The Gloaming

102. SHATTERED TOWER

A crumbling keep in a clearing choked with thorns and nettles. A heavy trapdoor in the ruins leads down to an old cistern where a dark shape slithers beneath the putrid algae.

106. DRUSILLA'S HUT

A cozy, thatched hut strung with drying flowers and herbs. Inside lives Drusilla, a weald hag, who impersonates a shy medicine woman. She is gaining the trust of the residents of nearby Wardenwood village (307) by "nursing" villagers back to health whom she has secretly poisoned. Drusilla is forming a plot with the werewolf Victoria (1003) to begin turning the village's children into werewolf cubs.

108. MOSSY MENHIRS

Mossy standing stones form a circle inside a gulch. Each new moon, the earth inside sprouts d10 dandelions of pure silver (10 gp) that Drusilla (106) harvests. The Gloaming Hex Key

203. MARKER STONE

A tall, pointed stone bears an ancient mark in a spiral shape. In the earth beneath it, four wights lie in stone coffins. Each has a different gemstone in its sewn- shut mouth; a pearl (40 gp), an emerald (120 gp), a ruby (200 gp), and a sapphire (280 gp). Slotting these gems into four worn grooves at each cardinal point on the marker stone opens a magical portal to the fey realm.

209. TROLL CAVE

Black marrow tree roots that have been gnawed to a pulp lie scattered around this cave entrance. A warty, lank-haired troll named Barbarog lairs inside. He's addicted to the toxic oil in the marrow tree roots that grants him temporary immunity to fire (his greatest fear). His cave houses a suit of green- hued mithral plate mail etched with leaves and a +1 longsword named Rot-Ruin that can rust one door-sized piece of metal it touches into powder once a day.

307. WARDENWOOD

A woodland village of a few dozen sagging, thatched huts surrounds a stone well. 80 woodcutters and trappers live here with their families. Mathilde Bower is the superstitious village elder who believes the "medicine woman" Drusilla (106) has been helping sick villagers. In reality, Drusilla has been causing the rash of illnesses by poisoning the well. Gede's Hearth. The town's inn and tavern run by Elana, a cheerful-but-tired woman with young, triplet boys (Zeke, Herbert, and Lantin). Her husband, Carlin, is bedridden with Drusilla's "rot fever."

509. OUTLAW CAMP

30 bandits camp here led by Greaves Redthorne, an outcast Knight of St. Ydris. Greaves, a cunning liar, serves the marrow fiend Unduluk, who is only a few moons away from erupting from the marrow tree at the center of camp. Unduluk needs protection from the Knights of St. Ydris (1406) for now, and human flesh after its apotheosis. The bandits do not realize they serve as both.

702. BITTERMOLD KEEP

An abandoned castle keep with tattered, crimson banners that flap atop its collapsing battlements. Droplets of foul slime bead out of its slowly dissolving masonry. In the caves and catacombs beneath the keep, servants of Mugdulblub war for their patron's favor.

710. UNCLE GRIGOR

Crazy Uncle Grigor lives in a ramshackle hut on the edge of the marsh. He wades through the bog in bare feet, nattering to himself and collecting leeches to pickle inside cloudy jars that crowd every corner of his home. Within one of these jars is Brak's Cube of Perfection (Shadowdark RPG). Grigor is a powerful witch, and he might take on an apprentice who proves their worth and/or taste for leeches.

807. STONE CIRCLE

One minute of time that passes inside this low circle of stones is actually an hour on the outside. Kytheros grants a random patron boon to those who lay the slain six-eyed wolf (1409) inside the circle.

1002. MUSHROOM GROVE

Fat, dewy mushrooms sprout inside this sunlit grove, forming a faerie ring the size of a house. On the full moon, Titania, Queen of the Fey, appears inside the circle with a troupe of actors who put on a whimsical theatrical performance. They disappear instantly if they learn mortal eyes watch. Any person who sees the entire play gains a random boon from Titania (once per person).

1003. BONE CAVE

A werewolf named Victoria resides in this cave. It stinks of wet fur and rancid meat. Piles of cracked bones and skulls are arranged in spiral patterns sacred to her ancient tribe, long dead. Victoria recently lost her two cubs to the swamp dragon Ixidian (1403). Drusilla (106) coaxed the grieving Victoria into a plot to turn children from Wardenwood village (307) into her new pack of werewolf cubs.

1108. MARIN'S HOLD

300 fisherfolk live in a motte- and-bailey hold where the river meets the bog. A palisade surrounds the village, and Reeve Tarley Winters resides in the keep atop a hill with 30 guards. The village is still recovering from an attack by six skrell demons who breached the palisade and slew 20 souls. Winters believes sorcery attracts the demons, and he recently had three women burned alive on Boot Hill (1205) for suspected witchcraft. Villagers eye each other warily, and the gossips at The Crayfish Tavern wonder who will be accused next.

