Darkmoon Vale Wilderness

Three distinct geologic areas comprise Darkmoon Vale. In the south climbs the Elberwick Rise, a low shelf of basalt upon which almost all of the Arthfell Forest grows and which eventually rises to a vast plateau covering most of Andoran. Darkmoon Plain forms most of the vale and contains vast swaths of grassland and is dotted with geothermal vents, small crags of granite and the occasional spruce or fir copse. In the north, the valley rises into a series of foothills, ending on the slopes of the Five Kings Mountains and anchored in the northwest by the imposing volcano, Droskar’s Crag. The people of Darkmoon Vale refer to the three zones in the vale as the Uplands in the south, the Lowlands in the middle, and the Highlands in the north. Enclosing the vale further, the Wolfrun Hills rise in the east, while the Aspodell Mountains form the vale’s border in the west.

Darkmoon Vale is a geologically active region, producing several major events in recorded history and bearing evidence of even greater activity in the past. Most famous of the vale’s geology is Droskar’s Crag, an immense volcano that continues to puff out smoke and ash on occasion even 800 years after its last major eruption (known as the Rending). Lava tubes and other structures wend throughout the lower sections of the volcano, as well as the Five Kings Mountains it anchors. Closer to civilization, the valley floor is percolated with mudpots, geysers, and other geothermal phenomena.

Regional Overview

Tucked away in the northwestern corner of democratic Andoran, Darkmoon Vale is a fairly isolated region with an insular population. More or less marking the northwestern boundary of the region, imposing Droskar’s Crag, the tallest stratovolcano in the world, rises to an incredible height. It casts its impressive shadow across most of the vale, and is easily the region’s most iconic symbol.

Aside from the lumber trade and an abundance of well-plundered dwarven ruins, Darkmoon Vale offers little to civilized societies and thus remains sparsely populated and largely unexplored. Most business conducted in the vale centers on the harvesting and transportation of its rich supply of darkwood. The Lumber Consortium owns all of the small logging community of Falcon’s Hollow and exerts considerable influence over the larger town of Olfden.

Geography

Many dangers and hazards plague Darkmoon Vale.

Arthfell Forest

Stretching far to the south, most of Arthfell Forest actually stands outside the vague borders of Darkmoon Vale. The primarily pine and fir forest generally avoids the axes of loggers affiliated with the Lumber Consortium, thanks to its lack of darkwood. More than two centuries ago, when both it and Darkmoon Wood were much larger and a part of the same forest, a druid circle leader named Narven united the nature-loving peoples in and near Arthfell forest under his control. Declaring himself the Forest King, Narven reigned supreme in Arthfell Forest for over 50 years before old age finally caught him in his sleep. His kingdom quickly disbanded thereafter, leaving behind few indications of its existence.

Aspodell Mountains

These jagged but relatively low mountains rise to heights around 9,000 feet at their peaks. A convoluted line connecting the range’s highest peaks forms the official border between Cheliax and Andoran, placing most of the range squarely in the former. Only one pass exists through the dangerous, monster-ridden mountains, and over the pass rises Vendikon Keep.

Only because of the town’s location and its keep’s strategic importance does Andoran retain its increasingly tentative claim on Piren’s Bluff, and only because of this claim does the country consider any of the iron-rich Aspodell Mountains its territory. Unlike the imposing Five Kings Mountains to the north, however, the Aspodells themselves are not considered important by the People’s Council in Almas, and thus Andoran grants Cheliax free reign in the range – except for the all-important Aspodell Pass, of course.

Darkmoon Plain

Darkmoon Plain comprises all of the Lowlands of Darkmoon Vale and stretches from the short rise of Elberwick Rise to the foothills of the Five Kings Mountains and the Highlands. Most of the plain bears the scars of the area’s extensive logging: wide swaths of tree-stump stubble wind among geological hotspots.

Darkmoon Wood

While still the largest collection of darkwood in Andoran, Darkmoon Wood steadily decreases in size with each passing year. The logging community of Falcon’s Hollow chops away at the woods, harvesting roughly 7,000,000 board feet of timber per year (about 5% of which is darkwood), almost all of which ends up in Augustana to the south. Formerly a part of Arthfell Forest, centuries of logging separated the two into distinct forests, with much of Avistan’s remaining darkwood trees standing among pines and firs within Darkmoon Wood.

