Let’s Make a Hexcrawl Setting

The Sweat Lodges
Hex 21.02

Our orcs need some more development, especially now that the gnomes are getting some good write-ups, let's take another shot at them...

Note: this one's (loosely) inspired by Korean 장승 (jangseung).
See:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Jangseunginpaju.jpg
http://cfs9.blog.daum.net/image/26/blog/2008/01/24/19/49/47986cff064f1&filename=매직원_DSC_장2.jpg
http://ojsfile.ohmynews.com/STD_IMG_FILE/2008/0130/IE000863821_STD.JPG
?????????? (NSFW)

Orcish gharsang can always be found along the borders of any orcish territory, but these hideous leering faces carved from the wood of large trees can be found in special profusion here. The orcs say that they drive off evil spirits, ward orcish lands from enchantments and strip away illusions. Whether that is true, who can say but their toothy grins certainly give any intruder pause.

These carvings generally include the regalia of orcish priests or generals and include both male and female specimens. The orcs scrawl "lord of the sky" on the female ones and "lord of the underworld" on the male ones. All orcs who return to their homeland must pass under the gharsang and as they do so they are watched carefully for any ill omen. After passing these wooden gargoyles, orcs then spend some time sweating out any foreign corruption they may have picked up in one of a series of nearby sweat lodges.

Considering the smell of orcish holdings, many members of other races joke that the sweat lodges should be placed on the other side of the borders but at least one doppelganger has been found out when it passed out from the heat inside one of the orcish lodges.

Hooks:
-Do the gharsang actually do anything besides look scary?
-Any interesting rituals that go into creating these things?
-What do the titles "lord of the sky" and "lord of the underworld" look like?
-What regalia do orcish priests and generals wear?
-What sort of ill omens do the orcs watch for?
-What sort of corruptions do orcs think that they can pick up by travelling abroad?
-Can any other race withstand the heat of orcish sweat lodges?
-What rules do orcs have for other races visiting their lands? Are they allowed at all?

For this post I'm going to make use of some cool random idea generators I found. First, the Bag of Problems from Roles, Rules and Rolls (Roles, Rules, and Rolls) which lets you generate a quest for the PCs. I'm going to make it a quest given by Cliffar Seutonian of Farnsfall Holding, but other than that I have no idea what will come up until... I... roll...

The goal is to enter a road or passage and the complication is under time pressure. Hmmm...

The Mouth of the Dragon (10.01)

Near the lands of the Zoar Rajak there lies a large wooded range of hills which has long been known as the Dragon's Spine. Although it does vaguely resemble a sleeping dragon, its name almost certainly comes from the overactive imaginations of local peasants, combined with the profusion of wormroot that grows here, which in earlier times was called wyrmroot and believed to be related to dragons and dragonfire.

One old legend about the place is true, however: that every hundred years or so, a narrow passage opens in the rock, where the dragon's mouth is supposed to be. This cleft leads deep into the hillside, and is unnaturally warm and steamy. The elders say that this passage contains a rare strain of subterranean wormroot, more powerful than that which grows under the sky. But the Mouth of the Dragon only stays open for about a month before closing again.

Cliffar Seutonian (11.03) will pay good money for anyone who can retrieve this 'Greater Wormroot' from the tunnel, especially if it can be cultivated in the cellars below his keep. However, the Zoar Rajak goblins (11.01) have their own beliefs about the cavern. They perform a ritual outside it to prevent 'evil fire' from escaping, for their oral traditions recall a time long ago when the oak forests were wreathed in flame and the 'dragon's plant' burst forth from the ashes to strangle goblinkin to their deaths. The Zoar Rajak will not allow any humans to enter the Mouth of the Dragon if they can help it.

Hooks:
- What is the connection between dragons and wormroot?
- How much of the Zoar Rajak legend is true? Are their rituals really preventing anything?
- What is the nature of the Greater Wormroot? What properties does it have that make it so valuable?
- Why does the Mouth of the Dragon open and close?

