After rescuing Simmerah, the party head deeper into the forest towards the Great Tree. At night, they leave Simmerah with the horses and make the remaining distance on foot. Shimmering lights like thousands of fireflies illuminate the majestic tree. By its outsized trunk, Cat and Gryff spot the shadowed outline of a person. Approaching closer, they see a pale woman with brown hair and piercing green eyes. As she turns, Odion recognises her. It is Jasmine, his missing wife.
She doesn’t say a word and disappears into the tree. Odion steps forwards, moving past Catalina and touches the tree. He disappears as well. Before Catalina can try and do the same, the lights in the forest clump together, as if hundreds of fireflies have coalesced into balls of concentrated light. They approach Cat and as they get closer, she feels prickles of discharging electricity. At first harmless, they soon begin to sting.
Nox finds himself surrounded by these wisps of light. The charge of electricity burns through his body and then the wisps disappear. Kazaban too is under attack, getting the worst of it. Cat prays fervently to heal him as she prepares to strike the wisps with her mace.
At first Gryff’s tough armour seems to protect him but soon he is like a salamander in a cooking pot. The electricity burns his flesh. He calls on the Divine Will and restores his ailing health.
Nox tries to give the group some cover, summoning a black cloud to shadow their position. The four coalesce around the trunk of the tree.
Kazaban holes up in the crevice of the tree. An odd sensation fills him as an oily substance seeps upwards through his boots. As he hides behind the protection of Gryff and Cat, the substance bathes him in a comforting warmth. When Gryff looks round to check on the wizard, he is gone.
The dragonborn paladin steps into the crevice himself and soon he too vanishes. Only Cat and Nox remain. Cat has taken many lashings of electricity but the Divine Will has kept her standing. As Nox tries to get her to go through whatever portal has taken their companions, she shoves him through.
Cat stands alone to fight the menacing wisps but is soon overcome. She falls unconscious on the ground.
Odion is at home having breakfast, a hearty plate of eggs and bacon. Jasmine asks him if he wants more coffee to which he assents. He looks at his wife a moment longer than normal. Something doesn’t feel right about this but he’s got to get to work. Yet he looks at her wistfully, holding on to the moment.
There is a knock at the door. A tall patrician looking elf stands there. Kazaban is looking for his new history tutor. Odion says that whilst he loves history, he doesn’t feel qualified to tutor anyone. Has he got the right address? Kazaban admits he doesn’t know the name of this new tutor or what he looks like. He makes to leave but seems dumbfounded. Odion invites him in.
Jasmine sees the noble in their home and offers him some coffee. Kazaban takes a seat and then shows the book he came to talk about to Odion. It is a weighty tome, bound in black leather. Odion looks at it apprehensively, some vague recollection in the back of his mind. He asks where the elf got it and Kazaban doesn’t know. From his library is the deflective answer.
Another knock on the door. This time when Odion opens it, it is a giant of a man in glorious golden armour. At his side is a sword that emanates dreadful authority. The helmeted person is clearly a dragonborn. He is the Hand of the Order, the most high paladin. Odion is awestruck but asks what brings him to his humble home. Gryff looks at him and is confused. A stream of memories of times-as-yet-unhappened flood him. Twenty years of fighting the good fight with growing zealousness. Burning the heretic and all who harbour them.
Eventually the large figure steps in and appraises the situation. His eyes are drawn to the book in Kazaban’s hands. The black tome sings its menace and its cover shines with a heretic symbol. Gryff restrains himself and asks where the elf got the book. The same non-answer about the library. Jasime does not ask the Hand of the Order if he wants a coffee. She seems distracted.
Yet another knock on the door. But when Odion opens it there is no one there. He looks around suspecting some of the local youth of playing games. But there are no likely suspects nearby.
Nox opens his eyes to find himself covered in thick vines. His body is restrained but he can look around the nook, the walled inside trunk of an enormous tree. He sees three of his companions similarly bound by vines, their eyes closed. But not Catalina.
Across from them there is a young woman sat on a wooden throne. Her green eyes are open but her face still. She is not restrained like Nox and his friends. He recognises her as the women they saw earlier. The one Odion called Jasmine.
Nox calls out to her, “Free them!” There is no response.
Jasmine stumbles and holds her temple. Odion goes to his wife to see if she is alright. She mumbles about not being responsible for it.
Nox frees his arms and reaches for his dagger. He begins cutting the vines.
Gryff grows more stern as Kazaban provides no answers about the book. The holy avenger at his side calls to him to end this heresy.
Nox is free. He moves to the woman on the throne. “Free them now!” he yells as he points the tip of his spear at her throat.
Jasmine begins to sob as she says again she is not responsible. Odion’s concern grows and Kazaban turns to look at their hosts. The elf patrician throws an accusation at Gryff for upsetting the woman.
Nox gives up on threatening the woman and turns to free the nearest companion. He soon has Odion out of the vines. Odion snaps awake, taking stock of their situation. He sees Jasmine and rushes to her.
Kazaban sees Odion vanish and finds himself alone in the room with the crying Jasmine and the fuming Gryff. He runs for the door but cannot leave that way. He runs back to the kitchen with Gryff in hot pursuit. Gryff draws his blade and it is engulfed in fire. He swings expertly at the bookish elf and cuts him in half.
Blood comes out of Kazaban’s mouth as Nox hurries to free him. Odion comes alongside and takes over, allowing Nox to tend to the wizard’s wounds. They manage to stabilise him but he is at death’s door. They turn to free Gryff and soon have the paladin out of the vines.
The three companions are free, with an unconscious Kazaban at their feet when a shadowy apparation appears in the nook. A crone’s voice taunts them and offers Odion a bargain: they can leave this place and save the dying Catalina outside or he can free his wife and take her with him.
Odion has many questions but senses the voice is telling the truth in some measure. Gryff senses great evil emanating from the apparation.
The apparation shows Odion a vision of the kind of power he may wield. The power he already taps into could be expanded to rule the nations. Odion asks if she is the one who gives him this power. The apparation only laughs.
Odion delays making the decision as long as he can. Nox uses his secret wisdom to send a telepathic message to the woman who is Jasmine.
How can we help you?
Please, I don’t know what is going on.
It seems you are someone important to Odion, stuck in a place separate from reality, we are trying to free you
Odion? You know Odion? Is he well?
Yes, do you know anything about a scary force restraining you? I can’t seem to wake you
No I don’t know. Please, keep Odion safe.
Unable to make a decision, Odion turns away from the apparation and tries to contact his wife himself using his own powers.
“Decision made,” the apparation mocks before disappearing. Jasmine is gone as well.
A doorway out of the nook appears and they see Cat lying unconscious on the ground. A wisp consuming her life essence.
Nox and Gryff charge the wisp.
Catalina has made her peace with this life. She has held firm in her belief that she made the right choice to save Nox and not herself. She is ready to rest when the Divine Will wakes her up out of her slumber. She draws a deep breath and finds her companions surrounding her.
The wisps disappear, returning to the hundreds of fireflies that surround the Great Tree.
The party gather themselves together. Cat administers healing to Kazaban who is restored to consciousness. Gryff pulls out a treasure chest found in the nook of the tree.
They make camp and get some much needed rest after the strange events they have witnessed.
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