Overview
A walled town built on a hill in the midst of a dark forest, Hound’s Hearth is populated by a unique race of humans who share a distant relationship to the tribesmen of Dogtur. They swear no allegiance to Thring, or the Freeholds, or the Lords Sanguine of Gore, and pride themselves on their strength and independence. The people of Hound’s Hearth mock the patrilineal or democratic transfer of power in other nations of the Shrouded Lands. Here, their political system is driven solely by strength; specifically, by the strength of a man’s dog.
Each year there is a great dog-fight assembly in Hound’s Hearth, where each Houndishman fields a dog (women are technically eligible, but traditionally do not compete). Whoever owns the champion hound will be King of Hound’s Hearth for the next year. A good champion can win for up to 10 years consecutively, so there is some stability of power, but nevertheless each year’s competition is fierce.
The judges of the competition are a trio of wizened elders, former Kings. Senile and short-sighted, they are willing to accept just about anything with fur and four legs as a ‘dog’. The current king, Hjalk, has reigned eight years with the help of his fire-breathing bear, Snalfi. However, Snalfi is now ailing, and the King is desperately searching for someone who can cure the bear before next year’s dog-fight.
Meanwhile, others are hoping to take his place, and will pay handsomely for a potential champion. One contender, a fiery youth by the name of Ilfann, has been making grand speeches about how deceiving the judges is wrong (despite it being a tradition honored for nearly 400 years). Ilfann has put up a wandering lion priest in his house, and has heard the tale of Hound of the Underworld. Despite the lion priest’s assurances to the contrary, Ilfann is certain that this hound must be tamed and brought to the dog-fight in order to bring a new age of glory to Hound’s Hearth.