At the current rate of logging, the Lumber Consortium estimates the Wood only has two more decades before it all falls to the lumberjack's axe. Numerous factors are beginning to slow the harvest, though, and Greenfire druids hope to reach an equilibrium of felling and regrowth in time to prevent the wholesale destruction of the forest.

Elara’s Halfway House: Standing right on the edge of the woods on a small hill roughly 8 miles outside of town, this small orphanage recently fell to a fire, killing everyone inside – child and caregiver alike. Until the tragic fire razed it, the orphanage housed not only the lost children of Darkmoon Vale, but also those of refugees from Isger and Druma. Now, the superstitious people of Falcon’s Hollow avoid the sad ruins, calling them haunted. Although no confirmation of actual haunting exists, people who get too close to the ruins occasionally vanish.

Forest Elder: The dense trees and thick brush of the forest give way, parting seemingly in respect for the titanic darkwood tree that dominates this clearing. Several times taller than a temple minaret, in one direction the obviously ancient tree reaches into the sky with branches like a giant’s arms, while in the other it plumbs the earth with roots thicker than a man’s waist. Its limbs broad and strong, its bark thick and so richly colored as to almost be black, and its leaves the size of bucklers, the giant thing is less a tree and more a cathedral of boughs and branches. Some of the local druids, in fact, actually consider the Forest Elder and its hanging branches a cathedral of sorts.

This elder darkwood tree is the most ancient of its kind in Andoran (and likely one of the oldest in the continent). Said to have been carried as a sapling from the Hissing Jungle and planted here in the distant past by Deirzir, the Eagle of the First Way, the druids who once guarded the forest claimed this darkwood to be the root from which all Darkmoon Wood grew.

Local tatzlwyrms occasionally make their lairs in the immense branches of this massive darkwood. While Greenfire druids frequently drive out those draconic menaces, others of their kind inevitably return. Why they are drawn to the magnificent tree remains a mystery to local druids and sages.

Lumber Consortium’s Main Camp: This efficient and profitable camp stands amid an ugly swath of clear-cutting roughly 15 miles from Falcon’s Hollow. Five sturdy log buildings – a bunkhouse, a meal hall, an office, a barn, and a smithy – comprise the camp, which provides for roughly 30 men. Scattered amid the sawdust-covered clearing surrounding the buildings are numerous wide, heavy carts and sleds.

The Lumber Consortium owns this hard-working camp and employs all its residents. Most of the men here work as lumbermen, and all 23 of them sleep in the bunkhouse. The camp’s boss, Jarlben Trookshavits, lives in a small room tacked onto the outside of the filthy and taxidermy-filled office (in which he works). Similar small rooms attached to the well-organized barn and the junk-filled smithy house their caretakers as well. Several wanderers and woodsmen who explore Darkmoon Wood for the Lumber Consortium (ever looking for new copses of darkwood and other valuable resources) use the camp as a base of operations, taking warm meals here on occasion and bedding down in the bunkhouse during particularly foul weather. Experienced tracker and hunter Milon Rhodam is one of these itinerant residents.

Ulizmila’s Cottage: Deep in the forest stands a small cottage owned by the witch Ulizmila, said to be a daughter of famed Baba Yaga. The exact location of this cottage remains a mystery to many, and most people of Darkmoon Vale are happy to keep it that way. Rumors place with Ulizmila the power to kill with a word, turn a man into a goat, and to shoot lightning from her eyes. Few dare look for her cottage, and woodsmen who venture into the wood and fail to come out are said to be victims of the witch.

Droskar’s Crag

The beautiful and mostly conical stratovolcano known as Droskar’s Crag stands at the northwestern corner of Darkmoon Vale and anchors both the wide valley and the Five Kings Mountains. At 28,822 feet, Droskar’s Crag is the highest peak in Andoran and the highest known active volcano in the world. Although it continues to emit intermittent puffs of smoke from its two craters, dwarven volcanologists assure concerned Andoren citizens that a major eruption is not imminent.

