Issue #5 - Into the Endless Expanse: A Scholar's Lamp, a Harbor Pilot and the Last Mile

Hello again, adventurers!

This week the newsletter heads to Realms End, on the southern shore of the Endless Expanse, where the desert caravans finally run out of road and meet the sea. There's a free scholar and a harbor map for your table tonight, a harbor pilot and a storm-bird for Local Heroes, and a caravan encounter for Heroes of the Realm, built for levels 2 to 4.

This week in the repositories

This week in the Endless Expanse, the repositories are full of people worth meeting. In Realms End, Odalys Hollowell settles a market quarrel by sitting down on a low stool and pouring two cups of water, and Orrin Pellwick puts every handshake in Smuggler's Bay on paper, tears the page in two, and keeps the trade honest enough to last. Out on the Serpent Sandspine, Ismay Bonewright lies on her stomach in the sand at sunrise, brushing at old bones and swearing she's only listening. In Haboob, Zarax the Unyielding runs the caged Scufflestray Gauntlet, accepts every yield with respect and keeps healers at every gate. And at Zharessin Oasis, Bharash Kilnbrand smelts desert ironstone with his own breath and fits every weapon to the hand that will carry it.

The dangers are just as vivid. Near Realms End, Murkfin the hunter shark waits in a hidden cove beyond the harbor while Quaygnaw the wererat takes its share somewhere between the pier and the cart. At Zharessin Oasis, the sky over the lagoon folds in on itself every dusk when Gloamfold the swarm of bats wakes, Sesskavar the yuan-ti malison sits closest to the fire, thanks you twice and never takes off his gloves, and Gallowfrond the needle blight is the one dead palm nobody has felled, still standing and rattling when the air is still.

And the Expanse has its first villain. At Sorrowsand Watch, Commander Jessamy Karrow lights the torches at noon and walks the wall every dawn, and she hasn't once said the word that lets her sentries go.

Free this week: a character and a map

Free for everyone.

Ilvari Faelmoor - Scholar of Realms End

Ilvari Faelmoor, a Veridyan elf scholar, keeps a lamp lit at Realms End's small library, where caravan sages and visiting wizards trade knowledge and expeditions into the desert's ruins and stranger phenomena take shape.

D&D ReinKarnatedRich

Ilvari sorts every claim aloud into things he has seen, things he has been told, and things he would like to be true. He can't lead a party into the dunes, but he knows what the dune-route maps sold in The Sprawl are worth and how many waterskins a plan needs before it deserves the name. Any expedition table wants him at the long window with a lamp.

Ship Docks: D&D 5e Battle Map | D&D ReinKarnated

Ships that sail the high seas are always loaded with cargo, passengers, or both. These docks are the perfect spot for loading up or letting off.

D&D ReinKarnatedRich

Three sizes of ship are in port: a war-ready galleon with a fully decorated interior cut-out, a sailing vessel, and two small rowboats. The gridded version runs 40 squares by 30 at 5 feet a square, so it drops into any harbor town you like.

Put them together: Ilvari's waterskins. Ilvari agrees to look over the party's expedition plan on the pier, where all three ships are loading. He counts their waterskins, thanks them politely, and tells them they're short by half. The galleon's quartermaster will sell water, dear, and the tide won't wait long. The party can pay, delay a day, or go light and trust the plan.

Want the exclusive posts too? Try Local Hero free for 7 days!

Spotlight duo: for Local Heroes and above

Both entries are exclusive to Local Hero members and above.

Kaspian Redtide - Harbor Pilot of Realms End

Captains reaching Realms End wait at the harbor mouth for Kaspian Redtide. The half-elf pilot climbs the lighthouse stair each dawn to read the water, then rows out to walk every ship in to the wooden piers, and nobody ever had to give him a title for it.

D&D ReinKarnatedRich

Squallwing - The Giant Eagle

The sailors say the squall comes first and the bird follows. The old hands know it is the other way around.

D&D ReinKarnatedRich

Adventure hook: The Toll and the Tide. A merchantman carrying the party lies hove-to off the cliffs outside Realms End, waiting for Kaspian Redtide. The captain, in a hurry, offers triple to be brought in now. Kaspian says the tide is not right and names no hour, and the captain also refuses the barrel of salt fish Squallwing is owed for a calm landfall. High above the cliffs, the feathers of an eagle with a thirty-foot wingspan begin to crackle blue-white. The party can back the pilot and wait, pay the toll behind the captain's back, or try to bargain with a bird who answers only in Auran.

Encounter of the Week: for Heroes of the Realm

Exclusive to Heroes of the Realm. Levels 2-4, party of 4 (built for level 3).

The Last Mile

Salt wind reaches your caravan a mile out, and every camel leans toward the sea. Thirsthound waits on the dunes for one to run.

D&D ReinKarnatedRich

It's the last day of the road. Pandara Hornfall has topped off every skin and roped the camels nose to tail, and then the wind turns toward the sea. The party walks the caravan through five legs between the rock ridges while a strain track measures how tight the line holds, and Thirsthound paces just out of sight for anyone who wanders. The wall of The Last Stop is the safe line, and Grenna Copperkeg waits in the south gate with a cup of water.

Local Heroes: upgrade to unlock it.

Thanks for reading. Every issue lives in one part of Gaiathrae, and there's far more to show you in the weeks ahead. Hit reply and tell me what you'd run first, or what you'd like to see next. I read every one.

See you next Wednesday,
Rich

ICYMI: The Scufflestray Gauntlet

Scufflestray Gauntlet: D&D 5e One-Shot | D&D ReinKarnated

In the Endless Expanse's bustling town of Haboob, Zarax the Unyielding revives the Scufflestray Gauntlet. Face grueling trials and fierce champions in this grand arena. Triumph brings wealth, honor, and the favor of Gnome King Thizzlewick.

D&D ReinKarnatedAli

If this week's trip to the Endless Expanse left you wanting a whole adventure, The Scufflestray Gauntlet is a one-shot for three or four characters of levels 5-7. The grand arena in Haboob reopens, and the party is sent to retrieve a stolen key from the man running it. It's exclusive to Heroes of the Realm.

Local Heroes: upgrade to unlock it.

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