Daztur
Hero
Oooooh! Oooh! Possible source of inspiration for critters down in the Sunless Sea: http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/something-like-men.html Is too weird and my brain is too tired to come up with something concrete right now...
Let’s Make a Hexcrawl Setting
- Thread starter Daztur
- Start date
Electric Wizard
First Post
Ogo Tassak, the Temple of the Hunt (14.27)
Connects to Hex 12.28, 15.28, 16.23
Gnolls and Nekh both rely on desert game for survival. To ensure that the beasts come, they meet at the ancient temple of Ogo Tassak every year at the vernal and autumnal equinox and perform rites. The meetings can be maddening to outsiders. For hours, the Nekh squawk and beat their wings to the drumming and mournful baying of the gnolls. But the carving and painting of new animal totems is the most important rite. The Nekh sculpt animal figures from driftwood and paint them with cave ichor and the gnolls sing enchantments into them. Their cooperation attracts a season of game to the Singing Waste. Between the rites, the temple entrances are sealed tight to prevent ghouls from haunting the place.
To visitors, Ogo Tassak seems a humble temple complex. It consists of only a few circular chambers decorated with bizarre, crude engravings of beasts no longer seen in the Shrouded Lands. No one knows who its builders were, although the esteemed lizard man historian Kashikik (16.23) is certain that they were human.
The gnolls know of several shafts near the complex that lead to lower chambers. They do not bother exploring them because their forays into the darkness yielded little water, no food and hostile creatures. An old gnoll named Kroo did, however, discover a bronze blade of exotic design that can erupt into flames. His description of the chamber sounds like a tomb.
Hooks
-Do the totems have powers besides attracting game?
-How are the entrances sealed so well? Ghouls are pretty tricky.
-What sorts of beasts are engraved on the temple walls?
-What hostile creatures lurk beneath the temple?
-What other treasures await their liberation?
Connects to Hex 12.28, 15.28, 16.23
Gnolls and Nekh both rely on desert game for survival. To ensure that the beasts come, they meet at the ancient temple of Ogo Tassak every year at the vernal and autumnal equinox and perform rites. The meetings can be maddening to outsiders. For hours, the Nekh squawk and beat their wings to the drumming and mournful baying of the gnolls. But the carving and painting of new animal totems is the most important rite. The Nekh sculpt animal figures from driftwood and paint them with cave ichor and the gnolls sing enchantments into them. Their cooperation attracts a season of game to the Singing Waste. Between the rites, the temple entrances are sealed tight to prevent ghouls from haunting the place.
To visitors, Ogo Tassak seems a humble temple complex. It consists of only a few circular chambers decorated with bizarre, crude engravings of beasts no longer seen in the Shrouded Lands. No one knows who its builders were, although the esteemed lizard man historian Kashikik (16.23) is certain that they were human.
The gnolls know of several shafts near the complex that lead to lower chambers. They do not bother exploring them because their forays into the darkness yielded little water, no food and hostile creatures. An old gnoll named Kroo did, however, discover a bronze blade of exotic design that can erupt into flames. His description of the chamber sounds like a tomb.
Hooks
-Do the totems have powers besides attracting game?
-How are the entrances sealed so well? Ghouls are pretty tricky.
-What sorts of beasts are engraved on the temple walls?
-What hostile creatures lurk beneath the temple?
-What other treasures await their liberation?
Daztur
Hero
The Mud Platter
Additional information about Hex 29.14
This basement restaurant is popular place for drunks to fortify themselves against hangovers and for tired nocturnal entertainers to count their earnings before turning in. Its signature dish is salt beef cooked in yogurt and spices until the mess is as brown as the mud that seeps up between the bricks of the floor. This is then served on trenchers of spongy cornbread and eaten with the hands by ripping off pieces of the bread and using it to grab pieces of beef before they fall on the floor.
