Battlefield & Lair Effects - The Final Ritual

Initiative Count 20 - Lair Actions

Roll 1d3 to determine which effect occurs, or choose based on tactical needs

Phase 1-2 Effects

1. Shifting Shadows - All shadows in the area move 15 feet in a direction of your choice. Any creature ending its turn in a shadow takes 1d6 necrotic damage.

2. Disorienting Echoes - Ghostly whispers fill the air. All creatures must make a DC 15 Wisdom save or have disadvantage on their next attack roll and ability check.

The Weaver’s Final Ritual - Encounter Design

Encounter Overview

Location: The Ancient Sealing Grounds (where Nidhogg was originally imprisoned)
Party Level: 13
Encounter Difficulty: Deadly (Multi-phase boss encounter)
Duration: 6-8 rounds expected

The Battlefield

Key Features (Reference Map)

• Central Ritual Circle: Ancient arcane markings where the original sealing took place
• Elevated Platforms: Stone ruins providing tactical high ground
• Water Features: Dark pools that reflect the growing Shadowfell influence
• Broken Structures: Provide cover but may be damaged by the ritual’s energy
• Multiple Entry Points: Party can approach from various directions

Environmental Conditions

• Dim Light: Shadowy energy from the weakening barrier
• Unstable Ground: Some areas may crack or shift as reality warps
• Planar Bleed: Shadowfell energy seeps through as ritual progresses

Ritual Phases

Phase 1: The Ritual Begins (Rounds 1-2)

Portal Status: Flickering void appears above ritual circle
Weaver: Begins incantation, uses defensive spells and illusions
Manus: Engages party with restraint, testing their abilities

The Weaver’s Final Ritual - Encounter Design

Encounter Overview

Location: The Ancient Sealing Grounds (where Nidhogg was originally imprisoned)
Party Level: 13
Encounter Difficulty: Deadly (Multi-phase boss encounter)
Duration: 6-8 rounds expected

The Battlefield

Key Features (Reference Map)

• Central Ritual Circle: Ancient arcane markings where the original sealing took place
• Elevated Platforms: Stone ruins providing tactical high ground
• Water Features: Dark pools that reflect the growing Shadowfell influence
• Broken Structures: Provide cover but may be damaged by the ritual’s energy
• Multiple Entry Points: Party can approach from various directions

Environmental Conditions

• Dim Light: Shadowy energy from the weakening barrier
• Unstable Ground: Some areas may crack or shift as reality warps
• Planar Bleed: Shadowfell energy seeps through as ritual progresses

Ritual Phases

Phase 1: The Ritual Begins (Rounds 1-2)

Portal Status: Flickering void appears above ritual circle
Weaver: Begins incantation, uses defensive spells and illusions
Manus: Engages party with restraint, testing their abilities

**Phase 1: The Rescue

• Day 1: Meet at Raven’s Perch, track kidnappers
• Day 2: Rescue Winry from the tomb
• Day 3: Return to Tannis, get gear from Sig, rest at windmill

Phase 2: Darkness Falls

• Day 4: Darkness hits Tannis, escape through church, meet Arbiter
• Day 5: Travel to Vidrir’s grove
• Day 6: Meet Vidrir, learn about Summer’s Edge, rest

Phase 3: Tracking the Cult

• Day 7: Travel toward silver maple, encounter pixies
• Day 8: Rescue pixies from darklings, find Serenity’s cabin
• Day 9: Battle flameskull, encounter charmed Serenity, flee with orb
• Day 10: Return to Vidrir, get Order medallion, meet Francis

Phase 4: Winter Court

• Day 11: Travel to Winter Court, meet rangers
• Day 12: Arrive at embassy, meet Alora, heal Olivia
• Day 13: Hunt and kill Bandersnatch, get magic items
• Day 14: Investigate Winter leyline temple (with Trius)
• Day 15: Final battle with Serenity, burn cabin
• Day 16: Debrief with Alora, receive teleportation ring

Phase 5: Autumn Court

• Day 17: Travel to Autumn Court (fey thieves ambush)
• Day 18: Festival, battle Xolthos, meet Ali/Arden
• Day 19: Meet Lord Farkris, investigate Autumn temple
• Day 20: Rest at treant’s grove

Phase 6: Summer Court

• Day 21: Travel to Summer border, fight cultists at battlefield
• Day 22: Arrive Summer Court, meet Lady Sylvia, attune ring
• Day 23: Investigate breached Summer temple, encounter Manus
• Day 24: Meet Elara, plan Feywild expedition

Phase 7: Feywild Adventure

• Day 25: Shop, Blackbird contract night 1, travel to Starfall Crater
• Day 26: Fight celestial guardians, get ore, contract night 2
• Day 27: Travel to Shimmering Glade, contract night 3, enter Feywild
• Day 28: Join a feast at the Satyr camp
• Day 29: Capture the first kiss of the midday sun and Manus encounter
• Day 30: Weaver’s ancestral home

Phase 8: Summer’s Edge and the Spring Court

• Day 31: Return to the summer court, reforge summer’s edge (feywild timeskip)
• Day 32: Journey to Spring Court, close Hollow Threshold, meet Vael
• Day 33: Arrive at Spring Court, meet Faela Mossheart, rest at the Moonlit Hearth tavern
• Day 34: Travel to the Spring Leyline Temple, investigate corruption, fight Bodak and other undead, find note from Manus detailing the Cult’s endgame
• Day 35: Journey to the Chained Library, learn critical information about repairing the barrier and discover Vidrir’s true identity as the Knight of Ravens and leader of the Order of Seasons.
• Day 36: Visit Vidrir to debrief about Summer’s Edge and Nidhogg

🎭 Strong Start

• Enter the strange portal and deal with the beasts and strange magic inside.

🗺 Scenes Overview

• Hollow Threshold 3 - The Primal Hunt
• Meet Vael and learn something of the Chained Library
• Visit the Spring Court and meet with Faela Mossheart
• Visit the Spring Leyline Temple

🔑 Secrets & Clues

• Hollow Thresholds are being created by the Cult of the Eclipse
• Vael, agent of the Chained Library, is investigating the weakening barrier and the hollow thresholds
• Chained Library is located beneath the “Tael’anore”, the central mountain in Elven territory
• Skreek’s royal egg is being used as a Hollow Threshold anchor for a plane of air themed threshold.
• The Spring Court is led by the High Druidess, Faela Mossheart
  • Theme of renewal and reinvention. change is part of life’s natural rhythm and that spring is the season where everything gets a chance to start anew.

Vael’s Intro

“I am a witness. An agent of balances long frayed. My name is Vael. Fifth Binder. Chainbearer of the Silent Vault. When minds shatter against what they should not know, we are the ones who pick up the pieces. Or burn them. Some truths are too dangerous to be carried, so we bury them in silence—where even their echoes find no ears.”