Little Encounters Along the Way...

And here are some little encounters to go with the map of the are surrounding the farmstead. This is a supplement to the Wandering Monsters previously posted. Each of these Little Encounters are intended to help flesh-out each of the regions...

---

A Few Little Encounters...

The Enclave. The oldest section was built into the hillside and connects to at least six small, zig-zaggy tunnels that run out to the old hop yard, the Still Shack, the Old Owl's tree, the edge of the Pastures and one or two other well-hidden and trapped exits. The second-story protrudes out over the ground floor forming a flagstone-paved porch area where a series of heavy old manlets and shutters can be pinned into place before the first hard frost. Around the main manor-structure are a number of apiaries, trellises, herb gardens, a pumpkin patch, some out buildings and roofed-over wood-piles--all the things you'd expect on a working farmstead. The main well is located at the base of the three-story stone-and-timber square tower set to the back of the main structure. The family have managed to defend this place through many a hard winter.

1. Geese (2d6)
2. Scarecrow
3. Scrabbling Hand
4. Bats (3d6) [only at night] or Croaker-Crows (1d4)
5. Mousefolk (2d6) [Trying to be very, very quiet]
6. Mandrake (Lesser)

Briar-Lands. A natural barrier of dense black thorns, nettles, brambles and purplish-black, yellow-green, and red roses. The family have a pact with the roses and the plants form a tough barrier every autumn that both hinders travel and makes the main Farmstead more difficult to locate.

1. Roselettes (2d4)
2. Mossfolk (3d4)
3. Thornlim (1d4)
4. Bramblemanter
5. Borogrove skeleton
6. Pink-Banded Slugs (2d4)

No-Go Mound. Joy's mother told her to never-ever go near the old mound for fear the Moundfolk might take her.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Moundfolk (1d4)
3. Morlock Elder
4. Screechers (2d4)
5. Refugees (1d6)
6. Pack of wild bush-pigs

Cave. Joy discovered this cave just this Summer and she has been thinking about exploring the place one of these days...

1. Bats (1d4) [only at night] or Red-Crested Hawk
2. Mud Crabs (1d4)
3. Jentil Children (1d4)
4. Standing Stone [Wasn't there before...]
5. Centipede (Green-speckled)
6. Bone-Foam or Biting Snails (1d4)

Bear Hill. A Medium-Sized Bear dwells somewhere under this hill. The Bear used to trade old books and other things it brought with it from its time in the city for honey, molasses and grampa's hootch in the Summer time. Joy's father always set aside a portion of maple candy for the Bear each Spring as a special treat.

1. Medium-Sized Bear
2. Giant Bees (2d4)
3. Mad Wasp
4. Lost Peddlar
5. Mossfolk (1d4)
6. Black Woods Dog [solitary and badly wounded]

Rubezahl. Sometimes a small group of the very tall folk from the Southern Mountains would come this far north in search of their favorite mushrooms. They also engaged in a little extortion or banditry along the Trade-Road if they thought they could away with it. One of Joy's grandparents drove them off more than thirty years ago and they still won't go any closer to the farmstead.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Rubezahl
3. Spitball Fungi
4. Voormis (2d4) [They are on a pilgrimage to the Mound, but they won't admit it...]
5. Refugees (1d6)
6. Pack of Black Woods Dogs (2d4)

Black Trees. There are some gnarly old trees toward the South who spend their days complaining and grumbling about the good old days when thieves were hung from their branches and the crows came round to gossip. A few of them are so old and venerable that they still have a shield or some piece of armor embedded in their trunks from the times when knights and nobles were ambushed by peasant-gangs and their corpses were bound into the trees to hide the evidence from the sheriffs.

1. Fighting Trees (1d4)
2. Black Tree
3. Shade-Tree
4. Twiglins (2d4)
5. Stickmin (1d4)
6. Pack of Black Woods Dogs (3d4)

Spiderwood. Huge spiders and their kin have held dominion over a small, but very fiercely defended copse ceded to them by ancient kings no one remembers any more. Over a hundred years ago all the wolves were driven into this copse and the spiders finished them off, hence the absence of wolves in this area until just recently. The Spiders eagerly hope to receive a petition from the local land-holders proposing another wolf-hunt.

