Player Notes

## Timeline

* No greenery aside from floating seaweed and clumps of algae and moss on the greasy surface of the unmoving water.
* Dead grass and rotting reeds just up through the low mists that hang across the maze of still pools and mud, almost like a carpet all across the landscape.
* The further one travels into the marsh, the thicker the odour of sulphur and festering rot and mould.
* A path marked with slender way-poles leads east of Stillwater towards the sea.
* The air is infested with unrelenting swarms of insects (mosquitos, gnats, flies) that may cause the poisoned condition after enough failed saves.
* The party traversed this unpleasant swamp on Aeshvar, 14th of Waehn 4E 776 on their way towards Granny Myrtle's place, east of Stillwater.
	+ Along the way, they encountered hostile ghouls, stirges, and crocodiles.

### Stillwater

* Main inhabitants are elves and humans.
* The old-town section of Stillwater has buildings mostly made of brick or well-made wood and the roads are paved. The area is more middle to upper class.
* The rest of the town was built later on a more marshy section of land. The buildings here aren't very stable or permanent, being built on stilts and made of wood that is rotting in places. Area is also known as the ratshacks.
* The locals aren't very trusting of strangers.
* People here aren't really fighters. There are some guards, but they're mostly there to "break up fights and deal with rats."
* A few guards have been injured on duty and others have fallen ill.
* Solomon Anders offered us guard duty on the docks for around 10 crowns a night.
* There have been some problems with break-ins.

#### Broken Hill Manor

* A sizeable building a few hours' walk on the road, north of Stillwater.
* Nobody who went there ever came back. People try to avoid it.
* Formerly owned by a Varesian noble, Pierre Rodin, who used to use it as a summer house of sorts. He and his family would use it every couple of years.
* Around 4E 766, the manor burned down, and Pierre and his family were all killed.
* A lot of it has collapsed.
* People assume the place is cursed, but it is likely the superstition of sailors.
* Within the past few months, something has taken up residence in the manor and has been killing anyone who tries to enter its ruins. People are calling it a demon, but this is merely speculation. There is definitely a creature there, however. It attacks in the fog and comes out during nightfall.
* Looters that approached the building never returned.
* The party decided to investigate the manor in order to claim the bounty. There was a light fog which appeared to become denser the closer they got to the house, though Lionel's Detect Magic revealed it to be natural.
* When inside the manor, various members of the party each caught glimpses of shapes and figures in the fog and shadows that seemed to appear on the very edges of their vision only to disappear a moment later. As they progressed further, some members also began to hear sounds that had no source.
* In what was seemingly the dining room, the party found the remains of an apparent explosion. The dining table was shattered, and soot lined the walls. The explosion had destroyed the floor above as well as the roof of the second floor, revealing the night sky far above. On the north wall, the soot had formed silhouettes of one humanoid figure crouching over two smaller humanoids as if protecting them. They must have been there when the explosion occurred.
* Using Detect Magic the next day, Lionel found very old, faint traces of evocation magic in the dining room, starting at the location of the explosion and spreading outward. It didn't seem like a controlled spell based on the very little he was able to detect. It seemed like the magic was chaotic but he is not sure if that's because it decayed over time, or because that was the original nature of the magic.
* It is therefore likely that the explosion was foul play, possibly causing Pierre Rodin or his wife to come back as the foglet with unfinished business.
* The foglet's nest was found on the second floor of the manor.

##### The Foglet's Nest

* A room on the second floor of Broken Hill Manor which the foglet appeared to be using as a nest of sorts.
* It is filled with rotting corpses covered in mould, and crawling with maggots and rats.
* Some of the corpses are years old, while others are significantly fresher.
* The flesh and bones have been placed in a bowl-like formation, at the centre of which are two carefully arranged formations of small humanoid figures, almost child-like in shape and size. The bones are of larger humanoids, but cracked and bent to get the child-like proportions correct. It is clear that a lot of care has gone into getting the right shapes and proportions.
* From what the party knows, it is possible that these two child-like formations represent the Rodin children, and that the foglet was once Pierre Rodin or his wife.

#### Cemetery

* Along the way between Stillwater and Broken Hill Manor.

