Part 25, already? Wow, this has been a much longer road than I initially thought. But I'm almost done!
It should be clear by now that adventures (like most movies, and most books) aren't simply written from beginning to end in a line. There's a lot of jumping around. A case in point is today's adventures, which include the finale for this adventure path even though I'm not wholly done with the middle bits (although I have more middle bits to share, too).
Now that I can see the whole shape of this thing, I've started to make some changes. I found that I really prefer "Skaldwood" as a name of a forest to "Heartwood," particularly since I set a bunch of thrill-seeking devil-may-care types as the people who watch over it (skalds, in "Viking-ish" tradition, although there isn't yet a skald class in Pathfinder Second Edition). So I've renamed the Heartwood to the Skaldwood, and made that group of people that watch over it the Green Reach Bards--a band of bard/rangers. If I were building out backgrounds specific to this adventure path (and I still might!), then I'd make a tie with them one of the backgrounds. I already had a "Skaldwood," (in chapters 9 and 10), and so I'm renaming that to the Direwood. The name Kensley for a city never really grabbed me as appropriate to the "Viking" feel of the Northfells, so I'm changing that, too. And so on.
This means my name for the entire adventure path is now "The Skaldwood Blight," rather than "The Heartwood Blight," and I like that much more. I'm leaving myself some room to change that again, but if it's not set in stone, then it's set in rapidly hardening concrete.
I'm also writing up a short summary of the entire adventure path, with one sentence per chapter. When that's complete, I'll post it, but for now it has the same gaps as the adventures I haven't finished. I expect this will be part of the introduction to the adventure path, taking up only a page or two to give the "high level" view to the reader.
I realized that many chapters that introduce a city or area, like Fallinghollow or Velkendir, often have a paragraph near the beginning that reads like "this is what this settlement is, and what's important about it." That's good stuff, and should be compiled together in a short "Gazetteer of the Northfells" that should also appear in the introduction, along with the final map of the region.
But now for more adventures! Here are three chapters: Chapter 12 (a whimsical adventure in a manor overrun with fey), Chapter 14 (one of my two "underwater" adventures in this adventure path and the one closest to the Lovecraft themes I enjoy writing), and Chapter 20 (the grand finale!). This leaves only two chapters to go: Chapters 15 and 19, which I'll be finishing in the next week or so. How many Parts will this blog series end up having? Likely fewer than 30 (even if I post the final two chapters in one blog post, which seems likely, I'll have a few thoughts about smoothing the whole thing over, laying it out, and so on--that seems at least as interesting and useful as the planning blogs and the actually-writing-it blogs).
Chapter 12: The Jortoft Wedding (12th level)
To get in contact with Hansdirk Koladsfar, the heroes must venture south to the town of Jortoft. Jortoft is a sleepy community that has thus far avoided Treereaver’s machinations, but it has trouble of an entirely different nature: a whimsical and evil group of fey have decided to prey upon the town. Unfortunately for the heroes, their focus is on the sprawling, stately Koladsfar Manor northeast of town and deep in the forest—and where the elderly Hansdirk is known to reside. A band of gimmerlings has chosen the site for their leader to marry a unique fey creature called the Illuminant Groom. Fey and other evil creatures have come from all over to witness the wedding of the strange Illuminant Groom and his wicked Gimmerbride.
Part 1: Wedding Planners
When the heroes arrive in Jortoft, they hear of a series of strange thefts. The town’s chief constable, a dour half-elf named Grenta Harrung, is grateful for any help investigating and offers an introduction to the reclusive professor, who lives just outside of Jortoft. The thieves appear to have stolen a large amount of cloth from a warehouse at one end of town and a shipment of glassware from the other end of town. Constable Harrung asks the heroes to investigate these (in either order) while she questions witnesses.
