The Tree

In The News

Korranberg Chronicle: Wir 4 Eyre - Front Page
Moons Behaving Strangely - The Aureum confirmed today what has been talked about in hushed tones among scholars and star seekers across Khorvaire. The natural pace of the lunar cycles has been increasing. At first the change was barely discernable, but according to the enclave of wizards the moons are now 13 days ahead of where they should be. At the current rate they are dropping a day each month, but the speed seems to be accelerating. There has been no word on what this disturbing omen might mean for Khorvaire, or indeed all of Eberron.

Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Eyre - Financial Page 1
Three Killed Attempting to Rob Kundarak Bank - House Kundarak reports that three people were killed attempting to break into their vaults last Far evening. The first was found crushed by a heavy containment wall near the entrance to the vault - the others a bit further in - killed by a lightning trap. A spokesman from the bank, Murn d'Kundarak, said, "It just goes to show that no-one can get past the defenses of our bank. It’s impenetrable." Interestingly the thieves had bypassed several rooms of the vaults without stealing anything - it seems that they were after something deeper. It has also been reported that the dead are monstrous in nature, but since House Kundarak cremated the bodies on site there is no evidence to support or deny this claim.

Chronicle

Cora was sitting in the Lizard’s Mantle, enjoying a cup of ale with her father. As they talked the night began to grow dark around them. The lights in the Mantle grew dim. Soon, it was very dark, so dark that Cora could barely make out her father across the table. But something was wrong. Slowly Cora realized that it was too dark. It should not be this dark. The halfling began to panic. She glanced around wildly and then back at her father. She could only stare in horror as he was broken – cracks ran down his entire body – he shattered like a fallen glass. Then the darkness consumed him.

Cora had been having nightmares for months. Most frequently there was a sinister force, somewhere in the darkness surrounding her, but the force could not be seen – only feared. It pressed in on her with a sheer primal fear – not only of it – but of simply waking up.

Again Cora was surrounded by the darkness in complete fear. But in the darkness she could see three bright golden lights, and one dim silver light. The golden lights were her long time companions – Thaspar, Sadie, and Garen. The dimmer light was her new friend Dumont. They were staring at her. But one by one they turned their backs, and faded away into the blackness.

Cora was left completely alone in the terrifying darkness.

Then, a form emerged from the shadowy fear – this was something which had not happened before.

It was a creature which could only be formed by the twisted nightmare of a madman. It most resembled a scorpion – it had a large stinger tail and dozens of glittering eyes on its insectoid body. But saying it resembled a scorpion would be like saying a dolgaunt resembled a man. The being was insubstantial, and appeared to be formed of the darkness itself. Cora could hear its thoughts screaming in her own mind – like her own thoughts.

Fear is all you know! In the end they will all abandon you – and you will be alone – with nothing but terror as your companion – forever!

It raised a massive pincer, and closed it around her neck.

*****

Cora bolted upright in her bed. She was breathing raggedly and covered in cold sweat. Her neck burned. Touching it gingerly she could feel warm blood trickling into her hand. The halfling was alone in her cabin on the Flaming Rat. She could hear nothing but the creaking of the ship. The darkness around her had never seemed more menacing – nor the prospect of going back to sleep.

*****

"Really, they live in cities in the trees? That’s just like where I come from - though no-one would call Eidleret a city."

Ulweiss stood talking to Thaspar on the deck of the Flaming Rat. She was enamored by anything the elf had to say - and Thaspar didn't seem to mind all that much. They had been inseparable for most of the day.

Of course Sadie was nowhere to be seen - while they were on a quest to possibly save Eberron, this was also her honeymoon, and she and Merrin were sequestered in her private quarters most of the time.

Garen and Cora were engaged in a deep conversation about magical items. Cora's eyes glinted at the thought of what Garen could make for her, and Garen was just happy to be talking about magical items. While they talked he idly adjusted the arcane flow through the elemental containment manifold for optimal performance.