#### The Cinder and Spice

* Herb and alchemy shop run by a luterra.
* Small, musty, wooden shop with a heavy smell of herbs and incense. The walls are somewhat covered in lichen and moss, and lined with trophies form sea creatures (various bones, teeth, and fetishes).
* The shelves are meticulously organised with countless jars full of different herbs and plants.

#### The Grey Docks

* The piers aren't maintained very well and have clearly seen better days. Some of them even appear to have collapsed into the ocean.
* On the 12th of Waehn 4E 776, a skyship was docked here in the water. It was a small ship with white-lined black sails.

#### Lighthouse

* Just out of town, built upon a crag southeast of Stillwater.
* A large, towering structure of brick and stone with moss growing all along its sides.
* Abandoned and in rather poor shape.
* Much of the top of it seems to have crumbled from the sea spray and harsh conditions of the area.

#### The Sunset Stride

* An inn run by the dwarves Father Mhorin and Kriss.
* Found in the 'old-town' section of Stillwater.
* No apples in winter.

#### Town Council House

* Large brick building in much better shape than the surrounding houses, although the paint on its walls is faded and peeling. Has a tall bell-tower. It is easily the largest building in the town.
* Rather empty on the inside.

#### Waggletop's Wares

* A simple timber and brick building, slightly lopsided as part of it seems to be sinking into the mud. It has a red tile roof. Painted in flaked and faded green paint are the words "Waggletop's Wares".
* Owned by Ellie Waggletop.

## NPCs

### Father Mhorin

* Dwarf. Owner of The Sunset Stride. Well-built. Salt-and-pepper hair. Thick, plaited beard. Warm brown eyes. Tanned, perpetually smiling face. Has a heavy booming laugh. Has a generally cheerful disposition and is polite to his guests.
* He and his wife have been in Stillwater for roughly thirty to forty years.
* Used to live in Dûrandur at some point. Mentioned to Kalahan that while he used to live there, there was talk of goliaths that lived out west, but he'd never met one himself.
* Formerly a cleric of Yohr, The Dawnhammer.

### Kriss

* Father Mhorin's wife. Dwarf. More slender than her husband. Wild mane of ginger hair, pale skin.

### The Blackrock Gang

* Encamped at the base of the mountains, a day north of Stillwater.
* Have been in the area for about a year.
* Abbie Walker appears to be in charge.
* Roshbar the Hammerer is her right-hand man.
* Their bandits have been attacking and mugging merchants/travellers on the road outside Stillwater, as well as small border villages away from guard activity. They've never attacked Stillwater as it's much too large.
* They like to make examples of people that cross them.
* A group of them, led by Roshbar the Hammerer, had been travelling somewhere for reasons unknown. They have now returned to camp, coming eastward from Atheldael proper. The camp is therefore likely fortified/reinforced by larger numbers.

#### Abbie Walker

* Sketch on the Stillwater job board: a short-haired woman with slim yet tough features, a large earring on her right ear, and wearing hooded traveller's clothes.

#### Roshbar The Hammerer

* Sketch on the Stillwater job board: a rugged looking man with slightly long black hair and beard, both unkempt, wearing spiked and studded plate armour atop chainmail.

### Pierre Rodin

* Former owner of Broken Hill Manor.
* Father Mhorin described him as "some high and mighty fellow," although he'd never really spoken to him. Coline, on the other hand, described him as a rather nice fellow.
* He and his family died in a fire that burned down said manor c. 4E 766.
* It is possible that either he or his wife became the foglet that resided in Broken Hill Manor and built the nest within it.

