Location Overview

Tickwood is the dense, tangled forest that rises just east of Sandpoint, a living wall of trunks and briars known for aggressive wildlife, goblin mischief, and whispered fey activity. It is close enough for townsfolk to hunt and log, but wild enough that a few steps off the main trail can feel like vanishing into another world.

For a GM, Tickwood serves as Sandpoint’s nearest true wilderness and a pressure valve for trouble. It is a hunting ground, a risky shortcut between farms, and a breeding pit for threats that spill onto the Lost Coast Road. Goblin bands sharpen their audacity here, fey and nature spirits test mortals’ respect, and half-buried Thassilonian remnants leak subtle, wrath-tainted magic into the soil.

The forest feels close, shadowy, and noisy: insects drone, unseen birds shriek, and sudden silences make travelers feel watched. Locals treat Tickwood as useful but ominous. Hunters, trappers, and loggers enter in pairs or not at all, and few choose to sleep beneath its canopy. PCs typically come here chasing missing folk, tracking goblin raiders, seeking rare herbs or monster trophies, or following rumors of strange lights and ancient stones under the trees.

Geography & Environment

Tickwood is a dense mixed woodland of low, mossy hills and shallow ravines. Briars, bracken, and fallen logs choke much of the understory, granting frequent cover and slowing movement to a crawl whenever characters step off the narrow trails. Difficult terrain is the default here; swift travel invites missed clues and surprise attacks.

A loose network of game trails and old logging paths threads the forest. Most are only wide enough for single-file travel on foot or on small mounts. Visibility along these paths often drops to 30–60 feet as trunks and undergrowth crowd in, making ambushes easy and ranged combat difficult. Tracking, scouting ahead, and managing light sources become central choices rather than afterthoughts.

The forest floor is damp and spongy. Rotting logs conceal hollows, and root-tangled pits lurk under leaf litter. Sudden sinkholes or crumbling banks complicate chases and can turn a simple pursuit into a dangerous scramble. After heavy rain, some depressions collect ankle-deep water and mud, masking tracks or spawning swarms of biting insects.

Seasonal fog from the Lost Coast creeps into the lower hollows in mornings and evenings, muffling sound and granting natural concealment. This can allow stealthy allies to shadow the party or let predators slip close before striking. The canopy is thick enough that rain becomes a constant dripping instead of a downpour, but thunderstorms turn the highest branches into lightning rods; sharp cracks overhead and falling limbs can scatter parties or damage poorly secured camps.

Flora includes twisted alders, black firs, and thick curtains of moss. Bracken ferns grow chest-high in places, and clusters of poisonous or hallucinogenic fungi thrive in the darkest hollows. Local healers prize rare medicinal herbs that grow near clean springs and shaded boulders, providing a clear reason for expeditions. The fauna ranges from boars and wolves to oversized spiders and territorial raptors. Their spoor and half-eaten carcasses give the GM obvious, physical clues that something bigger hunts nearby or that rival predators already claim this ground.

In a few secluded pockets, half-buried stone formations jut from the hillsides—weathered blocks and broken pillars traced with eroded runes. Near these, the air feels subtly charged, echoes repeat oddly, and drifting motes of light may appear at the edge of vision. These minor magical oddities hint at deeper Runelord-era residue without demanding immediate exploration.

Notable Features

The following sites can anchor encounters, investigations, or repeated visits. Place them wherever best suits your version of Tickwood and Sandpoint’s needs.

Old Boar Trail

The Old Boar Trail is the main hunter’s path entering Tickwood from the Sandpoint side, a narrow cut in the undergrowth just wide enough for single-file mounts. Thorns and low branches crowd its edges, forcing riders to slow and dismount in places. Frequent hoofprints, boot marks, and old campfire rings make this the natural stage for chance meetings with other travelers, unexpected ambushes, or the first signs of something gone wrong.

The trail is occasionally blocked by fallen trees or crude goblin deadfalls—spiked logs, swinging cages, or simple pits disguised with brush. These obstacles hint at recent hostile activity deeper within. Clearing or bypassing them costs time and noise, giving nearby predators or goblins a chance to notice and react.

Goblin Trash-Camp

A reeking clearing deep in the woods serves as a communal dump and party ground for a nearby goblin band. Broken crates, half-burned wagons, and grisly trophies form unstable mounds. Buzzing flies and the stench of spoiled food make this an immediately unpleasant place to linger.

For the GM, the Trash-Camp is a trove of clues. Trade goods can point back to specific merchants, personal effects might tie to missing locals, and half-legible goblin scribbles reference “longshank magic-stones” and other obsessions. The terrain is chaotic but defensible: junk piles provide cover but may collapse if climbed, fire pits and scattered coals can ignite flammables, and crude watch platforms in the trees give small lookouts a brief advantage before battle flips in the PCs’ favor.

