The Color Dungeon

this dungeon is inspired by The Astral Prison of Urash Mhyr, one of the greatest gimmick dungeons of the 2014 one page dungeon contest. I'll probably drop this place as a random dungeon fill so if you're my players you may wanna skip this post. Or you could read it and excuse your metagame knowledge as 'prophetic dreams'
I couldn't condense it enough for the 2019 OPDC so I expanded it to my satisfaction instead. I think it will be best for characters with some experience and problem-solving tools under their belts.

The Color Dungeon has two trees growing outside- one with red fruit, and one with blue fruit. Eat the appropriate fruit and you become insubstantial to and utterly unaffected by the opposite color, and you and your equipment are stained that color for the rest of the day. If you eat both, you become purple and are unaffected by Red and Blue objects. Having normal coloration allows all things to affect you.
Normal- Interacts with everything as normal.
Red- Interacts with Red and typical objects normally. Intangible to Purple and Blue.
Blue- Interacts with Blue objects and normal objects as usual. Intangible to Red and Purple.
Purple- Interacts normally with typically-colored objects and Purple objects. Intangible to Red and Blue objects.


THE TWO SEALS
A massive gate of red stone seals the entrance. Beyond it, a massive door of blue stone also blocks off the entrance hall. A lever behind each gate will open it slowly, then reset as the gate slides back down.

THE SPLIT DECISION
To the left and right are corridors with pits, covered by red or blue tiles.Gigantic blue tentacles occasionally wave through the red floor, and will make blind attempts to grab people. Red people are insubstantial to the tentacles, naturally. The Blue floor also has purple hanging loops that people can swing across on if they are purple, one at a time. The floor between this pits (where the players are presumably standing to weigh their options) is actually an elevator platform that shakes, then slowly begins to descend into a flooded trench where the Kraken lurks, which both pits lead into. The overgrown octopus(actually a polymorphed dog) has figured out how the colors here work and can change color between Red and Blue (with one round of unwitting purple while it changes) and occasionally switches which floor it reaches up through, hoping to snag people. The beast can also swim through a long, dark, and labrynthine flooded cavern to reach the frozen cavern. The elevator can be raised back out of the pit via operation of an underwater wheel-lever in the flooded kraken-pit where it lowers

THE COLOR PRISON
Over the blue tiles is a hallway that doubles back on itself and passes three locked prison cells, access to which is barred with colored iron bars that one can reach through but not squeeze through.
The blue cell contains a vampire named Crim and his coffin. He is not actually trapped, but IS pretty bored and hungry, and will make no secret of this. He will follow around the players and demand probably nonlethal tributes of blood (1d8 damage) from any non-blue characters if he sees them. (He will make additional reaction rolls to individuals on merit of how tasty their blood is) This will suck the red right out of them, decolorizing reds and turning purples blue(though apart from this blood-draining trick he is still unable to interact with purple objects unless turned purple himself). If threatened, he will retreat to his cell then sulkily stalk people to eat them, but if his demands are met he will aid the party in half-assed fashion. He and the purple wizard are not on speaking terms due to quarreling over a lover, and they will pretend the other doesn't exist to the point of ludicrousness.

The Red cell contains a blue chest full of treasure and has no key to its iron-bar door, but the cell could be unbarred from the inside by someone able to interact with the bar.

The purple cell contains a wizard, Drawjim, who claims he built the dungeon but was betrayed by his apprentice and imprisoned. Naturally he wishes to be freed, and promises the players any reward they name if they will free him. His cell is locked and doubly trapped with runes that trigger on anyone crossing the barrier for a 5d6 fireball and a 5d6 Ice Storm, and he says to safely extricate him the key must be retrieved from the neck of the guardian dragon, and the wands of unblue and unred must be tapped against his cell to undo the magics.

THE TRAPPED DOORS
Past the red tiles is a room with 3 other exits blocked by flames that obscure all beyond them. Once there is no weight on the Red tiles,  flames appear to block the entrance as well.
There is a riddle written on the floor that can be read from the perspective of those entering the room-
"It is wrong to cut off a mans left leg, and wrong to cut off his left arm, but if you do both, he is all right. Two wrongs therefore make a right, and of course three lefts also make a right. Barred by flames, there are two right paths, and two wrong paths for moving forward. Visitor, calculate the number of lefts contained in the rights and wrongs to know which flames are left harmless, then leap through boldly!"

The dead end flames conceal long drops to the Dragon's Lair, causing 3d6 fall damage and then, presumably, a lot more dragon-induced damage. The correct flames can be sprinted through for no damage at all, but cautiously creeping through or poking 10' poles into them will reveal them to be deadly to the tune of 2d8 damage per round and perfectly capable of melting metal and incinerating wood.

THE BAR CHAMBER
Red and Blue bars bar form walls that prevent complete access to this room. A giant dog sleeps in the center of the room. If roused, it will bark and alert the treacherous Apprentice in the Sorcerous Chambers, who will unleash his dog-hordes.

THE MAZE-VAULTS
A mighty purple Inexorable Beast roams this area, tracking the players down by smell over and over, and 'respawning' a mere 1d6+4 dungeon turns after it is slain. There are a great many huge slabs of stone colorshifted to force intruders on circuitous routes, and purple slabs at each entrance to the Maze-Vaults to keep the beast from escaping.

There are also a great many rooms with treasure chests inside. Assume the chests are of the color they appear unless otherwise specified, and that they are locked. The keys are around the Guardian Dragon's neck.
1a- This chest is Purple and therefore hard to interact with. It is also behind 5' of solid stone in every direction. It contains the Immaculate Garnet, a gem of 5000 coin value and the ability to turn things Red or Blue based on which color they are, overall, closer to.
1b- The chest here contains 1000 coins worth of Red Gold, and a single coin smeared in lethal contact poison. The only clue is a single dead mouse within the chest. Even if the players are wearing gloves when it is collected, when counting treasure or paying a merchant later, the poison coin will surely be touched with bare fingers eventually.
1c-The bottom of the chest is actually thin red paper barely able to support the 1000 coins within. Any excess disturbing of the chest will cause the paper to tear and the coins to tumble down the chute beneath into the dark, flooded caverns of the Kraken.
1d- The Red Noose within this chest will strangle people till they're blue in the face, causing 2d6 damage per round of strangulation but allowing them to slip through with 1hp remaining once they've turned Blue. It is also somewhat hidden, having passed through the bottom of the blue chest it is in and lying in a coil on the ground beneath the bottom of the chest, making it invisible to the casual observer unless the chest is moved.
2a-The chest here contains 1000 coins worth of Blue Gold, and also a small 1HD gelatinous cube within which the coins are suspended. The clue is the dust that has accumulated, apparently in thin air, in a uniform, flat layer 1 inch above the coins(on the top layer of the cube).
2b-The chest here is and contains an Immovable Rod that is Purple and therefore immaterial to things of exclusively red and blue hues. The chest is bolted from the inside by said immovable rod and made of heavy stone weighing 800 pounds, requiring an hour of pickaxing to break open or some manner of cleverness in moving the chest straight up 1 foot before opening, so the rod no longer holds it shut.
2c-Sealed away behind a 2' brick wall on all sides is the chest containing the Blue Diamond, which turns people Blue if light shone through it falls upon them and is worth 5000coins.
2d- This chest contains a Scroll Of Unfortunate Teleportation which can teleport the party anywhere in the world, provided they don't actually want to go there. Touching the chest it is contained inside teleports whatever touched it to a random room in the maze-vaults.
3a- This chest is made of glass and full of Rust Gas that makes it appear orange and opaque. The gas causes all exposed metal objects to save or crumble to dust, and metal objects that do save to turn Red.
3b-This chest is full of red hearts which function as red fruits, but grosser. The vampire will eat them if given the opportunity.
3c-The chest here is a mimic half starved from its inability to eat anything red or blue.
3d - The Blue Bulwark- A towershield that blocks all frontal attacks directed at the wielder, provided they are not Red or Purple, of course (Any bloodstained weapon likely counts as red). A 4hd skeleton blocks the entrance to this room with this unbreakablish defense, and is wielding a cursed purple longspear that stabs the user in the kidneys whenever it misses to poke through the shield.
4a-The Red Crystal Sword- A Vorpal Sword encrusted with Red crystals that make the handle unwieldable (unless you are blue or Purple) and the blade worthless except for use as a magical club  (unless you are striking a blue or purple enemy in which case the crystals are no hindrance).
4b- The Ruby Exemplar- This 5000coin value gem turns things Red if light is shone through it onto the target. The chest is not red via color trickery, but by virtue of being red-hot from a contained and enraged Fire Elemental.
4c-This chest is full of Blue shrunken heads from hanged criminals that function as blue fruits but grosser
4d-This room is defended by crossbow bolts that shoot from holes in the walls, change color, then shoot across the room again every round, alternating blue and red. Within the chest is the Purple Bolt that forces Purple beings struck by it to save or die.

SORCEROUS CHAMBERS

Biffno

Huge bookshelves and piles of junk have been stacked to the ceiling in rectangular-ish stacks. A player may find any mundane(though damaged) item here with 1d6 rounds of searching, albeit in a random color of Red, Purple, Blue, or regular. Climbing the piles of junk is easy but confusing to do in a rush- roll under Intelligence instead of climbing or anything if attempting to climb the stacks in a crisis situation (such as being swarmed by dogs)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is here, and wields the Wand of Unblue that he will use to turn Purple things Red and Blue things Normal as it suits him. (It also turns green things yellow.) He has gone mad with power and will kill anyone who defies him even slightly. He also wields a regular whip that he uses to try to trip people at range so the dogs can eat them. His only memorized spell is two casts of GreasePaint(as Grease), one Red and one Blue, which he will use to keep people prone or make them fall from the junk-piles if they are climbed.
If defeated he will cacklingly reveal the Wand of Unred has been taken by the kraken. He will, ideally, flee from combat to the Color Cavern before this happens where the two great guardian beasts will be unable to harm him so long as he is Purple.

