Beneath the Hanging Corpses

The forest opened into a clearing strung with the dead. Corpses hung like fruit, swaying without wind. When touched, they exhaled cold breath and whispered the same single word: ‘Oath’.

Investigating tracks revealed hunters from Thistle Hold had been taken here. A ritual circle beneath the bodies showed signs of interruption — claw marks gouged the earth, as if something tried to crawl out.

The party cut down one body for burial; it screamed and vomited sap, then stilled. In its fist: an iron nail etched with a sunburst half-melted into a flower.

Leads: the iron nail resonates near Sun Church relics; survivors might be caged deeper in; hex-signs point toward a black alder grove.