"Լավ, մենք նրանցից թաքնվենք, բայց ինչպես կարող ենք թաքցնել մեր հողը:" The orange petaled leshy asks.
Ok, we'll hide from them, but how can we hide our grove?
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Nigel chews his lip thoughtfully.
"Կարծում եմ, քանի դեռ նրանք չեն կարծում, որ այն բնակեցված է, կամ ունի որեւէ ռազմավարական նշանակություն, նրանք հավանաբար պարզապես կմնան միայնակ...?"
He then sighs, and shakes his head ruefully.
"Հավանաբար, ոչ մի հեշտ պատասխան չկա: Բոլորը կարող եմ ասել, որ նրանք քանդել են մի քանի հարյուր մարդոց քաղաք, այստեղ հարավից, սպանել կամ ստրկացնել այն բնակիչներին, որոնք չեն փախչում."
” Oh no, դա սարսափելի է:!” Both sunflower leshies gasp, horrified.
Oh no, that’s horrible!”
Following their leshy guides deeper into the forest, the party comes into clearing with a well-tended meadow of rows and rows of blackcurrants, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and elder berries, fat, orange pumpkins, plump butternut squashes, marrows and a well cared for orchard full of fruit trees such as apricots, cherries, hazelnuts, acorns, pears and plums, the clearing and the orchard being divided by a clear spring. All around the clearing and orchard are sunflower leshies and two new types of leshy, little plant people in a winglike leaf cloak and pinecone armor and little plant men that walk on legs like tangled vines and have a pumpkin carved with eyes and a mouth for a head. Around the clearing are a few domes of willow trees. The fruiting bushes and trees, of which the fruits are ripe, form a medley of delicious fruity smells in the air. The pleasant buzzing of honeybees can be heard throughout the little impromptu forest garden.
Nigel and Azmythe recognize the new types of leshy as leaf leshies and gourd leshies respectively.
The party's leshy guides are immediately greeted by other leshies, "Hey sunshine, լուսաբաց, դու ետ ես: Ովքեր են այդ հսկաները ձեզ հետ:"
Hey sunshine, dawn, you’re back! Who are these giants with you?
Not being familiar with the language being spoken, Hedran simply nods and raises his hand in greeting every once in a while.
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Nigel nods, and waves in greeting.
"Բարեւ! Նրանք նշում էին, որ մի վայր կար զայրացած կատուով, որտեղ ծառերը տխուր էին: Մենք առաջարկել ենք օգնել փորձել եւ դասավորել այն:"
One of the sunflower leshy’s pipe out,” Օ՜, դու ուզում ես խոսել դրա համար:”
Oh, you want to speak with our Shaman Stout Stem for that.
The gourd leshies immediately start yelling, ” Գերազանց բխում: Դուք հսկա այցելուներ եք փնտրում ձեզ համար: Դա տխուր բույսերի եւ զայրացած կատուների մասին է:”
Stout stem! You’ve got giant visitors looking for you. It’s about the sad plants and angry cat.
Seeing that Nigel has identified himself as an ally, and thus fair game, one of the leaf leshys takes up a fencing position with his stick, points it at Nigel, yelling playfully,” Խնամակալը:”
”En-garde!”
A rather stout looking sunflower leshy plods out from the blackcurrant vine he was tending to. Sizing the party up, he speaks in heavily accented common. ” I ear-rr tat you ar-rre de giants Soonshine and Dawn said would elp oos?”
"Եվ դադարեք խաբել շուրջ օտարների հետ, Pointy twig:"
And stop fooling around with the strangers, Pointy Twig! They may not care for it.
The leaf leshy sheepishly backs off. "Ներեցեք, Gout Stem"
Sorry, Stout stem.
Azmythe will translate for the rest of the group (ie read the spoilers if you'd like).
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Nigel grins, and pulls out a Wand of Prestidigitation, adopting a fencing position, and gently tapping the end of the leaf leshy's 'blade' with the narrow end of the wand.
When Stout Stem comes out, he adopts a more formal position, and bows, but not without grinning and winking at Pointy Twig.
"Yes, ve bumped into Sunshine and Dawn, vho mentioned zat zere vas a problem ve might be able to help vith? Ve come from ze humanoid town to ze South, across ze river, vhich has just been overrun by Hobgoblins; ve don't know ze forest zat vell, and need all ze allies ve can find. Hopefully, by helping you, ve can prove our good intentions."
