Dungeon of the Mad Mage: Meeting Willow (and Halastree)

We took a short rest and continued the exploration of the forest. Luck took us right into the waiting arms of two sentient trees, who blocked our way and asked about our intents regarding the forest. We said that we are explorers[1], and they agreed  to take us to Willow.

We met Willow in her tower. She proved to be a gracious if distant host[2] who cared only about her forest. This whole place was granted to her by Halaster[3] and she is now the guardian of the ecosystem, maintaining the balance etc etc - the usual druid shtick. She only had a huge tentacled panther called Crissan as a companion[4], and a sentient tree butler called Halastree.[5] She gave us permission to explore the forest, as long as we don't kill any creatures. Except the cloakers, which we already eliminated.

The spirit of Crissan couldn't take all the amiable chit-chat and materialized to attack us. We eliminated it before Willow had a chance to see what is going on.

We walked around the forest, evading any dangerous creatures such as this sample basilisk.

As we agreed not to fight anything, we got to see the entire map, including, but not limited to: a cave of giant spiders, a village of goblin wererats, and a young green dragon with a sword embedded in its head. We proposed to get the sword out, but it refused. I proposed to kill it and take its treasure, but I was outvoted.

That was all for the evening, and for 2021 as well. Next year, we'll start exploring the 6th level of the dungeon.

[1] Technically not a lie.

[2] Yes, I tried.

[3] I wonder what he got in return.

[4] We asked, but she did not want to talk about it.

[5] The best part of this evening.