The Thornwood and the Blessed Wood

The Blessed Wood-that section of the Thornwood south and east of the Woldcote River-has been free of humanoids since the so-calJed "scourge" 21 years past, when the Parlfrays used mercenary fighters to clear out these woods and make them suitable for foresting. This has conSiderably increased their own income, and some 200 people in small family groups live within the woodland, Prior to the scourge, (oresting was a dangerous business here; since the settlement. this has become a peaceful and reasonably prosperous area. The great Thornwood to the west of the Woldcote is avoided by local people, save for the margins of the wood just south of the Churnett river and around Hog Brook. TImber wolves, the occasional mountain lion, and bears are often seen along the forest's edge. An espt.>cial peril of the darker recesses of the fOrest are the huge and giant spiders which lurk there, and local people usually mcnhon these brutes as a specific re.lSOn why they don't enter the deeper recesses of the Thornwood. Humanoids (goblins and bugbears especially) are both believed to dwelJ deep within the forest also. Since the Thornwood does not vield timber as good as that from the Lyrchwood or Olessed Wood, and it lacks the Redwood's fruit trees, there is no pressing reason for local folk to exploit it. Hog Brook This stream owes its name to the water-loving scrub oak which grow along the margins of the brook and yield a fine harvest of acorns in fall. Some farmers drive their pigs here to feast on the wood's bounty. O\'er time some havE' escaped, and the neighboring woods is now home to many wi.ld Razorbacks. Only the northern third of the brook is thus foraged, farmers fearing to drive their hen:h. further south. Broken Spire Keep Thb b it key location for the PCs to investigate. It has been abandoned for over a century, and local people don't speak of the place. M~t hiwe forgotten that it ewr existed. This was the original home of the rarJrTays, built by Count Sarden Parlrray and kepi gMrisoned b}' his descendants as i1 central defense within the Thomwood, manned by a vigi* lant bod,,· of men-at-arms to counter the constant threat posed by the humanoids of the Thornwood. Exactly Wholt transpired at the keep prior to its abandonment is unknown. A supply party found the bodib oi the men there hOrribly mutilated. with exprt.~!:iiolb of marrow-chilling terror on their faces. Every I.lst man-at-arms had been slnin, YIJI the defen!Oes of the keep had not been breached in any Wily. Even more surprisingly was that despite the fall of th~ keep the humanoids became less olggre:ssive and dPpeared to c.hun the place as much as the men of the area. Elman Parlfray (the (urnmt Count Parlfray's grandrother) had been away from the keep at the time of the disa~ter, and he relocated the family home to the Haircut Hills, where it hmi been ever since. lie countered Ih(' increasingly hysterical and wild rumors surrounding the fall o( the keep by the c;imple c)(pt.,<lient of issuing a decree that anyone speakin~ of the place in public (which meant a gathering of two or more pt..'OpJe) would bt' liablc 10 5e\'cre punishment. A few good floggings and ruinous fines managoolo sup-press waggi.ng tongues; while memories linger, locals won', di!.CUSS them with strangers. It's highl)' unlikely Ihat thc Pes wiu discover what actually happened at the kL'CP. but for DM reference a reneg.lde nycaloth in the service o( Myrkul /Nerull/ Thanat(lo; was respon.<;iblc for the mass carnage. The maddened horror rampaged through the Thornwood slayin~ cverythmg it encountered, and it slew nearly 300 humanoids in addition to destroying the inhabitant~ oj the keep. The humanoids thus give the keep as wide a berth as anyone el~ in the area. \-tore details of th~'keep at'\! given in the chapter "Ruins in the Thornwood."
Connected to: Heydrus Kuiper Swiftwater Oleanne Ranchefus Count Sandior Parlfray