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ROUND ONE

Meanwhile Ceely and Dorn move on past the bodies, past the edge of the burnt area and push their way cautiously towards the large tree on the corner of the giant hedge.

Up close, the tree's trunk is very rugged and knobbly, looking easy to climb, though it also looks damp, almost as if it had just rained. The leaves and branches rustle in the wind, and as Ceely is looking up, something niggles at the back of her mind. Firstly, she couldn't feel any wind, and secondly, the pattern of irregularities on the surface of the bark seemed look vaguely like a face!

<Dorn aka Doug wrote>:
> "Can anyone tell if there is an evil or good aura here?"

Before anyone answers Dorn, there is movement from underfoot, and several large knobbly roots burst up from the ground like giant bony hands, one under Dorn and one under Ceely. Ceely manages to leap aside, but Dorn finds himself suddenly gripped and lifted into the air by the large root. The earth around the base of the tree bulges and crumbles as the large root bends upwards. The whole tree seems to twist somewhat, and a split like a mouth appears in the trunk, towards which Dorn is lifted...

As Dorn is lifted into the air, Ceely heaves her harpoon at the tree, the sharp point of the harpoon slamming into the opening mouth and lodging in the back somewhere, virtually disappearing from view! The "eyes" on the face seem to widen and the whole tree shudders, the leaves making a large hissing noise.

Meanwhile, Dorn, now several feet off the floor and still heading towards the mouth, chops at an angle at the root gripping him. His enchanted blade strikes true, and gouges deep into the root, virtually severing it. The grip holding him instantly relaxes, and he slips through the fingers, falling to the ground where he lands awkwardly on the torn up soil and broken undergrowth.

Back near the bodies, the others all look up at the disturbance, realising that the large tree looming over the intervening undergrowth was attacking their companions. Yvandel immediately starts casting a spell, and a moment later a stream of sticky fibres shoots from his fingers and splat onto the tree trunk, close to it's mouth. (OOC: Sorry you rolled crap and missed your intended target)

Vaslin unlimbers her bow, draws, nocks and fires an arrow, the arrow lodging itself in the trunk, splinters of bark showering down from it's point of impact.

Craggy lumps of bark that could almost be eyebrows on the trunk seem to contract and the soil around the base of the tree for many yard in all directions seems to almost boil as several more "root hands" push their way under the surface of the soil and burst up. The "hand" that had missed Ceely twists as if to try to grab her again, but as she jumps back from it, another one appears from under her, gripping her tight.
Three other "hands" come up amongst the main group where the bodies are powering up through the soil, trailing the smaller roots from the burnt undergrowth and showering earth everywhere. One grabs Yvandel, and another Vaslin, despite their attempts to avoid them.

The root-hand that had grabbed Ceely, lifts her rapidly up towards the maw on the trunk, and as Ceely gets closer, she can see the haft of her harpoon, obviously stuck at the back of the "throat". The strength of the "arm" is tremendous, and despite her struggles, she finds herself pushed into the wide vertical crack, which closes around her, so she is half-in it. For the second time in less than an hour, she feels herself being crushed by an immense pressure. (OOC: 12hp damage - now on 13/33)

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "This must be the refuge of a druid. I say we not trespass here any
> further. I am not of a mind to further loiter here. This is not the
> type of adventure I want to be known for."

Blondung, cursing starts to cast a familiar spell, the words and gestures culminating in an outstretched finger. Two magical darts of energy leap from his finger tip and zip towards the tree trunk. As they strike, they simply seem to fade away, and a fraction of a second later, there is a visible pulse or ripple in the air that seems to extend for 10 feet from the trunk before fading. Blondung stares at the tree dumbstruck.

Ceely, already distressed by her position, redoubles her struggles to free herself, suddenly petrified with fear.

Lucretia, bastard sword drawn, hacks at the root that has grabbed at Vaslin, but misses it as it lifts her and draws her back towards the trunk. He hurries after it trying to get another shot. The root with Yvandel also pulls him back towards the mouth.

Larz, having paused to put away the scrolls, charges after Lucretia , avoiding the giant hand like roots as he powers through the undergrowth towards the trunk itself.

Cleo half draws her broad sword, unsure of what to do as she sees Merrell at her side, pulling out his wand of fire again, hesitating.

ROUND TWO

Jumping to his feet, Dorn rushes forward to join Lucretia and his cousin Larz in battling the tree.

Herod, the priest of war still in shock at seeing a tree animate, finally comes to his senses, and quickly starts to cast another Produce Flame spell.

