In a remote region of Provincia Pannonia (the province of Pannonia, encompassing parts of modern day Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) sits a village much hated by its neighbors. High in the mountains the village of Xuthltan is populated by peoples unrelated to anyone but themselves, a squat and stock, powerfully built race said to be mixed with the blood of the wild men of old. It is whispered they worship dark gods, practice black magic, summon demons and make human sacrifices before a tall black monolith. No one really knows what the truth is about Xuthltan, for outsiders who visit the village seldom return, and the few who do are usually insane. For the most part the people of Xuthltan keep to themselves and are shunned by the few outsiders who know of their existence.
However on certain nights of the year youths and children vanish from the villages surrounding Xuthltan are taken. Some are forcible removed from their homes by raiders, others are snatched off trails via ambush, and no survivors of these attacks are ever found. The tracks from these attacks always lead back to Xuthltan, but the terrified locals do nothing. Their legends say that once the villagers tried to attack Xanthan, in revenge for such raids and to put down these degenerate sorcerers and devil worshippers once and for all. The attack ended in failure and now the villagers simply watch over their children, lock their doors, and keep weapons close at hand whenever the seasons begin to turn.
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