DMing Chemistry

Headtaker is a legendary steel sword made by a forgotten smith somewhere in the north, at least judging by the decoration on the hilt depicting mammoths. To most observers it looks weirdly thin and long. This means whoever made it knew what they were doing, using the superior qualities of steel to make it lighter and give it more reach than bronze or iron swords. According to legend, Headtaker was originally unenchanted until the legendary hero Bilgam used it to behead one hundred men in a single battle. Since then Headtaker thirsts for blood, and has even developed a limited capacity to communicate with its wielder, transmitting images of violence and gore when it hasn’t tasted blood for longer than a few days. It also makes it easier to chop heads off, cutting through necks easier than limbs, and seemingly being drawn to the heads and necks of enemies. Its last known appearance was when the reptilian noble Akhnet-Soo descended to the Depths of Ichairos , never to be seen again.  

Ortanar are gigantic lizardlike creatures which can grow big enough to house an entire city on their back. They have six, eight, or twelve legs, depending on their size, growing new pairs as they grow larger. Their skin starts out as green and scaly, but as they mature it becomes more and more like stone. Mature adults have backs that are indistinguishable from hilly terrain, complete with boulders and even fertile earth. Nomad tribes often settle on the backs of the larger ortanar specimens, usually trying to forge a mutually beneficial relationship with the ortanar, as angering such a beast is not a good idea if you are living on its back. The diet of the ortanar is gigantic plants, which are sadly becoming more and more rare due to the increasing desertification of most settled areas, necessitating the ortanar to travel longer and longer distances between meals. Some nomads, however have managed to manufacture special ortanar feed from various plants cultivated on the backs of t

It is said that that the goddess Aol-Nae has thousands of eyes in the sky. Unlike the Sun or the stars, she can observe the world at any time of the day, yet she cannot see anything that is obscured from the heavens by a roof, a simple tarp, or even a just the clouds. She is deaf to almost anything that is said as well. She does, however know much of history, and can give her followers the knowledge on how to construct strange magical device whose powers cannot be replicated even by the most capable sorcerers. She is also one of the few beings who know the secret of reliably manufacturing steel. Her followers are few and far between, as one needs a special artifact in their possession for her to even hear their prayers and answer. Some priests and priestesses inherit it from their mentors, and a lucky few find them in forgotten places or buy them from hapless explorers who have no idea of the power of the device they sell. In fact all of her spells and miracles come in the form of d

The Mask of Many is a wooden mask that can be secured to the head with a steel headband. It is decorated with carvings of various peoples, each individual looking markedly different. It is otherwise featureless except for the eye-holes. It is enchanted to be able to change the appearance of the user. The user can choose to take the form of a random person, or the appearance of a person they know personally, or one whose form they have previously taken using the mask. The Mask was owned by Nin-Ama, the head of the Companions of the Shell , but word on the street is that it was stolen from her, and that she is desperately scrambling to get it back back.

The Depths of Ichairos is the popular name of a cave system near the river Hapy, in the southern part of the reptilian Double Kingdom. It has a long and convoluted history, being used as a burial site, a place of worship for Underworld deities, a hideout for bandits, a sanctuary for refugees, and many more purposes besides. Parts have been enlarged, artificially collapsed, flooded, and otherwise changed for centuries, resulting in a rather hard-to-navigate and at times quite confusing maze filled with monsters, squatters, undead, and worse. I owes its name to the famous orcish traveler and playwright Ichairos, who made several expeditions down to the caverns, meticulously documented them, then disappeared and presumably died down there. His writings make references to several well-known chambers, as well as some that have since become inaccessible. Perhaps the most controversial of his claims is that there are vast vaults filled with treasure down in the depths. These supposed vaul

Often found inside or near ruins left behind by those who came before , metal men (as the name suggests) are strange humanoids made from some sort of unknown silvery metal. They speak no known language, and seem to either be controlled by a single mind, or be able to communicate with each other instantly and without words. While communication is difficult, it is not entirely hopeless, and at least some understanding of mutual neutrality can usually be established. Sometimes they are even willing to trade, though their demands are always strange, and what they offer isn’t always worth the trouble, but on rare occasions they are willing to part with strange items that have magical powers far surpassing what mortals are able to create. Metal men seem to be protecting certain places, and can become violent if one insists on going into restricted areas. They usually have other metallic creatures living alongside them, some that have wheels, but move around without anything to push or pul

