Chapter 2 - The Goat Trap

            While at the Inn, Braydok wrote a quick note to Morlin and had it sent to him. Just something to let him know where he was headed. Braydok left his tools and anvil in the room and strapped on the rest of his gear.
            They crossed the Talar on the ferry, operated by a man called Drathgar, who proudly informed them that he was a descendant of Drellin himself. He charged them a silver coin each, and though he took both loxo onto the ferry at once, it didn't sink or capsize, apparently being used to ferry wagons full of goods often enough to be sturdily built. All the same, Drathgar asked the loxo to remain at the center of the ferry while they crossed.
            Six minutes later, they reached the far side and followed the Dawn Way through the fields close to town, out to the outskirts, where the farmers toiled in the baking sun. One of them was throwing bunches of green bananas down to another waiting in the shade of the tree to load the bunches onto a wheelbarrow. They took a break to speak with the party, greeting them in a friendly fashion.
            "Yuh. Terrible thing, the deaths," the woman said, wiping her forehead with a cloth. "I didn't see them, but I heard. People and livestock torn up, and no one knows what did it. The herders have taken to going out in pairs. But even fruit and vegetable farmers get killed sometimes, if they stay out late alone." She clapped her son's shoulder; the boy nodded seriously, the look foreign on a face used to smiling. "We go in early these days, even though it is the best time to work when it is cooler. Now we have to work in the hot hours, too. But no one wants to end up like them."
            She pointed out into the rainforest. "There are only a few goatherds on this side of the Talar, but you can find them by following their trails into the Shaareach, if you want to talk to them."
            Vol nodded, commiserating with the woman. "Terrible thing, and the constant worry must be almost as bad. We'll do our best to track this thing down."
            Once they had left the woman, he looked at his companions. "Can any of you read tracks or trail animals in the wild? I've never had the chance to learn to read trail sign."
            As they worked their way along the narrow paths Braydok finally speaks again, "So, does anyone have any idea what kinds of creatures live here?"
            "We should talk with herders and take one of their stack for bait. So ne all attacks happened at night, we should create an ambush for the predator. We put the bait in a visible place and wait. That way we don't have to track the beast and don't risk fighting it on its home ground." Nominis offers. "The night gives us advantage."
            “Goats leave a pretty obvious trail,” Nala said. “I could probably follow. Night may be this creature’s home ground, too,” she told Nominis. “If we can find it in its lair, asleep or only half awake, that would also be good. Some might not see too well in the dark.” She looked over at the loxo, unsure what their capabilities were. She knew she saw better in the dark than the humans that raised her, though not in complete darkness. “And would anyone sell us one of their goats? In any case, night is a long way away. We could still check out the Shaareach.”
            "Offer a herder enough gold and you'll probably have a deal. But for now, let's talk to them and see if they can give us any more information. They'll have a better idea what's going on than the Captain."
            Jembu looks down at Naka, "Many unseen things the night holds. Loxo no better see than humans do when set the sun has."
            Nominis looks at Nala for the moment, thinking. "You assume it is one beast that can be tracked. But remember the description of many smal punctures. It could be swarm of insects, like mosquitos, but Huge. Or baš. Or birds. Or both, such as stirges. Natural beast wouldn't kill and leave the boss uneaten. Yet, it is questionable if farmers and herders would notice lack of blood. Tracking flying critters is nor an option."
            He stops and looks at the group. " Darkness is your friend. It shelters you, protects you from the threats visible in the light. It enables you to surprise your prey or, in case you're the prey, hide you from the predator. Smart use of the dark is the key." He grows more agitated as he talks, tensing, dropping to harsh whisper and grasping weapon hilt. Suddenly, a shadow dettaches from him and floats above his head dimming the morning sun. And another. And another. And finally fourth one. All together they plunged the area 50' circle in predawn gloom instead of sunny morning.
            Nominis stops, quickly retreats under the nearest tree and crouch, leaning on it. He motions toward the shadows and they skill together, merging and finally disappearing. Sweat covers Nominis forehead as he focuses on his breathing. Finally, he stands up and looks at the (probably tense by now) group.
            "Apologies. My time alone caught up with me again. I try not let it influence me, but it is hard. Good thing this world is so safe."
            Nala looked at Nominis as the shadows came off him, blotting out the sun. She shivered. “Don’t DO that!” she insisted, touching one of the many talismans hanging on her armor as a ward against evil.
            I apologise, Wee Fury, but it is not something full under my control. The shadows protected me whole life as far as I remember... which is admitted short. But still. There is no evil on my shadow, there is only me. Nominis said.
            "We look for something that targets goats, we should find out if the humans killed were protecting the animals or out on their own." Braydok harrumphs, "Also, we should ask if anyone has seen any dead monkeys or apes in the jungle. It would be a direction to start looking." He mumbles a bit, "We look for something that kills, but manages to avoid jaguars and other large predators. Odd
            Jembu listens as the others discuss the options of the many questions they wish to ask he shakes head sending his trunks and ears to flapping, "Ask simply for them to speak of everything concerning the attacks. Any information they share can important be. Questions to follow up we can ask."
            The white haired elf nodded. "I'm sure they'll be more than willing to talk about this if it will help us find whatever is doing this."
            After listening to the group Nominis offers: "We can ask in general and then go into specifics. I can but the goat. But I would think they'd be willing to part with one if this will get rid of the threat. Especially since we might bring it back alive.

            With Nala's expert help, the party tracked down two of the goatherders, a boy and his older brother, who were grazing their goats in a small tree in the rainforest. The older boy had a spear, and the younger one a sling, with which to protect themselves. They were happy to talk with the strangers, looking at the loxo with wide, wondering eyes.
            When questioned about the attacks, they told the party that the strange assaults had been going on for years - in fact, most of the younger boy's life. The most recent attack, they admitted with shameful faces, had been in their own herd. They had let the goats wander, and when they went to round them up, they found three of them dead, pierced and torn by strange, needle-like claws, but uneaten.
            "We thought it was safer here," the older boy said sadly, his arm around his brother. "Most of the attacks are on the other side of the Talar. But it was a bad risk to take. The attacks can happen anywhere outside of town. I'm just glad nothing happened to my brother."
            It seemed the attacks only happened once in a while, usually around spring and summer, though there had been attacks in the fall and winter as well, just not as frequently. Some years, there were no attacks at all. Like the farmers in the town, the goatherds suspected the goblins. "They must be coming in the night to steal our trees and harass the town. If it wasn't for the magic papaya, Captain Anitah would probably have gotten rid of them by now," the older boy insisted.
            There never seemed to be any animal or goblin tracks anywhere near the dead, though, which was why the goblins were tolerated, the younger boy told them gravely. Neither of the boys could remember the exact order of the attacks, since they had been going on for years.
            They happily allowed Braydok to buy one of their goats.
            Vol smiled at the boys. "The important thing is you two are safe. We're going to try to catch this thing, or kill it. It sounds like it mostly attacks during the day, since it took your goats while you had them out grazing, is that right?"
            "The attacks happen mostly on the other side of the Talar- is there any place that is the worst, that had the most attacks this past spring or summer?"
            "Cross the river we must." Jembu said.
            Nominis broods over his behaviour earlier and he barely pays any attention to the boys thinking back on all he's lost. Including his childhood memories. He keeps on the side when suddenly something snaps him out of it.
            "By day?! No, the attacks happened by night or at least in the evening. You heard people say they lock themselves in and don't go out in the night. Not througout a day. We should make an ambush in the night."
            Vol looked over his shoulder at Nominis. "Sorry, friend, I didn't know you'd already talked to some of these herders. If you don't mind, though, let's see what these boys have to say."
            Both boys agreed that most of the attacks had happened across the Talar, to the west of town, this year. They seemed to come in waves; sometimes nothing all year, sometimes one attack after another.
            "Very well, let us find a likely spot and set up our trap while it is still daylight. Then we can be in place as it gets dark." The large loxo thanks the young goatherds for their assistance and carefully carries the goat back down the trail .

            With their new goat in tow, the party took the ferry back to the other side of the Talar. Walking out past the outskirts and farms, they chose a spot where one of the cattle herders said an attack had been recently, and tied the goat's lead to one of the little twisted saplings that dotted the grass. The land was fairly open, but they managed to find a prickly bush to hide behind.
            Then they settled in to wait.
            Braydok took the first watch, gazing out from behind their meager cover. Night fell, and the sounds of the veldt filled the air.
            Vol took the second watch, peering into the dark. The heavens were bright with distant stars, but the light was too gentle to make out much on the savannah, even with his elven eyes. The sound of the wind blowing through dry grass and leaves was his only company as the others slept.
            A rustle in the grass caught his ear, though he couldn't make out whether it was the goat or something else.
            Trying his best not to make any noise, the elf nudged Nominis with his foot. Once the man who could see in the dark was awake, Vol gestured silently in the direction of the noise.
            "Already my turn?" Nominis asks, but immediately snaps to stealth mode after realising what the awakening means. "Awake the others. Quietly." He slinks into the darkness watching for threats to him, his companions or the goat.
            Nala was curled up sleeping quietly. She came awake silently when nudged, reaching for her axe. “Let me know if you want me to light it up,” she whispered, peering into the darkness toward where they had tied the goat.
            The dark was clear to Nominis in streaks of black and white. The goat was sleeping, curled by the bush where they'd left it. But there was movement in the dark; off to one side, the brush was wiggling.
            Taking the movement for a threat (because not doing so gets you killed) he throws a small rock in a high arc so he doesn't betray his position and hopefully he awakens the goat. Before the throw he readies his shadows so he can cast entire area in total dark of Deep Shadow plane. No natural thing can see that well. And if it isn't natural better to know that immediately.
