1. 0:00

   45 min

   socialThe table is here

   1. The Map That Ends at the Trees

   A rain-darkened Coalition shelter at the Evergreen Courts, where damp maps and sealed sample jars sit beneath a canopy of woven branches.

   At the Coalition field command, Maerwen explains the missing teams, shares what little the scouts mapped, and asks the party to judge how much risk it is willing to accept to recover survivors as well as stop the blight.

   NextA Coalition guide walks the party to the forest boundary, then withdraws as the first drops of red sap strike the trail.

2. 0:45

   120 min

   exploration

   2. The Weeping Canopy Threshold

   A close, wet forest where leaves bead with old-blood-colored sap and the soil pulses with a faint, alien rhythm.

   The party crosses the Weeping Canopy Threshold, contends with the Stalkers and spore hazard, and attempts to read the Root-Song. Success identifies the safest conduit and grants advantage on the first attack against the Archdruid. Failure disturbs a dormant node and triggers the spore hazard.

   The Weeping Canopy Threshold

   NextThe party follows the conduit's downward slope through a curtain of hanging roots, whose wet tendrils brush their shoulders as the forest opens into a hollow.

3. 2:45

   120 min

   combat

   3. The Hollow That Watches

   A cathedral-like hollow of dead trunks threaded with black veins, where motionless corrupted fauna watch from the dark.

   The party crosses the Rootbound Hollow against four Void-Touched Grovewardens. The hollow's dead trunks create cover and chokepoints, while the Wardens' howl can break the party's formation.

   The Rootbound Hollow

   NextAs the last Warden falls or retreats, the black veins dim along a narrow passage, revealing the first cut stones of the Sunken Grove Shrine.

4. 4:45

   60 min

   social

   4. The Warden Still Listening

   The Sunken Grove Shrine, where old carved roots ring a basin clogged with black sap. The air smells of wet stone, bitter resin, and a faint trace of clean water.

   The party finds Yssa pinned by fallen roots and must decide how to approach her grief and anger. A successful DC 20 Persuasion or Insight check, supported by genuine sympathy rather than orders, earns her trust and advantage on the shrine's Religion or History check. She helps even if the check fails, but offers no bonus.

   NextOnce freed, Yssa presses her field notes into the party's hands and points toward the basin, where black sap draws itself into a slow spiral.

5. 5:45

   90 min

   skill

   5. The Unbroken Rite

   A buried shrine centered on a basin of black sap, a collapsed conduit, and weathered carvings that show roots braided around a wave.

   The party conducts the three-successes-before-three-failures shrine challenge. Success restores the ward, earns 2 Coalition influence points, and unlocks the Tide-Root Amulet's Stage 3 Exalted state. Failure triggers the specified backlash and Leyline Resonance Stack consequence.

   The Sunken Grove Shrine

   NextAs clean water rises through the basin, a green pulse races into the surrounding roots. The ground answers with a deep crack from the direction of the Patriarch's Hollow.

6. 7:15

   150 min

   combat

   6. The Patriarch's Hollow

   A clearing of difficult terrain where dead roots converge on a black oak. The hollow trunk shifts as though something inside it is trying to breathe.

   The party confronts the Void-Blighted Archdruid. At half its maximum hit points, the boss shifts into its Rotten Heart Eruption phase, cleansing conditions in keeping with the campaign's major-boss phase-shift rule. The party must defeat it or force it to lose its hold on the network.

   The Patriarch's Hollow

   NextWhen the Patriarch's hold breaks, the oak splits and the clearing's roots turn toward the purified shrine. The party follows the first clean trickle of water back toward the canopy's edge.

• The Weeping Canopy Threshold

  combat

  A close-grown forest of slick leaves, blood-colored sap, root-hollows, and uneven ground. The canopy is low enough to snag gear, and the soil pulses faintly underfoot.

  Foes

  • 3 Bleeding Root Stalkers

  ComplicationCanopy disturbance releases a spore cloud in a 20-foot radius. Each creature in the area makes a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or becomes poisoned for 1 hour and takes 3d8 poison damage at the start of each of its turns until that condition ends. The cloud is a custom hazard; use the listed effects as adventure-specific rules.

