Dawn rubbed her chin. "Isn't that usually how young patches of forest are? They grow thin and densely packed, and as they get bigger the weaker trees fall, providing food for the winners."
Why is that strange? Knowing nothing, Kaliban was direct.
He rubs the back of his head, "Well.. that's kinda the thing. Most the trees you see out int he country are all really young, as it's hard for them to sustain themselves longterm. The trees here seem much older."
Grabbing his staff again, he thinks a little longer. "The water in the area get's most of it's flow from draining out into the bay, the current is actually estimated to get stronger as time goes on and water levels in the bay continue to drop. As a rainmaker stationed along the river, I am however supposed to make sure the water quality is good. Usually it's really clean, but it's been getting dirtier these past few months. I haven't figured out why yet."
Dawn wondered about that. Seemed odd. "Maybe there aren't any weak or ill trees, for some reason? If the dirty water has something in it for them all to eat then none would die, and they'd stay all bunched up and not able to grow?" Dawn was pretty clearly confused as to what was happening.
Not sure I follow most of that, but one thing I do know... If flowing water is dirty, you look up... stream.
"Ah, sorry... Maybe I'm not explaining it all very well." Dustan muttered. "W-well,t he point overall is... The trees here seem older and healthier then they should. I don't know if the water has anything to do with it but... Maybe there's something deeper inside that's doing it? Something right by the riverbank probably..."
"Deeper in the water, you say? Well, seems that my innate talents shall come to use."
"Or deeper in the soil," Dawn added, her Ioun Stones thrumming around her, "in which case it is my innate talents we shall..." She trailed off, and stopped. Oh, wait, I don't control all the rocks. Whoops. Ignore that."
He rubs the back of his heada gain, trying to figure out where this was all going. "If you'd like, I could..." He started, not quite looking anyone in the eyes. "Help you... find the center of the woods?"
"Sounds good. What's in the middle of the woods?"
He offered a shrug, "I don't know. Small as it is, I could never seem to find it, even by following the river. A tree or rock would be in my way and by the time I get around it somehow I've ended back at the forrest's edge."
You take notice again of his numerous scratches and bruises, likely from many excursions into the woods. "Though, I'm pretty sure that's mostly just my own incompetence..."
"I feel confident we can assist you in finding whatever it is. AFTER a meal and a night's rest, that is."
"Sounds more like something wants to keep you out," Dawn offered. "No matter how dumb someone is eventually they'll do the thing right, and you don't seem dumb at all. Ohhhh, food! Is it time for food now?"
Upon your request the half-elf sent a message down into the house via a small spell, and maybe ten minutes later the matron of the house comes by along with her son to hand out bowls and spoons to receive the hearty stew they'd brought up with them. The son stays for a little while longer, making enough idle chat with Dustan to indicate them as friends.
After dinner had been finished your host stood up and stretched his limbs, "Right... If we're heading out into the woods, it's best to get to sleep now so we can hit it up in the morning. The couches should have enough space for.. ah... Some of you. I'd like to take my bed if you don't mind."
"That's fine. I don't sleep. I wait." With that mildly sleep-destroying explanation, Dawn transformed into a vine and went and hid in a plant pot.
We should keep a watch. Shouldn't get soft because we have shelter.
Take note of anything approaching or leaving the house.
Dawn waved a tendril from her plant pot.
"Last watch!" Emma Jane calls. She's exhausted; waking up before the sun sounded far more palatable right now than staying awake another minute.
All in all, the night comes and goes without any incidents happening on Dawn's watch. The next morning the Vine-Leshy has a front row seat to watching Dustan clamber out of bed half-awake, pick up hi sstaff, and try and fail to grab something that was previously stacked up on the floor. He blinks at his empty hand for a moment before he looks up to spot the party asleep in various parts of the room. He stumbles backward in momentary shock at their presence, before the last memories of last night reach him.
"Eash... I hope nobody saw that..." He mutters, before walking over towards the stone dais seen before. Dustan places the staff in the indention in the center, grasping it with both hands. Nothing overtly magical seems to be taking place in her eyes, but she'd swear the gem was glinting just slightly.
Dawn had no idea what this was. Her knowledge of magic was non-existent. But she had some idea of what had been moved, and tried to recall what might have been there.
Dawn's memory is impeccable enough for her to remember where everything she'd moved had been, and had even looked at some of the items more closely. Judging by her mental map, he was trying to pick up a journal that had bore the Weathersmith's Guild emblem. When she glanced through it, it seemed to have been a log used to keep track of local weather patterns and any significant changes. Seeing as the default was always "Stagnant", even a gust of wind tended to be considered significant. The last entry indicated there was some stray rainfall that had carried over from Wind's Edge yesterday evening.
