As the treeline breaks, the air shifts. The grove opens before you like a painting—vivid green grass sways gently in the breeze, bright crystalline water flowing through. Wildflowers bloom in impossible color, and soft motes of light drift lazily above the surface. A waterfall tumbles quietly into the pool from a sheer rock face, its sound gentle, almost reverent.
But something is wrong. There’s no birdsong. No insects. No sound at all, save the fall of water.
1. Arrival – The Empty Grove
In the small gulch entryway, there are symbols carved into the rock. At the area where it opens into the grove, there is a tripwire (DC 17 Perception to notice). If the players don’t notice, rocks come tumbling down and they must make a DC 17 Dexterity (Acrobatics) saving throw to escape or take 4d10 bludgeoning damage.
If the trap is sprung, the cultists (see below) will hear it and set up an ambush, otherwise the party may be able to sneak up on them if they move quietly.
DC 10 Perception:
- Near the bridge by the river there is a fallen druid’s staff. The staff has elvish script written along its shaft: “Purity is balance. Balance is sacred.”. A DC 17 Arcana check or Detect Magic will reveal that the staff has druidic magic and is glowing faintly. The players may notice it starts glowing more as they approach the hidden room in the caverns below. DC 15 Survival:
- There are faint humanoid footprints and pawprints (barefoot or soft-soled shoes) in the mud around the grove.
2. Cultist Scout Attack
As the players approach the main waterfall, DC 10 perception check will allow them to they may hear voices chatting (if they didn’t spring the boulder trap described above).
Cultist Scout 1: We’ve turned this damn place upside down. There’s no “crystal throne”. Tough Boss: There must be! Our instructions were precise. Cultist Scout 1: Maybe it was figurative. There were crystals in the cave, and we broke those. Cultist Scout 2: And we corrupted the pool. It’s flowing out to the forest. We’ve done our job. Tough Boss: No! I won’t go back without 100% success. Keep looking. “Shadow”, “Gera” with me.
Enemies:
- 1 Tough Boss
- 2 Blight-Warped Hound (reskinned Dire Wolf, with minor necrotic damage)
- 2 Cultist Scouts (customized: fast, lightly armored, crossbows, quick blade attacks)
Tactics:
- The Tough Boss will cast silence on their first turn
- At 50%, one enemy may flee behind the waterfall.
3. The Waterfall
Behind the curtain of water is a moist cave that drops into a dark cavern. A thick bed of vines tangled and stretch down the rock into the darkness below.
Perception (DC 12):
- In the cliffside by the waterfall, there are stones with runes carved into them all over over the place. The staff will glow the brightest around a set of four runes carved into a particular moss-covered stone. Without the staff, the players may roll a DC 17 History check to recall that Druids use these runes as codes, and different combinations mean/do different things. They remember that the Sun and Moon have to do with balance, and find one particular stone that has those two runes.
4. The Cavern
Roots hang from the ceiling like veins, twitching with each pulse of a deep blue light. Off to the side, a natural glowing pool is darkening—its water stained by a black crystal floating over it. Thin trails of corruption stretch out from it like ink in clear water, leeching into the walls, the roots… everything.
Encounter Options:
- The fleeing enemy makes a last stand here, possibly trying to destroy the crystal to prevent the party from studying it.
- Vine Blights rise from the root network and defend the crystal.
- The crystal pulses every round, on initiative count 20, creatures within 15 ft must make a DC 13 Wis save or take 1d6 psychic damage and become disoriented for 1 round (disadvantage on next attack).
5. The Hidden Cavern
As you make your way deeper into the cavern, you come across a wall with thousands of glowing druidic runes - some familiar, some less so.
If the players have the staff, they may notice it glowing brighter now. They may also notice that the runes they saw outside on the stone are also present here, along with hundreds of others.
The secret code to open the wall is to say “sun”, “moon”, “wind”, and “water” in Elvish.
Inside the room, the players will find a fearful young druid initiate (Talan Windfern), who is ready to fight when they come in and throws an attack at them. They can pretty easily convince him that they are on his side. He will see the staff if they have it:
You, you have my master’s staff… I guess that means…
Loot
- A Ring of Warmth on the druid corpse holding the staff.
- Talan Windfern is holding a Staff of Birdcalls.