The Cottage Ruin - 8 - Site Backstory, Roadway Dangers & Hexploration Decks

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by Rhys

The document presents a hexploration-style rule and encounter deck for “The Cottage Ruin” (08), organizing multiple d6 tables for a haunted, plague-touched ruin and its surrounding roadway. It covers campsite properties, rumored threats, site backstories, and what travelers should watch out for, then extends to current road dangers, likely traveler types, bridge disappearance causes, off-road consequences, communication methods, and additional hazard and shrine features.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryComic

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

The Cottage Ruin 08

Campsite d6

What Is The Site’s BackStory?

Rumored Things To Watch Out For

Dipper Lowland Way 14 Roadway d6

What Happened To All the Bridges?

What If You Leave the Road?

Tumble Road 15 Roadway d6

Frustrating Road Danger

Communicating On the Road

The Golden Shrine 25

Attraction

Why Do People Come Here?

Why Do We Think They Might Be Heretics?

Calcifixion Spires 29

Hazard

Function of the Spires

Hidden Treasure Within

The Cottage Ruin 08 Campsite d6 Campsite Perk Campsite Down Side 1 Excellent water So many snakes 2 Intact basement Sweet rotten smell 3 Cats eat pests Noble teens party here 4 Locals stay away Lightly haunted 5 Many hiding places Fugitive hangout 6 Always stocked 93 graves on the land What Is The Site’s BackStory? 1. An exiled prince lived here quietly until assassins came and killed everyone. It feels haunted here. 2. A famous person’s birthplace turned into a museum, then lost its funding and fell into ruin. 3. An aristocratic widow lived here until she married a far-off nobleman and moved away. 4.Well-to-do farmers lived here, died of plague. 5. An oracle lived here, visited by all kinds of people. Then one night, a dark stranger silenced her. 6. A bog witch eventually turned into a crocodile. Rumored Things To Watch Out For 1. The eels are tasty, but venomous; fish carefully. 2.Travelers arriving after midnight are not real. 3. Do not sleep near the vines. They are thirsty. 4. If the animals get restless, sing a hymn. 5. Use lanterns or candles. Torches won’t stay lit. 6. Do not disturb any on-site grave markers. Hexploration Decks: Along The Way © 2025 Inkwell Ideas, Inc. Dipper Lowland Way 14 Roadway d6 Main Road Menace Travelers Must Have 1 Trapper frogs Flask of antivenom 2 Swamp goblins Anti-gnat goggles 3 Disease-bearing flies Jerky for bribes 4 Bogland fey Magic light source 5 Long-arm drowners Elven rope 6 Venomous sawgrass An iron spear What Happened To All the Bridges? 1. Frequent flooding makes bridges impractical. 2.They attracted bridge trolls. Most are now gone. 3. Collapsed to slow invaders, never rebuilt. 4. Removing bridges was a condition of a fey deal. 5.Villagers stole the stones to build their houses. 6.Thought to be part of an elven regional enchantment, they were dismantled just to be safe. What If You Leave the Road? 1. You will attract a swarm of parasites. 2. A slumper may notice you, following softly, waiting for an unguarded moment to engulf you. 3.You may become susceptible to the insect-like singing that draws dazed people to deep pools. 4.You may find what appears to be an old stone shrine. Do not approach. You won’t come back. 5.You will glow, until you return to the road. 6. No problem; but if it starts raining, you’ll be lost. Hexploration Decks: Along The Way © 2025 Inkwell Ideas, Inc. Tumble Road 15 Roadway d6 Current Threat Likely Travelers 1 Slingpot goblins Guild merchants 2 Net-wielding bandits Pilgrim caravans 3 Rockhound packs Mercenary bands 4 Mule-eater spiders Migrating dwarves 5 Animated boulders Elven scholars 6 Bugbear hunters Conscripted troops Frustrating Road Danger 1. All the best campsites are watched by predators. 2. Boobytraps are designed to lame mounts, break wheels, turn ankles, and deliver poison. 3. Some predators scout using birds as spies. 4. Underpaid road wardens have taken to collecting their salaries directly from travelers. 5. Giant birds have stripped the area of all brush, nesting with any that is good for firewood. 6. Some bandits are using “victims” to infiltrate caravans, slowing them and scouting them out. Communicating On the Road 1. Locals use smart pigeons to carry messages. 2. Climb high rocks, use mirrors to flick light. 3. Headbands let you send dream communication. 4. Expert guides leave specialized trail signs. 5. Clever hounds signal with custom baying. 6. Fireworks lashed to arrows trail colored smoke. Hexploration Decks: Along The Way © 2025 Inkwell Ideas, Inc. The Golden Shrine 25 Attraction d6 A Dome Made Of Hospitality By 1 Honey amber Stocked, unstaffed 2 Close-set gold coins One elderly keeper 3 Gold leaf prayers Bivocational cult 4 Time-locked silk Warden & penitents 5 Painted stone Magical servants 6 Celestial glass Very clever monkeys Why Do People Come Here? 1. The shrine displays a pen

FAQs

What are the main elements covered for The Cottage Ruin 08?

It provides d6 lists for campsite perks and ruins backstory, plus rumors and warnings for visitors, and then expands into roadway threats and traveler interactions.

What dangers are highlighted for travelers on or near the road?

The tables describe booby traps and predators watching campsites, underpaid road wardens exploiting travelers, and threats from hostile creatures and scouts using birds as spies.

What happens if a traveler leaves the road?

Leaving can attract parasites, make a traveler vulnerable to insect-like singing that lures people to deep pools, and may lead to a deceptive stone shrine that the traveler cannot safely return from.

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by Rhys