Hilmir Enters The Wood

Hilmir silently gets to a better vantage point, and sees a massive entity formed of large white rocks held together by some sort of glowing magical energy. Based on previous conversations Hilmir believes it is one of the "Sweepers" he has heard so much about. It lumbers along a path through the woods that appears to be formed by lots of heavy traffic. It somewhat resembles the similar pathways in the valley.

A moment later, Hilmir sees two people in dark red robes walking along the same route having a quiet conversation. They don't take notice of Hilmir at all, and they are going in a different direction from your destination.

The pair of you arrive at your destination, Hilmir can even make out the rocks that he placed several days ago. In your initial look around and listen, neither of you see any signs of the frogmen.

After a few moments, you both hear a call return in the same pattern coming from the north-east, but two short notes are added to the end.

It isn't long before a small brown frogman holding a spear enters the clearing. Until it appeared, Dreli and Hilmir didn't hear it moving through the woods at all. The creature salutes Hilmir, then places its arm across its chest and bows towards Dreli.

This is Korban, the frogman Hilmir has mentioned previously. They point towards the sun, which is getting low in the sky, and half-shrug toward Hilmir as if to say it's getting late, what's going on?.

The frogman looks contemplative for a moment, and then studies Dreli. After a deep sigh, they use hand gestures to indicate that hierarchy may be an issue, such assistance is something that would require special approval.

Seeing that the dark will be upon them soon, Korban uses gestures to offer Dreli and Hilmir lodging for the evening.

Korban leads the way through some winding paths, and before long you reach an area that looks like some sort of modest swamp village.

Two frogmen guards with spears are standing a bit further up the pathway and looking at your group suspiciously. Korban raises their hands up, telling Dreli and Hilmir to wait, and goes over to talk to them. It doesn't sound like any language either of you have heard, but it is getting quite heated and there seems to be lots of pointing in the direction of Hilmir and Dreli.

A few other frogmen appear, drawn in by the commotion. Their murmurs turn to a hushed silence, as an older frogman walks through the crowd. The villagers part making a path for them to walk through, and Korban and the guards go silent as well when they notice them walk up. They have a short yellow beard, are wearing an extravagant vest with all sorts of trinkets.

The older frog exchanges a few short grumbles with Korban, who seems to be communicating quite passionately. They turn to the crowd and order them all to disperse, which they do with great haste. The only ones remaining are Korban, the older frog, and the two guards.

Surprising Dreli and Hilmir, the older frog turns to them and speaks in perfect english: "I am Fenrit, the leader of this village. Korban tells me that he promised you a safe place to rest. We honor our agreements here, so you shall get one, but this other business..." they lean in closer and drop their voice to a whisper, "As a rule, we don't get involved in your conflict. But come inside, tell me more. We might be able to do something."

With that, he motions for Korban to come along as well, and Fenrit leads all of you back to his hut. It is larger than you'd expect inside, and looks like a store with all sorts of items displayed. Weapons, books, tools, a very wide variety of goods of all kinds. Fenrit points towards a table with some stools and tells you to sit, and asks you both if you'd like some tea.

Fenrit listens to Hilmir's explanation, and brings up the main concern, "We have an agreement with The Order. The frogmen stay out of the conflict between your groups, and our village will be considered off limits for their activities. Thus far, The Order has honored that agreement."

He sips his tea and continues. "But the Sweepers are dreadful and destructive blights upon this land, and the temple..." Fenrit gets emotional for a moment, but keeps going "That temple was the holiest place our kind ever knew, and The Order desecrated it in their attempt to seize control of this land."

"I will agree to send Korban with you to aid in this scouting mission, on a few conditions. First: Under no circumstances can he be seen having any sort of confrontation with any member of The Order. Second: Anything taken from the temple, anything at all, must be seen by me. Third: If captured on this mission, you will tell them that you bought Korban from a slaver to the north of the valley."

Fenrit stands up, and gestures around to the wares surrounding him. "I'm not sure exactly what your plan is, but no one in these woods has a wider array of goods in their stock. I noticed you have some interesting items with you. Perhaps if there's anything you need, we can make some kind of deal?"

Fenrit is willing to consider a deal which would give each of you one item from his shop to aid in this quest. You can trade some of your gear/money, agree to handle a small job for him, or a mix of both.

If interested, let me know what sort of item you might be after (you can be vague if you want), and I'll let you know a couple things he'd have available and what the "cost" would be.