Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Softwind" data-source="post: 1349250" data-attributes="member: 13893">Call for assistanceThirty-third Session (Oct 03)  The party spends a week in shopping, scribing, and studying, and is prepared to answer a call for help when it comes. The druid high priestess Aranthea requests the party’s presence in the Green Hall, where she reveals that she has been feeling a disturbance in the natural order of things. The sensation originates to the north, along the Everlund Pass, near the small village of Sumpter.  When all the party is gathered together, Aranthea's friend Shokan teleports them to the Pass, a days journey from the town.Heat and humidity is the first thing noticed when they arrive. For a region of the country fast entering Autumn, the weather is very much… peculiar. Shouldering their gear, the group enters the forest on a small trail that branches off from the main road they found themselves on. The smell that assails them the further they go is of rot, mildew and decay. Not the smell of a normal, healthy forest. The rangers and druid express their unease more frequently the farther they follow the trail.As dusk fast approaches, the trail opens up unto a small village. The ground soggy beneath their feet, they enter the central square, the eyes of the villagers upon them. One brave individual comes up to the party, asking if they are the aid that they have called for.  Expressing confusion at the question, the party listens as the tale, albeit jumbled, is told. For some time, the entire area around the town has been under plague of hostile weather. The heat and humidity have been constant for months, and until recently, they had been under constant deluge of rain. All the crops have succumbed, the trees in the orchards rotting where they stand, the food stores are destroyed by mildew and mold, and the forest wildlife is striking in their absence. Without outside assistance, the village looks to starve in half a week.As night has fallen, the group decides to locate lodging for the night at the only inn in town, the Lone Tree, run by Samus. They are given two rooms of their choice, being the only outsiders in town currently. Dal sends his pseudodragon familar out to scout, as does Qonos with his raven. Both animals return shortly, tired from constant oppression of the heat and humidity. Strange figures were seen in the forest, but no details were discerned. The party decides to investigate in the morning. The ranger and druid shrink their animal companions to fit them within the Inn, much to the discomfort of the innkeeper - but who is he to argue?As the sun arises in the east, the party is awoken to screams from outside the inn. Leaping up (and for some, out the window), the party rushes into the common square to determine the source of the cry. There they find a hysterical woman pointing to the edge of the forest. When they investigate, they find the savaged corpses of two young men - Cale and Kalda, the same two that had been sent out earlier to get assistance for the village. Form their wounds, it appeared as though something had clawed them to death... taking large portions of their bodies with them.Brynn scouts the area for tracks, and finds several of unknown origin. He motions for the rest of the party to follow. Skylar also watches the trail, and her keen elf eyes see further marks that had gone unnoticed by Brynn. He covers his embarrassment with a hurried pace, and the group finds itself deep within the woods in moments, still following the strange marks in the rain-softened earth. The party is taken by surprise some time later as the trees themselves seem to come alive and attack.  Looking about, they realize that while the things attacking them look on the surface to be trees (cactus), they bear the humanoid shape of two "arms", two "legs" and a "head", although no features are discernable. With battle joined, the group leaps into action. Daladariel casts Magic Missile at the nearest target, staggering it. Genoa summons an Elemental of Earth to battle for her, targeting it near another of the plant creatures. Skylar, true to form, unslings her bow and revels in the new effectiveness it has, as the energy-infused shafts strike true, crackling with electricity, as they hit. She spares a brief moment mourning the loss of each arrow as they are consumed by the raw power of the enchantments placed upon them by her bow, but their new effectiveness outweighs her concern.Brynn, arms crossed before his mighty chest, unsheathes his swords and crashes into the fray, his blades cutting a swath of destruction upon the plant-thing before him. Tombit slips into the shadows where he observes the battle, looking for likely targets, and searches out amongst the trees for any other hidden opponents. While he looks, he readies the light crossbow recently acquired from a previous encounter.Athena, her friends under siege, pulls from her waist her mace and scimitar, her countenance grim, in opposition to her normal easy grin. Tightly gripped, the weapons reach out to crush and slash her opponents. In a few sure strokes, one creature lays upon the ground, unmoving.  Qonos follows behind, his single sword dancing in the wan sunlight to cut deeply into his foe, and dancing out again, almost quicker than eye can follow.Their surprise shattered, the plant creatures move quickly, targeting the party with thorns fired seemingly from their bodies, or reaching out claws to crush and rip. They seem intent in closing upon the elves of the group, and Skylar, Daladeriel, and Qonos come under concerted attack. Many of the attacks prove ineffectual against the skill and finesse of the party. It seems likely that the months of experience in battle have proven to be of aid in avoiding the strange plant-creatures attacks. However, even experienced adventurers take a misstep on occasion, and some of the attacks strike their marks. In response, Daladerial casts Haste upon the party, the arcane energies infusing them, causing their actions to increase in speed as the world appears to slow about them. Genoa calls upon the forces of nature to surround her and her closer companions in a mystic shield of energy (Antiplant Shield) that keeps the plantkin a distance away. Tombit, unaware of the invisible shield about him, waits for a creature to approach closer. Brynn, already outside the protection, seeks another opponent to cut down, his previous target being eliminated with sure strokes of his blades. Qonos too looks about for a place in which to place the edge of his longsword. They hurry to where a gathering of the green creatures advances. Skylar scans the woods, and upon sighting a plantkin approaching, draws back the string of her bow.  Somehow confused, her dexterity fails her, and she promptly flings the bow some distance from herself.  Startled, she watches as her weapon lands beneath a nearby tree.Athena moves near the summoned earth elemental, busy with a plantkin, and attacks a second target nearby. Genoa summons forth another elemental, this time the invisible Harrier, and commands it to assist the earth elemental already engaged. Between the two summoned creatures, the plant being is decimated. Tombit realizes that something is preventing the creature near him from coming closer, so he fires two bolts from the crossbow, injuring and slowing the plantkin.The walking plants, their numbers diminished by the party, nonetheless continue the assault, firing thorns into the members of the group not covered by the Antiplant Shield cast by Genoa. The creatures seem unperturbed that many of their attacks prove ineffectual, as they continue to fire their needles, and reach out with their wooden claws.Moving quickly, thanks to the Haste spell from Daladariel, both Brynn and Qonos take down their respective foes, before moving on to new ones. Athena seeks out injured members of the party to heal before returning to combat. Skylar recovers her bow, and in the process, fires upon a plant creature nearby. Tombit continues his attacks with the crossbow, seriously injuring the one attacking Skylar. Dal again summons forth mystic energy to strike with Magic Missiles, the bolts unerringly finding their marks.Under the combined, relentless assault from the party members, the remaining plant creatures are hunted down and destroyed, their vegetable-matter bodies steaming in the hot sun. Exhausted by the battle in the oppressive heat, the party slumps to the ground and fall into a stupor.</blockquote>

Verification