Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7345640" data-attributes="member: 20323">Thank for your comments - some fun ideas here! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I did a little more digging, and wow! I found out "Nērebtu" is an Assyrian word meaning "entranceway; mountain pass." Likewise "Nērebu" means "entranceway of gates/doors; mountain pass; a cosmological gateway (to meet Anu, Enlil, and Ea – Sumerian gods); a part of the liver; an official in charge of the entrance." Source: <a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/cad_n2.pdf" target="_blank">Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago</a>And "Vast" used as a noun is an archaic term for "an immense space."So Nerebdian Vast might mean "an immense space from, related to, or like a cosmological entranceway." Which is eerily perfect for how I'm using it.Yes, definitely plan on having hidden dangers at the oases!While I like the idea of securing shelter at an oasis requiring acts that edge into Chaotic Evil territory...pulling that off in actual play seems all but impossible given survival spells like create food and water & my generally genre-savvy players.Interesting idea. Actually, there's this "monster" entry in Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra for an ooze called "growstone" that is worked by dwarves using light (it is photophyllic) to make seemingly impossible structures – a cheesy in-setting explanation for how the pyramids were built. I wasn't planning on using it, but your idea of almost-living cave/canyon systems overtaking an outlying village is fascinating & might be a good place to include the "growstone" as something unnatural.Thanks for the recommendations! Lots of cool inspiration there. Interesting to see some parallel thinking about cold deserts fitting the Nerebdian Vast.These are great, thanks Schmoe! And you totally beat me to it with the malevolent shifting canyon labyrinths!Building off    [MENTION=6801461]Draegn[/MENTION]'s suggestion to look at the Tarim Basin for inspiration (where mummies were found), I can imagine preserved tribes, caravans, or even settlements at the bottom of the dry sand pits. These underground "sand tombs" might have portals/conduits of some type to Shaddonon the shadowy 49th layer.If petrification happens, I could see shadow fiends or night hags scouring the wastes acting as saviors with the ability to reverse the petrification entirely...or just in part...the better to torment or negotiate for the souls of the trapped.These are brilliant! I'll totally use these and run with the mirage theme to see what else I come up with.I feel like you might be thinking of a Mongoose Publishing book, but I know the least about 3e products as I was lapsed from the hobby for much of that time.All of these sound good, definitely thinking along similar lines... Crops turned to bone? As in grains turned into human bone? Is that Biblical or did you make that up? I can't wrap my head around it, but somehow it is creepy and probably exactly the sort of thing I should include. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses    B-)" data-shortname="B-)" /></blockquote>

Verification