Paint That the Truth

## Synopsis

In Season 2, Chapter 4: Paint That the Truth, Erland crept through the bushes while the rest of the party returned to the Stouthill Corridor road – determined to keep at least one of the party from being seen by the Elatrians as we continued to hunt for Ironroots.

Despite getting out by the skin of our teeth, we didn't have a better plan for collecting these plant samples than the one we'd already employed: keep an eye on the opposite bank, use the spyglass to locate a fully grown Ferrous Bromeliad – and then swim back and forth across the river when no one was looking.

It was an exhausting proposition – one that was thankfully replaced by a new proposal when we were approached by a familiar face.  The white-haired halfling (who we'd seen earlier fleeing from Elatrian scouts) had been following us – and she reemerged now that she was reasonably convinced we wouldn't be ratting her out to the elves.

Ka'imi was a "searcher": a special kind of forager employed by universities and institutions of magic to obtain rare spellcasting components – and because of the abundant resources in Trickster's Thicket, it was an area she was very familiar with.  After observing our little mini-heist, she discerned that we were in the market for Ironroots – and she knew where we could find them in greater number… as long as we could lend a helping hand.

Apparently a "friend" of Ka'imi's had defaced a few crypts in the area known as Bez'ufir – a collection of small ponds just inside the border of the Thicket.  In doing so, they'd upset the spirits and possibly taken on a curse… so there was some urgency in returning to the scene and cleaning up their mess.  As the crypts had been barricaded after their defacement, Ka'imi needed help getting them open – which is where we came in.

She led us to a portion of the Freerun where the water was moving very quickly – a strong current that because of its risk was less carefully guarded by the Elatrians.  A path of stones led to the other side, but this was not as convenient as it seemed – for several Galeb Duhrs sat submerged in the river, elementals soaking up minerals and sediment.

Our passage across was less graceful than we would have liked, but we managed to stay out of sight – and led by Ka'imi we entered a burrow just inside the Thicket that took us right up the edge of Bez'ufir.  As promised, the ponds were teeming with life, and while Graven assisted our new friend in opening the crypts – the rest of us scrounged for precious Ironroots in the areas she pointed out.

The mission was well underway when we realized that a lookout had been stationed in a nearby treehouse, but mercifully a lack of vigilance had kept him from noticing our trespass.  Ka'imi and Erland stealthily approached and used a bit of enchantment magic to get the Elatrian to leave – which turned out to be fortuitous in more ways than one, as the lookout was also guarding a set of instructions for bypassing additional security measures in the crypts.

Rune-laden walls required pressing certain glyphs… and without the correct sequence, we might have been stuck on the outside – but Ka'imi was finally able to access the interior and we saw the graffiti scrawled across the walls; obvious displeasure expressed at the manner in which the dead here were being memorialized.  We didn't get the whole story, but it was clear that a conflict between halflings and elves had turned bloody… and that Ka'imi herself was responsible for the painted makeover.

Everything was progressing rather nicely and Ka'imi was confident the curse would be lifted, but it was then that we heard Elatrian reinforcements approaching – and they quickly noticed one of the open crypts and crept inside to investigate.  Erland took this opportunity to push the elves down the stairs and Graven slammed the door shut behind them – buying us an opening to gather the Ironroots and Ka'imi enough time to scrub the last defaced wall clean.

After backtracking to the burrow, our new companion confided that she had to head north to Dylosuun – so we said our goodbyes and then plunged into the darkness of the badger den.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: five natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 1 each by Anthony, Erica, and Jordan, and 2 by John.