I. The Stolen Lands : 1.6 Wandering in the Green Belt & Various encounters

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Back to the fort 
After two days to discover the immediate surroundings of the Temple, the Heroes went back to the Fort, stopping by the lumberjacks camp to get their horses back. The woodsmen were about to leave as well. They had all of their equipment prepared and loaded in cart pulled by a small robust horse. Both groups crossed the edge of the Great Forest together and travelled through the grassy hills to reach Oleg's outpost. On the way, Barwane told the lumberjacks about what they found  in the woods : the abandoned temple, the black vine, the poor priest and all.

Once in South Fort, the woodsmen quickly left to the North where they had spotted a thick tree grove a few hours from there. They planned to spend a few days there to cut down the wood they needed and get it to the fort so they can start to restore the walls. They would then help Pavil and his sons to install a farm and an enclosure for the cattle.

Oleg's carriage leaving South Fort

Oleg was also about to leave as he had plenty of merchandise to sell back in Restov. He loaded his carriage with a satisfied smile on his face. Several locals had made orders for specific items, Ugarsh was setting up a forge in the fort's yard and needed some iron lingots and the Heroes had gave him a letter for Father Rurik to report about how well their mission was going so far.

Exploring the surroundings of South Fort

The charter given by Restov mentioned the Heroes had to explore and map the Green Belts down to 5 days of walk South of the fort. So under the lead of Alyssa as a scout and with the moderately efficient but enthusiastic participation of Barwane as a cartographer, the party started to criss-cross the surroundings. They first spent time to explore the Kamelands, encountering some of the most bizarre specimens of local fauna. First a carnivore tree which almost swallowed Evgeny entirely as they were on their way to visit Bokken. Then they met with a vicious species of serpent-lizard called Tatzlwirm which head ended up decorating the tavern's dining room. To finish they found and fought a giant Red Spider who collected trespassers, hanging them into cobweb cocoons in order to eat them later. In this cellar of an unusual type the Heroes found the mummified bodies of a stag pendant wearing brigand and... of a dark scaled kobold.

What a Kame is...

What the exploration of the Kamelands did really for the Heroes is that they discovered what the "Kames", those specific stone piles you could find everywhere around, were exactly. When they found a particular large one, the Heroes examined it carefully and were able to excavate an entrance.

A Kame burial mound
The stench coming out of the small opening was so terrible that Alyssa proposed the party to fumigate the cairn with aromatic plants before they start to explore it. The other Heroes had a hard time to stop laughing... That quote would follow the ranger the rest of her adventurer life !

In the end they got torches lit up and entered the half buried mound and disappeared into a wet and dark corridor. They made their ways through intricate roots and rubbles covered with mold until they reached a relatively large room where stone sarcophagi were standing against the walls. They sheltered the bones of antique savage warriors still wearing worn down armors and rusted swords.

As soon as the Heroes stepped into the buried hall, the skeletons started to move making cracking noises as they were stumbling out of their stone coffins. One of them, who had a huge pendant made of sabre tooth fangs and a bronze helm started to talk in an dry, rocky, shrieky voice :
"Ô Armag, my king Is that you ? We are waiting for thee ! Lead us to battle and glory !"
A Battle indeed occurred in the tomb but the old skeletons were destroyed, leaving the Heroes with more questions than answers and a primitive but nonetheless well forged magical sword.



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