Stubboon's Folly

More than 40 years ago I started drawing maps for fun, mostly to give lands to the minis I kept getting despite not actually playing RPGs. Here is the digital map of one of those larger areas (and sadly, I did this in Campaign Cartographer but somehow lost some of the connections/links when I moved the software, so will have to redo it at some point).

You will see that coming from the Spine Mountains to the north there are two routes, the Reach Route and Stubboon's Shortcut. At the time I was thinking a trader trying to cut weeks off the travel time from the undefined northern reaches to Edge City (also known as End City). 

So herein is the Tale of the Trader Stubboon.

Harry Stubboon was a trader, well renowned for his ability to get his goods to market faster than many others. This was well before Gate magic worked as well as it does now. But even now, sometimes the gates seem to refuse to carry some goods or stronger wizards can still hijack some gates. The trade routes are still as important as they were centuries past. 

Stubboon had made a most excellent deal with the northern warlords, having just carried a large caravan's worth of weapons, armor, books of learning (for even the warlords know the importance of knowledge). In return, Stubboon carried back a rich load of dragon dung, used for the creation of gunpowder, as well as northern herbs, wines and dark, dried berries to be made into what was known as bean juice, and magically crafted weapons created with magic unknown in the south. Some of these goods would not last the traditional Reach Route. The Reach Route stretched along the middle of the lands, not near the river pirates nor the horrors of the Terror Lands. Stubboon, having some maps of the Terror Lands, decided that the only way to get the goods to Edge City before some started to spoil, was to take a shortcut.

The first few weeks of travel were almost placid as Stubboon and his caravan left the icy crags of the Spine Mountains, heading straight to the menacing mass of the Wizard Mount. At the site of the always clouded-over peak, Stubboon lead his caravan past the Dump. The Dump is a magical dumping ground, rich in discarded magic that twists and turns on its own. Few who have entered have ever returned for magic works in odd ways there, and can twist reality itself.

I am painting a few things and may as well use them!  Creature from the Dump

It was after the Dump when events started turning dark for Stubboon. Creatures started following the caravan, and the slowest were starting to get picked off. The Terror Lands is named thusly for a reason: terrors in the day become worse terrors at night. Each night, more of the caravan was either missing, or bloody remains of what were once camels, donkeys, or guards. It turned into a continual journey through the dark forests, marshes and swamps with little to no rest for any.

A week after entering the Terror Lands, Stubboon has his first stand against the demonic creatures following them. Bypassing Woodfall, a ramshackle town somehow surviving at the edge, he pressed on to a more secure location. A large castle, the remains from an earlier empire pre-dating the Terror Lands, would give them some shelter than a town full of witches he felt. A few magic weapons were even found, and the caravan rested and fought in a well-defended fortress for a few days. Three days in and there seemed to be a lull in the constant attacks. Stubboon gathered his caravan and raced to the next safe place according to his maps, another long-forgotten castle outside the Terror Lands. Racing there, they made it, but the caravan was less than half of what it was at the start. This castle was in much better shape, but still in ruins. Stubboon's guards were down to less than a dozen fighters now, and 3 or 4 slipped out in the next few days while they rested and let the pack animals recover. 

Ready for what he thought would be the final push to Edge City, Stubboon led his caravan through the broken gates of the keep and headed south. Flying far overhead were creatures following his progress. Almost two weeks went by, and Stubboon thought he was safe from pursuit but never let his guard down. What was to be a few days away from Edge City, the final attack on Stubboon happened: the entire caravan was wiped out. Animals and guards were slaughtered or carried off, and Stubboon himself, fighting for his very life, was carried off back north.

To this day, one may hear rumors that somehow this merchant is still alive and in torment by demons call forth by the wizards of the Mount. Or that there are treasures to be found at those stands, left behind in their headlong rush to escape the magical persecution. Some cartographers have offered large rewards for the maps Stubboon has, for he did get further through the Terror Lands than any before or after him. Stubboon's Folly is a name that can be given to any ill-conceived idea. Even the name Stubboon can be used as an insult for some, though mostly in the merchant circles. As the centuries passed, fewer recall the origins of the insults, though cartographer's still offer rewards for the maps, and rumors of magical weapons on the lost routes to the north persist to this day.