There is a sickening crack as Burr's maul catches Berserker #3 in the face.  The large man does an involuntary back flip and collapses like a boneless ragdoll.

Soren sends another arrow at the last remaining nearby foe (berserker #2), at advantage due to recklessness.

Longbow to hit berserker #2:  15
Longbow damage:  5 piercing

With his free action and movement, Soren begins moving to pull together the corpses of the dark druids and berserkers (away from the melee) into a pile.  The thought of fire still fills him with terror, which he had barely suppressed during the fight with the statue being ablaze.  Yet he would prefer to burn the bodies to prevent them being raised up again in some vile ritual, given the dark ceremony that the party and allies had just apparently cut short.

Nettle circles slightly closer to the needle blight that emerged up the hill to try to gauge the range (approaching no closer than 150', longbow range).

Almost as a second thought, Soren plants another arrow in the final remaining berserker.  What once seemed a mighty horde of barbarians, now takes second chair to the task of sorting and arranging the dead.

The crows continue their assault.  The nearest flock takes another attack at Berserker #2, while the other flaps over from the far side of the battlefield.

Beak Attack:  18  Piercing Damage:  10

The man-raven launches another point-black hand crossbow bolt at the Berserker...

Crossbow Attack:  14  Damage:  6

... And then follows up with a brutal final thrust with his short sword....

Short Sword Attack:  24  Damage:  10

He leans into the blow and as he pulls out the blade, the last berserker falls, silent at last.

In the stone circle, the thundercloud above has dispersed and the sounds of battle have fallen away.  Six dead berserkers lie with their axes, while Soren gathers the corpses of the druids.  The campfire still smolders, and the cracking, fuming remains of the once mighty statue continues to burn.

In the orange glow of the fire, the ravens circle the dead while the man-raven sheaths its short sword and looks at the carnage with black, expressionless eyes.

" I'd wager it best we give the gem to our Raven-Man friend...he can get it back there quickest...and I want to make sure that whole statue is ash and splinters....", Burr growled. " Let the wolves and twigs  wait a spell..."

Soren:

Soren continues gathering the bodies of the dark druids and berserkers near the campfire (NOT the statue fire).  He recovers as many of his and Zefla's spent arrows as he can in the process and looks for any possessions on the bodies beyond the expected (e.g. another "vampire staff").

"Not-father, could you assist me in... burning the corpses using the campfire?"  Soren again has some difficulty uttering the word 'burning'.  "I do not wish them to be raised once more like the zombies we encountered in the forested lakeshore near Vallaki, nor to come into contact with that foul statue."

He turns to the raven-man and the surviving swarms of ravens, addressing them in both Common and Raven (using Speech of the Woods) as needed:

"Black-feathered allies.  I thank you for your aid in defeating this vile corruption and the rabid axe-wielders who defended it.  I mourn your fallen and will not soon forget them, nor those of you who have survived."

Soren briefly considers, then utters a brief prayer for Silvanus' guidance.  To the raven-man specifically, he continues:

"I am Soren, and these are Burr, Zefla and Giles.  We were drawn into these lands through the mists inadvertently less than half a ten-day ago while fighting werewolves.  We came here to Yester Hill to reclaim the gem and end this vile ritual, not for any promised reward, but because it is the right thing to do.  As a druid myself, this unspeakable corruption of nature is anathema, but also the people of this land deserve wine."

"May we know your name and purpose?  I think you must be here on the word of Davian Martikov.  If so, can we trust you to fly the gem safely back to the Martikovs at the winery as Burr suggests?  Zefla has it now.  We may yet fall in battle to the blights up the hill, or to the wolves (werewolves?) below, but I believe you can fly above them safely out of range of their possible attacks.  Let him also know that we have stopped the ritual for now."

Though the raven-man's form is unfamiliar to him, Soren watches him sharply to form a sense of the man-creature's reaction and motives.

Soren's Insight plus Guidance to guess the raven-man's motivation and trustworthiness:  18 + 3 = 21

[Does Zefla produce the gem?]

The crows disperse from their battle formations and fan out across the field to take their spoils.  Some land on the corpses even as Soren is dragging them, cawing and picking at the eyes and tongues.  Others go for bits and baubles, tugging at iron rings on fingers or chain links hanging from the edges of the hide armor.  One digs savagely inside a berserker's mouth, trying to free a gold tooth from its socket.  Another removes a braided chain from a man's hair... then tosses it over its own neck before strutting around the field.

The man-raven cocks its head at Soren and then turns to look at Zefla.  It does not answer verbally.

Soren:

Zefla stares at Burr and Soren like they are crazy.  She then shakes her head and attempts to address the raven-man.  "Sir, as much as I appreciate your assistance in this fight, I do not know you and you do not know me."  She pauses a bit as she thinks this idea is nuts but doesn't want to offend the creature, "My friends here ask a task that is not necessary, we can deliver this seed ourselves, they can wait a few more hours until we get there."

