The woods just outside the town palisade are cheery.  Squirrels scamper and birds cavort merrily while singing a cheerful song.  Two rabbits cuddle under an oak tree.  And flowers bloom in a rainbow of colors.

It just makes your blood boil.  Or not.  Everyone sees these kinds of scenes differently.

Bilmoth leads you deeper into the woods, handing over the map as he does so.

"It's not really much a' a map.  But it's what we got.

"No one's been inside the glen for...well.  Ages.  So can't swear it's accurate.  And the lady who made it was a bit tetched.  So.  You should keep that in mind.

"I'll tag along if you don't mind.  Just in case you need some patching up."

He leads you to a creek and begins to follow it to the west.  Ahead, he points to a bend in the river.

"The glen starts about there.  So...one a' you should go first."

You are on the northwest bank of the creek on the map above.  Marching order please

"Right."  Bellinha said as she stepped forward to the edge of the bridge.  The glen started on the other side of the bridge, so that meant that they needed to cross said bridge.  It looked relatively safe, so maybe the whole weird vibe that the forest was giving off was just her imagination.  Or maybe it was the curse making her hate stuff again.  Whatever it was, the sooner that they pulled Tottenhat out of trouble, the sooner that he could cure the lot of them.  "Let's go then.  Eyes open.  And does anyone know anything about Fairies?"

She did not look back as she started across the bridge.

OOC:
Bellinha Grunnel rolled 18 for Perception
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Mon 16 Jan 2023.

At some point earlier in their journey here, while speaking with Cassandre, he had gotten an answer to the last of his previous questions.
As he and Cassandre were next to the last of the people journeying to the glen, he was able to observe the members of the group ahead of him.

When they arrived at the bridge, and during their preparations to cross it, Kamatar made certain to take a good look at the bridge itself,
the area around and underneath the bridge, the waters under the bridge, and finally the banks on the other side.

"It would be a good idea to be among the last to cross this bridge. Unless you have reason to go before the others." Kamatar observed.

OOC
Kamatar Yu Pan rolled 12 using 1d20+11.  Perception.
(Sometimes, the Universe blinds you with its beauty.)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Tue 17 Jan 2023.

Breya figured she could push, roll or swim past anyone in the way, and took the rearmost position to ambush anyone stupid enough to try to attack her back there.

"They like to screw with people. And not in the fun way."

In reply to Breya (msg # 5):

Well let's not jump ahead of ourselves here.  You're heading down the bank of the creek towards the bridge.  It's within sight, when...

As you come within sight of the "Not a Troll Bridge" bridge, you hear noises off to the north of your position.  It sounds like a party of some kind.

Bilmoth scratches his chin.  "That might be them teddy bears.  I jus' know they have picnics or some such around here.  I've never seen 'em."

Investigating the noises to the north?  Or heading for the Not-At-All-A-Troll-Bridge?

 Cassandre was happy to follow the merry band, hanging at the back with her new acquaintance. At some point when the others were looking back, and before they got into any more trouble, she waved and said:
 "Everybody, this is Kamatar. His nails are neatly trimmed, but please don't hold that against him. He's going to tag along for a bit."

 When they heard the noise to the North, the little wizard paused and listened with intent, and focused her eyes to scan the edge of the trees.
 Cassandre Lagrene rolled 20 using 1d20+12.  perception

Unless she spotted something that seemed really fun, she weighed in:
 "Maybe we don't need more aggravation just yet..."

Kozibi didn't even frown at Cassandre this time when she introduced the newcomer with a weird snippet. He looked over Kamatar and then gave a shrug. "Kozibi."

Then he walked along with the others. At the mention of the noises and 'teddy' bears, one eyebrow rose up. "Shockingly? For once I agree with Cassandre."

From her position at the front, Bellinha took a moment to look back at Kamatar.  He was another tall one, she noted.  Bellinha wasn't short by any means, and even though she was slightly taller than the average human woman, it seemed like every new member of their company was taller than her.  First Breya, then Zekk, now Kamatar.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kamatar.  I am Bellinha." she said courteously, offering the newcomer a pleasant smile.  She did not understand the significance of Kamatars neatly trimmed nails but that was something to ask about later.  "My apologies for not welcoming you to our company earlier but we are on a time sensitive quest.  I hope that we will have time for proper introductions and conversation afterwards."

Her attention returned to the task at hand and turned for the bridge.  "We can look into Teddy bears later.  We need to recover Tottenhat first."

"Mmmhmm..." Zekk murmured at both the introduction and Bellinha's idea that they should stay the course.

Without another word, playing with something in his pocket idly, Zekk continued to tag along, looking around for more of those damnable turtles... probably hiding everywhere, plotting their downfall. Crafty little buggers!