Session 53

Recap

• Defeated the creature in the well
• Received a reward for dealing with this
• Continued with your travel
• Arrived at Rosemount, noticed that the statues were broken
• Brief chat in the tavern and rested

Plot Points

• Waking up in Rosemount
• Reaching the Abnoba Forest - an hour or so by cart
• Necromancer + frogs

Abnoba Forest

At first glance, the Abnoba Forest appears lush — an ancient expanse of towering trees, tangled undergrowth, and silver mist that coils lazily through sun-dappled clearings. The forest is alive with the sounds of birdsong and the rustle of unseen creatures, as if nature itself still clings desperately to its former beauty. But as you venture deeper, that illusion begins to unravel.

A creeping blight has taken root.

The once-pristine heart of Abnoba now bears scars — veins of black rot curling up tree trunks like cruel tattoos, patches of withered underbrush crunching underfoot, and a sickly, metallic scent in the air that no breeze can dispel. In the worst places, the trees themselves appear to bleed, thick sap oozing like tears from deep fissures in bark twisted and warped by unnatural forces. The forest groans at night.

Nestled among the highest boughs and oldest trees lies Leth'Taelar, the treetop village of the WildEyes, a proud and ancient tribe of wood elves known for their sharp senses and deeper bond with nature than most of their kin. Their homes blend seamlessly into the canopy — woven branches, hanging lanterns of glowing fungus, and walkways grown rather than built. But even here, the blight has begun to take hold. The vines are brittle, the air carries a weight of despair, and the once-joyful rituals of the WildEyes have grown somber.

For most of you, these are your fFo irst steps into a forgotten realm where the trees once whispered secrets older than empires.

But for one of you, it is a home returned to in ruin.

Gone only a few months, you remember Abnoba as troubled, but resilient. Now, your people are thinner, quieter. The forest's wounds have deepened, and the corruption festers dangerously close to the Spirit Tree at the village's center — a tree whose life has always been tied to that of the WildEyes themselves. Where once there was cautious hope, now there is silence, and you hear whisper of something awakening in the roots.

Abnoba is dying. And it may not die quietly.