Gremland: Setting Notes and Cultural Profile

So in my post about gremlins last November I mentioned that I might use the idea to inspire a setting or adventure or something, and this is the result of that, now that I am done writing the Immortal Naturalist's Guide. This setting is actually where the Old Gritville Mine is located, so I guess that is convenient. Anyways, lore:

Introduction: Gremland is a small country in the Shattered Mountains known for being difficult to get to and being completely overrun with gremlins. About 50 years ago, Gremland was known as Grimland, an ancient kingdom which had been ruled by the Grimland Monarchy for almost 1,000 years. King Mercutio, the last ruler of Grimland, caused the fall of his house and the collapse of the government by trying to summon and bind a demon in order to gain the ability to control how much happiness his subjects could feel. Mercutio failed in his quest, summoning but not binding the demon. Angered by the king’s arrogance, the demon cursed him and all those within Grimland to forget how to clear negative energy from objects and replace it with positive energy. Although the consequences were not immediately clear, about a year later, the entire kingdom was overrun by gremlins in an event known as the gremlin invasion and the old monarchy of Grimland had been completely wiped out. In the roughly 50 years since then, people have changed the name of the area to Gremland, and they have learned to tolerate the fact that nearly every object around them has an associated gremlin who is an expert in using that object to cause problems and annoy people.
    The remoteness of Gremland has made it difficult for both news of the gremlin infestation to spread and for people who are able to help to get there, making the gremlin issue somewhat difficult to solve. Most people, despite the gremlins, have no plans to leave the area. The people of Gremland are stubborn and somewhat fatalistic, meaning they see the gremlins as something to put up with or even something they deserve, hence the reluctance to leave. Additionally, there are two big economic reasons to stay in the area. The Fruitful Forest is able to produce large amounts of fruit year-round even though Gremland tends to see fairly harsh winters. The Gritville Mine produces magical diamonds that are able to reverse the rotting process after being powdered and heat-treated. These two resources are the primary exports of the area, keeping people in Gremland to harvest and mine them. Miners and fruit foragers still need food, clothes, and other goods, which keeps even more people in Gremland. Overall, it seems like the gremlin infestation changed Gremland, but by no means did it make it impossible to survive.

