So other than that, Donovan buddy, what's the bad news?  (Nivi thinks sardonically, but does not say).

Instead she tilts her head and mumbles a folk tune she remembers Tara once played at an Inn when her sister deigned to "slum it" with Nivi.

"Well, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I'm wonderin' how I'll get down the stairs.

Blights to the left of me
Scarecrows to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

In juxtaposition with this incongruous little ditty, Nivi turns to Donovan to give him and his family a full formal bow, worthy of Niva'ele Farstrider.

"Day's as good a day as any to die.  Never liked the fog, anyway.  Came here to do this thing, so we will.  Least the owl Shiv and I will, or end up mashed down like your grapes.  Guessing our shining pal as you call him will come with, and Shorty and Prophet too.  Just give us the lay of the land.  Winery, vineyards where the grapes grow, other spots need clearing before Shiv comes back with one hoot for all good, and two for run like hell."

She pauses a moment.  "One more thing, Donovan.  Druid and wizard who keep coming at you and not at each other, yeah?  Seems off, right?  You ever find out WHY?  What's in it for them?  I mean, they just down with the vino that much, gotta have it all to themselves?  Little scare-needle gala?"

Jack cannot help but smirk a little as he thought 'Just who's gruel did this family pissed in!?' However, at any disapproving looks he had enough sense to at least appear a 'little' sheepish. The moment he hears the word Needle blights his eyes first go wide with shock, then narrow as his expression turned more stormy. "Those--" He started to say through clench teeth and a voice full of venom, yet words.... yet he couldn't quite bring himself to finish before whipping around to glare in the direction of the homestead.

Yet before the building fury could lead to anything rash however, something in Nivi's mumbled folk tune began resonating with the eladrin, leaving him looking both confused and curious at Nivi. ".... Hah... Yes, uh... Yes! All good questions, Nivi! And if you wouldn't be so opposed to one more dear Donovan, then I would ask this. Unless this is an Arch Druid we are dealing with, then they would need a bit more to control the blights than willpower alone, let alone acquire or even produce more for a seige!  So I'd ask have you observed them performing any rituals or, ehh, waving about some foci of some sort as they directed the blights efforts?"

(I will update today, or tomorrow)

Donovan meets Nivi's song with a raised brow. Normally i would be elated for such troubadism(troubador/song) but considering my entire families legacy is on the verge of destruction, I hope you can forgive my lack of reaction to bardsong. His tone wasn't angry or indignant, just the strained frustration at his situation as his first reply. His brow remaining ever neutral beyond that lift, as is the duty of any Triarch to remain composed, aside from the verbal quip. But I appreciate your help more than I am likely capable of showing given my exhaustion. As for areas...

It is primarily a single large house where it is both our home, and the winery itself. I'm sure you've all seen at-least one shopkeeper whom lived directly above his own store. There is a well to this side of it. he says, pointing in the general direction. As well as the outhouse several yards away. The house itself has a cellar, the ground floor which is the winery, and the upper floors which are our bedrooms and the veranda. And our attatched stable to the opposite side of the well and outhouse. It's hard to see from here due to the fog, but it truly is a single, large building. As we were ... running, we saw that some had entered the building, but we do not know how many. Only that every time they've attacked, it has been as a horde. The first, and largest one we've seen being nearly a hundred. Not counting the scarecrows... And no, I'm afraid we haven't had the time to seek such answers. Though I highly suspect it has to do with our now-stolen secrets to our vinyards success despite this blighted, infertile land. Should you succeed... I would be quite willing to share that knowledge, because if you fail here as well, there will be no vineyard left. he says, sighing, a slight break in his mask, or perhaps his exhaustion, or some combination of both.

Just as Donovan finished speaking, Jack asked his question, to which the woman who seemed to be Donovans wife responded. Aye. They have some kind of staff, though it looks no different than one you could carve to their aesthetic. And I've heard druids can twist wood and flora to suit their needs, so it may only be decorative. We don't know enough about them to be sure. Until recently, they were never an issue we had to.. worry about.

