So while researching for this Mega-Post (which will probably become one part of many), I’ve found that myths, legends and folklore as a whole is really just a cool thing to read about.
There’s so much creativity and wonder in every myth, and it’s been super fun to find story elements that have persisted all the way to the modern day.
With that said, and wait for it: Making a D&D Setting can be really really tiring.
So, after rediscovering my love of mythology, I thought I’d take a new approach to all this: Using “Comparative Mythology”.
“Wait! What’s Comparative Mythology?” I hear you ask. Well Comparative Mythology is when you compare myths from different cultures and identify all the things they share.
So let’s start this Mega-Post by ending this long-winded intro and getting to the whole point of this: The Common Myths!
The Creation of Mankind from Clay
The creation of man from clay is a thing that recurs throughout a bunch of world religions and mythologies. In this Myth, Mankind is created from dust, clay or earth by a single deity.
In Greek Mythology, Prometheus molded men out of water and earth.
In Egyptian Mythology, one of the several ‘Creator Gods’, called Ptah, is a Potter who fashions the bodies of humans (and some Gods) from clay.
The Theft of Fire
The theft of fire for humanity is another that recurs in many world mythologies. Where a deity, sometimes the deity of earth, the forge, or the deity that actually created Mankind, steals a portion of the Sun or a Magical Heavenly Flame and gives it to humanity so they don’t freeze to death or starve because they can’t cook their food.
Probably the most famous version of this Myth comes from Greek Mythology, where the Titan Prometheus stole the heavenly fire of the gods and gave it to humanity, the thing he created from clay, so they could build their first civilisation.
The Great Flood
Cultures around the world tell stories about a great flood that leaves only one survivor or a group of survivors. Sometimes the Flood is meant to restart the world, defeat a great evil, or as a punishment to Mankind for some known or unknown thing.
In the Hebrew Bible, probably the most famous example of this, God sends down a global flood that wipes out humanity, with only one man surviving and saving the world’s species by taking them aboard a giant boat.
In Greek Mythology, a Myth says that Zeus, Head of the Gods, sent down a great storm to flood the world after people started trying to sacrifice humans to him, which was completely against the Greek Laws of Hospitality and a big ol’ no-no in the eyes of Zeus.
The Dying-And-Rising God
Many Myths feature a God or Goddess who dies somehow and returns to life thanks to the help of the other Gods.
In Egyptian Mythology, Osiris, who was slain by his brother Seth, was brought back to life by his sisters Isis and Nephtys. Osiris eventually became the ‘King of the Dead’ while his Son became ‘King of the Living’, which may have something to do with a Father-like Figure giving power to their Son, which is another theme that pops up in a few cultures…
In Greek Mythology, it’s Adonis, a beautiful man born from his Mother that just so happened to be turned into a tree. But after being left in a Forest by Aphrodite and told to avoid any wild Boars (also known as Ares in disguise), Adonis immediately decided to do the opposite and hunt down the wild Boar (also known as Ares, the God of War). The fight didn’t really go in Adonis’ favour, and after Aphrodite found out, she stormed into the Underworld and demanded her Boyfriend back, and eventually Zeus got involved, deciding to split the Year in two, the warmer months (summer and spring) where Adonis would be with Aphrodite, and the colder months (autumn and winter) where Adonis would go back into the Underworld. This is why Adonis is associated so much with spring, renewal and rebirth.
The Creative Sacrifice
Many cultures have stories about divine figures whose death creates a certain part of reality.
These myths seem especially common among cultures that are farmers or have agriculture as a major part of their society.
In Norse Mythology, the First Giant, known as Ymir or ‘The Cosmic Giant’ was killed to create the World of Norse Myth.
In Aztec Myth, after Huitzilopochtli kills his sister Coyolxauhqui and his 400 brothers, Coyolxauhqui’s severed head becomes the moon, and her 400 dead brothers become the stars in the night sky.
In Greek Mythology, when the many-eyed Giant Argus was slain by Hermes, Argus’ eyes were transferred by Hera to the tail of the peacock, hence the beautiful tail feathers of a peacock!
The Seat of the World
The seat of the world is usually noted as a place that sits at the centre of the world and acts as a point of contact between different levels of the universe: Usually Heaven, Earth and the Underworld.
And as a small Sidenote, there’s a LOTof mythologies and world religions that use a giant ‘Cosmic Tree’ to represent the seat of the world, and they usually describe it as “a great tree joining heaven, earth, and the underworld”, with branches that reach the Heavens and whose roots that reach the Underworld.
