The party divvies up the merpeople treasure. They decide to store the treasure chests inside one of the treasures, a magical hole that is 10 feet deep and can be folded up.
When they get to the elven dwelling in the tree, everybody eats dinner and then they all go to bed. We are soooo tired!
Bec is woken up right at the beginning of her rest by some bastardTybalt. She comes out of her room and discovers the tree-melded. These elves are being absorbed by the tree, supplying their own life force to keep the tree alive. Her father is one of them! Every day one of these tree-melded gives up their own life so the tree doesn’t die. So far it hasn’t been him, but it could be any time.
Bec’s father says that it is a great honor to be joined with the tree, and it would have been a dishonor if he refused, so he did it and didn’t tell his family in case seeing them broke his resolve. He points out that Sartus’s plan will end up killing the tree, and the tree-melded along with it. The tree will be reborn, but there would be destruction in the meantime. This is why the Queen and most of the elves favor stopping the Druid and taking the Necronomicon back.
Bec asks Tybalt what his patron is doing to help this situation. Tybalt says he can’t speak to his patron’s intentions, he can only carry out his patron’s will. Tybalt offers to use his patron’s leverage to get the party a meeting with the Queen if that’s what we want. He can’t go with us if we decide to join the hunt for the Druid, but he will try to help however he can.
During their goodbyes, Bec’s father asks her not to consider his life as part of her decision. He also says he’ll help if he can. And if he lives through whatever happens next, then he hopes they’ll meet again. Then he says that the Queen is not of sound mind and sometimes what she says can’t be trusted. But sometimes she has incredible insight, so, try to tell which is which.
The next morning, Sartus is true to his word and escorts the party to the treasure vault, where they are able to trade some of their merfolk treasures for elven items of magic power to help them on their mission. Available treasures include:
| Item | Negotiated price (gp) | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| Amulet of Health | 8000 | Rare |
| Glamoured Studded Leather | 2000 | Rare (Major) |
| Boots of Speed | 4000 | Rare |
| Boots of Elvenkind | 2500 | Uncommon |
| Bracers of Archery | 1500 | Uncommon |
The treasure vault also has an Ioun Stone of Mastery, which is a Legendary (Major) treasure that Oz considers bargaining for, but then decides it would be better to come back later to steal it instead.
Geared up, the agents set out to begin scaling the Tree in search of the legendary Acorn of Life.