Editing Journal - Goblins West of Freeport (section)

==A New Track==

As the light grew we noticed that there were six lines of scorched earth radiating from the obelisk. A child came up to tell us he had seen more tracks to the south of the village, leading into the woods. The leader warned that the villagers were forbidden to travel south, as there was a dark wood there, so they could not tell us what was in that direction. The shore was only a couple of miles from the village, though, so it seemed strange not to know. Investigating, I found the child to be right - there were some tracks leading south off the plateau, although not as obvious to follow as the last ones we picked up. I could also see that the scorch line from the obelisk went right to the edge of the plateau where it met a lump of granite, about head sized. The stone was slightly warm to the touch.

Falcor tried touching the obelisk, feeling light-headed and weak for a moment, but recovered quickly. He believed that it was an obelisk that had transported him here, with the other being in Karmana's garden! Arad knows of these artifacts as the "bones of Karmana", and that this would be one of six. There was another in the heart of Arad's forest.

We took some basic supplies and decided to follow these fresh tracks rather than explore the Dwarven passage again, as that would not be going anywhere. I led the way, making sure we did not lose the track, and we entered the forest as soon as we left the plateau. We rapidly lost sight of the coast, but knew it could not be too far. After about a mile, and still following the tracks through the undergrowth I stopped. About half a dozen yards ahead the tracks just seemed to disappear completely! I waved for Falcor to join me and pointed out the problem, with no way of explaining why they should vanish so. Falcor called Arad to join us as well. As he approached, he frowned and said that the forest ahead felt wrong in some way. Very ominous, if not actually useful.

Arad moved forward, most at home in the forest, but disappeared as he stepped ahead! It was the same place that the tracks disappeared, so obviously linked. He reappeared a moment later, having stepped backwards. He spoke of finding himself in a different forest: dark, unwelcoming, and with thick webs above. Falcor tried it as well, and saw the same dark and foreboding place before returning. We joined hands to step through together, not wanting to be separated, and indeed we all found ourselves in the dark forest. I could see that the tracks continued as if unbroken, so there was some sort of illusion or portal that the creatures had known about.

I continued following the tracks, with Arad, but Falcor walked behind as he was more noisy. As we went forward, giant spiders dropped from the trees onto us, Falcor saw them but we were unaware until it was too late! I was attacked by two spiders, one landing on floor beside me, and another sinking its teeth into my shoulder as it nearly dropped on top of me. It's bite was weak and it slid off as I spun around, thankfully no poison seemed to affect me. I should say that these were no "giant" spiders that scare folk in their homes - they were each about ten feet, fucking huge spiders! One landed right on Arad's head, also biting him and causing him to stumble - again, though, it didn't find a purchase and fell off as he moved.

Falcor loosed arrows from behind, killing two with clean hits. I stabbed one spider, whilst screaming in terror - these things were three times as big as me! All I could see was legs, eyes and teeth! I did a fair bit of damage, causing it to rear back with a hissing sound. Arad hits with one arrow, which passed straight through a spider with a spurt, but it kept coming for him. More spiders dropped down, this time around Falcor. The injured spider tried to lunge at me, but seemed slower and I easily dodged aside.

Arad was set upon, one bite being stopped by his armour but other reaching skin, and another bit Falcor as his attention was focused on us. Their poison didn't seem to be too virulent, though, as it did not slow either of them down. Arad took a glancing blow from another spider, but only a scratch. Falcor exploded a spider with one arrow, finding the sweet spot to do the most damage, then fired at one of the creatures attacking Arad, killing that as well.

I stabbed the wounded spider with my dagger, finishing it off thankfully. Falcor quickly drew his sword and sliced one spider clean in two. Arad hits last spider near us with two arrows, causing it to curl its legs up in its death throes. Falcor was bitten, but this time his armour stopped the fangs from penetrating. He responded by flashing his bastard sword out and downwards, pinning it to the ground, lifeless.

We came together to assess wounds and talk, although I took out my bow to cover around and above us, as the others did. It looked like more movement in the canopy, perhaps... it could have been the wind moving the branches up above, although no breath of it found its way down here. Arad was hurt more than the rest of us, and Falcor knelt in respect as Arad prayed to his Lord Creator to heal him, sealing up the wounds.

