Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pukunui Apr 29, 2015 1:08:00	Hi folks,   As you may know, I'm currently running the Scourge of the Sword Coast adventure. Next session, the PCs will finish up dealing with some orcs in the ruins of Harpshield Castle, on the eastern outskirts of the Ardeep Forest. They then plan to head through the forest to the ruins of Phylund Lodge on the western side to deal with some gnolls.   The adventure doesn't have a lot to say about the Ardeep Forest, so I did a bit of research. What I've found is pretty interesting, and I think I could make a little adventure out of traveling through it.   Here's a summary of the forest that I've adapted from various sources: "Ardeep Forest is a thick woodland of tall blueleaf, duskwood, and weirwood trees. Its verges are deceptively pleasant, with sun-dappled paths roamed by foraging deer. Farther into the forest the terrain is broken by ridges and breakneck gullies cloaked in thick vines and shrubbery, all concealed by ever-present mist. Wild boars roam through ruins hidden beneath the forest loam, and faintly glowing mushrooms provide dim spots of ghostly illumination. Outlaws and a few lonely elves dwell here. Harpers meet here from time to time, and rangers patrol its verges often, ensuring that neither large predatory beasts nor brigands settle in the forest and use it as a base of operations."   There's an article by Ed Greenwood in Dragon #125 that actually talks about the kinds of trees in the forest. Blueleaf trees, as the name suggests, have blue leaves. When the wood is burned, it gives off a blue flame. Duskwood trees are tough like iron and fire resistant, so the trunks are popular for masts and building beams. Weirwoods are extremely rare and can't be burned by nonmagical fire. They're all guarded by dryads, druids, and the like.   There are a number of fun-sounding locations in the forest. In particular, there's the Dancing Dell, the Green Glade, Reluraun's Tomb, and the House of Long Silences.   The Dancing Dell is a small, bowl-shaped area covered in moss, grass, and ferns. At its center is the Ladystone, a finger of rock held sacred by the good drow goddess, Eilistraee, and her followers. Although Eilistraee supposedly died during the 4e reshuffle, Ed Greenwood recently confirmed that she's been restored to life, so she's probably gone back to dancing here on occasion.   The Green Glade is a special place where it's always spring, thanks to some ancient elven magic. Any nonmagical wood that gets brought into the glade starts growing again, even if it's a charred piece of firewood or a bit of furniture. Also, healing spells gain unusual power within the glade. Evil creatures are also warded away.   There are also a number of old dwarven cellars and tunnels sprinkled throughout the forest that date back to the time of the kingdom of Phalorm, which was an alliance between elves, dwarves, and humans. Sometimes people fall through a loose bit of earth or a decaying tangle of roots and find themselves in the remains of one of these cellars. Some of the tunnels are rumored to link up to the Underdark. (This reminds me a lot of the exposed part of the Deep Roads from Dragon Age: Awakening.)   Then there's Reluraun's Tomb. I've discussed that at length in another thread.   Last, but not least, there's the House of Long Silences. "A facade of pale white stone separates the echoing halls of this ancient, ruined manor from the surrounding stands of cedars and blueleafs." The house was once used as a portal network for elves traveling to (and occasionally from) Evermeet. It was guarded by Sir Elorfindar Floshin, who destroyed the portals in order to stop some demon-elves from using it. After his death, his son Darfin "Longwalker" Floshin took over its guardianship, though he feels there's little left to guard. Unbeknownst to him, his sister Shalendra appears to have got some of the portals working again, possibly with the help of the Red Wizards of Thay. Shalendra is currently being possessed by the spirit of a balor demon called Baazka.   ---------------   Here's what I'm thinking:   It could be fun for the PCs to spy Eilistraee dancing in the dell, though I'm not sure what purpose that would serve, other than to add a little more color to the Realms. I'm not sure my players would particularly care, though, so I might leave it out. It is marked on the map, though, so they might at least be curious.   The Green Glade looks like a nice place to rest. If they get badly beaten up at any point, they could miraculously find themselves in the glade.   Reluraun looks hella fun, and I'd like the PCs to encounter him at some point on their journey.   I've been trying to think of some way to work Angry DM's troll encounter (scroll down to Encounter 4: The Tree Root Cave) into a campaign somehow. The PCs are about the right level for it, and the dwarven cellars gave me the idea for it. One of the PCs could stumble into some "decaying tree roots" that reveals the troll's hidden den in one of these cellars. Could be fun.   Now, for the House of Long Silences. It features quite heavily in the background for Scourge, but the PCs never have any cause to go there, nor does the adventure ever really provide them with a chance to find out about it. One of the PCs is an eladrin child (she's only in her 30s) who ran away from an arranged marriage. The player's been wanting that to come up in the story, so I thought that since Shalendra has got the portals in the House of Long Silences working again that perhaps the PC's family could somehow find out about it and her brother and some guards could come through the portal to get her just as the PCs find the place. They'll no doubt have some kind of confrontation as the brother wants to take his PC sister back through the portal with him but she doesn't want to go. During - or just after - the fight, I can have Shalendra show up through the portal connected with the Floshin Estate and demand to know what is going on. This would give me a chance to let the PCs interact with her before they confront her near the end of the adventure.   Oh, and I thought I'd make navigating the forest a little more difficult. The DMG has a forest at DC 15, but I thought I'd make it DC 18 because it's a mist-shrouded forest filled with broken terrain. Plus, there might be some remnants of ancient elven magic that makes it easier for travelers to get lost in the woods. That way they can encounter some of these locations by accident. I'll also use the example sylvan random encounter table in the DMG as needed.     What do you guys think? Anyone got any suggestions on how to flesh any of these areas out?     Thanks, Jonathan
#2 Orethalion Apr 29, 2015 7:10:45	pukunui wrote:
#3 pukunui Apr 29, 2015 15:34:53	Orethalion wrote:
#4 Orethalion Apr 29, 2015 18:26:32	pukunui wrote:
#5 pukunui Apr 29, 2015 19:00:16	Orethalion wrote:
#6 pukunui Apr 30, 2015 2:16:12	Here's what I'm thinking for the Dancing Dell:   Eilistraee is all about song and dance under the moonlight. However, she's also got tenets about feeding strangers. Her faithful are always supposed to have spare food in case they meet someone who is hungry.   So here's what I'm thinking: one night while the PCs are camped in the forest, they'll hear singing coming from not that far away. If they investigate, they will see some naked drow females dancing around the Ladystone in the moonlight. If they approach peacefully, the drow will welcome them and invite them to join in the song and dance. The PCs can then make a DC 10 group Charisma (Performance) check - with advantage if the players provide some colorful descriptions - and if they succeed, the drow priestess leading the group will use the Ladystone's powers to conjure up a heroes' feast for the PCs. That provides some nice benefits that last for 24 hours.   If, however, the PCs threaten the drow, the priestess will call upon the Ladystone and subject all the threatening PCs to Otto's irresistible dance while the drow attempt to make their get away by fleeing into the woods.   Now, to throw a bit of a spanner in the works, I'm going to have the warlock PC's fiendish patron (the one who is pretending to be a giant crow) whisper to him that all drow are evil and that he should kill them all before they can kill him. It'll be interesting to see what he does, and how the others react. Will they try to stop him, or will they join in? If he manages to resist long enough that the heroes' feast is conjured up, I'll have the patron try to convince him that it's been poisoned and that he shouldn't eat it.
#7 pukunui Apr 30, 2015 18:03:26	The eladrin PC's player is cool with shifting her origin to Evermeet. I'm going to make it so her family is part of the Eldreth Veluuthra, and they aren't just randomly showing up in the middle of the forest hunting her down. Her brother has actually gone to meet with Shalendra to discuss their plans for the portal nexus, and the PCs just happen to stumble on this meeting. They can hear them talk about it for a bit and then the brother will notice his sister and shenanigans will ensue!   I was just reading up on the Eldreth Veluuthra, and it says that while their main mission is to wipe out humanity, they also really dislike half-elves and view them as abominations. I think I'll have the eladrin PC's brother question why she's hanging out with such a creature and he may even go so far as to instigate a fight, although only if he feels he could win. Otherwise, he'll just say his sister is no longer any sister of his or something. You know the drill. Meanwhile, Shalendra won't be too happy about the half-elf PC either, though she wouldn't go so far as to attack her. I don't think Shalendra is actively a member of the Eldreth Veluuthra. She's just been flirting with them. She might share some of their same ideals and goals, but (sans Baazka's influence) isn't as fanatical about them.
#8 Orethalion May 01, 2015 17:41:13	pukunui wrote:
#9 Orethalion May 01, 2015 17:42:06	pukunui wrote:
#10 pukunui May 01, 2015 17:55:18	Cool. We didn't get to the House of Long Silences last night. Next time hopefully. It took them three nights in a row of hearing the drow singing - and a random encounter with some cheeky fairie dragons who said they should check it out - before they went to investigate the Dancing Dell. They saw the drow and decided to refuse their offer and left. The warlock even managed to resist his patron's urgings to kill them all. One of the other players said they might go back another time, though. LOL.
#11 Orethalion May 01, 2015 21:48:09	pukunui wrote:
#12 pukunui May 15, 2015 17:10:29	Orethalion wrote: