"That really depends on where we end up." Xorin follows along behind Ayrlin.

Kasandra stows her shield then jogs to retrieve her dropped handaxe, sheathing it at her hip, but keeping her sword in hand. She slows her run as she pulls alongside Braddik at the front, on the opposite side of the giant. She scans the way ahead, though she thinks it's unlikely that Bort is smart enough to trick them into an ambush, she didn't survive her many encounters with humanoid monsters by being overly trusting.

Perception: 14

OOC XP update!

You follow the gentle giant North. He takes you through a confusing jumble of courtyards, lane ways, gates, and bridges over cobbled water courses.

OOC:

Bort’s pace is not punishing but his long strides mean you have to make some effort to keep up. After about an hour the walls and cobbled paths of the labyrinth become more worn and chaotic, a lot less care is exercised in the upkeep here.

“Dis is as far as Bort knows. Bort not ever been along dat way, but it way to castle. Lots of trees.”

He gestures with the huge garden fork and smiles. “Bort need to get back now or King get angry.”

You see the lane way continues on for about one hundred feet and then seems to end with a wall of ancient trees.

You cannot see far into the wood, the thick canopy blocks out most of the dying light from the low sun to the West.

Grigor follows the Big guy and the others.

While walking he goes to Kassandra: "Excuse me if I ask, but I noticed you cast a spell in the last fight. Shortly afterwards, these vines appeared. I didn't realize you were magical. And I've never seen such natural magic. I thought you were a fighter, since you are very good with the sword. Where'd you learn how to do magic?" Grigor seems to be asking with much interest. "You must know I am very interested in the arcane arts and and I am always glad when I can draw new knowledge from it, and your magic seemed to be very close to nature"

 "It's ok my friend. We are thankful that you bring us here. You are a good friend. Don't let that goblins bully you again you hear me?" Ayrlin taps the gian-kin on the forearm and watch him return. "Poor guy.." he says in low voice.

"Well " he says looking to his companions "We are at our own again. Let's see what that trees has in store for us.. but be careful, as fond I am for woods, this one gives me the creeps... "

As the path meanders, Kasandra initially tries to memorize the route, but she often became distracted searching for threats and lost track of the turns, ascents, and descents they had made. Thankfully, she notices Ayrilin attempting to keep track as well and makes a note to talk to him later to try to form a map of the route they were taking so they could have a possible exfiltration route.

When Grigor asks of her nature magic, she responds, "In the Maori clan, the two most powerful families, below the chieftess' own, were the Clawfurys and the Redthorns. The Clawfurys, my grandmother's family and mine, were the clan's best warriors. The Redthorns, my grandfather's, had blood tuned to nature magic and popped out several druids every generation. The two families hated each other, but my grandparents found each other anyways and had my mother. She wasn't born with a talent for nature magic, but I was. Because of the family rivalry, my mother basically a bastard, but my grandfather was around enough to spend at least some time developing my gifts for nature magic once they manifested, though he wasn't much use for anything else." She says bitterly, but then realizes she'd gone off course, "Anyways, I'm no druid, but I've learned a few things that help me kick ass like my grandmother taught me." She says with a feral grin. As she smiles her canines and bicuspids sharpen and grow until they are fangs a little over two inches long while her dark green eyes swim with bright green magic ((Primal Savagery)). The effect is both unsettling and oddly attractive as the green of eyes contrasts with her dark skin.

"I can't really teach you the talent, you have to born with it as far as I know, but I'm betting you'll get plenty of chances to see me use it." She then looks ahead scanning the tree line for threats.

Xorin listens to Kasandra tell her story, "Well those vines would certainly come in handy for trapping or slowing targets for your sword."

Survival 8

As they come upon the trees, Xorin he is also looking for any indication of their entry point for the forest.

Perception: 13

Q's for the DM:

 The way here was complex and confusing, but Ayrlin thinks he can retrace their journey with only a small amount of trouble.

Kasandra keeps her keen eyes peeled for trouble and finding none, the trip is quite uneventful. Though from time to time she does notice the large swarms of the red bat like creatures that Braddik observed during their encounter with the strange little brown men. They seem to be either ubiquitous for the labyrinth or perhaps following them as some kind of carrion bird might follow a future meal.

