North by Northwest - Safely Navigating the Darkstone Bay Area, a Guide for New Settlers
Title: Safely Navigating the Darkstone Bay Area -- A Guide for New Settlers
Author: Alosaka
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Leaflets flutter from pins along the Imperial Settlement palisade. Settlers pass them around the bonfire in the center of the camp and converse in low tones with stern expressions. A few older children clutch them in grimy hands, lording them over their younger, illiterate siblings and regaling them with tales of all the dangerous monsters they have seen and dispatched. The blacksmith has a stack by his anvil, and distributes them freely with each new sword and staff he produces -- and business seems to be good.
Welcome friends! Over the past several months, Wehnimer’s Landing has been honored by the arrival of hundreds of settlers, like you, seeking a new life in the north. Whether you’re moving into the town itself or starting a home in the Barony of Darkstone, this guide will highlight a few of the notable hazards of the area – and how to keep yourself and your family safe.
Frontier life is fraught, characterized by hardship and sacrifice. But the Landing is filled with civic groups representing all walks of life who want to help you through these difficult months. If you have trouble, need help, or have a child who has wandered off and needs to be rescued, find the nearest town guard, militia member, Order of the Silver Gryphon member, or adventurer's guild representative. We are all here to help!
- Alosaka, for the Order of the Silver Gryphon
Wildlife
The forests and grasslands immediately outside Wehnimer’s Landing are generally safe for commerce, agriculture, traffic and recreation. However, even within sight of the walls you may encounter dangerous animals.
Roltons and Velnalin: Both roltons and velnalin are kept as livestock by local herders, though velnalin are typically kept by the kobolds of Graendlor Pasture rather than the human herders in the grasslands south of town. Both animals can be ornery and defensive, especially if they think you are a threat to their young. Generally, if you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone, but a sturdy staff is usually enough to dissuade them otherwise.
Carrion Worms: Despite their repulsive appearance, these worms perform a service by keeping the coastal cliffs free of carrion washed up from the sea. They are not particularly fast and prefer to scavenge for food rather than hunt for it, but they’ve been known to attack passers-by who can’t get clear in time. Generally they are only hazardous in groups.
Giant Rats and Giant Ants: The catacombs and tunnels beneath the Landing are infested with abnormally large rats and ants. They almost never venture onto the surface, preferring the dank and claustrophobic confines of the catacombs. Unless you have some particular business there, you are likely to never encounter them. However, children frequently ‘explore’ the catacombs, and parents should warn them to be wary of these beasts. Both rats and ants occur in swarms that can overwhelm even prepared adults.
Bears and Lions: Several species of bears and mountain lions live in the deeper forests and mountains around the Landing. You are unlikely to encounter them within sight of the town, but the bears sometimes appear on the path to Icemule Trace near the Glatoph. Unless you are confident in your abilities as a fighter, we recommend only travelling these routes with a seasoned guide. The best advice here, as in almost all circumstances, is not to travel the wilderness alone.
Kobolds
The kobolds of the Darkstone Bay region are similar to kobold tribes throughout Elanthia. They are territorial, social creatures capable of forming meaningful bonds with each other and other races – in other words, they are much like us. Within the Lower Dragonsclaw there is a kobold village west of the Imperial Settlement, and to the south kobold shepherds graze herds of velnalin in the Graendlor Pasture. Individually, kobolds range from aggressive to playful to intelligent and inquisitive. They have a reputation for causing trouble for visitors in the forest, but that should only be viewed as an expression of their territoriality. If you see a kobold, the best advice is to simply leave it be. Kobolds occasionally wander into the Landing, though they generally pose little threat and are simply searching for scraps. In the past it was considered acceptable to slay such kobolds on the spot in the name of “town defense,” but in more recent years the town and the militia have made an effort to escort them from the town unharmed.
Goblinoids
The Goblinoids encompass several different groups, including the true goblins and hobgoblins. They can both be found throughout the Landing area, but the most likely place you will encounter goblins is along the Old Mine Road, while Hobgoblins have a rough village in the Upper Trollfang to the south of the Imperial Settlement. Hobgoblins are by far the more dangerous of the two, and will aggressively attack anyone they encounter in their ‘territory’ (which is anywhere they happen to be). Hobgoblins can be nearly as large as a human and wield large weapons of war, unlike the smaller weapons favored by kobolds and goblins.
The Grimswarm
The Grimswarm are present throughout the Darkstone Bay area. Various orc tribes populate the grasslands and plains around the town, a wide variety of trolls live in the forests and mountains, and the mountains are home to several tribes of giants. They were all present in the Darkstone Bay area long before the Landing was founded, and in many ways they are the true indigenous people of the area. They are informally at war with the settled peoples of the region, and if you encounter an orc, troll or giant outside of town, you should assume it means you harm.
