Bodies In The Water (Class: Tide Witch)

// content warning: brief allusions to violence against women, as well as an an unpleasant implication from the fantasy CIA. Be kind, folks!

Once upon a time, the Bromeillan coastlines were lauded for their ability to sustain life. Just as the River Roussillon tended to humanity, providing both the comfort and resources necessary to propel them across the continent, so too did the beaches and gulfs provide a spawning ground for the imps to settle—whatever precursors dared to crawl out from the seafloor. They were a genesis point. Both species depended on the ocean to fuel their civilizations, then to satisfy ritual needs. Villages and colonies sprouted all throughout the mainland, isolated from one another and yet alike in their reverence for the seas.

The Storm Eternal changed that. Entire communities fled inland towards the core. Those that could not find solace in their peers, or (in the case of many imps) flee beneath the waves, were made to fend for themselves. It was not until years later that some could return to their homes, only to find both land and sea totally unrecognizable; wracking winds, consumptive tides, an ocean dark as charcoal.

Needless to say that this did not bode well for the mariners. Although plenty of hamlets and villages now exist along Bromeilles’ broken shores, they are a far cry from the once-tranquil conditions afforded to its inhabitants hundreds of years ago—unruly, heartless places. Some held out hope that the seas could be corrected through a return to ritual sacrifice. Others abandoned that dream, only to lash out at the dreamers around them, and more still found alternative ways to vent their frustrations.

These are a whole bunch of words to say that, in appalling conditions, it was women and girls who paid the price. This class is not just about those who survive, but who transformed their experience into a kind of power that cannot (and will not) be relinquished.

Never forgive. Never forget. Never again.
Art by helium_raven

The Witch's Code

Your stock consists of women scorned, abandoned in their time of need. When your community revealed its true face to you, whether by neglecting your basic needs or dashing you against the rocks, when your mind and body fell upon the brink of collapse, it was a witch who took you in. You are the sacrificed, the harrowed, and the lost. You are sorrow not tamed, but twisted. A revenant made flesh. When those traitors choke beneath the floodwaters, there will only be one thing left to say: we will never be controlled again.

Tide witches are collectivists. Unlike their loner cousins, these witches have responded to injustice by forming tight-knit, isolated communities, where all are encouraged to brood amongst their peers. Tide covens lean heavily towards an Occult bias, and its structure is volatile by design: by hyper-focusing on strong emotions, such as sorrow and rage, a caster's trauma can be moulded into a kind of transformative lens, which is then applied to one’s spell-casting. Artisans are taught to dread such an approach. Witches, too.

Not all of your sisters originate from coastal regions—some things are sadly universal—but the sheer quantity of witches who do ensures the culture remains largely maritime. One sizeable exception are those adopted by The Glass House, where a fledgling’s single-mindedness and thirst for belonging serves as a valuable foundation for future Inquisitors.

THE TIDE WITCH
Starting Skill: 1) Navigation 2) Sailing 3) Fishmongery

Starting Equipment: Thermometer, A filet or butcher's knife, Waterproof Getup (stylish, includes netting to keep your items from floating away), a Tool of the Trade.

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A – Hex: Inundate, Maiden of the Lake

B – Flesh Swamp

C – Ebb & Flow, +1 Defense

D – Invocation: Les Croque-Mitaines

You are proficient with fishing knives, hatchets and harpoons. You can also speak Chalut—tongue of the Merrain people—if you don't already know it.

Hex: Inundate

R: short T: a poppet or item of personal significance D: special
The enchanted object gains [sum] charges, which last until either the object is destroyed or you dispel it during a rest. You cannot re-enchant an object that still has charges remaining. While touching the object, for each MD invested, you gain one of the following abilities:

• You siphon the fluid contents of one container into another. Due to the delicate nature of the transfer, you must concentrate until either the process is complete or you are interrupted. Two charges per ten doses (usually one slot).
• As an action, you disperse a creature's bodily fluids unfavorably—their insides bloat and writhe, eyes dry and bladder squirming like a slime mold. So long as you continue to concentrate, spending [target's HD] charges when you activate this ability and at the start of their turns, the target takes a -1 penalty to Defense and To-Hit.
• A small object full of liquid (glass, bottle, etc.) momentarily stirs before spilling from its container, sloshing or bubbling from an unseen force. Can also aggressively wring clothing. One charge, +1 for each size category larger.
  
• You can target multiple objects or creatures with the same ability, as described above. One charge per target beyond the first.
  

Maiden of the Lake 

You can move freely underwater, even while bound—rocks and chains will slow you down, but cannot stop you altogether, like a stream carving through a boulder. This does not make you immune to other kinds of restraint, such as being grappled (e.x. tendrils) or pinned down (e.x. roof collapse).

 

Additionally, you cannot drown to death. The act of drowning still hurts like hell, and you'll eventually pass out from shock, but whatever water enters your lungs will pull itself back out when you surface. Your body always finds its way back to shore.

Hello Again
Art by astrono77153462

 

Flesh Swamp

While touching a body of water, you can cast Witch spells as if you were standing anywhere within that area, so long as you can see your target. Spells cast in this way also have their base [sum] and [dice] values doubled, or tripled if the spell's effects remain entirely confined to the water.

 

You must be able to submerge yourself in the fluid to count as touching it. Swimming? That works. Dip your hand in it? That works, too, but a damp surface lacks sufficient volume. Using a small container in this way tears up its insides and anything contained within, while a medium or larger object has a 3-in-6 chance of being damaged (-1 per size category above medium, 2d4 damage).

 

An Inundated creature is a valid body of water.

 

Ebb & Flow

Whenever you roll a 3-4 on one of your MD while casting a spell, you may reduce that number by 2, still expending the die in the process. If you do so, place a mark on your character sheet. The next time you roll a 1-2 on one of your MD, you may consume the mark to increase that number by 2, return the die to your pool, and regain one Strain. This can occur twice per day, and all marks are removed after a long rest.

Invocation: Les Croque-Mitaines
Requirements: a nearby body of water, a ritual poppet, tribute worth 200 GP.
Duration: Three days.
Description: Construct the poppet as part of an overnight ritual, investing Magic Dice into it. While you possess a finished poppet you may, at any time, call for help. So long as the body of water somehow connects to an ocean, a pair of ships—each manned by five 1-HD pirates—will arrive within 1d4 hours.

The pirates are friendly and will obey your commands: aiding you in combat, providing transportation, or helping with some other task, and will relinquish most of their crew to do so. They are reluctant to travel inland if it would mean abandoning their ships, and will all but refuse to travel farther than the current region on foot. You must provide tribute as soon as possible—along with the poppet, they prefer goods such as salt, rope, and booze. Once paid, they will assist you for the full duration.

