Main — The Last Song Before the Road
The Last Song Before the Road
Return from the Cedar Blightnode · A satyr's urgent plea · Departure for the Court of Endless Revelry
The gates of Thornwatch open beneath a canopy of living cedar. Behind you, the forest seems quieter than it did on the journey out. The scouts who remained behind greet you with cautious relief, and news of what happened at the blightnode spreads from one shelter to the next. Before the Court's healers have finished receiving your report, a sudden cry interrupts the camp: “Please! Someone here must know what to do!” A satyr pushes through the gathered dryads, leaning hard on a walking stick. His green sash hangs in shreds, and tiny bells sewn along its edge make no sound.
Return from the Big Battle
This scene begins after the party returns from Area 15 — The Heart of the Cedar Blight to the Cedar Court's Thornwatch encampment. Let the PCs describe their condition and report the result. The Cedar Court honors the party's efforts and provides normal recovery and resupply as appropriate. A defeated blightnode does not instantly purify every contaminated water source or undo changes already inflicted on living creatures. Track the node neutralization and treated water intakes separately, as established in S3.
The Messenger from the Endless Revelry
Thistlewhistle “Thistle” Reedhorn is a satyr courier of the Court of Endless Revelry. He has traveled hard to request help. A growing number of satyrs have become dependent on sweet, blight-tainted water. They drink compulsively, defend its sources, and in some cases attack friends who try to stop them. Some show black-gold traces under their skin. Thistle is uncertain how many have been exposed, whether the entire court is at risk, and whether the infected will accept aid. His fear is for his friends rather than for his status.
The satyr looks from the dryads to you, taking a moment to steady his voice. “I came because they said your people had found something that worked. At home the revels have not stopped—but the songs are wrong. They keep drinking from the same pools. They laugh when we ask them to leave, and they bare their horns when we try to take the water. Some of them are my oldest friends. If you have an antidote, please—let me bring it to them.”
The Cedar Court's Response
The dryad field commander recognizes the resemblance to the contamination around the Stage 3 node. The Cedar Court has prepared fey-safe treatment supplies intended for living creatures exposed to the blight and agrees to furnish an expedition. The court asks the party to accompany Thistle, protect the shipment, assess the infection, and administer treatment where safe. This is a relief mission, not an assault on a rival fey court.
Important continuity: This living-creature treatment is separate from both the water-intake antidote used in infected roots and the seed-neutralizer used on the exposed central blight seed. The three are not interchangeable. The new medicine can help stabilize or reverse early affliction as the next act establishes, but is not declared a guaranteed cure for every stage or individual. Killing or neutralizing a regional blightnode also does not automatically cure those already affected.
Expedition Supplies
Thornwatch's healers hand over a sealed, insulated cedar case containing 12 individually stoppered doses of the Cedar Court's fey-safe blight treatment, each labeled for one afflicted creature's initial course. This is a campaign-defined supply quantity for the next act, not a market purchase. The healers also provide 3 clean-water skins, bandaging and sterile cloth, and written administration notes. The case is protected from ordinary travel wear but not indestructible. The GM should track doses actually administered; no dose is spent merely by scouting or speaking with a patient.
Thistle's initial estimate is that at least several satyrs need immediate help, and he fears many more have been exposed. Twelve doses represent a substantial first relief shipment, not proof that every patient is accounted for. If the situation exceeds available medicine, reaching the court and establishing a secure supply route become natural next-act objectives.
The Party's Decision and Preparation
- Debrief: Let the party share the node's fate, the dangerous water's effects, and what they learned from Ilyra or other scouts.
- Ask the satyr: Thistle can describe the revelers' changed behavior, the drinking places, safe trails he remembers, and the court's customs. He has no certainty about hidden masterminds or exact numbers.
- Receive supplies: Hand over the sealed medicine case and the accompanying treatment instructions (see the attached supply artifact).
- Prepare to travel: Offer routine healing, rest, food, equipment checks, and a chance to say farewell to the Cedar Court. Thistle accompanies the group as a guide and interpreter, not as a replacement player character.
Farewell to the Cedar Court
At dawn, the Cedar Court gathers beneath the great branches. The sealed cedar case rests among your supplies, its wax markings still fresh. Thistle waits at the path's edge, turning his old reed flute between his fingers without playing. One of the dryads presses a living cedar sprig into his hand. “Bring them home, if you can.” The satyr nods, then looks to you. “The road is long. We should go before the next song begins.” Beyond the trees, the western trail vanishes into the green.
End of Act Three — Curtain
End the act when the party leaves with Thistle and the antidote shipment toward the Court of Endless Revelry. Do not start the next court's investigation or an unplanned combat here. Their final Act Three achievement is turning the Cedar Court's hard-won understanding of the blight into an expedition to save other fey. The journey and the stricken revelers' situation open the following act.
Confirm the Area 15 outcome without assuming all waterways are cleansed; establish the satyrs' blight-water dependence; hand over 12 living-creature doses, distinct from water/root and seed preparations; record Thistle as the escorting NPC; set the next destination to the Court of Endless Revelry. The player characters entered Act Three at level 3; this scene does not invent an additional automatic level-up.