The Hornsaw Forst. Much like the Mirkwood of Middle Earth lore or for those D&D fangs, Spiderhaunt Woods, or even just those that like creepy forest setting, the Hornsaw represents for many in the Scarred Lands setting a place of mystery, awe and dread. This meaty tome (and I say meaty because of both crunch and fluff), gives us a closer look at one of the great forests in this setting.
The cover art is done by Steve Ellis. It depicts (what I believe) to be a Blood Reaper fighting undead (my guess) and thus is depicting the fight between the Blood Crone and her minions versus that of the necromancers of Glivid Autel. While it's probably not my favorite piece of art, I've seen worse. The interior art I like better, as there are some very nicely done sketches by Kieran Yanner and David Day. The cartography is more than decent, with David Day doing some very nice work. Still felt though they could have used Ed Bournelle's skills for cartography but that's a minor point as David Day fills in the cartography very well. At 124 pages, this book really shines in terms of style. I'll address that in a minute. Really though I want to say this was an admirable two part effort by Joseph Carriker and Rhiannon Louve in terms of both writing styles and overall writing/editing quality.
The book is divided into 5 chapters, with an introduction and appendix detailing some of the new monsters in the forest.
I'll list the chapter names here before going into details:
Chapter One: History of the Hornsaw
Chapter Two: The Land
Chapter Three: The People
Chapter Four: The Secrets
Chapter Five: Adventures in the Hornsaw
The Introduction by Anthony Pryor is a good lead in but a subtle one as well since you think it will start out one way...and by the first paragraph of the first chapter you find out its something else entirely.
Chapter One details the rich and textured history of the Hornsaw, before and after the fall of Mormo. Most of the story comes from the personal view of one of the few remaining wood elves that lived through this tragic event. The other sections come from others such as the wood dwarfs (Yes there are apparently dwarfs like in Snow White but they don't mine.) As well as some insights about some of the denizens like the Blood Crone and the Accursed (to refresh those that don't know about this, or haven't read Secrets and Societies, these are goodly/neutrally aligned lycanthropes that live in the Hornsaw to protect themselves and others. They occasionally fight along side the growing Broadreach elf population.) Again much like the SLCS:Ghelspad you feel your self drawn to these accounts and yet don't feel too bound by them, in game terms. Unlike section in some other suppliments from WotC, there is no black or white, just accounting of personal histories that may or may not be truth. Overall this chapter I feel set the tone of the book quite well. I found it a very meaty read.
Chapter Two details much of the geography as well as special sites you can find in the Hornsaw. The Hornsaw being a large wood, has many denizens, not all of them evil. As the Border wood is home to those seeking solace from civilization for what ever reason, the Annot Kalambath, the "grandfather" tree tainted by Mormo and now home to the Dar Al Annot, a society consisting mostly of hags and other female titanspawn, as well as Kaymen's Marches. Plus there's also the Crimson Temple, the site of Mormo's fall. That along with Specter's wood gives you a very clear idea of the land's geography. Also there is much detail about the flora and fauna of the wood, in each section, plus some of the rare natural components one can find there, ranging from darkwood, to soulwood and venomwood (each tainted in some way to make greater necromantic and venomous stuff more potent.) This section too, while not as stylistical engrossing, gives the DM a greater feel and a number of plot hooks to follow up on. Ranging from the growing witchspider population, to the ghosts of the hornsaw unicorns, to even just plain old fighting the titanspawn forces of Mormo that are drawn there. I definately recommend this section for those looking to see just what might pop out of the Hornsaw.
Chapter three is a very detailed look at both the Broadreach and wood dwarfs, their culture as well as various weapons and tribal customs. Plus a rather detailed look at the nefarious denizens/cults that have sprung up. Two of the more interesting cults are the Plague Eye (a cult devoted to creating a composite titan using Chern parts and Mormo parts), and the Serpentskull Hersay (undead titan. And people thought draco-liches were scary...)
Overall I found this chapter VERY enlightening both as a player and a DM. Certainly the new weapons, the deep look at the tribes of the Broadreach, their various belief systems, plus even a look at new cults as well as old favorites (like the necromancers of Glivid Autel and hags of Dar Al Annot.), bring to life much of the wood in a way not often seen. Also you'll find plot hooks a plenty regardless of how hard you try not to look.
Chapter Four is more of the crunch section of the book, detailing true rituals for the Broadreach elves that create tatoos. Unlike the traditional Relics and Rituals item creation feat, these tatoos come with both great benefit and great cost. Also presented here is are two new prestige classes. The Hornsaw Sentinel and the Lillendali Archer. Both are well suited for rangers, but each with a different focus. The Hornsaw Sentinal focuses more on working with its Hornsaw companion and using Hornsaw unicorn horns as weapons. The Lilendali archer focuses on combining the best of archery with some magical skill. While not as exciting or interesting as the previous chapters, this chapter is probably the crunchiest over all.
Chapter Five gives out one adventure but really even if you ignore the adventure, you'll see some great work done about random wilderness encounters as well as more plot hooks. The adventure itself details the doings of the Witchspiders. (These special spiders were creations of Mormo that got out of hand but have better sorcerous ability than araneas.) I heartily recommend you read the adventure AND the encounter charts. You'll get some great ideas.
Finally the appendix covers the monsters of the Hornsaw. One of the nice previews for the upcoming (or should say now released) Creature Collection Revised is the fact the CC hags are now templates. (However only Cavern, Moon, and Storm Hag templates are shown) Also here is the Arixs (Serpent and regular) a type of fey common in Hornsaw, and the regular ones help the Broadreach elves in their goal of reclaiming the wood from the taint of Mormo. Also mentioned here is the Blood Maw (a strange creation of the Blood Hag) and of course stats for the Witchspiders.
For those of you looking for ways to ultilize this in other campaign settings, or even homebrew, I certain think there is plenty to be used. From the wilderness encounter charts, to the templates to even just the Broadreach elves themselves or the various cults. Plus the various new flora and fauna is always helpful. While it might not fit into everyone's campaign, I do think if you are looking for a way to challenge players in the great outdoors, and want that Mirkwood type feel, this is the book for you.
I think I'll conclude with just this. I love this book. Glad I have it. Can't wait for more products like it.
