Star Grove

in The Eltawin Forest or Locations Within the Shekiac Empire

Hidden among the dense woodlands northwest of Eltawin, Star Grove is a small hunting and logging village where the forest seems to breathe around every home. The settlement takes its name from a clearing at its center—a ring of ancient trees whose canopies open to the night sky, forming a near-perfect circle. The villagers hold quiet reverence for this place, claiming the stars shine brighter there than anywhere else in the Eltawin Forest.

Life in Star Grove is hard but steady. Hunters range deep into the forest for game, while loggers harvest timber for the sawmills of Eltawin. Yet beneath its rustic calm lies unease. The Barony of Eltawin governs the region, but Shekiac’s hand here is light—almost disinterested. The local overseer, Warden Halric Ven, enforces imperial law with more patience than zeal, preferring to ignore minor heresies so long as the tithe is met.

However, whispers grow darker with each passing season. The corruption spreading from the River Heart to the south has begun to taint the streams near the village. Fish have been found with translucent flesh, and the trees nearest the water bleed a dark sap when cut. Some villagers speak of strange lights moving between the trunks at night and of whispers that echo long after the wind has died.

For GMs, Star Grove offers a setting of creeping dread beneath a facade of peace—a place where nature’s beauty masks something far older and more dangerous. The villagers’ superstition may be all that stands between them and what stirs beneath the soil.