The heroes have decided to enter Trollwood and face the wrath of its master.

The heroes make their way into Trollwood and face the chaos within. Caught in the mad nightmare spun by the chaos minion, the heroes must face all of its countless minions and blaze a path to the damned forest's master.

The Narrator should allow the heroes to prepare themselves before they enter Trollwood. Lighting should be discussed since Trollwood is trapped in perpetual night. Also, the heroes have little chance of surviving without enough magical weapons and items, full health, and maximum spell points available.

One problem that the heroes must face in Trollwood is the lack of light. Torches are a good idea, but they are hard to maintain during battle. Magical sources of light are recommended, and Kara can provide magical fire if none of the heroes think of anything. It is not always night in Trollwood; there are some areas in which the magical darkness of Trollwood is not present.

If the heroes failed to bring light sources into Trollwood or dropped all of their light sources, then they are affected as if they were blinded, as described in the Prologue in The Bestiary. All physical actions are one degree higher.

Trollwood is a warped forest caught in the mad chaos emanating from the daemon warrior. Reality itself is distorted and at the command of the daemon warrior. The heroes' journey is not linear, but actually a string of encounters with the daemon warrior's minions.

The heroes' journey through Trollwood consists of encounters. Travel between encounters is assumed to be walking and tracking through the forest. Initially, the heroes might want to find some way to track the trollekai 's paths back to their master. Such conventional thinking would help if the heroes were in a normal forest. However, Trollwood is anything but normal. The heroes should feel like they are caught up in a mad flood that brings them to their foe. The daemon warrior wants the heroes to find him and directs them to him.While the heroes may feel like thy're wandering about aimlessly, the y are actually penetrating the daemon warrior's mad nightmare and reaching the chaos minion himself.

The Narrator need not role-play the travel between encounters, but they can to increase tension in the adventure. The flowchart on the following pages charts the heroes's sporatic journey. Some of the encounters lead directly to the next. Others branch off to two or more seperate encounter areas. To decide which way the heroes go, the Narrator should flip over a random card from the Fate Deck. The value of the card determines which path the heroes take.

Some of the encounter areas have set encounters. For instance, the "Dying Dryad," "Gorgon Glade," "Gnome Site," and "Mage's Wagon" encounter areas are all set encounters. "Chaos Clearing" and "Heroes' Tomb" are also set encounters, but they are described later. The other set encounters, however, are described below.

The woman is a dryad. The daemon warrior's corruptive influence is slowly killing her tree, which she now lies at the foot of. The chaos magic is like a poison in her veins and has progressed beyond the heroes' ability to heal.

If approached, she will beg the heroes to save her tree, to give it water and heal its wounds. The tree itself is a rotted, skeletal husk of its former self, with dark red sap dripping down its trunk like fresh blood. The dryad will beg any hero with mystical powers, especially those who know the sphere of animism or healing, to magically mend her tree and save her life.

However, if any magic is cast on the tree, it will absorb the energy and come to life. Infused by the magic and corrupted by the chaos, the tree will uproot itself and attack the heroes. Any damage that the heroes do to the tree will be split between the tree and the dryad. When one dies, so does the other. The tree will continue attacking the heroes until it is destroyed. If the heroes attempt to flee the area, the surrounding trees around them will reach out with their branches and form a barrier to keep the heroes by the dryad and her tree. The tree will first use its despair ability to paralyze the heroes before wading into battle. All heroes must succeed in an average Presence (Spirit) action or be paralyzed for 8 minutes.

If any spell is cast on the dryad, she will wither away and dry into a skeletal husk. If the heroes do nothing, she will shrivel and die in a few minutes anyway. First aid and magical healing items do not work on her either. None of the dryad's special abilities, her camouflage and charm abilities, are working in her present condition. If the dryad dies before the tree was animated, then the tree becomes animated immediately and attacks the heroes. During this case, the damage is not split between the dryad and her tree.

As soon as the dryad and her tree are dead, the other trees in the forest will allow the heroes to pass.

• Dryad. Magical creature. Co 6, Ph 6 (currently 4), In 7, Es 6, Dmg +2, Def -1.
• Chaos Tree. Magical creature. Co 3, Ph 12, In 4, Es 6, Dmg +8, Def -4, also aura (despair).

