<Homebrew> The Port on the Aster Sea

Wild Gazebo · Feb 26, 2009

Idea:

There are ancient, practical and usable, wells that have been in existance since the genesis of the Clutch. If delved into...far beyond the standard bobbing of water...they emerge in a completely mirrored world know only as 'Is'.

Is is completely primal: driven solely by the need to survive. The mirrored constructs of sentient labours are overwrought with vegetation and decay while the grand exanse of land and sea beyond is lush with the confict of 'life without thought'.

Any who enter Is from the otherside must constantly battle with ones own primal urges...eventually transforming into a creature of pure instinct--if not controlled.

It is rumoured that ore mined from the earth of Is enables great clarity during exploration of self. The raw material in the hands of a talented clockwork could be used to create rare and powerful navigation tools to help traverse both sea and land. But one must be wary: for the guiding force of the ore serves the users best interest--not necessarily the users goal.

Mallus · Feb 27, 2009

So jump in a well and wind up in the Land of the Id? That's fantastic WG. It also suggests that if you climb a high mountain, or sail an airship high enough up you'll reach the realm of the superego.

I'm going to use this. I'm not entirely sure how yet, but I will.

Also... is anyone interested in me posting PDF's of the player handouts we used at the start of the campaign?

Wild Gazebo · Feb 28, 2009

I know I'd love a copy of the PDF...I'm a little jealous I live so far away from a group that appears to share my whimsical take on roleplaying.

As for the grand heights of the realm might I suggest another mime of the earth below...this time completely made of crystal and glass and near perfect in every form. Staying to long causes the untrained to lapse into a coma of indecision.

If you place a crystal shard from the high realm with a rock of ore from the low realm you can always determine exactly where you are.

doghead · May 24, 2009

Really nice work. So many interesting and intriguing ideas. I particularly like your treatment of gnolls (personal favourites of mine) and gnomes (I have always found gnomes a little creepy - love what you have done with them).

Thanks for sharing.

doghead
aka thotd

Mallus · Dec 16, 2009

Man, it's been a long time since I updated this thread. Here's a little something for the holidays...

Crossmass, sometimes called Grave's Mass, and written, X-Mass, is a major holiday in the Port. It commemorates, if not exactly celebrates, the arrival of a choir of angels from the Interior carrying wooden crosses on their backs -- in some versions, they are Devas who come by ship. They spent a day walking up and down through the streets of the Port, singing melancholy songs. At sunset they marched on Mole's Hill, planted their crosses in the garbage --Mole's Hill being something of a public landfill-- stared accusingly in silence at the mysterious Old Man of Mole's Hill, and then committed mass suicide by crucifying themselves.

The residents of the Port, being a combination of brutal, self-deluded, and fiercely optimistic, saw the event as good omen. 'Out with the old, in with the new'.

A joyous holiday procession is a Crossmass tradition. Port residents dress a small animal in a gossamer robe, put festive wings and a halo on it, then the whole family gathers around as they lead it into the living room and forcibly nail it to the crucifix. Then there's a game, in which the little children make bets on how long it'll take the animal to die.

(Thanks to Atlatl Jones and Rolzup for their help with this particular travesty. BTW, the Port Campaign is over a year old and still going strong. Almost a third of the Port's streets have names now.)

TarionzCousin · Jul 7, 2011

This post is totally not a "bump."

Mallus, it's relatively easy now to convert to PDF's. Is there any chance you are planning on doing so (and posting a link to it) anytime soon?

erwtenpeller · Aug 25, 2015

I enjoyed reading about this setting. Very inspiring! Out-of-the-box type stuff.

Mallus · Aug 25, 2015

erwtenpeller said:
I enjoyed reading about this setting. Very inspiring! Out-of-the-box type stuff.

Thanks! We've used the setting for 4e, AD&D, and now we're finishing the original 4e campaign using 5e. Unfortunately for the Port, it looks like the PCs will be burning parts of it down, as the long-simmering Holy Goblin Communist Revolution (it's... complicated) finally gets underway.

If you're interested, the Port was inspired by a lot of things; Clive Barker's fantasy novels Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, Imajica, Sam Keith's comic "The Maxx", Chine Mieville's New Crobuzon/Bas-Lag books, and, the universe Whedon's Buffy & Angel take place in, and maybe a dollop of Pratchett's Discworld.