1001 Mysteries...

[The_Warlock]

This is a good thread idea by the way, Warlock.

I was certainly hoping people would think so. Keeping things weird and magical is important.

PS: Yours is seriously disturbing. I'm pretty sure most players in my runs would just be completely confused and sweating.

I like several of the entries and especially, "What the hell just happened?"

Yeah, I think Andor wins this thread with that one. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use that in the next campaign I run.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[Jack7]

Keeping things weird and magical is important

It is indeed. Very important and I think magic should always include an element of the "weird and dangerous."

In many of my scenarios and adventures I specifically include a difficult moral dilemma, and sometimes a "strange or bizarre or unexplained event." Similar to what Andor suggested with the "What the hell just happened..." entry.

But after thinking about this thread and what you suggested I've also decided that every time they encounter strong enough magic or a dangerous enough situation then somewhere in that same scenario/adventure will be, what I'm gonna call, a Weirding, or a Wyrding (depending upon circumstances). And this thread gave me the idea.

So here is my next Weirding/Wyrding.


The Colossus of Roads

The party is moving along a deserted Road system in the wilderness. They come to either a fork in the road or to an four way intersection. Where the roads meet or split, in the exact center of that spot will be a shiny mirror, lying partially buried by the muck but still obviously visible. The mirror will be slightly convex and if the party members attempt to dig it up they will be unable to, as every time they dislodge earth new earth will immediately spring up to replace what was dug away. But if they shine or polish or clean the mirror then they will be able to see a very disturbing scene in the reflection.

The mirror will go mostly dark giving the feeling of gloom to the surrounding countryside, even in broad daylight. They will see in the mirror a series of scenes in which a huge, monstrous, colossal thing with an inscribed globe of iron in his hand and a crown of swarming insects and spiders on his brow is seen walking across the landscape. Every time his huge feet hit the ground they dig in several feet and as he passes his footsteps leave behind puddles of freshly churned blood. The images give the impression that the ground is shaking, but nothing can be heard emanating from the mirror. Occasionally crushed bones are seen in his footprints. Suddenly the Colossus is at a fork or intersection at a road and the players will realize that they are at the same exact spot as pictured in the scene with the colossus. Only apparently at a different point in time.

The colossus looks around and from his viewpoint the players can see for miles. The colossus looks up and sees plummeting out of the sky a huge Roc. The roc is apparently dead and falls out of the sky to land at the foot of the colossus with a tremendous crash which breaks the body open. The colossus raises his leg and tramples the huge dead carrion fowl into a bloody pulp. When the colossus is finished trampling the corpse he looks down at it. Having spilled out of the stomach and intestines of the bird are the remains of the party-members who are watching the scene, partially digested, but recognizable from their gear and equipment.

Then the mirror goes dark.

At that moment an earthquake begins which lasts for about thirty seconds. It throws everyone to the ground. After that everything is still for several seconds and then the players see a huge hand explode from the ground near the intersection. Then another. The hands begin to dig up the surrounding ground as if a corpse digging itself out of a grave. If the characters stay in the immediate area then they will be covered in the surrounding dislocated earth and may become injured or even killed.

When the head appears it is of a gargantuan figure with a strange helm and on the top of the helm is the "mirror of the intersection" or "mirror of the fork." The entire figure, which stands over 120 feet tall and appears made of bronze digs itself free in about 3 or 4 minutes leaving a huge, gaping crater in the ground where the road used to be. The colossus then stands upright and seems to scan the horizon as if looking for something. He will then look at the sun or moon, whichever is visible. He will walk up and down the various roads for about a half-mile along each branch of the road, apparently trying to look for something in the distance, then turn to follow a different road. Each time he steps the ground trembles but he makes no impression of any kind upon the ground.

After he has "walked every road" he will return to the intersection where the huge hole is, turn and look directly at the party members, and then stoop and use his finger to inscribe something in the ground. He will then stand, shake his head while looking at the party and leap into the hole out of which he came. It would be expected that a huge impact would occur as he leaps in but no sound, shaking, or impact is noticed. He simply completely disappears into the hole. If the party members go and look into the hole they will see nothing but a huge, bloody feathers and the apparent stinking and mostly decayed remains of a huge bird carcass, covered in worms, insects, and spiders.

If the party members can gain a good vantage point by which to see the huge writing of the colossus they will read, "For you there is no road forward, and no road of return. I am sorry."

 

[RangerWickett]

35. I Can Has Minion?

The PCs find a wide sheet of paper sitting on the ground or on a table. A small binding circle has been drawn in charcoal, and inside the circle lies a book. The book is open to the beginning of a story, the biography of a cat. The first page shows a moving illustration of a white cat that occasionally watches the PCs, but is just as likely to tend to a spit on which he's roasting a mouse, or leave the frame altogether.

The PCs can turn the pages in the book freely, and read other stories about animals, but while each story starts with an illustration page, none of their main characters are present. If they look for the story about a mouse, they see signs of a recent struggle, and cat claw scratch marks on the floor.

