DM-Nastics #87: It's the Journey And The Destination

Pic. 10 (bound floating trees)

centuries ago, a githzerai monastic order that originated on the plane of Limbo used botany as a way to study the elements and by comparison themselves. This lead to the creation of the Feather Trees (trees that float).

The order expanded and a branch was created on the material plane. They, of course, brought the Feather Trees with them.

In more recent history a pirate lord came upon this unique resource and butchered all the monks of the order and stealing the trees. He then commissioned the best shipbuilder to create the first flying ships.

So, present day, a small island has the only known source of Feather Trees. A group of sky pirates are pillaging the world and guarding the little island with their very lives. Also, scouts were sent by the githzerai order to determine what happened to the material plane branch.

As a first post, I'll take the first picture

Where is this?

The ruins of the lost Lustrine palace of Sola, deep in a valley gouged out by a glacier in ancient times. Geologically-recent rockfalls and treefalls have redirected streams through the centuries-abandoned city, with one such stream now flowing through the collapsed roof of the palace's grand antechamber. Additionally, the long years of neglect have enabled local vegetation to begin to reclaim the city. In another century's time, the entire city will be leveled to the foundations.

Why would your players want to travel here?


If nothing else, the treasures of the lost Lustrine civilization are a nice draw to get aspiring adventurers to make the climb up the Delurian mountains. In ages past, the people of Lustra were masters of artifice. Even their simple tools became imbued with a level of arcane magic not seen in recent years. As such, any number of arcanists, crafters, and archaeological researchers would pay good coin for any number of items that could be lifted from the moldering halls. Furthermore, only those who descend from the Lustrine royal line can open the doorways into the deepest reaches of the palace. In these innermost chambers, one can find the truth behind the city's abandonment.

What difficulties do they face getting here?


The foothills of the Delurian mountains are swarming with goblins and their "trained" pseudodragons. The mountains themselves can be treacherous at certain times of year, either during the winter snows or the spring thaws. The plants of the forest are every bit as hostile as the goblins - perhaps a lingering effect from whatever caused the city to fall to ruin. Furthermore, the city itself isn't half as dead as it appears, and the blackened corpses of those who have broken its silence in years past still wander its streets and prey upon those who follow them.

Number 9 really calls out to me, particularly after listening to ep 106...

Where is this?
It makes little sense to ask where the Garden of Growth Without Life is, much like many places in the far realm. This little pocket of almost reality is located in the Proxima of the chaos seas, and it is unclear if the Garden of Growth Without Life is a places or a thing. Growth without Life is a known Old One, it's notable creations are things which appear as if they are alive while being entirely not living. This garden is an epitome of this. The garden seems filled with fungal growths each strange and dynamic, but still none of it is alive in any sense of the word. It even has 'beasts' which wander the garden but even these aren't alive.

Why would your players want to travel here?
Only fools and madmen would want to travel to the garden, for only death and madness lies there. Yet if one is powerful enough it is possible to warp the garden with their mind, allowing the traveler to create works of such impossibility that it would be impossible to render them anywhere else. It is not necessary to travel there in the flesh though. Some walk the gardens in their dreams, and gain such gifts of the mind which grant powers unknown to others.

What difficulties do they face getting here?
Travel to anywhere in the far realm is unsure and unsafe. Trying to travel to the garden in the flesh requires passage through a portal, very few of these are found in the world. The only known portals in the world are found in the Underdark, in a mushroom forest of the Growth Without Life's design. The forest's very air is poisonous causing different effects completely at random. To travel there in a dream is also perilous, the easiest way to do so is to consume potent poisons formed from unliving fungi. Those who posses boons from the Growth Without Life can also undergo such a pilgrimage.

I am going to try to tackle number 4.  I'm entitling this picture "The Leviathan of Death"

Where is this?

The Leviathan of Death has a historic past.  It started as a myth.  During the worst storms of my world it is said that the Leviathan would sail through the clouds of the storm, and absorb the souls of the dead.  The souls would be tethered to the Leviathan and forced to row the ships giant bone-shaped oars.  Stories are varied.  Some say the ship follows the storm to mask its movements, and some say the ship is the storm and the chaos caused in its wake is the result of the souls of the dead reaching out for anything that will save them from eternal torment.  The Helmsman, a chaotic evil demigod, is the one who chooses where the ship would go, but was found and embattled by the Goddess Zintris for its corruption of death, and the God Ycnos for disrupting the normal course of storms.  The epic battle led to the imprisonment of the Helmsman, but not the destruction of the ship which crashed to the ground.  The ship now plagues the once pristine land and is only crewed by the imprisoned souls and the mindless devils that walk the deck.

Why would your players want to travel here?


The stories of the battles and those seeking glory call warriors and adventurers from all over.  The corpses of devils and angels dot the landscape of the ships destruction and many seek the treasure of both evil and good.  The only sources of light are the artifacts of the Angels that to this day beat back the ships oppressive nature.  Some are called on quests to rid the land of this plague, but none have found a way to destroy the ship or counteract its scourge.

What difficulties do they face getting here?

Upon entering the clearly defined scourge, the players would be forced to have their spirits buoyed by songs of bards, magical protections or a Paladin's or Cleric's faithful intervention.  Any of those who seek this land without those protections would suffer madness, curses, and eventually death.  Spells such as Lesser or Greater Restoration could cure them of these curses, but part of the living persons soul would be tethered to the ship forever, this causing nightmares and a constant waking headache.  Only seeking areas of Life, Happiness, and Tranquility could eventually free them from this torment.  Many adventurers who live through their attempts at going here would most likely have to spend their lives in Monasteries and Temples devoted to meditation.

No one knows what causes the oppressive nature of the Leviathan, but there are many theories.  Some say the souls of the dead are spreading their reach and seeking more company in death, and others say the natural destruction of the Devils' presence is causing the scourge. 

So, I am still in a backlog on the podcast, just listened to DM-Nastics 26, and I was unaware until today that we were doing stuff to build the world Dayeimbe (sp?).  I guess when I saw the picture I was using I instantly thought "How can I build this for my world?" and used the Gods that would have participated in the battle for the ship.  Perhaps someone can look at my post and try to associate them with the correct gods?  Those two gods in my world are the Goddess of Death (among other things) and the God of Tempests and Storms.  I might have to go somewhere to dig for the Pantheon.

That being said, it could easily be factored into Dayeimbe. Just gotta tweak the gods a bit, I haven't copyrighted my stories yet!

Number 6.

Yggdrasil (very Norse inspired)
Yggdrasil the world tree. A tree of portals that connect s to other planes of existence. Because it connects to so many worlds it only makes sense that a city would form inside and on the tree. The city is make up of all types of planer beings.

Why wouldn't an adventurer want to come here? This is a city of portal! There's adventures for eons here!

The trick is getting there though... many folks of the material plane make pilgrimages here but few make the journey. (One does not simply walk into Yggdrasil) unless you find a portal or teleportation circle I suppose. But for those low level characters brave enough to journey through the monster infested sea that surrounds the tree. And if they survive that they must make their way through a hedge maze with strange fey ready to play tricks on pilgrims.