Together, Chubbs and Roth climb up the makeshift ladder up to the strange house.  As they climb higher up the massive tree trunk, Roth begins to hear equally strange noises coming from the dwelling.  Without making significant noise himself, he signals to Chubbs to slow his progress.
The wooden flooring of the house creak and groan loudly as if something very heavy were up there.  The elf can even make-out rhythmic, ragged breathing; and something scraping against the wood above.  He nimbly makes his way closer to the thick branch serving as the buildings front stoop, but he must have made a noise too loudly himself—suddenly a terribly shrill shriek pierces the air (noticed by everyone, even those on the ground) and the tree itself seems to lurch forward!
The creaking stops as something large takes flight from the tree!  Roth and Chubbs don’t manage to get a good look at it, but it looked like a giant bird of some sort.  The general feeling now is that a great weight has been lifted from the tree, and the two climbers feel much better about finishing their ascent.

At the crotch of the tree, the two look around but see little more than the leafy boughs of the other nearby trees.  Perhaps if they continue higher; and what could be in the house?
Sticking to their original plan—at least at the moment—they take to the upper branches and limbs of the great tree.  They both climb perfectly and manage to acquire excellent vantage points (or so it seems from those of you on the ground).
09:36, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Roth Daos, rolled 18 using 1d20+3. Climb.
09:36, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Porto 'Chubbs' Brandybuck, rolled 16 using 1d20+2. Climb.

They can see that Shirok’s magical map is surprisingly accurate, despite its childish renderings.  The “northern” sea seems to stretch beyond the horizon, and they easily spy the “Bee-Tree,” the circle of purplish trees to the “south-west,” and the other massive tree beyond that.  Chubbs can’t help but notice the dark and gloominess looming to the “south-east.”

As she watched the others climb the tree, she remembered something and said, "That fletcher better have my bow ready when we get back to the city." She ignored the thought that they may not ever get back or that they once again skipped ahead in time. The thought of losing that much gold would only make her angry and she didn't really need any help in that department.

"Oh, I remember all about Wol's now! Their diet consists mostly of halflings."

Stan wasn't too concerned about raising his voice loud enough for Porto to hear. The wizard tried to appear serious, but a bout of overly casual whistling gave him away.

"Seriously, though, he seemed more scared of us than we of him. And I can only assume this is his usual territory, making his fright all the more horribly puzzling. Is someone else here who isn't supposed to be?"

Porto sat at the top of the tree feeling like a god! So this is what it feels like to be tall! Porto says to his climbing buddy Roth. If only he could be this tall all the time. Then again Chubbs didn't mind being small. In fact he loved the fact! Short people had all the advantages, women, looks, appetite. I say we take a look around the house. Chubbs says as he makes his descent towards the house.

"What of those things that attacked us last night?" Shirok asked aloud, looking over the map again. "A child's map would include areas that the child was frightened of, to ensure he never went there again. But except for the Bee Tree, there is no location that warns of those things, or any other form of danger. Perhaps they are not meant to be here either, and the denizens of these woods fear them."

Up at the top of the tree, Roth looks down at the group and makes a subtle signal to them.  He isn’t overly dramatic about it, but he won’t take unnecessary changes, given their current predicament.

The cleric couldn’t really refute Shirok’s logic.  He himself felt that there might be more to this than what met his eye; but hadn’t the others also felt similarly?  Surely those creatures were as foreign to these woods as they.
Noticing Roth’s signal, Garret leans forward to look at the map over the druid’s shoulder.  As he does, he speaks softly into the half-orc’s hear.
“Something is following us.  Roth can see it outside the clearing, stalking around where we left the forest.”

"I'm right behind you."  Roth agrees with Porto about investigating the house after signaling the others.  However, he delays for a moment to watch what those below do and subtly keep his elven eyes on the stalker's actions--lowering his goggles over his eyes and playing at scanning the horizon.  "Just watch out for traps."

Shirok nodded slightly, continuing to study the map for a moment before he spoke a few words in Orcish. Calmly he rolled up the map and tucked it back into its case before casually heading in the direction indicated, Neya close at hand.

Ilsa snorted and rolled her eyes before replying in orcish.  She rested her greatsword across her shoulders and followed close behind Shirok in her standard position, on the opposite side from Neya. She spoke again and laughed.

Porto & Roth--
Once they had successfully descended the upper part of the tree, Chubbs gingerly opened the old wooden door to the strange house.  The whole dwelling was one big room, literally four walls, a shoddy wooden floor, and a damaged roof.  The giant room was jam-packed with all kinds of strange things, most notably an over-stuffed armchair and ottoman.  One of the walls is dominated by a large bookshelf, which is bursting with old, weathered books.  A shabby and uncomfortable-looking bed adorns the opposite wall.  The entire room is dusty and thousands of molted feathers cover every flat surface.

Ilsa, Neya, & Shirok--
As you near the location indicated, you can faintly make-out the form of a man.  From the looks of him—and from still a considerable distance—he appears to be a wanderer, dressed in some kind of mail under a tattered robe.  He doesn't appear threatening, and you aren't even 100% sure he is armed.

