In the aftermath of the battle, the party searches the decimated battlefield. Eiric discovers the glowing pinecone-shaped gem that is the object their quest. Meanwhile, the rest of the party destroy the Gulthias tree and the wooden statue.
On their return journey to the vineyard, Honu casts a clairvoyance spell to see and hear what lays ahead. His spell detects the presence of an army of needle-blights attacking the vineyard. The party charges towards the needle-blights.
Upon arriving, Seisha mounts the shoulders of trusty Maulduk and begins shooting eldritch blasts from her high position. The remaining party members charge forward – shooting arrows, fire bolts, and force blasts at the needle-blights. The heroes are barely clinging to life as they fight tide after tide of the vicious vegetation.
Full write-up
In the pleasurable afterglow of a climactic battle, the sweat-covered adventurers heave breathlessly with exhaustion. They gather their wits to begin a probing search of the ravished hillside.
Casting a levitation spell, Eiric rises up the statue’s impressive length. Wielding his dagger, Eiric begins thrusting with rhythmic urgency into the very core of the massive figure. After having penetrated deeply into its center, there is a rewarding release of energy that reveals the mystic gem that is the object of their quest.
Meanwhile, Krill and Madulduk begin assaulting the enormous girth of the Gulthias tree. Their defilement causes the erect Gulthias to come…crashing down onto the moist earth. Seisha goes up to the immense trunk of the Gulthias tree. With a delicate finger, she dabs her finger into its fluids and slips it in between her silky lips for a taste. Honu takes the inert body of a twig blight to shape it for his own purposes.
As the group makes the trek back to the vineyard, Honu decides to take a peep at the vineyard via a clairvoyance spell. He sees needle-blights crawling over the exposed fields of the vineyard. Honu warns the rest of the band, and they all hasten to the site.
When the heroes get closer to the vineyard, Seisha sizes up Maulduk. He is a tall, broad-shouldered warrior with bulging thews rippling across his sculpted body. At this point, she knew that she desires to mount him. The shy Maulduk allows the petite warlock to clamp her soft thighs around his throbbing head. With a torrid scream, Maulduk charges forward with Seisha on his shoulders. Seisha unleashed violet energies towards the needle-blights with wild abandon.
Krill’s rough, but deft hands, reach for his own shafts and release them at his foes. Eiric and Hadrioiul shoot their fiery bolts into the maw of their enemies. Eventually, Seisha releases Maulduk to allow him to charge forward and recklessly prune the animated shrubbery. She finds another stubbier, but bonier, ride in Stubbs the skeleton.
As they press deeper into the bushes of the vineyard, they begin encountering needle-blight after needle-blight. Hadrioul extends himself too far and collapses under the less-than tender ministrations of the needle-blights.
Maulduk, seeing his comrade on the floor, rushes to Hadrioiul. In order to cover up the fluids seeping out, Maulduk presses the weight of his entire body like a blanket onto the cleric. Eiric comes over and pries open Hadrioul’s lips. The kind artificer pours nourishing liquid into the mouth of the unconscious cleric. Hadrioul awakens to find Maulduk’s muscular body upon his own. Groggy, Hadrioul thanks both of his friends. He heals the wounded Maulduk with a gentle touch and then rolls the warrior off his body.
Krill also stumbles to the ground under the constant inundation of penetrating shafts from the needle-blights. Hadrioul stumbles over to place a warm hand on the ranger to heal him.
The party glances up towards the vineyard and wonder what further torments await them.
###
~ Excerpt from Hadrioul’s Journal
~ Image courtesy of Dragon’s Lair My Personal D&D Lair
(Any discomfort from reading this passage cannot be attributed to the author. All terms used are technically dictionary-correct in the recounting of the events with perhaps a few minor embellishments.)
