```col-mdflexGrow=2.5===# Outline## Players Information An expedition is being assembled to leave Haven shortly, bound for a hidden dwarven city said to be located near the borders of the Namori Empire. The expedition travels in search of the bearded dwarven women said to live in this city and seeks to bring back some of these rare beauties to [[settlement/the-dwarrow|The Dwarrow]] as wives. The expedition is being organized and led by [[person/a.-gori-greataxe|A. Gori Greataxe]], the owner of a small print shop in [[settlement/the-dwarrow|The Dwarrow]], he is fanatically convinced of the truth of this legend and has attracted quite a following among the younger dwarves of [[settlement/the-dwarrow|The Dwarrow]]. Most of the money to outfit and provision the expedition has been put up by [[person/browin-treebeard|Browin Treebeard]], the eccentric proprietor of a shop (Martin Metals) that produces pewter figurines. Browin has temporarily closed his shop and announced his intention to travel with the expedition as its unofficial historian (although no one is quite sure what he intends to do). Any and all dwarven characters are welcomed to join the expedition.## GM's Notes The source of A. Gori's belief in the existence of bearded dwarven women is a book of memoirs written by the renowned human explorer and world traveler, Revi Llug. Revi did indeed visit (quite by accident) the well-hidden underground stronghold of a tribe of deep dwarves called Wellerfast where he was attended and served by bearded dwarven women. To this day, a sizable percentage of the female population of this city is facially hirsute. However, contrary to Gori's own views, the male dwarves of Wellerfast consider their bearded maidens to be the least desirable females in the city, and their low status explains why they were allowed to come in contact with male outsiders. Ironically, this means that if the expedition reaches Wellerfast, they will be likely to bring some of the bearded women away as wives, and without the pitched battle Gori expects - for these are the only women the residents of Wellerfast would willingly part with.Getting there, however, may not be as easy as it seems. Revi Llug's account is almost 500 years old, and the science of cartography has greatly improved in that time - consequently, the proportions on his maps are slightly distorted, and one must use visual landmarks rather than the actual distances given in his book to correctly retrace his route. Unfortunately, the sum of A. Gori's wilderness knowhow could be placed on the head of a pin with plenty of room left over for various additional notes. Thus, unless someone else in the party with cartographic training looks over these maps and realizes the difficulty facing them (60% chance, 80% if expert, of grasping the problem), the party is likely to become hopelessly off the trail within two weeks. Moreover, A. Gori is totally confident of his ability to lead the group and will very strongly discourage others from getting involved in the decision making process.A second complication facing the expedition is the presence of [[person/browin-treebeard|Browin Treebeard]]. Though Browin has the physical appearance of a dwarf, he is actually an alien being from another sphere which has a portal that opens onto this world on rare occasions. He also has a diabolical plan for making use of the travelers on this adventure. Browin will spend his waking hours sculpting life-sized replicas of the party's members. When a duplicate is completed, it draws life forces from its original while the latter sleeps and assumes its consciousness (leaving the original in a state of suspended animation until this replacement has been destroyed). These inert forms will be carried off and kept in Browin's wagons, (and later, in the sub-basements of his shop), for that body must be kept alive in order for the creation to function. Browin will complete one replica every 2 days (victim selected at random from the party members, unless someone spends a lot of time in Browin's company). The activated replicas will perform as their counterparts. However, their thought patterns will resemble those of their creator, and they will occasionally do inexplicably "weird" things of the sort that have branded Browin as an eccentric.``````col-md**Locations/Start** - The [[settlement/outlands]]- Wellerfast **Key Participants** - [[person/a.-gori-greataxe|A. Gori Greataxe]]- [[person/browin-treebeard|Browin Treebeard]]---### World Anvil Metadata**Id:** 811ec5fb-f993-4ee3-988f-8567f42d9184<br>**Entity Type:** Article / plot<br>**Category:** Haven Encounters and Scenarios<br>**Tags:** FCoH-plot```