Weekly Adventure Hook #004 ~ The Five Runes of Coldscarr

Adventure Hook Index Card #004. A new card released every Saturday on Twitter by @jmason333. #pathstoadventure #adventurehookcards

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The Five Runes of Coldscarr

A mysterious plague has befallen the northern, snow-laden village of Coldscarr. The symptoms begin as exhaustion that induces lethargy which eventually progresses to victims falling into a tired catatonic state. Poor souls inflicted with the curse soon fall into a deep, unending sleep; weakening their lingering bodies until they succumb to death. The villagers refer to it as the Fading Sleep.

Sabella, the village oracle and völva (medicine woman), has determined that the cause of the Fading Sleep is a terminal blight that has infected their sacred Ancestor Tree; a massive yggdrasil oak which resides at the center of the village. The tree is dying, and so too are the memories (descendants) of the village ancestors.

The only hope for Coldscarr to escape the Fading Sleep is for a new ancestor tree to be rooted in the elder’s place. This can be done by gathering five sacred rune stones from the guardian nature spirits that reside deep in the frozen forests. However, the villagers are all too exhausted to brave the winter winds. The scene is set when the adventurers arrive and the village chieftain, Vadik, pleads with them to help save his people. Sabella recounts the tale of the Five Spirits, and explains that each must be bested in battle to prove the worth of the descendants.

The adventurers will encounter each of the five spirits in the forest. When one is defeated its corpse transforms into a palm sized glowing blue stone with a single rune upon it.

The guardians and their runes: 1. Uruz Rune (health); Abominable Yeti guardian, 2. Ansuz Rune (language); Frost Giant guardian, 3. Wunjo Rune (fellowship); Giant Winter Wolf guardian, 4. Elhawz Rune (endurance); Remorhaz guardian, 5. Berkano Rune (fertility); Yggdrasil Treant guardian.

When all five rune stones are returned to Coldscarr, Sabella gathers them and places them into a hole she has dug near the roots of the elder tree. In an instant the elder tree withers away while a seedling tree simultaneously sprouts and grows into a full grown, healthy yggdrasil oak. The surviving villagers are cured of the Fading Sleep and the blight is cured.