81st Turn, Seventh Year, Twenty-Second Cycle, Skalday
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From the Journal of Aframos Longjourney, Pilgrim

With notes by Avos Torr, Scholar of Rheve Library

Skalday, Twenty-second Cycle, Seventh Year, 81st Turn

Seventy-First Day in the Woods

We are in a dark part of the woods today. The trees above us grow close together, their branches intertwining to form a dense roof1. Occasionally glints of light from up above prove it is day, but I have to use my lamp to see.

Occasionally, small creatures will move near our feet, too quickly for us to see just what they are. There are sounds from beyond the reach of the light, things not as large as Torne, but larger than a rabbit. They seem to be keeping their distance for now. They are probably curious. Still… It is disquieting, to hear these things, but not to see them. Even with the light from the lantern, there is little I can tell about our surroundings. It is like being in a cave or an unlit building.

The trees around us are covered by a thick, leprous-seeming fungus. Ropy white strings fall from the trees like hairs. Mushrooms of all kinds are evident. The cloying smell of rotting leaves is almost overwhelming.

Long, wormlike creatures occasionally move through the leaf litter. I thought they were snakes the first time I saw them, but they are covered in thick slime, and far too flexible to be serpents. Their bodies are long and black, with small white feelers at one end2. One coiled around Torne's ankle and he nearly fell over trying to get it off. The slime numbed his skin, and it was an hour before he had full feeling in that foot again. His trousers are now tucked into his boots. Fortunately, my scales seem to provide some defense against them. That, or perhaps I am not susceptible to their poison.

We are sleeping in a hollow formed by two trees that fell against each other. We cleared the ground of leaves, and set up our camp. We will both be watching carefully tonight. There's no telling what might find us here.

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