Albany Pine Bush Preserve

Entering the Preserve

Wind whispers through pine needles as you cross into the Pine Bush. The ground is soft, alive with moss and sand. Blue butterflies flicker like falling petals through twisted trees, and strange runes—cut deep into bark and stone—glow faintly in your peripheral vision.

Research

• Survival or Nature Check (DC 13): Reveals tracks of a large beast moving slowly toward a glade. They are not a type of track that the character is familiar with.
• Arcana or Religion Check (DC 15): The runes are a type of warding spell meant to protect something inside the area.

Velra

Velra watches from a distance. Passive Perception scores versus her Stealth of 17. She studies them with a kind of reverent hunger, not for their flesh or coin, but for their truths—the weight of their names, the cracks in their hearts, the memories stitched into their souls. If the party becomes aware of her, she will reveal her self and confront the party. Otherwise, she will observe them for a time. But she will eventually confront them.

A wind stirs the needles underfoot, she is there—leaning casually against the crooked trunk of a pitch pine. Her silhouette is wrong in ways you can’t quite name: too still, too thin, too symmetrical. Her wild red hair fans around her like flames in a storm. She smiles, and it stretches just a little too far, sharp canines catching the light.

"Ah… wanderers. But not by accident, no. Your boots do not carry you here on whim. So tell me—whose will sends you through my trees? What name whispered your path into this forgotten green? This place remembers everything, you know. And now… so do I."

Her eyes narrow slightly, the glow of them like embers. You feel as though she’s already taken something from you—though you cannot say what.

She will not attack them, but will defend herself if needed. If the party attempts to introduce themselves, she will wave a dismissive hand at them and declare who and what each of them are. Then she will clarify that she isn't asking who they are, but rather what their intentions are. If the party tells her that they are there to hunt the giant beast, she will growl at them.

She growls at you.

"You came to hunt him? To lay your crude little hands on what you cannot begin to understand?"

She steps forward, each motion fluid and wrong, like something imitating a human poorly. Her fingers twitch at her sides, claws catching the light.

"Shanu is not yours to claim. He is woven into the bones of this land, a thread in the ley lines that cradle balance. If he falls… the weave unravels. The Dark will seize its moment—chaos will blossom where order once pulsed. Life may perish. Or worse... it may twist."

She bares her teeth now, not in a grin but in warning.

"You short-lived parasites. You do not see the harm until it poisons you. You plunder with hope in your hearts and rot in your wake. You are less than a flicker of shadow on the bark of the world, and yet you think to challenge the immortal grace of a spirit older than your myths?"

She turns her head sharply, as though listening to something distant, then glares at you again.

"I should scatter your names into the wind and let the trees forget you. Go back. Or face the ruin you invite."

Shanu

The party will encounter the beast in a clearing near a lake. Shanu will not attack, but it will defend itself. If the party chooses to hunt Shanu, treat this as the boss fight for the adventure. After which, Velra will be hostile towards them, but not overtly aggressive (regardless if they win or loose).

Investigation

• Survival or Nature Check (DC 13): The party can track the beast to its current location if they are looking to hunt it.
• If they choose to look around, take them to the Fallen Beast map where Velra will tell them some of the history of this place.

The clearing is wrong. The air hangs heavy with the silence of something sacred and broken. Twisted stone and tangled roots form the decaying outline of something vast—once alive, now absorbed into the forest floor. Lupus clings to the bones of the earth like bruises that never healed. A hush falls as Velra steps into the ruin, her too-long limbs brushing the tall grass, her eyes burning bright like twin coals in the gloom.

"Do you feel it? The sorrow in the soil? The way the ground still aches for what was torn from it?"

She kneels and places her long, clawed fingers upon the moss-covered remains. Her voice trembles like a whisper echoing from beneath the earth.

"This was Ashateh, the Guardian before Shanu. Mortals came with bright steel and louder purpose. They spilled its blood like it meant nothing… and the land wept poison for years. The mortals lost all connection with the Dark when she fell, breaking a cord that was only recently reconnected."

She stands slowly, looking directly at you now, her posture crooked, inhuman. Her mouth spreads wider than it should in a rueful smile.

"You are not the first to come hunting gods in trees. You won’t be the last. But do you know what you bring when you kill a guardian? You don't just slay flesh—you break something that keeps the wild world breathing."

She raises a hand toward the bones, now part of the forest.

"From Ashateh’s death came highways carved through wetlands, the endless hum of power lines, and waters turned bitter with run-off. The mortals disconnected from the Source. And still… still you come with blades and fire and the arrogance of fragile things."

She steps closer, the smile gone. Only her eyes remain lit with that strange, foxlike fire.

"Will you listen? Or will you open a box that cannot close?"

Type

Forest, Boreal (Coniferous)

Characters in Location

• Velra

Related Plots

• Meat for the Masses

Alternative Options

If the party makes it known that they would like to spare Shanu, but make it clear that Camp Hope does need to eat, then Velra will direct them to a herd of wild boar that are roaming north of the preserve. There is no sin in killing in order to feed yourself. As long as things are not taken in excess and the animals are used with respect. And as long as the sacred creatures are left alone.

If you would like to play out this hunting trip, there are rules in the DMG, but I personally find these ones more interesting and engaging. Hunting & Gathering. These rules lend themselves to the telling of stories as well as to harvesting of goods. Both of which are helpful in augmenting the ending of this adventure if they choose not to engage in combat.