Jalamere: Index

New Posts: Sundays

Jalamere a new setting, one inspired by the sorts of fantastic geographies that transcend conventional planets or unending planes, something more akin to Tanith Lee's Flat Earth cycle, or Clark Ashton Smith's Abominations of Yondo. Jalamere is a mythic place with edges, a Worldrim that you can fall off of, and it isn't a ball of matter floating in space, if anything it seems to be a sort of platter or disk, and it might be held up from the primordial chaos by titanic beings most people never see...maybe. If they're lucky.

Note: We began this series/project using the Sword & Wizardry (White Box) rules. We're seriously considering revising things and going with a different system based upon reader feedback. should we stay with White box, or transition this project over to another system? Which one would people prefer?

Building Jalamere

Building Jalamere 1: Getting Started
We're also making use of Rob Conley's excellent How To Make A Fantasy Sandbox series of articles, and a few more inspiring bits and pieces captured while on safari through the deepest, darkest corners of the untamed OSR blogosphere. We begin with a quick map of a tiny section of the edge of the very, very big world.

Building Jalamere 2: Zones
Here we created a set of six Zones, each of which then was broken down into specific types of related terrain and environmental factors, each one leading inwards from the rimward edges to the deserts and badlands that seem to extend for thousands of miles into the very center of the world-disk. We still need to finish a few loose ends on this post.


Playing in Jalamere

Considering Player Character Options (I)
Cliff-dwelling spiders, gecko-taurs, and sword-wielding octopi...this is a realm where elves, dwarves and gnomes are summoned and treated like demons, aliens or magical beings from other worlds. Which they are. When you're here.


Exploring Jalamere

Twenty Major Dungeons/Ruins
A quick list of 20 strange places of mystery and adventure that may or may not become part of the fabric of Jalamere. It's a place to start from, so we rolled a D20. We got a '1' so our first place to consider and possibly develop was The Black Ziggurat, which is an extension of the cross-blog/cross-universe megadungeon from Planet Algol. So, in the spirit of using tables to flesh out the details, we decided to begin by creating encounter tables for the area surrounding this malevolent center of pestilence and woe...and seeing as how Jalamere is a truly vast and wide-open canvas upon which to splash paint around, we went really big in terms of scale. To begin with, there's an encounter table for the tainted regions within a 1,000 mile radius around this place...

1. Black Ziggurat
2. Blasted Wastes of Nitocrimelle

The Black Ziggurat of Jalamere

The Black Ziggurat of Jalamere
An overview of what is known about this dreadful place and its polycosmic connections to other worlds.

Encounters Within a 1,000 Mile Radius
20 options for things that are often found wandering along the Outer Perimeter of the Black Ziggurat.

Encounters Within a 100 Mile Radius
20 encounters

Encounters Within a 10 Mile Radius
20 options for even nastier stuff as your party gets closer to the Black Ziggurat.

Encounters Within a 1 Mile Radius
20 options for things found within a mile of the Black Ziggurat, including a couple contributed by Blair of Planet Algol himself.

At the Black Ziggurat
Coming Soon.

Special Encounters (Black Ziggurat)
Coming Soon.

Writhing Masses & Worse
This table is for all those amorphous horrors likely to be found near-by the dreaded Black Ziggurat.

The Blasted Wastes of Nitocrimelle

We rolled a '19' on the 20 Major Dungeons/Ruins Table for what to go look at next...

Table: Writhing Masses & Worse (Jalamere)

This is a continuation of what we began in the previous series of Black Ziggurat of Jalamere posts. 

[Get the free Swords & Wizardry (White Box) rules: http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm] 


