Class Contacts: The Fighter [d20]

Well, I was on my way to running a Dolmenwood game but my usual group is wanting to give Eberron a shot using Knave; so I'll likely be running it with my B-team crew once I've got the time and means; as well as the pdfs I backed in the OSE Kickstarter.

That all being said, expect some Eberron material in the future which will likely be done up in the same sort of style/tables as Rakehell. What follows isn't any of that stuff though, it's a list of randomroll contacts who have a bit more to them than just a mere sentence. These first twenty are related to the Fighter/Warrior archetype, and they operate under the assumption that your character has become an adventurer after participating in a conflict of some sort.

I, having used this before, gave any Fighter a number of rolls on this equal to their Charisma Modifier, with a minimum of 1 Contact. Rolling the same results multiple times increases the level of importance and favoritism the contact has for you, regardless of how you might view them. Best friends can sometimes make terrible enemies.

The Fighter Class Contacts [d20]

1. Your old commander, maimed and retired and bitter about both of those reasons as much as they're bitter about everything else in life. They want so desperately to see action again. They want even more desperately to find a reason to keep on living, should they not be able to find a warrior's death fitting of their life's work. You brighten their day, which makes the darkened hours all the drearier...

2. The quartermaster of your former company, now stuck in a job that barely uses their talents. They've grown bored, lax, and corrupt. Without challenges or thrills in life, there's very little point in giving a thought to their numbers. Nobody else check's their ledgers, and that makes their descent all the easier...

3. A mercenary, from a company you once worked alongside of. Knows the good jobs, but always doubts your valor and courage; as if you're somehow good enough friends for such playful banter. Has tried to hire you to work for their company before, but there's a good reason you never signed on...

4. An old enemy who has since fallen into neutral terms with you as the conflict which bore such ill-will is of little modern concern. Harbors no lingering spite but fears you planting a dagger in their back. Is utterly profit-minded now, though when they whisper your name to peers, it is hard to know their intent...

5. A chaplain who once roused your spirits in an hour of darkness. Now, sadly, disillusioned by conflict, clinging to their faith which they now view in tatters. Chastises your level of devotion, be it too high, too low, or not important at all. Wants so desperately for there to be a sign that all of this was worth it...

6. An old ally of yours who committed heinous war crimes in the field. They show no sign of any regret. Strangely calm and treats you like you're a true friend. They treat you like you were complicit in their horror show. They wear the face of a good citizen, but you see a fracture in that mask and something wicked deep beneath it waiting to emerge...

7. A minor lordling who has heard tales of the conflict and thinks you a good source of stories. Likes to play soldier, likes to get in the rough of it. Will get themselves killed trying to emulate your deeds or those of your superiors, as they lack a frame of reference or a friendship with death...

8. A knight who once used your companions and self as a means to gain personal glory; much to your suffering. Is terrified of the many deaths caused by such avaricious gloryhounding may be revealed and see him undone. Assists out of fear you might blackmail them, certainly not a true friend...

9.  A young watchman, the first person who saw you when you came back from the war. Hasn't been to war proper, but knows they might get sent someday. Genuinely kind company, but treats you with a gentle and distant touch; like you're a hound that's been beaten one too many times, not a person.

10. A once cruel officer who saw you take the lash, but now home from the war has shown themselves to be a pleasant person with a loving family. They speak of the war and their actions only when asked, and do not dwell in glory or lies. They do not take back their actions, they were right at the time. They treat you like you're lost, like you don't get how things are now...

11. A deserter, ever apologetic for having left the night before that devastating massacre. Lives in fear of being outed for their flight, lives in shame for their cravenness. Is well-connected and living under a false name, just wants to be left alone but is burdened to you by their own guilt...

12. A bilious wandering judge who had once hired you to keep them safe from "the rabble" and "the riff-raff." Loves to blather on about precedent and law, and always seemed to care more about profitable interpretation than just ones. Brought you around so your might could make right...

13. The plague doctor who kept you in quarantine upon your return, probing and peeling at your flesh for sake of "the community" and a fear of war-time contaminants. Trusts you because you were "clean", somehow thinks of you as a grand old friend. Is always announcing you when they see you by saying "And this is my friend..."

14. Local "monster hunters," really a couple reckless youths who seem to know their local legends and possess a nearly perverse desire to risk their lives in combat against the unknown. They're so impressed by everything about you and want you to show them the ropes, but they're very dismissive as well. They will end up charlatans, surely...

15. A troupe of lepers who have heard of your deeds from others who have passed through their ill-treated brotherhood. They linger on the fringes of the roads, but they know the nature of your soul at a glance and deem you a fair-weather friend in worthy of protecting; for so few are ravaged by conflict and decide to keep moving forward...

