Rumors of the Southern Sword Coast

[Riddance]

End of the Giant Spider of Cloakwood

By the evening of Marpenoth, 24th, a group of armored people, humans and elves, mages and adepts of martial combat, accompanied by dragon appeared in the Cloakwood forest, headed by the knight in full-plate shiny armor, made of mythril. They went through the woods, crossed the river and achieved the first spot they needed. Near the fallen tree archer and his wolf found tracks of spiders, which also showed us as soon as group started to move further into forest.

In deeper parts of forest the group faced already common here monstrous spiders and shadow druids, while tracks lead them to the odd circle, made of mushrooms. Inside of it they met a dwarf, Donol McDonol, sitting on the ground, playing with his pipe. Dwarf, who, according to feys, actually made a prophecy of the Giant Spider and Bow to slay it, had a small talk with the group. During this conversation it was considered that it will be a better option to turn two bows, made for this hunt into one, using the special materials - corpus of one, made of sacred wood, which survived the faery fire and string, made of unicorn's hair, from another.

After saying goodbyes to the "traveller and story teller" McDonol, group went further, towards the old minotaurs' cave.
Only those, who was present during this hunt, know and thus can say, what hapenned inside. But what's only matters is that each member of this group survived the exploration in the cave, even when earthquake happened. And of course, Giant Mechanical Spider, which was terrorizing the Cloakwood in past months, was slain by the arrow, shot from the prophecid bow. Of course, it wasn't just a pure luck or skill of the archer in the green hooded cloak - each member of the group did their best in order to fight their way to the spider's lair through little army of drows and their arachnid minions. Those, who made the bow also made a big favor by adding a special sight, which, as well as group's succefull attempts to expose weak spots, helped a lot. Two shots were made by normal arrows in order to weaken the armor, third arrow was an arrow, made of spider's mandibles and wolven fur, also made according to feys instructions. It was enough to activate fey magic and thus, ending "life" of the metallic eight-legged monster

---

By the morning of the next day, group returned from the forest to the Friendly Arms Inn, bringing news of victory


((OOC Note: My big thanks to Yuri, Sane. Natariel, Rose Rivineth, Karai, Faelyn and Issenduil (hope didn't forget anyone) for coming and helping me with this plot. And, of course, special thanks to DM Spartacus for this chain of events, advices and patience with my little bit slow requests and RP :D

[Kaden Asen]

A pair of manageable trees are clearly cut within sight of the trail along the river. The trees are cut and while chips and a few smaller branches remain, the wood has been dragged away. Trackers would note a sled with the weight having been dragged away from the sight.

The trunks of the trees were both split and quartered, leaving behind only the ruins of their roots sticking out of the ground. Buried in the roots of one of the holes is a wood cutter's axe.

[JustAnotherGirl]

On her regular patrol of the Cloakwoods, the High Ranger moves to the fallen trees and kneels as she studies the tracks. She looks to her wolf companion and then forward again in the direction of the tracks. She then follows them for as long as she's able.

[artemitavik]

As the Time of Troubles comes to a close, patrols from the Bladestone in the No Man's Land of the Coastal planes continue unabated as they have during the time of troubles, supplemented by patrols of the Knights of the Silver Rose ((per RP with some of their members midway through the ToT.))

The routes are interrupted for a few days as they specifically alter to stop into the various towns proper to check up on situations regarding food, security, well being, illness, etc now that the Time of Troubles is over. They then take these reports back to the leadership of the Bladestone.

Construction of the Pier and Trade Post at the Lighthouse on the Coast has slowed a little due to weather ((I need to get in the formal requests, the outpost has been approved, thank you DM team for all your help with the RP setups and missions)) but it is rumored the renovations in the lower sections are complete, as are the repairs. Guards still use the Lighthouse as a waystop and boarding, under the command of the Now-Returned Aramon Summerheart.

[JustAnotherGuy]

From the druid's grove along the tradeway comes the sounds of music. Soon, there is the neighing of an equine creature, accompanied by the light laughter of other voices.



The merriment lasts until another person shows up, and suddenly the grove is empty, save for the green and red haired druid who continues to play soothing melodies, accompanied by a young bronze dragon.

[JustAnotherGuy]

A group of five people were seen entering the Cloakwoods. Among them were the Archdruid and High Ranger of the Green Enclave, Lord Osric Vale, Isenduil, and Teris. Once inside, they cleared a path into the middle of the forest. Soon, a ritual commences. Though interrupted by a visitor into the forest, the ritual continues.



After a while, an ear piercing scream can be heard, startling animals and visitors alike. The scream is one of pain and agony. However, the ritual continues.



A while after the scream dies down, the group exits the forest. Those paying attention would see that Lord Osric Vale now sports something he did not have when he entered the forest; two arms.

[kham]

A silver haired woman bearing the mark of the Frost Maiden is rumored to have been seen standing at the edge of a high cliff overlooking the Sea of Swords, in the far western edge of the Cloakwoods, hefting a rock of approximately 105lbs: her assessed average weight of a fully grown elven woman. She would eventually release the rock, carefully observing as it fell alongside the face of the cliff and crashed against the jagged shoreline at the base of the cliff. The woman would estimate the force of impact based on the dispersal of shards from the shattered rock. She would walk away quite satisfied from the results of her simulated impact test.

