Wickermoor Hollow
Where basically all of the campaign story will be taking place. A minor province of Druskenvald that's isolated from the rule and watchful eye of the Crescent Court and Phillip Druskenvald thanks to the rising power of Kehlenn, the Crooked Queen.
Locations
Wickermoor Village
The oldest and largest settlement in the valley. The people have built a community that lives in harmony with each other and with nature as to survive the dangers nature would have in store for them. Beneath the surface operates a sinister cult that serves the Crooked Queen and seeks to bring about her return.
Sits on the banks of the Silverbell River that cuts through the valley from the Drowned Crossroads to Moonsong Lake. Nestled within the gloomy moors that rise near the center of the hollow, it serves a the hub of trade and commerce between the primarily human residents that call this place home.
The Foxwillow Farmland
Located to the east of Wickermoor Village. Miles of fertile farmland that have been turned into fields of all manner of crop. Many small farming settlements dot the landscape, but at the center of the farmers who work the soil is the community of Foxwillow.
The Howlers
Located to the west of the valley. Walled in by towering mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks that have winds that rip through the summits. The impassable barrier to much of the rest of Druskenvald. The town of Dawn's Gate sits in the foothills, surviving on the hunting and mining that the mountains provide.
The Drowned Crossroads
The lowest point of the valley. A treacherous bayou known for miles of still, black water, choking overgrowth, and lurking predators that threaten to swallow even most experienced swampfolk. Murkwater Bend is its largest town. A lawless haven for anyone hoping to escape the societal rule of the other settlements across the valley.
Moonsong Lake
The Silverbell River empties into the vast Moonsong Lake at the western edge of the valley, which is prone to bouts of rain that can last for weeks. At the center of the lake rests the Isle of Mourn, which once served as a place of healing despite the near-constant gloomy weather. However, its seemingly placid waters are teeming with wriggling parasites
Hartsblight Forest
The wood in the northwest corner of the valley has been overrun by a terrible blight that afflicts all plants, animals, and people that enter Hartsblight Forest. Thousands of varieties of fungus thrive in the alien-looking woodland as the dominant life form, and even the air between the trees is choked with virulent spores
Maidenmist Cemetery
Located south of Wickermoor Village. Serves as the final resting place of the dead in Wickermoor Hollow and is a region of its own. It's said that the iron gates inch further outward every passing night.
The Wythwood
The oldest and wildest part of Wickermoor Hollow is the forbidden forest called the Wytchwood. All those who venture past its shrouded tree line never return, and the eerie howls, roars, snarls, and bellows of the strange creatures within can be heard from miles away. People across the valley feel drawn to the wood, called by the beast that stalks between its primeval trees
Ideologies and Power Groups
There are four primary ideologies among the common folk of the valley. They are not factions in the traditional sense with official membership and processes for joining. Instead, people might be associated with a group based on their beliefs or actions but are not necessarily zealots or advocates for any particular worldview.
The Followers of the Old Ways
Followers kneel to the natural and supernatural world that surrounds them. The standard belief system of the people of Wickermoor Village. The members believe that adhering to the Old Ways has allowed for their settlement to have survived for centuries and grow a level of relative prosperity in Wickermoor Hollow. Those who revere the Old Ways bow to and seek to appease the protective and destructive sides of nature and its spirit world counterpart thus making them highly superstitious.
The one personification of the Old Ways is a primordial fey called the Green Queen who embodies magic and nature. Most worshippers are unaware that the true identity of their goddess is Kehlenn, The Crooked Queen.
Followers of the Old Ways believe that survival in a world such as Druskenvald is a privilege and a miracle and never guaranteed. They accept with open arms nature's blessings as well as the utter destruction and death it can cause. To them, individual life is a tiny insignificance in the scope of the community. They are willing to sacrifice themselves or others if it means honoring and appeasing the Old Ways and guaranteeing a greater existence and prosperity for the collective whole in the years to come. Most practitioners perform numerous rituals in their nightly lives and always strive to listen to the elders and the wisest among them. The majority are not evil or actively attempting to serve the Crooked Queen. Only the most devout and enlightened have formed a secretive cult of the Old Ways that practices malign and forbidden magic to serve Kehlenn, the Crooked Man, and the Vermintoll Coven.
This sect manipulates the unaware and more benevolent adherents of the Crooked Queen and the eventual disintegration of all sapient life. These cultists are aware they will also die but are seeking a glorious rebirth in the new crooked order of things.
As soon as Phillip and Adela Druskenvald arrive in Wickermoor Hollow, they begin to advance their plans toward this end.
The symbol utitlized by the general members of the Followers of the Old Ways is a feminine face made from green leaves. Cultists recognize each other by wearing or displaying the symbol of an antlered hare. This might be a tattoo, a piece of jewelry, or an actual hare foot kept somewhere on them for "good luck".
The Fold of the Patient Lady
Members believe in harmony between sapient life and the forces of nature. They reject that nature is brutal, destructive, and uncaring and instead believe that it provides everything that sapient life needs to thrive without need for archaic and barbaric sacrifice and appeasement. A newer interpretation of the Old Ways that's a more palatable and naive view of nature that has been gaining popularity not just in Wickermoor Village but also outside of it.
The faithful of this sect are genuinely grateful to survive in such a dour and dangerous world and believe that the goddess known as the Patient Lady is to thank. They also aschew any dabbling in the spirit world or supernatural realms, considering such a thing a foolish and dangerous invitation for malevolent forces to corrupt the wilds. Adherents still perform rituals and rites in honor of the Patient Lady, but keep them incredibly simple and tied to the natural world around them. This can take the form of a basic meditation outdoors, a walk through the woods and fields with fellow faithful, or the utterance of a song or prayer at harvest time.
Members wear symbols that represent the beauty and bounty of nature. Flowers such as daisies and primroses and fruit such as apples and pumpkins are frequent symbols of these folk.
The Brightsingers
A small handful of people in Wickermoor Hollow are among the Brightsingers. A new monotheistic sect believes in one true divine power that brings light to the land of darkness. The Brightsinger is believed to be the only path to goodness and prosperity, holding that the realms of nature and spirit in Druskenvald are inherently wicked and corrupted.
They attempt to spread their belief through pilgrimage and missionary work, advocating for their beliefs through relentless kindness and benevolence, never scolding or criticizing members of other faiths. However, there is supreme pride among them because they believe they themselves to be as godly as their deity. They see his presence in songbirds and preach unconditional love and light in the hollow, but it is often a self-righteous and self-aggrandizing love that holds little sway over the population who have seen too much suffering to believe in a love on that scale.
Brightsingers wear brightly colored clothes and jewelry fashioned from valuable materials and displaying fine craftsmanship. This attire often depicts images of suns, torches, lanterns, or brilliantly colored songbirds.
The Newcomers
A group known to embrace reason, modernity, progress, and civilization. Often having traveled to Wickermoor Hollow from other provinces of Druskenvald or even from cities in the material world, they reject the beliefs and practices of the superstitious ideologies prominent in the valley.
They focus on what can be achieved and explained through knowledge, science, and technology. They are not an organized group that share no symbols or rites. They are identified as Newcomers by the other folk in the area rather than self-identifying as a cohesive group.