Chapter 2: Sylvan Escape

[Jenara]

"I wish you were not." Carith says calmly, hefting her own axe in both hands, taking a relaxed stance she stands near a five feet to the left from Carson, covering the Caster, motioning with her head she instructs Bill to stand to her left the four of them surrounding the tree as best they can.

[Breila]

Hedra smiles up at the young guard and says. "That's very important information you gave me there, lad. In fact, telling Carson or Dorir or me anything unsusal that happens during your watch is as important as chalenging strangers approaching the camp."

Hedra pats the lad on the arm and leaves. Knowing little to nothing about tracking, it makes no sense for her to look at the bush, so she continues her perimeter check.

[Talyn]

Wolf backs up, putting the larger armed people between him and the tree. "This is definitely not a good sign." he says as he backs up. "Negotiate with it? It is just going to try and kill us most likely."

[TigerStripedDog]

((OOC: Big Bill Dornsmith is right smack in front of that tree, between it and the caravan))

"I see now how it is more than tree" Bill acknowledges briefly.

"But if move, can be killt. So now, now I make SMASH!"

Bill drops the axe he held, favoring SUPLEX despite the fact that it is clearly an inferior weapon against a piece of wood. Not waiting for help from anyone he will engage the tree in combat.

[Stik]

"If only we could sneak by while it's busy with him..." Callan muses while he readies his weapons.

He will attack if the opportunity presents itself, but will not be charging in until he has a moment to study the creature. If it looks like withdrawing will end the fight, or that a fight is unwinnable, he will withdraw.

[Ismaels-Legacy]

The treant is quite cumbersome and listless. Bill rains a ferocious series of blows against limbs and trunk. While he is able to snap a few of the smaller limbs, his strikes against the trunk are met with a "Squelching" noise. The treant seems to have finally awoken enough to notice him and it reaches forward with one massive limb.

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Hedra continues on her path and she notices a stray piece of cloth caught on a shrub. It doesn't look like much, but it's torn and has an odd sheen to it. She almost bypasses it, but some nagging feeling makes her go back and check it. Upon closer inspection she finds that it is a piece of linen from an undershirt of some kind. It's been rent and torn and is now partially covered in blood.

[Jenara]

Carith curses Bill, by the gods he was stupid, true he knew how to make a woman happy, but, ughh.

"Bill you fool." She shouts just as the branch swings towards him, acting as quick as she can she swings her axe the outreaching branch, in a jumping motion, as the dwarven axe swings down, she attempts to roll past the tree and bring herself back to her feet.

[Breila]

"Ssakkra!" The dwarven swear word leaves Hedra's lips before she can control it. She takes the rag and puts it into her belt, for closer inspection by the fire. She looks around to be able to find the spot again when there's light, to lead those who can read tracks there in the morning, hoping there won't be any rain that night.

She continues her walk, more alert than before, her hand on her hammer.

[Talyn]

The mage, seeing that the large man has gone and gotten himself in trouble focuses his magic into a larger ball of fire. This one doesn't glow anywhere near as hot, but he doesn't want it to.

He throws it right at the tree's face, or what he thinks is its face. The ball of fire explodes, hopefully if not setting it on fire, at least getting its attention away from Bill.

He takes a deep breath after it. "That takes a lot of effort." he mutters to himself.

[TigerStripedDog]

Panting with the effort Bill takes note of the futility of attacking the trunk. Instead he begins to focus his attack on the branches, big and small. He strikes at the base of the smaller branches, and further out along the larger ones. If it is going to use the branches as weapons, best take them out.

"SUUUUUPLLLLLLEEEXXX!!!!"

Should the tree ignite, Bill will continue to fight it, being no stranger to fire.

[Ismaels-Legacy]

As the treant reaches for Bill, a massive glob of fire strikes it's trunk, right above it's 'maw' (What you originally thought was a knot hole). The thing looks staggered, and instead of grabbing Bill, it simply strikes him with an 'open handed' blow, knocking him staggering to the side of the road.

Carith's diving swing fails to connect with the staggered treant, and she tumbles past it, leaving Wolf totally exposed. Realizing that there is a more dangerous foe, the treant takes a step toward where it last sensed the caster, the charred remains of it's face now weeping black ooze.

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Hedra's patrol ends uneventfully. She can hear some disturbance down the road from where the rest of the party is working to remove the tree. Looking around the campfires at the few people still awake, she notices that they are not entirely at ease with the sounds coming from the tree-felling party.


Edit: FIXED! Missed an action in my original post!

[Breila]

Hedra moves from fire to fire, telling the people to stay watchful where they are, she would go look what's going on.

She then moves onward, staying in the shadows.

"Oyee" she mutters as she sees the scene, thinking fast. Being a dwarf, she doesn't know much about trees, let alone walking ones. But it somehow looks undead to her, with that ooze dripping from it.

Then an idea comes to her mind. In recent times, with the undead problem less pressing than before, the chanters had begun to sing more than their ritual chants. Together with musicians, they had begun to perform series of solo and choir chants that together rold a story. Hedra now remembers an aria sung by (in the story) a grieving mother whose child had been taken by the undead. It first tells of the beauty of the cycle of life, with birth, growth, adult life, then death and decomposition to give nutrition to new life. After that, the grieving mother implores the Gods and the heroes to bring back the child to her, truly dead, because true death is better than the existance it is forced to live now.

(ooc: inspiration for this were the oratorios by Bach, Handel or Mendelssohn).

Hedra hadn't sung the aria in public before - it was a little too high for her voice - but that didn't matter now. Standing under the trees by the roadside, she begins to sing, putting all her faith into it. She had promised Callan earlier that she wouldn't exhaust herself, but this now was her fight, her hammer would be of no use against that giant creature. Closing her eyes, she gives her all, imploring the Divine Protector, and all Deities and Powers in favour of life and Nature, to give the treant a true death.

(ooc: edited to include "all Deities and Powers..." )

[TigerStripedDog]

Shaking his head to clear the daze Bill tries to find his feed. SUPLEX isn't immediately near him, he scrambles for the nearest weapon. As blood runs down his face, he heedlessly runs back into the fray.

[Jenara]

"Get back!" Carith shouts at the Caster, blocking Bill from reaching the creature, swinging her axe into the face of the creature she hopes the newly sharpened axe will do the trick.

"Bill, watch the caster, get him safe!" She hopes he won't be offended, he was rather.. Enthusiastic, his attitude in battle was much like his attitude elsewhere.

[TigerStripedDog]

Glancing in the direction of the caster, Bill sees that Carith is right. If this zombieant reaches him, he's going to get his skull bashed in. And thats just not acceptable.

You see it isn't the undead nature of the beast that pisses Bill off. Its not even the fact that he knocked him on his ass. No, what pisses him off is that this thing is making SMASH with large pieces of wood. And by the Gods, thats Bill's thing. BILL'S.

Running to stand in the way of the Zombieant, between it and the caster Bill says:

"Is done for you tree. You burn now! Caster, stay behind!"