Weekly J3H Campaign Starts 7: Circlebrook
I'm going to be making 3 hexes and a town every week of 2024 in the style of Chgowiz's Just 3 Hexes format. I'm planning on keying all of these hexes in the same world (my currently running open table) so I'll keep the hexes in roughly the same area. I'll still preserve the idea that every town could be an adventure starter though.
(Hex tiles used in the image are from Zeshio's Pixel Hex Tileset, the map was created using Hex Kit)
Campaign: Delvers are finally returning to Circlebrook after the strife of decades past, the town a traditional haven for adventurers and their ilk. New inroads to the Underworld open up everyday in the surrounding area, as if the depths themselves welcome the return of their eternal rival. With so many years away, can this year's new crop of Delvers match the exploits of ages long past and return Circlebrook to its former glory?
Homebase (0906): Circlebrook - A small rivertown built around a magic stream that always runs in a perfect circle, even when disconnected from other bodies of water. Ruled by the Council of Currents, a coven of naiad witches who specialize in binding and hexbreaking. Also home to the weaver Elidinel, the man who wove the Cloak of Stars, which is the cape worn by the world-famous magi Manyways.
Location 1 (0202): The Buzzing Temple - An old terraced dwarven temple complex built to honor brewing and beekeeping built into the cliffs overlooking the river. Rumored to only be accessible now via the Forest Gate, which requires a new drink to enter; or the River Gate, which is at the bottom of the Guldak river. It's unknown exactly why the temple complex is now abandoned, but the petrified statues of many of the monks are still present and visible from the outside, fleeing from something deeper.
[Also a location I fleshed out as a one-page dungeon here.]
Location 2 (1005): Purple Snake Skeleton - A massive ancient skeleton of a snake covered in large purple crystals can be found out in the middle of the Puddlegrass, surrounded by waist deep water and prickreed. The local goblins, the Purple Heron clan, use the crystals for making tools and warn travelers that the titanic snake was not the first or the last of its size living in the swamps. There is a giant hole plunging to the depths of the earth accessible only through the giant's bones, also filled with purple crystals (though also with humanoid bones).
Location 3 (1006): Barskol - Past the rocks directly overlooking the cliff edge and the river is an old orcish stone fort, Barskol. The tallest tower has had its top knocked off and the stones scattered into the courtyard, but the other tower is still whole with its ballista still poking up over the edge. While the area around the fort is heavily overgrown, the fort itself is instead covered with a thin layer of salt crystals that seem to be growing naturally on the structure, originating from the great hall of the keep.
Bit of a different post this week, today's hexes are the original seed I made and used for my long-running open table. I used Chgowiz's original post as inspiration to start my campaign, and that process is what inspired me to start this project in the first place.