Scrawny Crossing

At the edge of an abandoned ferry crossing in the eastern River Kingdoms, a moldy wooden sign reads, “Scrawny Crossing.” Carved into the old, rotten wood directly under the name is a more recent message: “They only come out in the rain,” with the word “they” underlined by three quick slashes of a rusted hunting knife which still protrudes from the sign post, left there by whoever originally carved the warning many years ago. This cryptic message remains one of the few communications left behind by the settlers of Scrawny Crossing before they disappeared entirely from the River Kingdoms. Once a tiny hamlet sometimes used as a caravan stop, Scrawny Crossing is now only a collection of empty farmsteads, an abandoned inn, and dilapidated ferry docks sagging into dark, silt-laden waters.
Clues are scarce as to who, or what, caused the disappearance of the populace. All that is known is that travelers found Scrawny Crossing suddenly and inexplicably abandoned after a fierce rainstorm in 4706. In addition to the ominous message carved into the sign at the edge of town, the empty streets were strewn with river weeds and crisscrossed with many muddy tracks left by long, slender feet with webbed toes. Since the disappearance of the settlers of Scrawny Crossing, most travelers in the River Kingdoms avoid the abandoned settlement and only refer to it by its new nickname, “Deadwater Crossing.”
The few travelers who have visited the crossing in recent years report that it remains utterly abandoned—not even birds nest there—and that a sinister presence now hangs about the area. Several individuals even claim to have glimpsed strange shapes lurking along the shore at twilight, but these accounts have yet to be substantiated by a reliable source.

Type

Town