Monday, January 25, 2021

Planar Domains I: Broken Emr

 Broken Emr, The Domain of Enyo the Leveller

Emr  is a land of rubble and ruin, of shattered cities and tumbled walls. Scrape the ground anywhere in Emr and you’ll uncover a road, or patio, or foundation. Carvings and writings are worn to indecipherability; paintings and murals little more than scraps of color hinting at what they might have been. Springs flow from broken fountains, forming streams and rivers that course through canyons of worked stone. Trees break through cobbled streets, and vines pull inexorably at the remaining walls.

Enyo seemingly takes little notice of who lives in Emr, and it is relatively safe by most standards. Its principal inhabitants are scavengers, hunter/gatherers, and beasts of all sorts. These live by their nature, ignoring visitors unless hungry, or tempted by something they’ve brought from outside. Building and constructing is the only taboo in Emr; erecting any sort of permanent structure immediately draws the attention and wrath of all nearby natives, who will attack and destroy any such attempts.

Artificial and worked materials more complex than leather, pottery, or simple knits degrade quickly in Emr. Even iron, if worked, rusts to uselessness within a decade. Spells and magic items that create or preserve physical items (including structures) do not operate, and may lose puissance and become wholly powerless if they remain in Emr too long.

Entering Emr is achieved from within a ruined structure, where the appropriate spell must be cast. and each person seeking entrance must destroy an object of value. There is little traditional treasure in Emr, but it is believed that every ruin there is the mirror of one in the Wyrld, and searching one can give clues to the other. Broken Emr can also serve as a shortcut: two ruins many miles apart in the real Wyrld might be adjacent in Emr, and travelers can enter through one and depart via another. Finally, no few people have found Emr a useful place of exile or seclusion. The One Tree, Gray Road, and Wyrldflow also touch upon Emr.

Encounters in Emr

Emr can be considered a stereotypical wilderness, except fey and undead are very rare and there are no organized societies beyond small tribes.
  • Orbin Scalmon (hm F7) and his surviving retinue (2 guards, 1 sergeant, and a cleric of Adosil who is secretly Orbin’s bastard sibling). They are searching for clues to the rumored treasure-laden subterranean vaults beneath his deposed family’s ancestral castle, slighted nearly two centuries ago. They’ve been here a month without success supplies are gone, clothing in tatters, and desperately want to get out. They are being followed by a pair of ogres who are anticipating a good meal or two.
  • The Vermilion Locket, a cog-type ship that travels the myriad branches of Wyrldflow, has gone aground in Emr. Ships travelling the Wyrldflow are typically immune to Emr's deleterious effects, but the Vermilion Locket is aground and Emr has begun to shift the channel of the Wyrldflow away from the stranded ship. The characters are dispatched to locate the ship and its Very Important Passenger (which might be a royal bride; an evil cleric; a powerful magic item being sent as a bribe or payment...). They're not the only party searching: the owners are looking for the ship, and a faction opposed to the characters' is also closing in (who is looking to rescue the passenger, and who is looking to stymie any rescue, is left up to the GM).
  • A mongrelfolk hunting party, with 3d4 members and 1d4 hyena companions. The mongrelfolk aren't interested in eating them, but a bit of robbery is fine. The hyenas have no such compunctions and may circle back once the party is weaponless and devoid of armor....
  • 1d4 stinking leucrota, screaming and shrieking at each other. They aren't particularly hungry, but absolutely won't pass up a chance to torment the party by following them for a day or two.
  • A regal leonine lamia and her two sniveling jackalwere servants. The lamia is finding it hard to live in the luxury she prefers, since everything keeps rotting, and is willing to bargain in exchange for a way out of Broken Emr. The jackalweres like it here, and may not support their mistress's plans to leave.

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Typhos I: The Leveller

 

Enyo

The Leveller, Scatterer of Stones
Typhos

AoC: Destruction of Cities & Civilization
Symbol: A foot crushing a building
Allies: Tamati, Talabas, Samaan
Enemies: Ados, Kaduv, Madate, Palanar
Avatar: Barbarian 20/Fighter 10

Enyo takes the form of a heavily armored woman of near-giantish height, or a thick-plated monstrosity large enough to topple towers and city walls. In humanoid form she uses her powerful fists to smash opponents. In ancient days she sometimes appeared as a woman carved of stone bearing a two-handed greatmace called Nem, or Breaker, but that avatar has not been seen in many centuries.

The Leveller is a great and ancient Typhosian power, strong enough to surpass most Envidier and rival many of the Dalerain. She is the child of Tamati and Samaan, and serves both of them when they wish it, destroying cities and towns, scattering people, and erasing their works. She is capable of subtlety and patience, particularly when serving the Forestlord, whose plans tend to grow slowly but steadily, like trees, but better known for the devastation and destruction she brings in the Bloody Queen’s service.

Enyo’s own goals are hard to discern. Unlike most Typhos, she serves her parents willingly when called and otherwise keeps to herself. In keeping with her nature she has no dwelling or court but simply travels the wild places of the world, sleeping under the trees and stars like the force of nature that she is.

Enyo occasionally creates monstrous beings or races devoted to destruction; certainly the bulette is hers, but also the rust monster and disenchanter. She may empower ogres and giants; those touched by her wrap themselves in armor or chains and set out to destroy. She is a scholar of siege machines and siege warfare, and sought for that information (although those seeking it try not to draw her attention to their own castles and cities). She is equally often called upon by nihilists, vengeance-seekers, and zealots of nature.

Cult Servitors: Servitors of Enyo summoned by her cultists appear as heavily armored monstrosities (see Bulette, Monstrosities pg.54; CL varies*) or statuesque women of bronze or stone (see Chalkeion, Monstrosities, pg.64; CL 5, 6,7, or 11; or Caryatid Column, Tome of Horrors pg.83; CL 7) and can have the following special abilities: Extra Attack (+1 CL), Improved Armor Class (+1 CL), Improved Damage (+1 CL), Magic Resistance 25% (+1 CL).

 *The bulette’s Challenge Level is increased by one for purposes of summoning as a servitor.