1. The Cloakwood

Dieter gets himself into a good position and gets low. He stops, looks, listens, and finally smells his surroundings. If he decides to act he will be entering the most dangerous portion of this excursion. If the watcher has friends they will definitely see Dieter making his move, they could even have planned for him to do what he is doing right now.

Dieter pounces, For good measure dieter punches the man in the kidney before he grabs the man’s dominant pointer and middle finger and pulls them back then shoves a rag in his mouth. If that’s successful he will restrain him and bring him to the group for questioning.

Dieter leaps off and makes himself as tall as possible waving his arms in the air just as the town elders had instructed him years ago to do "AAAAAAAAAAH" he yells half heartedly. Realizing that he is still alive and unmauled Dieter puts his arms down "truce?" Dieter says with a shrug

At the sound, Aiwë hurries to Dieter with clubs raised.

"Speak your business, druid! If you're the guardian of this wood we have no quarrel with you."

Stella turns sharply towards the sound of the roar, reading her bow. "Now what has he done...?" she mumbles, then follows Aiwë. Oh. Another druid!!

The bear relaxes, then reverts to his original form - that of a grey-bearded human man. He takes a deep breath to steady himself, then looks the party over with piercing eyes. "I am Seniyad. I have a message for those of the Iron Throne. Would that be you?"

Aiwë lowers her clubs. "Depends on the message."

Seniyad frowns. "It does not. Answer me true, or face nature's fury."

"We are here to remove the iron throne’s slavers from the region. Now stand and face us or put your secrets to rest" Dieter answers

The druid relaxes and he nods solemnly. "The Iron Throne is a stain on civilization and the Cloakwood alike. I am glad to find you are not sympathizers to their cause."

He folds his arms into the sleeves of his simple brown robe. "Forgive my spying. I only sought to discover if you were threats to the forest. Since you are here to remove the Iron Throne, we have no need to be enemies."

"Kish brun," Aiwë forgives. "Forgive our jumpiness. The Iron Throne has assassins after us. What information can you spare, to help us dismantle them?"

Stella inspects Seniyad's clothing. She wondered if he belonged to a Druid Circle or was a lone traveler.

"What Circle are you from, if any?" Stella asks in druidic, once the party gets the answers they're looking for. Her eye-stars tinkle with specks of curious green.

Seniyad shrugs. "I know little of their workings, except that they butcher the forest and enslave men and women. I'm afraid I have little information to share, apart from where they are."
The druid gestures to the forest all about. "I greet you beneath the boughs, Druid. I am part of the Cloakwood Circle. There are not many of us, and we come from disparate backgrounds, but we are all united in purpose."

(Insight: Stella catches a hesitation in Seniyad's words. It would seem that not all druids in the Cloakwood are as united as he claims. Perhaps he's just unwilling to share any Circle troubles with an outsider.)

He turns back to the group and opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by... a squirrel. The little beast scurry-hops across the ground to Seniyad's leg, then quickly climbs up the druid's robe, chittering furiously.

Seniyad's frown, which seems to never leave his face, deepens. He speaks in Common: "My small friend says she has found another group of interlopers. As you travel with a fellow druid, I trust you to respect the forest and rid us of the Iron Throne. I must see to these newcomers and judge their intentions."

"Can you tell us where their mine is?" Stella asks. "I was planning to consult animals as we went, but if you could tell us, that would help us find and halt the operations there much faster." She opens her tome to a rough map of the Cloakwood.

"Or if you would prefer to show us, we could come with you to investigate the interlopers first?"

Seniyad's answer is interrupted by the squirrel's renewed chittering. The somber druid looks to Stella. "It would seem these intruders may be the troublesome sort. If you would accompany me, I could use your aid in being rid of them. After that, I will be free to show you the way to the mine."

And so the party sets off through the Cloakwood, following the druid Seniyad, who is in turn following an excitable squirrel.

During the trek, Seniyad remains his somber self. He answers questions, but with as few words as possible. He never comes across as rude, just kind of dour. Perhaps a bit like Aiwe's Uncle Xan, though without the flowery melodrama.

Within an hour or so they arrive at a clearing where several men have set up camp. Two of the men are dressed in hunter's leathers, while the third wears a fashionable nobleman's coat.

Seniyad doesn't slow his steps, but strolls on out and calls to the men. "You! I recognize you, Aldeth Sashenstar. You were warned never to enter these woods again. Tell me what reason you have to risk your life so."

The nobleman looks up from where he stands by the campfire. "Ah! I remember you as well, old man. And I see you've brought some friends with you."

He looks to the party members who have accompanied the druid. "I have come here on vacation to hunt some game, but Old Seniyad thinks he owns the whole of the Cloakwood, when he possesses no deed to even a single part of it. He seeks to enforce his wild laws with violence. Surely you see that I am in the right here!" He pats the large coinpurse hanging from his belt. "Remove the wildman from here, or convince him to leave well enough alone, and I'll see that you're compensated for your time."