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Old Macridi Locations

The Iron-Root Apothecary

Herbal Remedies and Wilderness Preparations

A string of tarnished copper bells chimes as you push open the heavy darkwood door. Inside, the air is thick and warm, heavy with the scent of crushed mint, dried pine needles, and the acrid tang of boiling sap. Hundreds of glass vials and ceramic jars line the walls, containing everything from preserved fey-moths to glowing phosphorescent fungi. Behind a long, scarred wooden counter, bundles of dried roots hang from the ceiling rafters, casting long, twisting shadows in the lantern light.

The Iron-Root Apothecary is an essential stop for any logger or adventurer braving the Palakar Forest. The shop is owned and operated by Morwenna Iron-Root (N female human alchemist), a pragmatic and sharp-tongued herbalist who has spent decades studying the unique flora of the fey-touched woods. Recently, her shop has been overwhelmed; a steady trickle of river workers have come in suffering from strange rashes, coughing fits, and skin irritation after handling tainted timber. Her ordinary remedies help, but not nearly as well as they should.

GM Note: Morwenna's Demeanor

Morwenna is not a Kalistocrat and does not care about the "Blood Price" or corporate profits; her loyalty is to the health of the town and the balance of the forest. If the party shows genuine concern for the fey or the Palakar's ecosystem, reduce all interaction DCs with her by 2.

Shop Inventory

Notable Items for Sale

  • Antidote (Lesser) — 3 gp (5 in stock)
  • Anti-Blight Poultice — 5 gp (Grants a +2 item bonus to Fortitude saves against fungal diseases; against exposure to the infernal Palakar blight, the bonus is only +1.)
  • Wolfbane Distillate — 4 gp (Useful for neutralizing local beast venoms)
  • Healer's Tools — 5 gp

Apothecary Challenges

Challenge 1: Analyzing the Blight Sample

Primary CheckCrafting or Nature DC 18

If the party brings a sample of the oily black sap from Karland's Sawmill, Morwenna asks for their help using her alchemical equipment to separate ordinary plant material from whatever is making the corruption resist her usual treatments.

Critical Success The party cleanly separates the black residue from the plant material. As it precipitates across the glass, the residue forms tiny repeating angles and hooked lines that resemble infernal script rather than any natural growth pattern. The blight is being driven by an infernal catalyst carried through living plant tissue, which explains why ordinary treatments attack the secondary decay but fail to remove the underlying corruption. Morwenna still cannot determine what is sustaining it underground.
Success The party determines that the blight is not primarily fungal. Natural decay is present, but it is secondary to an unnatural contaminant moving through living plant tissue. Morwenna recognizes enough alchemical and occult behavior in the residue to conclude that normal anti-blight remedies can only slow the symptoms.
Failure The alchemical process fizzles, ruining the sample. The party gains no useful information and wastes an hour of time.
Critical Failure The distillation violently boils over and releases a cloud of acrid black vapor. Everyone in the shop must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save or become sickened 1.

Challenge 2: Securing the Last Reserves

Primary CheckDiplomacy, Intimidation, or Society DC 17

Morwenna has only a handful of anti-blight poultices left, and she is holding them under strict orders for the Blackjacket mercenaries. The poultices can reduce the effects of exposure and treat secondary infections, but Morwenna is increasingly certain that they cannot cure the source of the Palakar blight.

Critical Success The party convinces Morwenna that their mission may be the best chance to identify the source of the crisis. She sells them her remaining stock at a 50% discount and throws in a feather step stone to help them navigate the forest.
Success Morwenna agrees to break protocol and sell the party her reserved anti-blight supplies at market price.
Failure Morwenna refuses to risk the wrath of the Guildmasters. She will sell ordinary medicines and healing supplies but keeps the remaining specialized poultices for official personnel.
Critical Failure The party deeply offends Morwenna or triggers her paranoia regarding Kalistocratic audits. She kicks them out of the shop and refuses to do business with them for 24 hours.
GM Note: How the Infernal Blight Works

Each active blight zone is anchored by a Blight Seedling: a deliberately planted growth buried beneath the surface among living roots. Planting one requires excavation into the root layer, placing the seedling against established roots, and backfilling the earth around it.

Once established, the seedling forces infernal corruption through nearby living roots and vascular tissue. The most recognizable symptoms are thick oily black sap and repeating infernal markings that appear as angular ember-red, reddish-gold, or blackened lines beneath bark and along infected roots.

Ordinary remedies remain useful for exposure, secondary fungal growth, rashes, and other symptoms, but they cannot stop an active node because they do not destroy the buried seedling sustaining it.

A specially prepared Blight Seedling Neutralizer can kill a node. The seedling must first be exposed; pouring the liquid directly over the living seedling destroys it and stops that node from spreading further corruption. Existing damage does not vanish instantly, but affected soil and vegetation can begin recovering once the anchor is dead.

Infernal Blightlings are not Blight Seedlings. They are mobile, blight-twisted plant creatures produced or transformed by the corruption. Killing a blightling does not cleanse the buried node that created the surrounding blight.

Sidequest

The Cedar Court's Reagent

Morwenna reveals that her standard remedies are barely slowing the effects of the black sap. Her analysis suggests that pure, uncorrupted golden amber from the ancient trees of the Cedar Court could bind the strange infernal residue long enough to create a concentrated neutralizing liquid. She does not yet know exactly what underground source must be treated, but she believes the finished compound will need to be applied directly to it rather than spread across infected trees. Unfortunately, the dryads have completely sealed their borders.

  • Objective: Make contact with Elder Ryauhm of the Cedar Court and acquire a vial of pure golden cedar amber.
  • Research Use: Once the party discovers a Blight Seedling or obtains a viable sample from one, Morwenna can use the amber to complete the formula for Blight Seedling Neutralizer.
  • Reward: Morwenna grants the party a permanent 20% discount at her shop and provides three Elixirs of Blight Warding. Each grants a +2 item bonus to Fortitude saves against black-sap exposure and other environmental effects of the infernal blight for 24 hours.