Thurf

Hex 32.11. The factory city of Thurf is a terribly overpopulated industrial town flooded with desperate folk looking for work. Big factories pumping black smoke into the skies take up most of the real estate, with seedy billiard halls and glog dens lining the alleys. Cheap eats like Nork's Noodle Nook are on practically every corner, and grime-caked beggars crowd the gutters.

One of the Thurf's biggest draws is Crazy Urny's Custom Trap factory, a rare gem in that it pays the best wages of any factory in town. Although, that's probably because all of Crazy Urny's facilities are hazardous beyond belief. But, if one thing's for sure, Thurf is always hiring. Just make sure to bring a helmet and a bar of soap to clean the soot!

districts

• The Drain (p113)
• Smokestack Alley (p117)
• Sootsweep (p119)

the drain

A network of canals between streets flowing into sewers and out into the Blackrill. It's here that factories send their goods out into the world up and down the river. Unfortunately, the canals are highly polluted and odorous with a blackish-green hue and floating chunks of industrial waste.

sights and sounds

1. Dock workers play a game of darts using a picture of renowned bard Percival Dante as a target.
2. A mail carrier delivers a snarling, rattling box to a very confused mother of three.
3. A murder of SCARE CROWS devour sticky pink goo from the cracks of the pavement.

FOREWOMAN MADRIGAL MADRIA

In charge of the Thurf Industrial Guild, and under enormous pressure from the Big Three to increase production of goods. Madria is not particularly proud of her work, but knows that all of the factories of Thurf employ a lot of hungry folks looking to feed their families.

• Traits: Easily annoyed, constantly sighing, heart of gold.
• Motivation: Just make it to the weekend.

what's going on

• The sister towns of Thurf and Thrig are at each other's throats. Thrig blames Thurf for polluting the countryside, leading to a crop famine. Thurf blames Thrig for the sudden influx of peasants taking factory work from locals.
• Competition for work has skyrocketed leaving hundreds jobless, and there are protests in the streets demanding employment and better working conditions.
• The filthy town reeks of greasy industrial waste. Most folks wear clothes pins on their noses.
• Pollution is rampant and spilling into the Blackrill, poisoning the neighboring towns and anything down river. Black goo is actually spilling from the sewers.
• The Sootfinger Gang has taken over the sewers and established a smuggling ring, sending stolen goods up and down the Blackrill.

4. The cables of a crane snap sending a huge crate full of MOONRATS crashing to the ground.
5. A drunken sailor sings an old shanty song curled up beside an idle SPUTTER-BEAST.
6. A giggling young woman gives a tattoo to a wincing wug biting a belt.

rumors

• There's something strange going on in the sewers of Thurf. Black goo oozes from manholes and cracks in the pavement.
• Burglaries are on the rise for the local citizens of Thurf, and the Inktouch Crew are certainly to blame.
• The Sootfinger Gang captured a real live wizard for ransom.

PEETY BLACK THUMB

A high ranking Sootfinger GANGSTER (L5-C) who's made a name for himself among the citizens of The Drain for sharing, providing help, and keeping crime low. Peety is great at smoothing over tricky situations and making peace between his fellow gangsters. However, Peety also uses his charisma to earn a little gold on the side and position himself to come out on top of any situation.

• Traits: Delightful, unassuming, lying through his teeth.
• Motivation: Bleed Thurf dry and be thanked for it.

NICKI INKTOUCH

Master THIEF (L4-C) and boss of the Inktouch Crew, an elite cadre of pickpockets and burglars rising in infamy. Under Nicki's leadership, the Inktouch Crew is responsible for most of the crime against ordinary citizens in The Drain.

• Traits: Hard-nosed, daredevil, always chewing gum.
• Motivation: Become the most notorious crew in Thurf.

quests

A WIZARD FOR RANSOM

Rumor has it the Sootfinger Gang have kidnapped a powerful wizard for ransom, but no one is paying up. They even sent word to Winifred's Library in Junktown and not a single response!

• If the PCs have met Barnaby Vel Hoodalihoo (p118), let them know that this must be his missing friend Ebenezer Dawahoozle.
• Alternatively, the Sootfinger Gang asks the PCs to help them find someone willing to pay for the old wizard. Any sort of WITCH would be interested, but not for a noble cause—rather to turn him into a newt or some such.
• If the PCs try to rescue Dawahoozle at the Sootfinger hideout in the Drain, they're met by a horde of Sootfinger GANGSTERS (L4-G). Dawahoozle is locked in a cage while some GANGSTERS try to figure out how to use his Magic wand.

