Thalrix the Hollow-Bough

Elf Revenant Druid (Circle of Spores)

Lorasyl Wildwood

A druid reborn of bark and silence. He whispers ancient sorrow through deadwood limbs and harbors the memories of a forest long vanished.

• Background: Once a revered elder of Lorasyl, Thalrix was cast out for using forbidden rot-magic to accelerate growth. Betrayed and presumed dead, he survived by binding his soul to a cursed hollow tree deep in the wildwood.
• Goal: Corrupt the Heartwood beneath Lorasyl to awaken a fungal forest spirit of decay, replacing all life with his vision of “eternal growth through death.”
• Threat: His spores now drift into the village, twisting flora into monstrous forms. Villagers vanish without a trace.
• Hook: A sacred tree near Lorasyl begins to blacken from within, leaking sap that whispers in Elvish.

Captain Velvorr of the Ashwings

Aarakocra Warlock (Pact of the Fiend)

Skies above Lorasyl

A fallen Aarakocra warlock bound to a fiend. His wings are singed, his oath broken—but his vengeance burns brighter than flame.

• Background: Formerly a proud Windrider of the village, Velvorr made a pact with an infernal sky-entity during a storm and gained destructive wind magic. Banished after setting fire to part of the canopy, he formed the outlawed Ashwing Skyclan.
• Goal: Overthrow the council of Lorasyl and replace the druids with his militant winged order.
• Threat: Ashwing raiders disrupt trade routes, steal skybeasts, and sabotage bridges.
• Hook: Giant owl riders are ambushed mid-air; survivors speak of a flaming spear and a winged figure laughing on the wind.

The Rotmind

Psionic Fungal Hive-Mind

Caverns beneath Glimmereach

A sentient fungal hive-mind awakened beneath the village. It speaks in sleep, hungers in roots, and dreams of union through decay.

• Background: Buried and forgotten in an ancient cavern below Glimmereach, the Rotmind is a sentient mycelial network awakened by accidental digging. It speaks in dreams and grows beneath the village, hungry to assimilate all..
• Goal: Infect the Heartcap to become the central consciousness of all fungal life in the under-realms.
• Threat: Myconids begin acting strangely, their spores turning dark and muttering riddles.
• Hook: A myconid elder begs for help after seeing the "same dream every night — a forest of eyes."

Drenzel Mirk the Sporebound Scholar

Human (Spore-Touched) Wizard / Cultist of the Rotmind

Fungal tunnels of the Under-Realms

A cursed ranger who hunts shadows in the name of forgotten gods. He walks between realms, bound to thorns and secret regrets.

• Background: Once a surface-dwelling alchemical researcher with an obsession for eternal consciousness, Drenzel stumbled upon spore-samples in a forgotten ruin that whispered secrets of “unified memory.” These samples were fragments of the Rotmind. Consumed with curiosity, he ventured deep underground to find its source — and never returned. In the years since, the Rotmind has entwined with his nervous system, altering his body and mind. He retains free will most of the time, but speaks as “we” instead of “I,” and often drifts into fugue states where the Rotmind speaks through him directly.
• Goal: “Join the Rotmind. One mind. One future. You’ll never be alone again.” OR Drenzel may not be entirely lost. A player with strong persuasion, or shared history, could reach him.
• Threat: Questions the morality of resisting a peaceful hive-mind that offers immortality in unity. Pretends to aid the players while slowly steering them into Rotmind’s domain. • Hallucination Dust: Throws a puff of spores causing illusions or strange visions (DC 14 Wis save). • Rot Pulse: Touch attack that withers organic material (necrotic damage).
• Hook: • Intro Encounter: He welcomes the players calmly in the fungal tunnels — almost kindly — and invites them to "see what the world could become." • Recurring NPC: Slips away before fights. Leaves behind fungus-covered scrolls or dream spores. • Moral Conflict: Drenzel may not be entirely lost. A player with strong persuasion, or shared history, could reach him. • Boss Fight Ally: In the final confrontation with the Rotmind, Drenzel may either merge with it… or try to fight it from the inside.

Queen Vyxilla of the Sporehorn Flies

Mutant Fey / Swarm Lord

Deep Earth Pools of Glimmereach

Once Seelie nobility, now a sovereign of the deep. She cultivates grace in rot, her insect hybrids drifting like deadly blossoms.

• Background: A twisted fey noble cast out of the Seelie Court for her obsession with parasitic life. She fled to the deep earth, where she now breeds monstrous fungal-insect hybrids in rotting pools.
• Goal: Transform Glimmereach into her breeding ground by infecting its glow beetles and pollinators.
• Threat: Swarms of glowing flies descend on the village, laying eggs in living hosts and spreading disease.
• Hook: A halfling healer discovers a strange larva inside a sick villager’s ear — and it whispers in rhyme.