Droskar’s Crusible: Squatting at the foot of Droskar’s Crag, this ruined monastery sits among ancient, gnarled trees. Made of simple stone blocks, worn smooth with the passage of time, the stout building is falling apart. This slow crumbling alone points to the unusually poor construction of dwarves no longer interested in excelling at their toils, but merely toiling.

Just prior to their withdrawal from the region to nearby dwarven holds, the dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains turned to the worship of the Dark Smith: Droskar, god of toil and labor. As the decades passed, fidelity to Droskar no longer inspired great works, only works, and the quality of dwarven craftsmanship plummeted as the stoutfolk attempted to ceaselessly churn out monuments, temples, and armories in his honor. Droskar’s Crucible is a hallmark of this decline in imagination and spirit. Its spartan interior is a testament to the joyless final days of the dwarves. Smooth halls, many of which are filled with ironblood mushrooms, stretch between cold-stoned chambers. Crudely hewn tunnels connect the underground monastery directly to dreary mines and the thundering forge that long ago hammered out steel day and night.

In the centuries since its abandonment, predators and worse have taken up residence in the ruined building and the tunnels and mines beneath it. On the surface, within the crumbling building of the monastery itself, up until recently lived a powerful worg named Graypelt.

Elberwick Rise

South of the wide, flat plain that dominates Darkmoon Vale climbs a short plateau known as the Elberwick Rise. The large and sparsely populated Shire of Elberwick fills the rise, which before the Rending ran up the foothills of the Five Kings Mountains. The resulting collapse of the northern 30 miles of the plateau resulted in an irregular edge to the rise. In some places, the rise and the plain transition smoothly in a shallow slope, while in other areas the break is more sudden and forms 20- to 40-foot-tall cliffs. Very little of the rise officially resides within Darkmoon Vale, but the part of it that does holds two of the region’s most civilized locations: the gleaming tower of Adamas and the mercantile town of Olfden.

Many of the names in and near Darkmoon Vale bear the name of the Elberwick family, who once held the largest Chelish county within what is modern-day Andoran. When Andoran became independent, then-count Rochard Elberwick peacefully surrendered his claim to the land (and reputedly half his other assets) and sent his son to Almas to enter democratic politics. Today, People’s Councilmember Wellam Elberwick (son of Rochard) represents the Shire of Elberwick and Darkmoon Vale in Almas. Wellam remain popular both among those he represents and with those he works alongside in the capitol.

The Five Kings Mountains

Named for the large carvings of five dwarven kings sculpted into five passes flanking some of the range’s highest peaks, the Five Kings Mountains run from the southwest to the northeast and form the northern border of both Darkmoon Vale and Andoran. The Five Kings Mountains boast 17 peaks classified as fourteeners (a mountaineering term meaning mountains above 14,000 feet in elevation), a few of which stand in Andoran.

Only one of the five kingly carvings stands near Darkmoon Vale – that of King Taggun, founder of Taggoret. The massive carving, standing more than 150 feet high and portraying the king from the waist up, looms over Kingtower Pass between Droskar’s Crag and Mount Gustus. King Taggun’s carving shows the powerful and popular monarch wearing an elaborate crown at least as tall as his own head. His well-groomed beard bears several braids, with numerous bands and trinkets. King Taggun’s depiction holds a massive hammer in such a way that its immense head is “resting” on the floor of the mountain pass. The other four kings have larger but equally elaborate representation, and all four stand within strategically important passes on some of the range’s highest mountains.

Thousands of miles of caves, caverns, tunnels, and abandoned mines are believed to lie beneath the Five Kings Mountains. Prior to the Rending, dozens of entrances to these underground passages existed all around Droskar’s Crag and Darkmoon Vale. As a result of the Rending, though, many tunnels and caves collapsed or were sealed with magma, making entries more difficult to find in the last 800 years.

River Foam

A relatively minor river, the River Foam skirts the southern foothills of Droskar’s Crag before cutting across the northern basin of Darkmoon Vale. The river punches through the Wolfrun Hills via a narrow gorge filled with rapids and shallows before dumping into the Andossan River.

