Winterbloom
Summary
'AdventureWinterbloom': The name of the adventure
GM: Michael Manning
Season: Autumn 826 WK
Night: One Day
Level: Low
- Party
- Spigot - Soldier
- Vath - Military Commander
- Storm - Unit Commander
- Calliope - Soldier
- Moist - Soldier
- Walks in Clouds - Soldier
- Time on adventure
- 7 days
- Employer
- Ellie Wick, a herbalist in the distant town of Thornwood
- Mission
- Deal with a blight
- Pay
- Hope
Scribe Notes
Orders to Thornwood
A tired man comes Strange flowers consume the fields We sharpen our blades
A young human arrived at the Guild in a state that suggested he had spent several days travelling without the benefit of proper military training, adequate supplies or, judging by his appearance, much sleep. Despite this, he had successfully completed his mission and delivered a scroll case and a letter addressed to the Guild. The letter came from Ellie Wick, a herbalist in the distant town of Thornwood. A mysterious blight was spreading through the surrounding countryside, affecting both plants and animals. The villagers had been unable to contain it and were now requesting immediate assistance. Guild security assembled a mercenary unit. Storm was appointed party leader, with Vath assuming military command. The remaining personnel were Spigot, Calliope, Moist and myself to record military events.
The Guild confirmed the scroll accompanying the letter was highly magical and would transport us to the region. An efficient means of deployment, although I have always maintained that a proper march builds character, strengthens the legs and provides ample opportunity to identify those who should never be entrusted with the unit's supplies. Following inspection by Vath and final preparations, we assembled around Storm as she read the scroll aloud. There was a brilliant flash, and we found ourselves standing beside a dirt road on the outskirts of a small town called Hope. Our deployment had been successful.
The March to Thornwood
Silent village waits Vines creep beneath quiet fields The forest watches
We entered Hope and Calliope gathered intelligence. She moved easily among the townsfolk, speaking to several locals and established our location, the condition of the roads ahead and the best route to Thornwood which was several days away on foot. Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but their estimate was clearly based upon civilian walking speeds. We were a military unit with an objective to accomplish, and Storm saw no reason why several days could not be reduced with the proper application of discipline and an invigorating marching pace. We set off at a suitably invigorating pace and completed the journey in one and a half days. Upon reaching Thornwood, we found a small settlement whose inhabitants were clearly frightened. There was little of the activity one would normally expect from a village at that hour; doors remained closed, few people lingered in the streets, and those we did encounter watched the surrounding countryside more closely than they watched us.
It had the familiar atmosphere of a settlement that knew an enemy was nearby but did not know from which direction the attack would come. We were directed to Ellie Wick, the local herbalist and author of the letter that had brought us here. Ellie was a well-dressed, middle-aged woman who maintained a composed manner despite the obvious strain of recent events.
Ellie invited us into her home, which doubled as her workshop, its shelves crowded with jars of herbs, dried plants and the tools of her trade. We gathered around her table while she provided tea and chairs, although none were suitable for a giant, so I remained standing. Ellie explained that the blight had first appeared almost a week earlier, when farmers felling trees south of Thornwood discovered a strange flowering vine. Within days it was spreading rapidly, choking the surrounding vegetation. More disturbing were the animals found with vines wrapped around them and growing directly into their flesh. Some remained alive and had become dangerously aggressive.
Before we could question Ellie further, shouting erupted outside.
The Battle of Thornwood
Flowers drink the flesh A voice whispers through the ranks We will never bloom
We rushed into the street to discover that several cows and dogs had entered the village.
Under ordinary circumstances, this would hardly constitute a military emergency. These particular animals, however, were covered in thick, writhing vines and were charging through the streets, attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path.
Vath immediately assumed command, direct our military unit effective, with Spigot and Moist proving to be every effective soldiers on the battlefield. The engagement was short and decisive. The cattle were unusually formidable opponents, displaying considerable aggression and an apparent disregard for their own survival. Nevertheless, the unit maintained its discipline and brought them down, sustaining only minor injuries.
Moist examined the carcasses and confirmed Ellie’s account. The vines had penetrated the animals' flesh and grown throughout their internal organs, they had been thoroughly infested, their bodies serving as hosts for the invading vegetation.
Spigot then reported hearing a voice inside his head.
"The Gardener sees you. You are worthy of blooming."
We returned to Elly to report our findings.
