D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Owlbear Den of Screaming Wood and the Stolen Horn of the Dryad

# Intrigue# Fey# Wilderness

The Screaming Wood has always been a place of primal dread, where the trees themselves seem to moan in agony. Now, a sacred relic—the Horn of the Dryad, a conduit of natural harmony—has been stolen. Its absence has thrown the forest's delicate balance into chaos, causing owlbears to become maddened and aggressive, and the very land to rot. Two desperate factions seek the Horn, but for irreconcilable reasons. Veteran players will navigate a web of survival, betrayal, and a final choice where there is no clean victory.

Chronicle Prelude

The players arrive at the edge of the Screaming Wood at the fortified logging outpost of 'Fort Resin'. It is a bastion of desperate survivors, merchants, and rangers clinging to civilization amidst the encroaching wildness. The air is thick with the scent of pine and fear.

Environmental Traits

The stolen Horn of the Dryad is hidden deep within the corrupted heart of the wood, guarded by the primal fury of the forest itself. Its recovery is the only way to potentially restore balance, but its power can be used for restoration or subjugation.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Chief Elara, Sylvan Warden
A tall, stern elf with bark-brown skin and hair woven with living vines. Her eyes glow with a faint, fierce green light. She wears armor of shaped wood and hardened sap, bearing the sigil of a tree embracing a crescent moon.
Mayor Borin, Resin Compact
A heavy-set human man with a thick, graying beard and tired, haunted eyes. He wears practical leather armor over sturdy wool, stained with sap and soot. His hands are calloused, and he constantly fidgets with a iron gear pendant.
Old Corwin, the Beast-Talker
A wizened human hermit with wild, tangled hair and a cloak of woven moss and feathers. His skin is weathered, and he moves with a slow, deliberate grace, often pausing to listen to the forest. He smells of damp earth and wild herbs.
Owlbear Matriarch
A colossal beast, easily eight feet tall at the shoulder. Her once-magnificent plumage is now ragged and clumped with dark sap. Her eyes burn with a maddened, golden fury, and her beak is stained with old blood. A deep, guttural growl constantly emanates from her chest.
The Dryad Remnant
A humanoid figure woven from twisted, blackened vines and shadow. Its form flickers between a serene, leafy woman and a terrifying specter of thorns. Where its heart should be, a pulsing, sickly purple light emanates—the corruption of the Horn's absence.
Scout Kaelen
A young wood elf with sharp features and nervous, darting eyes. He wears the green and brown leathers of the Sylvan Wardens, but his cloak is patched and his gear is worn. He constantly looks over his shoulder, as if expecting an attack from the trees themselves.
Alchemist Hilda
A stout human woman with soot-streaked cheeks and goggles pushed up on her forehead. Her apron is covered in chemical burns and glittering residue. She moves with a precise, energetic purpose, surrounded by the acrid smell of reagents and the gentle hiss of bubbling flasks.
Lost Owlbear Cub
A small, downy owlbear cub, barely two feet tall. It is shivering in a hollow log, its large, teary eyes wide with fear. It lets out soft, pitiful chirps and clutches a piece of torn fabric in its beak.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Polar Werebear Vendetta of the Permafrost Plateau

The Thundering Meadows