Sablevine Lore24 Week 16
This week: more old Runetech, a villain, an ominous sleeping god, and a megadungeon is started!
This week I am at it again with my Lore24 Quick d20 Table to take off the burden of thinking of a prompt everyday for my Lore24 work on Sablevine
Piranesi
16th Week
Entry 96
It's been too long since I've rolled on the Lore24 D20 quick inspiration table.
3 = New Place - see POI subtable below
POI: I rolled a 3 on a D10 = a dungeon!
- Then I rolled a 8 on a d8 = large dungeon! 20+ rooms!
Something I've had in the back of my mind now is a megadungeon for this setting. Perfect opportunity to begin fleshing it out!
Arabus, Cynosure of the Divine Empire, Golden City in the Snow, Palatinate of the Gods
Once the seat and Holy City of the gods of Divine Empire, and the dire Trials Divine. Now fallen, and in ruin. The gods are dead and their servants fled. The most precious artifacts and arcane secrets are there for the taking.
The Divine Empire came to an end when the rebel King and his god-slaying force came to Arabus. There they made battle in the snowy mountains with the remaining gods of the pantheon and their loyal forces. In this battle the last of the gods were slain but before they could retreat they were crushed by the city.
This will be a megadungeon that was made in three parts: a purposeful fun house/labyrinth (the "Trials Divine") where champions of the great houses would compete to be named King by the gods, the city of the gods itself and the source of their divine power, and a part of a settlement/garrison of an army.
Entry 97
Courier Tables
Courier Tables were expensive and thusly rare Runetech of the Divine Empire which allow the transport of (typically small) objects from one Table to another. These were almost exclusively linked to another specific Courier Table, barring oddities seen at magical academies.
Some were designed as one-way transporters, a rare few were two-ways. Indeed, Imperial offices which could afford Courier Tables often simply had two one-way Tables to a given location (one sending and one receiving) as it was often less expensive than a single two-way Courier Table. Being more exclusive than Messengers, these were only used by large city governments, heads of state, and the richest of the rich. Even in those illustrious they were not totally commonplace.
As with most Divine Empire Runetech, by and large these stopped working with the fall of the gods. With the right Runetech know-how or a cooperative priest learned in the old ways, one might be brought back into service.
Entry 98
There is a Villain:
It is told that he once ripped a man in half with his bare fists, and that he can lift a gate's portcullis by himself. They say he has skin as hard as rock, a voice that can be heard from miles away, and that he serves [Faction] unflinchingly. His entourage includes infamous alchemist [Dab Fibett] and 3d4 human roughs who follow him liked licked dogs, cowering in his wake, but ready to lash out ruthlessly when he gives the command.
They say he is not welcome in any Dwarven hold due to a unforgivable sacrilege.
A dwarf who is a mixture of Darth Vader and Bain but with his upper body and lower body two separate Menhirs that he controls. This gives him super strength and endurance. His alchemist brews a Runestone elixir from the fruits of a Rune-affected tree which allows him to subdue the personalities of the two Menhirs.
He amplifies his voice with a modified Jabber. This can be re-routed as a loudspeaker and could allow either of the Menhirs to speak, but he would never allow this.
Entry 99
Messengers
Messengers are portable Runetech slabs which allowed the communication of sound from one slab to the other. Typically, these slabs were linked one-to-one with a sister slab so that each can only send or receive from one to the other. These became very important for large military movements, military scouts, and prosperous trading companies in the midst of critical deals. A wealthiest patron might have used a Messenger to talk to a traveling son or to make an appearance at an event at which they cannot be present.
Offshoots of this technology include recorded message slabs (Jabbers) and, though rarer, transportation slabs (Courier Tables).
Entry 100
Whoa! Triple digits! It doesn't feel like it's been that much work. Cool.
I found an old bit of writing that I'm resurrecting:
The Cult of the Flayed One worships its sleeping deity, a giant Man of exposed muscle with all flesh flayed from his body. He sleeps in mountain overlooking the marshland, the one whose peak looks like the outline of a bald skull, one ear, and maybe an eye socket… His adherents await for the time when he will wake from his earthen tomb and unleash his reign upon the world.
The firechants of the cult say that the Flayed One was a man who did not stop growing, and grew and grew and grew. He grew taller than megabeasts that roam the mires and the tall trees in the forests and even as tall as the hills and mountains glaring down on the swamp people. He grew so large but his skin became tighter as he grew taller until the pain was unbearable, and he tore his skin from his body and cast it upon the land in great sheets. After this colossal effort he sat down to rest, and his worshippers draped his body in dirt and stone so that he might sleep and dream until his glorious awakening.
During his rest the cultists offer sacrifices in his name at the foot of the mountain, or in the deepest swamps: a flayed sacrifice, either animal or beast or man or dwarf or elf. The cultists consist mostly of Men and a few Llyfanti, though Llyfanti themselves are rarely presented as sacrifices. Their flayed forms do not please the Flayed One as do most. The leader of the cult himself taller than the rest by a head or more and you notice small parts of his body are flayed and dying: a small finger, an ear, a toe. The cultists say he did not begin his worshipful life so tall, but that his stature was bestowed to him by the Flayed One.
Entry 101
11 = New (Gameable!) Cultural Flavor
I gave Float Barges a description, and refreshed the Runetech landing page.
Courier Tables were expensive and thusly rare Runetech of the Divine Empire which allow the transport of (typically small) objects from one Table to another. These were almost exclusively linked to another specific Courier Table, barring oddities seen at magical academies.
Some were designed as one-way transporters, a rare few were two-ways. Indeed, Imperial offices which could afford Courier Tables often simply had two one-way Tables to a given location (one sending and one receiving) as it was often less expensive than a single two-way Courier Table. Being more exclusive than Messengers, these were only used by large city governments, heads of state, and the richest of the rich. Even in those illustrious they were not totally commonplace.
As with most Divine Empire Runetech, by and large these stopped working with the fall of the gods. With the right Runetech know-how or a cooperative priest learned in the old ways, one might be brought back into service.
Entry 102
More Divine Empire cultural flavor:
Hearths of Aiton
Sparks were used in traditional Runetech fireplaces, called Hearths of Aiton, to activate the Circle and keep a fire going, often for 6 hours at a time (one Watch. How convenient!). Some towns in the Divine Empire adopted the practice of linked fireplaces, wherein a priest activated a Circle in the central temple of the town and all linked fireplaces were active for as long as the priest kept the central Circle active. Typically these were lit before dinner and deactivated at an agreed-upon time (or when the priest went to bed). These linked fireplaces would have a hinged grate or door to dim the fire while it was active.
Last edited 4 months, 1 week ago