DoctorB's Legacy of Alexander Story Hour
JoyHealinghand
First Post
yeah, right
Cool says the man who did not have rot grubs burrowing in through his feet. It was almost enough to make a hobbit start wearing shoes ... almost.
Cool says the man who did not have rot grubs burrowing in through his feet. It was almost enough to make a hobbit start wearing shoes ... almost.
Under the Trees
After only a few minutes of walking, Selmi heard the rumble of hooves, like a giant cavalry charge. Looking into the clearing to his left, he saw two great and twisted Boars charging at them. Toiva faced down one of the behemoths and took serious wounds in the process. As the other attacked Selmi and Cobbe, Liana struck it from behind. This time Arin kept his human form and tried merely to distract the beast. After both creatures had been dispatched, Selmi helped Joy to heal the wounded. The Champions staggered on, but Selmi had the feeling that the Heart Oak merely toyed with them before exerting its real power.
Selmi could feel the closeness of the Tolnan forest close around them as they approached closer to the Tree. The forest seemed if anything more twisted than before, with writhing shapes on all sides suggesting constant attack. Nonetheless, nothing bothered them for a long time.
Finally, a rustling in the underbrush signaled something moving towards them. Crea burst from the forest and threw herself at Arin. The others raised their weapons, but they all noticed that her demeanor had changed. Before she had shown only cool confidence. This time, she seemed genuinely distraught.
“Please, you have to help us!” she cried. “Save the master! It is being changed slowly for moons now.”
Everyone seemed to speak at once, ready to ask their questions, when the twisted dryad called out again.
“No! He knows I am here!” As she started to rise and the expression on her face began to change, Toiva stepped up and knocked her out with one flat-bladed strike. Before they could absorb what had just happened, darkness abruptly fell over them. Even Selmi’s keen eyes, used to seeing in the deep caverns of the Dwarvenrealm, seemed struck blind.
Combat raged inside the darkness as the party tried to move clear of the effect to see what was happening. Selmi knew only that some giant creature attacked him and Krag with great limbs. He heard Galena chanting a spell and he hoped she would remove the darkness, but her frustrated curse revealed she had failed.
He heard the hill dwarf grunt as the blows connected even as Arin picked him up to carry him out of the darkness. Selmi also worked his way out of the darkness to find giant tree creatures fighting Cobbe and the others. One of these looked more humanoid than the others. Selmi had heard stories of the shepherds of trees, the Treants, but this one was twisted and diseased like everything in this accursed forest.
Selmi, Toiva and the dragon Arin fought an awakened tree even as Cobbe, riding Lady Breda, charged the Treant, who was some distance away awakening another twisted tree. The Lord of Pella found himself trapped between Treant and one of his servant trees as the others finished the corrupted plant they were fighting and ran to his aid. Even as the Treant seemed about to collapse, it stepped back and invoked another sphere of intense darkness. Undaunted, the Champions continued to fight. Selmi took serious wounds and heard the crash of metal as Cobbe fell from his warhorse’s back before Toiva’s greatsword cut down the creature.
Carrying his fallen liege-lord from the scene of the fighting Selmi could see immediately that Cobbe was beyond hope. He could do nothing to help.
The Straw-Hat Knight was dead.
After only a few minutes of walking, Selmi heard the rumble of hooves, like a giant cavalry charge. Looking into the clearing to his left, he saw two great and twisted Boars charging at them. Toiva faced down one of the behemoths and took serious wounds in the process. As the other attacked Selmi and Cobbe, Liana struck it from behind. This time Arin kept his human form and tried merely to distract the beast. After both creatures had been dispatched, Selmi helped Joy to heal the wounded. The Champions staggered on, but Selmi had the feeling that the Heart Oak merely toyed with them before exerting its real power.
Selmi could feel the closeness of the Tolnan forest close around them as they approached closer to the Tree. The forest seemed if anything more twisted than before, with writhing shapes on all sides suggesting constant attack. Nonetheless, nothing bothered them for a long time.
