Giles can't find any distinguishing features in the skeleton.  He was wearing leather armor, which is now sunbleached and torn, but otherwise retains none of his living possessions.  

When Burr grips the axe, it comes out of the tree easily in his hand.

It is a solid half hour of backbreaking labor as Burr hefts the polished axe and Badger undermines the great tree from below.  Eventually, the Gulthias Tree topples, its roots exposed to the sky.  Disturbing, the roots appear to be the only parts of the tree that are alive, pale and moist, with terminal taps that eerily resemble humanoid hands and fingers, reaching out for the soil.  Unlike the staff, there is no explosion of dark energy or wail from the Gulthias Tree.  It falls without protest or complaint.

The ravens circle for a while, but absent any further attacks or danger, their numbers dwindle until soon only a lonely sentinel remains, looping high overhead.

Burr continues to keep chopping, the battleaxe unnaturally light in his hands, and its blade able to easily cut through the dense wood of the tree, spilling buckets worth of crimson sap into the dry earth of the grove.  Despite having the expert tool for the job, it is still tiring work.  He hacks apart the main roots and taproot, and cleaves the largest boughs off of the trunk, before sectioning that as well.  Small dead trees from the grove are then cut down and dragged over for kindling.

[For the grueling digging and chopping, both Burr and Soren need to make DC 12 CON saves.  On a failure, they each pick up one point of exhaustion.]

[Did anyone have remaining lamp oil?  If not, there would be enough hot coals back at the statue fire to get this one burning.]

Before they depart, they set the whole thing ablaze.  As they walk a distance away, the flames lick out from the Gulthias Tree until the whole cursed grove is engulfed in an inferno, the top of Yester Hill shining like an orange beacon under the dense grey clouds.  

Retracing their steps back through the stone circle they reach the edge of the hill and the path down.  Immediately, two furry heads and shoulders pop up from the scraggly underbrush of the treeline - the remaining two direwolves.  One stretches lazily while the other looks up at you intently... and then both turn and bolt off into the forest before you take your first strides down the hillside.

You have what you estimate to be another hour and 1/2 before dark, which should be ample time to retreat to the promised shelter of the winery.  

Burr:

Burr Con Save- 9

Burr is glad the work is done but his muscles ache and his joints are tired....getting old.....

Part of the way down the hill as he watches the wolves leave Burr suddenly stops and looks down at the axe in his hand, " Uh....the axe just spoke to me...."

" Something about a spear.....I think under one of these cairns."

He shook the axe, then looked down at it, " Which one?", he said self conciously.

Soren CON Save:  16

(Used inspiration on the save - turns out he didn't need it as his first roll would have yielded a 14, but used up nonetheless.  Also, Soren has no oil).

"The... axe?  It spoke to you?"  Soren (back in half-elven form) is accustomed to speaking with humanoids and beasts, but not weapons.  In fact, he is just about to address the two direwolves at the base of the hill using Speech of the Woods, but they run off before he can.  Instead, he turns to his companions.

"You three have been steadfast allies.  I have asked much of you in my quest to destroy this foul corruption of Silvanus' wild, living nature, and you have stood strong  and fierce with me at risk to your own lives.  I will never forget any of you."  Soren seems moved close to tears.  His voice breaks.

"So any decisions on what to do next as we return to the winery, presumably, whether to look for this spear, I leave to the three of you and I will follow."

Burr:

 Burr is guided to an otherwise unremarkable cairn of black rocks.

Burr begins removing stones having been admonished by a disembodied voice.....it seemed the sort of day for that....

Giles walks over, curious.  “The axe… spoke to you?  Amazing.  Let me help.  I’m curious now, what this could be.”  Giles helps Burr dig through the stones, throwing them off to the side and lending aid with the task.  He touches Burr’s shoulder and gives him guidance to help him..

Burr pulls away a few stones, and then the left side of the cairn seems to collapse on its own, black stones tumbling down the hillside.  Revealed is the haft of a spear.  Drawing it out, he finds a primitive spear with a carved obsidian head, and a sinew wrapped handle.  The entire item is stained with ancient blood.

The moment he picks it up, Burr experiences a vision:

Burr holds the spear in his hand, " This will prove useful in time....we need to get that gem back or all of this has been for nothing."

He looks at the others, mainly Soren, " When we have time I would like to attempt to retrieve the other gems....not yet....we are not strong enough, but soon..."

Soren nods in agreement to returning the gem to the winery, though he adds:  "It has not been for nothing, Burr, even without the gem.  In destroying the statue and the cursed tree that I believe was the source of the corruption, we may have destroyed the source of the blighted creatures."