            The rock clattered by the goat, and it blinked and raised its head, bleating in the dark. The rustling in the scrub stopped, the branches stilling.
            Nominis laid very silently waiting game most difficult of all lessons to master. He kept his shadows prepared to cast at a moments notice, but strained his eyes and ears to try and detect any threat around him. He assumed the worst, namely, that he had been detected. Thus, he changed position, keeping himself hidden mostly from the direction of the suspiciously quiet bush, but paying attention to everything around him.
            The goat was bait, if it is killed, well, it's their goat. But he didn't survive in Great Shadow, just to be killed in this mellow world. He immediately checked himself. This was HIS world, however warped his perspective became. And his memories will resurface. They have to...but its not the time for introspection. He quickly refocused, staying calm and unmoving in his new place, observing the night with all his hunters senses and instincts.
            Nala gripped her axe tightly, waiting, watching as the shadow that was Nominis crept through the darkness. She eyed the rustling bush and the goat.
            Woken in the dark of night, Braydok reaches for his shield and quiver of spears. Forgoing the heavy armor he moves as quietly as he can. I hope I do not regret my haste. He whispers to the elf, "What have we got?" As he continues to prepare himself for the unknown of the darkness.
            Jembu grabs his weapons and looks about. "What assails us?" If nothing is attacking he will put on armor and such.
            A trick of vision made the newly wiggling bushes seem to move... no, wait, they were moving! Strange, twiggy creatures that Nominis had at first taken for brush scuttled toward the goat on unearthed roots, moving slowly, but in inhumanly jerky fashion. The goat got to its feet and tugged at its tether, trying to run away. Trapped, it bleated piteously.
            Nominis reacts immediately with his readied darkness and four globes of darkness race out to cover the area around him in darkness. He leaves the goat in meager light of deep night, but catches all bush creatures within its radius. He runs toward the goat casting as he goes. Those of his companions looking suddenly look at widening pool of absolute darkness against the faint light of the stars, and see shadow of a man running toward the goat half singing half speaking words in strange hissing cadence. "It seems I was out longer than I thought. When I was living here, the bushes didn't attack helpless creatures."
            Braydok stares into the darkness, preparing to throw a spear at their assailant. He waits, unmoving, for enough light to make out a target.
            “What’s goin’ on?” Nala hissed, clutching her axe. “I can’t see anything!” She heard Nominis rushing forward. “I’ll get us light!”
            The little gnome ran out, pulling her sling. She extended her other hand, wiggling her fingers and casting four lights into the air about twenty feet above the goat. When the lights make it clear Jembu abandons his armor. And rushes toward the strange creatures grabbing his Earthbreaker as he goes.
            The softly glowing colored lights lit the goat, bleating and darting about on its tether. They also revealed a dim area slowly approaching together with some small shrubs, with a human shape of shadow at its center.
            Having been waiting for an opportunity, Braydok threw his shortspear at the waddling greenery - but the range was too great, and it fell short of its mark.
            Bow already in hand and arrows at the ready, Vol just had to nock, draw, and fire. With splendid precision, his arrow stuck in one of the approaching bushes, and the leafy bit of wood slowed further.
            Jembu rushed toward the creatures, his steps making the ground shake.
            Nominis made a series of arcane gestures and muttered something, and suddenly the ground under one of the bushes became slick. As he dashed the last distance to the goat, he saw that bush wobble a bit, but remain standing. That bush slowed in an effort not to slide off its root-feet as it navigated out of the greasy patch, but the other two abruptly sped up in the semi-dark, dashing towards Nominis and the goat. They lashed at Nominis with spindly branches, but couldn't seem to judge exactly where he was in the dim light. In truth, Nominis was extremely hard to see within it.
            Vol loosed another arrow at the bush he had struck before, splintering it. Jembu bore down on another of the things, swinging his earthbreaker, but in the dim light he misjudged the distance and missed.
            Seeing his opponents on the move and closing, Nominis focuses on his inner self and different shadows than those from before come out of him. These are more like filaments, a weave. Shadow weave that entangles little horrors in its embrace. He moves closer to the goat among the shadows of the night preparing to cut it loose to run to safety.
            Crawling with darker shadows in the already dim light, the two remaining bushes stabbed at Jembu and Nominis with their broken-branch-claws, but seemed hindered - none of them managed to penetrate the adventurers' defenses.
            Nala continued running forward. She dropped a stone into her sling and spun it around, launching it at the strange bush-creatures that were attacking her companions. Unfortunately, between her care to not hit her companion and the uncertainty of her target in the dim light, her shot went wide. Vol, too, hesitated to shoot into the furious melee - and then Jembu raised his earthbreaker and brought it down with a crash that earned its name, completely obliterating one of the bushes. Splinters flew everywhere and dust rose all around them as the earthbreaker shocked the ground into fragmented dry chunks of sand.
