Campaign Overview

The Verdant Maw Rising

Beneath the surface of the Aurelthorne Valleys sleeps a sleeping god: the devoured Garden God reborn as the Verdant Maw. This subterranean leviathan drifts silently beneath human kingdoms, devouring villages, gardens, and kingdoms whole. A doomsday cult, Bloom’s Blessing, heralds the Maw’s emergence as divine rebirth, seeding sigils in palace courtyards and sacrificing innocents to its heart. In response, the Iron Orchard Company, a coalition of mercenary alchemists and engineers, hires brave adventurers to sow alchemical salt deep in corrupted soils. Players begin in the shattered Blossom Cathedral, racing to reassemble the shattered Sun Globe that can push back invasive roots.

Their journey weaves through five harrowing quests in the valley, from rescuing kidnapped daughters in bone-caked swamps to forging uneasy alliances with photosynthetic elves and talking fungi in bioluminescent catacombs. Here, dwarven runes lead to the legendary Alabaster Forge, where sap-lava flows beneath the earth, offering both hope and peril. The players must pilot ramshackle sap-powered drillships through root-clogged tunnels, planting salt charges while fending off fungal riders and hallucinogenic spores. Along the way, they recover fragments of the Garden God’s memory, negotiate with a telepathic root-heart, and rescue elven and dwarven spirits bound by ancient curses.

Deep in the Maw’s Chlorophyll Heart, adventurers confront the ultimate moral crucible: bargain with the god-seed consciousness for immortality, unending spring, or ultimate power—or banish it forever at the cost of flesh, memory, or dreams. Their choices ripple across the realms: do they sacrifice the innocent to save humanity, or trust in nature’s balance to prevail?

The campaign emphasizes exploration, diplomacy, and high-stakes moral dilemmas. Rotten temples, root-limbed guardians, and psychic assaults test each player’s mettle. Ten unique magic items—from the Prism Globe of Daylight to the staff of Verdant Banishment—guide the party toward victory. Three factions, each with conflicting goals, pressure the adventurers: a zealous cult, a merciless corporation, and ancient elves.

In this epic of vines and blood, players shape the fate of kingdoms and the very earth itself. The Verdant Maw Rising invites heroes to delve into root-choked caverns, parley with dream-weaving fungi, and decide the destiny of a god reborn. Will they sow salt or spring? The land’s rebirth—or its final bloom—rests in their hands.

Prepare for a journey beneath the soil, where the pulse of an ancient god awaits your touch.

Starting Location

Aurelthorne Valleys

The Aurelthorne Valleys stretch across gentle foothills at the northern edge of the Verdant Maw’s known migration path. Once a peaceful cluster of farming communities under the watchful gaze of the Blossom Cathedral, the valleys now bear lingering evidence of villages swallowed whole: abandoned fields overgrown with thorny creepers, half-buried granaries cracked by root pressure, and roadways buckled into twisting tunnels. The air carries the faint hum of bioluminescent moss behind every earthen embankment, and distant groans of root-limbed creatures echo beneath the surface. Nearly every farmstead still bears vestiges of Bloom’s Blessing sigil-seeds—tiny luminous pods that root themselves into soil, spreading halos of iridescent spores at night. The villagers who remain have either fled or hidden in fortified hollows, wary of strangers and the strange glow beneath their homes. A few hardy settlers maintain watchtowers along the valley’s perimeter, trading whispered rumors of the Iron Orchard Company’s alchemical forays. Magic collars seeded in fields have turned livestock into walking fertilizer, while experimental salt charges leave entire patches barren. Tensions mount as elven diplomats arrive to parley with reluctant humans, offering alliances in exchange for assistance. Throughout, cultists slip between farms at dawn planting new sigil-seeds, heralding the Maw as a divine rebirth. Every night, the soil trembles, reminding all that the Verdant Maw never rests.

Secrets

  • A smuggler’s tunnel beneath Torrentbend Watchtower leads directly to Bloom’s Blessing caches.
  • Beneath Blossom Cathedral’s crypt, an ancient reliquary houses one prism shard of the Sun Globe.
  • Marrow Glade’s root-heart whispers the true name of the Garden God when offered humanoid blood.

Key Locations

Blossom Cathedral

Rising from a terraced hill, the Blossom Cathedral is a grand structure carved from ivory marble and adorned with living vines fed by subterranean springs. Its lofty spire reaches skyward, crowned with a glass globe of perpetual sunshine—or at least it did until Bloom’s Blessing cultists shattered it. Now the spire glows dimly with unholy bioluminescence from seeded sigils, and the once-harmonious gardens crawling up the walls have turned carnivorous, snapping at any intruder. Interior halls are lined with stained glass depicting the Garden God’s benevolence; half the panes are broken, the floor slick with gelatinous green goo. In the crypt below, alchemical labs funnel salt-charged soil into waiting silos. The cathedral’s priests have fled or gone mad, replaced by robed zealots chanting beneath a dripping altar of roots.

