Trudvang: Wildheart for 5e

Final decision?

"But will we be able to find the cause it we stay to the edges? I admit they have a point. I suppose we should go left. Sorry."

"Gobber, I know those woods are scary. I know this land is strange. But we came here to make things better and relieve the darkness. We can't do that by circling the problem. We have to face it head on. If we die then at least we will die knowing that we didn't cower from our fate. That we met it head on and with everything we had."

Angie and Healer seem to have sufficently convinced Thokein that the party should take the path to the left. The path takes you north for roughly twenty minutes, before coming to a fork. The middle of this fork appears to be marked with some sort of totem consisting of stacked rocks and wood. On top of the stack is an animal skull which appears to have belonged to some sort of small deer judging by the antlers protruding from the top of the skull. Hanging from the antlers are tattered cloth ribbons. The ribbons on the left are dyed blue while the ribbons on the right are dyed red. Once again the fog prevents you from seeing very far down either path, but from what you can tell both paths appear to continue north.

Which path do you take?

(Would I know what these mean?)

Survival: 8

You're not quite sure what to make of the totem, or the ribbons.  Because it is foreign to you it does appear somewhat foreboding... but it is nothing compared to the blot pole you saw back in Grim Village.

Angie looks at the totem. "So it looks like we have a choice between Blue and Red. Both paths seem to go in the general direction that we are heading. Unless one of you knows which path we should take or feels strongly about one path over the other, I suggest we solve this matter through a small game of chance. Perhaps the flipping of a coin."

Gobber points to the blue.

"I suggest the blue one. It's uncommon to see blue in the wild. We might find something relatively mystical."

Angie nods at Gobber's words, "Sounds good to me. Any objections?"

Taking the tattered blue ribbons as a sign you follow the path to the left. The path seems to veer to the northwest. You walk for roughly ten minutes before seeing a small entrance to another path on your right. From what you can tell the path you are on seems to continue on northwest while this new narrower path appears it may lead to the northeast.

DM Note: Someone please make a survival check.

Survival: 16

Judging by the width of the new path and the ground around the entrance you surmise that it is probably just a game trail.

"This just looks like a game trail. Let's keep to the path we are on."

You continue on for another twenty minutes and notice another game trail on your right hand side.

Angie points out the game trail. "Seems to be another game trail. We will probably be seeing a lot of these now that we're in the woods. Right Gobber?"

Ten more minutes of walking brings you to another totem complete with a deer skull. The left antler is broken off this skull, while blue ribbons hang from the right antler which is pointing to the northeast. Continuing down the path for roughly half an hour brings you to a small clearing. The fog seems slightly less dense here, but the daylight seems to be waning quickly.

DM Note: Someone please make a perception check.

Perception: 20

Thokein something odd catches your eye at the far side of the clearing. You approach it for a better look and find that it is an arrow with bright white feathers sticking out of the ground. Next to the arrow, with his face turned down into thick moss, is a long-dead hunter. Only his remains are left. You can tell he was a hunter from his tattered deerskin clothing and the traps lying rusted by his side. His now skeleton-like fingers grip a shortbow made of horn and some kind of hardened dark wood. A quiver of arrows with the same white feathers lay nearby as well.

"Hey guys, come look at this. Maybe one if you can figure out better than I can exactly what happened here. Also, anyone want a shortbow?"

Gobber looks at the remains.

They've been taken back by the forest. We should bury them and lay rest to their body. It's the least we can do for the person. I'll hold onto the short bow for now.I'll look around to find some things for their burial.

He takes a look around to find a place to bury the body away from the trail (preferably an open area). Then, he would grab his shovel and start digging.

Next, look for some seeds to plant on the grave (representing new life upon death).