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...