NPC - Rhaine Wildwood
Rhaine Wildwood is a druid of the Old Faith who wanders the forests and mountains. He is encountered in the most unlikely places and often aids those in distress. While he promotes a balance in nature he has a preference for humankind and animals over humanoids and demi-humans. He hates monstrous creatures, giant and goblinkind.
During the giant invasion of Geoff he was a prominant figure at first aiding those fleeing from the giants and then in the fight to drive the giants and their allies and servants back into the mountains.
He possesses an enchanted spear called the Blood Tree. The blade is wooden but the enchantment makes it sharper than steel and it negates all non-magical armor treating opponents as if they were unarmored. The haft of the spear is a living limb from a Hornwood tree and once per day it can cause a Hornwood sapling to spring from the ground where it is rested. Such a tree will provide limbs that will make superior arrows, bows and spear hafts and the sapling will grow to maturity within a year.
Rhaine also possesses an item called the Wind Horn which can cause a gust of wind or summon a smnall wind elemental to aid him.
The Lost Library of Q'Sh -2
3). This massively long portico is littered with debris.
Presently it is home to a small band of goblins who are camped close to the main door. There are 12 of them with a 13th, an archer, standing guard by the doors at location 2). Of the twelve the leader is a small but solid goblin armed with a spiked mace, armored in a fresh shirt of padded leather and bearing a medium shield. He is AC5 and 7HP and fights as a 1HD monster. In combat he kicks his more cowardly fellows forward but trusts his other companions to follow where he leads so he is usually in the middle of the small group, neither rushing into combat nor lingering behind.
2 Goblins have shortbows, short swords and leather armor. They are AC7 and 3HP each. and fight as 1-1 creatures. Each has 20 arrows in their quivers and will move one to each side of their compatriots and try for flanking shots against their enemies. If they run out of arrows they will draw their shortswords and attack.
9 Goblins have either a mace or shortsword. With either small or medium shields. They are 4HP, AC6 and fight as 1-1 creatures.
All goblins wear small helms.
The leader carries the spending money for his group. A pouch with 27gp, 52sp, 39cp. The inside of his helm has a cloth lining containing 5pp and 3 small gems worth 25gp, 20gp and 10gp.
The portico is a long marble porch with pillars and a screen made of rusted iron lattice that allows people to peak out but makes it difficult to see in. The shortwall around the portico is 4ft high with the lattice running another 15feet to the overhanging roof.
The eastern side of the porch is the goblins latrine and the west is where they cook their meals and sleep. A large iron pot is simmering over a fire when first found and inside is some nameless though edible stew. Three large wooden barrels are breached nearby. one is an almost empty barrel of water, one is full and the third is a three quarters empty barrel of a thick ale. A pint of which is mildly intoxicating, 5 pints will make an average imbiber fairly drunk and 10 pints will render them disgustingly bloto. There are 35 pints worth left in the barrel. A wooden bucket is floating in the barrel of ale.
A dozen and a half piles of animal skins and ragged cloth make up the goblins' bedding. The chief sleeps on an overturned wooden bench with a thick bearskin and a lumpy pillow. All the bedding is indescribably filthy and rank. If the common bedding is searched 3 daggers, 18gp, 72 sp and an empty ivory scroll tube (worth 10gp) will be found.
The chief's bedding has beneath it a large two-handed sword and a man-sized shirt of chainmail. In the pillow is a fine cloak with a gold ruby-set pin. The pin radiates magic faintly and allows the wearer to speak with roses (and only roses) once a day if they know the command word. To the right buyer it is worth 200gp.
The doors to Location 6). have been smashed open and only fragmens of wood still dangle from the hinges.
The doors to location five are 10feet wide and 15feet high. They are unlocked but slightly warped. They open outward and it takes a combined strength of 30 to open them. Unfortunately the pull rings that were set in the door are missing and some means of grasping the door will need to be devised (which shouldn't be hard as a stout rope nailed to them with iron spikes should do the job).
