Reference notes that sit alongside the journal: creatures, people of note, notable finds, and other material that is not a session recap but still matters at the table.
Monsters and strange creatures keyed to the campaign.
Six-foot black spiders with a red hourglass pattern on their abdomens. They dwell in web-filled lairs and sometimes prey on humans.
One lurked under the detritus in the ruined armory of Sir Brandon's Barrow, beneath a sparkling layer of spiderwebs over broken shields and weapons. The party roused it by hurling clay urns into the webs and brought it down with urns, a torch, stones, and broken amphora.
Four pompous elves on immaculate stallions, hunting a golden fox with black fae hounds. Their spokesman does not look at the people he is talking to.
Wolf-like, shaggy black fur, glowing eyes, skittish energy, shouting to each other in gruff voices. Two of them cut short the burial at the dwarves' mine, sniffing frantically, asking where the prey went and whether the party had it, and threatening to kill them.
Their howls later followed the party back toward Brandonsford.
Large freshwater insects that eat damp wood; they cling to hulls and chew from below. They can shoot a jet of water that stuns anyone caught in it at close range.
Undead corpses with a beast’s posture; they fight with two claws and a bite. Each wound carries paralysis that spreads through living muscle and nerve.
A sixteen-foot woods dweller at the stone-slab cottage east of Brandonsford. The party outsmarted him, freeing Brother Dirk and lifting his gold necklace while he slept.
A very large bottom-dwelling catfish, pale, with four barbels by the mouth. It lies under mud and attacks swimmers or boats that pass above it, biting and lashing with its feelers.
A giant warty toad the size of a large dog, thick-bodied and dull-coloured. It stays still in mud or reeds until prey comes near, then bites.
Small, grotesque humanoids in the woods around Brandonsford: lightly armored, chaotic, and fond of ambushes. Four were lured out of Sir Brandon's Barrow and slain.
A fox with a shimmering golden pelt. The party met one on the trail to the dwarves' mine, looking straight at them. Dougal threw it dried meat. It ate, took the rest in its mouth, bowed, and left east.
Aquatic humanoids with a fish tail instead of legs; they breathe water and carry spears or knives. They gather in shoals and defend the stretches of river or shallows they treat as theirs.
A seven-foot browned skeleton in rusted armor and a mustachioed electrum death mask. Drags a broken greatsword behind it.
One of the three knights who stood out in the first antechamber mosaic when Brandon gathered his men for the dragon's lair: Alfred, the shaggy giant with a greatsword.
The ghost of Sir Myrddin, the wizened priest among Sir Brandon's men. An unchanging scowl, black robes, moving like ink in water. It screamed at trespassers in the warrior statues room of Sir Brandon's Barrow, woke the stone warriors with a touch, and drained vitality on contact.
Mono destroyed it with her gravity sword after the party toppled statues and weathered its attacks.
A headless skeleton that rose from Sir Wyllt's sarcophagus in Sir Brandon's Barrow, gripping a silver bearded axe in a death hold. When the party tried to take the axe, the remains stood and fought with deadly skill.
Wyllt was the wild-eyed axe-man among Sir Brandon's men in the antechamber mosaic. His floating skull had already been smashed in the corridors; the body waited in the forest-mural crypt below. The skeleton severed Squire Hilda's sword arm before the party put it down again.
A floating skull with veiny yellow fiery eyes that bounce around in their sockets. Always laughing.
Wyllt was the wild-eyed axe-man who stood out among Sir Brandon's men in the first antechamber mosaic. The party roused this skull when Dougal's staff crossed the stone ring around the clay shrine in Sir Brandon's Barrow; Hilda cracked it against a wall. His headless body later rose from the forest-mural crypt when the party tried to take his silver axe.
A bird-reptile hybrid about three feet tall, with a single eye and lamprey-mouthed tentacles around its beak. One dove on the party's barge on the Gustos River, drawn by the scent of food; they drove it off on the unsteady deck.
Invisible fey given away by giggles, and by an iridescent flurry of wings when they take a coin. They led the party in a circle at camp with a glowworm trail and dropped acorns on their heads.
They took silver for answers. They called Dougal, Mono, and Brother Dirk by name. Asked about dwarves, they said there were no more around here.
