Gargamal thanks the small ratatosk and presents another gift of food.
"I am sorry for your loss. We are thankful for your help. Let us get going, for I fear my companions are not as attuned to the wilderness as we."
"Am I the only one who thinks we should prune away this 'evil branch'?" Taurven asks. "I know it's not why we came, but I don't feel right about letting it eat the locals."
Taurven's face is bland. "Is that the quaver of fear, that I hear in your voice Karla? It's not like you to pass up a good fight..."
The forest bard seems unimpressed by Karla's bluster.
"No Alfsir! You mustn't! You got no chance against the Evil Branch. What will they say when the notice spreads? Fastmundr let his care be eaten by the branch. No, that cannot be so Alfsir."
Taurven ignores Fastmundr's assessment of their fighting skills. The young fellow could have no way to know that, having never seen them in action. "Is this 'Evil Branch' nearby?"
"No Alfsir! I wont take you there. You can't. No one ever survives it." the young ratatosk says as he finishes packing his nuts and weapons. "I'll take you alfsir to the branch that leads to the city." he says starting walking down the trail.
Taurven squats down to make himself less threatening to Fastmundr. "Not asking you to take us there. Just give us directions. If the evil branch is left in place, it will only eat more and more of your people. Perhaps it will even grow to infect this entire tree with it's malice."
”The evil branch is 20 feet tall, with steel teeth and arms 30 feet long that snatch ratatosks from the branches or in midflight. It hides among the leaves and hollows in the Silent Branches. It is one of the poison children of the linnorms or Nidhogg or the frost giants of Rime Thuras.” he says when asked by Taurven then he seems realizes what he has done and starts pleading ”You can’t go there Alfsir! Don’t go there!”
"If you don't tell us where it is, then how can we avoid it?" Taurven throws this piece of twisted logic at the ratatosk, just to see what he says. The half-elf is starting to think it might be best to avoid the thing after all. Of course, Fastmundr could as easily be exaggerating.
"Go to the “uptrunk” region, a place both dangerous and the richest gathering ground for nuts."
Gargamal looks like he is about to disagree with Karla, then stops and nods in agreement.
"Once we have dealt with the drow...then I will return and if my comrades wish to help me, we will deal with this "evil" branch."
"I don't think we'll be coming back this way." Taurven shrugs. "On to the demon queen, then."
Ignoring the crazy idea of helping the squirrel folk, the band of heroes gives half-arsed excuses of why they can’t help and time, and this, and that.
Fastmundr breath relieved that his charge wouldn’t die at the evil branch tentacles. What would he say to the fireholder? That he let them commit suicide? No, that’s impossible. Good thing they decided not to confront such beast.
==//==
The travel back offers no danger. Guided by the young ratatosk, the group reaches the portal to sigil with no other trouble.
"Yeah we found the weapon he wanted, let's go see what he wants next."
Returning to the Oarsman is no trouble. A bit og waggling to hire a guide.
Rule-of-Three is drinking what looks like the same cup of wine in the same corner of the Oarsman. When he looks up and notices you, he smiles. “Welcome back, about time you got here, and blessed day!” As usual, Rule-of-Three seems conflicted about how he really feels, but at least he looks happy to see you back.
Rule-of-Three lowers his voice and continues, “Can you show me. . . the item? The thing we spoke of? The weapon of legend?” His eyes scan the weapons you carry, trying to see if one of them might be the demon-slaying artifact.
Gargamal had wrapped his blanket around the bow, and now removes a corner so Rule-of-Three can see one of the ends.
"Here it is, as agreed.", he says to the mysterious figure.
Taurven stands back and lets Karla work her magic of diplomacy. The woman has a rare talent.
Ignoring Karla's attempt at diplomacy, the gith takes one quick look, touches it with a fingertip, and mumbles a few words in Githzerai. (If anyone understands that language, he said, “I never thought I’d live this long, this short, or this strangely.”)
He nods and smiles, then motions for you to hide the bow. “Good, excellent, splendid,” says Rule-of-Three. “You must not display it; that is, do not show it; that is to say, it might offend some creatures here.” He waits for you to hide Thaas or cover it up, offering a somewhat greasy blanket.
When the longbow is hidden, Rule-of-Three speaks. “The time has come to fulfill both our wishes, yours and mine—my third request is that you prepare an expedition to visit the Demonweb and gather a report from a fellow scholar. Though she is a drow, Lissondra has rejected Lolth’s embrace, and she serves me in exchange for information that furthers her own experiments.” He places a large satchel filled with books on the table with a heavy thud. “Give her these in return for her report, and we’ll soon see Lolth’s plans unravel. Once you’ve done so, I think it will be safe for you to return to your home plane. I have uncovered a direct portal to your own kingdom and will give you the details when you return. Are we agreed?”
'I like to read some, in the evenings. Would it be a problem if I read some of those books? Taurven indicates the heavy satchel. While watching the gith closely to see how he reacts to the question.
Gargamal covers the bow back up and sits back and listens to what the others have to say.
”The doorway to your next destination, the portal to the Demonweb can be found in the Weaver’s Guildhall in the Clerk’s Ward. You must simply walk through the main entrance while crushing a spider’s egg.” he answers Karla’s question.
The question Taurven asked causes no different attitude from the gith. He opens one of the satchel, removing a large leather-bound book and delivers into the half-elfs hand. Chucking he says ”I would have never though, imagine or considered you had that kind of thirst for knowledge.”
A quick inspection to the book and the subject seems to relate to animals and creatures, but something a physician may use.
"Knowledge is power, my friend." Taurven says with an enigmatic smile.
Then with a wink for Karla. "Power is power too."
"Let us move forward and confront the evil behind the raids on our homelands. Come, off to the market, then to the demon web!"
Gargamal makes arrangements at a local stable to take care of Azreal while he is away, then heads to the market with the others to find the eggs.
”If one is to know the about of the demonwebs, tackle its secrets and discover their path, the distinguished planar scholars Kemet and Gbemisola can enlighten you… for a price.” he says still ignoring Karla’s question.
"How do we find these scholars? And what sort of price will we need to pay?"
Taurven focuses him mind inward trying to remember anything, and everything he has ever heard about the Demonweb.