The proprietor, Jarvis, provides fresher rumors that are fresher than his beef. He gets a steady stream of them from the hobgoblin urchins that come to his back door each day at dawn to be fed leftovers and kitchen scraps. These young hobs travel and below the streets of Shuttered selling fish jerky, roast peanuts, sausages and grilled pigeon breast onna stick, often getting into trouble and dabbling in petty theft. Few people pay them much mind so those, like Jarvis, who do can learn a lot.
One of the human regulars here is employed carting night soil out of the city. On her nightly trek she has run into Armand of the Axe (29.13.01) in his spider-monkey form and, taking him for an angel of Alberon, has taken to leaving carved charms for him. She will happily tell anyone about her "visions" if they are willing to stand her pungent presence.
Hooks:
-Who are some of the other regulars?
-What are some other dishes of these lands?
-What has Jarvis heard from the hobs recently?
For mud platter I'm imagining salty beef Stroganoff cooked with yogurt instead of sour cream and a good bit of (curry?) spices. The stuff it's served on is a lot like Ethiopian injera but with a good bit of lightly-fermented cornmeal instead of just teff/wheat. I thought beef and yogurt would be Shuttered staples because of all of the cows and the corn is there since that seems to be the main crop in Shuttered's sea farms. Not requiring any plates or utensils makes it good for a place full of shady drunks. The other main staple would be seafood from the Keening Sea. Not too bad I don't think, I'd eat it.
Additional information about Hex 29.14
This basement restaurant is popular place for drunks to fortify themselves against hangovers and for tired nocturnal entertainers to count their earnings before turning in. Its signature dish is salt beef cooked in yogurt and spices until the mess is as brown as the mud that seeps up between the bricks of the floor. This is then served on trenchers of spongy cornbread and eaten with the hands by ripping off pieces of the bread and using it to grab pieces of beef before they fall on the floor.
The proprietor, Jarvis, provides fresher rumors that are fresher than his beef. He gets a steady stream of them from the hobgoblin urchins that come to his back door each day at dawn to be fed leftovers and kitchen scraps. These young hobs travel and below the streets of Shuttered selling fish jerky, roast peanuts, sausages and grilled pigeon breast onna stick, often getting into trouble and dabbling in petty theft. Few people pay them much mind so those, like Jarvis, who do can learn a lot.
One of the human regulars here is employed carting night soil out of the city. On her nightly trek she has run into Armand of the Axe (29.13.01) in his spider-monkey form and, taking him for an angel of Alberon, has taken to leaving carved charms for him. She will happily tell anyone about her "visions" if they are willing to stand her pungent presence.
Hooks:
-Who are some of the other regulars?
-What are some other dishes of these lands?
-What has Jarvis heard from the hobs recently?
For mud platter I'm imagining salty beef Stroganoff cooked with yogurt instead of sour cream and a good bit of (curry?) spices. The stuff it's served on is a lot like Ethiopian injera but with a good bit of lightly-fermented cornmeal instead of just teff/wheat. I thought beef and yogurt would be Shuttered staples because of all of the cows and the corn is there since that seems to be the main crop in Shuttered's sea farms. Not requiring any plates or utensils makes it good for a place full of shady drunks. The other main staple would be seafood from the Keening Sea. Not too bad I don't think, I'd eat it.
Daztur
Hero
The High Kings' Crown
Additional information about 14.27
Inspired by: http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/alkalion.html and a random comment on Google+
Below the Temple of the Hunt there may be a tomb of an ancient king and there may not, but it certainly contains as many treasures and dangers as any tomb I have heard of. Let me tell you of one of each.
Crowns change men. A prince may be your closest friend but after they put some jewelry on his head you'll only find a stranger sitting there on the throne. This was nowhere truer than of the old High Kings of Gore. Brave and honest princes ruled as blood-drenched tyrants and cruel and lazy wastrels became even-handed lawgivers. But after the Lords Sanguine killed the last High King of Gore (05.20) his crown was lost. Somehow it ended up, every rusted iron ounce of it, in the tunnels beneath Ogo Tassak.
