Shades of Loss

A young girl has gone missing in the perilous Fringe of the Mournwood, and her family is desperate to see her returned.

Beneath the gnarled branches of the forest there are few traces that might lead the party to find her in time, and they may be forced to rely upon the shades of the past that linger in the fog for assistance. As they close in on the kidnapped child, it becomes increasingly clear that perhaps they were the prey all along… can they survive the horrors of the Mournwood and return the girl without falling into the deadly trap that has claimed so many already? 

A Level 3 One-Shot

Shades of Loss Pregens

Caliopa Sen	Esse Az'azen	Jules Sige	Karlus Fole
Gwendalyn Heiler	Kenna Naerna	Orig Zahlin	Quember Rand
Sal'xar Soolusim	Sayaer' Kress	Vaness' Alana's	Tinesi Magwynn

 

World and Adventure Background

This is optional content and not necessarily needed for the adventure. It is meant to provide you with some background as to where this is occurring, and who might be involved.

Enjoy this at your leisure.

The Mournwood

The Mournwood Forest is a locality not found on many maps of the continent. Covering only about 150 or so square miles, it usually isn’t even considered worth the time and effort to map it out. But it is not merely its small size that lends to this omission, for it has such a dark and storied past that the folk living nearest to it would like nothing more than to forget it ever existed.

The woodland itself starts in the southeastern corner of the city of Darkenhaven, just across the Mystrune River, at the cliffs overlooking Darksilver Bay. It follows the Mystrune north for about 10 miles or so before turning inland towards Mu’uz Derron where it stops just short of the Deadhills. It then skirts that devastated area all the way back to its southern border.

Now, at the outset, one must understand that the Mournwood is a place shrouded in mystery. Indeed, the place is steeped in ancient legends that date back to the times before the Woe of Ruin. Only the bravest— or most foolish — dare tread more than a mile or so under the canopy of golden oak, shadepine, dragonscale spruce, baneswood, and the other species of twisted and gnarled trees that call Mournwood home. 

For beneath the thick canopy, the very ground is replete with all manner of thickets, exposed roots, thorny and poisonous growths, and even animated, man-eating plants. All of which are ready to afflict the unsuspecting traveler. Worse still, these are almost always camouflaged by an ever present, murky brume, which is known locally as “mourfog,” or “pickensoup.”

But it is not just the forest itself that poses a threat to all who enter, for many monsters — mostly misshapen and twisted like the woodlands they stalk — lurk beneath the canopy of darkness. Beyond these, gangs of brigands who weigh the danger of hiding in the forest against that of avoiding punishment for their crimes, skulk in dilapidated buildings, old ruins, and dark caves. But worst of all, 
the woodland is filled with terrifying abominations created by the corrupted magicks that seep from ancient ruins.

Only the southwestern edging of the forest is currently inhabited by so-called “civilized” folk, for any attempts to settle further into the heart of the Mournwood almost always results in madness or death. Dubbed the Shadowed Shore by some, and the Estenshore by others, it is more typically called the Fringe by those people living within its general confines.