Session X: Whispers in the Woods

General Summary

After gathering the bodies of their slain enemies and of their unconscious friends on a big pile, Kairon, Irven and Holtz decide to take a rest. While they are resting, they search the bodies for loot, and find some interesting things, such as a quiver that connects to small pocket planes that they had seen action during the fight, some interesting magical boots that they still have to determine the workings of and 4 magical maps that indicate three locations: Lignum Outpost, Vallis Outpost and Amnis Outpost. Using his tracking and survival skills, Kairon determines from the maps that they are most likely at the Lignum Outpost. During their rest, Xiaobo and Emerald wake up, and so does the Half-Orc that they hadn't killed yet. He tries to escape his bounds but fails, and the party starts to question him. He tells them that his name is Karg and that he has done his duty, bows his head and stops talking altogether. Getting fed up with his silence, the party knocks him out again, and decides to explore the hut. In the hut, they find several small pens with wounded animals, who seem very scared of the party. Further in the hut, they find a small living area and a storage closet, where they find some healing potions and some undetermined greenish potions with twigs and leaves floating in them. They also find a door behind which they discover a spiraling staircase which leads all the way to the top of the tree, from where they have an excellent view of the entirety of the forest. In the distance they notice a large tree sticking out above all the other trees, which they determine to be in the middle of the tree outposts on the map. The party theorizes that the large tree might be some homebase.

Trust me, I come from a farming family, I know what I'm doing
— Irven, moments before "milking" a goat

After some unfortunate goat-milking, the party decides to get a good nights sleep. During the night, Karg tries to escape again, but is again knocked unconscious, this time by Xiaobo. When they wake up in the morning, the party decides to make a visit to what they assume is the homebase of these people, and head towards the middle of the three outposts, leaving Karg behind. Emerald agains scouts ahead, and after a few hours, she stumbles onto another clearing in the trees. There she finds a small village build into the trees. She sees people walking, children playing, but also a dozen or so people guarding the village from the trees and on the ground. She also sees multiple tree logs suspended in the air with an intricate system of ropes, all around the perimeter of the village. The party decides that it might be too dangerous to attack the village head-on, so they decide to pay a visit to the outposts first, to possibly find more information and to thin out their forces. And so they head back to the Lignum Outpost, where they find that Karg has escaped. The party tries to track him down, but they lose sight of his tracks after following them for half an hour.With Karg probably on his way to warn the village, time is of the essence, so the party imediately sets out for Vallis Outpost. After a few hours of travel, the trees begin to change again, and the forest grows thinner. The party stumbles upon a decline that leads into a valley, with a rockface on the other side. After a little bit of searching, the party finds a hidden opening in the rockface, with light coming out of it. The party decides that a rush attack is the best option, so Irven rushes in, and is greeted by 2 guards that were waiting for him behind the entrance, swords at the ready. The rest of the party joins Irven, and the two guards are joined by a druid that comes from further in outpost. A fight ensues, during which Web is unfortunately blown away, and the party manages to kill the occupants of the outpost. When the party explores the outpost, they find a living area and storage closet similar to the ones in the Lignum Outpost, where they again find some healing potions and some mysterious green potions. Further into the outpost, they find a staircase that leads to a room above, which seems to be some kind of communications chamber. In the chamber there are multiple cages with doves inside them, and there are slits in the rockface where birds can fly through. The party finds multipe letters here. Most of them talk about the movement of wounded or dangerous animals, but some of them talk of the recent attacks from the party on the Lignum Outpost, and warn that the "Domus Grove" might be in danger. Irven decides to take one of the doves as a pet and calls him Dave, who is later blown up by Kairon in an unfortunate accident. Next to the staircase, a tunnel leads further into the rockface, and eventually splits into three different tunnels. The party explores all three. In the first one they find a spider nest, where they are attacked by the inhabiting spiders, who are quickly dealt with. In the second tunnel they find a large underground lake blocking their passage. At the end of the third tunnel they find a ladder leading up to a trap door, which opens into the outside again on the other side of the cliff. Having explored the whole outpost, the party moves on the last outpost, the Amnis Outpost. When they get close the the Amnis Outpost a few hours later, they begin hearing a river running in the distance. After approaching further, they see a river with a bridge built over it, right before a waterfall. Sitting on top of the bridge is a small wooden hut, light coming out of its windows. Irven tries to sneak up on the hut, but is again greeted by two guards, who throw spears at him. The party rushed to his aid again and quickly kills the two guards, but not long after to large toads come jumping out of the water and a though looking man comes running out of the hut. The fight continues, during which Xiaobo is swallowed up by on the the toads. The party eventually manages to defeat their foes, but when they cut open the toad, Xiaobo comes out lifeless. The party now alone at the outpost, again exhausted by a long day of travel and fighting, but this time with a dead party member as a result.