1. Characters

The Forest Queen

NPC
The Endless Weald in Thelanis: The Faerie Court

The Forest Queen reflects the mystery and danger of the dark woods. She is protective of her beasts and despises the encroaching cities. In her tales, she rewards those who respect the wilds and show kindness to her beasts, but she is cruel to fools who stray from the path or hurt her subjects.

Source: ExE Chapter 5

There was a time when the world was the wood, when there were no towns or steel. The Forest Queen ruled the Endless Weald, maintaining peace between people and beasts. But as ages passed, her children grew restless in the shade of her leaves. Her eldest son came to her and said, “Mother, I dream of war! I want to build a fortress and wield a blade of steel.” The Queen replied, “Then leave the wood, but do not bring your metal into my domain.” And so he left the wood and founded the kingdom of Karrnath. The next day the eldest daughter came before the Queen. “Mother, I dream of magic! I want to build a tower and conjure fire!” The Queen replied, “Then leave the wood, but do not cast your spells in my domain.” And so she left the wood and founded the kingdom of Thaliost. One by one, the Queen’s children left her, until she was alone in the woods with the spirits and the beasts. And as each child raised a kingdom, the woods grew smaller and farther apart, and the heart of the Forest Queen grew bitter and cold. The people are her greatgrandchildren, and she will not harm those who stay on the path and respect the beasts of the forest. But those who stray from the path, who conjure fire or hunt with steel, those fools will be lost in the Endless Weald and never again see the light of day

From the Towering Wood in the Eldeen Reaches to the Harrowcrowns of Thrane, from the Greenhaunt of Breland to the Shadowmount Forest of Karrnath, wherever people dwell by the deep forest, they share stories of the Forest Queen. She is the archdryad, linked to every root and bough. She is proud, and when protecting her subjects, she can be ruthless; but she shares many wonders with those who enter her woods with empty hands and open eyes. The story above is clearly apocryphal, but it’s a common tale with many variations, such as her children founding nearby towns instead of nations. Regardless, the message is the same: there is a power that watches over the woods. Stories often depend on the character of the local forest; near the Towering Woods, the Forest Queen is often depicted as benevolent, while near the Nightwood of Karrnath, they talk of how the betrayals of her children froze the heart of the Forest Queen, leaving her cruel and hungry for revenge.

The Queen of Weald and Wood. The Forest Queen rules the Endless Weald within Thelanis, an arboreal realm inhabited by dire beasts and wild fey. The Weald often leaks into the wood through manifest zones found in deep forests; in such places, dryads lurk in the trees and beasts may possess unusual cunning. Under the right circumstances, travelers passing through a zone might even slip into the Weald. Such forests typically have well-worn paths that avoid these pitfalls, thus strengthening the story of stay on the path. The Greensinger druids know rituals to connect a forest to the Endless Weald, establishing a temporary manifest zone in any deep wood. The Queen’s influence can also be felt in any forest in times when Eberron and Thelanis are coterminous. Just like the stories, the Queen’s personality often reflects the forest where she’s currently manifesting; the Forest Queen is more likely to be benevolent in the Twilight Demesne and cruel in the Nightwood.

The Queen as Ally or Patron. The Forest Queen has close ties to the Greensingers, and any Greensinger druid or ranger could have the Forest Queen as a patron. She’s an option for a warlock with an Archfey patron, but the magic she teaches is primal in nature, not arcane. This doesn’t change the spells available to the warlock; their spells simply draw on elemental forces and the power of the fey rather than arcane formulas. As a more exotic option, a character with the Outlander background could have slipped into the Endless Weald as a child and been raised in the court of the Forest Queen. Regardless of origin, any character allied with the Forest Queen is expected to follow her rules.

  • Don’t use weapons or armor of metal.
  • Don’t kill a natural beast with magic or for sport.
  • Protect those who travel on a marked path, unless they harm the forest with their actions.
  • Help any fey of the forest who comes to you in need.

