Not wanting to leave Rykasha defensless, the party decided to keep her in view and killian placed an alarm spell around her area so that he might be alerted should anyone enter near her. Feeling that she was sufficiently safe, the remaining party went into the cavern to investigate the noises. Tai and Killian scouted the area and found it hard to move throught he thorny bushes covering the cavern floor. Ahead, they were able to make out a depression in the earth and the tip of a gigantic tree appeared out of it. As they were approaching the tree, the party spotted a few of the twig blights standing still among the brush. Alton launched an arrow at the closest one, and the fight was on. Once the blights were cleared from the path, Killian heard a ringing sound in his ears that alerted him to the alarm spell he had placed near Rykasha.
The party rushed back to where she was previously held unconscious, and found that she had bound her wounds, regained consciousness and was ready to fight. Not aware of the alarm spell, she had triggered it by stumbling towards the sounds of the battle. The reunited heroes then set towards the depression to try to see what was going on. As they came to the battlements on the ledge, they looked down and saw three humans and a large frog in the tree. One of the humans was wearing a gold ring on her finger that had the quail signet from the Hercule family. Judging that one of the others must be Sir Bradford and the other Belak, the party talked for a bit about a plan of action. It was decided that they were going to go down calmly and speak to Belak.
As they approached, they surprised Belak who was speaking to Sir Bradford at the time. Belak turned and regarded the party and asked what they were doing there. Rykasha spoke for the party by saying that they were looking for an elf by the name of Roedyn, but Belak had never heard the name before. While speaking to Belak, the party implied that they had killed guards and twig blights alike, had had looted at least one of the rooms inside the lower levels, and spoke to him with arrogant musings. Belak became very upset and told them to leave. Alton then aimed his crossbow at Belak and fired.
The battle was bloody, as Sir Bradford and Rykasha stood off against one another until Rykasha finally fell to the ground. Sir Bradford then went after Tai and was working his way through her defenses, but the damage that he had taken with his battle with Rykasha had proven to be too much and he fell to the ground unconscious. Sharwyn cast offensive spells at the party until she was cut down in the frey. Seeing that the tide of the battle was turning, Belak ran from the cavern seemingly unimpeded by the thorn bushes coating the earth.
Alton applied his healing arts to the party while they questioned Sir Bradford. It was apparent that he was fighting with something internally, but managed to respond when something personal and from his past was mentioned. He spoke of how Roedyn and the burning blades had gotten separated, and tried to describe his acceptance into the Gulthias tree, but was only able to babble incoherently. His final act was handing Rykasha his magical sword and asking that they cut down the tree of evil. Alton took the sword while Rykasha pulled out her falchion and Tai her Katana. The three of them were able to cut down the tree while Killian sung of the battle inspiring courage and strength. In a short while, the tree was cut down and piled in the middle of the room. Alton then doused the tree in holy water and tried to turn the tree with Pelor’s might. The tree did not turn or become destroyed, instead it compressed into a perfect sphere made of the blackest wood. Unable to lift or move the enormous sphere, Alton consulted with his god asking for guildance. His response implied that he should find another who is better equipped to handle the situation properly and return.
Satisfied with the answer, the party then rested in the same room as the sphere and recovered from the injuries of the battle. There is still much to be explored on the level above, and party has a better idea of where to go to hopefully find Roedyn and possibly even discover where Calcryx went.