Pellenicky Glade
Pellenicky Glade Description
The glade is an idyllic location, beautiful and well-kept.
Travelers and merchants who come through all marvel at its
splendor and its delicacies. Most aspire to one day live there.
The working mice of the Glade do their best to remain well
out of sight, so the wealthy aristocracy can continue to live
in such comfort without question. They’ve been well-trained
through generations of domination by the swords and
halberds of the ruling Goshawk family.
The Goshawks have always been prominent within the
Eyrie Dynasties over the years. Even after the Eyrie tore
itself asunder in its last civil war, the Goshawks managed to
maintain control over Pellenicky Glade, pulling back all their
interests to their perfect little outpost in the forest.
Now, the Eyrie is rising again, and the Goshawk family is
at odds with itself over whether it should try to throw its
support behind the new leaders of the Eyrie Dynasties,
or keep the family independent from Eyrie politics and
commitments. This conflict is exacerbated by the murder of
the Goshawk patriarch, which has left the family with many
suspects… and no clear leader. What’s more, the Woodland
Alliance may be preparing a full-scale revolt through its
agents in the servants’ quarters of the Glade…
At First Sight:
The sun spills down through a patchwork canopy of leaves,
dappling the walls of the clearing with speckles of brilliant golden
light. The walls themselves are well made—tall, cut planks of
wood topped with perfectly symmetrical spikes. The gate is
carved with the sigils of the Goshawk family, a talon clutching a
golden sun, along with figures of Goshawk history and lore, all
beautiful and expertly hewn.
The air between the forest floor and the leaves above is filled with
rope lines and hanging nets, strung to form geometric patterns
from any perspective while providing both lines for birds to
cross above the buildings below, and a defense from any wouldbe avian attackers. Mouse burrows and homes dot the forest
floor beneath the rope layers. Nothing shows any signs of the
damage, destruction, or dilapidation that besets other clearings
throughout the Woodl
Overarching Issue
The Independence of the Glade – main conflict
Pellenicky Glade was a jewel in the Eyrie’s crown before the
Grand Civil War that tore the Dynasty apart. While the Glade
was given to the Goshawk family decades upon decades ago—a
prize for Pollyria Goshawk’s legendary valor in one of the
Eyrie’s historic battles—the Goshawks made it available to the
greater powers of the Eyrie as a refuge, a place of solace.
The Goshawks were given nigh autonomy for their loyalty
and service, but they always saw themselves as Eyrie through
and through until the Grand Civil War. The Goshawks made
promises to all sides that kept the Glade out of the war, and
the clearing came through largely undamaged and free of
external factions’ control.
And that changed almost nothing. The Goshawks remained
in control of the Glade, and ran it much as they always had.
The clearing continued to produce plentiful food and water,
more than enough to sustain itself and sell to the other
independent clearings. During this period of Woodland
unrest, the Glade only grew richer, and the Goshawks hired
out-of-work soldiers to create their own small army.
Now, the Eyrie Dynasties have restored themselves and
are trying to take back their Woodland…and the leading
Goshawks of the Glade don’t agree on what they should do
Now, the Eyrie Dynasties have restored themselves and
are trying to take back their Woodland…and the leading
Goshawks of the Glade don’t agree on what they should do.
The Eyrie expects the Glade to fall into line as it once
did, but times have changed, and some Goshawks (like
Mina and Ellerby) aren’t interested in submitting to the
Dynasties. Conceding control to the Marquisate is even more
unthinkable. But remaining independent comes with dire
risks, and will make enemies of the Eyrie.
Everybody in the Glade from mouse to rabbit to bluejay
to Goshawk has an opinion on if the Glade should remain
independent and how exactly it should do that.
How It Develops
If the vagabonds never came to the Glade, then the issue would
eventually resolve itself explosively. The different disputes and
conflicts would come to a head without diplomatic resolution.
Ultimately, the Glade would explode into its own civil war,
as Callem Goshawk and his Eyrie allies lead a fight against
Ellerbee Goshawk and the town guard, even as the Woodland
Alliance—through Mina Goshawk, Osha Rustle, and Jessamy
Winn—would lay traps and ambushes to disadvantage all
sides. No matter who wins, the Glade would be damaged and
worn down, left a far less appealing prize to the factions, and
its denizens would of course suffer the brunt of the harm.
