The Last Laugh
Connects to 24.26, 26.15, 29.14 and 48.33.
Overview
Loguiso’s Wall, a massive fortification that began in the foothills of the Barrier Range and ended in the tepid tide of the Keening Sea (passing through 27.16), rose here before Shuttered’s conquest of the August City (26.20). Starting with Loguiso II, doge after doge poured gold into building a wall that would prevent an invasion from the south. Of course, during the war of conquest, the armies of the August City never came within sight of its turrets.
A clan of gnomes, now known in Shuttered as the Backbiters, were hired to carve the dungeons beneath the wall. Their contracts guaranteed that they would be given rights to own the tunnels if ever the wall was rendered obsolete. Unfortunately for the gnomes, the Templars of Canes Sanguis immediately claimed ownership of the wall when the city’s secular armies abandoned it. The templars were to use the passages and chambers, and they evicted the gnomes. The gnomes packed their belongings onto donkeys, gathered their children and trudged south. When they were out of sight of their old home, the tunnels collapsed. The earth swallowed the wall and every templar on it.
The catastrophe left a fissure that impedes travel to this day. Overgrown with grass, trees and shrub, it zig-zags across the land like a scar. Delvers descend into the fissure hoping to recover lost treasure, especially the mitril and adamantine spears. But the outraged spirits of the templars haunt what remains of the dungeon. The parts of the complex that have been exorcised and hallowed become homes for undesirable creatures. Several trolls, a crazed minotaur and an ogre are known to keep lairs here. The minotaur is believed to possess an adamantine spear, on which he skewers and roasts adventurers.
Connection
- Many of the Backbiters settled in Azurnay (24.26). The few who ventured on and weren’t devoured by gnolls or the wyvern stopped in Grasthifal (48.33).
Hooks
- Why were gnomes hired to dig the tunnels?
- How did the Backbiters make all of the tunnels collapse?
- What did the templars want to do with the wall?
- Were the templars able to achieve any vengeance against the Backbiters?
- Who exorcises the angry spirits?
- From where did the monstrous inhabitants come?