Capellan
Explorer
Bloodwood is a free, 16-page setting guide designed for use with Iron Heroes.
Generations ago, a group of refugees fled a disaster. Exactly what that disaster was is no longer known, the details lost or deliberately forgotten by its survivors. The refugees traveled many difficult miles, across barren and broken terrain, until they found their way to fertile and uninhabited land on the shores of a vast lake. Having found good land, with further passage barred by the impenetrable tangle of an ancient forest, the refugees settled in the shadow of the trees.
They named both their new town and the nearby forest "Thornwood" for the many brambles and thickets within the densely packed trees. For some time, all seemed well, though some of the more nervous refugees claimed to have seen movement in the shadows under the trees.
Such early misgivings were forgotten as seasons and then years went by. The small band of refugees put down roots, and their numbers grew. As time passed, the need for materials also grew and, as other sources dwindled, the folk eventually decided to clear some land from the Thornwood.
The nights of terror and death that followed earned the forest its current name: Bloodwood. There were indeed things in the shadows under the trees ― terrible, misshapen things that considered the forest their domain and would brook no invasion of its boundary. Dozens of people died, some torn literally limb from limb, as the creatures exacted their revenge.
A second wave of refugees left the village, fanning out across the region to establish new settlements. Some became farmers; some, fisherfolk; some even turned to piracy. Nearly one hundred years later, the events of this time are almost as much a thing of legend as the cataclysm that brought their forebears to this land. Yet even today, few people venture near the Bloodwood… and of the few who do, none return.
Download it here.
Generations ago, a group of refugees fled a disaster. Exactly what that disaster was is no longer known, the details lost or deliberately forgotten by its survivors. The refugees traveled many difficult miles, across barren and broken terrain, until they found their way to fertile and uninhabited land on the shores of a vast lake. Having found good land, with further passage barred by the impenetrable tangle of an ancient forest, the refugees settled in the shadow of the trees.
They named both their new town and the nearby forest "Thornwood" for the many brambles and thickets within the densely packed trees. For some time, all seemed well, though some of the more nervous refugees claimed to have seen movement in the shadows under the trees.
Such early misgivings were forgotten as seasons and then years went by. The small band of refugees put down roots, and their numbers grew. As time passed, the need for materials also grew and, as other sources dwindled, the folk eventually decided to clear some land from the Thornwood.
The nights of terror and death that followed earned the forest its current name: Bloodwood. There were indeed things in the shadows under the trees ― terrible, misshapen things that considered the forest their domain and would brook no invasion of its boundary. Dozens of people died, some torn literally limb from limb, as the creatures exacted their revenge.
A second wave of refugees left the village, fanning out across the region to establish new settlements. Some became farmers; some, fisherfolk; some even turned to piracy. Nearly one hundred years later, the events of this time are almost as much a thing of legend as the cataclysm that brought their forebears to this land. Yet even today, few people venture near the Bloodwood… and of the few who do, none return.
Download it here.
