Secrets of the Sylvatic Erudians

This Thread is intended as a collection of notes used in my Sylvatic Erudians Campaign. As I polish my notes I will post them to this thread for posterities sake (and for the use of any DMs that want to snatch some ideas). It is thus in a way a mega module of sorts. Though I do not own any of the 3.5 edition books I will try and make sure each encounter is stated properly for that edition. Feel free though to point out any errors. In my own games I use a combination of 3.0 and 3.5 so some of the notations are bound to be a bit jumbled. Wherever I use information from a non-core book I will endeavor to point it out for clarities sake. Postings may be a bit erratic at times but I will try to add a little something each week.

If you haven’t started reading The Sylvatic Erudians, then look at this as a perfect opportunity to get interested in it (The link is in my sig)

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Sylvatic: Pertaining to the forest, of the forest.

Erudian: Slang, an Erudite, i.e. a Scholar

Sylvatic Erudian: A sylvan scholar, a student from the woods, A learned individual who makes the forest his home.

I play in the Kalamar setting and Oakheart, the base for the PCs, is assumed to be in that world. If one has the Kalamar Atlas one could assume it to be located on page 21 at roughly 14 degrees west and 45.05 degrees north. The gods mentioned in the Text are as follows The Bear, neutral god of Nature, The Great Huntress, chaotic good goddess of nature, The Eternal Bard, chaotic good god of the arts. The city of Lathlanian mentioned in the text is the capitol of the elves of Lendelwood.


Oakheart (Village)

Population: 837 (712 adults, 125 children); Mostly Wild Elves, Some High Elves, A few Fey and 1 Dwarf.

GP Limit: 300 gold pieces
Ready Cash: 12,000 gold pieces

Power Center: Nonstandard (CG)
Authority Figures: Xa’Ceelia (Dryad Druid 9), Tamilthim Redimolvan (High Elf Wizard 11), Composer Gragoriae Timbleflute(Wood Elf Bard 3/Cleric3), True Shot Daeorian (Wood Elf Ranger 2/ Cleric 4), Yoiaraiea Hart (Wood Elf Ranger 5).

At a Glance: Oakheart is a village of wood-elves located in the northern reaches of Lendelwood. The village is a collection of graceful wooden buildings surrounded by large and shapely trees. In the center of the Village upon a small hill stands a mighty Oaktree. Refered to as “The Oak”, this tree is the home of Xa’Ceelia, a dryad druid who acts as both a spiritual leader for the village and as a judge when necessary. Also of immediate interest in the village are Tamilthim Redimolvan’s tower and museum.
While the village counts about 850 members, most of those are scattered over a four square mile area. Aside from the village heart, most of the houses are fairly isolated. Despite this fact, the villagers all consider themselves to be a solid community. The frequent community worship services helps to foster this sense of belonging as does the fact that most of the villagers have known their neighbors for hundreds of years.

Government: There is no actual government in Oakheart. The villagers are fairly independent, and as is true in most elven communities, they are ethically self-motivated. Crime is almost unheard of and disputes are settled by either Xa’Ceelia or one of the two clerics in the community. Xa’Ceelia and Tamilthim Redimolvan are the two most important people in the community, but neither has any real legislative power. Community projects are typically the result of a dozen or so like minded elves getting together and getting something done.

Economy: The elves of Oakheart are largely hunters and woodsmen. Food is plentiful and most of the elves are self-sufficient, living off of small orchards and wild game. South of “The Oak”, in the spring, summer and fall there is a continual market. This collection of tents and booths allows opportunity for the various elves to sell their excess food or skins. Here too merchants from Lathlanian display and buy wares. About once a week, a merchant is leaving or arriving from Lathlanian carrying more exotic materials into the village and carting furs, dried meats, leather items and fruits south. There is also a small amount of logging that takes place around the village but it is only enough to sustain the villager’s needs.

Military: There is no standing military in Oakheart. During times of trouble a good percentage of the elves can take up arms and defend themselves. At times King Cevranath may issue a call to arms. Service is voluntary but Oakheart typically can raise 200 bowmen from the village and outlying areas when the king calls.

