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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9458494" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/owM9Mhw.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Brobdin WoodSuperstitious outlaws who wear charms to ward off supernatural dangers, the smell of wild honey crafted by nature’s artificers, and local offerings of food and hand-crafted items in wild glades to unseen entities. The Brobdin Wood is a place where civilized people are but guests, a realm where one who respects the old laws can find refuge.Some interesting locations include a circle of standing stones dedicated to a giant hero, and those who leave offerings have a chance of getting that same gift later but increased in size; moonshiners brewing illegal psychedelic alcohol, and one of their members by the name of Gluster Fumm will hire the PCs to retrieve an arrow of his that shot a star out of the sky; and the Festchrift Tree, whose branches bear many ribbons dedicated to fallen heroes, and those who sleep beneath its eaves can be visited by dreams of heroes from the past and thus create adventure hooks to other places in present-day Gnolune. For NPCs, our more interesting choices include Chay Logia, one of Aethur’s knights who is the warden of the forest as restitution for chopping down a sacred tree; Alyotta Truttle, a former Silvered Noble who gave up her privileges to join a band of outlaws to take revenge on the aristocracy; and Bebbin Gububbin, a distiller who will pay the PCs for bringing him rare herbs as part of his personal goal to create someone nobody has ever tasted.Brobdin Castle was built by giants, and later came under ownership of the Gundlachs. This family of anarchists never sought to be a part of King Aerthur’s new government, and while the last of their members have since passed on, the Riverkeeper League has carried on their legacy by having its members pretending to be lost heirs as part of their conflict against the Conclave and Silvered Nobles. Brobdin Castle is equally deceptive, for while it looks massive and imposing on the outside, the castle’s interior is but a literal hollow shell given over to a sprawling outdoor encampment. The Riverkeepers take pains to keep up this charade, using rope ladders and bridges to provide access to the windows and balconies. Five of the Riverkeeper’s best agents make use of magic rings to take illusory disguises in order to give the impression that the Gundlach family is seemingly everywhere.As one of the adventure’s major factions, the Castle and its inhabitants have plenty of quests for PCs seeking them out as allies. Examples include proving to the Ignoble Court that a bridge-troll is a Conclave spy; find out what’s happening to the missing orphans under Sister Sussura’s care in Verinwine Vale; steal a valuable relic from Archmystagogue Banbeaux’s apartment in the city of Cimbrine; and checking in on the well-being of the wizard Grymothy, who hasn’t been heard from ever since a falling star smashed into his tower.The Champion & Blackguard is a popular gathering spot for shifty types unwelcome in wider society. The inn’s major tourist attraction and from whence it gets its name are the bodies of two duelists literally frozen in time as their swords clashed together. No attempts to dispel this have been successful, and they radiate an aura that prevents others from contemplating or committing violence in the vicinity. Due to this aura, a popular means of arbitration known as the Game of Vows arose here, where at least two parties agree to undertake a specific challenging or dangerous task. The challenged party agrees to a handicap in the performance of it, and the other party can impose a greater handicap on themselves, with the two going back and forth to try and outbid the other until one is unwilling to accept any more handicaps. Whoever wins is regarded as being in the right, but trying to get out of the challenge or reneging on deals earns a lifetime ban from the inn.One of the regulars is Ballyhoo the Japer, who is a fixer for various criminals in Gnolune and PCs can take quests from him in exchange for gold and favors. We even have 6 sample quests connecting to other characters and places in the Valley, such as exposing Dagin Quern’s imposter to the public, or seeking a unique precious goblet from Lady Violeta’s Floating Chateau in Cimbrine.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/o7tg1c6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Sir Amis & the Quest of the Weeping Beast is not a unique location so much as a quest that PCs can find from Sir Amis the Indefatigable, a knight who is a regular at the Champion & Blackguard. He should have died long ago, but he is cursed with immortality and his body is so broken that alcohol flows out of his wounds whenever he takes a drink. As to how he got this curse, he swore that he would not rest until he killed a monster known as Andragore. Sir Amis was successful, but instead of giving it an honorable burial he paraded the monster’s corpse through the region and left it to the elements. One of the monster’s spawn was growing in it, which would later become known as the Weeping Beast. It sprang to life while a party was held around the corpse meant to honor Sir Amis’ victory. The spawn killed everyone but the knight, and it escaped. Sir Amis is deeply ashamed of his technically failed oath, and believes that killing the Weeping Beast will let him earn true rest. But he is loath to tell others of the origins of his circumstance.As for the Weeping Beast, it is intelligent and capable of speech, but is similarly cursed in that its very being urges it to violently murder others. The Beast will desperately attempt to tell others to run from it, and will mourn those he kills. The Weeping Beast also speaks in rhymes, and knows a bit of Sir Amis’ past.While the PCs can end this quest by killing the Weeping Beast, the Ignoble Court will consider this as a violation of their laws even