4th Level
Briartangle (Alteration) Sphere: P l a n t Range: 10 yards/level C o m p o n e n t s : V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: 10-foot radius+10 feet/2 levels Saving Throw: ½
eased, and scarred trees—and even, in rare moments of the favor of Sil-vanus, reerects trees that have fallen or been felled.
The Dryad Dance is a wild ritual of piping, dancing, and carousing that calls out any dryads or hamadryads from the woods around and empowers them to travel far from their trees for a lunar cycle (month) after the dance is performed (though they cannot use their charm ability when more than 360 yards from the tree). Dryads and their trees are healed and revitalized by the dance, and it is rumored that humans and dryads who tryst at this time cause the rapid spread of new oak trees and the birth of new dryads linked to them.
Sadly, it seems the most often performed ceremony in the Silvanite canon is the Thorncall, a ritual magic that raises thick walls of deadly tearing thorns out of the forest soil. These barriers are permanent and as labyrinthine as the presiding priest desires, but they can only be called up when a servant of Sil-vanus (a worshiper or a servitor creature, such as a stag) has been slain or shed much blood in the vicinity. The Thorncall ritual is used to keep out those who would burn or despoil the forest in such a way as to upset the balance.
Major Centers of Worship: The most major center of Silvanite worship is Old Oak Dell in the heart of the Forest of Tethir, due east of Mosstone in Tethyr. Lyon’s Oak south of the River Icehilt in Impiltur, where a vast forest has been planted all around by Silvanite clergy, is fast rising to challenge Old Oak’s supremacy. Another strong contender for supremacy is the island of Ilighôn in the Vilhon Reach, where the Emerald Enclave has set up a faith magic zone.
Affiliated Orders: The church of Silvanus does not have any affiliated knightly orders. It has firm connections to several orders of rangers who serve Mielikki, since she in turn serves Silvanus, and its holy groves and forest pool shrines are often guarded by the seldom-seen clergy of Eldath along with the druids and clerics of the greenleaf priesthood. The Emerald Enclave, a large and aggressive society of druids active in the Vilhon Reach, has close ties to the church, but its members considered a tad radical by many Silvanites else-where in Faerûn who see their actions as likely to provoke a negative back-lash against the Silvanite religion in the future. Finally, the church of Sil-vanus also has ties with the Harpers, an organization working against the rise of great powers, which tend to endanger all natural life and conditions around them by trying to reshape Faerûn, and so endanger the Balance.
A briartangle spell causes living shrubbery or undergrowth of any type to be instantly changed to densely tangled briars of the thorniest sort, growing to 6 feet in height and increasing in horizontal volume to a radius of 10 feet plus 10 additional feet radius for every two levels of experience of the caster (thus, a 7th-level priest would cause a briartangle of 40-foot radius).
Beings can force their way through the briartangle readily, but the briars snag and halt missiles, thrown objects, or flying creatures within their con-fines. All creatures trapped within a briartangle when it forms—--or those that enter it thereafter—suffer 1d4+2 points of piercing and scratching damage per round {or portion thereof) that they remain moving and in contact with the spell. Beings clad in banded, scale, or plate mail have all damage reduced to 1d3 points per round. This reduced damage also applies to creatures made of rock or with skin of comparable hardness, but creatures with lesser armor, such as chain, take full damage, even if a shield is carried.
Beings who do not move at all after the first round take only the damage from the first round of contact. In all cases, a successful saving throw vs.
spell results in half damage (round up).
Spellcasting requiring a somatic component is impossible within a briar-tangle. Cloth raiment and exposed cloth, paper, or vellum items must save vs. acid once per round (or portion thereof) that they are within the briar-tangle’s confines and their user or owner is moving or they are rent and torn.
This means that such items must make at least one item saving throw (for the initial round of contact). Magical items receive a +2 bonus to this sav-ing throw. A briartangle vanishes instantly if the caster so wills, but other-wise exists until the spell expires or is dispelled. When the briartangle ends, the plants it grew from (the living material components) revert to their for-mer state.
