Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 3

In this series of posts, I am adapting the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead for placement in 14th century Averoigne and the Camargue region of France. The ruleset will be D&D 3rd Edition for the Neverwinter Nights videogame while the tabletop game will use either AD&D 2nd Edition. In this post I will evaluate Averoigne for probable placement in Mediæval France as well as cull some ideas to use in this adventure. Click here for Part I.

WHITHER AVEROIGNE?

Averoigne is the fictional province of France used as the setting for a number of short stories written by Clark Ashton Smith circa 1930 – 1941 plus a poem in 1951. CAS was a friend of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and part of the original Lovecraft Circle. Lovecraft refers to the “evilly famous ruins of Château Faussesflammes, in Averoigne, France” in his short story Out of the Æons. Most D&D players are familiar with Averoigne from the Expert D&D module X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay. Like Howard, Smith had an eidetic memory also known as ‘photographic memory’ which served him quite well. And also like Howard, he was a prolific poet and his stories have a poetic quality to them. Sometime prior to 1912 he was introduced to the works of Baudelaire and was moved so much by them that he then taught himself French and translated all but six of the poems in The Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal).

There have many attempts to place Averoigne in real-world France. None of course have been successful, but it is a fun exercise nonetheless. Auvergne appears to be the most popular choice, followed by Aveyron but both are popular due to being in the Occitan region of Southern France as well as the similarity of the the names. I agree that it falls within the traditional region of Occitania but I place it centred on the Rhone river with Vyones being Avignon (Avinhon) and Ximes being Nimes. The Isoleil being the Rhone and the marshes below Les Hiboux being the Camargue. Granted, I am also using name similarity for the two largest cities of Averoigne but more importantly I am identifying the marshes as the Camargue. Regardless of where Averoigne fits best, the Camargue is the great river delta and wetlands of France so the best place for the Night of the Walking Dead.

The End of the Story

First published in the May 1930 edition of Weird Tales. You may read the story here. This story takes place shortly before 1798 so not all detail will apply to the Middle Ages. In the story we learn of the Forest of Averoigne and a great highway that runs through the district. The Benedictine Abbey of Perigon is found within the forest glade. The protagonist Christophe Morand is a student come from Tours on his way to his father’s estate near Moulins. Tours is in the North but there are seventeen different Moulins according to Wikipedia. However, the largest Moulins became part of Auvergne prior to 1798. Moulin-Mage is in Occitania proper and is a better fit in my opinion. Moulins, Allier is in the far Northwest part of Auverne and I have a hard time beliving that young Christophe travelled so far past it. However, given that the Moulins in Auvergne is the largest Moulins in France, it is the default Moulins. Which means that if Christophe had meant Moulin-Mage, he would have specified it. And for exactly the same reason, Smith would have specified Moulin-Mage rather than just ‘Moulin’ if he wanted his audience to recognize the name at all.

So while it would seem that the mystery of ‘where Averoinge is’ is now solved, it bugs me a bit so I want to research this a bit further.

Chateau des Faussesflammes stands on a hill across from the Abbey. Vyones is the principal town of Averoigne and there is a cathedral there. The chateau is hundreds of miles away from the sea. My theory has been that Vyones is a stand-in for Avignon, however Avignon is less than a hundred miles from the sea. Even if Fausseflammes were a day’s ride from Vyones, it would still be substantially less than “hundreds” of miles away.

The Satyr

First version completed in the early spring of 1930 and can be found here. The second version did not get published until 1948 and can be found here. Since of the bulk of this story was the second Averoigne one, I am putting it here.

Averoigne is called a ‘province.’ Raoul, Comte de la Frenaie is the protagonist and has a rapier. Rapiers came into use sometime after 1450.

A Rendezvous in Averoigne

First published in the April/May 1931 edition of Weird Tales. The story may be found here. The protagonist of this story is Gerard de l’Automne, a trouvère. What is interesting here is that a trouvère is not a troubadour per se, but rather a Northern French version. That is to say, a wandering “minstrel” who composes verse in one of the Langue d’oïl (Northern French) dialects rather than the Langue d’oc (Occitanian or Southern French) of the troubadours. Gerard is a “guest of the Comte de la Frênaie, whose high castle held dominion over half the surrounding forest.” In this story, Vyones is a “quaint cathedral town … which lies so near to the ancient wood of Averoigne.”

