1001 Mournland Horrors

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by vharuck:

62. The PCs pass a graveyard next to a barren Cyran village. Since the village had limited medical services, the graves were fitted with bells that people in the coffins could pull in case they weren't really dead. All the bells are ringing. If the PCs dig up the coffins to free the people, they find the the coffins are empty, but have scratch marks on the inside a gaping whole in the bottom that leads to a large tunnel bored deep into the earth. However, one of the coffins still has an old man in it, who apparently died twenty years ago.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

63) A long pink ribbon made of lace and fashioned for the hair of young girl floats along a breeze high above the adventurers heads. A second after the party takes note of it, it whips from the sky and begins to strangle the first person to speak.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by MarkB:

64) As the party crest a ridge, they come upon a wonderful sight in the valley ahead - the dead mists above are pierced, and the valley is free of the Mournland's eternal twilight, bathed in the light of the sun. Within, the fields and houses of an idyllic farming village lie unsullied and still in use - the villagers are alive and healthy, and interact with the party if approached, though an air of sadness hangs over them, and the village seems underpopulated. When the party question them, they find the reason - these villagers were not spared the effects of the Mourning after all. If a villager leaves the valley by any means, they quickly decay to a rotted husk, even if taken directly to beyond the Mourning. And whilst they can grow their own food and even benefit from healing spells their priest casts, their food does not nourish outsiders, nor do healing spells cast within the valley affect visitors. The remaining villagers are resigned to passing the remainder of their lives here - few Mournland beasts venture into the valley, and there are enough crops to sustain them. Very few of them have tried for children, and there have been no pregnancies since the Mourning. The population still diminishes slowly as one or another villager finally succumbs to depression or desperation and attempts to leave the valley.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

65) A battle field, covered in the corpses (perfectly preserved, as usual) of Thranish, Cyran, and Karrnathi soldiers lies ahead. However, upon arriving at the battle field, the PCs notice that each soldier's face is exactly like his own (or that of a loved one), frozen in an expression of horror, shock, or sadness.

66) A band of ghostly children march through a battle field (with the usual preserved corpses) searching for the bodies of their relatives. When a relative is found, one (or maybe a few) ghostly child (children) break from the parade with a soul wrenching wail and sinks into the earth next to the corpse. Where the child disappears, a black rose, with gaping holes in the leaves and petals, appears.

67) A pool of perfectly calm, clear, still water sits in the middle of a large, deserted plane. Any PC who looks into it sees his or her home town/city being sacked and burnt. Women the character knew are ravished, men the character knew are brutally tortured and killed, and children are clapped in irons and dragged screaming away from their homes. For every round the PC looks into the pool, a DC 15+(number of previous saves) Will save must be made. If the save is failed, the character is drawn into an elaborate illusion in which he is forced to live the horrors of the pool first hand. The PC's body is motionless and appears unconscious to the outside observer, and the PC's mind can only be freed by a Break Enchantment spell.

68) Dense fog encompasses the PCs, blinding them, and each one hears the others screaming in pain or crying for aid.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

69) Over the course of the day, dark clouds gather in a strange red sky, and thunder begins to roll. Near dusk, it begins to rain charred body parts and dead livestock.
70) Moans and sounds of a struggle lead to what appears to be two soldiers from opposing factions of the Last War, fused together into a single crawling, deformed mass. The pair can do nothing but groan and occasionally fight eachother, both crying out when a punch or kick lands on their shared form.
71) On closer inspection a strange-looking rock formation proves to be the remains of a building, and the strange features are the petrified forms of people trying to claw their way out of the stone walls.
72) A strange puddle on the ground. If a character steps in it or disturbs it in any way, a tortured scream fills the air, and a face floats to the surface of the puddle.
73) An intact house, its sole inhabitant a madwoman suckling a dead baby.
74) The party crosses an empty field lightly coated with ash. On climbing a hill adjacent to the field, they look back to see that the ash outlines the shape of hundreds of human forms lying on the earth.
75) A small cluster of bodies lies on the ground. If they are approached, a giant swarm of flies and maggots burst from them, attacking anyone nearby.
76) A giant golem, composed entirely of debris from a city- pieces of houses, carts, pacing stones, old clothing, scrap metal and farm tools trudges through the wastes, adding pieces to itself from ruins that it encounters. A semi-animate corpse draped over one of its shoulders whispers orders in its ears, and shouts taunts and promises of horrible death at anyone who approaches.