How long it takes the sailors to arrive depends on several factors, as detailed below. If their travel time would be reduced to zero, the pirates arrive in 1d10 minutes instead.

• Inland or far from coast (+30m per hex, +1h for river navigation).
• Poor weather (+30m).
  
• Light a smoke signal or fire a flare (-30m).
• Owed a favor (-10m).
• MD invested (-10m per die).

// I'd like to include some unique "crew members" depending on the # of MD invested, whether from a random list or by player decision. Things like another Tide Witch, or a beefy imp named Ogre. I can't figure it out right now, and doing so will probably take even longer than this post has already taken, so I think I'll just come back to it. Write it for me, maybe? Just kidding... unless? <3

Become What We Cannot
"One, Two, Three" by Eelis Kyttanen

Tide Spells

You learn two Tide Spells when you join this coven, and gain an additional spell whenever you take a level in this class.

 

// As you've hopefully already noticed by now, this class cares a lot about water. A three-litre waterskin, which takes up a slot, holds 10 doses. A ration also holds 10 doses, though using it in this way ruins the packaging and renders the rest inedible. I've provided a few other references throughout this class to help with visualizing things, but don't worry about calculating the volume of a pond to determine how much water you removed from it or anything—just assume there's enough. Unless you really want to!

1. Corrode
   R: touch T: a metal object or surface D: instant
   You touch a piece of metal and ruin a [dice] inch square area (or [dice]^2 square inches). The area is shattered, rusted, twisted, and generally destroyed to a depth of [dice] inches.
2. Produce Cloud
   R: 30' T: [sum] doses of water D: [dice] minutes
   Water sprays violently from any number of sources around you to form a thin haze over [sum] congruent spaces. While not dense enough to impede vision, any objects within the affected area become damp, flames are extinguished, and creatures are momentarily surprised by the cloud's appearance.
   
• Temerity: You halve the total [sum], condensing the mist into a thick fog. Anything caught in or viewed through the fog is considered obscured. Due to your conversion efforts, the fog no longer soaks objects or extinguish flames when it forms.
  
• Serenity: As part of the 1-hour ritual required to cast this spell, you submerge yourself completely in a body of water. So long as you remain underwater, this spell rolls in from off-stage as a dense fog, targeting an area at up to long range which otherwise functions as above. The cloud lasts [dice] hours or until you resurface.
3. Freeze
   R: 30' T: a body of water D: [dice] minutes
   You instantly solidify 5x [dice] cubic feet worth of liquid. You determine the dimensions of the frozen area, but each section must be congruent with another on at least one side. A creature that would become totally encased must Save vs Entrapment, escaping to an adjacent space on a success—Frozen creatures must hold their breath.
4. Aqueous Blade
   R: 60' T: a creature & a dose of water D: [dice] rounds
   A finger-wide lash emerges from a body of water within range and drives itself into the target's flesh, dealing [sum] + [dice] damage. For as long as you concentrate, you can use an action on subsequent turns to automatically deal 1d4 damage to the target, to a maximum of 2d4 per round. If you cast this spell using 3+ MD, you can transfer the stream to another creature within 10' of the current target as part of your action—no save required. You cannot switch targets and inflict extra damage on the same turn.
   
5. Wetland Porter
   R: touch T: an amphibian (1 hour) D: three days
   You temporarily fuse the target with a goaded nature spirit, causing it to rapidly expand into a horse-sized familiar. The porter has 2HD (9 HP), armor as leather, and no morale score. It is friendly and will follow you around, although it is too fat and languid to support you in combat, and will flee to a safe location if attacked. The porter can carry [dice] slots worth of items in its mouth, dropping them when it dies (reverting to its original size) or the spell's duration elapses.
   
• Temerity: Suddenly roused to action, the porter appears from out of sight to consume a target within [sum] spaces of you, trapping them within its mouth for [dice] rounds. The porter refuses to move from its target's location. Target can use an action to Save at the start of their turns, escaping on a success, or to climb out if the porter is killed.
6. Undertow
   R: 30' T: a creature or object D: instant
   You drag the target through a liquid surface, such as mud or quicksand, moving them 5x [sum] feet in an orthogonal direction. Sending a creature upwards or downwards allows them to immediately Save, plus an additional save for every 20' traversed.
•  Temerity: the target is cast down by a riptide, knocking them prone.
7. Call Flock
   R: long T: an occupied hex (1 hour) D: 4 hours
   You call down a colony of seabirds to steal from, nest with, and combat the inhabitants of a nearby encampment, squawking loudly all the while. Inhabitants cannot rest and have -1 Morale for the duration, presuming that they're semi-actively trying to rid themselves of the colony—could take more or less time. Once, you can command members of the flock to help you in some way as an action, interrupting somebody or siccing them on a small crowd.
• Serenity: For 8 hours, the colony flocks overhead: The location of every large water source (coasts & rivers, oases) within [serenity] days travel of your location is revealed to you when you cast this spell. Additionally, you are alerted to the presence of any patrols, caravans, or wandering monsters that enter an adjacent, open-air hex—including the one you're currently occupying.
  
8. Rippling Whispers
   R: touch T: a body of water D: [dice] days
   You speak a message totaling [sum] words into a small body of water. Anyone who disturbs the target in the allotted time, such as by drinking from it, has the message gurgled to them in your voice—shout or whisper, it's up to you. If you cast this spell using 2+ MD, you can also increase the message's trigger radius: equivalent to a [barrel/fountain/lake] full of water.
• Serenity: The message is delivered through animal calls and water foliage. Although completely anonymous, it is discernible to anyone nearby, and dissolves over hours instead of days. 

I fear a lack of happy endings
"Rusalka" by EthicallyChallenged

Tools Of The Trade

1. Lucky Bobber. This radish-shaped fishing lure will always attract 1d3 rations when used each day. 1-in-4 chance that the last fish you catch is from the Other—it'll answer one water-related question about this hex or an adjacent one, should you release it.
2. Maiden's Decanter. Has three reservoirs, each of which can hold five doses of fluid. One slot.
3. Raft. What it says on the tin. Comes with oars, a little tent on the back, and enough space to fit four people comfortably. Storage remains an issue.
4. Dowsing Rod. Two foot-long branches carved from a willow tree, bent and cured to maintain its shape. A silver ornament resembling a water lily has been embedded into the stump connecting the two branches. Always leads you to groundwater when traveling at a slow pace, with a 1-in-4 chance to find something special. Two slots.
   
5. Frog-in-a-Jar. So long as the frog is alive and remains in the jar, anything you pour into the container lasts twice as long as it normally would, with a 50% chance to last another day whenever it might spoil. Currently content soaking in a few inches of milk. Three litres, two slots.
   
