Violent Nemorous Passage - A Wolden Adventure

This Wolden RPG adventure has just completed its playtest, and is currently being properly written up and illustrated. Check back here for updates!

Spoilers!

Needless to say, this page contains all the spoilers, so if you're planning on playing this adventure, look away now! :D

Overview

A powerful sorcerer-king, King Kashiel the Thrice Blessed, Titan of the Pyramid Gargantua, has established a stronghold at the far edges of the All-forest. His designs on the forest, if any, are unclear. It behooves the cults of Wolden to closely watch his actions, to determine whether this sorcerer-king is a threat, or a possible ally.

To that end, the cult leaders have decided to replace his favorite concubine with a planted spy of their own. They have found a woman, Armeda of the Enlightened Conclave of Ocultists (eye sorcerers), who resembles the concubine and is willing to take on this task. Magic, clothes, and makeup will make the illusion complete. Hopefully.

It is your job to escort the spy to the sorcerer-king’s stronghold, remove the real concubine, and put your agent in place. Leave the real one alive, she could be useful as leverage down the road. Beyond that, it’s all up to you.

Beginning the Adventure

At the start, the characters have already traveled far from Wolden, and are now close to King Kashiel’s domain. The area is roughly divided into three regions: the winding paths through the funghi forests along the rivers and lakes (the domain of Naiads), the mangrove swamps (ruled by Queen Thastrea, a pretend medusa, to the chagrin of the toad people), and the mountains where Sorcerer-King Kashiel’s titanic, inverted pyramid floats. Small hamlets and villages dot all three regions, with footpaths connecting them.

An extremely dangerous basilisk (known as the Black Wyrm of Phogglop) roams the swamps, puppeteered by the toadfolk shaman Spuglith. Additionally, a group known as the Immaculata meander the regions, hunting heretics for the sorcerer-king, while spreading the word of The Divine (see below).

From their heightened vantage point at the start of the adventure, the characters can get a good overview of the area and see the main features of the regions, and thus decide on their route to the sorcerer-king. Whichever path they choose, they’ll have opportunities to learn about King Kashiel, make enemies or allies, and gain treasure.

Key Points

• The enormous funghi forests around the rivers and lakes are the domain of the Naiads. Few villagers have actually seen them—though many claim to, with wildly differing tales and descriptions—but most agree that as long as their rituals are observed the Naiads keep the region bountiful.
• The villagers of the mangrove swamp try to stay away from the bullywugs, and their patrols on giant toads. Lately, animals and folks have been turned to stone. A woman who looks like a medusa claims responsibility for this, and has established herself as queen.
• In fact, the bullywug shaman Spuglith can summon and steer a terrifying basilisk, and it is responsible for the petrifications.
• A group of heretic hunters roams the area, as do patrols from the sorcerer-king. Some of the latter are taking liberties with their tasks, and have started oppressing and abusing villagers.
• Use the rumor table below to determine information that can be gleaned in local settlements.
• Only the pyramid Gargantua is large enough for regular downtime activities, but the more limited rest and recuperation is available in other settlements.

Rumors and Knowledge

Visiting settlements in the area, or talking to other travelers might reveal one or more of the pieces of information below. They are all largely correct, though not always complete. The more that are accumulated though, the fuller the picture of the whole adventure’s situation will become.

1. There is a procession following a real, incarnated goddess. They call her The Divine. They seek pious, righteous folk to submit to her, and help eradicate black magics.
2. A group of heretic hunters roams the forests. They’ve captured some witches already and will bring them to the sorcerer-king for judgement.
3. The followers of The Divine are called the Immaculata. Their leader is half-man, half-hog, and punishes himself for the sins of others.
4. There’s a countess among the Immaculata, but not a real one, she only calls herself that. She has very unruly children, and would probably kill to get a break from them.
5. The Immaculata have a wizard who has the blessing of the sorcerer-king. The women say they’ve never seen such a good-looking bookworm.
6. The swamps used to be the sole home of the bullywug, a species of toadfolk, but lately they’ve been welcoming settlers. Presumably since no one understands their blubbering language.
7. The bullywug you see are all females. The males are the giant toads that they ride around on. Not many tools in the shed, but powerful legs for great leaps.
8. There is a new queen in the swamps. She can turn folks into stone just by looking at them, and her hair is all snakes. The swamps are littered with animal statues, and some human ones.
9. The toadfolk refuse to bow to the new queen and leave offerings. For now she hasn’t punished them for this insolence, but it can’t be long before her tolerance runs out.
10. The sorcerer-king’s guards are patrolling further and further into our territories, and the farther away they are from their home, the viler they get. They think they’re better than us.
11. The sorcerer-king sees all. His eyes are everyone and he never sleeps. The only way to do something privately is to do it in complete darkness.
12. The funghi forests are wondrous, with mushrooms so tall and large their trunks are as hard as wood. Good thing too, otherwise the villagers would have to import all their wood.
13. The naiads have strange traditions, but as long as you abide them, they protect the forests, rivers, and lakes, and ensure they’re verdant and bountiful.
14. The inverted pyramid floating over yonder volcano is called Gargantua, the city-state of the sorcerer-king. Its locals think they’re better than us. Maybe they are, they dress fancy.
15. Gargantua is a thing of wonder, architecturally speaking. But why is there a constant storm brewing over it, and what are those winged things in the storm?
16. The people of the pyramid are welcoming to all, and won’t comment on appearance. They’ve been far and wide and have likely seen it all before.