Writhing Masses & Worse

1. Alkaline Ooze (1): HD 3, HP 16, AC 8[11], Atk 1 strike; Move 1, Save 16, HDE/XP5/240; Special: Immune to Heat, Cold, Spells, Stone, takes half-damage from metal, takes double damage from wood--item then bursts into flames.
2. Crepuscular Crud (1):  HD 4; HP 30; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 Toxic Pseudopod; Move 2; Save 16; HDE/XP 6/400. Slow moving phlegm-like mass that drips a rancid-smelling lard-like venom. Save or be incapacitated with explosive dysentery for the next 1d4 minutes.
3. Orb Cluster (1): HD 5; HP 26; AC 5[14]; Atk 1(see post but use only one); Move 3; Save 15; HDE/XP 6/400.
4. Writhing Mass (Type II): 1d4 bulbous, pulsating pustule-like conglomerations of what appears to be disparate types of acne-pocked flesh that roll and flop along the ground like blind slugs, always seeking any living thing smaller than itself that it can enfold, crush and absorb.
5. Raging Blob: 3,000 pounds of succulent gristle and sweet-smelling skin rougher than an elephant's rump comes rolling and tumbling down the nearest slope right at the party. If the blob can catch anyone on the roll, it will extrude tentacles and attempt to grapple with them, otherwise it will come to a stop close to the main cluster of the group and strike out at as many victims as it can reach at once. If a tentacle ensnares a victim (60%) it will attempt to reel them in towards a freshly opened mouth. If the tentacle pierces the victim, it will spew a larval froth into the wound and then rip the harpoon-like member free of the victim's flesh, doing double damage. Anyone 'frothed' by the Blob will need to make a Save or fall into a coma as their body transforms into a micro-blob producing factory...[Raging Blob Labyrinth Lord stats (+Paper Mini)]
6. Starlit Mire (1): HD 3, HP 16, AC 8[11], Atk 1 Emanation of the Void; Move 0, Save 14, HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Anyone stepping into an area within a 30' radius of the Starlit Mire must Save or be exposed to the flesh-blasting cold of deep space. Should anyone be enveloped by the Mire for longer than 5 minutes, their corpse will be randomly teleported across space and time and lost forever.
7. Rampant Flesh (1d4); HD 4; HP 30; AC 5[14]; Atk 2 Bulgy Pseudopods; Move 6; Save 16; HDE/XP 6/400. Autonomous masses of living flesh that crawl about bonelessly and malevolently across the sands looking for things to eat.
8. Gelatinous Oblong (1): HD 3, HP 16, AC 8[11], Atk 1 Engulf; Move 6, Save 14, HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Dissolves all angular objects on a failed Save.
9. You can hear the high-pitched call of someone screaming 'Tekeli Li! Tekeli Li!' out on the perimeter.
10. A boulder-sized gobbet of reanimated giant-flesh. It quivers and jiggles threateningly in your direction. It has HP 43, but otherwise is unremarkable, aside from the odor of decay which will certainly attract wandering monsters. Anyone (or anything) attempting to consume this wretchedly rancid flesh has to make a Save against Death Magic or become a rotting zombie. Keep in mind that these zombies start out living, then rise again with +2 HD as enlarged undead zombies if they are killed. Those specimens that are dismembered form swarms of reanimated rotting body parts.

Jalamere Index

Jalamere: Considering Player Character Options

I wanted to take a break from still more Encounter Tables for Jalamere. Needed a change. I'll finish the whole Black Ziggurat sequence off eventually.

I found this old sketch from way back while going through some old files. Doing a little Spring cleaning. Anyhow, this little fella got me to thinking about swapping-out one of the usual PC options for spiders. Intelligent, dextrous, expert climbers and trap-makers & finders...natural thieves and adventurers. As a Fighting Spider they'd be able to wield multiple light weapons and use their webbing in combat. As Spell-casters they'd be able to read more than one scroll simultaneously and enchant their webs to form temporary magic items (usually traps...). As Clerics, they'd be more blood-thirsty than a vampire and might even hunt those particular forms of undead down as competitors for the same food-source.

Maybe they're caste-oriented and each segment of their society is served by a particular species/sub-species...which might open the door to intelligent scorpions or other arachnids...maybe they have human slaves that they raise for food and servants, like Eloi perhaps...

Hmmm...still kicking that idea around a bit. We'll see where it leads.

Then there's the Octopi. Over at the excellent A Paladin in Citadel blog this past February there was a stroll down memory lane with the weapon-wielding Octopi from the old Microquest: Death Test II, and that got me to thinking about the Octopoidal Degenerates from our Cliff Tomb of Vhonj adventure (Jewel Throne?) and the Octoscholar, and a quick search led me to an old post by Michael Curtis over at The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope blog where he has done-up an Octopus Race Class. I really liked the sword-wielding Octopi from Death Test II. Barbarian Molluscs who are cross-planar invaders, with sorcerous ties back to a realm of deep, dark oceans sound like fun.

Octopi with scimitars and eye-patches spiked bucklers would be fun.

Less Lovecraftian, more Beatles would be more fun.

Unless there are Half-Octopi running around. Ick. That's definitely more Lovecraft-esque. But it could be fun. Sort of. Maybe. Still ick though.

Centaurs might also be interesting to try-out in Jalamere. It's a lot of wide-open spaces, rugged terrain and well-suited to people who have built-in all wheel drive. Most of the time it's a real pain to try and squeeze a centaur down into a dungeon, but with Jalamere, there's plenty of room...until you run up to the edge, the World Rim. Heck, maybe they're gecko-centaurs...that'd be a really good option for exploring all the ruins and such-like all down the jagged cliffs and chasms along the World-Rim. Then winged apes or monkeys might be an even better bet. Or more spiders.

