Lore - Akademia

    At the end of the War of the Hundred Hands, most of the Speakers lay dead, either cut down in the darkness of that terrible night by supposed allies or lying dead with their mechanical titans. In total, ten Speakers escaped the flaming ruins of the Holy Mountain.
    Six of them decided to found schools and teach their mystical philosophy. It is through these schools that the High Language was passed onto the first generation of mages.

Akademia Mortos
    It is said amidst the wisps and witchlights of the Endless Swamp lies the dread Academy of Shadowfall. Within its stuffy halls and decrepit laboratories, future necromancers practice their corporal craft, reknitting flesh and sundering bone. Founded by the Lich of the Swamp, whose bloodstained name was struck from the records, Shadowfall is found only by the mad and desperate.
    Very little is known about necromancy. Its students, when captured alive, swear they adhere to the eldest of the High Arts, taught by the greatest of the Speakers. Most people regard the practitioners of the Art of Flesh and Bone to be lunatics armed with a few cantrips of healing. Then, they see the horde of zombies, skeletons, and grotesques marching to their village, their teeth red and their claws sharp.
    Very few, then, doubt the power of necromancy.

Akademia Mekanikos
    Haven, the fantastical City of Steam, is known to peasants, wizards, and warriors alike. Its flight paths are meticulously memorized and its appearance is a cause for jubilant celebration, for the artificers dwell within Haven. Their bronze and steel creations, running on a combination of steam and magic, walk the streets and converse with visiting merchants. Founded by Malos the Wise, an eccentric inventor in his twilight years, Haven’s streets are constantly flooded with new and novel inventions, much to everyone’s delight.
    Artifice is a well-defined and ever expanding High Art. Countless tomes are dedicated to it and it is quite popular with the rulers of the Known Sky, who often employ a court artificer to advise them. The Art of Craft and Forge, although widely dispersed and known, is quite hard to master; the room for error is wide, with many aspiring artificers winding up injured or dead due to dangerous experiments.

Akademia Oracula
    Venture north, they say. Venture further north. No, further. There, you will behold a mechanical mountain, frozen over with time. Trek to the top of the titan and you shall find the Academy of Astra, home of the diviners. They are a secretive sort, with many odd ways and customs. Astra's founder, the eight-eyed Lilethia, weaves a great web of possible futures in the Academy hall, trying her best to direct the flow of time towards her own mysterious ends.
    The occult art of divination is often misunderstood. Many people think that a diviner's vision shows them the immutable future, something that will come to pass. In actuality, an oracular vision shows a possible future, that will only come to pass due to a certain set of choices. Because of this misunderstanding, charlatans and false diviners abound, preaching their false visions for a few sigloi.

Akademia Ignitia
    As the Wars of Succession rage, the pyromancers of Inferno reach even higher heights of popularity. Born and trained for war, the pyromancers practice for decades in the bronze fortress before being hired by the various armed forces of the Known Sky. Acting as elite magical mercenaries, pyromancers work to amass wealth for themselves and their people.
    The Art of Fire and Flame, pyromancy, is known only to a group of aristocratic families known as the Fireblood Houses. They train their children from birth to be the greatest soldiers and only sell the knowledge of their High Art to the wealthiest bidder. Rogue pyromancers are not uncommon and neither are magical spies sent by the other Academies.

Other Magical Arts
    The four High Ars described above are the most common mage schools in the Known Sky, but there are certainly more. The druids and aeromancers will probably kill you if their less popular Academies are forgotten and of course there are the four Low Arts, taught by those Speakers who decided not to found schools: gastromancy, galvanism, geomancy, and illusion.

Alignment, Part I - THE ONLY THING THEY FEAR IS YOU

 

CosmicSpaceWhale

“Let’s play a game: which body part do you need the least?”

- Ramsay Bolton, Game of Thrones

"With blood and rage of crimson red,

Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,

Together with our hellish hate,

We'll burn you all--that is your fate!"

- The Red Lantern Oath, DC

"In a galaxy at war, Savage, there is only one way to get the attention of the Jedi. Slaughter of the innocent. Mercilessly and without compromise."

- Darth Maul, The Clone Wars

-

    Some things just aren’t fair. Long ago (or maybe a few seconds ago, you can’t really tell), you lived a normal life. You woke up, ate, went to work, and slept. You were the definition of Ordinary. Then, due to fate or merely some bad luck, your reality fractured into innumerable pieces.

    Your brain ruptured and oozed neural juices, overloaded with the Truth of the world. You, your mother, your father, and indeed everyone in the world, were just pawns of greater, more primordial Things. Uncaring creatures whose forms drove you to make bloody ribbons of your eyes. Your body broke itself down in despair, bones cracking, muscles spasming, and flesh bleeding. And only one emotion remained in your poor ruptured skull: Rage.

