Investigating the Wild Tribes

A few weeks ago, the people of Greenpath lost contact with the Shi'to tribe they trade with. The traders they send to the village have not returned either, making many worry, especially due to The Thorns Wood that appeared a few months ago and cleaves the path to the tribe. Because of this, Greenpath is looking for a group of adventurers who can check up on the state of their trading partners. The party must travel to Greenpath and speak with its town leader, Hank Hill. Hank will inform the players about the state of affairs and share his concern about the Thorns Woods, warning the players to be careful. The players can then proceed to head east to The Secluded Wilds. This path takes them through an enclave in the mountain range surrounding Meydia and leads through the Thorns Woods. Upon entering the amnions forest, The Black Knight event will trigger.
Eventually, the players will arrive at the tribe, finding it burned down and destroyed. Upon investigating the ruins, the players will meet a mysterious stranger who has been digging graves for his fellow tribesman. Remarkably, some of the graves are empty, even though there don’t seem more bodies to bury. The strange tabaxi is very depressed and has lost most of his sanity causing him to come across as hallow. He speaks only simple answers and doesn’t prove all too helpful. He will, however, freak out when he sees J'Zargo, becoming terrified and sprinting away into the woods. If the party chooses to pursue him, he will lead them off into the jungle. This will initiate a chase as described in the Jungle Chase event. The party may be able to keep up with him, however, given the difficult terrain, it will be very hard to catch him. If the players do not catch up with him on time, he will get attacked by a barlgura at the edge of a cliff. The demon will severely wound the man and upon seeing the party, throw his body off the cliff. The party will then enter combat with the creature. Once the demon is defeated, the party may look out over the cliff. The drop is very far down, too far to descend by normal means. Even if the players do descend the cliff, they would have to succeed in a very high tracking check to find the man’s body. The tabaxi will have landed in a tree, barely conscious. Although he is too far gone to have a conversation with, he will murmur faintly about what happened to his village. The cliff itself overlooks a vast area of the jungle. If the players were to look out over it they would be able to see a vast waterfall leading into a lake. On the edge of the lake, they would be able to recognize a ruin of some sort. This ruin is a small ancient temple that has been covered in overgrowth and will be of significance later in the story.
After the chase, the party should return to Greenpath to make their report. By this time it should get close to nightfall. On their way back they will be attacked by a small number of ghouls (Ghoul Attack). Once the party passes through the mountain path, they will be able to spot smoke coming from the direction of Greenpath. The closer they get, the more dark smoke they will spot. Upon getting near the merchant town, the event Burning of Greenpath will kick off. During this event, the players must slay the assaulting ghoul horde until the village is safe. At the end of the assault, most of the town will be razed and few survivors remain. Among the survivors is the town’s leader Hank Hill. The man is in tears and begs the party to find the people that have been abducted by some of the ghouls. Adding to this that he cannot pay the party’s reward for visiting the tribe given the state of the village, nor can he promise them some other reward. If the players choose to pursue this objective, the next part of the quest will start. Otherwise, the quest will end.
The players have multiple ways to pursue the ghouls. They can attempt to track them right away, which is easier but does not leave them time to rest. Additionally, there is a higher chance they will run into enemies. They can rest and track the ghouls the following day. This is harder and may cause them to get lost, possibly encountering more dangerous wildlife. Lastly, the party can wait until the next night, at this point some of the villagers that have been killed by the ghouls may wake up and will make their way to the location the captives are held. If this option is selected, no tracking check will have to be made, but instead a stealth check. The last method does yield a higher chance of success and still allows for tracking the enemy when discovered, as some ghouls may choose to flee instead of fight.
If the players decide to track/follow the ghouls, they will be able to pursue them to an Overgrown Temple, the same one that could be seen from the cliff. The captured villagers are held within the structure. The scenario will start outside of the temple if it's night, otherwise, the ghouls will all have retreated to the temple’s interior. As such, during the day the number of enemies is a lot denser inside of the dungeon than during the night. The objective of the players will be to free as many captives as they can and exterminate the ghouls. At the end of the dungeon, the players will encounter the leader of the ghouls, an imposing vampire named Lazarus. Lazarus will curse the party for interfering with his plans, but will not engage them, stating that they already hampered too much of his plans and as such he does not have the time to deal with them.
Before entering the temple, the players will stumble onto a tabaxi stalking the premise of the structure. This is Ilis'jah, a tabaxi from the Vurse hunting tribe. She will inform the players that her people have been kidnapped during a raid on their main settlement. As one of the few hunters of the tribe who hasn’t been injured yet, Ilis'jah was tasked to find and scout out the enemy base. The party can ask her to go with them, let her do her own thing, or tell her to remain put. If she joins the party, she will accompany them during the dungeon as a companion. If she does her own thing, Ilis'jah will take care of some of the enemies within the temple before the party encounters them; there will also be a chance she’ll show up for the final encounter. Ilis'jah's effectiveness will depend on rolls made by the DM. Lastly, if the tabaxi hunter is told to stay put, she will offer no aide during the entire dungeon. Once the ruins are cleared out, Ilis'jah will suggest the survivors be taken to a nearby outpost of her clan. The outpost can be reached safely and has provisions to take care of the weakened abductees. The party may agree to join the huntress at the outpost so that they can rest. Among the refugees, there’s an old tabaxi woman who is the last survivor of a nomadic farming tribe that worships fire. This woman, who calls herself Anishina, happens to be the shaman of a nomadic tribe that has also been abducted by Lazarus and his ghouls. As part of her abilities, she is attuned to the “smoke of the jungle” being able to vaguely tell what is going on in other parts of the jungle by reading the clouds and sensing the ash in the air. Due to her powers, Anishina can show the party where the vampire’s hideout is. Knowing this, the party is able to travel to the final location of this questline, the Sanctum of the Bat God.
The players may sneak into the sanctum, however, this requires them clear much more of the dungeon on their own. Instead, the players may partake in the Assaulting the Sanctum event. This event exists in two phases, a preparation phase, and an assault phase. The first thing the party will do is recruit as many survivors and members of the Vurse clan to join them, as well as stock up on supplies, help heal up the wounded, and prepare weaponry and siege equipment. Once this is done, the party and their makeshift army will head to the sanctum, where they will storm its outer grounds. Depending on how successful the assault is, the players may skip major parts of the dungeon.
When arriving at the sanctum of the bat god, the players will hear high-pitched screeches and a bright glow coming from the top of the central structure. The objective of the party will be to reach the top of the central building. While traversing the dungeon, the players will discover that there is a ritual happening at the sanctum which involves capturing Camazotz the Great Bat. Before the players will arrive at the ritual site, they will face Lazarus, who keeps them from disturbing the ritual. The vampire will explain that he seeks to absorb the power of the great bat, who is a source of vampirism. In order to perform the ritual a high number of sacrifices are needed, which is why he abducted people from the jungle tribes as well as from Greenpath. Lazarus will then attack the players; when he is near death, the ritual will be interrupted and fail. This is because of an insufficient number of sacrifices being present, a result of the players rescuing the people kept in the overgrown temple, therefore the ritual depended on Lazarus' own powers to keep Camazotz bound. At this point, the great bat will free itself from its bonds and fly off to the north-northwest. Given an opportunity by the distraction of the great bat escaping, Lazarus will transform into a wolf and flee down a set of stairs. The players can give chase, leading them into a cave.
A blood trail will allow the party to find their way through the cave in pursuit of the demon. The cave will eventually end in the thorns wood. It is here where the trail becomes slightly unclear and a tracking roll needs to be made to follow the vampire. The check succeeds on a 10 or higher. If the players fail with any roll except a nat 1, they will get lost and stumble upon the teleportation altar that lies in the thorns wood. Otherwise, they will find their way to a large cave entrance. The entrance is surrounded on both sides by two giant stone statues of hoplites carrying a shield and a spear. The spears are positioned to cross each other above the cave entrance. This is the entrance to the Caverns into the Depth. The blood trail leads further inside, past a giant stone door that has been opened slightly. On the door, a bloody handprint can be seen, likely from Lazarus. Not much further, the players will catch up to the vampire, laying on the ground bleeding out. He is still conscious but does not have the strength left to fight off the party. Upon being asked for his motives, Lazarus will answer that he wanted to gain a high standing within the new demon hierarchy that will be created once Arenez returns. He wanted to do so by claiming the power of a vampire ancestor. At any point the party can kill Lazarus, completing the quest. If the party wishes to venture further into the cavern, they will reach a dead end once the cave leads to a large open room. The room has a broken-down staircase that used to connect to the entrance through which the players arrived. Without the staircase, the drop is too high to descend. Additionally, a giant demonic spider is asleep in the room, further keeping the party from progressing.
The party may report back to Hank in Greenpath or to the people still at the sanctum or the Vurse outpost, although, this is not needed. Hank will give the party a bit of gold that he managed to scrape together from the rubble, but it won’t be much, just 50 gp. The old Tabaxi shaman can give the adventurers a worthwhile prize. As a reward for avenging her clan, she will give the players the Staff of the red mage, a magic item enhancing fire spells. Other than that, there are no rewards to be had from completing the quest."

