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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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 19

Day 19 - Must-See Sites

Day 19-Any 'Must See' sites?
Are there any places or things a visitor to the setting just has to check out?

Elowen’s Journal

"If you only have one afternoon in West Haven, go to the Fountain Circle. Or Fountain Square as some witches still call it. I have not figured out why. 

That’s where everyone ends up eventually. On warm days, it turns into a kind of living map of the village. Farmers resting their feet, witches arguing good-naturedly, children daring each other to toss copper coins just right. The statue of Maiden faces east, the Mother north, the Crone west, and somehow it always feels like someone is watching over you, no matter where you sit. I like to people-watch there. It makes me feel less strange.

The Library is the other place I always recommend. It might not have the book you came looking for, but it will absolutely have the book you need. Sometimes it finds you instead. I don’t understand how it works, only that it does. Knowing that Larina used to be the librarian explains a lot. I always leave with more questions than answers, and I think that’s the point.

Everyone says you should see the Cailleach’s Bones. They’re right. They’re ancient, and powerful, and full of history. I have seen them. Once. That was enough. Some places don’t need revisiting to be remembered.

Émilie’s apothecary is quieter, but no less important. I like visiting with her sister Céline. She is the strangest witch I have ever met, and after three years here, that is saying something. She has everything you could want for an alchemy lab, a healing kit, or a kitchen that takes herbs seriously. Omar’s, of course, has everything else. If you can’t find it there, you probably don’t need it yet.

Renee’s is perfect for lunch. The Purple Dragon for dinner. That’s just how the day flows. In summer, everyone drifts back toward the Fountain Circle again for evening music. Lanterns go up. The air cools. It feels like the town is exhaling.

I haven’t been to the observatory yet, but I’ve been told the stars look closer from there. I am not sure I want to see them that close. What strange ghosts inhabit those worlds? Am I meant to know?

East Haven has its own sights. A zoological garden that people speak highly of, though I don’t like seeing some of the animals in cages. They look… diminished. That would never work in West Haven. Their library is large, orderly, and very good at helping you find exactly what you're looking for. It’s just not very good at surprises.

Doireann has promised to take me to the Goblin Market one night. She won’t tell me when or where. Just “soon.” I am trying very hard to be patient. Amaranth tells me it is a great place to get ripped-off, but I am not listening to her."

Designer’s Notes

West Haven’s must-see sites are intentionally layered. Very few are strictly tourist attractions. Most are places that reward lingering, repeat visits, and emotional engagement. The Fountain Circle anchors the social life of the village. The Library reinforces discovery over acquisition. Shops like Émilie’s and Omar’s blur the line between mundane commerce and magical infrastructure.

East Haven serves as a contrast. Its attractions are impressive, curated, and well-organized, but often lack the intimacy and improvisational magic of West Haven. This distinction reinforces the broader thematic divide between control and emergence, certainty and discovery.

Many locations are invented as needed, on purpose. West Haven is meant to feel alive, responsive, and slightly unfinished, like a place that grows around the characters rather than ahead of them. If it feels like there’s always one more place to see, that’s working as intended.

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 18

Day 18 - Getting Around

Day 18-Forgot to ask; How do we get around?
What modes of transportation are available to people in the setting. 

Elowen’s Journal

West Haven is small enough that you can learn it all on foot. 

You can walk everywhere here. It surprised me at first how close everything feels. The streets curve, but they always seem to bring you where you need to go. The South Road, coming out through the Beltane Gate, is the busiest and safest. In East Haven, they call it the West Road, or the Western Trade Road, which feels like a small argument in itself. That’s where the Drunken Orc Inn sits, and where most travelers first arrive. It feels like a threshold more than a road.

People cross the lake all the time. Boats go back and forth, especially during market days. I don’t like it. The water feels crowded to me, and not in a friendly way. I prefer to keep the lake at a distance, even if that means walking farther than necessary.

A lot of witches fly. More than I ever imagined. Brooms, charms, whispered spells, things I don’t fully understand yet. Because of that, many buildings have entrances on both the upper floors and the ground. It took me a while to stop being startled by someone stepping out of a second-story door like it was the most natural thing in the world. I hope someday I’ll be able to do that too without thinking. Gaining your first besom, or witch's broom, is something of a milestone event for a witch.

Larina has a Gate in her cottage. She uses it to travel to distant places, even other worlds. She says I’m not ready yet. I want to argue, but every time I look at it too closely, I get dizzy, like the world is tilting sideways. So that feels like a fair warning. I’ve also been told there are Gates hidden in the Library, but the librarians, Cassandra and Celeste, won’t tell me where. Though I did find out by accident that Larina used to be the librarian before she became the Witch Queen. That explains a lot.

Doireann says there are Gates in the Labyrinth, too. I don’t know if she’s teasing me or not. With goblins, it’s always hard to tell. But goblins seem to have a way of moving all over, so maybe she is right.

