Campaign Overview

Echoes of the Sundering

Centuries have passed since the cataclysm known as the Great Sundering, when arcane energies—once a wellspring of creation—were tainted by malevolent forces. The world still feels the aftershocks: entire continents reshaped, civilizations undone, and the veil between realities forever weakened. In the frozen village of Highwinter’s End, whispers stir in the bones of the icebound dead, foretelling a new age of madness. From these chilling prophecies emerges your call to adventure: recover ancient artifacts, navigate forests that think and libraries that bleed, and chase the truth through crimson-lit ruins and nightmare-twisted citadels.

You are outcasts and survivors: a half-mad warlock haunted by voices beyond comprehension; a cleric wrestling grief and divine doubt; a cartographer driven to map unwieldy labyrinthine forests; and others marked by personal tragedies wrought by the Sundering’s fallout. Together, you must piece together fragments of the arcane source—Sanctum’s Tear, Verdant Sigils, and rift-bound shards—before the archmage Malrec the Unbound uses them to rip open reality and reign over the world’s final winter.

Your journey leads you first through snow-crusted streets where buried corpses mutter doomsday warnings, then through verdant nightmares where vines argue politics and mushrooms hum secrets. Each artifact you wield grants power—but edges you closer to insanity. Moral dilemmas wait at every turn: do you sacrifice innocents to seal a rift or risk floods that drown entire nations? Do you trust a shadowy guide who saved your life or kill her before she betrays you? And in the end, will you stand as heroes who healed a broken world, or become the destroyers you swore to stop?

Echoes of the Sundering is a campaign of creeping horror, moral ambiguity, and epic confrontation. Prepare to face madness incarnate, forge uneasy alliances with druids and planar opportunists, and confront the ultimate question: can you purify an arcane source corrupted at its core—or will the final spell transform you into the very monsters you fight? Your choices will echo through ages to come, and the fate of reality itself rests in your trembling hands.

Starting Location

Highwinter’s End

Highwinter’s End sits isolated on a windswept plateau, buried under relentless drifts and howling gales. Once a thriving fishing village, it now hunkers behind shattered palisades and charred huts half-swallowed by the snow. Temperatures plummet below freezing even at midday, and frost blooms on every surface—icicles hung like crystalline daggers from broken roofs, and the walls weep trails of frozen moisture. The few villagers left trade wary glances as they shovel pathways through streets thick with powder, haunted by half-buried corpses that whisper dreadful prophecies into the ears of the half-mad. Ancient runes carve spirals into the ice, their meanings half-forgotten by sane minds. At night, a crimson aurora lights the horizon, blood-colored curtains that pulse like a living wound. The ground trembles with distant echoes of arcane ruptures, and from the forest beyond come rumors of verdant nightmares that ensnare travelers. Here, the outcasts—an unstable warlock, a grief-stricken cleric, and others haunted by loss—gather to unearth keys to purge the taint from the arcane wellspring. But each hint of salvation brings madness closer, threatening to turn these would-be heroes into harbingers of ruination.

Secrets

  • A half-mad fisherman wanders the woods chanting an ancient prophecy—he knows a hidden path to the Verdant Labyrinth.
  • Beneath the chapel’s altar rests a shattered fragment of the Sanctum’s Tear, critical to purifying local leylines.
  • A secret blood-rune sealing the crypt can be undone only with a memory from the cleric’s past.

Key Locations

The Snowed Spire

A jagged watchtower looms over Highwinter’s End on the highest knoll. Its stone blocks, once white limestone, are now smothered in layered ice that glitters under the aurora. The interior spiral staircase is half-buried in drifts, and each landing reveals rooms repurposed by desperate villagers: a makeshift infirmary littered with frostbitten carcasses, a library where mad scribes scrawl forbidden runes across blank tomes, and a final chamber with a shattered telescope pointing at the blood-tinted sky. Strange whispers echo through the halls—voices of those entombed in the ice below. At the spire’s base, arcane markings pulse faintly, hinting at rituals to cleanse the ambient corruption, but any who attempt them risk being claimed by delirium.

Additional Notes

The spire offers a vantage point for the aurora’s source. DM can introduce a hidden chamber beneath the ice, containing a prophetic crystal that fractures the mind of anyone who gazes too long.