Despite its proximity to Darkmoon Wood and that Falcon’s Hollow sits upon its northern bank, the River Foam makes for a poor highway. Not even riverboats can pass through the Wolfrun Rapids, and the few ferries and boats on the river (including the Falcon’s Hollow ferry) were carried overland or built on the river.

No bridge spans the river, but two fords and one ferry provide ways across the Foam. The only bridge to have spanned the river was destroyed in the Rending of 3980. One of the river’s fords lies a few miles upriver from the remains of that bridge, while the other crosses just upriver from where the Foam dumps into the Andossan River. The lone ferry crosses at Falcon’s Hollow.

Large, silver-flanked salmon fill the river in the spring and autumn, spawning at the base of Gold Falls and filling the river with their easily harvested corpses. Crawdads live all along the river’s banks as it widens and slows through most of Darkmoon Vale. Otters, fisks, marles, herons, and various breeds of alligators also live along the river at various places. Aside from all these animals, the occasional reefclaw makes its way to the River Foam, as does the infrequent water naga.

Wolfrun Hills

Grassy rises capped with small copses of pine fir drop into rocky grottos that in turn rise again with low basalt cliffs covered on their leeward side with scrub oak and prickly shrubs – these are the Wolfrun Hills. Forming the eastern border of Darkmoon Vale, the high Wolfrun Hills present a dichotomic geology (and to a lesser extent, climate). The gently sloping western hills are covered with plantlife (mostly grasses and low shrubs) and provide homes to numerous kinds of animals (including packs of the eponymous wolves). On the eastern side, facing the Andossan River, the hills are ragged and rugged, giving home to tougher plants and more dangerous animals (including packs of dire wolves. Between these two extremes runs a jagged transition zone showing the wounds of the Rending. There, in the area between lush and rough, hills end or rise suddenly in crumbling cliffs, grottos offer sanctuary to dark druids and heartless bandits, and trickles of water meander for miles before suddenly drying up.

Organizations

Despite centuries of inhabitation by those who consider themselves civilized, much of Darkmoon Vale remains wild. This wildness does not preclude the existence of humans and demihumans, of course, but those who do live away from their civilized kin band together in groups of their own for survival and companionship. The most powerful of those groups are described here.

Dark Druids

Whispered and fearful rumors speak of active dark druid circles operating in or near Darkmoon Vale. These circles, known as the Shadow Pack and Third Veil, prey on the innocent people of the Vale and occasionally cast shadows of doubt over the hard-working members of the Greenfire Circle.

Fangwatch

The shadowy Fangwatch patrols the Arthfell Forest within Darkmoon Vale, and only occasionally leaves the forest or moves into the heart of it south of the Vale. Members of this order stand out from other rangers thanks to their unusual attire and practices. Fangwatch rangers wear form-fitting bodysuits and other tight clothes, frequently covered with more flowing outerwear to break up their silhouettes. When seen by anyone outside the order, a Fangwatch ranger usually wears a half mask covering the nose and mouth. As they rarely look the part of rangers, most people who see members of the Fangwatch, their masks, and their unique garb, assume them to be a group of thieves or other lawbreakers. The rangers long ago gave up trying to convince people otherwise.

Led by charismatic and boisterous Rutho Steiggerson, the Fangwatch consists of roughly three dozen rangers and a handful of barbarians. Rutho grew up in Darkmoon Vale and founded the Fangwatch when he was 19. When young Tablic first came to the Vale, the two became fast friends (but only after they engaged in a brief tussle over some argument they’ve both long-since forgotten). When the young druid became the leader of the Greenfire Circle, Rutho introduced him to Ingrid Odeber, and their famous romance begun. Rutho also introduced Commander Odeber to his own lieutenant, Aurore Kaiseva, a talented ranger with a frightening hatred for werewolves. Ingrid and Aurore are fast friends, and their camaraderie has improved people’s opinions of the Fangwatch.

The Fangwatch ostensibly exerts control over the north half of the Arthfell Forest, ceding influence over the southern half to the deputies of Elberwick. The Fangwatch patrols not just the part of the forest that stands within Darkmoon Vale, but also all of the wooded area within 10 leagues of the Elberwick Rise. Thanks to Rutho’s activities (some say “meddlings”), the Diamond Regiment, Fangwatch, and Greenfire Circle work in concert to patrol the vale and maintain as much security as possible for its residents.

