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Message: <blockquote data-quote="chutup" data-source="post: 5925969" data-attributes="member: 6690844">The Sanatorium of the Damned (32.12)Along the coast of the Keening Sea, east of the Shuttered City, there lies a miserable stretch of coastline whose one imposing feature is the grim walled community of Erleforst. This is ostensibly a treatment facility for citizens of Shuttered who are suffering from the Courting Death. In reality, there is no known cure for the disease, or at least not one that is cheap or accessible enough for the priests of Erleforst to provide it. Instead, the sanatorium is a dystopian nightmare of regimented training and ritual fasting, presided over by a megalomaniac ex-bishop named Tharcofal.The Priests of Alberon are wary of Tharcofal for his past crimes, but they also rely on him to control the damned of the sanatorium. For it is well known that these desperate souls will do anything to be released from the disease, and thus are highly effective as soldiers or assassins while they last. Especially as the second stage of the disease comes on, they become utterly fearless, willing to take on incredible risks or flat-out suicide missions in exchange for the promise of a cure. Trained and armed in Erleforst, they are called the Dead Men and given skull-shaped masks to wear before they go out into the world on covert missions. Often the Dead Men collaborate with the Priests-Militant or the Temple Invisible (though in the latter case, the holy assassins will always make sure that the Dead Men die rather than returning to the sanatorium.)Dead Men have been deployed as far afield as the Kingswood, the temple of the Whispering Sisters, and most famously during the war with Blind Midshotgatepool. Only the high turnover prevents them from becoming one of the most dangerous fighting forces in the Shrouded Lands. However, a rumour has recently spread that one among the Dead Men has now lived an unusually long time.Hooks:- Is there a cure for the Courting Death? If so, what makes it unfeasible for the priests of Erleforst?- Why was Tharcofal deposed from his position as bishop?- What sort of missions have the Dead Men undertaken?- Who is this Dead Man who seems unable to die?Death's Lovelies (27.23)This meagre camp around an ancient stone cairn is often uninhabited, for Death's Lovelies are a wandering bunch who travel all over the northwestern end of the Burning Lands, and up to Blind Midshotgatepool and the borders of Thring. When they are not around, the only things to be found here are a few red-lipped neophytes and piles of poisoned and cursed treasure.It is said that Death's Lovelies first formed during the battle of Blind Midshotgatepool, when a contingent of Dead Men from Shuttered decided to defect after they learned that there was no hope of their being cured. One among them took his skull mask and modified it with horns and tusks, ever after being known as the Hog. The Hog led his doomed followers south, where they created for themselves a new nihilistic worldview. Knowing that their deaths were imminent, they decided to die in the most glorious manner possible to leap into the arms of their lover, Death. To die of the sickness is anathema to Death's Lovelies, for it means that one's lover has grown tired of waiting. Better to impress the lover with a great death, so that he/she will shower the victim with gifts when they arrive in her dark chamber.What the Hog did not expect was that more sufferers would join his cause, some defectors from the Dead Men, others merely locals who fell prey to the disease. As Death's Lovelies grew larger, they gained a reputation as violent brigands who held no fear of death. Some went so far as to plan their deaths meticulously: the first Hog, after much consideration, chose to die by climbing naked into the mouth of a sleeping dragon turtle while singing the bawdy folk song "The Lady and the Codfish".The Hog's mask was passed on to another member of the Lovelies, and so on - there have now been over a dozen Hogs, and none of the original Lovelies remain alive. Sufferers of the Courting Death come from far and wide to wait by this cairn, where they will shortly be picked up by one of the Lovelies' dedicated recruiters, whose job it is to travel regularly to the cairn and conduct the newcomers to wherever the main band of the Lovelies is currently reaving (though often the group will split into several smaller sections.)The treasure that the Lovelies collect they have almost no use for. Most of it is dumped beside the cairn. However, as a final spit in the face of the living world, they have learned how to coat the treasure with a nasty contact poison. Others have rigged up traps to destroy would-be thieves, and a few have created cursed treasure by dipping it into the Yellow Pool of Ondos.More mysteriously, it seems that the current Hog is searching for something in the lands south of Blind Midshotgatepool. Some members of the Lovelies hint at an overarching purpose that has been passed down from the first Hog, though none can say what it might be.Hooks:- If the dreams aren't merely psychosomatic, then is there any truth to the beliefs of Death's Lovelies?- Where's this dragon turtle? Did the Lovelies manage to kill it or is it still extant?- What's the original significance of the cairn?- What kind of treasure have the Lovelies acquired? Anything that's worth dealing with the poisons and curses?- What is the Yellow Pool of Ondos?- What is the Hog really planning? Does he/she want to get revenge on the Shuttered City?</blockquote>

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