# Fire Forest of Innenotdar: The Collected Backstory



## Truename (Aug 30, 2010)

On paper, at least, WotBS #2 is one of my favorites so far. I love the setting, the opportunity for real player choice, and the storyline. 

But it's complicated, and the layout of the module doesn't help. Critical pieces of information are spread throughout the module. As I've been preparing to run this adventure, I've gone through and created a cheat sheet to help me understand it. I thought it might help someone else out there, too.

100% Unadulterated Spoilers, of course. Unless otherwise mentioned, everything comes straight from the module.

[sblock]

*Ancient History*

The First Tree of Innenotdar was planted by a gold dragon named Syana and blessed by a deity of life at the forest’s founding. The veil between worlds is thin in Innenotdar, and the willow grew with its wood in both worlds.

The Tree’s first seeds were the seela, fey children of the forest and its caretakers. They are imbued with the radiance of the dragon that planted their mother.

The seela learned the Song of Forms from the rumbling of the earth in caves deep under the forest. Their dragon magic gave the song power to protect and preserve nature.

The Song of Forms awakened Timbre the dryad, born from the subconscious of the forest when it needed protection in bitter winter months.

The Song’s beauty and power drew eladrin from the Feywild. They settled in the verdant glades of the forest and over time became the elves of today.

The Innenotdar elves lived peacefully and became emissaries and diplomats with the seela when other races began trade and travel through the pass.


*60* Years Ago*

_*The module doesn't mention a timeframe._

During a Shahalesti assualt, the elf warrior Anyariel came to rest in the dryad Timbre’s glade. Timbre cared for Anyariel and came to love her.

Timbre gave Anyariel a gift--the Living Blade, a branch from the First Tree and a part of herself.

Noticing the gift and jealous of the loss of attention from her friend Timbre, the nymph Gwenvere obsessed over Anyariel, eventually convincing herself it was Anyariel she loved, that Timbre had “stolen” her, and driving herself into jealous rages.*

_*I've embellished Gwenvere's motivation, but result is the same._

Using the Living Blade, Anyariel led the crusade against the Shahalesti and drove them back.

Anyariel returned to the grove and became a protector-champion to the dryad and the rest of the forest.


*~43 Years Ago*

The trillith Indomitability arrived in Innenotdar. Although seemingly benevolent, it disturbed the balance of nature, causing the seela to notice its presence.

The seela collaborated with Anyariel to defeat Indomitability. They sang the Song of Forms, trapping Indomitability in the body of a stag, and Anyariel engaged it in an epic battle.

Anyariel eventually won out, pinning Indomitability to the lake bed using using the Living Blade, but at the cost of her own life. Indomitability survived, but remains trapped in the pinned body of the stag thanks to the seelas’ continued singing of the Song of Forms.

With her last strength, Anyariel placed water ogre guardians around Indomitability to keep it from being disturbed and possibly freed.

The Innenotdar elves built an elaborate shrine to Anyariel in the shape of a willow tree after her death (p.15).

Timbre received Anyariel’s body, placed it in the heart of stone willow, and gave a lock of her lover’s hair to the shrine.

Grieving obsessively over Anyariel’s death, Gwenvere retreated to the far end of the lake. Her grief twisted her into the form of a hag.

The seela sing the Song of Forms to this day. Indomitability remains trapped, but its power has seeped through the Living Blade and now permeates the forest.


*40 Years Ago*

Emperor Coaltongue had just conquered Gate Pass, securing a supply line into Shahalesti.

Concerned about attack, Lord Shaaladel offered an alliance with the Innenotdar elves.

Innenotdar’s strategic location between Shahalesti, Ragesia, and Dassen makes it a tempting target, so the elves refused the alliance in order to make themselves seem stronger.

Worried that Innenotdar might ally with Ragesia instead, Shaaladel chose Torfendar, a noble in the elite Solei Palancis fighting force, to secretly set fire to Innenotdar and plant rumors that Ragesia was responsible.

Torfendar traveled to Innenotdar and gave the Razortooth goblin tribe 1,000 Shahalesti gold, repeating crossbows, and vials of shatterspell in exchange for their setting the forest fire.

Torfendar’s lieutenant, Diashan Shediell, was killed in the fire and rekindled. He took refuge at Anyariel’s shrine along with a dozen elven villagers.

Bhurisrava, the bridge-fort’s elven cleric, found the suffering elves and took them to the source of the White River to be tended by the unicorn Nelle. He kept Diashan Shediell behind, looking for a way to heal him and present him as a witness to Shahalesti’s crimes. He kept notes on his activities in his journal, which will be found by the heroes (p.14 & 89).

Gwenvere, still obsessed with Anyariel, slipped into the reliquary of Anyariel’s shrine amidst the chaos, killed Bhurisrava, stole the lock of Anyariel’s hair, and took it back to her cave.

