Viktor reaches the lower platform as the poisonous forest exhales beneath him. Through yellow-green vapors, mercenaries cluster around the giant tree, coughing and gripping their blades.
Their captain stands apart, his weathered brown face and dark eyes visible above the rust-red scarf, a broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a dark leather coat and rust-red scarf. His shaved head bears a pale crescent scar above one eye.
The Mercenary Captain
The tracks end here. The shelter is above us. Form pairs and begin the ascent.
The Mercenary Company gathers beneath the trunk. Some bind cloth over their mouths; others stare upward at the hidden platforms while the forest poisons their breath.
The Mercenary Captain
No torches. No shouting. Whoever lives in that tree has survived this forest, and clever prey is still prey.
A rope snaps around the lowest branch. Two mercenaries test it, then climb. The treehouse remains silent above, its woven walls unmoving in the sickly wind.
The Mercenary Captain
Move. Before the poison takes the slowest of you.
Viktor
The rope is new, but the branch beneath it is not.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stop the mercenaries from reaching the treehouse
“Use Earth Magic: Spike, to drop it onto the heads of the humans climbing up.”
FAILURE (Fair Earth Magic: Spike, rolled +0)
Viktor draws earth upward beneath the rope-bound branch. His distrust makes the spell cautious and divided, seeking danger in every root instead of striking cleanly.
Stone teeth burst from the trunk, but the branch twists before they can drop it. The wood splits with a crack, flinging the rope and its climbers sideways.
The two mercenaries swing hard against the trunk, their boots scraping bark. The broken branch crashes through the vapor below, missing them and leaving the lowest platform untouched.
The Mercenary Captain
Hold fast! Do not climb until I find another anchor.
The captain studies the damage. Beneath the torn bark, Viktor glimpses a narrow hollow leading into the trunk, exposed by the failed spell and hidden from the climbers.
The Mercenary Captain
The tree is hollow. There must be a way inside.
The rope hangs slack, the climbers stranded below the hollow. The opening offers Viktor a new angle, while the mercenaries now wait instead of ascending.
“Use Nature Magic: Plant Manipulation, to create small vines from the ground to wrap around the legs of the mercenaries. Then Earth Magic: Spike, directly below where the mercenaries are standing.”
FAILURE (Poor Nature Magic: Plant Manipulation, rolled -2)
Viktor reaches through the poisoned soil with Nature magic. Thin vines answer reluctantly, recoiling from his half-human touch before Iron Will forces his concentration to hold.
The vines creep around the mercenaries’ boots, but their growth is uneven. Several tighten briefly, then shrivel, leaving the company stumbling rather than firmly bound.
The Mercenary Captain
Cut free! Keep your footing, damn you!
Viktor turns the failed grasp into earth. A blunt stone spike thrusts directly beneath the clustered mercenaries, splitting the soil and heaving them apart without piercing flesh.
The company crashes against the trunk and slack rope. Their formation breaks, several men clinging to bark while the spike wedges across the narrow ascent.
The Mercenary Captain
Back down! The branch is compromised. Find another route to the hollow.
The mercenaries retreat from the spike’s jagged reach. The rope dangles uselessly, and the exposed hollow is left unguarded for the moment.
Quest Complete
Stop the mercenaries from reaching the treehouse
Skill Upgrade: Earth Magic: Spike Fair→Good