Bone-Chilled Chapel

This ruined chapel, once a sanctuary of warmth, now stands roofless, its pews encased in crystalline frost and its altar cracked open. Statues of holy patrons have been gouged, their faces worn into anguished grimaces. Blood-red runes scrawled across the walls pulse with malignant energy, and a frozen choir of specters drifts through the aisles, laments resonating like wind through hollow glass. Beneath the cracked floorboards lies a hidden ossuary where the bones of revered martyrs are arranged in a protective ward; even so, the ward fails to hold back the creeping madness manifesting as shrieking wraiths. A single stained-glass window remains intact, depicting a prophet who gazed too deeply into arcane depths and was turned to ice by his own vision.

Additional Notes

An underground crypt lies behind the altar, sealed by a rune-locked door that requires either arcana checks or a blood offering to open. Inside is a fragment of Sanctum’s Tear, an artifact for the main quest.

Frozen Well

At the village center stands a well rimmed with frost, its water so cold it steams faintly in the bitter air. Locals whisper that any who drink from it gain fleeting glimpses of the future—but at the cost of their sanity. Icicles hang like stalactites from its circular lip, and ghostly hands pressed against the icy walls beg for release. An ancient water spirit, half-frozen, slumbers at the bottom; it murmurs prophecy when disturbed, yet each word twists the listener’s mind. Marks around the well hint at previous sacrifices: runestones, torn journals, and a silver chalice etched with runes of warding. The well’s true bottom is sealed by eldritch ice that none have yet broken.

Additional Notes

If players repeatedly consult the well, they suffer cumulative madness. A secret lever beneath loose stones drains half the water, revealing a hidden tunnel to the Whispering Crypt.

Whispering Crypt

The crypt lies hidden beneath the chapel’s foundations, access through a narrow trapdoor obscured by snow. Slippery, rune-inscribed steps descend into gloom, where clusters of skeletal remains line alcoves. Soft murmurs drift through the corridors, urging intruders to betray companions. At the heart of the crypt sits a tomb bearing three coffin lids, each carved with a prophetic symbol: a shattered sun, a weeping moon, and a bleeding star. Disturbing any lid releases arcane echoes that warp memory and sow mistrust. The final chamber holds the Frozen Choir’s reliquary—a sealed urn containing shards of a shattered diadem that once stabilized ley lines here.

Additional Notes

Coaches can trigger a parley among voices in the walls, causing NPCs to argue if persuasion or insight fails. Hidden passage behind the reliquary leads to the Fractured Market’s sewers.

Fractured Market

Long-abandoned stalls line this semi-collapsed quarter, their wooden frames splintered by gale and time. Barrels of preserved fish lie half-buried, their contents turned to icy dust. Vendors once hawked frozen goods from odd travel routes; now, animated mannequins dressed in ragged furs wander between stalls, clasping cracked clay mugs and reciting trade prices in a slow, mechanical drone. Beneath the cobblestones, a network of sewers carries blood-stained ice melt into the forest, feeding a corrupted spring upstream. The market’s central fountain has been defiled by arcane graffiti, and its basin overflows with spectral wraiths that hiss warnings of approaching doom.

Additional Notes

A locked vendor’s cabin contains a set of ice-forged tools—key to unlocking an ancient vault in the middle region. The sewers host a secret cult meeting when the aurora peaks.

Verdant Labyrinth

The Verdant Labyrinth sprawls across a once-peaceful forest, now writhing under unnatural growth and malignant illusion. Enormous, thorn-laced vines twist around ancient oaks, forming shifting corridors that realign at will. The canopy above filters sunlight into sickly green hues, and the air thrums with hypnotic whispers that pit allies against each other. Hallucinatory flora blossoms at every turn—flowers that echo your darkest fears, mushrooms that sear illusions of past losses into the mind. Tracks vanish as you approach, replaced by footprints that aren’t yours. Pools of brackish water reflect faces from another age, and stepping off the beaten path summons carnivorous creepers. At the heart of the labyrinth lies the Heartgrove, an overgrown sanctum once tended by druidic circle—its stone pillars now crowned with thorn-woven diadems dripping ichor. Here, the group must acquire the Verdant Sigil, an artifact rumored to cut through illusion and guide pure souls toward the structured leylines below. But every use of the Sigil threatens to accelerate the warping of the labyrinth, risking a full blossom of madness.

