12th of Marpenoth, 1492 (Dawn) The party wakes up bright and early in the morning, all but Alatar shuffle out towards the dining area of the inn to enjoy morning breakfast. The sisters notice Alatar was missing and Briar wasn't really too helpful with letting them know where he was, too busy eating his breakfast. So they down their breakfast and they set out to try and find Alatar, not having to look too far as they found him sleeping in the tree near the entrance to the inn. Kia pokes him out of the tree with her lance, causing him to slip out and fall onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him and waking him up. Having been woken up so suddenly, Alatar shuffles inside to pick up some morning ail and food before having Tolben fill his flask. He also purchases some Goodberry wine from him, figuring these would make a good gift to Falcon. Meanwhile, Briar goes around to find the horses to tend to them and offer them a treat, accidentally peering into the bedroom of a woman's room, and subsequently taking a boot to the head. He huffs and heads to the field the cart is in behind the inn, giving the horses an apple each as a treat which the horses happily ate. After this, the party heads to the town master's hall to collect their reward from clearing the dwarven fortress to the south of any dangerous inhabitants. With that, they set off south to the Umbral Hills to stock back up on healing potions, then east down Triboar Trail to make their way to Falcon's lodge. Along the way, they met with an interesting individual looking to head to the ruins of Conyberry as a dropoff location. When asked, he mentioned that wasn't his final destination, but that would get him close to it and he'd appreciate the ride greatly. So, the party graciously lets the colorful individual aboard, and after introductions, they get a little more info on him. His name being Ivaran Vacyne, a firbolg standing a staggering 7'5" he easily stands at eye level with the mounted elves around him. He shares a bit of info about himself, mainly the drink he has in his gourd and the choice of weapon he chooses to fight with, an Eku which originated as an oar, most individuals who fight with that tend to make these themselves. Once at Conyberry, they wish each other luck on their travels and hopes to cross paths sometime soon, before the party heads to Falcon's lodge while Ivaran heads into the forest. The party once more make it to Falcon's lodge, where they hitch up their horses for the evening and discuss matters with Falcon in the morning about the task ahead. Falcon discusses the details with the party about him finding out the half-orcs that have been a nuisance in these woods are mainly based up in this manse, the remnants of a half-elf wizard who set out long ago to explore the ancient elven ruins nearby before they mysteriously disappeared. Any magical wards having long expired, the half-orcs set up in the old home and the party was tasked with getting rid of them. Agreeing, the party having fully rested and recovered, horses fully rested and tended to, they head eastwards towards the manse with the sun rising behind them. Along the way, they were met with an interesting sight as Ivaran suddenly appears before Kia who stops the cart at the sudden appearance of the firbolg. Ivaran asks them where they were going and why that direction, and they told him their mission. It turned out that he had a similar mission so they decided to team up and make their way to the manse together. Upon arriving, they're met with the run-down-looking building covered in thorny ivy and patches of wild pumpkins covering the lands around it. They see several boars eating the pumpkins, some of them perk up and look at them as they approach, giving a small warning sow noise. The party looks over this area, Phoenix doing a quick fly around to get a better vantage point, quickly spotting a sickly looking tree growing right in the middle of this place. Briar recognized this tree after a bit of time, realizing this was a cursed tree as a product of an evil god which tends to spawn nasty little things known as blights. He relays this info to the party, which Naisys responds to get a closer look within the manse, to sneak off on her own while the party mans the front of the house. She snuck into the back, finding a door smashed open to a long rotted away kitchen. Upon further inspection, she finds the dining room with a smashed-up table and blood paintings of boars chasing stick people painted on the walls. Moving forwards she finds the front door and an open door leading to the courtyard, where she sees an old stone well having been overtaken by the aforementioned sickly twisted tree, its canopy blotting out any natural light that once lit this courtyard, leaving it dark and eerie. She decides to light the tree on fire with mage hand, but before she had a chance she watches as the vines along the tree suddenly started to move, and she was ambushed by vine blights. Meanwhile, outside the rest of the party keep an eye out around the front of the manse, looking at the boars wearly. Deciding to make a little conversation, Alatar mentioned to Ivaran to not be worried about the orc zombies they have with them, and that they were his brothers. Mistaking what he said, Ivaran looked to him, then to the orc zombies, and he told him that he was sorry for his loss. At that, Alatar busted out laughing as the firbolg takes a swig from his gourd "in honor" of his fallen brothers. It was at this moment, they heard the sounds within the manse as Naisys was ambushed, and they watch as three of the boars polymorph into the familiar half-orc ancorites. Session Pause 14th of Marpenoth, 1492 (Highsun)