Location Descriptions

Location	Description
Ancient Fort	This large fort used to be the primary training grounds and military holdfast for the old monarchy of Grimland, and also served to overlook the roads leading to Grimburg. Today, a small group of warriors has taken up residence in the fort, pursuing exercise, loyalty, and combat skill as a path towards a positive mindset and spiritual purity. As a result of their lifestyle, the fort is entirely free of gremlins. While not purposefully channeling positive energy or even trying to get rid of the gremlins in the fort, the Order of Linked Rings, as the warriors call themselves, has managed to bring about enough positivity to do exactly that. This is all made even more impressive by the lack of association with any higher powers the organization has. Pretty much all of these warriors are from Gremland and adhere to the local spirituality, meaning there is no real religious aspect to their lifestyle beyond a desire to clear the mind and be more mindful of their relationship to the spiritual and natural worlds. Unfortunately, the Order of Linked Rings does not leave their fort very often and does not seem to have much interest in advertising or recruiting, claiming to only want the best of the best coming to them through destiny and not a recruiting drive. The result is that most people in Gremland assume the Ancient Fort is abandoned, overrun by gremlins like most places in the area.
Ancient Watchtower	Overlooking both the Bay Between the Tines and what used to be called the Grimcastle, the Ancient Watchtower used to be an important tool for the old monarchy of Grimland to know what was going on in the kingdom. Sitting at the very top of what is now known as the Infested Ridge, this watchtower is one of the most overrun locations in Gremland. Some schoalrs have theorized that this tower is the epicenter of the gremlin infestation of Gremland. The theory goes that being posted in the watchtower was a dull, boring, and infuriating experience, making it particularly vulnerable to gremlin generation when the loss of anti-gremlin practices ocurred. After the watchtower fell to gremlins, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the old monarchy's outposts fell due to frustrations at the lack of information and communication after losing such a central part of the kingdom's information network. While there are no contemporary accounts to confirm this theory, the level of infestation and rumors of a powerful item lend the theory plausibility. The rumors say that the magic item is a ruby crown known as the Gremlin's Bane that sits at the very top of the Ancient Watchtower. Whoever is able to take the Gemlin's Bane from its resting place will supposedly be able to instantly absorb all of the negative energy from an object, dissipating any gremlins associated with it. While it does not increase the positive energies associated with an object, many people have died in attempts to gain the ability to diminish gremlins at will.
Carol's Workshop	Carol is a mage who really cares about rocks and minerals and their potential magical properties. Carol also does not care for the company of other people. Because of this, she has set up her workshop on the northernmost end of the Cliffs of Dobb in order to better study them while being as far from Grimburg as she can get. Carol is interested in the cliffs because they seem to jut straight up from the ground, at odds with the horizontal and diagonal layers of rock more common to the area, and they seem to have eroded much slower than the rest of the rocks in the area despite all local sediments being rather hard and difficult to weather. In investigating the red cliffs, Carol hopes to find ways to magically reinforce armor, walls, and other things that need to stand up to a beating. Unfortunately, Carol has been having some issues in figuring out how to utilize the rocks effectively.
Fork River	The only perennial stream in Gremland, all water in the area seems to flow into the Fork River at some point on its way to the Bay Between the Tines. Starting northeast of Gritville, the Fork takes a bit of a meandering path through the land. Every fall, salmon run up the river and provide an important food source for the people of Gremland. At its headwaters, the water is nice and clear, although by the time it empties into the Bay Between the Tines, is has become murky, turbulent, and fetid. Still, it is the only reliable source of fresh water in the area, so many people drink it and use it regardless.
Fruitful Forest	A large, dense forest where the canopy is so thick that very little light reaches the forest floor. Oddly, the trees in this forest are predominantyl edible fruit trees, making it a vital resource for the people of Gremland. Many people make their living picking fruits in the forest and preserving them to sell to the rest of the area. Despite its fruitfulness, people still have to be on the lookout for the feral fruit freaks, a group of wild creatures who will chase down fruit foragers and eat everything in their fruit sacks. Most people assume that the fruit trees have something to do with the Temple of the Fruitful Tree, where an order of priests who worship fruit as an expression of their god's values lives.
Funeral Bridge	A mossy stone bridge that crosses the Fork River at a point where it is nearly 1,000ft wide. The bridge gets its name by being the bridge that almost everyone crosses to get to the Grand Mausoleum. Due to its size and the only established path the the mausoleum going over it, it is considered an important point in the traditional funeral processions of Gremland. In Gremland folklore, it is said that the point at which the procession crosses the bridge is when the deceased crosses over to the spirit world. Because of this, the bridge is also said to be very haunted. Many people who cross it alone claim to have seen ghosts standing on the bridge, looking wistfully towards the eastrn end of the bridge.
Grimburg	Grimburg is the only city in Gremland, with a population of 20,000. This city is an important port for the region, processing most of the goods from Gremland prior to being exported to the rest of the world. While there are many docks, warehouses, and shops to work in, the real backbone of industry in the city is its clothing industry. While the gremlin invasion has certainly made the continuation of this industry difficult, Grimburg continues to produce most of the clothing that people in Gremland and the surrounding areas of the Shattered Mountains wear on a daily basis. Most people are too busy working to make their own clothes, so the industrial might of Grimburg is put towards producing garments to clothe people in the area. The Governor of Grimburg, Poppy Sweetwater, is fairly proud of her city and its garment industry. Additionally, she does her best to support the merchants, traders, and shippers that contribute so much to the City's wealth. Usually, Poppy runs a fairly open and democratic government, although she has no explicit obligations to do so and could tighten her control over the city at any time. Grimburg's wealth as well as Governor Sweetwater's patronage have allowed the fashion industry to explode into full-blown artistry, with opulent fashion shows displaying spectacular outfits that could never be worn in any practical setting. The elites of the city also tend to wear more colorful and elaborate clothes than those in the smaller towns of Gremland, leading to a perception of people from Grimburg being opulent, debaucherous, and shallow. While this is not true of all residents, the perception leads to tension between Grimburg and the rest of Grimland.
Gritville	A small town near the headwaters of the Fork River, pretty much everyone in town makes their living by working in the local diamond mine. The diamonds from the Gritville mine have the magical ability revert rotten food to fresh food after being powdered, heat treated, and sprinkled on the rotten food in question. Gritville itself has about 2,000 residents, most of whom are somewhat superstitious, believing that the Old Gritville Mine is haunted after an accident that closed the mine about 100 years ago. Despite this, their governor, Karl Green, is a very serious man who does not believe in things that he cannot see with his own eyes. The gremlin infestation has tested Karl's resolve and made using the mining equipment quite dangerous. Many people don't think the governor is doing enough to keep the miners safe in light of the gremlin infestation. In response, Karl has instituted a curfew and banned gatherings of 5 people or more rather than actually try to solve the issue. These new policies have been highly unfavorable with with the residents of Gritville, but Karl seems to show no signs of stopping any time soon.
Gritville Mine	This diamond mine, referred to as the New Mine by the people of Gritville, was opened about 100 years ago after the accident in the Haunted Mine. Most people outside out Gritville don't believe that the Old Mine is actually haunted and thought starting a brand new one was an overreaction to an admittedly tragic accident. Regardless, the New Gritville Mine is just as productive, if not more so, than the old one, and manages to find work for anyone who wants it. The mine is technically owned collectively by the people of Gritville, but in practice this means the governor of the town ends up being just as much in charge of the mine as the town, resulting in a somewhat restrictive atmosphere since Governor Green has instituted his new anti-dissident policies. On the part of the miners, not only are they upset by the unaddressed issue of the gremlins in the mine, but they believe they are owed more of a say in mine policy than Karl Green currently allows, and they feel like they deserve better wages considering how valuable the items they are pulling from the ground are. Not only are the diamonds from the mine able to reverse the rotting process in food after being crushed and heated, but each diamond extracted from the mine is massive, frequently larger than a man's fist. Each of these massive diamonds, if not for their magical properties, could easily be worth a fortune as rough gems for gemcutters. Such consistently large, high-quality diamonds are hard to come by, and the fact that most of them are ground up for their magic is almost a tragedy, in many ways.
