Jenner takes some time to set up what he wants to do, so Tess and Randal won't see it if they leave right away, but since it is only early afternoon, it is either a very long show or is not about to start anytime soon. After all, its climax would be when the sun goes down, and that's a few hours away. As if to confirm this notion, many villagers turn away from the stage, either to rest after dancing for a long time or to find something else to do. But anyway, it seems the Gnome doesn't need their attention now.

The way to the inn is uneventful, and on the road, you meet no villagers. Even when you reach the long, red-stone bridge, the only sound you hear is the water that flows underneath at a slow, undisturbed pace. The Living Tree inn, on the other side of the bridge, seems as strange to this land as it always did, the only dark brown and green in this land of red and yellow-white, and the clear transparent blue of the Rivulet. 

Inside, the inn looks just the same as it always did. A square room with rounded corners made of wood. A door on each of the walls except the one to your left, but no paintings or dark-haired girls or strange dustmen. Only a wooden rocking chair, on which sits an Elf in a long trenchcoat and nothing more, his eyes closed and his face calm. Nobody else is in the room. You could imagine the Elf is asleep, or at least, that he did not notice when you entered, but after you take a few steps in, without opening his eyes, he clears his throat and speaks in a neutral tone: "You know, not that it is my business where you sleep, but it'd be a shame to waste the money you already paid me by sleeping elsewhere. After all, Tess, you only have one night left."

(Sorry for the delay; I'm back and ready to continue with this game - hopefully we can reach a climax and conclusion soon!)

Given her continued reluctance to enter the inn but convinced that it was worth a visit, Lyla goes with the others to the tree, but stops outside. As they open the door and enter, she sees the elf across the room with his eyes closed, and makes up her mind that her entering would do more harm than good. If possible, she will try to keep the door slightly ajar while remaining hidden outside so she can eavesdrop. If that would be far too obvious to the elf, perhaps because of the weight of the door or its proximity to where he is, Lyla still hides outside, but tries to spy/listen in through the walls or windows.

If it's simply impossible to stealthily stay aware of what is happening inside, Lyla casually guards the outside, staying alert as she waits for the others to reappear. (She is assuming that they know she is waiting, and that they will come out to let her know what is happening if they decide they are going to spend a long time inside.)

Randal arches his eyebrow at Tess as Sier remarks she has another night left at the inn.  He himself had only paid for one night.  “You still have room then?” he asks “I thought you may be full with all of the ill.  And are the visitors from the capital staying here as well?” Randal steps into the room, trying to leave the door cracked open for Lyla to remain outside.  Randal looks at the walls in wonder, half expecting to see the paintings show up at any minute.  “We actually came to check in on the sick.  How are they, any improvements on their condition?  Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“I’ll pay for more nights- if you have any available. 

But as Randall said- we came to check on the sick, maybe give them some water if we can.  As for where I stayed.. you recall we had bad dreams here.  I stayed elsewhere to see if that would help.  The visions are getting worse.  In fact I’d almost feel better staying here.  But we did want to ask you some more questions.”

Lyla can eavesdrop on the conversation without fearing getting caught, as long as she doesn't make any sound. It's not easy to perfectly understand everything said, but she hears enough to fill in the parts somewhat dimmed due to the nearly-closed door and the distance. 

"All the ill? Only three so far, this tree is big enough. However, I cannot say I've seen any improvement in their condition. At the very least, I'd say you don't need to worry about water and food." Sier finally opens his eyes, then lifts his legs to sit cross-legged on the chair, and crosses his arms. "I tried to feed them, thinking they'd need nutrition, but to my surprise, they didn't seem like they needed any. Not yet, at least. It doesn't look like they're completely frozen, but... slowed down, perhaps.

"But questions, you said? Ask away. I've got nothing better to do anyway."

“I will start then, if you don’t mind” Randal glances over at Tess, before turning back to Sier.  Emboldened now that he realizes there is nobody else there, Randal moves further into the room.  “What is hidden under the inn? Before Ri fell into this sleep, she mentioned that you had hired her to retrieve some sort of artifact from under the tree.  What is it?  Could it be the source of all of these strange dreams, if they are dreams?”  Randal does not seem convinced that they are in fact dreams, but he would be reluctant to admit it.

Sier sighs and stands up from his chair. "Easier to show you than explain, I suppose." He starts approaching you but stops a few feet away. "You might want to move to the sides of the room, it isn't really considerate of other life forms, or objects, or anything really." If you ask what he means by it, Sier simply repeats that it's easier to show than explain. If you refuse to move away, he'll shrug and say: "Your choice, I suppose." Then walk forward between you, as he would if you had moved away from the door.

Either way, when Sier gets within one foot of the door, just when he might notice the slightly open door, thick vine-like branches extend down from the ceiling of the room like snakes, wrap around Sier and pull him back, tossing him back into the room. Had you stayed near the door, the branches ignore your existence, and are very likely to flick you as they throw Sier away.

Sier flips in the air and lands gracefully on the floor, standing and unharmed. "It, the tree," he explains with malice in his voice, "is not a house, nor an inn, but a prison. You can leave and go, but I'm stuck here. I can't go down myself, just as I can't go out, so I don't really know what's down there, but the magic that binds me here, that keeps the tree alive, I can sense its source—drained directly from me, going down there. There should be something down there, an artefact if you wish to call it that. Something that channels the magic drained from me into the tree. Destroy it, or bring it to me, and I'll be able to leave. I asked her and the other girl to help me, but they ran away. One returned unable to help me, and the other I did not see since. I doubt it has anything to do with your friends' strange slumber, though."

