The Freelands IC

[Eladrinblade]

Season: Early Sunfire
Time: Dawn
Weather: Clear
Temperature: Warm

------

Greta awakens in her bed in her treehouse, the dawnbirds having started their morning songs. After getting dressed and ready, while eating a light breakfast, she hears Gruff return from a hunt and begin eating his own. With no pressing matters or local duties to attend to, she is free to do as she pleases.

Greta (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=366329)
Sugoth (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=331711)

[Möhre]

Greta quickly joins Gruff outside and they finish their meal together. Shortly, they settle in the warm grass to enjoy the sun, Greta's head resting against the wolf's (now plump) stomach. Neither can fully relax.
Again and again, she finds herself staring at the fresh mound close-by, unable to process its meaning. Before she really knows what she is doing, she jolts up and runs for the tree house, leaving a confused Gruff behind. As she comes back into view, she is carrying their entire gear, ready for the road. Unlike usual, Gruff's immediate excitement does not get a smile from her and he promptly drops it, pushing against her side emphatically, if uncomprehending.
With slow and heavy steps Greta reaches her father's grave, helplessly sinking to her knees. Like the day before, her companion places his muzzle on her lap to feel her body shake with silent sobs. Once more, his howls break their silence, startling the birds and cutting off their jolly song. The young woman grabs the wolf's neck in thanks, burying her fingers in his soft fur as the realization hits her. And finally, she joins him in his cries.
The sun is at its zenith when her tears run dry at last and Greta speaks for the first time in two days:
"Come on boy. Let's see if Sugoth wants to come with us."
With a last look at Rhine's remains, she turns and starts for the trail, Gruff at her heels.

[Eladrinblade]

Assuming you go straight to find sugoth; be more specific in what you say you do

Time: Noon

After gearing up, you head slightly downhill along the path from your home to Shuttercreek, a ways inward from the forest's edge. The sky is a bright clear blue, with not a bit of haze in the sky. The light and shadows are stark along the path, making it (relatively) hard for your eyes to focus on anything, but snow-clad Duskpeak is bright and clear, almost shining, straight ahead off in the far distance through holes in the canopy, here and there. Likewise, in the near distance to your left, past the wood's edge in the fields, you frequently spot little clusters of white blobs; sheep. The woods are calm and quiet; there is no breeze, but occasionally a squirrel or bird catches your eye in the distance. The trail itself is still slightly squishy from the last of the frequent early Sunfire thunderstorms. It's always too warm in your armor and cloak when moving around during the day in the warm half of the year, but the sweat is just something you get used to dealing with, and it's always better when under the trees, especially here in the Shadewood where the canopy is thick.

The half-mile walk goes by quickly, and before you know it, you are in the tiny hamlet of Shuttercreek, cool in the shade of the forest, with it's gently burbling creek running through it's center. The A-framed houses with thick thatched roofs form a double line, straddling the creek on either side. Two small wood-plank bridges with mossy handrails span the creek, making it easy for the feeble or heavily-burdened to cross, especially when it's slick outside, though the fit and the young of the area seem to move in straight lines to their destinations, bridge or no. Several people are out of their houses, and everyone that sees you is quick to smile and wave or greet you if within earshot. The resident animals, however, always seem to hide whenever Gruff is around.

Taking the heavily-traveled path from Shuttercreek south (also slightly downhill) along the creek itself to the edge of the forest, you quickly emerge into the long, miles-wide strip of mostly un-wooded fields that run from several miles upstream all the way to Daeryn's Ford and beyond, to the east. With the gently rising woods several miles distant to your south, the area takes on the appearance of a broad and shallow valley, with farms and ranchland to the west, and wild, sparsely-fenced fields to east, dotted here and there with sheep pastures and lonely cabins. Ahead of you, another half-mile into the fields, lies the homestead/fort of Lendaxaer Ranch, with it's raised-mound ramparts topped with a spiky palisade, surrounded by a wide flat area of cleared land and fences. Just beyond it, to the north and west, lies the orchards, now thick and full. Several people, some mounted on horses, some with carts or wagons, can be seen going to and fro.

Sugoth works as a ranch hand, but she also is often put to task at the fort, doing the things they need strong folk for, like porting and chopping wood. Gazing to the west along the treeline a different half-mile away, to where her cabin lies (never visible from this spot), you wonder if she is working at all; sometimes she goes out to hunt or just roams around. Yet other times she does so at night, if she isn't at work being a night watchman, given her ability to see in the dark, and so might be snoring away. You never know with her.

[Eladrinblade]

Deciding to check her cabin first, you set off to the west through the fields of tall grass along the forest verge, Dusk Peak looming bright and tall in the distance, overshadowing leagues of descending forested hills. A hawk circles out into your view from over the forest, lazily riding the warm air. At one point, something rustles in the field off to your left, and Gruff points, freezes in alert anticipation, ears tall, then charges without so much as a growl. He bounds around in the tall grass for a few moments, heard but unseen, then comes trotting back to your side, curiosity sated.
A few minutes later, you come across the single-file path through the fields to Sugoth's cabin from the Ranch, and veer off to your right into the trees. The cabin lies a stone's throw into the forest, in among the tall, though thin, young trees.

Sugoth's cabin is a rustic affair, simple and spartan, with no attempt at groundskeeping or decoration (aside from an 8-pointed rack of antlers over the door). Her woodpile is vacant, and the chopping block is overgrown in weeds. The cabin has no windows. The roof is made of mossy wooden shingles, and a short and very crude ivy-covered chimney rises from the back. You know from the few times you've visited that the inside is nearly as bare, and inevitably dark as a cave (except on cold winter nights); it also doesn't smell too great... She sleeps on a pile of worn-out furs, with a thick wool blanket if it's especially cold. Still, compared to the dwelling that could only charitably be described as a "hut" that her aged mother lives in, deep in the forest, this could be considered a fine home. It must just be different for orc-kind; from what you understand, most of them live in caves.

Like this, but in the woods. http://i67.tinypic.com/2zqykq1.jpg

You approach the cabin's sturdy door and knock a few times. You have to do it pretty forcefully, given the weight and density of the door. You wait a moment, listening. You think you remember hearing that it belonged to an old hunter who died a long time ago, who apparently had no family to take it over. Few others are willing to live away from the safety of the ranch, the village, or their close neighbors and family (for the farmers). It also takes a while to get anywhere from here, which isn't a problem for the self-sufficient or the hardy. You hear nothing from inside (i.e. her loud snoring), and you know she's not a particularly deep sleeper, but you open the door (most doors locally have no lock, and of course aren't barred if no one is home) and peer in, just to be sure. It's bright enough for your half-elven eyes to make out the contents of the cabin from the little bit of light streaming in from the open door, and sure enough, she's nowhere to be seen. You slam the door closed (it's hard to shut), and start making your way down Sugoth's path to the Ranch, which cuts through a corner of the orchards.

The heat of the sun on your thick hair begins to make you uncomfortably hot, so you pull up your hood. Due to the dry air, this feels significantly cooler. Gruff has long since shed his winter fur, and looks almost like a pup in comparison. You enter the orchard, and find that it's cooler still in here. This corner is the apple orchard, and they are coming along well, though only at about half of their eventual size. You spy a low-hanging yellow and red apple directly above your path, and snag it as you go. You finish it right as you come out the other side, and toss the core off into the grass, hopefully to become another tree and widen the orchard.

The cart track running west from the Ranch towards the farms skirts this side of the orchard, and you quickly emerge on to it. You gaze both ways along the track, out of habit. There is nobody to be seen towards the ranch, but when you look to the west, you see a young boy hustling in your direction, alone. He mostly looks at the ground in front of himself as he jogs along, occasionally looking up to see ahead or turn to check behind, but you can tell from the way he's moving that he must be tired and nearly out of breath. He wears a light-colored apron over a short-sleeved tunic and knee-length leggings, with simple leather shoes. There is a likewise light-colored cap on his head; he must be one of the miller's boys, but you can't tell who exactly at this distance.

[Möhre]

Suspecting something rather bad, Greta breaks into a run, with Gruff soon overtaking her. She hopes to reach the boy as quickly as possible, get him on Gruff's back and out of harm's way.

[Eladrinblade]

Gruff immediately speeds down the track at more than three times your own running speed; the weight of your gear slows you down. The boy happens to look up again before Gruff can reach him, and there is a brief instant where confusion and fear are fighting for control of his face before he notices the color of the wolf and sees the likewise red-haired girl running along behind it. "H-HEY! Wolf girl!" He slows to a stop as Gruff reaches him, the canine confused as to what he's supposed to do (he settles for vigorously sniffing the poor boy, who is clearly too afraid to risk petting the beast). The boy bends forward, hands on knees, and wipes his forehead and nose with the bottom of his apron, then swipes on his cap and begins using it instead, before placing his hand back on his knee to catch his breath. He has short, stiff dark blonde hair; something of a rarity.

