Growing over the stones of dungeon chambers, ruins, and natural caverns with equal abandon, mirrormoss appears to be a perfectly safe -- and comfortable, even -- bit of simple flora hanging about as dungeon dressing. And indeed, the moss itself can and does inflict no harm whatsoever upon any creature coming into contact with it.
A typical patch of the moss may be as much as five to ten feet across, following the contours of the stone it grows on (if any) and developing into a mass of short, twisted stems with scale-like leaves as most other mosses do. It is not particularly edible. The mirrormoss growth may be as much as four inches "deep" (tall) or more, dense, and form a surprisingly soft and pleasant surface on which to rest or sleep. The occasional mushroom, small slime mold or insect may lurk amongst the mottled green and dun mosses, but a sleeper finds no harm comes to them from resting amongst the moss.
While a living creature rests upon it, a patch of mirrormoss will sample that creature's lifeforce and flesh through contact with its hundreds of leaves. Within an hour or two of sustained contact the moss has sampled all it requires, and a small leafy cyst begins to form within the patch's mass. Twenty-fours hours after contact has ended, this cyst -- now many times larger -- splits open to reveal a perfect replica of the creature that the moss sampled. Only one notable different exists between the original and the copy -- the replica's alignment is the opposite of that of the sampled creature.
Showing posts with label theme: greenery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theme: greenery. Show all posts
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Ten Botanical Treasures
- A smallish oaken strongchest, bound in bronze: inside it rests four fat, tightly-packed pouches of waxed linen filled with a brilliant scarlet dyestuff and three dried bundles of the ruddy, weedy herb of unknown type the dye was rendered from. One bundle is tied with a crude map to the source of the herb.
- A hand-sized black jade casket, lined with gold-shot red silks cradling a jade mushroom.
- Half a pound of pure, reddish-gold tears of myrrh of the highest quality, sewn into a courier's packet of silk-lined leather.
- A hand-sized bundle of rishi -- a herb resembling lavender, though with blossoms of pale grey -- tied with a blood-stained white ribbon. Attached is a small scroll with instructions for using the herb to combat an illness referred to only as "the crawling death".
- A flat box of pale wood etched with a repeating pattern of ivy-vines, roughly a foot long by six inches wide by two deep. Inside, nestled in tissue, are a dozen perfect quills of cinnamon, deeply coloured, scenting faintly of rose and fit for an emperor's table.
- A carefully-coiled vine of white bleeding-heart, preserved in spirits within a globular glass flask. If used to strike an undead creature, the blossoms will cause damage double that of holy water and then fade into motes of light.
- A half-dozen fat leather pouches packed with cottonseeds. The drawstrings of each pouch have a single cotton boll attached, in the following colours: rust, green, pink, gold, brown, and grey. The bolls do not appear to have been dyed or otherwise altered in any way.
- A cask packed to the utmost with brown bean-like seeds or nuts with a distinctive earthy-sweet scent. Accompanying the cask is a mortar and pestle of rough black granite and a scroll describing the crushing of the nuts into a paste to be mixed with heated water, spiced and worked to a froth, then drunk. In the document, the nuts are referred to as kakaw.
- A healer's kit, complete with needles, bandaging, two steel flasks of poppy extract and a half-pound of the dark green, red-tinted bloodstaunch moss that heals 1 hit point per daily application.
- A single perfect, unblemished peony, icy white tinged with pale blue. Legendary, it is said to bring the dead to life -- for a time -- if the blossom is placed within the wound that killed the victim.
- A hand-sized black jade casket, lined with gold-shot red silks cradling a jade mushroom.
- Half a pound of pure, reddish-gold tears of myrrh of the highest quality, sewn into a courier's packet of silk-lined leather.
- A hand-sized bundle of rishi -- a herb resembling lavender, though with blossoms of pale grey -- tied with a blood-stained white ribbon. Attached is a small scroll with instructions for using the herb to combat an illness referred to only as "the crawling death".
- A flat box of pale wood etched with a repeating pattern of ivy-vines, roughly a foot long by six inches wide by two deep. Inside, nestled in tissue, are a dozen perfect quills of cinnamon, deeply coloured, scenting faintly of rose and fit for an emperor's table.
- A carefully-coiled vine of white bleeding-heart, preserved in spirits within a globular glass flask. If used to strike an undead creature, the blossoms will cause damage double that of holy water and then fade into motes of light.
- A half-dozen fat leather pouches packed with cottonseeds. The drawstrings of each pouch have a single cotton boll attached, in the following colours: rust, green, pink, gold, brown, and grey. The bolls do not appear to have been dyed or otherwise altered in any way.