Secrets

  • A hidden root-walled passage under the Mirror Pool leads directly to Heartgrove.
  • Shrieking Thicket sentinel is host to a slumbering spirit of a fallen archmage.
  • Fungal guardians can be pacified with rare amber spores found in the Finisterre Marsh.

Key Locations

Shrieking Thicket

This dense bramble patch emits high-pitched wails when brushed. The vines are lined with razor-sharp thorns coated in paralyzing sap. Once inside, every cut echo amplifies, disorienting travelers and drawing predatory beasts. Distant voices mimic screams of past victims—a haunting siren to lure rescuers into traps. A hidden alcove shelters a petrified druid sentinel who can guide the party for a price—his memory is fragmented, and he may betray the group unless convinced.

Additional Notes

A successful Animal Handling or Nature check reveals the sentinel’s true identity and intentions.

Mirror Pool

A still pool of black-green water reflects not reality but dreams and secrets. Any who gaze upon it see twisted scenes: a lost love weeping, a fallen comrade raising a blade, or a future ruin. Extracting water grants visions necessary for main-quest puzzles, but each sip risks confusion. Beneath its surface lies a submerged cavern housing a shard of the Verdant Sigil, guarded by a will-o’-wisp queen whose jesting riddles can charm intruders into self-harm.

Additional Notes

DM should roleplay riddles to push party members toward paranoia. Insight checks mitigate risk.

Broken Druid’s Hall

A moss-covered ruin of a circular stone hall, once seat of the Greenwarden Circle. Pillars carved with leaf motifs have collapsed, pooling nutrient-rich water that spawns horrific fungal growths. Groaning myconids roam here, communicating through spores that induce shared hallucinations. In the central dais rests the Greenwarden’s Staff, shattered but still thrumming with latent power. Piecing together the shattered halves requires collecting three fungus-forged crystals nearby, each protected by fungal guardians.

Additional Notes

Crafting checks and Arcana checks needed to reforge the staff. Failure triggers spore burst (hallucinatory terrain).

The Abyssal Rift

Beyond the Verdant Labyrinth lies a shattered mountain range where reality tears open to reveal swirling voids of abyssal energy. The ground crackles with jagged fissures that spew eldritch miasma, and torn shards of reality drift like flotsam in a void-wind. At the largest rift’s edge stands the Obsidian Bastion—a fortress carved into floating spires that defy gravity, held together by pure arcane force. Within, the archmage Malrec the Unbound has begun a ritual to reshape the world in his image, using corrupted artifacts collected from the previous regions. The air here tastes of brimstone and sorrow; time loops in maddening hours, and illusionary clones of fallen comrades prowl the halls. Outside the bastion, abyssal beasts—voidhounds, rift lizards, and shadowmoths—patrol unstable ground. To reach Malrec’s sanctum, the players must deactivate three anchor pillars scattered across volatile plateaus, each guarded by a twisted sentinel. Once the pillars fail, the bastion loses its cohesion, and the final confrontation against Malrec—and the risk of spiraling into the ultimate horror—beckons.

Secrets

  • A hidden ascension chamber beneath North Pillar holds the final Sanctum’s Tear fragment.
  • Malrec’s personal diaries reveal his plan to sacrifice the players to stabilize the bastion.
  • One anchor pillar can be reactivated to create a portal of escape instead of a collapse.

Key Locations

North Anchor Pillar

A frozen plateau where lava once flowed. Now, glacial ridges and black ice form a labyrinth around a rune-inscribed pillar encased in obsidian. Rift-borne wind occasionally solidifies into razor-cold gusts, slicing flesh. Frost wraiths patrol the perimeter, bound to the pillar’s magic. Disabling the pillar requires melting the obsidian seal, but lava veins are trapped beneath the ice—risking an eruption if mishandled.

Additional Notes

Provide environmental hazards: ice cracks, magma steam vents, and visibility challenges.

East Anchor Pillar

Among shattered towers of volcanic glass stands the ember-stained pillar. Magma flows invisibly beneath basalt slabs, fueling the pillar’s flame motifs. Shadowmoths swarm here, drawn to the pillar’s flickering glow. A living golem of emberstone defends this location, regenerating from magma pools. Disrupting the pillar’s fire runes requires a water elemental bound by arcana—accessed through a locked sanctum at the base of a collapsed tower.

Additional Notes

Include puzzle to summon and bind the elemental. Failure awards disadvantage vs. golem’s heat aura.

