Hedge: Dwarf over heels

Voss pivots from the glowing eyes of the boar as the trees come to life to his right. "KROM! Lumber lives! Time to trim the hedges..." In a flash his bow is concealed and with the ring of steel his duel blades brandished. Stormbiter crackles with electric energy down the long blade as he deftly hews at the towering beast before him...

There is a roar of thunder, the snapping of bark and a if a tree falls and everyone is there it is LOUD.

Remsfeld finds himself nose-to-tree trunk. His eyes peek out from under his helm, just in time for a branch to clobber him in the head (4 hp.) The Aborean's sword flashes through the air with surprising swifteness. Remmy dances out of the way to avoid the majority of the blow, his heavy armor protecting him for the sharp blade, though not totally immune to the force (7 hp.)
Remsfeld them disappears, reappearing in front of Alion.

Qwyn puts his back to the wall so no tree things can sneak up on me. He points his rod, the air crackling with the now familiar Eldritch energy and sound of his voice. "Make like a tree and leaf!" The blast cracks the fallen tree-creature, sending bits of bark flying.

Voss nods his head ever so slightly in the direction of the board, yelling over to Alion. "Can you slow up the other white meat over there?"

The boar bores down on Remmy with rapid speed, its hooves kicking up small bits of dirt as it effortlessly passes over the rougher terrain. At home with this type of terrain it does not lose an ounce of speed.

Alion mutters a few words, a bright light shining as the boar leaps through the air. Its movement is unfazed though Remself receives the benefit of the blessing (11 hp). The bore lands in front of Remsfeld, its long, thick tusks flash as he gores the dwarf. The warriors armor seems almost non-existent as the tusks sink in deeply (14 hp). The board whips its head skyward and Remsfeld goes feet over beard, disappearing into the thick hedge (7 hp) closest to Voss. He goes in so deep that you cannot see any of him.

Though you hear a loud, "Sonofabitch!" from his general direction.

The boar snorts, now directly in front of Alion.

DM Notes:
Initiative order Voss, Alion, Remsfeld, Qwyn

Hedge: A Dire Situation

The party considers its various options.

"Maybe we should try drawing whatever it is that's snorting towards our current position. That rough terrain can work to our defensive advantage. What do you think?" Qwyn asks it. Ever polite, ever making the words sound like a good idea.

Voss nods his head. "Agreed. Better to encounter it with many routes open to us instead of heading south through the narrow to meet it. Anyone have magic to incite the snort? Of course we'll be alerting anything else in here we've arrived. Surprise will be lost..."

Voss considers some more. "Donal taught me well, including how not to let an enemy catch me with an ambuscade. I could scout ahead and see. Attack if needs be then return afterward. I am skilled in hit and run tactics..."

"Remmy, know any good plant guy insults?" asks Voss.

Remmy snorts. "You are not even worthy of being a side dish."

Qwyn yells out a rather loud yell, trying to make noise to attrack whatever is nearby. "Haaaa, I've known sprigs of parsley who are tougher than you!"

Alion digs through his pack, looking for some food. "Hey, don't give me any lip about that. We might be able to snuff out the snorter and trap him in the difficult terrain just south of us."

Alion finds some dried fruit and set it out.

Qwyn looks toward Voss and says, I would suggest trying to draw them out first. You'll have just as much trouble getting over that rough terrain as they will. Are you good at concealing yourself? Mayhaps you could set up in a spot where you can't be easily seen?"

As Voss goes goes to moves to a position that will give him the longest field of fire with his bow, should whatever this is come at us. A lot happens at once.

There is a SNORTING ROAR as a Dire Boar turns a corner at a high speed (H12) its bright yellow eyes glowing like a demonic beacon. Spittle sprays from its mouth as the only noise louder than its roar is the sound of its hooves clambering across the floor. It seems as though the hedges themselves shake...

...not only do the hedges seem to shake they seem to move.

They are moving. Expanding.

The hedge directly next to Voss expands outward into the path (C7). It takes a moment to comprehend that this is not a hedge growing at all except that it is some sort of tree creature – an Aborean!

An Aborean also steps out of the hedge next to Remmy. Even more remarkable is that they hold scythes and both are nearly fifteen feet tall. The skin on these creatures appears to be bark, aged from years of growing and life in the dirt. It is eerie how human a tree can look, or perhaps it is a human who has become a tree.

DM Notes:

· Initiative: Voss, Qywn, Remmy, Alion

Hedge: Where is that snorting coming from?

You swear you can hear snorts in the distance though none of you are able to place what type of animal it is.

“Hmmm. I remember reading something about this from the great war. These hedgerows can make for excellent ambush spots." Qwyn notes it as he runs his fingers down his staff.

Voss tries to pierce the spikey underbrush with his gaze, but can't. "Let's douse those lanterns. There's a strange illumination here. No need to visually scream we're coming. The right path seems to open wider ahead. The left looks narrow. The wider path would allow more room to maneuver should we encounter the source of that snort. What do you think?"

Alion takes a deep breath. "The wider path does seem wiser. Should we keep fire at the ready in case we run into some violent foliage? Perhaps ready a trap in case we need to retreat here?"

"Excellent, Alion." Voss continues to try and see past the hedge, toward where the snorting sounds emanate from.

“I've got nothing on the plant guys. I'm not much of a vegetarian.” Qwyn cranes his neck slightly. “But I'd be careful about using fire in here. We're indoors so anything we set on fire could create a hazardous smoke condition like back at the inn."

Remsfeld grunts his affirmation. His eyes dance wildly, seemingly trying to keep an eye on both paths simultaneously.

"Well said, Qwyn." Voss sheathes his swords and nocks an arrow to his bowstring, scanning the foliage as he strides forward down the right passage. "Let's go. No time to lose. Be ready."

You go right – which is West – moving down a passageway between a hedge row and earthen wall. At points (such as B12) roots and uneven ground make the terrain difficult (-1 to movement to pass through.)

You reach a point where there is difficult terrain to the south though you are able to spy quite a distance down the area. The passage also continues west to a wall, though most likely goes south.

The snorting. Well it seems to be getting a bit louder, clearer and definitely closer. It seems to come from directly south.

DM Note:

• The blue bubbles are areas you could not see.

• I took a best guess on where you would all be standing at this point. Let me know if that is correct.
• It took you two rounds to get to your current position