None have been able to recover it because it is near the lair of a strange beast. It looks something like an albino lion, lion-limbed and sharp-ribbed, its claws dripping a powerful solvent much sought-after by alchemists that allows it to claw through walls to seek out its prey. Is is able to do so with some skill because its "mane" is actually a thick fungal growth that sends out spores that look much like dandelion seeds. When one of them touches anything warm and fleshy, the lion awakes and comes.
Connection: the carvings on the bronze blade that Kroo found seem similar to those on the tombs of the ice mummies (03.02).
Hooks:
-Why would anyone use a Helm of Opposite Alignment as a crown? Why is it all rusted? Does it have any properties besides changing your alignment?
-How did the crown end up here?
-What is the lion creature called? What's its back story? Who has it killed?
-Which alchemists want the lion's acid?
-What's up with this place and the ice mummies?
Additional information about 14.27
Inspired by: http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2012/12/alkalion.html and a random comment on Google+
Below the Temple of the Hunt there may be a tomb of an ancient king and there may not, but it certainly contains as many treasures and dangers as any tomb I have heard of. Let me tell you of one of each.
Crowns change men. A prince may be your closest friend but after they put some jewelry on his head you'll only find a stranger sitting there on the throne. This was nowhere truer than of the old High Kings of Gore. Brave and honest princes ruled as blood-drenched tyrants and cruel and lazy wastrels became even-handed lawgivers. But after the Lords Sanguine killed the last High King of Gore (05.20) his crown was lost. Somehow it ended up, every rusted iron ounce of it, in the tunnels beneath Ogo Tassak.
None have been able to recover it because it is near the lair of a strange beast. It looks something like an albino lion, lion-limbed and sharp-ribbed, its claws dripping a powerful solvent much sought-after by alchemists that allows it to claw through walls to seek out its prey. Is is able to do so with some skill because its "mane" is actually a thick fungal growth that sends out spores that look much like dandelion seeds. When one of them touches anything warm and fleshy, the lion awakes and comes.
Connection: the carvings on the bronze blade that Kroo found seem similar to those on the tombs of the ice mummies (03.02).
Hooks:
-Why would anyone use a Helm of Opposite Alignment as a crown? Why is it all rusted? Does it have any properties besides changing your alignment?
-How did the crown end up here?
-What is the lion creature called? What's its back story? Who has it killed?
-Which alchemists want the lion's acid?
-What's up with this place and the ice mummies?
Daztur
Hero
The Dead Chick
Hex 01.01
Among the mountains here can be found the enormous corpse of a roc chick, its smelling is ripe and strong but even the vultures stay away. As everyone knows, rocs lay their eggs in the air and their chicks must learn to fly before they hit the ground. This one didn't.
Connection: anything said around the corpse of a roc will be repeated by the mockingbird of the Kingswood (25.07).
Hooks:
-How could a roc possibly learn to fly that quickly?
Hex 01.01
Among the mountains here can be found the enormous corpse of a roc chick, its smelling is ripe and strong but even the vultures stay away. As everyone knows, rocs lay their eggs in the air and their chicks must learn to fly before they hit the ground. This one didn't.
Connection: anything said around the corpse of a roc will be repeated by the mockingbird of the Kingswood (25.07).
Hooks:
-How could a roc possibly learn to fly that quickly?
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Jacob Marley
Adventurer
I haven't added anything to this in quite a while...
Hexes 48.32, 48.33, 49.32 - Triplets (plains)
Three communities are built in these three hexes - 48.32 contains the dwarven village of Elharda ("Golden Light" in the common tongue), 48.33 contains the gnomish village of Grasthifal ("Golden Light" in the common tongue), and hex 49.32 contains the elven village of Vivisophal ("Golden Light" in the common tongue). These three villages are exact replicas on one another, down to the very layout and square footage of each building. The only change being the race of people who live there, and the language they speak.
In Elharda, the village is lead by an elder dwarf who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with a Gnomish accent. In Grasthifal, the village is lead by an elder gnome who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with an Elven accent. In Vivisophal, the village is lead by an elder elf who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with a Dwarven accent.
