DMing Chemistry

  Warrior-brotherhoods are a common cultural institution among the northern humans and wood elves . Basically a group of young warrior-aristocrats (often sporting multiple sorcerers) and their retainers, they roam the lands looking for glory and riches. Their lives consist of killing monsters, looting ancient barrows, attacking nearby settlements, and generally being both incredibly useful and a huge headache for the local rulers. They are also invited to the councils of their relatives, where they usually advocate for aggressive foreign policies, hoping for a war where they can gain money and prestige fast, and perhaps find an older noble willing to permanently giving them some kind of title. In Caeledor specifically, they sometimes ambush caravans carrying tin if they haven't paid the customary amount for protection to the local rulers, or if they paid to the wrong rulers (wrong in this context means that they aren't on friendly terms with the brotherhood in question). They ...

 Hashtar is a relatively unremarkable plant of small purple flowers, save for one hugely important characteristic: when consumed or brewed into tea, it induces divine visions. Many mystics and prophets used it over the ages, and in most temples there is at least one priest or priestess who specializes in receiving and interpreting these visions. Said visions are most often interpreted as showing other worlds, the Underworld or the dwellings of the gods. Said to be both blessed and cursed by Ei-Hashtar, minor god of madness and prophecy after whom it is named, hashtar is not only addictive but quite toxic as well, and the effective dose for getting visions is quite close to the lethal amount. Habitual users gradually lose their vision, often ending completely blind in just a few years. Brewing the plant into a tea makes it easier to dose, but doesn't actually make it less dangerous. An additional danger of hashtar consumption is that it reacts negatively with alcohol. For approximat...

 The Silent Watchers is a name commonly given to a number of gigantic statues, or possibly petrified corpses found all around the world. Some stand alone, some in small group, and occasionally many of them are lined up on the sides of roads, or halfway embedded into the walls of great canyons. Their origins are a mystery, even the fact that they are statues are debated, though most think they cannot be the remains of living creatures, since surely if they were once alive, they would have left more evidence of their time on this planet than just their corpses. Surely. Just as widespread as the Silent Watchers themselves, are legends about them. Some say they are ancient deities, petrified for some great transgression, others that they are yet to be born. What they all seem to agree on, is that the statues (if they are statues at all) are watching. This may seem strange, since the legends vary in almost every other aspect, but one needs only to glance at the eyes of the statues for o...

 Kertoi, also known as the Windfather, Bringer of Storms, Master of Whirlwinds, and a hundred other titles is one of the major gods the Orcs worship. He has dominion over winds, helping or hindering travellers, ships, and even farmers can lose their precious fruit or olive trees to his wrath. He is a capricious god, one to be feared, flattered, and swayed with frequent sacrifice. As such, most major ports have at least one temple dedicated to him. He is also the patron of those who have lost limbs, be they people or animals, and will look out for them. This is why it is forbidden in most places to hurt or mock the disabled, as his vengeance can destroy entire cities with ease. This is also why disabled people sometimes land unharmed after being picked up by whirlwinds, of typhoons. He is depicted as an old, grey-bearded Orc made entirely out of cloud-stuff, with his long hair and beard flowing in the wind. In most depictions he is blowing a wind out of his mouth. His holy symbols ...

 While the war-chariot is the end-all be-all of modern warfare (as most creatures aren't large or domesticated enough to be ridden, not to mention the lack of stirrups), there are some creatures that are large and docile enough for a platform to be constructed upon their backs, from which archers fire can fire. This of course is less effective than actual chariots, since these monsters are usually slow and plodding creatures, much more prone to getting caught by infantry than chariots are. Their prestige is also lower, as they are often seen as weapons used only by those monarchs whose realms cannot afford enough chariots for their armies. The most often used creatures for this purpose are giant beetles, though some giant lizards, giant tortoises, very young ortanar , and some strange metallic beings , are also used. Some of the less financially capable Sorcerer-Kings have even operated quite extensive and long breeding programs for creating such creatures either by modifying exis...

  Not unlike their more imposing cousins , lesser zurakhs sport four wings and four legs on a mostly-avian body. However while the greater zurakh is a lonesome hunter, lesser zurakhs are quite social, and will eat anything and everything. This has led to them losing their natural fear of mortals, and now they descend in great numbers upon the trash heaps of cities, and the great granaries and foodstores of temples and palaces alike. This plague of birds has cost many once great states of the south their last food reserves in the midst of famine, and as such, the lesser zurakh is considered a sinful bird by many, a harbinger of hardship, and an animal to be hunted and killed wherever they may be found. Some even say, they are demons in the flesh, trying to snatch up the souls of the dead as they leave their mortal coil, to carry them away from their afterlives into eternal torment. This hatred however is not universal. Indeed the people of both Tir and Caeledor , make great use of ...