Haunted Mine	Known as the Old Gritville Mine or the Haunted Mine, this ancient mine is the original reason why Gritville exists, and also the cause of the worst tragedy in the town's history. About 100 years ago, the miners are said to have uncovered something terrible, warping the space inside the mine into a series of ever-shifting reality bubbles taken from all over the prime material plane. Ever since that haunting day, the entrance to the mine brings people to an unstable world of pocket dimensions which shift and move around inside of the mountain without disturbing the surface. Each bubble of reality seems to consist of 7 rooms, at most, which can be of pretty much any size and contain pretty much anything. Because of their motion, these pockets of reality maintain only ephemeral connections to each other. While passages and rooms inside the same pocket reality stay consistent, the hallways that leave and connect to another reality bubble will have new, random locations at the end every couple of hours. Some of these bubbles seem fairly similar to what one would expect from a series of mineshafts and excavated ore pockets, some seem to take people to other planets entirely, many appear to be taken from a much more mundane location, and yet more seem to be the awkward fusion of 2 or more unrelated bubbles. Roaming the rooms, hallways, and various pocket dimensions of the Old Gritville Mine are all sorts of creatures. Although it is possible to run into survivors of the original accident, most of them are long dead, usually killed by one of the many horrible creatures from the more exotic reality pockets. Aside from alien horrors, many normal, regular people were also sucked into the mine and a few survived long enough to establish small camps, farms, and even towns in the midst of the broiling chaos of reality bubbles. While rare, these safe havens represent the only thing keeping most who get lost in the Haunted Mine from a painful death at the hands of a terrifying beast. Although returning to the entrance of the Old Gritville Mine is nearly impossible because the pocket dimensions are always shifting around, the few who have returned have come back with riches, magic, and powerful objects beyond imagination. While these brave adventurers come back wealthy beyond compare, they also speak of dangers and horrors that they never wish to see again. It is up to each adventurer who hears of the Old Gritville Mine to decide for themselves if they will challenge it. Many have come back with great success, but most have never been seen again.
Ludwig's Hill	This hill is important in the folklore of Gremland as the home of a mythical creature named Ludwig of the Forest. This large quadruped has a long, flexible snout with horns growing out of it which Ludwig uses to thrash the bark off of sick and dieing trees to get at their soft, inner bark. It is also said that Ludwig is as fast as lightning and as strong as an elephant, allowing him to range far and wide from his hill during the day. Folklore also depicts Ludwig of the Forest as a protector of his realm, attacking anyone he sees harming a tree in much the same way he removes bark from trees for his meals. Most people, those of Gremland included, believe that Ludwig is nothing more than folklore, however. The thrashed trees, known as Ludwig Lunches, are usually spaced far apart and cover an almost impossible range. While no one has a better explanation for what is killing trees by thrashing all of the lower bark off, most people assume it is bears or deer getting a bit too overzealous about marking their territory or sharpening their antlers. Ludwig's Hill, however, is notable for having an inordinate number of these destroyed trees, and it is where the greatest number of supposed Ludwig sightings have happened.
Ludwig's Nest	As one explores Ludwig's Hill, they may notice that a certain area seems to have many more trees with the bark shredded off than the others. If one wanders enough, they may find a circle of standing logs that have all been stripped of their bark and branches. They are all evenly spaced, surrounding pile of boulders. Clever climbers will be able to get to the top and find a large opening, and then descend into what is actually the entrance to a small cave. Inside this cave, one will find Ludwig of the Forest's nest. Ludwig's Nest is very comfortable, being filled with bark that has been thrashed and shredded so much that is has become soft and puffy. This material is very difficult to produce, but Ludwig seems to have an easy time, and it is very valuable. Most people are not able to make it as easily as Ludwig, making bark fluff one of the most expensive fabric materials in the world despite the raw materials being everywhere. The stuff is also highly flamable, making it somewhat risky to carry in large quantities. Either way, there is enough of the stuff to pay a king's ransom in Ludwig's Nest, so sometimes the odd adventurer will try to find the nest and steal some bedding.
Martin's Field	The relatively flat area south of Grimburg without many trees is named after one of the previous kings of Grimland, Martin the Craftsman. It is said that before Martin's reign, the field was a thick forest and Grimburg was a tiny village. Martin made it his mission to make the village into a city when he took the throne, and supposedly turned the forest into a field in the process. Today, the field is used to graze the numerous flocks of sheep whose wool fuels Grimburg's garment industry, as well as other livestock. There are several farms that extend out into Martin's field from Grimburg, but they do not cover much of the field itself.
Narrow Bridge	This bridge is the farthest upstream of all the bridges that cross the Fork River, being fairly close to Gritville. The bridge gets its name because it is only wide enough for people to cross single file. This means that anyone trying to get from Gritville to the rest of Gremland by horse or cart must go through the Fruitful Forest and cross the Fork River at Strong Bridge. As a result, Narrow Bridge is much less well-used and doesn't get maintained as often. This wooden bridge has become somewhat unstable and infected with gremlins in recent years, making it somewhat treacherous to cross.
Nest of Ferocious Fruit Freaks	There is a particularly massive tree in the Fruitful Forest that seems to shoot up above the surrounding canopy. High up in the branches of this tree are a series of nests made out of woven twigs and leaves. In these nests live the Ferocious Fruit Freaks, a group of reptilian creatures that swing through the tree branches on the search for fruit. Ranging all throughout the Fruitful Forest, the Freaks can be quite hazardous to those who make their living foraging for fruit in the forest. Should the Feral Fruit Freaks happen upon them, they are known to violently steal and eat everything that their victims are carrying. If someone happens to get too close to the nest tree, an army of Fruit Freaks is likely to descend on the intruder to defend their home. Often, foraging parties will pick more fruit than they can eat, bringing the excess fruit to a communal pile in one of the nests which the young, old, and sick are able to take from.
Roughton	Roughton, named after the rough bark on the surrounding trees, is a decent-sized village on the southwest edge of the Fruitful Forest. This village boasts a population of nearly 5,000 people, most of whom are either fruit foragers or fruit canners. About half of the town's workers go out into the woods to pick fruit every day, and the other half take that fruit and preserve it in glass jars so it can be shipped all over the world. There is some tension between the two groups of workers based on who gets paid more and who is perceived to have the easier job. The town's governor, Claudia Strongseed, was a fruit forager before an unprecedented string of deaths left her as the only heir to the governor's seat, leading to frequent accusations of favoritism towards the foragers. The canners threaten to revolt any time Claudia makes an unpopular decision, which always causes Claudia to walk her decision back. Foragers are upset because this state of affairs means that things regularly favor the canners, leading to a lot of conlfict between the two groups. Not wanting her own base to turn on her, Claudia has turned a blind eye to violence from the foragers towards the canners, and she does the same for violence going the other way to avoid riots from the canners. The end result is a town shaken by the battles between the two professions. This has of course done nothing but exasperate the gremlin infestation in the town.
Salton	This fishing village is the northernmost settlement in Gremland, sitting on the edge of the Salty Pastures. Although only about 3,000 people live here, they are able to pull enough fish from the Bay Between the Tines to supply the rest of Gremland, preserving their catch with sea salt before sending it to the larger world. Most people seem satisfied with their lot in life, and the governor, Bonnie Vine, treats people well. While the gremlin infestation has still come to Salton, the overall contentedness of the population resulted in the town being the lightest hit in Gremland. In addition to fish, Salton also exports a decent amount of beef, although only a handful of people in town are involved in that. Governor Vine owns a herd of nearly 3,000 cattle which she sends out into the Salty Pastures to graze, along with a few hired hands to keep the herd from wandering too far afield and to bring them to the stock yards near Salton during the winter. There have always been rumors that Bonnie is a powerful spellcaster who secretly turns criminals with the death penalty into cows in her herd, but the governor has always dismissed these tales as nonsense.