In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Mythology, Mount Meru (also recognised as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru), is a sacred five-peaked mountain, and is considered to be the centre of all universes, both physical and spiritual.
In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense mythical cosmic tree that connects the Nine Worlds of Norse Cosmology.
In Greek Mythology, the “Seat of the World” was the City of Delphi, the literal centre of the Greek Mythological World. Delphi was almost always seen as “the belly-button of the world”, with many tales surrounding the famous Oracle of Delphi. You could also consider Mount Olympus to be a sort-of “Seat of the World” too, since that’s the famous place where only the Gods lived…
The Ideal God
This is usually referring to a King, Queen or some kind of Head of a Pantheon, a God to rule the Gods.
Even actual Official D&D Settings do this by having an ‘Overgod’.
In Norse Mythology, Odin is the Leader of the Gods.
In Greek Mythology, Zeus is Head of the Gods, though Hera (his Wife) also has some influence on the Pantheon.
In Roman Mythology, which is extremely similar to Greek Mythology, they have Jupiter as the Head of the Pantheon and King of the Gods.
In Egyptian Mythology, Ra is Head of the Pantheon, though some interpretations vary on his actual name.
And as a side-note, it seems most ‘Head of the Pantheon’ Gods are male with some sort of connection to the Sky, the Sun, or Storms, and are often extremely wise or extremely powerful, usually depicted as extremely ripped and wielding big ol’ stabby weapons…
And weirdly enough, most have some sort of connection to birds, I can’t really find out where that comes from, but it’s cool nonetheless.
The War with the Titans
This is usually the Myth that creates the “Official Pantheon” for a Place’s Religion. The Titans (or sometimes called Primordials, beings that represent chaotic and destructive elements like Fire and Lightning) fight the Gods, sometimes a few Gods die, but the Gods always win.
Again, the most famous version of this Myths is In Greek Mythology, where the Titanomachy was a ten-year series of battles consisting mostly of the Titans fighting the Olympian Gods and their allies. This event is also known as the War of the Titans, Battle of the Titans, Battle of the Gods, or just The Titan War, which is just a cool name in general…
Gargantuan Giants
By“Gargantuan Giants”, I mean Gargantuan compared to Humans, who in most cultures were less than 6 Feet Tall, so sometimes Giants were as short of 8 Feet, and others they are quite literally the size of the Universe…
In Greek Mythology, there’s the myth of Ourion (or more commonly known as ‘Orion’) the Giant, a Huntsman famous for being placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion. There’s also the Hecatonchires, also known as the Hundred-Handed Giants, as well as the Myth of the Cyclopes and a bunch of other Gods and Demigods who are described as “Giant” in size.
In Norse Mythology, there’s dozens of famous giants, also known as Jotuun in some texts. From Surtur, the fire giant that leads his kin into battle during Ragnarok, to the trickster giant Utgard-Loki, famous for annoying the Hel out of Thor and thoroughly embarrassing him in front of all the other giants.
Mythical Dragons and Serpents
Sometimes just large snakes and other times gigantic snakes, legendary snakes and serpent-like creatures appear in the folklore of a bunch of different cultures around the world. And speaking of Dragons, while they vary from region to region, they’re almost always depicted as gargantuan serpentine creatures with four-legs.
Mythical Serpents in Mythology
In Egyptian Mythology, Atum shaped the world thanks to four mythical serpents. Also in Egyptian Mythology is Apophis, a gargantuan mythical serpent that symbolises chaos, who tries to eat the sun every day as part of the Journey of Ra and his Sun-Barge/Sun-Boat.
In Greek Mythology, there’s the Lernaean Hydra, more often known simply as the Hydra, a multi-headed snake monster killed by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labours. There’s also Python, a big ol’ sea snake with the gift of prophecy, that was then promptly killed by a Baby Apollo…
In Aztec Mythology, there’s Quetzalcoatl, a giant feathered serpent (and sometimes a dragon!) characterised as the God of Wind, the Dawn, the Planet Venus, Arts and Crafts, Wisdom and Knowledge.
And another thing, it seems some Myths depict these giant snakes as pets or living weapons used by Kings, Queens or even the Gods to keep their subjects in check.
Dragons in Mythology
In Eastern Cultures and Mythologies, Dragons are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence and the ability to control rivers, the ocean, the wind and the weather.
In Western Cultures and Mythologies, Dragons are often depicted as savage, winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire.
