"If we take the seed back, it might be that the priest can help divine whether it will be helpful. I'm still curious about who was poisoning the Mercy tree. Nisa... do you know anything about that?"
Asks Prisim.
Nira looks around. "The...Amenira once wrote about a nightly ritual with Zuri. She and the townsfolk would bathe in orange liquids at the base of the tree. It was designed to give 'wood blessings' and 'flower dreams'."
Besides the seedling, cloaker and Amenira's remains, the party finds nothing but plants in the cavern.
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Nira looks around. "The...Amenira once wrote about a nightly ritual with Zuri. She and the townsfolk would bathe in orange liquids at the base of the tree. It was designed to give 'wood blessings' and 'flower dreams'."
"I think I've drunk that before."
Besides the seedling, cloaker and Amenira's remains, the party finds nothing but plants in the cavern.
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"Here's what I think. We came to find Amenira and what's protecting Mercy. Do we want to involve Zuri and possibly transfer the worship of Robori to this cave? Possibly complicating access to this thing which probably protects Mercy. I think we head back to Mercy with the bodies of the cloaker and Amenira. Explain Amenira died trying to kill the cloaker and leave the seedling out of our explanations. We then take Amenira's body back to her folks and leave Mercy. We leave the seedling here because if we take it from here we probably kill Mercy because I don't see it being powerful enough to protect Mercy when in Alkenstar never mind Katapesh."
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Lannior examines the seedling and the surrounding vines, he wants to see two things. One, are all the vines connected to the seedling and two, does the color seem to match up to the corruption on the plant and the gnoll?
Lannior becomes more skeptical of the plant the longer they stand there. Maybe this thing is corrupting everything around?
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"Hmmm ... I think we do not know enough about everything that is going on here. The seedling says it is protecting Mercy. Prism is right in being concerned about taking it back to Mercy. With the monster now dead, I would think there is no immediate danger to the seedling other than us. So ... perhaps we leave it here and go back to Mercy and inform Zuri what we have found. It they want retrieve it, or perhaps destroy it, we may be able to help do that. Better than making a mistake because we don't fully understand the consequences yes?"
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Lannior smiles at Durin, with his dislike of humans, he actually has found that he likes dwarves.
Spoken with true wisdom Durin. We've come for what we need to do, we found out what has happened to Amenira. You are right, we just don't know enough. Let's just go back to town and speak with Zuri and the Sheriff about what we found and let them decide.
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Lannior becomes more skeptical of the plant the longer they stand there. Maybe this thing is corrupting everything around?
"But it sounds so honest."
Besides the seedling, cloaker and Amenira's remains, the party finds nothing but plants in the cavern.
The entire cavern is full of plants, and nothing else of interest.
The vines quickly close around the seed as the party returns to Mercy. Nira hides in the guest house.
The Sheriff and town are glad to see the party back, and they are overjoyed that the "vampire" is no more. Zuri reminds the town that Robori clearly sent them.
"So the seedling is trying to protect us as well? We have Robori, and have no need for other protectors." Zuri says this aloud to the townsfolk, then ushers the party into a private room.
"I am so embarrassed," Zuri wipes some of the sweat off her forehead. "My grandfather, told the town of a god, Robori, who had protected the children by transforming them with plantlike growth. He told me the town had thought the children were...mutants." She shakes her head. "It was either that or cast the children to the mana wastes. I don't regret that decision."
"One of our nightly rituals. We gather by the Great Tree and bathe ourselves in oil. I think that may have poisoned the tree. I've already changed our ritual so the tree isn't hurt again. I'll leave that seed alone for now."
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The trip back to Katapesh is uneventful.
People have many questions for the strange talking doll, but she keeps quiet.
Venture-Captain Roderus demands a full story. "Your report, Pathfinders. How
did your trip to Mercy go? What did Amenira say?"
"Hmmm... I wish you had brought that seed back. I would have loved to research it."
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"Well ... I believe we managed to discover the reason Mercy has not been harmed by the Mana storms. The Tree and the seedling appear to work the same way. They transform people in to some sort of plant symbiont. I doubt we could have brought the seedling back without actually jeopardizing the town given how sick the tree seemed when we left. The seedling has designs upon more than just a small town in the Mana Wastes though ... it mentioned how it was someday 'protect' the world ... so we should monitor the situation in the area.
Oh ... and we found Amenira ... a little worse for the wear though ... as in nearly dead. She somehow managed to use dolls to hide her spirit. That should be a nice trick if we can figure out how she did that."
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Lannior adds his spin to the events for the Venture Captain relaying all that happened, summing it up by saying,
It was a strange place, it was difficult to determine what truly was protecting the town. But of the seedling, my gut feeling was it was a corrupting force. Although it did preserve Amenira, sort of.
"Hmm. That report was quite thorough. I can see why you were so worried about the seed. I'll definitely send some agents to keep an eye on it." He stands up and takes a look at the party. "You all seem a bit yellow- did the seed do anything to you?"
Durin - OK!
Creat - OK!
Pau - Failed
Prisim - waiting
Nerisiel - waiting
Luckily, the Pathfinders are more than strong enough to handle a brief exposure to the seed's influence.
Roderus nods, glad that the party is unharmed. He reaches under his desk and withdraws a fat pouch of coins. "I told you I would compensate you for the success of your investigation, and I am a man of my word." He distributes coins to the PCs. "Well done, Pathfinders. It’s good to know I can rely on you for future missions."
No one is exactly sure of the ritual Amenira used to transfer herself, but Nira seems to have become more lucid. Especially after Pathfinder Craftsmen were able to repair her.
"Thank you." She bows to the party before they leave for the next adventure. "If you need my help, please ask. Amenira...that was me, wasn't it?"