- A cask packed to the utmost with brown bean-like seeds or nuts with a distinctive earthy-sweet scent. Accompanying the cask is a mortar and pestle of rough black granite and a scroll describing the crushing of the nuts into a paste to be mixed with heated water, spiced and worked to a froth, then drunk. In the document, the nuts are referred to as kakaw.
- A healer's kit, complete with needles, bandaging, two steel flasks of poppy extract and a half-pound of the dark green, red-tinted bloodstaunch moss that heals 1 hit point per daily application.
- A single perfect, unblemished peony, icy white tinged with pale blue. Legendary, it is said to bring the dead to life -- for a time -- if the blossom is placed within the wound that killed the victim.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Ichneumon Rose
A climbing vine with tiny, almost unnoticable white flowers, often found growing within abandoned ruins, invading the upper levels of dungeons and crawling over the walls of many an isolated tower, the ichneumon rose has a tempting and deadly method of seeding more of its kind. Though the mature ichneumon has no strange powers of its own, the immature plants possess a unique suite of abilities which can be granted to their "host".
The small, dry-flesh rosehips of an ichneumon rose are seedless, the remnant of an ancestral means of reproduction. Instead, when ready to reproduce the vine injects a tiny, coiled seedling into any living being which inadvertently finds itself being stabbed by one of the plants' long needle-like thorns. After a day or two the seedling breaks painlessly through the host's skin - usually at the hollow of the throat, or near one temple - appearing a translucent green vinelet with tiny heart-shaped leaves. The seedling grants the following abilities to its host -- usable once a day each -- with the knowledge of these new powers automatically granted to the host:
- "hatching": detect magic
- 3 days: protection from evil, know alignment
- 1 week: sleep, cure light wounds
- 2 weeks: phantasmal force
At any point before the one-week mark, the seedling may be destroyed via cure disease or similar abilities. After that point, remove curse is also required in order to separate the seedling's influence from the host. After two weeks the seedling cannot be removed short of a wish or similar, and the host loses 2 points of Constitution a day until death as the seedling fuels itself one final time.
If left undisturbed, the new ichneumon rose will root itself in the corpse, but it can be transplanted if rich soil is supplied for it.
The small, dry-flesh rosehips of an ichneumon rose are seedless, the remnant of an ancestral means of reproduction. Instead, when ready to reproduce the vine injects a tiny, coiled seedling into any living being which inadvertently finds itself being stabbed by one of the plants' long needle-like thorns. After a day or two the seedling breaks painlessly through the host's skin - usually at the hollow of the throat, or near one temple - appearing a translucent green vinelet with tiny heart-shaped leaves. The seedling grants the following abilities to its host -- usable once a day each -- with the knowledge of these new powers automatically granted to the host:
- "hatching": detect magic
- 3 days: protection from evil, know alignment
- 1 week: sleep, cure light wounds
- 2 weeks: phantasmal force
At any point before the one-week mark, the seedling may be destroyed via cure disease or similar abilities. After that point, remove curse is also required in order to separate the seedling's influence from the host. After two weeks the seedling cannot be removed short of a wish or similar, and the host loses 2 points of Constitution a day until death as the seedling fuels itself one final time.
If left undisturbed, the new ichneumon rose will root itself in the corpse, but it can be transplanted if rich soil is supplied for it.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monster: Paradscha
Paradscha
Armour Class: 5 (see below)
Hit Dice: 1+3*
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 2 calyx lash or by weapon
Damage: 1-4/1-4 or by weapon
No. Appearing: 1-4 (2-12)
Save As: M2
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: (S) E
Alignment: Any
XP Value: 19
Fey plant-spirits distantly related to dryads, paradscha resemble humans with deep green eyes and thick, shaggy hair often tinted with red or rose. Their true nature is readily revealed when injury causes them to bleed a golden-red sap instead of blood, or when they extend and unfurl their calyx -- a mandala-like rosette of dagged, lily-like petals, up to twice their armspan, that extend from their shoulders and spine and may be of any colour. Two of these petals are highly modified, and may be used like thorn-tipped whips. Unlike many plant and nature spirits, paradscha are highly social creatures and take great delight in slipping amongst humanity in order to subtly tweak and influence it.
A paradscha may attack with their calyx lashes, inflicting 1-4 hit points of damage per strike, or may attack with a weapon. Three times a day, a paradscha may release a burst of fine pollen and perfume that acts as a sleep spell. Paradscha take two hit points damage less, per die, from any source of elemental damage; and, when threatened, may curl their calyx around themselves to lower their Armour Class to 2. A paradscha so infurled may not move or attack. Some paradscha develop clerical spellcasting ability.