“Somewhere in this wood there was the ruinous and haunted Chateau des Faussesflammes; and, also, there was a double tomb, within which the Sieur Hugh du Malinbois and his chatelaine, who were notorious for sorcery in their time, had lain unconsecrated for more than two hundred years.”

In the course of the story, it is not clear if Gerard remains in the Forest of Averoigne or if he stumbles into the Realm of Faërie. Given that so many fairy stories involve folk getting lost in the deep woods, it is perhaps better to think of Averoigne Forest existing both in our world and the Fairy World simultaneously. I am not sure what the significance of the name Frênaie is, but it means ash tree orchard in French. Also, it is worth mentioning that troubadours and trouvères were at their peak in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Maker of Gargoyles

First published in the August 1932 edition of Weird Tales. Click here for the source. This story takes place in Vyones when the cathedral was newly built. Note that it is in the Gothic style with gargolyes. The two finest gargoyles were “wrought by the stone-carver Blaise Reynard, a native of Vyones, who had lately returned from a long sojourn in the cities of Provence….” Which of course tells us that Averoigne is not Provence. The current archbishop is Ambrosius which tells us that Vyones is an archbishopric at that time. The year is 1138 and Vyones is once again noted as the principal town of Averoigne. There are also two nunneries and a monastery in the town. The Averoinge Forest which is bordering the town is “ill-famed.”

The Mandrakes

First published in the February edition of Weird Tales in 1933. The source is found here.

Gilies Grenier the sorcerer and his wife Sabine, coming into lower Averoigne from parts unknown or at least unverified, had selected the location of their hut with a careful forethought.

The hut was close to those marshes through which the slackening waters of the river Isoile, after leaving the great forest, had overflowed in sluggish, reed-clogged channels and sedge-hidden pools mantled with scum like witches’ oils. It stood among osiers and alders on a low, mound-shaped elevation; and in front, toward the marshes, there was a loamy meadow-bottom where the short fat stems and tufted leaves of the mandrake grew in lush abundance, being more plentiful and of greater size than elsewhere through all that sorcery-ridden province.

This is where I first got the idea that the Isoile was the Rhône and that Averoigne in situ, straddled the Rhône unlike any historical provinces, counties, or districts. Note that there are no wetlands of any significant size in Auverne nor Aveyron. Which means that Lower Averoigne must be the Camargue which is the only wetlands of note in Southeastern France.

“Oddly enough, considering the temper of the Fifteenth Century, when magic and witchcraft were still so widely reprobated, he and his wife enjoyed a repute by no means ill or unsavory. No charges of malefice were brought against them; and because of the number of honest marriages promoted by the philtres…”

This also suggests to me a bit more tolerance towards magic in Averoigne than the rest of France.

The Beast of Averoigne

First version; June 18, 1932. This version was rejected by Weird Tales. Read it here. This takes place in the summer of 1369. The narrator was tasked with delivering a letter to priest of Ste. Zenobie which was close enough to allow him to travel and back within one summer day and also referred to as within five hours away. The “gates of La Frênaie and Ximes” is mentioned but those ‘gates’ could be castles or walled towns. There is a Benedictine convent at Ximes, so it must be a walled town rather than a castle. The beast has been hunting in the environs of Perigon, Ximes, Ste. Zenobie, La Frênaie, and to the shores of the river Isoile which means that all of those places are on the same side of the shore.

 Which means that this map from X2 is wrong! There is no way the beast would go out of its way to hunt in La Frenaie when it is busy in Ximes, Perigon, and Ste. Zenobie when in fact the story clearly has the beast hunting in all four areas. Thus the map at the top of this post best fits this story.

The third narrator, Luc le Chaudronnier posesses the:

“… ring of Eibon, which I had inherited from my fathers, who were also wizards. The ring had come down, it was said, from ancient Hyperborea; and it was made of a redder gold than any that the earth yields in latter cycles, and was set with a great purple gem, somber and smouldering, whose like is no longer to be found. And in the gem an antique demon was held captive, a spirit from pre-human worlds and ages, which would answer the interrogation of sorcerers.”

Finally in his fifth Averoinge story, Smith links it to his Hyperborean Cycle of stories.