Encounter 1a (Moderate 12)
The warehouse manager hasn’t left his office in the last day; he witnessed several children stealing crates of expensive cloth and went to shoo them away, only to be attacked and almost killed when they turned out to be more than mere children. He’s heard more noises there, and thinks some of the “children” have remained behind. Two female gimmerlingsindeed remain; stealthy heroes can overhear them talking loudly about having recovered enough for the “wedding dress” but lamenting that they can’t find “fitting material for bridesmaid dresses” for themselves. They attack viciously if disturbed.
Encounter 1b (Moderate 12)
Everyone at the glassworks has been killed and several large crates of fine glass goblets have been taken (according to a precise inventory the heroes can easily find). The gimmerling thieves left behind a dangerous surprise for anyone investigating their theft: a darkside mirror hazardin the glassworks.
Encounter 1c
After the heroes meet back up with Constable Harrung, she says that several malicious creatures masquerading as children have taken several items in preparation for a wedding to Koladsfar Manor. She encourages the heroes to be careful there and loans a pink rhomboid aeon stoneto aid them; if they can get to the bottom of the troubles there, she allows them to keep it.
Part 2: The Lower Manor
The road to Koladsfar Manor is empty, although heroes who succeed on a DC 30 Perception check or Survival check to Track can see several recent tracks, all leading toward the manor. Most of these tracks are small, as of children. On a critical success, the hero can also spot other strange tracks, such as the booted feet of armored warriors and strange dragging marks of some large, stony creature. The following encounters are on the main floor of the manor, although the characters aren’t limited to these encounters; they can ascend the sweeping stairs to the upper level (Part 3) from the manor’s front entry or simply climb to an upper window (Athletics DC 25).
Encounter 2a (Moderate 12)
The front entry of the manor is unlocked, but a gimmerlingbutler disguised as a tuxedo-clad halfling waits in the entry hall to receive visitors. The entry has a checkerboard tile pattern and the gimmerling boasts about the difficulty in crossing it; indeed, five of the tiles are polymorph trapsthe gimmerling attempts to goad the heroes into triggering before he fights them as “unwelcome wedding crashers.”
Encounter 2b (Moderate 12)
The small greenhouse connected to the manor (which provides another entrance if the heroes don’t want to use the front entry) is occupied by a glabrezuand an elite vrock. These demons were sent by Treereaver to demand the fey fall in line with the demon lord’s plans, but the demons only recently arrived and aren’t sure what’s going on in the manor yet. This doesn’t stop them from identifying the heroes as troublemakers and working to stop them. A potted plant in the greenhouse contains a plant whose sap functions as a dose of blightburn resin; the demons brought it with them in the hopes they could get it to take root and spread in the surrounding forest while they were here.
Encounter 2c (Moderate 12)
The grand dining room is set with an elaborate if unusual buffet of foods drawn from the fey realm, such as warm squash filled with mulled wine, peach-like fruits with a strangely tart flavor, a small custard tart that functions as a greater potion of swimming when eaten, and a plate of 13 grapes that each function as a goodberry(as from the druid order spell). A glimmerlingriding on the back of a cauthoojraces around and around the table, trying with each lap to beat his best time. Both of these foes fight unwelcome guests (such as the heroes) when interrupted. This gimmerling is immune to the cauthooj’s warbling cry.
Encounter 2d (Moderate 12)
A sitting room decorated with ornamentation from a southern kingdom akin to ancient Egypt. It contains a large statue of a sphinx and several stones recovered from ancient tombs and painstakingly restored here. Small labels identify each such structure, as would befit a museum. One large stone isn’t an ancient artifact at all, but a grikkitogthat is a wedding guest. It implants its core in this room and resembles an archway bearing a winged sun to hide among the room’s stone decor and surprise intruders. Its label reads, “Grikkitog. Wedding Guest.” Gold ornaments throughout this room are worth a total of 2,000 gp.
