1604 Blackeswell and the Drowning Pool
HexDolmenwood Campaign Book · p.366
Open source p.366Dismal grey trees drip sullenly in the mist. Giant white toadstools encroach from the south.
⚔ Site of The Fungus That Came to Blackeswell
Dismal grey trees drip sullenly in the mist. Giant white toadstools encroach from the south.
- Terrain: Boggy forest (4), Mulchgrove
- Lost/encounters: 3-in. Encounters are 2-in likely to be with toad-children wandering abroad.
- Foraging: Successful foraging yields portions of Witch’s Purple (p428), in addition to the normal results.
The Village of Blackeswell
An isolated and near-forgotten village, now subsumed in the rapidly expanding fungal forest of Mulchgrove.
The stench of the Blacke: Situated beside a stinking, green pool known as the Blacke, the village has an awful stench that visitors cannot ignore.
Former riches: Once a thriving mining town, Blackeswell now stands forgotten and half derelict, with only a few stubborn inhabitants remaining.
Full settlement description: See p124.
The Drowning Pool
A black pool clotted with putrid grey-green scum festers in the north-western corner of this gloomy hex, 100 yards east of Armsheath’s Road. The place is shunned by locals, who fear its sinister powers and rumoured undead inhabitants.
Inhabitants: 11 toad-children crawl and hop about the pool’s periphery. If characters linger, they inevitably attract their attention, as well as that of Grey Mayble, who lurks just beneath the water’s surface.
Golden apples: The scum-splashed trunk of a bent old tree juts out of the water at the centre of the pool, 50′ from the shore. Among its gnarled, blackened branches shine 3 magical apples of solid gold (500gp each). If used as a pommel stone, an apple endows a weapon with a bonus to attack and damage. If worn as a talisman, an apple functions as a Talisman of Protection From Hexes (p398).
Drinking the water: A mere sip of the festering water incurs a Save Versus Doom to avoid becoming violently ill: –2 penalty to Attack Rolls for 24 hours.
Entering the pool: Save Versus Hold or become unable to move for Turns. Unless aided, this results in drowning.
Toad-Children
1½’ tall, baby-headed amphibians with staring eyes, small, webbed hands, and slimy, bulging brows. The toad-children are normal toads transformed by suckling on Grey Mayble’s necrotic milk. They hop around the pool and the surrounding woods, burbling with voices somewhere between infants’ wails and croaking toad-song.
Small Mortal—Semi-Intelligent—Neutral
Level 1 AC 13 HP (2) Saves R13 H14 B15 S16 Att Claw (, ) Speed 20 Morale 6 XP 10
Grey Mayble
A wretched crone with grey, bloated skin, sodden, algae-ridden hair, black teeth, and bulging eyes. She frequently suckles a toad-child at her breast. Over a century ago, Mayble was a Blackeswell woman who fell in love with a priest and, after being spurned, drowned herself in the pool. The weird magic of the place transformed her into a revenant.
Demeanour (Neutral): Jittery. Torn between her craving for mortal flesh and her lingering compassion for mortals. Attacks if her toad-children are threatened or if she sees a holy symbol of the Pluritine Church—she loathes priests.
Speech: Gurgling, hissing, articulate. Woldish.
Desires: The return of one of her ghoulish toad-children who has wandered off towards Endstone (hex 1603). She tries to convince the party to find the errant child for her—she cannot stray far from the pool.
Rewards: Should the child be returned, Mayble offers the rescuers one of the golden apples.
Medium Undead—Sentient—Neutral
Level 5 AC 12 HP 24 Saves R11 H12 B13 S14 Att 2 claws (, + paralysis) Speed 30 Morale 9 XP 260
Undead: Silent before attacking. Immune to biological effects (e.g. disease, poison) and mind-affecting spells (e.g. Vapours of Dream, Paralysation, Dominate).
Paralysis: Save Versus Hold or be paralysed for Turns (aware but unable to move or act).
Water-bound: Mayble must remain within 60′ of the Drowning Pool.