[Forum Game, finished] Dear guests and residents, beware of the hills north of the Tavern!

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I keep talking to the Treants, hoping to draw their attention to me while the others do whatever invisible people do... I don't notice the ferret.

"I took food. All creatures take food. Does this forest belong to you? Do the squirrels and birds need your permission too, if they eat berries and nuts? What are you doing with the stone anyway, and what's the matter with the portal?"

 

[m7600]

Antimatter approached the wooden cellar door, listening attentively for any signs that could indicate that the Treants might be bluffing. That did not seem to be the case.

Nimran the ferret dashed quickly towards the multicolored stone and stole it. As he removed the stone from its location, the blueish portal above it suddenly dissipated.

The Treants turned menacingly to the only person that they could see, Urdnot Wrex.

 

[m7600]

Unsettled by the sudden disappearance of the Rogue Stone and the portal, the Treant says to Urdnot Wrex:

Treant: "This forest belongs to us, yes, just as your tavern belongs to you. Squirrels and birds do not need our permission to eat, we feed them gladly, just as you civilized folks feed your pets. As for the stone and the portal, I could have discussed it with you, perhaps. But now that you have taken the stone back in such a mischievous way, I will tell you nothing."

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

"I have been standing here where you can see me. Stop making excuses and trying to manipulate me. You need the stone more than I do. If I remember correctly, one of your people walked through the portal that just collapsed. Alone. So, are we going to have a staring contest, or are we going to come to an agreement?"

 

[Antimatter]

Antimatter: Uses Dimension Door/Shadow Step/Antimatter Teleport and gets behind the wooden cellar door.

 

[m7600]

Antimatter enters the cellar, and sees a middle-aged man on the floor. There is also a Dwarven woman and an Elven man. They all seem to be unconscious.

Above ground, the conversation between the Krogan and the Treant continues:

Treant: "What arrangement? You have what you came here for. As we were having this discussion, the Rogue Stone disappeared, as well as the portal. I only see you here. So, you must have taken it, somehow. Now that you have your stone back, we have nothing more to discuss."

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I suddenly remember the plan that we talked through at the Tavern earlier. Idiot Krogan! A bit late to disguise as a squirrel now or plant acorns, so that leaves only one option. I pull out the botany book, open it at the marked page and begin to sing:

Oh great Treants, please take a look
At the contents of this scandalous book
Do these images of pollination
Showcase your customs of fertilization?

 

[m7600]

Up to this point, the discussion between the Krogan and the Treant was becoming more and more hostile. Judging by the demeanor of the humanoid trees, it seemed like they were expecting some sort of physical attack from the Krogan. Everything could go sour in the blink of an eye.

However, when Urdnot Wrex pulled out the botany book and began to sing, the Treants were caught off guard. The situation went from being hostile to being awkward.

The Treants looked at each other, speaking amongst themselves in their language. One of them handed a potion to the one that knew Common, who turned to the Krogan and said:

Treant: "My apologies, friend. I did not realize that I was speaking to a madman. Please accept this gift. I took it from a human. It is a Potion of Mental Clarity. This will cure whatever terrible illness is afflicting your mind."

 

[mlnevese]

While the primitives are distracted I approach the portal looking for traces of where it leads to.

Yes this takes place before the collapse, sorry, i was a little bit busy this weekend



Divination: Analyze Portal

Effects​

Upon casting this spell, which took a full minute, the caster could sense if the area within a cone of 60-foot radius contained any portals. If portals were present, the caster could continue to concentrate and analyze each portal to learn its properties.[2]

The caster would instantly know the size and location of a portal within the area of effect. As successive seconds passed, the caster would learn new properties, depending on his or her power, in the following order:

1. the command word or key required to operate the portal,
2. specific circumstances under which the portal could be used,
3. the directionality of the portal,
4. other special properties, such as being creature-only or random, and finally,
5. a visualization of to where the portal led.[2] Each realization was similar to the sensation of recalling a forgotten memory.[5]

One could not extend the effects of other divinatory magics through the portals being studied.[2]

 

[m7600]

Before the portal collapsed, mlnevese gathered the following information about the portal:

1. The command word was "Mwylledyn", a term from the language of the Treeants,

2. The portal could be used as long as a modified version of the Gemjump spell was in effect. The version that these Treants are using has three modifications: 1) A cyan-blue portal is generated above the Rogue Stone, creatures have to pass through this portal instead of directly gemjumping; 2) If the Rogue Stone is moved, the portal dissipates; 3) Other creatures, besides the caster of the Gemjump spell, can pass through the portal. This third modification is due to the fact that this is a keyed portal.