3.1). This secret door defies natural detection and a search of the wall will reveal it with a -4 modifier to the attempt (it is really well-made). There is no latch or mechanism to open it from this side of the door. It is constructed of 1ft thick stone blocks, about half the thickness of the outer wall and opens by being raised into the ceiling by a counterweight that is released from location 8).
4). There is a mosaic here of an old man in robes holding a book with raised text. If three of the letters of the text are pressed simultaneously a latch will click and the door can be opened outward. Inside is a long hall. There are 2 sconces on each wall set about 10ft apart with the stubs of burned out torches and a stairway leading down to dungeon level 1.
The Black Pyramid of Skalesh
In the Littlemark the Border Companies scout the mountains of the Barrier Peaks for incursions of humanoid tribes as their compatriots keep watch on the northern border with Ket and spar with the Kettish Horse Guards along their side of the border. Avar Toth is an experienced scout among the Bisselite rangers who watch the mountain passes. For more than a week he has tracked a strange band of goblins who raided into Bissel and then suddenly retreated back through a fresh pathway that had recently been opened after an avalanche of stone brought down previously unpassable cliffs. What he found has turned him back toward human lands to warn of what he has seen.
Within the well-named Barrier Peaks he found a mountain carved into the shape of a pyramid, carved from black stone and swarming with a community of strange goblins. These are the Kazpek goblins; strangely civilized, unusually strong and squat of build. These goblins bred with the decadent remnants of a dwarven kingdom and the black pyramid, once a vast dwarven fortress lost so long ago that even the memory of its name has been forgotten.
Deep within the pyramid is the body of their God-Priest Skalesh, last of the line of Dwarven Kings, a monstrous combination of dwarf, goblin and daemon and his porgeny who he consumes to fuel his existence stretched further than any mortal should be allowed.
His pyramid-mountain sinks its dark roots into the UnderOerth and their he has warred with the Drow, the Kuo-Toa, the Deep Gnomes for centuries but he controls little more of the UnderOerth than he does of the upper realm. Now, after the great avalanche and collapse of the barrier cliffs, he has a way open toward the human lands of Bissel and then the Flanaess. His eye is toward extending his domain and his scouts are but the tip of a spear pointed east into the heart of Bissel.
The Lost Library of Q'Sh Part 1
References as to whom or what Q'Sh was are uninformative but the Library of Q'Sh is mentioned in several journals and histories as a minor location of sagacious lore among the Suel of the late Imperiuum. Until recently its location was unknown but several traders in Verbobonc have recently acquired items which bear the name and markings of Q'Sh.
A group of gnome miners exploring the eastern Kron Hills area in search of a famous but abandoned mine have come under attack by marauding goblin wolf-riders and their guild has both mounted a rescue mission and a placed a reward for the head of any goblins brought back to their guild house at the border outpost Laghevel. They have the intention of eventually seeing the area made safe for mining.
Hunters returning to the border fort report tracking goblins to a lightly wooded region where they were surprised to find the entrance to some large building cut into the side of one of the hills.
Note: The actions of creatures at location 2). will probably occur before characters reach location 1).
Location 1).
The stairs are marble and very worn. Several have been cracked into fragments and all are slick with a green fungal slime. Movement on the stairs is at 1/2 speed and anyone running on the stairs must make a fumble roll as do those initiating combat.
Combat on the stairs is at -2 to hit and combatants must roll a d20 at the start of each combat round in which they are attacking (before any attack roll can be a made) to see if they lose their balance.
(a natural roll of 5 or less is a critical fumble and any item held in hand or hands will be dropped while 1d4 damage is taken and the combatant will tumble down the stairs with the possibility of tumbling into someone below them who then must roll to see if they fall as well whether they were attacking, defending or not. These fumble rolls are taken separately so that a combatant may have to roll more than once to see if they lose their balance or are knocked over by someone else losing their balance).
(a natural roll of 10 or less results in a combatant losing their footing and falling to their knees or back on their butt and suffering 1hp damage as well as giving any attacker a +2 to their to hit roll. Any attack they were attempting to make will be negated).