You quickly catch up, causing the boy to raise his head to regard you, then breathlessly spill out the following verbal onslaught, "Hey, uh...wolf girl! I need help; there's a bear back at the mill! It's trying to get in, and it attack-....I think it killed one of our dogs, uh...I'm not sure, I heard them fighting and yelping and the bear was making scary noises and I don't know where my brother is, and I- uh, I barred the door from inside so it couldn't get in, but I need to go get the men at the ranch!!!", that last part coming out suddenly, as if he just remembered something very important, but he has to close his eyes in a grimace and take big, deep breaths to catch up. You recognize the boy now that you see him up close; he's one of the miller's sons; there's three, you think.

His apron and cap weren't light colored after all, they are just covered in flour dust, and now his face is as well, since he wiped it with his cap and apron, but the sweat is bringing it right back off again. The poor lad is drenched in it and his skin has large red splotches from the blood rush. There doesn't appear to be anything coming after him. "Oh, oh, I almost forgot, my other brother is still there, but he's too little to jump out the window and run fast or far, but I'm really fast so I went. I told him to hide in case the bear gets in; I don't know what it wants! But he's a good hider, 'cus he's small. And really quiet. My older brother is supposed to be there too, but sometimes he leaves, I dunno why, but he has the crossbow....er, unless he left it, I dunno, I didn't look. I gotta go get the bowmen, fast!, er, unless you can, uh, you have magic, right? Can your wolf fight a bear?" Pure, genuinely puzzled look as the gears are turning in his head, his urgent fears momentarily forgotten.

The mill is about a mile back along the car track the way the boy came, at a stretch of Ice Creek called "the run" because the elevation drops quickly there and the water comes down several small rapids with a bit too much force to be easily swam in. Fish swimming up the creek have to jump out of the water to get up the rapids, so it's a favored fishing spot among the local dark-furred forest bears (which are fairly small; about the same size as a human), though they usually avoid people, and tend to make a lot of noise anyway and thus are easily avoided. They very rarely attack, but have been known to when injured, starving, diseased, or if they think their young are threatened; and it happens to be rearing season for the females.

The mill itself is the tallest structure you know of, outside of a couple watchtowers, and is longer than it is tall. It's made of stacked fieldstone with mortar at the ground floor, and timber up above. Half of it is covered in ivy, and the other half has several clumps of green moss growing on the stone. There's a large wooden water wheel that catches the fast-flowing water at a gap between the rapids. This wheel turns the millstone which grinds grain into flour; at this time of year anyway; you're pretty sure the mill is used for other things at different times of the year. The miller himself lets his boys run it fairly often, now that they're getting to be old enough, and so he's (presumably) often not there. It's still somewhat dangerous, given the goblins and wolves known to sometimes threaten the area, and thus the dogs and crossbow, but usually not during the day.

[Möhre]

Greta wipes the poor boys face with one of her fur blankets and hands the boy her water skin. As soon as he has refreshed himself, she asks for his and his brother's names and ages.
"Where did you last see your older brother? Can you tell me what kind of bear it is?"
Fearing for the little one, she intends to get there as fast as possible and assess the situation. Greta tells the miller's boy to run on and gather as many fighters on horseback as he can. "Let them know I'm on my way there and will try to defuse the situation if I can", she adds. "Given the bears seemingly unprovoked aggression, there might be cubs nearby that she is protecting. We should take that into account. I will do what I can to help your little brother".
Having said that, she immediately begins casting, watching impatiently as Gruff's body swells in size. As soon as his size permits, she jumps onto his back and races off into the direction of the mill.

Greta casts Alter Animal Size on Gruff (as many times as it takes to get there on his back, running).
After having a quick look around and making sure the little boy is still alright (i.e. the bear has not managed to break into the mill yet), she plans to scan the area around the mill more thoroughly before tending to the bear. Assuming the older brother is actually around somewhere, she means to look for him and the potential cubs.
If the bear has broken into the mill, she (and an enlarged Gruff) will approach it slowly in an attempt to calm it. If that fails, there's always hoping they can intimidate it enough with a light spell, Gruff's sheer size etc.
Those are her plans anyway.

[Eladrinblade]

Time: About an hour past noon

The boy wipes his mouth after he finishes drinking, "Thanks. Kolsc is 15 and Ine is 6. He was there a while ago; I didn't see him leave, but sometimes he sneaks off. What kind of bear? um...I dunno, it was dark and kinda long; it looked like a big dog, sorta. I only saw it for a second before I closed the door. I think it was wet, like it just came out of the creek; maybe it was fishing?. Okay! Okay! uh, wait, defuse? Uh, well, whatever, I'll get 'em and tell 'em yer there!" He turns and starts to run again, but stops when he hears you cast your spell, then watches, wide-eyed and open-mouthed in pure wonder, as gruff grows to the size of horse and bends down, allowing you to grab his fur and bags and get on. You can't help but smile at his reaction. You direct Gruff to race down the track at full speed, and he does so.

The ride is very uncomfortable, with no saddle and no real place to sit, so you just sort of slam up and down with every stride. You quickly notice that Gruff isn't running at his normal speed; he seems weighed down. The simplest solution is to chuck the "breast" plate from his barding from his saddlebags; it's by far the biggest single piece of his armor, and it's easy to just grab and throw it. That seems to do the trick, as he immediately begins "galloping" at full speed (which is even less comfortable for you). The breastplate shrinks in your hands back to it's normal size as you lift it from his bags, and it lands with a thud amid the tall grass to the side of the track.

The track runs alongside Ice Creek, waving to and fro as the terrain demands. You can hear the sound of water flowing over rocks amid the pat-pat-pat of Gruff's feet. You don't pay as much attention to the scenery as you normally would, given the speed and nature of your ride, instead opting to focus on the road ahead and the mill after it comes into sight. Gruff runs all the way through the duration of the first casting of the spell, quickly shrinking back down to normal size, forcing you to hop off to the side as the ground comes closer. You cast the spell again, and are racing down the track in no time. Gruff's panting grows continually heavier until, most of the way through the second duration, he has to slow to a trot to catch his breath. A few moments after this, he shrinks down again, and you decide to just run alongside him for a minute as he regains his stamina.

You are close to the mill at this point; the last time it was in sight through the small trees that grow along the creek, you determined that you had less than a minute of Gruff running in order to get there. You cast the spell for a third time, and again resume your ride. He sprints for perhaps half a minute before you arrive at the mill. All told, you managed to go over a mile in less than four minutes; about half the speed of a galloping courser.

The mill is built right up against Ice Creek; it's south wall rises from the water. The area around the mill is overgrown fields and small trees, and the track bends from it's regular path to meet the mill at the creek, so you can't see into the distance in any direction. The only cleared area is directly around the mill itself. From memory, you know the layout: 2nd-story shuttered windows on every side, a heavy set of oaken double-doors on the north/cart-track side, and a parked wagon on the west side, which is usually half-full of piled sacks. The east and west sides are covered in thick ivy, and the north side is mostly bare except for clumps of moss. The roof is slanted on either side and is made of wood shingles. It's roughly 80ft long and 30ft wide, the eaves are maybe 15-20ft from the ground, the ridge is about 25ft high.

The mill comes into clear view when you are perhaps a spear cast (150ft) from it on the cart track. You immediately notice that the doors are still closed, as are the closest two windows. Two horse posts can be seen; one near the door, the other past the wagon in the brush. You can't see the wagon from where you are, if there is one. The water wheel churns audibly on the other side of the building, and the noise of the nearby rapids can be heard under that.

You scan the perimeter of the building for the bear, and easily spot it along the east wall as it rears up on it's hind legs to inspect the vine-covered wall and sniff around. Inwardly sighing with relief at it's relatively small size and dark fur, you realize it is not a mountain bear, and is in fact a forest bear. Judging by it's size, you think it's probably female. Like the boy said, it appears to be wet, with it's fur matted down making it appear slimmer than normal. It loses interest in whatever caused it to stand up, and it begins going back and forth along the bottom of the wall, sniffing like a dog would.

Nothing else catches your eye from where you stand. A slight breeze pulls on the trees and grass around you, causing a slight "shhhhhshhhssshhhh" noise.

Drop Leatherplate Barding.
Cast Alter Animal's Size three times, last casting has 5 rounds of duration left (3 spell points used).
Trip took about 3.5 minutes.
You are roughly 150ft from the bear.
You are not on this map yet; you are about twice the distance from the closest side of the mill to the edge of the map in the same direction.
http://i64.tinypic.com/2vwdzwk.png
*the boy is Olman, he's 10 years old

[Möhre]

Reasoning that if Kolsc had been close enough to hear what was going on, he would have helped his brothers in some way, Greta abandons the notion to look for him. Against her initial plans, she decides to make use of Gruff's remaining seconds in this larger form, as the bear seems to be relatively relaxed. Wondering why the bear would want to get into the mill so badly in the first place, she quickly, but cautiously, approaches it on her companion's back until within 30 feet of it. Trying to appear friendly and nonthreatening, she dismounts carefully and attempts to calm it.

