**Forgotten Echoes: The Weaver's Unraveling Labyrinth**
Setting: The Weaver’s Unraveling Labyrinth
Deep within the heart of the Whispering Woods lies the remnants of an ancient weaving guild once headed by Elowen, the renowned Weaver of Fates. The guild had been a source of magical tapestries that foretold the future and weaved stories into reality. However, following the mysterious disappearance of Elowen and her guild, the labyrinthine ruins of her workshop became overgrown and lost to time.
As the players traverse the thick trees of the Whispering Woods, they discover the entrance to the labyrinth, overgrown with vines and pulsating with a faint, eldritch glow. The air is thick with mystery, and the enchantment within beckons adventurers to explore its depths, promising knowledge, power, or peril—based on the choices they make.
As the adventurers step into the shadows of the labyrinth, the faint sound of a distant loom comes alive—an echo of Elowen’s long-forgotten magic. The party's goal is to piece back together Elowen's unfinished tapestry, which holds the key to her power and, ultimately, the secrets of the labyrinth.
Characters
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Elowen, the Weaving Spirit: Though absent from corporeal form, Elowen's spirit lingers, deeply tied to the maze and its history. She is a helpful ally if approached with respect and understanding. Her knowledge can help the players, but she is wary—merely a guardian of her guild’s magic, not its master.
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The Fragmentary Wraiths: The guardians of the labyrinth are remnants of the guild’s past members, twisted by the despair of their unfinished weaving. These translucent wraiths exist to protect Elowen’s legacy. They are keen on solving the riddle of the labyrinth and can become hostile if they sense malevolence or disrespect from the players.
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The Loominous Beasts: Trap-spirited creatures fashioned of threads and fabric, they appear innocuous but attack anyone who attempts to desecrate the guild’s relics. Their forms can shift and blend into the labyrinth’s scenery, making them particularly dangerous.
Puzzle: The Weaving of Threads
Upon entering the labyrinth, the players encounter a massive circular chamber adorned with intricate tapestries that depict various events—both past and future. In the center lies a loom, but it stands frozen, covered in dust. Around the room are four stone scrolls, each embroidered with a thread of a different color—red, blue, green, and gold.
To awaken the loom and unravel the tapestry of Elowen, the players must correctly combine the four threads according to a riddle inscribed in the stone:
“In restless fate, the red shall shine,
To kindle courage in bleak design.
The blue shall weave the calm of night,
When sorrow deepens, and dreams take flight.
Green holds the breath of life in bloom,
While gold reveals the dawn from gloom.
Which order does the tapestry crave,
To quell the echoes and the forgotten brave?”
Mechanics
The players must first interpret the riddle and decide on the right order of colors to weave the tapestry. Each player can use an Intelligence check (DC 15) to decipher the riddle’s meaning and propose an order. If successful, they can combine their insights through a group roleplay scene.
Once an order is determined, they must input the threads into the loom. Incorrect attempts invoke the wrath of the Fragmentary Wraiths, who will attack. For every round of incorrect weaving, the players take an additional point of psychic damage as the echo of the wraiths' despair amplifies in the chamber.
Encounter: Threads of Reality
Once the loom is activated, the players watch in awe as their combined efforts reshape the tapestries upon the wall, revealing a path deeper into the labyrinth and summoning Elowen's spirit, who takes form among the threads. She greets the players warmly but warns them of the dangers ahead, for the Loominous Beasts guard the heart of her workshop, still influenced by a curse that ensures they protect what was never completed.
As they delve further, the party must navigate through a series of narrow passages, illuminated only by flickers of magical light cascading from the walls like the glow of a lantern. Every now and then, they will encounter traps woven into the fabric of the hallways—walls that shift imperceptibly, moving to close off paths while opening others, shifting their very location like a living tapestry.
The Loominous Beasts
As the players traverse this dynamic maze, Loominous Beasts emerge from the threads woven into the walls, animated by the labyrinth’s magic. Each encounter features 1-3 Loominous Beasts (use statistics of a “Will-o'-Wisp” modified with defensive traits of a “Mimic”):
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Attack and Mechanic: They can shift through walls (treat them as having a form of ‘Invisibility’ while merging into the tapestry), and they possess an array of thread-spinning attacks that deal slashing damage and tie up players with magical cords (requiring a DC 14 Strength check to escape).
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Weakness: If the players reference any of Elowen’s finished tapestries, she provides brief on-the-fly advice that gives players advantage on rolls to break free from the Loominous Beasts’ entrapment.
Once defeated or subdued, the Loominous Beasts revert to enchanted threads, which can be gathered and used to craft magical items, a reward for those who venture carefully.
Resolution: Unraveling Power
With the Loominous Beasts defeated and their ties to despair resolved, the players reach the central chamber of the guild—the heart of the labyrinth—where Elowen’s final tapestry lies unfinished upon its loom.
Here, Elowen guides the players to the final step of weaving: combining threads from the Loominous Beasts with their own, symbolizing the unity of courage, calm, life, and knowledge. The players must each contribute a thread to the tapestry by invoking their individual stories and ties to one another through roleplay.
As they weave, they are met with ethereal visions of foresight—prophetic glimpses of their paths ahead shaped by their actions and choices. Should they succeed in weaving the tapestry, they will gain profound insights into their destinies, hinting at future adventures. They may also receive magical gifts bestowed by Elowen, such as powerful elixirs or enchanted items infused with the labyrinth’s lifeblood.
If they fail to complete the tapestry, they are confronted with a lingering curse—becoming a part of the Weaver’s echo themselves, forever entwined within the lingering threads of the labyrinth unless they seek more help and try once again.
Finally, as they prepare to leave, Elowen's spirit thanks them, her laughter echoing with the final threads of the Weaving Labyrinth shimmering behind them, inviting them back whenever the threads of fate call them forth.