As the heroes may well suspect, the statues in the clearing were not sculpted by from stone. Instead, they were create by the terrible power of a gorgon's petrify attack.

The gorgon that lives in this glade wass also affected by the chaos magic in Trollwood. While she was not swayed under the control of the daemon warrior, she has turned into a creature of pure chaos, caring only about inflicting chaos upon the world. She has grown more powerful and utilizes her attacks to their fullest.

The heroes will have to fight her even in the darkness. The gorgon delights in circling the heroes and attacking with her deadly gaze from an unsuspected angle. If the heroes manage to avoid her gaxe, she will tear through their ranks to separate and confuse them. In order for her gaze attack to work, she must look a hero directly in the eye. The heroes can avoid looking at her if they succeed in an average Agility (Dexterity) action. If they are engaging her in battle and wish to avoid her gaze, they must succeed in a challenging Agility (Dexterity) action and all other actions become one degree more difficult. If unsuccessful, the heroes meet the gorgon's gaze and must succeed in an average Endurance (Strength) action or be petrified.

The darkness will work to the gorgon's advantage. She will slip into the shadows and re-emerge to surprise the heroes. All actions to avoid surprise are one degree more difficult than normal. Every time the gorgon attempts to sneak up on the heroes, each hero must make the avoid surprise action. If a hero fails to avoid surprise, then he is caught in the gorgon's gaze and must make an average Endurance (Strength) action or be petrified.

The heroes may have a mirror or some reflective surface to reflect the gorgon's gaze back at her. However, for such a plan to work, the heroes must have a light source. The gorgon will attempt to extinguish the light source if the heroes attempt to reflect her gaze back at her. Reflecting her gaze back at her requires a daunting Dexterity (Agility) action that can be made once per minute.

The heroes can utilize the scroll of petrification protection located in Agan's Cabin to protect them from the gorgon's deadly gaze. If they use such a tactic, the gorgon will begin hurling the statues in the glade at the heroes in an effort to separate them.

The heroes can also use the scroll of petrification reversal from Tarney Hall to save one of their comrades if any one fell to the gorgon's gaze. Although the heroes could technically bring one of the gorgon's previous victims back to life, the Narator can rule that they were all petrified over a month ago.

• Chaos Gorgon. Monster. Co 5, Ph 14, In 4, Es 6, Dmg +4, Def -4, also petrify (gaze) and poison (bite).

This was the sixth prototype of a flying ship built by the gnomes of Mt. Nevermind (the first one exploded in the hanger, the second only worked under water, the third emitted a foul smoke that affected a person's memory, the fourth, well, no one remembers what happened to the fourth, and the fifth took out three levels of Mt. Nevermind but is now serving as an all-purpose paper weight, patent pending). They were testing it when the boiler exploded and the ship crashed in Trollwood. This accident happened a few years ago and the wreck has lain in the forest undisturbed since then.

The gnomes were also testing their new prototype clocks, which are set into mechanical suits of plate mail to act as centerpieces. These "clockwork golems" were infused with the chaos magic and emerge to attack the heroes once they approach. They are ten feet tall suits of armor with clock faces set into the breastplates. They wield great swords, but they will attack with their bare fists as well. The golems can shoot a small stream of acid from nozzles in their fingertips at any individual within five feet. The acid does 14 damage. They can also shoot a bolt of lightning at any individual within ten feet, doing 14 damage, but they need to recharge their batteries afterward, so they can only discharge a bolt of lightning once every five minutes. The golems can also trample their foes beneath their feet.

If the heroes strike the clock face of a clockwork golem, it will explode in a ball of fiery death catching all within 10 feet and inflicting 14 damage. A hero can make a challenging Agility (Dexterity) action to avoid the explosion. Also, inflicting any damage on a clockwork golem is also dangerous. Everytime a hero inflicts damage on a clockwork golem, the Narrator should flip over a random card from the Fate Deck and consult the corresponding table for the result.

