The forest of Trollwood is only several miles from the city of Hazuk. After a mile or two from the city, the land becomes devoid of life. There are none of the animals and birds that usually frequent the land on such a day. However, the land is still extremely fertile and ideal to farm.

The heroes travel to Trollwood with Kara Half-elven as their guide. The trip takes only five hours and is relatively uneventful. The Narrator can, however, employ any encounters that they see fit.

The Narrator should rerfer to the Character Index for the game statistics for Kara Half-elven. The Bestiary game supplement will also prove invaluable to the Narrator and allow him to better utilize the creatures in the encounters.

The Narrator can choose from the following encounters or simply create a few of his own. These encounters are simply meant to test the heroes, not to hurt them seriously. The Narrator should also keep in mind the daemon warrior's corrupting influence on the land. All creatures encountered should not be normal animals, but monsters or mutations.

• A small band of aarakocra, intelligent birdmen, had been living in Trollwood until the daemon warrior and his trollekai minions slaughtered their tribe and drove these few out. They are starved and dehydrated. All they can tell the heroes is that their tribe was destroyed by savage, lanky monsters with terrible claws and bone white, mottled skin. The aarakocra speak halting Common and appreciate any help that the heroes provide. If shown kindness, the aarakocra will give the heroes what little wealth they managed to save, two opals worth 50 stl { gems with a treasure value of 1 according to A Saga Companion } each.

• Five aarakocra. Nonhumans. Co 3, Ph 5, In 5, Es 6, Dmg +3 (talons or beak), Def -2, also acute sense (vision), fly, dive, and missile weapons (javelins).

• An ettin that lived on the outskirts of Trollwood fled from the corrupting influence of the daemon warrior. It is confused and enraged and attacks the heroes outright. Because of the effect of the chaos magic, it attacks recklessly { All defensive actions by the heroes are made with a -1 penalty, but all offensive actions against the ettin are made with a +1 bonus }. In its confused state, the ettin is also more susceptible to mysticism { granting a +2 bonus to any such spells cast against it }. The ettin carries no treasure.

• Ettin. Nonhuman. Co 4, Ph 17, In 3, Es 4, Dmg +8, Def -4, also melee weapons (club).

• The heroes come upon a large slab of reddish rock where a long decayed skeleton lies basking in the sun. The large rock is nearly two stories in height and casts a looming shadow across the earth. Upon closer examination, the skeleton appears to the elven, with several crushed bones and a shattered ribcage. Gold rings worn on each hand glint in the sun.

• Three shadows. Undead. Co 6, Ph 10, In 3, Es 4, Dmg +3, Def -3, also drain (Strength), and immune to cold, mentalism, and poison.

• A small band of draconians led by an ogre-mage are traveling by Trollwood. Their intentions are to test the strength of the legionnaire cell in Hazuk and then destroy it if they can. The ogre-mage, whose family was slaughtered by legionnaires, wants nothing more than revenge while the draconians are merely mercenaries.

• Ogre-mage. Nonhuman. Co 5, Ph 17, In 7, Es 7, Dmg +6, Def -3, also cryomancy, healing, melee weapon (long sword/+7), spectramancy, sorcery (electromancy and aeromancy), thrown weapons (3 daggers/+2) and transformamutation.
• Four baaz. Draconains. Co 8, Ph 6, In 6, Es 7, Dmg +6, Def -3, also death throe, glide, and pounce.

• The heroes come to an area of sand and dirt. The entire area is surrounded by an outsropping of rocks that makes the area seem like a giant, natural sandbox. The area looks safe enough, and the rocky border extends to the sides and turns razor sharp, forcing travelers to make a lengthy detour or to travel through the small sand area.

If the heroes travel through the sand pit, they will become the victims of its denizen: a sandlings. This sandling will not attack the heroes unless they trespass through the sand pit, but it will pursue them even if they leave the area.

The Narrator should perform a daunting Perception (Coordination) action for the hero with the highest Perception. If successful, the hero realizes that the sand pit is inhabited. If the action is unsuccessful, then the heroes are automatically surprised by the sandling.

The sandling will attempt to drag the last person into the sand pit to the ground and slay him or her before the others react. If severely hurt, reduced to half its hit points or less, the sandling will retreat back into the earth.

• Sandling. Magical creature. Co 6, Ph 12, In 1, Es 8, Dmg +8, Def -4, also immune to mentalism and pounce (entangle).

Kara urges the heroes to move on, saying that the initial legionnaire party already searched the area, but she will reluctantly allow them to search the area if they wish to. If the heroes search, they will find the entire place to be torn apart. It seems as if the attackers were searching wildly for something, however, no other clues are present.

If the heroes insist on searching the barn, they will be attacked by the giant ticks that live there. These giant ticks infested the barn a few days before the farm was attacked. By now all of the livestock have been killed by the insects. The giant ticks will attempt to swarm two or three heroes at a time and drain them before attacking others { a giant tick can only drain up to 7 points, its Physique score, of Strength before detaching itself in order to digest }.

Any attack made against a tick attached to a victim has a chance of hurting the victim { the Narrator should flip a random card from the Fate Deck. If the card is from the suit of Dragons, the victim suffers the damage from the attack }.

Typically, only by killing a giant tick can force it release it from its victim. However, a giant tick will release it victim if damaged at all by fire.

During the trek to Trollwood, the mood should be one of taught nervousness. Kara's dark mood should infuse the party with a sense of eminent danger and despair.

Once the heroes reach Talmeth Farm, the despair should deepen into an eerie sensation as they poke about the ruins of the lifeless farm.

The following actions are only applicable during the heroes' visit to Talmeth Farm. The heroes can attempt to identify the various claw marks that they find. Identifying claw marks require a daunting Reason action. The only clues that the heroes can find on Talmeth Farm are the claw marks. The owners of the claw marks are obviously incredibly strong, since many were made in solid stone. However, if this action is successful, then the examiner deduces that the claw marks are different thatn traditional troll marks. While this would seem to indicate that the trolls are not the culprits, this assumption is only half-true. If the action fails, then the claw marks are simply unidentifiable.

If they enter the barn, then they must deal with the giant ticks. As stated before, the ticks attempt to overwhelm one hero at a time. Therefore, they will attack the lead hero one at a time until one latches on before turning to the next hero. If the action fails, then the tick latches on and begins its Drain (Endurance) attack. To avoid a giant tick attack, a hero must succeed in a challenging Agility (Strength) action. If a tick manages to secure itself on a hero, it will use its Drain (Strength) attack. Heroes will have to succeed in an average Strength(Strength) action to avoid having one point of Strength permanently drained away. However, removing a giant tick requires a desperate Strength (Endruance) action. This action is made in addition to the action to avoid the giant tick's Drain attack.

• Kara Half-elven. Qualinesti half-elf female young adult, rash demeanor, Adventurer. Ag 8X, Dx 7A, En 6C, Str 6B, Re 7B (49), Pe 6A, Sp 5D, Pr 7C, Dmg +4 (cutlass), Def -2 (leather armor), also sorcery (pyromancy), secondary weapon (dagger/+2), and missile weapon (longbow/+6). (see the Character Index for more information)
• Seven Giant Ticks. Insects. Co 2, Ph 7, In 1, Es 5, Dmg +2, Def -4, also drain (Endurance) and infect.

After the heroes sate their curiosity, Kara urges them to travel to Tarney Hall where the initial party of legionnaires went. Go to Act One, Scene Two: The Beleagured Warriors.

Kara Half-elven will oppose any plan that will lead away from Tarney Hall. If the heroes decide to investigate Delgoth Farm or just wander around, go to Act One, Scene Three.