Greenfire Circle

Plagued by attacks from ignorant lumberjacks, disgruntled Ulfen residents, and their own brethren (in the forms of the various dark druid factions), the Greenfire Circle druids nonetheless continue their efforts to find balance in the region.

Prior to Tablic’s leadership, the circle attempted this impossible feat alone, keeping its activities and members protected behind a veil of secrecy. Tablic became head of the circle when he defeated the previous leader in a series of challenges that culminated in a nonlethal battle. Embittered by his loss, the former leader founded the Third Veil druid circle and antagonized the Greenfire Circle for several years before dying in battle with Tablic’s apprentice. Since taking charge, Tablic made the circle and its actions open to non-members, showing the people of Darkmoon Vale how his druids strive for balance (not a wholesale cessation of land-altering changes). As part of his drive toward transparency, Tablic enlisted the aid of the Fangwatch and the Diamond Regiment. His close work with those two groups eventually led him to marry Ingrid Obeder, leader of the Diamond Regiment and a woman nearly 10 years his junior.

Greenfire Circle druids act as intermediaries between the region’s industrious humans and its fey (and other natural) residents. Most of its druids live within Arthfell Forest, but a handful reside in Darkmoon Wood, the Wolfrun Hills, at the base of the Aspodell Mountains, and near some of the more scenic hot springs. Some members can take the form of animals (usually falcons or other birds of prey, but never wolves) and use this ability to patrol vast swaths of ground or spy on Lumber Consortium bosses and others they consider enemies.

Dangerous Denizens

Less than half of Darkmoon Vale’s residents are counted in any organized census conducted by Andoran. The truth is, most creatures in the region are not humans or demihumans – they are, for lack of a better term, monsters. While the werewolves of Darkmoon Vale are the region’s most famous monsters, they are hardly alone. Many living (and some undead) menaces terrorize the areas outside town walls.

Draconic Kin

Although not true dragons, these creature nonetheless emulate their fearsome draconic kin in some way. From the small but fierce tatzlwyrms of Darkmoon Wood to the dangerous wyverns of the Five Kings Mountains, draconic creatures prey on the unwary and unsuspecting throughout the wild places of Darkmoon Vale.

Tatzlwyrms: Innately stealthy and uncomfortable in open areas, tatzlwyrms are rarely seen, and in many regions are thought to be little more than local legends. Residents of Falcon’s Hollow frequently attribute the disappearances of woodsmen or lumberjacks to the ravages of tatzlwyrms. Most tatzlwyrms in Darkmoon Wood live near the Forest Elder, deep within the wood, while two other communities are rumored to live on the northeastern slope of Droskar’s Crag and within ancient tunnels beneath the Wolfrun Hills. Although seemingly not intelligent enough to discern the historic importance of such sites, tatzlwyrms are oddly attracted to natural places of great age and primeval strength. What connection these strange dragons might have to these locations, however, remains a mystery.

One particularly large tatzlwyrm, dubbed Claw-eye by locals, lives in the southern Wolfrun Hills. According to those who claim to have seen him, Claw-eye gets his name from a massive dragon or wyvern claw jammed in his left eye and healed over. This healed-over wound, so go the stories, causes poor Claw-eye constant torment, making him an even surlier and ferocious member of his species.

Fey

Numerous fey creatures live within Darkmoon Vale, especially in Darkmoon Wood. Most of the fey in the vale bow to the beautiful and beneficent nymph queen Syntira, but enough do not that the people who live near the wood mistrust any creature even resembling fey. An ongoing cold war exists between the fey (even those loyal to Syntira) and the humans, with each side secretly (and not-so-secretly) killing off its opponents. Syntira continues working with the Greenfire Circle in the hopes of making a peace, but as of yet her efforts have proven fruitless. Syntira and her subjects watch in agony as humans cut away at her domain, squeezing the fey into a smaller holding with each swing of the axe.

