IC II

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

"Agreed, Gardo. I will organize a work party with the mercs and start dismantling this damn. You guys go talk with the Treants. Hopefully by the time you return, we will be done and can continue heading north."

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"Dams are not all that harmful, in and of themselves. Whatever is polluting the water is the real issue. Do we have any reason to believe the pollution won't go away with the death of the demon? I don't want to expose anyone to poison for no good reason."

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"Well, I guess we can come back here on our way back south and see if killing this demon did the trick or if we need to do more to please the treants."

The mage carefully observes the dammed up area of the river, to see if there's any of the demon's possessions visible, or if it had anything approaching a lair.

Nothing's visible. It's possible there's something under the water? But Telemachus would have to immerse himself into the oily water -- or persuade another adventurer to do so.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"Hmm, well, going in the water is not a good idea in my book. I guess if we can use tree limbs or the like to lever some rocks out of the way, that would be fine. Otherwise, I wonder if we ought to go upstream a little bit and make sure there's not another source of this poison."

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus
Standing over the water, Feargus sighs. "Yeah, this stuff is gross. Honestly maybe we just leave it to the Treants to clear this mess."

[VonAlric]

Gardo

"If we leave it for the treants, might they then claim this area as theirs? That would make it tough for us to travel as we wanted on the road. Besides, they already had someone get sick, they may not want to touch this stuff."

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"Hmm, well, going in the water is not a good idea in my book. I guess if we can use tree limbs or the like to lever some rocks out of the way, that would be fine. Otherwise, I wonder if we ought to go upstream a little bit and make sure there's not another source of this poison."

Looking upstream one hundred and fifty or so yards the water looks clear and relatively unpolluted. Telemachus looks at the collapsed bridge. It would likely be the work of a day, at least, to clear enough rocks to un-dam the river.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

"So the water's clear upstream...if we're not willing to clear the dam to get to the lair...if it's even there...then let's head back to the treants and move on."

[shaidar]

Newton

"If it's clear upstream then the pond should eventually clean up. We can check on the way back that its doing ok. Someone is going to have to get another bridge built eventually, let's let them worry about clearing the rocks, unless there is no other option"

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"I suggest we at least partially remove the fallen bridge and get some water moving. Flowing water is always better than stagnant. We don't want to leave the job half done and anger our new found treant friends.

Perhaps just half a day's work?"

[shaidar]

Newton

"Agreed, we could at least move enough to get some kind of flow"

[thirdkingdom]

Fourthmonth, Eighteenthday
The Tainted Stream

It takes the rest of the day, but between mercenaries and the horses the adventurers are able to break up much of the collapsed bridge damming the stream. The level in the pond behind drops rapidly, and by the time the sun begins to set the water is nearly clear, the miasmic odors leaving the area.

The drained pond reveals no hidden lair or treasure. As the adventurers labor there is movement in the trees to the south, and the companions observe the treants watching from the tree-line. "It is good." says one, observing the scene. "You have done what we could not, and for that we owe you much. We do not have much to give you -- our vaults are far from here -- but I do have this." With some effort the lead treant snaps off a branch from its own body, perhaps slightly taller than a man and two inches or so in diameter. It shows no pain as it does. "This may be crafted into an item of puissance, should you so chose."

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

The mage receives the gift from the treant. "We are truly honored."

Telemachus would like to make a magic staff out of that.

[thirdkingdom]

You guys okay with camping for the night and moving on?

[sulldawga]

Telemachus is in favor of camping for the night and moving on the next day.

[shaidar]

Newton

"As my friend says, it was an honour to assist you. If you need our help in the future, and we are nearby, then please don't hesitate to find us"

I'm happy to camp and move on in the morning as well

[VonAlric]

Gardo is tired. He could use a nap.

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

When the Treant snaps off a piece of himself, Feargus grimaces and then shakes his head. "That's a good party trick. Clearly you know your...wood...is valuable to us. Do you have any idea what we can use if for?"

Ready to rest an roll northward.

[thirdkingdom]

Fourthmonth, Nineteenthday
Hex 237.122

The adventurers arise in the morning, having slept through the night unmolested. Haaki opines that it is likely they will encounter the camp of the hill giants towards the end of the current day, assuming they travel at their normal pace and are not slowed down by any obstacles.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"We should scout ahead. We need to know how many giants there are, if they have anyone else with them, and what their defenses are."