Natural 7

Designing the Devil's Maw

I've had the wonderful opportunity to join the Woland project, hosted by William of Half a Worm and a Bitten Apple. This means I get to create a small region within a wider realm alongside a bunch of other Mythic Bastionland enthusiasts.

The Hexflower

I joined the project near its conclusion with only 5 hexflowers left to choose from (of the starting 20). The dice gods determined that I would be taking Hexflower #5 (we'll have a better name for this later, don't worry)!

The great thing about Hexflower #5 is that, at the time of writing, four of my neighboring regions were already complete. I'm hoping to draw from at least two of these regions for inspiration, and ideally I can draw from a few other regions farther away too.

The first thing I decided to do was research (woohoo, exciting)! I wanted a firm grasp on the themes and content that were already in Woland because I had only read a handful of the other creators' posts so far.

A purple hexflower with 7 hexes labeled B7, B8, C7, C8, C9, D7, and D9.

Ah, Hexflower #5, how beautiful you are!

I'll spend some time documenting my process about creating and populating this small region, then I'll summarize the gameable notes at the end.

Adjacent Regions

The closest regions to me are Peter's Lowlands (northeast), The Crimson Swamp (southwest), The Brittle Barony (southeast), and The Quiet Greens (west). Farther away are Landfall, The Silver Cradle, The Devil's Spine, and Deeproot Forest.

While reading through the other regions, I had some ideas for things to add to my own:

With these in mind, let's take a look at how I generated Hexflower #5's landscape.

Region Landscape

A lot of folks have used oracles to help develop the terrain for each hex in their region, so I'll do the same. For my oracle, I'm using Perilous Wilds and its Region/Place name tables for inspiration. One thing that I'm going to include regardless of oracle results is a volcano, because I like volcanos.

Hexflower #5 has seven wonderful hexes, and I'll roll for each of them:

I'm not above ignoring my oracles and replacing them with other ideas, so I'm 100% going to swap C7 from "Bay Blue Gold" to the volcano. All my other rolls feel really grim and terrible, so this region is shaping into a pretty scary place. Woohoo!

The next step feels like sketching a rough map and seeing where my brain takes me. After that I'll narrow down the contents of each hex for stuff usable at the table.

Drawing the Map

I've made player versions of a Mythic Bastionland realm map in GIMP before, but this time around I decided to try drawing by hand. It's easier for me, though a bit more stressful if I make a mistake.

A map of the Devil's Maw with a volcano, several weak river-bogs, lots of scorched stumps, jagged monoliths, and spikey heath-steppes

Wow, Hexflower #5, did you get a haircut?

Actually drawing the hexes wasn't too bad. I looked up how to draw a couple new things I've never tried before (volcano, dead trees) and then winged the rest. I think it turned out okay, and now I've got a firm grasp of each hexes basic terrain.

Nothing drastic changed from the original ideation above. I didn't include any particular designs that suggest the hex contents, mostly I just wanted to include the terrain. I like how hexes B7 and B8 have lots of scorched trees and jagged stumps, while hex D7 has strange black spires surrounding an old brick road.

When I go to make the GM version of the map, I'll upload my scan into Affinity or GIMP and draw lines or icons or text right over my hand drawings.

Landmarks

Hexflower #5 (we'll get to a name eventually, I promise) did not begin with any predefined landmarks. That means I'm not supposed to include additional Seers or Holdings, but everything else is fair game (including the expanded landmarks).

Looking at all the other regions previously completed, we have (by my rough count): 6 Holdings, 6 Sanctums, 5 Curses, 8 Dwellings, 9 Hazards, 6.5 Monuments, 2 Ruins (of specific Myths), 1 Bridge, 2 Ponds (linked), 2 Chapels, 1 Grotto, 1 Fountain, and 0 Willows.

Wow that's a lot of Dwellings and Hazards! I'll opt to shore up some of our less seen landmarks in my region. Specifically, let's aim to add a Ruin of a Specific Myth, a Grotto like the one in the Silver Cradle, and a Willow. I might also add a Fountain, but let's get through the first three before deciding that.

Ruin

Ruins: Remnants of the past echo the future. These hint at a random Myth not currently active in the Realm, though it may return.

