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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6350 Posts

Posted - 27 Feb 2015 :  09:09:00  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I wholeheartedly agree with number 8.

All my ideas go through at least nine or ten drafts before i'm happy.

Get an idea, write it down, fit it into the lore, then leave it. Get another idea, write it down, fit it into the lore, see if it can link or extend the first idea, then leave it. Continue to infinity.

My Moonshae's project went from completely ignoring the 4e stuff, to making slight nods towards it, to incorporating it in a 3e timeline, to making the entire campaign revolve around the battle between Kazgoroth and Lady Ordalf (which is what the subtext of the 4e stuff was about in the first place), and it all happened entirely by accident over months of redrafting as new ideas came to me and i rewrote old ideas.

There is no such thing as a bad idea (well almost), they are just undeveloped ideas.

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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 28 Feb 2015 :  06:15:20  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What you describe about writing ideas and leaving them is also a good way to write up encounters or rooms for a dungeon.

I used to worry that everything had to make sense and fit together, or there was no sense in me writing it.

But now I realize that ideas have their own value, and half the trick to fitting them together is to get them written down first.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 28 Feb 2015 :  08:29:37  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Exploring the differences between a pair of Tymoran temples in Cormyr.

Or: the lore of the coin toss and other subjects, as taught by priests of Tymora at the Lady's House in Arabel and the Towers of Good Fortune in Suzail:

1. When a Chancepriest flips a coin to decide a course of action, and the coin flies up in the air and remains stationary while turning end over end without stopping, this is a sign from Tymora that the priest must make his or her own choice, and not leave it up to fate.

At the Towers, it's further taught the priest must pray for forgiveness within a tenday, for failing the goddess.

At The Lady's House, priests are instructed to save such coins and tithe them to the temple. The coins are kept in a vault guarded by two altar sworn warriors, and are regarded as Tymora's personal wealth for having been touched by her divine essence.

2. If a coin is flipped randomly (that is, not out of any need to make a decision or determine a course of action), and it stays floating in the air, this means the gods have played their hand wherever the priest is at, and sometime very soon the choices the priest and his companions make will determine the outcome of events of import to many. Such a coin represents fate literally hanging in the balance. It must be left alone, and will fall to the ground when an outcome has been determined. Such signs appear once or twice in a century.

The Towers instruct that such coins are to be left where they fall.

The Lady's House dispatches priests and lay followers to recover all such coins (they're considered more important than the recovery of any fallen priest who originally flipped the coin) and will sponsor adventuring parties that include at least once temple priest (including paying the fee to obtain an adventuring charter in Cormyr, if necessary) to magically track and acquire hard to get coins, such as might be found in a dragon's hoard, on a ship in the middle of the Sea of Fallen Stars or in the possession of a merchant just arrived in Zhentil Keep.

3. Beshaba and her influence in Cormyr has always been a quiet thing, and a menace that does not so much goad as covertly aid other agents and actors seeking to do harm to Cormyr.

The Towers teach all followers, not just the priesthood, to make it their business to uncover, sack and destroy Beshaba's five hidden temples, to capture and imprison the current Master of Misfortune that hides in plain sight, and to keep him or her until Beshaba robs the Master of her Kiss and bestows it on another, and to recover the missing pieces of Tyche's heart. These teachings are not public knowledge.

The Lady's House commands its priests to make friends of nobles and the powerful of Cormyr, and to uncover and thwart Beshaba's influence on such individuals.

4. Lay followers and minor priests of Beshaba are to be tolerated, not driven off or exterminated. This teaching has been reinforced by warnings to, and arrests of, Tymorans and their followers by the Purple a Dragons and other agents of the Crown.

5. When Tymora resided in Cormyr during the Time of Troubles, she left instructions to the faithful.

The Towers instruct that Tymora spoke individually to ten of the faithful, and told them to travel far and wide to recover treasures important to the faith and return them to the temple in Suzail Not all succeeded; only four of the nine treasures have been found. Some accounts of the failed expeditions exist at the Towers and at the Society of Stalwart Adventures. The treasures must be found.

The Lady's House claims sole authority to interpret and teach the subject of Tymora's actions in Arabel during the time of Troubles. No account of her leaving instructions to recover hidden treasures exists.

6. Aiding adventures is necessary to advance the will of Tymora.

Priests of the Towers are admonished to watch from afar and aid only bold adventurers with good hearts.

The Lady's House trains and turns out adventurer priests, and seeks to install them with established adventuring companies, the better to influence them and bring their actions in line with the will of the Goddess, as perceived by the High Priest.

7. Watch children wherever you go, for the goddess gives to the young in generous portions.

Tower priests are commanded to aid sick and injured youth, to bring parentless children to the temple and to council hope after tragedy, the better to avoid Beshaba acquiring new followers.

Among the faithful in the Lady's House a belief is spreading that the Son of Tymora will be born somewhere in Cormyr. This individual will leave good fortune in his wake, suffer from no misfortune, and will herald the second coming of the goddess to Arabel.

8. On matters of gambling:

The Tower admonishes priests from engaging in games of chance with non-followers, on the belief that this skews fate. Games played amongst the faithful are acceptable.

The Lady's House instructs that games of chance are the best way to find persons willing to take risks on behalf of the temple.

9. On matters of magic:

Wizards ought to be drawn out of their fortified abodes and made to explore the world. Mages seeking to control others are to be thwarted or put down, as necessary. These are current Tower teachings.

The Lady's temple can always use more friends among wizards, arcanists, sorcerers and users of magic. Invite them to the temple and encourage them to consult with the High Priest and pray for signs of the Lady's will.

10. The fall of Tyche, and the future.

Tyche's return would herald the return of Moander, and with it the fall of Cormyr. This must not come to pass, or Tyche's sacrifice will have been in vain. The Tower of a Good Fortune forever seeks to preserve Tymora, and with it Cormyr.

Most followers of the Lady's temple are ambivalent towards the history of Tyche, and do not believe she will ever return (assuming she even existed in the first place). Tymora is all that matters.