The Mad Dogs- Two dozen dogs, 6 red, 6 blue, 6 purple, 6 normal. All are mad with hunger and confusion over constantly passing through each other and fight as 1hd monsters that attack randomly, unaware of their coloration, until someone is dragged down by their attacks, at which point they all try to maul downed individuals. They will prioritize eating over fighting.

The Cleaning Demon- The polyamorous lover of both the vampire and wizard, the wizard turned the demon purple out of jealousy, causing the rift between himself and the vampire and alienating the demon, who aided the apprentice to get back at the wizard, but now regrets their actions and wishes to get things back to normal and also devour the uppity apprentice's soul. the apprentice Unred'd the thing and turned it blue for his own safety. The demon currently appears as a hulking blue ogre-maid and is responsible for keeping the place tidy and maintaining the junk-stacks. The apprentice(or anyone paying attention when the apprentice foolishly reveals the name) may command the demon for one round by invoking their true name 'Manushakaguyn'  but this will enrage the demon if the command is frivolous or against the demon's own desires. The demon is already furious with the apprentice, of course, and will be well-pleased if chromatically reunited with both the vampire and wizard. If only reunited with one of the two, will be annoyed as that's what started this whole mess, and the vampire or wizard will be pleased if able to interact with their lover, and incensed if denied once more.

COLOR CAVERN
A room of Red and Blue stalagmites, stalactites, and columns, with a lake of chilly water taking up the left side of the room that is spanned by the Blue Bridge. If entered by anyone but the Wizard the Kraken and Dragon are both alerted and will arrive in 1d6 rounds (roll separately) to slay intruders with grasping tentacles and burning breath, and to incidentally guard the Purple Pedestal, upon which is engraved the following spells. The center of the room where the Pedestal sits can be reached both by dragon-breath and Kraken-tentacle, but they cannot reach tentacles/breathe fire more than a few dozen feet past their own 'side'

• Redden-  Turns a target Red, or a blue target purple.
• Bluify- Turns a target Blue, or a red target purple.
• GreasePaint- As the spell Grease, but the grease is a color of your choice and dries into paint in a few minutes.
• Polychromorph Other-Turns a target into another living form that you have seen before, provided both target and intended transformation are the same color.
• Painted Gate- Summons a random demon of a color of your choice. If you know a demon's true name and color, you may summon them specifically.
• Drawjim's Instant Dog- Grows a dog from a mammal corpse. Dog is of similar size to corpse.
• Fireball- As Fireball, but Red
• Ice Storm- As Ice Storm but Blue
• Wall of Fire- As wall of fire, but Red
• Animate Red- As Animate Dead, but only works on Red corpses

GUARDIAN DRAGON LAIRStats as an adult red dragon. It is of merely animal intelligence, being a Polymorphed dog, and too big to leave its lair, though with a long, sinuous neck and a long jet of fire, it is still a menace for any entering the Color Cavern (right side) It will, however, stick its head out to fry anyone trying to reach the color cavern or sorcerous chamber back entrance- the safe route to the color cavern is through the maze-vaults. Around its neck are the keys to the chests in the maze vaults. It is not as clever as the Kraken and does not understand what's going on with colors.

The lair itself is a series of descending concentric stone ledges with a lava pool at the bottom and a few streams of lava trickling down into the center. It is full of fumes, broiling hot, and an unpleasant place to be for anything but a dragon. Holes in the ceiling lead back to the Trapped Doors area.

KRAKEN LAIR- an underground lake frozen over partially by thick, floating ice-bits. The Wand of unred is at the bottom and it has turned the water here full-on Blue, meaning Red and Purple characters can traverse the place as though it were a hollow cavern filled with air instead of water, and the Kraken is limited to being Blue here lest it 'fall' through the blue water and splatter. The reason for the chill is due to excessive Ice Storm target practice.
It will swim up the channel to menace people with its tentacles, but for the most part cannot reach much past the left side of the Color Cavern.

Excerpts From A Second-Hand Necronomicon

pictured: actual real-life selfie of me writing this self-indulgent post about some dead wizards my players stomped in prior campaigns

The Necronomicon, by Abdul Alhrazed, Astronomer-Necromancer (early 3rd sun)
(Corrections Courtesy of  Sarkomand, The Sorcerer-King, The Omnipotent!) (4th Sun)
(test results of queens-consort neroikos) (late 3rd ranging to 4th)
(With advice for a modern audience by Magister Verdurus in the age of the 5th sun)
Introduction
Rejoice, seekre of knowledge, for ye hold in your hands the lyfe's worke of Abdul Alhrazed(or more likelie, a copy of my great work). Belief me when I say I holde no ill wille towardes the race of menne nor womenne nor childrenne, butte sought only to understand lyfe and deathe, and wishe to spread this knowledge to all mortals, and even immortals such as the Alves(poor bastard was writing this before the intersolar war, ignore everything he says about Alves)

Though a broade subject, let it first be said that Necromancy is notte a art of deathe and darkness, but of LYFE and LYGHTE! The Soul is what we speake to, and grant new fleshe, so that the dead may once againne gaze uponne the sunlit realms. Ifn the ruling bodies of a land prove querulous and recalcitrante in accepting our blessinges, remembere that it is notte these foolishe kings and wytches, butte the elements and world, who are your true enemie. Air, Earth, and Water- all seek to expel our SOULS from our bodies, and reclaim our crude materiel bodies to their cold grasps. The ignorance of men may be rectified in time(dubious), butte the enmitie of the elementes is eternal and unrelenting, and to denie deathe, one must assert that LYFE and LIGHTE, the FYRE of the SOUL, is eternallie dominant over the elementes! (again, 3rd-sun scholar, he had never even heard of the purging flame of riikhus)

Before ye proceed, I would firstlie recommende seeking out the Haibane Yazata (he means a Vulch. Bird-person, endemic to Saresare) for though they are filthie and loathesome of aspect, they are mortal psychopomps entrusted with a deep empathie for the soul, and can teach ye muche of calling forth the spirits of the deceased, and perhaps most importantlie, of putting them back to rest. Do notte call up what ye can not putte down....  
Chapter One- Missing Parts
Ye have doubtless hearde of mightie menne and womenne fighting battles after taking fatal wounds, and the simple reasonne for this is that a bodie is merelie a vessel, the lantern holding the lyghte of the soul. A strong soul need not leave its bodie if it can endure painne and impairment. I examine the following issues with missing organs, butte advise ye, my student across time, to use bodies that died peacefullie(Ironic)(irrelevant) and to follow these instructional sketchings to inform ye barber-surgery and confirm all organs are present before proceeding.

1.  The Brainne- This soft cushionne exists so our fierie souls might be comfortable and dreaming in our crude bodies of fartinge mudde. With no brainne, a bodie will be discomfited and confused, unable to differentiate between things within the world. Bodies with no brainnes are suitable onlie for mindless-seeming slaves to obey magickal commandes to the lettere, or as hosts for souls that ye fear would be too powerful to release into the world with a full bodie. (a truly powerful soul has no need for a body at all, but they may want one badly. my queen will have a proper one, soon enough...)The better the brainne, the better the feeling and control of the bodie, and so a certain lust for brainnes may manifeste in undead with withered or damaged brainnes, out of agonizinge desire to heal themselves, not maliciousness. Thinke well before e'er raising a Skeleton, and pay ye embalmers well!
2. The Skull- a Skull is a beacon for appropriate souls to inhabit a bodie. Ye may find yourself infusing headless corpses with the confused souls of wyrmmes of the earth, squiddes of the sea, and snailes of the both, and other boneless blasphemies if ye are luckie, and if unluckie, ye may call forth the dead of the First and Forgotten Sun, the nameless nightmare dreamers of whom i wille not speak(in this text at least)(alluding to later work, Nameless Cults)
3. The Heart, And The Bloode- The power of a bodie resides in the heart and the bloode, and dry bones lacking either will be of limited strength. Rotten bodies and those chopped and hewnwill likewise be of limited power, relying on strength of spirit. A bled bull inhabited by a standard spirit will be of little use as a plow animalle, while a childe's dry bones inhabited by a mightie warrior of ages past will have the strength of ten menne. (small bodies enable flight with a sufficiently strong soul. stitched giants tend to be unable to so much as twitch. souls spontaneously generate and incubate within bodies, however, allowing for artificially gestated souls to be matched to special projects.) (Vampirism of the first-order is a curse that affects the soul itself, second-degree vampirism is the disease spirit offspring of a first-order vampire attaching themselves to living hosts.)
   
4. Liver- Thinke of the liver as a prism for the soul, amplifying desire in the basest senses. Love, hunger, fear... A bodie with no liver is a colde thinge, alienated from humanne desires, and driven onlie by ideologie and logick. (Not necessarily a bad thing for a minion) Alves do notte have livers so do not fret if ye cannot find one. (Wrong, Alves DO have withered vestigial lily livers, as do Elves. It's Snakemen who don't have them at all.)
5. Stomach And Viscera- The lacke of guts allows for spirit-flight more easilie, butte the cold earth, even a sprinkling of sand, will oppress passage of a bodie without them, explaining the popularitie of subterranean graves even in lands where the skull-moon does notte go. Beware the so-called 'purifying saltes' that will strike the gutless bodies like an onager-stone (Feels more like slingstones, I'd say)
   
6. Bladder- A parallel of the guts, butte for water. A bodie with no bladder may not resist the flow of water, making rain paralyzing and even streams impassable without a bridge. The ocean will devour bodies without bladders in a flash! (not so bad in darkness and deep, deep ocean. Unfortunately, there are aquatic grues. Sunken necropoli are rarely worth effort)
7. Lungs- A parallel of the guts and bladder, butte for air. The wind itself will be a bodies' enemie, a thousand invisible daggers on everie breeze, and everie incense burner an impassable wall! (M'shesh breathes the Black Wind and is my personally recommended intermediary)(incense aside, wind is manageable assuming you wear clothes, but this was before the covenant of lightning. Day clouds=almost as bad as sunlight these ages. If your minions start falling apart for no reason, check the lungs)
   

