Hex E-1: This is the highest peak in the area, pretty cold. The players find a cave. The first chamber, shallow, holds a hibernating bear. Beyond the bear, however, is a steep passage covered in ice. It will require a climbing check to descend safely. About 70% of the way down the cavern opens up into a larger chamber. There is no safe place to stand in this chamber, and it is both dark and covered in ice, but if the players take the time to look around they will discover the most beautiful cave paintings on the wall. About 2/3rds of which describe the sort of hunter/gatherer life that we now associate with prehistoric man. The remainder of which show records of war, brutality, and fear of an unknown and unstoppable calamity from above.
As the shaft reaches its bottom, it suddenly opens out, with a final 30’ drop to the frozen ground below. There is no way to climb down this without a secured rope of some kind.
Within this chamber are the Ur-Men. 173 men, women, and children frozen solid. Huddled together for long lost warmth. They are huge, burly, hairy things. They are the men who came before men. Better, in many ways. No less clever than us, they are only less studied than we are. And a great deal more powerful. Even a child of 7 or 10 might have as much as 2 or 4 hit dice. The adults range from 7 to 12 each.
The frost here is deep, and will not melt without interference. If they are thawed, they will be revived fully within only a few days. Their recuperative abilities are well beyond those of humans. It is unlikely that any means of complex communication can be found, but the referee should know: they are the Peoples of the Red Hills. They retreated here to escape what they believe was “The God of Cold, consuming the heavens as he descended with ice and fire.” They are not unnecessarily violent, but they are territorial, and believe in the fundamental truth that might makes right. They will never subject themselves to the tiny, weak modern humans. No matter how impressive their science and magic have made them.
The Ur-Men are also prolific breeders. Their women bear young in litters of 4-8, and all take the work of creating and raising children as a grave duty that must be pursued with vigor. In as little as a generation, these unfrozen peoples could become a small nation, ready to sack the modern world and draw it back into an era of darkness.
Hex E-2: Vedast the mountain man. Roll 1d6: on a 1 the players stumble onto Vedast’s humble home, otherwise they meet him out about the mountain. Perhaps he is cooking a meal, fishing, hunting, wrestling with a bear, chopping down a tree, gathering clay to make some pots, weaving a basket, or whatever else a man of the mountain might do. Vedast is capable, and he does it all.
He’s a large man, nearly 7’, with shoulders broad enough to dwarf two smaller men. He wears the skins and furs of animals he hunted himself, and carries equipment for whatever task he’s currently pursuing—most of which he also made himself. Vedast has lived in the mountains most of his life, and until recently he only came down to make his biannual trips to the nearest church to receive the holy sacraments. Since the devils came, and the practice of the Christian faith was banned, he has remained on his mountain, spending a great deal of time in prayer for his soul, and the souls of his countreymen who have fallen beneath the wretched influence of the Duke.
Vedast is devout in his faith, with the complete sincerity of a saint. He stays away from the devil’s affairs, and suggests that you do as well. Nothing good can come from being among them.
Vedast is an expert in anything within this hex, and both of the contiguous mountain hexes (E1 & D3). He’s been everywhere, and seen everything, even if he won’t tell you all that he knows. He prefers to keep his distance from anything unnatural. He also has a 4-in-6 chance of being aware of anything in the hexes adjacent to his mountains.
Vedast and Jay the Blue are aware of one another, and Jay is quite fond of the gruff, simple, and kindhearted Vedast. Vedast, in turn, holds some affection for Jay in his heart of hearts, but also regards him as a simonist and a sinner. In times past, the two would occasionally share a quiet smoke, or a meal around the campfire. Jay respectfully chooses not to exercise magic of any kind within sight of the mountains, though he does have brief exchanges with birds. (A practice Vedast is not uncomfortable with, as he himself often speaks with the animals. Though for him, they do not speak back).
Unfortunately, since the devils came, Vedast has become hyper-vigilant about the purity of his soul, and has cut all contact with Jay. Something which makes both of them very sad.
Vedast has a trio of dogs named Alexander, Maximus, and Barrigan. He has names for every significant creature on the mountains, and a cordial relationship with each.
