Candle in the Dark Campaign Diary - Session 6: The Slaying Stone, Pt 4

The Cast:

• Enid, half-elf cleric of Bahamut
• Nashgar, dragonborn paladin of Bahamut
• Leilua, tiefling warlock
• Corrin, halfling barbarian 

The heroes decide to head back to Kiris Dahn to warn Tyristys of the orcs and the Red Hand.  Upon returning, the dragon changes her mind about going to Palanthus as Nashgar had asked her to do earlier.  Something about the Red Hand convinced her that there was a need to make the journey, so she bequeaths the offerings that she had collected to the heroes and leaves the Slaying Stone in their possession for safe keeping and departs.

The heroes spend the night in her lair, then leave as sounds from the town indicate something bad is going down.  They decide to travel to the Goathorne Inn to consider their next move.  Do they return the Slaying Stone to Lord Drysdale, whose motives are questionable?  Do they seek out this Lord Mage Starris to find where the lair of Calastryx, the Prophet of Tiamat is located?  Do they try and discover what caused the events from the last time they stayed at the Goathorne Inn?   They rest at the inn for the night to ponder their options.

The following morning, upon learning that the Avandra priestess Chandara had recently visited the inn, the heroes decide to try and follow her trail.  This leads them to a strange copse of wood that is infested with spiders, which they must fight off, and eventually to an area dominated by a large and ancient tree.  The tree has veins of glowing green light which give off motes that float through the air and warp the surrounding vegetation around it.  The disheveled figure of Chandara stood before the tree, eyes glowing with the same eerie green light coming from the tree.  The tree also had a number of animated plants surrounding it, which attacked as soon as Nashgar approached.

The heroes fight off the twig and needle blights, which Nashgar tries to free Chandara from the tree's control, which it seemed to have both on her mind and on her body, as roots were wrapped around her legs and burrowing into them, holding her fast.  Attacks against the tree itself seemed to be shrugged off or ineffective.  As Nashgar fought at the roots around her legs, Chandara whispered to him to kill her, that she could not hold it much longer.  Did she mean resist the tree's influence?  Was she doing something to the tree?  It's not clear, as she seemed to struggle to say those few words. But Nashgar refuses her plea, and continues to try and pull her from it while the rest of the team fight off the blights and watch as the floating motes of light begin to create a second wave.  Nashgar decides to try something different and pours a Potion of Gaseous Form into Chandara's mouth.

End of session.