16. Your sibling who went off to fight in the same war, at your side even, but who has lost their way since the end of the conflict. They have readjusted to society by telling tall tales and exaggerating their actions to scales both grand and minute. They rouse to anger quickly, brought down only by the weight of their shame for not weathering it as well as you have, or with the numbness dolled out by the oblivion-seeking sips of a bottle...

17. A corpse-picker who once helped you bury the body of a friend. They lent you a sip from their lucky flask and allowed you to vent your rage and your sorrows. They promised not to take his boots, because its harder to do that when they see someone cared for the body. They always seem to know a buyer from something...

18. A camp follower, to whom you spent many nights with in comfort despite vows or promises made to anyone before you left. They know things are different now that you're not out warring. They try their best to not act like anything you had with them was real...

19. A maligned caster of spells from some cloistered tower or institution, who sees in you a capacity do what needs doing in the world. They speak pompously, seldom with kindness in their tone, but they are always good for the money they owe. They want you to know that their reputation is embellished and hope you'll make a proper appraisal, if only so they might hear something new...

20. A local lord who has heard of your work and deeds, and considers you to be an appropriate rook to be used in combat with their enemies. Invites you to feasts and tournaments, but seldom will you two have a moment to speak. Their counsel makes it know you are utterly disposable as an asset, but when you and the lord have words it is clear they value some small bit of your world-view.

Dolmenwood: Notable Trees of the Dolmenwood & Their Uses

"I hereby request a table of terse, evocative descriptions of the common, yet sublime trees that compose the Dolmenwood."

- Requested by David Perry of the Lithyscaphe blog.

If brevity is the heart of wit, then I am a heartless fool. But in all seriousness, here are 4 trees for each of the 11 regions of the Dolmenwood, with notes for both what they look like and long-winded descriptions of what good they might be used for. In all honesty, should've just done twenty. Even thirty would've been more than enough. 

Yet here I am. Had to reformat the dang thing five times too.

-*-

Many a wandering friar in the woods of the isle of Emeraude are known for their skill in botany, and while most wayfarers will accost them for their services in identifying mushrooms (usually for hedonistic or malicious purposes at that!), many are far more adept at examining the sublime yet subtle mutations the fae energies have upon the wood. Common trees, in certain areas of the wold, possess strange magics and features that are uncommon elsewhere in the world (at least according to the friars.)

When attempting to examine or search for one of these sublime trees, consult the following information for sake of guidance:

• Friars: 4-in-6 chance of valid information (location, type of tree, strange effects).
• Hunters: 2-in-6 chance of valid information (4-in-6 chance for location of "the weird tree")
• Drune: 1-in-6 chance of valid information (they wish you harm, but if you are friend to them, 5-in-6 chance of valid information.)
• Woodcutters: 3-in-6 chance of valid information, 5-in-6 chance for location (Backenwold, High Wold, Hag's Addle).
• Generic NPC from Region, 1-in-6 chance to know location, always wrong information [see below]

-*-

Notable Trees of the Brackenwold

1. Brackenpine 
Appearance: Pine with curled frond-like needles. Sweaty bark.
Lore: Notable for its needles which bend and curl like the fronds of a young fern. The wood of such pines carry far more moisture than they need to, and pulping said tree can produce a powerful earthy-tasting syrup which is used in many hermetic remedies; particularly for toothaches. 

2. Sweet Monkswood  
Appearance: Oak with wide boughs, lacking leaves at the top. Smells sweetly.
Lore: A malady which effects young oak trees around their fortieth year, causing all leaves above a certain height to fall off and never grow back which in turn creates a strange tonsured look to the tree. Tea brewed from these "bald" twigs are sweet like candies and worth a fare amount on the spice market.

3. Itchermuss Tree 
Appearance: Dusty-leafed hazel with crackled nuts. Swarmed with vermin.
Lore: A low-growing off shoot of hazel trees, the itchermuss has leaves which collect all form of stinging detritus and irritating pollen, which in turn attract all manner of wasps, bees, and ants. To fall in an itchermuss is to court terrible rashes; but to an apiarist, they are a treasure to the trade. Its nuts taste bitter.

4. Sylvan Soverweald
Appearance: White wooded oak with beautiful patterns, feels warm as if always in sunlight.
Lore: An easily workable form of oak that is born from wayward seeds planted in the Otherwold. Soverweald grows high and the branches encircle with elegant angles befitting an Elfen crown. Prized by woodworkers, cutting down such trees can cause vicious reprisals by elfs, dryads, and the occasional moss dwarf who views it as a distant cousin of an ancestral fey source.