Only Dumont was alone. He was still trying to find his place in this new Khorvaire. Cyre was gone. He had failed his homeland. Now he was a companion of a Brelish group. Breland - his sworn enemy during the war. Yet, they seemed like good souls, and their mission did seem important. Still - he wasn't exactly sure where he fit into "the heroes of Sharn."

Dumont was also still in awe of the elemental airship on which they traveled. He had seen dirigibles during his day, but the sheer size of the vessel was unbelievable. It was amazing how far artifice had advanced in the last fifty years.

He was standing on deck simply taking in his surroundings when he overheard Captain Reef. "Where's O'Zeal, that blaggart! He's always shirking duty! Its like a mare pissed in his brain!" Dumont didn't know exactly what to make of this saying (he wasn't used to Captain Reef just yet).

One of the other sailors piped up, "Sir, Stornbreak hasn't shown up either - and I've never seen him shirk duty."

"Aye, that is very strange," said the captain.

Aha, thought Dumont. Finally a chance to be useful. Justice will be served.

"I'll track them down," he said purposefully - heading for the hold. The sailor and the captain stared with confusion at his back as he strode off.

"Wake up you oaf! Where is Stornbreak!?"

The confused sailor slowly awoke. Why was the strange soldier who had joined the masters of this vessel a couple weeks ago shaking him and shouting? He was still in his bunk below deck. Was this a dream?

"I-I don't know," the man stammered.

"Useless," Dumont mumbled as he wandered off, leaving the poor man to wonder what he had to do with Stornbreak.

Dumont decided to check if his companions knew anything about this Stornbreak and O'Zeal business. He found Cora and Garen in the middle of a whispered conversation.

Cora was discussing a disturbing dream she had had the previous night. She had been having nightmares since the horrible events they had witnessed at the Sharn Opera House. They all had. Well... Garen and Thaspar didn't dream, so they were never affected. Sadie had been free of the nightmares since her spirit quest. Dumont had just joined them and was never at the opera house... so that just left her. She was the only one with the nightmares now.

Garen was just promising to make Cora a scroll of Break Curse when Dumont arrived. He told them of the missing crew members. They decided that they had better investigate. Grabbing Thaspar (who was followed by Ulweiss) and prying Sadie from her private chambers, they made their way down to the cargo hold.

It didn't take long for Cora to find something.

In a corner behind a crate they came upon what appeared, at first glance, to be a discarded sailor’s outfit. Upon further inspection, however, the truth was much more grisly. It was the body of a man – or what was left of it. His entire face had been split open and peeled back, and it looked like his internal organs were sucked out through the opening, leaving only an empty sack of skin. His ID card confirmed that he was Stornbreak.

They found O'Zeal in a similar state a few minutes later. His neck and chest had been torn open, and his organs removed in a similar fashion.

They decided that for the moment it would be best to hide the bodies (to avoid alarming the crew) and institute a "buddy-system". No one was to go anywhere alone for the time being. In the mean time they would search the cargo hold for any sign of who (or what) had done this.

It was after a couple hours of searching Garen that made an interesting discovery. He noticed a bit of greenish slime smeared on the side of a topmost crate in a pile of crates against the corner.

Climbing to investigate further, he found that there was a fairly large gap behind the pile of crates, which from the outside simply made the pile look larger. Inside the gap was an unexpected sight. There was a hollow grayish-green blob. It looked like some sort of pod which had burst open. Except for the grey stringy membranes which covered the inside of the pod and the area around it, the pod appeared to be empty. Whatever was in it was now somewhere else.

While this was disturbing, they were no closer to physically finding what (who was ruled out at this point) was behind the grisly murders.

After a few more hours of searching Captain Reef arrived to tell them that they had reached Majeek's gravesite. The grave wasn't too far out of the way, so they had decided to stop there to let Ulweiss mourn. She wept for some time, crying into Thaspar's shoulder. He displayed a surprising level of tact while comforting her.