    This was not supposed to happen. You were Ordinary and you were content with that. And then, everything got fucked up. You were dying now, bleeding out of all of your normal orifices and several new ones. ‘Fuck the world’ you screamed with your raw vocal cords. Nothing mattered and that fact made you really mad.

    This anger at the world, at life, at your existence, attracted one of those Things. It built your body back up, giving you a new flesh bag to rip and tear. Of course, your body was built back wrong, for the Thing had no true comprehension of human anatomy. It gave you throbbing muscles, sharp teeth, and wickedly long claws.

    Its name was the sound of a death-scream and of blood spilling from a fatal wound. You were to be its servant in the Cosmic Slaughter of the other Powers. It filled your grasping, feeble mind with images of viscera and a feeling of unending wrath. If nothing truly mattered, you could kill whoever the fuck you wanted and vent your rage at your position.

    Your first act? Pick up a weapon.

spaghettibastard

Class: FIGHTER

Starting Equipment: 2 Large weapons, both covered in fresh blood [2d6 +STR damage, 2 slots each]. 1 Medium weapon, stolen from a victim of yours. [1d8+STR damage, 1 slot]. Some tattered rags OR no clothes at all.
Starting Skill [d6]: Combat [Swords], Combat [Axes], Combat [Hammers], Combat [Maces], Combat [Spears], Combat [Tridents].

Level 1: Born for Battle, Murderous Intent, Kill Dice
Level 2: Clear Mind, +1 Attack per round, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD
Level 3: Sudden Death, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD
Level 4: Wrath, +1 Attack per round, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD

Born for Battle
    War changes a person, in your case physically. Let your body grow and change to fit the needs of the Thing that controls you. After all, what can you do to stop it?
    Every level, you gain a Violent Deformity, which are found in the list below. If you run into a repeat, keep going up until you reach one you don't have.

1. RIPPED MUSCLE. Your muscular system is clearly visible beneath your thin layer of skin. +2 STR.
2. UNBROKEN SINEW. Ligaments and tendons are as tough as leather. +2 DEX.
3. IRON FAT. Bulging with fat, it is hard for you to feel the weak blows of your enemies. Damage reduction of 2.
4. RIPPING CLAWS. Your fingernails grow, twist, and harden until they're shiny black talons. Your fists go up a damage die.
5. WINGS OF DEATH. Wings painfully burst from your back, scarlet and magnificent. You gain a flying Speed of 30'.
6. ARM REACHING FOR HELL. Of course you need a third arm! Another hand to hold a weapon. You gain a third hand and all that implies.
7. EYES OPEN. Your foes wonder how you can see them in the darkness of night. Little do they know, you have eyes in the back of your head. You can never be surprised.
8. SCALES OF STEEL. Skin as tough as steel protects you. +2 AC.

Murderous Intent
    The basic act of murder can be done with anything. All you need is will. Weapons you wield, even improvised ones, deal 1d8 base damage if they would normally deal less. If you have a STR penalty, it no longer applies to your attack or damage rolls.

Kill Dice
    You have [level] Kill Dice (KD), which are d6s. You regain all your Kill Dice on a Rest. You can gain extra dice from dealing maximum damage or from killing a creature with more HD than you. Dice gained from dealing damage can go over your maximum amount. Extra KD that you gain dissipate whenever you go one round without fighting.
    You can roll a Kill Die whenever you deal damage and add it to the regular damage of the attack. You can do the same when you take damage and subtract the value of the die roll. KD are expended on a 4-6 and return to your pool on a 1-3.

Clear Mind
    You’re immune to magical effects that would affect your mind.

Devon Kennedy

Sudden Death
    Weapons on your person can be drawn instantly even if you were wearing them on your back, or hiding them in your boot, or were tied up and couldn't possibly have reached them. Your fists go up a damage die.

Wrath
    WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. Your weapons never break unless you want. When you choose to break a weapon, you automatically hit with that attack and deal double damage.

GLoGtober '21 Day 5 - Green is What is Left When Ardor Fades, When Passion Dies, When We Die

    For the GLoGtober conversion prompt. Inspired by the movie The Green Knight.

Knight of Spring

Pierre Droal

Starting Equipment: A bronze battleaxe [described below]. The Horn of Springtide [described below]. A set of plant-covered chainmail armor [+4 AC, 4 slots]. A direram mount [described below].
Starting Skill [d6]: Botany, Alchemy, Geography, Chivalry, Animal Handling, Survival.

Level 1: Fae Immortality, Superiority of Arms
Level 2: Greentongue
Level 3: Thirst for Blood
Level 4: The Storms of Spring

Fae Immortality
    You used to be human, but are not so now. You left your humanity behind in your reliquary. The reliquary itself is a small bronze-bound chest of living wood containing your bones. You sacrificed your bones to the Thousand Gods for eternal life and power. In place of them, you have a structure of living wood that can only be broken by a knight.
    Every time you die, after 1d8-[level] days, you will return fully healed from the earth near your reliquary. You do not regain lost equipment with this feature.

