"The Terrible Twigmen" (RT2x11) is the twenty-third episode of The Re-Slayer's Take. Professor Alexander Parade unveils his greatest invention to the Re-Slayer's Take, then leads them to the Twigmen's nest to reclaim his robotic dog's heart.
Synopsis[]
Alexander tells Timpani to bring him the bags of gunpowder, and asks Frog to pull a lever to deactivate the traps on the stairs (which annoys Poogs when he sees it); the Aeomaton promises the professor that they will repair Douglas. He guides them to a crater to the south, where he has been testing his black powder, and although Timpani is concerned about the environmental impact, he helps Alexander give a demonstration, causing a new detonation. Farah finds a diamond, but the professor does not let her keep it, encouraging the adventurers to search for Aeorian technology in the crater. Although they are unsuccessful, they do locate more diamonds, which Alexander has been using to get food and supplies in a town; when he explains that for every diamond he gets a few biscuits, Heera is irritated by the obvious scam. After a few moments of eerie silence, a twigman appears and attacks Frog before leaving with her screwdriver. Alexander agrees to guide the Re-Slayers to the lair of those creatures, and on their way there Frog suggest to use the black powder against them; Heera theorizes that the powder and the explosions might be the reason why the old dwarf is being attacked, and Frog argues that regardless of that there seems to be a strange form of magic animating them. Timpani, for his part, is happy to see Heera's concern about the well-being of nature, and she admits that she cares about animals. The tiefling uses that chance to tell Frog about an old neighbor of hers, a widow whose musings focused on Scanlan Shorthalt being actually a plant-based double sent by the Whispered One; she then compares those strange theories (harmless but unreliable) with Alexander's speculations about Aeor, and advices the Aeormaton to find a way to redirect the professor's attention to a different area of study. While they are chatting, Farah walks holding her flaming sword, and Poogs makes sure that he walks away from it, in case the powder reacts; Alexander walks while singing, without any sense of stealth.
After a while they see a hill in the distance with an ancient dead willow with many holes from which twigmen enter and exit; Listening to them chattering, Farah realizes that they are speaking Primordial. Frog has a bad feeling, and although the Spectral Hand's weapons aren't reacting, Poogs agrees that something weird is going on. Timpani casts Speak with Plants on a pine tree, who tells them that the twigmen were created by the denizen of the hovel, a witch who cursed the entire forest if it ever disobeyed her, explaining that some adventurers had defeated her but her creations had stayed, harming the local trees. Suspecting that the witch might be a hag, Farah asks Frog to check her book, and she confirms that the Slayer's Take defeated a night hag years ago but weren't able to recover her heartstone. Alexander mentions that he did find a rock similar to that, and he gave it to a rude blue-skinned woman in exchange for a bag of oats three decades before; when Heera asks about a boy, remembering Xella's origins, the professor confirms that an irritating child accompanied the woman. In the meantime the pine tree warns the group about the twigmen, who are now watching them, and when Farah boasts trying to provoke them, they hide under the willow. They decide to attack them with powder, and although Alexander is very generous with the quantity, Heera makes sure to take some out of Timpani's hands as she gives him a candle; using that item and Druidcraft combined with the black powder, the firbolg stealthily approaches the willow (while his friends are behind the pine tree, who is distracted telling Frog about photosynthesis) and causes a big explosion, creating a crater. Several small twigmen start appearing, following by a two-faced one way bigger than the rest.
Featured characters[]
Re-Slayers[]
Returning[]
- Professor Alexander Parade
New[]
- The pine tree
Mentioned[]
- Douglas, Alexander's dog
- Unnamed widow from Heera's hometown
- Scanlan Shorthalt
- Vecna, the Whispered One
- Grimm Heldwell
- Unnamed night hag, the "denizen of the hovel"
- Xella Blacktongue (unnamed)
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
- When Frog is talking to Heera Agneheart about Alexander's speculations, she wonders about Aeorians with nine eyes, which is a reference to the Somnovem, relevant enemies from Campaign Two.
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Re-Slayer's Take S2 promotional art, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
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