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Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 01 Mar 2015 08:14:44
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 01 Mar 2015 :  08:12:50  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Adventuring Companies and What They Are Up To:

1. The Bloody Banners
A trio of outlander fighters form the core of this twelve strong adventuring band, each warrior a survivor of a failed expedition into the Stonelands. The three discovered treasure and coin during their lost wanderings. Upon their return to Arabel they formed an adventuring party, paid for a charter and set out once more for the Stonelands.

2. The Cracked Helms
A score of foresters, druids, rangers and woodsmen made up the adventuring band known as the Bright Helms of Tethgard. Thirteen Helms met their doom in the tunnels and caverns beneath the ruin from which they took their name. The survivors regrouped, took a new name and left for Greatgaunt. They explore the lands between the Sunset Mountains and the Stormhorns.

3. Ten From Tyrluk
A mostly ineffective band of youthful farmers and dreamers. The Ten do not hold an adventuring charter. Between them they know the hills and valleys for miles around Tyrluk. The addition to their ranks of a Chancepriest from the Lady's House in Arabel has spurred them to explore more than the first few feet of the interiors of the handful of caves and old ruins the Ten have discovered in their wanderings.

4. The Blades of Blustich
Before they were ever the Blades of Blustich, several members of this soon to be adventuring band discovered a small ship run aground near Blustich. They were attacked by the ship's crew, defeated their foes and discovered the cargo: a handful of Cormyreans destined for slavery. The captives and their saviors joined forces and took the fight to the noble who sponsored the ship. They captured him and turned him over to the Crown (he is now serving twenty years in Castle Irlingstar). The Blades explore the Hermit's Wood and wander the coast as far as Moonever.

5. The Adventurers in Parchment
This unusually named band of adventurers are comprised of the surviving members of several other adventuring bands that were slaughtered by a tyrannical Amnian moneylender. The coin merchant kept one survivor from each band alive long enough to have that person magically bound into a tome. The Amnian was slain and robbed, and the tome was resold in Cormyr to a wizard. The captive adventurers were freed, and elected to form a new group of explorers under the guidance and council of the wizard.

6. The Terrible Tankards of Wormtower
This band of adventurers assembled with one goal in mind: recover enough gold and treasure to finance the purchase or construction of a proper tavern in Wormtower; one fully stocked with the best drinkables to be had in Cormyr. The group are serious in their quest and plan to immediately retire when their goal is achieved.

7. The Broken Fingers of Marsember
The closest thing to a well loved band of heroes to be found in Marsember. These adventurers derive their coin through vigilantism, roughing up miscreants and cutthroats, and openly challenging anyone who thwarts Crown law. They enjoy breaking fingers and have earned a long list of enemies.

8. The Free Gnomes
Comprised entirely of outcast gnomes, this group of thieves and explorers is led by a charismatic gnome priest. The Free Gnomes explore the castles and mansions of Cormyrean nobles and the well to do, looking for signs of gnome habitation and recovering relics and possessions of gnomes that once lived there. Not a few such buildings have entire rooms, pathways and living spaces built into them that are sized for gnomes, many of which have been forgotten about by their human inhabitants.The Free Gnomes are active in Suzail.

9. The Sails of Margrath's Rest
A mixed bunch of scavengers, sailors and bullyblades that banded together to overcome the hazards native to the ship graveyard called Margrath's Rest. They discovered treasures hidden away in the hulls of scuttled ships. The Sails have since relocated to Suzail and purchased a ship of their own. They sail the Dragonmere in search of adventure.

10. The Guardians of Stonewatch
The original name for the band of adventurers has been lost to time. Each died on the battlements while defending refugees assembled inside the garrison keep of Stonewatch from massed goblins and orcs during Cormyr's war against Nalavarra the Devil Dragon. The ghosts of the eight adventurers linger in and around the castle, chilling the bones of soldiers who fall asleep on watch and haunting anyone who is derelict in their duties. The eight are buried below the castle, their tomb manned at all hours by a lone Dragon on watch.


EDIT: Ooops! #10 was short one sentence. My bad.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).

Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 05 Mar 2015 03:43:48
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2015 :  06:52:23  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
NPC Names:

1. Orlagarr Wyshbryn

2. Astorma of the Wailing Fog

3. Cromar of Monksblade, aka "Candlesticks"

4. Stornalad of Knightswood

5. Solantha Shimmerstar

6. Arabel

7. Sombruil the Tempest Chaser

8. Lady Bright Armor

9. The White Ranger

10. Accardi Embershield

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 03 Mar 2015 :  05:59:29  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ten Paintings I Want To See:

1. A full length portrait of Queen Fee in her prime.

2. A wide view of the Promenade at its busiest, showing nobles, their attendants and guards, courtiers, Purple Dragons, merchants, adventurers, building facades and shops.

3. Castle Irlingstar, after all the trouble that occurred in "Elminster Enraged."

4. Tethgard in its prime next to Tethgard as a ruin today.

5. Plungepool.

6. The Dread Door Warden.

7. A view of Daunthers, with a funeral procession in the background.

8. Xraunrarr beholders doing beholderish things. Make each aberration unique. No two beholders should look the same.

9. The Old King's Favorite.

10. A long view of the Open Feast. Give me a full cast of characters (i.e. a detailed rendering of attendees) not unlike the heroes and villains portraits of DC and Marvel characters, except that everyone is drinking, talking, laughing, eating, plotting and boasting. Remember: no Royals allowed at the Open Feast.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 04 Mar 2015 :  07:45:35  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Four lines about Ten NPCs written Two days ago:

1. Orlagarr Wyshbryn
A relentless thief. He steals scrolls and spellbooks, eschewing safety for opportunity. What he takes goes into a bag of holding linked to another bag, that belongs to the being that broke Orlagarr's mind and rebuilt it around a passion to take, take, take. His is not the first mind to have been broken and remade this way.

2. Astorma of the Wailing Fog
In the Realm off the Wailing Fog, there is a place filled with unbreakable mirrors. Most of them hold no reflection; roiling darkness fills the space behind the glass, because each was a failure. The few that catch and reflect light await the presence of someone to look into them, like Storm Silverhand once did. Her living reflection is bound to the mirrors by Storm's magic, and her cries of frustration carry far and wide in the fog.

