Life Spring/Quench Pond
It is a minor animus water font of well being and the properties of its waters remain as long as the water does not leave the plateau. It is used as a quench for the forge nearby.
The pond is fed by a natural spring over 140’ down, passing, flowing upward, through a thin veil to the Dreamwyld. The sound of it gurgling is also manifested backwards, and the echoes come from a point higher up but are the sound of a single droplet hitting a smooth surface, just loud. The water is cool, but not cold to the touch and flows over skin like a silken sheath – it is very disconcerting.
The echoes around the life spring cause people to be led astray, turned around, and lost in the sparse foliage even. Spider webs, birds, flashes of sun off crystal, etc. will all serve to cause disorientation and to never find the actual source.
You skirt the edges of the strange forested area of the top of the plateau. Nothing sits still, even as you move through it. Lizards, salamanders, insects, birds, and spiders all stay their distance, but none seem to fear you. There is a constant hum of life, you think you can even hear the leaves and roots growing! You move through the foliage and push aside a few branches and take a breath as you come out on the other side.
This section of the plateau is teeming with life. Nothing sits still, even as you move through it. Lizards, salamanders, insects, birds, and spiders all stay their distance, but none seem to fear you. There is a constant hum of life, you think you can even hear the leaves and roots growing! It is odd, yet strangely beautiful. The sun peaks through the thick stands of trees, a sweet wind blows, and a colder one blows opposite across your ankles and feet. The hair on your arms and neck stand up for no reason… well, no reason you can see. The sun and shadows play tricks, and you never seem to be able to see more than 10 feet in front of you.
[ i ] > DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) to know which direction the edge of the plateau is.You stop, trying to hone in on a faint sound. The only way to get a clearer sense is to stop everyone. Hand to your ear, you can barely make out what sounds like running water in the distance. There is something odd about it.
Relying on your merely mortal senses, you push forward to the direction you think the water is coming from. The foliage seems to get thick in front of your eyes. The sun goes behind trees, you stumble into a face full of cobwebs, and the roots of trees trip you up – knocking you prone. Centipedes run over your hands, and the very ground writhes as masses of earthworms creates hazards and slows your progress. Rabits bound through clearings, the chirping of birds turns to shrieking. You realize that your heart is pounding in your ears, and you are not sure how far you have gone or what direction you are facing or even how much time has passed. The sound of running water is louder though, and you feel envigorated despite the apprehension and borderline fear. The water seems to almost be speaking, and in a moment where you are catching your breath, you hear it say “goooo baaaaack”…
If the PCs decide to hack their way through, they will be attacked by the following, each round a new swarm will be upon them for 3 rounds.
After hacking your way through the swarms of forest creatures, the world goes silent around it. You push aside the blood and ichor soaked branches and move forward.
GO TO: PUSHING THROUGH
You decide that whatever is trying to block your way is not worth fighting for now. As you turn back, making your way to where you think you came from, you are welcomed by an clearing where the leaves twirl in the wind like toys, and a large rabit eyes you from the other side. It winks its eye and scampers into the brush. You feel like you have been on a long hike, though the sun has not moved too much. You find you are energized and alert, though perhaps ready more ready for food and rest than combat or confrontation.
The trek dispels 1 level of Exhaustion. This can only be gained 1/Week, otherwise up to 10 Fatigue Damage is healed.
Ahead is a densely packed area, but the ground nearby is slightly damp. Pushing through the overgrowth, you can see strange foliage and hear the sound of bubbling water faintly. All manner of strange flowers cover the ground on long shoots going off in all directions. They all seem to “turn” to face you.
The trees all have their roots and branches woven together – as if defending the small pool they encircle. There are birds carved into the free trunks which the overgrowth refuses to cover. You can hear the splash of a small stream of water constantly as part of the backdrop of sounds coming from the area obscured by the foliage.
DC 10 Intelligence (Nature): The bird engravings/carvings are Lorikeets
As you make your way to force yourself through the undergrowth to the water, a fluttering is heard all around and a slight breeze can be felt. You feel you are no more than 20 feet from the source of the moving water – you can see it drops almost 6’, sparkling, into a pond. There are all manner of beautiful and strange flowers and buds in the dense foliage around you.
DC 10 Dexterity or Poison Spray from flowers/buds each round until in the water
There is an enchantment over the area that attracts creatures and masks their presence. In order to get to the pond and enter it, a creature must deal with a swarm, depending on what time of the day they are entering. The swarm is unending and if destroyed takes only 3 rounds to reform, always hovering about 2’ above the water level.
You feel the hairs on your neck stand up as the movement of wings stirs the air all around you!
@ Day: Swarm of Insects
@ Night: Swarm of Bats
The pond overflows, and overflows the earthen basin, soaking the soil in all directions.
In Dunlapian:
Give sacrifice for the powers of mother earth come forth from now until the winds stop blowing, the rain stops falling and the earth is stilled forever. It sustains life, and life feeds it. The winds of the Vannuun carry those seeking it either way – it is for them to know. Leave your dreams and desires on its doorstep, and dispel the fear of the unknown. Let it cleanse your weakness, and speak the elemental litany of the Vannuun to hold its purification forever.
The Rite/Litany of Bound Sacrifice
Sacrifice of a Goat/Sheep/Dog/Child +1 HP permanently (sacrifice, not damage – Restoration wont restore) and drink the water and recite the litany perfectly as the rite is conducted.
If the character does not speak a specific Vannuun litany, then there is a chance that it will trigger randomly. They must drink the water and make a DC 20 (DC 15 if under the light of the full moon) Intelligence (Religion)
—- d6 or d8 with Lorikeet amulet —-
1 OR Major Failure > Permanent vulnerability to a randomly determined elemental type damage
Litany of the North: Invokes cold/ice
2 > Water Breathing or Longstrider; each for 1 hour 1/day
Litany of the South: Invokes warmth/fire
3 > Enhance Ability 1/day
Litany of the East: Invokes lightning
4 > False Life or Jump; each 1/day
Litany of the West: Invokes thunder
5 > Thunderwave 1/day AND Levitate + Feather Fall wont work on the character
Litany of the Stillness: Invokes acid
6 > Gaseous Form for 1 hour 1/day
—- d6 (or d8 with Lorikeet Amulet) —-
DC 20 Intelligence (Religion) to understand that Speaking a high or low pitched version of the Vannuun Litany of the North found in the shrine to make it so that the powers gained persist once off the plateau.
7 > [high] Character learns another spoken language of their choice and can Speak with Plants 1/Long Rest
8 > [low] Advantage on Perception taste and smell checks outdoors
Drinking More than once in a day: DC 10 Sanity check or Short Term Madness; no other effects can be gained.
Once afflicted with Short Term Madness, The Bronze Key will become perceived. Otherwise, it never will.
At the bottom of the pond, where silt has accumulated, buried in the shallow barrier is a strange bronze key. The key is strangely made – from a single roll of bronze, twisted about on itself like a pretzel and woven, then cut.
Lorikeet dropped it here – the sacred bird familiar of the last priest of the Shrine