Ursa Forest Itself, and Encounters and Creatures

URSA FOREST
For Encounters on the Road through:
Ursa Way Encounters

Description of the forest itself:An old oaken forest, more spread than tall, brings you into its damp silence.

• [The grey rainy cover still shrouds the sky, and the rain falls as steadily, but] beneath the old trees the light is scant, and the droplets reach you in a pattering from the leaves above.

• The Ursa Roadway runs true, smooth enough of dirt and gravel, but just off the road there bears an immediate wild and tangle.

• The underbrush appears nearly impenetrable, a mess of bramble and stunted aspen. As the forest deepens, the light dwindles. Bird calls now sound vividly against the silence. Other creatures rustle the undergrowth, too quick to be seen.

• Much here beckons your attention, but being and overarching are the thick, powerful oaks, spreading their green and quiet and dim over all the wood and its creatures.

TRAVEL: Travelers move with difficulty in the dense undergrowth. An eight hour day of travel rarely yields more than 8 miles of progress, unless there is some other factor at hand, such as a very luckily found gnomish path.

STREAMS:

• Generally, streams flow north from the southern hills. They are generally cold and cool--good troutstreams, although the fish (COPPERTROUT and different minnows) are generally small. There are caddis and dragonflies as well.
• The streams sometimes hold GRINDYLOW as well, especially in the deeper and wider sections and in the small lakes that can form in depressed areas.
• There is one stream, called by some the Pinkmouth (for its legendary (highly doubted) fey beginnings), which widens some mile or two north of the road into a slushy bog, or the stream contiues, or it's a big lake. It depends on the moods and events of the GRODAIR, fish-like fey creatures that congregate in this "Staukpond" or "Flushpond" or "Pink Lake" (various words for it, translation from the gnomish / or dwarven).

HISTORY

The Shivvarra in the southern Forest have a rich history, from the old Elven immigrants, to their Demon invaders, and on to the Westerners, who met some unknown fate and disappeared. The Shivvara and the Old Elven Presence in the Ursa
GNOMISH VILLAGE IN THE URSA (example) Orbbin, Gnomish Village in the Ursa Forest
The rest of the forest has been largely untouched by non-gnomish hands for ... however long the forest has been.

Passing through the forest, however, the Ursa Way has been here for a very, very long time, but recently, as of 500+ CE it has become almost urgently busy, with Teldekk's human miners and merchants, as Deepwash gold, silver, and sapphire make their way across and north, eventually to Blennd and Kuttosi and beyond.
Now there are Dwarves who mine, and now from a much greater swath of the Deepwash. Their companies are back and forth regularly. Tennka is the most popular stopping point on the way north. It riots in Dwarven revelry and gusto.

STORIES FROM DWARVEN MERCHANTS: DISTORTION AND DESTRUCTION: THE NEW, SORECEROUS HUMAN OCCUPANTS OF THE URSA

• By a series of strange events unknown even to the gnomes, the old Shivvarran lands (and to a small extent the Ursa Forest proper),
  with the vacuum created by the disappearance of the Westerners, attracted a strange breed of person--usually human, and individually--who uses magic in a distorted and destructive way. Perhaps these men were attractied to the residue of the demonic past.
  Indeed, some of them tap into what energy remains and call forth a variety of unsavory creatuers from the abyss.

ENCOUNTER I: Oleg Strongwill and the Deepwash Bear-People

OLEG STRONGWILL, having searched for Kahn, comes out of the forest into a clearing arms raised in peace...
You are close to Nunny-hoo now, my friends. It reminds me of a story I know, of the NUNNY-HOO, of why you might wish to avoid it...

• You have an energy matched only by the Bear. The story is a long one, but I'll cut it shorter here [ha ha], for I have little time before I must return to the front.


• We'll start with some context...Long ago, in the Old Days, in the early days, before humans or elves walked the land, the creatures of the forest--the sparrow, the bear, the mouse, the cougar--began communicating cautiously, forging relationships, deciding who would play what role, and how, and what the result should be. The gnomes were on the scene, as they long had been. The gnomes, they made a pact with MOTHER BEAR herself, a strong pact that would link the two races together with power and intention.
  In honor of their friendship, the two parties created a space--a hill-sharing the gnomes called it, a sacred space, a "HOO"--among the forested lands that (at that time) stretched hundreds of miles north to south.

