Chapter 3: The Enemy Within

[Jeff]

Worm gives no reaction to Belarin's offer of water, but he does repeat the word "food," though he says nothing else about it. But he looks hungry.

Remnants of the gravel road remain running east out of the hamlet. Worm leads you this way, and as you start down the faded track and out of the small village, Goran and Grafth both see the slight grooves in the hard-packed and now muddied earth that mark the passage of wheels. Rolling cages, most likely, made long ago now but made by wheels that rolled back and forth many times.

The light rain lets up soon after, and Worm continues to guide Belarin by the hand along the road from within Kal's "diamond" formation. The boy hums and murmurs to himself strange childlike rhymes, but some of the words you manage to catch don't seem suitable for children's verse: some of them are borderline words of magic incantations.

Charis and Kal believe the words invoke charms and enchantments. Worm isn't casting spells, certainly—he seems to not pay attention to what he's saying or reacting to it—but his mind does seem muddled with such strange syllables.

When he's not talking such nonsense, he laughs softly at unseen jokes. At one point, he points in Torhak's direction and giggles. Whenever Grafth is anywhere near him, he calls him "the shiffy man" and continues to insist that the "sistery" is scared of all "shiffy men." Worm asserts that he isn't.

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Knowledge (arcana) = Belarin (14), Charis (22), Kal (21), Streko (12).

[mike]

Torhak occassionally flashes Worm a wild-eyed, goofy grin - especially if he thinks no one else is looking - but apart from that, he trudges onward grimly, looking for any sign of danger.

---

I guess Torhak rejoined the rest of the group and is now in the diamond formation?

[Jeff]

Yup, since none objected to Kal's proposal, I figured Torhak was part of the "everyone else" in this statement:

I'm hoping to set up a marching order of Goran out front, Kal off to one side, Grafth on the other side, Amal in the back, and everyone else clustered together in the center. Kind of a diamond, if you will.

[Darren]

"What's that you're singing, lad?" Kal calls out. "Where did you learn those rhymes?"

[Jeff]

Worm's attention does seem elusive. He has ignored certain questions posed to him already, and pays Kal's question no mind at all.

[Ken]

Belarin rhymes back to Worm, "Food's never rude when it's baked or stewed!" He looks to those closest to him -- Charis, Streko, Torhak (I believe) -- and asks, "Did any of you happen to save food from this morning's breakfast? I have nothing to share with our friend here but dry traveling rations and several pieces of lint. You don't want lint, do you, Worm? No, of course not! I'm sure you've had more interesting things to eat lately. The forest folk can be helpful at times."

He continues, not knowing if he'll get a response. "You're definitely not scared of the shiffy folk, are you? You must be a lot braver than the sistery. And cleverer, too, to have sneaked away from them."

[Jeff]

"Sneaked away, a'right," Worm replies. "More than two times. Less than nine."

After about two hours of walking, the road approaches a small clearing, at the center of which is a sizeable boulder that appears to have been sheared in half so that things can be placed upon the resulting flat top as a sort of crude table. Clearly this place was onced used as a rest point for travelers along the road. You can even hear the murmur of a nearby brook.

As you grow nearer, you see there is a figure sitting cross-legged on the leveled boulder.

[Darren]

Kalarian holds up a hand, signaling everyone to stop moving. He motions for everyone to gather together and begins speaking in a whisper. "Charis, Belarin, Streko and Amal, stay here with the boy. Keep him quiet. Goran, Torhak, and Grafth, circle around the clearing and keep an eye on whoever that is. When you're in position, I'll go introduce myself." Kal gives a half-grin.

[mike]

"Orders, orders, orders," Torhak grumbles quietly to himself. "And always with that damned grin."

Torhak starts to circle around the clearing, dividing his attention between the figure on the boulder and Kalarian, waiting for certain introductions to be made.

[Josh]

"Let's be safe, but try not to be too paranoid," Grafth says to no one in particular. He moves into the woods swiftly and silently.

