Connects to: 02.03, 02.08, 03.04, 03.06, 04.05, 04.07, 05.05, 05.06, 18.07 and 31.04.
Overview
A miserable village which began as a refugee camp during wartime, Cragsend has scant arable land, being surrounded by crags and rocky badlands. Half the population are permanent residents, the other half are shepherds practicing transhumance. Few realize that the village rests on the precipice of a ley line contested by the Seelie and Unseelie fey long ago. The ley line seems to flow between Glass Rapids (05.05) and Cragsend; strange humming blue crystalline deposits mark the path of the ley line traces for the uninitiated eye.
Cragsend’s first lord was a refugee mage, but eventually she turned to the dark arts; the people revolted, burned her at the stake, and today the Witch Queen’s name has been stricken from all books. They say her ashes were placed in a magically sealed lead urn which was buried in the Mocking Hills (04.07) so that she would not return by any ritual.
The current lord, Jehan Deismirk, struggles to retain control of the village against a rising dragon cult led by the charismatic cleric turned sorcerer Edrin Tain. Once Tain led the local temple, but was constantly stymied by the pagan and savage ways of Cragsend folk. When a fearsome dragon appeared one day, darkening the skies, he took is as a sign of the gods’ justice and righteous wrath. Tain’s cult of dragon-worshipers sacrifice firebirds captured from the Pool of the Firebirds (04.05), believing these actions will awaken the phoenix so that the dragon may mate with her and bear offspring which will usher in a terrible era of draconic glory. Esoteric books held in the dragon cult’s secret library detail an ancient elemental being of fire and smoke which once held the keys to the phoenix’s otherworldly lair. This being may indeed be the very one found at the dwarven monastery (03.04). The dragon cult led by Edrin Tain has begun preaching in the day, using uncovered draconic prophecies to captivate and terrify the people of Cragsend. Lord Deismirk seeks to discredit them but to do that he needs to know where these draconic prophecies came from. A group of mercenaries led by Rhyond Deismirk, Lord Deismirk’s illegitimate son, are preparing an expedition to Mt. Scorshia (02.03) and are hiring able adventurers; Rhyond is an honorable but merciless leader who often comes into conflict with other strong-willed individuals. The trip to Mt. Scorshia will not be the young bastard’s first such expedition. He has previously enjoyed some success at the Tashtan Plains (02.08) and, while he did not bring back any great treasures, he was able to recover some equipment from some of the centipedes’ previous victims. His success was mostly due to an alchemical compound developed by his lieutenant, a half elven sorceress named Nara Olmsted, that keeps most centipedes away most of the time. However, Rhyond was not able to save one of his crew of mercenaries from being eaten alive by centipedes in a most unpleasant manner. The victim’s family is now among the most fervent adherents of Edrin Tain and nurse a deep grudge against all Deismirks.
Connections
- Dwarves might have been smuggled through the Battle Hills (05.06) to Cragsend.
- Lord Deismark owns extensive property beyond the village itself (03.06).
- Cragsend was founded by refugees from the Citadel of the Verlimes (18.07).
- Nara Olmsted hails from Olmsted Keep (31.04).
- Rhyond has explored some of the Rift of the Great Lament (03.03) and knows something of it. There may be clues about the nature of the dragon that is worshipped here in that Rift.
Hook
- Why is Rhyond Deismirk going to Mt. Scorshia?
- What is the connection between this Witch Queen and The Witch Queen?
