Tree Lords III

[Breila]

"Hold on" Babhushka says, stopping in her tracks. "From the legends I've been told, centaurs have a reputation of merrymaking and joyful living, and now you're telling us they live here?"

[NoTrammeling]

Fikod sidles beside Babushka to lend weight to her questions, visibly checking that his light crossbow is loaded and cocked while he sets his eyes on Dara. "Aye. Seems a strange place, this wood. Has the feel of a blight about it even we underlings can feel. Me gut says this be a trap of sorts, and I've lived this long by ne'er ignoring such intestinal instruction."

[HorizonsDream]

"Why would anything venture into this part of the woods?" Imani asks.

[JadedDM]

"They are a strange lot, even for centaurs," Dara admits. "I think they like it in here, because it scares away people who bother them. But there's nothing to worry about. I've been in there dozens of times. Just keep your wits about you, and follow my lead, and we'll get your friend and animals in no time."

[Jenara]

"Then we will follow you." Jerrard responds, "I trust you." He says with an open smile.

"Lead on!" Locky smiles.

[Breila]

Babushka murmurs something like "Don't know if I can trust my wits here", but follows as well, very attentive to her surroundings.

[HorizonsDream]

Imani looks to the others for a moment, then nods her head. "Very well," she said. Though, she certainly had some reservations about it all.

[NoTrammeling]

"The last time I ignored me gut to follow ye lot, I ended up imitatin' a pincushion. But... Well, the elf did haul Babushka from the jaws of death. Hrmmm perhaps only to bait the bigger catch." Fikod rubs at his overly large nose. "Very well, blast it, I can't very well have everyone dying. This time though, I shadow ye. Show no fear if I should become lost in the shadows." He settles back into marching order, mustachios twitching in irritation.

[JadedDM]

With some hesitance, the party follows Dara into the dark wood. The place is eerily silent. No birds chirp, no squirrels chatter; even the rustling of the boughs from the wind is absent. If the dreary setting bothers Dara any, she does not show it. Indeed, she appears quite cheerful; she even hums happily a bit as they walk.

Four hours later, as the white and red moons are rising and the sun descends, they finally reach a large clearing. In the center of this clearing lies a large pit some 50’ in diameter. The rim of the pit is lined with worked stone. Eight marble columns, still showing a hint of their graceful shapes despite the warped land around them, surround the pit. Many small blocks of stone are strewn on the grass around the pit.

To the south stands a small pyramid, its sloping walls of white marble choked with rancid yellow ivy vines.

"Where are the centaurs?" Ulster asks, nervously placing his hand on his sword hilt.

"Must have hid when they heard us coming," Dara explains. "Just stick close to me. Don't worry, they won't attack when they see a kirath is leading you." She steps out into the clearing and approaches the pit.

[HorizonsDream]

Imani places her hands on her swords as she cautiously follows after Dara. ~I'm getting a bad feeling about this,~ she thinks to herself.

[NoTrammeling]

Fikod comes to an abrupt and forcible halt at the edge of the clearing. "Nay!" He says, with the quiet forcefulness of an impending rockslide."Nay, not again. Do ye lot recall the last pit in a clearing? Barging into grotesque twilit grottos made for mortal sacrifice is beyond the edges of our claim, I assure ye." He shrugs his cloak aside, fluidly drawing and leveling his crossbow at Dara. "I know when I'm bein' conned, ye twig-thin trickster, I been doing it long enough meself."

[Breila]

Quietly, Babushka stands back-to-back with Fikod, scanning the trees behind them while stringing her bow.

[Jenara]

"Ummm...." Locky says, looking at the dwarf, "Why would she lie?" She asks, "Have you lied to us?" She asks, "See the last pit we encounted we all nearly died, was quite horrible."

[Jerrard]

"Fikod, hold." Jerrard says urgently, "I have my doubts too... Imani, Babuskha?" He asks quickly, "I need to find her."

[Breila]

"And I need to find Dekker. But I won't go into this depression unless we have done a perimeter check first." Babushka says calmly, inwardly cursing herself for never having checked if the hoof tracks of their animals were still there. She had blindly trusted Dara, who had saved her life after all, and sacrified information for speed.