SOOT AND INK

Peety Black Thumb is a reasonable GANGSTER (L5- C). He's concerned about the surge in burglaries hurting the good people of The Drain, so Peety needs some hardy adventurers to help take down the real criminals, the Inktouch Crew. Peety got a tip that the Inktouch Crew, and their leader Nicki Inktouch (THIEF L4-C), are smuggling the stolen goods by way of the Blackrill and he wants the PCs to take her down. Stake out the mouth of the biggest drain at midnight and be ready for a fight.

• Nicki and her crew of rascals are totally surprised by any intrusion. They put up a fight, but are woefully underprepared (Advantage on Parley).
• If defeated, Nicki blames going against her gut and trusting someone she'd never done business with before. She reveals that a secret client hired them to rob, burglarize, and pickpocket everyone in The Drain.
• Immediately after Nicki is defeated, shabby looking town GUARDS arrive out of nowhere to recover the stolen goods. A successful Perception Check reveals that the guards are wearing fake uniforms and black gloves—the signature of the Sootfinger Gangsters.
• Peety Black Thumb is actually the one who financed the Inktouch Crew to get rich from the crime spree without any heat. But Nicki Inktouch was getting too big for her britches and had to be dealt with.
• If the PCs discover Peety's double-cross and defeat his gang, he tries to escape and flee for Bogtown.

BLACK MUNG CITY

Pollution and toxic waste from the factories have created a highly odorous ooze in the city's canals, it even gurgles through the street cracks. Not only that, but cargo vessels have been disappearing overnight. Foreman Madria first suspected the new Inktouch Crew, but now she's not so sure after finding spoiled cargo and driftwood from an Oilmonger ship in the canal. Follow up on the Oilmonger lead for her.

• Following the source of odorous ooze leads into the sewers where strange black MUNG attack on sight. They seem to collect near a huge drainpipe coming from Oilmonger Plastic Factory (see quest Bringing Back the Mung p112).
• The toxic waste has created a colony of ravenous black MUNG. Not only are they consuming cargo and ships, they have spread throughout the sewers, and even all the way to Thrig via underground rivers.
• It would be nigh impossible to clear out all of the black MUNG by force without some special solution— perhaps an alchemical compound that neutralizes their toxic nature?

smokestack alley

Taking up most of the city, Smokestack Alley has dozens and dozens of factories incessantly coughing black, putrid smoke into the air. The streets are mostly empty during the day except for lunchtime when droves of workers spill out into the city to grab a bite or a smoke, most of them covered head to toe in black soot.

locations

• Oilmonger Plastic Factory (p117)
• Crazy Urny's Custom Trap Factory (p118)
• Fizzy Wiz Cannery (p118)

oilmonger plastic factory

The largest factory in the Mucklands, producing an incredible range of cheap products at an incredible clip.

ARGONN THE OILMONGER

Perhaps the most ruthless boss in Thurf, Argonn pushes his workers to death, caring about nothing but amassing more wealth. His main focus is to manipulate his biggest customers, the Big Three (SPL, Krog & Sons Inc., and Unassailable Co.), who Argonn often leverages against each other to fill his coffers.

• Traits: Intimidating presence, sees through you, cruel with a smile.
• Motivation: Expand his business beyond the shores of Scalawag Strand.

quests

PROTESTS IN THE STREETS

Thurf protesters surround and jeer at a group of factory workers from Thrig, calling them names and telling them to go back to their own town. The Thrig workers shout back that they wouldn't have to take these jobs if Thurf didn't pollute their town. If the conflict isn't stopped soon, things could get violent.

• If the PCs don't step in to cool things down, a riot breaks out. Copperhats soon show up, making the situation even uglier.

DIRT ON THE OILMONGER

There are many who want Argonn ousted as Lord President of Oilmonger Plastic Factory, the very company he built. But removing him from power won't be easy.

• If the PCs have helped reporter Kyd Rooper at the Thurf Tribune (p120) prove that Oilmonger Plastic Factory is the biggest polluter and cause of the ravenous BLACK MUNG, a public uproar forces the Big Three to notice because they are Argonn's biggest customers. The Big Three are not happy.

sights and sounds

1. A worker walks out of a factory, lights a pipe, smokes for three seconds, checks his watch, and turns back inside.
2. An explosion somewhere in the distance makes everyone on the street stop for a moment before they shrug and go about their lives.
3. A dark green, foul-smelling smoke pumps incessantly from a nearby factory.
4. A boggart factory worker wins a rousing game of Rascal Rummy and shouts "Mama's eatin' rat eggs tonight!"
5. A sullen-faced goblin loosens his tie and throws it into the trash.
6. A wungalope hauling a pallet stacked with oil drums stops to lap up the contents of a spilled trash can. But it comes at a cost: obscene pollution, and the well- being of the factory's many workers.