Grafth will go ahead and flank the figure on the stone, looking out for anyone or anything else that might be with him.

[Joe]

Streko wonders if he has any leftover food in his handy haversack. "I can't recall if I saved anything. Let me see!"

He reaches back in without looking and pulls out...
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Help me out here, Jeff. I don't recall if Streko saved anything or fed it all to Tangat. Heh. If Streko did, he will offer some of the food to the boy.

[Darren]

With his companions in position, Kalarian rolls down his sleeves, covering his dragonmark, and calmly walks into the clearing, as though he had been a stroll through the woods. Seeing the figure on the stone, he feigns surprise and calls out, "Ho there, fellow traveller!"

[Jeff]

Just a reminder. Green text generally designated information only one or two people are aware of. If it's three or more, I just mix it with the rest.
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Streko reaches into his haversack and finds only a few scraps left—enough to satisfy a person for a short while, but not a real meal's worth. However, Worm is distracted at the moment now that the road approaches the clearing.

Torhak and Grafth both break away and start their slow circle around the clearing just inside the tree line. Kal enters the clearing first, which is about thirty feet from the flattened rock. He's the first to get a good look at the strange, who appears to have been waiting.

She is a slender figure wrapped in a woven brown and green blanket, an elegant black leather mask gilded at the edges covering her eyes and nose. To Kal and Charis, the mask could easily be an expensive objet d'art worn by nobility to a masquerade ball. It seems very out of place here on the edge of a forest far from any city. Long dark hair flows out from behind the mask, and the woman's berry-red lips look...perfect. Except for bare shoulders and bare feet, her body is concealed beneath the blanket. She looks on, tranquil and patient.

"Do not raise a single blade if you would approach," the stranger says with a sweet crystal voice, but there is a clear warning in her voice.

Worm's mood brightens. "The Wood Missery."

You're not sure if she has observed Torhak or Grafth moving, but almost immediately after the woman speaks Goran, Grafth, and Torhak sense the presence of something else moving among the trees, unseen. There is no accompanying sound, just a presence—dangerous but still. Out of the corner of his eye, Grafth actually sees movement: a small, almost dwarf-like shape pass behind a tree and the gleam of a blade. When he turns his head, it's gone. Goran, Grafth, and Torhak have the impression that perhaps they are being surrounded.

Belarin finds something familiar about the woman. He has never met her, but he almost feels he's seen her before somehow.

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Spot checks = Belarin (7), Charis (13), Goran (25), Grafth (28), Kal (21), Streko (15), Tangat (6), Torhak (16)

[Darren]

As he had done with Worm, Kalarian holds his hands out, although he does not put down his sharrash. He stops moving forward and says, "I don't mean any harm. I guess these are your woods? We are guests here, of course." He turns the top half of his body, motioning for his companions to come forward. "Who are you?" he asks, his voice light and non-threatening.

[Ken]

Belarin is startled by the woman's presence and his heart skips a beat as he tries to grasp the situation that they're in. He says to Worm, "Please stay here, will you?" and he advances. As he walks, he reaches into his tunic to pull out a small item that's dangling on a cord around his neck.

Drawing up to Kalarian, he whispers, "Tread carefully, Kalarian." He then bows his head to the woman and says with a respectful smile, "Good morning, my lady. My name is Belarin, friend and one-time addle-brained student of the lovely Raeshara, and we are all friends of the forest. This man here is Lord Kalarian, and he -- like me and the others -- wants to rid your home of a threat, which I trust you are aware of."

[Marcy]

As Belarin moves forward, Charis moves up to take his position near Worm.

[Joe]

Streko also stands on guard near the boy. "Is this Wood Missery good?" he asks.

[Jeremy]

Goran deliberately tries to keep his attention focused on the woods around the clearing, and not the woman, or her voice.

"Don't forget where we are, friends..." he growls, nocking an arrow on his bow.

"We're extremely vulnerable right now, though the child may not care."

There is genuine concern in the half-elf's voice. A pall of dread has been growing on him all the time since they left the airship. His left hand clenches the bow tightly, and his nose snuffles the stale airs.

