Abbey of Saint Markovia

The road from the village climbs above the mist to the wide ledge on which the abbey is perched. A light dusting of snow covers the trees and the rocky earth.
The gravel road passes between two small, stone outbuildings, to either side of which stretches a five-foot-high, three-foot-thick wall of jumbled stones held together with mortar. Blocking the road are iron gates attached to the outbuildings by rusty hinges. They appear to be unlocked. Viewed through the gates, the stone abbey stands quiet. Its two wings are joined by a fifteen-foot-high curtain wall. A belfry protrudes from the rooftop of the closer north wing, which also sports a chimney billowing gray smoke.

Looming high above Krezk is an abbey that was once a convent and hospital. Long abandoned, the abbey was reopened about a century ago by a pilgrim from a distant land. The nameless man was strikingly handsome and extremely persuasive, and the villagers couldn’t help but do as he commanded. Eternally young, he presides over the abbey to this day, and locals refer to him simply as the Abbot. The Abbot cares for the sick of Krezk, and those who suffer the affliction the worst are taken to the Abbey for his personal attentions.

Background

For centuries, the abbey was a home to the faithful of the Morninglord. The legendary religious zealot Saint Markovia began as a priest at the abbey and it was renamed in her honor due to her fame throughout Dibril.
After Saint Markovia and her followers failed to overthrow Ravna, the abbey became a fortress closed off from the rest of the world. Ravna ruthlessly preyed on the fears of the clerics and nuns holed up inside, but ultimately it was their isolation and greed that doomed them. The clergy began fighting over food and wine. By the time their supplies ran out, they had either been killed by each other’s hands or driven hopelessly insane by Ravna's acts of terror against them. For years afterward, the villagers of Krezk avoided the place, fearing that the abbey was cursed, haunted, or both.

Developments

After meeting with the Abbot and touring the Abbey, the party learns that the Abbot's means of saving the people of Krezk from their illness involves grafting animal parts in place of their rotting flesh. They also meet Vasilka, a flesh golem created by the Abbot to look like Ravna's long-dead daughter, Tatyana. The Abbot believes the way to save the Valley is by bringing happiness back to Ravna's life, and that Ravna desires nothing more than to be reunited with her daughter.
They also learn that Luka had already been to visit with the Abbot and gave him his black mirror in exchange for help bringing Luka's family back from the mists. But the Abbot soon finds he can make no use of the black mirror and lets Simak take it.

Clovin

Type

Abbey