            Finding himself in melee, Nominis pulls out a rapier. But as he does that, from his elbow shadowy blade extends, cutting toward closest bush monster. Tendrils of shadow continue to dance around him, hindering the enemies slightly. Dark figure barely seen among the shadows stops and the dark area remains stationary while his concentration moves to other things. He is trying to maintain focus of the little beasts on himself so that others have time to join the fighting and to keep poor animal from being killed (at least by the bushes).
            The inky blade cut towards the last remaining bush, but it only scratched its bark, doing no real harm. With a final swipe at Nominis to keep him back, the little plant-thing fled into the dusty darkness. Nominis saw it retreat into a stand of trees and brush not far off.
            The unhappy goat bleated, tugging at its tether and darting about on its short lead.
            Nala pulled up to a stop. “Well, foo!” she said. “I didn’t even get to hit something!” She recovered her sling bullet and then went over to the goat. She used her magical ability as a gnome to speak. “It’s okay. The big, bad bushes are gone now,” the gnome barbarian said in Goat. “Now you are safe.”
            The goat bleated uncertainly at Nala, still wary after its fright, but it no longer appeared panicked with her there to reassure it.
            Vol put down his bow but kept an arrow nocked to the string. He frowned down at the dead tree-monster. "This is not what I was expecting. Does anyone recognize this creature?"
            I've never seen the like. but those ' branches ' could account for multiple small wounds. Nominis said.
            "Hmmmmm never before seen such . . things has I." Jembu comments as he looks at the remains of the creature.
            Nala kept her arms around the goat’s neck, continuing her reassuring whispers as she looked at the strange creatures bathed in her dancing lights. “They look like kindling,” she said. She chopped at one with her axe. “Should we pack them up and bring them back with us?”
            Vol shrugged as he kept an eye out for more monsters. "It couldn't hurt, I guess. Should we see if they left any tracks we can follow back to a lair or an orchard or something?"
            Nala nodded to Vol. She motioned her lights over and bent down to the ground. It wasn’t all that far, after all, for a gnome, and she tried to find any tracks left by the strange plant creatures.

            The creatures hadn't left tracks like an animal, for obvious reasons, but Nala found that they did leave tracks of a sort she hadn't seen before. It was too dark to follow their broken trail, but after the party had rested without disturbance the rest of the night, Nala was able to lead them to the outskirts of a farm, where she lost the trail. The farmers smiled and waved hello from where they were working in the cooler dawn air, closer in towards the buildings.
            "We now know more than we did yestereve. We can warn the people to never go alone and have some axes ready. Do we need to solve this or we can go on toward finding lost adventurers? These beasts don't seem very dangerous or brave, so people should be able to handle it for the day or two. While lost adventurers may die if we leave them for too long wherever they are. Goblins might get hungry if they got them." Nominis doesn't seem concerned about the trouble of villagers and homesteaders. they live in dangerous environment and should learn to cope now they know what they are dealing with. After all, they deal regularly with wolves, boars and whatever else comes at them from the wilderness.
            Nala waved to the farmers as her band of adventurers stood on the edge of the fields to discuss their next moves.
            “No, no, Roger!” Nala told the goat, pulling him away from the crops. “You can’t eat that. Here.” She brought him over to a small tree where there were some bushes he could munch on.
            “Fire might work on those things, too, since they are very twiggy,” the little gnome said. “Do you think these were the last ones, or is there maybe a lair somewhere?” she mused.
            Vol nodded. "They already know there's danger out there. We can let them know what exactly it was, so they can be ready with fire and axes. Still, I doubt the Sheriff is going to be happy with us going back to her and saying that all we did is figure out what they are instead of tracking them down and making sure they never bother anyone again."
            "If we can track them we should, if for no other reason than to have something to tell the sheriff." Nominis responds to the elf. " We should get rid of the beast...unless Wee Fury wants to training it". "It seems they are nocturnal, it is right time to find them and maybe destroy some of them before proceeding. But missing adventurers should be our priority."
            Following Nala until she lost the trail. He looks around for any bushes that might be those we fought, hiding in the open. Remembering the shape of the leaves, Nominis wandered about the outskirts of the farm, and soon he spotted a small stand of trees with the same shape of leaves. Though the saplings they belonged to weren't snapped and twisted like the bodies of the creatures they had killed, and the roots belonging to these were firmly planted rather than free, Nominis was sure it was the same kind of plant.
            The farmers looked on curiously as Nominis examined the saplings, which didn't move in the warming morning air.
            Nominis looks around the plants from safe distance before coming in for closer inspection. After ascertaining that these are the same species he asks the farmer: "Do you know which plant this is, good man? How long it takes to grow them? Maybe you know how long this particular patches stands here?"
            "Yuh," the farmer called back proudly, approaching with a smile. "Papayas! I planted them myself, just last year. Right here by my crop, so I can keep an eye out for those thieving goblins. It will be a few more years before they bear fruit, but hoh! Then we will see!"