Chapter Two- Species And Souls

1. Humannes-It is important to knowe the culture of a soul, so to avoid offense and reach agreements...(Forget all this, see Appendix B, for 'Boozehound Brigands' whose souls will serve perfectly well in most situations, provided their liver is intact enough to get sozzled and you can understand some archaic Common)
2. Dwarves- I have notte met many of the stubborne folk of stone, butte their own necromantic artes are based on ancestral bloodlines and ornate crypts where the dead remain vigilant, to one day defende the living in a time of ultimate peril. It speakes to their fortitude that their dead can cling to such wounded bodies for so longe... as suche, I would not seek to raise a Dworf for fear of the obstinate ideologie and prior obligations sure to rise up...(induced vampirism excellent at altering priorities. Bizarre inorganic dietary options emerge) (Sounds like Sarkomand accidentally recreated nascent Svarts, though in a mineral-deprived, feral state.)
3. Alves- While one may raise the Bodie of an Alf with a different soul(initial experimentation with soulless, elf-homunculi resulted in the occasional spontaneous possession of the bodies by hyperbolically competent alves when the iron moon passed by. security risk, all elf-clones destroyed.), the Alf-soul will likelie alreadie be departed to a Lunar Mirror and rejoining the circle of lyfe in a new bodie. Alves are an enlightened people who do not mistake the container for the content, and are most tolerant of the so-called 'undeade' so longe as they are not gruesome and abhorrent to their sensitive ears (this is not true of Elves these days, and if it is true you're probably dealing with a post-collapse Alf who should be slain and their dark-stained soul sent back to the Iron Moon.)
4. Haibane Yazata(vulch)-The spirits of the sacrede yazata are very strong, but they scavenge lowlie bodies on their own should they choose to return to lyfe, and compelling them to take a bodie they do not consider abandoned is follie. I found this out the harde way when my instructor, Nasir, took an Arrow to the Gut and slowlie perished despite my offers of assistance, and I hope that his lessons are expressed in this booke...(Ignoring this lengthy eulogy, know that the vulch can set to rest undead with their humming and singing, but not Skull-Moon undead. Also know that the Church of the Bell Exorcist is derived from their songs, and their instruments are both of great use to necromancers, and of terrible danger to the undead.)
5. Ningen- A race of gentle and fishie giants of the sea, their spirits flow like water back to the sea upon deathe, and are most difficulte to call back from the depths, and the sea, being of salt and water and a great profusion of lyfe, is most inhospitable to the long-term condition of the bodie. As such I was unable to restore the fallen princesse of the Ningen despite my best efforts, and have notte heard from the sea-folk again since my unfortunate failure, and so my knowledge is most limited on this subject.
6. Snakes- The great mother of serpents Yg, a friendlie(HA!) black-haired priestess of whom helped editte this booke into the commone tongue, of course discovered necromancie and many other wonders beside in those forgotton Ages, butte has kept their secrets within her libraries and amonge the snakepeoples and their ancient crypts that survived the Age of Dragonnes. Suffice it to say that you should notte meddle with the affairs of serpents, (HA!) butte Dragonnes are fair game in the eyes of Yg. Beware that dragon souls are most unreasonable, and their bodies are large and unwieldie for other Spirits to use, butte rewarding if a suitable match can be found.
7. Beasts- When raising the spirits of beasts, carnivores for savagerie and domestic spirits for obedience are -(Stop reading his ramblings, use queen bee souls!) (Unless you're really into making your minions double as literal honeypots, when it comes to bugs, ant souls are the ideal mix of unthinking obedience and natural cooperation. Don't use Dogs unless you're Yuban, but cat-souls are good if you want a natural predator that you don't have to pay much attention to. Bird souls too, oddly enough.)
8. Plants- It is relativelie easie to raise a plant into a state of preserved stasis, as seen in the eternal forests of the alves, butte nearlie impossible to restore one to any semblance of lyfe. They are too close to the cycle of elementes and the Sun for their souls to be of great use, and a humanne soul within a tree will have greate difficultie moving such heavy limbs. (Also, while they're great to pillage for stashed corpses, do not ever bring undead close to a grave-tree. Those things are near elementals in terms of their hatred for undead) 

• Ghouls- Ghoul Fever is a fundamentally elemental process- life consuming life, as life is wont to do, but only ever consuming and assimilating, not reproducing. Ghouls maintain their organs by devouring the dead, and as such are not found in violation of the elemental covenant. I think, carefully managed, that Ghouls will be the perfect servants for the west fortress, and further proof of how far I have exceeded Abdul's understanding of the opposition of elements to the undead. Also works on Dogs- the Jackal God is displeased, but powerless to oppose me.
• goblins, ogres, and other alfspawn- highly morphogenic bodies proved useful in biomancy, but nearly useless for necromancy, as their souls were suggestions at best, vestigial, embryonic things. I could have taken the time to name them, but compliance was low. all were terminated after security risks grew too high. alf biomancy and abdul's necromancy are increasingly useless in my true task of freeing my queen from this accursed tree and into one of these dozens of bodies that so resemble her
• Blight Fungus(?)- A wonderfully horrid crossbreed between undead fungus, darkness, and disease spirits led to the creation of a virulent life-mimicking corruption that spread via air and contact, and reacted very positively to necromantic energies (and poorly to flame and salt). I suspect all fungus may be a First-Sun life-form, explaining how lightly death touches it. Souls in infected bodies quickly lost morale, sanity, and finally their grip on the mortal realm entirely as their host bodies decayed into festering masses. A side effect arising from second-stage decay of blight itself results in airborne ghul-fever and the subsequent consumption of the infected- an immune response from the elemental covenant, I expect, and a damper on its spread. Though the City of Bells seems unfit for further experimentation, I have met with xxxx-xx-xxxxx who in turn has communed with a being of outer darkness xxxx for further alteration of the stuff. The neighboring desert country and the disgruntled 'Circle of Aldha' therein seem very promising for further collaborative research. 

Chapter Three- On the Dead of the Skull Moon
I belief we whomst've'd necromanced are so reviled for the superficiale resemblence of our art to that of the dread Skull Moon, and its hideous beyeings thereof. While it is true that the soul of a locust within the bodie of a manne, afflicted with confusion, pain, and unnatural hunger, may be a disturbing sight, it is still a living soul within a natural bodie. Butte the 'souls,' such as they are, of the Skull Moon Dead are all extensions of a singular idiot will that seeks to devour all goode sunlit lyfe, and devour our're warm souls to adde to the the pallid glow of the stonie bones of that fell moon. The necromancer reshuffles the cards dealt by lyfe, butte the moon is unlyfe itself! The difference could notte be more clear...

skull-dead- Looking down on the dry city of annu nki, I sometimes am at a loss as to how to continue my work, and I merely note the dead and the dehydrated in hopes of inspiration and a superior catalogue to Aadul's meagre bestiary- the slaughter and progressive stages of undeath I witnessed from the slaughtered brigands who had the temerity to seek shelter at my gates...
day 1-crawling claws, flying heads, gutsnakes, crawlers, skinkites, muscle slugs, skulletons. weak, easily dispatched pieces of the whole. a grotesque necessity of making do with bits and pieces of entire bodies, an emphasis on stealth and assassination. under the light of skull, dismemberment is recruitment.
day 2-drowned, hangmen, butchers, bloatfloats, zoonbies. upper levels of cathedral sealed and warded against fliers with both strength and thumbs, wells sealed to prevent amphibious entrance. the dead are starting to show task-specialization.
day 3-tomb-bursters, plaguehosts, gravemoles, maggoteers. noise and stench absolutely grotesque. the stage is set to pillage the locked-away dead as well as the living now, and poison the land, barren though it be. i have no fear of conspiring disease spirits.
day 4-the winter moon is come, a brief conjunction, skull ascendant. unfrozen, rot oozes, redbogs. decay, frost, the dead raising the dead. i sent forth my own organ-takers and crypt wights, all lost despite cloud cover. The very soil and snow crawl with animated blood and unidentifiable flesh sloughs that extinguish burning oil due to sheer mass- thank my queen for the tree's desiccating roots that destroy these liquid threats.
day 5-devouring cages, coffin-crawlers, skin-flayers, swallowers, red pythons. amalgamation of yesterday's crude masses into singular forms, the accoutrements of crypts repurposed into war machines. my acids are distilled, and poured down the walls en masse. the moonspawn smoke and wither to nothing, but they have no self-preservation and press the accursed stone of the cathedral itself.
day 6- dust wraiths, hair-horrors, smoking ones. even my strongest countermeasures begin failing, as beings reduced to ash and dust simply refuse to stay dead in the glaring light of the will of skull. every gate warded with a hundred knives, and my failed dolls sent out as sacrificial lambs, though they join the horde themselves. even with their twisted forms, they still count as human for the reanimation process. 
day 7-the taker of skulls- gigantic amalgamate skeleton with a hundred skulls & arms 20 feet long with 5 hands on each end. I lured it into the crypts and the roots of the immortal tree that holds my queen prisoner showed the impromptu avatar that without the light of skull it was nothing but bones to be scattered and buried. the sun finally comes and the skull moon flees.

