The Immensity of Lotus Blossoms

The Undercroft #2 is finished! More or less. All that stands between it the printer is a couple of minor bits. What a to do, what a to do.

I must say, bi-monthly is looking more and more feasible. Stay tuned. Or don't, I'm just a blog post not your mum. Anyway, have some content:

The Yellow Lands

The Immensity of Sky

Climb to the top of Mt. Yatenga, the Sky Tower, without help or tools. You must climb without food or supplies, with your bare hands and feet until you reach the perfectly flat, barren top. Here you must lay down and commune with the Immensity of Sky, nowhere else are you so close to its Vastness. Each day of laying there you have a cumulative 1% chance of gaining favour. If you eat or drink the chance will reset. Every morning there is a 1 in 6 chance enough dew forms on you to count as drinking for that day (does not reset the chance of favour).

An nganga at work

1. Qadhi gives and takes away, though he has no urgency. Cure Light Wounds once per day per wisdom modifier. Each additional time this is rolled upgrade it to Serious through Critical and finally Heal.
2. Everything on A'ard's face is merely a few steps away. The nganga walks out of sight around a corner and appears elsewhere as Word of Recall, once per day.
3. The walking dead are anathema under this Immense Sky: you may Turn Undead once per day per wisdom bonus. You may do it at will while the Roof of the World is above your heads, forcing the dead to look up and see infinity awaiting them.
4. No sorcerer can lay his evil eye upon you. Witchlamp Aura once per day per wisdom bonus.
5. The Eye of the Sun burns fiercely in The People. Bless once per day per wisdom bonus.
6. After communing with the Old Leech mortals are simple creatures by comparison. Suggestion once per day per charisma bonus.
7. The Sky covers the world, not only at the peak of Yatenga. Contact Outer Sphere once per week per wisdom bonus.
8. You understand the subtle interactions of the gods and can influence their flow. Control Weather once per week per wisdom bonus.
9. You can cast out evil spirits with authority. Dispel Magic - Dispel Evil once per day per wisdom bonus.
10. We are all Children of the Sun. Speak with Animals once per day per charisma bonus.
11. Qadhi can be entreated to loosen his grip. Speak With Dead once per day per charisma bonus.
12. An Nganga speaks with knowledge of the gods and understands the deep magic, no blade may touch him. Protection from normal weapons once per day per wisdom bonus.

Llamalackelkloulothllimptishavakothvoutxikliklalpvanipvan, The Devourer

Albinos are sacred and pegged for greatness

Eating the laklishi lotus bulb is an act of holy communion directly with the spirit of the great swamp. They are, however, incredibly toxic. Save vs. posion or take 1d10xd10 damage and cannot talk for d3 months and will need help walking for a week as you have suffered what resembles a stroke- though the swamp people insist it is merely the response of a weak mind in the presence of the Devourer. +3 to your save if you are an albino. If you are successful, roll on the table below.

An alternative and altogether more risky path to enlightenment is through eating demonic flesh. The denizens of the sub-worlds can meet a final death in the belly of the Devourer. To do this one must eat the majority of the creatures, including its head and heart or nearest approximation of both. Once ingested, the diner must spiritually "wrestle" the dinee, using wisdom bonuses instead of strength. If the shaman wins, they may roll on the table (and may shift 1 point up or down per demon HD, the Devourer especially enjoys this), if the demon wins they will possess their body. The demon can then shift back to its original form or that of the priest at will. The cleric is of course dead.



1-5 - You spontaneously Commune with The Devourer with no possibility of upsetting it. The experience is immensely pleasing and produces a profound feeling of connectedness.

6 - In a world where Dutch courage isn't a thing, laklishi courage is. Cast Heroism on yourself once per day per constitution modifier.

7 - If you can quieten the blood pounding in your ears you can hear the rich undercurrent of voices. Ability to cast Augury once per day per wisdom modifier.

8 - The most holy of acts, the consumption of sentient beings, perfected into an act of singular connection. Ability to cast Last Meal once per day per wisdom modifier.

9 - The great swamp is full of dangers. You may suck out poison from others or sweat out poison in your own system thanks to a prodigious resistance to toxic effects. Works as Delay Poison once per day per constitution modifier and requires you to physically suck it or sweat it out. If this result is rolled again, the effect becomes Neutralise Poison.

10 - When they say it's just the laklishi talking you turn and tell them "I am the laklishi". Your bodily fluids will cause Feeblemindedness if consumed by others. Approximately a teaspoon will do.

11 - It takes a force of will, and you must squint just so, but you are used to mind altering situations and can Detect Illusion once per day per constitution modifier.

12 - You have seen the logic that lies beneath and can explain it if only they will listen. You may inflict Forget once per day per wisdom bonus. You must both touch and talk to them to do this.

A beautiful laklishi blossom

Some contend that The Devourer isn't a god at all, merely the hallucination of a nation of drug users. So far no ambitious theologians have taken the trek into the Great Swamp to argue their points in person, but they assure us they will get around to it any day now.