Gruff runs up to the bear (if that provokes aggression from the bear, they will stop)
Greta uses Wild Empathy

5/8 spell points left
coming in at bottom of map (originally 150f/ 50m from bear)

mill 80f/almost 30m long, 30f/ 10m wide
eaves 15-20f/ 5-7m from ground, ridge 20f/ 8m high

[Eladrinblade]

Urging Gruff to run towards the bear, he rushes forward and bounds through the tall grass and small saplings between the track and the east wall of the mill. The bear immediately hears this and turns to face you, rearing up to see better. Upon sight, it's ears flatten and it shrinks back down a bit, into a more flight-or-fight posture and turns slightly as if not sure whether or not to run. You have Gruff slow to a stop before the bear makes it's decision and quickly dismount. Gruff has a look and posture of ready curiosity and expectation; knowing him, he is about to begin growling. You move just in front of him to calm him down and focus the bear's attention more on you. You notice that the bear's mouth and front claws are covered in blood, and that it has a bloody wound below it's shoulder on it's front right leg. It looks like a bite, and is bleeding, but not profusely.

Vola taught you the basics of how to emulate an animal's mannerisms, vocalizations, and body language in order to bypass some of their instincts and make them less averse to your presence; you don't quite understand some of what you're doing. You crouch down and put your hands in the grass, then raise your face up and make loud sniffing and snorting noises, along with your best bear moans. You do not make direct eye contact. At first, the soaked bear slaps the ground and shows it's teeth, making blowing noises at you. Trying not to panic, you sit on the ground and look away, showing submission and lack of threat. You tell Gruff to back away, and he does. This stops it's aggressive behavior, and elicits some curious sniffing and staring. After a moment, the bear suddenly rears up on it's hind legs, staring past you at something intensely interesting. You turn your head and see that Gruff has returned to normal size. The bear stares for another few breaths, then quickly becomes disinterested.

It's attention returns to the mill, and it begins sniffing around the base of the wall again, this time heading towards the northeast corner. It often raises it's head to look at Gruff, as if suspicious. It ambles right past you along the wall, and goes around the corner. Gruff backs even further away, having no understanding of what's happening. You stand and move towards Gruff to watch the bear, and as you come back around the front side of the building, you have a sudden start: there are blood splatters on the ground and the wall about halfway to the door. Lying near the spilt blood, you see a dog, about half the size of Gruff, lying still and limp, with a massive wound in it's neck.

The bear doesn't pay any heed to the dog, just continuing to go along sniffing the base of the mill, occasionally rearing and looking up, paws on the wall.

You managed to turn the bear from unfriendly to indifferent. Gruff's spell wears off.

[Möhre]

Relaxing a little, now that the bear seems to tolerate her presence, Greta motions for Gruff to follow her at a distance, so as not to provoke the bear. Trying not to get too close to the bear herself, she has a look around the western side of the mill. Remembering Olman saying "one of our dogs" (and scolding herself for not asking how many were with him), she hopes not to find any more dead canines. Unless Olman jumped through the open window at the front side of the mill, Greta assumes there is probably another one that is not closed. She intends to find an open window outside of the bear's field of view, figuring she could clamber onto an enlarged Gruff and get into the mill that way.
I might be able to get Ine (and maybe even another dog) out of there, put him on Gruff's back and carry him out of sight.

If the only open window she can find is the one she already knew of from the get-go, she will try to open the window on the eastern wall which the bear can't see. If the window on the western wall turns out to be open, however, she will go with that one and just try to reach the trees as quickly as possible.
Cast Alter Animal's Size at the appropriate time

[Eladrinblade]

The bear continues down the wall, pausing at the door to sniff at all the cracks. You walk in the same direction along the same side of the mill, further out from the wall. Glancing at the poor dog, you see that it bled out a while ago and isn't merely wounded. It's eyes are still open. You notice a few blood splatters a ways away from the big messy ones, one after another, in the direction of the line of young trees opposite the mill. You look to your right and see that they continue right out of sight.

The bear then stands up and pushes on the door, making it bang softly in it's hinges. It then tries to get it's claws into the crack and pull, but when it doesn't immediately open, the bear makes a growling moan. From inside(?) the mill, you hear a faint cry, seemingly in response, that sounds somewhat like a goat. You're not sure, but you think that's what a bear cub's cry sounds like. The bear seems to hear it as well, because it suddenly perks up and looks first at the door, then to it's left along the mill the way it just came. It then trots in that direction and goes back around the corner.

From where you are standing now, you can see the back of a wagon sitting near the west wall of the mill, which looks to contain filled sacks. Walking around the corner, you see that the wagon is about half full (half empty?), and there is no horse waiting to pull it. The wall on this side of the mill is also covered in vines, and near the top center, there is an open window, shutters spread wide. It doesn't line up too well, but the wagon is near enough to the window that Olman could have leapt down on it, if he's at least a little bit athletic. The vines look like they might be thick enough to hold your weight, and there certainly are plenty of handholds if so. The window is about twelve feet from the ground, and about three feet tall.

In lieu of climbing, you could try standing on an enlarged Gruff's shoulders while he stands up against the wall; you figure you could just about reach it that way, give or take.

[Möhre]

Greta, feeling like she finally has a way to help both parties, takes off her gear and tries to climb the vines.

[Eladrinblade]

You walk over to the wall while looking for a good place to start, and right as you are reaching to grab on, you hear a sudden hissing noise. You mind whirls for a second as you try to figure out what it could be, and suddenly it hits you; a snake! You don't see it, but it sounds very close amongst the vines. You instinctively step back, giving it some space, but you were too slow to react and so the snake takes the initiative and gives you a sterner warning: the vines rustle near you to your right and from them lunges the snake, jaws wide. It's mouth plunges down on your right forearm, but it's fangs fail to penetrate your stiff hardened-leather vambrace. Having lost it's place amidst the vines, it plunges down into the thick weeds at the base of the wall where it is heavily concealed.

The snake was maybe five feet long, total. It was brown and dark green in triangular repeating bands, with a thin dark grey line separating the bands, while it's underside was a dark tan color. It's head was triangular, which tells you it is a viper. You've only seen it for an instant, but you recognize it as a vine racer; a small viper that likes to hide on trees amid vines and can chase it's prey across the ground or through the trees at surprising speeds. It's venom is deadly to the heart and causes a swelling of the throat in addition, but isn't always fatal; a robust person can resist it fairly easily, but the young and elderly, as well as smaller animals, often fall victim.

Failed spot check against hard-to-see viper (so did Gruff). It used it's surprise round to issue a warning hiss, then initiative was rolled. It got a higher result than you, and used it to move over and attack. Even flat-footed, your AC was too high for it's roll and it failed to damage you. It was climbing, but cannot maintain it's climb after attacking, and so fell the 5ft to the ground, where it landed in the weeds which grants it 30% concealment.

It is now your turn. The snake is adjacent to you.

[Eladrinblade]

You take a step back and thrust your right arm forward, palm facing outwards. You focus magic energy in your palm, calling on your flame power to generate heat. There is a heat shimmer in the air around your hand, which you then aim at the snake in the weeds. The shimmering air then shoots forward from your palm, igniting a patch of weeds near the snake, charring them black as they curl into themselves, but your aim was off and the snake is unharmed. It hisses again and curls away from the heat.

You then immediately step back and call for Gruff to attack the snake, which you think he was already in the process of doing, as he is rushing past you an instant after you gave the command. He lunges forward, growling, teeth bared, and snaps down, but the coiling serpent was already moving and he misjudged the attack.

The viper returns the attack with a bite of it's own, hissing as it snaps forward and up at Gruff's extended face...and sails past the retreating wolf's head, only to land on the ground and curl back up. It holds it's ground, refusing to flee just yet.

Miss, miss, miss.

[Eladrinblade]

Instead of trying to shoot from behind Gruff, you opt to scramble up on to the back of the wagon, and step forward over the loose bags of...grain? to the front of the wagon, where you have a clear shot, which you promptly take. The heat-shimmer returns and this time when a patch of weeds burn, a small length of the snake burns with them, though it is a mere glancing shot.

Gruff then lunges forward again, this time catching the side of the snake in his front fangs, tearing a significant chunk away, leaving a bloody scrap of flesh hanging from it's side, ribcage bared. The snake hisses even louder at this and recoils into the weeds, where it promptly reverses direction and flees along the base of the wall, out of sight, though making plenty of noise and causing the weeds to shake as it goes. Gruff sniffs the weeds where it disappeared, but does not give chase.

Apparently free to climb the vines, you take a minute to pile about a dozen of the sacks of grain (more obvious now that you're handling them) on the ground under the window to cushion any fall you might take. Having heard the ruckus, the bear pokes it's head around the corner of the mill, investigating. Seeing you moving the sacks, it moves up to the back of the wagon and leans on it, sniffing the piled bags and looking around curiously. Gruff moves to the other side of you to give it some space, ears flattened and tail low.

You strap your shield to your back and move to the wall to grab a big handful of vines with each hand, and begin putting the front tips of your boots on any of the tiny ledges of the wall that will hold them for a moment. You manage several grabs and foot-placements without trouble, moving the seven-odd feet required for you to reach the windowsill, but as you try to pull your other hand up, your first hand slips from the sill and you plummet straight down along the wall, instinctively grabbing at the vines as you go, tearing a significant amount of them from the wall. "Ah!"