Ximes is a bishopric and has a Benedictine convent. What is interesting is that the town marshal and a priest from the household of the Bishop of Ximes together approach Luc, a known sorcerer, and ask for his help.

“You, Messire le Chaudronnier,” they said, “are reputed to know the arcanic arts of sorcery, and the spells that summon or dismiss evil demons and other spirits. Therefore, in dealing with this devil, it may be that you shall succeed where all others have failed. Not willingly do we employ you in the matter, since it is not seemly for the church and the law to ally themselves with wizardry. But the need is desperate, lest the demon should take other victims; and in return for your aid, we can promise you a goodly reward of gold and a guarantee of lifelong immunity from all inquisition and prosecution which your doings might otherwise invite. The Bishop of Ximes, and the Archbishop of Vyones, are privy to this offer, which must remain secret.”

So now we have two stories in which the local clergy are pragmatic concerning spellcasters rather than automatically dismissing them as heretics and witches. (Chaudronnier is French for coppersmith or bronze-worker.)

The ingredients of the powder were named in the Book of Eibon, that manual written by an old Hyperborean wizard, who in his day had dealt with ultra-mundane spirits akin to the demon of the comet; and had also been the owner of the ring.

This suggests to me that Luc possesses the Book of Eibon as well as the ring. These are prehistoric artefacts, so it is quite remarkable that he has them!

I must also point out that here in 1369 there is an archbishop in Vyones but no mention of the French pope. So as much as I would like to equate Vyones to Avignon, it is not a good match. Unless of course in the Earth of Averoigne, the papacy stayed in Rome the entire time….

The Holiness of Azédarac

First published in the November 1933 edition of Weird Tales. Please click here to read the story. The story starts off with references to “the Ram with a Thousand Ewes” (Shub-Niggurath), Dagon, Derceto (Derketo), Lilit (Lilith), Iog-Sotôt (Yog-Sothoth), and Sodagui (Tsathoggua); placing it firmly within the Lovecraft universe. The reference to the Book of Eibon and its Hyperborean script refers to Smith’s Hyperborea stories. Derketo is a real-world Semitic deity and also appears in the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard.

The Inn of Bonne Jouissance is a little more than halfway the distance from Ximes to Vyones on the highway that runs through the Averoigne Forest. Vyones is identified as a ‘cathedral city’ which is to be expected since it has an archbishop. The year is 1175. Brother Ambrose goes back to 475 and then returns to 1230 where the Inn of Bonne Jouissance has become the Inn of Haute Esperance. He returns to 475 still holding onto the Book of Eibon as far as I can tell. It is not at all clear how the book ends up in the hands of Luc le Chaudronnier prior to 1369.

The Colossus of Ylourgne

First published in the June 1934 edition of Weird Tales. The source may be found here. 

This is the original story of the colossal zombie which later appeared in the Expert D&D Module X2 Castle Amber. The story begins thusly:

“The thrice-infamous Nathaire, alchemist, astrologer and necromancer, with his ten devil-given pupils, had departed very suddenIy and under circumstances of strict secrecy from the town of Vyones. It was widely thought, among the people of that vicinage, that his departure had been prompted by a salutary fear of ecclesiastical thumbscrews and faggots. Other wizards, less notorious than he, had already gone to the stake during a year of unusual inquisitory zeal; and it was well-known that Nathaire had incurred the reprobation of the Church.”

This is important to note because while arcane spellcasters in Averoigne have real power, they also are vulnerable to the Inquisition. In none of his stories does Smith explain how this is possible, so that is up to the GM to determine.

“People said that he [Nathaire] was fiend-begotten, like the fabled Merlin: his father being no less a personage than Alastor, demon of revenge; and his mother a deformed and dwarfish sorceress. From the former, he had taken his spitefulness and malignity; from the latter, his squat, puny physique.”

This quote suggests that Nathaire was a dwarfish Cambion — which to us means that there should be dwarfish Humans, Cambions, and dwarf Cambions available as NPC if not PC races.

“He had travelled in Orient lands, and had learned from Egyptian or Saracenic masters the unhallowed art of necromancy….”

This is as reference to Hermeticism, school of magical beliefs alleged to have been founded by the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus, expaned upon by the Ptolemaic Greeks in Egypt, lost and then revived by the Arabs.

“Once, in the third year after his coming to Vyones, he had been stoned in public because of his bruited necromancies, and had been permanently lamed by a well-directed cobble.”

