View source for Supply Side (The Annex 2)

{{Infobox expedition log
| title = Supply Side (The Annex 2)
| date = 3/18/26
| storyteller = tire
| tier_of_play = Trainee
| player_characters = [[Navrae]], [[Inari]], [[Husk]]
| rewards = 300 xp, 63 gp, Palstave x1, Twig of Knowledge and Memory x3, Scholarly Journal x3
| result = Success
| author = [[Inari]] (frosty)
| downtime_days = 13
}}
Associates help a lumber company secure the surrounding forest.
== Log ==
If I ever see another spider again, it may very well be too soon. However, this proved to be a far less strenuous journey than my last one.

Upon hearing news of the printing press being completed, we were beseeched by Phyl to secure a deal with the lumber company he had contacted in order to obtain a steady supply of paper and ink–specifically, wood and turpentine in order to make such things–to truly get the press up and running. 

I was joined by two others by the names of Husk and Navrae. Husk is an odd fellow, for sure, but somehow not the oddest I have encountered. Regardless, all three of us worked together well–it was a pleasure to have such capable company.

Lumberjacks had reported eerie signs of feeling watched, and previous encounters in the area had proved dangerous, as a result halting logging operations completely. In order to let them resume their work, we were asked to investigate the woods and clear out any threats we found. Previous reports had stated it was possible a [https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Nargacuga nargacuga] was still active in the area, though we found no signs of such.

Our trip to the forest itself was uneventful, taking about four days to reach the plot of land near the foreman’s house. We began our survey with haste, taking the entire day to cover the area and ending up camping the night in the woods. During this time, no one within our group mentioned feeling a sense of being watched, same as before.

The next day, we continued our search, eventually coming across an area of forest in which the trees seemed far older and overgrown–certainly not somewhere that had been harvested recently, though still within the property as far as we knew–but we were still met with nothing beyond the sounds of the small creatures and insects of the woods.

However, we soon caught glimpse of a far larger creature: a bear, standing wholly upright and seemingly frozen in place. We watched it for a while, in which it continued to stay completely still. We then approached quietly, taking care not to startle it, but that proved purportedly needless when we soon discovered that the bear was, in fact, a wooden carving of one–not a real animal at all. We found ourselves in a strange hollow with it, near a very large, odd-looking tree stump gnarled with vines and roots. 

But before they knew it, Navrae and Husk had been grabbed by the roots, now slithering like snakes as the bear carving “came to life”--or, more aptly, the base upon which it stood did–as it began to move about. We were eventually able to fend off the living statue and its root friends, partly thanks to wood’s susceptibility to my fire. After dispatching the wooden creatures, swarms of insects and spiders overcame us as well, though they were more easily dealt with–and cathartic in doing so, may I add.

After the fight, we soon began to notice that the feeling had returned–something was watching us once again. Furthermore, both Navrae and Husk seemed terribly exhausted by all of the fighting, so we decided to rest for the night, though still we stayed on guard. By the time the night had passed, the sensation had long faded, and no matter what we did, it seemed we could not trigger it to resurface.

My working theory was that violence triggered this stalker to present itself, and that this included violence against the trees, which would explain why the lumberjacks felt it. But, as we continued to test it out, nothing could draw its attention back to us–not even violence against each other. Which I had no part in, I might add. 

In the end, we decided to wrap up our search in preparation for returning to the foreman’s house to report our findings, finding little else of note. Husk, for his part, wanted to collect the sap of a pine tree, and so we did, using empty potion bottles and a spile that Navrae made, alongside some of my Foxfire to speed up the process, though it still took us several hours. 

Eventually, we made our way back through the forest and to the foreman’s house to report our findings and the news that the land had been cleared out. There, we decided to stay a few more days in order to guard the lumberjacks as they returned to work, in case any more threats resurfaced. In the end, all was well, and their work resumed as normal.

We returned to Onadbyr soon after, both the stability of the lumber company and our deal for paper and ink safely secured, bringing the good news to Phyl. In return, alongside our payment and other rewards for a job well done, we were each supplied with special journals on the topic of our choosing–I chose my Lady, of course. 

In all, we had completed our goal with relative ease, and now Onadbyr’s very own printing press is fully functional. Let us hope for many more similarly auspicious adventures to come.