The Village

As explained in the introduction, this settlement can be placed in many different parts of Mythic Europe, as appropriate to your saga. There are, however, a few features of the village that should remain constant wherever it is located, and encounters involving those areas are described below.

One of the sacred duties of monasteries is the charity of giving travelers a meal and a bed, and the characters are probably aware of this, as it is a common feature of medieval life. However, depending on how common Cistercian abbeys are in their region, they may not be aware of their unusual restrictions regarding women. Bluntly, the general consensus among Cistercian monks is "if you allow a woman through the door, the devil will come in through the window." Only in unique circumstances would a woman be allowed past the walls: say, the Queen of the Realm wished to attend Mass. Even then, the abbot would suffer a harsh penance — at the very least, he and all the monks would have to fast for several days — and if he were held personally responsible for this terrible event, he could quite possibly lose his position.

Another rule of Cistercian abbeys is that they are forbidden to give hospitality or provision to warriors. If a suspicious group of characters arrives at the gate bearing obvious arms and armor, they will likely be turned away by the porter without even sending for the hostilar. Accidents and violence have been known to happen in guest-houses, which are typically rowdy places when there are many travelers, and monks have learned to be cautious. This stricture will probably be applied whenever the porter feels threatened, such as if he speaks to someone with The Gift, or if (heaven forbid!) a magus with the Blatant Gift tries to enter.

If the characters travel to the village with Ash, she will make them aware of these facts before they leave the covenant, so that they can prepare disguises or make other plans. She suggests they look for lodging in the village, but that they prepare a plau-

sible story for why they are traveling: nobility returning to their lands from other holdings, pious Christians on a pilgrimage, or perhaps craftsfolk traveling to a fair.

A detailed description of the abbey is not necessary, since the characters are unlikely to spend much time there. If they stay within, they sleep in the guest house and eat apart from the monks, and while they might visit the church to pray, they have little interaction with the brothers apart from the one who sees to their needs. If you find you need a better idea of the layout and buildings of a medieval abbey, there is more information in Chapter Three.

If any of the characters have positive reputations or important titles, they may be invited to dine with the abbot, Father Eric. He is a gregarious, easy man of aristocratic bearing but disarming manner, with no obvious vices. It is easy to see that the monks are very loyal to him, for he is confident and self-assured, and genuinely cares for his charges. He lives a stark and humble life for one of his high position, and sets a good example for his brethren. He may be curious about the characters, and speculate that they have come to join the search for the missing woman, of which he thinks very little. He can tell them a few facts about Sir Gilbert, a knight-errant who arrived recently and twice attended Mass, who aims to slay a dragon he believes to live in the wood. The abbot may also describe his side of the growing conflict between him and the reeve over the incident in the forest.

If the characters have any means of drawing out the brothers, who are supposed to be silent unless need or politeness demands and will avoid the characters as much as possible, they may learn some of this same information. For example, the hostilar might be persuaded to gossip a little about the conflict while seeing to their needs if the characters bring him interesting news from more distant places. He may also mention the young man, who was injured in the forest and is staying in the infirmary, but the monks have done all for him that can be done, and they will not allow the characters to see him without permission from the abbot. His story is described in the village background below; all he remembers is that his lover wanted to leave him, and the sound of a great bell in the forest.

The village is not particularly large, and the wealthiest family is that of Stephen, the reeve. He lives on the other side of the river and closer to the wood in a large, well-built house. Stephen believes that the recent events in the forest bode ill for the village, and hopes to play the politics of the situation well enough to recapture some of the influence that he has lost to the abbot over the last decade. His visit with his lord did not go as well as he had hoped, for he has been ordered to investigate further before he will be sent more men, and Stephen has no idea where to begin. He has lied and said that reinforcements will be arriving soon, to calm the fears of those in the village, and may be very grateful that the characters have arrived, perhaps even pretending that he expected them. He will gladly escort them to the forest and the place where the dead man was found, if they take an interest.

