Fyrhaven
A remote village in the Kingdom of Caresnas which was attacked by the Assistants to the Elevation.
History
Fyrhaven was built in 191 on the northern edge of the region controlled by the Argentiss' in Shaon. It was home to those who, for various reasons, didn't wish to live in the more tightly controlled south. The settlement was named for the forest of softwood trees it was built next to.
Travellers were rare in Fyrhave so the first that anyone in the rest of the kingdom learned that there was trouble there was when a trader, Loris of Hebleford, made his monthly visit. Loris and his guards found the village deserted, with no sign of the residents or any livestock. Despite being summer, there was an unnatural chill in the air making all three Loris' group nervous. Des[ite this the prospect of rain meant a night under a roof seemed like a better option than camping out so the three made themselves at home in one of the houses.
The night was not a pleasant one for Loris and his guards. The temperature dropped dramatically with frost forming on the inside walls of the building they were in. When the rain came it arrived as large pellets of ice that rattled off the door and shutters. As dawn arrived and the air began to warm the three travellers wasted no time in getting their gear together. Heading outside they found Loris' mules lying dead on the ground. The guards' horses were still alive, though clearly frightened, and the guards were quick to abandon Loris.
Loris was left to put together a pack that he could carry back by himelf, but as he was preparing to depart he saw his mules begin to move jerkily. Thinking he had been mistaken Loris went over to check on them, but recoiled when he saw the red light emanating from their lifeless eyes. Abandoning his pack Loris ran from the village following after his former guards.
It was midafternoon when Loris came across the bodies of his guards and their horses. The bodies were coated in a layer of thawing ice and the guards' faces were twisted in expressions of horror. Despite being low on supplies Loris gave the corpses a wide berth and continued running towards the nearest village. On arriving there Loris immediately went to the temple to inform the local priest of what he had seen and ask for protection. The priest sent word back to Shaon before warning the oher residents of the threat of undead. The warning came none too soon as the reanimated forms of the guards approached the village.
Driving off the undead proved too much for the priest and villagers, but they were able to hold on until a company of temple warriors arrived to deal with the situation. After putting down the zombified remains of he guards the leader of the company, a holy knight known as Stonewall, found that several of the items the guards carried were cursed. After checking that Loris had not been foolish enough to take anything from Fyrhaven, Stonewall returned the cursed items and warned the villagers not to approach the cursed village. According to Stonewall, there had been a mass murder in the village recently, the evil of which now infected the land buildings.
This was written for Spooktober 2022 for the Curse prompt. Other Spooktober articles can be found in the Tremanac Spooktober 2022 page.
The curse
The spirits of those who were killed in the village are unable to move on and their resentment towards the living drives the village's curse. The spirits attack at random within the village at night, with no clear pattern as to who will be attacked or spared. If anyone takes anything from the village then they also take a spirit with them. Fortunately the spirits are impatient and attack soon after the thief leaves the village. If they allowed a thief to reach a larger settlement there is no telling how high the death toll could reach. Anything killed within the village will be reanimated by the dark energy from the spirits and this extends to anything killed in the vicinity of an object taken from the village.The culprits
The culprits behind the massacre were tracked down by a company from the Order of the Shield commanded by Stonewall. Though the perpetrators were brought to justice and the animated remains of the villagers laid to rest this was not enough to lift the curse from Fyrhaven. It remains a lifeless place, and anything that dies there will rise again as an undead within a short period. Signs have been placed around the village to warn any who may consider stealing from the village will be subject to a deadly curse. Those who have ignored the signs have fallen victim to the village's curse and now serve the unquiet spirits as corporeal guards.
RUINED SETTLEMENT
Mid 222
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