So the story goes that this hill was to be known as NUNNY-HOO (roughly "Double-Priest Hill"). It was good for all. The bears and the gnomes blessed it and left gifts--gifts to Gnoilly-Wunderhill, the deity of earth and forest, of gnomes and bears.

This truce lasted thousands of years--thousands!--even into the time that the latter-day races walked the earth: the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the orcs and ogres...
But here, my friends, is where the problem arose. Somewhere in the mountains to the west, an abberant, sorcerous power came into being. Carelessly, this awful power took forest creatures and transformed their being into half-animal, half-human, or even half-dwarf. It was a terrible thing, done by a terrible evil. In what became a terrible, unforgettable bloodbath, the mutant bear-people turned on their friends and sought out the utter destruction of the gnomes. The abberant creator of these mutant bears had a specific problem with gnomish culture and society. He believed that gnomish technology and engineering violated the rules of the forest, and of nature itself; that the gnomes tinkered in sin itself.
The bear-people were thoroughly evil, as their maker was, and they descended from the mountains, roaring and gnashing their teeth. What's worse, further oddities came about: bears combined with other animals, and horrid bear-giants, enormous wicked stupid beasts, combinations of hulking giants and enormous ursines.
Things were terrible, and all were in danger. The Nunny-hoo--the priests of Gnoilly Wundefhill--conoferenced and talked about what they might do, as the hordes of abberant bear creatures stormed the forest from the west. The gnomish leaders said that--as unfortunate as it was--the bear-mutants needed eradication. The bears themselves said that the evil master in the mountains must be defeated first.
The gnomes were soon and inevitably beset by these creatures, and the little people disappeared underground for many hudred years.

In recent centuries--the threat lessened--they have poked their heads out and cautiously returned to their old way of life.
Things were better for a while; the danger was less...
But... it was not over. The Nunny-Hoo hill-shrine had been wrested from the priests by the twisted enemies of old.

Bear giants lurked, ready to destroy anyone who approached the broken shrine. Bear-people came and went and to their own amusement abused the holy hill in unspeakable ways.

Gnomish opposition was killed and interred within the shrine to derision and evil laughter.
The bear priests and the gnome priests of Nunny-Hoo dared not show their faces. Thus things continued for centuries, and they still do today.  The hill is desecrated and gnomish priesthood kept away.
Thus it is I would warn you not to venture to the hill. The danger is great. They say that a gnomish treasure lies within, but is that worth a horrible death at the claws of a mutant bear?
Those who lived through these times say that the bear-men and bear giants have brought the bears to their side, turned against both gnomes and dwarves. We dwarves have a tough job coming to destroy them all, but we're rolling up our sleeves, braiding our bears, and pulling on our steel-toes and storming down the mountain for the battles to come.
The mining towns are in danger as well, but we're holding them for now. It seems these creatures lust for blood AND gold.
I only hope the bears will settle for truce--or surrender--before we have to wipe them out. There will be no more abberations in our mountains, or all of Ursa itself.  We Dwarves have had enough.  Too many centuries gone, too many deaths at the hand and tooth of these bear-men.  [spits]
AFTERWARD CONVERSATION:

Strangely, You remind me of a priest who once worked there, by the name of Ursatobby Clawbins.

[/l
• But Nothing has been heard from him in decades, even centuries. Nothing more...

ENCOUNTER II: Black Bears and Orcs

Ahead on the trail are a black bear mother and two cubs, hurrying along, the mother glancing back over her shoulder. (Kahn should have DC12 to understand, that the three are in distress. If they determine so, they can try and see what's going on..
"Follow us," the mother seems to be saying. Lead to a den that's been caved in, by someone... Definitely done on purpose, by another creature. (by orcs, a group of them hiding out nearby, hungry.)
The cave-in is hard to repair, and the orcs will set a HAZARD for the PC's if they leave and come back. The orcs will wait and see if the HAZARDs works, then descend if it does, otherwise run away.

ENCOUNTER III: The Winter Hag (cr7)

A hunched lady in a rich fur-lined robe appraoches slowly from down the road; bent over as she is, she still glances up from her stoop with a kind, even joyful, smile. Her eyes are dark, but they sparkle, and her smile is wise and kind, despite bring full of yellow, cracked teeth.
The woman leans on a wooden staff as she shuffles forward to greet you.

