Riverboat Gambler: Twelve Points of Interest

 

 

She stood at the helm of the riverboat and raced the pike-shaped congregation of egrets above as it flew across the Plain. The cold surged up from the swift water and dueled with the killer heat that scoured the land beyond the river of life. 

 

It passed over her and for a moment she was back.

 

On the lakeshore, one side of her shivering and one side warmed by the bonfire that ate the snow before it touched the beach. The Giantess' heavy body fit to burst out of the dozen animal skins she wore for her wedding, flushed red and blue. The Giantess surging down to embrace her new husband, then exploding when the rebels struck her with the death spell, splattering blood over the freshly crowned King of the Giants. The brawl that erupted in the stands as the Red Ball wizards raised their winestained fists and struck with their wands, battering the Giant clergy with magic missiles that smelled like juniper and blossoms of annix. The adventurers lashing out with poisoned bolts and bullets and strokes of their enchanted blades. The cake leaping in the air with the lifting charge and detonating at chest height to cut down pikemen and ogre doppelsoldner before they could reinforce their deceased mistress and her guests. The brave mage and his stone men who held the wedding ground against all comers until the red dragon incinerated the proceedings. The mage transformed into a red dragon himself in a gambit to escape the consuming flames, holding off the ancient worm in a desperate melee until it tore out his throat. 

 

She couldn't go back. Not to the path of agriculture and the social contract and duty to family and the Goddess. The path that led her family through the ovens and onto the Giantess' table. 

 

No. For her there was only the life of adventure. Men and monsters. Spells and magic swords. Step into the grave and catch the blade with your heart. Strike while your foe's weapon is immobilized and trust the Godman behind to heal you through the damage. Snap back from unconsciousness or from death and leap back into the fight to be struck down again. O Sun chased over the horizon by Great Moon, then chased by the sun, then the moon again.

 

The Halflings lying around on the deck were friends she met on the killing floor after the wedding. She had said nothing in the kitchen when the little alchemist had crawled out from under the cake, black with chocolate and coffee dust after planting the bounding mine inside. He held a gloved finger to his lips and replaced his beret and she let him leave without telling the guards, although another bomb would have meant complete extermination of all the slaves in the holding. For this they named her a Neighbor Man when they found her scavenging magic items on the beach. One of the good humans, who could be trusted to accompany them on adventures. Because for them, it was the same. Their village too had been fired and there could be no return to bass fishing and meat pies and blocks of cheese. The only holes in the earth they could now delve were tombs.

 

She gave a cry, because up ahead were the rapids. The rapids that ate the hulls of ships so the things that lived in the rocks could eat the crew. In an instant the hairy little gluttons came to life. They prepared to repel boarders and to guide the vessel through the cataract into the uncharted waters beyond. They yanked dust tarpaulins off the swivel guns. They pulled on their hoods of dark cloth, leaving only their grinning mouths exposed.

 

 

CATARACT OF STATUES

A whitewater rapid with shallow water flowing fast over protruding rocks. On closer inspection, the rocks are sculptures of people. The most recent statues are dressed in contemporary garb (buffcoats, ponchos, codpieces, sombreros) while the oldest and most worn wear tunics, breechcloths, chitons or other anachronistic outfits. Debris from wrecked boats litter the shores.

Five Gahonga Jogah (CC1) live in hollowed out boulders, accessible through underwater sumps like beaver dens. They shepherd three Cockatrices and a single Basilisk who live amid the rocks. As guardians of nature they oppose the intrusion of religious corporations and mass murdering adventurers into Hogman's Plain. The rapids wreck boats or beach them on the riverbank and the lizards finish the job. If need be the little nature spirits can transmute Rock to Mud and alter the river's course, sending boats careening.

Amid the wrecked ships and rocks are 1,000 SP in currency, 1,500 SP in Grain Cult scrip, and a further 2,750 SP in trade goods (tobacco, chocolate and other crops grown on the Plain).

Local Encounter: A Jogah and a Cockatrice, clambering among the rocks.

CEREBRO CEREBRO CEREBRO

The cliff face of a mesa, rising over a hundred feet above the desert. At the base of the cliff on the western side of the plateau, two entrances into a tomb complex beneath. About halfway up the rock wall, another opening that glows blue by night.

This is the surface entrance to C2: Cerebro Cerebro Cerebro. The area is patrolled by Deshret's Gnolls and travelers here may also be harassed by the Fly Demon and Migo.

Local Encounter: The Migo, looking for brains to steal.

DESERTED OASIS

A lovely oasis full of plant life and little animals. Water bubbles up from an artesian well, fills the basin and flows out through an ancient quanat in the bank. The flowing water is free of undead by night. It's clear enough to see the ruins of a shrine beneath the surface. There's no sign of human or demihuman habitation.

A Cow Demon (CC1) lives in a chamber at the base of the sunken structure. He hides until nightfall and then emerges to torment visitors, killing them himself or driving them out onto the desert to be killed by the undead. The monster is intelligent but chaotic evil. There's little that could persuade him to spare a victim, except the joy of prolonging their suffering. At daybreak he drags bodies and any equipment they carry into the flooded chamber. The underwater room holds a huge pile of bones, rusted equipment, and 12,000 SP worth of accumulated coin and gems.