1. Large Red Spiders (2d4)
2. Little Green Spiders (3d4)
3. Blue-Banded Spider
4. Spidertaur Knight
5. Drained Husks (1d4)
6. Web-Trap

Feral Orchards. Twisted old apple and pear trees that have been left to grow wild ever since Vizri ran off to Wermspittle quite a long time ago. The apples can be bitter or sweet, depending on the time of the year and how well you bribe the tree. There are some very strange purplish apples in the orchard, but they only seem to be found during the dark of the moon. The Western edge of the orchard has been overgrown by thorns and roses, so there are some strange fruits in there as well.

1. Jub-Jub Bird [70% chance it's drunk on sour apples]
2. Werm-Fruit
3. Gnarled Grabber
4. Poison Apples
5. Deer (1d4)
6. Feral Pigs (1d4)

Old Owl's Tree. A majestic oak older than anyone can rightly say. This tree was old before the Farmstead was first settled and there has always been an owl in this tree. If you know how to make friends with it, the owl can teach you a spell or two.

1. Unwise Owls (1d4)
2. Old Owl
3. Thrash-Brambles
4. Sinkhole
5. Small Cache of Shiny-Bits [roll on a Trinkets & Trash table]
6. Grinkitty

Some-times Bridge. There is a low stone bridge that crosses the stream here, but it can only be seen or used during certain times, like during a Full Moon in Autumn or high noon in Summer. Some-times the bridge leads to somewhere other than just across the stream.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Deserters (1d4)
3. Iarlei
4. Putti (1d4)
5. Refugees (1d6)
6. Blupes (2d4)

Lamiak's Stream. A small family of Lamiak have lived near this stream for longer than anyone else has been here. They were nearly exterminated by vigilantes who blamed them for the crimes of a Iaralei that drove people mad with its singing, but one of Joy's ancestors intervened and protected the duck-footed marsh-folk. they are reclusive, shy people, but they still feel gratitude toward the family and will help anyone descended from Good Steven to safely cross the stream.

1. Lamiak
2. Deserters (3d4)
3. Blue Coach
4. Ometto-driven Little Coach
5. Refugees (2d6)
6. Pack of wild dogs

Tartulo's Cave. Amidst many massive, overgrown megaliths and standing stones is a cave that leads deep under a hill where an old one-eyed Tartulo resides. He has been a shepherd and something of a hermit living peacefully here on the northern edge of the Pastures for many decades. He raises several varieties of sheep and has traded wool and mutton to Joy's family ever since he settled in this area. He is very fond of Joy's mother's knitting, especially her socks and mittens and the extra-long scarf she made for him. Joy's family have a Pact with the Tartulo and he helps defend the Farmstead by re-directing travelers, misdirecting officials and scaring off nosey-types. He also fought beside the family a few years back when a large group of bandits passed through the area looting, pillaging and burning as they went. He hand-crafts excellent pipes and other household objects from bone and horn.

1. Tartulo
2. Lost Sheep (1d4)
3. Goats (2d4) [Unhappily penned-up in side cavern]
4. Thumblings (2d4) [On secret mission]
5. Refugees (1d6) [They hope to negotiate some sort of arrangement with the Tartulo.]
6. Sheep (2d6)

Pastures. Gently rolling hills and meadows mostly given-over to the Tartulo's flocks. Bitter-clover and a few other herbs grow here that can't easily be found elsewhere, so children were often sent here to gather such things as they came into season.

1. Sheep (2d6)
2. Poachers (1d4) or Tartulo
3. Meadow Clam
4. Weak Point
5. Hexcat
6. More Sheep (3d6)

Hop Yard. Always a fragrant green place in the Summer, everyone always had to pitch-in to collect the hops once they were at their peak. Then the old-timers could get to work brewing fresh batches of beer for later in the year.

