Adventure: In the Garden of the Wyrm

The castle at Lillyford has sat foreboding and overgrown for generations, the lair of a serpentine dragon who's laid claim to it's sprawling gardens and the river it overlooks. None so far have been brave or strong enough to oust the beast, but perhaps you and your foolish friends are lucky enough to make up the difference.

Hooks:

Most people know well enough to avoid the land surrounding the verdant castle, not only because of the dragon but because of the strange and hostile plant life that's said to thrive in its corrupting presence. A low level party in the region may be contracted to help uproot an invasive patch of poisonous blooms or predatory vines, a teaser for what's to come once they set their sights on the dragon's own garden.

The river traders have had enough. For decades they paid tribute to the dragon to avoid it plundering their barges and still had to deal with it plucking cargo and deckhands into the water whenever it got bored. They're willing to pay, and pay well, for a group of hunters to go in and gut the beast, and will even use their influence to support whoever does it taking ownership of the keep.

Alternatively, have the party enter the scene a few weeks after the hunters failed to kill the dragon, having given up their employers before they were eaten sending the dragon marauding through the waterways looking for revenge. All water traffic throughout the region has stopped as the traders and ferryfolk have gone into hiding, throwing the local economy into chaos.

Someone very important is sick and the hard to find cure just so happens to be a plant known to have been growing in the Lillyford gardens before the dragon arrived. While a frontal assault is out of the question, they could sneak in to pluck it from among the dragon's hoarded horticulture. Surely it won't notice a single missing specimen, right? ..... Right?

The Fortress was once known far and wide for its gardens, cultivated by generations of lords and ladies who traced their lineage back to a questing knight, who earned their station by presenting their liege with a flower obtained from the realm beyond the sunrise.  The seeds of that flower became the first planted in the castle’s garden, and began a collection of exotic blooms that the family expanded on throughout the decades. 

All wonders attract admirers, and among the lovers, herbalists, poets, and perfumers, the one who most admired the gardens of Lillyford was a dragon by the name of Pyrithi, who one day emerged from the river and presented himself at the castle gate, demanding that the owner of Lillyford surrender the keep and all its contents to him. When the owner and their men fought back, Pyrithi unleashed a foul breath which sickened their lungs and corroded their armour. Pyrithi did the same to the door of the keep, and threatened worse to those still inside, using the fallen and debilitated protectors as hostages.  

Since that day none but the dragon have set foot in Lillyford, who has supplemented the original gardens with several species of poisonous and/or maneating plants. Should some brave heroes manage to slay the wyrm, they will not only have the thanks of the now-exiled nobles of Lillyford, but also the fame granted to those who protected the keep’s heroic legacy. 

Art

Vans Lowland CC Jmp R⁣

A HDR photo I took a few years ago at Green Hill Lake

11.12.2022

TransAlps and CisAlps:

changing weather and sky

I adore this recent trend (if that's the right word) of letting an orchestra play classical music on a festival. It's magical to see thousands of festival-goers going absolutely wild on Beethoven. Mosh/circlepits, crowd surfing. It's wonderful to see the orchestra and the audience having the time of their lives.

Kirkland Signature “Tour of Scotland” Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Kirkland Signature “Tour of Scotland” Lowland Single Malt Whisky Review by: zSolaris Distillery: Undisclosed. Bottler: Alexander Murray & Co for Costco. Region: Lowland. Age: NAS. ABV: 40%. Cask Type: Finished in bourbon oak casks. Price: Part of a four piece “Tour of Scotland” collection purchased for $55. Color: 1.0, Deep Copper. Nose: It’s grassy and lightly floral at the start. As…

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obsessed with stories where the message is that you can't bring someone back from the dead even if you can bring someone back from the dead

Abend-Weg

evening walk

Quer durch die Ponnsdorfer Ebene, einem Teil des Finsterwalder Becken, wie mit einem Lineal gezogen.

Casks of Lindores STR Wine Barrique

Lindores Abbey The Casks of Lindores STR Wine Barrique Lowland single malt Scotch whisky #whisky #review #LindoresAbbey

Lindores Abbey The Casks of Lindores STR Wine Barrique 1. What they say These ‘Casks of Lindores’ releases were designed to be sold exclusively through selected stockists and are not for sale online. Packaged in the distinctive Lindores bottle and livery with colour specific base labels these bottlings are bottled at the distillery without chill filtration and at our Lindores bottling strength…

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Dirty Three - Cottonhead

Dungeon: The Hole in the Hill

Of all places, a portal to the underdark has opened along a sleepy stretch of country road, drawing amature explorers and lookie-loos who all want to know the origin behind the mysterious purple glow. Those bravest to be first across the threshhold bring stories of glowing mushrooms and caverns full of odd animal life, a few even returning with souveniers in the form of carrot sized fingers of crystal. Naturally the party will be headed below next, going even deeper in search of greater treasures.