Chapter 4- The Jealous Elementes
The humanne bodie is composed of  a balance of air, water, and earth, with sunlyghte composing the animating lyghte of the soul. While a soul can impose masterie over these elementes, once deathe has occured, the elementes will seek to reclaim the bodie via the forces of decay, and in some cases, via brutishe calamitie of lyghtning, earthquake, tornado, volcano, flood, and so on. It is told to me that these elementals are somehow in service to the sun, and that the dead are in violation of some pact, butte how could this be, when the sun is merely a great lyght wrought of iron and magick and set in the sky by Alves and Dwarves, which is predated by far by the elementes?
That aside, the division of elementes into sunlit and dark, anthropomorphic or formless, is of greate interest to me and I would lyke to return to the subject(he never does, but the academy library on heleologos has various excellent works on the subject of elementals both shadowed and sunlit)  in its own right beyond these simple charms, which should be performed for all bodies set to be raised.
The Warding of Sky-Obtain some pan-pipes, and perform the following piece(a reversed vulch-lullaby) to communicate to the air that the bodie is not dead. Convincing the animated bodie to breathe will aid greatlie in the longevetie of this ward. (speed of the piece should vary based on ambient wind speed.) (Any instrument using breath will do, including singing of sufficient quality) 
The Warding of Sea- Next, or perhaps during the warding of sky, the bodie should be washed thoroughly, and given to drink an elixir of wine, bloode(preferably of a live enemy), and spit(preferably of a live lover), to convince the elemente of water that the bodie is still alive and engaging in drinking, fighting, and loving.
The Warding of Stone-Upon the leg and toe-bones, certain runes should be scrimshawed, with minimal rending of the flesh to access the bones. The runes Stability and Balance aid greatlie in giving a bodie a proper walk, as opposed to an unsightlie shuffle, and a drum should be beaten as the bodie is gifted with a new soul, to beat the cadence of living movement that the bodie should learn as quicklie as possible, and convince the grim and listening earth that the footsteps uponne it are that of a living being, full of vigor and lyfe.
(such trifling wards are of no matter if one commands the elements as easily as the dead, of course)

Appendix A- Undead Categorizations- Naturally, the painless, faithful, and pacifistic undead of M'shesh are not listed here
Skeleton- Barely cognizant due to lacking a brain, but possessed of an indomitable will that refuses to abandon even such a terrible body.
Zombie- Not much better than a skeleton, but stronger, and able to move in dead silence. Angry cat spirits account for the stealth

Ghoul- All consuming hunger for flesh, a paralyzing touch, sane when well fed, bestial otherwise. Would be the perfect soldiers were it not for their distractible nature and corpse-obsession. Dogs extremely dangerous when infected. A grey area between the living and the dead.

White One(long since bastardized to wight)-Similar to a zombie, but death-pale, ice-cold, better preserved and so capable of rational thought. Their soul is too powerful to be driven out save by weapons that can strike the soul directly, and their touch is the touch of a soul trying to devour another soul. Such power! Such force of will! 
Shadows- Reflections, barely alive.Not sure if actually derived from living things or just stupid simulacra that convinced themselves they deserved to be real. (could this be an account of successfully reanimated goblin-kin?)
Wrath(long since bastardized to wraith)-An imprint of incredible ill-will. Not the soul of a person, but an impression of hate, not enough to live on its own, but enough to kill and try to claw its way into full life. I think my retainer Oza casts one of these as her shadow naturally, ha ha!
Ghosts, Spirits, Etc- This is the full soul, of course. As a full soul, it can take bodies for itself. What terrible geas binds the soul to the world even after the body and all else is long gone? That won't happen to me. For I will never die!
Mummy- Somehow related to whatever went wrong in that temple-town of M'shesh, these shambling brutes are helped along by a bound disease spirit aiding their strength. Really, not much more than a dirty, spice-scented zombie. Buried the lot of them under the sand-moon.
Vampires- The curses involved are too elaborate to expound upon in a charity appendix in someone elses book, but a proper viewpoint sees eternal life and a bamboozlement of vengeful elementals as a blessing, not a curse, no matter how M'shesh wails at the thought of her dead devouring the living. A vampire who is depressive and not exuberant is defective.


Appendix B-  Boozehound Brigands
Ruznur Zcun- Mountain bandit of a bygone age who graffiti'd his name in a cave wall. Limited familiarity with modern accoutrements and believes alcohol to be a magic spell. Do not mistake this ignorance for stupidity. My go-to big game hunter.
Admiral Torgrin- Much happier if promised a ship. Allowing him to call forth his own damned crew will inevitably result in a mutiny, but setting him in charge of any other crew results in faster mutinies. Understands dwarvish Boompowder, piracy/privateering, and naval strategy.

Scutty Pyotyr- Vint-Savoth bandit and ex-werewolf. Good at controlling dead with carnivore animal souls. Doesn't mind animal bodies. Will probably escape into the wilderness sooner or later, more effort than it's worth to keep around once he gets wanderlusty.

Tecs Vulsus- Mercian Riikhite- will do any task so long as you twist it into being a holy crusade against heretics and the second coming of the 4th sun. Treats cognitive dissonance with alcohol. Recommendation- Pretend to be a Mokkhus Cleric, ie, somber, lawful, insistent he not stay too long in the living world(and discover, for instance, that Riikhus is dead and Mokkhus has been 'missing' for 200 years)

Failures of Nalil- Moonland berserkers who were not chosen for demonic ascension by their damned and blasted Carnage Moon, and are waiting for a second chance, which you can falsely promise. By now all the names I knew are devoured by their moon, but if you find one name, you should be able to find many more from that one, and simply turn them loose to cause murder and mayhem.

Butler Jeeves- Alf-raised fellow of impeccable service, even when utterly soused. Knows a variety of dead folk who have no outstanding engagements and will serve in a domestic sense without much complaint, due to their servile upbringings and alcoholic inclinations.

As a parting note- always remember that though society spurns our art, you are never alone. We dead masters of bygone times are just a ritual away, and all too willing to return and share our wisdom with neophytes beginning their journeys.

Castle Nowhere & Other Game Invites

So, if you read this blog you might have gotten a vague notion of how my games go. But perhaps you wanted to experience the content first hand, in the new campaign that will start up soon™
Like, probably within the 2-weeks to a month range. Not that there's a deadline for showing up to check things out, but as a quick rundown of how I run games

• West Marches Style- Games happen when players come together to schedule one and I am available, no set times, no set groups, no obligations to uphold, just play if you can and don't if you can't.  Playing catch, not joining a baseball team. You can just show up to like, read old campaign notes and session logs and then leave I ain't even care
• That said I am in rocky mountain timezone and get up and stay up late so that does put some limitations on when games that I run can be. Games tend to be in the 3-6+ hour range, though arriving or leaving late/early is no problemo 
• Text-only, on Roll20, with a supporting discord channel that's mostly for scheduling, planning, and OOC banter. The discord channel is what the link to the right goes to, and from there you can find pinned roll20 join links and so on
• I could probably do a voice channel, but voice would always have ta be the secondary thing to text on account of needing to be accessible for the deaf, mute, and room-mate afflicted.
  
• As some interest was expressed in PbP by some players, there may be a play-by-post channel for those unable to participate in any live text sessions even accounting for.

More details on this campaign specifically

• Game will be in BFRPG, but I like things from the GLOG and Into The Odd and The Nightmares Underneath and pretty much have the 1e AD&D books open in front of me every session so, y'know, it's not quite 'BFRPG' and more a general haze of osr and blogosphere sentiment in which content from anywhere can be dropped in without much issue
• Game is set in the Moonlands, in a hamlet around a time-looped megadungeon, the estate of the titular Castle Nowhere. It will be very dungeon-heavy initially because that's where all the prep has gone to, but hexcrawling is naturally on the menu for a change of pace for those wanting a break from the Castle Nowhere estate, and the Castle Nowhere estate IS full of nobles so you can naturally expect quite a bit of politicking to naturally come about if you engage with that. The Moonlands are a bit alien compared to standard fantasy due to the lack of seasons and day/night cycles but no homework is required, and I have no objections to continuing the campaign past the initial main focus of Castle Nowhere to exploration of the rest of the setting should this campaign prove to be the one that stretches on into infinity instead of reaching a natural conclusion (or a sad, whimpering petering out)
• Tonally, thematically, etc, this has elements of the Gardens of Ynn and Castle Gargantua(many thanks to the indubitably tasteful and noble-spirited individual who tipped me patreon monies so that I could purchase some fun products to spice things up)mashed into a procedurally generated megadungeon with themes adjacent to 'Gormenghast' and 'Enter The Gungeon' and 'Undertale' but filtered through my brain and as such probably pointless to even mention. But then there are my own setpieces that will recur in each procedurally generated iteration of Castle Nowhere, and side-levels which are not procedurally generated, to provide direction and structure to add some anchoring structures to the sea of unpredictability. 

So yeh. There are at least 2ish newcomers and 4ish old guard currently, which is certainly a functional party-and-a-half, but definitely smaller than what's required for the west-marches rotating roster I seek, so a couple of occasional guest stars, semi-regulars, or rabidly obsessed lunatics could really kick things up a notch on account of how people have different schedules.

Alice But With Fixed Font Thanks Skerples

In preparation for my upcoming Castle Nowhere campaign, which I shall certainly get around to putting up a proper come-one come-all advertisement for, one of these days, in my neverending quest to get a properly populous west-marches style player pool going, I needed the lotfp Alice class to serve as the counterbalance to the Gothic Villain class but I decided it also needed a sprinkling of the noncombatant

and also some tinkering to get rid of the boring entries. If I'm rolling on a crazy d100 table I don't want +1 to stats to show up. Stats don't matter!

The Alice or Alistair or Fool is an individual haunted by strange circumstance, or perhaps, is an entity that itself haunts strange circumstance. They might be bastard offspring of the gambling chaos god T'liki, or nascent Sorcerers whose inner reality warping light acts subconsciously, or people whose souls have gotten quite dark indeed (dark as in <three pages of oc donut steel worldbuilding lore redacted> dark, not 'bad' dark).


On a meta-level, they are a good choice for players who are mainly playing to react to weird nonsense and play more peacefully rather than assume tactical battle superiority. Very 'journey not the destination' sort of class. They are also fairly chaotic, without being disruptive as say, some exploding wild-magic sorcerer (no hate on my sorcerer player mind you I'm just saying Otto, you DID explode. Twice.)

THE ALICE

For purposes of HP and saves and XP treat as Thief. The thief with d4 hp, mind you.

Exasperation

In times of unusual stress Alices may become Exasperated. This Exasperation causes fate to take notice of the Alice, and then to aid her. The Alice says or thinks something like "Oh I can't conceive how I ever fell into this deplorable circumstance!" or "We are indeed doomed and the rats will gnaw our eyes."

