Dryad of the Corrupted Grove
| Dryad of the Corrupted Grove | |||||||||
| the Corrupted Dryad · the Dryad | |||||||||
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The Dryad of the Corrupted Grove is the male dryad whose riddle-and-vines ambush dominated the second half of session 2 in the Corrupted Redwood Grove. He descended from the canopy via vines after the party had cut into the fourth redwood, restrained four of the five party members, and offered to permit one bark sample if the party answered a riddle. The party committed to “tree”; the answer was “bark”; combat began. The dryad inflicted Charmed on Cholmondeley via a vine lash, then on the next round delivered a natural-twenty critical with maximum-rolled 20 damage, dropping him; Cholmondeley self-stabilised on his first death save. Hugo decapitated the dryad with hand axes after a 24-Athletics escape and a riverside flank.
Overview
The Dryad of the Corrupted Grove is the male dryad of the Corrupted Redwood Grove outside Wyrmbough Grove, whose riddle-and-vines ambush in session 2 was the campaign’s first proper boss fight. After the party had cut samples from three of the six corrupted redwoods, the dryad descended from the canopy via vines and accused them of harming his home. After a Cholmondeley Persuasion attempt, he agreed to permit one sample if the party answered a riddle:
“I am a wall grown from within. Storm writes scars across my skin. Take my circle and the heart goes still. Take a single scale and I live. What am I?” — The Dryad, [2]
The party debated tree vs bark and committed to “tree”. The dryad’s verdict:
“It was bark. Tree bark.” — [4]
The vines began to drag the party underground. Combat. He inflicted Charmed on Cholmondeley (vine lash, failed Wisdom save), then delivered a natural-twenty critical for 20 damage, dropping him. Cholmondeley self-stabilised. Caelumn was reduced to 0 HP; Hugo broke free with a 24 Athletics, jumped the river, and decapitated the dryad with hand axes while it was looking the other way. Vasquez looted a healing potion from a small pouch on the dryad’s body.
The dispute over whether the answer was fair was an out-of-character grievance carried into s3, where Nick admitted that Nancy had earlier rolled a 3 and been told the correct answer was “bark” [5].
Status as of session 16
Dead, body looted, riddle still in dispute.
See also
References
- ^ Session 2, line 1126-1276 — Encounter, riddle, combat.
- ^ Session 2, line 1168 — The riddle.
- ^ Session 2, line 1244-1250 — 'It was bark. Tree bark.' — verdict.
- ^ Session 2, line 1250 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 3, line 62-76 — Inline citation.