Arrival in Thither
When the adventurers first arrive in Thither, read:
The mists part to reveal a primeval forest. A fragrant breeze wafts between the enormous trees, sending motes of pollen dancing into the air. Patches of sunlight kiss the forest floor, and the sweet melody of birdsong echoes all around.
Their guide leads the characters to Nib’s Cave, the location of which is shown on the map of Thither. Along the way, the characters might have a random encounter, at your discretion (see “Random Encounters in Thither” below).
Thither is a sprawling fey woodland with a decaying core. With each passing day, Granny Nightshade’s presence eats away at the forest’s trees and taints its denizens. The rot worsens the closer one gets to Loomlurch, Granny Nightshade’s lair.
In this chapter, the characters explore the forests of Thither. They could be searching for their lost things or questing for a means to overthrow the Hourglass Coven. Deep in the forest, they can confront Granny Nightshade in her lair.
Thither is ruled by Skabatha Nightshade, also known as Granny Nightshade. Read her description and skim her stat block.
Lost Things in Thither
If you used the “Lost Things” adventure hook, check if Skabatha Nightshade has anything the characters want to reclaim. When the characters enter Thither, anyone who had something stolen by Skabatha gets the nagging sensation that it is somewhere in this realm, though the character doesn’t know where. The feeling fades when the character either regains what was lost or leaves Thither without recovering it. To find what they’ve lost, the characters must travel to Loomlurch. Objects that Granny Nightshade created using things she stole from the characters can be found in her dollhouse (see area L16).
Navigating Thither
Shortly after arriving in Thither, the characters come upon a cave that is the home of a miser who spins gold into magic items. The miser, Nib, can provide directions to other locations in Thither. As the characters make their way through Thither’s ancient forest, they might find a fairy ring or a wanted poster (see “Features of Thither”) or have a random encounter (see “Arrival in Thither”).
At Little Oak, the characters meet the Getaway Gang, a gaggle of lost children led by a rapscallion named Will of the Feywild. The Getaway Gang can teach the characters how to reach Wayward Pool, an idyllic lake protected by a unicorn named Lamorna, who knows important information about Zybilna’s fall and explains the importance of finding the horn that belongs to her lost mate, Elidon.
Characters who have business or grievances with the perfidious Granny Nightshade can venture to Loomlurch (an enormous, hollowed-out tree that houses the hag’s workshop) and seek her out. A bargain they struck with Bavlorna Blightstraw in chapter 2 might also require the characters to pay Loomlurch a visit.
Guide from Thither to Yon
Squirt, an animated oilcan, can guide characters from Thither to Yon and back to Thither. Squirt resides at Little Oak (see “Locations in Thither”). If you choose not to run the Little Oak encounter, you can place Squirt in another location that the characters are likely to visit.
Player Art Handout: Wanted Poster
Features of Thither
Fairy Rings
When Zybilna ruled Prismeer, the forests of Thither were home to a host of fairy rings that functioned as fey crossings to different worlds in the Material Plane. Granny Nightshade has corrupted as many of the rings as she could find, making them dangerous to visitors.
Fairy rings are depicted on the map of Thither. Each ring is a 20-foot-diameter circle of colorful, 6-inch-tall toadstools located in a small clearing protected by the thick forest canopy. It radiates an aura of conjuration magic when scrutinized with a detect magic spell.
To determine whether a fairy ring is uncorrupted or corrupted, roll a d8. On a roll of 3 or higher, the fairy ring is uncorrupted; otherwise, it is corrupted.
Uncorrupted Fairy Rings
Roll a d8 when the characters come across an uncorrupted fairy ring. On a roll of 1 or 2, there are no creatures in the ring’s vicinity. On a roll of 3 or higher, the ring has a swarm of campestris singing and dancing inside it. Using body language, these cute, mushroom-like creatures urge the characters to join in their reverie. Any character who does so can make a DC 12 Charisma (Performance) check, gaining the benefit of a true seeing spell that lasts for 24 hours on a successful check (no effect on a failure). The campestris aren’t clever enough to answer complex questions about Thither or offer reliable directions, and they speak by mimicking words they can hear.
The campestris’ love for singing is obvious. Any character who tries to teach them a new song can make a DC 13 Charisma (Performance) check. On a successful check, the campestris adopt the song into their routine and bestow a charm of heroism on the character responsible. The campestris in any given fairy ring can bestow this charm once only. Check the Story Tracker: any character who received singing lessons from Palasha the mermaid in chapter 1 has advantage on this check.
