Editing Amethyst Guard (section)

===The Standing Stones===
A few days later, the group began to hear chatter from the townsfolk about how unusual it was that no one from Ossington had come south for the festival. In fact, no one from Ossington had come through Oakhurst at all for the past few months. Worried that there could be trouble, the Amethyst Guard headed north into the [[Brindenwood]] to see what had befallen the village. As they drew near, they began to notice that the sounds of the forest had gone completely silent, until a loud scream pierced the air. Hurrying to the source of the sound, they arrived just in time to see an armored figure on horseback cut down a fleeing man, trample him with his horse, and then vanish into thin air. Just beyond, they found two more dead bodies slain in the same manner, with the cart they had been riding. The adventurers continued on, and as night fell they came upon the farm of an old man named Tarbee, and his daughter, Tanasha. Tarbee told them that the ones killed by the horsemen had been trying to leave the forest to get food, and warned them to turn back and return the way they came. Tanasha was more forthcoming, explaining that the people were starving because the horseman cut down anyone who ventured from the village to buy supplies or plant crops, and the elves killed any villagers who entered the forest to hunt. She told them to speak with the village elder to learn more, and the next morning the group set out once more. They came upon a small chapel filled with shrines to various gods, tended to by an old woman with an unusual monkey-like pet. She told them her name was Henwen, and her pet a creature called a hobyah, and asked if they had made their peace with the gods and prepared for their eventual deaths.

Just past the chapel the forest thinned as the road passed between two standing stones, part of an enormous circle of them. A smaller circle of stones stood deeper in, with the village of Ossington nestled within it. By the time they arrived at the village, a crowd of starving villagers had formed, begging for food, help, and rescue. The mob suddenly calmed at the sound of a beautiful melody on a lute, played by a tall gangly man in multicolored clothes. He introduced himself as the Cuckoo, and when they asked of the village's troubles he offered to introduce them to Elder Murdows. Murdows explained that their town had never been friendly with the wild elves in the northern forest, who hated anyone not of their tribe, but that they rarely had problems as long as they didn't venture into the elves' territory. A few months ago, the horseman arrived. He visited each of the local monuments - the chapel, the double stone circles, a set of standing stones deep in the forest called the Silence Keepers, and an enormous painting on a hillside called the Red Horse - before riding out to the Great Barrow in the middle of the woods. Soon after, a group of men who went out to gather wood were found dead, their bodies shot full of elven arrows. More people started turning up missing, and what bodies were found were clearly killed by the elves. Eventually, the elves started shooting villagers in broad daylight, even when they weren't in the forest. When Meril, the previous village elder, led a group out under a white flag of parley, they were massacred. Meril's body was pinned to a tree with so many arrows they couldn't remove him. When they tried to leave to get help, they found themselves under attack by the Horseman, lurking in the woods to kill anyone who tried to leave the village. Before he could ask for help, however, an arrow flew through the window and struck him in the chest, killing him. The Amethyst Guard gave chase, but found only footprints leading into the forest.

The next day, they decided that first step to solving the mystery would be to visit the places the horseman had been when he first came to town. Having already been to the chapel, they investigated the double circle of stones around the village and found them inscribed with druidic script, but couldn't make sense of it. As they headed deeper into the woods, they once again noticed that it was eerily quiet, lacking even the buzz of insects or the rustle of small creatures. They came across numerous skeletons, mostly humans but a few elves, before they were suddenly accosted by the horseman. They quickly realized he was a ghost, and when they defeated him he and his horse merely faded away. The first site they reached was Red Horse Hill, a tall hillside with a massive carving of an animal carved into it. Though the locals believed it to be a horse, Vorelyth thought back to her knowledge of the region's history and concluded it was actually a depiction of the red dragon [[Ashardalon]], who had terrorized the region until he was slain by the druid [[Dyfydd]] some three hundred years prior. Inspecting the site closer, they found what appeared to be a flooded quarry, now a stagnant swamp. As they approached, the horseman appeared again. This time, however, he rode slowly out over the water, then turned to them and saluted before sinking below the surface. Lizard dove into the water after him, and discovered the headless body of the horseman, as well as his horse. A chain around what was left of his neck held a holy symbol of [[Pelor]], leaving them unsure of why a knight in the sun god's service would be terrorizing the village. Surmising that a proper burial might cause his ghost to depart, they respectfully laid him to rest.

As they continued, they found themselves occasionally the targets of the elves' arrows, though their attackers never revealed themselves. Arriving at the Great Barrow, they found an opening above which was inscribed the name, "Saithnar the Warlord." Though the interior was a maze of narrow passages, secret doors, and earth elementals, they eventually arrived at the central chamber and found the warlord's sarcophagus. As they moved to inspect it, a booming voice asked their business, and they saw the warlord himself, now an undead wight. When they explained that they were merely seeking answers as to the trouble that had befallen Ossington, he agreed to aid them, on the condition that one of them best him in a duel. Sigurd elected to be the Guards' champion, and after exchanging blows the warlord yielded. He told them he was not responsible for recent occurrences, and that though he wouldn't put it past the elves to cleanse the humans from their forest he had never heard of them doing so and suspected they must have a reason, as they ordinarily didn't bother those who left them alone. His only contact with the villagers came in the form of the offerings they would leave in his barrow, but those had stopped suddenly a few months ago. He did elaborate on Vorelyth's history of Ashardalon: the double circle of stones was the holy site for a circle of druids, until they were slaughtered by Ashardalon. Dyfydd, the sole survivor, repopulated the area by using druidic magic to transform some of the forest animals into a humanoid form and inscribed the spell upon the circle of stones in case it ever needed to be used again. Though they had more questions now than answers, they bid the warlord farewell and continued on towards the Silence Keepers.

As they approached the stones, a tree suddenly attacked them, revealing itself as a massive treant. At the same time, several elves and a pixie emerged from cover and attacked the heroes in earnest. Despite a bloody battle, they proved victorious, and while the elves refused to surrender, they succeeded in taking one alive. Under questioning, she eventually revealed that her name was Yellis. She told them of how several months ago, a wizard named Dyson arrived in Ossington. Soon after, he began to use Dyfydd's spell to turn animals into people. The elves objected to so many creatures being removed from the woods, but when they send a delegation to protest against his actions, they were ambushed and massacred. Soon after, their village was set ablaze; she and her hunting party were the only survivors, and now she is all that remains. The Amethyst Guard, at last understanding what was truly going on, asked her to join them when they confronted Dyson, an offer to which she gleefully agreed.

When they returned to Ossington, the village seemed oddly empty at first. Then, an enormous mob of them swarmed out of their homes, trying to kill them. Undeterred, they fought through them until they reached Dyson's tower. The door was locked tight, so Gilia transformed Lizard into a giant ape, and he simply climbed up the side with Callisto as the spellcasters attacked from below. At the top of the top they found themselves facing not just the wizard Dyson, but Henwen and the Cuckoo as well. The Cuckoo hung back and mostly cast magic from his lute, but when the battle began to turn against him, he suddenly transformed into a vrock, spraying them with demonic spores before flying off, taunting them as he fled. Soon after, Dyson and Henwen were slain. Though Dyson had tried to burn his papers, they managed to save enough to determine his scheme: having reconstructed Dyfydd's spell, he had slowly been replacing Ossington's citizens with his own newly-created faux people. One of Dyson's agents had slain the horseman when he got nosy, causing his ghost to seek vengeance against the villagers he believed to have slain him. He had also orchestrated the elven massacre to keep them from interfering. Though his true goals were unclear, the Amethyst Guard returned to Oakhurst, satisfied that they had, at least, stopped them.