Additional Notes

Cultists use the cathedral as a planting ground and lab. DM: The central globe can be restored to drive back blight if players locate three missing prism shards in side-quest ruins.

Torrentbend Watchtower

Perched on a rocky promontory where the Silverflow River swerves inward, Torrentbend Watchtower commands a view of miles of farmland. The stone tower’s base is encased in creeping roots that have pried the mortar loose, and one battlement has collapsed into the river below. From its crenellated top, armed lookouts once scanned for root-beasts; now, only one nervous sentinel remains, peering over water stained with green algae and drifting spores. A broken drawbridge hangs like a ruined jaw, and within, wooden floors sag from dampness. Makeshift traps—pits filled with alchemical salt and sharpened stakes—line the entryway. Guards ration sour bread and water, mumbling that reinforcements never came. Rumors speak of a hidden lower gallery leading into an old smugglers’ tunnel beneath the riverbank, now overrun by thorn chimera spawned from the Maw’s edge.

Additional Notes

Secret smugglers’ tunnel contains Bloom’s Blessing recruits laundering supplies. DM: Place an outrigger boat in the submerged tunnel for a dramatic rescue.

Faelind’s Glasshouse

A glass-domed greenhouse built by local alchemists, Faelind’s Glasshouse once produced fabled azure blossoms used in healing elixirs. Now its shards lie everywhere, and inside, vines have mutated into translucent tendrils that drip luminescent nectar. Heated by alchemical burners, the air is warm and heavy with pollen that induces vivid hallucinations. Statues of dryads carved in obsidian leer from smashed planters. Every surface is a living fungus-house, and corridors twist through thick hanging moss. Hidden between collapsed frames is Faelind’s secret study: journals detail experiments to mutate crops for salt immunity—research lost if not reclaimed. Several puzzling runes line the walls, unlocking secret greenhouse chambers filled with exotic seeds and a dormant clockwork golem.

Additional Notes

Journal pages hint at a cipher. DM: The golem activates if players solve a riddle inscribed beneath a rotten blossom.

Marrow Glade

A circular clearing in a copse of oak and ash, the Marrow Glade is named for its white-bone encrusted soil. Hunters who tracked maw-spawn here found nothing but trophies arranged around a giant, writhing root that pulses like a heart. When starlight filters through the canopy, veins in the root glow crimson, and ghostly wails drift across the moss. Surrounding trees have hollowed trunks crammed with seed-pods that sprout hallucinogenic spores. Elves speak of the glade as a corrupted burial ground, defiling ancestors with living roots. Deep underfoot, catacombs tunnel toward the Maw’s core—but no one dares follow. Local myths say that offering flesh in the center will still the wails, but those who try often vanish for weeks, returning half-mad with plant-flesh growing in their hair.

Additional Notes

A hidden root-chamber holds tokens of sacrifice. DM: Root heart can speak telepathically once players place an offering.

Elmscar Fallow

Once a fenced pasture for prized draft horses, Elmscar Fallow is now a swamp of stinking water and sprouting vines. Moss-coated saddles drift in muck, tethered to rotting posts. At night, the water glows an eerie green where bioluminescent plankton flourish on dumped sigil-seeds. Deeper areas form quicksand-like bogs; desperate villagers chained an alchemical barrel of salt to a maw-spawn here, causing it to writhe and die in a violent explosion, which opened a cavity full of ruined equipment and a sealed wagon containing rare alchemical samples. The Fallow’s fence posts bear carvings warning away travelers, but those skilled in Nature can follow faint hoofprints leading into sunken seepage tunnels.

Additional Notes

Buried wagon contains Iron Orchard prototypes. DM: Barrel may still leak salt, affecting root-creatures in encounter.

Bioluminescent Catacombs

Stretching for miles beneath the Aurelthorne Valleys, the Bioluminescent Catacombs form a labyrinth of limestone halls suffused with glowing fungi and dripping stalactites. Ancient dwarven runes hint at a time before gardens walked—when smiths tunneled deep to craft legendary blades. Now, murky pools teem with phosphorescent eels, and fungus clusters pulse in time with the Verdant Maw’s heartbeat. The air is humid, heavy with spores that can trigger visions if inhaled. Some tunnels collapse into fungal swamps inhabited by myconid matrons; others lead to long-forgotten shrines to the Garden God. Elves have mapped safe routes, marking them with glowing arrowglyphs. At the catacombs’ core lies the Alabaster Forge: a molten crystal cavern said to shape soulbind weapons. Rumor says the Maw’s migrating roots breached the forge’s roof, yielding a sap-powered crucible—perfect for crafting drillship components. Yet any who venture there risk waking stone guardians long slumbering in nutrient-rich dirt.

Secrets

  • Secret dwarf tunnels bypass fungal swamps to reach the forge’s core.
  • The mushroom pillars at Myconid Ark hide crystallized spores that can grant telepathy briefly.
  • Echoing Shrine’s reliquary holds a phased blueprint only visible under Moonbeam light.

