Grasen, Dragon and Lycan Brotherhood
Readying (II) 592 - Barony of Noraneir
Having decided to ally themselves with the Critwall faction, Lord Helio Harmsworth swears allegiance to the young Baron Kilion Noraneir who in return makes him the Lord of Grasen. Helio decides to take advantage of winter-time to perform reconnaissance in his new Lordship, unburdened by the peasantry.
Grasen is reached by early Readying (2nd month). The heroes invest Iniarv's Tower, a small keep north-east of the village named after an age-old mage from the lost kingdom of Uth Myrmoran. Signs at the tower show some terrible beast attacked recent trespassers: an adult Black Dragon who returns but spares the heroes. He needs two of them, Elicia and the wielder of Nerull's Ring (Alsten's skull ring found on Lady Haedreline in Samia) to serve him by seeking the Uthtower in the great swamps and find within the mausoleum of the ancient dragon Ebondeath. There they can keep all the treasure found within except one item he will claim his own. Woe to them should they decide to shy away from this quest, he warns departing.
The bewildered heroes search the grounds and find signs of Lord Despar's passage through these parts in the last year. The belongings of a witch hunter in Despar's party include a parchment divulging some insights into what befell the disappeared Lord:
The heroes decide to head north to Hallorn to seek answers. Entering the Tangles they stumble upon Giant Wolves led by a Werewolf. The wolves are killed but the werewolf flees.
They had a bound captive with them, a man named Zantern 'the Ravengrey', which they free in exchange of his help in these foreign lands. Zantern agrees.
He explains his captors are part of a band called the Lycan Brotherhood, led by one Cruben Blackwolf. They oppose the current new ruler of the Tangles, the crazed Earl Aundurach who worships Iuz. He rules with a scepter crafted from the remains of Lord Reynard, an old local hero and devotee of Olidammara the Rogue God. As for the Black Dragon, he has scarred Cruben's face with his acid. The Dragon's motives are unknown, all Zantern knows is a cult of Dragon worshipers called the Followers of the Scaly Way roam these parts.
The heroes, knowing the Brotherhood will seek revenge for the fallen wolves, decide on a plan to retreat in haste to Iniarv's Tower, defend from there, gain an upper hand that would allow them to negotiate with Cruben against a mutual foe: Iuz.
They reach the tower on the 1st night of the Full Moon, with the Brotherhood close on their heels. A battle ensues. It is close, but the heroes are finally overwhelmed, the balance tilted as Zantern transforms into a werewolf, having been previously bitten, and now under Cruben's influence.
The heroes are dying in the northern cold, their blood staining the snows under the silver-white glare of the Full Moon. But they are not fated to die on that day. Cruben strips them all to their loincloths and binds them to the inner courtyard ground. In a dead of night ceremony, he invokes
Years spent in torment buried in a nameless grave
They cursed him and thought his timeless soul had gone
In empty burning bliss unholy he's returned to prove them wrong
Now he has risen marking you his slave
Howling in shadows living in a lunar spell
He finds his heaven spewing from the mouth of Hell
Listen in awe and you'll hear me ...
Cruben bites each of the fallen on the neck: Helio, Bertram, Gareth, Alsten and Elicia.
The next two days are a blur of delirium, excruciating pain, nightmare and madness. At the height of the Full Moon on its second day, mortal wounds begin to close. Even old injuries are mended in twisted fits of agony as fingers and teeth regrow, albeit with vestigial lupine feral aspects.
On the 3rd and final day of the lunar spell, the feverish dream finally ebbs. Cruben smirks
You are now almost of the Brotherhood. You were right, we have enemies in common: Iuz, the Dragon Welzour. I will deliver you in their midst and, if you survive, in the dead of night our vengeance will boil and kill the light. Then, at its zenith once more, the eternal unchanged and ever-changing pearl of heaven's black sea will summon you to my will ...
Having decided to ally themselves with the Critwall faction, Lord Helio Harmsworth swears allegiance to the young Baron Kilion Noraneir who in return makes him the Lord of Grasen. Helio decides to take advantage of winter-time to perform reconnaissance in his new Lordship, unburdened by the peasantry.
Iniarv's Tower
Grasen is reached by early Readying (2nd month). The heroes invest Iniarv's Tower, a small keep north-east of the village named after an age-old mage from the lost kingdom of Uth Myrmoran. Signs at the tower show some terrible beast attacked recent trespassers: an adult Black Dragon who returns but spares the heroes. He needs two of them, Elicia and the wielder of Nerull's Ring (Alsten's skull ring found on Lady Haedreline in Samia) to serve him by seeking the Uthtower in the great swamps and find within the mausoleum of the ancient dragon Ebondeath. There they can keep all the treasure found within except one item he will claim his own. Woe to them should they decide to shy away from this quest, he warns departing.