1. Dead Bandersnatch
2. Swarm of Stabbing Moths
3. Greenkin (1d2)
4. Mossfolk (1d4)
5. Greenfinch
6. Fuzzy Green Bees

Jentil's Lands. A tribe of Jentils, large hairy folk who raised spiral-carved dolmen and standing stones very different from those set-up by the Tartulo whom they avoided and distrusted because he killed and ate sheep. The Jentil know a great deal about the local herbs, plants and growing things and have taught various members of joy's family quite a number of secrets, recipes and lore. The family have a Pact with the Jentil who have long come to their aid and defense in times of trouble, and like the Tartulo, they misdirect and scare off would be trespassers to the best of their ability. They are very gifted wood-workers and vine-crafters and are quite fond of the family's hootch which has attained a legendary status among the Jentil who zealously guard and defend the old still as though it were a holy relic...which...to them, it might well be.

1. Jentil Foragers (2d4)
2. Jentil Children (1d4)
3. Vinebinder
4. Fighting Tree
5. Thornkinder (1d4)
6. Babes in the Woods

And Along the Trade-Roads...

Trade-Road to the West. This heavily-rutted and poorly maintained track leads past the  No-Go Mound through Jentil territory and on towards the Desolate Western Hills. It doesn't get used much any more but lately there have been sightings of Tripods and Refugees using it as they head South, though a few groups of desperate people have left the Trade-Road to cut cross country through the Briars, Black Trees and Spiderwoods to try and reach the Trade-Road that leads to Wermspittle. A few of them make it. The road splits just before it reaches the foot of the old Bear Hill. No one uses the road leading South-West.

1. Waste Walkers (2d8)
2. Gauntlim Raiding Party (2d6)
3. Tomtir Spider-Riders (2d4)
4. Gravel Gulper
5. Refugees (1d6)
6. Tripod

Trade-Road South. This rocky, steep-sloping trail leads off to the Southern Mountains. It cuts through very dense woods and crosses at least two other Trade-Roads and passes by an abandoned trading post before reaching the banks of a great river. nomads and merchants use this route to go to the West until that road connects with another route that leads towards Wermspittle far to the North. It is a long detour, but it is easier than cutting through the dense woodlands and many of them prefer not to take the more Southerly route but tend not to say why.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Rubezahl
3. Spore-Cloud
4. Stranded Cart
5. Refugees (2d6)
6. Pack of Black Woods Dogs (2d4)

Trade-Road East.  This route leads East though a vast forested region that is dotted with marshes, small lakes and criss-crossed with streams and creeks. The way gets very twisty and splits several times before finally reaching the Eastern Reaches and the campsites of the various would-be settlers looking to claim and establish new farmsteads.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Deserters (1d4)
3. Farm Family enroute to Eastlands
4. Ometto-driven Little Coach
5. Refugees (2d6)
6. Takers

Trade-Road North. This way leads to Wermspittle, eventually. It is the direction all Joy's older siblings and cousins have used, as well as most of the rest of her family who have had to make the trip before her. Few of them came back that way. There is a coach that travels along this route from time to time, but it is not reliable and the driver always seems to be in a great hurry as though fleeing pursuit.

1. Bandits (2d4)
2. Wolves (2d4)
3. Blue Coach
4. Ometto-driven Little Coach
5. Refugees (2d6)
6. Pack of wild dogs (Plague-carriers)

---

Joy in Wermspittle

Map: Joy's Farmstead

Here is a map of the area surrounding the Farmstead where Joy begins her adventures. The hex encompasses approximately 5 or 6 miles, give-or-take. It is meant more to show relative placement of landmarks and actual distances may vary on a case-by-case basis. All in all, it's about as useful or accurate as any map ripped from a children's storybook might be...

---

What's In the Immediate Area?

The Enclave. The oldest section was built into the hillside and connects to at least six small, zig-zaggy tunnels that run out to the old hop yard, the Still Shack, the Old Owl's tree, the edge of the Pastures and one or two other well-hidden and trapped exits. The second-story protrudes out over the ground floor forming a flagstone-paved porch area where a series of heavy old manlets and shutters can be pinned into place before the first hard frost. Around the main manor-structure are a number of apiaries, trellises, herb gardens, a pumpkin patch, some out buildings and roofed-over wood-piles--all the things you'd expect on a working farmstead. The main well is located at the base of the three-story stone-and-timber square tower set to the back of the main structure. The family has managed to defend this place through many a hard winter.

