Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore-Glyphapillar', GEYSER LORD, ORACLE OF THE VENT, FUMEROLE LICH

Geyser Lord

OLD SCHOOL

Armour as plate and shield, Move 0' (though may disengage to vent lair), 30' when surrounded by water of home vent, 14 Hit Dice, HP 94 , 1d12 dam (Scalding Spray), Morale 10.

Immune to fire damage. Half damage from magical fire. 

Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level magic user. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level magic user.

Boiling Column :  The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water.  Anyone attacking must save vs poison or become Ill for d6+1 days. Furthermore, d12 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.

Unavoidable Fate: Given the correct offerings,  the Geyser Lord will set you forth upon a heroic path that may be tragic, glorious or both. Roll on the following tables. Replace with your own entries as they are used up.

When you...

1. See the unfurling of the carnellion sail
2. Taste the 'Seeing Bark' 
3. Smell the crushed black poppies
4. Hear three eagles at midnight
5. Receive the gift of the spider 
6. Cause the saddest one to laugh
7. Die the little death
8. Are accused of the Lord's crime. 

You will...

1. Travel to the source of the great river.
2.  Journey to the Temple of Three Errors.
3. Journey to the Tree of the Lonely God.
4. Find the pool where the women go to drown.
5. Seek the counsel of the reptile oracle.
6. Travel to frozen Joten Lodge.
7. Go before the cracked temple.
8. Find the crimson pastures.

Once there,  you will be tasked to:

1. Marry the hideous Goblin Princess 
2. Poison the paladin Regent. 
3. Destroy the sad Golem called Tashok the Grinder
4. Murder the saintly children of the Duke.
5. Find the crown of delight.
6. Sack the temple of love.
7. Ruin the great artist's masterpiece.
8. Apprentice oneself to the Lonely archangel and steal his grimoire.

Upon accomplishing this, the character will achieve a dream appropriate to his/her character. This ought to be determined at the point of asking. There exists an 80% chance that the prophecy will end in the violent death of the character.  This will be expressed in pelucid fashion thusly:

1. Nothing that breathes will ever halt your assent. 
2. Beware the friend without blame.
3. As the Sun shines, so shall the glory be yours. 
4. The bride shamed, will be your damnation.
5. There shall be no curse more terrible than love.
6. Beneath the idol with your mother's face, sorrow will find you. 
7.  One final ascent beyond the clouds and you are gone. 
8.  In your dreams,  they will find you. 

The prophecies always come true unless the Geyser Lord is destroyed. If any result should see the character die before his/her destiny is  fulfilled, pass that death onto the most important NPC in that character's life. If there are none,  it's PC time. Everybody knows that the Geyser Lord's prophecies are inevitable.  It'll serve them right. 

Funerole Lich

Becomes undead.  Can only be hurt by +2 weapons or greater.  Casts as a 20th level caster. Gains a 20' land speed.  
  

5E

Geyser Lord- AC 19, HP 125, Spd. 0ft (though may disengae to vent lair)/30 ft in water +9, 3d6 dam (scalding spray),    XP 13,000 CR15 (Geyser Lord) XP 24,000 CR 20 (Fumerole Lich)

S+1/D+1/C+3/I+5/W+5/C+1


Legendary Resistance: Geyser Lord may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities: Immune to fire and posion damage. Half damage from magical fire.

Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level sorcerer. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level sorcerer .

Boiling Column :  The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water.  Anyone attacking must pass a DC-18 Constitution save or become nauseous  for d6+1 days. Furthermore, 3d6 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.

Unavoidable Fate: see above. 

Fumerole Lich: An undead Geyser Lord casts spells as a 20th level sorcerer. It becomes undead and gains immunity to charm, non-magical weapons, sleep, paralysis and blindness. It gains a 20ft land speed.

Legendary Actions:

Cast a cantrip: Costs 1 action. 

Vent gasses:  vents poisonous steam into the chamber. Everyone within 50 feet must make a DC-15 Constitution save to avoid nausea.  Victim can repeat save each turn to shake it off. 2 actions.

Searing Torrent: 6d6 30' cone heat/bludgeoning damage.  DC-15 Dexterity save for half damage. 2 actions

Master Sorcerer: Cast a 2nd level spell. 3 actions

Lair Actions

The actual lair of the Geyser Lord, is the boiling, underground vent. To challenge it here, one must be able to breathe water,  resist heat, resist poison  and resist extreme pressure. Needless to say,  it dwells within a hostile and alien environment. Without these precautions, expect to take 3d10 damage/round due to boiling water, make a DC-20 Constitution save to avoid gaining a level of fatigue each round due to the pressure and a further DC-15 Consitution  save/round to prevent nausea and 4d6 poison damage

Obfuscating Cloud: Geyser Lord provokes a an underwater fog of sediment.  Acts as darkness in a 100' radius sphere.  The Geyser Lord can see through this cloud normally.

Vent Thing: Geyser Lord manifests a Vent Thing, essentially a small water elemental, entirely under the Geyser Lord's control. Vent Things are toxic. Upon a successful hit,  make a DC-10 Constitution save to avoid nausea. This save may be repeated each round.

Voice of Fate: Geyser Lord marks an opponent. Target must use their best attribute save (representing their heroic potential) to beat DC-18. Failure indicates that the character suffers disadvantage on all subsequent rolls until the Geyser Lord is slain or chooses to mark another character.

Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore to Glyphapillar', GLYPHAPILLAR

Geisha Spore

OLD SCHOOL

Unarmoured, Move 30' land/15'air (when caught on breeze), 1 Hit Dice, HP 3 , 1d3-1 damage, or by weapon -1 Morale 12.

Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore, it will surprise on a 2 in 6. It only ever attempts to kiss humans.

Fungal Infestation: Save vs Poison -2. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.

• Initial effects are minor iirritation. -1 to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.

• Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.

• Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.

• Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.
 

 

5E

Geisha Spore- AC 11, HP 6, Spd. 30ft/15 ft in air when caught on initial breeze +4, 1d3-1 damage or by weapon -1,    XP 400 CR 2

S-1/D+1/C 0/I-2/W-3/C+1

 Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore,it makes a stealth check+3 in an effort to beat the targets passive perception. It surprises its victim if successful.

Fungal Infestation: DC-15 Constitution save. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.

• Initial effects are minor iirritation. disadvantage to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.

• Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.

• Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.

• Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.

White Elves and the Ancestor Societies

"Not all the white elves are barbaric and pitiless – some are civilized and pitiless.... They are ruled by two blue-skinned sisters, frost giant queens." Vornheim-Zak S





So as I think I mentioned in an off hand, fluff fashion somewhere back, elves in my game are split into four distinct types, colour coded for easy reference: Dark Elves (heavily inspired by False Patrick's 'Black Glass' essay), Green Elves, Moon Elves and White Elves (Inspired by Zak S' two or three sentences in Vornheim). Here's a stab at a soulless White Elf, culture thing.

Mythos & Lore:

Across (and through)  the Porous Borders, the Hollow World of the gods, awaits in immaculate splendour. Beyond the physical , all things are conceived and known in an endless aesthetic instant. To experience the flesh,  is impossible. It does not constitute a part of a universe composed purely from the stuff of the imagination. And yet...to say that a god cannot understand experience would be quite wrong.  For the most part, they transcend it, but occasionally their aesthetic appreciation reaches a critical mass and they must find some way to feel first hand, the beauty of creation.

This is how the Elves came about.

In the case of the White Elves, two frost giant sisters emerged from the endless white wastes of the Kraal. By parthenogenesis, they gave birth to their people,  all for the sake of longed for sweet experience. To say they were shocked by the frigid cold (whose beauty was now somewhat offset by its tendency to kill) would be an understatement...at any rate, they absorbed some of its bite and cruelty. In many ways,  they were fortunate: they at least were not dealt the bleak hand played upon the Dark Elves. All Elves feel dully as if they have been tricked.

Once one crosses the Porous Border,one cannot go back.

They created the frozen city of Nornrik. From that strange city,  they spread south. Their peculiar talents, beauty and immortality  ensured them a place in society,  especially in Vornheim. However,their soulless natures presented a series of unforeseen problems.