If they move the book or erase the binding circle, if the book is closed the PCs start to hear plaintive meowing. If the book is open to a picture frame, the cat climbs out, then follows the party for a year and a day. Occasionally the party will wake up to find a wild animal dead near their camp, or a dead burglar outside their home. The cat, when they next see it, is innocently licking a faint red stain off its forepaw.

 

[The_Warlock]

36. Dead Man's Chime

While traveling through a wilderness, preferably a mix of hilly woodland, the light breeze brings the faint sound of hollow whistle and wooden wind chime sounds.

If the PCs investigate, the find a copse of twisted trees and thorn bushes at the end of a short ravine that seems to channel the wind toward the trees. While the trees themselves seem to add to the sounds, the hollow sounds come from inside the small woods.

After a painful and difficult navigation of the briars, the group finds itself in a roughly circular glade, stones of many hues arranged in a complex pattern on the ground, though overgrown with weeds and grass. Near the center are the bleached skeletal remains of a figure half again the height of a man, with a serpentine skull, another dozen colored stones scattered amidst it's taloned phalanges.

The most disturbing thing, however, are the skulls, literally scores, hung from black cords and tarnished metal rods overgrown with thorny vines, arranged like wind chimes. As the breeze blows, it wails hollowly through the eye sockets, and the occasional knock of empty heads makes a echoing "thock" sound. Nonetheless, the whole seems to sound almost on the verge of some written piece of music.

If any living thing steps into the glade, the sounds coming from the skulls seem to become a murmur, and in dozens of languages begin whispering..."Get out...Get out...Get out" slowly causing unbidden fear to grip those who hear it...(saves as appropriate).

Those who fearfully run pell mell through the woods suffer brutal attacks from the thorn bushes. Should they die due to the attacks, thorn bushes engulf the body in a spray of blood.

If some companions are still watching the glade when a companion dies, they will notice one of the chimes bears a new, bloody severed head: that of their lost companion.

Those who search the woods for their lost companion find a trail of bloody thorns, and a briar bush covered in torn flesh and blood, but nothing else.

The group who leaves the Copse of Skulls (whether on their own, or running in fear and survives) find themselves blinking away bright noon day sunlight with a small copse of straight, tall trees beside the road or trail they had been following earlier.

Sitting on a nearby rock are any companions who "died" in the Copse of Skulls, looking quite irritated, and covered in several small lacerations, as if from running through a forest or underbrush, saying that the rest of the group rushed off without them earlier on the trail.

Should anyone try and backtrack, they can find no sign of the twisted trees or their wind channeling hills.

Characters who survived the Copse will notice that those who died have some kind of bit of fluttering twine or paper object clinging or tied to some part of their pack.

If examined, there is a crudely written note in brown ink in archaic script that holds a hint or clue to something the character has been seeking, or if not perhaps a simple map to some lost treasure, followed by the words, "Payment accepted."

(This one requires some trust on the part of your players - feel free to pass a note to the "dead" ones if you feel you must).

 

[The_Warlock]

37. Mirror, Mirror

At some point, when the group comes upon a room with a large mirror in it, one member of the group will hear faint grunts of pain. No one else can hear the sound.

Looking into the mirror will reveal the expected reflection, except that the character who can hear the sound will notice that the reflection of themselves has clenched teeth, and a fearful, desperate look in his/her eyes.

It then seems to notice that it's reflection is different, and writes, either in dust on the floor, or furniture, or on the mirror itself, "Help" which appears backwards, and then surreptitiously points to a melee weapon on the real character. If other members of the party are also in the reflection, the mirror-character seems to be trying to avoid letting the mirror-party notice it's attempt at communication.

If the real character puts the requested weapon, or another "helpful" item, down so that it is reflected near the mirror-self and unattended, the mirror self picks it up.

The mirror self then assaults or is assaulted by mirror images of the real character's companions, and the mirror-self is born down in a pile of aggressive doppelgangers who reveal knobby skin, goat-like eyes and shark-toothed maws. The mirror self fights valiantly but is born out of view by the assault, at the last minute ripping an amulet from it's neck and throwing it at the mirror, which shatters upon contact.

Any real character must avoid a deadly barrage of silvered glass if within 10' of the mirror.

If searched afterwards, the real character will find the item it "gave" to it's mirror self is gone, though trails of green-grey blood spatter the back of the mirror shards.

Amid the ruined glass is a necklace and amulet made of incredibly crafted glass chain links and a stylized glass eye which are as hard as steel. If worn it grants some form of benefits to perceiving disguises, illusions, and shapeshifters.

Or perhaps just makes the wearer think normal folk are disguised horrors...

 

[The_Warlock]

38. What World Are You From?

Late one night, camped in a wilderland frontier, preferably with cover, be it boulder strewn moor, or stunted marsh trees, or the equivalent, but with a clear view of the night sky overhead, the characters on watch hear the sounds of an echoing chase, with many feet, and flapping wings which seems to fade and close on their camp with nothing to see.