Beyond these basic principles, the Forest Queen’s quests typically relate to the woods in some way. An agent of the Forest Queen could be tasked to reconsecrate a grove, to destroy an infestation of aberrations or other unnatural predators, or to prevent an ambitious dragonmarked house from expanding into woodlands. Beyond the forest, an agent could be tasked to recover a relic stolen from the Endless Weald (and once reclaimed, perhaps entrusted to carry this artifact on their adventures). Agents of the Forest Queen might be charged to act as envoys, negotiating with agents of other archfey or dealing with the Feyspires. Or perhaps there’s a darkness in the Endless Weald, a canker that appeared when the forests of Cyre were consumed by the Mourning. The Forest Queen could task mortals to explore this region within the Weald, or charge them to explore the Mournland and to seek a cure for the wounded land.

The Queen as an Enemy. One could make an enemy of the Queen by breaking one of her rules while in her woods, or perhaps by killing one of her favored beasts or devoted agents. Such a personal enmity could lead to a character being targeted by natural threats—singled out by aggressive beasts, led astray on journeys through wild regions, or targeted by malicious sprites. A character could also earn her ire by taking one of her relics from a forest, perhaps not knowing that the magic item is tied to the wood. On a larger scale, the Forest Queen could grow tired of civilization itself. The forests containing her manifest zones could expand, with fey and feral beasts attacking villages and towns as they’re overgrown. Could adventurers find a way to placate the bitter Queen, or must they defeat her to end this advance?

Source: ExE Chapter 8

The Forest Queen's Lair

The Forest Queen watches over the Endless Weald in Thelanis. Fauns and dryads dance in clearings lit by gleaming sprites, and peaceful beasts congregate by glittering springs. A series of path connects the safe spaces within the woods. But for those who stray from the path, the Endless Weald lives up to its name; such fools can be lost indefinitely, until the Queen takes mercy and leads them out.

Lair Actions. While within the Endless Weald, the Forest Queen can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Forest Queen can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; she can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

  • Thick, tangled bushes grow in a 50-foot-square area within 120 feet of the Forest Queen. Each creature within these bushes must use 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot moved. In addition, a creature in the bushes must succeed on a DC 23 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep due to the sleep-inducing properties of the bush’s blooms. A creature sleeping in this manner awakens if it takes damage, if someone uses an action to shake or slap it awake, or at initiative count 20 on the round after next.
  • The Forest Queen summons a mass of vines and roots from the ground beneath her, forming a nearly impenetrable weave of protection. Until initiative count 20 in the next round, she has total cover.
  • One creature within 90 feet of the Forest Queen must make a DC 23 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the target’s spellcasting is hampered until initiative count 20 on the round after next. During that time, when the target casts a spell of 1st level or higher, it must expend a spell slot one level higher than it would usually expend to cast that spell. If the target doesn’t have a spell slot of a level higher than the spell, it can’t cast that spell.
July 27th, 2020

Weapons of Wood and Bone

The Forest Queen charges those who follow her rules to never kill with steel or wear metal armor. This can be a serious limitation for a ranger or other character that has access to martial weapons or medium or heavy armor. However, they could seek out equipment of bronzewood, an exotic lumber that only grows in Aerenal and in a few groves hidden deep in the Towering Wood. This exceptionally dense wood can be used to fashion armor without metal, which could use the same statistics as any medium or heavy armor. Arrows and crowssbow bolts can also be fashioned from bronzewood, and this exceptionally durable ammunition breaks no more often than its steel counterpart. Similarly, leafweave armor is made from alchemically treated leaves of the bronzewood tree, and can offer the same level of protection as studded leather or a chain shirt.

Armor and weapons made using these substances are generally only available in Aerenal or within the Towering Woods, but if it fits a character’s background, the DM could choose to allow a character’s starting equipment to be made from such materials. Another option is a weapon formed from the bones of a monstrosity; here again, the principle is that the weapon is mechanically identical to a standard weapon, but doesn’t violate the Forest Queen’s ban on metal. If a character is using a bone weapon, there should certainly be a story to it: What creature is it from? Who killed the beast and shaped the weapon, and how did the character come by it?

July 27th, 2020