6. ALWAYS BIGGER FISH. She is a light dagger, carved from whalebone with a matching chitinous scabbard. The handle rattles violently when a predator comes within visible range. If you're already aware of its presence, she rattles when something worse comes along.
   
7. Squid-Eyed Spectacles.  Your pupils warp while wearing these eyeglasses, crooked and dilating into impossible shapes. You can see clearly in rain, snow & fog out to 30'. If you can keep them from falling off, they even work underwater.
   
8. Making & Keeping Promises. This well-sewn book was a gift from a Purple Witch, embossed with the face of Sainte Maelle de Rouens. The first time that you learn a rumor in a new location, such as during downtime activity in a city, you also gain a favor. This favor applies to a random (possibly named) NPC appropriate for the downtime activity, and can be consumed in order to cast the friends spell. What, you thought this was going to be water-related? For shame.
   

What A Woman Knows (GLoG Chassis: Witch)

You walk the line between two worlds, and have created something new in its wake. Artisans fear you, for you collude with forces that cannot be fully understood, and it in turn despises your brazenness. You are both mentor and student, caregiver and warrior.

You are a Witch, with all that entails. 

For more information: part 1, part 2, part 3 (must rewrite eventually)
Art by Zhang Shu

THE WITCH

Mystic (d4 HP d4 ST)

+1 Magic Dice per Template

Starting Skill: 1) Botany 2) Literature 3) Woodcarving 4) Knotcraft 5) Alchemy 6) Horticulture

Starting Equipment: Per witch coven. In addition, gain a big hat, a gown with a removable skirt, a satchel bag (three slots), & two Tools of the Trade.

-----

A – Witch's Craft

B – Hybrid Tutelage, Study Group

C – Share The Load, +1 Hex

D – This Too Shall Pass

+

Δ – Mother's Love 

Δ – Ugly Superstition

Your Magic Die is a d4, which is returned to your dice pool on a roll of 1-2 and expended on a roll of 3-4. You are proficient with simple knives, staves, and occult implements (as if you were an Artisan), along with whatever else your coven provides.

Witch's Craft

Hexes

As you gain templates in this class, you learn Hexes. Hexes are minor charms & curses unique to your craft which require your Magic Dice to function. Unlike traditional spells, any MD invested into a hex are immediately returned to your dice pool once their effects end—usually when the duration elapses—unless the subject is destroyed or killed, in which case they are expended.

You can have as many hexes active at one time as you have Witch levels. It is possible to replenish Magic Dice that're currently invested in a hex, such as through rest, but any MD returned while your dice pool is full are lost. Hexes cannot generate Temerity (see below).

You learn two hexes when you take your first template in this class. For a comprehensive list of hexes available to all Witches, see the list at the bottom of the page.

Finally, while wearing your big hat, any hexes you cast are as if you invested +1 MD, though most people will now immediately identify you as a Witch. 

Invocations 

Being a Witch, you also gain the right to participate in Invocations—exceptionally powerful hexes. Invocations are a protected and secretive form of spell-casting for Witches, and are often unique to the covens they originate from. Any MD invested in an Invocation ritual cannot be replenished until their effects end. The caster may, however, allow up to [level] other Witches participating in the ritual to invest their Magic Dice in her stead.

You don't know any Invocations when you become a Witch, but you will eventually gain enough knowledge (and experience) for your Coven to teach you their signature curse. You might also be able to find them (along with new spells & hexes) in other, more distant places...

Coven

A Witch gains its spell list, as well as additional features and proficiency, through their chosen Coven. The list of currently available covens for this chassis can be found below:

1. Colorful Witches (links to come)
   
2. Blood Witches
3. Tide Witches
4. Lead Witches

Hybrid Tutelage

Your spell-casting is scrutinized for stepping between the dual worlds, but this freedom can be used to your advantage. Whenever you cast a spell that returns one or more of your MD, fill that many Memory Slots with Temerity. You can also convert this resource into Serenity at a rate of one slot per hour during downtime, so long as you aren't doing anything else. These are your Scale Resources.

Should either scale exceed your Witch level, you become Unbalanced. In this state, you must consume Temerity or Serenity in order to cast spells — though you can consume either, not just the resource at fault — and doing so harms you: one Hit Point & one Strain per slot, respectively. However, you add +X to the total [sum] of your MD rolls for each slot of Temerity you consume, and +X to the total [dice] of your MD rolls for each slot of Serenity. You remain Unbalanced until these totals no longer exceed your Witch level.

[note: You have ten memory slots, which function like inventory slots. Spells go here, as well as new languages, curses, and other nasty—or beneficial—effects. Strain is, similarly, a psychological companion to HP. Your hexes, like cantrips, don't take up slots.]

You lose all of your Temerity & Serenity when you finish a long rest. Some Witch spells are vulnerable to the presence of your scale resources, however, and can be cast as modified versions if one is inserted into its slot. This prevents you from losing that resource until either the modified spell is cast or another spell consumes it while you are Unbalanced.

Study Group

While engaged in downtime activity, you have an additional X-in-6 chance of learning a rumor, where X equals the number of Witches involved in the same activity. Visiting a coven grants you a rumor automatically—though as a wandering girl, you may be obliged to perform some task that they cannot.

Share The Load

You can exchange spells & hexes with other Witches. This process takes a couple of minutes, and costs both participants one Strain, as the spell (and any embedded scale resources) slithers into their brain. You can also send a spell directly, without an exchange, for two Strain. Bring tea?

Additionally, the first time you cast a spell each day that removes you from the Unbalanced state, your party regains one Strain.

This Too Shall Pass

Once per day, if a spell you cast while Unbalanced would deal damage or strain to you, you may ignore it. As a reaction, you may instead activate this feature targeting another Witch you can see who would become injured in the same way.

Trust In The Goodly Moon
'Frpth' by Marina Krivenko

Δ - Mother's Love

Rescue three mundane women from certain danger, offer them the necessities, then provide them with an acceptable new lifestyle.

You may adopt a hireling into your coven given a month of downtime, after which they become a Witch A. You can train any number of witches, but only [# of Witch templates] may travel with you at one time.

Δ - Ugly Superstition

Become unbalanced in both the Occult and Primeval doctrines—spend a season in this state.

Save vs Mutation, with a +1 bonus for each Witch template you possess. On a success, gain the Druid A template and choose an inserted spell: that spell is added to your Coincidence table. On a failure, you are cursed by the green door and begin your transformation into a Hag.

