October's Lore Post!

Hello Fellow Trappers!

Here's this month's lore post! Enjoy!

The Harvest Moon Festival

Few festivals have greater acclaim than that of the annual Stoican Harvest Moon Festival. Particularly in the more agricultural portions of the nation, the end of the season is a time for the citizens of Stoica to rejoice in a fruitful season, and celebrate another year free from the fear of starvation. The festival, though initially a small, localized event, has become increasingly wide-spread across the nation as the years have passed, and is now recognized as one of Stoica's most widely celebrated holidays.

Decorative Excess

 Recently, crop yields have been so particularly good in Stoica that many farmers have found themselves with crops in excess of what they can either sell or consume. As such, in an effort to ensure that these items don't go to waste, many small agricultural villages have begun the tradition of decorating the crops that are in excess of what they can use. Colored corn, faces painted on pumpkins and other gourds, and even small potato figurines dot the festivals, granting a warm and inviting atmosphere to the activities.

A Time to Banish the Darkness

As winter approaches, creatures that prefer the darkness become more and more prevalent across the landscape. With many months of winter to go, and the light dimming already, this festival is the first of a number of festivals with the aim of lighting the night sky for hours on end, making it clear to those that lurk in the dark that the towns and villages of Stoica are not a place in which they are welcome. Reenactments of great heroes' deeds and the death of foul monsters have become an increasingly popular part of this celebration, and even the common folk have become accustomed to dressing the part of heroes or villains to take part in reenactments of their own favorite stories.

Purveyors of the Macabre

Despite the fact that one of the Festival's primary purposes is to drive away the darkness, there are those who have seen opportunity in the Festival's focus on the stories of great heroes and terrifying villains. During this festival, many of the world's fouler creatures and fantasies are discussed at length, and the more fantastic the stories told and the villains defeated, the better received these stories have become. As such, travelling storytellers who specialize in fanciful and macabre tales roam the countryside during these festivals, telling tales to astound and frighten. It does seem, however that the curiosity of many a listener is piqued by these tales of strange cults, cursed beasts, and powers beyond the reckoning of normal men. Though most simply enjoy the tales and return to their lives the happier for it, there are those few whose curiosity at these tales beckons them to pursue a deeper knowledge of the arcane secrets behind the creatures and villains of these tales.

A Sinister Trade

With an interest in the dark powers of the world rising from the fantastic tales told at these festivities, rumor has it that a booming trade in the darker objects of the world has started to make a rise there as well. Cult documents seem to be spread more quickly during the times surrounding the festival, books and diagrams detailing summoning rituals and other unholy magics have become more common, and forbidden powers of the world such as witches and demons seem to have their best business during the time surrounding the festival.

A Rise in Religion

Counter to this seeming rise in the pursuit of the occult and macabre during the season of the festival, religious fervor, too, seems to be enhanced by the tales told during this time. The mighty heroes of these tales often have the blessings of the gods, and there is rarely a better time for proselytizing than when the people are so enamored of the worshippers of deity as they are during this time. Adherents of the many faiths of Stoica spend long hours in preparation for the festival, sending representatives to every corner of the nation to speak with interested parties, and to tell their own tales, focused on the intervention of deific intervention which allows the heroes of their tales to succeed where the faithless may have failed.

Animated Dolls

Since its inception in the early years of Stoican agriculture, the Harvest Moon Festival has focused on traditional gifts to the children involved in the celebrations. One of the most loved and used gifts is that of Festival dolls, often crafted to resemble the heroes of the tales told at the festival itself. Recently, however, a disturbing increase in cursed objects has become apparent at the festivals, and dolls are no exception to this rule. Although no solid evidence has been brought forward, there are tales of dolls that come to life, causing untold suffering to their victims. Some of these stories simply consider the dolls mischievous scamps, while others paint a gruesome picture of deadly killers who wait until their owners are asleep before striking. Whatever the truth may be, parents are now far more cautious of these gifts, and urge their children not to accept dolls from strangers for fear of the idea that they may have been tampered with. 

Varied Origins

Animated Dolls have various origins, and as such, various aims and abilities. No two dolls are alike, and though they all share the ability to move and act independently, their personalities, purpose, and potency are based purely on their maker, whether that be a mad wizard cooped up in his lair, a scheming witch with a vendetta against the town, or even a restless spirit who has possessed the object.

