Day 32 (S18-20)

Rina 27 of Contract , 8 , 1? Day 6 / 14 of the 2 weeks of diplomatic immunity

Rina got up earlier than everyone else and took her letter to Darrian to the post office. Upon returning, the rest of the party was awake and Francis was at the Tunnel inn along with Rosa - who was now being carried in a cot by two soldiers.
"Good, you are back," Francis said to Rina, "As you can see, Rosa's health has declined dramatically overnight. She can no longer walk, and we believe you should take her with you immediately. We think if you go on your quest then come back, she may be gone by the time you can do so."
"Then we will take her, and we will get to the Taste Tree Stump first, before we try to get to Therius," said Kin.
"Rosa," Rina began, "can you describe the stump or its location? Anything can help us get to it faster."
"Why... yes..." Rosa said weakly, "It is... west of... Sokan. Nearly straight west, as I recall."
Rina used Scry to see the tree to the best of her ability, and is able to. She then describes the area to Kin, who is able to treestride the party somewhat close.
"We well aid you in getting Rosa to the tree on the edge of town," said Francis, "but beyond that, you are on your own."
"Anything else we should know before we go?" Kin asked.
"Oh... yes. One thing I almost forgot. The name Taste Tree is a bit different in our native language," Francis said, "In common it is just Taste Tree, but in Druse it means... well... Trees that want to taste you."
"Trees that want to taste you? What does that mean?" Aurelius asked.
"It means everything there wants to eat you" Answered Francis, "Good luck!"

Kin opened the tree, and they all stepped in. Kin and Aurelius carried Rosa; Alice, Rina, and Neely followed.
Immediately upon arriving in the woods, Rina could see that she was not going to be able to navigate the woods like Kin can, so she took over for him.
The Taste Tree Forest was thick, and the trees were tall - at least 5 times taller than the trees of the Pixie Woods - and the terrain was difficult.
"Everything in here is... giant" said Neely.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps thump and shake the ground. The steps were far apart - whatever it was, it was huge.
From the direction of the steps, they heard a very familiar chant: “I will be the biggest lizard, snatch and grab and eat their gizzards…”
"That chant is exactly like the Giant Snake," said Rina.
"It's also similar to the Goblin and ogre from Riverbend" Kin added, "The greatest prophecy of the jarl..."
"Neely," Alice started, "you should probably have some armor or weapons."
"Should have thought of that before we left Castle Frey," said Aurelius.
"We still have Gabrielle's armor," Alice said, "Here, Neely. Put this on."
"Oh, um... ok...." Neely said as she slipped the armor over her head. It was at least 3 sizes too big for her.
"It'll have to do," Alice said.
"Here, Neely," Rina said, "Take the Golden Ruby Dagger that Alice won at the Open Pearls. I currently don't need it, and you need a weapon."
"Th... Thank you..." Neely said, taking the dagger hesitantly.
"We should try to be quiet in here," Kin said, "We don't want to catch the attention of anything in this forest."

"I'm going to wildshape and fly above the trees," Alice said, "I'll see if I can see the stump."
Alice flew above, and saw a giant flying lizard-like creature. It did not pay her any mind, but it was also chanting like the one they heard stomping on the ground.
Sure enough, however, Alice could see a large, round area with no trees. This was likely where a large stump would be.
"We need to head northwest," she said, "it'll probably be a 2 hour walk."
Kin used pass without a trace for all of them, and they were able to sneak through the woods most of the way.

They came to a small clearing where a Giant ape was sitting at the far end with its back to them.
"What's up with that thing?" Alice asked.
"I don't know, but let's not disturb it," Neely said.
It heard the party, and turned around to look at them. It didn't do anything, however, just stared at them as it sat down.
"I'm going to try and talk to it," Rina said.
She walked forward a little and activated Beastspeach, "Hello, we mean you no harm. We are only passing through."
It cocked its head and looked at her, but didn't move.
"We are just trying to get to the large stump behind you, we don't want to hurt anything in the forest."
The ape then moved to its left, directly in front of where the stump was, and replied to Rina, "Stump is important, no harm, no strangers!"
"We will not harm it," Rina said again, "we are only passing through."
"Forest is cursed," the ape responded, "the curse is a blessing to us. No strangers!"
Kin could see this was not getting anywhere, so he tried dominate beast. It failed, so the ape attacked them.

