The Plant Kingdom

Quick Summary No. 4

-The party wakes up in the ruins they found and travels on. Along the side of the road, they see a fluorescent light. They decide to investigate this light source.

-They come across ruins, and after going through them find an open courtyard with very large mushrooms growing there that glow. Abel identifies them as being at least 10 years old. Azariah gathers some of the smaller mushrooms for light sources, as the current ones will likely run out in about a week or two.

-Sorden discovers more broken and ancient weapons, which Abel recognizes as a tribe of Zamunsol.

-The party sees black and twisted vines growing everywhere. Upon further inspection, it is shown that the sap of these vines is corrosive in a similar but weaker manner to the fluid the Ruk Shol used on the Urash Tree. It is also noted to have similar dimming properties when applied to one of the glowing mushrooms, though at a very diminished rate from what the Ruk Shol used.

-Azariah speculates that this vine's fluids are distilled to a more concentrated state to create the stuff the Ruk Shol used. Abel uses Gentle Repose to preserve a sample of this vine and also the sample of the dewfrond vine that he has.

-Azariah begins to patrol the broken outer walls and finds an engraving. He clears away the wreckage, and finds that the top half has been destroyed. It is written in Common and says:

“...from generation to generation it shall lie desolate; and for ages
none shall pass through it. But the vulture and the raven shall
possess it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion,
and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the
kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be
nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles
in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a den of dragons, and a
court for owls. The wild beasts shall meet, and the satyr shall cry to
his fellow.”

-The party wonders at what this means and then discovers a path leading away. They also notice that the mushrooms, after a second look, seem to be cultivated in some way. They decide to follow this path.

-After a distance, noise is heard to the side of the path in the midst of the rubble. Nobo'ru is shot by a needle as he goes out to investigate.

-As the enemies are discovered, there are two different kinds: One is a large vine that is similar to the one found among the glowing mushrooms. The other is a moving bush that sends showers of black thorns shooting into the party. Azariah and Nobo'ru are entangled and choked by the vines as they fight to cut them off.

-With a lot of help from Abel's Flaming Sphere, the party overcomes the plant attackers and only Sorden is taken out, and even then only because at the last moment the strangling vine that Azariah was attacking swung Sorden around to take the hits from his attack. Afterwards, the flaming sphere destroyed the vine.

-The party continues, but hear more vines in the rubble. Nobo'ru immediately wishes to leave, and Sorden also expresses doubts about continuing. Upon further examination, it is discovered that the vage path they have been following was likely made by the plants, and so Azariah decides that it would also be best to leave. Fighting dissapointment, Abel follows them.

-Going along the path again, they see another light in the distance. Investigating this new light, they see a tree with large, globe-like green fruit that glows hanging from it. Nobo'ru wisely decides to test the vines that surrounding it (which appear to be the same black vines seen before) by throwing a broken stone into their midst. To the party's surprise, the tree begins to move and twist around to reveal two green eyes in its trunk.

-This tree claims to control the wide expanse the party has been passing through and asks for a tribute, particularly in the form of magical items. The tree expresses that it eats magic. It also expresses that a toll is a typical expense for travelers in the region. It says that it knows much about the Ruk Shol in the following area that the adventurers are heading to, and generally seems to appear to be neutral in nature.

-Sorden and Azariah begin trying to negotiate a toll with a +1 Orb that was found on “Draven,” but the tree senses the greater magic of the Zamunsol staves and indicates that it would be insulted by the meager offering that Sorden and Azariah present.

-Before anything else can be learned from the creature or negotiations for a toll are concluded, Nobo'ru, much to Azariah's chagrin, indirectly challenges the tree's ability or authority to exact a toll and there is rustling that is heard underfoot.

-The session ends.

[note, Andreas' absence is not noted by the party. This writer assumes that he stayed behind for some reason unknown to the party. It might be good for Pete to come up with a reason for why Andreas was not present...the story could be retroactively changed, if necessary.]