Adventures / Starter
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The Hollow of Brambleford

A missing child, a silent mill, and something green that watches from the thorns.

Lv 1–2 3 sessions Original (border farm country)
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Synopsis

The mill in Brambleford has gone quiet, and the miller's child has not come home. The village wants the party to search the overgrown mill race before the next flood. What looks like a haunting is a goblin snatch-crew hiding in the wheelhouse — and a dryad in the adjoining hollow who will not stay patient much longer.

Premise

GM only

Krik, a goblin boss, stole a heartwood charm from Thorn, a dryad bound to the Bramble Hollow. The charm lets him keep the mill race misted and the village dogs quiet. Pip Reed, the miller's child, followed the 'green lady' into the hollow and is hiding in a dry culvert, too scared of both goblins and the dryad to come out.

If the party returns the charm, Thorn becomes an ally and the mill can run again. If they kill Thorn for 'haunting' the mill, the hollow sours and wolves move in. Krik will bargain if clearly outmatched, then break the deal at the first chance.

At a glance

Plot beats
4
NPCs
5
Locations
4
Handouts
4
Encounters
3

Themes

missing child fey bargain village mystery

Hooks

  • Marta Reed nails a notice to the tavern door: 15 gp and a month of flour if someone finds Pip.
  • Father Pell dreams of a green woman drowning in the mill pond and begs the party to bless the waterwheel.
  • A traveling merchant will not leave town until the 'haunted mill' stops scaring his mules.

GM notes

Keep Pip alive. The adventure turns mean if the child is already dead. Thorn should feel alien, not cute. Krik is loud, not clever.

Beat 1 · Brambleford

The Quiet Wheel

upcoming

The party arrives in Brambleford. Marta Reed is raw with worry. Father Pell thinks the mill is cursed. Three rumors point at the mill, the hollow, and a green woman.

Brambleford should smell like warm grain. Instead the air is damp and still. The mill wheel hangs crooked in its race, wrapped in thorned vines that should not grow this fast. A notice on the tavern door is already rain-spotted: Pip Reed, age nine, missing two nights. Reward offered.
GM: Let them talk to Marta, Pell, and one extra villager. Do not send wolves at them in town.

Beat 2 · Reed Mill

Thorns in the Wheelhouse

upcoming

The mill is occupied. Goblins have the loft and a snare on the stairs. Signs of a child: a dropped wooden horse, small muddy prints toward the culvert.

The mill door hangs open a handspan. Flour dust floats in the dim. Somewhere below, water slaps the jammed wheel. A tiny wooden horse lies on its side in the doorway, one ear chewed off.
GM: If the alarm bell rings, goblins dump a sack of grain (difficult terrain) and shoot from cover. They flee to the hollow at half hit points.

Beat 3 · Bramble Hollow

The Green Bargain

upcoming

Thorn demands the heartwood charm. Pip can be heard (or found) in the culvert. Krik may still have the charm around his neck, or it is hidden in a bird-skull pouch.

The hollow is quieter than the mill, which is worse. Oaks lean inward. At the center a stump has been split as if by lightning, and the knot-hole in it is empty, pale, and wet, like a socket.
GM: Thorn will not attack first unless the party cuts living wood or threatens Pip. Returning the charm ends the 'haunting'. Killing Thorn is a valid, grim path — mark the hollow as blighted.

Beat 4 · Brambleford

Flour and Favors

upcoming

Pip goes home, or does not. Marta pays. Thorn, if allied, offers a one-time charm of safe passage through the hedgerows. If the hollow was spoiled, wolves begin hunting the lane at night — a hook for later.

By the time you walk the lane back, the whole village is pretending not to watch from doorways. The mill pond has a voice again: just water, hitting wood.
GM: Award 150–300 XP per character depending on how much they solved without a slaughter. Marta's flour is actually useful; don't skip the mundane reward.

Marta Reed

Miller · Brambleford

ally

Flour in her hair, eyes that have not slept. She talks too fast and then goes silent.

Personality: Practical, then suddenly brittle. Will feed the party even if she cannot pay extra.

Voice: Lowland accent, short sentences. Calls Pip "my mouse."

Secret

She took a cutting from the hollow last autumn to "wake the mill." Thorn considers this theft. Marta does not know the dryad is real.

Father Pell

Village priest · Brambleford

ally

A round man in a patched vestment who blesses tools as often as people.

Personality: Kind, superstitious, easily convinced of curses.

Voice: Soft, with a habit of quoting harvest prayers mid-sentence.

Secret

His "holy water" is well water and salt. It still works if the party believes it does — treat it as a one-use aid against the mill snare, not a goblin-killer.

Stat block: Priest

Pip Reed

Missing child · Bramble Hollow

ally

Nine, muddy, clutching a second wooden horse. Has not eaten since yesterday.

