Rex Tree

Summary

The Rex Tree is both a town and its central landmark—a massive, "weirdly kingly" tree that dominates the town square. The settlement serves as a trading hub and supply point for travelers moving through the wasteland region, positioned at a considerable distance from New Smoke and between safer territories and more dangerous areas. Rex Tree is home to the Pinecone Restaurant and Spa and Marty Frankenstein and Sons pig rental business. Many residents have adopted Frankenstein as their chosen name. The tree serves both practical and religious significance—Vasso views it with reverence, calling it "the mother tree."

In Session 2, the party discovered that the Rex Tree conceals a hidden entrance to an underground tunnel system, accessed through a trap mechanism in its bark. When Monster tracked a trail to the tree's base, the party uncovered the entrance and became trapped inside when the door sealed shut behind them, plunging them into total darkness. Session 3 revealed the true significance of these hidden caverns: an extensive underground complex where Cultists conducted rituals dedicated to the Sniff Lord, featuring multiple chambers including a ritual space with a food-laden altar, corridor systems with portcullis traps, and deeper passages leading to the creature's domain. The settlement's market economy operates despite its remote location, though goods from the wastes command elevated prices due to the town's modest population and frontier position. The settlement has become such a well-known landmark that it serves as the party's primary reference point when encountering tree symbols on maps.

Description

The Rex Tree stands as a gigantic presence in the town square, its massive branches spreading wide enough that the ground beneath them is carpeted with fist-sized acorns—far larger than normal acorns. The tree's bark waves around in patterns that appear mostly natural, though careful observation reveals one section near disturbed acorns where people have passed by repeatedly.

The hidden entrance mechanism consists of a section of bark that responds to touch when someone attempts to commune with the tree. When activated, a grinding sound precedes the opening—a six-foot-tall doorway where a portion of the tree falls away, revealing a deep, dark tunnel leading down into the earth. The interior of the entrance appears as earth and stone rather than wood.

Once opened, the trap mechanism seals automatically. The door shoots back up from the earth and shuts behind anyone who passes the threshold, locking them in total darkness. Below, the tree's roots penetrate deep underground, poking through the ceiling of the Underground Cavern Beneath Rex Tree.

The settlement is located in a region where the forest eventually thins out into grassy hills to the east. To the west, a sparse forest extends toward the town, through which The Frozen Waterfall flows.

History

Session 2

The party arrives in Rex Tree during their investigations. They stand outside with their pigs in front of the big tree when Carla begins to wander toward it.

Monster tracks something to the tree, hopping down to ground level and walking nose-to-ground across the square. The party follows underneath the massive boughs and approaches the trunk, where they discover the ground carpeted with fist-sized acorns. Sucks notices the disturbed acorns and alerts the others: "Guys, I think there's like an opening over here or some. I don't know, like, look at these acorns on the ground, how they've been moved around."

When someone attempts to commune with the tree, a grinding sound occurs and a portion falls away, revealing the tunnel entrance. The four party members—Dunko Guzman, Safia, Vasso, and Sucks—pass into the tunnel. The moment the last one crosses the threshold, the door shoots back up from the earth and shuts behind them, trapping them in total darkness.

Vasso whispers to the group that "the mother tree swallowed us. The mother tree swallowed us, everyone," adding, "She wants us here." The party finds themselves in the darkness of the Underground Tunnels Beneath Rex Tree, which eventually lead to a larger cavern where the Rex Tree's roots penetrate the ceiling above.

Session 3

The party navigated the underground cavern system beneath the Rex Tree, descending via an arcing ramp that led from the tree's base into the depths below. Sucks entered the dark cavern without a plan, a reckless action that would be noted during end-of-session mechanics. The group discovered the main ritual chamber where Cultists had been conducting their secret ceremonies, finding the space dominated by an altar stacked high with delicious foodstuffs and surrounded by robed, masked figures including the Robed Figure with Dog Mask.

The underground complex proved to be an extensive network of corridors and chambers. The party encountered a portcullis trap system capable of sealing off sections of the tunnel network, threatening to trap intruders within the passages. The enclosed atmosphere of the caverns caused scents to linger and accumulate, creating an overwhelming sensory environment that would prove significant in their confrontation with the Sniff Lord.

Within these chambers beneath the Rex Tree, the party made crucial discoveries—including the synesthesia-inducing Dog Mask—and successfully tamed the Sniff Lord that the cultists worshipped. The deeper passages of the complex led directly to the creature's domain, revealing the full extent of the cult's subterranean operations. By session's end, the party had successfully escaped from beneath the Rex Tree, emerging back into the town above.

Session 4

Session 4 opens with the party emerging from the underground tunnels and returning to Rex Tree's surface, having survived their encounter with the Sniff Lord beneath the tree. The settlement now serves as their staging ground for a new mission: preparing for a three-day journey through bandit-infested territory to New Smoke. The party conducts extensive shopping throughout Rex Tree's market district, dividing their 50 coins among various merchants and suppliers.

During their preparations, Sucks, Cat, Safia, and Vasso visit multiple establishments including the Novelty Goods Shop and Louise Guzman's business. The party negotiates with a Teenage Dealer over pipe leaf prices, learning that goods from the wastes command premium prices in Rex Tree "because it's not easy to come by and it's not the most populated place in the world." The town's street-level commerce includes both legitimate merchants and teenage dealers operating openly in the market areas.

After completing their provisioning, the party departs Rex Tree for New Smoke, marking the settlement's role as a final supply point before dangerous wilderness travel. As they leave, "the forest that stretched around Rex Tree has started to thin out into just, like, some grassy hills," defining the boundary between the settlement's territory and the open wastes beyond.

Episode: "Session 5"

The party departed from Rex Tree at the beginning of Session 5, embarking on their journey to New Smoke with a pig-drawn cart loaded with goods. As Shawn narrated: "When last we left our heroes, you had begun the journey from Rex Tree to New Smoke." By the time the session's main events unfolded, the group had already traveled for a day and a half, placing significant distance between themselves and the settlement as they proceeded along the trade route toward their destination.

Episode: "Session 11"

When the party examined The Wasteland Map they had recently acquired, the Rex Tree immediately came to mind as a possible reference point. Brad asked whether the tree symbol marked with an X on the map might represent Rex Tree, asking, "Does it look like the tree is Rex Tree, like the town of." However, Shawn clarified the map's geography, explaining that "it's definitely not like, close enough or Rex Tree is not close enough for that to be what this map is about." This exchange established that while Rex Tree remains a significant and recognizable landmark to the party, the dead tree marked on the discovered map represents a different, closer location to New Smoke. The fact that Rex Tree was the party's first instinct when encountering a tree symbol on a map underscores how thoroughly the settlement has established itself in their mental geography of the region.

Notable Features

The Mother Tree: A massive, gigantic tree described as "weirdly kingly" that dominates the town square
Oversized Acorns: Fist-sized acorns carpet the ground beneath the branches, far larger than normal
Hidden Entrance: A trap mechanism in the bark that opens when touched during communion with the tree, revealing a six-foot-tall doorway
Automatic Sealing Door: The entrance mechanism closes automatically once all occupants have entered, sealing with no apparent way to reopen from inside
Root System: The tree's roots extend deep underground, penetrating through the ceiling of the cavern below
Religious Significance: Vasso treats the tree as a sacred entity, referring to it as "the mother tree"
Connection to Underground: The tree serves as the primary entrance to the Underground Tunnels Beneath Rex Tree and Underground Cavern Beneath Rex Tree, where The Masked Cultists and Robed Cult Figures operate around a Stone Altar