The woman Denat identifies as a Dryad stands when the Runelords slow.
She gets to her feet with a grace that puts the lie to her human form, almost seeming to unfold.
"Have you come to kill me?" she asks, hopelessness in her voice.
"No Lady. We have no enmity with those who would not do us harm." he says, glancing to the Runelord Ronald expectantly.
Sylvan: "My good lady. We have no quarrel with you. Why would you assume us to bear you ill will?"
She laughs bitterly.
"Is not 'civilization' the enemy of nature? All you people seem to do is enslave, destroy and kill."
She pauses on that last word, seeming to linger on it.
"One by one my sisters are dead. My lover sacrifices himself to lead the murderer away, but It will return and I will die."
"It may be a betrayal... I don't care. I will aid you if you can save him. Eldest know I could not convince him to save himself. Save my lover and I will be your ally."
There is, in turn, a look of distaste on her face. A look of shame. A look of desperate hope. A look of pleading.
"Who is your lover and where has he gone? Who is this murderer? While we bring civilization, there is no need for those who live in harmony to die. Only our enemies need fear us."
Ronald flashes his most winning smile and tries to exude calm confidence and peace.
At the mention of a dryad, Grey stopped moving with the others. He knew the enmity such creatures felt toward the undead and practitioners of necromancy. He would let the others treat with the fae.
It was in moments like this that he had rare feelings of doubt. They reminded him that his ideas and theories were untested in the whole of history and that much could go wrong. The dissent of mortals he could dismiss. They were short sighted and did more to destroy their world with simple apathy and vice than he ever could with this great experiment of his. At least his goal was worthy.
A creature like a Dryad though, it was hard not to feel guilt for defying. They harmed no one and created within their forests by simply existing what Grey hoped to create in Threshold by careful labor. The dryad was not his antithesis. In truth they were extremely similar. He admired her. He knew the feeling would not be mutual.
He kept well clear of the grove.
"A Tree. The ground in this forest strengthens the trees. Most simply grow tall, but this one somehow awakened. It somehow ate one of my sisters, and after that it could move. Now it stalks the forest consuming the magic and lives of all it finds - and especially Dryads. I am the last Dryad for many, many miles. It has been hunting me for months."
She bursts into tears again
"He led it away when it came here. He hasn't returned... he's dead..."
"An awakened tree which hunts dreads? Quite odd, and a bit disconcerting. Do you know where we might start looking for this creature? "
"Falchos thought it laired to the south. But be careful; the castle of the Dancing Lady is also to the south."
from the wave of her arm as she speaks it seems likely the dryad - trapped as she is near her tree - is a bit vague on directions.
"and who or what is the dancing landy?" Forsten adds, brow slightly furrowed as he takes in her tale of an ambulatory tree.
"Information like that is something to give to an ally."
"Information like that is something to give to an ally."
Leaning against one of the carts Simon lifts his hat so he can make eye contact with the dryad and gruffly breaks into the conversation.
In a calm voice:
"Lady, We're here to help you try to get your boyfriend back and preserve your tree. It's in our best interest and it's in your best interest. Even if we're not allies enough for you to help us with just that thing, which costs you nothing by the way, the perhaps you'll provide the information since it will in fact increase the chances of our succeeding. I know you're fey and mysterious, or whatever, but perhaps if you were more forthcoming we might actually be able to save your boyfriend and destroy whatever is killing you and your sisters. So now I ask. What's the dancing lady? "
She considers Simon
"Humans think us Fey mysterious. Capricious. Understand if you have trouble understanding the Fey we have just as much understanding you. You have asked questions. You have implied. But you have not offered me a deal, nor made a promise. I do not deal with humans. I deal with Fey."
"This I give you as a gift; listen to the words of the Fey. We do what we say we will do, but there is an art in making sure that what we say is not what is what is implied."
"Ahh. You want a specific deal. *sigh* Any of you more sociable want to try this?"
The Runelords are heading south, having travelled for two hours, when they come to a blighted hollow.
The sweet stench of decay hangs thick in this woodland clearing. Knotted branches of sickly leaves line the perimeter, creating a thick canopy that blocks most of the sunlight and cloaks the hollow in shadow. Withered vegetation struggles to grow in ragged clumps among the multitude of bones strewn across the forest floor.
The runelords stop for a moment to look, and the evil they were warned of strikes! One of the trees around the perimeters suddenly bursts into movement, only Molly's avian perception catching the precursors to movement.
Bursting from about halfway around the clearing one of its scythelike branches stretches out, the tip just catching Foresten.