If the heroes search the ship, they must perform both an average Perception action and a challenging Dexterity action. If the first action is successful, then the hero discovers a mechanical version of a rod of smiting. This weapon works just like the magical version, except it is made of smooth metal and contains gears inside of the casing. It contains enough energy for 12 uses { 12 charges }. It was made by a thinker gnome named Whistllinnomillien . . . but it can be recharged by any other thinker gnome. The heroes also find three half melted steel gnome figurines and two vials marked "acid." The figurines can be melted down and sold for 50 stl each { a treasure value of 1 according to Saga Companion }, although the gnomes in Mt. Nevermined would pay up to 100 stl { treasure value of 2 according to A Saga Companion } for each of the figurines (intact) in order to study the effect of chaos magic on gnomish artifacts. Each of the vials marked "acid" actually contain two doses of a liquid, gnomish, version of Mishakal's healing balm. If the heroes fail in their Perception action,they find nothing.

If the heroes fail in the second action, they trigger an explosion within the ship. Sparks from the explosion will deal 5 damage to all within the ship. If the action was a Mishap, then the entire ship explodes, dealing 20 damage to everyone in the ship.

• Two Clockwork Golems. Mechanical Contructions. Co 5, Ph 14, In 1, Es 1, Dmg +6, Def -6, also melee weapons (great sword/+9), death throe, acid, regenerate, trample, lightning, and immune to poison and mysticism.

The wagon belonged to a traveling former red robed mage named Harkus Firetouch. The wagon broke a wheel during Harkus's journey through Trollwood and the the mage died at the hands of a wandering owlbear. The two staffs shedding green light upon the wagon are actually rods of brilliance { currently 23 charges and 18 charges }. The rods have been attached to quarterstaffs with a metal clasps, which allows easy separation.

Examination of the wagon's contents reveals countless bottles and potions. Most of the potions and trinkets are nonmagical; Harkus created them to trick commoners out of their money. However, there are four pinches of dust of appearance, two doses of Mishakal's healing balm, a wand of magic divining {35 charges }, and a ring of feather falling.

Harkus's remains are in front of the wagon. All that is left of the mage is his shattered skeleton covered in a shredded red robe. However, the chaos magic of Trollwood has even affected the skeleton. The mage has been turned into a skeletal mage, which arises and attacks with its spells as soon as the heroes investigate the wagon. The undead sorcerer will seek to "soften up" the heroes with its fear ability before moving in to attack with several offensive spells.

• Skeletal Mage. Undead. Co 5, Ph 24, In 12 (144), Es 9, Dmg +2, Def -2, also resistant to normal weapons, sorcery (electromancy, geomancy, spectramancy), aura (fear), and immune to mentalism and poison.

There are many encounter areas that are blank. When the heroes reach one of these areas, the Narrator should flip four random cards over from the Fate Deck and consult the tables on the following pages.

The Narrator should utilize the four tables to weave together each encounter.

This table is easy to read. The result is the number of creatures that the heroes will be encountering. If the result calls for a "card(s) worth" of creatures, then the Narrator should flip over the number of random cards stipulated in the description and total the values of the cards to determine the number of creatures present. All of the creatures will attack the heroes until slain.

If the result is "Phantasms," then the heroes are assaulted with visions of themselves dying. They see the trollekai tearing images of themselves apart. All heroes must succeed in a challenging Spirit action or succumb to the despair ability. The Narrator should draw again for this table and have the resulting creatures attack the heroes after all of the actions have been made.

This table determines what additions there are to the setting. For instance, it determines what special properties the area might have, what treasure might be found, and what dangers may threaten the heroes.

There are certain magical items hidden in the area that can heal the heroes. Heroes must succeed in an challenging Perception action find the items. The Narrator must use his or her imagination to determine where the healing items are actually located. For instance, the heroes may discover several bottles in the hollow of a tree stump, or find a clay jar in the satchel on the body of a long-dead adventurer. The actual setting information can help with such descriptions. The Narrator should flip a random card over from the Fate Deck to determine the exact number and nature of the healing items. If the card aura is white, they find a potion of life, which either brings a dead hero back to life (including those who have petrified) with one card or fully restores all cards to a hero's Hand. If the card aura is red, they find three doses of Mishakal's healing balm. If the card aura is black, they find only one dose of Mishakal's healing balm.