Practically speaking, an Alice may express Exasperation once every real-time game hour. In my slow-ass text games that's like 2d3 times a session which seems aite. When this happens roll the dice.


At 1-3rd level roll 1d4, at 4-5th level roll 1d6, at 6-7th level roll 1d8, at 8-9th roll 1d10, at 10th level and higher roll 1d12:

1.     A secret door is revealed where none had previously been detected. If the GM has made no provision for a secret door, it leads to the nearest unexplored area.
2.     The Alice realizes she has something in her pack, her hair, or otherwise secreted about her person. The object can be anything non-magical and generic (a key, not the key) that exists in the setting and that is small enough that the Alice could reasonably have it hidden it in her current condition or smaller than a breadbox, whichever dimensions are smaller at the time. The Alice may choose what this is.
3.     An ordinary animal--cat sized or smaller--appears. The Alice cannot directly control it but it will not under any circumstances hurt the Alice.
4.     A fact about the situation at hand occurs to the Alice--a piece of local or monster lore, perhaps something she read or was once told in a parlor or a lesson or in a kitchen.
5.     Someone of the Alice's choice falls down. (Line of sight.)
6.     The weather in the immediate area changes in a way decided by the Alice--the change is general and may not be targeted (no aimed lighting bolts or gusts of wind).
7.     A nearby creature is charmed by the Alice for an hour. (Line of sight.)
8.     An inorganic device or object of the Alice's choice breaks. (Line of sight.)
9.     Something not ordinarily able to talk (GM's choice) begins to speak to the Alice.
10.     Creatures present completely forget the Alice is there for as long as the Alice keeps making saves vs spell.
11.     Someone is sent to fetch the Alice out of her current predicament. If there is an obvious candidate from among the local NPCs (giant eagles, a friendly knight...), that's who it is. If there isn't, then: hey GM, time to make up a weirdo. The NPC does not automatically have the ability to extricate the Alice from the situation, s/he merely appears as close as is plausible
12.     Someone or something of the Alice's choice begins to shrink at 1 foot per round down to playing-card size. (Line of sight.)

At first level and every time you level up, roll twice on the table below. What happens if you roll a thing twice (consecutively or otherwise) is also explained.
The commonest 0-70 results are the Noncombatant class abilities sans my least favorite one, and this horrid hybrid class is designed to pick up most or all of the noncombatant abilities sooner rather than later. Once you have all the Noncombatant abilities, you can pick up an individual Thief ability like Pick Locks instead if you keep rolling those results.



    01-08 You are really good at resolving situations without violence. As long as no bloodshed has yet taken place, you get a +1 bonus to all reaction rolls as long as you are the one doing the talking. This stacks with any bonus you may get from a high Charisma score.  If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70

    09-16 Your noncombatant status is obvious to everyone, and enemies won't treat you as a threat unless you give them reason to view you as one. For as long as you are cowering, hiding, running away, etc, all enemies will always ignore you until all your more threatening comrades are dealt with, and will not use lethal force against you unless they have a strong reason to leave no survivors. Once they see you inflict real damage on someone, this no longer applies. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    17-25 Because they don't take you seriously as a threat, enemies won't bother to defend themselves properly against you unless you give them reason to do so. If you attack an enemy who is currently ignoring you, or who is fighting you but has not yet been given any reason to view you as a real threat, you get +4 to-hit and inflict double damage, as a Sneak Attack. For as long as these attacks keep missing, enemies will continue to not take you seriously (although they will try to stop you attacking them, in a low-priority sort of way), but once one of your attacks actually hits and does damage then this bonus no longer applies. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    26-34   You are fantastic at knocking out unwary enemies by whacking them on the head with blunt objects. Any time you are able to sneak up behind someone, either because they don't know you're there or because they're ignoring you, you can try to whack them on the head with a table leg, rock, vase, etc. Make a to-hit roll (with your +4 bonus, if appropriate): if it hits, your victim must make a FORT save or be knocked out cold for 1d6 rounds. (Enemies in helmets get a +4 bonus to this save, and enemies without heads or brains are, of course, immune.) Once enemies have seen you do this, they will start to take you seriously as a threat, so this ability will usually only be usable once per combat. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    35-43   You have an almost supernatural level of luck when it comes to dodging and ducking things. Once per day per level, you may declare that a single attack automatically misses you, or that you have automatically passed a single REF save. You may make this declaration after the to-hit or saving throw, turning a hit into a miss, but not after damage has been rolled. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    44-52   Any time a ranged attack would take you to Zero HP or below, any other nearby PC may elect to take the hit instead by yelling 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' and jumping in the way of the bullet / arrow / whatever. They take the same damage you would have done. This can only occur once per encounter. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    53-61   You are surprisingly adept at sneaking around. For as long as there are things to hide behind, you can sneak from place to place without being spotted except under the most extreme circumstances. People looking for you will never find you unless they have the time and opportunity to exhaustively search the location you are hiding in. If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70
    
    62-70   Any time you surrender to your enemies, they will always tie you up and take you prisoner unless they have a very strong reason for doing otherwise. You will always be tied up in such a way that you will be able to wriggle your way free in 1d6 hours, and your captors will never notice the looseness of your bonds until it is too late. If you are subsequently recaptured by the same group of enemies, however, they will treat you in the same way as anyone else.  If you reroll this, pick another ability from the 0-70

    71 You're very perceptive, if nothing else. For each combat round you spend just watching someone (i.e. you're not doing anything except maybe moving and you are not being attacked yourself) you get +d10 to hit and +d10 to damage or +d10 to any attempt to trip, grab, or otherwise mess with the target when you finally do decide to attack. This only works on targets that are engaged in combat while they are being observed. The ability can only be used once per fight on anyone smart enough to notice what you're doing. Also: only works on things with organs (like, not on oozes). Re-rolling this raises the die to d12 then d20. After that you start getting 2d10 then 2d12 then 2d20 etc.

    72 Alice liked pies, although sometimes people did not want her to have them. Add your level to any attempt to locate any foodstuff of any kind. Re-rolling this this just adds +1 more up to a maximum of 10. After that the bonus applies to any organic material. After that it's a wasted roll.

    73 She closed her eyes and said the words as she'd been taught... You have learned one magic-user spell. It functions as if cast by a 15th level wizard or your level whichever is higher. Determine the spell randomly (d8 for level). It works once, that's it.

    74 Oh, I do so apologize... You can super-easily trip any basically human-sized creature that is otherwise engaged with someone or something else on a successful roll-under dex d20 roll. This only works once per fight unless the enemy is mindless like zombies or for some reason can't see you pull off this tactic. Re-rolling this result means the trip does damage: d4, then d6, then d8 etc.

    75 Her aunt had mentioned them ... You are cousin or niece or otherwise secondhand related to an aristocratic NPC you meet. Additional relations per reroll.

    76 All that hiding in the dumbwaiter has finally paid off. You know a secret. One of two kinds of secret, to be precise: either a piece of useful lore about a legendary treasure or magic item that you encounter or an embarrassing fact about an NPC. Mechanically: once per session you may astound your party's condescending wizard by pulling this lore or rumor out of your petticoat or pantaloon by making a successful roll-under int check. If you fail, screw it, you can't do it this session. Re-rolling this means you try for this twice per session, then 3 times, etc

    77 It seemed nearly everything was dangerous if handled improperly. You've become very skilled with improvised weapons--they do one die category larger than they should If you garotte someone they automatically lose a turn on a successful hit, if you drop caltrops or marbles and someone with two legs steps on them they will automatically fall down (at least the first time). Re-rolling this result adds damage to any of these +2, +4, +6 , etc

    78 It was very shiny and stuck out like a soup spoon... On a successful melee hit, you may immediately  grab an item (other than the target's weapon) off a target. This won't work twice on anyone above zombie-intelligence who sees it. Re-rolling this result means you get a bonus to hit if you're just grabbing things, +2, +4, +6, etc.

    79 “But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. You may either cause insanity, or cure it, in a single individual, once. Insanity will be determined randomly from the luridly inaccurate tables of the AD&D DMG. Rerolling gives you extra uses, naturally.

    80 Alice then did something quite astonishing... You are surprising. +(entire charisma score) to hit with any suddenly improvised weapon the first time you strike against any intelligent foe (who knew what you could do with a gingerbread man?) and add your whole charisma score to the damage. This trick only works once per fight. Re-rolling this adds +2, then +3, then +4 to the damage, etc.

    81 The blue one certainly did make you taller, of that Alice was sure... Gain a 1-in-6 chance to identify Potions and Drugs on sight. Gain knowledge of a Potion Recipe upon rerolls.

    82 She could be very charming when she needed to be. Your silver tongue ensures someone of ordinary intelligence you can talk to will pretty much automatically believe one lie you tell per day. If you re-roll this result, extra lies per day.

    83 "It really was curious," she thought--"How many times could this kind of thing happen?" You may escape death or another equally awful fate exactly once. You must spend at least a round playing possum to build tension but....surprise, you jumped out of the way just in time! Re-rolling this means you get to do it again.

    84 She knew to curtsey at times like this, and so she did. Despite the low company you keep, you've been working on your manners. Members of the upper classes instinctively recognize you as one of their own. +1 to reaction checks when dealing with them for every time you roll this.

    85 It was so lovely, and--according to the book--it was right there. The dress made of manticoreflesh, the house full of lilacs, the magical fishgutting knife---whatever the thing that you always wanted is, it's there. 4 sessions worth of adventure away or less. Tell your GM, who then must place it.
    You must have a fair shot at it--like any other reward, but there's no guarantee you will get it. If you don't get it by the fourth session you can keep trying or let it go and roll again on this table. However if you choose to roll again and then you do get the thing somehow anyway, you lose whatever gimmick you rolled. GM think up some clever reason why.

    86 She had not known her mother's cousin very well, and decided that it was a bad thing that she had died...You have been willed 5000 units of the local currency (GP? SP? Kroner?) worth of random mundane (nonmagical) objects. Here's how it works: you have exactly ten seconds real time to say what you bought. You now have all that stuff, assuming it adds up to less than 5000gp. You do not get xp for this treasure.