Giant spiders can range from the size of a large dog to the size of a small elephant. They usually live in forests, where they can set up their webs. Since they are adapted to hunting megafauna from deer and antelopes to elephants and dinosaurs, they do not set up their webs vertically, but rather horizontally on the ground. Larger animals moving about get stuck to the sticky threads, then get entangled in more as they thrash about trying to free themselves. Some species can even run around their prey, discharging stored webbing from their abdomen, entangling their prey as they go. Despite popular belief very few species are actually venomous, most simply use their large fangs to kill their prey. In mythology giant spiders are usually associated with Pafatra, the Crafter, and some of her temples keep them as sacred animals, using their silk to weave garments or make armor. These temple spiders are also selectively bred for their silk, especially for it to take enchantments better, so

Narmor-Amon is one of the only two survivors of the Five Sorcerers of Satnak . He is a rather large reptilian , standing almost two meters tall. He usually wears a fearsome mask made from a dinosaur skull decorated with feathers. He is very muscular, and delights in every opportunity to show off this fact. His magic is that of the waters. He can summon rain, make a spring to form with a touch, and more crucially he can cause rivers to flood and huge waves to form and wash away his enemies. He used these powers to great effect during the Uprising, almost sinking the Blessing of Sem , the pride of Nashat-Ippur ’s river fleet. He has always been jealous of Nimir-Esh , and now, after his death, Narmor-Amon seeks to take his place as the foremost sorcerer in Satnak. He believes that the city needs a strong guiding hand to survive the catastrophes that have brought so many others low, and that only he has the power and the will to prevent its destruction. His dominating attitude did not

The plague of vermin is a supernatural plague, that spreads by physical contact with infected people and animals. While it’s rarely fatal for people, and is asymptomatic in animals, it can nevertheless destroy entire communities. The early symptoms are headache and nausea. After about a week the infected begins to vomit up small creatures, usually rats or locusts. The amount slowly gets larger and larger each day, until hundreds of animals are vomited out each day. These animals are non-magical, but they all carry the plague. Unless great care is taken, the animals will scatter and eventually make their way into the local foodstores, infecting the whole community and eating and/or spoiling stored food. The type of animal vomited up depends on infected, so sooner or later rats, termites, or other destructive pests will turn up. If an infected person is killed, their body will slowly swell, and after half a day or so it will burst open with vermin. The most severe outbreaks happen duri

Mykenos is the leader of the orcish mercenary group, the Two Hundred Shields of Thile. They are equipped in the traditional orcish style with a large shield and three spears, but they wear heavier armor than orc warriors usually do. Their biggest claim to fame is that they helped to stop the Invaders from sacking the city of Andereas, which almost bankrupted the city from the number of mercenary companies they employed. Mykenos herself is a veteran with a cheerful attitude and a serious competitive streak. She likes to boast about her company and downplay their allies’ contribution to their victories, yet can complain endlessly about battles lost because some other unit broke at an inappropriate moment. She takes her position as a mercenary leader very seriously, she even changed her name to sound more masculine, as orcs tend to think of war as something to be done exclusively by men. She has two sons and a daughter, none of whom are interested in the mercenary life, much to her ch

*Content warning for depression and suicide* The an-kerrak are a group of demons that specialize in fostering regrets, and driving people to suicide. Their appearance varies greatly, but they can and will turn invisible, stalking their chosen prey, slowly poisoning their thoughts with doubts, fanning the flames of their self-hatred, and making them feel miserable. In the more advanced stages of haunting they begin to talk telepathically to their victim, trying to convince them that even the things they did well were somehow flawed, that everyone secretly hates them, especially their close friends and family who only pretend to like them, and that they are better off dead. In the end the an-kerrak sits on the shoulder of the victim, literally weighing them down with their magic, ever egging them on to take their own life. Their preferred method is jumping off from high places, but hanging oneself of drowning in turbulent waters is also popular. They urge their victims to avoid ending

The Lord of Brass is one of the most feared demons in the world. In fact his ability to do harm is so great, that the gods wove new magic into the world to stop him from taking a physical form in it. Now the only way for him to influence the world is if a mortal willingly offers their body for him to inhabit. This obviously doesn’t happen often, but desperate people with nothing to lose sometimes decide to take everyone else down with them and let the Lord of Brass lose on the world. The Lord of Brass has free reign over the flesh offered to him, so technically he can look however he wants to, but usually he takes the form of a gigantic brass scorpion with a humanoid torso where the head would be. The Lord of Brass is completely immune to fire, and no weapon made from copper or any copper alloy (including bronze) can ever harm him. His gaze can turn his foes into brass statues, and his breath causes those nearby to fall ill, and later die while vomiting blood. His skin is also made