Fire destroys a briartangle in a round (regardless of the size of its area of ef-fect), but creatures within it take 2d6 points of fire damage and receive no saving throw against this damage. The area where a briartangle was cast radi-ates a faint dweomer for 1d4+2 turns after the spell has expired, and this af-tereffect can be used to confuse creatures who are following a pass without trace trail by detecting that spell’s dweomer.
In addition to living plants of any type, which are transformed into the briartangle, required material components are mistletoe, a thorn from any plant, and a bud, petal, or leaf from a briar (wild rose).
Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial dress for both clerics and druids of Silvanus is a suit of armor made of overlapping leaves. For clerics, the leaves are made of metal plates and the suit functions as a set of scale mail. For druids, the leaves are made of green-tinted leather and the suit functions as leather armor. Either set is worn with green breeches and shirt. The outfit is topped with a large helm with oak leaf-shaped wings.
In urban areas, where the clerics outnumber the druids, the standard dress has been simplified to a verdigrised-copper pin worn on the breast when a priest is not involved with the High Ceremonies.
Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, druids and clerics of Silvanus may wear their ceremonial armor or switch to something less flamboyant, depending on their mission. They are usual very practical in their dress, choosing outfits to suit the situation at hand.
Many of the wilder druids take to wearing only a loose, dusty brown cloak made of old hides adorned with feathers and carefully watered, woven-in clumps of mosses from day to day. Sometimes this body cloak is augmented by fur leggings or high boots. This garb, worn by priestesses of the Forest Father, has given rise to tales of wild women of the woods in many places around the Realms.
Specialty Priests (Druids)
Oakheart (Alteration, Necromancy)
Sphere: Plant
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: One being and one oak tree Saving Throw: N o n e
Casting this spell creates a link between the caster or a touched being and an oak tree. The oak tree can be any distance from the spell recipient when the spell is cast and during its duration, so long as the spell recipient remains in Faerûn.
Wisdom 12, Charisma 15 Wisdom, Charisma N
REQUIREMENTS: PRIME REQ.:
ALIGNMENT: WEAPONS:
ARMOR: At any time after this spell is cast, crushing the material component
causes the spell to activate. For the next three rounds, any damage done to the spell recipient does not harm him or her, hut instead affects the dis-tant oak tree. The tree mystically becomes the target of all spells and the victim struck by all attacks. If the tree is dead before the spell is cast, the spell does not work, and the caster knows this, although the spell is lost.
If the tree dies of the damage done to it during the oakheart spell, the linked being suffers a permanent loss of 3 hit points. The recipient of an oakheart spell does not regain hit points through rest until the tree is en-tirely healed because while it is injured, it receives the linked spell recip-ient’s naturally healed hit points. The spell recipient can be magically healed during this time, though. A being may be linked through oakheart to only one oak tree at a time and can only have one oakheart in affect at a time.
Club, sickle, dart, spear, dagger, scimitar, sling, staff Padded, leather, or hide and wooden, bone, shell or other nonmetallic shield
A l l , a n i m a l , e l e m e n t a l , h e a l i n g , p l a n t , t i m e , w a r d s , weather, sun
Divination, travelers As druid
Brewing, cobbling, cooking, fishing, or weaving (take two); animal lore
Survival (pick type), weather sense, modern languages (pick one from: brownie, dryad, elvish, korred, nymph, pegasus, pixie, satyr, sprite, sylph, treant, unicorn) All specialty priests of Silvanus are druids. Their abilities and restrictions, aside from changes noted above, are summarized in Appendix 1: Priest Classes and detailed in full in the Player’s Handbook.
BONUS PROFS: MINOR SPHERES: MAGICAL ITEMS: REQ. PROFS: MAJOR SPHERESS:
The material component of the spell is an oak leaf. The recipient is linked to the tree from which the leaf came. Note that a fireward spell cast on the leaf at any time before it is crushed renders the distant oak immune to fire damage until the leaf is crushed.
