DMs Only: Tree of Parting
Contents
Overview
Tree of Parting The Tree of Parting sits halfway between the Emerald Kingdom and the Kingdom of New Elenna. Beginning as a Way House for those travelling from one to the other, it got its name from the strange looking little tree that marked the side trail leading to the house. When two elves, were slain at the “House of Parting” and the site burned as well by Orcs, their great grandfather, Ilyndrathyl, made the site a memorial. Traveling north, he beseeched the Culver, a grove of ancient treants who are the heart of the Culverwood forest, to give him a seedling for his memorial and told them the tragic story of his great-grandchildren.
So moved was Deeproot, one of the elder trees, that he followed the Druid to see this place, knowing at his age, that this would last journey. The Greenmage of Culverwood has forever since taken on the surname of Deeproot in honor of the great Elder tree so that he shall never be forgotten. There he rooted himself and entered the eternal sleep. Ilyndrathyl gathered family and built a grand treehouse in Deeproot’s branches to keep the new Way House out of the reach of those who would harm travelers upon the road.
Making this his new family home, The Tree of Parting has stood for generations. Ilyndrathyl’s descendants still manage what has grown from being a small bed and breakfast on a dangerous road into the most important waystation for all east-west trade on the peninsula of Elenna. No price is ever quoted to any visitor. The Ilyndrathyl family instead lets visitors pay or not according to the service they feel they have received. Usually, their generosity is reciprocated far and beyond what would have been charged.
Ilyndrathyl, who is ancient even for an elf, is still alive, but is not the active manager, having retired years ago. However, the greenmage can still be seen daily walking among the branches of the tree each morning examining all the supports as well as the health of the tree.
The manager and very much the man in charge is Folbre, Ilyndrathyl’s son. Folbre is blind. Only the family knows the story behind this. However, do not mistake his abilities. As with many blind folk, his other senses have expanded to make up for his lack of sight. Many rumors abound that he enhances his other senses with magic. Many more rumors are told as to why he can’t have his blindness cured. A fastidious person, he craves neatness and organization. He is very esteemed among all elves everywhere and has served in various capacities of elven leadership both in the Emerald Kingdom and Culverwood. However, as with many things involving Folbre, the story of how he became so revered with the Culverwood elves is a cultural and racial secret. Before he took over for his father in the Tree, he was served by a dozen elven maidens, each from a different elven village. However, by his request, only one remains with him unless he chooses to travel.
The staff numbers around 25 people, mostly descendants of Ilyndrathyl. Each is cross-trained to work in more than one area of the tree. There are also between 7-10 permanent residents present at any time, renting stalls in the tiny market or staying in the Tree for other reasons. 5-10 wagons of traders stop here each night to rest and have a safe place to stay, recover from the road, and make important repairs to wagons and other equipment. The Tree’s Inn and Tavern are large enough to cram them in, but there are times that late arrivals must bunk in the common room.
Ciyradyl, the oldest of Ilyndrathyl’s great-grandchildren, is sweet of heart and a shrewd judge of character. She manages the inn and pub. The pub is known for catering to all manner of guests, the inn has both fine wines and the stoutest ales. The food is first rate and the prices reasonable. One can order a common meal or a 5 star feast to compete with the best pubs in the Floating City. Rooms of varying style and luxury are available, all with a view.
Hiflanyl, one of the younger grand-grandchildren, is in charge of the warehouse and stables. He runs the “lifts” to raise up the trade wagons into the tree and is the lead repairman for anything that needs fixed. He is a virtuoso at repairing anything and has both blacksmithing and leatherworking skills. Hiflanyl has designed a stairway that circles the trunk of the tree, which can be lifted and compacted when the denizens of Izen or the Red Hills come calling. He also has several lifts that can lift anything from a pile of crates, to livestock, to an entire wagon up into the safety of the tree for the evening. More profit is collected from the storage of caravans than any other venture within the tree. He makes it clear to each and every traveler that chooses to camp next to the tree, that the tree cannot come to their rescue if attack comes.
Laughingwater, Hiflanyl’s best friend, runs the Free Trade Post at the top of the stairs. Here, traders and travelers alike make arrangements to store their wagons, livestock, and other travelling supplies in the tree for the night. He also is the one to see if you desire to set up a shop within the tree. Businesses come and go, but Laughingwater sees that there is always a bowyer on site as the defenses of the tree are mostly missile based. There is also a branch of the Catacombs present in the Tree.
