Sanctuary of Rillifane Rallathil

Alaeduril, Harmonious Dells — Shrine-Complex of the Leaflord

Tucked into the green heart of Alaeduril, the Sanctuary of Rillifane Rallathil is a high-canopy complex of living treehouses, skywalks, and rope-ladders woven into ancient trunks. It serves the Leaflord’s faithful as grove-temple, refuge, and ward-station, where hunts are blessed, cuttings are licensed, and wounded land is made whole. The sanctuary partners closely with the Temple of Ehlenestra and the clan council in the Besh’norin to keep market peace, trail law, and forest balance.

History & Purpose

Raised shortly after Alaeduril’s founding, the sanctuary became the practical arm of stewardship: where the Temple of Ehlenestra — Alaeduril defines sanctuary law and hosts peaceful markets, the Leaflord’s priests patrol game corridors, reseed blighted copses, and arbitrate disputes over cutting or forage. Its design and quiet rites reflect the The Seldarine — The Elven Pantheon ethos—freedom, beauty, and balance—with Rillifane’s focus on living woods and renewal.

Architecture & Layout

• Heartwood Spire: A massive bronzewood crowned with a ring of open chapels. Each chapel faces a compass point and an element of the forest—stream, glade, thicket, and cliff.
• Leaf-Walks: Springy, living bridges that sway like boughs in wind. Green-lantern pods provide night glow without flame.
• The Aviary Porches: Perches and nest-boxes for sacred birds; message-tubes run to ranger posts and the Oath Oak.
• Root Halls: Cool, earthen chambers used for seed archives, poultices, and storm watches.

The Timeless Relic

Hidden within the Root Halls rests the First-Seed Reliquary—a living seed said to be taken from the First Tree in Arvandor’s groves. In practice it is an ever-sprouting kernel housed in a crystal cradle of sap and amber. When boughs fail after storm or blight, a single shaving from the Reliquary’s husk, planted with prayer, takes root overnight. The relic is not a weapon; it is a promise—the forest will return if guardians keep faith.

Rites & Customs

• Spring Unfurling: Bird-release blessings and trail-mending; hunters swear to take for need and thank for gift.
• Leaffall Vigil: Quiet night of gratitude for game; replanting of coppices and repair of blinds.
• Stillbark: Midwinter watch where the sanctuary stays lit without flame; elders listen for the forest’s “slow voice.”
• Oath in Living Wood: Compacts about hunt, cut, and road use are witnessed on a living bough rather than carved stone—oaths meant to grow, not to scar.

Wardings & Security

• Quiet Geometry: Bark-etched sigils soften fire, mute metal, and turn torches cold near the leaf-walks.
• Bird-Cant: Trained calls carry alerts from porch to porch without panicking game.
• Ranger Liaisons: Lines of sight run to Sevensong signal posts; a bell of wood at the Heartwood Spire can be struck thrice to summon the Lon’Baelyth’s quick-response pickets.

Law & Policy from the Grove

• Take for Need: Sport hunting is forbidden inside clan lands; Solonor’s faithful are welcomed as wardens when they hunt to protect and to eat.
• Cut with Cause: Inner-forest cutting requires a priestly writ; each felling is matched with new plantings and a season of trail service.
• No Torch-Trade: Night caravans and slaver traffic are barred; violators are disarmed and sent to the Temple courts for restitution.

Relationships

• Temple of Ehlenestra: Twin pillar of civic faith—Ehlenestra tends people and law, Rillifane tends land and memory; together they keep Alaeduril tranquil.
• Gnarley Rangers & Old Faith: Shared patrol calendars, shared poultices, shared guilt when a grove fails—cooperation is custom, not exception.
• Other Clans: A neutral retreat for wardens from Fealefel, Enlanefel, and Sherendyl when cross-border blights need a common cure.

Points of Interest

• The Seed Archive: Drawer-hollows of labeled nuts, cones, and cuttings—an agricultural memory of the Gnarley.
• Moon-Porch: An open deck above the stream where night oaths are sung; Sehanine’s crescent is inlaid with shell along the rail.
• The Rain-Door: A vine-curtain that parts only in wet weather; behind it, a meditation shelf that overlooks the confluence.

Adventure Hooks

• Birds Go Silent: The Aviary Porches report three nights with no song—find the cause before a blight or predator spreads.
• The Stolen Shaving: A desperate smuggler has sliced a sliver from the First-Seed Reliquary—track it through Namburil before it’s sold to a Temple agent.
• Stormbreak Muster: Windthrows block a game corridor; wardens request the party’s muscle while a druidic rite diverts a flood.
• Torch at the Moon-Porch: Someone tries to force torch-trade during a market of peace—protect the rites without desecrating the sanctuary.

