Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 25

Day 25 - Shopping

Day 25-Where can I do some shopping?
I want to buy some souvenirs from this trip and maybe snacks for the voyage home.

Elowen’s Journal

"I didn’t grow up with shops like this.

Back home, you went where you needed to go, and that was that. Here, I still sometimes wander without meaning to buy anything at all. West Haven is full of places that invite you inside just to see what’s there. I love it when my parents visit, and I take them everywhere.

Omar’s is the obvious starting point. Everyone ends up there eventually. Adventurers especially. You can buy rope, packs, armor, weapons, and things you didn’t know you needed until Omar asks why you’re leaving town. Behind the front room are stranger things, magical things, but you don’t browse those so much as you’re allowed to see them.

Émilie’s apothecary smells like dried herbs, sweet resins, and something sharper underneath. You can buy ingredients for alchemy, remedies for illness, charms for luck, and sometimes things she doesn’t advertise at all. I’ve learned that if Émilie pauses before answering a question, it’s best to listen very carefully to what she says next.

Renee’s isn’t just tea. You can buy blends to take home, little tins wrapped in paper with handwritten notes explaining what they’re good for. Sleep. Courage. Letting go. I’ve seen travelers buy them like souvenirs, not realizing they’re also buying memories. I have to admit I love working there.

There are bookshops here. More than one. That still amazes me. I’d heard of them before coming to West Haven, but I’d never seen a place where books were sold the way bread or cloth is sold. Some shops specialize in histories or spellcraft, others in poetry or strange pamphlets that feel half-finished. Even the smallest shops seem to know which book you’ll reach for first.

Clothing shops are everywhere. Practical things for travel. Robes and cloaks. Dresses meant for dancing, ritual, or both. Tailors who don’t blink when you ask for hidden pockets or fabric that won’t tear if you fly. And food. So much food. I’ve lived here three years, and I still haven’t eaten everywhere I want to.

Market days bring even more. Temporary stalls selling charms, tools, odd trinkets, and gear meant for adventurers heading north or west. If you want a souvenir, you’ll find one. If you want supplies for a dangerous journey, you’ll find those too. West Haven makes sure no one leaves unprepared, whether they realize that’s what they’re shopping for or not."

Designer’s Notes

Shopping in West Haven is designed to support play rather than distract from it. The village offers abundant access to gear, food, clothing, books, and magical supplies without turning shopping into a chore. Familiar anchor locations like Omar’s, Émilie’s Apothecary, and Renee’s Tea Shoppe give players consistent reference points, while smaller shops and market stalls allow for improvisation.

Bookstores are a deliberate inclusion, reinforcing the setting’s emphasis on learning, discovery, and personal growth. Clothing shops and tailors acknowledge the practical realities of witches, travelers, and adventurers living side by side. Market days expand variety without requiring permanent infrastructure.

The goal is simple: if players want something reasonable, West Haven can probably provide it. If they want something strange, meaningful, or slightly dangerous, West Haven might provide that too, but with a conversation first.

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Mail Call Tuesday: AD&D 1st Edition PoD

 Our Sunday game is doing great, 8 years running! We split it up now between the regular 5th Edition game AND this new game everyone wanted to play. AD&D 1st Edition! My oldest is the DM for the 1st Ed games.

So I picked up some AD&D 1st ed books from DriveThruRPG's Print-on-Demand.

Honestly I like these quite a bit. I grabbed a "players bundle" of the AD&D 1st Ed Player's Handbook and Unearthed Arcana. 

The binding is sturdy, and the paper is crisp white, so the text is very easy to read. We already had a PoD set, so I picked up enough for all the players that didn't have their own copies. 

These guys are all in their 20s, so they don't have nostalgia for the original covers like I do and my oldest does. So they are extremely thrilled with these. 

Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 24

Elowen's Newest obsession

Day 24 - Imports

Day 24-What are the major imports to the area?
What is it your campaign region needs but doesn't have and how do they get it? Maybe it's not a need but a want? Some other place has the very best something and the people of your campaign desire some of that action.  

Elowen’s Journal

"I suppose I should mention that I have a job.