Alice immediately changes into a triceratops, and picked up Neely, Aurelius, and Rosa. She began running toward an opening in the woods just to the left of the ape.
Kin stood to fight it.
"No, kin!" Rina yelled, "We just told it we weren't trying to hurt it!"
But Kin didn't stop, he took out his sword and started to run toward it.
As Alice passed it, Aurelius jumped off and plunged the sword into its back, holding onto it.
Neely threw her dagger and hit it. The dagger then came back to her. "Aaah!" she yelled, "What? How?"
The ape picked up two large boulders and threw them at Kin, but Rina hit them with her eldritch blast to prevent him from getting hurt.
It then started throwing rocks in her direction, "Hey!" she yelled, "I was trying to help you!"
The ape didn't respond, and tried to grab Aurelius off of its back.
"Aurelius!" Rina yelled, "Either kill it or get off of it! Hurry!"
Aurelius then pulled his sword out of the ape and jumped off of it.
Alice ran back around to scoop Aurelius up, and possibly get a hit on the Ape.
The ape looked injured, and decided to not continue the fight after seeing Alice begin to charge at it. So, it ran away in the opposite direction of the stump.
"Let's all get on Alice's back and get to the stump as soon as possible," said Rina, "We have made enough ruckus that anything in the woods knows we're here anyway. Stealth won't help us now."
So they all got onto Alice's back and she booked it to the stump.

Thanks to Alice's high speed, they made it to the stump faster than expected. It was incredibly wide, wider than most houses. The rings in the wood were too many to count. When this tree was cut down, it must have been the oldest tree in the forest.
Though it was a stump, the flat area was more than 5ft above their heads when they were standing on the ground.
"Looks like we need to lower Rosa's cot from your horns, Alice," said Rina.
Aurelius pulled out a rope, and he and Kin lowered Rosa down gently, Rina and Neely were on the stump to catch her.
"I finally get to see it," Rosa said, "Please, take me near the center and leave me alone a moment."
"You're planning to die right now?" Aurelius asked.
"Hoah hoah, soon, child, soon. For now, I just wish to admire it."
While Rosa was looking over the stump, touching the axe marks around her, Kin and Rina took a look around.
"This tree..." Rina started, "This is just like the trees in the forest where I was born. This is an Evertree." She kneeled down in the very center of the tree, took out her knife, and cut out the heartwood from the center. It was barely able to fit in her bag, being a bit bulky to carry with just one hand, but she made it fit.
Kin kneeled and prayed for the tree, feeling sad that such a force of nature was cut down by man. Upon opening his eyes, he saw a small sapling growing near the root of the stump. It was in the shadows, and not able to grow well, but the bark was the same - this was clearly an Evertree sapling. He gently dug it up, and showed it to Rina.
"We need to make sure to plant this in a safe place!" Rina said, happy that this old tree could be replaced.

"Now, listen kids," Rosa started, "I want to tell you the story of this magnificent tree, and why I asked you all to bring me here."
They all sat down around her and listened.
"When I was but a young girl, about the age of miss Neely, I fell in love with a young man. Edik was his name. He was living in Sokan, and I was living in Castle Frey. His family were loggers, they could come to the castle once in a while for trade. My family was very prominent in the city, and my father would not let me marry him because of our difference in status. Around that time, Drake and Godfrey had decided to step down from kinghood, and left Sullivan Frey in charge as the sole king. His first request as king was the building of a great ship, one larger than any has ever seen. The loggers of Sokan got to work cutting down trees. But Edik... My Edik... he decided he was going to get the mast for this great ship himself... so that he may be renowned enough for my father to accept him. He searched the woods for weeks, some people even thought he may be lost in it forever. But eventually, he returned - he had found this great tree, the tallest tree in the Taste Tree forest - and he was going to cut it down himself for our king - and for me. He spent every day for months cutting this tree. One axe swing at a time. I can still feel his love for me as I touch the curves of the cuts in the wood. He cut the tree, and had all of Sokan drag it out of the forest. The king praised him and the work he did for Pennislovica, and gave him high honors. My father then permitted us to be married... that was 70 years ago now. My Edik passed 3 years ago, and I am now ready to go be with him again."

Then, Rosa pulled herself up off the cot, and laid down near the center of the tree. She placed her hand in the hole that Rina left, brushing her nails against the heartwood of the great Evertree. "Thank you," she said as she smiled at them. Then, just like that, she breathed her last breath, and her body became a patch of mushrooms and mycelium that began leeching into the wood of the stump.
Kin placed the little sapling in what used to be her hand, and cast Plant growth on it for stability.
Rina cried, and the others looked solemn. Their quest for a home was over, Rosa had already signed the deed to them.