There is a magical trinket hidden in the area. This magical item can be chosen by the Narrator, but it should be small and relatively weak in power, like a ring or wand. Other magical items to consider are "magical batteries." That is, magical items that hold magical energy that can be tapped by sorcerers. Such magical batteries can be a great boon to sorcerer heroes who have run out of spell points.

The heroes need to perform a successful daunting Perception action to find the magical item.

There are a few loose coins, gems, or jewelry that can be found in the area. Heroes need to perform a successful daunting Perception action to find the treasure. While the exact nature of the treasure may be left up to the Narrator, the treasure should not be worth too much { a treasure value between 1 and 4 according to A Saga Companion }.

The setting for the encounter area has a unique and strange property that is beneficial to the heroes. The Narrator should flip over a random card from the Fate Deck. If the card's aura is white, then the magical benefit takes effect as soon as the heroes enter the area. Otherwise, the heroes must perform an action to reap the benefits of the effect.

The exact details of the benefit are up to the Narrator, but some suggestions are: every action by the heroes receives a +2 bonus, all spell damage is doubled, all wounded heroes gain one card and all characters heal one Endurance point, or all spell points are returned to all sorcerer and mystic heroes and characters.

Some things that heroes might be required to do to gain the magical benefits are: drink from a pool of glowing rainwater, cut down a flaming tree, or enter a cave surrounded by glowing lights. Whatever the heroes need to perform, there should be some indication that the area is magical. The "Setting Information" can be very helpful in determining what the heroes need to do to benefit from the magic.

There is a magical effect of the setting that affects the heroes negatively. The effect is not visible, but the magic behind it is, like a thick fog or blazing lights in the sky. The effect is left up to the Narrator, but some effects could be: a -2 penalty to every action, all magical effects are dispelled in the encounter area, or each nonmagical weapon of choice for each hero shatters. For instance, if the harmful effect of the setting is a -2 penalty to all actions, the Narrator could say that the area is filled with streaming, chaotic lights. These lights affect the heroes' minds and therefore impede their abilities.

The plant life in Trollwood was also corrupted by the daemon warrior. In this encounter area, the vines and moss on the floor attack the heroes, impeding their ability to fight. All actions are made with a -2 penalty and the heroes cannot make any movement actions, such as closing range, as long as they are entangled. Breaking free of the vines takes a daunting Strength action.

The land that the heroes are fighting on is actually a giant sinkhole. All of the heroes's actions incur a -2 penalty and they must succeed in an average Agility (Physique) action opposed by their immediate foe once every minute. If they fail this action, they will fall into the sinkhole. Those who fall into the sinkhole suffer 2 damage, not reduced by the hero's Defense Rating, each minute that they are in the sink hole. A hero trapped in a sinkhole can attempt to escape by performing a challenging Endurance action once every minute.

When the heroes enter this area, they see themselves in the being killed by the monsters in the area. For instance, if the monsters for this encounter are "3 trollekai," the heroes see the three trollekai killing images of themselves. The images of the heroes appear quite real, but they are merely illusions. The monsters, however, are not illusions.

There is a massive amount of chaos energy in this encounter area. The Narrator should add +2 to all Physique scores of all the creatures encountered in this area. Also, the chaos magic affects the heroes' minds. Every five minutes, the hero must succeed in a challenging Spirit action or be affected by the magic. All heroes who fail the action act as if they had failed to resist a charm attack. Charmed heroes attack their comrades. Charmed heroes are only released from the chaos magic's grip if they are killed, or all of the monsters in the encounter are killed.

While the Narrator can create the various details of each encounter area, this table makes the process a great deal easier. The table's results are self-explanantary in that they merely provide a bare description of what notable landmarks are present or what the setting looks like.

The results of this table can also influence the exact nature of the results from some of the other tables. For instance, if "Treasure" was the result from Table Two and "A glade with the remains of dead adventurers" was the result from this table, then the Narrator could rule that the treasure is found on the bodies of the two adventurers. If "A stack of large rocks that form a shallow cave" was the result from this table, the Narrator could rule that the treasure is hidden behind a few rocks in the cave.

