The Epitaphs of Kravedda the Hag of Bitterbark

The Bitterbark Forest runs along the edge of civilization in this region. While a source of wood for the region, it presents dangers regularly. Any travel more than a mile into the woods is considered foolish, The hag Kravedda lives in the Bitterbark. While hags are rightly assumed to be evil, Kravedda had a business streak in her. She was known to regularly make deals with people for her help. When the king of Nestry was killed in his own bed, the hag was seen sitting on his chest as he died. The screams of the queen brought the royal guard but the hag had flown out the balcony. Troops organized to march on Bitterbark. They surrounded her home and attacked with all the might, wizardry, and divine damnation they could call upon. The house collapsed in and burned for hours. They could hear her screams over and over as each hour passed by. They cut trees and added them to the pyre around her house. When done the house was mostly ash. They sifted through the remains until they found her corpse, which was nothing but ash caked bones. Frightened, they gathered her bones up separating them into seven bags. They feared her bones would be reborn. They feared what the bones said.
Divine orders and arcane masters were called to court in Nestry. Down below a garrison, in underground chambers, the bones were separated into different rooms, laid out on tables, and meticulously dusted. For every bone, great and small, was covered in carved symbols. They appeared to be a blend of different scripts and some matched nothing known. Magics could not read them. But on each bone sizable enough, there was a start and an end. Each bone a phrase or sentence. Two ribs at heart height were split and they were also the first to be believed to be interpreted correctly.

"The traitor screams in his bed. The blamed burns in her home."

In the decade that followed, the queen's true nature could not remain hidden. She was selfish, vengeful, greedy, and cruel. Before her execution, she cursed all of Nestra, proclaiming that Nestra murdered Kravedda. All it took was a little lie for their hatred to murder the hag who had done nothing but help the king. They say her head kept laughing after it was cut from her neck.
The hag bones are still studied and argued over. Other lines have been interpreted and seem to have foretold the future. Some scrolls of the engravings have been smuggled out of Nestra. They are studied in many countries. Nestra fears they will never have their answers. Her left hand and a section of her skull top are missing. A fortified outpost was built around the site of her home where she burned. It is studied and cataloged for every bit found.

Item type

Unique Artifact