Pigs used to be a valued sacrificial animal, especially in the Ippur Empire . Their eating waste and transforming it into something usable was seen as a great miracle of the gods, and the pigs were valued for it. Nowadays many think that pigs are unworthy animals, some going even as far as to refuse to eat them. With the famines, plagues and foreign invasions going on, it is clear to everyone that something has angered the gods, and many point to the humble pig. The most popular opinion is that as people have grown more sinful and arrogant, animals that eat their waste became tainted as well, so pigs became unacceptable as a sacrifice, and offering them now insults the gods. Others say that continued domestication has robbed the noble wild boar of some innate characteristic that made it especially pleasing as a sacrifice. Yet others claim that the gods are simply bored of pork. Whatever the truth, the popularity of pigs as both a sacrificial animal and livestock has sharply declined

Umnar is an Underworld deity, ruler of the Slumbering Wastes, where primordial beasts were imprisoned long ago, forever asleep, their dreams sometimes manifesting to help or hinder the unfortunate souls who wander there. He is said to be dreaming when awake, and conscious when he’s asleep. He often speaks in riddles, or in nonsensical statements which can only make sense in a dream. He is depicted as an old man of indeterminable origins with three faces, and three eyes on each of those three faces. He also carries a gnarled staff with a bell on it, the tolling of which puts men, monsters and deities alike to sleep. His symbols are a closed eye, a bell and the jerboa. To his champions Umnar grants the ability to put people and animals to sleep, or afflict them with a quiet sort of madness, where they lose themselves in imaginary worlds. The champions might also see into the past in their dreams. While asleep they might also venture into the Underworld to speak with the spirits of th

The Golden Lion is a large man-eating lion living near the town of Niqur. It is not actually made of gold, the name is a reference to its light, yellowish mane. It cannot be permanently killed, as at the next sunrise its wounds close, poisons leave its body, its chopped off pieces reattach, and even if its body is burned, it is reconstituted from the ashes. The Lion has a large stash of gold coins and imperishable goods from the traders and tax collectors it has devoured, as well as some magical weapons and armor from would-be heroes that tried to slay it. It also keeps a small herd of cows it stole from town. It cannot speak, but it understands the local language, and is addicted to gambling. As its immortality is actually a gift from Cur-Atesh , it can be lost in a gamble, and gambling for it is probably the easiest way to kill the Lion.  Image by William Warby

The creation of self-sailing ships is a massive undertaking, consuming vast amounts of resources and requiring an exceptional command of the arcane arts. For this reason only a handful of these boats were ever made, and only by the most powerful of Sorcerer-Kings. With the coming of the Invaders most were lost or destroyed. The remaining ships by name are: The Glory of the Morning Sun, the Reptilian Pharaoh's personal vessel. It’s the largest self-driving ship to survive, with two rows of enchanted oars propelling it forward. The Blessing of Sem, a small, quick boat designed not for the seas, but for rivers. It was almost destroyed in the Satnak Uprising, and is now being repaired in Nashat-Ippur . The Flame of Atarash was the pride of the fleet of the Medenean orcs . Though it has only one row of oars, it can turn faster than any other ship, and it has a special forecastle which allows sorcerers to channel the magic of flames, even if they would otherwise be incapable of do

Sky cattle were originally made by the gods to act as their messengers and occasionally instruments of their will. Unfortunately some of them went rogue and established a breeding population in the world. They look like colossal bovines with a pair of bird wings on their back, that they can use to fly. Their heads may be humanoid or bovine. The most common coloration by far is spotless white, but black, brown and red individuals have also been observed. While sky cattle understand all languages, and can speak most of them, they usually act aloof and cagey with most people, maintaining that their divine heritage places them above mere mortals. They usually have a good relationship with most spirits , and hate demons. They live mostly in mountain ranges where their flight enables them to quickly traverse distances that would take prohibitively long for landbound animals, but sometimes they threaten or bribe mortal farmers for the use of their grazing grounds. Sky cattle have detailed

Created by an unknown sorcerer long ago, these impossibly thin cards made out of copper have captured the imaginations of many. They each have a picture engraved on them: animals, people, plants, or other things found in nature. Anyone touching them can feel the magic in them, but no-one is sure how it could be activated. The most popular theory is that they can be used to peek into the future, with multiple proposed methods that each give vague predictions that need heavy interpretation to make any sense. The seven cards depict: a tree, a king, a cat, a pterosaur, a hill, a star, and a thief. It is rumored that other cards also exist, but these claims have not yet been substantiated. The cards are currently in the possession of Imit-Unnak, a minor noble in Satnak , with no actual magical talent, but a huge wealth of knowledge about magic and enchanted items. He is currently determined to solve the puzzle of these cards, but hasn’t made much headway.

