Valley of the Rocks | The Faceless Dragon | Valto Rantanen | The Claver Stone | Six Notable Mercenary Warriors
Valley of the Rocks
Elves | Valley
Hidden in a wild and untamed range of wooded borderland hills lies the legend-mantled, mist-drenched Valley of the Rocks. This deep, cliff-fringed valley has lingered in borderland lore for centuries. Many stories speak of the gloomy valley’s otherworldly and elusive denizens, its ancient—and impossibly immense—trees, and its sculpture of disturbing and awe-inspiring size depicting wolves, bears, owls, and all manner of other animals.
Remnant of an elder, forgotten time, the valley is both a dangerous place and a sanctuary. Silence piled upon silence lies thickly in the Valley of the Rocks. It is a place of ancient elven power—a living temple to nature’s endless and enduring glory and power—but no living priests now dwell in the valley. Instead, the shades of the valley’s last guardians—a cabal of ancient, long-dead elven priests—yet linger herein and guard their ancient home from all who would despoil its tranquil, benighted depths.
This two-mile-long valley is so deep that it has its own climate. Within its depths, it is noticeably colder than the surrounding forest, and mist stubbornly lingers among the huge, gnarled, time-worn trees. The valley’s majestic cliffs—fully 200 ft. high in places—cloak the place in perpetual shadow and keep all but the most persistent or resourceful explorers at bay. Those that reach the valley floor rarely return from whence they came.
The valley and its timeworn sculptures have featured in stories that have circulated among the border folk for centuries, but, in truth, it is a place lost to time and legend.
The Faceless Dragon
Elder Demon
Ancient, time-gnawed statues of a faceless and be-tentacled dragon-thing yet stand in certain remote, hidden places scattered across the world. Some stand in deep caverns that have never known light, while others yet totter skywards in remote ranges of wind-blasted hills or amid the choked depths of impenetrable rainforests. Eroded and worn by time and the elements, these statues are hateful, feared things said to depict the Faceless Dragon, an all but forgotten elder demonic power from the time before time.
These immense statues have reared skywards since before humanity crawled forth from the primordial slime of its birth. Down through uncountable epochs of time, strange and alien inhuman creatures have genuflected and sacrificed before the statues and sent countless screaming souls to the Faceless Dragon.
But the Faceless Dragon endures. Beyond dimly remembered legends and rites handed down through a scattered group of crazed and deranged cults, worship of the Faceless Dragon lingers in the foul, demon-haunted land of distant Icuthar. Icuthar’s sorcerer-priests venerate the Faceless Dragon as the messenger of the demon lords and as the “Opener of the Way”.
Valto Rantanen
NPC | Wizard
Stick-thin and an alcoholic, 49-year-old Valto Rantanen ([C]N middle-aged male human wizard 4) is far past his prime. Once passionate about the magical arts and all manner of learning, his lust for wine—and whisky—has subsumed all before it.
In his youth, he studied for the sheer joy of learning. Now, he begrudgingly teaches an oft-shifting roster of long-suffering students to raise money to fund his addictions.
Still, he yet benefits from his youthful endeavours and has a deep—but somewhat hazy—knowledge of navigation, spellcraft, ancient history and astronomy. He speaks, reads and writes several languages and was once a skilled sculptor. (He displays several slightly disturbing, almost lewd, examples of his work in his lodgings).
Valto grows his lank—now greying—hair long to hide a terrible disfigurement—for his ears were cropped long ago. Self-conscious of his mutilation, Valto refuses to discuss the matter, and, consequently, rumours run rampant among his students as to the nature of his crime.
The Claver Stone
Valley | Landmark
Incongruously standing in a placid and tranquil valley, the Claver Stone rears from amid a broad swath of wildflowers to be visible for miles around. A singular chunk of granite, completely out of keeping with its surrounds, many stories are told of its origin. Some folk say a vengeful god hurled the stone at an enemy, while others believe a giant brought it hither for some unknowable purpose before getting tired and dumping it. Some believe it is a plug of sorts set here to seal a portal to the underworld.
In any event, the Claver Stone is a local landmark of some note. Folk from the surrounding villages use it as a meeting place where they come to hash out their differences with their friends and neighbours. Paths radiate outward from the stone to every nearby settlement of note. The stone is also the muster point for the local militias, who gather here in time of great need to defend the valley and its people.
Once a year, at midsummer, the Claver Stone hosts a week-long fair and market. During this time, tents and carts—the stalls, stages and homes to the merchants and entertainers come here to celebrate midsummer fill the valley. During the fair, folk compete to be the fastest to climb the lofty Claver Stone, and those who reach its summit carve their initials or sign into the stone’s weather-smoothed zenith as a mark of their achievement. Every year, one or two people go missing during the fair. Most folk believe that such people simply decide to go a wandering with a bardic troupe or merchant company, while others believe some other, more sinister reason is to blame.
Six Notable Mercenary Warriors
Six Things | NPCs
Kusti Antero: Young and fresh-faced, this willow-thin man moves with speed and grace. A naturally talented warrior, he is brave—verging on reckless—but inexperienced. If he survives his early years, he will be a great warrior.
Manu Ilakka: Middle-aged and honourable, this warrior sports a slight paunch and conceals (badly) his alcohol-dependency.
Aadam Ilma: Craggily handsome with startlingly bright blue eyes, this older man bears a much-lined face that speaks of hard living and great experience.
Inga: Short, bald and stocky with a deep, rumbling voice, this half-orc woman has a filthy mouth and coarse sense of humour. She uses profanities as verbal punctuation. Despite her coarse air, she loves to read and always has a book or two in her pack.
Kustaava Miemo: With curly black hair and the air of an experienced warrior, this woman prides herself on keeping her word—the letter of her word. She gives nothing away for free and is far more at home in an armed camp than a peaceful town.
Janaela Asikka: Fleeing a terrible childhood of poverty and suffering, this half-elf does not trust easily. She is used to hard work, long hours and ungrateful employers.
Campaign (noun): a connected series of adventures; Component (noun): a constituent part
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