For some time, upon the peaks of the distant hills, one could see strange glowing white lights. The superstitious villagers are unnerved by it, and refused to venture into the forest near the hill. The local lord is upset about it, for the lumber mill inside there is unmanned due to most of the villagers refusing to go near the hill; even the local hunters are steering clear of the area.
- The villagers are right to be concerned. For whoever returns from the forest or the area near the hills have complaints of headaches, dizziness and eventually goes into a coma. A recent storm has just wrecked the area, and with the wind came the spores of a strange fungus that have attached itself to the bare rocks of the hills. The fungus feeds on the mineral of the rock and produces a strange light during the night as it dies off. This process creates more spores which would then drift off to other hilltops and suitable surfaces to reproduce (it thrives on rocky surface). The adventurers would have to think of a way to extract a sample of the fungus without being infected, reveal its nature and think of a counter-plan.
- All the logging efforts have left the topsoil of the hills bare, and heavy rain have washed it away, revealing barren rocks. However, under the surface of the rock is a rare metal which interacts with water to produce a strange glowing light. The light, and the metal, are harmless. However, the metal is rare and is often used in various alchemical mixtures which believed would lead to the discovery of all sort of things, including immortality. All hell would break loose if any alchemist know that the nearby hills have this metal in large quantity.
- The light are nothing but a simple trick known to alchemists. By mixing various natural metal and substances together, it would produce an unearthly glow. This is done in conjunction by bribing some of the villagers and woodsman to feign sickness after they returned from the hills, to create panic among the villagers. The motive is to keep people away from the hills. As for adventurers who dare to investigate what is going on? Ambushes have been carefully planted to ensure none would escape alive. Even so, whoever is planning all this does not have his lair near the hills. The light on the hills are a decoy to focus attention to it. The real intent is a dried riverbed which leads underground right into the residence of the local lord. Just what on earth is the real plan of the schemers?
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