Hex Map Encounters in Yane (part 2)

Like last time, you can follow along with the map here.

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06|20. Muro Forest. A broken bridge across the Nebulous River prevents access to the north (which leads to the remains of the Needle Tower). The ruined bridge features the Stone Statue of the Goddess Xarrion with her hand broken away. The hand is in the possession of one of the fallen paladins at Hex 04|18. If reattached, it and its three companion statues illuminates the resting-place of Muro Casmide in Hex 11|19.

06|21. Muro Forest. Lake of Clouds. The lake seems huge. It’s not very deep, and beneath it is a water-repelling dome and a mile-deep pit containing a fortress a wizard of the Old Realm created from the bodies of petrified giants. Hybrid experiments protect almost a half-dozen orbs and crystal balls of various functions and power levels.
 
06|22. Coastal/Muro Forest. Hidden rocks offshore causes shipwrecks. Pirates are aware of this and lay in wait. So do the locals, who will murder anyone who learns of their secret.

07|13. Coastal/Muro Forest. The enormous Wooden Statue of the Goddess Elicca, visible from one hex away, with an arm broken off. The arm (and thyrsus) is in Hex 12|20. If the arm is returned (difficult, as it’s as proportionately large as the statue), this statue (along with the statue in Hex 06|20 and Hex 07|21) can illuminate the tomb of Muro Casmide in Hex 11|19.

07|14. Fen of the Harbinger. A weed-choked serpent-people ruin. The hammer the serpent-people use to ring their gong is from the drowned Lake Scatho temple in Hex 05|16.

07|15. Fen of the Harbinger. A bridge of human and monkey bones over bubbling, necrotic filth. Monkey ghosts lurk in the filth, screaming blasphemies.

07|16. Muro Forest. Dwarves secretly work on a huge fallen meteor. Unknown to them, three mind flyers armed with a tesseract horn slumber in a central chamber.

07|17. Hills. The Old Realm road runs northwest/southwest here.  Huge “termite mounds” are actually the underground cities of two races of diminutive (but larger than insect-sized) ant-people locked in a bitter war.

07|18. Mountains. Remnants of the silver dragon Antlers of the Moon, killed fighting Silani. A dwarf stole her silver treasures and now huddles—bejeweled, obsessed, and insane—in a nearby cave, commanding ragged orc slaves with the moon pearl, a scrying and emotion-control item. His treasure also includes a ring of star-wolves and a wand of spider-door (41 charges left).

07|19. Mountains. Undead vultures and bats in service to Nazor in Hex 06|18. They spy, steal, and may attack.

07|20. Hills. A road raised in the dead years winds generally north-south here. Simani’s vampire servant Alufen died on a hilltop nearby at Eshi’s hand. No one on the hilltop casts a reflection or a shadow. The Lumomancer Barcelemo established a manse here before Alufen’s crimson-stained spirit devoured him. Notes from Barcelemo’s manse lead to the Lyceum in Hex 14|18 and the mirror-faced wolf in Hex 14|19. The manse also contains a wand of color spray (50 charges left), a coruscant rod, and a startling number of vampiric monitor lizards.

07|21. Muro Forest. A one-armed metal statue of the goddess Amiza patrols a strange metallic woodland here, armed with sword and (strapped on) shield. She is also missing her legs, but someone has grafted a lower centaur body onto them. If brought to her pedestal in the Arcane Lyceum (Hex 14|17) and her arm and wand (owned by Yedric the Evoker in Hex 09|17) are returned, she will, with her sisters, point to the location of Muro’s tomb in Hex 11|19.

07|22. Muro Forest. A certain flower (known to the druid Senya in Hex 3|22) offers access to a miniature world with a few thousand inhabitants menaced by a tiny but cruel demon-god named Mahulo Shann.

07|23. Coastal/Muro Forest. BLUE SUN KEEP. A pearl-like fortress (created in the time of the Old Realm by the ancestor of the Cloud Giant stranded in Hex 16|16) floats far overhead or descends into the water on a regular circuit. It is usually hidden by clouds. No entrances are apparent. The runes in Hex 08|20 can reveal a hidden entrance. The fortress is overrun by enormous animals and contains increasingly unstable magical checker pieces of monstrous size (dangerous, but human-sized creatures can ride them to different areas of the fortress).

