Harskern

This village appears typical of the handful which have not been decimated by raiding armies or fiends. There are 300 or more villagers who go about their business of daily life almost as if nothing had changed. Harskern is not raided, it appears, and the traveler might wonder why this is so. Querying one of the locals will not bring any reply; they are silent and avoid questions and strangers.

The reason for this is that the "village militia" is not what it seems. This group of 20 men-at-arms are actually disguised priests of Iuz and veteran fighters (levels 5 to 10). They are aided by a pair of mages and two thief scouts. Harskern is the base from which Iuz's agents spy on events in Almor. Iuz is well aware of Pazrael's schem ing and so ensures he has first-hand observations of what happens here. From time to time Iuz may even send one of his Boneheart wizards here for a full report, though this is rare. The villagers know that these folk are evil. They don't know for sure that they serve Iuz, because they prefer not to know.

At least these occupiers keep raiders at bay. Wander ing orc militias and bandits have been swiftly slain by Iuz's men, who have made sure that none escape to raise any warnings. Moreover, Iuz's servants do not mistreat the villagers, much as they would like to, since they do not want to give the game away to casual visitors.

Harskern offers a change of scene for a campaign, since there is a dilemma for good-aligned PCs: if they root out the evil of Iuz, they may leave this village defenseless against the bandits and deserters who have burned down and pillaged so many others just like it.