Fanewick was once a place of great abundance and peace—dangerous to those unfamiliar with the land, but a cornucopia to those who respected its ways. When Haven invaded the wilds and forced the land into eternal spring, a dangerous bloom known as the Witherwild took hold and now threatens the lives of all who live there. In a Witherwild campaign, you’ll play unlikely heroes from humble beginnings who are reckoning with their newfound duty to save Fanewick’s people from dangerous corruption.

Fanewick is a wild and untamed land, long avoided by outside forces. The woods are dark and twisting, filled with Faint Divinities who perform small miracles and services for its inhabitants, but are just as likely to lure travelers off narrow paths to their ruin. Seemingly harmless expanses of field hide bogs that engulf entire armies, consuming heavy artillery as quickly as it can cross the border. This wilderness fosters hardy people who are bold enough to raise families where others have not and strictly follow the unique rules that keep them safe. These Wicklings remained insulated from their neighbors’ wars until plague forced the people of Haven to desperate acts.

Haven was once the most powerful force in the region; for centuries, the high stone walls into the capital bore the phrase “The Godless Gate.” While the original meaning has been lost to common knowledge, some dusty tomes and ancient records state that the founders of Haven wished to be free of the influence of the Faint Divinities that dominated the surrounding regions. They hatched a plan to kill one of the mightiest of these deities, known as Shun’Aush the Granite Ophid. While their exact method of deicide is forgotten, their victory ensured Haven’s dominance in the region for centuries to come. They made their home behind his remains, which became the mighty walls that Haven is known for.

But Shun’Aush would have his revenge. As the Havenites carved through his stone body, the fine dust left behind settled into the surrounding earth. There was a time of prosperity over many centuries while the scales of the god remained undisturbed. But progress is its own pressure. The growing population demanded increased productivity, and as farmers tilled deeper soil and miners hacked into hidden stone, the ancient stone dust rose to the surface. The same walls that brought the city security became the crucible that incubated a virulent plague.

Over the last two years, over half of Haven’s populace fell to a disease known as the Serpent’s Sickness. First, victims cough up dust. Soon after, their skin breaks out in a scaling rash. Finally, their body hardens—first the flesh, bones, and soft tissue, spreading until, finally, their organs ossify. Once within the organs, “the serpent” moves so quickly that sufferers petrify where they stand, filling Haven with statues of victims in their last moments of agony.

The High Magus of Haven, Archmage Phylax, discovered a rare red flower called the crimson lady’s veil that could cure the Serpent’s Sickness. These buds grow prolifically across Fanewick in the spring—but for every ten thousand of the common white-petaled blossoms, only one red flower blooms.

Desperate to save their people from the plague, Haven invaded Fanewick to amass the scarce red buds. Their forces plunged into the deep wood and, under the guidance of Archmage Phylax, plucked out the Reaping Eye from the most powerful Faint Divinity that protected the land: The Great Owl Nikta, the Shepherd of the Seasons. The Shepherd kept Fanewick in balance by turning her eyes upon the land, first for ripening, then ruination. Thus Nikta maintained the cycle of seasons—of growth and decay, of death and rebirth. With her Reaping Eye removed, Nikta can only watch over Fanewick with the Sowing Eye, forcing the land into everlasting spring.

In the year since, Haven has conquered the bogs, turning them into fields to harvest red flowers. The endless growth that once seemed like a gift quickly evolved into a scourge known as the Witherwild—Fanewick’s flora and fauna flourished, unchecked and uncontrolled. Animals swell to massive size; trees warp, twist, and begin to hunt people; and vines creep along the forest floor, strangling all they touch. This explosive growth is unconquerable and unrelenting, with no force able to stop the burgeoning verdance for long.

Prior to the Serpent’s Sickness and the Shepherd’s endless growth, your party lived a life of toil and conquest in Haven. But when the danger demands a response, even the unprepared—and unwilling—must make a stand. Each of you has a history, either from Fanewick or from Haven, but all of you have been recruited by Haven’s beleaguered spymaster, Kreil Dirn, to look into an issue his spies have reported to him in their search for the Fanewraith.

One of Haven's officers was sent out with a small crew on a scouting mission into an uncharted area of Fanewick and has not reported back. The officer in question, was a skilled tracker and has been part of the military for many years with a history of many successful missions. His inability to report back in has led Kreil to make the decision to send your group out to bring him back to the city safely, or to report back on what happened to them.