Items commissioned to be made in any of the villages can be picked up at either corresponding triplet, the corresponding artisan will know the buyer even if the buyer had never set foot in that particular village before. For example, if a sword was commissioned at the dwarven blacksmith, the buyer could pick the sword up at either the elven or gnomish blacksmith without ever having to inform the dwarven blacksmith that he is doing so.
Hooks:
Who is Adymm? Is he the same entity in all three villages?
How did these villages come to be built identical to one another?
How does the artisan know which town the buyer is going to pick the item up in?
Are these three villages actually one and the same?
Hexes 48.32, 48.33, 49.32 - Triplets (plains)
Three communities are built in these three hexes - 48.32 contains the dwarven village of Elharda ("Golden Light" in the common tongue), 48.33 contains the gnomish village of Grasthifal ("Golden Light" in the common tongue), and hex 49.32 contains the elven village of Vivisophal ("Golden Light" in the common tongue). These three villages are exact replicas on one another, down to the very layout and square footage of each building. The only change being the race of people who live there, and the language they speak.
In Elharda, the village is lead by an elder dwarf who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with a Gnomish accent. In Grasthifal, the village is lead by an elder gnome who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with an Elven accent. In Vivisophal, the village is lead by an elder elf who calls himself Adymm. He speaks with a Dwarven accent.
Items commissioned to be made in any of the villages can be picked up at either corresponding triplet, the corresponding artisan will know the buyer even if the buyer had never set foot in that particular village before. For example, if a sword was commissioned at the dwarven blacksmith, the buyer could pick the sword up at either the elven or gnomish blacksmith without ever having to inform the dwarven blacksmith that he is doing so.
Hooks:
Who is Adymm? Is he the same entity in all three villages?
How did these villages come to be built identical to one another?
How does the artisan know which town the buyer is going to pick the item up in?
Are these three villages actually one and the same?
Daztur
Hero
Jacob Marley: great to have you back 
Let's see if I can add something to your post.
The Cauldron of Galovain
Additional information about Hex 43.22 et. al.
No matter which of these three villages a traveler eats at, they will always be fed out of an enormous iron cauldron. Close inspection of the cauldron will reveal the magical signature of Severard of the Seven Chins (13.08) and one of its magical effects is that any sort of food that is cooked within in it is tripled, which keeps the three villages well fed despite the aridity of the surrounding lands.
The local gnolls (51.29) are the most frequent guests of Adymm and, aside from eating heavily, leave the three races alone.
Connection: if divination magic (for example the Diadem of the Third Eye, 15.24) is used to detect the sins of someone who has eaten from the Cauldron of Galovain, all that will be revealed is the meal that they ate.
Hooks:
-Where does the name of the cauldron come from?
-Is there one cauldron or three?
-Does the cauldron have any other magical effects?
-What is the connection between the villagers and the dead wizard. Are they refugees from Severard's Town?
-Why don't the gnolls just take the cauldron away? Why do they put up with the three villages?
The Inconsolable
Additional information about hex 19.31
One of the many boats that can currently be found at the docks of Jahur is the Inconsolable, bound from the Isle of Thalanyl. The captain is currently selling a great deal of scented soap for transshipment to the City of Smoke (51.29) while the crew, a deep-eyed close-mouthed lot, mill around the docks and poke suspiciously at anything they are fed.
Like all ships that sail from Thalanyl, the Inconsolable shines with the million human fingernails that cover its white hull. It is whispered that the isle contains a great cauldron in which the body of a brave human can be cooked so that it provides enough meat to feed the entire city for a day.
Hooks:
-Why is the ship called the Inconsolable?
-Are the stories about the Isle of Thalanyl true?
-Why is the soap being sent to the City of Smoke?
Note: I'm assuming that the Isle of Thalanyl is way off the map to the south. Hopefully not too ghoulish, let's see if I can come up with something a bit more cheery next...
Let's see if I can add something to your post.The Cauldron of Galovain
Additional information about Hex 43.22 et. al.