### Linsey Waters

* Description: A frail, mousy looking woman with short, curled, blond hair and brown eyes. Very pale skin, pockmarked and streaked with tears and grime. She's looking down, head hanging so it's difficult to make out more features.
* She and her husband, Renald Waters, had been recently married and expecting a child. The child was born stillborn and bearing the marks of the Stillrot. Both people took it very hard, and Renald could not cope and wandered, distraught, into the Feathered Mire, and had not returned. Linsey, now alone, and wracked with grief, had gone mad and tried to summon a devil and bring back her child/husband. She had tried various superstitions, but was thought to not have succeeded. She was found, awake but unresponsive, in her house amidst a rudimentary summoning circle, and was sentenced to death per the laws of Atheldael.
* Executed on the 12th of Waehn 4E 776.
* "We are gathered here, on this the 12th of Waehn of the year 776 of the fourth era, to witness justice being done. For the crime of consorting with devils and the endangerment of innocent folk whom she has so readily abandoned. By the power vested in me by the Town Council of Stillwater, I hereby sentence Lindsay Waters to be hanged by the neck until death under the laws of Harold, Second of His Name, by the Grace of Chosen Faith of the Great Kingdom of Atheldael and of His Other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Rightful Lord of the Argent Basin and by the Royal Witan of Silverthorne Lords and Ladies alike." - Solomon Anders

### Renald Waters

* Husband of Linsey Waters.
* He apparently couldn't cope with the loss of his child and disappeared into the Feathered Mire and never returned.
* Presumed dead.

### Solomon Anders

* A well-dressed, young and handsome elven male with meticulously well-kept blonde hair that comes down to his shoulders that is tied behind his hair in a slightly loose ponytail. He has icy blue eyes and very meticulously trimmed eyebrows and a chiselled square jawline with high, sharp cheekbones. He clearly knows he is attractive. He wears a tunic with cloth the same colour as his eyes.
* Is a member of the Town Council in Stillwater.
* Announced Lindsay Waters' execution on the 12th of Waehn 4E 776.

### Ellie Waggletop

* Owns Waggletop's Ware.
* A very eccentric-looking female gnome with wild brown eyes and short, frizzled, greying brown hair.
* In place of her left hand she has a rudimentary prosthetic claw that can open and close.

### Rorik Grunnarsson

* A retired dwarven fisherman who spends his time by the Grey Docks in Stillwater.
* Description: "An extremely wrinkled dwarf with heavily tanned leathery skin, grey eyes, thick grey hair and a long plaited beard coming down past his belly. His nose looks like it's been broken several times, and it's got three piercings on the left nostril, along with a few more iron studs along his eyebrows. He seems to be missing most of his teeth. He's dressed in simple fisher's clothing, a sleeveless linen tunic and baggy trousers. His arms are covered in faded tattoos."
* Smokes cigars.
* Has a sense of humor and is a very friendly individual.
* Impressive memory.
* Remembered Yuli's face from roundabout 20 years ago. Yuli explained it would have been her mother. He said she'd come asking questions about passage eastward. He is fairly certain she managed to go east aboard a small skyship called The Kingfisher, but he does not recall exactly where she was headed. Yuli's mother was also quite curious about the area around Stillwater and had shown interest in speaking to old Granny Myrtle.

### Bill Fisher

* Stillwater's dock master.
* Description: "A portly, greasy, middle-aged half-elf, with oily black hair. Dressed in stained clothing and reeks of alcohol and sweat. He's got some stubble and a wispy moustache, that does nothing to cover the bags under his eyes."
* Has a small, dilapidated shack on the south end of the Grey Docks, the inside of which is a cluttered mess.
* Will take bribes.

### Granny Myrtle

* Very old. Older than anyone alive in Stillwater can remember.
* Lives a few days east of Stillwater, out in the deep marsh. Doesn't visit Stillwater much.
* Is quiet and keeps to herself, unless people go poking around in her business.
* Stories say that, for the right price, Granny Myrtle reads people's futures.
* The people that procure this service firmly believe in her abilities. They are not quite the same when they return and they all say the same thing: "Granny Myrtle knows".
* People currently seem to be weary of going anywhere near Granny Myrtle.

### Coline Loweland

* Old human woman with chin-length, greyish hair streaked with white, and steel grey eyes. She is tall and thin with a gaunt, weathered face and pursed lips. She has a perpetual look of disdain.
* Works at the Town Council House as a receptionist/secretary.
* She is a bit rude.

### The Cinder and Spice Owner

* Luterran. Has brown fur streaked with grey, and an eyepatch on its left eye, as well as a large scar running below it.
* Owns The Cinder and Spice.

