Session 37 – And Anon Methought the Wood Began to Move

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

The party and its allies camps on the edge of the clearing before the hive. Glitterstem leads a discussion on strategy, though given the presence of hostages inside the main cell, there are few good options. Later, on watch, Glitterstem notices movement inside the woods – creatures are slowly creeping up on the company before everyone has had a chance to recover. The gnome awakens everyone else, except Hursag, who manages to sleep through the whole encounter. The creatures – humanoid, but apparently composed of vines, are finally driven back by Theobald’s fireball. They vanish back into the woods, but Theobald and Glitterstem have to engage in some firefighting in order to avoid being trapped in a forest fire.
At dawn, another group of bijzweijn – seven workers, led by a single soldier, emerge from the hive. Having spied the party, the soldier leads his charges directly toward it. Despite his dizziness, Miletus manages to focus enough to hit several of the creatures with his arrows. However, having had insufficient time to recover, he sustains a leg injury, and is now limping, though Glitterstem manages to keep him alive. Engaged with the bee-pigs, the party is beset from behind by the walking vine-people from earlier in the night. Eventually, all the enemies are driven off with fire and steel.
When everyone has completed their rest, and the morning meal is taken, Enkidu receives a mental message from Nugast. The goblin shaman raises pointed questions about the safety of Dafna aboard the Salamander, but he wants to deal – in exchange for some metal weapons as tokens of success, and a promise of party intervention on his behalf before his people – the Dire Wolves – he is willing to release the hostages. He also counters accusations of aggression by charging the party with wanton slaughter of his beasts, which he thinks can help lead the Dire Wolves to victory. He is also open to an alliance, but is skeptical of the Brotherhood, and accuses the Company of the Horse-Pelican of facilitating the orcs’ slaughter of the goblins in the hunting lodge.
Enkidu relates what he hears to the rest of the group, and sends Goltur out to see if he can catch a scent of the shaman. Goltur is successful, and together with Glitterstem, who thinks he can see some movement a ways away in the woods, Enkidu is moderately certain of the shaman’s position. Ultimately, he rejects Nugast’s deal – the shaman is asking for too many weapons. The rest of the party agrees – Glitterstem on the grounds that Nugast gave him a misleading vision. Enkidu directs Theobald to initiate the casting of a fireball into the area where he thinks Nugast is located. The sorcerer begins to chant and make the necessary motions…

Report Date

10 Sep 2016