The Ruin: My favorite Myth in the game is The Elephant, so let's use that. Because of the "God" spark I rolled for Hex D8, I figure there is something like ruins leftover from a religious activity, so let's put the ruins there. I'm imagining something like a carving depicting an elephant and its rider, which has been eroded by the wet bogs.

Grotto

Grottos: Impossible to find unless a local has given you the directions. These mystic caves are three, spread across the realm. Spending the night sleeping in one, utterly alone, grants a useful vision of the past, present or future, depending on the specific grotto. Such visions are too much for a knight's mind and cause d8 CLA loss.

In spite of their similarity, Seers will strongly discourage knights from entering these places, and will scold those who have.

The Grotto: Let's hide one of these in the hills south of the volcano, Hex C9. The grotto in the Silver Cradle was unspecific as to its temporal powers, but I think past or future works pretty well for that one. That leaves a solid present for us to work with. An alchemist clone from Lone Willow is searching for this grotto, or maybe hiding in its cave.

Willow

Willows: One for each season, only emerging from the woods during their own season. These great knotted trees conceal a doorway to another world, opened by freshly spilled blood. Knights that enter are faced with a series of challenges, their reward being the fabled fruit of that particular willow. Only one fruit is present each season, and is only enough for one person to eat.

Spring Willowfruit: Creates an intense feeling of awareness, as if all distractions were washed away. Reroll CLA and keep if higher. Harvest Willowfruit: Cures any ailment or curse, no matter how powerful. The eater is restored to fantastic health. Reroll VIG and keep if higher. Winter Willowfruit: A truly delicious fruit, though the eater will die peacefully at the end of Winter. They know this, and find themselves surprisingly at ease. Reroll SPI and keep if higher. In spring, the eater returns to the realm as they were in their youth.

For the challenges, make a mini dungeon using the sites system, with plenty of danger. It's otherworldly, so it doesn't need to make much sense.

The Willow: These trees like blood, so let's put them close to the blood of the Realm, in Hex B8. I'll have it bloom in Winter, since that one provides an excellent player choice (and is really, really good). Also, since these require a dungeon, having it bloom in Winter gives the Referee time to develop the dungeon idea (unless I create one, which I might).

I don't want to make Hexflower #5 feel too cluttered, and because of my ideas to include references to other regions, I'm going to avoid adding additional landmarks at this time.

Additional Features

Returning to the list I made at the start of things I wanted to add, we'll quickly go through and check things off.

Something evil, cursed, or hazardous from the Crimson Swamp.

There is a lot of boggy terrain here, and it all spreads from the Crimson Swamp. The Willow is moderately connected to the swamp and the barony, so I'm happy with what I've made.

A grotto like the one in Silver Cradle

Done, it's in the hills of C9.

Demons or hellspawn which attacked Silver Cradle and/or created the glass desert in the Brittle Barony.

The volcano is a gate to hell. It sometimes spits out infernal legionnaires. These legionnaires are chaotic devils which like to rule places and break nice things. It was from this volcano that the forces of evil that attacked the Silver Cradle came from, led by an infernal legionnaire called Malmodius the Spit.

Malmodius went to the Brittle Barony region, melted it, formed an army of ashen imps and stone soldiers from the wreckage, then marched on the Seat of Power.

One arm of the Weorpan Seer

Let's place this detached limb in Hex B7. It always points towards the closest Myth hex, and someone has carved a helpful notice on the flesh: "Not property of the Hatchet Seer"

An alchemist clone

We covered this in Hex C9. The clone is hiding in the grotto's cavern, using it every day and surviving only on a waning supply of quickcopper. Which clone is it? How about Gallarvantius Monteglielle II. Why is the clone here? He believes he can become a seer using the grotto.

A way to destroy the magic items of the realm

This is relevant because we've seen several powerful objects scattered in the other regions, and having a solution to the problems they create could be fun. The volcano, being a gate to hell, also destroys magic items (dispelling any curses or blessings they provide).

A reference to Peter from Peter's Lowlands.

