Visible in the distance, two shapes hang from the branch of an oak tree.

The corpses of two men sway gently in the wind at the ends of hempen ropes with nooses fastened around each of their necks. A crude placard sign with the word “murderers” scrawled across it is staked into the ground nearby. Wolves and carrion birds have feasted upon the dangling, decomposing bodies, which have been stripped of all clothing but for their greasy red cloaks.

Wolves have torn the flesh from the bared legs of each corpse, stripping them down to the bone. Carrion birds have feasted upon the softer bits, tearing away the flesh at the lips and cheeks, exposing the teeth to form a a pair of ghastly smiles.

The left hands have been removed from each of the corpses. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Medicine) check observes that each hand has been cut off with a blade, rather than torn off by wolves. A check succeeding the DC by 5 or more reveals the hands were removed postmortem.

Development

The hands of each murderer have been removed by Hamun Kost, a Red Wizard of Thay who has performed a dark, necromantic ritual to turn each of the hands into crawling claws, which lay in wait in the tall grass around the tree 15 feet from the corpses. They attack anyone who investigates the corpses up close.

Treasure

A silver earring worth 15 gp dangles from one of the corpse’s ears.

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