Curing Eldergrove

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Dec 27, 2023 5:11 pm
Vaun looked alarmed, "Oh no! Barley! Get down! What is that?" He tried his level based to remember if he had read about creatures like this residing in a magical pool.


OOC: Sorry for a one-line post, but it's just scary to not react like that. Rolling educated to identify the creature and it's weakness.

Rolls

Educated trait roll to identify creature - (3d6)

(543) = 12

Dec 27, 2023 10:37 pm
The moving mass of water resembles stories of Water Elementals. Not evil but simply a force of power and the element that can be very powerful and destructive under the command of an evil mage or aid ships and construction under the control of benevolent ones. Wild ones are unpredictable as their thoughts are nearly impossible to understand.
Dec 28, 2023 3:27 pm
OOC:
This kind of thing is so much easier to navigate at a table, lol. Prehaps a quick side chat. Barley could either have it show us to the heart OR protect us from the imps. What does everyone think? I don't want to slow down the game, but this thing could really really help us.
Barley floats in the magical water surrounding him. Oddly, he can breathe normally.

He stares at the creature that engulfed him and thinks only to his companions, "It's not dangerous. It wants us to speak a word of command. If I do, it will follow our orders. We could use it to find the heart. What do you want me to say?
Last edited December 28, 2023 3:30 pm
Dec 28, 2023 7:39 pm
OOC:
If it's able to lead us to the heart at the very least it would help us narrow down which pathway, so that works for me.
"They say locals tend to make the best guides, but I doubt this is what they meant." Rhidon thinks to everyone, "If it can guide us to the correct entrance though, that would be very helpful."
Dec 30, 2023 4:14 am
OOC:
Sounds good
Barley looks the creature in it's undulating watery face and says, "Lead us to the tree heart."
Dec 30, 2023 4:46 am
Vaun listened to others counsel and waited for the elemental's reaction. It was a risky step, but it would surely lead them to the Treeheart. Maybe the creature would be tamed? Maybe they won't have to subdue such a terrifying creature. He waited with bated breath to see what the creature did when Barley issued the command.
Dec 30, 2023 6:20 am
water
Upon receiving Barleys command the water flows from the pool and deposits Barley next to the others before proceeding towards the tree but pausing a scant dozen feet away to await you.

You follow the mass of living water and it heads directly to the tree and passes within. You enter the short corridor through the roots of the tree and a briefly stopped by a stout wooden door that is burst open with a single slam from the elemental. Beyond it a large dim and open room. Though Rhidon and the elemental do not require any light Vaun and Barly have their visibility greatly diminished but soon realize that there is a faint light provided by luminous fungus and plants you are unfamiliar with. As you step within you find the air cool and filled with a mouldy odor. The walls are built of superior masonry with thick columns of living wood holding the high ceilings. The floor is covered with uneven flagstone and thin and thick roots making travel across them somewhat treacherous.

Upon entering the room you hear rustling noises and Rhidon spots a few enormous rats, the size of dogs, scrury away from their nest in the rooms north west corner behind the door. They quickly flee into a passage on the northern side of the room. The elemental proceeds across the room to the door on the far side and waits for you to follow.
https://i.imgur.com/ZYAPeX1.png
Dec 30, 2023 11:05 am
Vaun entered the Treehouse following the elemental's direction. Upon entering, he waited for sometime to adjust his eyesight in the darkness and almost gasped while looking at the interior of the room. He almost went for his dagger as he saw the giant rats scurrying away, but as they left him and his company, Vaun relaxed a bit. He continued to follow the elemental to the far side of the room and awaited others to catch up.
Dec 30, 2023 12:38 pm
Barley pauses as he barely makes out the giant scurrying shapes of the rats. He takes out his torch, clicks his finger to produce a flame and lights it.

In the light, he joins Vaun and the elemental.
Last edited December 30, 2023 1:00 pm
Dec 30, 2023 4:15 pm
As Barly lights the torch you see several of the plants nearby react. Some retract and close their flowers, others open up pods or begin producing thorns. The elemental reaches over and snuffs the torch shaking its head. As the gloom returns it takes a bit longer to see as the plants are slow to begin glowing and it takes a while for your eyes to re-adjust.
Rhidon can see normally but Vaun and Barley have disadvantage on any rolls to see/discover thing that rely on sight.

The elemental shoves open the door and enters the room but then returns and turns south. Looking in Rhidon can see a door on the east way that has long been grown over sealing it shut by roots over a foot thick. Again he hears the sound of something scrambling away into the deeper darkness of the tree/building.

The southern door is made of stone and also requires the elemental to force it open to reveal another dimly lit room covered in roots, moss, and fungi. Sliding over the rough floor the elemental crosses to the far SE corner and through a doorway partially blocked by vines, roots, and branches. It easily slides through and around the plants tangle but you are forced to stop and hack your way through. As you do so Rhidon pauses for a moment staring into the next room confused at the glimpse of a face staring back at him from the gloom beyond but it quickly vanished.

