Thea: No Safety

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With no time to waste, Team Talarian escapes from the dragon's lair and rushes back to the village but at each turn are faced with hostiles coming out of the wood work. Monstrous bats swarm Alysir and drain him dry and try the same to Ravanel Rising, but since she is undead they instead opt to lift her high into the sky and let gravity finish her off. Needler is swarmed by skeletons at is basically boned to death, and Light Falls is caught and used as food in the web of a dragon spider, which I can only assume is a spider the size of a dragon.

Team Talarian makes it back to man the walls just in time as a group of dragon spiders attacks the village. The arachnids are slain but at the high cost of Fanatic Sword, Spiral Star, Moxie Pally, Burning Octopus and Graev. There are werewolf sightings in the vicinity soon after but before a team can be assembled to hunt them down a fierce storm hits the village leading to more injuries.

Your reward for saving the land! Lol.

With the werewolves out of range, a rebuilt Team Talarian (Talarian, Tacktix TLC, Ardwulf, Ancient Gamer) opt for a lightning raid against some nearby slavers instead, rescuing two children and the witch, Natalie Patalie. They then return to the Memorial Ground and all pitch in to construct stronger defenses, improving the wall just in time to thwart a striga attack. Establishing his position as chief, Talarian Design dictates that no one leave the village walls for their own safety.

Thea: A Hero's Reward

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With soaring morale after the victory against the Zmey, Team Talarian proceeds to start smashing the goblin camps across the land. They are joined by the elves, Alysir and Burning Octopus (aka the wandering translucent elf), whose curse is lifted thanks to Talarian's magic he learned from Striga Syl. Not long after they also encounter a dreaded black mist, the last of the darkness, combing the land.

Why would it form a face though?

Instead of cowering from it, Team Talarian banishes it once and for all like the true heroes they are! Unfortunately things aren't going as smoothly at the Memorial Ground, whose reward for helping save the world is to be attacked by raiders. While Ardwulf and Tyranno Dorkus fight them off, Curian and Belly Rumbles are slain in the attack. It doesn't help that the slain raiders rise as undead and must be defeated a second time. Fortunately the veteran warrior Ancient Gamer arrives to help.

Team Talarian immediately changes course back to the village but fall into a dragon's lair! It just so happens it's the same weeping dragon as before, only this time - Hohlick shows up and demands the team steal the gold or it will scream and wake the monster up. Talarian agrees to the terms, and despite successfully plundering the hoard, the Hohlick screams anyway, takes the gold and teleports out leaving the squad to face the angry monster which devours both Izlain and Keen before it is killed.

Thea: Magic Compass

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

While on patrol, Cooper Team runs into a Bugay - another form of tree demon. This one is walking around happily eating people so there's no recourse but to kill the damn thing.

So either we kill it, or we kill it. Good choice options there game!

One of the Bugay's allies, a Pine Cone demon claims innocence after the combat and purely because of how the Wolf Pack was saved from the Leshy by one, Cooper decides to spare the creature and it joins his party as "Pineconette". I guess it's a girl? Soon after, Cooper Team meets up with the Wolf Pack who give them the cosmic shards to take to Alisyr. The plan is for the smaller force of Cooper team to make the run while the Wolf Pack covers them from the multiple abomination army lairs that seem to be springing up.

On the way Cooper Team finds a force field protected tree and attempt to break the spell but fail, earning instead a curse upon Cooper and Atheren. Regardless, they make it to Alisyr who constructs a magic compass from the shards which then point to the next location: the cosmic seed. Alysir is still too weak to actually help out, so it's up to Cooper Team and the Wolf Pack, who are having a successful run of assassinating undead abominations, to go check it out.

Back at Hermit's Lake, a crazy religious nut joins the village: Vayshen Panda.

Thea: Leshy Leshy

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

To save time in exploring, a new expedition named "Cooper Team" is sent out to the second location. This group, composed of Schulz Wenzel, Atheren, Ald Firstshot and led by Cooper Mantly find themselves confronting a Leshy: a type of tree demon, one that wants them to slay his brother in exchange for an elf he is keeping hostage. An elf who might know how to cure the Cosmic Tree.

At least the owl doesn't seem bothered by it.

While Cooper Team handles the sudden rampant undead in the region, It's the Wolf Pack that locates the Leshy's happier brother whose grove is teeming with life, unlike the wastes the first one was living in. They agree to try fool Leshy #1 but this attempt fails and they are forced into combat and are soundly beaten by the living tree. Fortunately a plot device demon in the shape of a pinecone secretly traveled with them and sacrificing itself, slays the evil Leshy before any of the team perish.

With it gone, Alysir the elf captive is rescued. The weakened elf tasks tells them that a seed of the Cosmic Tree yet lives and tasks them with retrieving cosmic shards that will help point to its location. Of course, Alysir himself isn't coming with them - he's going someplace to recover. Clever elf, he forgot to mention the shards were guarded by a dragon...