Briar-Lands. A natural barrier of dense black thorns, nettles, brambles and purplish-black, yellow-green, and red roses. The family has a pact with the roses and the plants form a tough barrier every autumn that both hinders travel and makes the main Farmstead more difficult to locate.

No-Go Mound. Joy's mother told her to never-ever go near the old mound for fear the Moundfolk might take her.

Cave. Joy discovered this cave just this Summer and she has been thinking about exploring the place one of these days...

Bear Hill. A Medium-Sized Bear dwells somewhere under this hill. The Bear used to trade old books and other things it brought with it from its time in the city for honey, molasses and Grampa's hootch in the Summer time. Joy's father always set aside a portion of maple candy for the Bear each Spring as a special treat.

Rubezahl. Sometimes a small group of the very tall folk from the Southern Mountains would come this far north in search of their favorite mushrooms. They also engaged in a little extortion or banditry along the Trade-Road if they thought they could away with it. One of Joy's grandparents drove them off more than thirty years ago and they still won't go any closer to the farmstead.

Black Trees. There are some gnarly old trees toward the South who spend their days complaining and grumbling about the good old days when thieves were hung from their branches and the crows came round to gossip. A few of them are so old and venerable that they still have a shield or some piece of armor embedded in their trunks from the times when knights and nobles were ambushed by peasant-gangs and their corpses were bound into the trees to hide the evidence from the sheriffs.

Spiderwood. Huge spiders and their kin have held dominion over a small, but very fiercely defended copse ceded to them by ancient kings no one remembers any more. Over a hundred years ago all the wolves were driven into this copse and the spiders finished them off, hence the absence of wolves in this area until just recently. The Spiders eagerly hope to receive a petition from the local land-holders proposing another wolf-hunt.

Feral Orchards. Twisted old apple and pear trees that have been left to grow wild ever since Vizri ran off to Wermspittle quite a long time ago. The apples can be bitter or sweet, depending on the time of the year and how well you bribe the tree. There are some very strange purplish apples in the orchard, but they only seem to be found during the dark of the moon. The Western edge of the orchard has been overgrown by thorns and roses, so there are some strange fruits in there as well.

Old Owl's Tree. A majestic oak older than anyone can rightly say. This tree was old before the Farmstead was first settled and there has always been an owl in this tree. If you know how to make friends with it, the owl can teach you a spell or two.

Sometimes Bridge. There is a low stone bridge that crosses the stream here, but it can only be seen or used during certain times, like during a Full Moon in Autumn or high noon in Summer. Sometimes the bridge leads to somewhere other than just across the stream.

Lamiak's Stream. A small family of Lamiak has lived near this stream for longer than anyone else has been here. They were nearly exterminated by vigilantes who blamed them for the crimes of an Iaralei that drove people mad with its singing, but one of Joy's ancestors intervened and protected the duck-footed marsh-folk. They are reclusive, shy people, but they still feel gratitude toward the family and will help anyone descended from Good Steven to safely cross the stream.

Tartulo's Cave. Amidst many massive, overgrown megaliths and standing stones is a cave that leads deep under a hill where an old one-eyed Tartulo resides. He has been a shepherd and something of a hermit living peacefully here on the northern edge of the Pastures for many decades. He raises several varieties of sheep and has traded wool and mutton to Joy's family ever since he settled in this area. He is very fond of Joy's mother's knitting, especially her socks and mittens and the extra-long scarf she made for him. Joy's family has a Pact with the Tartulo and he helps defend the Farmstead by re-directing travelers, misdirecting officials and scaring off nosey-types. He also fought beside the family a few years back when a large group of bandits passed through the area looting, pillaging and burning as they went. He hand-crafts excellent pipes and other household objects from bone and horn.

Pastures. Gently rolling hills and meadows mostly given-over to the Tartulo's flocks. Bitter-clover and a few other herbs grow here that can't easily be found elsewhere, so children were often sent here to gather such things as they came into season.

Hop Yard. Always a fragrant green place in the Summer, everyone always had to pitch-in to collect the hops once they were at their peak. Then the old-timers could get to work brewing fresh batches of beer for later in the year.

