"It's been a long day, and you are right, mae'r goedwig yn gwybod", is Hemlock's only response to Hickory, as if that explains everything. He is relieved to see the opening in the thorns, but will not pass through until Sha returns from the chase and goes first.

"Do not be disheartened, Saoirse", he says when she passes by him. "I am certain the elders will help Lam, and give us shelter for a short while. And the watcher will be back, and we'll be prepared next time"

Almost as soon as Lam had gotten up to chase the woman, the woman is gone. Lam growls and turns around, ready to stomp back the few steps he’d taken. He hears Saoirse shout and looks her way. She may be angrier than he is. Instead of stomping, he just walks back next to Hemlock. He watches Saoirse and Sha, glancing at Hemlock but never looking away from his friends. Once they are all back, he is ready to enter through the thorns with them.

Sha sheepishly limps back taking much longer then his sprint through the trees.  He apologetically reaches for Sombra, “You were the answer all along little one if I would have just brought you close your song could’ve captured that little viper.”

As he passes Saoirse, “Sorry just not fast enough, I’m not as young as I once was.”

Finally joining Hemlock and Lam he simply avoids eye contact, “Sorry friends…”

Saoirse shakes her head. "It's not your fault. You did amazingly, Sha. She just got lucky. As Hemlock says, we'll be better prepared next time". The fire genasi doesn't smile nor looks any less angry when she says this, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel her words, only that she needs more time to calm down and accept this setback.

Walking through the wall of brambles, you realize that it is at least 15 feet thick, and extremely dense and strong. Hickory's confidence that it will keep outsiders out seems well-placed, although the young Firbolg has never seen a forest chopped down, nor met a people willing to burn fields and woods as a part of war.

On the other side, the night forest seems much the same to the untrained eye, but after a few moments a primary difference is obvious to everyone: it is absolutely teeming with life - both animal and plant. Berry bushes present impossibly large bounties, and every foot of the understory is filled with a plant that has some medicinal or culinary value. There are burrow holes regularly, and countless nests in the trees. Nocturnal animals wander freely, showing no fear to you all. Both hare and fox pass near you without reaction.

(For Hemlock this is another reminder of home. Creatures near a Firbolg village know that they have safe shelter, abundant food and no humanoid hunters).

The young (~500 year) Skyoaks continue to be regularly interspersed, the straight rows of them oddly juxtaposed with the more natural and semi-wild undergrowth. You are led for about 1000 feet through the woods approaching Oakhome. Hickory leads several feet ahead of you, trying to posture himself as well important and strong, avoiding any further damage to his ego. Aspen, on the other hand, walks among you as though she was already a member of your party. She glances frequently at Hemlock, and her gaze lingers when she thinks he isn't looking, but she doesn't ask him any direct questions, instead peppering the others with curiosity about where they come from and how they ended up here in the valley. She is also fascinated by Sombra, approaching carefully, but flinching backward and bringing her hands towards her ears every time the fledgeling makes a noise. "Can I pet her?" is among her questions to Sha. "Have you met Kurt and Karla" is among her questions to Lam. She also asks Saoirse how she protects her hair from her own fire.

For most of the journey toward Oakhome, Saoirse remains deep in thought, mulling over the rollercoaster of a day. She might have been more relaxed and attentive to her surroundings if cleansing the lake had been the last event to befall them, but the Coldwater spy had nearly erased the quiet peace the lunar event had bestowed upon her. It isn’t until a fox brushes her leg with its soft fur that she begins to fully notice her surroundings, feeling a mix of wonder and ease at the scene enveloping them all.

Despite this, it is Aspen's question that completely shakes her from her thoughts. "How do I protect my hair from my fire?" She blinks in surprise. "No one has ever asked that before. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it until now." She pauses to think, and even takes a strand of her hair, as if she needed to touch it to answer properly. Then she adds, "Hmm, I just ... use my hands to tend to it? Their heat keeps it clean, and since it's made of fire instead of the natural fibers that other humanoids have, I guess I don’t really need to worry about protecting it from my own heat."

Now that they are engaged in this curious conversation, Saoirse adds a question of her own. "Your home seems pretty sheltered. It reminds me of mine. I didn’t really have much freedom to go outside—at least, not as much as I would’ve liked. It’s only because I ended up in Coldwater with Hemlock, Sha, and Lam that I’m here today. Is it the same for you, Aspen? Or are you free to leave your village whenever you want?"

