Luke spends some time gaping in astonishment at the view.

Once we get to the pool below, Luke takes off his black hat and his helmet and ducks his head into the waterfall for a second or two, then stands back up.

"What a glorious place!  I've never seen anything like it.  Completely hidden... I wonder if there are any people here.  Druids or elves maybe?  I hope there's someone we can talk to.  It doesn't seem right to just come in here and start hacking away at the enemy -- or worse yet, lighting them on fire.  Might just make the forest mad at us.

"But I don't know what I'm talking about here.  Aerandis, this seems like your kind of place.  What should we do?"

Dayereth feels the closeness of the fey, but the thought does not comfort him.

"If I were you Aerendis, I wouldn't waste my time looking for humanoid life, but rather spend it sharpening a blade. A Wood Woad hates all non-forest life. Anything which uses the spoils of the forest, even in an attempt to live in harmony with it, is guilty in it's eyes.  This Woad which we have heard of has been driven mad by the sky-rock, in addition to being a murderous creature on it's own.  I doubt any of your brethren have survived here.  Particularly considering that it is now targeting villages outside the canyon."

"The nearness of the fey is interesting as well.  The feywild is made of magics which seem strange and fantastic to this world.  Be on the lookout for strange creatures and occurences while we're here."

Before they make camp, Dayereth takes Aerendis aside and again repeats the ritual, since they have killed creatures since the last time the bow was use.  After it is complete, Dayereth examines the characters emblazoned on the bowshaft.

"It is taking the magic, but not as quickly as I'd hoped.  Perhaps if you used it's main power more often, the wood would adapt better to the magic which it is trying to contain."

From your high vantage point you can watch several flocks bats streaming from caves in the sides of the cliff. Occasionally winged drakes swoop through the bats. Other than several nests high in the trees the only obvious destination is an island set in the middle of a river. The island appears heavily forested and is probably large enough to hide a village beneath the canopy.

Aaron's stomach is in knots, gnarled and twisting as the rush of spores comes over him, sensing fully the fear the Myconid expresses.  So used to words and gestures and lazy common, getting "spoken to" by spores and all the non verbal information it conveys is truly amazing.  His stomach now settled as his brain reminds him there is no immediate danger, he takes in every sight he can, doing his best to appear calm and relaxed.  In truth, this underground world is beyond anything he could ever have imagined in any world.  True he was not the most eloquent or learned persons in the world, but he had just enough experience and wisdom to know there were many places like this and probably much closer to home than he realized.

Lost in his thoughts, although mindful of where they were walking, he listens but does not offer any solid answers or responses to the others discussion.  Yes, he was here to help them gather ingredients and any and all of the components that would be needed to raise Nadarresh's spirit but he was also here because these warriors and wizard were here to do what was right.  In this case it was to help the local village as best they could, help the local Myconids and restore the Woad to his normal self.

"Fighting a tree...that would be strange.” he agreed and nodded his head as Luke spoke but they had already done that earlier or yesterday, although they seemed to be more like roots than a tree.  “Evil?  Were the trees evil?  Or just defending themselves?  Maybe they had been corrupted or like the Wood Woad were lashing out because of the effects of the comet like Dayereth said?”  Aaron knew little of the Arcane so he trusted in the Wizard's abilities, which seemed quite formidable indeed these past few days.  “You know, so much credit is always given to a group’s wizard as the most powerful next to a cleric and the wrath of his deity or the weakest as they tend to be more fragile than a child in his first year.  A great fighter can break down a locked door, knock aside several foes to kill a wizard before the spell caster could launch so much as a magic-missile.  In fact I have seen a one do exactly that on several occasions, but not by his speed or power.  It was amazing to see but also something I will never forget.  A young brat, with a steady hand and excellent aim, hurled a stone to strike down the city guard wizard that was in my patrol group at a merchant bazzarr.  He was just thirty feet from him, no warning, no reason except to attack one of the guard, he dropped, out cold with one, very well placed shot.  Luckily, it was just a boy and the rock was small enough that the wizard lived to stand beside me for two more years.  I might be able to stop a stone from hitting you Dayereth, but this Woad…”  he trails off, shaking his head and sits on a large stone like mushroom.  “I do not know how effective we will be without your magic?”

Looking at the pathway they had come and towards the way they had come in, he looks as far as he can see and says, “I think we need to regroup on the surface, find Brent and then plan a way to stop the Woad.  So what plans do we make?”