Description
A great blue crystal juts from the moss of a forest glade and pulses with soft light. The plants of the surrounding wood grow to fantastic proportions and immense, thorny tree roots twist across the ground. Regardless of local weather, the glade and its surrounding forest always thrive, offering shelter and bounty to the creatures who dwell there.
Nearby stand the cave of echoes, were wishes are granted and old magic flows. In this cave is a portal to the feywild.
The crystals tap into the magic of the Feywild from the portal, drawing the natural energy of that realm to overlay the material landscape around them. Though the forest is real for all practical purposes, it is a magical illusion concealing a region of sinister corruption.
Crystal. The 80-foot-tall, 50-foot-wide crystal sheds dim light in a 30-foot radius. Shades of blue swirl within the crystal, occasionally resolving into murky images of fey’ faces. The crystal radiates powerful but fluctuating magic.
Plants. The plants around the crystal grow quite large and can move on their own as if sapient—often uprooting themselves to wander into the forest, keeping the glade relatively free of undergrowth.
Tree Dwellings. Wooden huts with slate or thatched roofs perch in some of the larger trees around the edges of the glade.
Features
The Forest Crystal extends a powerful magical shroud covering the surrounding region. The land surrounding the crystal within a radius of 5 miles is transformed into lush forest as if by the mirage arcane spell, except pieces of the forest brought outside this range don’t vanish. The magic has the following additional properties:
Dispelling the Shroud. A dispel magic spell targeting an area of the forest ends the effect in a 20-foot cube for 1 hour if the caster succeeds on a DC 20 ability check using the caster’s spellcasting ability. The affected area reverts to a fetid swamp.
Shifting the Shroud. A creature in the glade can take limited control of the crystal by concentrating on it for 1 hour and succeeding on a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check. A creature who takes control of the crystal can end the shroud for 24 hours or change it to a different type of terrain permanently. Additional creatures beyond the first can assist in controlling the crystal. For each additional creature who concentrates for the full hour, reduce the DC of the check by 1 (to a minimum of DC 15).
Wild Magic. The Feywild energy that fuels the crystal interacts unpredictably with other magic. Whenever a creature casts a spell of 1st level or higher within the glade, that creature must succeed on a DC 10 saving throw using its spellcasting ability or roll on the Wild Magic Surge table.
Adventure Hook
Dryads
Patious and other dryads uses ancient magic to amplify the crystal’s power, spreading its land-warping influence. The crystal’s growing shroud threatens to engulf
Merrick.
History
Merithra was haunted by a recurring vision of a seed. Driven by this mystery, she parted ways with
Caelestrasz to pursue the vision, which led her to the
Cave of echoes, where cultists of the
Blossom brotherhood were attempting to harness the seed’s power to open a planar rift. The ritual aimed to allow
Zyra's Thorn to seize the seed, unleashing a cascade of thorns to consume the world. Merithra managed to disrupt the ritual and defeat the cultists but was ultimately overpowered when she refused to revert to her draconic form. At this moment, a group called
The Seekers intervened, saving her.
Merithra seized the seed and fled as The Seekers held off the cultists. Upon touching the seed, she experienced another vision, this time of a green-clad, elven-like woman surrounded by others of her kind.
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