            "Hmmm...papaya...Isn't that the plant from magic fruit we're hearing so much about?" Nominis thinks for a moment, considering what they know about it, then shrugs.
            "Yuh," the man agreed proudly, puffing up a little. "Won the seeds at auction. Maybe this time we'll see them grow to full size without being stolen. I'd tie the dog to them to keep watch, but those little bastards just killed the dog last time we did it."
            "Anyhow, did you by any chance see some movement around here last night? We were tracking night stalker that is killing the animals and we lost the track right about here." Nominis said.
            The farmer's eyes all but popped out. "It's here?! On my farm?" His friendly face furrowed into a topography of fury. "Not this time! I'll send my kids to fetch Captain Anitah! She'll put an end to it, this time! Where did you track it to?" He turned and hollered for his farmhands in the cane field to watch out.
            Nominis holds up both hands "Easy, my good man, we are deputised to handle this thing. If you allow us a bit of freedom over the farm, you can retreat into the house and protect your family and property."
            Turning to the group... "Did anyone hurt one of those who fled? Can we recognise one of them by the wounds from the fight?"
            Jemu's ears flutter and he lets out low whistle from his trunk. "Only the destroyed creature I struck."
            Nala frowned. “I didn’t get a good whack at them,” the gnome replied to Nominis. “Darn things are fast!” She stroked Roger’s neck as she looked at the farmer. “I think those papaya might be just more magical than you think.”
            Vol looked curiously at Nala. "Oh, do you think the two might be related?"
            "What are you thinking, Wee Fury? That they use the plant as some kind of portal and not just for hiding?"
            Nala shook her head, unsure. “I do not know. But look. The leaves are the same,” she indicated. “They are the same plant. Just...twisted? I don’t know magic, but it does weird things, right? Why wouldn’t some magic fruit create these weird magic plant monsters?”
            The farmer stared at Nala, his expression gone from rage to confusion. "Plant monsters? What do you mean?"
            Roger nudged at Nala and she fed him a bit of dried fruit. “We followed the tracks from the last attack,” she told the farmer. “Then we set out Roger here as a trap to lure the creature out. Turned out to be some kind of walking plant,” she explained. “Never seen the like. Well, we made kindling of them. Their leaves were the same as your magic papaya, though the branches and trunk were all...twisted and deformed.”
            The farmer shook his head, trying to wrap his head around what Nala was telling him. "You are saying that all the killings have been from... papaya trees? But that is crazy!" He gave the party a careful look, as though he might be dealing with insane people. "Maybe you are mistaken. Do you have proof?"
            Nala shrugged. “We left the remains lying where we killed them,” she said. “They tried to attack Roger here.” She stroked the goat’s neck. “But he was so brave. Weren’t you, Roger!” she cooed to the beast.
            "Meeeeeh," Roger agreed placidly, munching on a mouthful of grass.
            "Nothing that would convince you. We have a body from one of the little beasts cut in half. It look like sticks cut for tinder. But you may notice they are the same type as this tree here." Nominis answers and motions for the Loxo to show collected sticks.
            The farmer frowned at the wreckage of smashed and twisted sticks in the loxo's hands. "Papaya do not usually get up and kill animals and people," he said doubtfully. "I have planted the seeds all along my property." He patted the nearest sapling protectively. "Maybe it was a goblin you tracked here? They are always causing trouble, the little thieves!"
            “Would you recognize if you were missing any of your papaya plants?” Nala asked the farmer. “If we walked around your property and took a look? I know goblins,” she said. “It wasn’t goblins. Folks in town made it sound like you folk were all at peace with the goblins.”
            The tall elf nodded. "These weren't goblins, for sure. Would you mind checking your papaya trees with us? It shouldn't take too long."
            "Pah. We may not be at war, but they are still stinking little thieves." The man sighed, but agreed to check his seed stands with the party.
            Sure enough, a number of the saplings were missing; only holes where they had been rooted remained. Nala found no goblin tracks, only more of those light brush-tracks, like tumbleweed. The rest of the saplings rested peacefully in the soil, their thin branches and leaves motionless in the heavy air, which was growing hotter by the minute as the sun rose.
            The farmer cursed, throwing down his straw hat. "It's those goblins, I'm sure of it! They won't share the magic trees!"
            Nominis frowns. "That would be enough of that, old man! We already told you, these are not goblins. Now, I don't know how hard it is for you to look the truth in the eye, but you will have to look. You risk yourself, your livestock and your family by accusing goblins. We're not blind, we're not lying and most of all, we're not some scared country lads. We've seen goblins in action and what attacked us last night weren't goblins. It was some kind of walking plant creature and by all the evidence it either mimics these papayas, it comes of them or it is them. How many of them do you have? Do you remember who won the auction the year before you? Can you remember if the attacks were more often near that owners place? Something strange is going on here and it is NOT goblins."