Once Ulweiss and Thaspar had returned, they continued their search. An entire day passed, and they still had found nothing. The cargo hold of the Flaming Rat was huge and full of poorly stacked and disorganized crates. You could hide for weeks in the place.

As evening crept on they called it quits and returned to bed. They repeated their warning to the crew and returned to their chambers. Garen spent the night working on the Break Curse scroll.

In the morning they resumed their searching. The day progressed, and the airship was drawing nearer and nearer to its goal. Below them the thick expanse of forest stretched on forever. But in the cargo hold they were finding nothing.

Garen was passing through a labyrinth of crates when he was alerted by a noise. Looking up he saw a hideous creature. Nestled in a web of stringy slime was a repulsive aberration. It had a large, bulbous body composed of wrinkled, light gray flesh that seemed to float in the air of its own volition. Ten long, spiny tentacles hung from the bottom of its body, twisting in the air like ropes. It had a sharp beak in the front of its body, but no other visible facial features. Opening its beak, it screeched and attacked immediately.

Unfortunately for the beastie, it was not up against simple crew-men this time. Within seconds Garen and Dumont had reduced the creature to tatters. A few moments later Cora (with Thaspar and Sadie in tow) arrived and finished the job. The ruined mass crashed to the cargo room floor.

They spent some time pondering just how powerful they had become – that they could destroy a creature of this level of power so effortlessly.

With the danger dealt with Cora took some time to interview the crew for leads. One man had seen a cloaked figure sneaking off the ship before they had left Sharn, but hadn't reported it. Cora gave the crew an admonishing speech about responsibility, and left it at that.

*****

The mossy ground was soft under their feet as they stumbled through the forest. Fortunately, at least here, there was not too much underbrush. They had already been through a marshy area where sharp sticks scratched at their legs and the ground squished underfoot with each step. What’s more, they seemed to be going in circles. Of course, with the blindfolds on it was hard to tell.

Ulweiss had insisted that they wear blindfolds. She had stopped the airship in an unnoticeable spot above the vast forest below and they had disembarked. They had to walk the last segment on foot, and blindfolded.

Just when they were beginning to think that Ulweiss was simply lost, she stopped and removed their blindfolds. "Welcome to Eidleret," she beamed.

Thaspar surveyed the surroundings. He could only see a mossy forest floor, studded by the massive trunks of ancient trees. He looked up to see the tops of the behemoths - they were over 100 feet tall, and that is when he saw Eidleret. It was a small collection of wicker buildings nestled in the branches of an enormous oak tree. Thaspar was impressed - it wasn’t the vast tree cities of Arenal, but it reminded him of home.

Wordlessly a rope ladder was lowered, and they began to climb with Ulweiss in the lead.

They found only two people at the top of the ladder - who they soon learned were the only remaining inhabitants of Eidleret.

Luumatra was a young half-elf who immediately stormed off once they arrived. Apparently outsiders were not welcome here - at least in her eyes. The elder druid, a very old half-elf by the name of Uumat, was blind but welcomed the companions of Ulweiss warmly.

Thought blind, Uumat was a competent storyteller, and she told the tale of the Eidleret gate to a rapt audience. The gates had been built thousands of years ago to contain the Xoriat portals which brought and invading force for the realm of madness. The gates concentrated the portal power into one spot, and also provided a seal on that power. Each gate was protected by a sect of druids. The gate near Eidleret had been created in the depths of a giant tree, but shortly after its creation it was attacked.

A group of orphaned Daelkyr (their link to their homeworld broken) attacked Eidleret. Stealing the powerful rod which could be used to bind or unbind the gate they made their way into the tree, bypassing the defenses, and attempted to destroy the gate. At the last moment they were driven off by a fierce assault by the druidic sect. Unfortunately they were not destroyed. A few abominations managed to flee with the rod, and it was lost. Recently they had discovered that the rod had been hidden within the ruined city of Suthar Draal, which is why they had dispatched Majeek.