This is important to note that despite Nathaire being a high-level wizard specialising in necromancy, he was unable to cure himself of his injuries nor for that matter, were there any “clerics” or “temples” around to heal them either.

“Despite his minikin stature, his deformity and ugliness, he possessed a remarkable power, a mesmeric persuasion…”

This suggests a very high charisma ability score. In D&D 3rd edition (d20) parlance, he would be a sorcerer rather than a wizard. Nathaire had ten pupils which I would treat as henchmen. In the AD&D and AD&D 2nd edition rules, Nathaire must have a charisma of 17 or greater to have that many henchmen. A mage with a 17 charisma? I think making him a charisma-based caster like the 3rd sorcerer makes a lot more sense.

This story takes place in the late spring of 1281, placing it between The Holiness of Azédarac and The Beast of Averoigne. Nathaire and his pupils vacate Vyones for:

“This destination, it somehow became rumoured, was the ruinous castle of Ylourgne, beyond the werewolf-haunted forest, in the outlying, semi-mountainous hills of Averoigne.

… and the nearest abode of living men was a small Cistercian monastery, more than a mile away on the opposite slope of the valley.”

So now we have a Cistercian monastery in addition to the Benedictine monastery at Perigon and the Benedictine convent in Ximes.

We also learn that the ruins of Ylourgne were that of a great castle abandoned centuries ago (no later than 1081). The castle once consisted of a moat, drawbridge, barbican, a high massive donjon, chapel, and great hall. This is remarkable given that the majority of castles built in France during the 11th century and earlier were made primarily of wood! Undoubtedly, Ylourgne had been built to subjugate and protect Averoigne expecting lengthy sieges given the stone construction. Given that it ultimately failed and was abandoned, there is definitely a story there!

While Nathaire directs his henchmen and their familiars to contruct the colossal zombie-golem, a couple of monks from the neighbouring monastery come to spy. When he sees them he say:

“Return to your kennel, ye whelps of Ialdabaoth, and take with you this message: They that came here as many shall go forth as one.”

This is significant because Ialdabaoth or Yaldaboath is one of the three names for the chief archon or demiurge which the Hermeticists believe created the Human race but not the rest of the world. They believed that the god of the Old Testament was Yaldaboath also known as Sama-el which means ‘blind god’ in Aramaic. Ironically, the demiurge came to be equated with Satan or Lucifer whom Nathaire is accused of serving.

Illustration of the familiars entering the nostrils of the corpses, by none other than Clark Ashton Smith himself!

Nathaire then directs two “familiars” who are desribed in terms suggesting demon-shaped shadows, to enter the bodies of two corpses through the nostrils. They do as commanded, pick up the hornbeam crosses dropped by the frightened monks and drive them off. This tells us a couple of things. First, that animate dead involves demonic spirits possessing the corpses like they do in the television series Supernatural. Second, that unlike the tradition of evil creatures afraid to go near any cross, these zombies can use crosses as weapons! As we read in many of the Averoigne stories, crosses, holy water, et cetera do not have the inherent power found so common in Christian lore.

“Gaspard, though he came of a well-to-do family, was at that time in straitened circumstances; for his devotion to a somewhat doubtful science had been disapproved by his father. His sole income was a small pittance, purveyed secretly to the youth by his mother and sister. This sufficed for his meagre food, the rent of his room, and a few books and instruments and chemicals; but it would not permit the purchase of a horse or even a humble mule for the proposed journey of more than forty miles.”

Ever wonder why your 1st level wizard is so poor? It is because your family does not approve of your vocation! Note also that Ylourgne is more than forty miles away from Vyones.

“Much of his journey lay through the great, lowering forest, which approached the very walls of Vyones on the eastern side and ran in a sombre arc through Averoigne to the mouth of the rocky valley below Ylourgne.”

This tells us that the infamous Averoigne Wood is on the eastern side of Vyones but it does not tell us if it arcs over the north or the south. This also suggests that Ylourgne is to the northwest or southwest, given that the arc of forest ends in the mouth of the rocky valley below Ylourgne. Assuming that I am interpreting that quote correctly and that the arc is 180 degrees or less, which means that all maps (including the one at the top of this post) found on the Internet are wrong!

“This valley was the fountain-head of the Isoile, which had dwindled to a mere rivulet.”