Anyone looking up at the night sky will see what look like heat shimmers, followed moments later by the moon overhead changing from bright and full to an angry blood red, parts of it sheared off and floating in the sky behind it, and a foul stink and thin haze creeps into their camp, kept at bay only by the light of their campfire.

A few moments later a figure crashes through the scrub and cover into their camp, clutching a bleeding stump of an arm, and gasping for breath, before hitting the ground at the edge of the firelight.

When it looks up, it is a haggard, older face, but one well known to the characters - a significant adversary or villain they have foiled before, but never killed or brought to permanent justice. He/she will also seem to recognize the characters, but confused, ask, "How? You're dead. Dead. I saw them kill you and eat the corpses. HOW?"

That is when the sounds of the chase arrive, bringing strange man-things with no faces, just masses of ganglia where a head should be with weird polearms that arc purple lightning at their tips, and from above the flapping of great wings as a strange cross between a wyvern and a manta ray alights at the edge of the camp, ridden by a robed figure who grips the sides of the flying beast with tentacular hands, but has a taut mummified elven face whose eyes have been replaced by worms. With a sibilant voice he commands the ganglians to eradicate the escape slaves.

The ganglians rush forward attacking the party, using abilities that trip, shove, and daze with lightning, in an effort to surround them. Once that has happened, the rider will command his beast to fly, swooping down to snatch the wounded villain, and fly off. As he is taken, he screams at the party..."Don't let them find it! Whatever it takes. Never let them find Esker's Delve...kill them all, kill the twins!" as he is borne out of sight.

As the characters vanguish one ganglian after the other (make them a significant challenge) the remainder appear to get weaker, transparent, and shadowy, and translucent, tortured faces of men and women can be seen overlayed over their faceless necks. When as many as the party member remain, there is a mighty thundercrack, which knock the characters to the ground.

The moon is once again itself, and normal night sounds and smells return. Any animals the characters have seem skittish for a while, but otherwise normalcy returns, though the group has any wounds they suffered in the battle.

If anyone decides to search or track, they will find the tracks and blood trail of the dream adversary, impossibly faint at the edge of the camp, deeper, and more normal where he fell, and then faint transparent blood stains that go for a dozen feet in the direction he was carried off.

 

[kristoaster]

Number 38 sounds more like the beginnings of a whole adventure than a single mystery

 

[The_Warlock]

Number 38 sounds more like the beginnings of a whole adventure than a single mystery

Depends entirely on what world the PCs ARE from.

 

[The_Warlock]

39. Shadows of a Race

Preferably while the party is traveling in a uncivilized wilderness, lightly to heavily forested, the most aware members catch sight of a silhouette blinking in and out of the trees in the distance with a faint sounds of hooves, then silence.

If investigated, the party finds no obvious trail, though a trained tracker will notice a set of jagged, cloven hoof prints all by themselves, as if something was in mid gallop, but no tracks immediately before or after it.

If they look farther afield, they will find another set of similar tracks 60 or 70 feet further on. The tracks seem fresh, no more than an hour old...

If the difficult dispersed tracks are followed, about 20 minutes into trailing them, a series of staccato impact will be heard from behind.

Turning, the party will see a vaguely horse-like creature, blip in and out of existence, only to strike and bound off again with it's sharp and spiked hooves, screaming in a most human way from it's crocodilianly long maw which stretches back the length of it's horse-like skull, the top of which is covered in shattered ivory protrusions.

The creature will not stop, and may accidentally teleport trample anyone in it's path, or narrowly miss them (as seems most appropriate).

The creature will quickly leave pursuers behind, but can still be tracked as before.

A similar charge through will occur after another 20 minutes of tracking. It will become apparent that there are other older tracks present, and pieces of stone near the path darkened by old blood, as the galloping sound is again heard.

This time, the beast is even more distorted, with swept back shard-like ivory horns, improbable fangs, glowing eyes, and whip-like tendrils writhing from its back and flanks.

A final push of following the trail leads to a secluded and overgrown dell, wild overgrowth of thorn bushes and poison ivy hindering access.

Finally breaking through reveals a terrible scene, made worse by it's age. A bowl like area, recently drained of water or bog, a tiny spring trickling into the muddy pseudo-graveyard.

All the figures in the terrible diorama are adipocere mummies (corpses mummified by their own adipose and fat tissues without oxygen): half a dozen mannish sized figures, some with obviously broken limbs, others pierced with terrible wounds, some impaled on the petrified remnants of a tree's branches...all near the partially netted body of Unicorn, long since dead and equally leathery and mummified, a horrible caricature of itself, only a short stump of it's horn remaining.

If the unicorn's body is cremated or otherwise given some form of proper repose, there will be heard a great whinnying from the path they followed.

Afterward...will the humanoid mummies animate and attack? Will the adventurers examine the cracked rock face that the trickle of water comes from to find the rest of the unicorn's horn still in tact? Or will the remainder of the grisly scene merely become a sinkhole, trying to wipe the the memory of it from the forest, happy to take any too slow to move to a mud covered death by suffocation...