The Green Tower I

The Three Odd Adventurers, having survived their brush with The Fisher (the demon who had attacked Faylemore’s settlement) and been transported back to the Encampment by Eth-El, set their sights on yet another adventure. This time they determined to return to Reidoth’s Tower in order to penetrate the Green Tower, the second of the three towers.

And so, having filled their packs with provisions, sharpened their weapons and rested their bodies, the Three doughty companions set forth in a merry mood. They encountered no monsters, no rabid animals and enjoyed the fair weather and easy journey. They made camp, enjoyed a peaceful night, but on awakening they discovered that while they were clear on their direction of march the evening before they made camp, in the morning they could not determine the proper direction to go. They couldn’t find the trail they had made the night before that should lead them to the main trail! Nxy, ever the eager investigator found a bit of the trail, but it ended ten feet from the camp. Barbar climbed the tallest tree in the area, and reported he could see the Mirage Tower to the northeast, and could also see smoke rising from the Encampment to the South.

The Companions decided to head north through the trees and attempt to find the trail and Barbar thought best to blaze the trees they went by, so that they could retrace their steps if necessary. The Companions did happen on the main trail, but found no explanation why their trail had been erased or why they were so disoriented upon awakening. However, the trail was now clear and they moved forward with eagerness. Having walked about a half hour Barbar was alerted by the sound of a Big Bell tolling to the south, but Nyx and Galadan heard nothing. A bit later all Three found themselves to be on alert, on edge and unaccountably fidgety. And then, all heard the voice in their minds - the voice of Eth-El saying “There is something terribly evil nearby! Hide!”

Galadan heard wingbeats, large, slow and almost overhead and immediately thought “Dragon!” The Three quickly faded into the thicker bushes to the east, and then heard a distinct “thud” of something landing to the west. Then the unidentified Being started making a hissing noise and was clearly scrabbling through the bushes a few hundred yards away. Barbar wanted to stay and fight rather than flee, but remembering Eth-El’s warning they made their way northeast as quickly and quietly as they could.

The thicket that was shielding them abruptly came to an end at the edge of what became clear was an ancient Tree Circle. On the far side the thicket appeared thinner, and in the middle of the central clearing was the King Tree - a massive beech tree of unimaginable age and majesty. They could still hear the progress of the Evil Being, but inside the circle there was no noise. Galadan told the others that he smelled strong Earth Magic in the circle, and they all noticed that the Tree itself existed both physically and perhaps metaphysically - as it appeared both like a natural tree and also perhaps metallic or iridescent. The Tree had a hollow beneath it - going from one side of the tree right through to the other.

Barbar felt that the hollow is distinctly unsafe - he was nervous and on edge. Nyx said she felt a humming, something akin to that feeling that precedes a lighting strike. Galadan agreed that he also felt the humming and could feel that great power was being drawn up by the Tree and was emanating from the top. Galadan felt he was in the presence of the Sublime and described his feeling as reverential.

Barbar, determined to not appear frightened of the Tree approached the Hollow first, when suddenly his vision became blurred and then cleared. Looking again at what had seemed a pile of rubble in the center of the Hollow, he realized it is a human skeleton! Protruding from the rib cage was a large wooden knife! He whirled around and shouted a warning to Nyx and Galadan.

With this warning Galadan was reminded that the reason they were in the Circle was that they were being hunted by some Unnamed Horror. He swiftly turned and peered between the trees of the Circle, but he could see only a Cloud of Blackness from which occasionally protruded a bit of wing or a tail. However hard Galadan tried, he could get no clear vision, only the sense that this thing was at least as big as a war horse and was exuding malevolence. However, interestingly and fortunately, this Evil Being did not seem inclined (or able) to penetrate the Tree Circle, despite its pacing the entire circumference.

The Three Companions talked about what they should do, and decided that the mystery in front of them required investigation, and that short of challenging the Evil Being, there did not seem to be anything to do about that at the moment. Galadan, recognizing the strong Earth Magic of the area decided that perhaps if he were to change to his Bear form, he might be able to investigate without angering the entities that clearly controlled this Circle. And so he became his Big Brown Bear self and ambled into the hollow. He immediately felt the harmonics, but remained undisturbed. The Bear carefully opened his mouth to capture and transport the skull, but his big torso jostled the wooden knife. Instantly the Bear was inundated with a sense of disharmony, necrosis and FEY! Galadan changed back to his Druid form and a big wind raged through the Hollow and he was almost overcome by the strong stench of necrosis! Galadan staggered out and reported his findings to the others. Despite his warnings, Nyx felt she must go into the Hollow to verify the sense of Fey that Galadan had experienced. While nothing untoward happened to Nyx, her dagger becomes red hot during this foray! What is happening? What is the mystery here?

Confused, concerned, the Companions decided to take a short rest so that Galadan could recover his ability to change into the Bear. Afterwards they saw that the Fog Creature had gone. The Bell that Barbar had heard to the South has stopped tolling. The Companions decided that they must investigate the outside of the Circle, and they find footprints! Long, narrow, with four toes! Galadan, seeing these distinctive prints, took a moment to tell his companions about the sack of his Temple and the murder of his mentor Ferlon, and the presence of just these footprints at both sites.

Naturally, Galadan wanted to abandon their current quest and immediately pursue the Being (or Beings?) that made the footprints. After all, his vow to recover the Book took precedence over any current quest. But Nyx and Barbar were under no such vow, and reminding Galadan that Eth-El had warned them not to tangle with this Terribly Evil Entity, the other two Companions managed to get Galadan to continue with them towards the Tower.

Upon arriving at the Tower the companions discovered that there seems to be thick Bark protecting all the doors and windows, but that it had the same character as that of the King Tree in the Tree Circle - simultaneously appearing as natural bark and as an iridescent, metallic skin. Could the Green Tower be somehow aligned with or connected with the King Tree? Here was mystery indeed!