[Jean] Chapter 14: Escape from the Treants

[Throndir]

《Chapter 13: The Evacuation of Tathi VIllage

Chapter 15: Capital of Drugan, Kherngolarr, Last City of Dwarves》

《Chapter 14: Escape from the Treants》

When you finally killed it, you heard the sounds of wings flapping, and far above you, you managed to spot a blue dragon descending. You already recognized the form. It was one of the young dragons from back in Mt. Velothia. Alyona, the one who had dropped you in the middle of the fight at Tathi village.

She seemed to be in a rush, but she eventually landed.

"Hero Jean!" The dragon said as she transformed back into her human form. Her eyes widened when she noticed the broken trees. "There's something umm... weird going on... The others don't know what to make of it. But... Walking trees are heading from the north, making their way southwards. We tried talking to them, but they ignored us. They didn't seem hostile, so umm...we just let them go... Anyways... I was kinda napping when you arrived earlier... I wish you would have checked on me, none of the soldiers bothered to wake me up either..." She pouted. But she brightened up a moment later.

"I heard the news earlier, but I wanted to say umm..." She looked down, and you can see a slight blush on her features. "I'm glad you're back here safe too... And I hope sister and Rosalie will be okay too."

She then pointed towards the broken trees. "Why did you... kill them?" She asked.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean watched the final tree fall to the tentacle and lowered his guard finally.  "I wonder what that was all about..."  He said, turning to Ren.  He pulled her up to him with one arm and sought out one of the scratches from when she was struck and licked up the tiny beads of blood.  "I guess you will have to do in the absence of the blood of our foes."  He moved to kiss a streak of blood dripping from a scratch on Ren's neck when he heard Alyona begin to descend.  "Oops, can't be scarring the children...  I guess we'll need to put a wet towel on this."  He said as he withdrew from Ren with a conciliatory pat on the rump.
     
     "Lady Alyona!  When I didn't see you with the knights I thought you had returned to the mountain." He said as he went over to the pool.  He quickly jumped into the lukewarm water to wash away the sweat from the battle and set about putting on his clothes.  "The trees attacked us earlier so we struck at them before they could ambush us this time.  They didn't seem that intent on pursuing diplomacy with us either.  Have they attacked the caravan?"  Asked Jean as he finished pulling his jerkin over his robe.

[Throndir]

Alyona shook her head. "No... After you met up with the caravan, and went down here, a bit later these trees appeared. They didn't attack anyone... And sister told me before that usually treants don't... It's said that treants, along with the faeries, dryads, and nymphs are the Goddess of Earth's servants, and protectors of the forest. They usually keep away from people though. And umm... it's rare to ever see one." Alyona looked around at the broken trees.  "One... two... three... four..." She scrunched up her eyebrows. "There was a lot more than this. I'm not sure how many, but they kept appearing from the woods, passing the caravan, and headed kinda southwards..." She paused for a moment. "Actually, kinda this direction..."

[pringerbeam]

     "Damn it..."  Mumbled Jean as he looked to the south.  "Alyona, go back to the caravan and tell them to start heading back to the mountain without us once they're ready to go.  We'll try and keep them clear of everyone else and lead them on a chase of us.  If they're not hostile to the main group then they might be able to get clear without difficulty as long as they don't attack the trees.  Status."  He said, checking his resources.  "We can head deeper into the woods away from the caravan's route."  He turned and looked into the looming trees.  "Dryads and nymphs too you say?  Well hopefully we can buy everyone else enough time."  He picked up his spear, keeping it out of his inventory.  "Over the river and through the woods as the saying goes."  He said as he leapt over the creek and started jogging deeper into the woods.

[info]Edit: if the tentacle has enough room and speed to keep up with the party, it comes along.  Otherwise, Just going to have it sit where it is and delay pursuing treants.[/info]

[Throndir]

"Okay..." Alyona said. Her eyes had a look of worry to them. She transformed into her dragon form a moment later. "Be safe hero..."

[okay]Jean Valois
Herald of the Old Ones
Level 57

Condition: Injured, Drowsy

HP: 170/215
MP: 58/171
KP: 43/43
STR: 32
DEX: 42
CON: 41
INT: 28
WIS: 22
CHA: 16
MAG: 32

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Weight Control, Summon Tentacle, Inventory, Analysis[/okay]

State direction that Jean goes, and for how long as well.

Location: Forests north of Mt. Velothia
Date: Day 7 (Jean), Day 9 (Rosalie) - Time: 6 PM

Once Alyona took off, you began your journey into the forest. To your surprise, the once-immobile tentacle started to follow you. The base of the creature slid on the ground. Whenever there were obstacles in the way, the base would seem to morph to allow it easy passage. Not only that, whenever there were too many obstacles, the tentacle itself would morph a bit in order to squeeze through the tighter spots. In this way it was able to maintain it's top speed.

