Naturally, this forest would not survive; its eco-system is fueled with a constant infusion of evil.
There are five major links in the system, and breaking one of them will eventually collapse the chain. The party, hopefully, will discover and sever this chain before they exit Biyll.
The Spike Wolves are obvious predators and a threat to the adventurers as they travel through Biyll. Running in small packs (2d6+1), they are ravenous carnivotes, and will attack even a superior party out of sheer arrogance and lack of defeat experiences to guide them. Compared to normal wolves, Spike Wolves are significantly stronger, a bit less intelligent, and possessed of much more aggression as well as special attacks.
Spike Wolves rush up to bite in the first round, and go to hand-to-hand on a roll of 3 in 6 in the second round, plus one chance per round thereafter. Characters attacked this way must drop their hand weapons (except knives), and spend an entire round to escape (weaponless). Spike Wolves are covered with moss dust typically, and this inures them to its smell; they attack anyone not covered in this dust in preference to all others.
The spiny mane which runs down their back, supplemented by others on the backs of their feet, is a constant distraction to their opponents; when fighting in hand-to- hand, or when being attacked by hands or short weapons such as daggers, their spikes hit as if a second free attack versus their opponent. If they hit, the spikes inflict r apier- level damage in acidic burning; if this is sufficient to penetrate armor, some additional acid damage is inflicted at a rate of 1 hit/round.
Spike Wolf feces are a unique fertilizer for Vitriol Trees, and the creatures lair in the same spot for their entire adult lives, even dragging the carcasses of slain packmates there, providing additional fertilizer for the wicked plants. Spike Wolves long since hunted down and wantonly slew all normal sources of food in the forest, and would have died out ages ago if their supply of Forlorn Hares had not been artificially supported.
The Vitriol Trees of Biyll are the most visible link in the evil eco-system. Short, squat, flabby plants of indeterminate genus, they are found near the site of Spike Wolf attacks, who use them as their lairs. From a distance, the trunks of these foul plants are hardly visible and certainly not remarkable, as their low-lying crown of thorny branches attract attention and obscure view.
Hanging down to well under six feet, these branches are a passive threat, as anyone trying to run near them is sure to hit some, taking a d6 blows from spiky thorns as long as a forearm. These spikes inflict nuisance damage versus armor, and while they inflict no significant wound, they do leave an acidic incision which causes a burning sensation in the victim for the next hour. Each two such incisions (rounding up) will lower the victim's dexterity and awareness for this period. The branches are hollow and weak, taking only shortsword- level damage before an entire area of them is cleared to within weapon reach. The cut branches will spurt acid; however, this can be avoided by the striker on an easy dexterity roll.
These branch-networks are the nesting lair of the horrid Vitrsects, described below. Due to their coloring, the presence of these insects will not be immediately noted. Any blow aimed at a Vitrsect which misses will hit the branches or trunk on which it lairs.
If a blow aimed at the glossy, wet trunk of a Vitriol Tree does less than broadsword-level damage, acid will spring forth, which can be dodged as would a similar leak from a cut branch. But if more damage is done, the trunk will rupture, with disastrous effects. First, the acidic sap of the tree will gush out in gallons, covering a path 10 feet wide and 10 feet long in front of the rupture, dousing anyone in its path for the next three rounds. This acid will do broadsword-level damage to armor of any kind, destroy any exposed or unprotected cloth or paper, and have effects similar to the blow of many thorns, lowering dexterity and awareness by 3 for two hours.
Secondly, the tree's fragile skeleton (maintained only by the outer bark) will be ruptured. Since the Vitriol is not a true tree, it has no wood to hold it up, but only the sac- like outer bark of its trunk under pressure from its sap. When the trunk is ruptured, the entire branch-lattice collapses like a weather balloon. Any Vitrsects in its branches are 4 in 6 likely to be impaled on a thorn, but those who remain will be in a killer frenzy at this assault on their nest, attacking any living being nearby.
Characters standing within 10 feet of the trunk must roll for surprise; any rolling 2 in 6 will lose the chance to avoid the branches and will be hit by 2d6+1 thorns, with effects as above.
