The Drippy Downs

★ CHAPTER 1

the drippy downs

The Drippy Downs lie between the crags of the Sounder Hills and Trollridge to the east, and the dense forest of the Grimdingle's Grimly Wood to the west. The Downs are a green place, peppered with rolling hills and scattered forest, where the rain and dew glisten day and night. There is a magic to the Drippy Downs, passed down from a more enchanted time, when toadstool rings held pixie courts, and gnomes broke bread with kobolds. Today, the Drippy Downs are home primarily to trolls and dweorgs. They hold tight to the old ways, collecting tolls and raising beasts, respectively.

This magical region makes for mysterious journeys across lonely hillocks and untrodden tors, where ancient secrets have soaked into the soil, forgotten. Sparse pinelands whisper on windless days, and sarpathi bide their time in the hidden depths below the world.

The Drippy Downs are the last place in the Mucklands with any connection to what local folk call “the old ways.” And by old ways, they mean magic. Already on the verge of extinction centuries ago when the Gloom King ravaged the lands and destroyed the last true wizards of Eem, the coming of the Dungeon Era ensured magic would be forgotten, and its keepers driven into the hidden places of the world. Without anyone to remember the old ways, the magic of the Drippy Downs may soon be lost forever.

central conflicts

• The Faerie Folk flee in droves, and magic fades away as Dungeon Era industrialists encroach upon the land.
• The sarpathi raid and kidnap from the south, but no one can find their lair.
• Trolls bicker among themselves, arguing about whether to hold to their old traditions, or embrace the new culture of goblins and boggarts.
• An election for mayor in Dunk could decide the fate of the region.

SETTLEMENTS

• Azimuth Outpost (p10)
• Dunk (p14)
• Yrr'ghgrg (p28)

SITES

• The Crossroads (p30)
• The Faerie Market (p32)
• The Old Place (p34)
• Drippy Drop Bridge (p36)

POINTS OF INTEREST

• The Snake Shrine (p37)
• The Ghost Town (p38)
• The Old Graveyard (p39)
• The Obelisk of Zar (p40)
• Ulga's Mine (p41)
• Vorg'Varga Vek (p42)

ZONES

• Drippy Drop River (p43)
• The Highwilds (p44)
• Nameless Lake (p46)
• The Riddle Spinney (p48)
• Whisperdale Meadow (p50)

LAIRS

• Castle Gannish (p52)
• The Forgotten City (p54)
• The Starfell Mine (p56)
• The Gaping Maw (p58)
• Vorg'Varga Ket (p59)