Shadows Beneath the Ancient Boughs
Shadows Beneath the Ancient Boughs
The Nazz Gang, a ruthless criminal syndicate operating from the fringes of the High Forest, has tasked the party with retrieving a stolen jade idol — the Eye of Turlang — from a rival faction, the Ironbark Poachers, who have made camp deep in the ancient woodland. The party must infiltrate, outmaneuver, or destroy the poachers to recover the idol through stealth, brute force, or clever misdirection. Along the way, three desperate souls in the forest offer side quests that could earn powerful allies, extra coin, or crucial information — but every detour costs precious time before the Nazz Gang loses patience.
Read Aloud
You stand at the muddy edge of Tall Trees, a ramshackle logging settlement crouching beneath the western eaves of the High Forest. The smell of pine resin and cheap tallow candles fills the air of the Stumped Boar tavern, where a one-eyed half-orc named Greth Nazz drums thick fingers on a scarred table. A leather satchel hits the wood with a heavy thud — the sound of coin — and Greth's single amber eye fixes on each of you in turn, slow and calculating. "The Ironbark Poachers took something from me," he says, his voice like gravel dragged over slate. "A jade idol, palm-sized, carved like a sleeping eye. I want it back. I don't care how you do it." Crude sketches of the poacher camp — just north, three hours' march into the trees — are pinned beneath the satchel. Old bloodstains on the map's edge hint that this errand has already cost Greth at least one prior crew.
Description
This opening scene is the quest briefing. Greth Nazz meets the party inside the Stumped Boar tavern in Tall Trees. He offers 500 gold pieces up front (the satchel) and promises a further 500 gp upon delivery of the Eye of Turlang. He reveals the idol's general location — the Ironbark Poacher camp north of the settlement — and provides a rough map. He does not explain WHY the idol is valuable, only that it belongs to him. A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals Greth is more nervous than he lets on — the idol is clearly more than a trinket. A DC 15 Intelligence (History) check lets a character recall that the Eye of Turlang is rumored to be a focus object tied to Turlang the Treant, the ancient awakened treant who guards the High Forest's heart.
DM Notes
Use this scene to let the party plan. Greth will not negotiate the price upward — but a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check convinces him to include a rough sketch of the camp layout (two guard posts, a central fire, a locked wagon). He will not accompany them. If the party asks about the poachers, he tells them the Ironbark crew numbers around a dozen cutthroats led by a man called Varrek Holt. Emphasize player agency: stealth, deception, combat, and framing are all explicitly valid approaches. Introduce the three side quest NPCs as patrons also present in the tavern — Mira the cartographer, Brother Aldric the wandering priest, and Sylvara the wood elf tracker — each of whom approaches the party separately after Greth leaves.
Read Aloud
Before you can fold the map and step into the night, three figures drift toward your table like moths drawn to a flame. The first is a freckled human woman with ink-stained fingers and a leather satchel bristling with rolled parchment, her eyes alight with the particular desperation of someone who has lost something irreplaceable. The second is a heavyset human man in a travel-worn friar's robe, a holy symbol of Mielikki pressed between both palms, his lips moving silently as though in constant prayer. The third hangs back in the shadows by the bar — a lean wood elf with a long scar across her jaw and eyes that never stop moving, nursing a drink she has not touched since you sat down. Each of them wants something from the forest. Each of them is watching you decide whether to care.
Description
Three optional side quests are introduced here. Each NPC offers a reward and connects to the broader session map. SIDE QUEST 1 — Mira Duncastle (Human Cartographer): Her survey journal was stolen by the same Ironbark Poachers — it contains three seasons of mapping work. She offers her completed regional map (a valuable navigation tool) plus 150 gp for its return. The journal is in the same locked wagon as the Eye of Turlang, making this easy to combine with the main quest. SIDE QUEST 2 — Brother Aldric Sorn (Priest of Mielikki): A wounded unicorn called Silverthread has been spotted northeast of the camp, tangled in iron-barbed snares set by the poachers. Aldric cannot fight his way through the forest alone. He asks the party to free the unicorn and remove the snare field. Reward: Brother Aldric provides a Blessing of Mielikki (each party member gains the benefits of the Bless spell for the first hour of their next combat, no concentration required). The unicorn, once freed, may become a fleeting ally. SIDE QUEST 3 — Sylvara Nightbrook (Wood Elf Tracker): Sylvara has been tracking a Hill Giant that has been smashing through the forest's northern edge, destroying ancient groves. She suspects the Ironbark Poachers are deliberately goading the giant toward elven settlements to create a distraction. She asks the party to find proof of this scheme and, if possible, redirect the giant away from the settlements. Reward: Sylvara joins the party as a temporary guide (granting advantage on Survival checks in the High Forest for the session) and gifts a Quiver of Elvenkind (20 arrows, deals +1d4 force damage on a hit).
