Today we jumped on Zoom and played some Cairn. Here's last time.
The characters continued up the river, Russelet standing at the prow of the boat smoking his pipe and listening for trouble. He hears the water getting louder, and has Puddleleaf check the map. They note a fork in the river coming up, the northern spur being the way they want to go and the more western spur leading to the Heartloss Crevasse. Russelet takes to the sky and sees that the waters up that way are swollen and rapid, and flies down to the boat. They land the boat, moor it for a bit, and make some long staves to direct it a little, and Russelet uses his echolocation to guide them safely through the rapids and up the Swiftwater.
They find themselves in the foothills of the Highpeak Mountain, still on the river, but out of the forest. This is all very distressing for Ratatosk, and he notes something moving amidst the rocks. He calls the others to attention and Russelet flies up to get a better look, and sees a small green humanoid creature jump out of the rocks and hurl a stone at him. He misses by a mile, but Russelet flies back down to warn the others.
The little creatures fling rocks at the characters, and they decide to fight back. They ground the boat, and Rumdiggle starts into a rousing chorus of her song about sticky sticks. Snootabur and Russelet try to flank the little bastards, and Ratatosk spots a mouse hiding the rocks. He asks it what these things are ("Goblins! They eat mice and throw rocks! Sometimes they eat rocks and throw mice!") and what they're afraid of ("fire, thunder, loud noises, bright lights"). He tells the little mouse to hide and zips back to the boat to make a torch.
Meanwhile, Snootabur tumbles up the hillside and fires an arrow at a goblin. It responds by hurling a spear at her and cutting her, but Russelet hears her cry of pain and shoots the goblin with an arrow treated with the sleeping draught Ratatosk made. It passes out, and Snootabur moves on, spotting a pair of goblins tracking Russelet and drawing a bead with a spear. Snootabur fires and arrow and strikes one, and the other goes charging at her with a dagger. Snootabur, in the way of her people, curls up into a ball. The goblin strikes, but just manages to injure his hand on her quills, and Russelet drops him with another sleep arrow.
Rumdiggle keeps her song going, but Puddleleaf takes a rock to the head and retreats into the water. Ratatosk charges off the boat with a lit torch and dashes up the hillside, yelling "FIRE SQUIRREL!" The goblins, much as the mouse had said, are terrified and flee into the night.
The threat routed, the characters hang out for a bit. Russelet and Snootabur compete with archery, Rumdiggle plays some tunes, and Ratatosk leads them in a ceremony praising the Primal Powers (specifically fire). None of them notice that Puddleleaf stays on the boat and doesn't take part...
They move down the river a ways, and Snootabur uses one of Ratatosk's drugs to stay away, as does Puddleleaf. Snootabur notices that Puddleleaf is sad and taciturn, but can't quite get him to open up.
The characters stop at the head of the river and disembark. They do some fishing and lay in what provisions they can find, and then head out into the foothills, dragging the prism on a litter. They keeping moving over the course of the night, and as the sun rises and the nocturnal animals bed down, Ratatosk looks around for plants and other things unique to this biome. In addition to some plants and insects and so on, he finds some small, diamond-shaped things, very thin, brown and black, clearly organic but from a creature he's never seen. He beds down, not really wanting to sleep during the day but tired from the journey.
A few hours later he awakens with a start, sensing danger. He freezes, and slowly turns around to see an animal he's never encountered before - hairless, huge, with no legs and horrifying eyes. It flicks its tongue out and rears up as if to attack. Ratatosk sends Glimmer, his hoverwing, to distract it and bonks it with his staff, but the creature moves faster than even a squirrel's eye can follow, bites him, and wraps its obscene body around him. It then starts to squeeze.
Ratatosk realizes he's not getting out of this by himself, and screams for help. Rumdiggle and Snootabur wake up (Russelet does not; he was making more sleep arrows and accidentally dosed himself) and rush to help their friend. Rumdiggle hisses at the creature, but it ignores her. Snootabur takes a more direct approach and shoots it. It lets go of Ratatosk and curls up in a coil, and Rumdiggle runs over, picks it up, and hucks it. The creature slithers off into the grass, and the characters relax, but must cope with shedding the blood of another creature.
They head out in the evening, Puddleleaf wearing the harness and dragging the prism. They look up at the sky and are amazed by the stars and the sheer size of it all, and manage to make some good time. The next night, though, they wake to find everyone feeling a little grouchy. Ratatosk also notes that the stars have vanished - it's clouded up, and rain is coming. They manage to set up a couple of tents to keep the at least somewhat dry (although Rumdiggle notes that a wash wouldn't go amiss).
The rain starts, and quickly becomes a torrent. The smaller tent is washed away, and Russelet and Ratatosk run for the bigger one. Ratatosk gets turned around and has to find his way back, and Rumdiggle notices that a stream is forming - they must be on a slope. They pick up the tent and get to higher ground, and Ratatosk and Russelet notice that Puddleleaf is staring out into the rain, murmuring to himself. Ratatosk tries to get him to cheer up and goes to hug him, but when Puddleleaf tries to return the hug, he accidentally touches Ratatosk's wound. He winces, and Puddleleaf panics and runs off into the night.
Rumdiggle calls upon the speed of the ripper and catches up with him, grabbing the harness. Snootabur talks him down and they bring him back to the tent, and as the rain dies down Russelet builds a fire to help dry everything out. Rumdiggle leads them in a singalong, and everyone gets into slightly better spirits.
They head out when the rain tops, and in a few hours, as the sun rises, they spot the Rock Circle. Someone standing atop one of the rocks blows a horn, signaling their approach. "Finally," says Puddleleaf. "The druids."
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