Something wicked once lived in Peter's Lowlands, but for Ages has gone unseen. Many folk believe it was slain, or died of old age. Others who have traveled into Hexflower #5 (we gotta get a new name for this place) believe something else: the creature moved on and found new hunting grounds.

A great raven of smoke roams the steppelands of Hex C8. It's a challenging monster to face, and encountered like a Landmark would be. The raven only hunts down creatures it hates or wants to eat.

The Devil's Maw (Summary)

This region, known to the greater realm as The Devil's Maw, is composed of ash-soaked marshes and volcanic foothills. When traveling through the region, locals like to say they are "Crossing the Maw".

It is rumored that hellspawn once emerged from the volcano and rampaged across the realm, creating the glass deserts of the Brittle Barony, killing whatever once lived in the Crimson Swamp, and laying siege to the Silver Cradle.

The barriers north of the Devil's Maw represent sharp drop-off cliffs into Peter's Lowlands. The barrier between C9 and D8 is a thin chasm with rust-colored mud-slick walls.

A map of the Devil's Maw with a volcano, several weak river-bogs, lots of scorched stumps, jagged monoliths, and spikey heath-steppes.

Player's Version of the Map

The same map as above, but with three barriers on Hex C7 and one barrier separating C9 and D8. The landmarks are also labeled.

Referee Version of the Map

Hex B7 - Grey Marsh, Landmark (Object)

Keywords: Grey, Marsh, Ash, Soot, Slough, Runoff, Scorched, Stumps, River.

Rumor: Gold nuggets are sometimes found in the river.

Scorched tree stumps follow the ash-caked slough flowing southwest from the volcano. in the northeast. The polluted river enters the vivid bogs of the Quiet Greens, where the ash is sifted away and the water clears.

Landmark (Object): On one of the many tree stumps is a weird object: a single grey arm of the Weorpan Seer (see Burntburh A0). The arm always points a finger in the direction of the nearest Myth hex. Also, someone has kindly carved, "NOT property of the Hatchet Seer" into the arm's flesh.

Hex B8 - Grey Glades, Landmark (Willow)

Keywords: Grey, Glades, Scorched, Marsh, Bloodstained, Gallows.

Rumor: The Brittle Baron used to hang people here, until the bodies went missing the day after.

A sea of burned trees covers the muddy ground, their scorched roots visible within shallow pools of rust-colored water. Small tributaries form and flow south.

Landmark (Willow): Only in the Winter does a strange red Willow bloom in the glades. It is the only tree not blackened by volcanic ash and fire. The exact contents and structure of the dungeon beneath this Willow are up to the Referee, but may include: a trapped infernal legionnaire named Syzzyr the Torch, the corpses of many hanged folk, bloodthirsty and parasitic worms, ever-bleeding skulls, a bridge crossing a molten chasm, and a room filled with unceasing light.

Hex C6 - Teeming Mountain, The Maw

Keywords: Teeming, Mountain, Volcano, Lava, Caves, Igneous, Infernal, Portal, Hellish, Craggy, Smoking.

Rumor: Imps dance around the lip of the volcano, summoning their infernal lords and ladies.

The Maw is a volcano on the northern end of Devil's Maw. Its ridges teem with red mosses and smoking vents. The volcano itself is usually blazing and angry, jets of fire scorching the sky each night.

Pilgrims regularly climb the mountain to make pitiful offerings to the mountain.

Any magical objects hurled into the flames of the Maw are consumed by the lava and are utterly destroyed. Their blessings and curses are dispelled.

The volcano is also a gate to hell. It sometimes spits out infernal legionnaires. These legionnaires are chaotic devils which like to rule places and break nice things. This is the source of the rumor about hellspawn killing something in the Crimson Swamp, melting the Brittle Barony, and warring against the Silver Cradle. The leader of those hellspawn was called Malmodius the Spit.

Hex C7 - Sharp Heath, Ravenskiln, Landmark (Monster)

Keywords: Sharp, Heath, Ravens, Smoking, Foggy, Foothills, Steppe, Deadly, Impending, Doom, Lair.

Rumor: Something wicked dwells in Ravenskiln.

