Day 11-Where would we go to find 'adventure'?
We've left the relative safety of the starting area and now we're looking for action!
"Adventure seems to be everywhere near West Haven.
The Goblin Wood is the obvious answer. It always feels like something is watching you there, even when the branches are still, and the paths look clear. The lake seems safer, wide and open, but it is not. There are so many ghosts in the water, and not all of them are quiet. Some of them remember drowning. Some of them are still trying to get home. The Maiden Wood frightens me more than either of those places. It is too calm, too deliberate, as if it is waiting for permission to be dangerous. And the Cailleach’s Bones… I do not linger there. Some spirits are old enough that they no longer remember being human, and that is not the kind of attention I want.
My first real adventure did not even involve leaving the region. Aisling and I took what we thought would be a harmless weekend trip to East Haven to see the markets. Somewhere along the way, we ended up with someone else’s pack full of stolen jewels. By the end of the day, we had the town authorities and the thieves’ guild both looking for us, and I learned just how uncomfortable a jail cell can be when you can see the ghosts pacing outside it. Katrina had to come get us out, and I do not think she has ever let us forget it. We did manage to sort it all out and even got a reward.
That is the thing about West Haven. You do not usually go looking for adventure here. It finds you first."
Designer's Notes
West Haven was built to make adventure feel close at hand. The surrounding locations, the Goblin Wood, the lake, the Maiden Wood, the Cailleach’s Bones, even the Broken Mountains, and the larger presence of East Haven, all sit within easy reach, but none of them are truly safe. Each presents a different kind of danger, and witches in particular learn to read those dangers before swords are drawn or spells are cast.
One of the design goals was to ensure that adventure did not always require long journeys or epic quests. Trouble can emerge from a simple trip, a bad coincidence, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For witches, danger is often social, spiritual, or situational rather than purely martial. West Haven supports this by placing mystery, conflict, and consequence not just beyond the village gates but with the alleys and buildings of the village as well. It is a place where the world presses close, and where players quickly learn that staying alert matters more than seeking glory.
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