May Day

Anette nodded at Bõ. "I said I'll come to get your party's aid again after I reported this at my outpost. We could sure use the help. As far as others that can help... Centaurs, pixies and faerie dragons roam these wilds. The pixies and their dragons are elusive as can be expected and the centaurs are abrasive to us bipeds at best. It might not be so easy to enlist their aid. Any other questions for now?"

Duskhammer rolled his eyes at the mellowdrama of both the sullen elf-boy and the bald monk. It was easy to expect from a human, to be so shortsighted to imagine that if a thing must be done, it must be done now. If they waited too long they'd be dead sooner rather than later, miserable short-lived beings. Seeing his aid was unnecessary to hell back to his follow dwarf and the pompous bard from the tavern. "We've cast our lot with heroes and fools, it seems," he muttered to the two.

"One always seeks the company of equals." Bõ muttered. He realised the halfling had reason not to trust them and very likely with the number of enemies the halflings knew in this forest they would not be willing to allow strangers to see the locations of their communities. Thinking it better than to infringe on the halfling's customs and safety, Bõ decided there was nothing better than to follow once again.

OOC:
I just don't think it makes much sense to go through another 3 hours trek to get back to the village and then another 3 hour trek the next day. Leaves very little time to actually do anything it seems. And the forest should be able to provide food, shelter and herbs. Especially if the halfling has that many health potions to give us.

The halfing felt like she needed to do something to make the party more at ease.
"I know it's been a long day for all of you too. I could invite you back to the outpost with me. It's on an hour south of here. It's not much, but it has some comfortable seats and hot food. You could take a rest there and maybe even travel back to our village to see the 'real version' of Beltane. We halflings do it so much better than you tall ones."

OOC:

Experience: 750

"Let us do something, my brother and I will follow you." The elf said, speaking for his compatriot.

Brynn nodded at Lath's words. "Agreed, lets go to the outpost and we can recuperate a little and decided what to do from there."

The outpost was build right in betwixt the forest, two houses neatly built between the roots of two large trees. Each door was fashioned from two roots curled into the ground with the actual door fastened to it. Just a single windows per house allowed a little light into the sparse cottages. The only thing that distinguished the low profile setting was a string of white blossoms that decorated the trees around the outpost. Three more halflings were outside cooking some olfactory delight.
"Normally we're more covert," explained Anette, "but tomorrow is Belthane so we indulge ourselves."

OOC:

Want to do some downtime activity? Let me know in chat.

OOC: Let's level up and move on, more action...RPing will come maybe after we've been through more together...just a thought.

OOC: If the players feel like that about this, your characters could say that to the halflings and don't stay for Belthane. Anyway, you can now take a long rest.

Dinner was shared in relative silence. There wasn't much mingling, although the halflings tried to entertain their guests with some customary dancing and fiddle music. It was hard for the party to relax when there were such... creatures growing and teeming in the woods. Each flickering shadow could be a giant stalk ready to crush them and shadows were plenty in the night. The halflings didn't seem to be bothered much, used to living in the dark woods as they were. Anette introduced them to the three halflings present and her brother Otar Longsteeple was still out scouting. The eldest, clearly distinguishable by the halflong tufts of grey hair, was Yirko Woodstrider. The other two were Thomas Bugshunter and Ivanka Berrysniffer.
After basic pleasantries and dinner the party went to bed to rise early in the morning. During morning tea Anette's brother Otar finally arrived in the outpost, but something was amiss.
"Barbarians from Threlkeld have attacked some farms outside of Gormsey!" he panted.

"Barbarians you say? Or more of the creatures we've fought that are part of the wood?" Lath said as he stood up, a sudden jolt of adrenaline pushing him to do something out of character for him.

Bryn reached up from his chair and put a hand on Lath's shoulder.
"Otar was scouting around Gormsey during our fight, he probably doesn't even know what we encountered yesterday."

