Loretober: A Fantasy Worldbuilding Challenge for October!

jaybirdthings

Explorer
# 29. Artifact
Subject: Event
Canvas: Regional

THE EXPANSE AWAKENS

One of the most legendary weapons on the planet is a dagger made from the blood of Star Elves known as The Expanse. It holds the power of the stars within it, and stories of its past wielders carving images into the night sky are common folktales for young elves to recite. The Elves of Wode locked away the weapon to keep it out of the many conflicts broiling on Verra, but it was stolen recently.

No one knows where the weapon is now, but the effects of its release are felt throughout Midval. Many scholars blame the weapon’s theft for the appearance of the Star Plague, a brutal and fatal disease that causes patches of glowing constellations to appear on the skin. These patches grow and spread until the infected creature is covered completely in a false visage of the night sky, at which point they will have lost their mind. Reports of this late stage of the plague vary broadly, from victims dropping dead instantly, floating up into the sky never to return, or spontaneously exploding in a ball of starlight.
 

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jaybirdthings

Explorer
# 30. Export/Import
Subject: Place
Canvas: Global

PORT BRIGHMORE

The world’s largest trade hub is Port Brighmore, a large metropolis seated in Brighmore Bay, a massive bay upon which the people of Brighmore have built many interconnected floating villages called baysteads. Large international trade ships sail straight through the bay to the city of Brighmore, while smaller vessels unable to gain permits to dock in the city proper rely on the baysteads to do business in the bay.

Brighmore is one of Midval’s last standing city-states, the others being the pirate city of Portbail and the Leucan commune of Melan. Many historians believe that Brighmore will be the last nation on the continent to stand against the Empire of Admas, as its seizure will be seen as a threat to all other nations who rely on Brighmore for trade with the nations of Midval.
 

Edgar Ironpelt

Adventurer
Loretober 30: Export/Import
Despite its reputation for insularity, the Furfoot Counties import and export a surprising array of goods. In a halfling burrow-home in the Counties one might find wine from the Kingdom of Vinland, coffee from south of the Wine Sea, tea from the eastern lands of the Old World, dwarf-clocks from the Redstone or the Foggy mountains, and even porcelain from the Eastern Cap. The bulkiest exports are foodstuffs, sent mostly south to the Kingdom of Vinland and up the Meadborn River to the Redstone Mountains, while other exports include wool, fine-quality kegs, casks and barrels suitable for wizardly enhancement, and bowstaves cut from the yew trees found the northern part of the Counties. Pipeweed is not an export of the Furfoot Counties; a small amount is produced for local use in the south near the Meadborn river, but most pipeweed is grown by halfling communities in the Lands of the Old Empire and on the Winesea and West Wine islands.
 
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27.) gala

When the city of Gowell had languished under the joy hating, toil-loving thumb of the forces of Baator for too long then came Rumjachuv, the demon prince of partying to free them. He turned the leaders and taskmasters of the establishment into hamburgers and flesh pinatas. He abolished all work and taught the people to survive by raiding and cannibalism. And when his cult was destroyed by some wandering heroes he woke them from the dead with cocaine
 

30.) Import/Export

Yarel is a world defined by its dysfunctional deities, and the high quality of life provided by its ubiquitous use of black magic. On Yarel, powerful magical devices are ubiquitous, but they are dependent on the blood of sapient beings to function. Magical beasts are sacrificed in tremendous quantities to power the world's devices, and their blood pumped into special taps in every building in the civilized world.

