Thundertree
Thundertree is a mostly-abandoned village on the outskirts of the Neverwinter Wood on the Sword Coast. The village is near where the Neverwinter River emerges from the forest and heads west toward the city of Neverwinter.
Campaign Recap
Learning About Thundertree
On Day 6 of the campaign (19 Tarsakh), Qelline Alderleaf in Phandalin told Collateral Damage that her friend Reidoth was in Thundertree. She told the group that Reidoth was a druid, he knew a lot about the region, and he probably could answer many of their questions.
On Day 9 (22 Tarsakh), Collateral Damage was visiting the banshee Agatha, and Shinzon Greenshadow asked her the location of the green dragon that was being followed by Favric, his former fellow dragon cultist. Agatha answered that the dragon, Venomfang, made a tower in Thundertree his home.
Reidoth, Gwenlinn and Venomfang
On Day 11 (24 Tarsakh), Collateral Damage, after resting at Cragmaw Castle in the Neverwinter Wood, traveled north hoping to find the drow that escaped their battle against the Cragmaw Tribe the previous day. They eventually arrived at Thundertree, seeing a sign with messages that read "DANGER! Plant monsters! Turn back now!" and "AND A DRAGON!"
The group looked around the area, first exploring a sagging and dilapidated building that was formerly a tavern named the Brown Horse. They continued carefully exploring, eventually encountering multiple twig blights, but they were careful enough to not engage with the twig blights. When looking to investigate a chest they spotted in a ruined cottage, Reidoth stepped out of a nearby building and called out to them, inviting them to join him inside. Gwenlinn also stepped outside, and the group joined them.
Gwenlinn explained to the group that back in Phandalin, she asked Qelline Alderleaf if she knew of any promising areas that would make for a good farm in the north. Qelline encouraged Gwenlinn to find Reidoth, saying he knows the region better than anyone. After Gwenlinn found Reidoth in Thundertree, Reidoth told her he was monitoring a dragon who had recently taken control of the local tower. The next day, the Venomfang surprised Reidoth and Gwenlinn and intimidated them into a deal where they would work for him. First, they were supposed to go to Mount Hotenow and learn more about tremors happening there, but then a group of dragon cultists arrived and started spying on the dragon. Venomfang noticed them and changed his mind, and he forced Reidoth and Gwenlinn to torment and scare the cultists for his amusement. They did that for several days, but Venomfang then wanted Reidoth and Gwenlinn to kill one of the cultists in a cruel way, so they were planning their escape from the situation.
The group (Conor, Herb, Rayphlard, Shinzon, Gwenlinn and Reidoth) decided to confront Venomfang. The dragon invited them to participate in a race where the last individual to finish would die. He asked them to remove their armor, set down their weapons, and join him at the starting line. The group decided to start fighting instead. Combat didn't go well for the group - they did do some damage with ranged attacks - but Venomfang knocked Conor unconscious twice, once by dropping him from a high elevation and again with his poison breath weapon. Reidoth, recognizing the danger of the situation, cast tree stride and led the group to safety by opening a portal to the nearby forest.
Guilds and Factions
History
The Sunless Citadel, an underground fortress in the area that would later become Thundertree, was the original headquarters for the Cult of Talos. The cultists built it in that location near the Neverwinter Wood so that it would be both hidden from the general population and have an area that was open to the elements. Through that open area, they conducted lightning rituals to honor Talos, the god of storms and destruction. They would capture individuals traveling through the area, bring them to the citadel, and force them to pledge their allegiance to Talos. If they didn’t, they would kill them in a lightning ritual.
A vampire named Gulthias invaded the citadel, traveling in his mist form and witnessing a lightning ritual. One of the cultists spotted Gulthias. They surrounded him and killed him with a wooden stake directly on the ritual site. The stake fused with the magic of the ritual site and grew into a massive undead tree. The Talassans became distracted by this new tree, some worshipping the tree itself more than Talos. Talos commanded his followers to leave the citadel and create a new headquarters, which he called the "Circle of Thunder." Not all of them followed his commands; some stayed at the Sunless Citadel and worshipped the tree instead, and they built the beginnings of the village that would later be known as "Thundertree."
The villagers began selling a fruit from the tree that they called the "Thunder Apple" every year at the Neverwinter Midsummer Festival. The fruit became famous for its healing ability, and after a few years Neverwinter residents began traveling to Thundertree to see the tree that gave the village its name. The tree's appearance fascinated tourists, as it somehow appeared dead and alive at the same time. After starting as a tourist attraction, Thundertree grew to be a prosperous village due to woodcutting and fur trapping in the Neverwinter Wood.
In 1451, the eruption of Mount Hotenow destroyed the village of Thundertree. There were no known survivors.
Architecture
Thundertree is now mostly dilapidated buildings surrounded by vines and brush. In the middle of the village, a tower stands upon a hill that rises steeply above the rest of the buildings. The tower, now inhabited by Venomfang, has a partially-collapsed roof and an adjoining cottage. Many of the buildings are without roofs and their interiors are now open to the weather, while others are more-or-less intact.
Natural Resources
Before the eruption of Mount Hotenow in 1451, the area surrounding Thundertree in the Neverwinter Wood was known to be good for woodcutting and fur trapping.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
1451
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