The loss of the rod was not the only damage the Daelkyr monstrosities did. They had done severe damage to the gate. While the seal held back any material from getting through, the maddened thoughts of Xoriat screamed through the rift. They warped and twisted their surroundings, until finally the tree itself became poisoned with madness.

These days the pull of Xoriat had become stronger, and the gate was weakening further. It could be only months until it was unbound. But the tree itself was mad, evil, and dangerous. Uumat's own son Laos was killed by the tree a few months ago. Yet, someone was needed to make their way inside the beast and seal up the gate.

Once Uumat had finished her tale, the group decided to proceed immediately to the tree. While they did not have the rod, they wanted to find the gate and verify Ulweiss' (and now Uumat's) story.

*****

This time Ulweiss didn't insist on a blindfold, but it made little difference. She led them on a dizzying path through the forest. Just when they were again beginning to think that she was completely lost, she stopped them.

"The tree is just down the path. I will wait for you here. Good luck."

"You aren't coming with us?" Thaspar asked.

"No," she replied, "it’s simply too dangerous for me."

*****

As Cora stole down the path, she wondered if she would recognize “the tree”. She needn’t have worried.

The forest grew darker as she pressed on ahead, until nearly no light filtered from the canopy above. Finally she and her companions emerged from the underbrush into the presence of “the tree”. All the smaller trees around it had withered to blackened husks, and the ground itself was completely barren of life – covered only with rotting black leaves. It would be called a clearing save for a massive tree, well over 150 feet tall, in the center of it. Its trunk was at least 40 feet wide about half way up, and its massive roots spread across the clearing and trailed off into the forest, making a solid mass of wood bigger than a Skyway mansion. The tree's bark was dark and cancerous, and had an unnatural blue tinge to it. Its leaves were a nearly black shade of green. The bark was gnarled with large black and rotting splotches, and hundreds of twisted branches – most with no leaves, jutted from its massive base. The air around it was thick and stuffy, but the ground around the giant plant was shrouded in wispy white mist. Cora could feel a sense of angry madness emanating from the tree. It had thoughts - mad thoughts - and it hated everything - it hated them.

Tentatively the group spread out to search for a way in. Sadie began applying the knowledge she had learned, in fact, from the very Majeek who had first involved them in this quest. As she sniffed and shuffled through the leaves, the others did their best to look for any sign of entry as well.

The rotting leaves were nearly silent underfoot as Sadie explored the clearing surrounding the massive tree. She was on a hunt, and her senses were guiding her to what she sought. As she crept along she perceived a low rumbling. Then without warning blackened leathery roots shot up from the ground around all around her. With shock she saw that each of her companions was being attacked by half a dozen roots as well. They whirled and around her, trying to get purchase.

Effortlessly Sadie spun gracefully out of the way. She saw that Cora and Thaspar - and even the armored Dumont had done the same. Garen, on the other hand - was gone. All the roots that had attacked them had shot back into the earth. All that remained of where Garen had been standing was a patch of slightly disturbed leaves.

Dumont knew just what to do. He plunged his sword into the leaves where Garen had once stood - expecting to break through into some underground tunnel. Instead he heard the sound of steel scraping steel as his sword punched through the side of Garen's head. "Um... it looks like he's buried just under the surface," Dumont said matter-of-factly.

They all began digging to free their imprisoned friend. Cora later said that Olladra’s luck had let it be only Garen that was buried. As the only member of their party that didn't breathe; if anyone could survive being buried alive, it was him.

They didn't get too far with their digging efforts; however, when from all around them came a screaming sound – like the screams of a terrified child mixed with the screech of a bat. Suddenly everything was the rush of black wings. The air was filled with great bats. But there was more – the creatures seemed to be composed of pure darkness.

The shadowy bats proved to be an infuriating enemy. They would wheel and screech - attacking as they flew by, and leaving little opportunity for multiple blows against them. As her companions above the earth fought the creatures, Garen formulated a plan. He began to dig room for his hands to perform arcane gestures. The earth was soft and rich, making it fairly easy to hollow out a cavity for each hand. Still, it was going to be a challenge to pull off the spell.

