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"Ahh this stuff is great on waffles, but can also be used to track something or someone you've seen before. Focus your mind on that and pour it on the ground and it will leave a trail to what you seek." Gob says as he explains the syrup. "I agree with Benson though, we need to finish exploring this cave. There is a lot of strange stuff going on here and I hope there may be some answers."
Benson explores the cave, seeing more of the corpse flowers... but they are now wilting and seemingly dying off now; the trees alongside the cavern are shedding leaves, their branches drooping weakly towards the ground as if they have given up on life.
The seedling in his hand continues to pulse regularly.
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The party makes the trek back to Mercy, arriving at early morning. The sheriff is at the gates, his darkened skin almost white.
As you approach the gates, you notice that the various cashew trees have wilted and even Robori, visible from afar, can no longer be seen, its branches slumped over.
"What... what have you done?", Molune asks the sounds of panic in the small village now audible as the wails of crying, shouts of despair, and laments of a lost Robori can be heard.
"I cannot allow you into Mercy any more. Go, before anyone else in the village sees you here lest they turn into a mob and take their frustrations out on you."
"About two hours ago, all of the plants in the village started dying! Everything that the village has depends on those plants, we're doomed...", Molune answers. "A seedling? What are you talking about?"
"She's busy right now, trying to keep the peace and talk some people down from... unsavory practices. Like I said, get out of here; Mercy is not yours to visit again... if there is a Mercy later."
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"I think we should try to get in to speak with the priestess... explain about the tainted underground grove with the plant zombies... perhaps she can purify the grove or the seedling or use it to plant a new and untainted tree? I worry about the children here, and am still quite confused as to what is going on to be honest."
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"Besides, a few hours ago, we were risking our lives to save you from that cloaker and the bats that it seemed to control. And we saved the tree from the material you thought was helping it but was harming it. We've proven we are willing to risk our lives to help you. We'll take a chance that the people may react badly to our presence. Perhaps if you take the seedling first and work with the priestess to get people calmed down, we can wait here for word that it is safer for us to enter. You've been enjoying benefits that I suspect also have come at a heavy cost, your own children. You need to resolve this. We are here to help. Worst case you can migrate to someplace safer."
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Wyeth nods in agreement with what the others have said. "A seedling in a distant cave doesn't affect other trees in this way. Not normally, and certainly not a sacred tree! Something is wrong here. Very wrong. And considering the zombie plants that attacked us, I'd say something evil. Something has been out of kilter here for a while, something has been causing all your troubles and strange occurrences. Surely you can see this unnaturalness is likely connected. Please, let us bring this plant-to-be, so full of life and energy, to your priestess so she can evaluate it!"
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Alternate text:
"Sheriff, look at the predicament at hand.
What Benson said before me, we have been fighting the evil on your behalf.
Now, with the best chance of a solution at hand, it would be a let down to turn us away now. You wish for your community to continue living happy lives, yes? Then let us in please."
The Sheriff closes his eyes, mulling over the decision. "Very well; you are a stubborn lot, but at this point, the village does need any help it can get. Just don't harm the people if they lash out. They are scared right now and I know that you all could probably end every one of us if you honestly felt that way."
Molune reluctantly opens the gate, motioning for you to make haste to the temple.
"It is them! Those newcomers! They must have been ones to kill our plants and ruin us all!", a voice shouts from the crowd surrounding the temple. Immediately, a dozen men and women blockade the entrance from you. "Molune, get away from them, they have no business here after what they must have done!"
"And they think they can fix it.", he tersely replies. "I dunno how they figured out about the children, but they believe they have something to solve the problem and... revive Robori."
As a voice of reason, Molune's half-truth is enough to calm the crowd done to at least grant passage into the temple.
Inside, the panic is just as severe as Zura's acolytes are pleading to a crowd of people to remain calm, although high priestess Zura weeps at the limping branches of Robori. The Sheriff immediately goes to her, shaking her to attention. "Priestess! Get up, them outside-folk think they can fix it." "It doesn't matter any more.", she cries out. "How do you fix a broken faith from the loss of their god?", Zura looking at the tree longingly. "Even if you were to restore the tree to its vigor, then that means that the god is weak and will eventually die anyway. I-I-I can't keep up this act like that, it's too much!"