Meanwhile, carried in the air towards the tree, Yvandel awkwardly delves in his pockets, pulling forth the necessary components, his mind clear and composed as he quickly goes through the necessary words and gestures to trigger his memorised spell. A moment later, with a loud thunderclap, a bolt of lighting leaps out of his hands towards the tree, striking it before coruscating and sparking all over the surface of the damp trunk. Again, as when Blondung's magic missiles had previously struck, there is a visible pulse in the air that ripples away from the trunk in all directions, though this one seems stronger.

Larz, having rushed forward towards the trunk, battle axe in hand (OOC: Hard to "chop down a tree" with a hammer), feels the pulse pass over him, and is suddenly consumed with fear, skidding to a halt so suddenly he falls on his back-side amongst the ferns and brambles. Back-peddling as quickly as he can, he turns and flees. (OOC: Critically failed of saving throw!)

Dorn, the dwarf just touched by the pulse before it dissipated, is also suddenly overcome with irrational fear, similarly turning and starting to flee away from the tree, all thoughts about chopping at roots suddenly gone from his mind. Tripping over roots and loose earth torn up by the roots, he falls a couple of times, scrambling up and continuing to run as fast as he can through the undergrowth and back towards the others. (OOC: also failed saving throw)

Lucretia, closer to the trunk than either of them also feels the pulse of fear wash over him, but grits his teeth and remains focused on his target. Chopping again at the root now lifting Vaslin towards the maw, the tree perhaps intending to jam Vaslin in directly after Ceely, Lucretia severs the thing with a clean blow, and suddenly the root-hand with Vaslin in it tumbles to the floor, winding Vaslin as she falls several feet to the floor, her eyes blind with panic and fear as well. Another root hand, tries to grab at Lucretia, but he steps to one side, again using his heavy bastard sword to good effect as he chops that in two as well.

Yvandel, still gripped by the root is also overcome with fear, though can do nothing but struggle futilely to escape as the root claw slowly but inexorably lifts him through the undergrowth and towards the tree's gaping maw.

Further back and beyond where the ripple faded, Cleo charges forward, as Merrell zaps her with the wand of enlarge. (OOC: On the "new" scheme of things, 3 charges = Original size x 200%, effectively doubling Cleo's size.) Virtually leaping over Larz and Dorn as the two dwarves flee past her, the nearly 12 foot woman brushes quickly through the undergrowth and right up to the tree trunk, intending to pull Ceely to safety. A tree root that had been pushing Ceely in tries to grab her, but she manages to dodge it, and instead lunges forward with her left hand, grabbing at Ceely and jerking her unceremoniously free of the maw. (OOC: I decided to make up a "to-hit" roll for that, and Cleo rolled a 20, so whatever it was, she did it with a critical!).

Herod, now with flame in hand, looks for a good target. He had originally intended to target the root that had grabbed Dorn, but Dorn had already freed himself, and instead, he throws the flame at the one root hand still close by. The small ball of flame strikes the root, bursting into a mini fireball and causing the root to steam, but otherwise the damp root seems unharmed! The root-hand tries to grab him in response though, but simply ploughs a furrow in the earth instead. (OOC: Fumble!)

"Don't cast any more spells at it!!!" exclaims Blondung in alarm. "It seems to reflect the magic in some way!"

Larz and Dorn, their faces white with fear race back across the charred area, running towards the willow tree and the boat.

Milo, his face still showing the exhaustion from his earlier spell, staggers several yards closer to the tree, yelling "Why are you attacking us fine tree? We mean you no harm!"

The tree doesn't respond, continuing to chew on Ceely (OOC: 8hp more damage, now on 5/33)

ROUND THREE

Another flame appears in Herod's hand, though he hesitates, unsure about throwing it following Blondung's words of caution about the tree's response to magic.

Dorn and Larz, the two dwarves not yet come to their senses continue to flee away from the tree. Near the willow under which the canoe is moored, Dorn spots a particularly dense bush, and dives head first under it, as Larz scrambles into the canoe, nearly causing it to capsize and he starts to fumble with the mooring ropes.

Closer to the tree, Vaslin scrambles over the torn ground and broken roots, ignoring scratches from brambles as she desperately tries to escape from the tree.

Cleo, a white faced petrified Ceely literally in her hand, strides away
from the tree, intending to deposit Ceely at a safer distance.

Meanwhile, the root holding the wild eyed Yvandel - the young mage thrashing and screaming with fear, draws him closer to the gaping crack on the tree from which Ceely had been plucked, and starts to pushes him into it. The maw closes around him and he feels the crack as a couple of his ribs break (OOC: 8hp damage, now on 4/15).

Lucretia, glancing around, spots Yvandel's predicament and leaps forward, only to find himself suddenly grabbed by a root hand. Cursing, he chops awkwardly at the root holding himself instead, but the angle is wrong and his long blade glances off the root.

Another root tries to grab at the enlarged Cleo as she deposits Ceely and turns to return for Yvandel. She fends it off however, preventing it from grabbing her and she pushes her way back through the churned up undergrowth towards the tree again, as Ceely tries to crawl away, assisted by Milo.

