Table 46

April Foundry - Fisher's Island (Week Four)

Here it is - Week Four! I am once again behind on posting these to the blog. The last few days of the month are finished, but I'm planning to post them with a wrap-up where I also link to some of what others have been doing this month and I am waiting for those to be posted. Astute readers may also notice that I haven't posted for Conlang Year this week. That's because I plain forgot to do it; with Forge Midwest this weekend it looks like I'll have to double up next weekend.

Without further ado, here's another week of Fisher's Island!

April 21 - Describe one dwelling in which a denizen might live.

Well, I’ve previously mentioned the apartment buildings, so why not describe one of those!

An apartment building is usually three to five stories tall with an open courtyard in the center. The central courtyard contains the communal oven and kitchen; in wealthier buildings, it may also contain a fountain fed by aqueducts or qanats. The ground floor likely contains some shop stalls that face the exterior of the building. Some buildings, especially those owned by and housing the members of one clan, may use their kitchen to make food to sell in those stalls.

Each tier contains a ring of apartments along with stairs to access them. The lower tiers are reserved for wealthier or higher status residents - nobody likes to climb stairs every time they want to go somewhere. Individual apartments likely consist of a room or two, four at most. Latrines are located on the ground floor, where waste is collected for use in tanning and fertilizing fields.

April 22 - Create a d6 table of valuable, natural resources found in your setting.

  1. Iron - the metal that makes the world go round, iron is used in tools, weapons, armor and many other objects commonly used in everyday life
  2. Tin - though bronze is not the primary metal used day-to-day, its unique properties still make it useful. Tin deposits are rare and that makes them important.
  3. Timber - wood is crucial for buildings, ships, and furniture and is also essential to making the charcoal that fuels metal smelting
  4. Pearls - these are found in the rich oyster beds of the coast and swamps. They are reputed across the Jewelsea
  5. Mineral springs - these feed some of the upper streams that gather to create the river network. Their waters are reputed to have restorative properties.
  6. Oldstone - unnatural resource might be a better term for this. Oldstone is a building material that many of the structures of the old empire were built with. It seems to be completely immune to the ravages of time or the devices of humanity - no force exerted can change it, which makes it all the stranger when broken bits of oldstone are found. People value it for its strange white luster and will sometimes find a use for an indestructible object if the shard is the right size and shape.

April 23 - Describe one custom/tradition/relationship concerning death in your setting.

I haven’t thought of anything specific to Fisher’s Island yet, so today we’re going to head to plains of the western continent where a nomadic culture lives.

These nomads inter their honored dead in a necropolis, a vast array of tombs built and attended by outsiders who are hired by the nomads to build and maintain the city of the dead. Within each tomb are carved scriptures and glyphs that act as conduits for the rituals the nomads use to inter their leaders. Within these tombs, the bodies of the dead slowly regain the flush of life, inching closer over centuries to the time when they awaken again and rejoin their tribe to share their wisdom.

April 24 - Is adventuring/exploration an expected facet of life in your setting?

Adventuring, so to speak, is something that comes and goes in waves as opportunity arises. In periods of instability, whether spurred on by politics, war, or disaster, those shoved out to the edges of society will often take up this risky vocation, delving into ruins and the cursed places of the world to see what fortune they might find there. When times are good, few decide that it’s worth the risk to life and limb for a few coins.

April 25 - Create a d6 table of weapons or tools a party member might carry while exploring.

  1. Spear - good old spear! Nothing beats that. We’re talking the classic Mediterranean omni-spear as Bret Devereaux would put it.
  2. Rope - there are a lot of different things you can use rope for - ascending or descending an incline or drop, tying up captives, mending broken straps and other pieces of kit, and more.
  3. Sword - few things are as useful as a reliable weapon that can easily be stored on a belt.
  4. Tinderbox - it’s very important to have a reliable way to start a fire. It’s light in the dark, it’s warmth in the cold, it’s a weapon against foes.
  5. Shield - these are weapons, used to control your enemy, deny them angles to strike, or to strike themselves if the opportunity presents itself.
  6. Hatchet - It’s a hammer and an axe in one. A useful tool that’s also a weapon in dire circumstances.

April 26 - Choose or create a genre of music that might play during character creation.

I’ll be honest. This prompt stopped me dead. While I do regularly listen to music, I don’t use it while gaming. I find it distracting. When I do think about music for the Jewelsea, it usually involves ancient instruments being played in more modern arrangements. I don’t have any good examples because it’s not something I’ve sought out.

April 27 - Create a d6 table of adventure hooks specific to your setting.

  1. Explore the depths of the City of the First Moment - players might be after treasure, people lost inside, information wanted by their sponsors, or other more esoteric items
  2. The king is dead without heir! His widow seeks to maintain her position by marrying someone else with a claim to power, while other power blocs seek to put their candidate on the throne. How do the players maneuver their desired faction into power or seize it for themselves?
  3. The river that flows through this village has recently become fouled. Can the players find what’s gone wrong at the kettle where the river briefly disappears underground?
  4. A mystery cult is kidnapping the indigent from the streets of Metal City. Can the players find where the cult’s lair is and what the cult is really after?
  5. A strange ball-shaped vessel covered in spike-like masts has recently crashed in the shallows off the western side of the island. Can the players learn where it’s from and what cargo it’s carrying?
  6. The dragon prophet has awakened and has been seen soaring in the skies over the island. Can the players learn what doom it brings without awakening its ire?