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 Design a Tree - Red Mineral Forest of Shyr

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T O P I C    R E V I E W
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 17:41:32
So, in another thread, I mentioned some of my ideas for the old empires area. In particular, I mentioned the idea that "the maw of entropy" void "sucked over" a copy of a portion of Abeir that I'm calling the red mineral forest of Shyr.

I'm picturing a place with a ground which is a dark, bloodlike red, bright pinks (even some neonlike), and crimson colors. From this will grow trees. The trees will have "weird" leaves and/or berries/fruit/pine cones. These leaves will have all kinds of weird colors (purple, light blue, pink, red, yellow, navy blue, etc....) and many will be crystalline in structure (such that they may sound like wind chimes).

The intent for this is to give a reason FOR these special trees. Make them an interesting commodity and one which people won't want to just destroy. Some may even try to transplant them (with little to no success). Maybe we even find out that the soil is the way it is because it needs blood or something else.

So, I offer up as a fun pasttime, share your ideas for descriptions of the trees. For instance:

Do the ground up leaves work as an aphrodisiac for elves/genasi/dragonborn/something else?

If the leaves are brewed up, does it make a good tea? poison? potion that gives you a brief glimpse of the future?

Does it produce berries like blueberries, or some kind of fluffy fuzz like a dandelion? Can the fuzz be woven together like cotton and what's its use?

Do people take the leaves and use them to actually make something akin to thin windows of stained glass? Do the leaves glow like solar lights even after they're picked, maybe if they're put somewhere with access to water, such that people use them to make a softly glowing nightlight or light for the outhouse?

Let your mind wander, and share your ideas.
7   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
sleyvas Posted - 11 Apr 2017 : 19:16:20
So, on the dragon blood idea, if you look at the drawing I put up that actually shows this red mineral forest of Shyr

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CYc8h_6sg8U3IzRXFuZXBQYTA/view?usp=sharing

I actually joined up this forest of crystalline trees such that it butted up to the Maerchwood, which had been petrified during the 4e era. Also, right on this same border, I put the Citadel of Burning Ice. So, thinking this would be a good place to imprison the dragon that betrayed Karshimis, and said dragon's blood is what's imbuing the trees with their unusual nature. Thinking with the border so nearby, another thing that could happen is that the Maerchwood's petrified trees may start getting affected by this special, extremely extremely ancient dragon's blood (this dragon would be not just centuries, but actually multiple millennia old).

So, I'm thinking the petrified trees of the Maerchwood may be awakening like a kind of undead treant with the hardness and resilience of petrified wood. Maybe some red wizard necromancers are capturing these. Maybe some worshippers of Moander come in. Some other idea?

Also, on the idea of the citadel of burning ice itself. The dragon's blood is "hot" and Karshimis created a continually refreezing castle of ice. Maybe if this ice is brought elsewhere it can be extremely dangerous because it doesn't have the blood of the dragon to keep it under control.

Oh, and just to give the dragon a name "Kalz'ry'dirith, Lord of the Burning Blood". His blood comes out like lava, and hits the ice, which cools it and the slushy lava/water combination flows out as a river. Drinking directly from this river has some kind of unexpected properties (maybe it links your mind with the dragon's temporarily?).
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 23:39:15
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

Do you watch The Boondocks? Have you seen the one with 'The itis"? The 'line outside the restaurant' reminded me of that, EXACTLY.

Couldn't find a scene with that, bt I did find THIS.



No, never seen it, but that show looks funny.
Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 22:02:06
Do you watch The Boondocks? Have you seen the one with 'The itis"? The 'line outside the restaurant' reminded me of that, EXACTLY.

Couldn't find a scene with that, bt I did find THIS.
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 21:51:33
Yeah, and I'm thinking from a starting standpoint

Merchant (secret red wizard): Hey, I need you to fight your way through the monsters in the red mineral forest of shyr while protecting me, so I can collect some of these potato like tubers. Yeah, I want to bring back four whole wagon loads.

Adventurer: What are they for?

Merchant (secret red wizard): Oh, its these things we add to stews that people really like. You can see the line of people coming out of our restaurant over there. Want to try a taste?


Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 21:28:28
Just throwing whatever hits my brain your way. LOL

I was thinking it could be all different trees/plants as well.
The 'devil fruit' thing I like because as a DM, it gives me a chance to do some really bizarre and unexpected things to your PCs (but ALWAYS at least pretend to rolling from some list, so it looks random).

DM: "Hmmmm... looks like you just gained the power to heal" (the party needed a cleric and didn't have one). You can now cast cure minor wounds."
Player: "SWEET! How many times per day?"
DM: "As much as you like." {insert DM 'evil grin' face}
Player: "Wait... WHAT? Whats the catch?"
DM: "When you cast it, its smells like you farted..."
Player: "Is THAT all?"
DM: "... and then it gets progressively worse."
Player: "So I just smell bad?"
DM: "MUCH worse. The second time you use it makes people gag. The third time could make a dragon vomit."
Player:"Oh... and the fourth time?"
DM: "If you tried to heal someone a fourth time in a single day, that person would just beg you to let them die."
Player: "A fifth?"
DM: "There would be no sixth... the planet would be on quarantine for the next ten thousand years".


And when I say 'addictive', I mean like heroine-addictive, or WORSE, and it builds up gradually, until it would get to the point where people would KILL for for some food with it in it.* Now picture sprinkling some on that person's spouse...

