Skiff

Hex 36.20. Known as the “Last Stop Before the Slop'' by adventurers heading from Fleabag County into the Quagmash frontier. The outpost sits atop a giant sputter-work platform built by shrym engineers. So, like any engine it needs fuel, and the constant sputter of its hydraulics and gears echo across the town.

The outpost is made up of mostly adventure opportunists looking to hit it rich by capitalizing on the vast, untapped resources of Quagmash. Skiff residents include Puddlejumper explorers, traders selling expedition equipment, and regular folk desperate to keep the outpost running against the harsh, wet environment.

locations

• Bygone Tavern and Hotel (p147)
• The Ol' Chum 'N' Bucket (p148)

what's going on

• Skiff is running out of coal and desperately needs a regular fuel source to keep the town afloat.
• The Witchbreath is spreading across the Quagmash from the territory of a WITCH called Shadewand in Gatormaze (p163).

sights and sounds

1. A muddy boggart repairs a handmade street sign that reads: "Welcome to Skiff, last stop before the slop."
2. A burly goblin with a big fur hat eats a huge haunch of GATOR meat.
3. A filthy, wild-eyed boggart with a long, beetle-infested beard hollers at locals about the Great White RIVERSAUR.
4. Boggles scamper over wooden boards plugging leaks.
5. A KOBOLD works a bellows to pump clouds of Witchbreath into jars.
6. A young boggart skips stones into a mud pit. None skip more than once.

rumors

• Long Johns Magilla is out to bag the Great White RIVERSAUR and looking to form a hunting party.
• Bygone Betty's friend Lucinda went missing after a trip to the swamp. Lucinda is a master frontier's woman, so for her to go missing is a serious concern.
• A strange fog called Witchbreath is choking the Quagmash and Bygone Betty would like to know where it's coming from.

outbound rumors

• Skiff needs coal, a lot of coal, and the largest known deposit is said to be in Helgroathe Mine in the Used T'Be Forest. Without an energy source the shrym platform that the town sits on will sink.
• There's a gold rush in Sinkhole. Prospectors and pioneers are flocking there to strike it rich.
• A mysterious tower called the Quagspire is sinking deeper and deeper into the swamp, and will soon be buried beneath the quag with all of its untold secrets.

bygone tavern and hotel

A cozy hotel on stilts built out of valuable wurlwood timbers fished out of the swamps of Quagmash.

The structure leans to one side on account of shoddy workmanship on the southside of the hotel, a fact that has irked the tavern's owner, Bygone Betty, for years. She's been known to shuffle around the wooden deck, complaining out loud to herself: “What a waste of good wurlwood.”

BYGONE BETTY

The matriarch of Skiff, having made a name for herself as one of the most resourceful bugbears in the bayou. Bygone Betty is the owner of the Bygone Tavern and Hotel, the only place to stay in Skiff that keeps your socks dry. Betty knows just about everyone in the Quagmash and gets along with them too. Well, maybe except for the ORCHES of Gatormaze. Almost nobody gets along with them.

• Traits: Personable, busybody, gives unwanted advice.
• Motivation: Run a clean hotel her way, no bosses or anyone to answer to.

SIR MAGLAMORE THE SECOND

A young knight that has got better things to do than die. In fact, he never leaves Bygone Betty's. He sits at the same table every day, playing cards with his own suit of armor opposite him, and has no desire at all to go on quests, despite a long family history of daring the unknown.

• Traits: Lazy, cowardly, just wants to have fun.
• Motivation: Steer clear of danger. Too many Maglamores have gone missing on adventures.

quests

BYGONE BE BYGONE

Bygone Betty is a friendly know-it-all, but doesn't share everything unless she trusts you. How do you gain her trust? Easy. Do a job. And boy howdy has she ever got jobs that need doing.

• Job 1: Get Sir Maglamore off his whiny butt and out into an adventure. Betty knows the young knight has it in him, he's just lost his way and is scared.
• Sir Maglamore is a coward and must make a Mettle Check at the start of any Conflict or flee. He has
• 2 Mettle, but every time he succeeds he gains +1. At +1 Mettle, Sir Maglamore is ready to become a bonafide adventurer.
• If Sir Maglamore runs away, he gets into an even worse situation, like a random Dangerous or Perilous encounter.
• Job 2: Betty's pal Lucinda went on an expedition recently to hunt for herbs and never returned. It isn't like Lucinda to get lost, so something must have happened.
• Lucinda has been captured by a tribe of ORCHES and brought back to Orchmire, where they are forcing her to work as a medicine woman.

