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The party headed Ythryn's Arboretum to find Apius's spellbook. They spied on Huarwar and the Black Swords from outside the area's glass dome. The cult members were quietly attempting to carve bark from the Nether Oak that rested dormant in the center. The heroes decided to take advantage of stealth with Fern sneaking through some brush to mage hand the spellbook of High Diviner Apius out of Huarwar's pack and Tetro crawling up the dome as a spider. The Black Swords were unable to carve the Nether Oak's bark without awakening the treant, who decided to toy with them and attack. This soon turned into a three way battle as Crank ambushed a Knight of Levistus. While Huarwar tried to compel the party to team up against the oak, the party realized they had the initiative to take both opponents down. Oona ended Huarwar's arc with an axe to the back. Two Black Swords cultists were able to flee, while the heroes put an end to the evil treant, igniting it in flame. |