jdrakeh

This is an entry for the Places of Myth and Legend Contest.

Basic Information

The little limestone church that once stood in the cemetery of Stull, Kansas was long purported to contain a "gateway to Hell". Some local residents spoke of devil worshippers meeting in the church during the 1960s, while other tales offered up stories of a cursed preacher who made a bargain with the devil. While the various legends surrounding the church varied greatly from one teller to another, the "gateway to Hell" was the one thing that they all had in common.

A favorite destination of both amateur and professional ghost hunters, stories of the little limestone church had been seen in print and were regularly traded around campfires in both Shawnee County and Douglass County. It was, perhaps, then fitting that the church was also demolished under equally mysterious circumstances on March 29th, 2002 following the collapse of one wall two weeks earlier due to inclement weather. Nobody knows who was responsible for the act and, so far, nobody has stepped up to take credit.

Sources

Stull Church at Washburn University
Amateur Stull Church investigation site
Stull Church featured in Beyond the Grave
Building's Demolition a Mystery

Game and Story Use

• What if the little limestone church in Stull really //was// a gateway to Hell?
  • The residents of Stull had been abducting single travellers who won't soon be missed and 'feeding' them to the entity that lived under the old churchyard. Although the 'thing' is now dead and gone, there is still the matter of missing travellers to attend to. What will the locals do to those nosey cold case investigators?
  • The limestone foundation of the old church was finally more weight than the ghoul tunnels criss-crossing the cemetery hill could bear. The good news is that the ghoul tunnels are now useless. Unfortunately, for the local residents of Stull, the bad news is that the ghouls have to find new digs.

This is an entry for the Places of Myth and Legend Contest.

Basic Information

Headless Valley is a specific region (Lat: 61.25 Long: -124.5) of the South Nahanni River valley (Canada) said to encompass a lost world complete with tropical forests, murderously savage natives, and a myriad of mysterious creatures ranging from 'Bear Dogs' to sasquatch. The legend of Headless Valley is unusual in that it is fairly modern, having originated in 1908, following the discovery of two decapitated miners in the region of the South Nahanni River.

Sources

Map Coordinates of Headless Valley
Nahanni National Park Reserve at Wikipedia
Headless Valley in Time Magazine (1947)
Bear Dogs of Headless Valley at The Cryptid Zoo
National Film Board of Canada documentary video clip
Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved excerpt

Game and Story Use

• Headless Valley is real — there is a hidden tropical valley, savage natives and bear dogs do roam the thick rain forest, sasquatch loom in the shadows, and undiscovered gold awaits you!
  • The PCs are hired by the descendent of an old gold miner to accompany him deep into the Nahanni National Park Reserve, where he claims that he knows the location of a rich gold vein. Unwittingly, the PCs are lead into the confines of Headless Valley.
  • The PCs are alerted to the presence of a space/time anomaly located in the Nahanni National Park Reserve by the organization that they work for. They are dispatched to investigate the phenomena and find themselves in strange alternate world. . . the Headless Valley of legend.
  • A weekend rafting trip goes horribly wrong when the rafters make their way up an overgrown fork of the South Nahanni River to pitch tents for the night. The fork in the river opens up into the fabled Headless Valley where the weekend warriors must fend for their lives.

• The legends of Headless Valley are greatly exaggerated, but there do exist lost mines and natives who view miners as unwelcome interlopers in the Nahanni River valley.
  • In the Summer of 1908, the PCs are aspiring miners who mount an expedition to stake their own claim on the mine of the murdered MacLeod brothers who were recently found decapitated on the shores of the South Nahanni River.
  • The Nahanni River valley still holds great wealth in modern times and, while the danger of native attack is greatly minimized, any mining in the national park is strictly prohibited (which presents its own, unique, set of challenges for PCs to overcome).

This is an entry for the Places of Myth and Legend Contest.

