"The Beast of Averoigne" by Clark Ashton Smith

scrivener: professional or public copyist or writer; scribe

rutilant: glowing or glittering with red or golden light

"the Dragon" is surely the constellation Draco. Interestingly enough, in the northern hemisphere Draco never sets. Scorpius, on the other hand, is only visible from May to August in the mid northern latitudes.

blent: archaic or literary past and past participle of blend

evensong: a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline.

corposant:an appearance of St. Elmo's fire on a mast, rigging, or other structure

nimbus: a luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint

nones: in this context, a service forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church, traditionally said (or chanted) at the ninth hour of the day (3 p.m.)

blench: become pale

prime: the First Hour, one of the canonical hours of the Divine Office, said at the first hour of daylight (6:00 a.m. at the equinoxes but earlier in summer, later in winter), between the dawn hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. hour of Terce

chine: backbone

ostent: a significant sign; the act of showing or displaying

Phlegethon: In Greek mythology, one of the rivers of Hades. Plato describes it as "a stream of fire, which coils round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus".

Lethean: causing oblivion or forgetfulness of the past (from the river Lethe, another of rivers of Hades, noted for causing forgetfulness among those who drank of its waters)

cellarer: the person in a monastery who is responsible for the provisioning of food and drink

haircloth: a stiff, unsupple fabric typically made from horsehair and/or from the woolly hair of a camel

pernoctation: an all-night vigil

wain: wagon or cart

energumen: a person believed to be possessed by the devil or a spirit

To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/11/the-beast-of-averoigne

There are some non-trivial differences between the text I'm reading from and the link above, especially in regard to the details of how the Beast is defeated, but the essential outline is still there either way, and my recorded version is, IMO, more dramatic and interesting.

More X2 fodder, wherein the PCs must deal with the Beast and acquire the ring of Eibon.