D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Groom's Varnish and the Scorched Worm

# Wilderness# Dark Fantasy# Intrigue# Economic

The Scorched Plains are dying. A monstrous, symbiotic entity—the Dune Worm—is consuming the very essence of the land, its Wheel-Devourings leaving behind sterile, glassed craters. The only hope for the nomadic Groom clans, who have guarded this land for generations, lies in a forbidden, toxic varnish that can temporarily shield their sacred beasts from the Worm's appetite. But the varnish is poisoning the aquifers, and a coalition of desperate settlers, the Wellspring Collective, seeks to destroy the Worm's heart at any cost, even if it means erasing the Groom's entire way of life. You arrive as neutral outsiders, caught in the crossfire of survival.

Chronicle Prelude

The Huddled Oasis: A small, fortified spring camp where Groom beast-tenders and Wellspring engineers uneasily coexist, their arguments echoing off sand-blasted walls. The air smells of brine, alkali, and the faint, sickly-sweet odor of the Groom's infamous varnish.

Environmental Traits

The Dune Worm, a colossal, subterranean predator, is systematically draining the life from the Scorched Plains. Its 'Wheel-Devourings' are massive, spiraling excavations that consume soil, water, and life. The Grooms use a cheap, waterproof varnish on their mounts to create a scent-masking barrier, but the substance is a potent groundwater toxin. The Wellspring Collective believes only the Worm's total destruction can save the region, a plan that would trigger a catastrophic collapse of the entire cavern system the Grooms revere as ancestral.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Elder Korvath
An ancient man with sun-darkened, leathery skin and a long, braided beard adorned with tiny, polished bone fetishes. He moves with a deliberate, weary grace, his eyes holding a deep, sorrowful wisdom. His robes are embroidered with patterns of worms and springs.
Chief Engineer Lira
A woman in her forties with sharp, intelligent eyes framed by deep worry lines. Her practical leather work coat is stained with grease and mineral dust. Her hands are calloused, and she carries a worn leather satchel bulging with tools and notebooks.
Hydrologist Maren
A young woman with spectacles perched on her nose, her hands and coat cuffs perpetually stained with chemical reagents and mineral salts. She carries a portable kit of vials, filters, and a small, brass microscope.
Outrider Silas
A wiry, leather-clad scout astride a large, six-legged reptilian beast. His face is masked against the glass dust, revealing only sharp, watchful eyes. Jars of luminous fungi hang from his saddle, casting an eerie blue light.
Drill Sergeant Krell
A stocky, bald man in heavy, padded armor bearing the Wellspring's gear-and-cog emblem. He carries a thick, reinforced club and his expression is one of permanent, grim resolve. His armor shows recent claw marks.
Worm Singer Ashka
A gaunt mystic draped in robes woven from iridescent insect silk. Her skin is covered in swirling, bio-luminescent tattoos that pulse faintly in time with the cavern's hum. Her eyes are solid black, reflecting light like polished stones.
Symbiote Swarm
A chittering, flowing mass of beetle-sized, multi-legged insectoids with bioluminescent blue-green carapaces. They move in a coordinated wave, their mandibles clicking in unison. They are drawn to vibration and sound, attacking intruders with startling speed and relentless ferocity.
The Dune Worm Echo
A massive, shimmering psychic projection that warps the air and stone. It manifests as shifting, oily mirages that form the vague shape of a colossal worm, and pulses of crushing, dissonant pressure that assault the mind. The very geode walls vibrate in sympathy with its agonized, semi-conscious rage.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Bay of Chitin and Lees

The Rot Beneath the Floorboards