1. 0:00

   40 min

   socialThe table is here

   1. Black Sap at the Door

   Mara's herb shop and the village boundary stones

   Mara gives the rescue mission and the party gathers testimony from Tomas. Edrin can be found at the village boundary and explains that he alone holds the Keeper's title, but no one can force him to perform the rite.

   NextWhen the party is ready, Edrin leads them to the safest surviving path into the blackwood.

2. 0:40

   60 min

   exploration

   2. The Hollow Trail

   A dark forest path hemmed in by thorn hedges and leaning trees

   The party crosses the cursed forest, where tracks, signs, and Tomas's account can reveal the route to the root-crypt. Use the Hollow Trail encounter if the party travels openly or makes a loud approach. A careful group can evade the grave-wolves or use the boundary signs to distract them.

   The Hollow Trail

   NextThe trail descends toward a sunken clearing where a pale figure tends a root-covered altar.

3. 1:40

   60 min

   social

   3. The Hermit's Offerings

   A root-choked clearing around a sunken stone altar

   The party meets Sister Veyra and discovers she is feeding the roots with grave offerings. She may reveal that the forest is lashing out because of an old wrong, but she refuses to accept that her actions are worsening the curse. Resolve the confrontation through dialogue, combat, or sabotage of the rite.

   The Root-Crypt

   NextOnce the rite is stopped or Veyra is driven off, Edrin senses the Keeper's path opening toward the oldest tree.

4. 2:40

   75 min

   combat

   4. The Keeper's Choice

   A vast hollow tree ringed by slick roots and black sap

   At the tree door, Edrin must willingly speak the threshold vow. The Rootbound Warden attacks or blocks the rite, giving the party a final chance to defend Edrin, bargain with the forest, and decide whether to acknowledge its history. If they do, Old Bracken can return peacefully; otherwise, the rescue succeeds but leaves a strained truce.

   The Tree Door

   NextAfter the door opens, Old Bracken emerges and the forest's immediate threat recedes, leading to the party's return to the village or a new bargain with the spirit.

• The Hollow Trail

  Combat or avoidance

  A narrow deer path through thorn hedges, with fallen logs for cover and patches of ankle-deep mud that count as difficult terrain.

  Foes

  • Grave-wolf pack, use a suitable pack of low-level undead or beasts

  • Briar husk, use a suitable low-level plant creature

  ComplicationThe grave-wolves circle the party and try to drag one character into the brambles. If a character scatters salt, offers food, or speaks a name from the old boundary stones, the wolves hesitate long enough to allow negotiation or retreat.

  ScalingFor a smaller or lower-level party, use fewer grave-wolves and omit the briar husk. For a larger or higher-level party, add a second briar husk or increase the pack's numbers. Use appropriate D&D 5E stat blocks or reskin comparable creatures.

• The Root-Crypt

  Combat with social options

  A sunken clearing beneath a hollow tree, with exposed roots that provide cover, a waist-deep pool, and a central stone altar.

  Foes

  • Sister Veyra, use a suitable low-level spellcaster or cultist stat block

  • Rootbound husks, use suitable low-level undead or plant creatures

  ComplicationVeyra uses the roots to restrain intruders while the husks try to separate them. Characters can disrupt the rite by breaking three root-channels, persuading Veyra to stand down, or driving her away. The rite is custom scene logic, not a spell rule.

  ScalingFor a lower-level party, Veyra begins injured and only one husk awakens. For a higher-level party, add one husk or give Veyra a stronger defensive position, not both.

• The Tree Door

  Combat and ritual challenge

  A colossal tree with a sealed, door-shaped cleft. Roots form a raised ring around the entrance, and black sap makes parts of the ground slippery.

  Foes

  • The Rootbound Warden, a custom guardian using a suitable low-level plant creature stat block

  • Thornling swarms, use a suitable low-level swarm stat block or treat them as environmental hazards

  ComplicationThe door opens only when Edrin, the Keeper, willingly presses his palm to its bark and speaks the threshold vow. The party must protect him and decide whether to trust the spirit's warning. If Edrin is absent or refuses, the characters must convince him, find another willing person to accept the Keeper's title, or seek a nonviolent bargain with the tree.

  ScalingFor a lower-level party, the Warden is weakened by the curse and the thornlings withdraw after one is defeated. For a higher-level party, the Warden is healthy and the thornlings continue to pressure anyone near Edrin.

• Mara Venn

  QuestgiverQuestgiver, a village herbalist who has studied the forest's old boundary rites.

  WantsShe wants Old Bracken rescued before the spreading curse reaches the nearby farms.

  “The trees have started knocking on my door. They never did that when Bracken was free.”

• Edrin Vale

  Ally and current Keeper of the forest threshold.

  WantsHe wants to free the spirit while preserving the forest, even if the rescue costs him his life.

  “I can open the door. I will not promise what waits on the other side.”

• Sister Veyra

  Antagonist, a bitter forest hermit who has fed the curse with stolen grave offerings.

  WantsShe wants the curse to consume the forest so its dead can rise and avenge the destruction of her family's homestead.

  “The bear's silence is peace. Let the roots finish what the fire began.”

• Tomas Reed

  Witness, a young charcoal burner who escaped the cursed forest.

  WantsHe wants to be believed and to repay the spirit for saving him from the woods.

  “I heard it breathing under the roots. It sounded like a whole mountain trying not to cry.”

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