The Myth that founds a Custom
This myth is waymore varied than the rest. Many cultures have myths describing the origin of their customs, with most societies often justifying their customs by claiming that the Gods or the Mythical Heroes of their Culture established those customs.
The Curse of Cannibalism
Human cannibalism features in the myths, folklore, and legends of many cultures and is most often attributed to evil characters, with the idea that consuming human flesh is an evil act that usually transforms the person into a monster of some kind.
In Greek Mythology, there exists the Lamia, a woman who became a child-eating monster after her children were destroyed by Hera after Hera learnt of her husband Zeus’ little “escapades”.
In Native American Myth, there’s the famous Wendigo, a creature (or sometimes depicted as an evil spirit) from folklore, with some sources saying Wendigos are created when a human resorts to cannibalism to survive.
The Hero’s Adventure to save their Lover
This is usually a story of three parts: Hero gains a Lover, Lover dies through unforeseen circumstances, and finally the Hero goes on an Adventure (most commonly going to the Underworld) to meet/save/resurrect their Lover.
This Myth can also be known as the “Hero goes to the Underworld to save their Lover” Myth, which is also super common when you look at all the different world cultures.
In an old Babylonian Myth, the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar (Goddess of Love, War and Fertility) gets trapped in the Underworld with the Queen of the Dead after trying to save her husband from the Underworld. But then Asushunamir, a gender-ambiguous individual constructed by Enki (a Babylonian Ocean God), is sent to the Underworld to save Ishtar, so I guess that’s two stories in one?
In Japanese Mythology, Japan has two Creator Deities: Izanagi and Izanami. But after the Birth of Kagi-Tsuchi (the Fire God), Izanami dies. So Izanagi decides to just go on down to the Underworld to get her back. But after lighting a torch in the Underworld when he’s specifically told not to, Izanami is understandably peeved and sends a bunch of monsters after Izanagi to chase him down until Izanagi decides to block the entrance to the Underworld with a giant rock so no monsters get out. Yay?
In Greek Mythology, Orpheus (one of Apollo’s kids) walks on down to the Greek Underworld to chat with Hades and maybe get his dead lover Eurydice back. Hades says “Yeah, sure bro! Just don’t look at her before you two get back to the World of the Living again, okay?” But Orpheus, like an idiot, decides to immediately do the opposite after thinking Hades is tricking him, and Eurydice is dragged back down in the Underworld to stay there forever…
The Sun gets eaten by a Giant Beast
This is usually what Cultures and World Religions use to explain celestial events such as an Eclipse.
In Aztec Mythology, they had a God called Huitzilopochtli (Yay! I spelt it right!) who was their Sun God and God of War and Human Sacrifice. Huitzilopochtli also had 400 Brothers and one Sister: Coyolxauhqui. After murdering his sister, Coyolxauhqui’s severed head becomes the moon and several of Huitzilopochtli’s brothers become the stars. And now the sun is constantly at risk of being devoured by the night sky and to put this all short: Huitzilopochtli is constantly fighting off the severed head of his sister (The Moon) to stop her eating/murdering the sun and the earth. FUN!
In Norse Mythology, at some point during Ragnarok (the Norse “End of the World” Myth), the sun and moon are eaten, possibly by Fenrir, but definitely by Mythical Wolf of some variety, sources differ.
In Egyptian Mythology, the Egyptians would pray against Apophis (the giant snake in the Underworld) to squash his nightly attempts to eat the sun as it passed through the Underworld.
And as a side-note, this one doesn’t have to be a Beast, sometimes the sun is stolen by a thief, or something happens and it’s sealed away or just straight up nopes out and disappears for a few days…
Gods named after Planets
It’s right in the name, a lot of Gods are named after Planets, Stars, Constellations and other Celestial Objects.
In Egyptian Mythology, the Gods are actually named after the various Stars and Constellations that can be seen in Egypt’s night sky.
In Roman Mythology, examples include Jupiter, Head of the Pantheon, as well as Mars the God of War, Mercury the God of Merchants, and Venus the Goddess of Love and Beauty, as well as Neptune, Saturn and More!
The Beast to be Released and Kill the World
This is usually a Wolf, Snake, or other Giant Beast that, when the Apocalypse comes, is released from whatever bindings they have and wreak havoc on the Mortal World. Sometimes the Beast is chained away or trapped in the Underworld, but other times they’re just sleeping until the Apocalypse comes knocking…
In Egyptian Mythology, this Beast is known as Apophis, a Giant Snake trapped in the Underworld that tries every day to eat the Sun (and sometimes eat Ra too!) before Apophis is defeated by the powers of Gods and the apocalypse is stopped for another day.
