Reclamation of the Lost Grove

1383 DR, sometime in the fall

The quest began The Oak And Spear Inn in Highmoon. The party was hired by the priestess Tarasynora Ianwynn to find and protect Ahshala, a reclusive wood elf druidess and the last keeper of The Circle of the Stone, a druidic order based deep in the forest outside of Highmoon. She was concerned as she had recieved a troubling letter where Ahshala feared that she would soon be dead, and that the knowledge of her circle would be lost forever, but did not explain why.

Given directions to the druid’s hut, they ventured into the woods—only to arrive at Ahshala’s hut as it burns. A Quickling fey had orchestrated the attack with summoned rats, but the party swiftly defeated it and rescued Ahshala from the flames. Amid the chaos, a mysterious stone tablet was recovered.

Ahshala revealed that she was targeted by a Far Realm–tainted dagger designed to steal her memories, specifically the location of the sacred Lorestone, an ancient stone structure sacred to her order that contained all their knowledge accumulated over the centuries, and it’s own magical power. The recovered tablet was a fragment of that Lorestone, and it granted the party guidance to the hidden site. Ahshala, weakened but alive, lead them onward in animal form.

The group reached a lake surrounding an island cloaked in unnatural darkness. A fey trap sent several members into the water, where Far Realm tentacles attacked from below. Pressing on, the party entered the darkness and discovered corrupted creatures guarding the stone circle. At the center, they confronted a beautiful elven looking figure who was revealed to be the nymph Collintra, who been enslaved by a parasitic, brain-like entity from the Far Realm. After a fierce battle, the creature was destroyed, the portal it was trying to open collapsed, and the nymph was freed.

With the threat ended, the Lorestone was restored whole, the blinded party members regained their sight, and the area around the stone was healed. The heroes were granted some of the stone’s power, and named honorary keepers of the grove. Upon the heroes return to Highmoon, Tarasynora was relieved to hear that her friend was still alive. The group ensured that the cursed far realm dagger was sealed away with other dangeorus artifacts.

Knowledge of the Lorestone

The heroes connection to the lorestone grants them a +5 bonus to knowledge nature checks, and the wild empathy ability, or the speak with animals ability if they already had wild empathy. It also granted knowledge of the druidic langage.

((Adventure run by BTLOTM on 6/3/2023))