With the battle over and the travelers one stronger, they set off through the rest of the valley.
The sun shone with a luminescent brilliance and the short grass tussled in the pleasant breeze. The
smell of bloodshed and pictures of violence could hardly be imagined here, but their actions weighed
on the land in ways they could not yet predict. Violet held to the rear of the group while Collem,
Skoll and the two skeletons led the way through the rolling hills. The group informed Edward of
their plan and the celestial envoy as they went, only stopping once or twice to survey the area
ahead, it was approaching dusk as the Mist Strewn Forest came into view, it was the quickest way
past the Torched Mountains. The Mist Strewn Forest lay in between two of the lowest peaks of the
mountains, it was a vast forest and its trees were the largest in the entire continent, the fertile
ground mixed with the warm ash had accelerated their growth, some now towered above the forest and were visible for miles. The trees were dark wood and evergreen, very little light made its way into
the forest nestled below the skyline of the mountainscape, deep in the shadow of the adjacent peaks.
This lack of sunlight made the forest ice cold which combined with the hot ash formed the dense mist
the forest had come to be identified by. Inside the forest no sky could be seen, truth be told you
could barely see more than a few steps in each direction and to make matters worse the forest was
not empty.
Far from where the group now stood, in the great halls of Ortul, a young gryphon returns to the desk
of his master, High Councillor Rowan 'Bane of the Damned'. As the gryphon lands, he his thrown a
piece of tough red meat which he greedily devours whilst his master unties the message from his
talons. He reads it aloud, his office empty apart from Rowan himself and his pet.
"For the eyes of High Councillor Rowan, The prisoner did not arrive today as planned and upon
inspection, we have found the Shepards dead just beyond our outer most sentry. Their cargo is
missing." He spoke each word with the emphasis it deserved, but that last sentence was given enough
recognition that the young gryphon had lifted its head from its meal. "Their cargo is missing" he
repeated before continuing, "We have sent out search parties in each direction and it would appear
that the ambushers head now towards the Mist Strewn Forest, as you have commanded we will leave the punishment of the undead to you. Sincerely Lord Johren."
"Well this is troubling, isn't it?" Rowan asked the small creature, "Up" he commanded this with
little authority but it did not matter he had raised the gryphon from a chick, he softly stroked
itself beak as he took out some parchment and began writing. 'A group has ambushed some shepards
outside Johren and released its plagued prisoner, sent your best.', with that he placed his quill
down and beckoned the gryphone closer, "Take this to the Fog Drifter". Its head bowed and it shot
into the air and out of the open window, from the outside those in the slums below could see Rowan's
harbinger leaving the spire, a feeling of dread filled all those that saw it, because where it went
death followed.
The group made it to the edge of the forest as the sun began to set beyond the furthest hill, nobody
would dare traverse the Mist Strewn Forest at night, so camp was made, no hunting was done that eve nor did anyone stray from the central fire, they were all in awe of the eerie woods that stood
before them. As night fell, the mist came in thick and fast, the fire was extinguished and group
fell to panic, in the scramble they split into three pairs and wandered blind into the trees and then fell to a deep and forceful sleep. As first light broke each group stirred and looked around only to see one of their companions.
In your following posts I would like you to describe your trip through the forest with your partner. Remember you cannot contact the other groups and finding the other groups will be IMPOSSIBLE. The forest is filled with many dangerous creatures including corrupted Treants, poisonous toxin producing plantlife as well as chimeras, giant spiders and mist worms(chimeras may require a google and mist worms are large carnivorous worms that will consume you if you stay in the deeper mists too long, avoid at all costs, interaction will be fatal). The pairs are as follows: Collem and Violet, Pyral and Skoll, Dead and Edward. After you make it far enough through the forest I will post again with instructions on how to reunite, good luck.