The Immaculata

A faction of driven and determined heretic hunters is active in the area. They travel in small groups, regularly returning to the main convoy with captured blasphemers and seized relics. They operate under license from King Kashiel, and a heretic is anyone who practices magic without a license (“There is no magic but the king’s magic”). Seized, suspected heretics are chained and locked into a prison cart, to be taken to Gargantua, where the king will judge them.

The Immaculata worship and protect The Divine, a deific essence that they alone see reincarnated in a person in every generation. Right now it’s a teenage girl (formerly known as Helenor) initially captured as suspected heretic, but since put on a—literal and figurative—pedestal. In fact, she relishes her new station, and has really made the part her own.

Helenor is unusual, this much is true, for she appears subtly different from distinct angles, presenting varying ethnic traits and beauty standards. Only her age is constant.

CARDINAL PETRACHOR THE CHASTE. Level 3; hp 12; Attack Far-reaching, shard-studded scourge (1d4+).

A man with the face of a hog and a rotund figure, covered all over in in bristly hairs. He wears simple, russet-brown robes.

• Has layers of scar tissue on his back from the regularly inflicted self-flagellation.
• Acts as the leader of the Immaculata; pious and earnest, calm and concerned.
• Wants to spread the word of The Divine; to convert heretics but must deliver them to King Kashiel instead.
• Knows intricate, esoteric facts about the deific essence of the Divine; how to withstand intense, sustained punishment.

ARCHIVIST REVOLVUS THE CALM. Level 3; hp 12; Attack Whittling knife (1d4).

Extremely buff wizard in blue robes, often topless. Looks older than he is due to his long beard and big hair.

• Has the The Nomistic Onomasticon; a necklace of magical, protective, and explosive (1d8) beads; ripped abs; a license to practice magic, by King Kashiel.
• Acts inquisitive, meditative; oftentimes promiscuously.
• Wants to use his grimoire to create an army of undead protectors and servants; to find suitable burial grounds.
• Knows how to reach deep into the earth to unleash demons from hell, but is hesitant to do so unless it’s an emergency.

COUNTESS CZINDA THE RED. Level 4; hp 8 (but unkillable); Attack —.

Young woman in a stunning red gown, long blonde locks meticulously styled, smokey eyes, red lips.

• Has an ever-young and fit appearance; two prim and proper kid-like revenant charges (Violet, Gunther) she mothers but isn't above siccing onto targets like rabid dogs; a sadistic penchant.
• Acts like a doting and lesson-teaching mother to her charges, if a little stressed and exhausted; occasionally like a merciless executioner for Cardinal Petrachor.
• Wants an exciting, romantic adventure as a damsel in distress, if only to escape the responsibilities of guardianship for a time.
• Knows that she cannot truly die; how to play the role of the surrendering, sympathy-inspiring damsel.

VIOLET & GUNTHER, GHOUL CHILDREN. Level 2; hp 8; Attack bite (1d4+), or tongue lick (paralysis for 1 round).

Presenting as 10-year olds, well dressed and coiffed, lacking any color but blood red, especially around the mouth and front.

• The stench of the grave accompanies them. Animals fear them (adult soon enough). Love biting ankles.

DOCTOR IANTHINE THE QUIET. Level 3; hp 16 (leather cloak and mask); Attack Physician's tools (1d4+)

A short man, clad head to toe in oiled leathers, including plague doctor mask, hat, cloak, boots, and gloves.

• Has instruments of surgery, healing, and torture.
• Acts reserved, and pensive, his steady, matter-of-fact voice muffled by the mask; eyes that glow like a cat's.
• Wants to complete his study on what each muscle, organ, and other tissue can withstand, and how to push them further; subjects for said studies.
• Knows a great deal on anatomy, anthropology, and fringe sciences.

