来到失窃之地

[水印暗影]

The River Kingdoms are a collection of small, ever-changing realms, each surviving by the might and cunning of its rulers. Most Riverfolk are the outcast dregs of other lands. Both monsters and men no monster dares trust abound in this overgrown, heavily forested country. The traveling merchant Athlan Daermund (now deceased) once accurately described the region as “countless wooded hills and tiny farms rising amid far too many unmapped, treacherous bogs and marshes.”
The River Kingdoms are named for the Sellen River, whose many arms and tributaries run through their heart. That long, famous, and navigable water cleaves other lands, but the River Kingdoms make up the wettest part of its run; countless springs rise in pond-filled, stream-laced forests and run down into bogs and marshes that in turn drain into the mighty Sellen.
Many unmarked lanes and trails meander through the area. Travelers on these brigand-infested routes frequently encounter fords, rickety bridges, or washouts; good roads are few. Ambushes can occur anywhere except inside an inn (by local custom, inns are usually “safe ground” where all may meet and trade).
Any ruins that might be encountered when passing through the region are likely inhabited—often by monsters—and the small, shattered, old keeps of fallen lords are everywhere. Despite their perils, some ruins are favorite travelers’ camping places, as they are more easily defended than thickets or marsh hillocks. Fords are particularly dangerous places, whereas the only folk likely to rob a traveler at a ferry are the ferry operators.
Riverfolk generally go about armed, even if only with a dagger and an old sock full of stones, and an apparently unarmed person should instantly arouse suspicion. In the River Kingdoms, showing weapons and unhesitating eagerness to use them is the best way to avoid trouble.
Nowhere are all of these things more true than in the region known as the Stolen Lands, a backwater even to those rustic provinces that call themselves kingdoms. Contested by many but claimed by none, the Stolen Lands are mostly wilderness, though of late certain forces both within the River Kingdoms and without have begun to make yet another play for control of the area. What follow are several notable locations within the Stolen Lands, though the largely unmapped and frequently changing nature of the River Kingdoms makes it easy to drop the following adventure sites into any campaign.


“一些老鼠和狼用两条腿走路，看起来和我们其他人一样——至少在有人挡了他们的道之前是这样。他们是格拉利昂的渣滓：不法之徒、强盗和逃亡的杀人犯，在任何地方都不受欢迎。除了塞伦流域阴暗的沼泽和黑暗的森林——所谓的“河域诸国”之外，什么地方也没有。
他们不过是一群散落在沼泽地里的强盗的巢穴，而不是有法律的真正的王国。与任何一个地方的领主发生冲突，他都会毫不犹豫地屠杀你——在他的恶霸骑士的剑尖结束的地方，在绝望和被放逐者开始潜伏的荒野。这是一个值得远离的好地方，除非你出于某种目的寻找掠夺者……或者你想找某个逃犯报仇。失踪的黑心很有可能藏在河域王国。关键是在你被杀之前找到他。
当你一个人找到这时，要小心。我在很多地方追捕过逃犯，但我不在河域王国干这事。不然的话，我早就变成了一个渐渐淡去的记忆——在长长的死亡名单上又添一个。”————安布瑞斯·布林斯  赏金猎人

河域诸国是一个不断变化的小王国的集合，每个王国都靠统治者的强大和狡猾生存下来。大多数河域之民都是其他地方的弃儿。在这个杂草丛生、森林茂密的国家里，怪物和人类无处不在，任何怪物都不敢相信。旅行商人阿斯兰·戴尔蒙德(Athlan Daermund，现已去世)曾准确地将这一地区描述为“无数树木繁茂的山丘和小农场，耸立在太多未被绘制出来的、危险的沼泽和沼泽中。”
河域诸国以塞伦河命名，它的许多支流贯穿其心脏。这条长长的、著名的、通航的河流分割了其他的土地，但河域诸国构成了它最潮湿的部分;无数的泉水从池塘密布、溪流纵横的森林中涌出，流进沼泽和沼泽，然后流入浩瀚的塞伦河。
许多没有标记的小路蜿蜒穿过这个地区。在这些强盗出没的路线上，旅行者经常遇到浅滩、摇摇晃晃的桥梁或冲击地；好路很少。伏击可以发生在任何地方，除了旅馆(根据当地习俗，旅馆通常是“安全的地方”，所有人都可以在那里见面和交易)。
河域民通常都带着武器，即使只是带着一把匕首和一只装满石头的旧袜子，一个明显没有武装的人也会立即引起怀疑。在河域诸国，展示武器并毫不犹豫地使用它们是避免麻烦的最好方法。
没有什么地方比被称为“被窃之地”的地区更能体现这一切了，即使对那些自称为王国的乡村省来说，这也是一潭死水。被窃之地被许多人争夺，但没有人宣称，这里大部分都是荒野，尽管最近河域诸国内部和外部的某些势力开始再次控制该地区。

[水印暗影]

