Battle for the Keep

Thay

Tensions rise as the surrounding world begins to press closer and closer upon the tiny island of civilization. An attempt made by the forest itself to storm the village and is only just barely halted through dedicated use of fire by Elix, Lothar and the villagers.

A brief respite is bought and soon after the small band of Adventure Kids return from their long scouting mission.

They bring interesting news and reports their loss as one of their warriors have fallen.

It seems that the woods do not react unless strong emotions (such as fear or anger) are displayed. If one keeps one's cool the trees seem less prone to moving about or attacking.

They also report that they vanquished two creatures calling themselves "Squirrel" and "Badger" during their ardorous trek back to the castle.

Having noted that the hostile reality around them shows revulsion of fire a last attempt is made to break through to send a message back home to Thay.

A skeleton is sent to raft across the river with a note attached to it (after a few unsuccessful attempts featuring living passengers).

As the raft reaches the middle of the river, Elix launches a fireball into the mists in the hope that this shall cause the barrier to withdraw long enough for the raft to break through. This is not to be. A huge aquatic beast (presumably "Fish") annihilates the raft and the skeleton and the waters rise up to crush the gathered people on the riverbank. Lothar, Fandamm and Nestor manages to dodge the attack but the hapless Elix is killed by the crushing weight of the watery strike.

When they return they are rightly scolded by Zárisse for wasting their meager arcane resources.

The situation looks ever grimmer. There is no way this can last...