Treebrother

Treebrother is a deceptively simple, knotted staff of stout oak. Unpolished and rough, the wood looks freshly cut from the bough of an ancient tree. The staff is thick and sturdy, ideally suited for use either as a walking stick or a quarterstaff.

Nonlegacy Game Statistics: Treebrother; Cost 1,100 gp; Charges 50. On command, Treebrother can summon a cloud of bright motes resembling fireflies, creating illumination equivalent to a light spell. Caster level 5th. When you cast barkskin, your caster level is treated as one level higher than normal. Omen: Nature’s power surges through Treebrother, causing plants within 5 feet to open their flowers and bend toward the staff as if it were the sun. HISTORY

Long ago, in the deepest part of an ancient forest where no woodcutter’s steps had ever passed, there lived a treant called Tarnla, who shepherded the primeval trees. One of Tarnla’s trees was home to a dryad, a fair and lovely creature named Nidria, and the two children of the forest fell deeply in love with each other. Together with the human druid Anda, they kept the sacred heart of the forest safe and unspoiled by the depredations of loggers and careless folk. Legends say that Anda’s staff Treebrother was crafted from a sapling resulting from Tarnla and Nidria’s union. (DC 15) At the twilight of his life, Anda was a great hero, revered and respected for many leagues beyond the forest where he dwelt with his friends, the treant Tarnla and the dryad Nidria. Younger druids from across the world traveled to his forest to learn from him, and kings and empresses alike consulted him for his wisdom of the natural world. Despite his fame, Anda had enemies among many peoples, savage and civilized. A combination of raw hatred, terrible greed, and petty jealousy brought down the great druid and destroyed much of his forest home. The orc chieftain Bruug, who had clashed with Anda in his youth, learned his old enemy still lived and sought to avenge himself upon the druid. Marshaling his forces, Bruug struck suddenly and fiercely into the northern marches of Anda’s forest, burning and destroying. Anda, along with Tarnla and Nidria, raced to contain the orcs, but even their combined might couldn’t hold the wicked host at bay. Animal messengers were sent out to the sovereigns whose lands abutted the forest, but jealous and hateful advisors, who saw the woods as a great resource to be exploited if the meddlesome druid were eliminated, convinced many monarchs to withhold their troops. As Anda, Tarnla, and Nidria fell back toward the sacred heart of the forest, they pooled their magic for one last, desperate spell to drive the invaders back. Using Nidria’s sacred oak as the spell’s focus, they conjured forth a vast wave of vines and greenery, swallowing the orc multitude. Their victory came at great cost—the spell’s energy destroyed Nidria’s tree, and the effort of casting it claimed the lives of Anda and Tarnla alike. The dryad survived only thanks to Treebrother, whose magic held enough residues from her oak to sustain her. Grief-stricken, the dryad buried Anda and Tarnla together beneath a sacred mound, atop which she planted Treebrother as a memorial to her fallen comrades. According to legend, the staff and Nidria abide there even now. (DC 18; Sacred Mound) Anda carried Treebrother with him since the days of his youth. Allegedly, the staff was a gift from Tarnla. When Anda was in his middle years, a caravan of dwarves out of the mountainous west came to the eaves of the forest. The dwarven geomancers had divined the presence of great veins of precious ore beneath the forest floor, and their miners entered the wood with picks, axes, and spells to tear away the soil. Anda, upon learning of this horror, gathered his staff and set out to beseech the dwarves to cease their mining, or at least to dig more carefully, so as not to disturb the

Treebrother was crafted from the scion of a treant and a dryad

Illus. by F. Hooper

Table 3–47: Treebrother

————— Personal Costs ————— Wielder Attack Hit Point Spell Slot Level Penalty Loss Loss Abilities

5th — — — Shillelagh 1/day 6th — 2 1st Green empathy 7th — 2 — Create food and water 1/day 8th –1 — 2nd Entangle 3/day 9th — 2 — — 10th — — 3rd Woodland stealth 11th — — — Fast movement 12th — — 4th Solar nourishment 13th — 2 — Commune with nature 1/week 14th — — 5th — 15th — 2 — — 16th — — 6th Changestaff 1/day

balance of the woodland. The dwarves scoffed at the druid, refusing his offer of peace and harmony, even threatening his life should he return. Anda tried to approach the clan elders once more some days later, but he was violently repulsed. With no other choice, the druid went to Tarnla and Nidria to prepare for war against the dwarves. Tarnla called the lesser treants to his banner, Nidria gathered the fey creatures of the forest, and Anda summoned animals from their dens and warrens. In a swift and brutal battle, the dwarves were driven off. Many died. Grieving over the loss of life, Anda crafted a great standing stone at the site of the clash, a monument of sorrow and tragedy that stands to this day. (DC 25; Stone of Sorrow) LEGACY RITUALS

Two rituals are required to unlock all the abilities of Treebrother.

Sacred Mound: You must journey to the sacred mound where Anda and Tarnla are buried, and there conducting a day-long ritual of fasting, meditation, and prayer. Cost: 2,400 gp. Feat Granted: Least Legacy (Treebrother).

Stone of Sorrow: You have to construct and consecrate (with the spell) a standing stone to the memory of some personal failing that caused harm or suffering to others, as Anda did when his failure to convince the dwarves to mine more responsibly led to the deaths of many. You need not cast the consecrate spell yourself, and the cost of hiring someone to cast the spell is considered part of the cost of the ritual. Crafting the monument requires a DC 25 Craft (stonemasonry) check, though you can hire a specialist to do the work (the cost of which is also included in the ritual cost). Consecrating the monument requires a 24-hour ritual of prayer and meditation. Cost: 11,500 gp. Feat Granted: Lesser Legacy (Treebrother).