West Anchor Pillar

This pillar floats on a giant basalt boulder mid-air, accessible only by treacherous crystal bridges. Rift lizards skitter along the pathways, skirmishing in packs. Gales of abyssal energy threaten to hurl intruders into the void below. The pillar’s runes are etched in sheer obsidian; dismantling them requires a resonant sound—either magical or musical—tuned precisely to the runic frequencies.

Additional Notes

Offer a magical instrument side-quest tie-in. Bridges collapse after repeated crosses, forcing quick action.

NPCs in Highwinter’s End

Aaric Frostbrand

A hulking ex-soldier clad in frost-crusted armor, his breath visible in the coldest air. Practiced at wielding a frostbite greataxe, he lost his mind after witnessing arcane horrors during the Sundering.

Role: Guardian Other Details: He knows secret patrol routes and has a coded message from the archmages’ survivors.

Sister Elidyr

A grief-stricken cleric of the Winter Mother, her eyes ringed with dark circles. She holds the village’s last holy relic and hears the whispers of the frozen dead.

Role: Quest Giver Other Details: Clerical magic is tainted; each healing spell risks a madness check.

Soren Icebrand

A rogue of questionable sanity who claimed to escape the Verdant Labyrinth. He trades maps for favors, his grinning mask hiding shattered memories.

Role: Informant Other Details: Carries a key carved from dragonbone, rumored to open the Frozen Well.

Dalia Moorcart

A stooped cartographer scribbling endless revisions to her maps, her ink stained crimson with her own blood.

Role: Cartographer Other Details: Her maps reveal safe passages through the snow but also shift unpredictably, requiring investigation.

Brother Corin

A timid lantern-bearer who hauls flammable lantern oil from a hidden cache under the market.

Role: Merchant Other Details: Sells rare incendiary vials; secretly terrified his own oil is corrupted.

NPCs in Verdant Labyrinth

Lyra Mossheart

A tiefling ranger who lost her pack to the labyrinth’s illusions. She guides travelers—for a steep price—in exchange for help recovering her lost animal companion.

Role: Guide Other Details: Her compass always points toward the nearest threat.

Warden Orin

A skeleton druid bound to the Hall’s broken staff. His speech is slow but his wisdom deep; he bargains fiercely for restoration.

Role: Quest Giver/Ally Other Details: Offers party a shard of Sigil if the staff is reforged.

Mirella Sporeveil

A myconid sovereign who commands fungal creatures. She values knowledge above violence and may trade spores for secrets.

Role: Merchant/Ally Other Details: Her spores can heal or harm, depending on dosage.

NPCs in The Abyssal Rift

Malrec the Unbound

A once-revered archmage driven mad by his own experiments with arcane taint. He wields shattered fragments of the arcane source and believes only he can reshape reality.

Role: Final Antagonist Other Details: His dialogue seduces players toward abandoning moral tenets.

Vesha Voidbound

A tiefling warlock who betrayed the party in the labyrinth, now Malrec’s lieutenant. She commands shadowmoths and rift beasts.

Role: Lieutenant/Combat Encounter Other Details: Her bond with Malrec grants her temporary control over rift energies.

Erathis Stormveil

An imprisoned planar scholar, forced to catalog Malrec’s ritual progress. He offers knowledge in exchange for freedom.

Role: Quest Giver/Informant Other Details: Becomes ally in final battle if freed.

Factions

Order of the Sanctified Aurora

A secretive order of clerics and paladins sworn to purify tainted leylines since the Great Sundering. They trace their rituals to ancient prophecies etched in ice and believe only celestial arcana can mend the source. Rigorous in discipline and zealous in purpose, they tolerate no compromise with corruption—they view moderate solutions as heresy.

Goals

• Recover fragments of the Sanctum’s Tear • Purify corrupted wells and rifts • Eradicate any practitioner using tainted arcana

Relationships

With Other Factions
They clash with the Verdant Circle over methods—Order demands outright destruction where Circle seeks balance. They mistrust Malrec’s rebels.
With Players
Offer support if players show unwavering faith; otherwise, view them as potential heretics subject to intervention.

Verdant Circle

A conclave of druids and rangers dedicated to preserving nature’s balance, even amid arcane corruption. They believe that madness can be harnessed to renew the land if guided properly. Masters of illusion and plant magic, they roam the Verdant Labyrinth to contain its thrashing growth, arguing that the forest’s plight is a lesson in cyclical rebirth.