Hedran nods a greeting at Stout Stem.
Pointy twig winks at Nigel. ” Լավ, հետագայում մենք կունենանք որոշակի զվարճանք: Երբ spoilsport- ը մոտ չէ:”
Ok, later we’ll have some fun! When the spoilsport isn’t around.
Stout Stem gives Pointy Twig a stern glare. ” Ես լսել եմ դա.”
I heard that.
” For-rrgive Pointy Twig’s bad mano-ner-rrs. Leaf Leshys enjoy play-fighting, and new op-ponents excite im.” Stout Stem apologizes for Pointy Twig’s behaviour.
” Do you want to talk it over-rr br-rroonch? We gener-rral-ly do our-rr negotiations over-rr food. Food poots ever-rryone on a mor-rre pleasant mood.” Stout Stem suggests.
He gestures at the abundant meadow and fruit trees behind him. ” elp your-rrselves to de ear-rrth’s bounty, den take a seat.” He gestures at the grassy patches in the meadow, then plucks himself a mix of blackcurrants, strawberries and blueberries, before sitting on the grass.
” And what ar-rre obgoblins? And which town did you come fr-rrom? Is it de one tat in oomano speech is cal-led Phaendar-rr?” Stout Stem asks.
Forgive Pointy Twig’s bad manners. Leaf Leshys enjoy play-fighting, and new opponents excite him.
Do you want to talk it over brunch? We generally do our negotiations over food. Food puts everyone on a more pleasant mood.
Help yourselves to the earth’s bounty, then take a seat.
And what are hobgoblins? And which town did you come from? Is it the one that in human speech is called Phaendar?
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When everyone has settled down, he continues.
"Yes, Hobgoblins are dark-skinned humanoids vith pointy teeth, zat have a very military-focused society. Zey came out of novhere, and sacked ze town of Phaendar - zose zey didn't kill, zey enslaved. Ze lucky ones, like us, managed to escape; ve dropped ze bridge across ze river to slow pursuit, but I am sure zat forces vill eventually come across, pushing zeir territory into ze forest."
"You see, our-rr gr-rrove does not ave mooch to of-fer-rr you. We ar-rre boot stewar-rrds of de land. And other-rr r-rraces gener-rral-ly want gold and magic items, which we ave none. We cano only of-fer-rr you natoor-rre's bounty in exchange for-rr your-rr ser-rrvices. And de task may be danger-rrous." Stout Stem explains.
"After-rr al-l tat I ave told you, do you stil-l wish to ac-cept?" Stout Stem asks gravely.
After all that I have told you, do you still wish to accept?
"I wil-l not ave any of my leshys fight. We ar-rre smal-l and il-l equip-ped to stand oop to de big-ger-rr r-rraces. Ooor-rr smal-l plant magics wil-l not pr-rrevail. De best cour-rrse of action would be joost to melt away deeper-rr into Fangwood." Stout Stem tells Nigel.
I will not have any of my leshys fight. We are small and ill equipped to stand up to the bigger races. Our small plant magics will not prevail. The best course of action would be just to melt away deeper into Fangwood.
Hedran gathers mainly apples and strawberries - "Wow... I haven't eaten strawberries in AGES" - he just blurts out.
Stout Stem describes the problem. "2 our-rrs east fr-rrom er-rre, Bit-ter-rr leaf and Acor-rrn ead ave r-rrepor-rrted tat de gr-rras-ses and tr-rrees ar-rround a oomano oonter-rrs cabin ar-rre sad and wilting.Dey tr-rried to investigate foor-rrther-rr on de cause, boot de oomano's lynx at-tacked dem and dey wer-rre for-rrced to flee. OOsooal-ly tat lynx wil-l abide by deir-rr pr-rresence, boot it as become oonoosooal-ly ter-rr-rr-ritor-rrial. Please, find out what as caused de wither-rring of de plants and tr-rrees and deal with it."
2 hours east from here, Bitter leaf and Acorn head have reported that the grasses and trees around a human hunters cabin are sad and wilting.They tried to investigate further on the cause, but the human's lynx attacked them and they were forced to flee. Usually that lynx will abide by their presence, but it has become unusually territorial. Please, find out what has caused the withering of the plants and trees and deal with it.
Stout Stem gives Nigel a sad smile. "Also der-rre is a saying, e who fights monster-rrs should take car-rre tat e does not become one. De fir-rrst kil-l is ar-rrd, den it gets easier-rr. I do not want my leshys to be cor-rr-rr-roopted."