I work part-time at Renee’s Tea Shoppe. Larina thought it would be good for me, a way to interact with both the living and the dead without hiding behind my journal all the time. She was right, of course. And the extra spending money doesn’t hurt either. What does this have to do with imports? Everything, as it turns out.

West Haven’s most important import is tea. I’m not exaggerating. This village drinks three or four times as much tea as anywhere else I’ve ever seen. Twice as much as East Haven, at least. It’s borderline alarming. If the tea supply ever dried up, I’m fairly certain there would be an uprising. Coven-wide. Possibly armed.

I work with a girl named Rebecca. She’s friendly, kind, and endlessly patient in a way I envy. She isn’t particularly academic, but she knows tea the way some witches know spells. She can look at someone for five seconds and hand them exactly what they didn’t know they needed. She introduced me to something called a chai latte, and now my life is divided into before and after. Some of the spices grow here, but many don’t. Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger. More imports. Rebecca says she’s a “Pumpkin Spice Witch.” I don’t know what that means, but it sounds wonderful.

There are other things we bring in, too. Fine textiles like silk. Certain building materials we can’t get locally. We have wood in abundance, and the mountain dwarves supply more stone than we could ever need, but not everything can be pulled from the valley or the mountains. That’s where the markets come in.

Market days are my favorite. Our open-air market is just that: open. Anyone can sell. Anyone can browse. Goods come in from places I’ve never seen and probably never will. I’m not even sure East Haven has the same variety we do. I think people just want an excuse to visit what they call “Witch Haven,” even if they pretend otherwise.

West Haven grows its own food. It makes its own magic. But it imports comfort. Flavor. Texture. Little luxuries that make the days gentler. I think that says something important about the kind of place this is."

Designer’s Notes

Imports in West Haven are intentionally modest and specific. The setting doesn’t rely on exotic goods to function, but it eagerly embraces comforts and cultural exchange. Tea functions as both a literal import and a social ritual, reinforcing community, rest, and conversation. Renee’s Tea Shoppe acts as a crossroads for locals, travelers, and spirits alike.

Market days emphasize openness rather than control. West Haven’s lack of restrictive trade policy allows for variety that even larger, more structured cities like East Haven struggle to match. This reinforces the idea that flexibility and hospitality can be more economically and culturally resilient than rigid systems.

Day 24 complements Days 22 and 23 by showing that while West Haven grows much of what it needs, it deliberately welcomes what it lacks. The town survives not by isolation, but by selective openness.

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 23

Day 23 - Exports

Day 23-What are the major exports of the region?
A campaign can be big and different places within it will be known for different products. Pick a few of the best sellers or most interesting things and tell us about them.

Elowen’s Journal

"I already talked about the soil, but it really does explain a lot.

On paper, West Haven’s main export is produce. The Haven Valley grows things easily, eagerly, like the land is trying to make up for what it once took. East Haven has good soil too, but they settled on higher ground after the Flood and missed out on much of the rich earth the mountains carried down. And if I’m being honest, witches have always been better at growing things. We listen to the land rather than argue with it.

Most trade still runs through East Haven. That’s just geography and habit. Every so often, someone there tries to raise taxes or impose tariffs, and every time it gets shut down by saner heads. The two towns function best when trade stays free and open. Everyone knows that, even when they pretend not to.

West Haven’s other great export is an open secret: magic.

Sometimes it’s small things. Potions for sleep or luck. Card readings. Crystal gazing. Blessings whispered over tools or doorways. Other times it’s bigger than that. People come here the way my parents did, looking for answers they can’t find anywhere else. You can always tell who they are. They look hollow, like something important has gone missing, and they don’t know how to name it.

There are witches trained to spot those people. Larina calls them ambassadors. Their job isn’t to sell magic, but to listen and decide what kind of help is actually needed. Katrina used to be one, apparently, though I have a hard time imagining her being patient with non-witches. Cassandra and Celeste are very good at it when they aren’t in the Library. Esmé does it too. She says helping people reminds her of why she stayed.