3. Cromar of Monksblade, aka "Candlesticks"
The Spellplague and the loss of the Weave of all magic slew countless mages, and was a bane to many. But to Cromar it was a boon, because the old ways of doing magic were forgotten by most, and anyone eager to dispose of the corpses of newly dead mages could find plenty of work in the years after the Blue Fire raged. His magical candlesticks have a nigh-endless list of uses, though his supply of tallow has begun to run low.

4. Stornalad of Knightswood
A bold name fitted to a weak, bookish young boy. Stornalad grew up on knight's tales, but he has no desire to heft a sword. Instead he writes his own stories and reads chapbook tales by the dozen. By day he earns coin as a shop assistant and helper.

5. Solantha Shimmerstar
Mother to the Crown mage Tashlara Shimmerstar. Solantha was a private woman who never remarried. Her skill at Art was not great, but her opinions given at Council of Mages sessions carried great weight. She never attended, owing to frailty and poor health, instead relying on a servant to represent her.

6. Arabel
Once an orphan. When asked her name she gave the name of the Caravan City, because it was the place all those years ago that her father told her to walk to when he stood her on the road and pointed east, saying it would take care of her. Then he rode away. Arabel knows her city by heart, it's every street and warehouse are her family.

7. Sombruil the Tempest Chaser
Touched by Talos, some say, for his habit of riding headlong into thunderstorms. He mutters to himself and keeps no company. Where he finds coin to pay for food and lodgings is a mystery to those who know of him. If his mutterings are listened too, it is revealed that he believes the giants are imprisoned in the sky, the storms are their efforts to break free, and he is called to help them.

8. Lady Bright Armor
Another name for Hanifae Rowanmantle. A confident and charismatic leader of a force of Purple Dragons. Hanifae's armor is kept to a bright polish and shine. She does not care if this attracts the attention of foes.

9. The White Ranger
One of several rangers whose names are recognized from songs and bard's tales popular in Cormyr. The White Ranger lived in the Hullack Forest. Some say she lived for it, because she defended it from the men of Cormyr as much as she protected Cormyreans from the dangers of the forest. Most believe she was slain by human-hating elves that infested the Hullack.

10. Accardi Embershield
A jack of all trades. Accardi can sing, dance, fight, build a house, tend the wounded, grow a garden and feed a squad of soldiers. She has a talent for sensing magic in objects. Her collection of magical baubles is small, but growing.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 05 Mar 2015 :  04:52:00  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
More Adventuring Companies of Cormyr:

1. The Bold Blades of Besert

2. The Kickers of the Baron's Teeth

3. The Avenging Luckpriests

4. The Smiling Ogres of Battlerise

5. The Merry Mages of Monksblade

6. Hasper's Tenfold Swords

7. The Friends of the Banshee

8. The Righteous Ravens of Redspring

9. Glaraura's Gargoyles

10. Stargentle's Dragomen

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 06 Mar 2015 :  07:19:52  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Four Lines For Yesterday's Ten Adventuring Companies:

1. The Bold Blades of Besert
Not a few adventuring companies from Cormyr have started their names with "the Bold Blades" of somewhere, including the Bold Blades of Thunderstone. Thus did a group of carefree sword swingers from Thunderstone elect to borrow the name of the next closest settlement, and so the adventuring band called Bold Blades of Bessert was formed. These particular Blades have fallen under the sway of a zealous priest of Tempus. The adventurers departed Cormyr for Sembia, but traveled no further than Highcastle where they hunt black-boned skeletons that terrorize the settlement by night.

2. The Kickers of the Baron's Teeth
This outlaw band of adventurers roams the Stonelands. By means of magic and careful treachery they managed to sack a Shield Barron's keep. They left the lord of the keep with a toothless smile. The kickers have roamed eastward and set their sights on the many rich caravans staging out of Griffon Hill.

3. The Avenging Luckpriests
Four priests of Tymora hailing from the Towers of good Fortune in Suzail form the heart of this band of adventurers. The Luckpriests avoid Arabel, but explore the remainder of Cormyr and the lands beyond. Originally comprised of eight adventurers, they doubled their numbers after a season spent adventuring in far away Waterdeep. The now sixteen strong band are wintering in Suzail, with plans to sail across the Dragonmere to Teziir and then travel west to Haunted Ilipur.

4. The Smiling Ogres of Battlerise
The Smiling Ogres are all former Purple Dragons turned into ogres of immense size. Each was part of a unit abducted by a rogue mage and experimented on. After their escape the once-Dragons returned to their life as soldiers for a time, but left the King's service after the Wizards of War failed to return them to normal. The Ogres are immune to mind-influencing and mind-controlling magic of all kinds.

5. The Merry Mages of Monksblade
A mixed bag of spellcasters. The Merry Mages are made up of former war wizards, ex-apprentices to free mages, and fighters and thieves with undeveloped magical talent. Each Mage shares an independent streak, and an appreciation for others with the same mindset. The Merry Mages plan to leave Cormyr for Scornubel at their earliest opportunity.

6. Hasper's Tenfold Swords
The handsome former merchant Hasper Dundown funded this adventuring band out of his own coin purse. Once an adequate number of sword swingers were hired, Hasper paid for an adventuring charter and a ship to drop the newly formed company off somewhere along the coast of the Dragonmere, south of Valkur's Roar. Whatever dangers that lurked in the moors could not keep the Swords from reaching Bloodtower. The twisted magic within warped the minds of the Swords, and now Hasper roams the coastline, living off of whatever he can catch and kill.

7. The Friends of the Banshee
A roaming band of adventurers and part time mercenaries. The Friends of the Banshee do not recognize the authority of Cormyr and would rather die than pay for the privilege of exploring the lands between the Hullack a forest and the Thunder Peaks. The Friends are no bane to merchants and travelers, but will give battle to Purple Dragon patrols and agents of Cormyr whenever they think they can win the fight. The Friends take guidance and council from a wailing banshee that lives somewhere in the impenetrable fog that sits in the heart of the lands the Friends call home.