Local Encounter: The Demon only emerges at night and rarely strays from the shore. Use the normal encounter tables for the surrounding area.

DESICCATED VILLAGE

Mud brick buildings, half buried in sand. The style is primitive, moreso than any of the tombs on the Plain. Inside the houses, desiccated corpses. Dried and preserved and all dead by suicide. Remains of nooses, corroded copper blades driven into throats and chests, arms slashed open at the wrists. This was once a fishing village, when a river or marsh flowed here.

 

Twelve of the villagers are Chötgör (CC1). If exposed during day or twilight, these bodies crumble into dust like cave mummies exposed to air. If opened by night the corpses lie in wait until intruders have uncovered as many as possible, or they try to do a confirmation kill. Then the whole group struggles out of their sandy prisons to attack.

 

One of the Chötgör is dressed in the remains of ancient finery. He carries 1,500 SP in ring shaped coins dangling from his withered beard, an emerald cabochon worth 400 SP, five Arrows +1, and a clay tablet with (protection from poison, growth of nature, predict weather, transmute rock to mud (mud to rock), invisibility to animals).

 

Local Encounter: If any Chötgör are unearthed and not destroyed, they all attack the players at the next Night encounter. Otherwise none.

 

FALLEN STAR

A wide ring of black stone rises above the dunes, volcanic slag thrown up by a meteor impact in the geologic past. It's a meteor crater, 50 feet in diameter. Tracks lead up to the edge of the ring and down into the center, where a pitted iron-nickel disc of stone sticks out of the accumulated sand.

Three dead adventurers lie dead by violence around the stone. A half-orc and two humans. A Halfling woman hides in what little shade she can find. She hails explorers and explains the situation. When they approached the meteor her group felt a presence rush toward them. Her companions attacked one another, she was forced to kill one of them. She could run but she doesn't want to leave the bodies. If adventurers help her recover them they're welcome to her companions' trinkets: Shield +3, War Hammer +2, Potion of Delusion, Crossbow of Distance +1, Ring of Protection +1, Staff of Striking

The meteor carried a Possessor (CC1) down from the stars. It's currently possessing the Halfling. She's capable of acting normal until an opportunity to cause havoc and get everyone killed arises, which she seizes. She carries a +1 Dagger and wears a Ring of Spell Turning slipped off the Half-Orc.

 

Local Encounter: The Halfling woman may range beyond the crater "looking for help".

 

PHAROS

A black stone obelisk a hundred feet high. A mage cast Continual Light on the peak to form an oasis, safe from undead intrusion at night. Social convention is for adventurers to cry out their presence on arrival, and for anyone resting in the rough one chamber tomb beneath the obelisk to call out in response. The beasts form a wall around the perimeter, piling up just beyond the light.

By night, 50% chance of a party of Adventurers and 50% of a Twilight Encounter lurking inside.

The obelisk has mostly been effaced by the blowing sand but a few characters are still legible near the apex, where the light is almost blinding. With a comprehend languages spell, the sacred glyphs commemorate the victory of the Dog Who Devours Millions over the heresiarch the Great Criminal. 

 

Local Encounter: Adventurers moving to or from. 

GROVE OF SHADE

In the desert, a low shield wall of tilted sandstone rock formations protects a cluster of tamarisk trees from the biting sand. These extremophile trees are among the only plants that grow on the Plain, outside those that cluster around water features. The salt cedars are carved with a palimpsest of explorers' names dating back before the Monarchy. 

 

Since this is the only shade for miles, there's always an encounter in the Grove even when visited by day. 

 

Local Encounter: As normal for time of day.

 

PLEASURE DOME

Visible on the horizon, a shining dome. Words or pictures drawn on the bright white stone that dance in the heat haze, unreadable at a distance.

 

Explorers who draw close enough to "read" the pictograms (about five miles) are stunned as per Hypnotic Pattern. They stand and stare until something breaks line of sight or something attacks them. The sun setting completely also ends the effect, leaving the victim free to act as the plain fills with ravenous undead. Breaking free of the effect does not grant immunity, look again and be ensorceled again.

 

Up close, the dome is supported by thick columns of red stone, clad in the same shiny white material as the structure above. Inside is a large stone basin, what was once a huge ornamental pond. The pit is partially filled with sand, heaped around the fountain in the center with a mostly eroded statue of a vinegaroon woman with her abdomen raised to discharge acid, from which the water once flowed.

 

309 SP in gold, silver and copper coins lie buried beneath the sand, along with a +1 Kopesh of Sharpness, a +2 Mace of Authority (anything struck must test morale) and a Cursed Kilt of Slavery (wearer obeys any command given).

Local Encounter: A couple Adventurers or Rangers from the Grain Cult stuck staring at the dome.

SALT SANCTUARY

An island in the meander of a tributary river, silt heaped against a large boulder of volcanic stone. Plant life obscures a structure of salvaged stone and hanging cloth, furnished with a combination of silk and local materials. 