Aspen

  She is also fascinated by Sombra, approaching carefully, but flinching backward and bringing her hands towards her ears every time the fledgeling makes a noise. "Can I pet her?" is among her questions to Sha.

 
Sha-Gravis
“I’m quite certain if you offered Sombra a wood grub or hummed a bit she would quickly warm up to you.  I will say however if she feels threatened she may defend herself she is very capable, I can personally testify.”

"Wow, ok! It just looks so wild, but controlled at the same time - like a force of nature being calm out of polit -polition? Politic? Politeness? Anyway, your hair looks very hero-ish. I wish my hair did more than hang," Aspen says, gesturing at the long, mossy blue-green locks that fall down her shoulders and back in playful waves. "Yeah, it is pretty sheltered, but I can leaving whenever. We all can, no rules say no, but nobody is leaving. It would be... not the honorable thing. Many youths spend a year or two at Village Tree or Green Castle, or even Weretown, and sometimes people leave and dont calling Oakhome home any more, but we all are being taught that the best life is staying at Oakhome and helping to regrow the Greatwood until the skyoaks are grown up. I am sometimes thinking that maybe the best life can be outside of the greatwood too, and maybe even leaving the valley to go on a journey." She looks at Hemlock with admiration as she says this. "Some old stories saying that firbolgs used to go on big jorneys as part of growing up, but for many parents parents now almost all firbolgs stay close to home. I like the old stories... but I've never even crossed the river. Dad says... nevermind." Aspen makes a show of being distracted by Sombra, clumsily and abruptly changing to a different thread of conversation, and addresses Sha: "Please do not feeding her meats here. Here near the village, all animals know they are not being hunted by people. Even wood grubs. It would be very bad honour to kill an animal here, even to feed a baby. Maybe she can eating mushrooms? But I can try humming." Aspen begins to hum a tune that calls to mind a nightingale singing over a babbling brook, a cadence that is slow and echoing. While she hums, flowers on plants you pass by seem to turn to face the party, and a very light breeze begins to come from behind you. Clearly she has some talent in treesinging. Hickory chuckles a little at some of Aspen's quick chatter, her matter of speech being not very common among her people, but the muscles of his back tense visibly when she critisizes the village's culture, and you would be right to think it is something they have argued about before.

OOC: I'll wait for us to arrive at Oakhome until everyone feels finished with this little convo with Aspen. and Hickory

Aspen manages to get a smile on Saoirse's face. "Wild but controlled, huh? I could learn a thing or two about control, but I really like how you've put it. You definitely know how to make a fire genasi feel welcome. And don’t downplay your hair—it’s beautiful! Have you ever tried braiding it? Back home, many girls wear side braids, especially when practicing swordfighting. I think they look pretty heroic. I loved it when my moth... well, when they braided my hair. I could braid yours later if you’d like", she offers the firbolg girl, "I bet you’d look dashing."

When Aspen mentions Oakhome's traditions regarding leaving the village, Saoirse gives an understanding nod. It wasn’t so different from her order, where the young were encouraged to leave for a year just before going through the Ritual. And while there was no rule preventing anyone from leaving for good and choosing not to undergo the Hunter's Bane, it was considered dishonorable, much like what the firbolg girl had said. The genasi looks curiously when the other girl trails off after mentioning the river, but doesn't ask about this for the moment. 

The mention of the skyoaks reminds the genasi of something. "I heard there was a cataclysm thousands of years ago that destroyed many skyoaks. I imagine that’s why it’s so important for your people to help them grow again. Is it known in your village what happened?"

Lam has totally forgotten to be on guard, and he is utterly fascinated by the wildlife. He watches each new animal that appears with curious eyes.

Lam is surprised to hear names he knows come from Aspen. “I have met Kurt and Karla. And Kristof. They are all good bugbears. Do you know them?” He wonders if more of the people he’s met know each other without him realizing.

He tunes into the conversation everyone else is having with Aspen as well. It seems that the animals put him in good spirits and he is listening to learn from the conversation. He furrows his brow at the idea that no killing animals is allowed here. He seems to be stuck on some aspect of what she said, but he remains silent to think about it. After Aspen hums for a bit, Lam chimes in with, “Do animals eat meat here? Do they hunt?” He knows that some animals only eat meat and he wonders if any are here.