Porcelain Pranksters

Regardless of their origin, most Animated Dolls share a propensity for mischief. The level of mischief is determined by their maker, but all seem to be quite fond of pranks and tricks. Even the more sinister dolls often spend much of their time engaged in relatively harmless tricks before becoming more aggressive, enjoying the chaos caused by their actions

Pumpkin Horrors

Of the many strange creatures that roam Stoica, Pumpkin Horrors are some of the most feared and reviled. These creatures are not only powerful and vindictive, but also clever and easily concealed amongst the farmsteads of these lands. Though the smaller pumpklings are relatively easy to deal with, they need to be eliminated quickly, lest they grow to their full potential as Patch Sentinels or even fearsome Pumpkings.

Discovered Too Late

Pumpkin horrors were only discovered recently within Stoica, and from what little has been learned about them since that time, it is assumed that these creatures are not by any means natural. They seem to be the creations of some dark power, and have not been present in Stoica for very long. Unfortunately, their natural camouflage allowed them to blend in with the countryside to such an extent that while they would have likely been easy to eliminate in their beginning stages, that time has long since passed, and they have begun to infest the farms and villages of Stoica.

Breeding Patches

Many abandoned farmsteads are now the breeding grounds for these malevolent creatures, which are naturally adept at blending into the scenery, taking over farms and making these now abandoned plots of land their home. Travelers rarely bother to approach or interfere with these farmsteads, which have long since been the graves of the poor farmers that used to live on the premises. These breeding patches, while they may at first seem abandoned, are patrolled by Patch Sentinels - humanoid looking creatures with pumpkin heads that can easily disguise themselves as scarecrows, or lie in the ground to disguise themselves amongst the pumpkins that naturally grow in these patches. Patch sentinels are fiercely territorial, and will not hesitate to cut down any wanderers who are unfortunate enough to step onto these breeding grounds where young pumpklings are born and matured.

Great Pumpkings

Of all of the pumpkin horrors, Great Pumpkings are the most exceptionally dangerous. It appears that only a few Pumpklings ever mature into Pumpkings, as most simply grow to become Patch Sentinel's, but those few who do are a force to be reckoned with. These creatures are exceptionally intelligent, and actively control the efforts of the lesser pumpkin horrors, leading to true calculate warfare on the people of this land. These creatures seem to revel in the horror caused by their actions, and will often send their minions into populated areas for months on end to terrify the populace simply for the joy of hearing the screams. Often, when an area is well-populated enough to allow these frightening efforts to continue indefinitely, a pumpking will deign to forego any attacks on the populace, preferring to take their fear, rather than their lives.

Morkarth, Hate Incarnate

Few creatures have a greater proclivity for evil, or strike greater fear into the hearts of those they encounter than the Ghost Dragon Morkarth. He has been a scourge upon the land for ages uncounted, and though his goals and efforts are beyond the reasoning of mere mortals, it is clear that his actions are not taken on a whim, but are the carefully calculated maneuverings of a master strategist.

Calculated Immortality

Legends about the origins of Morkarth are older than most of the civilizations that now grace the lands of Stoica. It is said that over three millennia past, Morkarth the Great was the most powerful of the dragon lords, a masterful drake whose conquests won him the riches of the world and the fealty of all the lesser races. However, long-lived as dragons are, even these mighty beasts are eventually felled by the passage of time. This slowly impending death sat poorly with Morkarth, who, in his final years, retreated to his lair, emerging at increasingly infrequent intervals. Eventually, the mountain lair of this great dragon lay silent, and after nearly a century, a powerful necromancer approached the lair of the dragon, hoping to confirm that the creature was indeed dead, and could be used to fuel their own machinations. The necromancer was gratified in this desire, and found the great wyrm's corpse at rest amidst the treasures it had collected over the lifetimes of hundreds of mortals. However, something went amiss in the necromancer's spell, for as he began the incantation intended to drain the dragon's essence and infuse himself with its power, another spell, one inlaid into the walls of the lair itself, took hold, transforming the unfortunate necromancer's own spell and turning it against him. The spell laid down years before by Morkarth, who had spent his final years preparing for this eventuality, took hold and drew from the necromancer's own dark powers, draining the mage of life and vitality while it infused Morkarth with strength anew. As the spells merged and finally became complete, both the Dragon and the necromancer found themselves in a new ghostly form. The necromancer, drained of most of his power and transformed into a simple undead, was forced to serve the now ghostly Morkarth, Hate Incarnate, from this moment forward, until even his undead form was spent, and his soul consumed by the greed of this newly awakened dragon, who would no longer be subject to the ravages of time, but was free to once again spread terror and death to the far reaches of the world.

