SCENE 01 – Planting 19 – Before departing from the crone’s hut, Piety asks her if she knows anything about Shevala. The crone says she knows nothing of anyone named Shevala; Piety tries to remember if there’s a physical resemblance between the crone and Shevala but as she only had a passing glance, is unsure.

SCENE 02 – The party departs from the crone’s hut and continues following the river. After a time, they hear a loud thrashing sound from around the next bend. Unable to see above the tall grasses, Norinir climbs a tree. There he is able to see a large, black body come into view periodically before disappearing again.

Jorgrim searches the riverbank and sees the signs of many amphibians, possibly hundreds, passing from their location to where the noise is heard.

SCENE 03 – The party decides to give this creature a wide berth, traversing once again into the grasslands. They eventually come across a stream and once again see evidence marking the passage of hundreds of amphibians.

SCENE 04 – As the day reaches late afternoon, the party finally emerges from the grasslands and sees a pastoral valley below. Several farms flank the river as well as a sawmill. Beyond the river, the village of Summers Rest.

Seeing no way to cross the river to get to the village, Piety, Eamon, and Talia head to the nearest farm, drawing curious looks from the farmhands.

When the trio gets about sixty feet from the farmhouse, a middle aged man comes out onto his porch and inexpertly aims a crossbow in their direction, asking them questions in a very suspicious tone. Piety is unable to convince the farmer that they mean no harm and when the farmer calls his hounds, they withdraw.

SCENE 05 – Opting to take the country road to the small landing beside the sawmill, the party sees several townsfolk working around the mill, children playing, and an old man on the landing with a fishing net.

Approaching the old man, Piety helps him fish and they talk. Piety learns that the old man’s name is Wye. He explains that the constant war has the villagers fearful of strangers and their accents are strange. Wye offers them the use of his boat if they help him get his fish to the village.

SCENE 06 – After several ferry trips across the river in Wye’s small boat, the party finally gets to the front gate of Summers Rest. To Trake and Ornan‘s trained eyes, they can see that although the high wooden wall and towers surrounding the village are made of wood, the fortification is of excellent build and probably ancient lineage.

The gate to the village is closed and the gatekeeper calls down from the gatehouse above asking about the purpose of the party. Piety announces that they are come from the far west and have had many trials on their journey to the Dwarven hold in the east. The gatekeeper sees that they have a dwarf in their party and after some discussion with someone inside the village that the party cannot see, the gatekeeper tells them that they can enter the village but must surrender their weapons at the gatehouse where they will be kept in safety until such time as the strangers leave. The party agrees are are escorted to the gatehouse. The gatekeeper introduces himself as Adario and tells the party that the village elders would like to meet with them.

SCENE 07 – The party is brought to the village hall by Adario where they meet the village elders: Yallama, and elderly woman; Krake, a middle aged man and proprietor of the village’s only inn; and Wye, the old man they saw fishing across the river.

The elders question them extensively about their travels and in turn tell the party what they know about the current situation on this side of the mountains. They are shocked to hear that they met the crone – a legendary figure that hasn’t been seen in an age. Legend has it that the crone was once in service as an advisor to the Ymala but after a disagreement, she turned their king into a horse. It seems to the elders that things are moving towards some sort of climactic showdown between the forces of good and of evil.

The elders welcome the party and tell them that they will have a feast in their honor, which should allay most of the fears that the villagers and farmers have. They are led to the inn by Adario where they can rest and are free to explore the village.