Superiority of Arms
    Any weapon you wield, even your fist, has its damage die scaled up one. For example, a light weapon would deal 1d8 damage, while a medium weapon would deal 2d6 damage. When a heavy weapon is scaled up one, it is 3d6 damage.

Greentongue
    You can speak Root, the language of plants, trees, and flowers. This can be used to converse with them but it can also be used to command them. [level] times, you may utter in Elderspeak a command to the plants within 30' of you. Some example greentongue commands are:

1. Grow: Plants equal to your [level] grow up to 30 extra feet over the course of d6 rounds.
   
2. Ensnare: Roots burst from the earth and trap your opponents for [level] rounds if they fail a DEX Check of 11+[level].
3. Ripen: Plants equal to your [level] grow large fruit, even if they couldn't before. These fruits count as [level] days of rations.
4. Sunder: A single plant explodes, dealing [level] piercing damage to all within 10'.
   

    Some ways to regain your greentongue abilities: make a large sacrifice to the Thousand Gods, awaken an ent, kill an enemy knight, restore a fairy ruler to power, etcetera.

Thirst for Blood
    You can now attack twice per round. You force Morale Checks on all 1 HD minions who see you. Your name is whispered throughout the land, for all the good and ill that brings.

The Storms of Spring
    You rival the power of some of the Thousand Gods. You have 5 points to distribute across your character sheet. They can increase any stat. People will worship you and try to slay you in equal measure.

Adam Glazer

The Armaments of Springtide

1. A bronze battleaxe. A two-headed bronze battleaxe with a haft of living wood. Deals 3d6+STR damage and takes up 2 Inventory Slots. Can be thrown 20' and returns magically to its wielder's hand.
2. The Horn of Springtide. A great instrument of ram's horn. 1 Inventory Slot. The horn itself is engraved with Elderspeak runes detailing the Maiden of Spring. If an action is spent blowing it, the Wild Hunt appears the next round. The hunters are composed of 1d4+1 faery knights, 1d6+1 faery huntsmen, and 2d6+1 direwolves. The horn can only be used once before it has to recharge again. To recharge, dip it in the blood of a king.
3. Direram Mount. A regal direram. 3 HD ram with an Armor Class of 12. Has a 2d6 gore attack. Can speak to all animals in their native tongues and is quite persuasive.

GLoGtober '21 Day 4 - Traincrawl Engineward Entries

    Traincrawl. I never thought I would be writing about trains on my game blog given my dislike of train games, but here I am. I am working on the engineward portion of the Immortal Train, while my collaborator theisticGilthoniel is writing the coldward portion.

    The Traincrawl is a depthcrawl. When you enter a new car, roll a d6 on both tables, adding the distance in number of cars from your starting car (so the first car you explore will be +0, the second +1, etc.). Every car has a 2 in 6 chance of being semi-permanently inhabited, and each inhabited car has a 50% chance of having a party and a 50% chance of having a murder mystery. If the car cannot be feasibly inhabited by humans, dwarves live there.

Car

1. Boxcar
2. Seating Car (six seats wide)
3. Seating Car (four seats wide)
4. Dining Car
5. Sleeping Car
6. Observation Car
7. Tavern Car
8. Prison Car
9. Slave Car
10. Torture Car
11. Mine Car
12. Tomb Car
13. Arena Car
14. Eugenics Car
15. Ritual Car
16. Engine Car
17. Assembly Car
18. Angelic Car
19. Beacon Car
20. Locomotive Car

Details

1. Empty
2. Hot
3. Dirty
4. Burning
5. Industrious
6. Ruined
7. Dead scrappers
8. Dead dwarves
9. Unstable
10. Massive exposed silver train-wheels
11. Protruding machinery
12. Massive orrery
13. Lava pools
14. Clumps of iron
15. Bloodstained
16. Dead angel
17. Smoke-filled
18. First generation murals
19. Heavily guarded
20. Ominously silent

Encounters

1. Empty
2. Outgoing scrappers
3. Returning scrappers
4. Pacifistic, but hunted, cyborgs
5. Fire cultists
6. Dwarf soldiers
7. Drunk dwarves
8. Imprisoned slaves
9. Slave village
10. An angel torturer and tortured slaves
11. Dwarf miners
12. First generation tomb
13. Blood-sport arena
14. Angel gene-manipulator and its mutant servants
15. Engine cult
16. Grand Enginepriest
17. The Assembly Master
18. The Lord-Ophanim
19. Sentient chained star
20. The Conductor

GLoGtober '21 Day 3 - Occult Inspirations

     This was supposed to a runes post for GLoGtober. Then, as always, my muse left me at the last possible moment and gave me a really vague idea to write about.

    It's this game where everyone plays wizards in a normal medieval world. Except the wizards are weird, mysterious, and all a bit crazy. A player would engage in dangerous wizard politics, recover and create deadly mystical artifacts, and deal with monsters and their mutating bodies. Watch out for those Dooms too.

