Sunday, 12 May 2024

Lake Vinegar of Chagrinspire





































Wet World of Tears
Close to Chagrinspire and fed by underworld rivers pouring from lower Chagrinspire. It has shrunk over the years and left swamps and wetlands around it. The great trenches around the mountain were disrupted by the lake. Many warships and cargo transports sunk here over the apocalypse war so fish folk can be well armed. Various marine beings and monsters came here for adventure and started colonies here as did some from the Underlands.

A Bulwark is a fortified town built over a lake or a river possibly incorporating some islands or artificial causeways or connected by bridges. Some have walls and may be built by pirates, villagers or other factions. This offers transport, waste disposal and defence all in one. You might find older ones burned away or flooded or sunken and now occupied by fish folk or undead just underwater.

The lake was once bigger, and purer, with great concrete structures of ports and marine forts. Most were destroyed in the war but ruins may be hidden underwater or mud,

d12 Lake Vinegar Locations
1 Pickleton Bulwark fishing village on wooden stilts in water with a fortified wooden door. with boats and a controlled walkway from the shore to enter. A merchant lord controls it with mercenaries and pays for salvage from the wastes for a guild of a far-off civilised nation
2 Bandit Camp is a small island of bandits. Using canoes and rafts from their small log fort on a small rocky island close to shore they patrol roads for victims. It has moved several times they take all their cut wood with them. They just want to rob civilised folk and avoid cults, wizards and non-humans
3 Marsh Village, is a small village of hunters, bandits and fisher folk who hate authority. The location has moved before, especially in flood season all structures on floating rafts and of woven reads. They have many allied beast folk living among them
4 Fishtraps an area of ancient stone fish traps that are operated by local tribes by blocking exits high tide then trapping various marine creatures easy to round up. Tribes fight each other and camp here a d4 days. All tribes unite against civilised peoples here. By night fish folk prowl around and remove the blockages that trap fish 
5 Magic Island where a camp of wizards and mercenaries have arrived to build a base to raid mainland artifacts. They have made a deal with the lake dragons and travel freely and even trade spells. Strangers are not welcome but will be arrested and brought before at least three wizards. They may work with or hire other organisations. They have some cult infiltration but most academic or nobility
6 Lakeboar Village where swine-faced orc abhumans fish for monsters and act as raiders from their small sailing boats. They also keep mud hogs in their homes and use pigs to nurse their babies. Some of their berserks are were-sea-swine aquatic manatee-tailed pigs. These ferocious marine combatants can fight on land or water. They have an inn and good cheap food except for the acorns they offer like nuts. Their pig goddess occasionally craves blood for feasts once a year so locals avoid them then 
7  Gnome Aquahab - underwater domes connected by pipes and connected to underground waterways the grey gnomes of the deep are used as transit tunnels with submarines. They operate several of these subs, two fish-like ones that deeply spies or moves automatons and a larger warship able to sink anything on the surface world and powered by steam
8 Sargassum - several large areas of gigantic water plants where some wrecks have been caught in and many beings have made into homes with gangplank and adapting wrecks into homes. Various dangerous creatures wander the weeds above and below water. A fishing village with a famous pub "The Inn of Lost Souls" is a major trading place but constantly fighting fish folk
Ironheart the wreck of a battleship wrecked by a tsunami and partly ashore in the ruins of an ancient harbour. A settlement of scrappers live here. They also explore other shipwrecks, especially with the cargo ones. Many were hurled ashore by explosions or trapped in marsh when the lake drained away to the Underland to flood a gnome city
10 Dagons Bulwark - a sacred shrine and village of fish folk and cultists who welcome various chaos and aquatic demons and water elemental cults. They seek to control all the wetlands then spread down the river. They help druids if it comes to making water more livable
11 Hoppsville Bulwark is a frog folk wooden town over the waters with a shrine, a theatre, several taverns, bug farms and brewers of frog grog and growers of marsh weed. These popular narcotics have been spreading like fire. Frog folk employ were-frog bards to spy and sell drugs over the waste. A few priests of gods of light have deemed these drugs and even the addictive healing potions frogs sell to be wicked
12 Dragonspawn Beach - lots of lake dragons breed here and young ones are commonly basking on the beach in the sun. They may be curious or hungry and investigate anything edible and they know if they scream an adult dragon will come to help. Strange slime, glowing lights from blue dragonfire and roars are common phenomena in the area. 

