D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Verdant Siege of Greatwood Keep

# Fey# Combat# Wilderness# Investigation

You arrive at Greatwood Keep, a fortress grown from living timber and stone, now under a silent, creeping siege. The keep's magical guardian vines, once its greatest defense, have become lethargic and unresponsive, their guard-drops failing to repel the encroaching Blightwood. The source is rumored to be the Potent Pruning Elixirs, a sacred brew administered by the keep's Adjutant. Two factions within the keep offer conflicting truths: one claims the elixirs are the only thing preventing the vines from becoming a ravenous, consuming horror; the other believes the Adjutant is poisoning the keep's lifeblood for a darker purpose. To survive and uncover the truth, you must navigate the keep's layers, from the safe outer bailey to the poisoned heartwood, where a choice of what to 'prune' will determine the fate of the forest.

Chronicle Prelude

The Outer Bailey of Greatwood Keep is a bustling, albeit tense, hub. Woven walls of thick, living vine form a massive perimeter. Soldiers in bark-plate armor patrol, and the air smells of damp earth and bitter sap. NPCs from both factions can be found here, offering quests and conflicting lore.

Environmental Traits

The entire campaign is a siege of decay. The ultimate victory condition is to reach the Heartwood Shrine deep within the keep, confront the source of the blight or the cure, and decide the fate of the Guardian Vines and the Blightwood forever. The region is a single, massive fortress-dungeon undergoing a magical ecological collapse.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Adjutant Veradis
A gaunt, middle-aged man in the faded green and grey uniform of the keep's administrative staff. His eyes are sunken, shadowed by sleeplessness and guilt. His hands are stained a faint, unnatural purple from handling the Pruning Elixir. He moves with a weary, resigned purpose.
Sapsinger Druid Lirael
A young woman with hair braided with living leaves and vines. Her clothes are simple, homespun green, and she moves with the quiet grace of someone deeply attuned to the natural world. Her eyes are bright with fierce conviction and sorrow.
Rootholder Captain Garen
A broad-shouldered, scarred man in sturdy leather armor reinforced with iron plates. He carries himself with a soldier's discipline, his gaze constantly assessing threats. He smells of sweat, oiled leather, and the faint chemical tang of the elixir.
Corrupted Treant
A once-noble treant, now twisted and blighted. Its bark is split and weeping purple-black sap, its leafy canopy replaced by thorny, grasping vines. Its eyes glow with a dim, malevolent light.
Blightwood Corruptor
A lithe, fey creature woven from dark wood and corrupted vines. It moves with unsettling, jerky speed, and its features are a mockery of natural beauty—sharp angles and too-wide, glowing purple eyes. The air around it smells of decay and damp earth.
Vine Keeper Spirit
A shimmering, translucent apparition composed of swirling green motes and delicate vine patterns. It appears fragmented, flickering like a dying ember. It does not speak aloud, but imparts feelings and images of the keep's past and the vines' original purpose.
Sapsinger Infiltrator
A gaunt, desperate-eyed individual in muted browns and greens, trying to blend into the shadows. They carry a hidden blade and a vial of a different, more natural herbicide.
Rootholder Engineer
A practical, grease-stained man in a work apron, surrounded by tools, coils of rope, and half-assembled siege equipment. He eyes the overgrown architecture with professional annoyance.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Pranks of the Verdant Court

The Shambling Mound Rampage of Shadowthorn Wood