 [note: While a lot easier to achieve at low levels, you put yourself at risk of Hagdom—a death sentence for fledgling Witches. Matrons and experienced Witches, however, have much higher chances of success, although they must seek out other means if they wish to store all of the necessary spells inside of their head.]

I love the headless vulture in this one
Art by Aleksander Brodzinski

Witch's Hexes

Hex: Call
R: touch T: a poppet, totem, or figurine you've crafted (1 hour) D: until slain

You perform a ritual which invites spirits to inhabit your offered vessel, and something has taken root. The familiar's form is small and resembles an animal of your choosing, which needn't fit the vessel used, although the process of transmogrification introduces certain complications. It is friendly and helpful to you in every way it can. Unlike an Artisan's pet, it doesn't need to be persuaded to do things.

Your familiar can be instantly killed by a sword strike. For every magic die invested after the first, they gain one of the following benefits:

• Your familiar can fly, swim, and climb uneven terrain, if it couldn't before. It does not need wings to fly, nor does it require air to breathe.
• Your familiar gains two inventory slots, which also serve as memory slots. Items placed within these slots can be accessed by others using a password.
• You can see and hear through your familiar's senses, so long as you are within one mile of each other. Your own senses are muffled while doing so.

Hex: Evil Eye

R: long T: a living creature D: ten minutes

You lock eyes with another and burn your gaze into their mind. You can always see a vague outline of your target, even through obstructions such as smoke or trees, but they can see you in the same manner. This penetration is stopped by a foot of stone. For every MD invested after the first, you gain one of the following benefits:

• The afterimage is blinding—both characters have -1 Save for the duration.
  
• Your visual effects are tripled, allowing you to see through three feet of stone or an inch of lead.
• A red-hot phosphene of your inner face flashes across their vision. Target must Save vs Fear. Replaces normal effect, unless you invest in multiple benefits. You cannot use this effect again for the next minute.
  
• Flickering spirits form a trail towards the target, which lasts for the duration. If the target moves away from you, the trail follows their movements exactly, even when out of sight.
  

 Hex: Fly

R: touch T: a broomstick, cushion, or chair (1 hour) D: until slain

You inscribe runes into an object and invite spirits to inhabit it. The enchanted object floats a foot off the ground, remaining adjacent to you at all times unless it is placed somewhere, where it stays put until retrieved. The object can support the weight of you and your carried equipment, but refuses to carry much else. For every MD invested after the first, you gain one of the following benefits:

• You may speak a command word to call the object to you, so long as it is within shouting distance. This command can also be used to deactivate its flight, turning it into a mundane object or back at will.
• The object will now (begrudgingly) carry an additional passenger, so long as they are no bigger than yourself and could reasonably fit.
  
• You can now engage in limited bouts of true flight. Pointing and speaking a command word will cause the object to fly you to a location that you can see adjacent to a physical object, where it will remain until you either dismount or make another command. Every third time you do this, Save vs Destruction or the object breaks—only once you're safely dismounted.
  
• Your movement speed is tripled when sprinting while mounted.

Hex: Flock
R: self T: 15' radius D: one hour

An area around you is enveloped by stimuli: visual static and eye floaters, the smell of boiling leather, and other signs of coincidence. While traveling in a group, you cannot be identified through sensory means—onlookers cannot single you out from the crowd, even if they know you are present. For each MD invested after the first, you gain one of the following benefits:

• Magic can detect your presence within a crowd, but not your exact location. Fails against spells cast in quick succession, exceptionally powerful divination, or creatures with true-sight.
  
• Allies gain +X Stealth within your radius, where X equals the number of characters present with Witch templates. This does not stack with itself.
• Your sensory obscurement extends to allies for the duration.
  

Hex: Seal

R: 30' T: a small object D: until dispelled

A one-handed object that you can see (a sword, book, or wine bottle) is sealed shut. Creatures struggle to open (or unsheathe) the object, and must use an action to successfully release the hex. The first X attempts automatically fail, where X equals the number of MD invested after the first.

Hex: Shroud
R: touch T: self (1 hour) D: one hour

You meticulously apply a glamour to your body, disguising yourself as a medium-sized animal whose heart, eyes, and stomach you have consumed before. The guise falls apart if you take damage or fall unconscious. For every MD invested after the first, you gain one of the following benefits:

• You may speak normally while disguised.
  
• While standing still, you can remove your arms and legs from under the glamour, allowing you to interact with objects or cast spells.
  
• Taking damage no longer ruins the glamour. You gain a bite or claw attack that deals 1d8 damage.
• You gain five additional hit points while disguised.

Fear The Hound Who Speaks In Threes
'Shape on the Stairs' by Dappermouth

Tools Of The Trade

1. Witch's Hammer. A square-headed mallet, adorned with runic symbols. Twice per day, you can crush a small object (such as a mug, stone, or coin purse) to break it into its constituent parts. Larger hammers can separate bigger objects.
   
2. Skeelo Whistle. This reed whistle gives off an eerie shrill when blown. Upon use, any familiars within earshot must Save vs Paralysis. If used for longer than a few seconds, the whistle falls apart, and affected familiars gain a favor against their master.
   
3. Mimicry Kit. This collection of pelts, dyes and concoctions cover a menagerie of beasts. As part of a 1-hour ritual, you can disguise yourself as a Deer or Owl (or an equivalent) without investing any MD, and the glamour lasts four hours. If you possess the Shroud hex, you may invest MD to gain benefits as listed. One slot.
   
4. Pixie Flytrap. Not as bad as it sounds; a catch-and-release system for nature spirits. +2 MD, but can only be spent on your hexes, and are expended until they're recovered + a Long Rest. Two slots.
5. Burial Urn. About the size of a wine bottle. Anything kept inside won't rot, although it will slowly dry up. One slot.
   
6. Cauldron. Doubles as a cooking pot, so long as you remember to clean it out beforehand. Comes with some neat wheels, otherwise two slots.
7. Bag of Bones. Knucklebones, specifically. These have been whittled into something fierce, allowing for their use as caltrops, as well as whatever else bones are used for.
   
8. Bronze Broomstick. Once per day, you may speak a command word and fly to a location that you can see. If you possess the Fly hex, this does not count towards your three uses before needing to make a Save. Usable as a blunt object in a pinch. Two slots.
   
9. Talisman. Protects you from one source of Strain before becoming inert. Activates automatically, unless you decide not to use it—suit yourself! Two to a bundle, one slot.
   
10. Tea Set. Great for lunch time. Includes four cups, as well as appropriate dining ware.
11. Ritual Dagger. Sharp as a line, about as thin as one. +1 damage. One slot.
    
12. Bag of Salt. Good for ghosts, apparently. Can be used in ritual circles, recipes, and for throwing in someone's eyes. Ten doses, one slot.