            “No, definitely not goblins,” Nala told the farmer. “Look, there are no goblin tracks.” She indicated the brush markings on the ground. “I wonder if there are any others, hiding,” she mused. She plucked a leafy branch from one of the dead shrubberies they had killed that night and went along the line of papayas to see if any of the other plants were similar.
            Frightened by Nominis' outburst, the farmer glanced at each of the party, realizing he was alone with armed strangers, some of them obviously strong enough to squish him underfoot. "Yes, okay," he said, nodding rapidly. "Okay. No goblins. You have seen all my trees. Bonwe won the auction last year. You should go talk to her. She farms cattle not far from here. Yes, go see her. The gob- ...the papayas have caused trouble for many years, for all of us." He smiled anxiously, sidling back toward his fields.
            Nala saw that the branches on the saplings were similar to those of the dead creature, but straight and fine rather than twisted and broken.
            Jembu paces the edge of the conversation eyeing the perimeter. His ears flutter, "Magic foul creates such blasphemies. Death the obvious result."
            Nala returned to the others and shook her head. “I don’t see any more like these,” she said, holding out the branches they had brought. “They’re the same, but all twisted and deformed.” She fed one of the branches to Roger to keep him from eating the farmer’s papayas. “Guess we should go talk to this Bonwe?”
            Oddly, Roger didn't want to eat the sticks Nala offered him. “Huh,” Nala said, confused, when Roger refused to eat the branches of the twig-monster. “Goats eat anything…”
            Vol nodded. "This guy is ready for us to leave. I don't think we're going to find much else here. Let's go talk to her."

            They soon found Bonwe, who was out with her cattle in the blazing sun, calling out to direct her children, who swung sticks to herd the cattle. She proudly confirmed that she had won the auction for the magic papaya the year before the farmer they had spoken with, though "goblins" seemed to have stolen some of her papaya trees, too. "They go after the bigger saplings. The young ones, they let us tend," she said sourly. "In all the years since they have sold us the magic papayas, no one has been able to stop them from eventually stealing all the saplings." She had lost the occasional cow to the monster that stalked the farms, and seemed interested when the party told her they had tracked it to the other farmer's farm.
            She listened to the party's explanation that it was the papayas themselves that were causing the trouble, shaking her head doubtfully. "They are only trees. What can a tree do?" It seemed the farmers needed more proof than a pile of mangled sticks and the party's word.
            They made their way over to Bonwe’s farm, watching her and her children for a moment as they herded cattle before speaking to her about the papayas.
            “Not just trees,” Nala said. “Apparently these grow up into twig monsters,” she insisted. “We killed these last night. They almost killed Roger! Can we look at your papayas, too?” she asked. “You might have twig monsters lurking!”
            Vol nodded. "And it couldn't hurt anything just to let us look around." The tall, pale elf smiled at the woman. "Treants are trees, too, and they protect entire swathes of forest. And there are dryads and twigjacks and shambling mounds and vegepygmies." He shook his head, the friendly smile still on his face. "When nature gets upset, she has lots of ways to show you."
            Bonwe tsked, laughing a little. "We may be simple herders, Elder, but we do not believe in every child's tale. But I will take you to our stand, if it makes you happy." She called for her eldest child to take over coordinating the herd, and walked the party to her ranch.
            "There, you see? A few stolen, but the rest still grow. Maybe someday we will have magic papayas of our own," she said proudly, gesturing at a stand of slightly older saplings than those of the cane farmer.
            “Maybe you better hope not,” Nala murmured, taking Roger’s lead as they went over to examine the papaya trees. She studied the leaves and branches closely. “What makes you think they’re magical, anyway?” she asked. Like the other papaya trees she had examined, these only seemed different from the remains of the creature they had brought with them in that those twigs were twisted and broken.
            Bonwe pursed her lips and counted reasons on her fingers. "I plant the seeds of a magic papaya - why wouldn't the seeds also be magic? And if the seeds are magic, the trees must grow magic fruit, too! Besides, why would the goblins steal them, if they aren't magic?"
            Wee Fury, can you find any tracks here? And do you think those things understand us? We could return to that last farm and await the night. Although I'm inclined to let the farmer bear the fruit of his stubborness. Nominis said.
            Nala sighed as she examined the trees. “They’re all normal, too,” she told the others. “Maybe goblins steal them because, uhm, papayas taste good?” Nala suggested. “Who told you the seeds were magical?”
            "Of course they're magical!" Bonwe scoffed. "The magic papaya is real enough! It healed my granpapa of the gout!"
            Nala looked over at Nominis. “I’ll look for tracks, but sitting out another night...we didn’t sleep last night,” she reminded him, and then yawned as if to emphasize the point. “We might want to find someplace to sleep before night if we’ll be up again.
            Nala bent down to the ground to see if she could find any more of those scuffling marks on the ground. There didn't appear to be any tracks by these papayas, but there were old holes where more than three papaya saplings had once been, just as more than three had been missing from the other farmer's stands. A look around revealed that some of the trees must have "been stolen" this year as well as some of the previous years, just not recently enough for tracks to have remained.
