Cards Reshuffled

I may not exactly be a nature person myself, but I really know better than to underestimate the powers of a druid. For one thing, it is not a good idea to annoy somebody who might make every bird in the vicinity relieve itself on top of you. Poor Anomen…he’d spent hours polishing that armor…

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

Zaerini rapidly fired off a fireball, aiming for the main cluster of druids, and she noticed Edwina doing the same. The two sizzling hot projectiles hummed through the air, and landed with a violent explosion that threw several of the druids to the ground. The shrieks of burning people filled the air, as well as the smell of burning flesh. She heard Anomen, Jaheira and Jan chanting spells of their own, and her body glowed briefly, gaining increased speed and stamina. A blindingly white lightning bolt, as thick as a man’s thigh stabbed from the sky into the body of one of the enemy druids. He jerked violently and feel to the ground, smoke pouring from every orifice in his body.

The bard pulled out her bow, and started firing arrows as rapidly as she could. She was handicapped by the terrain though. Not only did the druids know how to use the dense vegetation to hide, but the soggy plants that had been hit by the fireball were covering the ground in thick smoke.

“Naughty druids, hurting poor little animals by making them fight!” Minsc roared. “Minsc and Boo will kick Evil Druid Butt until it’s a pretty purple! Hamster Vengeance, for all who are small and furry!” The ranger charged towards the druids, still screaming at the top of his voice, with Anomen and Jaheira right behind him. Jan had his crossbow out, and was standing with his legs wide apart, shooting at everything that moved, and Edwina had summoned up a few Mirror Images to protect herself and was standing with her hands raised and sleeves rolled up, a wizard’s version of a loaded weapon. She was facing the same problem that Rini was, that of seeing well enough to aim properly.

The half-elf decided to dodge behind a boulder in order to get more cover. Then, she tripped and almost fell, as her legs refused to move. She looked down and bit back a very ugly word that Gorion would have been shocked to hear her utter. Vines were encircling her legs, thick and strangling vines, and they had her legs locked in a death grip, effectively keeping her immobile. Furiously she tore at them with her hands, but only managed to lose her balance so that she fell on her back. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Jan was trapped in a similar manner, more or less completely trussed up. The vines were moving higher now, squeezing her hips hard enough to make her wince with pain, and creeping further and further up. Now her ribs were being constricted, and it was getting really painful, not to mention difficult to breathe. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Desperately she struggled to get her sword out in order to cut the vines, but the vines yanked at her arms, binding them to her sides. She flopped about on the ground, much like a larvae or a baby in swaddling clothes, but without achieving anything significant. Then she felt something cold and soft creeping along her chest, upwards, upwards. Towards her throat.

Edwina had noticed Zaerini’s predicament and was moving to aid her. Then, however, a dark cloud descended upon her, a dark, moving and above all buzzing cloud. The wizard slapped furiously after the stinging insects, but to no avail. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, crawling all over her skin, biting and stinging. She could barely see where she was going at all, and it felt as if her entire skin had been set on fire.

Anomen was in a predicament of his own. He had been striding towards the attacking druids, striking them down with his flail if they dared approach. However, now he was faced with a different type of opposition. A swarm of small birds swooped towards him, shrieking furiously, all of them aiming for his face. One of them managed to slice his cheek open with its sharp little beak before he had the time to throw his arm up, protecting his eyes from the feathered little fiends who attempted to peck them out. Tiny wings flapped about his head, loud as thunder. Such tiny foes, and yet he did not dare open his eyes to strike at them, nor was he likely to hit them if he did.

Minsc faced off against three logs. Well, he thought they were logs at first glance. Then he noticed the eyes, the stumpy little legs, the long snouts, and the teeth. Above all, the teeth. The crocodiles all looked very angry, and very hungry, and they were all moving towards him at a speed you wouldn’t have expected for such seemingly clumsy beasts. “Minsc is sorry, little crocs,” he explained, accompanied by Boo’s angry squeaks. “But he can’t let you hurt his friends! If you try he will kick croc butt, and there is so much butt to kick!”

Jaheira rapidly brought her staff up, deflecting a blow from a scimitar, and then spun it around, bringing it down on the head of the druid who had attacked her. There was a sound reminiscent of a cracking egg. The druid rapidly scanned the battlefield, taking in the precarious situations several of her friends were in. Many of Faldorn’s Shadow Druids had fallen already, but several yet remained. Still, for the moment she had to defend rather than attack. Focusing on the three crocodiles she brought her mind to bear against the force that controlled them. The reptile minds were slow and sluggish, most of their thoughts oriented on eating, sleeping, mating and warm sunlight. And there was something there, like a strong spider web tying them together, pulling the animals around like three uncommonly large puppets. Faldorn. She will regret this. Jaheira smiled, and then her mind formed the psychic equivalent of a sword, slicing through the web. It was hard going in places, but she prevailed. The strings snapped, lashing back towards their owner, and there was a shrill shriek on the winds, a distant howl of pain and rage. Serve her right, the piece of Shadow Druid filth. Silvanus, grant me the strength to punish her as she deserves for her violation of the Grove. The crocodiles blinked slowly, and then turned around, heading for the water. On the way they came across a Shadow Druid who had been knocked unconscious by a glancing blow from Anomen’s flail and decided to have a picnic before going home.

“Minsc!” Jaheira ordered. “Hurry up and cut those vines!”