Next, I'm going to the Bag of Tricks generator from the same site, used to create weird Gygaxian puzzles. This would probably be perfect for something inside the Temple of Seven Shadows, so here goes (this is a bit more complicated):

After much rolling, I ended up with: Fancy Benches, which have a Handle attached to them with no actions (but may produce a clue). Also in the room is a Rope or Vine, which when Cut gives a key to another area, and when Assembled deals minor avoidable damage (which is by challenge level, so it might still be quite high in the Temple of Seven Shadows.) Now it's time to interpret the results (this is fun, it's like divination!)

The Chapel of the Golden Cord
Additional information about hex 37.01.

Inside the Temple of Seven Shadows are many strange rooms and weird dangers. This room is a beautiful chapel lined with gilded benches. At the front of the chapel is an altar, previously suspended in the loops of a golden cord tied to the ceiling. However the altar has fallen and the cord been chopped into several pieces by one of the men from the Furhoof expedition (17.05). The secret of the chapel is that the altar is not important; the object of devotion is the cord. This is the original Cord of Binding that was used to lasso the Tarrasque when it was first captured at the founding of Bergolast. It was not strong enough to hold the beast for long, but it gave the hunters the opportunity to pierce the Tarrasque with the six spears.

The magical power of the Cord was all but destroyed by the thrashings of the Tarrasque, and it is now very fragile. If it is cut, it will unleash a magical shock capable of killing an unwary human, but probably not an experienced adventurer. However, if it is reassembled and the altar is suspended again, a pyramidal stone will appear on the altar which is a key to the inner shrine door. (The problem all started when Devin Furhoof tried to get the keystone by cutting the altar down from its hanging.)

The benches have handles on them which can be used to tilt them up and down. Close examination will reveal a golden mark on the hinges that reveals the correct tilt of the benches. When one is seated on a correctly tilted bench and the altar is suspended at the correct height, the altar will shield the supplicant's eyes from the light that shines through the back wall.

Hooks:
- Where did the Cord of Binding come from, and who wielded it in the battle with the Tarrasque?
- What's in the inner shrine? Is it the Seventh Spear, or something else?
- Where does the light shine from? Isn't the Temple only open during the Long Night?

(You'll not that I switched around the results of the two actions to make it fit better; the Bag of Tricks guide itself encourages you to do that, so it's not 'cheating'.)

Lastly, I found this generator to create monsters with interesting weaknesses and grievances. I'll roll on those tables, and just for extra fun I'll roll in the SRD Monster Index to see what the monster actually is. The hook will be that it's a monster that's threatening Thring and being targeted by young bravos hoping to pay their blood-debt.

I rolled a Bodak, who has absconded its sacred duty to threaten the humans, and who is angered because someone broke a deal with it, possibly while it was in disguise. Hmm...

The Gravewatch Moors (21.12)

On this desolate stretch of land near Castle Steadfast, there lies a sunken barrow which dates back to pre-Thringish times, when the House of Stodfost was known for its staunch defense against the predations of the Unseelie elves. Each lord of the Stodfost line was interred here, and their ghosts remain, ever watching the north for sign of invasion. After the rise of Thring, Stodfost became Steadfast, and many of the old ways were lost, but this tradition continued.

Then came Lord Cameron Steadfast, the cuckolded count. After leaving his ancestral home, he travelled far and wide before finally meeting his death in a dreary and forgotten place, at the hands of a being of purest evil. The manner of his death made of him a bodak, a vengeful spirit tainted by darkness. He returned to Castle Steadfast, intending to slay the usurper Charles and his treacherous wife. However, the power of the old foundations of the castle prevented him from entering. Instead, he spends his time haunting the smallfolk who live around the castle. Some Thringmen have tried to slay it for glory or blood-debt, but they have failed, and besides they will be disappointed to learn that bodaks cannot bleed.

Charles the Cuckold knows of the bodak and is shrewdly avoiding leaving his castle. However, he is unaware that the third floor privy is in fact built out beyond the original foundations. The bodak would like to trick Charles into going to the privy, which is usually used for servants, but he knows not how.