The tributaries that feed the Sellen are often broad, shallow waterways that fill flat ground between the countless small hills of the River Kingdoms. Bridges are many in the region, but fords—where roads meet streams and rivers in “wet crossings”—are far more numerous. Blackstones Ford is named for the many visible black stones in its water; large stones and boulders are rare at fords, but this crossing is otherwise typical: a particularly shallow part of the riverbed links two halves of a dirt wagon-road, with a guideline of stout rope to mark the best path through the river. (Some fords lack a rope, and trees are instead felled on both banks to point along the line of the route to take for the easiest crossing.)
Important fords like Blackstones that are strategically located on trade roads or have good camping or established market areas inevitably accumulate discarded refuse (broken wagon wheels, barrels, boards from old crates, and the like) and are accompanied by some form of shelter, usually simple sheds or shanties. Blackstones has both: a lot of trash, mainly odd wood scraps too rotten to be useful as firewood, and half a dozen scattered sheds, all dirt-floored wooden structures now in great disrepair. Erected by traders who soon discovered that such a fixed, public location made them easy targets for any troublemaker—human or monstrous— who happened along, the sheds were soon abandoned and are now used by travelers as overnight shelter.
For about a decade, a succession of “masters of the ford” tried to charge tolls to all using the crossing, but they had to be well-armed, formidable thugs to even contemplate this livelihood—and all soon encountered travelers who found it far cheaper to butcher any master and his men than to pay a toll.
In recent years, knife-sharpeners, ironmongers, and wheelwrights have set up temporary shop at Blackstones, staying a few days and then moving on to other fords. Such trade has faded since various monsters began to prey on passing travelers at Blackstones. Most such beasts were soon slain, but Blackstones Ford has now begun to attract a reputation for unknown, formidable, persistent danger; it’s considered a place not to tarry or camp near by night, lest travelers just disappear.
The Disappearers
Blackstones Ford is now home to a band of cautious and cunning monsters who work together to lightly harvest vulnerable travelers—those too few to defend themselves or raise an alarm, or who can be lured away from their party—while avoiding pitched battles against strong, ready foes.
This “adventuring band” of eight monsters hails from a distant underground area where they were summoned and then changed by many spells cast on them by mad drow wizards, who kept them caged as experimental subjects. They lost any fear of daylight, gained short-range telepathy with their fellow captives, and became able to speak and understand a smattering of Elven and Undercommon.
The Disappearers are led by Iluith, a dark naga of malicious schemes and coldly clear-headed patience and foresight, who calculates consequences and risks, and clings to his “considered outcomes.” He never acts out of anger or to obtain revenge, only to exact whatever take in victims and booty can be managed with minimal risk of loss to the band (or chance of triggering a successful hunt for retaliation). Iluith personally considers most of his fellows expendable, but he is very careful to keep this opinion utterly secret from other band members.
Iluith most values Dreeth, a cloaker that spends most of its time flattened on the ramshackle roof of the largest Blackstones shed, posing as part of that roof. Dreeth is the aerial spy and “pouncer” of the band. Though Dreeth’s demeanor can best be described as permanently peevish and pessimistic, the drow spells quelled its paranoia and made it willing to work as part of a team, even eager to trust and bestow loyalty on Iluith.
Kaladryn is the band member considered next most useful by Iluith, largely because of his nigh-fanatical loyalty to the dark naga (his only friend during their long mutual captivity). Originally a svirfneblin, Kaladryn was transformed by the drow spells and fused with mindless, subterranean snake bodies into the likeness of a marilith. Kaladryn capably wields an array of deadly weapons acquired from victims of the Disappearers and is fully proficient in uses of his marilith body (constriction, tail slap, and slams), but he lacks all demonic abilities and spell-like powers. Iluith usually induces Kaladryn to pose as the leader of the Disappearers in all combats, while he himself remains as hidden as possible and uses magic from afar.
The least useful Disappearer is Oront, a cyclops employed in battle or to overthrow and immobilize wagons and carts during attacks. Oront is far less brutish and stupid than he seems; he has a cruel sense of humor and a long, keen memory for smells, names, and faces.
The other four group members are its busy, oft-deployed “swarmers” and spies: a pair of chokers and a mated pair of tengus (Arainth and Rareezra). The tengus resent Iluith’s controlling influence and often play pranks, but they are so ruled by their pride that Iluith can easily sway them with flattery and rewards.
A wounded or weary party of adventurers is a favorite target of Iluith, who generally seeks to “vanish” party members in such a way as to make their companions think other nearby beings are responsible.

[水印暗影]

This lizardfolk village is physically typical of such communities found in the largest, deepest marshes of the River Kingdoms. It’s a cluster of mud-and-stick huts that look like mounds of living swamp vegetation (because that’s what grows all over them), on islands in open water at the heart of a marsh. These solid islands are surrounded by moving “islands” of foating weed that the lizardfolk shif about constantly to conceal their homes, making it difcult for intruders to map the marsh or easily venture near its heart.

Theorth MercantiLe Secret
Orthult difers from other lizardfolk settlements in the willingness of its inhabitants (known as the Orth) to trade with mammals and allow such dangerous creatures near their homes. Orthult makes a tidy income by quietly ofering food and hidden refuge to Riverfolk on the run from pursuers, and by storing stolen or avidly sought items or valuables for a wide range of clients. In exchange, they accept goods that can be bartered with Riverfolk, including coins, gems, and weapons—including battle magic of various sorts and “frepot bombs”—that can be used against future attackers.
There is a “real” Orthult where the lizardfolk actually live. Here, they tend their fsh, captive insects and worms, succulent broadleaf weeds, and other lizardfolk fare, away from visitors who could readily endanger this food supply. Several islands away, yet still in the heart of the marsh, is the “show” Orthult, where paying guests can fnd accommodations and goods are hidden away.
The “show” village is stafed by shifs of armed, alert Orth guards, plus a few younglings and elders to aid in the ruse, all of whom keep close watch over the guests and goods. Other lizardfolk constantly patrol the marsh’s fringes, observing all who approach and watching for any attempts to poison or harmfully enchant the marsh.

A Deeperorth Secret
On the marsh shores are concealed burrows that tunnel into small earthen caves, each of which contains a cage used to imprison monsters. The Orth are well aware of the ways and powers of their captive beasts and have bargained with traders over the years to obtain the beasts and the cages. The lizardfolk see to the needs of their imprisoned monsters regularly, and ofen inspect the cages and fastenings to ensure none of their captives get free.
When unwanted intruders must be dealt with, Orth border patrols on the marsh’s outskirts  release specifc monsters to maraud as they will within a given area, hopefully attacking or distracting the intruders.
The current menagerie includes a rust monster in a
stout wooden cage, as well as a dire wolverine, a monitor lizard, an owlbear, an ettin, a dire bear, and a swamp boa (a Huge constrictor snake), each housed in a massive steel cage. Four more such cages are empty. The Orth are eager to acquire four additional monsters that can’t fy and either can’t swim or prefer to avoid water (so they will stay in their appointed areas rather than escaping into the marsh’s depths).

