Elient 23 - Battle with the Evil Druid
(/OOC: Most of this is copied from Rick's DM Summary as I have not had time to post with Loren taking up a lot of time...and now we are a couple of weeks from the game and my memory is not what it used to be...I blame the sleep deprivation.)
Elient 23
The collapsed southern wall of the room opened into a vast cavern lit by pustules of luminescent
fungus on the rough walls. Around us there were sickly briars, bushes, saplings, and other woody plants. Ruined walls and hollow towers protruded from the briars like islands in the sea. As the Band of the Hand walked into the caven among the briars we noted a scattering of twig blights growing off the path but they made no move to intercept the party. I made the decision to proceed into the vast cavern, and ignore the potential threat of the twig blights. So we pressed on into the cavern with the violet light above casting nauseating shadows on the earthern floor below; creating the illusion of movement among the branches; though no wind blew. I got an uneasy feeling as the presence of twig blights continued on either side of the path until we reached a half walled courtyard clearing. In the center of the courtyard stood an enourmous tree - its blackened and twisted limbs reached upward, like a skeletal hand
clawing its way from the earth. A man wearing a simple bown cassock was surrounded by a male in scale mail and a young female wearing a half-robe and leggings. Careful observations by Talin noted that the skins of the male fighter and the female mage appeared to be barklike. I bellowed across the courtyard to the old man and found out that he was Bealk the Outcast because he dared to expand nature and found his prize in the Gulthias Tree. The Gulthias Tree lives from a single green stake thrust through a vampire's heart on this very spot. The tree's fruit has seeds from which grow the twig blights. He has given this fruit to the goblins so that the seeds can be dispersed in order to colonize the surface with the Children of Gulthias. I tried to work things out through dialog, but discussions ended when he invited us to surrender their weapons and supplicant themselves to the Gulthias tree with promises of a better "life". At that point a lengthy battle erupted with Belak using a wand of entanglement on the party and then casting a rolling ball of fire which struck down Erky Timbers (the rescued gnome). It still haunts me that I abandoned Erky in the center of that entanglement, but I believed we would be victorious and that we would reach him again...or that he would free himself. The young female mage cast magic missles at me, because nothing else could harm me. I must look into some type of magical protection. And my fears were realized when the twig blights collapsed upon the party. The Band of the Hand seamed doomed to a life of compost, but we rallied and fought their way out of the trap and back to the northern room. Unfortunately the last I saw of Erky Timbers was the druid Belak dragging him over to the Gulthias Tree. In full retreat the band headed back to the Kobold lair and rested for the evening.
Elient 24
We took off the following morning back to town. Arriving in town a few hours later I immediately went to see Kerowyn Hucrele and returned back one of the signet rings. Fighting back tears, but still standing proud, Kerowyn thanked us and gave each member 125gp for their efforts. We then visited Constable Felosial and explained the truth regarding the fruit and the saplings. She immediately roused the town gaurds with orders to burn all the currently growing saplings around town and suggested we visit the Mayor. Mayor Vurnor Leng understood the true serious of the problem and stated, "you realize that our actions have set loose several of these abominations upon the world. Who knows what these twisted plants are doing now. You will need to visit the green druids camp a couple hours ride north-east of town and get their advice."
Elient 23
The collapsed southern wall of the room opened into a vast cavern lit by pustules of luminescent
fungus on the rough walls. Around us there were sickly briars, bushes, saplings, and other woody plants. Ruined walls and hollow towers protruded from the briars like islands in the sea. As the Band of the Hand walked into the caven among the briars we noted a scattering of twig blights growing off the path but they made no move to intercept the party. I made the decision to proceed into the vast cavern, and ignore the potential threat of the twig blights. So we pressed on into the cavern with the violet light above casting nauseating shadows on the earthern floor below; creating the illusion of movement among the branches; though no wind blew. I got an uneasy feeling as the presence of twig blights continued on either side of the path until we reached a half walled courtyard clearing. In the center of the courtyard stood an enourmous tree - its blackened and twisted limbs reached upward, like a skeletal hand
clawing its way from the earth. A man wearing a simple bown cassock was surrounded by a male in scale mail and a young female wearing a half-robe and leggings. Careful observations by Talin noted that the skins of the male fighter and the female mage appeared to be barklike. I bellowed across the courtyard to the old man and found out that he was Bealk the Outcast because he dared to expand nature and found his prize in the Gulthias Tree. The Gulthias Tree lives from a single green stake thrust through a vampire's heart on this very spot. The tree's fruit has seeds from which grow the twig blights. He has given this fruit to the goblins so that the seeds can be dispersed in order to colonize the surface with the Children of Gulthias. I tried to work things out through dialog, but discussions ended when he invited us to surrender their weapons and supplicant themselves to the Gulthias tree with promises of a better "life". At that point a lengthy battle erupted with Belak using a wand of entanglement on the party and then casting a rolling ball of fire which struck down Erky Timbers (the rescued gnome). It still haunts me that I abandoned Erky in the center of that entanglement, but I believed we would be victorious and that we would reach him again...or that he would free himself. The young female mage cast magic missles at me, because nothing else could harm me. I must look into some type of magical protection. And my fears were realized when the twig blights collapsed upon the party. The Band of the Hand seamed doomed to a life of compost, but we rallied and fought their way out of the trap and back to the northern room. Unfortunately the last I saw of Erky Timbers was the druid Belak dragging him over to the Gulthias Tree. In full retreat the band headed back to the Kobold lair and rested for the evening.
Elient 24
We took off the following morning back to town. Arriving in town a few hours later I immediately went to see Kerowyn Hucrele and returned back one of the signet rings. Fighting back tears, but still standing proud, Kerowyn thanked us and gave each member 125gp for their efforts. We then visited Constable Felosial and explained the truth regarding the fruit and the saplings. She immediately roused the town gaurds with orders to burn all the currently growing saplings around town and suggested we visit the Mayor. Mayor Vurnor Leng understood the true serious of the problem and stated, "you realize that our actions have set loose several of these abominations upon the world. Who knows what these twisted plants are doing now. You will need to visit the green druids camp a couple hours ride north-east of town and get their advice."
posted by Curt Sawyer at 8:07 AM
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