Shirok nodded at Ilsa's words, smiling in return. It had been quite some time since anything had been as simple as dealing with an intruder.

Of course, things were rarely that simple. The follower appeared to be just another wanderer, possibly 'following' them because he was traveling along the same path until he too was swept up in this place. He spoke softly as they approached.

Ilsa shrugged. She was relaxed and didn't appear to be threatened by the man. She glanced at Neya and then whispered to Shirok in orcish.

I think we should have a look see around this place. Maybe we could find a clue as to whats going on or maybe something useful, maybe even magical. With this Chubbs goes about searching the room. He was having a difficult time finding anything, he was glad to have a librarian with him.

19:43, Today: Porto 'Chubbs' Brandybuck rolled 9 using 1d20+2. search.

Shirok nodded, Neya seeming to smile a little as well at his words.  The wolf fell back slightly from the others, her stance lowering slightly; she was ready to move at an instant's notice.

"What a mess!"  Roth exclaims as he looks around at dusty furnishings buried in old feathers.  He kicks at a few feathers on the floor and adds, "But I've seen worse..."  With sparing a moment on the rest of the room, Roth makes his way to the bookshelf and begins scanning and tapping the spines, looking either for an interesting read or one filled with something other than pages.

Porto & Roth—
Many of the books on the shelf don’t have anything written on the binding; and ones Roth removes and flips though are completely blank, save a few with colorful, child-like drawings in them.  They way they are bound and have survived the weather, many would make exemplary spellbooks.  One with a leather cover, however, is stamped with a strange symbol, one Roth has never seen before.  He is about to show it to Chubbs, when he spies another book hidden under the cushion of the armchair.
He wipes away a few feathers that had been impressed into its cover and delicately opens the tome.  He finds it is written in form of Common he is unfamiliar with.  He can read the text easily, but finds some punctuation, spelling, and grammar difficult to understand.  The penmanship is excellent and fluid, something he’d expect from someone with a good education.  The elf scans a few pages, noting one paragraph in particular:

   The RABBIT suspects something.  It isn’t like her to be so
   inquisitive.  She was ordered to protect CRISS with her life,
   as we all were; not to meddle in my affairs.  That fat bastard
   PIG got what was coming to him!  I do fear that, if my treachery
   is discovered, CRISS will dismiss me; but isn’t that what I’ve
   been fighting for; my freedom?  This whole mess is becoming more
   confusing with each passing day.

Ilsa, Neya, & Shirok (with Stan & Garret?)—
The man slowly stands and raises his hands, indicating his passive intent.  He cautiously steps out of the clearing, waiting for the half-orcs and their wolf to come near enough to converse comfortably.
They can see by his dress that he is a warrior; but nothing like any of them have ever seen before.  His body is human, but he appears to be a sub-race in which neither wolf is familiar, and his clothing/armor style also appears quite foreign.  Even passing through time, many of the aesthetics of the world remained the same, or at least similar enough; but there was something about this man that seemed off—but not sinisterly so.  He seemed to have an honorable way about him (very much like Garret), that much you both could tell, even without having spoken to him yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:30, Wed 05 May 2010.

Recognizing the man as a warrior, Ilsa became less relaxed. She shifted her greatsword from her shoulders to her hands, holding it so that its point was resting on the ground. Watching for any signs of hostility or weakness, the barbarian kept her eye on him as she spoke in orcish to Shirok.

Shirok nodded, studying the stranger for a few moments. Neya stood behind him, sniffing the air cautiously. Finally, Shirok spoke. "Who are you, and why are you in this forest?"

Knowing better than to appraise on the scene, Roth opens his sack and slides a few books in--the apparent journal, the book with the noteworthy symbol on it's cover, and the sturdiest of the blank books.  He announces to Porto as he turns his attention to the rest of the room to scan for valuables, "I found some books that might shed some light, and some that might be worth something to a mage.  Have you found anything?"

23:44, Today: Roth Daos rolled 23 using 1d20+10. Search.

“I felt I should ask you the same thing,” Katsumoto replies glancing at the shaman’s gilded map case hanging from his side.  He had witnessed the haf-orc reference the parchment he kept in that case as if it they too were looking to traverse this strange forest.  “I am Katsumoto Masashi; and I have lost my way.  I saw you fight those creatures last night.  Impressive," he says, his face remaining stoic.

Ilsa's nostrils flared and she snorted. She then leaned over slightly and split on the ground. She stared at the strange warrior, her blood-filled eye scanned his armor, his weapons, and his stance. She wasn't going to speak; that she left to Shirok.

No, I may be many things, but a librarian...I leave that task to you my elven friend. Porto says with a bit of a joke in his voice.

Neya growled slightly, adding her faint warning to Ilsa's. The massive wolf stared at the man, her golden eyes staring directly into his, just waiting for him to move.

Shirok's eyes narrowed slightly. "How long have you been watching us?"

"Since lastnight," Katsumoto says with a stony face.