| The world is full of places where the boundary between this world and the next is weak. These are the places men do not frequent at night and where the spirits of the damned caper and howl under moonless skies. It is these place that the spirit tree grows, a living gateway to the afterlife. The spirit tree appears dead at first glance. Its few leaves are small and quickly die. Its bark is dark with a consistency slightly greater than dirt. A typical spirit tree is gnarled and hunched over, rarely exceeding 20 feet in height. The trunk is thick with a diameter ranging from 2 to 6 feet. Its blooms, which occur every nine years, are moist crimson. On moonless nights (and perhaps other times such as eclipses), the trunk of the spirit tree forms a gateway to the afterworld. Besides the dangers of creatures, which frequent the area, one must also push past the souls of the damned trying to gain entrance to this world. The beings take the form of red-eyed ghosts, just barely tangible. It takes a Strength check (DC 20) to push past them. Turning or rebuking the collective spirits will also work (Treat them as 10 3 HD undead and note that the gateway imparts a �3 penalty to turning attempts). Once on the other side, an individual finds himself surrounded by weak spirits by a reflection of the spirit tree. This reflection disappears when the moon rises or night ends. Spirit trees only grow where the connection to death is strongest. Typically they stand in cemeteries, old battles fields, and ruined cities. |
| Spirit Tree |