This table merely determines the lighting of the encounter area. Most of the time, the encounter areas will be trapped under the magical darkness that infuses Trollwood. In these places, the heroes need to have a light source or all actions are one degree higher. The Narrator needs to make sure of the exact lighting conditions, because a hero who leaves the area lighted by a torch is still cast into utter darkness (torches light up to a 30' radius). As noted in the "Actions" section, the heroes with hand-held light sources must perform actions to prevent dropping their items during battle.

However, there are still a few areas where the magical darkness is not present, allowing the light of day to stream down into the forest. In such cases, the heroes don't need torches, but the Narrator should still keep trak of their condition, because the heroes will need them later.

The heroes will have to brave their way through many encounter areas before their journey is done. The Narrator should simply refer to the area's description, if the area is marked, or, if the area is blank, the Narrator should determine the area's exact details with the four tables. The tabular method is time-consuming, so the Narrator should take adequate time to prepare each encounter area before moving on. The Narrator can also prepare several encounter areas before the adventure begins so that play will be much smoother.

Their deadly journey is almost over once the heroes reach "Heroes Tomb" encounter area.

The mood of this scene should be terror-filled and surreal, like a bad nightmare. The heroes should be edgy and fear everything that looms in the darkness. Once again, turning the lights down may be a good idea, but dark, intense music for the background may also help.

If the heroes brought torches or other hand-held light sources into Trollwood to light their way, they must make an average Dexterity (Strength) action every minute that they are in combat or drop their torch. If the magical darkness is dispelled, though, the action need not be made.

• Kara Half-elven. Qualinesti half-elf female young adult, rash demeanor, Adventurer. Ag 8X, Dx 7A, En 6C, Str 6B, Re 7B (49), Pe 6A, Sp 5D, Pr 7C, Dmg +4 (cutlass), Def -2 (leather armor), also sorcery (pyromancy), secondary weapon (dagger/+2), and missile weapon (longbow/+6).
• Rezik. Human middle-aged male, cantankerous demeanor, Novice. Co 4, Ph 5, In 4, Es 3, Dmg +0 (fists), Def -2 (leather armor).
• Banshee. Undead. Co 7, Ph 6, In 8, Es 7, Dmg +4, Def -5, also death (aura), fear (aura), incorporeal, and immune to mentalism and poison.
• Ghouls. Undead. Co 8, Ph 12, In 6, Es 7, Dmg +8, Def -3, also musk, paralyze, immune to mentalism and poison.
• Ghast. Undead. Co 5, ph 6, In 3, Es 6, Dmg +6, Def -2, also paralyze and immune to mentalism and poison.
• Skeletons. Undead. Co 6, Ph 4, In 1, Es 1, Dmg +3, Def -2, immune to mentalism and poison, and resistant to edged weapons.
• Spectres. Undead. Co 15, Ph 6, In 7, Es 8, Dmg +4, Def -4, also drain (Endurance), incorporeal, and immune to mentalism, normal weapons, and poison.
• Trollekai. Undead. Co 5, Ph 12, In 2, Es 4, Dmg +14, Def -4, also regenerate, aura (fear), immune to poison, resistant to mysticism, resistant to sorcery, and camouflage.
• Wichtlins. Undead. Co 5, Ph 16, In 2, Es 6, Dmg +6, Def -4, also paralyze, poison, sorcery (aeromancy), immune to mentalism, normal weapons, and poison.
• Wights. Undead. CoCo 6, ph 12, In 5, Es 7, Dmg +4, Def -2, also drain (Presence), and immune to mentalism, normal weapons, and poison.
• Wraiths. Undead. Co 12, Ph 8, In 6, Es 8, Dmg +6, Def -3, also drain (Spirit), incorporeal, resistant to silver weapons, and immune to mentalism, normal weapons, and poison.
• Zombies. Undead. Co 3, Ph 8, In 1, Es 1, Dmg +3, Def -1, also immunity to mentalism and poison.

Once the heroes reach the "Heroes' Tomb" encounter, go to Scene Three: Dark Mirror.

If the heroes all died, go to the Epilogue.