            Nala returned to the others, shaking her head. “Several old holes where they’ve walked away, but too long ago to leave tracks,” she told them. “No luck here, I’m afraid.” She looked to Bonwe. “How does a papaya cure gout?”
            Bonwe threw up her hands in exasperated amusement at all the gnome's questions. "With magic!"
            The tall elf chuckled and grinned at Bonwe. "This from the woman who doesn't believe in treants and twigjacks," he teased good naturedly.
            "This magic, I see with my own eyes, Elder," Bonwe laughed. "But if you say you have seen such things, maybe they are not so strange."
            Nominis looks at the old farmer. "You believe in magic fruit. You probably believe dragons exist. Did you see any? Yes, you probably did out here, far and high away. How about angels? Ever seen one? You can say you saw gods through priests miracles...but angels? Or demons? How are they more believable than fey things in elven forests?" Smiling, he nods toward her "Think about it."
            "Just because some tales are true, does not mean that all are," Bonwe smiled, unmoved.
            Turning back toward the group, Nominis motions toward old farmers farm "We should return. If we're not waiting another night - and I'm all for leaving the farmers to their own delusions - we should go look for the missing adventurers. I would like to try something. I have a spell that harms objects...but not creatures. I'd like to try it on old farmers papaya."
            Bonwe's smile turned into a frown at Nominis' words. "Maybe you should learn some respect for your elders. Now, I have work to do. It's time to go. And don't you hurt my papayas!" She squinted at them suspiciously in the beating sun.
            Vol had been about to say something to Nominis but Bonwe beat him to it. He nodded at her. "Leave the woman alone, Nominis. We're visitors. And she isn't the only person in the world who wants some proof before she believes something." The tall elf smiled at the farmer. "We won't hurt your papayas. We understand how valuable they are," Vol said, looking at Nominis. "We'll be on our way. Thank you for talking with us."
            "Aweh. You speak wisdom, Elder. Good day to you all." Somewhat mollified, but still a bit nervous about her young papayas, Bonwe took the party back to the road before going to find her cattle.
            Nala looked at the woman skeptically. “Uh-huh,” she said. “Sounds like snake oil to me.” She grunted and turned to follow the others back to the first farmer. “Well, Roger,” she told her goat, tugging him along, “looks like that was a dead end. So why wouldn’t you eat the twig monster branches?” she mused, stroking his neck. “And what are these things, and where do they go?”
            "Maaaah," Roger told her, trotting alongside her while chewing cud. He butted his head against her, demanding scratches.
            Nala was more than happy to give Roger some scratches around his horns as they walked. Even though she didn’t have her spell up anymore, she still talked to him rapidly, chatting away about nothing in particular.

            When they returned to the other farmer's cane farm, the nearby field hands dropped their tools and disappeared into the fields as the party prepared to test the saplings. Nominis raised his voice in a strange song, and pointed at the sapling he had chosen.
            Nothing happened. The sun beat down mercilessly, the sapling's leaves hung limp in the heat, and the sound of insects chirring in the high grass was loud, broken only by raised voices coming from the cane field.
            When they reached the previous farm again, on the way back to town, they stopped for Nominis to do his thing. Nala noted the farm hands running off into the fields, and heard the raised voices.
            “What do you think of that, Roger?” she asked aloud. “What are they doing?” Just in case, she pulled out her greataxe -- just in case.
            Vol shook his head. "Alerting the farmer, I'd guess." He looked over at Nominis. "You ready to go now?"
            "Ho, there!" called a voice from the edge of the field; equally a request to not be alarmed at its owner's approach, and to pause a moment until he could cross the field to them. The young man made his way with a steady gait, though he occasionally used the five-foot staff in his hand to part the grass and test the ground ahead of his step. He was dressed for travel, up to and including the backpack he wore with the arms of a crossbow peeking out behind his shoulders, but otherwise all his clothing was as light as could be practical with due regard for the sun and humidity.
            He stopped his approach six feet distant, not wishing to crowd the circle, but what had been an uncertain expression seemed to settle into an reassured confidence as he took stock of the individuals in front of him with what might pass for recognition, some mental list affirmed. His balance shifted half a step back at seeing Nala's readied greataxe.
            "Excuse me; are you the adventurers that spoke with Matron Hucrele yesterday, about her missing family?" His tone was eager, but with a schooled respect. He clearly did not wish to be presumptuous.
            The little gnome with the greataxe eyed the approaching young human warily until he greeted them. “Aye, we’re those adventurers,” she said. “What did you want with us?”
            Vol smiled at the stranger and nodded. "We are. Did she send a message for us?"