Dumont was growing increasingly annoyed with these abominations. At least the others had bows to attack them, but he could only wait for one to swing by and take a pot shot at it. He preferred a straight up fight. One of the bats strayed close to his blade, and he made a swipe, but the beast eluded him. He was just about to curse the abomination when it slammed into what looked like thin air beside him. He noticed the other bats smashing into the same invisible barrier. It was very odd, but he shrugged, and proceeded to shred the helpless monstrosity before it could escape.

If warforged could have smiled, Garen would have been beaming.

It didn't take long to mop up the surviving bats, and dig out Garen, and before long they were again searching for a way into the ominous tree.

*****

The inside of the massive tree was hot and moist. The group made its way down the narrow twisting passageway which seemed to split and turn almost at random. Sometimes they could swear that the passages were changing around them. Then entire time they could here the angry creaking and groaning of the tree.

It hadn't taken Sadie long to find the entrance among the low branches of the tree - once the bats were dispatched. They had each had a moment of hesitation before entering the obviously hostile tree, but now they all found themselves inside of it - moving further and further into its core.

Cora pulled her hand free from a blob of infuriatingly sticky sap. As she did her best to shimmy through the winding passage, blocked by all manner of organic material, she noticed the already hot and loamy air getting progressively hotter. As they progressed the air began to get oppressively hot. The temperature kept rising and rising. It was like being in a sauna, and soon it was painful even to breathe. She felt like she was going to pass out. Garen provided some relief with a wand of healing, but still the heat was exhausting.

As the passage shifted, she began climbing in the intense heat - it was a struggle simply to move her hands and feet. But as she climbed she felt the heat abating. Before long it was a refreshingly cool temperature in the passage. With renewed vigor she began making her way through the tangled path.

The relief did not last, however. Soon the nice cool temperature dropped and was unpleasantly cool. Before long it was downright cold. The Sharn inhabitants were not used to such cool temperatures and even Dumont was starting to find it nearly unbearable. They, of course, hadn't brought any winter gear, and their skin began to sting as the temperature dropped to arctic conditions. Garen, who was unaffected by the cold (save a few stiff joints) was making liberal use of the wand of healing on his friends, but was fighting a loosing battle against frostbite.

But, just when they thought they couldn't go on, the temperature began to rise, and soon it had normalized.

Cora wondered what other tricks the tree might have in store as the passage opened into a large organic chamber. Thick, gnarled columns ran from floor to ceiling. Here and there, shallow pools of water stretched over the floor. A single, jagged strip of dry land provided a path through the chamber. A steady stream of water was dripping from the domed ceiling twenty feet above.

This was the first large open space they had encountered, and so all of them approached with caution. Cora considered whether she ought to taste the water. Dumont prodded at the gnarled columns with his sword. Nothing seemed overtly hostile about the room.

They were about half way across the room when the rumbling began. Soon the woody floor itself was shaking visibly. Then on either side of them the ground burst open, sending shards of wood and splinters flying in all directions. Two massive purple worms shot up from the tree. The beasts were at least 5 feet in diameter, and their bodies were dozens of feet long, mostly still buried within the tree itself. The creatures lacked eyes, and their mouths were simply rows upon rows of teeth. It was clear that they were made for one purpose - eating.

It was only as the creatures reared to attack and the party readied their weapons that the tree itself provided its own assault. Massive amounts of acidic sap began to rain down from the roof above. The worms didn't seem to be affected, but it spelled a painful death for everyone else. Cora, Thaspar, and Sadie, the more agile members were fairly successful at dodging the hissing globs, but several hit home on Dumont, and Garen was positively plastered with the stuff. His body corroding quickly - he had to think fast.

