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Mercywort at Mercy Lot 17 - AI-generated fantasy Quest

Mercywort at Mercy Lot 17

Quests
5 scenes · about 4 hours · 2 encounters

Mercywort at Mercy Lot 17

A small green vow takes root where an old certainty still haunts the dead.

Read aloud

At Feathered Rest, a young Thranish pilgrim asks you to accompany her into the Riverwood to plant Mercywort at a glade where shifters were massacred long ago. She says the dead are still there, and that some of them wear the old Silver Flame colors. “I want to remember what was done,” she says, “not ask anyone to forget it.”

Run the session

Scene
1/5
The Pilgrim's Request
Objectives
0/4
Objectives
A complication

Cheat sheet

Objectives

  1. 1Find the massacre site, known locally as Mercy Lot 17.
  2. 2Learn who was killed and confront the old account of the massacre.
  3. 3Help Nylah make a penitential offering without demanding forgiveness or conversion.
  4. 4Preserve the victims' names and stories for those who come after.Optional

The clock

With each major delay or noisy confrontation, the spectral march grows louder and the sentries range farther from the glade. This is a narrative pressure, not a timed combat round limit. The party can slow it by treating the site carefully, following the names, or avoiding needless violence.

Scenes

  1. 0:00The Pilgrim's Request
  2. 0:35Names Along the Trail
  3. 1:20The Old March
  4. 2:05The Dead Remember
  5. 3:10A Living Vow

Cast

  • NylahQuestgiver and pilgrim
  • Sergeant Halvek VennAntagonist and haunting leader
  • Tava RillWitness and local ally
  • BerrenLocal witness

The hook

Set the scene

At Feathered Rest, Nylah waits near a sheltered porch with a wrapped bundle of Mercywort cuttings. She explains that an old glade in the Riverwood holds the dead of a shifter massacre committed during the Silver Flame crusades and purges. She wants to plant the cuttings as an act of penitence and healing, not to preach to the shifters. If asked why she is going with so little protection, she answers that fear is no reason to leave the dead unremembered.

How Nylah asks

Nylah approaches the party at Feathered Rest after asking locals whether anyone would escort her through the Riverwood.

Rumours

Roll a rumour

1“Berren says the glade's lights move in a marching line, even when no one walks the trail.”
2“Tava says her family remembers the dead by name, though the old Silver Flame account called them a hostile band.”
3“A traveler claims that a prayer spoken at the glade makes the ghosts stronger, but cannot say what the prayer was.”
4“Nylah has heard that Mercywort grows poorly in ordinary soil but takes root where people tend a place with care. Treat this as devotional belief, not a guaranteed magical property.”

Scenes

about 4 hours

  1. 0:00

    35 min

    socialThe table is here

    1. The Pilgrim's Request

    Feathered Rest, near a sheltered common porch and the Riverwood trailhead.

    Establish Nylah's sincere purpose, let the party question her, and give them the choice to gather local information before leaving.

    NextThe party can depart at once or speak with Tava and Berren for testimony, directions, and context.

  2. 0:35

    45 min

    exploration

    2. Names Along the Trail

    A damp forest track, small creek crossings, and a stretch of trees scarred by old fire.

    Explore the Riverwood approach, follow signs of old passage, and learn from Tava's account or Berren's practical directions. Place at least one physical clue, such as a marked stone, a broken weapon, or the carved wooden bird.

    NextA line of ash-gray light between the trees leads toward Mercy Lot 17; the first spectral figures appear ahead.

  3. 1:20

    45 min

    combat

    3. The Old March

    A constricted forest track with thorny sides, slick roots, and a shallow ravine.

    Make the ghosts' danger clear while allowing caution, concealment, retreat, or an attempt to speak. The sentries repeat fragments of a military march and react to what the party carries or says.

    The Marching Line

    NextOnce the party breaks through, evades, or addresses the sentries, they reach the glade's outer stones and hear Halvek's voice.

  4. 2:05

    65 min

    social

    4. The Dead Remember

    Mercy Lot 17, an old clearing with shallow graves, exposed roots, and a fallen marker stone.