Key Locations

Myconid Ark

A vaulted chamber decorated with luminescent fungal pillars, the Myconid Ark serves as a meeting place for fungi-folk. Bioluminescent caps cluster overhead like chandeliers, dripping amber spores into shallow pools. Massive shelf mushrooms form amphitheater-like tiers where an elder Myconid Council deliberates. Their society thrives by consuming root-hair clusters delivered from the Maw’s fringe. Elven emissaries trade pollen-wine for fungal knowledge, hoping to discover biological repellents. The Ark’s floor is etched with glyphs showing the fungus lifecycle; scholars believe these form a key to curing crop blight above. Tree-root collars tether four massive fungal leviathans in a central pit—creatures that can crush intruders if provoked. Myconid sentries communicate telepathically, so deceptive spells risk instant hostility.

Additional Notes

DM: Players may bargain with spores for intel at a cost—minor hallucinations.

Echoing Shrine

An ancient dwarven shrine carved into a natural alcove, its walls are etched with gardens of metal vines and leaf-forged weapons. Lichen-covered cenotaphs hold offerings of crystalized honey and bronze seed pods. The floor shows a deep fissure where a raging root sprout broke through centuries ago. Beneath the shift lies a hidden reliquary containing dwarven blueprints for the Alabaster Forge’s anvil apparatus. However, a bound limestone sentinel—shaped like a hammer-wielding golem—guards the reliquary, waking only when seismic magic or iron salt is detected. Crumbling steps lead to a collapsed crypt filled with marrow-seeded husks of dwarven smiths.

Additional Notes

DM: Golem’s core is vulnerable to sonic damage from Dawnshard trumpet found in a side quest.

Alabaster Forge

At the catacombs’ intersection, a cavern of white crystalline walls houses a glowing magma spring. The Alabaster Forge’s hearth is fueled by sap-lava—an azure fluid that drips from root breaches in the ceiling. Ancient dwarven machinery stands half-buried: giant arms for hammering alloy, tongs attached to root-limbed vines, and channels directing sap-lava through forged molds. Cultists from Bloom’s Blessing use the forge to create ‘Seed Sponsors’—crystal bombs that can accelerate the Maw’s growth. Piloting sap-powered drillships here requires rerouting sap flows through dwarf-made valves and infusing salt charges into the molten sap to temper its corrosive nature. The roar of dripping sap echoes like a heartbeat; each pulse can knock adventurers off balance.

Additional Notes

DM: A broken valve puzzle must be solved (DC 16 Intelligence) to safely pierce sap flows without cave in.

Chlorophyll Heart of the Maw

Deep beneath the earth, far from all sunlight, lies the Chlorophyll Heart—the still-beating core of the devoured Garden God. Massive root limbs spiral from chamber walls like the twisted spines of a fungal leviathan. A greenish-red luminescence suffuses every surface, fueling endless photosynthesis in the mythic root-tissue. Air here is thick with potent spores that can rewrite memories or bind will. Bloom’s Blessing cultists maintain a sacrificial dais around the Heart’s pulsating node, chanting in a tongue older than elven script. Iron Orchard drillship crews have blasted a tunnel to this sanctum, leaving shattered rock and half-buried sap engines along the approach halls. Piloting through root-blockage demands alchemical salt bombs, steam vents to clear spores, and arcane harnesses to protect from mind-bending hallucinogens. Legends say the Heart can offer any bargain: unending spring, immortality, or even unmake reality—at the price of flesh, freedom, or one’s soul. Here, all roads converge: the party must decide whether to poison the Heart, negotiate with its lingering god-seed consciousness, or harness its sap to forge a weapon that can save—or doom—the surface world.

Secrets

  • A hidden tunnel beneath the altar leads back to surface—an escape route the cult keeps secret.
  • The Heart’s memory shard can animate a sap-construct companion if the right phrase is spoken.
  • A dormant guardian lies behind a rune-locked door; freeing it can aid in final conflict.

Key Locations

Sacrificial Dais

An altar of petrified roots entwined with human remains, the Sacrificial Dais stands atop a raised platform. Cultists carve flesh-signs into root-lingered bones to appease the Heart’s hunger. When offerings are placed, pulsations in the ground shift to a rhythmic drumbeat. Hidden underneath the altar is a root-wrapped journal of the Maw’s final prophecy, containing cryptic instructions for halting its migration—if read aloud precisely.

Additional Notes

DM: The journal is written in ancient druidic; deciphering requires DC 18 Intelligence (History).

Drillship Docking Bay

A cavern blasted open with arcane explosives, filled with half-assembled sap-powered drillship hulls and tangled scaffolding. Crews left hastily, leaving crates of alchemical salt and experimental steam pumps. The bay is unstable: any loud noise or vine movement can trigger a roof collapse. A secret hatch at the base of a sap-silo leads to a flooded maintenance tunnel where cult zealots store stolen relics from palace courtyards.

Additional Notes

DM: Breached pipe vents can be rigged to create a sap steam cloud as cover.