Deep down, the bodak of Cameron Steadfast remembers his ancient calling to guard the barrow with his forefathers. The ghosts in the barrow are extremely displeased with this turn of events and will do anything in their power to bring their descendant back in line. If the bodak is forced to face up to his own betrayal, he will choose to give up his revenge and go to the barrow. For him to find true rest, however, his body must be found and interred, and the taint of evil must be cleansed from his ghostly soul.

Hooks:
- Why did the Unseelie Elves threaten the Stodfost lands? Were they exempted from the contract with the Prince of Men, or was this before the Prince of Men existed?
- Where are the Unseelie Elves now?
- What terrible evil slew Cameron Steadfast, and where?

Erratum: The entry for the Warbling Coast has the word 'next' when it should be 'nest'.

My first entry is another attempt to explain a discrepancy: whether the Pirate Kings are cloud giants or storm giants.

The Chalk Cliffs Overlooking The Stormhead (01.04)

Why do the Pirate Kings so restlessly patrol the Ocean of Bitter Regrets? By now, their coffers must overflow with spies, gemstones and all other riches of the world. Indeed, the Pirate Kings have been seen to jettison treasures just minutes after looting them.

While it is true that the Pirate Kings are madly covetous, their raiding serves another purpose. Each cloud giant searches for their ‘spark’, something that reveals to them the tremendous beauty of the world. One King wept over an altar of the Green Lady, another sniffed deeply from a bottle of Narosi perfume resting on the tip of his finger.

When a cloud giant is ignited in this way, he or she must craft a wooden ship and sail or row it to the Stormhead, a perpetual storm that rages in the heart of the Ocean of Bitter Regrets. As soon as he or she casts the spark into the sea, he or she is struck by a single bolt of lightning that transforms the cloud giant into a storm giant.

The boat then burns beneath the giant and he or she must swim away from the storm. Most will stop at the islands that dot the Ocean, some staying for good, although it is said that the King of Salt and Brine—before his infection—swam straight back to the Shrouded Lands.

In a cave along these cliffs, a Pirate King has stashed her spark. It was too beautiful for her to relinquish, and so she built a fortress to protect it in readiness for the day when she steels herself to sail to the Stormhead.

Hooks:
What is the spark?
Is there anything within the Stormhead? What causes it?
What causes the perpetual storm?
What were the sparks for other storm giants?
What are the Islands of Bitter Regret like?
Who makes perfume now Naros has fallen?

Down to a Sunless Sea (do we know roughly which hexes the Sunless Sea is in?)

When you travel through the deep and hidden passages beneath the earth, the current finally bears you to the Sunless Sea. Though the underground rivers are fresh, the waters of the sea are salty—and not with the melancholy salt of the Ocean of Bitter Regrets.

One enormous cavern of the Sea is filled by a white whale, larger than any found in the Ocean. The whale—trapped long ago by its extraordinary growth—is now motionless, its calloused back dry except when a chance tide splashes it.
The whale sings, and its moans echo around the Sunless Sea like a grating dirge. The agony of this mighty beast also tarnishes the Dreamsong, sending nightmares across the Shrouded Lands.

Hooks
Is this whale Old Leviathan?
What effect does this whale have on the Dreamsong?
What are the properties of the salt of the Sunless Sea?
How did the whale make it down to the Sunless Sea in the first place?
What do the aboleths make of the whale?

Hi folks,

I've made two maps of the Shrouded Lands to replace the last two I made ages ago.

Fingerpainting is the map of the different regions so far.
Hexes is the map of the different regions so far with the hexes as a layer beneath it.

I've also updated the appendices to include all the hex entries so far. I'm thinking of putting the humanoids in a separate index - what do you think?

Also, we've now mentioned around 200 monsters: enough to fill our very own Monster Manual!

Those region maps are looking good. I'm thinking it's about time we defined the borders of some of the regions, particularly the Keening Sea, the Kingswood and the World's Edge (since they have very specific borders) and maybe Thring as well. But I know Daztur removed the outline of World's Edge so maybe he has some reason to not want to do that?

