The party sets off at daybreak for the Wood Between. Cian, taking a closer look at the scroll, figures out it is a first level spell. Change Self: a lesson in subtlety indeed. They all board the boat and set off to the west toward the shores of the mainland. It is an uneventful and quick journey under clear skies, taking only a few hours. As soon as they disembark, Ceridwen informs them that she will head into the woods, taking her "brother" with her. She feels it would be best for her to initially address the faye alone, as they react unpredictably to strangers. She will return within a day. Liam questions her as to why she is taking the boy and she responds that she knows some well skilled faye healers that can assist in his recovery. Before departing, she warns them not to enter the woods and to be wary of anything they see.

It isn’t long after Ceridwen has left that the party grows restless. Dierdre, Bebe and Cinn Oir decide to explore inland a little way, though keeping the beach in site. Aside from the sandy beach littered with smooth stones, the rest of the area is covered in tall oak trees. Further inland the trees rapidly increase in size and Cinn Oir notes that they are larger in size than their age would seem to make them. In fact, all the vegetation in the area seems in a near pristine condition and incredibly healthy. There also seem to be a fair number of small woodland animals about. Squirrels, chipmunks and a wide variety of bird life. She then notes something else very interesting, the tracks of a wild boar. Amazingly, the hoof is nearly a foot in diameter. Shocked, she points it out to the rest of the party. Bebe appears quite interested and notes it could provide dinner for weeks to come. After a couple of hours, they return to the beach where Liam is building a fire and Cian is studying the scroll they received yesterday.

As night falls, the party decides upon a watch. They agree to three groups of two person shifts. The night is very peaceful until Liam and Bebe’s watch. They hear a cracking and tearing sound not too far into the woods from their location. Both agree to sit tight and wait instead of investigating. The noise does not go on long and they finish out their watch, deciding to tell the rest of the party in the morning. When morning comes around they mention it to the party and Cinn Oir, Bebe and Dierdre go to investigate. Bebe leads them to the area where the sound came from. They soon find a partially uprooted sapling and more tracks of the enormous wild boar. They quickly return to the rest of the party to report their findings. Cian, hearing about the uprooted sapling, suggest that if they are returning to the Witch's Needle soon, they should try to take it back with them. That island is mostly devoid of vegetation aside from a thick carpet of sod and the occasional patch of moss.

Cinn Oir decides she will strike further inland to look for other suitable trees and for any berries she can use for her Goodberry spell. Liam, an herbalist by trade, also wishes explore a bit to see the area’s selection of herbs. Dierdre and Bebe, not looking forward to another day sitting around the beach decide to accompany them. This leaves Cian and Ciara behind at the ship. The party ventures off into the woods with Cinn Oir making full use of her strong woodland abilities and her experience as a wilderness guide. Striking deeper into the woods, they notice the trees growing thicker and even heartier. As they progress, despite the sun being at the peak of midday, the forest floor darkens from the towering canopy above them. Soon, lighting conditions are no better than twilight and deep shadows surround them. Just as they prepare to turn back, a mournful noise breaks the silence of the woods. A fiddle, plays in the distance, humming a tune of sorrow.

Cinn Oir, immediately suspicious of the noise, turns to head back to the beach. Dierdre, Bebe and Liam wish to try to find its source. Following the sound, they come to a small clearing which is dominated by a large slab of moss covered bluestone. Laying on the slab is a tiny figure. A man by most appearances, though he is only two feet tall and appears to have the legs of a grasshopper! Dierdre and Bebe approach the figure while Liam remains on the edge of the clearing, expecting trouble. As Bebe steps into the clearing the fiddle stops and she senses movement all around them, always on the edge of her vision. They are not alone. Approaching the body, Bebe and Dierdre take a close look at it. The little man seems to be dead, staring blankly into the sky, an expression of almost fear on his face. Leaning in closer, Bebe examines his clothes, a dark green vest with small gems for buttons. 

Suddenly, the tiny man appears to speak. "GO AWAY!" it screams in a low, ghostly voice. Its mouth however, does not move. Bebe, unimpressed, begins to berate the little figure and stubbornly sits down at the edge of the stone slab. The voice repeats itself and Bebe ignores it, asking them to come out cause she knows they are there.

