Quortlen

Hex 38.4. The ancestral home of the quortles, or at least their largest settlement. It is a beautiful town, lush and green, though half of the city is submerged in the river. Most outsiders are entirely unaware of the fabulous world, just thirty feet below.

what's going on

• ORCHES raid the outskirts of Quortlen, hunting the quortles for what they believe are Magic turtle shells.
• Outsiders visit more frequently in search of quortle medicine, believed to be the most potent in the Mucklands.

sights and sounds

1. A pair of chatting quortles in robes emerge from the river water and wander towards the market.
2. A quortle adjusts the targeting wheel of a large catapult with the worlds "Orch Watch" written on the side of it.
3. A goblin storms out of a quortle general store, soaking wet.
4. A pair of boggart kids catch frogs while their parents finish loading a river boat with fresh herbs.
5. A blind bogril sweeps a cane across her path while whistling a familiar tune.
6. A welkin gives a book to a quortle, who leaps for joy when they read the title.

QUEEN MOOSH

The ruler of Quortlen and a master alchemist, Queen Moosh comes from the line of Quort, a legendary lineage traced back to the great turtle. She is an isolationist to the extreme and rarely accepts outsiders. But once granted an audience, she is kind and helpful should it serve her people well.

• Traits: Matronly, fussy, wary of outsiders.
• Motivation: Protect her people from the uncertainty and dangers of the world.

KEENYN WEEWAY

The spiritual leader of the quortles who, despite generations of isolationism, keeps a vast underwater library of ancient lore, stories, history, and magic. The only drawback for an outsider is that every book is written in the old quortle script, which few even within Quortlen can read or translate.

• Traits: Meticulous, spiritual, chuckles happily.
• Motivation: Keep the greatest quortle secrets safe.

SHNAPRON THE TOUGH

The Master of Arms in Quortlen, Shnapron is a proud quortle. He's notoriously hard-shelled, having bolted ribs of solid steel onto his shell. This is actually an old tradition amongst the quortles of the past, who practiced the now-forgotten martial art of Shelldon.

• Traits: Gruff, well-meaning, says "mm-hmm" a lot.
• Motivation: Establish diplomatic ties to other communities in River Country for the greater protection of the region.

queen moosh's potions

Silver • (see Alchemy Recipes in Core Rulebook)

• Potion of Water • Witchbreath Cure Breathing • Lifebringer Salve
• Courage Potion • Poison Antidote
• Bravery Potion • True Aim Potion
• Gutter Glue • Arming Potion

rumors

• The legendary turtle, Quort, is said to dwell beneath the city of Quortlen and can provide wisdom to those who seek it.
• Queen Moosh has devised a cure for the Witchbreath after years of study.
• Cork in Quortlen can speak to and control animals.

outbound rumors

• Captain Braag in Capstan is selling maps of Quortlen to dangerous ORCH raiders.
• A group of Quortles have gone missing on an expedition to find an emerald encrusted CRAWLBAD somewhere along the Nackadonkee River.
• THIEVES are stealing medicine from Quortlen and selling it to the River Barony.
• SARPATHI REAVERS are searching for the ancient turtle Quort to steal their power.

CORK

A young, silly-hearted quortle who lives just outside the village. An orphan, Cork never knew her parents and spends her days romping through the fens and rivers, while counting away the night by naming her favorite stars. A free spirit, she is a gifted quortle who can speak to the animals.

• Traits: Free spirit, silly, secretly powerful.
• Motivation: Find a place where she truly belongs.

quests

ORCHES ON THE PORCHES

Shnapron the Tough is worried. An ORCH raiding party that seems to have traveled far was spotted just outside Quortlen. Shnapron sent scouts, but they never returned. Please help run the ORCHES out of the area but, if possible, avoid a bloody conflict.

