Beneath the Boughs

[Urithrand]

Leckith Oakenhair slipped between the trees of the Viridale, watching and listening carefully. A voice that was no voice whispered in is mind, Careful Leck, enemies ahead. He stopped and slipped behind a tree, closing his eyes. The sound of orcish voices just too far to understand came into earshot, and he scrambled up into the branches of the tree to sit above their heads as they passed. Satisfied they had gone far enough to no longer be a threat, he lightly dropped back to the ground. "Thanks Resia" he muttered.
After he walked a few score yards more, the flickering of a campfire came into view and he hopped silently over to it. The warmth of glittering flames spread over him like a wave and he smiled broadly, sitting on the grass and crossing his legs. His shoulders slumped as the forest soothed him. "Such a beautiful place." he whispered.
Reminds me of home. Came the silent voice. Leck didn't respond, simply smiled more deeply still, and stared deep into the revealing flames. A still and complete silence came over him and he slowly descended into a trance. The constant murmur that had accompanied him since youth was slowly blocked from his mind. Only Resia remained, staying silent herself from respect.
Hours passed. Light failed and night fell, leaving only the sound of the flames and the chirping of crickets. Leck blinked rapidly, breaking his meditation with a slight sway. Well finally, came the rather amused welcome, I wondered if you were coming back. Leck stretched luxuriating in the calm of night. "Shush Resia, I need to concentrate. This forest is dangerous" He whispered almost inaudibly. The Keeper of the Grove had told him the Talonans here had summoned a spirit - a being of great evil. A being that the forest itself feared, causing extreme unrest here. In response to the threat, he had sent druids. Druids! "Spirits need shamans." He muttered at the memory of being told this news.
Of course. Resia agreed fervently. You wouldn't send a treant to kill a fire elemental after all. Leck couldn't help but smile at her simplistic analogy.
We're going to find out what's going on here. Leckith smouldered. And we're going to destroy it.

{Please feel free to join in, DM input also very welcome! }

[Urithrand]

Stalking silently through the woods, Leck watched his steps cautiously, treading lightly on the leaf mulch to avoid making unnecessary noise. Resia scouted ahead, reporting her findings to him in a general sort of way. The untrodden grounds were not far away, the last reported location of the Talona followers was there. Something odd was going on though, he could not feel the same presence as he had last time.
Skirting around the edge of the encampment he hopped Northwards until eventually a large crypt like structure came into view. "This is it Resia." He whispered, "They were here last time..." He furrowed his brow, probing the area with his mind, but found nothing. Could the druids have been successful?
I can't feel anything Leck... came Resia's input. It doesn't seem like there's anyone here. Maybe the druids were successful? Leck scowled at the thought. It was not that he had a problem with druids. Quite the opposite, he had many druidic friends, and admired their culture.
"I'm going to try the door..." He whispered, pulling the handle. It didn't budge, and the sound of metal clanking echoed horribly. Losing his patience, he took a deep breath and stood back.
Drawing in all his power, he intoned a few meaningless syllables and froze the door, his eyes temporarily losing all their colour. Once the door was freezing cold and brittle, he tensed every muscle in his body and exploded forth with a call lightning spell. The electric fingers leapt forwards but the door held fast, doing nothing but making a terrible racket.
"By Silvanus!" He raged.