While thanking Orst for the offer, Pettilaen declines the offer of silver coins. "The coin can be better used by you and your family, Orst. I would probably just end up wasting it on petty things. See what I did there?! I made a play on words of my name!" He laughs heartily, and Gaia joins the laughing by wailing from a nearby tree... a sound Pettilaen is growing more and more accustomed to.

Making their way towards forest sets Pettilaen on edge. He talks, somewhat out of nervousness, as the forest closes in around them. "You know, I walked through this forest once. My family was on a business trip, trying to get our famous brookebrew, a delicious blend of honey, berries and alcohol, I might add, sold in Beregost." He shudders from the memory of sleeping in the forest. "This place gives me the creeps. Let's move through it quickly." He starts to pick up pace, making out an equal stride with that of Portia and Kanon. "Curse my adorably short gnommish legs. And my dashing good looks. I'll probably get eaten first!" He pulls out two of his twelve daggers, holding one in each hand for comfort and security. Gaia flies above the treeline, keeping watch on the road ahead. Seeing that the forest will soon enclose the road, she flies in low, and perches on the highest point of their wagon, vigilantly searching the treeline for potential threats. Seeing Gaia so stout and observant puts Pettilaen at ease, knowing how sharp her vision is.

OOC: Perception of 18 from Gaia.

Kanon can't help but join Orst in singing Little Brown Jug with their neighbors, and he's more than happy to provide a little music as they acquaint themselves. 

Following Pettilaen's example, Kanon refuses the silver, "Your hospitality in picking me up off the road and these delicious meals are more than enough. Thank you." As an aside, "I'd prolly spend it on petty things too." He chuckles.

In the morning he makes sure to check on Zina's progress. "I haven't been able to discover much about them. I know they show symbols rather than words and they resist any attempt to understand with my magic." 

As the cart enters the woods, Kanon makes it a point to lighten the mood. "We're on a road where travelers are expected, I don't see any issue with making a little noise."

He begins to play as they travel, his music filling the air and changing the atmosphere from a brooding forest to an enjoyable jaunt. 

Portia declines the 5 silver knowing it was for the meat Orst shared that she did not even help to get or cook. She talks to the others camping around and it appears no one has had much of an issue traveling. Knowing this she relaxes a little even if the forest is definitely a thick one as they travel into it the next day. She notes the owl finally rests at the highest point of the wagon to watch due to the over hanging trees. The owl would definitely notice things in the woods before she would. Then there was Kanon's music that made things seem lighter and none of the groups that passed them appeared to have not run into anything untoward. So far so good.

Zina nestled herself into the cart amongst the rocks with Kanon's pages as they rolled along her way. She poured over the pages, making notes of repeating patterns and symbols in her own little notebook. She stayed up late, barely getting enough sleep, and continued to take notes throughout her watch. Sometime during her watch, something clicked in her brain. A series of six symbols had been among the most repetitive phrases, and it had seemed incredibly familiar. Finally putting two and two together, she realized where she had seen those symbols before with an audible gasp of surprise. She quickly rummaged in her own bag, pulling out the book that she had stolen before running away from Blackstaff. She had been able to feel its power during her detention, it had been the thing that had first drawn her to the tome. The former apprentice had originally thought it was just an incredibly advanced and dangerous book on her preferred school of magic, but she had never been able to really parse through its meaning. Now, however, she was making progress on both.

The breakthrough caused her to renew her efforts, taking even more notes at an incredible pace. She was among the first to rise in the morning, and instead of helping with breakfast she got right back to the scrolls. Ink-stains covered her fingers, a smudge had even migrated to her face. "I haven't been able to discover much about them," Kanon's voice startled the focused gnome, as she hadn't seen him sneak up on her. "I know they show symbols rather than words and they resist any attempt to understand with my magic."

"It's a shorthand, probably some wizard's own personal version of Arcana," Zina motioned Kanon over, allowing him to peek at her own notes. "This symbol crops up the most often, but this string of six is the most interesting. See, it also appears in this," the illusionist was practically glowing with pride and research as she pulled out her own mysterious text. "It's a pretty archaic book, not an easy read either. But together, maybe with some other texts, I think we could unlock some fantastic information."

In her excitement, Zina forgot that she was supposed to be intimidating (and disliking) Kanon.

AUDIO: Orst leads a neighboring camp in a rousing rendition of "Little Brown Jug"

The forest draws nearer and nearer with every rotation of the cart's massive wheels. The sun creeps across the sky, ticking past 9 in the morning. 10. 11. 12. 1...

