Emerys' past/the group's future

A solemn start to this chapter of the adventure as the group licked their wounds, cut their losses, and buried their dead. Specifically... Quint. Emerys lead what proved to be a small, solemn funeral, burying their companion in the nearby woods. No one had much to say, which isn't necessarily a surprise. This man wasn't a lifelong companion or even a close friend... but he did make things seem a little lighter. Although it goes unspoken, he will be missed.

With the group prepared to travel once again, it was time to figure out a destination. Things went back and forth talking about whether or not returning to Ridgeshire was a good idea... The pros? They would find out some answers. The cons? Those answers could lead to their arrest and or executions! In the end it was decided that the group would follow Zerin who knew the location of the next nearest gem... The Mind's Eye.

As he began to lead them northwest, She'dra was the first to figure it out. "We're headed towards Fujoo!"

And so as they crossed the border into Ristania, Emerys was careful to have Bubo circle the wagon being always cautious as to the location of Malcolm. She'dra especially saw Malcolm at every turn... or at least he saw his fingerprints upon everything. So naturally he suspected that Malcolm may be following them to each of the gems...

They were a few miles down the road when a sinking feeling hit Emerys... He no longer heard the flapping, or Bubo's occasional hoots... his friend was gone! He wasn't sure how long Bubo had been missing. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but it was enough to worry Emerys sick.

Ordering the wagon to stop, Emerys went to search for his companion. Slightly annoyed at the delay, Damas nevertheless allowed for the stop. After all, it could be Malcom's handywork...

Gathering from his people's knowledge, Emerys focused his divine power and called forth for another owl to aid him in his search. Instructing him to find Bubo, he followed the owl's flight as it headed back down the road before veering sharply into the woods. In a flash Emerys was gone. Ryo followed behind as best he could in his heavier plate armor. Emerys dashed into the tree line where he got the sensation of falling. And then nothing. Black. Ryo meanwhile was following the woodsman's path with his eyes, but when Emerys disappeared behind a tree, he actually disappeared. Breaking the treeline himself, Ryo searched to no avail. "Impossible!"

The group back at the wagon, meanwhile, found that they had company. It started in the form of a rumbling from the trees. Edge heard it first and grabbed She'dra from the path of danger! Had the men stayed where they were, they would have been bowled over by a pair of large bruisers dressed in furs and carrying axes twice the size of She'dra.

Turning to come back and aid his companions, Ryo found that these two men had more allies yet. This time in the form of roots and underbrush rising from the ground wrapping around the samurai's feet and legs and attempting to impede his path! More men emerged from the woods, some firing arrows, and others casting spells! Who was this group that had ambushed our heroes??

The answer was lying not far off, under the ground. Emerys awoke to his friend Bubo gently nuzzling against his cheek. A most welcome sight. Followed immediately by a most unnerving, but easily recognizable voice.

"Good morning, son. It is nice to see you again. We got your note." Standing there, arms folded, with the same stern look that always lives on his face was Emerys' father and head of the Irendu people, Rane the druid. Informing Emerys of the situation, he said that a group of his people's finest warriors were laying waste to the rest of his party as they spoke. Rane stated that they had gotten Emerys' note and begun tracking him as soon as they could. He did, however, wish for Emerys to fill in some of the blanks. Teling his father of the powerful stones and the desolation he found in the Nymph's grove, Emerys made a case that he was doing good work with his group.

Rane who had always wanted Emerys to settle in with his people and take over as the druidic head of his tribe was reticent to acknowledge that his son had perhaps made a good choice after all. Swallowing his pride, however, he apologized to his son for all the pressure he'd always put on him and offered to call off the Irendu tribesmen if he saw fit to save his group.

Emerys thought for a moment before telling his father "Yes, please. Call off the attack so that our group can continue its good work." And so Emerys had spared the lives of his teammates and captors. One can only hope that it was the correct move.

And so, returning to the scene of the battle, Rane bellowed out to his people to call off the attack. And so the battle ended, just in time to frustrate the recently untied Lunk. Seeing the battle go poorly, She'dra decided to allow Lunk to add his axe to the battle. Shortly before he got a chance, the battle ended though. Lunk was crestfallen. If by crestfallen I mean ready to rip someone's lungs out through their nose.

Apologizing for the attack, Rane left some of his druids with the group to watch over their camp that night. Finally, he gave Emerys his magical bow, telling him for the first time that Emerys can recall that he was proud of him.

The group camped and received healing via the Irendu druids. As camp broke in the morning, the druids gave Emerys one final piece of advice that strange things tended to happen ina valley to the north. Large group of people simply never made it to the other end, and no one had any idea why.

Taking the warning to heart the group set about travelling north to Fujoo. Eventually they did come across such a valley... The path leading around wound up through the mountains and looked to add at least two days to their journey. In the interest of time, they decided to take their lives into their own hands and head through the mysterious valley! After all, with all they've faced and overcome so far, it seems like it would take a lot to stop our faithful group.

At first heading through the twisting path between the bogs, geysers and hot springs it seemed that the reason for the disappearances could easily be attributed to flash floods! A simple rainstorm and this whole valley would fill up like a tankard of meade! Somewhat more confindent about the strange disappearances they were warned of, the group pressed on.

Little signs started to escape their notice. A few dead animals here and there seemed pretty normal. The air seemed a bit heavier... nothing to worry about. Maybe there was a slight smell of rotten eggs? No, had to be imagination...

Emerys was the first to notice that his breathing had stopped. For whatever reason he was holding his breath. When he tried to take a breath was when he realized that none of the group was breathing and that the oxygen was gone! Quickly warning the others, they discovered that Emerys' warning was correct... they were all slowly suffocating. She'dra squinted his elven eyes and focused enough to see a hint of discoloration in the air, almost imperceptible... like a light smoke or fog... Pointing through the bog and off of the narrow path, She'dra lead the charge away from the wagon. Quickly grabbing all of their supplies, eachmember of the group managed to make it off of the cart. However, Emerys had done a little too much experimenting prior to warning the group, and found that his oxygen supply was entirely gone! Gasping for air, his world began to spin and for the second time in two days, he blacked out.

Picking up the slack, She'dra grabbed Emerys and kept moving, slogging his way through the muck with the rest of his compatriots. Shortly before reaching safety, She'dra too passed out from the strain of carrying Emerys. Each man was pulled up onto the nearby shore and revived. So there they all lay, filthy and gasping for air.

And so the group discovered the secret of the valley. Fortunately all it cost them was a pair of horses... So the group continued northbound, through the trees this time, and on foot. As they moved the win whispered through the branches above, sounding like a voice... "miserable rootless things... lurching around the forest..."

Taking interest, Emerys called out to the trees above, only to take sight of a tree beginning to move and opening what appeared to be a pair of eyes and a mouth. Striking up a conversation, the tree had this to say: "I am Diobemun, protector of the wood, friend of forest creatures, maintainer of the balance, slayer of the stup -- I mean, player of the lute. What brings you to invade -- I mean, visit -- our forest today?"

Asking simply to make their way through the forest and showing no interest in treasure or salvaging any of the wrecked caravans, Diobemun showed them the path northward and settled back to the appearance of a normal tree. Before leaving, Emerys did notice the presence of Blackwood trees around the area, which struck him as very strange. The blackwood tree's bark could be harvested to work wonders in herbal concoctions... So much so that they were harvested to extinction. As far as Emerys knew, the last of them had disappeared when he was but a child. Sadly, they had more pressing issues to attend to...

And so the party managed to emerge from the dangerous valley and were in the home stretch to Fujoo when they came upon another group... Another similar group... She'dra and Damas recognized the state officials with this group. First was Rintrah, a soldier turned apprentice wizard that She'dra considered little more than a dabbler... certainly not on the level of any of the true magic users of Ridgeshire. And secondly was the knight of Ridgeshire Sir Vellis the Honest, a younger but no less capable knight than Damas himself.

Panicking, Rintrah let the group know that orders had come from Ridgeshire itself that She'dra and Damas and their group were to be dealt with swiftly and with extreme prejudice. Explaining that his rag tag group was sent out as some of the stronger groups were called back in case they returned to Ridgeshire, Rintrah apologized but told She'dra that he had no choice but to attack. Doing his best to convince him otherwise, She'dra tried and tried and tried to be diplomatic... but to no avail. A magic missle sailed out and struck She'dra in the chest, starting the battle.

Immediately Sir Vellis called Sir Damas to the side and saluted. It was not a sign of respect, but a challenge... The two knights began to duel and discuss Damas' status as "traitor."

And so the two groups clashed! Rounding out Rintrah's group was a small but extremely well muscled gnomish barbarian named Gorkosh, a capable archer by the name of Franklin, a well armed warrior named Geoff, and what looked like a middle aged shopkeeper named Phillip, who could barely hang onto his short sword.

The battle raged back and forth with each side inflicting some damage upon the other. (Even Phillip managed to accidentally hit someone.) She'dra used his superior magic skills to convince Rintrah that he was covered with bugs biting and crawling on his skin, ruining his concentration. Ryo meanwhile tried to take Rintrah down and talk some sense into him while Franklin peppered him with arrow after arrow. Gorkosh and Geoff squared off with Edge and and Zerin, while Emerys made his way around adding arrow fire where needed.

Emerys was in mid-battle when he heard a voice calling out and begging to him... "Hey, owl-boy... Let me in." It was Lunk, pleading for all he was worth to get into the battle again. Thinking over the offer, Emerys got Lunk to swear to attack "only our enemies." Agreeing to anything to get into the battle, Lunk laughed heartily when his rope was cut and he got hold of his axe once again. Charging over to Zerin, Edge, Geoff and Gorkosh, Lunk entered the fray.

As the battle raged, Ryo eventually got Rintrah near enough to death that he would listen to reason. Telling him once and for all to stand down and surrender, Rintrah did, and called off his men. Each of them complied (save Gorkosh, who was tossed aside by Edge... but fighting his way through a web spell eventually allowed his rage to wear off.), but one man didn't. In on most of the tough fighting, and pretty near death himself, Geoff had fought valiantly until he made his big mistake. He turned his back on Lunk. Screaming out wildly as he got a free shot at his enemy's back, he nearly cut the man in half with two great swings from his greataxe.

Laughing as they tied him up again, he stared at Emerys and mocked "Only our enemies! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

With the battle ended, Rintrah and She'dra discussed the terms of the surrender and what was to happen next. Initially She'dra instructed his group to return to Ridgeshire, but that was almost universally shot down. Rintrah himself shared that his feeling was that if the group returned claiming to have encountered She'dra and Damas but also with the news they had failed that the governor may decide to make an example of them.

She'dra, still convinced that Malcolm had gone rogue and fooled the governor got some shocking news from Sir Vellis... "I was there in the court... The governor most definitely instructed Malcolm to hunt and kill your group... Not vice versa."

Sir Damas, assuring She'dra that knights did not receive ironic titles upon reaching the knighthood, claimed that he trusted Vellis' word as much or more than any knight's.

Finally deciding that they would lay low in Greyfold for a while, Rintrah and his remaining group took with them a note from Ryo to be delivered to his clan. Parting ways, the group was left to chew on this last startling revelation.

Still trying to figure out what was going on, who to trust and what to believe, the party made their way into Fujoo, the city of magic at the base of the mountains. Perhaps there they would find more answers in their quest for the Mind's Eye.