Setting out from the neaderthal refugee city, Ogg
is given command of six warriors and they, the party, the pack of gnolls, and
the party's followers set off to track the path of the settlement in order to
root out the source of the undead.
The party spends several days in the wilderness
when they are set upon by zombies. The creatures erupt out of the earth and
ambush the group. Jenga, after being seriously wounded, casts disrupt undead
and the zombies break apart. The magic users in the group detect a magical
stream connecting the zombies to some distant location.
Upon regrouping, the party heads off in the
direction of the stream.
Again and again, they are set upon by the undead;
each time the zombies are magically connected to a trail of purplish magic when
disrupted by Jenga's magic.
After about a week's worth of travel, the group
comes to a rise over a river. The magic points directly into a bluff on the
horizon. As you approach you see the trail leads directly into a twenty foot high
sculpture of the head of a bison carved into the white wall of stone. In the
rocky expanse between the bluff and the river lay the skeletons of hundreds of
buffalo in varying states of decomposure. All of the animals seem to have died
naturally, from a brief examination.
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| A whole lot more where this came from. |
Spotting an entrance to a cave in the snout of the
bison, the group crosses the river and makes for the cave. But as the cross the
open area, several of the skeletons come to life and attack the group.
Poma tries to hold them off, but couldn't save Nugi
(Let's hear it for Four-Fate-Points!) Siqua's slave-wife. Desperate to save the
life of his woman, Siqua runs back into the fray from the safety of the cave
and is quickly set upon by the skeletal bison. With no where to run, and little
option, Siqua hoists the woman over his head and turns himself into a tree. The
buffalo, eager to push interlopers out of their territory, ram the tree
repeatedly but to no avail.
Seeking a way to mollify the creatures, Grey Bear
uses his powers to calm animals and seems to keep the attention off of Siqua
and company. After an hour passes with no change in the creatures' disposition,
Poma steps out of the cave and flags the creatures down - they charge, and
Siqua races back to the river with his bride. The party darts back into the
cave and the creatures, with no invaders in their territory, settle back to the
earth. Siqua and Nugi take advantage of the moment and sprint into safety with
the rest of the group in the cave.
Once in the cave, the group marvels at the ancient
cave paintings depicting the arrival of the first white buffalo to the earth.
This event broke open the spirit world into the mortal one. Magic, gods, and
monsters all poured into the world and man was introduced to the spirit animals,
gods, and other denizens of the worlds of the spirit and the dead.
Following the murals deeper into the cave the group
comes into a dead end - the magic trail flowing directly through a stone wall
with a painting of a dead tree on it.
After some experimentation, the Melvi and Siqua
realize the the tree absorbs light magic. With each subsequent spell cast upon
it, the tree fills out into a three dimensional figure its roots glowing silver
tendrils, it leaves blossom and flowers fill the air with a sweet pollen. As
the fine yellow dust floats about the cavern, a noise is heard from behind -
one of the gnolls has vanished - a smattering of blood drips from a crevasse
above...
Within moments, the stone wall and magically
blossomed tree fade away and the party enters a chamber roughly 40 feet high
with a life size stone tree standing in the middle. At the base of the tree is
carved an approximation of the large touchstone the neanderthal were carrying
with them that the group gave to Thunderbird. The ethereal trail leads directly
into the center of the touchstone.
Around the edges of the room are murals depicting
the world tree connecting back into itself in different settings.
Melvi casts dancing lights and the magic is slowly
lifted above the room and absorbed into a chandelier made out of branches and
antlers. Each point in the hanging fixture blazes to life and the room is lit
from above. Several of the group stare in awe of the trick (while Melvi
shudders at the thought of what he saw in the last room with this fixture.)
Some of the group notice while looking above a large millipede like creature on
a branch of the stone tree.
 |
| "It's not awkward if we hug right now, is it?" |
As the group readies its next move, bodies fall from the ceiling, another group
of zombies pull themselves upright and move toward the heroes.
Melvi and Gray Bear test their magic on the tree
and find that it absorbs both light and magic. After a few attempts, Gray Bear
begins to Mend the tree and finds that the carving of the touchstone fills in
with stony bark. Melvi begins casting light on the tree and it slowly comes to
life like the mural.
Meanwhile the creature drops from its perch in the
tree and falls upon one of the neanderthals, its vice-like jaws nearly snipping
the man's neck all the way through. In a heartbeat, the creature begins committing
back into the neck and chest of the neanderthal and releases him. The body of
the neanderthal stumbles toward Poma and begins to attack. The same purple
trail that flows out of the touchstone flows between the creature and this new
abomination.
The group makes short work of the zombies while
Poma, Pkuma, and the beast do straight into combat. Pkuma takes advantage of
his size and strikes at the creatures underside while Poma keeps its attention.
Shortly thereafter, the group has the beast
surrounded, though with each action it kills another member of the party. As
the magic users work to "heal" the tree, the rest battle the beast,
wearing it down. The group eventually fells the beast, and even after being
chopped into pieces it struggles to crawl back toward the touchstone. The group
beats it into pulp.
At last, enough spells are fed into the tree and it
blossoms into a vividly real tree. It's yellow flowers bloom ad again a yellow
haze falls down upon the group. The bark begins to grow and cover over the
touchstone carved into the trunk and the gossamer purple stream retreats into
the carving as the bark covers it.
Roots roil the floor as thick bands of wood reach
out to each of the eight different murals and begin to coil against them
leaving what looks like a portal into each distinct painting.
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