Shadows of the Forest : Questionable Plant Life

 

A great and ancient tree on the island of Shulan is the subject of many legends in the Archipelago, among which is one that claims it has protective powers.  Could this be the source of the strange power that is aiding the two peoples of the Archipelago in their struggle ?  Other stories say that it is a Tree of Life, whose sap can heal almost any ailment or injury.  Even if these are only rumours, the risk of leaving it to the forces of the Deep is too great.

It also seems a good place to start.  The tree is not located on one of the islands the most affected by the Deep and its savage Hu-Man allies.  The island is hard to access, one side protected by reefs impossible to navigate, the other by steep cliffs.  The Rangers and their companions will have to climb...The tropical forest that entirely covers Shulan was, however, targetted early by the jungle roots, as if they wished to hide something from sight.  The Deep corrupts all, runs the adage, and the Rangers were able to verify it once they reached the cliff top. The once fertile and healthy soil of the forest has been ground at its edges to sterile dust, the towering trees, that for centuries stood proudly against the onrushing ocean winds, are now twisted and rotten; the lush green grass has turned to yellowed wisps.  Above Shulan even the sun seems to be blotted out, and birds and animals have fallen silent with fear. 

Szarzeesi has assigned this mission to the Alladoran Rangers Kiara and Jabir.  The Elain of the Archipelago, Eic and Jeropi, are led by Olivia.  This is a mission in which a thaumaturge is vital to understand the magicks at work, task which has fallen to Scorpen, who as ever, is with his companion Rokii. 

Mission 1 : Questionable Plant Life

The trees weren’t right. Scarce reports had reached Nakk that, deep in the forest of Shulan, corruption had begun to spread unchecked. It was also beginning to affect the lands around, with trees twisting, plants becoming gnarled and decaying and being replaced by tropical bushes bearing horribly over-ripe fruit.  The further from the Ocean the adventurers penetrated into the dim light under the knitted tree canopy, the bleaker it looked.  It was if the Tree of Life was already becoming one of Death.

 

Scenario 1 - The Great Root

Of all the Archipelagii, Olivia knew the most about the legends of the Tree of Life, and also a fair bit about its reality.  She counselled Kiara to make for the homestead of a botanist, situated in a forest clearing to which a good path would lead.  For long years, he had been studying the effects of various herbs in search of some magical infusion.  His large greenhouse, she recounted, stored a vast collection of the strangest plant life. Before recent events, it was a place of study, and also home to an impressive botanical library.  If any place contained tangible knowledge of the Tree of Life, it would be here. 

The company threaded its way through the dying land.  The homestead was seemingly abandoned, and the greenhouse overrun with alien foliage.  The stench emanating from it stung the adventurer's lungs as soon as they were within range, and set them coughing and retching...