Encounter 2e (Moderate 12)
The manor’s functional and large kitchen has three separate brick ovens to prepare meals for large parties the professor hosted when he was younger. The kitchen is now in more use than it’s ever been by a gimmerlingchef. The gimmerling has rigged the three baking ovens as a single telekinetic swarm trapthat hurls broken bricks at the gimmerling’s enemies. The gimmerling has a pastry bag made from a scroll of mask of terror, which is still useful despite being marred with dollops of icing.
Encounter 2f (Severe 12)
One end of the manor is the professor’s exceptionally well-stocked library. A long-dead academic rival who recently arose as a lichhas broken into the library through a window to recover the professor’s lore; this lich is hardly even aware of the fey who have occupied the rest of the house. The lich is accompanied by her best pupil, now a ghost magebound to the lich, and two graveknightbodyguards. Assuming that anyone they see wants to stop their theft, these undead fight until destroyed (the lich hardly cares, as her phylactery is more than a hundred miles away). The library contains a drawer with several sheets of particularly fine paper which will be useful to scribe the breaching rune that must be transferred to the heroes, although a successful DC 32 Arcana or Occultism check is required to identify the paper as useful for this purpose (if the heroes don’t realize it, Professor Koladsfar does when they finally rescue him at the end of Chapter 13). The library also includes four exquisite ivory busts of ancient scholars worth 950 gp each and a scroll of project image.
Part 3: The Upper Manor
The rooms on the manor’s upper floor are all built around an enormous ballroom. The entrance to the ballroom is at the end of several halls, which the heroes must traverse before reaching the ballroom doors. The occupants of these rooms all insist on the heroes’ silence and respect, as they all know the Illuminant Groom is marrying the Gimmerbride very nearby and don’t want to disturb the ceremony.
Encounter 3a (Moderate 12)
The top of the sweeping stairs leading up from the entry hall is a balcony beneath an elegant chandelier that crackles with lightning. This lightning coalesces into an uthulthat attacks intruders. A statue of an angel near the top of the stairs wears celestial armor; the intruders in the house haven’t yet realized its value.
Encounter 3b (Moderate 12)
A long hall has several bedrooms opening off of it; in one, an elite gimmerlingresembling a hunched crone is preparing a wedding bedchamber along with a bored nilith. The nilith is hanging from the bedroom’s ornate chandelier, stringing up letters that read “PLEASANT DREAMS.” Both are incensed that intruders might interrupt the ceremony, and fight to the death.
Encounter 3c (Moderate 12)
A salon decorated like a forest glade with several statues of dancing elves is currently the domain of two shining children. These creatures serve the Illuminant Groom as groomsmen, but have been sent out of the ballroom because of their unpleasantly blinding light. They now sulk here, anxious to take out their frustration on anyone coming by. One of the statues has a cord with an eye of fortuneworn around its head as a crown.
Encounter 3d (Severe 12)
When the heroes finally reach the ballroom, they interrupt the lengthy wedding in process. In attendance are a dozen redcaps, although they’re unlikely to pose a problem for 12th level heroes and therefore don’t participate much in the combat. More dangerous are the officiant and the maid of honor (both are lamia matriarchsdisguised as beautiful women), the Gimmerbride (a gimmerling), and the Illuminant Groom. The Illuminant Groom has the statistics of a neutral evil ghaele azatawho is a fey rather than a celestial. His attacks deal evil damage rather than good damage, and his gaze affects non-evil creatures. The Illuminant Groom prefers to use his actions to heal the Gimmerbride, who rushes into combat with heroes who would disrupt her wedding. The Illuminant Groom also tries to heal the lamia matriarchs, if convenient, but his primary focus is his bride-to-be. The gifts table contains several valueless clay figurines of river mammals, a greater tanglefoot bag, a bottle of slumber wine, an oil of animation, and a berserker’s cloak—but no sign of Hansdirk Koladsfar.