Fighting Man (Classis: Fighter)

Writing this quickly for the pseudo-real system that exists in my head—apologies if my next few class posts are incomprehensible for your preferred elf-game. Generic setting dress (for now) to get a handle on what my design philosophies are.

Thanks again to Numbers Aren't Real (and some of Arnold's OG fighter) for making such excellent content to steal borrow from. I'll slowly start weaning off of your teet, I promise.

Chassis Shenanigans

You are a Fighter, with all that entails:

• you can parry like a sword-shepherd.
• You gain an extra attack at 1st level (displayed below).
• you can never fumble with conventional weapons. 

 

The Class Itself

THE FIGHTER

Warrior (d6 HD d4 PD)

+1 To-Hit per Template

Starting Skill: 1) Crop Rotation 2) Garrison Management 3) Blacksmithing

Starting Equipment: Light warhammer, medium broadsword OR longbow with 20 arrows, a buckler, leather gambeson, and a week's worth of rations.

-----

A – Long Day Ahead, +1 Attack

B – Notches

C – Dissociate, +1 Attack

D – Impress

+

Δ – Bannerlord

Δ – Master of One

Long Day Ahead

The first time you take a respite (short rest) each day, you regain additional hit points equal to your character level. (note: that means you heal 2x your CL, or 2x+1d6 if you eat!)

 Notches

Whenever you get a kill with a specific weapon type (such as a dagger), mark it down somewhere on your character sheet. Whenever you attain a total of 10, 30, and 50 kills, you gain one of the following bonuses:

• +1 Damage
• Expanded Critical Range (19-20)
• +4 Combat Maneuver (1/combat)

 Dissociate

One of your Psyche dice becomes a d6. You may space out for one round, at any time, to receive -1 Strain (stress damage) from any source, but you take a -d6 penalty to Tests (checks & saves) and Attack Rolls.

Mighty unhelpful in conversations, or when there's a boulder barreling towards you.

  Impress

Whenever you win a fight against challenging foes, people who don't like you make a new reaction roll with a +4 bonus. This even works on people you just defeated in combat, unless you caused them undeserved or disproportionate harm.

Δ: Bannerlord

March on a villain’s enclave/stronghold/dungeon with at least a half-dozen loyal hirelings. Take control while half of them are still standing.

 
Hirelings under your employ will follow you into certain danger: they gain a +1 to Morale checks, and will willingly put themselves in harm's way if they believe it’ll benefit the entire warband (fend off those ghouls!).

Δ: Master of One
Attain 100 notches with a singular weapon type, then challenge a master of the same weapon to a duel to the death. You must objectively win the fight—no deaths.

Whenever you deal damage with your mastered weapon, you can roll twice and select the higher number. Your critical hits deal triple damage. Your first combat maneuver each turn automatically succeeds with this weapon.

If you ever use a weapon that isn’t your mastered weapon, you must spend a week atoning at the nearest training ground.

Guns On The Cracked Continent

New year, new start! I'm going to take a crack at all of my old drafts. 2025 me needs to work on curbing my perfectionism, which means that this one is going to be brief. Let's get this out of the way.

Tools First, Weapons Later

 Guns are an oddity in Bromeilles. Even before The Storm Eternal disrupted their technological progress, the advancement of projectile weapons was never of great concern—what good are siege weapons if there are no battlements? Thus, Bromeilles did not have cannons, or crossbows for that matter, until the proper dawn of The Republic.

In order to navigate the hostile (and often frozen) environment, The Republic required a form of communication that was simple, easily received, and did not require the limited hand of an Artisan.

Surprising lack of fantasy flare guns. Also,apparently this is double-barreled!
From @americanliberator on Youtube

Flare Guns

Disposable, single-piece pocket mortars. Originally designed for signalling at long-distance during Storms, The smallest are approximately palm-sized, with larger (re-loadable) launchers now entering production for the military. Popular ammunition consists of smoke and chemical flare shells, although low-pressure loads packed with irritants—such as capsaicin and silver flakes—have gained favor among groups such as the Inquisition.

Inquisitors employed under the Glass House swear by the smaller mortars, and can be often be seen carrying several among their repertoire of tools. 

Full-Metal, Like A Worse Grease Gun. Also, Look At This Thing!
Uploaded By "Smokeytube" On Wikipedia

Stone-Throwers

Forged in the scrapworks of the Twin States. Slam-fire pipe rifles and blunderbusses While they are some of the most plentiful firearms in Bromeilles, they lack a consistent design, leaving them unreliable and prone to failure. Rifles fire slugs.

I think it'd make for a neat reward.
From Genitron

Harmonica Gun

If anyone on the continent could be considered a proper gunsmith, it would be Quentin Blanchard—protégé of the great Gisèle De Roy. Blanchard was a renowned engineer and mathematician, and tutored directly underneath De Roy at the Institut de Cochon in Courrisaunt. His work there would have changed the world of gunsmithing forever, had he not died in its halls.
 

Bromeilles is on the verge of inventing a proper shotgun. Shells have proven themselves to be an effective and versatile mode of transportation, and as snipers (with guns, at least) have yet to reveal themselves as threats on either side, they remain unconvinced of cartridges. Quentin Blanchard pursued the craft anyway.

Harmonica guns, duck's foot pistols, and other unusual firearms have become realized by Blanchard's mind, but he is also believed to possess some of the first standardized handguns in history, crafted by his own hand. Should they still exist, the weapons likely remain where they were built: in the workshop of the abandoned institute.

1d30 Three-Word Swords (Swordtember '24)

Lately, I've been suffering from a lot of burnout. Making headway on any of my personal projects has been hard, while writing has proven even worse. I could write a blog post about this—it wouldn't be the first time—but I think that it would be better if I compromised and did something fun instead.

I've done far too much reading. Too much consumption. Now is the time for creation, and hopefully a good six months of blog posts to show for it—quality be damned.

This is where we'll begin. 

I will update this list at a later date.
Challenge by @faithschaffer on Tumblr

1. SWINE COME QUICK: a bronze grip-tongue sword with a carved gourd for a handle. The inlaid is vaguely reminiscent of autumn, but it'll gladly expound upon some the details if asked. Can be attuned by burying it in a pile of fresh produce overnight, then summoned by expending a ration, whereupon it sprouts wings and rushes to your hand.

2. WHERE BLOSSOMS GROW: he is a light falchion (+1) of glassy steel. Its guard is rounded and made of cobblestones, which shiver and pop as it is swung, and occasionally sprouts weeds. Knowledgeable of burial rites in several cultures. If an inch-wide cut is made into the ground and a command word is spoken, a trail of flowers will guide you to the nearest cemetery.