HIRED HANDS. Level 1; hp 8 (chainmail); Attack Spear or halberd (1d8+).

A mix of genders, with patch-work armor, and a white tabard signifying their service to The Divine.

• Competent, and well paid. A dozen of them in total.

THE DIVINE (FORMERLY HELENOR). Level 8; hp 40 (divine protection); Attack Re-evaluate life (2d8 Mind).

Clad in flowing and glowing whites, this teenage girl looks subtly different from distinct angles, presenting varying ethnic traits and beauty standards. Only her age is constant.

• Has the responsibility to bear the divine essence; all her wishes catered for.
• Acts the part; beatific but not aloof; sacred and faultless on her throne.
• Wants to make the most of this recent curveball; bring followers into her hallowed embrace.
• Knows that the sorcerer-king sees himself her equal (or better) and would never submit to her.

The Nomistic Onomasticon

Heavy, ancient looking tome, bound in prediluvian leather, wrapped in aged, iron bands. Will function as a heavy club in a pinch.

Ritual

To Wear the Mantle of the Bibliophagist. Write down on paper the full names of all those that are dear to thee, and whom though would not wish harm upon. Now eat the paper so that they might become part of thee and be blessed. Never leave anyone without learning their name, for harm will surely come to them, should thou fail to include them in this ritual. The duration of this ceremony depends heavily on how many thou carest about. And thy memory.

• Critical failure: Everyone will get thy name wrong for the whole day.

Cantrip

Lethonomia Novis. For any given person—alive or dead—that thou meets, thou hast a 90% chance of knowing their full name, or history or names.

Spells

Raise the Buried Dead One Last Time. Given an area with regular to shallow graves, thou drawest a circle in the ground, and by repeatedly calling the deceased by their full names, as read out from the Onomasticon, thou imbuest them with animus, fractionally stolen from millions of souls, to claw themselves out, and perform one task for thee. The task must be accomplishable given the state of their bodies, and cannot last longer than 1 day. After that time, or once the task is done, they return to corpses.

Theophorous Decree. You take upon thyself the name of a god, part the earth ad interim to reveal a nocuous passage to hell, and with suitable gravitas and presence, command the demons to come to thee, and wreak havoc in thy name. Whether lowly lemure or horned cornugon answer thy summons, thou cannot say. Nor can thee or thine send them back afterwards, so use this incantation with care.

Viatical Socius. The book lists the gyrovagues, the nuns and monks who travel far and fast via the hidden viaducts and the orphic lanes, hidden from prying mortal eyes. You call their truenames and one must answer, let thee and thine enter the liminal spaces, and guide thee rapidly to destinations known or unknown, even if such clandestine travel is not without hazards.

Onomancy. The truth is in the names, for those who can read it. This invocation lets thee divine a future about a given person. Make a proclamation about a future of that person with a location and a time. For example, “they will be at the northern pier at sundown”. You may additionally add an action for a +10% miscast chance, and a detail for another +10%. For example, “they will be at the northern pier at sundown, waiting for their contact, wearing the stolen necklace”. The casting roll will be at +20% miscast chance. If the roll succeeds, the fates will look kindly upon actions to make this future happen (rolls will be easier), whereas opposing the future will be costly (rolls will be much harder).

How to Use the Immaculata

Before the characters reach Gargantua

• Cardinal Petrachor has a basecamp somewhere in the forest, with The Divine on a throne on a pedestal, and hired hands. The prison wagon is here, perhaps with an interesting prisoner, as are other wagons and hired hands. If one of the characters got taken out, they might also be chained here.
• The rest of the Immaculata have fanned out throughout the region, seeking out heretics, or pursuing their own agendas. They’re accompanied by 2 hired hands each at least.
• Encounters with them need not initially be hostile, though if the characters are suspected of possessing witchcraft, the Immaculata will want to come back in bigger numbers, unless they can catch the relevant character or characters alone.

After reaching Gargantua

• Members of the Immaculata will be taking part in the various activities for the Festival of Culture. Depending on previous interactions they could help getting into the Thrice-Blessed Debutante Ball, or to the Sorcerer-King himself (whether as guests or chained heretics).
• An Immaculata with a grudge might hound them even after leaving the pyramid city.

The Mangrove Swamps

An enterprising young woman named Thastrea, having fled from injustice in her homelands to here a couple of years ago, discovered the petrified body of a gargantuan toad at the base of the mangrove swamp’s largest tree. It was missing a few toes on its left leg. She seized the opportunity to build a lair around it, dressed up as a snake-haired gorgon and proclaimed herself the medusa queen of these lands. She has since learned the actual source of the petrification: a petrifying black wyrm, and that the toadfolk shaman Spuglith has the means to control it, but already her own infamy has spread, and folks fear her and leave her offerings.