The company nears the Treeline an notes that there is ample space to walk beneath and between the ancient moss and lichen covered trunks, but no trail is to be seen. There is an eerie sameness to the wood, each of you could well imagine how easy it would be to become disoriented and lost beneath those mighty branches.

Kasandra senses a strange intelligence, not hostile just alien, within the trees. Whether it is the forest it self or some powerful being that inhabits the night struck wooded realm before them she is not sure...

Corvus drops to one knee and digs a torch our of his pack. Striking steel to flint and tinder he lights it and carefully repacks everything. Standing with a torch in one hand and shield in the other he looks to the woods ahead.

"I have a bad feeling about this." 

He then takes a few cautious steps into the trees, "Torm guide us through this dark place."

Xorin takes in the slightly ominous looking forest in front of them and takes out his dagger. After quietly speaking something a moment the blade begins to shed bright light. He looks at Corvus, "See, now you've said it and it'll probably come true."

Ayrlin follows them cautiosly, lookinng around in search of problems.

"I feel like we're being watched and it's not just those bat things." Kasandra says to the group. She takes the lead into the forest, sword in one hand and the other empty. She stays close to Corvus and his torch. As they move she studies the ground, looking for signs of any denizens of the forest.

Survival 11

Corvus chuckles darkly at Xorins words. "My friend, it's usually the bad things that do come true in my experience."

With a determined frown he looks ahead again and continues forward, "But that's why we do what we do..." his next words were not born of pride or folly, but of certainty, "Heroes always move forward."

The companions head into the gloom. After a short time, headed in what Kasandra determined as north straight towards the Goblin City and its keep, all eyes began to adjust to the odd thick darkness beyond the edge of the various sources of light. This wooded place was strange and unnerving

Perched in the branches overhead you see dozens of large black birds with faintly glowing yellow eyes, and hundreds more you suspect roost past sensing in trees beyond that. Masses of tiny purple flowers that glow with a faint purple-pink light carpet the floor, and when stepped on give off a strong scent reminding you of long gone sorrow and loss. The air is still and the place unnaturally quiet. Your movements are loud in your ears, your breathing a harsh intrusion in this place. The trees seem to give off a hostile feeling and you know you are not welcome here.

For Kasandra and Corvus:

 The carpet of flowers thins in part ahead and you see a crude barely perceptible pathway winding ahead through the trees. It runs roughly north east.

Grigor eagerly listens to kassandra's explanation. "This is fascinating, because this means that this magic is inherited and not learned. The Wizards in my academy represent the view that magic is learned in any form. This power is channelled through gestures and words and materials. But your words and your people show that there are also innate powers. I'll have to look into that in more detail in the future." Grigor seems very excited about this discovery "But first we should concentrate on our task. Thank you for telling me all this."

Grigor concentrates again and examines the surroundings "Yes, I have a bad feeling too" He prepares to react to danger and tries to keep an eye on his surroundings. Despite everything, the darkness pretty much bothers him. He goes to Xorin and his light "I will stay close to you. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with producing a light source. "

Perception: 6

Kasandra readies her shield in her free hand as they advance into the gloom. She glances up at the birds watching for signs of hostility. As she does so she accidentally treads on one of the strange flowers, the smell reminds her offal and blood as she once knelt over a friend trying in vain to help them put his intestines back inside of him after he had been disembowled by particularly gruesome orcish trap. The memory brings her sharply back to the present and she scans the path ahead for signs of a trap. As she does so, she also senses an insidious magic working at the edge of her senses. 

"There is some sort of magic trickery here, besides the labyrinth itself. It reminds me of fey magic, but I'm not sure."

“Well “ says Ayrlin softly, looking at the birds as they walk “I would say that all of this is much like Feywild”

"Should I try to detect the magic here? I would need a few minutes, but we may be able to get more information about this place." Grigor ask the others, while looking around

Xorin offers to light something up for Grigor, "It woud mean mine goes away but I do see alright in the dark."

"As for detect magic. I suspect you might find the entire area around us would be magical. I'm not sure what you'd be able to accomplish. Magic school might be useful to know but by the sounds of it there's at least illusion."