No matter which of these three villages a traveler eats at, they will always be fed out of an enormous iron cauldron. Close inspection of the cauldron will reveal the magical signature of Severard of the Seven Chins (13.08) and one of its magical effects is that any sort of food that is cooked within in it is tripled, which keeps the three villages well fed despite the aridity of the surrounding lands.
The local gnolls (51.29) are the most frequent guests of Adymm and, aside from eating heavily, leave the three races alone.
Connection: if divination magic (for example the Diadem of the Third Eye, 15.24) is used to detect the sins of someone who has eaten from the Cauldron of Galovain, all that will be revealed is the meal that they ate.
Hooks:
-Where does the name of the cauldron come from?
-Is there one cauldron or three?
-Does the cauldron have any other magical effects?
-What is the connection between the villagers and the dead wizard. Are they refugees from Severard's Town?
-Why don't the gnolls just take the cauldron away? Why do they put up with the three villages?
The Inconsolable
Additional information about hex 19.31
One of the many boats that can currently be found at the docks of Jahur is the Inconsolable, bound from the Isle of Thalanyl. The captain is currently selling a great deal of scented soap for transshipment to the City of Smoke (51.29) while the crew, a deep-eyed close-mouthed lot, mill around the docks and poke suspiciously at anything they are fed.
Like all ships that sail from Thalanyl, the Inconsolable shines with the million human fingernails that cover its white hull. It is whispered that the isle contains a great cauldron in which the body of a brave human can be cooked so that it provides enough meat to feed the entire city for a day.
Hooks:
-Why is the ship called the Inconsolable?
-Are the stories about the Isle of Thalanyl true?
-Why is the soap being sent to the City of Smoke?
Note: I'm assuming that the Isle of Thalanyl is way off the map to the south. Hopefully not too ghoulish, let's see if I can come up with something a bit more cheery next...
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Electric Wizard
First Post
Fools' Court (5.18)
Connected to Hex 5.20, 14.27, 19.31
For an age, peasant children crowned every High King of Gore in this outdoor temple. The temple is ancient, and consists of two rings of standing stones that chart the movements of the sun, moon and stars. Some inner stones bear weathered reliefs of the androgynous deities known in Gore and Jahur as the Fools (19.31). The mysterious humans who settled this land before Gore considered this a very sacred site. Although Gore is culturally quite different than their predecessors, the kings considered themselves heirs of the ancient race. Ardumar, the first king of Gore, discovered the rusted High King's Crown in the center of the Fools' Court after a vision in a dream. Every king elected after him wore it to honor the old gods. The kings were chosen for their vices rather than their virtues due to the personality-changing nature of the crown. Ambitious lords acted uncharacteristically rakish and immoral in hope of being chosen.
Today, local centaurs use the Fool's Court for their savage rites.
Hooks
-Why did peasant children crown the kings?
-Why did the old kings revere an ancient, little-known civilization and their gods so much?
-Where do the local centaurs live? Tell me about their rites.
-What other ruins are scattered across Gore?
Connected to Hex 5.20, 14.27, 19.31
For an age, peasant children crowned every High King of Gore in this outdoor temple. The temple is ancient, and consists of two rings of standing stones that chart the movements of the sun, moon and stars. Some inner stones bear weathered reliefs of the androgynous deities known in Gore and Jahur as the Fools (19.31). The mysterious humans who settled this land before Gore considered this a very sacred site. Although Gore is culturally quite different than their predecessors, the kings considered themselves heirs of the ancient race. Ardumar, the first king of Gore, discovered the rusted High King's Crown in the center of the Fools' Court after a vision in a dream. Every king elected after him wore it to honor the old gods. The kings were chosen for their vices rather than their virtues due to the personality-changing nature of the crown. Ambitious lords acted uncharacteristically rakish and immoral in hope of being chosen.
Today, local centaurs use the Fool's Court for their savage rites.
Hooks
-Why did peasant children crown the kings?
-Why did the old kings revere an ancient, little-known civilization and their gods so much?
-Where do the local centaurs live? Tell me about their rites.
-What other ruins are scattered across Gore?
