February 11, 2020 - A Shortcut?

Saki's Summary
Sienna, and Saki are joined by four new adventures Osamas a warlock, Mordin a dwarf cleric, a bird person, and a rogue named asun AKA air head all happened to be drinking in the tavern. After a pop up musical concert from the bird, tiefling, and 3/4 drow the party is informed of a possible means of travel buy, best boy, Guts. Shortly after setting out the party is stalled by a undead flock of birds, that had made the mistake of trying to stare down Saki, who stared back. A fight broke out,but the party overcame the threat and killed each of the pest. While traveling Asun split of to climb a tree, and the rest of the party left him.

Asun was unable to find his way to the group, luckily with seinna,as a dire wolf, with Saki on her back was able to find him. Asun attempts to, briefly, conceal his finding, but Saki is able to see threw the deception, and promptly steals some of the finding making a point to show everyone what they are before returning them. Saki, threatens to break statutes if Asun goes back, so Asun threatens to kill guts. Seinna and Saki quickly go into battle mode, and seinna imbeds a knife in asun’s face, before turing into a dire wolf. While discussing and trying to calm down, Asun makes a declaration that he will keep the dagger, but Saki steals it’s and his arrows, giving them to wolf-seinna. Eventually they return the items, and life carries on. Later when Guts is about to get ambushed, Asun relizes the folly of threats of killing children, and makes amends but nearly dieing to protect Guts from 7 other goblins.

After a fight Saki manages to take two alive, after a brief interrogation, Saki makes them fight each other, with one belong allowed to live. The party places bets then the fight start. Saki chests, without being noticed, and makes sure her pick gets the knife, while the cleric also cheats to help their pick, but that backfired. Seinna made an attempt to chest but was instantly noticed. Saki’s pick won, so she was going to adopt it after making it kill its friend, but Mordin is having none of it and keeps hitting the goblin, as Saki keeps stabilizing it. Asun levitates the cleric, who then uses magic on the dieing goblin, enraged Saki shoots the cleric with an arrow, killing him.

At the behest of Guts Saki stabilizes the cleric, and bounds him in rope. Later Mordin ,while being dragged, notices a trap a head, but doesn’t say anything. Seinna sets off the trap promotions two knock-off drow to attack. The party realizes they have 3rd lvl spells, and take out one quickly, with Mordin breaking out of the ropes.The other uses blink to try and live, but the party attacks her the instant she pops back. Then the party goes home, keeping a secret for themselves.

Ansu's Summary
One morning my consumption of the food and drink at the tavern was interrupted by a goblinoid creature kicking the door down. Why the tavern of adventures didn't kill it as soon as it walked in the door had me confused. However the conversation was one of recognition and familiarity before that was interrupted by the sudden playing of a instrument. I later learned that this bird person was Archie and he was the one playing the instrument. This was met not in joyous merrymaking or others who are also musically talented playing and symphony. No the response was as if this bard starting his song was a grave offense as a new instrument sought to drown out the previous one. This was met a third time by a third new instrument seeking to drown out the other two. It was quite difficult to follow all three songs but any one of them would have been wonderful on their own. When this battle of music was over the goblinoid who I later learned was named Guts let us in on a idea that you could open gateways between two places from a seed of a naturally occurring plant in this place. It seemed like two were going to attempt it alone until I and three others tagged along we set out at once. Upon reaching the river we returned at once to pick up a handaxe and returned. I would have offered to help fell the tree we would use to get across but seeing the chunk of wood that Seinna one of the three who were in the musical fight. Managed to cut free in a few swings she didn't seem to need any help as the tree was quickly spanning the river. We set out once more now that what impeded us no long did so.

soon enough in our travels we were alerted to birds in the trees thanks to Mordin he didn't participate in the battle of music at the tavern. At first Seinna attempted to broker peace with these birds with a offering of food which was redundant as we quickly found ourselves fighting against these birds that seemed to be rotting away, and the food quickly met it's end and the end of Mordin's Warhammer. Despite what their appearance would have you believe these birds were Hardy taking more then a handful of arrows to take down. Those of which could shot bows from the shadows and came out untouched. Those who couldn't and stayed on the path ended up hurt enough to warrant making camp. Along the way to the campsite my attention was once again directed upwards not due to birds this time but due to structures. An amazing find no doubt yet everyone else seemed disinterested, deciding being the outlier is better then leaving this place unexplored I decided to climb up and investigate. The rest headed on without me I was careful enough to not set off any traps if there were any but this did cause me to grow even farther from the party, by the time I got done I had taken more time then I wished and the sun was setting.

Unable to find tracks I was just about to climb a tree and look for the light and smoke of a fire to find my when when I realized some of the others returned to guide me to the campsite. Before that however I was interrogated by Saki the second one to jump into the music after Archie started playing. She was incessant with wanting to see whatever came from the buildings despite not helping check them. Make no mind I would have no issue sharing yet the last thing I needed was to give someone something cursed or trapped and attempted to explain this before noticing my belongings were already stolen. We decided to open the scrolls to check and Saki made sure they were pointed at me every time, which only grew my distain for her. Finding out what they did we split them to those who would have use of them, and arrived at camp sleeping without any disturbances I awoke to being threatened by Saki for a reason I can't recall I retaliated with a threat of my own however this seemed to set everyone in the camp against me. I guess they didn't hear Saki start the whole ordeal as I quickly found a knife buried in my armor deep enough to find skin and my bow in my hands. After a long standoff I decided if none of us took the first step we would never go anywhere so I decided not to retaliate despite having only done so in the first place. Seinna and I shook hands in truce and Seinna who we had appointed leader due to her experience with the wild told Saki to behave

despite this Saki was still intent on stealing my stuff and provoking me then playing the victim. We encountered some goblins as Guts nearly died from falling out of a tree, I decided Saki is the type to need a few steps forward before she would tag along and simply not retaliating would never get her to stop so I decided to heal the goblinoid. Upon doing so I found two arrows embedded in my flesh and paired with my previous injury lost consciousness. I awoke to see Mordin standing in front of me and the fight still raging onward but quickly falling in our favor. With the tides turned we captured two alive offering freedom to the one that told us the best information, despite both giving us information Saki pit the two against one another in a bloodpit and I will admit I took part of the gambling.

