You suddenly notice the absence of Kerri, the group's druid. You soin find her by the natural spring, seemingly entranced by the standing stones. Slowly, she reaches down for some water and begins to clean the red gnoll graffiti away, revealing the runes beneath.
"You all go on ahead," she says. "I wish to cleanse this area of the gnoll's influence and restore the proper balance of nature. You are heading to Greenest, yes? I may catch up with you there. If not... it's been good to meet you all." You leave her to her druidic meditations.
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You journey back to Shad's Copse, suffering the incessant singing of Lirric as he attempts to compose a heroic ballad about the gnolls and his brave rescuers. Upon returning to the Tapped Keg tavern, he quickly runs inside, and you hear a cry of joy. Entering the bar you see Lirric and Marie in a warm embrace, a few tears forming in her eyes. Her father looks on disapprovingly from the bar.
The two gnomes, James and Jenna, are sitting at a table in the far corner, tucking into a substantial meal. You soon join them, and they explain that they plan to leave for Greenest tomorrow, now that their cart is repaired. They would be more than happy to take your group along as well, and of course would only ask for the meager sum of 10 gold for the favour.
Grundiz the dwarf walks over to your group, and hands over a small purse containing forty gold coins. After hearing your story of the gnolls and their mysterious attackers, he promises to have words with Henric and some of the more able bodied villagers to set up a watch, to warn of any potential attacks on Shad's Copse. He's concerned thaty their tiny settlement won't be able to repel any serious attack, and suggests you might seek help from Greenest if you are headed that way tomorrow.
MILESTONE - Level Up!
[OOC: If people want to level up in the original OOC thread, I can progress the story to Greenest once we're all done. dream66 / Kerri can rejoin if and when they are able. Feel free to post some more roleplay in this thread if you like until we're all ready to go.]