Pulsing Root Nexus

At the chamber’s core lies the Pulseling Root Nexus, a writhing mass of luminous veins pulsating with the Garden God’s residual will. Touching the Nexus risks a mental bond: visions of the god’s birth, its devouring rage, and whispered bargains. Those unwilling to pay its price must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom save or become enthralled, serving as new sacrificial seeds. A ring of glowing runes around the Nexus can be disrupted by a correct sequence of salt-infused crystals gleaned from Iron Orchard salvage.

Additional Notes

DM: If players attempt to bargain, present moral dilemmas: give up memories, limbs, or companions.

NPCs in Aurelthorne Valleys

High Priestess Aralyn Zeeborne

An aging human cleric of the Garden God, her once-golden robes are now stained green. She hides in Blossom Cathedral’s ruined vestibule, torn between duty and despair.

Role: Quest Giver Other Details: She possesses half of the broken seed-sigil key.

Ser Dorith Valance

Commander of Torrentbend’s last watchman, embittered by lost reinforcements. He distrusts outsiders but yearns for pacts to save his men.

Role: Ally/Quest Giver Other Details: Carries a map to smugglers’ tunnels.

Faelind the Botanist

A halfling alchemist obsessed with restoring her glasshouse’s azure flowers. She wields a volatile salt-elixir bomb.

Role: Quest Contributor Other Details: Her journals contain a cipher to unlock a hidden golem.

Liora Swiftbough

A photosynthetic elf ranger, sworn to protect survivors. She scouts the valley by day, sleeps in spiderproof cages by night.

Role: Guide Other Details: Knows safe river crossings and holds a token to elven outpost.

Old Man Tristane

A bearded farmer hiding in Elmscar Fallow’s reed huts. Keeps a secret barter trade with cultists to save his daughter.

Role: Informant Other Details: Has the location of a cult seed cache.

Dendron the Whisperer

A mysterious druid who communes with root-beasts. He appears as a traveling minstrel but can charm plant life.

Role: Neutral NPC Other Details: He once traveled into the Maw’s fringe and returned with moss-tainted fingers.

NPCs in Bioluminescent Catacombs

Elder Shroommaw

A towering Myconid Sovereign crowned with ten-foot mushroom flanges. Speaks through spores and demands reciprocity.

Role: Faction Leader Other Details: Seeks rare salt-resistant moss.

Runesmith Vorgrim

A stoic dwarven smith bound to serve the Forge’s magic. His spirit lingers in rune carvings.

Role: Quest Guide Other Details: Provides blueprint insight if freed from haunting.

Silra Moonshard

An elven scholar mapping catacomb glyphs. She’s asthmatic, uses spores to breathe underground.

Role: Translator/Ally Other Details: Knows safe paths marked by arrowglyphs.

Cultist Forgemaster Rhazal

A zealot twisted by sap-lava exposure, wielding a crystalline seed bomb.

Role: Antagonist Other Details: Holds the forge’s valve key.

NPCs in Chlorophyll Heart of the Maw

High Cultist Eryx Thornbite

A charismatic half-elf zealot who believes the Maw’s rebirth will heal the world. He wields a thorned whip dripping with sap venom.

Role: Final Boss Antagonist Other Details: Holds the seed key to the Heart’s memory shard.

Commander Isla Blackwater

Head engineer of the Iron Orchard Company’s drillship party. Jaded by failures, she’ll support poisoning the Heart but fears sabotage.

Role: Potential Ally Other Details: Carries steam-pump schematics to build a relief valve.

Mycarn the Bound

A stone and root elemental bound to the Nexus ring. It can be freed to fight for the party, then dissolves into fertile soil.

Role: Wildcard Ally Other Details: Requires the Heart’s sap memory shard to awaken.

Whispering Core

The god-seed consciousness incarnate—a voice without body. It offers triple-layered bargains in exchange for flesh, memory, or dreams.

Role: Mystical Presence Other Details: Players can resist with DC 18 Charisma saves.

Factions

Bloom’s Blessing

Bloom’s Blessing is a doomsday cult that reveres the Verdant Maw as the Garden God reborn. They plant glowing sigil-seeds in palaces, offering sacrifices to hasten the Maw’s surface migration. Dressed in living vines and bioluminescent bloom rags, they believe in a world cleansed by root. Followers include disillusioned farmers, radical druids, and mind-bent dreamers.

Goals

  • Accelerate the Maw’s spread.
  • Convert surface kingdoms to worship root divinity.
  • Sabotage Iron Orchard Company’s salt campaigns.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Hates Iron Orchard for poisoning the soil; at war of dogma with photosynthetic elves. Some dwarven factions oppose them for defiling ancestral shrines.
With Players
Often antagonistic; some members infiltrate party camps. Occasional parley possible if players show weakness.

Iron Orchard Company

Iron Orchard Company is a coalition of alchemists, mercenaries, and desperate nobles funding anti-root operations. They employ steam-pump engineers, salt mages, and adventurers to push back the Maw. Their market caravans traverse corrupted lands selling salt bombs and antifungal potions.

