The Green Woman of the Erin

[Longman]

No sign of the shadow-birds she described.

On the morning of the 16th, you move into F03, still on the south bank of the river. You still find nothing. I assume 2EP.

Next hex is G04, where Talin spots a wild tree.

It is really obvious to everyone else once they have been told. It is an oak tree, with strangely elongated lower limbs, a bit like the whomping willow. It is standing apart from other trees in a clearing, and there is a smell of death nearby. Several of the rangers spot a small deer that is decomposing at the base of the tree.

You are about 120 feet away from it and it seems to pose no direct danger. You have not seen it move.

1EP down in this hex (3 all up for the day).

[Woe]

Give it a wiiiiide berth and keep going. Until Tiana learns fireball, whomping willows get a pass as long as they don't threaten the party.

[Longman]

Tree avoided. Another EP in G04, where there are no more sightings of anything. 4 EP down.

The next river hex is H03, where several more wild trees are spotted, almost as soon as you enter the hex.

These are quite close together - trunks about 80' feet apart - and are larger than the previous one you saw. You are about 140' away from both, when you spot them. They are definitely very oddly shaped.

Caradoc thinks he may have seen more suspicious trees further back, but didn't mention it until now.

Still only 4EP down, as you saw these ones almost straight away. What do you do?

[Woe]

Talin notes Caradoc's update grimly. The group will avoid the whomping willows by a wide margin. Have they seen any signs of the trees uprooting and moving, either directly or by tracks? They don't want to be followed or ambushed later.

[Longman]

You have seen no indication that the trees can move. Tracking rolls can see no sign of it at all. They are also relatively easy to spot.

Do you keep going? Assuming that you do, you spend the last 2 EP of the day in H03 (you had only just entered it when you saw the first main group of trees).

You see numerous more of the trees - several dozen in all. They get more and more frequent as you progress along the riverbank to the east. The smell of dead animals becomes more and more common. You do not see a tree in action.

It is now nightfall and you are in H03. Are you going to make camp here?

[Woe]

Let's look to make camp in a cave on a bluff nowhere near the trees. If it's getting too problematic, the rangers will debate whether to break farther away from the river and head south for a bit.

[Longman]

You have to spend another hour or so moving away from the river to find a decent place to camp. You see and avoid a dozen more trees.

Just as you have found a camp, and you are in twilight, several of you see one of the black shapes the hermit lady was talking about.

It is about 6'long and floating above the tree tops above you, about 120 feet away. It looks like smoke, or in ink in water, or a patch of extra darkness. It's hard to make out in the dim light.

What do you do?

[Woe]

If it's possible, the group gets even more hidden!

Kilian will attempt to identify it. Has he seen it before i.e. is it dragonkin? Other than dragonkin (wyvernkin, ...) I don't think he's had a lot of experience with these beasts, but at least he can grumble and state it's probably not a dragon.

Did you mean 120' or 120 feet? It's outdoor ranges and 120 feet would be 40' would be really close in game terms!

[Longman]

I did mean 120 feet. It is above a nearby treetop.

It does not look like anything Kilian recognizes. Certainly no dragon.

You get hidden. The creature moves off into the shadows.

You have spent 7/6 EP today finding a hidden place in the hex away from the wild trees at the river.

Do you camp here, or are you spooked and keep moving? You are getting pretty tired.

[Woe]

Yes, they'll camp here. It's dark already and probably better to hide here and hope for the best than wander around in the dark and end up camping under a whomping willow.

Double watches, and Kilian will grudgingly allow one of the rangers to use his crossbow (because of the easy weapon swap) while he's sleeping. I think I arranged the watch order earlier, right? I can dig them up if you want. All I recall is that Kilian gets the darkest watch.