Falcor took out a faggot, which I managed to light for him using flint and tinder; he wanted to be sure of his footing in the half light. As it started to properly catch, there was an angry rustling up above, and branches near to him almost seemed to draw back. Arad said he sensed a slight, vague anger at the flames. Falcor and I did sense a change of some kind and were wary. Arad was worried that we were angering the trees, so Falcor reluctantly extinguished the flame. I gave him the flint and tinder anyway, in case he needed to light it again.

I went ahead, following the tracks again, with swords drawn. Arad followed about twenty yards behind, then Falcor behind him. Both covered the advance with bows. Just a couple of minutes later, as we moved forward, Arad became aware of some things moving at ground level, one to the south east, another south west. He called for us to stop. Looking back I saw him point to the south west, meaning for me to look that way as he turned his attention to the south east. I did, recognising the immediate threat, but I had also noticed that all signs of the track behind us had disappeared! I hunkered down in the vegetation, meaning to remain unseen by any approaching assailant.

Falcor moved forward, whilst scanning behind us, towards Arad - asking what was going on. Arad replied in a whisper: "something on the ground, can't make out its shape or form - about the size of a large dog." I remained still in the undergrowth, which was a bit spiky and coarse but did provide some cover, listening more than looking for any threat.

One of the creatures suddenly broke cover, bounding straight towards Arad. It was a two-headed big dog and didn't seem friendly! Arad shouted "we're being attacked!" and loosed an arrow, hitting it as it approached, but not even slowing it down. I waited in my hiding spot until the two creatures (the other I heard pass to my right) crashed past through the undergrowth. They sounded big and there was lots of snarling and gnashing, probably because there were four heads doing it. They crashed into Falcor and Arad with all their weight, as well as snapping and biting at them.

Falcor was knocked to the ground by the impact, despite his size, and also bitten. Arad managed to stay on his feet, and his armour protected him from the teeth despite the thing getting a grip on him. Seeing that Falcor was down, I rushed up behind the dog as he tried to fight it off on the ground. He dropped his bow, which was now useless, and grabbed his swords, sinking the tip into its chest, causing it to yelp in pain. I forced my sword into its side as it was distracted, and it fell twitching to the ground, dead.

Arad also dropped his bow, drawing his sword with a flash and stabbed the other dog, doing more damage but still not stopping its attacks. Falcor was in a bad way, covered in blood and unable to stand, but suddenly all of his wounds vanished and it was as if he had never been attacked! He had healed with the power of his mind before, but I had never seen it so potent. Arad was not so fortunate, getting bitten by one of the other dog's heads, and was now bleeding from his side. I rushed to help, sticking my dagger into the side of his foe. I must have found its heart, as it immediately dropped dead as well.

Falcor stood and asked "what the fuck was that? That was a close shave!" Arad, seeing him for the first time since we entered combat, noted that Falcor looked surprisingly hale. Falcor explained that he was able to heal himself and others, sometimes, it had limits and he didn't fully understand it. He conserved his power for moments of dire need, such as he had just found himself in. Arad used a pot of healing ointment on his wounds, as he had apparently found a stash of them in the temple. Now he handed us a couple each, in case he wasn't able to aid us.

It was at this point that I thought I should draw attention to the lack of a trail behind us, and we feared that the forest itself was working against us... or leading us on. The undergrowth had closed up behind us leaving no mark of our passing. The others collected their dropped bows, and I drew mine as they did so. Arad started hacking off the creatures' paws to use as markers in case we could not find our way, but as he did so some of the blood splashed onto his skin and started to burn it. He quickly washed it off with all of the water in his backpack, then applied a bandage to keep it clean.

Falcor had suffered another near-death experience, and Arad had been badly hurt. Although now healed they were reluctant to continue. Falcor in particular did not want to continue... and it was a fair point - there was great danger here and we did not know what we would find if we continued, so we decided to return to the village and rest. We cut our way through the dense undergrowth (well for me anyway), heading back north, until we suddenly broke clear and instantly found ourselves in the open, bright forest again.

I wanted to try walking back in a different place to see how localised this transition was, but Falcor was not happy with experimenting and Arad even physically stopped me! Narrow minded cowards! Instead we made the easy walk back to the village, arriving without incident.