8. The Righteous Ravens of Redspring
Once a banner under the Red Ravens mercenary company. The Righteous Ravens broke away when the mercenary band was nearly destroyed during a failed foray into Sembia. The remnants traveled into Cormyr as far as Redspring before finding renewed purpose. The adventurers are now practically an extension of the militia in Redspring, putting down the increasingly frequent monstrous threats that plague the surrounding lands

9. Glaraura's Gargoyles
The wizard Glaraura leads this experienced group of adventurers. The Gargoyles take their name from their battle habits. They prefer to cloak themselves behind illusions and disguises that allow them to melt into the background and appear as stationary objects like trees or statues. When the right moment comes, they break cover and strike.

10. Stargentle's Dragomen
Not so much adventurers as adventurer guides. Stargentle and her Dragomen hire out to other adventuring parties and well armed groups of rich clients. They promise to aid their clients in navigating the more treacherous regions of Cormyr, particularly along its borders. Each member is an elf or half-elf that has lived in Cormyr for a century or more.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).

Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 28 Nov 2015 21:37:39
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 07 Mar 2015 :  04:16:31  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Given that Grodd is a demiplane i propose that the Empire of Hlundadim survived by existing in large city sized demiplanes that were connected to Toril and each other using gates.

When the Karsus debacle happened these demiplanes slowly drifted out of alignment with Toril and many began to lose their connections to Toril and each other (until they became mostly separated). Then the ToT happens and gradually brings the connections back.

THIS is a deliciously brilliant idea.

Not only does it provide cool backstory, but it delivers up the potential for these demiplanar realms to return to the Realms when the Sundering is complete.

There need to be more goblinoid kingdoms in the Realms anyway, and places like the Goblin Marches ought to be refreshed and renewed.

Well done sir!

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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 07 Mar 2015 :  05:18:06  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
More Two Line Encounters:

1. As the PCs search for the entrance to a dungeon or other location in the Hullack Forest, a pair of skeletons in moldering clothes tear themselves out of the earth. If left unmolested, the skeletons will stand and face the PCs, then begin shambling in the direction of the place the PCs seek.

2. Over the next several sessions, and until the source of the effect is discovered and disposed of, whenever any being capable of teleporting does so in Cormyr, there is a 20% chance (roll of 1-2 on a d10) the teleporting being and anyone brought along arrives right in front of the PCs. This effect owes to a ring one of the PCs owns, that once sat in the massive jaws of Nalavarra the Devil Dragon and helped her anchor a powerful dwoemer that sent all teleporting individuals in the a Forest Kingdom straight to her jaws.

3. An all day and night snowstorm blankets the village of Turluk where the PCs are staying with five to ten feet of snow. The patrons at the inn the PCs are rooming at start to become unruly, and the innkeeper hires the PCs to help restore order, on the promise of free room and board.

4. As the PCs arrive in Bospir, they discover every last inn and boarding house has been rented out. The occupants are all female dwarves.

5. A guide hired by the PCs does as promised and sees them safely to the ruin they have been searching for. Once inside, the PCs discover the ruin is in fact a murder temple consecrated to Bhaal, and the guide uses its every trap, hanging spell, caged monster and secret passage to harry, divide and ultimately slay the PCs one at a time in Bhaal's name.

6. The PCs pass through a portal somewhere in the wider Realms, and arrive in a dark expanse of dust and web covered ornate rooms and hallways. Only after surviving one harrowing encounter after another do the PCs discover they have traveled to the Haunted Wing of the Royal Palace in Suzail.

7. After escaping the Haunted Wing, the PCs are set upon by wild drunken revelers in the form of nobles, war wizards, famous bards, high priests, courtiers, hot headed Sembians, ambassadors from other lands and rich merchants (but no Royalty). All attend the Open Feast held once a year in the Royal Palace.

8. Upon their return home through a portal standing in the ruins of an old temple overlooking Cormyr's southern coast, the PCs travel the short distance to nearby Monksblade where they are greeted with shocked looks and dismay by the locals. They discover the townspeople had buried each of the PCs in graves not two days after they left through the portal, because they all returned to Monksblade and promptly died in their sleep at a local inn.

9. Representatives of the a Towers of Good Fortune in Suzail approach the PCs and ask them to meet with their master. A high ranking priest in the Temple of Tymora greets the PCs and asks them to deliver a package to the Lady's House in Arabel.

10. In an old ruin of a mansion or castle somewhere in the King's Forest, there hangs at least one oval mirror in every room and hallway. As the PCs explore, they discover a large bloodshot eye filling the space in every mirror, watching them.

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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore

USA
1853 Posts

Posted - 07 Mar 2015 :  06:18:50  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
4.

Still admiring your work here Jeremy. Especially when I can't comment because all possible observations must be ruled out for various reasons. Carry on!
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 07 Mar 2015 :  06:59:08  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thank you sir!

I never thought I would be able to type this much using only an iPad and two overworked thumbs, so it's real nice to receive a compliment.

As for #4, a hint: it's not what's in Bospir, but what's below it, that counts, and not for the obvious reasons.

Clear as mud?

Edit: please comment away! Just remember that my ego is like a cat. It needs to be stroked.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).

Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 07 Mar 2015 07:01:26
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 08 Mar 2015 :  05:54:52  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Things I Would Like To Write About:

1. A place in Cormyr where the grey rocks sit like bones.

2. A Calendar of Talos specific to Cormyr. Local legends, beliefs, some history, odd structures, odd individuals and maybe other deities misbehaving.

3. A jar of snow-white honey.

4. A traveling bookshop that roams Cormyr's outskirts, selling to the locals and having a special selection for children. Two individuals always follow the shop cart, until two more replace them and deliver new books to the cart.

5. The odd, cooperative relationship between priests of Tyr and priests of Bane in Cormyr.

6. A Xraunrarr beholder sweating over every last detail in the construction of a life size replica of the Royal Palace of the Purple Dragon, in a cavern that once housed a community of drow in the Underdark. The most remarkable (or most odd) thing about the replica is that it's upside down--it literally hangs from the cavern ceiling--because it's carved out of a group of truly massive stalactites, the tips refashioned into proud towers.