Finally, a rustling in the underbrush signaled something moving towards them. Crea burst from the forest and threw herself at Arin. The others raised their weapons, but they all noticed that her demeanor had changed. Before she had shown only cool confidence. This time, she seemed genuinely distraught.
“Please, you have to help us!” she cried. “Save the master! It is being changed slowly for moons now.”
Everyone seemed to speak at once, ready to ask their questions, when the twisted dryad called out again.
“No! He knows I am here!” As she started to rise and the expression on her face began to change, Toiva stepped up and knocked her out with one flat-bladed strike. Before they could absorb what had just happened, darkness abruptly fell over them. Even Selmi’s keen eyes, used to seeing in the deep caverns of the Dwarvenrealm, seemed struck blind.
Combat raged inside the darkness as the party tried to move clear of the effect to see what was happening. Selmi knew only that some giant creature attacked him and Krag with great limbs. He heard Galena chanting a spell and he hoped she would remove the darkness, but her frustrated curse revealed she had failed.
He heard the hill dwarf grunt as the blows connected even as Arin picked him up to carry him out of the darkness. Selmi also worked his way out of the darkness to find giant tree creatures fighting Cobbe and the others. One of these looked more humanoid than the others. Selmi had heard stories of the shepherds of trees, the Treants, but this one was twisted and diseased like everything in this accursed forest.
Selmi, Toiva and the dragon Arin fought an awakened tree even as Cobbe, riding Lady Breda, charged the Treant, who was some distance away awakening another twisted tree. The Lord of Pella found himself trapped between Treant and one of his servant trees as the others finished the corrupted plant they were fighting and ran to his aid. Even as the Treant seemed about to collapse, it stepped back and invoked another sphere of intense darkness. Undaunted, the Champions continued to fight. Selmi took serious wounds and heard the crash of metal as Cobbe fell from his warhorse’s back before Toiva’s greatsword cut down the creature.
Carrying his fallen liege-lord from the scene of the fighting Selmi could see immediately that Cobbe was beyond hope. He could do nothing to help.
The Straw-Hat Knight was dead.
Last edited:
KidCthulhu
First Post
Yeek! Say it ain't so.
The Heart Oak
Unwilling to abandon their quest, even upon the death of their leader, the Champions pressed on toward the corrupted Heart Oak. They carried with them the bodies of Cobbe and Krag, the hill dwarf. Lady Breda showed no such patience. Seeing that her knight was dead, she huffed once and turned back toward the Wood elven encampment.
Finally, the great tree came into view. The trunk was a broad as a house though the canopy started only a little above other trees in the area. Its broad branches extended at least forty feet beyond the edge of its bark. The Heart Oak remained awe-inspiring in its majesty, but now that awe came tinged with disgust and fear. Great swaths of white covered large parts of the tree with disease while once shapely limbs had become twisted and black. Nothing lived near the oak. Even the twisted animals of the forest seemed to avoid it.
Pausing at the top of a small hill, the Champions considered whether the tree posed a direct threat to them and debated how they could hope to heal it. Finally, they decided to move forward and see if they could communicate with the plant or at least find the Arms of the First Oak, the artifact the heroes needed to restore Master Horus.
While most of the party concentrated on the tree as they approached, Liana happened to look back at the hill they had just descended. Her eyes widened as the hill itself rose up behind them. A great mouth opened in its center as tentacles of living plant sprung from its sides. The corrupted forest affected even this terrible monster. Once made of leaves, twigs and other healthy plants, the beast now seemed made up of blackened and diseased fragments of living things. Liana quickly warned the others of the danger towering above them.
“Run for the Tree!” Joy shouted as the plant-monster attacked.
Unwilling to abandon their quest, even upon the death of their leader, the Champions pressed on toward the corrupted Heart Oak. They carried with them the bodies of Cobbe and Krag, the hill dwarf. Lady Breda showed no such patience. Seeing that her knight was dead, she huffed once and turned back toward the Wood elven encampment.
