1.262

You look at the area where the biomeld had ensconced itself and note the heavy concentration of dendritic vines where it had been. Are the vines inviting you in? It certainly looks like they are. You are siezed by a sudden impulse to allow the vines to wrap themselves around you.

Rangers Choose

A) Climb inside the vines. Go to 1.262A.

B) Move along. Go to 1.262B.

1.262A

You climb inside, and the vines wrap around you, beginning at your wrists and ankles, and then slowly crawling over your limbs. Their touch is delicate at first, but soon they tighten, and you feel your pulse pounding in your constricted veins. You experience a moment of panic and question the wisdom of putting yourself in such a vulnerable position.

Suddenly, as if in response, a deep sense of calm washes over you. You are safe. Perhaps safer than you have ever been in all your life. You close your eyes and feel your physical body melt away.

You sense something that you recognize as hunger. A ravenous craving that can never be satisfied. You feel longing, but for what you cannot say, and your heart is filled with a profound and implacable sadness. The earth turns beneath you, passing through you, inch by inch, mile by mile, but nowhere can you find that for which you search. There is only consumption, digestion, and expulsion.

Then, interrupting that seemingly eternal cycle, comes a spark. You become aware of a second consciousness; a joining. It grows inside of you. Warmth spreads throughout your being. You feel held and supported, understood, consoled. The sadness falls away in an instant, your hunger inexplicably satisfied, your purpose clear.

You become aware of your surroundings; the heat of the sun, the towering sky, life in all its forms teeming around you, grateful for your presence, and you gain an implicit understanding of your place in the vast tapestry of existence. There is nothing to fear. You are at home. You are at peace.

You open your eyes, a Ranger once more, finding yourself lying on your back at the edge of the blackened pool, uncertain of what you just experienced.

Record HAD A DENDRITIC VISION on your campaign tracker.

1.262B

You watch the vines recoil into the flesh of the terravore's intestinal wall. The moment has passed, gone as quickly as it came.