The roots are still striking at us, but we're fighting them off. No one seems to be getting hurt for the moment.
In this temporary calm, two things happened. One of our clerics ran up to the tree and started praying or meditating and then Gilch ran forward and grabbed the chalice out of the gaping maw. And that's when the battle tipped the scales.
Gilch get ensnared by hundreds of smoky tendrils from the maw. They wrapped around him and constricted his movement and started to drag him into the mouth.
Where moments before we'd been able to ward off the roots from the pits now they struck out with renewed strength and immediately a bunch of the guys got entwined and were also being pushed towards the maw.
We tried our best to free them but with the roots waving about the woodcutter actually slashed Gilch with his axe mighty fierce. Others were able to untangle themselves through their own strength and others needs our help to free them. We attacked the roots time and again. If we were lucky we freed someone, but never did we hurt the roots.
The tree must be magic and so we got desperate. We took the golden talisman with the tree symbol and we threw it inside the maw, nothing happened and so we threw the golden chalice in too. Still nothing.
We're getting desperate because nothing is working. We're looking around for our next best option. A couple people are still being dragged kicking into the maw, the cleric sits entranced in a meditation towards the tree, which very strangely the tree hasn't even struck out at him. It's as if they share a bond. But the cleric isn't talking and so we don't know anything about this magic tree.
That's when poor Gilch finally got pulled into the maw, and the tree went calm. The roots let everyone go and they pulled back into the pits and we heard an evil voice speak to our minds.
The tree asked us if we wanted to worship Malloc. I said no and felt a force strike me. The next thing I know I'm waking up and I see about half the group is laying on the floor and slowly getting up, shaking their heads and steadying themselves. The other half of our group all look different in odd ways. One guy now has horns, another has a scaly arm, yet another has green tinged hands, and another still is sitting on the floor touching some growth on his foot. When I asked them what had happened they didn't even seem to notice that half of us had fallen to the ground, they all just said they felt different. I don't know how, one says he's never felt so healthy, another says he feels like he likes more people and another says everything feels lighter, or he's stronger, he really didn't know the difference.
This room seems like it was a big mistake to enter. Gilch died and we have two pieces of treasure less than we entered with and nothing more to be seen. As we're leaving the room I see Old Mac throwing a hook down the maw of the tree with a rope and actually fished out the amulet, and then the chalice.
That's some bravery to even touch that tree after what it just done to us.
We're back to exploring this dungeon and we found a door. Only it's sealed tight. It's not locked but all the same no one can move it. We've almost all tried and the effort we gave is leaving us tired and worn.
Maybe tomorrow we'll find out what's behind the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment