Feb 7, 2021 1:43 am
The party is on the last leg of a multiple-week journey to the town of Hope to answer their call of aid. You travel by foot along an old Arkasian stone causeway wide enough for 4 wagons to ride along side-by-side. It marches steadily north through an old-growth boreal forest known as the Howling Wood towards your destination.
You've heard much of the plight of Hope from various conversations as you've headed north. It once stood as a proud bastion of the Arkasian empire, safeguarding the northern towns. Before the Dwarves of the north retreated to their arctic strongholds, Hope served as an important stop along the supply roads to the mines. Without the mines, traffic has dwindled, and the town has fallen on hard times.
In the last few years, new life has breathed into Hope and the surrounding area. Prospectors rediscovered an old Voidwater well near the town, which is a source of a rare alchemical substance coveted by Arkasian alchemists. Money from the south began pouring into the region to reestablish the trade route.
However, the future of Hope now balances on a knife's edge. Ralavaz the Night Blade, a notorious bandit chieftain, has been released from prison. Rumours mark him as having returned to the hideout from which he and his band once operated, and now preys upon the folk of Hope and the surrounding vale. In addition, tales abound of the growing threat of the Shanka - bestial and wild humanoids created by the Magi to serve as shock troops in forgotten Arkasian conquests. It is said the Shanka outlived their masters and are now multiplying in the dark corners of the circle of the world.
The party makes good time along the road through the Howling Wood, your steps perhaps hastened by the titular sounds that occasionally emanate from the forest around you. As the forest grows particularly dense, the branches begin to blot out the sun, shrouding the road in gloom even though it is midday.
The road makes a turn to circumvent a particularly foul-smelling bog. When the road comes about, you see that 30 feet down the road has been blocked by a massive, felled tree. All around you are dense, shadowy woods.
You've heard much of the plight of Hope from various conversations as you've headed north. It once stood as a proud bastion of the Arkasian empire, safeguarding the northern towns. Before the Dwarves of the north retreated to their arctic strongholds, Hope served as an important stop along the supply roads to the mines. Without the mines, traffic has dwindled, and the town has fallen on hard times.
In the last few years, new life has breathed into Hope and the surrounding area. Prospectors rediscovered an old Voidwater well near the town, which is a source of a rare alchemical substance coveted by Arkasian alchemists. Money from the south began pouring into the region to reestablish the trade route.
However, the future of Hope now balances on a knife's edge. Ralavaz the Night Blade, a notorious bandit chieftain, has been released from prison. Rumours mark him as having returned to the hideout from which he and his band once operated, and now preys upon the folk of Hope and the surrounding vale. In addition, tales abound of the growing threat of the Shanka - bestial and wild humanoids created by the Magi to serve as shock troops in forgotten Arkasian conquests. It is said the Shanka outlived their masters and are now multiplying in the dark corners of the circle of the world.
The party makes good time along the road through the Howling Wood, your steps perhaps hastened by the titular sounds that occasionally emanate from the forest around you. As the forest grows particularly dense, the branches begin to blot out the sun, shrouding the road in gloom even though it is midday.
The road makes a turn to circumvent a particularly foul-smelling bog. When the road comes about, you see that 30 feet down the road has been blocked by a massive, felled tree. All around you are dense, shadowy woods.