  Mountains are sacred places. They mark places where the power of the Underworld gods surges forward, and pushes back at the sky. But because their tops are so high up, they are also closer to the gods of the sky. This makes them uniquely suitable places to receive divine visions, and to barter with the gods and spirits for magical power. No wonder that mystics and holy men are prone to live on them. Really, anyone who has business with the gods should go to the top of a mountain to commune with the divine. Of course very few people actually have the time to do that. Commoner have their fields to work, soldiers have their wars to fight, nobles and Sorcerer-Kings have their domains to oversee. Which is why ziggurats and pyramids are so popular buildings to put temples on, like the Bronze Elves , or bury Sorcerer-Kings under, like the Reptilians . They bring the sacred power of mountains conveniently to the middle of a city, or a large burial complex. And while some decry them as...

  Besides keeping grain stores free from mice, cats serve a second, arguably just as important purpose. Cats glow in proximity to curses. Different cats detect different types of curses, and some cats glow with different colors for different kinds of curses. Some sorcerers have dedicated their lives to extensive breeding programs with the aim of producing a cat that glows when exposed to any kind of curse, but these efforts have so far been in vain. Because of this cats have an association with sorcerers, priests, and other scholars of the magic arts, and if someone asks a temple to lift a curse, the first step often involves exposing the cursed place, individual, or object to the temple's collection of cats to try to determine which kind of curse the priests are dealing with.  While most cats only react to one or two common types of curses, almost all of them react to the rare hex that sometimes fills the air around the dwellings of the Metal Men , which causes the affected t...

To make Seeker's Flame, one must first have a holy person. This holy person must have been born underground, and never ever seen light. They must have been educated in the mysteries of the gods, and they must have dedicated at least twenty years of their life to serving them. They need to be given a piece of steel, and a piece of flint which has been left out in the desert sun for at least fifty years. When the holy person strikes the steel with the flint, the first sparks they make will create Seeker's Flame if they catch something on fire. The holy person, having seen light for the first time in those sparks, is forevermore useless for this endeavor. Seeker's Flame is a magical green fire. It dispels most magical darkness, but not those that are older than the Sun . What makes it worth the effort of getting it, is its ability to reveal anything hidden. No magical invisibility, or mundane trickery can hide anything in the radius of its light, traps cast long shadows, masks...

 Greater zurakhs are a type of giant, vulture-like bird with four legs and four wings. They are large enough for humans to ride, and are sometimes tamed to be used as mounts by Sorcerers. While not considered to be a mount fit for a noble, they are popular with necromancers because of their association with death and decay.  In their natural habitat they fly long distances, and either hunt smaller animals such as gazelles and goats, or they scavenge the carcasses of larger animals such as elephants or even dragons. They are rather intelligent, and food-motivated, though keeping them is rather difficult, as they can become aggressive when underfed, but are also prone to over-eating which makes them rather slow and clumsy fliers. Their coloration goes from browns and dark blues to black. The rare albino ones are sacred to the White Lady , and hurting them is considered to lead to endless torment after death. Greater zurakhs are said to have been created by the gods to destroy th...

  Niq-Astart is said to have been the most talented musician who ever lived. He once performed a song so beautiful, that the Sorcerer-King of Nashat-Ippur wept tears of joy, and instead of executing him for his crime, he let him go. He is also rumored to have seduced goddesses and spirits with his music. He finally met his match when he challenged the White Lady to a musical competition for his own soul, and was consequently dragged screaming into the Underworld , to the great relief of many a husband and father. His great success is in part attributed to his magical harp, which he stole from the god Cur-Atesh . The harp is made from the darkness that dwells among the roots of mountains, and the golden hair of Hath-Ur . Gods, demons and spirits always hear its sound, and a sufficiently skilled player may manipulate these entities into performing magic for them, with the music being payment enough. The Harp is currently housed in the Grand Temple of Hath-Ur in Nashat-Ippur, displa...

 A Long Arm of Thunder is a strange magical device made of the highest quality steel, and often decorated by wood, brass, ivory and other precious materials. It looks like a strange piece of metal, with a handle, a rotating middle part, and a tube at the front. They are very rare, and usually only carried by some Machine Men , and extremely devoted followers of Aol-Nae . The device itself is operated by a small lever on the underside. When pulled the device summons the sound of thunder from the Heavens, and seemingly propels a small piece of metal forwards faster than the eye can see. This small piece of metal can strike anyone or anything standing in front of the tube of the device, and it can cause a wound as serious an a spear. It can also penetrate any armour that is not enchanted, and even magical armour can struggle to stop it. A Long Arm of Thunder can do this six times before it needs to be refilled by new sacrificial offerings. These offerings consist of small metal tubes ...