I don't think it really matters where exactly the borders are, I would just prefer if they were laid down so you could get a better overall view of the map. Maybe flat green hexes for the Kingswood, flat blue for the Sea, and perhaps a red line around the borders of Thring?

I like the idea of mapping out the Kingswood, the Ocean and the Sea. I don't think we need to map the borders of Thring, however—I imagine that they're fairly malleable and that a Lord Sanguine and a Thringish Count would disagree powerfully no matter where you placed the border!

OK, here's some more work on the briefings:

Regions
The Kingswood: A large forest inhabited by mysterious and hostile elves. An elven holt lies at the centre. Dark fairytale flavor.
The City of Shuttered Windows: Largest city in the Lands, ancient and labyrinthine. Very slowly sinking into the ground. Strongly religious. Feels like Vornheim crossed with Venice. (Also called 'Shuttered' or 'The Shuttered City'.)
The Duchy of Thring: Large Arthurian nation with knights, counts and castles. Worships the Green Lady. Bizarre laws.
The World's Edge and Beyond: Vast cliffs sinking down to an uninhabited (?) temperate basin. Many strange monsters.
Lands of the Night Cattle: The Night Men and their cattle only come out at night. Their albino cattle are used in rituals by most religions in the Shrouded Lands.
The Freeholds: Lawless region dotted with independent keeps and towns. Something of a wild west vibe.
The Welt Road: Trade route that passes through a long tunnel under the Kingswood, avoiding the dangerous elves. Connects the Lands of th Night Cattle to the Freeholds.
The Grey Mountains: Northern mountain range inhabited by dwarves and orcs.
The Bitter Coast: Western sea frequented by pirates and Pirate Kings - storm giants who ride in flying cloud castles.
The Keening Sea: Large eastern sea with ships from Shuttered and Blind Midshotgatepool.
The Barrier Range: Mountains between Thring and the Shuttered City. Inhabited by Witch Clans - inbred tribesmen with the hereditary power to cast one particular spell at-will.
Blind Midshotgatepool: Five towns that grew together into a bureaucratic nightmare of a city. Founded by Thringmen but now subjugated by the City of Shuttered Windows.
Bergolast: Ruined city which once held the Tarrasque captive, but was later destroyed. Those who drank the blood of the Tarrasque became trolls or immortals.
The Burning Lands: Hot deserts, sometimes literally on fire. Inhabited by dwarves, painted elephants and gnolls.
The City of Smoke: Gnollish city in the far southeast. Ruled by the Great Mother, matriarch who murdered and devoured her predecessors.
The Hills of Gore: Region ruled by the Lords Sanguine, former butchers who overthrew their kings and became immortal through Tarrasque blood. Mostly undescribed.
The Cornfields: Fields inhabited by tooth-stealing corn farmers. Mostly undescribed.
The Devil's Fingers: Mountains (?) with a ruined city and a tribe of cave-dwelling gnomes. Mostly undescribed.
Races
(where unspecified, assume similarity to D&D norms)
Gnolls: Gnolls are relatively civilised. A gnoll could be a PC. They have their own city, a matriarchal society, a college for bards. Still pretty violent and barbaric though. They dwell primarily in the Burning Lands.
Orcs: Also somewhat civilised, though still warlike. An orc could be a PC. They are builders as well as raiders, and dwell mostly in the north.
Goblins: Have a spiritual connection to oak trees.
Trolls: Were originally humans who drank the blood of the Tarrasque.
Ettins: Have only recently come into the world (as far as we know). Are named after Alvise Etienne, the first Ettin, created by the wizard Severard.
Elves: Are pre-Tolkien - fey, mysterious and capricious. An Elf could probably not be a PC. They rarely leave the Kingswood, and deal harshly with those who enter it.
Gnomes: (Sometimes) live inside the walls of giants' castles.