The green slime upon the stairs is a living organism but is harmless. It may be consumed and is both tasty and nutritious. 8 ounces of slime is = to one day's rations. It consumes vegetable matter and can double in size once a week if fed 4 times its starting weight daily, but it needs to be stored in a cold and damp environment or it will dry out and die in a day. 5 gallons of slime can be collected from the front stairs.
2). These are massive wooden doors each 15ft wide and 15ft tall bound in brass, but heavily battered. The righthand door is wedged in place and must be broken, burnt or somehow dismantled to remove it. It will not open. Any force strong enough to break the hinges free and move the warped wooden portal will tear it apart in an explosion of splintered fragments and heavy bands of brass (50gp worth of brass can be removed from these doors).
The lefthand door is split across its center and the lower half (about 4ft up from the bottom) is partially open; enough for a man to slip inside. Sheltered in the doorway is a 3hp goblin archer. He bears a shortbow, leather armor and shortword. He has 16 arrows in his quiver and will fire at maximum range toward anyone approaching the stairs. He is normally AC6 but with the partial cover of the splintered doorway he is AC2.
When he runs out of arrows or when characters begin to ascend the stiars the goblin archer will withdraw and the goblins at location 3), will begin to fan out along the top of the stairs.
Strange tales from the Shield Lands speak of wandering armored figures that kill anything in their path. These figures once defeated prove to bodiless suits of armor that quickly decay to a bloody rust, their weapons as well. An Enchanter-Mage in service to a local lord believes them to be autonmata or golems of some sort.
Their path of destruction leads from the lands of the Horned Society. 3 so far have been encountered and there is a dread that there will be more to follow.
Unbeknowest to those outside the Horned Society is that members who have died are entombed in a great hall upright in their armor with their weapons near. The spirits of the dead are now dwellers in one of the Nine Hells but some link to their mortal shell remains. Several of the Hierarchs are using a dark ritual to animate these remains and are sending them forth against the Shield Landers, but they have no real control over these armored spirits who now find existence on the Oerth intolerable.
The Hierarchs simply encase the armored bodies in a temporary sarcophagus and place it with the borders of the Shield Lands. At a safe distance they activate a ward which opens the sarcohagus pointing toward the Shield Lands while hoping for the best. So far the ritual allows for only one of the armored spirits to be animated at a time but plans are underway for a more powerful ceremony.
NPC - Derek Spikebeard
Derek Spikebeard is a cad and a villain. So say the merchants of the lands south and east of Geoff, but to the farmers of that ravished land he is something of a hero. The son of a farmer himself Derek left before the giants and their allied horrors descended from their mountainous homes to plunder and destroy. He was strong and wiry, quick and steady in the face of danger. It made him a good candidate for a guardsman of the eastern bandit lords who always needed more swordfodder in their continual internecine conflicts. Derek joined the company of Lord Stonetower whose lands bordered the Rift Canyon and who fought the Rovers of the Barrens as often as his own neighboring lords
The fighting grew to open warfare during the time of Bandit Kings' War in 578cy and Derek survived more battles in a year than had been seen in the last fifty. From a novice, untrained with weapons or armor, he became a bannerman, then a sergeant in the service of Lord Stonetower. Then came the Beastmen from the Rift in such numbers as had never been seen before. They overwhelmed several of the Bandit Kings till many keeps and castles became islands in an ocean of death and fire. Derek accompanied the expedition which struck deep into the Rift and found the black rock and the cavern of darkness that lead to a fortress beneath the earth built by no human hand. Few returned from that expedition. Derek and a dozen others alone and none would speak of what they had seen.
Derek now wore the armor of slain Lord Stonewater who fell beneath the Rift and bore his sword, a powerful blade that drank the blood of any it touched. With his small band of survivors he made his way through the bands of beastmen, cutting them down when he had to, avoiding them when he could. In the south he waylaid a shipment of ale from the first passing merchant he came across. From there his depredations grew in scale as did his band of followers. From north to south he robs and waylays. Along the eastern coast he sometimes takes ship to the ports of the Great Kingdom to sell his goods, but in the west he returns to his homeland and recruits men as the Chieftains of old had done. In his homeland he is generous with his coin and well-liked by the people who are more than happy to give him safehaven when he needs it and thumb their noses at the merchants and Lords of the surrounding lands.
Ankhegs in Istivin
During the invasion of Geoff by the Giants and their allies the Earl of Sterich sent many troops to aid the Geoffites and only a minimum of guardsmen were left behind to man the walls of the capital. It was during this time that an infestation of Ankhegs occured. These large beasts first appeared amid the outlying farms but soon dozens were tunneling into Istivin itself. A large bounty was placed on Ankhegs and many adventurers turned aside from their pursuits to aid those of Istivin and pocket some gold.
They Earl has created a small reaction force that reponds to the latest appearances and depredations of these monsters but what is really needed is for a group to follow the tunnels and destroy the lair of these creatures and whatever nest or nests that is producing them. For this the earl is willing to reward the adventurers handsomely as well as giving them a base of operations within the city and whatever aid he can spare now and in future endeavors. Current aid will only cover resonable requests and minimal expenditure. Future aid has the promise of much greater reward.
When the Ankegs appear they grab what food they can, human, humanoid or animal, drag it back into their burrow and collapse it behind them. A recent incursion beneath the tavern Saucy Sue, a popular place for offduty guardsmen and adventurers, was able to kill all the attacking Ankhegs and leave open the entrance to their tunnels. A guard has been kept on the opening in the cellar of the tavern and some adventurers have remained in the upper-rooms of the half-ruined tavern for the free accomodations.
Magic Item - Rhopalocera - The Knife of Butterflys
Elene of Furyondy, an adventurerous and enchantress discovered this weapon in an ancient Suel dungeon in the Stark Mounds recently and while its origins are still unknown it appears to be of pre-Imperium craft.
The blade is of enchanted bronze while the hilt is of meteoric iron with a large tourmaline gem-stone set in the pommel. A simple bronze ring matches this dagger but no sheath was found. It is theorized that the blade was meant for sacrfices though Elene has reported that she has used it as both a fighting weapon and an item of power. The only hint of ritualistic use is from a symbol on the ring associated with the ancient Suel ceremony of the spring equinox and that the blade glows brightly golden at that time.
As a fighting blade Elene slew a werewolf of the Menowood and wounds caused by the seemed to burn it with a silver fire. Metal armor also appears to part easily at the touch of the blade and undead shy from it.
When grasping the hilt of the knife while wearing the ring Elene has been able to summon a golden light at will as bright as a lantern and once per day call upon a cloud of metal butterflys to appear in a bluish glow from the tourmaline on the pommel. These butterflys will either surround her in a defensive cloud for up to ten minutes or attack in a 10x10 cloud of razor-edged wings powerful enough to eviscerate an average orc in a single instance of combat or deal damage to a more powerful foe for up to ten. After that the butterflys turn back into a bluish cloud of glowing light and disappear. If there are greater abilities of the knife Elene has not yet discovered them.
NPC - Bohdan Opensky Chief of Wardogs Rovers of the Barrens
The Bespled Uday as the Rover's call themselves have never seen a less tenacious leader than Bohdan Vedkrenbo (Opensky in the common tongue) leader of the Boyvasodak (Wardogs). Though great were their losses after the Battle of the Opicm they have proven to still be a formidable force. Too many are old warrior men and women brought back to the lance and bow and too many are young women and men who have just earned their first sword of adulthood with no enemy blood having slicked their blades.
Bohdan is young to be not only a chief but the Ataman of the Standards, the bloody red flag, but his elders died at Opicm as did the greater number of the Rover host. He is not a tall man, or big across the shoulders and chest as some Rovers, but he is like a spring made of steel and as wild and strong as a tiger in combat. He loves humor and he is most often smiling and laughing. His people adore him. Under his leadership the Rovers have pulled back to their most secure hunting grounds. He has vowed that the Rovers will gather strength again and if not in his lifetime then with some future generation they will have vengeance upon this incarnation of the Horned Society and upon its traitor founder, the Rover Shaman-Chief Toszar Khan.
