The Shroud at Rivalis
Hook
Seasoned soldiers defend Rivalis each night when a phenomenon called the Shroud descends heavily upon the town.
Evidence
- The soldier captain said his company protects Rivalis nightly.
- The surrounding scarecrows reportedly turn to face the town.
- Littleleaf regarded the soldiers with gratitude.
- Garen Faulk’s troops fight apparently endless undead at the Shroud’s edge each night.
- One militia member maps the movement of the Mists.
- A stitched scarecrow animated when Rage struck it, displayed an illusory jack-o’-lantern grin and flames, and inspired supernatural fear.
- Carver found evidence that some entity intentionally prepared the scarecrow.
- The Shroud has advanced over roughly half of Rivalis and persists during daylight.
- Coachman’s Rest, Traveler’s End, and half the Crystal Gardens have been swallowed.
- Undead within the Mists included a skeletal rider and a hulking horned skeleton.
- Carver detected deep rot in the ground around Rivalis.
- Garen believes the town is doomed and will eventually require evacuation, though he continues to fight.
- Rivalis’s surviving market and population are openly preparing for evacuation.
- The Kargatane use scarecrows as watchers that answer the passphrase “the crimson retinue,” providing a possible explanation for some of the town’s watchful scarecrows.
- Gravelights at the southern graves burned in greater numbers and with brighter blue light as Mist crept from the lake.
Open questions
- What is the Shroud?
- What attacks or changes when it arrives?
- Why do the scarecrows turn toward Rivalis?
- Is it connected to the gray roots, the Mists, or the red star?
- What is causing the deep rot beneath Rivalis?
- Can the advance be reversed before the town must be abandoned?
Next steps
- Question Garen and the militia member mapping the Mists.
- Identify who animated the scarecrow.
- Determine whether other scarecrows are similarly trapped or inhabited.
- Investigate the rot beneath the surviving farmland and settlements.
- Seek possible answers at Castle Avernus.