"Yes, a magnificent tune!" Nemi agrees but leaves the rest to the others. 

Elric nods eagerly as Horkur politely enquires about healing and gestures at his own not-entirely-healed wound.

"Magnificent tunes, Connor.  And thank you for the advice too, this Moon Moth sounds like a good lead"

Connor laughs and says,

“The Moon Moth is just one o’ many denizens of these gardens, I’m sure ye can find more if ye look around.”

“As fer grow in’ larger, t’is a fine wish but somethin’ tells me ye’ve been brought here by fate, and t’would be a shame to abandon that too soon. Hmm… Here’s what I can do. I’ll give ye these—“

He reaches into his pockets and flips to each of you a sparkling golden coin. On one side is a depiction of Connor’s face, winking at you. On the other side is depiction of a heart resting on the ground of a forest clearing, trees at the edges.

“All ye do is flip the coin an’ catch it in the air, and it’ll heal up yer hurts, one time only! And then once ye’ve fulfilled yer fate, ye flip it the second time an’ catch it in the air, and yer shrinkin’ problem may disappear!”

With that, Connor gives you all a deep bow, doffing his cap respectfully as he does so, then starts playing the bagpipes again, skipping away through the forest of grass blades. You see him face into invisibility before he gets out of sight. The music lingers in the air a bit longer but then it, too, fades.

Please accept 100 experience each for your encounter with Connor.

"Fate...?"  Horkur rolls the coin in his hand a few times before placing it in his little neck bag along with the ruby.  

"Herb garden's the other way from where we've been traveling.  I think we still head to the tree, maybe some shelter if nothing else..  Less one of yall has a better idea that is.."

"Tree still sounds good" says Elric. "We set off this way, let's keep going"

Nemi nods and continues in the direction of the tree. 

You wend your way through the maze of grass blades and get closer to the tree. It’s an oak and now here and there are acorns in your way like brown boulders as big as you or even bigger. Eventually the ground slopes upward irregularly like foothills to the mountains, but instead of a mountain, before you is the immense trunk of the tree, rising up into the sky like an immeasurably tall brown cliff. You have a vague sense of its green canopy high above you, as if the leaves were dense green clouds on an overcast day.

Now what?

Horkur investigates the area, looking for a root or some place to fashion a camp as we make out way into the evening.  Additionally he looks upwards into the tree to see if any places to potentially get a view of the yard, and hopefully house as well.

Investigation Check:  21 (nat 20- in game log)

Horkur, you get a good view of the tree and the surrounding environment. You note that the bark is very rough and climbable, though the tree is so mind-bogglingly tall that climbing up would be a Herculean task. During your investigation you find several large (bigger than you) pellets of some dry material, but with bones mixed into them. They were actually difficult to spot, blending into the ground quite readily and just being rather nondescript, but your sharp eyes were able to notice the bones worked into them.

The house is clearly visible from here, just beyond the tree trunk. To your left (East) is the corner of the little cottage, the very one you peeked around from the other direction when you first arrived. To your right (West) in the distance is the back porch and kitchen door that you exited with Rezlin to come out here.

Nature check to understand the pellets better.

Nature Check: 5

Looking back to the group with a handful of the mixed material he asks.  "Hey, do these look like bones to you?"

Horkur has brought the pellets to the group’s attention, holding some clumps of them in his hands. The pellets are large (as big as you Horkur or bigger) but the material is dry and flaky and breaks apart readily enough. Bones are intermixed with the material but you dont know what kind. Maybe someone else in the group can make a nature check.

Nemi suspects the pellets might be from an owl but inspects further.  nature  6  

Nemi is correct, it’s owl poop!

Nemi you can further deduce that the owl is predatory and it nests in this tree.

The bones are those of small rodents. About your size or even bigger….

"Eww, ew ew ew ew.."  Horkur exclaims as he shakes the material from his hand and begins to brush it off on the back of his armor.  "OK, maybe we need to find some cover.  Anything with its droppings larger than me is not something I think we mess with!"

Nemi smiles as Horkur extracts himself from the evidence of Owl habitation and looks about for cover.   She studies the roots of the tree to see if any rise from the ground high enough for the group to crouch under and plan next steps.  

The roots create quite a corrugated landscape of peaks and valleys, there are many nooks you could find here to get a decent amount of cover for the night.

Nemi finds a good nook under the roots and waves the others over as she investigates the entrance to it for evidence of other animal inhabitants.  "This spot looks good for the night.  We should get some rest."

Night is falling. The already dark green shade of the oak tree deepens into blackness. You see out in the night scape of the garden the intermittent flaring green lights of many fireflies. You hear the chirping of crickets and frogs. But nothing seems near or interested in disturbing you.

You can process a long rest at this spot without trouble.

Horkur re-checks his bandages and quickly nestles in to get some much needed rest. 

The next morning Horkur circles back with the group.

"So where do we go now?  I am getting the feeling that the house is going to be quite dangerous, and not sure this tree is safe for the long term either.  Someone had mentioned the herb garden - what are your thoughts?"

"Yes, the Moon Moth was supposed to be found there on a clear night.  We could look about and start with them?"  Nemi responds.  "The owl could be some help too but I fear taking that chance with their hunting prowess.  We might be eaten before we say a word."