The party was able to sit for a moment and mourn for the sweet lady Rosa, but only a moment.
The steps heard when they first entered the forest, along with the sound of chanting, approached them quickly.
“I will be the biggest lizard, snatch and grab and eat their gizzards…” a t-rex appeared from the edge of the forest, and turned its head directly toward the party on the stump.
There was no time to think, the dinosaur charged toward them, trying to bite them and hit them with its tail.
It began to chant again, "Stomp and bite and kill the bitches, all I want is food of witches! Kill them turn them into jelly, make them monsters in their bellies!"
Neely then took her turn to run as far away as possible, and Kin kept a safe distance.
Rina threw eldritch blasts at it, and Aurelius grew into his giant form to hit it with his sword.
"Bite and eat the witches!" it yelled as it eyed both Alice and Rina, who were now standing near each other. Rina notices it is purposely targeting people it thinks are witches, so she begins to speak to Agronoch out loud, "I just love being a warlock, not a witch! A warlock. Right, Enoch?"
He responded, confused, "Uh, yeah, ok. That's... good?"
"I'm being attacked by something that thinks I'm a witch, just wanted to clear up that I'm not one."
"Depends on who you ask, I guess," he responded.
The T-rex then ran up and bit down on Alice, picking her up in its mouth.
Alice then wildshaped into a giant crab, wriggling her way out of its mouth. She snapped at it with her big claws, while Rina used Toll the Dead and Aurelius tried to hit it in the heart with his sword. Neely threw her dagger, which keeps coming back - scaring her every time. Kin stayed back and healed anyone within range.
The T-rex continued to focus on Alice, until she went unconscious. The creature then paused, and began to scream - maybe out of pain, or maybe out of success. From the spot that Aurelius plunged his sword into its heart, black, long, spindly fingers began to emerge. They began pushing the sides of the skin of the T-rex apart, splitting the creature in half entirely.
From inside the dinosaur, a huge Black creature, seemingly made of shadow, crawled out of the hole in its chest. It was unlike anything any of them had seen, with eyes glowing red.

Alice then began to float in the air, all of the light around her seemed to turn black - making the entire area around them nearly colorless. The bag of Colding then opened up, and from it came the End Medallion. Alice's arms stretched out on either side of her, the end medallion placed itself in one hand.
She then spoke as if from another voice:
"I am the comet that fell
As it was written, so it shall pass
the cycle has become a spiral, the spokes have rusted from the iron in the soul-bound blood
the whirlpool is beginning to deepen, bulling the future into eternal ruin
as it was never written, so it shall pass.
I am the pebble that tips the wagon
i am the stream that buts through the mountain
as it was never written, so it shall never pass.
i am Pradhana, the world ender
as i have written, as i will see it pass."
The air around Alice began to pull toward her, everything in a 100 foot radius started to suck into her like a black hole. The soul of the T-rex pulled out of its body and entered the End Medallion, getting destroyed immediately. Half a second later, Alice's power exploded - everything within 100ft was decimated. Rina, Aurelius, Kin, the black creature - they all got hit with the extent of her powers. Neely was the only one far enough away to not get hit.
Alice's body then slowly lowered to the ground, the End medallion still in her hand.

"Oh no!" Neely yelled as she looked upon the site. The stump was gone - Rosa's body, the sapling, everything was gone. Trees in the surrounding areas were fallen away from Alice. The entire party laid unconscious.
Neely first ran up to Kin, "Kin, oh my gods, Kin!" she yelled as she gave him a small potion that she pulled from his pocket.
He sat up as quickly as he could, "Here's another potion," he said, "Get Rina, I'll get Aurelius and Alice."
Neely ran to Rina and got her up, too. Aurelius was no longer in his giant form, but got up quickly.
"Alice?" Kin said as he healed her, "Alice are you okay?"
She opened her eyes and looked up and Kin, "Wha... what happened? Did we beat it?"
"You don't remember?" Aurelius asked, "You basically exploded! Look around."
Alice looked around to see the stump gone, "What did this? How?"
"Do you remember anything? Anything you said?" asked Rina.
"I... barely remember anything. Are we safe?"
"We are safe for now," said Rina, "but I'm going to make a Tiny Hut for us to rest in to heal up - nothing can get us in there. Everyone gather around."
"What did I say?" asked Alice.
Rina repeated it to the best of her ability.
"Do you know what you mean by Comet? Or Soul-bound blood? Or... Pradhana? Anything?" Kin asked her.
"I can't... remember anything. I don't know anything about any of that" Alice answered.
"Get some rest," Kin said, "we will talk about it when we head toward Therius."
Rina made the Igloo-shaped Tiny Hut for the party to sleep in, then wrote to Agronoch again - explaining her contact to him earlier. She burned the letter, then rested.

Next: Day 33 (S20-22)