Renewed monster activity in the Howling Woods

Traceroo

Traceroo

Prodigy
My name is Jane. I’m a Watchtower Captain with the Town Guard out at Watchtower Integrity on the western side of New Acarthia. Integrity is the furthest west of all the watchtowers for the city. Our scouts are onto some strange monster activity in the Howling Woods, and we want to warn local adventurers about it. We observed large numbers of monsters in the woods moving to the same place in there. We think the monsters’ destination was a place called Six Rocks where we know the monster tribes sometimes gather in the fall for what they call a “moot,” a big meeting of a bunch of them. From campfire smoke, noise, and general ruckus, we think the tribes held their moot on the night of Saturday, 28 September.

Their numbers dispersed from Six Rocks right after, but we’re seeing and getting scouting reports of a lot of monster movement all along the border in the woods. Scouts from as far south as Warchester and even down from Tyrok’s Fist say the same. Ogre clans have moved back in numbers. Scouts have seen tribe markers out in the woods which the monsters haven’t left in awhile. Orcs, trolls, signs of kobolds, and smaller numbers of goblins and hobgoblins than the old days but more like that than what Sark’s Vilker have been up to lately. Monsters aren’t covering their tracks at all, either from us or from each other, so something’s up in the Howling Woods.

~Jane
Watchtower Integrity
New Acarthia Town Guard


[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer.]
 
Legion of Tiatar reports movement of the denizens from the Howling Wood extensively through the interior of the Barony of Tiatar. Legionnaires are tracking the tribes and watching closely, coordinating movement reports. No engagements have thus far been reported to Sapphire Keep. Tribes seem to be those resident within the unsettled countryside of the Barony of Tiatar with no movement reported coming directly out of the Howling Woods except at the Ducal Estate of Wolfwatch Keep where Her Excellency’s Legion do not patrol. Sir Risome Yarrow’s estate in Shadowwood reports no unusual activity near its borders with the Howling Wood whatsoever.

Isabelle
Aide de Camp
Her Excellency Baroness Kathryn Westing Elavir’s Retinue
Sapphire Keep

[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer.]
 
Goblins and kobolds stirred up in north Rivervale from Emberwatch to Ambervale. Minor scrape in Twin Pines. Tribes on the move.

Monty
Warden of Rivervale
Hearthwood

[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer, also from Jose Acevedo for his long-ago but not forgotten PC, Monty.]
 
That blasted harridan in the swamps outside Shadowatch Keep hasn’t stopped screaming for the past four nights. It never lets up. We found ogre and troll remains two mornings ago; they must’ve crossed paths with the harridan. They could’ve died quieter. Meadowview caught some orcs trying to rustle some of the cattle there, which usually has no funny business with the animals. Foothill Manor said even the few remaining minotaurs up there have been seen again lately, and that’s been awhile. Tusks and horns are stirred up here, too. At least they don’t slither.

Gunner Ostergard
Bayenna

[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer.]
 
Warchester hasn’t seen any of this sort of activity inside the borders of our barony at all! Our scouts along the edge of Warchester land report that they saw heavy movement in the Howling Woods to our west, and even among the lizardmen in the fens to the south (and the lizardmen usually go quiet when it gets cold, so that’s weird this time of year). Even in Wildwood where it’s pretty much a vacation for tusks, the scattered tribes inside the barony seem normal enough. We’ll report in if we see any change.

Sheriff Dwayne Resnu
Stoneglade

[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer.]
 
If the dream realms carry this farther than to those in New Acarthia who already know this, hear me:

The Howling Woods hit us hard in New Acarthia in a field battle on Saturday, 12 October, not long after dark. Thanks to Cryn and Lyari making their evening rounds out to the watchtowers, the New Acarthian Watch and Laithkir Shadowheart were able to get warning to the town in time to defend even without most of the visiting adventurers here. There weren’t any deaths reported, but the fight was bad! If it wasn’t for the New Acarthian Watch and the warning they gave us, it could’ve been real bad.

Our watchtowers saw Gnarltusk ogres, Skullhammer, and even the old colors of The Chosen before they went necro. Bloodtusk, and Black Locust orcs. Two different kobold tribes. There was a bunch of trolls which we don’t normally get this far north. Some goblins, some hobgoblins that weren’t Vilker, mix of other groups. Even dryads and some forestfolk like maybe some of the witches out there, even. Real weird mix. No Sark, no Vilker, no Ulrathi, no necromancy, and like I said, nobody got killed, but this fight probably went on for like more than one hour? The monsters chased all over town when small groups without the adventurers were holing up in the guilds and stuff.

I saw the craziest thing: This tall tigerkin, real good with a polearm, named Grunt, was covering for this woman Mevanwy to get a group to run out of the tavern and get to one of the guilds. This Gnarltusk singles out Grunt for an honor duel, which is their thing. Grunt got backpedalled, and tripped over this tree stump, and seemed like he twisted up his ankle. The ogre stops the fight, checks out the guy’s ankle, calls over his own ogre healer, they get Grunt bandaged up! Ogre shakes hands with him!! And they promise to continue their duel when he’s healed - and the Gnarltusk turn and go attack some other part of town!

We got wind of some looting problems from rat creatures down in the district where the Captain’s Log, and the Sweetspot Bakery are. More weird ogre activity as one ogre was standing guard in front of the Log, keeping the other monsters away from it (and trapping some people inside at the same time), telling the other ogres not to attack there. So Gwen and Elwin, good folk from over there, came uptown and helped get some people into the Merchants Guild for safety. While these two real neat looking deerkin were getting into the guild, I watched Elwin rise up out of the darkness behind some Chosen and curse the whatsits out of those ogres! Then he turns on them and just starts screaming in rage, and scared the rest of them off! This battle was nuts!

We don’t always get the freshest news from the city out here at the Watchtowers, but we already heard this was all up and down the border of the Howling Woods in the ducal fiefs, not just on New Acarthia. Ark of The Vigilant was organizing some others from their order to help guard the roads with so many people coming in for the Masquerade. Ark told me he heard Wolfwatch Keep in Tiatar, where they got a big Vigilant chapter, got struck BAD by the monsters! And maybe towns in the Tiatar interior here and there, too? A merchant named Markov told me some traders from out of town told him about attacks as far away as Rivervale on Saturday night, too - and they don’t ever get much monster action there. Monsters might’ve risen up all over, I don’t know at this point.

Town Guard is concentrating on the watchtowers right now. The New Acarthian Watch is making the rounds helping us to keep in contact with each other, so sorry, New Acarthia, but that means we’re borrowing Cryn and Lyari during your masquerade to keep you safe, and then the next evening, too, to make sure you stay that way! If you’re here in the couple days before the city fills up with everyone coming in, see Tivi and Thran, those deekin, up at the tavern - they’re making sure nobody travels alone on the roads til more people get here. Something changed with the monster tribes. I don’t know what it is, but the war isn’t over.

~Jane
Watchtower Captain, Integrity
New Acarthia Town Guard



[OOG: Posted for Acarthia Plot with permission from Mike Messmer.]
 
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