In Norse Mythology, this Beast is Fenrir, a Giant Wolf and Son of the Trickster God Loki. Fenrir is bound by a series of heavy chains, and when Ragnarok (the Norse version of the Apocalypse) comes, Fenrir will break his chains and go on a big ol’ god-killin’ spree!
The Path of the Dragon. A variant of some of the other Barbarian subclasses I’ve seen that use dragon inspiration. I added a lot of options to the class as a means of making Barbarians less simple for players that like a little more variation to their game play. I often find my main issue with martial classes to be the “I take my turn: I move towards the enemy and hit it” repetition, so adding things that make them feel more dynamic makes me feel like I might be giving y’all something you’re missing as well.
If you’d like to support what I do, find free pdf’s for my content, get insight into my design process, and get access to other exclusive homebrew content, feel free to check out my Patreon, whose link can be found on my page.
If you’d like to support what I do, find free pdf’s for my content, get insight into my design process, and get access to other exclusive homebrew content, feel free to check out my Patreon, whose link can be found on my page.
—Note: The links sometimes don’t work on mobile devices or some apps. Try using a desktop or browser extensions if they aren’t working.
-The Omni Loot Table: A loot meta-table that allows the user to roll randomly on the 90 tables this blog has collected. This grants a DM literally billions of unique trinkets, equipment and items that players can find to enrich their world and playing experience.
-All Unique Armors: Splint mail, studded leather and sturdy shields of all shapes, sizes and mysterious backgrounds. Distinctive armors that can serve as the basis for family heirlooms, legendary artifacts and magical or masterwork weapons.
-Masterwork Armor Bonuses: Over a dozen homebrew armor improvements, enhancements and modifications created though superior craftsmanship. These masterpieces though more powerful than ordinary armor would not be considered “magic” or “+1” objects.
-All Unique Minor Magic Weapons: A collection of flavourful weapons of artifact level quality suitable for low level characters. Much like the Minor Weapon Enchantments that some of them draw inspiration from, they provide small bonuses and combat options that are restrained by limited uses, niche situations or come with risky drawbacks.
-Minor Weapon Enchantments: A collection of minor bonuses that are weaker than a standard +1 weapons, as they come with trade-offs, risks, prerequisites, limited uses or niche benefits. These enchantments provide feat-like bonuses, low level class abilities, modify damage types, provide short bursts of power or replicate the effects of low levels spells. Rollable Minor Weapon Enchantments Table.
-All Minor Magical Items: Semi useful magical objects (If not always useful to an adventurer) that have little to no drawbacks associated with their use and are perfect for low level characters.
-All Unique Weapons: Blades, bludgeons and bows of all shapes, sizes and mysterious backgrounds. Distinctive weapons that can serve as the basis for family heirlooms, legendary artifacts and magical or masterwork weapons.
-Masterwork Weapon Bonuses: Over 20 homebrew weapon improvements, enhancements and modifications created though superior craftsmanship. These masterpieces though more powerful than ordinary weapons would not be considered “magic” or “+1” weapons. Compatible with Pathfinder, D&D 5e and other D20 systems. Rollable Masterwork Bonus Table
-Wild Magic Surges: A collection of Wild Surge options for DMs and PCs who find the published tables limiting, repetitive or boring, three things wild magic by definition, should never be. Rollable Wild Magic Surge Table.
-All Rings: Enough rings and bands to wear three on every finger and toe while still having dozens to spare. These small circular pieces of gems, metal, wood or bone always add more to the story than the sum of their parts.
-All Necklaces: Pendants, amulets, lockets, chokers and other “Neck Slot” jewelry that grant an immediate glance into the bearer’s personality, wealth, rank or social class and often serves as an iconic part of that character’s look. While a locked metal torque can instantly mark the bearer a penniless slave and a string of lustrous pearls mark their owner a flauntingly wealthy noble, so can an adventurer’s necklace mark them as a creature to bestow quests upon.
-All Artifacts: Artist masterpieces, rare magics and opulent combinations of jewels and precious metals. These objects can be found in the throne rooms of kings, the demiplanes of archmages and the pinnacle of a dragon’s hoard.
-All Valuables: More useful than regular trinkets, these items have either a clear purpose, a reliable ability or are made from a fairly costly material.
-All Worthless Trinkets: Vaguely interesting garbage, vendor trash and junk loot. Not magical or mysterious like regular trinkets or worth anything more than a copper piece or two even if you could find someone to buy it in the first place.