Finally, the great tree came into view. The trunk was a broad as a house though the canopy started only a little above other trees in the area. Its broad branches extended at least forty feet beyond the edge of its bark. The Heart Oak remained awe-inspiring in its majesty, but now that awe came tinged with disgust and fear. Great swaths of white covered large parts of the tree with disease while once shapely limbs had become twisted and black. Nothing lived near the oak. Even the twisted animals of the forest seemed to avoid it.
Pausing at the top of a small hill, the Champions considered whether the tree posed a direct threat to them and debated how they could hope to heal it. Finally, they decided to move forward and see if they could communicate with the plant or at least find the Arms of the First Oak, the artifact the heroes needed to restore Master Horus.
While most of the party concentrated on the tree as they approached, Liana happened to look back at the hill they had just descended. Her eyes widened as the hill itself rose up behind them. A great mouth opened in its center as tentacles of living plant sprung from its sides. The corrupted forest affected even this terrible monster. Once made of leaves, twigs and other healthy plants, the beast now seemed made up of blackened and diseased fragments of living things. Liana quickly warned the others of the danger towering above them.
“Run for the Tree!” Joy shouted as the plant-monster attacked.
Cobbe is Dead, Long Live Cobbe!
[DM Note: These are a series of Emails that the player of Cobbe and I exchanged the week after his character died to the Treant. He suggested he would like to role-play his death. I had never done that before but I think it worked out really well. The question was whether Cobbe would want to come back when Joy (presumably) tried to raise him. I started to change all the pronouns to put it into third person but didn't like the way it sounded. I still think it is really cool, though, so I will post the exchange as is, but in several pieces. BTW, Clarice is Cobbe's wife.]
[From DM]
The battle rages around you, the corrupted Treant towering over you ahead while you know it’s awakened ally comes from your rear. Darkness has hampered your ability to finish the enemy and you worry about the success of the others. Suddenly, the double blow comes from behind you and all goes black…
You awaken to the smell of flowers. Opening your eyes, you see that you are sitting on a garden bench. Unknown but beautiful plants surround you with paths winding between fruit-laden trees. The sound of flowing water creates an undercurrent of peace and serenity.
“Walk with me,” the quiet voice speaks, and it is familiar. Looking up, you see Clarice as she looked when you first met her. Her eyes are calm and she wears a flowing blue gown.
You walk quietly with her through the garden, coming suddenly upon a small waterfall leading to a pool before joining the nearby stream. Looking into the gently moving water, you see that a scene emerges behind the water’s reflection.
An enormous tree towers over you. As broad as a house, it rises and spreads out creating a canopy above you, dwarfing the fully-grown trees surrounding it. Though you can guess the beauty of this place when it was healthy, the great tree exudes corruption. It’s branches twist in a way that seems unnatural, and its bark seems diseased. Pulling away, you see the entirety of the Heart Oak, as surely this must be.
Focusing on the tree, you suddenly realize that the surrounding forest is gone. The tree remains but now you are in a different place. A vast strange plain extends in all directions. Beasts move on the horizon, but now the great tree stands alone. Still, it looks wrong somehow, though it obviously belongs here just as much as it did in the Tolnan woods.
“All it would take is one leaf or twig for Joy to transport my Champions to that place.”
Abruptly, you are falling away from the tree. Its enormity seems diminished as you see that the ground surrounding it is subtly curved. As your perspective grows, you see that the Heart Oak sits on an unimaginably huge cylinder. Then you see the other branchings from the monstrous structure. It must be a tree limb! As you fall away, you see that the Heart Oak is only a tiny part of a much mightier tree, bigger perhaps than the entire world. Looking down, you see misty shapes that might be still larger branches in an even larger creature of wood.
“Here, I am able to show you a few things more plainly than I can when you are part of the world,” the image of Clarice says gently.
[DM Note: These are a series of Emails that the player of Cobbe and I exchanged the week after his character died to the Treant. He suggested he would like to role-play his death. I had never done that before but I think it worked out really well. The question was whether Cobbe would want to come back when Joy (presumably) tried to raise him. I started to change all the pronouns to put it into third person but didn't like the way it sounded. I still think it is really cool, though, so I will post the exchange as is, but in several pieces. BTW, Clarice is Cobbe's wife.]