    87 They kept talking as though Alice was a rhododendron in a pot. Add +1 to enemy chance to be surprised each time you roll this.

    88 She knew from school what the word meant, but did not know if it was rude or not. Choose a new language to read and speak.

    89 Alice quite liked drawing, and had an impressive box of crayons at home. You are adept at forgery.  It's a your Int vs. their Wis roll, assuming you have access to about 40 gp worth of stuff or the kind of materials you'd find in a civilized area. Every time you re-roll this you get +2 to the check.

    90 She thought it might be a saltcellar, or at least that seemed like the right word for it. You can appraise treasure to a nontrivial and nonboring degree: you can estimate the value of nonmagical things flawlessly and if a piece of treasure is not what it seems on any level you will get an inkling. As in, you'll go "Is this not what it seems?" and the GM will go "Yeah, you've seen a lot of jade urns in your day and this is not what it seems somehow--you're not sure how." If a treasure has some unusual or hidden feature of a mechanical or physical nature you will sense that it is there on a successful Int roll. You won't know what it is, but you'll sense that it is there. You also have an extra +1 (in 6) and + int bonus (if any) chance to notice unusual features or traps in rooms if you are familiar with the culture that built the room. If you re-roll this result you are reading now, just roll again.

    91-93 She did seem to offend people (and animals) wherever she went. You've become adept at dueling. You may add your dexterity bonus instead of your strength bonus to hit with a foil, rapier or similar weapon (if the mechanics of your game already allow that, you can add it to damage). Additionally, and each time you roll this result thereafter, you get an additional +1 to successful Duel Results

    94 They all listened attentively as Alice told her tale. Though you don't find it particularly alarming, you suddenly recalled some hideous secret knowledge that you thought everybody knew.

    95 They began to throw stones, and Alice began to avoid them  +2 to reflex save or whatever saves can plausibly be derived from "jumping out of the way" in your system. If a save normally means you take half damage, you take none.

    96 She began to feel somewhat neglected. If you are attacked in a round that you spend doing nothing but dodging and your attacker misses, s/he or it will not only miss but also lose his or her next turn (if s/he or it has multiple attacks, s/he will lose a number of attacks equal to your level). This only works once on anything of better than zombie intelligence that sees it happen. If you re-roll this result, you get it twice, then three times, then four, etc.

    97-98 She tried to remember what she knew about stoats. +1 to reaction checks or charisma rolls from all ordinary animals and talking-but-otherwise-ordinary animals.

    99-00 Alice had seen so many unusual things lately, it had become usual. You've seen and done so much that nothing phases you--you are immune to insanity or confusion in any form. Even mind-altering cosmic horrors from the far edge of the cosmos are like whatever. You still do fear. Fear is good. Fear keeps you alive. Re-rolling this means any allies who can see you likewise get a bonus (+2) to their saves on account of your steady eye.

Sunset Realm Calendar

Continuing this blogs trend in posting setting-vomit likely useless to anyone but me, here's a calendar. I gotta make a dungeon or something

In the absence of continual solar presence or seasons, Moonlanders developed various ways to mark time- hunger or sleep or decay. In the age of the second sun Yg-A, dragon growth cycles marked time, but after Yg-A was trapped in the center of the earth and became the Undersun, there are more serpents than dragons and only hardcore snake-librarians of Yg stick to this method. In the age of the third sun, the Alf-Star, various magical and/or mechanical marvels were constructed, but on account of the fractious nature of Alves, each such device set a unique and competing standard. Some modern societies have unearthed and learned how to operate these devices, such as the great Clocktower of Vint. But the method that gained widespread traction among humans and human-adjacent societies was the Stellar Calendar, developed by Heliognostics in the intersolar period between the 4th and 5th sun, measured by the relative movements of certain stars in the inconstant sky. Due to the irregular motion, sometimes certain weeks simply don't happen.

Festivities by Week and a note on Seasons, Day, and Night

• Bold indicates holidays which are official and known to 99% of the human populace(unless it's endemic to a specific culture). They will happen culturally even if the stars are not quite right.
• Italic indicates the astronomical designation for times that only astronomers care much about. These weeks have a 4-in-6 chance of occurring and are otherwise skipped. Years are not fixed in length.
• The Calendar starts at the beginning of spring, and ends at the end of winter. Each season is a maximum of 13 weeks long (usually a few weeks are lost). Years, or 'Solar Patrols' can be down to less than half as long in event of truly unusual stellar motions (which the sun reacts to) but on average, a year is 40 weeks long.
• The Noonlands do not have seasons- for 3/4ths of the year, they are a roasting tropical hell of eternal day where people can barely survive(but the Noonlands are also relatively monster-free so they have their advantages), and in the final 1/4th that passes for their 'winter', the sun is merely low and small in the sky, roaming the horizon in an eternal sunset. The large island of Heleologos is the center of the Noonlands and has never known night save for intersolar periods, but apart from a few of the Beast Islands and the coast of Saresare, the Noonlands should more accurately be called the Noon Sea.
• The Daylands, most similar to the real world, do have seasons and day/night cycles, as the sun comes and goes, a circular patrol. Seasons are named for certain moons, who do not make appearances due to the constant patrol of the sun and the The Moon Lumar, who has shadowed the sun's path since time immemorial. Seasons are otherwise pretty much as you'd expect, though a few naive godlings who have never seen the moons Spring, Autumn, and Winter occasionally purport to be in command of the seasons.
• The Twilight Lands have day night cycles as the Daylands do, but are far enough away that Moons may boldly sneak into the night sky as in the Moonlands.
• The Moonlands do not have seasons or day/night cycles, and mark 'days' as 'sleeps.' The Sun is a random encounter, as is the light of the moons, and so the only guaranteed light is that of flame. They are not as cold as you might expect, for Moonlight provides warmth in the absence of the sun, though at the cost of various reality-warping effects. Humanity does not reign here, they only reside and survive in small pockets.

THE CALENDAR

1.  Adulation of the New Sun- a yearly(such as it is) festival to celebrate the coming of the 5th sun. Festivities include a massive game of tag, where the most athletic individual of the society, dressed in pale gold circlets and a white robe, defends an offering to the sun from various people symbolically dressed to represent the moons. Those chose to play moons are typically charity cases who are given community support by the chance to snag valuables, or clowns whose role is to mock the moons and reassure the populace that the sun and humanity will surely triumph over adversity. Players who wish to participate can donate treasures to the offering of value equal to their current levelx1000 to reroll saves to try to throw off curses, diseases, mutations, and other corruptions, try to beat other sun-contenders in footraces in the days leading up to the festival, or sign up as a Moon if their costume or community support is good enough, and have a chance to snag donated goodies if they can get to the offering before being tagged by the Sun.
2. Locust Found- A star lost near the end of winter typically returns. Random encounter tables are restocked by region and monster lairs and dungeons are recolonized if appropriate, and an additional encounter is added to regional encounter tables. If Locust does not return and this week is skipped, the encounter tables are left empty (assuming the players depopulated monster lairs and so on) and the lands remain safeish another year.
3. Mole Pursues Locust- Animals and animalistic monsters have morale +1 and reaction rolls +1 due to a combination of post-winter hunger and spring breeding.
4. Vigil for Riikhus- A solemn  wake observed by followers of the ancient faith of Riikhus and Mokkhus. Riikhus is dead and Mokkhus is lost(confirmed dead in 5th age), but dogma states that Mokkhus is seeking his brother in the moonlands and, as a death-god, will someday return with his fiery brother and once more enslave the errant gods into a hierarchical pantheon. Naturally, cultures who were once enslaved by the Mercian empire led by the Slave-Pantheon of Riikhus do not look fondly upon these candlelit walks, but even so, this wake is especially popular among societies who found themselves in the Moonlands in the era of the 5th sun, where in the reign of the 4th sun Riikhus they enjoyed reliable day/night cycles and no Moons. Players wishing to participate simply keep a candle lit until the sun arrives. If Riikhus ever returns, perhaps they will be rewarded, but the 4th sun has been dead and gone for 2 centuries and odds are against it.
   Places extremely opposed to this vigil(such as Yuba) sometimes call this day Townlocke's Triumph and give some small thanks to the prophet of M'shesh who threw down Riikhus(aka  the Tyrant Sun by his detractors) as well as some minor attendance to their usual gods.
5. Ice In Tiger's House- no festivities, frequently thought of as the last week where there will be snowfall in spring. If, in the a seasonal Moonlands, a Moon arrives, it will be the Winter Moon pursued by the sun shortly thereafter.
6. Tiger Swims Counterclockwise-No festivities, though astronomers use the spiral path of the star dubbed 'Tiger' to guesstimate Moon schedules with increased accuracy.
7.  House of Tiger (or Ant, if you utilize Saresaren astronomy). Random monster lairs always have maximum monsters and guaranteed treasure encountered at this time.
   
8. Locust Takes Leave From Ant's House- no festivities, but frequently an extra work shift creating impressive and fragile constructions meant to be broken next week, meaning even unskilled people can find work, and people will be up late.
9. Tribute To The Lord of Calamities- a festival in which people dress themselves as monsters and spirits, get drunk and wreck shit, and even undergo scarification and self-mutilation if they're serious. Like emo halloween but with incense and vandalism instead of candy. Especially popular among the pregnant who wish their infants to be spared mutation and disease, lords wishing their fortresses to be spared from earthquake and war, and peasants wishing their fields to be spared storms. Players who wish to participate will have plenty of opportunities to undertake anonymous mayhem and either attract or avoid the attention of Murulu, whose blessings and curses can be a little hard to tell apart either way. But they will earn XP for the value of property damage they inflict, and if they inflict enough damage to gain a level, they will automatically pass their next save vs mutation or death and dismemberment, or they can suffer some dismemberment results to gain, or remove, a mutation or curse.
   
