Auriel chuckles at Uragum's comment, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Despite that, he replies, "Guys, remember we're not here just for the Hill's folk, but for the Pact too. Personally, I would follow Sylyra's suggestion."

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

"We should approach her carefully and without violence, hear what she has to say, and then determine whether the deal is something worthy of the result. "

"Oookay, I know what you must be thinking: 'There goes the paladin being a bore again, reminding us to leave violence as a last resort,'" he says, smiling at his self mockery before turning a little more serious, "but I'm worried about the status of the pact. If it's broken, there may be consequences for Phlan. If we have the means to fix it, we should try. And killing one of the fey in their own home won't help a lot."

He pauses for a moment and adds, "We should try to learn what Jeny's role was when the Pact was struck. Was she there when it happened? Does she represent all of the dark fey in it? Let's keep our eyes and ears peeled in case she lies to us, trying to make us believe she holds power over the Pact, only for it to turn out that she doesn't." (ooc: @barty, if possible, I will want to Insight check her. Even when she says 'Hello", lol. Should I make this rolls myself, or will you do them?)

Sylyra very much looks like he's smelling something unpleasant as Auriel is talking. Finally, he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and remains silent.

"Oh well, I've angered Sylyra again. I knew I was missing something. Guess I'm all set to face the hag now."

Sylyra rolls his eyes and mumbles something about "over-dramatic Eladrin".

Carl shrugs and keeps walking, eyes peeled for Jeny and her green teeth.  

After some hours of travel, you round a bend in the path and come to a large clearing. The ever-present canopy is open here, lending you your first view of the sky in days. There is a small cottage of neatly stacked logs with a roof of tidily arranged shingles, grown over with moss on the far side of the glade.

An open cook pit is in the center of the clearing, over which a large cooking pot hangs from a tripod of iron rods, bubbling and sending delicious-smelling steam into the air. The warmth and light of the fire warms you to the bones, banishing the forest's oppressive gloom.

The weather in the glade is quite different than that elsewhere in the forest. The area is dimly lit, the sky is clear, and stars sparkle overhead - curiously, considering that you are still hours from dusk. Thick fog gathers around the trunks of the trees circling the clearing, giving the glade a rather mystical appearance.

The area around the cook pit is well lit, and the delicious smell of food, flowers, and wood smoke permeates the clearing. All is silent aside from the crack and snap of burning logs, and bubbling stew.

Sylyra does not feel comfortable with this. He stops within the trees before reaching the glade and looks around, his nose wrinkled. "Help me to see," he almost whispers, calling on nature to open his eyes as he looks around. He looks at the sky. He looks at the structure. He looks at the fire. He's looking at the different elements, but he's trying to look through them, assuming they are an illusion. He wonders if climbing a tree and looking down will help, but guesses it won't. He also wonders if this is the hag's illusion, or something else trying to trick them.

The nicer the clearing looks, the more it creeps Auriel out. It reminds him of the tales of witches and hags that he and Nerys were told as kids, and none of them ended happily. With this in mind, the eladrin doesn't enter the clearing just yet but quietly follows the line of trees a few feet towards the hut instead, trying to get a better look and listen for any noises coming from it.

As he does this, he uses his divine senses, even though they don't detect fey specifically. He wants to make sure the hag hasn't desecrated this place somehow. Out of curiosity, he also tries to look for Pipyap, unsure if he'd be able to pinpoint the exact location of an invisible fiend this way.

Carl looks at the others, saying “Oh well, isn’’t that lovely.  All cozy and invitin like.  I’m sure there’s no danger here….”  Sarcasm dripping and a wry grin on his face.  

Auriel's divine senses do reveal the location of a devil within the clearing, pinpointing Pipyap's location. As if sensing it, the imp blinks into view again, sniffing the air and hovering with a wistful look toward the cauldron and rubbing his stomach. "Smells delicious," he mutters, side-eyeing the party and the cauldron in turn.

From a distance, the cauldron appears to simply be an iron cook pot. You note a well-made cloak embroidered with a delicate leaf pattern that hangs on a peg near the door of the cabin, and firewood stacked neatly against its wall. Flickering light shines through the cabin's front window, and smoke trickles out of its small stone chimney.

Despite the odd nature of the clearing, all appears to be quite real.

Auriel retraces his steps and returns to the others. "Guess we could just knock on the door," he says, shrugging, "Unless... you have any other idea?". Then, turning to Pipyap, he asks, "Sense anything? Any trace of Halvin?"

OOC: I love that I have no idea what my perception roll was, so I don't know to be suspicious that my low roll is telling me things are OK when they probably aren't.

Despite no indication that what they are seeing is false, and Pipyap's already having entered the clearing — indicating no immediately danger — Sylyra sighs. The druid steps into the clearing and calls, "Hail!"

"Invisibility...  that'll help once.  One good attack or for scouting.  Best I can offer is maybe a witchbolt and try to keep her in range to pump out the lightning.  Any others have thoughts on this?" Uragum asks.

"Sense anything? Any trace of Halvin?"

Pipyap waves Auriel away. "Hmm, no but I smell a trace of stew, and I'm hungry," he says.

The druid steps into the clearing and calls, "Hail!"

There is no response to Sylyra's call, but as he moves further into the clearing he sees a large cage suspended from an iron post jutting out from the side of the cabin. Inside are two humans looking to be genuinely happy to see the party moving into the clearing. The man and woman appear to be unharmed.

Carl stops and whispers, “Caution.  I can go invisible, I think that might be a good idea… unless any of you want to … “

"Fine by me", Auriel answers Carl quietly. Then, he follows Sylyra into the clearing.

When the druid notices the cage, the paladin's eyes follow, and upon seeing the two humans inside he feels a spark of hope. They are alive! But ... "Only two of you? Where are your other companions?", he asks as he approaches the cage. Out of the six that went into the Quivering Forest looking for the woodcutter, they know what became of Rerk and the man shot to death by the elves of Greenhall. So where are the missing two? And Halvin? If Pipyap hasn't sensed his master, does that mean the woodcutter didn't make it here? Or...?

Sylyra stops in his tracks when he sees the two humans in the cage. He looks around again, trying to make sure he hasn't missed anything else. When Auriel walks by him and begins talking to the two humans, the druid scowls and hisses, "Quiet, you fool." He quickly performs a hand gesture while muttering an incantation. Motes of light rain down from the mistletoe tied to the end of his staff, and a kind of fog of shadows radiates from Sylyra, encompassing Auriel (and if they're close enough — within 30 feet — Hex, Uragum, Carl, Pipyap and the two humans). Even as the spell is taking effect, Sylyra turns his eyes upon the cabin to see if anyone appears at a window or the door.

pass without trace

Auriel gives Sylyra an incredulous look. "Quiet"? After calling out? He shrugs. Unless Jeny is deaf, she has to know already they are here. By the Nine Hells, she might even be aware of their every step since they entered into the Quivering Forest, he thinks, remembering the attack in Serelis's house. Who else could have been responsible?

In any case, he waits to see if Greenteeth makes her appearance and keeps the halberd in a relaxed position, since he still believes they should approach the hag in a non violent way ... initially, at least.

OOC: Pausing before I go too much further to make sure Carl has a chance to put his invisibility to work if he wishes.

Hex shoots a pointed look at Pipyap. "I don't think you should eat that, Pipyap," she warns, "If this is the hag's dwelling, who knows what she's put in there."

She follows the party as they approach the two humans in the cages, keeping to the back and letting the others handle conversation while she keeps an eye out across the open glade for any potential signs of danger.