What looked like a game with six people playing dropped down to two. The two were amenable with playing an extra character, so we went ahead. A nature god worshiping cleric, Tree hugging elf, stout dwarf, and a thief had been charged by their patron (they all "worked" for the same fellow) to go to the town of Latham and check on Braagi, a druid who had gone missing recently.
Arriving at the town they went to work asking questions and trying to help the locals. It was spring but instead of blooming the local flora had begun to wither, there were loud noises coming from the forest and no one had seen or heard from Braagi. All this occurred or started around two weeks ago. They asked for directions to the druid's domicile and a young man named Dolby offered to show them there and even hold a torch for them in the dark of the forest, for a nominal fee of course.
Arriving at Braagi's hut they found it was wrecked! Eventually they figured out that a large creature had reached in and grabbed the druid and carried him deeper into the forest. Further investigation revealed his notebook with recent entries regarding a tribe of wild men from the dark heart of the forest. they worshiped chaotic forest spirits and normally stayed deep in the forest but in recent weeks had moved closer to Braagi and Latham!
They returned to the village to get some rest and question the locals about these wild folk. Thankfully I had my little rumor chart I had made up, they heard about little men with poison arrows, the wild men themselves, and a section of the woods that had been twisted and warped. Obviously that was where they should go! So off they went, with Dolby showing the way.
They reached an area where the earth had been gouged away, created a hole in the ground that was guarded by an ogre (they came in the opposite side from where the wood imps and their spiders were) They employed some good tactics and took him rather quickly. The thief climbed down a rope into the hole and scouted around. To one side there was an encampment of wild men, and the other side was a rope bridge leading to a worship area. He overheard some of the men speaking of a new forest spirit who was more "hands on", so to speak. He returned and let them know what the situation was.
They all went down, Dolby was to stay with the horse he brought, and they crossed the bridge and knocked out guards as they went. When they came to the worship area they found Braagi, suspended from the cavern ceiling and tied (by tree roots extending down) to a long, thin stone spar that seemed to be draining his life. The thief climbed up and dislodged the stone and grabbed the druid. The stone hit the altar below, shattering into several pieces. They ran back to the bridge in time for the "forest spirit" (a young adult green dragon) to roar his disapproval and fly away. I ended it this way as we were running a little long and I was getting hungry.
Everyone had fun and hopefully we can do it again soon. Today's March Maps is going to come out later tonight, just to let you all know. Take care everyone!