7. The things houses and buildings in Cormyr do when they think nobody is watching them.

8. The little dangers, like the mist that comes rolling out of the Hullack that does not travel very far but swallows anything living in its path and then retreats into the wood. The things that Volo missed or never knew about. And the people that live in the midst of these dangers, going about their lives as if there was not in fact the supernatural equivalent of a lion waiting in the grass just outside.

9. Statues.

10. Who is buried in the walls? Did Mages in Cormyr ever bury apprentices--alive, perhaps--in the walls of under construction wizard's towers, or bury captured rivals in the walls of castles or mansions the mage was hired to cloak in powerful wards requiring a special focus? If yes, where in the wider Realms did that magic originate from?


All of these ideas inspired by material in the introduction to Neil Gaiman's latest book, "Trigger Warning."

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xaeyruudh
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Posted - 09 Mar 2015 :  06:38:33  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer

Ten things I wish I could hear:

1. The sound of Storm Silverhand's voice as she sings to a newborn baby so the mother can get some rest, somewhere in Cormyr.




I don't have a lullaby in mind, but when I think of Storm singing, this is the voice I hear. Clear and strong.
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 09 Mar 2015 :  07:07:44  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
More Two Line Encounters:

1. A pathway through the Underdark ends in a wide cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites, the ends of a few such pairs fused together. Far up above, lightening is drawn to certain bare metallic rock faces in the Thunderpeaks, riding veins or ore through the earth and erupting out of the fused points of stone in circular blasts that illuminate the cavern and send bursts of light back up the pathway.

2. The cook at the inn in Eveningstar where the PCs are staying specializes in searing a variety of meats with specially prepared variants of lightening bolt. The kitchen occupies one side of the ground floor opposite the dining area and is open to the view of diners and guests.

3. While standing in a secret hallway and peering through the eyes of a painting of the first Lord Sornstern, the PC observes a decrepit skeleton sitting at the current Lord Sornstern's desk. The thing lights a candle, mutters an incantation that turns the flame to water, then places the flickering candle up underneath its rib age, causing its form to shift and change to match that of Lord Sornstern.

4. In a back alley in Marsember, a sword flies through the air, slashing and stabbing at a trio of bullyblades. On the ground behind the blade, it's owner lies wounded and bleeding on the ground.

5. As the PCs approach the building housing one of their favorite shops in Suzail, they find the entrance locked and receive no response if they knock on doors or windows or shutters. One or two floors up, a window is thrown open or broken open, and a moment later a flying carpet unfurls, on which the bound and gagged form of the shopkeeper is deposited by a pair of kidnappers.

6. While the PCs are enjoying themselves at an inn, club, tavern or festhall, a trio of liquored up noble's sons and assorted hangers on stumble into the establishment. They declare the best seats are theirs and their lackeys are free to take the tables the PCs are sitting at, and by force if necessary.

7. The PCs learn of the passing of a friendly noble or other well to do patron, for whom the party had done a service or took a commission from in the past. This news comes as part of a summons to hear the reading of the patron's will.

8. A life size statue with a cloth hood over its head stands before the PCs. If the hood is removed, the statue's flesh and blood eyes open wide and anyone it makes eye contact with is turned to stone, save for their eyes.

9. In the depths of a cellar, dungeon or Underdark passage, the PCs see a few crooked, thumb-sized gemstones floating at about knee height. If the PCs dig in the dirt, dust and/or debris below the gems, they discover a magical shield or cloak.

10. A long time patron of the PCs reveals itself to be a doppelgänger. It begs the party to stay their swords and spells, and offers them a bargain: in the future the PCs can call on it to impersonate anyone except for a Royal on their behalf, if the party will unmask and slay the mindflayers seeking to control the doppelgänger and its resources in Cormyr.

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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 10 Mar 2015 :  06:17:44  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ideas and speculation thought up by guests, sages and others regarding the troll parts that keep appearing at Trollbreeder's Rest:

Firstly, and if you are not familiar with it, you may read about Trollbreeder's here: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16550#445527

1. The fire out back does not consume the parts, it just magically whisks them away to a bucket or other handy receptacle, and the parts are sprinkled about the Inn when nobody is looking.

2. Magic was worked to keep the trolls from regenerating. It was twisted in the fight and now accomplishes the reverse, in addition to driving wizards mad.

3. The twisting of magic at Trollbreeders is like a beacon. It magically calls forth troll bits and pieces anywhere in the Realms they are made.

4. Below the inn there is a hidden room where a troll is chained up. Parts are removed as needed to keep up appearances upstairs.

5. The battle that slew Ulskan saw explosions that hurled troll parts deep into the earth. Those bits are forever digging their way out like earthworms looking to get some sun.

6. Ulskan and his fellow breeders kept their many trolls hidden in an underground network of tunnels that collapsed when the tower fell. The creatures are still digging their way out.

7. Who cares why they keep appearing? Isn't it true the Crown is subsidizing Ulskan's payments made to those who find troll parts?

8. The elves collect the best troll parts and leave with them to a secret location somewhere in the Hullack.

9. Why do elves need troll parts? Well, isn't it true that the elves of long ago slew dragons in the woods that became the Hullack? And inherited the dragon's guardian trolls that kept watch over their treasure hordes too?

10. Well, if you pick the right part, you might get the troll who remembers where everything was hidden. Didn't the adventurers who found the Devil Dragon's horde claim it was guarded by trolls too? There's something to it, I tell you.

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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 11 Mar 2015 :  06:28:43  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Names for Unique Sites and Sights:

1. Ashen Heights

2. Mouth of the Dragon

3. The Chatterwall

4. Redbrook

5. Halved Keep

6. Brindle's Falsecoin Forge

7. Temple of the Two Heretics

8. Owl Bear Glade

9. The Landed Mote

10. The Fallen Hold

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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 11 Mar 2015 :  06:36:02  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh

I don't have a lullaby in mind, but when I think of Storm singing, this is the voice I hear. Clear and strong.