"I will be with you Burr, when we attempt to retrieve the other gems.  For now, I say we return to the winery before dark to lick our wounds.  We must still return to Vallaki to help Father Lucien and Ireena reclaim the cathedral's stolen protective relic, which I had told them I would help with tonight.  A promise I have broken.  We must also still deal with Morgantha and her fellow witches at their windmill, as she may continue to invade our dreams and deprive us of rest until we do.  And this is all aside from searching for Madame Eva's wolf den above the mountain lake."

If everyone appears ready, Soren makes haste with them back to the winery, attempting to reach it before dark.

"I'm starting to wonder if Madame Eva's wolf den was just a figment of her imagination." Zefla grumbles as she kicks a rock on their way back to the winery.  She sticks her hand in her pack and wraps her fingers around the gem.  She was glad they accomplished this for those at the winery.  She wondered about that tree though.. "Soren, have you ever seen anything like that tree back there?  I mean.. the roots.. just.." and she shudders at the memory, she hopes that was the last of it.  Was weird seeing nature disturbed like that.  She couldn't imagine how Soren felt about it.

Quote from kqstark >>

...She wondered about that tree though.. "Soren, have you ever seen anything like that tree back there?  I mean.. the roots.. just.." and she shudders at the memory, she hopes that was the last of it.  Was weird seeing nature disturbed like that.  She couldn't imagine how Soren felt about it.

Soren looks troubled as he trots along, despite his hope that they had destroyed the corrupted tree for good.

"Never had I seen one with my own eyes before.  It is an old legend, or nightmare really, among those who follow Silvanus.  A tree of darkness, both alive and dead, corrupting nature and turning it towards an unholy purpose.  Stories tell of a Gulthias Tree taking root from the first wooden stake to pierce the heart of a vampire.  The resulting abomination produced blighted creatures such as the ones at the winery and grove.  Beyond that, it could corrupt the minds and souls of mortals, as it did for the dark druids.  Even the dark druid leader's staff held vampiric power.  I am happy Burr destroyed both it and the tree from which it was hewn.  That is why I was insistent on not just cutting down the tree, but uprooting and burning it, despite my fear of fire."

(OOC:  Mostly drawn from post 1203 and the results of Soren's inspection of the "vampire staff").

The party retreats toward the Wizard of Wines, clambering down the rest of the hill and retracing their steps back through the barren woods.  With each step, you cannot help but feel hounded, as the darkness threatens to fall sooner than you had expected... or perhaps it is just the shade of the woods playing tricks on your eyes.  

What surely isn't your imagination, is the mist that pursues you... never closing in but seeming to swallow the forest up behind as you pass... always never more then 50 paces off your tail.

You quicken your pace... and then quicken it again...

And then you emerge from the forest on the outer edge of the vineyard, and climb the terraces to reach the main winery building.  Inside, you find that the Martikov's have made some progress cleaning up some of the mess left by the dark druids.  In the fermentation room, they have finished draining out one of the poisoned vats of wine.  "Leave the others for tomorrow.  Good work lads,"  Davian says to grandsons that were helping him.  He turns then, and sees the four of you enter.  His eyes linger on the bruised and battered bodies of Burr and Zefla... then he asks, "Well... you look like you've been through some shite.  Do you have it?"

Zefla smiles, “Shite is definitely a word to put on what we’ve been through.  But yes, we do.”

And she pulls the seed out of her pack, handing it over to Davian.

Davian takes the seed, that faintly glowing green gem, from Zefla.  As the heavy object is lifted from her palms, it seems both she and Davian become lighter.  The old man visibly relaxes as he looks at the stone, then to his departing grandsons and then back to the gem.  He lets out a long, heavy sigh.  "Thank you.  Please, sit down and rest.  There is food in the kitchen upstairs.  I won't be long."

He departs out the side exit, grabbing a shovel on the way.  

Upstairs, you find that Mira - you're still not quite clear on the relationships here, but you think she might be the wife of one of the sons who took the wine wagon to Vallaki earlier this afternoon - has prepared a cold gruel.  She apologizes for the lack of appetizing options, but much of their pantry was ruined or soiled by the madmen who had conquered this place, and their stove was destroyed.

After 15 minutes or so, Davian returns.  His hands and face are dirty with soil, but he looks at peace for the first time since you first met him.  He gently shoos his relatives out of the kitchen and closes the doors, leaving the five of you alone.  

"First... you returned our home to us, and then you restored our chance at a livelihood.  Strangers... folk who owed us nothing, who themselves are prisoners in this grim land.  I cannot repay you, but that doesn't mean I should not try.  Here.  It may not be the reward you need right now, but it is what I have to give."  He sets his hand near the table and turns it over.  A blue gemstone, a pale white gem, and a ruby clatter out onto the table top.  The ruby alone must be worth more than 100gp.

Then he pulls out a chair, turns it around and sits down backward on it.  He pulls out a bottle of Red Dragon Crush and sets it on the table.  In a less formal tone, he changes the topic of conversation.  "So... have you met the big bastard yet?"