    Let the party investigate the glade and decide how to approach Halvek. Testimony, a discovered name, burial, prayer, or a direct challenge can change the confrontation; none guarantees forgiveness.

    The Glade's Accusation

    NextWhen Halvek's claim is challenged or the party is forced into a fight, Nylah asks whether the Mercywort can still be planted amid the danger.

  5. 3:10

    40 min

    skill

    5. A Living Vow

    The center of Mercy Lot 17, beside the shallow graves and the place where the marker once stood.

    Resolve the haunting through a chosen combination of confrontation, testimony, remembrance, burial, prayer, and planting. State clearly what the characters' actions accomplish and what remains unresolved.

    NextThe party returns to Feathered Rest with the outcome, the testimony, and any remaining questions.

Behind it

What people believe

Nylah, a Silver Flame pilgrim from Thrane, asks for help reaching a remote Riverwood glade where shifters were massacred during the historic crusades and purges.

Background

Long ago, during the Silver Flame crusades and purges, armed followers of the faith massacred shifters at a secluded Riverwood glade.

The stakes

If the party fails to reach the glade, the Mercywort remains unplanted and the ghosts continue to menace the forest.

Encounters

2

  • The Marching Line

    Combat or parley

    An old forest track narrowed by thorn, slick roots, and a shallow ravine. Fallen branches provide cover; a crumbling trail edge makes movement hazardous.

    Foes

    • 2-4 Crusader Sentries, custom low-level incorporeal hauntings

    ComplicationThe sentries react to weapons, holy symbols, and shouted commands as if the massacre is beginning again. A character who pauses to address the dead, names the harm, or protects a remnant of the victims may create an opening to speak with Halvek.

    ScalingFor a party of 3 low-level characters, use 2 sentries and have one withdraw when directly confronted with evidence of the massacre. For 5 characters, use 4 sentries. For an especially fragile party, make the sentries threatening apparitions that can shove, frighten, or bar passage but cannot reduce a character below 1 hit point. Use the 2014 specter only if its published statistics suit the table, and reduce the number accordingly.

  • The Glade's Accusation

    Combat or social

    A bowl-shaped glade ringed with old trees. Shallow graves, a collapsed stone marker, and exposed roots divide the clearing. The center is open enough for a rite or a fight.

    Foes

    • Sergeant Halvek Venn, custom named ghostly leader

    ComplicationHalvek's strength rises when the party repeats the crusaders' justifications or treats the dead as monsters without names. It wanes if characters present testimony, acknowledge the slain, or hold a quiet vigil. These are narrative levers, not additional official rules.

    ScalingFor low-level characters, Halvek is a dangerous presence rather than a mandatory kill. Give him one clear supernatural attack and a limited ability to command a sentry; telegraph his threat before harm occurs. He can be confronted through testimony, prayer, burial, planting Mercywort, or combat. If a combat encounter is required, use an appropriately reduced 2014 ghost or specter only after checking its threat against the party; do not add both full-stat-block threats together.

Cast

4

  • Nylah

    QuestgiverQuestgiver and pilgrim

    WantsNylah, a 28-year-old human pilgrim from Thrane, wants to plant Mercywort at the massacre site and witness to the dead without excusing the violence. Her Silver Flame faith is sincere and strong, and she understands that atonement does not entitle her to forgiveness.

    “I am not asking them to forgive me, or to believe what I believe. I am asking to plant something that may heal, and to say plainly what was done here.”

  • Sergeant Halvek Venn

    Antagonist and haunting leader

    WantsSergeant Halvek Venn, a dead Silver Flame crusader and leader of the haunting, clings to the belief that the massacre was righteous. He initially recognizes Nylah as a fellow believer and expects her to affirm his account. Beneath that certainty is a terror that admitting the truth would make his life and death meaningless.

    “The Flame showed us the way. We did not stray. We did what the light demanded.”

