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<blockquote data-quote="Daztur" data-source="post: 5874623" data-attributes="member: 55680"><p>The map has been updated, the compilation will be updated later.</p><p></p><p>An interesting weekend spent helping harvest Chinese foxglove and eating poison ivy chicken soup but am back now. Will write up some ideas I've had and then get to updating the map and compilation. For the Lady of the Vale story (30.03), I'll add in a frame so make it clear that it's an in-setting story and not a neutral account.</p><p></p><p>The first two entriesare inspired by a story-building activity that I did with my students.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Frogs of the Witchwater</strong></p><p>Hex 40.09</p><p></p><p>Long ago there was a family of woodcutters and their daughter, Syla, often wished that she had a brother of her own. Image her joy when, despite her advancing age, her mother bore a beautiful baby boy. She cherished the child and took him with her into the Kingswood when she went to chop and gather deadfall. The young boy grew up bright and cheerful and was the joy of his family until a warg down from the Grey Mountains ate him up.</p><p></p><p>Syla, stricken with grief that she had been unable to protect her brother, set about hunting down the warg and at the very foothills of the Grey Mountains where the orcish warhorns echo from peak to peak she caught it and split it open with her sharp axe.</p><p></p><p>She entertained a mad hope that her brother would somehow still be able within the warg's belly but, alas, it was far to late for him. Nevertheless, she gathered up his splintered bones from the warg's gut and set off into the Kingswood in search of the Hierophant (36.04), for Syla had heard stories of her great magics. After weeks of searching Syla found the Hierophant and fell weeping at her feet and the old elf took pity on her and returned Slya's brother to life and the leapt with many happy ribbits from the Hierophant's hands.</p><p></p><p>Even today the descendants of Syla's brother can be found along the banks of the Witchwater, but now are difficult to find outside of a few secluded bits of riverbanks since the previous Duke of Thring (16.16) sent his knights at great risk to gather the talking frogs so that they might be used for a great sorcery.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>-How did Syla react to her brother's reincarnation.</p><p>-What are the orcs of the Grey Mountains like? </p><p>-What great sorcery did the previous Duke of Thring use the frogs for?</p><p>-Are the frogs really intelligent anymore? How well do they talk?</p><p></p><p><strong>The Sepulchure of the Sword</strong></p><p>Hex 15.15</p><p></p><p>The eldest son of Duke Ulthar the Loved (16.16) was named Broderick (mentioned in 01.08 and 02.07) who grew into a wild knight with all of the power and none of the gentleness of his father. When he grew to manhood he claimed his father's sword Caledbrand as his only patrimony and set off into the wilds of the west. The tales of his adventures have now faded from memory, all except the last. Even that has now faded into myth:</p><p></p><p>Young Broderick, for he was still young, set out alone on an open boat to the Boiling Sea that once lay within the Ocean of Bitter Regrets (mentioned briefly in 30.03) where the water boiled with the heat of a dragon whose scales shone like orange gems who made its home there in those days. Broderick felt no fear since he wielded Caledbrand and bore a fairy charm against fire and indeed he slew the dragon and as its heart's blood washed over him he threw back his head and laughed and laughed.</p><p></p><p>And the heart's blood of the dragon entered his mouth and unstopped his ears so that he could hear what men should not and the rage of a dragon entered his heart and he swiftly sailed into the east and made landfall at what is now called Broderick's Estuary (01.08). There, filled with rage, he smote the earth with his sword creating what is now a river and swore that he would slay his father and rule the Duchy of Thring himself.</p><p></p><p>The traveled swiftly to Castle Tarengael (16.16) and cut down his father, but his father's blood washed away that of the dragon and he regretted what he had done and set the sword upon himself. His sister mourned them both and in the long years of her life spent much time overseeing the construction of a tomb so that the Duke and his son could be united in death as they had not in life. Deep within the tomb Caledbrand lies and it is said that in Thring's hour of greatest need a hero will bring it forth from the tomb and deliver the Duchy from its enemies. Many have tried only to die be killed by one of the Sepulchure of the Sword's many traps or killed by the sword itself which strikes with all of the strength of its old master.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>-If he's buried here and seems to be able to animate his sword from beyond the grave, then why has Broderick's ghost been sighted at his Estuary?</p><p>-What magical properties does the sword have?</p><p>-Did the dragon that Broderick killed have any children?</p><p>-What did Broderick hear that men are not meant to?</p><p></p><p>This one's from chutup and has been lightly edited:</p><p></p><p><strong>The Skull of the Defiler</strong></p><p>Additional information about hex 51.29</p><p></p><p>Soon after the fall of Bergolast, when the gnolls first came to the Burning Lands (51.29), the tribes were ruled in a different manner. Rather than the matriarchs of the current era, the gnolls had a Grand Chieftain whose supremacy was decided by mortal combat. The Grand Chieftain who led them out of their old homelands and into the fiery waste was a monstrously powerful specimen known to history only as the Defiler. At the time, almost all the gnolls thought it madness to move into the wasteland, but none of them dared faced the Defiler in a duel, so they were forced to follow him.