    So, I figured I would write down the inspirations for the game, in the same vein as this post. I will try to fulfill to the wizard prompt. This is mostly to help myself but if you find a cool link, then all the better.

Wizardly Links (Last Updated 11-20-2021)

Bastionland - Primordial Wizard (New!)
Caput Caprae - Class: The Sage
Caput Caprae - Language for Wizards
Coins and Scrolls - 1d1000 Mutations

From the Pilgrim's Temple - Class: Invoker (New!)

From the Pilgrim's Temple - Class: Thaumaturge (New!)
Goblin Punch - Sister Witches and Monastic Wizards
Middenmurk - The Affairs of Wizards (New!)

Numbers Aren’t Real - ClΔss: Wizard (New!)

Numbers Aren't Real - Class: Masked Cleric
Numbers Aren't Real - Class: Virtuous Saint
Numbers Aren't Real - Who, Whom, Why
Portals and Pegasi - Class: Philosopher (New!)
Save vs. Worm - Class: Mad Poet (New!)
Spiceomancy - Random Advancement Templates
Spiceomancy - There Are No Mundane Towers
Sundered Shields and Silver Shillings - Four Types of Old Magick (New!)
Tarsos Theorem - d100 Weird Powers
The Hill Cantons - Corelands, Borderlands, and the Wierd
The Mad Queen's Court - 1d20 Fantasy Languages
The Mad Queen's Court - Class: Artist
The Mad Queen's Court - Mountain: On Fire, the Elements, and Old Gods, Oh My
The Nothic's Eye - Class: Magos
Tower of the Lonely GM - Your Wizards Are Losers

Occult Images

A. Shipwright

cobaltplasma

JasonTN

Sarunas Macijauskas

This list will be periodically updated with new links as I find them. Hope you are inspired. (:

GLoGtober '21 Day 2 - Stygia, A Land of Ash

The northwest, a land of ash and folly

     In a past age, the Stygian kingdoms ruled the northwest of the world. Their land was not like verdant and magical Arcadia; it was barren and mountainous, and the humans there fought unendingly for resources. They, like all human tribes, were ruled by Kings.

    But the Arcadian Kings and the Stygian Kings were not the same. The Stygian Kings were a hard-pressed lot, as, unlike their Arcadian neighbors, their kingdoms were far less abundant in resources and people. The Stygian Kings still revered the Titans while the more advanced Arcadians worshipped the six sacred metals.

    Everything remained this way for hundreds of years, until, as always, one individual changed the course of history. Her true name has been forgotten and now she is referred to as the Flamescar Worm. The Worm used to be a female King and artist of the Witch-in-the-woods. She came up with the brilliant idea to start consuming magical energy, including the souls of her fellow artists. She started to consume the sacred metals, especially gold. Then, she found the original Knight of Eyes, a great stone card engraved with a divine rune.

    And consumed it.

    Her skin blackened and became scaly, her tongue and fangs serpentine. Her eyes, reflecting her diet, became spheres the color of molten gold. Wings sprouted from her back and her breath became that of scarlet flame.

Anato Finnstark

   It was midnight when the Flamescar Worm burst from her blazing palace, letting out a screech that alerted all the Kings in Stygia that a new power was on the rise. In perhaps the only time in the long history of Stygia, the mountain Kings united. The goal of the combined kings? Kill their vermicular foe. The Kings traveled to the lair of the Flamescar Worm and fought her there. In their hubris, they thought they could defeat her.

    An innumerable number of Kings died that day. The ashy detritus of their bodies still blows from Worm’s Peak. A few wandering families of artists settled down near the Flamescar Worm’s lair and have become her devout acolytes. Most of the Stygians, King-less, decided to migrate to the mountains of the world, becoming the dwarfs.

GLoGtober '21 Day 1.5 - Oredon the Drowned

    For theisticGilthoniel's planetary fantasy setting and also a second surprise GLoGtober collaboration post because I love lore.

Eric Elwell

" A flooded, tropical world. The only things that rise above the waters are the gilded spires of the previous civilization. Plant life flourishes under the water and around the ancient towers. Only has a few permanent inhabitants, mainly fishers and pirates on woven barges."

The Association of Towers

    Deep within the tropical jungles of Oredon, ancient spires jut out of the ground, piercing the sky like solitary daggers. These steel towers were once home to the Tower-Dwellers, a precursor species. From recovered bones and crumbling art, they are shone to have been ten foot tall individuals They are thought to have been a warlike race, as most of the towers are heaps of ash and their bones are found in mass graves. What wiped them out is unknown, but their towers hold technological artifacts of great power, which have drawn the curious and greedy eyes of a few Stormsages.
    They have set up the Association of Towers, a loose coalition of scholars, archaeologists, and magic-users that ostensibly work together to recover the Tower-Dwellers culture and technology. In actuality, they are bunch of feuding, pretentious bastards who horde and exploit technology.

