Faith & Flame Hooks: The Dragon Snail of Bayonne

Known throughout Mythic Europe for its shipbuilding and whaling traditions, the port of Bayonne in Aquitaine is also troubled by a darker reputation. Nearby, a monstrous beast known locally as Lou Carcolh is the source of numerous tales of brave knights and foolhardy magi being swallowed alive and never seen again. Folk witches among the Basque people know enough to steer clear of the beast, but are quite ready to pass along details about the location of its lair to brave and foolhardy souls who wish to test their mettle.

The magus Acumenis, of House Ex Miscellanea, has this to say of the Lou Carcolh in his journal:

It was a vast creature, lumbering and vicious. Oblivious to us as we hid, its head was like a dragon with a beard of tentacles, a mouth of sword-like fangs. Its neck became that of a snail and its body disappeared within an enormous shell. It left a trail of thick slime in its wake, rolling over the broken wagons as if they were nothing. The mule, however, was not so fortunate, and its cries were quickly silenced after the tentacles shot forth and pulled it bleating into that ravenous maw. I can only hope the monster wasn't an immature beast.

Learn more about the Lou Carcolh, its magical qualities and powers, and the Basque folk witches who may or may not be complicit with the beast in Faith & Flame: The Provençal Tribunal sourcebook for Ars Magica Fifth Edition, now available.

Faith & Flame was written by Erik Dahl, Mark Faulkner, Lachie Hayes, Ben McFarland, and Christian Jensen Romer. Cover illustration by Christian St. Pierre; interior illustration by Jason Cole, Jenna Fowler, Susan Knowles, Jeff Menges, and Christian St. Pierre, with cartography by Matt Ryan.