• The ORCHES (10×L2-G, 1×4-B) have come all the way from Quagmash, hunting quortles because they believe their shells are magic. They intend to give the shells as tribute to a WITCH called Shadewand (p182).
• The ORCHES carry a map to Quortlen sold to them by someone named Captain Braag (p198). Oddly enough, he came to their village in Orchmire personally to sell the maps for great profit. Queen Moosh considers him an enemy to all quortles.

the lost chamber (dungeon)

A hidden reliquary believed to hold secrets and riches of Quortle society from the Age of Flame. Some believe the mighty Quort once slumbered beneath the town, and there are passages burrowed into the riverbed that could lead there.

AREA 1: DROWNED HALLWAY

Completely underwater. Cold, pitch black but for flashes of wiggly, swimming worms in the water.

• Glow worms immediately follow in the wake of a swimmer, illuminating the way.
• Attempting to capture a glow worm makes it go dark.
• Feeding a glow worm makes it follow the PC.
• In the corner of a hallway is a quortle skeleton riddled with rusty darts holding a rusty key and a Magnificent knife [quick] with a handle like a fish tail.
• A rusty, iron gate lies ahead, blocking what looks like an old armory.
• A green shimmering tile in the center of the floor—15 feet away from the gate—must be touched while the gate is opened with the key, or else darts shoot out from the walls that inflict 1d6 Dread.

AREA 2: SENTRY CHAMBER

Completely underwater. Rusty suits of quortle-sized mail and small polearms line the walls on racks.

• The armor is ruined and rusty, and imprinted with the symbol of a red fish.

THE LOST CHAMBER

Keenyn Weeway has discovered an underwater cave entrance near the town of Quortlen that has been lost for generations. He believes it leads to a treasure chamber, full of Relics from the bygone Age of Flame. Unfortunately, the area is filled with RIVERSAURS, RHYZOPHANTS, and BRAYING SABERFISH. Keenyn dares not enter alone and needs you to protect him (see The Lost Chamber Dungeon below). You may keep any items that have no historical significance to Quortlen.

• A quortle named Cork is said to commune with animals and can aid in dealing with underwater predators. Usually she lives just outside of town, but she is currently hiding out in the Sunken Ship (p243).
• A RYZOPHANT (L4-B), an eight foot predatory fish, slumbers in a tight ball above the iron gate, out of sight to anyone entering.
• Raising the gate agitates the RYZOPHANT, but luckily the glow worms dazzle it and it chases them instead.
• Under a loose panel of rotten wood and debris is a locked hidden door to Area 3: The Seal.
• The lock is shaped like a long, narrow fish head, with a slit under the gills. The rusty key doesn't work, but the Magnificent knife from Area 1 opens it. Lockpicking Checks suffer Disadvantage.

AREA 3: THE SEAL

Murky water makes seeing anything difficult, or it would, if not for a beam of light pouring from a wide hole in the ceiling. A huge mound of dirt is piled in the center, and mounds of silt in each corner. Tiles on the floor are shaped in the pattern of a turtle's shell.

• In the center of the floor under the mound of dirt is an icon of a large red fish. The seal opens with a special ritual (see Area 5) and leads to the Reliquary (Area 6).
• This is a RIVERSAUR'S nest, but when a group of SARPATHI REAVERS entered the dungeon, a fight ensued. The RIVERSAUR chased the SARPATHI outside through the Hole (Area 4) in the ceiling.

AREA 4: THE HOLE

A muddy, dark tunnel leading to the surface. Looks freshly burrowed.

• The tunnel leads to a murky lake overgrown with reeds making it difficult to see.
• On the opposite side of the lake is a small partially collapsed stone structure poking out of the water where a half eaten SARPATHI REAVER floats lifelessly in some reeds, clutching a satchel.
• The satchel contains several map cases, one of which is a map to Quotlen stamped with, “Captain Braag's Map Company. 9 Waterway, Capstan, River Country.”
• Not too far away, a muted screech echoes through the water. Six SARPATHI REAVERS (4×L2-G, 2×L4-B), and five ORCHES (5xL3-G) fight a RIVERSAUR (L5-C) that they stumbled upon in Area 3.
• If the PCs don't intervene, the RIVERSAUR eats 2 SARPATHI REAVERS while the others retreat. They catch up with the PCs in Area 6. The RIVERSAUR then returns to its nest in Area 3.
• The stone structure has a stairway leading into an underground room (Area 5).