07|24. Coastal/Muro Forest. A huge hole in the ground contains a mostly-finished gate to Abaddon, full of dark filth and horrors at the bottom, but also treasure from Simani’s treasure-store: +2 plate mail of the nine desecrations, a scarab of hunger and thirst, a +1 heartstone dagger, and a hegemonic feather.

08|12. Coastal/Muro Forest. Tidal caves full of coral kobolds. They have mastered the art of growing weapons and tools.

08|13. Muro Forest. Abandoned copper mine, equally abandoned town, now a haunt of goblins, kobolds, orcs, and ogres.

08|14. Muro Forest. On a low hill, a circle of thirteen crude stone idols dipped in bronze surround a silver idol with a golden crown and the hilt of a sword. This is the original idol to Coth, who will seek knowledge of this hill’s location to escape the fetters of his hated church. The idol can only speak if its crown is returned. (A goblin in Hex 13|19 has it.)

08|15. Muro Forest. CASTLE MERNO. An imposing Keimian castle at the river-fork where the Pearl River divides into the Mother-of-Pearl (northern) and the Mirror River (southern), controlled by Lord Admuride (old male jotun fighter 8, ln), whom no one believes about the “Harbinger,” an aberrant lord whose mortal form dwells in a secret room in his castle.

08|16. Hills. The Pearl River bounces over rocks here. Dwarves come to an island in the Pearl River here to settle fatal disputes. The thick dwarf blood spilled here over centuries has formed wind-blown crystalline mounds the color of garnet.

08|17. Mountain. CITY OF METCHLA. Dwarf capital, population 8,500. Ruled by Metchla Saricca, Queen Under the Mountain (female adult dwarf aristocrat 5, ln). Dwarf quislings plot to sell out Metchla to the dead in exchange for concessions like wealth or immortality. The queen will pay dearly for the names of traitors and conspirators.

08|18. Mountain. The Mountain Trade Road stretches east-west here. The landscape is in the shape of a giant with a stone spear driven through his heart. The warlike Scatha clan keep a fortress run by Scatha Sithu(middle-aged dwarf male fighter 8, ln), who hates the Swindar clan and will use any excuse to move against them. He recently received a new ax from the dwarves of Mount Kadath (Hex 11|18); its fire dweomer is impressive, but it is an evil thing and wants to find someone more easily corrupted to serve it.

08|19. Hills. The east-west dwarf road splits off north here on a broken-apart dead-built road. Beneath the road lurks Dwar Ambrose, newborn lich and former headmaster of the Arcane Lyceum. He has designs on the horn in Hex 05|22 and also plans to raise a dead army to burrow up beneath the Scatha clan in Hex 08|18. He recently procured a death knight in the form of Captain Vanree from the Lyceum garrison in Hex 14|18.

08|20. Hills. Merchant caravans are common through here. The best caravanserai, the RAINING RING, is built around an ancient monolith around which air constantly churns. Studying the runes in the air nearby will reveal the location of Blue Sun Keep in Hex 07|31 and also a hidden service entrance of the Keep; the cloud giant in Hex 16|16 knows nothing of this method of access and would not be able to fit anyway.

08|21. Hills. HARANSHA CASTLE. Oppressed human peasants toil here serving Sir Tidan Hethmont (adult male human fighter 7, le), a dragon rider. They fear the wrath of his iron dragon Clarity (old female iron dragon).

08|22. Hills. The village here was recently razed due to necromancy, cannibalism, and human sacrifice. The villagers also murdered the cleric sent from Hex 09|23. A dozen soldiers from the Tower of Dawn’s Watch (Hex 09|22) hunt and kill the remaining cultists.

08|23. Muro Forest. The heartless vampiress Zirkah has defied the orders of the Necrarchs of Ahn Resh and established a small coven here in a ruined mill. She seeks ways to free the giant vampire in Hex 08|24. She has used a ritual to hide her heart, making her (even more) immortal, but she does not know that it has turned feral and created the werewolves in Hex 03|18.

