Treesnek

"It's all fun and games until you find out it was Treesnek the whole time." - ChildOfNaga

Cunning conspirator and corrupter of the innocent, this adorable noodle recruited co-conspirators in the March 5th 2016 Arcane Hunger Games and engineered the deaths of many dragons, although his only direct kill was a level 25 tundra. He was quickly taken out by a conspirator who turned on him and recruited a level 25 guardian to do the job. One of his protegees went on to avenge him and the other succeeded in surviving to win the game. His tale is told below.


In retrospect, the Bloodbath should have been a warning of things to come.

While the other tributes ran, or grabbed supplies, or fought and died over them, the adorable noodlebaby ran into the Cornucopia to hide...and watch. Later, he was seen talking with Merwin, a nocturne who had snatched up a spear. The witness, Lukkora, was clearly disturbed by what she'd heard because while Treesnek told ghost stories with Bryn, Altan, and Stahl, Lukkora was awoken by nightmares. She must have tried to tell Honey about it, but all that got her was her sanity questioned and that night, the nocturne Rearden killed her with a knife to the chest.

Such a tragedy, you may be thinking. So paranoid, but in the end it was a coincidence that doomed her. You would be wrong! On that first night, Rearden slept in shifts with Mael, Skyron...

...and Merwin. A word whispered in the dark, an idea planted, and the true murder weapon was not the knife, but the other nocturne.

You begin to see the subtle creep of Treesnek's treachery.

Of course, you know by now - but if you did not, Merwin was the victor of this game and Treesnek's most well-known disciple, with Bryn the second disciple. These names will come up again and again as we explore the full extent of these events.

On the second day, Merwin tried to talk Sihaya around to his side, but she questioned his sanity. To be fair, she'd questioned her own sanity the previous night, and she would question it again the following night. On the third day, Bryn attacked her but ineffectively; big guardian, tiny fae, and she escaped. On the fifth night, she found herself in a group with Merwin, Rearden, and Bryn - telling "ghost stories". Again the attempt to recruit her failed, and her days and nights were spent alone until day seven, when she sprained her ankle fleeing Merwin. Whether he wore her down physically or mentally, they slept in shifts that night and on the eighth day, they both practiced their magic. If Merwin was counting on her, however, he would be disappointed - that night, she died trying to escape.

Or maybe that was the plan. After all, on the first day, Favnir begged for Sihaya to kill her. She refused at the time, keeping Favnir alive, but on day four they seem to have both changed their minds and Favnir was unable to convince Sihaya to spare her. Maybe she succumbed to the whispers after all. Only Treesnek knows for sure.

For the most part, the second day was quiet. Of the other potential conspirators, Rearden and Stahl collected fruit and water while Bryn thought of home. Skyron and Altan hunted individually for other tributes, but didn't seem to find anyone. Oh, and Treesnek decapitated Mael. With a sword.

You may be asking yourself how a noodlebab managed to get the best of a level 25 tundra. The answer, of course, is: betrayal. No doubt the kindly tundra thought there was no threat from the spiral hatchling with his big, innocent orange eyes. Perhaps she gave him a ride on her back. Certainly it would have been easy from that perch to strike at her where she was vulnerable, and not be seen maneuvering the weapon into position.

The second night, Merwin, Bryn, and Stahl told "ghost stories" with Elestin. Altan attempted to start a fire, but was unsuccessful. It wouldn't be the last time. In fact, the tundra male would sleep without warmth until night 5, when Elestin engaged her own mate in a fist fight and then strangled him. Karma would claim her soon enough: Merwin strangled the guardian female - somehow - on the sixth night.

The first rule of Treesnek: Everyone will be betrayed. Everyone.

But what about Stahl? To answer that, we go back to the Bloodbath. Skyron grabbed a pair of sais, then fled from Vortex. He must have dropped the sais, because on day three, Vortex used them to stab Stahl repeatedly. We can only assume that the unfortunate mirror tried to recruit the guardian, but only horrified him. Honey, too, seems to have been horrified because on the same day, she scared Merwin off. And while Bryn was attacking poor Sihaya, Treesnek and Skyron recruited Ryze to help them hunt for other tributes.

Maybe Skyron was afraid. Maybe he was jealous. Or maybe he had just taken the whispers too deeply to heart, because on day four the guardian teamed up with Vortex and Lethal and hunted the spiral down. Or maybe that was the plan. Night three, while Merwin was killing Decay with his own weapon, Treesnek curled up by himself and quietly hummed.

With the whispering mastermind now out of the picture, what became of the conspirators?

Day four, Bryn teamed up with Rin and Honey to hunt for other tributes. This seems to have been a scouting mission for Bryn, however. That night, Ryze defeated but spared Rin while Bryn did the same with Merwin, and that there was plotting goes without saying. While Honey questioned her sanity, Rearden destroyed Skyron's supplies in probable retribution for Treesnek's death. On the fifth day, Elestin, Ryze, Rearden, Bryn, and Merwin tracked down and killed Rin. Three nocturnes, a fae, and a level 25 guardian who would go on to murder her mate that night.

Altan was not the only victim on night five, however. Vortex snapped Honey's neck while the other tributes split into two groups (Rangileth, Lethal, Skyron, Ryze and Sihaya, Merwin, Rearden, Bryn), each telling "ghost stories". The next morning, Ryze escaped a dangerous situation when Lethal, tiny nocturne that she is, somehow forced Rangileth to kill one of two other guardians. Apparently not wanting to tangle with another level 25, she spared Elestin and Skyron met his end. But Ryze didn't actually evade danger after all, because Vortex attacked Bryn in his apparent quest to cleanse the Arena of Treesnek's deceptions. Ryze, perhaps foolishly, jumped to the fae's defense - but somehow, the nocturne took down the level 25 guardian.

On night six, while Merwin was continuing to prove that nocturnes are highly dangerous by strangling Elestin, Rearden tended to the wounds Lethal inflicted on Rangileth that morning. Ryze learned the first rule of Tresnek when Bryn repaid his actions by trying to kill him with an elemental blast that missed and took out Lethal instead. Then, before dawn, the Feast was held. Ryze decided to risk it, but took a knife to the head from Rangileth while Rearden cried over photos of loved ones. Whether out of regret or pure betrayal, he snapped Bryn's neck on day seven. (To add insult to injury, the Plaguebringer apparently took offense to his first aid skills and sent medical supplies to Rangileth)

The seventh night and eighth day were quiet, but the eighth night Rangileth, Merwin, and Rearden cheerfully sang songs together while Sihaya died trying to escape the arena. Then, on the ninth and final day, quicksand swallowed the level 25 guardian. It's probably not a coincidence that Merwin was practicing magic the day before. With Rangileth out of the picture, Merwin was able to take the other nocturne out with a sickle and claim victory.

But since that game, visions of fire-eyed spirals have appeared before sleeping tributes who then went on to commit murder...

Was that the plan? Only Treesnek the Whisperer knows.


Remnants of the PINGLIST OF DOOM who may still at any time claim a Treesnekling:
Walle/106087 | Choccie/68460 | Cuddleh/219829

The new PINGLIST OF DOOM
DarkSnowfox User ID: 358441


Gods inflicted with Treesneklings:
Arcanist Icewarden Tidelord Lightweaver Stormcatcher Earthshaker Gladekeeper Plaguebringer Windsinger Shadowbinder Flamecaller
ALL OF THEM