"Whatever the family politics, it seems to me unwarranted, to seek to destroy a vineyard with such relentless hostility," Ola muses. "I say let us clean up these constructs, and needleblights, and then perhaps the folk involved can speak reasonably as sentient beings ought." She sneers darkly. "Even in their worst atrocities my people never embraced the cowardice of hiding behind hordes of magic-summoned constructs. There is no honor or merit in that. Let us destroy them as an affront against nature and justice." She spares a glance at Beren, her expression softening right away, as if checking to see if he agrees with her moral assessment of the situation.

As energetic as Jack had become since the change into his 'Summer', he yet continued to show remarkable self-restraint in listening to others. However, he couldn't help smirking over Olamoira's mentioning of her people's tactics. At least he smirked at first, but then some idle thought reminded him that aside from the obvious exception that were the offspring of Vhaeraun or the daughters of Eilistraee, there were a few other drow societies that did have their own flavor of cruelty and "limits", leaving him looking both distracted and disgusted over something.

But then with a snap of his fingers and a click of the tongue Jack's focus snapped back Donovan. "Shoot! I guess then some other fetish on their person could be the culprit! But, I can't be certain without having a lovely chat with this assailant of yours, now can I? Hahah!" He flashes a toothy smile. "Either way, that's easier said than done if there truly is so many needle blights in play, nevermind the scarecrows! Yet, surely those numbers are a touch inflated? A trick of the fog as it were making it seem like more? Otherwise... not that I doubt your family's, eh, knack for survival, but I can't imagine so few numbers holding out as long as they have, and so well at that! An impressive feat, but-"

Jack squints at the family. "-perhaps something to attribute to this secret of yours? Heh... No matter for now!" Jack looks to the rest of the party. "I'm afraid friends this is quite a damned if we do, and damned if we don't scenario. For if whatever the source of their secret does fall fully into either these assailants hands, I have little doubt that this region will suffer a great deal for it. But if we do act, there's a very good chance we'll be torn to shreds before we ever reach this druid! Hahah!" He admits, sounding genuinely both genuinely truthful and genuinely amused by the scenario. "If by some miracle we can get inside we aught to have a better chance at both spotting and dealing with these threats. The only question then is how to go about it? I /could/ conjure up some friends to aid in a little distraction, but I confess I'm not certain of where to send them, what to conjure, and what would even be the best angle of approach for all this."

Nivi grins at Olamoira's seeming certainty at destroying the affronts against nature and justice.  Your lips to Tymora's ears, my brother would say...

Suddenly, she misses her brother Alend terribly.  The only one in her family who understood her even a little.  He would have routed these invaders, she did not doubt, charging right in.  His longsword laying waste to them with with a ferocity matched only by his self-deprecation once it was over.  For the briefest of moments, Nivi looks pensive and sad, an expression utterly foreign to her face.  Just as quickly, her sardonic mask returns as if never gone.

"Hunters I chatted up at the Blue Water Inn talked some 'bout dark druids.  Knew we'd have to put them down some day.  Turns out, today's the day.  My man Donovan, thanks for the layout.  Guessing burning the winery down around the bastards ain't your idea of a plan.  Got to get in there for some blade work, up close and personal.  Figure our skin'll have a couple more holes than it does right now by the time it's all done."

She looks down the path towards the winery.  "Shiv and I can scout ahead nice and quiet.  You all follow?  Thinking maybe hold off on that summons til we see what we're up against, yeah Shorty?  Meantime, how 'bout a little fey guidance?  And prayers from Prophet... or anyone really.  Gonna need 'em."

With that Nivi is ready to listen to any further plans, or set off ahead to scout while the party follows (if they agree with her suggestion).

Beren, having been silent during the majority of this conversation, simply gives Olamoira a nod. He hadn't really thought too deeply about who or what these druids actually are, but based off of their description from Donovan he guessed they were just as evil as the undead lurking through the land. That in of itself was plenty of reason for him to purge them. Even with Jack's acknowledgement of the danger, Beren didn't give it much thought. After all, if fate is what he was told it was, then he would not die here even if he wanted to. 