Jentil's Lands. A tribe of Jentils, large hairy folk who raised spiral-carved dolmen and standing stones very different from those set-up by the Tartulo whom they avoided and distrusted because he killed and ate sheep. The Jentil know a great deal about the local herbs, plants and growing things and have taught various members of Joy's family quite a number of secrets, recipes and lore. The family has a Pact with the Jentil who have long come to their aid and defense in times of trouble, and like the Tartulo, they misdirect and scare off would-be trespassers to the best of their ability. They are very gifted wood-workers and vine-crafters and are quite fond of the family's hootch which has attained a legendary status among the Jentil who zealously guard and defend the old still as though it were a holy relic...which...to them, it might well be.

What About the Trade-Roads?

Trade-Road to the West. This heavily-rutted and poorly maintained track leads past the  No-Go Mound through Jentil territory and on towards the Desolate Western Hills. It doesn't get used much any more but lately there have been sightings of Tripods and Refugees using it as they head South, though a few groups of desperate people have left the Trade-Road to cut cross country through the Briars, Black Trees and Spiderwoods to try and reach the Trade-Road that leads to Wermspittle. A few of them make it. The road splits just before it reaches the foot of the old Bear Hill. No one uses the road leading South-West.

Trade-Road South. This rocky, steep-sloping trail leads off to the Southern Mountains. It cuts through very dense woods and crosses at least two other Trade-Roads and passes by an abandoned trading post before reaching the banks of a great river. Nomads and merchants use this route to go to the West until that road connects with another route that leads towards Wermspittle far to the North. It is a long detour, but it is easier than cutting through the dense woodlands and many of them prefer not to take the more Southerly route but tend not to say why.

Trade-Road East.  This route leads East through a vast forested region that is dotted with marshes, small lakes and criss-crossed with streams and creeks. The way gets very twisty and splits several times before finally reaching the Eastern Reaches and the campsites of the various would-be settlers looking to claim and establish new farmsteads.

Trade-Road North. This way leads to Wermspittle, eventually. It is the direction all Joy's older siblings and cousins have used, as well as most of the rest of her family who have had to make the trip before her. Few of them came back that way. There is a coach that travels along this route from time to time, but it is not reliable and the driver always seems to be in a great hurry as though fleeing pursuit.

---

Joy in Wermspittle

Joy's First Adventure: Jody's Play Report

A Little Cave...

Hi Everyone! Jody here. We thought it would be fun for me to post on playing Joy in Wermspittle, to give a player's perspective on all of this. We played our first session the other night and I had a wonderful time! My experience with gaming has taught me that if I don't walk away from the table saying, "How are we going to get out of this one!" and if I don't wake up in the morning still gnawing on that same question, then I'm not really playing. I've done both with this one.

 Jim's already posted a bit on Joy's initial background and character development. She's a ten year old Mostly Human girl of average build for her age. Like many kids, she loves to explore, which is how she ends up one fine summer's day at the mouth of a little cave she found on her family's property....

Joy enters the cave, poking the ground in front of her with a stick to make sure she doesn't step on anything sleeping. It's cooler , leaf-covered, with some tracks, both animal and human, but none particularly new. There's no sound of movement from inside. After about 15-20 feet she feels something is definitely wrong and pokes at a spot in front of her. She finds a shiny bit, a gold hoop earring of the style a Wanderer might wear. She looks around more closely and sees signs of definite obfuscation. Someone's been carrying stuff back and forth a few times in this passage. She uses the stick to pick up the earring and drop it in her pocket.

Her curiosity piqued, Joy wants to explore further but doesn't want to use a torch. She does have the ability to alter her senses (part of being Odd, to be detailed in another post) and takes some time to adjust her vision to the darkness. A bit further in the passage branches in two. She takes the left branch, following the tracks. It opens into a chamber [A] containing six reddish pods, packed in leaf-litter. They're moist and look like large, people-sized milkweed pods, tapered on either end. They seem inert and there is a spell holding them quiescent. They make her skin crawl. As she stands on the edge of the chamber one of the pods splits open slightly and a small bit of foam slowly starts oozing out. She backs away from the chamber and it seems to stop.

