HOW Long?! (ooc)

Waking up on the material plane, the party gains the benefits of a long rest. In an autumnal forest, it seems like about 2 months might have passed. (babbling brook "the perfect place for a beaver"?)
Manny is still not around. Insight check: Dara and Eles remember everything that happened in Shadowfell. Merrli doesn't remember everything, but DOES remember that he has a sister? and probably fought her?
Eles has Guatir back! Dara remembers her mother more fully.
 
BUT. the birds are not singing. There is a deep rumble, "I hate when my subs drop out" -Ben
Perception check- a green dragon? "If we didn't kill the dragon, then whose skin am I wearing" -Merrli
FIGHT. Eles casts Bless on the party
WHY DO I HAVE "HER FROGGY SQUIRTS" about Richard's wife ANYWAY.
 
MANNY ENTERS THE FIGHT?! On the back of a giant elk. He has a new helm, and come with 3 people we don't recognize with a new emblem
Manny and Dara share some kickass combat back and forth. Manny's back-up is a few guards, 2 rangers and a mage.
We're fucking thrilled to see him.
We're in a fight with a green dragon and a dryad lady, as well as some minions. it looks like the dragon is under the control of the dryad queen or w/e she is. Manny is kind of focused on fighting her. It seems like they have history.
Dara gets the last hit on the green dragon. Merrli is fighting a group of dragon elementals (?)
A DRACO-HYDRA?! Also under the command of the dryad queen.
 
Manny casts magic circle. Then stabs the dryad? and says "You left this behind, You're a fool if you think you can win with Asmodeus" "It's got me this far"
"Take a backseat sweetheart" -Dryad "no backseats anytime soon"
Some other magic and combat shenanigans. Eles does an ass ton of healing and staying out of the way of any breath weapons lol. Manny: "If I had a gold piece every time Yondalla will pay for your extended life...and Asmodeus will pay for your sins.
To Merrli, the dryad says "You betrayed mother"
To Eles, the dryad says, "Hey, pretty girl" and tree-strided behind me, Manny follows her. Eles casted Harm. Did she kill the dryad queen? At any rate, she ended up as a pile of ash.
Manny gets the final hit on draco-hydra.
 
Perception on Manny: Eles notices he has more scars and a beard that's been grown for more than 2 months. We've been gone a long time.
3. fucking years. pretty sure Eles just starts sobbing at some point early in this conversation. and at some point in this, Hops shows up and we move inside a camp. The camp is like...right where we disappeared (absolutely brutally sad). It's also fairly sad that before the party knew it's been 3 years, we thought we'd pick up right where we left off with Manny...
 
Playing political catch-up, and these are SO scattered. Noziack and some of the gnomes are mostly on our side/ neutral leaning
Sticky situation in Affgroth-siege-ish. Something about Cleeved and the Scaled Mother's revenge?
Candlekeep: amazing resource of docs for current events. Resource for Hops.
 
THIS is where Eles just has a complete panic attack as she tries to explain what happened to them in Shadowfell. Pretty sure Dara hands her a flask and Eles doesn't immediately refuse it.
Hops is standing outside. Dara is being held back back by guards.
 
Eles rolls 2 ONES on an insight check for Hops, maybe in general but also about Yanef. Eles ends up believing Hops and Manny, but not that Yanef is bad or good. There is something in Eles that doesn't want to trust Yanef. Her memory flashes back to a dream she had in Shadowfell where Lildentha told Eles "Don't trust anyone bearing the raven's feather" She thought that meant the followers in Shadowfell, but maybe it means people in the Shadowed Sanctum.
 
"Candlekeep is a bunch of nerds" verbatim quote from notes.
This is Dara's biggest fear, missing the war.
 
This is practically nonsense to me but again verbatim from notes:
...Just something eating dead bodies quickly
Resistance-while Manny was
articles of resistance compounds
 
Merrli talks about how he's already tried to kill Asmodeus, but we also have to kill Malachar.
 
Eles tries to send a message to Al: "We're safe. Don't know how much time has passed. How have things been? Has anything gotten worse?"
 
Hops is not hoppy with us (lol)
There's no book in Candlekeep like, "What's to expect when you're friends come back from hell"
 
We get real with Hops. He says we hurt Manny.
Eles's thoughts: Does Manny trust us? He blames us?
Hops certainly doesn't trust us
Manny "I know my friends"
"Manny believes us, believes that we are us" was this Eles?
 
Yondalla's been great, Manny is making soup and talking about her.
We're still trying to get a hold on things. Dorath is a lot older.
No idea: Trying to decide if we need to be introduced? or should we already be here?
No tabaxi that we know died?
 
Eles: "So when do we kill gods?"
"That's the most turned on to Eles I've ever been" -Dara
 
"3 freaks like this don't just die"
 
We decide to hold a war meeting. But Dorath wouldn't be there because he's ill. Yanef has been looking after him, but Eles is coming into this way more confident and wants to look over Dorath herself.
Mithrow's good-works under the spymaster
"Take it from me, holding grudges (guilt trips?) aren't cute" Dara? Merrli?
 
We decide to go to Affgroth. from my memory, Eles was pretty adamant about it. "It hasn't been that long, but it's war torn" Dara is crying.
Dorath is keeping visitors.
Can you ask Dorath if he wants to see Dara? " you (Hops?) told us to tell him that she's dead"
"Manny, I don't pull rank"
Dara: "But I will, so take us to my father"
 
DUN DUN DUNNNN!!!!!