The frozen air blows through Mardurn and along with it a heavy snowfall that covers the land in a blanket of white. Some celebrate the new year, others wish and dream of warmer days.
Rumor spread from Clan Ironmound that are grim and frightful to hear around the hearth’s of taverns and longhouses across the land. Tales speak again of the abandoned and destroyed mining village of Ambervein. Tales that were once shared of the spiritual unrest in the mines seem to grow as new information flows in from a recent group of scouts who went to see if the land was still usable by the clan. When they entered the ruined village, it is said that the seasoned scouts felt as if they could feel as if something was clawing at the bottoms of their boots. Many thought it to be the loose rubble and ignored it, though a few took a long and scenic route around the outskirts of the village. When they stayed the night, they could hear screams and cries for help from the mine entrance. One of the bravest of them, a scout from Pack Stonefist, entered the mines to prove them craven. They waited till the dawn and finally the scout came back, his flesh clammy and covered in what looked like dozens of scrapes or claw marks. He couldn’t speak, he could barely move, but when he sat next to the fire and saw the shadows, he fled screaming back from where they came. To date no one has been able to get him to speak on what he saw.
Less disturbing by far is the tales of Clan Axehound and what some villages noticed as the days of the Great Wolf’s Hunt came near. The village of Timberpaw took note of a large number of travelers coming through their small and quiet settlement. They would always appear in the morning stay for a few nights, then disappear before the next sunrise. One day the Innkeep decided to follow one of these guests, and to her surprise watched as they lit a single lanturn and headed towards the pitch black trees of the Great Forest. When they got to the edge of the forest though, more lanterns appeared and seemt to gather and go deeper into the wood. One thing is for sure, there is a group in the Great Wolf’s Forest, and they are trying to keep what they are doing a secret.
Strange posters began appearing all across the populous areas of the City State of Newhope. Covered in illustrations of incredible and before unseen creatures these posters act as an advertisement for a new travelling show. “Alexei the Traveller’s World of the Unseen” claims that it will begin it’s travels after the thaw of spring and promises to show creatures and oddities that the people of Mardrun had never before seen. “Save your silver now! You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime experience!”
From the lands of Aylin’s Reach, there is a tale of a fantastical masquerade ball that Prince Aylin threw to ring in the new year. It seems only the most elite and politically astute were invited to join this soiree for the amount of people that showed was rumored to be no more than forty according to one of the servants of the Prince’s estate. Fine music, Fire Isle wine, fine cheese, and other delicacies were present, and it was said to be one of the Prince’s finest parties in recent years. As the party ended and the lights dimmed in the estate, many outside the estate wondered what it would be like to dress in silk and fine cottons, eat foods fit for royalty, and taste wines of long forgotten lands.