Hex 19

19 (North Hex) The Brothers Five

          

Five Treants meet regularly in this forested hex. These are Keepers of the Wood known as the Brothers Five to those who are aware of them. 0-5 Treants will be encountered here (1d6-1) as the Brothers are frequently off in other parts of the region (usually moving at night) taking care of forest business. The Brothers are not hostile unless they encounter someone abusing their trees, then they act decisively. The Brothers can be powerful allies or recurring enemies, but they rarely remain neutral toward a mortal being. 

Buried in a small clearing are five pieces of The Rose of the Weeping Prophet. See Appendix New Items for more information on this item.

Scene Idea: Treant Massacre 

A 300’ yard ring of the forest has been completely burned away, even some of the rocks have melted. Careful observation will note that the burn took place in a perfect circle, the plants outside the burn radius are heat wilted but not singed at all. Five large piles of ash lay in the middle of the burned circle.

The piles of “ash” are the corpses of five treants who were ambushed here by the goblin god-king’s army. One of the treants has one hit point left and, without quick (magical) healing, will die in two rounds. Even with healing, the treant will be sickly and only a shadow of his former self.

Treant: AC 0; MV 120’; HD 10; hp 1 (17); THAC0 10; #AT 2; D 2-12/2-12; SA Nil; SD Never surprised; SZ L; Int Very; AL CG; XP 1,951. (MM)

Hit points in parentheses represent his fully healed state. Note that his damage ability is reduced (due to his weakened state) and he will never again be able to animate trees.

The treants died protecting a secret that their corpses continue to hide. Beneath each of the five treant bodies is buried a piece of the Rose of the Weeping Prophet. The central rosette is here and four of the petals (see New Items for a full description of this item).