Locations in Thither
The following encounters are tied to locations marked on the map of Thither. As the characters explore Thither, you can move these locations as needed, putting them in the characters’ path. Ideally, you should run all three encounters in the following order before the characters arrive at Loomlurch or travel to Yon:
Nib’s Cave. The characters meet an old man who offers them gifts made from spun gold and who knows where the characters might find Will of the Feywild, a troublesome boy with a penchant for causing Granny Nightshade grief.
Nib’s Cave
A miser toils inside a cave, spinning his gold into gifts for those who visit him. When the characters happen upon Nib’s cave, read:
Cozy torchlight radiates from a cave in the wooded hillside. Twenty feet from the cave is a tree with a weathered sheet of parchment nailed to its trunk.
The parchment nailed to the tree is one of Granny Nightshade’s wanted posters (see “Wanted Posters” earlier in the chapter). Roll on the Wanted Posters table to determine which poster it is, and record this information on the Story Tracker.
Characters who announce their arrival hear an old man invite them inside the cave. If they enter, read:
Inside the cave, a wizened old man wearing a blindfold sits at a spinning wheel, surrounded by piles of gold. As he spins, he reaches down and grasps handfuls of coins, which transform at his touch into gleaming gold fibers.
Nib is an unarmed human commoner (neutral) from a city called Waterdeep on a world called Toril. He is blinded, but only while wearing his blindfold. His cave contains a total of 27,213 gp, heaped in piles on the floor—what’s left of Nib’s acquired wealth. The gold radiates an aura of conjuration magic if inspected with a detect magic spell. Additional roleplaying notes can be found in the bio for Nib.
If the characters inquire about Nib’s predicament, he recounts his sorry tale:
“I’ve led a cruel and heartless existence. I earned these riches by exploiting my tenants’ misery, buying up condemned property and renting it out for an exorbitant fee. Granny Nightshade is helping me to make amends. I told her I wanted to put my bad deeds behind me and my ill-gotten gains to good use. She cursed me to dwell forever in this cave, spinning my gold into useful items for anyone who comes my way.”
In accordance with the rule of hospitality (see “Rules of Conduct” in chapter 2), Nib offers to craft a gift for each character. Taking up a pair of knitting needles, he swiftly knits his gold yarn into an object that retains a golden luster or some amount of golden color in its design. Roll a d8 and refer to the Gold-spun Gifts table to determine each item. (All the items listed in the table are uncommon magic items.) If a character asks Nib to make something specific, Nib honors that request, provided the desired item is a nonmagical item worth no more than 1,000 gp, or a magic item of common or uncommon rarity. Nib can make only one gift for each character, and his spinning wheel can’t work its magic under any other hand. Nib’s supply of gold coins decreases by an amount equal to the value of the item he creates (minimum 1 gp). A common magic item reduces his supply by 100 gp, while an uncommon magic item reduces it by 500 gp.
A character might feel obliged to honor the rule of reciprocity (see “Rules of Conduct” in Prismeer Overview) and offer Nib something in return for his gifts. Nib kindly accepts whatever the character offers but isn’t looking for help to end his curse, because as long as Granny Nightshade remains in control of Thither, he sees no hope of escape.
Gold-spun Gifts
d8
Gift
1
Amulet of proof against detection and location
2
Bag of holding
3
Boots of elvenkind
4
Bracers of archery
5
Cloak of protection
6
Gloves of thievery
7
Wand of secrets
8
Tiny hourglass that functions like an elemental gem of the blue sapphire (air elemental) variety
Nib’s Haunts
As Nib works, characters who have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 11 or higher glimpse one or more apparitions lurking behind him. These apparitions take various forms, from a grubby child peering over Nib’s shoulder to a gaunt coachman looming in the shadows at the back of the cave. Other possible apparitions include a long-faced woman dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief and a rail-thin waif wearing an eye patch. Quick as a candle’s flicker, one apparition vanishes, and another appears. If the characters ask Nib about the apparitions, he explains the nature of his curse:
“I am haunted by my own words: as long as my ill-gotten gains were put to good use, my bad deeds would remain behind me. You are beholding the restless apparitions of those I hurt. They lurk behind my back, tormenting me with pokes at my ribs and whisperings in my ear. I can’t bear to look them in the eye, not after what I did to them!”
Nib wears his blindfold to avoid inadvertently glancing over his shoulder or catching glimpses of the apparitions reflected in his piles of gold.
Nib warns the characters not to take any of his gold, lest they be cursed like him. Any character who steals gold from Nib’s cave is haunted by 1d4 apparitions similar to those that haunt Nib. As a consequence of these hauntings, the character gains 1 level of exhaustion after finishing a long rest. Levels of exhaustion gained from this effect cannot be removed until the character ends the haunting by returning the gold. A wish spell ends the hauntings and automatically returns the stolen gold to the cave. A remove curse or greater restoration spell cast on the culprit suppresses the effect for 24 hours.
Nib has been to Loomlurch, and has visited the goblin candy market (area L2), Granny Nightshade’s parlor (area L3), and the workshop (area L4). If the characters ask Nib for more information about Granny Nightshade and Loomlurch, he imparts the following details:
Granny Nightshade has a key protruding from her back that indicates her mood by how fast it turns. When she’s happy, the key turns quickly. When she’s upset, the key turns slowly. If she loses her temper, the key stops completely.
Many children toil away in Granny Nightshade’s workshop, crafting toys. Granny Nightshade delivers the creepiest toys to children on other worlds—to fill their heads with nightmares, one assumes. The hag makes her deliveries on the back of a flying rocking horse.
Granny Nightshade is obsessed with capturing Will of the Feywild, a boy who helped a handful of younger children escape from Loomlurch. Will of the Feywild’s motley group of rascals is known as the Getaway Gang. The gang is protected by a treant named Little Oak. (Nib’s curse prevents him from leaving his cave, but he can point characters in the direction of Little Oak’s favorite glade.)
Little Oak. Will of the Feywild leads the Getaway Gang from a treehouse nestled in the boughs of a friendly treant. Will knows the secret to the Hourglass Coven’s undoing and suggests that the characters talk to Lamorna, a unicorn who lives by the Wayward Pool.
Wayward Pool. Lamorna the unicorn has lost her mate, and she believes that the magic that traps Zybilna in the palace was accomplished using her mate’s horn. Finding that unicorn horn might be the only way to free Zybilna and rid Prismeer of the Hourglass Coven.