Our mission with the Good Beast now complete, we headed to the next Standing Stone to the south, that of the First Tree. The map we brought with us said it would be nearly back the way we came, between the river we followed up, and a river further to the west.

Crossing the frozen lake, we headed into a rather thick forest of tall pine trees. We continued southwest until we found the other river noted on the map, then headed back southeast. If this stone was as tall as the first one, we could zig-zag across this piece of land and eventually see it, even from a distance.

We came across a number of creatures, mostly wolves and bears. At those times when they attacked, a spell of God's Fire, followed by a few silver arrows put them down without them ever getting close enough to give us a scratch.

We also noticed that as we traveled further south, the snow on the ground seemed to vanish.

Checking the map, and the location of the two rivers on it, we figured we should be near our destination. There was a tall hill nearby, so we climbed up to get a better view of the area.

There, just south of the hill, was a tall Standing Stone.

Closer at hand was a Rickling raider that we decided would be better off dead, so we helped him along with a few arrows.

We climbed up the hill to examine the stone a little better.

As I crept closer, just like on the first stone, words appeared before me.

Faint at first, the words suddenly grew bold and easy to see.

"The First Trees are gone. Travel east and find the one who has stolen the Seeds. Beware - he who has the seeds, controls the trees. Plant the First anew."

The writing then faded as quickly as it appeared. 

"Just like in the story, huh?" asked Laurenna.

"Correct." I said, "And I believe that not to far to the east, we'll probably find trouble."

We headed off to the east as directed, towards a huge rock. The river we had followed up here was not too far in the distance. I wondered just how far we'd have to go before finding this trouble-maker.

We made it to the huge boulder we saw from the Standing Stone when suddenly, from out of the shadows, a Rickling attacked.

I started slashing back at him with my broadsword, blocking the attacks of his boar with my shield.

Suddenly, I could hear Laurenna engaged in battle as well. A bristleback boar had charged her as well, catching her by surprise.

We both won the day, thanks to our sword skills, but we both had to do healing spells before moving on.

After the effects of the healing potions wore off, I checked the area just southeast of the boulder we had been attacked at. Just ahead, in a clearing, I could see a small figure surrounded by several tall, green figures.

They tall figures were circling and dancing around the smaller one in the center. He was chanting to them, and they seemed to be singing back.

I told Laurenna to stay where she was.

"But I want to come with you!" she said, upset that she couldn't join in.

"Not this time." I said. "If this is what I think it is, there's going to be a lot of fireball spells getting tossed around, and I don't want you in the blast range."

I turned to give her a word of assurance. "Besides, I have the Belt of Flight." I said. "I'll be ok."

With that, I drew my broadsword quietly, and tried sneaking through the trees, trying to get a better look at this odd party in the forest.

As quietly as possible, I crept past one tree, then another, getting closer to the clearing, trying to hear what the creature in the middle was chanting.

When I was close enough, I could make out who was directing this party. It was a Rickling. Just like in the story, he held the trees spirits, these Spriggans, in his thrall.