</p><p></p><p>The Defiler was a master of the devouring art, that foul ritual by which a gnoll may consume the hearts of beasts to gain their power. It is said that in his youth, he swallowed at least one heart from every creature known to the gnolls. However, the turning point came after he made a journey to the Grey Mountains, disappeared for several months, and returned with strange blood upon his lips. After that time, none could face him in battle, and he quickly rose to the rank of Great Chieftain.</p><p></p><p>After the Defiler died, his skull was bleached by the desert winds and kept as a totem of his tribe. So large is the skull that any normal-sized human or gnoll can fit it over their head to wear as a helmet. While the Skull is worn, the bearer gains monumental strength and takes on a terrifying countenance that causes all but the bravest to flee from him in fear. At the same time, the wearer looking through the skull's eyes will see the world in a different light, as though bathed in blood. Enemies glow brightly, while things unimportant to combat fade into darkness. And sometimes, it is whispered, the wearer will see other things through the Skull's eyes - visions of the past, the future, and of the present that never was. The downside to wielding the Skull is that it puts a great strain on the wearer's body. Overuse can lead to exhaustion or even death.</p><p></p><p>The Skull was used as a weapon by the gnolls during the Gnawbone Wars (against the City of Shuttered Windows). An entire army from the Duchy of Thring (16.16) was routed by a glance from the Skull, as were the defenders on the walls of the Shuttered City. However, at the crucial moment, the one who wore the Skull overexerted himself and collapsed. While the other gnoll chieftains bickered over who would take up the Skull next, the Waterworks of the Shuttered City were opened to drown the entire gnollish army on the shores of the Keening Sea.</p><p></p><p>The whereabouts of the Skull of the Defiler is currently unknown. Some say it was washed into the sea and is now lost in sunken reefs, or was found by the wailing drow-ghosts. Others claim that it was captured by the Doge's men and locked in a vault in the depths of the Undercity. Still others report it was picked up by an adventurer and later lost on the fringes of the Kingswood.</p><p></p><p>Hooks:</p><p>-Where did the gnolls come from before they were in the Burning Lands? Why did the Defiler lead them there, and why did they remain after his death?</p><p>-What creature did the Defiler find in the Grey Mountains that gave him such power?</p><p>-How did the gnolls change from a duelling-chieftains hierarchy to the current one with the matriarchs?</p><p>-Where's the Skull now?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Daztur, post: 5874623, member: 55680"] The map has been updated, the compilation will be updated later. An interesting weekend spent helping harvest Chinese foxglove and eating poison ivy chicken soup but am back now. Will write up some ideas I've had and then get to updating the map and compilation. For the Lady of the Vale story (30.03), I'll add in a frame so make it clear that it's an in-setting story and not a neutral account. The first two entriesare inspired by a story-building activity that I did with my students. [b]The Frogs of the Witchwater[/b] Hex 40.09 Long ago there was a family of woodcutters and their daughter, Syla, often wished that she had a brother of her own. Image her joy when, despite her advancing age, her mother bore a beautiful baby boy. She cherished the child and took him with her into the Kingswood when she went to chop and gather deadfall. The young boy grew up bright and cheerful and was the joy of his family until a warg down from the Grey Mountains ate him up. Syla, stricken with grief that she had been unable to protect her brother, set about hunting down the warg and at the very foothills of the Grey Mountains where the orcish warhorns echo from peak to peak she caught it and split it open with her sharp axe. She entertained a mad hope that her brother would somehow still be able within the warg's belly but, alas, it was far to late for him. Nevertheless, she gathered up his splintered bones from the warg's gut and set off into the Kingswood in search of the Hierophant (36.04), for Syla had heard stories of her great magics. After weeks of searching Syla found the Hierophant and fell weeping at her feet and the old elf took pity on her and returned Slya's brother to life and the leapt with many happy ribbits from the Hierophant's hands. Even today the descendants of Syla's brother can be found along the banks of the Witchwater, but now are difficult to find outside of a few secluded bits of riverbanks since the previous Duke of Thring (16.16) sent his knights at great risk to gather the talking frogs so that they might be used for a great sorcery. Hooks: -How did Syla react to her brother's reincarnation. -What are the orcs of the Grey Mountains like? -What great sorcery did the previous Duke of Thring use the frogs for? -Are the frogs really intelligent anymore? How well do they talk? [b]The Sepulchure of the Sword[/b] Hex 15.15 The eldest son of Duke Ulthar the Loved (16.16) was named Broderick (mentioned in 01.08 and 02.07) who grew into a wild knight with all of the power