Numerous kinds of fey live throughout the wood and the vale, and up until very recently all of them were a friendly but ribald bunch. Many nights, particularly those of some celestial significance (such as solstices, equinoxes, full moons, new moons) and many of no significance at all (cloudy nights, starry nights, moonless nights) found the fey of Darkmoon Wood partying into the wee hours of the morning. These loud, boisterous celebrations of life occasionally spooked jittery and superstitious lumberjacks, who reported the noise and lights to their Lumber Consortium bosses. In order to ease the minds of his simple employees, Thuldrin Kreed sent a contingent of enforcers into the Wood. The Lumber Consortium mercenaries had little effect, and several of them never re-emerged from among the trees. Thus began the barely tenable situation that exists today.

Although fey and humans still mostly tolerate one another, rumors of strange deer-riding fey entering the northern reaches of the Wood have lumberjacks concerned of a build-up of war-oriented fey. Druids of the Greenfire Circle have also reported that some fey seem on the verge of rebellion against Queen Syntira. Among those listed as agitators include her own sister, who the Greenfire believes could bring many other fey to her side, should she rebel against Syntira’s rule.

Humanoids

Although usually not as intelligent as humans, the various giants, humanoids, and monstrous humanoids living in and near Darkmoon Vale pose no little danger to the human and demihuman inhabitants of the vale. The following creatures congregate en masse and threaten what peace and stability exists within Darkmoon Vale. In addition to these, reports of individuals and small groups of bugbears, gnolls, ogres, and orcs occasionally surface in the region.

Hobgoblins: A small hobgoblin settlement stands in the northern reaches of Arthfell Forest. For the most part, these hobgoblins keep to themselves in the forest and continuously scheme, having lost multiple battles against both the Diamond Regiment and Fangwatch. The hobgoblin leader, Thatch Wormtar, longs to conquer Olfden and make it the seat of his power, but every attack made on the town has resulted in failure. Even the combined strength of his hobgoblins allied with the forest’s werewolves (to which he lost several hobgoblins) that launched the Night of Silver Blood could not penetrate Olfden’s walls. With each attack on Olfden or the farms near it, Thatch’s army weakens.

Grung Knifetongue, a gray-skinned hobgoblin with a prodigious cleft palate, is reported to still live alone in the northern reaches of Darkmoon Wood, surviving as a hunter and trapper. Long ago, Grung served in Thatch’s army as a scout, but after too many years of ridicule because of his disfigurement, Grung left Arthfell Forest for Darkmoon Wood. His favorite trick is to snare a firefoot fennec and use it as bait to lure in larger prey, such as Darkmoon wolf, giant moorsnake, or other curious passersby. Numerous razorcrows follow Grung, but it is unclear whether they assist him in some way or they merely wait to dine off his scraps.

Kobolds: These diminutive nuisances infest almost the entire length of the Five Kings Mountains and remain among the range’s most annoying – if only occasionally dangerous – hazards. When Tar Taargadth ruled the range, the dwarves nearly succeeded in wiping out the kobold population there. Once that empire collapsed, though, it only took a couple decades for the kobolds to once again infiltrate into the mountain range, finding places to live in those nebulous areas between dwarven kingdoms.

For hundreds of years, kobolds lived in the places forgotten or ignored by the dwarves, mostly undisturbed (usually only because the dwarves never noticed them). Like a fungus, they spread across the region, choking out other savage humanoids living on the fringes. Natural kobold fecundity and the relatively few predators who could reach them in their dwarf-abandoned tunnels ensured the constant expansion of the race. This ceaseless growth eventually exceeded a number tolerable to the dwarven kingdoms, and once again the dwarves turned their attentions to eradicating the pests. A series of conflicts led to an overall decline in the kobold population living in and around the range. Still, the kobolds tenaciously clung to life in the parts of the range ignored by the dwarves, and over time they stripped the mountain sides clean of edible plants (and in some cases, because they are kobolds, even the inedible ones).

Then the Rending rocked southern Avistan, cracking the earth and the dwarven holds dug throughout it. Many of the old natural caverns and dwarven tunnels within 100 miles of Droskar’s Crag filled with – or at the very least, offered passage to – molten lava, superheated steam, and poisonous sulfuric gasses. No one can begin to estimate the number of kobolds killed by the Rending (because no one, not even kobolds, knew how many lived in the tunnels before or after the event), but most sages who even nominally care agree it was “a lot”. The superstitious kobolds took this event as a sign (of what, they didn’t know) and abandoned the devastated area.

