The Danger Gang Revisit That Cursed Forest and Fix Lleryn
Upon their midnight arrival at Thessaloniki, the Danger Gang begins looking for their old buddy Clement the guard. The other guards say he's not on duty, but eye them warily as they go check in to an Inn to rest until dawn. In the morning, after Gershom has left for a stroll through the local promenades and piazzas, Clement and a group of twenty guards show up at the Inn. "You're under arrest for witchcraft 'old friend'," Clement declares.
"Don't you mean, I'm Charming? I'm Charming you? I'm casting the magical spell Charm Person on you?" replies Martialis.
"Hey these guys are alri..." Clement begins to respond, but one of his fellow guards clubs him in the back of the head. While Karl is intimidated by their numbers, Kotrag is more bothered by the prospect of being fenced-in in the gaol. He attacks the guard. Marty knows which way the wind is blowing and changes into a lion, doing little to clear his name of the witchcraft charges against him. He then picks Karl up in his jaws and carries him out of there. They bid a hasty retreat out of town, arrows flying at their butts the whole time.
Once out of the city limits, Marty writes a pair of notes for Kolya and Gershom, telling him where to meet them and delivering them in bird form. They agree that they will not be able to return there any time soon.
So they press on through that same old forest, the creepy one full of awful squirrels. Karl has old Lleryn the vegetable slung over his shoulder. En route they are harassed by a band of five boars. These boars are tough, boy, and kind of gross looking; frothing and the mouth and covered with pustules. These boars are plenty tough, and one of them soon knocks Karl out. Gershom drops all his gear and drags him up a tree. It is then that one of the boars morphs into a nude man and picks up the Clord. These are not boars; these are Wereboars.This looks like trouble. Marty then remembers they have a friend in these parts. He fishes in his pocket and pulls out the little whistle that was given to him by The Brown One. There's a bunch of fighting defensively, hopping in and out of trees and getting gored. At one point, the humanized wearboar tries to run off with the Clord, but Karl shoots him with a couple of Bone arrows. Kotrag has taken quite a few hard knocks, and Marty keeps stalling, but soon a huge bear busts out of a thicket. It's the Brown One. The Wereboars know they're outmatched and book it out of there. He changes back into man shape and greets his old acquaintances. He seems more put upon than ever.
As they walk to the healing font at [[Pella], The Brown One confesses that he now has a little more to worry about than just the usual crazy animals. It seems a Green Dragon has set up shop in the eastern part of the forest. He also tells them that their plan for healing Lleryn won't quite work. You can't just keep shelling out more hitpoints; for a Heal spell you're gonna have to lose three fingers. Marty seems willing to do it, or more accurately, to pluck out an eye (he thinks it will help him butch up) but he definitely isn't psyched about it. Karl agrees to do it in exchange for his 1000gp emerald. Marty excitedly agrees.
They gather around the font of Darren, and Karl withdraws the Clord. He collapses the blade, then wraps his hand around it. Marty places the emerald next to the font. With a deep breath, Karl presses the release button on the base of the Clord. Out pops the blade! Off pop his fingers! He runs around the room screaming, "Owie owie owie! It wasn't worth it! It wasn't worth it!". He picks his fingers out of the font and rubs them on LLeryn, who promptly vomits up some seeds. "Woah," he mutters, before sitting on the floor. He's a bit shell shocked. Marty hands Karl the emerald and offers to Cure his hand wound. Karl tells him to wait a second and grabs a few of the robot springs from his bag. He shoves one in each finger hole. Marty heals him up and he now has three, almost entirely functionless, spring fingers.
They dust themselves off and prepare to trek over to Aege to take care of a little devil business. As they approach, Gershom gets the distinct impression that they are being Scryed upon. It is then that they hear some supernatural music and an unearthly howl. Gershom and Zahrah instantly freak out. Gigantic Praying Mantises skulk in the woods outside. A serpentine tail whips by the window. They begin bracing the doors and windows as something begins pounding on the structure itself. Martialis Summons Insects and they swarm on the serpentine creature on the roof. It flies away.
After some more rest, the gang presses on. En route, they run into the gigantic mantises again. They're pretty tough guys. Martialis changes into a bat and snatches a regular sized mantis that seems to be trying to leave the scene. In the course of the battle, Zahrah gets severely wounded, and her heart explodes. Again. Despite this setback, they succeed in exterminating the mantises. They hobble on to Mr. and Mrs. Farmer's house. Tobin seems to be doing alright. The farmers agree to let the gang crash out there.