[ooc]Not sure we need a map for this as I suspect this will be a very fast encounter - one way or another ;)
Tree is now 25ft from the group, has no cover and has an AC of 19 this round after modifiers. Anyone who can beat a 9 on initiative can go before it does. It has a 20ft space.
@Simon: Molly was not caught by surprise - I had her cawing a warning but if there is something clever she would have done with her standard action I'm happy to ret-con it in.,
Ronald's eyes and rune glow bright red for a moment before thick beams of fire stab out to impact the tree.
touch; fire.
touch; fire.
DC 19 reflex or catch fire as per alchemists fire.
5/7 mythic power remaining.
Inspired Spell, Faith's Reach: Inflict Critical Wounds
initiative
Forsten is only starting to turn--a slight grimace at having missed whatever has startled Simon's familiar as it thunders towards the group--when he feels a sharp pain in his side, and looks down to see several inches of a sharp, blade-like branch piercing his side. The blow it seems is sufficient to stun him momentarily, or at least slow his reaction sufficiently that he is unable to respond before the creature acts again.
Initiative
"...she might be ill. I sent Kovi to her house with some bread and her mother said she never came home after her shift."
Denat whispers a word of power and rubbery tentacles dripping with acid erupts around the tree.
The tentacles lash around the base of the tree, but is seems unaffected.
Grey's glower staggers the ghastly tree, a scar on its base splitting open to reveal a hell of wooden teeth, big enough to consume even the Grey Horror.
The creature moves slightly, Forsten forgotten, and lashes out that the abomination that is the Grey Horror.
or
or
or
The heavy blows all glance off Horror's new armor.
Ronald's firey bolts lash into the dry wooden bark of the creature, and it all but explodes into flame, shedding the flaming branches to save itself.
Simon steps up and positions himself to release a gout (20'line) of fire at the creature. He plans to hold the flame on as long as possible, so positioning will be important.
Mythic Firestream
Fire damage
The flames are difficult terrain.
Fort save or catch fire for an additional
As the tree reels from Ronald's scorching rays simon releases a wave of fire onto the creature.
Screeching a sound like tortured wood the creature ignites!
[dice=reflex]1d20+4
As the tree reels from Ronald's scorching rays simon releases a wave of fire onto the creature.
Screeching a sound like tortured wood the creature ignites!
The tentacles continue to attack their target.
Grey commands Horror to back up and stay clear of the tree. There was no real reason to engage it up close.
His eyes flared brighter for a moment and a momentary line of grey flashed between him and the tree. The bolt of energy was not particularly bright and it only existed for a fraction of a second, but it left a seared after image hanging in space, burned into the eyes of those who saw it.
Forsten vaults from his horse, ignoring the wound in his side as he charges towards the creature, drawing and enlarging Kyton's Spine. As he draws close the blade bursts into flames as he unleashes a series of slashes and strikes to regain the creature's attention.
Thrashing and burning the murderous tree becomes nothing but so much firewood.
Horror lowers its head to the ground like a ramp and The Master In Grey stepped carefully down to the ground, his hands within his voluminous sleeves.
He touched a hand to the corpse of the tree, and whispered.
Then he carefully directed Horror to chop the corpse into a number of smaller pieces with its metal-shod bladed legs. Legion lifted and secured the pieces to the platform on Horror's back.
"I assume this thing was the monstrous tree the dryad was complaining about. It stands to reason her missing lover is nearby, assuming he still lives. Do we have any creatures with us capable of scent-tracking?"
Dusting off his hands, Ronald surveys the remains of the murder-tree with satisfaction.
"Nature has its place. It is too bad this particular part of nature chose to exceed its standing."
Forsten sighs as his blows bring the creature down. Looking around at the other runelords he reassures himself that none are injured, before looking to the bleeding wound in his side. His rune flashes as he concentrates, the wound slowly beginning to close of it's own volition.
The journal doesn't talk about the search - though it is referenced twice by Runelords in the future as being 'distasteful' and the night they spent camped there as 'disturbing'.
We know that it was the next day that the final partially decomposed , partially eaten remnants of the Dryad's Satyr lover were found.
"So, how do we break the news to Miss Nature? Gently? Or brutal honesty?"
"Cover the remains and take them with us. Inform her that we found them and tell her their state. I expect she already knows this to be the case regardless. She can make her own decision from there." Forsten states simply.
"Agreed."
"Gentle honesty ?"
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Grey kept his own council regarding what to do regarding the satyr's body. He waited atop the Horror for the other Runelords to finish deciding what to do. His part in the matter was finished.