Some notes on our budding cosmology.
Prospero
Description
Prospero rigid, authoritarian, commanding. Growth and nothing but growth. Prosperity gospel, endless attainment of wealth. Avarice.
Materials
Fine brocade, tailored robes, shining armourLanguage
Command, must, insist, duty, honour, justice, order, custom, traditionTraditional Alignment
LawDictums
Followers must produce wealth through action: farming, fishing, construction, applied research, preaching. Growth must be orderly, contained, predictable. Listen to your boss.Restrictions
Followers must not be too idle: leisure not encouraged. Stand against decay and oppose rapid, surprising, or unusual changes. Do not peer into the unknown, as the work of prosperity is endless.Boons
Prospero causes longer growing seasons, temperate weather, favourable rainfall. Prospero may grant control over plants, animals — even wounds and disease.Social Structures
Hierarchical, gently authoritarian. Traditional, patriarchal, conservative. Followers live in large, organized social groups.Followers' Works
Farming, logging, mining, tithing. Tamping down disorder. Followers may be asked to build churches in distant lands to preach the word of Prospero and grow the movement.Traditional Spell
18. Control PlantsRef's notes
Prospero was chosen by a lawful cleric early in the campaign, named by said player, and established as the dominant religion of a small, parochial village. The cleric died and that was that for many sessions, until the church burned as the result of a carousing table, so I felt like the deity would respond — or perhaps even more likely, a rival deity to Prospero would be pleased and impressed. So, the birth of Entropus.The party met a priest of Prospero, Tuzo, who preached the word to several heretics during the Coming of Sorg and has since taken over the plateau there. I'm not sure I described him as particularly fancy or authoritarian but going forward I'll lean further in that direction.
Entropus
Description
Entropus discord, change, renewal, decay. Change and disorder. Shakes shit up, pokes holes, takes action. Falls in and out of love.
Materials
Ragged scraps, homemade, pieced together, utilitarianLanguage
Try, experiment, wild, loose, may, perhaps, why not?Traditional Alignment
ChaosDictums
Followers could chase change and decay, the passing of the now into infinite branching futures. They may want to challenge extant structures and could, perhaps, propose replacements.Restrictions
Followers probably won't leave the world as they found it.Boons
Entropus grants unpredictable powers that may themselves be fluid. Entropus may pluck the chords of chaotic drift to shift genetic codes and make mutations.Social Structures
Loose, utilitarian, anarchic. This may shift with the wind. Followers often solo hermits or small gaggle of affiliated weirdos.Followers' Works
Pranks, graffiti, graverobbing, assassinations, revolutions, leaving nobody in charge. Followers may be asked to free creatures from cosmic prisons.Traditional Spell
80. SpellseizeRef's notes
Entropus came out of that carousing table, and my history with Dungeon Crawl Classics which taught me that cosmologies should be real, nasty, and constantly at odds. Being a deity is a zero-sum game (unless you're Neutral) so where Prospero suffered, Entropus gained. Basically formed as a chaotic force writ large, portrayed with swirling vapours and a massive enigmatic metal mask, appearing to the party in a wild dreamsky, the size of a building.He'll have another quest for the party, the Hole in the Sky. I'll bump up hit dice, maybe, or maybe just run as-is!
the Ælf-Adal Prophet / the Nightmare-God
This is drawn from the Veins of the Earth where it's mentioned pretty off-hand. I won't say much here beyond my interpretation.
Description
The Nightmare-God is brooding, occasionally fanatically cruel, a Byronic Joker. Sews fear, distrust, delusions. Hates surfacers, delights in schadenfreude. Known as the Prophet.
Materials
Rare earth filigree, light chain armour in twisted spikes, thick wax stockingsLanguage
Suffering, damage, trauma, play, joy, delight, cowardice, contemptDictums
Followers serve the whims of the Nightmare-God, dancing and dying for its pleasure. They must bring fear and succor to surfacers, per the Prophet's wishes.Restrictions
Followers must not contradict the Nightmare-God or ever have truck with Dvargir. They must never speak of the surface.Boons
The Prophet brings lithe unnatural beauty to dark, twisted landscapes. The Prophet offers night forever — dreams of blood and screams.Social Structures
Monarchy. Nightmare-God at the top, servants in various tiers below. The Ælf-Adal are on a war footing but serve the Prophet first.Followers' Works
Exotic sculpture, exquisite torture, body modifications, blood sports. The Nightmare-God will want to toy with you.Traditional Alignment
ChaosTraditional Spell
23. DisassembleRef's notes: "traditional spell"
Traditional spell isn't something I've used, but I thought it'd be a fun exercise. If a PC should become bound to one that might be a nice reward. They're from Knave, the game we've been using for most of the campaign.More to come, surely!
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