WIELDER REQUIREMENTS

Druids are the most common wielders of Treebrother, though clerics with the Plant domain can also qualify.

Rangers can gain access to the staff’s least abilities, but they are typically incapable of paying the personal costs required for the more powerful abilities and rarely complete the Stone of Sorrow ritual.

Treebrother Wielder Requirements

Ability to cast barkskin as a divine spell Knowledge (nature) 6 ranks

LEGACY ITEM ABILITIES

All the following are legacy item abilities of Treebrother.

Shillelagh (Sp): At 5th level and higher, once per day as a move action, you can turn Treebrother into a magic quarterstaff as though with the shillelagh spell. Caster level 5th.

Green Empathy (Su): Beginning at 6th level, you can attempt to improve the attitude of a plant by rolling 1d20 and adding your character level plus your Charisma modifier. This feature is otherwise similar to the wild empathy class feature (see page 35 of the Player’s Handbook). Create Food and Water (Sp): At 7th level and higher, once per day on command, you can use create food and water as the spell. Caster level 5th.

Entangle (Sp): Starting at 8th level, three times per day by touching Treebrother to the ground, you can use entangle as the spell. The spell’s area is centered on the spot you touch, and you are unaffected by the spell’s effects. The save DC is 11, or 11 + your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher. Caster level 5th.

Woodland Stealth (Su): At 10th level, you gain a +5 competence bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks made in any area of undergrowth.

If adjacent to or in the same square as a tree, you can use the Hide skill even if you don’t have cover or concealment.

Fast Movement (Su): At 11th level, you gain a 10foot enhancement bonus to your base land speed.

Solar Nourishment (Su): Beginning at 12th level, you gain all the nourishment you need, a full day’s worth of food and water, from 2 hours of exposure to sunlight. Only natural sunlight has this effect.

Commune With Nature (Sp): Treebrother grants you increased insight into the wonders of the natural world. At 13th level and higher, once per week on command, you can use commune with nature as the spell. Caster level 10th.

Changestaff (Sp): Starting at 16th level, once per day you can transform Treebrother as though with the changestaff spell. The duration of the effect is only 1 hour. If the resulting treantlike creature is reduced to 0 hit points, Treebrother re-forms into its normal shape, and none of its legacy abilities can be activated for 1 hour. Caster level 10th. ADVENTURE SEED (EL 6)

In the deepest heart of a primeval forest, the heroes come across a wide clearing where sunlight dapples the ground through the canopy, and a fresh smell of new growth permeates the air. At the center of the clearing is a single, grass-covered mound with a staff planted at its apex. The dryad Nidria, the mother of Treebrother, lives here, but her home has just been invaded by a hunting wyvern. The PCs can hear the battle raging when they come within 60 feet with a DC 15 Listen check. If the PCs aid Nidria in defeating the wyvern, she is extremely grateful. She then asks a PC who seems most in touch with the natural world to prove herself a humble, worthy servant of nature by finding Nidria a new oak to call home. The magic of the staff is all that keeps the dryad alive, and despite her grief, she has no desire to allow an unworthy bearer to take the staff. If a PC can find her a suitable tree within 24 hours, which requires a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) or Survival check, made once every 4 hours, and return to Nidria, she gives that character Treebrother in gratitude and fades into the forest. Villainous characters might simply take the staff by force, but this vile act incurs the wrath of every nonevil creature in the forest.

Wyvern: hp 95 (see page 259 of the Monster Manual).

Nidria CR 6

Female dryad druid 2 NG Medium fey Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Listen +12, Spot +12 Languages Common, Druidic, Elven, Gnome, Goblin,

Orc, Sylvan AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13; Dodge hp 38 (6 HD); DR 5/cold iron Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +12 Weakness tree dependent Speed 30 ft. (6 squares) Melee +1 dagger +9 (1d4/19–20) or Ranged mwk longbow +9 (1d8/×3) Base Atk +3; Grp +3 Druid Spells Prepared (CL 2nd): 1st—cure light wounds, detect animals or plants, faerie fire, obscuring mist 0—detect magic, light (2), virtue Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th): 1/day—suggestion (DC 18) 3/day—charm person (DC 16), deep slumber (DC 18), tree stride

At will—entangle (DC 16), speak with plants, tree shape Abilities Str 10, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 20, Cha 18 SQ animal companion, link with companion, share spells, wild empathy +17 (+13 magical beasts), woodland stride Feats Dodge, Great Fortitude, Weapon Finesse Skills Escape Artist +12 (+14 to escape rope), Handle

Animal +14, Heal +10, Hide +12, Knowledge (nature) +14, Listen +12, Move Silently +12, Ride +10, Spot +12, Survival +16 (+18 aboveground), Use

Rope +10 (+12 with bindings) Possessions +1 dagger, masterwork longbow with 20 arrows Tree Dependent (Su) Nidria is mystically bound to

Treebrother as long as it remains planted in the sacred mound, and she must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Doing so causes her to become ill and die within 4d6 hours. If Treebrother is removed from the sacred mound, Nidria likewise sickens and dies within 4d6 hours.

Owl Animal Companion CR —

N Tiny animal Init +3; Senses low-light vision, Listen +16, Spot +8 AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 14 hp 4 (1 HD) Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2 Speed 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 40 ft. (average) (8 squares) Melee talons +5 (1d4–3) Space 2–1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Base Atk +0; Grp –11 Abilities Str 4, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 4 SQ 1 bonus trick, link, share spells Feats Alertness, Weapon FinesseB Skills Listen +16, Move Silently +17, Spot +8