Kabel finds a blue crystal on the ground. Mina tells him that that is Artair’s spirit.
Mina tells them that they can only enter the Meadow of Peace if the have good intentions. She asks the group of four who were hiding.
- Tad the treasure hunter
- Jay the journalist, from Boel. Follows Tad and publishes stories of his adventures.
- Dion (half-elf) the detective, no interest in treasure but here to investigate.
- Hagen the historian. Takes notes more about the relics and discoveries.
Kabel talks to the group.
Jay says that his most exciting adventure was his travel to the islands and writing about a recent beast, Jormungundr, that terrorizes the two islands. The islanders have begun making sacrifices to the monster to appease it.
Hagen says he most enjoyed his trip to the desert to look at runes that hadn’t been translated yet. Kabel offers to look over runes with him later when they have free time.
A fog appears as the group continues walking, but Mina can tell where she’s going.
Hagen tells Kabel that Sarita is the daughter of the three-time champ of Five Finger Fillet.
Kabel begins hearing whispers telling him to stop following Mina. Mina warns them and tells them to keep following her.
Dion says he’s here to investigate the patches. There’s one patch of dead grass that has appeared in the Meadow of Peace.
Kabel shows the Remoraz fangs to the party, and Kabel trades one for a gem of Myrkul.
Kabel shows the pendant with the white rune to Hagen, and he finds a matching symbol in his notes from The Labyrinth in the desert. Kabel begins to recognize other runes from the letter, and he and Hagen find all 8. Hagen says that the mythology says that 8 powers reigned Moyie, and that they came together to form it.
They arrive, and Mina shows them a patch of dead grass in front of the cave entrance.
A woman a bit younger than Mina runs over to greet Mina, interrupting their conversation. Sarita gets a bit defensive, but Valia, the daughter of the high priest, introduces herself. She invites them to the high priest’s home. The doors:
- left: high priest
- middle: prayers
- right: residence
The Meadow of Peace refers to two places. There was a tree of life that was thought to provide life to all the Under-Wilds. The Meadow is the place we are now, and Peace is down the path through the cave. The people who live in Peace are followers of the religion of eternal life, and live eternally thanks to the tree of life.
Mina pulls a spider in a jar out of her bag, and the spider immediately becomes very aggressive. The patch is affecting the wildlife. It appeared about two months ago, when we arrived in the Under-Wilds.
Valia thinks that the tree of life is punishing them for bringing people who don’t respect Under-Wilds - The Eternal Religion. Mina brought in the treasure hunters to test the theory.
Sarita puts on a show to gain some favor, saying that the tree called her there and healed her.
Valia admits that two months ago, her father took a vow of silence. She’s going to try to get Kabel an audience with her father. She says that they don’t have any respect for gods, only for the tree of life.
As they leave the priest’s home, they find the four adventurers investigating the patch. They’re unable to get past the protection spells that Mina has placed.
Mina tells Kabel that he can accompany the four adventurers to Peace in the morning.
Mina takes them to their lodgings, and Elio knocks on the door 30 minutes later to prepare Kabel for his journey to Peace tomorrow. Elio tells Kabel he’s been there for 35 years now as the Elder of Entry. The Elder of Knowledge is Nara, who works to understand the life energy from the Tree of Life. The Elder of Harvest Hanja ensures the well-being of the Meadow. Geo is the high priest.
Kabel works on copying his spellbook more. He hears a hum, and then hears the voice of Gaia. She thanks Kabel for helping Gaia, and encourages him to help Artair make the right decision when the time comes.