For now, I walk. I watch the sky. I learn the paths that don’t show up on maps. West Haven makes getting around feel like part of the adventure, even when you’re just going home.

Designer’s Notes

Travel in West Haven was designed around two core ideas. First, everything important should be close enough that play does not get bogged down in long, uneventful journeys. Second, the setting needed to acknowledge the reality that witches fly.

West Haven is walkable by design, but vertically layered. Upper entrances, rooftop paths, and night-time travel through the air are common for witches, which changes how the town functions socially and architecturally. This idea was inspired by my time at the University of Illinois at Chicago while working on my first Ph.D.  The East Campus buildings were connected by elevated walkways, creating an entirely different sense of movement than ground-level travel. They were there when I did my first campus visit and gone before I started attending some 6 months later. 

That physical East/West divide also fed directly into the conceptual split between East Haven and West Haven. Though Lake Haven is a bit more dangerous and has fewer restaurant choices than Chicago's Little Italy, which splits the campus.

Gates exist, but they are deliberately restricted, hidden, or guarded. Easy teleportation solves too many problems too quickly. In West Haven, magical travel is powerful, tempting, and dangerous, something to grow into rather than rely on from the start. Movement here reinforces one of the setting’s core themes: magic expands possibility, but it also demands patience. Esmé is my expert on Gates. I am sure she will teach them all to Elowen someday.

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Mail Call Tuesday: Star Trek Adventures, 2nd Edition

 I have been watching so many of my friends, both online and in real life, go on about the new Star Trek Adventures, 2nd Edition game from Mōdiphiüs. Both Carl Stark's Character Creation Challenge and Adam Dickstein's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge, along with my friend Greg Littlejohn's Trek game, and new Trek on TV,  convinced me it was time to take the plunge. But the final and ultimate motivation was DriveThruRPG offering "retail" copies of their books, not print on demand, but retail version of their offset printed books.

Well, they came last weekend. Shipped to me faster than some print-on-demand books I had ordered a few days prior. 

Now, keep in mind I am fiercely loyal to my FLGS. But I really wanted to see how these products looked. I am very impressed. Mōdiphiüs shipped these out, and I got them really fast. 

The books are gorgeous, as expected. A nice mix of new art and some art from the shows. All eras and shows are represented here. If there is a Trek you love, you can do it. If there is one you hate (*blasphemer!*), then you can ignore it.

Two of my favorite ships!

I have not gotten deep into the rules yet, but they seem simpler than the First Edition.

My oldest and I are going tomake some characters and ships here soon. Last week was Valentine's Day, and today is Fat Tuesday, so it's the busiest time of year. But I am looking forward to working out the Mercy, the Protector, and my various Challengers.

Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 17

Day 17 - Wars & Battles

Day 17-Can you tell us about any famous battles or wars?
Tales of conflicts and combats abound across the multiverse! Any interesting ones in your setting we should know about?

Elowen’s Journal

"Witches do not remember wars the way other people do. Neither do ghosts.

The living talk about who won. The ghosts talk about what was never recovered afterward. Fields that never grew back the same. Songs that stopped being sung. Names no one says anymore because it hurts too much to remember them. Witches talk about what was lost.

I do not read about wars. I walk through them.

There are still ghosts here from what the historians call the Elf-Goblin Wars. That name is wrong. It always was. It was really a war between the elves of the old forest and the Mountain Orcs, long before humans ever came to the Haven Valley. The goblins were caught between them, and so were the dwarves. The dead remember confusion more than hatred. Orders that made no sense. Allies that vanished overnight. I cannot tell how long ago it was. A thousand years, maybe more. Time blurs when everyone involved is gone.

The conflict that shaped West Haven most was not really a war at all.

Before there was an East or a West, there was just Haven. One village. One valley. When fear took hold, fifteen women and men were accused of witchcraft by a mob led by a lay-priest of the Church of Light. The night they were meant to burn had already seen three days of heavy rain. Somewhere in the mountains, a glacier finally broke loose. The flood came down the valley and erased the village before the fires could be lit.

The witches survived. Most of the townsfolk did too. But Haven did not.

Afterward, people did what they always do. They moved apart. Humans went east to higher ground. Witches, both human and gnome, went west. Two towns grew from the same grief and the same blood and convinced themselves they had nothing left in common. When I walk near the lake, I can still see the old streets beneath the water. The ghosts remember when it was all one place."

Designer’s Notes

West Haven’s conflicts are defined less by battles than by their aftermath.

The Elf-Goblin War predates human settlement in the Haven Valley and was, in truth, a multi-sided conflict involving Mountain Orcs, Haven Elves, Goblins of the Wood, and Dwarves of the Rock. Its echoes linger in the form of lingering spirits, ruined sites, and long-standing cultural tensions that never fully healed.