So in all likelihood, Ylourgne is in the northwest since it is the source of the Isoile. Assuming of course, that the Isoile flows south towards the Mediterrean Sea. At this stage I must point out the (rather) obvious difficulty of mapping out Averoigne given the scant information so far. It is made more difficult given the existing fan-drawn maps of Averoigne, however accurate or inaccurate they may be. What I notice that all the maps have in common is an assumption that the semi-mountainous hills are assumed to be in the east (suggesting the Alpine foothills) and the marsh in the south or southeast (suggesting the Camargue). Given that the Rhône originates in the Rhône Glacier in the Swiss Alps (which also feeds Lake Geneva), it is very easy mentally equate Averoigne with the Rhône river valley, disregarding the scale entirely as well as the highly traveled Rhône even during the Middle Ages. So I once again, cannot help but wonder if Smith took his inspiration from there as well?

The Chateau of La Frênaie is the first named place the colossus passes by after departing Ylourgne. Then Ximes which must be on the Isoile since “the wooden Virgin that he flung into the Isoile above Ximes.” Then he attacks Perigon and then Ste. Zenobie.

“Back and forth, in an irregular, drunken, zigzag course, from end to end and side to side of the harried realm…”

This tells us that Averoigne is self-contained, surrounded by wilderness or if the colossus does not cross the Isoile, then one side. Although the text does not mention it, I doubt that Nathaire would not have directed it to cross the river. Also note that Averoigne has been referred to as a ‘district,’ a ‘province,’ and now a ‘realm.’ Perhaps Smith has simply been poetic the entire time, envisioning Averoigne as a region rather than a specific political unit. After all, there is never a mention of who the lord of Averoigne is.

“Nearing the gates of Vyones at sunset, Gaspard du Nord saw behind him, through gaps in the ancient wood, the far-off head and shoulders of the terrible colossus, who moved along the Isoile, stooping from sight at intervals in some horrid deed.”

This tells us that Vyones lies on the banks of the Isoile or very near it. Most likely on the banks, given how many Mediæval towns and cities lay on rivers.

Now, as the twitching fingers descended towards him, he emptied the contents of the pouch in the giant's face, and the fine powder, mounting in a dark-grey cloud, obscured the snarling lips and palpitating nostrils from his view.

Anxiously he [Gaspard] watched the effect, fearing that the powder might be useless after all, against the superior arts and Satanical resources of Nathaire. But miraculously, as it seemed, the evil lambence died in the pit-deep eyes, as the monster inhaled the flying cloud. His lifted hand, narrowly missing the crouching youth in its sweep, fell lifelessly at his side. The anger was erased from the mighty, contorted mask, as if from the face of a dead man; the great cudgel fell with a crash to the empty street; and with drowsy, lurching steps, and listless, hanging arms, the giant turned his back to the cathedral and retraced his way through the devastated city.

He muttered dreamily to himself as he went; and people who heard him swore that the voice was no longer the awful, thunderswollen voice of Nathaire, but the tones and accents of a multitude of men, amid which the voices of certain of the ravished dead were recognizable. And the voice of Nathaire himself, no louder now than in life, was heard at intervals through the manifold mutterings, as if protesting angrily.

Climbing the eastern wall as it had come, the colossus went to and fro for many hours, no longer wreaking a hellish wrath and rancour, but searching, as people thought, for the various tombs and graves from which the hundreds of bodies that composed it had been so foully reft. From charnel to charnel, from cemetery to cemetery it went, through all the land; but there was no grave anywhere in which the dead colossus could lie down.

Then, towards evening, men saw it from afar on the red rim of the sky, digging with its hands in the soft, loamy plain beside the river Isoile. There, in a monstrous and self-made grave, the colossus laid itself down, and did not rise again. The ten pupils of Nathaire, it was believed, unable to descend from their basket, were crushed beneath the mighty body; for none of them was ever seen thereafter.

How cool is that?!? The colossus does not immediately collapse into a putrid pile; rather it seeks to bury the various corposes it comprises. And when it cannot, it digs its own grave and lies down on its back thereby smothering and crushing Nathaire the necromancer and his ten necromantic henchmen!

The Disinterment of Venus

First published in the July 1934 edition of Weird Tales. The story opens up at the Abbey of Perigon sometime after 1550. While a story worth reading, there is nothing of note for our purposes.