The planet Zouz is inhabited by two races. A race of anthropomorphic cats, and a race of anthropomorphic mice. The civilizations of the mice undergo a cycle of rapid technological advancement followed by collapse which is orchestrated by the cats. The cats approach a primitive mouse civilization and present themselves as benefactors, sharing select bits of advanced knowledge and using their greater size and technology to help construct settlements for the mice. When the mice become populous enough the cats start harvesting them. The deaths and disappearances are made to look like accidents, aided by contrivances built into the architecture constructed by the cats. When a mouse civilization has been completely used up the most gullible and trusting mice are spared and scattered into the wild until their descendants have forgotten the cats, at which point the cycle is started again. In the meantime the cats move onto other mice in different regions

Yarel and Zouz share an underworld. Any excess mice that are not consumed by the cats are transported between the planets through a series of underground tunnels and sold off to fuel Yarel's blood magic.
 

28.) Death

It is said that in the hereafter the utensils are too long to properly feed oneself with. In the planes of law the people starve, but on the planes of chaos they eat with their hands
 

25.) Tome

The most readily available english language version of the Necronomicon is the so-called "Carter Necronomicon", a re-printing of Randolph Carter's personal translation of the Necronomicon which was published after his writing became popular following his disappearance. It differs significantly from the original Necronomicon because it is both incomplete and heavily interpolated with Carter's own notes

29.) Artifact

Sometime shortly before his ascension to godhood, the mad archmage Zagyg got into an argument with the clergy of Pelor and vowed to build "his own damn sun". A mere week later he managed to throw together a building sized flying contrivance capable of lighting the city and even repelling the undead. Since it was thrown together in a hurry, and largely under the influence of nose candy, it had some flaws. It buzzed like a fluorescent light and flickered like a fluorescent light that was somehow also a candle, and sometimes would flicker out for several seconds. sometimes it would briefly change color. Zagyg also designed it to display political ads related to his position as mayor of the city of Greyhawk. There are internal rooms containing controls that could in theory fix the flickering and color, turn off the ads, and according to one account activate the structure as a mobile anti-undead weapons platform.

Its current whereabouts are unknown. Some say it was returned to the basement of Zagyg's castle through the same opening it was launched through, which was later buried. Others claim that it drifted off into wildspace.

31.) Tradition

Much like The Rocky Horror Show there is a tradition of audience responses associated with the controversial play The King In Yellow. These include yelling "in that case, put one on" after the Stranger says he wears no mask, as well as chanting "whores!" any time mention is made of the Hyades
 

Edgar Ironpelt

Adventurer
Loretober 31: Tradition
The one tradition observed by everyone in the world of Gold-Home is the Great Fall Feast. It's a mandate of the Golden Ones who created the world, and even peoples in tropical lands that don't have a "fall" observe it.

The exact date of the Great Fall Feast varies by culture, but it is always held in the last week of October or the first week of November. In the western half of the Old World, goblins and dark elves hold the Feast on October 31, dwarves hold the Feast on either November 1 or the first Sunday in November, and halflings and elves hold a two-day Feast covering both October 31 and November 1.

For reasons that they keep secret as a Religious Mystery, members of the Cult of Gwayb hold their Great Fall Feast on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November.
 

jaybirdthings

Explorer
# 31. Tradition
Subject: Person
Canvas: Local

THE STRANGER

Admasian culture values many things, but the theatre is one of the most important aspects of the Empire. Empress Isabella is a world-renowned playwright who revolutionized theatre productions with her invention of the Commedia Admasia, a cast of recurring character archetypes keyed to their unique outfit elements.

One of these characters that has gained favor in the town of Servota is Koufalia, titled The Stranger. They wear a white suit and black mask, and they play the role of the unknown warrior, swooping in to aid the main characters in their time of need.

A tradition has sprouted up in the Servotan theatre community where the identity of Koufalia’s actor is kept secret. Only the play’s director knows who plays the Stranger, causing the rest of the cast and the many regulars at Servota’s Reliquary Theatre to speculate wildly about what face lurks behind the mask each time Koufalia appears.
 

jaybirdthings

Explorer
And we're done! Shouts out to Edgar Ironpelt and Bohandas for creating all month with me. I'm spending November focused on my setting guide but I'll be doing a new challenge in December, hope to see you folks there!
 

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