Activating the Fey Crossing. To use an uncorrupted fairy ring as a fey crossing, a creature must hold a wand or a stick of wood above its head and run in a circle counterclockwise while saying, “Three turns widdershins, and off we go!” If the creature performing this act is a Fey or has fey ancestry, its effort transports all creatures inside the fairy ring to a remote location on a Material Plane world of your choice. They might arrive inside a similar fairy ring that is hidden in an elven tomb or inside the tumbled-down ruin of an ancient tower, for example. If the creature holding the wand and running widdershins is neither a Fey nor of fey ancestry, the fey crossing activates only if exactly eight creatures are inside the ring.
The fey crossing works both ways, allowing travel to and from Thither. Returning to Thither, however, might require fulfilling a different set of conditions. For example, the fey crossing on the Material Plane side might operate only at twilight or on nights of the full moon, and it might require an orb instead of a wand or a stick.
Characters can plumb the depths of their memories and, with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check, recall enough folklore about fairy rings to know what must be done to activate these particular fey crossings.
Corrupted Fairy Rings
A corrupted fairy ring has no campestris singing and dancing inside it. Instead, Granny Nightshade has cast awaken spells on the 3d8 + 60 toadstools that form the ring, giving each of them the ability to speak Common. These awakened toadstools are mocking and rude toward visitors not accompanied by Granny Nightshade, and they move away from one another, breaking the ring, whenever someone other than the hag tries to use it as a fey crossing, rendering it unusable. Each awakened toadstool has AC 7, 1 hit point, no effective attacks, an Intelligence score of 10, and other ability scores of 1. Killing more than half of a ring’s toadstools renders the ring unusable.
Wanted Posters
Granny Nightshade has attached wanted posters to trees throughout Thither, offering rewards for the capture of her nemesis, Will of the Feywild (see “Locations in Thither”). Each poster consists of a portrait of the boy drawn in ink, above which are the following words in the Elvish script:
Wanted: Will of the Feywild!
Each poster promises a different reward for Will’s capture. Whenever you want the characters to find such a poster, or when the text calls for it, roll on the Wanted Posters table to determine which poster the characters have just discovered and what it offers as a reward. If you get the same result as a previous discovery, either roll again or choose an unused entry from the table.
After delivering Will to Granny Nightshade, a character can choose to redeem one of these posters, whereupon the hag must give that character the poster’s promised reward. A character need not collect the reward immediately; a poster can be redeemed at any time as long as Will remains in the hag’s custody. Trading a poster for its promised reward constitutes a fey pact, the terms of which are enforced by the magic of the Feywild. A character can collect multiple posters, but only one poster per character can be redeemed. Granny Nightshade is not obligated to give a reward to any character who doesn’t hand her a poster. She must accept a poster that is handed to her; when she does, the poster vanishes in a puff of smoke, and the hag must offer the promised reward to the character immediately. In most cases, the reward is a creature or object that is magically delivered into Granny Nightshade’s custody when the poster vanishes. Whether the character chooses to accept the reward at that point is up to them, but offering the reward is enough to free Granny Nightshade from her obligation.
Granny Nightshade has no sympathy for characters who don’t like the rewards she bestows, and she offers no way of undoing the rewards’ magical effects.
Wanted Posters | 1D8
1- “This sorry wretch has stolen from me! Deliver him to me alive and unharmed, and I’ll give you back ten years of your youth.”
2 - “This little troublemaker belongs to me. Bring him home alive and unharmed, and you’ll win the heart of one you love.”
3 - “Bring me this imp alive and unharmed, and I’ll bury you up
4 - “Bring this wisp of a thief to me alive and unharmed, and I’ll ensure that no sword can ever break your skin.”
5 - “Deliver this rascal alive and unharmed. As payment, I offer you the power to bring the dead back to life.”
6 - “This rapscallion vexes me. Deliver him to me alive and unharmed, and I’ll curse one creature whom you name.”
7 - “How dare this ragamuffin defy me? Bring him to me alive and unharmed, and I’ll grant you a loyal servant.”
8 - “Special offer! Bring this impetuous brat to me, and you can claim one item of your choice from my workshop.”