Tentacle has a movement of 30 ft. Double move would be 60 ft. per round/6 seconds.

[pringerbeam]

     "You too Alyona.  Thank you for all your help."  Replied Jean.

[info]Moving at a hustle rate for those with a normal movement of 30 ft (Should be a base overland movement of 6 mph not including terrain/modifiers) for 1 hour  or until we come across something.  Will have Ren and Dalina ride Gust as long as doing so doesn't tire Gust too much.

Heading West[/info]

[Throndir]

As you headed west wards, the terrain become rougher and rougher. It was still a forest, but there were more and more outcroppings of large boulders, and cliffsides. Elevation had steadily begun to rise as well. The air started to get thinner, but it didn't really compare to how it was at the temple. Through the journey, it started to get colder and colder as well. It wasn't quite freezing, but it was definitely getting chilly. It was strange, since you were at high elevations before when Alyona had carried you up into the skies, yet, here closer into the mountains, it was much colder and cooler. The elevation didn't seem to account for it either. Of course, you didn't feel any of it due to your robe, but you could tell from the way your breath frosted in the air.

"Jean... Remind me to get extra layers and spare robes next time we're at the temple..." Dalina called out as she rode on Gust.

"It's not too bad... I can wrap my tentacles all around you and keep your warm." Ren suggested as she licked her lips. She was already with Dalina on Gust, so the suggestion was definitely doable.

"It's... umm... alright. Thank you though!" Dalina laughed forcefully and uncomfortably. "Which reminds me Ren... When Jean first appeared, and all those tentacles appeared and took off everyone's clothings... Was that you?"

Ren smiled back. "Half me, and half master."

"I s-see... Just curious..." She shook her head. "Anyways Jean, about before? The trees interrupted us in the middle of our bath... I'm still curious about your first time being summoned here."

Current journey:
1 hour west, at hustle (30 ft.)

[pringerbeam]

     "Right, about that...  I would hate to be interrupted again so we should take the chance while we're ahead of the trees."  He looked back over his shoulder.  "I said...  I'd HATE to be interrupted AGAIN."  He took another look over his shoulder and then side to side.  "Sorry, had to make sure.  Fate has a weird way of interrupting at the most inconvenient times."  He kept jogging along the forest floor, weaving among the ferns and boulders.

     "To answer your first question.  I...  can't...  At least, not completely.  The being that sent me here...  Well me and Ren just call him The Master.  I don't know his name, only titles.  The Master is very powerful, powerful enough to kill me and bring me back to life many many times...  and that is just what I got from personal experience.  Though, he is not a god.  I only know this because in exchange for our lives Ren and I are tasked with finding a way of elevating him to godhood."  Jean leapt over a fallen log  before continuing.  "He wasn't very talkative but he did say that the actual gods are playing a game and that this..."  He waved his spear at their surroundings.  "Is the game board.  My guess is that the other heroes are the pieces and Ren and I are crashing the party.  That's why we can't trust the other heroes.  For all we know they have their own secret orders." 

     Jean loped from one boulder to the next, crossing a ditch.  "As for my first summoning...  I guess it was more than ten years ago.  I was summoned by the Idoran Magic Academy by one of their mages.  The summoning seemed to have gone fine except for my memory of The Master being wiped but the demons had the drop on us.  We split up and agreed to meet at the academy..."  Jean's mind drifted to his chest where the spider had cut him.  "But I was killed and the academy fell all before I was summoned back into this world by you.  I need to set that right.  I think that my summoner is still alive out there somewhere.  The slimeling...  She was there when I died and I managed to carry her with me through my death.  She is a fragment of a more developed version of herself that stayed with my summoner.  I'm not sure how but I think she can tell me where the rest of her is and if my summoner and the slime stuck together like I told them then that is where my summoner is.  After that...  Well I need to make up for lost time.  It's my fault the academy fell and it's by my hand that it will be reclaimed.  To accomplish that I will need knowledge and power, things that we will hopefully find in the lost temples as a side effect of helping out Marina along with answers about your mother along the way.  So...  That's it I think..."

[Throndir]

"It's... hard to imagine that the goddesses think of us as simply game pieces though." Dalina stated, though chose not to expand on her thoughts. "So... Does that mean we're not really going about to save the world from the demons? Instead, your goal is to figure out how this 'Master' can become a god? What if you ignore his wishes completely? Does he even have any sway over you right now? Like... I mean... if he's not really a god, would he actually know?"