Gods and Godesses
Alberon: God of the City of Shuttered Windows. Whether he has any other portfolio beside this city is unclear. Spurned the godesses She Who Waits and the Green Lady, slew the goddess Tiamat, fought a war with the goddess Chimalia. (He doesn't get on well with goddesses, apparently.) Cults: The Temple Indivisible and the Temple Invisible.
She Who Waits: A nameless underworld goddess spurned by Alberon.Possibly the cause of the Shuttered City sinking into the ground. Tries each night to trap the sun-god, the King in Splendour, in her dark realm. Cult: The Whispering Sisterhood.
The King in Splendour: Dual-identity sun-god who rises each day as the Lion in Splendour and descends into the underworld at night to become the King in Splendour. Cult: The Lion Priests.
Tiamat: Dragon-goddess who was killed by the god Alberon. Still has a small cult. Is the mother and sister of Chimalia.
Chimalia: Goddess of chimerical (half-and-half) monsters, particularly minotaurs. Sister and daughter of Tiamat. Her symbol is a labyrinth.

Famous Figures
The Tarrasque: The Tarrasque used to be chained up in the city of Bergolast, where the citizens drank its blood to gain immortality. That turned them into trolls. Since then the Tarrasque has escaped. It doesn't ravage the land unless you make it angry. In Thring it is called the Questing Beast and they hunt it, but never manage to kill it.
Severard of the Seven Chins: Highly powerful wizard who was apparently something of a dick, though not outright evil. Is now presumed dead.
Trimoueil, Exiled Poet: Author of several well-known poems and plays. Where he is exiled from has not yet been described.
The Founders of Blind Midshotgatepool: Five heroes who founded the five towns that make up the city. One of these was Ban the Clever, founder of Banshot.

Is there anything I'm missing?

chutup said:

Is there anything I'm missing?

Click to expand...

Looks great, chutup. Maybe mention the two dwarf gods the Drinker of Iron and the Speaker to Bronze? Also, you don't have a racial entry for the dwarves. Maybe mention their aversion to revealing their genders in public (or is that just the dwarves of Titan's Skull?)

It's great to have the labelled map Sanglorian. As for finalizing border areas, I’ll edit the OP tomorrow to include all of the different map versions, chutup’s new glossary (with a few additions), update the map and put in some tentative border areas for the Keening Sea, the Kingswood and the World’s Edge. As far as Thrin,g is seems that the border is going to be fairy disputed, so I’ll leave that off for now and for the Ocean of Bitter Regrets, I don’t think I can put that in yet since the SW is the quadrant of the map that’s the least developed and I wouldn’t have much to go on when it comes to playing the shore in that bit, maybe the coastline swings around west off map even…

As chutup notes it is great fun using random generators and then interpreting the results. I've been doing a bit of that myself and using this:
#town]donjon Fantasy Name Generator[/url]
Serendipity: City Generator

We've got the town of Hyfalls "this is a smallish, crowded city built predominantly of adobe and defended by spiked walls. It is well known for its preponderance of equestrian statues. Most of its revenue comes from mining." This is for a town I wanted to make on the north edge of the Burning Lands that would be where the ships of Shuttered go to pick stuff up from caravans from the Twelve Nations. But MINING? Let's see...

The black crack! the back crack!
The black crack! the back crack!
Down down to Goblin-town
Down down to Goblin-town
Down down to Goblin-town
You go, my lad!
Ho, ho! my lad!

The Town of Hyfalls
Hex 40.20

Built on the ruins of old Hyadovere, once a colony of fallen Bergolast (38.28), the town of Hyfalls sits on the southern coast of the Keening Sea. It is here that the River Hyad changes from wide, lazy and hippopotamus-infested, full of hidden sandbars, to a rushing current that pours over the toppled ruins of the terraces of the old city. Most of Hyfalls is clustered tightly around the docks, for the ground stretches up steeply from the sea into the interior of the Burning Lands and the town’s city walls only enclose a small portion of the old city. Just like the rude buildings of Hyfalls, these walls are built from baked river clay but on top are set shards of tarrasque bone (38.26). The gnolls have a superstitious dread of being wounded by any relic of the great beast, so this (and regular tribute payments) helps keep them away from the town.