Strong Bridge	This covered bridge crosses the Fork River just upstream of Roughton and is made of steel beams and wooden planks. This bridge, being the only one between Gritville and Grimburg wide enough to let carts and horses through, sees a lot of merchant and trader caravans come through. The bridge gets its name from being wide and durable enough to handle a near-constant flow of traffic in both directions. While that level of use has not been seen since before the gremlin invasion, there is still a dedicated team of craftsfolk who maintain the bridge and ensure that it has no weaknesses. These people call themselves the Bridge Brigade and they have set up toll booths on the bridge to pay for materials and their own meals. The Bridge Brigade maintains a dormitory for its members on top of the bridge, utilizing a somewhat cramped attic space for the covered bridge for this purpose.
Temple of the Fruitful Tree	The Temple of the Fruitful Tree is an ancient temple deep in the Fruitful Forest that has been occupied by the Order of the Bountiful Branch since it was built hundreds of years ago. These mysterious priests spend their days tending a small orchard on the temple grounds and going out into the woods to spread seeds. These priests are teroists, members of a religion which worships the planet Tero itself as their god, referring to the planet as the Great Mother. This religion generally sees the various natural resources people use to survive, build, and find pleasure as gifts from their god and see it as their duty to cultivate and grow these resources to offset those who take without giving anything back. Following this goal, the religion is made up of many orders, each of which maintains a single temple and focuses on a single gift from the Great Mother to grow. The Order of the Bountiful Branch founded the Temple of the Fruitful Tree in order to grow more fruit trees. While they scatter many seeds in the forest as part of their practice, the trees they grow in their temple, closed off to outsiders, are said to bear magical fruits which grant the eater with incredible powers. The order does not accept members who only want personal power, however, so the secrets of their temple orchard remain hidden to the outside world.
The Bay Between the Tines	The Fork River empties into the Bay Between the Tines, a massive bay formed millions of years ago by a massive glacier. The bay splits a massive peninsula, the Greatest Fork, and the split begins in Gremland, at the southermost point of the Bay Between the Tines where the Fork River meets salt water. Tides in this bay can be somewhat extreme, with the water receding by up to a mile in the more shallow areas, but the Cliffs of Dobb mark a particularly deep part of the bay where large cargo ships are safe to dock during all tides. Grimburg takes advantage of this as well as the fresh water that the Fork River provides to be the only place in Gremland that can support a freight shipping industry.
The Cliffs of Dobb	A series of bright red cliffs that line the Bay Between the Tines for the first several miles of its western coast. These cliffs stand out against the moslty grey rocks of the surrounding Shattered Mountains, and they seem to be made of a rock that is magically resistant to wear and tear. This property has attracted the attention of Carol the Mage, but she has not had much success unlocking the capabilities of the red rocks. Carol is convinced that she just needs to find a way to use the extremely durable rocks and she will be able to make her fortune, and she is probably right. In the mean time, the cliffs are seen as nothing more than a natural oddity by the people of Gremland.
The Grand Mausoleum	A massive mausoleum constructed from black stone where almost all native residents of Gremland have their remains interred when they die. This massive building can be seen for miles, standing over 100 feet tall and extending an unknown depth into the ground. While the bottom level has never been found, it has been noted that the farther down into the mausoleum people travel, the more uneasy they feel. Some legends say that if one were to start descending and never turn back, they would eventually find levels full of undead, demons, and eventually they would descend out of the prime material plane entirely and into the cosmic planes of alignment. The veracity of these rumors has never been addressed, however, as the mausoleum seems to automatically rearrange itself so that there is always room for new bodies at the very top of the mausoleum with older and older corpses being moved farther down over time. Given its height, the bodies on the ground floor are often decades old by the time they get there. While many people dread the final climb to the top of the mausoleum for a funeral procession, it is considered the most important part of the ritual, where the casket-bearers show their commitment to the dearly departed.
The Great Vault	Sitting on the northeast face of the Infested Ridge is a structure known as the Great Vault. The Great Vault acted as the treasury for the Grimland Monarchy before the gremlin infestation, with only the sitting monarch allowed to know the secret way to get into the vault. Inside are all of the riches of the people who ruled when Gremland was still called Grimland. How much and what form this wealth takes is entirely unknown, allowing treasure hunters through the ages to come up with wil fantasies of what could possibly lay inside. Whatever mechanism kept the vault closed seemed to be incredibly complex, however, as the vault is now entirely overrun with gremlins. Furthermore, since the entirety of the royal family died during the initial gremlin infestation, no one alive knows how to safely get inside. The Great Vault is protected not just by codes and doors, but by deadly traps and magic that only the most accomplished thieves could dare challenge.
The Gremlin King's Castle	What used to be known as the Grimcastle is a massive stone building with walls 50 feet tall. The castle stones were quarried from the Cliffs of Dobb, making them bright red and incredibly strong. Today, the castle is known as the Gremlin King's Castle because anyone who spends time in the castle will become the victim of a gigantic gremlin everyone calls the Gremlin King. The Gremlin King is 10 feet tall, several orders of magnitude larger than any other gremlin, and he seems to be associated with the entire castle, never leaving it, only ever using it to trap and torment whatever poor fools go inside. The castle itself is old, large, and constructed as a labyrinth of doors, rooms, and hallways that the Gremlin King is able to manipulate with skill to torment his victims.
The Growing Pit	A massive pit out in the Shattered Moutnains which is so deep that it is impossible to see the bottom, leading many to believe that it is bottomless. Nothing that goes down into the pit ever comes out, and the pit grows wider in proportion to the amount of matter that entered it. While most people are entirely unaware of this pit, it may one day become large enough threaten Gremland.
The Infested Ridge	This lightly forested ridge in the middle of Gremland used to be called the Forested Ridge, but today it is called the Infested Ridge because it is one of the most gremlin-infested parts of Gremland. Not only does it have some of the most infested buildings in the land on it, but the forest itself seems to be a magnet for negative emotions, causing it to be teeming with gremlins that use sticks rocks, and even entire plants to harass and bother travelers.
The Interplanetary Hunting Lodge	This large, stately cabin in the woods appears to be owned by a reclusive aristocrat and their staff of servants, but this is actually a cover for a strange reality. This lodge, along with several others around the world and many more on other worlds, is owned and operated by the Interplanetary League of Exotic Game Hunters and Trappers, an organization spanning the entire Prime Material Plane. The League, as its members insist on calling it, operates these lodges for its paying members to be able to hunt and trap on any planet that supports life. Membership fees are steep, but they are what pays for the lodges, staff, and amenities that members of the League enjoy on their hunting trips.
The Salty Pastures	This relatively flat, grassy area gets a lot of salty spray from the Bay Between the Tines, so the only plants that grow in it are salt-tolerant species like saltgrass and saltbush. Regardless, Governor Bonnie Vine send her massive herd of cattle out to the pastures every spring and summer to feed. While the plants are not ideal for the cattle, they seem to survive on them, and Bonnie claims that the plants pre-season the meat, a claim that is dubious at best. Aside from the plants, the cattle, and deer, there is not much else out on this small prairie, making it a fairly calm place, relatively free of gremlins.
Wyvern Caves	Out in the Shattered Mountains are nests of massive wyverns, notorious for patrolling Gremland and swooping down to take sheep, cattle, and even people. Nobody knows where all their nests are, but the largest is known to be somewhere in the mountains to the east of the Fruitful Forest. The wyverns are able to fly up to a series of cliffs and crags that are almost impossible to navigate without flight. There, they maintain their nests, raise their young, and feed on whatever prey they have captured most recently. The wyverns of Gremland are notable for being a lustrous black color and being nearly twice the size of wyverns from elsewhere in the world. Their size makes the wyverns particularly dangerous to the people of Gremland and most people view them as a deadly pest. Despite the danger posed, their shiny black scales can be made into exquisite clothing and armor while their bile can be processed into a potion that allows one to see in the dark.