Armour Class: 5 (see below)
Hit Dice: 1+3*
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 2 calyx lash or by weapon
Damage: 1-4/1-4 or by weapon
No. Appearing: 1-4 (2-12)
Save As: M2
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: (S) E
Alignment: Any
XP Value: 19
Fey plant-spirits distantly related to dryads, paradscha resemble humans with deep green eyes and thick, shaggy hair often tinted with red or rose. Their true nature is readily revealed when injury causes them to bleed a golden-red sap instead of blood, or when they extend and unfurl their calyx -- a mandala-like rosette of dagged, lily-like petals, up to twice their armspan, that extend from their shoulders and spine and may be of any colour. Two of these petals are highly modified, and may be used like thorn-tipped whips. Unlike many plant and nature spirits, paradscha are highly social creatures and take great delight in slipping amongst humanity in order to subtly tweak and influence it.
A paradscha may attack with their calyx lashes, inflicting 1-4 hit points of damage per strike, or may attack with a weapon. Three times a day, a paradscha may release a burst of fine pollen and perfume that acts as a sleep spell. Paradscha take two hit points damage less, per die, from any source of elemental damage; and, when threatened, may curl their calyx around themselves to lower their Armour Class to 2. A paradscha so infurled may not move or attack. Some paradscha develop clerical spellcasting ability.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monster: Blackberry Cat
Blackberry Cat
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2+5**
Move: 180' (60')
Attacks: 2 claws + 1 bite
Damage: 1-3/1-3/1-6 + energy drain
No. Appearing: 1
Save As: M3
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: U
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 55
Fey and dangerous sentient briars, blackberry cats -- when at rest -- resemble an ordinary if dense blackberry bush. They prefer to rest in hedges or thickets with ordinary blackberries, blending in with the rest of the foliage; in this shape only the ruddy tinge to their glossy black berries is a little unusual. During the day, they do not hunt.
At night, and on the solstices and equinoxes, the blackberry cat uproots and reshapes itself into a lean and muscular feline form, its canes compacting and twisting back upon themselves. Its paws are tipped with long thorn-claws, and two brilliant green witchfires light in the hollows of its "eyes". If it does not wish to reveal its identity such as when stalking an especially wary prey, it cloaks itself in the illusion of an ordinary tortoiseshell housecat.
Blackberry cats feed on the lifeforce of animals, preferring sapient beings over all others. In combat a blackberry cat attacks with thorny claws and bite, inflicting 1-3 hit points and 1-6 hit points of damage respectively. Victims struck by a blackberry cat must make a successful saving throw vs. energy drain or lose one experience level. Blackberry cats are immune to non-magical weapons.
It is rumoured that some blackberry cats may possess spellcasting capability. It is also rumoured that some cats trick their way into unwitting households, masquerading as a family pet.
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2+5**
Move: 180' (60')
Attacks: 2 claws + 1 bite
Damage: 1-3/1-3/1-6 + energy drain
No. Appearing: 1
Save As: M3
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: U
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 55
Fey and dangerous sentient briars, blackberry cats -- when at rest -- resemble an ordinary if dense blackberry bush. They prefer to rest in hedges or thickets with ordinary blackberries, blending in with the rest of the foliage; in this shape only the ruddy tinge to their glossy black berries is a little unusual. During the day, they do not hunt.
At night, and on the solstices and equinoxes, the blackberry cat uproots and reshapes itself into a lean and muscular feline form, its canes compacting and twisting back upon themselves. Its paws are tipped with long thorn-claws, and two brilliant green witchfires light in the hollows of its "eyes". If it does not wish to reveal its identity such as when stalking an especially wary prey, it cloaks itself in the illusion of an ordinary tortoiseshell housecat.
Blackberry cats feed on the lifeforce of animals, preferring sapient beings over all others. In combat a blackberry cat attacks with thorny claws and bite, inflicting 1-3 hit points and 1-6 hit points of damage respectively. Victims struck by a blackberry cat must make a successful saving throw vs. energy drain or lose one experience level. Blackberry cats are immune to non-magical weapons.
It is rumoured that some blackberry cats may possess spellcasting capability. It is also rumoured that some cats trick their way into unwitting households, masquerading as a family pet.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Magic Item: Harvester's Arrow
Harvester's Arrow: This innocently-named enchanted arrow is in fact a shaft of living wood; its tip is simply hardened heartwood and is of one piece with the arrow-shaft, and the fletching is made up of vanes of tiny, living leaves. Some harvester's arrows appear to be crafted from rose briars; others from mistletoe and yet others resemble holly or more exotic or unnatural plants.