Stout Stem smiles gently at Hedran. "I am glad you'r-rre enjoying natoor-rre's bounty. Go ahead and eat your-rr fil-l."
Also there is a saying, he who fights monsters should take care that he does not become one. The first kill is hard, then it gets easier. I do not want my leshys to be corrupted.
I am glad you're enjoying nature's bounty. Go ahead and eat your fill.
Stout Stem smiles wistfully. "You ar-rre not leshy. Ooor-rr for-rrms ar-rre tempor-rral, given by natoor-rre er-rrself. When we die, we go back to er-rr. Wher-rreas cor-rr-rr-rooption would for-rrever-rr take our-rrselves fr-rrom er-rr, ir-rr-rr-revocably."
You are not leshy. Our forms are temporal, given by nature herself. When we die, we go back to her. Whereas corruption would forever take ourselves from her, irrevocably.
After traveling for an hour, Hedran and Ratel hear something crashing through the bush and then a man, with his hair blood stained and his clothes tattered and sooty charges right out of it at the party constantly looking back over his shoulder in fear of pursuit.
"Atrrggghhhhh!" He screams panicked.
As Nigel begins talking with the plants, Ratel watches and listens, keeping Bear near, not wanting his animal companion to accidently step on one of the little plant guys. When they near the Leshy village, Ratel nudges Robert, ”That’s a lot of food, I would think these guy would be fatter.”
Smiling then the leshy draws his ‘rapier’ and threatens Nigel, Ratel asks ”Do you want some help with that one? Or do you think you can handle it?” He then looks around, a little nervous, leaning nearer Hedron, ”Actually I wouldn’t want to fight all of them. Strength in numbers, right.”
Seeing Stout Stem, Ratel smile to Robert, ”Now that’s more like what I expected, he’s probably in charge.”
As the food is offered Ratel collects a few strawberries for himself, and a bit of elderberries for Bear, and joins the others. Hearing that they could take some food, Ratel asks, ”Um, excuse me, we have friends we are trying to feed, is it ok if we take extra?”
Seeing the wounded man plow through the forest, Ratel shifts his shield to his arm, and begins to draw his weapon. ”I don’t know if we’ve found the cat or not. But he’s in bad shape. Might not be the cat, they normally don’t use fire and that guys covered in soot.”
He calls to the man, ”Ware stranger, what chases you.”
"Oh go ahead." Stout Stem waves a hand magnanimously."Actooal-ly, you cano gr-rrab some, we'l-l pack mor-rre in joote sacks when you've elped oos deal with de sad plants. ow many fr-rriends do you ave again?"
"I...I...ran away from Phaendar after I saw a ferocious bugbear with a scarred head tearing a townsperson apart." The person gasps, still panting for breath. "I fled across the bridge and the nasty hobgoblin's crossbow bolt grazed my head. I just kept running."
"Then I found a cabin in the woods, and heard this eerie mewing and saw a pair of green-yellow eyes with stilted pupils staring at me. I ran away before it could s*ck my soul! I bet it was some demon from the abyss!" The man claims.
Nigel does not see anything pursuing the man.
The man has some minor burns, his legs are scratched from thorny underbrush, has a cut on his scalp and smells like he hasn't taken a bath for three days.
"Where are all of you headed to? If you're getting away from Phaendar, can I join you, please, so I can get away from those hobgoblins?" The man pleads.
'He's pretty beat up, I wonder if that's why no one recognized him.'Ratel looks from the injured man to his associates, "Actually were headed to deal with the thing that scared you. Would you like to show us where it is? What did you say your name was? I know a few people from Phaendar."
Ratel remembers seeing him in the Taproot that evening. He thinks that if that guy booked a room, Jet should remember his name.
"That thing? Uhhh...ok. But if it sucks out your souls and turns you into demons, I'm running for the hills." The man states.
"I'm Edran, from Cassomir. Since I'm not local, I don't think anyone knows me, except for the innkeep. I booked a room with her for the night." Edran answers.
Nigel, Hedran and Robert notice the man hesitating when speaking about the place of origin. They suspect he's lying about where he came from, but nothing else.
”I’m from Molthune. Gilbert.” Edran confesses. ”But since you’re likely Nirmathians, and our nations aren’t on good terms – if I told you the truth, would you not hang me on the spot, or leave me out here to fend for myself?”
