Xander One Eye - Captain of a band of Rogues and Bugbears

Xander One-Eye is the name of a leader of a band of marauders from out of the eastern reaches of the Tiazarr Forest, near the Tiazarr River, in the Wychwood Region.  These Marauders take advantage of the fact that much of the City of Ten Gates (capitol of Gorrem) does not hold much military power this far east, and the reputation of the Forests in the Wychwood Region keeps the Sun King Barbarians far south of here.

Xander takes his name from the fact that when he was a younger man, he took up the career of "Highwayman", and would regularly hold up carriages and travellers along the road from the City of the Ten Gates, down southeast, towards the City of Fire (capitol of the Barony of Lynch).  While a wagon train bearing some of the Baroness' Best beer out of Gorem was traveling the road between the Plum Woods and the Belley Woods, the train made its way through the Greenapple Commonwealth.  While stopped at one of the small towns there, to trade some of the award winning beer to the Halflings that live there, Xander stowed away on one of the wagons.  As the wagon was leaving town, he climbed out and told the driver to "Stand and Deliver".  Well, the driver was none other than a pair of Halfling drovers, from the Commonwealth, and the watchman had been peeling some apples with a small paring knife, and sharing them with the wagon driver.  Well, Halflings being deadly accurate with thrown weapons, it wasn't long before the startled fellow flung his knife, and Xander lost his eye.  He continually tells the story to keep up both his reputation as a brigand with a sense of humor, and also as a self reminder towards humility, and not to take ANYONE as not being a threat.

Brigands of Xander One Eye

These days, Xander as a 9th level thief, has built himself a nice stronghold in the dark confines of the Tiazarr woods amongst the Wychwood trees (for which the region takes its name), and has attracted quite a following.  The main part of his gang, are some 30-40 human brigands (about half of them fighters, and half of them thieves).  Along with that, however, he has impressed a band of Bugbears into joining in his gang.  These shelter separately from the human Brigands, and answer to a Bugbear chieftain named Arpus Ard, who counts himself as one of Xander's lieutenants.  Arpus Ard has mustered a few dozen Bugbears to join the gang of Xander.

Arpus Ard and his sergeant

Here is a map of the region, showing the many forested areas of Wychwood, between Gorrem (and the City of Ten Gates) and the Tiazarr River.

Jesting Birds - Encounter on the Tiazarr River

In the Nightside region of the Valley, where the Tiazarr river bows out to the east, almost reaching the Nell Nod forest, there is a very curious relationship among two animals that has developed.

The first is the Jesting Bird.  These are very large, but slim, flighless birds.  They can reach 10 or 12 feet in
height, and are very slender.  They spend their days, mostly, among the slender greywillow trees that grow in small clumps in the riparian earth on the eastern banks of the Tiazarr.  The Jesting Bird has long grayish legs, and a long grayish beak, and would blend in with the tall, smooth trunks of the greywillows, except for the very light colored plumage of the birds.  They vary in color, between white and very pale blue.  During cooler months, this will darken, the white becoming itself a dark gray (much darker than the bare gray branches of the greywillows), and the blue species becoming a dark blue.  This dark color only lasts for a few months, and when warm weather returns, the darker plumes are shed, and lighter ones replace them.  During this process, a light, airy fluff forms on the tails of the males, and it is used to attract the females.  The Jesting Birds are usually quite amiable, and will not be scared off too easily.  They will approach people and riding animals, and they make a strange koo-klucking noise while tilting their heads from side to side.  With their great height, they can look down on a person riding a horse quite easily.  Encountered in the environment they love so much between the banks of the Tiazarr and the Nell Nod, they are often in family groups of 2-12 adult birds, and depending on the time of year, could have half again as many chicks, ranging from two to six feet in height.

With the long thin beaks that they have, it would be natural to think that the Jesting Bird gets meals from the banks of the river - either burrowing creatures, or fish.  This is not true, but to see what the Jesting Bird eats, taking a look at the other animal that partners with it is a necessity.