"Oof!" Your rump lands hard on the sacks, which may leave you with some bruises, but between your armor and the grain, you are without injury. The bear bounds away in surprise, then turns to stare back at you cautiously. Gruff is instantly beside you, sniffing and licking your face. Ensuring him that you're okay, you move back to the wall, eyeballing a new route now that your old one is torn down. You have to go farther to the side, but you should still be able to reach the window from this new route.

You imitate your last climb, managing to again reach the window without issue (though it was a harder climb), but this time you take a more careful grasp of the ledge before you try to pull yourself up. Straining, you pull up and over, through the window, and down to the floor of a wooden platform, hands first. Your feet come clumsily after, and with a twist your lower body lands on the boards with a soft thump. You glance around to check your surroundings, seeing nothing amiss, and so you stand up and look back out the window. Gruff is looking up at you, mouth open and tongue out, a bit of the snake's blood lingering. The bear is standing up at the base of the wall, likewise looking up with a bit more curiosity.

You turn around and dust off your frontside. Looking around, you see that the platform you are on goes all the way around the interior of the mill on every wall, leading to each window. The stairs up are over to your right, on the south wall, between you and the water wheel. Both of the windows overlooking Ice Creek are open wide, letting the sun stream in. There is a third window above the peak of the wheel that you didn't know about, which is also open. Timber beam rafters cross the mill right overhead, causing anyone taller than a dwarf to have to duck every so often as they walk the platform. The rafters are the darkest part of the interior, but not so much for your half-elven eyes. The bottom of the platform is level with the top of the stone of the mill's walls.

Looking over the rest of the mill, the first thing you see is the gears and simple machinery of the water wheel, as they all turn, causing a grindstone to go in a circle, crushing grain into flour. Near it are piled sacks; both grain to be poured as well as collected flour. The doors into the mill are barred from this side with a solid beam, and standing next to them against the wall is a loaded light crossbow, with a small quiver of bolts hanging by a strap from a nail in the door. Tables and shelves line most of the walls; looks like the mill doubles as a workshop of some kind. A coil of rope on the floor catches your eye, as does some food on a table that you surmise is the boys lunch. There are sacks and crates and barrels and tools here and there throughout, but you don't see anything out of the ordinary; pretty much what you would expect to see.

[Möhre]

- approach stairs, see water covering the walkway platforms, coming from window above the water wheel (how bear cub got in)
- spot bear cub hiding behind a vertical beam of the rafters in middle of mill and above machinery and gears
- wild empathize bear cub to indifference
- go downstairs to grab the rope, hear hooves and run to door, lift up the bar, stick head out and yell at them, that nobody's hurt and to stay back
- persuade the **** out of men from ranch: they back off and watch
- go back up the stairs, scooch along horizontal beam until it's interrupted by vertical one
- wrap rope around one hand, put other end of rope behind and around that beam and wrap it around other hand, so there's no way to fall
- get to beam with bear cub that way, sit down, secure position, tie rope around cub
- lower it to floor like a noob: bear cub slips out of knot, falls to floor and cries out in shock
- mother responds with roar and bangs and scratches door
- lower self down like a bows (because **** me), give cub food and heal it while distracted
- call out to ine, who isn't convinced that he can come out safely (sigh, all that charisma, and for what?)
- remove bar from door and jog over towards ine
- mother bear opens door eventually: sniff, sniff, slurp, slurp; you're okay!
- men from ranch yell if everything's okay; yes, it is!
- mother grabs food and heads out of mill (scary machinery noises, let's get outta here)
- bears leave and horsemen come back to mill
- tell boy that he's safe now; more people that he knows better than me appearing in the open doorway finally convince him of that fact
- men congratulate me, then ask where kolsc is; tell them i would really like to know so i could lecture him. they work out that he's probably with that girl he's been seeing. let it go at that, knowing that father will give him hell.
- tell guys to keep boy in mill for now, so i can tend to poor dog: drag him over to grain sacks and cover him; wash away blood with bucket from mill and water
- some men leave to find kolsc and bring him home, another picks up ine and goes to father
- effortlessly track down other dog with the help of gruff's nose: riding dog sitting in a field of wheat, bitemarks in shoulder
- wild empathize dog, heal his wounds and convince him to come with me and bring him back to miller's house

[Eladrinblade]

Hound in tow, you cross through field of grain after wild field after field of grain, passing paths and cart tracks between them, and occasionally having to clamber over a short crude fence, which the canines easily hop. The miller's cottage isn't far from the Ice Creek cart track, but it's maybe half a mile from the mill. The cottage sits amidst the fields; a lonely little homestead that is humorously small and squat compared to the mill itself, which leads you to think the mill is probably a collaborative effort; it doesn't just belong to the miller. Like the mill, the cottage has fieldstone walls, but is only one story and has a thatched roof instead of wood shingles.

As you near it, the miller's hound perks up and runs the remaining distance. You're fairly sure he would have returned on his own, but you wanted to make sure. The militia riders are nowhere to be seen, but you see the miller, Loarl, in his signature wild-edged straw hat that you've always thought must be uncomfortable, readying his draft horse, with Ine near him. You notice a shortbow and quiver on the horse. They see their hound bound up and happily greet them, then look up to see you and Gruff crossing the field. He ruffles his dog's neck and smiles through his beard at you, waving an arm, "Hail there, lass. Taking up yer pa's mantle already, are ye?"

You relate to him what the riders wouldn't know, and he tells you what they told him. He's surprised to see his larger dog alive after getting in a scrap with a bear, but he comments that it's always been a bit of a coward, while the smaller one was the boss, bless it's soul. He also tells you about the snake you had an encounter with. "What a strange thing to happen.... Anyway, I thank ye for coming to help, and I understand that it would have been needless to kill the bear; I'm sure you feel more strongly about that than I do, or you wouldn't have risked your neck. Bit foolish, if you ask me, but a good deed in it's own way, all the same. If the bear had managed to get in.... you were there minutes before the riders; I shudder to think what could have happened." He squeezes Ine with a one-armed hug around the shoulders; the boy still hides behind his father a bit, grabbing onto the mans leggings.

Looking off across the fields with a sigh, "Gonna have to set my boy straight for this, if he's off with that Springhallow lass. Which I'm sure 'e is. Had eyes for her for a while, the damn layabout." He pats your shoulder, "You planning on getting a lad here sometime? No? Heh, alright!" He chuckles at your reaction. "I'm off to go grab the wagon and collect my boys; if you'll meet me at the mill, I'll give you a ride back to the ranch. Regardless, I'll have Kolsc bring you our thanks, on the morrow after dawn, if you'll be at home."

[Möhre]

Greta agrees to meet him at the mill, thankful for the ride and meaning to pick up Gruff's armor on the way back to the ranch.
For the first time in hours really considering her personal plans, she realizes that she had not thought much ahead; other than asking Sugoth to join her on her journey and eventually saying her good-byes to her mentor before starting the search for her mother. She hesitates for a moment and figures that she might as well spend the night at the ranch and tell the miller that she will be there the next morning.
When she and the miller reach the ranch, she looks for Sugoth. Afterwards, she asks around town to gain information on her mother, talking to Veira and Garbeyair in particular. If she finds clues to her mother's whereabouts, she will leave the next morning after talking to Kolsc.

[Eladrinblade]

Time: Mid-afternoon

Loarl sets off on his horse down the path from his house, the dog merrily keeping stride. Greta sets off behind him with Gruff in tow. Before long, the miller and his boy are out of sight, and Greta is strolling through the fields, enjoying the sight of the gently swaying wheat and clear blue skies, happy with herself at the outcome of the situation. Before she realizes it, she arrives at the main cart track alongside Ice Creek, and heads east to the mill. Keeping an eye out for fishing bears, she makes the rest of the trip in about ten minutes, most of her attention on the flowing water as she walks.

As the mill comes into view, Loarl is moving the last of the grain sacks inside. The wagon is out front of the building, strapped to the horse and ready to go. Some hay has been shoveled into the wagon, to make somewhat comfortable seats for you and the boys. He comes out and closes the door, using the bar on the outside to keep animals from opening it. Perfect timing. You step up onto the back of the wagon and take a seat, the shy Ine sitting on the other side.

The ride to the ranch isn't as bumpy as you would have thought; probably because the wagon's wheels are so large, and your seat is a pile of hay rather than a sprinting wolf. The mid-afternoon sun is growing hot, so you find yourself pulling up your hood. It's odd; due to your magic, you can stand greater heat than others, but the sun still seems just as uncomfortable. Your mind latches on to the thought of magic, and you conjure up a small flame on your gloved hand, playing with it and letting it dance on your waggling fingers. You then remember you have company and glance over at Ine, who is watching in fascination. You let him pet Gruff, who is laying down lazily, closer to the end of the wagon.

Noticing the orchard on your right, you stand and begin looking off into the grass for Gruff's barding. You don't wait long; it's right where you remember it. You manage to hop off and lug it on to the wagon without making them stop. Lendaxaer Ranch itself is the next focus of your short trip, and is now clearly visible.