As he lay dying, Bhurisrava prayed for some god to safeguard what he had failed to protect and bring those who destroyed his homeland to justice. His prayer was answered: Eteranth, another Solei Planancis knight, was sent to “protect the shrine until Innenotdar’s justice is served,” and Diashan and Bhurisrava were placed in stasis.*

_*The module only says that Diashan was placed in stasis, but I think that's an error, since Bhurisrava's body is also present (and not decayed)._

Eteranth was transported directly* to the reliquary and is unaware of the devastation outside.

_*The module doesn't say how Eteranth gets to the shrine, but it does say he's shocked when he sees the devastation. Frankly, there seems to be a continuity glitch here, but "transported directly" fixes it._

Torfendar was betrayed* by the Razortooth goblins and killed in Flintrock Cavern (p.10).

_*The module says that Torfendar dies fighting goblins, but not why they were fighting._

The Innenotdar elves fled to Gate Pass as refugees, eventually making their home in the elven ghetto of Gate Pass.

The forest burns to this day, sustained by the power of the trapped Indomitability.


*Recent Weeks*

The trillith Deception came to Innenotdar on a mission to free its brother Indomitability.

Deception killed Vuhl and took his form. He has been fomenting dissent among the trillith, calling for them to end their suffering by ending the Song of Forms. Of the 50 seela, only 15 still sing.

Deception convinced Razortooth goblins to summon a school of Nightmare Trillith to destroy the remaining seela and end the song. (See The Misty Room, p.17.)

The sorceror Khadral came to the forest to study the mystery of its burning.

Ragesian Inquisitors summoned Kazyk to retrieve the case and kill the heroes.

[/sblock]


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## Daern (Aug 30, 2010)

*Good move*

Good summary. Would that I had done this when I ran it. This is a must for all DMs that come after.


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## RangerWickett (Aug 30, 2010)

Remind me to bump this for Russ when he gets back from his honeymoon. If it's possible, it'd be nice to include this as errata for the adventure.


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## DragoonLance (Sep 1, 2010)

Wow.  Is the entire setting this intricate?  I like putting in little things for the players to notice later, but with running a bi-weekly game I'm now afraid that I'll skip over something that might have importance later on in trying to cut down on some of the unnecessary parts of the campaign.

While stuff like this is cool, is it really necessary to know running the game or for the players?  I really want to avoid the "why didn't you tell us about this before" cliche of sudden reveals, but for the first time I feel a bit daunted by this...


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## Bercilak (Sep 2, 2010)

I think there is a danger of missing something, but a good bit of the information is only important in fleshing out the backstory. I try to read at least 2 modules ahead of the one I'm running, so I have time to plan for what the players need to know, and can draw out the reveals I may have missed that become important, so they don't seem so sudden.

Of course, as my group gains ground on the number of modules available, this planning ahead becomes more difficult...


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## I'm A Banana (Sep 2, 2010)

> While stuff like this is cool, is it really necessary to know running the game or for the players? I really want to avoid the "why didn't you tell us about this before" cliche of sudden reveals, but for the first time I feel a bit daunted by this...




Don't be too intimidated. A lot of the details don't matter too much once the party's finished with the adventure, for reasons that'll be obvious to those who've read it.  

The details that do matter, the adventure leads the party to pretty directly. Gwenvere and Timbre and the Stone Willow and Vuhl and Indomitability all make some pretty dramatic appearances, and the Living Blade becomes part of the party's gear. That plot-point info style is kind of why the info ended up scattered around -- that's how the party discovers it. Makes it hard to get a big overview, though! 

I'd say if there's tidbits you want to drop that your party hasn't picked up on, make it a History check (for the stuff about Shahalesti and the wars) or a Streetwise check (for the Fire Forest specific stuff that they might learn about from the Seela, the forest's longest-living semi-sane residents at this point).

Don't let it scare you off though! And tell us how it goes!


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## KidSnide (Sep 2, 2010)

This reminds me about one question I had for RangerWickett.



Truename said:


> [sblock]*40 Years Ago*
> Worried that Innenotdar might ally with Ragesia instead, Shaaladel chose Torfendar, a noble in the elite Solei Palancis fighting force, to secretly set fire to Innenotdar and plant rumors that Ragesia was responsible.
> 
> As he lay dying, Bhurisrava prayed for some god to safeguard what he had failed to protect and bring those who destroyed his homeland to justice. His prayer was answered: Eteranth, another Solei Planancis knight, was sent to “protect the shrine until Innenotdar’s justice is served,” and Diashan and Bhurisrava were placed in stasis.*
> ...




The Solei Palancis (sp?) knights appear to be used in two very ways here.  Is the idea that Eteranth is the spirit of a dead knight acting as a divine messenger?  It otherwise seems strange to me that a Solei Palancis knight would be acting directly against the interest of the Shahalesti.

