Magic of Faerun

Magic of Faerun
A Druid's Grove
By Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel

Magic of Faerûn explores the hidden lore and secrets of magic in the Forgotten Realms game setting. The sample druid's grove in this web enhancement is a place of power that could not be constrained within the 192 pages of the sourcebook. So if you want another mysterious magical spot to feature is an encounter in your campaign, here is the enchanting web enhancement for you! In it, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel and other members of the Forgotten Realms team explore a place -- and four people -- with peculiar and awe-inspiring magical power.

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The Grove of Renewal

Deep in the bowels of the land, where the earth's fires melt rock and belch poisonous gases, there exists an ancient druid circle known as the Grove of Renewal. Its reputation for powerful magic precedes it. However, very few know how many of the tales are true and how many are exaggerated.

The Grove of Renewal is presented as an adventuring site for PCs seeking a natural adventure.

Going to the Grove of Renewal

Your PCs may go to the grove because . . .

they need to rescue someone.
they need to cure a curse, disease, or other affliction.
they get tricked into it.
they need protection from elements.
they have to convince the druid overseers that the time of the prophecy has not come.

Rumors of the Grove

You can use rumors to build tension among your players before they actually take their characters to the Grove of Renewal. Feel free to embellish the rumors below, add your own, or toss in a touch of the truth. Roll 1d10 to randomly determine what your characters hear.

The grove once stood above ground, but one of the grove's overseers angered Silvanus, and the god melted all the land around the grove, causing it to sink down into its current cavernous location.
The grove's magic has degraded.
No one ever returns from the Grove of Renewal.
An evil cult has taken possession of the grove.
Silvanus cursed the grove.
The grove is gone, swallowed up by the fires.
A basilisk found its way to the grove and turned all the druids to stone.
The druid overseers are thousands of years old.
The grove's overseers have learned the rejuvenating power of fire and can resurrect or heal anyone.
An element of the truth (to be determined by the DM).

How to Find the Grove

Your PCs may use the Cantlowe Crossroads to get to the Grove of Renewal or they may travel for months through hazardous terrain to find it. Few survive the latter path. Other methods to reach the grove do exist. Some who have been there can teleport the characters in, though they usually require steep payment or they will send your PCs there with lies about what they'll find once they arrive. The only sure way out is through the Purging.

The Nature Seers

Fiery eyes gleam from secret places in the Grove of Renewal, watching. The Nature Seers, as they call themselves, scrutinize those who come to their grove. They number four and each embraces an element (Fire, Water, Earth, Air). Ancient beyond imagining, these half-elemental druids have always been here. Prophecy predicts that someday, "The Mother shall tire of her children's profanities and shall spew forth her fire upon the land to cleanse and renew it. On that day, the Nature Seers shall enact their final purging."

The Nature Seers have visages permanently marked by the element with which they're joined. They speak little, if at all, and have mannerisms and personalities that reflect their element. The one called Phlogiston is the leader and guides the others in their rituals. Being of such an ancient age makes these druids seem alien. They don't understand civilization or culture and have no need for either. They don't know history or politics. They know only the ebb and flow of the world's energies, and they serve their purposes.

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