Edit: Fixed my numbering. Post before mine should be 65-68.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

77) Upon mounting the top of a large hill overlooking Eston, the party hears a rumble as a large boulder rolls up suddenly, threatening to crush them, but at the critical moment, the boulder stops and roll backward down the hill. Once at the bottom, the party sees a regal looking man, garbed in the smock and robe of House Cannith, straining against the boulder, trying to push it up the hill, and succeeding only to have it roll down again. When asked who he is, he identifies himself as the late patriarch of House Cannith. When asked why, he simply says one word: "Torment", and with that he begins his task anew. A bard could convince him to temporarily halt his labor with a DC 30 Perform (sing) check, rewarding the performer with a House Cannith Artifact of considerable power.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

78) What appears to be a scrap of cloth caught in the branches of a dead tree is in fact an entire discarded human skin.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Beleriphon:

79) The party comes across what appears to be a damaged and broken down barn, from inside they hear the happy giggle of children. As the party approaches they find the children feasting upon the corpses of what appear to be their parents.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by chimpman:

80) The party walks through a field of muddy terrain, each step causing the mud to grasp at their feet and a viscous red liquid to pool around their footprints.

81) The party walks through a field of muddy terrain each step causing the mud to grasp at their feet. If they look hard enough they notice that tiny child like hands are reaching out of the mud to pull at them. The hands are physically harmless, but the PCs won't be able to rest until they leave the area.

82) The PCs walk through a field of short wavy grass. In fact what first appears to be vegetation is a mas of needle sharp worms poking up from the ground. Walking across this terrain is like moving through a field of caltrops as the worms actively seek warm fleshy feet treading above them..

83) As the party camps out in the open the gray mists pull away to reveal a dark, yet starry night sky. One by one, each of the stars fall out of the sky until the entire night sky is pitch black (perhaps causing some kind of despair effect). The PCs must view this event until all of the stars have fled (they can not remove their eyes). Once all is black the PCs can look away again, but as soon as they glance at the sky the process starts over again.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by Hellcow:

Nice work, everyone. Many of these are ideas I've already used in my campaign, or very close to them! To throw in a few more of mine...

84. In the distance, giant luminous ants are building some sort of structure out of what appear to be human bones.

85. A veiled woman in a bloodstained dress is kneeling by a muddy stream. There is a basket beside her, and she appears to be doing her washing. However, as you move closer, you see that she is not cleaning clothes; her basket is filled with severed limbs and heads. (Spirit? Illusion? Meme? Undead? You decide, if the party is unwise enough to engage her in conversation.)

86. If any member of the party fought for or against Cyre in the last war, have them find the corpse of an old friend or enemy, amid a slain patrol. It's not an illusion, or anything strange - just a reminder than many people died in Cyre, people who may have been your friends. Ditto for Cyran characters passing through their hometowns.

87. There is a region in which ink becomes liquid and runs off of any paper or parchment it is on. Parties may find paintings that are nothing more than blank canvases in ornate frames. Spellbooks and scrolls are safe if they are kept closed; but anything opened or unrolled will quickly become blank paper.

88. The party arrives at the scene of a skirmish - a village is being ransacked, or perhaps a Valenar band is fighting a Cyran patrol. At first the group appear to be illusions; all forms of attack pass through them. However, they will react intelligently to new arrivals, and their weapons *can* damage physical creatures. They are seemingly sentient, but every five minutes their memories reset - and they cannot pass beyond the boundaries of the battlefield.

Keep up the good work!