-KS


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## RangerWickett (Sep 2, 2010)

In the 3.5 version it was an eladrin (as in, an extraplanar chaotic good angelic entity, who could be sent as a divine emissary). With the 4e cosmology shift, I assume the folks doing the conversion switched things up a bit. I'm not involved with the 4e conversion, so I couldn't tell you what their reasoning was.


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## KidSnide (Sep 2, 2010)

RangerWickett said:


> In the 3.5 version it was an eladrin (as in, an extraplanar chaotic good angelic entity, who could be sent as a divine emissary). With the 4e cosmology shift, I assume the folks doing the conversion switched things up a bit. I'm not involved with the 4e conversion, so I couldn't tell you what their reasoning was.




That makes so much sense.  (I don't think I ever used eladrin in 3.5, so I just read it as a funny word for "high elf", as distinct from "wood elf".)  

I take it that, in 3.5, the Shahalesti were not a nation of extraplanar chaotic good angelic entities?

-KS


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## Truename (Sep 2, 2010)

KidSnide said:


> The Solei Palancis (sp?) knights appear to be used in two very ways here.  Is the idea that Eteranth is the spirit of a dead knight acting as a divine messenger?  It otherwise seems strange to me that a Solei Palancis knight would be acting directly against the interest of the Shahalesti.




This confuses me, too. The module actually says Eteranth overhears the conversation where Shaaladel orders Torfendar to pay the goblins, although Eteranth doesn't hear the whole conversation. Torfendar acts pissed off, though. At any rate, there's a strong implication that Eteranth was not only alive, but present in Shahalesti when the plans were made.

There's other unanswered questions, too. What was Eteranth doing in the shrine this whole time? Was he in stasis? How did he eat / eliminate / etc.?

I'm going to play it as divine influence--Eteranth is a paladin, I believe, and I might turn him into an invoker--but this part of the module is as holey as it is holy.


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## Truename (Sep 4, 2010)

Bump.



RangerWickett said:


> Remind me to bump this for Russ when he gets back from his honeymoon. If it's possible, it'd be nice to include this as errata for the adventure.


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## SteveC (Sep 6, 2010)

One thing RE the Eladrin connection in this adventure that I played up quite a bit (and it helped that one of the characters is a changeling spy who is working for the Shalesti) is that the knights have a very stern and unforgiving code of honor and justice that their government does not always live up to.

Several of the Eladrin you meet up with are not overly happy with the jobs and tasks they have been assigned with, and the group really realizes there is a difference between the ideals of knighthood and the reality. 

They've actually felt bad for the knights who've sworn to defend a king that, as much as the group has come to believe, does not deserve their loyalty.

This gets reinforced later on when the envoys arrive in the Lyceum in module 3.

--Steve


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## I'm A Banana (Sep 7, 2010)

> That makes so much sense. (I don't think I ever used eladrin in 3.5, so I just read it as a funny word for "high elf", as distinct from "wood elf".)
> 
> I take it that, in 3.5, the Shahalesti were not a nation of extraplanar chaotic good angelic entities?




Naah, they were standard 3e High Elves, what with the combo with the Forest and Arcane Magic. The original "eladrin" are closer to angels or perhaps more mystical Fey (they kind of had "A Midsummer Night's Dream" vibe).


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## Zinovia (Sep 17, 2010)

Nice summary Truename.  I wish I had it when I ran this.  I'd give you xp for it, but I can't.  Guess I need to give more to other people.

I started WotBS before there was an official conversion to 4E, so I converted the first two and a half modules myself.  The guardian outside the shrine was an angel that happened to be called an eladrin, so I used an angel in the 4E version.  A lot of what was going on was fairly confusing, but I think I managed to direct the group through it decently.  We had a lot fewer encounters than the official conversion.  I might still have cut some encounters, but I really wish that I had had this mod in the 4E version when I ran it, even more than the first mod.  Needless to say, there are now inconsistencies between the events as experienced by my group, and what the converted version expects them to have done. For instance they never met a dragonborn sorcerer referred to in later mods.    

I added a bunch of stuff covering the travel from the Fire Forest down to the swamp, which despite being hundreds of miles of travel for a low level party, was not detailed in the original module.  By the time we were in the swamp, I knew we were way below the level expected to start the official 4E version of _Shelter from the Storm_, although it hadn't been published yet.  So I'm still doing a lot of work on my own version of the saga, most of which isn't applicable to the official conversion, alas.


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## Psion (Nov 24, 2010)

Truename said:


> ...Razortooth goblins... (See The Misty Room, p.17.)...




What's this? Some 4e conversion thing?


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## Truename (Nov 24, 2010)

Psion said:


> What's this? Some 4e conversion thing?




Yeah, the first two 4e conversions both had additional material. Some of it good, some not. Haven't checked later adventures, yet.


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