The Hermit and his Wild Dog (Lore)

 TRIGGER WARNING: This post deals with themes of anti-semitism at it was often the case in the medieval times. This author clearly portrays the anti-semitism as wrong and evil, and the root/cause of the problems these characters might bring.

X-CARD MATERIAL: Obviously, this would be X-Card material at the gaming table, and before beginning a session or arc in which this might feature, I would ask if these things and themes are fitting or not for the group and tone we want to portray.

The Hermit and his Wild Dog.

Once a respected member of the community surrounding the keep, this man and his family enjoyed a quiet life, but once Count Leopold de Chouxchaude — the then master of the Keep —found out that there were Jews living in his village he became incensed, especially after his wife had a miscarriage. Blaming it on the family they were driven out of the community by the guards.

"An Old Beggar"
David Teniers II (1610-1690)

Taking it in stride, persecution seeming to be part of their heritage, they settled in the woods, where they built a cottage and lived from what the land brought them. The couple had children who grew up healthy and innocent of the evils outside the forest.

Then, after the harvest failing for the second year in a row, the people remembered them, and with the lack of reason that desperation and fear brings, a mob was formed. The mob went and looked for the family, finding the cabin in the woods. They locked the doors and burned it down, thinking their job done. They did not know that the father was out, checking the traps. When he came back, he saw what happened, and he broke.

I sadly have no credit I could find for this picture.

He buried his family and ripped his clothes, in the way of his people. He now wanders the woods, followed by a mean looking, black dog. Bitterness took hold in him and he wants nothing to do with people. What he doesn’t know is that the dog, who came to him in his need, is not in fact just a dog, but a force of chaos, that becomes a vessel for the man’s vengeance when the man is asleep. The man in question does not know about this.