Protect Aja at the Root Crossroads
Protect Aja at the Root Crossroads
Read Aloud
The group has barely come south from Owl's Perch when movement breaks through the trees to the east. Leus and St’eeev are here because of Deyla's Riverwood investigation; Greensinger Garnet Hails has brought Willow with them after finding her in the eastern Towering Wood. House Cannith security steps onto the narrow path from the direction of the mine, spreading into the woods as they search. Somewhere down near the pond, off the southern trail, Aja has chosen the worst possible moment to disappear behind the trees for privacy.
Forces
Battlefield Zones
The left side of the map is north. This broad road leads north toward Owl's Perch, where Deyla's coordinated Riverwood response brought Leus and St’eev together with Greensinger Garnet Hails and Willow. Garnet had found Willow in the eastern Towering Wood after Willow's dreamlike Fey passage into Eberron. The four enter the encounter from this north road. The same road continues south toward Feathered Rest.
The small path runs east-west. Its east end, at the top of the map, leads toward the Cannith mine. Kaylah and Aja entered the battlefield from this path, and the Cannith retrieval detail arrives from the same east approach. The west end runs deeper into the Riverwood.
Aja begins off the path in the woods near the pond, having stepped away for privacy. He is free, unrestrained, and separated from Kaylah when Cannith arrives. This area lies closer to the southern route toward Feathered Rest than to the mineward east path.
Terrain Levers
- The left edge is the north entry from Owl's Perch. Garnet, Leus, Willow, and St’eev have just arrived together through Deyla's coordinated Riverwood response and can use the broad road or move through the surrounding trees.
- The small east-west path provides the Cannith force's fastest route from the mine toward the center of the battlefield. Blocking or controlling that path can delay both approach and extraction.
- Aja begins off-path in the wooded pond area at the bottom-right of the map. Trees, undergrowth, pond-side terrain, and broken sightlines can keep him concealed or give allies time to reach him.
- Kaylah begins somewhere near the middle of the battlefield between Aja and the newly arriving Cannith force, placing her in a natural interception position.
- The southern road leads toward Feathered Rest. Moving Aja south aligns with the party's existing destination and increases the distance Cannith must cover before it can reverse course and extract him east.
- The western branch runs deeper into the Riverwood and remains an alternate escape or repositioning route if the southern road becomes pressured.