Smoke Ghost (Alteration) Sphere: Elemental Fire Range: 10 yards/level Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: Creates 1 apparition Saving Throw: Special
A priest can use this spell to affect smoke, drawing it into a wraithlike cowled form that flies or glides, drifting up to 150 feet per round in the di-rection the caster wishes. The smoke ghost is not a living creature or sen-tient force. It cannot wear clothing, carry things, or be made to speak. It is merely an apparition with one attack ability: It can envelop a being and suffocate it with thick, choking smoke and ash.
A smoke ghost is a cloud of thick, billowing gray smoke approximately 9 feet high by 2 feet in diameter. It is roughly man-shaped. It cannot achieve a greater stable volume, and its precise form is variable in accordance with the caster’s wishes. A smoke ghost can rise into the air 10 feet per level of the caster or be made to sink to the ground, flowing along the earth like some sort of living blanket. It can seep and maneuver through cracks and crevices precisely as the caster wills. It can shift into a globe form or wall form in one-quarter of a round (15 seconds).
The smoke ghost attacks by attempting to envelop a creature. A saving throw vs. breath weapon must be made each round against the smoke ghost attack until the spell expires or the smoke ghost is moved to another target.
If the saving throw is successful, the affected creature’s attacks are at a -1 penalty, and 1 point of damage is inflicted upon the smoke ghost’s victim at the end of the round. Affected creatures who make their saving throws are able to utter item command words, power words, or cast other spells that re-quire only a single spoken word. Doing so wracks the affected creature with uncontrollable coughing fits for the following round, making them unable to take offensive action that round (but not affecting their saving throw).
The failure of this saving throw vs. breath weapon (either in the first round or a successive round) means the creature is enveloped. Enveloped victims are partially blinded; all their attacks are made at a -2 penalty.
They also take 1 point of damage at the end of the round. Enveloped vic-tims find spellcasting and even normal speech impossible, resulting in vlo-lent retching and coughing when these are tried. These penalties and this rate of damage continue until the third round of envelopment.
Beginning with the third round of envelopment, a creature must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic each round or be rendered un-conscious through suffocation. Each following consecutive round of envel-opment adds another -2 penalty to the roll (for a -2 penalty on the fourth round, -4 on the fifth, and so on).
Assuming she or he is not killed through the accrual of damage (hit points reduced to below 0 or -10, if that optional rule is in use), an uncon-scious character eventually recovers. One-quarter (25%) of the smoke damage is actual, the rest is temporary.
The caster must be able to see the smoke ghost to direct it, and control-ling the apparition requires the caster’s full attention. The caster can cast no other spells nor take any other offensive action while controlling the smoke ghost, although the caster may voluntarily release control of it. An undirected smoke ghost hangs motionless until the caster takes control again, It is dispelled, or the spell expires. A victim who was being assaulted by a smoke ghost which becomes undirected is considered to automatically find himself or herself in fresh air (if such is available) on the round that the ghost becomes undirected. If subsequently reattacked by the smoke ghost, the entire attack sequence must be restarted from its beginning. Pre-vious damage caused by the smoke ghost is assumed to linger until about a turn after the ghost finally disappears. A ghost that reaches the caster’s maximum range stops and remains in place until directed elsewhere. The caster can will the ghost to disappear into nothingness at any time, an ac-tion that takes the smoke ghost takes half a round (30 seconds).
It can be destroyed by a gust of wind, dispel magic, or strong natural winds. Any magics that affect vapors also affect it. It is not affected by weapons.
The caster creates the smoke ghost by means of a pinch of dust and some mistletoe that are cast into an existing fire or cloud of smoke of magical or natural origin.
Thorn Spray (Alteration)
Sphere: Plant
Range: 10 yards
Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round Casting Time: 3
Area of Effect: 4 thornlike objects/level Saving Throw: None
By means of this spell, a priest can cause barbs, spikes, thorns, spines, or non-metallic darts, either naturally growing or magically created (in other words, by use of a spike growth, wall of thorns, or briartangle spell), to spring with enough force to serve as missiles from his or her hand or from hushes or rest-ing places within 10 yards of himself or herself. The thorns fly up to 120 yards within the round of casting and strike as many targets as the priest wishes within the limits of the number of thorns able to be animated. The priest may direct the thorns in any combination at any living or nonliving (a scroll, lantern, or wineskin) targets that she or he can see. The priest can an-imate a maximum of four thorns per experience level.
