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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Daztur" data-source="post: 5942744" data-attributes="member: 55680">The Dryad’s BridgeHex 32.05Here, not far from Olmstead Keep (31.04) lies a stream that rushes down from the Grey Mountains to pour into the Witchwater. It is spanned by a great fallen tree that is the home of a dryad. The tree just barely hangs to life and its hollow-eyed dryad sustains it by eating ravenously. Usually the dryad can be dealt with by giving her bribes in the form of food, enough of which will even induce her to allow travellers to use her tree as a bridge. However, if she is especially hungry she may attack.As for the stream itself, except in the spring when it is swollen with melting snows pouring down off the Grey Mountains, it is easy to ford. Doing so may not be wise since, although its magic is far less potent than that of the Witchwater itself, it induces a strong drowsiness in mortals that are immersed in its waters.Hooks:-Is it possible to set the dryad’s tree upright and heal it?-If this small stream can put you to sleep, what can the far greater Witchwater do?The Rhyming BearHex 35.04Here within the Kingswood lies the log cabin of the nordabjorn bard Arinlag Fivefish. As he is a bear and not a man the elves tolerate his presence, if just barely. Although few travellers venture this deep into the Kingswood, Arinlag welcomes those who do, provided they pay him well with songs, stories and tales from home (14.00). Those who bore him are required to amuse him in other ways that they may not find so pleasant. If the elves notice that Arinlag has visitors, they will attempt to lure them out into the Kingswood where they may be freely killed or captured. The bear cares little if his visitors fall for elven wiles and lets any foolish enough to do so go to their fates.Although Arinlag lives alone (except for several mules), there are three sets of everything from plates to chairs to beds in this house, one seeming to have been designed for a lady bear and another for a child. The story behind this is that Arinlag and Kavanjr were once rivals for the love of Karsta the Slender, the favorite daughter of the bjornajarl himself.They fought for Karsta first with rhymes (Arinlag singing of a single eye that was too tired to look up at the moon) and then with claws and teeth. Foolishly, Arinlag let Kavanjr choose the site of their duel and the older bear chose the middle of a nearby lake. The rangy young bear had difficulty keeping his head above water while the older bard was kept afloat by his great paunch, which let him rain down blows on Arinlag. Following his defeat, which he barely survived, Arinlag Fivefish was exiled from the Marche of the bears and has been biding his time until the day of his return when he will be able take back Karsta Thoreksdottir and the cute cub that he believes to be his. While he waits, Arinlag has been eating well and sports a most impressive gut.Hooks:-Why is Arinlag called “Fivefish”?-What are the “other ways” that boring travellers are required to amuse Arinlag?-How to elves try to lure traveller’s out of Arinlag’s cabin.-Are the mules intelligent? Why does Arinlag keep them?-There’s got to be a way to work porridge and Goldilocks in here somewhere…Some potential random encounters for the Kingswood stolen from the Secret Santicore article “Encounters in a Dark & Spooky Forest” by Danny Peck, tweaked a bit (or a lot in some cases) by me to fit better with the Kingswood:1. Flowering vines whose scent causes a feeling of great happiness and wellbeing that makes it very difficult do anything violent (including defending oneself).2. A tree bearing several hanged bodies on which mushrooms grow in great numbers. These same mushrooms are a popular ingredient Sundial Inn cooking and are not usually seen elsewhere.3. Along the course of a small steam, all of the trees bear leaves that are a strange sickly yellow.4. Chirping vampire bats fly out of the night. They will focus their attacks on larger targets (for example pack animals).5. Dozens of large rats scurry past the feat of the party, squeaking happily.6. A dappled cat begins following the party and refuses to be driven off, if killed the dapples on its back will spell out the name of its killer in elfish.7. A great white hart is seen grazing on some grass, if approached it becomes clear that the deer is feasting on the remains of a human hunter.8. An elf bearing a human infant.9. If near the Welt Road at night: a small caravan trundles through the woods. There is a blockage of some sort in the Welt Road tunnel and they are seeking to bypass it by going aboveground.10. A band of travelling performers have made a camp and invite the party to join them. They say that they are on the road to Lanford-on-the-Zann and have never heard of the City of Shuttered Windows or any other location in the Shrouded Lands.11. A ragged human with clothes made of freebark grins at the party through bloodstained lips. He holds meat of some sort in his black-nailed hands.12. A beautiful youth or maiden runs heedless through the woods, already covered with bramble scratches. In the distance a hunting horn sounds…I’ll use these and a few others to seed my Kingswood night and day encounter tables. Any simple ideas that you guys have would be enormously appreciated. There’s a few more in the book that I’ll adapt over later but have to get to work now. I think that’s a good start.</blockquote>

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