Goals

• Secure the Verdant Sigil • Study arcane‐induced mutations • Negotiate with corrupted spirits for symbiotic alliances

Relationships

With Other Factions
Their moderate stance earns distrust from the Order but cautious respect from the Riftbound Coalition. They spurn Malrec’s annihilationist aims.
With Players
Provide guidance in the labyrinth if welcomed; test party’s moral compass through trials of symbiosis.

Riftbound Coalition

A loose alliance of planar scholars, warlocks, and arcane mercenaries who exploit rifts for power and profit. They traffic in forbidden tomes and corrupted relics, claiming to research cures but often selling artifacts to the highest bidder. Their leader, Archon Valea, seeks to harness the tainted source to ascend beyond mortal bounds.

Goals

• Collect all fragments of the arcane source • Open permanent planar gateways • Subjugate or eliminate those who oppose their research

Relationships

With Other Factions
Open enemies of the Order; engage in clandestine trade with Verdant Circle dissenters. Malrec once allied with them before betraying Valea.
With Players
Offer knowledge or artifacts if approached—but always at a steep moral cost. They track the party, seeking to recruit or eliminate them.

Main Questline

Whispers of Frost

Given by: Sister Elidyr

Villagers report that frozen corpses uncovered in Highwinter’s End whisper prophecies of doom. Elidyr tasks the party to investigate the crypts beneath the chapel, retrieve prophetic shards, and discover the source of the tundra’s madness before it spreads further.

Goals

Explore the Whispering Crypt, collect three prophecy shards, return to Elidyr.

Reward

• Sanctified Lantern (illuminates undead) • 200 XP

Secrets

  • One shard speaks of a living forest that kills with illusions.
  • The crypt ground is tainted by a fragment of the arcane source.

DM Notes

Use prophecy shards to foreshadow middle_region challenges.

Path of Thorns

Given by: Lyra Mossheart

Guided by Lyra’s compass, the party must navigate the shifting corridors of the Verdant Labyrinth to recover the Verdant Sigil. Along the way, they face illusionary foes and moral tests that threaten to turn them against each other.

Goals

Reach Heartgrove, defeat the Will-o’-Wisp Queen, secure the Sigil fragment.

Reward

• Verdant Sigil Fragment • 500 XP

Secrets

  • The Sigil fragment can be used to locate anchor pillars in final region.
  • Lyra knows a betrayal hidden in the group’s past.

DM Notes

Introduce party discord mechanics; use illusion checks and Wisdom saves.

Echoes of the Abyss

Given by: Erathis Stormveil

Erathis informs the party of the Abyssal Rift and Malrec’s plan to reshape the world. They must journey to the shattered peaks, deactivate the three anchor pillars that stabilize the Obsidian Bastion, and weaken Malrec’s defenses.

Goals

Deactivate North, East, and West Pillars in any order.

Reward

• Rift-walker’s Medal • 1,000 XP

Secrets

  • One pillar’s deactivation will partially collapse the Bastion, altering final battle terrain.
  • Erathis’s freedom can shift final alignment of events.

DM Notes

Pillar order can be player’s choice; each deactivation spawns an elite sentinel.

Shadows of the Unbound

Given by: Vesha Voidbound

Freed from her cage, Vesha offers to guide the party through hidden passages to Malrec’s sanctum. She reveals secrets of his wards—if they can decide whether to trust her or not while preparing for the assault.

Goals

Escort Vesha, bypass fortification wards, reach Malrec’s ritual chamber.

Reward

• Shade Dagger • 1,500 XP

Secrets

  • Vesha intends to kill Malrec and seize his power.
  • The passages she knows bypass remaining traps but trigger new threats.

DM Notes

Trust decision triggers branching fight or surprise ally.

Heart of Madness

Given by: None (self-initiated)

In the final chamber, Malrec completes the ritual to merge his soul with the corrupted arcane source. The party must either destroy him—risking the arcane rupture ripping open—or find a way to purify the source with collected artifacts, mindful that each attempt may accelerate global devastation.

Goals

Defeat or redeem Malrec, use or destroy arcane source.

Reward

• Purified Arcane Source • 3,000 XP • World’s fate decided by players

Secrets

  • Using all artifacts to purify may drive the party mad.
  • Failing to act creates a new world ruled by Malrec’s madness.