The Sheriff, hearing those words, immediately stands. "Everybody, out now! These folk need a private conversation with the high priestess to solve the problem the caused." While there is grumbling, the people's faith in the Sheriff is enough to eventually scatter the crowd inside, leaving the church empty save for the party, the Sheriff, Zura, and her acolytes.
"Well, what's your plan?", he asks.
Zura looks up at the Sheriff, who explains, "They know something about the children."
The priestess lowers her head. "Robori... is a lie."
"Generations ago, the children of Mercy were afflicted with a strange disease; bark-like growths and formations would appear on their skin. The people were horrified, confused, and worried that the village was doomed. Then my great-great-grandfather, in an act to spare the children from a violent end, came up with Robori, that the mutations were a gift from a tree god to be embraced, not reviled. He managed to stall long enough for the disease to not only come to an end after a certain age, but that those children were heather and hardier than before."
Zura looks upon the wilting tree as she continues. "My ancestor then became the first priest of Robori, using what little magical talents he had to support the people and continue the lie to protect the children. It has been passed down from generation to generation as now we are all descendants of those who went through the transformation of Robori. Because of how it would look to others, we shy away the youths until the growths have recovered, from which point they can be productive members of Mercy."
"But now, that lie has ended; the tree my great-great-grandfather chose as a false god on a whim is dying like all of the others plants."
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Once the priestess has answered, assuming she doesn't reveal anything about what happened to Amenira, he will say, "We came here to locate a scholar named Amenira. We've found evidence that she was murdered, he gives a glance at little 'Nira', as she tried to discover what was being done to the children of this village. We still haven't located her but if we can, we might learn something important that could help you revive your tree and perhaps your faith. In the cave, we found a jar of enchanted syrup that could lead us to her remains. As I understand it, someone who has seen her must concentrate on her and pour the syrup to the ground. It will then move along the ground, leading us to her or her remains. All we need is for someone who remembers her to do this for us. I'll focus on finding her while others," here he nods at the spellcasters of the group, attend to this tree.
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Gob taps Benson on the shoulder and whispers "Actually we found her body in the cave. It looked like that Cloaker had killed her." Gob then gestures to the seedling, "I believe that this is the solution to your problems. It was the source of the growth in the cave and seems to be linked to your own vegetation, though I think it was being corrupted some how. Though I think in your hands it may be free of this corruption."
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"Perhaps if you plant it... free from taint... it will grow and you will be able to grow new vegetation.. just don't try to pass it off as a god, simply as a godsend... perhaps give your devotion to Erastil, who is a god of nature and harvests and the hunt, and simply say that whatever grows from this seed is a sign of his approval, nothing more. If you need instruction or a true priest, perhaps we can inquire as to a priest or priestess of Erastil to come and at least train you in the faith, if they cannot stay with you. Whatever you decide, you know things must change here... The other option of course is to simply relocate away from these storms."
The seedling continues to pulse in Benson's hands, feeling warmer. "What is that?", Zura asks.
Upon the explanation provided, Zura immediately grabs a shovel. "Then let us plant this and see what happens."
The football-sized seedling is placed into the ground near the 'Robori' tree's roots. However, nothing seems to happen. "What... but you said...", the stress getting to Zura.
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Wyeth leans over and speaks quietly with Gpb. "If that thing was somehow responsible for the growth and health of all the trees and plants hereabouts... is it possible it was so powerful it was also causing 'growth' even on young children?"
He pauses to think, then continues. "And if it was corrupted somehow, and we've interrupted that, maybe we've interrupted this 'disease' as well?"
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Benson looks at 'Nira. "Do you have any ideas? You've given us clues before. Did Amenira figure something out before she died?"
Then he looks at the cleric. "Can you speak with the dead? I believe there is a spell that some clerics know that allows a brief conversation with the deceased. Perhaps we could learn what happened to her and that would help us understand the other mysteries."
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