Basic Information

Ys is a mythical city of Brittany (France) now said to lay beneath the waters of Douarnenez Bay. In the most common version of the Ys legend (there are many variations), the city was constructed by Gradlon, King of Cornouaille, upon the request of his daughter Dahut (also called Ahès). Unfortunately, Dahut was wicked and, under her influence, the city became a place of sin. Saint Winwaloe decried the corruption of Ys and warned of God's wrath, but was ignored by Dahut and her people.

One day, a knight dressed in red came to Ys. Dahut asked him to come with her and one night, and he agreed. A strong storm broke out in the middle of the night, but Dahut said to the knight: "Let the storm rage, the gates of the city are strong and it is King Gradlon, my father, who owns the only key, attached to his neck". He replied: "Your father the king sleeps, you can now easily take his key." Dahut stole the key from her father and gave it to the knight, who was none other than the devil. The devil then opened the gate.

Because the gate was open during storm, a wave as high as a mountain collapsed on Ys, scuttling the city and forever submerging it beneath the sea. King Gradlon and his daughter climbed on Morvarc'h, his magical horse to escape, but Saint Winwaloe told the king to push his evil daughter into the ocean that she so loved. Gradlon initially refused, but he finally gave in and pushed his daughter into the water, where she was swallowed along with her city.

Sources

Ys at Wikipedia
Ys at Bagadoo

Game and Story Use

• The myth of Ys is based in fact and somewhere, in Douarnenez Bay, lay its ruins.//
  • A ship runs aground in the center of Douarnenez Bay, its bow caught upon a metal steeple.
  • The PCs are hired to bid on items at an art auction that the seller claims are treasures from Ys.

This is an entry for the Places of Myth and Legend Contest.

Basic Information

Kitezh refers to Bolshoy Kitezh, a legendary town that once stood in what is, today, the Voskresensky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in Russia. Legend states that Georgy II, Grand Prince of Vladimir, built the town of Bolshoy Kitezh (Big Kitezh) on the shores of the Svetloyar Lake some indeterminite amount of time after he constructed the town of Maly Kitezh (Little Kitezh, somtimes erroneously identified as modern Gorodets) on the Volga River (today's Krasny Kholm).

Legend states that Batu Khan, ruler and founder of the Blue Horde, heard of the two towns and ordered his army to advance toward them. The Mongol army soon captured Maly Kitezh, forcing Georgy to retreat into the woods towards Bolshoy Kitezh. One of the captured denizens of Maly Kitezh, unfortunately, betrayed Georgy, telling the Mongols about some secret paths to the Lake Svetloyar and allowing them to pursue the Grand Prince unhindered.

The army of the Blue Horde followed Georgy and soon reached the walls of Bolshoy Kitezh. To the surprise of the Mongols, the town had no fortifications whatsoever – its citizens did not take up arms of any kind and, instead, were engaged in fervent praying, asking God for redemption. On seeing this, the Mongols rushed to the attack, but then stopped. Suddenly, they saw countless fountains of water bursting from under the ground all around them.

The attackers fell back and watched the town of Bolshoy Kitezh submerge into the lake. The last thing they saw was a glaring dome of a cathedral with a cross on top of it. Soon, there were only waves.

Today, it is said that, in calm weather, one can sometimes hear the sound of chiming bells and people singing from beneath the waters of the Lake Svetloyar. Some people say that pious individuals may even see the lights of religious processions or buildings on the bottom of the lake, and that the truly pure of heart and soul will one day find their way to Kitezh itself.


Sources

Kitezh at Wikipedia
Kitezh at All-Creatures.Org

Game and Story Use

• The legend of Kitezh is real and, someday, the town will rize again from beneath the waters of Lake Svetloyar.
  • Bolshoy Kitezh will rise again, when the stars are right and the Old Ones awaken.
  • Bolshoy Kitezh will rise again, when Christ returns to Earth and the End Times draw near.

• The legend of Kitezeh is real, though the town did not survive its sinking and was, instead, destroyed in the process.
  • The PCs have been hired by a descendent of Georgy II to locate the ruins of Bolshoy Kitezh.
  • The PCs find themselves in possession of a mysterious relic that appears to be from Bolshoy Kitezh.