Notable Trees of the High Wold

1. Subtle Birch Hornwood 
Appearance: Birch whose branches sprawl out like antlers. Pungent spice smell to the bark.
Lore: A specific form of birch tree, mutated by the longstanding and capricious presence of goatmen. Branches grow gnarled and smooth rather than straight like a traditional birch. When peeled, the bark can make a soothing tea and the wood cannot be stained, remaining white as snow.

2. Mansæpple
Appearance: Dreadful looking crab-apple tree, smells of fermentation.
Lore: A form of apple tree that grows in the courtyard of Lord Malbleat's Manse. The fruit is unspeakably bitter, and when dried, resemble the twisted faces of men in torment. Can accentuate the flavor of any meat when used as a spice, though Malbleat hoards them for his own purposes.

3. Duskwood
Appearance: Towering pine with needled branches only upon the top. Shadow-hued bark.
Lore: Cultivated by the trusted servants of the dreaded Lord Ramius, the Duskwood trees grow tall and straight like blackened spears from the underworld, sprouting at too high a height into coniferous spear-heads. The bark of duskwood is used in the making of true spirit boards, and when burnt it produces only smoke which serves as a gateway to a hellish realm of shadows. 

4. Lethean Elm
Appearance: Twisted Elm with oddly-shaped shadowcasting branches. Sounds of laughter when wind blows through its boughs.
Lore: Tapped into the groundwater of the Lethean Well, these elms grow exceptionally gnarled and weird of bough. Their specific nature can only be discerned by how light casts shadows from the elm, those which reveal the form of fae shadow puppets belong to a Lethean Elm. The sap of these trees can form the basis of potent alchemical treatments, and when applied as a salve, seal shut any wound with great efficiency.

Notable Trees of the Tithelands

1. Goman's Spine
Appearance: Off-grey Ash which grows with spiky nub-like branches towards its base. Smells of cowardice.
Lore: These ash trees grow in the gaps between burial mounds or on the scrubland of ancient battlefields where the Goman invaders were beaten back by the men of Tolmenwode and Goatmen natives. Tapping a foot before the top of the trunk will allow a syrup of glooming green to flow, which if applied to weapons can rip at the spectres of spectral undead as though they were physical. Armor or weapons made of this tree are said to always break upon striking at a True Emeraude warrior.

2. Puckswood 
Appearance: Yew tree whose branches reach over the edge of cliffs. Lightly illuminated at dusk and night, as if by candles.
Lore: Wicked yews which often grow on the edge of cliffs, puckswood are common home to jack-of-the-lanterns, will-of-the-wisps, and glowbugs who act as lanterns seeking to lead men off the edge and to their dooms. Torches of puckswood glow with embers rather than ignite in flame, and remain lit when submerged in water for up to a minute. 

3. Silverpine
Appearance: Pine coated in silver dusting of pollen at all times of the year. Smells of iron.
Lore: Silverpines grow upon lands where ancient battles among faeriefolk ensued to great carnage, the eldritch blood soaking deep into the earth and nourishing fledgling seeds. Silverpines collect pollen from both this world and the Otherwold, and when burnt they serve as a powerful aromatic. Smoke from a Silverpine can sometimes trigger the silver sickness of faeriekind.

4. Shamblemound
Appearance: Akin to a crumpled strawberry tree, bent over itself. Berries are green and hard as stonefruit.
Lore: Shamblemounds are aptly named for their habit of being knocked about in thunderstorms and growing tightly around rocks or mounds they've been knocked towards. Taking up shelter beneath a shamblemound is a sure way to remain dry during arduous weather, and taking branches for grafting can allow a skilled gardener to naturally work wood into forms that will grow if properly nourished. Berries taste sour but their skins are easily candied.

Notable Trees of the Dwelmfurgh

1. First Oak 
Appearance: Oak tree, but ancient and wrinkled like the skin of your great grandmother; smelling of smoke and stagnancy. 
Lore: First Oaks are the first oaks, they are the concept of the oak, they are held in great value by the Drune for their longevity. Drune of skilled enough sorcery can commune with these trees and see, listen, and learn, all that such a tree has come to remember since the world was young and man dwelled in mud. The bark of a First Oak can contain spells of power for more than a single charge when used as a scroll, but the Drune consider it high sacrilege to wound the trees given the knowledge they might impart.

2. Wickerweald
Appearance: Pliable sallows, dusky autumnal colors. Smell of honey. Attract bees upon their boughs.
Lore: Wickerweald are a cultivated off-shoot of willow maintained by drunewives over generations, from mother to daughter. The wood of the wickerweald is harvested to create the framework for Drune hoods that need to be exceptionally tall or pointed, as well as in the creation of furniture, and sacrificial effigies in which human sacrifices are allegedly placed. If properly worked, wickerweald can provide a sturdy base for most costuming projects, and if used to build an apiary it will attract a hive of robust workers.

3. Mugmuntle Tree
Appearance: Low growing holly trees with poisonous berries that look like a starry night sky.
Lore: Mugmuntle berries have long been used in the woad of warriors in the Dolmenwood, both for painting their bodies and for psyching themselves into berserker states. The Drune cultivate Mugmuntle now to create wicked brews that make their enemies more pliable and open to manipulation. Drinking a tree of mugmuntle leaves can help ease the sickness of those who consume the berries. The berries, if pulped, can make a contact poison that can enrage a victim or pacify one if treated with the appropriate tinctures. 

4. Grovemoaners
Appearance: Spindly pines with long limbs ending in thin needled branches. Sounds of screams echo through the boughs when it rains. Iron nails can be found at all manner of odd angles in the trunk.
Lore: It is said when one betrays the Drune, after having undergone astonishing lengths to gain their trust, suffer the most heinous of deaths. Grovemoaners are pines which men have been crucified to. Their flesh is ripped by the long limbs of the tree, thrown flayed into the winds. Those who die here scream, and their scream echoes eternally upon the winds. The most fearsome wooden masks of the Audrune are made from the wood of a grovemoaner, often worn by those who performed the ritual upon their victim.

Notable Trees of the Nagwood

1. Pareidolic Mournwood
Appearance: Bare leafless trees, bark that resembles the tormented faces of human beings.
Lore: It is commonly held that when one sees faces in tree bark they are overtired or have stepped too close to Faerie; in the Nagwood, it means you have stepped into a graveyard of the damned. The trees that bare human faces, often more than a dozen, trapped in eternal torment, scream and moan in cacophonous lament as the wind blows through them. Necromancers may find they carry souls of use for their wicked art, while woodgrue in service to the Wood-King, know only mournful sorrow songs can be played on instruments of this wood's make. 

2. Blotbark
Appearance: Bloated trees, as if merely a bark layer containing a black tarry ooze. Smells of pitch.
Lore: Blotbark is a mark of corruption by the forces of chaos upon the wold, a sign that the years of existence and the testament of ages that are the forest are worth nothing while held in such bondage. Sometimes wicked fruit grows upon these trees, but no man of the cloth is willing to sacrifice their soul to dare taste or experiment with them. 

3. Splinterwood
Appearance: Shattered trees with sharp edges like broken glass. Painful to breath around.
Lore: Further corruption by way of chaos, splinterwood is deadly and it carries upon the wind like a gust of sewing needles or razors. It breaks easily enough, and the splinters seem to bury themselves deep in the flesh of those they touch---carried by tiny mite-like limbs. If properly and safely crushed and placed into a pouch can be used as an agonizing blinding powder.

4. Wosewillow
Appearance: Like an agonized giant, obscured by lichen, vines, and bramble branches that burst from a hole in its crown. Smells of tears, leaks spiders.
Lore: The Hairy Giants oppose the Wood-King, and of their champion the Nag-Lord made examples. Those who stood their ground against his expansion of the realm were rooted firmly in place, stuck in a dreaming hellish half-life wherein they feel every pain but can do nothing to strike out. If their wooden throats are cut, a hairy tarantula with the face of the wose-man upon its rump will emerge. Returning such spiders, alive, to the Hairy Giants will grant mortal man some degree of friendship among their ranks.  

Notable Trees of the Mulchgrove

1. Bloated Hogselm
Appearance: Thick-trunked elm with stunted branches and a greasy texture to its bark.
Lore: Bloated hogselm is a favored material of the moss dwarfs as it is rich in nutrients and easy to cultivate fungi upon. The pulp meat of the tree tastes oddly like pork, or so moss dwarfs claim, and the wood is easily carved into their moon-sickle handles. Of note to non-moss dwarfs is that hogselm oil can be rendered from the pulp and made into a robust sauce with which pork tastes heavenly. It spoils easily though, with latent spores of the Mulchgrove turning it putrid within a matter of days.

2. Clootiecap 
Appearance: Robust juniper tree, religious symbolism appears in wood boles if gazed upon long enough.
Lore: The clootiecap is a votive tree, whose berries make fine communal wine, and which always seems to be thick with water such that a wayfarer might cut it with a knife and sup away their weary troubles. The bark and the boles of the tree are pareidolic in nature, with most claiming they seem to show saintly images in their recesses when gazed upon with the desire to see such truths. Clootiecap, as a wood, is smooth and pleasant to cut, and many an abbey have tried to grow their own from grafts and splints; often to little success.

3. Prayershingles
Appearance: Drooping elm tree, weighed down heavily by bracket fungi. Smells pungent.
Lore: Present near fallen shrines in the Dolmenwood, prayershingles are more of a condition upon which an elm might be felled than a type of tree in their own right. Prayershingles, by virtue of wayward spores and strange climactic conditions, seem perfect for the growth of bracket fungus. All manner of brainconk often take up roost upon a prayershingles, and to the tale of old wives are said only to eat upon pagans and sinners. This is patently untrue of course, and save for harvesting bracket fungi it is best to avoid such trees. 

4. Anklebrankles
Appearance: Any tree wherein the stump is half-undug and the roots have grown thicker and wider than the branches. 
Lore: Anklebrankles as they're called by the moss dwarfs and woodgrue, are troublesome roots and pear-shaped trees which seek to trip and harm those who do not watch their step while walking through the wood. Both demi-fey keep it something of an open secret that they watch and mock wayfarers who find themselves tripping and breaking their faces upon the forest duff. The roots of anklebrankles are, however, of use and well-prized in Prigwort among youngsters seeking to supplant their betters within the Brewmasters. When properly carved, the roots taste heavily of fermented ginger. 

Notable Trees of the Hag's Addle

1. Addleswood
Appearance: Gnarled and knotted tree, often tangled with wooden poppets or branch totems which crackle when the wind blows.
Lore: The Woodcutters know well enough not to cut Addleswood, as it is said that one of them might be a portal to the realm of the wretched Hag herself. This has not stopped miscreant youth and no small amount of political rivals to Jollie Oistace Pollard from scaling the trees of the Hag's Addle on both sides of the River Hameth and putting up false witch totems. Addleswood is, due to never being cut or properly trimmed, notably old wood and quick to catch fire. It produces more termites than syrup, and provides no notable benefits save for the wiles of reckless youth getting a chance to be aired out.

2. Hag's Spoon
Appearance: Any tree which has a large bole towards the top of it. Smells of brine emanate down from the bole.
Lore: Hag's Spoon is a condition upon a tree wherein a concave area appears near the top of the trunk. While it may occur on any tree in any number of places, upon the River Hameth, such a bole will inevitably be filled with strange vittles left by the Hag or lesser servants wishing to appease her. While none can claim to have seen the Hag personally scale these trees to supp upon the fermenting treats inside, any who have climbed will take notice that a Hag's Spoon is often half-full. If the bole is actually carved out of the tree and made into a large wooden spoon, the Hag might consider it a kind gift or proof of thievery. Regardless, anything placed in said spoon would ferment and triple the speed.

3. Elder Duckswood
Appearance:  Much like a pear tree, with long roots that provide sanctuary for waterfowl and supple fruits which grow heavy and fall into nearby waters.
Lore: Duckswood is by no accounts a tree which bares tasty fruits, as the pears of it are hard and gritty. The flowering leaves, which bare a striking resemble to duckweed, is in truth the most enjoyable part to consume; as it chews well and numbs cankers. Ducks and geese often take up roost beneath the roots of an Elder Duckswood tree, making them an adequate marker for hunters and would-be egg-thieves.

4. Mudderweald
Appearance: Black alder growing out of at least three feet of water, bark is slick and jagged when splintered.
Lore: Grown from the most stoic of seeds, an alder from the banks of the River Hameth and the Hag's Addle is known as a mudderweald for two distinct features. The first being that, when its pulp is proper rendered by knowing hands, it can form a life-sustaining milk substitute which has saved many a babe's life; albeit with the alleged curse of making such beings doomed to live a life with the Lac and the River at the forefront of their minds. The second such feature is that despite their roots tightly gripping the to the riverbed, many of their younger roots easily come undone, splashing and flopping through the rushing water, slapping mud to that which unearthed them until they find hold or snap off. 

Notable Trees of the Valley of Wise Beasts

1. Fatherelm
Appearance: Low-branched elm of prodigious girth  and age.
Lore: Fatherelm are believed by some witch-cults to serve as windows into the liminal and other realms of witch-gods. Dreamcatchers and other totemic items made from the branches of a Fatherelm can help prevent nightmarish influences from taking root, or so say the hedge mages. Wooden beads made from Fatherelm are not uncommon among woodsfolk, both pious and pagan alike. 

2. Trouttrippers
Appearance: Thorny spindle-scrub, generally found alongside riverbanks, with offal-looking berries.
Lore: Upon the groaning loch many a man tells terrible tales of fish-faced-folk who make foul use of trouttrippers to entangle and ensnare land-dwelling man. The truth of this matter, as well as its folkloric origins, often lead to further unsavory stories. What is of not is that trouttrippers can be weaved like any basket wood to form nets made perfect for catching river fish. The offal-looking berries upon the plant are highly poisonous when consumed, but inhaling vapours distilled from them can make one alert as if they've consumed coffee of some villainous bean's make. 

3. Gobbleswood
Appearance: Mossy buxus tree with shaggy leaves and long draping boughs, often home to gobbles.
Lore: Gobbleswood, given it is nigh virtually identical to boxwood proper, is hard to find due the only revealing quality generally being the presence of gobble families within its boles and boughs. Musical instruments carved from gobbleswood tends to howl and squeal on its high notes, much like a gobble proper. It is of no further important quality and is only notable to woodfolk who wish to kill off a pestilence of gobbles before they become too much a nuisance. 

4. Huntershearth
Appearance: Balmy sycamore, dry to the touch, soft, easily peeled bark. 
Lore: Huntershearth is the stuff of tinder boxes and snuff kits, a tree which is easily made into firestarters due to its unique ability to catch a smoldering ember and feed it like a vagrant at a saint's day feast. Unsuitable for construction or even wood-carving, it can make for reasonable bedding if one is willing to risk immolation from a nearby camp fire. 

Notable Trees of the Northern Scratch

1. Scratch Elm Appearance: Long reaching elm trees, often wrapped in poison ivy, whose branches flog about in the wind. Lore: To be "as bitter as a scratch elm" is an esoteric insult, even in Drigbolton, but when such words are said all know their meaning. Scratch elms are a nuisance when autumn comes in, as leaves are shed itching oiled branches remain which whip about in the winter winds; gashing, cutting, and leaving behind terrible rashes. Such oils can be harvested for use in poisons, but as any in the North Scratch would tell you "it'd be less messy just to stab someone."  
2. Whispering Willow Appearance: Looks much like any willow tree, save one branch clearly has been worn down by long sitting periods under stress.
Lore: A whispering willow is a home to some invisible faerie, clearly one of some great weight if its well-worn seat is of any implication, who whispers terrible truths upon the evening breeze. When children have long grown past the age for imaginary bogun friends, they are sometimes told to whisper their name to the willow so that it might add them to their branches. Woodwinds made from such a willow can be enchanted with ease to mimic the voices of children; though mortal hands which strike upon the willow may find themselves struck down by an invisible force.

3. Bitterfingers Appearance: Blackened oak with white-lichen tipped branches and leaves. Slimy to the touch. Lore: "Idle work makes bitter fingers" is a strange adage, attributed to moss dwarfs who claim it has something to do with how the black oaks of the Northern Scratch remain stagnant enough that a cold lichen can easily grow upon them. The lichen itself is hearty and good eating for foragers, especially as it grows all the more bountiful in winter months. The wood of the tree is not worth burning, it produces only spore-laden smoke. Moss dwarfs will pay well for the lichen, especially if delivered in good enough quality to grow it themselves.  
4. Gloomcankle Appearance: Long-limbed yews, off-grey and ruddy, hard as stone. Often solitary. Lore: Gloomcankle is a vicious tree, stained with foul energy by those of dark dreams and ill intent. They appear after years of misfortune befalls an area, be it the wickedness of a fallen star, or the long campaign of attrition against bandits or petty goatlords. The limbs of a Gloomcankle serve well in the aims of the violent, spear shafts of it are strong, shields of it shatter bone, and nooses cling tight to its limbs when a man is strung up on them. There is some perfidious relation between gloams and Gloomcankle, though none have ever let one survive long enough to determine the truth.   

Notable Trees of the Fever Marsh

1. Leechwood
Appearance: Tall wych elm with brittle leaves and worm-infested bark, surrounded by bog cotton. 
Lore: Leechwood trees themselves are not vampiric, but they produce such a warm and well-baited environment immediately around them that it is not surprising to find hundreds to thousands of leeches buggering beneath the bog cotton, ready to suck dry any flesh which finds itself there. The wood of a leechwood tree is easily crumbled down into nutrient rich soil, and Lichwards claim it can be used as a sacred unguent against wights. 

2. Wyrmsproxy
Appearance: Sickly putrid bell-heather which grows from a rotten husk of a tree. Attracts flies.
Lore: There are few things on Heaven or earth more foul than the spume of the perfidious wyrm, though a wyrmproxy stump is not much better. Such trees bare the mark of having suffered the collateral damage of wyrms in the past, dying terrible deaths and sprouting in flowers which carry the wyrm's curse to any soul foolish enough to come near them. If a flower can be properly bottled without it releasing its curse, a potent weapon can be held indefinitely. 

3. Bolecanker
Appearance: A goiter-like bloat upon any tree, often ripe with ants and bracket fungus.
Lore: Bolecankers are the reprieve of a bog-dweller, providing the sweet meats of any tree in the form of a rich and heavy molasses. Carving a bolecanker out of a tree is not an easy task but those with curved saws or awls can make short work of it. Bolecankers are common in the Fever Marsh and around the River Hameth, where collected nutrients can bloat up through the tree into a yummy, tumorous mass. Bolecankers do not rot, they merely harden into an inedible state, though the process of this can take decades. They are a useful travel ration which can be fried, eaten as a jelly, or slathered in butter for a woody-but-sweet treat. 

4. Marshman's Folly
Appearance: Long bald-kneed willow trees, slick with lichen and cicada husks.
Lore: Marshman's Folly are aptly named for their wood seems of a sturdy sort but when exposed to marsh water, emits a pheramone stench that attracts all matter of acidic slime molds and frisky cicada. Many a raft constructed from this wood has led to humiliating and tragic deaths. If properly treated with salves and sealants, the wood of a Marshman's Folly can be used as a means to safely harvest or grow certain slime molds, or to attract cicada to a specific area.

Notable Trees of the Table Downs

1. Sweet Colleen
Appearance: Yellow-flowering cherry tree with a dusky bark and reddish wood sap.
Lore: Named in song by a bard off to woo his lover, Sweet Colleens are an off-shoot of cherry wood which produce unpleasant fruit but lovely flowers. The yellow flowers of a Sweet Colleen unfurl when sung to, reaching towards the singer before exploding with dandelion type seeds. The wood sap of a Sweet Colleen can be rendered into a fine chewable jerky which tastes vaguely of rum.

2. Giant's Pickbrush
Appearance: Tall growing blackthorn shrubs, as tall as any tree. Often littered in bits of giant's filth.
Lore: As one travels through the Table Downs towards the mythic domains of wose-men and giants, these blackthorn shrubs become a more common sight. Their bristling needles and sturdy construction see them serving as hygiene implements for traveling giants who use them to floss their teeth, toes, nails, and ears of detritus. Rather unseemly wizard-folks will often pay more for the detritus left behind on a pickbrush than for the brush itself. The needles, if properly exposed to water, taste oddly of mint and salt.

3. Old Bone Tree
Appearance: Fallen whitebeam trees whose branches reach up for the sun like defiant arms. Half-rotted smell.
Lore: An old bone tree is a sight one sees when leaving the Dolmenwood, it is a tree that by all accounts should be dead but clings to life due to the nascent energies of the forest. Many old bone trees are hollow, their insides rotten out but their branches still sprouting in leaves and acting as though alive. The branches of an old bone can be easily made into whistles, and a tea made of its bark can help clarify memories of better times which have long since faded from the forefront of the mind. It is said that a proper toy for a young babe who has survived their winters, should be made of old bone; for the times of rot are gone, and life still reaches on.

4. Stonegrowth Tree
Appearance: Hawthorn tree which grows only out of stone outcroppings. Produces grey-red stonefruit. Smells of dust and cold.
Lore: Cultivated in ancient times, a stonegrowth tree can gain nutrients from bare rock, slowly turning whatever it sprouted from into sand and gravel. Its fruit is akin to a peach, though gamy and pungent if not properly broiled. Stonegrowth wood is not useful in the construction of buildings, as despite its density it does not offer great insulation against the elements. Bows made from stonegrowth wood are a rarity as they require special unguents and oils to properly treat, but when crafted they are as efficient as a longbow and as sturdy as an iron truncheon when used in melee. 

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What sort of wrong information was given? [d6]

1. You were told to consume the wrong part of the tree, which in turn will cause rashes, hallucinations, and general sickness what with you having consumed a hearty amount of wood.

2. You were given directions to the wrong tree, and thus you've harvested components from a completely normal version of the sublime off-shoot. You have nothing of additional worth and consuming it will grant no great effect.

3. You have been informed that the tree and its components are horrifically poisonous unless you perform a ritual of salting wherein you beseech the Faerie Princes to let you consume the item in question properly. 