3.  OUR LAST HOPE: she is a heavy zweihander (+3) of pure adamantium, beautifully inlaid with lines of gold, silver, and platinum. An elvish parable has been inscribed along the weapon's length, detailing the ancient hero who once wielded it against evil. Shines with immeasurable daylight when drawn, turning undead and dispelling even magical darkness. Currently embedded within a stone, waiting for an ancestor of the hero to retrieve it, and under the protection of a small clergy.

4. A CRUEL FATE: same as #3, but ebon splotches have warped the sword's appearance, like oil slicks on asphalt. Spasms violently on occasion. Unsheathing the sword plunges whatever room it was drawn into total darkness. Currently half-buried in rubble underneath a sepulcher, where the clergy have barricaded the entryways.
   

5.  FARM DOG'S ODYSSEY: It is a medium xithos (+1) with a mycellium skin. Seemingly made entirely out of mushrooms, which grow shorter & more thin as they approach the "blade". Can be carefully folded into a cube (1 slot), and consuming any part of the weapon forces a Save Vs. Violently Orgasmic Hallucinations.

6. WHO GOES THERE?: she is a light rapier with a silver blade & brass accessories. Speaks in a thick cockney accent, which she uses to point suspicion at everyone or everything she doesn't intimately know. Lighting the blade's tip causes it to glow with the strength of an oil lantern, which lasts for 10 minutes, and smells faintly of lemongrass. Can be replenished by soaking in olive oil or whiskey.
   

7. LOVELY NIGHT MARE: they are a light khopesh (+1) of bronze alloy. Inlays of electrum run along the weapon, resembling a series of rivers. Someone has (rather poorly) embedded diamonds into the hilt, which now pulsate in the dark. Soft-spoken; rather friendly, if not a bit monotone. Can "scoop out" someone's dreams by cutting through their reflection. You're not stealing them—it's divination.
   

8.  ___ WARNING ___: It is a heavy shortsword (+2) of carbon steel, ejected by a star suffering from acute iron poisoning. Originally a spear, but later reforged after it snapped in half upon striking a mountain. Attempts to communicate with the wielder through a series of complex runes, heptapod style, which project from the blade's surface and onto the walls & floor. Wishes to be reunited?
   

9.  FISH HATE MORTALS: he is a medium cutlass of seaglass and leather, caked in barnacles. A relic of an ancient (aquatic) civilization. Doesn't speak your language, and even if it did, it wouldn't like you. Sinks in water when held (but otherwise floats). Counts as a +1 sword when used underwater, and +2 if the target is a landlubber.
   

10.  ORDER REQUIRES PREREQUISITES: she is a heavy backsword adorned in gold, platinum, and silver. The blade itself is cold iron, with irregular lightning bolts running down its length. Secretly desires to be a mace instead. Commissioned by the court and never intended to be used, but was later enchanted by a wizard after realizing that they overpaid. Contains a pocket dimension which holds every proposed law of the court in the last 50 years.
    

11.  GENTLEMAN'S DUE DILIGENCE: they are a heavy spatha of velvet accents with coal-black fullers. The family heirloom of a war-loving culture. Can be split vertically into two light blades (+1), which deal half-damage to—and automatically parry attacks from—anyone expect the person wielding the second sword. Bitch and moan at each other while combined, but flirt aggressively in use, like Morticia & Gomez Addams.

12.  ALMIGHTY UNCONQUERABLE THERMOGENESIS: she is a light scimitar (+3) of brass and elemental-treated gold. One of the many blades forged for—and disposed of by—the great Sultan of the City of Brass. A skilled poet & vizier, she is not unhurt by his rejection. Always on fire. Yes, even the hilt. Can cut through flames bigger than its wielder in order to create a portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire—not always safe portals.
    

13.  WHO SAW THAT?: he is a light jian (+1) of jagged, never-melting ice. Fragile. Cracks along the flat parts of the ice are razor-sharp to the touch, giving the sword a working edge. Speaks like a disillusioned wizard; an old man, sick of the world's shit. Look through the blade to see through illusions and spot ghosts and, if placed in a pool of water, it will melt and turn into a scrying pool. Can be restored by chucking the hilt into a snowstorm (or something equivalently cold) for three days.
    

14.  SECOND CASE SCENARIO: they are a medium koncerz, overwhelmed with tubes and machinery. A trigger-guard is embedded in the hilt, various gauges and transparent gizmos adorn the guard and piping. Can be held in half-sword when wielded in two hands, providing armor-piercing and triggering the device. On hit, inject a dose of poison (2x total, hand-loaded). Contains a dose of Basilisk Oil when found.
    

15.  LOUSY JUDGEMENT CALL: it is a light broadsword made entirely of glass. Fragile. The handle is an complex basket-hilt, like a chain of tubes, with visible markings where the glass was sealed off. Inside the "blade" sloshes a reddish-brown fluid which, when shattered, explodes violently, unleashing the air elemental contained within. The original blade—a "master mold"—remains in an unfinished state: variants of the weapon are currently being mass-produced.
    

16. SOME KILLER TECHNIQUE: he is a medium hook sword (+1) of soot-choked steel, with a blade of humanoid fingers. Originally forged to be a whip, but rot and improper maintenance has ruined its joints. Flexible enough to swing around corners. Knows 1d4-1 combat techniques, which the wielder can use once-per-day.

17.  LONG DAY RETREAT: he is a light rapier of heat-resistant glass. Really a bong in the shape of a sword, commissioned by a wealthy mercenary with a really bad habit. Knows exactly what you like and where you can get more of it. When you draw this sword, you may take a hit of one (inhalant) drug you possess as a free action.

18. VERY FUNNY MOM: they are a light sickle (+2) of tin and iron, its handle wrapped in decorative ribbons of various colors and styles. Sits on your tongue like a fishhook when sheathed. Occasionally tells a poorly-timed joke in your voice. Seeps itself into the flesh like a poison, inducing hysteria and terrible humor in its victims—especially unpleasant when you're a wizard. Kills add new ribbons to the hilt.

19. FLESH NOT FERN: she is a medium talwar of obsidian and amber. Its hilt is carved from the bark of an irontree, which the blade claims belongs to its dryad owner. Incapable of cutting through plant matter—it simply bends out of the way. Despite being immune to its violence, plant creatures will often defer themselves to it (make a morale check).
    

20. ONE LOOSE END: they are a heavy falchion (+3) of unknown make, covered in runes and glittering sparks of magic. Currently shattered into three pieces—each is considered a light +1 sword in its right—which will combine when reunited. If you are a magic-user and possess ≤2 shards, they attack a random enemy whenever you cast a spell using MD, dealing 1d4 damage each. The hilt wants nothing more than to remain separate from its kindred.