Then he looked back to the breathless halfling with more questions. He knew a little of the history of this land, though by no means an expert, anyone who'd studied even a little knew of the repeated barbarian incursions.

"Otar, how many barbarians do you think there were? A small raid or a scouting party for a larger force? What do you think?'

Otar studied the newcomers for a moment.
"Hi tall ones, how did you get here?"
"Not the time brother," Anette reminded him, "you had important news."
"Yes, yes," the other halfling nervously jumped on his feet. "These are clearly humanoids coming from the tribes in Valess. Nothing like the aggressive vegetation in the woods. 'T was a scouting party of around 25 strong, but I believe it's not a raid. They had lots of carts with supplies with them already and weren't overly violent. Think it like the eviction of families that were a half a year late with rent and never respond to your letters. They just threw them out of those two neighbouring farms and let them go."
He eyed the broth on the fire and mockingly nagged.
"Satisfied? Can I eat now? You leave me in the woods without a decent meal for days while you have a party with guests over here."

"Sure, sure," she motioned absently and turned to the party.
"Sounds like you got some new neighbours. You must be dying to meet them? By the sound of it they might even have coffee ready when you arrive. I could come with you if you'd like, but it's your town out there."

Bõ had become introspective after last night's events. He shared in the food and was as humble and thankful as he could be, eating only what he needed to replenish, drinking only water, and he would have insisted on doing the dishes if hadn't known that halflings might even go as far as to take offence to that.

This morning, he separated himself and went to the stream nearby where the halflings were getting their fresh water. Finding a quiet spot he sat and crossed his legs, meditating quietly and turning his thoughts on recent events. It had been less than an hour when he heard the commotion and immediately grabbed his staff and made it back to the halfling outpost. He saw the other one and how famished he looked.

The conversation regarded barbarians and how they would stand no chance against the forest in its current state but something still nagged him. "They are barbarians though and unlike outlaws aren't looking to sit in a forest waiting for passersby. They might have a different destination. Need a remind everyone that there is a festival going on that has drawn the finest of their craft from far and wide and that they were not offered any protection by their lord?"

He nodded. "The wolves gather to eat the herd."

OOC: Might I remind you, that your master is in that town Kory, isn't he?

Bõ recoiled at the comment of the Elf. His hood tipped down to hide most of this reaction, though. For a moment he thought what it meant about the Elf's character and how his own reflected in it, perhaps.

If he could not speak to him then there was something to motivate the others, at least, and he had to use that chip.
"The flock should at least be warned," he said, "if not for the price they owe then for the price they might pay."

His pointy ears perked at the monk's words. A price to be payed. They'd never done anything for him, but they might if they owed him their lives.

"Fair point. If their own King isn't willing to protect them I'm sure not going to risk my neck to save their worthless lives. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to warn them of the danger, and it might even be entertaining."

OOC: I never really liked that human bastard anyway. Always making me stay home and telling me how dangerous everything outside is. Besides, he's a wizard, he can teleport.

Bõ relaxed a bit and held his staff in both hands as he planted it in front of him and leaned against it like a drunk against a lamp post. He hadn't thought the elf was mercenary by nature and hadn't expected it and at that very moment the monk realized he had been either naive or prejudiced. It had blinded him to the truth. He let out a soft hum from his pursed lips which left after a few moments.

"It is settled then?" He asked. "We shall return to the forest when the village is safe."
He cleared his throat. "Or gone."

The halflings looked inquisitively from Bõ to the elves. They too learned a lot about the outsiders just now.
"I always thought elves were nicer," Anette gaped.
"They are exactly what they always were dear," Yirko said to her. "I'm not one bit surprised, but I have a sound piece of advise for you all. I have learned in my 107 years on this plane that it's always good to help others. There is much more to gain from relations than from any other kind of wealth. They could even help with the threat in our forest if they're safe again."
"And invite even more outsiders here Yirko?" grouched Otar.
"So much mistrust here," the elder sighed. "All I know is that no small band of anything can accomplish great things. Great things are destined for alliances across races and countries."