The Fishing town and the Axe that was too large

[Jufo]

Hello all, I am GM'ing a wonderful campaign, but I have written myself into an unintended corner, and could use a suggestion.

THE STORY IN SHORT: BBEG Wizard conquered Daloria, a nation surrounded by mountains to all sides, so that he could further his plans in peace. Jump to present day and our heroes, four travelling non-Dalorians, has against their will been trapped inside the black gate with the only device to defeating the BBEG Wizard. Conveniently they have discovered that the things they were searching for are also to be found in Daloria!

So the ranger, who seeks the orc warband who killed her family and hometown, got a vision in a dream of one of the orcs from said warband delivering a greataxe to a Cyclops in the woods, which he said he got from the nearby town. After our heroes beat the cyclops, they are now dragging the axe towards the nearby town to hopefully get clues to the whereabouts of the orc warband.

Now I have some different ideas about what the warband could be doing in that town. The BBEG Wizard's army is mostly orcs, so orc bandits are not out of the ordinary for the local populace. But what I cannot figure out is; why did the small fishing town have a Large Greataxe of False Life that the orcs could acquire in the first place?

I was hoping that you fine storytellers of this here forum would be able to offer a suggestion as to why the town had this greataxe in their possession.

The Greataxe is large, and is enchanted with False Life. At the blade there is a carving of an eye, which the Paladin of the group noted may be a symbol of Lamashtu.

Thanks in advance :)

TL;DR: Why would a fishing town have a Large Greataxe with a possibly unholy symbol and the necromancy spell False Life in their possession?

[Targutai Minyatur]

How about this:

-A powerfull but old hero, tired of the war, retired into a pacific fishing town to past his last days in peace fishing and resting. When he died he left his axe to his family as a remember of his past glory days.

-Someone hidden there cause nobody will suspect that powerfull weapon was in the crypt of the local church.

-A town member gain that axe in a gamble with a drunken warrior.

any of this serves you?

[Jufo]

Targutai Minyatur wrote:

How about this:

-A powerfull but old hero, tired of the war, retired into a pacific fishing town to past his last days in peace fishing and resting. When he died he left his axe to his family as a remember of his past glory days.

-Someone hidden there cause nobody will suspect that powerfull weapon was in the crypt of the local church.

-A town member gain that axe in a gamble with a drunken warrior.

any of this serves you?

All of these are great suggestions :)

Thanks, I was completely lost on this one

[Targutai Minyatur]

Glad i could help :)

[Xot]

It's obvious, to me, that they found the axe in the river next to the one ring. Alternatively, don't explain it. The villagers all know abut the legendary axe, but none of them remembers where it came from. It's always just been there. If the players are determined to chase down the origin, have a cleaver villager "Remember" something that results in the PC doing some physical chore. ie, I heard it was found in a chamber at the bottom of this well, which has accumulated thirty foot of silt since then. (Thanks for clearing out my well PCs)