NPC - The Raven Queen Revealed
As the wolf-rider invasion embroils Verbobonc in unexpected war the strangest of allies appear. Who she is no one knows, but she is an enemy to goblin-kind.
From the Welkwood across the forested hills and into the Gnarley Forest, through the desolate ruins of villages destroyed during the recent rise and defeat of the Temple of Elemental Evil she has walked and her cloud of Ravens has been with her, protecting her, surrounding her like a living cloud of wings.
Not even the druids have spoken to her though they have approached her and made what gestures of peace they could she has only recently acknowledged these attempts, opened armed and with a graceful bow before once again disappearing within her murder of crows.
This known, she has harmed no human, humanoid or wild beast but when she passes through a goblin band or monster with evil intent only the well-picked bones of wolf, goblin or wicked creature remain behind. The druids have sworn her no harm and the Viscount has proclaimed that she is to be left in peace. Other of both good and evil intent wish to know more about her and a great deal of coin is offered for this information. This reward to be paid by interested parties within the City of Verbobonc.
City - Highport 579cy
Once a bastion of trade and civilization Highport now rivals the Hobgoblin infested towns of the Horned Society in its despair and evil, only more so. Trade still flourishes within the city and the docks are in good repair and constant use. Highport is a slavers' paradise and a refuge for the worst dregs of human and demi-humankind in the Flanaess.
It has been over a century and half since the orcs of the Pomarj sacked the city and few of the original buildings still stand with only the great keep and the repaired outerwalls a memory of what had once been.
The keep is set into the side of a great hill and this has been honeycombed with warrens for the orc tribe, the Cracked Skulls or Nedla as they are called by the Scarlet Brotherhood. While the orcs retain control of the keep most of their thousands dwell within the hill and the adminstration of the city is put in the hands of a reviled half-breed who is no more than a puppet for the Scarlet Brotherhood and commands neither orcs or respect.
The city itself is dangerous to any who do not show outward strength and even then pitched battles between humanoids, religeous sects and various gang and pirate leaders is common. Only the Dock Quarter is safe and under the control of a council of slavers and pirates. Several powerful wizards, necromancers and sorcerers have dwellings in the city and there mansions and estates scattered among the ruins and tenements. The old towers and fortress gates are used as strongholds for one tribe, gang or organization or another and the city no longer has or needs an organized defense (and certainly nothing like a city watch). The temples to several evil deities are within the walls and provide their own protection against the other city dwellers.
The closest thing to shops and a trade area are within the Dock Quarter which also has the largest free human population but slaves of all races abound within the city and auction square juts out from the Dock Quarter to allow access to any within the city who have slaves to sell or desire to purchase. It is active on a daily basis but flourishes when the either the slaves ships arrive at port or the various tribes drag in processions of captives from successful raids from the Pomarj and beyond.
Project - Demons and Devils of the Flanaess - Buer
Buer is a Devil and devoted servant to Asmodeus, a commander of Pitfiends. He as been brought to Oerth through the combined power of the Hierarchs of the Horned Society and the sacrifice of a thousand sentient beings.
His time among the Hierarchs is extremely limited and his purpose is to link each Hierarch to a Pit Fiend who will dwell in a burning piece of the Hells worn as an amulet by each Hierarch to be brought forth only in dire necessity.
This is only the 2nd time in the last century that Buer has been called from the first layer of the nine Hells. A great war is brewing between the Devils, Demons and Daemons. Buer commands hundreds of Pit Fiends as well as lesser Devils but he knows that the Abyss swarms with Demons and is greatly displeased to lose any of them to the Hierarchs, but Asmodeus commands and he obeys.
While immensely powerful Buer is at his weakest while on Oerth and a Demonic force is set to decend upon him at any moment to cage him and have him brought to the Abyss.
NPC - Ragnar Wolfsbane - Mercenary Captain
Ragnar Wolfsbane is an exiled Schnai warrior but so ferocious and esteemed a leader he atracts followers like crows to a battlefield. Many Schnai warriors seek him out to join his band. He can be found from the Solnor Ocean to Densac Gulf with a small fleet of Longships, but he is no raider. Ragnar instead sells his sword and those of his followers to any who will pay.