DM Notes

Epic moral climax—allow players to choose sacrifice of innocents or embrace madness.

Side Quests in Highwinter’s End

The Whisper in the Snow

Given by: Soren Icebrand

Strange voices drift through the woods east of the Well each night. Soren wants brave souls to follow the whispers to their source and return any prophetic fragments. The voices may be spirits of the damned or an echo of the Sundering’s madness. Be warned: each fragment risks a glimpse into the abyss, warping one’s mind.

Goals

Locate the whisper source, retrieve three prophetic fragments, return to Soren.

Reward

• 100 GP • Soren’s dragonbone key • Temporary protection (+1 to saving throws vs. madness)

Secrets

  • The source is a half-awakened aboleth fragment buried under ice.
  • Soren plans to use the fragments to bend prophecies to his own ends.

DM Notes

Scale whispers as creeping madness. Track fragments to reveal future main-quest clues.

Lost Heirloom of the Icebrand

Given by: Aaric Frostbrand

Aaric’s ancestral greataxe, Frostbrand, was lost during the Sundering. Legend says it lies within the Fractured Market’s sewers, guarded by arcane mannequins animated by malefic runes. Recover it to bolster Aaric’s strength—and perhaps to uncover secrets of his lost regiment.

Goals

Descend into sewers, defeat animated mannequins, recover Frostbrand, return to Aaric.

Reward

• Frostbrand greataxe (+1) • 200 GP • Aaric’s lifelong loyalty

Secrets

  • Frostbrand’s pommel houses a hidden compartment with a piece of Sanctum’s Tear.
  • Aaric cannot bear to see Frostbrand; locating it may trigger his breakdown.

DM Notes

Mannequins fight with mimicry—copy PCs’ weapons/styles. Use confiscated Tear shard in pommel for main-quest synergy.

Soothe the Howling Spirits

Given by: Sister Elidyr

Elidyr fears an unquiet host of spirits prowling near the chapel after dark. They hunger for memory and tear at the minds of villagers. She seeks brave adventurers to lay these spirits to rest with sacred rites at each desecrated statue inside the Bone-Chilled Chapel.

Goals

Perform rites at three statue locations, pacify spirits, report back to Elidyr.

Reward

• Divine Favor (blessing, +2 Radiant damage for one hour) • Holy symbol of Winter Mother (+1 to Turn Undead) • 75 GP

Secrets

  • The spirits belong to villagers who died protecting a hidden sanctum beneath the chapel.
  • Performing rites incorrectly can strengthen the spirits instead.

DM Notes

Rites require skill checks in Religion; failure empowers wraiths for next main quest.

Cartographer’s Request

Given by: Dalia Moorcart

Dalia needs rare arcane inks to finalize her map of the Verdant Labyrinth. She asks for the petals of the midnight thorn—poisonous, luminescent blossoms found at the forest’s heart. Bringing them without spilling their sap will earn unique safe-path parcels.

Goals

Locate midnight thorn, harvest 5 petals, return to Dalia.

Reward

• Custom Labyrinth Map (advantage on navigation checks) • Potion of Mind Shielding • 50 GP

Secrets

  • The petals are sentient and resist harvesting, attacking intruders.
  • Dalia’s map will twist reality; she intends to sell it to rival factions.

DM Notes

Midnight thorn vines animate; potions of poison resistance help. Map bonus applies in middle_region.

Trail of the Crimson Snow

Given by: Brother Corin

Brother Corin noticed a trail of blood-stained snow leading into the forest beyond the market. He fears refugees trapped by madness and creatures. Escort him along the trail, uncover what stalks the woods, and rescue—or dispatch—the unfortunate souls they find.

Goals

Follow trail, resolve concealed threat, return to Corin safely.

Reward

• Silvered Longsword (counts as magical) • 150 GP • Corin’s gratitude (later safe lodging)

Secrets

  • The trail is a lure laid by a masked caster to harvest survivors’ memories.
  • One refugee holds a key memory for the cleric’s lost faith.

DM Notes

Include stealth and moral challenge: rescue villagers versus slaying warped refugees.

Side Quests in Verdant Labyrinth

Echoes in the Thorns

Given by: Lyra Mossheart

Lyra’s wolf companion, Silvermane, was ensnared by thorn vines and twisted into a monstrous semblance of itself. Track its howl through the Thicket, free—or if necessary, slay—it, and bring proof of your choice to Lyra. This choice shapes her future loyalty and opens moral tension about mercy.

