On the eastern edge of the Vale de Raizm, in the Cthonic realm of Mag Duinn, lies Aldeia de Espiga. It is a community of simple farmers that primarily produces food for the nearby Aldeia de Raiz and other outlying villages.

Because Espiga is cut off from the rest of the valley by a dangerous woodland known as The Outlands, it has remained a small agricultural village. However, traffic in and out of the village is steady due to its culinary exports and religious pilgrimage. In the past, much of their food was also shipped to the Royal Plateau to feed the nearby mining village of Folgosinho, however this trade largely ended with the collapse of the Alto Andaime.

The village has no formal leadership, and is ruled by a committee of elders when a major decision is to be made. For generations, Espiga has been the picture of peace, however, recently travelers have reported a dense darkness has gripped the pastoral community and there is a great fear that it teeters on the edge of collapse.

Estátua Santa

Adherents of The Ashen Bough are known to make the dangerous journey through The Outlands to Espiga to visit the Estátua Santa, the oldest known statue depicting the goddess Nespera. Pilgrims come from all over the realm to worship at the base of this ancient wonder. The statue lies in the middle of Campo Corvo, the largest farm in the region.

Local Businesses

• Cabeca de Corvo: The only inn east of The Outlands has been run by the same family since its construction. Currently the inn is managed by the youngest son of the Corvinho family, Tristan.
• Talho Ferra: Considered to be the finest purveyor of meat in all of Mag Duinn, Tolivar Ferra is a local butcher with a near divine gift at extracting perfect cuts from any animal.
• Espiga Stockyards: Formerly the busiest location in the village was the stockyards - a vast network of fences adjacent to the largest farm in the village. In times before The Outlands grew so fierce, people would gather from all over the realm to trade livestock here. It is now largely overgrown and used as pasture by local farmers.
• Ventodedos Granary: A massive windmill stands above everything else in Espiga. Much of the grain from the surrounding areas is processed into flour for the entire realm.

The Great Blight of AC'200

See Main Article: Beast in the East

From a young age, the most influential man in the village of Espiga was quietly plotting its destruction. Gustavo Corvinho, who secretly ruled the local chapter of The Mycelial Thread as the High Priest Nebuchadrezzar, put into motion a meticulous plan to bring ruin to the village he disdained. Before he vanished, he manipulated his oldest daughter Graça into carrying his will forward. Using the forbidden magics of the Thread, she corrupted a local eccentric Kenku named Pica Pau; a fallen hero who formerly lead a band of warrior monks who called themselves The Bastards of Light.

What Gustavo didn't anticipate was the intervention of a group of reluctant heroes who arrived in the realm days before his plan was to come to fruition. Local farmer Pip Vellum left the cursed village to seek the aid of Salvadaro Harbin Glumbo, The Lord of the Land, who he heard was visiting nearby Raiz. In the dangerous Outlands, Pip encountered the group who had been tracking the disgraced deputy Vicente Anbrosio who thought to seek shelter in his hometown of Espiga. The group insisted that if Pip were to make the journey to Raiz, Lord Glumbo would assign them the task, so they opted to cut out the middle man.

Together with Pip and Vicente - who the group reluctantly adopted - the heroes fought back the corruption and made an agreement with the Corvinho Widow to purge the evil from the village in exchange for the deed for the Ventodedos Granary. Additionally, the group adopted the mantle as the Bastards of Light, seeking to fulfil a prophecy foretold by Zell, the demigod daughter of Fedelm.

With their combined might and peak investigative abilities, the Bastards infiltrated the blighted fields and tracked the corruption to the center of the Corvinho holdings where they faced off against both Graça and the twisted monster that Pica Pau had become. Ultimately they emerged victorious, saving many of the corrupted villagers.

Rebuilding

After the blight was purged from the village, the corrupted grains turned into a dark ash that blew across the vapid landscape, leaving nothing but hardship where once grew fertile crops. Though the population was saved from the beasts and blight, a new horror waited for them: starvation.

Unable to sustain the population on the food stockpiled in the village, half of the population opted to brave the fierce expanse of The Outlands to resettle in other towns in the valley while the others remained to rebuild and replant in the spring.

An agreement was struck with the druid Errndar Bearfinder, who signed the deed for the windmill, that he would return to aid in the planting, using his nature magic to ensure an abundant harvest. Meanwhile, they hired Manal Fuga, who spent his entire life working the mill, as its manager. Errnie promised to send materials and supplies to repair the heavily damaged windmill once they returned to Raiz.

Though the citizens knew they would face great difficulties in the coming seasons, there was a fresh and cautious optimism in thinking that nothing could be worse than the horrors they had already overcome.