Temples: Xa’Ceelia leads the villagers in the worship of the Bear. Services take place around the oak once a month and during the summer and winter solstices. Following services, each family plants a tree seedling somewhere in or around the village. The elves also worship the Great Huntress and the Eternal Bard. Composer Gragoriae Timbleflute leads the elves in entertainment and worship twice a month in a small arean around his shrine and True Shot Daeorian holds services at his shrine under each full moon (1-3 times a month).

Mages and Sages: The renowned scholar Tamilthim Redimolvan makes his home in Oakheart. Famous as a collector of old lore and elven artifacts, Tamilthim operates a museum/library south of his tower. Elves from around the world travel to study from the tomes in this immense collection. Tamilthim also regularly teaches young elves the art of spellcasting.

Underworld: Oakheart has no underworld though the local blacksmith, Mardigum Hadrak, the only dwarf in town, was a practiced thief in his youth. He fled from the mountains east of the forest after a “misunderstanding” in his clan about some items that had wandered into his possession. He has since recanted his former ways and none of the elves know about his history.

Interesting Sites: As mentioned, Tamilthim’s museum and Xa’Ceelia’s oak are two of the main features of the village.

Notes: Because of the elven influence and the presence of a Dryad as one of the leading lights of the community, there are many fey that visit or live around Oakheart. Brownies, sprites and pixies can all be seen on a regular basis in and around the village. None of the villagers find this odd, it’s just the way it is. Unknown to Tamilthim, one of the items in his museum is about to cause trouble for the community. A magical necklace made from various teeth is of interest to a powerful tribe of goblins. It is useless to any other race but in the hands of a goblin, it is powerful magic.

The Heart of Oakheart Map Key
1. “The Oak”
The “heart” of Oakheart in more ways than one, this massive Oak tree towers taller than any of the other trees in the village. This oak tree is the home to Xa’Ceelia (Dryad Drd9), who leads the villagers in the worship of The Bear. Xa’Ceelia is, of course always home, and she is regularly being visited by various villagers, either for advice or just for gossip. Xa’Ceelia has a penchant for gossip but otherwise she is fairly levelheaded and can usually see to the heart of any villager’s problem.
The area right around the oak is a large grassy expanse, covered with field flowers in the spring and lush and mowed tall during the summer. Xa’Ceelia stays within 300 yards of her oak as normal, but this includes most of the village heart. The two shrines and the wizards tower are just beyond the extent of her range.

2. The Market
This collection of booth’s and tents operates during the warm months, closing only during the winter. Most of the booths are not permenant and anytime a local villager wants to sell some of their own things they freely set up a new booth for themselves, operating it until they are satisfied. This means that while most of the booths typically feature local produce, dried meats, skins or local crafts occassionally there will be sales of used items or items of interest because a particular elf wants her house cleaned out

3. Elmleaf’s Emporium
Dustanar Elmleaf (Male Wood Elf Exp5) operates this store from which he sells items he has made from wood, principally bows and pieces of furniture. Though he occasionally makes lesser items, the majority of his work is of Masterwork quality and generally is high priced. No one is sure why he operates such a business in a small village like Oakheart but it is likely because he prefers the slow pace of village life to the bustle of the city. Many of his finer pieces get shipped to Lathlanian where they fetch good prices. Elmleaf, along with his wife and daughter, lives in a set of apartments over his store. Foilana Elmleaf is a pretty young (99 years) elf who is considered very eligible by most of the male elves in the village, excluding her father.

4. Hadrak’s Forge
Mardigum Hadrak (Male Dwarf Rog2/Ftr1/Exp3) is the village blacksmith and has been for about a hundred years. In his earlier days he did some adventuring and branched out into burglary as a side career. His exploits came back to haunt him however and he was forced to flee his mountain home. He eventually wound up in Oakheart where, seeing a need for a blacksmith, he set up shop. He has since become a fixture in the community, providing quality work at reasonable prices. Hadrak would rather forget about his past. Though he is reformed he has told no-one about his misspent youth. Hadrak can produce masterwork items but generally prefers not to unless commissioned up front. He makes arrowheads for the elves but other than that he rarely makes weapons.

5. The Common Store
The Common Store, run by the family of Jirfmoinae Rioulkaie (Male Wood Elf Com4), manages to stay in business for three reasons. One, it carries many goods that rarely show up in the market. Two, its inventory is more consistent than the market’s. And Three, it is opened year round. Jirfoinae can arrange for the purchase or sell of any item valued at less than 300 gold pieces within the space of 1 week. Other, more expensive transactions can also be arranged but it will take him 1d4+1 weeks to make the necessary connections.

6. The Thirsty Stag
The Thirsty Stag is the most popular Tavern in the village and the only true inn (several of the elves have extra bedrooms they can rent out on a regular basis). It is a place of song and mirth at night and a place of quiet reflection during the day. The tavern is normally open from the dawn until a few hours after night fall. The owner Yoiaraiea Hart (Male wood-elf Rng5) is an avid hunter and woodsman. When he is not sleeping or working his own business, he is out hunting. His wife and three children (one daughter and two sons) help mind the Inn, though all but the daughter are also avid outdoorsmen. The inn regularly employs between 4 to 6 other villagers in order to allow the family more time to their sylvatic pursuits. Because of his personality and because of his business Yoiaraiea is known by and knows almost every elf within ten miles of his inn.

7. Redimolvan’s Collection of Antiquities, Curiosities and Scholarly Texts
Normally simply refered to as “The Musuem,” this building houses a grand collection of interesting books of arcane and forgotten lore, items of interest, history and/or power and any number of elvish heirlooms of cultural importance. The building is frequented by elven scholars from across Tellene both as a place of interest and a source of information. There are several magical wards designed to prevent intruders and alert the caretakers but due to the lack of burglary attempts these precautions have become lax over the decades.

8. Redimolvan’s Tower
Tamilthim Redimolvan (Male High Elf Wiz11) does not live in his museum, but rather dwells in this graceful, stately tower. The Tower is taller than the surrounding trees and the top floor contains an observatory by which to view the stars. The floors in between contain personal labs, storerooms and a private library. At the bottom of the tower a series of apartments is connected to the actual tower. The kitchen, bedrooms, dining room, bathrooms and such are all in this part of the structure. A wide lawn surrounds part of the tower and is kept well trimmed by unseen servants. The Lawn is a favorite place for many of Redimolvan’s students to do their reading and studying.

9. The Theatre of the Grove
Here is where the elves gather to worship the eternal bard, typically with songs, poems and an occassional play. The spacious amphitheater can seat about 1500 people but normal attendance is 600-700. Services are led and overseen by Composer Gragoriae Timbleflute (Male Wood Elf Bard 3/Cleric3).

10. The Shrine of the Good Huntress
The worship of the Great Huntress is conducted here. While the attendance is lower (300-400) for the services of the Great Huntress than it is for the Eternal Bard, the priest who conducts the services and tends to the shrine, True Shot Daeorian (Male Wood Elf Rng2/Clr4), is taken more seriously than his counterpart Timbleflute. Daeorian is a somber elf with a wise and compassionate outlook. His sermons are elegant and learned and he instills a great respect for the animals and creatures of the forest in his followers. He is very close friends with Xa’Ceelia and his opinion carries almost as much weight in the community as hers does. Daeorian worked as a hunter for many years before dedicating his life to his faith. As such he is very knowledgeable about most animals and creatures that live in the forest.

Oakheart NPCs
Note – These NPCs use the alternate language system described in the Kalamar Players Guide. A typical native speaker who can read and write will likely have a score that reads something like Merchant +10 [+5], indicating they have a skill of +10 with the spoken language and a +5 with the written language. Possessions which are underlined are available to the NPC in question but is not typically carried in daily activities.

