Event·Wasteland

The Dying Juniper

A massive juniper tree stands alone in a rocky clearing, its trunk wider than your arm span. Most of its branches are dead - bare, bleached wood reaching upward like bones. But one side still has green needles, clinging to life against the odds.

At the base of the tree, someone has carved a small shelf into the trunk and placed a clay jar inside it. The jar is sealed with wax.

Choices

1
Open the jar. Whatever someone left in a tree in the middle of nowhere has to be worth looking at.
no requirement
Success
Inside the jar: a handful of dried juniper berries, a coiled piece of copper wire, and a folded note. The note is a simple message - directions to a clean spring two kilometers east, written for anyone who finds it. The berries and wire are a bonus.
Failure
The wax seal breaks and the jar cracks in your hands. Inside is a dark paste that smells overwhelmingly of sage and something rotten. Whoever left this, it was personal - a burial offering, maybe, or a ritual cache. You put it back and wipe your hands on your pants.
2
Leave the jar alone. Respect whatever tradition put it there. Take some berries from the living branches instead.
no requirement
Success
You pick a handful of berries from the green side of the tree and sit in its shade for a few minutes. It's a good rest spot - sheltered from the wind, with a view of the surrounding terrain. You feel better for stopping.
Failure
The berries are dry and bitter - the tree is too stressed to produce anything worth eating. You rest in the shade anyway, but the wind picks up and drives grit into your eyes.
3
This juniper is old-growth - pre-war. The living side might have usable resin and the deadwood is excellent fuel-grade hardwood.
Foraging Mastery lv 3
Success
You harvest a small quantity of juniper resin from the living bark - a natural antiseptic and preservative that's difficult to find in these quantities. The deadwood snaps clean and dry, perfect for trade. You leave the carved shelf and its jar untouched.
Failure
You score the bark to tap the resin, but the tree is too far gone. The living side is barely alive - the cambium layer is paper-thin and yields almost nothing. The deadwood is riddled with bore holes from desert beetles, making it useless as trade lumber. This juniper is dying and there's nothing left to harvest.

UUID