AREA 5: LIBRARY OF THE FIRST TURTLE

A cramped, stone room lit by a jar of bright green glow worms held by a looming figure at the end of the room with a long tube running straight up through the ceiling.

• Shelves stacked with thin stone tablets line the walls. The tablets are in ancient Quortlese, which even Queen Moosh can barely understand.
• The figure is a shrym dungeoneer named Garth Oodwell, but introduces himself as the Bubble Knight. He wears a brass suit of armor and a helmet like a fishbowl. He tosses aside countless tablets, searching for something.
• Garth is surprised and attempts to chase the PCs from the Library, assuming that they work for the sarpathi. Once the PCs calm Garth down or defeat him, he explains he's looking for Quort's Tome to protect it from the sarpathi.
• Soon after speaking with Garth, 4 SARPATHI REAVERS arrive. One carries a glowing orb, the Eye of Quort, attained from the riversaur's nest. They believe the tome is the key to finding the ancient turtle itself, who can grant wishes. The sarpathi want to wish for an Eye of Ehk.
• A Search Check is required to find Quort's Tome, a tablet book adorned with a red fish symbol. PCs find the tome even on a failure, but waste precious time (and air) if they do. Only the Bubble Knight, the sarpathi, and Queen Moosh can translate the ancient writing. There are two passages of great significance:
• A ritual detailing how to open the hidden seal in Area 3. Four individuals of pure heart must stand on each corner of the seal and place a hand on the Eye of Quort. Only then will the seal open.
• The story of Noona the River Queen, an ancient, mythic river fish said to have been the lover of Quort the Turtle. The gist of the story is that Quort sang a song to win Noona's love, a song so beautiful that the Land of Eem itself wept with delight and tears ran down the eastern mountains, forming the River Country. There Quort and Noona dwelled as royalty for a thousand thousand years before the star fell from the sky and etched the Middle-Kingdoms into being.
• The rest of the book tells the history of the quortle people, which is very valuable to Quortlen.

AREA 6: RELIQUARY

Beneath the red fish seal in Area 3 is a small chamber of solid gold, filled with treasure. A spiraling walkway leads down into beautifully clean, crisp water.

• Counts as a Mythic Hoard.
• The spiraling walkway leads to Area 7.

AREA 7: THE TURTLE

Cool, clean water lit by glow worms and dazzling, sparkling fish. The tile walkway leads towards a huge, bubbling underwater mountain. Or at least, it looks like a mountain, until it snores bubbles.

That's no mountain! The head of Quort the Mountainous is so large it obscures everything in the PC's path, the shell so enormous that the foundations of Quortlen visibly reach towards a dapple of light coming from the surface world above. The legend is true, all of Quortlen rests on the mighty Quort's back.

• Quort is sleeping peacefully. If roused, the PCs are met by a friendly, aged turtle that grants a single wisdom to each of them.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Receive wisdom from Quort the Mountainous.
• Sage of the First Turtle•. Quort whispers a wisdom into the ear of each willing PC. One time use: If the PC is unable to solve a riddle, discover a secret, learn a fiend's weakness, or face some other challenge that they are unable solve, they can remember what Quort once whispered into their ear, and suddenly it all makes sense.
• If the PCs dawdle and do not wake Quort, Noona the Red Fish, an enormous ruby colored freshwater fish, swims up behind them.
• Noona immediately restores the Courage of every PC and telepathically thanks the group for not waking Quort, as he is so very tired.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Don't wake Quort and accept one of Noona's ruby scales.
• Champion of the Red Fish•. One time use: so long as the party has this scale, Noona can be summoned from any body of water to heal all PCs' Courage or WOUNDS, or remove a CURSE.