Has knowledge of herbs, and of the Thallus plant (pretends extra knowledge here)

ENCOUNTER IV (forest hills): Wallabunk the Wood Giant (cr6)

Wood smoke smell, rising from a location to the south of Way
From within the woods, the giant sayd, "Who goes there?
"Who walks the wood, and why? State your attitude, and your purpose; Wallubunk asks; and you answer:
"Why do you walk the wood? Who are you? What do you want? What is your attitude?
"What do you say to the trees and shrubs and herbs? What do you say to the bears and deer? Wiley asks, and you answer."
Wiley is hiding in the wood, completely concealed and hiding. He comes out after his questions are answered, with either a friendly or unfriendly attitude, and acts accordingly.
If he likes the heroes, he will invite them to his home for a meal. He knows more about the werebears and Dwarves, will suggest that

• they become very fierce and powerflu at the full moon.
• they have wandered the Rainy Hills for many years, and only now they're moving north, surrounding the temple of .
• supposedly there is a chieftan among them who wants a dwarven holy item, the Crusher (Zigg-ez in Dwarven)


• There is a dwarf in the Deepwash who can lead this adventure.
• His name is Oleg Strongwill, one of the great rangers of the Granite Clan of the Mountain Dwarves.
  
• The Werebears have laid seige to the Temple of Ronja in the Heights of Ronja's Mountain, and life-supporting supplies in the tempe are thinning
  
• If you are a Dwarf-friend, and you wish to help, you can find Oleg in the Trading Town of Tennka.
• He was here in my camp not three or four days ago, stopping on his way north.
• He will not cease in his diligence until the temple is saved, but has few allies--at least few willing to help with the case in Tennka to help


• the werebear chieftan wields great power over the other bear people, a very charismatic leader
• The Dwarves are on the move east, down out of the Deepwash.
• Something is happening; they must sense the movement from the humans and their hordes
  The giant will know vague things about the story of Nunny-hoo Hill, and the role the werebears play in its current crisis, or a piece of the story regarding the blue worm

Wallabunk also has extensive knowledge of forest herbs, especially the trees

AND oF THE ELVES (and Holski)

Reveals intelligence of both "Humans and their Horde": Bairens and Holski (ostensibly capturing as much territory as possible

and the Dwarven armies (see above), coming down from the Deepwash Mountains in droves, and grim in visage

TALE TO TELL: History of Elves in the Ursa: Wallabunk Tells of the Elves, although he knows little current information

Few people know of them, though they've been here for centuries.

The elves and I have had an... understanding.

Not many others now they're there at all

I fear Holski's army may overtake them, although I know not where they reside, exactly

In fact, "My creatures have been strangely silent about the elves. I have not received word of their well-being, or otherwise...

What's happening, or what has happened, my creatures have not been able to find

[h4STORY: ]THE BLUE WORM and the WEREBEARS

and others are driven by a manic desire to kill...

they say the gnomes are responsible for their afflictions and the tortures that come with;

or for some it is the dwarves;

and some even say the wild animal-bears have caused it...

Truth is that bears drive north when they get "the worm," tiny blue worms that build up in the brain (hosted only by were-creatures) and cause insanity and aggression... when killed the werebears show their worm infestations... Some even die from it first.

What is the cause of the worm? No one knows as of yet...

And how does it relate to Nunny-hoo Hill, the Place of Peace between the gnomes and bears



STORY: NUNNY-HOO HILL: Its history and speculated current state
(Possibly slain bodies of bears or gnomes at base of hill, and signs of the werebears all about. A certain hatred drives them further north, a desire to seek out and destroy the gnomish people, who are said (back south) to be the cause of their affliction, by some wicked sorcery.

Long, long ago the bears and the gnomes decided to formalize and ceremonialize a new alliance, of protection and sharing, and survival. But this pact or peace between the gnomes and the bears is anathema to the drive of the werebears.
They are driven to destroy any bear or gnome that comes within a range of Nunny-Hoo:
NUNNY-HOO DESCRIPTION

a high hill that looks out west over the tops of the oaken forest, a vast fiield of green canopy,

the overcast sky a broad painting of greys and grey-blues, with the imposing white capped purple of the Deepwash Mountains, marching north to south as far as vision permits

Atop the hill is a modest altar, low and sturdy, made of wood and looking after the fashion of gnomish handiwork

Slashes as those of great bearclaws mar the wooden structure, and the claw marks are embellished and decorated with the vivid geometry of gnomish painting. The design perfectly blends the art of the bear with the art of the gnome. The result is somehow complex and simple harmony at the same time.