[Jeff]

"Array your weapons to the earth," the woman says, her eyes fixed on Kal. "Then approach."

After a pause, they turn to Belarin. "I have only heard the name 'Raeshara,' surrogate sister of Lethea*, thrice before, Belarin. But associations do not impress me, nor tokens of the powries. Array your weapons and approach."

Beside Streko, Worm turns his head. "She is nice to those who slipped away, slipped a way out."

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* This name means something only to one or two of you. And if you can't follow the link, it's probably not you.

[Ken]

Belarin turns to Kal, raises an eyebrow, and says to him with a shrug, "The lady of the house makes the rules, m'lord. 'Tis the polite thing to do." Turning back to the woman, he says, "Of course, my lady." He casually reaches to his belt, pulls out the dagger gingerly, and places it point down into the ground.

[Darren]

With only slight hesitation, Kalarian follows Belarin's lead and places his sharrash on the ground, stepping forward over it with his palms extended. "Okay, my lady. We mean no disrespect and no harm. We're here seeking some men who we believe mean to cause a great deal of destruction throughout our very plane of existence. We've heard tell that they are in a place called Shadowcrest Manor which we believe lies somewhere nearby. If these men are not your allies, then know that we mean to bring them to justice and allow us to move on in search of them." What remains unsaid, of course, is what will happen if Malov and his associates ARE allies of the lady...

[Jeff]

Even as Kal and Belarin approach, the masked woman says nothing. The wind seems to pick up, swirling at random in small cyclones around the clearing, even stirring up damp leaves among the trees around Goran and Grafth.

"I would speak with you all. Lay down your instruments of war."

[mike]

Torhak slowly puts his axe down on the ground.

He folds his arms over his chest, and silently glares at the woman.

[Marcy]

Charis sets her borrowed dagger carefully on the ground.

[Josh]

Grafth stops in his tracks when he catches sight of something in his peripheral. Instead of moving forward, he trains all of his senses on his surroundings. Crouching low, the tail of his longcoat brushes loosely against the earthen floor.

[Joe]

Streko slides his sickle back into the haversack. He stays near the boy, keeping a close eye on him.

[Jeremy]

Goran snarls unexpectedly at the woman. He slowly puts the arrow back the quiver.

"You can bandy names about all you like, m'lady. But the honor of your presence had better warrant our trusting a stranger with obvious power in this blighted wild. Our experience before this has been...less than satisfactory."

Goran looks back and forth at the others, and steps forward.

"I'm sure everyone wants to be friends here, as do I. But be warned...there is some power among us, as there is no doubt inside yourself."

Goran turns and leaves the clearing, shooting Kal a glare as if to dare the Deneith to say a single word to him.

[Jeff]

Matheu is no where in sight. Again.

Goran begins to finish:

"I'm sure everyone wants to be friends here, as do I. But be warned...there is some power among us, as there is no doubt inside yourself—"

But the masked woman interrupts him, her dulcet voice only slightly louder but still clearly heard by all. The very sound of it compels the Eldeen ranger to hold a moment longer.

"If there was no power within you, I would not speaking with you now. You would be useless to us. Stand and hear me, Goran Ys-Il of the Towering Wood. Many of the children of twilight know of your people and some even know of you. That you carry a bow made from the ruins of Lethea's tree is certainly known to me. You carry vengeance in your heart and in your hand. So I ask you once more to be still and listen. We can help one another."

Whatever influence the woman uses in her voice releases Goran, allowing him to decide one last time to remain or to walk away. Then she turns her head back to look upon the rest of you as if seeing if her audience will turn away.

"Yes, we know of Shadowcrest Manor."

[Darren]

Kalarian looks cautiously relieved, if that's even possible. "Then, lady, if the residents of the place be not your friends, tell us how to find it and what we can do to stop them."

[mike]

"You said we can help one another," says Torhak. "How do you propose to help us ... and what sort of help do you require?"