He is reknowned for his Silver-Sword and silvered armor, powerfully enchanted. Ragnar's family were killed by werewolves and he cannot abide lycanthropes of any sort. His sword, Moonkissed can detect werewolves and is a powerful weapon against them. His armor grants him immunity from their curse and weakens any werewolf that he comabts with. He wears the flayed hide of a great greywolf as his cloak.
Currently it is said he commands seven longship and a varied band of three hundred warriors.
Organization - The Cult of Steel
579cy The Shield Lands are hard pressed. The Horned Society pushing from the north and west, the Bandit Kingdoms with mysterious support pushing from north and east. The Nyr Dyv filled with pirates and raiders. From the turmoil something new has arisen.
In the Shield Lands the faith of good men and women has been tested and the strength of the gods has been found wanting. A belief in the power of armor to protect and a keen edge to avenge is growing, has taken hold and the new faith is in the Cult of Steel.
Warriors and Blacksmiths, Dwarves and Humans, the power of Steel has enchanted more men than metal, but all cultists, from the lowliest new recruit or apprentice to the master-smith and high priest bears some graven blade or piece of armor blessed and dweomencrafted with some enchantment.
Steel Cultist keep their beliefs secret and their membership hidden, even among themselves. In their hidden forge-shrines they are cowled and often helmed or masked only showing their marks of rank to each other. In the outer world the serve as soldiers, blacksmiths, thieves, adventurers, mercenaries but can reveal themselves to other Culist through the emblem of hammer and blade.
Cultist seek weapons, armor and items of enchantment. These are brought to the Priest/Smiths who will reform them into enchanted weapons and armor specifically crafted for the indvidual cultist. A cultist grows in rank through achievements as well aquisitions. The higher the rank the more powerful the armor and weapons and the greater feats of daring and hard won victories required. Cultist armor and weapons are kept hidden from non-cultists and only worn on missions and quests or within-the forge shrines.
As the cult grows some members choose to renounce their former lives and dedicate themselves entirely to the cult. They will then mask or hide their features permenantly and openly wear their armor among the uninitiated in the wider world. In the Shield Lands such cultist are no long a rarity and the cult is spreading outward across the Flanaess.
NOTE: Inspired by the Mandalorian ep 3.
Place - The Ruins of Castleton
Castleton is located about 10 miles East of Seaton on the coast road. There was a small fishing village to the north of it but it was almost completely decimated during the Sahuagin conflict of 576cy. Castleton itself was overrun and most of its population slaughtered in the town though the keep and tower survived.
Lord Guilford, an aging and cowardly man, closed the gates of the keep to the townsfolk which resulted in a mutiney among his guards. It was too late for the people of the town and not enough to do more than drive the Sahuagin back into the sea.
The guards returned to the keep to take vengeance upon Guilford but no sign of him could be found. The castle was looted and abandoned, the town in ruins and the village of fishermen destroyed.
It is said that the place is haunted and few venture near. Someone may live within as lights can be seen to twinkle among the shells of houses and from the tower which dominates the landscape around.
Winter in Verbobonc 579cy
A patrol of Verbobonc Lancers caught in a summoned storm of cold and ice within the Kron Hills.
Somewhere in the Kron Hills something or someone has turned the winter into a savage beast that is punishing the lands of the Kron Hills and southern Verbobonc. The mage-advisor to the viscount, Istarnus, has searched within his crystal of farseeing and found the vision of an icy cave with the shadowed figure of someone who radiates a dark power silhouted at its entrance. He cannot pinpoint its source except to say that this is where the cold and ice is worst.
A double patrol of lancers was dispatched with the Ekbirite mage Feraydoon, a friend and allie of the viscount, aiding them. Even with Feraydoon's Horn of the Desert they barely survived the fierce blizzards called down upon them.
