Shadewand's Domain

Hex 36.24. Hidden deep within miles of GLOOM—the so- called Witchbreath—lies a shadowy yurt of sticks and stones, home to the infamous WITCH, Shallis Shadewand.

Shadewand's Witchbreath is an attempt to awaken the Gloom King's remnant GLOOM, which already occupies this area of the Quagmash—a disheartening force, an evil fog, dormant in this area for centuries. Shadewand's

SHALLIS SHADEWAND

Thought to be five hundred years old, and her magic even older, some say Shadewand the WITCH (L8-C) deals in necromancy, while others say hexes. The only truth of her is that snakes and spiders skitter through her hair, and the ORCHES of the Quagmash worship her as a veritable swamp god.

• Traits: Wild-eyed, vindictive, big belly cackles.
• Motivation: Awaken the GLOOM of the Quagmash and spread it across the land.

SNICKERNACK

A one-eyed, pale KOBOLD (L8-G), and Shadewands's toadie in all things. He loves to mix potions and lick the spoon afterward.

• Traits: Obsequious, dim-witted, hits himself after mistakes.
• Motivation: Please Shadewand and avoid her ire.

HEX ORCH

Shadewand's apprentice in magic. A chubby, blinking ORCH (L4-B) that aspires to learn the deepest secrets of witchcraft.

• Traits: Ambitious, crafty, fumbles his spells.
• Motivation: Become a powerful witch.

quests

THE LICH'S MIRROR

Inside Shallis Shadewand's hovel is a CURSED mirror—a direct link to one of the Gloom King's liches. The LICH, in fact, has bent Shadewand's will, forcing her to use her magic to create the Witchbreath. Only if the mirror is broken, will Shadewand be free of the lich's corruption, but few even know the Relic exists.

• If anyone stares into the mirror, or tries to break it, they must make a Mettle Check:
• 1-2. PC must Defy Death.
• 3-5. CULTISTS of the Gloom King are now aware of the PC and want to kill them.
• 6-8. PC suffers 1d12 Dread.
• 9-11. PC can Parley with the LICH, who assumes they are a powerful wizard.
• 12+. PC has the will to break the mirror, if desired. Witchbreath pales in power to the GLOOM; but its side effect, a terrible cough, has the Quagmash in a state of worry as there is no immediate cure for it.

locations

• The Witchbreath Clouds
• Shadewand's Hovel

THE ESCAPE OF PERRI APPLEWING

A SPARROW-SPRITE named Perri Applewing dangles in a rusty cage within Shadewand's hovel. Perri whispers to the PCs that she needs help! Perri has a message from the Order of the Ember, to warn them of Shadewand's accursed pact with a LICH. Perri is injured, however, and needs an escort to Thoadstool Thicket where a gnome named G. Willa Whillakers lives (p174).

• Whillakers will take care of Perri, but the gnome is embroiled in her own problems as well (see quest The Stolen Relic p175). A Relic of hers was recently stolen by a SORCERER.
• Whillakers believes the Ember knight named Hada should be informed of the Lich. Hada was hunting the sorcerer, but Whillakers doesn't know her exact whereabouts.

the witchbreath clouds

The swirling gloom covers Shadewand's domain in patches for miles and miles, obscuring vision and causing an unsettling cough. Rumor has it that the Witchbreath stirs the dead, but few truly believe that. Vitality Check: On a 5-, a PC comes down with a persistent cough that can't easily be cured. The cough inflicts Disadvantage to Vitality and Sneak Checks.

what's there

THE NORTH PATCH

A fetid bog where skeletal undead BRAYING SABERFISH, MERGA TOADS, and GATORS silently scour the waters searching for prey that rarely ever comes. A long rickety, wooden bridge, riddled with gaps, stretches over the area. ORCHES weep with terror as they bumble over the bridge, skeletal critters snapping at their feet.

THE WEST PATCH

Home to the Old Canker, an enormous fungus in the shape of a pustulous boil. The growth glowers like a giant eye at anyone that approaches Shallis Shadewand's hovel—its wet, slimy surface reflects their faces, remembering them as they pass.

• If a PC sees themself in Old Canker, there is a 6-in-12 chance that 1d4 painful fungal cankers start growing on their body. The cankers last 1d4 hours, then drop to the ground.
• The fallen cankers hatch into a grey, incomplete copy of the person that was infected. They retain no memories, abilities, or knowledge of their progenitor, but eventually grow into exact physical doppelgangers (as HOMUNCULI) to roam the world as mute servants of Shadewand.

shadewand's hovel

A small, two room yurt that billows plumes of Witchbreath into the air from a huge, crooked chimney.

lair layout

ROOM 1: THE ROOT CHAMBER

Filled with herbs, roots, and the bones of swamp animals, hung from the ceiling. Two of the WITCH'S agents, Snickernack and Hex Orch, are inside.

• Snickernack the KOBOLD (L8-G) plucks bones from the ceiling and places them into bowls filled with Witchbreath. A pile of bones stirs and jerks to life in the bowls.
• Hex ORCH (L4-B) draws symbols into the mud walls with a gator tooth. Together they are trying to animate the GATOR bones.

THE EAST PATCH

Where Big Orch has built an enormous shrine of bones, sticks, and fetishes to pay respects to the Shadewand— tall, stilt-mounted structures filled with various pilfered treasures and gifts.

• A group of ORCHES (L5-G) patrol the structures with their pikes and clubs. Stealing from the structures alerts them to attack.
• The largest structure is home to an enormous, coiled SARGOG (L4-C) that guards a solid gold chest containing a random Relic (see Relics table in Core Rulebook).

THE SOUTH PATCH

The Witchbreath is thickest here. Shadowy figures pace around in the gloom, a cadre of canker-spawns, mostly the doppelgangers of hapless adventurers and explorers that guard the area around Shadewand's Hovel.

ROOM 2: THE CAULDRON

Shallis Shadewand, a hideously wicked WITCH (L8-C), toils over an immense cauldron that vomits Witchbreath up through a massive chimney pipe.

• The Witchbreath wreaths around the PCs' feet and in quick glimpses they see SINGE VIPERS writhing on the floor.
• Behind Shadewand, there is a chest containing an Ancient Hoard (+2), and a shelf full of books, recipes, and Components.