The White Elves live outside the fear of old age. Imperishable, only violence or other outside agency can end them. When they do die, often after countless centuries of life, their consciousness reject what is occurring/has occurred (knowing only oblivion awaits) and these psychic imprints are driven insane, enraged by happen-stance and fear. Death simply does not happen to them. Now rendered psychotic wraiths,  they are incredibly dangerous and cause havoc for their families.

At some point, the White Elves learned to control and bind the ghosts of their fallen ancestors, combining placatory rites, with harsh spiritual torments. This has become the very totem of their society, the frame by which all else hangs.

White Elf 'Mothers' rule their people with every cunning

tool at their command, knowing that ultimately they are the gate that stands between the elves and a murky realm of rage maddened spectres. The word 'Mother' and the word 'Host', are one and the same in the Elven tongue.

Elven women produce something akin to spider silk from their mammary glands. Mothers weave this silk into the Tapestries of the Beloved Dead. These Tapestries are constantly worked upon by Family members and they depict Ancestors engaged in heroic and noteworthy activity. They are vital components of any long term placatory activity.

Organisation:

Each Elven family is a mini-state unto itself, ruled by an autocratic Mother. She determines the laws they follow, the customs they celebrate, the punishments that are meted out. She leads the rituals of the Ancestor Societies, receiving visions and binding ghosts into servitude and fetishes called 'Kaaba'. In practice, she delegates much responsibility, leading only the major rites and observances.

Restrictions:

White Elf society is a matriarchy. Something in the soothing nature of the feminine is believed to calm the insane ancestors. However, some have suggested that this is merely a ploy by the scheming Mothers to maintain the gender status quo. Either way, breaking this taboo seems to lead to madness more often than not.

During rites, The Mother wears a powerful Reindeer skin fetish called a Skikkja. All others wear black cloaks.

Whenever an elf is about to knowingly commit a sin, he/she puts a leaf in his/her hair to avow him/her from responsibility.

White Elf shaman are fond of using reindeer horns as symbols of their power.

Umbilical cords are kept and used as fetishes and jewellery. They must never be lost.

Hair and (Sometimes) fingernails must be not be cut, except during a rite to protect the original owner from malevolent ghosts.

Now D&D

Mechanically speaking, White Elves are the same as High Elves. However,  difficulty arises in terms of modelling the necro-animistic Ancestor Societies. I saw somebody handle shaman as essentially clerics who worship their dead descendants. I think this is probably a reasonable angle of approach.

Ancestor Domain

1st:  Protection from Evil/Good, Sanctuary
3rd: Gentle Repose, See Invisibility
5th:  Magic Circle, Speak with Dead
7th:  Banishment, Divination
9th:  Planar Binding, Dream

Bonus Proficiency: Persuade. Gains advantage on persuade with own people, due to deference.

 Fetch 

Starting at 2nd level,  you are joined by one of your Ancestors in the form of an invisible companion. This Ancestor is bound to your umbilical necklace 'Fetch Cord'. If the cord is destroyed, so is the Fetch. This is the only way to end it. It is a malicious thing, only visible to you. It  takes the form of (d12):

1 An eyeless crow
2 A horrible black moth
3 A rat with an old woman's face
4 A monkey that moves like a Ray Harryhausen creature.
5 A white hare, looks like road kill. Limps.
6 An elven child, mouth and eyes sewn shut.
7. A flat, naked old woman that lives under the bed.
8. An area of utter darkness.
9. A scarecrow that is always in the corner.
10. A puddle of stagnant water.
11. A crawling thing composed of flies.
12. A doppelganger of yourself, insane grin, reptilian eyes.


Initially it does very little but watch. Each Fetch represents tbe shade of an Ancestor and its stats are generated as for an elf. It can be consulted. It has the strange wisdom of the dead.  It will warn you if you are in danger sometimes. It can cast the Thamaturgy cantrip at will. But that is all.

