Greenheart of Darkness
Opening/Encounter 1
The Thornwatch are summoned to find a wounded Greenheart laying at the base of a tree between two boulders, which lies in the middle of a meadow. This Greenheart is having trouble breathing and is slowly dying; its green skin slowly fading into darkness.
“Help me.” he/she quietly begs, coughing and spilling bright green blood from its mouth.
The Thornwatch look at each other and silently agree to help. The Greenheart on their team comes over and begins to heal the damaged member. As the healing starts to take hold, a black cloud begins to loom over from the tops of the trees.
“Ebb Cloud incoming!” says the Sage, observing the oncoming storm.
The Thornwatch prepare for anything an everything that could come from the black cloud. The Greenheart rushes to provide as much care as possible to the dying comrade, knowing he/she will have to defend their team soon.
The Ebb Cloud pours over the canopy of the treeline and flows down the forest like a waterfall and stops a few feet from the ground. It starts to create a gurgling, hollow sound and forms itself into a shape of a human. First the feet, then the body, arms, and finally a head. This creature has come to kill all Thornwatch in its path. It seeks the power
that lies within the two Greenhearts that it sees before it. The Greenheart is able to sustain the wounds of the Dying Greenheart as to keep him/her alive in a coma. “There, you should be fine for a while.” the Greenheart says before joining his/her troop to face the unknown Ebb Being. The battle commences.
Objective
Protect/heal the dying Greenheart. Players may warp him/her across the field using Dimensional Step to keep him/her from the Ebb Being. Additionally, players may use either a Tree of Vigor/Vitality to heal the Greenheart. Either defeating the Ebb Being or fully healing the Dying Greenheart will end the encounter. It may also end if the Ebb Being succeeds in destroying the tree that is to heal the Dying Greenheart.
Healing the Dying Greenheart can be only done by using either the Tree of Vigor/Vitality. Players must infuse the tree with one of each Synergy/Vitality and pass it to the Dying Greenheart. The Ebb Cloud/Being may take out/absorb/discard vitalities via landing hits on the Thornwatch team. If the Ebb Being lands an attack on a Thornwatch member when the tree has no energy attached to it, the tree is cut, and the encounter ends.
End Encounter 1
Ebb Being Defeated (Boon: A Friend in Need)
The Ebb Creature is killed. It curls up while standing and begins to give a maniacal laugh. The Thornwatch look at each other and stand ready for any hidden surprises it may unleash. The Ebb Being uncurls itself, yells, and explodes itself into a stream of Ebb fog, streaming itself up into the air and forming into an Ebb Leech. Once its form is completed, it seeks out a nearby host; the Dying Greenheart. It strikes down from the sky like an arrow, attaching itself to the the back of the neck of the Thornwatch’s summoner.
The Ebb Leech integrates itself into the Greenheart, turning its green glow into a purple aura. Soon the Greenheart turns pale white and opens its dead black eyes. The Thornwatch cannot let this creature leave their sight. They must kill or cleanse the Ebb Greenheart.
“We need to do something!” the Sage cries.
“We need to get that Leech off of it’s neck.” the Guard replies.
“That will kill him in the process. If it dies, so does he/she.” the Greenheart responds.
“What do you suggest?” the Blade asks.
The Greenheart twiddles another seed in her/his hand.
“We can either destroy the leech, or cleanse it. If we do that, he/she may survive the process.”
All of the Thornwatch members look at each other to decide what to do next. They’ll have to decide fast as the Ebb Greenheart begins to move to attack.
Tree Fully Powered Up (Boon: A Friend Saved)
The Ebb Being is too late to take what it has come for. The Dying Greenheart has regained consciousness and opens its eyes to see the creature that wounded him/her has come back. Scared, the now Revived Greenheart emits a glow from its hand to the
tree that healed him/her. The tree grows in size and opens up to a hollow fortress inside. The Greenheart climbs inside and takes shelter as to not let this foul Being from taking his/her energy again.
Disappointed at its loss, the Ebb Being turns itself into a Giant Crow, taking flight. Knowing it cannot take the life of two Greenhearts as it had planned, it now seeks out the only remaining Greenheart in sight. The Thornwatch look onward and ready themselves to finish this creature off.
The Tree is Cut (Scar: Loss of a Friend)
The tree is sliced and with it, the hopes of the Thornwatch being able to complete their mission. The Ebb Being laughs as the Tree the Thornwatch sought to help heal their dying comrade turns to ash. Seeing that it has won, the Ebb Being looks down at the now Dead Greenheart and grabs it by the head. Picking it up, the Ebb Being looks at it and pours itself into the husk of the Greenheart. Black smoke encases the body and morphs itself into a new creature. Emerging from the cloud comes the shape of their fallen comrade, yet a creature rests on its skin. An Ebb Leech protrudes from the Greenheart’s neck.