Africa-land Mapping

Signing in to confirm my continued existence. This last week has been a solid wall of play testing and map making for Africa-land and Dead City stuff, plus my usual gaming obligations. It's got to the point where both groups are on the brink of heading straight into the desert to find the city so I've had to pick up speed as a result.


I've continued to chop away at Spears of Dawn until it fits the hole I've set aside for it in my campaign, namely to frame the desert that will house the Dead City. The latest step in this process has been to re-imagine the map. I've tried to stay close to the source material in spirit, keeping most of the names and general spacial relations, but changing bits and pieces as they suit my style (both aesthetic and gaming). The result is quite pretty, I feel.

It looks small because it's zoomed way out. If I were to print this it would be about two metres long. So, rather big. From this distance you can hardly make out the rivers or the words, but that's JPGs for you.

Click here for the outrageously huge and high quality version.



Here's how it all fits together so far.

The big red rectangle is the above map overlayed on the world map. See that tiny red square in the top? That's this map. The Three Lands and adjacent Ekidna Desert is rather big in comparison to puny old Vornheim and the Kairnlaws. The desert itself stretches off into the heart of the continent, hiding the Dead City in it's drifting dunes.

I'm working on a bigger scale than I'm used to and have so far enjoyed it. Fewer rivers to figure out, no roads to draw, and I can quite legitimately not mark anything other than the largest most important places on the map. When a hex is 36 miles across you can hand wave all sorts of things.

Morning Letters

"That particular confusion is remedied", Garu nudged the man with his foot. "He was alive."

The corpse twitched and blood pumped from the hole in its chest as though bailed out by tiny hands. Kahn let the shard slip back to the white sand, slick with blood.

Garu was already headed up the dune, feet crunching through the glass, "I wouldn't throw yourself into the sand because of it. We have important work to pursue and he was undeniably slowing us down. In quieter times we would have cleared the shards days ago. It is fitting they be used to test his mortality."

Not sadness, not guilt, more an irritation and disappointment. He was wrong and wasteful. This man was not of the city.

The Immensity of Sky

A rough outline of a the pantheon I'll be using for a LotFP hack of +Kevin Crawford's Spears of Dawn. It'll be further fleshed out as the weeks go by and players start needing more info on the religion they're involved in.

It is assumed that the details of worship vary hugely from kingdom to kingdom, from village to village, so we can only talk in generalities and may cheerily change it as we please.

A wealthy urban dibia (priest) performing her craft

The Immensity of Sky 

The creator, source of the world, father of earth, mother of stars, the point of departure and conclusion, the origin and the end. It is a disinterested god and those wishing to honour him have had to go through intermediaries who are not so distant from humanity so as to be unreachable. Traditionally it hasn't been worshipped directly but a dedicated cult have achieved popularity in recent years.

Major aspects:

A'ard

Earth goddess, literally the earth we stand on.

Mapenzi, Will of the people, Who Brings the Thunder

The free will of the people. God of thunder and lightning. Popular in times of war, worship of this deity has ensured the people of the Yellow Lands their reputation of being indomitable in the face of foreign control. Though they may inflict the most horrendous aspects of war upon each other they are all of the People and those not of the People will not stand over them.

Bara-Ondi, Eye of the Sun

Lives in the sun, the eye of the Sky, the eye of eyes. Seen as being the perfect example of what a human can be, perfect in every way.

An unrelated gentleman standing guard

Roog, Husband of A'ard, The Rainkeeper

Primary fertility god, responsible for the harvest as he brings rain to his wife, A'ard.

Lesser aspects:

Qadhi, He Who Felled the First Tree

God of healing and death. Nomads of the Ekidna desert worship him exclusively and have a far more fundamental and nihilistic attitude, befitting those committed to watching the Dead City. For the more typical dibia, Qadhi is merely the embodiment of The End and not quite so fatalistic.

Ndogo, Guardian of Yams

In some kingdoms there is a tradition of young children being sent from their homes and dedicated to the service of this deity. They take the name of Ndogo and till the fields. As adults such children are expected to become prosperous yam farmers, one of the few routes into nobility. As such many poor parents are eager to have their children chosen for this honour.

Baba Zetu, All our Fathers

The amalgamation of every ancestor spirit. People have a very personal relation to this deity and will often talk to it for months after the loss of a close loved one. These conversations won't be exclusively in a ritual context, indeed it's common to see a bereaved husband talking happily to his dead wife while performing his chores.

Place of Strength

A personal god. Usually depicted with a wooden statue in the home and worshipped by the family in times of struggle or industrial endeavour.

The Old Leech

God of chaos and upheaval. People pray to him when bargaining as he is said to guarantee success in conflict. Typically worshipped in war times and banished in peace to avoid his presence causing bloodshed.

Parassik

Parassik, The Night Serpent, The Tree of Tricksters, The Watcher at the Threshold

The Trickster deals misfortune to those that do not offer adequate tribute to the gods. Regarded as the divine messenger, master of languages, The Tree of Tricksters is responsible for carrying messages and sacrifices from humans to the Sky. Lurks at gateways, on the paths and at the crossroads, where he introduces chance and accident into the lives of humans. Has a great variety of names.