Goals

Locate Silvermane, resolve its fate, report back.

Reward

• +1 Longbow with silver tips • 150 GP • Lyra’s steadfast support or grief-laden curse

Secrets

  • Silvermane’s corruption is reversible with a vial of moonlit dew from the Mirror Pool.
  • Mossheart fears mercy may unleash a greater threat.

DM Notes

Include roleplaying choices; final decision affects main-quest outcome regarding archmage’s familiars.

Fungal Foray

Given by: Warden Orin

Orin needs three amber crystals grown in the Finisterre Marsh—south of the labyrinth. These crystals are the key to reforging the Greenwarden’s Staff. Brave the marsh’s poisonous spores, harvest crystals without breaking them, and bring them back so Orin can renew his staff and aid the main quest.

Goals

Harvest three amber crystals, return to Orin.

Reward

• Staff of Thorns (functions as Quarterstaff +1) • 100 GP • Advantage on Nature checks in forested areas

Secrets

  • One crystal contains a dormant spore that can animate the staff unpredictably.
  • Marsh-born spores can be refined into potent hallucinogens.

DM Notes

Spore clouds require Constitution saves; crystals break on critical failures.

Mapping the Madness

Given by: Dalia Moorcart

Dalia reemerges here, her maps revealing unstable corridors shifting nightly. She needs fresh observations to stabilize safe routes through the labyrinth. Escort her to three marked waypoints and note directional changes; her final compiled map may open a portal out—but at a cost to her sanity.

Goals

Escort Dalia to waypoints, record changes, obtain finalized glyph.

Reward

• Stabilized Labyrinth Glyph (teleport party once out of region) • Potion of Clarity • 75 GP

Secrets

  • Dalia’s mind is fracturing; reveal her secret journal for bonus insight.
  • The teleport glyph anchors a fleeting rift to the Abyss.

DM Notes

Introduce random corridor realignment. Each waypoint may spawn illusionary foes.

Side Quests in The Abyssal Rift

Shatter the Rift Hounds

Given by: Erathis Stormveil

A pack of abyssal hounds hunts near the East Pillar, tearing apart rift-distorted wildlife. Erathis fears they will engulf the battlement guards and disrupt the players’ assault. Slay or drive off the hounds—capturing one alive yields arcane data to weaken Malrec’s wards.

Goals

Defeat or capture a rift hound, return to Erathis.

Reward

• Cloak of Abyssal Resistance (resistance to psychic damage) • 100 GP • Erathis’s arcane scroll (grants True Strike once)

Secrets

  • Captured hound contains a rift-born parasite tied to Malrec’s life force.
  • Erathis plans to use the parasite to bargain for his freedom.

DM Notes

Include chase across unstable ground and possible ally interventions.

Echoes of the Sundering

Given by: Vesha Voidbound

Vesha offers insider knowledge on the Bastion’s defenses if players free her from a magically sealed cage in the Bastion’s lower levels. Doing so risks her betrayal—but may grant a strategic advantage against Malrec’s wards and anchor pillars.

Goals

Infiltrate lower Bastion, break Vesha’s cage, decide whether to trust her.

Reward

• Vesha’s Shade Dagger (+1, deals psychic damage) • Detailed ward schematics • 50 GP

Secrets

  • Vesha is bound by a geas to kill Malrec once freed.
  • Her schematics include a hidden passage to the final sanctum.

DM Notes

High-stakes choice—betrayal leads to extra mini-boss fight.

Song of the Shattered Spires

Given by: Erathis Stormveil

Erathis discovered an obsidian horn in the West Pillar’s chamber. He believes a resonant note can shatter the floating bridges, isolating Malrec’s sanctum. Recover the horn and use it at the correct frequency to collapse the pillar’s support—or risk entire platform falling.

Goals

Retrieve obsidian horn, activate at West Pillar, return to Erathis.

Reward

• Horn of Shattering (one-time area-effect acoustic attack) • 75 GP

Secrets

  • The horn belonged to Malrec’s mentor, its tone infused with redemption magic.
  • Using it improperly may drop players into the central chasm.

DM Notes

Requires performance check; failure triggers environmental hazard.