Constant fog hides much of the flatlands at the base of the volcano, and the tall heathgrass makes it no easier to navigate between the steppes. Ravens like to scrutinize passersby, assessing their pockets for shinies. Looking at the ravens, one just might notice their feathers are made of smoke, and their eyes of fire. This place is called Ravenskiln by locals.

Landmark (Monster): The Great Raven lairs in this Hex. It only attacks people it hates, people with lots of shinies, or when starving for human flesh.

Killing the beast leaves behind the Sunswallow's Skull (once per Season release a cloud of smoke that fills an entire hex with darkness for a day).

The Great Raven, Smokebird, Sunswallow

VIG 19, CLA 14, SPI 10, 12GD, A3 (smokeform)

Fireblast (2d6 blast), pluck (1d10) and claws (2d8)

Loves to eat shiny things, especially gold. Hates all symbols of Peter's Lowlands. Lives in an ashen nest choked with baubles and trinkets. Accepts donations to the hoard. Used to be just a normal giant raven from the lowlands, but was eternally lit aflame by the Devil's Maw hellgate.

A great spikey black raven with a skull instead of a normal head

"Krah-Kaw!"

Hex C8 - Grey Hills, Landmark (Grotto)

Keywords: Grey, Hills, Foothills, Lava, Igneous, Barren, Soot, Ash, Foggy, Caves.

Rumors: Ghosts walk these hills. The Seers hid a magic cavern here.

Soot-stained grass coats the hills south of the volcano, painting the landscape in shades of grey. Every direction looks the same. At night, fog rolls in off the northern steppes, accompanied by the faint wails of strangled ghosts.

The ghosts are those who were slain by the Baron's Timberfolk, cursed to roam these hills until the end of days. They don't know how to be un-cursed, but think it has to do with the Brittle Baron and a magic artifact he keeps somewhere. Most of them were hanged in the glades of hex B8.

Landmark (Grotto): Only found by expert guides and locals who've visited it before, a cavern at the base of one hill leads to a shimmering grotto deep underground. Sleeping in the grotto, alone, grants a useful vision of the present. Currently inhabiting the grotto with a supply of quickcopper is Gallarvantius Monteglielle II, an alchemist clone from Lone Willow. He is trying to become a seer, and thinks the grotto is the answer. A cluster of evolutionarily mobile vines protects the alchemist from danger.

Evolutionarily Mobile Vines

VIG 14, CLA 7, SPI 7, 6GD, A1 (thorny)

Whipping tendrils (d6 blast)

Mixture of roses, firethorn, and thistle.

Hex D7 - Sharp Plains, The Devil's Throat

Keywords: Sharp, Plains, Road, Craggy, Obsidian, Knives, Spires, Barren.

Rumor: Anyone who walks the road from start to finish sees an infernal vision, then dies a day later.

The Devil's Throat is a black brick road crossing the hex from southeast to northwest, leading to the base of the volcano. Along the road, jagged obsidian spires claw at the sky. Between the spires, dead bushes cling to the ground like rotting ribcages. Not even vultures circle this barren land.

Hex D8 - Gray Bog, Landmark (Ruin)

Keywords: Gray, Bog, River, Ash, Soot, Blood, Marsh, Ruin.

Rumor: A great treasure is hidden beneath a marker in the swamp.

Slow water pools at the base of the steppelands to the northwest, then flows as a river to the southeast, joining the marshlands around the Baron's Palisade. Small plants cling to the banks of the river, rusty-red and ash-black, covered in tiny thorns.

Landmark (Ruin): At the center of the bog is a ruin of The Elephant, a shale disk sunken into the mud and carved with the visage of a Knight riding a colossal warbeast with hooked tusks, a trumpeting trunk, and large flapping ears. Whoever carved the shale disk was a master of their craft. Beneath the disk is the blue-tinted, engraved Champion Lance (as Lance, but +d10 against foes smaller than your mount).

Open Questions

Final Thoughts

Wow! This is a long post, I really appreciate everybody who made it this far.

I had an absolute blast working on my region for the Woland project. I encourage you to check out the rest of the regions if you haven't already, they are all really cool and unique and interesting. If you want to run a game of Mythic Bastionland, these are also great resources to draw inspiration from, and you might even decide to use Woland for your realm!

Thanks for reading!

Things on my radar: