Eixam claims they want to help stop the destruction of the Tree (GM’s note: “they” is Eixam’s pronoun), and says that the party’s current means of travel will take too long to reach the Fruit. They offer to take the party there more quickly.
The party is cautiously interested in learning more about Eixam’s proposal, although they can sense that Eixam is full of malice. Eixam suggest a convoluted plan to travel via getting into a portable hole, which is an extradimensional space that can be folded up and carried by Eixam, who will fly directly to the Fruit.
Unfortunately, Enoki hates Eixam because locusts eat his mushroom pals. “They insatiably devour whole fields. Out of balance.” He flat refuses to go with Eixam. So the SPI agents decline Eixam’s help, who buzzes off.
Enoki offers to carry them in the portable hole instead, after chastising them for not telling him about it before.
The party’s plan: Callie will levitate using her tattoo and be pulled by Cal, who along with Oz will be carried by Oz’s mysterious new winged monkey companion. Sartus will cast fly and keep pace, carrying the folded up portable hole. The remaining members will enter the portable hole and ride inside.
Bec casts rope trick inside the portable hole, so they have 1 hour of air. Then Freki, Vondal, and Murky also climb into the hole-inside-a-hole. Unfortunately, Freki’s discomfort with magic causes him to panic when he gets in the hole; Freki wolfs out and tries to escape, but the hole is rather deep. Vondal cleverly casts banishment on Freki to boot him from the extradimensional space, and Callie calms emotions.
Callie begins levitating, towed by Freki, who is now flying thanks to another fly spell from Sartus.
For the first 20 minutes, the monkey struggles to carry both Oz and Cal at the same time. But then out of nowhere, she grows huge divine wings! Oz has vision of a woman in a dark cloak, face down, turning… on the other side, a red-haired woman in a green and yellow dress:
The next ten minutes are easier going, although the agents hear continual buzzing in the distance, and surmise that Eixam must be shadowing them. Freki’s ravens confirm this fact.
Then Cal receives a sending from Tybalt:
- Tybalt: Found druid’s lair. Yaara’tal Yggdrasil cave near elderly tree-melded. Sima dead, chained inside. Other Sima captured. Infected Queen awakening, spells doom. Hurry!
- Cal: Holy crap. Enoki leading us to Fruit. 30 minutes away. Eixam, locust thing, hovering nearby. Friend or foe? Two Simas?
Another sending follows shortly thereafter:
- Tybalt: Heard of a creature of vermin, evil being. Be wary. Glad but surprised Enoki helps. Yes two Simas, one must be imposter. Will find out.
- Cal: Will update as soon as something changes.
Soon, the party reaches a place where there is a thick mist around a large branch of the Tree. The party has a sense that something of import is happening, as the mist parts and a regal tree-like creature emerges from the tree trunk:
Some agents identify her as a creature called a hamadryad, a powerful dryad bonded not to a single tree, but rather an entire forest.
Enoki recognizes this woman and, bowing respectfully, says, “Your Grace? What are you doing here?”
Cal recognizes her too, and refers to her as Phoebe. But he seems surprised that she does not appear to recognize him in return. Cal asks her directly if she knows Hyperion. Callie recalls that Hyperion is the name of a titan. After some short exchanges, Phoebe confesses that the Tree’s sickness is affecting her mind, and she is having trouble with her memory.
Eixam buzzes over, radiating even more fury and hatred than usual. They tell the hamadryad she shouldn’t be here. Bec asks immediately why not; Eixam responds with a lie: “Because it is not safe.”
“I can take you directly to the Fruit of Life,” she responds, “There is not much time left.” She explains that her ability to tree stride can take others along with her, as long as everyone links hands. After a short discussion, the agents accept her aid.
Phoebe takes everyone, including Eixam, through the tree trunk to a very beautiful place. They see the Fruit they’ve been looking for!
Unfortunately, it’s way too big to put in the portable hole or otherwise transport.
Bec and Sartus warn the party that there is a powerful illusion magic happening. Eixam agrees, “Yes, this is wrong.”
Nonetheless, Phoebe starts walking toward the fruit, transfixed.
Sartus says, “Your Grace, it is not real.” But she keeps walking.
Vondal casts wall of fire between Phoebe and the fruit.
The fire burns away the mist and the glamour with it. The mist flows into Vondal’s mouth. Beyond the glamour, the Tree ends. If Phoebe had kept walking, she would have fallen off it. She snaps out of her trance.
Confused, she says, “But I brought us to the fruit. We are here, at the heart of it.”
Bec asks Eixam whether that’s true. “Perhaps,” they answer.
Enoki scouts and then reports, “There, I see it! That way!”
The party follows where he’s pointing. It looks like a dead end—like he’s flying through the trunk. Another illusion?
Freki goes through it and sees the true heart in the distance, surrounded by a huge amount of thorns. He (and he alone—the rest of the party is still on the other side of the illusory border) hears Enoki cry out in fear, and sees the poor little guy trapped in the huge thicket of thorns, which supernaturally surge toward the party!