After several minutes ministration by the elf, Blake regains consciousness, though still quite dizzy, he is able to sit up and look around -- a vast improvement over his condition previously. He still looks pretty ashen but seems that he will survive.
The central room is cluttered and messy, but there is little of interest here. The room to the right appears to be a storage room of some kind, and there are cords of wood and cutting supplies like an axe, saw, and other tools there. Webbing fills the room, though no other spider is readily visible.
The second room is a bedroom of sorts, and as Adair predicts, the body of a man, bloated and blackened, lies face down on the floor part of its leg liquefying. He wears the coarse clothes of a laborer and has a belt on with a dagger that never got drawn. A hip flask is tucked into his belt. On the night stand, there are a few papers and golden locket lies draped over the bed's timber headboard.
Blake looks at the corpse with distaste.
"Damanable spiders. I am not surprised that they got him. They had a good go at us! Perhaps there is a lair to purge nearby?"
Adair will examine the locket, thinking it might provide a clue about who will care this man has died. He makes no comment about the corpse or lair question.
The locket is on a gold chain is probably of nominal value. The heart-shaped pendant has a small clasp, and inside is the likeness of a young woman, and small lock of blond-hair. She has the fair features and hair of a native Varisian lass. It has a name engraved on the inside - Estella.
Sakima is clearly uncomfortable being inside for this long. He heads back outside to wait for the others to finish their tasks.
"We should see if we can find her after we find the herbs. Let her know of his end."
Tatanka will take a moment to look around for any of the books that non-Novans like to keep around. Whether or not he finds any, he then moves to the storage room, examining the cords of wood that the man kept in there. Examining them, he will attempt to determine if any of them are from trees that the abellok vine grows on.
Blake has a rummage around the man's possessions and clothes, to see if anything catches his eye.
Sakima, who has been through a bit already tonight, goes outside to reconnect with nature, waiting on the porch as the others stir about inside.
Tatanka does not see any books, but there are some papers lying on the bedstand. The first paper seems to be a letter from this girl, Estella. Apparently, she still lives in Valeria, and the letter promises her journey to Terra Nova to be with her betrothed, but apparently that is now not to be.
The second paper of note seems to be a warning. It is written in rough Common speech and says, "Pay up if you know what's good for you! You have been warned. We will not give another warning." Appended at the bottom in place of a signature is a single character: a small black heart.
The man's personal effects are not valuable. He lived simply and worked hard. He carries a dagger at his belt and a hip flask, but you see no other jewelry or trappings of wealth. Undeterred, Blake keeps poking around and finally finds, under a loose floorboard, Blake finds a small coin pouch filled with 50 silver sails.
Blake pockets the pouch with a smooth motion.
It's not like the man needs them now and I see no evidence of kin.
"I am not certain of how you treat your dead, but I do not think we have much time. We should continue seeking out this herb. Which way wold you like to go?"
"It is better to first take care of the living! Perhaps these Black Hearts took the herbs?"
"We have no reason to expect there were any here. We should return to looking for these silver-leafed trees."
Pocketing the 50 silver sails, the group sets back out into the night air, looking for the silver-trees where the special antitoxin grows. After the woodcutter's cabin, the trees seem to crowd in thicker and the going is slower even with the expert woodcraft of Adair and the Novan pair.
The night noises in the woods begin to sound louder and closer -- perhaps a howl of a wolf just beyond the next rise, or the hoot of a hunting owl directly overhead. Either way the search takes a long time and is mainly fruitless until the first grayness of twilight creeps into the eastern sky.
The first real rays of sunlight illuminate a grove of especially tall poplars to your left, and you see the reflected light glinting back of dozens of silver-white leaves, which swish gently in the morning breeze.
As the group draws near the trees, both Blake and Adair get the feeling they are being watched.
Blake quietly says:
"There are eyes upon us. Can anyone make out their position?"
The noble tries to do just that.
Sakima glances around the area, attempting to be discrete and not alert anyone who may be watching.
I am rolling both a stealth and a perception. If you want to handle it another way please just make the rolls.
"Agreed. Something is watching." He turns away from the group, facing the surrounding woods. "Come as friend or foe? We seek medicine for a man poisoned, and want nothing more than to help him heal, help him return to his family and his work. Please, let us not have conflict over helping another."
Diplomacy? Fine by me!
"It is as my elven friend here says! We are on a mission of mercy, to save a man struck down by cowardly poison! Let us pass so we may help him!"
Tatanka will stop when the others begin talking about being watched. He looks around for where whatever is keeping an eye on them may be, thinking that this could be some kind of nature spirit. However, he is fully aware that it could be a number of other things as well.
The young elf scans the woods around the group, looking to see if he can spot the watchers. He calls out again even as he looks, this time in elven: "These are seeking healing herbs, not to take more than is needed."