Random Encounter Tables

#	Martin's Field and Ludwig's Hill	The Infested Ridge	The Salty Pastures	The Fruitful Forest	The Shattered Mountains
2	Ludwig of the forest zooming right in front of the party	A rock slide started by a gremlin throwing a single pebble	Governor Vine's entire herd of cattle on a stampede, headed directly for the party	A gang of feral fruit freaks, looking to steal whatever fruit the party has	A large group of wyverns swoops down and tries to take a party member
3	A large pack of wyverns flying in the distance, they do not notice the party	A dead tree, all of the bark thrashed off of the trunk by Ludwig of the Forest, still standing but without any leaves	A group of cattle that has gotten away from the herd, they seem to have been harassed into aggression by gremlins	A dead tree, all of the bark thrashed off of the trunk by Ludwig of the Forest, still standing but without any leaves	A rock slide started by a gremlin throwing a single pebble
4	A dead tree, all of the bark thrashed off of the trunk by Ludwig of the Forest, still standing but without any leaves	A large pack of wyverns flying in the distance, they do not notice the party	A large pack of wyverns flying in the distance, they do not notice the party	A large pack of wyverns flying in the distance, they do not notice the party	A dead tree, all of the bark thrashed off of the trunk by Ludwig of the Forest, still standing but without any leaves
5	A group of sheep that has gotten away from the flock, they seem to have been harassed into aggression by gremlins	A gremlin standing at the top of a ledge, throwing pebbles downhill	A small group of gremlins carrying pointed sticks and rocks, heading in the direction of Governor Vine's herd	A small pile of discarded fruit cores and claw marks on the nearby trees from a small group of feral fruit freaks that has since moved on	A large pack of wyverns flying in the distance, they do not notice the party
6	A group of gremlins harassing the party with whatever objects are nearby	A group of gremlins harassing the party with whatever objects are nearby	A group of gremlins harassing the party with whatever objects are nearby	A group of gremlins harassing the party with whatever objects are nearby	A gremlin standing at the top of a ledge, throwing pebbles downhill
7	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing
8	Some gremlins sit in the tall grass and make annoying, high-pitched noises	Gremlins sit in the tree branches and blow raspberries at the party but do nothign else	Some gremlins sit in the tall grass and make annoying, high-pitched noises	A large fruit tree, its branches heavy with fruit	A couple gremlins knocking rocks together in a way that sounds like an approaching rockslide to the untrained ear
9	A large flock of sheep in the distance, several shepherds guard it but do not notice the party	Some gremlins sit in the tall grass and make annoying, high-pitched noises	A large portion of Governor Vine's herd in the distance, several cowboys guard it but do not notice the party	Gremlins sit in the tree branches and blow raspberries at the party but do nothign else	A single black wyvern scale, lying on the ground
10	A shepherd and their small flock of sheep	A gremlin riding a sheep against its will, the sheep is bucking and trying to get the gremlin off	One of Governor Vine's cowboys on horseback, guarding a group of about 100 cattle	A group of teroists from the Order of the Bountiful Branch, singing songs and spreading fruit tree seeds as they walk through the forest	A prospector looking for valuable minerals that might indicate a good site to start a mine
11	A merchant caravan heading to Grimburg with goods from one of the smaller towns	A treasure hunter trying to reach the Ancient Watchtower and find the rumored treasure at the top of the tower	A merchant caravan heading to Salton with food, supplies, and some luxury products	A merchant caravan heading to Gritville with food, supplies, and some luxury products	A hunter with the Interplanetary League of Exotic Game Hunters and Trappers looking for wyverns to hunt
12	A small pile of finely shredded bark, shredded by Ludwig of the Forest to use as bedding in his nest, abandoned for some reason	A small pile of finely shredded bark, shredded by Ludwig of the Forest to use as bedding in his nest, abandoned for some reason	The Duck Man, an entirely average looking man save for the fact that his nose and mouth are replaced by a bill like that of a duck; he trades magic items for character traits out of the back of a wagon pulled by a duck the size of a horse who is named Mary Lou and can create portals to anywhere in the prime material plane	A small pile of finely shredded bark, shredded by Ludwig of the Forest to use as bedding in his nest, abandoned for some reason	A small pile of finely shredded bark, shredded by Ludwig of the Forest to use as bedding in his nest, abandoned for some reason

Geographic History: Millions of years ago, the place that is now Gremland was a mountain range created by one tectonic plate crumpling as it hit another tectonic plate. At the same time, the planet Tero was entering a colder period, causing massive glaciers to form all over the planet. One of these places was what would eventually become Gremland and the Bay Between the Tines. As time moved on, the ice slowly carved out the area, and eventually the climate warmed up again, causing the glacier to slowly recede. This recession happened in jumps and starts, leaving behind a few undersea moraines as well as the Infested Ridge, but eventually the glacier was gone, revealing the bright red Cliffs of Dobb from the surrounding gray rocks of the Shattered Mountains as well as the rest of Gremland. Except for a few hills and ridges, the glacier left the area fairly flat, an ideal place for people to settle one day. Due to its glacial past, however, soils can be quite rocky, with large boulders scattered in even the flattest fields.

Magic and Technology: Like most societies of Tero, the availability of magic and technology varies based on several factors, but the main factor is wealth. The wealthy elites in the port city of Grimburg are able to afford magic and technology to bring their standard of living up to that of modern wealthy people in the real world. Technologies for industrial production of clothing, canned fruit, and the processed form of the magic diamonds from Gritville are at the level of the real world mid-19th century, allowing for the large-scale processing and export of these goods. For the most part, the mid-19th century western United States is a good parallel to the level of technology and type of society the smaller towns of Gremland present. These towns are able to import goods from elsewhere, but only at a high price, so most people have to rely on things that they can maintain and repair themselves. This makes whatever goods can be produced locally the least expensive and also the most important, since they are what people have to rely on if supply lines ever break down.
    The importance of local goods is much less the case in Grimburg, which benefits from being a port city where the average person is much wealthier than in the surrounding towns and countryside. Because of this, and magic, Grimburg is much closer to an early 20th century city of the United States’ East Coast. Being a trade center as well as a clothing production center allows the people of Grimburg to display a level of outlandish fashion that draws disdain from the rest of Gremland. Ignoring this disdain, the upper classes of Gremland seem to have no issue wearing what they like while everyone else judges.
    Universally, the gremlin invasion and subsequent infestation has had the greatest impact on technology. Gremlins have an easier time forming from and utilizing machinery and more complex objects, so the factories and mines that rely on technology are frequently close to overrun with gremlins. While people do their best to operate their machinery and perform their jobs, there is no doubt that production has declined in the previous 50 years as the problem has only become worse.
    As far as magic goes, the only place in Gremland with an established school for teaching magic is Grimburg with the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts. This school charges a high tuition that only allows the wealthiest people to attend, making magic much more common in Grimburg than anywhere else in Gremland. Most of the wealthy people of Gremland have spent some time learning at the academy, but most people stop after they learn the basics so they can return home and do something less difficult. This habit for the wealthy to send their children for what usually ends up being little more than a year of magical education has given the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts a reputation as a bit of a joke, but the faculty there are actually fairly accomplished in spellcasting and enchanting. While there are not nearly enough of them to provide their services on a large scale to the people of Gremland, they provide a high quality of service to the people who they can help.
    Outside of Grimburg, magic is rarely, if ever, used by the average person. While everyone is aware of the naturally occurring magic around them and the fact that more refined forms exist, most people outside of Grimburg are unable to afford enchanted items or the services of a mage. There are a few folk traditions of using specific plant and animal products to achieve certain effects, but nothing like the spellcasting one can learn at the academy in Grimburg. The wealthiest people in a given town probably spent some time at the Grimburg Academy, but how far they took their education varies based on individual interest. Other than the wealthy elites and the odd traveler, it is very rare for someone trained in any magical tradition to come through the countryside of Gremland. While some of the local religious groups count channelers among their number, none of them have a practice of sending their members out into the community to do good works, diminishing their influence in Gremland.

