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Having spent time looking around for evidence of a portal, the group eventually decide to move on. The trail continues to wind it's way through the forest, sometimes dead straight, with visibility down it's length for nearly half a mile before it gets lost in the gloom, sometimes so windy that they can barely see 10 yards. After another couple of hours of walking, they arrive at another clearing. This is a larger one, and one that has definitely seen the hand of man - or elf perhaps. There is a building fairly on the nearer side of the clearing, a crudely built simple hut. At the side, an overhang protects a stack of firewood, and the chimney projecting from the rear wall adds to the evidence of a fireplace. Beyond the hut is a rock lined pool, obviously dug out to trap a small stream that crosses the clearing. At the back of the clearing, there is a large area of tilled earth, with evidence of plants growing in neat ordered rows. It is obvious that this is a tended place, and everything, even the hut, appears to be in balance with it's surroundings.

When looking around at the edges of the clearing, it's also apparent that the density of the forest seems to be less here - the undergrowth between the trees doesn't seem as dense - the canopy of leaves is thinner and the forest is generally lighter and more friendly looking.

The building is well made, though very rustic looking, and appears to be jointeed together without the use of nails, merely through clever construction. The wood logs that make up the walls are caulked with moss and mud, and the roof is made of wooden planks covered in a dark waterproof looking pitch. There are a couple of small windows visible, with leather bound shutters hanging open. The door is a little like a stable door, split into a top and bottom half - the former open, the latter shut.

After some hesitation, someone steps forward and approaches the cabin, peeking through the open half of the door to regard the inside. The cabin inside is very simple; a fire place that is obviously used for both cooking and heat, a table with two chairs, a single cot about six foot long, covered in simple grey woolen blankets, a small wooden sideboard bearing a large pottery jug and a single wooden mug. From the ceiling are hung the remnants of a string of onions, a garland of garlic cloves and various other herbs hung to dry.

Against one wall, there are a couple of low boxes, upon which are a couple of roosting hens, that wake and start to cluck as they spot someone peering in.

To the right of the door, on the wall just inside is a coat hook, on which a heavy fur coat is hanging. A plain wooden staff leans against the wall next to it.

There is a sudden clank, and a dwarvish curse as Dorn, tired, irritated and slightly drunk from quaffing elvish ale all day, slips on a tree root and bangs his head. The group, startled for a moment find that the tension that had been in the air disapaits.

"I say we stay here the night" states Blondung flatly. "It's not long to dusk anyway, and I'd rather sleep in the dry."

"What?" he says, seeing some of the looks being thrown at him. He gestures up at the clouds, low lying and fairly grey-looking. "If it rains, I'd rather not be out in the open under just a strung piece of canvas! I'm sure whoever lives here wouldn't object." He raises his head and shouts. "WHOEVER LIVES HERE, DO YOU MIND IF WE DOSS IN YOUR HOUSE FOR THE NIGHT?" There in no answer from the trees around them and Blondung shrugs holding his hands out wide as if to say "See!"

Several of the party go down the pool, and wash themselves in the water, cleansing themselves of the gore from the trolls and generally washing their clothes and belongings. The water is pretty cold, and appears to have fish swimming in the water, that cluster around as if waiting to be fed. Blondung heads into the cabin, and noses around a bit, whilst everyone else starts to make plans for spending the night in the open. To warm herself back up, Vaslin starts off towards the trees, intending to fetch some dead wood for a fire. 10 feet away from the clearing, she glances back, catching a glimpse through the door of the cabin. Blondung has managed to light the fire that had already been laid in the hearth inside the building, and was warming his hands to it. Turning back to the trees, she is startled by a small bird, perched on a twig just a few feet in front of her at head height. It chirps at her a couple of times, flaps it's wings once, then flutters over her shoulder, back towards the clearing. She turns to look at it, and sees it stop, perching on another branch. It turns to regard her, cocks it's head, and then chirps again. It flies back another few feet to the very edge of the clearing, and stops again, to look back at her.

"Hello" She smiles an innocent, half-elven smile at the bird. "Aren't you a strange one?" and she steps closer, following the feathered creature back toward the cabin.

The bird chirps at her, and flutters across the clearing, to rest on the lower half of the stable door. Blondung looks around at the sound and observes the bird. The bird looks towards Blondung, but then looks back across the clearing towards Vaslin.

Following the small and curiously acting avian until she stands near the door, Vaslin focuses her mind and calls upon the power of Tymora, and re-Weaves reality with Art, then speaks with the bird, making chirping noises at it ("Hello." She repeats. "You don't want Blondung in the cabin? Is that it, little one?"). Some of the others stop to look around at her in surprise..

The bird pauses, and then seems to shake it's head in an almost human manner. It chirps back at her for a few moments, bobs it's head once at Vaslin and then launches into the air and flies out of sight.

"How odd." She watches the bird fly off. "I believe I was just talking with a druid." Vaslin announced. "And he invited us all to use his cabin. Very graciously." She headed back into the woods, to collect firewood to add to the stack along the cabin wall. "I do think I will accept his gracious invitation." And following words with action, she moved her bedroll into the cabin. "It's going to rain tonight, so maybe we should all come inside."

Larz, fumbling with a large sheet of canvas he had been intending to set up as a bivouac, grumbles. "Bloody druids! Why couldn't he have just appeared as a man and told us face 2 face!"

<Vaslin aka Ron wrote>:
> After stretching the kinks out of her back and arms, she went the
> rounds of her companions and did her best to heal them, each in turn.

Larz realises that this could be a good idea too - and also spends some time in silent prayer - praying to Clangeddin to change some of his spells to Healing spells. He then also goes around, healing the last of those injuries remaining. Herod's injuries take two spells to finish off.

The group spend a restful time in the cabin over night. Despite Dorn's drunken stupor, his cousin drags him inside when the rain starts shortly after night fall. With the fire lit in the hearth, and everyone's bedrolls scattered across the floor, the cabin becomes quite cosy quickly, and a rough and ready meal is quickly cooked. The hot meal tastes particularly well - and for the second night in a row, the group consider themselves particularly lucky to be sleeping under cover and eating decent food rather than sleeping in the rain and eating cold rations.

After eating, Larz steps to the door, and opening it briefly, pauses to cast a spell. An insubstantial haze appears outside the door, an almost dragon like winged beast but without the front legs, that is about 35 feet long from tip to tail, with wide wings that are even longer. It seems to simply float in the air just outside the entrance of the hut. Finished, Larz shuts the door. "A wyvern watch spell" he states simply. "Just in case."

As darkness falls, a lantern is lit, and the group stay awake for a while - apart from Dorn, who snores loudly from his position close to the door. For a while they chat about things in general, listening to the drumming of the rain on the roof, but eventually, they lower the wick on the lantern, and start to go to sleep, leaving just the "watch" awake.

The night passes peacefully, and when the light of dawn finally arrives, the group feel well rested. As the group open the door, Larz grumbles, finding that his Wyvern Watch spell appeared to have gone before it's time. On the doorstep however, the group find a couple of small plants, each with one single large glossy leaf and a few small white flowers with four petals. Milo recognises the plant as Colewort. (3 uses worth he estimates).