The Rebels begin running through the woods as the shuttle opens fire. Blaster fire explodes as it hits trees and wet dirt. The hot steam of evaporated water clouds your vision and causes tears to form, but you run on.

You run until the sound of blaster fire is a distant boom rather than a thunderous roar. Eventually it peters out, and you slow your headlong charge. You collectively pause, breathing hard to catch your breath. Then you sense movement. You look up and see movement all around you.

A group of humanoids has encircled you. They are long and thin of limb, about a meter and a half tall. Their skins are various shades of blue and green. They are pointing bows and arrows at you from meters away. The bows appear to be made of white bone, as do the arrows. They are clad in strange armour that resembles old-fashioned banded mail, though it too appears to be made of white bone.

One steps forward into the small clearing. He is also aiming a bow, directly at Forim. He approaches to within one meter, the razor tip of his arrow aimed directly between Forim's large eyes.

Breathing deeply and on one knee when they are surrounded Anders rises slowly with his hands above his head. He makes no sound as he looks at the "natives" that seem to have caught them with there collective pants down.

-

Zeic follows Anders and makes sure not to do anything that would provoke them.

Well, if he was honest this was still an improvement on being chewed up by the heavy blasters on that shuttle, though those bone arrows looked pretty painful.
At this stage Xyklo was happy to let one of the others take charge, besides he was dog tired from lugging this stuff around, and still a bit unhappy to have missed the chance to take down that officer.

He felt they may rue that opportunity missed.

”Are we surrendering?” his exhausted mumble broke the silence.

The hunters look you over in silence for a few moments. Their leader listens as you quietly murmur, but says nothing at first. Then he holds up a strange gem-like lens and looks around the area. He scans in all directions, then drops it. It is tied with a leather thong around his neck for easy access.

The lead hunter says something in a language you have never heard before. He pauses, then says something else. It sounds similar but different enough for you to wonder if it is a different dialect or a different, similar-sounding language. Then he says something in the Geik language, which you were able to pick up a few words of.

"Who is your leader?"

Forim steps forward, his arms outstretched to the side and back as if to usher everyone behind him to protect them from harm.  This is pointless as they are completely surrounded, but it makes Forim the obvious target.  Forim tries to stand his ground between the aggressor and his people, but winces back and angles his head away from the weapon involuntarily.

When prompted Forim says "I am the leader here." as his voice cracks in worry "  We are peaceful travelers seeking the tree of knowledge. The Empire, those explosions back there, has pursued us relentlessly for days.  We are tired and hungry.  We beg for your kindness and seek shelter for the night."

The leader glances at his subordinates, who briefly return the glance before returning their locked eyes to their targets. They have a brief conversation in a foreign language.

"This 'Empire.' What relation do they have to the 'Republic,' whose symbols they bear?"

Ziec gives a confused raised eyebrow to that comment but quickly looks to Forim to answer that question.  He does glance around a little to see if they are alone with the natives but figures the natives are likely aware as anyone of their surroundings.

Forim nods slowly and says "I think I remember that from history lessons when I was a hatchling.  I think the old republic turned into the empire, an evil group ruled by one evil person."

The lead hunter considers this briefly, as the distant sound of blaster bombardment continues sporadically. "So the Republic became this 'Empire,' which is evil? And you are the enemies of the Empire? And you are fleeing from their warriors?"

Some of the other hunters speak, briefly, in their own language, apparently offering advice. He ignores them, eyes flickering between your faces. He gives an order, and the hunters ease their bowstrings.

"Come with us. We will speak more soon, in a safer place."

The hunters surround you with weapons lowered. Their leader begins to move southward, loping between trees with easy grace.

With little choice, you follow along. Your escorts are not pressing you to the same manic pace as you took when escaping the Imperials, but your progress is still fast. The hunters, clearly locals, lead you along winding paths with less underbrush and more level ground. At first you are sure they are simply better at navigating this forest than you outsiders, but soon another  theory becomes evident. These paths are prepared, possibly years in advance, for people who know the way to move more easily.

Soon enough you arrive at the edge of the swamp. The ground is much firmer and drier here. To the south, there are some low, rocky hills. The hunters gather around you in a circle.

Their leader once again comes to face Forim. He looks you over as if inspecting you in detail. Finally he speaks.

"I am Lum, Master Warden of the Aki-Varshi."

Forim  nods toward the humanoid confirming its assessment.

As he departs, Forim motions for everyone to follow and holsters his weapon.

