S

This small patch of undisturbed forest can be dropped into any

setting. Its name comes from the few-remaining ‘blood maples’
that dominate the canopy with scarlet leaves all year long. Blood
maple wood is strong and pink, but the sap is darker and sticky,
dripping over the charcoal trunks and staining the forest floor.
The sap can be boiled into a syrup far sweeter than that of other
maples, and this delicacy is the only reason people venture into
the Sanguine Wood these days.
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3-6 Shans looks up sternly, “You will need luck.” Add

one creature to the calculations in Areas 2 and 3.
7-18 Shans smiles widely, “I knew you were the
ones!” The character has advantage on Charisma
Saving Throws for the next 24 hours.

As afternoon fades to evening, you find yourself a

half-day’s march outside of town. A chill wind stings
your eyes; it’s time to make camp. Blinking back to
clarity, the gray pile of rags ahead gently stands, and
as a hood falls back revealing colorless eyes, a smiling
voice hugs you like a wool blanket, “Praise! I knew
someone would come. Please, what do you look like?”

1 Deirdre throws a knife into a tree 15 feet away and

holds out another, commanding, “Hit my blade.”
AC 10 ranged dagger attack
2 Deirdre leaps from a rock, to a log, then a high
branch, and swings down: “Come on then!” DC 12
Dexterity (acrobatics) or Strength (athletics) check
3 Deirdre offers a blood maple samara in their open
palm, “Go on, take it.” Dexterity (sleight of hand)
contest, best of three
4 Deirdre settles into a fighting stance and beckons a
party member forward. Unarmed combat, first to
deal 3 damage wins!

Crossing under the forest’s scarlet shadow, you smell

the amber coals glowing between two canvas tents,
and you see the straight back of a lithe cross-legged
figure. Their head turns slightly, exposing long elven
ears through wavy copper hair, as they project, “I only
heard you halfway down the hill! Not bad, old man!”
Like singular eyes staring back, nearly a dozen motes
of amber light form a serpentine constellation, fading
into the distant silence of these red-black woods.
You step into a starlit glade with more glowing beetles
buzzing around a central stone altar. The monolith
looks older than all the surrounding forest, except the
hulking maple behind it, whose twisted crown casts a
crimson radiance from over a hundred feet above.

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You wait… nothing. Nearly a minute passes before you
hear a soft hissing from the crevice. Then a long creak
like old floorboards that ends in a firewood-splitting
crack! A cough of humid, metallic air hits your face, as
steadily the edges of the crack roll inward, and the
black maw of this ancient creature welcomes you.
As your feet squish in the red mud of this cramped,
dark hollow, the gateway snaps shut behind you! And
you notice, deep down the tunnel, a faint red light
flickering, and… music? Yes, a thudding percussion,
and a shrill voice singing and laughing from below.

The light and sound bloom as you descend and come

to the edge of a dome-like chamber about forty feet
across. Around a smokeless, bright red bonfire,
several wooden figures drum on their chests and
dance in time with a robed goblin warbling joyfully.
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