The Deepestorth Secret
Orthult’s most secret weapon is Norauth the Withered (LN male human wizard 6), a human wizard of great age and infrmity who dwells on a tiny isle between the real Orthult and the “show” village, waited on day and night by attentive lizardfolk. Norauth fell victim to a curse cast on him by a rival that he has thus far been unable to remove, halt, or reverse; it very slowly withers away his body from the toes upward.
These days Norauth can no longer walk—his legs are mere rubbery, useless remnants and his spine is so weak that he can’t sit up unaided. He lives in a cradle-chair the Orth built, which they lay down when he wants to sleep and place upright on various surfaces when he wants to eat, work at a table, or “stand” in his spellcasting place. This area is a large, fat space surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped earth berm; it has a small roofed alcove at one end where the Orth constantly guard Norauth’s spellbooks and components needed for spells and magical experiments but is otherwise open to the sky.
Norauth is driven by the desire to defeat the curse that is gradually killing him, or even simply to slow its progress. In the meantime, all of his wants are seen to by the Orth, in exchange for which he has agreed to defend the marsh with his spells against any determined assault or magical intrusion. He has three magic items: a hand-sized “lantern” stone that can glow with light when he touches it (he can alter its brightness or cause it to go dark by silent will, if he’s close enough to see it) and two potions of cure serious wounds he’s been saving until dire need (such as being wounded in battle).
Without lizardfolk aid, Norauth can only crawl, but his gaunt arms are very strong and his will even stronger; he can drag his emaciated, very light body upright by clutching onto supports, and he can readily cast spells that don’t require moving about. A diligent guardian who’s very grateful to the Orth, he always has formidable ofensive and defensive magic ready. He spends a lot of time magically experimenting to try to break the curse, and such spellcastings rising from the heart of the marsh may well attract PC attention.
Norauth happily takes commands from the current Orth chiefain(Kurguluk,alarge,prudentmale)oranyOrthelder from the Council of Sixteen, which relies on the chiefain—whom the council can dismiss—to enact its decisions.

[edifier]

The tributaries that feed the Sellen are often broad, shallow waterways that fill flat ground between the countless small hills of the River Kingdoms. Bridges are many in the region, but fords—where roads meet streams and rivers in “wet crossings”—are far more numerous. Blackstones Ford is named for the many visible black stones in its water; large stones and boulders are rare at fords, but this crossing is otherwise typical: a particularly shallow part of the riverbed links two halves of a dirt wagon-road, with a guideline of stout rope to mark the best path through the river. (Some fords lack a rope, and trees are instead felled on both banks to point along the line of the route to take for the easiest crossing.)
Important fords like Blackstones that are strategically located on trade roads or have good camping or established market areas inevitably accumulate discarded refuse (broken wagon wheels, barrels, boards from old crates, and the like) and are accompanied by some form of shelter, usually simple sheds or shanties. Blackstones has both: a lot of trash, mainly odd wood scraps too rotten to be useful as firewood, and half a dozen scattered sheds, all dirt-floored wooden structures now in great disrepair. Erected by traders who soon discovered that such a fixed, public location made them easy targets for any troublemaker—human or monstrous— who happened along, the sheds were soon abandoned and are now used by travelers as overnight shelter.
For about a decade, a succession of “masters of the ford” tried to charge tolls to all using the crossing, but they had to be well-armed, formidable thugs to even contemplate this livelihood—and all soon encountered travelers who found it far cheaper to butcher any master and his men than to pay a toll.
In recent years, knife-sharpeners, ironmongers, and wheelwrights have set up temporary shop at Blackstones, staying a few days and then moving on to other fords. Such trade has faded since various monsters began to prey on passing travelers at Blackstones. Most such beasts were soon slain, but Blackstones Ford has now begun to attract a reputation for unknown, formidable, persistent danger; it’s considered a place not to tarry or camp near by night, lest travelers just disappear.
The Disappearers
Blackstones Ford is now home to a band of cautious and cunning monsters who work together to lightly harvest vulnerable travelers—those too few to defend themselves or raise an alarm, or who can be lured away from their party—while avoiding pitched battles against strong, ready foes.
This “adventuring band” of eight monsters hails from a distant underground area where they were summoned and then changed by many spells cast on them by mad drow wizards, who kept them caged as experimental subjects. They lost any fear of daylight, gained short-range telepathy with their fellow captives, and became able to speak and understand a smattering of Elven and Undercommon.
The Disappearers are led by Iluith, a dark naga of malicious schemes and coldly clear-headed patience and foresight, who calculates consequences and risks, and clings to his “considered outcomes.” He never acts out of anger or to obtain revenge, only to exact whatever take in victims and booty can be managed with minimal risk of loss to the band (or chance of triggering a successful hunt for retaliation). Iluith personally considers most of his fellows expendable, but he is very careful to keep this opinion utterly secret from other band members.
Iluith most values Dreeth, a cloaker that spends most of its time flattened on the ramshackle roof of the largest Blackstones shed, posing as part of that roof. Dreeth is the aerial spy and “pouncer” of the band. Though Dreeth’s demeanor can best be described as permanently peevish and pessimistic, the drow spells quelled its paranoia and made it willing to work as part of a team, even eager to trust and bestow loyalty on Iluith.
Kaladryn is the band member considered next most useful by Iluith, largely because of his nigh-fanatical loyalty to the dark naga (his only friend during their long mutual captivity). Originally a svirfneblin, Kaladryn was transformed by the drow spells and fused with mindless, subterranean snake bodies into the likeness of a marilith. Kaladryn capably wields an array of deadly weapons acquired from victims of the Disappearers and is fully proficient in uses of his marilith body (constriction, tail slap, and slams), but he lacks all demonic abilities and spell-like powers. Iluith usually induces Kaladryn to pose as the leader of the Disappearers in all combats, while he himself remains as hidden as possible and uses magic from afar.
The least useful Disappearer is Oront, a cyclops employed in battle or to overthrow and immobilize wagons and carts during attacks. Oront is far less brutish and stupid than he seems; he has a cruel sense of humor and a long, keen memory for smells, names, and faces.
The other four group members are its busy, oft-deployed “swarmers” and spies: a pair of chokers and a mated pair of tengus (Arainth and Rareezra). The tengus resent Iluith’s controlling influence and often play pranks, but they are so ruled by their pride that Iluith can easily sway them with flattery and rewards.
A wounded or weary party of adventurers is a favorite target of Iluith, who generally seeks to “vanish” party members in such a way as to make their companions think other nearby beings are responsible.

