The Death Knight's Squire (Finished!)

[GinkyGotBack]

Suddenly, as you walk towards the footprints, you feel the ground start to give way under your feet. Too late you realize and try to roll away, but the forest path drops under you. You fall about 10 feet, landing heavily in a deep pit. It winds you, and you get to your feet shakily.

You only take 1 Bludgeoning damage, luckily. Perhaps luck is still on your side. However, for the moment you are still stuck in this pit.

 

[dae mec]

Sylrila winces and brushes the dirt off herself. Stupid, stupid. There she goes again, blundering right into a mess. She looks around, trying to figure out what caused this pit, if the walls are craggy enough to climb up, or any other information about this probably deliberate trap. Interesting choice, using footprints. They weren't hunting for animals, then. It could all be a coincidence, but Sylrila doubts it.

She reaches into her pack and pulls out the hempen rope she keeps for situations like these. She aims to use it to climb out.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You fashion a lasso at the end of the rope and, eyeing up a low broken branch on a nearby tree, swing the rope, aiming for it. Your lasso works like a treat! It catches on the broken branch stump and you quickly tighten it. Testing the rope a couple of times, you brace your feet on the side of the pit and, hand over hand, walk yourself up and out. Quickly you gather up your rope and stow it in your pack. You can see now looking down at the pit that the footsteps you saw turned out to be nothing more than a brown a tarp with some crudely drawn bootprints on it.

 

[dae mec]

No one was heading into the underbrush, then. To be fooled by such a simple trap... Sylrila rolls her eyes at her overeagerness. She eats a few berries, just enough to hopefully soothe her bruises. The trapsetter should be nearby. Perhaps in the cave? Making an effort to be sneaky, Sylrila creeps along the edge of the path towards the cave. She's learned from her mistake at the beginning of the forest. And just now. She's not going to rush in.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Following the path to the cave, Sylrila comes across a moss-covered log, and as you near it you see that it is covered with fungi, bright green mushrooms. You are not sure if you've seen their kind before. The color seems almost phosphorescent, like they would even glow at night!

 

[dae mec]

Rule number two of forests, or perhaps the subclause of rule number one, is "Especially don't eat weird mushrooms." These are even stranger than usual, though, so she takes a moment to frown at it. Has she seen these before? Sylrila examines it, going so far as to draw her sword and poke one.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

A bright, glowing green mushroom probably isn't safe to eat, let alone touch, you think to yourself. Best to leave sleeping fungi lie and move on.

A river threads through this part of Weathercote Wood. Ahead, you see the path bends sharply to the right, and on the north side of the path sits a rock outcropping, on the front of which is the entrance to a cave. Peering inside from across the river, you see that it extends a long way.

Exploring this cave is going to require you to cross a stream also... a busy torrent, about fifteen feet wide, rushes from east to west, filling the forest with the sound of rushing water. To the right of the river and the cave, the path you are on continues on to the east, should you wish to ignore the cave and press onward.

 

[dae mec]

She frowns. Everything seems to be turning east. But the part of Weathercote Wood she needs to reach is to the west... coincidence? Probably, but it's still odd. She doubts the cave is a good option, though she can always double back and check. Sylrila heads off the path to the west, taking a piece of chalk from her pack to mark trees, though she also plans on breaking a branch here and there.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You are on alert, but only the sound of the river and the birds in the trees provide any noise and movement in this part of the wood. It feels as though you have been in this wood for an age. Now the dim light of the evening has fallen and darkness creeps back under the boughs of Weathercote Wood as you make your way through the maze of trees going west. Eventually, you find yourself another path, a four-way junction. You scout around, and just off the path find several places that would be suitable for making camp. Your bones ache after a long, surprisingly uneventful day, and your stomach rumbles.

You notice that the path to the south has a large hole in the ground along its side.

 

[dae mec]

She's pleased with her find. Part of her feared wandering completely into the forest, never to be found again. Which is rather irrational, but the mind fears what it does. Sylrila walks to the potential campsite on the western side, closer to her. She places down her pack, but before she sets up for prayer and rest, she closes her mind and reaches out with her senses, searching for the tell-tale signs of good or evil.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Your divine senses pick up no Undead, Fiends, or Celestials within 60 feet of you. You won't have to worry about that at least. Hopefully. You unfurl your bedroll beneath a low rock outcropping, you only have one day's worth of provisions, so whether you decide to eat them now or save them for another time is up to you. Either way, you lie down and quickly fall asleep to the gentle sound of the wind whispering through the canopy.

You are awoken at midnight by a sound that makes you sit bolt upright - an unearthly howl, that sounds not even animal, certainly not human... You are in a dream when you hear it, and the spine-chilling sound mingles with your dream. It is still going when you wake up and then trails off, the last rising note haunted with agony. Gods, what could make a sound like that?

Disturbed to the core, you try to settle down and get back to sleep, but it is hopeless. You are on edge for the rest of the night.

As dawn begins to creep into the sky, you pack away your bedroll and try to decide which path to take this time: north, south, east, or west. And of course, there is always the hole in the southern path to investigate.