Some say that the Iron Crab was the first being created by Pafatra, Patroness of Craftsmen. Others say it predates even the creation of the world itself. Whatever the case, this gigantic metallic crustacean is incredibly ancient, and very mysterious. Standing at almost three meters high, and covered in an iron carapace, the Iron Crab is an impressive sight. It cannot speak, but it seems to understand most languages. It is also, unexplainably, an incredibly talented blacksmith. Unlike mortal smiths, it doesn’t need a forge or hammers, it can just pick up any piece of metal in its claws, and shape it however it wants. It is also willing to use this talent on behalf of mortals, if they can provide something it wants. Though negotiations are a bit difficult, many Sorcerer-Kings and legendary heroes have sought out the Crab to have items commissioned from it, for it can create many wonders of metallurgy that are beyond the ability of even the best mortal smiths. The Iron Crab is always o

All around the world one can come across huge black monoliths. They are made of a substance that most closely resembles obsidian, but is much more durable and entirely resistant to magic. Their shape varies: some are giant cubes, others are tetrahedrons or pyramids. Some seem to be cut with mathematical precision, while others look like they were hewn with primitive tools. They can be found far from each other. They are often seen as a warning, a portent of doom, so people mostly avoid settling near them. The Sorcerer-King Kesh-Eur did have one of them uprooted and moved to the central plaza of the city of Agarit, But he later died of a plague, and the townsfolk blame every single misfortune on the monolith ever since. They avoid touching it, and moving it back, or simply getting rid of it is unimaginable to them. As for the origin of these monoliths, many theories have been put forward. Some say that they are the work of demons, put up to entrap the unwary. Other think that they ar

It is one of the great and terrible truths of the world: the deserts are growing. Each year places that used to be farmland are abandoned as nothing grows there any longer. Some years it’s barely noticeable, and in some years huge caravans of people move towards the more central territories, as their crops failed and they face starvation. The desert marches ever onward, relentlessly. The reason for this is much speculated upon. There are of course those who believe that it is the gods’ punishment, though no-one seems to agree on exactly what it is they are being punished for. Failing morals is a popular choice, as it is easy to not elaborate on, leaving the details up to the listeners’ imagination. A different theory is that this is simply the way the world was set up, whether intentionally on unintentionally by the gods (as the gods are not not believed to be omniscient, or omnipotent, many hold that this is due to a mistake in how the world was created ). Of course the desertificat

This copper battleaxe is quietly humming with power. When picked up, the wielder can feel it vibrating, and the tone changes slightly. The handle is wrapped in oxhide leather and the pommel houses a large agate. The blade has a hole in it the size of a child’s fist, to make the weapon lighter. The Axe of Haator is enchanted with a rather gruesome spell. Whenever metal is hit with the axe, it absorbs the power of the blow, with a corresponding slight increase in the vibration of the blade. If this was a result of the axe hitting an armored opponent, the opponent would feel as if their armor was only lightly tapped, even if a mighty blow was struck. On the other hand, when the blade hits flesh, it releases all the energy stored in it, often cleaving men completely in half in a gory display. If not used, the stored energy slowly dissipates over the course of the next hour or so. Haator was a demigod and a master artificer, credited with the creation of many magical artifacts whose powe

As discussed before, steel holds enchantments like no other, and copper is useful for channeling magical energies, but what about other materials? Wood in and of itself is not supremely good at either holding enchantment or channeling magic, but it has the curious property of taking on the enchantment capacity of other materials it is joined with. For example a spear with a steel tip and a wooden haft can act as it it was entirely made out of steel. The better quality the wood, the closer its enchantment capacity is to the other material. Good cedar is especially prized for this reason. Skin and bones adsorb enchantments readily if they relate to death, decay, or the Underworld , and are quite tricky to enchant otherwise. They also constrict the flow of magical energy, so using them as a casting implement is not recommended. They are still used in this capacity if a sorcerer is trying to show off, or is trying to fine-tune their spells to have very small effects. This of course onl