Moss-Covered Standing Stone

In a small glade where the undergrowth thins and the light seems oddly muted, a single pillar of gray stone leans at an angle, its surface slick with moss. Beneath the growth, a rune of wrath is still recognizable to anyone versed in Thassilon or who consults knowledgeable NPCs in Sandpoint.

The stone radiates quiet menace and subtly warps nearby wildlife. Animals are more aggressive here, attacking without the usual fear or caution. PCs who linger may experience fleeting visions of fire, battle-shouts, or personal slights magnified into seething anger. Nightmares after camping nearby, sudden outbursts among otherwise steady companions, or a temporary urge toward violent solutions all foreshadow the broader themes of Runelord magic without requiring mechanical compulsion.

Fallen Hunter’s Campsite

Just off a lesser-used side trail lies a small campsite: a sagging tent slashed open, scattered gear half-buried in the leaf litter, and a cold fire ring kicked apart in haste. A dropped hunting spear, a broken bowstring, or a bloodied cloak marks this as the aftermath of a recent struggle.

Careful investigation can reveal what attacked—distinctive tracks, venom traces, or goblin graffiti daubed in blood or paint—and where survivors or captors went next. Personal items tie this scene to specific patrons in Sandpoint, making it a grounded and immediate hook: a missing spouse, a rival hunter, or a disgraced guard out to redeem themselves. If the PCs ignore the clues, further consequences can reach town in the form of grieving relatives, vengeful friends, or emboldened predators.

Hidden Brook and Fairy Ring

A narrow, cold stream cuts through a steep-sided gully, its banks overhung with roots and ferns. From above, the brook is hard to spot; only the murmur of water gives it away. Once found, it becomes a useful landmark and natural barrier during travel, forcing crossings at narrow log bridges or slippery fords.

Near one of these crossings, a ring of unnaturally bright mushrooms marks a fey-touched patch of ground. Within the ring, sounds distort slightly and small illusions—drifting lights, phantom music, the soft laugh of a child—flicker at the edge of perception. Local fey or nature spirits watch this place closely. They might offer cryptic aid to respectful visitors, respond with pranks to thoughtless trespassers, or lure the arrogant deeper into the woods. The ring can serve as a subtle gateway to stranger realms during special celestial events, or simply as a recurring, uncanny landmark that reminds players the forest has opinions.

Factions & NPCs

Brinka Voslani, Cautious Varisian Hunter

Wary guide with a tangled past and private routes through Tickwood.

Brinka is a lean, sharp-eyed Varisian woman who knows Tickwood’s moods better than most. She is driven to protect her livelihood and to prove that Varisians understand this land in ways Sandpoint’s “proper” folk never will. She offers to guide PCs for fair pay but insists on taboos: no unnecessary fires, no pointless killing of animals, no mocking forest spirits. These rules can create small frictions that signal cultural differences and invite roleplay.

Brinka knows where goblins lair this season, which glades feel “wrong,” and old stories about the standing stone that brings angry dreams. She is cautious around anything Thassilonian and may balk at entering certain gullies or ravines, hinting at deeper secrets tied to her family.

Mossgob Snarlers, Ambitious Goblin Band

Hyperactive raiders chasing bigger, stranger prizes.

The Mossgob Snarlers are a local goblin band whose usual petty theft has escalated into bolder raids. They are currently obsessed with collecting “magic rocks” and sharp metal, encouraged by half-understood whispers they attribute to forest spirits. In truth, a scavenged rune-inscribed shard in their possession nudges them toward more organized, vicious behavior.

On encountering PCs, the Snarlers vacillate between cackling bravado and panicked flight. If driven off, they escalate, shifting from ambushing lone travelers to scheming against well-guarded caravans and eventually Sandpoint itself. Tracing their lair and dealing with their shaman can dampen or redirect this rising threat.

Haldegar Tamm, Disgraced Logger-Boss

Stubborn foreman trying to reopen a taboo logging site.

Haldegar is a thickset, weathered man with calloused hands and a chip on his shoulder. Buried in debt and furious at merchants who have written him off, he sees Tickwood as wasted potential and resents Varisian and Shoanti warnings about cursed groves. To him, every uncut tree is coin left rotting.

He hires or pressures PCs to guard his crews, clear “monster nests,” or intimidate locals who oppose deeper logging. His stubborn push into forbidden stands risks provoking goblins, angering fey, or awakening wrath-touched wildlife. If defended, his operations might stabilize the region’s economy while fueling new supernatural conflicts. If opposed, he can become a vocal antagonist in Sandpoint’s politics.