 

[dae mec]

Sylrila decides to save her food for later. She still has the heavy stew of last night to tide her over for a little longer. She touches the amulet around her neck and murmurs a brief prayer before sleeping. Her dream is the same echoes as before: she sees three paths in front of her. One leads to an idol, the other to a shield, and the last to a sword. Sylrila is drawn inexorably to the sword, as every time before. And, like before, she expects to be woken before she grabs it—and she is, by a scream that tears her sleep away.

As she stays awake, she can't help but wonder what it is. An omen? A creature? She shivers, clutching the amulet again. Her thoughts refuse to settle until the sun rises, and Sylrila decides to just continue onward. She scans the paths for any clues of what might be, and then she cautiously checks out the whole in the southern path. She doesn't plan on going south, but it's worth a glance. (Had something fallen in the hole? Did that cause the scream? But the pain sounded much deeper...)

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Tucked back into the trees you see a large, elongated hole in the ground, like a gash, as if some huge beast as literally ripped the earth asunder. You edge forward and peer down... who knows what lurks down there!

 

[dae mec]

Huh. Strange. Sylrila's curious about what caused the hole, but she doesn't want to meet what did. She heads back to the intersection of the paths and looks down each one.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

To the west, you can see another river further off. To the east, a cave and a river. To the north, you can see another river and what you think may be a sign. And finally, to the south, you can see a flash of red hidden somewhere in the trees.

 

[dae mec]

Oh. Red. Could that be the tree the old man was talking about? If so, she was at the center of the forest. Sylrila has been cursing her eagerness to go out without preparation. If she checked and made sure it was the tree, then she'd get a good idea of where to go from there. She'll go check the tree real quick and then return back. After that, it's either north or west: she could go read the sign and then head the other way. It's a lot of doubling-back, Sylrila knows, but she thinks it'll be worth it.

With that decided, she skirts far around the crevice and goes south.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Silence descends around you as you forge ever deeper down this wooded passage... Soon the junction behind you is out of sight as the passageway bends slightly east. A pile of rocks further up the path to your right sits at the base of a great oak. As you move forward to examine this pile of rocks, through the thick undergrowth you see one particular tree that looks slightly out of place. The leaves of this tree are blood red, and even the bark is a deep rich burgundy color.

From there the path continues south.

 

[dae mec]

The rocks are ordinary, but the tree has to be what the old man talked about. Sylrila walks closer, examining it. So this was the tree where the Death Knight was hung. The tale strikes her as a senseless tragedy, even now. There's a chance that this won't end in death, but the chance strikes her as slim. She hopes Darek is alright. She hopes that the knight's soul will rest after this. She hopes, well... she just hopes. Sylrila clasps her amulet and murmurs a prayer to Tyr, though it's more comfort for her than to any other soul, living or dead.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Looking at this tree, there's no doubt that it seems very out of place here... you walk off the left side of the path and make your way towards it. It sits apart from all the other trees, and as you reach it you realize it is a lot bigger than it actually looks from the path.

You stand before the red tree, looking up at its height. Standing near the tree, you hear a kind of music, ringing in your ears, much like what happened before when you detected the celestial presence in the monastery, and you are overwhelmed by a sense of powerful, holy good emanating from this tree. You have felt the presence of evil, and of undead before. This tree seems to possess energy in direct opposition to that. Your eyes go wide with the pure joy of being in its presence. Who knows where this tree came from? Perhaps it was planted by the immortal progenitors of this land? Whatever the case, you know it has great potency.

 

[dae mec]

She doesn't know how to react at first, overwhelmed by the presence of light and life and goodness coming from it. She laughs loudly and wipes her eyes where tears gathered, smiling so wide that her cheeks begin to hurt. "Thank you," she says out loud, to whoever or whatever may be listening. Sylrila walks forward and presses a hand on its trunk, reveling in the energy. Then, she reaches up and plucks two leaves from its branches, feeling the potency in her hands. She wants to keep this memory.

"Thank you," she says again.

She has the same thought again, but it's framed differently: this was the tree where the knight was hanged? This tree of celestial energy? Her stomach churns. Was it a mercy, to die in those branches? (Or, thought some small part of her, was it the cause?)

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You collect a handful of the blood-red leaves. They have a pleasant smell, and with a bit of experimentation could possibly be used to make a tea of some kind... The tea might even be beneficial in some way, there is no way of telling!

 

[dae mec]

Sylrila begins to walk away and practically steps on a branch that still gives off the aura of its mother tree. She reaches down and picks it up, feeling the weight in her hands as she walks back to the path. Before she steps onto it, Sylrila turns back and bows her head to the tree. Then, she heads back to the intersection.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You may add Red Tree Branch and Red Tree Leaves to your inventory.

Heading back to the junction, you're faced with the same options as before. North, East, or West?

 

[dae mec]

She doesn't plan on heading back east, but perhaps the sign in the north will be helpful. Sylrila knows that she's not far from the center of the forest, but a sign suggests that there might be civilization or at least directions. And if it's not useful, she'll continue north, or even just cut across from the path to the west again. She walks on the northern path to read the sign.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You move north from the junction and reach a shallow stream, which you easily cross. On the other side of the stream, you see a left-branching path. On the corner of this path is the sign you saw before, the words worn away by the weather.

It reads "Cemetary" and an arrow points down the left path.

Ahead, you see that the wood opens out, and a field is beyond! Your heart lifts a little, but then you remember poor Darek Brewmont.