ROUND FOUR

As Yvandel feels the maw crush him he sees his life flash past his eyes, and then all goes dark and the last he hears is someone screaming before the scream cuts off short. (OOC: 7 hp damage, now on -3/15).

Nearby, Lucretia again tries to cut away the root holding him, as he too is lifted towards the maw, but the blade again glances off the root.
Close by, Yvandel's scream cuts of short, and he glances up to catch a glimpse of Yvandel, the puppet master now limp and unmoving a fair way inside the huge trunk of the tree.

Cleo, charging up, dodges around a couple of root-hands and dives for the gaping crack in the tree, grabbing Yvandel's leg and bracing herself to pull him free. With the tree's maw mostly closed around Yvandel, it is a close run thing, and with muscles straining she barely manages to pull him to freedom. As his limp form finally is ripped free from the tree's mouth (OOC: further 3 hp damage from the process, now on -6/15), she worries if it is too late, racing away from the tree with his broken body.

Meanwhile, Lucretia, having again missed the root-hand holding him, drops his bastard sword and manages to pull out his enchanted short sword instead, thinking a shorter weapon might be easier to wield. As Cleo pulls Yvandel's body free, Lucretia finds himself several feet in the air, and en route for the tree trunk's jaws.

Further back, Dorn continues to bury his way under the bush, calling for everyone else to flee, and Larz, in his hurry to undo the mooring line simply makes the knot tighter. Ceely, still distraught with fear, staggers further away from the tree, with Milo trying to help her, though he is still too weak to do much, and can barely keep up with her as he tries to calm her down. Vaslin gets to her feet, her face still white but now back in control of herself as she turns and surveys the tree. Spotting her bow lying where she had first dropped it, she quickly picks it up and nocks an arrow, and then fires it towards the higher part of the tree, where it ricochets amongst the branches.

The sole remaining root-hand back in the burnt area waves makes as if to grab at Blondung, but he whacks it with his staff, snapping the word "Kzhenarh!" at the same time. There is a flash of light, and then the root suddenly withers, becoming shrunken and emaciated. It waves feebly for a moment, then simply snaps.

ROUND FIVE

Lucretia, moments before he is crushed into the gaping maw of the tree, slashes his short sword down at the root holding him. This time he connects solidly, the enchanted blade cutting deep into the wood. The "root-hand" wobbles, wilting to one side, pushing Lucretia into the side of the trunk rather than the maw itself.

Meanwhile, the enlarged Cleo gently lays down Yvandel's body, as Herod races up, already murmuring a pray. A glow surrounds his holy symbol for a moment, and healing power flows into Yvandel. Yvandel, who had been barely breathing, jerks slightly and inhales deeply.

Dorn, still in the middle of a bush, comes to his senses, and figures that he's not as frightened as he thought he was. Similarly, his cousin also comes to his senses, realising that had he succeeded in untying the knot, he'd have paddled away and left everyone marooned on the island!

Ceely, still distraught with fear continues to stagger / crawl away from the battle, the weakened Milo following her.

Vaslin lets fly with another arrow, aiming high up in the tree again.
Again the arrow ricochets into the branches, doing no damage. She nocks a second arrow but hesitates, not wishing to simply waste her arrows.

A distraught Merrell rushes forward brandishing the wand of fire, nipping dexterously over the uneven jumbled earth and torn plants, he weaves his way closer to the base of the tree, where he tries to get himself caught by one of the root-hands. None of them seem to try to grab him however, and he finds himself at the base of the tree unharmed.

ROUND SIX (& end of combat)

Herod continues to pray for Yvandel's healing as Cleo turns and races back towards the tree, intent on rescuing Lucretia. Before she can get there however, the warrior manages to hack again at the root holding him, and suddenly he tumbles towards the floor. Having lost too many root-hands to the sharp blades of the warriors in front of it, the tree suddenly withdraws all it's other roots, pulling them back under the ground.

Ceely finally comes to her senses, and looks around to see what is going on. Milo catches her up, and offers her a potion, which she quaffs.

Larz clambers back off the boat, and races back towards the main group, as Dorn extracts himself from the bush and also returns.

Cleo, having reached the tree, intending to rescue Lucretia, finds he has rescued himself, and calls to Merrell to retreat with her instead.

The tree, it's leaves trembling, seems to twist about, almost peering down at the three people in front of it as the three of them back away, looking out for root-hands, but none come.

Soon the entire party is rejoined close to where the corpses are.
Ceely, having drunk the potion makes a miraculous recover and seems fully fit again. After three healing prayers, Yvandel is well again, though still not quite 100%.

The tree, swaying slightly despite the lack of wind, seems to be watching them.