The swamps of the local expanse are largely shallow. They offer plenty of dry islets and passages, but they are windy and change each season. A few human hamlets on stilts are dotted around, none older than a generation. The swamps’ original inhabitants are a tribe of bullywugs—all female humanoid toads, their male counterparts pure toad and giant, great for riding and not much else. They tolerate the human settlements, but don’t bow to the new “queen”.

Encounters in the Mangrove Swamps

Use these encounters as you see fit while the characters travel the area, to rack up the tension and danger.

Party of Stone

A group of youths encountered the wyrm, got bitten, and inflicted with its petrification. Unusually, it’s started with turning their heads to stone, leaving the bodies confused, wild, angry, and leashing out. They stumble out of the wyrm's noxious cloud, and will suffocate soon. On inspection they all show large bite marks.

CRAZED STONE-HEAD VILLAGER. Level 1; hp 4; Attack Clawing, stone arm bashing, head butt (1d4+).

Creeping Vine Weeping Willow

Foreshadowed by the vine strangled corpses and their various states of decomposition, is a killer weeping willow tree creature.

KILLER WILLOW. Level 4; hp 16; Attack Multiple far-reaching, strangling vines (1d4 damage per round). Lure with rattling corpse treasure (1d4 Graces damage).

Treasure. On the strangled corpses: 1) a slightly gone off healing tonic, which cures 1d4 damage and wounds, but causes an upset stomach for a day, 2) a pair of stilts, still attached [2 slots].

Toadfolk Patrol

In the distance, a solitary bullywug soldier, riding a giant toad. Largely incomprehensive bubbling speech. Not violent unless threatened.

BULLYWUG. Level 2; hp 12 (leathery hide); Attack Spear (1d4+) or Sling (1d4+).

• Long tongue for flicking into eye, or snatching an object.

GIANT TOAD. Level 4; hp 16; Attack Tongue catch and mastication (1d4+ per round stuck in mouth), or death from above (1d8+ damage).

• Leap. Make enormous leaps, with massive splashes or earth shattering landings.

Border Patrol

Troops of the Sorcerer-King Kashiel, regularly patrolling the border and occasionally venturing deeper into the swamps. See Soldiers Overreaching for their stats.

The Black Wyrm of Phogglop

An incredibly dangerous, six-legged basilisk that should probably not be encountered randomly, but instead signs of its passing, or sightings and distant sounds. It can be called by the toadfolk mage Spuglith’s staff-mounted orb.

BASILISK. Level 6; hp 32 (stony hide); Attack Bite (1d8+) or claws, spikes, or tail (1d4+).

• Petrification. Anyone taking 1 or more wounds from its bite slowly turns to stone. After minutes, it affects a random limb, after hours, the petrification is complete. Hacking off the limb affected first halts the transformation. Magics might reverse it. A critical failure while defending means a random limb turns immediately.
• Noxious breath. Emits greenish vapors from its nostrils at all times, which sting the eyes and choke those inhaling them. It can bellow them out over a large area, usually to signal but also cover its approach.
• Arsonist. Loves all burnt and scorched meats, and given the opportunity, will encourage fires.
• Bound. Forced to obey the wielder of the Orb of Phogglop.

Treasure. A carefully harvested noxious vapor gland could perhaps be fashioned into a censer, or a spine spike forged into a hardy blade.

Notable Locations

Sundry human hamlets are not included, but place those as necessary, as safe places to rest (but much too small for regular downtime), trade, and learn one or two items from the Rumors and Knowledge table.

Queen Thastrea’s Gardens

Before the queen’s actual lair is a naturally terraced garden bedecked with statues of beasts and flora, and some humans. Some of them are the victims of the black wyrm, which she has collected over the years. But more of them are of her own chiseling, and a keen eye can spot the marked difference in fidelity.

Treasure. There are plates of offerings dotted about the gardens, often at the feet of or on the statues. They contain food, jewelry, whittlings, and in one grisly case, a pair of human eyes and a dried rose.

Clay Idol. Life-sized statue of a martyred woman, bound in chains and doused with acid. Stands out as being made of clay not stone. In fact, the tormented spirit of the martyr is bound within, and remains so while Queen Thastrea performs a daily ritual here, granting her protection from acid.

