lore drop

Lore Drop – The Sons of Alice

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

We’ve covered Deadeye Alice and her husbands, the Chainmates, and now it is time for her sons – a set of mighty warriors who protect hearth and home, and occasionally go on a rowdy hunt through the Blackcap Mountains. The Sons of Alice, also described in tales as the Alicespawn, largely wear red and black clothing and armour. They were not seen much during the Last War, though some speculate that just means there were no survivors of encounters – or that they retreated into the mountains to ride it out whenever armies ventured onto their territory.

Jotin Alicespawn - braided beard and mohawk both dyed red and black, broken horns, sharp teeth
Makkar Alicespawn - dark long bushy beard, short mohawk hair, broken horns, fierce eyebrows and scowl
Ruthek Alicespawn - bound egyptian style false beard, long ponytail, broken horns, sharp teeth
Goor Alicespawn - tousled hair, bushy beard, and broken horns
Kher Alicespawn - hooded and cowled ogre with sharp teeth and filed horns

Jotin, Makkar, Ruthek, Goor, and Kher are all half-ogres with hag blood in their veins. They form a barbarian clan devoted to Alice that exists on the threshold of rage, fuelled by the contrast between their fathers and their fey lineage. Jotin in particular is feared for the symbiont spear that he took from a daelkyr cultist and had enchanted by his mother. He often leads the warband into battle, flanked by Makkar and Ruthek who are brutal close-quarters fighters. Goor and Kher are brighter than their brothers, and tend to fight more strategically – though with equal relish.

Jotin - organic-looking spear with teeth and eyes
Makkar - twin notched knives
Ruthek - a pair of spiked and bladed buckler shields
Goor - a bloodied sword and bronze shield
Kher - a plain warhammer and an open clawed hand

Tales are told of hulking warriors who patrol the lands claimed by Alice – leaving the dismembered remains of those who trespass as warnings for others. Roars from the horizon may be bears or yetis – but are just as likely to be attributed to the Sons. They stayed out of the battle between the trolls and the dwarves over the years, but their mother’s antipathy towards trolls no doubt informs their actions. Tales of burned out caves and bonfires with distorted bones are whispered by trappers and hunters alike along the north of the Blackcaps – but if these are warnings left by the Sons, they’re vague enough for most people to shudder and move on.

Jotin token
Makkar token
Ruthek token
Goor token
Kher token

Lore Drop – The Chainmates of Deadeye Alice

Tim Maidment1 Comment

The Annis Hag known as Deadeye Alice is a solitary being, at least as far as others of her kind go. She does not live alone however. Over the many years of her existence she has formed a family of her own choosing – and the first part of that was taming the so-called Chainmates.

portait of Hurrek - a purple-skinned brute with a beard and long braids, a single broken ram's horn on the right of his head, and a crown of brass and ruby
Portrait of Dhellis - a dark skinned muscular man with curved rams horns and a turban wrapping the top of his head. Black and red locks spill across his bare shoulders, framed by belts and cloth.

Hurrek and Dhellis are ogres, native to the Blackcap mountains, who were captured by slavers and forced to fight. At first they were confined to arenas but as their prowess and experience grew they became trusted enough to act on behalf of the owners of the arena. Bound together by their chains, they fought as a unit to make the most of their strengths despite their shackles. Then, one day, they saw an opportunity to break their chains and slay their captors. They did so and then struck off on their own to make their own way through the world.

full length image of Hurrek wielding a ball and chain. he wears black and red robes and has a spiked pauldron on his right shoulder
full length image of ,Dhellis in green and white rags and furs, spinning a bladed chain around him. He is covered in moon-shaped tattoos on his chest.

Hurrek and Dhellis reworked the chains of their slavery into savage weapons to sweep opponents away, while the bonds of their time together led them to a deep and passionate relationship. In time they entered lands claimed by Deadeye Alice – and she aided them – seeing fellow outcasts. The two ogres crushed her enemies, and she provided for them – and then took them as husbands. Devoted to her as much as to each other, the ogres sired five sons with her and taught those sons how to fight.

top down token of Hurrek
top down token of Dhellis

The ogres are never too far from their wife – they are wily and surprisingly stealthy for such large beings – but at the same time they also know not to question her or get in the way of her schemes. Deadeye Alice is absolutely in charge, even if that control is sometimes masked in honeyed words. There is a brutal directness and honesty between the three of them and their sons that can be mistaken for a lack of awareness by outsiders, but do not be fooled. This may not be a traditional hag’s coven, but their knowledge and understanding of each other means that they are a greater threat together than apart.

A foolish bard once opined that the Chainmates had swapped slavery in the arena for a different kind of ownership. His remains were found on several spikes a week later.

