Chapter 2: Gazetteer of tal’Dorei 47Parchwood Timberlands
Dark, dense, and often assailed by snow and cold winds,
the Parchwood Timberlands consume most of the valleys
within the Alabaster Sierras with pine trees and heavily
overgrown pathways. The grim and forbidding interior
of the Parchwood is home to many equally grim inhabi-
tants, from spectral remains of unlucky travelers past, to
wandering blights spawned by corrupt trees that consume
the life around them. Howls can be heard in the darkest
of nights, giving rumor to werewolf hunting parties that
stalk the wood. A handful of nearby farmers swear they’ve
encountered a community of territorial centaurs in the
southern region of the Parchwood, though such tales are
largely met with derision. It is common and well-imparted
knowledge that if you intend to travel through thick fog of
the Parchwood Timberlands, you stick to the roads, you
bring some muscle, and you pray to whatever gods bring
you comfort.
par ChwooD timberlanDs aDventures
leGenD of the he aDless horse-Man
For mid-level characters: The centaurs of the Parchwood are
no myth, and many are succumbing to a curse of undeath.
One among them, a headless stallion-lord named Ich-
abarr, now leads the Herd of the Damned across the
valleys of the Parchwood. Several small settlements out-
side Whitestone have told the Chamber that these skeletal
monsters have been spiriting away eligible young bache-
lors, and soon no men will be left in the Timberlands.
Skeletal centaurs can be represented by changing a
centau r ’s type to undead, increasing its hit points to
90 (12d10 + 24), granting it resistance to piercing and
slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, and adding an
additional 3 (1d6) necrotic damage to all its attacks. This
increases its challenge rating to 4 (1,100 XP). Ichabarr
also can use the Ethereal Stride feature, as a nightmare.they seeK only rest
For high-level characters: Those who travel the Parchwood
sometimes hear thunder roll through the valley, accompa-
nied by the cracking of timbers, but no storm follows. Not
all of the undead giants created by the Briarwoods were
defeated by Vox Machina; bereft of their masters, those
that remain now run wild in the forests, destroying all
they see. Their mindless actions are not without purpose,
however: each giant is tormented by being denied the halls
of their ancestors, and quietly weep for their lost afterlife
as they roam.
Zombie giants can be represented by changing any
giant’s type to undead, decreasing its AC to 8, giving
it resistance to bludgeoning damage from nonmagical
attacks, and granting it immunity to poison damage and
the poisoned condition. This does not affect its challenge
rating. All giants wish to be interred in their civilization’s
ancestral home, as seen on page 124.