The reeve's wife, Matilda, is proud of their station and eager to welcome guests into her home, so long as they do not seem dangerous or threatening. Magi, warriors and grogs will be allowed to sleep in their hay-shed while more distinguished guests sleep on comfortable pallets on the floor by the fire. If encouraged, Matilda will tell the characters more than they want to know about the surrounding area and the recent events of the village, though she will not speak highly of the monks or the monastery.

Characters with The Gift will have great difficulty in the village, for few people will speak with them, and they will be regarded with distrust wherever they go. Stephen is desperate enough to overcome his instinctive revulsion at working with such unpleasant company, but he will hate himself for it and will share none of the credit with them. If they succeed in resolving the mystery of the missing girl without help from more palatable companions, they will be thanked and quickly seen on their way. Obviously, characters with the Blatant Gift will be utterly unwelcome, driven off and watched for in case they should return.

The characters may learn from the monks or the people of the village some or all of the details of what happened in the woods, described here. The story has likely grown with the telling, so freely exaggerate the aspects of the tale that seem like they will capture the players' imaginations.

A young couple of the village had been courting in the months previous, often taking long, scandalous walks together in the surrounding woods, and their relations became far more intimate than the girl's father liked. She had a wild, fighting spirit, with no head for business, but the boy was sensible and hard-working, apprenticed to the village carpenter and with a good future. Something about these woods inflamed their passions, and led them into sin and wickedness they never should have discovered. It became apparent that the girl was with child, and when confronted with this by her father, she fled the household. He suspected she would go to the young man, and followed him into the woods the next day. He told his wife that he would convince them to marry, as they must.

What happened next is not clear, though certainly they all met in the woods. The boy was injured, beaten senseless, and a head injury has destroyed his memories of the event. The father was found dead with a great wound in his chest, as from a sharp horn, and many bruises. Tracks suggested he had been attacked by a group of wild animals, though it was whispered that such animals must have walked on two legs with goat-feet. It is likely the girl had been there as well, for a strip of cloth torn from her garments was found near the men. No other trace of her has been found since, either in the forest or in the surrounding villages.

The boy would gladly accept his responsibilities and marry the girl once he recovers, but he fears she will not have him, for she had said on that terrible day that she planned to leave him. The troubles that now consume his waking hours stem from his concern for her safety. He can remember nothing else of what occurred except for one inexplicable image: he thought he heard the jarring sound of a bell, an awful sound, tolling far in the distance but still loud enough to be heard clearly. The broken tone of the bell occupies his dreams and fills his thoughts with guilt and remorse.

The abbot maintains that the girl has been lost, fled from her wanton actions and hidden somewhere far away, to atone for her sins and bear the child. He regards the death as a terrible accident, and wishes to discourage fearful rumors of demonic creatures marauding in the surrounding region. He is very angry with the reeve for frightening the villagers and attempting to mobilize his lord's men, and views these actions as a challenge to his leadership. The reeve, in turn, believes that the abbot wants the young couple too harshly punished for their sinful actions (which are quite understandable to the common people), and is using this event as an example to the community for the consequences of sin, rather than taking any interest in what happened or giving any thought to the girl.

The villagers, including the reeve, have long known that there is a great evil hidden in the forest, and see this event as its return brought about by the dark times in which they live. They know there are areas of the wood that cannot be penetrated, and a particular clearing where strange visions of talking animals and other wicked things plague those who stray there. Beyond is a place of great strife and battle in years past, where flames and screams were heard day and night, accompanied by the clanging sound of a great iron being struck. Foresters have occasionally seen shaggy, bestial devil-men running in the distance in that same area. Wilder legends brought forth with strong drink tell of a sleeping dragon on Two Crag Hill, who long ago stole and devoured many of their people. With all these forces arrayed against them, it is no wonder the villagers are frightened, and do not know who will have the strength to protect them, the abbot or their lord.