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Electric Wizard
First Post
Castle Ravenscraig (3.19)
Connected to Hex 5.20, 14.27
Ravenscraig was Gore's principal seaport when the old kings ruled. Bards sing of a harbor thick with the sails of a hundred nations, and of every merchant residing in a gilded palace. When the Lords Sanguine seized power, however, the Pirate Kings flew south, annihilated Gore's fleet, and plundered the city. The Pirate Kings considered Turien's fall to be the end of the ancient pact that spared Ravenscraig from destruction. They reveled in stripping every bit of wealth from the great city, a feat that took an entire month. The Lords Sanguine reeled in horror, and some attempted to restore the monarchy. They formed a fellowship and struck out on a quest for the iron crown (14.27). They rode into Singing Waste and vanished.
Lady Belal of the Nets is slowly rebuilding her ancestral castle in the midst of the city's ruins. She spends most of her days with her ladies-in-waiting, weaving fishing nets from the silk of giant spiders that dwell in the crumbling undercity. She hopes to build nets mighty enough to snare the great whales that frolic offshore. She finds her ambitions constantly sabotaged by other Lords Sanguine who fear that the Pirate Kings will return if she begins to accumulate wealth.
Hooks
-Could the return of the iron crown mean a return of the truce between Gore and the Pirate Kings?
-What became of the fellowship?
-Does Castle Ravenscraig produce anything else from spider silk?
-Giant spiders aside, what lurks in the ruined undercity? Did the Pirate Kings overlook any wealth stored there?
-Who sabotages Lady Belal most persistently?
Connected to Hex 5.20, 14.27
Ravenscraig was Gore's principal seaport when the old kings ruled. Bards sing of a harbor thick with the sails of a hundred nations, and of every merchant residing in a gilded palace. When the Lords Sanguine seized power, however, the Pirate Kings flew south, annihilated Gore's fleet, and plundered the city. The Pirate Kings considered Turien's fall to be the end of the ancient pact that spared Ravenscraig from destruction. They reveled in stripping every bit of wealth from the great city, a feat that took an entire month. The Lords Sanguine reeled in horror, and some attempted to restore the monarchy. They formed a fellowship and struck out on a quest for the iron crown (14.27). They rode into Singing Waste and vanished.
Lady Belal of the Nets is slowly rebuilding her ancestral castle in the midst of the city's ruins. She spends most of her days with her ladies-in-waiting, weaving fishing nets from the silk of giant spiders that dwell in the crumbling undercity. She hopes to build nets mighty enough to snare the great whales that frolic offshore. She finds her ambitions constantly sabotaged by other Lords Sanguine who fear that the Pirate Kings will return if she begins to accumulate wealth.
Hooks
-Could the return of the iron crown mean a return of the truce between Gore and the Pirate Kings?
-What became of the fellowship?
-Does Castle Ravenscraig produce anything else from spider silk?
-Giant spiders aside, what lurks in the ruined undercity? Did the Pirate Kings overlook any wealth stored there?
-Who sabotages Lady Belal most persistently?
Daztur
Hero
OK we’ve got one hex that implies that kobolds are figments of nightmares escaped from an extra-dimensional prison (27.11) and another that associates them with dragons (13.24). Let’s reconcile them.
The Kobold Exodus
Hex 45.09
Kobolds are the things that dragons have forgotten.
Once the father of all dragons asked the darkness behind the moon for a gift and it was granted. Even today, all dragons remember every coin of their hoard, every bauble and every gem. This knowledge fills their narrow minds to bursting and so when they sleep their memories of everything but their hoard flows through their minds like a desert through a sieve.
But the memories of a dragon are not like the soft airy things of men, they are definite and they skitter and crawl. Men call them kobolds and are reminded of things half-seen in dream.
Kobolds are bitter creatures. How could they not be when the must squabble with rats as their minds writhe with migraine-visions of dancing with the fires of burning cities? As befits creatures born of thought, kobolds are cunning, filling their homes with a thousand traps. They are driven to do this by the certain knowledge of just how weak and puny there are that hammers at their minds every second of their existence.