 A lesser form of necromancy, the art of creating Blood Servants is a relatively commonly known ritual. One needs only to spill some of their own blood with a copper knife onto a limestone altar, then call upon the assistance of Harath-Amur, the Blood Lord with a short poem written in the language of the Bronze Elves . Then the blood will gather into a small orb, that has a rudimentary sort of intellect to it, and can move freely and follow simple orders. Blood may be added to the creature later, which will make it grow, but if blood other than the original caster's is added to it, it may become more rebellious and malicious. Besides making the creature larger, adding more blood also enhances the Servant's intellect. By the time they are the size of a large dog, they can follow detailed commands, and if they ever reach the size of an elephant, they become basically as smart as a human, elf or any other of the mortal races. Besides performing tasks that a large mobile blob of li...

 The Ivory Throne is the only thing that remains of the Lost City of Itim-Nir. It is slightly too large for any creature that builds cities, and it was carved from a single piece of ivory, though no-one knows where such a gigantic piece could have been found. It is said, that once it was decorated with murals of such blasphemous nature, that the Sorcerer-King of Urnak, who was the first to possess it after it was taken from Itim-Nir, had them sanded off and forbade anyone who saw them from ever telling a single soul about them. The Throne bears a strange and cruel enchantment. Anyone who sits on it, can sacrifice some of their blood to commune with the demon trapped inside the ivory. When asked for advice on any matters of state, the demon will suggest two mutually exclusive alternatives. One will lead to the state in question flourishing, but will cause the person implementing it to be hated by their subjects. The other one makes the ruler who implements it beloved, but will cause...

 It is well-known that bogs can preserve bodies. They can remain under the surface for hundreds of years, and still retain their hair, skin, and flesh. Sometimes however, bogs preserve more than just the body. Sometimes people who fall in, instead of drowning, just fall into a deep sleep, from which they awaken as soon as they are fished out. The catch is, just like with the dead, this can last for decades, even centuries. There have been records of people fished out from the swamps so ancient, their language could not be understood by anyone. While the exact causes of this phenomenon are a mystery, there have been some inquiries made into its nature. Sorcerers have been able to replicate the ageless sleep inside the bog by forging a pact with the spirits of the swamps, but spirits often express ignorance of the people preserved in their bogs, hinting that this may be more complicated than just the will of spirits and gods. It is also not clear how long one can remain in the bog fo...

 There are few things more revered by the Reptilians , than the flooding of the rivers that cross their deserts. This bronze khopesh invokes not just the awe these floods cause, but their destructive nature as well. Clearly made to be wielded by a king or even emperor, the Khopesh of the Roiling Floods is heavily decorated with gold, silver, and ivory. Into its hilt, scenes from the idealized everyday life of a peasant were carved, On its blade, a small inscription says “Thine enemies shall be washed away, like the livelihood of those that underestimate the mighty river.” (Not only does it flow better in the Reptilian tongue, it also rhymes.) When holding the sword aloft, the wielder may command the spirit of a nearby river to make the water swell, and wash away their enemies. The great rivers of the south, along which the Reptilians live always obey this command, as will their tributaries. Rivers unconnected to this system however are under no such obligation, and thus shall b...

  Far to the West, beyond the great mountains and forests, out in the open ocean float the islands of Tir above the waters. As one might imagine very few have made it there, and even fewer came back to tell of it, but some did, and so some things are known about these strange faraway lands.  Tir is said to be inhabited mostly by Chiropterans and Sky Cattle . Not surprising, given how being able to fly is a huge help in getting around on these floating isles. However some also claim to have met local Humans as well. These people grow very little wheat, and instead rely on fishing and the omnipresent fruit trees to supply them with food. They dress in colorful garments dyed with pigments from many kinds of clams and seasnails. They worship one god above all others called Nim-Zerath, whom they claim is a dragon slumbering inside the larges island in Tir, and whose power they claim keeps the islands from falling into the sea. Image by Jonathan Lam  

  As previously established , mortals cannot learn magic, they can only beseech spirits to do services for them. But then how come such a large amount of a sorcerer's time is spent researching magic? Well, there are a few reasons. First is that any magic user needs to know which gods or spirits to call on for which task. Knowing the names, powers, likes, and dislikes of each such being takes a lot of learning, especially as certain spirits and gods are only active in specific areas, such as a spirit of a river or a mountain isn't going to be of much help far away from the natural formation they inhabit. Even one born from the bloodline of a god must know who to call forth to work their magic. Second, many of the ancient sorcerers forged permanent pacts with certain gods or spirits. When the proper words are spoken the proper gestures made, and the proper sacrifices presented, the entity is compelled to uphold its end of the bargain now just as they were hundreds if not thousand...