The "ranch" is a fort/homestead. The fields immediately surrounding it are cleared; livestock graze the grass to keep it short, and it is fenced in at a few points, to break any sudden charges by invaders. It is surrounded by a steep-sided ditch, which continues to the south east to drain into Ice Creek; it can't fill with water (thankfully; the blood-flies would be terrible). The earth from the ditch went to the rampart; a steep dirt mound that rings the inside of the ditch, which the wall is built on. Between the wall and the ditch, the rampart is studded with hundreds of wooden spikes, to discourage anyone coming in too fast or on mounts. Thick weeds and thornbushes have been encouraged to grow among the spikes. The wall itself is made of wood logs with spiked tops. The whole place is mostly rectangular, with each corner housing a short tower. A walkway lines the top of the inside of the walls, from which watchmen and archers can patrol and fire from with cover. The towers overhang the wall a bit, have arrow-slits on every side, bar-able doors, and sloping wood-shingle roofs. The bridge over the ditch to the gate is a working drawbridge, but you've never seen it up. The gate itself is two massive oak doors that close together and are locked shut at night with heavy beams, under a gatehouse similar to the towers, complete with murder-holes. The doors are the only part of the wall that is not raised up from ground level by the rampart.

Within a few minutes, the wagon is rolling through the gate into the ranch interior. In between stairs and ladders leading to the parapets, every part of the rampart is ringed with stables, barracks, a kennel, and store houses, each with second stories that are mostly homes, from what you know. The roofs of the 2nd stories are about level with the parapets. Inside of these structures is the courtyard, an open area mostly covered in flat creek stones (all of which are covered in dried mud most of the time), with a covered stone well in the middle. There is also a wooden platform from which speeches or performances are given, and, should the need ever arise, hangings are performed. Small drains drop diagonally through the rampart into the ditch, to let rainwater out. There is a forge and a large kitchen among the storehouses, from which smoke can often be seen rising from their chimneys.

Occupying the back third of the interior is Lendaxaer Manor, a large timber and fieldstone house, partitioned into over a dozen large rooms over two stories. It has thick, strong doors and actual windows on the second floor (though they are actually a bunch of small panes sitting in a wood lattice, not true windows like Garbeyair's home). You've been inside several times a year your whole life, for seasonal dinners and celebrations. You know that it is actually a few homes combined, each composed of a suite of a few rooms each. You have never been in over half of it, however. It has a communal two-story feast hall, ringed with a wood balcony and housing a massive hearth, that could hold everybody you know at once if they all packed in. Most of the extended Lendaxaer family lives within.

However, the most important structure is the watchtower, which dominates the back center of the ranch, rising in front of Lendaxaer manor behind the well and platform. It is square-sided with stone walls, about 30-40ft tall (it easily overlooks the walls), with an overhanging box at the top (much like the wall towers). At it's very top, another little crow's nest tower rises, in which hangs a bell that is used to summon all the folk around in case of danger or for celebrations. It has no doors at ground level, instead being entered from one of three wooden walkways that connect it to the ranch's parapets and to Lendaxaer Manor. Even so, the three doors above are thick and strong as well, with mini barbicans above each with an arrow slit and murder hole. You've been in the tower once to see around from the very top; it's the highest up you've ever been. It is the last line of defense for the folk of your area, and allows for the defenders to see threats coming from far away.
Like this, but maybe twice as tall. http://i68.tinypic.com/ipsho8.jpg

Kolsc is present in the courtyard with a couple of the riders, looking worried and visibly guilt-ridden. Loarl is off the wagon immediately after setting the brake, and poor Kolsc gets a stern talking-to. You get off the wagon, Gruff following you. The riders quickly back away and return to their duties, so you catch one real quick and inquire about Sugoth. Olman comes out from one of the side buildings and runs up to you, wanting a complete rundown of everything that befell, and wants to know what happened to his dogs.

According to one of the riders, Sugoth is not here; he thinks she's out working on the ranch, but she will be back later. Celrak is never easy to find; he is often asleep during the day and never in the same spot, if he's home at all, which he often isn't. You're not really sure what he gets up to, now that you think about it. You don't think he'd go even if you wanted him to, so it doesn't matter.

Gareth Lendaxaer approaches from behind the watchtower, dressed in his (relatively) fine clothes of colored leather and cloth, with his everpresent straps, bandoleers, and pouches, full of useful and not-so-useful things. He wears a wide leather hat and gnome-crafted spectacles, and sports a short grey beard and mustache. You've never seen him without a loop of fine silk rope at his belt, and today is no exception. You've seen him magically animate rope before with a spell, and use it to ensnare or trip people in demonstrations and make it move around like a snake at his command. He still wears a longsword in a scabbard on his belt, despite his old age and failing strength.

You've never much liked old Gareth, as he is a stern and commanding man with an unforgiving nature. Well, you should say he seems that way, because you've never actually had a conversation with him, though Celrak doesn't seem to care for him much either, and he's Gareth's grandson. Still, he knew your mother better than most of the people you know, having worked with and fought beside her on a few occasions years ago, so he may be able to help you today.

He inquires with Loarl about what happened, talking with the man for a few minutes. When they're done, Loarl beckons Olman to leave you alone and get in the wagon. He thanks you again and sets off with his boys; his wagon creaking as he turns it around in the courtyard and heads back out through the gatehouse. "Greta Nirshaier." Gareth's gruff voice cuts through your thoughts and commands your attention. The old man has walked up beside you and you find yourself looking at him without meaning to. To your small relief, he is smiling warmly.



congratulates you on the mill affair
asks about you taking over for rhine
asks about the shadewood druid
tells you about your mom and what happened
shows you a rope trick
offers to let you borrow a horse if you want one when you set out to find her
seems to like you




goes to shuttercreek to ask around about her mother (gather info - doesnt learn anything from the older folks that she didnt already know)
talks to veira
-knew that your sickness couldn't be cured normally, and rhine got sick as well, but you were both fine when you came back without your mother
-parents took you to daeryn's ford to see the healer there, and then to the Pelorian Abbey in Gladeroot; neither of which could heal you, even with magic
-knew your mother personally more than the others, ensured you she loved you despite being a bit cold and distant
-gives you a healing poultice when she mentions leaving

goes to garbeyair's house to ask about her mother
-she's from a veleethri clan from the lower reach, near starfall, where she was trained and stationed during the witches rebellion, her people are a semi-nomadic band, she's a free spirit but she is loyal, doesnt think she would just abandon unless it was hopeless, knowing her she probably got involved in the insurrection war, if she's not dead
-avalar is there helping make a longbow
-if you head through (town or castle), find (his daughter, half-elf)

sugoth gets done working and returns to ranch, talk to her about leaving, she is quite happy to go
-sells her hammer and scythe for traveling money

sleep at ranch in bunkhouse

an hour after dawn, kolsc shows up, crossbow/dagger/leatherscale, with a bundle in his arms (honey apple pie on a crude clay plate in a small sack) and gives it to greta, along with a small polished soft-edged crude wooden horse figurine that is small enough to be enclosed in your fist; it's been with his family for a long time and is supposedly magical, but they can't know for sure and we don't need it anyway, take it as a token of our thanks

[Möhre]

Greta asks Gareth for a mule instead of a horse so as not to set an uncomfortable pace for Sugoth. They set off for Vola's cave, meaning to continue to the Pelorian Abbey in Gladeroot from there. (She will only go to Daeryn's Ford if she still needs more information).

[Eladrinblade]

While you were waiting for Kolsc, one of the ranch-hands leads a saddled horse over to you. It's rather smallish, but then you're not so big yourself; it's not a pony at any rate. It is a light horse with a solid reddish-brown coat and a dark brown mane/tail. It seems attentive and curious, but when Gruff approaches to check it out, it flattens it's ears and gives a small snort, backing up a couple steps. The ranch-hand reassures it with a pat and calming word, and says her name is "Acorn" and that she's just a riding horse; not trained for combat or anything exciting like that. She has two days of feed in her saddlebags, but you can just have her graze on most days. You saddle up and ride her around the courtyard a few times to get a feel for it; you've never ridden much in your life and it's always a bit scary. With the combined weight of her saddle and bags, you, and your carried gear, she walks about as fast as Sugoth. Gruff seems a little nonplussed about the whole affair, but he dutifully follows you around.

With Kolsc on his way back home, you set off to visit Vola on your way to Gladeroot, your path leading straight through the Shadewood. The sky is clear again, a bright blue with the sun blazing in the eastern sky, burning away the light morning mists off the creeks. You head up the path to Shuttercreek, then down the path to your home, then into the woods. It takes a while to get used to the incessant clip-clopping of Acorn's hooves on the packed dirt paths, and it isn't long before your butt starts to sore on the saddle, but both things fade in time. It feels a little strange to be looking down at Sugoth, and to be keeping up with her at full pace. She looks up at you as you look at her, as if she could sense your thoughts. She smirks, apparently finding humor in your unease. You notice she walks with her new axe in her left hand.

You take the same route you always do; straight north to the cave, heading up what you suspect was a creek bed ages ago. The sun just barely breaks through the dense canopy in spots, here and there, gleaming that orange morning light. The interior is always quiet and is never bright, even at high noon, and thus the forest's name. You can sometimes hear birds & squirrels chirping, calling, and screeching in the distance in every direction, but they never seem to be close to you. It smells like wet earth and leaves, and the air is crisp and cool, more so than outside the woods. As usual, Gruff is always going every which way, sniffing this and investigating that, perking up in sudden anticipation and quickly being let down that it was nothing, but he never strays far from your side.

