Melusina/History

grandfather, who was her mentor’s mentor. Arina tried to sneak up on him but they
both saw her. Melusina was honored to meet the granddaughter of someone she
respected and politely declined Gaten’s offer of a corn cob. She had come
seeking wisdom, admitting she felt constrained by her current service to the
Raven Queen but was unsure if it was simply hubris that made her dissatisfied.
She was concerned she desired more than she should and asking for more than she
needed.

She was shocked when Gaten said they had made a deal with a
witch. She asked if they got something good out of it and was happy to hear
they’d saved two lives. Melusina asked Erzu if he needed time with his family,
not wanting to bother him, and he suggested she go with the party to gain new
perspective. She asked the party if it was all right and Arina said it was her
choice, warning her it might be dangerous. Melusina asked if the party had come
to use the Tower and was informed by Perrin that they had gone in twice before an entrance fee
was required. She told them she had been through a Tower as well: the Soul Spire,
her goddess’s Tower in Vehir Oras. Arina told her she dreamed of going to the
Soul Spire and Melusina said that was how her journey started, with dreams, and
the dark blue-black coloring of her feathers was a blessing form the Raven Queen.

Melusina bid farewell to Erzu and joined the party. The party
informed her they had to retrieve a branch from a specific tree for the witch. Melusina
asked if it was possible it wasn’t a trap but simply a task for adventurers,
but the party was doubtful. Gaten asked Melusina if she could fly. She confirmed
it and Gaten suggested she fly over the field and locate the cave entrance. As
she did so, he commented “As the crow flies”, which actually distracted her
from finding the entrance.

Arina asked Melusina about the Soul Spire. Melusina told her
she had gone in before she should have, being young and impetuous. Melusina
believed the Raven Queen might have protected her more than she should have. She
described the Tower as challenging and cold as well as having a lot of undead. Arina
said she didn’t remember her trials but showed Melusina her notes about the
floors they’d been on. Melusina continued to tell her about the Soul Spire and
how she joined the Raven Queen’s service due to her dislike of undead.

Gaten asked if she had ever seen the Raven Queen. Melusina
told him she hadn’t and Arina explained the gods didn’t show themselves
physically. Gaten rebutted this, saying he had distinct memory of manifest deities
walking the earth, referring to the figures in his last memory before the
Cogdirs found and reactivated him. Not realizing the greater implications of
his statement, Melusina simply told him she didn’t believe the Raven Queen was
actually a raven.

Arina gave Melusina a health signet ring before they reached
the cave, explaining it would give the party member’s knowledge of each other’s
health. Melusina was impressed by Arina’s assertion that she had healing capabilities.
She was pleased by the ring, telling the party that those most capable often
hid their injuries and that she wished she’d had the rings in a previous
situation. Arina offered the Marking Stone to Melusina but she declined as she already
knew she was a cleric. Arina then asked how she knew her grandfather. Melusina told
her he was the mentor of her own mentor, Warrior Priest Antoch, and she had
come to find direction. While she had initially thought the Tower might be a
sign, she concluded she had no interest in gaining further power.

## The Cave

When they reached the cave, Melusina cast Light on her
shield as she lacked darkvision. Noticing Gaten also couldn’t see, she
questioned why a constructed being wasn’t made to see in the dark. Gaten told
her he seemed to be built for use in daylight and camouflage and that he had “radar”.
His radar was him extending his sword and waving it around himself.

In the cave, the party found traces of the missing group of
archaeologists. As they made their way, Melusina remembered the city of Gao
Oras was in this area before it was destroyed and buried. She warned that these
types of places tended to be crawling with undead.

When the group passed through an area with an unstable
ceiling, Arina pointed out a blocked up doorway. Melusina saw a chalk marking
on the doorway, possibly from the archaeologists. As the party continued, they
saw some vines and shrubbery that came to life and attacked them. Melusina was
caught by vines and stabbed by small plant creatures, injured to the point she
went unconscious. She was healed by Arina and called upon the power of the
Raven Queen to curse the creature grappling Perrin. Once they defeated the
creatures, she suggested their bodies might have the twig the group needed but
Arina didn’t think so. The group rested and Melusina guided Perrin through
casting Cure Wounds on himself, a new ability for him.

Finding a fork in the tunnel, the party followed the footprints
of the archaeologist down the right corridor. Gaten led the party to an area
that seemed to be trapped, pointing out how the archaeologists’ footprints
meandered purposefully toward a door at the end. Melusina volunteered to glide
over to the door to investigate but activated a sensor that hit her with radiant
energy. As the rest of the group carefully crossed the path, Melusina inspected
the door. The door led to a large room with rotted walls and several bloodied bodies.
A ferevor, a metal-eating construct, was sniffing the bodies and feeding on
their weapons. The party discovered the bodies had been mutilated to prevent
resurrection. Melusina called it blasphemy, believing everyone deserves the
chance to be saved.

The party turned back and went down the left corridor the
plant creatures came from. The room had a layer of water from a pouring pipe and
Melusina sensed an undead-like presence from the water. Wading through, she
felt a sudden sense of dread ad=nd confused the party by complaining about
undead water.

The group kept going and came upon a plaza with overgrown
vegetation with a large, gnarled object in the center. Melusina used her Channel
Divinity to sense undead and moved closer to see the object was a withered, ancient
tree with a very faint undead-like presence. Perrin told the party the story of
Gao Oras’s vampire lord being killed at the tree as punishment for failing to
protect the city. Arina concluded that the Gulthias Tree, named after the murdered
lord, absorbed his vampiric nature and originated tree blights in the world.

Melusina followed Gaten closer to the tree and saw a
skeleton impaled by a sword. She cast Turn Undead against the tree, saying in
draconic, “There will be no more undeath here.” It had no effect and she
attacked the tree with a Guiding Bolt, intent on destroying it no matter the
cost. The tree became more animated and several plant creatures appeared to
defend it. Melusina gave the health signet ring back to Gaten and told him to
pass on a message to the Ebon Claw that this was what she was sent to do. She asked
him to tell her story and have them finish what she couldn’t do, sure this was
what the Raven Queen had sent her for.

Perrin tried to convince her to retreat, saying she didn’t
have to die, but Melusina gave him a feather and told him she was not going to
die but fulfill her destiny. She was knocked out by a vine blight, but Perrin
healed her before running as she had wanted him to, shouting at her to fly. Melusina
took his advice but flew up instead of escaping, drawing the attention of the
enemies to help the party escape and attacking the tree again. Melusina continued
to battle, content to know others would come to destroy the tree even though she
would likely die to get the message out.