Hyfalls is a rude village and most travelers do not tarry here long and most only come because here is where ships from the City of Shuttered Windows (29.14) come to pick up the goods of caravans that have crossed the Burning Lands. Aside from the shattered ruins, the only sight of interest is the great number of centaur statues that have been set up, seemingly at random throughout the village. The reason for their presence is that when the current Doge of the City of Shuttered Windows had recently been installed he held negotiations here with the centaur tribes and unleashed the medusa against them. The Doge, being blind, was unharmed but the centaurs were not so lucky.

Being mostly a trade depot, there is little industry in Hyfalls except for mining. No, not minerals, there are few enough of them here but rather the depths of the ruins of Hyadovere and the even more ancient city it was built atop. This work is generally done by the inhabitants of Goblin Town, a small community of hobgoblins (16.04) that lives below Hyfall. Goblin Town was accidentally founded by the current Duke of Thring (16.16) before he married the Lady of Thring and gained his title, when he travelled the length and breadth of the Burning Lands seeking Tarrasque lore. At that time he had hired a band of hobgoblins as expert spelunkers but they broke their contract and remained behind below Hyfall. The hobgoblins stay away from the more dangerous sections of the subterranean ruins but will happily point treasure hunters in their direction in return for a cut of the loot. The hobgoblins claim that they deal fairly with all such, but the hobgoblins emerged from the ground to sell some fine loot suspiciously soon after the disappearance of the Company of the Silver Flame…

Hook:
-Why are the gnolls afraid of being injured by relics of the tarrasque?
-Why did the Doge betray the centaurs? Are there any communities of centaurs still about?
-Did the Duke of Thring learn any secrets about the tarrasque?
-Why did the Duke-to-be have a falling out with his hobgoblins hirelings?
-What sorts of things do the hobgoblins mine from the ruins and sell to the town above?
-Who was the Company of the Silver Flame? What happened to them?

The Hungers of the Hippopotami
Hex 44.22

The River Hyad is badly suited for navigation. It meanders across the Burning Lands and beneath its muddy waters treacherous sandbars and vicious hippopotami lurk just out of sight. This stretch of the river is particularly dangerous. It is difficult to see far at all because the water is choked with tall reeds and often, from among the reeds, comes a strange singing that tugs at the heartstrings. Those who have investigated it have not found the source, but only the gaping jaws and the crushing feet of the aggressive river hippopotami.

Hooks:
-What is the source of the music?
-Why are the hippopotami so aggressive?

Where the Razorgrass Grows
Hex 34.25

Razorgrass is one of the most common forms of vegetation to be found in the Burning Lands. It is an aggressive weed and, although it burns at least once a year, it regrows at an astonishing pace and often reaches he feet taller than a man’s head. It is well named, for its edges are surprisingly sharp, making it dangerous to pass through, especially when the hot wings blow out of the south.

In this particular area, the razorgrass grows thicker than anywhere else in the Burning Lands and often seems to twitch and whip, even though when the air is still. Local gnolls enjoy chasing intruders into the grass and giggle raucously as the grass slices away any exposed flesh.

Hooks:
-Where else does the razorgrass grow thickly?
-What animals can live safely among it?
-Is there anything special about this area’s razorgrass?

The Medusa
Additional information about 26.20
Note: inspired, yet again, by rolang.com. Shame there isn’t more content on his blog, what exists is so excellent…

One of the many potent weapons that are hoarded by the Doges of the City of Shuttered Windows (29.14) is the medusa. After it escaped and caused great havoc in the Undercity, the Doges decided that it would be much safer (for them) if it was kept beyond the city walls, so it is currently penned in Tower Savage, which lies at the heart of Blind Midshotgatepool (26.20). While waiting for a time when she can be used against the enemies of the City, the medusa earns her keep by transforming the newly-dead of Blind Midshotgatepool to stone that can be used as building material to raise the Tower Savage ever higher.