Black Dragon
The bewildered heroes search the grounds and find signs of Lord Despar's passage through these parts in the last year. The belongings of a witch hunter in Despar's party include a parchment divulging some insights into what befell the disappeared Lord:
I continue to have my doubts about dealing with
these treacherous Bandit Kings.
Petty Lords only worthy of herding the heretic scums
that reside in their god-forsaken lands if you ask me.
But Lord Despar remains convinced that after the
fall of the Tyrant of Johrase the Shield Lands must seize the opportunity to
make alliances before the next despot rouses the filth of men and creatures
these lands have to muster, and unite them against us once more.
He has hinted at one in the South whose alliance he
has swayed, albeit at some great cost I dare not inquire about.
Now we stand at the edges of Reyhu, the Tangles and
the Rift: 3 possible directions to retrace the evil pagan Druids that have plagued
the heart land in the last few months.
I truly hope the Rift isn’t in the cards. Rumors of
the Dracolich Dragotha make my dreams nightmarish.
As for Reyhu, the lands of the Plar are reached by
either the Great Effluvial Swamp, Dead Gnoll’s Eyesocket or the infamous White
Plume Mountain. None of these choices seem appealing.
The wooded Tangles and their town of Hallorn seem
the obvious choice, being so close North-East of Grasen.
May God Almighty give me the strength to survive
the malefic evils ahead.
Dominus fortitude et scutum meum.
The heroes decide to head north to Hallorn to seek answers. Entering the Tangles they stumble upon Giant Wolves led by a Werewolf. The wolves are killed but the werewolf flees.
Giant Wolf in the Tangles
They had a bound captive with them, a man named Zantern 'the Ravengrey', which they free in exchange of his help in these foreign lands. Zantern agrees.
Zantern 'the Ravengrey'
He explains his captors are part of a band called the Lycan Brotherhood, led by one Cruben Blackwolf. They oppose the current new ruler of the Tangles, the crazed Earl Aundurach who worships Iuz. He rules with a scepter crafted from the remains of Lord Reynard, an old local hero and devotee of Olidammara the Rogue God. As for the Black Dragon, he has scarred Cruben's face with his acid. The Dragon's motives are unknown, all Zantern knows is a cult of Dragon worshipers called the Followers of the Scaly Way roam these parts.
The heroes, knowing the Brotherhood will seek revenge for the fallen wolves, decide on a plan to retreat in haste to Iniarv's Tower, defend from there, gain an upper hand that would allow them to negotiate with Cruben against a mutual foe: Iuz.
They reach the tower on the 1st night of the Full Moon, with the Brotherhood close on their heels. A battle ensues. It is close, but the heroes are finally overwhelmed, the balance tilted as Zantern transforms into a werewolf, having been previously bitten, and now under Cruben's influence.
Lycan Brotherhood Werewolf under the Full Moon
Cruben Blackwolf
Fenris & Winter Wolves of the Brotherhood
Battle of Iniarv's Tower
The heroes are dying in the northern cold, their blood staining the snows under the silver-white glare of the Full Moon. But they are not fated to die on that day. Cruben strips them all to their loincloths and binds them to the inner courtyard ground. In a dead of night ceremony, he invokes
Years spent in torment buried in a nameless grave
They cursed him and thought his timeless soul had gone
In empty burning bliss unholy he's returned to prove them wrong
Now he has risen marking you his slave
Howling in shadows living in a lunar spell
He finds his heaven spewing from the mouth of Hell
Listen in awe and you'll hear me ...
Cruben bites each of the fallen on the neck: Helio, Bertram, Gareth, Alsten and Elicia.
The next two days are a blur of delirium, excruciating pain, nightmare and madness. At the height of the Full Moon on its second day, mortal wounds begin to close. Even old injuries are mended in twisted fits of agony as fingers and teeth regrow, albeit with vestigial lupine feral aspects.
On the 3rd and final day of the lunar spell, the feverish dream finally ebbs. Cruben smirks
You are now almost of the Brotherhood. You were right, we have enemies in common: Iuz, the Dragon Welzour. I will deliver you in their midst and, if you survive, in the dead of night our vengeance will boil and kill the light. Then, at its zenith once more, the eternal unchanged and ever-changing pearl of heaven's black sea will summon you to my will ...
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