3. The directionality of the portal is two-way.

4. It has the property of being a keyed portal. It requires a Gemjump spell to be activated, and thus also a Rogue Stone.

5. Visually, the portal appears to lead to the town jail, and more specifically to the corridor between the prisoner's cells.

(EDIT: I made a mistake, I originally a wrote on point 3 that this is a one-way portal, but it's actually a two-way one. It differs in this sense from the Gemjump spell, instead of inheriting one of its properties)

 

[alice_ashpool]

"tsk'va, enough of this!" Still invisible, I speak directly at the Treants but make sure everyone else can hear, using my Githyanki psionics. "The Krogan is asking nicely but I am not. Tell us exactly where the portal went, why you are bringing people through and why you stole this 'stone', or you will see how well trees fare against the favored of Vlaakith." Thoroughly irritated I put some force into my psionics.

 

[mlnevese]

So, I take it you are guarding this portal plant-based lifeforms. Why?

The Martian doesn't even bother to become visible.

 

[m7600]

DM says: Make an Intimidation check (just joking, we don't have dice or character sheets... yet!)

The Treants are startled by alice_ashpool and mlnevese, who they did not and still do not see. Somewhat surprised by the questions being asked, the one that speaks Common says:

Treant: "There is not much to this matter. We needed the stone to open a portal. And we needed to open a portal to bring people here. And we need people to enrich the soil. Simple as that. We have done nothing wrong."

 

[alice_ashpool]

"Ha, trees. I might have guessed. I care not for you, nor you soil." I retreat and sit down on a rock, log, stump or convientent seat, Silver Sword across my knees, thinking of githyanki things and wondering where the Stone went.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I look at the Treant who speaks Common and grab the Potion of Clarity before he can reconsider.

I suspect @Antimatter still inside the tower and try to buy him some time for whatever he's up to. And where in Kalros' name is that Rogue Stone?!

"Thanks for the potion, although you might need it yourself, the way you talk about enriching your soil. Do you mean you want to bury people as fertilizer? Who told me again that Treants are Good creatures? Doesn't sound that way to me. This weird planet is covered in squishy green stuff and full of trees, why would you need people for that? Didn't they evolve later? Ugh, maybe I should really drink that potion. Am I actually discussing ethics and evolution with a talking tree?"

 

[mlnevese]

DM says: Make an Intimidation check (just joking, we don't have dice or character sheets... yet!)

The Treants are startled by alice_ashpool and mlnevese, who they did not and still do not see. Somewhat surprised by the questions being asked, the one that speaks Common says:

Treant: "There is not much to this matter. We needed the stone to open a portal. And we needed to open a portal to bring people here. And we need people to enrich the soil. Simple as that. We have done nothing wrong."

You can't define the immense power of an immortal alien shapeshifter in character sheet

 

[Nimran]

Nimran steals another shrub on his way out.

 

[m7600]

The Treant looks incredulously at Urdnot Wrex and makes a long-winded speach.

Treant: I do not know how things are where you are from, but in this world, people harvest plants. But those plants also harvest people. Let me explain. You think that you control the plants because they do not move. You take their seeds, bury them in the ground, give them water, and watch them grow. When they are ripe, you harvest them and eat them. But it is the plants that are in control. They give you the very air that you breathe. They patiently wait for you to grow, until you are old. And when you die, your body enriches the soil. You think that you are harvesting them, but in reality they are harvesting you. It has always been like this. People are our crops, and we, the plants, are the harvesters. This forest has seen a very dry summer this year, the soil needs more nutrients. We cannot wait for the animals to die. So we fertilize it with the bodies of some people. Their bones are particularly nutritive and apt for enriching the soil. I know that this might shock and infuriate you. But it is no different from how people practice farming. They harvest us, we harvest them. It is only fair.

 

[Antimatter]

Antimatter enters the cellar, and sees a middle-aged man on the floor. There is also a Dwarven woman and an Elven man. They all seem to be unconscious.

I will try using a few nanograms of positrons to produce mini-explosions next to each of these people's ears. Maybe this can wake at least one of them up?

Unfortunately, interacting with oxygen is difficult for me, so producing water to sprinkle it on their faces seems impossible.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I stare at the ranting Treant and notice the moving shrub with the ferret. Now I know where our Rogue Stone is. I consider throwing the potion to stop Nimran, but suddenly my desire to come to an understanding with these stubborn fanatics has vaporized.

"Something is wrong here. You're the only one who can speak our language, maybe you're not even a Treant and just manipulate the others. Hey, you there, Githyanki, or anyone else, can you Detect Illusion or cast something like True Seeing or whatever? I smell deceit!"

During the conversation, I have moved closer to the tower door. No idea if it works externally, but I pour the content of the potion bottle over the talking Treant.