Gelf

The life has been drained from this area by some hungry terror which swept across the trees. A sign of the necromancer!

Day 177 #dungeon25 Blighted wilderness: The trees are dead or dying, leaves curled and brittle, though still green. The soil is black powdery dust, like black ash, water beads on its surface rather than soaking in. It's like a flashfire raged across the land, leaving only desiccated shapes of trees.

Beneath the leaf litter skeletons molder in the loam.
The dryads won't attack first, and will disappear into their trees if they are frightened, but they also have no respect for your lives and will draw you into dangerous games if you allow them to.

Day 176 #dungeon25 Mischievous dryads: You come across a glade of seven shapely oak trees. Seven dryads giggle and play among the trees. They won't speak to you, using body language to express their curiosity, and throwing acorns and twigs at you, then melting back into their trees.

If it detects you approaching, it will stomp a warning and swing its spiked tail threateningly. It is cautious but not aggressive, preferring to move away from you.
Collectors of rare animal trophies would pay 1000gp for well preserved plates, tail spikes and leather.

Day 175 #dungeon25 Stegosaurus: An enormous beast with a spiked tail and colourful bony plates along its spine, rumbles through the wild undergrowth, pushing its way past springy saplings and trampling bushes. It moves slowly and eats as it goes.

Treasure: A few bits of mundane adventuring gear protected from the wilderness within the tower.
A fine elvish sword (+1 magic sword, type of your choice). The sword sings when you fight, and while you're attuned to it, can be used to cast bless 1/day.

A banshee lives in the tower, appearing as a translucent ghostly elf maiden. If you reach the top of the tower and she sees you, she screams, initiating combat. She attempts to kill any living thing that intrudes in her tower, evidenced by bodies throughout the tower. She is beyond reason.

Day 174 #dungeon25 Banshee: A still standing but crumbling tower of elvish design rises among trees, their roots crack its foundations, threatening to topple it. Wistful singing can be heard from the top of the tower. It stops if you call out, or make your presence known while outside the tower.

Fresh fruits would be worth a fortune in a noble's dining room, and even more common folk might pay a year's earnings to taste such rare and delightful fruit. However, the fruit spoils within 2 days once removed from the tree, becoming a stinking putrid grey mush.

Day 173 #dungeon25 Fruit Tree: The tree towers above the rest of the canopy, it's trunk like a cliff face, it is so wide. Surely a child of the mythical world tree. High amongst its branches, sparkling red fruits twinkle in the sunlight. The fruits are like enormous edible rubies, sweet as honey.

A guardian elemental, it still guards the archway, though it now leads to more of the same wilderness, the plants having long ago reclaimed whatever this ruin once was.

Day 172 #dungeon25 Earth Elemental: The rough humanoid figure, 10 feet tall of clumped earth and stones, could easily be mistaken for a sculpture standing in the woods by the collapsed ruin of a once grand archway. The elemental is unresponsive, unless someone tries to cross the archway's threshold.

I caught up with #dungeon25 and then immediately fell behind again, but it is still happening, so I'm patting myself on the back.

Nearby a radiant giant elk watches in judgement, prepared to defend this manifestation of its goddess if it is disturbed by blasphemers.
An offer of blood to the idol will gain you inspiration, and you might rest safely near its base so long as you light no fires while you camp.

Day 171 #dungeon25 Wilderness encounter - Idol to the Wild Goddess: A giant idol, shaped as a woman crouched and ready to pounce, grown of stone, wood, and moss, rises among the trees, almost 30 feet tall, its face obscured by tree branches which lean in close as if in intimate worship.

A broken fountain holds a puddle of water, and a few gold coins can be recovered from the algae dense water, disturbing a cloud of buzzing flies. The air is heavy with a sense of seething dread. Civilisation is unwelcome here.

Day 170 #dungeon25 Wilderness encounter - Overgrown settlement: A ruined temple to the God of Creation is smothered by encroaching vines, tree roots shatter stone flagstones, and a few surrounding buildings sink into the verdant undergrowth, almost completely subsumed.

She has knowledge to share of dangers you might face in the wilderness; trolls, elementals, dinosaurs! She will offer to share a campsite for a night, but otherwise prefers to travel with only her owl companion, Rhian.

Day 169 #dungeon25 Wilderness encounter - Roving ranger: The aloof ranger Tarra and her giant owl companion are seeking a rare lichen that grows only where the water is elementally pure. Several places it once grew have become spoiled by a sickness of the trees.

If they can be convinced to talk, they have information about the "Grim Shaman" who dwells deep in the wilds, spreading blight and recruiting monstrous followers.
Treasure: A collection of ancient jewellery and gold teeth worth 600gp.

Day 168 #dungeon25 Wilderness encounter - Troll hunters: A pair of trolls, Edgrek and Boag, are hunting giant elk. Edgrek has a giant bone bow. They're hostile towards humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes, and neutral towards other ancestries.

After each rest, choose a piece of gear that has a 75% to have spoiled, rusted, or become irretrievably infested with vermin.
Magic can repair or avoid these effects (for example mending) but using magic this way angers the wilds, and you're more likely to be harassed by blights or beasts.

Day 167 #dungeon25 Into the wilds: The path forwards leads into the southern wilds. Food and water are plentiful, but these lands actively resist human order. Objects of civilisation age and decay at an accelerated rate. You find your gear beginning to rust, moulder, or gnawed at by vermin.

There is a day and night of mourning for the dead, followed by a celebratory community breakfast, offered by Sammy and Jess Plentie, to celebrate the living.

If Morgan or Syr Kathryn died, Lady Amelia could attempt to raise them from the dead, she has one diamond set aside for this.
Morgan Haunt's soul would not return, but Syr Kathryn would, as she feels her role as protector is still required.

Day 166 #dungeon25 Funeral rites: During the Riverwall battle soldiers died, and possibly some of the Riverwall leaders as well.
Funeral rites are simple, led by Lady Amelia (or a faithful ranger if Amelia died in the battle!). The bodies are taken into the catacombs beneath the Wild Temple.

Magical treasure - spirit troll Hair:
A recovered scrap of spirit troll hair can be wrapped around your finger or wrist (a ring or bracelet) and attuned to allow you a chance to temporarily enter the ethereal plane for a short time (cast Blink 1/day).

- tactical fighting: this attack was more coordinated than previous attempts to breach the gate. A mastermind planned this attack!
- rare herbs: several of the blights have scraps of rare herbs amongst their twigs and foliage. Rangers can indicate where these herbs can be found in the wilderness.

Day 165 #dungeon25 Post-battle clues.
- track the trolls: although tracks don't last long in the southern wilds, you get a sense of which direction the trolls travelled from
- spirit troll: a rare creature created with necrotic energy, suggests a place where death magic is overwhelming