Weekly J3H Campaign Starts 15: Kelson's Ridge
I'm making 3 hexes and a town every week of 2024 in the style of Chgowiz's Just 3 Hexes format. Check the J3H tag to see all entries in the series.
(Hex tiles used in the image are from Zeshio's Pixel Hex Tileset, the map was created using Hex Kit)
Campaign: A new moon rises over Kelson's Ridge and the Southmark Forest. The human kingdoms and their remnants no longer threaten the borders with their logging and their mining, though their successors in Fairvane downriver have begun their outwards expansion already. New blood prowls the forest now, new blood not content to let outsiders get another go at destroying the Southmark.
Homebase (2002): Kelson's Ridge - An old elven hunting camp turned fortified forest town as the human kingdoms tightened their grasp on everything west of the river. The town is home to the Solstice Arrow festivals every Summer and Winter, where the top archers of the region compete to see who has the best shot. It's rumored that a sizeable portion of the locals are lycanthropes, a rumor the locals do nothing to quell (and in fact, take efforts to spread themselves).
Location 1 (2103): Queen's Cap - A grove of massive mushrooms grows within the forest, slowly expanding as they compete with the nearby foliage for resources. There's a circle of silver rocks laid out in a perfect circle around the center of the grove (right around the largest toadstool). Spells and magic act strangely in the grove, and lone travelers through it sometimes disappear never to be seen again.
Location 2 (2202): Bearhead Silver Mine - An old silver mine owned and operated out of Eastbrook, a human city to the north. Mining stopped due to new shafts connecting to some unknown cave structure far beneath the surface, then exploration never resumed due to politics. Locals at Kelson's Ridge avoid the place like the plague, they claim strange beasts live within the old mines and howl at the damage the miners did to their home.
Location 3 (1801): Southmark Fortress - One of the southernmost strongholds of the human kingdoms, the fort was built to guard the river against possible incursions from Quillbury and beyond. The fortress was one of the first to fall to the dragons during the Burning a decade ago, burned and torn stone still litter the ground around its walls. Many have blamed the Burning on the failure of the wizard Rembrook to report the attack, he was stationed here at Southmark precisely to watch for such threats.
Bonus! Also pictured:
- (2001) Resource: Alabaster Deer
- (1802) Lair: Sons of the Apocalypse (cult)