Vertical skirmishes up and down the notched and eroded cliffs below the World Rim between geckotaurs, winged monkeys, octopi and spiders. And velvet-worms. Big, nasty, armored and intelligent velvet-worms who've crawled up from deep below, fighting their way past megapedes, tiger-wasps, and who knows what else all the way up the great cliffs. Now that sounds intriguing.

Mapping the Rim Regions and all those cliffs, niches and cave-pockets is going to be a real pain...unless we do some sort of variation on Dyson's vertical geomorphs...hmmm...that could work. I'll have to try sketching something out over the weekend.

Jalamere: Encounters Within a 1 Mile Radius of the Black Ziggurat

This is a continuation of what we began in the previous Black Ziggurat of Jalamere post. We want to thank Blair of Planet Algol for his feed-back, encouragement and the contribution of a couple of entries to further flesh out the special encounters that might take place in the area surrounding this version of the Black Ziggurat.


[Get the free Swords & Wizardry (White Box) rules: http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm]


Encounters Within 1 Mile of the Black Ziggurat

1. Masked Watchers: 2d6 black robed and masked figures appear in the distance; waver like mirages; disappear in seconds although one PC may hear strange whispers on the wind. (From Blair of Planet Algol.) 
2. Menticore: (1d2): HD 6+4; HP 32; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 Claw, Bite or Psychotropic Tail-spikes; Move 12/8 (flies); Save 13; HDE/XP 8/800; Special: Flight and Psychotropic Tail-spikes. (Menticore starts with 24 spikes and can hurl up to six spikes per attack to a maximum range of 180 feet.) Anyone struck by one of the Menticore's Psychotropic Tail-Spikes must make a Save or be disoriented for 1d4 minutes by a strobing light show only they can see. The Spikes are worth 2d100 GP in the right places.
3. Seething Seepage: (1): HD 4; HP 26; AC 8[11]; Atk 1 Corrosive Saturation; Move 3; Save 15; HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Remains unseen as it lurks beneath debris and sand, waiting for victims to walk over its body, then it rears up and attempts to form a gelatinous crater or bowl from its own flesh that it fills with a potent, corrosive stew of digestive juices. It takes less than 3 minutes for the 'bowl' to fill to capacity. The juices destroy leather, corrode metals, and discolor flesh that survives the attack to a grotesque mottled green and yellow that is easily recognized as the 'mark of the lurker.'
4. Tumbling Cube: A huge stone block rolls past in the distance (3d6 miles out). It is nearly a mile across on each surface and it is headed away from the Black Ziggurat.
5. Petrocloptrian: 1d4 hovering telepathic alien beings who wield seven melee weapons at a time using a form of close-quarters telekinesis. They are hunting Bandersnatches and arrogantly disdain having any interactions with humans whom they see as coarse, vulgar and uninteresting. This is probably a good thing though, as the Petrocloptrians tend to hunt anything that they think is interesting in order to mount it upon the walls of their orbital estates. [Petrocloptrian S&W (White Box) stats] [Petrocloptrian Labyrinth Lord stats]
6. Glyph Block: Random PC trips over or stubs toe (save or take 1 pt. damage) on corner of corroded basalt tablet/block embedded in sand. Examination reveals glyphs worn away into illegibility but sinister in form. May be worth 1d100 gp to the right buyer but doubles chance of nocturnal random encounters while in possession. (From Blair of Planet Algol.)
7. Naked Lizard Shaman: A laid-back, even kind of sluggish and scaly spell caster out in the middle of nowhere looking for some of those Aerial Jelly-fish that they've heard are to be found in these parts. Anyone pointing them in the right direction receives a fizzly green potion that will heal 3d4 damage, even if you haven't been hurt yet. The effect will persist for as long as it takes to use-up the liquid goodwill of the potion.
8. Twitching Corpses, every one of them someone the characters have killed either directly or indirectly, parade before the party. Each corpse stares at those whom it holds responsible for its terrible fate. They are all now the possessions of a terrible otherplanar being that has taken a decidedly unhealthy and clearly malevolent interest in the party... 
9. Pool of Molten Green Glass: Extremely hot and bothered, this malevolent fluid will attempt to lure the curious into coming within reach of its pseudopods (about 10-12'). It inflicts 2d4 damage.
10. 400 stunned carp fall from the sky. Most are still alive. For now.
11. (2d8) Three-Toed Mutants:  HD 4; HP 20; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 Fork or Claw; Move 4; Save 11; HDE/XP 6/600; Special: 1 in 8 has an additional Eye-Beam weapon.  Each stands fully seven feet tall and wields a wickedly barbed stabby-fork. Their middle toes are tipped with a vicious, hooked claw which they will use in close-quarters. Only one of them has a tail and the rest make fun of him because of it.
12. Slime Fall: Bilious green clouds roll in from the North and begin to drizzle green slime over everything. The slime evaporates, leaving a foul-smelling crust after about an hour. It tastes like licorice, but will cause dysentery if eaten.
13. Blue Light: A glaring, sizzling blue radiance erupts from the ground itself. The effect blinds everyone within 300' for the next 2d10 minutes.
14. (2d12) Camels are tethered to low-lying clumps of cacti and thorn-wood. They don't seem particularly concerned about much of anything.
15. (1d6) dead bodies of previous adventurers, all of them stripped of their possessions and tossed into the brush to feed scavengers. (Base Chance of 10% that there is a minor magical ring or some such to be found by investigating the bodies, but that will incur at least one, if not more, wandering monster checks.)
16. Iron Golem with +1 bassoon. It was kicked out its marching band and is looking for a new gig. Unfortunately the thing is completely tone-deaf.
17. A blue-haired dwarf in besmirched chain-mail stands up to its waist in dead rat-headed monkey-things. Their eyes are wide and staring and unresponsive. He still chops and hacks the air with his twin hand-axes as tough the creatures are still coming after him.
18. (1d4) Drilg surround a fallen comrade who is complaining of stomach pains. The fallen one is no longer their friend and ally, but has been entirely consumed from within by an intelligent 6 HD Black Pudding.
19. (3d6) Serpent Men are looking for volunteers for their most recent series of experiments exploring the capacity of lower-order mammals to perceive trans-temporal tonalities under the influence of modulated electrical stimulation.
20. Roll twice on any of the previous tables, or a stampede of (6d100) Titanotherium rumble through the immediate area. Roll three Saves to avoid getting stomped or run over. Player's Choice.

