Overview

In a world where magic is real, the village of Hearthmoss hides within a single, unassuming backyard. A circle of mushrooms hums with pale blue light, forming a dome that keeps the village ignorant of the world beyond the fence. Each night, one fairy and one house vanish without a trace, and no one suspects the truth: the microcosm of Hearthmoss is shrinking. The culprit is not malice but curiosity misused; a human child loves to pick flowers and mushrooms from inside the fairy circle, unknowingly draining its power. The dome’s weakening is not random; it feeds the boy’s playful energy and slowly slips the village into oblivion unless the players intervene.

Setting

Magic is ordinary here: sparks in the air when a spell is lightly cast, talking animals, and fey bargains made in whispers. Hearthmoss sits in a real backyard, shielded by an arcane mushroom ring that acts as both sanctuary and prison. The outside world remains hidden behind a shimmering veil; only those who pry at the ring or pierce its energy can glimpse a world beyond. The child’s garden and the human’s mundane belongings mask a living, breathing fairy economy that relies on the circle’s steady pulse.

Central Mystery

The cycle of vanishings escalates: day by day, a fairy disappears and a house winks out of sight. The dome’s glow dims in proportion to the child’s snatched blooms. The players must determine who or what is siphoning the life from the ring and why Hearthmoss survives only through the ring’s thin breath. Clues point to a hidden nexus—a hollow oak outside the hedge—that anchors the barrier, and to a Veil Thief lurking in soil and shadow, feeding on the ring’s fading magic.

The Main Quest

• Discover the ring’s true nature and its connection to Hearthmoss’s ignorance of the outside world.


• Stop the child from removing mushrooms and flowers, or re-rout the ritual power so it harms no one.


• Travel to the Hollow Oak Nexus to retrieve the anchor relic and perform a sealing ritual that re-fortifies the dome.


• Rebalance the village’s energy with the help of a grateful fairy court, convincing the child to channel curiosity safely.


• Decide whether to re-seal the barrier permanently or to coax the village into a conscious alliance with the outside world.

Side Quests

• Rescue a fairy trapped by a root-bound cage beneath the garden shed.


• Recover Moonshrooms from the neighbor’s compost heap to restore the ring’s resonance.


• Unravel the child’s motive (a sick pet, a dare from peers, or a tale of a lost parent) and find a harmless outlet for that love of nature.

Key Locations

• Hearthmoss Village (hidden, domed circle within the backyard)


• The Mushroom Circle (arcane barrier and energy conduit)


• The Garden Gate (thin seam to the outside)


• The Hollow Oak Nexus (energy anchor and source of clues)


• The Neighbor’s Shed (storage of the ring’s forgotten relics)

Encounters & Challenges

Stealthy forays into the outside world, puzzles to re-align the arcane circle, social intrigue with a wary fairy court, and moral choices about disrupting a child’s growth. The Veil Thief manipulates shadows and soil, exploiting the dome’s weakness with each day.

Progression & Endings

Players strengthen or reforge Hearthmoss’s bond with the outside world. They may gain fairy allies, nature-infused magic items, and the gratitude of a village that finally learns to stand together with the world beyond the fence. The campaign ends with Hearthmoss either securely sealed or enlightened enough to choose its own fate, housed forever within a backyard’s quiet rhythm.