d12 Lake Vinegar Ruins
1 Blackbog Village a former crime hub with gambling and vice that reached many kingdoms until an army came and buried it 30 years ago
2 Ruined Chapel was a settlement of pilgrims with mudhogs who came here and made a life but at some point, they were all killed and the place looted, A dozen small stone cottages here and a good well. People fear the phantom in the chapel who moans at night
Lake Towers - where several allied wizards lived all long abandoned and only four of six fully stand now. Small islands were once connected by causeways or wooden walkways but most are gone. Magic traps have kept two sealed and others have been partly explored
5 Lake Village can be seen ruined and underwater from cliffs over the lake. Fish folk or mermaids are sometimes seen here. Some say the church bell can be heard at night
Haunted Bulwark a failed lake village decades ago all killed by raiders and said to be haunted. Badly burned but many platforms and some houses were intact but damaged
Cursed Island - over a causeway which can be walked across to a cursed island normally guarded by a lake monster in low tide. There is a ruined manor and village and prehistoric monoliths on the island
8 Underland Pier a concrete pier close to ancient underground canals to the great dark Underland sea and ancient trade. Traders once came here from many lands. In the apocalypse war, it was a vital supply point for the Chagrinspire forces. Many tunnels were collapsed or trapped but some say strange traders can still be found here. They supply the smugglers guild and frog grog guilds with addictive ingredients for the continent's vices
9  Sunken city a coastal city exposed during tides with a reef of marine creatures. Treasure hunters are keen but require the means to reach the good ruins. Many report hostile marine creatures. A madman found said he was kept prisoner in the fish folk temple inside the reef where they plot against humanity
10 Pact Rock is a black and green stone cliff carved with figures with ancient fish folk cuniform and frog folk pictograms. The figures depict their deified 
royalty ancestors meeting and eating bugs and worms. The bilingual text declares all bugs and worms are for frogs and fish and that both are at peace as long as other species a threat to their empires. Frog and fish folk come here and have underwater temples you can hear them croaking in some nights. They call it the treaty of bugs and worms
11 Black insectoid stone ruin here used by some unknown peoples long ago. Cults pilgrims like to visit and camp here and sometimes they fight over access. Scholars are curious and only a few expeditions could stay briefly due to the leech folk abhuman tribes. Frog and fish folk declared all people here are officially bugs or worms and therefore food
12 
 Ruined ancient city Carcosa is said to be haunted by some ancient citizens who worshipped the outer gods before the Black Sphere Cult long ago. Cults come here for relics and visions

d12 Major Factions around Lake
1 Frog folk abhumans d4 1=soldiers 2=hunters 3=scouts 4=cultists 
2 Fish 
folk abhumans d4 1=soldiers 2=hunters 3=hybrids 4=cultists
3 Rats folk 
d4 1=scouts 2=hunters 3=fishers 4=alchemists with mercenaries
4 Orc d4 1=greenskin tribe 2=hogface tribe 3=cyclops tribe 4=wolf tribe
5 Crime d6 1=slavers 2=smugglers 3=bandit gang 4=guild agents 5=pirates 6=assassins guild
6 Scavengers d6 1=humans 2=goblins 3=dwarves 4=orcs 5=mutants 6=halflings
7 Crusaders d8 1=templars fighting for gods 2=knights seeking glory 3=inquisition cult hunters 4=excorcist demon hunters 5=mercenaries led by noble or priest 6=children here to save the world and do you have food? 7=monks/nuns with guns 8=paladin led force of zealots
8 Barbarians d6 1=magician killers 2=druidic cult seek to repair wounded lands 3=plunderers and mercenaries on adventure 4=city burners 5=orc clan 6=beast folk
9 Alchemists guild d4 1=agents seeking something 2=scholars here to study with students 3=seek weapons for use back in homeland 4=seeks to join the Black sphere or steal knowledge
10 
Chaos Cult d4 1=mutant warband 2=priest with cult 3=wizard with apprentices and monster pets like bound chaos elementals, shoggoths, slimes 4=demon cult mercenaries with a lesser demon
11 
Grey Gnomes d4 1=spy sub 2=scout airship 3=stealth psi-gnome kill team 4=mechanics with squad of automatons
12 Cult of the Black Sphere d4 1=uniformed squad of clone soldiers with muskets 2=ork troops with improvised and found gear just made recently in vats 3=automaton troops with muskets in steam tracked carrier with a small cannon 4=team of alchemist commandoes with magic potions, grenades, incendiaries and poison blades  5=flying machine strafes area with machinegun then leaves to report 6=clone ogres in uniforms and black helmets wielding halberds or black powder swivel guns