Conclusion
When the combat in the ballroom is complete, any of the redcaps who’ve been avoiding combat can let the heroes know what happened. A powerful fey called the Thorn Prince, spurned by the Gimmerbride, insisted on his right to take away a single treasure from among the gifts. He chose the professor, and spirited the professor away into the hedge maze behind the manor. The redcaps overheard the Thorn Prince say he’d been told to kill the professor but planned to keep him for a while instead, so it sounds like the heroes have time to rest and prepare if they wish. Eventually, however, the heroes must enter the hedge maze to rescue him.
Chapter 14: In the Lake of Eyes (14th level)
The heroes are on the hunt for the albino kraken that lurks in the Lake of Eyes. Its ink is a vital component to create the breaching rune, which they need to penetrate the Skaldwood. Although the Lake of Eyes is fairly near the town of Jortoft, locals shun it. The lake is known to be a haunted and dangerous place, filled with giants and huge monsters. There are no villages, or even any docks, along the Lake of Eyes. Travelers and hunters avoid it, and no one fishes in its depths. Locals tell the heroes that, luckily, a deep fog normally conceals the lake and its dangers from view. But if the heroes persist on going to the lake, the locals explain there’s a cave by a pier at the lake’s southernmost end. It’s as good a place to start as any, and anyone who knows about the lake likely lives there.
Professor Koladsfar realizes that the kraken is likely to be deep in the lake, and so arranges to give the heroes four scrolls of water breathing (4th level)(or potions, if none of them can cast the spell). He also offers a large waterskin in which to capture the kraken’s ink.
Part 1: Shores of the Lake
The faded wooden dock juts into the south end of the Lake of Eyes from beneath a large cave. Smoke issues from the cave, so it seems to be occupied. The area is otherwise still.
Encounter 1a (Severe 14)
A battered wooden rowboat is tied to the dock. As the heroes approach the dock, two amphibious mukradis(with a swim speed rather than a burrow speed) attack. One skitters out as soon as the heroes are within reach, while the other emerges at the start of the third round. These creatures were sent by the kraken to secure its secrecy from Treereaver and kill the demon currently in the cave; however, the mukradis are easily distracted and fight the heroes instead.
Encounter 1b (Moderate 14)
In the cave, a shemhazianis gleefully torturing a boggard who is paralyzed by the demon’s aura. The shemhazian is enraged at being disrupted and attacks, fighting to the death. The victim is Orlub, a neutral boggard swampseer who owns the cave and the boat. Orlub is one of the few who dare to ply the waters of the Lake of Eyes and knows a lot about it. Orlub knows the albino kraken lairs in an underwater cave complex, but doesn’t know where it is. Certainly, however, the storm giants who live at the center of the island do; unfortunately, they are all evil worshippers of Dagon, a wicked fish-god, and aren’t likely to be friendly. The chapel at the center of their island is rumored to hold great knowledge of the lake, and should reveal where the kraken’s caves are. To further thank the heroes, Orlub provides them with a major antiplague, his rowboat for as long as they need it, and all the rotten fish they can eat.
Part 2: Isle of Giants
The storm giants on the Lake of Eyes are all evil, deformed cultists who have fishlike heads and enormous, milky eyes. It is their presence that gave the Lake of Eyes its strange name, although humanoids on the shores don’t remember this. They live in a cluster of wooden huts on an island near the center of the lake, which surrounds a low hill bearing a stone chapel to the Great Old One called Dagon. Their faith is incredibly old; millennia ago, the Lake of Eyes was connected to the great northern sea, but as the land shifted the giants’ ancestors were landlocked here. The chapel is only open to the strongest and most powerful giants, as a low wall and gatehouse surrounds it.
The deep fog over the lake restricts vision to about 100 feet at best.
Encounter 2a (Moderate 14)
The lake isn’t safe, and four sea serpentsassault the heroes as they make their way to the stone giants’ island.
