Tentorium Hortus Templum
Tentorium Hortus Templum (or Church of the Hanging Garden) was an Orzhov Nature Spa many, many centuries past. After the Selesnya Conclave claimed (or reclaimed) the precinct for the World Soul, many luxury-services became were repurposed into gathering places, churches, and gardens. An unfortunate by-product of claiming Orzhov land and property was the concept of deeds of ownership, which has continued in the areas around Precinct 3. There are extremely few land holds or buildings whose deeds are held by Orzhovan, or any non-Selesnyan individuals. This is because those are signed over to the Conclave in the interest of supporting the Chorus. Buildings on the outskirts and borders of Precinct 3 often find themselves the unexpected inheritance of an Evangel or soldier of the Conclave. Such buildings cannot be signed to the Conclave as an entity when not within Precinct 3, and as such remain inheritable or commercial property.
This once-spa is one such building. Michelle Dumontier was a Half-Elf Evangel of Selesnya, and is the current recognized legal owner of Tentorium Hortus Templum. No engagement with Deceased Estates has occurred as the owner has not been identified as living or dead. No mail comes out, and no mail can go in. No one has sought to investigate as the church garden occupies an isolated section of The Wall.
Summary.
Michelle Dumontier - met granny rags some years ago
was evangelising when she found a rat in an alley stuck in a trap. She didn't recognise the alley, which was odd as she lived here for a decade after inheriting the abandoned garden
she released the rat, used some simple healing magic to sort his broken leg, and gave it some bread
when a gang prevented her from leaving and attempted to mug her, a swarm of rats stripped the entire gang to the bone.
The rat she saved led her to Granny Rags, or served cold tea and stale biscuits and spoke to her like a welcome guest and old friend.
Michelle is allowed to take a scrap of scatchings she becomes charmed by, and told to think of it as an invitation.
approached by cult (briarhearts)
cult became part of garden, Michelle withdrew from community
ritual gone wrong. Great door built, but not opened.
willow gaunt, moss, and flesh golem. cult had to move.
still monitor the garden, sort of rite of passage now.
Moved underground now that the lady of the house is inaccessible.
Ecosystem
Plants
Vampire rose. Very rare.
Raw: Vulnerable to radient damage, 1d4+10 temp HP for 1hr
Brewed: Potion of gaseous form [or] potion of false life (1d4+20) 1hr
Lichbriar
First created by the Lich King Amryn Sul to foster the complete and excruciating destruction of treacherous servants' minds and bodies, lichbriar can thrive only in very specific conditions.
Similar in appearance to bougainvillea, lichbriar - also known as rackthorne, hellroot, and doomrose - can reach a length of up to 50 feet under ideal conditions. Lichbriar grows and spreads as a canelike vine with long, sharp, poisonous thorns and fine hooks (used to cling to almost any surface), covering and spreading much like ivy. Its pale green leaves, marbled with bone-white veins, are vaguely hand shaped, with tips that curl at the end. As the doomrose pseudonym suggests, the blossoms of the lichbriar - which grow densely over all its vines - closely resemble roses with petals of a faintly iridescent white.
In order for a lichthorn to grow, at must sink its myriad hooks into a living creature, and as the vine grows an increasing number of hooks embrace its helpless victim. As the hooks spread, so too do the plant's thorns, with more scratching and impaling themselves in the victim each day, introducing ever-increasing levels of poison. Lichbriar is not a particularly strong plant and has no motive ability. In order for lichbriar to take root and feed, its victim must remain still for at least one day to allow the plant to latch on with its hooks. A victim who is not immobilized can attempt to struggle free on the first day by making a DC 5 Strength check. The DC of the check increases by +2 every day until it reaches DC 20, at which point it increases by +2 per day thereafter. Failing the Strength check results in the victim being pinned, as if grappled. With every attempt a victim makes to escape he takes 1d6 points of damage from the thorns and is injected with poison (injury; Fort DC 14 initial and secondary damage 1d2 Strength + 1d4 Dexterity).
Beginning on the second day, as long as the lichbriar remains attached to its victim, it draws away life energy in the form of experience points. On the second day (the first day of XP drain), the lichbriar steals 10 XP. The number of XP drained doubles each day (20 XP on the third day of taking root, 40 XP on the fourth day of taking root, and so on) until the victim is reduced to 0 XP. At that point, the victim dies. This experience drain is permanent and can only be reversed by a miracle or wish.
Successful handling of lichbriar requires a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) check every round it is touched. A failed check indicates the handler pricked himself with a thorn, taking 1d6 points of damage and injecting himself with the poison.
Lichbriar requires a great deal of water when not feeding off a victim. When attached to a victim, lichbriar is immune to cold and electricity damage and gains fire resistance 10. Planting a seedling, transplanting one, or taking a cutting require a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) or Profession (gardener) check. When feeding off a victim, lichbriar needs no further maintenance or attention, although a DC 30 Profession (gardener) check can be attempted to prevent a lichbriar from growing any larger (and thus draining any additional XP). A later DC 20 Profession (gardener) check can restart the plant's growth, allowing it to drain XP again
A single healthy seedling sells for 5,000 gp.
