This entry starts with us standing around the druid summoning circle. Radha was walking around and letting her tentacle monster eat the brain souls of the druids. The party watched this, mostly non-plussed. I expressed my shock and demanded Radha keep her entity away from me.
I examined my Blood spear and realized it can grant me temporary hit points if I kill or knock out a foe with it.
Radha rolled into the gap where the tree came from. She was bizarrely pleased to be in what seemed to be an unsensational dirt pit. She threw a mudball at me for fun and I smashed it with a sensational shot from the blood spear.
Radha went around examining the blank-eyed druids that appear to be similar to the previous zombie druids we had encountered. Radha was unimpressed with a gentle-looking zombie druid and allowed her patron to suck out her soul.
I asked why Umiso sent us to the mound and then the party recounted our adventure starting from our separation from Esmerelda's wagon. I suggested we go hunt the tree in order to return the gem to the winery. The party agreed. Trieskan commented that at least if we die perhaps the denizens will have wine.
Radha finished sucking the souls out of the druids. The last one dropped some type of corked glass bottle that seems a bit suspicious. Bingdor heard second-hand about Radha's soul-sucking and... was a bit surprised.
We headed off to follow the tree. Ireena checked out the soil and the druid's bodies before we departed. She found another bottle: a potion of healing. Trieskan led the party to investigate the Southern path we had not traveled yet.
On initial sight Trieskan saw a bunch of huge, dead roots. Examining further we found an enormous dead tree in a small clearing. This is the same ominous tree we had seen from the distance before. I was hesitant to go near the tree but Trieskan, Bingdor, and Radha went to examine it. Radha seemed like she was trying to feed it to her tentacle monster. Trieskan found some human remains behind the tree. There seemed to be nothing of use on the body although Trieskan seemed to think he saw a moving shrub out of the corner of his eye.
Bingdor rememembered from his education that this is the Gulthias tree that is associated with vampiric power. Radha collides with the tree and hundreds of tree creatures come out to threaten her. I walk up with my Gulthias staff and they retreat before me.
We debated what to do with the tree. Bingdor suggested stabbing it and I thought we should try to talk to it. Bingdor sent the tree a mind message asking for help. The tree gave no response. Radha tried to ask the tree for help in Dwarvish. Endrid called out to the tree and got no response. Trieskan climbed the tree and hundreds of blights began to approach the party; he descended. Ireena called us idiots and we departed to follow the big tree.
We walked away from the tree down the mountain, led by Bingdor. On the way down we saw a black carriage pulled by two black horses - the carriage of Vasily van Holtz. We recalled that he saved us from the hags and funds the vampire death squad in Valaky. His butler, who had hosted us at his mansion before, was driving the carriage.
He told us that Valaky is in civil war and Vasily wanted our help. We decided to abandon our tree-chasing scheme and enter the wagon. We hitched Valentine up and took off.
On the ride, Bingdor played his dulcimer, Radha rang her bear bell, I smoked a pipe, and Trieskan wrote in his journal. On the ride, I recognized the familiar forest path we had trodden on before to get to the winery.
Radha attempted to meditate on her circumstances in the wagon and was hit by a severe entity-migraine. She successfully resisted the entity's influence.
We came to a halt and heard some men's voices. We heard a gate open and I looked out the window to investigate. I saw one of Lady Walder's sons on a crucifix and there were several other people hung up and crucified.
Hu, the butler, opened the door and gave us all garlic necklaces to wear. Apparently these were now required to enter town. We proceeded into town and Hu invited us in to the mansion to rest and we obliged, wanting to escape the horrors of the town. We retired to our respective bedchambers for a restful night of sleep.
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