Session 6: Beneath the Dark Elms Report

General Summary

Leaving the Haunted Cabin behind the trio made their way deeper into the forest following the game trail. The trail made its way through the forest on what appeared to be an ancient road in that the larger trees were cleared back to about the width of a cart and it was only shrubbery and shorter young trees close to the path. This made it not all that surprising when the party emerged from the trees into a small clearing to find a stone bridge crossing a wide stream. What did surprise the trio was a wooden sign stuck into the ground at an angle with the words "Honey Tax" scrawled in chalk with an arrow pointing down to a clay pot sitting at the base of the sign post.   Deciding it was best to not cross the bridge the party turned north and walked along the trail following the stream. After a few minutes along the trail the party rounded a corner and encountered a hunter searching along the trail. Upon hearing them he drew and notched an arrow while calling out for them to halt and identify themselves. Announcing themselves and their intentions, the hunter lowered his bow and let out a sign of relief. He introduced himself as Brek, a hunter, and he too was in search of someone. The hunter explained that his friend and partner Grisht had gone missing after his last hunting expedition a few weeks ago. Brek suspects that his partner may have been killed by the fowl Man Beast that had heard rumors about from local farmers. Their livestock had been slaughtered and the half eaten corpses had been left behind. What little that had been seen of the beast described it as a hulking half man half bear. Grisht may have encountered the beast and been killed so now Brek is in search of any trace of Grisht or the Man Beast.   Upon hearing his story and relaying their story of the missing children everyone decided it was best to work together and find the children as quickly as possible to avoid anything horrible from happening to them. Brek suggested speaking to the Bee Shaman who resides by a meadow not too far away, as he might have seen some trace of the children's passing. Leading them along the trail and then turning east at a crossroads the Hunter expertly navigated the forest trails, bringing the adventurers to the meadow. The meadow was a sight to behold as it was just beginning to flower its spring colors. A riot of different flowers covered the meadow as bees and birds flitted about noisily about their business. On the far side of the meadow attending some beehives was a man covered head to toe in a cloth outfit stripped in yellow and black with a wicker mask covering his face.   Calling out to the shaman, Brek made his way into the meadow leading the trio but stopping a few hundred feet from the hives. The Shaman put down his tools and picked up a large black staff topped with a bee figure head and made his way to meet them. Without removing his mask he greeted everyone and welcomed them to his meadow. The trio explained why they had come and asked if he had seen any trace of the children. The Shaman shook his head and said no he had seen no sign of any children but this morning he had been disturbed by a rushing of wind through the meadow. A large gale that had never occurred before swept through the middle of the clearing and whipped into the trees to the north. The shaman gestured towards the north where there was a small opening in the trees allowing a trail to lead back into the forest. He warned them though that there are some ruins to the north where undead have begun to appear, creeping outward driving the wildlife south.   Thanking the Shaman for his help the group made their way back into the forest following the trail. After about a mile they came upon a small stream and a split in the trail heading east or west. Asking Brek to see if he could find any tracks, the hunter searched around the muddy bank and found some prints heading to the east. There were two sets of prints that were the size of children's feet but strangely there were also deer hoof prints between the two children's prints. Even more amazingly the hoof prints only showed one set of feet instead of two, so unless a deer was walking on its hind legs, something strange was afoot. Hurrying along the trail the group followed along the stream until the sound of pan pipes echoed from behind them. Turning to find the source the sound faded away only to reappear ahead of them on the trail. This little dance continued as the group made its way down the trail until the group emerged into a small clearing surrounding a small pond.   The sight of the pond was breathtaking as the surface was covered with several different type of lilies in several different colors, while little lights like fireflies drifted above the surface despite it being near mid day. On the far side of the pond was the source of the pan pipes, a short man with the legs of a deer sat upon a large tree stump playing the pipes as three young children danced to his music. Not far from where the children dance were three beautiful women with bronze skin and flowers woven into their green hair attending a small picnic. Startled by their arrival the man stopped playing drawing the attention of the women. Turning to the newly arrived adventurers the women welcomed them to their home and asked them to join them for the meal.   