As the morning comes, the tavern slowly comes to life. After realizing that Seisha has not come down for breakfast, the group checks up on her. With a snarl, Seisha complains of having cramps and tells the others to be off.
The party travels west on Svalich Road and leave through the western gates. They cross the bridge over the Luna River. There is an unnatural coldness in the air that prickles their skin.
From out of thin air, hazy shapes reach out to attack the party members. Maulduk enters into a heated rage and glowing wings sprout from his back. He soars into the air like an avenging angel who has just learned to fly. The group is able to quickly dispatch the ghosts and Maulduk is restored back to the ground. Eiric and Hadrioul find the graves of the ghosts. While Hadrioul gives them their last rites, he is attacked by a swarm of bats. The party manages to defend the battered cleric who limps away from the battle.
Eventually, the party makes their way to the vineyard to meet the elderly Davian Martikov, the Wizard of Wines. Martikov complains bitterly about a recent attack by druids and walking plant-like creatures. According to the Wizard of Wines, these marauders had stolen one of the three “seeds” that his winery needs to make wine. Martikov is pleased by the party’s arrival and offers them a proposition: return the seed (a gem-like object the size of a pinecone) and the Wizard will once more make wines that the party can bring back to Vallaki. The elderly winemaker suggests that Yester Hill might be the place where the druids may have taken the seed.
Travel south to Yester Hill. Atop the hill is a wide ring of black boulders and smaller rocks that collectively form a makeshift wall enclosing a field of dead grass. Lightning strikes the edge of the ring from time to time, illuminating a ghastly, fifty-foot-tall statue made of tightly woven twigs and packed with black earth. The statue resembles a towering, cloaked man with fangs. On the other side of the circle, lays a large Gulthias tree. A shining battle-axe is embedded into the trunk of the tree.
Maulduk’s eyes light up and he is irresistibly drawn towards the weapon. As he steps within twenty feet of the diabolical tree, the earth erupts around him. In a mass of surging twigs, vines, and needles, various plant-like creatures attack the party.
The party fights back desperately. Hadrioul and Honu summon up spiritual weapons to smite the heathen vegetation. Krill expertly fights wood with wood…by launching arrows into the enemy. Eiric utters a devastating spell that…shatters…a large number of the creatures. Not to be outdone, Maulduk’s pent-up energy is released in a brilliant flash that sears radiant force into half a dozen monsters. In the middle of the grim battle, a lightning bolt strikes the middle of the circle where Eiric and Krill are standing with smoke trailing from their hair. Eventually, the party manages to defeat the near overwhelming numbers of blights.
After the battle, Maulduk sees the battle-axe embedded in the tree and pulls it out. Much to his satisfaction, it shines and glows.
Suddenly, Krill’s ears perk up in alarm. He hears the rumbling sound of wheels rumbling from the trail in the north…
~ Image courtesy of Fran Fdez