menu

Copper •

• Hot Food: A slurry of piping hot stew that resembles chili, served directly from a fifty pound bag of dehydrated Food Mix™ and tastes like it. Heal 2 Courage.
• Mung Crackers: Free, but only when you order Hot Food. Gain +1 Temporary Courage.
• She left a trail of ASHBLOSSOM markings on trees (starts at Hex 32.20) that lead to the Broke Tusk village in Mudwallow.
• Job 3: Investigate the source of the mysterious Witchbreath and report back to Bygone Betty and the people of Skiff (see Shadewand's Domain p182)

HEADING TO HELGROATHE

The town of Skiff is plum out of coal, and Betty can't afford the Bogtown prices. After doing some research, it seems the best way to get coal at the right price (free) is to go to Helgroathe Mine in the Used T'Be Forest (p365). The mine collapsed years ago but there's tons of coal still there just waiting to be claimed. Folks say the place is haunted or something, but that's just silly!

BETTY MARKS THE SPOT

If the PCs have gotten in good with Bygone Betty, she shows them an old treasure map that she's had for years, but was never able to capitalize on. The map marks an X in Puddlejump (Hex 28.25), and if you find any treasure there, Betty will split it 50/50.

• The map leads into a forgotten tomb, a RANDOM DUNGEON, in Puddlejump.

the ol' chum 'n' bucket

Packed to the gills with fishing supplies and any adventuring gear one would need in the swamp. The Ol' Chum 'n' Bucket is older than the town of Skiff itself.

OL' CHUM

An ancient boggart. Ol' Chum is half blind but still can find anything in his supremely messy store. Folks in town know Ol' Chum to be the most knowledgeable authority on fishing in the Quagmash.

• Traits: Knowledgeable, nosey, ends everything with "mm-hmm."
• Motivation: Keep folks coming around to hear the best fishing stories they've ever heard.

FRAN FRINKLE

An adventure loving Puddlejumper, pioneer, and daughter of hard-nosed industrialists. Fran left the Used T'Be Forrest thirty years ago to explore the uncharted Quagmash. Her latest curiosity is the Quagspire, a mysterious and unexplored tower. But for the last couple of weeks, Fran has been recuperating from a gator bite on her foot.

• Traits: Adventurous, domineering, thick drawl.
• Motivation: Explore the Quagspire and discover its secrets (and treasure).

LONG JOHNS MAGILLA

A member of the Big Fame Hunters and the finest tracker in the Quagmash. He claims to have sighted the mysterious white RIVERSAUR on two occasions. Long Johns Magilla got his name from losing his trousers when he escaped certain death in the Gatormaze. He's hunted in his long johns for good luck ever since.

• Traits: Obsessive, makes wild claims, deadly serious.
• Motivation: Bag the Great White RIVERSAUR of legend.

quests

THE GREAT WHITE RIVERSAUR

Having found the Great White RIVERSAUR before on two occasions, Long Johns Magilla would trade a fortune to find it again. If he can bring down the beast, the rest of the Big Fame Hunters will realize he's the best hunter in Quagmash. Join Magilla's hunting party to find the Great White RIVERSAUR. He'll pay your group 1 pouch of Copper Coins each day, though you'll have to return alive to collect.

• Magilla wants to slay the critter, but among the hunting party is a welkin Puddlejumper named Looda who secretly wants to study the critter, not kill it. Looda has sabotaged Magilla's blunderbuss.
• It takes a 12+ Search Check to find the Great White RIVERSAUR (L10-C) in the Gatormaze.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Stop and/or convince Magilla to save the Great White RIVERSAUR without getting eaten or harming it.
• The Conservationist•. Animals lovers and gnomes will always take a liking to you. Once every session, gain Advantage when aiding a CRITTER. This is where the real hunters and explorers come to shoot the breeze and talk shop.

MYSTERY OF THE QUAGSPIRE

Fran Frinkle aims to uncover the secrets of the Quagspire, a strange tower to the south. Unfortunately, she injured herself recently, and needs a few good adventurers to accompany her. Explore the Quagspire and Frank Frinkle might split the treasure. And she's game to return the favor in the future (she's one heck of a blunderbuss shot).

• Fran Frinkle (Attack:+2, Dread:1d8, Defense:+1, Courage:14, Mettle:+1).

GONE FISHIN'

Ol' Chum can't get out on the water anymore on account of his old age, but he'll trade his old dinghy for a fine spread of fish from the Quagmash. Bring back every kind of Quagmash fish and Ol' Chum will let you keep the boat (see Component Locations table in Core Rulebook).