Stensia

the province of Stensia is the western province of Innistrad and is the darkest one, both literally and figuratively.

## Description

Its valleys range from pasture fields to sinister swamps where dead conifer sink slowly. Its wooded lands, crossed by a dense fog, show chromatic colors of dark green, purple, and gray. Its indigo and black mountains disappear in the clouds, and humans can only imagine what is living in their veiled peaks. The sun never seems to shine through the colorful clouds in Stensia.

The powers that govern Stensia, the vampiric bloodlines, reap the benefits of the isolation in the region. The chain of mountains of Geier Reach that dominates the province, separates the valleys from each other, making them easier to monitor and control. The suffering humans of Stensia have an irrational home loyalty, but strictly speaking, have few options: they are trapped in the narrow mountain passes of the province and attached to their customs and lives of meetings.

### Geier reach

The mountain range that dominates Stensia, the Geier Reach, defines it utterly. This chain grows steadily higher in elevation as it moves from the borders with Gavony and Kessig toward the province's outer edge. Inland, the mountain peaks are forested, whereas in the chain's middle the tree line gives way to bare rock; at its verge, the peaks disappear into the clouds. The highlands are dotted with caves and crevasses that are reigned by vultures, bats, and other larger creatures. The passes through Geier Reach are few and precious; all who travel into or out of the province must use them.

## The journey through Stensia

The journey starts when the party enters through the Kruin Pass and go through the Hofsaddel pass on the way to Shadowgrange. On their way, the party meet a group of Cathar skeletons who were stuck in and endless prayer. After poking one of them, the party swiftly defeated them and took some gold from them.

After the encounter, they continue their journey. As they leave the Hofsaddel pass behind them, the party hears some sort of chanting and screaming comming from a cave near the road. They want to take a closer look, but are hindered by a sudden explosion of dirt. As the dust settles, they see a large demon flying away. On high alert, the party investigates further and they quickly find the entrance to a cave. Aware of the demon that just left, they start to investigate the entrance to look for clues. Unfortunatly, they are interupted by two hellrides mounted on hellhounds. The fiery breath of the hounds make it a hard fight, but the starting adventurers finish the fight without taking too much damage. Only Lorsan Keavrey loses his conscious, but is quickly stabelized by Eran Willowind.

Inside the cave, they find a dozen dead bodies from Skirsdag-cultist. They were obviously involved in the summoning of the demon. The party looks for a murder weapon, but don't find anything. Upon closer inspection, they do find two horsetracks leading back to Shadowgrange. They don't want to waste too much time in the cave and after a last check, take to the road once more.

The party is getting closer to their destination as the want to stop for the night once more. They find a big tree who seems to radiate a safe energy from it. They get closer and meet a man sitting under the tree, next to a shrine to Avacyn. The man is Anton Wepper, a former farmer who wants to start a new life in Shadowgrange. The party doesn't trust him and after questioning him, they find out he is secretly a Lycanthrope who doesn't want to hurt people and thus ran away from his family. He asks for help and after a short discussion, the party accepts to take him along to the city and to help him get started in his new life.

The day after the meeting, they finish their trip to Shadowgrange, where they meet the two guards Lars and Sven. To enter the city everyone needs to hold Avacyns collar against exposed skin. The party quickly realizes this will be a problem for Anton, who knows what's comming and leaves the party early. Before he leaves he asks them to bring him some food and maybe some weapons to defend himself. He says he will be waiting in the North Farbog.

After the party's adventures in Shadowgrange, they leave once again to go to Mauer Estate in the North Farbog. They are joined by two Cathar guards, Lio and Grath, who leave the party at the edge of the North Farbog, where their adventure continues.