Jalamere: Encounters Within 1,000 Miles of the Black Ziggurat

This table provides random encounters for those areas within a 1,000 mile radius of the Black Ziggurat of Jalamere, using the Swords & Wizardry (White Box).

The Black Ziggurat was first discovered/described by Blair at Planet Algol and all who seek to unravel its mysteries owe him a sincere debt of gratitude. It's the OSR's equivalent to a Vanishing Tower, a real Pan-Polycosmic Crossoversort of cooperative/collaborative artifact, so to speak.

[Get the free Swords & Wizardry (White Box) rules]

Outer Perimeter Encounters
(Areas Within 1,000 miles of the Black Ziggurat)

1. Curdled Air. The very air itself has curdled into something translucent and unbreathable for the next (2d100 miles), thankfully you noticed something 'not quite right' about the skies ahead of you and you still have time to turn back or perhaps you'd prefer to attempt to skirt around the stuff?
2. Broken Obelisks. Each one is (3d100) feet tall, heavily pitted, scored and cracked where they aren't sheared-off or otherwise broken as though from some intense and very large-scale violence. There are shards scattered all around each Obelisk. They radiate a faint magic. Local tribes craft +1 arrow-heads from these shards. No one is ever quite sure what the overall effect will be for one of these arrows, but it usually works out to something damaging or harmful to the recipient, and that's enough for the tribesfolk. (Yes, we'll have a follow-up Table for you shortly...)
3. Nomadic Grove. Huge, old trees resembling sequoias only much bigger are leading a grove of many different kinds of trees across the wilderness, away from the Black Ziggurat. For the most part they are peaceful, tolerant and slow-going, but if provoked their wrath can extend for miles and will endure for centuries.
4. Glimmer. A faint sparkly-light can be seen in the distance. Pursuers must roll a D20: 'Even' results means that they are closing on it and can deduct the amount from 1,000 feet. Odd results means that they've gone off-track or the thing has shifted, and they must add the result to the 1,000 feet (or the remainder if they rolled an 'even' result previously). It requires an exactly 'zero' distance in order to find the source of the Glimmer. The source of these sorts of glimmers tends to be strange crypts, old tombs, and alien ruins that are not quite fully nor completely congruent with Jalamere. (Insert Random Mini-Dungeon Here, if you like...)
5. Terminaut Horde. (10D100) Terminauts are marching through the area ahead. The entire procession is silent, sinister and mostly intangible. Anyone sleeping within (1d4) miles of a Terminaut Horde on the march has a base 80% chance to attract the notice of their scouts or some other outrider unit. Anyone unconscious or otherwise not in full possession of their faculties must make a Save or suffer possession by a Terminaut Recruiter. No one intentionally draws the attention of a Horde upon themselves, especially not by attacking one, unless they have a desire to be taken-over by insectoid minds and forced to fight in an endless war that will never be explained to them as it is well beyond the scope of their station or pay grade.
6. Ossuarial Tidal Deposit. Bones and more bones and still more bones have been washed-up along the edges of this area as though a cemetery flooded and the waves carried all the contents to this spot. Every drop of blood spilled within this area results in another skeleton arising from the silt, sand and salt to mindlessly attack any and every living thing that they can detect or track down. These skeletons gain 1 point of INT for every 10 hit points of damage they inflict upon player characters. Those achieving 4 or more INT can decide to shift the points into other attributes, including CON to gain more Hit Dice. They all start out with 1 HD and only have some random bones to cobble make-shift weapons from, until someone drops something or leaves something behind. Oh, and the skeletons can relentlessly pursue anyone they've ever damaged as though there is some sort of necromantic connection between them and their victims.
7. Gorgolisk and Entourage. A large palanquin born aloft by a small army of ash-wights and other, lesser-recognizable pseudo-humanoids is passing along just out of bow-shot. A richly collared claymoire carries an elegant banner before the procession. There are no body-guards visible. Anyone under 10 HD must make a Save or flee in terror for the next (3d6) minutes. Those who make the Save might consider withdrawing a bit before they are noticed.
8. Salt Formations. Glaring hot-spots covered with massive salt-deposits in a wide variety of tints. Undead cannot enter these regions. The living must make a Save every hour spent travelling through this stuff or suffer dehydration. Fail to make a Save three times and it becomes Heat Stroke. All the water in this area is poisonous brine. Food exposed to the air must be consumed immediately or it dries-up into inedible junk within (1d4) minutes. Leather exposed to the salt degrades over time and will begin to fall apart after (1d4) hours, magical leather gaining a Save which will allow it to persist for double the usual amount of time.
9. Prowling Polyp Warband. (3d6) Aerial Polyps armed with (2d4) curved short-swords and (1d4) short bows, each, are tracking down some unnameable prey or enemy. They will ignore anyone who does not attack or otherwise provoke them. On a roll of '1' the Polyps will decide to interrogate any wanderers they come across. They do this via a rough and tumble form of combative telepathy that leaves the victims stumbling around in a daze, disoriented and suffering from the temporary loss of (1d4) INT or WIS. Sometimes, according to the tales told around tribefolk campfires, those questioned in this way can find themselves switched into the body of one of their companions. But that's just a tall tale, isn't it?