He stays silent as Nivi announces her intent to scout ahead. If he'd had better foresight he could have prepared more helpful spells, but that's hindsight now. As it is all he can do is give her a nod and watch from a distance, there isn't much he can do to aid in scouting, normally he'd just rush in headfirst and somehow make it out on the other side, and normally any plans made are not his own. That said, the plan proposed by Nivi seems like the best course of action. After all, it is difficult to make any plans at all if they don't know exactly what they are up against. If they get lucky, the enemy will have left one side of the building less guarded than the others. But perhaps that's too much to hope for. 

(I will update a little after work tonight, since i feel its likely that everyone will agree to the plan, since Beren has lol)

 "HAH! I'd do one better then that were not for the nature of our foes all too likely rendering it a wasted effort! So, you will have the wisdom of the winds in your ears, but know such magic is fickle and fleeting! Soooo, best then to be quick about your maneuverings from the start, wouldn't you say?" Jack flashes a toothy smile, then his expression suddenly turns serious as he says intensely, "Both of you  should mind your surroundings very well in all this, and trust not the lone bit of shrubbery you find along the way. For blights happily make a mockery of that which they corrupt and destroy in pretending to be such things." He warns, and unless anyone objected, would follow through on conjuring a lesser wind spirit to whisper and assist Nivi in her endeavor once the time came.

Shiv Perception: 10

With a more-or-less 'deal with it as it comes' plan, with the exception of Nivi having Shiv scout around the general area once more. The group approaching from the north-west portion of the road (based on the map). Shiv takes flight once more, almost completely silently flying around the building in it's entirety. The candles or other light sources within the Winery/House are not on, and the fog seems to be effecting even Shiv. That or there simply isn't anything within the windows visibility. Shiv changes focus to look around at the vinyard. Most of the vines have been trampled, but are still visibly green. The party waiting for the return trip before proceeding.

Shiv scans over the vineyard itself, and though a few patches of grey can be seen, such as weeds, the bird finds it difficult to tell if those weeds are unnatural. By the end of it, Shiv realizes they can't tell at all. About to return with nothing, Shiv returns to the party. However, it seems that the party waiting was an unintentional bout with fortuitousness. On his return trip, he spots a contingent of needle blights walking in formation.. chaotic formation, but near enough to one another to be considered loosely so. They seem to be accompanied by nothing and no one else. The sound of their sickly cracking limbs, every step sounding like the resetting of bone. And though they are far outside of Shiv's normal vision, the sound giving them away leads to a quick Passover. Getting only near enough to confirm what they had heard.

A group of thirty needle blights are trudging towards the winery at a normal pace (30ft/round) from the 'east' side of the vineyard. And though trampled, the grapevines are elevated still to some degree. Each row of grapes is roughly still 3 feet off the ground, as the supports had been snapped in half, providing atleast half-cover. However, the needle blights are roughly that height, meaning that once they reach the vineyard, they can all but hide entirely.

The blights are 120 feet away at present.

How do you all proceed? Combat has not started, but actions will be taken, for now as Party, then Blights until initiative is rolled.

Nivi returns to the group from a short way ahead where she had hidden as Shiv as conducts a flyby of the property, telepathically describing what he sees (and hears) back to the she-elf once the owl is back within a hundred feet.  Her whisper is grim and urgent, all levity gone from her tone.

"Won't lie.  Bad news.  Boatload of corrupted stick creatures.  Blights, I guess.  Crunch when they walk.  Maybe thirty.  Marching on the vineyard where they'll be hidden and hard to shoot at a distance.  Winery building itself looks to be to the south."

Nivi pauses.  "Not too good at crowd control, myself - better at the one-on-one intimate stuff.  Any of you got something to take out a bunch of them in one shot?  Area effect?  Otherwise, best call might be to try to sneak past them to the winery and shank the druid before the blights outside get wise.  And if the blights get in there, well, easier to throw down against a horde when you can bottleneck them in doors and corners."