### Theobald Ainsley

* Stillwater's mayor?
* A bald, portly tiefling male with charcoal-grey skin and very short, curled horns. He has red eyes, a long waxed moustache which is slightly curled at the tips, and a small goatee.
* Wears a lot of perfume to cover up the smell of his sweat.

## Bestiary

### Foglet

* Faced by the party on Vyfdain, 12th of Waehn 4E 776 at Broken Hill Manor in Stillwater.
* Had an open chest cavity and its innards were spilling out.
* Probably some kind of undead or aberration.
* Hard to tell if male or female.
* Had some fog power shit that let it make thick fog. It could see through the fog, and seemingly disappear into it and/or teleport within it.
* It appeared to be trying to open a lockbox.
* After it was slain by Kalahan, it melted into nothing, leaving behind a few bones, a half-melted face, and the lockbox it had been fumbling with for most of the fight.
* During the party's investigation of Broken Hill Manor on Selendain, 13th of Waehn 4E 776, it was discovered that the foglet had built a nest over a very long period of time.
* Lionel hypothesised that the foglet may have once been Pierre Rodin or his wife, and that it retained some memories of its past life.
* Undead can come about in two ways:
	+ someone raises them from the dead,
	+ or they are kept alive by some arcane force or some unfinished business at the time of their death.

### Ghoul

* Bipedal, undead creatures that attack unsuspecting creatures for food.
* Encountered by the party on Aeshvar, 14th of Waehn 4E 776 in The Feathered Mire, as they made their way towards Granny Myrtle's place.

### Stirge

* Flying, blood-sucking creatures the size of small birds.
* Encountered by the party on Aeshvar, 14th of Waehn 4E 776 in The Feathered Mire, as they made their way towards Granny Myrtle's place.

### Crocodile

* Encountered by the party on Aeshvar, 14th of Waehn 4E 776 in The Feathered Mire, as they made their way towards Granny Myrtle's place.

### Giant Crocodile

* Encountered by the party on Aeshvar, 14th of Waehn 4E 776 in The Feathered Mire, as they made their way towards Granny Myrtle's place.

## Miscellaneous

### Stillrot

* A plague or a curse that has been causing stillbirth in the town of Stillwater. May affect older people as well, but the symptoms are apparently different. They fall ill and then die over time. Most of the affected people are pregnant women.
* Stillborn children are encrusted in a stone-like substance, as if they were small statues.
* The first reported case was round about the start of winter.
* The Town Council insists it's a disease brought by foreign rats, which is why guards can be seen around Stillwater killing rats.

### Will-o'-Wisps?

* Seen by Aspen on the 12th of Waehn 4E 776 late into the night, after defeating the Foglet at Broken Hill Manor.
	+ "A faint dancing light, flickering on the ocean some distance from the shore."
	+ "A small, blue wisp, bobbing and weaving up, down, and around for a few seconds before disappearing."
	+ After one disappeared, another would appear a few feet away for a few seconds, before disappearing. This cycle continued on for quite some time as the party made its way back to Stillwater.
	+ They did eventually stop after some time.
* The folk tales say will-o'-wisps usually appear in marshlands and lead people into sinkholes, so what Aspen saw was possibly something entirely different.

## Treasure

### Lockbox

* Found by the party at Broken Hill Manor, left behind by the dead foglet.
* Is protected by an enchantment that makes it very difficult to open without the key (lights up with glyphs when trying to force it open).
* Comes with said key.

### Sapphire Necklace

* A very ornate necklace of sapphires.
* Does not appear magical.
* Probably quite expensive.

### Clockwork Amulet

* Can be opened up like a locket, revealing an impossibly intricate set of clockwork gears that begin to turn, playing a very faint melody while reshaping themselves into intricate constellations.
* The melody is the start of a Varesian lullaby.
* There is Varesian writing around the edges of the amulet: "Dear Lucia, my love for you is as complex as the stars appear."
* With Detect Magic, the item does not appear magical, but there are faint traces of an enchantment inside the clockwork.
* The faint trace of magic appears to be derived from the motion of the clockwork and its interaction with the glyphs around it.