Sanctuary of Rillifane — First Greeting

Read-Aloud: Approaching the Leaf-Walks

The forest tightens into cool green shadow. High overhead, walkways sway between living treehouses; lantern-pods glow like unripe fruit. The air smells of wet bark and crushed fern. A soft birdcall answers from the canopy—once, twice, then silence.
A figure steps from a curtain of ivy. You notice leaf-stitched leathers, rain-dark braids, and a torque of carved oak at the throat. The druid’s eyes are the color of river moss in shade.

He raises an open hand—not blocking your way, only measuring it.

“Peace under the canopy. You stand at the Sanctuary of Rillifane. Steel sheathed, voices low. State your need, and we will see how the forest answers.”

Who They Are (for you)

Leaf-Warden Ildraen (any gender you prefer). Calm, direct, never hurried. Speaks in short sentences, lets silence work. Uses bird-cant signals to alert unseen wardens.

Mannerisms: tilts head like a hawk when listening; touches the oak torque when invoking the Leaflord; rarely smiles, often approves with a quiet “good.”

Voice: low, grounded; never whispers, never raises volume.

Opening Moves (choose what fits your party)

1. If the party arrives openly with weapons peacebound

• Warden looks to your hands, then to your boots for mud and blood.

“Traveling honest. Good. Are you here for shelter, trade, or the work that mends what others break?”

1. If the party carries lit torches

• He gestures to a clay bowl of damp moss.

“Quench fire. Lantern-pods will guide you. The Leaflord dislikes needless flame.”

1. If someone is wounded

• He signals twice—a soft trill—and a junior warden trots up with salves.

“We bind first, we question second. Sit. Which road bled you?”

1. If the party drags game or obvious trophies

“Take only what you need, leave what feeds the forest. There’s a place for thanks and a ledger for weight. Will you offer both?”

Dialogue Beats (use as needed)

• On Purpose

“Name your errand in one breath.”

• On Sanctuary

“Sanctuary is three nights for the unblooded. If you have harmed the green without need, one night is lost. Do you claim it?”

• On Oaths and Conduct

“You may speak bargains here, but oaths are sworn on living wood. Say only what you are willing to plant.”

• On Markets of Peace

“Trade waits beyond the leaf-walk. No torch-trade, no slaver coin. If that troubles you, choose another road.”

• On the First-Seed Reliquary (if asked)

“Relics are tended, not toured. If your need serves the forest, the elders will hear it. If it serves your purse, the path ends at the ivy.”

• On Rangers/Woodsmen

“Rangers are partners. Woodsmen are neighbors. Bandits are compost when they insist.”

• If they ask for help against Nulb traffic

“Good. Bring names, not rumors. We starve shadow roads with facts.”

Quick Checks (call for these when useful)

• Respect for custom: DC 12 Insight reveals the Warden warms when players mirror his pace and tone.
• Reading the grove: DC 13 Nature identifies the lantern-pods and living bridges; succeeding grants advantage on future Stealth checks within the sanctuary.
• Earning trust quickly: Present a bonded writ, rescued captive, or proof of poaching; DC 14 Persuasion secures an immediate audience with the elders.

Branching Prompts

• If PCs seek sanctuary for a contrite poacher/witness

“He stands under your word. Then both your words bind you to restitution. Will you guard him until the Oath is heard?”

• If PCs want escorts or a guide

“The trails are not hired; they are kept. Prove you protect what you walk upon, and a guide will find you at dawn.”

• If someone mouths off or refuses to quench a torch

“You are free to keep your fire. You are not free to bring it past the ivy. Choose: bowl or road.”

• If they ask about the Seldarine

“Different voices, one canopy. If you seek answers, start with mercy; it speaks the clearest.”

Exit Lines (choose one)

• Friendly passage:

“Walk in daylight and leave the paths better than you found them.”

• Conditional acceptance:

“You may enter under green law. Break it, and the forest will remember before I do.”

• Denial (for slaver coin or torch-trade):

“No. The forest is not for sale, and neither are we. Turn back to the road you deserve.”

Notes for Running the Scene

• Keep the pace unhurried; silence is a tool.
• Let one short answer from the PCs open a longer one from the Warden.
• Reward respectful behavior with small boons: guidance to a healer, advantage on one Survival/Nature check in the grove, or a Ranger contact later.
• Consequence is gentle but firm. The sanctuary’s authority is moral first, martial second.