21. COLD HARD STARE: she is a light jian (+1) constructed entirely out of glass eyes. Handles as you'd expect, which isn't helped by the blade's penchant for vision-related wordplay. If used as a foci for one of your Gaze spells, add +1 MD. Gets weirdly persuasive about climbing into your head if you happen to lose an eye.

22. SLAY WILL ALONE: it is a heavy broadsword made of brass, oil and tears. Cobbled together by a lunatic with an engineering degree. An internal combustion engine sputters when drawn from the scabbard, grinding the blade's two halves together like saw-teeth. Can be used to sunder shields (or shoddy doors) while ignoring damage reduction.

23. FIRST ONE FREE: he is a medium xithos (+1) of cold iron. While the blade is rather plain in style, its scabbard is grossly overdecorated, adorned in mosaic spirals of gold leaf and silver. When drawn from its scabbard, a ghostly apparition (with the stats of a 3rd-level fighter) immediately takes possession of the blade. He is patient and cooperative, but refuses to part with the weapon until he is defeated, whereupon he vanishes and it returns to its scabbard.

24. FAULT THY SELF: he is a medium kopsis (+2), carved from an enormous emerald. Treated as a holy relic by the monastery that discovered the emerald, which has definitely gone to his head a little. Claims to heal whoever touches him, which isn't a complete lie—all that sickness and pain is given back to the gemstone.
    

25. REAL LIVING ART: it is a light dao of platinum and silk-spun adornments. An giant, intelligent silk moth named Jimbel lives within the blade's hollow guard, tasked with maintaining the accessories. Jimbel is quite kind, not to mention knowledgeable in the art of fashion, and he will regularly offer his services as a seamstress to the wielder—so long as the blade is regularly polished.
    

26. HOLY SHIT BALLS: she is a heavy claymore, scrounged together from the remnants of a weather monitoring station's lightning rod. Gained sentience after a demon—traveling at the speed of light—passed through the rod and entered our world. She's as confused about it as you are, to be honest. Deals +1d6 lightning damage on hit. If she's ever struck by lightning again, upgrade into a +1 sword, but roll for a random demonic incursion.
    

27. SYMBIOSIS REQUIRES KINDNESS: she is a light small-sword of copper and silver. Its scabbard—an ornate, oversized grasshopper—animates when the blade is drawn, becoming a loyal familiar. While not exactly helpful in combat, it is capable of performing other tasks appropriate to a familiar, such as spying on targets and retrieving objects. The blade & scabbard are inseparably linked—the former speaks of the latter like a good friend, and destroying the scabbard will also shatter the sword.
    

28. PEACE AMONG WORLDS: they are a medium "shortsword"—really the disembodied tail of a Psychic Bismuth Scorpion. Its length, albeit jagged, is consistent enough to use as a blade, while the stinger at the tip remains an excellent stabbing weapon. While able to communicate from within its tail, the scorpion doesn't have much to say, besides a vague sadness over its circumstances. Launch a psychic blast when wielded in two hands (3/day, 1d6 + WIS).
    

29. REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE: this isn't a sword at all—those require a blade, or at least a hilt. An emerald rune, burnt into its owners palm. As living things die around you, a blade is constructed according to their traits and preferences: rapiers for the suave, serrated teeth for dogs, a basket-hilt for the wary, etc.
    

30. FIND HER MARK: she is a medium estoc of cold-iron and dripstone, built from what could be found within the frozen caves of Betrayal. Small droplets of luminescent fluid leak from the blade's tip. Anything covered by these droplets begins to glow for a short period of time, to the point of translucency through thin walls—according to the helldivers, great for finding pierceable organs.

The Eight Heresies Of Pashem

Lakshman Anil Paschim had a problem... he was too popular. Born into a family which had gained its wealth during the Green Conquest—wherein precursors to the new faith sought recourse for THEE's intrusion, and were promptly crushed—Paschim inherited a taste for affluence. Enrolled in the greatest schools, spoilt by the finest of delicacies, the young boy grew quickly into the shape of a well-spoken & influential aristocrat. 

He was also a brat. How could he not be, as an entitled profiteer? 

But there was one line that Paschim could never cross. For all his outbursts and shows of force, for all of the wealth he possessed and attention he craved, Paschim always refused to outright cheek the church. Heresy was a grave sin, after all, punishable in all ways socially and by rule of law. That which was shared, preached, and made were all protected under divine reasoning: that works of THEE's church were in celebration of the Authority's laws. For all his insolence, Lakshman would never dare commit apostasy against his nation's living God... until he did.

Now they are accursed things. Profane artifacts; mockeries born of a sinful mind.

Here are three. Learn their names, understand their histories, so that you may begin to understand why it is that Paschim was never buried within his own catacombs.

Aspis — The Ship

Names: Kolona, The (Stealing) Ship, She Who Glistens

Who Made You?: A crew of 600 laborers.

Wicked Sins: Blasphemy, Piracy, Unsanctioned Geometry

-----

The Kolona was a Mesquitan prize vessel, commissioned by the Church of the Authority amidst the changing of the royal retinue. Built for show, the Kolona was worked upon by some of the finest craftspeople in the archipelagos, resulting in a trireme of incredible size: fine gems and metals inlaid across its hull, its nose adorned with the face of their ruler Lord Aphotritchides. It was a point of pride for the workers, not to mention a boast of the church's influence.

 

Unpredictable at the time, however, was Anil Paschim's growing attraction towards it.

Shortly before the Kolona took sail, Paschim organized a workforce for the construction of a new vessel, having received "divine inspiration" from the Church's masterpiece. What followed took Paschim's crew months to the Church's year-and-a-half, maintaining a crew of over 600 engineers, manual laborers, and artisans. Their end result was noticeably smaller than the Kolona—about 1/3rd—but nonetheless impressive. Less impressive was the Church's reaction to the vessel, accusing Paschim of blasphemy through imitation. He denied any such intention, deflected the blame, and largely avoided any consequences.

The Aspis was ultimately left unfinished—fearful of pursuing inquisitors, what workers remained (not having fled) pushed the ship into the ocean and sailed themselves to safety. Those same sailors are now believed to have taken up a life of piracy: reports tell of a familiar ship haunting the Mesquitan coast, with eyes like stars within its bow. These attacks have grown so troublesome (and common) that the Kolona's reputation has been irreparably damaged. It is currently being decommissioned.

There Are Things Besides Will O' Wisps In The Dark.
"Night Fog" by Johnson Cameraface

Inhabitants of the Aspis:

1. 1d6 Workers (Maintenance; slacking off; licking their wounds.)
   
