Adventuring in the frontier:
A survival's guide to Outpost 2319.
Chronicled by Anon
Normally, we cover the news here on the Curious Crow Courier. But plague has yet to die down in certain regions, and I'm the only chronicler who managed to make it back to Elizadale so far. Forgive me, I normally don't have a problem giving my name, and I try to keep myself as removed from the news as possible. But my publisher thought it would be better to use my knowledge of the region to write a guide instead of an article. And some of that knowledge a bit sensitive. I want to protect my anonymity when it comes to this region.
Also, this info could very well be dated, but the last time I made a visit to the region surrounding Outpost 2319, a few things of relative significance happened. I haven't had the chance to follow up on what transpired since I left.
The Geography: The geography of the territory is hilly, well forested, with a river running parallel to the single path that stretches between it. The last lifeline between you and civilization. If you lack wilderness survival skills, make sure you don't stray too far from the post without a party. Sink holes and mud slides have been known to happen in some parts. One thing you should be warned to stay away from are mana crystals. Occasionally a monster might try to eat them only to grow to an abnormal size, or lakes could be polluted by them. If you should see them, make sure not to touch them, and get a local authority on the subject out to the source.
The Politics: I should mention monsters first. Thanks to the efforts of Knight-Captain Venedas, the Bugbears, Goblins, Kobolds and Orcs exist in the region in relative harmony with the empire. I know, hard to believe. I nearly lost it when they flooded into the outpost for the first time and sat down among us to dine with us. Get used to it. You don't get this sort of thing in more civilized areas. The outpost depends on them and vice versa. Not all individual tribes belonging to those mentioned groups are part of this treaty, so always be weary if you encounter them in the wild. For example, the Black Scar Orc tribe are still to be killed on sight from what I remember.
Banditry and Raids: The Black Scar orcs are certainly one of the main antagonistic forces in the region, as are human bandits. Unlike the bandits of civilization who may attempt to use intimidation and a show of force to get victims to back down to rob them quietly and without blood shed, these aren't the kinds of bandits who care about preserving their arrow count. Near as I could tell, they seem to have a vendetta against the outpost. I do not know how many cells make up their outfit, nor do I know how they keep organized, but they shouldn't be underestimated. After the fall of the Towers in Baron's Well, I'm sure there is no shortage of political dissidents fleeing into the hills for them to recruit from. Neither the bandits, nor the orcs will shy away from a pitched battle if they see adventurers forming up in front of them.
The Friendly Spirit: There's a spirit that has decided to haunt the outpost. Do not be alarmed by the spirit. It means you no harm, and will even try to heal you. I don't know if it has decided to move on or not, but it did say it would stay.
Mana Stones and Troggs: As detailed under geography, a number of mana crystals have been seen in the location, and it is believed that they may be being used by someone to make larger and meaner troggs. The first instance we had at the size amplifying mutation came with a trio of goblins of abnormal size who strolled in. I witnessed this first hand. They were looking for more of these mana stones to eat, and when we didn't have any, they quickly turned on our hospitality. Thankfully they weren't affiliated with the local friendly tribes, but it's never fun having to bring your blade on something that get's you curious. I digress, over the rest of the week, we were seeing more and more troggs of abnormal size as well, which of course was no coincidence. An adventuring party discovered a cave full of these crystals, and witnessed the creation of the greater troggs first hand. Be warned, the handling of these crystals appears harmful for most of us mortal races. And something tells me we haven't seen the last of them.
The Phoenix Incident: Far as I remember, there was some kind of arcane ritual going on with the tree ents. I didn't get much of a chance to stumble upon the adventurers who were conducting this. But someone came into the outpost, yelling about a black scar orc attack that had interrupted them, and more importantly the Koblold's leader (Simply referred to as Team Leader.) had engaged them. We were called upon to back him up. I don't remember what happened after the said Team Leader was delivered a powerful blow, only to turn into a fiery phoenix and engulf the area in phoenix fire. Sadly, my body was among those who ended up a little too close. I'm just happy healers were on stand by who witnessed as the Team Leader began attacking orcs, kobolds, tree ents, and us indiscriminately, before settling out of the rage. Looking confused and bewildered, he took off into the forests. The kobolds reluctantly elected a makeshift team leader. They were last seen in their mines, hoarding as much iron as possible to make weapons to deal with the growing black scar threat. If you see a phoenix, make sure you not to act without alerting the Kolbolds or the outpost first.
The Butcher: I don't actually expect this to be a problem outside of that time of the year when the veil thins between realms, but considering last time I was out here, it was such a time, I feel it's only fair to warn anyone who decides to linger into the area before autumn relinquishes its reign to winter. For around the harvest solstice, an entity had been seen with keenly sharpened blades. He cleanly severed and harvested limbs from adventurers while they were still alive, and used them to stitch together abominations. During this time, one should also be weary of any pumpkins with carved faces in the woods. You just end up... Somewhere else for a bit. Whether or not that's related to the butcher in any way, I don't know. It's just something else that occurs around that time.
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