The Herbalist's Basement
Roots beneath our feet Whisper promises of bloom Fire is our answer
Ellie confirmed that our observations were consistent with her own research. She had collected several cuttings from the strange flowers and was keeping them in her basement for examination, and offered to show them to us.
Upon opening the basement door, we discovered that the situation had developed somewhat beyond the normal requirements of botanical research. The cuttings had grown at an astonishing rate. Thick vines covered much of the basement, winding around furniture and climbing the walls. Several enormous flowers had reached the height of a human.
Vath and I began descending the stairs to assess the infestation.
We had barely entered when voices echoed inside our heads.
"You cannot outrun what lives beneath your feet." "Why fear the rot? This is what you will become."
This was sufficient intelligence to establish that the plants were not only hostile but capable of communicating directly with their intended victims. We withdrew.
Vath ordered the immediate destruction of the infestation. Grenados were deployed into the basement, and the unit evacuated the building. Ellie understood the necessity of the decision, although she was understandably distraught at the destruction of her home. We assisted her to gathered whatever possessions we could carry before abandoning the building to the flames.
It was regrettable, but the alternative was to permit a rapidly expanding, magically hostile organism to establish itself beneath an occupied settlement. From a military perspective, there was little room for debate.
Into the Blighted Forest
Vines claim every tree We march where the flowers watch Steel answers their thorns
Following a brief consultation, Storm decisively ordered the unit south into the forest, toward the location where the blight had first appeared. We marched south for several hours, following the route described by Ellie and observing increasing evidence of the infestation as we advanced. At first there were only isolated tendrils among the undergrowth, easily mistaken for ordinary vines. Further on, the growth became increasingly obvious: vines wound around tree trunks, unfamiliar flowers appeared among the ferns, and patches of ordinary vegetation had been smothered beneath thick mats of roots. It felt less like following a trail and more like advancing steadily into enemy-held territory.
By late afternoon, we reached the clearing where the farmers had been felling trees. The area had been thoroughly overrun. Thick vines carpeted the ground and crawled across the fallen timber, while enormous flowers rose above them, some nearly the height of a person. At the edge of the clearing stood a great oak, considerably larger than the surrounding trees. Its trunk was almost completely concealed beneath layer upon layer of the unnatural vines, which climbed into its branches and hung from them in heavy coils. The concentration of growth was greater here than anywhere we had previously encountered. Whatever had happened in this forest, we had clearly reached an important position.
As we approached, the vines suddenly animated and attacked.
Razor-sharp leaves lashed at the unit while the plants released their poison. We responded with blades and flame, cutting through the vegetation and destroying the larger growths. The fighting was particularly fierce around the oak, where an enormous flower had established itself in the centre of the tree. The unit maintained its formation, and through the disciplined application of sharp steel and considerable violence, we eventually destroyed the defenders. The clearing was secured.
Beneath the Great Oak
Beneath ancient roots Four flowers breathe in darkness We descend with steel
With the immediate threat eliminated, we conducted a thorough reconnaissance of the clearing.
A careful search of the clearing revealed the entrance to an old tunnel, almost completely concealed beneath roots, fallen leaves and years of accumulated vegetation. After cutting away the growth, we entered and began a cautious descent. The narrow passage twisted steadily downward through damp earth and stone, the air becoming warmer and heavy with the smell of soil and rotting vegetation. Thick roots occasionally broke through the walls and ceiling, becoming more numerous the deeper we travelled. Eventually the passage opened into a large natural cavern directly beneath the great oak.
There we discovered what appeared to be the heart of the infestation. Four enormous flowers stood around the chamber, their thick stems rising well above our heads and their petals slowly opening and closing as though breathing. Heavy roots ran from each flower toward a great mass of vegetation occupying the centre of the cavern. It was an ugly, swollen thing, formed from tangled roots and vines that visibly pulsed with unnatural life. The arrangement strongly suggested that this central growth was feeding or controlling the surrounding plants. Whether we had discovered the original source of the blight or merely its principal stronghold remained uncertain. From a military perspective, however, the distinction was largely academic. We had located something important to the enemy, and therefore it needed to be destroyed.
Vath issued his orders, and we attacked.
The plants responded immediately, filling the chamber with poisonous pollen and attempting to overwhelm us with their unnatural growth. The confined space made manoeuvring difficult, and the pollen added an unwelcome complication to an already dangerous engagement. Nevertheless, the unit pressed forward, cutting down the enormous flowers and destroying the central mass.
