The Tree in the Desert

*Hardy's running out of teleportation dust and he needs someone to get him a branch from one of the Trees of Eternity. Luckily for him he knows where one is hidden, now all he needs are some adventurers willing to face the physical dangers of the desert and the psychological dangers of the tree.*

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## The Tree in the Desert

###### ***Characters:***

Zelphira Valhorn*,* Felnar, Kittie, Tantra Raven-Blood and Marcus

###### ***Locations:***

Topaz Bay (Reality), Lightheart Tavern (Topaz Bay), Aal Gahaar (Reality), Abandoned Tower (Aal Gahaar), Hardy Town (Eternity)

###### ***Notable Moments:***

Prune juice, Hardy's milk belly, Dissing the Glitter Dude (again), Shadows playing with Zelphira's pointy hat, the Feel Good tree

###### ***Episode Synopsis:***

Five new adventurers converge in Topaz Bay, but the town feels different. Storefronts have security; food cart owners are on alert at all times; the city is on edge. Zelphira heads straight into the tavern, Tantra heads off to the right of the tavern into an alleyway with a few steps leading up to a door. She attempts to stealthily peek in the window, but she is wearing her armor... She sees a very large orc hunched over, pouring a liquid into a large jug...from a red canister with a flame/fire symbol on it. He secures the top of the jug with a cap, and starts on another one. Marcus has arrived, and will walk in the front door, on the lookout for someone named Hardy; Kittie will follow close behind. Felnar heads around the same corner as Tantra, only to find her creeping noisily away from the window. They discuss proper armor cleaning techniques, and Tantra shares what she's seen. Felnar noiselessly creeps to the window, sees exactly what Tantra described, and enters through the door.

Meanwhile, as Zelphira enters the tavern, she see no one but a black cat sitting on a stool at the bar. Sitting one stool away from the cat, she waits for the mysterious Hardy person to show themselves. The cat turned his head to look at her, and says, "Mondays, am I right? It's a shame it's only Thursday." He then plunges his whole head into his glass of milk and continues to lap it up. Marcus enters, asking for a Hardy, to which Hardy replies, "Oh it's me" before plunging back again into the milk. Kittie enters only to find a milk-drunk cat with a very full belly, asking where the other adventurers are? One, two, seven...(foreshadow, Hardy has a lot of trouble counting). Where are the others?

Terrence (real name Dumak, get it straight, Hardy!) is not surprised by the guests, but merely directs them to the main room. Felnar tries to question him about the other adventurers, but Terrence is noncommittal at best. Both Felnar and Tantra enter the great room of Lightheart Tavern, much to Hardy's surprise. But he promises great rewards in the form of Hardy Credits, the newest up and coming currency. Hardy points them to a central table with a pitcher of water and glasses, around which all of the adventurers sit. Hardy tries to jump up, but is so milk-heavy, he needs help from Marcus to get up. Hardy describes an urgent mission, the need to get going, no time for contracts, maybe just a hand shake-y contract but he has no hands, so it can't be held up in any court (Unless we find Trinity, pipes up Tantra). Anyways, Hardy has this magical amulet he may have nicked off a friend which allows him to move between Eternity and Reality, but he's used up most of the magical green powder with all of the other adventurers. So they have to go get more of the magical green dusty stuff, from a tree. Actually, just a branch of the tree. Is there anything guarding the tree asks Tantra...to which Hardy responds "Probably very much also maybe." Hence the need for adventurers. But here's the big secret: Hardy says everyone thinks there are only 4 trees, but there are at least 5...maybe 8! Hardy will send them to the 5th tree on the desert island of Aal Gahaar, where there is a tree! How there is a tree in the desert, he doesn't know, but there is a lot of magic there. Hardy won't be going, because he can't stand sand. It gets everywhere, it's so hard to get rid of...much like glitter. One of Hardy's friends, is "super moody," plays with glitter all the time, like throwing it up in the air as if Hardy didn't see it...yeah, Glitter Dude has issues. Hardy starts up a portal, through which they can see sand on the other side. Marcus heads through with sword and shield ready followed by Zelphira; Tantra is next, grimacing that she forgot her sunscreen; then Felnar is asked to bring sand back for Hardy so he'll be prepared for the next "pocket sand" instance. Kittie says she doesn't quite know what to expect, but if she could survive the mystical lands of Air-uh-Zone-uh, she can survive this. The adventurers are off!

