Journey to the Ygg
Journey to the Ygg is a one-shot idea for winter. It is planned for 4-6 adventurers of 8th level.
Background Lore
In time long past, the 3 nations warred endlessly. Arctus, Lycos, and Chelona (árktos, lýkos, and chelóna, Greek for Bear, Wolf, and Turtle, Αρκτος, λύκος and χελώνα) were at war.
Arctus is the land of humanity and it's offshoots (halflings, changelings, tieflings, etc.) it is a cold, northern climate with boreal trees.
Lycos is the home of the more bestial races (lizardfolk, tabaxi, kenku, aaracokra, etc.) a rainforest on the western coast gives way to mountains, causing a desert in the rainshadow.
Chelona was the home of the long-lived races (elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc.) with rolling hills and thick woods. While some of their descendants still live, none have heard from their ancestral home in many years.
The Arch-Trees
A powerful druid -- some believe her to have been a goddess -- sought to put an end to the wars by giving them something to rally against. To this end, she began a dark ritual, summoning great monstrosities in the depths of the world. These monsters would filter out of the caverns, attacking the peoples of all 3 nations. In a show of her purpose, she broadcasted a message.
"Because you could not find peace amongst yourselves, you and your children shall never know peace. These beasts will continue to ravage your lands, unless you learn cooperation. A great tree grows in the north of your lands. You must make an offering to this tree each year, or the beasts will grow stronger, your crops will fail, your lives will be forfeit.
"These trees. Ygg in Arctus, Dra in Lycos, and Sil in Chelona, will be your protectors. Care for them, offer tribute, and you will continue to survive."
Chelona, the ageless elves in their woodland sanctuaries, the dwarves thinking themselves invincible in their mountain homes. Their pride was their downfall. Only a few years passed, and their tree fell.
The Ritual
The ritual varies for each tree. For Ygg, it requires a white hare, a bronze brazier, firewood, 1lb of Chestnuts, and several mistletoe berries.
A fire is started in the brazier, which the chestnuts are placed on the rim of the brazier. You then feed the hare the mistletoe berries before dropping the animal into the fire. The hare will leap out of the fire unharmed (the poison from the mistletoe is magically neutralized) and the fire will turn green and start spreading. Once the green flame makes contact with the Ygg, magical energy surges up the tree. The fire will extinguish itself, and the Ygg's branches will rapidly show new growth, it's roots tightening around the caverns that allow the monstrosities to escape. Finally, the tree will drop its seedpods onto the monstrosities nearby, killing them or driving them away.
Life in Arctus
It has been 1000 years since these events. For Arctus and Lycos, this has become a fact of life. Make tribute, and the wilds will remain peaceful, game will be plentiful, rain will fall in it's season.
For all but 12 days of the year, the way to and from the tree is blocked by harsh storms and avalanches. This leaves only a small window for the offering to be made.
Similar happens around Dra, though coarse sand instead of snow.
Plot-hook
In the land of Arctus, each year a pilgrimage is made to The Ygg, the great tree. Without the ceremony and offering, the Tree's roots weaken, allowing greater monstrosities to escape the caverns beneath. You were chosen for your strength, skill, and cunning, to guard the caravan to The Ygg. During the last cycle, the caravan failed, and hard times have come since. No one is sure what happened to the last caravan, but none returned. Many crops failed, game has been scarce, and this winter is looking colder than the years before.
But hard ground makes for stronger roots.
Your mission is, through stealth or strength, to ensure the priest makes it to The Ygg and completes the ceremony. The priest, Erelyn, has seen many cycles. He was retired, with a successor taking the mantle. But with the last year's failure, he has returned from retirement to make the pilgrimage once again.
Enemies
Hydra (final encounter)
Death Dogs
Displacer Beasts
Deep Crow (not meant to be fought, plot device to push them underground)
Story Beats
Set off from town
Erelyn gives more information as they travel, as he is experienced.
Pack Hunting
A deer runs across the trail. Unnervingly, the deer's thigh sloughs off and falls to the ground in the middle of the road. The deer stumbles and falls, as a wolf pounces on it. A head turns towards the party as the other eats the discarded flesh.
A successful nature or survival check (DC 10) identifies it as a Death Dog. DC12 they are informed of the nature of the diseased bite. DC15 recalls they are afraid of fire, and won't attack anyone holding a torch or other flame. Ranger with Monstrosity focus automatically identifies them and has advantage on the latter 2.
As one head has the group in it's sights, the other howls.
In 2 rounds reinforcements arrive. 2 on round 3, 1 more on round 4, and 3 on round 6.