The Medusa Queen's Lair

On the islet of the tallest mangrove in the swamp by far, Queen Thastrea built her lair around the petrified corpse of a monstrous toad. Its open mouth serves as the entrance to a small complex underground, below the tree. Thastrea wears a scarf over her eyes and some of her big, black hair, which has dead snakes mixed in that move reasonably convincingly with a swish of her head. The scarf is secretly see-through. Her pulchritudinous golden gown completes the look of a gorgon queen not to be trifled with.

• The waters around the toad entrance are acidic, which is evident from the noxious fumes they emit. They form a moat with no dry passage. Thastrea strides through them unharmed, thanks to a ritual that binds the spirit of a martyr in an idol (see Queen Thastrea’s Gardens), which grants her and her possessions immunity to acid. The ritual is recorded in a tome named Blessed are the Martyred Saints (see https://mottokrosh.com/machinations/solemn-scriptures/ for it and more spell tomes).
• Thastrea surrounds herself with a group of oiled and muscled sycophants, who wear blindfolds at all times (or in one case have plucked out their eyes to prove their devotion). They move awkwardly, often on all fours, or with outstretched hands, and have names like Kasinere, Soculf, Randon, and Clauiene.
• There’s a hole at the back of the giant toad’s mouth, where stairs lead down into the complex. A petrified bullywug and a headless villager statue decorate the inside of the mouth.

THERE WILL BE A MAP HERE SOON.

QUEEN THASTREA. Level 3; hp 12; Attack Improvised weapon or motivated servant (1d4+).

• Has immunity to acid thanks to the Clay, take upon thyself the mantle of this saint spell in the Blessed are the Martyred Saints tome, so long as she pays the price for the ritual daily by the idol; a stunningly expensive gown; several underlings who will protect her with their lives.
• Acts gracefully, with the air of a true queen; in her own self-interest; by surrendering and pleading for her life if things turn bad.
• Wants to become the de facto ruler of the swamp; people to pledge loyalty to her; gifts and offerings; foot massages; more than anything the bullywug shaman Spuglith’s orb staff to control the black wyrm and conclusively cement her status and power in the region.
• Knows about the black wyrm and its mistress, Spuglith; the acid immunity ritual; the sounds to make to spook the giant male toads, but you have to get close.

Toadfolk Village of Phogglop

A few dozen elongated dewdrop shaped nesters hang from the trees over a field of mud. They have a single cavity that serves as homes for the bullywug, the female toadfolk of the tribe. No ladders or ropes lead to them—the bullywug simply leap to and from them.

Bathing in the mud below are the males of the species: enormous toads, with average to low animal intelligence, serving the bullywug as mounts.

The tribe is led by village elder Gaampoff, but her vizier Spuglith holds the real power, with her orb staff that controls the black wyrm.

Treasure. Spuglith’s orb staff of black wyrm control, mundane human trinkets arranged in unexpected ways, hidden caches of flies and insects, sometimes dried and seasoned for special occasions.

BULLYWUG. Level 2; hp 12 (leathery hide); Attack Spear (1d4+) or Sling (1d4+).

A humanoid toad, with a huge head, wide mouth and widely spaced eyes, pronounced belly, powerful thighs but spindly lower legs and arms. Clad in a mish-mash of muddy leathers, gourd on belt.

• Long tongue for flicking into eye, or snatching an object.

SPUGLITH, VIZIER OF PHOGGLOP. Level 3; hp 16 (leathery hide); Attack Staff, physical (1d4+) or staff, magical (see below).

As bullywug, but wearing blue robes and a pointy, blue hat, full of spunk, and capable of something resembling human speech.

• Has the orb staff that can summon and control the black wyrm, if by “control” you mean pointing it at the nearest source of food and running away; a dewdrop nester with a magic mouth for door, which demands sacrifice before it will open—Spuglith feeds it fat insects, but letting it bite one’s arm (and inflicting a wound) will also work.
• Acts by using the orb staff to instantly turn a small area of earth to mud, dealing 1d4+ Agility damage to all affected as their feet become unexpectedly stuck.
• Wants to live peacefully and occasionally strike fear into humans with the black wyrm, especially the sorcerer-king’s people.
• Knows where to find the juiciest, fattest insects.

The Village Formerly Known as Naraste

Close to the border of King Kashiel’s domain, a whole village has been burnt to the ground because the sorcerer-king knew them to harbor witches with black magics, and he tolerates no magic users beside himself. A sign nailed in full view reads “There are no miracles but the king’s miracles”. Many a suspected witch or wizard has been burnt, hanged, or worse.

Treasure. One of the victims clutches a magical wand, perhaps unable to use it in time, now slightly scorched and unreliable. Wand of Curse of the Chicken Feet (1 slot). Exhaust to turn target’s feet functionality into that of something frail, awkward, and not sufficiently load-bearing, for 1 scene.