劇透 -   :

The tributaries that feed the Sellen are often broad, shallow waterways that fill flat ground between the countless small hills of the River Kingdoms. Bridges are many in the region, but fords—where roads meet streams and rivers in “wet crossings”—are far more numerous. Blackstones Ford is named for the many visible black stones in its water; large stones and boulders are rare at fords, but this crossing is otherwise typical: a particularly shallow part of the riverbed links two halves of a dirt wagon-road, with a guideline of stout rope to mark the best path through the river. (Some fords lack a rope, and trees are instead felled on both banks to point along the line of the route to take for the easiest crossing.)

汇入赛伦河的支流大多宽广而浅，填满了河域诸国数不尽的丘陵间的平地。这地方到处是桥梁，但更多的是道路经过小溪与河流时形成的浅滩，所谓“湿渡口”。
黑石滩得名于水中许多清晰可见的黑色石；大块的石头和岩石在浅滩上很少见，但这个渡口是个例外：河床特别浅的地方将一条肮脏泥泞的道路分成两半，结实的导览绳标记了过河的最佳路线。（有些渡口没有绳子，取而代之的是两岸的树被砍倒以指出最容易通过的路线）

劇透 -   :

Important fords like Blackstones that are strategically located on trade roads or have good camping or established market areas inevitably accumulate discarded refuse (broken wagon wheels, barrels, boards from old crates, and the like) and are accompanied by some form of shelter, usually simple sheds or shanties. Blackstones has both: a lot of trash, mainly odd wood scraps too rotten to be useful as firewood, and half a dozen scattered sheds, all dirt-floored wooden structures now in great disrepair. Erected by traders who soon discovered that such a fixed, public location made them easy targets for any troublemaker—human or monstrous— who happened along, the sheds were soon abandoned and are now used by travelers as overnight shelter.
For about a decade, a succession of “masters of the ford” tried to charge tolls to all using the crossing, but they had to be well-armed, formidable thugs to even contemplate this livelihood—and all soon encountered travelers who found it far cheaper to butcher any master and his men than to pay a toll.

重要的渡口——比如黑石滩——大多挨着贸易道路、良好的露营场所或者集市贸易区域，因此不可避免的会产生垃圾（破车轮、木桶、废旧的板条箱残片等等之类的东西），通常也设有各式各样的庇护所——大多是简陋的棚屋。
黑石滩两个皆有：大量的垃圾（主要是腐烂的木头，并不能当柴火烧）；6个分散的棚屋（满是尘土的木头框架已经年久失修）。这些棚屋大多是行商建的，不过他们很快发现这种固定的、谁都可以去的房子，很容易被那些路过的不速之客——人或者其他怪物——占据，这些棚屋很快被遗弃了，现在大多是旅行者用来当过夜的地方。
近十年来，接连不断的有声称自己拥有河滩的人试图向所有使用渡口的人收费，但只有那些装备精良，力量强大的暴徒才会考虑这种营生，并且很快都会遭遇那些觉得干掉这个拦路团伙比交过路费便宜的多的冒险者。

劇透 -   :

In recent years, knife-sharpeners, ironmongers, and wheelwrights have set up temporary shop at Blackstones, staying a few days and then moving on to other fords. Such trade has faded since various monsters began to prey on passing travelers at Blackstones. Most such beasts were soon slain, but Blackstones Ford has now begun to attract a reputation for unknown, formidable, persistent danger; it’s considered a place not to tarry or camp near by night, lest travelers just disappear.

近年来，黑石滩逐渐吸引了磨刀匠、铁匠、制轮工匠之类的在这建立临时商铺，呆上几天后再去别的滩地。但是在越来越多怪物开始在黑石滩捕食旅行者后，这种贸易几乎绝迹。大多数野兽很快被干掉了，但对黑石渡的印象逐渐变成未知的、可怕的、充满危险的，旅行者晚上最好不要在那里过夜，不然可能看不到第二天的太阳。

The Disappearers
失踪者

劇透 -   :

Blackstones Ford is now home to a band of cautious and cunning monsters who work together to lightly harvest vulnerable travelers—those too few to defend themselves or raise an alarm, or who can be lured away from their party—while avoiding pitched battles against strong, ready foes.
This “adventuring band” of eight monsters hails from a distant underground area where they were summoned and then changed by many spells cast on them by mad drow wizards, who kept them caged as experimental subjects. They lost any fear of daylight, gained short-range telepathy with their fellow captives, and became able to speak and understand a smattering of Elven and Undercommon.

黑石滩现在被一群谨慎且狡猾的怪物占据，他们成群结队，轻易的就能狩猎那些弱小的旅行队伍——因为人数太少而无法保护自己或者发出警报，或者被从队伍中引诱出来。它们尽量避免与那些看起来强壮、装备精良的冒险者起冲突。
这支 “冒险团伙”由8个怪物组成，它们都是从遥远的地底区域来的，在那里他们被一个疯狂的卓尔法师召唤出来，并且作为实验对象用大量法术改造。他们不再畏惧阳光，彼此之间能够短距离心灵感应，能够听懂并且说一点点精灵语和地底通用语。

劇透 -   :

The Disappearers are led by Iluith, a dark naga of malicious schemes and coldly clear-headed patience and foresight, who calculates consequences and risks, and clings to his “considered outcomes.” He never acts out of anger or to obtain revenge, only to exact whatever take in victims and booty can be managed with minimal risk of loss to the band (or chance of triggering a successful hunt for retaliation). Iluith personally considers most of his fellows expendable, but he is very careful to keep this opinion utterly secret from other band members.

