The portion of @Prismeer known as @Hither is an enormous swamp containing huge tangles of mangrove roots, expanses of thick marsh, and mysterious sites half-sunk in the muck. Weird and haunting creatures call @Hither home, and the land is dotted with old wells that belch out and slurp up the sludgy water that saturates the land. At its heart, the hag @Bavlorna Blightstraw makes her lair in @Downfall.
When the domain of @Prismeer was divided among the @Hags of @The Hourglass Coven, @Bavlorna Blightstraw transformed her portion into the swamp now known as @Hither. It is a foreboding place, one where daylight never fully penetrates the dank mist that hangs over the land, and where cruel and mischievous bandits prey upon stranded and lost travelers. @Hither is the realm of the present, where life and decay walk hand in hand, and where creatures live in the moment, not concerned with history or repercussions.
Deep in @Hither is @Downfall, a shantytown built around an ancient well. @Bullywugs occupy this settlement, which surrounds @Bavlorna Blightstraw's ghastly cottage.
When the characters step through the magic mirror in the @Witchlight Carnival’s @Hall of Illusions, they arrive in @Hither.
@Hither is ruled by a hag named @Bavlorna Blightstraw, also known as Slack-jawed Lorna.
Lost Things in @Hither
If you any characters used the “Lost Things” adventure hook, @Bavlorna Blightstraw might have the lost item the character(s) want to reclaim. When the characters enter @Hither, anyone who had something stolen by @Bavlorna Blightstraw gets the nagging sensation that it is somewhere in this realm, though the character doesn’t know where. The feeling fades when the character either regains what was lost or leaves @Hither without recovering it. The @Hag keeps stolen goodies in the mouth of a bronze frog statue in @Bavlorna's Cottage.
When you and the players are ready to run this part of the adventure, begin your narration with the “Arrival in Hither” and proceed from there.
Using the "Features of @Hither" lore as a reference, describe nearby landmarks that the characters can see and allow the players to choose their own destinations. Named locations on the map are described later in the lore.
After stepping through the mirror in the @Witchlight Carnival, the characters appear atop a broken bridge called the @The Queen's Way, which overlooks @Hither's vast swamp. After descending to ground level, they witness a balloon crash and encounter a band of singing @Harengon Brigands.
Characters who search for the crashed balloon find it hanging from the top of @Slanty Tower. Inside the balloon’s basket is a caged faerie dragon knight named @Sir Talavar, who begs for the characters’ aid. To free @Sir Talavar from his magic cage, the characters might have to travel to @Telemy Hill in search of a @Goblin who has the key to the cage. In the course of their travels, they could find themselves on the @Brigands' Tollway, being bedeviled by a notorious brigand named @Agdon Longscarf.
As the characters navigate the swamp, they might have one or more random encounters, as described in the “Random Encounters in Hither” Lore Pages.
If the characters need a guide to @Thither, they can find one in @Downfall—home of @Bavlorna Blightstraw and the @Bullywugs of @The Soggy Court. This guide is an animated scarecrow named @Clapperclaw, who can guide characters from @Hither to @Thither and back to @Hither. @Clapperclaw is encountered in @D5. Chattering Heads, but you can move @Clapperclaw elsewhere if the characters don’t visit that location.
The characters might travel to @Thither to fulfill the terms of a bargain they struck with @Bavlorna Blightstraw, in which case the @Hag grants them permission to use the balloon in @D2. Damaged Balloon. (If that balloon was destroyed, an undamaged one just like it arrives in @Downfall, piloted by a @Bullywug knight named @Dumphrey Frogart. Either @Dumphrey Frogart or @Morgort is happy to serve as a balloon pilot, though the @Bullywug parts company with the characters once they are safely delivered to @Thither.
To reach @Thither, the characters need @Clapperclaw the scarecrow (see area @D5. Chattering Heads ) to guide them. If @Clapperclaw is unable or unwilling to help the characters, substitute another helpful creature, such as @Morgort the bullywug knight or @Vansel the satyr.
The following encounters are tied to @Hither. Move these locations as needed to put them in the characters’ path, and chalk up any discrepancy with the map to the shifty nature of the Feywild. (The Feywild is known to play tricks on travelers, redirecting them without their knowledge to places they are meant to go. Consequently, the characters might think they’re heading toward one part of @Hither, only to find themselves arriving somewhere else.) Ideally, you should run all three encounters in the following order before the characters arrive at @Downfall:
@Slanty Tower. The characters encounter a native of the Feywild but an outsider to @Prismeer: @Sir Talavar, a gallant faerie dragon knight in the service of the Summer Queen. From Sir Talavar, the characters learn that Zybilna has been overthrown by the hags of the Hourglass Coven.
