Need a few vague prophetic references

[NewJeffCT]

I'm in the process of tweaking a few lines in a somewhat lengthy prophecy that the players will soon be uncovering in full.

But, I would like to make a few pieces a bit more vague and obscure.

Thanks

1) Something besides "newborn" or "baby" for a newborn baby.
2) Something for both "slave" and "escaped slave" or "former slave" (I have other places referring to "the shackled" or "the toilers" for slaves)
3) A "crown" - like a king's crown
4) A "doorway" or a "gateway" to the past that stands at the border of both a massive jungle, but also to an ancient, now dead, city.
5) Three tasks/miracles that the PCs must perform.

Thanks again

 

[Piratecat]

Use an analogy for the baby: a hatching egg, a rising sun, anything that is new and weak and freshly created.

"Escaped slave" may be referred to as The Runner, or The Refugee, or The Hunted. You could also try to tie Bonds or Chains (broken or otherwise) into it.

A crown could be represented by a halo of gold, any kind of headband, or a helm of rulership. "And they saw the jeweled halo of wisdom that streamed from him, and they bowed down and called him King, and lo! the light became as gold, as has been foretold." That sort of thing.

As for the door... "The Way stands at the edge of that which once teemed. It teems still with the beasts of the trees and the birds of the air, but they step not through the pylons of history. They sense that those who can not think will be unmade by a single step."

Can you give a little more info about the tasks or miracles? Some context might help.

 

[Cryptos]

I'm in the process of tweaking a few lines in a somewhat lengthy prophecy that the players will soon be uncovering in full.

But, I would like to make a few pieces a bit more vague and obscure.

Thanks

1) Something besides "newborn" or "baby" for a newborn baby.
2) Something for both "slave" and "escaped slave" or "former slave" (I have other places referring to "the shackled" or "the toilers" for slaves)
3) A "crown" - like a king's crown
4) A "doorway" or a "gateway" to the past that stands at the border of both a massive jungle, but also to an ancient, now dead, city.
5) Three tasks/miracles that the PCs must perform.

Thanks again

And unto this world, the (1) scion of human and elf (2) chattel shall come, and he shall be presented with a treacherous (3) diadem of power. Through the (4) verges he shall disappear, not to return until a group of champions suffers through several labors.

And those labors shall be threefold, and harrowing: (5a) they must see through the eyes of the blind to gaze upon death; (5b) they must present a gift of nothingness to the one who holds all and keeps none; (5c) and only then will they be able to swim through the land to the place where one can walk on air, to reach the scion, and return him to the world so that he may lead us all.

 

[Loincloth of Armour]

1) Something besides "newborn" or "baby" for a newborn baby.

a) "The immortality of Lord Daddy." (Since we get immortality through our children.)

b) "The dawn of a new hero/slave/etc."

c) "Hero/slave that sees the world through new eyes."

2) Something for both "slave" and "escaped slave" or "former slave" (I have other places referring to "the shackled" or "the toilers" for slaves)

Slave: Property, cattle, tools, the hands of [their owner].

Former Slave: the free, risen, the assended, those joyous in rags, kings of their own destiny, tyrant slayer, oathbreakers.

3) A "crown" - like a king's crown

Weight of a nation in gold

A chain upon his brow

The iron of dominion

 

[NewJeffCT]

Can you give a little more info about the tasks or miracles? Some context might help.

Here is the long-winded version:

The players had earlier met the king of the good nation where most of the campaign had taken place - the king had long wanted to invade the evil slave-trading theocracy on his border, but the theocracy have very tough natural borders (mountains and marshes separate it from the good nation, while a desert protects its other side), plus, a strong navy and an alliance with pirates that prevent a naval invasion... plus, being a theocracy, they have good access to divine magics, and are not short in the arcane department, either.

The king told the players that the only way that his army wouldn't be walking into an abattoir would be if they had a strong ally to help counter-act the theocracy's navy, and also could put enough boots on the ground to severely outnumber the theocracy.

The only nation that fits that bill is across the straits that protect the theocracy, but was torn apart by civil war 70-80 years ago, and the king there is more focused on reuniting his old empire than helping to invade the evil theocracy at this time.

