Sanglorian
Adventurer
Here are two entries inspired by free culture (Creative Commons Attribution or Attribution-ShareAlike) illustrations that could be included in the Shrouded Lands PDF:
David Revoy's Owl Princess and Brian Patterson's Captain Hook.
TO GO A-STRIGA THROUGH THE NIGHT (09.00)
‘I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.’
— Job 30:29.
This hex contains a copse of white-barked elms where the strigoi gather once a year.
The strigoi are a pale-skinned people who ride giant owls through the Grey Mountains. Thy are both respected and feared by the villagers, and wage war with the nordenbjorn—a conflict that allegedly has continued for centuries, but has only come to blows recently.
The strigoi are considered bad omens, for it is said that their presence in a village presages a death. The strigoi claim that these are mere coincidences, but their private mythology suggests otherwise.
The strigoi claim that their ancestors were shades who escaped the land of the dead riding their owls, their chieftain carrying a folio of the Book of the Dead. In that book is written the names of epople doomed to die, and this folio listed the order of deaths for the people of the Grey Mountains. The strigoi consult the folio to decide where to travel, choosing places where someone will soon die. When they arrive they try to make the passing of that person as gentle and fulfilling as possible.
When one of their own number dies before his or her time, the strigoi ‘go a-striga’—they fly through the night screaming horribly in the hope that the scream will be heard in the land of the dead and the shade will be reminded to scheme to escape as the strigoi’s ancestors did.
Hooks
Why do the nordenbjorn loathe the strigoi?
Did they truly escape the land of the dead? Could anyone else escape? What is that land like?
Why were there giant owls in the land of the dead?
Do the strigoi have ulterior motives in being present at deaths?
THE ROGUE JANISSARY (The Cross)
The Moon’s Daughter—a pearl of tremendous pride to Jahur which grants its bearer control over the tides—is the greatest loss from the expulsion of the octoids. What is unknown to all who remain in that city is that the octoids did not take the Daughter. It was stolen by a reanimated Janissary who had grown bored by centuries of service.
With the pearl in one fist and a map in the other, the Janissary made its way across the Shrouded Lands until it came to the Cross. It fell in with pirates, and now serves as captain of its own ship.
Hooks
Just what trade passes through the Ocean of Bitter Regrets?
How does the Rogue Janissary disguise itself? Does it need to?
What name does the Rogue Janissary go by?
David Revoy's Owl Princess and Brian Patterson's Captain Hook.
TO GO A-STRIGA THROUGH THE NIGHT (09.00)
‘I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.’
— Job 30:29.
This hex contains a copse of white-barked elms where the strigoi gather once a year.
The strigoi are a pale-skinned people who ride giant owls through the Grey Mountains. Thy are both respected and feared by the villagers, and wage war with the nordenbjorn—a conflict that allegedly has continued for centuries, but has only come to blows recently.
The strigoi are considered bad omens, for it is said that their presence in a village presages a death. The strigoi claim that these are mere coincidences, but their private mythology suggests otherwise.
The strigoi claim that their ancestors were shades who escaped the land of the dead riding their owls, their chieftain carrying a folio of the Book of the Dead. In that book is written the names of epople doomed to die, and this folio listed the order of deaths for the people of the Grey Mountains. The strigoi consult the folio to decide where to travel, choosing places where someone will soon die. When they arrive they try to make the passing of that person as gentle and fulfilling as possible.
When one of their own number dies before his or her time, the strigoi ‘go a-striga’—they fly through the night screaming horribly in the hope that the scream will be heard in the land of the dead and the shade will be reminded to scheme to escape as the strigoi’s ancestors did.
Hooks
Why do the nordenbjorn loathe the strigoi?
Did they truly escape the land of the dead? Could anyone else escape? What is that land like?
Why were there giant owls in the land of the dead?
Do the strigoi have ulterior motives in being present at deaths?
THE ROGUE JANISSARY (The Cross)
The Moon’s Daughter—a pearl of tremendous pride to Jahur which grants its bearer control over the tides—is the greatest loss from the expulsion of the octoids. What is unknown to all who remain in that city is that the octoids did not take the Daughter. It was stolen by a reanimated Janissary who had grown bored by centuries of service.
With the pearl in one fist and a map in the other, the Janissary made its way across the Shrouded Lands until it came to the Cross. It fell in with pirates, and now serves as captain of its own ship.
Hooks
Just what trade passes through the Ocean of Bitter Regrets?
How does the Rogue Janissary disguise itself? Does it need to?
What name does the Rogue Janissary go by?
