Inside Thundertree
Our party messed around inside Thundertree, keeping well away from the tower that supposedly holds a dragon.
A fight broke out when some giant spiders grabbed the somewhat clumsy Droop and dragged him into their lair. Droop was paralyzed for about an hour and Stuu had to resort to carrying his limp body around.
The party hightailed it out of Thundertree after finding the gold and emerald necklace the Woodcutter's Widow told them about. They forced their way into the old smithy and were confronted by two zombies covered in ash. Stuu recognized them as the old Smithy and his wife, who chose to take cover in their shop instead of flee when the volcano erupted. Both Stuu and Hada had some flashbacks seeing the state of the shop's interior, covered in a fine layer of ash.
Leaving the ruined town behind them, the party set off southward through the hills, avoiding the tree line for now. They saw a hulking creature walking ponderously northward along the tree line later that day out from Thundertree. Making camp for the night, a lone tinker on a mule-driven cart plodded by and elected to spend the night with the group. The party warned him of the dangers ahead and he changed his course to avoid them in the morning.