Aelfengrape
Originally a true grape, elven wizards modified aelfengrape to use it for a variety of purposes all year round. Aelfengrape closely resembles the terrestrial vines that are its heritage, but rather than all of the grapes coming to maturity in one season, clusters of aelfengrape ripen throughout the year. Thus, flower clusters and ripe grapes appear on the vine in all seasons. The flowers of aelfengrape closely resembles those of a plumeria in both shape and fragrance.
The leaf veins, flowers, and fruits of aelfengrape provide a gentle illumination (equal to a candle). The true magic of the aelfengrape, however, comes in its utility. Aelfengrape fruit is highly nutritious (a handful provides the equivalent nourishment of one meal) and makes a wine of extraordinary potency (if not of a particularly refined taste). The flowers are also edible and make a sweet aromatic tea, while the leaves (raw or cooked) appear in many recipes. Even the woody vine has many applications, finding use in a variety of crafts.
Maintaining the health of an aelfengrape plant requires the monthly application of magical components costing 25 gp.
A single healthy mature plant sells for 100 gp. Properly tended, an aelfengrape vine can live up to 700 years.
Coldwood
Many fey creatures have a special susceptibility to cold iron. This weakness has led alchemists and arcane gardeners among the fey to develop coldwood. First adapted from natural hickory, coldwood replaces iron in most ways, allowing fey smiths to craft strong weapons and sturdy armors. Coldwood also allows druids to wear armor types usually made of metal.
Coldwood grows very much like hickory, only slightly slower, reaching its mature size in roughly two decades. The timber of the coldwood can be used for the crafting of any item normally made from steel, resulting in an object with the same hardness, strength, weight, and edge-holding properties of good-quality steel. Coldwood is difficult to work and harder still to cultivate, making it and the items made from it extremely expensive. The DC of any item crafted of coldwood is always 8 higher than the same item made from steel. Weapons or armors fashioned from coldwood are always masterwork items (the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below). Harvesting viable coldwood from a coldwood tree requires a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) or DC 15 Profession (logger) check. A successful check provides 5 pound of material per five years of growth (to a maximum of 100 pounds of coldwood).
For a coldwood tree to thrive it requires regular attention. Transplanting a coldwood tree or taking a viable cutting from one requires a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) or Profession (gardener) check.
A single healthy coldwood sapling sells for 500 gp. Properly tended, a coldwood tree can live for thousands of years.
Type of Coldwood Item /Item Cost Modifier
Ammunition +150 gp
Light armor +500 gp
Medium armor +2,000 gp
Heavy armor +4,500 gp
Shield +1,500 gp
Weapon +2,000 gp
Other items +250 gp/lb.
Fey Cherry
The sailors of the great north sea sing of how each race was shaped by the deities from trees: humans from ash and alder, halflings from willows, gnomes from the heartwood of apple trees, dwarves from the roots of a mighty oak, and elves from the boughs of a flowering cherry. Sages speculate that the song might have originated with traders seeing the fey cherry palaces on faraway elven isles.
Valued for their great beauty as well as their utility, fey cherry closely resemble the common cherry trees cultivated in orchards, save only for their enormous size. Properly tended, they can grow larger than a giant sequoia, rising more than 500 feet in height with a trunk diameter of 50 feet at the base. These arboreal giants are much more than merely larger versions of their mundane cousins. Fey cherry trees possess a supernatural strength that makes them ideal platforms for tree-based dwellings. Their relatively narrow but long leaves provide a mystical protection from the weather, moderating the temperature within the tree's canopy and preventing most wind, rain, and snow from pushing through (the canopy reduces wind beneath its boughs by 20 miles per hour). Within the canopy, the temperature never drops below 50 degrees nor rises above 80 degrees. Wood and leaves harvested from a fey cherry do not carry the tree's magic with them, but items made from fey cherry wood cost 10% less gp and XP to enhance magically. While it produces blossoms every year, a fey cherry tree only creates cherries once a decade. A fey cherry provides a creature who eats it with the benefits of a protection from evil spell for 5 minutes (CL 5th) once per day. Eating more than one fey cherry per day grants no additional effect. Once picked, a fey cherry retains its magical property for 1 day; after that time it simply becomes a normal cherry. Gentle repose lengthens the cherry's magical properties for the duration of the spell.
A fey cherry tree requires little attention. Transplanting a fey cherry tree or taking a viable cutting from one requires a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) or Profession (gardener) check.
A single healthy fey cherry sapling sells for 3,000 gp. Properly tended, a fey cherry tree can live indefinitely.
Glowvine
Mages have long cultivated a number of varieties of glowvine for various types of soil and climates. The root plant for glowvine is the morning glory it so closely resembles, save the nocturnal blossoms.
Opening in the early evening and then closing again with the coming of dawn, the blossoms on each foot-long stretch of glowvine give off the same amount of light as a torch. Glowvine clings to walls and trellises in a manner identical to morning glory plants, and it grows almost as fast.
