Marick exchanges a look with Korin at this point, the latter's brow furrowed again. You see his gaze track to the fireplace, and then you hear a response from the young man sitting in the chair.

"There's only me."

All at once, the dull, drab Moonlit Stag explodes into a flurry of action. The fireplace flares, "and who are you?" it asks. Marick drops everything in his hands, leaping over the bar and charging the young man like a rampaging bear. Meanwhile Korin stumbles off his stool, calling out "Marick don't, get back here!"

"Stay close," he growls to the four of you, immediately beginning the hand signs and intonations of a spell. 

You all - as well as the rest of the tavern patrons - look on in confusion as the bartender bears down on the man by the fire, who at this point has snapped the book shut. "I guess you'll see!" He declares triumphantly. "Now take me there, take me to-"

You never hear the last word he says, as Korin finishes his spell and you are suddenly deafened as a zone of silence falls over the area around you. Korin throws up his arms, signing for all of you to remain in the spell. What follows next is a grisly scene.

The windows to the inn shatter all at once - but no rain makes it through, as solid brick slides up to replace what was once glass. The fireplace expands to twice its previous size, and a ladder (seemingly unharmed by the fire) descends. Those outside of the area of Korin's spell: Marick, the young man at the fire, the miners, and the woman and her boy, all open their mouths in silent agony. They double over, clutching their head as some unseen force torments. Their features become misshapen as their limbs, their necks, and their torsos elongate. Skin begins to gnarl and turn brown, sprouting little stick-like growths. Horrified, you realize they're turning into trees. Less than a minute passes before their transformation is complete, leaving behind nothing recognizable of the people they once were.

With a grim look on his face, Korin ends his spell. The inn is silent, save for the crackling of the fire, and the groan of the wood planks as the impossible trees push against the floor and ceiling. "Speak. Nothing." He hisses, moving towards the fireplace. He picks up the book the young man had been reading, scoffs, rips out a page and tears it to shreds. Hands on his hips, he turns around to look at the four of you.

"There is exactly one way that the four of you get out of here alive: and that's by doing exactly what I say from this point forward." Gone is the charming drawl he spoke with upon introduction, an act it would seem, to appear more charming. "Do not speak the names of any of these once-people." He says, pointing at the trees. "You will suffer the same fate if you do, their names are lost now."

"Do not refer to this drinking establishment by its name ever again."

He points towards the fireplace, and the ladder. "Up that ladder is our only way out. It leads to a strange and dangerous woodland area. Do not attempt to assign it a name or label, and do not refer to it the same way twice."

"Now gather yourselves, we need to leave quickly, before something comes down."

Elielle looks at Korin with a bit of surprise - but then again, the past few moments have been monumentally surprising.  However, the halfling also seems to have a smile on her face, perhaps a bit of admiration for the man. As she is checking to see that she has all of her things, she asks, "What of the young man? Where did he go?" She doesn't have to be told twice though - the windows being bricked over, people turned into trees - since if he knows what's happening it quite likely is the only way out. She quickly snatches her green cloak from the wall then makes for the fireplace. 

As soon as the inn began to tremble, Kiafra is moving around the table he was sat at, bringing him closer to Korin at the bar and saving his life. From that point on, he stands transfixed watching the scene unfold. His jaw set firm, as if struggling against something once the people begin to transform.

When the silence ends, and Korin begins to give them instructions, he listens, breathing hard as if from exertion even though he has been stood still. His eyes search Korin's face for signs that what he is saying is the truth as he details the rules they must now abide by. What had he gotten himself into this time!?

When the female halfling, Elielle Hillwind she had said, asks about the young man he looks across to the trees closest to the fireplace. Having thought he saw that young man transformed just like everyone else who could hear whatever word was said.

Insight: 10+4=14

(OOC: The young man is a tree now right?)

Victor Zeroyavich

Victor stands abruptly at the chaos, looking about in a frenzy. What is going on? OH! That guy just turned into a tree! Bewildered, he turns to Korin, "What just happened? What kind of witchery is this?!" his eyes are panicked, as he looks at the obvious magicks. This cannot be happening right now! I just wanted a chance to relax!

