Release the Kraken on Vigilance Trail! (Patreon)

Every month we go through our back catalog of maps and the many amazing supporters of the blog over on Patreon vote on which two should be re-released with free use license. This wasn’t one I honestly expected there to be a big demand for – it is a rough map of an area known as the Vigilance Trail. I like using maps like this for regional exploration because they work well as handouts also.

This is a somewhat rough and quick map of the Vigilance Trail as it comes down from Raven’s Pass in the Eastern Diamond Range. Not many use Raven’s Pass anymore – the major towns on each side of the pass have mostly died out and most trade now runs south of here to take advantage of routes through Yoon-Suin and the City of Copper Bowls.

Vigilance Trail still sees a few travelers every month – rarely even enough for banditry to be successful along the route. That said, someone has been burning down the abandoned structures in the area. The old inn at the base of the pass is now nothing but ashes and bits of cracked rock walls, and even Overlook Tower south of the inn structures has been burned out and is slowly collapsing with no wooden supports remaining.

The blame goes back and forth between extremist druids or other creatures in the woods, or goblins or other humanoids crawling out by Helm’s Pond at the base of the small waterfall. All that’s left in the immediate region that one would call “civilized” is the Brownside Farm by Raven’s Lake, and the small tower of the retired Magus of Orange.

There are of course several other points of interest near the Vigilance Trail.

A single menhir stands along the road between the Orange tower and the Brownside farm. The menhir is a grey stone, typical of the area, and is very worn down with very little of the old text cut into it remaining – it also detects as magical but no one has figured out exactly what the magic is.

Helm’s Pond has the obvious cave at the base of the waterfall, where rumours are that hostile humanoids are crawling up from the deeps. The reality is that this cave does indeed descend deep into the stony depths, but no humanoids make their homes here because of the much darker evil that twists the depths.

Southwest of the menhir and town is a small cave in the hills – an actual home to a small clan of goblins who try to keep to themselves and are hiding from the evil in the Helm’s Cave pond as well as the locals.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2020/06/27/release-the-kraken-on-vigilance-trail/