Planting 16 – Proceeding east from the mountains, the party descends into the high grassland beyond. They come upon a half-buried pyramid adorned with engravings of strange animals. Outside the pyramid, the remains of a camp and a recent hole in the side of the structure.

That evening the party comes across three ivory-covered towers, now abandoned. They appear to be the remains of a magic university. They camp that night inside one of the towers.

Planting 17 – the weather turns to rain and the party continues to trudge eastward through the mud. They come upon a 5ft high granite wall running north-south, appearing to be a border of some sort.

The party comes upon the river towards the end of the day. On its near bank is a strange hut formed from huge bones. Inside are four bloody bedrolls and signs of people being dragged into the river. The party suspects a tiger, but there are no prints matching a tiger to be found. They camp inside the hut for the night.

Planting 18 – The weather starts to clear and the party follows the river northward, hoping to find the settlement on the ancient map. They come upon a ruined tower covered in yellow ivy. The party passes on without exploring the ruin…

Towards the end of the day the party spies a horse ahead, drinking from the river. Beside the horse is an old crone, reminding the party of Shevala, the crone outside the tower of ravens. Inquiring about the settlement, the crone tells them that there is a town upriver, called Summer Rest. However it’s too far to get their by night fall and there are bands of Hyena-Men that hunt the grasslands at night, traveling from the Blasted Lands to the east.

The old crone seems a bit mad and rambles on to the party, leading them back to her hut, where she says they can spend the night in safety. Arriving at her hut, the tells the horse to go to its stable, and it obeys her. She explains to the party that the horse was someone who acted against her and she turned them into this horse.

Once inside, the crone serves them a slug and leaf soup and tells them a confusing, endless, rambling history of the area; of a queen who sought a friend in need; of a prophesy the queen sought to fulfill; of how the queen was believed to have taken her own life; of how her grave site contains piles of gold but it aggressively protected within the Blasted Lands.