me vest Inn, on the west side of the Long Road facing the ‘Stone Trail. The inn’s proprietor is the affable Herivin Dardragon (CG male strongheart halfling commoner). a curly-haired collector and reseller of paintings and stat- uettes of questionable taste. WesTWwooD tangled forest cloaking the eastern foothills of the ‘Sword Mountains, the Westwood is home to a shrine of Mielikki, several woodcutters' camps that are often. taken over forcibly for a season or a few months at a time by bandits or Uthgardt barbarians, and a few ‘overgrown remnants of the ancient elven kingdom of Rilithar, WHALEBONES Petty, warmongering kings rule over the small islands known as the Whalebones, so called because of the whale skeletons that litter the islands’ beaches. Several of the larger islands are home to rocs that the storm giants of Maelstrom use as mounts. The islanders leave treasure for the giants and food for the birds as tribute. WomrorpD village along the Iron Road was known as Iron- ford until shortly after a dragon was slain nearby. Pass- ersby began to call the settlement Wyrm Ford—a name subsequently corrupted, thanks to the thick local accent, into Womford. The village has a dock on the Dessarin River for shipping grain from its gristmill. Its also the market and the source of supplies for the surrounding farms from which the grain comes. Aside from the mill, the village has a handful of granaries and a larger hand- ful of cottages, several of which house tiny shops. West of the village is the Ironford Bridge, a long, narrow, ram- shackle wooden bridge that spans the Dessarin River and leads to Bargewright Inn, which looms atop a hill. ‘Womforders lock and bar their doors and shutter their windows at night, for fear of the so-called Womford Bat, a nocturnal predator that snatches folk it can catch outside after dark; see the "Bargewright Inn” section for ‘more information on this creature. XANTHARL'S KEEP ‘Xantharl was a well-known ranger and explorer of the North. The fortified village that bears his name stands in the middle of nowhere, on the west side of a notori- ‘ously dangerous and rugged stretch of the Long Road. ‘An outer wall with heavy crossbows mounted to its battlements encloses a keep sheltered by a steep roof to shed snow. Surrounding the keep are dozens of narrow stone houses with heavy shutters and steep roofs of their own. The Falling Ore inn and tavern, a wood-frame structure built on the remains of an older stone building that caught fire and burned down, stands near the main gates next tothe stables. The hulking yet friendly propri- tor, Arzastra (LG female half-ogre), recently took pity ona coinless shield dwarf adventurer named Largand is paying him a few coppers to clean the stables. “Larg” told Arzastra that he and his adventuring companions were caught in an avalanche while hunting [UAPTER 5 | THE SAVAGE FRONTIER a red dragon in the Valley of Khedrun, and only he sur- vived. The story is a fabrication, but Arzastra bought it. ‘The shifty dwarf is actually a wanted criminal named. Worvil "the Weevil” Forkbeard. The characters might know of him from talking to certain NPCs (such as Sir Baric Nylef in Bryn Shander or Darz Helgar in Triboar), or from a wanted poster in Longsaddle, The Weevil can be found cleaning the inn's stables during the day or drinking in a private, plainly furnished guest bedroom on the upper floor of the inn at night. The Weevil avoids making eye contact with strangers, He has the statistics of a bandit captain with the following changes: The Weevil is neutral evil, His speed is 25 feet. + He has advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage. + He has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, and he ‘speaks Common, Draconic, and Dwarvish. + Instead of a scimitar and a dagger, he wields a pair of +1 handaxes (+5 to hit with each). As an action, he can make three melee attacks, two attacks with one hhandaxe and one attack with the other handaxe. Each handaxe deals 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage on a hit The Lord of Xantharl's Keep is Narbeck Horn (N male shield dwarf knight armed with a greataxe instead of agreatsword), who reports to the marchion of Mirabar. Narbeck has a sending stone that allows him to speak to the marchion directly, ensuring that news of any threat to Mirabar from the south is quickly relayed. Narbeck commands a garrison of one hundred fifty veterans, which is over twice the population of the village itself. Suocestep ENCOUNTER Guards on the rooftop of the keep spot a frost giant approaching from the west with a small army of fifty goblins and ten hobgoblins, plus five ogres equipped with goblin huckers (sce the “Goblin Huckers” section in chapter 2). The hobgoblins form a phalanx in the front of the group, with the frost giant behind them and the un- ruly mob of ogres and goblins bringing up the rear. Even without the characters’ help, the keep can turn back the attackers with few casualties. (Many goblins are killed as their bodies are flung against the keep by the huckers) During the uproar, any character who succeeds on a DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check realizes that the siege is a ruse to draw attention away from the village's east gate, where the real attack is taking place. ‘Awhile back, Worvil Forkbeard told a few friends that he needed a place to hide and planned to lie low in Xan. tharl's Keep. One of his friends betrayed that confidence to the frost giant now attacking the keep, who is named Kaltivar. The giant intends to collect on the 5,000 gp re- ward being offered for the dwarf’s capture and is u the goblinoids and ogres as a distraction to help him bag the dwarf. While the garrison is occupied on the ‘westside of town, ten stealthy bugbears climb over the eastern wall and attempt to capture Worvil Ifthe char- acters already have the dwarf in custody, the bugbears try to take Worvil from them. If Worvil is dead and the bugbears see his corpse, they immediately try tofiee the keep and report back to Kaltivar. Characters who are