Goals

  • Contain and poison the Verdant Maw’s roots.
  • Secure contracts with regional lords.
  • Research a permanent anti-root agent.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Tense alliance with humans of Aurelthorne; distrust from elves and Myconids for using harsh chemicals. They’re in an arms race with Bloom’s Blessing.
With Players
Primary quest sponsors; reward explorers. Can be double-edged—some officers prioritize profit over lives.

Photosynthetic Elves of Lysanth

The Photosynthetic Elves hail from the sunlit forests east of the valleys. Their bodies convert sunlight into energy, making them natural allies against root corruption. They revere natural balance, opposing both over-extraction by Iron Orchard and cult fanaticism.

Goals

  • Negotiate safe zones.
  • Research biological repellent to root blight.
  • Preserve genetic diversity of forest flora.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Sympathetic to Myconids, hostile to Bloom’s Blessing. Distrust Iron Orchard’s chemical methods but tolerate them temporarily.
With Players
Offer guidance and unique magic. Membership requires proving respect for nature in side quests.

Main Questline

Rooted Dawn

Given by: High Priestess Aralyn Zeeborne

The party learns of the Verdant Maw’s return when Aralyn pleads for help reassembling the Sun Globe at Blossom Cathedral. They must retrieve three sapphire prism shards from key valley locations, battling root beasts and cultists. Restoring the Globe grants a temporary safe zone and critical intel on the Maw’s heartbeat.

Goals

• Recover all three shards. • Restore the Sun Globe. • Survive the cathedral’s root surge escape.

Reward

  • Prism Globe of Daylight
  • 300 gp
  • Cathedral Favor

Secrets

  • Cultists can intercept one shard shipment if party delays.
  • Shards hum when near the Maw’s subterranean paths.

DM Notes

Emphasize sense of urgency; each day without the Globe extends root spread.

Salt of Salvation

Given by: Ser Dorith Valance

With the valley re-lit, Ser Dorith rallies the Iron Orchard Company to deploy alchemical salt charges at corrupted wells. The party escorts the caravan, defends it from fungal rider ambushes, and ensures all wells are sealed. Their success weakens nearby root branches and gives Iron Orchard leverage for deeper penetration.

Goals

• Defend the caravan. • Ignite salt charges at each well. • Unmask the driver if possible.

Reward

  • Iron Orchard Medallion
  • 2 Potions of Extra-Salt Armor

Secrets

  • Driver is a cultist double agent.
  • One well houses a secret cache of alchemical prototypes.

DM Notes

Introduce fungal rider tactics; encourage area control.

Catacomb Convergence

Given by: Silra Moonshard

Elven and dwarven envoys unite to explore the Bioluminescent Catacombs for a way to the Maw’s core. The party aids in forging alliances among Myconid, dwarven spirits, and elves, solves the Alabaster Forge valve puzzle, and commandeers a sap-powered drillship component needed for the final assault.

Goals

• Broker peace in the Myconid Ark. • Finish valve puzzle. • Secure drillship hull component.

Reward

  • Elven Charms of Binding
  • Blueprint Component for Drillship
  • Fungal Ally Summon scroll

Secrets

  • Forge elite cultists guard the valve key.
  • A secret tutorial rune grants plus one to all forge checks.

DM Notes

Focus on roleplay and alliance-building; allow multiple resolution paths.

Siege of Sap

Given by: Commander Isla Blackwater

With drillship hulls assembled, the party must lead a strike into root breach tunnels, planting salt charges to clear a path to the Chlorophyll Heart. They pilot sap-powered drillships through root blockades, fend off spore infesters, and coordinate with engineering teams to keep engines running. Failure here means the Maw’s heart remains unreachable.

Goals

• Pilot drillships through three tunnel checkpoints. • Defend against spore infester boarding parties. • Trigger salt breach at last checkpoint.

Reward

  • Access to final assault
  • +2 drillship operation checks

Secrets

  • Cultists smuggled seed bombs aboard drillships.
  • Sap-engine residue yields a truth serum if distilled.

DM Notes

Use chase and siege mechanics; keep tension high.

Heart of the Garden

Given by: Whispering Core

At the Maw’s chlorophyll heart, players confront Eryx Thornbite and negotiate or fight with the Garden God’s lingering consciousness. They decide whether to bind the Heart for unending spring, poison it forever, or strike a third path. The chosen outcome shapes the fate of the surface world.

Goals

• Defeat or parley with Eryx Thornbite. • Perform the banishment or binding ritual. • Escape as tunnels collapse.

Reward

  • God-Seed Sash or Staff of Verdant Banishment or Null-Bloom Codex
  • Titles based on decision

Secrets

  • Secret rout to surface in the sacrificial dais.
  • The Heart can spawn a sap-construct ally if shown mercy.

DM Notes

Offer moral dilemma; track party alignment shifts.