Karen Carpenter died way too soon. Hers was one of the voices I first heard as a child.

Not sure how to imagine Storm's voice. It'd be cool to hear her and Dove singing a duet.

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Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 11 Mar 2015 06:37:34
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 12 Mar 2015 :  04:47:36  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Short descriptions for yesterday's locations:

1. A place where the God of the dead, or an aspect of another deity, is said to have been witnessed. A gravedigger or priest of Kelemvor or Myrkul felt compelled to come forth amd dump ashes of the dead on the grassy hill. The ashes turned to stone the color of old bone. The hill has grown into a wall. The work continues.

2. A failed attempt by a cabal of ship-owning merchants in Westgate to take control of the ship thieving magic of a dragon, the later deployed it on the Sea of Fallen Stars to swallow up ships and deposit them in a shallow cove where escape was impossible and the dragon could toy with ship and crew at its leisure. Now the effect is random: ships find themselves inexorably drawn to a massive blue lightening edged opening, and reappear somewhere on the Dragonmere. This was not the destination the dragon had in mind. The beast and the shipping cabal both seek to reclaim the magic. In the meantime, Blue Dragons (the Cormyrean navy) based in Marsember sail the area where lost ships appear, while interests out of Westgate look to guide the ships there instead. A great arc between Dawngleam and Accardi. Sometimes the ships emerge going east, sometimes west.

3. A stone wall, very old. Sunken in at a few spots and uneven. Dirt fills in the cracks, lichen and grass grow out of it like hair from a mole. When the wall was built faces of gargoyles were mortared into it in place of stones. Only recently have the gargoyles begun to speak, and not just to passersby, but to each other. Some say it's the wall, not the stone faces. The area is all rolling countryside. If you are in the right spot, you can hear the wall babbling a quarter mile away.

4. The water in the brook is a ruby red.

5. A recently built "foursquare" keep (less than a century old). Originally built as a waystop for a merchant cabal, along the East Way where that road runs parallel to the Immerflow, north of the Hullack. The keep served its purpose for thirty years before a lightening storm cleaved it in half. Now the front and back ends of the abandoned keep stand apart, no longer joined by connecting walls that were dashed to the ground.

6. A place where counterfeit golden lions were produced in batches of a hundred. Dispersed into circulation into Cormyr. A front business disguised it. Was discovered when the coins literally all leaped to the ground and rolled of their own accord out of the building and out into the street, chasing after a commoner walking by (Accardi Embershield), who had no idea she carried magic that detects counterfeit coins and summons them forth. At the same time, that magic called out to a dinner plate-sized flat disk of gold, with the face the golden lion and set into a dust and web covered desk in the heart of the Haunted Wing in the Royal Palace, which began to emit a three toned chime, attracting the attention of nearby undead.

7. A newly risen temple consecrated to both Tyr and Bane. A pair of priests and their followers run the place. Both claim to be descended from other such priests of each faith that have quietly worked together for centuries in Cormyr.

8. Owl Bears and other forest beasts long believed Hunted to extinction in Cormyr's woodlands are returning with a vengeance. The White Ranger has observed hulking specimens marking their territory in the eastern reaches of the Hullack, and witnessed male owl bears violently battling for dominance, leaving a path of devastation the ranger nicknamed Owl Bear Glade.

9. An earthmote that came to rest, almost but not quite level, somewhere in Cormyr.

10. One of several small holds and keeps between the Way of the Manticore and the Infested Hills that were demolished by forces of Purple Dragons and Crown mages riding out of the encampment that would become Azoun's Hold. The Cormyreans left off their work at this location after bodies were discovered to be interred in the walls, some laced with exploding spells.

11. Bonus:
An unknown hold of some kind that was knocked down by a rockfall, landslide or avalanche. The place had some magically regenerating things, like candles that reappeared every evening at sunset, that burned in specific rooms and hallways and went away at sunup. The appearance of free floating candles at night above the rocks and debris has attracted attention, and digging has commenced. Popular rumor holds that a dragon knocked the place down. Others claim that dwarves sent a rockslide to dash the building away. Whatever the truth is, explorers are frantically digging before the first snows make it impossible to depart the dig site.

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Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 12 Mar 2015 04:57:03
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 13 Mar 2015 :  06:33:34  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Names of libraries, owners of book collections and makers of books in Suzail:

1. The Warbird's Abbey

2. The Goose of Doom

3. Bleyshar Bindery

4. Dundown Draperies

5. The Dragonhaven

6. The Ohmtalakar Collection

7. The Oromanche Collection

8. Morligul and Mountarn, Mapmakers

9. The Dumps

10. The Doomwarden's Repository

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Artemas Entreri
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Posted - 13 Mar 2015 :  14:27:09  Show Profile Send Artemas Entreri a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer

Names of libraries, owners of book collections and makers of books in Suzail:

1. The Warbird's Abbey

2. The Goose of Doom

3. Bleyshar Bindery

4. Dundown Draperies

5. The Dragonhaven

6. The Ohmtalakar Collection

7. The Oromanche Collection

8. Morligul and Mountarn, Mapmakers

9. The Dumps

10. The Doomwarden's Repository



Did you make these up yourself or are these mentioned in some source book? I only ask because I used to love making up my own long list of named taverns and inns that could be used when adventuring.

Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin

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Edited by - Artemas Entreri on 13 Mar 2015 14:27:30
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 13 Mar 2015 :  15:13:38  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The Goose of Doom I borrowed from an Elminster novel. Of the rest, none exist in any sourcebook or novel

Some of the location names were inspired by material in Ed's Eye On the Realms articles.

And the rest I made up from scratch. I hope to have small descriptions for each written up by tonight.

Oh, and The Warbird's Abbey is based a little bit on the Warburg in Great Britain: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/in-the-memory-ward?mbid=social_facebook


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Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 13 Mar 2015 15:22:47
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Artemas Entreri
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Posted - 13 Mar 2015 :  15:58:37  Show Profile Send Artemas Entreri a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer

The Goose of Doom I borrowed from an Elminster novel. Of the rest, none exist in any sourcebook or novel

Some of the location names were inspired by material in Ed's Eye On the Realms articles.