Making their way over to the picnic, Esme warned the other about the food and suggested that they not eat as it may have fairy magic in it. The children and the strange man began the feast while one of the women introduced themselves as Aine, Fionn, and Nimue, the man was Roen and their children were Nymia, Lily and Tannon. She inquired as to why the adventurers were traveling through the forest and looked slightly relieved when the trio explained they were searching for the children. Aine explained that Lily and Tannon's father had mistreated them horribly, especially after his wife had passed away, and thus the children often sought refuge in the forest. That is where they met the children to whom they provided food and care as needed. The women wished to adopt the children but the father refused, taking his anger out upon young Tannon, drawing attention to the bruising on the child's face. So the women had Roen steal some goblin arrows and kill Corstal, whisking away the children to the forest.   Unsure of how to react the trio whispered amongst themselves. The children were obviously better off than they were with their father. Gytha remembered that Corstal had been banned from her uncle's tavern a few years back due to his anger and bar brawls. He hadn't been seen in town much since then except on an occasional market day to sell his crops, leaving the children isolated out on the farm. Yet the fae had murdered the father in cold blood, whether it was for a good cause or not. And what could they say to the townsfolk if they returned without the children? That they left them in the care of the Fae? This pulled especially hard on Cerdic as a member of the clergy of the One True God. Inquiring about the third child, prompted the Fae to explain that their oldest daughter had been with them since her birth parents had died from the summer plague, leaving her alone on their farm. Gytha and Cerdic exchanged glances as they had only heard stories of a plague that swept through the Tithelands in the time of their grandparents, yet the child appeared no more than 12 years old.   Deciding it was best to leave the children with the Fae the party rose to leave thanking their hosts for their hospitality. The Fae though wished to ask the adventurers for help. Aine explained that some malevolent force had crept into the wood in the north, seeping its evil influence southward. It had invaded some old ruins to the north driving the wildlife from the area, sowing chaos and death as corpses began to rise and stalk the ruins. They wished for the adventurers' help in discovering the source of this evil and to vanquish or destroy it, bringing tranquility back to the forest. The trio agreed, to the delight of the Fae, who quickly produced a small woven grass sack, a small vial and some wooden pocket cases. Fionn explained that the sack contained the petals of the Larathia flower, which should provide some relief to any wounds they may suffer. The wooden cases contain a salve made from the petals which is more potent while the vial contains a potion brewed from some strong herbs that may help save any unconscious person.   Bidding fairwell to the Fae and the children the group made their way out of the clearing and back into the forest only to find that time had left them behind when they were in the glade. The sun was barely above the horizon, blocked out by the trees leaving them in almost complete darkness. Wishing to make camp for the evening Brek led them back down to the crossroad by the stream and they set about making ready for the evening. Everyone gathered enough firewood to provide a fire through the night and laid out their sleeping gear. Gytha set about the meal, trying to cook up some of the rations they carried but only succeeded in producing a rather bland mush. Dividing up the watches, Gytha took the first watch only to fall asleep, exhausted from the days travels. The was awoken however when a small woodgrue crept into camp and lit Cerdic's bedroll on fire.   Chaos erupted with the adventurers jumping from their bedrolls as the little creature cackled and danced around his fire. Cerdic furiously pounded out the bedroll fire as Esme punched the woodgrue in the nose knocking him down, clutching his nose in pain. The little creature yelped in pain and cried out asking why had she hit him. Exasperatedly Esme stated that you can't just light people's things on fire, especially when they are in them. The little woodgrue nodded and apologized, asking if he can stay by their fire for the night. The group reluctantly agreed and the woodgrue introduced himself as Grunkle. Everyone bedded back down for the evening, wondering what the next day would bring.