She goes back to the split and takes the other branch. The ground is moist but undisturbed by human feet. After a short way it opens into a larger area [B]. To her left there's a small rise with some stonework at the top. Joy climbs to the top and finds its a sarcophagus. There are niches on the side that are full of debris and the top is caked with dust. She clears the top of the sarcophagus. It belongs to Elsbeth Winfree, a distant grandmother. Joy is saddened by the neglect of this ancestor's burial place and decides to clean it up as she has been taught to do for the rest of her family in the family plot. She clears all of the elaborately carved niches along the sides. Once she clears the top she notices it's chipped a bit, as if someone had tried to break into it. When she steps back to admire her handiwork she sees a mangy cat watching her. She says hello but the cat just watches her, as cats are wont to do. It has one gold eye and one not, so Joy decides to call it Goldie.

The tomb is clean but not decorated. Joy picks some pretty purple roses she noticed outside the entrance of the cave and puts them on the tomb. As she surveys the rest of the platform she notices picks and axes and crowbars and parts of skeletons embedded in the far walls. They look like they've been blasted into place. Joy congratulates Grandma Elsbeth on her defense and moves deeper into the cave.

A bit further back she finds a branch to her right that slopes deeply down to a still pool [D]. The ground is becoming muddier and the cave cooler. It looks like there are more shiny bits in the pool, maybe coins, but Joy decides they're not worth getting wet for so she leaves the pool alone.

To her left the passage widens and there is another rise [C]. At the top of this one Joy finds the skeleton of a winged monkey, curled up in a fetal position and covered in ochre. It is encircled by a chain belt on one side and three monkey-sized javelins on the other. After spending all that time cleaning up Grandma Elsbeth's tomb, and seeing what happened to those who tried to disturb her, Joy decides not to mess with the monkey's final resting place.

Further back the passage narrows and slopes down more. It quickly becomes muddier and muckier and slipperier. Joy has to work to find firm spots to step on or she'll be in the yuck up to her knees or maybe hips. The passage opens to another chamber [E] with a rise at the back. As she enters the chamber she smells something nasty. Realizing it's Soporific Aether she quickly works her way as high on the rise as she can before she succumbs.

Joy wakes up cold, wet, and hungry. She decides to head for home. Everything in the cave is the same until she peeks in on the pods. The one that had been foaming is now entirely open. There are tracks leading from the chamber that look like Joy's footprints, only barefoot. This freaks her out a bit and makes her want to get home more.

The entrance to the cave has lots of dry vines and leaves covering it, not at all like when she came in. Outside everything is definitely fall. Joy realizes the Soporific Aether had her out for quite some time. All of her landmarks are the same, though, so at least the Moundfolk didn't find her and take her somewhere else.

Joy makes her way back to the house. It's quiet. No lights, no smoke, no voices. One of the hives is missing, the rest are destroyed. The shutters are already on the house, some are half-open. Everything seems to be set for Winter, but neglected. It shouldn't be like this.

Knowing not to approach any of the doors when the house is Winter-prepped, Joy works her way to one of the family's hidden entrances. The tunnel brings her to the root cellar, where she hears a tiny voice singing a sad-sounding song. She opens the door to the root cellar and says hello, but the singing stops. There are some things left in the cellar, a box or two of cabbages, some old and questionable jars of preserves, but for the most part it's been cleared. Joy notices a stinky mass in the corner. It quivers and moves toward her a bit. She quickly heads for the stairs up but they've been locked into position as a ramp. Starting to panic a bit Joy throws her weight into the lever and is able to flip the stairs back into steps. She quickly climbs to the top and enters the kitchen.

All three hearths are cold. As she approaches the table a hand-fashioned candle lights. There are bundles of stuff and a note from her parents. The whole family has moved East to start a new farmstead. "It's just not worth staying here any more." She can try to join them, if she wants. Her uncles are supposed to come back "sometime." Her father left her the Ledger and the Key to the house. It's all Joy's, now. She's the last member of the family here.

Joy hears a slight rattling. Quickly, she goes to the window, grabs the pitcher on the shelf below it, and pours some water in the tin cup on the windowsill. She almost forgot the libation to keep the potato peeler still. She could have been flayed alive. So many little wards and traps and tricks to be aware of.

Joy eats one of the cans of peaches her mother left, gets into a clean, dry set of clothes, and lays down for a quick nap. She has a lot of decisions to make.


So that's Session One. I'm ready for Session Two!