At that moment, a small human girl steps into the clearing. She is smiling and giggling as she looks at Bebe. Bebe calls her over to talk to her. The figure on the slab once again appears to speak, relating the same message "GO AWAY!" The little girl screams and runs off into the woods. Dierdre, exasperated by the strange happenings, turns and heads into the woods back toward the beach. As Dierdre leaves, the fiddle strikes up again, but a more joyous tune this time. Bebe, still unsure what to do, turns to follow Dierdre and Liam, and feels something shifting on her back. Whirling around, she sees nothing, and leaves the clearing.

When they return to the beach, they relate the strange adventure to Cinn Oir, Cian and Ciara. Bebe also notices that her battleaxe is hanging loosely from her belt and that two of her daggers are missing. They agree to stay close to the beach for the remainder of the night. They also agree to wait only until midday tomorrow for Ceridwen to return. As night draws nearer, Liam starts work on a fire while the rest of the group relaxes on the beach. The sun is low in the sky and just as it begins to disappear behind the treetops, Bebe notes a glint of metal in the woods. Remembering her missing daggers, Bebe stalks off into the woods with Liam and Cian on her tail trying to convince her its against better judgment. As she nears the glinting metal she sees it is indeed one of her daggers, lodged in a tree trunk. She gruffly yells "thank you" and a tiny voice from deep in the woods responds "your welcome!" Reaching forward to pull the dagger loose, she sees another a glint further into the woods. With a grunt, she heads after it as well. She can see as she approaches it, it is the shiny silvery dagger they recovered from the farmhouse in Clan MacBruil’s lands. Just as she starts to reach for it, it disappears out of sight. Moments later, she sees a glint again, this time further into the woods. "I’m not as stupid as I look!" she cries and turns back toward the beach. "Oh yeah?" the same distant voice calls after her.

Grumbling, Bebe heads back to the beach with Liam and Cian, who are both thankful she turned around when she did. Just as they reach the tree line however, something unexpected happens. The trees, bushes and roots along the ground all reach out to Entangle them. Bebe easily tears her way through the vegetation while Cian and Liam are both held fast. Enraged, Bebe whirls around with her axe, ready to cut a path to Cian and Liam. Cian, however remains calm and tells Bebe to wait and to avoid tearing up the woods if she can. Just then, a fiddle breaks into song from somewhere on the beach near Dierdre. Bebe decides to turn her attention toward that and heads onto the beach leaving Liam and Cian behind. Cinn Oir, just about ready to fire a Faerie Fire spell to hopefully reveal any invisible assailants, takes note of the fiddle playing. It is a pretty catchy danceable tune and she is unable to avoid breaking into a wild and….irresistible…dance.

Bebe and Dierdre are listening closely to pinpoint the fiddle player while Cian is attempting to be patient. Cian tries to speak to their unseen attackers. His patience pays off and he receives a response, though a negative one. Soon, even more strange events begin to unfold. A small fire begins to appear on the beach right between the bulk of the party and the boat. As if appearing from thin air, glowing torches and brush begin to pile themselves up. Ciara who is close to the slowly appearing fire, draws her dagger and heads toward it, swinging wildly. Dierdre fires a Ray of Frost at the flames to try to extinguish them but is only partially successful. As the fire on the beach builds, Liam is listening carefully into the woods and pinpoints the voice which spoke to Cian. Hoping the being is paying attention, Liam Commands him to "sleep". Not long after, light snoring sounds can be heard from the direction of the voice.

The fire on the beach suddenly begins spewing forth volumes of smoke. Ciara, closest to the smoke, disappears in the writhing mass. Dierdre and Bebe are still groping around for the fiddle player who seems to always be just out of reach. Just as they feel they are close, the music stops. 

Liam, with a prayer to Epona, walks straight out of the Entangle and rushes the tree where the snoring is coming from. When he reaches it, he sees that it is indeed the tree that is snoring. Pulling back his quarter staff, he gives it a good solid whack! The snoring stops briefly and a sleepy voice says something to the effect of "what….I hoggin’ the bed again?" Soon after, the Entagling brush rests and Cian rushes to Liam’s side. He marks the tree with a rope and turns back toward the beach.