• If not, Kyd Rooper suggests scrounging up incriminating evidence on Argonn that the Big Three can't ignore.
• The dirt: Argonn the Oilmonger has been skimming off of the top in secret, and his shareholders have no idea that he's using the company's coffers as his own personal piggy bank. In fact, Argonn is believed to have spent a fortune on a luxurious lifestyle which includes a decadent pleasure yacht kept in Anchorbottom called The Oily Oriole. Argonn often cruises the Scalawag Strand on “business trips.”
• The only way to uncover the extent of his embezzlement is to sneak into his offices, something a chimney sweep would have a better shot at doing (see quest Sweepers Sweepstakes p119).
• Exploited by their biggest supplier, the Big Three would be interested in getting Argonn removed in order to perform a hostile takeover, each vying to put their own puppet Lord President in place.

crazy urny's custom trap factory

When Crazy Urny whips up maniacal traps in his Marshgate mansion, he sends the blueprints to the factory in Thurf for mass production. Roughly twenty percent of Urny's designs are practical enough for mass production, while the other eighty percent are sold as unique designs to the highest bidder.

VIN CRABWICH

The goblin Foreman of Crazy Urny's Traps Factory, a facility dedicated entirely to the design, development, and production of dungeon traps. Vin manages everything and lately he's been dealing with an enormous increase in workplace accidents.

• Traits: Flustered, fearful, flop sweat.
• Motivation: Avoid Crazy Urny's wrath by managing an efficient, profitable factory with limited weekly casualties.

quests

THE MONSTER IN CRAZY URNY'S

Vin Crabwich is 99% sure that Crazy Urny's Custom Trap Factory is haunted by a terrible monster the workers call the Gargoyle: a dastardly, grotesque heathen that flaps through the air, and can leap ten feet to snatch your soul right out of your body. Ooder Jortz died from fright right on the spot! Vin needs help and he doesn't know who to call! Find the supposed Gargoyle in the factory and eliminate the hauntings.

• The Gargoyle (THIEF, L7-B) is a goblin wearing a metal mask, leather wings, and mechanical spring boots.
• The Gargoyle left a trail of sooty foot prints on the ceiling and walls, which lead to a ransacked locker. Several scroll cases labeled “Top Secret Traps” are empty. The footprints indicate that he left the building.

fizzy wiz cannery

Producers of the most popular canned beverage in the Mucklands—Fizzy Wiz! The corporation is also the canner of such fine products as Canned Rat Meat, Canned Bat Toes, and Magical Mystery Mung! A giant blinking sign of the Fizzy Wiz mascot, the Fizzy Wizard, is easily the greatest attraction in Smokestack Alley.

quests

THE REAL FIZZY WIZARD

An old man with a long white beard, dressed in silky blue robes and a conical hat, dodders through the streets holding a can of Fizzy Wiz. He asks where he can find the individuals who crafted this can. What fiend has stolen his likeness and printed it on such a profane artifact? He shall have words with this rapscallion! Also, he is entitled to a large sum of money, is he not?

rumors

• Crazy Urny hasn't been heard from in months!
• Injuries at the Crazy Urny's Custom Factory have people whispering that the factory is haunted.
• The Gargoyle is stealing Crazy Urny's trap blueprints and selling them to Krog & Sons, and he's already on his way to Krogland (p346). The Gargoyle runs afoul of WEORGS on the way to Krogland, but will make it there in 2 days.
• Krog wants to prevent his competitors from having the designs and doesn't even intend to build the traps.
• The most recent “hauntings” were actually due to a Large MUCKLAND BAT that the Gargoyle let loose in the factory before he left for Krogland. All the better to stall in case some do-gooders sniff out the ruse.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Deal with the bat, and retrieve the stolen blueprints from the Gargoyle.
• The Sleuth•. Gain Advantage on Perception Checks to see through disguises.
• The man introduces himself as Barnaby Vel Hoodalihoo, a real, bonafide wizard. Sort of. He knows nothing about casting spells on his own, but owns a Magic wand.
• He has come all the way from Buttonhollow (far far away to the northwest, beyond the Mucklands) with his friend Ebenezer Dawahoozle—also a man with a Magic wand. Ebenezer Dawahoozle, as it happens, is lost somewhere in the city (see quest A Wizard for Ransom p116).
• The best Fizzy Wiz Cannery can offer Barnaby, if the PCs help broker a deal, is a lifetime supply of Fizzy Wiz in exchange for being a real live mascot.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Convince Barnaby to be the real life mascot.
• Honorary Fizzy Wizard•. Barnaby doesn't want his lifetime supply. Start every session with a can of refreshing Fizzy Wiz: Heal 2 Courage.