The City of Bazaar

    Oredon is host to a single great city: Bazaar, the City of Pirates. It sprawls horizontally across the water, composed of thousands of ships. Every pirate creed in the world regards this as "neutral territory", by which I mean "don't get caught and you're fine". A mobile city pulled by four chained blue whales, Bazaar is a place of criminals, outlaws, and sailors. It is ruled by the four specialized pirate captains: a Whalemaster, in charge of directing the whales, a Trademaster, who tracks all the deals and oaths made within the city, a Dockmaster, who lets ships in and out of Bazaar, and a Warmaster, in charge of the defense of the city.

Peter Dimitrov

The Harbingers of the Flood

    The Towers once stood proud on the surface of Oredon before being swallowed by the tides. The Harbingers of the Flood seek to bring them and their inhabitants back. Although they count several Stormsages and Necromancers among their ranks, the Harbingers are mostly made up of common people who desire an peaceful civilization without pirates and crazy Tower-mages. The Harbingers' leader is Sigbjorn Mikaelsson, a prophet who receives messages from underneath the waves commanding him to take back the fallen Towers from the tides.
    A shadow war against Bazaar and all it represents started around one hundred years ago and continues to this day.

d6 Hooks

1. A new Tower has been found in the wilderness. You are part of an expedition funded by a Stormsage to claim it.
2. You work for a Stormsage (maybe one of the party members) who hired you to assassinate another member of the Association of Towers.
3. A coup is happening in Bazaar, like always, except you're part of it. Usurp the Whalemaster and take her place.
4. You're part of a crew that just joined Bazaar. Explore the city and don't die.
5. The Warmaster was recently wounded in a sailing accident. Now is your chance to finish him and leave Bazaar leaderless.
6. You are part of a Harbinger group that was sent beneath the waves in an ancient iron apparatus to explore one of the fallen Towers.

GLoGtober '21 Day 1 - The Heptarchy of Magnos

     This is hopefully the first post in a series of seven posts about GLoGtober 2021. If you want to learn more about the GLoGtober challenge, head over here. Now, the first day of the challenge is collaboration. For this I have decided to write about Magnos, a nation in the world of Firmament. Without further delay...

-

    Magnos is often said to be a land of two seas. One of water, referring to the magically polluted Sea of Vir which wracks the surface of Firmament with hurricanes and storms, and one of trees, as the land of Magnos is covered in woodland as far as the eye can see, split only by towering mountains.

    The peculiar government of Magnos is called a heptarchy; a council of seven bizarrely long-lived and terribly callous scholars have dominion over the land, granted to them in ages past by the Sun King. In times of great importance, they meet at a council in Aikamo and make a united decision. Most of the time, however, they spend plotting against one another in shadow wars and hidden conflicts.

Major Settlements in Magnos

    Aikamo is the largest of the six major ports in Magnos, walled and bustling with traffic. Tough sailors bring in metal and ore from the storm-wracked islands in the Vir while traveling Zzargodish merchants ply their wares. In the industry district of Aikamo is the seat of its ruler, Sarvom the Swordsman. Sarvom appears to be a middle-aged man with green eyes, unkempt red hair, and a long, straggly beard. He is always seen in dull gray plate-mail. He -- in his own words -- is a scholar of war and collects THREE WORD SWORDS. Sarvom wishes to eradicate the other heptarchs and establish himself as the Duke of Magnos.

    Yorrai is located a day's travel north of Aikamo. It is home to the Academy, a place of cliques, theorization, and academia. Enrolled in the Academy are many kinds of students and scholars from all over Firmament. Its heptarch is Philosopher Minoru, who appears to be an old man in gray robes with bug-like eyes and a gray beard. He founded the Academy three hundred and forty-two years ago. Minoru collects opinions and apprentices. Minoru's goal is to collect Scripture (magical texts) and to spy on the other heptarchs.

    Kelika is the most well-known of the six major ports in Magnos. Its many taverns and inns provide shelter for all different types of sailors, explorers, and merchants. Its heptarch is Hinata the Magnanimous, a massively obese woman who sits within the town hall of Kelika. She collects stories, historical texts, and myths. Hinata requires a story if a ship is to be docked inside Kelika. She, inspired by the tales of the Five Knights, hosts a secret resistance against the Sun King, and desperately doesn't want to be found out by the other heptarchs.

    Helkau. A city of deep pits, stone towers, and palpable misery. Built on an ancient gold mine, Helkau is the source of Magnos' material wealth. Mined by tortured slaves and debtors, the gold is melted down and turned into beautiful statues for the heptarch of the place, Avaracious Juro. Juro himself appears as a handsome blond man with piercing red eyes. He is always covered in jewelry and other finery. His goal is to expand his power and establish more mines within the wilderness of Magnos.