Eventually, the last of the hostile vegetation fell. The cavern was ours.
We had now destroyed two major concentrations of the blight and, more importantly, eliminated what appeared to be its central source. Our orders, however, were not yet complete. We still needed to determine what had caused the infestation and whether the threat might return.
The Dead Elf and the Gardener's Curse
One sacred tree falls Grief takes root in bitter soil The whole forest pays
A search of the cavern revealed the skeletal remains of an elf.
Beside the body lay a collection of herbalist’s tools and a large, old journal, its leather cover cracked and stained from years underground. Despite its age, the book remained remarkably intact. Almost every page was filled with dense, hurried handwriting, accompanied by sketches of plants, flowers and root systems. Upon returning to Thornwood, we presented our findings to Ellie. With her knowledge of the region and the information contained in the journal, we were finally able to reconstruct the events that had led to the disaster.
Several years earlier, the villagers had cut down an ancient tree that had been blessed by a dryad a lifetime before. To the villagers it had simply been an old tree—large, useful and standing on land they wished to clear. They had no understanding of its history or of the magic that still lingered within its roots. To the elf, however, its destruction was an unforgivable act.
The tree had stood at the heart of the glade for longer than most of the villagers’ families had lived in Thornwood. The journal described it almost as a living memorial: birds nested in its branches, rare flowers grew beneath its shade, and the dryad’s blessing had encouraged an abundance of life throughout the surrounding forest. The elf had tended the glade for many years and regarded the tree as something sacred.
When the elf discovered only a stump, scattered branches and the marks of axes in the earth, grief quickly became rage.
Seeking to restore what had been lost, the elf began working powerful magic. Cuttings were taken from the surviving plants, roots were encouraged to grow beyond their natural limits, and the lingering power of the dryad’s blessing was drawn from the earth beneath the stump. The intention appears to have been beautiful: the glade would spread outward, covering the scars left by the villagers and filling the forest with flowers.
Unfortunately, the spell had been born from grief and shaped by rage. Something went terribly wrong.
The plants did indeed grow, but they did not simply spread. They consumed. Roots strangled neighbouring trees. Vines overwhelmed healthy vegetation rather than growing alongside it. Flowers became enormous and poisonous. Worse, the magic no longer recognised any meaningful distinction between plant and animal. Anything living became merely another place in which the glade could take root.
Animals were the first victims.
Vines wound around their legs and bodies before burrowing beneath the skin. Roots threaded through muscle and organs. Eventually the infected creatures ceased fleeing from the growth and began defending it, their bodies transformed into unwilling extensions of the forest.
The journal suggested that the elf realised the truth only after the curse had grown beyond control. The final pages no longer spoke triumphantly of restoration. They contained increasingly desperate experiments: attempts to halt the growth, sever the roots and destroy flowers that simply returned elsewhere. Whatever intelligence had emerged within the blight no longer appeared to obey its creator.
What had begun as an attempt to preserve life had become something that consumed life. What had been intended as a monument to the dryad became a corruption of everything the glade had once represented.
The skeletal remains beneath the great oak provided the final part of the tragedy. The elf had apparently remained behind, perhaps attempting one last time to contain the curse, and died beneath the very tree whose destruction had begun it all. Around the body, the roots continued to grow. There is a military lesson in this. Anger can be useful when the enemy is in front of you and the order to charge has already been given. It is considerably less useful when designing powerful magic intended to operate indefinitely without supervision.
Adventures End
Sore feet build resolve Each hill strengthens discipline Why do they complain?
Having completed our mission and delivered a full report to Elly, she presented the unit with a selection of useful herbs and a flower possessing magical properties. These were accepted with thanks, carefully packed and added to the unit stores.
With the situation in Thornwood stabilised, Storm gave the order to return to the Guild.
The journey took almost a week and provided an excellent opportunity for an invigorating march through the countryside.
Vath and I agreed that extended marching is an excellent method of restoring discipline after an operation. Muscles that had become sore during combat were given the opportunity to become sore in entirely different ways, while the long days provided ample time for personnel to reflect upon their performance and contemplate how much further they still had to walk.
Not everyone appeared to appreciate these advantages.
After almost a week, the Guild finally came into sight.
The unit returned tired, mud-stained and considerably quieter than when we had departed, but with the mission accomplished, useful intelligence recovered and no personnel lost.
An excellent march. I recommended we undertake another at the earliest opportunity.
