The group travel cross-country to Grollek's Grove.  The journey is uneventful.  When they draw with a mile of the village, however, they catch sight of smoke rising from the settlement.

By the time the heroes arrive on the scene, Leah's home - a massive oak tree - was fully aflame, and a group of bugbears and worgs were attacking the church.  The heroes quickly slew these raiders.

Sarah, the local priestess, explained that a bugbear brigand named Quagmire had attacked the town, overpowering Leah and dragging her off northwards, into the forest.  She indicated that this was not entirely normal behaviour for the bugbear: normally he would raid a town, grab anything valuable that easily came to hand, and then melt away into the woods.  This time, the attack had clearly been made with the intent of capturing the druidess.

Exercising their limited skills of woodcraft, the heroes followed the trail of Quagmire's bandits deep into the forest. Crossing a river, they followed the tracks northwest into a marshy area populated by monstrous spiders.

The group had just finished killing one of the beasts - a huge thing that spat acid and leapt from tree to tree - when they heard running footsteps approach.  This was Sapphira Silverhue, a member of the Sorority of the Swan, whom the heroes had rescued from Castle Whiterock.  Sapphira warned the heroes that they were following a false trail, left by the bugbears to lure pursuers into the realm of Caprax, an ettercap chieftain hated by Quagmire.

The group decided to turn Quagmire's trick against him, and went forward to parley with Caprax, on the basis that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.

And so it proved.  Though rather an unnerving and unfriendly creature, Caprax was willing to deal - especially after smelling the 'kiss of the spider' on Zook.  He tells the group that Quagmire is working with Strongheart, a powerful, sentient oak tree.  Why the brigand would be cooperating with the noble Strongheart is not clear, nor why Strongheart would countenance the attack on Leah.  Caprax can, however, show the group a secret way to Strongheart's grove.

The group takes the offer, and goes forth.  They discover that Strongheart has been corrupted by the foul curse that afflicted Morrick's Mansion, and become Ruinheart, a blood-drinking abomination capable of implanting his foes with a deadly seed.  A long and arduous battle ensues, but eventually the corrupted oak is destroyed.  Quagmire - who appears to have been acting under duress, as he is afflicted with one of Ruinheart's seeds - escapes.

After all this, it emerges that Hugin is content in the after life, and does not wish to be reincarnated.