Leadership of the Denizens – conflict
The Goshawks hold all de jure authority in the Glade. But
especially with the clearing’s years of recent independence,
there’s an opportunity for new, different leaders to emerge.
The majority of the Glade’s denizens are mice, cast for years
into a position of servitude. But they’ve become increasingly
discontent with the Goshawks.
The non-bird denizens of the Glade haven’t yet unified
behind any particular leader, however. They haven’t been
galvanized to action, and no single would-be commander has
garnered enough support to unite the denizens.
The three best candidates for a uniting leader of the mice
denizens of the Glade are:
• Osha Rustle – an older mouse and true, radical dissident.
She’s become an official member of the Woodland
Alliance, though she keeps it secret from the Glade at
large and from the Goshawks.
• Jessamy Winn – a middle-aged mouse and pacifist,
Jessamy doesn’t necessarily want her people to remain
under the boot of the Goshawks—and she definitely
doesn’t want them to be placed under the boot of the Eyrie
or the Marquisate—but she also doesn’t want to resort to
violent revolution to achieve her aim.
• Mina Goshawk – the youngest of the Goshawk children,
and the most radical. She’s a Goshawk, so the denizens
are less likely to implicitly trust her as having their best
interests at heart…but Mina has been speaking about
changing the Glade, making it a true refuge for the
unfortunates of the Woodland, and upending the current
structure. Some mice believe in her dream, and believe she
can accomplish it.
Below the radar of the other Goshawks and the clearing’s
guard, these three are struggling to gain the support of as
many denizens as they can—to ensure their vision of the
future of the clearing is the one that comes to pass. They
aren’t working together, but all three know the others have
a vision for the clearing that goes beyond submitting to the
Eyrie or the Marquisate.
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Glade, then Osha
Rustle would likely become the full leader of the denizens and
Woodland Alliance in the Glade. Osha is comfortable using
force, while Jessamy is not. Even if Jessamy wins the hearts and
minds of the mice, Osha’s followers would seize control, for
“the good of the denizens.” Mina, unable to convince any mice
to stand with her, would never be able to reach a position of
authority with the denizens of the Glade, and would ultimately
have to join with Osha Rustle or flee the Glade.
The Murder of Alton Goshawk – Conflict
Alton Goshawk, the Mayor of Pellenicky Glade, has been
murdered. He was found dead in his mayoral office two
weeks ago, a simple wood-handled knife in his back. The
Goshawks have done their best to hide what happened
to their patriarch—the clearing knows that Alton is dead,
but they don’t know that he was murdered. The Goshawks
(Ellerbee in particular) have control of the clearing’s guard,
after all, and have done everything they can to ensure that no
one has talked.
Alton was far from beloved by his family, but he kept them in
check. Now, with his death, the Goshawks’ power struggles
threaten to engulf the clearing.
Zale Goshawk, Alton’s brother, aims to take his brother’s seat
through a special emergency election. He’s more of a charmer
than a planner, and he’s counting on being well-liked to get
him the mayoralty.
Ellerbee Goshawk, Alton’s oldest daughter, assumes she was
Alton’s intended heir, and that control of the Glade falls to
her. She’s begun to operate out of her father’s office—the
same place she found his body with a dagger in its back—
and she isn’t planning on giving it up for any reason. She’s
definitely not counting on an election; they were always
suspect and less-than-legitimate, anyway.
Callem Goshawk, Alton’s son, is known throughout the
Glade as a drifter and layabout…but now he’s come back
wearing Eyrie blue armor and claiming the mayoralty
should be his. He’s been talking to the Eyrie diplomat Count
Dridge, and with Dridge’s help, he plans to take what he
believes he deserves.
Mina Goshawk, Alton’s youngest daughter, isn’t in the
running for the mayoralty, as such. She believes the whole
structure of the Glade is broken, and she’s advocating radical
change. She’s a Woodland Alliance sympathizer, and their
help may be exactly what she needs.
