As we made our way back to the shimmering pool area that Katpus seemed keen for us to explore further, we fought through well over a hundred of the pebble-throwing Midnight Wendeckas. Sometimes we would be faced with a wall of them throwing rocks over the exiles they had already felled, then some would clamber out of hiding places in the rocks behind us to surround. We narrowly escaped a mass depart a few times (hooray for kudzu bags!) and finally made it to the area we wished to explore.

I am happy to report that we have achieved a breakthrough, albeit a small one, and explorations are proceeding apace. During one of our many battles to stay alive, I fell and ended up departing, but many in the group are still alive and trying to advance under Yor's patient and brave leadership. I am sure that we will achieve further breakthroughs soon, if not on this trip, then the next one or the one after that. We've got a great group with a generous heart, and all the pebbles (or bk) in the world can't make it crumble.

On the other side of the rocks lay a new cave, one we hadn't seen before. Inside, various small arachne spawned similar to the spawns seen outside Ash Valley, so it is relatively safe. Our pathfinders scoured the walls and discovered two paths, each at least as difficult as the one Kestral discovered. Within our group, we have chosen to honor Kestral's hard work and good fortune by referring to this place as Kestral's Passage.

Kiriel D'Sol attempts to learn a path out of the foothills.

Inside, another long, tedious wait. Our pathfinders spent most of their attention on the path where the ground looked muddy as opposed to the where the ground consisted of the rocky soil associated with the foothills caves. Kiriel D'Sol in particular spent the better part of two puddledays staring into a wall, so determined was she to conquer this path. I stood right there with her, happy to have brought some reading material with me while we waited.

At last, we emerge beyond the foothills (thanks to Kiriel for sketch).

Ultimately, despite the fact that several different pathfinders were trying to learn the path, it was Kiriel (fittingly, as she spent more time staring then anyone else that I saw by far) who found her way through to the other side. She quickly contacted the others who were awake, and they briefly explored, finding another tough path in a relatively safe sn'ell (kinda like the area outside Katpus' cave) as well as a boundary further east that looked menacing. Eventually, enough exiles gathered to dare a battle inside this area we have informally begun to call the Dredwood.

Achates' comment sums it up nicely (thanks to Entil'Zha for sketch).

What met us on the other side is like nothing we've ever seen. There is no doubt in our minds that we are nearing the Orga Stronghold in this sn'ell, as the strength of orga present is easily greater than anything ever seen in the Dred Passage. The fallen exiles were transported to the Orga Village by the zealots present, and Gurgi led a group of exiles to rescue them, where they were healed in town by the community.

Sor, a key pathfinder, is raised back in town.

Needless to say, we are anxious to go back, and so is just about everyone in town. We hope to muster a force large enough to have a decent chance of victory or at least progress within a puddleweek or so. Congratulations to Yor, Elenis Reyav, Gurgi and the other leaders of LIFE and associated groups on a job well done. The credit for these significant advances in our battle goes to them.

On a more personal note, I must acknowledge here that there have been changes to the clan of the Rising Claw since I left, changes that are for the best, in my opinion. For that, I am both hopeful and relieved that the clan's future is now brighter, but all changes are painful. In this case, the changes haven't been enough for me to feel that it would be good for the clan to ask that I return to the fold. I still feel that I am better off outside the clan so that my ideals about what a clan should be do not interfere with the abiding friendships I've developed with my many former clanmates.

I have found a clan that seems to closely mirror my ideals, a clan that is vibrant, powerful, dedicated to the community, fiercely loyal to one another, friendly, compassionate and a whole lot of fun to hang out with. They happen to be looking for a few good healers, as it turns out. What is all the more amazing about this is that the very same clan has as one of its members the fen who has captured my heart, my dear Felicity. I hope that I can prove myself worthy enough to merit their consideration for membership and that, if accepted, I can pour my heart and soul into something that is much greater, much more noble than the sum of its incredible parts. It is the clan of the Children of Orion: Clan Hunter.

Later, I was en route to help some fighters fallen in the orga woods (some call it the zerk woods or zerk forest) near the south shore of Fire Island. Those wretched trees! I can never remember which openings are big enough for me to squeeze through and which aren't, and this has trapped me more times than I care to count. This time, I had to wait for Lex to bail me out, which she did, then we went north to clear and rescue fallens.

A Dal'Noth hunt

Without much difficulty, we stormed through to the shimmering pool area. There, Sor and Kiriel D'Sol led us through into the relatively safe area outside the foothills. Among those in LIFE, we have taken to calling this area Kiriel's Valley, but sooner or later, we'll have to come up with a naming convention that everyone can agree upon. Kiriel and others have been standing here since the last expedition, trying unsuccessfully to learn the path leading north to who knows where. This time, our mystics were able to show us something about the other side.

Inside the Dredwood.

We also tested our strength against the might of the orga, and it didn't go too well. Our best fighters were sent in, wave after wave, and they were coming out lightning-charred and pummeled. We support healers could barely keep up, and soon a half-dozen of our best and brightest were beyond the reach of our combined skills. People were exhausted. With the chaos storm coming, we elected to make a suicide run into the Dredwood for the purposes of mapping and future strategizing. I didn't get so far, but Jazz did, all the way to another sn'ell further east! She posted a short movie of it on her scrolls.

Fun in the fairgrounds with Ann GM

We plan on returning soon to try again. Now that we have a tangible foe rather than a brick wall in front of us, people are obviously very excited again about the orga war. It is hard to underestimate the importance of finding our way through the foothills at last and further along the path toward the orga stronghold. Back in town, we passed the time before the coming storm with Ann GM the Ancient in the fairgrounds, who tested us against a group of Orga Fearless, which I haven't seen in many puddleyears (I remember when they were often found in the orga camps).

Butterfly swarm!

She then threw another group at us, a swarm of butterflies! All over the lands, multicolored wings flapped for hours on end as everyone enjoyed their fine new outfits. Later, I got to go with a fine group of fighters and healers, led by Darnok and Stormraven, as we made up some of our lost experience with a fun Valley hunt. Rel'lim skinned a Valley Panther for 159 coins, which is the most I think I have seen since the first few expeditions to the foothills (the demand for Large Midnight Wendecka furs has apparently dropped since, so they aren't worth more than 100 coins any more).

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