Upon Saki and me winning the bet Mordin angry from losing five gold I guess decided the girl has to die Saki decided Mordin should die for this and in a attempt to halt the fight I held Mordin midair thanks to magic this just lead to arrows finding Mordin from somewhere in the trees as Saki knocking him unconscious and bound him afterwards. We rested and continued onward setting of a tripwire  we hadn't seen two elf's attacked with spells. Saki stole ones focus as we killed it right after the other blinking in and out of existence found himself blinking back in and getting attacked by everyone surviving he attempted a spell which Archie and I shrugged off with no effect. He died shortly after. Mordin broke the rope he was bound in sometime during the fight I had no issues with him so I let him be. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we agreed to hide this shortcut as our secret and returned back.

Osanas' Summary
Fresh off the boat from mnima osanas weary from travels stops off at the local watering hole. Admittedly it was early but she was tired, and needed drink. The tavern she expected to be full of the usual fair was instead full of many strange folk. A tiefling, a bird person, and a ginasi, all among them. Maybe here she wouldn't be a freak as she was A rather simple half elf by comparison. she drank quicker than she intended and when a goblin burst into the room she wasn't sure if was still lucid. After all a civilized goblin? The goblin proved himself real enough as he alerted two women of the existence of what he called "shortcut trees" one of the women he alerted was the trifling the other what seemed to be mostly drow. These women appeared to be the boys parents. Stranger things she supposed. At some point there was quite a racket by several patrons "playing" thier instruments. At first she dismissed the boys ramblings, but when the two women appeared to be serious about under taking the quest osanas decided to tag along. After all she wouldn't find the answers she was looking for in the bottom of a tankard. A pit stop was made to purchase a hand axe from the general store to fell a tree as a makeshift bridge. Upon reaching the river discussion was had as to who would be the one to fell the tree. Eventually sienna, the teifling stepped forward. She didn't seem particularly muscular and she was even perhaps rather small statured but Nevertheless the teifling made short work of the tree. This rather Impressed osanas, must be the infernal blood. Pressing forward the parties travels were halted by some rather strange, and rather large birds sienna being a druid attempted to communicate with the birds as they seemed displeased with the parties presence. They quickly learned the birds were in fact undead, no attempt at diplomacy would work, it was time to fight. Osanas staying to the rear fired off a few eldritch blasts missing a fair few but a handful struck true. The dwarf who went by mordin seemed displeased by the ise of such magic, Osanas didn't care, this was the only, way she needed this magic. The birds were rather hardy and each one took a fair beating before finally succumbing. Many of them exploding on death. The stench was quite unpleasant. Sienna took the skulls of the birds which rather intrigued Osanas. Moving on the druid still in her wild form from combat seemed unnerved by the eerie silence of the woods decided it best to pick up the pace. Not wanting to argue with the expert in nature Osanas followed suit. The ginasi however became distracted by some ruins and sought to search them, Osanas was sure this was a bad idea, but as the ginasi was already gone, she said nothing. Once the noise of the forest returned the party began setting camp as sienna, and saki doubled back for Ansu as he had not yet returned. Osanas' watch that night was uneventful. On the dawn of the second day the saki made a threat in jest to Ansu. Who seemed to take this far too personally, as he escalated the situation by threatening to kill the womans goblin child. The situation devolved and blood was spilled. At each others throats the boy levied relative peace between his parents and the strange ginasi. Of course the two rouges then got into a dick measuring  contest, despite none of them having dicks to measure, well at least she assumed the air ginasi didn't need reproductive organs. Having wasted the morning attempting to kill each other the party continued forward. Guts in lifted spirits ran ahead of the party in the trees above. He was nearly killed as the part was ambushed. But thanks to a quick save by the ginasi he was more or less fine. Making quick work of the band of goblin ambushers the party took the last two living goblins hostage to interrogate them for information. Upon getting this information Osanas  assumed the goblins would be allowed to live but instead all but her and sienna seemed bent on inventing a new bloodsport. Osanas had done her share of less than reputable deeds but this was too far, however ultimately powerless to stop the situation without escalating it she stood by. Sienna eventually conceded and took bets on the fight and even tried to sway it in her favor, however she was caught. Finally one goblin remained, and ignorantly she again assumed the poor thing would be allowed to live as promised. But instead the cleric seemed displeased and decided it needed to die. Again powerless to stop the situation without escalating the violence Osanas stood by. Noting the clerics actions. Eventually the cleric was subdued by the party and the goblins life was saved...for now at least. Hiding the goblin away in her pack saki "adopted it". Osanas was struck by this as saki was the one who forced them to fight in the first place. This goblin is doomed. Tensions relieved ..relatively. the party moved on sienna taking lead. Eventually tripping an unseen alarm. Two rather strange looking elves engaged the party. They were rather difficult to fight but both eventually fell. Finally the party found what they had set out for and returned to town. Electing not to share this "shortcut" with the town....yet.