The air in the Whispering Woods had taken on a distinctly unsettling quality. The oppressive silence, punctuated only by the occasional rustle of unseen things in the undergrowth, pressed in on Elias and his makeshift party. Sarah, ever the pragmatist, adjusted the strap of her virtual backpack, her warrior avatar, Anya, radiating a quiet focus. Marcus, as the rogue character "Shadowstrike," fidgeted, his hood pulled low, his gaze darting from tree to tree. Even the usually boisterous Ben, playing a stout dwarven cleric named "Borin Stonebeard," was uncharacteristically subdued. The lingering effects of the corrupted creatures they had battled, and the growing dread of the spreading illness, had cast a pall over their small group.