Things are strangely quiet. The fiddle playing is gone, the beach is obscured in smoke.... Cian notices they can no longer see the boat. The thick curtain of smoke completely obscures it Walking forward with a cautious pace, he takes a wide berth to avoid the smoke. Suddenly, from the ship's direction, a chorus of diminutive voices strike up a song. Cian recognizes the tune to be an old sea shanty. "The boat!" he cries and the party rushes toward the craft, making a wide circle around the smoke. They arrive at the shore just in time to see the boat heading off to sea, the oars going furiously, though no rowers can be seen, and the sea shanty continuing in full force. Diving in, Dierdre, Cian and Cinn Oir take off swimming. Liam stands on the shore, keeping a close eye on the swimmers and Bebe plops down on the beach in exasperation.

The boat is pulling out quickly. Cinn Oir, nearly overtakes it and makes an unsuccessful grab at the mooring line when she too is left behind. Returning to the beach, the party notices that the boat is staying fairly close to shore. Cian can tell these aren’t experienced sailors, as the boat turns awkwardly along the shore. Determined to retrieve his boat, Cian sets off after it on foot, with the party in tow. The boat fortunately never wanders far out to sea and by early morning the singing has settled into a chorus of exhaustion. Not long after daybreak, the boat beaches and little figures can be seen leaping off into the woods. The party retrieves the boat and decides to sail back to their original landing point. Once there, they will wait until noon for Ceridwen; anchoring just off the coast and ready to leave at a moment’s notice. The faye are quite obviously getting on their nerves.

Noon rolls around and Dierdre, ready to leave, tells everyone its time to shove off. Cian begrudgingly reels in the anchor and they are soon sailing north along the coast. Not keen on returning home, the party wishes to investigate Ceridwen’s claims about the north and even look into a few legends they remember hearing as children. Dierdre in particular is keen on finding the "Palace of the Waves" presumably the last tower to be occupied by the Fomorians. Not far up the coast however, their voyage is sidetracked.

Standing on the beach with a rather sheepish look on his face is one of the small grasshopper legged people, carrying a tiny fiddle. With him are three other faye of the same kind. The one with the fiddle calls out to them. He apologizes for the boat incident and asks if they could help him. He points to Liam, calling him "Miach" and saying they could use a healer. Dierdre is completely uninterested in their story and believes it to be another ruse. Bebe and Cinn Oir are also quite wary of this and willing to sail on. Cian, however, is reluctant to turn down their "distress call" and Liam, a natural healer, is curious. The little people tell them that they are to help their friend, "the one they met yesterday on the stone slab".

Amidst a whirlwind of discussion and threats to leave them to their fate, Cian and Liam propose to head inland and check the veracity of the claim. Cian anchors the boat just off shore and he and Liam wade out to the beach to meet the little faye. The faye thank them and take the two adventurers back through the woods to see their "injured" fellow. One keeps insisting that the injured faye is dead and needs to be buried, the other seems to agree to some extent yet the leader is very adamant about trying to help. Liam, or "Miach" as the wee people have taken to calling him, examines the body. He can tell that the poor little creature isn’t dead but closer to something of a coma. He can find no traces of poison or wounds upon his body where poison may have been introduced. Casting Detect Magic, Liam determines that there is a latent aura of Transmutation. The faye with the fiddle, who appears to be a leader of sorts, informs them that the victim was found near something called "the Pool of Black". It is a place of hidden danger where other faye have completely disappeared.

Mystified, Cian and Liam return to the boat with the body to discuss the problem with the rest of the group. A suggestion is made by Dierdre that the small faye's condition could possibly be a curse. With nothing else to go on however, they decide its best to check out the "Pool of Black" for any clues. The group (quite begrudgingly, Dierdre as well) decides to go, aside from Ciara who agrees to look after the boat. The faye are very apprehensive to take the adventurers to the "Pool of Black" and in the end only the fiddle carrier agrees to go. He leads them further into the woods and into a deep ravine. He stops at the entrance to the ravine and points further in, refusing to go any closer. Cautiously, the party goes further, taking the body of the faye with them.

The first thing they notice is a horrible odor. Soon they discover its source. A small nearly perfectly circular pool of rancid water. The stale water is definitely of a black color and reaks of decay. Cinn Oir identifies it as water, and more precisely partly salt water which is definitely not something anyone should drink. On a hunch, Liam checks the immobile faye’s mouth for any traces of the black sludge but does not find any. Taking a closer look around the clearing, his work as an herbalist pays off and he spots a rare plant nearby which is incredibly useful in the brewing of healing potions. The session ends with the party considering taking some of the plant and trying to brew a remedy for whatever ails the faye…..