 Made from the blackest obsidian, spellcutter blades are as strange as they are fragile. Using the strange magic of faraway lands, they react curiously to any spells thrown at them. Not only can they parry a spell, as if it was a sword blow, but they can, as the name suggest, cut spells apart as well. The exact form this takes can vary, but usually this manifests as the spell's effect parting before the blade, potentially letting the wielder escape it unharmed. Indeed, there are records of heroes using these blades to survive blazing infernoes conjured up by their opponents, cutting through magically summoned stone like butter, and even slicing magical fog as if it was a curtain. The most common form these blades take are of course daggers, but there are a few surviving swords and axes as well. Unfortunately the blades are easy to break, especially if used against metal weapons or armor, so their numbers are dwindling, as very few in the known world know the secret to making them. ...

  It is a well-known fact that beavers that live to a hundred years old, become a bit magical. They start to grow, and by the time they are a hundred and twenty, they are the size of a hippo. The scholar Herocleitus reports a hundred-and-fifty-year-old beaver that was the size of an elephant, but Herocleitus is well known for repeating whatever he was told without checking if what he heard was the truth, or just a tall tale. These enormous rodents also learn to communicate by telepathy, and according to those who met them, they are every bit as cunning as a man. The giant beavers usually stay with their family, though they greatly remodel both the dam and the den to suit their increased size. If both members of a breeding pair hit this venerable age, their offspring are born more intelligent that the average beaver, and these litters are capable of coordination that can put some militaries to shame. Usually though things don't get to that point, as only one giant beaver is usually ...

  Corpse-demons are incorporeal entities that can possess the bodies of the dead. The possessed corpses then seek out the living, usually the family of the deceased, to torment and ultimately kill them. The corpse-demon has access to the memories and voice of the person whose corpse it's wearing, but anyone speaking to it immediately notices that they are talking to an unnatural entity, an alien intelligence trying to imitate a mortal. Unfortunately those stricken by grief don't always listen to the nagging feeling of wrongness, and sometimes hesitate to destroy the creature. Once a corpse is possessed, it becomes almost impossible to destroy. Even if hacked to bits, it slowly beings to reassemble itself, and in a few days it will become whole once again. Burning the entire is one way to get rid of it for good, but that is easier said than done, as human corpses take quite a long time to burn, and the corpse-demon will be resisting and trying to escape the flames the whole time...

 Bloodthorn is a rare plant cultivated by the Wood Elves . Normally it grows unassuming leafless barked vines studded with thorns, however it has an unusual life cycle. In order for the plant to bloom, it need to absorb large amounts of blood. It can do this through either its roots, or its vines and thorns. As the plant stores more and more blood, the vines gradually become red, becoming the color of fresh arterial blood just before flowering. A healthy plant needs dozens of liters of blood to be able to flower.  As one can imagine, it is quite difficult for an immobile plant to gather the amount of blood needed to reproduce in any reasonable time frame. As to how these plants managed before, there are multiple theories ranging from them being indigenous to other worlds, having been adapted to steal blood from gigantic animals that have since gone extinct, or just having been a one-off experiment of the gods, demons, or just unusually malevolent sorcerers. Whatever the truth,...

 The Weaver of Five Dooms is a spider demon who lives in the mines of Caeledor. Due to the services she performed to the gods, she was allowed to decide the fates of five mortals of her choosing. Obviously she chose the five greatest heroes she knew about, and has decided the most humiliating deaths for each of them. However she has a problem: Conn, the fourth hero has escaped her clutches, and now wanders the world, his destiny unfulfilled.  The Weaver of the Five Dooms looks like a giant black spider, with multiple animal skeletons for heads, the eye sockets of which burn with ghostly purple flames. She can stand more than two meters tall, and has the bodies of her previous three victims rigged up like marionettes with her silk threads, making a confrontation with her quite dangerous (the bodies of the heroes still have their fabled magical items, and Weaver knows how to activate them). The one weakness of this setup is that if someone spots the very fine threads she uses to...

 The Spear of Kush is said to be the first steel weapon ever made. It may even be the first steel item to have been made, as some claim the way to make steel was discovered during its creation.  It is a long-shafted spear, with a leaf-like blade, and no decorations whatsoever, as it was intended to be a bog-standard iron spear fit for a conscripted fighter, and not a noble or mighty sorcerer. During the many years it has been used, it has allegedly killed over a thousand people, with their blood seeping into the blade and making it seek the vitals of the unfortunates it is pointed against. It is also known to affect the wielder's dreams to make them more bloody and horrific each night, though it's hard to tell if that is truly the doing of the spear's magic, or just a consequence of all the killing most wielders of it commit. The spear was previously in the possession of the royal family of the city of Kush (hence the name), but after the unfortunate adventures of one of t...