West Haven doesn’t export spells so much as it exports intervention. If you come here and leave changed, no one is surprised. That’s the real trade. The rest is just what shows up on ledgers."

Designer’s Notes

Exports in West Haven are designed to reinforce the theme rather than the economy. Agricultural abundance provides a believable foundation, while magical services operate in a semi-formal, socially regulated way. Magic here is not commodified wholesale. It is mediated through relationships, ethics, and judgment.

The concept of witch “ambassadors” exists to prevent exploitation on both sides. Desperate outsiders are guided, redirected, or turned away as needed, and witches are protected from becoming transactional service providers. This supports a tone where magic remains meaningful rather than routine.

Trade tensions with East Haven provide ongoing low-level conflict without requiring open hostility. The two towns are interdependent, and both know it. West Haven’s greatest export is not goods or spells, but change, and that is something no tariff can easily contain.

West Haveners are very much aware of their interdependence on East Haven, even if witches like Katrina believe they go it alone. That's a topic for tomorrow.

An aside: I am beginning to think that Elowen here might be a Pumpkin Spice Witch. As I have been using her this month, I see her less and less as a witch who commands armies of the undead, and more as a witch who drinks lattes and talks to customers, both living and dead. 

Not every witch needs to be a world-shaking magical powerhouse.

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 22

Mirepoix

Day 22 – Flora & Fauna

Day 22-Tell us about notable Flora and Fauna! Take us on safari around your campaign and its setting. What are some of the unique and/or unusual creatures and plants in your game?

Elowen’s Journal

"It feels like everything here watches.

Not in a threatening way. Mostly. Just… aware. Animals linger longer than they should. Plants seem to lean when you pass. Even the air feels curious. West Haven is full of animals, of course, pets and work beasts and wildlife, but also familiars. So many familiars. Cats on rooftops. Birds perched where they can hear everything. Small things darting between doorways. I’ve learned not to assume they belong to anyone in particular. They’re probably just collecting information. Or gossip. Mostly gossip.

My familiar, Mirepoix, takes this very seriously. Larina’s cat, Cotton Ball, flies and pretends that’s perfectly normal. It shocked me when this fluffy white cat spread it's wings and flew to the top of a bookcase.  Doireann’s frogs are everywhere. In fountains. In gardens. Once in my boot. No one questions it. Giant owls nest nearby, watching the roads at night, and the crows and ravens sometimes speak in human voices when they think you aren’t listening.

Yes, there are flying monkeys. They have their own small community and are very clear about not being pets or familiars. They get offended if you imply otherwise. I learned that quickly.

The plants are just as attentive. The Goblin Wood feels alive in a restless way, branches shifting, roots remembering old paths. The Maiden Wood is different. Quieter. Still. More dangerous for it. There are plants that blur the line between animal and vegetation, vines that recoil when touched, flowers that close like eyes. I don’t know if they are magical or if this land just encourages things to become more than they were meant to be.

It isn’t all strange trees and whispering leaves. The fields here are rich. The Great Flood brought down soil so dark and fertile it feels like it could grow almost anything. Esmé talked endlessly about it in my first spring here, explaining how the land itself had been fed. Crops thrive here. Gardens overflow. Even the ordinary plants seem a little… proud.

Living in West Haven means learning when something is watching because it’s curious, and when it’s watching because it’s hungry. I’m getting better at telling the difference."

Designer’s Notes

Flora and fauna in West Haven are meant to feel observant rather than aggressive. The setting leans into the idea that magic suffuses the environment, affecting animals, plants, and even agriculture, without turning everything into a monster encounter.

Familiars act as social infrastructure. They gather information, reinforce coven connections, and make the village feel alive even when no NPCs are present. Non-familiar creatures, such as the flying monkeys or giant owls, are treated as people or neighbors rather than obstacles or pets.

The Goblin Wood and the Maiden Wood represent two different expressions of living landscape: one restless and adaptive, the other still and dangerous. The fertile farmland of the Haven Valley provides a grounding counterbalance, reminding players that not all magic is strange or threatening. Some of it simply makes things grow.