Now the forest crowds the road to the left (west), separated from the road by a six-foot-high stone wall. The boughs bends and sway above your heads.  By 3 PM, the shadows of the trees creep toward you like phantom claws, threatening to engulf you in gloom.

The group continues forward, hesitant to utter a word lest it beckon ghosts in the darkness. Only the squeaking of the cart's axles, jangling chains and horse tack, and clopping of hooves break the thick silence.

...

By 4 PM, the light of the sun is blocked by the thick canopy.

...

ROLL: Need an Advantaged Perception check from the member of the party with the highest relevant skill.

(23 Perception from Pettilaen)

Frequent movement can be heard from within the forest. It sounds rather like someone, or something, is mirroring the wagon on the other side of the wall. Occasionally the sound fades away, only to return in several minutes. Deeper in the forest, over the rustling of leaves and creaking of trees in the wind, you can hear a strange droning, almost like a constant low-frequency vibration.

As you pass certain spots, the stench of death assaults your nostrils from the other side of the wall. There are certainly many dangers here.

Eventually, the sky darkens and the moment comes that everyone has been dreading. It's time to camp and spend the rest of the night in the shadow of Cloakwood Forest.

Orst pulls the cart well off the right side of the road, not so far as to risk sinking into mud, but far enough to put some distance between the trees and himself. Then he and the boys go about setting up camp without a word.

Pettilaen checks his pulse multiple times throughout the journey alongside the wall. It was running quite high already, and hearing the coming and going noises of some stalker, accompanied by the eeries setting and strange droning did not help at all. When Orst announces that they are pulling off to the side of the road, Pettilaen gulps, followed by a nervous laughter. "Heh... Is it already that time?"

He assists with unpacking and preparing the tent, muttering to himself. "Why would anyone choose to make a path so close to this damned forest?" He takes extra precautions, placing the torches in his backpack alongside the west side of the camp, acting as a row of light in between themselves and the forest as he explains, "These should provide us light for a few hours, so we'll light them up during the middle of the night, when something would be most likely to attack us. I can take first watch, and light them up once my watch has ended. Keep the campfire burning as well. That might further deter anything from approaching us. Or at the very least, give us clear visibility." He takes a light dinner, the nervousness setting him at unease, and practices his swordplay, coupled with spellcasting, as his blade alights in flame with each spell and strike.

"That is amazing!" Kanon exclaims. "All of Candlekeep couldn't make heads or tails of it. You're a marvel Zina. A scary marvel... but a marvel nonetheless. If you need my assistance at any point, I am willing to help." He allows her to study the item in peace. He knows how it feels when multiple people are looking over your shoulder and ruining your train of thought when you feel you're on to something. It takes a lot of willpower to keep from becoming one of those people.

Kanon is with Pettilaen as camp is set up, resting atop the highest point trying to get a glimpse of what's over that wall. "Do you think it wants to eat us?" Kanon asks the gnome. "I'm afraid I wouldn't taste that great on account of being skin and bones." He thinks of something as the dwarves start the fire, "I can throw a few light rocks over the wall to try and scare them away."  

Zina beamed at the praise. "I am a scary marvel," she smiled happily. "If you want to help me, you can check over these notes and see if I've missed anything. I'm sure I haven't, but it will assuage your fears if you think I may have made a mistake."

She continued her research in the back of the cart, despite the growing gloom, until camp had been completely set up. "I still don't entirely trust Kanon enough to let him watch over our sleeping forms, no offense, so he can take a watch with someone else," Zina said, joining the conversation. She had a dazed look in her eyes, a byproduct of squinting at a book for almost two days. "I'll take second watch after you, Pettilaen."

Kanon is beaming from ear to ear and has no issue with taking Zina's orders as she gives them. He even makes sure she is fed and watered during the rest of the day, as a healthy body is a healthy mind. Kanon has never dealt much with ciphers and codes, but he thinks Zina is on the right track. Somehow the key is in the combination of these documents and the book she carries, and he's just as eager as she is to find the answer.  

Also, Kanon is happy to help Pettilaen during his watch.  He has a way with words and entertainment that Kanon has lacked in his childhood and it makes him happy just to be around the gnome.