-All Mottos: Whether they’re called adages, maxims or creeds, these simple statements are essentially promises made to oneself, family, or institution. A character’s motto can be a goal in itself or a moral anchor that centers his life and guides his action. A mixed collection of real life and fictional mottos that can aid a DM to quickly expand the history of the campaign or to aid a PC in a richer character creation.
-Battle Cries: Simplistic and bone chilling warcries, complex and inspiring calls to arms and primal wordless screams of rage that shakes the enemy down to their iron-shod boots. A collection of simple phrases, threats, insults and violent promises for creatures to yell before and during combat to add verbal spice to each attack.
-All Reference Tables: When a trinket calls for a Random Weapon, Random Color or Random Godly Domain and you can’t think of one offhand, just go here and either roll a die or select one of your own choosing.
—Keep reading for all reference and resource tables.
Back with another region, and this time I’ve got a reason! (unintentional rhyme being left in because it’s fun to say on retrospect)
I’ve reached a point in working on the Vallondian setting that I’m actually satisfied by the current offering of races, templates, classes, and archetypes which is exciting for me since I don’t feel the need to shoehorn anymore in and I can actually work on finishing this thing out at some point. Every other post I make is going to be a region until I’ve finally finished fleshing the entire world out, which means I’ve got ~30 left to do and THAT means I’ve potentially only got 60 or less posts to make until the setting is D O N E (!) Because I don’t have any particular character options that I feel have to be added to make the setting feel complete, I’m open to suggestions about what everyone would like to see, from specific archetypes to monsters to items to whatever: Give me a fun idea and I’ll see what I can do with it, and if it turns out to fit well then it will be added. This is an exciting time because I feel like I’m racing toward a finish line that has been taunting me for years and I couldn’t be more ready to cross it.
As always, questions and comments are welcome. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
These are three closely-related floral monsters that every adventurer should watch out for. With their diminutive profile and cutesy appearance, it is easy to underestimate the threat they pose - a grave mistake! All three possess strong magical attacks and can be surprising resistant to attempts to uproot them.
Lava roses are native to the Plane of Fire, and have adapted sufficient heat resistance that their seeds can take root in flowing lava. Unable to derive sufficient nutrients from the hard basalt they grow in, they follow an aggressively carnivorous strategy, attempting to devour any creature that crosses their path. For this reason, quests to pluck a lava rose’s flower have become a favourite way for romantic youngsters to prove their courage.
Found in Frostfell and at the peaks of snow-capped mountains, eternity blooms are noted for their extremely efficient metabolisms. These plants can easily live for thousands of years without any signs of aging. They are harmless unless provoked, in which case they will unleash their elemental powers without mercy.
The despairing princess strain is incredibly rare, being found primarily in Shadowfell. Their pale ivory flowers hide vast wells of negative energy, and merely standing near to one is a harrowing experience. If you see one, run the other way!
What is happening in the world right now is horrible, to say the least. The death, and murder of George Floyd is unacceptable, and in this modern day and age should have never have been allowed to happen in the first place. I am a white male and can not relate to George Floyd’s family and the whole of the black community in any level, as I have never, and will never be hindered by others about the colour of my skin. I am aware of my privelages, and they should not exist. The colour of your skin should not have an impact on your life under any circumstances, and you should challenge anyone who opposes that. The best things you can do right now, is educate yourself (if you are white) on your own privelages, donate to the Black Lives Matter movement to help serve justice for George Floyd’s family and help eliminate racism across many countries. This will take time, but it is a movement I strongly agree with. If you disagree with what I am saying, leave. We do not tolerate racism in any way in this community, and not in any of our lives.
I have no funds to spair at this moment, so I want to raise my own money. I will be doing commissions from anyone here for D&D 5e items, backgrounds, spells and monsters for any amount of money (preferably £1, $1 +), USD or GBP. 100% of the money donated will be sent to the Black Lives Matter movement. I know not many people have money to spend, just like myself, and that is fine. Just know that you, we can make a difference right now. This is the most I can do with my resources to help change the world.
If you want to help the cause, DM me about commissions. Sign petitions online. Donate to the movement. Peacefully protest, and stay safe if you are doing so.
It is in my best wishes to see the world change, as I am furious with society in not only the US, but also the UK. Protests in the UK have made clear that racist police are still very real, and do exist in my country too.
I will be trying to invest as much of my own money in to this as possible. A link to donate money for the cause will be provided in this post soon, and future post and in my discord server in case you are unable to find this post in the future.
I will also try and do a lot charity streams on my Mixer account, either playing video games or chatting with all of you. Remember 100% of all donations will be sent to the movement. The link to my channel will be posted when I actually stream for the charity.
Please share this message so we can make as much impact as possible.
The Dancer! A class based on the Dancer job in Final Fantasy Tactics. It is complex but ultimately based around performing consistent dances every turn in order to debilitate and distract enemies. As they level they become even more adept at this and learn to use their influence to impose all sorts of effects. I kept the general concept behind a dancer the same and made nods to their use as seduction and stealth users, but they work just as well on the battlefield as on the stage.
What to make me do a happy dance? Consider commisioning me or donating to my Ko-Fi.
Art credits: 5th Image: turtle-arts.deviantart.com 8th Image: Aromhawk Designs
Pix! A race of Small humanoids from the Feywild that exist sparingly in my campaign and could exist everywhere in yours! I love small player characters and I think that there is a lot of roleplay ability for a race of fairy like creatures. I also wanted to make a race that more adequately fit into being a Bard, because I feel that so few of them do.
Anyway, there you have it! Also, I will be making a Ko-Fi soon and anybody who wants to can send me some money for the work I put into these homebrews. The content will never be behind a pay wall, because I do this for fun and because I love it, but some extra cash never hurt anyone.
As always feel free to use in your game and for your setting and if you do, and feel like it, let me know how you like it and how it goes!
Here’s the latest version of the Rook, a defensive battlefield control martial class! I fixed wording, gave features to empty levels 6/10/13/17, and some new subclasses!
A curse has descended upon Deadwolf valley, a cloying mist that eats away at the sturdiness of tools and structures, causing them to break and fray at an accelerated rate. An ax earns a day’s dullness after only an hour of work, while a frequently used door may fall from its hinges after developing a rapid onset of rust. Even the roads face a similar state, becoming further churned with rocks and tangling roots with each journey. The Source of this curse is a mysterious rider robed in green, who the Lady of Deadwolf, Carlatta Zhay, has placed a fearsome bounty on. drawing in hunters form all across the realm.
Realizing what a boon disposable essentials might be, a shady halfing merchant has piled his wagons high with poor quality tools, plates, and all manner of brickabrack to sell to the people of the valley as their own supplies wear away to nothing. For a reasonable(ly inflated) price, Skipp Brookjumper will gladly sell the party any replacement gear they may need, even sending one of his surefooted assistants to go fetch it fresh from outside the mist for an added fee.
With the oppressive mist and mounting decay, no one trusts the bridges, which has isolated a fraction of the village’s population on the other side of the valley. With strange noises in the woods and disaster mounting, an elected runner asks the party to detour form their mission to aid in evacuating the outlaying dwellings and escorting the inhabitants several miles down the valley to where they can ford across.
Ancient ruins dot the valley, calling for the party to explore them and seek the mysteries and treasures hidden within. Each of these distractions however will take a heavy toll on the party’s equipment, denting armor, fraying rope, chipping blades with each use.
Setup: Not all is as it appears in Deadwolf Valley, as the figure in green is not the source of the mist, nor as some (including Lady Zhay) believe, some kind of fey bogeman come to extort some terrible price. They are instead Illthander, one of the last of a defunct circle of elven mystics who treated with the inhabitants of the valley long before the kingdom’s founding. Likewise, though the druid travels in the company of an equine companion They are not exactly a “rider” as this creature is infact a Unicorn by the name of Ovid, who despite exhibiting every quality one would want in a horse, is a bit of an ass when it comes to letting people fit him with a bridle.
Illthander has come to Deadwolf Valley seeking a particular lost ruin and the dangerous artifact held within. Called “Olinshesh-Ath-il,” by Their ancient kin or “The Vualt of Mist” in the common tongue, this vault was designed by Illthander’s predecessors and built by the people of the valley to contain a weapon known only as “ The Final Blade”, a relic from a forgotten of era of war that wreaked much destruction in its time. The cursed mist was a defense built into the vault, intended to both slow the progress of any who sought to excavate their way in, as well as hopefully atrophy the Blade into nothing over its long centuries of imprisonment.
The appearance of the mist in the valley was never intended, but is in Illthander’s estimation a sign that someone has not only breached the vault, but has devised a way to bypass its defenses by syphoning the mist elsewhere. Most of what Illthander believes is similar guesswork, as despite Their sagacious bearing they are working off information handed down from the time of their mentor’s mentor, and quite a lot of information has been lost amidst all that ponderous elven prose.