Of course the worms wasted no time, as one swiped at Cora, the other grabbed the rapidly dissolving Garen in his maw. The warforged could feel the worms jaw muscles working to swallow him. Twisting furiously Garen pulled a small block of granite from his belt, and said a few magical words. He hoped he could pull off what he was hoping for while being chewed.

Dumont was busy hacking away at the belly of the purple worm, brushing the copious amount of acidic sap from his face when the best suddenly roared. He looked up, and where Garen had been a moment before was a spherical wall of stone. The monster hissed and hurled the rock directly at him. The granite slab crashed into him before rolling a short distance off. Howling with rage Dumont attacked the worm with increased ferocity.

Thaspar and Sadie moved to engage the second worm, but Cora hung back. Sizing up her opponent, she hurled one of her darts. As the projectile hit deep and true, Cora pulled back on the arcane threads which attached her to her weapon. She drew out a measure of the creature's essence - the power it had to ignore the burning sap. Cora's eyes flashed green for a moment, but after that there was no outward indication that the sap could no longer harm her.

A few moments later the worm was dead. Thaspar had punched several holes through its body, and Sadie had connected the dots with her daggers. The beasts writhing head was soon thrashing about on the cavern floor. That still left one live worm.

Sadie moved up to attack the second monster. Dumont was madly hacking away at it, while trying to avoid ending up in the beast's maw. Sadie moved up to join the action, but as she did the creature moved like lightning and grasped the hapless shifter in its rows of sharp teeth.

Cora was already working her magic on the creature. Performing a confusion spell she had stolen from the essence of the dark bats earlier she reached out and spun the mind of the other worm. It roared in confusion, then burst further from the ground and made a mad thrust at the halfling, dropping Sadie in the process. This proved a fatal mistake for it, however. As the beast's mind whirled and Cora became its sole focus, Dumont took advantage of the opportunity and with a throaty scream he spun around - his blade emerging from the worm's severed head, glistening with green blood.

Immediately the acidic sap stopped raining from the ceiling. With the room safe for the slower members of the party, Garen broke free from his protective shell. This was easy, since the acid had already nearly eaten through the upper face of the sphere.

When the bodies of the worms had stopped thrashing and twitching, they decided to move on.

They spent several more minutes climbing, descending, twisting and turning through the hollow passages within the tree. The ground and walls were an organic twisting labyrinth of wood, and viney material - though much of it had a decaying, cancerous look to it. All the while the tree itself groaned and creaked angrily - they could feel its hatred of them from all sides.

As they struggled onward the air became hot and dry. Small cracks and fissures decorated the floor, walls, and ceiling. Eventually the passage opened out again. Ahead, the cavernous expanse of a great chamber washed in a strangely shadowy flickering light. The strange light was emanating from a black monolith standing in the midst of the chamber.

Dumont, upon seeing the dark monolith immediately exclaimed, "That must be the gate! The source of the evil. We must destroy it now."

Sadie and Garen both cast sidelong looks at their human companion, their eyes a mixture of astonishment, annoyance, and pity.

"Um, even if this is the gate, then we are trying to repair it, not destroy it," Garen said, "Besides, we don't even know what it is."

The warforged moved forward to investigate the monolith, while the others fanned out into the shadowy darkness. All their lights and torches were dimmed in the magical shadow and only produced tiny rings of light around them. Even those who could normally see in the twilight squinted to make out the details around them.

Sadie, Thaspar and Dumont had stayed near the entrance, while Cora had made her way to the opposite side of the organic cavern. As the three left behind struggled to make out the details of the room, there was suddenly a rush of wind and without warning the darkness before them transformed into a horrible creature.

Over fifteen feet tall, the creature before them was basically humanoid, but like the bats outside it seemed to be composed of nothing but shadow and darkness. It had long gangly arms, and plodded forward wordlessly.

Sadie found herself gazing into its eyes. Its eyes were the only discernible feature on its body. A blacker blackness than the creature itself. She felt herself getting lost in those bottomless voids. The blackness was her whole world. There was nothing else.