Society: Before the gremlin invasion and the fall of the monarchy, the Kingdom of Grimland had unified the area under a single government. The monarch would appoint a governor to each settlement who they could replace at will. Each governor’s job was to form a police force to enforce the monarch’s laws and to create an administrative team to collect taxes and keep track of finances. While most means of production were and are collectively owned, the monarchy only ever allowed this under a tax system which siphoned off a percentage of the gross income of any settlement’s industry. Today, with the absence of the monarchy or a unifying government, almost all of this original system remains intact, the taxes on a town’s income just go directly to the governors, who have made their positions hereditary. While this decision was generally unpopular, the police forces all sided with their employers and ensured the governorship passed on to the eldest child after each governor died. Pretty much every town or city in Gremland today is now on its second or third generation of hereditary governors, and people are generally accepting of the new status quo. That said, not all of the people who have inherited their position are very good at their job and while previously the monarch would replace such governors, it is now up to the people to overthrow bad leaders.
    Generally, the people of Gremland have learned to tolerate the constant presence of gremlins, many of them having given up all hope of the infestation ever being cleared. In this fatalistic attitude, the people of Gremland have found a tremendous sense of stubbornness that serves them well in their gremlin-infested land. People tend to be willing to stick to a task even though every step of the way will be hindered by gremlins, and many people seem to do things just to spite the gremlins that will harass them. This can be seen at all levels of society, with endurance and patience upheld as important traits for everyone to cultivate within themselves. While devotion to these societal ideals varies a lot from person to person, most people in Gremland would say the defining traits of their culture are a focus on endurance, perseverance, and patience. As a result, many people like to socialize by playing games and holding contests that emphasize endurance and pain tolerance, exemplified by the most popular sport in Gremland, shin kicking.
    While there aren’t really any purpose-built venues for shin kicking, competitions are usually held in large, open, public spaces along with other contests. Most years, about one full week around the solstices and equinoxes is devoted to festivals and competitions, most of these either beginning or ending with big shin kicking tournaments. Shin kicking itself involves two people, barefoot, standing in front of each other with their hands on each other’s shoulders. When the referee gives the word, the two competitors are to begin kicking each other in the shins as hard and as often as they can until either one of them submits or one of them can no longer stand. No padding of any sort is allowed, not even clothing, and anything other than straight kicks to the fronts of the shins can get a competitor disqualified from the competition. Shin kicking, like any popular game or sport, is mostly played as a friendly competition between pals and can be encountered everywhere from the back alleys of Grimburg, to the woods around Roughton, and even at high society events. Shin kicking truly unites all the classes of Gremland.

Religion: While there are several religious orders that maintain a presence in Gremland, most of the population has little involvement with any kind of organized religion. While there is a set of spiritual beliefs and practices that most people in Gremland adhere to, it is a very loose system in which the people who feel called to become shamans in the Gremland tradition must do so in their spare time. Generally, people see the 4 cosmic planes of alignment as pillars supporting the prime material plane. All things in the material plane have an aura or spirit that can be more aligned with one of these pillars than the others. Shamans are people who choose to act as intermediaries between people, spirits, and the 4 cosmic planes. Additionally, shamans are able to give people advice on how to align themselves more with one plane over the other, and they are able to lead funeral processions and then perform the death rites necessary to inter someone in the Grand Mausoleum. Generally, shamans are well-meaning people who are a bit more sensitive to the supernatural than others, doing more good than bad.
    The only other major religious group in Gremland are the teroists of the Order of the Bountiful Branch, who live in and maintain the Temple of the Fruitful Tree. Teroism, the religion of the teroists, is present in many parts of the world and is primarily defined by its veneration of the planet Tero itself. Referring to the planet as “the Great Mother,” teroists are split into many different sects and orders, each one based on cultivating and growing a specific kind of natural resource to offset what less mindful people around the world will use. The order of the Bountiful Branch, in this theme, venerates fruit trees and the food they provide. About 500 years ago, the order established its temple in what was then Grimland and began their work. The order maintains a small grove of fruit trees within its walls which it uses as the source plants for all of the seeds they plant in the surrounding area. After hundreds of years of spreading fruit seeds, the Order of the Bountiful Branch has created the Fruitful Forest which now supports Roughton and the fruit foraging and canning that keeps the town alive. Most people, however, are unaware of this and consider the Fruitful Forest to be a natural oddity, which the teroists of the temple are perfectly happy to let people think. The Order of the Bountiful Branch uses their obscurity to their advantage, growing several magical fruit trees whose seeds they have never planted outside of their temple. These trees produce magical fruits with many strange and powerful properties, but these secret fruits are only available to teroists of the Order of the Bountiful Branch. Teroism provides a ritual to cleanse a small area of gremlins, so the temple is free from the infestation. Unfortunately for the rest of Gremland, the teroists are too focused on tending their orchard and spreading seeds to really care about the greater gremlin infestation. While they certainly could alleviate some of the gremlin problems in Gremland, that would take away from the much more important tasks they are charged with.

Towns and Cities: Ever since the fall of the monarchy, the settlements of Gremland have been self-governed by hereditary lines of governors, each line descended from whoever was the governor when the monarchy fell. Under the Grimland monarchs, each settlement’s governor was responsible for organizing their own administrators and police forces, so without the monarchs there not much changed. The biggest difference has been that the governors, their families, and their friends have become much more wealthy off of the taxes that no longer go to the crown. Other than that, ending the threat of removal by the monarch has caused a general decrease in unity and stability, but most people blame that on the gremlins and move on. Overall, relationships between the towns and cities have been consistent and peaceful since the monarchy fell, but some people feel that it’s only a matter of time before the governor of Grimburg decides to extend their control over one of the smaller towns. This undercurrent of mistrust, along with mutual disdain based on fashion and culture, seems to be the source of a growing rift between Grimburg and the rest of Gremland that is growing wider every year. While all of the settlements rely on each other for important trade goods and supplies, this rift may cause conflict in the future. Until then, the governors of each settlement try to keep in contact and have regular meetings to discuss the state of Gremland and what they can do to help each other. Often, these meetings devolve into arguing over why Grimburg can’t do more to help out, but they still happen regardless.
    Other than meeting with their colleagues, the governors are each responsible for leading the police forces and administrative teams of their respective settlements. Today, pretty much all of the governors are using the same systems that their predecessors used, which in turn had been the standard systems for hundreds of years under the Grimland monarchy. The police are overseen by the chief of police, who hires several captains and many officers. Captains lead shifts of up to several dozen officers, who do different things depending on any number of factors. The governor sets the big picture goals for what laws and policies to enforce on a day-to-day basis, leading to a lot of variability in an otherwise standard system. Each settlement has its own rules and the governor of each town and city wants their officers enforcing those diverse rules differently. One town may have its officers patrol regularly and proactively try to prevent harm to others while another town may only send out teams of officers when they are called on to assist in a situation. Either way, police forces tend to be fiercely loyal to their governors, acting as the first line of defense if their home is attacked and making sure the next person in line for governor actually gets to take their position when the time comes.
    Keeping track of who is next in line for the governorship is the administrative team, an important part of every town’s structure. While the scope and scale of the administrative duties can vary a lot, the constant factor seems to be that the administrative team of a given settlement is always keeping a close eye on how much a town is earning in order to calculate taxes. Settlements in Gremland operate on a system where gross income of an entire industry is taxed, so most admins spend their time making sure their export records are accurate. Each town may or may not offer additional administrative services to the general public, but for the most part, these groups are focused on taxation. The administrative team will work together with the police force to act as judge in criminal cases, but it is the police who perform investigations, arrest criminals, and operate jails, making the administrative role in the process somewhat small. Administrators are often loyal to their governors, acting as trusted councilors and workers for the governors they serve.