  • Tava Rill

    Witness and local ally

    WantsTava Rill, a shifter herbalist living near Feathered Rest, wants the dead remembered as people rather than as a faceless old enemy. She will share family testimony and help identify plants and burial traces, but will not speak for every shifter or promise forgiveness.

    “My grandmother taught me the names. If you go there, do not call it an empty clearing.”

  • Berren

    Local witness

    WantsBerren, a human ferryman who has lived near the Riverwood for decades, wants the road kept safe and fears the haunting will drive travelers away. He has witnessed strange lights and can describe the glade's approaches, but he is reluctant to risk his livelihood by becoming involved.

    “I heard the marching again last night. I won't go back, but I can tell you what the trees sounded like.”

How it ends

Rewards

Experience: Award experience appropriate to the party's system and level for overcoming the haunting, uncovering the truth, and completing a meaningful noncombat resolution. If using 2014 5e, award encounter XP only for creatures actually overcome, and consider a modest story award at the GM's discretion.
Gold: 20 gp per character from a modest travel stipend arranged by Nylah's contact in Feathered Rest, if the party accepts payment. Nylah has little personal wealth and does not promise payment before the journey.
In the story: The party's account may become part of a local record of the glade, and their choices shape whether later pilgrims approach the site with humility or defensiveness.
Standing: Nylah offers a letter of thanks to a local Silver Flame contact who values sincere acts of penitence. Tava's trust is a separate reward, earned through respect for her testimony rather than through the religious rite.

Items

  • A small packet of Mercywort seeds and a careful note on its traditional medicinal preparation. The plant is an ingredient, not a ready-made potion.

  • A carved wooden bird recovered from the glade, returned to Tava if she wishes to keep it.

On a win

Nylah plants the Mercywort and speaks of the harm without asking the dead to absolve anyone.

What it leaves open

Tava asks the party to help carry the recovered names to another shifter community, where relatives may add their own testimony.
The surviving Mercywort may be propagated near Feathered Rest as a small memorial and source of medicinal cuttings.
A Silver Flame archivist hears of the party's testimony and asks them to compare the glade's history with crusade-era records.
If Halvek remains unresolved, a later expedition may find the glade quieter but not wholly at peace, with a new name or object surfaced by the roots.

If it fails

The expedition is abandoned or the trail becomes impassable.
If the party withdraws before reaching the glade, the Mercywort is not planted and the haunting remains. Nylah does not blame them, but asks whether they will return after gathering more testimony or help.
The party wins the confrontation but fails to reach any form of truthful acknowledgment or reconciliation.
If the party defeats Halvek violently without acknowledging the dead, his apparition disperses for now, but the glade remains troubled. The planting can proceed under pressure, and later travelers may report renewed marching sounds.
The rite cannot be completed during this visit.
If Nylah is driven away or the Mercywort is destroyed, Tava may keep the testimony and attempt a separate remembrance later. This preserves the possibility of a follow-up rather than making the whole quest depend on Nylah's safety.
The party chooses silence or denial over testimony.
If the party accepts Halvek's account and suppresses the witnesses' testimony, Tava withdraws her trust and the haunting grows more confident. The party may still leave safely, but has helped perpetuate the old false account.

Complications (d6)

  1. 1A rain-swollen creek covers the safest trail marker. The party must find a higher crossing, spend time scouting, or risk losing a pack or item to the current.
  2. 2A medicinal plant patch is trampled by deer fleeing the glade. Nylah can still plant Mercywort, but the party must gather a viable cutting from Tava's bundle or search for a surviving root.
  3. 3A spectral sentry mistakes a character carrying a bright holy symbol or banner for a crusader officer and demands the old order be repeated.
  4. 4A child's carved wooden bird lies among the roots. It bears a shifter maker's mark, giving the party a tangible clue and a fragile object to protect during the confrontation.
  5. 5Berren's warning proves incomplete: a fallen tree blocks the return trail, forcing the group to retrace their route or clear a narrow passage while the haunting grows bolder.
  6. 6A gust scatters Nylah's written list of the dead. Recovering the pages requires careful searching, and the names become a focal point for the ghosts if read aloud.

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