The three of us, Jäger the hunter, Loral the Dwarf priestess of Moradin and myself, a Paladin of the first order of Sir Ganther, set off into the forest beside Falcon's hollow that is situated within Darkmoon Vale.
The forest seemed unwelcoming but nerves can make even the most stout hearted of men feel a little off but watching Jäger's strong strides, I was able to be inspired by him and shook off any doubts or fears I had about venturing into the forest.
After a few hours we found the lumber yard and was soon confronted by a wart of a man named Jarlben Truxhabits. At least that is what he said he was called. I did not sense any evil from this man nor did I have any reason to suspect him of lying about his name but I found it hard to place my full trust into this man with his hideous politeness. He let us know that he was the foreman of the yard and that we were unwelcome. I hoped that after we explained the nature of our intrusion into his yard that he would be more forthcoming with aid but sadly I was let down. It took silver to convince him to help us. I only hope that silver is enough to buy himself some sense of decency before he is judged in the afterlife.
Nevertheless, he calls over Millan, one of his workers in the yard that has sometimes spoken of the Heart of the Forest and how he has been there. Just speaking to Millan for a short while, I could tell he was a genuine man and would not lead us astray. after we told him the nature of our quest he was more than happy to help. It transpired that he had a nephew who had become sick with Black Scour so to hear that there is a fresh chance of a cure pleased him greatly. Not only did he give us better directions to the Heart of the Forest, he also told us of a safe place nearby we could rest for the night as it was becoming dark and he was right, we did need our rest. Not only had we been slogging it hard all day, we still had a great adventure ahead of us. I thanked Millan and gave him some coin in order for him to purchase some of Cuthbert's remedy to help his nephew until we had come back with the cure.
We rested well thanks to Millan's directions and we were able to head off as the dawn broke but sadly we were not far off before we came across a dark sight. Normally finding fairies in the forest can often be a good omen but this was not one of those times. Some evil being had taken it apon themselves to kill and nail the fairies to a fallen log. The shock stopped me in my tracks. None of the three of us could think of a reason as to why some one or thing would do this so we immediately and carefully released them from their horrific scene and buried them. I offered a short prayer in the hopes that a fairy god would listen and forgive us if we put them to rest in a way that is not becoming of a fairy. We pressed on with low spirits but with a heightened sense of danger. Who knows what resides within this seemingly dark forest? We were soon to find out.
Next we were attacked by a pack of wolves. I was taken by surprise and almost perished if it was not for the skillful eye of Jäger and his accuracy with a bow, or the divine grace of Loral and her ability to heal. Next we faced a trap expertly found by Jäger. A hobgoblin had injured a fox and had it bait us out with it's woeful whimpers but Jäger proved to outsmart the hobgoblin and sneaked around as I heartily drew fire from him. Jäger and his bow once again saved the day as he dispatched the hobgoblin and his pet Razor-Crows. Once Loral healed my wounds and those of the fox we pressed on even deeper into the forest. It was then we truly realised we had best tread carefully as a wyvern flew close by over us. It's flapping wings could be heard as it almost blackened out the sky with his shadow. I thanked Sir Ganther as the poison tailed beast did not notice us and flew by. If it did notice us, I fear our quest would have abruptly ended then and there.
Our tried to keep up our spirits as we pressed deeper and deeper into the forest but it proved hard. Loral was always close to me and listened to my stories but I could tell that she was beginning to let her low moral get the better of her. Jäger mostly kept to himself as he scouted ahead of us. I trusted him to not lead us into danger so we followed his directions. A few hours passed and Jäger emerged from the trees like a forest spirit to inform us that there is a clearing ahead with a huge tree growing in the middle that fit the description of Millan gave us. The clearing must have reached over thirty feet in diameter. The tree itself owned a complicated pattern of branches that wove in and amongst themselves to almost resemble a building like cathedral to the forest, but my gut was telling me to be careful.
Jäger pointed into the tree's thick branches to help us notice the bodies that have been pinned to the tree, not unlike the fairies we found early on as we began our adventure into this forsaken forest. All three of us looked at each other and knew exactly what it was we had to do. Whatever darkness was active here, we had a duty to cleanse it.
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