Portia stays pretty quiet like the dwarves. She has noted the avid study, but knows that is not her forte at all. There is not much to do but sleep and do her shift, thankfully without having to entertain the bard. She finds the bit of change in the gnomes this day due to Kanon a welcome one. And Pettilaen probably felt better not doing a shift alone. The stuff on the other side of the wall gave her the creeps. She smirks since half the stories she heard of the place were false, but the half sure weren't. She did extra prayers to Lathander and hoped she could really thank him when dawn came.

A strange sense of trepidation pervades the night. At some point in the wee hours, Portia wakes suddenly from a fitful dream, convinced something is horribly amiss. She was having a dream about fire and felt her flesh burning... It takes her some time to calm herself and realize it was only a dream.

All watches hear the sounds of claws scratching against the stone wall and occasionally a growl. Rorn swears he heard a large spider chittering, then the sounds of a brief scuffle somewhere deep in the wood.

But, aside from bumps in the night, nothing significant has occurred by the time the sun rises, the breakfast and preparation ritual begins anew, and the wagon is on its way again.

Portia definitely spends most of the dawn thanking Lathander because nightmares were worse than the stuff that properly stayed on the other side of the wall. She does manage to eat a light breakfast, but makes signs of warding towards the wall before they start moving out.

Zina did not immediately hop right back into her studying, after a night of terrifying dreams she wanted to be as alert as possible. These woods gave her the creeps, and it would not hurt to have an extra set of eyes on the road. Also, she had discovered the hard way that she could very easily become lost in a book. One time at school, she had completely missed an entire day's worth of classes and meals without even noticing. If there was a battle to come, she had to be ready to go at the drop of a hat.

"I keep on almost forgetting that we're no longer the only two who can speak gnommish anymore," the illusionist whispered in her native tongue to Pettilaen. "You don't happen to know Celestial, do you? Or Primordial. I can do Primordial. I'm not quite as good, the guttural noises always trip me up."

The night was a never-ending nightmare for Pettilaen. Constantly on edge that whatever made those scraping noises would come over the edge, Pettilaen could hardly sleep. He awoke in the morning, groggy and tired... but alive. Such a fact was Pettilaen very grateful for. As much as he still wanted to sleep, he wanted to get as far away from the Cloakwood as possible. Tired and dazed, he passed out on the cart once it was up and moving again. He awoke to see Zina hovering over him. Confused, he started to ask, "Did you just wa..." but was quickly cut off. "I keep on almost forgetting that we're no longer the only two who can speak gnommish anymore," the illusionist whispered in her native tongue to him. "You don't happen to know Celestial, do you? Or Primordial. I can do Primordial. I'm not quite as good, the guttural noises always trip me up."

"Zina... No. No, no, no. I don't speak those fancy languages. I speak Common, and Gnome... and I know how to speak discreetly, like most thieves and rogues. You wouldn't even know the conversation I was having if you heard me speak it. Now let me go back to sleep." He tries to brush her away as he turns to his side.

Emboldened by the fact that only a half-day's travel lies between the group and the trailing edge of the Cloakwood Forest, Orst kicks up the pace a bit and sets his team to a fast trot. The wagon bounces, churns, and rocks a bit more than usual, and there's a snick or two as a handful of masonry stones crack under the weight and strain, but all in all the tempo change helps lift the spirits.

A few hours later and the forest's edge begins to recede from the roadside, off to the west. An hour more and you can see the final stretches of wood a mere 500 yards in front of you.

The sun is shining, the air is cool, and the weather is beautiful... Wait. What's that motion at the edge of the forest? It looks like a lone creature has rounded the perimeter wall and is making quickly for the road.

Gaia is the first to make it out - some kind of centaur-like beast, only instead of being a horse-man, this creature is half silver stag and half muscled elf, armed and armored like some sort of druid. From the look of it, it's galloping directly toward the group.

"Stop," the creature yells in Elven (for those who speak it). "You will travel no further north with such ill-favored cargo!" 

When it closes within 200', it swings a longbow from its shoulder and puts an arrow loosely to string...

"Stop the cart, master Orst." Kanon says, "Or he'll start firing. He says we carry cargo that may be dangerous."

Kanon stands from his spot on the wagon, arms out in a gesture of peace. "We have no knowledge of what you're talking about. What is this cargo that offends you so?" Elven rolls off his tongue as if he were elf himself.

Orst nods and pulls the reins to slow the team. It's a slow process, but eventually they grind to a halt.

The creature gallops to within 40' of the front of the cart.

"An evil travels with you. I have smelled its stench for days." He growls, switching to the common tongue when he notices the driver is a dwarf. "Your load may go no further!"

"Now, look here, elf-thing," Orst begins to retort...