You may, very rarely, encounter Grimswarm camps concealed in the wilderness around the Landing – they can be identified by a strange shimmer in the air that conceals the path to the camp. Unless you are a seasoned adventurer, you should immediately flee from these camps, and notify the Guardians of Sunfist outpost near the Imperial Settlement.
Orcs
Several orc tribes, including the cave-dwelling ‘burrow orc,’ reside in Melgorehn’s Valley south of the town, on the east side of the Locksmehr. They rarely stray onto the major roads near the Landing, but their cousins the Grey Orcs can be found on the mine road and the Trollfang. Lesser and Greater Orcs are in fact very similar to each other, differing only in size and strength. Orcs are the most social of the Grimswarm and will form expansive tribes.
Trolls
When Landing residents think “monster,” very often they are imagining some sort of troll. All trolls are extremely dangerous and view humans, elves, dwarves and others as food. Forest and hill trolls can be found as near to the Landing as the Upper Trollfang around the Hanging Inn. They will attack and kill travelers on sight, and trolls in general are probably the single most dangerous monster found throughout the Darkstone Bay area.
Giants
Frost and Storm giant tribes inhabit the Glatoph and Sentoph mountain ranges, and Stone giants have their own small kingdom in the Thanatoph range. Encounters between giants and the town are fortunately rare, as the giants tend not to leave their mountains.
The Graveyard
The graveyard east of the Landing is more than a simple cemetery. A full accounting of the graveyard’s history is a matter for another time, but don’t think of it as a place to bury or honor your dead – it is a land of its own, a haunted necropolis wished into existence by an ancient, deathless evil to serve as the nexus of his undead empire. The soil writhes with bleeding flesh, and the tombs beneath are glazed with the icy breath of the abyss. The sun has no writ here; life is a fragile visitor in this land of the dead – stray here only if you desire to see the bloody, devouring end that animates the pitiable, wretched minions of the Lord of Lies.
The Graveyard also has several species of poisonous snakes. The statue of Gosaena on the gate outside is generally considered a misrepresentation of her image, and citizen groups have pushed in the past to have it replaced.
The Krolvin
Krol raiders are a frequent sighting in the Darkstone Bay area, launching attacks on coastal settlements from their longboats. They are dangerous foes and almost always occur as war parties rather than individuals. Although their behavior and customs – including the reviled practice of slavery – often lead people to consider them savages, they are quite advanced in their own way, with mastery of both the martial arts and magic at their disposal. The Krolvin are the most dangerous threat most residents of the Darkstone Bay area will encounter on a routine basis, and you should be prepared to fight or flee immediately upon seeing them.
Reivers
The Reivers are a tribe of humans settled in the Luinne Bheinn area. They are traders, hunters, trappers and fishers, and sometimes visit the Landing for various reasons. However, they are very defensive of their settlement in the Luinne Bheinn, and visitors who show up unannounced may find themselves on the wrong end of a Reiver spear. Unless you have business with them, it’s best to stay clear of the settlement.
Note: Recently, elders from the Reiver settlement have expressed a distrust with the new Barony of Darkstone. While each Riever is an individual and should be treated as such, it is probably wise to not antagonize them by traveling into the Luinne Bheinn without good reason.
Darkstone Castle
There is a haunted castle southwest of the Imperial Settlement. If you encounter centaurs in the woods, you’re getting too close. Just avoid this place.
Special Note: Children
Children are rambunctious! It’s why we love them. [Author's note: I have been advised to add that we love our children for other reasons, too.] But sometimes children get a bit too courageous for their years and go off on imagined adventures that take them to all parts of the lands – and I do mean all parts of the lands. Please educate your children on the special dangers posed by the wilderness outside the Landing and encourage them to travel in pairs or groups whenever possible. Few things are more distressing for parents than to have a missing child, and while the adventurers of the Landing have experience recovering them from even the most dangerous places, it’s best if they don’t get stuck there in the first place.
Conclusion
This is only a short survey of the hazards of the Darkstone Bay area. For some of you, coming from the Southron Wastes or the wilderness of the Dragonspine, these dangers may seem like little more than mild inconveniences, but to folks unfamiliar with frontier life, even a hobgoblin can be a dangerous threat. As always, the best way to keep yourself and your family safe is to travel with a companion, always carry a trusty weapon that you know how to use, and stick to the roads.
The people of Wehnimer’s Landing are thrilled to have so many new residents, either inside our walls or building new homes in the forests around town. By coming here, you are helping us all build a new, prosperous future for generations to come.