Woland - A Collaborative Mythic Realm - Part 1
Part I
This is part of an ongoing project that you can read about here.
-=-=-
There are conveniently 20 hex-flowers so participants may roll a d20 to determine which hex-flower they are allowed to fill in. I rolled a 17 so this is my hex-flower:
The realm has 6 holdings, which might make it a little cramped, so let's make this holding essentially a non-player. There should be some potential to be a threat at some later point, but for now the holding isn't muddling in anyone's business. The picture above depicts the holding in a specific hex that needn't be the actual location of the holding, but unless some reason pops up, it will stay there, since that hex is fitting.
Holding (first thoughts)
The denizens should have little need for outside contact. Which raises the question of what does a holding look like that has almost zero trade. Zombies and ghosts come to mind, but that just might be a vibe for a different project. There might be some inspiration in the stories of Asterix and Obelix, but instead of a potion that grants crazy strength, it might be more fitting to have a potion that heals. So no illness and wounds, and denizens have gotten used to living hungry and when their stomach lining starts burning itself away, they just take a swig!
This also means the holding could be a good spot to visit when myths like the Plague hit.
So now the holding has food security by removing the need to eat altogether, but what is the reason this holding seeks no conquest. And while I am at it, I should probably think up a reason why others are keen to avoid the holding. Mentioning the holding to someone in the realm should be met with raised eyebrows and the question "why would you want to go there?".
Since the holding has this wonderful potion there must be some druid-like person to brew it. Maybe there's a better answer for that! A potion might be too "fantasy", but mercury isn't! Which also means that there is no druid, but an alchemist. And how does this snuff the desire for conquest? Well, the alchemist took a healthy dose of the mercury and decided they had just perfected their own body and the logical thing to do next is to clone that perfect body. If a holding consists solely of one person and their clones, and they are solitarily inclined, well now, that looks like an answer to me!
Mercury
It shouldn't just be mercury though. Let's see, mercury is often called quicksilver, so how about this stuff being quickgold? Quickcopper? Quicksodium? Okay, quickcopper works because that means it could be metallic orange or dull green. Or both!
The Alchemist
Time to flesh out this individual ...hang on, die roll.... ok, time to flesh out this guy. He should probably have a rather pompous name. The names in the book aren't pompous enough, so let's mash some words together to create Monteglielle Gallarvantius (probably not his birth name). I like names where players feel a little silly repeating them.
Assuming Monteglielle has been using quickcopper for a while, he will be exceptionally old, but still in the body of a (hang on, die roll...) middle-aged man. It will be up to referees exactly how many clones there have been made in all this time.
But how has Monteglielle been filling his time? I like the idea of having several options and picking one when the players interact with this holding. So here are some ideas:
- An array of cogs and levers that predicts the arrival of myths and the power to control them.
- A way to transcend into a seer (preferably without some of the negative quirks).
- Upload one's consciousness into the world and break free of the confines of weak flesh.
- Link the minds of every clone to create a hivemind.
- How to fall into a cauldron of quickcoppper and benefit from its properties in perpetuity.
The Holding (architecture)
An alchemist losing sanity should probably live in a tower, so how about a tower that reaches the clouds and plunges into the earth just as far, if not further. It makes sense that the quickcopper is harvested/brewed at some level in the basement. And that the cloning procedure happens some place high up. Maybe lightning can play a role.
All the focus on the tower means that other buildings that once surrounded the tower have been stripped for building materials.
Defensive Walls
This holding should not have normal walls, Monteglielle has had enough time to build something else. The image of oppressive plant-life around the castle in Sleeping Beauty comes to mind. So the tower is surrounded by thorny vines. That's bland. How about the vines are maroon and bleed deep red blood (type O negative). The vines form stiff resistance to travellers, but part for Monteglielle. How do are they able to sense him? Is it DNA? How do they even know what DNA is? Weird, huh?
Holding (name)
There might be a point in history when the holding had a different name, but now there is only the tower left and only Monteglielles live there so it should be called Tower Gallarvantius.
Missing Clones
It makes sense that at Tower Gallarvantius the denizens refer to each other by their cloning order. So when one asks Monteglielle XIV where the candlestick holders are, you could expect to be directed one floor up and where one should speak to Monteglielle LXI or Monteglielle the LXXVI, it depends who's on duty.
The next step is to fill in important positions at Tower Gallarvantius:
- Ruler: Monteglielle I
- Steward: Monteglielle III
- Marshal: Monteglielle IV
- Sheriff: Monteglielle XVII
- Envoy: vacant
- The Circle: Monteglielle VI, Monteglielle VII and Ser Plembard the Silver Knight
The cool thing is that other holdings might have a Monteglielle petitioner who the players could interact with. An individual who undoubtedly speaks fondly of his home.
