Moving further through the Cassian Escape you find yourselves delving into one of the many small woodlands that dot the Jabari Plains. The woodland grows denser as you move through it, until the trees around you begin to twist and warp, bending and folding in on themselves and succumbing to an ever-growing number of mushroom colonies and fungal growths. Suddenly the woodland clears and opens to a large, rotted grove of old oak and wicker trees, the largest of which sits atop of large boulder at the center of the grove. Grounds are caked in mud and pools of standing water, covered in algae.
Grove Entrance
Walking closer to the grove, you come to the entrance of it, there, standing just before the opening of the grove are two ogres. Their jaws appear to have been partially cleaved off, and their eyes are glazed over and hazy. They are accompanied by two other undead creatures that are covered in thorny vines and tendrils. If the forms spot you, they will attack.
Enemies: 2 Zombie Ogres, 2 Fungal Zombies
Fungal Grove
The grove is a collection of withered trees, rotting stumps, and fungal growths. Two of these tree awaken as you approach and lash out at you if you get too close. Additionally, from a burrow entrance below the main stump of the central tree, three gaunt, pale skinned humanoids rush out at you.
Enemies: 2 Awakened Trees, 3 ghouls
Killing Floor
The entrance at the base of the tree leads to a burrow dug out of the roots of the tree and the boulder on which it sits. The burrow has three narrow passages branching out from it, each leading to other chambers deeper underground. The middle of these passages leads to a dark, dirt pit that has piles of bones and decaying corpses scattered throughout, pools of blood and congealing gore dot the uncovered dirt floor. Within this dark chamber, similar creatures to the ones you just encountered sit and feast on the remains of a fresh kill, a young girl who still has her blood-stained teddy bear clutched in her hands.
Enemies: 3 Ghouls, 2 Ghasts
(DM Note: All chambers are connected to one another by passages, including the ones that lead to the main entry chamber of the dungeon, but some are hidden from view.)
Monster Maker Chamber
The passage on the left winds down sharply to a medium sized chamber that is lined with tables made of crooked wood, and shelves carved from the roots of the wilted tree, all filled with bones, herbs and alchemical ingredients both common and exotic. Atop the tables are countless corpses in varying stages of decay, two corpses in particular catch your eye, they appear to be partially transformed into what you know as Fungal Zombies. Around one of these tables a green skinned woman tinkers with the corpse, inserting herbs and strange alchemical ingredients including small fungal pods into the body. Around the room there are also large fungal mounds, that appear to have three distinct sacks bulging out from their mass. The hag will attack you if she is provoked, or the brood mothers will activate and attack if they sense your approach on the floor of the chamber.
Enemies: 1 Green Hag, 2 Brood Mothers, (potentially) X amount of Fungal Zombies
Brewing Chamber
The passage on the right leads to a chamber that has shelves of ingredients lining its walls and hanging from its ceiling, the chamber is slightly larger than the previous chamber but still not enormous enough to fit anything larger than a large creature. AT the center of the chamber is a cauldron, within which is being brewed a vile green liquid that wreaks of decay and death. The brew is being cooked by two similar green hags, who are being guarded over by four fungal zombies. The zombies will attack you if they or the hags see you. A DC 14 nature or arcana check reveals that the brew is an edited mixture of blight forms mixed in with herbs that are marked with the hag's magical essence.
The Blight Heart
A hidden door lies within the Brewing Chamber (DC 17 investigation check) leads to a passage that delves deeper into the heart of the root system of the tree. There, set before a large archway made of tangled roots, stands two large fungal abominations, the chamber beyond is the largest by far and you are bathed in the green glow that fills the chamber. The glow originates from what appears to be a massive heart made of fungal growths, vines and tendrils encasing a glowing green sack that pulses with a strange rhythm. Within the chamber, two green hags appear to be engaged in a ritual that is feeding pale green mists into the heart and causing its beating to slowly increase. Surrounding the hags are two fungal zombies which will attack anyone who gets close.
(DM Note: If the party doesn't stop the ritual by round 4, the Blight Heart fully awakens, and the encounter becomes much harder)
Enemies: 2 Fungal Abominations, 2 Fungal Zombies, 2 Green Hags, Blight Heart
Treasure
Coin: 800cp, 10,000sp, 2,900gp, 110pp
Objects: 6 (250gp) Art Objects
Magic Items: Helm of Telepathy, +1 longsword, Javelin of Lightning, Pearl of Power
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