However, the players are going to be presented with a way to reunite this war-torn kingdom, by performing these three great acts that will be taken as a sign by many of the warlords that now rule kingdom across the straits. The acts themselves are not 100% set in stone yet, but here is what I have so far:
1) Cleanse the demonically tainted river of purple water that is on the other side of this gateway to the past, and is also within a jungle. This area is also a now dead city of an ancient civilization (the doorway to the past)
2) Defeat the most powerful of the evil warlords, a possible antipaladin/blackguard type who rides a nightmare, and her army of beastmen. From her, retrieve the long-lost scepter of unity that the old king had when the nation was whole.
3) Defeat the evil blue dragon and minions that inhabit the arid savannah/desert area in one part of the old kingdom, and also rebuild the desecrated tomb of a great paladin, laid to rest ages ago, but whose burial grounds now serve as lair to this evil dragon. (I was also debating yuan-ti, since they'll not be far from the jungle after #1 is completed...)

 

[NewJeffCT]

And unto this world, the (1) scion of human and elf (2) chattel shall come, and he shall be presented with a treacherous (3) diadem of power. Through the (4) verges he shall disappear, not to return until a group of champions suffers through several labors.

And those labors shall be threefold, and harrowing: (5a) they must see through the eyes of the blind to gaze upon death; (5b) they must present a gift of nothingness to the one who holds all and keeps none; (5c) and only then will they be able to swim through the land to the place where one can walk on air, to reach the scion, and return him to the world so that he may lead us all.

Thanks - some good ideas there. I like 'scion' for newborn.

 

[Set]

1) Something besides "newborn" or "baby" for a newborn baby.

The promise of new life. One who is not yet a man. Potential aborning. The morning of man.

2) Something for both "slave" and "escaped slave" or "former slave" (I have other places referring to "the shackled" or "the toilers" for slaves)

The unfettered, the unchained. Those who run free. The untamed.

3) A "crown" - like a king's crown

A halo of light, yellow as the sun, with stars that sparkle like crystal. His head wreathed in fire, frozen in form.

4) A "doorway" or a "gateway" to the past that stands at the border of both a massive jungle, but also to an ancient, now dead, city.

At the edge of the place where the wilderness / wild things threw down the mighty works of man. Where the furor of life and the quietude of death meet.

5) Three tasks/miracles that the PCs must perform.

That which can be done, must be tested and then verified. Three battles must ye win, or the war is lost. The maiden, the mother and the crone, all must be satisfied.

 

[NewJeffCT]

The promise of new life. One who is not yet a man. Potential aborning. The morning of man.



The unfettered, the unchained. Those who run free. The untamed.



A halo of light, yellow as the sun, with stars that sparkle like crystal. His head wreathed in fire, frozen in form.



At the edge of the place where the wilderness / wild things threw down the mighty works of man. Where the furor of life and the quietude of death meet.



That which can be done, must be tested and then verified. Three battles must ye win, or the war is lost. The maiden, the mother and the crone, all must be satisfied.

Thanks - some good stuff. I know what I have planned in game over the next few months. However, I want it vague enough to be adaptable, because those darn players have minds of their own and don't always march in lockstep to my evil DM plans.

 

[amysrevenge]

1) Something besides "newborn" or "baby" for a newborn baby.
2) Something for both "slave" and "escaped slave" or "former slave" (I have other places referring to "the shackled" or "the toilers" for slaves)
3) A "crown" - like a king's crown
4) A "doorway" or a "gateway" to the past that stands at the border of both a massive jungle, but also to an ancient, now dead, city.
5) Three tasks/miracles that the PCs must perform.

Thanks again

You could give it a plant theme:

Sapling/seedling for baby
Trimmed hedge for slave, unfettered growth for escaped slave
Ivy or some sort of coiled vine for a crown (like what Frodo and Sam see on the road to Mordor)
Doorway is less straightforward - some sort of arch maybe?
Poison ivy has three leaflets, can number the tasks with this.

Just throwing it out.

 

[NewJeffCT]

You could give it a plant theme:

Sapling/seedling for baby
Trimmed hedge for slave, unfettered growth for escaped slave
Ivy or some sort of coiled vine for a crown (like what Frodo and Sam see on the road to Mordor)
Doorway is less straightforward - some sort of arch maybe?
Poison ivy has three leaflets, can number the tasks with this.

Just throwing it out.

Thanks - good ideas on sapling/seedling. Why trimmed hedge for slave, may I ask?