Porcine business
Duskmeadow Fringe - September 18
People
Locations
Artea, Varg and Jebbo take a boat from Sigisfarne and travel south. They aim to scout the hilly area between Sigisfarne’s and Hendenburgh’s rivers for dangers.
Hungry nobles
In a once manicured land, now taken by an encroaching forest, the group finds a group of nobles sitting at a table. They gorge themselves on a large pig’s meat, viscera and fat. They eat it raw, with their dirty hands and their rotten teeth.
Their conversation is of noble quality, however. They bemoan their fate of being ejected from the plantation by the “ungrateful wretches”. They continued to ask for food, and their insatiable hunger is contagious. Almost agitated.
Eventually, Varg decides to roast the pig. The nobles continue to eat the roasted pig as the group departs, following an overgrown pebble road.
Destroyed coach
At the bottom of a hill, they see an overturned coach. Maggot-infested corpses of a pair of horses are still lashed to the wagon. Baggages are scattered around it. Varg and Jebbo collect some of the valuable finery.
Artea sees a charred body. It is a footman. It’s been bitten all over and then burned. By it, she finds a strange weapon, a hooked sickle of brute making.
Ahead, an eroded stone-paved road takes the visitors to a large manor. By the road’s sides, willow trees have at their feet the bodies of other burned people.
To the left, a rice plantation was once maintained. The crop is now wild, with tall stalks of golden yellow. A memory of a noble land, seen in the sunset.
Abandoned manor
Whoever owned this land is long gone. The mansion is a monstrosity, built in the same new style as Deverain. The building has fire stains on the exterior walls, and the flames consumed most of the wooden doors and windows. Looters have sacked the interior.
Bodies litter the place. Many on the floor. Some nailed to doors. They have all been drained of their blood.
Now it is dark outside. The full moon and some remnants of wildfires light the fields. The group light their torches and tries to find a safe place to spend the night. Porcine sounds come from the outside, circling the property.
The Sow Queen
Varg finds a cellar door. Inside, an overly sweet smell. The porcine creatures’ hooves can be heard inside the house now. Artea and Jebbo join Varg, and they close the cellar door.
The inside offers devilish visions. A deep crimson paste covers the pillars and floor. The walls are covered with flayed skin, made into curtains.
The Sow Queen cooks something golden in three cauldrons. She tells the group that her babies get mad under the full moon. But she welcomes the adventurers to spend the night here with her.
She tells them stories of their family being hunted by the crown people. Artea shows her the weapon she has found. The queen explains this is one of their family’s khopesh. A lost heirloom.
The group wakes up the next day and travels back to Sigisfarne.