Chief Chopper's Mill

Hex 17.7. One of the last Subterranean Pits and Lairs LLC lumber mills operating in the region. Chief Chopper's Mill has seen a new resurgence in activity as the company scrambles to harvest lumber for their neverending expansion into the northern reaches of Eem. But with the flatlands of the Used T'Be Forest all but completely felled, SPL has turned to the dangerous mountains of the Blunder Bluffs, and rumor has it, even the haunted forest of Grimly Wood.

what's going on

• Vice Punisher Dastina Brenk is siphoning massive funds into a secret project called Operation Grimly Wood. The mill is thrumming with workers building a fleet of Shrym tree cutting machines. The model, called the SPL Tree-Feller 9000, is a massive tank

NUD “CHIEF CHOPPER” BRANAGOR

An old, grizzled lumberjack who has worked for SPL since the days when swaths of green forest still covered the landscape. The last decade or so has been quiet at the lumber mill, but overseeing a new, secret project is keeping the old man quite busy lately. He answers directly to Vice Punisher Dastina Brenk, who everyone knows butts heads with Chief Execution Officer Wozinski. As it happens, Chief Chopper used to have a thing with Wozinski (who broke his heart), so he's happy for some payback.

• Traits: Ornery, bitter about the past, old man strength.
• Motivation: Cut down all the trees in Grimly Wood and knock Wozinski down a peg in the process.

TASKMASTER RHONDALIN SNORF

Architect of the new SPL Tree-Feller 9000, Snorf's job is to oversee the production of dozens and dozens of the machines to eventually unleash upon Grimly Wood. She is fastidious and often frustrated by her lack of skilled help, which is a result of the project being so hush-hush that Brenk won't supply enough workers.

• Traits: Bossy, true genius, exasperated with the help.
• Motivation: Build a fleet of machines the likes of which have never been seen.

quests

THE LOST LUMBERJACKS

Chief Chopper is concerned that a team of lumberjacks hasn't been heard from in days. He suspects they must have run afoul of some horrible creatures or critters in the Blunder Bluffs. Check the logging camp up north and discover their fate.

• The logging camp is in shambles. The roof of the mess hall is smashed, and stacks of flapjacks are still on the tables.
• Huge bird tracks, as wide as a wagon, are outside in the mud. A HUMONGOOSE! armed with gigantic mechanical saws based on the design of Graag Gargoon's first mechanical saw that felled the forests, at the start of the Dungeon Era.
• Green Gallivanters are a constant nuisance, sabotaging the logging operation every chance they get. Vice Punisher Brenk has ordered an assault on the Last Tree to destroy the meddlers and test out the SPL Tree-Feller 9000.
• Regular attacks against SPL's lumberjacks from HARPIES and HUMONGEESE are slowing down production.

rumors

• Chief Chopper's Mill is buzzing with activity after years of dormancy. Something big is going down.
• Lumberjacks have gone missing in the Blunder Buffs, and Chief Chopper fears the worst.
• Humanoid tracks split off every which way, some clearly pursued by the HUMONGOOSE. Those lead back to the beast's nest.
• The HUMONGOOSE (L5-C) is warming a clutch of eggs nearly ready to hatch. She buried some of the lumberjacks in the ground to feed her chicks later: they're still alive.
• The rest of the lumberjack tracks veer deeper into the woods for a mile until they disappear suddenly in the same place.
• The lumberjacks were taken by HARPIES and brought to Hagra the Harpy Queen in The Blunder Bluffs (p371).