Session 13 - The One Where They Did Exactly What The Baddie Wanted Them To Do
13th Dec 2020 19:15 - 22:30
In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 11 - Elesias 13
One of our "Heroes" has just collapsed in a blinding light. The others are a little worried. Only a little.
When TC comes round he explained that he received visions of the past, or future, or present. He is not sure. He cryptically promises to enlighten the rest of them more at a later date.
In the meantime, the party decide to interrogate Belak and TC brings him round with his healing ability. Tied and initially gagged, Belak appears to be no threat, and, despite being a little cocky, he does accede to his captors and answers their questions regarding the fruit, the tree, someone named Togruk and whether Bella was still alive and how to save her. Belak suggested that putting the wand into the nook in the base of the tree would be the best way to get the tree to release the halfling girl. The party were not, at least for now, necessarily convinced. Carro took the ripe, red pear from the tree and stored it carefully.
They decided to leave Bella for now and check the study to see if they could find anything useful. They took a tied up Belak with them, and Kandi and Mahtis stayed outside the study with Belak while TC and Carro checked inside. While the party was split, Belak made his move… by changing into a large, black bear, breaking his bonds and running away from them, down the corridor. Mahtis, being a druid herself, suddenly remembered that druids are able to change into animals. An attempt by Mahtis to entangle Belak failed, and he seemed to get away. The party decided to let him go - for now at least.
In the study they found a journal which gave a bit of background into the tree, and into Belak's work in the grove. It seemed to back up all that he told them. I think it was for this reason that they decided to do what Belak had suggested and place the wand into the hollow in the tree in order to try to free Bella whilst she was possibly still alive. I can think of no other reason to do such a dangerous thing whilst they were so beaten up.
It didn't quite have the effect they were after. The tree came alive and attacked them! It seemed to have a mighty attack and its first blow knocked TC unconscious. Kandi had to heal TC to bring him round before the tree could cause more damage, and meanwhile the others were trying to attack the tree from afar with ranged attacks, which seemed to work, as the tree was not able to do any ranged attacks of its own. However, Kandi and TC were both within range, and Kandi received a big hit before getting away. The party started to flee away from the tree before realising they had two further problems - the wand was still in the tree (as was Bella), and the tough terrain of the briars was slowing down their movement more than it was the tree. It was catching them up!
Realising that they couldn't outrun a tree, the party turned and fought. Carro ran in and made a grab for the wand, hoping it would stop the tree in its tracks. He managed to pull out the wand, but the tree continued to fight, and in fact knocked Carro unconscious on its next attack. With the rest of the party keeping out of range of the tree, it was down to Mahtis' healing word to revive Carro, while Kandi decided to set the briars alight beneath them, hoping to put the tree off of coming after them. That seemed to work, and the tree did retreat, though not before making an attack on the fleeting Carro - luckily Kandi's mocking, and Mahtis' frostbite were ensuring the tree was getting put off of its attacks - something that no doubt saved TC's life earlier, and Carro's life now. TC tried to shoot the tree with his crossbow and scored a vital hit! But his pinpoint accuracy was wasted as he managed to do -1 damage due to his lack of any dexterity! Carro managed to leap over the flames, away from the tree, luckily without falling back unconscious, and the party retreated into the corridor to nurse their considerable wounds and to wait for the fire to die down.
After a number of minutes, they returned back into the cavern, cautiously approaching to where the tree had retreated. The place was thick with smoke, and it was difficult to see. They found the tree back in its original position, unmoving, but Bella was dead.
After removing her body, the group of "Heroes" decided to burn the tree, hoping that it would not come alive again. As the tree was engulfed in flames, the party retreated and made their way out of the grove.
Returning to Oakhurst, the party told the Mayor and Felosial what had been happening at the grove, and the evil that Belak was doing. Carro handed the pear to Corkie (along with the mushrooms, which Corkie was very grateful for), who started to carefully feed it to Erdan. He did not immediately recover, but did show signs of improvement.
And so we leave our "Heroes" back in Oakhurst, wondering what to do next - whether to revisit Yussi and her kobolds, or return to the Fortress. Or to follow up the hints they had been getting about a half-orc called Togruk. Carro will need to visit his brother, Erdan, in the morning, and hope that he has come out of his coma and started the long road to recovery. TC requested the wand that Carro recovered, as he felt an affinity towards it. The rest of the group were reluctant to give it to him, given the effect it had on him last time he held it. Their mistrust was noted by TC and he was not happy. The party asked that he explain a little more about his background, which TC was about to do, but the DM was unable to sit through the many hours of God-awful prose that his backstory would entail and decided we could revisit this at the next session. And so we shall…..