Their days are filled with fear but when they dream they are dragons.
Dragons react variously to their accidental offspring. Some file them away in their caverns, forming squirming libraries of memory, some ignore them entirely and some eat any that they can find, hoping to reclaim their forgotten memories. But no kobold dares strike back for if they kill their dragon they will surely die. Instead many kobolds travel to far places to see and do and learn strange things in hopes of capturing memories strong enough to still the draconic thoughts that thrum beneath their hides. They almost always fail.
Despite this, it is rare for kobolds to migrate in large numbers. That is why the kobold exodus here is so surprising. Along this bit of the World’s Edge, thousands of the creatures swarm up ropes, ladders, improvised pulley systems and even the rock of the Edge itself. While their fellows climb, other kobolds patrol the thick air on canvas wings. What they are fleeing or where they are going is unknown.
Connections:
-The migrating kobolds seem to be avoiding the Lost Lighthouse (46.10).
-Kobolds did indeed emerge from the Mind Chambers of the Infidel (27.12) but this is because dragons dream such potent dreams (i.e. kobolds) that they tend to bleed over in the dreams and nightmares of other races.
-This may explain the behavior of the kobolds of the Nameless Mountain (13.24). Perhaps the dragon will try to eat them when it wakes to reclaim its lost memories.
Hooks:
-What are the father of all dragons and the darkness behind the moon?
-Kobolds often appear in the dreams of others. What effects does this have?
-Who are some famous kobolds? What draconic memories are they composed of?
-What is the cause of this kobold exodus? Where are they going? Where are the dragons that spawned them?
The Kobold Exodus
Hex 45.09
Kobolds are the things that dragons have forgotten.
Once the father of all dragons asked the darkness behind the moon for a gift and it was granted. Even today, all dragons remember every coin of their hoard, every bauble and every gem. This knowledge fills their narrow minds to bursting and so when they sleep their memories of everything but their hoard flows through their minds like a desert through a sieve.
But the memories of a dragon are not like the soft airy things of men, they are definite and they skitter and crawl. Men call them kobolds and are reminded of things half-seen in dream.
Kobolds are bitter creatures. How could they not be when the must squabble with rats as their minds writhe with migraine-visions of dancing with the fires of burning cities? As befits creatures born of thought, kobolds are cunning, filling their homes with a thousand traps. They are driven to do this by the certain knowledge of just how weak and puny there are that hammers at their minds every second of their existence.
Their days are filled with fear but when they dream they are dragons.
Dragons react variously to their accidental offspring. Some file them away in their caverns, forming squirming libraries of memory, some ignore them entirely and some eat any that they can find, hoping to reclaim their forgotten memories. But no kobold dares strike back for if they kill their dragon they will surely die. Instead many kobolds travel to far places to see and do and learn strange things in hopes of capturing memories strong enough to still the draconic thoughts that thrum beneath their hides. They almost always fail.
Despite this, it is rare for kobolds to migrate in large numbers. That is why the kobold exodus here is so surprising. Along this bit of the World’s Edge, thousands of the creatures swarm up ropes, ladders, improvised pulley systems and even the rock of the Edge itself. While their fellows climb, other kobolds patrol the thick air on canvas wings. What they are fleeing or where they are going is unknown.
Connections:
-The migrating kobolds seem to be avoiding the Lost Lighthouse (46.10).
-Kobolds did indeed emerge from the Mind Chambers of the Infidel (27.12) but this is because dragons dream such potent dreams (i.e. kobolds) that they tend to bleed over in the dreams and nightmares of other races.
-This may explain the behavior of the kobolds of the Nameless Mountain (13.24). Perhaps the dragon will try to eat them when it wakes to reclaim its lost memories.
Hooks:
-What are the father of all dragons and the darkness behind the moon?
-Kobolds often appear in the dreams of others. What effects does this have?
-Who are some famous kobolds? What draconic memories are they composed of?
-What is the cause of this kobold exodus? Where are they going? Where are the dragons that spawned them?
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