dnd woods > Part Two
On the road, the party encounter a black bear, which they defeat in combat. The noise of the combat awakens a tree spirit, which moves to block their path. Kissa persuades the tree spirit that the party are no threat to it, and to lift Kissa to the other side of the path. With more persuasion from Kissa, the tree moves out of the way, allowing the entire party to pass.
The party level up to level two, following the fight with the black bear.
The rest of the journey passes uneventfully and the party arrive at Castell Clun. Lord Clun, who is Gladwys Clun’s brother in law, is overjoyed at Gladwys’s return and throws an impromptu banquet to celebrate. Fungress joins Lord Clun to hunt a deer for the feast. Miss Piggy and Kissa find some mushrooms in the forest. The wedding cake that the party accidentally ordered arrives, providing plenty of food for everyone present.
In the morning, the family assemble around the table in the castle’s great hall. The hall is a far cry from the night before. Where yesterday there was a roaring fire, there is now a pile of ashes, waiting to be cleaned. Where yesterday were men and women drinking ale and making merry, today there are just three, gloomy figures, deep in conversation around the table.
When the three notice you, they fall silent. Lord Clun explains, “Forgive us, we were discussing matters of the family and politics.”
The party enquire as to what Lord Clun means by this.
“The political situation is worsening,” explains Lord Clun. “I am about to lose my alliance with Lord Caus, of the middle lands.” Lord Clun is keen to stop a war between the two clans before it has begun, and will write a letter to Lord Caus imparting as much, if the party are willing to carry it.
Gladwys interjects, “And young Joni is missing! Don’t forget that!” Joni, Gladwys explains, is a boy from the town where the party started their trip to Castell Clun. The three members of the Clun family continue to explain the disappearance of Joni, which they believe might be at the hands of those favourable to Lord Caus, and the impending loss of the alliance with Lord Caus, which is due to Caus’s loathing for King Norman, and Clun’s neutrality.
The party decide that they will travel to Castell Caus, visiting, on the way, a town where it is believed that Joni Bach may have travelled to.
Mrs. Clun’s servant, Ederyn, packs rations to last the party several days. He manages to hide a letter, addressed to ‘Emyr’ at Castell Clun. Mrs. Clun does not notice this, and the party wait until she has left the room before pressing Emyr on the hidden letter. He admits that Emyr is a dear friend of his, who works as a groundskeeper at Castell Caus. The two have not seen each other in a long time, and Ederyn is wary that the political situation between Castell Clun and Castell Caus may soon mean that the two cannot communicate, even by the occasional smuggled letter, as they do now.
The party leave Castell Clun. Mrs. Clun gifts the pony, Belle, to the party. Zossimos rides Belle, who also carries the rations prepared by Ederyn. The journey to the town is punctuated by a strange encounter with a goblin. He jumps, seemingly out of nowhere, into the path. He wears a red cape and brandishes a sword. Zossimos, observing the cape carefully, realises that it is a repurposed tablecloth. The sword is a wooden training sword, with tin foil wrapped around it, that from a distance might be confused with a real sword.
While all of the party try speaking with the goblin to make him see reason, Fungress grows impatient and attacks the goblin. Her attack is more forceful than she intends, and knocks the goblin to the ground, unconscious.
When the party arrive at the town, they ask around after Joni Bach. They meet the constable, who is at the end of his day and insists on taking the party’s enquiry to the tavern, where he plans to have a drink. All of the party, but especially Zossimos, are frustrated at the constable’s lack of concern for the missing child. When it becomes clear that the constable has not received any reports of a missing child, and is not keen to investigate further at the moment, they head back out of town, and onwards to Castell Clun.
As they leave the town, the party notice two children, who are also headed to Castell Clun. When quizzed by the party on the missing Joni Bach, the two children refuse to say anything, but the perceptive among the party realise that they may be hiding something. Allowing the children to go ahead to Castell Caus, the party follow at a distance so as not to be noticed, and arrive at Castell Caus late in the day.
The party are greeted at Castell Caus by two guards, flanking the tall, intimidating entrance. One of the guards leads the party to the throne room, where they are received by Lord Caus. He takes the letter and reads it in silence.
“I must make my counsel before replying,” says Lord Caus. “My reply will not be ready before tomorrow. Please make yourselves at home, though sadly there is no free space for you to sleep within the castle.”
The party eat and rest, before carrying out their second mission at Castell Caus; delivering the letter to Emyr. They ask at the kitchen, as they are taking their evening meal, for directions to Ederyn’s lover. All of the kitchen staff know that Emyr is a woodsmand, who lives in a hut about a mile into the woods. Armed with directions, the party walk to the hut.
A short distance from the hut, the party realise that they have been followed, but they cannot identify their followers. They hurry to Emyr’s hut, thinking that they will be safer there than in the woods. Emyr receives them and offers tea, as they hand over the letter from Ederyn. Emyr studies the letter intently, becoming ignorant of his guests, absentmindedly handing them cups filled with varying volumes of tea.
The followers arrive at Emyr’s door. They turn out to be the two children the party had met in the town; Beca and Cai, who are both received by Emyr with a small nod. The children see clearly the good deed that the party have done for Emyr, and so the party gain their trust. Whilst Emyr finishes reading and re-reading the letter, Beca asks the party for their help.
“We heard you asking after a boy, Joni Bach,” she says. “We saw him yesterday, by an oak tree. He touched it, and disappeared right in front of us. We ran back to the castle. Can you find him? His parents must be worried.”
Beca’s voice is fearful, as she recounts her sighting of Joni. For one thing, she is worried that she did something wrong in not stopping Joni touching the tree; for another, she is worried what the gathering might think of her outlandish tale. To her relief, they all seem to believe her.
“Where was the tree? Can you show us?” Asks Zossimos, politely. “We may be able to find him.”
The rest of the party tense at this notion, all of them look as though they are about to say something, to argue back at Zossi’s suggestion. They have already been forced back in time once, the idea of travelling a second time, to an unknown destination, does not appeal.
“Let’s look at the tree,” suggests Kissa, “And camp in the woods tonight.” This suggestion meets with mixed reactions, but is quickly agreed on as the best plan, given the available options.