if they treated the monster “honorably.” Alternatively, one of several NPC mages of power and renown in Gnolune (the book lists 3 by name) can find a means of ending both Sir Amis and the Weeping Beast’s curses, but they will not do this for free. Sir Amis bears 2 magic items, the sword Humility that becomes a +2 weapon against foes with greater hit points than the wielder, and his boots Steadfast and Swift that treats uneven and otherwise difficult terrain as level ground.The Inverted Manse of the Star-Shattered Wizard is the major dungeon of this hex, and in comparison to Sunbelow Abbey it’s both smaller and more linear in being a reversed tower that a falling star smashed through. The Manse is the home of Grymothy, a wizard sympathetic to the Riverkeeper League and seeks to find a way to share the secrets of magic with the population at large. After years of research he found a way to bring a star down from the heavens, but Gluster Fumm mistakenly believed it was a Selenian threat and shot it off course. This caused it to crash into the tower and emit magic reversing gravity within the now-submerged building.The Manse is a 4 level dungeon with 8 rooms. There are no rival explorers or factions here, and the main threats are the weird magical malfunctions within the tower such as trap-like freezing blue fire or a four-armed suit of animated armor programmed to attack would-be thieves. There’s also appropriate magical items to be found here. For example, there's a cauldron enchanted to cook whatever is placed inside it and those who eat from the pot will have gravity reverse for them. But besides the star, perhaps the greatest treasure here is the Narcissus Mirror which can trap the reflection of a single person. When so trapped, that person no longer casts reflections in mirrors and similar surfaces much like a vampire, but the possessor of the Narcissus Mirror can effectively scry on their current location by showing what the person is doing as their reflection mimes their movements. The current captured reflection is of Lady Violeta, the head of the Argent Council and most powerful noblewoman in Gnolunen. Needless to say, various people would pay dearly to get their hands on this.What happened to Grymothy? Well, the falling star caused his body parts to be sent into various mirrors throughout the dungeon, and in spite of his disembodied nature he can cast spells such as Ventriloquism to communicate with the party to try to convince them to gather together his various parts. Once done so, they can be combined in the Narcissus Mirror, allowing Grymothy to regain his physical form, but Violeta’s reflection must first be freed to make room.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/M5NY3EB.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />And what of the star? Well, it’s not as gigantic as a real-world one, being six feet in diameter yet glowing extremely bright. A clutch of monsters known as star spiders are nesting in the wound dealt by the arrow, and their webs are all over the floor (in reality the ceiling) of the room. The arrow has made a “wound” in the star, which must be removed and cauterized with blue fire to heal it and prevent more spiders from hatching and emerging. The star exudes valuable magical essence that can be extracted by singing to it for 2 turns (20 minutes), letting one collect up to 500 to 1,000 gold worth of ingredients per day that are useful in creating a variety of magic items themed around light, energy, and antitoxin for the star spiders’ venom.Should the PCs free Grymothy, he will commit to taking care of the star’s wound and defeating any remaining star spiders. PCs who want to aid his goals of magical empowerment to the common folk will be given quests in retrieving various magical ingredients elsewhere in the valley in exchange for gold. If they collect all of the ingredients, Grymothy will be able to spread a magic-based effect through Gnolune’s water supplies, granting virtually every person the ability to make a single wish each year. Most people will use their wishes for frivolous pursuits, and wishes that can change the world or society at large will end up counter-acted by others. Welfish wishes end up turning against the user, and when enough people catch on most wishes from then on will be used to benefit others in simple ways. This resolution feels kind of…orderly and optimistic for something that should be world-altering, honestly.Thoughts So Far: While shorter in length than Verinwine Vale, Brobdin Wood is another strongly thematic and interesting region for adventure opportunities. Brobdin Castle and the Champion & Blackguard are good hub centers for PCs of the more lawless persuasion, and I like how the Weeping Beast quest can be resolved in ways beyond a typical “hunt the monster” manner. And even if PCs do that, the Ignoble Court’s attention is a good means of wrapping them up in another complicated scheme. I also like how the Narcissus Mirror and its preservation or destruction provides one of two potent aids to PCs: either they can use it to keep tabs on Cimbrine’s effective ruler, or gain the broad aid of a grateful wizard.My main points of criticism are both in the Manse dungeon. The first is that while not immediately apparent, the star’s daily creation of expensive ingredients is way too good in how much value it makes, and for PCs primarily motivated by money they have little need to adventure further when they can get a baron’s ransom in valuables every day The other one is that Grimothy’s wish-granting experiment, if successful, doesn’t have as great society-changing implications as other long-term consequences in this book.Join us next time as we visit the region of Becqueshire, home to feuding sisters and their botanic Flower Knights, an amphitheater where the spirits of performers possess visitors to bring out their inner actor, and a lyrical virus emitting from the tomb of an undead bard!</blockquote>

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