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...