She looks down the hill and thinks about the big wolves Soren mentioned, "You know what would help?  Is if you stuck around and continued to help..." and in a softer voice, "I too am sorry about your fallen brethren."  

She gives a look to Giles and telepathically Help me out here, this is crazy, right?

Burrs grip tightens on his maul, his battlelust not having quite abated yet......he gave his word to the winery.....and if they all died here, which looking downhill was very likely then that word would be broken for nothing but greed.....

Feeling his anger rising but not wanting to say anything he couldn't take back he headed over to the statue and began laying into it and its supports with the maul.

After the last beserker drops, the glowing, ethereal great axe winks out of existence and the Fake Dirty Druid Father Giles turns over and looks at the true Father Giles, smiling, nodding, and giving a wave ….then he disappears.  Giles takes a few deep breaths, then nods, agreeing with Soren.  “We’ll want to burn all of these bodies.  Now.  Why don’t we stack their bodies on the bonfire?  Or build it up to burn them in a pyre… but first”.   He turns to the raven-man and says “Thank you… for your help.”    He turns to look for any other approaching blights, wolves, or other threats that have been mentioned by Soren during all of this.  Seeing no one immediately threatening them, he continues.  

He pauses for a moment, considering what Soren has said.  “I have to agree with my friend Zefla, we agreed to bring this gem directly to Davian Martikov.  That means us.  No one else.  I don’t feel comfortable handing it over.  I truly thank you for your help, but as she said, I don’t know you….”  He turns to the statue as it continues to burn, with a grim smile.  “I too want to see it burn to the ground, Burr.  But we are in no rush here.  We must fulfill what we have said that we will do.”  He starts helping to drag the bodies over and then stacking the wood since Burr is handling the rest of the Statue, he tries to stack the wood to make a makeshift funeral pyre.  Not out of a reverence to the lives lost, but to make sure they are turned to ash.  As he drags their bodies over, he searches each of them for anything of use.  He stays clear of the ravens, giving them respect and keeping an eye on the raven-man out of the corner of his eye, awaiting a response.  

The man-raven looks at Zefla a beat longers.  Then, sensing an impasse, the creature takes a last look at Soren and Burr, then takes flight, lifting off into the grey skies on black wings.  

Half of the remaining ravens take flight as well.  The remainder continue to mill about on the ground, crowing at one another and enjoying the fruits of their victory.

One raven, the one with the neck chain, saunters over to Soren, a fleshy orb in its mouth.  It cocks its head in offering to the druid.

Soren:

 Immolating the dead and letting the statue burn down properly takes a full hour.

Soren:

 [It sounds like Soren, Giles and Burr are occupying themselves getting rid of the statue and bodies.  Does Zefla want to do something else, or take a short rest?  Did she burn hit dice resting at the winery earlier today?]

( Burr is utterly fuming......probs best to leave him to it for the forseeable future.)

Soren is having difficulty processing what he sees of the armed raven.... the raven-woman??  So much so, that he does not properly notice as she departs in a flurry of large black wings, even though he did not wish her to go, at least not without the gem, which was moot now anyway...

Struggling inside his head, the druid almost does not notice the single small raven's kind offer of an eyeball, glancing at it briefly to see if there is anything special about it?  Assuming not, he politely declines and encourages the ravens to continue their feast prior to the burning of the corpses.

Soren's mumble, when it comes, is as thick and halting as the slow tumble of his thoughts.  What had Sir Rowan Caskbow said about lycanthropes?  ' ... Common steel avails you nothing against them. Silver, or magic, or something primal like fire - these are what you need to slay the moon-beasts.'

"Not... not sir, Zefla.  She... the raven-woman, is not a 'sir' in city-speak, I do not think?  I saw her take blows from the rabid axe-wielders, tearing through her garments, drawing blood, and yet, unlike the swarms of ravens, some of whom were slain, she remained utterly unhurt.  Unhurt... as shape-changing werewolves would remain unhurt if we did not use silver weapons on them, and...and the axe-wielders had no silver to use on her..."

"The raven-woman... she reacted... slightly when I spoke, but it was there, to the mention of Davian Martikov, and to the gem.  She knew of them.  But she was uncomfortable being in front of us, somehow... like that, in that form...  I have been trying to understand how... how it is that the Martikovs, who are no druids, how they all have such close ties to ravens.  Urwin Martikov and his wife at the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki and the ravens on his roof.  The ravens who defend and fight for Davian Martikov, at the winery and now here.  Why?  I... I think now, that I can guess their secret..."

He does not say the word aloud.  Wereraven.

(I did burn hit die at the winery and will burn my last one now since she's bloodied - will take that short rest)

As the others gather the bodies and Burr goes off fuming, Zefla sits among the stones and contemplates what all just happened.  She listens to Soren, but doesn't get the conclusion he comes to, "What secret?"

(Hit die, rolled a 1!  So 3 hp)

Burr heads over to Soren, " Time to go?"