Sier walks back to his chair and sits on it as he did before as if nothing has happened, but this entire time, he's watching you intently, trying to learn from your reactions, subtle expressions, and what you might think of this story of his. "I'll owe you a lot if you help me with this matter. Can you even imagine what it's like to be stuck in one room for over two decades? Even for my long life, this is a long time confined like this."

Randal backs away from Sier and the door, giving him plenty of space and watches with interest as the vines appear and pull Sier back into the room “Well, I certainly see what you meant when you said you could not leave earlier.  An uncommon but effective prison. But why are you being punished so, who locked you in here?” 

Randal pulls at the corner of his mustaches thinking of the potential value of such a magical artifact and the opportunities it could unlock.  “If we do agree to help you, what is in it for us?  Could you help us with the sleeping sickness, or to determine the source of our strange dreams and visions, could they be linked to this magic?”

Tess also backs away, and watches the spectacle with wonder.  “Perhaps this artifact is also connected with the other things we are experiencing?  Like Randall, I’m willing to free you, and try to seek out this artifact, as long as you haven’t been imprisoned here for a good reason.   You have certainly seemed nice enough to me.    I had realized you didn’t leave, based on what you had told me earlier, but it wasn’t clear that you could not leave.    How did your time here start?”

"I don't know if what's keeping me here is what's causing your friends' problem, but if so, we all gain from getting rid of it. At least, we won't truly know before we try, right?" Sier seems happy to have found an opportunity to finally leave his prison. "But otherwise, I'm willing to at least try helping you, if I can. My abilities are limited from within this tree, but once freed, I could at least track the magic to its source, I believe. I can at least try.

"As for why I'm here, it's kind of a long story. But in short, I was chased out of the Elven woods where I lived and sought refuge here. I thought nobody could find me in such a secluded place, so far from home. I forgot about those damned dogs, however - Elven tracking hounds - perceivable only by their trainers and their target, so one never comes across them by accident, and you just forget they exist. But they can track down a target even over a Jurisdiction after it traversed a path. It might take time, but they'll always track you down, eventually.

"Of course, no hound could trap me like this, but the hound was only the tracker, and with it came the one who did this." He gestures at the tree around him. "We fought, he won. Thought he was really noble for sparing my life, choosing to imprison me instead. Unless I manage to leave eventually, however, this is far worse than death."

Tess says “It’s a deal.  I can’t imagine why they felt the need to do this to you.  Hopefully you’ve paid your dues for whatever crime they accused you of by now.  I’ll help, if I can. How should we start?” 

Tess looks at her companions. “I’ll not keep secrets from you.  But please don’t tell the villagers about this.. they would not understand. It’s a magic protection the goddess has granted me.”   She casts mage armor on herself.  “Now, I am ready to see what lies below.”   she looks to Sier for guidance.  “Anything you can provide to help us with this quest, is welcome.”   

Continuing to listen in from outside, Lyla was intrigued by Sier's bizarre story. Some parts of it certainly had her questioning her own safety, but her bigger concern for the moment was that even though what he said hadn't changed, some elements within the tale didn't properly add up for her.

The biggest indication of whether his intentions were good or not would depend on what exactly he had done to be tracked down and imprisoned, but she knew that either way, this tree was built to last longer than two decades - for an elf, that was barely any time at all, and not much of a punishment. 

Lyla decides to continue waiting outside at this point, to hear anything that happens next. It didn't seem like her companions were immediately going to jump into the hole leading under the tree, so she didn't want to prematurely intervene if more conversation was to be had first.

Randal listens to Sier’s story, trying, and failing, to ignore the eerie similarities to his own search for refuge.  He tries to decipher if the elf is telling the truth or if he may be guily of a much more serious crime. Insight: 6.

Randal shares a look with Tess as she prepares herself. “No need to worry, we all have secrets.  The villagers need not know.”  He looks back at Sier “How do we get down below?”

Sier walks back to the third door, the one across from the door to the outside, and opens it. Behind it, there's a room that is merely a squared meter (~3'x3'). At the back of it, there's a ladder, leading both up through a hatch in the ceiling and down through an opening in the floor. "It should be down there." He says, holding the door open expectantly.

"Oh," he then adds, "one thing I can tell you is that there are some defences down there, though I do not exactly know what they are. All I managed to learn from past experiences is that something makes people fall asleep at some point. If you can't reach the source of the tree for some reason, returning and telling me what you found is also appreciated, so we can be better prepared the next time."

Tess looks at Randall.  “Let’s get Lyla, and then go in.  Maybe spread out so if one of us is hit by the sleep magic we can report it? I am curious to get to the bottom of this mystery.”   She steps outside of the Inn and says to Lyla. “We would like you to join us, if you are willing. We don’t have any other leads to investigatew. “.  She smiles a bit weakly.. 

Tess then heads to the ladder, and glancing down, starts descending into the hole…

Past experiences? How many people has Sier sent down there?  Randal briefly wonders what the elf did to earn such a punishment, but Sier is hard to read and he can’t tell how much of his story is truth or fable.  Still, he thinks of Valentine, whom he could not or did not help and decides it doesn’t matter anyway.  He secures his lute and his rapier and follows Tess down the ladder.  As his feet hit the ground below, he peers ahead, looking for any threats or dangers. 

Perception: 21.

.

Tess also looks around, 14 investigation.  She glances warily up the ladder and asks-.  “Will we need light down here, do you imagine?   I have some torches”.  

“Light would be a good idea.  I will take the lead if you can hold the torch.”  Randal steps forward, one hand on the hilt of his rapier as he peers ahead.

Tess gets a torch out of her pack and waves her hand over it, causing it to light. prestidigitation.    She holds the torch carefully.   “I have a tinderbox, so I don’t get burned as a witch.   But I’ve never used it.”  She says