1010 The House of the Harridwn

Tall, sighing birches, bored with beetle holes. A profusion of busy ants and their mounds.

• Terrain: Tangled forest (3), High Wold
• Lost/encounters: 2-in-6
• ### Crossroads and Signpost
• At the crossroads of the Ditchway and Harrid’s Path, an old signpost indicates: “N: Hag’s Addle, S: House of the Harridwn (Inn), E: Dreg (Ferry), W: Lankshorn (Lankston).”

The House of the Harridwn (Inn)

About three miles along the narrow, lesser-used Harrid’s Path, travellers come upon a small, homely inn standing at the side of the trail. A meagre, forlorn barn adjoins it.

Sign: A horde of welcoming children in maroon livery.

Sole guests: The inn is little frequented; it is likely that adventurers who enter are the only guests.

Common room: Cramped but cosy. In colder months, the small ironwork hearth holds a roaring fire.

Bigger on the inside: The guest rooms are situated along a winding hallway up a wonky, creaky stair. Curiously, there are dozens of guest rooms, occupying far more space than the inn’s apparent size, when viewed from outside.

Dead-end stair: The winding upper hallway ends at a stairway leading up to a blank ceiling. Knocking causes a hidden trapdoor to open, leading to the Hidden Bedroom.

Hidden bedroom: A gloomy attic space, long undisturbed. A woman’s skeleton lies in a neatly made bed, strewn with bundles of dried lavender and roses. If disturbed, the witch’s spirit rises as a spectre (DMB). Slaying the spirit puts an end to the inn’s odd magic and the hauntings.

Behind the barn: A glade of gravestones is found behind the barn. Several bear the name Occland, but graves for Tom, Mildred, and Greta Rumbelow are also present.

History: The inn was once the enchanted house of a powerful witch, Holstra Loom. When she died, her family interred her in the Hidden Bedroom. The Rumbelow children (see Nightly Hauntings) were slain by the witch’s spirit.

Nightly Hauntings

The guest rooms of the inn are haunted by the ghosts of several children, who may be encountered during the night (as the Referee wishes).

Tom Rumbelow: A small boy rolling marbles around.

Mildred Rumbelow: A coquettish, teenaged waif knocking on doors, looking for “the witch room.”

Greta Rumbelow: An infant, failing repeatedly to climb the stairs and bawling in frustration.

Services at the House of the Harridwn

Lodgings and food: Of common quality (DPB). Only one (tiny and quaintly appointed) private room is available; all other rooms are shared.

Specialities: Buttered currant buns for 3cp each; local ale (“Hameth Foam”) for 1sp a pint.

The Shrine to St Ponch (Hidden)

In the north-west corner of the hex, 200 yards from the Ditchway, a valley overgrown with towering nodules of slimy black fungus conceals a shrine to St Ponch the prudent, patron saint of whalers and castaways.

Black fungus: The fungus that dominates the valley is known as Hob’s Lewd (p428). 3d6 portions of its psychoactive slime may be gathered here.

The shrine: A simple wooden porch (now rotten and slimy) above the statue. The whole structure is submerged in the mass of fungus.

Statue of St Ponch: A 2′ high statue of white marble, depicting the saint as an old bearded man, bedraggled with sea foam and holding a whaling hook in one hand and a basket of scones in the other.

Prayer: If the shrine is cleared, characters praying may receive the blessing of St Ponch: the ability to cast Create Food. See Shrines, p22.

Mallowyn and Trellayde Occland—Landladies

Nigh-identical elderly human sisters with bright blue eyes and flowing, silver hair. Dressed in tidy knitwear.

Demeanour (Neutral): Welcoming but enigmatic. Eyes twinkling with youthful mischief.

Speech: Shrill, wavering, punctuated with cackles. Woldish.

Desires: Love to hear new songs and tales of daring. For the witch in the Hidden Bedroom to be left in peace.

Knowledge: The landladies know of the inn’s History. They are descendants of the witch. If asked about the ghostly children, the landladies claim they are here with another guest, Mr Rumbelow. They wish to draw attention away from the Hidden Bedroom.