Grander Scope

This quest confronts the party for the first time with mentions of Arenez and the existence of a demon society and hierarchy. Additionally, this quest resolves the backstory of J'Zargo and reveals that he is part vampire. Lastly, the events at the sanctum of the great bat will give the players a clue about where they can find Camazotz and how strong he is approximate.

Description

"Adventurers wanted to check up on trade partners!
A few weeks, we lost contact with a tabaxi tribe we've been trading with. We are unable to check up on them ourselves because the road to the tribe leads through the Thorns Wood. Given the close position of the tribe to the woods, we fear the worst. Please come and visit Greenpath's town leader, Hank Hill, if interested. An adequate reward is prepared for those who can calm or confirm our worries."

Progression

1. Head to Greenpath and speak to Hank Hill
2. Travel through the Thorns Wood to the Shi'to tribe
3. Confront the tabaxi survivor and chase him through the jungle (option)
4. Return back to Greenpath and clear the Burning of Greenpath event
5. Track or follow the ghouls to the overgrown ruins
6. Clear the ghouls in the ruins and free the captives
7. Head to the Vurse outpost
8. Speak with Anishina to locate the Sanctum of the Great Bat
9. Prepare for assaulting the sanctum (optional)
10. Travel to and besiege the sanctum (optional)
11. Clear the sanctum and head to the central structure
12. Confront Lazarus and stop the ritual
13. Chase Lazarus through the cave
14. Track Lazarus to the Caverns into the Depth
15. Kill Lazarus
16. Return to Hank Hill and Anishina and get the rewards (optional)

Investigating the Wild Tribes
Quest Giver	Town of Greenpath
Contact Person	Hank Hill, town master of Greenpath
Recommended Level	Level 5
Duration	? Sessions
Reward	Promised: 150g Actual: 50g, Staff of the red mage