"Yes, most skyoaks died long ago, but we are not sure why. Maybe a sickness from another world, maybe somebody killing them on purpose. What I know is that when The Lightbringer saved the world from monsters who controlled minds, skyoaks could growing again. So we bring as many back as we can, first while the High Elves also were royals here in the valley, and still after they are leaving. Maybe Elders know more about why Skyoaks died. And yes! Please braiding my hair before you leaving.

"Yes Lam, animals are eating animals. The fox eats the rabbit to live, but the rabbit needs the fox to do this. With no fox, sick and slow rabbits would being more sickness and slow rabbits. Even without sickness, too many rabbits is a sickness in the forest, and they would eating too much of their favorite food, and hurt that plant's nature. But the fox and the rabbit and the forest make a balance that is right and good, and the hunting is fair. Firbolgs are too smart and have magic, so hunting would not being fair, and we can choose to not eat meats. Eating meats also takes more from the forest than eating plants, and many firbolgs live together, so if we were all huntings so close to Home, we would take too much, and there would being no rabbits for foxes. If we hunted also, the animals would learn to afraid us, and would not let us be part of them world..."

"Sorry. You are not asking for me tell you what is best life. Maybe you have different best life, and this is OK too, just not here near Oakhome. But yes to animals who eating meats."

Lam nods absently in response to Aspen’s explanation. He hadn’t ever even thought of anyone not eating meat until recently. He looks over at Hemlock, who he knows doesn’t eat meat. He looks around at the animals who are showing no fear- something which he has been marveling at. Lam’s stomach growls. He himself has eaten almost exclusively meat. He is pretty sure if he stopped doing that, he would not be able to keep up his strength. He knows he will not get any meat here, and he can tell he already wants some. He looks down. He had felt as a child that many animals were smarter than him, and had never before considered it unfair for himself to be part of the cycle of animals hunting animals. It is a new way of thinking. He doesn’t want to say anything wrong in front of Hemlock or the other Firbolgs, so he stays silent for a while.

Sha notices Lams body language during the explanation of dietary restrictions, he too would live on fish and game and truly wonders about Sombra and the mimics… having eaten venison earlier seems like a very fortunate circumstance in hindsight.  “Well I guess bread and soup are sometimes good.”

From the moment they passed through the tunnel of thorns, Hemlock had felt more at ease, which was a strange feeling because he hadn't truly realised how homesick he had been. He had walked along with the others, and heard Aspen's questions, recognising her inquisitive nature as similar to himself when he left his home what seemed like a lifetime ago.

Occasionally as they walked he would fall behind as he stopped to speak with the animals and plants, and then had to almost jog to catch up before a short time later the process would start again.

"What Aspen describes is how it is at my home as well", he interjects. "We try to live in harmony with nature, taking care of the forest around us and all who also call it home. We respect the balance that exists as well, knowing that it makes all life flourish", he adds almost reverently. "But that does not mean we exist on bread and soup. I would have thought you would know by now how much I like my food, and how creative it can be when you put your heart into its creation".

Lam pipes up, happy to have something to add to the conversation that wouldn’t make anyone upset, and says to Hemlock, “You make good pancakes.” He enjoyed helping Hemlock to make them that one time, and admires his friend’s chef skills. He has enjoyed some of the non-meat meals he’s had in the last few days. Those meals, though, have usually sustained him less than the meat-based ones. He wishes he could stop thinking about meat right now, and the food conversation is only making him more hungry. His stomach growls and he goes back to listening without saying anything.

You come to the impressive root structure of an ancient, fallen Skyoak tree. What was once spread out underground now reaches up towards the sky and out in each direction. In the middle of the roots along the bottom, many of the roots combine into a large, smooth, solid wooden door, on whose surface the smallest branches of the ancientroots seem to tẃist and curl into the shapes of various animals and other forest life. The image of an elk is made three-dimensional where its antler stretches out of the surface, forming a beautiful handle and branching enough to give places to grab it comfortably for any from the tallest of Firbolgs to the shortest of halflings.

