Lights in the Darkness
Welcome again to Masters and Minions, where I strive to give you interesting NPCs and encounters that can be placed easily into your game. This week’s encounter is with a coven of green hags and an ancient treant named Barkroot the Ironwood.
The coven uses a combination of two will-o'-wisps and several whispering wind spells to draw the PCs to their lair in the middle of the forest. If the will-o’-wisps are attacked while they are trying to guide the PCs they become invisible and flee. Once the PCs reach the coven, they are asked by the coven to bring them the “heart” of this forest’s oldest resident, an ancient treant named Barkroot the Ironwood. In return the coven promises to give them the location of a trove of treasure worth 8,000 gp. If the PCs refuse, they are attacked by the two will-o’-wisps and the three green hags. If they decide to bring the hags the “heart,” they are led to the Barkroot the Ironwood’s grove by one of the will-o’-wisps.
Barkroot is treant composed of ironwood.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Animate Trees (Sp)
A treant can animate any trees within 180 feet at will, controlling up to two trees at a time. It takes 1 full round for a tree to uproot itself, after which it moves at a speed of 10 feet and fights as a treant (although it has only one slam attack and lacks the treant's animation and rock-throwing abilities), gaining the treant's vulnerability to fire. If the treant that animated it terminates the animation, moves out of range, or is incapacitated, the tree immediately takes root wherever it is and returns to its normal state.
Double Damage Against Objects (Ex)
A treant or animated tree that makes a full attack against an object or structure deals double damage.
Treespeech (Ex)
A treant has the ability to converse with plants as if subject to a continual speak with plants spell, and most plants greet them with an attitude of friendly or helpful.