Hidden Warlock Apprentice Survivor. Alphest, a brute forced into magic by his family, successfully hid during the attack. He can confirm it was carried out by the sorcerer-king’s people. While physically impressive, he’s a coward at heart. Perhaps he falls madly in love with one of the player characters.

Danger. The black wyrm adores scorched meat. As such, it regularly returns to this village to consume its fill.

The Fungi Forest and Lake of the Naiads

Rushing down from the mountains is the Gibbous River, so named after the crescent shaped, misty lake that briefly breaks up the whitewater rapids the rest of its length here takes. The naiads of the lake jealously protect these lands, wary of anyone new. They are equally suspicious about the sorcerer-king as they are of the player characters.

On the shore, small villages led by druids harbor content folk that respect the naiad ways. Beyond the shore, colorful fungi forests of bewildering size, smells, and densities are a marvel to behold.

Encounters in the Fungi Forest

The Mists Draw In

Lake Gibbous is always covered in waist-high white mists. Sometimes the mists draw farther into the forest and grow taller. Sometimes when they retreat they leave something behind:

1. Angry goblinoid. Small, blue, wet, violent, and nasty, by the name of Dark Marcel. Level 1; hp 4; Attack Disproportionate twin curved knives (2d4+).
2. Warning. Scrawled in the floor, or carved into a fungi tree: “The people of the earth would do well to heed the law of the waters.”
3. A small, slender knife. Pricking your finger with it and dripping a drop of blood causes a cluster of colorful, tall mushroom trees to violently grow where it lands.
4. A lock of naiad hair. With a turquoise ribbon. You can dunk it in water and it is immediately dry when removed. Makes you a much better swimmer and lets you hold your breath thrice as long.

Growing Giants

The flesh of many of the tall mushroom trees is as hard as wood. But what’s more wondrous is that some of the tallest start developing humanoid features; giant sleeping faces are discernible in some, others look like snoozing giants, hugging their knees.

The Soul Singer

An enormous mushroom covered beast, akin to a tortoise, on its never-ending cyclical journey through the lands, puffs of purple dust unleashed each time one of its giant yet gentle feet sets down. When it encounters a mushroom tree that’s fully grown into a giant, it sings to it, bestowing upon it a soul and dreams. The giant rises, thanks the Soul Singer, and begins its journey into the lands. The Soul Singer is wise and patient, friend and protector to the naiads, and speaks deliberately and drawn out.

The Price of Spring

It is customary for the villages to send a group of young men and one woman to the naiads for sacred congress. They are washed, perfumed, adorned with flower wreaths, and dressed in simple long shirts. Usually they return a few days later, groggy, happy, tired. Very rarely one of them doesn't return, or returns changed. This year's group is Mykel, Damyen, Marko, Lennyrd, Dieken, and Zofia. They hide their nervousness behind jokes. Zofia wonders why the naiads want just a single woman.

Development. If the group is somehow prevented from reaching the naiads, spring indeed does not manifest, nor summer: winter will dominate this region for the remainder of the year. If on the other hand, the party try to observe, the naiads will 1) try to scare them off by setting goblins on them, 2) bargain with them to leave, offering the Sword of Melusine, 3) entice them to join, and lose a season to groggy recollections of sensuality and excess.

Sword of Melusine. The wielder of this weapons attacks with Graces and deals 1d8+Graces damages, as the sword is fueled by jealousy and perceived slights.

Notable Locations

Skeever’s Inn

Nestled in the ecotone between the woods and the mushroom forests, at the confluence of rivers, is a two-story inn popular with folks who travels these lands. Emmeline Skeever and her husband Reuben run the usually jovial place, but now the dead body of Ayden sways on a noose from the balcony, dressed too richly for his station, because he was a spy for the sorcerer-king. Loosely two camps have formed, and are arguing whether to give him a dignified burial or let him serve as an example. He was feeding information to the soldiers in Brecilien (see below).

Treasure. The Skeever’s want the unpleasantness gone. As well as good fare and lodgings, they’re possibly willing to part with their Pixie Amulet.

Pixie Amulet. On the golden chain hangs a golden pendant with a tiny glass dome. Within said tome a pixie named Fuanguled languishes, trapped and pinned. Shake the amulet to produce a golden glow, open the dome to pour the pixie dust onto someone to send them into a highly suggestive sleep, or to make them float for a scene.

Brecilien

One of King Kashiel’s patrols has traveled farther from the border than usual. Rather than admit they’re lost, they’re violently harassing the villagers of Brecilien, looting ceremonial treasures, and forcing them to serve them like royalty. Arbester, worst of the bunch, has tied Brecilien's wise druidess Brynwyn to the village menhir, and is drunkenly performing knife throwing, but with bottles of honey wine.

