Hex 12

12. Witch of the Wilderness 

     Hag of the Deepgrove (Southern Hex):

            Deep in the forest here is the Green Hag’s lair, a cave cut into the heart of a small hill. The antechamber is cramped and the walls are decorated, floor to ceiling, with hundreds of skulls of dozens of different kinds of creatures (including more than a few human, demi-human and humanoid skulls). The hag hides things in the skulls. Use the table below for the contents if the skulls are searched. The only other things of note in this room are a worn broom, a small wooden table and three rickety wooden chairs and the faint outlines of what appears to be some kind of magical circle on the floor.

A door made of the leg bones of large animals (and more than one person) opens into the inner chamber. The Green Hag’s lair is a filthy hole filled with rotted bits of flesh, bone, entrails. It reeks of death and rot. Among the gore could be found 764 gp, 28pp, 11 Darts of the Hornet (see new items), a Potion of Acid Resistance, a rusted file and carving knife, and a bit of driftwood partially whittled, a signal-horn stamped with the seal of Faller Village, a small glass phial of mercury labeled with an alchemical symbol, a rawhide pouch containing greasy fish bones and skins, and a 5-pound sack of coal.

GREEN HAG: AC -2; MV 120’/120’; HD 9; hp 46; THAC0 12; #AT 2; D 7-8/7-8; SA Spells; SD Move silently, Surprised only 1 in 20; SZ M; Int Very; AL NE; XP 2152

Roll	Tiny Skull	Medium Skull	Large Skull
2	Seeds 1d10 seeds    1. Wheat    2. Grape    3. Coffee    4. Magical (dragon’s teeth, Beanstalk seeds, etc)	Folded skin Tanned    1.Human    2. Goblin    3. Elf or Dwarf    4. Human, tattooed (1. Map, 2. Magical writings, 3. Portrait of Hag, 4. Level 1 Mage Spell)	Dragon Seed*    1.Black    2. Blue    3. Brass    4. Silver *See Appendix New Items for Information
3	Goo 1 oz.   1. Inert Green Slime    2. Snail Slime    3. Owlbear pus    4. Pate (1. Goose, 2. Chicken, 3. Moose, 4. Dragon)	Sprig of…    1.Wolvesbane    2. Belladona    3. Mistletoe    4. One of each	Instrument    1. Glass Flute    2. Wooden Whistle    3. 1d4 Harp Strings    4. Bone Flute (1. Human, 2. Elf, 3. Dwarf, 4. Owlbear)
4	Dragon snot 1 oz.    1. Black    2. Red    3. Blue    4. Gold	Incense Sticks 1d6, cause for 1d4 rounds   1. Deep meditation    2. Happiness    3. Sadness    4. Visions	Flask    1.Empty    2. Wine    3. Water    4. Thinned Dragon Snot (see table entry 4 under tiny skull to left)
5	Metal shavings 1 oz.    1. Steel    2. Iron    3. Gold    4. Brass	Cheese Half pound of    1.Hard cheddar    2. Moldy cheddar    3. Delicious cheddar    4. Stinky Cheese	Food    1.1d6 Sausages    2. Dried Meat (1. Moose, 2. Owlbear, 3. Goblin, 4. Human)    3. 2d6 Dried Apples    4. Blood Pudding
6	Ball of thread 3d6 inches long    1. White stained red    2. Black    3. Silver    4. Magical (1. Repairs any cloth 2. For magical symbols 3. Sews flesh restoring 1d4 hp 4. Traces path in magic tapestry	Bones 1d4    1. Human fingers    2. Goblin toes    3. Rat skeleton    4. Bird skeleton	Tool    1.Hacksaw    2. Wooden mallet and wooden spikes    3. Tiny Silver Hammer    4. Tinder box
7-11	Empty	Empty	Empty
12	Prayer Bead 1d3 beads    1. Evil god    2. Good god    3. Desecrated   4. Magical (1. When thrown 6d6 fireball, 2. Prayers confer bless per spell for 1d4 hours, 3. Being answers one yes-or-no question, 4. One hour of prayer confers immediate 2 rounds Trueseeing)	Wire 1d20 feet of…    1.Copper    2. Steel    3. Silver coated copper    4. Copper coated steel	Pouch Containing…    1.1d3 Garlic Buds    2. 1 Lucky Coin    3. 1d3 Vials Holy Water    4. Hair (1. Human, 2. Horse, 3. Ki-Rin, 4. Kelpie)
13	Pinches of spice 1d4+1 pinches    1.Nutmeg    2. Cinnamon    3. Coriander    4. Poison	Pipeweed 1 pouch of    1.Famous Pipeweed    2. Rotted Pipeweed    3. Average Pipeweed    4. Dangerous Pipeweed (Causes 1. Hallucinations, 2. Nausea, 3. Insatiable Hunger, 4. Catatonic State)	Eclectic    1.Deerskin Gloves and 3 Acorns    2. Crystal Prism and 1d4 Wax Candles    3. Crystal Bottle of Perfume and 25’ of String    4. 100 Owl Feathers and 2d12 Iron Nails
14	Tooth    1. Human    2. Goblin    3. Elf or Dwarf    4. Cursed Human tooth (food repulses the bearer of the tooth, unable to eat until remove curse is cast)	Oil 1d4 vials of…    1.Lamp oil    2. Moose oil    3. Goblin fat oil    4. Magical (1. Slipperiness, 2. Etherealness, 3. Fiery Burning, 4. Elemental Invulnerablity)	Small Items  1.Small Silver Mirror    2. Comb and Brush    3. Silver Bell    4. Gold Ring
15	Eye of Newt    1. Normal    2. Pickled    3. Rotten    4. Spell Imbued (if eaten, for 1 turn gain a point of 1. Strength, 2. Intelligence, 3. Wisdom, 4. Constitution, 5. Charisma)	Green Liquid 1d4 vials of…    1.Algae    2. Green water    3. Green Slime    4. Magical Potion (1. Healing, 2. Giant Control, 3. Delusion, 4. Speed)	Coins    1.1d20 cp    2. 1d10 gp    3. 2d8 sp    4. One Platinum Piece (cursed, bearer becomes greedy, demanding all coins, until remove curse is cast)
16	Parchment Scrap containing    1. Name (1. Geryon the Druid, 2. Ancient King, 3. Nearby Noble, 4. A random PC)    2. Nothing    3. The words “Oak” “Bottle” and “String” each with a checkmark beside    4. Drawing (1. The hag, 2. Stick figures, 3. Eversnow Mt. 4. Symbol of Pain)	Alcohol 1d4 vials worth of…    1.Beer    2. Whiskey    3. Mead    4. Wine	Scroll    1.Love letter    2. Mundane Map    3. Treasure Map    4. Spell Scroll (1d4 spells 1. Level 1 MU, 2. Level 3 MU, 3. Level 5 MU, 4. Special)

