[Generally speaking, the Peace Party’s return trip is much faster and more relaxing than the initial trip. Every now and then, things happen along the way and detours are taken that make things take longer.]

After that, we shopped for supplies, had lunch, and departed from Ish’din. The down-hill trek was much easier than the climb up, but the sheer length still made for an exhausting journey. We spent that night in Sanctis, in the same place we had stayed previously. The following morning, we separated from the Incol, bidding them farewell and safe journey. The Ishen had waited until then to get their supplies, as they favored a specific shop over any in Ish’din. We did some short sight-seeing while waiting, finally departing for Oru’ou once they finished. We had decided to travel to that point together, so that in the event that something happens we can work together.

Thankfully we were able to arrive in Oru’ou without any difficulty, though on the downside it was a long, boring journey. Clouds had appeared in the Eastern skies, which Nadred said may travel over here giving us some nice rain on the way home. We were able to spend the night in much better lodgings than our previous trip through the city.

The Ishen and Shen’anum’s group departed early in the day, just before sunrise. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and the Der’venn’ya is one of the most dangerous places to be during the night,” Lady Ibiryn explained.

Oroske told Raen it would be best if we left around mid-day. “The woods will be incredibly dangerous after nightfall,” he began his explanation, “But the bandits won’t be expecting any visitors that late, giving us the element of surprise to our list of advantages.” When Raen asked what he proposes we do after combatting the bandits, he simply shrugged, saying “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Maybe they’ll let us stay the night.”

I hadn’t thought much of it during our travels, but talk of areas being dangerous at night explained why we only traveled during the day.

We spent a few hours looking around the city. Oru’ou was a very pretty city for the most part, but some of the city’s poorer sections were shady and depressing to be in. It had an interesting hierarchy, the very center and the very edges of the city - particularly the North and South edges, which directly faced the river - were the richest sections, and as you moved to the in-between sections you’d see a lot less prosperity. The majority of the city was built out of gray stone, typically cut into bricks of various sizes. Oroske explained that the stone was almost entirely sourced from the Human Realm, in the city of Quarry. Poorer sections of the city saw a lot more wood being used, with the slums being almost entirely made of wood.

Shortly before our target departure time, we ate lunch at a rather up-scale restaurant, which sat on the Southern edge of the city. We had our orders taken indoors, then guided to our seats on a balcony, which reached out over the river. Our large party took up well over half of the seats available. Hearing the water rushing below, I went to look over the river. I leaned over the railing, seeing we were a dizzying height above the water. Jarou had also looked over, and looked almost sick from the height. Looking to the sides, we also had a good view of the Western waterfall, but couldn’t really see the Eastern one at all. Looking straight out was a lovely sight, with the river continuing down hill, through a narrow canyon that cut through the otherwise plain landscape. Eventually it turned in towards the mountains and disappeared from sight.

After nearly forty minutes of waiting, our food finally arrived. The meal was delicious, but I still wasn’t sure if it was worth the price or the time it took to be prepared. After a relatively quick meal, it was finally time to continue our journey. Oroske and Raen looked over the map and ensured they knew what we were looking for in the woods. According to the notes, our first landmark was to be nearly an hour of walking into the forest. There was supposed to be a set of three rocks on our right. Directly across the path from the center, and largest, rock was a pattern of four ebony wood trees on either side of a single white azureleaf tree, which had a small symbol cut into it near where the branches began.

My memory of the woods from our initial trip wasn’t great, as I wasn’t really paying attention. But I figured with a description like that, we should have a pretty easy time finding our route. Turns out, there were at least half a dozen areas that met nearly every bit of that criteria. Each and every one of them had only one or two details wrong. In one case, the middle rock was the smallest, but everything else matched. Another time, everything matched but the rocks were on our left. Not once, but twice, everything was right except for the tree pattern; one had four white azureleafs surrounding an ebony, the other had alternating ebony and oak trees surrounding it. “Someone must have gone through a lot of trouble to make this as difficult as possible,” Oroske commented with a sigh after the fourth incorrect spot.

Nearly two hours after entering the forest, we finally found one that matched up with our instructions exactly. “Next up, ‘walk into the woods, directly to the right of the white azureleaf tree.” Oroske read off of the map, “‘Walk straight through the narrow gap in the trees until you come across another white azureleaf with an arrow pointing left carved into the wood. Go one third around the tree to the right, so that your path changes by a forty-five degree angle.”

“I understand wanting secrecy and privacy, but did they really need this to be so complicated?” Raen voiced his frustration, “Alright everyone, single file line. Make sure you don’t lose sight of the person in front of you. Order doesn’t matter since it’s not like a patrol is going to see us. However, Oroske, Kared, I’d like you two in the front. I’ll be third in line.”

“What about us, my Lord?” Terib asked, concerned for his master’s safety.

“You and Vai’ra will be right behind me,” he ordered, “And in the event something happens, Oroske and Kared are here. That said, it’s not as though I can’t handle myself in combat. Afterall, you’re the one who trained me.”

Terib simply nodded, looking reassured.

After affirming everyone was ready, Oroske led the way into the dense forest. There really wasn’t much room for walking, and what room there was, was rough and uneven. On top of that, it was difficult to see, with the thick layer of tree branches above us blocking out the light almost completely. I was walking right behind Nadred, who used rel magic and gave us a light source. It was difficult to keep walking in a straight line, as we had to occasionally skirt around a large tree that covered part of the path. Any time that happened we had to be careful to make sure we re-oriented ourselves properly. The uneven terrain made for a much more taxing journey than even the dirt road from earlier, and my feet and legs were in incredible amounts of pain after only thirty minutes.

After what felt like an eternity, the line stopped moving. Word traveled down quickly that we’d made it to the first landmark, followed shortly after with further instructions to continue following the person in front of you closely. We continued walking, the silence only broken by footsteps snapping twigs, and the gentle flow of wind through the thick canopy. At the tree, I simply followed Nadred’s footsteps to make sure I wouldn’t get disoriented.

Eventually, after even more walking, we came to a dirt covered cliff face, and changed trajectory once again. It was even more difficult to navigate walking along the cliff face than when there were just trees. Many of the trees were very close to the cliff, to the point we had to squeeze past them. Some trees even grew out from the cliff face, and we either had to duck under them or climb over them in many cases.

After a while, the line stopped again for a few moments, before continuing, signaling another change in direction. This would be the last time, and it saw us returning into the thick woods. It was also the shortest of the directions, and ended with us coming out of the forest into a clean clearing, littered with tents and make-shift wooden buildings.

Oroske ordered everybody to stay behind him as he went ahead to investigate. He only made it a few steps forward when he was ambushed from the back. His assailant had jumped from the trees behind us, and was very clearly out for blood. He swung his sword powerfully at Oroske while mid air. Oroske simply turned around, and caught the blade with a single, bare hand. He held it in the same position he caught it in, causing the ambusher to hang in the air by its handle.

“Yo,” Oroske said, greeting with his free hand, “We’re just here to talk.”