D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Chittering Harvest

# Wilderness# Intrigue# Beast# Economic

The earthquakes that shattered the Maple Valley were not a natural disaster, but a violent release of a primordial catalyst. From the fractured earth, pheromone-laced vials of 'Ripening Catalyst' have seeped into the soil, super-charging the gestation cycle of the dormant Saw-Toothed Locust eggs buried deep below. The valley is on a countdown to a biblical swarm that will strip the land bare. Two desperate factions vie for control of the catalyst's source, each believing their path is the only way to prevent annihilation. Veterans will find no easy answers, only the grinding gears of survival.

Chronicle Prelude

The fortified frontier town of Fernhaven, built on the valley's only stable granite outcrop. Refugees clog its streets, bearing tales of 'chittering earth' and livestock found skinned to the bone. The air hums with an unnerving drone, and the town's alchemist is frantic, having detected trace catalyst in the water supply.

Environmental Traits

A race against a biological clock. The Saw-Toothed Locusts are in a state of hyper-gestation. The players must navigate a fractured landscape, choose a side in a brewing conflict, and decide the fate of the valley—sacrifice one group to save another, or attempt a third, more dangerous path that could doom everyone.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (10)

Silas of the Thornwood
A weathered human ranger in his 50s, with a salt-and-pepper beard and eyes that hold a deep, weary grief. He wears practical leather armor dyed forest green and carries a well-maintained longbow. The Thornwood Compact's tree-and-sword insignia is carved into his bracer.
Magister Vane
An older human alchemist with a sharp, aquiline nose and spectacles perched on his forehead. He wears pristine robes under a leather apron stained with iridescent fluids. His fingers are stained with reagents. He carries a crystal-tipped staff that hums faintly.
Beastmaster Kora
A tall, powerfully built human woman with braided hair and tattoos of insects and beasts on her arms. She wears armor of hardened chitin and carries a gnarled staff tipped with a stag beetle's mandible. She moves with a predator's grace.
Geode Shaper Renn
A lithe human with shaved head and pale skin, wearing robes interwoven with metallic threads and crystal shards. His eyes have a faint, silvery sheen. He constantly taps his fingers in rhythmic patterns, as if listening to a music only he can hear.
Myconid Sovereign Glesh
A towering, bipedal fungal creature with a cap that glows with a soft, bioluminescent light. Its 'face' is a cluster of sensory pits and a simple mouth. It communicates through telepathic pulses of scent and image. It is ancient and moves with a slow, deliberate grace.
Pre-Emergence Locust Queen Nymph
A large, grub-like insect the size of a dog, encased in a translucent, resinous shell. Inside, you can see the developing wings and armored plates of a future queen. It pulses with a faint, rhythmic light and emits a high-pitched, anxious chirping. It is not yet hostile, but clearly distressed.
Alchemist Elsa
A young human woman with soot-stained goggles pushed up on her forehead and a leather apron covered in colorful stains. She is energetic and curious, constantly tinkering with vials and beakers at her stall in Fernhaven's market square.
Synod Gatekeeper Automaton
A humanoid construct of dark, polished stone and pulsing crystal. It moves with precise, mechanical motions. Its 'head' is a smooth, featureless slab with a single, glowing blue lens for an eye. It stands before the Living Gate, utterly motionless unless approached.
Frenzied Locust Swarm
A buzzing, chirping cloud of mutated locusts, their carapaces shimmering with an unnatural, oily iridescence. They move as one entity, a wave of clicking mandibles and thrashing wings.
Agitated Shale Burrower
A large, insectoid creature resembling a cross between a beetle and a centipede, with armored, rock-like plates. It erupts from the unstable ground, mandibles clicking angrily.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Golden Mound and the Swarm's Hunger

The Stolen Swarm: A Curse of Honey and Hunger