(Channel Divinity) Bind Dead

Instead of destroy undead, at 5th level the you gain the ability to bind undead into fetishes. The table from the Player's Handbook is suitable for determining the level of undead which can be affected. The object in question must be prepared in a ritual that takes 3 hours, although it can be small and innocuous.

Upon binding,  physical undead turn to dust. Physical or ethereal, their animating spirit is drawn into the prepared object. There they will stay unless destroyed.

A fetish grants the use of any supernatural abilities possessed by the dead.  For example, a dagger containing a ghoul's essence,  will paralyse on a successful hit.  All saving throws are at the creature's original difficulty. However, every-time the fetish  is used in this manner,  you must test to bind the creature anew. Failure results in the spirit using the ability against you. A natural 1, means the spirit is immediately freed. In the case of physical undead,  they manifest as spectre.

Using a bound power counts as a use of Channel Divinity.


 Fetch Boon

At 6th level, the Fetch's relationship with you has grown to the point where it now provides a physical benefit.  Choose two from the following list. Choose another at level 9 and a final boon at level 17:

1. The Fetch can now venture beyond the animist's personal space.  It can travel around 100 mph. The Animist can see through its eyes (even if it has no eyes).

2. The Fetch obey commands.  It cannot interact with the physical world, but it is essentially loyal. Without this boon, the Fetch is a stubborn thing and must be persuaded to do the animist's bidding.

3. The Fetch can interact with the physical world, stars as generated.  In all other ways,  treat as a poltergeist. Can be dangerous.

4. Fetch can cast counter-magic once per day at the animist's level. It will do so instinctively.

5. Fetch actively wards the animist (or is it just the Fetch Cord it wants to protect?). +2 A.C.

6. Fetch can possess a target as a ghost. DC 10 + Fetch's Charisma bonus to resist.  Fetch can automatically animate a dead body. Stats as zombie, only with Fetch's mental attributes. Can animate objects or body parts. Can possess as many times per day as Wisdom bonus.

7. Fetch can cast any of the Animist's spells.  It can also deliver touch spells on the Animists behalf.

8. Fetch can see the future and will discuss it in the form of cryptic statements. See Vornheim for an excellent fortune system.

9. Can poison all food and water within 100m radius. Poison is deadly.

10. Can enter dreams and fight as an Invisible Stalker. If killed in dream, wake up with one random insane disorder.

11. Melds Ancestral memory with your memories. +2 Wisdom.

12. Can convert recently slain into Obol (currency used by the dead and demons) 1 HD/CR=10 Obol. For the purposes of XP, 1 Obol=5 XP  This idea is swiped from Matteo Diaz Torres and his 'A Most Thoroughly Pernicious Pamphlet'.

(Channel Divinity) Ancestor Strike

Add an extra d12 cold damage at the cost of a channel divinity use. Crist on a 19 or 20. At 14th level, this rises to 2d12.

Ghost Walker

At level 17, the you may concentrate for a turn to become ethereal. May force any spirit to parlay whist in this state.  May turn up to Wisdom bonus other characters ethereal also.


That's about all I can be bothered writing at the moment. I'll update this with some old school rules eventually, but I figure that it won't be far beyond you, my good reader in converting backwards.

Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Eclipse Lich to EoNian Wyrm' EONIAN WYRM

EONIAN WYRM

OLD SCHOOL

Armour as plate and shield, Move 100' Flying/Ground/Swim/Tunnel, 30 Hit Dice, 270 HP,  4d12 Dam (Dark Coils) 4d8 Dam (Devouring 'Maw') Morale 12

4 Attacks (3 Dark Coil, 1 Maw/1 Constrict)

Constrict. The Wyrm  can make one constriction attempt instead of a Devouring 'Maw' effort. 4d12 damage and target must save vs paralysis to avoid being grappled. Grappled target takes 4d12 damage each round and the Wyrm may continue to make attacks on others around it (it's a mile or so long). Grappled victim may attempt to free itself with a Strength check at -8 at the beginning of its turn.

War of the Monsters. The Wyrm can effectively force conflict between itself and any Titan, Demon or Old One. They must Save vs Magic at -8 to resist.

Frightful Presence. Save vs Paralysis or be stunned for d3 rounds.