SORCERER-KING SOLDIER. Level 1; hp 8 (armor); Attack Sword, spear, or crossbow (1d4+). Names Arbester, Willowar, Kattence, Pyrfiddy.

SORCERER-KING TWIN CAPTAINS. Level 2; hp 12 (armor); Attack Large, heavy glaive (1d8+). Names Arston, Marsta.

The four soldiers and twin captains are formidably dangerous in a head-on encounter. Impress this on the players and suggest they be clever in defeating them, driving them away, or somehow placating them.

Development. All of soldiers in the employ of King Kashiel have cloak clasps in the form of an eye. He can magically open the eye from his enclave in Gargantua and see through. This causes the wearer’s eyes to roll up and become temporarily twitching and stunned. Make this happen at a surprising time.

Treasure. The people of Brecilien are very grateful if liberated. They share information about the naiads, some of their customs (see Price of Spring below), and reward them with the Stone of Truth. Additionally, Brynwyn has unspecified druidic powers that could help the characters if they ask.

Stone of Truth. A smooth pebble the size of an apple that forces all but the most stubborn-headed who touch it to tell the truth.

The Naiads’ Home

The mystical protectors of the area live in a series of beautiful and comfortable caves at the bottom of the lakes. They’re filled with fresh air, soft, colorful lights, many plants, and plush moss carpets. It is here that the naiads bring their yearly tributes, feed them grapes and wine, engage in sacred congress, and ultimately return them to shore, groggy, exhausted, and unsure of the details of their experiences.

NAIAD. Level 4; hp 20 (arresting beauty); Attack Grapple (special, see below).

A beautiful, young woman with long, curled blue-green hair, which—like her flowing, white dress and blushed skin—is dry the moment she leaves water.

• Has power so long as folks believe in her; access to the Sword of Melusine; a white, water-repellent, bohemian dress; no name, and no voice.
• Acts as protector of the nearby lands, ensuring their bounty and health; through gestures rather than speech; by grappling enemies and drowning them.
• Wants to continue her line; to build community; to enjoy life and share joy.
• Knows the secret language of flora and fauna, including the secrets to make them grow suddenly and violently.

The White Dragon of the Goblin King

It’s no dragon at all, but a type of pale mushroom with a large sac filled with a gas that’s lighter than air. They’re anywhere from the size of a fist to the size of a melon, and form large clusters in the air, floating gently and stationary, and, like clouds, might be suggestive of a particular form to a beholder. Like a dragon. Once an individual shroom reaches its end of life, it bursts, shrivels, and falls to the ground, spreading powerful fertilizer. The ground below these clusters is thus especially replete with fertile flora.

This cluster is the seat of the goblin king, who, together with his court of a dozen or so goblin sycophants and ne’er-do-wells in mismatched, oversized regal garb, comes and goes using rope-ladders made from stolen hair.

REPLETO THE GOBLIN KING. Level 2; hp 12 (fancy, oversized breastplate); Attack Royal scepter (1d4+), or stabbing mushroom sac (see below).

Distinguishable from his cohorts largely by the oversized crown he wears like a gorget, his large scepter, and plays-at-regal attitude.

• Has a chaos infused scepter whose bashing produces surprising side-effects for good or ill (use your favorite rod of wonder table); a dagger that’s a sword to him; a decent, ornate breastplate.
• Acts as a benevolent monarch, until he gets bored and wants to use his scepter. Or pop a mushroom sac and release euphoric gas.
• Wants to find other floating mushroom clusters, so that he might expand his lair; the naiads to stop whispering ideas to him that he then seems to have no choice but to follow.
• Knows that it would only take some kind of propulsion to move the mushroom island and float over the lands in safety and complete freedom.

GOBLIN. Level 1; hp 4; Attack Noble sword (really a dagger, 1d4+).

Small, blue, overconfident, violent, and nasty, with a name like Ochre Hugo, Ponceville, Esteraque, Wet Lilly, Leonie, or Verschluckbare Kleinteile. Dressed in poorly adjusted, poorly fitting, and poorly kept courtier’s garb.

Gargantua, the City-State of the Sorcerer-King

Sorcerer-King Kashiel, the Thrice Blessed, Titan of the Pyramid Gargantua, is the powerful overlord of his traveling city-state, the inverted, floating pyramid that houses a whole city within.