Whisper-in-Needles, Enigmatic Forest Fey

Mercurial guardian spirit of a small portion of Tickwood.

Whisper-in-Needles is a subtle presence more than a fixed form: a shape glimpsed in rustling branches, a voice carried by wind through pine needles, or a pair of luminous eyes in the underbrush. This fey sees most humans as careless intruders but recognizes that some threats—Runelord-tainted stones, cruel goblins, encroaching axes—endanger the forest as a whole.

When PCs enter its domain, Whisper-in-Needles tests them with omens, bargains, or pranks. It might misdirect hostile goblins, warn of an oncoming storm, or demand that the party undo some harm (such as freeing an ensnared animal or halting a logging camp) in exchange for safe passage. Over multiple visits, this being can shift from eerie antagonist to uneasy ally, depending entirely on how the PCs treat Tickwood and its denizens.

Adventure Hooks

• A respected Sandpoint hunter vanishes on a routine boar hunt. Following his trail pulls the PCs past the Fallen Hunter’s Campsite and toward the Goblin Trash-Camp, where evidence points to a deeper lair or a more unusual captor.
• A caravan bringing stone from Magnimar reports repeated goblin attacks in Tickwood’s shadow. Merchants beg the PCs to clear out the “forest devils” before trade suffers and prices in Sandpoint spike.
• Several townsfolk who recently camped in Tickwood suffer sudden, rage-filled outbursts. Tracing their steps leads to the Moss-Covered Standing Stone and whatever influence radiates from the buried structure beneath.
• Haldegar Tamm offers generous coin to guard his loggers as they cut into a deeper tract of Tickwood. Varisian elders warn that his chosen stand hides something “older than the forest,” forcing the PCs to choose sides before the first tree falls.
• On clear nights, lights and music drift from Tickwood. Children claim to have followed dancing motes toward a brook and “friendly voices,” only to wake up miles away at dawn. Investigating the Hidden Brook and its fairy ring reveals that not all of the voices are friendly—or mortal.

Secrets & Mysteries

• The Moss-Covered Standing Stone is the exposed tip of a buried Runelord-era structure whose deeper chambers remain sealed and warped by wrathful magic. Earth tremors, dreams, or ambitious excavations can shift that balance.
• The Mossgob Snarlers’ shaman hears faint compulsions from an ancient rune-inscribed shard scavenged from old stonework. Destroying or claiming it sharply reduces the band’s aggression and hints at a larger network of such relics.
• Brinka’s family once helped hide a Thassilonian relic in Tickwood. She only half-believes the tale but unconsciously avoids a particular gully that conceals the truth, providing a ready-made revelation if the PCs earn her trust.
• Whisper-in-Needles is partially bound to a long-faded warding circle meant to contain something buried beneath Tickwood. Breaking that bond or reforging it could unleash or strengthen the old threat—and reshape the fey’s attitude toward mortals.
• Tickwood overlays an older Shoanti sacred route marked by subtle cairns and venerable trees. Disturbing certain mounds or cutting those trees risks drawing the ire of local Shoanti or even their restless ancestors.
• During rare celestial alignments, the fairy ring by the Hidden Brook can serve as a threshold to a small, distorted demiplane echoing ancient wrath magic and forest imagery, offering a brief side-trek or a haunting vision of what Thassilon once wrought here.

Ties to Rise of the Runelords

The Moss-Covered Standing Stone, its rune, and any associated visions give early, flexible foreshadowing of the Runelord of Wrath and the emotional corruption tied to her magic. PCs who study or report on the stone provide Sandpoint’s sages with a crucial first data point in recognizing a pattern of rune-marked sites.

Clues at the Goblin Trash-Camp can link specific goblin tribes in Tickwood to raids on Sandpoint, offering alternate investigative paths during the campaign’s early acts. Captured goblins may mention “angry stones,” “shouting dreams,” or orders passed down through shamans influenced by Thassilonian shards.

Recovering a Thassilonian trinket from Tickwood—perhaps the Snarlers’ shard or a fragment near the standing stone—lets PCs, town scholars, or Varisian storytellers begin connecting similar finds around the region into a cohesive, ominous picture. Whisper-in-Needles or Brinka can add cryptic references to “stone tyrants” and “sevenfold sins,” enriching exposition about Thassilon without halting the main plot.

As the AP advances, alliances forged in Tickwood can pay dividends. Friendly fey, loyal hunters, or chastened goblins might provide unconventional routes to later sites, rare reagents for key rituals, or warnings when other rune-touched dangers stir in the Hinterlands, reinforcing the sense of a living, interconnected frontier around Sandpoint.