There are two levels to the altar; one at gnome height, and one a few feet higher. On the shorter tier sits a large bear-skull, perfectly clean and bleached white. There are paintings of periwinkle, forest green, and gold, gracing the bearskull with symbol and decoration.

Upon the higher tier of the altar sits a simple gnome skull, somehow seeming to smile instead of leer, even with a wink in its eye somehow. All about the skull are scattered raw obsidian stones, bear-claws of various lengths, and some sharp bear teeth. There are also the stained remains of blackberries.

Then go to @nunn

OTHER POSSIBILITIES and ENCOUNTERS FOR THE URSA FOREST

PENANGALAN, B3 cr5, Head and Guts can occupy youthful bodies

DEMONS OF VARIOUS KIND, MORE NUMEROUS THE SOUTHERN YOU GO

• Babau
• Invidiak (B2, cr7)
• nabasu (B2, cr7)
• from Nabasu to Vrolikai (B2, cr19): formed from nabasu, in the abyss
• Bebilith (B2, cr10)
• vrock (Bcr9)
• Quasit (Bcr1)
Succubus (Bcr7)

GRINDYLOW, cr0 B2

CHOKER (already in module)

NIGHTGAUNT (Dream, cr4, b3)

SKELETONS (already in module) of Any Variety, left over from demons or sorcerors

SINSPAWN (already in module)

OWLBEAR (B,cr4)

WINTER HAGS (as above)

WOOD GIANTS (B2, as above)

WOOD GOLEMS (B2, cr5)

OWLBEAR (B,cr4)

TROLLHOUNDS (B2,cr3): escaping into the wild, especially from the south and the wastes, packing up and roaming the forests ruinously

ANIMALS

• COUGARS
• WOLVES
• MINK and WEASEL
• BLACK BEARS and GRIZZLY / BROWN BEARS
• URSAN GREEENFOOT MOUSE
• GIANT SPIDERS, GOLIATH SPIDER (B,cr11)
• GIANT MANTIS (cr3 or 11, B)

• GREAT HORNED OWLS
• DEMON BEAR OWLS
• SONGBIRDS, many kinds

• COPPERTROUT; streams flow down from the hills in the south
• MOSQUITOES (usually not too bad)
• GREENBOTTLE FLIES
• (GRINDYLOWS can also hide in the streams)
• GRODAIR... fishlike fey that live in the "Staulponds" and "Flushponds" in the marshes where the Pinkmouth (Flikka-Rikka) River empties into the forest..

HUMANOIDS

WEREBEARS (a chaotic evil type)

GNOMES

DWARVES (almost always just traveling the forest, on mercantile business to/form Broond, rarely as far as Blennd)... Most of the Dwarves are from Tennka and the Deepwash behind it, but also Jennka or Farrka (and conceivably any part of the mountains)

Sometimes SCOUTS of KING HOLSKI show up along the Ursa Way

BAIREN FOLK (almost always just traveling through on mercantile business, other reasons, or in Bairen guards, to/from the northern Bairen cities)

ORCS and GOBLINS and very rarely OTHER GOBLINOIDS

Pyronticus Explo himself, and other Sorcerous types, NPC's

DIZIRIAK, possibly taking over of the keep, an insect-like humanoid of runes and light, cr3 B2

DROW (if hunting for something specific, otherwise would never enter the forest)

PLANTS

• "Oaken Fathers"--the true deep old oaks of the Ursa
• Trailsong Oaks
• Stunting Aspen
• Balsam Fir
• Webcress
• Raspberry, Blackberry, and Thimbleberry: the staple of all bears in the forest
• Cubbins-Bubby (a kind of sweet-pea plant that grows in vines)
• Stump-Wubbies... Grow like a wood stump with reaching red branchlings... used by gnomes for rest on journeys
• Ragpar Bagbean... a unique variety of Ragbean grown only in this region... Has bright red flowers and ruddy brown seedpods. The Ursa Groggin-cubby is among the finests. (Ragbean: Ragbean and Groggin-Cubby )
• Wood anemonies of many kinds, mostly yellow or white flowers
• Lily of the Forest, small and delicate bells of a lavender or vague yellow color
Sunwhite Thallus (grows in places where the sun reaches (when it comes out)) Soot Thallus (grows up in areas touched by demon forces of some/any kind)--mixed with demon spit to become explosive