    Aidran, is a place of strange fog and even stranger myths. Few sailors ever dock here because they are afraid of being disappeared, as the rumors attest. The few locals who live there prefer to be left alone. Aidran's center is a great lighthouse, which dates back to the beginning of the Age of the Sun. Dwelling within the lighthouse is the ruler of Aidran, Ayako the Masked. No one knows what Ayako looks like, for she -- if they are a she -- hasn't left the lighthouse since her appearance two hundred years ago and anyone who goes into the lighthouse doesn't return. Ayako's agenda is unknown.

    On the swampy coast, wracked by storms from Vir, lies a stone island. The small village of Pelei rests on this island. No one lives there except the Reliquary Order, a specific Minor Charter that work for the heptarchs. The Reliquaries can smell magic and trace Scripture, leading them to collect it for the heptarchs. Their leader is Elikki the Cruel, the eldest of the seven rulers. She has been in Pelei since before the Age of the Sun. She collects the skulls of the magically empowered, specifically those Reliquaries who betray their master or otherwise fail to meet her expectations. Her sinister agenda is unknown.

    The only of the seven major settlements in Magnos not on the coast, Ayfen is a place of unending cold and snow. Situated high in the peaks of Magnos, Ayfen is called the Province of Winter. Its folks are an eccentric sort, preferring machines and clockwork to travelers and merchants. They are largely insular. The heptarch of Ayfen is Maerga the Green, a beautiful young woman with lustrous green hair. She leads the town's effort on a mysterious project.

    Due to the ongoing War of Regicide Hubris, conscription has been forced onto the populace.

d8 Hooks in Magnos

1. The Reliquary Order is seeking new members after several Reliquaries were killed trying to retrieve some powerful Scripture from a pre-Sun tomb.
2. A thief has stolen one of Sarvom's THREE WORD SWORDS and he is willing to pay highly for the thief's head and the sword.
3. Raised and dissected corpses have been found near the town of Yorrai. Hysteria is spreading among the students as they believe one among their number is a terrible Skull Scribe.
4. You are part of the Reliquary Order. You have been commanded by Elikki to pursue a peculiar objective: find damning evidence on Hinata the Magnanimous.
5. You are slaves in the city of Helkau, tortured and beaten by the golden hand of Juro. Your goal is to either escape captivity and seek asylum in the wilderness, or lead a successful revolution amongst the powerful heptarch.
6. The lighthouse in Aidran has flickered out. Find out what happened and try not to die.
7. You are burglars hired by Philosopher Minoru to break into Maerga's lab in Ayfen and find out what she is working on there.
8. Rumors have spread of a mysterious woman who can control lightning with a twitch of her hands and a blink of an eye. The rumors also say that she is very anti-heptarchy. All of the heptarchs are worried and have sent agents to eliminate her.

The Guilty Will Not Judge Themselves (Class: Seraph)

    This post is intended for Vayra's Cannibal Kings setting. Thanks for the inspiration.

Seraph

The High King rules over all, even the Petty Kings. He lets the other Kings war amongst each other as long as they follow two simple rules: 1) recognize him as the ultimate Kingly authority and 2) prevent the spread of Kinghood to those unworthy to have it (also known as peasants). The High King mostly leaves his vassals alone, trusting them to follow his mandates. Except, for, y’know, maintaining an organization of secret operatives that keep watch on the Kings and prevent the spread of Kinghood through assassination.

The seraphs of the High King are his agents within the Arcadian kingdoms, rooting out potential Kings and killing them before they start to cause unrest. They operate completely alone, receiving dream-messages* from the High King whenever they are needed. The process of selecting a seraph is unknown, as is whoever is making the decisions involving their training; what is known is that all who know the seraph disappear or die, leaving no one aware of their past identity.

Seraphs also bypass the Petty Kings' authority, and, in one rare case, were allowed to kill one. Obviously, this means the seraphs aren’t popular with the lesser Kings, and if they are found they will be tortured and consumed by the Petty Kings.

Jongmin Ahn
One of these people is a seraph. But who?

Starting Equipment: 2 disguises [decided below]. 1 medium melee weapon. Bow and 20 arrows.

Starting Skill [d4]: Deception, Persuasion, Intimidation, Stealth,

Level 1: Identify, Hidden Ways, +1 HP,

Level 2: Answer To No One, Advantageous,

Level 3: Observant, +1 HP,

Level 4: Schemer, +1 AB,

Identify

You are trained in the ways of recognizing cannibals, ghouls, and potential Kings. A seraph can do this by looking at a person’s teeth, which grow sharp and durable after eating human flesh. As a premier King-hunter, you have a [templates]-in-6 chance of instantly identifying a potential King upon meeting them. You also have Advantage on every roll related to finding out if someone is a potential King.

Hidden Ways

You have [templates] hidden Inventory Slots. Items in these hidden Inventory Slots can’t be discovered unless you want them too.

Answer To No One

You aren’t affected by Kings’ Majesty Dice, although it might be in your best interest to act like you are. You can still be commanded by the High King.