Another room and then another. But this one has a floor that is smooth with tilework creating a mosaic picture that is oddly clear of any plant growth or detritus.

https://i.imgur.com/Zxw2l7V.jpg

The elemental pauses at the clear tiles then moves across the tiles. However as it moves through the middle of the mosaic you hear a pop sound from above then a splashing sound as you see what looks like a rain of seeds the size of your fist fall into the elemental and the floor around it. Almost instantly the seeds within the elemental alls spout and begins growing inside of it and within it. The twisting sprouts begin binding together and the elementals movement slows.
Dec 31, 2023 2:46 am
Rhidon observes the disappearing face, the mosaic, and the the seeds with equal parts fear and curiosity. There is much happening in this place I do not understand friends, including a glimpse of a face I saw briefly before it vanished. I'm not sure if you can make it out but there is a mosaic on the floor here, it depicts a large tree in a town... and that noise you just heard is a rain of seeds sprouting within the elemental and slowing it down.

Trusting that the elemental has been a reliable guide, Rhidon attempts to chop the sprouts with his axe in an attempt to free the elemental.

Rolls

Chopping sprouts to free elemental - (2d6)

(23) = 5

Dec 31, 2023 5:27 am
Vaun tries to feel his way until his eyes adjust to the dimness of the room. "Damn, we can't let the elemental slow down. It is showing us the way. Let me try to cut any vegetations obstructing it." He took out his dagger and started slashing through the outgrowths that he could spot and feel to free up the space.

OOC: Since there is darkness do I roll with disadvantage? Will disadvantage lower my 3 dice to 2 dice? Okay, attacking the vegetation with dagger then.
Last edited December 31, 2023 5:40 am

Rolls

Attack roll - (3d6)

(531) = 9

Dec 31, 2023 5:30 am
OOC:
Assume regular rolls unless stated otherwise
Disadvantage is currently only to see details and at range. So ranged attacks have disadvantage but other attacks are normal
Jan 1, 2024 5:32 pm
"Hold on a second! We may want him to sprout. This room was put here for a reason!", Barley says and furiously tries to read the mosiac in the gloom. Looking for a clue to see if this is normal or not.
OOC:
I want to see if we are supposed to let the elemental turn into a tree. It's interesting that there is a mosiac of a giant tree that has a seed trap in the center.

Rolls

Clues to see if this is normal (Scholar) - (1d6)

(5) = 5

Jan 1, 2024 7:24 pm
Rhidon slashes at the plants but fails to have much effect while Vaun manages to cut through several of the roots that extend from the elemental and seek to anchor into any nearby surface. Though this does not stop the spread of the plants it does limit their effectiveness. The elemental flows away from any seeds on the floor and begins swirling its mass to clump the plant mass into a single location but fails to remove the growing mass from its form.

The mosaic looks like a picture of the city you are in, though not overgrown. Nature and buildings combined to encompass the river with the great tree in the center of it all.
OOC:
Anyone can go, Beruga can act twice if they post after the others.

Rolls

Elemental Save Test - (2d6)

(42) = 6

Jan 1, 2024 9:50 pm
I'm not sure. Everything indicates that this growth is an overreaction by the treeheart. I'd be hesitant to let it continue.

Beruga, following up the rear, pauses briefly to think about how she could help the elemental, but realizes she probably doesn't have the tools to effectively stop the plant growth. Seeing the elemental try and fail to eject a large clump of it, she jumps to try to sink her teeth into the growth and anchor it to the floor to give the elemental a better chance on its next attempt.
OOC:
Sorry for delay, everyone. Holidays had me more busy than I thought I'd be.

I think it's fair to roll this with disadvantage since Beruga will probably find it hard to anchor herself on a tile floor.

Rolls

Anchor clump of plant growth to floor - (1d6)

(6) = 6

Jan 1, 2024 11:29 pm
The plants tendrils instantly sink into the ground and merge with the other roots that crisscross the floor. The now anchored elemental struggles as the plants grow stronger and stronger and spread throughout its body. It's whirling mass is able to keep portions of itself free of the invasive plant mass but now that the plants have an anchor the elemental is unable to move as more roots in the area sprout tendrils that stretch out to bind it further.

Rolls

Elemental Save Test - (2d6)

(64) = 10

Jan 2, 2024 6:42 am
Vaun looks confusedly at the events. He couldn't make up his mind about whether to help the elemental or to let the vegetation have it's way. Is there an esoteric order of things that needs to happen? Some kind of mystic phenomenon? Is there some process taking place? He focused his thoughts on trying to understand what was going on.

OOC: Rolling educated to find out what exactly is happening here?

Rolls

Educated trait roll - (3d6)

(212) = 5

Jan 2, 2024 11:58 am
"I suppose you're right, Berulga.", says Barley and he draws his sword and starts to cut away at the plant life binding the elemental.

Rolls

cut away at the plant life with sword - (2d6)

(41) = 5

Jan 2, 2024 11:18 pm
Rhidon continues with the axe, trying to position himself onto the other side of it as Barley. "A lot about this place is beyond my understanding, but I think the elemental is an asset worth holding on to."

Rolls

Try to free elemental from plants - (2d6)

(33) = 6

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