Wow that was annoying, got it on the 4th.
Once I shadowstepped into a rock (that happens a lot) the other 2 time I got stuck between talking to kekt with the 2nd research team and the point where that treehorn noob summons his minions. The team would not follow.
Babysitting the plot salad seemed to help as per the suggestions here. After talking to kekt I stuck by nerco noob (while he stroked he big ey sword) and made sure he didn’t die.
Did he die the previous times? I don’t know, probably. I’m a thief, first sign of trouble I cloak and run. On the first attempt I managed to miss several triggers that I had to go back for, the cave exit wasn’t even blocked at first.
I any case, next time I hope mother tree gives me the sword instead, as apposed to simply forgetting me entirely. Seriously, I’m a tree too and it and it goes from “My beloved child for whom I have great interest” to “Hey, you there!”. Weak guys… weak.