blowing out of the forest, almost as if the forest is telling them to go back. They decide to press on instead, hoping to find anything.
After walking around for a few hours, they still have found nothing. The forest is once again quiet, and the wildlife have disappeared for some reason, but they see nothing of worth other than trees that stretch high above them. Willowbark seems flustered. The party asks how long it took for her to exit the forest after she was exiled, to which she responds that it took about two weeks. Kal puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose, bracing herself for the question she has to ask, and then says bluntly “Are we going to get paid for this?”. The group looks at her, surprised, but she clarifies that they already have a mission, and Gundren is waiting for them, so if they are going to spend the next few weeks looking for her tribe, they at least should get paid for their troubles. Willowbark responds that she has no money to give, and looks defeated. Kal asks if she can ask an animal where they are supposed to go.
Granny, Penny and Willowbark look around for any animal, but it seems to be rather deserted, as if something has chased them away, or they’re avoiding the area, but Willowbark eventually spots a raven that is sitting on a branch high above them. Willowbark approaches it, and asks if it knows the way to a firbolg tribe. The raven looks down at her, and replies with a simple “no”. She asks if it has seen any people or any sign of the sickness, but it hasn’t seen either. She thanks it for the help at least, and asks that it says hi to the others of her kind if it would come across it. The raven then asks for her name, to which she replies “Thana”. The raven then flies away. Penny asks her why she gave a fake name to the raven if she wanted it to say hi to her people, but Willowbark replies that she didn’t give a false name, before continuing walking.
A Hurried Retreat
The party realizes that they have no leads and no way of easily finding the tribe, so they decide to head back to town. It’s a couple of hours of walking, and on the way back dusk approaches. The party gets the distinct feeling that they are being watched, and can hear slight whispers in the area. Not wanting to be stuck in the forest after dark, they hurry. When they are almost at the edge, Granny, Kal and Willowbark all spot a halfling girl running through the forest, with Granny freezing up when seeing her. The party grabs her and leads her outside, as she almost seems to want to follow the girl.
When they reach the edge and cross it, the feeling of being watched disappears, and the party takes a breather in the grass next to the river. Not wanting to go back into the woods, they head back to the inn, but Granny stays behind. Kal tries to tell her to join them, but the others stop her, realizing that she needs a moment to herself. Alone, Granny approaches the edge of the forest, and enters it. She tries to talk to her god, and tells her that she is not sure if she should continue to follow her, as she now has a new passion: Her friends. Not getting a response, and no longer seeing the halfling girl, she returns to the grassy fields, just staring at the forest, before eventually falling asleep. Willowbark approaches, and also sleeps near the forest, a little bit away from Granny.
Stormy Dreams
During the night, Kal dreams of being in a vast endless ocean. She is without her armor, only wearing her undergarments. The sky is dark, and clouds surround her. Knowing what is coming, she corrects herself, and rises up, standing on the surface. In front of her, a large imposing being looms over her. Her god.
“Why do you keep resisting?”
Kal replies that she wants to go home. He tells her that it is not the time to go home, and so she demands to know why. The god gives her a cryptic response that she is not ready to learn the path yet, and she has a task to do now. She keeps arguing with him, demanding to know why he’s doing this to her, but he responds by shooting her with a lightning bolt, waking her up. It’s morning, and a storm is looming in the distance. She flicks off the storm, before putting on her armor, ready to head out.