Some folks would literally EAT THEMSELVES TO DEATH if they could afford it.

But as I said, that would take a lot of time, like maybe a year of slowly eating more and more each week. Eventually you could theoretically recreate a 'zombie outbreak' using it (if you could get enough of it, and there were enough people in-town addicted, you could maybe have the whole settlement 'crop-dusted' with it). It only works on organic matter = people won't be trying to eat stone... but they might try and eat their kids.

Now imagine doing that to Waterdeep... "Well, thats why I'm in this {DM} business". (quote stolen from Little Nicky)


*Can you just picture putting it in Cheeeeese? The hin are already addicted to that stuff... you'd have some rabid, 'killer halflings' running around trying to eat everyone cheese. That could make for a night of good (D&D) fun right there.
sleyvas Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 21:10:45
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay

First thoughts to jump to mind:

You do need blood - DRACONIC blood. Now, that could mean a true dragon... or maybe all you need is a few million kobolds..

Leaves make a tea, both deadly AND curative. You need to cast an anti-poison spell on the stuff (whatever that would be in 5e) before imbibing, which could leed to both disastrous and hilarious scenarios (like when Wesley defeats Vizzini in The Princess Bride).

They do bear fruit, but only once every five years, and they have different, random affects. Affects that are PERMANENT (think the Devil-Fruit of One Piece, except there could be some VERY bad ones). Some will maybe provide a painful death (turns to acid in your stomach, etc), or as simple as making you hideously ugly... and NO amount of magical 'scrying' will EVER determine the outcome (although, like the Devil-Fruits, perhaps people have studied the outward appearances of them and 'might' be able to guess at least at the nature of the fruit, if not its precise 'power').

The wood should have something special - maybe its has some property that makes it easy to enchant (so preferred for magical device making). Or maybe it can be hardened into something as hard as plate mail, and thus be able to be worn by characters who can't normally wear metal armor (although I would imagine druids would be loathe to cut the tees, and 'dead-fall' wouldn't really be a thing, at least not for many, MANY years).

The roots (if you can get to them) can be ground and used as a food-additive, that behaves much like MSG - it greatly enhances the flavor. However, its also highly addictive, and is thus banned in most civilized areas. Snorting it, smoking it, or any other use will give you the addiction, but won't provide any 'positive' results (you DON'T 'get high' or anything - it just makes food taste better... MUCH better).

Using the root-powder in the leaf-tea can have catastrophic results (use your imagination).






OOOOooooooooo... liking and gonna use the draconic blood need. I'm also gonna step that up.... Beneath the land somewhere is trapped one of the ancient dragons that betrayed the primordials. Specifically its Karshimis' old mount, and its blood is what's "poisoning" the soil. Thank you Markustay.

I love the flavor enhancing but it being addictive. That sounds like a PERFECT thing for my red wizards in the tharch of Peleveran to be aware of (since they've been in Abeir the last hundred years) and marketing to the people in surrounding countries of Faerun who DON'T know about the addictive qualities. Rather than it being root powder... picturing some kind of shrub that has "potato" like small tubers that you dig up and add to stews.... or maybe you grind up the crystalline leaves such that it looks like a funny colored salt... Anyway, its not EVIL, but its definitely not good either, and since its not making people high, its also a different spin on drugs. Maybe I'm too hungry for chocolate right now, but I really like this.

Also, folks, bear in mind, I'm not looking for ONE tree type. I'm picturing there being 50 or so different types of trees growing here. Maybe the limbs of X tree are wanted for something, while the flowers of another do something else, while the fruit of another fix something else, and the leaves or another do something else, and the bark of another does something else, and these long flowers actually have a carrot-like root that can easily be turned into a one-use wand of X.


Markustay Posted - 10 Apr 2017 : 19:58:21
First thoughts to jump to mind:

You do need blood - DRACONIC blood. Now, that could mean a true dragon... or maybe all you need is a few million kobolds..

Leaves make a tea, both deadly AND curative. You need to cast an anti-poison spell on the stuff (whatever that would be in 5e) before imbibing, which could leed to both disastrous and hilarious scenarios (like when Wesley defeats Vizzini in The Princess Bride).

They do bear fruit, but only once every five years, and they have different, random affects. Affects that are PERMANENT (think the Devil-Fruit of One Piece, except there could be some VERY bad ones). Some will maybe provide a painful death (turns to acid in your stomach, etc), or as simple as making you hideously ugly... and NO amount of magical 'scrying' will EVER determine the outcome (although, like the Devil-Fruits, perhaps people have studied the outward appearances of them and 'might' be able to guess at least at the nature of the fruit, if not its precise 'power').

The wood should have something special - maybe its has some property that makes it easy to enchant (so preferred for magical device making). Or maybe it can be hardened into something as hard as plate mail, and thus be able to be worn by characters who can't normally wear metal armor (although I would imagine druids would be loathe to cut the tees, and 'dead-fall' wouldn't really be a thing, at least not for many, MANY years).

The roots (if you can get to them) can be ground and used as a food-additive, that behaves much like MSG - it greatly enhances the flavor. However, its also highly addictive, and is thus banned in most civilized areas. Snorting it, smoking it, or any other use will give you the addiction, but won't provide any 'positive' results (you DON'T 'get high' or anything - it just makes food taste better... MUCH better).

Using the root-powder in the leaf-tea can have catastrophic results (use your imagination).


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