DMing Chemistry

Throughout the known world, great empires require educated individuals to read, write, copy and otherwise take care of documents, letters, laws, and other forms of written texts. These people are generally referred to as scribes, even though simply copying text is not their only responsibility. Their exact duties vary from empire to empire, but they usually encompass dealing with logistics and other fields that require the use of mathematics as well. Training scribes is not easy or cheap, so usually the people who decide to become scribes come from already wealthy families. In some cultures, such as in the lands of the Reptilians , the position of a scribe is hereditary, and only the children of scribes may become scribes themselves. Scribes are usually trained in temples, and are often priests themselves or acolytes who ultimately failed to become priests. Most empires on the other hand maintain schools independent of the priesthoods as well, as demand for scribes often outpaces the a...

 The Underworld is protected by seven gates, watched over by the White Lady . There used to be six, until a man named Enki built the famous White Gates that bear his name. The next set, however is the one where the Underworld proper begins. These gates are immaterial, as befitting for something meant to keep the spirits of the dead from escaping. They are made of a scintillating blueish mist, that sticks to the dead, forever marking them as the property of the Underworld. For those so marked, these gates are just as solid as the finest steel.  These gates are mostly known as the Cold Mists, and they are often used in euphemisms for death. "Passed through the Cold Mists" is a popular one, and someone who came very close to death is often said to have felt the Cold Mists on their face. Mist-marked is a popular poetic term for the undead, even if most corporeal undead don't have their original souls inhabiting their body, and most incorporeal undead have never passed throu...

 Temples are the dwellings of the gods. This is not just a metaphor, they are constructed according to precise measurements and floorplans to align with the chosen deity's palace in the realms of the gods. The innermost sanctum corresponds to the throneroom of the deity, and houses their statue. What the statue is made of can vary depending on the deity in question and the local availability of materials, but marble, gold, bronze, and ivory are popular choices. If constructed and consecrated properly, the temple will act as a bridge between worlds. Those that enter will not only be in the temple upon the earth, but will simultaneously be in the deity's palace in the divine realm, able to directly converse with the deity, who will be superimposed with their statue. This of course means, that since the temple exists on both the physical and the divine realms, everything that is in the temple is also on the deity's plane of existence, and is henceforth their property. This inc...

 In the deserts to the south-east lay the ruins of forgotten city-states inhabited by ghouls . They watched as the deserts slowly devoured their lands , just as people devoured each other. But ghouls aren't that bothered by this, after all they are always hungry. Occasionally a lost caravan finds these ruins, and ghouls fall upon them, regaining some of their former intellect, and civilisation starts again, until inevitably food runs out, and the inhabitants of the city return to hungry predators, then just ravenous bodies lying in wait once more. Like mayflies, the ghouls race against time to finish their projects as their memories return for a short while. A civilisation that lives in bursts. Of course the deeper a city is into the desert, the fewer people end up there, and the less frequent these periods of activity are. On the other hand, cities that are close to active trade routes, or just places where mortals live in general, are much more active. The city of Yttir-Gham for ...

  In almost every civilized place the name Nitir-Tan is a curse, only to be spat out with disgust or whisper fearfully inside, where it's more difficult for the god to hear. His home city of Amar-Itish (whose name had to be changed, and its temples re-sanctified after the full extent of his sin was discovered) holds a festival, where they ritually burn effigies of him. Any books written by him are burned, any tablets ground to dust. Any spells he helped to create are to be forgotten, and any mention of his name in the royal chronicles is erased. His followers, when found are tortured and killed. Yet people still follow his teachings, cast his spells, and read his writings. He had a certain way with words, and many still find his arguments persuasive. Those who follow him, refer to themselves as Tannites. During his life, Nitir-Tan copied and wrote many books, but the one that made him so reviled was called Man, and Divine. For this reason his followers are often called Mandies, tho...

 Similar to Incantation Bowls , Curse-Pots are small ceramic containers inscribed with a spell to trap demons or spirits . Unlike Incantation bowls, however, they are designed to just for containment, but also for eventual release. With spirits one would usually bargain to release them in exchange for some boon, while demons-filled Curse-Pots are used as a weapons. Simply throwing the pot at someone with enough force to break it releases the demon, which will most likely attack and/or curse the closest person, who is usually the one the pot was thrown at. Of course not all Curse-Pots are created equal. Even disregarding the entity housed within, older pots have a much higher effectiveness than ones created recently. With a 'fresh' pot, the released entity might just ignore the target, and fly off to take revenge on the one that trapped it, while a pot that has been left undisturbed for hundreds of years will have its entity be much more violent, and much more indiscriminate in ...

  While every culture has their own myths and stories featuring the local flora and fauna, there are certain animals that are almost universally associated with and/or used as an allegory for certain things - most commonly personality traits. Exactly where these associations come from is lost to the mists of time. Mortals have been travelling and sharing stories for thousands of years after all. The following list is of course not exhaustive. Worms are associated with curiosity. It is widely believed that certain birds will tap their feet on the ground to entice the curious worms to poke their heads out, so that the bird can eat them. Another common theme is curious worms spoiling the fruit they inhabit. This is usually meant to parallel how curious people can bring misfortune to their entire community. Otters , mammoths, and ducks are collectively known as 'the three wise beasts'. They are popular symbols for sorcerers, clerics, mystics, and others who commune with gods and sp...