Above: A constant storm of purple and crimson clouds, and green lightning that bends in unnatural ways. The eye of the storm is a portal to another dimension, a hell, or maybe someone’s heaven. Winged creatures, described alternately as angelic and demonic flit from the portal, their burnished skin reflecting the light of their home world and not that which surrounds them. Kashiel powers the eldritch properties of his pyramid, and the awe-inspiring titan, from the forces syphoned from that realm. So far this has gone unnoticed or ignored by that dimension’s true rulers.

Within. Many levels of terraced sandstone buildings, walkways, and stairs. Stone bridges, archways, and always a stone above each. Statues of the sorcerer-king, and noted personages from the many cultures the pyramid has visited. Folks of the city state—taller on average, better educated, though no less petty, dressed in lucent petrol-colored cloths—mingle with awed locals and merchants. Banners around the entrance proudly proclaim the Festival of Culture to be in full swing. An inner courtyard, protected by tall buildings, is nigh impossible to reach without the highest clearance. Therein lies a dead titan, whose latent magics are regularly used by the sorcerer-king for comprehensive farsight, when powered by the empyrean realm.

Below. A dormant but fuming volcano. The inverted pyramid’s point hovers a few score meters above the crater, the heat and smoke cradling it. A few well placed lightning strikes from the far dimension could certainly spur on an eruption.

Chiseled above entranceway, above yet another stone eye, is the warning: "There is no magic, but the king's magic." And indeed, the city considers all magic to be heretical, unless special dispensations have been arranged.

The city works like a state. Because the whole city travels, its inhabitants have seen a lot of cultures, and are generally welcoming and without (too much) prejudice, though they secretly deem themselves superior. None would speak ill of their overlord, but there are struggles, quarrels, rivalries, and petty greed and jealousies like in any people.

Festival of Culture

For the next week, the city celebrates the Festival of Culture, with an array of main and fringe attractions. Ostentatious banners within the arrival court proclaim it so, and paper program leaflets are aplenty.

HANDOUT

“You have the honor of visiting us during the Festival of Culture. For the week-long duration of this prestigious festival, to aid in parallel scheduling and experiencing all we have to offer, the northern half of the city will locked to night, and the southern one to day*.

Main Attractions

• To Live Deliciously, and Die Honorably. Our open-air theater will feature both accomplished actors, and convicted criminals challenged to prove their creativity and tenacity, as they star in this extended play of courtroom drama and arena action. With real angels as the forces of judgement and execution.
• The Thrice-Blessed Debutante Ball. The purpose-built elevator will take you to a lodge unlike any other: one floating steadily above the pyramid. Therein you will mingle with the who’s who of society amid pioneering music, intimate dances, and vie for the exclusive, terminal titles of king and queen of the ball.
• Philosophy in the Clouds. One-on-one duels of the city’s most eminent minds, precariously balancing on slender poles among the empyrean clouds and bolts, debating existential questions posed by the audience. Falter and fall; but perhaps you can hang on to an angel?
• A Royal Pelting. Since the victory over the would-be usurper Vhalhisstre Vexidyre, this queen and her ladies-in-waiting have been on display here. Now is the time to show them what we think of enemies of the state. With a prize for the most humiliating pelting.
• The Mystical, Magical Fashion Show of Ultimate Style. Two of Gargantua’s most celebrated fashionistas are designing and showcasing a new collection during the festival. Glory and riches to the winner!
• Avant-Garde Art by the Under-17s. The city’s premier art gallery is showcasing the works of the new wave of influencers. The most powerful will be celebrated, and their works acted out in public.

Fringe Events

• Endurance Suffering. Our esteemed, and surprisingly fiscally endowed, friends of the Cvlt [sic] of Sadoch invite you to challenge the current record, not for personal gain, but for exploration of the further reaches of human experience.
• Terrible Beauty Pageant. Each round the contestants must perform ever more terrible acts, until there is but one left standing.
• Treasure Hunt. The Final Society for Upstanding Girl Scouts has organized a thrilling ride, culminating in a prize no man wants to miss.
• The Dissonance Trinity. The city’s philharmonic orchestra is augmented by presumed talented volunteers, and dying heretics, to test the limits of spur-of-the-moment improvisation.
• Extreme Poetry. The clubs, cafés, and taverns across town are hosting verbal challenges all day and night long, with a variety of forfeits, including Seven Minutes in Heaven with one of the extra-worldly devils in a one-way mirror closet.
• Supernatural History Museum Special Exhibition. Once again, the city administration warns against visiting this exhibition, and re-iterates that it will not take responsibility or pay recompense in the very likely case of severe injury, death, or worse.

• With apologies for any inconveniences caused to anyone serving a one-day public sentence.”

To be continued...