:: Random NPC—Wyrtweard, Stranger of Darkness ::

Wyrtweard (“Plant-Guard”)

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/28/15

Race: Stranger (Minor God from Another World)

Age: Venerable

Gender: Male

Stature: Average

Physical: Short Neck

Outwardly: Cheerful

Inwardly: Domineering

Profession: Gardener

Magic: Avatar—Darkness

Catchphrase: “Hello! What exactly brings you to my neck of the woods?”

You turn the map around in your hands, convinced it has somehow changed while you weren’t looking. The canopy of the dense jungle seems to choke the light of day into a dull haze, preventing you from gaining your bearings. Resolving that staying put could not possibly be better than pressing on, you step over one of several identical patches of shaggy ink cap mushrooms, choose a direction, and start walking. Suddenly, you are met by an invisible wall. No, not a wall, but a crumpled—yet infinitely sturdy—old man whose head seems to have collapsed onto his shoulders with nothing in between. He was so well integrated with the shadows that you did not notice him before. “Hello!” he says with a light laugh, as if he were greeting you at the entrance to a festival on a sunny day. “What exactly brings you to my neck of the woods?”

:: Random Location—Pasture of the White Warriors ::

Pasture of the White Warriors

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/23/15

Land Area: Pasture

Weather: Light Hail

Conditions: Unsettling, Charred

Color: White

Keyword: Warrior

An unsettling scene rolls out before you: all of the land from your feet to the foot of the mountains lays wasted, white with a thick blanket of ash. Underneath this covering, you know the pasture’s once-green grass is now only charred black soot. A light hail of volcanic rock still falls from the fume-black sky, thin flames trailing behind each marble-sized chunk. The sound of the fiery stones clinking against metal on all sides tells you of fallen warriors, entombed in their own armor and buried along with the pasture, the volcano having silently breathed white death into their bodies. Then, from under the ash, you see pairs of bright white lights, blown to life as if with a bellows...

:: Random Item—Abacus of Hayat ::

Abacus of Hayat

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/23/15

Tools: Mathematics

Color: Bronze

Conditions: Ancient, Dull

Keyword: Blood

Among the valuables in the room, you see a square, free-standing bronze frame with thirteen horizontal rods going through it at regular intervals. Each of these bears seven dull bronze beads; five to one side, and two to the other side of a dividing sheet of bronze. A single bead on the bottom rod has been pushed to the right, where it shines with the same vibrant red as a glossy drop of fresh blood. Near the abacus, you see the remains of a corpse—evidently withered dry millennia ago—which appears to be pointing directly at the glossy red bead. On the tip of its finger, you notice a dessicated black pit the size of a small marble.