Side Quests in Aurelthorne Valleys

Reclaim the Sapphire Prisms

Given by: High Priestess Aralyn Zeeborne

Aralyn tasks the party with recovering three sapphire prism shards shattered from the Cathedral’s Sun Globe. Each shard lies beneath a key location: one in the sunken crypt of Blossom Cathedral, another in the flooded cellar of Torrentbend Watchtower, and the third hidden in Marrow Glade’s root chamber. The shards must be reassembled to reignite the Globe’s protective light, which can purge a small area of invasive roots for one hour. However, each shard is guarded by root-beasts or trapped with alchemical salt charges. The party will need to navigate collapsing floors, bioluminescent spores that cause vivid hallucinations, and cultists who will stop at nothing to seize the prisms.

Goals

• Locate the first prism in the exploded silo beneath Torrentbend. • Solve the riddle in Faelind’s study to unlock the clockwork golem. • Survive the Marrow Glade root-heart’s telepathy trap. • Return all three shards to Blossom Cathedral.

Reward

  • 300 gp
  • Prism Globe of Daylight (casts Daylight once per dawn)
  • Reputation boost with the Cathedral

Secrets

  • A cult spy in Torquebend Watchtower knows a hidden side entrance.
  • One shard is magnetically sealed inside a root-heart bone cavity.

DM Notes

Scale root-beast encounters up if party uses fire magic—roots adapt quickly.

Salted Earth

Given by: Ser Dorith Valance

Torrentbend’s water supply is tainted by blooming algae, collapsed water wheels, and seed-sigil spores. Ser Dorith asks the party to escort an Iron Orchard Company salt-blaster caravan to three contaminated wells scattered across the valley floor. Each well is besieged by fungal riders and root swarms. The caravan’s driver is a novice who must be protected while igniting salt charges. Timing is critical: detonating one well alerts cultists who send reinforcements from Blossom Cathedral. If any wells remain intact, the caravan’s salt reserves run out, and the mission fails.

Goals

• Defend the caravan from fungal rider ambushes. • Place and ignite salt charges at each well. • Protect the driver from rogue militia sympathizers.

Reward

  • Iron Orchard Medallion (access to alchemical supplies)
  • 2 Potions of Extra-Salt Armor (grants resistance to plant-based damage)
  • +1 Favor with Iron Orchard Company

Secrets

  • The caravan’s crates include a hidden compartment with cult-poisoned salt.
  • Driver is secretly a Bloom’s Blessing initiate.

DM Notes

Use water hazards to advantage but watch for boggy ground.

Secrets of the Glasshouse

Given by: Faelind the Botanist

Faelind believes her azure blossom experiments can yield a strain resistant to the Verdant Maw’s corruption. To complete her research, she needs samples from a rare sun-lotus plant rumored to grow in Elmscar Fallow’s deepest bog. The party must venture through moss-choked tunnels beneath the swamp, avoid quicksand and glowing spores that induce sleep, then rescue Faelind’s anthropomorphic golem familiar caged by Bloom’s Blessing fanatics. The golem holds her final research notes. If players recover the sun-lotus and free the golem, she’ll distill a cure that can heal small areas of corrupted ground temporarily.

Goals

• Navigate Elmscar Fallow’s bog tunnels. • Bypass Bloom’s Blessing traps and free the golem. • Collect viable sun-lotus sample and deliver it safely.

Reward

  • Elixir of Bloomborne Health (heals 4d8 hp and prevents plant-based infection)
  • Faelind’s Golem as a one-time combat ally
  • Blueprint for Sun-Lotus cultivation

Secrets

  • A hidden vial in the golem’s chest contains the Garden God’s bloodseed.
  • Cultists plan to use sun-lotus extract to empower root-beasts.

DM Notes

Use Wisdom (Survival) checks to avoid quicksand and hallucination traps.

Echoes in the Roots

Given by: Liora Swiftbough

Liora requests aid investigating tremors beneath Marrow Glade. Elven scouts report hearing ancestral voices, believing spirits trapped by the Maw. The party must delve into a newly opened cavern network, face thorn chimera and root-entanglers, then calm the spirits by performing an elven mourning rite at a moss-crowned altar. Doing so may reveal an ancient map etched into the cavern wall—pointing to the Maw’s chlorophyll heart. However, reckless violence may anger the spirits, unleashing a root-spirit guardian that can drain life from living flesh.

Goals

• Subdue or calm thorn chimera and root-entanglers. • Perform the mourning rite (DC 15 Performance or Religion). • Decode map fragment to reveal next journey leg.

Reward

  • Elven Charms of Binding (grant +2 on saves vs. fear and charm)
  • Ancient Cavern Map fragment
  • Elven healers share herbal poultices

Secrets

  • Cavern walls are inscribed with the Garden God’s original prayers.
  • The altar holds a sealed elven wine flask rumored to unlock green speech.

DM Notes

Encourage nonviolence; spirits reward diplomacy over force.

Tryst at Dusk

Given by: Old Man Tristane

Tristane’s daughter was taken by Bloom’s Blessing into a nearby sealed crypt beneath Elmscar Fallow. The party must infiltrate the crypt, outwit arcane-seed traps that sprout hallucinogenic vines, and confront the cult’s zealot high-priestess offering child sacrifices to the Maw’s heartbeat. Stealth or deception can avoid full-scale combat; rescuing the girl alive yields vital information on cult rituals. Failure or all-out assault triggers a blood-root explosion that floods the chamber with toxic spores.

