By night the Great House of stone with its many statues poled its way up the river. Inside the old man leaned on his short staff in front of the altar and sung the story of the Despoina in the halls of the Hoard King. He told the story to the statues and he told it to the wind and the night creatures. It was an old story and a long one but he remembered it word for word by striking the staff on the ground at regular intervals to keep the meter. He spoke to the idol and hoped she liked the story, since it was about her sister who she had not seen in a long time. The wood was so old and so stained with soot from countless burnt offerings that it was almost shapeless. The shadow cast by the flame was sharper. He could just make out her shield and her helmet.
Something flew into the temple. As he had done in a thousand ambushes he flung himself to the floor and crawled toward his panoply. He counted on the bronze statues of the temple to keep the intruder busy until he could gird himself with domed shield and curved sword. The bronze men rested their bronze bows at their sides and did nothing. He looked up from the floor and saw a little owl perched on the statue.
For a moment he let himself hope. But it wasn't her. It couldn't be her because she would have appeared sooner if she had the power. If she had the power to send the little owl to listen to the story then she wouldn't have left him alone with only her shadow.
He stood. As he often did, he told the bronze men to burn him on the altar when he died. The bronze men said nothing. The owl said nothing. The stone women pulled the Great House up the river one handful of water at a time.
1: THE TRIUMVIRATE
A powerful but incompetent trio of mages aboard a Magic Carpet.
- Nonesuch Hooper, Magic User 7. Shivers and wavers. Carries a rod of Steer Clouds and a Curse Tablet of Lower Water. Worships Tree of Life, makes the others do his killing.
- Silvara Grumium, Magic User 6. Porcelain skin. Desert expert. Carries a flask of Infinite Water and a Staff of Sandshape. Worships Wild Magic, God of unrestrained magic power.
- Detect Magic (MU), Protection from Evil (MU), Detect Invisible, ESP, Fly, Fire Ball
- Case Extralian, Magic User 5. Fierce eyebrows, like ferns. Obsessed with Giants, wants to dissect Aldrich's entourage. Wears a Belt of Giant Strength. Worships Logic, God of careful planning.
Hunting the King of the Giants was the only adventure they could agree on.
Anne Anderson
2: THE CHARIOT OF WORMS
Crewed by worshipers of The Destroyer who came to Hogman's Plain just to kill people.
- Captain Senthrax Blackmath, Fighter 7. Spiked armor and a magnificent red cape. Very evil, very friendly. Gets four attacks on his turn. The others are his slaves/students.
- Shirika, Barbarian 1. Moose antler helmet and battleaxe. Stinks of beer. Always rages.
- The Reaper, Assassin 1. A dumb, depressed teenager. Bloodthirsty, cries if he fails a morale check.
- Boxton, Fighter 1. Heavy armor. Huge spiked shield. Obviously aroused by combat.
- Guldra, Half-Orc 1. Fights with a bow. Eats a part of every creature that he kills. Pouch on his neck carries bezoar (cure poison) and his mummified testicles. Can cast speak w/ dead 1/day.
- Dio, Battlemaster 1. Can give commands as an action, allowing 1 person to make a free attack. Not a brilliant tactician, not incompetent enough to be dissuaded. Smokes a crowskull pipe.
- Mellie Scarbelly, Amazon 1. Fights with boomerang, sword and shield. Can run along walls. Joined to marry Senthrax, abandons the cult if someone very strong and agrees to marry her.
Their vessel is a Narrowboat pulled by water worms. These thirty foot amphibious beasts (as Caecilian per OSE) can be ridden in the water but dry out quickly on land, making them useless for desert combat. The Doomslaves adore the slop-devouring beasts but will never admit it, complaining endlessly as they brush and care for the worms.
3: THE LIVING SHIP OLLERGANZU
A mangrove tree with leaf sails and root rudders, crewed by a nest of Elves. Aldrich is a worshiper of their sworn enemy Bloodfeast. He's gotta go.
Captain Naftiesh the Level 5 Elf wears a fogwood panoply with AC as Plate+1 She acts like a partially domesticated animal. You think you understand her and then she randomly attacks something. She casts from the Druid list.
- Predict Weather, Slow Poison, Obscuring Mist, Hold Animal, Protection from Fire and Lightning
The rest of the handful of Elves are Level 1. They keep a couple Small Rocs (OSE) for use as mounts when they need to scout or move one person fast across the Plain.
The tree Ollerganzu is loaded with enchantments woven by the crew. Wild animals who come near must Save vs Spells or be Held per the Druid spell. It can ignore 30 points of Lightning and Fire damage. Once a day it can summon a 50' radius mist cloud that the crew can see through. In emergencies it can animate and fight as a Treant (OSE) but doing so sends the crew's unsecured objects toppling into the water.
4: THE SHIP OF THE HOURIS
The pleasure boat of the Djinni Zahen Durwind. A wooden hydrofoil with a turbine he spins in whirlwind form. Fast, not durable, easily repaired with summoned materials. The Lesser Genie (OSE) is ivory white and wears curled shoes. He quests to test his inventions and make money to buy things he can't summon.
Durwind is served by a flock of Harpies (Monster Overhaul) dressed in silk and piercings. They carry air rifles charged by the Djinni. They are silent and can be fired every round but the damage declines with each shot. D12, then D10, then D8 and so on.
5: THE TEMPLE OF QUICKNESS
Enchanted ship of polished marble. Like a floating parthenon with Caryatid columns who slowly swim in water and carry the "vessel" on land. Crewed by verdigris crusted bronze warriors (Iron Living Statue as OSE) bearing enormous bows. Inside is a temple to Quickness, the Ancient Empire's Goddess of politics, strategy and adventurers.
The Level 9 Dwarf Poliouchos tends the fire and guards the sootstained Palladium of ancient wood. He was a temple slave in the age of the Empire and has outlived his captors. He quests because the culture heroes of Quickness were wandering picaros who killed and told lies and stole treasure. He's too honest to be one of her champions but she allows him to carry her mirrored shield, which reflects spells and missed attacks back at the user.
6: THE GIANT RAFT
Pumice Raft of the Giant Corps. As the entry from Hunter and Hunted but piloting a riverboat carved out of lightweight volcanic rock. When loaded with treasure it sits low in the water and the crew attach outriggers made from tree trunks to buoy it up. They claim hunting Aldrich is all about money but they really resent "purebred" Giants and the self righteous clerics who proclaimed him king.
THE MAKING OF
I used the Monster Overhaul and a lot of Goblin Punch posts to quickly generate these. The Dungeon Merchants, the Random Ship Encounters, the Six Pirates and the Twelve Pirates. I was going to use the shipload of Halflings but the players decided to make that their ship
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