WEISSMACH LETTER #4
Village of Krigsgrave, Duchy of Sandomir, The Weissmach
To His Lordship, the Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc,
After our crazed state that may or may not have involved some unexpected ointment, tincture, or alchemical mixture, our travels through The Weissmach were much more sedate. The subjects of each dominion are all hearty, friendly folk, but I beg my Lord, if you were to speak with these people, do NOT bring up the prospect of becoming a subject of our illustrious Krugraf Mykul. The simple drink-buying folk turn near-homicidal with rage of that scenario.
We traveled into the Duchy of Sandomir, famed for its Ten Citadels... and not much else.
The capital of each of the ten small baronies within the duchy are entirely encapsulated in these stone fortresses. Markets, businesses, and tradespeople all live within the walls, and most farms surrounding the citadel are laid out so each farmhouse is closest to the citadel, so even the farmers' families and hired hand have a chance to dash for the security of the capital.
Unfortunately, this rampant safety has cultivated a severe sense of paranoia from outsiders. Our simple request for shelter and a meal, paid with our own coin, was met with a hostility better suited for an goblin warband, or advance scouts for a Galmar Barbarian horde.
Luckily, there are other villages that dot the landscape that are not so worrisome of outsiders. It may have cost a bit more in coin and time, but we could get our bare necessities attended to, including new shoes on some of the horses.
This process seemed to work fine until we reach the ghost town that was Krigsgrave. Not a soul remained in the town, but there obvious signs of somewhat recent activity. Cold, but relatively recent ashes in the fireplaces, buildings in good repair. Just not a living soul around.
... and a giant collection of burial burrows (barrows?) just outside of town.
Expecting the worst, we ventured over to the storehouse of the dead... and a lone horse poorly tethered to some shrubs or overgrowth surrounding the barrows. Most of the barrows were large, but so old that nature had taken over and hidden most of their sinister purposes.
But one barrow stood out. One that was twenty-five foot tall than the rest. One that had a metal door installed at its base. One whose door was already ajar.
Inside, the secondary burial chambers were completely bare, save a recently deceased body. His cause of death was a horrendously powerful cleave from a sword, but his still decomposing head had been recently smashed by something blunt.
There was one already opened interior door left to look, and our streetwise Rolgrim Snakecloud could make out the sounds of sobbing on the otherside.
I risked the group's safety and simply inquired, "Hello?"
A female voice demanded my name and station and I risked my own safety to stick my head through to show manners while giving introduction.
Inside the room was a lone raven-haired woman, leaning up against a black basalt bier with her elbows, hands covering most of her face. The stone appeared to have had an previously dead occupant on it not too long ago.
Simply explaining our arrival in town and our concern for the missing villagers lowered tensions. The woman stood up, grabbed a mace and her shield and formally introduced herself as Celeste Sonnage de la Souer, traveling priestess of Akana.
She explained many weeks ago, she had arrived in town alone, and had been given a task by the village elders. The burial mounds were a mixture of Galmar Barbarians and heroic Ferasean defenders from the First Barbarian Incursion, but the larger grave was of the great General Balfas. Signs of evil goings-on, sacrificed animals, damaged property, and general chaos had recently started, with an eventual note stating that General Balfas demanded wealth from the living. Their limited coffers were basically run dry, so the elders asked her to help solve their problem.
But soon after that was agreed upon, a group of adventurers arrived in town. They not only seemed unconcerned by the village's plight, they caroused so much that Celeste found herself traveling with them the following morning, avoiding the quest altogether, and becoming their cleric.
After weeks of travel, the group had a falling out, and she journeyed back to Krigsgrave to discover the village empty.
The few clues she discovered direct the villagers to a horrible fate. The lone body in the burrow was a common thug, extorting money from the villagers until the pretense of a risen General Balfas. That worked well, until General Balfas somehow did return from the dead and slew the impostor. The side chambers should have had his elite guard to protect him in the afterlife and, with the General, the guard, and the townsfolk missing, she could only surmise one reason.
Balfas was raising an army to travel west and counter-attack the barbarians... a few hundred years late.
With our own cleric of Akana, Alwin Warmark, vetting her status with the church and her story, we agreed to assist Celeste find the missing villagers....
It wasn't until we rode off at daybreak that the true surprise was revealed.
The "heroes" who convinced this distraught women to forgo her promised duties for a life of luxury and combat was none other than Talanth Blackash and his crew....
Your Servant
Elsderth Greyhawk
DM Notes: I believe that Necropolis by Nigel Finley in Dungeon Magazine #16, was another adventure that our group never finished. I may have allowed them to capture/kill the imposter, and give back the villages meager possessions, but they wanted nothing to do with other issues, so they traveled on.
Celeste is my younger sister Mary's first D&D character. Of course, we got her to roll up a cleric. She did survive a few sessions, leveled up once or twice, and went on her merry way. Hopefully, we'll get a few more details in the coming weeks.
