Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we head to the waterfalls for a nice shower.
Cascade Bluffs
The Cascade Bluffs lie at the southern end of the Canyon Slough (covered last week), where the bayou waters drain into the lands below. This is where the water is at its cleanest, and while no one lives here, the place has a significant religious meaning to a number of creatures who live in the lands around it. The water is said to cleanse evil from those who bathe in it, leaving them able to control their darker urgings more easily than they otherwise would. The waterfalls themselves are considered one of the greatest areas of natural beauty on the continent.
Lay of the Land
At the top of the waterfalls sits the Canyon Slough, with all the dirt, silt, and (to some degree) pollution of the industry that goes on there. But by the time the water crests over into the waterfalls, it has been cleansed, mostly naturally; but the waters have been shown to have a very slight residual magical aura, and many assume that something underneath it (or some presence) must be performing the last act of cleaning the water. Many simply assume that this is the blessing of one of the nature gods that work their miracles here.
The water thunders down from the top, where it roars loudly enough to drown out even dragons, but the water’s power is broken by many protruding rocks and by the time it hits the bottom it has only a fragment of the force that it did at the top. A perpetual mist covers the area, and most days it is shrouded in rainbows because of it.
Dangers
The dangers that surround the Canyon Slough seem to avoid coming to the Cascade Falls, except perhaps to draw water from the top. At those times they are rarely hostile, as they try to avoid drawing attention to themselves. This is because of the danger that the Cascades DO attract.
The waters here influence lycanthropes (and possibly other shapechangers who take their form unwillingly). The lycanthropes come here to bathe in the waters, as it, for the next year, allows them to control their forms on their own, rather than being enslaved to the cycles of the moon. However, most lycanthropes are not friendly before they enter the waters, and often attack anyone else that they find. In this manner, they’ve spread lycanthropy to the tribes of the mountains around the area, and werewolves are quite common among the orcs of the mountains. So far, they’ve not managed to infect any of the stone giants that live above the Canyon Slough, but it could happen.
What the lycanthropes do not know is that the waters cleanse more than their foul curse. It also cleanses their consciences. This means that while most lycanthropes are evil before they bathe, when they emerge, they have control (for a year) of their changes, but their alignments have changed PERMANENTLY to good. Many find that they cannot return to their homes after facing the atrocities that they’ve committed there while in their changed forms and set out to find redemption elsewhere. Some return once a year to retain control of their forms, while others find ways to combat the changes.
With that, we hope you found what you sought at the Cascade Bluffs, whether that is redemption or control. Will we see you next week? We certainly hope so. 😊
Kim Frandsen
Latest posts by Kim Frandsen (see all)
- Finder’s Archive – Crypt of the Eternals - June 2, 2023