[selhan]

*During the late hours in the night when most of the Coast were deep in their sleeps, the bartender of the Broken Goblet made a visit to the Friendly Arms Inn to pass a message to the known barkeeper.*



"Give this to the Archdruid or his woman whom ever comes by first. It is of importance. And do see to it, that it remains sealed."

((Pm's Sent))

[JustAnotherGirl]

The High Ranger was seen entering the Friendly Arms Inn with a smile on her face. She nodded to those she recognized as she moved through the establishment, stopping only when she got to Bentley at the bar. She was seen accepting a sealed missive from the man, thanking him before turning away from him with a furrowed brow as she studied the wax seal. She was then seen leaving the Inn and the surrounding walls as she tucked the letter into her bag. She muttered to herself as she stepped through the nearest tree.

[artemitavik]

For the last several 10-days, the Bladestone Headmaster Derik Ranloss has been scarce and difficult to locate. For those who inquire at the Foundation and Warrior's Rest, initially it's not clear why. However, after a bit it is learnable that Derik has taken several of the longer patrol routes into the No-Man's Land of the coastal planes where the various villages and farms and such that often come to trade are.

The Rest's bartender freely shares that the Headmaster is making a point of visiting all the particular settlement, especially those that have taken in refugee mages to make sure everything is situating well still and make sure there is nothing amiss or needed.

It's unclear to the Staff, but they think he may have traveled north via magic as well to check on the Coast Way roads that he helped clear up a little on behalf of the City and check on the status of the patrolling groups there as well.

[Titania_1]

A woman with a fox mask was seen running into Cloakwood carrying a limp kobold in her arms. She was seen setting him down and attempting to heal him of a wound in his neck. Failing to do so, a man was seen casting a spell on the kobold and speaking to him for some time. After the spell ended, the woman in the fox mask took the dead kobold to the base of a tree and dug a grave with another adventurer. She buried the kobold and offered a few parting words to the creature, along with some other adventurers. She kept muttering about how she couldn't protect, that she failed to protect. She was comforted by an armored individual and offered a strawberry by a half orc to cheer her up. Instead of eating the strawberry, she kneeled down and planted the strawberry in the kobold's grave, stating "Feed him forever" before getting up and walking away.

[JustAnotherGirl]

A brunette ranger quietly walked through the Cloakwoods on her daily patrols, her step lighter now than ever before. Her much loved cape and hood haven't been seen in several ten days. She keeps warms in furs that are well crafted and well kept. Her cheeks are often pink from the cold, but she doesn't seem bothered by it as smiles up toward the hawk soaring high above her and scritches the ears of the wolf at her side.

[JustAnotherGuy]

On the evening of the 18th of Alturiak the forest seemed almost abnormally calm. A conversation was had between a couple denizens of the forest, after which a lantern, cracked through carelessness not of its owner, floated down the stream that cut through the forest. A long, mourning howl of a large wolf was heard. And then, as if nothing had happened at all, the forest resumed its usual activity.

Shortly after, the Guardian of the Cloakwoods was seen burying the bodies of several humans.

[blazerules]

Caravan Woes

Word spread that a caravan had been ambushed in the woods, attracting a group of adventurers to investigate. As the group searched the area, they came across a gruesome scene - four dead bodies, three of which were hung by vines, and the caravan completely destroyed along with its contents.

During the investigation, a mysterious woman approached the group holding a jar, and the woods themselves seemed to whisper. The tense standoff ended when the woman disappeared, revealing herself to be one of the caravan guards who was tied up in vines. The group quickly escorted the tied up guard out to safety by the main road.



After a conversation by the roadside and the casting of spells, the man rushed towards the inn. The noises of the outhouse itself will no doubt haunt the visitors of the Friendly Arm Inn for decades to come. The Mithralclad man followed though only to report to the gate guard of the incident itself. Four dead and a destroyed caravan - and warned that the woods were dangerous. It would be best for people to avoid the area for the time being.

Possibly unrelated to all this, right before the incident an orc was seen following a Dwarf. After a scuffle in which a towering mithralclad man held down the Orc, the creature was slain by said dwarf and carried off to the woods where he was disposed of before the ambushed caravan itself was found.

[JustAnotherGuy]

The Cloakwood was abuzz with activity later in the evening of 19 Alturiak. After flowers began to sprout near the Friendly Arms Inn, the one known as the Guardian of the Cloakwoods and another feykin make their way into the Cloakwoods. After a while, other adventurers enter the forest, and are quickly rebuffed by the forest itself.

Upon the pair's return to the Friendly Arms inn, there's rumors of orcs trying to kidnap tieflings, orcs who were killed but were human, goblins who were actually children, and a resurrection attempt. Everyone had questions, and the Guardian did his best to answer all the questions, but he didn't quite have all the answers himself.

To any who would listen, he would say, "The forest is deeper now, and angry. It is dangerous to enter" and "Beware if you see blue flowers."