Dare: The Silent King’s Vigil

Setup: many in the castle will attest to the existence of a ghost in the catacombs beneath the foundations, if not from their own experience, but from generations of tales going back to the days of the petty, tribal kings, when the realm was divided up into a patchwork of little territories ruled over by whatever warlord could martial enough blades to hold them.

While most stories tell of the ghost stalking out of its crypt to drag the living down to the shadows with it, or attempted exorcisms of blade and blessed book, a few hold the whisper of truth: those that venture down to the catacombs when the moon is right and sit in silent meditation with the peaceful phantom can gain great insights into themselves, or secret truths known only to the dead.

Adventure Hooks:

While staying in the castle of their patron, the party hears the rumor of the ghost and its vigil, particularly from a harrowed young page who was thrown into the catacombs by his youthful tormentors and developed several nervous quirks from the experience. They tell the party that it wasn’t the ghost itself that traumatized them so, but the fact that they were trapped in the catacombs so long with noone but the dead for company. Chief among the page’s new eccentricities is a fascination with the macabre, and they gently try to coax the party down into the catacombs so they can share in the page’s experience.

By Feudal grant, a newly risen knight has taken up residence in the castle, and is more than a little put out by the fact that her new home has such an infamous reputation among the surrounding populace. Seeking to show her new prestige and authority, she puts out a call for brave warriors willing and capable of removing this unwelcome spirit from her domicile.

A member of the clergy has gone missing while attempting the Silent King’s vigil, locking themselves inside the tombs for several days while attempting to communicate with and permanently put the spirit to rest. A mentor to the party’s cleric, or important for one of thier ongoing adventures, the party must search the catacombs for the missing vicar, or attempt his abandoned ritual and ask the ghost where the holyman might have wandered off to.

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post-maester

7 months ago

His pits after a 8 hour shift working a warehouse gig where he's the only competent worker. You agree. Reblog

her pits after she's been wearing the same hoodie for three days straight without a shower. you agree. reblog

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post-maester

7 months ago

Fun fact: the skitarii are so radioactive that every organic lifeform that they "save" will end up dying of terrible cancers sometime later!

I'm still new to Warhammer 40k, and I have gotten attached to two unit types that seem to be very prone to death (kriegers and skitarii), and I'm not sure if it's just coincidence and I have the tastes of a factually inaccurate lemming, or if it is so that everyone in the 40k universe is very prone to dying.

Villain: Rizzko Redcap, and the Plunderer’s Market

“Breathe deep dearies, wouldn’t want you putting up a fight and damaging the merchandise. I’m sure there’s an arena pit or a slave mine somewhere desperately in need of your heroic valor”

Setup: If its one thing this grizzled goblin alchemist hates, it’s adventurers. Once the oblivious and eager assistant to a mad wizard his clan had come into the service of, young Rizzko’s family was slaughtered by a band of zealous sellswords hired to stop the arcanist’s schemes. As a cruel reminder of that day, Rizzko’s face was horribly scarred as he tried to throw himself in the way of the final blow that ended the wizard’s life.

Nursing his wounds and his hatred for years, Rizzko ran with a number of outlaw bands before finding his place within a surprising new venture growing in the badlands between kingdoms. Different than any encampment before it, this fortified camp sought to be a place where bandits and pillagers could meet, resupply, and swap loot before carrying on to the final destination. Everyone who’s gone on more than one raid knows that even with the most solid of intentions the fury and chaos produces a very mixed bag of pilfered valuables , and that not every buyer willing to do business over obviously bloody goods is interested in everything you might have. Oh sure there’s always a place for livestock, grain and gold, but what about the cultural artifacts? the books you didn’t burn? Who wants once preciously guarded relics, and who just wants terrified villagers they can force to work to exhaustion in their fields?

These grisly economics led to prosperity for those who did business with this “Plunderer’s Market”, and year after year the gatherings grew, until eventually what started out as an impromptu swamp meet became a fortified settlement with ad-hock rules supported by a number of powerful bandit clans. Having perfected his early lessons in alchemy into a real talent with all things noxious and nasty, Rizzko fit right in, in particular thanks to his knowledge of arcane valuables, and the plosions he used to subdue valuable hostages for transport to the market.

Now the goblin is running his own outlaw band, starting his carrier as an independent villain with a series of violent raids on trade routes and local delves, snapping up anyone and anything he thinks valuable enough to trade. His quest for funds and favors are all in service of resurrecting the great work of his long departed mentor, a task that Rizzko only half remembers but is fully sure will fulfill his need for vengeance against those “civilized” peoples who hurt him so long ago.