Thereafter, they will be painfully trapped in a cocoon of spiky branches, unable to move their arms enough to handle a weapon or tool. Characters 11-20 feet away, or those who pass their surprise checks within 10 feet, may opt to go prone as they see the branches collapsing. If they do, they will be hit by only 1d6-1 thorns, and after two rounds of collapse, will be free to get up and move; if not, they are subject to the same effects as those surprised characters standing close to the trunk receive.
Unfortunate and unassisted characters trapped by the horrible thorns of the Vitriol Tree will eventually be consumed by angry Vitrsects, a nibble at a time. Rescuers must deal with a ground awash in acidic sap, as well as swarms of Vitrsects, and the ever- present chance of a renewed Spike Wolf attack.
Without special fertilizer, like the high protein, high-acid feces and carcasses of the Spike Wolves, plus the pollination of the Vitrsects, the Vitriol Trees would not survive a five-year generation.
The Vitrsects do not, at first encounter, appear to be bugs; if your world penalizes Elves in the presence of insects, they will not initially suffer that dexterity/ morale penalty when seeing them lying on branches of the Vitriol Tree. They look like giant (8"-14"), short-haired, dull-colored caterpillars with three or four segments; their six legs are short enough to avoid detection from further than twelve feet away. Normally quiescent, Vitrsects are agitated by movement near their nesting places or hives (which they build in the few high places of Biyll). When aroused, their hidden wings spring forth from the hairy sides, and they swing their sharply-toothed mandibles up into view, from resting places facing straight down.
They lay their eggs from their fourth segment, which drops off and attaches to the bark of the Vitriol branch, when they have reached maturity, in a two,year cycle and in instinctive response to the hive's needs. The rest of their cycle, they spend in or around their hive, where the young grow and food is stored.
Vitrsects attack in a swarm, and if your rules allow for this, use them. Otherwise, an attack of Vitrsects will contain 10-60 creatures, with a d6 attacking each eligible character until driven off or destroyed.
Vitrsects can move twice as far in one round as any armored human; their bite is enough to do only 1 hit of damage per attack, and often cannot penetrate heavy armor. Flying, they are hard to hit, but even a strong dagger blow will drop one. Also, smoke and gas can drive them off.
Forlorn Hares are the critical link in this eco-system. They are harmless, timid, quick-breeding herbivores, looking very much like small rabbits. Predation over years in this forest selected only the gamiest and least visible to survive, and they would have long since fallen below the size and numbers needed to support the Spike Wolves, had they not been domesticated and bred by the dark elf ranger (see below). They are thoroughly inoffensive creatures, and the only trace of evil ecology in their systems is their ability to ingest the plant life without ill effect. Forlorn Hares are edible for humans, unlike any other plant or animal life in Biyll.
If the Forlorn Hares are no longer being domestically produced in large herds, the Spike Wolves will fall to cannibalism and starvation. Their feces and carcasses will no longer fertilize the Vitriol Trees; the death of the trees will deprive the Vitrsects of their unique source of nesting material. Within ten years, the Biyll Forest will be nothing more than a dark, semi-swampy virgin cut forest with an ecology rapidly returning to normal. Acid levels in soil and plants will fall off completely, and normal vegetation and animal life will fall off completely and normal vegetation and animal life will return.
Other creatures, include the Feathertail Rattler (a normal sized poisonous snake whose "feathery rattle sounds like a fluttering bird, and causes victims to look overhead in the round before its attack), and a Mute type of Vulture which offers no attack but watches passing character as if waiting patiently for them to die. The GM may create othets, but none should be so dangerous as to distract the party from the basic eco-system of Biyll and its mystery.
GM's Forest Encounter Summary
Type : Frequency
Soil Footing : Always
Swamp Holes : Always (1 in 6/half hour)
Vampiric Root : 1 in 6/hr if resting
Spike Wolves(2d6+1) : 2 in 12/2hrs
Vitriol Tree : 3 in 12/2hrs
Other Creature : 4-5 in 12/2hrs
No Encounter : 6-12/2hrs
The GM is free to alter the indications given in the chart at pleasure. Certainly, no party should pass easily through Biyll.
More The Dread Forest Biyll
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