Swallow. Makes one Devouring 'Maw'  attack upon a target of huge or smaller. Target must make a save vs Death at -2 to avoid being swallowed.  They take 9d6 damage at the start of each Wyrm turn.

Seize the Darkness. If underground, in space, in the night or otherwise surrounded by darkness, the EoNian Wyrm may repair itself of 8d6 HP. Leaves a space absent of anything for 24 hours.

5E

EONIAN WYRM - AC 24, HP 820, Spd. 100ft Flight/Ground/Swim/Tunnel, +19, 6d12+10 dam (Dark Coils), 5d12+10 (Devouring 'Maw')    XP 155,000 CR 30

S+10/D 0/C +10/I 0/W+8/C 0

Immune to fire, poison, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from non-magical weapons. Cannot be blinded, charmed, frightened, paralysed or poisoned.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the Wyrm fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Destroyer. The Wyrm deals double damage against structures.

Multi Attack.The EoNian Wyrm can use its Frightful Presence. Then The Wyrm attacks 5 times with its endlessly rotating, grinding coils before making a Devouring Maw attack or a Swallow attack.

Constrict. The Wyrm  can make one constriction attempt as a bonus action.  +19 to hit, deals 6d12+10 damage and target is grappled. DC-22 to escape.

War of the Monsters. The Wyrm can effectively force conflict between itself and any Titan, Demon or Old One that is of at least CR 25. Target must succeed in an opposed Wisdom check to resist. If the target fails, it must abandon whatever it is currently doing to face the Wyrm in battle.

Frightful Presence. Any creature within a mile of the EoNian Wyrm must succeed at a DC-24 Wisdom save else become frightened for 1 minute. Those affected can repeat the saving throw at the end of each turn. Passing the save grants immunity to Frightful Presence for 24 hours.

Swallow. Makes one Devouring 'Maw'  attack upon a target of huge or smaller. Target must make a DC-18 Dexterity save to avoid being swallowed. Swallowed creatures are blinded and restrained. They take 18d6 damage at the start of each Wyrm turn.

Legendary Actions:

Tail Lash. The Wyrm makes one Dark Coil attack.

Surge. The Wyrm moves up to half its speed in any direction. If it chooses to tunnel, it vanishes from sight, drawing all of its mile long body behind it in a maddening instant.

Seize the Darkness (Costs 2 actions). If underground, in space, in the night or otherwise surrounded by darkness, the EoNian Wyrm may repair itself of 16d6 HP. Leaves a space absent of anything for 24 hours.

Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Eclipse Lich to EoNian Wyrm' EEL AMARANTHINE

EEL AMARANTHINE

OLD SCHOOL

Armour as chain, Move 30' running/climbing/swimming, 1 Hit Dice, 6 hp, bite d4 damage, Morale 8.

Treasure- None specifically, but they do rather enjoy the aesthetic qualities of a tomb or the socket wriggling opportunities afforded by bleached bones. Sometimes there's treasure in or on those things.

Burst of Speed- Spd. 40ft. Each round speed is maintained, 2 in 6 chance of the Eel becoming tired and giving up.

Regenerative Reproduction-Any Eel Amaranthine reduced to 0 HP becomes 2 Eel Amaranthine with half HP. This process can continue indefinitely, although reduced eels cannot go beneath 1 HP (they will, however, continue to split).  Damage die reduces by a step with each eel iteration. Below 1 damage, their bite no longer is fit to break skin.

Note- Some Eel Amaranthine are much bigger than this 6ft specimen.

20 FOOT EEL

Armour as chain and shield, Move 50' running/climbing/swimming, 3 Hit Dice, 20 hp, Bite d8 damage, Morale 9

5E

Eel Amaranthine (Average Specimen)- AC 13, HP 13, Spd. 30ft (Running),30 ft (Climbing), 30ft (Swimming), +5, 1d6+3 dam (Bite),    XP 200 CR 1

S-1/D+2/C-1/I-2/W 0/C-4

Burst of Speed- Spd. 40ft. Each round speed is maintained, DC-12 Constitution save or Eel Amaranthine gains a level of exhaustion.

