"He made the choice, Rex. He knew what he was doing. We have to look after Trin. If we go back now, we could be handing them over to the gangles."
Yeldrid shakes his head, "We just gotta hope he is faster than they are. And get Trin as far along as possible. If Isamu is coming at all, he'll find us eventually."
The little fox sprints into the darkness, pursued by the startled shouts and hisses of the gangles—and one arrow that comes way too close to the mark. Isamu just runs, all thoughts of his party abandoned, all thought of keeping his bearings left by the wayside. When it comes down to it, his situation has become extremely simple: He is a small animal in a forest full of predators. So he runs.
It is some time later—and Isamu is beginning to tire, but he doesn't think he's being followed anymore—that Isamu catches the smell of freshly-sliced pineapple. Up ahead is a large wooden barrel, though in his current state, he can't quite see over the top to see what's inside.
As Yeldrid says this, Rex's nose sniffs involuntarily. There is a new smell on the air: Ash. And smoke.
Some ways up ahead, the party discovers the source: A most curious burned-down house, sized as if for children. The fire appears to have taken place a few days ago at least, but a tall wooden signpost stands seemingly untouched nearby.
The path forks off here—one route heads to the left, the other to the right. The signpost has two wooden arrows. One points down the right way, and elegant scratchings carve out, To Your Haven. The other points left, and bears scratchings declaring, To Your Undoing.
Yeldrid is going to look at the signpost, determining if it had been shifted around at some point.
"I wonder what happened to the fellas who lived here. Reckon they legged it?"
Had he... somehow stumbled across that odd fruit barrel again? Well, he didn't trust it any more now than he had before.
What he really needed now was someplace safe to sleep. He was exhausted, and it was far into the night. He stays in fox form, and starts hunting around for a burrow or something to sleep in.
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"Well I didn't mean we should all go back just...no. Nevermind. You're right." Yeldrid was right. He knew that. But he felt he had to say it. To think it. To offer it up on the remote chance they agreed. But no. That would invalidate the sacrifice. And that might be even worse. Sullenly, he follows them further away from their companion.
At the signs he pauses to consider them. He cocks his head in confusion. "To your haven? To your undoing? Why would someone put that on a sign? This is a trap isn't?"
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He has troubled dreams—dreams of dancing skeletons, cackling spidermen in the treetops, howling wolves and grinning goblins. Gradually, it is all burned away by the brilliant light of a silver moon. The moon feels calming, warm and easy. It gradually sheds light upon a series of stepping stones in the middle of a dark river.
He hears a loud, clear voice. "So it's you again, tree inspector! Where's the rest of your posse? Off rustling more of my barrels?"
His eyes shoot open. And before him is none other than the cat in the red cap, Lottie. Lottie has stuck her face into the hole Isamu came through, and is currently blocking almost all of the light—but her shining green eyes are unmistakable.
That said, the sign is clearly very old. If it's a trap, it's an old one indeed. And there aren't any footprints around the sign itself.
The fur on Yeldrid's tufted ears stands on end when he touches the sign. Something about it sets him off.
"Maybe they want us to think it's a trap," Trin offers, cocking their head, "and it's actually the other way around, because we're supposed to assume it's a trap and go the wrong way. Or maybe the, um, gangles just now put this sign here, and both paths are traps."
Isamu's tired mind somehow tries to combine the voice he hears with his dream before he manages to fully awaken. He blinks a few moments at Lottie, remembering when they'd met before, then yips at the cat in annoyance. He was a little surprised Lottie recognized him... but after all he'd seen in the forest, a dragon inviting him by name to have tea with him would only have been a little surprising.
"What? What's that? I can't understand you." The cat backs away from the hole, after a few brief tugs to un-stick her head. The cap flops over her eyes in the process, and she growls, raising her paws to clumsily readjust it. "Talk in a proper way! I don't speak Yap!"
Yeldrid is still not convinced there isn’t something wrong with this. ”I think...this might be glamored. Wouldn’t surprise me given whatever Not Cappy can do.”
Yeldrid concentrates on the sign.