The forest is old; the trees are almost all fully grown, with only a few growing ones here and there, most in or near relatively bright deadfalls. The ground is never smooth for long in the Shadewood; it's as if the thick roots of the trees lift the earth like a crumpled blanket. The undergrowth is light, with most of the floor being a soft blanket of old wet leaves and soggy sticks and logs, spotted here and there by rocks and patches of moss on the highest ground. There's moss on nearly everything that isn't dead leaves, as a matter of fact. Tiny rivulets abound, though they're all dry at the moment. Occasionally, the earth rises up in a hillock or drops away into a dell or gully. Often these are sudden enough that white and grey stone breaks through the soil and leaves, which is always spotted with holes and caves, as if it were one giant block of holed cheese. Some of these caves are large enough to go into, and a few still have water coming out of them, though it's usually less than a trickle. Vola lives in one of the largest of the caves that you've seen, though it is dry.

Overall, it looks somewhere between this:http://i65.tinypic.com/2qlyg4p.png

and this: http://i63.tinypic.com/1zx8hue.jpg

You enjoy being able to see from a higher spot and without having to do the walking yourself. While standing in the reins to stretch and give your butt a rest, you notice something unusual off to your left, up a slight hillside. Under a large tree, between the roots, something has dug up the earth in a cluster of small holes. You gently tug on the reins to stop the horse and look all around, but don't detect anything else unusual. Sugoth just looks at you, awaiting an explanation. You nudge the horse towards the holes and head the group up to them. Rising up over a lip on the hillside, you see that there are perhaps a couple dozen of these holes, scattered all around. Gruff growls at something, and Acorn gives a snort and snicker; they must smell something they don't like.

All of the holes are about a foot deep, and look to fit a child curled up. Loose wet dirt is scattered around each, as if an animal dug them with it's claws. One would not be that unusual; but so many in one place is nothing you've ever seen or heard of before. Whatever the cause, it seems to be gone now, and there is nothing the matter, so you continue on your way. Aside from a couple of startled, fleeing deer (that poor Gruff is all too interested in), you encounter nothing else of note before arriving at Vola's cave. It's somewhat more than a league from your home to hers, but less than two. The trip took you about two hours from the Ranch.

Sheltered in a shallow dell, her cave enters into the side of a hill in a small face of limestone. Dry old branches have been gathered all around, to narrow the entrance and make it impossible to enter quietly. A clear bare path (except for the sticks) exits the cave, evidence that something comes and goes frequently. The cave entrance is low enough that you need to duck to enter but is perhaps four times as wide. You tie Acorn's reins to a low-hanging branch and go inside. The cave always smells of smoke, and it's sides and roof are visibly darker than the rest of the stone. The cave is not very large; just one long oblong chamber that gently rises into the hill, about the size of three wagons end-to-end, but it has no direct light and is therefor too dark even for you to see. You grab a dry branch and combust the far end, making yourself a feeble light-source, just enough to see with. You then crunch your way over to the entrance behind Sugoth, waiting while she removes the obstructing noisome branches.

As you bend over to follow her in you can hear scuffling inside; someone is in there and reacting to your presence. Actually it sounds like several someones. "(Grunt) Ռախ, իմ երկու դուստրերը! My two daughters!" Vola. She has to speak in Orc to Sugoth and in Druidic to you, as she doesn't know the common tongue. Her and Sugoth greet each other; a few short sentences and a hand on the others shoulder. You move around Sugoth and bring your light to bear. Gruff sneaks around you and joyfully meets his friend Brock, Vola's grumpy old badger companion; various animal noises and intense greeting gestures ensue.

Both Vola and Brock are clad in their usual hide armors; you've never seen them take them off, except for the very rare bath (neither ever smells nice). Vola has her club in hand, not sure who to expect, and is wearing her strange spiked leather collar which she claims is enchanted. The old orc woman stands with a somewhat more exaggerated stoop than you remember, even though the ceiling inside the cave is high enough to stand in. Her wild grey hair is a bit greyer. She has the same fierce dark red eyes that you remember, however, with their perpetual scowl, even though she's smiling enough to see her tusks (of which she still has all). You can't help but return with a warm smile yourself, before you hug. "Did you have to come so late? I was sleeping like a bear!"

Like this, but wrinklier and with grey hair. http://i66.tinypic.com/apelad.jpg

She goes to light a pile of firewood on top of a mound of ashes so you don't have to hold your torch-stick, and to warm up in the damp, cool cave. You look around the cave while she does so, and see piles of old furs and sticks, many scattered pouches and purses and bags, everything on top of a bed of old dry leaves that spans the whole cave except around the firepit. Her shield stands against the cave wall next to where she sleeps. You see several newly cured hides and skins and a tanning rack, a few stones knives, a stone axe for the wood. It seems she's been working on some new suit of hide armor. Clay jars. No decorations. You spot another little critter hiding behind the tanning rack, staring at you with eyes that reflect the firelight; a boar piglett! It stands motionless, it's body language exuding caution. Vola quickly has the fire going; she has the same druidic powers as you, and more, except for your light spell and your healing magic.

Despite being a self-imposed hermit, she seems very glad to see both of you. You all sit around the fire on furs and have a meal while you talk. Gruff and Brock lay next to each other, Brock looking especially sleepy compared with Gruff's energy. Poor guy is getting pretty old. She once told you that "Brock" is the orc word for Badger.

[Möhre]

Delighted at the sight, Greta asks Vola about the little boar piglet. If the little guy lets her, she approaches him gently in order to "introduce" herself.
She inquires if there are any news and tells her about the mill incident.
Wondering if Vola has an explanation for the dug up holes not far from the cave, she mentions them to her.
Eventually, Greta asks her old mentor for information on her mother, recounting what little she has learned from others up to this point and laying out her plans, vague as they may be.

[Möhre]

Posted from your account.

The old orc scratches Brock's neck ruffles while he sleepily lays on the floor like a lazy pile of pudding. She looks up at the timid piglett, "I found that motherless runt roaming around the woods on his own. I was going to eat him, but Brock here is getting old, so I'll need a new little fighter before long. He cannot hear us speaking." You realize Brock hasn't reacted to the conversation in any way.

You get up into a crouch and try to slowly approach the piglett while speaking softly and doing your best to imitate a motherly boar, but the little guy just isn't having it. Once you get about halfway to him, he comically turns and bolts to the far end of the cave, where he thinks he is hidden in the darkness. His beady little eyes gleam green in the firelight. Meanwhile, Vola translates what you were saying to Sugoth. You settle back down into your spot around the fire with mild disappointment. You were too eager, you think.

With a speed and loudness that surprises you, Vola holds her arm up and snaps her fingers, "Come!" The piglett hesitates a brief moment, then slowly trots up to Vola, sticking against the far wall, behind the tanning rack, eyeing you three the whole time. Reaching her, he lifts his nose and sniffs at her thigh, receiving a head scratch in return. "I have not named him." She then looks at you, and you know she wants you to do it. She's told you many times before that she simply doesn't have "creativity" like that; Brock means "badger" and Sugoth was the name of her ...cousin? You think.

As for news, she says she hasn't been out and about very much recently. Part of that is her age, you're certain. She explains that lately she's been working on a new set of armor (thus all the equipment in here and the hides); she knows how to skin beasts and work hide, and can enchant weapons and armor, but only knows the simplest enhancements. She's also been trying to teach and rear the pig, and it's dangerous to be out and about with him.

That said, she mentions that things are changing in the forest. She's been finding strange tracks she's never seen before, for instance some that appear to be a skullcracker or a pheasant, but far larger even than a skullcracker. She hasn't seen any elves or elf-signs in a long time, and the faeries have gone quiet, but goblins are becoming more active and bolder, she's even seen bands out and about during the day that weren't even trying to hide from her. You know she has a sort of non-antagonistic relationship with the goblins of the forest, a kind of "you don't mess with me, I don't mess with you" thing, but they avoid everyone they don't intend to attack, usually, and stay underground except to hunt and forage at night. Likewise, she's seen more signs of wolves, which are acting more aggressively than normal. She feels there is something more, she can sense it, but not see it; she can't guess exactly what, but nature moves in cycles, some are larger and longer than folk can see.

As for the holes in the ground, she's seen them too, in several places, but never this far east. Brock hates their scent, and she found tracks with them, but she doesn't know them either.

She listens to your story about the mill, wearing a gentle smile the whole time, and eating a leg of...rabbit, by the looks of it. "That soft heart of yours will bring you trouble....but, you have your own way. It's not easy to bring sense to a worried mother bear, and your people gain trust in you. Good, good."

She explains that, as far as she understands, your mother had long gone before she herself ever came around. She wasn't in the Shadewood long before she met Rhine. She looks at Sugoth while listening to your story, with an expression you can't quite read. "I remember your father telling me of this. Sugoth never knew her father, but she wouldn't want to. I know things are different with your people, but among the orc tribes and the Forsaken...well, I fled from them when Su was still a babe. I never knew if we would be slain for crossing into the lands of our enemies, but I knew life here could not be worse. If your mother was like your father, I see why you want to know.