Advantageous

You always seek an advantage over your opponents. Whenever you have Advantage, you roll three times and take the higher number.

Observant

Seraphs are patient. They gather information, wait, and strike their target with deadly efficiency. The number of facts you gather about a target is written as [facts]. You can’t have more than 3 facts, and they must be something you couldn’t find out from looking at a snapshot of the target. When you try to hit the target, subtract [facts] from their armor class; this is their new armor class, which only applies to your attacks.

Schemer

Seraphs rely on elaborate traps and schemes to ensnare their (possibly quite powerful) opponent. Once per rest, you may declare that you have laid a trap for your opponents. The trap can have two of the following characteristics:

• Lasts for 1d6+1 rounds.

• Causes 2d8 damage.

• Begin an effect (poisoned, stunned, incapacitated, etcetera)

Mike Chan
A Seraph

d6 Disguises

1. The Criminal. You have rough clothing and a dagger.

2. The Merchant. You have fine clothing and a log of mundane transactions.

3. The Servant. You have fine clothing and a bottle of wine.

4. The Soldier. You have a military uniform of your choice and a shield.

5. The Traveler. You have traveler’s clothing and a walking stick.

6. The Villager. You have rough clothing and a farming implement.

*No one knows how the High King does this, but in every single dream, crows appear. Whatever the hell that means.

The Heroes of Gralion - Session 1

Vincenzo Riccardi
The Dragon is coming...

The Party

• Earna Thorne (Level 1 Fighter). A grizzled house-shield of Brocdwell, Earna is strong but envious.
• Kingsley of Brocdwell (Level 1 Fighter). A ranger who hunts in the Black Forest, Kingsley is perceptive but lazy.
• Father Wesley (Level 1 Cleric). A sword cleric who travels the land slaying monsters for money. Father Wesley is fearsome but greedy.
• Mother Wren (Level 1 Cleric). An old lady and a sword cleric, Mother Wren is fast but cruel. She has 1 HP.

The Prelude

    The Dragon has awoken from his century-long slumber and is now terrorizing the kingdom of Gralion. Terrible creatures are crawling out of Fire Mountain, including drakes (basically kobolds), drakehounds, and skorns, eight-foot tall draconic spellcasters. The king sent his four greatest knights, the Paladins, to stop the Dragon, armed with the legendary shield Artus, which is immune to the Dragon's dreaded flame.

    The Paladins disappeared upon entering Fire Mountain, so the king put together a secondary, lesser team composed of Earna (his childhood friend), Kingsley (the best tracker in the Black Forest), Father Wesley (a local folk hero), and Mother Wren (Arloch's old nanny who he wanted to get rid of).

    They are the kingdom's best hope last hope.

The Session

    The Last Hope sets off from Lindum, the capital of Gralion. After debating between the Black Forest and the port city of Valburn, the Last Hope decides to head to Valburn. On their way there, the party spots a fancy looking carriage being robbed by a dozen bandits. Hoping to get gold and more valuables, the group sets into action. Kingsley sneaks by the bandits and sets himself up atop a tree, before shooting one straight through the head with his bow. Mother Wren charges into the middle of the bandits and is stabbed to death. Father Wesley intimidates some of the bandits by bashing in the skull of one of their fellows, causing some of them to flee. Finally, Earna kills two bandits and rescues the noblewoman trapped in the carriage.

    The noblewoman introduces herself as Aldora of House Belle. She gives them each a single copper piece for rescuing her, but the cleric demands more. She relents and gives them a second copper piece. The group escorts Aldora to Valburn, but find the city burning; two massive armies, one composed of the house-shields of House Fisc and the other composed of half-draconic flesh abominations.

Jacob Portillo
The Drakes of Fire Mountain

    The group hurries into the port-town, where Father Wesley steals the coin satchel from Aldora and threatens to kill her. Swearing revenge, Aldora flees. The group notices that the denizens of Valburn look sickly and discover that a sickness has hold of the city. Father Wesley visits the local church of Aeon and reads there about the ways to kill the Dragon. Long ago, the first king of Gralion slew Maw, a colossal dragon. From its body the king created four draconic artifacts: the shield Artus (lost in Fire Mountain), the sword Lankyr (currently missing in the northern highlands), the dagger Marlian (possessed by the mage Marigold), and armor Morgded (in the treasure horde of the Dragon). As Wesley is reading, Earna and Kingsley get drunk at the local tavern. Kingsley catches the sickness and starts violently vomiting.

    The Last Hope decided to venture to Fire Mountain, recover Artus and Morgded, and somehow use those to slay the Dragon. As the group continues to Fire Mountain, they stop at a village to rest one evening. The small hamlet is empty of people, but Kingsley could here screams coming from the woods around the village. He investigates, only to find himself pushed into a ring of ancient stones, where he is confronted by an eight-foot tall skorn and its two drake minions. He is sacrificed to the Dragon amid the terrified whispers of the townsfolk of the village, who seek to placate the dragon through human blood.