Felled by Arrogance

Upon his awakening, Morkarth immediately set about to reclaim the lands lost to him during the years that had passed since his death. He laid waste to towns and cities with his newfound power. The touch of undeath gave him the ability to collect the souls of his victims, and with each warrior that fell before him, and each soul harvested, he became more and more deadly. His rampage was swift, vengeful, and reckless, for who could stand against the strength of a dragon?

In spite of his initial successes, however, much had changed in the years since his death, and events beyond those which he had foreseen eventually led to his downfall. The mortals had grown strong since his death. Left to their own devices, their magics had grown to a level beyond his expectation, and these magics proved to be more powerful than he had ever anticipated. As Morkarth continued his ravaging of the towns and villages of the mortals, he was met by an army of their greatest warriors and spellcasters, gathered together from the ranks of almost all of the small races. Aelves, Dwarshka, Daemus; even the short-lived race of Men had sent their finest to stop this great threat to their world. Morkarth, arrogant and haughty, thought them to be no match for his might, but was, in the end, proven to be wrong. He ravaged their ranks, but their great mages and clerics were able to summon forth the power of five great prayers, each imbued with the power of the mortal's gods, and the strength of their masterful mages. These four prayers were powerful indeed. So much so, in fact, that their combined power sealed Morkarth away in a small, dark, and lonely pocket dimension, saving the mortals from his wrath and putting an end to his reign of terror. Or so they thought...

Careful Rebuilding

Bested by mere mortals and sealed away in a singular dimension of which he was the only denizen, Morkarth spent years in rage and anguish. However, as he slowly came to accept his fate, he sensed a small stirring of magical power, not his own, but that of others, reaching for strength in the great beyond, and hoping to find one powerful enough to give it to them. He latched on to this opportunity, seeking to make contact with those desperate for power. He eventually found them - warlocks from the material realm who were willing to bargain power for favors. Now wary of mortals, but clever as ever, Morkarth began carefully building up a presence on the material plane once again, sending his warlocks on simple, seemingly trivial and unrelated tasks. However, all the while these small efforts paved the way for his return, culminating in their efforts shattering the power of the first of the five prayers, the prayer that protected their magic from interference by another. This shattered prayer was all Morkarth needed to escape his imprisonment, for with the first shattered, the rest were malleable, and his mastery of magic allowed him to twist them, binding them to his command. He emerged once again from the ashes of history, three-thousand years from the time in which he was sealed away, and once again seeks destruction and lordship over these lands that are, in his mind, rightfully his. His efforts are now more subtle, and less reckless, for while he has broken the chains imposed upon him by mortals, he has not forgotten their strength. This caution makes him all the more dangerous, as he now underestimates no foe, investing himself fully into the defeat of any who dare to challenge him, and treating any and all challengers as opponents worthy of his full respect and power.

Bellacina

Bellacina hasn’t been with us long, but we expect to have her around for a fairly sizeable amount of time. It’s my job to learn about all of our trappers at this lodge, but she’s been a tough nut to crack. She started out as any succubus does, sent on various assignments to corrupt mortals and cause general havoc here on our plane. She’s everything you’d expect from a Succubus – flirtatious, spontaneous, fiery, you name it. She was sent on a mission to deal with a particularly righteous mortal in a village just north of here, a fellow by the name of Edwin Holdfast. Edwin wasn’t a clergyman or anything, just an all-around great guy. He donated his excess to the poor, served in his community, protected the downtrodden, all that good stuff. Anyway, she was assigned to cause him some trouble, or, I suppose, to get him to start causing trouble. She was apparently one of their best seductresses, and from what I’ve seen her do to a few of our men, I don’t doubt it. In any case, she began her efforts with Edwin about two years ago, and it proved to be by far her most difficult challenge in corruption. It wasn’t particularly difficult to get Edwin to like her, she was exceptionally adept at that. But he was just too attached to his principles to give way to any of her temptations. After failing to seduce him for some time, she tried a number of different approaches to make him lose his temper and commit dreadful acts. She had affairs with local town members in order to arouse his jealousy, but he frankly (and infuriatingly) forgave her for each. She learned the dark secrets of many a townsperson, and told him of their flaws, but instead of becoming embittered, he approached them and offered to help them overcome their darkest crimes. The man was infuriating to her, but somehow, his staunch resistance to her suggestions, and natural, unbreakable goodness was, dare she say, attractive in some ways. She had never seen a mortal so purely attached to their ideals. Eventually, after a long period of failed attempts in corrupting Edwin, that attraction bloomed into an actual love for the man she was supposed to be corrupting, and she found herself more often at his side because she wanted to be there, not because she was attempting any corruption. She never told him what she was, fearing his judgment, but the two were eventually married, (secretly, at her insistence).

