Crazies Hill | Murrok Kurvallen | Iasak & Jegor | Lake Misery | More
Welcome to the GM’s Sunday Supplement! Behold four campaign components and a handy d6 list to add to your campaign and GM’s toolbox.
Want the Markdown Files? Every member of our Patreon campaign gets the markdown files for the new-look Sunday Supplements to make it even easier to add them to their campaign.
Crazies’ Hill
Campaign Component | Hill | Cult
Over 150 years ago, a deranged cult of degenerates used this domed hill as the site of their depraved services. Dozens of locals died screaming in the cult’s pyres—their souls and ash rising high into the sky in veneration of the cult’s demonic master.
But the locals were stout of heart and gathered together to end the cult’s terrible doings. One night, the locals surrounded the hilltop as the cultists—unaware of their impending doom—worshipped their dark lord. That night, the cult was massacred—wiped out by the righteous villagers and their threat was ended. The cult’s sacred stones were thrown down, and their altar deconsecrated—the demon-taint scoured from the world.
Crazies’ Hill, as it is now known, is shunned by most of the folk who dwell in the locality, for they fear that the great evils wrought upon the wild hilltop have terribly tainted the place. Adventurers, intrigued by the lopsided, blackened stones yet jutting skyward from atop the domed hill, sometimes poke about among the weeds and tumbled stones. The superstitious villagers will not speak openly of the hill to outsiders. They know better than to repeat their stories to such folk, for their retelling has, in the past, led to a flurry of digging and spellcasting atop Crazies’ Hill. For the local peasants, the atavistic fear of what might yet lurk atop or within the hill has proved hard to shake.
Murrok Kurvallen
Campaign Component | Ashlar | Gloamhold | Sage
The troubling, but oddly enticing concepts of Deep Time and Deep History loom large in the strange mind of the travelling dwarven sage Murrok Kurvallen. The idea that elder civilisations and elder races rose and fell before even Ilathyel, the legendary first forest kingdom of the elves, flourished amid the innumerable boughs of the World Wood, fascinates the long-lived sage.
Murrok’s studies and travels have affected the dwarf, and he has grown somewhat strange and distant. He knows his views and beliefs have few allies among the populace. In truth, most humans care little about what happened a century ago, let alone thousands of years in the past, and even Murrok’s brethren have little use for his hard-won knowledge. It is among adventurers and explorers that he has found the most open minds. They seek him out to learn more about the ancient ruins or strange artefacts that they have discovered, and Murrok has grown wealthy answering their incessant questions. He even now hires such folk to investigate interesting rumours and discoveries on his behalf.
Murrok’s current interest focuses on Gloamhold’s benighted and cursed halls. In particular, the Twilight City fascinates the strange dwarf, and he greatly desires to visit the place.
Iasak & Jegor
Campaign Component | Mercenaries
Iasak and Jegor—down-on-their-luck mercenaries—are down to their last few silvers and are in desperate need of employment. The pair are basically trustworthy, but Jegor's lack of intellect and terrible memory often get them into trouble. Brave to a fault, they won't enter dungeons or put themselves in situations of extreme danger and so on, but they’ll guard a party's camp or watch over their goods while they are away adventuring. Both wear chainmail and carry sword, shield and spear; their equipment is old but well cared for.
Iisak Kaina: Whip-thin and scrawny of build, this man wears his brown hair short; he has clever eyes. Iisak is the brains of the pair and makes all important decisions regarding their employment.
Jegor Leino: Of hulking build, this massively muscled man has a kind face and a slow intellect. He is slow but tireless and readily bends his back to almost any physical task. He wants to own a dog.
Lake Misery
Campaign Component | Caves & Caverns
Fed by a tributary of the mighty Starless River, subterranean Lake Misery is aptly named. This distant, isolated lake fills an immense cavern deep underground and is a forlorn and barren place.
Lake Misery’s waters are curiously absent of the blind, albino fish found elsewhere in the world’s subterranean waterways, and strange ripples sometimes disturb its chill waters. Numerous rocky isles and islets break through the lake’s waters, and time-gnawed, crumbled ruins yet cling to some of them. Naive or unknowing explorers sometimes come here to explore the ruins in hopes of uncovering forgotten ancient treasures, but such folk should beware, for terrible things dwell in the water. A host of voracious lacedeons—aquatic ghouls of the worst sort—dwell therein. The lacedons, or at least their deathless leaders, are cunning, and the creatures wait for their prey—normally bumbling adventurers—to reach one of the lake’s many islands. The ghouls sink the adventurers’ boats and wait for the desperate prey to try to swim for it.
Six Odd Things in the Attic
Campaign Component | Six Things
Three tiny birds’ skeletons fill an old nest at the back of the attic; from the positions of the skeletons, it looks like the birds died fighting each other.
An old waterstained chest decorated with odd carvings of winged serpents, covered in cobwebs and dust, lurks in the attic’s furthest recess. The chest is locked, and a broken, rusty key jams the lock.
A false wall at one end of the attic hides a cramped, windowless priest’s hole. Within, dusty manacles hang from the wall, and a strange chill fills the air.
Carvings—protective sigils and the like—are cut deeply into the attic’s beams. Oddly, from the carvings’ positions, it looks like they were placed to keep something in, not something out.
Concealed peepholes in the ceiling between the attic’s stout rafters provide views into many of the upstairs rooms.
Stains on the walls show where the roof has leaked; the shape of the stains is oddly reminiscent of a crouching, bat-like humanoid thing.
Ashlarian (proper noun) of Ashlar; Campaign (noun) a connected series of adventures; Component (noun) a constituent part; Legendry (noun) a collection or body of legends; Lore (noun) knowledge and stories about a subject
Thank you for reading the Sunday Supplement; I hope some of this week’s Campaign Components make it into your game or sparks your creativity.
Want the Markdown Files? Every member of our Patreon campaign gets the markdown files for the new-look Sunday Supplements to make it even easier to add them to their campaign.
Remember, Everything is Better with Tentacles!