Forim tries to keep his eyes open for signs of respect the warriers give to the leader throughout their run, and attempts to do the same now.  "I am Forim, leader of this group.  Thank you for providing us respite from the Empire.  I want to warn you that they had been tracking us relentlessly for days, and hope that your generosity does not lead to reprisals.

The Geik people said that you were the guardians of the Tree of Knowledge, is this true?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:50, Wed 31 Jan 2018.

Lum holds up a fist and clenches it. Possibly this is some sort of affirmative gesture.

"It is our sacred task to guard the tree from anyone who might seek to harm it. There are those who enter this realm without purpose, and so we send them away by whatever means we need to. However, it is given to me, as Master Warden, to decide whether someone who comes seeking the tree should be allowed the chance to approach it.

" I will allow you the opportunity to prove yourselves. Who among you will take the test?"

"What is the test" Forim asks cautiously
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:31, Thu 01 Feb 2018.

"Choosing to accept the test is part of the test," replies Lum calmly.

Xyklo’s attention fizzes between Forim and Lum, he had really gotten the hang of the language here, and was filling in a fair few gaps along the way. Things were however, beginning to make some kind of sense now.
”A test? They’re ...  they’re testing you to get to the Tree?
That’s sounds dangerous Captain. I..  you know I will help you if I can..  but you’re the smart one here..

Flight Officer!” he states slightly too loudly, finally remembered to correct himself at the end of his babbling.

"May we stand the test as part of a team, or must we be tested individually?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:49, Wed 07 Feb 2018.

"If one of you passes, I will permit you the incredible favour of allowing all to proceed. Otherwise, the choice is in your hands."

The quite ragged looking Verpine leans gently in towards Forim. That or his balance is a little off and coincidence has slowly tilted him towards the Duros.
”I’m ready to help you sir...  only I’m not really very good at this sort of thing.” he mumbles.
Xyklo looks a long way from the bouncy scout who devoured all the jam on the briefing room table back on the ship.

Distantly, you hear the thunderous sound of more artillery. Deadpan, the master warden says, "You may work in a team. Choose wisely."

Forim looks between his team and sees the resolve behind their eyes.  They are bedraggled, tired, but they are not beaten.  Forim says "We accept the trial.  If it is permissible, may we have a few hours rest and some food before we proceed further into the trial?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:49, Wed 07 Feb 2018.

The master warden nods. "Very well." He gives an order, and the group of hunters falls to work. Quickly they clear a space in the wilderness, create a small fire, and pass out waterskins. Two stand guard while the rest sit and relax.

Lum once again raises his strange gem-lens and looks around. He carefully scans the treeline with it, then drops it to hang around his neck. Then he sits beside the fire.

Forim slumps down to the ground, exhausted.  His curiosity gets the better of him and he asks "What does that lens do?"

Lum holds up the lens for you to see. It looks like a crystal, set in a wire frame. "This was my gift from the Tree. I chose to keep it in this form, and set it like so. Now it aids me in seeking interlopers. Observe."

The Master Warden holds it up to your eye. Through it, light bends and shifts, taking on a strange purple-blue cast. You can see the shapes of the others gathered around the fire. Vaguely humanoid shapes are visible sitting or standing, their details lost. You can also see the other hunters, even though they are some distance away through the trees. The trees are a foggy shadow through the lens, through which people are visible.

Lum lowers the lens and tucks it into his armour. "Perhaps if you are fortunate, the Tree will choose to bless you as well. It does not give fruit to all, not even those who prove themselves worthy."

While you are recovering, you get a closer look at the weapons and armour the Aki-Varshi use. Initially, you believed them to be bones, and on closer inspection they still resemble bones. However, they seem to be composed all of one piece rather than carved or assembled. Four foot long curved staves, perfect as bows, with handles in just the right place... it's difficult to imagine what sort of creature they are from.

Forim looks through the lens and thanks Lum saying "That is very interesting.  It's like the lense only lets you see sentient life?  It did not seem to highlight the smaller animals or bugs.  Does it highlight the larger animals?"

As Lum answers, he looks around at the bone weapons and asks "Does the tree give you these weapons as gifts too?"

Xyklo takes a firm grip on the chance to rest with many eyes keeping lookout, a rare treat. Lying back after a long drink of water, he folds his arms behind his head and listened to Forims discussion. The tech here was indeed very interesting, as was the tree, and it made a welcome distraction from the thought of that woman lurking in a gunship somewhere out there.