10. Wormsign. The ground trembles, shakes and a large crack opens up before you. A very, very large worm-like thing just passed by, deep underground. The area within a (3d4) mile radius is now unstable, subject to collapse, subsidence, ground slides, and the formation of sink-holes.
11. Bat Man. A colossal basalt figure looms menacingly from behind a dimly-lit and low-lying cloud of mist or fog. It is carved into some sort of heroic personification of a greatly exaggerated human male with the head of a bat and a cloak that seems on the verge of becoming wings. The whole thing was hand-carved and must have taken a long, long time to complete. Who would build such a thing? And why? Where did they go?
12. Pig Pit. The ground gives way before you, sloping precipitously down into the gaping maw of a deep, deep pit. A foul stench and peculiar multi-colored vapors emanate from this crudely formed hole in the ground. A coarse and disturbing grunting echoes from deep below, followed by the occasional shriek or screams. There are (2d100) Pig-Things down there. They are trying to dig their way back to the Transplanar Tunnels their kind use to invade other realms, but so far they've had no luck. Perhaps they need more slaves to dig deeper...
13. Dead Monolith. Blackened and brittle, the remains of a once healthy Monolith crumble into the darkened soil. The area reeks of ennui and anyone coming here must make a Save or lose 2d4 hours listlessly pondering the boring pointlessness of their existence. Those who succeed on their Save only take 1 point of WIS damage (temporary) and can continue on their way.
14. Aerial Jellyfish Swarm. (4d100) small but hyper-poisonous gelatinous sacs of living fluid flutter and squirm through the air, each one dangling a multitude of tiny thread-like tendrils that will sting anyone who comes into contact with them for (3d4) damage plus an immediate Save at -2 or suffer terrifying hallucinatory nightmares for (3d6) hours. Lizard-shamen often dance naked in the midst of these things in order to receive visions. Those that don't die are considered profoundly accomplished dreamers.
15. Circle of Petrified Poses. Twelve different humanoids are arranged in a variety of grotesque and painful-looking contortions forever frozen into a porous, chalk-like stone that crumbles when scratched or struck with a weapon. These are all victims of Gorgolisks and have been deliberately set up as displays to frighten off the easily scared and to challenge one another to ever greater artistic achievements. Infusing one of these 'statues' with (1d4) hit points worth of blood will grant them a crude form of reanimation for a corresponding number of minutes. Most require at least a full minute of screaming before they can be conversed with in any meaningful manner. Should anyone be so inclined, the victims of the Gorgolisks can all be recovered into a strange mineral-esque parody of life by a steady infusion of fresh blood...so far no one has taken up the challenge.
16. Unfinished Claymoire. This vaguely humanoid figure looms fully twice as tall as a normal human, despite being built upon a framework wired together from the bones of dead heroes and other specimens culled from defiled mortuaries and catacombs. Their flesh is a slightly damp mixture of clay, ashes and strange oily substances said to be derived from various Writhing Masses that have been rendered in the cauldrons of Gorgolisks. Typical Claymoire wield mighty two-handed swords and they are immune to fear, pain and/or the pangs of conscience. They are neither living nor dead, but rather some strange amalgamation constructed from the raw bits of both to form some bizarre third option as part of the weird arts of their Mistresses. The touch of a Claymoire can inflict a state of Pernicious Ennui upon those who fail a Save (spend next (1d4) hours bored and listless, unable to concentrate, defend or cast spells). Luckily, this particular specimen is incomplete, lacking its left leg and thus must either hop or drag itself along at half normal movement.
17. Fog Worms. Cold blue-tinged fog rolls in from the low places. The fog reduces visibility to (1d4) feet. It only gets more opaque if subjected to torches or Light spells. This effect covers an area (4d10) feet in radius and provides cover for a swarm of transparent aerial worms that will envelop their targets within the fog so as to strike by surprise. Fog Worms will wait for (1d4) minutes, then lash out wildly and blindly at everything within their rolling cloud of fog inflicting (2d4) damage on up to (3d6) randomly determined  targets. Anyone voluntarily offering-up a portion of their essence, in effect voluntarily suffering 1 point of temporary CON loss, will no longer be attacked by the worms for the duration of this encounter.
18. Implacable Colossus. Over a mile tall and incredibly ancient, these ponderous beings walk across the zones and regions of Jalamere as though deep in thought. Some host aeries of Harpies, or nests of Killhawk broods, while others have been colonized by tribes of strange beings whose ancestors have been left far, far behind them. A few have entire villages rigged-up within the cracks and crevices of their lower legs. Few have ever dared to climb much higher. It wouldn't be wise to draw their attention away from whatever it is that they are pondering on their travels.
19. Itchy Flakes. At first it looks like some sort of snow storm, or perhaps a strange dust storm, but no, it's a swirling and fluctuating area of semi-malevolent turbulence made up of millions of particles and fragments of dead skin. Anyone caught within this non-storm must Save or suffer from itchy irritation for the next (3d4) hours as well as experiencing a -4 penalty to all CHAR reaction rolls.
20. Special Encounter.