sootsweep

Covered in a perpetual layer of soot and grime from the pollution of Smokestack Alley, Sootsweep is the main residential district of Thurf, where families live in packed, wobbly high-rise apartments.

locations

• Jiminy's Chiminey and Street Sweeps (p119)
• Thurf Tribune (p120)
• Town Square (p121)

sights and sounds

1. Whistling workers chuckle as they return home from

jiminy's chiminey and street sweeps

Aside from the mega-corporation-owned factories, Jiminy's Chiminey and Street Sweeps is the most prominent company in Thurf. They employ fleets of

JIMINY SPANGLUR

A chimney sweep with a puckish face and charm despite being well into his sixties. Although he still wears the uniform, his trusty broom remains mounted on the wall behind his desk where he manages the schedules of thirty sweeps.

• Traits: Charming, spry, extremely firm handshake.
• Motivation: Train a worthy successor.

ROGGIE THE SWEEP

Roggie the boggle is just a teenager, but he's the best chimney sweep in town, some say even better than Jiminy in his prime. He rolls with a crew of fawning sweeps, and has gained a level of celebrity in town.

• Traits: Pompous, smarmy, insists people "dare" him to do dangerous things.
• Motivation: Become more famous than Jiminy Spanglur.

quests

SWEEPERS SWEEPSTAKES

After several unfortunate hires that led to mortal injuries, Jiminy is holding tryouts for new recruits. Do you have what it takes to be a Thurf chimney sweep? Whoever can get through the Flue Maze at a factory called Industrial Forge Rolling Mill will earn a position at Jiminy's side!

• The Flue Maze is a RANDOM MAZE, a circuitous network of flues that expel from a massive 36 flue smokestack.
• The competing PCs have 5 chances to accrue 3 Successes, otherwise a sweep named Larna Weex completes the challenge.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Complete Jiminy's challenge at Industrial Forge Rolling Mill. their shifts at the factory.

2. An ancient DWEORG shuffles along the street so slowly that a wagon screeches to a standstill.
3. A goblin boy marvels at a poster of two boxers promised to go head-to-head in Bogtown tonight.
4. Factory workers enjoy a break, slurping down bowls of Nork's Noodles like their life depended on it.
5. A shrym in a gas mask collects green gobs of slime running down the side of a stone building. They insist the mask is only formality, the slime is perfectly safe.
6. A TROLL standing in the street hands a borrowed book to a friend on the second floor of a building. chimney and street sweeps who clear the pavement of every street and flue of every smokestack in the city twice daily!

• Chimney Sweep•. Grants access to the factory buildings and homes of Thurf.

ROGGIE GETS STUCK

Jiminy's star chimney sweep Roggie is stuck in the Oilmonger Plastic Factory smokestack. Apparently some sort of black, goopy substance has him immobilized. Get him out before the ruthless Argonn the Oilmonger turns the furnaces back on.

• It is a harrowing climb up the flue, requiring a 9+ Nimbleness Check with Disadvantage, otherwise the climb takes much too long and Argonn must be persuaded to stop production.
• Roggie is caught in the flue by mysterious BLACK MUNG (p112) and has been POISONED.

thurf tribune

The prime source for daily news in the Mucklands— especially after the High Magistrate shut down the Bogtown Gazette. While there is still legitimate investigative reporting on most current events, the paper is in the pockets of the Big Three and won't run stories that cast them in a bad light.

CHIEF QUAGDAD DOGGINS

He was once a serious journalist who broke the biggest news in Fleabag County, but years of bribes and cover-ups have dulled the editor-in-chief's sense of truth and justice. Now all Quagdad Doggins wants to do is keep the ad revenue flowing long enough to retire, which means not ruffling any feathers.

• Traits: Cautious, irritated, obsequious with big wigs.
• Motivation: Retire to a lofty beach villa.

KYD ROOPER

A plucky reporter always chasing the biggest scoop that she can get her mitts on (which never fails to get on the Chief's nerves). Right now, she's concerned about worker's rights, the ongoing job shortage, and of course, the pollution. She laments the days when the people of Thurf and Thrig were like family, but the tensions between the two have never been worse. She hopes she can get the two towns on track by talking to the people through her stories.