Regenerative Reproduction-Any Eel Amaranthine reduced to 0 HP becomes 2 Eel Amaranthine with half HP. This process can continue indefinitely, although reduced eels cannot go beneath 1 HP (they will, however, continue to split). Strength reduces by 1 with each eel iteration to a minimum of 1. Damage die reduces by a step with each eel iteration.

Note- Some Eel Amaranthine are much bigger than this 6ft specimen.

20 FOOT EEL

AC 16, HP 42, Spd. 50 ft Running/Climbing/Swimming, +7, 1 d10+5 dam (bite

S +2/D+2/C 0/I-2/W 0/C-4

XP 700 CR 3

Black Triangles over Macmóhrda

Macmóhrda is a grey-green island in the middle of a cold grey-green sea. It's people are tactiturn and strange. For centuries, they were ruled by druids from the deep and tangled forests. When the Church of Metronon arrived on the Island, they proclaimed it a bastion for the Torquemadan Empire. But then the Black Triangles arrived and all  contact was lost with the Island.

At the same time, cataclysm sruck across the world as the Moon fell from the sky, breaking into pieces across the land and devastating wherever and upon whatever it fell. Were these two events connected? Nobody knows. Not for sure.

When what remained of the Torquemadan Empire returned (to lay their hands upon the copious silver of the Island...needed to combat ever increasing numbers of Were-Beasts), they found a weird peace. 12 motionless Black Triangles in the sky and a populace that seemed to ignore them.

They say the old druids are back in the woods and that they have come from the Black Triangles. The Old Druids whisper from the wood dark, but only to children. Sometimes they take the Children away.

Some of the Children they kidnap, return and do strange things like turn into giant, mega brained prawns. Prawn 'things' (not the kind they sell in Iceland to poor mothers).

These mutations are then taken removed to creches maintained by virgins. From here, they occasionally confess to their carers, how to create items of magic-rechnology never before witnessed.

The Church of Metronon is horrified. There is so much to burn here. But the natives are more than happy to attend Church. The people of the wood said it was ok. It won't make a difference.

Manchester: Part 2

What was I saying about mining one's  hometown for ideas? Oh yeah... I said it was officially a good idea. Or at least it's a good idea when one hails from a place as exciting and vivdly realised as my hometown of Manchester (yes, I mean that).


 In truth, it's not really the city per se and its qualities (or lack thereof), that is serving as inspiration for me here. No, in this case, Manchester is merely a conceptual springboard for creativity (maaan).  It could really have been anything.  A loaf of white bread, say or a broken wheel chair. Perhaps seventeen saxophonist in a van. Whatever...the point, is that I'm familiar with what makes the place tick; it's a great bundle of abstractions, concrete definites, myths, pictures, sounds, people, histories and lurid, speculative psychogeography.

You can't really say the same about a loaf of white Warburton's.

With Manchester, I luck out. We're already half living in a Mythic Otherworld, here upon the edge of the glowering Pennines...a place walked by the ghosts of an almost utopia that never quite was. Tales of heroes and their deeds which, in truth, with the right kind of vision, are as much the stuff of cosmic myth as the Labours of Heracles (for example). It's a different kind of vibe...more Hesse than Tolkien; but it's present and correct.

I'm not going to eat up pages describing stuff you can find out on Wikipedia  or you might already know. The plan is to be game able quick. So let's begin with an example. In this case, music.An exceedingly easy starting point for our adventures. Let's focus on legendary Mancunian band,  Joy Division. Just for starters.

Ian Curtis' tale is well documented. His life, his career, his un-timely death. If you were so inclined (and many have been), you might point at Joy Division and Curtis as the progenitor of the famed Manchester music scene and make a convincing argument regarding their role as an influence upon popular music as we know it. With a bit of research,  one could mine raw history for ideas and derive something pretty punchy. But why make things difficult? Let's focus upon the art, in particular, Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division's debut album.

For a start, the title is my kind of D&D. The front cover depicts  the sound waves emitted by a dying star. This too is my kind of D&D. The lyrics? The music? The same. So let's focus once more,  this time on a song from Unknown Pleasures, namely track 1. Disorder, written out below:
.