905. HALDRIN'S TOWER

This ivory tower with a red roof dominates a sandy island on Finimere Lake. The elf sorcerer Haldrin once lived here and used the laboratory inside to study the infernal properties of the forest's marrow trees. Haldrin has been trapped within the Vile Well (1607) for the last century, leaving his volatile experiments untended for far too long.

910. BARROW MOUNDS

Dozens of low, rolling hills mark the tombs of ancient denizens of the forest. Mist from the bogs roils over these burial sites, and strange lights dance in the fog.

1205. BOOT HILL

Three scorched skeletons are lashed to poles atop a hill overlooking the forest. These women from Marin's Hold (1108) were accused of witchcraft.

1210. STILT ORC VILLAGE

80 reclusive orcs live in peat huts on raised platforms in the deep swamp. Snakes and crocodiles weave between the tall stilts they wear to spearfish in the murky waters. Their leader, Haruuk, knows demons prefer human flesh, and he will offer it to buy his tribe's safety.

1308. MYRE CASTLE RUINS

The soaring stronghold of the Green Knights now sits deserted, hazy light filtering through its shattered, stained glass windows. Slain warriors still roam its halls in an unending battle between the Green Knights and its surviving offshoot, the Knights of St. Ydris (1406). A weapon both sides claim, the Emerald Blade, stands in a stone pedestal surrounded by the living dead. It's a +2 bastard sword that allows its wielder to speak to wild animals.

1401. ANCIENT CAIRN

An overgrown path leads to a cairn of piled stones. A worn inscription on the largest stone says, "Here rests Cyrinia, Mother of the Circle." Cyrinia was a mighty druid in ancient times. Her bones lie buried beneath the cairn, fingers wrapped around a +1 staff of knotted oak called Ynnith. Once a day, the wielder can summon an obedient giant owl for 5 rounds. Druids who see the staff will try to lay claim to it.

1403. THE MUD PIT

A muddy ravine as big as a galleon gapes in the wet earth. Deep within, the swamp dragon Ixidian slithers in the dark morass and devours the living sacrifices his cultists (1504) hurl inside. Ixidian has grown large and arrogant; if not fed for a day, he bursts angrily from the pit to gulp down the nearest creatures. Inside the dragon's belly are 1,200 gp, a giant ruby (400 gp), a suit of mithral chainmail, and a Wand of Moonbeam that any spellcaster can wield. The wand begins twitching whenever a lycanthrope is within near distance of it.

1406. GREYWALL PRIORY

In the deepest part of the woods lurks a grey-stoned priory with a pointed roof and arched, stained glass windows. 40 Knights of St. Ydris live here led by grim Inquisitor Justinia Morvin. Few know 160-year-old St. Ydris is still alive deep within the priory's catacombs, bound painfully (and willingly) in a magic circle to trap the mighty demon lord who possesses him. Initiates into the order gain their fell powers by drinking of his cursed blood and surviving. These knights swear to use their fiendish abilities to hunt demons, never losing control or embracing evil. Thus their oath: "I will walk the path between darkness and dawn, ever vigilant, sword drawn." They are sorely outnumbered.

1409. WOLF CAVE

A pack of 16 wolves lairs here. One wolf is favored by the demon prince Almazzat; it stands as tall as a horse and has six eyes (x2 level and damage). Anyone who leaves a worthy offering of flesh for it gains a random patron boon from Almazzat (once per person).

1504. CULTIST CAMP

20 cultists led by the charismatic firebrand Torak Bain (cultist) have recently set up camp here to make offerings to the dragon Ixidian (1403). The cultists stage ambushes on the path to Marin's Hold (1108) to capture sacrificial victims. Current captives are Regina Pence, a merchant from Marin's Hold, and her 3 guards.

1510. CORRUPTED HENGE

A henge of standing stones has been shifted out of alignment by the roots of a massive marrow tree. Spells are hard to cast within near distance of it. Inside the tree trunk rests Taigolar, a conjoined-twin dralech (treat as two combined) that erupts forth when it smells nearby prey.

1607. THE VILE WELL

The stench of rot gusts out of this mold-encrusted, lightless well. Inside, Haldrin the sorcerer (905) is entangled in a nest of veins and tendrils that keep him alive, of sorts. Any creature who enters risks the same fate. 1,000 gp and a Kytherian Cog (Shadowdark RPG) rest on the well's fleshy, damp floor.