Rise of the Runelords

When you get close enough to Nevond Nevend, you see what was once a well fortified, walled city.  Most of the wall towers are ruined and several gaping holes in the stone wall can be seen.  You do not see much repair activity or any obvious patrols or security so you approach cautiously.  You notice a ragged banner flying over what looks to be the main gate.  Edwin knows it is neither the banner of the Tenh nor the Duke's personal banner.  Who's it is he does not know.  You continue even more on guard.

Once inside, you find a city mostly destroyed.  Numerous buildings have been fully repaired or are in various stages of reconstruction.  The townsfolk are nearly all human and all eye you warily. like you are an unexpected visitor.  You notice a few half-orcs and even a couple of orcs while looking for a place to spend the night. You find an inn with a functioning kitchen and settle in as best you can.  Over the evening meal, things begin to loosen up as you make it clear that you are not from the Tenh and that you are not on any sort of business on behalf of anyone from the Duchy.  Some people are interested in hearing about the County and other further locations.  You learn that the city is (still) controlled by forces loyal to Stonefist. Once you have that knowledge, you are careful to not let on your final destination, but rather indicate you are headed into the Griff for adventure.

Many of the inn customers are happy to give you advice and some have warnings.  You take away from the conversations that taking plenty of water and extra bedrolls/blankets is important.  You are also warned that if you head up and into the Griffs, that you could start to suffer from altitude sickness.  A minor case is not that bad - at worst you are fatigued.  You can recover by descending to a lower altitude. A bad case will make you weak.  A worse case will start to tear at your mental faculties.  In extreme cases, it will kill.  The best way to avoid it or lessen the effects is to become acclimated. That takes weeks if not en entire month.  Other warnings include avalanches, and monsters particular to the mountains.  You are told about the presence of giants. Mostly Hill, but some tell of Frost or even Cloud.  There are tales of yetis, dragons, giant white worms, and other beasts.   Two tales in particular grab your attention.  In both cases, you figure the tellers are trying to scare you and that they believe their stories to be more fiction than fact.

This first is about a relatively recent appearance in the mountains of a new giantkin.  They are similar to hill giants, but are reported to be much stronger and completely insane.  You can tell them from a 'normal' giant by he odd, runic tattoos that cover their bodies.

The other story is about the Spirit of the Mountain - something they call the Wendigo.  It takes the form of some mountain creature like an elk, mountain goat, great cat, etc.  What it really looks like no one knows.  It is said to move on the wind and is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  You can tell if it is close by its howl which can be heard for miles even in the fiercest storm.  If you can hear it, you are too close.  Some stories are told about people who did or say they heard of someone who has confronted one.  One particularly compelling version has the creature grabbing people and disappearing into the wind.  The last thing attributed to the Wendigo is something the locals call Mountain Psychosis.  It is usually preceded by several nights of restless sleep when they say the Wendigo invades your dreams.  You are warned that the best way to deal with a person who has it is to kill them before full blown psychosis sets in.  If that happens they will turn on you, attempt to kill you and if successful will eat your corpse.