Istarnus has, with the help of the Verbobonc mages' guild, created powerful amulets of unmelting ice that should protect the wearers from the worst of the summoned cold. The viscount will provide these amulets and a suitable reward to any adventurers willing to brave this unknown power and bring it to an end.
NPC - Renalto the Fabulous - Minstrel (Inn of the Welcome Wench)
Renalto the Fabulous of Hardby on his way to Verbobonc from parts south. The stop-over in Hommlet proved to be longer than anticipated as he missed the stage while releaving himself in an alley between out buildings at the Inn of the Welcome Wench.
The minstrel is truly a bard and one of great skill as well as being an agent of the Gynarch. His favorite persona is that of the arrogant though talented Renalto. He has recently come from both Celene of the Gnome elders of the Kron Hills on a delicate diplomatic mission regarding the missing daughter of the Gynarch. He is pursuing inquiries in Hommlet where she was last seen and has purposefully missed his stage to Verbobonc.
Three other patrons of the Welcome Wench, a small band of adventurers as the appear, are also agents of the Gynarch and the group are preparing a journey to Nulb where the trail now leads.
NPC - Alfreda outside the Inn of the Welcome Wench - Hommlet
Alfreda is one of the new serving girls at the Inn of the Welcome Wench. After the coming of the adventurers in 576 who reclaimed the old moat house and saved Prince Thrommel from his imprisonment in the Temple of Elemental Evil the fortunes of Hommlet have been on the upswing and so have the fortunes of the Inn.
Alfreda is a woman of the Old Faith and Jaroo believes she has a calling as a druidess but for the nonce she helps support her parents and family by working at the Inn. Soon she needs to make her decision on whether to dedicate herself to the Old Faith or lead a more simple village life as a follower.
Her family are fairly devout and are hoping she chooses the druidic path though they fret over the seperation and danger it will mean for their daughter.
Ship - The Styrkarsarjar - The Sea Strength
The Strykarsarjar is a Fruzti longship, In late 579cy it joined a force of several dozen ships and sailed south to raid and trade down the eastern coast of the Flanaess, but during a terrible fog became seperated from the others and has sailed into the deeper and unknown waters of the east.
Luckily an island was spotted and good harborage found in time to ride out a beastly storm. The island possessed a fire mountain throwing a black plume of smoke into the air and appeared to be of a good size. On arrival the ship was attacked by several boatloads of pig-faced orcs, perhaps expecting to come upon some stranded merchantman or trade ship. The Fruzti warriors, skalds, and priests put them all to the sword and axe and seized a number of the small-craft for their own use.
The ships compliment is 63. Two skalds, seven priests, three druids and fifty-one warriors of varying experience. They are all members of the Sarjar tribe or allies of good standing. The ship master is the Tor-ish priest Asger and a good number of the Sarjar tribe of Fruzti are Tor worshippers and four of the other priests are of Tor while one is a follower of Veylund and the other of Fray the Oerth-Mother. The skalds are servants of Votan as are all Fruzti skalds while most of the female warriors (23 of the compliment) know at least a smattering of the Sedr magic.
The ship is low on supplies of fresh water as several kegs came loose in the storm and where cracked open. Sylvi, the leader of the warriors, plans to take half the crew to the beach in three of the captured pig-orc boats and find some drinkable water and fresh-meat. Loot would be nice as well but the pig-orcs possessed little of value and she expects nothing more to bloody their spears.
NPC - Paega - Priestess of Nerull
Little is known of Paega's past or if she is entitrely human. She is one of the prime servants of Nerull in Rel Astra and the most feared. Where she goes she does not just bring death, she brings suffering and fear. Murder in its most grusome and random sense is her form of devotion to Nerull.
Her left arm is withered and at its touch she can wither flesh as if it was weeks dead. Her right arm is swollen and green as if it were rotting in the sun and her right hand is clawed, her findertips like knives. She wears a pale mask with dark eyeless pits that drip blood. Those who stare into that abyss can become blinded as their own eyes leak blood. One look into those eyeless depths will cause weeks of restless nightmares.
Paega has been killed several times and each time Nerull has brought her back to plague the Oerth.
