The Tales of Theobald

Come hither, and be enthralled! The Tales of Theobald will make you wonder, lament and exclaim!

Theobald Thornside is a renowned bard who crafts stories of wonder and intrigue. He performs his oratory speeches on top of an apple crate, usually before a smattering of barely-interested people in Cennric's national capitals. It is currently unknown how he manages to travel great distances in less than a day.
This year, his stories become more elaborate each day, as he switches from one story to another - much to the chagrin of his audience.

Theo's Tales

Theobald's stories often have no sense of direction as he switches from one plot point to the next. The scribes of the College of Eloquence in Riddleport have closely followed Theobald, in an effort to archive his nonsensical ramblings. The following have been found to be the stories that Theobald told so far.
1. Portrait. Rumour has it that a profile of a nobleman hangs ominously at the Library of Souls in Kalatore. This portrait of an elderly adventurer wearing a strange hat have been known to induce nightmares for anyone who sees it. Closer inspection of this portrait reveals that the red pigments used in this portrait did not have the same consistency as the other paints used in the artwork.
2. Vanish. The recent disappearances in Magnimar have been happening in the city's less affluent districts. Sailors and vagrants seem to vanish overnight, leaving no trace of where they could have went. They mysteriously appear a few days later, with no recollection of past events. It was not until merchants from the richer parts of the city started vanishing did the Lord-Mayor start recruiting adventurers to investigate the case.
3. Abandoned. There's an abandoned village somewhere in the east of Althaea called Oxgate. It was a halfling and dwarven settlement where the inhabitants seemed to disappear over an entire month. Every week, Oxgate's population dwindled, yet the villagers never seemed to notice. This continued until one day there were absolutely no one left in Oxgate. However, scouts from the neighbouring towns still hear the occasional bustle of activity from the village.
4. Enchant. The children of the Karnargulian hamlet of Beybrook stared acting peculiar. Several weeks ago and one-by-one, the children of the town started acting cold and distant towards the adults. They now gather in groups during the day without talking and stare at the people of the town with cold stares and unblinking eyes. Locals think that the children have been enchanted by the god of sleep.
5. Misfortune. Phelaia Destiny is known by locals as "The Mistress of Misfortune", not because she is always unlucky, but because everyone she encounters seem to experience some sort of unfortunate event. These events are not debilitating in any way - they're more like minor annoyances than outright sinister accidents. The scribes at the College of Eloquence described some of these "misfortunes" to range between undone laces on someone's shirt to someone forgetting why they entered a particular room.
6. Chasm. The Rift of the Wind is a huge chasm in the Sarindurian tundra. Local origin stories say that the rift was created as a result of the god of wind using their powers to forcefully blast a gargantuan snake back to the underworld. The chasm is a popular tourist spot, attracting visitors from all around Delune. The more daring tourists walk into one of the vents in the rift, which pushes strong arctic air that launches everything 500 feet into the air.
7. Thorn. Shrike's End is an area in the Whispering Forest that is maintained by the Court of Fata Morgana, a fey council. This section of the forest is covered in a 10-foot wall of thorny vines, deterring any foolish adventurer to mindlessly wander in. Some people say that in the middle of this expanse of vines and poisonous shrubs is a portal to the Feywild. Fey activity in this area is sparse - either the rumours are not true, or the Court of Fata Morgana is good at guarding this alleged portal between realms.
8. Howl. The Silvercrest Manes are a werewolf pack in Greybarrow who have managed to obtain political influence and favour with the city's guard marshal. They provide services to Greybarrow as guards, watching over adventurers coming into the city and making sure that the cityfolk are safe from all threats. Greybarrow's citizens appreciate the pack's benevolent nature, and don't mind the chorus of howls they do when they transform into their bestial forms.
9. Mirror. The resonant frequencies of necromantic energy are often observed to be in sync with the natural wavelength of light, which provides an explanation on why vampires cannot be seen through a mirror. This is one of the leading theories of the Dawnseekers, a cabal of artificer vampire hunters in the province of Gyo. Their gnome scholars claim that they invented a light fixture that allows people to see vampires through mirrors.
10. Broken. The Balrath and Klamath Forest are two lush forests dense with pine and spruce trees. They lie on the northwest and southeast regions of the Hepbron Valley, broken up and separated by the Brookvern Passage. Local legends tell of two adventurers, Balrath Gildan and Klamath Lorvarax, who escaped to the Hepbron Valley to live together outside the judging eyes of their hometowns. Once every 3 years, the Brookvern Passage disappears, combining these two forests into one.
11. Escape. Bluespark is the most common street name for a narkosum made from the flowerbuds of the Corena plant. When ingested, users experience that everything is slowing down around them, as if under the effects of the haste spell. Most users of this addictive elixir are people in the mercantile or naval shipping business, to provide them an escape from the happenings of their trade, or to make them more efficient on busy workdays.
12. Slime. Thunderclouds by the Lake is an eccentric village alchemist in Karnargul who is known for their incredibly potent potions. Their potion of ooze grants the drinker with an acidic body and the spiderclimb ability, but the drinker will also leave a slime trail after using the potion, which allows them to be tracked easily. Thunderclouds requires a satyr tongue and a portion of a gelatinous cube to craft this potion.
13. Haunt. After a town hall meeting, many locals report hearing faint and unusual haunting noises coming from below the building. A whole investigation was conducted to resolve this mystery - from wizards consulting past events to check the history of the town hall, to rangers checking the surrounding areas for signs that some burrowing animals could have caused the noises. To anyone’s knowledge, the town hall doesn’t have a cellar.
14. Ruin. Knife's Edge is a mountain range in Sharsu which is famous not for its perilous peaks but for the ruins of a village at its foot. Known to locals as the "Village of Skulls", Alnwick was brought to ruin when a section of Knife's Edge suddenly collapsed, pelting the village with big rocks and boulders as the landslide that followed buried its inhabitants quicker than they realized what was happening.
15. Mist. Gillamoor is known for a fun tradition every spring. During the vernal equinox, villagers throw buckets of water on passersby to mark the start of the spring season. All kinds of water-related events are also done this day, from dunk tanks to underwater breathing competitions. They do this to commemorate the apotheosis of Deacker, the child god of water. This tradition is called Mist Day in the common tongue.
16. Whisper. The Whispering Grove is a vast snow forest in northern Althaea that is known to house all kinds of dangerous wildlife. Packs of wolves have made their home among the mists of the grove, and there have been sightings of quaint little huts deep in the forest. No one knows about them or dares approach these little huts, for fear that one of them might be housing something (or someone) evil.
17. Shadow. Several shadow figures begin appearing around the outskirts of Gyo in the middle of the night. They started appearing one-by-one, usually in dimly-lit areas or on the foot of someone's bed. Once a dozen or so entities accumulated, the locals took notice. Out of curiosity, the locals tried to approach the shadows, but they disappear as soon as anyone gets too close and they give off an ominous aura of fear.
21. Shatter. On the distant lands of Calum lives someone who have devoted their lives to the mastery of sonic damage, and how sound can be amplified or dampened. Parthenope can manipulate soundwaves to her whims, and can wield it as a weapon. Using a device she calls an "infinite recursive oscillator," she can turn a soft whisper into something that can shatter glass from up to 500 feet away.