Beginning credits: In This Moment - "In The Air Tonight" [Official Lyric Video]
Establishing shot of the party leaving the Juggling Ogre. It is toward evening and the sky is clouded overhead. As they leave the bustling heart of Threshold behind, the path to Weeping Hollow grows quiet and desolate. The road, little more than a narrow dirt trail, winds through rolling fields that gradually give way to darker, denser woodland. The trees begin to close in, their gnarled branches arching overhead like twisted fingers, creating a canopy that dims the light.
Background Changes: Creepy Graveyard - RPG Ambience
Under a cloudy sky, the air seems heavy with an almost tangible stillness, broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves or distant caw of a crow. Finally, the trees part, revealing the hollow—a sunken glade surrounded by ancient oaks and willows. The ground is soft and uneven, marked by moss-covered stones and clusters of pale, sickly flowers. The atmosphere is eerie yet strangely sacred, as if the hollow is caught between realms, steeped in memory and loss. The overcast sky above casts a muted gray light, giving the entire scene a ghostly pallor.
Mouth of the Hollow
Approaching the entrance to Weeping Hollow, the path becomes narrow and uneven, flanked by ancient trees whose twisted roots protrude like jagged scars across the ground. The canopy overhead grows increasingly dense, filtering the light into faint patches of gray and shadow. Even before they step inside, the characters shiver, as though the hollow itself carries an invisible weight.
The boundary of the hollow is marked by a natural archway formed by two towering oak trees whose branches entwine high above. Their bark is dark and gnarled, resembling weathered faces frozen in expressions of sorrow. Clusters of pale moss drape from their limbs, swaying slightly in the still breeze. Beneath them, the path dips down into a sunken glade, hinting at the secluded and somber nature of what lies ahead.
At the entrance, faint carvings can be seen on some of the surrounding stones—simple symbols and faded runes that speak of an older time, their meanings now obscured by history. The soft hum of distant whispers seems to emanate from the grove ahead, though whether it's the wind or something more is impossible to tell.
The party notices signs of recent activity, spotting military boot tracks heading northeast through a dense thicket of trees. As they push through the tangled copse, they find themselves in a similar area of the Hollow, but the footprints have disappeared. In the fading light, the area now appears beautiful and peaceful. Deciding to continue in the direction the footprints seemed to lead, they come upon a more overgrown section of the Hollow, still dotted with graves. These graves, though peaceful, appear seldom visited and poorly maintained.
Greegan notices torchlight flickering among the graves off the path and silently signals to the others. The party stealthily navigates through the graveyard under the thin crescent moon. Instead of encountering slavers, they find themselves in an area where several old graves are overgrown with bizarre luminescent plants that glow bright red. Unfortunately, they fail to notice the plant tendrils closing in behind them, and thorny branches rise to entangle them.
Fleetwood avoids being entangled, and his armor protects him from being scratched by the venomous thorns. Greegan dodges the lashing branches, but he is scratched by a thorn.
Greegan: (Shouts) "It burns!"
Felonious avoids being entangled, and his robe protects him from the thorns. A quick dodge saves Clarion from being scratched by the thorn, but she steps in a place where the earth gives way and now her foot is stuck in a grave.
Greegan, Clarion, and Fleetwood attack the plant, slashing off several of the flailing branches, narrowly avoiding being pierced by more of the painful thorns. Felonious steps back, intoning a spell, and casts a fireball directly into the center of the plant. Unfortunately Fleetwood is caught in the blast radius - he stumbles back and avoids being burned but he's now stuck in the grave with Clarion. The bright light goes out, but now the plant's remains are on fire, brightly lighting the area.
As they struggle to get out of the hole they have fallen into, Fleetwood and Clarion note that what they have disturbed is not a grave at all, but the resting place of a decayed automaton that is leaking an oily fluid since they collided with it. The thing doesn't seem to be active anymore. Greegan collects some fluid from the plant's thorns into a vial. Felonious collects a few of the leaves and stems to see if he can determine a magical use for them later. Clarion removes the venomous thorn from Greegan's arm.
The party notices without much difficulty that Felonious' spell, while it has saved their bacon, seems to have attracted attention. Several tough looking thugs, led by none other than Marla the Crimson are moving through the Hollow, heading toward their position.
Marla: "Get me prisoners! Bargle will pay top Royal for their hides."
Thugs: "Arrr! Aye! Avast! (etc)
Background changes: Pirate Attack! | D&D/TTRPG Battle/Combat/Fight Music | 1 Hour
Greegan opens fire with his crossbow, as Fleetwood backs him up and Clarion casts a blessing on them, sending the pirates scurrying behind gravestones and trees for cover, and Felonious peppers them with magic missiles, but also fails to do any damage.
Fleetwood: "Charge 'em!"
Fleetwood and Greegan plow into the pirates' position as Clarion casts another blessing on them. Fleetwood busts apart their shield wall as Greegan stabs over the top of him. Felonious unleashes another Magic Missile barrage, taking out several pirates, but in so doing opens himself up to Marla's crossbow. He dodges the bolt but is forced to hide behind a tombstone. Fleetwood and Greegan carve a bloody path through the pirates toward Marla. Clarion charges in, finishing the pirates off.
Marla still doesn't flee. Fleetwood and the others confront the wily captain.
Fleetwood: (Angrily) "Where's Silverleaf?"
Marla: "What's a Silverleaf. Oh, wait. Your party does seem a bit… lacking in booty. Cross my palm with silver and you might yet tempt me not to turn her over to Bargle." (Favors Fleetwood with a seductive wink)
Clarion: "Return her and we may let you walk out of here."
Marla: "Oh, I see you brought your own hooker. Well, that's OK. I don't mind sharing."
Greegan: "Stop being vulgar. It's always about the deal with you, Marla. So let's talk turkey; you, me, and the beefcake."
Marla: "Now I am intrigued. What kind of turkey are you offering?"
Greegan: "We'll pay you the same as Bargle would give you for her."
Marla: "And if I don't accept your price, you'll never find her. How about fifty percent more to forget I ever saw you out here and say my men tripped over a tombstone."
Greegan looks to Fleetwood, who shrugs.
Greegan: "Bloody losing everything we gained in that damn castle." (Shouts) "Deal."
Marla blows a ship's whistle, and several more pirates appear through the trees.
Marla: "Bring out the tree rat. I just got a better offer, and we don't have to drag her all the way to Bargle." The pirates leave, and then return with Silverleaf, bound, gagged, bloodied, and looking incredibly angry. Marla accepts the payment from Greegan, counts the money, and then hands it to one of the other pirates.
Marla: "Always a pleasure doing business with you, Greegan." She turns and winks at Fleetwood again. "We'll have to do this again some time."
Clarion: "No, we won't."
The pirates disappear back into the trees, "arrr" ing and "Yarr" ing about the treasure they have gained. The last thing the party hears is Marla's tinkling laughter. Fleetwood cuts Silverleaf free with a dagger and then holds her back as she grabs his sword and then very nearly goes after the pirates. The camera zooms out to show the Weeping Hollow, left peacefully once more under the sharp sliver of the crescent moon.
(Fade Out)