[From DM]
The battle rages around you, the corrupted Treant towering over you ahead while you know it’s awakened ally comes from your rear. Darkness has hampered your ability to finish the enemy and you worry about the success of the others. Suddenly, the double blow comes from behind you and all goes black…
You awaken to the smell of flowers. Opening your eyes, you see that you are sitting on a garden bench. Unknown but beautiful plants surround you with paths winding between fruit-laden trees. The sound of flowing water creates an undercurrent of peace and serenity.
“Walk with me,” the quiet voice speaks, and it is familiar. Looking up, you see Clarice as she looked when you first met her. Her eyes are calm and she wears a flowing blue gown.
You walk quietly with her through the garden, coming suddenly upon a small waterfall leading to a pool before joining the nearby stream. Looking into the gently moving water, you see that a scene emerges behind the water’s reflection.
An enormous tree towers over you. As broad as a house, it rises and spreads out creating a canopy above you, dwarfing the fully-grown trees surrounding it. Though you can guess the beauty of this place when it was healthy, the great tree exudes corruption. It’s branches twist in a way that seems unnatural, and its bark seems diseased. Pulling away, you see the entirety of the Heart Oak, as surely this must be.
Focusing on the tree, you suddenly realize that the surrounding forest is gone. The tree remains but now you are in a different place. A vast strange plain extends in all directions. Beasts move on the horizon, but now the great tree stands alone. Still, it looks wrong somehow, though it obviously belongs here just as much as it did in the Tolnan woods.
“All it would take is one leaf or twig for Joy to transport my Champions to that place.”
Abruptly, you are falling away from the tree. Its enormity seems diminished as you see that the ground surrounding it is subtly curved. As your perspective grows, you see that the Heart Oak sits on an unimaginably huge cylinder. Then you see the other branchings from the monstrous structure. It must be a tree limb! As you fall away, you see that the Heart Oak is only a tiny part of a much mightier tree, bigger perhaps than the entire world. Looking down, you see misty shapes that might be still larger branches in an even larger creature of wood.
“Here, I am able to show you a few things more plainly than I can when you are part of the world,” the image of Clarice says gently.
Cobbe is Dead, Long Live Cobbe
[Cobbe]
"Hmmmm. Well, what I'd really like to know is: what's the point? Life, I
mean. Now that I'm dead . . . I am dead, right? Now that I'm dead, I'm
here, and it's beautiful and smells nice and it's peaceful, and my joints
don't ache and I can see more clearly than since I was . . . well, ever.
It's nice, you know?
Bein' alive has it's good points, I suppose, but often it hurts. So why
bother with the bein' alive part? Can we not just jump straight to the
pleasant afterlife part? And skip the fear and sufferin' and hurtin'
part? Or at least hurry through it quicker?
So, sure, I understand that you're fighting against the forces of evil,
but what I'm wantin' to know is why it matters. I mean, here's heaven,
full of goodness, and if good and innocent people are killed down there
they just come up here, so why bother fighting to keep 'em alive and,
y'know, thus preventin' 'em from comin' here sooner? Seems like keepin
'em alive we're just extending the length of time that the evil can get at
'em.
And while we're at it, I'm havin' trouble with the whole killin' in the
name of goodness stuff. I mean, yeah, the Drow are torturing and out to
commit hurts on others, and the hill giants, and orcs and whatnot. . .
but while me and your other champions are beatin' 'em to pudding and
settin 'em on fire, aren't they just as afraid and suffering and all? Is
creating "fear, pain, and untimely death" in evil folks not just bringin'
about more fear, pain, and death? And isn't that bad?"
[Cobbe]
"Hmmmm. Well, what I'd really like to know is: what's the point? Life, I
mean. Now that I'm dead . . . I am dead, right? Now that I'm dead, I'm
here, and it's beautiful and smells nice and it's peaceful, and my joints
don't ache and I can see more clearly than since I was . . . well, ever.
It's nice, you know?
