0903 The Besieged Nodal
HexDolmenwood Campaign Book · p.286
Open source p.286Boggy woods of wind-bent pine, riddled with small streams and islets. A purplish tinge pervades the air.
Boggy woods of wind-bent pine, riddled with small streams and islets. A purplish tinge pervades the air.
- Terrain: Tangled forest (3), Nagwood
- Lost/encounters: 2-in
- Ley line Lamm (p18): Arcane spell-casters feel observed by a pitiless malevolence.
- Foraging: Successful foraging yields Shub Eggs (p430), in addition to the normal results.
Tenkystone
At the centre of a sodden hollow, in a glade ringed with elder, the nodal Tenkystone stands.
Appearance: Tenkystone is an obelisk of white, sandy stone, 15′ tall, inlaid with silvery runes.
Guardians: The Audrune Jhaelloch and his wicker giant (DMB) guard Tenkystone.
The siege: The Audrune and the stone are currently under siege by a horde sent by the Nag-Lord two weeks ago. The stone is attacked approximately one night in three. So far, the Audrune has held off the attackers, but his defences are precarious and could be toppled at any time.
Inscribed spell: Drunic runes describe the arcane spell Word of Doom. See Ley Lines and Standing Stones, p18 for details on learning this spell.
Touching the stone: Summons forth its power: a white mist rises from the soil, enveloping all within 10′. All in the mist must Save Versus Doom or perish. Any who survive may ask a question about the future. The Referee should answer each character’s question with what seems the most likely course of events.
The Nag-Lord’s Horde
Lurking in the periphery of Tenkystone, harrying the Audrune.
Daytime: harpies (DMB) and crookhorns (DMB) lounging in the branches.
Nighttime: Creeping towards the nodal stone are harpies (DMB), crookhorns (DMB), and harridans (DMB).
Aim: To slay or drive away the Audrune and his wicker giant, then to perform a binding ritual on Tenkystone, bringing it under Atanuwë’s yoke.
Giant Trident
The harridans have speared a great seven-pronged trident of pockmarked meteoric iron into the earth along the course of Lamm, 200 yards south of Tenkystone.
Bleeding earth: Black ooze seeps from the “wound.”
Astral interference: The trident stymies Jhaelloch’s magic.
The Audrune Jhaelloch
A small, scrawny human man with greyish, wrinkled skin, hawkish nose, and wan blue eyes. He dresses in the traditional night-black cloak and hood of his order. Currently wears a woollen scarf around his ears, to block out the song of the harpies that assail him.
Demeanour (Neutral): Agitated, suspicious. Usually taciturn, but will respond if engaged in conversation, owing to his current predicament.
Speech: Penetrating rasp. Woldish, Drunic.
Desires: To break the siege on Tenkystone. To contact his brethren for aid.
Bargain: Promises the gratitude of the Drune to any who will help him defeat the horde or inform his brethren of his plight. (Directs PCs to the Audrune Hermanach in hex 0804.)
Combat stats: Audrune (DMB). Spells 50% likely to fail when cast and unable to use ley travel (due to astral interference from the Giant Trident).