Adventure Hooks:

Diverted from his dayjob of selling snakeoil town to town when his cart and campsite fell into the original sinkhole, an enterprising merchant by the name of Canny Farwell has laid claim to the sinkhole and is charging admittance to its uppper levels at three silvers a head. He's got dreams of establishing a mine to exploit the riches of the seeminly bottomless cavern, and while he's more than happy to give the party a tour through the sinkhole's upper reaches ( full of facts he's made up), he's not going to let the party venture deeper and jump his claim without putting up a fuss.

However stubborn Canny might be, he's all to willing to drop his arguments and bolt for the surface when a pack of monsters from the world below show up hounding the party back to the surface. Forced to act quickly to protect the onlookers, the party will have to delve deep into the depths to force these creatures back into their original territory.

Somewhere in the depths the party can find the smashed remannts of the huckster's cart, being picked over by a gnomish waif with leaden skin. She speaks no common and is TERRIFIED of the party, but once they convince her they're no threat (food has a way of briding all cutural divides, especially when the hesitant party has been roughing it in a cavern for a fortnight) she'll use mud-doodles and pantomime to indicate that she was forced to flee her village when they were attacked by... somehing... that has enslaved her people and forced them to mine the great crystals in the cavern depths.. which might've been what set off the sinkhole in the first place.

The girl, Takta, is a svirfneblin, a deepgnome who lives along with her people in a hidden subterranian village, enjoying a humble existance while keeping themselves concieled from the underdark's major predators. That was until a few months ago, when a levitating duergar ironclad loomed its way into the network of caverns their community called home. The vessel known as The Esretnatzar and its crew of grey-dwarves are an exploratory expidition sent off to expand the borders of their autocratic homeland and to seek sites worthy of colonization. After nearly a year and a half evading perils of the world below they're delighted to have found a people to subjugate, useing psionics to expose and subdue Takta's people, forcing the Svirfneblin to act as laborers and servants as they dig themselves in.

Further Adventures

Its hard to oust an occupying army that can read your mind, and while the deepgnomes are no strangers to defending their home they have little defence against mind-censors, a fanatically dogmatic group of telepaths who kept order onboard the Esretnatzar during its long voyage and have now turned their attention to keeping the chattel in line. They've moved the troublemakers (including Takta's older brother) into a makeshift prison and while it doesn't compare to the reducation halls of their homeland it does keep the gnomes working for fear of their loved ones being hurt. Freeing these individuals from lockup is the first step to fighting back.

While the Esretnatzar's captian Fulgite Faultsaw is eager to return home bathed in the glory of expanding the hegemony, many in her crew do not feel the same. They're sick of the ship and sick of skimming dark caverns, and just want to keep their boots on the groud (even if it means pressing them into some deepgnome necks). Some others, careful to guard their thoughts from the ship mind-censors, imagine staying in the village, establishing a new clanhold and living like thanes. Perahaps this division can be exploited, convincing the recalictrant crew to surrender while pushing the hardliner faction back out into the dark.

After the party has done their thing and these cavernous conquistadors are defeated the village will be in rough shape, and while the deepgnomes will galdly put in the years of work to make it funcitonal again perhaps the party can suggest another option: moving the village to the far more defensible mouth of the sinkhole, allowing the svirfneblin to continue their subterranian agriculture in the upper reaches while having the whole of the upper world to fall back to if they need it. It'll be a hard sell, both to the traditionalist gnomes whos' lives have already been disrupted enough, and the authorities on the surface, but should the party succeed they'll get to see a new settlement blossom over the course of their adventures.

Vans Lowland ComfyCush JMP Shoe

Manca poco! Fra cinque giorni entrerete nel luppoleto di @lowlandbrewery. Ricordatevi di prenotare e di portarvi la cenetta al sacco. Per le birre basterà avvicinarsi alle spine del birrificio. Cheers! . . . Info: Nicola 349 167 0776 Valentina 338 165 2836 . . #visitaguidata #luppoleto #degustazionibirra #donnedellabirra #suzzara #mantova #lowland (presso Suzzara Di Mantova) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChkYb86qlts/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Sipping on something other than single malt tonight. Introducing the Queens♦️♠️ Lowland single grain scotch whisky- Cambus Tasting notes: Nose: vanilla and coconut bring the warmth of tropical feels, dark chocolate flavor almond ginger cookie Palate: caramel, brown sugar with a hint of this scent similar to pencil shavings, sherry sweetness from the barrel, makes you want to take another sip, irresistible Finish: sweetness from sherry with bourbon tone from the barrel, makes a perfect ending Queen♦️ Cambus Distilled in 1991 Bottled in 2021 No. of Bottle: 75 Cask No.: 363090#2 Cask Type: Octave 54.6% ABV 700ml Queen ♠️ Cambus Distilled in 1991 Bottled in 2021 No. of Bottle: 75 Cask No.: 363089#2 Cask Type: Octave 54.5% ABV 700ml 📩 PM or email us at [email protected] for more informations. #cambus #lowland #singlegrain #spades #diamonds #cards #whisky #taiwan #exclusive #whiskyporn #whiskylover #whiskycollector #whiskycollection #whiskylove #whiskylife #whiskygram #whiskeybottle #rarewhisky #instawhisky #bestwhisky #whiskyaura https://www.instagram.com/p/CfJsou_vIkD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

First Plein-air of 2022!!