1311 The Wolfweald

Placid rolling meadows, punctuated by groves of dark pines and damp hollows.

• Terrain: Meadow (2), Tithelands
• Lost/encounters: 1-in-6. Encounters at night are 4-in-6 likely to be with the Moonlit Maw.

By Day

These green hills and golden meadows are placid and beautiful. Sheep graze in the shallow folds, tended by the handful of weather-beaten shepherds who inhabit the area.

Scattered corpses: PCs occasionally come across corpses of animals or travellers, marring the pastoral tranquillity of the hex. The corpses have expressions of terror fixed on their sunken features and are shunned by worms and flies, decaying very slowly. These are victims of the ghostly Moonlit Maw.

Speaking with the shepherds: They fearfully refuse to discuss the corpses, stating only that the PCs should “go and tell Granny Wolfsbane ” in hex 1310.

At Night

When night descends, the darkness seems especially fearsome and opaque, shadows lengthening like tenebrous fangs. An eerie mist seeps from Dolmenwood to pool in the region’s vales and hollows.

Howling: From sunset to sunrise, the fields echo with unearthly howls, seemingly from some gigantic beast.

Sheltering shepherds: At night, the shepherds lock themselves and their sheep tightly away in their huts. Some place corn doll effigies of the fairy Princess Andromethia (p34), whose realm overlaps this hex, on their doors for protection. They refuse to admit strangers.

Source of howls: A spirit prowls the Weald at night: the ghost of a werewolf slain by Granny Wolfsbane (hex 1310), known as the Moonlit Maw.

Grave of the Moonlit Maw (Hidden)

Atop a lonely hillock near the border of Dolmenwood stands a plain wooden stele, emblazoned with a crudely gouged X.

Digging up the grave: 5′ beneath the earth lies a headless wolf skeleton, its rib cage filled with stones.

Treasure hoard: Tucked between the dead wolf’s feet is a rotting sack containing 400sp, 1,411gp, a key to the kitchen door in Bogwitt Manor (hex 1210), and a Sylvan Bracelet (p420). Should adventurers claim any of the treasure, every night until the Maw is defeated (see below), a random party member has horrifying, realistic dreams of being torn to pieces by the beast. They suffer a –2 penalty to Attack Rolls on the following day.

The Moonlit Maw

This horror manifests as the spectral image of a ghastly patchwork of flesh and fur, neither man nor wolf. Unable to satisfy its hunger for flesh, the beast instead gorges itself on the spirits of its prey. Their anguished faces are clearly visible in its grotesquely swollen stomach, where they swirl in a ceaseless vortex, screaming silently. The Maw hunts here and in hexes 1209 and 1210.

Medium Undead—Animal Intelligence—Chaotic

Level 5 AC 16 HP 34 Saves D10 R11 H12 B13 S14 Att Bite (+4, 2d4 + life drain + swallow) or howl (fear) Speed 60 Morale 12 XP 560

Undead: Immune to biological effects (e.g. disease, poison) and mind-affecting spells (e.g. Vapours of Dream, Paralysation, Dominate).

Immunities: Only harmed by magic, silver weapons, or magic weapons.

Life draining bite: Victim must Save Versus Doom or permanently lose 1 Constitution. If reduced to 0 Constitution, the victim dies and is swallowed (see below).

Swallow: The Maw gulps down the spirit of any victim it kills. The victim’s face appears in the ghost’s belly. The victim cannot be raised from the dead by any means short of a wish unless the ghost’s belly is deliberately slit open with a successful attack dealing at least 5 damage, freeing the spirit.

Howl: Once every 3 Rounds, the Maw can howl, causing all within 30′ to Save Versus Hold or flee for 2d6 Turns. Holy spell-casters of Level 7 or above are immune.

Return from death: If killed (0 HP), the Maw re-forms the next night. It can only be permanently destroyed by burning its corpse: the skeleton interred in the Grave of the Moonlit Maw and the severed head hanging in Granny Wolfsbane’s cottage (hex 1310).