Frontier Settlement
Just off the road is a small village, Raynham. The main building is an inn. Rickety towers dot the outskirts, unmanned, and townsfolk can be seen going about their business. In one of the outlying farmsteads, beyond the walls, a man is watching as his sheep eat in the field. A shrouded woman walks up to the man and begins singing. He stops what he is doing to listen to her. Just then, several winged creatures dive from the sky, each making a grab for a sheep. As they approach, they all make a wisdom save (DC14) against the song.
As they resist or come to, DC10 nature or survival identifies the creatures as harpies. DC15 identifies the woman's singing as a Harpy Matriarch's song.
Round 1 sees 5 harpies landing on sheep. An arrow from the farmhouse's rooftop flies towards the cloaked woman.
| Raven | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Ranger (Hunter) | 11 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 10 |
| Race | Half-Elf (Wood - MotW) | 0 | +0 | +2 | +1 | +2 | 0 |
| Favored Enemy | Beasts & Monstrosities | Proficiency | +3 | Initiative | +3 | ||
| Favored Terrain | Forest & Mountain | Saves | |||||
| Fighting Style | Archery | +3 | +6 | +2 | +1 | +3 | 0 |
| Hunter's Prey | Horde Breaker | ||||||
| Defensive Tactics | Steel Will | ||||||
Raven is an androgynous youth, local to Raynham, who tries to drive off the harpies and calls for the party to help.
The harpies will attack the sheep, flying off with them once they are dead. There are 20 sheep. Any harpies that take a hit immediately try to flee from combat, leaving their prize behind. Raven shoots at the matriarch, casting ensnaring strike to pin it down.
If the matriarch is slain and any sheep survive, Raven inquires about the party and asks if they can join them on the pilgrimage, as it was their dream to see it firsthand.
Raven is added to the party and serves as a backup character should a player die.
Death from above
As dusk settles, storm clouds settle overhead, and they hear an echoing "caw" in the distance... Nature or survival DC15 identifies that as a Deep Crow, only heard of in stories. Erelyn recommends getting underground immediately whether they identify it or not. Conveniently, there is a 10x10 cave entrance nearby. Alternatively, they can fight the crow, though this is not advisable.
The party can make camp at the mouth of the cave for a long rest and proceed either through the cave (see 3.1 below) before or after a rest, or continue overland in the morning (see 3.2)
so you have chosen death
The Deep Crow will only make drive-by attacks. It will use the dark sky as cover to use the hide bonus action each round. If it succeeds on the Mandibles attack, it brings the target into the sky with it, where escaping the grapple can cause a potentially-lethal fall. Though staying in it's maw may prove more lethal. Once someone has died to the creature, it will take the corpse in tow and leave back to its lair. Roll a die appropriate to the party size to determine who gets to play Raven.
...and below
As they journey deeper into the caves, perception check of 12 allows them to hear a faint clicking from deeper down. Nature or Survival check DC12 identifies the clicking as a Kruthik. DC15 recalls that they are attracted to heat, so fire should be a no-go, DC17 recalls they have tremorsense, so everyone needs to step very lightly. If anyone doesn't have dark-vision, they are in the dark for this next section and must rely on those who do, or they face a much higher chance of attracting the monsters' attention.
The morning hunt
As the party starts moving again, anyone with a passive perception above 14 (or an active perception if called) will notice some tracks left in the mud. A keen eye --survival or nature -- DC10 recognizes they are feline. DC12 Notes there are many footprints in the same line. DC15 intuits that it is the tracks of a displacer beast. DC20 recalls details of such beasts, such as their tentacles allowing them to disguise their true location, and their tendency to hunt for entertainment, as well as their ambush strategy.
As they continue up the road, they find one of the beasts, it's back half and tentacles appear pinned under a rockslide. If they didn't know earlier, they may make a survival, nature, or history check to determine what they know of the creature (same DCs as above.)
How they act here determines how the encounter starts. The real displacer beast is behind the rock, not pinned. Approaching the rock, cautiously or not, calls for perception contesting the beast's stealth, as the real one stalks around the boulder to tackle a party member. Once it pounces, 2 more emerge from the woods, sneaking up to attack as well.
If they give the boulder a wide berth, the beasts withdraw back into the woods. The beasts know the party is there, and if that ambush fails they will evade them and try an ambush from behind once they stop moving again, be it a short or long rest.
Regardless of if they fight the displacer beasts, as they continue on the path, they feel a rumble in the ground.
The hunt resumes
The displacer beasts will pounce again once the party finishes a short rest or begins setting up for a long rest. This time there will be 5 total, 3 pounce on round 1, with 2 more joining the fray on round 4.
Kruthik Ambush
From the ground emerges 4 young Kruthiks and 1 Adult. Round 2 another 2 young and 1 Adult. Round 4 brings in 3 more young and a 3rd adult (space out more or omit if the party is struggling)