• Traits: Fiery, idealistic, reckless.
• Motivation: Break a story so compelling that the people come together and force the factories to improve.

quests

ROOPER'S SCOOPS - POLLUTING THRIG

Reporter Kyd Rooper wants to blow the lid off the factories in Thurf and help the city of Thrig recover. Thurf factories are polluting the water, killing off Thrig's crops, and poisoning the mung; she can feel it. She suggests you delve into the Drain and snoop around.

• By far the worst pollution spills from one of Oilmonger Plastic Factory's drainage pipes, spewing out black, tarry toxic waste that has transformed a colony of mung into something twisted.
• The jet black, oily MUNG fed on toxic waste to the point of evolving into a new kind of MUNG like nothing the world has ever seen. Worse, they've spread to Thrig, destroying the land and crops (see quest Bringing Back the Mung p112).
• The Plastic Factory supplies the Big Three with cheap goods. They won't stop their horrible practices unless Argonn the Oilmonger is removed from power.

rumors

• Reporter Kyd Rooper is holding onto a big scoop that would expose the factories for polluting and ruining the crops in Thrig.

ROOPER'S SCOOPS - WORKER'S RIGHTS

The fight for worker's rights has died down since the job shortage, and now only Janey Tweeg and a handful of unemployed protesters keep up the good fight. If you could help drum up more support for Janey Tweeg's cause, maybe Kyd Rooper could convince the Chief to run the story.

ROOPER'S SCOOPS - THE JOB SHORTAGE

The working population of Thurf is on edge after the influx of Thrig scabs. Things could erupt any day. Convince the two sides that the only way things will change is if the common folk unite and demand it. Now that would make a good story!

ROOPER'S SCOOPS - THE SPILL

The Spill is a complete and utter disaster zone, responsible for poisoning miles of groundwater, and worse yet, mutating the local wildlife. Help Kyd Rooper uncover who is responsible (see quest Dampening the Glow p127).

town square

Every morning a fleet of Jiminy's Chiminey and Street Sweepers clear the black grime from the sidewalks just before throngs of factory workers burst from their tiny, one-room apartments to start the day. In the middle of town square is a derelict fountain, now drained of water because cleaning the soot became too troublesome.

GORDIMUS BULLFY

A doomsday barker outside the big Nork's Noodles in Town Square. Bullfy is an ornery, old boggart wearing nothing but a rascal cider barrel and hat made out of a Nork's Noodle bowl. He is always spreading wild rumors about what's really going on in Thurf.

• Traits: Eccentric, bombastic, everything is a "conspiracy."
• Motivation: To let everyone know the truth! The real truth! The TRUTH truth!

JANEY TWEEG

A fierce proponent of worker's rights at the forefront of the daily protests. She made headway early on, but most of her peers bent under the pressure to earn a living and abandoned the movement.

• Traits: Super passionate, determined, heart on her sleeve.
• Motivation: Oust the corrupt corporate system and distribute ownership among the workers of Thurf. The land belongs to those who work it!

quests

DOOMSDAY NOODLES

Gordimus is convinced that Nork's Noodles puts mind‑control worms in the noodles. If you don't spread the word and put an end to Nork's Noodles evil, you are part of the problem!

• There is a bit of truth to what Gordimus is saying. Not the mind control part, but the worms. Nork's Noodles uses PLYXIAN PILE WORMS to thicken the noodle recipe. And there have been instances of live worms bursting from people's mouths, and even chests.
• Nork's Noodles is headquartered in Bogtown. Confirming or spreading the information draws the ire of Nork himself, who also happens to be a ruthless gangster.

rumors

• A worker's rights advocate named Janey Tweeg screams in the streets but no one listens to her.
• Tension between workers in Thurf is at an all-time high, and the factories couldn't care less.

JANEY'S REVOLT

Janey Tweeg protests the horrible working conditions with just a few fellow protesters. “Hey,” she yells, “you look like someone that cares about worker's rights! Do you care enough to hold one of these signs and stand for justice in the Town Square?” Most folks keep walking or shamefully lower their heads as they head to work.

• If the PCs refuse to hold the signs, her remaining supporters give up and walk away. Janey finally cracks and begins weeping quietly at the town fountain as the PCs walk away. If the PCs make no effort to encourage her, she leaves Thurf the next day.
• If the PCs join the cause, Janey tries to convince them to help her get through to the people of Thurf. Her voice is falling on deaf ears, but perhaps an outsider's voice would reach them. If a Bard is present, Janey believes they would be perfect to lead.
• HEROIC TITLE ACHIEVEMENT: Convince the people of Thurf to protest the unsafe working conditions and reject corporate handouts.
• Voice of the People•. PC gains Advantage on Inspire Checks whenever they address a large crowd.