IF the latter is the chosen plan, to try to sneak past the blights and into the winery, Nivi still acts as the forward scout, trying to lead the party from hiding spot to hiding spot along edge of the vineyards on the opposite (west?) side of the approach path from the blights, hoping to find an entrance along the northwest or western side to get inside the winery building itself.  (IF this is the chosen plan, then here are some rolls from Nivi):

Nivi's Stealth:  24 (12 on d20 + 9 + 3 from Jack's Guidance)
Nivi's Perception:  10 (ugh, 2 on a d20 + 8, neither Nivi nor Shiv seem very perceptive at the moment).

"Contrary to what may someday become popular belief, I can certainly attest to having nothing of the sort, darling! Haha. Not without getting up in their proverbial faces. But even then, I am MOST certain they will rip straight to pieces after." Jack whispered chipperly. "Best I can do is conjure up some friends to further distract them, but it would take too much time at this point to bring them out. So, we'll just have to be quick and quiet. At least until we can reach the final stretch. And I know, Beren, we know. Easier said then done with all that delightful metal strapped to ya, but we have to try. Nivi?"

Jack turned back to the rogue and briefly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lead on, and we'll be right behind you." He assured her. At that, Jack made to follow after her, but at a roughly foot or so distance to give her room to scout and lead the party with minimum disruption from the party. As soon as the group finds a side door or the next best thing, Jack was prepared to teleport inside to help open things up from the inside if need be. Otherwise, he'd stick it out with the group.

Stealth: 20.

(waiting for all actions before proceeding, so Beren/Olamoira)

Beren hesitates... he currently has one area affect ability at his disposal, but it seems foolish to unleash it so early considering the damage it would afflict on himself. Besides, he wouldn't exactly count the light to actually take out many of those creatures in one shot, at most it would burn them a bit... weaken them maybe... but he suspects it would more anger them than anything else. Better to wait and see what it looks like inside the place before releasing the light's wrath. 

He grips his hilt with one hand, letting out a breath before reluctantly saying, "I don't think I have the capacity to remove an entire group in one strike..." His hesitance to agree to stealth though is evident, though Jack's comment about his armor get's little more than a blink... or flicker of the light, from him. In all honesty, the armor was less concerning to him than the blasted light pouring from behind the mask. Neither helped him with stealth, which is why he almost always opted for a head on attack rather that bothering to try. 

He sighed, pulling up his hood, "If that is our best option I will do my best. I'll stay at the back." Normally he'd insist on being at the head of the company, that way he'd take the brunt of whatever waited ahead, but with this it seems smarter to let those who might actually be able to slip past the enemy take the lead. 

Stealth: 6

Olamoira smiles slightly. "Affronts to nature though they may be, I am sure they retain some of their natural vulnerabilities. If we are able to stay undetected and have time, I believe the best course of action may be to set the vinerows on fire... and make sure we take the blights with them." She follows along quietly with the others.

Stealth: 20

(apologies for the delay, the day i posted for Ola to post was the last day I had time for a few days! There is currently no need for a battlemap.. yet)

The needleblights continue their march forward, led by no one as the women of the party move with grace, while the men apparently couldn't blunder their way past a magically slept creature.. Luckily the blights were far away, and they seemed to be less than attentive. Trudging 30 feet further, the Twigblights continue their slow march, moving to 90 feetaway  from the winery housing. The party making it to roughly the 2nd rock on the path. to the north-east.

You may keep your rolls or try again with a -2 to the stealth roll.

(I will have time to reply tomorrow if everyone can get their post up!)

Nivi winces at the at the ruckus resulting from Jack and Beren's passage behind her, accentuated by the perpetual beacon coming from the glow knight.

Could throw a bloody blanket over his head, but then, chances are the sunshine would come out from another place... (Nivi thinks but does not say).

To Olamoira, whose Stealth Nivi approves of, she whispers in response to the drow's proposed mass-incineration tactic for the blights, "Comes to that, we do what we have to.  Not sure an arson-job on his vineyard's what Donovan had in mind, though.  Same for the winery - rather not burn it down.  Thinking we get to this druid, take him out, end whatever magic the bastard's using to order these shrub things around.  Cut off the head of the snake, yeah?"