"Listen," Robert says. "He may be from Molthune, but he ran from the Legion just like the rest from us. And Molthune already knows about the Legion. If you want to continue to run, Edran, we won't stop you."
”I don’t want to keep running, but it’s like everything’s out to kill me, first it was the hobgoblins, then it was that demon…I haven’t had a good sleep for the last 2 days, and my last warm meal was at the Taproot.” Edran replies.
"Very well, then. But if you stay, you must be on your best behavior. If you betray us, if you endanger Phaendar's refugees, I can't vouch for my companion's actions."
”I’ll be good..I promise.” Edran promises. True to his word, he does lead the party to the demon.
As the party approaches the cabin, they smell the stench of rot and decay in the air, and an eerie mewing can be heard. The surrounding trees have their leaves yellowed and drooping, as if afflicted by some corruption, and are marred by countless scratches and the bones of small dead animals. The wooden cabin is worse for wear with the wood decaying and holes in the roof, standing in a clearing dotted by tree stumps that are beginning to rot. Someone has deforested the area to make room for the structure, and where there should have been tall grasses in the clearing, lie only bare ground, as if the land was so contaminated that nothing would grow. A jumble of poles near the cabin serves as a rack for drying animal hides or fish. No smoke issues from the chimney. Then the eerie mewing ceases and among the yellowing trees the party spots a pair of green-yellow eyes with silted pupils staring intensely at them.
The party spots 2 bear traps on the bare ground near the cabin.
Nigel recognizes those eyes as those belonging to that of a lynx.
Nigel knows that the lynx can pounce, and grab with its claws.
Edran turns away from the yellow-green eyes yelling, terrified, ” That demon’s going to suck out your soul if it can lock gazes with you! Don't look at it!”, then hides behind one of the yellowing trees.
Nodding in agreement with Roberts observation, "I recognize you from the Taproom, Edran. I agree with Robert, you can come with us as long as you don't cause trouble."
'Can one cat cause all this rot?' Seeing the lynx, Ratel asks Nigel, "Are we hunting this cat or can you talk to it? If not, do you want me to try? I doubt if I will be as good with it as you are the wolves but I can try."
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Nigel nods thoughtfully.
"I am not going to condemn a man, based on vhere he grew up; I vill judge him based on his actions. Ve are all refugees, for ze moment. If I have your vord zat you vill vork viz us, in order to survive, zen I bear you no ill-vill, and you are velcome to stay as long as you choose. Be varned, however: If you betray us, zen ve vill move heaven and earth to track you down."
He then turns to Ratel.
"Sadly, I cannot talk to cats; you are velcome to try and calm it down. Failing zat, I can try using zat scroll ve found...?"
'Ok, need to think like a cat instead of a bear... got it.' Using his innate ability Ratel step forward, crouching down, so he's not much taller than the lynx, calling out to the beast. "Friend cat, you seem distraught, and have disturbed the plants in the area, will you speak with me?"
The speckled lynx pads out from beneath the yellowing trees, its paws not making any sound on the bare ground, then gives an anguished yowl.
My master is sick! He’s gone all grey and angry and hasn’t been eating the treats I’ve brought to him. I need to protect him so he can recover!
Looking to the others, "The cat's master seems to be sick, I'm asking for more information."
After the initial lying approach, Hedran is not too keen on having the stranger with them. However they cannot leave the man out to starve in the wild, so he acquiesces but remains vigilant.
Hedran chuckles at Ratel's antics, and waits for the outcome of the 'conversation', watching their surroundings.
The speckled lynx mews at Ratel.
He went hunting came back a week ago with his ankle twisted and his forepaw broken, all grey. He’s killed all the creatures I’ve brought him, but hasn’t eaten a single one. And he just goes out to kill things. And he also smells really bad, like a dead animal. He’s in the cabin smashing his things up.
Edran asks while still covering his eyes while hiding behind the tree, ”Why are you meowing? Is the demon gone yet?”
"He is communicating with the lynx - magic is a wonderful thing, is it not?" - Hedran explains.
”What lynx? There’s only a demon down there, right? It must have stolen his soul!” Edran retorts.
"Demon? Why would you say that?" - Hedran raises an eyebrow.
Standing up, Ratel nods to his companions. "He says his master is in the cabin, kills everything but doesn't eat it. Smells dead." He looked from Nigel to Hedran. "I told the cat we would 'help' one way or another." Drawing his scizore, he nods to Bear, "Come on Bear." and heads for the cabin.