Yuria's Log: Day 2, Part II and Day 3

11/7/2011
Day 2, Part II
     After dinner, we continued our search for the silver barked trees. A strong wind was blowing towards the river from the forest and a thick smoke moved downhill. We decided to go East to try to avoid the smoke while still making our way to the trees. We reached a clearing where we could see the remains of a stone hut. A cage was in the center of the hut. The cage unharmed. As we got closer to the cage, it was apparent that a charred body was within it, grabbing the bars. I pray for the soul of this poor individual. Burning to death is such a cruel way to end life. I examined the bones closely to see if I could make out anything of importance. From what I can tell, it is an older female, either human or half-elf. It's hard to tell. Not much of the body is left, most of it in ashes or charred to bits.

     Melted metal could be spotted in various parts of the stone hut. I wondered how fire could melt the metal within the hut, but not this wooden cage. The cage seems magical in nature since it did not burn as did the metal. Drogo touches the cage, with a pondering look on his face.
     "I've seen such a cage once before. It's made of ironwood."
     "Ah, that's why it's been unharmed," I say.
     He nods and continues on, "An execution such as this is well known among wild elves. A punishment for unforgivable traitors." He pauses. "What's this?" Drogo looks more closely and as he peers into the cage, he sees a glint in the ashes beneath her charred body. He puts his hand into the ashes, pushing them gently out of the way, and pulls out a broach. It has an obsidian stone in its center. We all look at one another, uncertain what this object is used for other than some kind of necklace.
     We do one final pass on the area and find nothing else that stands out. In order to not use up what daylight we have left, we continue on. We try to imagine what the item is other than the obvious neck adornment. Although, none of us is willing to wear it. Drogo ends up putting it in his belt loop. After awhile, we reach our destination. The silver barked trees. A whole forest of them. Although the trees are white blanched and dying, the forest looks...rather beautiful. I gasp. It was as though a gloomy snow had fallen upon them. For a moment, I peered out into the forest. How could I think such a terrible site was so...Beautiful? I suppose one can find beauty in the oddest of places.
     As we scanned the trees, one tree appeared to not be quite as dead as the others. It looked like something was wrapped around it. We moved closer. There was a mechanical item hugging the tree, a large spike thrusted into it's bark, and a small bit of silver residuum drained into a bucket from the hole left by the spike.
     From within the forest, wild elves appeared. Not just one or two or even a handful, a whole forest full of them appeared! Far too many for us to take on.
     "Halt defilers!", said what appeared to be the leader of these tiny wild creatures.
      "We mean you no harm," said Lament. The wild elves took notice of his horns and looked right passed him.
     "Lament, perhaps I should explain," Drogo says while bowing his head a small bit in Lament's direction as a sign of respect. "It is true. We are just passing through. We are on our way to Gauntlgrym and only stopped because the tree here," he paused to point at the silver tree and then continued, "looked as though it was being harmed by this contraption."
     Drogo continues to explain what we are doing here. Not in full truth, but the truth none the less. The tiny creatures appear to be quite young. Very curious too! Poking and prodding at our armor and what nots. I foresee these young creatures to be quite the thieves, so I watch my belongings closely. I've never understood why people try to take things that do not belong to them. If you just ask for something that you want, often you'll find people are generous enough to share. From what we can gather, some of their elders have recently disappeared. I wonder what has happened to them.
     Supposedly, Gerian, whom these elves call The Wise One or Two Wolves, knows what the contraptions are for. He had told the wild elves to wait for someone to show up before he would tell them. The elves lead us to their elders. Once we arrive, the three elders are standing together. Each one looking up at us. As with most people, the wild elves have little trust for Lament. Tieflings are very rarely accepted in any society, especially not one who is a warlock. A middle aged wild elf named Irisia Spring-maiden tells Lament that “her children will fill him with arrows" if he’s found doing something evil. I guess being straightforward about the issue is good. Of course, we tell her she has nothing to worry about. We have no intentions of doing such things, especially not Lament.
     The elves have been guarding the trees for two months. They say that more and more contraptions are being placed, and more trees dying. Two Wolves tells us that his pups have had no luck in finding the culprit. The last time they were able to find any clues, the foot prints brought them to one of their allies or at least, someone who they thought was their ally. She was spotted wearing an obsidian medallion. We all looked at each other.They immediately assumed she was working with the enemy. They considered it proof, especially since she was hiding it.
     The final elder of the wild elves, Huvis, comes forward. His face scarred. He said that he had seen these medallions before on some of their enemies at the entrance of Gauntlgrym and he was the one who confirmed its nature. Drogo explains that we have come to take back, Gauntlgrym, our dwarven land. Huvis seems to be impressed with our motives and offers to be our allies in this venture. We learn more about the missing elders. How they never returned from a gathering journey going towards Skirt (the area near the volcano, further into the forest, but near Gauntlegrym). The tally total, seventeen people. We offer to help find them and he provides us with a list of names.
     Huvis says to “take extra care as we go further into the forest”. Pulling down his garb a bit, he shows us a bit of his neck. Silver liquid is flowing through it. The skin around it looks as though it is slowly dying. They provide us with four young wild elves to aid us in our journey towards Gauntlgrym. The journey will take us about one full day of travel and we agree to take rest before heading out. We party and drink with the wild elves throughout the night. There’s watch at the camp and wolves follow the parameter. The largest wolf continues to eye Lament’s horn. I think he wants to gnaw on it, silly pups. Gerian sits and talks with Thoran and me. Thoran tells the young ones a story of the dwarven past.

Day 3
     Just before dawn, some of the warning sensors go off at the camp. Loogan is on watch. The kids yell, “We’ve got him! We’ve got him trapped!” In the bush, is one of the aquatic dwellers we had seen earlier. He’s falling apart and pinned down by six arrows. The little creature bows to Drogo. All the wild elves turn their arrows onto Drogo immediately. We all realize Drogo has the amulet. Quickly, we try to calm the elves down, explaining how we came across such an amulet. Gerian believes us and argues intensely with his fellow comrades in some elfin language I can't quite understand.
     The creature speaks unintelligibly in dwarven, “master, book...give". His arms stretched out towards Drogo. It’s come to look for the book. Everyone looks at Thoran and me since they recognize the language is of some dwarven dialect. I lie and tell them that the creature has said it's dying. I rarely lie and prefer never to do so, but in this case, it was necessary. The wild elves finish off the dweller. Gerian is able to get through to the other wild elves and they allow us to leave.
     We head north with the four wild elves guiding us. Every once in awhile, the little wild ones appear from the trees and direct us to the right path saying, "No, this way. Go this way."