Disorder.

I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand,
Could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man?
These sensations barely interest me for another day,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.

It's getting faster, moving faster now, it's getting out of hand,
On the tenth floor, down the back stairs, it's a no man's land,
Lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow.

What means to you, what means to me, and we will meet again,
I'm watching you, I'm watching her, I'll take no pity from your friends,
Who is right, who can tell, and who gives a damn right now,
Until the spirit new sensation takes hold, then you know,
Until the spirit new sensation takes hold, then you know,
Until the spirit new sensation takes hold, then you know,
I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling,
I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling,
Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling

Ok, this is what my mind made, based purely on the above verse. Are you ready? OK:

The world's reality damage is causing  more problems with each passing year. Since the moon broke apart and the old things, banished beneath the earth began to rise once more (sensing the eldritch magics by which they had been forced from the surface of the planet Idios had faded), chaos (with a small c) has gripped the land.

Strange men tall men in sorrel cloaks have been noted. Men whose faces are never quite glimpsed beneath tbeir shadowed  cowls. They come out of the walls, from a place of tearing metal and screaming sod. They seem to have a plan, but no-one knows what it is. They ask people to do things.

They carry with them the Wyrd Light, which can be passed on. Some say they are emissaries of the new ghost moon. They consider it a sacred duty to task folk with slaying were-creatures, which proliferate in the woods and darkest places of the hedge,

THe Wyrd Light is the gift of creativity. It can be too much for an artist. The sheer volume of ideas can kill them. If it does not, it is the power of magic. But for a normal man, 'a flat man' as the Sorrel Hoods call them, it will be as if the world is glimpsed true for the first time.

It comes at the cost of normal pleasure, normal sensation. The more refined one's tases and senses become, the less they inhabit the perceptions of this world. For a Wizard, this is well known. To see the beyond is to lose interest in the here and now. This is the curse of the magus. This is why they eventually leave for higher realms of existence.

Some say there are no end to these delights. Others say, all things are finite and that in some distant aeon, a magus whose imagination has grown tired of all things, will snuff out the universe.

But this light is being granted to normal men. Wizards, once held in check by the three Hermetic Orders, begin to proliferate alarmingly. Magic becomes easier to wield. More are born with the blood magic/sorcery. This is interesting, since the Church of Metronon (a monotheistic Church, worshipping an invisible demiurge, ranging on missions of religious conversion,  hailing from the vaguely Spanish empire of Torquemada) is burning Hedge Wizards and Blood Magicians upon inexhaustable pyres. This is why the Church has decried art as shit. This is why Torquemada is like that planet in 'It's Hard Being a God'.

The Sorrel Hoods might be chaos magi from Incorrect Realities. They do not appear to be human. They can be invisible to most things. They are silent. They can open any door. They can lead you to to other places you didn't think possible, if you take their hands, which are cold and hard and never seen. Serve them well once and you will receive the Wyrd Light which they carry within the folds of their robes (when the Wyrd Light is granted,  you become a level 1 wizard.  They collapse like Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope). Fail them and you will never see them again. You will suffer a curse.

d12 Sorrel Hood Commands

1 Slay a certain werebeast
2 Destroy a moonstone mining operation.
2 Posion a town well with ergot.
4 Conceive a child and give it to the Moon Men.
5 Spend a level as a transformed animal.
6 Deliver a cryptic message to a dying noble. A note that says 'yes'.
7 Steal all copies of a certain astrological chart and deliver them to the Sorrel Hood
8 Assassinate a prominent artist.
9 Cause two people to fall in love.
10 Swap your shadow with one of the Sorrel Hood's choice
11 Lead a girl into an area of reality damage.
12 RIng the city bell 13 times when the Ghost Moon is in the sky.

I could keep going.  I really like the Sorrel Hoods. I like them because they're cool.  I like them because they're mysterious.  And I like them because they prove my point. Really,  you don't have much of an excuse to ever be out of ideas.  Just run with a high powered brain fart.

More stuff inspired by Manchester soon.

https://youtu.be/9TtWfTHzI2o