d12 Local Cults
1 Night's Whispers have been duped by Derro and receive mutagenic compounds to become more subterranean. The priests whisper in the cracks in old temples and obey the reply. Sometimes potions, weapons or mutagens are gifted to them and some go to live with the secret masters forever. Black robed agents kidnap and murder enemies
2 Dagon is a fish god warrior and farmer popular in ancient times who has returned here thanks to the interest of the lakes fish folk. Hybrid cultists show mutations after a few generations but are common. He is increasingly portrayed as a fearsome fish man but in old times he sometimes had a merman tail. Members are promised immortality underwater if they marry a fish folk
3 The Way of the Dragon is a cult of persons used as familiars by the lake dragons who taught spells to the first grand masters who use draconic magic script. Dragons are secretive, paranoid and use the cult to meddle in affairs and learn magic secrets. The dragons were brought here as thralls long ago and now claim all the waters and wetlands
 4 Cult of Death are here on pilgrimage to this great charnel pit of destruction and the thousands of years of corpses. They are very exited and see opportunity everywhere for them to conquer the world. Also the ancients used undead to recycle dead troops quite a bit and must have had necromancy and are interested in necromutations found in the wastes
5 Frog Cult get high on drugs and live in swamps close to the supply and work with the smuggler guilds who are best kept away from the masters. Clans are very territorial and may hunt strangers to eat or marry. Some are hybrids or mutants or even abhuman beast folk. Mostly they want money and a vast spy network using narcotics. Some seek to help frog folk colonies spread and smuggle spawn or tadpoles
6 The Dark Serpent cult worship a lake monster who grants the cult spells, in reality, it is a demon who sneaks away from duties to propagate believers here. The priests are really snake folk changelings. Most don't realise the creature is real or even sentient
7 The Dark Vessell a cursed ship that attracts cultists who become slave soldiers on the ships raids. It uses a captain as a puppet to speak and if killed it takes a new captain. Crew are increasingly mutated by undersea life. As long as cursed crew cant stay away and will even be reborn more mutated. The crew longs for death
8 Null the demon of darkness whose cult favours this land. They seek power and to sabotage the black sphere. Many early members of the Black Sphere defected from this cult so they like to hunt the heretics with elemental darkness, shadow hounds, undead and shadow demons 
9 Star Spirit Cult obey the word of star people who live in the crystal citadels of the stars. Cultists bring the star people in their gate shrines or meet them in wild places where they visit in their crystal chariots and ornithopters. They have a secret purpose the cult do not know   
10 Molog the machine demon seeks to subvert the Null Sphere to conquer reality and needs followers to take risks installing shrines in the machinery of Chagrinspire. The cult believes they are stopping the Black Sphere and will enjoy a share of power and rewards forever. His automatons subvert machines to evil and mutate flesh with metal
11 The Lady of the Fog who saves innocents lost in the night often using her mists rather than appearing. The cult has grown of people who say the lady saved them. Some have had visions of her will. They preach help and charity so most people think them harmless 
12 Barron Murder a ghoul chief who leads the free-willed undead against necromancers and those controlling undead. They know it takes a certain number of humans to support a ghoul clan so they don't mess with this. He has been courted by a plague god and bringing in more types of free willed undead

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