Jalamere: Encounters Within a 10 Mile Radius of the Black Ziggurat

This is a continuation of what we began in the previous Black Ziggurat of Jalamere post. We want to thank Blair of Planet Algol for his feed-back, encouragement and the contribution of a couple of entries to further flesh out the special encounters that might take place in the area surrounding this version of the Black Ziggurat.

[Get the free Swords & Wizardry (White Box) rules: http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm]


Encounters Within a 10 Mile Radius of the Black Ziggurat

1. Spatter Moths: 3d6 fluttering moths alight upon one randomly selected victim, taking 1d4 rounds to finally settle into place. They emanate a feeling of calm and peace and trust. Then they explode, covering the victim with a viscous, radioactive sludge that will provoke a CON check or Save to avoid incurring some minor, insectile mutation.
2. Cuneiform Tablet: Stained, pitted and chipped, but still legible...if you know this particularly rare, even extinct form of pre-human cuneiform made up of spiral impressions of ammonite shells that were pressed into the raw clay to form cyclic patterns. The Tablet is worth hundreds of gold to a linguist, sage or scholar and it only weighs about 20 pounds, so it could be carried out of here. However, anyone falling asleep near this thing will find themself dreaming of Malevolent Monoliths that will begin to hunt them down in their dreams for 2d4 nights, after which time the Malevolent Monoliths will begin to hunt the dreamer(s) down in the physical realm, taking 1d4 nights to reach them.
3. Transparent Humanoid Corpse: Only their bones are visible and their head is missing.
4. Writhing Mass (Type II): 1d4 bulbous, pulsating pustule-like conglomerations of what appears to be disparate types of acne-pocked flesh that roll and flop along the ground like blind slugs, always seeking any living thing smaller than itself that it can enfold, crush and absorb.
5. Poisonous Purple Radiance: Glimmering purple effulgences corruscate and perambulate across the rocky wasteland, teasing the edges of every surface like some weird sort of foxfire that leaves small droplets of dew condensing behind upon any and everything it touches. The dew is poisonous. Save or go blind.
6. Old Shoggoth: 1 very old, very large Shoggoth is seen slithering along in the far distance. It seems to be ignoring you. For now. Faint cries of Tekeli Li! in the course of the next 2d4 nights make it all but impossible to sleep. But then the thing seems to disappear. Maybe it has gone away for good?
7. Arachnocacti: 2d8 eight-limbed cactus-spider hybrids wait patiently for someone to come within reach of their grasping claws or venomous maws. Each Arachnocacti can spray a mass of prickly webbing equivalent to a Web spell up to 4 times a day, and anyone caught in these webs takes 1d4 points of damage per round that they attempt to move...or are moved about, like say if they were grasped and picked-up by the creature's claws and dragged towards the slavering fly-trap-like central fang-rimmed maw. The only good thing about these creatures is that they tend to be rooted and it takes them 4d6 turns to extricate themselves from the rocky soil before they can follow any prey that manages to get away. Oh, and their flesh is super-saturated with clean, pure water, so if you kill one, you can replenish your canteens and water-skins.
8. Rulak: 1d4 creepy fungal things come slithering through the shimmering air with bad intent. (as detailed for Labyrinth Lord HERE. )
9. Masked Watchers: 2d6 black robed and masked figures appear in the distance; waver like mirages; disappear in seconds although one PC may hear strange whispers on the wind. (From Blair of Planet Algol.)
10. Raging Blob: 3,000 pounds of succulent gristle and sweet-smelling skin rougher than an elephant's rump comes rolling and tumbling down the nearest slope right at the party. If the blob can catch anyone on the roll, it will extrude tentacles and attempt to grapple with them, otherwise it will come to a stop as close to the main cluster of the group and strike out at as many victims as it can reach at once. If a tentacle ensnares a victim (60%) it will attempt to reel them in towards a freshly opened mouth. If the tentacle pierces the victim, it will spew a larval froth into the wound and then rip the harpoon-like member free of their flesh, doing double damage. Anyone 'frothed' by the Blob will need to make a Save or fall into a coma as their body transforms into a micro-blob producing factory...[Raging Blob Labyrinth Lord stats (+Paper Mini)]
