The Shrine of Waters
Before you are two large, ivy covered, blocky, stone columns sitting upon either side of a small stone pedestal. Upon the pedestal is a great wooden bowl of seeming common make. The ground is a shrine of some type. About the shrine, the ground is churned and dug up such that nothing grows but weeds and briars. The trees have been chewed upon and chopped at. They are only ghostly reminders of their once great selves. An old willow survives this ruin, but it is sorely bent and scarred. All about are bones. Some are picked clean, glistening white in the light of the moon, but fresher kill is patched with rotten skin and tawny half-chewed muscle.
Purpose / Function
This shrine is dedicated to no god, but is simply a place for fey to worship the joys of nature.
History
Years past, the princess ADEL, a fey of wondrous beauty, fell into the grasp of one of the Horned God’s ELDRITCH GOBLINS. EZELWEED was twisted and foul, his body the mirror of his soul. He forced Adel to consume a potion that would strike her mind dumb, so that he could force her to love him. But Adel consumed the potion reluctantly and was taken with madness. She broke free of Ezelweed’s clawed grasp and fled from him. His short and stubby legs were no match for her long stride and she quickly left him behind. In rage he cursed her and flung a dart after her fleeing form. It struck true, though Ezelweed did not know it, for she fled on, deep into the Barren Woods.
At last, Adel came to the end of her road and life. She lay down beneath the shade of an old willow tree and clutched at her dying
heart. A pod of SPRITES found her thus and they wondered at her end. She could not speak but they fussed over her nonetheless and begged her life to remain. To their dismay she passed beyond them and died there beneath the willow tree. But their magic had worked an enchantment upon her.
In time her blood became a pool of water and flowers grew where she fell. Short, wide mouthed blue bells sprung to life everywhere her form had lain, except where the dart pierced her. There, a briar grew, long and perilous thorns springing from its horned hide. The sprites formed a bowl of wood into which the water could flow and there, in later days, they gathered to frolic and dance and from it they drew much sustenance. The arrival of the gnomes changed little and they too enjoyed the sustenance of the waters of the shrine. They then built a pedestal of stone upon which the wood bowl was placed and up to which the water would flow.
The arrival of Witch Queen’s servants ended all this. Seroneous, the DRIDER, befouled the Shrine of Waters and had two columns of stone erected by it. Between them he hung foul webs and laid many an egg so that his venomous offspring would forever keep the place unclean and the waters unavailable. “Evil begets evil,” as they say. So arrived four harpy sisters. Aged enemies of the fey, the harpies delighted in the befoulment of the shrine and they came and lit upon the columns as if in victory.
They feasted upon Seroneous’ hatchlings and grew fat. The harpies have made the Shrine of Waters their home. Their nest has been built in the willow tree and they often rest upon the tops of the columns waiting easy prey – be it orc, goblin, man or gnome. Their favorite food is, of course, the fey and their kin, most especially elves. Two of the harpies are often in the Barren Wood hunting prey and trying to lure them back to the Shrine spot where they are killed and devoured. For Seroneous’ part, he wants them gone and he has continually concocted plans to rid the vale of the harpies or alternately, bring them under his control. The harpies guard the shrine better than he or his hatchlings ever could and are devilishly difficult to kill in any respect.
Type
Shrine
Parent Location
Additional Rulers/Owners
Owning Organization
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