Early February, 1361 DR, Hulek Forest.
Winter winds had sealed Hulek Forest in a world of white. A thick sheet of ice covered its rivers, and snow blanketed the conifers. Although the ground was no longer as hard-frozen as it had been a month earlier, the thaw was still a long way off.
After meeting Mama Selûne, Aaron decided to leave Suzail. Rather than heading straight to the camp in Eveningstar Town, however, he first fulfilled his promise-returning Earthwalker Roddock's Withered Thorn Staff to Hulek Forest.
As mentioned before, Hulek Forest lay in northeastern Cormyr, beside the Thunderpeak Mountains. It had once been a pristine forest, but as Cormyr continued clearing and settling the land, the great forest the Elven Empire had left to humanity had been fragmented into countless smaller patches.
Hulek Forest was one of the larger fragments. It had once been sparsely populated, until large-scale settlement and land clearance began during Azoun IV's reign. Humans entered the forest with axes, seeking to clear enough farmland, and ultimately brought about Earthwalker Roddock's tragedy.
To Roddock, humanity's land clearance was an invasion. It was murder. They were shameless, brutal aggressors.
The local residents saw things differently. These settlers struggled to survive along the forest's edge, sometimes facing monsters and evil tribes from within. Most of the farmland they cleared suffered from poor soil and meager harvests, so even keeping themselves fed and clothed was often a struggle.
And that damned druid still called us sinners and murderers, then shamelessly slaughtered the logging crews? Was that druid even one of us humans? Was he on our side or not?
We humans only wanted somewhere to live! We just wanted to survive!
Thus, when Aaron and his companions arrived at the edge of Hulek Forest and asked the villagers about Roddock,