  ScalingFor a party struggling with the encounter, use 2 Stalkers or reduce each Stalker's hit points to 150. For a party handling it comfortably, add a fourth Stalker. Stalker statistics are custom: AC 20, HP 195, Strength 22, Dexterity 14, Constitution 19. Each makes two Root-Lash attacks, +11 to hit, reach 15 feet, dealing 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage on a hit. The target is restrained, escape DC 20, until it breaks free or the Stalker is destroyed.

• The Rootbound Hollow

  combat

  A hollowed-out cathedral of dead trunks, with pulsing black veins along the wood and enough fallen timber to provide intermittent cover. Corrupted fauna watch from the shadows.

  Foes

  • 4 Void-Touched Grovewardens

  ComplicationA Void Howl can panic the party just as the hollow's root-mass blocks escape routes. The wardens' necrotic and poison immunities make ordinary attempts to exploit those damage types ineffective.

  ScalingEach Warden is a custom CR 14 foe: AC 19, HP 180, speed 40 feet, immunity to necrotic and poison damage. Each makes three Claw attacks, +11 to hit, reach 10 feet, dealing 18 (2d10 + 7) slashing plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage per hit. Void Howl, Recharge 5–6: creatures within 30 feet make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn. To reduce difficulty, use 3 Wardens. For a strong party, add a fifth Warden or have one arrive after the first round.

• The Sunken Grove Shrine

  skill

  An ancient stone-and-root shrine sunk beneath the forest floor. Its basin is choked with black sap, while fragments of original Sylvros warding remain visible under the grime.

  ComplicationIf the party fails to purge the shrine, each character suffers 4d10 necrotic damage that ignores resistance, and every character gains one Leyline Resonance Stack, a campaign-specific consequence. Resolve its longer-term effects using the campaign's established rules.

  ScalingRun as a conversation followed by a three-successes-before-three-failures skill challenge. The checks are DC 22: Nature or Medicine to draw corruption out of the basin using the Tide-Root Amulet's water-channeling properties; Religion or History to recite the original warding rite; Survival or Athletics to clear the collapsed root-mass. Yssa's help grants advantage on the Religion or History check if the party earns her trust. Her survival and rescue are worth an additional Coalition influence point independently of the skill challenge.

• The Patriarch's Hollow

  combat

  A clearing of dead roots converging on a black ancient oak. The ground is difficult terrain, and the oak's hollow trunk frames the boss's emergence. When the phase shift begins, the trunk splits and releases a wet, copper-scented vapor.

  Foes

  • Void-Blighted Archdruid, the Root-Hollow Patriarch

  ComplicationThe clearing is difficult terrain throughout the fight. A creature that ends its turn on bare corrupted root takes 2d8 necrotic damage unless the party succeeded at Reading the Root-Song. At half its maximum hit points, the Archdruid enters its Rotten Heart Eruption phase, cleansing conditions as described by the campaign's boss phase-shift rule.

  ScalingThe Archdruid is the custom CR 22 boss specified for this adventure. Use its campaign stat block if available, including its Rotten Heart Eruption phase transition at half hit points. If no such stat block is available, prepare the boss before play rather than treating an invented block as official 5e content. To reduce difficulty, allow the party's successful shrine purification to suppress one lair effect or remove a defensive resource. To increase difficulty, let the Patriarch begin with one nearby corrupted root-node still active.

• Envoy Maerwen Silverbough

  Questgiverquestgiver, an Eco-Sovereign Coalition representative

  WantsSecure the party's help and protect Sylvros's root-conduits without surrendering Coalition authority over the crisis.

  “The roots are not sick. They are being taught to hunger.”

• Warden-Convener Yssa Thornweave

  ally and witness, a half-elf Coalition warden trapped in the Sunken Grove Shrine

  WantsHonor her lost survey partner, survive, and prevent anyone else from entering the shrine unprepared.

  “I kept listening for my partner's whistle. Then I stopped, because I could hear the trees answering instead.”

• The Root-Hollow Patriarch

  antagonist, the Void-Blighted Archdruid

  WantsUse the root-conduits to anchor the void-blighted presence in Sylvros and reshape the forest around its will.

  “You call it corruption because you remember when the roots served you.”

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