I know they're fiddly, but I LOVE nested tables...

TO FINISH: Detail Hag (Witch of the Wilderness/Hag of the Deepwood) - NOTE one of the Coven of Five...

Hex 17

17. Woodland Marsh

            This entire hex is a swampy marsh and movement in this hex is cut in half. A druid lives in this marsh and has been ensorcelled by the Green Hag. He is in love with her and will do almost anything she demands – though she hasn’t yet turned him completely evil. He is very conflicted and mutters to himself, second guessing every evil deed he commits, yet so enthralled with the Green Hag is he that he is compelled to please her, by committing these minor atrocities. She has not yet convinced him to perform the task she charmed him to do: release the bound Will-o-Wisps in the marsh. He is dangerously close to doing so, however.

Most of the marsh is unremarkable. Use the following encounter table and the following encounter key for interesting or dangerous features. The DM may roll on the Mundane Encounter table as he/she sees fit.

Roll d8        Marsh Encounter

1.             2-4 alligators

2.             Swamp Gas (save vs. spells or become nauseated for the next hour, fight at -2)

3.             Geryon (see area 8.9)

4.             Green Hag (see Hex 12)

5.             Swamp Gas (save vs. spells or become light headed, AC penalty of -2 for one hour)

6.             2-5 alligators

7.             Unexpected boon (a friendly sprite, a scroll tube with a random scroll, a bone flute, a dagger, a friendly alligator, etc)

8.             Pestilence (see 8.4 for details)

17.1        Mossy Oak: This oak tree is really a Hangman’s Tree that Geryon has twisted from the original mossy oak that grew here.