At this point it seems that potential referees could infer a lot about the character of Monteglielle, so further describing personality seems unnecessary.
Tower Gallarvantius (Summary)
The tower stands in fields of thorny vines. It reaches the clouds and sinks equally far into the earth. Is inhabited by Montelielle Gallarvantius and his clones. Has quickcopper facilities in the basement and science facilities on the upper floors.
This holding is satisfactory so far, there are strange and interesting elements to it. But the biggest flaw is that it is not a powder keg waiting to explode. A decent referee could make it that, but the written words do not (yet) contain that keg. Something to think about.
Let's add another landmark to the hex-flower!
The Pond (first thoughts)
The landmarks that Chris wrote about in this blogpost are stellar. The pond in particular is really great, so why not use it here. Given the nature of this project, hopefully another creator creates the connecting pond in their hex-flower.
It seems a cool idea that one need sail "through" the portal. How would this work with a pond? Voluntary capsize? A plunge into the whirlpool? Patience during heavy showers? Nothing grabs me, so this gets put on hold.
Landscape
This pond need be nested somewhere and perusing Pinterest left me with some ideas (as well as taking up more time than I would like to admit). The rabbit-hole of "fantasy ponds" eventually led to "spooky river arches" and maybe the solution required is an overgrown arch that one would sail through, had they the intention to translocate.
Dolmenwood has great fairy roads that one must travel between magic portals. Creating a fleshed out path might work for this too, but being weary of project-bloat it might be best for another time (maybe another creator!). The time-shenanigans is something that is ripe for theft though. Making this concept fit into this game this portal has a 1-in-6 chance of shunting passengers forward a season (an age?).
Seasons
Seasons are a great element of the game to play around with, so sticking with that idea, the pond ought to to be different depending on the season!
During winter it's probably frozen. But it should be easily broken. Let's use the art in Mythic Bastionland and roll for it and see what happens. (1-11) So the Talon Knight! Owls? The ice shatters at nightfall? Birds fly below the ice? Hmmm, well the art depicts the knight in free fall, so the ice breaks if someone falls on it? This might be too broad, so instead boots shatter the ice, but the ice entirely halts vessels. That works!
And building on the creatures under the surface, how about large winged fish in fiery colours swim about!
Now Harvest!
An element of harvest that is just begging for exaggeration here is the bugs and the sweltering heat. In search of more inspiration a new roll (1-7) brings forth the Willow Knight, so the bugs should obviously be termites that snack on vessels! The same page holds the artwork for the Carved Seer and the lungs that Alec created jump out. So these aquatic termites have abdomen that grow and shrink as they breathe.
If these guys live here then there should be plenty submerged wood for them to eat!
Looking over the Willow art piece again, they are clearly taking a break under the tree, so that should translate to the termites resting at night, or maybe just darkness. (Which brings the strange paradox of safety during dark storms and night).
..and finally Spring!
Another roll (2-8) brings up the Shield Knight. Neither art pieces really spark anything immediately, but the table of Soothing Salves stands out. So in Spring the water here smells of (3) pepper and causes (4) sorrow. I'll leave it up to future referees if the water need be drunk to induce this effect or if inhalation is sufficient.
Looking at the art piece for the Shield Knight again, the undulating field of grass and white blossoms might work here as well. So that's noted!
Pond (summary)
The pond has a mossy arch that one need sail through to translocate to elsewhere, there is a 1-in6 chance to jump forward a season. When arriving in the hex consult the following to determine characteristics:
- Spring: The surface is covered in grass and white blossoms, the water smells of pepper and causes sorrow.
- Harvest: Aquatic termites that clearly have lungs, docile in darkness.
- Winter: Clear ice that breaks under boots, large winged fire-tinted fish.
Hex-flower (terrain)
Reading over the last landmark it sparked that the hex-flower should be mostly a submerged forest. But looking at the art of the Willow Knight once more, there should really be a small island with a single willow.
And the region is called "Lone Willow" since names like "The Last Willow" and "Willow of Solitude" didn't feel right.
Having the hex-flower mostly submerged also opens up a way to reach Tower Gallarvantius if one travel by water, where the thorny vines are conveniently submerged.
Art
I am a horribly inexperienced with digital art, it's something I am still working at. It doesn't help that I am horribly slow. So despite two art pieces are required for each hex-flower I will show the mock-up I made for my hex-flower and update this post at a later date.
Maybe my art (that is mediocre at best) will be signal to others to not hold back from this project if their art is less than stellar.
I guess once slotted into the main map it is somewhat less bad ☺.
Comments
Post a Comment