Thaspar managed to wrench his eyes away from the creature’s powerful gaze, but he could see a dark inky miasma of shadow boiling up around the creature, and as it engulfed him, he felt it drain his inner being. Beside him he could see Dumont meeting the same fate. Lesser men would have perished at the mere touch of the darkness, but they both held on.

Amid all the sudden commotion the creature had time to do one more thing. Wordlessly and expressionlessly it reached out for Dumont's sword - his most prized possession and pulled it from his hand. Roaring with fury, Dumont leapt forward and ripped his weapon back from the grip of the creature. The dark walker gave no indication of a reaction.

Meanwhile on the far side of the room Cora had heard, but could not see, the commotion taking place. She cast mirror image on herself in preparation. She was moving toward her friends when the second night walker struck. Appearing between her and Garen it also boiled over with an inky darkness that drained her energy. She smiled in her suffering, knowing that she would soon be draining it of its powers.

Garen had drawn his axe when he heard the attack break out, but he was caught by surprise when a second creature appeared between him and Cora. The walker wordlessly reached out for his axe and plucked it from his hands. Pinching it between its fingers the being of darkness held the weapon aloft.

"That’s my axe!" Garen shouted, which happened to be the command words for the indisputable possession charm he had woven into the axe. With a whoosh the weapon was torn out of the monster's hands and flew directly back into the waiting arms of the warforged. "Thank you." Garen said dryly.

Both Thaspar and Dumont privately yearned to have indisputable possession woven into their weapons, but at the moment they were busy trying to fend of the nighwalker’s attacks.

The black creature reached out a limp limb, and touched Thaspar with a single finger. The elf could feel his soul screaming. The touch of the creature was pure death. Through sheer force of will he held onto his spirit – but Thaspar had a newfound respect for the monster’s abilities.

The creatures had gotten an early lead in the battle due to the element of surprise, but things were now on an even playing field, or so the party thought. The tree, it seems, had one more trick up its sleeve.

Thaspar was just about to lay into the dark creature with sword and fist when an immense whooshing sound filled the chamber. He could feel wind buffeting his face and rushing out of the room. What he didn't know was that at the opposite entrance Cora was experiencing the same thing. With a very loud cracking groan the passages on either side of the room cinched shut. Thaspar gasped, but realized that there was nothing to gasp. The tree had sucked all of the air out of the room. The elf glanced over at Dumont who had clearly realized the same thing.

Holding their breath, together elf and man advanced on the night walker.

Cora was the most worried at this situation. The creatures didn't seem to have any weak spots, so she likely could not harm them to any great extent. She might be able to steal some of their powers, but it was probable that they would be resistant to their own abilities. What’s more, though she could talk her way out of anything, she was not particularly adept at holding her breath. She had enough trouble just keeping her mouth shut.

Thaspar and Dumont were making serious progress against their assailant; but his counter attacks were quite disturbing. Rather than outright punishing them with his dark fists he seemed content to simply keep attempting to steal their weapons, and touch them with death. By some miracle they managed to remain alive, but they wondered how long their luck could hold.

Beside them Sadie stood motionless, still frozen - mesmerized by the inky blackness.

Garen pondered the situation. He was completely unaffected by the lack of air, but he knew that his companions were in danger. They had to destroy their attackers as quickly as possible. Casting defensively he summoned up the arcane energy to break the enchantment that Sadie was under. Instantly the spell on the shifter was broken, and she hurled herself forward to attack the nearest enemy.

Cora was fairing ok against her attacker. He had already destroyed two of her mirror images, and struck her once, but she was still standing. She had managed to steal several of its magical abilities, but, as she expected they were useless against the creature. She decided that the best course of action would be to hide. She activated her belt of invisibility and moved toward the edge of the room.

Unfortunately the creature seemed to be unaffected by her invisible state, and it still struck true. She would have to resort to a different means of escape. Employing the magical nature which had been growing in her she concentrated and felt her feet leave the ground.

