Worshippers of Talos
24 Marpenoth, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Neverwinter Wood, The Sword Coast
Turnoroth Brimsdall, his giant badger sidekick, Wink, and Sarros Basha have defeated orcs occupying the old manse. After exploring the house's second story, they discovered a secret library filled with old moldy elven books. From there, they continued their exploration of the old manse.
Sarros and Brimsdall each pressed an ear to the two wooden doors leading out of the secret library.
"I hear someone chanting," Sarros whispered. "Although I can't make out what he's saying."
"Don't do anything until I tell you to," Brimsdall ordered. He reached for door’s handle. "I'll take a peek and see what we're dealing with."
He carefully opened the door, trying to avoid making any noise. However, the door's bottom half was rotted. It tore free with a ripping sound.
The room beyond was lit by two candles in the middle of a pentagram drawn with mud in the middle of the room. The pentagram was drawn to appear as a ten-foot-wide symbol depicting three lightning bolts joined at their tips. Brimsdall recognized the symbol from the half-orc he ran into in the forest. The half-orc said he was a worshipper of Talos, the god of storms.
The rest of the room may have once served as some sort of laboratory. But now, it lay in ruins, its furnishings broken and heaped against the walls.
Where the lightning bolts converged in the pentagram, a half-orc wearing hide armor performed an eerie dance while he consumed the entrails of a dead possum lying nearby. A map scrawled on the torn-off flap of a leather satchel was spread out on the floor in front of the half-orc. Standing around the half-orc were several small twig figures called Twig Blights as Brimsdall recalled the centaurs he encountered in the forest called them. A wounded orc armed with a greataxe stood beyond the pentagram. Brimsdall recognized the orc as the one who had jumped down through the floor upstairs.
The orc suddenly said something loud and pointed at Brimsdall.
After hearing the orc, Sarros kicked the door he was standing in front of wide open. The rotted door broke off its hinges.
Sarros immediately recognized the small figures. The Circle of Swords had told him of how his cousin Ziri was sent by the order to investigate the strange disappearance of a druid named Belak whom they suspected was studying a rare plant called a Gulthias Tree based on notes the dark druid had left behind. According to Belak's notes, the Gulthias Tree was able to bear fruits with seeds that grew into plant creatures known as Blights. The druids of the order wanted to learn more, so sent Ziri on a quest to find Belak. Unfortunately, Ziri never returned, so the order never found out what became of Belak and his mission to find a Gulthias Tree.
Sarros wasn't certain what to make of the Twig Blights in the room. Could Ziri's quest have failed? Was Belak here? Or--and this was just as terrifying to consider--could there be more than one Gulthias Tree in existence throughout Faerûn?
Four Twig Blights quickly moved towards Brimsdall. Uttering a single word as he held out his hands with his thumbs touching and fingers spread wide, a thin sheet of flames shot out from his outstretched fingertips, enveloping the Twig Blights in a blistering wave of fire. All four twig blights screamed and fell to the floor, their bodies reduced to burnt sticks.
The half-orc immediately stopped his ritual and crossed his arms before him to protect himself from the flame and heat.
Sarros fired a shot at the orc. It struck the orc's leg nearly causing the orc to drop to one knee.
Brimsdall rushed into the room and was immediately surrounded by the remaining twig blights. It was apparent the plant creatures were being controlled by the half-orc.
Three of the four managed to injure Sarros with their sharp thorny claws. Sarros called into being a small flickering flame in his hand. He then hurled the flame down at a twig blight in front of him. The creature leaped to one side as the flame struck the floor leaving a small burnt mark.
Wink appeared behind the twig blight Sarros had missed with his spell. The twig blight screamed as the giant badger snapped it in two with a powerful wood-crunching bite. Wink followed the bite with two sweeps of his claws which completely tore two other twig blights into splinters.
Sarros was really glad that Wink was on their side. A giant badger was definitely a terrifying animal to behold in battle!
The remaining orc, with Sarros's arrow still lodged in its leg, rushed at the druid. The orc swung his greataxe in a wide arc that threatened to cut through the druid's torso. Sarros stepped back, easily avoiding the deadly weapon. Before the druid can retaliate, glowing darts of magical force suddenly slammed into the orc, each strike sounding like a hammer blow breaking flesh and bone.
The orc slumped to his knees and fell over dead on the floor.
The half-orc found himself alone so decided to flee. He ran through an open doorway that led to a courtyard.
Sarros followed the fleeing half-orc.
Stone steps led down to a flagstoned courtyard that had a pillared arcade to the east. Seven windows on the upper level overlooked the courtyard, in the middle of which was a five-foot-wide stone well with thick vines erupting from it.
Surrounding the well were three plant creatures that resembled masses of vines forming vaguely humanoid-shaped bodies. The half-orc stood behind the three creatures and commanded them to attack.
Sarros uttered a word and pointed at a spot in the middle of where the creatures and the half-orc stood. Although the bonfire produced heat, it didn't hurt anyone near it.
The humanoid vines started to slither towards Sarros.
Sarros quickly moved back into the room to rejoin Brimsdall and Wink. "We've got company," he warned the others.
Moments later, the three vine-creatures slithered into the room, their arms reaching out with tentacle-like vines.
With a feral growl, Wink leaped into the fray. With brutal savagery, the giant badger tore into the creatures. Wink bit and clawed, tearing the creatures apart like a farmer cutting down cornstalks with a sharp sickle.
Moments later, not one of the creatures was left standing. Wink stood on the floor, panting, surrounded by piles of shredded vines.
Sarros petted Wink as he moved back to the doorway. Brimsdall reached into his belt pouch and threw his sidekick a well-deserved treat.
When Sarros reached the courtyard, he didn't see the half-orc who appeared to have fled through an open doorway at the other side. "The half-orc is gone," Sarros said.
"He's not going to make it far," Brimsdall said as he began to cut off the head of the slain orc. "Wink, go after him!"
Wink took off and chased after the fleeing half-orc.
Sarros stepped into the courtyard.
Thick vines, resembling roots, grew out of the well in the center of the courtyard. Avoiding stepping on any of the vines, Sarros leaned over and looked into the well. In it, he saw what appeared to be a malformed column of thick twisted branches with narrow gaps between the curling branches. The whole thing resembled a leafless tree growing inside a well, its roots and branches growing out of the well while suspending the entire tree down inside the well.
Could this thing be a Gulthias Tree? Sarros wondered. If so, what was he supposed to do? The order had tasked him with looking into rumors of orcs in the southern part of Neverwinter Wood. The archdruid, Humboldt, never mentioned anything about dealing with a Gulthias Tree. That was supposed to be Ziri's job, not his.
Yet here it was. A Gulthias Tree. Or at least he thought it was.
The loud voice of the half-orc coming from outside of the house took Sarro's attention away from the well and the tree growing out of it.
It sounded like Wink might be in trouble.
Sarros called for Brimsdall. "I think Wink needs help!"
Inside, Brimsdall heard the half-orc yell something outside too. He immediately stopped what he was doing and ran in the same direction Wink went.
He was damned if he was going to let anyone hurt his trusted sidekick!
Session played on December 21, 2020
Adventurers:
Sarros Basha (Male Half-elf Druid)
Turnoroth Brimsdall (Male Dragonborn Sorcerer/Warlock)
Sidekick:
Wink (Giant Badger sidekick)
Parent Plot
Vine Blight
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