B15.
This is part of the #Dungeon23 challenge in which you make one room to a dungeon every day for a year. In an effort to link my memories to the creation, I am also writing a personal journal entry with each room that may or may not be related.
You don’t have to read that part.
B15.
The door to this room is boarded up with goblin runes staining the wood. The guards in B14 do not want anyone going in here and will attack anyone who tries to enter. Those who have arcane sensibilities or have touched elements of Chaos may sense some powerful energies here.
So what’s inside?
At the center of the room is a giant stone boar head. It’s about 20 feet in diameter and towers over everyone in the room.
The carving is detailed and terrifying, the boar’s mouth is wide open in a mad howl, and its tongue hangs over jagged teeth.
The eyes are polished black onyx and as one stares into them they can see ghostly pale versions of themselves.
On the floor around the statue are more Chaotic runes and equations.
Anyone who understands this language must pass some type of test to realize they’ll go mad if they read all of it.
Should they fail, they will run out of Kik’ina Kir to the south and continue down the winding passages to the lower levels, in search of “Inosh”.
There are smaller boar heads - demonic and visceral - mounted on the walls, their open mouths serve as a kind of sconce for light. One must fill the mouths with a fuel and set them blaze.
Searching the door to the north reveals a draft coming from the other side.
“I want to walk into the boar’s mouth!”
Someone will probably want to take a walk inside.
Make a save of somekind. Failure means Inosh takes a piece of your soul and your interest in Chaos increases. Permanently lose a something like one point of your HP. Or your Will decreases. Something that’s going to hurt.
Success means something pleasant whispers in your ear, requesting that you turn back. It’s up to you if follow it. It will not answer any more questions. The Lords of Law can only do so much. If you decide to keep going then see above.
2/15/23
We’re just past the halfway point of February and we’re firmly in Ashfoot territory.
Their whole deal is about uniting the goblins and going back down to take back their territory.
The Riglum believe this to be absolute folly and would rather deal with the necromancer above.
And while the goblins are basically displaced creatures trying to find a home (sympathetic?) - they’re also really fucking gnarly and think about playing with your blood.
So if players try to roleplay with these creatures it should be unsettling. Yes, the goblins may entertain the humans, particularly if there is gain - but they will eventually follow an impulse to spill your insides.
I think this is how they increase their number. They must empty out a human body, and get inside. Other goblins stitch the skin closed and after a week it is filled with more goblins.
I suspect we’ll be walking up on that scene soon, elsewhere on this level. So… spoiler - that’s happening.
But anyway, - what I was trying to say - was that since we’re in Ashfoot territory I need to start hinting at what is down there - what we have to look forward to in March. At the same time I’m starting to figure out a little more what happened to Kik’ina Kir, and why it got swallowed up.
And that’s how we ended up with today’s room.
…
As you may have noticed I’m also finding ways to play with the Chaos vs. Lawful alignment idea that I have for my setting. In my mind everyone is Neutral - they become Chaotic or Lawful through participation in those ideological battles. It’s not just “I’m a dick so I’m chaotic.” You have to actually touch capital-C Chaos through magic or other rituals. You have to serve Lawfulness and restore order to be Lawful.
But the two sides aren’t necessary passive. They reach for us. Entice us.
Maybe both Lawful and Chaotic people are looked at as zealots by regular neutral folk. I feel like another alignment blog post is coming…
See you tomorrow.
-jae
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