6th of OctDec, 1147 Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
I headed back to the Blue Wizard for breakfast and more conversation, but Angalm was actually busy at work, brokering deals with many villagers for grain, fresh vegetables, and whatever trinkets made his eyes twinkle.
By evening, he finally returned, but demanded a multiple course supper and most of the fine wine left at the Inn before he turned to storytelling. But alas, all were his best tales of Nevskia and The Weissmach, old sort for me, but prime attention grabbers for a new audience.
7th of OctDec, 1147
...Nothing of the sorts...
8th of OctDec, 1147
Again I caught Caton lurking at the bend in the Hydincall River near the Witch's hut, except this time it was early morning as I took a stroll of my own. I will need to confront him on these odd forays into the Nightwood, if to only allay my fears of one of my dear friends in Eding.
Angalm finally exhausted his normal trove of stories, plus a few zingers from his time around Barthey.
I asked about his travel through Markovia, and he had little, but when I mentioned Verbobonc, his eyes grew twice as big.
"Well... back in the Winter of '46..."
"Winters can be harsh at times in Verbobonc, but the whole territory was alarmed by a week-long storm that only affected the Kron Hills."
"Viscount Eger summoned a double patrol of the Verbobonc Lancers to assist with recovery in the region. Now, the Kron Hills are known for villages and towns of gnomes and dwarves that can burrow into and below the hillside, but with that much snow, it was certainly a search for survivors... and finding the bodies of those who didn't make it before the wolves out."
"But as soon as the Lancers started trudging throw the snowpack, they were beset by another storm of snow and ice..."
"The swirling and blinding snow made them confused and they quickly lost their place."
"The storm raged for four days, and the only way any survived was the Yarbay mage Feraydoon. The friend and ally of the Viscount constantly used his Horn of the Desert to keep the men from freezing to death."
"Once the storm subsided, they barely had the energy to escape the hills and report their failure back to Verbobonc City. "
"By the time of my arrival, the popular rumor around town was that something or someone has turned the winter into a savage beast, intentionally punishing the lands of the Kron Hills. The mage-advisor to the Viscount, Igrushan, searched within his Crystal of Farseeing and found the vision of an icy cave with the shadowed figure of someone who radiated a dark power silhouetted at its entrance. He could not pinpoint its source except to say that this is where the cold and ice was worst."
"Igrushan had, 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."
I was tempted right there to call false this tale of the Viscount's wizard. As far back as I've been granted tomes for research has the Viscount of Verbobonc has never had a wizard, but a mere two years out from my death and Eger has some third-rate mage from Feraso City, with his own tower just outside of Verbobonc City. I truly wish Andrei was still alive to witness this insufferable display of ineptitude!
I'm deeply troubled that Lord Eger, Viscount of Verbobonc, has completely fallen under the sway of Eastern magicks and faiths. The returning crusaders and protectors of Barthey against the Parthian Empire may have presented themselves as heroes, but they're failed charlatans, taking advantage of the good grace of nobles for their own unnecessary charity, and with it taint the masses with the wonders of the East.
The Lords of Myridius to the East need to stay in the East.
DM Notes: An amusing tale from a reunited friend about the old homeland. It is Angalm, so it could be complete bunk, but it could also be the influence of the Myridius Crusaders spreading westward
The Fereasean Mythos is a polytheistic religion with one very dominant god, Akana, God of the Law and Order. Almost every nation has established Akana as their state religion, so it wields tremendous power.
When that power needs to be flexed, and the vast nobility is relatively behaving themselves, a crusade or a simple expedition is called to vanquish the dreaded Parthian Empire.
However these assembled campaigns usually melt away at the first resistance from the first Parthian outpost along the border. Survivors have taken to plundering the Yarbay peoples and numerous tribes near the Khemmet Empire. With these riches, they have built great fortresses in this land, which is collectively called the Myridius City-States.
Except that most of these warriors were horrible managers of their own fortunes, and even worse with spending the ill-gotten gains on managing a domain far from home with a combative climate at times. Many a noble has gone broke and returned to Ras-Prythax to exchanged their tales of glory for food and a place to lay their head. And despite the initial crusade's intention to eradicate the Parthians, their returning nobles always bring back a piece of the culture, or that of Yarbay, or Khemmet. These influences are usually more noticeable in closer places like Vranios, or lingering in Feraso City, not to a distant western land like Verbobonc. The Krugraf usually quelled such taint, but perhaps the new Krugraf, Theuderic III is either unaware of the Parthian culture, or oddly welcoming to it?
Yes, this one I lifted entirely from Hall of the Mountain King. I'm never going to get the chance to design, much less play such a scenario, but someday, if I run a campaign that happens to revisit Verbobonc, I'll need to figure out what caused it, and the ramifications of the environment and how long it long a group of adventurers to solve the curse.
