Good idea, Brother my King though I only have one Sending if I plan to help B the D with a Plant Growth. Do you think you can get Zanderfell's birds to send a message? Also, we can probably count on His Holiness to think of other avenues of aid. A teleportation circle would be a good find. The satyrs, Lord Mindartis has that whistle, but so far - they may have a mystic connection with something but it seems to be alcohol, as far as how helpful they have been. 

Del's proposed message: "Rescued Zanderfell and Tree from siege, but damaged. Druid Billy healing with Plant Growth, several months’ work alone. Hag conspiracy moving fast. Help or advice?"

"I'll go look for one then," Mindartis says, "and yes, those Saytrs seem more good for a party than restoring a tree."

Del's call for books does not go unanswered, and soon he is surrounded by hovering volumes.  Some are about forestry and horticulture and dryads.  Others are various spellbooks for various casting types.  Many seem to be in Druidic or other languages you are unfamiliar with. Some merely seem to contain spells of Greater Restoration or Plant Growth. One roughly made, bark-bound booklet is marked, 'Ritual to Restore the Pixie Tree.'

Mindartis searches the tree for a teleportation circle, and does not find one.  The floor above the workshop contains comfortable living quarters, then the stairs wind up among what seem to be small storage closets and cubbies, ending at an atrium with a garden of potted plants, sun shining through a screen of woven branches and small holes large enough to let birds and forest cats through.

Going back down, Mindartis finds library shelves until what seems to be the ground floor, which has coat pegs with a few hats and cloaks hanging from them, and a couple of pairs of boots kicked off into a corner. There is a further floor below, but it descends only into what seems to b a root cellar and mushroom garden.

“I can get messages out as well. Just let me know who I’m sending to.” Quentin offers as he heads to the spellbook section and calls out, “A spell to speed up time or maximize a spells potential.”

If it is within an hour of offing the hags, Del still has Comprehend Languages up, otherwise he'll cast it again with his last 1st level slot. He looks at the 'Ritual to Restore...'  barkbook, and whatever looks promising, looking for the alternative uses for Plant Growth as a healing method, Greater Restoration when the condition needs "many restorations" as Z said, and healing dryads and their trees at the same time.

If he identifies something useful he will do it; otherwise he will do a general GR on Z, and get a debrief from Billy when his 8 hour casting is over, and copy that

After research but before going to Billy, he'll cast his Sending to the High Druid:

Rescued Zanderfell and Tree from siege, but damaged. Druid Billy healing with Plant Growth, several months’ work alone. Hag conspiracy moving fast. Help or advice?

He tells Q Your idea about asking Dean Lonvari is good. Also, there are some things we recovered from the hags - maybe there is something there we could use

Feeling a bit in over his head, Elwin will quietly hand Quentin the items he found on the hags:

- Three matching emerald pendants, each inscribed with a green snake symbol
- A strangely constructed ring
- A woven snakeskin headband with three beryl gems set in it
- A few unmarked vials of liquid

Seeing E looking sheepish, though not wanting to be too bossy, Del gently suggests If you mention a topic, the books come to you. You could read about that necromancer, or the Archwitch, while I learn about healing trees that walk and wizards bound thereto.

"Oh, um, sure. I'll give that a try," replied Elwin, rather wide-eyed at the prospect.

Stepping aside from the others, he spoke, in an uncertain near-whisper: "Uh, hello? Could I, um... are there any books about Satharas Indri'in?"

Mindartis heads back up, "No teleportation circle," he declares, "though trying to find more druids that aren't already trying to heal the Great Tree might be difficult. I could always head out to try and get to the school. Or perhaps we could try and enter the Feywild to see if the druid circles there would be willing to help."

(lol I'm drawing a blank on the name for some reason) 

As she sits with her squire, Raven begins a soft song she had heard her mother sing when she was younger.  A song to the forest and living things.  She sings softly, her voice settling over the area around her but not carrying too far past it.

Performance: 13

Quote from DragonDenn >>

As she sits with her squire, Raven begins a soft song she had heard her mother sing when she was younger.  A song to the forest and living things.  She sings softly, her voice settling over the area around her but not carrying too far past it.

 

Performance: 7

 

 She is clearly out of practice, but continues to sing softly, knowing she needs to practice if she is going to get better.

Quentin's call to the library is answered, but he finds little of use.  Haste and Gift of Alacrity appear in several of the spellbooks that appear, but as far as he knows, they are unlikely to affect the working of a spell.  Other related spells hover tentatively around in the background: Time Ravage, Temporal Shunt, Enhance Ability.  It does seem as if the library contains every known spell...and possibly more besides. With more time and under better circumstances, Quentin could add any spells he wanted to his spellbook...

From looking at books about dryads and druids, Del gets the impression that any damage is shared between the tree and the creature that is linked to it, but the proportion of damage and how it affects the linked creature and tree is highly individual. The only thing that is certain is that if the tree dies, the linked creature dies...it is not always the same in reverse, though.  The tree quite often survives after its companion is killed, though in a diminished sort of way.  The restoration ritual is very interesting.  The chant itself is fairly simple, but there are versions of it for every different spellcasting discipline - wizards, clerics, druids, sorcerers, bards, paladins, rangers, etc--at every level of skill. It is clearly designed to be a way to combine a group's magical abilities and focus them to the best effect.

