The hardest part of all is the 2500 posts. For that you need to make a lot of maps and/or write (speak) (here) more than my mother and Italian aunts when they get together. 🤣

If I want something more realistic, I would definitely go for Forest or Winter Trail (or both), something more "cartoon" certainly Mike Schley who has even more icons for variations.

SEEDS OF SILENCE

Recommended Level: 2–4

Tone: Natural mystery, investigation, subtle horror

A chapter to be played with both the Vale Bearers and the Jade Shadow – depending on the group’s choice.

Version 1: The Bearers

 Introduction

A dry explosion echoes across the fields, followed by a tremor. The air becomes thick and heavy, and an unnatural silence hangs over the Bearers’ village. Animals flee in despair, and the elders immediately sense a rupture — something has disturbed the sacred balance of the Vale. With no time to waste, a small group is gathered and sent in haste to investigate the source of the disturbance. Everything indicates that the enchanted plantations to the west...

 Adventure Structure:

1. To the plantation – The path already shows signs of imbalance: dead animals, maddened insects, trees weeping black sap.

2. Site Investigation – The Bearers find signs of alchemical magic and markings on the ground that indicate dark rituals involving tainted sap.

3. The Cult in the Shadows – They discover that the soil has been altered with compounds that break the tree’s connection to the power of the Vale. A trail leads to the sap gatherers’ old shelter.

4. Convergence – While following the invaders’ tracks, the Bearers discover a footstep on an ancient trail that leads into the forest.

5. Ambush of the Shadow – They are attacked by Jade Shadow cultists trying to cover their tracks. The battle reveals that something bigger is coming.

 Seeds of Silence — Version 2: The Jade Shadow

 Recommended Level: 2–4

Tone: Occult ritual, bio-alchemy, fanaticism

Objective: Weaken the Vale’s power through a new magical formula of corruption

 Introduction:

A new compound has been developed by one of the Jade Shadow’s master alchemists, using a mixture of corrupted sap and dead mana. The mission: to test its effectiveness in cutting the life energy that binds the magical trees to the Vale.

 Adventure Structure:

1. Formula Delivery – The group receives vials of “Crimson Drain” and instructions to apply it discreetly to a plantation near the Circle.

2. Nighttime Operation – They must act during a new moon night. Natural guards and sentinel animals may complicate the mission.

3. Something goes wrong – During the procedure, one of the trees reacts violently, releasing a burst of vital energy that injures one of the group members and attracts the attention of the nearby village.

4. The Sap Trail – While fleeing, far away when they stop to catch their breath, they discover that one of the containers has been left behind. They know they have been discovered.

5. Final Confrontation – When returning to eliminate the clues, they cross paths with a group of Carriers — leading to a direct and tense conflict.

 Dramatic Convergence – The Judgement of the Root

The two groups confront each other in front of the Heart of Silvanja, an ancient tree buried in the neighboring forest, which awakens in agony. Its essence, corrupted and conscious, traps both in an arena of living roots. A voice appears — which does not speak, but invades the mind:

"Judge each other. Or you will be judged by me."

Possible Outcomes:

1. Deadly conflict: Fighting erupts between the factions. The tree collapses, taking part of the valley with it.

2. Forced alliance: Faced with horror, the two sides band together to purify the root.

3. Mutual betrayal: A member of each side betrays their group—revealing infiltration by both orders.

This scenario inspired me (again) to one day play there — or something similar — with my friends when we meet again.

I created a small introductory adventure, low level and without specific rules, to be easily adapted to any system.

The structure allows you to choose a side and fit it either in any village of the Bearers or in some distant corner of another world.

It comes with a free A1 Battlemap 😎

Cheers!

The characters are on a mission to distribute seeds and dried fruit through the Belthara Circle. As they traverse the perilous Ukra'Dor trail, the party passes through the section between the Odo-Kraal Narrows and the Gargoyle camp.

Or

Followers of the Jade Shadow trek through the pass into or out of the Vale. As they traverse the perilous Ukra'Dor trail, the party passes through the section between the Odo-Kraal Narrows and the Gargoyle camp.

The Watcher

Introduction: The Call of the Cave

The party is traversing the perilous Ukra Dor trail, surrounded by the oppressive Odo Kraal Narrows, when they begin to notice something amiss. The path, once familiar, seems to play tricks on their perception: a landmark stone on the left now appears on the right; moss on the trees grows in erratic spirals. As they move forward, time becomes elastic—steps that should have taken minutes seem to take hours, and trails left behind reappear ahead, as if pursued by their own footprints.

When they finally reach the point where the skeleton known as Azrun watches over the trail, the world around them becomes dreamlike. The sound of the wind and the mountains fades, replaced by an oppressive silence. The air trembles around the skeleton, and twigs thrown from it hang suspended for a moment, floating in an altered density, before falling. The group tries to adjust their route, but the trail doubles back on itself, forcing them to return repeatedly to the same place: in front of Azrun.

Suddenly, the air becomes heavy and huge rocks slide down, closing the canyon in front and behind, mixed with a living mist that rises together like impassable walls; everything blurs except the fixed presence of Azrun. Behind them, the mountain breaks into a jagged crevice revealed by a corridor of mist. The group feels the judgment of unseen eyes, their claustrophobia growing, until the only possible route is the passage that Ukra'Dor herself imposes on them.