“失踪者”首领是Iluit（以鲁斯），一个邪恶的黑暗娜迦，恶毒、阴冷，敏锐且深谋远虑，精于算计，并且执着于实现他的“计划结果”。他从不因为愤怒或者报复而行动，只是精确的计算着如何以最小的损失（或者最不会招致报复）的方式谋得最大的战利品和受害者。在以鲁斯看来，大部分同伴是可以牺牲的，不过他很小心的在其他成员面前隐藏着这个观点。

劇透 -   :

Iluith most values Dreeth, a cloaker that spends most of its time flattened on the ramshackle roof of the largest Blackstones shed, posing as part of that roof. Dreeth is the aerial spy and “pouncer” of the band. Though Dreeth’s demeanor can best be described as permanently peevish and pessimistic, the drow spells quelled its paranoia and made it willing to work as part of a team, even eager to trust and bestow loyalty on Iluith.

以鲁斯最宝贵的东西Dreeth（坠斯？德丽丝x），一个蛰伏伪怪，大部分时间它都摊在黑石滩最大的那栋摇摇欲坠的棚屋顶上，伪装成屋顶的一部分。坠斯是这支队伍的间谍和突击手，尽管它总是看起来脾气暴躁又怨天尤人，卓尔的法术遏制了他的多疑和偏执，让它愿意作为团伙的一员行动，甚至渴望信任并且将忠诚献给以鲁斯。

劇透 -   :

Kaladryn is the band member considered next most useful by Iluith, largely because of his nigh-fanatical loyalty to the dark naga (his only friend during their long mutual captivity).
Originally a svirfneblin, Kaladryn was transformed by the drow spells and fused with mindless, subterranean snake bodies into the likeness of a marilith. Kaladryn capably wields an array of deadly weapons acquired from victims of the Disappearers and is fully proficient in uses of his marilith body (constriction, tail slap, and slams), but he lacks all demonic abilities and spell-like powers. Iluith usually induces Kaladryn to pose as the leader of the Disappearers in all combats, while he himself remains as hidden as possible and uses magic from afar.

在以鲁斯看来，Kaladryn（卡拉丁）是团队里最第二有用的成员，很大程度上归功于卡拉丁对黑暗娜迦的狂热忠诚（他漫长的囚禁岁月里唯一的朋友）。卡拉丁原本是一只地底侏儒，后来被卓尔用法术改造，与无灵智的地底蛇身体融合，成为了类似于六臂蛇魔的东西。卡拉丁能够很好的使用“失踪者”从受害者那里获得的致命武器，并且能熟练使用他六臂蛇魔一样的身体（压迫缠卷、尾击、挥击），但他没有任何恶魔的力量和类法术能力。在战斗中，以鲁斯都会让卡拉丁假扮“消失者”的首领，他自己则尽可能的隐藏起来，在远处施放魔法。

劇透 -   :

The least useful Disappearer is Oront, a cyclops employed in battle or to overthrow and immobilize wagons and carts during attacks. Oront is far less brutish and stupid than he seems; he has a cruel sense of humor and a long, keen memory for smells, names, and faces.

“消失者”最没用的成员是Oront（奥隆特），一个独眼巨人，在战斗中充当打手，或者阻拦推车和马车。奥隆特其实远没有他看上去这么愚笨，他有着残忍的幽默感，对于气味、姓名和相貌有着敏锐而长远的记忆力。

劇透 -   :

The other four group members are its busy, oft-deployed “swarmers” and spies: a pair of chokers and a mated pair of tengus (Arainth and Rareezra). The tengus resent Iluith’s controlling influence and often play pranks, but they are so ruled by their pride that Iluith can easily sway them with flattery and rewards.

其他4个成员是各自忙碌听从部署的“工蜂”和间谍：一对锁喉怪，一对情侣天狗（Arainth艾瑞斯 and Rareezra拉瑞左拉）。天狗们厌恶以鲁斯的指挥，经常给他找不痛快，但是他们太过骄傲，以鲁斯能够轻易的用奉承和奖赏来控制他们。

劇透 -   :

A wounded or weary party of adventurers is a favorite target of Iluith, who generally seeks to “vanish” party members in such a way as to make their companions think other nearby beings are responsible.

以鲁斯最喜欢对那些受伤或者疲惫的冒险者下手，很多时候他们会把同伴的消失归咎于这附近其他的生物。

[edifier]

在河域诸国最大也最深的沼泽里，这个蜥蜴人村落是其中典型的族群。在沼泽深处，被水环绕的小岛上，聚集着用泥巴和木头糊成的小屋，看起来就像一堆又一堆活的沼泽植被（因为小屋上面确实长着这些东西）。蜥蜴人总是用漂浮的杂草来隐藏自己的家园，这些移动的“岛”包围在真正的实土小岛周边，使得外人很难绘制沼泽区域的地图，或者在它的深处冒险。

劇透 -   :

This lizardfolk village is physically typical of such communities found in the largest, deepest marshes of the River Kingdoms. It’s a cluster of mud-and-stick huts that look like mounds of living swamp vegetation (because that’s what grows all over them), on islands in open water at the heart of a marsh. These solid islands are surrounded by moving “islands” of foating weed that the lizardfolk shif about constantly to conceal their homes, making it difcult for intruders to map the marsh or easily venture near its heart.

