gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 115 - The Oak King's Court
Leon's band of misfits took a well-deserved rest before pressing on through the blighted forest.
At length they arrived at the 'court' - nothing more than a clearing in the forest, where the boughs of trees formed themselves into mock walls, arches and buttresses. But the blight had spread even here - mounds of stinking mulch were littered throughout the clearing. At its centre, a beautiful elven noblewoman wept over the body of a wemic - slain by thousands of tiny bites.
As they spoke to this tearful woman, the unit heard stomping footsteps and crashing through the trees. When they wondered aloud at this, the woman said:
"The Rowan King has senses intruders and comes to deal with them, in accordance with the wishes of his master, Tatzel."
The Huldregaarl growled a warning just moments before the woman metamorphosed into a swarm of chittering insects and attacked the party. The stinking mounds around her rose up at he command, taking vaguely humanoid forms, thoguh giant in size. These mounds seem to draw power from the maelstrom of butterflies in the skies above them, and their blows crackled with electrical power.
These were tough, dangerous opponents, but the newly formed group of warriors found they worked very well together and dispatched their foes with clinical efficiency: Redcoat tore huge chunks off the shambling mounds, while Nbed's sword bit deep with every strike. Etiotek chittered warnings that allowed the group to coordinate their attacks and used magical pheromones to heal their wounds. The Huldregaarl fought swarm against swarm, aided by the tempestuous blasts of Ascodel who was able to defend his allies from the hardest blows.
Though this fight was hard, they were soon victorious, but had only moments to catch their breath before the Oak King arrived:
Etiotek's quest was in vain: the Oak King had been corrupted along with the forest around him. The huge treant was blackened, maddened and twisted, lashing out at them with root and branch. Riding the 'waves' the Oak King formed in the earth itself were half-a-dozen giggling quicklings who darted to and fro, lashing out at the adventurers with their sharp knives.
This was another hard fight: the quicklings were also corrupt and rose from the dead when slain, while the Oak King was hugely powerful. But at length they wore the King down and dispatched him, whereupon the Huldregaarl wrapped its limbs around his body like a parasitic creeper and sapped his dying strength.
With that strength came wisdom (more of which next week).
Leon's band of misfits took a well-deserved rest before pressing on through the blighted forest.
At length they arrived at the 'court' - nothing more than a clearing in the forest, where the boughs of trees formed themselves into mock walls, arches and buttresses. But the blight had spread even here - mounds of stinking mulch were littered throughout the clearing. At its centre, a beautiful elven noblewoman wept over the body of a wemic - slain by thousands of tiny bites.
As they spoke to this tearful woman, the unit heard stomping footsteps and crashing through the trees. When they wondered aloud at this, the woman said:
"The Rowan King has senses intruders and comes to deal with them, in accordance with the wishes of his master, Tatzel."
The Huldregaarl growled a warning just moments before the woman metamorphosed into a swarm of chittering insects and attacked the party. The stinking mounds around her rose up at he command, taking vaguely humanoid forms, thoguh giant in size. These mounds seem to draw power from the maelstrom of butterflies in the skies above them, and their blows crackled with electrical power.
These were tough, dangerous opponents, but the newly formed group of warriors found they worked very well together and dispatched their foes with clinical efficiency: Redcoat tore huge chunks off the shambling mounds, while Nbed's sword bit deep with every strike. Etiotek chittered warnings that allowed the group to coordinate their attacks and used magical pheromones to heal their wounds. The Huldregaarl fought swarm against swarm, aided by the tempestuous blasts of Ascodel who was able to defend his allies from the hardest blows.
Though this fight was hard, they were soon victorious, but had only moments to catch their breath before the Oak King arrived:
Etiotek's quest was in vain: the Oak King had been corrupted along with the forest around him. The huge treant was blackened, maddened and twisted, lashing out at them with root and branch. Riding the 'waves' the Oak King formed in the earth itself were half-a-dozen giggling quicklings who darted to and fro, lashing out at the adventurers with their sharp knives.
This was another hard fight: the quicklings were also corrupt and rose from the dead when slain, while the Oak King was hugely powerful. But at length they wore the King down and dispatched him, whereupon the Huldregaarl wrapped its limbs around his body like a parasitic creeper and sapped his dying strength.
With that strength came wisdom (more of which next week).