Rustic Fantasy - With a Hey Nonny No

To paraphrase Bill Hicks, the RPG world is probably divided into two camps of people: those who think Tom Bombadil is an annoying idiot, and those who think he is an evil fuck.

I am one of the few who think that instead of compromising around the proposition that he's an annoying evil idiot fuck, the Tom Bombadil sections are some of the best bits of The Lord of the Rings. In fact, I'll go you one further: the opening bit of The Fellowship of the Ring, the bit before Bree, is my favourite bit of the entire trilogy. It's the bit I always look forward to reading the most. 

I don't put this down to any special mystery, ultimately - I think it's quite simply because I love the English countryside and so did Tolkien, and since those chapters are a mixture of paean and elegy to it, they can't but strike a chord. As somebody who spends a lot of time hiking (or rambling) around places that are a lot like the Shire is supposed to be, and being dismayed by the existence of the pylons, motorways and monocultural megafields which increasingly blight it, I'm probably perfectly constructed to be receptive to Tolkien's nostalgic vision.

That vision is almost totally absent from D&D (and most modern fantasy). D&D's tonal palette is broad - over the years it has accumulated metal, anime, Westerns, horror, high fantasy, sword & sorcery, steampunk - but there isn't much of the rustic (another word would be "pastoral") in there. The occasional brownie, the occasional pixie, the occasional sprite - mostly played for laughs and/or the DM's opportunity to irritate the players. 

But there is enough inspiration, a sufficient number of touchstones, for there to be a rustic version of the game out there somewhere, in the ether. Where is it found?

Certainly, in the opening section to The Fellowship of the Ring. Certainly in Tolkien's other work - not so much The Hobbit, but definitely the peripheral works like Smith of Wootton Major or Leaf by Niggle. Certainly, in a lot of animal fantasy - I am thinking in particular of the Redwall books of course, but also Duncton Wood and Watership Down. It's in Mythago Wood in much darker form. It's also in the work of American authors too - probably The Wizard Knight, and (unexpectedly) in Vance's Lyonesse books; it also even appears from time to time in the work of people like Ray Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes has a touch of it) and Stephen King when he's feeling particularly "Down East". 

It's in music, too. Van Morrison's Astral Weeks/Moondance period. Anything by Runrig, or Fairport Convention, or Nick Drake. 

Also perhaps important is the relationship between the "rustic" and real-world geography. Most D&D campaign settings are strangely placeless, in the sense that they're set in a very vague, loose simulacrum of a real world biosphere type: here's a foresty bit, here's a mountainy bit, here's a deserty bit. They don't have the sense that the Shire did of being founded in a very particular known locale: the Shire is not Worcestershire or Herefordshire exactly, not at the level of being a copy, but it's clearly rooted in that part of the country. 

The locus between literature, music and geography is worth thinking about and exploring, and also potentially transposing to other non-English "rustics" - whether in America or beyond. 

Fixed World is Go: Proof of Concept?

It is all-systems-go on Fixed World; I am working with top secret artists and layout experts EVEN AS WE SPEAK.

Some of you may remember this post on Mane Hiemalis. We're using Mane Hiemalis as the test case. The bare text is below. The basic pattern is that each region of the Fixed World is divided into four sub-regions, with each sub-region being described by four tables (for random encounters, lairs, adventure locales, and settlements) and four text boxes (for how time is measured in the region; for info on PCs from the region; naming conventions and language; and potential "starter" locations for a campaign set there).

It is a bit rough around the edges (I would like to improve the random encounter tables in particular) and one text-box is TBC, as you will see. It is also long - so don't complain I am stinting on content.

Mane Hiemalis

Eventually the vast ice shelves of the frozen sea give way to open waters mixed with pack ice as the sun begins to dawn upon it. This frigid ocean of black water washes its ice floes up northwards onto rocky, desolate beaches under a red-gold sky. This is Mane Hiemalis, the land where it is always dawn and always winter.

Mane Hiemalis is rugged and ruffled - shelf after shelf of hills rising up from the coast, each higher than the last, until they are finally mountains and on the other side of them the plateau of Mane Vernum Between those hills, sliced into them by rivers of glacial meltwater, are a myriad of deep, high-sided valleys where mist gathers and dark cedar forests flourish in the dim light. On the hill tops above the tree line there is only rock, frost, lichen and tundra - and the unending cry of the wind.

Mane Hiemalis's terrain can be divided into four distinct belts: the sea and coastal plain; the hills; the valleys; and the mountains.

The Sea and Coastal Plain

The seas of Mane Hiemalis may not be entirely frozen but they are frigid and cold. In the depths are Kuo-Toa, who thrive in the miserable darkness below. They are divided into many rivalrous warring theocracies, all with their own interpretation of their God's demands; holy war is a fact of life on the sea bed, and when it rages half-eaten and rotting corpses of the fish-men wash up on the beach like flotsam in their hundreds. At those times the bounty for scavengers is immense, and vast flocks of gulls sweep the coast like storm clouds to dissipate when the war is at an end.

On the cold bleak coast human communities eke out a living from the whales, walruses and seals with which they share their beach homes. They owe fealty to nobody and are so scattered, distant and distrustful of each other that they could generally never have the wherewithal to group themselves into something more organized than a loose affiliation of tribes. They dress themselves in skins and blubber and war occasionally with the horseshoe-crab people who inhabit the shallow littoral zones: petty inconsequential squabbles played out in repetitive brutality while the world beyond goes about its business.

Stretching northwards from the coast itself are dunes of cold sand, thick with tufts of sharp, grey-green grass, and beyond them a coastal plain that rises slowly and barely perceptibly until suddenly it is rough, rocky hills barren of vegetation. Here there lurk small communities of gnolls, cyclopskin and other mean brutes, interested only in survival and satisfying their pathetic pleasures.

Random Encounters on the Coast

Dice	Encounter	Dice	Encounter
2	Topaz dragon (1).	3	Sirines (1-6).
4	Shipwreck with random magical guardian (1 – Golem; 2 – Undead; 3 – Demon).	5	Seawolf raiders (3-18).
6	Giant mudskippers (1-12).	7	Giant crab (2-12).
8	Kuo-toa raiders (2-24).	9	Horseshoe-crab people (2-12).
10	Wild dogs (4-16).	11	Manticore, hippogriff, peryton, or other flier (1/2-16/2-8).
12	Seals or walrus (10-100).	13	Human scavengers (3-18).
14	Human seal hunters (2-12).	15	Cave bear (1).
16	Saltwater trolls (1-8).	17	Selkies (1 or 5-30).
18	Basilisk (1).	19	Sea zombies (2-24).
20	Mammoths (1-12).	-

Coastal Lairs

Dice	Inhabitant	Hook
1	Ice trolls. Fragile but clever cryophiles who keep human livestock. Lair in hill caves, a stockaded village, or a hollowed-out giant whale carcass	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of the same type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Blood feud, 3 - Suspected theft, 4 - Suspected kidnapping, 5 - Sheer distaste, 6 - Religion/belief.
2	Topaz, bronze or white dragon. Most likely the mightiest thing in the region, and knows it. Lairs in a cliff cave, a burrow, or an offshore island.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of a different type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Suspected theft, 3 - Suspected kidnapping, 4 - sheer distaste, 5 - Religion/belief, 6 - Predation
3	Cyclopskin. Uncouth, one-eyed, and small - for a giant. Lair in bear- or walrus-skin huts, on a hill top or simply on the beach.	Lair is the entrance to a network of tunnels leading to the Blackness Below.
4	Ghouls. Debased, cannibalistic, and mad. Lair at a shipwreck (they were once the crew), in sealskin bivouacs, or roam aimlessly without a dwelling place.	Threatened by a deadly curse or disease - which may spread.
5	Gnolls. Brutish rangy scavengers. Lair in a stockaded village on a hilltop or on the shore or in hill caves.	Under the control of a kuo-toa theocracy for some dark purpose of the deep ones.
6	Lamia. Deceptive enslaver of the unwary. Lairs in an abandoned village or other settlement, or a hill cave.	Own (or live near) a lost magic item or treasure that was once owned by a powerful being from another region of Orbis Immobilis.
7	Taer. Shaggy-haired belligerent primates. Lair in caves.	Own (or live near) a valuable and rare resource, such as a seabird colony (guano), walrus pod (ivory), or garnet deposit.
8	Verbeegs. Bellicose deformed half-giants, with allied wolves and bears. Lair in an abandoned human village or cliff cave.	Live near a fallen meteorite, ancient ruin, kuo-toa monument, or similar, which imbues them with advanced intelligence, special powers, or madness.
9	Wight. A former lord (or lords) of some human tribe in a burial mound, twisted and hateful.	Blessed and protected by a demigod using them or it as pawns in a scheme against a rival.
10	Horseshoe crab men. Quiet, communal, inscrutable. Lair together in a clump in the shallows.	Haunted by spirits of dead ancestors - ghosts or phantoms who may be benevolent or malign.
11	Cryohydra. Many-headed reptile breathing frost. Lairs in cliff cave. Perhaps worshipped by local humans, gnolls, verbeegs, or taers; or perhaps the plaything of some powerful unique.	Is allied to another nearby lair’s inhabitants (generate accordingly) in a relationship of worship, enslavement, tribute, benevolence or mutual aid.
12	Unique. An individual of great power: a wizard, druid, monk or warrior either exiled or deliberately living in hermitude. Lairs in a tower, an offshore island, an ice palace, or indeed anything else that would befit his or her standing and character.	Roll twice

Adventure Locales on the Coast

Dice	Sample Specific Locales	Dice	General Locales
1	An entrance to the Blackness Below in caves in the bottom of a cliff face, only accessible by sea.	11	A ruined settlement, now: 1 - Haunted by undead; 2 - Inhabited by degenerate outcasts; 3 - Inhabited by shattered remnants of the original inhabitants.
2	A giant whale carcass, 300’ long, deposited on the beach and warred over by the inhabitants of three randomly determined settlements (see table below).	12	A brackish lake containing a powerful solitary aquatic monster or spirit, with treasure and/or captives kept under the water.
3	A small brackish lake a few hundred yards from shore ruled by an 8th level kuo-toa priest, a mad exile who believes that a kraken is going to rise from the bottom of the sea to devour the earth. He is served by a water elemental and has treasure befitting his station.	13	A burial mound or tomb for one of the humanoid types found in the Lair or Settlement tables. Is: 1 - Small (a few chambers); 2 - Medium (a dozen to twenty chambers); 3 - Large (two or three dungeon levels). Guarded by spirits and protected with traps and magic.
4	An offshore island home to a huge colony of gannets and a hermit whose eyes were long ago pecked-out but who has developed the ability to see the future in recompense. Will only respond “yes” or “no” to questions.	14	A colony founded by people from another region of Orbis Immobilis to take advantage of some resource (whales, ivory, garnets, etc.) - select a region randomly and then decide on the origin of the colony.
5	A giant antlion nest in the dunes which is the pet of a sylph, who lures unsuspecting men to their deaths in the antlion’s pit and takes their possessions to her nest. Her hoard is protected by her “husbands” - particularly intelligent, strong or handsome men she has siphoned off from the antlion’s victims.	15	An isolated giant or other powerful monster which takes an interest in the locale people which is: 1 - Benevolent; 2 - Rapacious; 3 - Domineering.
6	A large iceberg from the Southern Sea washed up on shore and kept permanently frozen by its single inhabitant, Miantonoma, the 11th-level druid and servant of a polar bear demigod, Kurumunumtsch. He is protected by fog and three polar bear servants; he hunts and kills intruders, but hates civilisation and may be sympathetic to anybody whose cause aligns with the destruction of settled life.	16	A monument produced by the inhabitants of a nearby settlement which bestows certain magical effects through sacrifice, at specific times, for certain types of person, when performing specific acts, and so on. It may be: 1 - A megalith; 2 - A complex of monoliths; 3 - A mound; 4 - An artificial pool or lake; 5 - Trophies from battle; 6 - Executed captives, etc.
7	An abandoned settlement (generate original type using the table below) almost completely swamped by sea due to coastal erosion; contains treasures of original inhabitants, but covered in 3-12 feet of water.	17	A hermit who is a powerful druid, priest or magic-user. Is: 1 - Helpful; 2 - Mad; 3 - Cruel. Has knowledge about the entire region of Mane Hiemalis. Lives in a building crafted from ice, sand, or driftwood, kept erect through magic.
8	A flock of seagulls who, in devouring the remnants of a kuo-toa battle washed onshore, imbibed puissant energies which make their psyches rebound metaphysically around them. Those listening to their cries gain information about the contents of random hexes in Mane Hiemalis. After encountering the flock, the human brain adapts defensively to the gulls’ psychic energy and there is no longer any effect.	18	An area plagued by spirits made of animated sand, pebbles, dune grass, or washed-up seaweed. Are: 1 - Humanoid, 2 - Many-limbed, 3 - Whirling maelstroms. Have 1d3+2 HD and are either: 1 - Guardians of treasure buried long ago, 2 - Imbued with the spirits of the angry and vengeful dead, 3 - Violent nature spirits outraged by the presence of bipedal intruders.
9	A network of burrows in the sand which are constantly collapsing and being reformed by the movements of giant lugworms; these are inhabited by outcasts and exiles from nearby settlements or lairs who risk the constant threat of death down in the tunnels to avoid discovery.	19	A shrine or temple to a demigod of: 1 - Seals, 2 - Ice, 3 - The Sea, 4 - The Cold, 5 - Waves, 6 - Bears, 7 - Whales, 8 - Sand, 9 - Driftwood, 10 - Mist. Looked after by: 1 - A single priest, 2 - A small group of priests, 3 - A small community of priests, neophytes, and lay assistants. Has treasure and guardians accordingly
10	The mouth of a river spilling out into the sea; in the middle is a sandbar on which lives a nereid who lures sailors on rare passing ships to their deaths; on these occasions local horseshoe crab men and humans rush to the river mouth to take advantage.	20	Tunnels or caves in a cliff face or hillside inland, not connected to the Blackness Below. Contains: 1 - Outcasts, 2 - Animals, 3 - Refugees from war, 4 - Undead, 5 - Pioneers or miners, 6 - Humanoid monsters. (Roll twice.)

Settlements on the Coast

Dice	Settlement	Hook	Asset
1	Human village. A rude, crude,  settlement of seal hunters and fishermen who scrape survival off the cold rocks and sand.	Civil strife. Divisions which either threaten to spill over into violence or already have. May be because of religious or philosophical disagreement, a charismatic usurper of the ruler, sheer social decay, and so on.	Great healer. A druid, priest, wise elder, or perhaps simply a hedge witch, who is able to genuinely heal sicknesses or wounds, and perhaps even to raise the dead.
2
3		Plague. A deadly disease which is sweeping through the settlement and for which there is as yet no cure. If the asset for the settlement is “healer”, he or she knows the cure, but lacks a necessary ingredient to perform it.	Temple or shrine. An important place of worship which draws visitors from other settlements and perhaps also pilgrimages from outside Mane Hiemalis. May contain ancient relics, useful priests and scholars, or powers to smite or curse.
4
5		Rivals. A nearby settlement of the same time which threatens war.	Skilled smith or craftsman, or scholar. An expert armourer, weaponsmith, blacksmith, potter, jeweller, brewer, and so on. Alternatively, a great sage, highly knowledgeable about a particular subject.
6
7		Evil infiltrator. A malign force which has entered the settlement in hiding or disguise for purposes predatory, lustful, or power-hungry.	Big market. All settlements have markets of some kind or other, however small, but this one has a large regional bazaar at which there are comparatively many traders and where specialized artefacts can be bought or sold.
8	Halfling beachcombers. A colony of stouts from another region of the Fixed World. They search the flotsam and jetsam that washes up from the cold black sea for ambergris, which they can sell in wealthier lands.
9		Incompetent ruler(s). A leader or leadership which is mad, foolish, or weak, with the consequences which follow.	Great warrior(s). A mighty hero, or perhaps a school of martial arts or warrior order.
10	Gnome whalers. Adventurers from another region of the Fixed World come to hunt in the icy southern seas. They intend to return home rich with spermaceti and salted whale meat.

The Hills

The bare hills of Mane Hiemalis begin to rise not far beyond the coast and soon they are tall and looming - ridge after ridge extending northwards, their foothills shrouded in mist and shadow, their humped peaks pale with permanent frost. They support little animal or plant life, exposed as they are to the wind, fog and cold, but different nomadic groups range across them, occasionally raiding down into the valleys below for food and plunder.

There are three types of such nomads. The first are the troll-kings, petty potentates who traipse the high ground with motley collections of followers - subordinate trolls, human outlaws and slavers, captive ettins or other giants, vagrant duergar, and so forth. The baggage trains for these roving marauders can straggle out for miles behind their vanguard; typically the troll-king is somewhere in the middle, being carried on a howdah, chariot, or other grandiloquent vehicle. They as frequently fight each other as they do raid more settled lands below.

The second are the heath elves, ancient, proud and cruel, who inhabit the most isolated and distant hilltops of all. They live in high, narrow towers gently curved like fingers, which they call waypoints; different families move between them, spending a week or month here, a week or month there, before traveling on. In the ancient past the heath elves lived a settled existence in their towers, but now their numbers are greatly reduced and there are too few of them to populate all of the waypoints at a time. Hence their relentless wanderings.

The third are the bariaurs, half-goats, who herd their flocks across the desolate, craggy landscape, picking their way over cliff faces and scree on dainty hooves, traversing places which no other travelers can reach. Their goat herds can number in their thousands, spread across dozens of miles; each individual, tough and rangy, is able to survive on its own on the grass and mosses it can pick from the thin soil of the hilltops. The bariaurs themselves live off goat milk and meat - the only permanent cultural artefacts they create are huge geoglyphs etched into hillsides, visible when the dawn sun cuts through the mist, to mark their territory and summon the power of their gods.

Aside from these nomads the occasional more settled group can be found. Mostly, these bands of verbeegs, taers or moor gnomes live in the many caves which riddle the hills and provide shelter from the elements. Others make what they can from the oldest of the health elf ruins, trusting that the original owners will not return, or eke out a place to live from what little material the harsh land offers.

Random Encounters in the Hills

Dice	Encounters	Dice	Encounter
2	Tempest (1).	3	Mist mephits (2-12).
4	Heath elves (2-12).	5	Vampiric mist (1-3).
6	Leucrotta (1-4).	7	Displacer beasts (2-5).
8	Bariaur hunters (2-12).	9	Verbeeg raiders (1-6).
10	Goats (5-20) or musk-oxen (11-30).	11	Gnolls (2-12).
12	Moor gnome raiders (4-12).	13	Wolves (2-12).
14	Flier [Wyvern (1-6), Griffon (2-12), Hippogriff (1-8)].	15	Urds (3-18).
16	Duergar raiders or exiles (2-12).	17	Aurumvorax (1).
18	Giant ravens (4-16).	19	Ettin (1).
20	Health elf banshee (1).	-	-

Hill Lairs

Dice	Inhabitant	Hook
1	Urds. Frail, winged cousins of kobolds, cowardly and petty, with allied bats. Lair in hillside caves or in burrows beneath boulders.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of the same type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Blood feud, 3 - Suspected theft, 4 - Suspected kidnapping, 5 - Sheer distaste, 6 - Religion/belief.
2	Moor gnomes. Grubby and small, the colour of grass on windswept hillsides. Lair in extensive and exquisitely engineered warrens with entrances expertly concealed.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of a different type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Suspected theft, 3 - Suspected kidnapping, 4 - sheer distaste, 5 - Religion/belief, 6 - Predation
3	Duergar. Grey, malicious, and avaricious. Lair in very deep fortress-mines burrowed down into the roots of the hills, but emerge on the surface from time to time for trade or murder.	Lair is the entrance to a network of tunnels leading to the Blackness Below.
4	Verbeegs. Bellicose deformed half-giants, with allied wolves and bears. Lair in walled villages made from rocks and boulders gathered from the hillsides.	Threatened by a deadly curse or disease - which may spread.
5	Cyclopskin. Uncouth, one-eyed, and small - for a giant. Lair in hilltop forts with deep ditches and dykes.	Under the sway of a mad wizard or cleric who intends to conquer for him- or herself an empire in the hills.
6	Hill giants. Ape-like, brutish, and lowly cunning. Lair in scrapes dug into hilltops, or crude huts made from tree trunks stolen from the forested valleys below.	Own (or live near) a lost magic item or treasure that was once owned by the heath elves and is guarded or protected by powerful spirits or spells (or both).
7	Taer. Shaggy-haired belligerent primates. Lair in caves.	Own (or live near) a valuable and rare resource, such as a quarry for [semiprecious stone found in cold hills?], a mountain lake with plentiful fish, or a herd of musk-oxen.
8	Solitary monster (1- Chimera, 2 - Manticore, 3 - Cockatrice). Avoided and spoken of in whispers by those who know of it. Lairs in a cave or a nest atop a boulder.	Live near an ancient health elf monument, temple, tomb, or similar, which imbues them with advanced intelligence, special powers, or madness.
9	Smilodons. A pair of ambush killers, with fangs like daggers. Lair in a crevasse or beneath a ridge, out of the chill of the wind.	Blessed and protected by a demigod using them or it as pawns in a scheme against a rival.
10	Hags. A trio of wretched and malevolent magical old spinsters. Lair on a boulder-strewn hilltop, in a high valley where mist gathers, or in a hut at the foot of a cliff from which a stream plunges into spray from far above.	Haunted by spirits of dead ancestors - ghosts or phantoms who may be benevolent or malign.
11	Slate Medusa. A beautiful, nubile woman with hair of slowly writhing earthworms. Anyone looking into her eyes turns to dark grey slate. Lairs in a ruined heath-elf tower, with the shattered remains of some of her victims scattered all around.	Is allied to another nearby lair’s inhabitants (generate accordingly) in a relationship of worship, enslavement, tribute, benevolence or mutual aid.
12	Health elf lich. A bitter, withered remnant of the life and memories of a heath elf sorcerer. Lairs in a lonely tower, a sculpture-tomb, or a labyrinth of marble beneath the earth; is protected by guardians and powerful magic.	Roll twice

Adventure Locales in the Hills

Dice	Sample Specific Locales	Dice	General Locales
1	A tribe of spriggan gnomes who have taken over an abandoned mine. They are under the sway of a vampire from Nox Aestiva who commands them to dig ever further into the earth in their giant form, in search of an ancient artefact of great power he believes is buried far below and will allow him to conquer an empire.	11	A ruined settlement, now: 1 - Haunted by undead; 2 - Inhabited by degenerate outcasts; 3 - Inhabited by shattered remnants of the original inhabitants.
2	A solitary birch eldar treant who was cast out of his home in the valleys by a conspiracy of his peers and is forbidden to return. He lives alone on a desolate hillside and plots revenge.	12	An isolated rainwater lake containing a powerful solitary aquatic monster or spirit, with treasure and/or captives kept under the water.
3	A cluster of three ropers hidden amongst rocks and boulders strewn across a heath. They are used to execute the captives of a Troll King taken on raids, who are thrown in among the boulders to see how long they can survive.	13	A burial mound or tomb for one of the humanoid types found in the Lair or Settlement tables. Is: 1 - Small (a few chambers); 2 - Medium (a dozen to twenty chambers); 3 - Large (two or three dungeon levels). Guarded by spirits and protected with traps and magic.
4	A nest of writhing slow worms in a hollow on a hilltop which whisper words of prophecy and are used by bariaurs, troll kinds and heath elves alike as an oracle. Their hilltop is sacrosanct and it is agreed that no violence is permitted there; violators of this rule are aggressively outlawed by all hill nomads.	14	A quarry or mine set up to take advantage of a mineral resource (zircon, jet, tourmaline, slate, etc.) by order of a Wereraven lord or other ruler from the Valleys and worked by his servants (see below).
5	A huge wall of scree formed by a landslide. Within the rocks are hidden tiny fragments of magical stone which are the shattered pieces of a galeb duhr crushed and broken in the disaster. These fragments still hum audibly and can be identified with a Detect Magic spell; they can be crushed and used to make potions and other magic items, but collecting them may cause further landslips.	15	A powerful monster such as a dragon or heath elf lich which takes an interest in the local people which is: 1 - Benevolent; 2 - Rapacious; 3 - Domineering.
6	A herd of the ghosts of long-horned mountain goats who were driven off a cliff by verbeeg hunters long ago, and now roam the hillside above the site. If they encounter living beings they charge, doing damage as ghosts; they are the unwitting guardians of a heath elf holy site - a group of obelisks arrayed in a complex geometrical pattern - under which are buried magical weapons, potions and velum scrolls.	16	A ruined heath elf monument which bestows certain magical effects through sacrifice, at specific times, for certain types of person, when performing specific acts, and so on. It may be: 1 - An obelisk or crooked pillar, 2 - A ring of obelisks or crooked pillars, 3 - A dome, 4 - An artificial pool or lake, 5 - A walled garden, 6 - A complex of the above.
7	A blasted high hilltop permanently coated in frost, cold enough to have been made the home of a colony of ice toads who lair in tunnels in the permafrost and emerge to ambush passers-by. They hoard gems and jewellery and are known to possess many such treasures in their burrows.	17	A hermit who is a powerful druid, priest or magic-user. Is: 1 - Helpful; 2 - Mad; 3 - Cruel. Has knowledge about the entire region of Mane Hiemalis. Lives in a cave, a heath elf ruin, or in a burrow in a mound or under a boulder.
8	A heath elf tower home to the spectre of a young elf girl who was killed when a lesser yugoloth, summoned by her father, escaped the summoning circle. The girl’s spectre remains in the tower; the yugoloth, in its cellar, together with the treasures it amassed after chasing away the rest of the tower’s inhabitants. The girl has waited in vain for centuries for her family to return to rescue her.	18	An area plagued by spirits made of animated rock. Are: 1 - Humanoid, 2 - Many-limbed, 3 - Whirling maelstroms. Have 1d3+2 HD and are either: 1 - Guardians of treasure buried long ago, 2 - Imbued with the spirits of the angry and vengeful dead, 3 - Violent nature spirits outraged by the presence of bipedal intruders.
9	A true cyclops, Antoninus, who watches over a vast flock of sheep ranging over three hills, known to locals as the Three Sisters. From these peaks he sees all within a radius of 20 miles. He is shy, reserved, and cautious, and spends much of his time assembling, disassembling, and reassembling sculptures made from boulders. When the wind blows through his land it whistles and hums in the rocks, causing one of the following effects in the local environment depending on the arrangement of the sculptures: 1 - Sleep, 2 - Silence, 3 - Darkness, 4 - Fog, 5 - Fear, 6 - Curse.	19	A shrine or temple to a demigod of: 1 - Goats, 2 - Frost, 3 - Rock, 4 - The Cold, 5 - The Wind, 6 - Bears, 7 - Wolves, 8 - Musk-oxen, 9 - Smilodons, 10 - Travelling. Looked after by: 1 - A single priest, 2 - A small group of priests, 3 - A small community of priests, neophytes, and lay assistants. Has treasure and guardians accordingly
10	The wreck of a pirate gith spelljammer ship, marooned on a frosty hillside. All the crew are long dead and the wreck has become the home of a moor gnome witch who uses the spelljammer helm as a headdress, unaware of its true origin. She has healing powers and can remove or bestow curses.	20	Tunnels or caves in a hillside or under a boulder, not connected to the Blackness Below. Contains: 1 - Outcasts, 2 - Animals, 3 - Refugees from war, 4 - Undead, 5 - Pioneers or miners, 6 - Humanoid monsters. (Roll twice.)

Hill Nomad Groups

Dice	Nomad Type	Hook	Secret Knowledge
1	Bariaurs. A tribe of goat-centaurs who roam with their flocks across the hills. Create geoglyphs of circular swirling patters which can summon their spirits to alter the weather, smite enemies, or help them to navigate or find desired items.	Civil strife. Divisions which either threaten to spill over into violence or already have. May be because of religious or philosophical disagreement, a charismatic usurper of the ruler, sheer social decay, and so on.	How to summon and bind a tempest.
2			The location of the tomb of a djinni or dao.
3		Plague. A deadly disease which is sweeping through the group and for which there is as yet no cure. If the asset for the group is “healer”, he or she knows the cure, but lacks a necessary ingredient to perform it.	A way to the Ethereal or Astral plane.
4	Troll King. A ragtag band consisting of d3+3 of the following: 1 - Subordinate trolls, 2 - Duergar exiles, 3 - Human outlaws, 4 - Ettins, 5 - Hill giants, 6 - Werewolves, 7 - Kobolds, 8 - Renegade bariaurs or moor gnomes. The King himself may be a giant troll or giant two-headed troll.		The location of a gate to another region of the Fixed World.
5		Rivals. A nearby group of the same time which threatens war.	The location of a dead demigod.
6			The location of a hidden archmage’s hoard.
7		Evil infiltrator. A malign force which has entered the group in hiding or disguise for purposes predatory, lustful, or power-hungry.	How to change the weather.
8			The location of a fallen meteorite and its contents.
9	Heath Elves. A clan of perpetual wanderers of great power, great cruelty, but greater caution. Each has some ability to both cast spells and fight; some are mighty magic-users or priests.	Incompetent ruler(s). A leader or leadership which is mad, foolish, or weak, with the consequences which follow.	How to raise the dead.
10			How to summon and bind a certain demigod.

The Valleys

Between the hills, where streams and rivers cut their way down into valleys, are the main centers of civilized life in Mane Hiemalis. Here, where the dawn light shines through, are thick fir forests where the trees stand like ghosts in the mist and rain. Amid it all are the strongholds of the were-raven lords - stone towers or motte-and-bailey castles, each ruled by independent nobles marked for rule by their lycanthrophic bloodlines. They hold sway over human serfs who carry out forestry and mining in their lands under oaths of fealty in return for what protection can be offered against the dangers abroad. The were-raven familes are ancient, powerful, and refined: they rule with what they insist is benevolence over the benighted villeins beneath them, though what "benevolence" means is open to broad interpretation.

Among and between these strongholds live other beings: centaurs, forest gnomes, taiga tasloi, and wood giants - harder than their cousins elsewhere, toughened by the challenges of living in the permanent gloom of the evergreens. Some trade with the wereraven lords, but all brook no trespassing in the areas they call their own; survival in the forest is too difficult to share.

In the deepest, darkest, most northerly forests where the light barely penetrates, and the mist lies permanently like a blanket, are other polities. Ettercap queendoms in great palaces of silk threads, where giant spiders are bred for war. Treant kings ruling over underground cities of the forest dwarfs - brown-skinned, sharp-eyed variants of their mountain brethren who find the dark of the forest to their liking, and construct great citadels there under the loamy earth. Dragons which lurk in the isolated quiet of the valleys, pleasuring in their infinite and everlasting foggy stillness. And myconids who dwell in slow meditation deep under the ground, contemplating growth and damp and rot, and plotting expansion.

Random Encounters in the Valleys

Dice	Encounters	Dice	Encounter
2	Treants (1-20).	3	Dryad servants (1-6).
4	Ankhegs (1-6).	5	Stirges (3-30).
6	Wood giant hunters (1-4).	7	Owlbears (1 or 2-8).
8	Wild boar (1-12).	9	Wolves (1 - Ordinary wolves, 2 - Dire wolves, 3 - Worgs) (2-12).
10	Human hunters (2-8).	11	Myconid explorers (1-12).
12	Forest gnome hunters (2-12).	13	Big spiders (1 - Hairy, 2 - Huge, 3 - Large, 4 - Phase, 5 - Giant, 6 Gargantuan) (1-20, or 1-8 for Giant spiders or Gargantuan spiders).
14	Ettercap raiders (2-9).	15	Yellow musk creeper (1-3, with 50% chance of yellow musk zombies present).
16	Magpie kenku (2-8).	17	Wolfwere (1).
18	Wereraven hunters with servants (1-6 wereravens and double the number of human servants).	19	Tenebrous worm (1).
20	Dragon (1 - Green, 2 - Shadow, 3 - Dragonet of any type).	-

Lairs in the Valleys

Dice	Inhabitant	Hook
1	Forest gnomes. Secretive whisperers where the dark forest is thickest. Lair in hollow trees or treehouses, with animal sentinels and guards nearby.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of the same type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Blood feud, 3 - Suspected theft, 4 - Suspected kidnapping, 5 - Sheer distaste, 6 - Religion/belief.
2	Forest dwarves. Tunnellers and miners in the quiet stillness below the roots of the trees; their skin the colour of loam, their eyes yellow amber. Lair in citadels and fortresses burrowed into the deep earth.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of a different type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Suspected theft, 3 - Suspected kidnapping, 4 - sheer distaste, 5 - Religion/belief, 6 - Predation
3	Myconids. Peaceful fungoid meditators protected by dead forest dwellers who the myconid king brings to jerking unlife with his spores. Lair in caverns in the loamy soil.	Lair is the entrance to a network of tunnels leading to the Blackness Below.
4	Centaurs. A tribe of half-horses, ferocious hunters of the deep forest. Lair in villages in secluded forest glades.	Threatened by a deadly curse or disease - which may spread.
5	Taiga tasloi. Diminutive frail-looking big-eyed things, adept at scampering up and through the tall fir canopy in the valleys. Furry and chisel-toothed, like rodent variants of their ape-like jungle cousins. Lair in villages of nests of branches and twigs.	Under the sway of a mad wizard, cleric, spectral troll or nymph who intends to conquer for him- or herself an empire in the forest.
6	Treants. A grove of intelligent, moving tree-like beings, who protect and control the true trees around them. Lair in a circle among their flock.	Own (or live near) a lost magic item or treasure that was once owned by a green or shadow dragon and is guarded or protected by powerful spirits or spells (or both).
7	Ettercaps. Bipedal, long-armed, poisonous and hairy, like men who have somehow grown spider-like in the dimness of the forest. Lair in nests of white silk that sit amongst the trees like clouds of thick fog.	Own (or live near) a valuable and rare resource, such as an amber quarry, a lake with rich fishing opportunities, or a glade known for its large supplies of edible, poisonous, or otherwise useful fungus.
8	Dryads. Tree spirits taking on the guise of beautiful women, who tempt men into eternal servitude. Often solitary, but there may be up to a dozen of them, each living in a single ancient oak; her servants may live in a tree house or cave nearby.	Live near an ancient treant, myconid or ettercap monument or temple, which imbues them with advanced intelligence, special powers, or madness.
9	Spectral troll. The wraith of a troll, tormented by its own hatred of the living and its love of the lonely darkness of its home. Lairs in a lightning-blasted tree or cave.	Blessed and protected by a demigod using them or it as pawns in a scheme against a rival.
10	Dark naga (adder). A manipulative and malevolent giant snake spirit, brown and zig-zag striped, like an adder. Lairs in a cave or abandoned village or other ruin, with guardian humanoids it has subordinated to its will.	Haunted by spirits of dead ancestors - ghosts or phantoms who may be benevolent or malign.
11	Outlawed wereravens. A group of former nobles exiled by their peers for their crimes, now turned to banditry or worse. Lair in an abandoned village or other ruin.	Is allied to another nearby lair’s inhabitants (generate accordingly) in a relationship of worship, enslavement, tribute, benevolence or mutual aid.
12	Dragon (1 - Green, 2 - Shadow). A powerful and malicious wyrm. Lairs with its treasure in underground caverns or tunnels in a place almost impossible for thieves to access, such as a hidden grove, lake island, or cave behind a waterfall.	Roll twice

Adventure Locales in the Valleys

Dice	Sample Specific Locales	Dice	General Locales
1	A very ancient treant, now almost entirely a tree; she never moves, and only very rarely speaks. She knows almost everything that takes place in the forests of Mane Hiemalis, and will share this information at a price: the persons seeking her knowledge must become more tree-like, stiffening and hardening and permanently losing -1 DEX per question she answers.	11	A ruined settlement, now: 1 - Haunted by undead; 2 - Inhabited by degenerate outcasts; 3 - Inhabited by shattered remnants of the original inhabitants.
2	A clan of wood giants who have come under the sway of a green dragon who uses them to help it amass treasure. The giants raid the surrounding forest, stealing and kidnapping, and giving their trophies over to the dragon - who only ever appears to them as a mighty, beautiful elfin maiden.	12	An isolated forest lake containing a powerful solitary aquatic monster or spirit, with treasure and/or captives kept under the water.
3	A ruined wereraven tower, overgrown by forest and now inhabited by ghouls. Dotted in among the trees which surround it are many jackdaw-headed gargoyle statues which will come to life as gargoyles if somebody from the bloodline of the original owner of the tower returns to take up his or her inheritance.	13	A burial mound or tomb for one of the humanoid types found in the Lair or Settlement tables. Is: 1 - Small (a few chambers); 2 - Medium (a dozen to twenty chambers); 3 - Large (two or three dungeon levels). Guarded by spirits and protected with traps and magic.
4	A deep cavern home to a tribe of pixies who  have in their hoard several heirlooms of the local wereraven aristocracy; their have as a “pet” a traveler they once led astray and has now lived with them for years.	14	A quarry set up to take advantage of an organic forest gem, such as amber, jet, or copal.
5	A very dark and overgrown valley where the light of the sun barely penetrates; it is home to undead shadows, formed from the darkness of the forest itself; the locals know it only as a haunted place from which visitors never return.	15	A powerful monster such as a dragon, spectral troll, dark naga or other who takes an interest in local people which is: 1 - Benevolent; 2 - Rapacious; 3 - Domineering.
6	A 12’ tall figure made entirely from amber, lying on a moss-covered dolmen. It is worshipped by the local forest gnomes, and they believe that it will at some time rise from its slumber to vanquish their foes. It hums with magical energy and blesses gnomes or dwarves who touch it for the remainder of that day.	16	An altar built by centaurs, forest gnomes or dryads in a small glade; it bestows certain magical effects through sacrifice, at specific times, for certain types of person, when performing specific acts, and so on.
7	A shadow dragon’s larder - an array of the corpses of forest dwellers, festooned from the tree-tops to give them time to rot to the dragon’s liking; the dragon may have overlooked some of their possession - or even the fact that some may still be (just) still living.	17	A powerful, high-ranking, but highly solitary druid. Is: 1 - Helpful; 2 - Mad; 3 - Cruel. Has knowledge about the entire region of Mane Hiemalis. Lives in a cave, a tree house, a stone tower, or a hollow tree trunk.
8	The tomb of an ettercap queen or sorceress, fashioned from silk threads strung to trees and bound together into an almost-solid mass so as to resemble a pyramid, sphere, or other geometric shape. Inside lies the corpse with her treasures and undead spider guardians, killed and raised from the dead as wights, wraiths or shadows.	18	An area plagued by spirits made from tree-roots, moss, or damp earth and rocks. Are: 1 - Humanoid, 2 - Many-limbed, 3 - Whirling maelstroms. Have 1d3+2 HD and are either: 1 - Guardians of treasure buried long ago, 2 - Imbued with the spirits of the angry and vengeful dead, 3 - Violent nature spirits outraged by the presence of bipedal intruders.
9	A wide glade sacred to the centaurs, which they use for religious tournaments in which hunting is practised as an act of worship for their gods. Captives are released into the open and caught and butchered in highly specific and ritualised sequences under the watch of elders and priests; the captives themselves are eaten afterwards but some of their lost possessions may remain hidden in the grass.	19	A shrine or temple to a demigod of: 1 - Boars 2 - Mist, 3 - Amber, 4 - Evergreen trees, 5 - RIvers, 6 - Bears, 7 - Owls, 8 - Roots, 9 - Earth/soil, 10 - Beetles. Looked after by: 1 - A single priest, 2 - A small group of priests, 3 - A small community of priests, neophytes, and lay assistants. Has treasure and guardians accordingly
10	A waterfall plunging its earthy-brown water into a deep, black pool. Anyone or anything touching the water turns into living wood, like a tree - so that if, for example, a person touches it with his or her hand, it turns into an inert, bark-skinned wooden replica of itself.	20	Tunnels or caves in a hillside or under a huge tree, not connected to the Blackness Below. Contains: 1 - Outcasts, 2 - Animals, 3 - Refugees from war, 4 - Undead, 5 - Pioneers or miners, 6 - Humanoid monsters. (Roll twice.)

Settlements in the Valleys

Dice	Settlement Type	Hook	Asset
1	Wereraven lord with human villeins. A knightly noble with his serfs, the latter in d3 villages located in nearby hexes. On rare occasions (1 in 6 chance) there are two or three brothers who rule together; there is also a 1 in 3 chance that there is a minor cadet branch of the family who live in a tower or fort nearby.	Civil strife. Divisions which either threaten to spill over into violence or already have. May be because of religious or philosophical disagreement, a charismatic usurper of the ruler, sheer social decay, and so on.	Great healer. A druid, priest, wise elder, or perhaps simply a hedge witch, who is able to genuinely heal sicknesses or wounds, and perhaps even to raise the dead.
2
3		Plague. A deadly disease which is sweeping through the settlement and for which there is as yet no cure. If the asset for the settlement is “healer”, he or she knows the cure, but lacks a necessary ingredient to perform it.	Temple or shrine. An important place of worship which draws visitors from other settlements and perhaps also pilgrimages from outside Mane Hiemalis. May contain ancient relics, useful priests and scholars, or powers to smite or curse.
4
5		Rivals. A nearby settlement of the same time which threatens war.	Skilled smith or craftsman, or scholar. An expert armourer, weaponsmith, blacksmith, potter, jeweller, brewer, and so on. Alternatively, a great sage, highly knowledgeable about a particular subject.
6
7		Evil infiltrator. A malign force which has entered the settlement in hiding or disguise for purposes predatory, lustful, or power-hungry.	Big market. All settlements have markets of some kind or other, however small, but this one has a large regional bazaar at which there are comparatively many traders and where specialized artefacts can be bought or sold.
8	Forest dwarf citadel. A large underground tunnel network carved out below the roots of the mighty trees. May be self-ruling or under the rulership of a treant, green dragon, or other powerful forest denizen.
9		Incompetent ruler(s). A leader or leadership which is mad, foolish, or weak, with the consequences which follow.	Great warrior(s). A mighty hero, or perhaps a school of martial arts or warrior order.
10	Ettercap queendom. An ettercap city, forged from cobwebs strung out between the trees over a wide area; at its centre a great palace of pale threads which the queen calls home.

The Mountains

In the north of Mane Hiemalis is a high range of snow-peaked mountains which form the barrier between the cold damp south and the lush wet plateau of Mane Vernum. They are bitter, glacial, and near impenetrable except for a mere handful of dangerous passes through which the barest trickles of trade and diplomacy can run.

The mountains were once home to races of sorcerous dwarves, who built great citadels, temples and monuments on the high peaks. They are almost disappeared now, but often their dead remain - the dwarves practised mummification and other sinister rites which preserve corpses in the cold dryness of the rarefied mountain air.

The dwarves themselves were driven away, their mighty civilisations ruined over the course of wars spanning eons, by the ice elves, who now hold sway at least in some of these bitter snow-capped lands. They carve their cities into glaciers, preserving the ice with powerful magics, and worship the cold itself with poetry and song. Otherwise the mountains are home to small clans of impoverished humans, who roam with the musk-oxen from ridge to ridge, taking what meat and other resources they can from their semi-wild charges, and being preyed upon in their turn by the cruel peoples who live among the ice and rocks: grimlocks, giants, troglodytes, and winter wolves.

Random Encounters in the Mountains

Dice	Encounters	Dice	Encounter
2	Tempest (1).	3	Dwarf mummies (2-12).
4	Ice mephits (1-6).	5	Formorian Giants (1-4).
6	Mountain Giants (1-4).	7	Grimlocks (3-18).
8	Ice elf traders or raiders (3-18).	9	Duergar raiders or pioneers (3-18).
10	Human hunters (2-12).	11	Troglodytes (2-12).
12	Musk oxen (13-24).	13	Flier (1 - Griffon, 2 - Hippogriff, 3 - Peryton)
14	Winter wolves (2-20).	15	Quaggoth raiders (3-18).
16	Yetis (1-6).	17	Polar Worm (1).
18	Galeb Duhr (1-4).	19	Musk-ox minotaur (1-8).
20	Dragon (1 - Red, 2 - Silver, 3 - White, 4 - Crystal, 5 - Amethyst, 6 - Mercury)	-

Lairs in the Mountains

Dice	Inhabitant	Hook
1	Cloud giant. The intelligent, intellectual, immodest pinnacle of giantkind. Lair together in a mountain peak fortress, with their humanoid slaves and guards such as wyverns, giant eagles, griffons or owlbears.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of the same type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Blood feud, 3 - Suspected theft, 4 - Suspected kidnapping, 5 - Sheer distaste, 6 - Religion/belief.
2	Giants (1 - Mountain, 2 - Formorian). Crude, stinking, carnivorous behemoths. Lair in caves, abandoned mines or quarries, or ruins.	Currently in conflict with a nearby rival of a different type (generate accordingly). The conflict is over: 1 - Resources, 2 - Suspected theft, 3 - Suspected kidnapping, 4 - sheer distaste, 5 - Religion/belief, 6 - Predation
3	Snow leopard displacer beasts. Ruthless tentacled predators, half-illusory, half-cat. Lair in caves or ruins.	Lair is the entrance to a network of tunnels leading to the Blackness Below.
4	Cave bears. 12 feet of hulking ursine power. Lair in caves or ruins.	Threatened by a deadly curse or disease - which may spread.
5	Quaggoths. Warlike, hairy humanoids, like something between a bear and an ape, white against the snow. Lair in a huts fashioned from skins, ready to move on when needed.	Under the sway of a dragon, cloud giant or greater dwarf mummy who intends to conquer an empire.
6	Dwarf undead. The evil, withered remnants of the magical race of dwarves now disappeared from these peaks. Are: 1 - Wraiths, lairing in a ruined settlement, 2 - Crypt Things guarding an ancient tomb, 3 - Heucuvas, the spirits of priests with their skeleton followers, lairing in a ruined temple, 4 - A Death Knight in its ruined fortress.	Own (or live near) a lost magic item or treasure that was once owned by a mighty cloud giant and is guarded or protected by powerful spirits or spells (or both).
7	Dragon (1 - Red, 2 - Silver, 3 - White, 4 - Crystal, 5 - Amethyst, 6 - Mercury). A great reptilian lord of the mountains, lairing in underground caverns, at the bottom of a chasm, under a glacier, etc.	Own (or live near) a valuable and rare resource, such as a silver mine, a lapis lazuli quarry, or a sheltered meadow with good grazing.
8	Troglodytes. Violent, gracile, intelligent lizards, man-sized and man-shaped except for their prehensile tails. Lair in cracks and crevasses in the mountainsides.	Live near an ancient grimlock sacrificial altar, fallen meteor, troglodyte grave-glacier, formorian monolith, etc., which imbues them with advanced intelligence, special powers, or madness.
9	Raven roc. A vast carrion bird with black plumage which shimmers purple in the dawn light. Lairs in a nest on a mountain top built from trees and other vegetation hauled up from the forests far below.	Blessed and protected by a demigod using them or it as pawns in a scheme against a rival.
10	Grimlocks. Filthy, blind, grey-skinned and scaly, finding their way by smell and sound. Lair in tunnel complexes bored into the mountainsides.	Haunted by spirits of dead ancestors - ghosts or phantoms who may be benevolent or malign.
11	Musk-ox minotaurs. Belligerent, bellicose, and brutal. Lair in labyrinths carved into glaciers.	Is allied to another nearby lair’s inhabitants (generate accordingly) in a relationship of worship, enslavement, tribute, benevolence or mutual aid.
12	Dwarf greater mummy. The withered, frost-preserved corpse of a legendary dwarven king, priest, sorcerer or hero. Lairs in a huge and ornate tomb with its living or undead slaves.	Roll twice

  

Adventure Locales in the Mountains

Dice	Sample Specific Locales	Dice	General Locales
1	A glacier which long ago trapped the life force of a maedar, forming a vast glyptar of solid ice. He is now completely mad, but does remember the history of the mountains, such as details about lost dwarves cities, tombs, and the like - and will trade it in return for hearing genuine secrets from those seeking his knowledge.	11	A ruined settlement, now: 1 - Haunted by undead; 2 - Inhabited by degenerate outcasts; 3 - Inhabited by shattered remnants of the original inhabitants.
2	A small high valley where the low red sun beams in through a narrow cleft, producing a warm microclimate around a lake. This is the home of a group of three swanmays in hiding from their sisters in another warmer part of the Fixed World because of accusations of a crime they did not commit. They may help lost or desperate travellers with healing or guidance.	12	An isolated frozen lake, with a powerful solitary aquatic monster or spirit living under the ice, with treasure and/or captives.
3	A family of formorian giants who live with their hordes of troglodyte slaves in a network of caves on a high mountain pass leading to Mane Vernus to the north. They tax all who seek to pass that way, knowing that it is the only safe route through the mountains for a hundred miles in either direction.	13	A burial mound or tomb for one of the humanoid types found in the Lair or Settlement tables. Is: 1 - Small (a few chambers); 2 - Medium (a dozen to twenty chambers); 3 - Large (two or three dungeon levels). Guarded by spirits and protected with traps and magic.
4	A pair of clay golems, resembling women with heads resembling flowers. They were crafted by dwarves long ago for purposes even they have now forgotten; they patrol an area within 3 miles’ radius of their resting place, always returning by the time the winds blow from the south. Anyone they encounter has their head, hands and feet removes (together with any helmets, rings, and so on) and these are piled on a pyramid plinth on a nearby ridge.	14	A quarry set up by pioneers from a different region of the Fixed World to take advantage of semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, peridot or aquamarine.
5	A nest of perytons who habitually kidnap local humans and hold them captive to use their hearts when breeding. Among them are lost travellers from another part of the Fixed World.	15	A powerful monster such as a dragon, dwarven greater mummy, cloud fgiant or other who takes an interest in local people which is: 1 - Benevolent; 2 - Rapacious; 3 - Domineering.
6	A rocky plateau where once a gorgon laired. The gorgon is long dead but the shattered remnants of some of its petrified victims remain, scattered around. Some of these are the the lost relatives of local ice elves, who disappeared while journeying in the area long ago.	16	An altar built by ice elves, quaggoths or humans; it bestows certain magical effects through sacrifice, at specific times, for certain types of person, when performing specific acts, and so on.
7	The tunnel network of a now-dead polar worm, at the heart of which is a nest of its abandoned eggs. These never hatched due to lack of heat, but have remained in stasis, waiting to be thawed.	17	A powerful, high-ranking, but highly solitary druid. Is: 1 - Helpful; 2 - Mad; 3 - Cruel. Has knowledge about the entire region of Mane Hiemalis. Lives in a cave, a hut on top of a boulder, a stone tower, or in a crevasse or chasm.
8	An amethyst dragon, who sleeps under a glacier near a high pass to Mane Vernum; travelers of interest are interrogated to sate her curiosity, while those who bore her are toyed with and eaten. Her glacier is burrowed-through with tunnels built eons ago by a race of ice elves long since disappeared. Their cathedrals and halls, filled with blue luminescence, lie otherwise empty and haunted save for those where the dragon stores her hoard.	18	An area plagued by spirits made from snow and ice. Are: 1 - Humanoid, 2 - Many-limbed, 3 - Whirling maelstroms. Have 1d3+2 HD and are either: 1 - Guardians of treasure buried long ago, 2 - Imbued with the spirits of the angry and vengeful dead, 3 - Violent nature spirits outraged by the presence of bipedal intruders.
9	A tunnel lancing through one of the highest peaks, leading to Nox Hiemalis. It was built by a dwarven hero, Eskwetthum-bey, thousands of years prior: he rules it still as a lich, preserved in undeath by powerful magic and his own sheer will. Inside his inbred descendants still live. Their inbreeding accentuates their aptitude for magic and they are sorcerers and warlocks all - though they are frequently also blind, enfeebled or deformed.	19	A shrine or temple to a demigod of: 1 - Ice, 2 - Mist, 3 - Avalanches, 4 - Rock, 5 - Snow, 6 - Wind, 7 - Winter wolves, 8 - Caves or cracks, 9 - Far sightedness, 10 - Eagles. Looked after by: 1 - A single priest, 2 - A small group of priests, 3 - A small community of priests, neophytes, and lay assistants. Has treasure and guardians accordingly
10	The great mountaintop palace of a storm giant, guarded by griffons and rocs, where the giant himself tends his gardens and conducts his scholarship and artistic pursuits.	20	Tunnels or caves in a mountainside, glacier, or within a chasm, not connected to the Blackness Below. Contains: 1 - Outcasts, 2 - Animals, 3 - Refugees from war, 4 - Undead, 5 - Pioneers or miners, 6 - Humanoid monsters. (Roll twice.)

Settlements in the Mountains

Dice	Settlement Type	Hook	Asset
1	Human ox-herders. A clan of semi-nomads whose young men travel with the wild musk-oxen in small groups, hunting them when needed, but also maintain a permanent village in which live the elders, women and children.	Civil strife. Divisions which either threaten to spill over into violence or already have. May be because of religious or philosophical disagreement, a charismatic usurper of the ruler, sheer social decay, and so on.	Great healer. A druid, priest, wise elder, or perhaps simply a hedge witch, who is able to genuinely heal sicknesses or wounds, and perhaps even to raise the dead.
2
3		Plague. A deadly disease which is sweeping through the settlement and for which there is as yet no cure. If the asset for the settlement is “healer”, he or she knows the cure, but lacks a necessary ingredient to perform it.	Temple or shrine. An important place of worship which draws visitors from other settlements and perhaps also pilgrimages from outside Mane Hiemalis. May contain ancient relics, useful priests and scholars, or powers to smite or curse.
4
5		Rivals. A nearby settlement of the same time which threatens war.	Skilled smith or craftsman, or scholar. An expert armourer, weaponsmith, blacksmith, potter, jeweller, brewer, and so on. Alternatively, a great sage, highly knowledgeable about a particular subject.
6	Ice elves. A citadel of the ice elves, carved into a glacier and lit by the light from outside, deliberately and delicately refracted by the careful crafting of the halls and corridors. The inhabitants are as distant and cold as the mountaintops, but they allow some humans and members of other races to dwell in their midst - for short periods at least.
7		Evil infiltrator. A malign force which has entered the settlement in hiding or disguise for purposes predatory, lustful, or power-hungry.	Big market. All settlements have markets of some kind or other, however small, but this one has a large regional bazaar at which there are comparatively many traders and where specialized artefacts can be bought or sold.
8
9		Incompetent ruler(s). A leader or leadership which is mad, foolish, or weak, with the consequences which follow.	Great warrior(s). A mighty hero, or perhaps a school of martial arts or warrior order.
10	Duergar. Malicious, greedy and miserable, the duergar do not make pleasant companions, but sometimes branches of their underground cities stretch up into the mountains and can be entered there; they tolerate travellers if they can discern a benefit in their presence, and only to that extent.

Text Box: How Time is Measured in Mane Hiemalis

The sky of Mane Hiemalis is drenched with the colours of dawn: red, orange and pink spilled across pale blue. But the moon can be seen in it; most peoples living in the region can keep the lunar month, and those with the knowledge to make telescopes - elves, chiefly, and some gnomes or halflings - can measure hours by the movements of the stars. This is considered a precious gift worthy of being bought or (more likely) stolen by others; every troll king desires a pet elf astronomer slave to help him in his schemes. Those without it resort to cruder measures, such as the appearance of the southern wind from the ocean, which comes somewhat regularly, roughly every eight hours.

Text Box: Player Characters Native to Mane Hiemalis

PCs native to Mane Hiemalis are most likely humans, forest dwarves, bariaurs, or ice elves. Heath elves do not in general become adventurers; they are too interested in their ruins, their antiquities, their sorrow, and their petty cruelties. Natives of Mane Hiemalis are usually poor (1/4 starting wealth) but tough (add +2 to starting hp, up to the maximum by class/CON bonus); this does not apply to ice elves.

Naming Conventions and Languages in Mane Hiemalis

[TBC]

Sample Starter Bases for Campaigns in Mane Heimalis

1) Adenau. A motte-and-bailey fortress in the forest, ruled by Freiherr (Baron) Hans von Rittberg, a wereraven lord. He has a hereditary insanity which causes him to be believe he is made out of glass, with the result that he rarely leaves his bed - let alone his fortress - and the large walled village over which he rules has fallen into moral decay. Murder, theft and brigandage are common, and robbers, gamblers and killers from all around congregate in its filthy alleyways and ramshackle taverns, looking for employment. Hooks: A werefox has infiltrated her way into the village and is slowly amassing loyal male slaves until she is able to challenge for rule; a man has been seen in various taverns and at the market offering to sell items he claims are stolen from heath elf palaces; a nearby tribe of centaurs has easy pickings kidnapping captives on the unprotected roads leading to and from Adenau, but they are working for a much greater power than they.

2) The Spit. A village on a shingly spit of land on the coast, surrounded on three sides by the slate-grey waves, and constantly swept with salty spray. Its crude, inbred people are mere seal-hunters and flotsam-pickers, and that is the limit of their ambition, but their charismatic leader, Gallus, has designs on conquest. He is happy for anybody with the merest crumb of skill, bravery or initiative to live in his village - provided they pay him small tributes of money, arms or armour from time to time so that he can build his “army”. Hooks: Kuo-toa corpses have washed up on the nearby shore in their droves - signifying the aftermath of a battle and possible rich pickings in loot, although this will be known all around the local area; something has caused the local population of seals to rapidly decline and the village is faced with severe food shortages; a girl from the village fled her dangerous husband and drowned in the attempt, and has now returned as a revenant seeking revenge - she is said to wander nearby areas searching for him, and he will pay a reward for help.

3) Basiskele. An ice elf citadel in the mountains, carved into a glacier in the shape of a snow leopard’s eye, with the central circular hall its pupil and corridors radiating out from it. Its people are aloof even among ice elves, and rarely deign to speak to outsiders, but there is a small wing of the citadel, known as “the cut-off”, devoted to foreign trade. There, humans, gnomes, and those of other races are permitted to live, and a small-but-flourishing entrepot has come into being. It has no ruler as such, but is generally agreed to be run by the Council of Three - consisting of a rotund, avaricious human trader, Festus; a female grimlock exile and owner of an inn, Bet-Tun; and a duergar priest, Keshakuz-srit, who leads the inhabitants in the worship of a patron demigod of glaciers. Hooks: Some ancient disease is slowly killing the ice elf population by turning their flesh to tiny hair-like crystals, and in their desperation they may deign to ask outsiders for help; a sage, known as Yemmick the Grey, has let it be known that he desires to know certain things about the geography and inhabitants of the region - he is a steel dragon in disguise, come to Basiskele to satisfy his curiosity about Mane Hiemalis; grimlocks from Bet-Tun’s tribe are plotting to assassinate her and have recently made an attempt on her life - she needs protection.