And the rest I made up from scratch. I hope to have small descriptions for each written up by tonight.

Oh, and The Warbird's Abbey is based a little bit on the Warburg in Great Britain: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/in-the-memory-ward?mbid=social_facebook





Nice! It's good to have named places like this to add flavor to the setting in general or while running a campaign. Saves you the trouble from trying to invent stuff on the spot too!

Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin

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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 14 Mar 2015 :  07:07:44  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thanks, Artemas.

Also, look for my friend request on Goodreads.


Descriptions for yesterday's list of libraries and collections:

1. The Warbird's Abbey
The Warbird's is not an abbey, rather it is the ancestral home to a sea trading merchant family, of which the last descendant living in Cormyr passed away over a century ago. That descendant spent the family fortune throwing out his siblings and relatives (out of Cormyr entirely), paying off debts, remodeling the family mansion with bookshelves and modifying extant furniture and architecture to house a collection amassed over a forty year period by his father. He avoided entanglements (read: relationships) and spent the days sorting the collection in a manner commensurate with his eccentricities. The organization is mostly alphabetical, relying on slate and chalk signposts that list subjects for the adjoining space in one long alliterative sentence. When a subject couldn't be made to fit in one sentence, it was folded into the next space's signpost, which sometimes entailed additional movement of books until every shelf, closet, kitchen cupboard, hallway, bedroom and jakes was filled up. Much of the collection was sourced from ports of call on the Sea of Fallen Stars--the yearly voyage of the Warbird seeing its captain and crew experiencing many adventures while attempting to purchase or trade for rare volumes, and to protect the ship and its cargo of bulk book purchases. The ancestors of the live-in servant family still live in the Abbey, tending it and the collection, which has grown with time Some think Queen Fee and Caladnei hid secrets there. Outlanders come here too, some to claim books they believe were stolen years ago, others to peruse tomes that no longer exist in their homeland, or to read about lands displaced after the Spellplague. A few come to learn about the odd branch in their family tree: a serial seducer from a Cormyrean merchant family that absconded with prized books and left bastard children in his wake. It's believed a noble was murdered in the Abbey's walls. The former servants have made the Abbey into a new home for collections under threat of theft or destruction. Likewise as a place where collections were hidden that were otherwise described as being destroyed or lost. Spies have used the collection to hide messages and information, and now the family charges a fee for this activity. They discovered the original Letters to Selemchant in their stacks, and have begun covertly publishing it in pieces, to the great embarrassment of several noble families in Cormyr.

See the entry for Tarsakh: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19513#455436

2. The Goose of Doom
On a single long shelf half concealed in a sea of clutter that covers the wall behind the bar can be found a collection of ship captain's journals, nautical records, mostly accurate closeup coastal map books (that depict a small slice of coast, followed by a handful of pages detailing settlements, smuggling drop off points, terrain features, underwater obstacles, and animal and monstrous threats to avoid) and the personal accounts of Blue Dragons. All the copies are worn from much use by bartenders reading aloud, less often by the hands of patrons (Blue Dragons all, and their trusted friends).

3. Bleyshar Bindery
A place so busy that chapbooks, broadsheets and whole books sit in piles everywhere. There is always something interesting to be had. The best of the bindery is saved and shipped to the Bleyshar country home of Bleys Hard (near Gray Oaks) once a year.

4. Dundown Draperies
A Velshond Marshfall side business. The tomes sit in a back room, collecting dust until a new set arrives to be stacked over the last. Shipments come at irregular intervals along with coin to pay for their storage, but in the five years since Velshond agreed to house the books amongst the rolled up bundles of cloth that comprise his stock drapery material, with no questions asked, the buyer and his or her factors have ever come to pick them up. All the books collected here have metal bindings and either wood or metal covers. Velshond does not allow others to peruse the books. One curious employee opened a tome and was devoured by something in the book, with Velshond none the wiser.

5. The Dragonhaven
A club for sages and would be experts in lore of all types. Occupies all four floors of a rundown building that shares a wall with a busy dock warehouse. The club's grand name is borrowed from the inn and tavern that the place once was, that catered to Purple Dragons of all ranks until several officers were poisoned by food from the kitchens. Now the club rents rooms converted to research space, where sages keep tomes, scrolls and writings. The ground floor hosts debates pretty much whenever two or more people are present. Runners are dispatched frequently to acquire whatever the club can't provide, usually copies of information found in other collections. The upper floor serves as a library of sorts, comprised of tomes and writings left behind by deceased members and individuals expelled from the club.

6. The Ohmtalakar Collection
On display in the mansion of the Illance noble family in Suzail, the Ohmtalakar Collection is comprised of a fabulous collection of "gem books" made of rare metals. Such tomes have gemstones set into the pages, around which a description of the lore and history of each gem is written. The collection takes its name from a family of gem dealers in Waterdeep that have partnered with the Illances. (Ohmtalakar's Fine Gems, Sea Ward, run by Thanthrabbas Ohmtalakar.)

7. The Oromanche Collection
A private collection owned by the matriarch of the Oromanche family. Highlights include several tomes describing magic items, magic item identification methods and divinely cursed magic items capable of slaying the unwary, such as the Sword of Spells. Several tomes on lost mines, dungeons and accounts from adventurers. The Oromanches are a wealthy merchant family and recent arrivals from far away Mosstone. They intend to sponsor adventuring companies for the purpose of bettering Cormyr, and use their cut of the treasure they believe will soon flow their way to elevate their status in Suzail, all with an eye to obtaining a noble title.

8. Morligul and Mountarn, Mapmakers
Also binders, printers, copyists, and purveyors of writing mediums from common to rare. The aptly named Mountarn is a hulking mass of muscle and a talented spellcaster--with a reputation for dirty tricks and maiming his opponents in spell brawls. He is also the shorter of the two mapmakers. His partner Morligul is giant-blooded, standing eight and one half feet tall, and possesses a thorough knowledge of the kinds of wood, stone, metal and other materials used by various races for recording written information. Their collection of map books and map scrolls is extensive and growing. They will copy any map presented to them for a fee that includes their making a copy for their own collection. Their bindery mark is a capital M standing over a second, inverted M.