Xa’Ceelia – Female Dryad Drd9: CR 12; Medium Fey; HD 4d6+9d8 (hp); Init +8; Spd 30 ft; AC 17(+4 Dex, +3 Natural); BAB +8/+3; Grapple +8/+3 ; Atk Dagger +14/+9 melee (1d4/19–20) or masterwork longbow +15/10 ranged (1d8/x3); Face/Reach 5ft/5 ft ; SA Spell Like Abilities; SQ Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Woodland Stride, Resist Nature’s Lure, Trackless Step, wild Shape (3/day; large), Venom Immunity, Damage Reduction 5/Cold Iron, Tree dependant, Wild Empathy; AL N; SV Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +12, ; Str 10, Dex 19, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 18.
Languages [Read/Write] Merchant +11 [+6], Low Elven +11 [+7], Sylvan +12.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +10 (6), Diplomacy +10 (6), Escape Artist +11 (7), Handle Animal +17 (13), Hide +11 (7), Knowledge (nature) +17 (6), Listen +16 (12), Move Silently +11 (7), Ride +6 (2), Spot +15 (12), Survival +9 (6), Use Rope +4 (+6 with bindings) (0); Great Fortitude, Weapon Finesse (dagger), Favored Terrain: Forest*, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot.

Spells (6/4/4/3/2/1)
Spell-Like Abilities: At will—entangle (DC 13), speak with plants, tree shape; 3/day— charm person (DC 13), deep slumber (DC 15), tree stride; 1/day—suggestion (DC 15). Caster level 6th. The save DCs are Wisdom-based.
Tree Dependent (Su): Each dryad is mystically bound to a single, enormous oak tree and must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Any who do become ill and die within 4d6 hours. A dryad’s oak does not radiate magic.
Wild Empathy (Ex): This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the dryad has a +6 racial bonus on the check.
* Taken from Bad Axe Games “Heroes of High Favor: Elves”

Xa’Ceelia is a cheerful fey who enjoys the attention given to her by the elves of Oakheart.

Other NPCs will be added to this section as I finish detailing them.

A Bit of Honey
An introductory adventure, A bit of Honey can be used easily for most groups of first level adventurers. The adventure helps introduce PCs to the village of Oakheart and the forest around the village. It also introduces the Goblins that will serve as antagonist in the followup adventures, A Brownies Tale of Woe, A Daring Robbery and Goblin’s Teeth.

Synopsis: Tamilthim Redimolvan is performing expirements, trying to create a new spell but he is running into some obstacles. Convinced that he needs some giant bee’s honey the venerable elven wizard sends the PCs to find some for him. Inquiries will reveal that there are giant Bees near the Brolador river north-east of the village. (Indeed, certain magical energies seem to saturate the ground there, causing several things to be larger than normal.) The PCs journeying to the Bees encounter goblins and giant ants. Finally, locating the Giant Bees, the PCs must figure out a way to get some honey without getting killed.

PC Introduction: Tamilthim Redimolvan should be known to the PCs. If he is not, then an acquantaince of the PCs mentions the wizard is looking for someone to run a little errand for him. Either way, the PCs are introduced to the challenge of this adventure by Redimolvan.

“I need honey,” says the aged wizard, “Giant bee’s honey to be exact. I am trying to work on a new spell but I believe I need the honey of a magical bee in order to make it work. I would go get it myself, but things are at a crucial stage and I can’t afford to leave my lab for long. Will you help me.”

Tamilthim is willing to pay up to 100 gold pieces for a jar of honey from a giant bee. He doesn’t know where to find giant bees himself but is sure that if the PCs ask around in The Thirst Stag, that some of the woodsmen that frequent there should know something.

Gathering Information: If the PCs follow Tamilthim Redimolvan’s advice and ask in the Thirsty stag they will likely find out that there are indeed Giant Bees not far from the village. DMs may decide to freely give this information to the PCs or else the PCs can make a Gather Information check to find out the following. DMs should of course roleplay out the giving of the information as much as possible. The Thirsty Stag normally has 1d10 wood elves drinking inside and 1d4-1 high elves. Most of them are woodsmen of one sort or another.

DC 10: “I saw some Giant Bee’s just last week, northeast of the village about a day’s walk.”

DC 13: “There is a hive of Giant Bees not far from the River, North-east of the village about a days walk from here. They sleep in a giant of a tree trunk at night.”

DC 16: “You be careful out there, I saw some goblin tracks about three days ago while hunting.”

DC 20: “Somethings in the ground out there, about a day’s walk from here. Some say some fairy magic got into the soil and made things get big. There’s fields of giant flowers, giant ants, and in some places some of the biggest trees you might ever wish to see. Almost as big as those in Sentinel’s Grove.”