Higher on the root ball, which is at least 50’ tall itself, flaring as it does from the trunk behind it, wood-hard shelf mushrooms large enough to serve as dance floors stick out to provide a raised porch/balcony, overlapping enough that the locals can walk from one to another. There are more beautiful doors leading from these into the root ball, and presumably into the great fallen trunk.

Oakhome is carved inside the whole length of an ancient skyoak that once stretched more than 400 feet up into the air, whose trunk is more than 35’ in diameter. Atop the trunk, a new raised forest of aspen, holly, and birch surround the long top walkway, occasionally revealing hatch doors into the inside of the great wooden village.

Even from outside of the structure, Hemlock recognizes Oakhome as a remarkable feat of Firbolg architecture, although the Firbolg word he would use is perhaps better translated as ‘cooperation’ than ‘architecture,’ and he knows that the carving and shaping of the village was done fully with the fallen tree’s consent and help, and with the aid of mushrooms and insects, the humble reshapers and shepherds of from death to new life. It is, of course, completely unique and entirely different from the construction of his own village (where there is no ancient skyoak), though the principles are the same.

What is strange here, though, is that it is not just Firbolgs and animals that seem to be moving about. There is a class of children on one of the shelf mushrooms, and among the children are almost as many goblins as firbolgs. They are being instructed in reading the stars, a lesson that will soon end as the pre-dawn light brightens and the stars fade. The teacher appears to be a bugbear as well, and he bears a strong resemblance to Kurt, Kristof, and Karla. He wears the clothing of a druid, and carries a druid’s staff.

(A real-world root ball, to help image the giant fantasy version I'm trying to describe)

"You are come to Oakhome. Waiting outside while I find an Elder," Hickory commands before walking to the door and entering the inside of the long village. He makes sure that others see him having lead the interesting strangers here.

Hemlock smiles at Lam when given the compliment about his pancakes, his eyes shifting very briefly to see if Aspen heard as well. He hadn't spoken to Aspen directly as they walked, finding his mind going blank every time he contemplated doing so, and when she looked at him he found the simple act of walking without tripping a chore.

When they reached Oakhome, his jaw literally drops as he looks up and takes it all in.

"We have nothing to compare to this back home", he says in an almost whisper. "It is magnificent!".

When Hickory gives his command, Hemlock decides to honour his words from before, helping Hickory overcome whatever bad sentiment had come from failing to clear out the bad frogs.

"Our thanks, Hickory. We will do as you say", he says a little louder than he needed.

Once Hickory leaves, he turns to Aspen, his curiosity overcoming his shyness, "My friends are not the first outsiders to be invited into your home. Back home we remain apart, hidden to all but the local elves. It is nice to see there is another way".

Like the others, Saoirse stares in awe when they finally reach Oakhome. Both Village Tree and this place are very different from the village she hails from, but that doesn’t stop her from falling in love with these locations that are so deeply intertwined with nature. Being there makes her feel homesick, even if—dangers aside—she doesn’t regret this journey that has allowed her to see so much of the world that was unknown to her until now.

As she gazes at the enormous root ball, she gets a slight shiver when she imagines how tall this oak tree must have stood. While she doesn't think she’ll have much trouble with heights here—unlike the last few hours in the Village Tree, after her fight with Hermes—the fact that she experiences that shiver even while the oak tree lies on the ground instead of rising up to the sky is a testament to the newly acquired fear that remains dormant most of the time, only to resurface when she least expects it.

"Your home is beautiful. I'm grateful for the chance to visit it," she says to both Hickory and Aspen. The genasi has noticed how Hemlock is trying to maintain a good relationship with the male firbolg, and even though she hasn't particularly enjoyed the local's attitude, she will try to do the same to honor Hemlock and Aspen.

Lam nods in response to Hemlock’s words to Hickory and Saoirse’s words to both other Firbolgs. Lam himself has been rendered speechless looking around at the place. It is unusual for the world to be so much taller than him. His eyes linger on the class of children and the bugbear teaching them- it’s more goblins than he has seen anywhere else recently, and he cannot help but wonder if the teacher is related to the bugbear teenagers he knows. Perhaps their father? He had expected this place to be entirely Firbolgs, and it makes him curious to see that the kind of people he would have seen at home are also here. He wants to ask them all, particularly the bugbear, about their stories, but he doesn’t try to. He remains with his friends and silently waits per Hickory’s instructions.