            Nomins nods essentially in time with Vol. But he continues speaking after the elf stops. "Yes, yes, we are. And we're just about leaving this farm. Remeber these trees. youi may need to run away from them at some point. Lets walk. You can explain why you're looking for us on the way." He looks at the goat, noting if he took a bite of any papayas around. Then he shrugs and keeps walking away. "Lets find us some adventurers."
            "Run away? From trees?" the young man momentarily shifted from pending exchanges to take heed of the offered warning, and he turned to look at the indicated trees with uncertainty. Perhaps a joke at his expense? He drew a quick breath and released it in a sigh. When he noticed nothing warranting caution, he turned back, and took several hurried steps to catch up the group in motion. His staff resumed supplementing his stride as he fell in near the party, still outside ready arm's reach, either to purposefully demonstrate no threat or to maintain a cautious distance for his own benefit.
            "No message," he answered the question posed to him. "But when I spoke with her, she said you'd set off to find her kin. I'd offered to help her, if I could; she said you had a day's head start, but I might catch up to you. A few quick inquiries around town then led me here, fortuitously. Maybe we can help each other. She's extended the same reward offer to all who step forward and succeed together."
            The man didn’t seem a threat, so Nala put her greataxe back in its sling and gave Roger a tug away from the plants as the group started walking.
            “So you want in on the adventure,” she said to the young man. “What’s your name? I’m Nala.”
            "Dalian," Dal smiled as most of the brief initial tension evaporated. "Pleased to meet you, Nala." He reflected upon her words, nodding to himself, and agreeing aloud, "'Adventure' sounds apt, and appropriately optimistic that we'll be successful." Dal considered the ready confidence they all appeared to exhibit, and so posed, "You must all have been on many adventures. Have you found out anything of the missing siblings, so far, beyond what Mistress Hurcrele could share? To be honest, I hadn't formed much of a plan short of walking to the ruins she described and looking around while trying to avoid the goblins."
            Nala shook her head, her braids flapping. “We haven’t had a chance to look into the missing adventurers yet,” she said. “We were looking into the beast that has been attacking people and livestock around the area. We found what appear to be walking plant creatures. They nearly killed Roger here! Oh, yes, this is Roger!” She introduced the goat. “Say hello, Roger.”
            “Meh,” said the goat, and promptly tried to eat Dalian’s shirt.
            "Charmed," Dal replied skeptically, and promptly shifted a half-step further away and transferred his staff to his inside hand, that its interposing strokes while walking might dissuade further fashion culinary attempts.
            “We’ve hit a dead end, so we were about to head out to the ruins or something.” Nala said.
            Vol nodded. "We were trying to help with this other thing, but it's not looking good. So we're off to help with the thing that we're pretty sure we can actually do." The tall, white haired elf chuckled. "Looking around and avoiding goblins sounds good to me."
            Dal spared a short glance back over his shoulder to where he'd first encountered the party, across the field. "The walking plant creatures -- they looked like those trees?"
            Thinking ahead, Dal summarized, "I haven't fought goblins, before, but I hear they're only dangerous in groups. If we encounter one or two, and they're aggressive, I hope to be able to help handle them. More than that, and my intention would be to stay clear, or a fighting retreat from the edge." Dal's statements were made with an academic tone; book-knowledge, reasoned ahead of time to address anticipated issues, but untested by experience. "You?"
            Nominis concentrates for a step or two and answers "I fought worse than goblins. If they get hostile, my intention is to frighten them off." Shadow flows from him toward newcomer, but stops one step before touching him. Once the surprise passes it is obvious it is just a trick of the light. Magical, sure, but harmless. It dissipates after several heartbeats.
            "I usually scout around. You never know what can come at us in all this light. I'd feel better if you'd all agree to travel at night. But..." he shrugs..."...such is life. But this is safe area I guess, we're still within city reach. I will go further once we get into wilderness." He puts some distance between himself and the party again, letting them in front of him. After the first step, he stops as if he remembers something. "Oh, yes. I'm Nominis Expers." then drifts away. Dalian can notice that he is furtive, glancing this way and that and looking suspiciously at each tree grove and reacting on each pheasant or hare that the party scares off.
            Of courteous habit, Dal repeated, "Pleased to meet you." As Nominis moved away, Dal mused, "Interesting; in Draconic, and some dialects of Elven, he just said he calls himself, 'insubstantial,' or 'without substance,' materially-speaking." He reasoned it was probably a pseudonym or an adopted moniker. Mentally, he was recounting what he had observed of Nominis' shadow illusion or evocation, wondering if he'd missed some sort of gesture or shift during his surprise. He couldn't recall any -- an innate talent?
            To those still near, he posed conversationally, since -- by reckoning -- it would be some time, yet, before they reached the ruins, "How long have you all been adventuring together?"
            Vol hadn't answered Dalian's question about potential tactics, but the tall, slim elf had a bow and a longsword- maybe he just thought it was self-evident. He grinned at Dal. "It hasn't been much of an adventure so far. We walked around town, talked to a few people, tried one thing then decided to do another."