9. The Dump
The place where overprinted chapbooks, yesterday's broadsheets and handbills for events that have come and gone all go to die. Merchants looking to offload tomes at cut rate prices find the place useful, as do desperate for coin individuals desiring to liquidate their written assets. The idly curious and those looking to quickly build a collection of writings in order to pass themselves off as well to do are typical of the buyers to be found here. The Dump occupies a one story warehouse near Suzail's docks.

10. The Doomwarden's Repository
A place where you can come to hear the dead read aloud in their own voice. For a stiff fee one may submit an original piece of writing produced by the hand of a deceased individual. The written work is interred and given the full pomp and circumstance by a priest of Kelemvor, the ceremony ending in a mausoleum where the tome is laid to rest. Once a year, or more frequently for a considerable charge, one may come and request a reading. This entails a priest removing the tome and casting a long spell that awakens the spirit left in the book, that allows one to hear the voice of the book's writer as the priest reads aloud what's written on each page.

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xaeyruudh
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Posted - 14 Mar 2015 :  15:49:36  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Good stuff! The Abbey and the Dump sound most like my kind of place, but there's a lot to like here.

I recently discovered a used bookstore downtown with probably a literal ton of books for cheap, some of them in new condition. I've picked up several old FR, Ravenloft, and Xanth books --and even a d20 Dark Matter book that I didn't know existed-- for a dollar apiece. Bookstores are paper treasure troves; every city needs a few.
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xaeyruudh
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Posted - 14 Mar 2015 :  15:55:15  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer

8. A life size statue with a cloth hood over its head stands before the PCs. If the hood is removed, the statue's flesh and blood eyes open wide and anyone it makes eye contact with is turned to stone, save for their eyes.


I meant to say earlier that this is supercreepy. It's a good thing I don't have a group right now, because I would run this, and they would have nightmares and stop talking to me.
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 14 Mar 2015 :  19:09:25  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Book finds like that are awesome. They are also the reason I carry credit card debt.

quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh

I meant to say earlier that this is supercreepy. It's a good thing I don't have a group right now, because I would run this, and they would have nightmares and stop talking to me.

Glad to hear it. That's a hoped for side effect of all this thumb typing I have been doing (on an iPad mini).

That encounter idea is one I have had in my head in one form or another for awhile now. A turn to stone effect like this seems like it could spread quickly, and was the inspiration for the middle entry for the month of Eleint in the Year of the Ageless One, in my Current Clack write up found here: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19513#455429

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xaeyruudh
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Posted - 14 Mar 2015 :  22:08:23  Show Profile  Visit xaeyruudh's Homepage Send xaeyruudh a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy Grenemyer

A turn to stone effect like this seems like it could spread quickly, and was the inspiration for the middle entry for the month of Eleint in the Year of the Ageless One, in my Current Clack write up found here: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19513#455429



Yea, I can see it shutting down an inn or other business. I think the scenario that occurred to me is one possible foundation for yours.

An abandoned manor, in a run-down part of the city... Waterdeep, Suzail, Lyrabar, could be anywhere. Inside, off the main receiving chamber, is a long hall of statues honoring the achievements of this mostly-forgotten family. One of the statues is one of these statues. Despite it's decrepit appearance, however, the manor is not entirely abandoned. Lots of possibilities for what lurks there; maybe a cult, maybe a psychotic branch of the same family that once openly lived there (I might use this for one of the Karanok properties), or something nonhuman. The only requirement is that they don't draw attention to themselves, because in order to work this menace has to remain invisible. Any such "abandoned with its treasure still inside" and "probably haunted" property will draw a steady stream of paupers, down on their luck adventurers, and daring local urchins... each of which will quickly discover the hall of stone. The unseen residents of the manor then remove the statues from the hall, so that nothing looks suspicious when the next chump arrives.

Once the desired number (a dozen? a few score?) of them are accumulated, they're moved to their intended destinations. For example, in Waterdeep, on the front porches of key homes (facing the front door) and businesses (facing outward). They've been gathered without raising a commotion, and once placed there are no obvious clues to identify the culprits. A bit of magic can remove the less-obvious clues as well. Plus, the location where these statues were all created isn't necessarily in Waterdeep; maybe the statues were shipped there, or moved via a temporary portal or teleportation circle, or maybe they were sent to Skullport and brought up via various secret avenues to the surface. So boom, big commotion happens, and the city eventually recovers... meanwhile, elsewhere, statues are still being accumulated, one by one, as the shelter-seeking poor and unfortunate of some other place slowly disappear.

Moving a human-sized statue around is probably not a one-man operation (by my simple math, an average-ish granite man is around 450 lbs, not to mention the awkward dimensions). But there are options like reduce spells and portable holes, and plus... if they're petrified now, why would they need the rest of their body? Just take the head and move it to wherever you need it, and um... sell the headless body on the black market. People are sick; they'll buy anything.

And just now something more horrific came to mind.

Back in BECMI D&D, there was a monster called a living statue. There were a few different varieties, but what if these peculiar petrifications result in statues which can move? Then they're not just standing there waiting to be discovered by their victims... they're walking around looking for them.

Also: beholders. Many eyes, pointing in every direction, just beggin you to notice them. Could their eye spells turn into petrification beams?

Just sayin. Pants shall be wetted.
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Jeremy Grenemyer
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Posted - 15 Mar 2015 :  05:24:45  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Wow...I haven't thought about living statues in a long time!

What a brilliant way to wreak havoc. Or to just spread a curse and perhaps make more living statues. I think it would be interesting if people caught in the transformation effect are eventually called by the living statues that made them, so they can move about and find their way to their new master.

I had this idea that the Crown might move all the statues out of The Old King's Favorite and store them in the Royal Court or Palace. That would be a very interesting room for adventurers to stumble upon.

Edit: what if you took the stone heads and mortared them into a defensive wall? Hah!

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Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 15 Mar 2015 05:27:07
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