Wulfram told Karla, "I can open another faerie ring retreat, like last night. The animal servants will be there."
You rest safely in Wulfram's faerie ring retreat, awakening feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. Further experimentation with the iron ring you recovered from Naphexi's lair reveals that reading the phrase inscribe on it aloud causes it to shimmer with green light. You can feel magic suffusing your bodies, temporarily protecting you from disease--including that of the Darkblight. With this, you'll be able to safely tree stride through Arlantia's throne to reach the corrupted dryad's tree.
"This is it! We go straight to the evil one's lair, yes?" Wendel says, fidgeting nervously. "Best be prepared before we do so. No telling what sort of guardians or traps she has in store for us. But Wendel and his friends will prevail, yes-yes-yes! We shall do for her what we did for her snake! Then Wendel's family shall be avenged!"
Wulfram prepared for the confrontation ahead, trying to anticipate what the evil one might throw at them.
1st: Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Liberating Command, Remove Fear x2
2nd: Barkskin x3, Calm Emotions, Delay Poison
3rd: Daylight, Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Evil, Sleet Storm, Thorny Entanglement
4th: Blessing of Fervor, Divine Power, Freedom of Movement, Greater Magic Weapon
5th: Breath of Life, Overland Flight, Break Enchantment
6th: Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass Bear's Endurance
7th: Heal
Wandering Hex: Battle Master (one extra AoO, weapon specialization longspear)
"I'm ready," he told his companions. "Let's head to the throne!"
Eustoma shutters at the thought of traveling through the blighted trees. "I guess we're ready." She moves next to Sia and stands at her full very short height, and tries to look brave and ready for their next task.
Wulfram replied to Karla, "Let's wait until we get to the throne."
He gathered his gear and prepared to depart.
You retrace your steps through the blighted woods. It only takes ten minutes or so before you reach the throne. If you want to cast divinations, now would be the time to do so.
When they reached the throne, Wulfram checked around in case anything had changed since earlier.
Once he was satisfied that nothing had changed, he prepared for the expected confrontation ahead, casting a number of spells on himself and his companions. Finally, when the group was ready to attempt to travel through the throne, he intoned three final prayers on everyone.
Eustoma casts protection from energy on the group. She guesses acid, and casts the spell accordingly. "Careful all we don't know what we will face when we get there."
When you are ready, you use Mireena's token to transport yourselves through the throne. You step into it as if it were made of water, stepping out a moment later into a clearing.
The overwhelming centerpiece of this eerie clearing is an enormous, ancient, terribly blighted ash tree so tall it blots out the sun and wide enough to dwarf the girth of any other nearby trees. With withered, strangely marked bark that looks more akin to rotting skin and drooping branches that weep putrid mold, this tree casts an ominous pall over the entire sickly meadow. Beyond this 100-foot-wide clearing, as far as the eye can see, grotesque blooms of fungus spring up amid an angry briar.
The markings on the tree’s bark are actually runes written vertically in Abyssal. The runes spell out the same repeated phrase: “The Princess of the Blasted Heath— long may she reign.”
Standing guard in front of the tree is an enormous bird. Standing 20 feet tall, the bird has a lizardlike tail and bright purple feathers on its back and wings; the rest of its body is bare and scaly. It cocks it head and regards you, then chirps loudly and steps back, fooled by your illusory disguises.
"Jubjub bird. Very dangerous," Wendel says. "Wait, what is that around its neck?" On a collarlike chain around the bird's neck hangs a tarnished gold scepter. It's ends are shaped into sickly, withered-looking leaves. The scepter’s rod has four empty slots.
Wendel stares in slack-jawed amazement "That-that-that rod! That scepter-thing! It can’t be, but somehow it is. That’s Dryad’s Song. It’s an ancient artifact of the Fangwood. All of the forest’s fey know it by sight; yes-yes-yes, it is of Gendowyn’s panoply. It can call all of the Fangwood’s dryads to arms, and turn the trees upon trespassers like savage dogs! Oh, but its rings are missing! And what’s this? It smells foul! Foul-wrong- blasphemous!"
Wulfram tried to recall what he knew about the massive bird.
Wulfram has only heard the name of the jubijub bird in hushed whispers. He doesn't know of its capabilities.
Wulfram whispered to the halfling, "Do you know anything about jubjub birds, Eustoma?"
”Probably not, but I’ll try to remember. We need to get that rod, and cleanse it.”
Wulfram looked around, to see what else might be lurking near the clearing.
He conferred with his allies in a low voice, "Anyone have any ideas, other than just attacking the bird?"
Wulfram doesn't see anything else lurking around the clearing, but at the tree’s western base, he notices that two gnarled roots form a thumb-sized opening that reveals an inky blackness beyond. Dryad's Song appears to be the same size and shape as the hole. Above the opening is a twisted demonic rune.
The massive jubjub bird lets out a squawk as Karla's spell takes effect. It lowers its head to nuzzle her affectionately, giving her a good view of its razor-sharp beak.
Wulfram didn't recognize the rune above what looked like it could be a keyhole. He waited nervously to see if Karla could get the scepter from the huge bird.
"That worked. That was amazing Karla." Eustoma whispers.