Glowvine grows 1 foot every two weeks. Once per month, a DC 15 Profession (gardener) check can be attempted to prevent a glowvine from growing for the following month.
A single healthy seedling sells for 500 gp.
Acidic Lemon Tree
This tree grows oblong, yellow fruit that feel overripe to the touch. Each fruit is about the size of cantaloupe and can be thrown with a range increment of 20 feet. A target hit with a touch attack takes 2d6 points of acid damage, plus an additional 2d6 points of acid damage on the following round.
An acidic lemon tree produces one fruit each day of its growing season, which is 13 weeks each spring. The tree has no more than seven fruit available at a time
A single healthy seedling sells for 2500 gp.
Gravebane Petals
When packed tightly within the mouth of a corpse or undead creature, the deep red petals of the gravebane flower prevent any decay, as if the corpse were under the effects of gentle repose, and they completely mask any stench with a sickly sweet fragrance. These effects persist for 1 month.
A single bush grows one new flower each day, and it takes 1 month to accumulate enough gravebane petals to preserve a single corpse. The plant has a 50-week growing period.
A single healthy sapling costs 3000 gp
Tree of Woe
This massive tree bears no leaves, and its branches are twisted and vile. A creature tied to the tree becomes more susceptible to influence, taking a –4 penalty on opposed Charisma checks, Insight checks and Wisdom saving throws. In addition, once per day, a character can attempt a DC 20 nature check to force a creature tied to the tree to tell the truth, as if the target had failed a save within a zone of truth.
A tree of woe is potent year round, but it can have a new creature lashed to it only once per month.
Localized Phenomena
Obliviax Moss
Willow Gaunt
Blights
Bloodbriars
Gravehounds
Flesh Golem - made of mostly of Lucille (Greater Ghost), with Lesser Ghosts' corpses being components to the final golem. Flesh Golem has developed it's own distinct personality, but can only clearly communicate with Greater Ghost. Only able to grunt or shriek out loud. The lesser ghosts are remnants, that can appear at times of heightened emotion. Greater Ghost is always manifest, though not always visible.
Greater Ghost LUCILLE [cantrememberlastname] (cognisant, defensive of golem, she is one of the ingredients used to make it)
Lesser Ghosts (insane, barely intelligent)
History
ITEMS
Ring of Elder Roots (Legendary Wondrous item attune to druid)
Guardian of the Forest. ONCE PER LONG REST May use wilshape to to turn into a Treant (less 11 max HP each level below 9) for a number of minutes equal to spell casting ability modifier. Casters level 10 treat use their wildshape duration instead. May cast weapons form your spell list in this form.
Force of Nature. 4 charges. Regains 1d4 at dawn. Expend charges to cast spells through the ring. When casting this way, gain 1d8 HP for each charge spent.
1 charge: Entangle. 3 charges: plant growth. 4 charges: wall of thorns.
Dryad's Wedding Band (Wondrous item)
Cursed ring, made from petrified wood and metal. Causes small plant life to grow in place of any hair, and allows 1 daily use of speak with plants.
Gravewalker (weapon, rapier, requires attunement)
Possessed by the soul of one of the former devotees of the garden. She is not able to clearly communicate, only doing so through non verbal cues.
Haunting Pact. On attunement, spirit judges if the wielder is worthy. DC15 CHA save. Attune on success. On failure, target takes 2d10 necrotic and cannot attempt to attune until after a long rest. Pact grants the following benefits.
- +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
- Frozen Touch: while spirit is in the sword, deals additional 1d4 cold
- Dormant spectre: while spirit is in the sword, it deals an additional 1d4 necrotic
- Revenant Warrior: As an action, 1/long rest the user may call the spirit from the blade (action to command return to blade). The spirit has a AC 14, HP 40, shares the wielders position in initiative, and takes the weapon from the wielder to use in battle. Bonus action: command spirit to move up to 20 ft, and make single attack. All modifiers are the attuned CHA+proficiency. BEWARE: if the spirit drops to before returning to blade, spirit disappears. Must return to site of death the reattempt the Haunting Pact
- +2 to attack and damage rolls
- 32 charges, as a charge is spent, a tooth decays and falls from the blade. On expending all charges, it becomes just a +2 magical sword.
- Fiendish Gnash: reaction, after taking damage, spend 2 charges, point blade at damage source within 60ft to cast hellish rebuke
- Accursed Taste: reaction, after dealing damage, spend 4 charges to deal 2d10 necrotic and regain HP equal to amount rolled
- Diabolical Sink: reaction, after spending the last of the charges, deranged singing pierces the attuned persons mind. If unwilling, DC16 WIS save to resist. On failure, receive the Briarbeast Boon. Current pool of hit dice is permanently halved, rounded up, and remains halved as you level up, and you develop a taste for flesh. Bonus action, feed upon an enemy gaining 2d4+2 HP. If at maximum HP, gain temp HP that CAN stack up to 66 temp HP.
Comments