" Or do we need to do more to make sure these druids can't use this place again?"

Soren turns to Zefla, sounding tired.

"I suppose it matters not.  We should act as if we do not know.  If they wanted us to know, they would have told us.  But I think at least one of the Martikovs is a lycanthrope.  A werereven.  Perhaps all of them are, but at least the raven-woman who helped us just now.  Perhaps she is Urwin's wife from the Inn, or a woman in Davian's family.  Like werewolves, she was not injured by ordinary weapons, unlike the ordinary ravens, who were cut down.  I observed her reactions closely - she clearly knew well of both Davian Martikov and of the gem, reacting as we mentioned each, though trying to hide it.  A human-sized raven using human weapons proficiently.  A shape-changer seeming uncomfortable being seen in this form, lest her secret be revealed."

"And it explains why the Martikovs all seem to have have ravens serving them for no other reason I can discern.  The ones on the roof of Urwin Martikov's Inn in Vallaki, or inside Davian Martikov's winery, or the ones Davian clearly sent to help us just now.  Even though I can tell the Martikovs are not druids as I am.  They do not befriend all beasts as I do.  Ravens are their only animal allies, and now it makes sense why."

Soren pauses.  "Or perhaps I am wrong."  He looks to everyone and speaks louder, about what to do next.

"In any case, we have to decide.  There are more blights up the hill in the withered grove above.  Nettle spied at least one of the needle blights we encountered in the winery (the ones that shot their spines at us).  The vampire staff came from somewhere - perhaps from there.  As long as there are blights and that grove remains, I believe the winery is under threat.  If we can slay the blights at range and..." (he swallows hard, then continues)

"... and burn down the grove, I believe it would help ensure the corruption does not return.  But we are hurt and I recognize that this fight against nature's corruption is mine and not yours, my friends.  One of the three wolves at the bottom of the hill has left.  I do not know if they are friend or foe, werewolves or something else.  We can go down there first and see.  It is strange that they have neither attacked us, nor helped us."

Zefla remains silent as Soren goes over his thoughts about the two families that they have met since they have arrived.  Honestly, the most real people she feels they have met and now he claims that they might be wereravens?  What the hell are.."What the hell are wereravens?  I've never heard of such a thing."  She can tell he is weary, but she can't help herself, "I just figured they talked to ravens like you do.  Why wouldn't that be the case?"

"If your fight is with nature's corruption, so is ours.  I am concerned about the wolves and expecting that they are there to fight us, I hope these blights don't wither us down much further.  We need to be back to the winery before dark.  That is my only request."

Giles nods along with Zefla, saying “Mine too.  How far can you reach with that bow?  What if we walked far enough to take out that needle blight quickly, see if anything else emerges, and if not … we skirt around the wolves and head back to the winery.  What about that?  I don’t want to arrive after dark.  We will deliver that gem directly to Davian ourselves, no chancing it with a bird-woman that we have never met before….  Hey, Burr.  Are you alright over there?  Stop with your tantrum and come discuss this with us.  Do you need a drink?”  Giles keeps an eye on him and looks to where the needle blight was pointed out to see if he can see any movement or activity.  

Perception : 10 (passive 14)

Soren is a little crestfallen at Zefla's doubt, trying to assure her about his opinions of the Martiovs:

"I think no less of the Martikovs even if they are all lycanthropes, which they may not all be.  I am not like Sir Rowan Caskbow's young squire Jhon, now deceased, who viewed werewolves as mindless, evil monsters.  For the werewolves we encountered, he was right about the evil, though not about the mindlessness - they killed out of pure savagery, not for food, as we saw."

"But that does not mean all were-creatures are evil.  I do think the raven-woman is a lycanthrope in the way Sir Caskbow described - just instead of a human who turns into a wolf, one who turns instead into a raven.  You are right that many, not just druids, can speak with animals.  And druids can turn into beasts, but not beasts that use humanoid weapons in that form, and more importantly, that take no damage from ordinary weapons themselves as the raven-woman didn't from the berserker's blows as I noticed.  She also appeared nervous about revealing her nature.  And she clearly knew of the gem and of Davian Martikov - so that is why I reason that she herself must be a Martikov or close friend.  I could be wrong, but I do not think I am."

He then sighs and lets it go.  It does not matter in the end if some of the Martikovs are wereravens.  Soren has no plans to divulge their secret, even if true.

"I am heartened you are with me in cleansing the blights from the corrupted grove up the hill.  After this short rest, I can summon Bramble once more when battle starts to provide us a bit of strength, though I cannot summon Thorn again until tomorrow.  But we may be able to attack at range.  I can shoot my longbow with difficulty almost 600', but it is easier to it targets perhaps a quarter that distance."

Soren tries to gauge the distance to the grove and the nearest needle blight up the hill, with guidance from Silvanus.

Perception plus Guidance:  18 + 2 = 20 (dirty)