The thorns strike only if a successful attack roll is made for each target.
The attack roll is made as though the thorns were directly wielded by the priest and at a +4 attack bonus in addition to any other applicable bonuses the priest might have; no range penalties apply. The thorns inflict 1 point of damage each. Sleep-venomed wooden darts are sometimes carried by priest (especially druids) who use this spell often.
The missiles of a thorn spray twist and turn in flight to follow moving tar-gets and avoid obstructions, and are fast enough to catch most buds on the wing. Thornspray works underwater, but the priest has only normal attack rolls, and the range is reduced to 90 yards.
The material components for this spell are magical or natural barbs, spikes, thorns, spines, or nonmetallic darts that the priest animates.
5th Level
Fireward (Abjuration) Sphere: Elemental Fire
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 8
Area of Effect: Sphere of 1 foot in diameter/level Saving Throw: None
This spell temporarily renders a spherical area fireproof, instantly extin-guishing all fires and preventing the ignition of future conflagrations for the spell’s duration. Despite its name, this magic does not ward away flames, but rather drinks them in, destroying them. The sphere is centered on the caster but is stationary once created. The caster can move about, engage in other spellcasting activities, slumber, or even leave and reenter the sphere repeat-edly without affecting it in any way.
Fireward is effective against red dragon breath, fire elementals (who can-not enter or be summoned into the sphere), natural fires of all sizes (includ-ing forest fires), and fiery magic. It prevents heat and vapor transfer between its protected area and the surroundings so that smoke cannot enter a fire-ward, a conflagration cannot roast its occupants, nor can a fire suck all the oxygen out of the ward to feed its own roaring flames.
The material components of this spell are a pinch of sand and a drop of water.
Mulch (Alteration, Necromancy) Sphere: Plant, Necromantic Range: 5 feet/level Components: V, S Duration: 1 round Castmg Time: 5
Area of Effect: 10 cubic feet/level (90 cubic feet minimum) Saving Throw: Special
This spell must be used with extreme care by priests of Silvanus for its reckless use could undo much of the growth and revitalization of sylvan lands that their god stands for. It causes wood (such as a tree, shrub, door, or cottage wall) or once-hying organic material (such as leather straps or rope) to rot away instantly. Carefully applied, this can make plate mall fall off a foe, free a bound captive, and so on. When used with less care, it can destroy clothing in a trace, cause weapons to fall off friendly warriors in all directions, and dev-astate gardens or stands of trees. The spell must affect a minimum of 90 cubic feet if the caster’s level so allows; the spell’s area of effect above this is in-creased at the caster’s discretion, but limited by this or her experience level.
This spell instantly kills yellow musk creepers, violet fungi, and various harmful molds, but intelligent plant life receives a saving throw vs. spell at +5 to avoid death. Plant beings (such as shambling mounds and vegepyg-mies) successfully saving against a mulch spell suffer 5d4 points of damage instead.
Nonvegetable intelligent beings are affected by this spell in a curious way: Its touch causes much internal moisture to retreat from the skin and fat layers of the body to deeper body cavities for a short period. This does no damage and has no adverse effects save to cause an affected being’s voice to grow rough and quavery and to cause the being’s skin to become very wrin-kled (because it hangs more loosely). This effect of the spell would tem-porarily ruin a good singing voice, and for 1d4+1 rounds, it tends to cause affected beings to appear very old. This side-effect of the spell has been used by priests to aid in disguise attempts, fake devastating diseases, or simulate magical aging.
7th Level
Death Chariot (Evocation, Conjuration/Summoning) Sphere: Elemental Fire
Range: 10 yards
Components: V, S, M Duration: Special
Components: V, S, M Duration: Special