Evil Forest Ideas Help

Ok so I've been running a 5e campaign for a few of my local friends but I need this next sesh to be really good, let me give you the run down so far. They started off in the town of silverymoon, where they were commissioned by the lord of the town to go and dispatch of a nasty vampire named Count Hall. That night before they left for the journey the town was assaulted by Count Hall, a Troll, 3 green Hags(coven), and a Werewolf. Yada yada yada they enter the Glimmerwood, they continue through the forest meeting various people and engaging in various battles when at the end they face off against the Troll. To my amazement the party whooped that trolls ass. Next they had to proceed through the dark cave tunnels beneath mithral hall Several more encounters of considerable difficulty and they arrive at the end of the cave tunnel and finding it blocked off by a recently constructed hut on the edge of the forest Lurkwood. The party then faced off against the Hag Coven and it was a very tough fight and probably the best encounter of the whole campaign thus far. Also in the cave's the Dwarf Nobel Paladin gained a signet ring from a slain dwarf that he recognized to be his cousins clan "Bronzefist". The bard in the party also acquired a pale glowing harp in the cave. The third and final party member is a wood elf monk and I know he wants to work a riddle into the campaign somehow. Soooo... The next session will be the party traveling through the Misty Evil Forest of Lurkwood where at the end they will face off against a werewolf and his cohorts and then being faced with the ominous castle of Count Hall before them for the next session. I need some great ideas for "filler" stuff for the evil forest. I need a good idea for the Nobel signet ring and how to bring it into the next session, as well as the pale glowing harp, as well as fitting a clever riddle in somehow. All while the presence of the Vampires Lair has an effect on the forest grounds. If anyone has any great ideas or monsters they would like to share I would greatly appreciate it. :) or if you need more information please feel free to ask.

One word for the Noble ring....well two words. Hangman Tree. Those things are amazing.

Whats that exactly?

<a href="http://paizo.com/PRD/additionalMonsters/hangmanTre" rel="nofollow">http://paizo.com/PRD/additionalMonsters/hangmanTre</a>...

Come on more ideas !! Help me Obi-Wan-Kenobi.. You're our only hope.

Will-o-wisps are a staple of scary forests, as are Rodents of Unusual Size, faery rings, moss-covered grottos, and little girls in white dresses that you can never quite catch. You can mess them up for quite a while with simply describing an area that's totally blanketed in moss, because they will be dying (sometimes literally) to find out why that one area is moss-covered. A huge python would be incredibly appropriate- make sure they know they will be hitting the constricted character while trying to get to the python. A swamp full of zombies and a creepy old necromancer swamp witch can't go wrong. A Cloaker or some Driders could be fun. This could lead into "Where is the entrance to the underdark?" and "Is that why the forest is evil?" Edit: Roll20 needs to support Markdown. It's a legitimate standard , even if it's not exactly standardized .

Nice ideas James I dig :) but the forest is overtly evil because of the Vampires Lair that is in it. I love some of your ideas though :) please feel free to pelt me with more if they come to you!

B said: but the forest is overtly evil because of the Vampires Lair that is in it. But that's a causation-correlation/chicken-egg thing, isn't it? It is super-evil because there's a vampire lair in it, or is there a vampire lair because the forest is super-evil? Furthermore, are these two caused by something else? (Like James suggested, an entrance to the Underdark) There's a lot of room for expansion there, which is a good thing. Sure, you could say that once the vampire's dead and the lair cleansed out, the forest goes back to normal. But where's the fun in that?

Undead are always a nice thing to have in evil places. Alternatively, how about a "dream sequence" when the party goes to sleep in the forest. They actually don't know it, but they have to fight against bad odds, but as soon as someone realizes it's only a nightmare they are freed and can wake up with whatever damage they suffered. Also, a lot of excitement can be created just by ambience. Play a few spooky tunes, and tell them what their characters hear and see. Maybe those noises are only harmless creatures passing by and nothing overly evil at all. But at least you'll have them on the edge :D Also make sure to mute your mic whenever they discuss their precautions against impending creatures, or else they'll hear your maniacal DM giggle (at least that's what I have to do).

Pale glowing harp... for some reason it made me think of a citronella candle... how about playing the harp functions as a repel Vermin (insects) spell that allow the party to pass through a specific swarm of insects in the forest that would otherwise prove certainly fatal?

Clever riddle? Manticores love riddles... how about an animated mechanical Manticore that poses riddles, launching steel bolt tail spikes for answers that are incorrect or take too long in coming? He thinks it is all great fun to follow the party through the woods and keep posing riddles... as long as they answer correctly they live (for now). Correct answers are awarded some small boon... like how to use the harp above.