The Thornwatch look in awe as their brother-in-arms is turned into the thing that they were supposed to defeat. Its skin turning a pale white, eyes open to black, and emits a purple aura around its body. The Thornwatch are now looking at an Ebb Greenheart.
“We need to do something!” the Sage cries.
“We need to get that Leech off of it’s neck.” the Guard replies.
“That will kill him in the process. If it dies, so does he/she.” the Greenheart responds.
“What do you suggest?” the Blade asks.
The Greenheart twiddles another seed in her/his hand.
“We can either destroy the leech, or cleanse it. If we do that, he/she may survive the process.”
All of the Thornwatch members look at each other to decide what to do next. They’ll have to decide fast as the Ebb Greenheart begins to move to attack.
Encounter 2
Objective
The Thornwatch need to defeat the Ebb Leech/Giant Crow. In case of the Ebb Leech, it may be cleansed by use of Tree of Life/Vitality as in the previous encounter, though it may be defeated by traditional melee means. If it is defeated via melee, it will result in killing the host. The Ebb Leech mimics the ability of healing the Greenheart possesses, but can heal itself only if it rolls doubles. If doubles are rolled, its HP increases by 1 on momentum, potentially keeping it above the edge. The Ebb Leech needs to be knocked off of the edge 3 times for defeat.
If the Thornwatch attempts to cleanse the Ebb Leech, they must attach 8 vitality/synergy cards to the tree for it to use a cleansing spell. However, the Ebb Greenheart can take out up to 2 vitality/synergy from the Tree if it is within melee range of the Tree.
With the Giant Crow, it must be killed only in order to end the encounter. The Crow has an ability to use air movement, 3 momentum, but not a lot of defense. In this state, it has a low amount of HP. Meaning it only has to be knocked down twice off of the edge for defeat.
End Encounter 2
Ebb Leech Cleansed (Boon: Helping One Another)
The Tree of Vitality/Life emits a bright white glow from it. The forest glows bright and the Thornwatch are blinded momentarily. When the spell ends, the Revived Greenheart is lying on the ground, barely breathing and alive. Next to it is a husk of the Ebb Leech that was once attached to it. It withers and curls back to its legs. The [Player who Completed the Spell] steps on the Ebb Leech, killing it before it has a chance to get away.
The Greenheart attends to his/her brethren, and turns him/her over to finish healing him/her. The rest of the Thornwatch are exhausted to say the least, hoping another Ebb Cloud is not in sight.
After a while, there is a sigh of relief that is heard from their teammate. The now Revived Greenheart says “Thank You” and falls back to sleep.
Ebb Leech & Greenheart Killed (Scar: Put Out of Its Misery)
The [Player who Finished off Ebb Greenheart] strikes down their contaminated brethren, saying “Sorry” under his/her breath. Both the Greenheart and Ebb Leech are withered on the ground, squirming to stay alive. The Thornwatch circle their former friend and mourn their loss. The Greenheart casts a spell to cleanse the body from the residual Ebb while the rest of the team witness the Ebb Leech disintegrate back into the ground. As rain begins to fall, the Thornwatch dig a grave and lay their friend to rest. When they start to leave the site of battle, a sprout of a future Tree emerges from the gravesite.
Giant Crow Killed (Boon: Saving the Forest)
The Crow is slain. A shriek comes bellowing forth from the shapeshifting creature. Feathers fall from its body and wither away once they hit the ground. The Crow turns back into the Ebb Being it once was momentarily, before it lays a message to the Thornwatch. Gargling in a dialect they cannot comprehend, the Thornwatch understand it’s still a threat. Before they can strike it down once and for all, a ball of energy zooms past the crew and hits the Ebb Being, destroying it. The Thornwatch turn to see the Revived Greenheart has emerged from its tree cocoon, almost fully healed.
“Thank you,” says the Revived Greenheart “we couldn’t let that THING live.” The Thornwatch look stunned as a healer has taken a life. But they eventually let out a sigh of relief, agreeing that the Ebb Being could not leave alive. The Revived Greenheart turns to each member of its saving grace, touches their chest, and heals each one as a thanks. After healing the last member, the Revived Greenheart turns back to the Tree it emerged from and goes back into hiding. The Thornwatch turn to the forest and walk into the night.