and none of the gentleness of his father. When he grew to manhood he claimed his father's sword Caledbrand as his only patrimony and set off into the wilds of the west. The tales of his adventures have now faded from memory, all except the last. Even that has now faded into myth: Young Broderick, for he was still young, set out alone on an open boat to the Boiling Sea that once lay within the Ocean of Bitter Regrets (mentioned briefly in 30.03) where the water boiled with the heat of a dragon whose scales shone like orange gems who made its home there in those days. Broderick felt no fear since he wielded Caledbrand and bore a fairy charm against fire and indeed he slew the dragon and as its heart's blood washed over him he threw back his head and laughed and laughed. And the heart's blood of the dragon entered his mouth and unstopped his ears so that he could hear what men should not and the rage of a dragon entered his heart and he swiftly sailed into the east and made landfall at what is now called Broderick's Estuary (01.08). There, filled with rage, he smote the earth with his sword creating what is now a river and swore that he would slay his father and rule the Duchy of Thring himself. The traveled swiftly to Castle Tarengael (16.16) and cut down his father, but his father's blood washed away that of the dragon and he regretted what he had done and set the sword upon himself. His sister mourned them both and in the long years of her life spent much time overseeing the construction of a tomb so that the Duke and his son could be united in death as they had not in life. Deep within the tomb Caledbrand lies and it is said that in Thring's hour of greatest need a hero will bring it forth from the tomb and deliver the Duchy from its enemies. Many have tried only to die be killed by one of the Sepulchure of the Sword's many traps or killed by the sword itself which strikes with all of the strength of its old master. Hooks: -If he's buried here and seems to be able to animate his sword from beyond the grave, then why has Broderick's ghost been sighted at his Estuary? -What magical properties does the sword have? -Did the dragon that Broderick killed have any children? -What did Broderick hear that men are not meant to? This one's from chutup and has been lightly edited: [b]The Skull of the Defiler[/b] Additional information about hex 51.29 Soon after the fall of Bergolast, when the gnolls first came to the Burning Lands (51.29), the tribes were ruled in a different manner. Rather than the matriarchs of the current era, the gnolls had a Grand Chieftain whose supremacy was decided by mortal combat. The Grand Chieftain who led them out of their old homelands and into the fiery waste was a monstrously powerful specimen known to history only as the Defiler. At the time, almost all the gnolls thought it madness to move into the wasteland, but none of them dared faced the Defiler in a duel, so they were forced to follow him. The Defiler was a master of the devouring art, that foul ritual by which a gnoll may consume the hearts of beasts to gain their power. It is said that in his youth, he swallowed at least one heart from every creature known to the gnolls. However, the turning point came after he made a journey to the Grey Mountains, disappeared for several months, and returned with strange blood upon his lips. After that time, none could face him in battle, and he quickly rose to the rank of Great Chieftain. After the Defiler died, his skull was bleached by the desert winds and kept as a totem of his tribe. So large is the skull that any normal-sized human or gnoll can fit it over their head to wear as a helmet. While the Skull is worn, the bearer gains monumental strength and takes on a terrifying countenance that causes all but the bravest to flee from him in fear. At the same time, the wearer looking through the skull's eyes will see the world in a different light, as though bathed in blood. Enemies glow brightly, while things unimportant to combat fade into darkness. And sometimes, it is whispered, the wearer will see other things through the Skull's eyes - visions of the past, the future, and of the present that never was. The downside to wielding the Skull is that it puts a great strain on the wearer's body. Overuse can lead to exhaustion or even death. The Skull was used as a weapon by the gnolls during the Gnawbone Wars (against the City of Shuttered Windows). An entire army from the Duchy of Thring (16.16) was routed by a glance from the Skull, as were the defenders on the walls of the Shuttered City. However, at the crucial moment, the one who wore the Skull overexerted himself and collapsed. While the other gnoll chieftains bickered over who would take up the Skull next, the Waterworks of the Shuttered City were opened to drown the entire gnollish army on the shores of the Keening Sea. The whereabouts of the Skull of the Defiler is currently unknown. Some say it was washed into the sea and is now lost in sunken reefs, or was found by the wailing drow-ghosts. Others claim that it was captured by the Doge's men and locked in a vault in the depths of the Undercity. Still others report it was picked up by an adventurer and later lost on the fringes of the Kingswood. Hooks: -Where did the gnolls come from before they were in the Burning Lands? Why did the Defiler lead them there, and why did they remain after his death? -What creature did the Defiler find in the Grey Mountains that gave him such power? -How did the gnolls change from a duelling-chieftains hierarchy to the current one with the matriarchs? -Where's the Skull now? [/QUOTE]
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