<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1e/8a/a3/1e8aa32c16093d252e6e3e73d8020d14.jpg)</div>NOTE/WARNING, I'm quoting/updating the post. If you see something funky, ask because I might have missed deleting something.<br/>OOC Scene 8, Post 2<br/><br/>Note:<br/>I'm going to use this post to wrap up the game. I'd intended to stretch it out a bit longer, but it's been about five months (11-Feb) since we started this game.<br/><br/><br/>A culture note. There is no real distinction between 'Elf' and 'Half-Elf' in the' Elven Empire.' If you have Elven blood, you are considered an Elf. Frore and Darius are Elven despite his Dhampir nature.' The others in the party are 'retainers.'<br/><br/>Tree-Demon is a powerful nature spirit. Some NPCs will refer to him as a 'God'; others might call him an Avatar of a God. From being captured by the Elves, it's clear he has far from Guide-like powers. On the other hand, granting Darius a Channel Divinity does argue that it has some God-like powers.<br/><br/>NPC:<br/>Lieutenant Arilemna Glynjyre (female Elf)<br/><br/>Situation:<br/>Quest: Rescue the Earth Mother, Tree Demon's wife, from the Elven Invaders.<br/>Lieutenant Arilemna Glynjyre considers herself a prisoner of war. She is upset (-1) with the party.<br/>The twelve Orcs have a Favorable (+1) disposition to the party because the Tree Demon vouches for them.<br/><br/>Lighting: Daylight<br/>Terrain: Open Grassland, a strip of trees along the river, Mounds<br/><br/>Froroe: AC11 (+5 Shield), HP 16/20,<br/>Elli: AC 14, HP 24/24,<br/>Shade AC 16, HP 27/27,<br/>Kalinta: AC15, HP 39/44,<br/>Darius:  AC17/19, 25/25;<br/><br/><hr/>Neither side (Orcs or Elves) trusted the other, and both sides mistrusted Darius. However, neither side was willing to continue the hostilities, and a status-quo was even worse, with Orcish fields left untended and Elves starving on top of the mounds. As well, Darius was an Elf and a Paladin. So, he warranted a modicum of trust. Similarly, the Tree-Demon vouched for Darius and the party so the Orc would at least listen.<br/><br/>Darius's powers of persuasion were sufficient to get the two sides to begin at least speaking. It took a couple of Zone's of Truth to get the two sides to agree upon letting the Elves go with their weapons and banners. It was a defeat for the Elves, who had to march back downriver without the fertility totem they had come for. It was a marginal victory for the Orcs, who had beaten off but not defeated the Elves. Both sides knew this was only the latest battle in an ongoing war.<br/><br/>Darius found that he did have another service to perform. The Tree-Demon explained,<strong>"You are still our Paladin. We require one last service, and this service will get you what you seek. There are many dead, and so the tribes need new life. Additionally, we need to bind the tribes together into one host, a host that is strong enough to fight the Elves."</strong><br/><br/>So it was that once again, Darius found himself officiating an Orcish orgy. However, it was more than merely an Orcish orgy. Freed from her bonds, the Earth Mother manifested, a twenty-foot tall Earth Elemental with huge breasts and a vagina no mortal could hope to fill. However, the Tree-Demon could and did rise to the occasion. The sounds of the Tree-Demon and Earth-Mother copulating boomed throughout the Orcish villages. The sound seemed to drive the Orcs into a frenzy of fornication.<br/><br/>It was late the next morning when the Tree-Demon approached the party. In one branch-like extremity, he carried a stone pot with a small bush growing out of it. He told the party,<strong>"When you get back to where you are going, plant it, pot and all. Care for it well, and our offspring will eventually grow into a duality like the Earth Mother and me. They will bless your crops."</strong><br/><br/>As Darius took possession of the small pot and plant, there was a rumbling in the ground. A hole appeared with a series of black steps going down into the depths. Hopefully, these black steps would be more durable than the last set.