Next: #24 The Stranglehold of Genral Balfas
Village of Krigsgrave, Duchy of Sandomir, The Weissmach
To His Lordship, the Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc,
After our crazed state that may or may not have involved some unexpected ointment, tincture, or alchemical mixture, our travels through The Weissmach were much more sedate. The subjects of each dominion are all hearty, friendly folk, but I beg my Lord, if you were to speak with these people, do NOT bring up the prospect of becoming a subject of our illustrious Krugraf Mykul. The simple drink-buying folk turn near-homicidal with rage of that scenario.
We traveled into the Duchy of Sandomir, famed for its Ten Citadels... and not much else.
The capital of each of the ten small baronies within the duchy are entirely encapsulated in these stone fortresses. Markets, businesses, and tradespeople all live within the walls, and most farms surrounding the citadel are laid out so each farmhouse is closest to the citadel, so even the farmers' families and hired hand have a chance to dash for the security of the capital.
Unfortunately, this rampant safety has cultivated a severe sense of paranoia from outsiders. Our simple request for shelter and a meal, paid with our own coin, was met with a hostility better suited for an goblin warband, or advance scouts for a Galmar Barbarian horde.
Luckily, there are other villages that dot the landscape that are not so worrisome of outsiders. It may have cost a bit more in coin and time, but we could get our bare necessities attended to, including new shoes on some of the horses.
This process seemed to work fine until we reach the ghost town that was Krigsgrave. Not a soul remained in the town, but there obvious signs of somewhat recent activity. Cold, but relatively recent ashes in the fireplaces, buildings in good repair. Just not a living soul around.
... and a giant collection of burial burrows (barrows?) just outside of town.
Expecting the worst, we ventured over to the storehouse of the dead... and a lone horse poorly tethered to some shrubs or overgrowth surrounding the barrows. Most of the barrows were large, but so old that nature had taken over and hidden most of their sinister purposes.
But one barrow stood out. One that was twenty-five foot tall than the rest. One that had a metal door installed at its base. One whose door was already ajar.
Inside, the secondary burial chambers were completely bare, save a recently deceased body. His cause of death was a horrendously powerful cleave from a sword, but his still decomposing head had been recently smashed by something blunt.
There was one already opened interior door left to look, and our streetwise Rolgrim Snakecloud could make out the sounds of sobbing on the otherside.
I risked the group's safety and simply inquired, "Hello?"
A female voice demanded my name and station and I risked my own safety to stick my head through to show manners while giving introduction.
Inside the room was a lone raven-haired woman, leaning up against a black basalt bier with her elbows, hands covering most of her face. The stone appeared to have had an previously dead occupant on it not too long ago.
Simply explaining our arrival in town and our concern for the missing villagers lowered tensions. The woman stood up, grabbed a mace and her shield and formally introduced herself as Celeste Sonnage de la Souer, traveling priestess of Akana.
She explained many weeks ago, she had arrived in town alone, and had been given a task by the village elders. The burial mounds were a mixture of Galmar Barbarians and heroic Ferasean defenders from the First Barbarian Incursion, but the larger grave was of the great General Balfas. Signs of evil goings-on, sacrificed animals, damaged property, and general chaos had recently started, with an eventual note stating that General Balfas demanded wealth from the living. Their limited coffers were basically run dry, so the elders asked her to help solve their problem.
But soon after that was agreed upon, a group of adventurers arrived in town. They not only seemed unconcerned by the village's plight, they caroused so much that Celeste found herself traveling with them the following morning, avoiding the quest altogether, and becoming their cleric.
After weeks of travel, the group had a falling out, and she journeyed back to Krigsgrave to discover the village empty.
The few clues she discovered direct the villagers to a horrible fate. The lone body in the burrow was a common thug, extorting money from the villagers until the pretense of a risen General Balfas. That worked well, until General Balfas somehow did return from the dead and slew the impostor. The side chambers should have had his elite guard to protect him in the afterlife and, with the General, the guard, and the townsfolk missing, she could only surmise one reason.
Balfas was raising an army to travel west and counter-attack the barbarians... a few hundred years late.
With our own cleric of Akana, Alwin Warmark, vetting her status with the church and her story, we agreed to assist Celeste find the missing villagers....
It wasn't until we rode off at daybreak that the true surprise was revealed.
The "heroes" who convinced this distraught women to forgo her promised duties for a life of luxury and combat was none other than Talanth Blackash and his crew....
Your Servant
Elsderth Greyhawk
DM Notes: I believe that Necropolis by Nigel Finley in Dungeon Magazine #16, was another adventure that our group never finished. I may have allowed them to capture/kill the imposter, and give back the villages meager possessions, but they wanted nothing to do with other issues, so they traveled on.
Celeste is my younger sister Mary's first D&D character. Of course, we got her to roll up a cleric. She did survive a few sessions, leveled up once or twice, and went on her merry way. Hopefully, we'll get a few more details in the coming weeks.
Next: #24 The Stranglehold of Genral Balfas
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