After all of this, and without word from Bellacina for some time, her superiors figured out something was up, but they didn’t realize the severity of her crimes until they sent other operatives to find out what was going on. Disgusted and disappointed with her for both her failure, and her willingness to remain bound to this lesser mortal, they sentenced her to spend a few decades in servitude to a mortal organization, so that she could once again truly understand how inferior mortals are. She did get to choose which organization to serve, however, and selected the Trapper’s Lodge, which some may consider odd since there are a number of what would typically be considered “evil” organizations one would expect a Succubus to be more heavily drawn towards. However, between the incident that landed her here in the first place and the choice she made to join us here, I get the feeling she’s not exactly your typical Succubus anymore. She has me putting away her cut of pay and sending it to Edwin. He's been having a rough time getting work because no one knew about the wedding, and the village he lives in isn’t particularly fond of him anymore on account of his having a child out of wedlock. There’s no trace of the mother in the village so when you put two and two together… Well, I expect you get what I’m saying. Stay wary all the same, though. She may like that man, but she’s still a succubus. She’ll flirt with anything that breathes and steal away a lot more than just your heart by the time its over if you let her get too close.

Ethel Reenus

Ethel has been here longer than any of us, and I don’t just mean you and me. She’s been haunting these parts since before the Dragon Trapper’s Lodge ever existed. I don’t think you’ll want to get too close – there’s a chill in the air around that sends shivers down even my spine, and I’m getting pretty used to the macabre and odd happenings around these parts. The girl is, put quite simply, a ghost. Put not quite so simply, she has a… history… with this place. Apparently her father was a necromancer who, at one point, decided that it would be a good idea to siphon energy from an ancient dragon thought to be long dead. Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Her father was the necromancer that inadvertently raised Morkarth from the grave. Apparently that spell of his didn’t just curse the necromancer, but was channeled through his bloodline as well. Although Ethel wasn’t forced into the creature’s servitude like her father was, she was still turned into what she is today, and she has been seeking vengeance on him ever since that time. In fact, the reason we know so much about the beast’s history is because of her. She hasn’t been here as long as you’d expect, though. She disappeared for a few thousand years at around the same time that Morkarth was sealed away, but reemerged from her slumber when he broke the seals that contained him. When she found out he was out of his imprisonment, she went from town to town seeking the strongest warriors in the land to aid her in her fight against him. Tales of her haunting still persist in local areas, in fact. That pursuit is what eventually led her here to the lodge, where she immediately joined us in our fight against Morkarth, and trust me, we’ll take all the help we can get against that one. She hates that creature more than any I’ve seen before, and that hatred tends to make strange things happen around the girl. Corpses rise at her feet when she passes over them, the air becomes chilled, and mortals break out in a cold sweat when she gets too close. If I were you, I’d just be happy she’s on our side.

Igoth Ratts

Igoth is that fellow in the corner over there. I’ll be honest, you probably won’t hear much from him unless you’re assigned to a job with him, and even then, he’s not the most talkative fellow. He used to work for a powerful noble mage that lives a few cities over. Apparently the mage’s noble house needed some muscle, and hired Igoth for the job. Unfortunately for the mage, Igoth is a little to kind for a job like that – wouldn’t hurt a fly. The mage sold him to us, claiming he was worthless, but we figured there was likely more to Igoth than meets the eye, and it turns out we were right. Of course, we don’t do indentured servitude here, so he’s making a wage, but he likes it here, and chose to stay. The trappers love him, too. He knows everyone’s favorite food and makes sure to have something ready whenever they come back from a tough commission. The only thing he’d say for the first little while was his name, or, well, that’s what we thought he was saying. Turns out the phrase he was saying was “I got rats.” But there’s a bit of a mumble there and we all thought it was his name for a bit. We’re understanding him better now, but the name stuck. He’s been trying to find work all over, and we figured we’d give him a shot here. He’s proven himself to be an exceptional help too. If you ask me, his old master just had him doing the wrong things. He’s not the brightest fellow, I’ll grant you that, but any form of manual labor and he outdoes every other person we can find. He’s also exceptionally skilled with our animals, and does a fantastic job of making sure that the trapper’s mounts are well taken care of and always in top form. He’s always in the company of a rat or two and from what I can tell, he actually understands what they say. Useful, to be sure - those things are everywhere and no one gives them a second glance these days. If you do end up on an assignment with him, don’t expect him to speak much. He’s still used to the “don’t speak unless spoken to” mentality of a servant. All the same though, you couldn’t ask for a better companion. The man is loyal to a fault, and won’t hesitate to put his life on the line for those he calls his friends.

