#mountain encounter

[dailyadventureprompts]

Monsterhunt: Caeldestiir, and her bloodless legions

A titan of ice and sorrow dwells amid the peaks of the far northern mountains, its pained cries summoning storms and avalanches. Most know to keep their distance and leave well enough alone, but the entity's bloody tears bring forth swarms of violent undead that every few years boil off the mountainside like ants from a kicked nest. Something must be done, but how will the party ever hope to challenge such a foe?

The name Caeldestiir originates with the local goliath tribe, meaning "The cold and broken god" in their tongue. In their lore, the creature is the unwanted get of some distant divinity that left it on the mountainside to die of exposure, as is sometimes done with unwanted infants in the harshest of times. Though this legend (and the creature that inspired it) has persisted for generations, the tribe's current jarl Zautho feels somehow responsible for Caeldestiir's recent disquiet, as when she was young she was forced by her family to give up a child deemed too sickly to live. Fear over the gods' judgment and the titan's building wrath has the jarl dispatching runners across the breadth of the tribe's territory, seeking signs, solutions, and allies.

Adventure Hooks:

The party encounters the first of the goliath runners in a bordertown marketplace, being hurried along by the authorities for "causing a ruckous", as they think the emmisarry is some barbarian radical preacher come to lecture them about the sins of civilization. They'll meet another in a noble's court, being given the cold shoulder after being promised a meeting.

After repeated undead incursions across their borders, those of the "civilized" lands will finally be forced to take notice, having ignored the signs for too long and losing their chance at containign the threat. ( Yes, we're doing a game of thrones reference, but unlike GRRM we're not going to take 30 years to resolve it).

Zautho might be the party's greatest ally in facing the frigid threat, but she's become distracted: convinced the rise of the icy titan is somehow the gods' punishment against her specifically. Guilt is not so easy a thing to shake off, so the aparty will have to go questing for knowledge and divine truth to shake the jarl from her despair.

Background:

Few songs are still sung about the dreadmage Feriya , of her plot to force eternal winter on any realm that did not bow to her, of the coalition of unlikely allies that marched north to challenge her army, of the heroes who gave everything to secure her defeat and bring her icy fortress crashing down upon her head.

Centuries since her defeat Feriya's wrathful spirit has yet to fade, trapped as it was in the glacial wreckage that was once the sign of her great authority. Time beyond death has distorted her, diminishing the person she was and leaving behind only her wrath, her power, and the memory of a body being crushed alive. As the distinction between tomb and entombed faded what began as a ghostly stirring has transformed into an elemental colossus, howling with the pain and fury of the north wind as it drags itself across the jagged mountain peaks, phantom bones breaking with each movement.

Mercy would be enough of a reason to put the thing out of its misery, whatever Feriya's ambitions and cruelties she did not deserve such a pained afterlife.

Artsource

[geckcellentmaps]

A quick battlemap of a mountain bandit camp I used recently in my campaign. Boulders, cliffs, and red igneous rock protrusions make great cover, but there's no avoiding this pack of bandits waiting in the road.

commissions are open

[oldschoolfrp]

Dueling dragons (Jeff Easley, Dragon magazine 170, June 1991)

[serpentface]

Here's a heavily improved Imperial Wardin map, with a focus on climate and geography (uses the Koppen Climate Classification). This is an attempt to infuse pre-existing lore too established to retcon with a degree of realism, but there's only so much I can do.

The majority of the climate falls under the hot mediterranean and semi-arid classification, with small pockets of warm mediterranean and arid climes. The entire region experiences a rainshadow effect from the eastern Blackmane Mountain range, which blocks northeasterly winds from the eastern ocean and starkly divides the Sub-Viper landmass between its humid east and dry west.

Most of the interior is grassland, savannah, and scrub. Savannah heavily coincides with a history of human occupation and controlled burns, and is mostly based around oak. Grassland, scrub, and semi-desert dominates the semi-arid regions. Small pockets of high desert and salt flats occur in the arid zones.