Your sickness as a babe...your father never spoke of this to me, though we spoke much of the 'Forsaken' and the hill-lands of my youth, these 'Ramparts'. The masters of the forsaken are cruel and wrong, and they weave dark magicks; curses from the tongues of snakes and far-doings through evil spirits. I cannot say why your mother left, but I wonder if she had a choice.

I cannot help you much; I know little of elves, just you, half-blood. I do not know the people you speak of, and I have never left this forest since entering it from the west. You will have to find your own way in the lands of elf and man.

I wish you luck in your hunt, fire child, but try not to get my daughter killed with that soft heart of yours! And don't infect her with it! Ha!" Is that a look of pride she wears?

[Möhre]

TRIGGERED
http://i64.tinypic.com/2ex6bl0.jpg
Fascinated at the thought of giant skullcrackers, Greta immediately finds herself hoping to encounter one such beast; at least from afar. Her enthusiasm is promptly dampened by Vola's other news, however, particularly those on goblins and wolves.
She appreciates her mentor's blunt and honest words on the mill incident, further convinced that she was right to adhere to her principles and act as she did. Still, she is well aware that she might not get so lucky next time and vows to be more cautious in the future.
How little Vola knows about her mother doesn't come as much of a surprise, but Greta is disappointed nonetheless. Why did her father make such a mystery out of all this?
Her mentor's last words get a genuine chuckle out of her, though, and she looks back at the piglet, mulling over different names in her head.
How about Karakuir?

Karakuir meaning "fierce" or "fiery tusk". No, I don't care that I'm mixing Quenya and Sindarin. Sue me.

[Eladrinblade]

Vola's face produces significantly more lines as she struggles to repeat your pronunciation, "Kara-koo-ear? Oh, Elven, of course. We'd just say "fire tusk" in my tongue. Bit of a mouthful; I like 'Raku'. Kah-raku-ear, mmhm."

[Möhre]

I don't know why, but I thought the "u" would be silent, so it'd be pronounced "Karakiir". Turns out it's really Karak-wheer. Welp, do what you want with it, I guess.
They share a meal and reminisce together for a little while, but Greta eventually decides it is time to get back on the road to Gladeroot.
With the uncertainty of her voyage looming over her, she wonders how much time will pass until she and her mentor meet again. She casts a worried glance at all the wrinkles Vola has gained since they last saw each other. This is by far the hardest good-bye yet.

[Eladrinblade]

"Off you go, then. Mama bear has to send her cubs off, as is right." She gives both of you hugs; you think you might finally be stronger than her for once, though she was never too big like Sugoth. "Ah, curse my thick head! I near forgot." She goes to grab her shield from against the far wall, then brings it back and hands it to Sugoth, then says something to her in orcish, to which Sugoth hesitates. Vola pokes the shield against her midriff and says something else, to which Sugoth finally responds, by pulling her own shield from her back and trading it for Vola's. Vola looks at you while Sugoth inspects her mother's shield, "This one has a bit of magic, and I damn near never use it anyway, it's too heavy. I can put some magic on yours, if you bring me the materials. You're going to be the druid hereabouts some day soon, you'll need it. Her too." She points at her daughter. "Now get, both of yeh. I'm tired."

She ambles back to her pile of furs, kicking out the fire in the process.

She can enchant weapons, shields, and armor, to some degree. She can also craft anything from hide or leather.

Her magic is as strong as ever, even as her body fails.

[Eladrinblade]

Feeling a bit saddened, you exit the cave, put back the bundles of dry sticks and branches, untie Acorn, and saddle up.

From here, you've only been a few miles farther in any direction, that you remember, and only with Vola, and that was years ago. She would sometimes force you to navigate back to her cave on your own, or get along in the forest alone in some part you were unfamiliar with. You've been able to summon magic to cure wounds since you were an older child, but the first time you ever used magic that you learned how to use, you were left alone in the forest during a winter snowstorm and expected to survive for a week. That was the hardest time you ever had of it, and one night you were hungry and literally starting to freeze to death. You were trying to start a fire using just tools you made yourself, because you hadn't been able to just magically create fire like Vola, but that night, being tested and on the edge, your mind hardened and you made it happen. You slept warm that night, both inside and out.

Shaking your head, you bring yourself back to the present. You look at the sun through the dense canopy and orient yourself. Lately, you've found that you just always know which direction is which. Gladeroot is about seven leagues from Lendaxaer Ranch, as a bird flies. From here, it is less than six. According to Gareth and the map in his office, it is north and somewhat east. It is better to aim further east than the town actually lies, because there is a trail connecting Gladeroot to Daeryn's Ford, which you will come across if you head too far east, yet if you head too far west you could pass the town entirely. It is still mid-morning, and taking into account Acorn's faster speed and the trackless forest to navigate through, you will get there in the evening if you don't stop.

You pick the best angle you can determine and set out. You average about a league every hour and a half, by your guess. Hours of dark, rolling forestland pass you by, all new to you. Going around sudden bluffs and drop-offs and the occasional pond, over the odd stream or creek, you make your way, adjusting your course as the sun lazily crosses the summer sky, which you can barely see, except through the rare patch opened by a large fallen limb or tree. These bright spots seem alien compared to the rest of the forest. Coming across one such deadfall about four hours since Vola's cave (early afternoon), you stop to take a break and finish the pie Kolsc gave you, sharing it with Sugoth, both of you sitting down on the large fallen tree. It is then when you realize you're going to need to start bringing along food for Gruff, since you can't wait on him to go hunting while you're traveling unless you have time to make a camp, and he ought to have at least some meat everyday.

Sugoth breaks her silence to ask you about Gladeroot. She's been to Daeryn's Ford a few times, usually as a guard for someone going there. You've been there before as well, having been brought along by Rhine when he had some business there and wasn't in a hurry. Other than that, this is most likely the farthest you've ever been from your home. You don't have much to tell her; you just know it's a small village in a large meadow in the forest. Farmers, you think. You look at her; she seems completely at ease out here. She was also trained by her mother somewhat, along with you, though not as a druid. Rhine had her practice her fighting skills with him during some of the time that you were with Vola. She can get along in the wild as well as anybody from Shuttercreek; a group that includes a few elven hunters.

You finish the pie, which great, though it would have been better warm and not bouncing around in a sack for hours. On the move again, you begin to notice that this section of the forest is somewhat hillier, moreso the farther east you go, but you are also heading north and it isn't too long before the terrain smooths back out. At one point in the mid-afternoon, you notice something contrasting sharply with the forest floor at the bottom of a short ravine. Looking closer, you see that it's a skeleton, long dead. It is humanoid-shaped, though some of it's yellowed bones are missing, mostly among the limbs, though several ribs are gone. It lies on it's back, with a small tree growing through it's ribcage.

Getting closer, you see that it is massive; larger than any person you have ever seen. It's height is impossible to know because of the missing bones, but the skull is easily six times larger than an adult humans', but of roughly the same shape. The other bones are much longer and thicker as well. Recognizing the features of the skeleton, you know what it is; Vola taught you a great deal about nature, and you've spoken to others in the village who did as well. Giants are grouped in with other creatures of nature, and the least among them are "hill giants", also known as "ogres"; dim-witted murderous brutes. You've never heard of ogres in this area; there must be a story here, but you see nothing around that gives you a clue, though you do see what must have been the ogres' club (which they are known to use); a rotting moss-covered length of wood a few feet away from the skeleton, too big even for Sugoth to grip. You also notice a couple mossy rocks sitting near the base of the tree that would be about the right size for an ogre to throw two-handed, by your guess. Nothing else remains. There is no sign of how the creature died, either. With nothing to do about it, you continue on your journey.

After a total of eight hours of travel, you notice Acorn growing tired. It is mid-afternoon, and you should be within a few hours of Gladeroot at this point, and the sun won't set for at least that long, so you give the horse a break and get off to walk the remaining distance, holding her reins in your hand. This slows your pace somewhat. Though the sun has not set, it is getting noticeably darker in the forest, as the canopy is so thick that little light can get through at a low angle. However, it does not get any darker than this until sunset, as you know from living in the forest for years.

A few hours later, you spot an old stump, which was clearly sawed. Not long after, you spot another. Then another. You must be getting close; no one logs the middle of a forest. Sure enough, a couple hours before dark, you can see the edge of the forest, beyond which is a large meadow. A stone's throw from the edge of the forest, off to the side of your path, you see a carved pole, which must have been a tree at some point. It stands about three times the height of a grown man, and depicts a man with the lower body of a horse, who has eyes and ears like yours, though his hair is brown. He is powerfully built, and carries a bow in his left hand, with a quiver of arrows and strap visible over his opposite shoulder. His right hand is raised as if telling you to stop. His face is stern and his eyes hard. Two grey wolves stand amidst his legs, staring at you. The pole continues above him, becoming a canopied sycamore tree with a face and arms like a person and holding a boulder in both hands, though it's features are stretched like a carved face on a growing tree might look. Finally, sprouting from the "canopy" of the tree person, is a large speckled white owl with stern bushy black brows and large yellow eyes. It's "wings" spread wide from the pole, clearly added after the pole was erected. The whole thing is painted well, though it has faded with age, and some of the paint has flecked off.