Jakob Grimsky

Jakob is… noticeable to say the least. It’s not every day you see a man with a pumpkin for a head, after all. He doesn’t talk about it a lot. Actually, when he joined the lodge he was a pretty normal fellow. Eccentric, perhaps, but not too different from you or me. When he was younger, I hear he was a prodigy of sorts. His village marveled at his command of magic at such a young age, and they all told him he’d certainly be one of the next great mages of his generation. No doubt, he must have let the praise go to his head because when his small village had the misfortune of being the victims of an attack by a Pumpking and its minions, he confidently challenged the Pumpking. From what I understand, the fight lasted about 10 seconds, and when he woke up, his whole village had been destroyed. Jakob has never been one for sentiment, only for power. As such, it may come as no great surprise to you that, rather than mourning those he had lost, Jakob immediately started seeking the source of the Pumpking’s great power. He joined the lodge while on this search, convinced that our vast store of knowledge would assist him in that quest, and spent the next few years poring over what information we gathered about the Pumpkin Horrors and their power, while taking commission after commission in an effort to gain greater and greater strength and power. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

Apparently there is a powerful being called the Great Pumpkin that brings these creatures to life, granting them power and vitality. He found out about the creature after stealing a book from our restricted archives – a small subsection of our materials deemed too dangerous to even be read, but read it he did. There is a reason, however, that these secrets were locked away. A pact with the Great Pumpkin always involves the sacrifice of something that you hold dear above all else. Jakob however, being as clever as he was desperate for power, was able to use some subtle wordplay to fool even this great patron from another realm. He claimed that his head was his greatest treasure, and while all who know him well are aware that he was referring to his exceptional mind, the Great Pumpkin took the statement literally, and, well, you can see the result. Though Jakob’s head is gone, his intellect remains intact, and he has the power he has been searching for. It’s likely not enough for him, and I would expect him to continue searching for ways to expand on that power, but for now, he’s managed to find a patron to get him ahead of the game.

Kalamax

Kalamax has been Jakob’s loyal companion and steed for many long years, and like Jakob, he didn’t always look like that. The creature initially belonged to Jakob’s father, and was the pride of the Grimsky stables. He was the best horse seen in those parts in fifty years, and both Jakob and his father regarded him as their favorite. As Jakob’s magical prowess grew, and his powers continued to impress both his family and the rest of the village, Jakob’s father formally gave Kalamax to him as a gift, symbolizing the pride he had in his son, not to mention his trust, considering that Kalamax was his most prized animal. For many years, Jakob and Kalamax were inseparable, and after the events that destroyed Jakob’s home, they became even more so, as some of the few survivors of that tragedy.

Although Jakob may have gotten away with some trickery when taking his oath with the Great Pumpkin, not all could be hidden. The Great Pumpkin’s magic could determine that while (in some sense) Jakob was telling the truth when he said that his head was his most valued possession, that magic also determined that Jakob’s most valued possession outside of himself was Kalamax. Thus, the bargain struck by Jakob transformed Kalamax irreversibly as well. What had once been the prized glossy-white sheen of the beautiful creature’s coat was instead transformed into a sleek black, and its exceptional mane became instead a mane of flames. Kalamax lost much of who he was in the transformation, and though little of his original personality remains, what does remain is an exceptional bond and unending loyalty to Jakob himself. The creature is far more intelligent than most horses and will follow Jakob’s orders to the letter whenever capable. Jakob can take criticisms and rudeness himself, but never insult him around that creature or it may very well be the last thing that you do.

May Your Blades Stay Sharp and Your Flesh on Your Bones!