The Thorn at Blackmere
The Thorn at Blackmere
“A monster hunt becomes a reckoning with the promises buried beneath the forest.”
— Hook · kill
“Three caravans have vanished on the King's March, and the survivors found only thorn-wrapped bodies beneath the trees. Lady Merrow Vale offers a heavy purse to anyone who can hunt down the creature called the Briar Witch. She warns that the blackthorn will bloom over Blackmere Keep in seven nights.”
— Hook · kill
The adventure begins at Blackmere Keep during a cold rain. Lady Merrow receives the party in a torchlit hall where three thorn-wrapped corpses lie beneath funeral cloths. She explains that the King's March must reopen within seven nights, then presents a map showing the last known location of the missing caravan. Hadrik Thornhand interrupts to warn that the corpses are not ordinary victims: each has a blackthorn seed growing behind one eye.
Lady Merrow Vale
Lady Merrow approaches the party in the keep's great hall after hearing of their reputation. She offers half the reward immediately for accepting the contract and the remainder upon proof that the Briar Witch is dead. If questioned about the old chapel or her missing son, she becomes guarded and insists both matters are unrelated.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The Briar Witch cannot cross running water, but she can send roots beneath it.
- 02A silver bell buried under the old chapel rings whenever the Witch takes a life.
- 03The missing travelers are not dead. Their shadows are trapped in the forest.
- 04Lady Merrow's son rode into Blackmere carrying a sword made from a living tree.
- 05The blackthorn blooms only where someone has broken a promise.
If the party succeeds, the King's March reopens and Blackmere survives the coming winter. If they fail, the forest consumes the keep, the road vanishes beneath blackthorn, and the Briar Witch gains enough strength to spread her domain across the surrounding baronies.
Background Lore
For three generations, the villages around Blackmere Forest have paid tribute to the Briar Witch, a creature said to wear a stag skull and command the roots beneath the earth. The old hunters claim she was once a healer who saved the region from a plague, but every account ends with the same warning: when the blackthorn blooms out of season, the witch is hunting again. Recently, whole caravans have vanished along the King's March, leaving only thorn-wrapped corpses and pale footprints that lead into the forest.
The Briar Witch is an ancient monster that has begun preying on travelers, villagers, and children near Blackmere Forest. Lady Merrow Vale has hired the party to follow the trail, rescue any survivors, and kill the Witch before her ritual reaches the keep. The creature's lair lies beneath an abandoned chapel, but the forest itself will resist anyone who tries to reach it.
