The crows were initially curious about Skritch and his question, but once he pulled out the shiny they became interested. 

"Shiny!" Two of the crows squawked in a language only Skritch could understand. "Want shiny!"

The crow in the center, eyes trained on the shiny bead, remained calm. Its eyes, however, seemed hungry for the shiny bauble. "Knows of red wood. Knows of angry sticks. Can show where."

The smaller black birds all glance at each other and nod. One of the side birds picks up the glass bead and carries it in a foot.

The trio of crows squawks and fly ahead of you. They stop to land on branches just ahead of you, overhead and out of reach, but their eyes fixed on the kenku. It seems you will be able to follow them and definitely arrive at the red wood as requested.

(Nice crit! Edit: Just in case, they aren't speaking auran or anything. They are, to the rest of the group, just cawing while the kenku talks back haha)

Skritch climbs back down from the tree and motions for his companions to follow. "Friend crows know red wood. Will show way."

As the party enters the forest Skabbs ears lift up and shift from side to side. The strange pines and rumors about the forest certainly has peeked the tabaxis interest. He makes his way to near the front of the party and watches the path in front of them. "This forest is something quite spectacular. I can almost sense the presence of Baba Aga amongst the pineneedles and moss on the ground."  Skabb bends down and tears up some of the wet, green moss from the side of the road and takes a big whiff of the earthy smell. "I wonder if there is any wildlife nearby?" He scans the ground for indentations or anything else that could tell him there is any local wildlife nearby.

Survival: 16

As Skabb studies the ground, he notices the distinct impression of hooves and snapped twigs. The hoof prints are quite large. They are elk-like, but seem much too big to be your typical elk. Aware of this elk, the tabaxi scans the area around as he walks with his companions. Off in the distance, he sees an elk watching them from afar. It's antlers seem to have vines or cobwebs (its hard to tell from this distance)  criss-crossed from end to end. It carefully watches as the party passes through. 

Skabb also finds traces of small footprints, possibly of a badger, that lead into the trunk of a tree. 

Skabb says, with a whispery voice to not scare away the elk: "Look at that stag over there, the beauty of nature at its finest. Although.. It has something in it's crown. Anyway, what a magnificent creation of the gods." He also points to the badger tracks with less enthusiasm. "The small critters must have scurried off before we got the chance to spot them." 

Brand keeps a close on on the woods, "I hate places like this. Can't see a damn thing before it's on top of us."

(Perception: 24. Aaaand Brand the omniscent is back!)

The crows hover nearby and squawk to get Skritch's attention. 

"Ahead now. Not far. As far as we go. Good luck. Bird brother." The more intelligence of the crows speaks before the trio of them fly off. 

Ahead of you, you can tell there is a clearing about another half hour away as it is lit up with sunlight. As you approach, Brand throws out an arm to stop your advancement. For a couple of minutes now, the forest has been still. Unnaturally still. That's not what caused him to stop. What made him stop walking was the faint sound of a twig snapping in the distance followed by the continued sound of silence. Something is stalking the clearing ahead.

In the clearing ahead, everyone can see that there are absolutely no tall trees or perhaps any trees at all in the center of it and it appears that the clearing is circular. Brand can see the red sapling. He sees it twisting in place and shaking unnaturally, doubly strange given the lack of wind. It almost seems like a person writhing in agony, but that couldn't be the source of the sound he heard. He sees that there are, also, an awful lot of twigs scattered around the edge of the clearing. Having heard about Twig Blights, he can't help but think these may be the cause of the snap he heard only seconds ago.

(The sapling, as far as Brand can tell, seems about 3 ft tall. Brand super senses. You guys all made it!!! I will upload a map when I get a chance.)

Brand immediately draws his blades. With his mind fixed on the clearing, the edges of his blades become outlined with barely-perceivable blue outlines.

//Damn chicken got us into some shit here, and miles from water too.//

"There's something ahead; I dont like it." Brand grunts to the others. He tries to take in every little detail of the area: counting the twigs, noting which are closest, and ambush locations, the sapling in the center. (Psionic focus: Precognition. Advantage on initiative rolls).

//Not going to die here for some special firewood. I will return and have revenge.//

(Now that Brand's lvl 2, he has telepathy! However, he still isn't totally aware of his power, so he's been sending/receiving thoughts with even more clarity now. Feel free to throw something in, I have no issue messing with my own characters for the sake of development :) )

(Can you link me the exact UA you are using again? I wanna make sure I 100% see how it works before I throw some fun stuff at ya. I'll post once I make (or find) this map!)

