The silvery guide-light drifted ahead of them with patient consistency, leading the party through increasingly dense sections of the Hollow Vale's twisted forest. They had barely been traveling for ten minutes when the familiar countdown began appearing in their interfaces—another Red Moon event approaching.
"Here we go again," Nira said, checking the timer. "Right on schedule."
The silvery wisp immediately shifted course, leading them toward one of the scattered hunter's cabins that dotted the deeper forest areas.
"This thing really does seem to know about the safe zones," Serein observed as they approached the weathered structure.
The cabin was similar to others they'd sheltered in—small, sturdy, and showing signs of hasty abandonment. A table was still set for a meal that had never been eaten, while personal belongings lay scattered as if their owners had fled without warning. The oppressive atmosphere that characterized the Hollow Vale seemed muted within the structure's walls, providing psychological as well as mechanical refuge.
🌙 System Alert: The Red Moon Rises 🌙
Through the cabin's windows, they watched the familiar transformation as Vaelith's influence spread across the forest. The howls and skittering sounds of enhanced creatures echoed through the night, but the walls of their shelter held firm against the corruption outside.
"At least we know the timing now," Nira observed, settling in to wait out the event timer. "Every twenty minutes like clockwork."
"Could be worse," Lunessa agreed, checking her equipment while they waited. "Better than getting caught in the open."
When the Red Moon event finally ended and they emerged from the cabin, the guide-light was waiting patiently nearby, ready to continue their journey toward the second sacred site.
Their progress continued steadily but cautiously, the wisp waiting whenever they needed to clear hostile encounters from their path.
"Another spider," Lunessa called out, her enhanced darkvision picking up the telltale shape perched motionless in the canopy ahead. "This one's level 16. Should be manageable."
The Widowspine Spider dropped as expected, releasing its cluster of spiderlings as they'd learned to anticipate. But at their current level and with their refined tactics, the encounter felt routine rather than threatening. Nira's flames cleared the small creatures efficiently while Lunessa's daggers found the weak points in the main spider's carapace with practiced precision.
"Remember when we couldn't even handle one of these things?" Spudicus observed as Widget's lasers provided supporting fire.
"Different levels, different gear, different experience," Ironstride replied pragmatically. "Though I'm not complaining about the improvement."
The Blooded Tree was impossible to miss once they finally reached the clearing where it stood.
The massive oak dominated the space, its trunk easily twenty feet in diameter and its branches spreading wide enough to shelter a small building. But where a healthy tree might have been green and vibrant, this ancient specimen pulsed with an unsettling vitality that spoke of corruption rather than natural growth. The bark had taken on a deep crimson hue that seemed to shift and flow in the red moonlight, while the roots that spread across the forest floor appeared to be seeping some kind of dark liquid into the surrounding soil.
Most notably, the omnipresent red fog that drifted throughout the Hollow Vale was thicker here, concentrated around the tree's base like some kind of atmospheric infection. The mist writhed and coiled between the massive roots, creating pools of near-impenetrable vapor that could easily conceal threats.
"That's definitely not natural," Spudicus said, Widget's sensors detecting elevated magical activity from the tree itself. "Whatever happened here, it left a permanent mark on the landscape."
As they approached the edge of the clearing, movement within the fog caught their attention. Three shapes emerged from the crimson mist with the deliberate movements of guardians responding to intruders—two more Hollow Chapel Guards flanking a much larger threat.
Level 17 Elite: Hollow Chapel Guard
Level 18 Elite: Cryptbear
"Cryptbear mixed with chapel guards," Ironstride noted, already raising his shield as he assessed the tactical situation. "This is going to be interesting. The bear's going to want to charge while the guards try to support it."
The Cryptbear proved him right almost immediately.
Pallbearer's Charge
The massive creature barreled forward with devastating momentum, its coffin lid armor adding weight and impact to what was already a thunderous assault. But the party's experience with similar encounters served them well—Ironstride positioned himself to intercept while the others scattered to avoid the area damage.
"Slow it down!" Lunessa called out, already moving to flank the chapel guards who were attempting to support their larger companion. Her enhanced mobility allowed her to close the distance before they could begin their healing prayers.
Spudicus deployed his movement restriction gadgets with practiced efficiency, weighted nets and alchemical compounds creating obstacles that disrupted the Cryptbear's charges. Widget's lasers focused on the joint connections in its armor, gradually loosening the straps that held the coffin lid in place.
The chapel guards proved more challenging than their previous encounters with similar foes. These ones seemed more aware, more tactical in their approach to supporting the Cryptbear. When Lunessa moved to interrupt their healing attempts, they adapted by positioning themselves to make her attacks more difficult.
"They're learning," Serein observed, his healing keeping pace with the sustained damage from multiple elite opponents. "Or at least these ones remember more of their tactical training."
Nira's flames washed over the entire group in controlled bursts, her improved spell power allowing her to maintain pressure on all three enemies simultaneously. The Cryptbear's bulk made it an easy target for her area attacks, while the chapel guards had to constantly reposition to avoid the worst of the fire damage.
The turning point came when Spudicus managed to completely entangle the Cryptbear's legs, leaving it immobilized while the party focused fire on the more mobile chapel guards. Without their healing support, the massive creature became significantly more vulnerable to sustained assault.
When the last enemy fell, the clearing fell silent except for the distant sounds of the forest and the soft whisper of wind through the massive tree's branches.
"Not too bad," Nira said, checking her mana reserves. "Though they definitely hit harder than the ones at the shrine."
