Gorund's Tower

[Saemond]

Trekking on the far edge of the Duchey, the players notice that the ground becomes more dry, barren, and less fertile. The trees seem less green, and the ground is hard and rocky. The fields of the farms look as if the harvest will be short this year, though there is no evidence that the fields have ever had a boom crop.
The town proper and the surrounding stone buildings have a certain age about them as if they have seen better times, better times in the distant past. In fact the Town of Very Scaras used to be somewhat of a regional trade hub. Merchants of every variety with wares from every corner of the kingdom would sell thier merchandise after the Autumnal Equinox in preparation for harvest season. In exchange the merchants would fill thier sacks with wonderful flowers, orchids and fruits that could be found nowhere else.
The gods were good to the Very family and they were all blessed with healthy children and spouses, and in particular with a seemingly supernatural gift at agriculture and horticulture. In return the Very fmily were very pious people and devoted thier lives to the gods of beauty, spring blossoms, nature, and harvest. Over the years the Very's constructed many shines and gardens for the gods. And Scaras became a tourist location even above its trade. travelers from all over would visit and meditate under the cherry blossoms and sit in a field of golden poppys. Even the Royal Family had been known to visit the divine orchards and topiary mazes of the Very family.
At the height of the garden the clan Patriarch decided to construct the most impressive dedication of the Very family to date, he even managed to secure a royal gift for the financing of the construction. Over the years the plan developed and grew. Until the plans were finished. Very Gorund declared the plans perfect. it was time for construction.
The family gathered the funds and the labor, and hired the best workers from the Kingdom in order to built thier wonderous tower to thank the gods. year past and the tower began to emerge as a wonder unto itself, standing above the surrounding hils, and gardens it accentuated every aspect, and took away from nothing. Nearly 30 years after its incepton the tower was almost in completion, and work was to begin on the gardens.
The gardens were to be like nothing else on earth, lush and pristine, ordered but natural, perfect. However, as construction began in eanest a civil war erupted in the tranquil kingdom. The King's promise of money was withdrawn, and the family was left to work on it themselves as the workers fled to thier respective homes. As the war drew on the family began to splinter as the children thought it a meaningless plight and they began to sell the land to whomever would buy it, they chopped down the woods for soliders firewood, and the fields were planted with grain and not blossoms. Cattle fed in the fields one filled with white elk and hummingbirds.
The betrayal for Gorund was too much. In his advanced years he was too old to continue his project but he tried as best as he could. The rest of his family had abandoned the gods as had the town. Pilgrims no longer came to the once holy vale. While placing stonework upon the tower walls, the 83 yeart old Gorund tripped and fell to his death. In his dying breath, Gorund reaserted his families promise, and he swore his spirit would not rest until the garden was complete. No one, not even his family noticed, for they were all gone. The Very family had renegged on thier promise to the gods to maintain the land. Slowly over time the ground covered the faithful Gorund. And the Shadow of the tower took on a new life of its own.

[Saemond]

The gods that inhabited the Vale of Scaras aswered Gorund's pledge, and imbued the land into his spirit and reinforced his will with their godly might, and fueled his fury with thier glory. For although the King, the Dukes, the Barons, and even Gorund's own blood, the Verys had betrayed Gorund and the pact with the gods, Gorund had remained pure and dedicated untill his mortal life expired.
Deep in the hills and hollows, Gorunds will continues though the monument remains unfinished.
After Gorunds Death, the entire Vale withered and died. The vary family dispersed thru the kingdom and married into the varieous noble and merchant houses in the kingdom. The Vary families fealt the scourge of the curse early on, as the land became inhospitible to them, the locals began to resent them, and the trade that sustained the Scaras markets all but dried up. The Vary family claimed no responsibility for the erosion of their lands and instead claimed that the spirits that had give te family such good fortune had spited them.
More time passed and the temple was still not completed, no stones were placed anew, no flowers were planted, and no lawns were cared for. The wrath of Gorund could no longer be contained, he was not content to watch all he and his ancestors had sacrificed be squandered away because of their infidelity. Gorund was angry.
The land withered even more, cattle could no longer graze in the hills, and the streams dried up to a trickle. The shadows in the hills became ominous and threatening, and Skraelings were thought to inhabit the hills at night. Furthermore the road thru Scaras became wrought with bandits and other dangers. People spoke of horrible visions of plague and pestilence, and they often awoke in the night to find thier horses and provisions missing without so much as a trace.
The ground in Scaras is rough and rocky, and one must be careful when walking off of the trails becasue the ground is so uneven with ruts and crumbly rock that it is easy to sprain or break an ankle. The locals say that the earth itself is possessed by the Spirit of Gorund and he reaches up and grabs at the feet of selfish travelers, pulling them into the hardened clay and joining him in eternal torment.
The local peasants encourage travelers to make resonable donations to the memory of Gorund and in praise of the gods so that their favor may be returned one day. They promise that the land is kind to those who respect it, and that the greed of selfish people has wrested its health.
Among some Gorund seems almost phrophetic, a Noah type figure. Although the soil of the Vale is arid, and the wells are near dried up, most of the people have some shrine or another formt he old days of Scaras that they keep well maintained. Life is hard in Scaras, but none of the peasants go starving.