Eventually, of course, the short memories of the kobolds bested their vague dread of the Five Kings Mountains, and they returned to the mountain range only to find the dwarven nations there in decline. Some historians speculate that the return of kobolds contributed greatly to the final collapse of the five kingdoms. Today, small settlements of kobolds infest the hills and foothills surrounding Droskar’s Crag and the Five Kings Mountains. Where they can, the kobolds live within dwarven ruins, such as Droskar’s Crucible and the tunnels beneath Hexagonal Tower.

In the foothills between Droskar’s Crag and Darkmoon Wood, the now dead Merlokrep, first of his name, all-mighty Dragon King of the Truescale Kobolds, commanded a relatively large tribe of kobolds. Housed in the tunnels beneath Droskar’s Crucible, the Truescale Tribe until recently contended itself with living deep within the earth, far away from the prying eyes and sharp swords of humans. Recent reports, however, speak of an increase in the number of kobolds on the surface near Droskar’s Crucible.

Lupines

Wolves and wolflike creatures fill Darkmoon Vale and its surroundings. While most lupine creatures in the vale are normal wolves, plenty of wolflike creatures possessing malevolent intelligence terrorize the region. Despite the understandable bias against wolves in the area, dream wolves nonetheless continue to live in the foothills north of the vale, working thanklessly to stem the tide of evil pouring out of the Five Kings Mountains.

Wolves: The humans of the region always assume the worst of Darkmoon Vale’s wolves. In truth, when left alone, the wolves act as they do anywhere else – they avoid humans, hunt prey animals their size or smaller, and live in sociable family units. Not themselves evil, the normal wolves of the area nonetheless frequently commit acts humans consider evil. These raids, assaults, and killings come only when wicked werewolves control the packs, sending normally skittish wolves on murderous sprees of carnage.

Many of the few good druids in the area struggle with the perceptions and prejudices of their fellow humans on behalf of the region’s wolf populations. Members of the Greenfire Circle, for example, work hard to educate locals on how wolves normally act, so the area’s residents can discern whether a wolf is being compelled or is otherwise acting strangely.

Because of the many scary stories told to children that involve winter wolves, white-furred wolves rarely survive for long when found. As a result, most of the wolves in the area possess gray, brown, or black fur, ironically allowing them to hide more easily in the region. Among other reasons, this leads to the constant presence of wolves, despite repeated efforts to drive them to extinction.

Worgs: Connected as they are to goblinoids, the worg population in Darkmoon Vale and the areas north of it exploded during the Goblinblood Wars a decade ago. Since that time, attrition, hunting, and natural migration has seen a precipitous drop in the number of nearby worgs. Indeed, so few exist now within the dell or hills surrounding it that people no longer consider them a menace. Those worgs who do still live in Darkmoon Vale have thus gained a bit of notoriety for their resilience. The most famous worgs currently living in the Vale are Graypelt, up until recently dwelling in Droskar’s Crucible; Lostfang, residing at the feet of the Aspodell Mountains; and Shadoweye, last seen prowling around Gold Ridge on Droskar’s Crag.

Undead

Although by no means common in Darkmoon Vale, undead do infrequently rise to terrorize and haunt the region’s inhabitants. The largest known concentration of undead activity (usually only haunts, but occasionally ghosts and wraiths) occurs at the foot of the Crags, within the ruins of Raseri Kanton. Recently, though, a rise in other undead near a particular dwarven ruin has put the citizenry of Falcon’s Hollow on edge.

Ghost-like creatures have begun appearing near the foothills of Droskar’s Crag and seem to ever be on some kind of mission, as they tend to ignore those they float past. These dark shades follow the roads through the mountains, and many cross over Kingtower Pass. In addition, rumors from travelers in the area speak of undead dwarves climbing out of various ruins. Most of these animated corpses bear chains, say the rumors, which they use to bind the unwary.