Incorporeal undead that looks like a pale human form made of drifting mist. Its touch is bitter cold and drains strength from the living.
Named people the party may meet again.
A greasy-haired thief-adventurer with rotten teeth who calls everyone "pal." Dougal promised him a pint and found him again that evening with the other hirelings. Ned is hunting the buried treasure of the dread pirate Carmelo the Cursed in the forest but will not venture out until the dragon is dealt with. He keeps a tiny jar on a cord around his neck; something inside buzzes from time to time. He did not join the party's hunt.
A merfolk guard at the entrance to the Merfolk Lagoon, Aelindra patrols the waters with a trident and a net of woven kelp. Her pink-streaked scales are a remnant of the mutagenic ooze, though she shows no ill effects. She serves as a reluctant liaison to surface-dwellers, escorting visitors to the Merfolk Hall for parley.
Innkeeper of The Clumsy Fox, an amiable halfling who welcomes strangers with his famous Fox Tail brew and bread from his wife's kitchen.
One of the dwarf brothers of the mine.
His pick was found by the hearth of the burned cabin. His body was not among the dead.
A faun who carried a goblet of wine. He remembered Vivian and offered the party some of the wine. He later accepted Grimni's Witness Ring as a gift with sentimental value and gave them a bottle.
Duke of Karameikos; his court is in Specularum. His work is law, tax, guards, and nobles' quarrels, not day-to-day life on the smaller rivers.
Brandonsford's reeve, a barrel-chested man with muttonchops and purple rings under his eyes, often found at a table by the window, silent and staring outside. He explained the dragon's toll on the town and offered one thousand gold pieces to whoever kills it, then sent the party to George the woodsman. Eric is furious and exhausted that Lady Elara has taken her guard to the Borderlands Keep to court Duke Stefan's favour for a title he believes is already hers by inheritance from Sir Brandon.
Priest of Halav, a drowsy man with a droopy frown and a gray beard to his waist. He blesses the human faithful readily enough and is openly disdainful of non-humans. Dougal and he traded barbed quips within minutes of meeting.
William called the town alchemist Ingrid a pagan witch in league with Vivian, the woods witch, and spoke of Sir Brandon's old dragon-slaying.
He sent Brother Dirk to Sir Brandon's barrow to fetch a magic sword. Dirk was captured by the woods giant on the way.
The party freed him and later brought the sword back. It is stored in their room at the manor.
A leprechaun the party found swearing for help on the Gustos shore near Brandonsford, a salmon on his line and the line tangled in his long and proud beard. He asked them not to cut the beard. Dougal cut the line and Mono pulled the fish, then Finnian's face went pale and he vanished when the hounds drew close, before they could untangle the rest.
A merfolk of the Merfolk Lagoon, Freya was rescued by Dougal and Albrys from a hobgoblin’s net during their first visit. In gratitude, she gifted them a river pearl necklace, now a key diplomatic token with her people. Though grateful, she is haunted by the Hag’s death and the pink ooze’s corruption, especially the loss of her favorite comb to the sludge.
A river trader from Backwater, Gelund pilots barges up and down the Gustos River. Dougal bribed him with extra payment to stop at the Merfolk Lagoon during the trip to Brandonsford. When Dougal refused to pay the agreed amount at Brandonsford’s docks, Gelund spat in the water and abandoned the party with Carl.
The only Brandonsford hunter to survive an encounter with the dragon. When the party met him he was recovering at the temple, missing his right forearm. A week earlier he had gone out with a band of hunters who tracked the beast to the foot of the mountains north of town; it killed the rest and took his arm. He described the creature as more fat alligator than winged terror, with poison dripping from its teeth, black scales everywhere except its eyes and mouth, those unscaled spots, he thought, might be its weakness.
An old, gangly, loud farmer with a drunkard's breath. He insists he saw the dragon, barn-sized, with wings, and that it carried off one of his cows.
He told the party not to worry, because his sons Tad and Zach had already left town to slay the beast, a claim that left Reeve Eric visibly stricken with anger and dread.
Zach came back missing his left leg above the knee.