 

This is the hideout of three Salt Elves. The trio fled the failed Cave Elf colony beneath the Salt Pan after it was destroyed in a Morlock slave revolt. They migrated out of the Pan to escape the Salt Berserkers who pursued them. They rarely leave their home by day, besides the killer heat the sun hurts their eyes. They wear wide silk hats patched with palm leaves. Someone's always on watch at the sanctuary but there's a strong chance whoever it is tries to handle intruders on their own rather than inform the group. They consider themselves superior beings with a right to dominate lesser creatures, but suffer from their own pathologies that further muddy social interactions.

Bledsoe, Drow Level 5 (OSE Advanced). The strong one. Typical Cave Elf, demonstrates his power whenever possible to avoid looking like easy prey. Leather, Shield, Mace. Spells light (darkness), detect evil, silence 15’ radius, bless (blight), remove curse (curse). Carries Restorative Ointment.

Porlock, Drow Level 4 (OSE Advanced). The beautiful one. Typical Cave Elf, throws himself at whoever's strongest to gain their favor. Plate, Greatsword +1 (+2 v Magic Users).  Spells purify food and water, purify food and water, know alignment, find traps. Carries a Potion of Speed.

Salticida, Drow Level 3 (OSE Advanced). The smart one. Typical Cave Elf, believes she's in control of every situation and always has a new scheme to excuse the failure of the previous one. Leather, longbow. Spells cure light wounds (cause light wounds), detect evil, resist fire. Carries a Potion of Diminution and Staff of Withering.

 

The trio have a pet Rhagodessa Vynthala who lives in the shade of the big rock. They take her with them in their rowboat when they go ashore by twilight, so she can hunt and cartwheel across the dunes. 

 

Local Encounter: D3 Drow and the Rhagodessa. 

 

SUNKEN WADI

There's a hollow space under the sand. Characters carrying 600 coins or more of weight fall through the surface, dropping 20 feet to the floor of an underground canyon. Careful observation may spot existing holes before falling through a new one.

 

The canyon is full of Animal Mummies (CC1) living out a pantomime of their former lives. Seven Crocodiles, three Jackals, eleven Serpents, five Baboons. The beasts can't enter the dappled spots of light cast by the holes in the roof of compacted sand over the canyon, but attack victims who leave these oases of sunshine.

Two corpses lie with their legs broken and their bodies torn by mummy jaws. One an Elf in mail of the type worn in the Ancient Empire, one a human from the time of the Monarchy. Between them they've got 3,000 SP in coin, a topaz ring worth 10 SP, two earrings with images of the Holy Mountain worth 50 SP each, and a gold bracelet worth 100 SP. 

 

Local Encounter: None since no creatures can leave the Wadi. 

TOMBHERD

A Tombherd from the Silent Country leads a crowd of Undead across the Plain, piping away from her seat atop the Taxidermy Giant that serves as her mount. It's imperative that she recover as many as possible to a place where they'll be safe. The musclebound tank brains and brainless blaster casters flooding into the plain will destroy them all to make room for tobacco shops.

Tombherd as Druid (OSE Advanced) but all abilities which charm and enthrall crowds work on the undead instead of the living. 

Taxidermy Giant stats as Hill Giant (OSE) but immune to everything Undead are immune to, vulnerable to turning et al. Taxidermy stops it rotting.

 

Local Encounter: This is a Local Encounter disguised as a point of interest. 

 

Wilkinson

YELLOW CLIFFS

A cliff formed by a graben fault, exposing beautiful yellow stone that shines in the midday sun. A major tributary of the river hog falls down the cliff and into a maze of channeled scablands created by a prehistoric flood. The area is replete with plant and animal life but useless for shipping.

 

Except for a hidden cove behind a waterfall, where the pirates who maraud the River Hog make their base of operations. The beautiful Porco Rosso style grotto has a jetty and structures made out of local stone, harvested from tombs. Rock is easier to come by on the Plain, wood is reserved for boats. One clue to the pirates' presence is the absence of any trees in the labyrinth surrounding the waterfall. The ebony and acacia have all been cut to repair their vessels and for a fourth boat currently under construction. A rickety staircase up to the top of the grotto lets the pirates escape in a hurry and allows lookouts a commanding view of the river.

 

There are fifty pirates to crew their three river boats, each armed with a handful of swivel guns and one bow mounted chaser. Among their number,

• The leader Red Stone, an unnaturally strong Level 7 Fighter with a love of potions and smashing things. Leaves victims alive with broken legs to spread terror.
• Spiderhallow, a Level 4 Fighter with a love of poisons. Brews treats for the boss, controls his mood swings and murderous rage with drugs.
• Clerical support is provided by Lucy the Chain, a Level 3 Cleric of Catch Pole whose loving God lets her manipulate the weather.
• Lavis Maylile, Charming Level 4 Elf with a Wand of Stasis. Manages any hostages taken for ransom and insurance against the base being assaulted by the Grain Cult. 

The pirate hideout has 21,600 SP in stolen treasure and luxury goods, kept in a vault of stacked stone sealed with a Wizard Lock that the above four leaders can open. Each pirate carries a further 100 SP in jewelry and coins. 

 

Local Encounter: Pirates as per river table, but chance of leaders (D4)