2. 1d4+1 Raiders (Preparing for a raid; hunting intruders; sleeping.)
   
3. 1d4-1 Mesquitan Janissaries (In pursuit of the ship, now trapped within it. Camping; carousing; hunting crew.)
   
4. 3d4 Giant Rats (They have little trouble maneuvering throughout the walls of the Aspis. Breeding; feeding; praying.)
   

Members of the original crew still endure within the Aspis, along with an assortment of welcome or unwanted guests.

Decks of the Aspis:

1. The Hold — near-darkness in torchlight; the sound of creaking wood and snapping oars; a persistent sense of seasickness, pierced by whispers in the dark.
   
2. The Hoard — chests upon chests of treasure, stolen goods from coastal lands; poor to maintain & hardly traversable; a logistical nightmare. How do we get out of here?
   
3. The Bar — a cozy lounge, stocked with food and wine; a moment of respite; music plays softly from a slit in the walls; the bar is manned by a greying beard who takes no requests, offering drink and a kindly smile.
   
4. The Barracks — chisels and hammers, quivers and bows; a collection of arms made, inherited, and pillaged; an unlikely menagerie.
   
5. The Museum — a gallery exhibit; artwork lines the walls, glass cases atop pillars on display; there is a black stain where a portrait should be, its plaque reads "A Girl Found".
   
6. The Muse — a false deck; forever dusk upon the world, a sky bereft of stars.
   

Triremes are not built with cargo in mind, yet this ship contains worlds beneath its hull. Roll a d6 when first entering the Aspis, then record whatever deck you arrive at. Roll again whenever the party exits a floor, either through another hatch or traveling backwards. In order to escape the loop, reach a variant of the first floor you entered, then exit out the way you came.

Paschim's Cup — The Chalice

Names: Chalice of the Covetous, Sorrow, The Great Dissapointment

Who Made You?: a goldsmith's apprentice, imprisoned in a workshop

Wicked Sins: Kidnapping, Obliteration

-----

Lakshman Anil Paschim was not an artist, but he was incredibly envious. More than flaunting his family's wealth, Anil Paschim surrounded himself with artists and their work because they possessed something he lacked—whether mechanical skill or a sense of imagination. Unwilling to pursue an artist's education, Paschim still craved an object for himself...

...And so he studied. Again and again, until the works in his collection had been observed a thousand times. He glared at their construction—sculpture and vessel alike—and tried to ascertain how they came to be. He looked to their sources, sought out their parts, working day and night to reverse-engineer what made them such fine art. When the time came for Paschim to create his first work, the final product was predictably shoddy. Frustration welled inside of him. Following another attempt, then two more, Paschim abandoned his efforts for a far simpler plan.

The Chalice is a receptacle of infinite volume. It cannot be filled nor stuffed with solids, rebelling against its master at every opportunity. Whatever is forced into the chalice bleeds through the bottom, in some cases literally, as compressed material will be transmuted into blood. Submerging the Chalice results in the slow drainage of that fluid, should something prevent it from resurfacing. 

Lakshman Anil Paschim would abandon the Chalice in his lifetime.

Location of the Cup:

1. At the bottom of an evidence locker in the same town that it was found. Who would want this hunk of junk?
   
2. Currently in the possession of gentle-brigand Sabir Al-Fahd, a hallwani extortionist.
   
3. Being worshiped by a cult of blaspheming Druids. They are using its transformative properties to aid in ritual sacrifice.
   
4. Trapped beneath the decks of the Aspis—buried in treasure or on display.
   
5. Stuck in a chest at the bottom of a lake, inside of a now-waterlogged ship. The chest has begun to leak.
   
6. Jammed inside the throat of a Were-Tiger, fighting to survive in its animal form. The Chalice's trickle keeps them alive—so long as they remain shapeshifted, it won't expand their throat and kill them.
    

   

   Cups Don't Hold Much Religious Symbolism In Séraphine. Typical, Silly Paschim.
   "Chalice of the Void" by Seb McKinnon
   

   
   

Hel's Spear — The Spire

Names: The Dominant, Death's Head, Cock of Hades

Who Made You?: Nobody; you sprung from the earth.

Wicked Sins: Blasphemy, Intrusion

-----

 Among certain sects, there is a belief that when the end-times come, every facet of the empire will be utilized in Authority's battle against the forces of evil, including the very cities themselves. Consequently, spires have become a prominent architectural feature, with fleches of silver or gold becoming a common sight across the empire. Spires can be found atop institutions and places of worship, or adorning the walls of fortresses in evenly-spaced clusters. They are, in essence, weapons: tools built to-scale with THEE's might, carved out and occupied for our own convenience.

 Lakshman Anil Paschim saw spires everywhere, for his birth had granted him the luxury of witnessing their many forms. He knew well what their presence represented, and as such, his halls were appropriately decorated—donations strategically applied. Yet Paschim cared little for this particular dogma. These payments were expected of him, a formality rather than a commitment, for what other purpose could they serve? 

    "Say war did come to the Seraphi: would sulṭah truly trash its own kingdom in order to defend us? If so, then would we fill the spires with our institutions? Are we ignorant, or merely stupid?"

This opinion was not unique to Paschim, nor did it matter. When 200 meters of silt and blackstone burst from the bottom of a once-innocuous lake, threatening to pierce the heavens, all eyes fell on the only man who could be deemed responsible. While other heresies merely threatened his reputation, The Spire revealed to old Paschim threats to his life—threats which were very, very real. 

Who cares if he had anything to do with it?

It Is Surprisingly Hard To Find Artwork Of Black Spires Sprouting From Water.
"Archaic Sanctum" by Ageus

Features of the Spire:

1. Creatures of all sorts have ventured into the region surrounding the Spire, making it their home—this includes Devils, heretics, and a multitude of monsters.
   
2. There are entrances into the Spire, although reaching them has proven somewhat difficult, due to being so far above the surface. Hope you brought your climbing gear.
   
3. The landscape becomes prickly as one travels closer to the base of the Spire, a mixture of upturned crust and blackstone spikes. Likewise, its surface softens during the ascent, smoothing to a point at its apex.
   
4. Being a relatively new landmark, the empire has poured considerable resources into its investigation of the Spire and its birthplace. Pathfinders work alongside clerics in their search for an origin.
   
5. There is a second building rising from the lake, a lopsided tower of halls and columns which has already partially engulfed the Spire.
   
6. Smewhere within the Spire is a second entrance connecting to a smaller, inner core. 

Imagine This, But Stretched Out & Surrounding The Spire.
Quinta da Regaleira from Wikimedia Commons