Sleepy Valley

Sleepy Valley is a neighborhood of the town of Hopeful in the Shadow of Raspkatoon on Shell

In days of old the Barrow of Meildshala housed the bones of a great but fallen king. “Fell” both in battle and of moral fiber for it is said that he betrayed the Cataphracts of Mezadun to the giants for a truce and safety for his realm for 100 years. The Truce lasted less than 100 days. The giants were eventually defeated but Meildshala was slain in the fighting. His people were torn in their devotions as he had bravely fought off the invasion, but his betrayal of the Mezadun was seen as unfitting a king of their realm. A compromise was reached to bury him in a great mound on the edge of the mesa along with all the trappings of his lordship.

It was believed that the Mezadun survivors took the rite of blood and vengeance before a shrine of Osh-Rodur (old god of the dead that rise, aching bones, things that do not sleep, necromancers, and pensioners) to prevent Meldshala’s soul from finding peace and causing him to wander for eternity in The Hell of Sunless Dreams. 

The site lay dormant for centuries. The Naloo people came and departed, leaving a half finished fortification, the indestructible Fort Undon, adjacent to the hill. The Naloo, with their strange technologies and institutionalized skepticism never made much of the old tales of cures and woe. Perhaps they should have as their castle was left perpetually unfinished and their people have retreated from the sphere Nizour. 

When the refuges first settled the town of Hopeful by Raspkatoon the barrow had been found disturbed with two dig sites on the north face of the hill. Those who entered contracted strange disease, or suffered disturbed sleep, often walking back to the hearts of the cave in the true dark of the night between the setting and rise of the nebula, to awaken standing still with their nose pressed against the cold stone of a wall, or lying on the rotted remains of a bed with arms folded upon their chest. 

It was during the third decade of Hopeful, often known as The Erections, that the decision was made to remove the catacomb entirely from the landscape. It was reasoned that Lazmikus could not be moved and for over 20 years had stood firm on this spot. It would be safest for the town folk to remain nearby, but the cursed tomb was ever a blight on their peace of mind. In a matter of years every last stone, support, alter, lost trinket and coin was removed to a deserted temple of Yemil (The old god of fall feasts, roast beast, songs in the round, strong drink, merrymakers, boisterous hunters, and kitchens for the needy.) There each shovel of dirt and brick and coin was consecrated by an old world priest of Neseekus (old god of primitives, natural life, jungles, many colored foliage, the shadows of the canopy, apes and the unnaturally old.) and a new world priest of The Thirteen before, bit by bit, it was cast over the side of the mesa into the expanse below. 

During the excavation The Beds Under Crimson Shingle housed many a worker serving as both public and boarding house and as the work completed it appeared the curse was lifting. Reports of strange activity, gray apparitions, or intractable disease dwindled quickly to the stuff of school yard chant. The hill was left quite marred however. A deep, crescent-shaped gash cut into the hill creating a looping valley with two entrances both north facing. Initially this valley lay outside the north gate of the settlement and this attracted many less fortunate or monied individuals to ask for deeds on the lands. The valley walls were nearly sheer and pocked with exploratory holes as the excavators had probed here and there to remove final vestiges or ensure that no secret compartments or hideaways were left unresolved. These holes provided the first unofficial settlements. Many of these small caves are inhabited to this day with a good number only accessible by ladder or scaffold.  The Excavators guild, less well thought of than the masons guild and fresh from its separation from the gravediggers guild gave the valley a degree of esteem by erecting their guild hall in the center of the valley floor at the end of the decade. 

Today the neighborhood of Sleepy Valley, or The Holes to the less refined, flourishes safely within the walls of the city. The Stax children continue to operate The Beds Under Crimson Shingle, an excellent if off-the-beaten-path inn on the floor of the valley. The Excavators Guild is less necessary than ever and a vast majority of its members see it as a fraternity for pensioners. Trodgrave Slythe, the curiously long lived priest of Neseekus that assisted with the consecration of the barrow still runs an unchartered and secretive temple in some of the deeper holes in the south wall face. Other locals of note include Ermunic “Nick” Dusket who runs a literal hole in the wall club on the west cliff face that serves up potent drink and intense gambling and well known medium, potioner, talisman maker and purveyor of fortune, Edrelga Storn. 

Brilla Stax (Inn Keeper)

• Mid 40’s, scarred face; chocolate skin; coarse, deep-crimson hair
• Always in her Green-Gray Apron and usually barefoot under her dress
• Never turns away a traveler short on coin
• Keeps a painting of her mother Quillnine in the dining hall
• Corrects those who curse
• Would love to learn to ride a horse and have one for her own
• Defacto Matron of the Stax Clan

Ermunic “Nick” Dusket (Owner of Jackrabbit Nick’s)

• Late 30’s; olive complected; oily, coiffed hair
• Wears cheap but clean clothes and a nice fur cape he won of a south man
• Always looking for a new scheme
• Runs his business on a thin margin
• Not above a bribe but will fight a protection racket to the death
• Makes ape man jokes constantly and often tells them wrong
• Endorse gambling but never partakes

Edrelga Storn (Medium)

• Mid 40’s, pallid, long gray and auburn hair in 6 braids
• Wears ornate, low cut dresses with gold embroidery and moon shadowed patterns
• Prefers barter for services over coin
• Loves good food, especially connies
• Eats more than her moderate frame would suggest
• Has a thing for men of the cloth and a hardy corruption fetish
• Her powers are real but can leave her weak and iron deficient.

Trodgrave Slythe (Priest of Neseekus)

• Appears to be in his 60’s, short cut receding widows peak, gaunt, gray, and grim
• Wears a simple black robe belted at the waist with a thick braid of orange and yellow
• Wise, secretive, and calculated
• Does not proselytize. “Those that need Neseekus, will seek him”
• Makes dollhouse furniture as a hobby
• Sometimes walks the fields looking for artifacts of Neseekus
• Had a family long ago but his line is long passed. He doesn’t talk about it.

Brimmil Tord (Excavators Guildmaster)

• 40’s; curly, coarse, strawberry hair; freckles and sun creased face
• Wears the blue-green tunic of the excavators. 
• Has pickaxe and shovel tattoos on his forearms
• Burly, gregarious, and perpetually recruiting
• Always “knows a guy that knows a guy…”
• Wife and family live on the guildhouse attic floor
• Looking for a big score to get the guild out of debt