11. Spine Thieves: 3d4 eel-faced hominids clad in woven plastic armor and armed with either shock prods or burn-sticks slither quietly out of the shadows and attempt to subdue one or more stragglers or other likely-looking victims. They will render their target insensible, fetter them with quickloops and plastic manacles, then begin to extract the spine. It is very unlikely that a natural vertebrate will survive this process. If the PCs kill all of the Spine Thieves they will discover 2d4 spines preserved in durable sacs of translucent green fluid and 1d4 Cerebracrystals.
12. Glyph Block: Random PC trips over or stubs toe (save or take 1 pt. damage) on corner of corroded basalt tablet/block embedded in sand. Examination reveals glyphs worn away into illegibility but sinister in form. May be worth 1d100 gp to the right buyer but doubles chance of nocturnal random encounters while in possession. (From Blair of Planet Algol.)
13. Hovering Blue Pentazoid: 1d12 fractured poly-planar crystal formations that cut across 1d30 planar layers, creating conditions conducive for a roll or three on the Damned Things Tables every hour spent within ten miles of this spot. The Pentazoids are hyper-intelligent and with a little luck and a good Charisma reaction roll, they might teach a variant form of such spells as Contact Other Plane, Commune with Pentazoid, or Poly-Axial Realignment...but the Pentazoids will demand a grim price for this knowledge...
14. Petrocloptrian: 1d4 hovering telepathic alien beings who wield seven melee weapons at a time using a form of close-quarters telekinesis. They are hunting Bandersnatches and arrogantly disdain having any interactions with humans whom they see as coarse, vulgar and uninteresting. This is probably a good thing though, as the Petrocloptrians tend to hunt anything that they think is interesting in order to mount it upon the walls of their orbital estates. [Petrocloptrian S&W (White Box) stats] [Petrocloptrian Labyrinth Lord stats]
15. Aerial Jellyfish Swarm: 2d100 small but hyper-poisonous gelatinous sacs of living fluid flutter and squirm through the air, each one dangling a multitude of tiny thread-like tendrils that will sting anyone who comes into contact with them for 3d4 damage plus an immediate Save at -2 or suffer terrifying hallucinatory nightmares for 3d6 hours. Lizard-shamen often dance naked in the midst of these things in order to receive visions. Those that don't die are considered profoundly accomplished dreamers.
16. Malevolent Monoliths: 1d4 cyclopean slabs of intricately carved basalt that loom menacingly from their randomly sloping positions within the sand. If the Cuneiform Tablet (2) is present, the Monoliths will awaken and attack everyone in the immediate vicinity, beginning with Rays of Petrification and using Rock to Mud to convert the terrain to a gooey, sticky mess that will hamper their victim's ability to move.
17. Smoldering Lump of Radioactive Glass: Anyone approaching within a mile of this thing begins to make Saves of suffer increasingly negative radiation effects. Eventually a rise in the surrounding landscape will reveal the still-steaming shard of greenish glass sitting prettily at the very center of a crater that could well be over a mile in diameter...
18. Insectoid Cadaver: The scattered and defiled remains of 1d6 dismembered insectoids litter the immediate vicinity. There is a base 50% chance that these are Flytaur Type I Drone-Soldiers. [Flytaur Type I Labyrinth Lord Stats] [Flytaur Type I S&W (White Box) stats]
19. Pernicious Polyp: 1d6 black and tumorous masses of boils, bubbles and larva-like flesh, each one with a different configuration of eyes, mouths, feelers and tentacles circle around the PCs just out of range of any spell or fire-arms they might have. The Polyps will observe the party for 3d4 turns and then either attack in force if the group appears weaker than the Polyps, or else they'll leave. Wait for a day or two. Then circle back and see if luck has changed.
20. See the Writhing Masses & Worse Table.