With a trembling whisper acknowledging the verdict of the living place, they are left to face the dark call that reverberates from within the cave — no return, no alternative, only the inevitable confrontation with the secrets that await them beyond the darkness. One of the group members, pale and trembling, whispers:

"Ukra'Dor has decided. To move forward, we must confront what lies within."

With no choice, the group enters the newly revealed cave.

Part 1: The Dreamlike Environment

The cave is a place where reality seems to dissolve. The damp stone walls pulse gently, as if breathing. The torchlight is gradually swallowed by the darkness, creating shadows that dance and contort like human figures in agony. The mist moves with subtle intelligence, enveloping each member of the group and whispering indistinct words—sometimes promises, sometimes threats.

Challenges:

1. Personal Illusions

Each character witnesses visions of loved ones or their greatest fears, projected by the mist. It takes wisdom to resist the illusions. Failure can lead to hysterical outbursts or even isolation from the group.

2. The Living Silence

The further they advance, the more deafening the silence becomes. As if their energy is slowly being drained, the group needs the physical stamina to resist the psychological pressure, which causes debilitating headaches and makes communication difficult.

Part 2: Echoes of the Failed

Deeper into the cavern, the party finds inscriptions on the walls, written in an ancient language. They tell the story of Azrun, a Stargazer who defied Ukra Dor by attempting to steal the power of Belthara’s circle for himself. As punishment, he was transformed into an undead guardian, condemned to watch over the passage forever. His curse is to fuel the time loop of the trail, ensuring that no one escapes without facing judgment.

As the party deciphers the inscriptions, they hear whispers growing around them. The mist slowly condenses into shapes, creating humanoid silhouettes that slowly approach. The travelers realize that they are surrounded by spectral echoes—the tormented spirits of past Stargazers who failed their missions.

Challenge:

1. The Spectral Echoes

Each echo attacks the party with physical and mental attacks. They drain life energy and create disturbing visions. Fight, succumb, or escape is the only choice.

Part 3: From Fog, He Speaks

In the heart of the cavern, the party finds a pulsating altar, made of bones and covered in glowing runes. It pulses, emitting a reddish light that synchronizes with the characters' heartbeats. Atop the altar is a small crystal - floating, it begins to resonate as the party approaches.

Suddenly, the spirit appears, shrouded in mist and dense necromantic energy. Its voice echoes through the cavern, deep and relentless:

"Insolent ones! How dare you enter my domain? Free me or face eternal judgment!"

Part 4 - Ending

4.1 Ending 1 – The Eternal Vigil (Combat and Moral Choice)

The characters face Azrun, but preserve the altar.

 Faced with the threat of Azrun's specter, the group chooses to fight. The ancient Holder fights like a living shadow: summoning fragments of his pain, creating illusions. After an exhausting battle, the group defeats the entity or seals it temporarily.

Discovery: The runes in the cave also reveal that the altar keeps the time cycle stable, containing breaches through which extra-temporal horrors try to infiltrate the world.

 Final Decision: The group decides not to destroy the altar — saving the Vale, but condemning Azrun to perpetual vigil.

 Final Scene: As they leave the cave, everything behind them disappears like mist. Azrun's skeleton returns to his stone throne, dry-eyed and alert. The path opens. The silence remains. And so does the curse.

 4.2 Ending 2 – The New Pact (Alliance and Ruin)

The group listens to Azrun and destroys the altar, joining him.

Azrun does not resist — he speaks. He offers an alliance and with that they will rewrite the ancient pacts of the gods together. The group, shaken by the revelations, desires for power or revolution, accepts.

Consequence: The altar is destroyed. A tear opens in time. The Vale screams. Creatures invade the present; fossil beasts gain flesh again. Azrun disappears between the cracks, leaving promises of revenge and liberation at the right time.

Final Scene: As they leave the cave, the sky over the Vale is split. Unknown stars shine. The ground trembles. But the players have in their hands an ancient ally who walks among the shadows.

4.3 Ending 3 – The Cycle That Does Not Exist (?)

The group touches the altar... and the world blinks.

In an instant, the absolute silence is replaced by familiar sounds: the cold wind of the Valley, the distant song of birds. The characters wake up in their travel bivouac, amidst the vegetation of the surrounding Valley, as if they had only dozed off. The memory of the cave, of Azrun, of the altar — everything fades like a poorly stitched dream..., but something is wrong.

Another member of the group is there talking to them as if nothing had happened. But there is something in his gaze — as if he does not really recognize them, or as if he is reciting rehearsed lines. He announces that they are “two days from the Gorge of Odo Kraal”.

The name makes everyone's bones tremble.

The group tries to question him, but the words escape like smoke. Around them, the trees seem... out of place. The shadows creep with small delays. And the moss, once again, grows in spirals. When they look back, they see old footprints, already sunk in the mud.

Final Scene:

One of the players, while washing his face in a stream, notices a scar on his arm—one that wasn’t there the day before. Another finds an amber fragment at the bottom of his backpack with runes identical to those from the cave he “never” visited. In the distance, at the edge of the mist, the figure of Azrun seems to peer through the trees...