"Progression scaling," Lunessa replied, approaching the base of the massive tree. "Each site is probably going to be a bit more challenging than the last."
The tree itself was even more unsettling up close. The bark's surface was covered in what appeared to be scratch marks, as if someone had repeatedly clawed at the wood in desperation or fury. Some of the gouges were deep enough to reveal the red-tinged wood beneath, while others formed patterns that might have been intended as writing.
"Look at this," Ironstride called out, pointing to a section of the trunk where the scratches were definitely deliberate. "These aren't random claw marks. Someone carved words into the bark."
The message was crude but readable: "Our lord would save us. At any cost."
"That has to be from before the corruption spread," Serein said, studying the carving. "Someone was here when Lord Veyne first made his bargain."
But it was Lunessa's enhanced perception that made the most significant discovery. While the others examined the carved message, she noticed something glinting among the massive roots at the tree's base. The red fog made it difficult to see clearly, but her keen senses picked up the telltale reflection of parchment or paper.
"There's something in the roots," she announced, carefully making her way through the thick mist toward the object. "Looks like a piece of paper or maybe a letter."
The fragment was partially buried beneath fallen leaves and debris, but it was clearly a piece of correspondence that had somehow survived the years of corruption and decay. As Lunessa carefully extracted it from its hiding place, she could see that most of the text had been damaged by time and moisture, but several lines remained legible.
"...the harvest fails again. Three winters now. The children grow thin and the elders speak of darker times ahead. But I have heard whispers from the deep forest, stories of aid for those desperate enough to seek it..."
"Hold the chapel. I must go deeper. Trust me."
"—V"
The party gathered around as Lunessa read the fragments aloud, the implications immediately clear to everyone who had been following the quest narrative.
"That's from Lord Veyne to Dame Calderas," Nira said, her tail swishing with excitement at the discovery. "This is right before he went into the forest to make his pact with Vaelith."
"And he's asking her to hold the chapel," Spudicus added. "So she knew he was going to do something dangerous, but maybe not exactly what."
"Look at the tone," Serein observed. "He's trying to reassure her, but you can tell he's already desperate. 'At any cost' and 'deep forest' and asking her to trust him. He knew this was risky."
Lunessa studied the letter fragment again, noting details in the handwriting that spoke of haste and stress. "This wasn't a casual decision. He was under pressure, probably from the entire village. Everyone looking to him for a solution to problems he couldn't solve through normal means."
As they discussed the implications of their discovery, another system notification appeared, accompanied by a new lore fragment materializing before them:
Lore Fragment Discovered: The Lord's Desperation
Lord Aurelian Veyne was not a cruel man who sought power for its own sake. He was a leader who loved his people more than his own soul, driven to desperate measures by circumstances beyond his control. The letter found at the Blooded Tree reveals the weight of responsibility that ultimately led him to seek aid from powers that should have remained undisturbed.
Their quest objective updated immediately:
Current Objective: Investigate the Fallen Camp
"Three sites, three pieces of the puzzle," Ironstride said as the silvery guide-light reappeared at the edge of the clearing. "Whatever we find at this last location should complete the picture of what really happened here."
"And probably lead us to Sir Coren," Lunessa added, checking her equipment as they prepared to continue. "Brother Halden said his brother was the one who broke completely under the strain."
The guide-light led them deeper into the forest than they'd ever ventured before, through areas where the trees grew so thick that even the red moonlight struggled to penetrate the canopy. The atmosphere grew heavier with each step, as if the very air was saturated with old grief and lingering trauma.
After nearly an hour of travel through increasingly wild terrain, they began to smell smoke—not the pleasant wood smoke of a campfire, but the acrid scent of things that shouldn't burn. The guide-light slowed its pace, then stopped entirely at the edge of what had once been a military encampment.
The Fallen Camp spread before them like a tableau of ancient tragedy. Burned tents and scattered equipment spoke of a battle that had ended badly, while the positioning of the debris suggested the defenders had been overwhelmed rather than defeated in fair combat. Silver banners hung in tatters from broken poles, their moon sigils barely visible through the stains and damage.
But most striking of all was what happened to their guide-light as they approached the camp's perimeter.
The silvery wisp began to flicker and pulse, its steady glow becoming erratic. Then, without warning, it shattered like glass, breaking apart into dozens of smaller lights that scattered throughout the ruined encampment.
As the fragments of light settled into various positions around the camp, they began to coalesce into translucent figures—ghostly forms that moved with purpose and spoke in voices like distant echoes.
At the center of the camp, a tall figure in pristine armor commanded attention as she issued orders to her spectral troops. Even in her ghostly state, the resemblance to Dame Calderas was unmistakable—but this was Dame Calderas as she had been before the corruption, standing straight and proud with the bearing of a knight who had never doubted her cause.
"Hold the line!" the ghostly Dame Calderas commanded, her voice carrying across the camp with authority that even death couldn't diminish. "Whatever comes from the forest, we do not yield! The village depends on us!"
The other ghostly figures—chapel guards and knights in the prime of their service—moved to defensive positions around the camp's perimeter. Their movements spoke of discipline and training, but also of fear. Whatever they were preparing to face had terrified even these seasoned warriors.
From the forest behind the party, a series of very real howls echoed through the night—deep, hungry sounds that spoke of things that had never been human and never would be.
"That doesn't sound like our usual wolf encounters," Spudicus said quietly, Widget's sensors detecting movement in the darkness beyond the treeline.
"No," Lunessa agreed, her hand instinctively moving to her daggers as the howls grew closer. "That sounds like something much worse."