08|24. Coastal/Muro Forest. A thin strip of woodland is really a colossal hawthorn spear driven into the heart of a giant vampire called Oschiron the Invincible.  The treant in Hex 06|13 is supposed to check the hawthorn regularly, but he is trapped, and his dryads do not know what to do.

09|13. Coastal/Plains. Floating, glowing jellyfish serve to guide sailors through and around the dangerous rocks.

09|14. Plains. Wild bison and aurochs seasonally cross the Mirror River, where they are preyed upon by huge, shaggy river-cats.

09|15. Plains. The Mirror River runs east-west. Vachori the mad druid (adult male human druid 4, ne) along with a group of tribal humans, have recently butchered a halfling settlement; they plan to turn their wrath on the jellyfish in Hex 09|13 next. Vachori is an heir to the Old Realm and hid from the undead in suspended animation; his return to wakefulness has driven him mad and led him to purify the world.

09|16. Hills. The last mammoth on Yane makes its lair here, amidst the ivory of its dead companions. Nearby, a steep dropoff marks the old kill zone for these creatures.

09|17. Mountains. The road winds through the mountains north-south toward Lahaz. A hodge-podge tower is the lair of the geomancer Yedric the Crooked (old human male Evoker 9, n), who is cursed to fall into the moon. His tower contains rotating rooms, as his personal gravity always points toward the moon. (He rarely has guests.) Yedric also has a metal gauntlet that absorbs magic and a metal wand that functions as a rod of the safe herald. He does not know that these are part of the metal statue in Hex 07|21. The Hexagonal Cult of Hex 12|22 can remove Yedric’s curse, but every time he tries to contact them, he gets stung by a bee. If cured, Yedric will offer the metallic treasures as a reward.

09|18. Mountains. MOUNT VAISOK, the highest point in Yane. Almost impassable. Its peak features a massive shield-like bronze door covered in holy symbols meant to keep undead who attack from above out.

09|19. Mountains. Perpetually ice-shrouded switchback trails confuse navigation. Ice-aspected minotaurs wander the sky-labyrinths here.

09|20. Hills. A great east-west gate is here, and a bit of wall, and nothing else. It’s so tall it can be seen from adjacent hexes. What remains of the wall contains the faces of giants and monsters.

09|21. Hills. The road winds east up toward the Shrouded Mountain. Yak-folk and humans live in terraced villages. A field of sedge on one terrace can slice people and horses to pieces; the locals believe it’s sacred and do not speak of it.

09|22. TOWER OF DAWN’S WATCH. Castle ruled by Lord Seb Karune (adult human male paladin 5, lg) and his dragon, Eclipse (adult female gold dragon, lg). The other two Keimian dragons, Clarity and the currently-riderless Memory of Rain (Hex 04|19) also have roosts here. Seb Karune struggles to rein in his increasingly lazy and cruel knights.

09|23. Hills. The Bone River flows east down the hill. TEMPLE TO THE GREAT BEAR, a servant of the Iconess. The Great Bear is aware of Oschiron in Hex 06|13, but the cleric sent to investigate was murdered by cultists in Hex 08|22.

09|24. Coastal/Muro Forest. Spectacular waterfalls form a lagoon where pirates keep a secret trading outpost. Frustrated Keimian peasants help hide the outpost, where cargo, spices, and slaves can be purchased.

10|12. Coastal/Plains. This area is famous for a secretive herd of horses, nearly untamable and of superior quality. They can smell the undead but do not fear them. Vachori (now the mad druid in Hex 09|15) hid them (and himself) away under a lake (a trick he learned from Trovia, whose manse is in Hex 14|16) during the long years of undead rule. The horses know how to return to that place when frightened.

10|13. Plains. The Mirror River ends in the Leaping Lake, famous for its flying fish and diving birds. Tribal caste structures among the humans here limit who can take what prey; violations are dealt with harshly.

10|14. Plains. A battlefield of Lahaz soldiers and orcs. It’s not clear who got the worst of it. Goblins carry away what remains of value.

10|15. Hills. An ettin wizard dwells here, murdering everyone it can find and trying to bind a third head to itself using magic. It keeps brains alive in mi-go brain canisters borrowed from the ones found in Hex 01|19. The ettin has gauntlets of the piscolatrist and a basket of thundermites.