The “Head of Security” is a friend of the family named Miles Raynor. He and his assistant, coordinate all defense efforts for the Tre. Miles was a career officer with the Emerald Armed Forces until he saved the life of Laughingwater during a trip to Emerald City. Miles was hired on the spot and though aging faster than the elves he works for, is very effective at his job. He is on hand with every “lift” to explain the behavior expected of all guests of the inn, much to the consternation of Ciyradyl, who thinks it harms her hospitality. He also runs regular drills for all able-bodied residents of the Tree as everyone, “And I mean everyone,” will help defend the tree if attacked.
The Tree of Parting is considered “neutral ground” and is not part of either the Emerald Kingdom, nor the Kingdom of New Elenna. It is known as a site of negotiations, even among the vile and ignoble. There have been formal meetings in the Tree of Parting between feuding orcs, between giants and halflings, and even between dragon and adventurer. Thus most kingdoms, tribes, and organizations do not consider ruining their ability to parley at the tree by attacking it. However, this “neutral ground” does not seem to apply to the rest of the East-West Road. There is a tale that orcs came to the rescue of the tree against another orc tribe to keep their ability to parley from being removed.
There are two other forts on the East-West Road that leads from New Elenna through northern Izen to Aisildur. They are more traditional in nature, being built on the ground with walls for protection. The road stays just south of the dangerous Culverwood. Most traders travel in groups of two-five wagons and carry a few guards for protection. In addition, the Emerald Horsemen patrol the road between the three outposts. New Elenna has hired “adventurers” that patrol the road east of the Tree of Parting all the way to Edenmoor.
Adventures
Brainstorming and other unofficial items
Official Items
Creatures
Outsider Ally Write up below is from Meagen the player. it will be revised and solidified some. Future DM's can expand as they see fit
While Kesabrey doesn’t yet know much about her entity, it will be fun to discover it! Personally, all she knows is that it is her original home: the land she was raised in. So while she doesn’t officially pick an outsider until level 2, she already loves this location as her effective deity as well as the home and family she grew up with. Here are the major elements of its ethos and alignment:
1. It is a geographical location that can be visited. Ideally, it’s somewhere close enough to the main bulk of our campaign that she can travel there. I’ll probably pay for a coven there. Reading through the wiki, the best matches for what I had in mind would be: A) some small secluded part of the Emerald Kingdom, perhaps near the Red Hills where strange monsters roam, B) somewhere around Blackheart Woods or Lake Wellogy, though that area might be too wealthy or high traffic, C) the woods between Niffwig and Beetlebug. These are just ideas based on the terrain types I noticed on the maps.
2. While her coven lived in a small and secluded forested area, there was a watery nature to this “land” and outsider. Something small scale so as not to mess up the Woldian world map: a swamp/bog, a pond, or even just an old well that’s tapped into an ancient source far under the surface (probably my favorite idea so far). The coven views this water source as particularly sacred, and believes that using this water in their cauldrons and potions is a “sacred” rite that imbues them with greater power (whether this is true or not). Whenever they do anything ceremonial, even if not magical, they prefer to come back to this land to incorporate this water.
3. The Ally is concerned mainly with magically (and rapidly) changing forms into other forms. It is particularly concerned with altering living things. While it does not necessarily think these changes should be permanent, it seems more than happy to indulge in permanency when it meets its criteria or strikes its whims. Its seemingly full-throated embrace of these sudden changes are a mystery that will be interesting to discover. Perhaps it feels it can improve upon nature’s inferior design, or perhaps it is more concerned with leveling the playing field in engagements. Kess truly has no idea what motivates the land, other than it seems to relish altering the biology and physiology of those the witch encounters. It does not appear to enjoy following rules, or perhaps feels that it can rewrite better rules.
4. It does not seem to have any power at all over the dead. If something is recently dead, it usually means it’s not quite there yet, and her spell selection will reflect that notion of healing from the brink pretty well. The concept of souls might be beyond the Ally’s purview or understanding; it is yet unknown how much it even knows or deals with Woldsblood and its workings.
5. Kess presumes that her Outsider Ally is Chaotic Good, as sudden body changes seem chaotic in nature. She may simply be unwisely assuming that her Ally follows her own belief system. Just because Kess uses her powers to try and help people, does not necessarily mean that’s what the Ally wants. Though that said, I hope to play her for some years and it might be too tricky if their value systems are completely opposed.