   
10. Hawk Hunts Locust- no festivities, but known as a week of cleanup after the tribute to the Calamitous Lord. In the 6th Age, if things went too far (such as lives being lost in uncontrolled fires, or masks being used as ways to hide serious crimes), demon-hunters of the Grave-Saint of Ina may seek to identify and exact consequences upon the arsonists, vandals, and agents of mayhem, seeking to ensure no demonic cults of Murulu are gestating, and to undo the Wrath they may have incurred by allowing such destruction to take place by acting too late.
    
11. Hawk Crosses Ice-no festivities. Doubled chance of moons, monsters, and inclement weather.
12. Hawk In Roost-no festivities, preparations for Spring Effigy, add Spring Cult encounters
13. Burial of Spring- A Noon/Daylands exclusive festival on the last day of Spring(the season, not the moon that inspired the season), where an effigy of Spring is burned to make way for Summer. The effigy is traditionally made from various aromatic and psychoactive herbs, and reveling near it may open ones minds to other realms and gain secrets, spells, cooking or alchemical recipes, or at least just a really good time that may help fog the memory of past trauma (and possibly some amnesia due to brain-fug). Moonlanders will likely see this Dayland ritual as an abominable moon cult ritual at worst, and a dangerously misinformed display of idiocy at best.
    Tribute to Spring-The moonlands version, where the effigy is made of scraps of Spring-spawned jungles and monsters and burned, to ward off the Spring moon- players may participate by offering Spring monster parts to gain respect and another hit of XP. Occasionally moon cultist revelers of spring will attack these rituals, so players may also find easy work as hired security. Those seeking to illegally deal in monstrous moonspawned eggs and seeds and mosnterparts may find buyers and sellers in larger settlements as well. Whether spring is repelled or drawn to the smell of its own burning spawn is unknown, but at the very least if it does appear, so too will the sun to drive it off within 24 hours.
14.  Hangover Week- a recovery period after the Burial of Spring that even astronomers are hard pressed to remember the name of. Afterwards, remove Spring Cult encounters, and, assuming one is in the daylands, declare it to be summer.
    In the 6th Age, Mana Tachibana is typically too busy attending to the woeful cries of the over-indulged faithful (and any lingering Spring Moonspawn) to pay attention to things, and will forgive up to three points of Favor Debt and/or Wrath if this week occurs in order to reduce her workload.
    
15. Nameless Triskaidecagon Stellar Arrangement-Dicerolls of 13 result in unfortunate consequences or 'critical fails'. An unlucky week. Despite the inconstant movements of stars, astronomers always manage to see a new accursed arrangement and mark it down in the Triskaidekaridion, a smallish tome detailing each unique arrangement.
16. Ant in Tiger's House (or Tiger in Ant's house, in the Saresaren astronomical method). All random encounters will be of the 'conflict of (roll twice)' variety, and the overall 'Dungeon Level' is at +1. The wilds echo with the snorting of monsters in territorial disputes. This is thought to be the influence of Isfrix, Demon God of Hate, and is the week where Rings of Conflict may be forged.
    
17. Day of Our Lady of Gardens- the most popular day for summer weddings and proposals among people of 'good breeding.' Particularly well-formed piglets and other domestic animals are brandished about, horse races are had, studs are exchanged, etc etc. Less of a festival and more of a glorified sort of 'business as usual but look how good my business be' sort of thing. Players can typically purchase usually not-for-sale animals of exceptional pedigree on these days and marriage proposals have a +1 to reaction rolls. A much bigger deal in the lands of King's Point, Queen's Coast, and Prince's Spit, which are the home of Our Lady of Gardens but as a very low-impact event it is fairly popular everywhere there is lawful civilization.
18. House of Hawk- Encounter distance doubled during day, halved for night.
19. King/Queen/Prince's House- A past king insisted a stellar holiday be arranged for his glory. He is now forgotten and the three fractious nations of King's Point, Queen's Coast, and Prince's Spit tend to have annual bar brawls over 'whose star it is.' Reaction rolls between patriots of the same origin are at +1, and of differing, -1.
20. Alf Day- Commonly bastardized to 'Elf Day' outside the Moonlands and seen as an excuse to marvel at the inability of elves to get drunk the same way as humans. In the Moonlands and rare areas of the Daylands, flowers are gathered, floral masks are worn, and iron objects are marked by small flowers. This is meant to ward of the wrath of any Alves, Goblins, and Ogres escaped from the Iron Moon, but is not taken very seriously and is usually just a diversion to keep young children occupied and perhaps get them to help pick up flowers after any weddings from last week. It is a popular wedding time for those who missed last week.
    Players may be interested in finding actual elves during this time as hirelings or as high level mages for consults. On the herbal side, throwing around 100c to get child labor to ID and obtain a solid, if informal, overview of all flowering herbs in the region which could be of use to herbalists, alchemists, and so on. This week contains the summer solstice.
21. Exquisite Charnel House- All rolled dice get +1 due to stellar arrangements. The Carnage Moon can be seen all over the world, very high in the sky, almost the size of a star. For the bloodthirsty cult of the Sons of Nalil, this is a week where they are free of their worshipped moon, either to show softer sides, or to try to murder double-time to call it back sooner.
    6th Age Changes-
    In Revel, walking tree-city of the Gods of the Road, this is an important day for the city guard, who remember their history as Carnage Cultists who were reformed (partly) by H'sezsh, the Archon of Pity, who was herself reformed (in a way) by Jeannie.
    
    Outside of the Moonlands, the Daylands instead have Kel'A'Vak, Demon Lord of Madness and Murder, who usually has this day as a Hunt for its cultists, wherein serial killers pursue their obsessions, the Killer Killers pursue said serial killers, and schemes to murder Moons are enacted by the Blood Reapers. Typically, if casualties from the last year are too high, this will be called off to allow for rest, recovery, and evasion of authorities.
    
22. Eight Dog Days- A holiday endemic to Yuba, where prisoners are sacrificed and their hearts eaten to feed the Jackal God of Yuba, earn the cleric favor, and send the wicked back into the cycle of reincarnation (as per the Eat Heart spell). In the absence of prisoners, old horses at the end of their life are sacrificed and reincarnated instead, in memory of the lost Horse God of Yuba.
    All excess flesh is fed to dogs, though in the 6th age, the livers are sacrificed and fed to the Liver Fox, a sub-cult of the Harvest Fox. Players may find it possible to recruit Really Good Dogs as retainers during such celebrations. In the 4th age, when Yuba was suppressed and portrayed as cannibal barbarians, it is a common mistake to mix up this and Charnel House, though not one a proper astronomer would ever make.
23. Renewed Motion of Ice-A subtle motion of the Ice star in relation to others. Apprentice Astronomers able to perceive the precise day are typically promoted, no one else cares.
24. Exodus From Tiger's House- Chance of surprise in random encounters (for both sides) increased by 1.
25. Ant Stands Alone- Wandering monsters that would be surprised are instead found dead, smote by the wrath of the Sun and marked with lightning-strike damage. 
26. Farewell to the Sun-A festival of more sun-offerings, where people bid the sun best wishes as it starts to leave its position over Helelogos to swing further along the border of the Moonlands, chasing off cocky moons and providing a bit more light to the Moonlands in the coming months. People in the Noonlands give sacrifice to give the sun strength, while those in the Moonlands give sacrifice to hopefully earn the sun's favor and see more of it. Players may participate by sacrificing burnable things on the pyre, and if they sacrifice value equal to their level x1000 they may reroll their HP or one statistic. This is the last day of Summer.
27.  Time of Justice-A week-long Saresaren holiday where crimes are re-examined with an eye for either mercy or further condemnation. Even criminals with bounties on their heads are free to argue their case in court without being apprehended. Canny players may wish to scope out juicy bounties in preparation for Gazelle Pursues Lion, or work to exonerate certain criminals(such as themselves) of their sins. This is the first week of autumn.
28. Gazelle Pursues Lion- A week of notorious bounty-hunting and vigilante justice in Saresare. The most common result on encounter tables will be bounty-hunters, and the next-common result, outlaws. This week typically will not take place if a majority of criminals argue their case successfully and are pardoned, though the Saresarens will still call the Festival of Kispiritis Gazelle Pursues Lion, due to not being religiously inclined.
    Commonly mistaken as 'Lion Pursues Gazelle' by astronomers not of Saresaren education, due to it being a cultural, rather than astronomical, name.
    
    By the 6th age, the wild beast-god Zephyr, is venerated, not in Saresare, but in the wilds of Yuba, the Hinterlands, and the Beast Islands, by the sparing of captured and hunted beasts, earning favor if they are spared, and wrath if they are not.
    
29. Festival Of Kispiritis-In which offerings are made to the missing and probably dead pirate-god of the waves, at least in coastal settlements. An unmanned 'merchant ship' is loaded with offerings and then pushed out to sea, then 'attacked' by available ships and sunk. As usual, players may offer valuable to be sunk for double XP, though the very bold might think to rob the treasure-ship, though they'd be risking the wrath of the populace, actual pirates(who often happily participate in this festival) and, if rumors are to be believed, the massive Ningen of the sea who are the true recipients of this bounty. If true, players could expect the favor of the Ningen for making sizable donations...
    In some, typically smaller communities, this has been replaced by the Day of Saint Bridget, where lovers seek to gift each other the best fish they can catch and hopefully ensure their relationship will be blessed in contrast to all the ways Saint Bridget's were cursed.
    In the 6th age, Grift Kispiritis and Saint Bridget are rivals, but allied under the Golden Sun Aurum, and these rituals are combined into elaborate plays where lovers play pirates, rescuers, and prisoners aboard a ship, with occasional guest appearances by Ningen or Houthrels, depending on whether the day leans towards Grift or Bridget, and the boats are no longer sunk, but any treasures may be offered as dowries to the participants (including the fishy guests).
    
