Background
The Jungle of Bolraz was once a picturesque and peaceful place where small villages of vanara lived in harmony with the land. That peace was shattered some sixty years ago by a magical catastrophe that gave the jungle the name it is known by now. The natural balance in Bolraz was maintained by a council of druids who lived among ancient standing stones in the heart of the jungle. These druids would undertake a ritual every full moon to summon good aligned forth fey to help them rejuvenate the jungle and bolster it against blight. On the night of the catastrophe, there was a mistake with one of the summoning runes and evil debased fey were called forth rather than good fey.
The druids did not realize their mistake until it was too late and were quickly slaughtered by the debased fey. With the jungle’s first line of defense destroyed the debased fey sought to claim the entire jungle for themselves in one fell swoop. They tried to muster a massive army of evil fey but found out the magic of the standing stones only a few fey at a time to cross over every full moon. The fey have since resigned themselves to their situation and have settled for smaller raiding parties that have gone on to destroy many of the vanara villages. The presence of so many debased fey has begun to change the local plants and animals, twisting them into horrible monstrosities.
Inhabitants
Today around a dozen vanara villages exist in the Jungle of Bolraz where there were once over a hundred. The treetop villages that were once warm and welcoming have now become cold and distrustful. The vanara here are wary of strangers because many of them have been attacked by seemingly friendly people who were either charmed by the fey or fey themselves. Magic users as a whole tend to be shunned due to superstitious fears and those who are skilled in conjuration magic are attacked on sight. Outside trade has all but dried up and as a result, most vanara villages have become largely self-sufficient making do with food and tools they gather or make themselves.
The leaders of the evil fey in the jungle of Bolraz are a trio of woodwose known as the gnarled council. They rarely leave the standing stones, usually only venturing forth to lead a raiding party against a well defended vanara village. These raiding parties typically consist of a mix of debased versions of common fey such as sprites, pixies and satyrs. The gnarled council and the other debased fey see themselves as the personification of nature itself. They don’t see anything inherently evil in their actions, they are simply reclaiming the jungle of Bolraz for nature and driving out the influence of civilization. They still hold the laws of nature in high regard such as viewing undead as an anathema.
Recent Events
The evil fey infestation of the Jungle of Bolraz has not gone unnoticed by the wider world. Scores of vanara refugees have been pleading with the surrounding kingdoms for aid in reclaiming their homeland over the years. Most of these requests have fallen on sympathetic but unwilling ears. The nearby kingdoms are happy to take in and settle the refugees but fear that by engaging evil fey, they may risk angering any good fey in their own kingdoms. The elven paladin Torinele has been lending her voice to the calls for action that have been resonating strongly lately. She is marshaling an army to reclaim the jungle, seeing the debased fey as a corruption that must be cleansed.
During the last full moon the gnarled council managed to summon a powerful grimm rather than several lesser fey. The grimm was set loose to hunt any good fey who may be secretly helping the vanara villagers. It has gone on to claim the land surrounding Lake Emel as its personal domain, single-handedly destroying two villages in the process. All of the waterways in the Jungle of Bolraz flow out of Lake Emel and the grimm has systematically been blocking them off. By disrupting the water supply it hopes to flush any good fey or vanara out of hiding and devour them. Unlike the other evil debased fey, the grimm is fiercely independent and the gnarled council is beginning to question if it is truly under their control.
Not all of the vanara have sat idly by while their homeland became overrun by debased fey. A conjurer by the name of Avam has been seeking ways to enlist devils to help fight the fey. Avam has been forced to conduct his research in secret due to the prevailing anti conjuration attitudes among most of his fellow vanara. But he truly believes that hellfire is the best way to help his people and has already been making inroads with conjured imps. Unfortunately for Avam the imps don’t take him seriously and he is unable to secure a contracted army of devils. He is growing increasingly desperate for some progress and has been making wilder and grander promises to the devils in exchange for their help.
Drag & Drop Encounter (CR 8)
The fey incursions have had a warping effect on the local environment leading to creatures such as the wolf-spider. As the party comes upon a clearing in the jungle four of the wolf-spiders are lying in wait above them. The creatures are relatively intelligent and have left a distraction on the jungle floor, allowing them to move into prime ambush positions. One of the wolf-spiders has fashioned its silk into a series of knotted patterns and left in clearly visible in the clearing. Once the party has examined the silk, the wolf-spiders attack in a coordinated routine. Two of the spiders will drop down and engage the party directly while the remaining two will remain in the trees above and make web attacks. If the fight does not go their way, the spiders will retreat up to the canopy and scamper back into the jungle