Encounter 2b (Moderate 14)
The island is raised 15 to 20 feet above the water line, which doesn’t pose much of an impediment to the giants but might give the heroes pause. Only one part of the island has a beach, and that part is watched by a storm gianttraining an azure worm. The storm giant considers this a good test and sends her azure worm to attack while she throws rocks and uses chain lightning to drive the heroes away. The azure worm wears a collar of seaweed and platinum worth 500 gp.
Encounter 2c (Moderate 14)
The heroes might be able to sneak through the storm giant huts (which requires a successful DC 34 Stealth check from the heroes or a magical solution to remain undetected), but any disturbance causes three storm giantsto come investigate. There are enough huts for 20 or so storm giants to live here, but about half are out at any time catching fish or engaging in skirmishes against the alghollthus of the lake, with whom the storm giants are at war. Some of the stone giant huts contain valuables, and a search of the huts uncovers three other seaweed-and-platinum collars worth 500 gp each, an iron cudgel, a greater potion of flying, and plate armor of the deep.
Encounter 2d
One of the storm giant huts isn’t inhabited, but used as a gruesome war room. Two dead alghollthu masters are on display here, their skin flayed open to reveal inner organs. The bodies both have several markings, in Jotun, detailing the most effective place to strike against these creatures in combat. This is the heroes’ first clue that the storm giants and alghollthus war against one another.
Encounter 2e (Moderate 14)
The high wall around the center of the island has a single gatehouse. The wall looks imposing, but it’s actually hollow, like a circular trough, and filled with water. The gatehouse is watched by two storm giants, and a trained sea serpentswims in the trough in the wall. The sea serpent initially makes attacks with its water spout at range, but when one of the storm giants falls, the sea serpent is so agitated that it leaps out of the trough to fight on the ground against the heroes. The sea serpent fights to the death, but once a storm giant falls, the survivor flees to the chapel if reduced to fewer than 50 Hit Points. The trough contains salty lake water and some discarded bones from past sea serpent meals (including a greater explosive sling bullet). Additionally, the sea serpent wears another seaweed-and-platinum collar worth 500 gp.
Encounter 2f
The enormous stone doors leading into the chapel are marked with the religious symbol of Dagon and imagery of his horrendous, storm-wracked home plane. The doors contain a planar rift hazardthat sends unbelievers to Dagon’s distant plane.
Encounter 2g (Moderate 14)
The chapel’s entry is guarded by a storm giantnamed Castharn and a morrigna psychopomp. Castharn was once the community’s spiritual leader, but failures against the alghollthu and arrival of the rune giant demagogue have caused his personal fortunes to wane. The morrigna is here because she’s seeking religious lore; a cult of Dagon elsewhere in the multiverse is siphoning away souls, and she’s bargaining for information kept here in the chapel. She has more loyalty to Castharn than to the heroes, and she therefore fights alongside the giant; however, if reduced to fewer than 60 Hit Points she decides that the information isn’t worth the personal risk and flees. The antechamber has a few valuable ornaments: four fine platinum icons of large-eyed fish worth 250 gp each and six heavy platinum statuettes of various humanoid-fish hybrids worth 500 gp each.
Encounter 2h (Moderate 14)
The main chapel has been recently taken over by an indolent rune giantnamed Effithes who promised to turn the tide of the storm giant war against the alghollthus. Effithes decided she liked being in charge of the unusual, insular giant community and hasn’t done much about the ongoing war. Effithes knows to keep an eye on Castharn, who might push to recover his old position as head of the chapel, but she keeps Castharn busy in negotiating with the psychopomp.
The floor of the tapestry is an elaborate, ancient map of platinum inset into stone. The map shows the Lake of Eyes extending far north, between the mountains where the fens currently stand, and connecting to the northern sea; it’s clear from the map that this region used to be part of the ocean. The current size of the lake is marked on the map in charcoal, as is the giants’ island, sites of skirmishes against the alghollthus (marked, “Alghollthu Sighting!” in Jotun), and a cave system (marked, “Danger! Kraken!” in Jotun).
