1703 Meagre’s Reach and Redhearth’s Rebels

Serene pools overgrown with algae and lilies. Time seems to dawdle. A satisfied lethargy seeps into travellers.

• Terrain: Boggy forest (4), Aldweald
• Lost/encounters: 3-in-6
• Ley line Ywyr (p18): Arcane spell-casters perceive the distant moaning of the dead.
• ### Creeping Ennui
• Those who travel in this hex note a sense of ennui, grad

ually increasing the longer they remain within the hex.

Fairies and arcane spell-casters: Realise that this area is swaddled in deep magic, warping the fabric of time.

Local folk: The people of Meagre’s Reach and any others born and raised in this hex do not notice the ennui.

The Village of Meagre’s Reach

A bustling village of antique, brick buildings, glazed in a multitude of shining hues.

Old-fashioned ways: The elderly outnumber the young in Meagre’s Reach. Odd, long-outmoded forms of speech and dress are still current in the village.

Clay and bricks: Located in the vicinity of several rich clay beds, the village thrives on clay mining and brickmaking.

Full settlement description: See p162.

Redhearth’s Rebels

A group of dissidents known as Redhearth’s Rebels (see p164) has established a makeshift encampment in the woods to the west of the village. The gang members believe Ygraine (p84) keeps Meagre’s Reach under her spell as a plaything, entrapping its people for her own wicked ends.

Inhabitants: The gang’s deputy, Gemyme Grange, and 2d6 rebels (Level 1 thieves— DMB). There is a 2-in-6 chance that the leader, Benedict Redhearth (p164), is present.

Gemyme Grange—Gang Deputy (Level 1 Fighter)

A limber, fox-faced human woman of 18, with ice blue eyes, cropped blonde hair, and a silver ring through her nose. Dresses in soggy leathers and an oversized bearskin cloak. Gemyme seeks to push the gang to action, despite their lack of training, preparation, and concrete plans. While currently devoted to Redhearth, she could easily be swayed to another cause if promised excitement and danger.

Demeanour (Neutral): Suspicious, domineering, bored.

Speech: Snide. Woldish.

Knowledge: Has witnessed Lope Barhaim (son of Reynold— p162) furtively leaving Meagre’s Reach, seemingly on his way to Chateau Mauvesse. Aware that all others who venture beyond this hex never return.

Desires: Adventure and derring-do. Knowledge of the secret used by Barhaim and his sons to safely leave the vicinity of Meagre’s Reach. Yearns to escape the confines of this hex and explore the wider world.

Encampment: A sorry-looking cluster of sodden tents, erected on lumpy, root-riddled slopes to avoid boggy ground. Gang members typically convene around a fire pit, skinning game, cooking stews in a cauldron, and practising archery. Redhearth’s visits always include hours of impassioned preaching and diatribes against Ygraine’s wickedness.

Equipment stashes: Hoisted into the branches of nearby trees are several tarpaulins of equipment: ropes, tools, shortswords, leather armour.

Visitors: Are initially treated cautiously, under the suspicion that they may be spies or ruffians sent by Reynold Barhaim (p162)—the village’s leading citizen and primary Ygraine loyalist—to disrupt the gang’s plans. If convinced that this is not the case, the gang welcome outsiders, evangelising their cause and asking for aid in the form of weapons, equipment, or intelligence on Chateau Mauvesse and the doings of Ygraine.