Lore Drop – Deadeye Alice

Tim Maidment1 Comment

The Blackcap Mountains hold many strange corners and valleys, but the legend of Deadeye Alice sees many variants across the various tribes and clans that make their home there. Stories are whispered of the kindly auntie who lives past the fields or who whispers in the dead of night and offers her iron trinkets to those in need of a friendly voice. Tales of bargains in the night that bring both fortune and woe are told by dwarves in their Holds, and trolls in their caves. The druids warn of her iron nails and capricious nature, but also of her brutal family who roam the heights and do her bidding.

Illustrative picture - a monstrous and hooded figure with a skull mask and purple skin. Two sets of horns protrude from the hood, and a flaming speear is grasped in one hand.

Deadeye Alice gets her name from the corpse-pale orbs in her head. An Annis Hag, this fey creature has made the Blackcaps her home for generations. Unlike some of her kind, Alice shuns the covens and gatherings of her sisters and cousins. Repulsive in appearance, she is not courted by the fairer folk. Instead she haunts the edges of settlements, gathers rumours and favours, and spins a web of obligations, blackmail, and corruption.

Top down token of a hooded figure with a flaming spear
bony-bordered portrait of a hooded figure with two sets of horns and a skull mask

Many tales tell of wanderers who seek her out in search of hidden knowledge, or favours to aid them in battle or love. She sees everyone as children, young and foolish, in need of guidance. Sometimes that guidance is benign, sometimes it isn’t. She can be eloquent, or crude, direct or opaque, and sometimes all of that in one exchange.

Those who particularly interest her may be offered an iron token, reforged from one of her iron nails or teeth. She plucks it forth and reworks it before them and from then on the new owner can talk to her whenever they wish, and hear her whispers in return. She has used these tokens to guide explorers, to tempt priests, and to corrupt children – and they are mentioned in stories around fires and camps as the winds howl in the night.

So when children talk of their Auntie in the fields, parents shudder and ask other parents who was out that day. When old iron toys are found in attics, they are quietly thrown away rather than added to scrap in the forge. The fear is that adding hag iron to the foundry would see warriors undone by whispers as they stood on guard with that iron around their heads.

Deadeye Alice sees all, and hears all, and owes allegiance to nobody. And anyone who tries to change that, meets her family – her two husbands and her five sons.

Lore Drop – The Family

Tim Maidment1 Comment

And so it came to pass that three prodigies were born to the trolls of the Blackcap Mountains. Three brothers, born with rare wit and insight to match their physical strength, and they thrived. As they fought and grew, they developed a strong sense that their lot could be better. The listened to their elders talk of the wars with the dwarves and how they had been driven out of their hunting grounds and away into the harshest peaks. They raged at the loss of their ancestral homes. When they were grown, they crept away from their scattered tribe and away from the harsh territories they had known to spy on those who had conquered their birthright. They saw how the dwarves built their Hold and traded, and enjoyed the fruits of the land and the treasures of the depths. They learned all they could of civilisation, and then went their separate ways into the lands beyond after swearing a bond to return and reclaim their place. One went North and found the Wastes of the Last War. One went South and found The Pit. One went East, and found The Sisters.

In the Wastes, Urash found weapons and machines abandoned and broken by war. He created armour for himself and taught himself how to use what he had found. He began to seek out scattered trolls willing to join his cause and strike back with him. Inspired by the uniforms and medals of the fallen, he forged amulets and gave his new companions pride and purpose. The Fists of Urash would strike hard and endure. They would be loud, and draw all eyes to them. Urash The Proud was his name.

Dhumish crept into The Pit. He was second of the brothers and the hardiest of them all. Amid crumbling ruins and fell residual magics in the Lands Below, he became warped in appearance and mind alike. Preserved by his trollish resilience and unnatural will, he became a walking blight. He pulled the broken and dying of his race to his embrace, and gave them new purpose and new forms. Among his forces are trolls who are too angry to die, trolls who are riddled with rot, venom, and mutation. The Tide of Dhumish would undermine and corrupt. They would be the quiet before the avalanche. Dhumish Crackleg was his name.

Irreck made his way through broken lands to distant Droaam, the nation of monsters. Along the way he haunted the roads and passes to hunt travellers and hone his skills. As far from home as he was, he never forgot the Bond. The Daughter of Sora Kell were amused by the impudent troll hunter, but revealed to him the location of the Sisters of Rot. These remarkable troll sisters had studied with the Hags and also had a dream. The three sisters were a match in ambition and power to the three brothers. Irreck the Stalker was his name.

Irreck brought the Sisters of Rot back to the Blackcaps. They watched the turmoil in the dwarven lands as the forces of The Pit and the Winter Knight were pushed back into the night and swore to take advantage. A new Pact was formed. The Brothers and The Sisters became a Chosen Family. They would undermine and overthrow the dwarves and their allies. They would reclaim the hunting grounds. They would raise high the Eye of Khyber and nothing would be the same ever again

Urash The Proud, Dhumish Crackleg, and Irreck the Stalker. Granny Riptooth, Nanny Gutrun, and Missy Lambrot were their names. Their Chosen Family would soon be known to all.