DM Notes
This scene is purely social and exploratory — no combat. Let the party split attention across NPCs naturally. Each side quest is self-contained but offers meaningful rewards that affect later encounters. DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) gets Mira to share a rough sketch of where the wagon is in the camp. DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) on Sylvara reveals she is hiding the fact that she has already scouted the camp — if pressed (DC 13 Charisma Persuasion), she reveals there are two guards always posted near a large locked chest inside the central tent, possibly hinting the idol is there instead of the wagon. Brother Aldric simply pleads; no check needed to accept his quest. The DM should make clear that side quests are optional detours — the party can skip any or all of them.
Read Aloud
The High Forest swallows you whole the moment you leave the settlement behind. Ancient oaks press close on either side of the trail, their bark carved with symbols so old no living scholar reads them, and the canopy overhead is so dense that moonlight reaches you only as pale silver fragments scattered across the moss. The smell of loam and wild ginger fills every breath. You hear it before you see it — a low, pained sound, like wind through a cracked bell, somewhere to the northeast off the path. Then you spot the first iron-barbed wire glinting in the dark, strung ankle-height between two roots, and beyond it the shape of something large and pale struggling in a tangle of brutal snares.
Description
This scene serves as the Side Quest 2 resolution point. The unicorn Silverthread is caught in a field of six iron-barbed snares spread across a 30-foot radius clearing. The unicorn is wounded (HP reduced to 30 out of 67), frightened, and will lash out at anyone who approaches carelessly. Navigating the snare field safely requires a DC 13 Dexterity (Acrobatics) or DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check per 10 feet of movement; failure triggers a snare for 2d6 piercing damage and the restrained condition until a DC 12 Strength check is made as an action. Silverthread can be calmed with a DC 14 Animal Handling check or a DC 13 Charisma check from a druid or ranger (the ranger has advantage). Once freed and healed to above 50 HP (requiring healing spells or a successful DC 14 Medicine check using a healer's kit), Silverthread uses its Healing Touch ability on one party member and disappears into the forest — but may reappear as a fleeting ally during the boss encounter if the party struggled.
DM Notes
This scene is a skill challenge, not a combat encounter. Emphasize the tension of navigating the snare field carefully. If the party rushes, multiple members may trigger snares. Disabling all six snares (each requires a DC 12 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools) check or DC 14 Strength check to pull free) completes the side quest fully and satisfies Brother Aldric. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) or DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check at the snare site reveals fresh bootprints and a carved wooden tag on each snare — they bear the Ironbark Poachers' mark, confirming the deliberate setup. This tag also counts as proof for Sylvara's side quest regarding the giant.
Read Aloud
Through a break in the treeline, the poacher camp spreads before you in a shallow torchlit clearing. Four canvas tents ring a central fire pit, and a heavy iron-banded wagon sits chained to a pair of ancient oaks at the camp's edge, its padlock large enough to stop a boot. You count at least eight figures — stocky, armed, scarred — moving between the tents with the routine ease of people who have been here long enough to feel safe. A broad-shouldered man with a shaved head and a crossbow strapped to his back stands apart from the others, eating from a bowl and staring into the fire. That must be Varrek Holt. Above the central tent, a rough iron cage holds a terrified goblin who spots your group immediately and freezes, eyes enormous, making a silent, frantic gesture at the padlocked wagon.