Bein' alive has it's good points, I suppose, but often it hurts. So why
bother with the bein' alive part? Can we not just jump straight to the
pleasant afterlife part? And skip the fear and sufferin' and hurtin'
part? Or at least hurry through it quicker?
So, sure, I understand that you're fighting against the forces of evil,
but what I'm wantin' to know is why it matters. I mean, here's heaven,
full of goodness, and if good and innocent people are killed down there
they just come up here, so why bother fighting to keep 'em alive and,
y'know, thus preventin' 'em from comin' here sooner? Seems like keepin
'em alive we're just extending the length of time that the evil can get at
'em.
And while we're at it, I'm havin' trouble with the whole killin' in the
name of goodness stuff. I mean, yeah, the Drow are torturing and out to
commit hurts on others, and the hill giants, and orcs and whatnot. . .
but while me and your other champions are beatin' 'em to pudding and
settin 'em on fire, aren't they just as afraid and suffering and all? Is
creating "fear, pain, and untimely death" in evil folks not just bringin'
about more fear, pain, and death? And isn't that bad?"
Cobbe is Dead, Long Live Cobbe
[DM]
"My dear Almer," she replies. "You have already done great deeds to further the cause of goodness in the world. You are here because you have earned the right to walk in these gardens for as long as you like. The most precious part of what you are is your right to choose your own destiny. If you want to understand what is happening in the world, I will do my best to explain."
"You are correct that those innocents who know goodness and die will come to this place, but the strength and beauty of the celestial plane is built on the belief and struggle of generations of people like you holding back the forces of evil in the world. The forces of the Triad and their allies can corrupt even innocent spirits. Good only exists in the world as long as others live exemplifying the traits of goodness for present and future generations to see."
"I will tell you a secret. We the Seven did not create you. Nor did the Triad. We exist only so long as people in the world believe in us and place their trust in us. We are the embodiment of all that is good (or evil) in your mortal nature. The gardens you see around you are built from the aspirations of benevolent people."
"As for killing in the name of goodness, the Knight would have a quick answer: 'those who are irredeemably evil serve only to strengthen the Triad. Their destruction is an act of goodness then because those creatures' own spirits are already condemned. At least they do not take others with
them.'"
"I would answer instead that killing for any reason can be a taint on your spirit. Many of my followers, including Marigold Healinghand who I believe you know, have taken a vow never to kill any living thing. I honor and respect those who make that decision, as I do those who tend more to the Knight's view."
[DM]
"My dear Almer," she replies. "You have already done great deeds to further the cause of goodness in the world. You are here because you have earned the right to walk in these gardens for as long as you like. The most precious part of what you are is your right to choose your own destiny. If you want to understand what is happening in the world, I will do my best to explain."
"You are correct that those innocents who know goodness and die will come to this place, but the strength and beauty of the celestial plane is built on the belief and struggle of generations of people like you holding back the forces of evil in the world. The forces of the Triad and their allies can corrupt even innocent spirits. Good only exists in the world as long as others live exemplifying the traits of goodness for present and future generations to see."
"I will tell you a secret. We the Seven did not create you. Nor did the Triad. We exist only so long as people in the world believe in us and place their trust in us. We are the embodiment of all that is good (or evil) in your mortal nature. The gardens you see around you are built from the aspirations of benevolent people."
"As for killing in the name of goodness, the Knight would have a quick answer: 'those who are irredeemably evil serve only to strengthen the Triad. Their destruction is an act of goodness then because those creatures' own spirits are already condemned. At least they do not take others with
them.'"
"I would answer instead that killing for any reason can be a taint on your spirit. Many of my followers, including Marigold Healinghand who I believe you know, have taken a vow never to kill any living thing. I honor and respect those who make that decision, as I do those who tend more to the Knight's view."
Cobbe is Dead, Long Live Cobbe
[Cobbe]
Oh! So . . . so Heaven . . . and . . . and *you* . . . don't have an
independent existence? I mean, it's goodness in world that sustains you, and heaven . . . and I guess the world also makes Hell and the chaos plane and everything . . .