Goals

• Bypass or disable vine traps (DC 14 Dexterity). • Defeat or negotiate with the zealot high-priestess. • Free the kidnapped daughter and escape the crypt.

Reward

  • Tristane’s Heirloom Blade (+1 longsword, deals extra 1d6 damage vs. plant creatures)
  • Key to Bloom’s Blessing sigil seed vault
  • Psychological advantage: rescued daughter provides insider gossip

Secrets

  • The high-priestess possesses a bone-whistle that calls root swarms.
  • The crypt’s eastern wall hides a narrow escape tunnel.

DM Notes

Toxic spores cause Constitution save DC 12 or become poisoned for 1d4 hours.

Side Quests in Bioluminescent Catacombs

Spores of the Deep

Given by: Silra Moonshard

Silra needs samples of rare bioluminescent spores to stabilize her breath toxin filter. These spores grow only on giant fungus caps in the Myconid Ark’s upper tiers. The party must calm the Ark’s guardians by performing a fungal melody atop the amphitheater shelves, avoiding awakened fungal leviathans. Harvested spores can also create smoke bombs against root creatures.

Goals

• Play the correct melody (DC 15 Performance). • Harvest spores without alerting guardians. • Deliver samples to Silra.

Reward

  • 5 doses of Biolume Smoke Grenade
  • Temporary fungal ally in catacomb encounters

Secrets

  • An elder spore sample glows silver—grants telepathy one minute.

DM Notes

Allow creative musical rolls; partial success yields fewer spores.

Hammerfall Ghosts

Given by: Runesmith Vorgrim

Vorgrim’s ghost-hands beckon for a proper burial. He asks the party to retrieve fallen anvil fragments from a collapsed crypt in the Echoing Shrine. Navigating rockfalls and root spikes, players must carry heavy fragments (10 minutes each) while avoiding limestone sentinels. Properly rebuilt an altar triggers Vorgrim’s peaceful departure and unlocks his ethereal hammer form for one fight.

Goals

• Salvage three anvil fragments. • Reassemble fragments at shrine altar. • Banish Vorgrim’s spirit respectfully.

Reward

  • Ethereal Hammer of Vorgrim (Spectral +1 hammer lasting three rounds)
  • Blueprint of secret hinge mechanism

Secrets

  • Hammer form can open hidden door to a salt chamber.
  • Vorgrim’s burial spot is booby-trapped.

DM Notes

Track carrying weight; encourage party to craft pulley.

Sapfall Calibration

Given by: Cultist Forgemaster Rhazal (undercover tip)

A rival cult cell seeks to recalibrate the sap-lava flow at the Alabaster Forge to produce more potent seed bombs. A secret insider tips players: they can sabotage flow valves to reduce yield. This stealth mission demands disabling three root-routed valves without alerting Rhazal’s guards. Success weakens upcoming main quest challenges but enrages the Master, who retaliates with a seed-bomb assault.

Goals

• Infiltrate forge floor under cover of darkness. • Disable or reverse three flow valves. • Evade or neutralize forge guards.

Reward

  • Key to Forge’s Main Valve
  • Insight on seed-bomb detonation codes

Secrets

  • One valve controls the lava pressure burst that can seal the entire cavern.
  • Rhazal’s lab contains experimental sap-blood elixirs.

DM Notes

Use stealth and poison-coated arrow tactics.

Side Quests in Chlorophyll Heart of the Maw

Shards of the God-Seed

Given by: Whispering Core

The Core hints at scattered god-seed fragments embedded in the Sacrificial Dais, Drillship Bay, and a hidden alcove off the Nexus. Retrieving all three fragments and assembling them on the dais allows players to hear the god’s final will—unveiling a path to banish or bind the Maw forever. However, each fragment is guarded by mind-shaping spore traps, cult enforcers, and root-beast manifestations. Collecting them tests body and mind, demanding both brute force and willful sacrifice.

Goals

• Defeat traps and guardians at each fragment location. • Solve druidic glyph sequence on the dais. • Complete assembly to hear the prophecy.

Reward

  • God-Seed Sash (grants advantage on Wisdom saves vs. psychic effects)
  • Final prophecy revealing banishment rite
  • Unique titles/grants access to endgame choices

Secrets

  • One fragment is buried inside a cultist’s chest cavity.
  • Fragments must be assembled in a precise order matching druidic glyphs.

DM Notes

Introduce time pressure: each fragment awakened accelerates the Maw’s pulse.

Steam-Pump Diversion

Given by: Commander Isla Blackwater

Isla proposes using repaired steam pumps from the Drillship Bay to flood the Sacrificial Dais chamber with scalding steam, weakening cult defenses before the final assault. The party must retrieve lost pump‐parts from a collapsed storage alcove infested with sap-slime oozes and root chimera. Reassembling the pump requires successful DC 17 Intelligence checks, or the device may explode. If deployed, the steam pump will stun cultists and melt binding root vines on the Nexus ring.

