From the free companies of the Seven Cities to the ragtag bands of irregulars, cutthroats, and blades-for-hire that muster in the Crossroads, mercenaries in Midgard are as ubiquitous as they are deadly. While big name troops like the Clanking Legion vie for contract and military campaign, newer mercenary companies amass with every passing season, waging war for glory and profit. 

The Old Margreve is a forest older than gods, and twice as ornery. Find more in the The Old Margreve, coming next week!

In this article we bring you a new faction operating in The Old Margreve—a vengeful crew of pyromancers hellbent on bringing the heat.

The Scholar and the Knight

Bright and gifted, Halga of Runklestad (dwarf archmage) had a promising future in arcane academia at Runklestad’s prestigious College of Wands. Regarded as a prodigy in pyromancy and a clever tactician, the only thing that burned brighter than her conjured flames was Halga’s passionate love affair with local knight errant, Ser Celestyn. Though Halga largely outshined her paramour in every facet, their love flourished like wildfire. That is, until Ser Celestyn’s ambitions drove him to an unexpected demise underneath the boughs of the Old Margreve.

The tragedy of Ser Celestine has been the subject for many a bardic tale. They sing that he dealt poorly with the shadow fey, that he crossed Baba Yaga, that the very forest engineered the knight errant’s end. While the truth is known to few, the reality is that Ser Celestyn’s death broke Halga’s heart. And not just her heart but her goodness too. 

With Ser Celestyn gone, Halga the scholar was no more. Halga the Hellion was born. Halga swore to avenge her fallen lover; to punish the Scathsidhe that brought him low, to rout the witch Baba Yaga, and to burn the old Margreve into ash and cinders. The fiery-tempered dwarf now amasses similarly aggrieved folk like moths to a flame, her followers calling themselves the Mar’Grieved and claiming Halga the Hellion as their leader. 

Fire and Steel, Branch and Bane

Unlike the other sellsword companies that campaign across the Crossroads, The Mar’Grieved only take contracts within the Margreve itself as they facilitate Halga’s personal vendetta, always aiming to blaze deeper into the Margreve with every endeavor. 

While the bulk of the Mar’Grieved forces are displaced loggers, mountless caravaneers, and hungry trappers, every season or so brings a few disenchanted mages from the College of Wands to join Halga on her fiery warpath, as well as the occasional disgraced knight from the Magdar Kingdom’s many paladinic orders. These experts in warfare along with their leader’s potent spellcasting make the Mar’Grieved a capable foe for The Old Margreve and its many agents.

When the company isn’t taking contracts to “protect” caravans from shadow fey or waging fiery war upon the forest’s denizens, Halga sends her people to rip up any derende trees they find. They want to agitate the forest and claim the trees’ magical heartwood to craft into uniquely useful torches, firebrands, and bonfires that stave off creature that creep into company camps.

The Mar’Grieved in Your Campaign

Part cultists, part mercenaries, the Mar’Grieved could be deployed in your campaign as a rival organization to complicate your PCs’ journey. While not immediately hostile to the average group of adventurers (unless said group operates on behalf of the Margreve) it won’t take long before the Mar’Grieved become adversarial if plucky heroes get in their way of punishing the Margreve and those who dwell within it.

Here are some suggestions for how to incorporate the Mar’Grieved into your campaign.

• Random Encounters. When you roll a random encounter within the Margreve, there is a 20 percent chance that the Mar’Grieved arrive onsite within a few elapsed rounds of combat. If the encounter involves fey, the chance increases to 40 percent and the Mar’Grieved are hostile to any fey in the area. The Mar’Grieved employ thugs, scouts, and mage apprentices at low tiers of play but as the players scale in level, the Mar’Grieved field knights, veterans, and mages specializing in fire spells. Every Mar’Grieved member wields a derende firebrand described further below. 

• Between Adventures. The Mar’Grieved might show up before or after an adventure plays out within the Margreve, taking a special interest in the location of derende trees, the comings and goings of hags and Baba Yaga, and field notes on unusual fey. Such exchanges can be profitable for players, though the Mar’Grieved are not above following characters afterwards if they believe that the whole truth wasn’t fully disclosed.

• During Adventures. Adding several squads of Mar’Grieved and even Halga herself to the adventures detailed in The Old Margreve is a great way to scale up the challenge of the adventure without fully reworking the adventure. Perhaps the players are competing with the Mar’Grieved for the same goal in Wrath of the Bramble King or the Mar’Grieved are helping the antagonist Eagehrt in The Vengeful Heart. Finally, Gall of the Spider Crone and Grandmother’s Fire fit perfectly with the Mar’Grieved vengeful interest in finding and delivering retribution upon Baba Yaga.

New Magic Item

Use the following item to put firepower in the hands of even those who cannot wield magic and let them burn it all down.

DERENDE FIREBRAND

Wondrous Item, Uncommon                              XXX gp

Crafted from heartwood collected from the derende tree, this torch’s strange light reveals nearby hidden things, though its flame burns low and quick. A derende firebrand burns for 10 minutes, providing bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. The firebrand can be wielded as a simple weapon. If you make a melee attack with a burning firebrand and hit, it deals 1d8 fire damage. After 10 minutes, the torch burns away into a pile of ash. In addition, you can use the following weapon option with the firebrand while it is lit.

Flames of Derende

A blast of scorching flame erupts from the firebrand. Each target in a 15-foot cube originating from you must make a DEX 13 save. On a failure, it takes 2d8 fire damage and if the target is a creature or flammable object, it ignites. A target that is on fire takes 1d8 fire damage at the beginning of its turn for 1 minute or until it spends its action to put the fire out, it gets wet, or it takes cold damage. After using this weapon option, the amount of time the firebrand can stay lit is reduced by 1 minute.