100 things that could have been in that Hollow tree.

The hollow tree.

Three boys from town were walking in the forest hunting for mushrooms and fiddle-heads. As the shadows began to get long they rounded a thicket and hopped over an oxbow in the stream they were confronted by a massive tree trunk. Round as Old Milfords Grain house, taller than a hog shed and broken at the top into jagged woody teeth that looked like a vast hoary crown.  It looked as if the grand old tee had bee sicken by lighting recently, the trunk had fallen and a deep crack was rent down the side of the remaining trunk. The boys could see that the lightning had also exposed a deep hollow inside the mighty stump. At the Drum-kettle Inn an old man tells what the boys say they had seen, and why they promised each other never to return.

They quietly crept up to the darkness of he Hollow stump, carefully peered in  and saw.

1. Three children growing out of the old trunk. The children looked exactly like them.
2. A swirling swirling vortex that looked like the night sky and gave off a low humming noise like bees under a thick blanket. 
3. A massive wooden heart, rent from an equally large wooden artery, dried sap oozing  from the wound with each slow labored beat.
4. A writhing mass of  blood red giant slugs, recently hatched form their slime covered egg sacks.
5. The skeleton of a man horribly deformed by the action of ancient roots clutching a black lacquer box.
6. A gnome tending a small cauldron of broth containing a hand. The owner of which was o where in sight. The gnome became angered when he saw the youths and chased them, shouting curses and throwing stones.
7. A round wooden table, pieces of copper and spread about, a murdered man laying on the ground.
8. Several stones floating in the air.
9. a crack in the earth, a  natural slope leading down, cool air rushing from the opening.
10. The inside of the tree was covered with a thick coating of ice in spite of the warm spring day.
11. They saw nothing, but they heard voices, conversations and music.
12. A strange face carved inside the  tree, a woman locked in an endless scream, it looked like a small gem may have rested in her mouth but they dared not go any closer.
13. A fine camp, with a silk bed roll, a brass lantern, and several bottles of wine.
14. The biggest rat any of them had ever seen, and strangely it was wearing a saddle.
15. A swirling vortex of smoke and sparks.
16.  A young child, who had at some point had his eyes removed, who when they approached he offered to tell them their fortunes in a very adult voice.
17. many small items that had been lost form local farms over the past few decades all heaped up in a pile and hung fro the interior walls of the tree. Things like horse shoes, nails, keys, bits of chain. Things lost but barely missed.
18. A vine as think an a mans arm and at least ten feet long busy  trashing a young doe to death.
19. An extremely large egg, with a shell of molted blue, black, and tan. The children returned to town to get a wheel barrow for the egg then thought better of it.
20. A cook pot, a bag of pipe-weed, a smoldering pipe laying on the ground and a huge snake curled up in the center of the hollow tree. A large lump plainly visible in its abdomen.
21. Some one had placed a large cage trap inside the hollow tree. A chocolate cake placed as bait.
22. The slumbering Owl Bear
23. A large pulsating  purple blob, as they peered at it it began to move toward them, their heads swam and the forest began to swirl, after that the boys only remember running, heedlessly though brambles and  streams until they arrived back at town.
24. The tree was packed solid with skeletal remains, so much so they were spilling out where the  truck had cracked.
25. A great pile of feathers and chicken bones.
    
26. The three was harboring a wood nymph , who upon seeing the boys whispered a secret to each of them and sent them home with the request that they return when they are older.
27. There was a creature, a cracking creature o pure light , it was as if the  lightning that struck the tree was still living in the  hollow tree, waiting to lash out again.
28. There was a sword wedged into the ancient roots of the tree. The boys tugged on it, but none of them were strong enough to pull it free.
29. There was a spiral stair leading up into the tree trunk, then into darkness. Strangely the  boys tell that the tree was broken off at a much lower point than the spiral stair seems to climb. 
30. A troll sat with it's back to the opening eating some poor creature still half alive,luckily the boys ran off before it saw them.
31. A very large chest held shut by iron chains.
32. a Four foot long three foot tall wooden model of a war ship. The boys tried to take it but it was rooted to the ground, ass if it grew there.
33. A gigantic lizard skull.
34. Some one has set up a bar inside the  tree, non one was around, but a small sign said  "opens at midnight"
    
35. A Shimmering image of a beautiful woman , soundlessly mouthing unknown words over and over again.
36. A figure appearing to be made of living wood, and attached to the inside of the tree by hundreds of small roots, It writhed as if trying to get free.
37. A strange garden of iridescent flowers, that ring with a soft music when disturbed. 
38. A sheer hole dropping into the earth, the boys dropped a stone in and never heard it hit bottom.
39. a living space built for a human sized creature , whit a fire pit and a door flap made of a thick pelt, it seems to have been abandon for  while.
40. Three casks of  very fine spirits, and a small pouch of coins.
41. A strange stone altar surrounded by burnt down candles, a skeleton fresh but flayed fo a it's flesh  strapped a crossed it. 
42. A HUGE snail.
    