However, the arrow is far from innocent. When fired it acts as an arrow +1. However, upon impact the arrow's tip burrows into the flesh, sprouting masses of rapidly-growing roots and inflicting 1 hit point of damage each round until torn free -- and such an action inflicts 1-6 hit points of damage as the roots rip free of their fleshy anchors.
If a harvester's arrow kills its target, the arrow will grow into a sapling at remarkable speed, with glossy green-black leaves and dark bark. The sapling then produces a single blood-red fruit resembling a peach, which -- if consumed -- will heal 1-6 hit points for the consumer.
Harvester's arrows are normally found singly; never will more than 1-4 will be discovered at a time.
However, the arrow is far from innocent. When fired it acts as an arrow +1. However, upon impact the arrow's tip burrows into the flesh, sprouting masses of rapidly-growing roots and inflicting 1 hit point of damage each round until torn free -- and such an action inflicts 1-6 hit points of damage as the roots rip free of their fleshy anchors.
If a harvester's arrow kills its target, the arrow will grow into a sapling at remarkable speed, with glossy green-black leaves and dark bark. The sapling then produces a single blood-red fruit resembling a peach, which -- if consumed -- will heal 1-6 hit points for the consumer.
Harvester's arrows are normally found singly; never will more than 1-4 will be discovered at a time.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Heqoranth
Heqoranth
(Magishrooms, Boomshrooms, Spell Repellent ...)
The fungal growth known as heqoranth is, to all available analyses, a harmless organism annoying only in its habit of growing most anywhere its mycelia can find purchase. Stone, soil, wood, cloth, untended tapestries -- heqoranth is not a fussy fungus, any rough or porous non-living surface will do. Once established as a viable growth (anywhere from 1/4- to 2" thick, a mass of dense pale-dun filaments), heqoranth begins to send up mushrooms. A dull golden-dun in colour with reddish markings, the mushrooms are vaguely crunchy, taste something like sugary, spiced custard, and grow in clusters with thick stubby stalks and dense caps. They can provide a welcome snack in the depths of dungeons -- if they haven't been claimed by the denizens there.
The danger of heqoranth lies not in any form of poison, but in its response to magical energies. Heqoranth spreads readily -- it can carpet a passage or chamber, given the chance -- and the fungus is exquisitely sensitive to magic. If a spell is cast, whether by voice, scroll or a magical item such as a wand, within ten feet of a heqoranth growth (with or without mushrooms) the fungus will ignite and explode violently, causing scorching acidic wounds to all within 15'. For every square yard of heqoranth, 1-6 hit points of damage is inflicted (with a minimum of 1-6 hit points if less than a square yard).
To make matters worse, heqoranth will scatter spores if detonated or if unduly disturbed -- such as when gathered to be eaten -- and it takes root within hours. While an adventurer need fear no direct harm from heqoranth, should their gear be inoculated they may be in for a very explosive surprise as little as six hours later ...
(Magishrooms, Boomshrooms, Spell Repellent ...)
The fungal growth known as heqoranth is, to all available analyses, a harmless organism annoying only in its habit of growing most anywhere its mycelia can find purchase. Stone, soil, wood, cloth, untended tapestries -- heqoranth is not a fussy fungus, any rough or porous non-living surface will do. Once established as a viable growth (anywhere from 1/4- to 2" thick, a mass of dense pale-dun filaments), heqoranth begins to send up mushrooms. A dull golden-dun in colour with reddish markings, the mushrooms are vaguely crunchy, taste something like sugary, spiced custard, and grow in clusters with thick stubby stalks and dense caps. They can provide a welcome snack in the depths of dungeons -- if they haven't been claimed by the denizens there.
The danger of heqoranth lies not in any form of poison, but in its response to magical energies. Heqoranth spreads readily -- it can carpet a passage or chamber, given the chance -- and the fungus is exquisitely sensitive to magic. If a spell is cast, whether by voice, scroll or a magical item such as a wand, within ten feet of a heqoranth growth (with or without mushrooms) the fungus will ignite and explode violently, causing scorching acidic wounds to all within 15'. For every square yard of heqoranth, 1-6 hit points of damage is inflicted (with a minimum of 1-6 hit points if less than a square yard).
To make matters worse, heqoranth will scatter spores if detonated or if unduly disturbed -- such as when gathered to be eaten -- and it takes root within hours. While an adventurer need fear no direct harm from heqoranth, should their gear be inoculated they may be in for a very explosive surprise as little as six hours later ...
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