奥苏档案【秘密】
Orthult（奥苏特）与其他蜥蜴人部族不同的地方在于它的居民愿意和其他哺乳动物交易，并且允许这些危险的生物靠近它们的居所。奥苏特的蜥蜴人暗地里为逃亡的河域居民提供食物、藏身处，并且广泛的帮他人保管那些赃物或者值钱的东西，通过这些生意蜥蜴人赚了很多钱。作为回报，他们接受能够与河域居民以物易物的货物，包括钱币、宝石、武器——包括格式各样的战斗用魔法物品和“炸弹”——以用来对抗袭击者。

蜥蜴人生活在 “里”奥苏特。在这里，他们捕鱼，饲养的昆虫和蠕虫，多汁而宽大的杂草叶，以及其他蜥蜴人食物，远离那些会危害到食物供应的拜访者。在几个岛屿之外（依然是沼泽深处），是“表”奥苏特，那里拜访者可以花钱获得住宿、隐藏的物资。
“表”奥斯特村被全副武装、警觉的守卫保护着，以及几只幼崽和年长者来伪装正常，所有蜥蜴人都时刻关注着拜访者的动向和物资。其他蜥蜴人则不停地在沼泽边缘巡逻，审视所有靠近的生物，防止有人对沼泽下毒或者施展有害的魔法。

劇透 -   :

Theorth MercantiLe Secret
Orthult difers from other lizardfolk settlements in the willingness of its inhabitants (known as the Orth) to trade with mammals and allow such dangerous creatures near their homes. Orthult makes a tidy income by quietly ofering food and hidden refuge to Riverfolk on the run from pursuers, and by storing stolen or avidly sought items or valuables for a wide range of clients. In exchange, they accept goods that can be bartered with Riverfolk, including coins, gems, and weapons—including battle magic of various sorts and “frepot bombs”—that can be used against future attackers.
There is a “real” Orthult where the lizardfolk actually live. Here, they tend their fsh, captive insects and worms, succulent broadleaf weeds, and other lizardfolk fare, away from visitors who could readily endanger this food supply. Several islands away, yet still in the heart of the marsh, is the “show” Orthult, where paying guests can fnd accommodations and goods are hidden away.
The “show” village is stafed by shifs of armed, alert Orth guards, plus a few younglings and elders to aid in the ruse, all of whom keep close watch over the guests and goods. Other lizardfolk constantly patrol the marsh’s fringes, observing all who approach and watching for any attempts to poison or harmfully enchant the marsh.

奥苏档案【机密】
在沼泽岸边，有着通向小洞穴的隐秘通道，每个洞穴里都有用来囚禁怪物的笼子。奥苏蜥蜴人对于圈养野兽和使用它们的力量非常熟练，并且多年来与商人讨价还价以获得野兽和笼子。蜥蜴人会定期巡视这些关起来的东西，满足它们的需求，检查笼子和锁链，确保这些东西不会逃跑。
当面对闯入的不速之客时，沼泽外围附近的蜥蜴人巡逻队施放野兽让它们在特定的区域活动，来袭击或者干扰入侵者。
目前，他们在结实的木笼里囚禁着一只锈蚀怪，另外还有一条凶暴狼獾、一条王蜥、一只枭熊、一个双头巨人、一头凶暴熊，以及一条沼泽蟒（超大型蟒蛇）各自关在巨大的钢铁笼子里。还有4个笼子是空的。奥苏们希望能搞到另外4个不会飞、不会游泳、讨厌水的家伙（这样就只会乖乖待在他们划定的区域，而不是逃跑到沼泽深处）。

劇透 -   :

A Deeperorth Secret
On the marsh shores are concealed burrows that tunnel into small earthen caves, each of which contains a cage used to imprison monsters. The Orth are well aware of the ways and powers of their captive beasts and have bargained with traders over the years to obtain the beasts and the cages. The lizardfolk see to the needs of their imprisoned monsters regularly, and ofen inspect the cages and fastenings to ensure none of their captives get free.
When unwanted intruders must be dealt with, Orth border patrols on the marsh’s outskirts  release specifc monsters to maraud as they will within a given area, hopefully attacking or distracting the intruders.
The current menagerie includes a rust monster in a stout wooden cage, as well as a dire wolverine, a monitor lizard, an owlbear, an ettin, a dire bear, and a swamp boa (a Huge constrictor snake), each housed in a massive steel cage. Four more such cages are empty. The Orth are eager to acquire four additional monsters that can’t fy and either can’t swim or prefer to avoid water (so they will stay in their appointed areas rather than escaping into the marsh’s depths).

奥苏档案【绝密】
奥苏特蜥蜴人最厉害的秘密武器是Norauth the Withered （[枯萎]诺拉斯）（守序中立，男性人类法师），一名年长、孱弱的人类法师，住在里·奥苏特和表·奥苏特之间的小岛上。全天候由蜥蜴人精心保护着。诺拉斯被他的对手诅咒了，现在已经无法移动、站立或者转身，这个诅咒在缓慢的侵蚀着他对身体的控制。
现在诺拉斯已经无法行走了——他的腿肿的像是灌了铅一样废物，他的脊柱也非常脆弱，没有别人的帮助甚至无法坐起来。他在奥苏蜥蜴人做的摇篮椅上生活，当他需要休息的时候，蜥蜴人会把椅子放平，吃饭、在桌边工作或者“站立”施法的时候则把椅子立起来。这个区域很宽敞，被马蹄形的土墙包围，一端有个带屋顶的小隔间（存放着由蜥蜴人保卫的诺拉斯的法术书、施法材料、魔法实验装置），另一端则是露天的。
诺拉斯坚持不懈的试图干掉这个逐步杀死他的诅咒，或者至少减缓它的进程。在此期间，他的一切需求都由奥苏蜥蜴人满足，作为交换，他同意用他的法术保护沼泽不受任何攻击和魔法的侵害。他有3件魔法物品：一个手掌大小的石头“灯笼”，当他触摸时会发光（他可以通过在心中默想来改变灯的亮度或者熄灭它，只要灯在他的视野范围内）；2瓶治疗重伤药水，只有紧急时候才会拿来使用（比如他在战斗中受伤）。