A forest originally spanned much of the north, consisting of predominantly oak. This was gradually eliminated due to multiple factors- a warming climate, low intensity human intervention (hunter-gatherers and pastoralists clearing land with controlled burns), and high intensity exploitation (deforestation for timber). Additional woodlands found along the major riverways have been wholly eliminated by logging within the past several centuries.

The largest remaining span of woodland occurs within and north of the Highlands, and in the sparsely populated northeast, where a major and mostly intact oak forest stretches to the Blackmane mountains. A smaller pocket of woodland occurs in the volcanic highlands of Lobera. Other pockets remain, but are isolated and insignificant on the map.

Most of the geography is flat, divided by a range of hills that are the heavily eroded remains of an ancient mountain range. The highest peaks of this range comprise the contemporary Highlands, which have the highest elevations and coldest climate in the region. This is the only territory that regularly receives snowfall, and is the source of several major rivers. The rest of the range is too low to drastically affect the climate, save for the Red Hills east of the Cholemdi basin, whose rain shadow effect (heavily compounded by the basin's low elevation) renders this valley the hottest and driest part of the region. This range once formed a land bridge across the Viper into Finnerich (though this was prior to anatomically modern humans Existing) with its only remnants being smatterings of islands.

The province Lobera holds a small range of volcanic highlands, composed of a network of mostly dead volcanic craters. The volcano Odatoche is the only active site in the region, though has been dormant for centuries and has not had a major eruption in millenia. The other major geological feature is the Sons of Creation, which is the fabled site of God’s self-sacrifice from which the world was made. This is the eroded range of a very large impact crater, consisting of two impact rings (visible as a circular formation of hills) a ring lake, and an elevated center.

The most fertile land is found in Ephennos, owing to the presence of the Black River and its highly fertile delta (which contains the only major semi-permanent marshes outside of Highland river valleys). This is the second largest river in the region, being a confluence of two major river systems out of the Highlands (the Urbin/Erubin and Troibad/Nedachemi rivers). Erubinnos has the largest river, the Kannethod, which originates in the Blackmane mountains.

Agriculture around some of the other river systems is mostly or entirely dependent on their post-rainy season flooding. The most prominent is the Yellowtail river (flows south past Erub). In the very distant past, this was the longest river in the region, and carved out the Cholemdi basin and reached the sea. In the contemporary, it dries out long before even approaching the sea (though occasionally still floods the basin in abnormally rainy years). The Brilla river system out of the Red Hills (flows to Wardin) reaches the sea year-round, but has been known to run dry in exceptionally severe drought, and irrigation along its length depends on its flooding.

There are very few significant lakes in the region (small lakes are unmarked). The biggest is the volcanic crater lake Aganagarre in Lobera, the Yellowtail lake north of Erub, and the ring lake within the Sons of Creation.

[thistransient]

陽明山國家公園 // Yangmingshan National Park

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Whooooo could have predicted this?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[sysig]

Moomin. Moomin in Minecraft. please?

Day 16 - Are you new to the valley?

[unionizedwizard]

randomly remembering that i spent like. 10 years? 5/6 to 15/16 yo. wearing literal 19th to early/mid 20th century nightgowns on a daily basis in the warmer months (april-september). for some reason. like floor-length white gowns with embroidered collars and all. there were various models and colors and lengths and shit. they were passed on to my mother by the 10000000000 Ancient Italian Ladies she was learning her italiaboo ways from and like, all of these gowns were genuine period pieces their mothers and aunts and even grandmas (!) had worn when they were my age. (you know like. the eternal condition of "children's clothes get less worn down than adults' clothes since they usually grow them out pretty quickly"). and since they ALL had heaps of Old Unwanted Clothes in their attics (acute case of "never throw anything away" syndrome) they were ELATED to have found a victim period clothing enthusiast and dumped entire suitcases worth of various Ancient Attire on my mother (and, relatedly, on me). and then i wonder why everyone thought i was WEIRD!!! i was talking like urianger AND dressing like him too!!!

