A-Z Blogging challenge

Z is for Zimzilzibbir's gravitational alleviation

Zimzilzibbir’s gravitational alleviation

Level: 1
Duration: 6 turns
Range: 60’

Zimzilzibbir was a famed gnomish wizard and one of the first of his people to cross over in this realm. Faced with an environment cut to a different size, the wizard put his knowledge of aetherial manipulation to good use, and created this nifty dweomer that has been a favourite of the little folk ever since. Gravitational alleviation reduces the downward pull of atmospheric gravity experienced by the recipient by half. If the spell is cast on an unwilling target, the affected creature lay make a save versus spells. If successful, the target is only slightly hampered by the sudden shift in gravity, otherwise any normal actions become seriously impaired.

A-Z Blogging challenge

Y is for Yghe

Yghe

No. Enc.: 1 (1)

Alignment: Lawful
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 1 (ray)
Damage: see below
Save: F6
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XI
XP: 112

Yghe are magickal creatures, summoned by powerful wizards to act as guardians of particularly important locations or valuable items. The Yghe resembles a human eyeball, four feet across, which floats silently in the air. These aetherial protectors require neither sustenance nor rest, making them ideally suited to watch over their master’s prized possessions, especially in places where other beings could not. Sealed tombs or pocket dimensions rank among the most likely places an unfortunate adventurer could run into an Yghe.

The Yghe will never attack of itself; instead it only moves itself to bar passage or access to those who have not spoken the correct command word. Trying to sneak past the Yghe regardless, attacking it, or speaking the wrong password will however cause the Yghe to retaliate. A think purple ray then shoots from its pupil to the offender, causing instantaneous death in most cases. The target is allowed a saving throw versus death as per the disintegrate spell. On death, an Yghe will noiselessly implode, leaving behind a number of gemstones which were used by its master in the creature’s creation.

A-Z Blogging challenge

X is for the X-th dimension

The X-th dimension is a postulated extradimensional realm where, according to some pseudo-scholars and doomsday cults, a massive army of alien creatures is being raised to carry out an invasion of the known planes. Proponents of this theory believe only a finite numbers of alternate dimensions exist, the X-th one being as of yet unexplored or unreachable by commonly practiced aetherial magick. This has however not stopped various self-professed prophets and other supernaturally or narcotically inspired soothsayers to make unverifiable claims and write esoteric treatises concerning the nature and particulars of the hypothetical X-th dimension.

Of considerably greater value and importance on said topic are the writings of the renowned sage Paronax, who theoreticized on the subject in his Catalogica Planorum, the definitive work on aetheromancy and portal summoning. In his magickal calculus Paronax assumed the existence of an X-th dimension to compensate for the unexpected and inexplicable discrepancies that his otherwise sound arithmetic produced. He deduced that if one were to use a sufficiently powerful source of energy, one could penetrate the border between this world and the X-th dimension. Such a feat would require extraordinary amounts of power however; something only a few known artifacts would prove capable of, and the risk of irreparable harm to it would be great. The costs of conducting a practical experiment thus were considered too high, and decades after Paronax wrote his Catalogica his theory remains untried.

A-Z Blogging challenge

W is for the Worm

"... and their brood spread across the face of the world like so many flies swarming a rotting corpse. Hearken now, for we come to the heart of the matter. At the core of this mortal plane a great nameless worm gnaws its way through the earth, hollowing it out as its diminutive brethren would do an apple, leaving naught but filth in its wake. When it has completed its lair, it will gorge itself for nine times nine days and lay its eggs beyond count, and verily the days of all creatures in this realm will be numbered, as the insatiable wormspawn will make its way to the surface world and devour it whole. Those who desire to see will be warned of its coming. When the moons wax red and the sun reaches its zenith during the longest night, when the great lakes freeze over and a thaw melts the snow on mount Ombelikos in one and the same day, those armed with the words written here will witness my foreshadowings come to pass."

- extract from Galdo Ykrahand's Codex Wyrmin, last surviving copy rumoured to be locked away in Forge's Archivarium

A-Z Blogging challenge

V is for Varks

Vark

No. Enc.: 1d4 (3d8)

Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6, weapon
Save: F2
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: XX
XP: 42

Varks are a race of primitive humanoids, so called for their porcine features and animalistic behaviour. Varks stand about five feet tall, are covered from head to hoof with tough bristles and rugged fur, have a distinct pig-like snout and sport two long, curved tusks protruding from their mouths. Despite being herbivores, they are extremely territorial and aggressive, and will generally hunt down and kill any creature approaching the vicinity of their squalid camps. The more unfortunate ones are captured alive, thrown into the animal pens, awaiting their ultimate fate; either to serve as slaves or become sacrifices to the Varks' bestial gods, ritually slaughtered on their plain stone altars.