17.2        Sandy Shore: The ground here is sandy and unstable, difficult to move across, though there is no quicksand here. Movement in this area is at ¼ normal rate because of the unpredictable footing. A catoblepas lairs here and will attack any living thing that comes nearby.

17.3        The Druid’s Mark: The trees here are carved with a symbol, a stylized “G” it appears to be. The symbols radiate a faint magic. If they are touched, Geryon is instantly aware of the touch and the location. If the symbols are traced by a human finger (gloved or ungloved), the symbol will begin to glow and then the symbol will appear on the forehead of the symbol’s tracer and Geryon and the Green Hag (see hex 12) will become able to locate the bearer of the Druid’s Mark no matter where they go.  Remove curse at 7^th caster level to remove the mark.

If the party has the opportunity to ask Geryon about the marks on the trees, he will tell them that they are the mark of the goddess’s blessing and if they trace the symbols, the mark of the goddess will appear on their foreheads and they will be marked as friends of the forest.

17.4        Pestilence:  The bones of many animals are partly buried in the muddy soil here. A plague of biting and stinging insects will attack any living creature who enter these areas. The insects do 2-8 hp damage per round (save vs. dragon breath for half damage). Running reduces the damage to half (quarter damage if save is made) and the cloud of insects will disperse after running for 4 rounds, otherwise, the swarm of insects continually renews itself and attacking relentlessly.

17.5        Alguduir Nest: A pair of Alguduir nest here, deep the underbrush. One of the creatures will be on the nest (with their egg) and the other will be stalking silently nearby (3-8 chance of surprising the party). The Alguduir give both Geryon and the Green Hag a wide berth since they have had dangerous encounters with both of them in the past.

17.6        Deep Water: The water here is extremely, and unexpectedly, deep. Anyone tramping through the water without testing the ground ahead with a pole or staff or branch or the like will find themselves suddenly sucked down in a deep well, the current unexpectedly drawing them downward (a sort of enchanted vortex). The bottom of the natural well here is 40’. Touching the bottom breaks the enchantment and allows the captured person to swim upward. The enchantment is such that it takes 4 minutes for a person to reach the bottom, minus ten seconds per AC point below 9 (thus AC -1 would be 4 minutes -100 seconds, or 2 minutes and 20 seconds). Breath holding mechanic can be CON check minus the  number of minutes breath is held (that is roll CON – 4 on d20 to determine if the PC can hold his/her breath long enough) or some other method the DM determines.

17.7        Piles of Bones: Four huge piles of bones are mounded here, mostly small animal bones, but a few very large (6-8’ long femurs, for example) can be picked out of the piles. There are no skulls. There is no indication why the bones are here or what killed the creatures.

17.8        Caged Light: Three Will-o-the-Wisps are in iron cages here. The cages are enchanted to contain the creatures. If any magic is cast upon the cages themselves, the doors will creak open and the Wisps will launch attacks. If freed, the Will-o-the-Wisps will attempt to kill every living creature they contact. The Green Hag believes she can control them (she is wrong, however). If released, the Wisps will spread out, seeking living creatures, and feed throughout the valley.

17.9        Mud Hut: Geryon lives here. The mud and stick hut appears hastily built and barely standing. The doorway is very large, covered over by what appears to be a weaved grass mat.

Inside, the contents are in disarray, as Geryon constantly battles his inner demons. He lairs here with two large brown bears that he has named Carus and Darus. They will defend him with their lives.  

Geryon, Druid, 7^th Level, S 11, I 12, W 17, D 13, C12, Ch16 hp 26 Al N(E)-charmed, going insane

Level 1   Entangle, Locate Animal, Pass Without Trace, Speak With Animals

Level 2   Charm Mammal, Cure Light Wounds, Heat Metal, Obscurement

Level 3   Cure Disease, Snare, Stone Shape

Level 4   Hold Plant

Brown Bear: AC 6; MV 120’; HD 5+5; hp 26, 37; THAC0 15; #AT 3; D 1-6/1-6/1-8; SA Hug (2-12); SZ L; Int Semi; AL N; XP 456/522. (MM)

TO FINISH: Map