Tal'Dorei Campaign Guide PDF

42 Chapter 2: Gazetteer of tal’Dorei

Drynna

Town • Population: 2,230

(80% Human, 8% Gnome, 8 % Halfling, 4% Elf )

Along the shore of Mooren Lake rests the sleepy lakeside

town of Drynna. The community thrives on the bounti-

ful wildlife around the lake, and is responsible for most

of eastern Tal’Dorei’s freshwater fish supply. The social

guidance of the city revolves around what’s called the

Sunrise Lodge, or simply “the Lodge,” a membership of

community leaders who will meet and vote on important

delegations and law-oriented decisions. The law enforce-

ment is largely volunteer-run, and internally policed both

by senior enforcers and the Lodge.

Drynna aDventures

UnfrienDly Waters

For mid-level characters: Recently, the town has suffered

a number of losses, with fishing boats being attacked

and their owners dragged under waters. Worse still, the

supply of fish itself seems to be declining rapidly; without

this supply of fish, towns across eastern Tal’Dorei will

certainly starve. The PCs hear the call for mercenaries

reaching as far as Westruun and Stilben. The culprit is

a hydra within the lake that has gained intelligence by

living for so long in the residuum-infused waters. It com-

mands a tribe of lizardfolk from its aquatic home.

a MinD WasteD

For characters of any level: Last year, Rensten Woll, an

elder member of the Sunrise Lodge, made a pact with

the Moon Mistress, unbeknownst to his peers. Rensten’s

brother Kyle died in his sleep shortly thereafter, leaving

his wife Lissana, whom Rensten covets, vulnerable. How-

ever, nightmares now haunt Rensten every evening, and

a violent madness is beginning to take hold of him. The

Lodge is beginning to notice, and word reaches the PCs

through their political allies or simply through hearsay.

K’Tawl Swamp

The sprawling swamplands of K’Tawl cover much of the

southern Lucidian Coast, enveloping Stilben and the

K’Tawl Bay. The marsh is thick with cypress and tupelo

trees reaching up from muddy waters that range from

one to ten or more feet deep in places. The hot, muggy air

and thick, sludge-covered landscape is host to all manner

of terrible beasts, including venomous flying snakes and

man-eating giant frogs.

Bands of frog-men occasionally harry the edges of Stilben

from their deep-marsh encampments, while a vicious school

of swamp-faring sahuagin keep the shoreline of K’Tawl for

themselves. The edges of the marsh are often used by orc

marauders to ambush caravans or messengers traveling to or

from Stilben, so travel is rarely made without armed escort.

K’ tawl aDventures

they sh aMble

For mid-level characters: People have been disappearing from

the small swamp villages within the K’Tawl. The PCs, per-

haps en route to Stilben, spend the night in the swamp town

of Dunghill. After hearing tales of the disappearances, the

PCs awaken the next morning to screams—as a half-di-

gested human is carried off within the rotting orifice of a

shambling mound of swamp vegetation.

Monolith of the hells

For high-level characters: Why have the Knifemouth orcs

been found dead, their hearts exploded and their teeth

plucked from their mouths? Why have the stagnant

K’Tawl waters suddenly begun flowing towards dismal

center of the swamp? A divine messenger of the Dawn-

bringer visits the PCs, beaten and bloody, and dies before

it can impart its request. On the angel’s lips is a single

dying phrase: K’Tawl’s Heart.

Mooren Lake

North of the Summit Peaks is a crystalline lake fed by

the snowmelt from the Alabaster Sierras by the Mooren

River Run. Mooren Lake is a shining expanse of water

surrounded both by bountiful wildlife and the frightful

creatures attracted to such a thriving ecosystem, including

tribes of lizardfolk, flocks of harpies, and several hydras

that lurk in the deepest depths of the waters.

Centuries of whitestone runoff from the Alabaster Sierras

has allowed deposits of residuum to collect at the bottom of

the lake—and the residuum has formed into a thrumming

organ of raw magical energy has begun to gain sentience. A

pair of twin islands in the center of the lake are blanketed

by an ever-present mist, and folk tales tell of a beautiful,

ageless woman known only as the Moon Mistress who

watches over the island shores. It’s said that any mortal who

seeks an audience is judged by her, being granted a boon of

unveiled knowledge, a favor, or a swift and terrible end.

The Lucidian Coast

The stormy Lucidian Ocean crashes furiously against the rocky coasts of eastern Tal’Dorei, chewing inlets into the coast-

line and waving vast banks of impenetrable fog across the waters. Most ships rightly avoid the more volatile northern

waters, instead docking at southern ports like Stilben, or brave the Mooren River Run to Drynna. Yet even there, the

Lucidian Coast is not without its dangers; vicious wildlife stalk the wilderness and flocks of harpies have harried the shores

since time immemorial, drawing lost sailors to their doom upon the rocks.