43. An opening into a giant ant colony, the ants pop in and out of the  freshly downed trunk looking for prey.
44. A pool of mud that burbles and  roils, seeming to momentarily taking on the shape of faces, limbs and random body parts.
45. A silver chalice filled with a strange amber fluid.
46. Several Huge multicolored mushrooms the likes of which the boys had never seen before.
47. A large ape that turned to the boys and began to speak, they were so frightened they ran home.
48. A stone well, complete with a bucket and pulley.
49. The hollow tree appeared to be empty , but the boys tell of a very strong smell of waste water or sewage in the trunk.
50. The inside of the tree is covered by a vast pixie city, the pixies have been thrown into a  tizzy trying to reconnect with the pixies in the part of the city that was lost when the tree was hit by lighting and fell over.
51. The Interior of the tree is the  home to a hive of massive wasps. The boys ran home to tell the village men , because they know from their bed time stories that the  royal jelly of giant wasps can cure wounds and disease.
52. A bail of hey with a tied up miniature goat chewing away at it.
53. A giant  pitcher plant the  evening light streaming into the trunk plainly reveled the shadow of a human form inside the massive plant.
54. A massive pulsating brain like fungus.
55. a crystalline blue pool of water, bubbling up form a spring deep below.
56. An elf chained to the interior of the tree.
57. An apothecary's work space, covered with bottles and powders. A skeleton sitting in a chair in-front of the work bench head in it's hands.
58. The interior of the tree is covered with  runes the runes tell the story of a journey from the under world to redemption, reading it ha a magical effect.
59. I hidden pit filled with  spikes.
60. A giant spider the spider speaks a scratchy  form of common, it invited the children in for tea and ha no idea why they ran away.
61. A perfect model of the  local baron's keep, accurate in every detail.
62. Hundreds of tiny tombstones, each one with a name scrawled on it in a ancient script.
63. dozens of fine threads hang from the upper reaches of the  broken stump, on the end of each one  a tooth dangles in the breeze.
64. a mysterious man sized green pod covered in a sticky jelly.
65. The inner wall of the tree holds an intricately carved series of commandments concerning  living the proper life of  paladin.
66. A woodsman's ax, the hand and and upper arm of the woodsman still attached.
67. An intelligent and very rowdy family of raccoon
68. Two ethereal ghosts locked in a  never ending wrestling match as the struggle to gain possession of a strange dagger.
69. A map is burnt into the  wood inside the hollow trunk. It shows places and  cities the  three youths have never head of , but the geography looks familiar to them.
    
70. Strange sweet smelling fruits hang form the  interior of the tree, each ones rind looks like a different and frighteningly realistic human face.
71. A very old looking man in  stark white cloaks sleeping soundly on a bed roll laid out inside the tree.
72. A small house built into the side of the tree, a badger is tied up in-front like a dog.
    
73. A Person is pushing it's way up through the soil in the center of the tree stump, it looks like the  person has been dead for a long time, whats worse there is a tangle of other arms pushing through the soil. This could be a problem.
74. A man sized straw and  twine idol with a bird cage on its head. IN the bird cage a small son bird was tweeting happily.
75. A large burlap sack containing several pounds of pure clay, a few mismatched iron rods, a large set of shackles and a small ivory box containing  a small blank scroll.
76.  A small patch of  red fern that wave and move on their own.
77. thousands of  four inch long  glowing centipedes writhing in a mass an d covering the interior of the stump.
78. A ghoul feeding on the corpse of some unfortunate victim.
    
79. Grown into the twisting roots of the old tree is a sturdy looking silver shield.
80. three goblins building a strange device out of a stolen wheelbarrow, a dire wolf, some rusty shields and a heavy crossbow.
81. A bloody scythe is rammed into the interior wall of the tree stump, the  area is splashed with blood and gore.
82. two gnomes playing chess.
83. A goat like grey skinned make figure with huge horns chained to the wall of the stump, when he saw the boys he began imploring them to free him, even promising to show them where a great horde of gold is hidden in the forest.
84. A skull riddled with  nails. No body. The boys say the skull was perched atop a small wooden chest.
85. Inside the tree is a large and very old looking statue. 
86. It's a gelatinous cube spawning site. There are several cubes stuffed in the hollow of the tree slapping blindly up against each other. They apparently came to the surface from a  cave below.
87. The boys found a very sad forest pixy that told them the story about her family being  slain by  a hunter. he asked the boy to stay and never leave, they  realized that was a bit creepy so they  ran home.
88. A huge hairy humanoid was quietly sleeping  curled up in the hollow tree.
89. They have found the body of a local farm hand who has been missing for several weeks, he has had his throat cut and has been stripped naked.
90. The interior walls of the tree stump is covered with  strange multicolored fruit.
91. A man in a flowing black cloak was sitting on a stool in the middle of the broken stump, he told the boys he is a follower of the old faith and will be setting up a grove, he then offered them tea, and began explaining how a walnut becomes a mighty oak. The boys quietly left and then ran back to town. 
92. A huge beetle was chewing away at the tree trunk, several large writhing egg sacks were seen strewn around the  forest floor nearby.
93. A grave stone that must have been here before the tree first started to grow, on it is inscribed the name of the towns founder. A man who  was thought to be an evil necromancer, just saying his name is thought to be a bad omen back in town.
    
94. The Roots of the old tree create a five foot wide tunnel that travels under the earth from the base of the tree.
95. The mummified remains of a dog that had gotten stuck in the  tree many yeas before.
96. A trove of large Pearls and  several other smaller Gems that has been hurriedly stashed here.
97. a small sapling growing form the exact center of the older trees trunk, when the boys approached it began to  shimmer. The heard voices singing in their ears, and another stronger voice telling them to tend the new sapling. The assumed it was a dark magic , and  ran back to town.
98. Wedged into the ancient tree's interior is a strange silver tube about  four feet long,  a foot around, and covered in runes.
99. The huge cracked stump contains the  prow of a very old ship, clearly visible inside the  broken vessel is a skeleton strapped to a chair, wearing a helmet that connects it t some strange arcane device that appears to be part of the old vessels prow.
100. A 5 by 5 by five stone cube hovers silently in the center of the ancient tree's trunk, it seems undisturbed by  the ages, an it slowly spins. it is  shinny, black on all sides except one which holds a door.

Thank you for reading .

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