Brandonsford's harried steward, a skinny man who clutches his ledger as though his life depends on it. He thanked Dougal, Mono, and Albrys warmly for the provisions from Backwater, then made plain that food alone would not solve the town's many problems: resources are dwindling, and several messengers sent downriver for help never returned. Too busy to guide them further, he sent the party to Reeve Eric.
The oldest of the dwarf brothers, found dead under the collapsed mineshaft, wearing the Witness Ring.
He asked mercy for Brol.
He used to be an adept of the Way of the Mountain Heart, closer to a priest. He left it many years ago because the religion was rotting from the inside.
He won't be needing the pouch of herbs to relieve joint pain that Vivian sent him via Dougal.
The Rusty Tankard’s keeper is a practical man who organizes Backwater’s trade and defenses. He’s the village’s de facto leader, respected for his sharp mind, though he’d rather not admit it. His tavern is the heart of the village, where decisions are made over ale and hard truths.
Brandonsford's town alchemist. Thin, shy, and socially awkward behind the counter of her cramped shop. She sells practical goods such as mandrake root tea and keeps rarer stock for customers who know their trade; Albrys traded a golden locket for a firelight citrine, a stone that shines like a torch when shaken and can explode violently near fire.
Ingrid knows Vivian, the woods witch east of town, personally. Vivian has helped her harvest mandrake and other reagents, and suggested the party seek her out about fairies encroaching on the forest and the dragon. Nothing about her matched Father William's talk of a pagan coven; just a shopkeeper and a woods witch who traded favours.
Squints identified her as the hooded figure seen leaving her house at night. He reported that she had been watching Warwick's smithy and had left paper and flowers at its doorstep.
A river troll raised at Mother Greenteeth's lair in the Gustos. Her adopted son.
They gave him back the knife Ma had taken. He helped kill the albino beaver.
They killed Ma in the same fight. He did not see it.
The heir of Sir Brandon and holder of Brandon's Manor. She took her guard to the Borderlands Keep to seek Duke Stefan's recognition of a title Reeve Eric believes is already hers by right.
A faun who played a set of merry pipes. He remembered Vivian and played a calming lullaby as he left the party in the forest. Mono and Brother Dirk fell asleep moments later.
A thin, tall wizard in blue robes and a pointed hat, with a prominent nose and close-cropped hair and beard. He bills himself as "soon-to-be magnificent." He was among the adventurers when the party negotiated hirelings but did not join the dragon hunt.
A freshwater hag who lived under a mound behind a dam in the Gustos. A bent crone with green-yellow skin and river filth in her hair.
Townsfolk from Backwater killed her.
A grizzled shipmaster who advises Harlan and Yelena on river matters, his one good eye and decades of experience making him indispensable. He speaks in riddles and warnings, but the village listens, his knowledge has saved them before. His necklace of river stones is said to glow before storms.
Proprietor of The Golden Egg, a white-bearded, bony halfling whose friendliness feels excessive the moment strangers cross his threshold.
His good booze has been disappearing every night. He accused Bentley of stealing it or paying someone else to do it, and offered the party 100 gp to catch whoever was responsible.
An old maiden at Brandon's Manor. She showed the party to their guest room and quietly performs her routine duties around the house.
When Dougal asked her about the manor's family, she spat on the floor at the mention of Thyatians and the Duke.
He is always wet, and water runs from his mouth when he speaks, so talk with him is slow and awkward. He rode with the upriver boats for a short time, handed out gold, then leapt back into the river.
River merchant who performs trades from a moving boat and screams his prices loud enough to reach shore. He once sold a silk armour for a basket filled with nutritious berries, sold on the spot before he moved downstream.
The woods witch who lives east of Brandonsford. A hunched, wrinkled old woman with a bulging eye and gray frizzy hair, brusque until she warms to a visitor.
Rumours that she turns folk into shrubs with a look are false; she is passionate about shaping topiary by hand and will talk at length about her tools and craft.
She knows Ingrid the town alchemist personally and sent the party away with herbs for Grimni's joint pain.
She pointed them at the Fauns' Grove as a way to drop the dragon.
When asked nicely, she called off the nixies at her pond so weapons thrown in as tribute could be retrieved.
Brandonsford's blacksmith. Lucky charms cover his smithy, and he knocked on wood and touched them when he heard what happened to the dwarves who supplied his iron.
