Forest Guardian

What — A dryad/treant variant infused with mushroom poisons (10–12 ft, four venomous tentacle appendages); a territorial nature-guardian that emerged in the over-logged woods ~8 miles north of Ponterford in response to timber-harvesting for Laewendas's war machine.

Threat — Deadly. Carries a save-or-die venom (doomed toxicore, 3 days to live) plus an area-blinding dirt cloud; reportedly killed three of four commoners in six seconds.

Observed abilities

• Dirt cloud — casts a massive concentration-based cloud that blinds/obscures everyone in the area (GM compared it to Fog Cloud but with aerated dirt; ruled at least heavy obscuration) Session 38.
• Venomous wooden needles — on slamming into the battlefield, explodes wooden needles outward in a cone/AoE; needles are dipped in venom Session 38 Session 39.
• Doomed toxicore venom — failed CON save inflicts a fatal condition: skin pustules, death within ~3 days, curable only by powerful restorative magic (or, as assumed in-fiction, its own gland). Silithane and Yngraf both failed their saves Session 38.
• Cleaving Thrash — cone melee hitting Lash, Salamandine, and Varg for 11 damage each in one turn (missed Silithane, AC too high) Session 39.
• Earth regeneration — sank its fists into the ground and regenerated 26 HP from the earth Session 39.
• Speak with Flesh — monologues at opponents mid-fight Session 38.

Resistances / immunities / weaknesses

• Concentration is breakable — Fenric's Spellbreaker shut down its dirt cloud, the turning point of the fight Session 38 Session 39.
• Can be restrained — held throughout the fight by Thalia's Entangle vines Session 39.
• Pure plant: it has no venom sac of its own (confirmed by Fenric's survival check, 26); all poison was externally harvested by dipping wood shards in Wyrmstooth Venom drawn from a draconic worm skull atop a nearby 150 ft spire Session 39.
• Gap: no stated AC, HP, save DC, or needle damage in the evidence.

Tactics & behavior — Opens at range with the blinding dirt cloud, then closes by slamming down to spray venomous needles before lashing with tentacles/fists in melee; relies on the venom's lethality over raw output. Attacks anyone carrying cut wood, perceiving timber as the corpses of its kin. Gap: no flee/surrender behavior observed — it fought to unconsciousness and did not back down (no sign it fears Fenric or spellbreakers specifically, though Spellbreaker neutralized its key ability).

Disposition to the party — Hostile but not malicious: a territorial protector provoked by the party's wood-laden galley wagon. The fey mushroom-person Billy's Mom sided with it and refused to help the party while lumberjacks remained, since the Guardian kept woodsmen away Session 38.

Status — Dead. Knocked unconscious (non-lethal) by Fenric with the final 9 HP, then butchered by Varg for trophies Session 39. Thalia replanted its seed pods with Druidcraft — five-plus sprouts survived, so its lineage may regrow over several years. Last seen Session 39.

SUMMARY: Plant-guardian with blinding cloud and save-or-die venom; slain Session 39.