My players are exploring the Mythic Location Cursewood, repurposed as the haunted Forest of Rothiemurchus in Invernessshire. I am interested in any ideas about the infernal artifact. I am looking for something that either ties in with Damhan-Allaidh or with the Muspelli since I am thinking about adding the Muspelli story from Dies Irea. I am aware of the ghostly challenger and was thinking to use it as the manifestation for the Loci Genus. But I need something that is tormenting enough and evil enough to have cults and followers seeking it out. In my campaign the Damhan Duidsen are actively investigating infernal sites when they can do so unseen.Any help would be great.
[center]Eastward in Ironwood an old crone sat
And fed there Fenrir's brood;
One from all of these, in troll's skin,
Will one day swallow the moon.
...
There on a mound, striking his harp,
Glad Eggther sat, herdsman of the she-giants;
Above him crowed in the birdwood
Fjalar, the bright red cock.[/center]
According to norse mythology, there's an old woman at the heart of the ironwood, which begets the stock of Fenrir, the giant wolf which will swallow the world. Her name is Angrboda, and according to many she is one and the same with Gullveig. She is the first witch, the one who brought evil sorcery and greed to the gods (and men), she's the thrice burned and thrice reborn, she is the mother of the monsters Fenrir, Jormungand and Hel, she's Loki co-cospirator to bring down Ragnarok.
Angrboda doesn't just sit in the Ironwood breeding giant wolves and werewolves. Although Dies Irae says that Loki is the only jotun capable of controlling the Muspelli, in my saga she does just the same. In particular she has women muspelli servants who try to dominate all the folk witches covens to bend them to her will. And they raise the dead where they find them and take them to hidden places, looking forward to unleash an undead army when the third cockerel will sing.
Angrboda is not alone in the Ironwood, because she has a special bodyguard: the jotun Eggther, which sits on a burial mound playing his harp and guarding the Sword of Victory. This is the most powerful weapon in the world, and during Ragnarok Black Surt, the chief of the fire giants, will use it to set fire to the world and kill the god Freyr.
Is this evil enough for you? 
Thank you Argentarium. That is helpful. I can see the muspelli seeking out this artifact. I can also see other entities interested in controlling its power. Do you think that the murder of the mage in the forests or any of the rituals attempted would be so evil as to result into an infernal aura? I have already established that the forest has a corrupted infernal aura, and the vis found would be vis sordida.
Between the sword, the eternal battle of ghosts on Orkney, and the various saxon rune and raganorak carved crosses in the border regions, there are plenty of reasons for the muspelli to start taking an interest in my campaign setting.
Any other thoughts are still welcome. We do not play until Saturday.
Some lore about the sword that shines brighter than the sun: germanicmythology.com/segers ... rial1.html
I don't know about the infernal aura, because I can't remember the Cursewood's details, and I don't have time to read it now. But I think that if you want, you can certainly justify the creation of an infernal aura, one way or another.
Do you have Thrice-Told Tales? The storyline "Traitor's Game" could easily combine with Cursewood. SPOILER ALERT BTW!
You can either run Cursewood in advance, with the infernal artefact being "Atorcoppe's" trapped spirit which a cult of Damhan-Duidsan are actively seeking to find and free. And then the "Traitor's Game" can follow. However in this setup the Cursewood may be over and done with, if you want to keep having it around then the Genius Locus could also be i possession of knowledge or a secret weapon useful in the upcoming struggle.
Or you could start out "Traitor's Game" and have the Cursewood be where the Claw is his - taking the role of the infernal artefact - and have Rufus instead posses a book or thing giving clues to the location and role of the Claw. So both the PC magi and Atorcoppe's cult of Damhan-Duidsan henchmen know abouyt the artefact and want to get hold of it.
Whichever way you go be sure to post the death coun og Grogs here on the forum. The Cursewood tends to be a killer.
I placed the shadow-casting Tytalus or flambeau from Magi of hermes inside the forest and my players almost killed him for being an infernalist just because they got scared of his shadows 
He is an infernalist. 