So if goodness "lost" in the world . . . so goodness isn't inherent? If I'd grown up in a slave pit and never seen anything in my life but cruelty, I'da been evil too? Hmm. Hard to fathom.
But see, it's confusing. So the world really is super-important, and . . . all these other, uh "planes" are . . . reflections, sorta, of aspects from the world? But . . . we've fought devils and chaos worms and whatnot *in the world*. If those things are just reflections of aspects of the world, how come they're so damned powerful?
And "irredeemably evil?" I mean, is that really how it works? Orcs
*aren't* irredeemably evil. Or else Bacha's taken us for a long ride in a covered wagon, bringin' his full-blood orc relatives right into the Pella.
Mph. Well. Okay. Joy's going to ask me to come back, I figure, if she lives through the fight with that damned treant. Sounds like if I want there to *be* a heaven for Ana and the rest of the kids--and their kids--to get to, there's more that needs doin' down there. Unless you've got someone lined up to replace me that you think'll do a better job. I am just an old man. When I'm not dead, anyway.
So about that Tree. You said "All it would take is one leaf or twig for Joy to transport my Champions to that place." It seemed like the tree was sorta . . . uh, simultaneously in both the world and that other place.
So . . . can we just pluck a leaf off the tree in the world and use that to go to the other place? Or what about the "Arms of the First Oak"--is *it* from the aspect of the tree in that other place, maybe, and could we use it to go there? Or . . . what?
So the Tolnan Heart Tree is kinda like a branch of the gigantic tree. Do the other branches of the gigantic tree all form, like, other heart trees? Where? Are they in the world, or . . . or. . . .
Is the whole gigantic tree sick? It's awful damn big. It . . . it's like
a . . . is it Yggdrasil? I've heard of a big tree named Yggdrasil that
holds up the world and other . . worlds. Planes, I guess. But I thought they guy telling me this was Other-touched. At the very least he was drunk. Because if it holds up all the planes, what does it GROW in?
[Cobbe]
Oh! So . . . so Heaven . . . and . . . and *you* . . . don't have an
independent existence? I mean, it's goodness in world that sustains you, and heaven . . . and I guess the world also makes Hell and the chaos plane and everything . . .
So if goodness "lost" in the world . . . so goodness isn't inherent? If I'd grown up in a slave pit and never seen anything in my life but cruelty, I'da been evil too? Hmm. Hard to fathom.
But see, it's confusing. So the world really is super-important, and . . . all these other, uh "planes" are . . . reflections, sorta, of aspects from the world? But . . . we've fought devils and chaos worms and whatnot *in the world*. If those things are just reflections of aspects of the world, how come they're so damned powerful?
And "irredeemably evil?" I mean, is that really how it works? Orcs
*aren't* irredeemably evil. Or else Bacha's taken us for a long ride in a covered wagon, bringin' his full-blood orc relatives right into the Pella.
Mph. Well. Okay. Joy's going to ask me to come back, I figure, if she lives through the fight with that damned treant. Sounds like if I want there to *be* a heaven for Ana and the rest of the kids--and their kids--to get to, there's more that needs doin' down there. Unless you've got someone lined up to replace me that you think'll do a better job. I am just an old man. When I'm not dead, anyway.
So about that Tree. You said "All it would take is one leaf or twig for Joy to transport my Champions to that place." It seemed like the tree was sorta . . . uh, simultaneously in both the world and that other place.
So . . . can we just pluck a leaf off the tree in the world and use that to go to the other place? Or what about the "Arms of the First Oak"--is *it* from the aspect of the tree in that other place, maybe, and could we use it to go there? Or . . . what?
So the Tolnan Heart Tree is kinda like a branch of the gigantic tree. Do the other branches of the gigantic tree all form, like, other heart trees? Where? Are they in the world, or . . . or. . . .
Is the whole gigantic tree sick? It's awful damn big. It . . . it's like
a . . . is it Yggdrasil? I've heard of a big tree named Yggdrasil that
holds up the world and other . . worlds. Planes, I guess. But I thought they guy telling me this was Other-touched. At the very least he was drunk. Because if it holds up all the planes, what does it GROW in?
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