Encounters

Frost Wraith Ambush

Hard

Suggested Level: 5–7

While crossing the frozen plateau, two Frost Wraiths and a Wraith spawn from beneath the snowdrifts.

Creatures

  • Frost Wraith
  • Wraith Spawn
  • 2 Specters

Terrain Features

  • Deep snow slows movement by half
  • Icicles drop on failure of DC13 Dex save

Treasure

Ring of Cold Resistance

DM Notes

Use winter weather effects; spectral attacks bypass non-magical armor.

Hallucinatory Fungus Patch

Medium

Suggested Level: 6–8

A clearing covered in luminous mushrooms; inhaling spores triggers shared hallucinations and spawns Myconids.

Creatures

  • Myconid Sovereign
  • 2 Myconid Sprouts

Terrain Features

  • Spore clouds: Con save DC14 or hallucinate for 1 minute
  • Slippery moss: DC12 Dex save or fall prone

Treasure

Heart Mold Fungus (alchemy reagent)

DM Notes

Encourage roleplay during hallucinations; use Wisdom saves to distinguish illusions.

Shadowmoth Swarm

Medium

Suggested Level: 7–9

In the Obsidian Bastion’s corridors, a swarm of shadowmoths flutters around flickering lanterns, draining light and sanity.

Creatures

  • Shadowmoth Swarm
  • 2 Void Hounds

Terrain Features

  • Dim light
  • Flickering lanterns at intervals, DC13 Arcana to maintain light

Treasure

Lantern of True Sight (reveals invisible creatures)

DM Notes

Use encroaching darkness for tension; moths disrupt torches.

Rift Lizard Hunt

Deadly

Suggested Level: 8–10

A pack of six Rift Lizards leaps between floating boulders—pursuing prey across narrow bridges.

Creatures

  • 6 Rift Lizards
  • Rift Serpent (if reinforcements)

Terrain Features

  • Floating boulders drift slowly
  • Narrow bridges (falls inflict 2d6 bludgeoning)

Treasure

Rift Scale (crafting magical armor)

DM Notes

Include chase mechanics; exhaustion may accrue if failed to keep up.

Golem of Emberstone

Deadly

Suggested Level: 9–11

At the East Pillar, an Ember Golem emerges from magma pools to guard the runes.

Creatures

  • Ember Golem
  • 2 Fire Elementals

Terrain Features

  • Pools of magma (DC15 Dex save for half damage)
  • Overheated air (fire damage each round)

Treasure

Molten Core (staff forging component)

DM Notes

Scale HP based on party size; use environment to grant advantage or peril.

Magic Items

Shard of Sanctum’s Tear

Very Rare
A broken crystal fragment from the ancient wellspring, granting brief clarity against madness.

Location

Hidden under Bone-Chilled Chapel altar

Attunement

True—requires meditation in a sacred site

Verdant Sigil Fragment

Rare
A leaf-shaped emerald fragment that guides travelers through illusionary forests.

Location

Heartgrove in the Verdant Labyrinth

Attunement

True—must be held aloft while resting

Horn of Shattering

Legendary
An obsidian horn whose call can crack stone and disrupt magical barriers.

Location

West Anchor Pillar

Attunement

True—musical proficiency required

Frostbrand Greataxe

Rare
A frost-covered greataxe that chills enemies on each strike.

Location

Fractured Market sewers

Attunement

True—bonded by ancestral oath

Lantern of True Sight

Uncommon
A lantern whose light reveals illusions and invisible creatures.

Location

Shadowmoth Swarm encounter

Attunement

False

Cloak of Abyssal Resistance

Uncommon
A tattered cloak that grants resistance to psychic damage.

Location

Shatter the Rift Hounds side quest

Attunement

True—requires spending a hit die while wearing

Staff of Thorns

Rare
A staff entwined with living vines, dealing extra piercing damage.

Location

Fungal Foray side quest

Attunement

True—requires a druidic ritual

Ring of Cold Resistance

Uncommon
A simple silver ring that grants resistance to cold damage.

Location

Frost Wraith Ambush

Attunement

False

Resonant Obsidian Key

Very Rare
A key carved from volcanic glass that opens hidden rift doors.

Location

Cartographer’s Request side quest

Attunement

False

Moonlit Dew Vial

Rare
A vial of luminous dew that cures one level of madness when consumed.

Location

Mirror Pool

Attunement

False

Player Characters

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