Elwin's call for books about Satharas Indri'in does not get a lot of results, but isn't entirely fruitless. A Horizon Walker's journal of the planes mentions him in passing as a hazard to be avoided in the less-populated places of the Shadowfell.  A collection of legal documents from the Shadowfell contains documents listing Indri'in as a public nuisance, proclaiming him as a necromancer, offering rewards and bounties for his cature or death, and listings of his crimes, which mostly consist of necromancy, grave-robbing, heresy, and slaughtering lawkeepers who chased him down. The most imprewssive thing the library digs up, however, is a very old journal that seems to have been penned by Indri'in himself, with some rough mechanical designs and some entries about the great potential of harnessing souls to power and direct machinery, and some rants about the misguided and craven attitudes of other Shadar'Kai to necromancy and the power and utility of undeath. No huge ambitions or plans are revealed, except his desire to keep puttering with soul-infused machinery.  You might begin to question if this guy is really the motivating force behind bringing back the Archwitch, and what he might gain from it.

Raven sings in the forest, and though a few of the pixies titter at the occasional sour notes she hits, soon they join in.  A sense of peace settles over the area. "Won't last long," a sprite mutters. "I hear there's some hill giants still heading this way."

(Oh, and)

Del's message to the High Druid is answered. "Can't tree-step to Zanderfell, protected. Sending aid. May take time. You are resourceful. Have great faith in you. I have six words left! Whoopee!"

Del is excited about the ritual and runs to get everybody There might be something we can all do for Zanderfell! This ritual adds the power of any number of any kind of spellcasters! That is four of us five, and there are many more among the Hall Forces! Let's try for an hour, and see if any benefit can be detected.

Del organizes a chant-a-long with whoever he can get - I imagine Billy ought to keep his current casting going but other casters can try for a while

And further help will be here eventually, if we can stabilize this pair he adds

Elwin was stunned. Not at the breadth of material available--that was actually pretty limited--but at getting a response at all. Several books regarding the necromancer floated in front of him, and with a sudden realization, his mind was immediately awash with possibility. Anything they wanted to ask about... or anyone... was at their beck and call.

They were like gods with unlimited knowledge in this library.

He gave a quick glance to Quentin and Del, a bit irritated that they were able to just come in and use the place without batting an eye. They were treating this as if it was something they had had access to plenty of times before! Elwin practically had to keep himself from just yelling out to everyone outside, "Hey! Everyone! This tree library will tell you about ANYTHING you want!"

Quickly digesting the scant material on Satharas Indri'in, Elwin next asked about removing curses, then about why Slate City had so many poor folk (receiving a few economics-style materials,) and then even about paladins, trying to read what he could as fast as it came to him, before an idea struck him. Backing a bit further away from the others, he whispered his next request.

Quote from skuk >>

There might be something we can all do for Zanderfell! This ritual adds the power of any number of any kind of spellcasters! That is four of us five, and there are many more among the Hall Forces! Let's try for an hour, and see if any benefit can be detected.

Elwin nearly jumped as Del approached, his face growing a tad red, but his response was quick. "Sure! Let's try that!" He quickly waved away the new books coming his way as he followed behind Del.

Coming down from his high of omniscience, and now feeling a bit foolish, Elwin realized he should be grateful for Del reminding him of where he was, and the sort of stakes they were facing.

As Elwin and Del rush outside with the book of the ritual in hand, Billy excitedly abandons his own ritual to join in with yours. (Anybody else doing anything?)

When the others come out Raven mvoes to join them.  "I'll do what I can to help." She says, agreeing to help with the ritual.

Quentin sends a letter to the Dean explaining the situation using his magical courier before leaving and joining in with the ritual. 

(Sorry for being absent lately....depression hit hard.)

Mindartis looks around, "Um... I'll leave the magic stuff to you folks... anything else I can do?"

(NP, Jacwalke, know the feeling.)

Flitterbug whispers in Mindartis's ear, "Maybe we can keep watch and patrol...it doesn't look like those guys will be paying much attention." She points at your celebrating army, who seem to have completely given themselves over to feasting, drinking, and boasting.  Some of them have already passed out...the sun is getting low in the sky, and shadows are stretching across the clearing from the dark, surrounding forest.

Quentin, Del, Raven and Elwin, along with Billy, Frazzah and many of the local pixies, begin chanting.  You can feel the power rising from the earth.  To Del's surprise, he hears the voice of Ziia singing independently. Though the ritual to restore the Great Pixie Tree is expected to take centuries, that tree has been reduced to a few roost and charred splinters: this tree has considerably less damage.  Within an hour, you can see a difference, burned wood flaking away to reveal fresh branches, oozing sap, and bark starting to form, creeping over the edges of the scars...