如果没有这些蜥蜴人，诺拉斯只能爬着行动，不过他看起来细弱的手臂其实非常强壮，他意志比之更为坚定；他能拖着他那孱弱轻薄的身躯，靠抓着支撑物站立，并且可以轻易施放那些不需要移动的咒语。他非常感激奥苏蜥蜴人的帮助，努力保护它们，时刻准备好强大的进攻和防御法术。他花费大量时间在魔法实验上，以求解除诅咒，这些在沼泽中心产生的法术效果可能引起PC的注意。
诺拉斯乐于执行奥苏蜥蜴人酋长（Kurguluk，科格鲁克，一个大型，精明的男性）或者其他“十六人议会”（执行酋长的决策，也能够罢免酋长）长老的指令。

劇透 -   :

The Deepestorth Secret
Orthult’s most secret weapon is Norauth the Withered (LN male human wizard 6), a human wizard of great age and infirmity who dwells on a tiny isle between the real Orthult and the “show” village, waited on day and night by attentive lizardfolk. Norauth fell victim to a curse cast on him by a rival that he has thus far been unable to remove, halt, or reverse; it very slowly withers away his body from the toes upward.
These days Norauth can no longer walk—his legs are mere rubbery, useless remnants and his spine is so weak that he can’t sit up unaided. He lives in a cradle-chair the Orth built, which they lay down when he wants to sleep and place upright on various surfaces when he wants to eat, work at a table, or “stand” in his spellcasting place. This area is a large, fat space surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped earth berm; it has a small roofed alcove at one end where the Orth constantly guard Norauth’s spellbooks and components needed for spells and magical experiments but is otherwise open to the sky.

Norauth is driven by the desire to defeat the curse that is gradually killing him, or even simply to slow its progress. In the meantime, all of his wants are seen to by the Orth, in exchange for which he has agreed to defend the marsh with his spells against any determined assault or magical intrusion. He has three magic items: a hand-sized “lantern” stone that can glow with light when he touches it (he can alter its brightness or cause it to go dark by silent will, if he’s close enough to see it) and two potions of cure serious wounds he’s been saving until dire need (such as being wounded in battle).

Without lizardfolk aid, Norauth can only crawl, but his gaunt arms are very strong and his will even stronger; he can drag his emaciated, very light body upright by clutching onto supports, and he can readily cast spells that don’t require moving about. A diligent guardian who’s very grateful to the Orth, he always has formidable ofensive and defensive magic ready. He spends a lot of time magically experimenting to try to break the curse, and such spellcastings rising from the heart of the marsh may well attract PC attention.

Norauth happily takes commands from the current Orth chiefain(Kurguluk,a large,prudent male)or any Orthelder from the Council of Sixteen, which relies on the chiefain—whom the council can dismiss—to enact its decisions.

[水印暗影]

   Even the deepest, densest stretches of the forests that cloak much of the Stolen Lands have their clearings. Most are wild, overgrown gaps in the canopy caused by the fall of an ancient, massive tree, or by the burn scars of lightning fires, and soon disappear as saplings reaching vigorously for the rare sunlight fill them in. Yet a few clearings—the glades tended by druids—are more tranquil, beautiful, and strangely tidy. They remain wild, despite being are tended.
    One such clearing is the legendary Tree of Stars, so named because, as Riverfolk tavern tales insist, on most nights an eerie floating light hangs in the air, upright like a tree, right in the center of the glade.
    Most Riverfolk disagree over just where the Tree of Stars is, but all agree it’s found only with much difficulty, in the deep forest at the heart of a thick and interwoven stand of soaring, mature trees in leafy good health. The glade is round and floored with lush green moss.
    The light at the glade’s center is an irregular, vertical oval of radiance, blue-white and faint, always scintillating brightly with many tiny, white, winking sparks or “stars” that float within the coruscation—points of light that continually flare into being, mill about, and fade away again. This so-called tree often fades away entirely but never touches the ground or moves from where it hangs above the center of the glade.

The Legends
    Some Riverfolk say the Tree of Stars is a magical doorway to other worlds through which strange and fearsome creatures come—and the most desperate of hunted fugitives flee from Golarion forever. Others claim it is where druids go to die, embracing the Tree of Stars and transforming themselves into young, vigorous woodland beasts that retain the memories and magical powers of their former lives. Still others say the tree purges any poison, disease, curse, or taint in any item or being that comes into contact with it. Magic items are recharged by the Tree of Stars, some wizards say—even items that can’t normally be recharged. Yet another legend says that unicorns originally sprang from the tree, and that a dying elf who touches the tree can be reborn as a unicorn.
    Riverfolk lore insists that demons and devils have both been burned away to nothing, screaming horribly after being hurled into contact with the tree by foes they were fighting. One tale states that ages ago an enchanted gem-crown was thrown into the tree by a dying elf lord, whereupon the crown disappeared. Another account claims the crown was merely rendered invisible and left floating for the right elf to come along and claim it. Some seers say a god is fated to be born out of the tree—after one of the gods revered now is spectacularly destroyed.
The Truth
    Any or all of the legends about the Tree of Stars may be true or partially true, but few are believed by the Guardians of the Glade, those mysterious beings sworn to protect the glade and the Tree of Stars. The term “guardians” is actually a misnomer, invented by Riverfolk talking in taverns, and is not favored by the guardians themselves. The guardians don’t actually prevent any creature from entering the glade but instead act mainly to quench or prevent fires there—though they do attack and seek to drive away creatures who try to use magic on the Tree of Stars or destroy glade flora. Still, the name persists.
    These Guardians of the Glade are in truth certain senior druids of the Green Faith who tend and watch over the glade, watering its mosses, clearing away fallen leaves and branches and all corrupting fungi, and using spells to prevent burrowing and digging forest creatures from despoiling the glade. These druids do not speak of the nature or powers of the Tree of Stars to those not of their faith. They entertain varying personal speculations about the nature of the light, but they agree that it was Gozreh’s will that long ago caused this “manifestation of natural forces” for reasons and purposes as yet unknown to mortals.
    Over the years, the druids have learned much about the Tree of Star’s powers through experimentation and observation of other beings interacting with the tree. The radiance seemingly cannot be destroyed by any magical or physical attack, though it “drinks” storm lightning, keeping it away from the rest of the glade and its surroundings, and seems to gain strength from it. On the other hand, certain spells almost always make it fade away entirely for an indefinite time.
    Physical contact with the tree is like touching rushing, coiling energy; it makes hair stand on end, flesh tingle, skin glow briefly, and eyes momentarily blaze. It also changes all creatures who come into contact with it in some minor way, usually healing them of any current wounds and causing them to vividly remember random, long-buried, and hazy memories. This seems to happen every time a particular creature visits and touches the tree, though no more than once a day. Other alterations wrought by the tree are rarer and more random. It may augment a character ability or even bestow a minor spell-like power, either permanently or for a long period of time.
    The tree also always seems to instill a mission or compulsion in creatures it affects, which may not manifest until years later—such compulsions include strong urges to rescue or slay a particular being, or to find and seize an item upon seeing it for the first time. Whatever purpose these mysterious missions may have remains unknown, and the Guardians of the Glade claim to have no knowledge of these quests.