Effithes has surrounded herself with riches she likes, including five huge tapestries showing storm giants embracing fish or fighting squid-like monsters. Each tapestry is worth 400 gp but weighs 8 Bulk. Effithes also keeps a censer burning; the platinum censer is worth 900 gp and the six blocks of incense are each worth 150 gp. A greater primeval mistletoehangs from one of the censers.
Part 3: The Kraken Caves
The heroes know the site of the flooded kraken caves—hundreds of feet below the surface of the lake’s salty water—and might also know to expect alghollthus as well. These caves are all interconnected, with passages large enough for the kraken that inhabits them to move about, but are unlit.
Encounter 3a (Moderate 14)
Just outside the caves are several storm giant corpses, lashed together and tied to rocks to keep them from floating away. No mere warning, these lashed corpses animate as a single aquatic warsworn(with a swim speed of 30 feet) when the heroes approach.
Encounter 3b (Moderate 14)
Two veiled mastersare currently occupying one of the caves in the complex. They are each currently in the guise of a storm giants and are floating over a third giant that is recently dead. The veiled masters were aggressively questioning the giant about the layout of the storm giant island and their chapel, but the prisoner expired before the veiled masters could get much of use. The veiled masters originally think the heroes must be on the storm giants’ side and try to get information from them (which may seem suspicious, in their current disguise). When they realize their mistake, they attack. One of the veiled masters has a rod of negation.
Encounter 3c (Moderate 14)
Four elite elemental tsumanis, conjured long ago by the kraken’s powerful primal magic, stand ready to defend the kraken’s caves from intruders.
Encounter 3d
One open chamber was previously used by the aquatic mukradis that the heroes faced at the start of this adventure. Several molted bits of exoskeleton identify the creatures who used to live here.
Encounter 3e (Severe 14)
The master of these caves is an albino weak krakenwho is currently stoking the war between the alghollthus and storm giants from the safety of its cave. It knows that Treereaver’s agents are active in the area and recently dispatched its mukradi minions to handle any intruders. When it realizes intruders have made it this far, it fights to the death. If the heroes simply ask it for ink, it seems initially agreeable but tries to trick and eat the heroes instead; the kraken has no intention of giving away its ink for what might be a surface-dweller ritual to weaken or control it. The kraken’s hoarded treasure consists of 1,410 sp, 150 pp, a gold torc worth 750 gp, a disintegration bolt, a scroll of monstrosity formon a thin sheet of eel hide, and a greater corrosive runeon a runestonethat resembles a seashell.
Conclusion
Once the kraken is subdued or slain, the heroes have no trouble gaining as much ink as they need from it. They can then return to Professor Koladsfar with it.
Chapter 20: Heart of the Skaldwood (20th level)
Having eliminated the six Pillars of Corruption in the Skaldwood to weaken Treereaver, the heroes have learned the location of the blighted grove from which the demon lord extends his corruption across the Northfells. This adventure concludes the Skaldwood Blight adventure path.
Part 1: Ascent to the Blighted Grove
The sprite Jargigger points the way to the Blighted Grove; it’s at the head of a polluted river called the Rotsump. A noxious waterfall pours the poisonous waters of the Rotsump off a tall cliff, drifting its fetid air across the Skaldwood. Although the heroes probably have the means to simply fly up the cliff and fight Treereaver directly, Jargigger suggests they explore ancient passages built into the cliff to claim useful treasures, defeat Treereaver’s closest allies, and take the demon lord by surprise. Jargigger knows only that the passages were constructed by long-dead humans who were stalwart champions of life, which is probably why Treereaver chose the site for his corruptive influence.
