A series of chilling disappearances has brought your party to the edge of the mist-haunted Greyspear Forest, as well as face to face with an enemy as ancient and enduring as the stones beneath your feet
Spoken of only in hushed voices, those who live on the edge of the wood tell of a terrible figure, cruel as the harshest winter, bent with age and the weight of the bulging sack she carries. They know no name for her besides the one handed down from elders, and that she appears at the door to each homestead once a year on the same moonless night to knock three times. Terrible fates are said to befall those who answer, so the locals keep to a tradition known as Opfernoct: laying out gifts for their unwelcome guest, keeping their homes dark and quiet until dawn.
Adventure Hooks:
The party venture into the village only to see one of the nearby houses with its roof partially torn off. Asking questions results in flimsy excuses and reproachful looks from strangers, until the truth comes out: A bookish boy named Verner was apparently snatched out of his home on the recent Opfernoct having snuck a candle to read in bed. His parents, who got the boy the book for his birthday have been shamed for not keeping a better leash on their child and kept from talking to the meddlesome party for fear their actions would bring even further reprocussions.
After impressing the local nobles with their adventurous antics, the party are invited to the marquess’s hunting lodge, an event sure to be filled with revelry and rife with opportunities to court both patronage and attractive strangers. Flouting local customs, the marquis has decided to keep her estate lit through …. Ensuring the party will go on without interruption. What a surprise then when a thunderous knock sounds at the door, only for a giant arm to shove through the entryway and snatch up a gaggle of guests (some the party despise, some they were quite getting on with) and drag them off into the night.
Recommended Reading: Check out my write up connecting giants & the feywild, which this draws heavily from.
Background: The legend of Nanny Knockthrice begins when the first woodsman sought to make a home within the boundaries of the primeval forest. The moment his axe had sunk into the trunk of a tree, an old woman stepped from the woods and demanded that a price be paid, for these were her lands and her trees, and the woodsman . The woodsman replied that he had nothing to pay the old woman with save the tools of his trade and the clothes on his back, and he would surely die without either. If she could defer payment for a year, until his labour had built his house and filled his larder, he'd gladly let her take her pick of rewards then. The old woman assented, vanishing into the forest just as soon as she'd appeared. Like any deal with the fey the weight of the bargain could not be understood until the woman returned a year later to take her pick of what the woodsman had filled his home with over the past year... snapping his new wife off the threshhold when she came to answer the door.
Challenges & Complications:
More than just her size, impossible strength, or her ability to fade in and out of the mist, the greatest threat Nanny Knockthrice presents is that she takes hostages and is not above using them as bargaining chips against meddling heroes. She will break the limbs of her victims in full view of the party to warn them against interfering, or lob them into freezing water to slow down her pursuers. When threats fail, it's time to open her bag of tricks, which can contain anything from a raging storm, captured feywild beasts, or even the animated bones of her previous tributes. She's liable to use these surprises in between uprooting entire pine trees to use as clubs, or throwing heroes like walnuts into the next valley over.
Stalking Knockthrice may prove the better option of rescuing her victims, but will require the party to venture into the feywild, passing through a veil of mist to a wilderness even more wild and foreboding than they left behind. Getting back might likewise prove an issue, and may require them to strike their own deal with a powerful fey to get home
Nanny's lair is a tumbledown stone cottage the size of a fortress known as the keening keep. Built into the top and side of a clearcut hillstead, it surveys the surrounding woodland like an owl looking for prey. The keep originally belonged to a tribe of batlike fey known as the gloamwing courterie, who now reluctantly act as the giant's servants after their forebearer swore an inverse deal to the woodsman: letting her store her tribute in their keep for a year save for the one night she must heap it on her back and wander the mortal world. While some gloamwings are loyal to Nanny, others resent being banished to the rafters of their ancesteral home, or having to share the darkened corners with all the morose mortals Knockthrice keeps like maltreated pets. The party may be able to strike a deal, keeping in mind the bats are all as sinister as any unseelie fae and might betray them at any point just to keep things interesting.
If the party pays attention when stories are shared around the fire, they might notice a loophole in the deal struck by the woodsman: namely that Knockthrice was not allowed to take either his tools, or his clothes. In the way of fairytales, tricking the giant into accepting either of these will break the cure, though the party might need to be clever about it. The woodsman's clothes are buried with him out back of the ruins of the cabin the party will keep stumbling across in their feywild wanderings. His axe was handed down to his extended family after he died of heartbreak, and could be anywhere by now... such as hanging over the mantle of a noble's hunting lodge, buried in an innocuous tree, or in the back of a creepy peddler's cart.
So, me and my wife of 6 years (partner of 15 years, since we were 13) have recently started being Polyamorous and ENM.
It's for the most part been amazing, but the strange thing is realising even though in our marriage we were in an amazing place, having other relationships has made us realise new things, appreciate old things in our own relationship again, and the most surprising for us both, is it seems to have even changed us a little bit with each new meaningful relationship or connection.
One partner has taught me to be more spontaneous and less self concious.
One partner has taught me to be more patient and open with thoughts, emotions and feelings without fear of retaliation.
And another has inspired me to be more creative again just with the sheer amount of passion I see them have for their crafts.
My wife has come out of her shell so much and has been inspired to work on herself more, which is something she's wanted for a while. She's become more confident and loves herself more, and knows her worth in a way that's just so amazing to see.
I know it's not for everyone, and this isn't me attempting to convert anyone. But I just feel so great right now because of the way we're evolving as people separately, yet together. It's surreal and wonderful in equal measure. And I just needed to record that feeling somewhere 😌
trying out some new markers and I'm loving the result. Been enjoying some warhammer and witcher content recently, so that's probably where this piece has come from, like the sessions I've been writing for dnd
It's been a while, but I'm determined this weekend to finish this bad boy, started on the base, just kind of rolled with it and ended up with some water and waves. Quite proud of how this has turned out so far! Going to neaten up and fix some stuff on it later, and then it's the features of the stone and adding in some 3d elements such as grass tufts ❤️
So, filling out my first Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Game character to help understand the game. (Randomly Generated) i've only ever run dnd games so it's a bit of a culture shock, but I'm liking the look of the system! (My group I want to run it for as well are massive warhammer fans, so the enthusiasm is NICE) Any other GMs from this system who know a good channel for tips and tools for running games with this system? #nerds #geeks #gamers #warhammer #warhammerageofsigmar #warhammerfantasy #warhammerfantasyroleplay #whfrpg #tabletopgaming #gaming #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #ttrpg #rpg #dungeonmaster https://www.instagram.com/p/Clb8GebsTeo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Meet the Quest Dad Nuzlocke Squad! I won't lie, the fighting gym is coming up and I'm shitting a brick with 3 normal types in my team, but that's the way it goes I guess! Wish me luck. #pokemon #pokemonemerald #hoenn #pokemonnuzlocke #nerds #geeks #gamers #videogames https://www.instagram.com/p/ClR8Di3M9yf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Having to wait until pay day to get me and my daughters copies of Pokemon Violet and Scarlet (though to be honest seeing the latest news probably a good thing while Game Freak sort the issues out)
So for a laugh I've decided to do a cheeky nuzlocke run of pokemon emerald
origamiaround
andulkaphoto
pixelskylines
snowghoul
blakekathryn