The ranger nodded and rushed towards the swirling mass of vines that had more or less engulfed Jan and Zaerini. “Whoo hoo!” Lilarcor screamed. “Cut cut cut! What, plants? Oh crap! I wanna cut something with blood in…yeah! Lots and lots of BLOOD!”

That seen to, the druid focused on the flock of birds attacking Anomen. These were harder to gather in than the crocodiles, their minds were small, but flighty and hard to get a grip on, and there were so many of them. However, the controlling force had been weakened, and eventually Jaheira managed to break enough birds free that the others scattered in a panic. Anomen nodded his thanks, and then made a gesture towards a pair of druids trying to conjure up more strangling vines, effectively freezing them in place.

Meanwhile, Edwina had managed to rid herself of the bugs assaulting her. Unfortunately, she had done this by setting off her Wand of Cloudkill, which had killed the insects off, and now she was choking violently, trying to avoid drawing breath. Still, Jaheira thought, it was effective. I must remember that. She chanted a brief prayer to Silvanus and the poisonous fumes blew away, sweet and fresh air replacing them.

“Hold on…” Edwina coughed. “Let me smoke the others out too…” She pointed the wand at the underbrush a little distance away, and within seconds thick and roiling orange clouds drifted along the ground. Violent coughs and choking noises came from within the cloud, and soon the remaining druids left the safe cover of the trees and came out into the open. Some fled, and the final ones soon fell before the combined forces of the adventurers.

Yet it is far from over, Jaheira thought. She could feel it still, the dark and pulsing anger everywhere around her, the malignant presence that had brought the very forces of nature against them. Faldorn. Faldorn remains, and she will be mine to deal with. She will be challenged, and she will be beaten.

Once the party had gathered together, and healing had been administered, they marched on through the swamp. With no further interruptions they eventually came to the end of the path, a smooth rock wall with a wide cave mouth. A circle of stone pillars had been erected in front of it, an open roof temple for the worship of the forces of nature. “This is the entrance to the Grove,” Jaheira explained to the others. “Faldorn will be inside, and I will need to challenge her. None of the rest of you must interfere, do you understand me?”

”What?” Zaerini incredulously asked. “You want to fight her alone? Why? I say we just kill her.”

Edwina nodded. “I agree,” she said. “Preferably before she sees us coming. (My poor skin…it still itches.) I wasn’t aware that druids shared paladinic foolish notions about ‘fighting honorably’. Those we encountered on the way certainly weren’t so inhibited.”

“You do not understand,” Jaheira said. “Faldorn is the leader of the Grove. She must be formally challenged, according to the ancient tradition, or the other druids will not accept that she was at fault. And it is worse…”

“Worse?” Anomen asked. “How so, lady Jaheira? Does this druid harness the powers of the Abyss itself?”

“No,” the druid grimly replied. “The forces of nature, and of the Grove. She has done something to this place…harnessed its powers for her own evil purposes. She will be very dangerous.”

“Whoa, whoa!” Zaerini protested, grasping Jaheira by the arm. “You’re saying that she’ll be incredibly dangerous and that you want to fight her alone? Jaheira…don’t do this!” She sounded really frantic by now. “You don’t have to do this.”

Ah, Gorion…your child has a warm heart. You would be pleased. “But I do have to do it, child,” Jaheira said, her voice firm, but softer than usual. “You know that I do. I am a druid, and this is part of my duties. Faldorn betrays everything a druid is supposed to be, and I would be betraying myself if I stepped aside now. You understand that, do you not?”

The younger half-elf looked at her for a few moments, then gave her a brief hug, her face determined beneath her wildly tangled red hair. “Yes…I guess so. I don’t like it, but I understand. Just…just be careful all right?”

Jaheira nodded. “Of course, child. And now, let us go. It is time.”

Faldorn knelt by the sacred spring, breathing deeply. The battle had weakened her a little, she would need more power, and the Mother would supply her with it, straight from the source. It seemed a little more difficult to draw it forth lately, but that would pass, she was certain.

It is all these filthy city people, they weaken the Mother with their ‘civilization’ and their cities. They will pay, soon they will all pay. Trademeet would only be the beginning. Once that little blight on Nature had been wiped out, then the Grove would be strengthened, she was certain of it. Yes, even stronger than before. And then, Athkatla, that festering sore of a city. How I will laugh will joy as its streets are purged. The wild beasts will roam freely in the ruins, the weeds and flowers will cover everything, and soon you will not even be able to guess that it once stood there.

Faldorn gasped with pleasure as the power rushed into her, filling her completely. Yes, she was powerful, far more powerful than she could ever have imagined. Truly, the Mother favored her. She would succeed in her plans, she knew it. Once Athkatla is gone, I will serve Nature further. One by one, the cities will fall, and all will be well, as it should be.

But first, there was this little matter to take care of. These…adventurers. And one of them a so-called druid, though she traveled with city vermin, even calling them ‘friends’. Traitor. She is a weakling, and a betrayer. She will pay for her atrocities against Nature, against the Grove. She will pay for daring to try to interfere with my sacred war. The other one was strong, yes. But she didn’t have the power of the Grove behind her, to back her up. She would undoubtedly fall, and that would be the end of it.

The Shadow Druid smiled, as she contemplated her plan. Yes, let the fools come. She was well prepared for them. She would be happy to welcome them, and then she would teach them all what a True Druid was. She rose, and faced the cave opening. There were voices there, coming closer.

“Yes,” she murmured, thinking of the seeds she had planted earlier, in preparation for the battle ahead. “Come then, traitor. It is time.”