Heading into the somber village, we see that some of the
buildings look to have been destroyed by something, and there are not a lot of
people out in the streets, and the whole village seems to be under a cloud of
despair. So we quickly make our way to the squat and solidly built Inn,
The Sign of the Wolf Spear
The Inn is owned by a man called Brogan, who
is also the father of Morgan . We ask the few tired patrons about
the sacrifice and are told about a group of adventurers who came through
several weeks ago, who claimed to be searching for the tomb of a mighty warlord
named Ulfheonar. The tomb is shaped like a vast serpent and
contains vast wealth and a mighty weapon of immense power. Those we talked to
say that they must have failed and released the tomb's guardian, a demon hound,
a hound that now stalks them. Nothing seems to be able to stop it, not walls,
not guards, not the Jarl or the Priest. The hound was smashing its way into
homes and ripping apart families and coating whole sections of the village in
blood. None of those who attempted to fight back or track it survived.
The Jarl now hides in his hall along with what remains of
his guard, and his seer Syliler Ru, the man who came up with the
sacrifice draw. Some of the villagers hide in the Chapel with the insane Priest
Beacom, who was driven to despair and thus madness. He now believes
that the only salvation is through the mortification of the flesh. His chapel
is now filled with people whipping themselves until the blood flows from their
ragged backs, as the Priest has told them that only through their blood and
suffering can the beast be appeased.
The Inn isn't the only place to stay, as there is a shelter
called the Three Rats, which seems to be aptly named. So far, we
have had no reason to go there, finding the Wolf Spear more to
our tastes.
So, hearing the villagers' tales, we committed to helping
them as much as we could, knowing that we would get no help from the broken
Jarl. We began to make plans. We now know that the tomb is to the north of the
village, whilst the demon dog heads to the swamps to the northeast after it's
kills, and both may need to be investigated. The Priest is spoken to, but
Beecom believes that only by the mortification of the flesh can the hound
be stopped. As his god Justica has told him that this and the
surrendering of all earthly wealth is the only way to wash away their sins and
get her protection.
The ancient chapel has a beautiful stained glass window
which shows Justica defeating this demon hound using a mighty warhammer.
This hammer still exists but is kept in the chapel waiting for the worthy; the
Priest will not use it nor will he let others. The Priest has two acolytes who
help him guard the hammer and are half-crazed due to them constantly whipping
themselves.
Genn stays at the Inn, gathering more information about the
lottery, the Seer and the Priest and learns that some suspect that the hound is
not a demon but rather a real creature trained by someone. When asked why
someone would do this, he is told that scared people are easier to control and
those who had the means to leave have left, leaving only the lost and desperate
in the village awaiting their fate.
Jacques leaves in search of a large net and is told that the
widow Yamay is the best weaver for miles around, and if anyone
could make a net strong enough to hold the hound, it would be her. Knocking at
her hut, he is met by an old crone, and it becomes quickly evident that she is
much more than just an old woman. She knows a lot about the situation and tells
Jacques that she can indeed make a net strong enough to hold the hound, but she
will need something in return, and what she wants is a husband. Jacques is
taken aback somewhat but agrees as he sees that she is old like him, and it
wouldn't be a long marraige and he could end up with some money and a home.
Also, if he survives the hound, the villagers and Jarl would surely be
grateful. Yamay laughing gets up from in front of her fire and
reaches up to the roof beams and begins to pull down withered heads. She
removes the few strands of hair that still cling to their dead flesh and begins
to turn the wheel, weaving the hair into a large net as a now worried Jacques
looks on in horror.
Genn, meanwhile, has arranged to get some supplies,
including a lot of flammable material and, more importantly, a few others who
will help us fight this creature. He also manages to get us a way to leave the
village after the gates are closed, as one of the Jarl's men who guards the
gate is in love with Morgan, his daughter (the woman currently
chained to one of the standing stones) and can be convinced to help. The young
man's name is Nothan of the night watch.
The village adventure comes with a priest, so I needed to
add a new go
JUSTICA, THE IRON SCALES God of the Susrahn Hillmen Origins
& Nature Before the great river-cities of Susrahn rose their ziggurat
temples to gods of grain and celestial fire, the hill clans of the interior
highlands worshipped older, crueler powers. Justica is the eldest of these —
not a god of justice as the civilized lowlanders might understand the word, but
of primal reckoning: the inexorable settling of debts, the balancing of blood
for blood, the grinding inevitability of consequence. He is imagined as a
colossal figure carved from black mountain granite, his face expressionless and
featureless save for two hollow pits where eyes should be. In one hand he holds
a great set of scales fashioned from iron and bone. In the other, a
flint-headed maul the size of a war-elephant. He does not pursue. He does not
rage. He simply waits, and the scales always come level in the end. The hillmen
say he was old when the world was young — that he watched the giant-kings raise
their cyclopean fortresses and said nothing, knowing their ledger would one day
balance. It did.