The dragon has kept him from checking on the dwarves, leaving him short of iron. He said hooded figures were hunting him and leaving things around his smithy. The party promised to bring back the iron from the dwarves' mine. In exchange, he would make a device to hold Squire Hilda's shield.
A hard-handed farmer and Harlan’s second-in-command, she manages the village’s food and labor with an iron will. She distrusts outsiders but protects her own, no one in Backwater goes hungry if she can help it. Her tally stick and sharp tongue keep the village in line.
Significant treasure, relics, and oddities the campaign has put on the table.
A stone that shines like a torch when shaken and can cause violent explosions if exposed to fire. Albrys traded Ingrid the golden locket for it at her shop in Brandonsford.
A driftwood staff set with seashells, gifted by Freya at the Merfolk Lagoon after the high tide bite.
A set of river pearls strung on a cord of woven kelp, gifted to Dougal and Albrys by Freya after they rescued her from a hobgoblin’s net. The pearl serves as a diplomatic token with the merfolk of the Merfolk Lagoon.
A spray bottle found in a makeshift vanity in Mother Greenteeth’s mound.
4 doses.
When used, giant beavers treat the wearer as indifferent for 1d6+6 turns.
A gilded scabbard set with carnelians arranged like blossoming flowers (400 GP). Albrys retrieved it from the pond at Vivian's cottage along with Dougal's thrown-in weapons.
Found in a feeding chamber under the hag’s mound.
Plump white fungi that glow green in the dark (as candlelight).
Heal 1 hp when eaten.
The eater must save vs poison or believe they are turning into living wood (-2 to attacks and saves; must save vs death or flee from beavers for 1d6 turns).
A sword +1 that pulls small unattended objects toward it. The party encountered it on the Chaos River, where it had begun shredding vessels and passengers until it was claimed. Requires STR 14 to wield.
A longsword made from a silvery white metal. A sentence is etched into the blade: "All shadows yield to my light." Taken from Sir Brandon's sarcophagus in Sir Brandon's Barrow.
Dirk would not let it out of his sight until it was back in town.
A holy book with pages decorated with elaborately painted clerical art and gold leaf. Stories of saints and their triumphs over malicious fairies. Found open on the desk in the cleric's workroom in Sir Brandon's Barrow. Fae beings hate the sound of someone reading from it.
A wooden stirring spoon etched with glowing, chaotic runes. Used as a magical melee weapon (1d3 damage).
Expending one charge: On a successful hit, a target must save versus wands or be affected by one of the following magical effects (roll 1d6):
Usage frequency: Only one charge may be spent per strike.
A short sword +1 forged from serrated sawfish bone, found in a grindylow-trapped chest under the hag’s mound. The party later returned it to Junior the river troll as payment for his help against Snowball.
Hard as leather, suitable for magic-users, worth 100gp
Bearded hand axe of polished silver, leafy vines embossed on the shaft. Taken from Sir Wyllt's skeleton in Sir Brandon's Barrow.
A quarterstaff and monastic robes of St. Arthur from a sealed chest in Sir Brandon's Barrow. Brother Dirk noted their resemblance to the depiction in the barrow chapel. Sellable as relics for 1,200 GP if authenticity can be proved.
A set of ten fist-sized stones, each with a flat face inscribed with a single rune. Found in a ring around the shrine in Sir Brandon's Barrow. When Dougal's staff crossed the circle, the stones glowed and rattled loudly and a flying skull answered the alarm. The party took the set when they left the barrow on the 5th of Felmont.
The stones become active when arranged into a circle, regardless of dimensions. When active, if any living thing passes through the circle the stones begin to rumble and glow for 1 turn.
Golden ring, dwarf-made, thick and plain. Three concentric triangles are cut into the band, peak, slope and root, a symbol of the Way of the Mountain Heart. On top, a dark red stone sits in a little crown of gold. Found on Grimni's corpse at the Dwarves' Mine.
When the wearer dies, the next person to don the ring can speak with that ghost for 1d4 minutes. Only the wearer can see or hear them.
Grimni's ghost appeared to Dougal this way.
Dougal gave the ring to Cask at the Fauns' Grove in exchange for a bottle of faun wine.