Chapter 3: Scene 2: Bandits of the Greenbelt
Radishes are root vegetables, they'll keep effectively forever unless you get them wet.
Exploring the environs of the bandit camp, you realize just how well Kressle chose her spot, or maybe the Stag Lord helped her out. It's a defensible clearing, with both the little stream and the Thorn River itself just a short walk away. Only your magic allowed you to sneak up on her, and even that wouldn't have worked if she'd had all the bandits on alert. The only real downside is that there's no good way to cross the river anywhere nearby. Venk points out where the bandits previously had a simple raft stored to get across, but it looks like one of the escapees took it. The river is a little too fast to be an easy swim, but you eventually find a wide enough spot that Sophia can tow a line across to anchor the rest of you. While the others secure the campsite to the background of Wilkezag's jaunty music, Dubh collects some fish for your dinner. He finds that the fish practically leap into his hands, and eventually realizes he's fishing in a patch of water chestnuts, so he gathers those up as well. Although you hear some howling in the woods that night, nothing bothers your camp.
In the morning (6th Pharast) as you explore, you decide to start wandering northwards on the west side of the river, planning to make your way generally back toward Oleg's to resupply for your next foray into the Greenbelt. Venk mentions that there are usually far fewer trappers on this side of the river, although he's not sure why; and indeed, you see no sign of any recent human traffic, although there's plenty of wildlife. He does mention that it's not wise to get too close to the Narlmarches, as there are trolls and worse things out on the plains beyond the Greenbelt, to say nothing of the western reaches of the forest itself. However, you end up encountering nothing more concerning than some thorny thickets; unfortunately, the blackberries aren't in season right now. Wilkezag, trying to spice up the last of the baked fish from yesterday, decides to toast them on skewers, and comes up with just the perfect combination of herbs. The result is refreshing and restful, almost as though you had managed to squeeze in a short nap along with dinner. This night is very quiet, with not even a skittering giant spider or slinking thylacine to break the silence.
As you forge northward along the river, you encounter obvious signs of more hunting spiders, with old webs draped from branches and a notable lack of small ground predators like foxes or ferrets. However, you don't see any fresh webs or actual spiders; perhaps they've moved on, or they're just in hibernation from the still quite chilly weather. Sophia hears a rattling noise in some brush, but when she goes to investigate there doesn't seem to be anything there. Some time later, Dubh thinks he sees some lanterns through the trees, but he knows better than to explore alone, and when you get closer, there's no sign of anything. Charlie is noticeably quieter in this area, staying close to Venk. "I told you, weird things happen around here. No one knows why. It's just spooky, maybe it's haunted." He doesn't seem happy about your decision to continue exploring the area, but he's much less interested in wandering off on his own. As you camp that night, Wilkezag's music seems to have a strange echo or harmony, as though someone out in the woods were playing along with him. But you don't see anything out there, even before it gets too dark.
After crossing the river again in the morning, you turn to the east on your way back to Oleg's trading post, still making notes of the various terrain and minor landmarks you encounter. A particularly tall and well-shaped fir tree catches Booker's eye, with two large nests near the top. Probably vultures, although the nests seem a little high and precarious to hold eggs safely. As Booker points this out, you hear some kind of large animal crashing through the brush just out of sight, but if you go to investigate, there doesn't seem to be any sign of it, except a bush with inexplicably pink leaves. At this point Dubh is getting suspicious as well; things like this don't happen in normal forests. But Sophia has a different theory: these sorts of harmless pranks are characteristic of small fey, especially in forested areas. She comments that fey will often accept gifts of jewelry, potions, alcohol, or sugary food to leave someone alone.
It's currently getting toward evening on 8th Pharast; you're in hex C18, east of the river, getting ready to make camp. Assume I rolled about 30 dice behind my screen during all of this narration. You guys mostly rolled pretty high. Let me know if there's anything else you particularly want to explore or investigate. You can possibly figure out the mystery of hex C18 at this point if you guess right and roll pretty high (you definitely couldn't yet on the 7th), but if you don't, it will probably follow you around for some time, so you'll have more chances.
As the moon wanes, it may become important to know who is taking which watch, for those who can't see in the dark. Parts of first and last watches will still be dimly lit (especially as the days lengthen), but Booker and Wilkezag will not be able to see anything past the range of your campfire in the middle of the night. In general I'll assume that you typically have the vision-enhanced members of the party on watch in the darkest times of the night.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:19, Wed 08 Mar 2023.
