The Alchemist’s Refuge is an old and rather large hut deep inside a darkened wood. The wood surrounding it is miles away from any settlement, and shows a fair amount of wear and tear from years of neglect. An eerie blue and green light spills from the windows at all times of the day, and the few who enter the hut are said to never leave again.
Lay of the Land
The wood surrounding the Alchemist’s Refuge is a dense coniferous forest, filled with centuries-old trees. It is almost impassable and rumored to be haunted by ghosts, werewolves, and worse. It is also home to a small community of lumberjacks, who work and live on the edges of the forest, sending each shipment downriver to a port, where the timber is turned into ships and buildings.
The lumberjacks are a small, very tightly-knit community, and one unwilling to entertain guests of any sort. Their small logging town doesn’t even have an inn, merely housing, and a tavern. The housing and tavern are well-made (if somewhat rough) though, testament to the loggers’ skill, and the availability of timber.
Closer to the Alchemist’s Refuge is a small faerie circle. A circle consisting of colorful mushrooms, some of which shouldn’t exist in this world. On the rare nights where the moonlight penetrates the forest canopy, fey of all kinds can be seen cavorting about the circle, singing, and dancing. Those who join them during this time, whether voluntarily or against their will, are bound to follow the fey back to the Feywilds once the night ends.
Dangers
Most of the rumors of the forest are true. There are werewolves and worse. The logging town is full of them, intermingling freely with the normal humans of the area. Specifically, these werewolves are natural lycanthropes, not cursed, and are able to assume their wolf shape whenever they wish. The ancient magic of the forest is strong however, so all werewolves should have the Advanced (CR+1) or Dire (CR+2) template attached to them.
The true ruler of the forest, however, is an ancient green dragon known as Scartooth. Her temper is a terrible thing to behold, but she doesn’t harm those who live in the forest (nor the loggers with whom she seems to have reached some sort of agreement). Visitors and ESPECIALLY those violating the forest quickly become fodder for her hunger.
In between bouts of rage, she spends her time sleeping in a cavern underneath Alchemist’s Refuge.
Alchemist’s Refuge itself is equally dangerous, with fog often filling the area around the hut (which causes the area to be covered in wild magic areas, while the fog is present), and while no one knows what is inside the hut, it’s clear that some of it has leaked out, and affected Scartooth somehow, as she’s as big as a red dragon of the same age. (Treat as an Ancient Green Dragon with the Giant simple template (total CR 18)).
Kim Frandsen
Latest posts by Kim Frandsen (see all)
- Finder’s Archive – Crypt of the Eternals - June 2, 2023
