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Message: <blockquote data-quote="timbuktu" data-source="post: 4348797" data-attributes="member: 70783">You and your companions come to a halt in the center ofthe forest clearing. Half a day earlier, the old crone had warned of thedangers of Thornswild Wood, but standing before thedark, foreboding forest you felt that her tale fell short  of the truth.The trees are all overgrown with ropey, thorn-encrustedvines. Three skulls hang half a dozen feet off the ground– the vines have wormed their way through the vacanteye sockets to hoist them from the moist, rotting soil.  Those same vines edge toward you, thirsting for freshblood.Somewhere within this fell wood is Sir Galwaith and theminotaur he swore to kill. Steeling your courage, you gripyour  weapons tighter and wonder if you'll ever see  the light of day again.A raven flaps overhead, wheeling toward the toweringcliffs at the heart of the forest. From a distance youcan make out  ancient ruins high atop the cliffs of the strange rock spire that juts out atop the treetops.The crow caws from the distance, beckoning you into thewicked wood.[sblock=Earlier That Day].....You arrived at the small isolated hamlet of Petra that very morning. While travelling from Rugalov west to the city of Specularum, you had sought shelter there from an thunderous storm that drove you from the Eastern Road. The villagers of Petra were friendly but reserved, gave you food and drink and then firmly but kindly directed to their village elder.Gomjol the Elder had waved you toward her fire, her whiteeyes staring blindly out into the flames."For months our village has been at the mercy of a minotaur named Toth-Rar." she explained. "Children have been stolen, men killed.""Then a week ago a knight-Sir Galwaith arrived, wielding a golden blade astride a white horse. He vowed to destroy the beast." She shook her head sadly. "But our hamlet's savior has vanished into the Thornswild." "The runes have chosen you to rescue him. See? Therunes declare you to be heroes." Her crooked fingerpointed at sigil marked animals bones cast around the floor, then to each of you in turn. The old crone then cast a handfulof herbs into the fire, sending up a shower of embers. "And the runes never lie." "Blessings on you," the toothless haghad whispered, her smile touched with a trace of sadness, "for you will need it. The Thornswild was a place of Beastmen and Fey magic and since the time of my grandfathers none from our village who have entered have returned. " You and your companions could gain little else from Gomjol as the villagers surged forward. Hailing you as heroes and ignoring your protests, the two dozen men and women herded you toward the old north trail and set you on the path that led to the edge of the Thornswild.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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