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Thoadstool Thicket

Location

Mucklands Sandbox Campaign Setting · p.174

Open source p.174
Quagmash

A fungal forest home to the great thoad king called the Horned Judge. Thoadstool Thicket is speckled with mushroom trees, lily pad covered lakes, and dazzling spores that float through the air like snowflakes. Populated by FAERIES, SPRITES, MUSHRUMS, and FINFOLK just to name a few, the area is considered by some Quagmash denizens as a refuge within the harsh swamp, but danger still lurks in dark corners.

modifiers
  • Travel Checks
  • Wandering Intruder Chance
wandering intruders

##### tarmurk

  • 1. Thoad
  • 2. River Goblin
  • 3. Finfolk
  • 4. Faeries
  • 5. Sprites
  • 6. Mushrums
rumors
  • The gnome that dwells in Thoadstool Thicket was recently injured by a terrible SORCERER.
  • An assassin called the Fang might have passed through Thoadstool Thicket some time ago.

G. WILLA WHILLAKERS

A hermit gnome that lives in a giant toadstool. Whillakers keeps out of the affairs of the Lily Court and simply tends to the flora and fauna of the Thicket. Secretly she watches over a Relic from ages past: an amulet of the Last Wizards called Wintry Heart.

  • Traits: Wise, worried for the future of Eem, puts on a brave face.
  • Motivation: Protect the land and the Relic under her watch.

EENSY

A tiny, orphaned PIXIE who's had to make do in the bug-eat-bug world of the Thoadstool Road underbelly. Not only is she an orphan, but all of her siblings have gone missing.

  • Traits: Plucky, won't take no guff, high-pitched voice.
  • Motivation: Find her lost siblings.
what's there

THOADSTOOL ROAD

A gully cutting through the Thicket where thousands upon thousands of tall, swaying toadstools create a walkway above a fetid swamp. Glowing FAERIES and PIXIES flutter about, making their homes in the gills of the mushroom caps. Following the road leads directly to the Lily Court (p153).

Thoadstool Road, while marvelous, can be dangerous. Misstepping and falling off the toadstool walkway results in splashing into the water below, where LEECHLINGS and BRAYING SABREFISH lurk. Recently, the area has become a prime location for BANDITS and predators who target travelers going to and from the Lily Court.

quests

THE STOLEN RELIC

For years untold, G. Willa Whillakers has watched over a secret, ancient reliquary here in the Thicket. But an evil SORCERER called Mithra attacked Whillakers, gravely wounding her and stealing Wintry Heart, an amulet that protects its wearer from all cold, and bestows the power of ice magic. She could not stop Mithra from fleeing north, but there's hope yet. A brave knight named Hada, the sworn enemy of Mithra, is hunting her. Find Mithra or Hada, or both, and retrieve the Relic.

  • Mithra (SORCERER L7-C), a member of a cult called the Broken Circle, is gathering Relics from the past to aid in the Gloom King's war on Eem. Dressed in a feathery black robe, her head is half shaven, skin sheet white, and eyes yellow.
  • Mithra is heading to the Stone in Used T'Be Forest before leaving the Mucklands altogether.
  • Hada is a Knight of the Order of the Ember on a mission to thwart the Broken Circle. But she was WOUNDED in a fight against Mithra and her SKELETON minions. She is now recuperating in Camp Mudbank (p149).

THE ORPHANED PIXIE

Eensy the PIXIE has lost her siblings Teensy, Weensy and Mo. The three said they were going out to play but never came back. Eensy should have done a better job of watching them. It's just so hard taking care of her siblings after what happened to the colony, eaten by nublins. Eensy fears the critters might have returned to finish the job.

  • If the PCs search the swamp below Thoadstool Road, they find a horde of slain NUBLINS.
  • Teensy, Weensy and Mo were indeed chased by NUBLINS, but the nublins were smooshed by a TOMMYKNACKER (L4-B) called Agravor, who captured the pixies in a jar and brought them back to his swamp cave in Hex 33.27.

TRIAL IN ERROR

A squad of mushrum warriors accuse you all of a recent crime committed in the Quagmash: the murder of an old quortle hermit named Jum Greenly. The mushrums intend to arrest you all and put you on trial at the Lily Court in front of the Horned Judge (p153). Cooperate! Make this easy on yourselves or else.

  • In court, the PCs are represented by Icky Muckburg Esquire who insists this is “really really bad.” With Muckburg's questionable expertise on their side, they'll have to defend themselves in court.
  • The prosecution somehow knows intimate details about the PCs: any recent hijinks, Backstories, Flaws, Personal Quests, Relationships, etcetera. They outline the alleged crime, pinning the PCs near the scene of the murder. Jum Greenly was killed with a weapon matching a PC's weapon!
  • The PCs have to convince the Horned Judge that they are innocent or else prove it by escaping and investigating themselves (see Law and Trials in the Land of Eem p18).
  • In actuality, Jum Greenly was murdered by a deadly criminal called The Fang who is on the run (see quest The Fang p77).
  • Clue 1: At the scene of the crime in some underbrush is an empty vial of black poison.
  • Clue 2: The Fang's hardened muddy tracks lead northeast out of Thoadstool Thicket.
  • Clue 3: The Fang stopped in Skiff where he was vaguely recognized as a criminal. He got into a scuffle before being chased north.