Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 20

Day 20 - Mysteries

Day 20-Are there any mysteries as yet unsolved?
Legendary tales, lost civilizations, or cryptid creatures; does the setting have anything for the amateur detective?

Elowen’s Journal

"Not everything wants to be solved.

That was one of the first lessons I learned here. Witches don’t rush mysteries the way other people do. Some questions are meant to be lived with, turned over slowly, like stones in a river. Still, there are things I keep circling back to, no matter how many times I tell myself to be patient.

Everyone asks what happened to the Elves of the Wood. The Goblins live there now, in what we call the Goblin Wood, but it belonged to the elves long before that. The histories say they left. The goblins say they were already gone when they arrived. What troubles me is this: there are no ghosts. Not one that I’ve seen. Elves don’t just vanish. If they died here, I would know. The silence feels deliberate.

Then there is the Great Flood.

The druids say it was simple. Weeks of rain. A thaw. A glacier finally breaking loose in the mountains. It makes sense, on paper. But witches look at timing as much as cause. The flood came the very night fifteen people were meant to burn. I hear ghosts argue about this sometimes. Some say it was chance. Some say it was mercy. Some say the Goddess herself reached down and said, "Enough." I don’t know which answer scares me more.

The Maiden Wood is another mystery I try not to think about too much. It isn’t dark or tangled like the Goblin Wood. It looks calm. Inviting, even. No one goes there. Everyone avoids it. When I ask why it’s called the Maiden Wood, I never get the same answer twice. That’s usually a bad sign.

And then there is the West.

The Western Road leaves through the Lughnasadh and Samhain Gates and just… keeps going. People talk about it like it’s obvious where it leads, but no one ever says. Frontier. Beyond. Elsewhere. I’ve stood at the gate and watched travelers leave, wondering what kind of person keeps walking once West Haven is behind them.

Some mysteries feel like doors. Others feel like warnings. I’m learning how to tell the difference."

Designer’s Notes

Mysteries in West Haven are intentionally unresolved. They exist to invite play, speculation, and emotional investment rather than to be “completed.” Each mystery offers multiple interpretations, none of which are confirmed as correct.

Also, keep in mind that Elowen is the stand-in right now for the Player Characters. They are not going to know more than her, often less. 

The disappearance of the Haven Elves suggests an event outside normal cycles of death and memory. I'll be honest, I am not even sure I know myself yet! 

The Great Flood sits at the intersection of natural disaster, divine intervention, and myth-making. Though the answer here is more natural than supernatural. The rain and melting ice in the Broken Mountains breached the glacial dam. It just happened at the exact right moment.

The Maiden Wood is a narrative negative space, defined more by avoidance than description. Though it is called that due to the Dryads. The zoo of yesterday is the clue. This wooded area is home to a group of dryads that Larina rescued from the lands of Faerie (going back to my 4e days).

The Western Road represents the unknown future and the temptation of leaving safety behind. It is there to provide new adventures. It is a mystery to Elowen because she has not left the safety of West Haven. There is a set of barrow mounds out west, but she doesn't know that yet.

These mysteries are not all required to be solved. They are meant to shape tone, inspire questions, and remind players that the world is larger than their characters’ understanding. In West Haven, curiosity is encouraged, but that doesn't mean the answers will be satisfactory.

Join Adam Dickstein of Barking Alien, and his RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026!