From publisher blurb:
Author's Notes
Megan. I remember doing a lot of research for Almsford—understanding how to harvest bog iron, or how peat is processed, and how floating gardens worked. One of the most intriguing aspects of this unique setting is that the economy for Almsford feels very realized. I came onto Almsford later so I was not there for its inception but it drew me in because it felt real. This place, despite the fantastical elements, could exist and that means the people we populate with it need to feel real as well.
Almsford is a setting that should be idyllic. It’s a beautiful, forested valley hidden away from the rest of the world. But this perfect image of a place is vignetted by eldritch forces. The Mossy Wight in particular is the most intriguing of these horrors as it used to be the leader of the Almsford Knights, the force that is meant to protect the citizens of Almsford from any dangers.
Expanding on the Almsford Knight Chapters was my first project with Daylight Publications, and there is a chapter for each major township in the valley. I recall pouring over the Almsford setting book to understand the setting, the towns, the economy, and began to imagine what kinds of people live here. Many of the Knight-Captains became a kind of crucible that absorbed the aspects of the town they served and melded together to create their character. One of the dearest Captains to me is Alkan Vorbek, the Knight-Captain of Bryer. He is a pillar of the town, knight-captain of the chapter that protects the town’s miners and co-owner of the all-important foundry that processes the mined bog iron. He works and does his duty to Bryer, but also worries for his brother who runs the foundry in his stead when knightly duties constantly draw him away. His brother is haunted by the same Eldritch voices their father was, the same voices that drew their father away into the bog, never to return. Alkan is a laborer, a warrior, a protector, a concerned family member; and he is haunted by his past. To me, he is not only Bryer, but Almsford encapsulated in a character.
After the Knight Chapters, we needed to develop the lore of each city. Along with my fellow writer C.K. Stone, I was able to return to this haunted valley and populate it with citizens, landmarks, and horrors. My favorite contributions to the Lore & Legends of Almsford are the Afzal brothers of Logsend (because I love inserting a bit of faerie magic and family drama into a story), the horrors that lie in Thatchfield (inspired in part by some of the horrifying and surprising side quests in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), and the new Selectfolk career (because I love tabletop systems that value the “smooth talker” role, and make it into something more than a grifter or charlatan). When writing each city’s history, legends, currents, and current citizens, it was important to us to make every city feel unique. No matter where the Alder or Wanderers would choose to visit first, they would be met with a well-founded cast of characters to interact with, a town to explore, problems to solve, and mysteries to uncover. I think we’ve done a splendid job in that regard, and I hope our players enjoy exploring the haunted valley of Almsford as much as we did.
Cheyenne. Almsford was one of the first DayLITE settings that I was first drawn to. I’ve always enjoyed the horror genre, particularly the small-town atmosphere, creepy cryptids and mythological monsters, and witchy elements. A lot of the regions I worked on had some sort of connection or inspiration from previous aspects of the horror genre I’ve enjoyed. Yarrow is very much reminiscent of the small agricultural town in which its residents are hiding their dark secrets and something is stalking the fields. Ellroy is a town with a tragic history the ghosts of which haunt the citizens to this day. Handson takes inspiration from dark academia/boarding school stories where no one knows who to trust and everyone has their own agendas.
One of the things that was important to me when writing these legends and stories was to create enough substance for ame masters and players to use, but to also leave enough space for them to make Almsford their own. Not everything is written out or explained for every legend created and this is by design to leave that as much as possible to be spaced by those playing. As a fantasy/horror setting it was really important for everything to add as much as possible to that atmosphere of the setting to assist and guide the game masters as much as possible, while still providing the freedom and creativity to shape the story the way they want and that fits their group the best.
Enter the Valley
Almsford, as said above by the amazing authors behind this book, is a place where once idyllic lives were lived, but now darkness has spawned and consumed the once peaceful valley. Inspired by rural folktales and eldritch horror, this book acts as a companion expansion to the DayLITE: Almsford setting book, giving tons of new details on characters within the towns, locations around there, and even offering legends connected to each town.
Megan and Cheyenne did a wonderful job bringing the valley to life, making sure that each of the eight towns felt alive and awake in their own way. You could easily run several arcs in one town, and then head down the road to the next! Accompanied with the stunning art that Eles and Kyaahri did for the interior, displaying several lore characters, and the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous cover from Thea, A Survivor's Almanac to Almsford is a necessity for anyone wanting to explore the misty valley more.