Soren murmurs in response to the old man's thanks, leaving out any direct reference to the raven-woman who took no damage from ordinary weapons:
"We may owe you nothing Davian Martikov, yet we seek allies in Barovia, and all here benefit from your wine.  Moreover, speaking for myself as a druid of Silvanus, once I saw what vileness these corrupted druids had wrought and the threat the Gulthias Tree posed from inspecting the dark vampire staff, I was faith-bound to do all in my power to end their vile ritual.  What is more, I cannot be certain, but I believe we have destroyed the Gulthias Tree itself, the source of the blighted creatures.  More dark druids and rabid axe-wielders from the mountains may come, but the focus of nature's corruption on Yester Hill, I hope, is gone.  And that is all due to my allies here, and the allies from above who I know you sent.  For that, we are also thankful."

He pauses then, as the winemaker continues, unfamiliar with the turn of phrase.

'The big bastard'... ?  Well there was the big lad back in the city... er, village of Barovia named Pariwimple whose favorite female, Gertruda, had disappeared, and the Baron's frightening henchman Izek in Vallaki, and the even more frightening elf Rahadin in the carriage that stopped at the Tser Pool Vistani camp... All big... but I do not think Davian means any of them.  He must mean Strahd himself.

"I do not believe we have met the darklord, unless he has disguised himself beyond our knowledge.  We did witness his henchman, the renegade dusk elf guiding the darklord's carriage, and later witnessed a violent storm above Vallaki which I wondered if it might be his wrath at our removing someone he sought from his grasp.  I fear that by lingering here tonight, we have put that person and the sanctuary we sheltered them in at risk."

Giles takes a glass of the Red Dragon Crush if offered and sits at the table, pulling out his coin and rolling it through his fingers.  “The “big” bastard?  The one who lives in that castle up on that hill?  No, I can’t say that we have.  I wonder if we saw him briefly at the base of that hill.  There were some odd wolves there, watching us.”  Giles tells Davian the tale of how they took down the statue and fought the Druids and Barbarians.  He turns his head and looks at Soren on his last comment, but then adds “We would ask shelter and to stay the night with you tonight, until we can travel back to Vallaki in the morning.  Tell me, do you have any words that we might pass along to your brother?  Any fences that we could help to mend besides those destroyed in the fields by the blights?”

Zefla cannot help herself.  As the gems gleam on the table, she reaches over and scoops them up.  "This is very helpful, thank you." and she stashes them in her pouch.

Zefla also takes a glass of the wine if offered and enjoys the time to sit and converse after the day they have had.  When there is a lull in conversation, she brings up the lake and the man that was trying to drown the young vistani girl and what could have been down in the depths of that lake that she fought with the rope.  It haunted her a bit, even with all she had seen sine their arrival.

At learning you have not yet met Strahd, he nods.  "It's a bit unusual.  I'm told he often greets those he summons here directly... toys with them like a cat with a mouse."  He pours out wine to those who partake until the bottle is empty.  "It's not the only strange thing... it's too soon.  For more outsiders, I mean.  Usually, four or five years pass, sometimes a decade, before he draws new blood in through the mists.  But was just last year there was that business with the mage and his entourage... and now you four, already."

"And the devil hasn't been himself in some time.  I remember, back in my younger years, it seemed he was lurking in every shadow.  So much as whisper ill of him, and he or his servants would set upon you like vultures on a corpse.  These last... oh, twenty years maybe... he's been withdrawn.  He's seldom seen far from his castle and the people forget his ruthlessness.  That fool in Vallaki, barring use of Strahd's name... in the old days, the devil would have rode in on that hellspawned horse of his and painted Vallaki red with the blood of the Baron and all his kin for even dreaming of such a slight."  He swirls the wine in his cup, thinking.  

"It means something, his withdrawl, and now bringing so many outsiders in so often.  I don't know what it means, but it means something."

He listens quietly to the tales of your battle on Yester Hill and of your other exploits since coming to Barovia.  He shakes his head at Zefla's question.  "I don't know of any lake monsters, if that's what yer asking.  I'm sorry, it sounds awful but its not something I know anything about."

He nods again when Giles mentions the wolves.   "You're probably on the right track, though if it were him, routine would dictate he make his presence a tad more obvious.  Very theatrical, our Darklord," he chuckles grimly.  "The wolves are his ears, the bats are his eyes... and the Vistani are his knives.  Be mindful of them and don't trust them.  They are his creatures."

His eyes narrow when Giles mentions Urwin, but then he relaxes.  "Nothin' to mend.  We have our differences.  We aren't likely to cease having those differences.  But he is family, and if he ever needs anything, or the reverse, we will take care of each other.  That's just how it is and that's how it'll stay."

Burr is very, very tired he sits on the floor with his back against a wall nursing a cup of wine and looking pleased with himself.....he is listening however...