Varks live in small herds in the open plains and are generally sedentary. Their camps consists of little more than a few ramshackle wooden huts, held together by clay or rope. Most of the herd simply sleeps in the open air, huddled together for warmth or under some canvas, sheltered from the rain. The grassland surrounding the edifices is transformed into a field of mud in less than a week after a herd moves in. The Varks rip open the ground with their tusks looking for roots and tubers, and enjoy rolling around in the earth and mud. During hot weather they soak the ground with any water they have available, and the herd gathers together in one big mud bath, which is suspected to hold some ceremonial importance for the Varks as well.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Varks get along very well with some of the animals native to the land. Pigs and swine are a common sight in Vark camps, usually allowed to run wild. The animals are kept for their milk and hide (once they have died a natural death) and as pets. Vark men train fierce boar which are kept in a special pen, and the day a Vark gets his first boar is the day he is considered an adult member of the tribe and a warrior. The bond between a Vark and his boar can at times almost seem telepathic, as the two become more attuned the longer they live together (it is not unusual for a warrior to eat and sleep with his boar). Meeting a pack of Varks complete with trained hunting boars thus becomes a very dangerous prospect.

A-Z Blogging challenge

U is for the Underdelve



The Underdelve is a large network of natural caverns, branching out from under mount Ombelikos in the northern hills, interconnected over the centuries by carefully dug tunnels by way of the hard labor of countless dwarven miners. In the current age it is one of the largest dwarven settlements in the realm. Two centuries ago, before the dwarves came, claimed the caves for themselves and renamed them the Underdelve, they were called the Tenebrara, the shadow caves, inhabited by small tribes of earthmen, kobolds and a few gnomish clans. Dwarven merchants, conducting trade with the original inhabitants, soon became aware of the unexploited mineral wealth of the caverns, and their exaggerated stories of precious stones the size of a small boy's head quickly spread among their greedy brethren, and an assault on the caves was planned. Unprepared and ill-equipped, the besieged tribes didn't stand a chance, and the fiendish dwarves gave no quarter to those who tried to surrender. It is even rumoured that when an entire gnomish clan laid down their weapons, the dwarves rounded them up and drove them into one of the many chasms that cut across the caves, a story that does little to improve the historically troubled relations between the two races.



Once the meagre resistance was put down, the dwarves set to work. At first mining shafts and simple housing for the miners were dug out, but soon entire living quarters and the elaborate palaces of the wealthy merchant lords were carved from the living stone. The unabated industriousness of thousands slowly transformed the dark, quiet caves into a bright stone city, rivalling the beauty of the great dwarven holdfasts in their native realm. Despite its remote, inaccessible location, the Underdelve has become a prime destination for human trade caravans from the major cities, trading rare ores, gems, stones and dwarf-crafted jewellery for luxury products such as spices, foods and textiles.

A-Z Blogging challenge

T is for Telesensorium

A telesensorium is a specialized room in certain colleges of magick, where through a series of complex rituals the consciousness of one person can be transferred into the body of another being. The room consists of a shallow, circular pool, in which the two participants are partially submerged. Though the procedure has been successfully performed on vastly differing creatures, the highest chances of a complete, frictionless transfer are attained when the two are of roughly similar biological form and composition, of at least average humanoid intelligence and neither party is actively resisting the mental joining. If these conditions are not met, the transfer can cause problems for both the beings; frequently observed are cases where the recipient develops acute schizophrenia. In some instances the host's psyche is too alien for the person attempting to join with it; this can damage the sanity of the latter, and reduce him or her to a gibbering mess when the mind is restored to its original body.

The telesensorium is predominantly used by scholars who wish to research certain dangerous locations, creatures or magickal phenomena without actually running the risk of bodily harm. To this end they hire adventurers looking to make some extra money: by mentally merging with them, they can access the full range of the host's sensory perceptions (but not his or her memories or thoughts) as if they were there in person. Furthermore, the joint mind can relay thoughts to the host mind, though this communication is only one way; nor can the joint mind issue direct commands to the host body. After the psychic transfer is complete, the host participant, now carrying the two minds, leaves the telesensorium to perform whatever tasks are required of him, while the unconscious body of the other remains submerged in the pool, its biological needs attended to by apprentices of the college.