As agreed, Briegenn the local druid sent out her little birds to gather intelligence on the other groups in the south. It took the animals three days to gather the necessary information, with rain falling for the latter half of that time:

Group one was the orcs, split in two: a small part of them (6-ish) stayed in the Keep at all times, while another, 10-ish strong, went out to hunt and bring meat.

In and around the keep lay several dead after a fight: some of them orcs, some druids. In good old chaotic fashion the orcs did not lift a finger to bury any of them. The Keep was not very secure: one wall had almost collapsed fully, there were several ruined sections in other parts too. Again the orcs did nothing to shore up defenses.

Outside were their enemies: Some seven or eight druids, some hale, some wounded, were camping outside in hiding, keeping watch on the orcs. Relatively obvious, the two sides had clashed and the druids had retreated after suffering casualties.

And there were also the “Blood Druids”, 10 or so, with one elvish captive, wandering around near a ritual site.

What to make of that?

Hezeroth informed us that blood sacrifices usually increased the effectiveness of spells. Sometimes they were necessary for a certain summoning.

We mulled on random theories about these groups and what they were doing or wanting to do, and about the lack of identifying Azequia. But we did not really get any definitives because we just did not know enough.

Request Backup

Finally we sent word to Morgansfort, via bird for one, and on foot in the form of Vaeva, our fastest cross country runner, for another. But obviously it would take more than a week until we could expect any response.

One way or another we would be facing enemies though, so Darion asked the Vampire Hunter Raedwulf if he wanted to come along? As an appetizer Darion reminded him that the one druid group was called “Blood Druids”, which might just as well signify some connection to vampires. The fighter was interested and agreed to come with us.
Briegenn gave us positions of all factions in return for *a favour*. Dun-dun-dunn.
She also gave us 4 vials of potions to stay awake through a full night, and 3 more: one to heal (for Darion), two to cure poison (for the clerics).

Onward!

Then we set out, despite the rain. First we went back to our lion place and retrieved Endbringer, which was still in its spot. Then we were on our way south; encountered a burned down hut, now home to three (!) black bears. We avoided them and camped at a copse.

During the night, two giant bees the size of an adult dwarf (!) showed up and circled a spot nearby. When one of them flew off we attempted to shoot down the huge solo bee, but missed. We broke off before it could make sense of the item passing it by. Later a group of giant bees came and harvested some flowers here, then they all left. Investigating the place we discovered a dead human. Among his possessions we found a short sword for Matriusz Raedwulf and a gold ring with a gemstone, apparently magical.

The next day we entered the forests down south and noticed the sound of snoring. Darion shed his armor to sneak up on it. He discovered five (!) giants (!!) resting near a massive boiling cauldron.
Where were we? What kind of neighbourhood was that?
Darion carefully moved away before any of them might smell him.

Feathery Friends

Lo and behold we noticed some firelight in the distance. While we were strategizing what to do – storm in and kill them all at once, sneak around and kill them one by one, make contact, leave a message, sneak in to free the elf?

But there was a bird nearby, a crow, and Apoqulis tried to talk to it to find out something and fill our knowledge gaps. It confirmed that this light up there was the druids and told us that they were every animal’s friend and very nice. And yes, they had something with pointy ears with them. The clerics discussed how to use a silence spell to best effect.

Then we were caught.
There was an owl sitting there, watching us, then gave a hoot and flew off to the druid camp.
Apoqulis knew what it meant, and he pushed us to go in hot right after it and slay the druids while they were still organizing. But Darion tarried. He was so full of doubts he was crippled by it. We had so little factual information…

Apex Predator

We gave up on the advantage of surprise and instead tied the donkey behind a tree (Apoqulis told him everything would be all right and to just hang tight). Then we moved sideways to get out of the area where we were spotted. But someone intercepted us: A giant cave bear.

Most of us hid behind trees, but Heidel the Dwarf bravely stepped up and faced the creature. It came from the direction of the druid camp – a monster of a bear, standing up on its hind legs to stand 10 feet tall.

When it discovered the little dwarf in its way it leant forward and roared with a power that shook the trees and even dropped Heidel back onto the ground.
The bear hesitated for a moment, but Heidel did not run. And so the animal raised its paw and made to swing and strike him down. So Apoqulis and Darion broke forth out of the underbrush and struck! Both hit the flanked bear, and both did massive damage thanks to great luck.

The bear hit Heidel; three attacks, only one of them hit – and it hit… surprisingly soft. Considering the size, unbelievably soft. Barely a shove.

Wildshape

Then Heidel struck back – and downed the beast. The bear fell, and bzzzzt — turned into a woman with matted hair und rough-spun clothing.

She was out for the count, at least for the moment. So there was another moment of indecision. Kill her while she’s down? Talk to her? One thing is for sure, she is a druid, and a strong one, for being able to take such a massive form.

Apoqulis and Darion bound and gagged her, while there were already worried druid-voices drifting over from the forest behind her. Darion slung the woman across his shoulders to run, and Heidel picked this moment — not exactly to Darion’s rejoicing — to cast cure light wounds on the druid, which woke her up and made her a bit more difficult to carry as she struggled against and tried to free herself. And she tried to talk. Heidel made to remove her gag, but Apoqulis stopped him: “Later!”

On the run

And so we ran away, trying to win some distance and get a moment for ourselves, where we could interrogate the druid. Difficult, of course: She could simply turn into a bird and fly away. Apoqulis offered to put her into a silence spell zone, but we want to hear her. Darion wants her gag removed only a bit, so it can be shoved back into her mouth as soon as she utters weird words faster than she can finish a spell. We want to know things. We need to know things.

Confusion

Because despite what Apoqulis thinks, as far as Darion is concerned these “Blood Druids” have given us nothing — not a single clear hint that would tell us where they stand or justify violence against them.

Being called “Blood Druids”? We don’t know why they call themselves that. The bear? Tried to scare us off with minimal damage. We would have done the same thing if someone was to sneak up on us. Using a million birds as spies? We are talking to birds all the time and even send them as messenger-boys. Having an elf tied up? We would for a reason, and just because that’s an elf does not tell us anything. Maybe the elf is Azequia?

We know nothing. So we cannot harm them.
We need to know.

Morgansfort: The whole story