Ask for directions.

With everyone settled down, the party rests in the middle of the glade, taking solace in this moment of refuge before once again entering the dense, dark woods of the Endless Wilds. Seeing these places of beauty among such treacherous land instills you with hope. Not only that, but they likely know their way around here better than you ever could. They might be able to help find what you're seeking.

You rest back upon a flat stone near the creak. "Hey, Susie. Dryads. We're actually out here looking for something. I wasn't exactly lying before, Raina. We are here to slay evil. What we seek is an invisible door to a laboratory owned by terrible people. If we show you the notes we put together, could you maybe help us find it?"

"Allow me to take a look, and I'll do my best," the dark-fleshed dryad responds.

While she looks over the notes you turn to Susie. "So what exactly brought you out here?"

"Ah." The girl nervously scratches her blushing cheek. "Our party was on a quest around these parts, when away from the others, I met them. See, my family wasn't pleased with my preference towards a woman's company, but not only were these dryads beautiful, but they were free. Jessabelle could never understand. She convinced herself they took me away, it seems. It was I who came here on my own. The only thing they took was my heart."

Raina sits back in the grass by a stump, absolutely mesmerized by a dryad on either side of her. They play with her hair, stroke her cheek, and snuggle up against her plated body. Her mind isn't even on this plane anymore.

"Interesting," says the first dryad. She hands the papers back to you. "I think this is no coincidence."

"What did you find?" you ask.

"There is a location, a few hours from here, that I always felt unease around. Animals avoided it, yet I could never find any sort of cause. It isn't as if the trees rotted or the soil smelled ill. All in all, everything seems normal. I honestly thought I was a little crazy. But if these notes of yours are correct, they seem to line up a little too perfectly. Magic is afoot, I think, which is not my area of expertise."

"That's mine!" Eva shouts, tripping as she stands with too much excitement. "If there's an invisible door around there, we'll find it. Can you lead us there?"

Niki snickers and nudges you with her elbow. "Hey, Kyle. You should give each of these dryad's a name."

"You know, I think I'm fine not having every girl in Abso as my wife. These dryads are pretty happy with Susie and Raina there."

Amara giggles. "You say that is if you consider us your wives as well."

Raina snaps back to reality. "No wonder the dryads here respected you immediately." After letting that information sink in for a moment, she clears her throat and continues. "Oh. You know my name, but I don't know yours. Please, tell me. Though you didn't mean to, you've done so much for me this day."

"I'm Kyle," you reply. "This is Snow, Niki, Eva, Amara, and... Rabbit's Foot."

"The lucky heroine, at your service!" RF responds with a bow.

Susie giggles. "That's so cute."

The first dryad stands. "If you wish, I'll take your party there immediately. I don't know what lurks at your destination, but if you've come all this way, I'd like it gone as well. I worry now that something may pose a danger to me and my lovers."

"How does marriage work between a group of dryads?" Niki asks.

Amara ponders. "Normally, one grants a dryad a name. Such an action is considered a sacred bond. That dryad will forever be wed to the one who named her, lest she wishes to leave. Then she discards the name, never to remember it again."

"Soo, do they all name each other?" you ask.

"I was unaware of that fact," Susie says. "Hmm."

Suddenly, the dryad looks away from her bashfully. Though her voice is deep and her appearance is rather dark, she's adorable when she wiggles around like a nervous schoolgirl. "Y-You don't have to do that, Susie."

She giggles. "I know what I'm doing while you're gone. Thinking up names!" She looks to Raina. "Maybe you can name half of them, and I'll name the other half."

"Th-This is going too fast!" Raina replies in panic.