In the same region of the Valley, there exists a small winged mammal.  It is very similar to a bat, and is

sometimes called the Fool's Bat.  The Archivists at Parn Tandalorn, certain rangers and druids, and other sages will refer to it, however, as the Cenotaph Bat.  These creatures are quite small, smaller than a human hand, even with their wings extended. And they fly almost silently, lacking the flap-flapping common to bats.  What makes them so dangerous is that they have a curious magical effect to their bite (it doesn't seem to be a physical poison, just some magical effect of the creature itself).  This effect will render the victim quite immobile for 1-4 turns (each turn, remember, being 10 minutes).  A saving throw vs. paralysis is allowed, but with a -2 - the effect is quite strong.  The Bats seem to feed off of the warmth and life force of warm blooded creatures, so once they paralyze a victim, a dozen or so bats will come and roost on the body.

Now, what makes the Cenotaph Bat so dangerous in concert with the Jesting Bird, is that the Bats tend to roost in the same Greywillows that the Birds often nest and graze near.  And when a victim comes near by (any mammal, human, demi-human, or humanoid will do), it is often set on by a half dozen or so (1d6 +2) of the Bats.  Once the Bats have had paralyzed the victim, and the body fills up with a dozen or so bats, then the Jesting Birds will come in.  The Jesting Birds, you see, are blood drinkers.  They will use their long beaks to pierce the paralyzed bodies, and begin draining blood.  Once they make a successful hit against the armor class of the paralyzed victim, they begin draining blood at the rate of 1 point of constitution per round.  Given the large size of the Birds, they can only manage to get 2 or 3 birds - at most - feeding off of a man-sized body at one time.  The worst aspect of this habit of the Jesting Bird, is that the victim, although paralyzed, is quite conscious and aware of what is happening during the entire ordeal...

The reason for the name of the Jesting Birds is that once they have drained a victim of all of its blood, then they will do a little strutting dance around the body, and sing a different song.  Rather than the usual "koo-kluck! koo-kluck!" that they do when just roosting or waiting for a meal, once they have fed then they will sing a song that goes "koo-Ha! koo-Ha! koo-Ha! Ha! Ha!".  It sounds, disconcertingly like laughter.

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Name: Jesting Bird
No. Encountered: 2-12
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 80'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 1 Kick, 1 Beak Stab (self defense)
Damage: 1-6 (kick); 1-4 (stab)
Save: F3
Morale: 9
Hoard Class:VI (remains on dead victims)
XP: 75
If the Jesting Bird successfully scores with a Beak Stab, then next round it will begin draining Constitution from the victim, 1 point at a time.  It takes 1 full week to recover a point of Constitution lost in this way, although a Cure Light Wounds will restore 1 point, and a Cure Serious Wounds will restore 1d6 points.

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The Cenotaph Bats, on the other hand, are completely silent, all the time.  Especially when flying or hunting, however.

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Name: Cenotaph Bats
No. Encountered: Swarm of 1d6+2 per mammal larger than a house pet.
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (fly)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 0 (1hp)
Attacks: 1
Damage: A successful hit does no damage, just requires a save vs Paralyzation.
Save: F1
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: None
XP:15

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The Nine Rivers

Within the Valley, which is some 3200 miles long from east to west, the most common way to distinguish regions is to consider the segments that are roughly split up by the Nine rivers that flow into the Great River.  These divide the Valley up into eleven different regions. 

The northern regions, west to east, are

• The Shattered Plains
• The Enchanted Forests
• The Darkearth Plains
• The Sildur Reaches
• The Suuviz Region

The southern regions, from west to east are:

• The region of Gateway
• The region of Bartaloo
• The Rising Land
• The Wychwood region
• The Nightside region
• The Shale March

Four of these rivers flow from the Destriel mountains in the north, and each of them passes underneath the King's Highway.  Five of the rivers flow from the Holabria mountains in the south.  All nine empty their contents into the Great River, which continues to flow from the east to the west.

