Need An Advesary

Soon the characters in the chronicle I am running will be venturing into the forest that lies on the northeastern shores of the Sea of Rhun, looking for a group of Silvan elves that used to live there. They have been warned by the Dorwinidain that the forest is considered haunted.

Now, what is it haunted by?

I was thinking of going with a lone Ent who has gone a bit mental from isolation, but haven't sold myself on the idea yet. I've already used a ghost/barrow wight type creature, and don't particularly want to start repeating myself.

Any other possibilities?

Well, here’s a thought for something that would give your PC’s a mystery to solve, rather than using typical combat techniques to defeat their enemy: How about using a Bandurhoth, or ‘place demon’, from Fell Beasts and Wondrous Magic? As FB&WM notes, these demons become so attached to their homes that they gain complete power over them, and disperse their physical forms to exert full control over their environs.

Here’s a bit of backstory that might work (without knowing your plans for the forest, or the Elves that used to live there): Perhaps there was, once, a thriving Elven community that resided in the forest. However, during the War of the Elves and Sauron during the Second Age they saw their forest home besieged by the forces of Mordor, and a great many of their number were slain, with the rest, overcome by despair, forced to flee and become, perhaps, something akin to the Wandering Companies of the Noldor that travel through Eriador. The forces of Sauron, satisfied with their defeat of the Elves, give up the forest and return to Mordor, leaving the forest.

Many years pass, and slowly the subtle magic of Middle Earth begins to play upon the still heavy air of Elven despair that hangs over the forest. This draws the attention of one of the ancient servants of Morgoth, who had fled from its lord as the forces of Valinor came across Beleriand to wage their final war and had been searching for a home ever since. Sensing the powerful feelings of dread and despair from the forest, the demon decides to make its home in the forest, drawing power from the darkness that seems to envelop the forest.

The demon, originally a Dindair (Silvan for Silent Shadow, and presented in FB&WM, p. 18-19) began to grow in power from the darkness of the forest, but as it did so it began to lose its physical form. It did, however, gain the ability to possess the fallen Silvan Elves of the forest, using their decayed corpses to frighten trespassers and protect its home.

This, then, could turn into a two-fold adventure for the PC’s: First, they must brave the ‘haunted’ forest to investigate the ancient legends for the folk who have settled near the forest, probably by necessity (maybe to find a child who has wandered into the forest). While within the forest, they must confront the spirit of the forest and defeat it, both in a contest of wills as well by defeating its undead elven company (probably only a dozen or so, depending on the strength of your group). The PC’s should discover quickly, though, that they can’t really hope to fight against the Elves, but must rather use their will and their wits to defeat the demon by destroying his focal object (as described in FB&WM, p. 17). This might take the form of an ancient crown worn by the former Elven lord of the forest, or something suitably appropriate. Alternatively, if they could find a way to bring sufficient light to the forest (the weakness of the Dindar) they might force to Dindar to sacrifice some of its power and revert to its physical form in an attempt to defeat the PC’s (though I would think that this would primarily be a result to the demon losing a contest of wills battle, and through this find itself reduced in power and feeling forced to do whatever necessary to defeat the PC’s, meaning assuming its ancient physical form).

After successfully defeating the demon and restoring the forest, the PC’s would have the thanks of the local folk, and an opportunity to investigate the ruins of the Elven forest for clues as to where the Silvan Elves might have fled to, thus furthering their quest (and perhaps giving them a chance to acquire a heroic item or two for the party from what remains of the Elven forest to use in their upcoming adventures).

So, those are my initial thoughts. Hopefully they’ll help you out.



Greg

Sorry, I'm not supplying a villain as you wanted. I just thought it was cool that you thought of putting Elves in that wood as well. I decided to make that the Realm of King Bladorthin of old. Remember the guy who ordered all the spears from Erebor but never took delivery?
I won't bore you with all the backstory, but I had this Nandor kingdom passing away in 1501 TA when the Easterlings, who had encroached all the way to the eaves of Mirkwood, destroyed Bladorthin's elves. This would have just predated the invasion of the Balchoth of Gondor and the ride of Eorl the Young (all in 1510). A character I created named Saeros was son to Bladorthin and in 1512 TA lead the scant survivors of Bladorthin's people west after the defeat of the Easterlings and Orcs in Calenardhon.
Eventually Saeros and his people joined themselves to Thranduil's folk in Mirkwood. Saeros came to serve as a captain of Thranduil's soldiers and developed a friendship both with the Dwarves of Erebor and with the men of Dale (who shared his love for woodcarving).
Okay, I promised I wouldn't bore you, so I'll stop. But I wonder how many Narrators have peopled that forest with Nandor. When you look at a map, it just seems to be begging for Elves. ;)

If the idea of the Easterlings (maybe the Balchoth) destroying the Elves in that wood sits well with you, maybe the forest could be inhabited by ghosts. Likely these would be ghosts of evil men who died in the battles with Bladorthin's (or whoever you choose) folk.
The ghosts themselves maybe present a suitable enough challenge to you characters in that wood, or maybe the ghosts are under the influence of a greater evil spirit or being. A Bandurhoth as was suggested...or an sorceror who's up to something in the woods...or even a spirit of some sort of your own creation. Maybe the ghosts are the spirits of the Elves themselves who have ignored the call of Mandos and still haunt their old home...there are many possibilities.
Use something that will provide a different type of challenge than the usual encounter. Whatever you choose to go with, I'd make the characters really work to figure out who's behind the supposed haunting of the forests.
Hope these have been of help.

One of my favorite adventures would have to be going against "The Mountain" (well, in search of The Mountain, but the uber-mage doesn't like visitors). One of the first lines of defense of his keep is a necromatic woods - granted, this is in DnD - we were all 10 - 14 level and barely survived: Ranger, 1/2 Orc Barb, Cleric - twuz a most fun campaign, especially when the mage sent one of his underlings (still uber-powerful in our comparison) to investigate, our combined brain power was just enough to realize that we should ask first, then wait to see if she obliterated us.

I've not used the necromatic woods in any of my campaigns as a DM, but as a player, it is a lot of fun to go in search of The Mountain. Each side presents a different possibility for pain. It gives the DM a lot of flexibility too - the uber-mage is on very friendly terms with drakes, wyrms, wyverns, sylvans, grey elves, drow, etc. - so any one of them could be called upon to defend his keep and grounds.

If you're looking for a good parallel into this, I would pit the players against a forest of Hurons. I like the disenfranchised and disenchanted Ent aspect - be one hell of a tangle - both physically & mentally (do I fight this creature of yore?! Ouch!! Well, if I cut him while blocking and parrying, it's his fault - spell flicker & story teller - you two better think of something quick or else I'm going to be a pile of goo stuck on his root).