Caireann will use her Entangle spell-like ability on the creatures (Reflex DC 14 to avoid being entangled) without affecting the area where his friends are.
The Black Blade will use a spellcraft check to see if it can avoid the entangle by flying above it, and striking the creatures upon high. If it can't, then it will stand guard near the middle to await any creatures that come out of the entangle and strike them down.
Sykk flies to Hrrm and casts Protection from Evil on him.
+2 AC and Saves (plus other effects) if the monsters count as evil.
[bold]Reflex[/bold]
One of the zombie-like humanoids is caught in the vines from the ground while the other one is able to pull itself free from the entanglement. It lashes out with it's arms and tries to batter Hrrm into unconsciousness.
It is possible to attack from the air and avoid the entangle spell.
Hrrm's impaled the zombie through the brain before it can reach him, then he kills the other one the same way. From out of the leaves of the plant the zombies were watching crawls a young pixie girl. She is dressed in bright green leaves and pink rose petals.
Thank you for coming back for me, Ariane says.
Caireann flies over to Arianne, and hugs her.
"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?"
Upon returning home, one of the other leprechauns in your village notices your arrival. He shouts out, "Arianne's back!" and out from their hidden homes come the members of your family. Leprechauns and pixies, gigs and fauns, and Bana the matriarch.
Caireann goes to ask Arianne about her captivity.
"Are you ok? What happened? What did they want? Are there more of those creatures around?"
Highfeather, who had been silently observing for much of the journey back, finally asked: "Yes indeed, what happened? What were those vile things?"
"There are some, but they're really rare. Called yellow musk zombies are what happens when we are killed by certain plants in the area. The Fungus infects our brains and controls our bodies."
"A horrible fate indeed!"
The Black Blade is happy to see that Ariane has returned safe. However, it wonders aloud "Why have the fungus creatures decided to assault this part of the wood?" "It is strange that they would gather in large numbers without any evidence of a directing intelligence. Normally such creatures are in small bands or focused around a master plant, and don't work together." "How did they catch you, Ariane?"
"Well, you see there was this really big plant. Not a Yellow Musk, but a Violet Fungus. It attacked as we were using out potion on a part of the blight's borders. It cut me off from the group, and to escape, I had to run into the field of mushrooms. I was almost caught by the zombies, but managed to get out of their sight by hiding in the master plant.
"The master plant?"
"Yeah. It was that thing the zombies were crowding around before you fought them." No, Hrrm I'm not infected."
"Then our next plan of action should be to rest, regain our group's magical powers to work better against such creatures, and then uproot the plant at the source. How fast the blight spreads will also be of use to create a defensive strategy against the fungal infestation."
"What is a Violet Fungus?"
"It's a giant, evil, purple mushroom, "Arianne replies.
"I think "stick" has it right, and we need to take care of that big bad fungus! Yes, Herman, quish-quish..."
Not long after you return home, Dion comes back to the village as well. He is greeted by his wife, the Matriarch Nymph Bana. All the creature's under their protection flock around, eager to know what their master has been up to. "Settle down, my children," he says. "There will be time for talk and long stories when the sun is sleeping. Until then, you must only know that I have been beyond our forest home on an errand.
Caireann is very happy, and goes to welcome Dion, hoping to tell him the tale of Arianne's rescue.
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Hrrm is happy. He remembers this ritual, a sign of a true family. Dion would come back and tell stories, and he would know that this was family. He came in from the neighbouring forest when he heard Dion's hooves on the forest floor and has sat quietly in his corner since, waiting for Dion's story and knowing that he had a story of his own to share.
Sykk settles his spellbook on top of a dry spot of grass, and lays down atop it, waiting to hear Dion's announcement.
The humming blade of balance floats in an ever ready stance, eager to seek more souls in the defense of nature. Family to it is a means to an end, cutting its way into history with bloody deeds and righteous vengeance. Perhaps Dion had found a foe worth rendering into small cubes. The images of cutting fungi into said cubes awoke a great longing into the blade. Now it would be its own champion, rather then submitting to the desires of a reluctant hero caught between morality and practicality.