4. You were mislead into thinking this tree would be easy to come by. It is protected by [d4] 1. Raucous Woodgrue who want to cause a stink. 2. Grumpy Moss Dwarfs, who claim ownership of the tree. 3. A Witch, who claims the tree is a pathway to her divine patron. 4. A troll, who is willing to let you have a pittance of a sample in exchange for a large amount of meat and anything else you have on you of worth.

5. Tree is actually a Treant, and it is [d4] 1. Unhappy to be disturbed or sought out. 2. Violent and belligerent as you speak the wrong language. 3. Doddering and demands you perform ancient rites of hospitality. 4. Wishes to converse in long morose poetry about the nature of its rings.

6.Tree is currently rotten to hell and back, with many a mushroom and other fungi taking up nutrition on the area you needed to harvest. 

-*-

For those desiring it, I've opened a patreon wherein for a mere dollar a month I'll write you up a random generation table or some other article. It'll likely be far less involved than this one, as it is just for a dollar. David was the first one to pay me to write here, plus I love Dolmenwood, so I put out the works on this one. 

Of course now that money, even a dollar, is involved; I must state that Dolmenwood is a product of Necrotic Gnome Productions and what I produce here is, of course, fan content. It is non-canon, nor approved by the powers that be. Use it in your home games, enjoy yourself, or mock my foolishness for having written so many trees.

Next: I do have, half-finished, an encounter/scenario featuring the Nag-Lord, Ratlings, and the Harvest Moon. I call it A Pestilence in Blue, and it'll hopefully make giant rats a bit more interesting or at least comedic.  

Happy Holidays - Gifts for Dolmenwood Classes

Gifts for Dolmenwood Classes PDF

It has been several long months since I've been able to properly work on some Dolmenwood content for public consumption. Yesterday I challenged myself to make amends for this by writing a holiday adventure in a single day. I'm not exactly done with it yet, but people certainly seem to think the concept has promise.
That being said, I did finish one of the bigger parts of this adventure: an appendix of gifts to be given to adventurers of every Dolmenwood class/race-as-class by a Host. The adventure is written to be played by 2nd-3rd level characters, the sort who are starting to get known; as such nothing gift-wise is outlandishly expensive or powerful. They are merely nice little utilities. For some of the newer classes mentioned on the Dolmenwood MeWe, I've operated on my own assumptions. I've also operated on the assumption of Dolmenwood being in Emeraude, meaning that Havenland and the Midderlands exist in a broader setting. I hope that I might have the adventure done by Christmas Day, or even New Year's at the latest. Looking at layout, it is about 40 pages long including all appendices.

As for other projects and such in my life, they are chugging along, slowly as ever. But progress is being made and I've wisened up to being more than just a one man operation. Things will get better, more efficient, more interesting. In time.

Regardless, have a wonderful holiday.
- Brian Richmond.

L5R - Random Locale Generator

Just a little warm-up randomizer, one that I haven't actually any need of but might be useful for those planning on running some Legend of the Five Rings, Bushido, or other kung-fu Asiatic adventure role playing game. The names for the locations are all pretty basic, so you can get something like The Castle of the Pale Oak, or something wild like The Tainted Lands of the Pink Exorcist.

Follow your kokoro. If you need to come up with a place on the fly for an old sensei to send his students, this might prove useful.It is exceptionally bare bones, but it is just a warm-up to get me going on other writing.

Samurai Setting Locale Generator
d30	Part One	Part Two	Part Three
1	Village of	the Fallen	River
2	Port of	the Listless	Forest
3	Temple of	the Bountiful	Wolf
4	Castle of	the Glorious	Exorcist
5	Town of	the Celestial	Crane
6	Dojo of	the Floral	Lion
7	Fortress of	the Boundless	Dragon
8	Cursed Hamlet of	the Great	Crab
9	Citadel of	the Walled	Phoenix
10	Teahouse of	the Ancient	Steed
11	Roadhouse of	the Lonely	Turtle
12	Shrine of	the Splendid	Sun
13	Plains of	the Pale	Heavens
14	Forest of	the Blind	Mists
15	Mountain of	the Youthful	Blade
16	Island of	the Yellow	Mirror
17	Camp of	the Red	Peaks
18	Ninja Village of	the Imperial	Dog
19	School of	the Exquisite	Leaf
20	Halls of	the Pink	Shell
21	Ruins of	the Blessed	Lovers
22	Tower of	the Lucky	Coin
23	Prison of	the Thunderous	Cove
24	Monastery of	the Dusty	Butterfly
25	Steppes of	the Broken	Scorpion
26	Marsh of	the Mollified	Fortune
27	Lair of	the Howling	Deity
28	Library of	the Penitent	Tides
29	Mines of	the Honorbound	Moon
30	Tainted Lands of	the Drunken	Warrior