Goals

• Salvage pump parts under threat of collapsing tunnels. • Calibrate and deploy the pump at the dais. • Survive partial steam blast mishaps.

Reward

  • Masterwork Steam-Pump (usable once in final battle)
  • +2 to next Alchemical Salt Bomb rolls

Secrets

  • Oozes carry rare glass shards usable as arcane focus.
  • Chimera hides a schematic map of pump piping.

DM Notes

Offer players custom failure results; allow creative engineering attempts.

Encounters

Fungal Rider Ambush

Medium

Suggested Level: 3–5

A pack of fungal-mounted riders bursts from root-grown caves alongside the valley road.

Creatures

  • 4 Fungal Riders
  • 8 Myconid Spoorlings

Terrain Features

A broken stone bridge over a shallow stream; fungal pods line the banks, exploding on impact.

Treasure

10 gp, Fungal Spore Vials (x3)

DM Notes

Scale riders’ mounts’ HP if party brings fire magic.

Root-Beast Cavern

Hard

Suggested Level: 4–6

In a collapsed cellar, a two-headed root-beast tears at wooden beams.

Creatures

  • 1 Two-Headed Root Beast
  • 3 Vine Blights

Terrain Features

Low ceiling with dripping sap; sections of floor crack under weight.

Treasure

Alchemical Salt Flask, 50 gp

DM Notes

Beasts adapt: if players use bludgeoning, increase vine damage resistance.

Hallucinogenic Hall

Medium

Suggested Level: 2–4

A corridor of hanging moss releases spores causing vivid illusions of past failures.

Creatures

  • 2 Spore Myconids
  • 1 Cultist Fungus Sage

Terrain Features

Narrow corridor with spine-like roots.

Treasure

Silvered dagger, Myconid cap that grants advantage on Wisdom saves once.

DM Notes

Use sensory descriptions; allow Intelligence saves to negate effects.

Sap-Lava Falls

Deadly

Suggested Level: 6–8

A sudden fracture in the catacomb roof pours sap-lava onto the party floor.

Creatures

  • 3 Sap Slimes
  • 1 Root Chimera

Terrain Features

Muddy ground, rising sap-lava requiring DC 15 Dexterity climb checks.

Treasure

Crystal shard used in final ritual, 20 gp

DM Notes

Time pressure; if party lingers, sap-lava rises further.

Dais of Whispers

Hard

Suggested Level: 7–9

As they approach the Chlorophyll Heart, tendrils whisper temptations.

Creatures

  • 1 Whispering Tendril
  • 2 Root Ents

Terrain Features

Circular dais with rune-inscribed floors.

Treasure

Rune-etched seed key, 100 gp

DM Notes

Emphasize psychic threats; use Wisdom saves liberally.

Magic Items

Prism Globe of Daylight

Rare
A repaired glass orb that radiates daylight in a 30-foot radius once per dawn.

Location

Reward for Reclaim the Sapphire Prisms quest

Attunement

Yes, requires attuning by a cleric of the Garden God.

Elixir of Bloomborne Health

Uncommon
A green potion that heals 4d8 HP and grants immunity to plant-based disease for 24 hours.

Location

Faelind’s Glasshouse lab

Attunement

No

Iron Orchard Medallion

Uncommon
A metal medallion granting advantage on Charisma checks with Iron Orchard members.

Location

Reward for Salted Earth quest

Attunement

No

Elven Charms of Binding

Rare
A set of vines etched into wood granting +2 on saving throws versus fear and charm.

Location

Reward from Echoing Shrine alliance

Attunement

Yes, by an elf or druid.

Steam-Pump of Scalding

Very Rare
A portable steam-pump usable once to create a 15-foot cone of scalding steam (3d8 fire damage).

Location

Commander Isla’s reserves in Drillship Bay

Attunement

No

God-Seed Sash

Very Rare
A woven sash granting advantage on Wisdom saves vs. psychic effects.

Location

Shards of the God-Seed side quest

Attunement

Yes

Staff of Verdant Banishment

Legendary
A wooden staff that casts Blight (once per long rest) and, on kill, disrupts plant magic in 20-ft radius.

Location

Reward for Heart of the Garden (poison ending)

Attunement

Yes

Clockwork Golem Core

Rare
A small bronze sphere that animates a dormant golem for three rounds when inserted into its chest.

Location

Faelind’s Glasshouse secret vault

Attunement

No

Crystal Seed Whistle

Uncommon
A bone whistle that can summon a root swarm ally for one round (acts on players’ turn).

Location

Tryst at Dusk quest reward

Attunement

No

Null-Bloom Codex

Legendary
An arcane tome containing the banishment ritual for the Verdant Maw—once read, grants the reader +2 on arcana checks related to plant magic.

Location

Final prophecy in Shards of the God-Seed

Attunement

Yes, by a wizard or druid.

Player Characters

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