 In the lands of the Reptilians , in the city of Khetesh, there is a continual flame watched over by an order of clerics, which is said to have been going since the creation of the world. According to the clerics, it was lit by Hath-Ur , when she came down from the sky for a brief moment, and her heat lit a tarpit alight. After the tar was gone, the clerics kept feeding the holy flames and finally moved them to a temple built specifically to house it. While there is some debate about the authenticity of this account, it is undeniable that the Flame of Khetesh is not an ordinary flame. It burns brighter than any other fire of its size, and its color is more washed out than normal fire. There have been accounts of little pieces of the Flame being taken to dangerous quests of unparalleled importance, and reportedly no demons were able to come into the area lit by the Flame, and those that found themselves there, were immediately paralyzed with pain. There is also a report that describ...

 Vampires don't exist. Alternatively, many types of vampires exist that are so different from each other, that lumping them under the same umbrella term isn't all that useful, as all of them have different habits, strengths, weaknesses, origins, and lifecycles. So here are some creatures that can be called vampires:  The Kirki-Turo are a species of remora-like creatures, which can inhabit a humanoid's body, eat the organs inside, then take control of the husk, puppeting it around, occasionally emerging from its mouth to garb onto new prey, and suck its blood. By devouring the brain, they can gain access to the memories and intellect of their host, but concepts like compassion and love are alien to them. They will always view themselves as predators, and humanoids their prey. The Laernians, are a people cursed by the gods for long-forgotten sins. While humanoid, they take on the aspect of giant ticks, their bellies swollen and red with blood, their mouths elongated and harde...

  Most often encountered north, near the lands of Caeledor , the Mists of Eternity are an enigma even to the most learned scholars. Where they come from, how they are formed, and how they disappear has sparked many debates amongst those well-versed in arcane secrets. Even their effects are a matter of debate, although it’s certain they must change those that enter somehow.  According to the testimonies of those that have emerged from the mists, they change how time flows: an hour in the mists might be but a moment in the outside world, or it might be several centuries. Some have even claimed to have emerged from the mists before they went in. Others describe fantastical cities hidden in the mists, whose inhabitants exist beyond time, and bestow boons and curses in equal measure. Of course the veracity of these claims cannot be confirmed, just as the claims that some have exited the mists tens of thousands of miles from where they entered, and of course some have never returned...

 More than just the simple absence of light, the Deep Dark has existed for longer than the gods. It is a small piece of the primordial darkness that existed prior to creation. Banished, it no longer belongs in the world, yet in the deepest caves systems, at the bottom of the most perilous dungeons, at the crushing depths of the oceans, it endures.  While trapped in those places, it hates. It hates the gods, it hates their creation, but most of all it hates light. Being older than the gods, spirits and demons that provide magic, it cannot be disspelled. Natural fire can temporarily drive it back, maybe even hurt it, if it's large enough, but the Deep Dark can fight back, blowing out candles, extinguishing torches, and if strong enough, even swallowing bonfires. There are different types of Deep Dark, which all act slightly different, but they are all malevolent, and they all seek the downfall of the gods and their creation. Some may even offer some sort of accord to foolish mor...

 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...

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...

  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...

 One of the easiest ways to deal with a demon or malevolent spirit is to trap it in an incantation bowl and bury it in the ground. However that is not not the only way evil can get buried underground. Powerful sorcerers can trap various entities in other items (usually statues of the entity in question), or cursed items can get buried deliberately. Sometimes these buried dangers are older than anyone can remember, and indeed some are even said to have been left behind by Those Who Came Before .  Needless to say, this makes mining, sapping, or digging any kind of tunnel or even just a particularly deep ditch potentially quite dangerous, and usually before starting such works, it is customary to perform animal (sometimes even human or other sentient creature) sacrifice, both to seek the help of the more benevolent gods in protecting the diggers from these dangers, but also to the buried things themselves, in order to placate them. The other common way to mitigate these dangers ...

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...

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...

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

As a wise man once said: there are no unkillable beings in this world. This saying is held to be true by most of the world. It may be convoluted, it may not even be possible for mortals, but there is a way to kill anything, even the gods themselves. The orcs believe that to the distant west, there is an island where golden apples grow, that give the gods their unending lives and their immunity to weapons and magic. According to the bronze elves a small weed growing on the seafloor can grant eternal life to those who eat it. The wood elves hold that to not be touched by aging and illness is a sign of being in touch with the true nature of the world, while the reptilians of the south say that they are just part of the divine nature of a being. Humans are generally silent on the matter, except for saying “if it bleeds, we can kill it”. Legends tell of a few general ways to kill otherwise immortal beings. Ancient clay tablets mention that sky-gods can be killed when the motion of the...