The Beast of Radlebb Woods
by Jesper AndersenIt was a dark and windy night. Rain poured endlessly from black skies that lit up when the occasional lightning forked its way across them, followed by thunderous crashes that made the very earth shake. It was the biggest lightning storm of living memory, and to Pasha that was a long time.
'Tell us a story, grandpa' little Boris and Natascha pleaded. The noise outside had kept them awake long past their usual bedtime and they gathered with the rest of the woodcutter family around the fireplace of the small cottage.
'A story?' Pasha said thoughtfully, rubbing his beard with a gnarly hand.
'Yes. A ghost story!', Boris said eagerly.
'Hmm... I do believe I don't know any ghost stories', Pasha said slowly and the children moaned in disappointment. 'But let me tell you about the time when I went hunting for the Beast of Radlebb Woods. It was a dark night, much like this one. We had heard that the beast had been sighted near the hamlet of Tristan's Creek...'
THE BEAST OF RADLEBB WOODS
The Beast of Radlebb woods is a legendary monster, feared by woodsmen and elves from Radlebb Keep to Rifflian. Few have encountered it and escaped with their lives and tales spoken in fear in taverns all over Karameikos tell of evil, glowing red eyes and fangs the size of daggers that can tear an armoured knight apart in moments.
Nobody really knows what the monster is or where it came from. It has lived in Radlebb Woods as long as any living human can remember and even the elves of Rifflian are unsure of when or from where the creature came.
[DMing notes]:
The Beast of Radlebb Woods is a creation of the priesthood of Orcus, a juggernaut of a boar released to guard the territory in which one of their main temples lies hidden. It is a killing machine that will savagely slay any humanoids it encounters (and quite a few animals) unless they are protected by the beast-head medallions worn by the priesthood.
The DM can use the Beast in a number of ways; PCs could be hired to track and capture or kill the monster. They might encounter it just travelling through Radlebb Woods. Or they could stumble across the hidden temple of Orcus (unlikely, but possible) and be hunted through the dark woods by the monster! If they figure out how the priesthood stays safe they might try to acquire beast-head medallions to protect them while in the forest and then investigate the temple (which is manned by dark clerics, devil swines and other nasties).
The DM should flesh out the statistics of the Beast to suit his campaign needs.