Garen could see that his friends would need air soon. Sadie had moved up to engage the second nightwalker between him and Cora, so he decided to see if he could get some air into the room. He rushed around the side of the dark behemoth - drawing several attacks as he went. Reaching the far exit to the room, which the tree had closed up, he drew several components from his belt and began manipulating reality.

Cora was desperate for air. She could not hold on much longer. As her consciousness ebbed away she was aware of Garen nearby casting some kind of spell. Suddenly, from his fingertips a core of wood was torn away from the closed exit. For a brief moment air rushed into the room. Sadie, Thaspar and Dumont were drinking in ragged gasps. Her mind was swimming... air... she needed to breath! She opened her mouth for a breath of succulent air, but found nothing. The tree had already sucked the tiny burst of air away and closed off the gap. The world faded, and she fell to the floor.

It was indeed fortunate that at this moment Thaspar and Dumont finally prevailed against their attacker. It was somewhat surreal to watch them. Thaspar moving with trained precision. Striking fast and exactly - a model of calm in the midst of a storm. Right beside him was Dumont, roaring in a berserker frenzy, as his blade tore through the blackness with forceful but careless strikes. In the end the creature exploded into a boiling black miasma from the damage dealt by both types of attack.

As Dumont and Thaspar moved to join Sadie in finishing off the second attacker, Garen looked with concern on Cora's still form. She wasn't breathing. She could be dead within moments. There was no choice but to create a second burst of wind. Focusing his magical energy he once again punched a hole in the tree, and once again loamy air came rushing in. Garen shook the halfling and she gasped, breathing again.

About this time the second creature was dispatched, dissipating into the shadowy darkness of the room. With the destruction of the second creature there was a massive groan and a rushing sound as the room refilled with precious air. With a dose from the wand of healing Cora regained consciousness.

For a moment they all stood panting in the large organic chamber. Garen investigated the monolith, and found it to be made of the actual wood of the tree. They weren't sure exactly what the monolith did, though it seemed to have something to do with the shadowy illumination in the room.

In the end the deeper parts of the tree beckoned, and they wearily decided to continue.

On toward the root of the evil...

Timeline

• Far 6 Eyre - Set off for Eidleret
• Sar 7 Eyre - Crew members begin disappearing
• Sul 8 Eyre - Killed the Grell aboard the ship, reached Eidleret, entered "The Tree"

People

Ulweiss Trickmackur
A Druid from Eidleret who traveled to Sharn to secure the rod to repair the damaged Xoriat gate she is charged with protecting. She is the widow of Majeek Trickmackur who undertook the same quest but was killed in the depths of Dezik Buruun.

Adventure Names

• Robert - ♫ Thaspar and Ulweiss Goin' to a Tree ♫
• Robyn - The Tree of a Thousand Deaths
• Bryan - Rats Can't Burn in a Vacuum
• Lorraine - Garen Battles Claustrophobia
• Michael - In Which Dumont Makes a Mortal Enemy
• Anonymous - Nightmare in Elm Peat

Legends & Lore

Grell are vicious predators driven by their disturbing appetites. Unlike many of Eberron's other aberrations, these natives of Xoriat were not introduced by the daelkyr. Rather, they drifted into the world through the soft spaces that existed between the planes in the time before the Gatekeepers raised their seals.

While Grell do exist in small autonomous colonies deep within Khyber most are bred specifically by the Daelkyr. The Daelkyr lords have found a way to embed a live Grell within a grotesque pod for an indefinite amount of time - in a form of stasis. There it waits until released to devour anything nearby.

Statistics

Date Played: May 27, 2007

Session Length: 7 hours
Experience Gained: ~3000/character
Foes Vanquished: 3 Nightwings, 2 Purple Worms, 2 Nightwalkers

Some parts of this adventure were extracted from the adventure "Root of Evil" by Robert Lazzaretti, published in Dragon # 122. A few small pieces of this chronicle are taken from the "box text" of "Root of Evil" and converted to past tense.