9th of OctDec, 1147 Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Angalm Zhule continues to be a font of useless knowledge in every direction the compass can point.
For the last two days, while his henchmen finished up the last business details, the merchant has sat in the Blue Wizard, drank impressive, and told of everything from the peat bogs of Cyrum, to thumb wrestling Galmar barbarians for yak's milk. Perhaps I should write each one down, but by the end of the day, I am simply exhausted listening to the man.
But after hours of nonsense talk, the old man regaled another update of the homeland, and in particular, one very famous temple that resulted in the death of Baron Greyhawk.
The latest assault on the temple was far more disastrous than the fake correspondence led on. Hundreds perished from every rank of society, many wives were left widowed, yet there's still no confirmation that the raid on the temple was successful, much less the raid crippled their power once again.
The biggest impact in the Viscounty took place in the Village of Hommlet. Hundreds of men living near and around the temple took up arms and were never seen again. The economy of the village was ruined.. until the wherewithal of the women took over, led by a young lady name June Bertau.
June Bertau's family were recent additions to Hommlet, having only live and farmed in the village for thirty-odd years after leaving Westhaven under mysterious circumstances. Being staunch adherents to Akana in a village with casual devotion to Guya kept them apart from the old families, but it appeared that June was destined to live and die in Hommlet.
When the Temple (of Elemental Evil, that's the way Angalm calls it.) began to rise in power again, hundreds of volunteers and soldiers descended onto the village. Whether Leandro of Ispatlia, a cleric of Akana and an adventurer, ever meant to return and marry June as he'd promise proved a moot point as he was lost during the attack, and just like Baron Greyhawk, his body was never recovered.
June would not accept this, (although her parents were secretly ecstatic.) Their daughter, never a religious person before, prayed to Akana constantly, for justice and vengeance, and then, to her parent's dismay, joined the Church of Akana.
There was one problem. All of the church leaders in Hommlet's temple had be recruited to assist in the assault on the temple, and no one, not even the senior priest, had returned.
June was not the only girl grieving from the casualties against the Temple of Elemental Evil. Dozens of girls who lost parents, husbands, relatives, friends, and loved ones flocked to Akana in those early dark days and June found herself comforting them, nurturing them, and ultimately, leading them.
This came as a shock to the village faithful, and most dismissed them as weak girls clinging to hope, but then the miraculous occurred. Many of the women, including June, were bestowed the divine blessings of Akana himself, just as the traditional priests were.
A few called witchcraft, but with a lack of a militia, most were happy to see these women heal the sick, feed the poor, and pick up a mace to defend the town. They were embraced as a new force in town, with June as their leader.
Now, June splits her time between tending the ever-growing faithful of Akana in Hommlet and wandering the countryside with a contingent of her martial sisters, hunting down any wandering remnants of the Elemental Temple (.... of course it's Evil!!!!)
GM Notes: Another story of Anglam's, stolen directly from Hall of the Mountain King. I absolutely adore his stuff, and the accompanying artwork or pictures he posts are spot on.
The best part of the story is the logical cause-and-effect of an event impacting a local community. Be it an end-all-be-all fight against good and evil, adventurers dumping a treasure trove into a town's economy, or even NPC interactions, actions have consequences. June could have been swept away in romance by the adventurer (had he lived), possibly made a single mother, or she could have wallowed in the village, marrying a local farmer and having a ton of kids.
Or she could be a hero. None of these are exclusive of each other, but a good GM should figure out how things resolve. Thanks to Hall of the Mountain King, I've added an additional theme that will run alongside Elsderth's stay in Eding.
The adventures with the moathouse and Markovia I ran when I was about 23. Their impact is insular, not affecting the campaigns I ran post-high school. Elsderth's tales will turn to my post-high school campaign, the original Nightwood game... and finally on to what I only call "The Army Game" with my high school friends and Reservist buddies. There's still a lot of story to tell, but we're returning to more PC action and less GM fluff.
Next:
#76 - Look the Other Way
