Headless Valley

Basic Information

Headless Valley is a specific region (Lat: 61.25 Long: -124.5) of the South Nahanni River valley (Canada) said to encompass a lost world complete with tropical forests, murderously savage natives, and a myriad of mysterious creatures ranging from 'Bear Dogs' to Sasquatch. The legend of Headless Valley is unusual in that it is fairly modern, having originated in 1908, following the discovery of two decapitated miners in the region of the South Nahanni River. Since that time, several other disappearances and murders have been documented in the region.

Sources

Bibliography

1. Map Coordinates of Headless Valley

2. Nahanni National Park Reserve at Wikipedia

3. Headless Valley in Time Magazine (1947)

4. Bear Dogs of Headless Valley at The Cryptid Zoo

5. National Film Board of Canada documentary video clip

6. Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved excerpt

7. Arcana Wiki Map entry

Game and Story Use

• Headless Valley is real — there is a hidden tropical valley, savage natives and bear dogs do roam the thick rain forest, sasquatch loom in the shadows, and undiscovered gold awaits you!
  • The PCs are hired by the descendant of an old gold miner to accompany him deep into the Nahanni National Park Reserve, where he claims that he knows the location of a rich gold vein. Unwittingly, the PCs are lead into the confines of Headless Valley.
  • The PCs are alerted to the presence of a space/time anomaly located in the Nahanni National Park Reserve by the organization that they work for. They are dispatched to investigate the phenomena and find themselves in a strange alternate world… the Headless Valley of legend.
  • A weekend rafting trip goes horribly wrong when the rafters make their way up an overgrown fork of the South Nahanni River to pitch tents for the night. The fork in the river opens up into the fabled Headless Valley where the weekend warriors must fend for their lives.
• The legends of Headless Valley are greatly exaggerated, but there do exist lost mines and natives who view miners as unwelcome interlopers in the Nahanni River valley.
  • In the Summer of 1908, the PCs are aspiring miners who mount an expedition to stake their own claim on the mine of the murdered MacLeod brothers who were recently found decapitated on the shores of the South Nahanni River.
  • The Nahanni River valley still holds great wealth in modern times and, while the danger of native attack is greatly minimized, any mining in the national park is strictly prohibited (which presents its own, unique, set of challenges for PCs to overcome).