Story - Part 1 - The way to Icespire peak

She watched the scene with fading awe and eventual disbelief mingled with disgust. Vienne turned with Garic and muttered back to him. "What a prat. If we hadn't needed him, we would have been better off leaving him there." Turned out her first impression was the correct one.

As the group leave the tower they hear a voice call out to them. "Hey!" They turn to see a tall dark-haired woman emerge from the wood. "It’s me, Martina! I can’t believe you actually did it!" She jogs up to the group smiling excitedly. "Thank you so much! It feels so good to be back in my human form." She turns to get a good look at each member of the party in turn. "I realize I never asked your names or where you’re headed. If you need any help on your journey, I am at your service. I owe you guys."

Looking at the Tall woman he asks Gopher? Is that you?
After getting confirmation he continues Welcome. I am Garic. You are welcome to join us if you like. We are heading to Ice Spire Peak. Though it is more about the journey than the destination.

So besides getting transformed what are you doing out here on your own. We are new to adventuring but from the stories' we heard is seems pretty dangerous to do on your own.

A thoughtful look crosses Martina’s face. "I suppose it’s a matter of personal philosophy. At some point you have to ask yourself what kind of life you want to live. Personally, I think being born into a world as interesting and mysterious as ours, it would be a shame not to explore it as much possible—ideally while I’m still young enough to be a bit reckless." She shrugs sheepishly. "You’re right though, it would be better not to go at it alone. I can definitely see that now."

Vienne beams at Martina in welcome. "Name's Vienne. I'm glad you're not a gopher any more." Turns out they did get something from that tower, an extra adventurer!

I'm Garic. I'm going to be a great Arcane knight and protect people! and he strikes a pose with his hero shield. It had obviously been practiced with a mirror or little siblings or cousins telling him how grand he looks and he glances at Martina's reaction out of the corner of his eye

Martina’s eyes light up. "Oh my—arcane you say? So you have magical talent then? I studied the arcane some at university, though I never had the innate gift."

Sprout emerges last from the doorway of the strange tower of the stranger mage. "Maybe a few extra nuts on that tree." He chuckles to himself at his arborial humor.

Seeing Martina jog up and address the party ,he patiently waits his turn before responding, perhaps even waiting a bit too long for standard social norms. The large tree-man stands tall above the others and leans on a thick wooden shaft. "Hello Martina, my name is Sprout. I think I'm an explorer much like you. Although, I prefer exploring thoughts and ideals to actual geographical locations. It's fun to see new things anywhere though."

Foldrat and Gale seem to discuss something while you introduce yourself to each other.
Finally they approach you.
Nice to meet you Martina. Unfortunately we will have to leave. We both were of little use while returning you to your true form and we feel that we'd just hold you back.
We will head back to Flowergrove and prepare a warm welcome Foldrat says. They bow down and leave

It's afternoon now and the sun is still shining. You could still make some way towards Icespire peak.
The most direct way would be to head into the forest right where you met Martina in gopher-form.

I say we press on. I'd like to get as close to our destination as possible
Garic tries to recall anything he knows of the area. Roads usually exist for a reason and sometimes that reason included avoiding certain impossible things. He will discuss this with the others. If none of them can think of any reason to return to the road then a little cross country trekking sounds exciting to him

"Yes! And we're here to explore, right? Adventurers shouldn't be afraid to leave the road!" For some reason, she seems excited at the idea and has pumped herself up.

Great let's go and Garic looks at the land ahead and sets out. Not directly for the mountain but using his familiarity with harvesting plants in the woods to find animal trails heading where they want to go if possible or if needed blazing a new trail trying to move with the land and forest

You all head back to the road and then into the woods. At first your progress is pretty fast despite the thick undergrowth but after a few hours of walking you notice that the ground is becoming murkier. You rest for a night and after walking through the undergrowth until noon you encounter a strange sign.
It's a crudely made board of wood with the skull of a giant toad-like creature nailed to it. Underneath the word "Gett Out. Serissly" are painted in red.
Seems like a warning. A warning by someone who isn't very adapt at writing you presume...

Garic spreads his arcane senses feeing the ambient magic for any signs of danger.
Odd place for a sign. Bienne, can your familiar take a look around? he asks as he looks for a good tall climbing tree to survey the area ahead

Vienne nods and sends Ahki down her arm to the ground. "See what you can find out."

Martina, still not overly fond of the snake after it tried to take a bite out of her before, steps back to give it a wide berth while it slithers away. She turns her attention to Vienne and tries not to stare as she watches the magic at work.

Garic tries to connect with the arcane energies flowing here but he can't do it just like that, they are too chaotic. Maybe if he can sit down for a moment and concentrate he'd be more successful.
While he looks for a place to rest he spots a quite large alder tree nearby. He or someone wlse could try to climb it.
Akhi meanwhile crawls ahead. After a few minutes the snake returns and crawls up Vienne's outstretched arm.

Chiding his sloppy focus Garic tries again to sense any magic