The Darken Blade | The Twilight Caverns | Thoric Valzak | The Mill at Watersmeet | Six Foul Things to Find on an Altar
The Darken Blade
Magic Item
Wrought of black, preternaturally strong steel and carried by the fated hero Yughal until his death, this weapon has an occluded origin and history. Now also called Yughal’s blade after its most famed (and fated) wielder, the weapon has surfaced here and there in the hands of this hero or that in the decades following his death.
Favoured by those who favour stealth, guile and cunning, the Darken Blade can bend and diminish light in its immediate environs. While held, it also grants its owner the ability to see in the dark as a dwarf, but out to a range of 120 feet. The keenness of this vision also penetrates magical darkness.
Unfortunately, the stories of those who wield the Darken Blade rarely end happily. Most end up dead, brutally slain—torn apart by unknown creatures—and thus most sages and scholars believe the blade to be cursed, or perhaps haunted.
The Twilight Caverns
Caves & Caverns | Subterranean
Rents, fissures and sinkholes pockmark the ceilings of this interconnected series of rambling caverns. During the day, these holes admit beams of wavering, shifting sunlight into the caverns, giving them their name. Incongruously, small stands of stunted, twisted trees grow under some of the larger holes on the thin layer of soil washed into the caves. When it rains, water streams into the Twilight Caverns, bringing with it detritus and the like from the forest above.
Some of the holes in the caverns’ ceilings are well concealed from above, lurking amid the dense undergrowth and hollows of the undulating woodland. Bones—the remains of creatures and sometimes incautious explorers—that have fallen into the cave from the forest are scattered about the Twilight Caverns.
Innumerable bats dwell in the Twilight Caverns and burst forth at night to hunt the surrounding woods. Their presence inevitably gives rise to rumours of vampiric inhabitants in the caves, but no adventurers have reported encountering such a creature. (Some folk whisper that the lack of evidence of a vampire is in itself evidence that a vampire dwells within, for few adventurers are skilled enough to overcome such a deadly foe.)
The caves are a known entrance to the Ebon Realm and so expeditions often camp in the woods before descending on ropes to begin their explorations. It is not uncommon for such expeditions not to return, leaving the remains of their woodland camps as the only evidence of their presence.
Thoric Valzak
Dwarf | NPC
Thoric Valzak sees himself as a trap-finder extraordinaire. When deep in his cups, he boasts (loudly and unabashedly) that he has never met a trap that he couldn’t find.
While it is true that he has enjoyed a stunningly successful career and is never short of gold, the eye patch over his right eye, his missing left hand and various other more minor but permanent injuries do not speak well of his methods. (Old burn scars cover a decent proportion of his chest and he doesn’t have all the toes on his right foot.) No pain, no gain is one of Thoric’s favourite sayings. (He also believes that the greater the pain, the greater the gain, but he rarely shares this philosophy with others after several less skilled explorers met their ends trying to emulate his simple but effective methods.)
Thoric is insanely brave and wildly optimistic; some would say that he is deluded as to his own skills, but Thoric’s love of life remains undimmed, and he genuinely enjoys exploring old tombs, lost catacombs and forgotten temples. He is happy to explore alone but likes working with others. Often surprised by other explorers’ temerity, he is a natural leader and never asks someone to do something he wouldn’t do.
The Mill at Watersmeet
Inn | Mill | Wilderness
A dozen miles from the nearest town, two wide rivers—the White Water and the Black Water collide at Watersmeet. A three-sided island, all but cut off by the rivers’ shifting courses, rises from the waters, and it is here that the Mill at Watersmeet stands. The creak of the mill wheel is a constant feature at Watersmeet and is something that you either grow accustomed to or not. The extended family that dwells here—the Wearnes—are friendly but wary of strangers. They are used to occasional guests but value the solitude their surroundings offer.
The surrounding land is low, boggy and prone to flooding, and so a raised, winding causeway links the mill to the nearest dependable track. The mill’s grounds are fortified—it is a lonely place—and it offers basic accommodation to travellers and visitors in the form of six wagons long since retired from active use.
The mill is not the first to be built here. The remains of earthen embankments surround much of the “island”, and the crumbling ruin of an old church slowly sinks into the muddy ground near the island’s neck. Much of the island is given over to an old graveyard—although little evidence of that remains now. Still, the place appears in certain old historical documents that suggest a great treasure is buried somewhere on the island.
The Wearnes have little patience with adventurers who come here with the express purpose of hunting for the treasure; such folk are denied permission to dig and watched carefully—perhaps suspiciously so—until they leave.
Six Foul Things to Find on an Altar
Six Things | Cult | Dungeon Dressing
Seven niches pierce the altar’s surface. A polished skull—its top removed—fills each niche. A different type of noxious incense fills each skull.
A curved bronze knife encrusted with dried blood lies next to a beaten copper bowl similarly covered in blood. Both appear old and worn as if they have been frequently used.
A black velvet cloth covers the altar. Atop it, a polished skull, fashioned into a drinking cup, stands on a small beaten silver tray next to a clay flask decorated with lewd images of demons cavorting with humans.
Five matching daggers lie on the altar. Each of the daggers has an oversized, two-handed handle and flecks of ruby set in its pommel. A litany to a dark power etched in Abyssal runes runs along the blades.
A skull stands at each corner of the altar. A dagger with red, scarlet and purple streamers tied to its hilt is rammed through the top of each skull.
The altar is riven with a multitude of cracks. Bent and hammered coins—silver, gold and platinum—have been forced into the cracks.
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