Telemy Hill. This encounter serves as a cautionary tale, warning the characters about what becomes of those who are too cavalier about bargains made with a hag. The characters meet a goblin named Jingle Jangle, who has an obsession for collecting keys.
Brigands’ Tollway. The last of these encounters is with a native of Prismeer who remembers what the domain was like before the Hourglass Coven shattered it. Agdon Longscarf, a nefarious bandit leader, can tell the characters how to reach Downfall if they get the better of him.
A swamp gas balloon has two separate parts:
The wicker basket, which can carry up to 750 pounds, is a Large object with AC 11, 27 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
The balloon, which contains the swamp gas that provides lift, is a Huge object with AC 11, 15 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. If the balloon drops to 0 hit points, it bursts, and the vehicle loses the ability to fly.
To rise into the air, the balloon must be filled with swamp gas. A flap at the bottom of the balloon lets the gas in, and the balloon takes 10 minutes to fill when empty. Once filled, the balloon rises into the air. One can force the balloon to land by using an action to open a flap at the top of the balloon, which allows the swamp gas to escape. To reach this flap, one must climb or fly to the top of the balloon, 20 feet above the basket. The balloon’s rigging makes such a climb possible.
The vehicle has no form of propulsion, instead relying on the pilot’s ability to navigate air currents.
As long as the balloon or basket has at least 1 hit point, it can be repaired. Repairing 1 hit point of damage to either part of the vehicle requires 1 day and the necessary supplies, which can be salvaged from area D4 or taken from area B3.
Hither’s fetid waters rise and fall sporadically. In minutes, neck-deep murk might recede to reveal a soggy landscape of squelching mud and skeletal mangrove roots, but only until the waters ooze back into the swamp to fill it once again in an hour or three. The ebb and flow have a supernatural origin: Hither is dotted with ancient stone wells, known as o’-wells, which drink up and spew out the swamp water (see “O’-wells” below for more information).
The denizens of Hither are accustomed to the ever-changing water level, but newcomers might find it alarming at first and then perhaps annoying. The water level changes whenever you want it to, taking 1d10 minutes to go from high to low or vice versa.
High Water Features
Depth. The water’s depth is 5 feet. Creatures that don’t have a swimming speed move at half speed through the water.
Visibility. Visibility underwater is 10 feet.
Low Water Features
Difficult Terrain. The sticky mud of the exposed swamp bottom is difficult terrain.
Mud Pits. Characters marching across the swamp might blunder into swampy terrain that contains a pit of sucking mud. Whenever you see fit to use this hazard, have the characters make a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) group check. If the group check is successful, the characters spot and avoid the hazard. On a failed check, the character who had the lowest check result sinks into a pit of sucking mud, which is 10 feet deep (use the quicksand rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide).
These magic wells are scattered throughout Hither. Their builders and their original purpose have been long forgotten. In the days when Zybilna ruled over her domain, the wells served as gathering places where Fey creatures bartered and shared gossip.
When the Hourglass Coven took over, Bavlorna corrupted the wells with her magic so that vile water burbled up to saturate Hither and transform it into a festering swamp. Today, the wells fluctuate between spewing out the foul water and drinking it back in, such that the landscape changes from a flooded marsh to a muddy morass at irregular intervals.
Each well is ringed by hewn stone, is 10 feet in diameter, and rises 3d10 feet above ground level. Each well is inhabited by 1d4 will-o’-wisps that float up to greet new arrivals. These will-o’-wisps are chaotic good instead of evil. They are the spirits of creatures that drowned when Bavlorna flooded their realm. Consequently, they both fear and shun the hag. The will-o’-wisps ask the characters to identify themselves and state their intentions. If the characters express interest in undoing the damage wrought by Bavlorna, the will-o’-wisps are cheerful at the prospect of Bavlorna’s ruin. They are unable to move more than a few hundred yards from their well, but they’re eager to help strangers who are willing and able to avenge them. These will-o’-wisps have the following additional action option, which they use to grant boons to those who promise to oppose Bavlorna:
Magic Boon (Recharges after a Long Rest). The will-o’-wisp grants a boon to one creature it can see within 5 feet of it that isn’t an Undead. The boon’s recipient gains a d4 and can, at any time within the next 24 hours, roll this die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw made by it.