Description
This is the central scene and the session's major decision point. The Eye of Turlang idol is inside the locked wagon (Padlock: DC 16 Thieves' Tools to pick; the key hangs from Varrek Holt's belt). Mira Duncastle's survey journal is also inside the wagon, wrapped in oilcloth. The camp has 8 Ironbark Poachers (use Bandit stat block) and 2 Ironbark Veterans (use Veteran stat block) guarding the perimeter, plus Varrek Holt (Spy stat block with modifications) in the center. APPROACH OPTIONS: STEALTH: DC 14 Dexterity (Stealth) group check to enter the camp's shadow perimeter. The rogue and ranger have advantage. The wagon padlock and the goblin (named Pip) can both complicate or assist the extraction. FORCE: Triggers the full combat encounter (see Encounter cards). CUNNING/DECEPTION: Multiple creative options work. The party can forge a message implicating a rival gang (DC 14 Deception or DC 13 forgery kit), bribe Pip the goblin (the goblin knows which guard holds the wagon key and will share it for freedom — simple negotiation), or impersonate Nazz Gang enforcers demanding the idol's transfer (DC 15 Deception, advantage if the party has any Nazz Gang token or seal from Greth). If they frame someone else, the chaos that ensues gives a 2-round window to grab the idol and flee before combat fully erupts.
DM Notes
This is the sandbox heart of the session. Reward creative problem-solving generously. The goblin Pip is an excellent social tool — freeing him costs nothing and he will steal the wagon key from a sleeping guard (DC 10 Stealth, rolled by the DM) if the party asks him to. If the party acquired Sylvara's intel in Scene 2, they know the chest in the central tent is a decoy (Varrek Holt put a fake idol there to lure thieves while keeping the real one locked in the wagon). DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) inside the camp tent reveals the decoy immediately. If the party wants to frame someone, a Thieves Guild calling card or a planted item from a rival gang makes DC 14 Deception trivially easy — let players invent the rival and enjoy the fiction.
Read Aloud
A sound like a tree being wrenched from the earth by its roots rolls through the forest to the north — and then another, and another, rhythmic and growing closer. Between the distant trunks you catch glimpses of something enormous moving with terrible, thoughtless momentum, and the ground begins to tremble beneath your boots. Then you see the painted marks: crude orange slashes on the bark of every tree along the giant's path, placed low enough that only someone at ground level would put them there. Someone has been guiding this creature like a battering ram aimed straight at the elven settlements beyond the ridge.
Description
This scene triggers if the party investigates Sylvara's claim or if they find the carved snare tags in Scene 3. The Hill Giant (named Gorruk by the locals) has been goaded eastward by the Ironbark Poachers using painted trail markers and rag-and-meat lures. The party can redirect Gorruk by: removing or repainting the trail markers (DC 13 Survival to track and erase all markers, about 30 minutes of work), luring him with food or noise in a different direction (DC 15 Animal Handling or DC 14 Deception with a creative distraction), or fighting him (see Encounter card — this is a secondary combat encounter and considered medium difficulty). If Sylvara is present, she provides advantage on all checks to track or redirect Gorruk. Proof of the poacher scheme (the carved snare tags plus the painted trail markers) is sufficient evidence for Sylvara's full reward.
DM Notes
This scene works best after the camp scene — the party can find the evidence inside the camp as well (a journal in Varrek's tent, DC 13 Investigation, showing payments from an anonymous source to goad the giant). Combat with Gorruk is optional and should feel desperate — the giant is not evil, merely manipulated, and killing him should feel like a last resort. A DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check while speaking Giant (or with a comprehend languages effect) can convince Gorruk to stop if the party destroys the lure sources in front of him. Reward non-lethal solutions with Sylvara's approval and her full reward package.
Read Aloud
The lights of Tall Trees appear through the thinning trees like scattered embers, and the weight of the jade idol in your pack seems heavier than its size should allow — as though it carries the pressure of every choice you made in the dark beneath the boughs. The Stumped Boar's common room has emptied since you left; only Greth Nazz remains, his single amber eye fixed on the door as though he never moved. When you set the Eye of Turlang on the table before him, his broad shoulders drop a full inch in relief before he schools his expression back to neutrality. He counts out the remaining gold without comment. But as his fingers close around the idol, the carved jade eye seems, just for a moment, to catch the candlelight at an angle that makes it look open.
