Sorry about the hiatus in Ernie's story. Here's more
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Well now I remember why I love doing this job. We've met the nicest people called the Yuja. They are good, simple people, living in a clean little village. They don't have much, but they are like halflings in their good hearts. We are staying with them today. They have some sick people here, and I think we can help them. The leaders of these people are the healers. I think that's marvelous!
We spent two days in the village and it was the best time I've had in months.
Then we took to the jungle. It was very hard to get around, with huge tree trunks and vines as big as my arm. Once we saw a river of ants swarming along the jungle floor. They were cutting down trees (!) in their path and all the animals were running away. We had to cross the river to get away.
One evening, while we were wandering through the jungle we were attacked by a giant mound of weed and branches. It was 7 feet tall and smelled TERRIBLE. Then another rose up, and another! They were very, very strong and very scarey. Everytime we cut one down, another sprang up. And then Aravis cast a Lightning Bolt and one got BIGGER! That was not good. Aravis tried another trick and turned into one of the shambley things.
Just as we thought all might be lost, a man with an enourmous axe and a half-orc with a big sword ran into the clearing. We weren't sure if they were friend or foe, but they started fighting the shamblers, so we let them. What else could we do?
We finally beat the shamblers, although Aravis took an arrow from out of the woods, from someone who thought he was a real shambler.
Then, as we stood there, a whole bunch of people came out of the woods. The woman who was their leader was someone we'd never seen, but we knew who she was. Lapis. The woman who's been tracking us since we came to this continent. The one who hired the Animators and the shadow guys in D'Jaw. The one who summons Elementals to kill people and cause chaos. She's...shes... I don't even know if I can say the word for what she is.
She told us that she had been following us, and that we needed to work with her. There is a password to the Crossers Maze, she said, and I know it. You know how to get there. You need me and I need you.
It was terrible, but true. And wounded and beaten as we were, there was nothing we could do about it.