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 21

Elowen

Day 21 – Organizations

Day 21-What are the major organizations of the campaign? How do they deal with visitors?
Corporations, guilds, secret societies; what groups with influence exist in the campaign and how do they interact with the setting and its denizens? 

Elowen’s Journal

"I used to think organizations were neat things. Boxes you could label. Lists you could finish.

West Haven cured me of that.

There are covens, traditions, lodges, guilds, circles, and groups that insist they are none of those things but somehow still meet every week. Some overlap. Some pretend they don’t. Some share members and pretend they don’t notice. I have stopped trying to keep a perfect list.

The easiest place to start is my own. I belong to the West Haven Coven. Larina is our leader and High Priestess, though she rarely acts like either unless she needs to. Our coven includes me, Grýlka, Doireann, Celeste, Cassandra, Amaranth, Aisling, Esmé, and Katrina. Katrina also has a Lodge of her own. They are mostly alchemists, so people like Émilie. She says it’s “just practical,” but I think she likes having something that is hers.

The Rangers of the North Star patrol the frontier north of the towns. I see them sometimes on the roads or near the mountains. They are grim, quiet, and always polite. Not everyone trusts them, but everyone respects them. Even the ghosts give them space, which I have learned to pay attention to. I admit they fascinate me. 

There’s a Thieves’ Guild, too. They call themselves The Beasts. I only know that because Amaranth told me, and not to ask questions. Their territory includes the Drunken Orc Inn, somewhere behind doors I’ve never noticed before. The guild is one of the reasons the inn feels safer than it should.

The Druids here aren’t quite what I expected. They call themselves the Ban Drui, and they’re a mix of Druids and Witches. Their coven is the Daughters of the Flame, led by Saileach and Teamhair. There is a quiet power between those two. It's like you can see the magic dancing around them. I wish I could see auras like Aisling can. She always seems happier and sadder when she sees them. She says it because their auras are so bright. 

There are other witches, too. The Strixes, who turn into giant owls when they fly. The Daughters of Diana, who look like they’re always heading to some athletic competition and all carry bows. The Mara… I don’t like the Mara. They keep trying to recruit me. Ghosts follow them everywhere, thick as shadows. Larina says I need to wait before having any serious dealings with them. I would rather not have any dealings with them at all. There are also the Pumpkin Spice Witches. I am not sure if they are a real coven or a social club. 

Once, a group of elves calling themselves the Court of Swords came to West Haven. They were already established here somehow, though I didn’t understand how. Larina dealt with them directly for a week, and Katrina and Esmé took over my lessons. No one explained why. I didn’t ask.

And then there are the Westhaven gnomes. They pretend to be innkeepers, traders, and hosts. They are also a cabal entirely unto themselves. I am convinced they know everything that happens in the valley before anyone else does.

That’s just what I can name. There are more. Covens I recognize by habit, by the way certain witches always sit together or walk home at the same hour. I don’t know all their names yet. I think that’s normal.

East Haven is different.

They have organizations, too, but they are sharper, more formal. The Church of Light dominates much of public life there. Priests, lay-priests, councils, and rules that are meant to apply evenly, even when they don’t. They deal with visitors politely, as long as those visitors behave correctly. Witches are tolerated at best, distrusted at worst. The ghosts from East Haven remember a lot of sermons.

West Haven doesn’t ask you who you answer to. It asks who you sit with when you’re tired. I think that tells you everything you need to know."

Designer’s Notes

Organizations in West Haven are intentionally overlapping, informal, and relational. Power flows through trust, shared history, and social gravity rather than rigid hierarchy. Covens, lodges, and guilds often intersect, and membership is fluid. This allows characters to move between groups organically and gives the setting a lived-in feel.

East Haven provides a deliberate contrast. Its institutions, especially the Church of Light, are centralized, doctrinal, and rule-driven. Visitors are assessed by conformity rather than connection. This tension reinforces the ideological divide between the two towns and provides ongoing sources of conflict.

Not every organization needs to be fully defined. Some exist simply to be noticed, feared, or hinted at. West Haven is a place where influence is sensed before it is explained, and where belonging matters more than titles. 

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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.

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