Karla coaxes the jubjub bird to lower its head further, and the sorceress is able to retrieve Dryad's Song from around its neck. Placing the artifact in the opening of the tree causes a passageway to open up, large enough for a human to walk through.
The ring you found in Naphexi's lair fits into one of the slots in the rod's haft. Doing so causes it to glow faintly.
"Well done Karla!", Wulfram exclaimed, fighting to keep his voice down so as not to startle the jubjub bird.
You descend along the passage, walking for a few minutes. The steep passage that leads below Arlantia’s tree widens here, and the ground—a strange thatching made up of stringy, moldy, tightly intertwined roots—levels out. The smell of rot hangs heavy in the moist air, and the thick vines and roots that run along the ceiling and walls pulse with foul energy. Here and there, slimy moss clings to the thatching. Dozens of tiny, bloodshot eyes watch from all directions.
About 30 feet beyond the entrance, the roots that sprout from the ceiling take on a much more sinewy appearance. Wulfram notices the roots twitching in anticipation--he realizes they belong to a pair of heartrot trees, like the one you fought alongside the shamblers before meeting Wendel. They seem to be waiting for you to get closer.
Wulfram cautioned the others, "Get ready — I think the roots ahead belong to a couple of heartrot trees. They're waiting for us to advance!"
A heartrot tree resists weapons that aren't slashing. Its diseased touch is its most insidious weapon, and its trunk can regenerate if not burned away after the tree is killed.
"I can do something about that. I think." She studies them carefully, and then she casts Flame Strike on the trees.
The flame strike engulfs the trees' roots, scorching them! They thrash in agitation as the trees begin to crawl across the ceiling towards you!
Rogar gathers a mass of metal from a wide area, compacting it to a point far smaller than it should be, and launches it at the tree on the left. When it hits, it explodes in a giant sphere of fragments, striking the other one as well.
Wulfram called upon the fire spirits to engulf the enemy in a firey inferno.
Pele danced a fire dance on Wulfram's shoulders.
The hallway becomes an inferno as Wulfram's firestorm and Karla's fireball engulf the heartrot trees. Rogar assaults the blackened and withered plants with metallic eruptions, making short work of the monstrous trees.
"Well done! Well done, indeed!" Wendel cries. He darts forward into the gloom, kicking up dust in his wake. After a minute, he returns to your sides, bouncing back and forth on his slight legs and cradling a quickling-sized shoe.
"Well—well, well, well—Wendel may not have shared every detail of his quest with his allies. How was Wendel to know the allies were so strong? You cannot blame Wendel. It’s about Wendel’s big sister. It is about poor Meril."
Wendel suddenly grows quiet, seemingly reluctant to elaborate further.
Wulfram inspected the remains of the heartrot trees, to make sure they had been destroyed. He urged Wendel, "The more you can tell us about what happened to Meril, the better we will be able to help her."
Wendel sighs and then begins to speak in a soft, surprisingly slow voice. “It was after the frumious beast murdered Wendel’s family. Wendel woke up, and there were bodies of Wendel’s family— so many bodies, terrible-blight-death-doom-oh! All bodies but Meril! Wendel was hazy—much time must have passed, much-much-much—but he saw fauns leaving the camp, yes he did. Over one of the faun’s shoulders, Wendel saw his sister’s shinybark shoes. The fauns kidnapped Meril! Wendel knows she must live! That is why Wendel was desperate to find Naphexi, to find out where the evil one keeps her. Wendel will help Meril. Then Wendel and Meril can help their allies, yes!”
Wulfram reassured Wendel, "When we find her, I can heal her. I can even bring her back to life, if the worst has happened."
"I knew you weren't telling us all the truth. Your choices are understandable. I might not have said anything either. We'll do our best to find your sister."
"Tell me about the shoe?" she points to what he's cradling.
Wendel offers Eustoma the shoe. It seems to be made of a glossy type of bark, but is otherwise unremarkable. "It belongs to Meril! Wendel would recognize her shiny-bark shoes anywhere! She must be somewhere inside this tree. Wendel swears to his friends that once we find her and help her to health and freedom, Wendel will provide no less than four favors!"
The scent of stagnant water and algae chokes the sprawling cavern ahead, burbling from the glassy, scum-covered water filling most of the room. A beach of decaying roots, colorful mushrooms, and clay lines the pond’s banks, and all around it grow willows pockmarked with greasy, black splotches. Across the pond stretches a sturdy bridge made from entwined roots and moss.
Wulfram flew over the bridge, checking for enemies lurking in ambush.
"Be careful Wulfram." Eustoma stands ready just in case someone attacks Wulfram.
Wulfram catches a glimpse of a female figure lurking beneath the surface of the pond, partially obscured by long flowing hair. The water is too murky to make out much details, though.
Wulfram flew back to his comrades and told them about the figure in the water, "It could be a water spirit. Probably corrupted, so be ready for trouble!"
"Sia will take the fly. I'll use my dragon." Eustoma uses her Wondrous Dragon Statue.
Wulfram surmises that the creature may in fact be a rusalka, a cruel and bitter fey that haunts waterways. They can sing to compel creatures to approach them, and charm them as well.
Wulfram advised the others about his guess about the figure in the water, "Keep your distance from it!"
When everyone was ready, he flew over the pond, trying to stay as far away as possible from the fey in the water.