Any of the Goshawks might have been responsible for the
murder of Alton Goshawk—none of them are exactly truly
upset that he’s gone.
At this point, you may be asking yourself—so, who
really killed Alton Goshawk? Who is the murderer?
Here’s the thing: in a Powered by the Apocalypse
game like Root: The RPG, you play to find out
what happens. And that includes playing to find out
the real culprit behind mysteries like this one!
It’s definitely good to have some ideas of who
might’ve done it, and why. It’s definitely good to
be thinking about it over the course of play, as the
vagabonds take action, talk to different NPCs, gain
evidence, and even develop their own theories. That
way, when it comes time to reveal the culprit at a
dramatic moment, you can reveal a character who
makes sense, whose betrayal is shocking, whom the
evidence points to, and so on.
It’s not good to force what happens to fit a
particular outcome. The basic moves of the game
and the questions the PCs ask through them will
help guide you to a likely answer. Your job isn’t to
preselect an answer—it’s to fit the answer to the
fiction as you play!
With that spirit in mind, here are a few possible
answers you can draw from:
• The Silent Paw did it to throw the clearing into
disarray and confusion. It worked!
• Count Dridge had Alton assassinated to further
weaken the Goshawks and create room for
Callem at the top. Callem doesn’t know!
• Ellerbee had her own father killed because he was
planning to capitulate to the Eyrie Dynasties, and
she couldn’t let that happen!
• Some over-exuberant mousefolk under Osha
Rustle did it. Osha didn’t want Alton killed so
soon, but now that he is, she’s going to take
advantage of this moment!
• No one did it—it was an accident after a night
of drinking with Zale! But a drunken Zale sunk
a dagger into his dead brother’s back to throw
suspicion on Alton’s children!
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Glade, then it would
come down to a conflict between Callem and Ellerbee. Zale is
kind and charming, but Guard Captain Wossey wants to keep
the peace, so he would side with the most stable Goshawk—
Ellerbee. With Ellerbee backed by the guard and Callem backed
by Eyrie soldiers, they would come to have a fight for the
control of the Glade, with Mina and Zale swept up in one side
or the other, or quickly eliminated to cut off their power. The
winner of the fight between Ellerbee and Callem, in the long
run, will be Callem—he can get reinforcements from outside
of the Glade, and Ellerbee would not. But the Glade would be
devastated well before then, leaving it ruined.
The Silent Paw – Conflict
“The Silent Paw” is as much rumor as anything. A cat whose
very nature is tied to the darkness and shadow. Unseen,
unnoticed, the Silent Paw passes through defenses like a
ghost, arrives into secured locations like the wind and gets
back out just as easily. Crimes all across the Woodland have
been attributed to the Silent Paw, from the theft of crucial
military documents or caches of jewels, to the deaths of
important denizens. All the stories of the Silent Paw agree
that she aids the denizens wherever she goes.
The existence, goals, and nature of the Silent Paw in the
Woodland at large aren’t clear. But as far as Pellenicky Glade
goes, a hooded, mysterious cat calling herself the Silent Paw
has been undertaking crime after crime, with the powers that
be seemingly helpless to stop her.
Exactly what her goals are, why she’s here, why she’s doing
this—all are unclear to the Glade at large. Rumors abound
that she’s here to help foment a Woodland Alliance rebellion,
or that she’s here to assassinate the Goshawks one by one,
or that she’s here to steal some hidden treasure of Pollyria
Goshawk herself—her twin blades forged by master fox,
mouse, AND rabbit smiths.
Regardless of exactly what she’s after, she is driving the
authorities of Pellenicky Glade to greater and greater paranoia
and stress, forcing them to raise security and hunt for her. She
must be hiding somewhere in the Glade, after all…
How it Develops
If the vagabonds never arrived in the Glade, the Silent Paw would
face minimal opposition. No one would be expert or capable
enough to truly oppose the Paw in her pursuit of her goals, and
she would ultimately achieve her end (see page 21 for more on
her end)—but not without driving up tensions and frustrations
throughout the Glade, leading every other actor to become
further on edge and more likely to resort to drastic measures.