Old Toivottu Vilja

Down by the Svart, where the river's oily black water slides passed the Wreck’s rotting, decrepit piers, and where the night mists gather and curl, lies Water Lane.

Haunt of beggars, lepers and outcasts Water Lane is a dismal, hopeless place. Ruined, crumbling buildings lean drunkenly over the sodden, muddy street. Thieves and murderers use the lane's rank, sunken cellars to dispose of their victims. No one in their right mind chooses to live on flood-prone Water Lane.

The fisherfolk whisper of Old Toivottu Vilja, a hunch-backed, wizened crone. She stalks Water Lane on the darkest nights, when the mists gather thick. Old Toivottu is a hateful old women widely identified as a witch. Her repellent ugliness is so horrific, folk have died of fear and shock after gazing upon her hideousness. The fisherfolk hate and revile her, and blame her for any ills befalling them. Several sea shanties and nursery rhymes–Water Lane Girl,Undying Hag, The Thing in the Fog and Mist Devil–tell of Old Toivottu and her hideous deeds, proclivities and tastes.  

More About Old Toivottu

Old Toivottu's only appearance thus far is in the Patreon-exclusive mini-eventure A Trip Down Water Lane designed for the city of Languard. She is eminently portable, however, to any town or city with a waterfront.

If you decide to use Old Toivottu in your campaign, you must decide:

• Is Old Toivottu real or is she nothing more than a folklore figure?
• If she is real, what motivates Old Toivottu? Is she a reviled old hag or is she something more? Does she have a darker purpose?
• If she is not real–or long dead–is someone using her legend for their own dark purposes?
• Will Old Toivottu be a friend or foe? Will the characters save her from a mob of angry peasants intent on burning her or will they fall foul of her dark schemes?