Tired, bruised, and spent, the party decides it’s time to make a move and leave the castle.
Before leaving, Sigmar notices that the odd creature was wielding a make-shift maul. He takes the weapon with him.
They backtrack their steps, carefully checking for any traps they could have possibly (and dangerously) missed.
As they reach the main entrance of the castle, they stop to discuss where to head next, and what route to take. As they do so, they hear noises coming from outside.
The noise of creaking wheels turning, and horses struggling, draws near.
The group freezes when they notice this, their priorities now shifting to the possible danger.
They don’t act immediately, and this leads to a pause that felt like and eternity.
Breaking the silence that had set in the meantime, a voice – in goblinoid – begins calling from outside.
“Hey, anybody there?”
The party grows even more nervous, and does not respond.
This lack of response makes the unseen speaker more persistent in his hails.
Trying to avoid any kind of confrontation, the group goes back to the ruined tower with the canvas that hides an exit to the outside.
Regrouping by the secret passage, they formulate a simple plan:
The party will move as fast – and as stealthily – as possible to the northern edge of the forest, while Kiara’s cat familiar will scout the newcomers to assess the threat.
They reach the cover of the trees without incident, noticing the path that the newcomers seem to have taken, and after a few minutes Kiara senses Nori’s return before the rest of the group can even see the familiar.
The cat reports what it has seen, and Kiara shares it with the group:
It is indeed a horse-drawn wagon, carrying a tall wooden container that seems built like a cage for some type of creature.
Driving the wagon, a hobgoblin accompanied by a group of goblins.
Around them, two wolves trail the company.
The party speculates that the large box might be carrying another one of the strange – mutated – goblin creatures, and worries that the wolves will soon pick up their scent.
Not feeling ready for another fight they decide to leave.
The path the wagon seemingly took is available to them as a clear trail that points northeast.
They chose the cover of the forest and move into the woods, heading north, planning later to turn sharply to the east and then to the southwest, circling around the Crawmag castle at a safe distance before heading to Deepdale.
Under the guidance of Dwolf, the group marches on for about an hour.
The way through the thicket is not too hard to traverse, as it is clear that other people have made their way through it from time to time. The more walked parts definitely seem to veer to the east.
Eventually, the thicket opens slightly and the party reaches a clearing.
In this isolated area of the forest stands the ruins of an old round tower built of exquisitely cut stone being reduced slowly to rubble.
Thick, thorny vines have grown around the area creating a natural barrier around the ring of stones.
In the middle of the area, they notice the remains of a campfire.
This seems the perfect place to rest for the night.
Dwolf carefully inspects the area, and while he finds nothing obviously wrong something doesn’t seem quite right.
The thorny vines around the area seem somehow… out of place.
The ranger expresses this to the party, and while the group wonders exactly what he means Sigmar takes the initiative by moving closer to one of the vines closer to the center of the tower and smashing it with his hammer.
The cleric immediately realizes that it is no normal vines he is striking, but in truth humanoid-shaped plant creatures that were dormant in the area.
Five of these green warders rise around him, and seem to hiss aggressively.
The party is forced to defend themselves.
Spent from all the fighting during the day, and surprised by this turn of events, the party struggles with this confrontation.
The warders attack and grapple Sigmar. He is weakened greatly by the onslaught.
Dwolf moves in to attack in melee but is also grappled.
The rest of the group attacks from afar.
Droop, in particular, provides impressive cover fire with a few well placed arrows.
The warders prove to be quite resilient and feeling that this is a fight they cannot win, the party begins to retreat.
The creatures pursue, but at a visibly slow pace.
Their speed is no match for the party’s.
With this new-found knowledge, and certain that they have a controllable situation, the group decides to keep the creatures at a range and attack them outside of their reach.
Sigmar stands back, his spells spent and unable to attack at range.
Kiara moving around the field while unleashing her eldritch blast, gets distracted and is momentarily grappled. She is hurt but manages to escape.
Eventually, their strategy pays off and all the plant creatures are defeated.
After investigating the abandoned campfire, and securing the area, they finally are able to rest.
The group takes time to investigate the magical items they have recently found.
Sigmar realizes that Grol was carrying a Sentinel shield.
Dwolf lingers on the small statue of the high elf they found, understanding it’s (limited) divination properties.
The evening, and night, pass without incident.
Come morning, the group begins their trek back to town.
Following Dwolf once more they no longer head north, but south and eventually southwest.
The ranger notices they are clearly moving against the grain of the path, as quite a few signs point to it being quite traveled in the opposite direction.
After a few calm hours of travel, they eventually reach the main road.
They return to the Boar Trail farther east from Deepdale than they’ve been so far.
In the distance the Wyvern Tor is visible, but smaller – on account of the distance – than ever before.
They resume walking on the main road, their pace accelerating now that they are mostly unimpeded.
After a while they see in the distance a group of four humanoids approaching towards them.
The party is nervous about this development, but keeps walking regardless.
As the newcomers approach, the group notices that they are wearing hoods fashioned in a woodland way. These appear to be druids.
Both groups appear weary of each other and interact minimally.
They barely reduce their walking speed, exchange minor pleasantries, and move along.
After a few further hours of walking, the group finally reaches the fork of the trail that turns south towards the town.
Droop quietly sneaks a way and leaves the party. They surmise that he is uncomfortable in town, but that they’ll surely see him again.
It’s midafternoon and, finally with Grunden safe, they arrive in Deepdale.
The Draconus Dictum