The defining event for human history in the region is The Founding and the Flood. Originally settled as a spiritual utopia by followers of the Lords of Light, Haven later absorbed a second group of pagans, mystics, and practitioners of the Old Ways. Though uneasy, the two communities survived together until fear triggered witchcraft accusations and attempted purges. The Great Flood, whether an accident, fate, or an intervention by the gods, destroyed the original village and ended the violence.

It didn't end the distrust.

The resulting split gave rise to East Haven and West Haven. Both towns share laws, bloodlines, and trade, but diverged culturally and spiritually. That divergence, rather than any single war, is the wound that still shapes this setting. In West Haven, history is not past. It lingers, watches, and sometimes, if you know how to listen, it speaks.

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Barking Alien's RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE! Day 16

Day 16 - Direct Threats

Day 16-Are there any direct threats?
Who or what in your campaign actively means the people in it - including the PCs - harm?

Elowen’s Journal

"When people ask about threats, they usually mean something with teeth. An army. A monster. A name you can point to and say, 'that one.' I don’t think it works that way here.

There are names that change a room's temperature when spoken. You can feel it in your skin, like a window just opened somewhere you didn’t see. Even the ghosts react to some of them. They fall quiet. Or they leave. That scares me the most. 

Kelek is one of those names. I don’t know much about him. Only that he hates witches, and that hatred feels old and practiced, like a blade sharpened over generations. The ghosts that remember him do not scream. They whisper. That somehow feels worse. 

I also always hear awful things about Skylla, but the few times I have met her, she didn't seem that terrible to me. 

There is someone called the Bone Man. I don’t know if that is his real name or just the one that survived him. He wants the magic of West Haven. Not the people. Not the land. Just the power that leaks out of everything here, whether we want it to or not. Ghosts do not like him. They do not like to say why. They do not like to be around when he is talked about.

East Haven scares me in a different way. Not because of monsters, but because of certainty. There are men there who believe witches should not exist at all. Not regulated. Not controlled. Erased. The ghosts from East Haven carry a lot of unfinished anger, and none of it is aimed at the right people.

Then there is Katrina.

She is on our side. I know that. She has saved my life. She has saved Aisling's life more than once. But she wants a world that belongs to witches alone, and when she talks about it, I understand why. I also understand why Larina listens carefully and says very little in response. Those two are going to have a fight one day, and I am not sure who is going to come out on top. 

The most frightening threat does not have a name I am supposed to write down.

There is something the ghosts sometimes circle around without touching. Something they remember only in pieces. A presence that does not rage or conquer or declare itself king. It waits. It remains. Even Larina does not speak its name. At all.

If there is a single truth I have learned, it is this: West Haven is not threatened by invasion. It is threatened by people who want to define it. Control it. Simplify it. Turn it into something smaller and easier to rule.

The monsters are real. So are the ideologues. But the most dangerous things are the ones that believe they are right forever."

Designer’s Notes

Direct threats in West Haven are intentionally asymmetrical. Some are personal. Some are ideological. Some are cosmic. None should be what the characters or even the players expect. 

Kelek represents institutionalized hatred of witchcraft through arcane authority. Skylla is a cautionary tale for witches. Normally I have been avoiding "other IP" in my West Haven, but these two have been such a staple in my games for so long it is hard to part with them. 

The Bone Man embodies predatory magic seeking to extract power from place and people alike. He used to be a citizen of West Haven. He had been in charge of the gravesites, and for a while, he ruled as Lord Autumn in the Autumn sector. But his desire for power, both necromantic and political, drove him out of West Haven. Some say he left to find better ways to seize power; others say he was forced out by the Witch Queen at the time. He shows up occasionally, attempting to sow discord, but has not been seen in years now.

East Haven’s Patriarchy reflects systemic, conservative opposition to witches as a social and spiritual force. Thankfully, they do not represent all the people of East Haven, but they are rather vocal. They are followers of Providence Stoughton, one of the founders of the original Haven settlement and village. Stoughton was a devout member of the Lords of Light and the spiritual founder of the Church of Light in Old Haven. The Temple of Light in East Haven was dedicated to his memory. While Stoughton was a moderately conservative priest, he was not a fanatic. The Patriarch of East Haven though feels that since he founded the Haven Settlement all these lands, including West Haven, belong to him and therefore belong to his legacy, which they claim. 

Katrina exists as a morally complex internal threat, an ally whose vision could become tyranny if unchecked. Sadly, if the Patriarchy were ever to become a true threat again, Katrina's position would grow more attractive, especially to younger witches.  One thing I hope to convey through Elowen is that Katrina has some good points. It is through older witches like Larina and Esmé that we see what threat Katrina really brings. 

The greatest long-term threat is The One Who Remains, a force that does not attack directly but erodes reality, memory, and identity over time. It is not always visible. It does not always act. But it is always present. The One Who Remains is also the threat that could cause all the participants above to put aside their differences and fit this greater foe.

West Haven survives not because it is strong, but because it refuses to be defined by outsiders.

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