2020.12.19 - Into the Forest?

General Summary

Jörgund Brynjolf and Ledwen Blackbreeze in the Gulthmere Forest, directly south of the StarMantle - Western Farms

At near midnight, the duo continued with their plans of following the poisoner back to the Star Faire to find the man that hired him.

On the trail back, they encountered an unknown figure. This turned out to be Thoradin, the dwarf, and just watched the duo. As Jörgund moved to continue, the poisoner saw his chance, dove for the bushes, and tried to crawl away

Jörgund Brynjolf crawled after him, while Strigine followed the group from above.

Jörgund Brynjolf kept pace, but then ran into a cliff wall. The poisoner turned, and snuck down a small tunnel

The 3 adventurers grouped up, lit a torch, healed Jörgund and agreed Thoradin should go 1st - being a dwarf and able to see in the dark. He came across a fork in the tunnel. They sent Strigine through 1st to scout.

Finding trees, more cliffs, and light on the other side (down both forks), the group was undecided on which fork they should take. Rolling dice, they landed on the north route. As Thoradin scouted the tunnel slowly, he found a trip line.

The group crossed the line, exited the tunnel, and stood upon a cliff outcropping... marveling at how could there be bright sunlight at this hour.

Again, Strigine flew out, scouting the area, finding:
Trees with wispy lines between them
The few creatures around avoided the trees
The party was in a bowl/crater
Hawks and other predator birds waited at the cliff top

Jörgund threw some rocks at the trees, which responded with hissing and some shaking.

The Party immediately felt out of place, and questioned:
_ Where are we? Should we even be here?

Ledwen remembered feeling something funny as he walked through the cave and located cracks in the north tunnel ceiling.

They decided a long rest is needed, before leaving the cliff. A staggered long rest ensued - each taking a round on the watch. During the watch, they spent considerable time watching the trees. They identified:
Bulges on the trees
Patterns of the wispy lines
Extents of the lines.

Upon waking, the group found it still to be daylight (although dimmer and the sun had moved). Ledwen sent a Mage Hand over to poke one of the bulges. It immediately unwrapped from the tree, and a large spider angerly swatted at the Hand. Ledwen turned and raced back up the cliff to safety.

The spider hissed and watched this pest run away, not leaving its safety tree. Ledwen then turned toward it and twinned firebolted both spiders.

These 2 spiders screamed and hissed, 2 more joining the fight from the next tree. The 1st spider in each tree charged the cliff position, quickly meeting their demise from arrows, firebolts, and Thorin's Thorn Wall

Jörgund was wrapped in a web, while Thoradin held the north cliff edge - mightily resisting all the poison bites. Ledwen took strategic cover in the tunnel, then hopped out, firebolted any arachnid in sight, and jumped back into the tunnel.

When the last spider fell to Jörgund's axe, the Group re-evaluated their situation.

Rewards Granted

1100 xp Each - Avoiding the floor trap, decimating 4 of the Tree Spiders from the cliff

Missions/Quests Completed

Progressed - What's this Junk? - Following the poisoner through a tunnel into another land

Character(s) interacted with

Met and added Thoradin, a neutral dwarf druid, to the Party

Related Reports

2020.12.05 - Fair Poison - foiled the poison attempt and chased the Poisoner