The Healing Tree

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The Healing Tree
Name – MUTATED TREE
Creation Cards – 2 ♥, 3♠, 4♣, and J♣
Hit Points – 75 – Rank 6
Silhouette – The tree stands 60 feet tall and appears
dead with no leaves. The bark is very thick and there
are several huge branches growing from the trunk.
There is one large hole that is a mouth, but appears to
be a normal part of the rotting process.
Attitude – During the daylight hours the tree is
capable of attacking with its limbs. The trunk is
limber enough to slowly bend as it attempts to bite
large prey. Once there are 50 or more pounds of meat
in its mouth, the tree doesn’t attack until that mass is
digested.
Attacks – Claw (strike 7, bonus 3), Bite (strike 10,
bonus 4)
Defense – The trunk wood and bark give it an armor
class of (6).
Specials – Known only to a few shaman, the bark
of this tree can heal 9 points of any type of damage
when soaked for 24 hours in water and drunk as a tea.
When the Tree is reduced to less than 20 hit points,
the tree lashes out with three two-handed swords
(strike 12, bonus 12).
THE STORY
Three hundred years ago, this was a normal looking
tree in a small forested area. When the aliens came,
there was a collision and an alien troop carrier dropped
a set of troops into this tree at high speed and killed
them all. For a year, the alien life forms rotted around
the roots of the Tree. The plant absorbed many types
of strange bacteria from the blood and tissue of the
aliens. These things grew in their own right and the
Tree was transformed. The plant grew senses normal
trees didn’t have. Its limbs became unusually limber
and able to grasp things from the ground. The Tree
acquired a taste for blood to be spilled on its roots and
bark. Unwary animals were ripped into parts for the
feeding of the Tree. It grew much larger than the other
trees surrounding it. Soon there was a legend about a
great god of plants that wanted to punish humans for
what they did in harvesting its brothers. The legends
weren’t even close to the frightening nature of the
real thing.
THE SITUATION
For hundreds of years, the Tree grew more and more
hungry. It wasn’t until two villages rose along the
river that humans started becoming part of the Tree’s
diet. Although, the Tree learned to like the taste of
human blood, it didn’t like the many objects humans
carried. More and more equipment started piling up
around the root systems of the Tree. Those items
became a lure for the people around the Tree. They
would pass by and see the weapons, armor, and other
things and wanted them. Many came up to the Tree,
expecting to find a normal large plant. They found a
new type of monster. No human lived long enough to
send back a warning.
The Tree grew intelligent enough to want to lure prey
into its branches. It thought of many things and began
to change the look and feel of the area around it. The
Tree noticed that it didn’t look like other trees in the
area. It started ripping up creatures, draining them
of blood, and then throwing the pieces on the other
trees in the area. Soon the land turned into a charnel
area where bugs and smaller predators came to eat
the flesh the Tree provided. The smell was incredible.
The surrounding trees filled with the nests of hawks,
eagles, and other predator birds. The root systems
became mouse and rat warrens and these grew fat
on the mass of flesh the Tree spread around. Larger
predators started appearing and lions and hyenas
joined in the feast and became part of the food as the
Tree caught the larger creatures in its grasp. Packs
learned where it was safe to move in the forest and
where the Tree could grab them. Soon there were large
groups of predators ready and waiting for anything
the Tree could provide.