D&D Adventures 16: Blights
Out of nowhere, in the area where the party is (or arrives), a strangeness comes to life: First, animals are found injured, seemingly cutting themselves on thorns. Then there are dead animals and stories of trees and shrubbery coming to life. Soon, it’s no story. Clearly, the plants are transforming into wicked, twisted versions with thorns and poison, and among them stalk plant-creatures that walk and hunt.
A druid, long disliked and cast out as a hermit and a stranger receives a message for help. Begrudgingly, he comes to aid. Not for the people, but for nature, for it clearly looks like a perversion of it. People in the nearby town are surprised, for no one seems to know who called for the druid, but they are happy he’s there.
Meanwhile, a vampire of moderate power is presented a tome by his minions, almost destroyed. But in the pages that are still readable, he finds secrets to the plant monstrosities known as the Blight. He learns that their roots go back to a vampire and a druid. He starts experimenting with exerting his power to control them. He is successful, albeit in a limited fashion. To do more, he realizes he needs a druid. Luckily, one arrives on the scene. And he needs to do more, because the Blight starts taking over the land, including his domain.
Both the druid, who’s a neutral character that holds no love for the town and could sometimes choose actions that could hurt the town if he can justify it and the vampire, who acts neutral and claims they have a common enemy in Blight will try to hire the party. They can help one or both and in the end both the vampire and the druid will come to the conclusion that the Blight is unstoppable and the best course is to control them. This is a justification, but they are self-convinced. Both earn some control over the Blight, which they will occasionally describe as “being one.”
Eventually, they both come to the conclusion that the ultimate connection with Blight can only be made by a Vampiric Druid, both feeling they are lacking what the other has. The vampire’s plan is pretty obvious: Bite and turn the druid into a spawn under his control. The druid means to fight the vampire to the point that he’s weak but then feign defeat. He prepares a force of blights and animals to attack the vampire once he bites him, so they can destroy the weakened undead and give the druid his freedom back. However, after they fight, both in a weakened state and the vampire bites, the connection happens by itself. Suddenly, they are connected to the Blight, one with it. And controlled by the Blight’s tree, who made it to the world with the mists and manipulated both sides to discover the blight and let them think they can control it. Now, the Blight has a whole area and two powerful minions with their own domains and minions that can expand the Blight in this world.
This can be a relatively short campaign or a long one. It can also be shorter in Fearun and lead to Ravenloft.
