Hamlet of Valoderro, Ignis
Over twenty years ago...
Isa huffed as she ran, clutching her bundle, not at her chest as the gingerly way a mother would, but under her arm like an object. The thing inside made that awful noise again, a chortling bray that brought pain to Isa's face. This, she was convinced, was no offspring of hers. Kammeth, why? What happened to her real son? The darling she'd imagined with eyes as bright as his father's, and springy, brown locks like Isa's. Not this... creature.
Valoderro was disappearing fast behind her as Isa neared the treeline. She dared not venture too far in, but the further she could discard this misshapen infant, the better. How could she live, if the rest of the hamlet discovered she'd given birth to a monster? Worse yet, what if the inquisition came knocking? She had to get rid of it.
After a while, the woman sensed she was far enough, and knelt to lay the swaddled child against a tree root. She hadn't the stomach to end its life herself. At least this way, the animals would get to it and she'd be long gone. Isa risked a long look into the deep of the forest, and peeled away when she felt it was staring back.
A proud Urgom stood tall amongst his warriors. Tall was relative; his hump would put him over six feet, if that were only where his head had been. A pair of horny growths perforated the skin on his forehead. His face was elongated, animal-like.
It had been Urgom's leadership that brought a temporary cease to the warring between the vilespawn herds south of Ignis. Possessed of a predatory cunning and a peculiar intelligence, Urgrom had convinced former foes to march on the humans.
The horde lingered in the trees, makeshift weapons and fetishes in the hands of the vilespawn. The sleepy hamlet was just fifty meters beyond. They approached in silence, save for barely-restrained grunts that puffed from their nostrils. Urgom had promised them much, and it was time for delivery.
A savage bray let loose the bovidae vilespawn, and they scrambled for civilization. Within seconds, they were upon Valoderro. Its people woke up too slow to realize they were already dead. The town guard was encircled and overwhelmed by a throng that sorely outnumbered them. Even as the vilespawn fulfilled their desire for slaughter, they descended into the farmyards and ripped into the animals with their teeth.
Isa had awoken, struggling to tear her gnarled body from her bed. She was old now, and plagued by bouts of insomnia and joint pain. As it were, she'd had a hard time sleeping, even before the vilespawn broke down the door and filled the room with their terrible screams. Urgrom pushed his way to the front, eyeing the crone with eyes that were too human. When Isa looked upon him, her eyes went wide, and then she wept. Valoderro was ravaged in minutes.
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