Emerging into the meadow, you can see that it is perhaps a mile long, if not as wide, with a large grove in the center. The meadow surrounding the grove is home to a circle of farms and livestock pens, all fenced in with wood. Each of the fenced lots holds a different crop or creature, some seem to have nothing but wild grass; they must be rotating their crops. Several large boulders are scattered about the meadow, the farms working right around them. Spaced evenly near the outer edges of the farms are tall wooden platforms with ladders. The nearest one has a person, a teenage boy by the looks of him, sitting atop it on a crude chair, a bow across his lap, clad in armor like yours but perhaps less fine. He has not spotted you yet, though you are somewhat behind the sun from his angle. The platform is perhaps two-hundred feet from the forest's edge. The next platforms are maybe three times that distance away. The area from the edge of the forest to the nearest farms is simply wild grass, but not more than a year old. This "field" seems to wrap all the way around the meadow; perhaps they use it for hay.

Beyond him, around and within the grove, you can see many wooden cottages with thatched roofs, along with livestock barns and sheds. This must surely be Gladeroot; what perfect aim you had!

You rolled a 20 on your survival check to navigate; for a total result of 31. You also rolled a 20 on your nature check to know what the skeleton was. Just thought you'd like to know.

[Möhre]

Yea, boi. Those are some sweet rolls
Thinking it best not to startle the boy, Greta continues at a slower pace and raises her free arm in greeting. Intrigued by the carved pole they came across earlier, she intends to ask about it whenever she gets the chance.

[Eladrinblade]

To his credit, it doesn't take the boy long to notice you. At first, he is indeed startled, dropping off his chair and laying low to give himself cover while taking a quick look at you. He then backs out of view and a moment later you can hear a blaring horn issue from his platform. He kneels back up and holds out his bow arm, "Halt! Who are you?"

You calmly approach within relatively easy speaking distance. You look to either side and note that the people on the next towers are looking towards you with nocked bows in hand. You tell him who you are and where you come from. "Nirshaier..., I know that name. You're related to the Ranger? You have the same hair." He calms down as you explain. You see a small group of people walking your way from the village, armed and armored, but not violent looking. You keep talking to the boy in the meantime; he was not aware that Rhine is dead, and he seems a bit on edge, as if he was expecting trouble. Apparently, the people of Gladeroot have also noticed the Shadewood growing a bit strange. They hear strange noises in the distance at night, and a couple of their people have disappeared in the past year. On top of that, a while back they caught some goblins trying to sneak into the fields and chased them off.

The group arrives: four men and women clad in leather and wielding bows, spears, and horns, accompanied by a couple dogs; one large and wolf-like, stockier than Gruff, with a tail the curves up and forward in an arc, the other smaller and leaner and less shaggy, looking kind of like a mix between a badger and a fox, both common breeds. You and the boy talk to them and it isn't long before you are walking with them into the village. They ask you about Rhine and recent goings-on, and tell you some basic things about Gladeroot. Clearly on-edge about Gruff, they keep their distance. You pass through several fence gates on your way in. There is an innermost "field" surrounding the grove which is home to the livestock barns and several cottages and shacks. A few larger and more defensible wooden platforms surround this inner field, though no one that you can see is stationed on them.

Far to one side of the village, you notice a cabin-sized white boulder which looks to be covered in some kind of markings (it's hard to tell from this distance), suspiciously out of place in the meadow; it is surrounded by untouched field for quite a ways in every direction. Just past the glade in the other direction, along the road that leads out of the village, is a stone building taller than anything but the barns, though it has a spire/bell tower which is even taller. It's made of true cut-and-fitted stones, not stacked river stones like the Ice Creek Mill. The front of this structure faces straight east, so you can't see the entrance from here. One of your escorts notifies you that that is the Pelorian Abbey you are looking for.

They walk you up to the grove itself, giving you the layout and where things are. Most of the villagers live within the grove. There is one lodge in the center, which has a large front porch where the elders gather every evening if you wish to speak with them. The elders are the closest thing Gladeroot has to an authority. The guards then leave you be, allowing you to do what you wish. They give you their condolences about Rhine; seems he was highly respected here.

The grove is a glade, meaning it has no undergrowth, just grass and moss. All of the trees are tall, thick, and healthy. Someone removes the fallen leaves, apparently. You can see across and through the whole thing, including the lodge they spoke of. There are a couple dozen cottages scattered about, and the whole thing is crisscrossed by stone-paved paths. Within the lower boughs of the trees, you are delighted to see a number of treehouses, connected to each other via small rope-bridges, near the center of the grove, though there are a few lone satellites further out. Most of them appear to be empty or otherwise unused, and look older than the cottages. They are fairly crude like your own home, not true elven tree homes. The village as a whole lacks any walls or other strong defenses, though the many fences would slow attackers and the wood platforms and tree houses would protect bowmen to some degree. The abbey itself is the most defensible location and the only one basically immune to torching.

If you have any questions, ask. The guards told you some things, and said that the elders can answer more. There are several craftsmen and a couple traders in the village, so you can buy many basic things.

[Möhre]

Greta intends to stock up on things, but wants to investigate the abbey first. She does ask their escorts about the pole's origin.
Afterwards, she and Sugoth approach the abbey and have a look around. Greta isn't sure what she's looking for, but this being the last known place her mother went to makes her want to pay close attention.
They enter the abbey and begin to ask questions about her parents and Greta's mysterious disease. Surely they must know where her mother went afterwards?
If she feels like she needs more answers, she will ask the elders what they remember of her parent's visit.

[Eladrinblade]

One of the guards, a young woman, answers your question about the poles. "The totems? They were there when my ancestors first settled Gladeroot. Legend has it that horse people lived in this glade; large elf-like people with the lower bodies of horses, I think there is a word for them. I don't remember. Nobody here knows if it's true, but we don't know who made those totems or painted the boulder. Elves used to live here with us, I think, but that was a long time ago, before me. They might know if it's true. The white tree-man, however, is true. Or at least people here claim to have seen him. The "White Walker". Supposedly, it's a tree that can walk like a man on two trunk-legs. Sometimes, during moonless, starry nights, he can be seen wandering the forest. Not the Shadewood, though." She frowns seriously and waves her hand horizontally pointedly, palm down, as if cancelling a trade deal. "Too dark and not enough room, probably."

The abbey is a stark contrast to the entirety of Gladeroot. Made of clean, fitted-stones, it stands outside the grove to the east, amidst what you think is a graveyard, judging by the stone markers that rise from the field around it. It is a long, narrow building with a tall belltower/spire on the east side, and the west side has moss growing between the stones. It has a steep roof covered in stiff wooden shingles painted yellow, which are faded to be almost white. It has high windows under the eaves along the side. You walk around to the east side. You round the corner to see the front entrance: a set of rounded high-quality double doors, strong and heavy, under a grand circular window about as wide as Sugoth is tall, which is ringed by a circle of fitted stones. Directly above the window is the tall spire/belltower. The window is the prominent feature of the structure; it faces true east, to catch the rising, sun, you'd guess. You knock on the door, nervous about what you may discover in the next hour.

After a few long breaths, one of the doors slowly cracks open, revealing a small tanned boy with bright blue eyes and bowl-cut blonde hair, staring at you through the crack, silently and expressionlessly. You smile and greet him. For a moment, he doesn't react, then the door opens fully and the boy walks away into the abbey. You and Sugoth trade glances, then step inside. This side of the building is a church, with rows of pews on either side of a central walkway. There are small rooms, closets maybe, to either side of the front door. The floor is clean stone, painted a pale yellow in the middle walkway. There is a wall about thirty feet in, with two doorways on either side near the side walls. Between them, is a raised dais with a bare wooden altar and a stand from which someone would speak. Above that, on the wall, is a bright and polished golden metal sun with a wizened male face in the center; the symbol of Pelor, god of the sun. The boy walks through one of the doorways, farther into the abbey. You follow.

The abbey is completely quiet, and dark. You and Sugoth can see just fine, but the boy must be navigating by familiarity. He leads you through an empty commons area with a kitchen into a hallway between a few rooms. At the end of the hallway is a door, which the young boy knocks on. An old, light, and somewhat feeble male voice answers in a tone that suggests strength not present in the voice itself, "Come in." The boy opens the door and holds it open, waiting for you to enter the room beyond, which is a private bedroom and study, lit by a small fireplace. Sitting at a round table with his finished dinner and a few books and scrolls cluttering it up, is a thin old man in muted sun-toned clerical vestments. You spy a mace and shield sitting against the wall near his bed. He is not as tanned as the boy, but his full head of medium-length straight hair is an even paler blonde, and his eyes shine a brighter topaz than most young people. He regards the two of you for a long moment, face carefully expressionless, eyes searching...studying. You greet him in your normal way, hoping to get past all this unfamiliarity. He finally smiles, softly, "How can we help you, young Nirshaier? And companion." He nods at Sugoth, obviously just a little suspicious of her...half-orcs are vanishingly rare in this region, and this one is massively strong and well-armed. "Adras, you may go." The boy closes the door.