Saturday 6 November 2021

Glimmerwine (Against the Darkmaster)

 My lady fair was she

When dappled light caressed

Her hair of gold, her dress so fine

As she danced at Glimmerwine

- Folk song, The Lady of Glimmerwine


Tucked away beyond the foothills of Torvul and nestled beside the Sleeping Wood lay a village where soft lamps glow when the sunlight fades. Glimmerwine, as called in the tongue of Men, sits by the meandering river Evenstrun whose source traces back all the way to the Veiled Peaks some two hundred miles away. The water is crisp and cold, even on hot summers days and they say nothing is sweeter than tasting the cool riverwater after a long journey. The halfling mayor Tolly Brumble wears a scarlet hat with a wide brim and his dashing smile cuts from cheek to cheek. Daily he can be seen walking the village, singing a merry song and wishing the people well. Visitors are pointed to The Hare and Anvil, a cosy public house famous for its sweet mead with eremora spice. Fat cushions greet a sore back in the common area where a delicate fire crackles and Molliver Jupe, a local storyteller, regails patrons of tales of lost loves and terrible phantoms. 

A stone's throw to the west are the ruins of Tomen's Watch, a once pristine white tower where the Swords of Welleren held their station in darker times during the Blackwar. These rangers were driven out by the orcish servants of the Darkmaster and the tower razed. Some day that on the night of a full moon the rangers can be seen entering the tower and a horn sounding on the air. Now the spider Urzgud (use Great Spider template) has made its home within the ruins, guarding the bones of the dead and secret treasures lost to time. 

During High Summer the Festival of Little Fires sees bonfires lit and lanterns floated down the river in a luminous procession thanking the True God for the gift of warmth. Musicians play joyful tunes of old and children dance with ribbons around the shepherd's stone on the green. In the deep winter the villagers walk to Star Hill to watch the stars fall while they sing of lost years and fallen friends. Of late news of orcish warbands, their drums heard on the wind, has prevented the observation of this tradition. Tolly desperately looks for help to make these lands safe again. 

Encounters in Glimmerwine:

1. Tarbuck Hobfoot, the village drunk, berates some youths before passing out on the green.

2. Bree Tangleshoot, a travelling wizard, brings news of giant bats that have moved into the wood. 

3. Molliver Jupe desperately wants an adventure for new story material. Will you help her out?

4. Bardun, son of Dardul, a bitter and blind dwarf hunter who wishes to slay orc

5. One Giant Bat per party member attacks

6. Tolly Brumble explains a child has gone missing. They were last seen near the old tower. 


Giant Bat

Level 4 Common

MR 50F

AT LA

DEF +25

TSR +30

WSR +15

HPs 60

1st attack Bite +70

Special Blood Drain

CT NB

Rog +60

Adv +20

Lor +0

Blood Drain: Creatures who suffer a critical strike from the giant bat's bite must pass an attack level 4 TSR or suffer 3 Soul damage. 

Darkvision: Giant bats can see in Dim Light and Total Darkness as if it were Bright Light.

Crepuscular: Giant Bats are active at dusk and night.