Encounter 1a (Moderate 20)
The cliffs at the base of the Blighted Grove are filled with the miasmic spray from the Rotsump waterfall. This acts as a permanent cloudkillspell. Two tarn linnormsslither from the pool at the waterfall’s base to attack anyone who dares to disturb Treereaver. These creatures are immune to poison and can choose to deal acid or poison damage with their breath weapons. They fiercely defend the ancient entrance at the base of the waterfall. The corpse of a dead Green Reach Bard that made it this far still wears bracers of armor type IIIand has a +3 major striking rapierbelted at its side.
Encounter 1b (Moderate 20)
The chambers in the cliff are enormous, ancient passages 30 to 60 feet with massive doors made of greasy stone that open only with difficulty (Hardness 30, Hit Points 120, Athletics DC 40 to Force Open). The first hall contains several wide portals that lead to other worlds Treereaver has befouled and destroyed before coming to the Northfells. The slain guardians of these worlds—now four elite banshees—linger near the portals and attack anyone who examines them, wailing in rage for their fallen worlds.,
Encounter 1c
A forgotten chamber along one wall has been overlooked by Treereaver’s forces. A successful DC 40 Perception check is required to locate it, although characters Investigating the carvings along the walls need only succeed at a DC 30 Perception check instead. The chamber contains the mummified bodies of several ancient human warriors, interred with their regalia. This includes a suit of +3 major resilient greater fortification orichalcum full plate, a weapon known as the stormhammer(a skyhammerthat deals electricity damage rather than fire damage on a critical hit and allows the struck creature no save), and a supreme sturdy shieldwith a hardness of 30 rather than 20 against slashing attacks.
Encounter 1d (Moderate 20)
A massive spiral stair surrounds a sump of filthy water leaking from a ball of congealed pestilence hanging in the air. This function as an armageddon orb trapthat deals poison damage rather than fire damage; it triggers if Treereaver is slain (which a successful DC 40 Nature or Religion check while Investigating the orb reveals). Further, disabling the trap eliminates the swamp of slotheffect in Part 2. Two titanic guardians made of pitted obsidian and filth-crusted stone—two guthallathscarved to resemble 40-foot tall demons—guard this spiral stair and attack from above and below when the heroes enter. When the trap is disabled, its scattered droplets can be collected into two doses of tears of death poison.
Encounter 1e (Moderate 20)
As the heroes ascend to the Blighted Grove, the stone of the ancient chambers becomes more and more crusted with noxious fungus. At the highest chamber, just before the entrance to the clifftop grove, three terotricusesbreak free from the walls and attack. After they’ve been defeated, the heroes can identify an ancient symbol of life and hope that the terotricuses were concealing. Manipulating the symbol requires a successful DC 40 Nature or Religion check or a DC 45 Thievery check. Inside are two elixirs of rejuvenation in vials marked with the same symbol.
Part 2: Against Treereaver
Atop the Rotsump waterfall is the Blighted Grove, and Treereavers home in the Northfells. The grove is surrounded by twisted trees on all sides and shadowed by an enormous rocky hill made of pitted, blackened stone from which he crafted his potent black axe. The churning and roiling soil of this area is affected by a permanent swamp of slotheffect, though the heroes might have deactivated this by disarming the trap in the passages below.
Encounter 2a (Extreme 20)
Although the heroes probably come through the passages within the hill to face him, Treereaver stands ready for them. He raves about how none shall stop his corruption of the Northfells and the rest of the world beyond, and he chides the heroes for their foolishness and impertinence in facing him here, in the seat of his new domain. Villainous monologuing aside, Treereaver attacks with the best of his ability, spreading out his attacks and using his Defoliation ability once at least half of the heroes are afflicted by his Aura of Corruption.
Conclusion
With Treereaver’s defeat, the heroes have stopped the most dangerous force in the Northfells. The allies they’ve made along the way, such as Brenna Eysijr, Gendal Ink-Hand, and High Jarl Arvid, shower them with accolades and titles. The heroes can retire in comfort in the Northfells they have worked so hard to save.
