What happened after Suomi’s story…
The party got captured by the warriors. The shaman helps them escape.
The group traveled for more than a week. They avoided a large war party headed for the valley, then one night the shaman was seen walking down the path with his stump on fire. They made contact, agreed to do as he asked, took his money and told him they would search out a centaur on centaur island that has info about an artifact that the mage has promised the chief in exchange for the chief keeping the villagers in the valley. They were given a crude map by the shaman. The party changed course to avoid any search parties. They avoided a village then discovered that the dwarf/gnome/troll previously seen following a supply party is now following them. One night (new moon, very dark) they heard an argument in the distance. The air mage air-walked over, found a group of five warriors, and set off a distracting spell, but the fire mage bumped into the spy. The mage let off a flaming hands spell that got blocked by a tree and the spy disappeared into the dark without pursuit!
The party was last on the move away from the encounter and headed towards the coast.
Our intrepid heroes trekked onward towards the coast only to encounter a wall of dense undergrowth approximately three meters high. The air mage tested out his new powers to climb air stairs, and from above could tell that the thicket was a circle approximately 1km in diameter with a circular clearing of about 100m dia. in the center. He also saw a winding path leading from the clearing towards the outer edge of the thicket.
As the main group walked to the place they believed the end of the path would be the air mage walked the sky to the mid point of the path. From there he could see that the path did not reach the outer edge, but stopped approximately 50m from it. He also noticed the top of a stone monolith situated in the center of the clearing. With the help of the sailor and the dancer climbing trees to see the end of the path the ranger suddenly revealed the god like power of transformation into a furry creature that shall not be named. He then pushed his way through the undergrowth to the path forming passage for the rest of the heroes.
The party moved up the path with the air mage in the catbird seat above them where he soon saw that the clearing also contained an enormous giant with old battle scars revealing green flesh underneath. The giant was seated near the monolith apparently in conversation with a human head laying on the ground. The dancer and furry one approached in a creative manner and attempted to speak to the odd pair, but a lack of a common language was a challenge. While the giant appears to only speak one foreign tongue the head could speak the boy’s language so he was brought forward to interpret. With the party only having ten words in common with the boy he attempted, with the addition of gestures, to relate the head’s wishes, which the party now believes are that he wants them to rescue him from the literal clutches of the giant.
The water and fire mage also detected that the monolith is not only a source of tappable mana, but may also be powering the presence of the thicket and possibly more.
When we last left our intrepid explorers they had encountered a wall of dense undergrowth, found a winding path leading to an inner clearing, and when the ranger suddenly revealed the god like power of transformation into an unnamable furry creature, they were able to make their way to the clearing. There an enormous giant with old battle scars was in conversation with a human head next to a mana radiating monolith.
After attempting to communicate with them both they came to the conclusion that the head wanted to be rescued from the giant. Then they noticed that the undergrowth had filled with black birds and that some were very agitated in the direction of the path. Upon discovery of advancing Oak-warrior intruders several of the party laid ambush and summarily dispatched them. Successive larger groups of warriors attempted to pass through the path, but to no avail.
During all this Suomi noticed the dwarf/gnome/troll trying to move stealthily through the undergrowth around the clearing, and confronted him diplomatically. He was successful and was able to bring the dwarf, Talos, to the group, where they conversed freely and discovered mutually useful info.
Kianomen then perceived that there was a mage in the warrior’s party that was also checking them out via some type of magic involving a rope. Not wishing to be trapped in the middle of the undergrowth the party used the brute force of the unnamable furry creature to push a path to the outside and begin their escape. At this point Suomi separated from the party for unknown but not surprising reasons. They left the giant with his charge behind.
As the group pressed on toward the Dwarven Kingdom they had to deal with an attempt at escape by their charge, Ogely, but with the furry one’s sensitive nose they were able to track him down in short order.
Not long after that Talos noticed a humanoid figure ahead hanging from a rope suspended in mid-air. It appeared to be the same character that had been with the warriors earlier, but how had he managed to move to a point only a few hundred meters ahead of them? He was obviously looking for the party! The party chose to move quietly off in a very different direction for a while, but the very next day he was spotted again only about 100 meters away!
Talos believes he may be an underling to the mage, Pulhe. Pulhe is known for his scrying and communication magic. The underling may be getting a general location from Pulhe and is hoping to spot them from above. It was time for action. Tapja strung his bow, moved forward with stealth, and took aim. The arrows and Kianomen’s blast of wind were enough to knock him to the ground while a group of Oak-warriors below blew horns and rushed the party, but they were met with the deadly sword blows of Marko and the awesome flames of Aiden. The two remaining warriors that fled did not get far.
Kianomen airwalked over to where the rope was still hanging to find the ground below deserted. With luck he was able to spot the injured mage attempting to limp away and with a blast of electrical energy dispatched the mage before he could do something mysterious with a pouch.
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