A decade ago, lumberjacks working in the northeastern part of Darkmoon Wood reported encounters with what they called dead tree-creatures brought to life. After woodsmen of the Lumber Consortium turned up no evidence of such creatures, the lumberjacks were reprimanded for spreading false and alarmist rumors. Recently, though, such reports have resurfaced among lumberjacks. The Greenfire Circle reluctantly allied (temporarily) with the Lumber Consortium, and with their combined efforts they found and defeated what the druids called an undead treant. Attacks against lumberjacks stopped for a few weeks, but recent sightings of other shambling, leafless tree-creatures has both lumberjacks and druids on edge.

Werewolves

By far the greatest danger posed to the people of Darkmoon Vale is the abundance of werewolves. These dark-hearted lycanthropes menace townsfolk and murder farmers and travelers. Their influence stretches from Arthfell Forest, where most of them seem to live, north into the Five Kings Mountains.

Many sages speculate that the werewolves once contended themselves with rulership of Arthfell Forest, but with the introduction of human lumberjacks and the subsequent mass-thinning of trees, the lycanthropes found themselves masters of an ever-decreasing domain. In retaliation, the werewolves spread out across Darkmoon Vale, exerting their influence over not only the stump-littered lands that once held their beloved forest, but the surrounding hills and plains as well. The rise of Oregent in the south seems to have pushed the werewolves north, out of Elberwick Shire and into Darkmoon Vale.

Once a month, the lycanthropes’ murderous bloodlust empties the forests of their werewolves, who maraud throughout the surrounding countryside. Olfden prepares for its monthly besieging for the three weeks the moon is not full, and with the exception of the Night of Silver Blood, the town has had little trouble repelling these attacks. Every month, it seems, the number of werewolves knocking at the town’s gates (or rising up from within the walls themselves) rises.

Of course, werewolves aren’t only dangerous during the full moon, but those born lycanthropes and who can change their form at will learned long ago to conceal their identities for most of the month. Only when the moon shines bright and full to the sky do the most cautious werewolves give in to their animalistic lusts and join their brethren in three nights of raucous destruction and chaos.

Others

Some living threats in the area do not fall well into any category or are so few in number as to not warrant a category for their type. Still, some of these creatures prove to be more than just nuisances, and unwary travelers in their territories might not return home.

Gricks: A subspecies of grick with shockingly green flesh makes its home in Darkmoon Vale. This particular subspecies is drawn to warmth and spends much of its time lazing on the banks of hot springs or near mudpots. Not terribly bright, gricks sometimes move too close to the edges of these heat sources and fall in, being simultaneously boiled and drowned. Tobias Thrum, owner of the Thrumming Birch in Olfden, witnessed such a spectacle of stupidity while travelling through the hot areas of Darkmoon Vale. After driving off the surviving gricks with the help of his guards, he fished out the boiled creature and took a chance on tasting it. Discovering it quite delicious, he took to selling boiled grick at his famed restaurant. Thrum keeps an open bounty for securely captured live gricks he can throw into his immense boiling vat. As a result, the population of these bizarre creatures has begun to decline rapidly.

Manticores: By no means a common species, manticores nonetheless make themselves known among the trees of Arthfell and Darkmoon Wood. Relentless and cold-hearted hunters, manticores in the region survive on deer, wolves, and other animals, although they prize the flesh of humans and go out of their way to hunt lumberjacks. Thanks to the efforts of the Greenfire Circle and the Fangwatch, though, the manticore population in both forests continues to plummet. Those few who still live in Darkmoon Wood occasionally flee north, using the lower passes through the Five Kings Mountains.

One particularly powerful manticore named Grazhgaugh claims a copse of paueliel trees near Darkmoon Wood’s Forest Elder. From his perch, Grazhgaugh watches over his claim with intolerant passion, chasing away or eating any creature larger than a squirrel that dares approach his domain. Some rumors purport that Grazhgaugh is an immortal protector, a guardian of some elven artifact hidden among the tall silver-barked paueliel trees. To date, no one has bothered to attempt parley with the frightening beast to discern the truth to these whispers.

Shocker Lizards: These sometimes menacing nuisances live all over Darkmoon Vale, but they prefer the marshy shores of the River Foam. Every so often, some farmer or rancher living in the lowlands of the vale tries to domesticate, or at least tame, a few shocker lizards, thinking they might make excellent guard creatures. Sadly, these attempts never turn out well for the would-be lizardherders.