Whatever it is, he can’t see past it. He looks to the other two. ”If it’s hiding the truth from me, I need better eyes.” He smirks.
Isamu takes the opportunity to dart out of the hole as soon as Lottie backs up. He shifts to his true kitsune form and gives the cat a small bow.
"Apologies, I'm afraid I can't speak intelligibly while I'm a fox," he explains. "As for where the others are... well, hopefully on their way out of the forest. Which, given that I've bumped into you again, isn't the way I'm going."
"Hmmm. I fear I am just as stumped."
"Well most paths through the wood will lead to your undoing if you're not careful," Lily chimes in with a light sarcasm, "If you're worried about these we could always just find our own path." She squints at the sign a moment.
"Yes, this sign seems just as trustworthy as any other we'd find in the woods to me."
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"Well, we know the sign has been turned around. I'll just assume that the forest path is the wrong way, and we're meant to go up that path." Yeldrid points towards the left path.
"If they're all traps...well. I guess we get caught." Yeldrid lets out a fairly weak laugh. He's...quite tired.
Lottie's tail twitches. "Well, you aren't far off. I've been moving, too. Tracking that confounded demon. But where's your posse? Why's it just you I see here? Something happen to them?" The cat sits down, her ears flattening. "That kid's alright, right?"
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The sign is actually moving. Very, very slowly—slower than an ant stuck in honey—the sign is rotating, switching the directions it's indicating. It might be hours before it finishes its transition, though—perhaps as long as a day.
Nobody tampered with the sign. The sign is "tampering" with itself!
"We were being chased by a rather large group of gangles, after already having fought off some wolves," Isamu explains. "Not thinking much of our chances if we stood and fought, I drew them off while the rest made a run for the edge of the forest. We separated at a deep ravine, if you happen to know that part of the forest. As far as I know, Trin and the rest of them are in better shape than I am."
He pauses a moment. "Is the demon you're hunting the ones these gangles call 'Old Wolf'?"
"Old Wolf? Hm. Tricky." Lottie starts cleaning herself in front of Isamu. "Thing about the demons I've met is they don't have names. People call them things. Nicknames. Titles. All I know about this one is he broke out of the Old Tree off east a while ago. And he's definitely left some wolflike prints."
She thinks hard about the ravine, then nods. "Sure. Yikes, you lot were in the Holey Place. A lot of chasms and caves there—and a couple paths deep down, too. Not a great place to be. If you want to get back to your friends, I can draw you a map."
Isamu nods. "That would be very helpful, yes. Won't you be headed that way, too, though? I'm pretty sure this demon is chasing them, after all."
"Ah..." Isamu looks at the barrel doubtfully. "I can try. I'm afraid strength has never been my, ah, strong suit, though."
"We'll go by river," Lottie announces, looking up towards the treetops. "That's the best chance to catch up with the others. The Styx is tricky to ride, but as long as you've got a barrel, some good sense of balance, and aren't, well, dead, it's the quickest way to travel." She starts trotting off into the bushes. "We'll just have to persuade Neragu to give us a lift there."
A reminder on the identity of Neragu, whom your party has "met" twice now.
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Rex starred at the sign. Then he blinked. Then he starred some more. "Wait." He picked up a blade of grass from the ground and held it against the sign. He waited for a minute, watching as the words slowly moved away from it. "Aha. The sign is moving. Just very slowly." He considered the sign for a few more minutes, obviously deep in though. "I have no idea what that means though," he admits finally.
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Isamu ties one of the barrels to his back, then positions the other ready to be rolled. "Barrel-riding I can probably manage," he says.
He recalls his dream--the moon's light shining on stepping stones in the river. Had Ysidar been trying to tell him he would go by river?
The thought makes Isamu's heart lighter in spite of the extra weight on his back. "Neragu?" He repeats, a bit surprised. Hadn't that been "We've met before, actually. Hopefully I left a good impression."
Yeldrid looks at the sign with astonishment.
"Bloody hell, that's neat! But that does leave me wondering about why..."
Yeldrid presses his ear to the ground just by the post, listening for anything in the ground.
"You think this is meant to guide people through this weird, nonsensical forest? Oh what am I sayin', 'course it does. It's a signpost."
"Impossible to know, I guess we just have to pick our path and find out." Lily closes her many eyes for a moment, trying to remember which way the ghost children village is. "Hmm..."
Lily Shadow is pretty sure these paths lead in the same overall direction—they just take different routes. But she's never been this for west before that she can recall.
Yeldrid doesn't hear anything at first. Then his large, tufted ears pick up the faint sound of wood grinding on stone. The sign is moving.
Lotti leads Isamu on a brief journey through the bushes. she travels swiftly, aside from occasionally getting distracted by the odd plump mouse or guinea pig, and it is not long before Isamu can hear a babbling creek in the distance. As they draw near, Lottie draws short, climbing up a tree to look Isamu in the eye.
"Okay," the spotted wildcat hisses, "Maybe it's best if you do the talking, since you and Neragu have met. Last time we chatted, Neragu dunked half a frickin' pond on my head."
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The party heads left, following the directions of the signs and leaving the ruined miniature house behind. The path leads them to a large, hilly area with fewer large trees—but quite a few thorny briars. It's tough going, especially for Yeldrid's unlucky mule, as the thorny vines trail all over the path. The vines in this area are absolutely covered with small orange buds.
The field is vast—and thanks to the relative dirth of large trees, it's almost like the group has reached the end of the Writhing Wood. Only the towering, twisted darkness on the western end signals that soon, the characters will return to the forest.
They notice that the field extends a ways north, probably covering the right path as well. Over there, though, the field is blanketed in a brilliant sunset orange.
This area of the Writhing Wood feels almost disturbingly exposed after four days spent beneath the thick canopies. Massive birds—colorful, squawking parrots—zoom and swoop above on thermals, almost as though playing. All-in-all, it is a surprisingly peaceful trip after the last night's chaos.
As the group is exiting the field of briars later that evening, they notice that the brilliant orange of the half of the field to their right is beginning to fade—and the buds nearby them are beginning to open. A sweet, cloying smell fills the air. They step into the cool darkness of the Writhing Wood just as the field behinds them erupts in sunset glory.
A brief rustling accompanies the mass blooming. Then there is silence.
Trin says, quietly, "I hope Isamu doesn't try to follow us through there."
On this side of the field, the forest is...very green. Soft emerald moss blankets every tree trunk, every fallen log. Streams are almost choked with algae, flowing green reeds, and duckweed, to the extent that it looks like they are more full of plant than water.
"I'd rather not run into a dozen gangles either, at present," Isamu replies.
He has to suppress a smile at Lottie's admission. "All right, I'll go ahead. Neragu might figure it out, though, given I've got these barrels of yours."
And with that he strides ahead.
Isamu pauses a moment. His dream flashes through his memory again, moonlight on water. He has no real idea of what he's doing here, but the recollection brings him comfort. For a moment he glances upwards, hoping to see the moon, but soon enough he looks down again. While the sun shone, he had work to do.
It also reminds him that perhaps he had not been good enough at calling upon Ysidar in times *other* than times of need, but that was a thought for another time. For now, he simply kept a prayer in his heart that Ysidar would continue to light his path.
He stands quietly by Neragu for a moment, focusing on the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the stream. After the past few days, the fact that he is about to speak to a brook hardly even seems unusual, but he has no idea how to truly create two-way communication.
He steps forwards a bit more, to stand on the bank of the brook, then bows. "Greetings again, Neragu," he says to the flowing waters. "I don't know if you remember, but I and my companions have been by and over your waters twice before. Now I've become seperated from them, and I worry that they will need my help, for evil hounds their steps closely. I'll only be able to catch up to them with your help. Might I and a friend be able to ride your currents for a time?"
As he finishes, he strains his senses for any signs of an answer.
"We'll be at the town in the afternoon I reckon. Hopefully Isamu makes it in time."
After helping set up camp for the night, Yeldrid climbs up into the upper branches of one of the mossy trees and sets out their blanket, choosing an advantageous lookout and sightline towards the group. His tail flicks into view every so often, along with the intermediate sound of a clicking noise.
Rex takes a look at the open clearing and sniffs. For a moment, he feels much better. Relaxed. "I think we may have taken the right path." The moment is gone when Trin reminds him of Isamu. He looks over his shoulder at the way they had come. "I pray Danaan guides him safely back to us." The sun was low and they were all tired. Rex ignores his own tired muscles and goes off to find some firewood. A much harder task with so much green. Sticks were hard to find under the blanket of green. Even filling his canteen was a chore as he wasn't sure where the water was and he had to strain out the algae as best he could. But he doggedly went on and finally built a fire close (but not close enough to smoke him out) to the tree Yeldrid was occupying. If nothing else, the fire was warm and the light was comforting.
Isamu notices something coming downstream. It is a smell flower—a lilypad, in fact, accompanied by a mass of duckweed.
As it draws near, the water seems to riot slightly, propelling the lily up, up into the air...
And assuming Isamu does not try to avoid the wet lilypad, it splats right atop his head. The creek gives a satisfied babble.
Lottie comes trotting out of the bushes, purring slightly. "I believe that means they—" A mass of slimy duckweed falls upon the jungle cat, eliciting a hiss of disapproval.
The water froths merrily against the river rocks.
Trin leans against Rex as the campfire crackles, shivering slightly. The child is plainly exhausted, but does not seem eager to sleep.
Isamu, so focused on listening, notices the lily too late to dodge it. He grins a bit at Lottie when she gets similar treatment.
"I believe so," he replies. "Now, let's get these barrels in..."
With a bit of effort, he gets one barrel in and holds it while Lottie gets in, then gets the other in. He jumps up and changes form in midair, landing inside it as a fox. He thinks to himself that he hopes he doesn't have to try to control the barrel in any way, as doing so now will be rather hard...
It is not long, though, before Lottie falls silent, and Isamu begins to hear a dull roar. Jumping up to see over the edge, he sees the source. The forest here is denser than ever, and even the creek has some brambles growing over it. Luckily, the barrels are small enough to bypass such obstacles, and Neragu clears the rest away by dislodging driftwood and knocking aside stones.
And up ahead, the Styx dominates the landscape.
This west-running river is so vast, Isamu cannot make out the other side. Its waters are murky and gray, and remarkably swift, considering how deep it appears to be. Around the banks grow numerous lilies. Up above screech river gulls. The Styx smells of fish, and of thick, fetid plant life.
Neragu utters one last friendly gurgle before Isamu and Lottie are swept away.
Immediately, the feeling of the journey changes. Where Neragu was gentle and meandering, the Styx is ferocious and direct, like stampeding cattle. Where Neragu was quiet and calm, the Styx is a pandemonium. Isamu's and Lottie's barrels are taken by the River Styx, and for now, they are helpless to its whims.
Of course, Lottie did explain to Isamu some of what to expect. Despite its swiftness, the Styx is not a particularly treacherous river in most places—there are no rapids, for it is too deep, and no snags, for it is too swift and strong. The trouble isn't staying in the barrels. The trouble is getting off. For this, Lottie, who has ridden the Styx several times in the past, plans to make use of what she calls an "algae blossom"—a thick mass of vegetation that has formed in a temporary inlet—quite a ways ahead. This will actually put Isamu ahead of his party, most likely, but it will be easy to intercept them from there.
Lottie promises that they will most likely be riding for close to a day, and offers to pass the time by trading stories. Lottie claims to have many stories from "the demons in my hat," and while this may or may not be accurate, she certainly does know a lot of unpleasant fables.
There's only one problem.
Only a few hours have gone by when the barrels crash into a tangled mass of snags and netting.
"What in the Devil's whiskers—" Lottie sounds like she's been slammed hard against the back of her barrel by the ferocity of the halt. "What did we hit?!"
A shadow passes overhead.
Yeldrid/Rex/Lily:
Yeldrid watches as Rex and Lily slowly drift off to sleep. Trin continues to stare at the fire, huddling against Rex. The child seems lost in a daydream, or perhaps a memory.
