Session Narrative
The Mirkwoods earn their name. The trees here are old enough to have opinions, their canopy so thick that daylight arrives at the forest floor as a grey-green murk. Whispers drift between the trunks — not malevolent, exactly, but aware. Stone statues appear along the path, frozen in expressions of surprise: former travellers who looked at something they should not have looked at. The party gives them a wide berth.
Podwick accompanies them, grumbling constantly and proving quietly indispensable. He knows which mushrooms are poisonous, which paths circle back on themselves, and when the whispering is merely wind. He is, the party may grudgingly admit, good at his job.
Amaranth Nettleweed’s house stands in a clearing deep in the woods — a cottage that appears structurally sound despite being abandoned for decades, the garden choked but still showing the bones of someone who cared about plants. Amaranth herself manifests as a ghost shortly after they enter: translucent, tired, and fiercely protective of her locket, which was the last gift from her late husband and has no particular magical power except the kind that matters most.
Hansel and Gretel are not where the stories suggest. They are not lost children — they are changeling twins, placed with a local woodcutter, and they carry within them a power that is genuinely frightening: cold, deep, inhuman. The woodcutter is kind and has no idea.
And then the water shifts, and a presence makes itself known. Dagon, Prince of the Darkened Depths — ancient, vast, and speaking from everywhere at once — addresses the party. He is the children’s father. He wants them back. The woodcutter, in the way of this bargain, would need to be removed. In return: power, wealth, whatever each of them most desires.
Most of the party agrees. Podwick does not. He looks at them with something that might be disappointment and something that might be disgust, and he walks back into the trees without a word. Kuso, alone, lingers — and a fox made of autumn light appears at the edge of the clearing, meeting her eyes, suggesting without words that there is another path.
Key NPCs
- Amaranth Nettleweed — Ghost of a woodland witch. Gentle, sad, deeply attached to her locket. Will gift it willingly to anyone who shows genuine kindness. Offers a blessing if her spirit is freed.
- Hansel & Gretel (changeling twins) — Appear as ordinary children of about 8. Eyes are slightly too pale. Smile slightly too wide. When frightened, frost forms on nearby surfaces.
- Dagon — Prince of the Darkened Depths. Ancient demon lord. Speaks in a voice like the ocean floor shifting. Patient, manipulative, absolute. He does not make threats. He makes statements of future fact.
Encounters & Mechanics
Mirkwood Hazards
DC 12 Wisdom saves against the whispers (failure: Frightened for 1 minute). DC 13 Perception to spot stone statues before walking into their line of effect (DM’s custom petrification gaze hazard, DC 15 Con save or Restrained for 1 hour).
Loot & Rewards
| Item | Notes / Value |
| The Silver Locket | Amaranth’s locket. No magical properties. Required for Corster’s quest. Amaranth gives it freely if her story is heard with compassion. |
| Amaranth’s Blessing | If her spirit is freed, she grants one party member Advantage on all saving throws for the next 24 hours. |
| Dagon’s Promise | Power and wealth — unspecified, undelivered, and the party is now in a pact they have not thought through. |
DM Notes
This is a moral inflection point. Most of the party agreeing to Dagon’s offer is a significant event — not punishable immediately, but consequential. The fox fey’s appearance for Kuso plants the seed of the Session 9 Feywild escape. Podwick’s exit is emotional; play it quietly. He doesn’t slam doors. He just leaves.