Dreli Wakes Up

Dreli runs in the direction she saw the others going, and notices that they have splintered into smaller groupings, each no more than three individuals. Each grouping begins to go in different directions, and a woman runs up beside Dreli and begins matching her pace.

"Stay close, stay quiet, and I'll keep you alive." she curtly says, and takes off towards the south-west.

She is very skilled at navigating the woods, weaving in and out of trees as if she's walked these paths hundreds of times. It is about twenty minutes before she speaks, her pace now much slower than it was previously.

Should be able to walk from here, we would've noticed if they were coming this way. My name is Elara... you haven't been in the wood very long, have you?

Elara looks sadly at Dreli for a moment, before diverting her gaze back to the ground as she keeps walking. "You must be hungry," she says, and takes a handful of plants from her satchel. "It's not much, but it will stop any hunger pains."

"I know a small stream nearby, I'll take you." Elara leads Dreli through the woods and after a couple minutes they reach a shallow stream. Elara kneels down and starts to wash her hands and face, while answering the second question.

"Sweepers patrol the woods, tear apart anything they're told to. You ever hear of 'The Order of Karkross'? They're this sorta cult. We just call them 'The Order'. They're the ones who control 'em."

Elara is surprised to hear this, but tries not to let it show. She stands up and takes another look over Dreli, lingering for a moment on her cloak. "They took you here... and you think they're with The Order?"

Concern washes over her face before she walks over to a patch of flowers, picks a couple of them, and shows them to Dreli. "You ever seen these before?"

The flowers look almost like dandelions, but are an aqua color instead of yellow. Dreli has never seen anything like it.

Elara nods, and looks at the murky water around the area Dreli has been washing. "Most of us didn't hear of 'em before we came here. These flowers don't grow anywhere else, only found in this here wood."

Elara tosses the plants into the stream one at a time as she speaks. "If you've heard of them, you might know how to help... Dani would be interested in talking to you, I'm sure... can I take you to her?" She looks a little concerned, but appears to be speaking genuinely.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm rushin' ya... how'd you get so dirty anyway? Tell you what, I'll gather some supplies from the area while you finish up in there, then we can go see Dani together. We'd get there before dark... what do you say?"

Elara is talking fast, and seems very invested in this meeting with Dani. She rocks from one foot to the other in anticipation, waiting for Dreli to reply.

Elara quickly skips into the wood. This area is quiet, some squirrels and other animals but nothing especially noisy. Dreli notices that those aqua flowers Elara showed her emit a soft glow when they're not in direct sunlight, patches of them in the area make it almost shimmer. She still isn't hungry, although she is a bit thirsty. The taste of dirt won't seem to leave her mouth.

Elara comes back, her satchel looking much fuller than it did when she left. She gets close to Dreli and speaks quietly: "I saw a guy a bit further up the river, didn't look like someone from around here... was one of your kidnappers an old guy with a spear and a shield?"

Despite rinsing out her mouth, Dreli finds that the taste of dirt lingers. Elara looks over the wet garments, and suggests a course of action. "You'll dry fastest if we travel along the stream, but we'll need to be extra careful to avoid running into that other guy. He may not be one of your kidnappers, but he looked tough."

If Dreli is fine with that plan, roll two DEX saves. Two successes means you went around the gentleman undetected. One success means you were heard, but not seen. Two failures means at least once of you is spotted by the individual.

She leads Dreli down the stream, trying to avoid the stranger. Elara tries to circle around the area she thinks his campsite is in, but accidentally leads herself and Dreli right into the area he is gathering firewood. He is focused on his task, and doesn't seem to be paying close attention to his surroundings.

Elara whispers, "Keep going, just stay quiet". Dreli tries to comply but she trips on a root and falls loudly to the ground. The man looks up for a moment, but doesn't seem to be sure where the noise actually came from.

The man moves a few steps closer, investigating the source of the sound, but it is clear he hasn't actually seen Dreli or Elara as he has moved in a position so that his back is to them.

He is holding a shield and spear, but seems more curious than hostile.

"Hallo?!" he calls out. "No need to hide. I have a bag of pedals to share. They might be an acquired taste, but they're not too bad."

Elara looks at Dreli and shrugs, unsure exactly how to proceed.