If intruders break into the tower and come case to face with the medusa, she will appear to be a normal teenaged girl, if a wan and haggard one, except for the great mass of serpents that grow from her head. The size and appearance of these snakes varies greatly, but the largest can river the greatest cobras in length. The snakes will writhe and attack any intruders, using poison, constriction and petrification. The girl within the mass of snakes may speak cryptically, make extravagant threats or beg for death. The girl within the snakes is in every way a normal human girl and can be killed as easily as one, although the snakes will attempt to defend her. If she is killed, the mass of snakes will detach itself from her scalp, slither with surprising speed across the room and attempt to attach itself to the head of any young female (if none is present, it will make do). This is rather painful for the new host.

Hooks:
-Where did the men of Shuttered get this parasitic medusa from? Are there more?
-What happened when it got loose in the undercity?
-Why is the Tower Savage (the Shuttered base inside of Blind Midshotgatepool) made out of petrified bodies?
-How fresh do dead bodies have to be to be petrified? Why?
-Who was girl before she got the medusa parasite stuck on her head? How long is she likely to live?

Updated the OP, with chutup's glossary and a new map with tentative borders for some regions marked in with blue lines or white icons. For additional stuff there, how much stuff can we put in without making it bloated? For races we need to add in the dwarves at least the northern dwarves are a lot more decadent (with Discworld ideas about gender) than standard D&D dwarves and the southern ones are very different, should the halflings be mentioned? Our halflings are even more Tolkien rip-offs than the D&D versions (especially the newer edition ones that have become kenderized). Personally I'm OK with halflings being hobbits with the serial numbers filed off and more ostriches, not everything needs to be reimagined. As for famous people, the Doge and the Duke are important but they don't even have names, perhaps the Weeper's family (including his mother and daughter)?

The Great Skull
Hex 45.24

Note: this would be a fun location for a fight.

With the waters of the River Hyad lapping against it, here lies the skull of the tarrasque. One of them at least, some stories say that the tarrasque has been beheaded ninety-nine times and has regrown its head each time (15.01). Although the skull is not quite long enough to span the entire river, its presence does make fording the wide shallow muddy waters of the River Hyad significantly easier, at its pitted surface is climbable. However this river crossing, like so much else in the Burning Lands, is not without peril. In the waters around the skull teem a large number of giant leeches who have an inconvenient preference for the blood of thinking beings.

Hooks:
-Has the tarrasque really had its head cut off ninety-nine times? If so, where are all the skulls?
-Why so many giant leeches?

The Pigdog Sept
Hex 27.27

Note: if my description isn't clear pigdogs look like oversized shorthaired pitbulls with a bit of warthog mixed in. The battle tactics are based on that dog unit from Rome: Total War.

One of the most well-known, if not the most populous, of the septs of the Burning Land dwarves (31.27) is the Pigdog Sept. The pigdogs that give this sept its name are stout, short-legged dogs with barrel chests and heavy jaws with long tusk-like teeth and snouts that seem almost pig-like. They are such voracious eaters that they are not favored elsewhere, but that is not a problem for the Pigdog dwarves since their lands are home to the fleshpit.

The fleshpit is a strange sight. It is a great cube of strange greenish meat that is sunk into the earth that regrows when pieces of it are sliced off. Its taste, no matter how it is cooked, is wretched and even gnolls cannot stomach it. However the pigdogs live up to their name and bolt down great chunks of it with relish. As a result, the dwarves that live here keep even more dogs than cows and these fierce beasts help keep their masters safe. Although this sept has a reputation for being overfed and slovenly, at least by dwarven standards, they have an impressive record in battle. When their warriors are on the march, they bring huge packs of dogs with them which they set upon the enemy before the dwarven phalanx makes its charge. The dogs disrupt their enemy's ranks so that the charge of dwarves bearing spears and cowhide shields can smash deep into them.

Hooks:
-What other dwarven septs are there in the western Burning Lands?
-How did the fleshpit get there? What is it?