Lore24 Week 15
This week: a plot against the Elven emperor, a mysterious bodyguard, "ghosts", an Undersea, and a very very crude hexmap!
This "week" of Lore24 was also two weeks in the making, as was my last post. I am trying my best not to get bogged down in multi-day entries (How big is the map? How big of hexes? how many settlements are there? etc.) but it's a losing battle it would seem. Ah well. Onward!
Week 15
Entry 89
The First Purota wants to become the Immutable Emperor. Looking for:
A weapon to penetrate the Emperor's defenses:
an enchanted Amber knife
something to secure his rule:
a fabled Barizan, and
something in the north:
a power source for the Barizan.
He plots to assassinate the emperor and use the Mecha to tip the scales of internal politics as other Second and First Purota choose sides.
He has a tall but unassuming bodyguard who is secretly a 4-armed elf1 from the eastern islands, sworn to him with a life debt. He will carry out the plot if the Purota gets the amber knife.
So now we have a plot to support, disrupt, or allow to continue.
Entry 90
Years and years ago I went through a worldbuilding process that "simulated" tectonic plates -> mountains, ridges, and continents -> wind cells -> biomes, etc. etc. to make a fairly "realistic" earth-like world. If I ever find it again I'll link it. It seems a good enough basis to start from so I have been deciding where to stick Sablevine on the main continent. And by good enough I mean there are crude, MS-paint like colors in the semblance of a map.
Up near the northern boreal forests is where I landed:
And here it is, zoomed in and with a 375-hex, 6-mile hex grid: 2
At the top is a major Elven settlement, and at the bottom is a major Folk settlement.
Next steps: decide what's going in there (settlements, fortresses, lairs, faction bases) and start populating hexes! And pretty up the map from fuzzy vague colors to actual, more bespoke hexes.
As anyone who has made maps before knows, this process takes a lot longer than you would think. Much respect for professional mapmakers. I may code these into a hex-grid and feed them into something like this just to get something to work with quickly.
Entry 91
The Lyyfanti have largely disappeared from Sablevine. Where did they go?
To the deep forests, or many have found a largely unsettled underground lake which they are claiming as a peaceful home. They are finding that this sanctuary in "Calmheart" is not without its problems, however.
Entry 92
An adaptation of the Dwarven Menhir runes can make a being of light. Not quite a ghost, but close enough.
A particular Dwarven enclave has perfected this secret. In earnest, they use this feat to speak with ghosts at the Hall of the Ancestors. In loathing, they use this to capture the souls of trespassers. This secret was said to be used in the construction of a Dwarven tomb somewhere in Sablevine, its location lost to time. Tomb-robbers beware, as the trapped entries will entrap you forever.
Entry 93
Dwarves create enchanted objects by "overloading" a Rune or Runestone with energy. This infuses the essence of the Rune into a material or object.
Common methods of harnessing enough energy are: lightning, magma, waterfalls, or meteors.
Entry 94
In the town of New Wellon, just off the main square opposite the house of a widow and and inn, the statue of a hero sits tarnished and slightly leaning.
If the PCs give an offering or prayer to the statue, they will find a basket of flowers and home-baked breakfast at their door in the morning (assuming they are staying in or near the town).
If the PCs clean the statue, they will be met by the innkeeper in the morning. If they are not already staying at the inn, he will offer a free night to help them take the road off. If they are staying, he will offer an upgrade, information, or any assistance he can to the party.
If they right the statue somehow, the manservant of Lord Gilleum will give them a personal invitation to visit his lord at the manor. Lord Gilleum can offer connections, information, and even a quest to such do-gooders.
If the statue is defaced, the next morning it will have a groaning crack down the middle will which widen every day. Foul brimstone and steam belches from the crack every so often. After 2d4 days the statue will collapse in half. A beast from The Deeps will emerge, hungry.
Entry 95
The Llyfanti, both Llyfanti of the Waters and of the Muds, value their tea and make a brief ceremony of it. Tea is called for when:
- Commencing trade
- Sharing news
- Seeing an old friend
- Discussing philosophy or politics
- Fortune-telling
- Planning battle
- Electing town officials
- Meeting outsiders
- The beginning of a youngster's coming of age journey
- At a wake (whether on the water or a funeral of mud)
- Commencing a raid or expedition
- After waking or before bed
- Before passing judgement in a trial
The most traditional venues for ornate tea ceremonies are in hollowed-out giant gourds. Each dwelling will have a smaller, personal tea room and small stove.
All Llyfanti travel with a personal tea cup, if not a bag of dried tea leaves.
Last edited 1 week, 3 days ago
Comments:
Footnotes:
Name will be Taifuagi, or Tornado warriors. Putting together a moodboard: Dunmer, Edo-period Japan warfare and politics, some Guts-from-Bersek energy, and Wookiee life-debts.↩
This might be a pretty big bite to swallow, so I may elide some of the mountainous hexes near the northwest. Then again, with the right travel rules it shouldn't feel too onerous.↩