Also state if you keep on heading westwards, and at what speed. The Giant Tentacle has a lifespan of 5 more hours. Your Weight Decrease on self has run out. Weight Increase on Spear has 4 hours remaining.

Current journey:
1 hour west, at 30 ft.

[pringerbeam]

     Jean slowed his jog to a walk.  "I think we might have outrun them for now..."  He theorized as he stopped to listen to the woods for a second, peering back the way they came to search for signs of their pursuers.  He turned forward and set about walking before he responded to Dalina.  "I don't think those are mutually exclusive.  I would think that the power to make a god would be able to fend off the demons as well.  I do have my own little revenge to take on the demons too after all.  Like I said before, I need to right my own mistakes, I will wage my own war against the demons but whether or not that is enough to save this world...  I don't know and well...  I don't know if I can afford to renege on my deal with The Master.  The master is quite powerful but I also believe his influence in this world is limited.  If you had met him you would understand my reluctance to defy him even if the opportunity presented itself...  What do you think Ren?  We are in that venture together after all."

[info]Perception check to look/listen for any signs of pursuit[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+17 : 14 + 17, total 31[/blockquote][/info]

[pringerbeam]

[info]Changing to walk speed, continuing West.[/info]

[Throndir]

Ren looked paler than usual."Master... don't go against our other Master..." She shivered.

[info]When you stopped moving to listen to the forests around you. You focused well, being able to narrow down the sights and sounds around you. Back in your own world, you would have never been able to accomplish such a feat, but to you, you were easily able to pick out every small detail in the environment. From the lowering of the temperature, to the bits of frost splattered about. You knew that in the father distance towards the west the elevation would rise, and it would continue to get colder as well. But as you listened specifically for pursuers, that was when you heard the tell-tale sounds of marching. It was a rolling drumming sound, almost faint, and you doubted that the others with you would have caught it. It came mainly from the east, though, there were sounds heard from the northeast as well. A handful of pursuers would have been almost impossible to detect, but due to the fact you could hear the tell-tale distant thudding, you knew there were many pursuers. From the weighty sound of each step, you could only assume that they were more of those trees. Treants as Alyona described them earlier.

You couldn't get an exact count of how many pursuers, but you knew there were many of them.[/info]

Current journey:
1 hour west, at 60 ft. per round.
Beginning west, at 30 ft. per round

[pringerbeam]

     "Well for now that settles it.  We don't have the luxury right now of trying to oppose The Master even if his influence is weak here.  Though...  Honestly, I think even if I was free of this bondage my course would probably be the same.  I need power.  You've seen what the other hero can do.  I am nowhere near as strong as they are.  If I was to try and save the world I would need to at least match them in strength.  Where would I find that kind of knowledge?  Probably the temples, the academy, in tracking down your mother.  I think my fate has been set on this course regardless of what divine powers are at play."

     "Shit...  They haven't given up the chase."  Muttered Jean as he walked along after catching the sound of the treants in pursuit.  "Speaking of a course...  I think the treants are still in hot pursuit.  We have outrun them for now but they will eventually catch us.  We cold keep ascending this mountain but I don't know if the cold will make them give up and eventually we might come to something impassable that will leave us forced to fight a fight I don't think we can win and given that they don't seem to be willing to give up the chase, we can't just lead them back to the mountain.  Doing so would endanger the refugees, the dragons, and everyone else.  Any ideas?  Do you know anything about treants Dalina?"

[Throndir]

"Treants are the servants of the Goddess of Earth. Though... not the primary ones. That title belongs to the dryads. But you can think of treants as extensions of their will. It's much the same way as the birds that live in our temple. Like the birds with our goddess, it's said that the Goddess of Earth molded and formed the first of the trees and plants, and with them the dryads to serve as their protectors, and the treants to exert their will. However..." She pointed towards up the mountain. "The colder it gets, the less plants and other life we'd fine. I'm not sure if that would fully deter their chase though... The peaks of the Antwarch mountain ranges are deathly cold though... We're not even close to it yet, and it's already starting to get chilly. Once we get deeper into the mountains, away from the coast, it'll get colder and colder. But at the same time, there'd be less forests too. I'm not exactly sure how the treants are managing to chase us... But it could be similar with how our birds work... They are in tune with the winds around them, it's how they could react so fast whenever they're flying, or detect things further away. Perhaps it's through the rest of these trees that they're able to find us?"

[pringerbeam]

     "Hmmmm...  You said that the treants act out the will of the dryads?  Then maybe we can bargain with them, get them to stop the attack...  Of course if the treants only ever act on the dryad's orders then the dryads are the ones that ordered the attack in the first place...  I guess it's our only option.  We can't fight an entire forest of trees and we can't run forever.  So how do we communicate with the dryads?"  Jean slowed his walk to a stop.