Grimburg

Governor: Poppy Sweetwater

Chief Administrator: Chantal Papier

Chief of Police: Mortimer Magnus

Garrison: 100 police officers, 6 detectives

Primary Industry: Clothing, Imports, Exports

Population: 20,000 People

Details: Grimburg, the only city in Gremland, is an important port for the region, processing most of the goods from Gremland prior to being exported to the rest of the world. While there are many docks, warehouses, and shops to work in, the real backbone of industry in the city is its clothing industry. While the gremlin invasion has certainly made the continuation of this industry difficult, Grimburg continues to produce most of the clothing that people in Gremland and the surrounding areas of the Shattered Mountains wear on a daily basis. Most people are too busy working to make their own clothes, so the industrial might of Grimburg is put towards producing garments to clothe people in the area. Poppy Sweetwater is fairly proud of her city and its garment industry. Additionally, she does her best to support the merchants, traders, and shippers that contribute so much to the City's wealth. Usually, Poppy runs a fairly open and democratic government, although she has no explicit obligations to do so and could tighten her control over the city at any time. Grimburg's wealth as well as Governor Sweetwater's patronage have allowed the fashion industry to explode into full-blown artistry, with opulent fashion shows displaying spectacular outfits that could never be worn in any practical setting. The elites of the city also tend to wear more colorful and elaborate clothes than those in the smaller towns of Gremland, leading to a perception of people from Grimburg being opulent, debaucherous, and shallow. While this is not true of all residents, the perception leads to tension between Grimburg and the rest of Grimland. There is also the only place in Gremland for teaching magic, the Grimburg Academy of Magical Arts. This school charges a high tuition that only allows the wealthiest people to attend, making magic much more common in Grimburg than anywhere else in Gremland. Most of the wealthy people of Gremland have spent some time learning at the academy, but most people stop after they learn the basics so they can return home and do something less difficult. Because of this, the academy does not have a very strong reputation, despite a dedicated and skilled faculty.

Salton

Governor: Bonnie Vine

Chief Administrator: Clyde Bolly

Chief of Police: Vincent Fisher

Garrison: 15 police officers, 1 detective

Primary Industry: Fishing, Cattle Ranching

Population: 3,000 people

Details: This fishing village is the northernmost settlement in Gremland, sitting on the edge of the Salty Pastures. Although only about 3,000 people live here, they are able to pull enough fish from the Bay Between the Tines to supply the rest of Gremland, preserving their catch with sea salt before sending it to the larger world. Most people seem satisfied with their lot in life, and the governor, Bonnie Vine, treats people well. While the gremlin infestation has still come to Salton, the overall contentness of the population resulted in the town being affected far less than the others. In addition to fish, Salton also exports a decent amount of beef, although only a handful of people in town are involved in that. Governor Vine owns a herd of nearly 3,000 cattle which she sends out into the Salty Pastures to graze, along with a few hired hands to keep the herd from wandering too far afield and to bring them to the stock yards near Salton during the winter. There have always been rumors that Bonnie is a powerful spellcaster who secretly turns criminals with the death penalty into cows in her herd, but the governor has always dismissed these tales as nonsense.

Roughton

Governor: Claudia Strongseed

Chief Administrator: Charlene Ledger

Chief of Police: Carlotta Foley

Garrison: 25 police officers, 2 detectives

Primary Industry: Fruit Foraging, Fruit Canning

Population: 5,000 people

Details: Roughton, named after the rough bark on the surrounding trees, is a decent-sized village on the southwest edge of the Fruitful Forest. This village boasts a population of nearly 5,000 people, most of whom are either fruit foragers or fruit canners. About half of the town's workers go out into the woods to pick fruit every day, and the other half take that fruit and preserve it in glass jars so it can be shipped all over the world. There is some tension between the two groups of workers based on who gets paid more and who is perceived to have the easier job. The town's governor, Claudia Strongseed, was a fruit forager before an unprecedented string of deaths left her as the only heir to the governor's seat, leading to frequent accusations of favoritism towards the foragers. The canners threaten to revolt any time Claudia makes an unpopular decision, which always causes Claudia to walk her decision back. Foragers are upset because this state of affairs means that things regularly favor the canners, leading to a lot of conflict between the two groups. Not wanting her own base to turn on her, Claudia has turned a blind eye to violence from the foragers towards the canners, and she does the same for violence going the other way to avoid riots from the canners. The end result is a town shaken by the battles between the two professions. This has of course done nothing but exasperate the gremlin infestation in the town.

Gritville

Governor: Karl Green

Chief Administrator: Michael Graph

Chief of Police: Stephany Ginsberg

Garrison: 10 police officers, 1 detective

Primary Industry: Magic Diamond Mining

Population: 2,000 people

Details: A small town near the headwaters of the Fork River, pretty much everyone in town makes their living by working in the local diamond mine. The diamonds from the Gritville mine have the magical ability to revert rotten food to fresh food after being powdered, heat treated, and sprinkled on the rotten food in question. Gritville itself has about 2,000 residents, most of whom are somewhat superstitious, believing that the Old Gritville Mine is haunted after an accident that closed the mine about 100 years ago. Despite this, their governor, Karl Green, is a very serious man who does not believe in things that he cannot see with his own eyes. The gremlin infestation has tested Karl's resolve and made using the mining equipment quite dangerous. Many people don't think the governor is doing enough to keep the miners safe in light of the gremlin infestation. In response, Karl has instituted a curfew and banned gatherings of 5 people or more rather than actually try to solve the issue. These new policies have been highly unfavorable with the residents of Gritville, but Karl seems to show no signs of stopping any time soon.