Emma has a much better grasp of what Dustan was doing, as well as having the impression he's not fully awake as he barely looked at where she was sitting. It seems like he's using one of the dais' more passive functions, using his staff as a focus to gather meteorological data.
Once the gemstone stopped flickering it became obvious that he'd finished his task, and had moved away from it to try and find where his logbook had been moved to the previous night. "Somewhere around here, it's gotta be... Maybe with the turnips? ...No, not with the turnips..."
In his haste, it seems he left the staff behind, still placed within the weathersmithing tool.
Dawn, as a vine, had no idea why he wanted to talk to the turnips. They rarely had anything too exciting to say. Or why he was doing his job while mostly asleep. She'd heard some mortals did stuff when they slept, other than sleeping, but she'd never seen it before. Still, it did explain the bruises.
Morning's wake comes for everyone else int eh party in short enough order. As people are shaking off the sleep from their minds, the family's daughter comes by bright eyed and bushy-tailed with a platter of eggs, bacon, and toast. Her and Dustan share a few awkward words, both obviously thrilled at the chance of meeting up yet not fully comfortable being surrounded by strangers. The voice of her mother calls her back out to finish the morning chores any young child is excepted to carry out on a ranch, and she bids the group farewell just a few minutes after saying hello.
While people are eating and doing nay morning rituals they needed to perform, you spot Dustan in the corner reading from his battered spellbook. It seems he was intent on being properly prepared for your outing into the woods that morning. Under the assumption of course that it was still the plan.
Emma Jane will step outside and brush up on her swordplay against a convenient post until the others appear to be packing up. She wonders briefly what her cousin would think about this situation.
Trifoni nods his hello with a smile and thanked the daughter as she entered with breakfast and did so again as she bid farewell.
Once done with breakfast, Trifoni cleaned up and checking over his supplies, occasionally looking over to Dustan, but was careful not to disturb the preparations. He knew other spellcasters needed such things and it was interesting to see.
Dawn becomes humanoid as food appears, and once again consumes far more than her tiny frame should be able to without being rotund. Maybe it was what fueled her odd nature and the floating murderous spheres around her.
Once she was done consuming as much as a grown man in a concerningly short period of time, she waddles over to Dustan. "Hiya, Dustan. Why did you do weird weather stuff when you were mostly sleeping? I thought you needed to be awake to do magic things. Unless you're a dream mage. Are dream mages a thing?"
"Huh-? Oh! Well..." He startled, settling down once realizing it was only the curious vine leshy. "I need to check the local conditions first thing in the morning, with how manufactured everything is atmosphericaly we need to be ready to address problems the moment we notice them."
The young adept rubs the back of his neck, "Trusy me, nothing wakes you up faster then picking up signs of an F3 tornado starting to pick up speed right towards your home due to rogue windstreams. As for dream mages... Well, I'm sure they exist. Divination maybe? That can be useful in our field too."
Dawn nodded sagely. It was clear that she only understood a fraction of what was said, but she appreciated being told all the same.
"So what are we doing now? Searching the woods, right?"
Trifoni nodded, "That is the plan, unless things have changed? he looked to Dustan and the others.
Emma Jane sings in a spirited tune
Into the woods
It's time to go
I hate to leave
I have to go
Into the woods
It's time, and so
I must begin my journey
Kaliban listens to Emma's tune... appreciative, perhaps committing it to memory. He studies how she speaks it... sings it.
Your short journey into the local woodland is accompanied by the sound of Emma's voice, filling your hearts with a sense of ease only capable of a skilled bard. Even the stoic Hildeberg closes her eyes, a small quirk at the edge of her lips. Dustan for his part finds himself humming along softly with enough ease that indicates a sense of familiarity with the bardic tune.
She finishes her tune just a few minutes before you meet the woodland's edge, passing by the stumps of many felled trees along the way. Your guide Dustan frowns as they pass the deforestation, passing his fingers over the rings left behind. "The trees at the edge alone here are almost a century old, that's almost unheard of for most minor woodlands like these you know. I understand why the Master wants this area cleared, but..."
The young man sighs, shaking his head and taking his hand back. "Alright.... Erhm, If we run into trouble, I specialize in transmutation. I'll use what magic I have to help you out in a fight. Would you like me to help navigate the area or...?"
"You know it better than I do," Dawn said cheerfully as she poked around. "Why does he want to clear these woods, anyway? Surely keeping them alive and healthy is better for the soil in the area."
Trifoni nodded in agreement, "Your experience would be most appreciated." and waited for Dustan's response to Dawn's question while looking around.
"The Master has been wanting to expand the herd, and it's difficult grtting them aroubd towards the river for drinking water right now. The forest is already part of the property so... I imagine the wood sells for a lot too, in town."
He runs the back of his neck, clearly unsure with the specifics. "Well, anyway... I'll go on ahead then. Careful where you step, there's a lot of gambles in the area."
"Well that's short-sighted. You won't be able to graze anything if erosion takes off the topsoil." Dawn waddled along behind, her short legs finding moving through the undergrowth a little more than. "Hat's a gamble? Does it involve the metal coins?"
"I can't really seem to convince him otherwise, so... I'm doing my best to help mitigate the damage." Dustan clarifies.
Dawn pondered this for a moment as she avoided the spikey plants. "I think the way to do it is to show him how keeping the forest makes him more of the shiny yellow stuff the longer it goes, right? The better quality the land remains and the slower and more gently it gets developed the better the crops and cows and stuff do. So ten years down the line the land will still be good and the cows will be good and the shinies will be good, and he'll make more the longer it lasts, right?" She looked at the others. "That's how this stuff works, right?"
Trifoni listened and attempted to answer Dawn while taking cautious steps and keeping an eye out for concerns, "Sometimes, though having a peer or someone with more clout...or yellow shiny stuff... that would be impressed by such old, well-cared for trees may be more influential. Short-term pride and reputation can beat even long term profits...
Dystan sighs, "Maybe... We'll find something in here that'll convince him to spare the forest it's destruction."
He looks back over the group to make sure they were following close by, and continues to trudge onward
You get the sense after awhile that your guide seems to be already having trouble navigating through the woodland, as you pass by a tree with a large hollow in it's center for perhaps the second or even third time in thirty minutes. "What...? I could've sworn we were... Dammit, I should've looked harder for where we put my maps last night."
"And this is why mucking about in the woods is never a good idea. Kaliban, maybe Dawn, I'm sure you can sort this out."
Dawn looked at Alasayn. "But woods are fun to muck around in." Still, she paused for a moment to look around.
Dawn is, surprisignly enough, a very skilled navigator of all things forested and green. She easily recognizes the signs that would gradually taker her deeper into this expanse of woodland to find where it meets up at the river.
The air quality here has a certain purity to it that she'd only encountered in the deepest parts of her own woodland home, where the druids who raised her wouldn't allow her to venture. Something about it being a sacred ground only those fully initiated in their ways were permitted, and though she was a child of the forest itself Dawn's calling had taken her elsewhere.
For reasons unclear the forest seems to get more twisty and uncertain at this point, though she manages to push through and guide her companions in.
"This is incredible," Dustan murmurs, eyes wide as he spins in every direction to take in the trees growing around them. "I've never managed to get this far before. As expected of a leshy!"
Using his boarding pike to help gently hold things aside as he worked to follow their small leshy guide, Trifoni's gaze moved from the enthusiastic Dustan to the shadows in the trees around them. What at first looked like the natural underside of branch moved against the forest breeze. He tries his best to keep his eyes on them.
Boarding pike in hand and the other undecided on casting or grabbing the young man and legging it, Trifoni slowly moves to put himself between Dustan and their new guests. Hating to break the youthful joy, Trifoni said in a low voice, "Dustan, do you know of any four-legged hunched types that can be used as mounts and use these forests?"
He blinks at the older man in confusion, "Uh... I'm not even aware of there being any... Horses? Around here. Quadrupeds... Deer, foxes... Uh, wolves?"
Slowly, he starts to frown. "Why do you ask?"
Trifoni tried to keep his eyes on the moving shadow. He had hoped Dustan's experience with the area would give him more ideas, but the young man had said that he hadn't been this far before.
"One should never expect to be alone in a place like this. There is movement in trees that may require caution...or other actions.
"So is there anything fun this deep in the woods, theoretically? I know you haven't been this deep. Maybe there's a dryad! They're meant to be fun." Dawn wandered along, pushing aside undergrowth with the floating Ioun Stones and looking for fun stuff.
”Hunched beasts? Wondrous. If only there was something really worth our time. Dryads are well and good, but back in Osknia the kelpies would put those barky harlots to shame.”
Dawn considered this new information carefully, and asked the pressing question. "What's a harlot? Aren't they a kind of bean?"