Mother of Toads

First published in the July 1938 edition of Weird Tales. The R-rated original version can be found here. The PG version which is what got published can be found here. Both are worth a read because Smith did more than just cut out the R-rated parts in the second version.

“Her witchcraft had made her feared among the peasantry of that remote province, where belief in spells and philtres was still common. The people of Averoigne called her La Mere des Crapauds, Mother of Toads, a name given for more than one reason.”

Once again Averoigne is referred to as a province and note that it is remote and backward which literally puts it off the beaten path. The witch’s hut is in a marsh within walking distance of the village of Les Hiboux (Fr. ‘The Owls’). This is undoubtedly the same wetlands as the one in The Mandrakes, being in Lower Averoigne.

The Enchantress of Sylaire

First published in the July 1941 edition of Weird Tales. The source may be found here. In this story, Anselme the second son of the Comte du Framboisier has come to live in the great wood of Averoigne to forget the demoiselle Dorothée, only daughter of the Sieur des Flèches. At first I assumed that their parents lived outside of Averoigne but when Anselme commented to himself “She was lovely as any chatelaine of the great castles of Averoigne.” So this tells us that A) there are ‘great castles’ in Averoigne, B) Anselme has been to most if not all of these great castles, and C) the Comte du Framboisier and the Sieur des Flèches hold land if not castles in Averoigne or nearby.

The enchauntress Sephora wears a “bodice of vernal green velvet” which tells us the story takes place in the 1500s or 1600s most likely. However, Anselm found her garments to be ‘oddly antigue’ so this may well put the story much later. Her dress is a clue of course as is her insistence on being carried through a cromlech. Sephora is a fairy!

Sephora tells Anselme that the Druids raised the cromlechs which of course we know now that these stone structures predate the druids.

Sephora receives some visitors who turn out to be Anselme’s old flame Dorothée des Flèches and two sergeant-at-arms armed with longbows. Longbows?!? Hang on a minute! If a bodice is ‘oddly antique’ then what are the longbows? Why are they not armed with muskets? Unless Smith made a mistake in describing Sephora’s garb, writing ‘bodice’ when he meant kirtle instead. Tight kirtles were fashionable for women in the second half of the 14th century and into the early 15th. Longbows were mostly an English weapon but they persisted into the 16th century.

The Oracle of Sadoqua [Tsathoggua]

A fragment by Smith which can be found here. Ron Hilger wrote a posthumous collaboration here.

Averonia is the Roman name for Averoigne. The Roman officer Horatius is the protagonist and he is desperately seeking the Oracle of the dread god Sadoqua [Tsathoggua]. Sadoqua is “believed to slumber eternally underground in a cavern amid the deep forests of Averonia.”

IN SUMMATION

Averoigne

Is most likely a province having been called a district, region, and a realm only once each. I have found no evidence that the province maps directly to a historical one or even a region for that matter.

Likewise there is no evidence that Averoigne is situated in Southern France for that matter (unless I missed something). All of the names are from the Northern French, the architecture is Gothic rather than Romaneque, and the Abbey of Perigon is hundreds of miles from the sea.

Averoigne is backwards, provincial, and superstitious but also romantic, glamourous, and sensual. A place where time move slowly if at all. There are castles and ruined stone castles but no gunpowder. There are definite elements of fairy, sorcery, and remnants of prehistoric Hyperborea. One might call it “Grimm’s Fairytales for Adults.”

All of the above make it is the perfect setting for Dungeons & Dragons.

Placing Night of the Walking Dead

The AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead takes place on the edge of a swamp with French-speaking villagers. Either it takes place in the Lousiana bayou of the United States or in the Ille de Camargue in France. I choose the latter. Does this mean that Lower Averoigne is in fact the Camargue? Not necessarily. All that is necessary is that RQ1 takes place in the same France as Averoigne and the same world as Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art, Turlogh Dubh O’Brien, and Cormac Fitzgeoffrey. However, for the time being I am going to see if I can merge the village of Les Hiboux with the Marais d’Tarascon and somehow tie in the Mother of Toads.

D&D Implications

Playing D&D in Averoigne requires some tweaks to the ruleset of all versions. I will go over these in the next post. In the meantime, here is a teaser:

Click here for Part IV.