Description
The conclusion scene and reward delivery. Greth pays the remaining 500 gp without argument if the party delivers the Eye of Turlang. He asks no questions about the method. If the party presses him about what the idol truly is (DC 14 Charisma Intimidation or Persuasion), he admits only that it is a key — a key to something deep in the High Forest that his employer wants opened — and he does not know who his employer is, only a dead-drop location. This is the session's cliffhanger thread. Side quest rewards are collected here as well: Mira pays her 150 gp and beams over her recovered journal. Brother Aldric clasps hands with party members and delivers Mielikki's Blessing. Sylvara is waiting outside and wordlessly hands over the Quiver of Elvenkind.
DM Notes
Let the party feel the weight of moral ambiguity here. They worked for a criminal. The idol is clearly something more than a trinket. Greth will not elaborate further regardless of pressure — he genuinely does not know more, and a DC 16 Insight confirms he is telling the truth about that. The dead-drop note (see Treasure card) is a natural hook for the next session. If the party killed Varrek Holt, Greth mentions that Holt owed him a debt too — no tears shed. If the party used deception or stealth, Greth is impressed and says so in his blunt way. Award full XP for the main quest plus bonus XP for each completed side quest.
Monsters
Tactics
Varrek Holt opens by using Cunning Action to position behind the locked wagon for three-quarters cover (+5 AC), then fires his Hand Crossbow at the most visible threat. He uses Sneak Attack whenever an ally is adjacent to his target. The two Ironbark Veteran Guards anchor the flanks — one moves to block the camp's northern exit (protecting the wagon), the other attempts to grapple the heaviest-armored party member to tie down their action economy. The six Bandits scatter in the first round: two throw torches to illuminate stealthed characters (DC 12 Dexterity save or become visible), two move to engage melee threats, and two retreat to firing positions behind tents. If Varrek drops below 20 HP, he calls for a parley — he will offer to relinquish the idol in exchange for free passage, which he will then violate at the first opportunity unless the party secures his compliance with a binding threat. Note: The Sorcerer and Wizard make grouped enemies dangerous — bandits spread across multiple tents rather than clustering, preventing Fireball from hitting more than 3 at once.
Terrain
The camp is a 60-by-60-foot clearing with four tents (providing half cover), a central fire pit (bright light in a 20-foot radius, difficult terrain to cross without a DC 10 Dexterity save or taking 3 fire damage), the iron-banded wagon chained to two oaks at the north edge (three-quarters cover), and the iron cage (10 feet up, where Pip the goblin is imprisoned). Three ancient oak trees at the clearing's edge provide full cover. The ground near the wagon is muddy and counts as difficult terrain in a 10-foot radius. A DC 13 Athletics or Acrobatics check lets a character climb a tree as a bonus action for high ground (advantage on ranged attacks).
Monsters
Tactics
Gorruk is not attacking the party intentionally — he is following the painted trail markers the Ironbark Poachers set, panicked by the lures (smoked meat bags hung from branches), and lashing out at anything in his immediate path. On initiative, roll a d4 at the start of each of Gorruk's turns: on a 1-2 he charges toward the nearest trail marker (not the party); on a 3-4 he attacks the nearest creature within 30 feet. He uses his Greatclub for creatures within 10 feet and hurls Rocks at creatures 60 to 240 feet away. He never uses tactics — he simply reacts. If the party destroys 3 of the 5 trail markers (each an object: AC 5, HP 5) within his line of sight, Gorruk becomes confused, stops advancing, and stands still for 1d4 rounds, giving a DC 16 Persuasion (spoken in Giant or via magic) window to redirect him. Note: This encounter is built around Monk Stunning Strike — Gorruk does NOT have Legendary Resistance, meaning a successful Stunning Strike can remove him for a full round. DM should lean into this mechanically satisfying outcome. The Cleric's Spirit Guardians are less effective here since Gorruk is a single large creature — use his Rock attack to keep the Cleric at distance.
Terrain
Sparse northern forest edge: large fallen logs (difficult terrain, half cover if crouching), scattered boulders Gorruk himself threw on previous rampages that serve as cover (AC 17, provide three-quarters cover), and a 20-foot-wide muddy game trail running north-south that Gorruk follows. Trees here are ancient and thick — a DC 14 Athletics check allows a character to climb high enough to be out of Gorruk's melee range. The boulders scattered around the area can be pushed (DC 18 Athletics) to create barriers. Gorruk cannot squeeze through gaps narrower than 15 feet.