(http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/mystic-class)

Skabb scans the area and looks at each of the piles of twigs. "So.. Do we plan to attack the twigs head on or grab the plant first? I suggest attacking the plants." He readies his axe and shield looking at the rest of the party. "I have a few new tricks i'd like to try, the lady of knowledge has granted me some of her power."

Given the advance warning, you can try to sneak up to the clearing with advantage or try to shoot with ranged abilities. You are roughly 30 ft. away from the entrance to the clearing (marked in blue on the map). With Brand's eagle eyes, he has the layout INCLUDING the suspicious twig piles. Everyone can see the suspicious piles near the front of the clearing, but only Brand has seen the rest of them. The terrain is not difficult as the forest is more sparse where you stand. It seems most things opt not to grow near this red wood. Each pile has been labeled with letters to make this a bit easier.

Initiative will be rolled once someone has attacked... or if you become attacked.

"Angry twigs move around. Tree stuck in ground." Skritch observes. "Get twigs first, then red wood."

Whispering an arcane desire into one of his daggers, Skritch hauls back and chucks the weapon toward a Twig Blight in section A.

Attack vs. AC: 19, 7 piercing damage and, if hit, Ensnaring Strike triggers and thorny vines try to restrain and damage the enemy. If a miss occurs, the spell is not wasted and will be available for Skritch's next weapon attack. The Strength save DC is 12.

Initiative: 17

((EDIT: Whoops, I forgot normal Twig Blights only have like 4 hp.....looks like I blew that spell slot for nothing... >_> Oh well, lesson learned for Skritch.))

Skabb puts his shield back onto his back and puts the axe in his belt before lunging towards one of the unharmed Twig blights at B. As he starts running he drops down on all fours using his hands and claws to pull himself forwards towards his prey. When about 6 feet away from the blight he grabs the axe at his side and leaps into the air with a downward woodchopping motion. 

Attack: 21 DMG: 8

Free Action: Feline Agility AKA Double movement one round (Racial Trait - Tabaxi)

Edit: Initiative: 18

Brand charges forward and strikes at the remaining twig blight A.

(Attack: 10 for 7, 12 for 8. Take 2 off the 2nd dmg, forgot to deduct str mod. If 1dt manages to hit and kill, he'll press forward to twig F)

(Initiative: 14)

(rolling initiative for twigs)

A, B, C 13

D, E, F 13

(Jiron still gets to make an attack in this free attack round thanks to Brand's crit! Once Jiron posts, initiative order will be used.)

Skritch's spell attack causes on of the Twig Blights to burst into splinters! All of the Twig Blights cease their 'play dead' act.

Skabb manages to slice one of the Twig Blights in twine. It won't be joining the fight.

Brand charges the remaining Twig Blight, but doesn't manage to hit it. The evil little creature screeches at him with bloodlust!

Current Initiative Roles:

Skabb - 18
A, B, C groups - 17
Brand - 14
Skritch - 4

Jiron - ?

(Sorry, work got pretty hectic last couple days)

initiatice6

Seeing the others target the sticks at the front of the clearing, Jiron jerks up the Thundercannon and aims at the Blight nearest to their target. Thunder cracks as the metal perojectile flies toward the bugger.

Attack: 15 Damage: 10

Skabb smirks as the twig falls to the ground before him. "They're only twigs after all!" The axe digs its way into the ground where the blight once stood, but with a swift jerk it is loose and heading towards the second blight at his position.

Attack: 18 DMG: 11

Skabb - 18
A, B, C groups - 17
Jiron - 14 
Brand - 14
Skritch - 4
D, E, F groups - 2
(Jiron going before Brand due to higher dex score)

Jiron's shot misses completely as it echoes throughout the clearing. 

Skabb completely annihilates all of the Twig Blights at the B location! Nothing but sticks and splinters are left. 

The remaining Twig Blight at A is unfazed by the maiming of it's companion. It claws at Brand with it's sharp, pointy fingers! (Attack: 12 Damage: 5)

The Twig Blight at C runs toward Skabb and attempts to scratch the cat! (Attack: 15 Damage: 5)

(Updated Map. Please let me know if I placed you very poorly!)