Eventually, Trin does nod off. Lily awakens to relieve Yeldrid's watch, and she finds the child huddled amidst the moss, curled up within their wolfskin cloak.
Lily's watch, too, passes in silence, save for the crackling of the little fire. The eastern horizon is just beginning to turn purple as Rex awakens to relieve her for the last watch that night. Rex watches the verdant bushes attentively, his nose on high alert, his ears fully perked. But it is dark, and the firelight casts treacherous shadows across every tree trunk and shrub. The smoke distracts his sense of smell. The night noises challenge his hearing.
And then he hears it.
A faint rustling from beneath the ground—coming from right behind Rex, inside the camp.
Rex spins and sees a serpentine shape, curving within the moss, slowly slithering among the party.
As the corgyn begins to bark, the creature beneath the moss lunges, bursting from the moss to reveal a great, emerald-green constrictor snake! Its coils surge out of hiding and wrap around Trin before the young aasimar's eyes can even open, and within seconds, it is squeezing around Trin's legs.
Instantly, Trin is awake, thrashing in the snake's grips. They let out a pained cry.
Here is a map. The "T" represents Trin, who is currently at 1 hit point and grappled.
Isamu, being in fox form, can't exactly carry on conversation with Lottie... but he does listen closely to everything Lottie says.
He's startled when they hit something, and his first thought is that it is some kind of trap. He does his vulpine best to climb up and have a look.
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The barrels have flowed into a tangle of dead trees, branches, and netting. Immediately, Isamu can tell that this tangle is artificial—someone, or something, has strung the stuff together. It doesn't look too difficult to get the barrels clear—just a bit of chewing, though the chewer would have to be outside the barrel to reach.
However, Isamu and Lottie aren't the only ones stuck.
There is a small canoe caught in the netting. Several tall candles have been melted in place atop it, and they burn brightly in spite of their watery setting. Inside the canoe lies the rotting corpse of what looks like an old woman, dressed in flowing silks and a large conical hat. The holy symbol of Flicker, goddess of the dead, is strung around her neck.
Above her fly two large buzzards, cackling over their prize. Bits of twine and netting trail from their talons as they slowly circle down towards the corpse.
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Lily awakes with a start, the twin sounds of the corgyn's mighty bark and child's cry pushing her to action. She jumps up, and begins moving towards the girl, drawing a dagger as she does so and shouting "Hang on Trin!" at the top of her lungs, hoping desperately to distract the beast.
Isamu shifts to his true form and grabs onto the snag.
"I'm afraid not all of us are dead down here," he comments, not really caring whether or not the vultures can hear or understand, as he starts trying to disassemble the snag.
After giving the [sound of challenge], Rex grabbed the weapon he kept at his side and rushed the beast in an attempt to kill it before it harmed Trin any further. The strike would have to be decisive but precise. It was wrapped around Trin's leg. If it wasn't accurate he might hurt her more than the snake.
The constrictor snake gives a jerk as Rex's axe scrapes down its side, narrowly failing to break the scales.
Trin struggles frantically, but is unable to get their legs free. "Yeldrid!" they scream. "Lily! Samson, wake up!"
The constrictor snake releases Trin, hissing to regard the corgyn with the axe. It stares at him coolly for a moment, apparently trying to size up to what degree he would taste like a guinea pig.
It lunges, sinking its teeth into Rex's arm. It tries to yank the paladin off his feet, but the reptile moves too sluggishly, and Rex manages to throw it off first.
Isamu shifts to his true form and grabs onto the snag.
"I'm afraid not all of us are dead down here," he comments, not really caring whether or not the vultures can hear or understand, as he starts trying to disassemble the snag.
"Are those vultures?" Isamu hears Lottie snap. "Aw, crackers. Can you unsnag us?"
Huzzah! I have distracted it, the corgyn thinks with a triumphant yelp. The sense of achievement is lost as soon as the snake regards him. Oh balls, is all he manages to think as it lunges. It didn't get him in a bind but the force of the bite ripped a large chunk of fur and flesh off. He ignores the pain and slices hard now that Trin was not in danger.