5: The Glade of the Black Obelisk. Here
in an open clearing in the woods is an immense black obelisk carved in
Primordial runes. The obelisk is regarded by scholars of the occult as a
navigational marker and the “heart” of the Vosjin Wood (a DC 15 History check
can reveal this information). Adventurers who are trapped in the woods but who
do not draw the attention of the Black Rook or White Stag will inevitably find
the obelisk within 1D6 days of wandering, although always seemingly by
happenstance.
The Black
Obelisk Is ancient, and rested here long before the woods formed or the battle
before it. The Obelisk is actually a sort of dimensional anchor, and it is the
lynchpin that keeps the Outworld tethered to the mortal plan in this region;
should the obelisk ever be destroyed, the tether will sever and the Vosjin Wood
will be ripped back fully into the Outworld. Destroying the Obelisk is a task
most difficult and foolish, however.
Students of
the dark arts who have studied the primordial language or those with sufficient
magic can attempt to decipher the ancient glyphs on the stone. The stories
claim the stone provides a map of the Vosjin Wood, and following its marked
paths will allow one to safely navigate the woods. This is partially true;
etched upon the stone are runic marks that define the ley lines of magic which
surround the region. There is a magical line of force that leads to each of the major
locales in the woods, even if by accident; the nature of magic in the Vosjin
calls for such an arrangement, even as it weaves its reality through untamed
dimensions. Studying the obelisk for 1D3 days’ time with a D15 insight check
will reveal one of these paths as desired, and possibly more if the researcher
is uninterrupted in that time --not even sleep is allowed. Indeed, a scholar
who studies the altar without sleep for a full 48 hours will gain advantage on
his next insight check with the obelisk.
If one
studies the obelisk for long enough (at least a week), then it may become
evident (DC 22 insight check) that the ley lines seem to form a cage, and the
obelisk is about where one might imagine a magical key or capstone would be
located. After this revelation, the caster finds it difficult to even sleep,
and is plagued by disturbing dreams and nightmares, and suffers from a random
form of indefinite madness (DMG); should he ever perish he will return as a
wraith trapped in the Vosjin Wood forever more. He begins to sense that a vast,
ancient being rests beneath the earth, and that the obelisk is a key to its
terrible cage. The being is older than the primordials….indeed the primordials
may be mere whisps of its terrible dreams brought to life at the dawn of
creation. Who imprisoned this being is unknown….
Trying to
destroy the Obelisk is difficult. It’s immune to all forms of damage, and
digging beneath it reveals that the obelisk is but the tip of a vast, deep rod
of obsidian-like material that sinks a good mile into the earth….and there are
runes in the primordial script all the way down. The deeper one digs, the more
subject to nightmares and permanent madness the diggers become. In the highly
unlikely event that someone reaches the bottom, they find a vast subterranean
cavern in which the terrible elder god Id’Hyakaa dwells in trapped slumber,
waiting for the time of its awakening to engulf the world in madness.
6: The Monstrous Tree. Sometimes
appearing in a grove of other trees, and other times appearing in an open
glade, these monstrous trees are sprinkled throughout the region and contain
the entrapped bodies of the old warbeasts of the Saric Blood Knight army. Like
the vampiric blood knights trapped in trees, feeding blood to these creatures
is a bad idea; even a drop can awaken the beast within. Some of the monstrous
trees slumber in torpor, but there is a
25% chance they have dominated 2D6 nearby awakened trees into serving
their bidding, using the awakened trees to try and hurl bloodied victims to
them to feed. Once even 1 HP has been spilt on the tree it will burst free of
its prison within 1D3 rounds, revealing a terrible warbeast of the ancient
empire. Roll a D6: 1-Manticore, 2-Chuul, 3-Peryton, 4-wyvern, 5-grick alpha,
6-tyrannosaurus rex); DMs should adjust the encounter if desired to reflect the
exploring party composition/level.
