The Swamp 2

The group had been split up.   Stromy and Rasa had found two tiny fea who were playing tricks with them. They had put them in a loop of going in a circle, but said it was cause Rasa shot their Tree friend. When asked, they said that they didn't see them cashing anything, just running. They also said that they were luckily they were the ones that found them.   A Dryad popped up with a wounded arm and Stormy patched him up. he gave her one of his pods as thanks. The fea decided to help and lead them to the Elder tree, but told them at it hadn't spoken in years.   Along the way, the fea asked them questions. Like if Rasa was a hunter, and being confused when he said he was a ranger. They told them about the last ranger of the swamp, a man named Xifa. They told them about him and how they missed him. When they got to the clearing a noise was heard and the fea left them, telling Rasa that they hoped he really wasn't a hunter.   Nil, meanwhile, was following Sai. He saw the fog do weird things and heard 'he is rising' then Sai led him to a well. the well held a glowing flower and had a reflection of his younger self in the water. Nil used magic to find out what was going on and then jumped in the well to get the flower, but the moment he touched the water he went into a vision. The Vision showed a maybe memory, then a house he had never been it but that held the eye. When he touched the eye the vision got weirder. when he got out of the vision and the well he was alone and headed for a burnt cabin he saw.   Auri, meanwhile, was trying to follow Nil and found an origami crane that had an aura. he picked it up and it gave him a vision; smoke, screams, names. Then a voice on the wind asked him to find and help. The crane hit him in the head and moved forward, asking him to follow. He saw that it was going in almost the same direction that Nil went and the direction that the others were converging on.   Damaia followed her mentor, until it led to a direwolf. The wolf was there but only for a moment as it jumped to a tree and vanished. in the tree relaxing was a creature she had never seen. It led her to the river where a boat was and then ran off when it heard a shot. Damaia went down the river till she decided that she had to risk going into the swamp again to help her friends; the ones she came with and the new one she made.   Auri found Nil meditating in a cabin. Then they heard a scream and ran outside to see a huge creature roaring and then appear right in from of Rasa and Stormy and attack.   The fight was long. The creature had multiple forms, but each smaller after the initial growth. Auri and Damaia could make out out of it's screams as inferno and telling them to get out. Nil learned that the creature was the ranger Xifa. After that reveal they tried to talk it down. Damaia and Auri were most successful, but it still took awhile. The fight almost began again when Rasa shot at it, but they managed to get it back to it's original form and found that Xifa was a ghost who couldn't remember much.   He told them of the attack and the plead and boon from the fea/swamp to get revenge on the Hunters that came to attack the small community because they blamed the Tielflings on the sickness that had ran through the country at the time. He finally remembered that he was trying to get his son and the other children back that one of the hunters took.   He then asked them to bury his bones and they did, Auri giving him a funeral rite and they watched him fade. They then went to the other five cabins and buried the nine other bodies they found.   Nil used his coin on the bones to see Xifa saving the kids and dying and then a baby Auri coming out of the backroom and running. He managed to find out the names of all the bodies except the wife of Xifa.   They also used the coin on the tree to see its life and what the tree had experienced, including the baby fea that came out of the tree, the growth into the elder tree, first person to swear to protect the swamp, the rise and fall of the first group of people in the swamp (them just moving), and the rise again of the 5 cabin community, Xifa taking his oath to protect the swamps, him talking about meeting a girl, his wedding, the tree growing to big to see outside of it's leaves, kids playing under the tree, Xifa napping with fea, and baby Auri hugging the tree. They also saw the loneliness and emptiness when it was all gone.   When they saw the sun rising they all decided on a nap and just then met Einir, the leader of the 2nd squadron and a dragonborn.