6. Its domain is Healing, as this can be seen as altering one living form to another. Especially if the Ally is trying to “improve” those its targets by whatever its own criteria happens to be, then healing is an easy way to express it. Its other domain would most likely be Animal or Strength: something that embodies the alteration of living beings. Chaos and Law are a bit too strange for this Ally – it almost seems to chaotically flaunt the laws of nature, but only because it thinks it can do a better job at writing them – so neither is probably dominant enough to deserve a viable domain option. It would never have Repose, or any of the concepts dealing with more man-made things like Artifice and Rune. Water might be suitable, however, depending on its mysteries.
7. The idea was that everything about the land, and the powers it grants, seems to do with fighting against or converting nature. Even the notion that it is a flooded swamp or pond that wasn’t originally helps reinforce the gimmick that one type of biology/ecology is overcoming the original. That’s by far the least important, though; I don’t want to mess up the Wold map in any way, I just wanted to explain where my concept stemmed from.
8. The coven currently believes that the Ally loves and grants favor to the following: Blood Witches that ally with it, Shapeshifters, and Monstrologers skilled enough to breed entirely new beings. The coven does not believe that it has much respect for Druids, for while they alter their forms they do so only in “natural” ways. To this end, Kesabrey’s witch coven actively despises any druid circles it encounters (for her part Kess doesn’t dislike them, but probably fears them due to her sheltered upbringing). The coven also believes that their Ally hates the undead – if perhaps not fully understanding them – so Its blood witches are always sure to destroy such blights on the land.
9. Kess’s coven hates outsiders far more than Kess does. They probably view the land and especially its water as a secret thing that is not meant to be known in the Wold. Kess thinks that’s a load of hogwash and feels quite sure that by “travelling with her,” the Ally will get the chance to explore the Wold and its people instead of being stuck back home. Plus this way, it can help so many more people!
The coven of course doesn’t know the Ally’s true name. Their knowledge is so limited that it might not even be a Land at all, but rather something living deep beneath the crust that can currently only gain access through the well or water source, and the animals and plants feeding off it in the immediate vicinity.
NPC'S
The Tree of Parting Full Time residents
- Laughingwater runs the Free Trade Post at the top of the stairs.
- Moana runs Moana's Fortunes and is not aware she is an actual fortune teller. ie most of the times it is like fortune tellers of today, entertaining, so broad as to fit nearly anything the listener wishes it to and a complete scam so to speak. Does not make her a bad person, just trying to make a living after all and most leave feeling better about themselves and their lot in life. But every now and then, one of the gods steps in and uses her to communicate true providence.
- Dungarth - human, runs Dungarth's Leatherworking Shop
- Saide Silvergraft - half elf, runs The Big Nest a general store.
- Lorifir Lorhalien - elf, runs the Fletcher
- Liliput Muffinbubble - Halfling, Caretaker of The Leafy Chapel [a shrine to Alemi as well as a memorial to Ilyndrethyl and Deeproot.]
- Boolia - Female Half-Orc, runs Studs and Gems
- Miles Raynor - Human Head of Security
- Folbre Ilyndrathyl - Tree of Parting Manager
- Ciyradyl Ilyndrathyl - Runs Treetop Tavern
- Hiflanyl Ilyndrathyl - Runs the warehouse and stables
- The Ilyndrathyl family– overseers non public behind the scenes DC Local 35
Other NPCS
- Garret VonKlempt – Caravan captain of the Guard (Agent of the Fist)
- Dubrin – older dwarf merchant from Module 1
- Korbiss – older dwarf merchant from Module 1
- Boy – teenaged carpenter from Module 1
- Gaston – Initiate of the Chancers Club
- Mikalus Dragonspell Silver Bishop of The Chancer Club Questor Committee– Sponsoring member of the Chancers Club
Geography
Red Hills North of the Tree of Parting
New Elenna to the East of The Tree of Parting
Life in the Tree
Daily visitors shooting through is not many. 2 wagons and groups of 4-6 horseback riders Monthly larger train 10-15 wagons tops comes at different times so the bad guys can’t easily mount attacks and prepare Inn and Tavern are large enough to cram them in, but depending on the monthly size, perhaps not everyone gets ‘up’ and certainly not all the wagons and horses. Permanent residents is about 35 and then maybe another 25 in children Neutral ground allows for there to maybe only be 2-3 deputies and a sheriff type as security. Most of the adults could double as militia if needed but the sheriff is looked to keep order among the many visitors 4-6 entertainers