The Journey: The map of Oakheart and its surrounding vicinity shows the location of the giant bee hive at the area marked with a (1). The area circled in orange is a special section of the forest, given over to insects and plants of unusual size. Mammals, birds and lizards do not seem especially effected by whatever magical energies fill the soil here, but flies, bees, ants, vines, trees and bushes are all at times, though not universally, affected.

In the area between Oakheart and the hive, use the following random encounter table.
On a 1d6
1. Elven Woodsmen: A group of 1d4 elves.
2-4 Goblin tracks. (Spot DC 15; Track DC 15) Leads to 3 Goblins. (See following section)
5. Goblins: A group of 3 goblins (War1; armed with short swords and javelins). (See following section)
6. Elven Hunters: A group of 1d3 elves.

In the area around the hive, use the following random encounter table.
On a 1d12
1-2. Giant Ants: 1d6 Giant Ants foraging for food
3-4. Goblin Tracks (Spot DC 15; Track DC 15) Leads to 3 Goblins (see following section).
5-7. A lone giant bee visiting a field of extremely large flowers. Can be followed to the hive
8. An unusual plant: The PCs notices a tree or bush of unusual size, about three times as big (leaves, trunk and all) as normal.
9. Pixies: A group of 2d4 pixies. There are a number of fairy creatures in this section of the forest. Brownies, sylphs and Dryads can be substituted for the pixies.
10. A small glenn of extremely large flowers. If PCs wait, eventually a giant bee will visit the field (during the day).
11. A monstrous centipede (medium sized)
12. Elven Hunters: A group of 1d3 elves

Goblins: There are several groups of goblins roaming the woods around the village of Oakheart. These goblins are traveling in trios and their current job is to locate the elven village for their boss, Rogtuk. They are accomplishing this by wandering aimlessly through the woods, following deer trails and looking for signs of elves (without letting the elves see them).

The goblins will attack if spotted and if (once) they realize they are up against superior forces (after a round or so of losing in combat) they will attempt to flee.

Goblins (x3), War1: CR 1/3; HD 1d8; Init +1; Spd 30 ft; AC 15; BAB/Grapple +1/-3; Atk +2 melee (1d6 shortsowrd) or +3 ranged (1d4 javelin); SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will –1.
Skills and feats: Hide +5, Listen +2, Move Silently +5, Ride +4, Spot +2; Alertness.

A Bit of honey continued
The Hive
The actual giant bee hive is located in the hollow stump of a gigantic tree, some 15-20 feet in diameter and still about twenty feet tall (the top of the tree broke off many years ago and has long since rotted away. The walls of the stump are all about a foot thick. The stump is located in a circular depression in the ground (about 5 feet deep). The bottom of the depression is dotted with small areas of brush, but no other trees. There are also six five feet wide holes in the soil around the trunk that lead to tunnels which lead into chambers below the trunk (see map). Each of these chambers opens out into the base of the hollow trunk which is the main room of the hive. Each of the chambers below the trunk contain honeycombs and honey. The main chamber also contains honeycombs and honey.

There are 18 giant bees which make their home in this hive. At any given time during the daylight hours, 1d6 of the bees are in the hive, 1d6 of the bees are flying in the air around the trunk, and the rest are out on errands. At night, the bees all sleep in the hive. In the three smaller chambers below the tree there will typically be three bees asleep. There will normally be about four or five bees sleeping in the larger chamber under the trunk and the rest sleep in the trunk itself.

The bees are not aggressive to anyone who stays outside of the circular depression. One or two bees will first buzz anyone entering the depression during the day and then if the intruders do not flee they will attack en masse. Likewise anyone trying to enter the tunnels during the day will be attacked. If a single bee is attacked then all the bees in the vicinity will come to the aid of their comrade. Violence is likely to get low leveled PCs killed due to the sheer numbers of bees in the area.

At night the bees all sleep and while asleep have a –8 penalty to any spot or listen checks they must make. However, if wakened by intruders in their hive, any bee will be furious and attack immediately.

Rewards: In addition to any monetary rewards the PCs may gain for accomplishing the mission, managing to sneak into the hive and get some honey without getting killed (and without killing all the bees) should merit about 500 exp.