Fields of Cannae
Amongst the otherwise sunny and fertile hills of Apulia stretches a field of dead and dry grass. The Ofanto river runs next to the fields, yet the soil is dry and coarse. What has once drank deeply of blood can no longer be quenched with water. Until thousands of men die here again, the land shall remain barren.
Cannae was the location of the bloodiest battle in all of Mythic Europe. Polybius cites the number of 78000 souls lost on the Second August 216 BC. Rome’s most bitter defeat. Hannibal had pillaged much of Italy, its citizens demanded that he was fought. Patience and caution was thrown to the wind. Gathering eight legions the newly elected consuls marched to face him at Cannae. The Roman army outnumbered Hannibal's greatly. Yet it didn't matter in the end. Through skillful and deceptive tactics, the Roman army was encircled and crushed. The battle carried on until the complete darkness, first then did the Cartathigan army cease the remorseless slaying.
More than a millennium later the field would once again see battle. In 1018 AD the Byzantine Catepan would face Lombards and Normans, it developed into another bloody affair - but in this one at least the Romans were victorious. In 1038 the Norman Robert Guiscard destroyed the village of Cannae, only sparing its Cathedral and Bishop’s residence. It was another slaughter, one which Cannae still hasn't recovered from.
In 1220 the field is once again yearning for a battle, ideally one as grand as its first. The area, with the cathedral as the sole exception, has an infernal aura of 3. Baal, the God of Cartathigans is a powerful demon. Baal deceived its people into human sacrifices and other vile acts. The demon also arranged for the empire to clash against the Romans. It’s unknown if Hannibal himself was an infernalist. Some Hermetic historians like to suggest it was only with the power of infernal and human sacrifices that he achieved his victory at Cannae - choosing to ignore that the defeat led to four Romans being buried alive under the Forum of Rome to try to win the next clash with Hannibal’s forces. Others stress that Hannibal was a devotee of Melkart - the Cartathigan deity of death and rebirth. Whether Hannibal was an infernalist or not, some portion of his army certainly was it. And the bloody and brutal battle at Cannae has drawn many demons to it. Under the full moon ghosts reenact the slaughter. Raven and crows alike are the only animals who ever willingly visit the area.
Wherever one looks at the field, one is reminded of death. Abandoned fields, brown and grey grass, the half abandoned Cathedral and few hovels surrounding it. All is in disrepair and gloom. Even the river seems sickly and unhealthy. Heremtic magi tend to avoid the area. The Tribunal's necromancer generally consider the area's ghost too mad and infernally tainted to be of any use, though that did not stop Primus Cercistum of Tremere to use them as a threat during the Schism.
Story Seed: Rings of the Equites.
A peasant, or layman, was digging in the field. Something that is considered quite profane unwise, as one is most likely to find human remains or some rusted weapon than do any good. Instead of macabre remains the man found a decorated bronze urn, heavy and massive. Engraved with fires, minotaurs and an unknown script. To the man’s joy it was filled with rings. Silver, gold and gems, an incredible treasure. The man doesn't return to Cannae, instead heads for a major town where he hopes to sell the bounty. The PCs are asked to investigate the man’s disappearance or encounter him in some major town. The treasure the man found is the same (or more likely a copy, as the real one was sent to Rome as a threat) that Hannibal used to count how many Roman nobles that had been slain in the battle. Such a treasure is likely to bring misery and death wherever it ends up. Is this part of some greater Infernal plot? How can the already sold rings be reclaimed?