They are greeted by a painful, sharp wind and glaring sun...but off to the north is a spire headed to the skies. They head off to it. After a hike, some of the crew senses a rumbling beneath the sands, following them. Felnar, Tantra and Marcus prepare for battle, and two large antenna pop out of the sand, followed by a large, 3 foot high bug. Marcus bravely swings first, hitting it soundly...but the bug just bounces back, chitters, and attacks again, biting his ankle. Thankfully just a bit more than a tickle, but still...The bug rears back and spits green goo at Marcus, but it does so little damage, essentially it's just a slight stink. Kittie moves up and casts a barrier to protect the team. Tantra, sensing the advantage, hits the bug on the head and kills it. Yay! The one and only bug is dead! But wait...Zelphira sees the sand moving all over, with antennae popping up everywhere. She remembers learning something about these bugs at school, and know they can destroy metal. She warns the others, and throws a fireball at the next two, smaller bugs that have popped up. Marcus runs over to one bug and slices it cleanly into two pieces, killing it instantly. The remaining sand bug charges for Zelphira, locks onto her ankle and causes some real damage. Felnar runs over and stabs it, but fails to kill it. It will roll over and spit its goo at Felnar, causing more than just stink damage this time. The group is in trouble! Kittie partially heals Zelphira, much to her delight, and Tantra charges over to swat the last bug with her shield, killing it. Bug guts are on her shield like schmutz on a windshield, but she cautions against messing with it. It will only spread without the proper reagents.

Looking up, they have reached the spire, with stairs headed around the outside. By the time they have reached the top, they are weary and dreary. They face two large, heavy doors, which Zelphira valiantly tries to open, but fails by herself. While the muscle works on the door, Kittie heals Zelphira completely. As the doors swing slowly outward, they are faced with a room that has not seen the light of day for a while...yet torches are lit going down the hallway. Zelphira bounds down the hallway, followed cautiously by the others. Felnar notices shadows skittering along the sides, which seem to disappear when he views them straight on. There is potent magic in this tower...Felnar doesn't know yet if it is threatening or harmless. Tantra remembers that this is indeed a magical tower; one that moves from place to place; location to location. It is inhabited by harmless shadow residents, thankfully. In fact, they have taken Zelphira's VERY pointy hat (proud graduate of Grandview University!) and is levitating it above her head as she leads everyone down the hallway. They come upon another set of double doors, and this time they gently hold Zelphira back to check the doors for locks, traps, etc. Given the okay, Zelphira runs up to push the door...and gets nowhere. Tantra opens one door (with very little help from anyone else) and is met by a gentle, warm, calming breeze. Birds chirping, butterflies fluttering...and the ocean on the wrong side. They have been transported! Remembering Hardy's warning, others hold back, but Zelphira runs right up and feels right at home. Tantra tries to warn the group, but Zelphira touches the tree and invites everyone else to do the same. Felnar joins her, and both feel so good, they may never go back to Hardy Town. Kittie notices that there are bones sticking up out of the ground, which Tantra also sees, and gently tries to persuade them away from the tree. Felnar snaps to fairly quickly, pulling Zelphira with him. She reaches after the tree...nooooo!!! Marcus gets ready to swing his sword to cleave a branch from the tree, but as he readies himself, Zelphira feels an overwhelming thought in her head, saying: "No, don't do that...stay! Don't leave!" Felnar feels the same thought...but no one stopped Marcus from the sword strike. Seeing how weird his group members were acting, Marcus tries to not touch the branch with bare hands. His hand brushes it just slightly...which is enough to hear the voices in his mind, too. Tantra notices more sets of bones coming up out of the ground, and gets everyone to leave the tree and leave the room, back up the stairs to the double doors. As they pass through, the doors gently close behind them. Back in the long hallway, the shadows skittering again, all feel uneasy. Suddenly, outside, they see a green and gold portal spinning and hear Hardy yelling at them to hurry up. Felnar scoops up a bag of "pocket sand" on the way, and everyone makes it through the portal. Looking back into the desert, they see the tower waiver, then disappear from sight.

Back in the tavern, Felnar shakes off the sand, showering Hardy by mistake. He, of course, complains. But then he also admits that he sent the adventurers to the wrong tree...it should have been #5, it turned out to be #7...but in compensation, they'll each get an extra 2 Hardy Credits. And just like everyone else, they are stuck in Hardy Town, in Eternity.