My wife is trying to tell me about this scandalous practice of asking more money from patients if they have better insurance and it all sounds terrible and I hate it. This is Switzerland. I once heard that our health care system is only the second most expensive one in the world. Nothing to be proud of, for sure. I’m trying to distract myself by writing.
When I don’t know what to write, I like to go back to my Hex Describe tables. I was reading through an Alpine mini-setting as I often do, and then I noticed how there were about 10 necropolis hexes out of 300 in total. Unacceptable, I thought. I need more things to populate mountain hexes.
I remembered how I wanted to write descriptions that acted as inter-planar roads, connecting Midgard (Middle Earth, our world) to the other realms. I’m using the Norse cosmology, more or less. So I have a road to Niflheim, and to Muspelheim. My list of realms Asgard, Alfheim, Midgard, Myrkheim, Jötunheim, Vanaheim, Niflheim, and Muspelheim. So I picked Vanaheim.
Based on previous notes I had, my Vanaheim is the home of Pazuzu and vulture demons, jinn (my lords of air), and invisible stalkers.
Pazuzu is the demon lord of pestilence, of miscarriage, of famine and disease, of crows and vultures, of temptation and betrayal. His tower Sandstein was built in Vanaheim. Vanaheim is a windswept realm where the vanquished demon lords of old eek out their existence before fading away. It is a realm of violence and madness, but also of hidden wisdom and fertility. Pazuzu is based on the Assyro-Babylonian god. Vanaheim, the hidden realm of the old gods: red sky, blue sunsets, rust deserts, deep green valleys – Halberds & Helmets: Running the Game
Halberds & Helmets: Running the Game
So I wanted something in the mountains, with monsters populated along these lines: vulture demons, invisible stalkers, jinn, maybe tengu (crow people). I’m still thinking about tengu. Do they belong to Odin because of the crows? I don’t think so. The Wikipedia page for Vanaheim mentions that it is also a place of prophecy:
Vanaheimr is a location associated with the Vanir, a group of gods themselves associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. – Vanaheimr
Ok, and remember how Odin got the gift of the runes by sacrificing himself (“to himself”) on the world tree? So maybe Odin stole this gift from some ancient god in Vanaheim, and then told this self-sacrifice story, and those old powers are still available, there. And so crows and crow people, and all sorts of winged and invisible creatures are a great fit for Vanaheim – even if Odin has two ravens called Huginn and Muginn and is a prophet.
So I start with my random tables, as I do…
That’s right. I don’t have much more. Just an introduction.
Two entries:
I already have tables for demon names, and I have vulture demon stats.
Again, just two entries, in order to get a feel for it:
I’m growing fond of adding snippets of direct speech that I can read to my players if I can’t think of anything to say. It can’t be long, and it must imply some sort of follow-up: how is it going to grany you your heart’s desires? Does it fulfill wishes? (No.) Where are the demon’s brothers and sisters now? Was the punishment deserved?
Yay, I also have tables for jinn names and for jinn stats. Good to go!
Two more entries. I really need to present fragments of lore that players can piece together into something, without me actually knowing the lore. Remember up above the fragments about Vanaheim I do now? A war between the old and the new gods. The ancient Greeks had the gods fight the titans, and the ancient Norse had the Æsir fight the Vanir, seems to be a common idea. Surely a conquering people brought their gods along and as the people vanquished the locals, so did their pantheon triumph over the local pantheon. I bet I can mooch ideas from the wars of the city states in Mesopotamia, or maybe some ideas from Hinduism. I just have to find inspiration for some half-baked ideas to transmogrify. This has to do for now.
Atop the highest mountain here stands the ruin of an ancient temple to the five winds: a circle of sixty columns, each 100ft high. In the middle of this circle lies a stone block. The **vulture demon** *The Last Sun of the Gods* has been nailed to it with silver spikes (HD 8+1 AC 5 1d4/1d4/1d6/1d6/1d8 F16 MV 18 ML 11; flying; only harmed by magic or magic weapons). “I beg you! Release me! I was innocently nailed to this altar, betrayed by my brothers and sisters.” It’s begging is inescapable up here. The **jinni** called *Eye of the Storm* guards the demon (HD 7+1 AC 5 2d8 F14 MV 24 ML 12 XP 700; *illusion*, *invisibility*, *gaseous form*, *whirlwind* and *creation* at will; only harmed by magic or magic weapons) with an illusion of corrupting black and green fire surrounding the demon. If anybody approaches, it shows itself as a flame spirit and warns you: “Do not approach or the corruption of this demon will transform you into hell maggots.” The demon disagrees, of course! “Don’t fall for this illusion! The flames are not real.”
I like it. It’s a good start.
Stuff I’m going to dream up: tengus. Vulture demons tied down by spiders, being bled as a source of power, imagery of fallen angels, take another look at Neo Genesis Evangelion, To Kill 6 Million Demons.
Visual imagery for good parts:
Add more red desert. I’m thinking of Mars. Or the first level of hell in D&D, Avernus. A red sky? Or a blue sky? Red sand? A battleground? Sure!
#Hex Describe #RPG
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Here’s what I have:
– Alex 2021-11-27 09:52 UTC