Next: #75 - The Second Tale
I headed back to the Blue Wizard for breakfast and more conversation, but Angalm was actually busy at work, brokering deals with many villagers for grain, fresh vegetables, and whatever trinkets made his eyes twinkle.
By evening, he finally returned, but demanded a multiple course supper and most of the fine wine left at the Inn before he turned to storytelling. But alas, all were his best tales of Nevskia and The Weissmach, old sort for me, but prime attention grabbers for a new audience.
7th of OctDec, 1147
...Nothing of the sorts...
8th of OctDec, 1147
Again I caught Caton lurking at the bend in the Hydincall River near the Witch's hut, except this time it was early morning as I took a stroll of my own. I will need to confront him on these odd forays into the Nightwood, if to only allay my fears of one of my dear friends in Eding.
Angalm finally exhausted his normal trove of stories, plus a few zingers from his time around Barthey.
I asked about his travel through Markovia, and he had little, but when I mentioned Verbobonc, his eyes grew twice as big.
"Well... back in the Winter of '46..."
"Winters can be harsh at times in Verbobonc, but the whole territory was alarmed by a week-long storm that only affected the Kron Hills."
"Viscount Eger summoned a double patrol of the Verbobonc Lancers to assist with recovery in the region. Now, the Kron Hills are known for villages and towns of gnomes and dwarves that can burrow into and below the hillside, but with that much snow, it was certainly a search for survivors... and finding the bodies of those who didn't make it before the wolves out."
"But as soon as the Lancers started trudging throw the snowpack, they were beset by another storm of snow and ice..."
"The swirling and blinding snow made them confused and they quickly lost their place."
"The storm raged for four days, and the only way any survived was the Yarbay mage Feraydoon. The friend and ally of the Viscount constantly used his Horn of the Desert to keep the men from freezing to death."
"Once the storm subsided, they barely had the energy to escape the hills and report their failure back to Verbobonc City. "
"By the time of my arrival, the popular rumor around town was that something or someone has turned the winter into a savage beast, intentionally punishing the lands of the Kron Hills. The mage-advisor to the Viscount, Igrushan, searched within his Crystal of Farseeing and found the vision of an icy cave with the shadowed figure of someone who radiated a dark power silhouetted at its entrance. He could not pinpoint its source except to say that this is where the cold and ice was worst."
"Igrushan had, 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."
I was tempted right there to call false this tale of the Viscount's wizard. As far back as I've been granted tomes for research has the Viscount of Verbobonc has never had a wizard, but a mere two years out from my death and Eger has some third-rate mage from Feraso City, with his own tower just outside of Verbobonc City. I truly wish Andrei was still alive to witness this insufferable display of ineptitude!
I'm deeply troubled that Lord Eger, Viscount of Verbobonc, has completely fallen under the sway of Eastern magicks and faiths. The returning crusaders and protectors of Barthey against the Parthian Empire may have presented themselves as heroes, but they're failed charlatans, taking advantage of the good grace of nobles for their own unnecessary charity, and with it taint the masses with the wonders of the East.
The Lords of Myridius to the East need to stay in the East.
DM Notes: An amusing tale from a reunited friend about the old homeland. It is Angalm, so it could be complete bunk, but it could also be the influence of the Myridius Crusaders spreading westward
The Fereasean Mythos is a polytheistic religion with one very dominant god, Akana, God of the Law and Order. Almost every nation has established Akana as their state religion, so it wields tremendous power.
When that power needs to be flexed, and the vast nobility is relatively behaving themselves, a crusade or a simple expedition is called to vanquish the dreaded Parthian Empire.
However these assembled campaigns usually melt away at the first resistance from the first Parthian outpost along the border. Survivors have taken to plundering the Yarbay peoples and numerous tribes near the Khemmet Empire. With these riches, they have built great fortresses in this land, which is collectively called the Myridius City-States.
Except that most of these warriors were horrible managers of their own fortunes, and even worse with spending the ill-gotten gains on managing a domain far from home with a combative climate at times. Many a noble has gone broke and returned to Ras-Prythax to exchanged their tales of glory for food and a place to lay their head. And despite the initial crusade's intention to eradicate the Parthians, their returning nobles always bring back a piece of the culture, or that of Yarbay, or Khemmet. These influences are usually more noticeable in closer places like Vranios, or lingering in Feraso City, not to a distant western land like Verbobonc. The Krugraf usually quelled such taint, but perhaps the new Krugraf, Theuderic III is either unaware of the Parthian culture, or oddly welcoming to it?
Yes, this one I lifted entirely from Hall of the Mountain King. I'm never going to get the chance to design, much less play such a scenario, but someday, if I run a campaign that happens to revisit Verbobonc, I'll need to figure out what caused it, and the ramifications of the environment and how long it long a group of adventurers to solve the curse.
Next: #75 - The Second Tale
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