Starter Set, Weeding the Lawn, Session 7 Part 2

As they approached, they found a sign is posted at the outskirts of the town, the letters red as if written in blood:

"DANGER! Plant monsters AND zombies!  Turn back now!"

A gray squirrel skittered away as they read the sign, jumping from tree to tree.

They pressed on, into the misty, damp village ruins.  Coming upon a set of crumbling houses, they pushed aside brambles and weeds to enter the first building.  Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by twig creatures, pulling themselves up from the ground, having pretended to be merely dead shrubs.  Little more than a nuisance, the party cleared the path of the blighted plant creatures, and continued in their investigation.

They came upon an old tavern, named the Brown Horse, its faded sign depicting a cartoonish smiling horse holding aloft a mug of ale.  The door nearly fell off the rusted hinges, and peering inside, they could smell old yeast and a hint of ash.  The party filed inside, and as they approached the bar, 2 ashen corpses rose and attacked.  As Lemon, the human barbarian, gleefully slashed one down with her new glowing crystal sword, the corpse expelled a noxious flood of sickening ash, causing her to cough uncontrollably.  Seeing this, the party decided to destroy the next at range, and would take care to avoid contact with them should they encounter more.

Following the trail further into town, they came around a bend, and found an elven woman in a green dress blocking their path.

Durial, the drow rogue, approached her cautiously.

"I suggest you leave now," said the woman.  Durial felt the attempt to coerce his mind, but resisted her spell.  With that, the woman frowned, and disappeared into a puff of mist, teleporting into the forest.

Eva, the human druid, remembered her youth in this village, and led the group south, to the home of her former mentor, Reidoth.

This house appeared to be the only one in good repair.  The doors looked sturdy and reinforced, the thick shutters closed.  A large tree appeared to be looming over the back of the home.

Eva knocked on the front door, which appeared to open on its own.  "Come in, Eva," said Reidoth calmly.  "It has been some time."

Inside, they found a dark-skinned white-haired gaunt man sitting at a small table, appearing to be playing a game of chess.  The back window was open, and a branch was reaching inside, moving a piece in turn with the game.

Reidoth introduced the tree-creature, "this is my dear friend, Steelbeard," motioning to a face made of bark and moss looming through the open window.  Steelbeard the treant's hollow eyes and slow smile greeted the group, "visitors!  Would you like some tea?"

The party settled in, taking a rest from their exploration of Thundertree.
Eva asked Reidoth why he was still there.  He explained that after Mount Hotenow's eruption cursed the land, he remained behind to keep the ash zombies that came down from the mountain from escaping and attacking Neverwinter.

He motioned to a potted shrubbery in the corner of the room, which them moved on its own, pushing root-legs out of cracks in the pottery and walking across the room.  He told them that he had been creating awakened shrubs to combat the zombies; however, his control over the plants faded due to the cursed land, and the blight was taking his creations and twisting them.  Now, he just tries to drive people away and let the blights fight it out with the zombies.

The war between plants vs zombies had been waging for decades.

"Sadly, the curse has also taken its toll on my friend, Steelbeard," said Reidoth.

Steelbeard, hearing his name, looked up from the chessboard once more, exclaiming "visitors!  Would you like some tea?"  The party surmised that the poor treant wasn't doing so well.

The group described the lady in green, which Reidoth advised them was actually an illusion.  In reality, the "lady" was none other than a young green dragon named Venomfang, whose recent arrival had caused the cursed land to become more volatile lately.

Following her arrival, Reidoth spotted several giant spiders taking over the center of town, as well as a group of people in black robes and masks on the other side of town.  Reidoth didn't know what their story was, but they hadn't approached him yet, nor had they taken notice of him skittering around as a small gray squirrel.

"Honestly, you should probably just be on your way.  Far too dangerous around these parts."