Monday, April 4, 2011

C: A Chapel of Bones

A rather shorter post than the previous two, due to circumstances: but still --

I like small, compact spaces for adventures, or to use as adventure hooks. Whether it's microdungeons or above-ground buildings, I'm not terribly picky; small locales allow me to customize to my heart's content and still keep the gaming time to something short enough for two people with erratic schedules to be able to pull off.

One thing I really like to tinker with -- although I haven't many concrete examples at the moment -- are chapels, shrines and small temples. These are often in ruins or at least run down, but not always ...

And then there is the chapel of bones.

The Sedlec Ossuary has been the inspiration for a number of skeletal chapels and temples over the years. Sometimes it has been the lair of a necromantic cult, or the focus-point of a lich's rituals (that one, alas, more background than anything else); it has also been a bleached ivory and delicate cathedral inhabited by blood-drinking creatures that are not quite vampires.

At other times, the chapel of bones has been a blessed place where the dead may be assured of never rising, where any unliving creature trapped behind it's doors loses its unliving curse with the rising sun. Or the chapterhouse of a band of hunters dedicated to putting the undead to rest, their bones consecrated and purified -- and used as weapons, if need be.


Why yes, this has essentially be a post entirely about one of my favorite bits of unusual architecture ;3

6 comments:

Michael S/Chgowiz said...

Neat!

Chris said...

The present arrangement of the bones dates from 1870 and is the work of a Czech wood-carver, FrantiĊĦek RINT.

One man's labour of love, done from respect for the departed. Noted for further pondering.

WV: ninizedo - definitely a Taichara word that. ;)

jkovesi said...

From my point of view the whole oldschool gaming and retroclone rule designing are completely unnecessary. Because there are lot of games (for example odnd) and you don't have to publish n+1 vaersion. Why don't you redesign the original dnd?

taichara said...

@ChicagoWiz:

Yay! X3


@Chris:

Bears some thinking on, doesn't it? (and ye tempt me ;3)


@roleplay:

Not to put too fine a point on it, but just what the hell are you on about?

Point the first: What does this crack of yours even have to do with this post?

Point the second: Do try to pay some attention when you visit a blog. This blog is dedicated to and -- the posts use the rules from -- Mentzer's BECMI "Classic" D&D, published by TSR. I run Mentzer, therefore I write for Mentzer. What in the hell does your crack have to do with my blog and its purpose?

Kindly take your issues elsewhere, troll. Good day.

Michael S/Chgowiz said...

@taichara - he runs a just created Hungarian blog with the purpose of
"discrediting information about the clones and other oldschool games."

Apparently you just happened to be the lucky first. I wonder if we should send Melan to go have a talk with him. *chuckle*

taichara said...

@ChicagoWiz:

Lovely; I wonder if I get a prize? *snorts --*

That might almost be entertaining as a proposition, though, I have to say ~