TRABAJOS EN REVESTIMIENTOS 01. ENLUCIDO DE MORTERO

Eyes

Certain places in Eredane resonate with ancient dread and the fearful presence of great evil long entombed. The Highhorn Mountains are one such place, the peaks of Arunath another. There is an Erunsil legend that claims the Highhorns reach to the roof of the world where Izrador crouches with his great horned head pressed against the rock, listening to his enemies’ movements within the forest. It is said that Izrador can see and hear all that occurs within the mountains’ shadow. Other myths tell of the Dark Ones, Izrador’s lieuten- ants amongst the Wael, and how some of their number fell to Aryth with their master and were trapped for eternity beneath the brood- ing peaks of the North. Within sight of the looming mountains and on the open expanses of their icy snowfields, it is easy to believe these stories are true.

Whatever evil lurks at the top of the world or lies trapped in the lightless spaces beneath the earth, its presence is a palpable menace that reaches out to those who walk between the shadowed fingers of the moun- tains. The Slumbering Bones of the Dark Ones trait applies to certain umbral valleys where the mountains’ shadows never retreat.

The menace increases amongst the icy peaks, bearing down oppressively upon those who walk the desolate wilds, slowly wearing away at their sanity and fraying their nerves with its constant, malignant presence. The Unsleeping Eyes of the Horned One trait can be used when characters venture more than 30 miles into the mountain range.

Slumbering Bones of the Dark Ones (CR ½): Will save DC 5; 1 week interval; –1

modifier/interval; 1 temporary damage to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma; Special: only characters with the ability to cast spells are susceptible to this evil presence; all others feel uneasy but suffer no other ill effects. The ability damage can be healed as normal but cannot be cured by mundane or magical means within the mountain range or the shadow of its peaks. Characters who suffer this damage are plagued by terrible dreams and visions of demonic entities lurking

leaning and fallen trees, toppled by the biting winds and the weight of snow, freezing mists drift up from the waters of the snowmelt riverlets that trickle down from the hills. Densely clustered ferns and slippery, moss- coated rocks screen the entrance to narrow gullies cre- ated by these waterways. In their damp, shadowed depths, cracks and caves lead to a lightless underworld that extends deep into the mountains.

The Eastern Veradeen is an old land, scarred by conflict and hiding many ancient secrets buried in its soil. Leaning menhirs, dolmens, and rings of standing stones litter the landscape along with long and broad barrow mounds that dominate sudden clearings in the wildest parts of the wood. These monoliths are ancient echoes of a forgotten time, but remain charged with potent magic, etched in the runes and swirling lines that decorate their surfaces and whose use and secrets are long forgotten or poorly understood.

In the summer arcs, huge ferns half again as tall as a Dornish warrior obscure the forest floor and vicious brambles trip the unwary, but offer sweet succulent fruits in late summer as recompense. A surprising vari- ety of creatures dwell in these woods: skittish rabbits and squirrels, small birds that feed on the fruits and pine kernels, as well as deer, boar, and timber wolves. Dire bears and their lesser brethren prowl these lowlands, passing the autumnal arcs before retiring to deep caves for the winter. Less wholesome creatures also stalk the dim wealds of the Eastern Veradeen. Carrion stags lurk along the forest edge, driving their foul herds of rotting Fell into the shelter of the trees when howling winds drive snow, neck-deep, across the desolate heath of Eris Aman. Trolls, blight ogres, and bands of giant-men also wander the forest hunting for prey or moving under orcish command, hunting insurgents, runaway slaves, and the elusive Erunsil.

The snow elves move with silent surety through these boreal woods, their ancestral lands for millennia. The Erunsil hate the Shadow and his minions with a deep-rooted passion and spend every last ounce of their strength in resisting the encroachment of his forces. Over the last century, the orcs have made small advanc- es, but these have been bitterly won at great cost in orcish life and are often lost to cunning elfkin ambushes and surprise attacks.

Numerous refugee and resistance groups use the eastern Veradeen as a refuge of sorts, eking out a rudi- mentary living in the unforgiving woods. The Erunsil keep their distance from the humans, naturally mistrust- ful and having been betrayed too many times in the past by collaborators and spies. The exceptions to this are the men of Roland Redguard, who have a fortified camp on the western edge of the lowland forest, where the land climbs to the foothills. These brave men and women move through the woods with the elves’ blessing and aid, and sometimes men and fey join forces against the Shadow’s troops.

beneath the mountains. Each night they go to sleep they must make DC 10 Will saves or suffer a bout of sleepwalking. The PC seeks out an isolated area with exposed stone and carves or scribes strange runes and symbols upon its face, strange, swirling patterns that seem to shift and writhe disturbingly when viewed obliquely in the light of the moon.

If a PC has an ability score reduced to 0 due to this hazard, he becomes an insane thrall of the insidious beings beneath the obsidian bones of the Highhorns. His ability scores return to normal, but he becomes an NPC who wanders the mountains as a hermit. His align- ment changes to chaotic evil and he attempts to complete strange rituals, sacrifices, and other tasks to aid his masters’ escape. In time, he might gather other foul minions to him in order to complete the task. A remove curse spell cast by a 10th-level spellcaster can break the hold of the Dark Ones and restore a PC to normal.

Unsleeping Eyes of the Horned One (CR2): Will save DC 10; 4 hour interval; –1

modifier/interval; –1 morale penalty to attacks and checks; Special: the penalties caused by this trait accumulate over time. For example, a PC who fails two saves suffers a –2 morale penalty. Affected characters feel as if some hidden observer watches them, while at night they dream of a dark, impossible shape that calls to them from the north. After each failed save, the character dreams he has moved closer to the darkness, and after four failed saves his waking hours become haunted by sudden whispers and shadows that dart in his peripheral vision. If the PCs leave the area affected by this trait, they can remove the morale penalty after 24 hours.

Legates and other minions of the Shadow are immune to both of these effects, but channelers loyal to Izrador are not. However, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus to their Will save when trying to resist the evil presence of the mountains.

Menhirs, Barrows, and Rings of