[水印暗影]

Somewhere in the deep forests of the Stolen Lands is a menacing, yawning cave mouth infamous in local lore as an entrance to the Darklands. Yet these are little more than rumors, for the forests of the Sellen watershed contain hundreds of such caves, and locals frequently claim these caverns lead to the lightless depths and fearsome monsters of the Darklands. Yet popular belief persists
among Riverfolk that Grommor’s Maw is the real thing, a connection of the surface lands of Golarion with the Darklands below.

No one remembers who Grommor was. A gruff, outcast adventurer-dwarf, some say. A human prospector who found gems as large as human heads when delving down into the Maw, others claim. Still others say Grommor was a dragon that used to open its jaws wide enough to fill the cave mouth and swallow up all who dared venture inside.

Whatever the truth is behind the origin of the name, Grommor’s Maw today is a large but well-hidden cavern entrance that leads from an overgrown forest ravine into a vast network of natural caverns, a string of irregular rooms carved out of solid rock by long-vanished waters, which descend to unknown depths that probably, by long and torturous ways, connect to the Darklands.

Yet nothing fares down into that fabled underworld or comes up from it—at least not to anyone’s knowledge. Instead, a bold band of harpies lair in the outermost cavern of the Maw, knowing they can retreat from any intruder into deeper caverns where few will dare to follow, because of the
odd inhabitants of those caverns—the Marching Men.

The Marching Men
Three caverns deep beyond the Maw are filled with golems, constructed by unknown hands to fulfill stillmysterious missions; the outermost two caverns each contain a dozen stone golems, and the innermost cavern holds nine iron golems.

The golems attack any living creature that enters their caves; given the golems’ numbers and the close confines of the caverns, only flying creatures have much hope of eluding them. They seem to be under instructions not to allow anyone past them into the even deeper caverns beyond, and they use their bodies as walls to block the openings between caverns to accomplish this, if need be.

Those deeper caverns have a handful of veins of gemore running through their walls and ceilings, but none seem to hold any ready treasure or other items of interest, though a drinkable flow of water does seep from the ceiling of one cavern to run into the next cavern and sink through
its floor.

From time to time, one of the golems will vanish or reappear in a flash of light. This is by means of a teleport spell, which safely carries along any living creature that manages to touch the golem. This spell whisks the golem to an apparently random location, usually in the River Kingdoms, where it tries to slay either the nearest creature or the creature closest to a specific spot (such as a
doorway, a bridge, or a particular room in a castle). Some of these locales were constructed much more recently than the time of the first appearances of these golems; all that can be said about the spots where the golems appear is that, more often than not, they seem to be associated with large constructions, such as city walls, fortresses, bridges, and piers.

If a golem is destroyed in one of its ventures, it does not return to the caverns of the Maw, but if it survives, successful or not, it soon teleports back (when that is seems to vary without apparent reason; it’s not always promptly after a successful slaying or after a target gets away). Golems sent on these mysterious missions unhesitatingly pursue their chosen targets out of the area of their arrival, if need be, and defend themselves against all who attack them.

Who made these golems and placed them in the caverns, why they carry out these attacks, what the golems’ connection to Grommor’s Maw is, and where the “Marching Men” name came from are all mysteries, though even very old Riverfolk writings refer to these murderous golems by
that term.

The Dancing Dryads
On rare occasions, another strange sight occurs in the ravine right in front of the Maw: brightly glowing, greenwhite radiances appear, outlining dryads who step out of the surrounding trees—even dead trees, tiny saplings, and shrubs that are never home to such tree-fey—and dance wildly together in front of the Maw. The dryads are silent, moving with manic speed and agility, and seem aware only of each other and not any nearby creatures, regardless of what actions the observers may take. After a brief dance, the dryads run toward the Maw, fading away just as they reach its threshold. Local superstition insists that anyone who sees the dryads dance will enjoy good luck in a moment of great need shortly thereafter, but the tradition is mostly an aphorism at this point, and none of the tales say anything about dancing dryads having anything to do with Grommor’s Maw.

An adventurer by the name of Bloodjack Baerrens, who recently disappeared, claimed to have seen both the dryads and the golems—and also claimed that he’d since fought other dryads and other golems elsewhere, and that he couldn’t be harmed by the “soundly striking” attacks of either race. Something is clearly afoot at the cave known as Grommor’s Maw, but at the moment the mysteries of the cave complex seem endless, waiting for a band of brave explorers to finally bring the truth to light.