The Rot in the Hollow

Rot is creeping out of the old hollow, darker than any natural damp, and the green around it is turning black. Cut it out before it reaches the farmsteads.

The Rot in the Hollow is the site’s third fight — the first time the grove’s wildlife takes orders from something bigger.

The company

The fighter now has a stronger arm alongside Action Surge and Second Wind. The cleric has Channel Divinity, second-level spells, and spiritual weapon — a second attacker that doesn’t need to stand in the rot. The wizard has scorching-ray damage and stays well clear of the stain. The player controls the fighter; the cleric and wizard act on their own.

The camp near the hollow is a compromise site — trees have reclaimed cells, and the safest-looking approach is the one the rot has already spread along. Gathering before anyone advances beats splitting the party.

What woke in the hollow

A corrupted slime — the well’s wet gone wrong, sickening on touch — backed by a larger mass that commands it and never has to touch anyone itself. While it lives, every ooze on the field fights as a coordinated pack. This isn’t a cluster of weak nuisances: a failed save here is an emergency, not a detail to shrug off. The fighter holds a line the mass can reach without reaching the casters; the cleric treats every failed save immediately; the wizard fights only from ground that’s still clean.

After

The hollow’s black line resets for the next company. If the well and the brushline felt manageable, this is where a party learns that some things in the woodland give orders.