As the sun sets, the golden light scatters through the tree tops, speckling the inhabitants in greens and yellows. As Dion began piling wood for a campfire, his adopted children gathered round. Some rolled sitting logs into place or laid down blankets of leaves for their comfort. Most brought a evening treat or meal to cook over the campfire while the learned satyr talked. Dion himself sat upon a rather large stump with a salad of leaves and berries wet with honey. He ate in silence while the sun was falling in the sky, and refused to discuss his adventure until dusk was well underway.
To fill the void, Arianne recounted how she became lost in the blight upon the forest and the plant-like creatures that cut her off from her friends, she told of how she took refuge inside a dangerous gold flower surrounded by tall, grey-skinned men. After that, she let you fill the camp in on her rescue. The battles were listened to with exceptional curiosity.
Finally, Dion spoke. "It's time I told you of this blight and how it came to infect our forest. Several years before most of you were born, there came to be a druid in our midst. An exile from the human lands, she came here study the ways of nature magic under me. At the time, I didn't see her anger. I thought she was simply an outcast, a misfit who didn't belong with her own people. I thought she sought out a like minded society. She took to nature magic quickly, and unto herself she attracted great vermin, and fungi, and rotted plants. She used them to bring disease and famine to the people she had left, or been driven from her home by, as I later found had really happened.
'I found out about her retribution. And I told her that her actions were a blasphemous misuse of my teachings and that she must atone for her misdeeds if atonement was still possible after what she had unleashed on ones she had known and known well. My words angered her and we clashed. I was not strong enough to stop her and was forced to flee. I had to call upon her human enemies to stop her. People we seldom made contact with had now become our best hope. They brought their finest warriors to bear against the swarms of insects she amassed and the abominable vegetables she brought brought to life. In the end, it took the combined power of myself and three heroes from the humans to end her reign of terror. But, her heart had decayed to far into evil.
'Upon her death, the darkness of her mind seeped into the ground where she fell, filling the region with decay. Her hatred ran deep into the ground. It has become a beacon to predatory vegetation, and so far, I have been unable to draw it out of the earth. Once again, I have been forced to call upon the humans to help us once again. That is where I have been. I gave some of the pixie potion to the mages there. They have agreed to help produce it on a wider scale so that we may be able to force the blight back. Perhaps we may even be able to cleanse the dark druid's gravesite.
Caireann listens attentively...
"Father, I am but starting to learn the secrets of nature's essence (Alchemy)... maybe I can help make the potions."
The Black Blade's sonorous voice intones "We should find the gravesite and eliminate its guardians once we have enough potion to disrupt the druid's legacy. My magic is only at a small stage right now, but my blade should be sharp enough to cut whatever we can find down."
"Do you think that the humans are trustworthy enough for this job?"
They helped us before, Dion replies. I see no reason for them not to do so now.
"When will they bring us the potions? When will we attack the blight in our forest?"
"I cannot say how long it will take to make enough potion. However, some of them shall be joining us tomorrow. They want to observe the effects the dark druid's spirit has had on the environment.
"How do you want us to deal with these humans? Should we keep an eye on them, right?"
"And just whooooo are these humans that are joining us? How many are there?"
They are friends, Hrrm, though I do admit that I don't know how many are coming. Either way, it's getting late and it's time for you all to go to bed.
Humans are useful tools, but can endanger others after their task is done. Watching them would be helpful and a good lesson how things work outside the forest.
The night seems to pass quickly as you sleep through the darkness. You are then awakened rather early as the morning songbirds warn that strangers are approaching.
Caireann hides, trying to spy on the strangers...
It doesn't take long for them to come into view. A squad of 10 humans dressed in basic traveling gear ride into the village astride strong and swift horses. They carry a variety of weapons at their belts, though they aren't heavily armored. They're leader bears a the name Leighton in blue letters on a brown vest with red trim. His hair is long and blonde. He has a warhammer tucked away in his belt. He amiably greets Dion and dismounts, introducing himself to the rest of the village as Commander Leighton of Redvale. The men following him are a small garrison he has brought to purge the blight from the forest.
Caireann will keep unseen, spying on them...