Editing Wilderlands Hex Crawl IV (section)

==Locations==

===Garthain===
Northeast of here, along the banks of the Greencourse, lies Garthain, a trading-town. Goods are ferried downriver. The headman of the town goes by "Burgess." I account him neither good nor evil, and the town is not overly dangerous to strangers, being not plagued with xenophobia, thieves, pox, and the like.

From the size of it, Garthain looks to be a village of perhaps just under a thousand souls. The buildings are mostly one- or two-story wooden affairs, almost exclusively of wooden construction. Many of the houses look ramshackle, as if they were hastily built. The streets are narrow, muddy, and unpaved; the settlement has obviously not been laid out along a truly orderly grid. 

The settlement comes right up to the southern bank of the Greencourse, and a number of wooden docks jut out into the waters. Various rafts and barges are pulled up at the docks, and burly stevedores unload and load the various watercraft. Pelts, barrels, and bags change hands. A few bearded men in long mail coats bear halberds in their hands and great horns at their belts. They keep a desultory watch on the northern bank of the river, and a much closer eye on a few skirling bands of hobbledehoys running about in a disorderly fashion.

Most of the persons on the street are humans, although a few gnomes and halflings are to be seen here and there, as well as a few fey sorts with a mysterious, point-eared look about them. Some of the passersby mention their intentions to head to the Hairy Comet, apparently an inn of some sort. Others mention a plan of praying at a shrine dedicated to Cilborith, the elf-god.

A one-eyed man in a green robe complains to a compatriot about the activities of a hermit. A woman pushing a vegetable-cart mentions to a passing dame that her son was healed yestereve by one Kandu, a druid. Other assorted persons speak of their intentions to head upriver to such places as Fairway, Serenity Redoubt, and the Ruling River. Others speak worriedly of the humanoids north of the Greencourse.

===Fairway===

A few hours before noon, the party comes to a ferry which crosses the river, which here might be regarded as the Greencourse itself, or an upper tributary of the same river. Across the river, they can see a settlement consisting of houses of wood, stone, and in some cases, mixed construction. It looks to be a town of between two and three thousand souls. 

As the adventurers sit in the inn, they learn that in the town of Fairway, men use strange coins which are red like copper and heavier than lead. These strange coins are worth ten gold pieces apiece. The men of Fairway are eager to trade these coins for their equivalent value in gold or silver.

===Pharos===
If you were to head due south along the strand and then follow it southeastwards, you would come to a pharos, all that remains, really, of a city of the ancient times. Fevrin Sculd, an alchemist, dwells in the pharos with his entourage. He will pay good coin indeed to men willing to risk their lives diving into the sea to retrieve sunken relics of the ancients.

===Dark Woods===
Heading further southeastwards along the beach, you would come to the Dark Woods. I account them dangerous. There are ill tales of human-hating treants, as well as sucking quicksand, giant spiders, and elves. The woods are so dark and tangled that without a guide, it is said to be no uncommon occurrence for men to become lost and starve to death, wandering in circles. There is said to be an elf-town within the woods. It might be of interest to sorcerers and their ilk, but surely not to honest men who wield good flashing steel beneath the smiling sun.

===River Xenia===
The southeastern and eastern portion of the Dark Woods are divided from the rest of the forest by the River Xenia. We have heard strange tales of hallucinogenic algae and goblin bands along said river. 

===Fairlea===
Near the mouth of the strange stream is Fairlea, a small town which trades in carpet and fish. I have visited the town once, but I arrived by boat, not through the accursed woods.

There is a raft-builder in Fairlea, if he still lives, named Momus or Momas or Mymas---something of that nature. If you seek to go upriver, he would be your man. Numa the All-Lord holds sway in Fairlea. When I spoke with the raft-builder (Midas?), he told me that the River Xenia originates to the northeast of Fairlea in the Igomar Hills. Sapphire mines and gnomes, that's what those hills contain, says everyone. I have never been there myself.

===Gnomestead===
In the center of the hills lies Gnomestead. I have entertained traders from yonder town from time to time. It was founded by gnomes, but now they are a minority. Many humans have settled there. A nearby ziggurat of ancient times towers of the over town, and it has become infested by a host of vile stirges who venture forth, slaying hapless farmers indiscriminately. It is said that a rich reward awaits the band of bravos who can defeat the stirges.

===Shadow Valley===
Now, speaking of Garthain again, if you go there, and head five miles north, crossing over the River Greencourse, you come into Shadow Valley. At about the five-mile mark, you will reach the Shadow Valley Stronghold. It is a strange place, a cruel castle ruled by Unlarg Smokebreather, a goblin. He rules over a band of goblins, orcs, and orc-human hybrids. Foul folk indeed.

They maintain the Stronghold as a neutral meeting place between men and the non-human tribes of the region: orcs, goblins, and so forth. I have little love for Smokebreather, but I must admit that he does keep the place a neutral meeting ground. No petty quarrels are allowed to break out.

The great news in the area now is that a meeting between men and orcs is about to occur at the Stronghold, to renegotiate and reaffirm various treaties and trade agreements---or else cancel them and throw the land into chaos and savagery once more. Tensions run high, and many fear that Smokebreather will no longer be able to keep the peace at the Stronghold, and that the meeting will degenerate into a brawl...or a battle.

As for Shadow Valley, it cuts between the lands about the River Greencourse and the Brazen Hills to the north. The land sinks so sharply that in the center of the Valley it is so dark that only the noon-day sun fully dispels the darkness. You can see why light-haters such as orcs and goblins would appreciate that, yes?

===Brazen Hills===
As for the Brazen Hills, they are broken highlands leading up from the rugged coast to the Shielding Mountains. The hills are said to be filled with ogres and worse. I have heard tales of the great riches in the Mountains, but none of riches in the hills. No riches, but ogres? Only a fool or a desperate man would venture there.

===Zubardor===
There is a small town called Zubardor. It lies between the Widelock, the Ruling River, and the Dragon Wood. This town is oppressed by a cursed Moneylenders' Guild. In Zubardor, all wares save food must be traded through them, and all wares save food cost five times the price deemed fair elsewhere in these lands. They do not follow the fair way, in other words, eh?"

===Cidin-Kazar===
You see, what men call Cidin-Kazar is but a surface trade town which facilitates commerce between the hidden under-city and the surface realms.  The surface town consists of only six hundred souls or so, of whom perhaps one hundred and fifty are males of an age and fitness to bear arms in times of need. Dimrock the Hill Dwarf is the authority figure there, and Meilgan Erg the Grognard is Captain o' the Watch. Frale Fraban is the town's priest of Kazadarum.

If you seek passage to the undercity, which would be a rare achievement for those not of dwarven blood, I can think of no better dwarf to intercede on your behalf than Slithering Okli. He is a sage and an alchemist. He does his experiments down underneath Orad Mountain, but has a strange fear of sleeping underground, so he maintains a domicile above-ground. If you were to convince him that you could in any way be of significant assistance in the carrying out of his research, he would likely be willing to make introductions. Various dwarves of the undercity hold him in high esteem, for his lore concerning gems and minerals is deep indeed. He has also memorized much lore concerning the more famous swords and sundry items of the various heroes of old who once trod the land.

If you seek nothing more in the Cidin-Kazar than to restock, you should seek Kutrik the Gnome. He is a merchant and an honest horse-trader. I can also vouch for the provender he vends. Many's the time I've bought hardtack off of him, and never once has it been ridden with nasty mealworms.

===Kirilith===
There is a man named Rider of Rontagin who lives here. He pays bandits a small retainer to disguise themselves as orcs, waylay travelers, and incite fear.