The strength of this adventure is its possibility for many, many outcomes. I get the sense that this would never play the same way twice.
Before, I get started please take what I am about to say with a grain of salt. I really don't like fetch quests, and a lot of this adventure feels very fetchy. Bring me this to do that. A good DM could definitely make this work and not feel like you're walking up to npcs with exclamation points above their heads, but I fear that this game could definitely end up feeling that way.
I understand that the reward for this adventure is escaping the forest, but I feel like it would go a long way for players if there were more salient rewards than simply altruism.
My favorite piece of imagery in this submission is the two chess masters with frozen beards. Its just so evocative.