Listing the rivers, in order, from west to east we see that we have:

1. Durwash River - which flows out of the Destriel Mountains, near the famous Groben Cave sites, down past one of the Altars of the Old Ones (the great stone amphitheater, near the King's Highway), flowing south into the Great River.  While the Durwash southwest from the Groben sites, there is a tributary that joins it from the north west, called the Stormwash. The region to the west of the Durwash is the Shattered Plains, and the region to the east is the Enchanted Forests.
2. Pellet Water Run - This swift flowing body of water begins in the Holabria Mountains, with the glacial lake Sunshield as its point of origin.  It flows down, through the Burning hills, and finally north between the Falcon Woods and the Deeper Forest. The region to the west of the Pellet Water Run is the Gateway region, and to the east is the Bartaloo Region.
3. The Two-Moon river is an amazing body of water.  First there is the magical property that the third moon of the world never reflects on the water, only the first and second moons (which is where the name comes from).  Second, the headwaters of the Two-Moon are high in the Holabria Mountains, and they are in fact a waterfall descending from a cloudy realm high over the Fircarran Peaks.  The waterfall splashes down and forms a lake called the Skybowl, and then begins the long journey down out of the mountains, north towards the Jazzan and into the Great River.  The Two-Moon river is joined also by the Tandalorn River, which originates to the east of the Skybowl, as a series of  springs.  The site of the Tandalorn Springs is where the Parn Tandalorn Monastary is located.  To the west of the Two-Moon river is the Bartaloo Region, and to the right is the Rising Land.
4. The Lost Mare River is the next of the Nine.  It flows, at first mad and fast, south out of the Destriel Mountains towards Sorrad Forest, and then turning east, begins to lose a lot of its speed and anger, making its way lazily towards the King's Highway, and then on to the Great River.  Once it turns east away from the Sorrad Forest, one of the reasons for the great slowdown of the Lost Mare is because a lot of the river is diverted underground, feeding the mighty Underdark Sea, which is home to the Dark Elves and their so-called  "buccaneer kingdoms".  The Lost Mare is also joined by the Night Wash, a mountain stream fed tributary river.  The Lost Mare river divides the Enchanted Forests region to the west from the Darkearth Plains region to the east.
5. The Fernrush River is next.  It empties out of Ancalhenn Lake, which is fed itself by four mountain rivers coming out of the Holabrian Mountains.  Several ruined Old One sites are along the Fernrush River, which for some forgotten reason was a focal point of Old One trade activity.  The Fernrush River divides the Rising Land to the west from the region of Wychwood to the east.
6. The Greywater flows south out of the Destriel Mountains, joined by the Terrapin River.  There is a lot of river traffic along the Greywater from the many different Storm King tribes in the northern Shadow Woods.  Many different Storm King Jarls have holdings along the Greywater river.  The Greywater serves to divide the Darkearth Plains to the west from the Sildur Reaches to the east.
7. The Tiazarr River is next.  Its source is in the south, in the Caves of Night.   The Tiazarr is joined by the Ceduria River, flowing out of Ceduria Lake, which is also home to Panakus River, one of the four feeding Ancalhenn Lake.  The Tiazarr River divides the Wychwood region to the west, from the Nightside region to the east.
8. The Fa'Ars River flows past the great city of Narn, as it makes its way south from the Destriel mountains to feed the Great River.  The Fa'Ars has its source high in the Destriels, at a series of connected lakes known as the Tears of Heaven.  The region is widely avoided, as Giant country.  The Fa'Ars River divides the Sildur Reaches to the west of the river, from the Suuviz region to the east of the river.
9. The Moa Thola is the last of the Nine.  It is a river that comes out of the Shale hills.  It is home to a large amount of Sun King tribal traffic.  The river itself is joined by the Errando River originating not too far from the Caves of Night.  Perhaps there is a connection to the Tiazarr River.  The Moa Thola river divides the Nightside region, to the west, from the Shale March region to the east.

Valley of the Old Ones - updated with Nine Rivers information - click for more detail