7: The
Lost Settlement. About a century ago a courageous, though fool-hardy
pioneer named Gaston Ebernard discovered the passage to the Vosjin Wood from
the Hill of Giants and determined that he would carve out his fortune in its
unexplored depths. Gaston had a singular mind of action and was uniquely
unaffected by the miasma of madness and uncertainty that settles upon most who
spend too much time in the haunted woods. He brought his extended family with
him, and found a suitable location in the form of a high hill in an open glade
near a winding, unnamed river. There he settled, and was never heard from
again.
Today, those
who stumble across the earthen mound (a DC 12 religion check will suggest that
the mound is actually an ancient barrow of immense size, and not a natural
hill) will find the remnants of this failed settlement. A two-story high house
of stone rests atop the hill, its roof almost completely removed as if torn
off. The base of the hill contains several more crumpled dwellings, partial
stone walls still intact. A carving into the side of the hill was turned into a
sort of barn or stable, and fragments of bone can be found everywhere.
By night the
ghosts of the extended family roam the area, engaging in mundane tasks as if
their life has never been interrupted. The have haunting, indistinct features
as if they are unable to quite remember what they looked like in life, or are
hollow projections of some greater presence. Interrupting the ghosts in their
tasks will draw their ire, but the ghosts are otherwise disinterested in the
living.
8: The Tymardiae. These reclusive men
are the only denizens of the wood who seem able to come and go as the please;
indeed they know of dozens of paths into and out of the woods other than the
path from the Hill of Giants, but is is the gift of sight that lets the Tymardiae
find these paths. These men claim to have descended directly from the Enkanneth
goddess Suliversa, and as a result their unique pathfinding abilities allow
them to traverse the paths of the Vosjin Wood and even to find hidden passages into the Outworld. When
encountered the Tymardiae are usually friendly, unless there is obvious evil
among the party. They will be especially kind and friendly to aasimar and
haflings, whom tymardiae adore for some reason.
The
adventurers may encounter different groups of Tymardiae, either an encampment,
a lone wanderer or a caravan. The GM can roll a D10 to determine more details
as follows:
Encampment: 1-5 active and thriving
temporary settlement; 6-8 an abandoned settlement, but stone huts and hearth
make for safe resting for the PCs (reduce wandering encounters to 1 in 12);
9-10 a destroyed encampment, with evidence of monstrous attack.
Lone Wanderer: the lone wanderer may be
one of the following: 1-4 a friendly guide who offers his services to help the
PCs find their way; 5-7 a lone murderer and outcast who will pretend to aid the
PCs while plotting to rob and slay them (may 50% be in league with ibixians),
8-9 a pilgrim on a quest to seek out the base of Mt. Sahambla; 10 a wandering
ascetic who visits the forest on occasion but has knowledge of the secret paths
into the Outworld.
Caravan: the tymardiae see the Vosjin
Wood as a hub for travel between the mortal realm and the Outworld, and even
know of other such hubs across the lands of Pergerron. The caravans use these
secret paths to bring goods across vast distances in short periods. Caravans
will always be open to trade, though weary of dangerous looking adventurers,
and usually consist of 4D6 able-bodied men and twice that number of women and
children, with one wagon drawn by horses or cattle for every five folk in the
group. Tymardiae traffic in strange goods at times, and there is a 50% chance
that they will have at least one vendor with some interesting magic items or
potions. On a D10 you can determine
their ultimate destination: 1-3: Samaskar; 4 another remote city along the
Anansis River; 5 a city in Mesutin to the south; 6 a town in the Outworld; 7
Galitath; 8 a local Saganyir village; 9 they travel to one of the seasonal
encampments to set up shop and meet with other tymardiae, 10: north to the Aiga
for trade with the northmne; 11: the city of Phantomax to the far west; 12 the
City of Doors (yes, THAT city of doors) for exotic trade (if this is rolled
there is a 100% chance the caravan has lots of magical goods for sale).
Caravans
don’t travel lightly; the hearty nature of the tymardiae means most of them are
guarded by seasoned tymardiae adventurers with some magic, usually 1D4+4 levels
of experience, and sometimes they hire willing extraplanar bodyguards from the
outworld. Outworld, of course, is the planar realms….and the vast dominion of
the primordials is a plane unto itself, with direct connections to the Outlands
and the other planes of the Great Wheel. The Primordial Realm is located deep
in the Elemental Chaos.
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