Hex E-3: An odd mound of tangled plants, with a glint of dull metal visible through it. If the overgrowth is cleared away, there is a front loading cannon beneath. 9’ long, with a 6” barrel. One of the wooden wheels broken, while the whole rest of the wooden structure has become rotted and brittle. It’ll fly apart dangerously if the weapon is fired in this condition. There are no gunpowder or balls nearby.
If loaded properly, the cannon will deal 3d6 SHP of damage on a successful hit. Attack rolls take a -10 penalty if attempting to target individual people. When attacking structures, each miss grants a cumulative +2 to hit to subsequent shots against the same target, as you’re able to narrow in your shot.
Hex E-4: A desk by the side of an idyllic little pond, where an obese man with a pimply face and unkempt hair juggles scraps of balled up paper next to a writing desk. If he notices someone approach he will drop the balls in embarrassment and busy himself with quill and ink. If the intruders speak to him, he will bluster about how rude they are for interrupting his very busy creative process. He insists he is a writer, but if asked to share his work, he will make excuses. He’s never been able to finish anything, he claims, because of his constant interruptions and the excessive demands on his time. The stacks of paper around him are filled with incomplete To Do lists.
Hex E-5: There is a field of deep, overgrown grass. When a path of movement cuts through the grass, the unusually long and complex roots pulse, and the movement is indicated on a map within the small hut at the center of the field.
The hut has two doors, one to the right, and one to the left. The door on the left is locked. The door on the right leads into the false hut, which appears just as it should. A small wooden space with windows, the map of the surrounding area on a table at the center, a few supplies, and a guard with a key to the left door.
When the left door is opened, it reveals the true interior. A hellchamber of red stone, much larger on the inside than the hut is on the outside. The multi-tiered chamber contains three regiments of devils, all drilling together in preparation for war. Near the back is a large summoning circle where diabolists summon ever more devils to join these ranks.
This place is not hell, nor is it earth. It is a place between the two, placed as closely to earth as can possibly be managed. It is a struggle, moving from one world to another. It takes time and energy. Here, the hard work of summoning an army of devils can be done in advance of any need to deploy them on earth. And when they are needed, all it will require is walking out the door. This is the staging area, the buffer of the diabolic invasion that will come at the earliest opportunity.
Hex E-6: A dank little swamp. Roughly 200’-300’ across at its widest points. Bit of a clearing, bushy plants growing next to murky pools of standing water. A haven for small buzzing things, and the slightly larger slimy things that eat them.
On hot days, when the swamp gas is thick in the air, a feathered beast appears. You and I would recognize it as a dinosaur. Specifically, a Hadrosaur. The creatures corpse rests deep beneath the swamp, and the heat in this region only recently rose high enough for its decomposing vapors to rise to the surface.
The creature is not intelligent as we think of it, but it is aware enough to be angry. Angry that it is alone, and that it is trapped in this swamp. Angry that it has not been able to mate.
If it can mate with a female of your group by merging with her, then 4 months later she will birth an egg, which will hatch into a child of the creature. She may then opt either to pass the spirit on to another, or immediately become pregnant again.
Hex E-7: A large barrel—a Hogshead size—floating in the water. Once fished out, players will notice a mark branded into the top of the barrel. Any well traveled player will at least be able to recognize that it’s a mark of Venetian origins, while players with greater familiarity with the seat trade may be able to track it to a particular merchant house. Regardless of where it came from, it’s here now, without anyone to claim it.
The barrel is full of black pepper. 470 pounds of it, to be exact. At a common rate of roughly 18 silver per pound, this is quite the find! A valuable sell at nearly any port the party may call in at.
A young man named Stiles received 15 lashes for knocking the barrel overboard in the night, and was dismissed from his post without pay at the nearest port. His anger over this injustice has been left to fester, and he’s become obsessed with finding the barrel. He figured it will show up in some port eventually, and so he picked one at random and spends his days watching the docks. Because Stiles is kinda stupid. But lady luck sometimes takes pity on the stupid and the determined, and so there is a fully 1 in 6 chance that Stiles just happens to be waiting in whatever port the players try to unload the pepper into.