The Mountain Fane, previously the primary location for the worship of the Huntress and the home of her gem, was located at the top of Yester Hill. Due to the ravages of time, the only vestige of this once sacred site is a partial circle of menhirs, long since taken over by an order of druids loyal to Strahd. They have constructed a 50-foot tall effigy of Strahd with the Huntress’s gem at its heart and are planning to awaken a tree blight called Wintersplinter.

The characters in my campaign reached Yester Hill very early, though, long before the druids were ready to begin their ritual. First, they found the Gulthias tree: a haddard, corrupted remnant of what was probably once a great monument to nature. They cleared the blights, but finding nothing of value, decided to return to the hilltop. Once they reached the top, one of the characters cast detect magic and noticed a very strong magic force at the heart of the effigy of Strahd. Deciding that it could not possibly be good, they resolved that it must be destroyed. There was a near-deadly battle with the druids, rising from their graves, as the party attempted to dismantle the effigy; the party ultimately prevailed.

As the fighter pulled the gem from the heart of the effigy, the party heard the swirl of vines behind them at the center of the stone circle. The vines had joined together forming a pedestal with a three-pronged setting in the center. A DC 14 Nature, Religion, or History check revealed that this was an ancient form of a sacrificial altar that was no longer in use. When he approached the pedestal, green runes began to glow on parts of the roots forming the surface; placing the gem in the setting revealed the full inscription. (Note: part of the riddle came from somewhere else, though I cannot find the original source now.)

To banish evil, conjoined be,
arranged in banded geometry.
Once per soul, leave a gift,
this you must do to open a rift.

The solution to the puzzle was for each party member to leave something of value at the altar, and then for all of them to join hands; it took them about 15 minutes to figure this out without any prompting from me. Mairin was the one to finally connect all the dots, after which everything around them began to spin.

Once it settled, they seemed to be in the same place, though the details were all different. This was their first look at the Feywild—described in the introduction to this series, though they didn’t know this yet. A DC 12 History or Nature check allowed them to notice that the vines and roots that covered everything were remarkably similar to those at the base of the effigy and on the Gulthias Tree. Since it was the only thing linking this place to where they had been, they decided to explore the tree again.

As they ventured towards it, not sure what to expect, they discovered that it was the one thing here that was not corrupted. The tree had somehow maintained the vibrance and life that would have been expected of such a magnificent specimen of fey flora, though a closer inspection revealed that some of its outermost leaves showed signs of corruption. It stood at the edge of a small patch of vibrant green growth and at the center stood a hunched figure, cloaked in tattered rags. One of the characters noticed that the figure was not standing, but slightly hovering. As the party approached, she said with desperation, “You came! Quick, there is not much time! You must go, now!“ She extended an old, wrinkled finger, pointing to the base of the tree. Just through the roots, they could see an opening to a tunnel barely large enough to crawl through. Before the characters could ask any questions, the figure had vanished.

The Dungeon

The opening at the base of the tree led to a large, meandering cavern with several forks. For those of you who use combat maps, The Blind Lamia’s Cave by Dyson Logos would be an excellent choice. In various small cubbies, I placed one of three random encounters. While these weren’t necessary to the narrative, I used these as opportunities to reinforce the corruption of the area. I also used a few random additions as seemed appropriate: Takonka started to straggle behind, making him a prime target for a meazel, and the bard Mairin decided to play bongos on the wall, shaking loose several swarms of rot grubs. These were particularly fun additions to the other combats too. The final encounter in the caverns was against a group of bullywugs and the froghemoth they worship. The Huntress had begun losing the battle to save her tree when the froghemoth moved in, slowly corrupting the tree from its roots.

Random Encounters

• 1 Grick Alpha and 2 Gricks
• 2 Ropers
• 3 Cave Fishers (with pre-placed filament)

Random Additions

• 1 Meazel who immediately grapples a character and teleports down a nearby path.
• 1d4 Swarms of Rot Grubs that immediately begin biting and burrowing into the character.
• 1d4 Swarms of Insects which begin crawling all over the targeted character.

Primary Encounter

• 1 Froghemoth
• 12 Bullywugs

The Blessing

This final combat proved a rather difficult fight, especially after everything else they had dealt with in this cavern, but they emerged victoriously. Before them stood the cloaked figure they had seen before, though this time she was much more relaxed, and her old, wrinkled appearance had been replaced with a stunningly beautiful visage, as would befit an archfey.

As thanks for their efforts, she granted them The Blessing of the Mountain Fane, allowing them to cast Shield as an action once per long rest, with the effect lasting three rounds. This casting had a twist though: it applied to all the blessed characters nearby, but the cooldown was shared by all of them as well.

Finally, the party asked the Archfey if she could assist them in their fight against Strahd. She was very low on power at this point, having spent the last few centuries holding back the shadowfell corruption, but she did offer them two possibilities. Firstly, her other sisters command similar blessings, which would be available to the party should they be similarly freed. She knew that one of her sisters, the Weaver, was trapped somewhere within the swamps of Berez, likely subjugated by the witch who inhabits the area. Secondly, if she and her sisters were to attain their full strength, they would need to select a new champion, as their last one had died protecting them from Strahd centuries ago, though such a mantle should not be accepted lightly.

Photo by Matteo Catanese.