Rough Timeline

• 2,500 years ago- people first arrive in what is now Gremland

• 1,000 years ago- Gremland, at the time called Grimland, is unified by Mildred the General, the first member of the Grimland monarchy

• 500 years ago- The Order of the Bountiful Branch establishes the Temple of the Fruitful Tree to cultivate fruit trees

• 50 years ago- Mercutio the Last botches a demon binding and gets all knowledge on how to get rid of gremlins removed from Gremland

• 48 years ago- The Grimland monarchy collapses as the gremlin invasion reaches its peak

• 30 years ago- The Order of Linked Rings forms in the gremlin-infested Ancient Fort

Major Factions
There are several groups that have considerable resources at their disposal in Gremland. While they may not have much importance on a global scale, each of these groups are important players in local affairs.

Towns and Cities- Each settlement in Gremland truly represents a faction of its own, but they all share a few key features. Each one is led by a hereditary governor with absolute control over anything that happens in the city or town they control. This despotic nature is a relatively recent development but the police forces, organized and paid by the governors, support the regimes and enforce the governors’ rules. Nothing too authoritarian has happened in any of the settlements, so the people are generally fine with the new political arrangement. Each town and city has a primary industry that the majority of residents are involved in. While other industries are present, these primary industries dominate the local cultures and define settlement identities, among other traits. Most of the settlements are in an uneasy peace with each other, but there is growing paranoia that Grimburg will make a move to conquer one of the smaller towns in the near future. While normal citizens are expected to take up arms to defend their homes if it comes to it, it is understood that those on the police forces are the first line of armed defense for each town or city.

The Order of the Bountiful Branch- This religious order of the Teroist faith is concerned with protecting their sacred temple orchard and spreading the seeds of their trees in the Fruitful Forest. They are generally uninterested with sharing anything other than the seeds they plant in the outside world, keeping anyone who is not a member of their faith out of their temple entirely. Other teroists may enter the temple, wander the sacred orchard, and even pick a few fruits, but only fully initiated members of the Order of the Bountiful Branch may enter the inner temple or even know about the secret, magic fruit trees the order cares for. The only way for outsiders to get inside the Temple of the Fruitful Tree is to make a commitment to join the religion and take on the task of learning their sacred traditions, practices, and beliefs before being initiated and joining a teroist order such as the Order of the Bountiful Branch. There are always a small number of novice teroists undergoing this process at the Temple of the Fruitful Tree, but they rarely leave the inner temple.

The Order of Linked Rings- This group of warriors is small and obscure, having about a dozen members. The order is based out of the Ancient Fort on the western end of the Infested Ridge which most people in Gremland assume is abandoned. In the fort, the Order of Linked Rings spends their days exercising, meditating, and practicing their unique fighting style. Warriors of the order fight with iron balls on the ends of 10ft chains, the chains themselves made of circular iron rings. In following an ascetic lifestyle, cultivating loyalty to each other, and martial arts prowess, the order believes they will gain a spiritual purity that allows them to freely align with whatever cosmic plane they wish. Generally, they have found success in their goals and are some of the most fearsome fighters in Gremland. They do not generally perform any kind of outreach, preferring to let people come to them through fate.

Gremland Shamans- There are some among the people of Gremland who feel a certain affinity with the supernatural side of life. These people, in their spare time, frequently become initiated as shamans in the tradition of Gremland Shamans. While not having any kind of organization or uniting theology, these shamans act as the main religious and spiritual agents of Gremland. These shamans are knowledgeable in the spirits and rituals of the area, doing what they can to help people deal with the everyday problems supernatural forces can cause. Furthermore, these shamans can use their connection to the spiritual world to give people advice on personal issues, helping them to be more aligned with the cosmic planes that will be most useful to the individual. Shamans also serve an important function for the end of life as well. It is the duty of Gremland Shamans to lead funeral processions, speaking specific prayers as the procession crosses Funeral Bridge and as it climbs up the stairs of the Grand Mausoleum. At the top, it is the shaman’s duty to perform specific rituals to ensure the casket is properly incorporated into the mausoleum. Gremland Shamans are far from a cohesive group, the only unifying factor being that they generally want to help others in whatever small way they can. Shamans can come from any walk of life, and their goals outside of their shamanic pursuits can be just about anything.

Gremlins- Gremlins are the creatures born from negative emotions being directed at inanimate objects. In Gremland, almost all knowledge on how to prevent and get rid of gremlins has been lost, leading to an infestation across the entire region. While gremlins are not necessarily unified in their goals, they all have the innate desire to use the items they are associated with to bother people, increasing the negative emotions directed at their objects and helping the gremlins grow stronger. Sometimes gremlins have been seen working together to reach these goals, but they generally seem to act solo. While they have no greater goals beyond growing their individual power, the gremlins represent a universal problem for the people of Gremland.

The Interplanetary League of Exotic Game Hunters and Trappers- Operating out of the Interplanetary Hunting Lodge, which itself is one of many on Tero alone, is a group of mysterious people who seem to come to Gremland only to hunt big game. The area is known for having particularly large wyverns with shiny black scales, and they are a popular target species for members of the league. Many of the people who utilize the Interplanetary Hunting Lodge have come from other planets and paid large sums of money for the privilege. Because of this, outsiders are excluded from the lodge and kept in the dark as to the true nature of the building.

Recent Events

• The ghost of Governor Sweetwater's recently deceased father has been seen on Funeral Bridge by several people, apparently looking towards Grimburg every time. This has deepened the divide between the smaller towns and the city, with many taking this as a sign that the spirit of the prior governor disapproves of the recent trend towards opulence in Grimburg. 
• Governor Green of Gritville has instituted martial law over complaints that he is not doing enough to protect miners from gremlin-based hazards. None of the other governors are willing to do anything so as to avoid setting a precedent for directly intervening in each other's affairs, but many regular citizens seem willing to support a hypothetical revolt in Gritville.
• Foragers in Roughton are going missing in large enough numbers that some people are refusing to enter the Fruitful Forest. Rumors are spreading about a group of violent creatures living in the forest who are responsible for the disappearances, although there is little evidence for this.
• There have been a series of explosions at fruit canning facilities in Roughton. While these attacks happen at night and no one has been injured, this is an escalation from the usual street brawls between fruit canners and fruit foragers. The canners are demanding that Governor Strongseed find and punish the bombers, and the foragers, her main supporters, will most likely turn on the governor if she does.
• A few survivors have recently returned to Grimburg from their attempt to access the Great Vault and claim the treasure for themselves. The survivors say that although they made it to the vault, the protective spells and traps wiped everyone out before they even saw the door to the vault.
• Governor Vine of Salton has decided to fund an expedition to take the Gremlin's Bane from the Ancient Watchtower. Applicants must go to Salton for a personal interview with the governor, and if accepted into the expedition's forces, they can expect all of the equipment they will need, craftsfolk to help maintain it, and all the beef they can eat for the duration of their service.