Canonfire!

Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:23 pm Silverwood

Anyone have any ideas on what kind of disease the Sylvan Elves have been inflicted w/ in the Sliverwood?

My PC's decided to find out and I'm thinking some Drow are buddying up w/ a priest if Incalubous to start it.

Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:12 pm

Well, I'm not familiar with whatever source mentions them being afflicted, but I do know that the LGG mentions that the Silverwood has a number of unique trees that are kept disease free by the elves and provide a special sap from which mead is made. So an affliction in the area is probably supernatural in origin.

Priests of Incabulos are the obvious source of any supernatural affliction. Depending on whether you want it to be a mystery or a more straightforward adventure will determine whether that's good or bad.

As for the drow, there is no obvious source for them anywhere near. But if you don't mind them being hundreds of miles from any known underdark region, they also make a nice obvious villian for the PCs to match up against.

If you are hoping for more of a 'whodunnit' surprise kind of thing, other choices might work just as well. The silverwood and nearby axewood are both faerie type forests, so possible culprits include dark faerie creatures such as hags. Perhaps a greenhag is trying to wrest control of the faerie court and needs to dispose of the elves as a result. Players would have to get involved with the elves and the faerie court, try to the spying and sabotage of malicious faeries like quicklings, and overcome various challenges from the hag before they can face her directly. Perhaps the hag is blackmailing a member of the elf/good faerie community who is providing her access past the elves' ritual defenses?

Or it could be something else entirely. Perhaps the elves' famous treemead is so popular that its addicted nearby human communities and someone has vowed vengeance after losing a loved one to drunken accident or some faerie wine induced incident. Or more simply, the brewer's business is suffering badly. Whatever, they swear dreadful vengeance and something answers....... So the PCs might have to rescue the hapless avenger as well as the elves.

There is literally an infinite number of possibilities.

Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:33 am

The Shadar-Kai (from Fiend Folio) might be cool to use if you want to utilize Vormaerin's fey idea but really like the dark aspects of the Drow. There's a really good 'ecology of...' article on them in Dragon 337.
Perhaps the Shadar-Kai are poisoning the area with an infusion from the plane of shadow? Perhaps tainting the mystical trees (and the elves in the process) is part of some dark Shadar-Kai cabal's plan to cheat the curse that haunts their race, or even transfer it to the denizens of the Silverwood?
Happy

Just spitballin' really, I'm not sure if there's an official reason.