Darren watches grimly as the scene unfolds, wincing slight as the young boy and mother are transfigured but otherwise keeping a neutral expression. Another city. Another disaster. He glances towards the man responsible for apparently saving them. Another mage.

As the silence fades and his hearing returns to him, he listens silently as Korin explains their situation. First he walks back to the booth he'd been sitting at to grab his things, collecting his bow, his sword, and his pack. Next he walks to the door of the inn (carefully avoiding the trees) and throwing it open. He expected it to be bricked over as well. But he'd always been taught to explore all possibilities. 

Korin points towards one of the trees next to the fireplace as he answer's both Ellie's and Victor's question. "The forest in question is strange and dangerous in a number of ways. One of those is what we call a nomenclative curse, which means names or titles trigger the curse. That curse extends to entities and landmarks within, as well as those who have been affected by it. That idiot boy called the place where names go unspoken by some title or name, he and everyone who heard him were then afflicted with the curse."

You notice he stresses some phrases, indicating when he's avoiding directly naming something or someone.

He pauses to watch impassively as Darren tries the front door - which as he anticipated is now blocked completely by a brick wall. "Satisfied?"

"The fire won't harm you, ignore it." He says as he passes into the expanded fireplace, passing through the flames without a hint of injury, and begins to climb the ladder.

Kiafra
You see no hints that the man might be misguiding you. Whereas the mask he wore before portrayed a lackadaisical interest in the world around him, Korin now seems focused, alert, and deadly serious.

Kiafra seems satisfied that Korin is being truthful, following Darren's lead in collecting his belongings.

"I am in your debt", he says when he turns around.

As he walks towards the fireplace, he stops at the tree that was once Marick. "May your soul find peace, drink pourer", he says reaching out to touch the bark but stopping about an inch away.

With that said, he walks into the flames towards the ladder.

Victor Zeroyavich

Seeing as this mysterious person just climbed through a fire and disappeared, Victor says no more. He stands in silence, deep in thought. Inside his head, he weighs his options. Either he can stay here, or he can go. He wants to stay, he could wait to be rescued. Maybe some of those city mages could use a Fireball to blow up the bricks on this damned place.

Why did it have to be tonight? He thinks. Seeing as there is no way out besides supposedly this ladder, the pragmatic side of him wins and he follows behind Kiafra, climbing up the ladder and into whatever strangeness awaits.

The whole time, he thinks to himself What am I doing? This is probably going to get me killed. Yet, despite these doubts, he climbs on, a tiny voice speaking in his head, something he can't quite place, compelling him onward, towards whatever awaits above in this forest that Korin speaks of.

Having seen others walk into the fire made it a bit easier for Eielle to pass through herself. 'Of course I'd have done it anyway. Clearly magic,' she thinks.  Though she can't help but wonder if she's just lying to herself.  She glances about at the trees but avoids saying anything.  She followed what Korin had noted about the nomenclative curse.  How such a thing were formed, she had no idea really. It was kind of an interesting curiosity. But at the moment moving quickly seemed more important.  And avoiding the curse. 

As he expected, the doorway was also bricked over. Darren looks back towards the others as they begin to climb through the hearth, and with a sigh, resigns himself to the situation. He takes a last look around the ruined Moonlit Stag, passing his gaze over the trees that were once people. Then he begins to climb the ladder upward.

As you climb upwards, you can look above to see a blue cloudless sky through treetops. The climb itself takes several minutes, and at some point you realize you've far exceeded the height of the Moonlit Stag.

You eventually emerge, climbing out of brick well fixed to the forest floor. You're surrounded by trees, buzzing with the sounds of insects and chirping of birds. The air itself seems to have some sort of strange quality as you look around, like a shimmer on the edge of your vision. A single dirt path leads away from the well, further into the forest.

While all of you climb out, Korin begins flipping through the journal he had on him.

"Alright, here's how this works. We have to walk this unimaginative dirt road, and we have to stay on it. At no point can we turn around or leave the thusfar untraveled path, except to enter buildings along it. Eventually, we will arrive back at where we started, and can exit."