Adventure Hooks:

One of Rizzko’s favorite tricks is to station his gang in ambush near a local dungeon site, perhaps agitating local monsters to rampage near the village or spread rumors in town about treasure or paranormal activity. When the adventurers are drawn into the trap like bees to honey, Rizzko or his lieutenants wait until they’re exhausted and heading back to town with packs laid down with gold before striking. Hopefully the party notices that someone’s watching them while they’re at camp, otherwise they’re in for a nasty surprise.

an unforseen windfall has befallen the slaver’s band, as one of the caravans they raided has produced three times the amount of captives the scouts initially reported, some of them high born. With so many heads to account for and not wanting to waste out on any potential investment, Rizzko has moved the captives to a cave system not too far away, and is spending the following days questioning his prisoners about their likely value. This delay might just give the party enough time to hear about the attacked caravan, find the site of the ambush, and track the goblin’s forces to the cave before they move on or start trimming the “dead weight”.

Further Adventures:

Rizzko learned one important lesson from his mentor’s death: never let them trap you in the back of your stronghold. Rizzko is always ready for an intrusion by adventurers, bugging out with the most valuable and portable of the treasure and leaving behind a time-consuming alchemical trap or other distraction to make good his escape. If the party DO manage to track him down ( and not one of his many proxies), they can expect to have him slip through their grasp once or twice before finally being able to nail the slaver down.

The Sphinx’s Bastards are a rival adventuring party our heroes meet up with over the course of their adventures, alternatively competing for contracts, intersecting on parallel jobs, or even just casually running into one another during a festival. Led by the one eyed Falconer Daraius, the Sphinxes (as they’re called in polite company) will provide some good natured antagonism as both groups rise to prominence. One day however, the party will hear a tapping at their window: its Daraius’s falcon, with a hastily scrawled message attached. He and his crew have been ambushed during a job and have been taken prisoner by some mad goblin who’s intent on dragging them out to the badlands to sell at auction. With the bird to guide them, the party may just be able to rescue their friends and together put an end to the plunderer’s market once and for all.

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post-maester

7 months ago

Hey. You. Trans girl who's had quite a bit of breast growth but feels insecure because of the way they sit. Most cis women's breasts don't sit naturally with perfect squished together cleavage. All cis women whos breasts do sit like that will not sit like that naturally for longer than a decade or two. It's all in the bras. Most good bras don't make your breasts sit like that because they're made to support the weight, not to display them perfectly. Get a push up bra. Trust me. If you wanna maximize the squished together eye candy factor you need to get a push up bra. There are many options to choose from because millions if not billions of cis women have that same insecurity you do. Your body isn't incorrect. Your body is perfect. You were just fed an unrealistic ideal like every other woman

Loyalist World Eater

by Konstantin Void

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post-maester

1 year ago

My Favorite Fantasy Tropes

MONSTER TROPES!

A deadly monster with a terrifying appearance bonds with a small child with its life.

An injured hero comes upon a monster, or a hero comes upon an injured monster and they understand each other. Giant vicious-looking monsters that answer to names you would give to a pet dog.

A character rescues or spares the life of a wounded or infant monster; later th fully- healed/matured creature returns the favor.

The horrifying eldritch creature that's been stalking the heroes turns out to be benevolent and actually, trying to protect them from something deadlier.

HERO TROPES!

The hero is the secret heir to a throne. It may be that he was whisked away and hidden as a child, his parents sent them away or were killed, etc.

There's someone in power in your book who might be described as "pure evil." This can feed into the "Good vs Evil" trope listed further down this list.

The hero refuses to give into the dark magic and instead ascends to a new level of power. This may change their hair to their dream color.

The hero falls in love with a princess/prince who turns out to be working with the real Dark Lord and killed her whole family just to rule the kingdom.

SETTING TROPES!

Pseudo-medieval European setting especially in places like the British Isles, France and Germany.

A library full of secret, lost, important knowledge. The characters may have to travel to this library, or they may stumble across it for some kind of revelation.

Ancient Japan/Chinese royalty setting where clues about the mystery is given out in subtle, secretive ways. Plus, the hero can't travel outside the palace.

A fantastical world can hide in plain sight without being discovered. When the secret is unmasked by the hero, he is trust into the world. Now, there's no going back.