The magical eye-like symbols often carved or painted on ships are colloquially called the eyes of the gods. When made by a sorcerer they allow the ship’s helmsman (or equivalent) to see through them as if they were real eyes. According to sailors, old ships with these markings are quicker to turn away from danger, as if the ship itself saw and understood what could happen. Commissioning a ship to be imbued with such magic can cost more than the ship itself, depending on the size of the ship, and the availability of skilled sorcerers. The enchantment itself is not too difficult, but the symbol needs to be painted with a special ratio of gold, silver and copper powder mixed into the paint, and powdered metals can be hard to come by in smaller settlements. Image by RadoJavor

Chiropterans are large, humanoid bats. They have a long history, and their culture is generally considered the most ancient one by far. Unfortunately not many of them are left, and the few that do remain are quite secretive. They build their settlements on top of sheer cliffs, where those unable to fly can’t get to them, and their culture ephasises the virtues of staying home, accepting one’s place in society and continuing family traditions. Unsurprisingly quite a few young chiropterans consider this quite suffocating, so while a rare sight, they can be found among other peoples, usually in the largest cities, as their appearance can be quite frightening, so it’s not unheard of to have them be driven out of smaller, more superstitious communities. While chiropterans can, when unencumbered, fly on their own power, they are much more suited for gliding. This ability, however has eared them a reputation as heads-in-the-clouds dreamers, and more prone to thinking than action. While this

The Invaders come from the west, from the sea. Mostly they are orcs and humans , but all peoples are represented in their ranks. They travel with their women and children, and they attack boats and coastal settlements indiscriminately. According to eyewitnesses, they seem to be from different cultures, united by a common purpose. Those captured speak of fleeing from earthquakes, great famines and diseases, taking their families and plundering the eastern lands to keep themselves alive. Unlike more affluent polities, the Invaders do not use chariots. Instead they they use swords and shields, charging at their enemies in waves, sometimes surging forwards, sometimes retreating. This is actually a quite viable tactic, often catching careless charioteers off-guard, and since chariots are slow and expensive to make, they are able to inflict great casualties not in the number of men they kill, but among the imperial treasuries, most of which cannot keep up with the losses. An ever-growing

Emish is the most powerful of spirits, beloved by all, husband to Soo-Eh , friend to mortalkind, and just all-around cool dude. According to Emish, that is. You certainly wouldn’t think so after meeting him. He manifests as a creature resembling, but not quite a large wolverine. When manifesting in the south he will complain about the heat. When in the north, he will complain about the lack of sunlight. When in the east, he will complain about the dry air. When in the west, he will complain about the rain. Naturally, when when he’s in the more temperate zones, he will complain about all of these things. Emish has a long, and complicated history with all nearly peoples in the world. When a new city is founded, when a tribe of nomads settle down to form a village, or even when a couple of families break off from their group, and seek to move elsewhere, after a few years, without fail, Emish will turn up, and demand to know why he wasn’t informed of the event. He will do this, even if c

After Gar was dismembered, the powerful beings who took part in the creation of the world came to be known as gods (and goddesses and everything in-between). Lots of other beings saw, that the world was a nice place to live, so they made their abode in places large and small. These became known as spirits. When the gods were satisfied with their creation, they made mortals to finish the rough edges: dig tunnels for irrigation, build cities and roads, cut down some forests to make pasture, and other such things. But creating a world was hard, both for gods and mortals, and in those days there was no songs to sing, no music to play, no dances to dance, and no poetry to listen to after a hard day’s work. So the gods came up with a brilliant idea: they wanted to use the leftovers of Gar’s body to brew a beer that will inspire art to make life in the world worth living. The gods knew that they would need the help of every powerful being, those who lived in the world, and those who did no

According to legend, Bilgam was the first ever Sorcerer-King, ruling over the First City. The orcs , the bronze elves and the reptilians all claim that Bilgam was of their people. Supposedly he was taller than any man, and at least twice as strong, with being the son of Atar-Numash , and the demigoddess Uta. These bracers are said to have been his. The bracers themselves are curious indeed. They are made from a leather not found on this world anymore. Many suspect it to be demonhide, while the more grounded explanation, is that it is from some elder beast that thankfully became extinct since. The bracers also feature gold and silver decorations, consisting of a simple geometric design. At first glance the bracers don’t seem to have any obvious magical effect, but after saying a quick prayer to Hath-Ur , they awaken. In that state, they help holding the arms steady, making hitting targets with a bow easier. They also seem to just absorb any blows that come into contact with them, m