He pauses for a moment, making sure you're following along. "Are any of you a firstborn?"

Elielle does follow along after Korin. Speaking seems only to be pressing your luck here, so she stays quiet at first, just following the road.  In response to his question she asks, "Is it a bad thing to be a firstborn?"  She doesn't actually answer his question.

Victor Zeroyavich

"Yeah." Replies Victor shortly. What is this guy going on about?  Why does this matter?  "Why does that matter?" He shakes his head the absurdity of all of this. He follows behind Korin, eyes darting from tree to tree, trying to make sure nothing is there. Something about the woods has always unsettled him, some stirring fear of its primal nature.

As the group walks, he pulls a small object and begins to fidget with it nervously. It appears to be some sort of ball of silvery metal. He has no clue what it does, but found it in a ruin some weeks ago. Once he figures out what it can do, he can sell it. For now, he'll roll it between his fingers, glancing all around, an uneasy feeling churning in his gut

OOC

Makin' a perception check to notice any danger: 8

Kiafra follows Korin out of the brick well, and surveys their surroundings, uncomfortable with the strange shimmer at the edge of his vision. Trying to put that to the back of his mind as Korin gives them instructions, he kneels down to look for any tracks on the path or the ground bordering it.

When asked whether he is a firstborn, he shakes his head. "Firstborn son, not firstborn", he says with an edge to his voice, as if not happy to remember such a detail.

When he stands, he straps on his shield, and takes hold of his trident, obviously prepared for trouble.

"Is it not best to travel at pace, and avoid buildings?", he suggests after what happened to the last one they were all in.

Survival: 7+4=11

"I might be." Darren says quietly, eyes sweeping the unfamiliar environment as they walk the path. "I'm honestly not sure."

"Let's say I am, then what?"

KiafraThere are no tracks, humanoid, animal, or otherwise on the path or around it.

Victor
Your senses are all buzzing right now, this entire place feels wrong. But you don't see any immediate danger.

Korin stops on the path, turning around and glancing between the two who indicated they were firstborn. "We're going to meet...Strange folk who live here at some point, it's almost a given. You two are not allowed to accept gifts from them, no matter what."

The next bits he addresses to all of you. "Before you engage in a conversation, greet them with a formal salutation. Be polite, and speak in a cordial tone." He continues to list off strange rules as he wheels around again, continuing down the path. "If a native addresses you by any sort of name or title - anything other than a physical description of what you are, ignore the statement and pretend they said nothing."

"And whatever you do, don't lie to them."

Up ahead, the path begins to snake somewhat. Still, through the trees you can make out the wood siding of what appears to be a cottage. "Sometimes the winding path goes through a structure, and you have no choice but to enter - invited or not."

"Are the other folk dangerous? Will they attack?", Kiafra asks, not at all comfortable with the rules of this place. "Or try and force us off the path?".

He looks to the other folk who have been caught up in this as well, seeing if they share his discomfort. He opens his mouth about to introduce himself, then wonders if that too is not allowed, and shuts it without speaking.

Elielle also remains rather quiet. 'Easiest to say as a little as possible here it seems.' She is a bit nervous as well, pulling her cloak a bit more tightly about her.  She just gives a nod to Korin's instruction. 

"They can be if you offend them. That's why we're polite." Korin says, eyeing the cottage as you approach. "May try and trick you from leaving the road that leads home, but I've never heard of anyone being forced from it." He makes a face. "Though I suppose we wouldn't ever hear of that, because they'd never make it back."

The cottage itself doesn't block the road, and as you pass by it, a voice calls out to you. "Good morning, strange travelers." A humanoid entity stands in a cabbage patch, dressed in clothes of a farmer with a wicker basket hanging from the nook of their elbow. Everything about them seems normal, except for their head - which resembles that of a rabbit's.

That slick smile Korin wore in the inn returns, and he stops to address the creature. "Good morning." He says, bowing. Briefly, he glances at the lot of you with a look of expectation.

Darren files the information away for later. Accept no gifts, should be easy enough. The sight of a person with a rabbit's head is unsettling, but he tries not to let it show on his face. Following Korin's lead, he bows to the odd creature. "Good morning."