Personality: Brave until spoken to, then whispers. Loves the "green lady" and is terrified of "the little men."

Voice: Very quiet. Asks if the mill is angry with them.

Secret

Pip saw Krik put the charm around his neck and can describe it: a knot of pale wood on a gut string.

Thorn

Dryad of the hollow · Bramble Hollow

unknown

A figure of bark and briar with black-berry eyes. Moves like a person remembering how joints work.

Personality: Old courtesy over fresh rage. Speaks of debts, not feelings.

Voice: Leaves in wind. Never uses contractions. Calls the party "borrowers."

Secret

If the charm is destroyed, Thorn dies at dusk. She will not mention this unless asked why the stump looks like a wound.

Stat block: Dryad

Krik

Goblin boss · Reed Mill

villain

A goblin in a miller's stolen vest, charm hanging over a bare chest. Thinks the mill is now his fort.

Personality: Boastful. Offers terrible deals. Hates being laughed at.

Voice: Too loud. Calls everyone "tall bread."

Secret

He does not know what the charm actually does — only that dogs stop barking and vines listen a little.

Stat block: Goblin Boss

settlement

Brambleford

A dozen cottages, a stone chapel, a tavern called The Bent Nail, and a mill that should be louder than this. Hedgerows are thick with blackberries. Everyone knows everyone.

  • The Bent Nail tavern
  • Chapel of the Harvest
  • Reed mill pond

Leads to: Lane west to the mill. Game trail north into the Bramble Hollow.

GM: Use the village to let the party gather three rumors before they commit to the mill.

dungeon · in Brambleford

Reed Mill

A two-storey timber mill over a dark race. The wheel is jammed with thorned vines. Inside: grain loft, mill floor, and a wet wheelhouse.

  • Jammed waterwheel
  • Grain loft
  • Wheelhouse culvert

Leads to: Front door from the lane. Culvert crawl to the hollow.

GM: Goblins watch from the loft. A tripwire bell hangs over the stairs (DC 12 Perception).

wilderness

Bramble Hollow

A bowl of thorn and old oaks behind the mill. The air smells like crushed mint and wet stone. At the center: a split heartwood stump with an empty knot-hole.

  • Heartwood stump
  • Wolf-run trail
  • Dry culvert (Pip)

Leads to: Culvert back to the mill. Game trail to the village.

GM: Thorn cannot leave the hollow while the charm is gone. Pip is in the culvert (DC 13 Perception or following muddy small footprints).

wilderness · in Bramble Hollow

Wolf-Run Trail

A narrow game path where the brambles give way to pine. Fresh wolf tracks overlay goblin feet.

  • Ambush bend
  • Lookout stump

Leads to: Back to the hollow. Dead-ends at a hunter's cairn.

GM: Optional fight. Skip it if the table is already bloodied.

letter

Marta's notice

Hidden
PIP REED missing two nights. Last seen by the mill pond after supper. 15 gold pieces and a month of flour to whoever brings them home. Ask Marta at the mill house. Do not go into the hollow alone.

GM: Show this as soon as they enter the tavern or pass the door.

clue

Pip's drawing

Hidden
A child's charcoal drawing: a waterwheel, a woman made of branches, and little men with long ears carrying a round thing on a string. Underneath, in shaky letters: GREEN LADY SAID WAIT.

GM: Found in the grain loft under a sack. Confirms Pip went willingly at first.

clue

Goblin tally hide

Hidden
A strip of hide marked in grease: Dogs quiet — 2 nights Tall bread in mill — 0 Charm still mine — yes Green thing angry — yes yes yes

GM: On Krik, or nailed over the wheelhouse door.

rumor

Rumor from The Bent Nail

Hidden
Old Tamsin, three ales in: "That mill was never haunted until Marta took a stick from the hollow to 'wake the wheel.' Wheels don't need waking. Woods do."

GM: Optional. Points at Marta's cutting without making her the villain.

Loft watch

Reed Mill · Thorns in the Wheelhouse

easy

Two goblins in the loft with shortbows. A bell-tripwire on the stairs. They shout for Krik after the first round if they can.

  • 2× Goblin Warrior CR 1/4

Treasure: A pouch with 8 sp and a stolen pie.

Krik in the wheelhouse

Reed Mill · Thorns in the Wheelhouse

medium

Krik plus one goblin. Difficult terrain from water and grain. Krik uses the charm as a shiny distraction, not a spell.

  • 1× Goblin Boss CR 1
  • 1× Goblin Warrior CR 1/4

Treasure: Heartwood charm (withered oak knot on gut string). 12 gp in a bird-skull pouch.

Wolves on the run

Wolf-Run Trail · The Green Bargain

medium

Optional. Two worgs shadow the party if they linger in the hollow after dusk or if Thorn is dead.

  • 2× Worg CR 1/2

Treasure: Nothing but a hunter's broken arrow.