[persicipen-archive]

forever curious if genshin really put fontaine above the sea level simply because they couldn’t lift the entire map and sink the region in the game engine lol

[barstoolblues]

its so funny reading geology papers published before the acceptance of plate tectonics in 1967. like 🤭 can I say something

[csh-tournament]

ROUND 2, MATCH 8

Dream: Encounter On Smoke Mountain vs feel like daniel johnston

Reblogs appreciated for bigger sample size

Listen below

[dailyadventureprompts]

Monster Hunt: The Doloron Colossi

Artsource

Enigmatic titans that stride endlessly through the snowy wastes, mummified by the cold, driven on by some unknown puprose, most think the colossi remnants of a forgotten age, and give them wide berth lest they be trampled underfoot.

There seems to be no aim to the Doloron's wandering, as they trek across the tundra and mountainsides alone or in groups of two or three like some mobile monument to hopeless exhaustion, occasionally collapsing to be buried by drifting snow only to be unburied decades later when some shift in weather or poor traveller unearths them.

Sightings of the Doloron are thought to be a bad omen, least in part because none are sure what draws their unthinking ire or what can dissuade it. Everyone has heard stories about the unlucky travler who somehow angered the colossi before escaping to warmer lands, only to have the giants arrive along with the winter winds and level the entire village. Some tales suggest their wandering is a millennia old hunt for some ancient foe they are sworn to slay before they can finally die.

Adventure Hooks:

It's well known that each Colossus is garbed in enough Adamantium to outfit a small legion, and while some scavengers spend years hunting for the smallest scrap offcast in the frozen wastes. Some of those prospectors found a Doloron trapped inside a ravine and half buried in ice, and now an impromptu mine has popped up excavating the undead and trying to strip its armour piece by piece. Only now the thing is whispering to them in an unknown language, a never ending, half heard litany in a language none of them can understand.

A cruel wizard has realized that the giants follow the worst of the winter storms, and has used weather magic to "steer" a Doloron into a frontier garrison, with aims of using it to bring a nearby kingdom to its knees.

Legend says there is some way to rally the colossi to one's aid, though accounts vary whether it might be a great horn carved into a hidden mountain, the crown upon which they swore their oath of service, or the words of forbidden binding that gave them their beleaguered immortality. As the final battle approaches, the party may need to discover the truth of these rumours if they hope to even the odds against their foe.

[writtenbyplato]

Literally just the same anti circle trying to tear you down lol

They're just fake fans anyways. If I told them that the whole troll species literally exists because of incest, they would throw a tantrum

Love you as well!

--That one old Stridercest fan

LOVE YOU MAN !!!! running out of thank you doodle ideas and its 10am on an all nighter for me but heres auhhhhh dave w a blåhaj

[oldschoolfrp]

As the party draws near a small cave mouth a manticore soars from a rocky ledge above. (Jim Holloway, D&D module X3: Curse of Xanathon, TSR, 1982)

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 726: Sakamichi until the Central Sports Park

Pag 1

1: Two hours earlier, Sohoku High School racing team is on the mountain road towards the training camp

2: Are you alright, Onoda-san!?

Ugh....

Y- your condition... ahh, ahhhh

Captain!!

3: We were descending at a high speed, and then the moment we entered the mountain road his face turned... white

What do we do about this training camp

Is- is.... is he going to be alright?

4: Yeah, don't worry

It's Onoda-kun's specialty that we've gotten used to – car sickenss!!

I didn't think it would happen three years in a row

Pag 2

1: At the same place!!

2: I'm- alright, Naru.... ko... kun

Yeah you don't look alright at all

Your face is as white as paper

3: During these three years.... I've learned... and

I've come..... prepared....

4: Go ahead before me

5: There's no need to contact Toji-san either

6: From here....

Pag 3

1: To the Cycling Sports Park it's 18km....

I realized that on this mountain road

Pag 4

1: If I go with my bike, I'm sure I won't feel sick!!

Pag 5

1: I don't feel faint and I don't feel sick either

And I won't bother everyone

Ahhh... bikes really are the best...!!

2: But I'll be a little later for the start

I'll hurry as much as possible

(Time display)

4: But

5: The air is sweet, and I'm able to slowly enjoy the scenery

Ah, I can see the sea

6: I even started humming without noticing

Hm hm hm

Ahhh the “Love Hime”'s third season announcement PV only has the chorsu part of the song.... I want to listen to the opening!!

Even though I'm pedaling like this

Pag 6

1: There's many things to discover

2: 3km to go!!

3: This climb, and then the descent after it!!

4: Alright, I'm at the top

5: Hm hm hm

6: Hime hime

Pag 7

1: Hime.....

2: Waaaaaaaa, he's deaaad!!

3: Someone- someone's collapsed

Waaaaa my first dscorvery

Wh- wh- what should I do

4: My phone, my phone

Pag 8

1: I'm alive

A- i- u- e- o

Pag 9

1: See, I can even speak Japanese

2: I'm just resting

On the ground

3: You can go

Goodbye

4: O-okay

Sorry, you surprised me

5: What a strange person....

Well, then....

He was wearing a unifer, is he a student.....?

Pag 10

1: Hakone Academy is around here, maybe he's an Hakone Academy's student?

2: Uh-oh, I'm on my way to training camp! I have to hurry

I left the start to Naruko-kun, but....

4: Huh?!

This smell....

5: Just now the smell of plants was mixed a little with the smell of blood!!

Pag 11

1: He's injured!!

2: Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe I'm making a mistake?

Maybe he'll brush me off again!?

3: But

4: Let's turn back!!

Aaaaaaaa

Pag 12

2: Oh?

3: The four-eyes from before

Pag 13

1: I'm just resting, you can go

Yo-yo-you're injured!!

2: I have water and bandages!!

Oh

3: Are you kidding me

4: No way something so convenient

5: is... happe.... ning

Waa-

6: Are you alright!? Were you hit by car!?

Are you alright!?

7: Huh? No... on my own.....

On your own!?

Pag 14

1: Just for a moment, I looked away just a little

And then there was a hole and I fell

2: This is so hard, this is so hard

3: He's not listening

5: He's so bad at this....

6: But

Pag 15

1: You saved me

Thanks a lot

5: I'm glad!

7: By the way, that

Is the same as the one that a famous guy from Chiba rides

The bicycle

Pag 16

1: Huh

2: You know bicycles very well?

Yeah

3: I was riding one earlier

4: Earlier?

5: Now it's a little....

Waaa- It's fallen to the bottom of the valley...!!

6: I was riding, then I got caught in a hole

Kinda like that

Pag 17

1: Leave it to me, I'll bring it to you

2: I'll....

Ohhh, what a kind guy!!

3: I-!!

Waa--!!

5: …. well then, I'll go

Somehow now it feels reversed and I feel sorry

6: By the way....

Ahead of here

7: There's only the Cycling Sports Park

And from today for the next four days it's reserved so you can't use it

So where are you going, Four-eyes-san?

Pag 18

1: To the Cycling Sports Park

2: I'm Chiba's.... Sohoku High School's cap.... captain

Do you know of it?

My name is Onoda Sakamichi

We're having a training camp there from today

Pag 19

2: Who?

Huh- ah, no- haha it's it's just a name

He doesn't know me....!! This is so embarassing!!

3: You're kidding me.....

4: The super famous person of Chiba!!

5: This is baad... I was s surprised I bluffed and pretended not to know

Ah... uhm, and you?

6: Huh, me?

I'm- I'm!!

Pag 20

1: I'm Hakone Academy first year, the super rookie!! I'm Tobirama!!

2: It hurts

This person's head looks like a scrubbing brush

[touhoutunes]

Title: 超絶サヴァイヴ (Superior Survival)

Arrangement: あとぐる

Vocals: 小峠 舞

Album: 花氷-HANAGOORI-

Circle: 舞音KAGURA

Original: Deep-Mountain Encounter