[ Were you taken off into the woods by the dryads? Great, because Cairngorm was, too. What’s not so great is that their only physical change for the time being is some bark growing on some patches of their crystalline skin, so when they step on a stray branch on the ground with that heavy crystal weight of theirs (~400 pounds), they don’t think much of it.

Until they hear a little crack and look down at the source, and see it’s connected to someone else. ]

Ah!! Creep!

[ They react about as you would expect; by jumping away with a sound that’s half horror and half surprise, literally cringing away. Without a mirror out here, it’s hard to tell that the same thing is happening to them. After their little bout of fright, they point a finger suspiciously at you, brows creased. ]

You! [ Are they hurt? Are they even someone from the town, or a replica? ] What is that?

[ The Tree Disease progresses fast, but - they aren’t like most beings here. If a part of them is starting to become more tree like than they’d like? Well, the logical part would be to just break it off. The only problem is that the current part of them that seems infected is their left leg and arm; their leg has grown into roots that have latched them into the ground, and their left arm up to their forearm rendered into mostly twisting branches.

Maybe you’re a passerby trying to save all of those who have been stolen away, or maybe you’re just another unfortunate soul dragged into treedom, but when Cairngorm calls out, it seems that getting healed isn’t the first order of business on their mind. ]

Hey, you. [ They wave with their good hand to try and get your attention. ] Can you move? These roots are...

[ Too deep! Which means its time to get a leg chopping. ]

[ What started out as a great idea really… didn’t work out! They are now legless and sadly realizing that they should have never tried to just cut out the infection, because the tree growing continued even after breaking off the rooted parts. Their only hope now is to try and drag themself out of the forest using their arms, the twisting roots growing from the open breaks on either mid-thigh still attempting to root them to the forest floor.

It’s during this desperate attempt to escape that some of their foliage gets tangled up with you - whether it’s other roots near your feet, or your shoelaces, or something else. Either way, they can barely see anything in front of them while dragging along the floor like this - and now, it’s a tangled mess given the twisting type of tree they’re becoming. ]

Ugh… [ It takes about one futile attempt to tug their arm free before they realize it won’t be that simple. A simple glance away will reveal both their limbs not too far off from where the two of you are stuck together, half crystal and half yellow tree roots. To be honest, they look a little creepy too; it'd be easy to mistake them for some monster trying to get the better of you by the way they clutch on to the part of you that's stuck to them, their touch distinctively heavy and inhuman. ] Get off. I'm trying... to make it back...

[ They complain, as if this is totally your fault. ]

( anything else you want! cairngorm here is going to perish to becoming a tree, but will return to town after death penalties. though their broken limbs will be glittering in the forest for those around to see! feel free to contact me at ishimarus for anything specific. )