500 gp delivered at briefing plus 500 gp upon delivery of the Eye of Turlang. Coin from the Nazz Gang — minted in Waterdeep but routed through three counting houses. Spends anywhere.
A palm-sized jade carving of a closed eye, polished to an almost luminous sheen. Faintly warm to the touch at all times. A DC 15 Arcana check reveals it pulses with conjuration and transmutation magic tied to a specific location in the deep forest. The party hands this to Greth Nazz — but anyone who held it remembers the warmth.
A masterwork cartographic survey of the High Forest's western and central reaches, annotated with hidden trails, water sources, and two locations marked with question marks that Mira has not yet investigated. Grants advantage on Survival checks to navigate the High Forest, and the two marked locations are seeds for future sessions.
A beautifully crafted elven quiver containing 20 arrows fletched with silver-green feathers. Each arrow deals an additional 1d4 force damage on a hit. The quiver magically keeps arrows dry and prevents breakage. Once the 20 arrows are expended, the quiver becomes a mundane but exquisite container.
Granted by Brother Aldric Sorn upon freeing Silverthread the unicorn. Each party member who participated gains the effect of the Bless spell (add 1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws) for the first hour of their next combat encounter, requiring no concentration and no spell slot.
Found inside Varrek Holt's personal tent, requiring a DC 14 Thieves' Tools check to open. Contains 180 gp in assorted coin, a set of masterwork thieves' tools (grants +1 to Thieves' Tools checks), and a sealed letter addressed to 'V.H.' signed only with a black wax seal pressed with a symbol none of the party recognizes — a closed fist over a crescent moon.
If the party searches Greth after the handoff or pickpockets him (DC 16 Sleight of Hand), they find a folded note in cipher. A DC 16 Intelligence check or a comprehend languages spell decodes it: a set of map coordinates deep in the High Forest labeled only The Vault of the Dreaming Root, with a date one tenday away.
Story Hooks
The sealed letter with the crescent-fist symbol is the calling card of the Moonclutch Compact, a secretive organization rumored to deal in artifacts of divine and primal power — the anonymous employer behind Greth Nazz. The Eye of Turlang is described in a cipher note as the third of four keys needed to unseal the Vault of the Dreaming Root, a buried sanctum in the High Forest's heart where Turlang the Treant sealed something dangerous centuries ago. The two question-mark locations on Mira's map point directly toward the other two key locations — hinting the party may need to decide whether to recover them first or let the Moonclutch Compact find them. Silverthread the unicorn, if treated kindly, may seek the party out again when the Vault's seal begins to crack.
Conclusion
Wrap Up
The party returns to the Stumped Boar with the Eye of Turlang, completing their contract with Greth Nazz and collecting their payment. If they pursued side quests, Mira Duncastle weeps with relief over her recovered journal, Brother Aldric prays over the party with genuine warmth, and Sylvara Nightbrook waits outside to silently hand over the Quiver of Elvenkind and give a single approving nod before fading back into the forest. The session closes with the party richer, battle-tested, and holding threads they do not yet know how to pull. The forest has noticed them. The right people — and the wrong ones — are starting to take note.
Cliffhanger
That night, as the party settles into their rooms at the Stumped Boar, a thin slip of parchment appears beneath each of their doors — identical, written in the same cipher as the dead-drop note found on Greth. Decoded, it reads simply: You should not have touched the Eye. Come to the Vault before the new moon, or we come to you. Below the words, a black wax seal — a closed fist over a crescent moon — is still warm.
Next Session Hooks
- The Moonclutch Compact has identified the party and issued a veiled ultimatum. The Vault of the Dreaming Root and its map coordinates put the party on a collision course with a secretive and powerful organization — the question is whether they go as rivals, pawns, or something more dangerous.
- Mira Duncastle's two question-mark locations on her regional map lead to the second and third key artifacts the Moonclutch Compact needs to open the Vault. The party can race the organization to these sites, claim the keys, and gain leverage — or destroy the keys and seal the Vault forever, earning powerful enemies.
- Silverthread the unicorn did not simply disappear. Sylvara Nightbrook sends word three days later: the unicorn has been found standing vigil at the entrance to a hidden grove the elves call the Heartroot Hollow, refusing to leave and refusing to eat. Something beneath the earth is stirring, and the grove's ancient ward-stones have begun to crack.
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