The Menhir [Free]

Hello everyone! This week's map is the menhir: standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large man-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found solely as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they are generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top.  

Almost nothing is known of the social organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. There is not even any trace of these people's language; however, we do know that they buried their dead and had the skills to grow cereal, farm and make pottery, stone tools, and jewelry. 

Looks like the beginning of a great session, right?

"The Menhir" [30x30]  has 6 map variants (plus grid, no-grid, JPG, PNG, and PDF versions, ready for Roll20, Foundry or your favourite VTT platform).

 *** 

Huge boulders with ancient runes carved in the front - the place of focus for the local druids and spirits of the forest. Right now the full moon is coming, so druids from the Circle of The Moon are getting ready to celebrate.

The child you were escorting, a little toddler, now sleeping peacefully looks very innocent. He might be a normal child, but the mark in the shape of the star on his forehead decided about his fate.

Mother of the Tobias, Queen Elisa knew that she was a part of the prophecy, she was chosen to be a mother of the next spirit of the moon. She wasn’t ready for that responsibility, so she decided to give him away to the people who will be able to tame the dualistic nature of the spirit, and instead of creating a monster with unlimited power, they will help him grow into the responsible guide for the mortals.

When you finally arrive at the designated meeting place there’s no one waiting - is it possible that druids decided to break their oaths and leave the child in the hands of the strangers?

But after a minute you see a bunch of animals coming out of the woods - bears, elks, eagles and other species forming the circle around your group.

- We are here, don’t be afraid my friends.

The deep voice of the woman filled the clearing, and when you turned around the group of the humanoid forms stood in the place of the animals. Some of them still in the hybrid forms, people with claws or mouths full of sharp teeth glowing in the dark, looking at you every step.

- We have the child, and your name is Madlin I suppose?

You can spot a smirk on her face and she takes a step further.

- Yes, my name is Madlin, the archdruid of this woods. Usually we do not let the outsiders be a part of our rituals, but we’re running out of time. Leave him under the stone and step outside of the circle. I don’t trust you, but it doesn’t mean I want to hurt you.

You did as you were told, and when the first beams of the moonlight hit the menhir the runes on it started glowing with a silver light.

The druids started the prayer and waited for the moon to answer.

All the content is registered under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial CCBY-NC-SA. This means anyone can use it, share it or modify it. 

It cannot be used commercially. Finally, credit must be given to me as the author, and a link to this web page must be included if it is shared or redistributed.