30. Annual Eclipse- The Moon of Day, Lumar, occasionally catches the sun. In the age of the 4th sun this was seen as a garment-rending heretical occurrence, but nowadays it is seen as more of a confirmation that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that the 5th sun and Lumar are still getting along well (though both entities are notoriously noncommunicative so this is hopeful speculation). However, the obscuring of the sun does allow for moon-rituals and darkness magic to run rampant in lands where it otherwise should not. People react at -1 to wizards during the eclipse, and wizards can cast and memorize spells regardless of level requirements.
31. Worm and Mole- Largely agreed to be the boringest day of autumn, especially after the pirates and wizards of the last two weeks and with the promise of skellingtons later this season. All reaction rolls from random encounters are 7.
    
    In the 6th age, this day is a holy day for the Prince of Worms, and the faithful either have a satisfyingly dull day attending to gardens in waking, then having wild dreams at night (an adventure in the dream realm can be prepared for the players) or the dullness of the day can be spiced up by having it be a day for exciting new events in ones life, like moving to a new settlement, courting lovers, etc etc, which will usually net a point of favor if the Worm Prince is invoked.
    
32. Day of the Skull- No relation to the accursed undead moon Skull, but a memento mori for humans, and a reminder that they would do well to prepare for the afterlife, lest they linger on as undead and eventually find themselves embroiled in the eternal Skeleton War in the deep earth.
    Skeleton War recruiters occasionally arrive from the deep earth to look for fresh bones, which ties in well to the Tomb Vigil if they have living relatives. Adventurers may be tempted to follow a skeleton into the veins of the earth to join the skeleton war early as a fleshbag for gold, glory, and other such weaselly notions.
33. Tomb Vigil- A sort of day of the dead where the common folk go to visit their dead ancestors and ensure that all is well. This can simply mean confirming that a corpse remains a corpse and has not been possessed by its own soul(or anything else, for that matter) or actively speaking to an undead relative and determining what, if anything, needs to be changed in the tomb to ensure the dead continue to rest in peace (or at least ensure their nonstop undead orgy-parties will stay in the tombs where they belong, ew). If anything, this is probably the day that has the least problems with the undead, for gravetenders usually spot such problems far in advance of the Tomb Vigil, and indeed part of their job is ensuring that the resting places of the dead remain restful. Players may be intrigued by the possibility to commune with the dead, hire on as assistant gravetenders to finish up last-minute undead-bashing, or try their hand at tomb-robbing where their presence among the dead will not immediately arouse the suspicions of gravetenders.
34. Ill-Omened Tiger- Wandering monsters encountered have maximum HP and personal (but not lair) treasure.
    
35. Nox Sanguinus Veritae- A 'festival' found only in Vint and Savoth, whose goffik cities lie near the grave of the Blood Moon(as of the 5th Intersolar Period), where hooded supplicants file through churches to have their blood let into chalices. Depending on the facilities available, this can diagnose diseases and moon-corruption, or simply be a hopeful bloodletting ritual to ward off such. Anonymity is a sacred part of this ritual and the priests in charge can only make generalized guesses about infection rates in the populace to determine whether or not a Hunt must be proclaimed, or if people just need to use more soap.
36. The Hunt- In most the daylands, a simple hunting competition where scoring the biggest beast nets you the biggest prize. In Vint and Savoth, a concerted effort to hunt down those who have been infected by the blood moon- from plague victims to werewolves to worse. Of course, the Hunt is sometimes used as a front to exercise political control within the cities themselves. The Hunt goes on for 1d3 weeks, culminating in the Autumn harvest, which in Vint-Savoth will likely be a more solemn affair on account of lost friends and family.
37. Locust Rebuffed By Ant- Monsters in lair always surprised/sleeping due to being bloated by preparation for hibernation and overeating.
38. Worm Flees Ice- Wandering monsters have -1 morale and only 1d4hp per HD, due to drawing the short straw when it came to finding pre-winter forage.
    
39. The Autumn Harvest-Typically a day celebrating the culmination of weeks of hard agricultural labor, followed by a night of enjoying the literal fruits of said labor. In places that venerate the minor but well-known goddess Hefon, blood feuds are either renewed or put to rest via a feast or a wedding. Adventurers typically have no place in such proceedings unless they're swearing eternal vengeance against someone, but more potato-diggers are always welcome if you care to earn a handful of silvers or at least free room and board until the harvest is over.
    Rusted Leaves- In the moonlands, there is an alternate ritual(as harvest cycles in the moonlands are madcap and irregular), similar to the tribute to spring, where an effigy of the Autumn Moon is burnt(or rather, smelted down, due to the high metal content in Autumn Moonspawned plants and monsters). The crude mass is then typically beaten into a plow or other agricultural implement which will never be used, but buried in secret. Adventurers interested in finding these moonish implements may wish to infiltrate the proceedings, and as one might expect, it is common to see the Autumn Moon make an appearance, pursued by the sun a few hours later. Whether the ritual attracted the moon, or led to it being driven away by the sun, is anyone's guess.
40. Black-as-Ice- The reasoning for this name is unknown, though its earliest confirmed use is from the reports on clockwork and gunpowder sanctions engraved by Mercian dwarves in the stone library of Stonefast Three, the now floating and broken fortress sundered by anti-gravity, in the territories of Annu Nki and Limedike. It sometimes marks the first day of winter though, and so has been fastidiously remembered.
    It has never occurred after the 5th Intersolar period, leading to some astronomical mistakes and much pondered speculation.
    
41. Stonegate-this is the week where, in the 4th age, the dwarves of Mercia decide whether their impregnable stone fortresses will remain open for another year to deal with humans, or if a large purchase of foodstuffs will be made and the dwarves will seal themselves away at least until next Stonegate. It is a time of great commerce and travel, but there is an edge of survival and politics to it. If the gates are closing, anyone with a wagon or horse can make fast money running various mercantile errands, and any bandit will likely find a plethora of ill-equipped traders to loot. If the gates are to remain open, prices of goods will likely remain more stable during winter.
42. The Black Stars Behind The Pale Stars- Named not for any stellar configuration, but for the anniversary of the Saresaren astronomer whose blasphemous writings resulted in his very name being expunged from the annals of history, who ventured too far out into the black sands to observe the writhing of the darkness of the sky in the absence of sun, moon, or stars. This reminder is a warning not to follow in their footsteps, not a recommendation. Though there is no appreciable effect in the daylands, the Moonlands will have neither sun nor moon, and Grues stalk the land. This arrangement, known as a 'Dark Phase,' can happen multiple times per year, but it is only in winter that astronomers take note.
    
43. Ice Stalks Mole- Wandering monsters do not fail morale due to losses and damage taken, fighting to the death unless truly and utterly outmatched, perhaps out of hunger. One less check per day/night, though.
    In the 6th age, this has become a festival for Cyqy'Eoy Wa-Ss, the Dancing Fear. Confronting the fearless and hungry monsters of this week is a test of ones own courage, as is daring frozen lakes by ice-dancing upon them and other deeds of courage that will bestow favor.
    
44. Allnaughts- The festival of the gambling trickster god T'liki (the name comes from the sobriquet 'all for nothing' which itself is a play on 'all or nothing'), to distract the populace from the growing gloom of the world. Valuables may be gambled away for the potential of winning similar trinkets- gold for gold, spells for spells, etc etc. Only decadent cities and very bored wilderness camps tend to partake seriously- T'liki is an unpredictable and dangerous god and vulnerable communities such as villages shun his gambling rambling ways and will at best make token offerings by playing for pitiful stakes such as old chickens and individual corn kernels while sensibly rationing for winter.
45. Lost Locust- The Locust-star, among others, becomes invisible. Nights are darker, making humans and other night-blind creatures surprised on an additional +1-in-6, and Nightmare Realms may be formed from those who die horribly (1-in-6, or 2-in-6 in Saresare)
46. World's Sunset-Typically the darkest day of the year for the Daylands, the only day of the year the island of Heliologos sees Sunset, and a day that everyone in the entire wide, wide Moonlands can expect to see at least an hour of sunlight and have any squatting moons chased away. Though no celebrations are typically in order, it is expected to wear colorful clothes on this day, and if your clothing is the most garish in the room you can expect to get +1 to reaction rolls (and -1 if you're a stick in the mud who doesn't at least don a bright handkerchief.)
    Light sources also lose 5' radiance. This is the winter solstice.
47. Vultures Feast-A Saresaren festival where food is purchased and prepared as normal, but is thrown out without being eaten, so that the Vulch, the sad, sacred vulture-folk of the desert have something to eat, while the humans fast. Vulch retainers can be recruited at this time, though the recruitment must be subtle indeed, as Vulch neither accept explicit charity nor do labor for payment.
48. Ice Clad In Furious Raiment- Monsters and weather makes reaction rolls at -1. 'Dead' encounter results are likely frozen solid.
49. Old King Winter- Monsters and weather makes reaction rolls at -2, though if surprised many monsters will be hibernating. In the moonlands, all moons rolled will be the winter moon.
50. Mole Calls Upon Worm-A week of nightly checks, wandering around cold halls wrapped in fur blankets, wielding candle, where cellars and other subterranean areas are double-checked to make sure they have not undergone dark-corruption and turned into dungeons or nightmare realms. It is diligent to check more often than this, of course, but most people never discover anything unusual save for a few items that may not have been in the cellar before, called Hrönir, and so if they bother at all this is usually the time they finally get around to it.
51. Names Written In Light Upon The Face of Darkness- Darkspawn that are found in cellars are traditionally driven out by fire and pitchfork around this time of year, or if they proved reasonable tenants, shown to dinner guests and given an official name so that they may be illuminated and join the world of daylight(or moonlight) and ordered forms. This is a ritual with origins shrouded in antiquity, and the more predominant the worship of light, be it from the sun, moons, or gods, the less common this will be, and it doesn't occur outside the Moonlands apart from, perhaps, deep in the earth or sea or sky.
52. Worm in the House of Mole- no festivities, but preparation for the Adulation of the New Sun festival. The stellar name of this week is relatively well known simply due to it being the anticipatory period of the biggest festival. It is the last week of Winter(the season, not the moon) and the entire stellar year.