Quest Line · Original Adventure · Daggerheart
One-shot
A forgotten chapel in the Thornwood has begun singing—not with bells or hymns, but with the voices of villagers who vanished weeks ago. The children of Millbrook refuse to go near it, claiming the trees themselves are watching. The party must uncover what lurks within the chapel before the next moon, when the harvest festival will draw the entire village into the woods.
Tone: Gothic mystery with body horror elements. The adventure explores themes of unwilling transformation and loss of identity.
Content Warnings: Body horror (merged/absorbed bodies), loss of autonomy, children in peril (though none are directly harmed on-screen), religious corruption.
Player Knowledge: The party has arrived in Millbrook, a logging village on the edge of the Thornwood, just as strange occurrences have begun. They may have personal reasons for being here or simply be passing through.
Choose one or combine elements:
The Desperate Parent: Marna Collis approaches the party at the village inn. Her husband went to investigate the chapel three days ago and hasn't returned. She can hear his voice singing from the woods at night. She offers her savings (40 silver) and her grandfather's enchanted woodaxe.
The Guilty Priest: Father Dunwick, priest of the village shrine, confesses he sent three villagers to cleanse the old chapel two weeks ago. All three vanished. He believes something he did—or failed to do—caused this curse. He offers what little the shrine can spare and his assistance.
The Children's Warning: A group of children led by young Pip Harrow corner the party, begging them to help. They claim the trees have faces now, and their friend's mother went into the woods yesterday and came back "wrong"—she won't stop humming, and her eyes don't blink anymore.
The path to the chapel winds through dense Thornwood. Ancient oaks crowd close, their bark scarred with old logging marks. As the party travels deeper, they notice the forest has gone silent—no birds, no insects, no wind.
Then they hear it: a chorus of voices singing in eerie harmony. The song has no words, just sustained notes that rise and fall like breathing. The party can identify 5-7 distinct voices if they listen carefully (Instinct check, difficulty 12). Success reveals these are human voices, not instruments or spirits.
Environmental Clue: The trees nearest the path have developed irregular growths—bulges in the bark that almost resemble faces frozen mid-scream. An Awareness check (difficulty 10) reveals these weren't here weeks ago based on the fresh wood grain.
Encounter - The Wanderer: The party meets Silas Drum stumbling back down the path. He's disheveled, and his hands are covered in splinters. He claims he ran from the chapel when "the wood started calling."
If questioned (Presence check, difficulty 11), he reveals he didn't run—he wanted to stay, to join the song. Part of him still wants to go back. His fingernails are beginning to harden into bark-like keratin. He needs help getting back to the village, but time is critical. The party must choose whether to escort him back (losing time) or send him alone (he may not make it, or may return to the chapel).
The chapel is a small stone structure, overgrown with creeping vines. Its door hangs open. The singing is loudest here—coming from within and somehow from the walls themselves.
What the Players See: The interior is a single room with rotted pews and a stone altar. Seven villagers stand in a circle around a massive wooden pillar that's grown up through the chapel floor, breaking the stones. The villagers sway slightly, mouths open, producing the endless song. Their feet have rooted into the floor—literally. Roots grow from their ankles into the cracks between stones.
The pillar isn't carved wood. It's smooth, pale, and pulses faintly. Veins of green light run through it like sap. Knowledge or Instinct checks (difficulty 13) identify this as a Heartwood Sprout—a rare phenomenon where an ancient tree's consciousness splits off and tries to birth a new entity. This one has become twisted, hungry.
Investigation Options:
The Choice: The party can: 1. Sever the villagers from the roots (requiring difficult Agility checks, difficulty 13, to cut without killing them—each failure causes 1d10 damage to a villager). 2. Destroy the Heartwood (it has 35 HP, Armor 2, but this will kill anyone still connected). 3. Complete the ritual (Knowledge check, difficulty 15, to reverse the carvings and put the Heartwood to sleep—but this requires one willing participant to become the new "anchor," remaining partially merged).
Combat Option: If the party attacks aggressively, the Heartwood animates Thorn Guardians—humanoid figures made of animate wood that peel away from the walls.
Thorn Guardian (2-3 appear)
The climax depends on the party's approach:
Ending 1 — The Severing: If the party cuts the villagers free quickly and efficiently, they save 5-7 people but the Heartwood erupts in fury. The chapel begins collapsing as roots thrash wildly. The party must escape (Agility checks, difficulty 12) while helping wounded villagers. The Heartwood dies, but its death scream echoes through the forest. In the aftermath, the survivors are traumatized but alive, and Millbrook celebrates the party as heroes. However, in a week, new saplings begin growing from the chapel ruins—the problem may not be truly ended.
Ending 2 — The Burning: If the party destroys the Heartwood while villagers are still connected, those still rooted die instantly, their life force consumed in the entity's death throes. The survivors who'd been cut free live but are haunted by the screams. The village turns cold toward the party—grateful but resentful. Father Dunwick must perform last rites for the dead. The forest grows quiet and safe, but at a terrible cost.
Ending 3 — The Anchor: If someone volunteers to become the new anchor (or if a party member negotiates this), they must join the circle and allow roots to take hold in their feet. Through their will, they can command the Heartwood to sleep and release the others. The anchor must remain for one full day and night as the transition completes. Afterward, they're free but permanently changed—they can sense the Thornwood's moods, trees seem to lean toward them, and in times of stress, bark-like patches appear on their skin. The villagers are saved, and the forest becomes peaceful. The anchor gains a permanent connection to the Thornwood (mechanical benefit: advantage on Instinct checks in forests, but must succeed on a difficulty 10 Presence check to leave forested areas or feel compelled to return).
Twist Reveal: If the party examines Father Dunwick's movements carefully (or confronts him after), they may discover he performed the awakening ritual himself weeks ago, desperate to restore the old forest faith after years of the village ignoring the shrine. He never meant for it to go wrong, but his loneliness and desperation fed the Heartwood's hunger.
Marna Collis — Carpenter's wife, weathered hands, steady voice. Wants her husband Jorem back alive, will forgive nothing if he dies.
Father Dunwick — Elderly priest with trembling hands and heavy guilt. Wants absolution but believes he deserves punishment for awakening the Heartwood.
Pip Harrow — Eleven-year-old village child, gap-toothed and clever. Wants the adults to take the danger seriously; has been keeping watch on the forest for weeks.
Silas Drum — Logger who nearly joined the Heartwood. Wants to warn others but fears he's already changing and may need to be stopped.
Jorem Collis — Marna's husband, one of the rooted villagers. If saved, he's disoriented but remembers everything—including the peace he felt while merged.
Experience: Milestone advancement appropriate to completing a significant adventure. Characters should feel they've grown from facing a genuine moral dilemma.
Material Rewards:
Story Rewards:
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