    Father Wesley breaks into a lonesome cottage near the village and discovers a spellbook. Suddenly, an old man appears at the doorway of the cottage." What have you got there?"

Notes

    For the beginning of this campaign (Four-shot? Five-shot?) I am running Our Is The Kingdom by Old Raging Barbarian. I am testing out a new OSR system for this campaign, which I might post about if anyone shows any remote interest.

Land of Wolves - Session 2

 

Lev Vladimir Goriansky, 1938

The Party

• Odysseus (Level 1 Assassin / Level 1 Ghoul). An elf and the last member of the Company of the Blue Banner. Two weeks ago, he became a ghoul and traveled to Northpoint, the center of Church power in Wolfland. He has now been caught by Archpriest Vlad.
• Maurice (Level 1 Dwarf Fighter). A dockside mercenary hired by Archpriest Vlad as the muscle of the group.
• Nina (Level 1 Human Traditional Wizard). Nina's family has served Vlad for centuries. She is here to contribute magic to the plan.

The Prelude

    The party is called before Vlad, a vampire archpriest of the Church of the Authority. He says his most powerful religious rival, Cardinal Ricardo, is leaving for the main continent in two days. He needs the party, who can operate under the nose of the Church, to sneak into the Castle of Saint Alberto, abduct the Cardinal, escape to the docks of Northpoint, board the ship The Authoriy's Wings, and deliver him to a secure location on the south coast of Wolfland. Unfortunately, Cardinal Ricardo has hired the Order of the Beetle, an organization of vicious foreign mercenaries, to protect him and enforce the Church's laws on the chaotic streets of Northpoint. 

    If the party didn't comply, Vlad would kill Maurice and Nina and expose Odysseus as a ghoul to the common folk of Northpoint. He promised them each one hundred gold (which in my setting is equivalent to one million dollars).

    They have forty-eight hours. Go.

The Session

    Day 1. The party spends the first twelve hours of Day 1 arguing over the plan in the Sober Monk Inn and Tavern. Eventually, the group settles on a plan to capture the Cardinal. Nina approaches the innkeeper and seduces him, bringing him upstairs to question him on the layout of the town. She learns that the walls are scalable if dry. She later purchases one dose of sedative from a unscrupulous looking seller.

    Meanwhile, Odysseus goes around collecting the scant information about the Order of the Beetle, formulating ways to more efficiently kill them. He also buys around one hundred feet of rope and a grappling hook.

    Maurice gets a custom-built grappling crossbow built by the greatest craftsman in Northpoint and secures a boat tour on the river around the castle by bribing a fisherman named Dan. Their plan coming together, the party rests in the Sober Monk Inn, dreaming of castles and coins.

    Day 2. The group gets up at sunrise and haves some breakfast, with Maurice making sure to drink lots of beer. He talks to some of his contacts on the docks and gets bloody three guard uniforms.

    That night, Maurice, Nina, Odysseus, and Dan sail around the castle, stopping at its eastern wall. Odysseus silently kills and cannibalizes Dan. All three of the party put on their bloody guard costumes and - using the grappling crossbow, rope, and the grappling hook - climb to the top of the wall.

    The trio then grapple onto a third floor window, and stumble into the Cardinal's study. Nina searches the room and finds the Cardinal's signet ring. Maurice and Odysseus ambush and accidently kill the Cardinal's elderly butler. The soon-to-be kidnappers walk into a long corridor with an unlocked iron door at the end. Pushing open the creaky iron door, the group faces a deadly member of the Order of the Beetle.

    A fight commences and the Beetle gets his massive axe stuck in the castle stone. The group takes many potshots at him, and Maurice eventually manages to kill him. Taking the exoskeleton armor, Maurice and his crew loot the Cardinal's private chapel. Odysseus manages to find a blackened iron key, which he pockets.

    The group explores the rest of the floor and find the Cardinal sleeping in his lavish bedroom. Nina administers the sedative and the Cardinal falls unconscious. She searches the room and finds a secret passage behind a painting. Inside is a small, locked chest. Finding a small key on the Cardinal, she unlocks the chest and finds a medium-sized metal orb. She pockets the orb and escapes towards the window. Odysseus, carrying the Cardinal, and Nina grapple down to the shoreline.

    Maurice drunkenly stumbles out the window and plummets towards his almost-death; the exoskeleton armor saves him and cracks all over. A guard approaches him and he, dressed as a Beetle, says he saw intruders trying to kidnap the Cardinal on the third floor. The guard salutes him and rushes towards the third floor, gathering his comrades along the way.

    Maurice walks out the front gate and joins the two other kidnappers in the boat, where they sail off to the docks and board The Authority's Wings and travel to the secure location.

Note

    I used Skerples' Kidnap the Archpriest for this adventure.