# Solo: Beyond the Pale (7)

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> Recap: Berek and his hireling Griya arrive at Frank Bronfman's house at the edge of the Blue Forest. They are looking for Karl, who had been hired to work on the house.

From a distance the house looks nice. If I had a mind to settle down it might be in a decent house like this. But it backs right onto a forest. It wouldn't feel right, all that unseen space right behind me.

"Door's open," Griya says. We approach. There no sounds from inside, of woodworking or anything else.

"Hello!" I call out near the door. I'm about to follow up, explain who I am, when I see streaks of blood on the floor boards. I slide my hammer out of its loop on my pack. The heft is reassuring. Griya looks at me. 

> Does Griya draw his dagger? I think it's likely, 75%. He does. 

He nods that he's with me and I step inside. At a glance, there's crates all around. A staircase leading upwards with muddy steps, and broken glass over the floor. The blood continues towards the back of the house. Towards the forest. I lead us that way. 

The back garden. A dead body. He looks torn up, viciously.

> I'll do a willpower save for Griya to see if he holds it together. He fails.

Griya turns away and looks like he's going to be sick. I rest a hand on his back. 

"It's OK," I say, already knowing it's anything but OK. "It's OK."

He takes a moment to collect himself. While I'm waiting with him I hear a movement behind us, in the trees.

I turn to see a wooden being, easily 8 feet tall, descending from the branches of an oak tree. It takes a moment for my eyes to comprehend that it is separate from the tree. It is all twigs, twitching and creaking. I stare, awestruck.

Before my brain catches up and notices there's no blood on the creature, I already have a sense there isn't a threat. It moves gently, its gestures all ease.

"Griya," I nudge him. He turns and starts.

"Oh! A Shtekn Folk!" Griya's face is still drained of colour, but he tries to calm me. "The Shtekn aren't monsters. They wouldn't do..."

《The Nation saw what happened here. Terrible violence.》

The creature doesn't speak - it has no mouth that I can discern. The noise comes from the twigs of its hands, vibrating like instruments. It is like no human voice, but not unpleasant to the ear.
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