Jalamere: Encounters Within 100 Miles of the Black Ziggurat

This table provides random encounters for those areas with a 100 mile radius surrounding the Black Ziggurat of Jalamere using Swords & Wizardry (White Box) rules.

This is a continuation of what we began in the previous Black Ziggurat of Jalamere post. We want to thank Blair of Planet Algol for his feed-back, encouragement and the contribution of a couple of entries to further flesh out the special encounters that might take place in the area surrounding this version of the Black Ziggurat.

[Get the free Swords & Wizardry (White Box) RPG: http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/whitebox.htm]

Encounters Within 100 Miles of the Black Ziggurat

1. Harpies (zombified) (1d6): HD 3; HP 11, AC 7[12], Atk Talons or weapon (+Shriek), Move 6/18 (when flying), Save 16, HDE/XP 4/120, Special: shriek [Shriek=Putrefy Food and Drink, replaces usual Harpies Siren Song ability] One in Six is a Lich-Spawn Harpy (HD 6;  HP 42; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 Talons, Bite or Weapons; Move 6/18 (flies); Save 13; HDE/XP 8/800 ; Special 2d6 random spells.)
2. Phalanxipede (1d4):  HD 3; HP 20, AC 5[14], Atk 1 Claws, Move 10, Save 16, HDE/XP 4/120, Special:  On a roll of '20' the Phalanxipede wraps around its victim doing double damage and improving its exterior AC by +2. The overlapping bands of chitinous armor on their broad backs will often have distorted, spiky structures jutting outwards that they can use in place of their claws, like the spears of an infantry phalanx. There are rumors of these things being used as war beasts...
3. Free Minds (2d4): HD 3; HP 9; AC 8[11]; Atk 1 Scathing Word; Move 12/8; Save 16; HDE/XP 5/250; Special: Immune to sleep, Gains a Save versus Physical attacks, has no Save versus Spells. Most have 1d4 random spells available. They will often agree not to harm anyone who willingly teaches them a new spell.
4. Alkaline Ooze (1): HD 3, HP 16, AC 8[11], Atk 1 strike; Move 1, Save 16, HDE/XP5/240; Special: Immune to Heat, Cold, Spells, Stone, takes half-damage from metal, takes double damage from wood--item then bursts into flames
5. Gargantupede (1d2): HD 6, HP 30, AC 0[18], Atk 1 bite, Move 20; Save 13; HDE/XP 8/800; Special: poison (+6 modifier to opponent's saving throw). Note: Gargantupedes tend to be 60' long and are attracted to the sound of flutes...
6. Dopplegangers (2d4): HD 4; HP 15; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 Claw; Move 9; Save 15; HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Immune to Sleep and charm, +5 on saving throw versus magic of all kinds; change appearance at will. They are mounted on zombie camels and are looking for the promised prophet of their people. Player characters must roll a D30, on a roll of '30' the Player character is 'recognized' as the Prophet by one of the dopplegangers. Keep rolling for each doppleganger. If they 'recognize' more than one 'prophet' then they begin fighting among themselves. Should the Player Character attempt to take advantage of the situation, the dopplegangers will re-roll for 'recognition' every time they encounter a group of non-dopplegangers...which could lead to some interesting results...
7. Dry Hags (1d4): HD 3; HP 11, AC 7[12], Atk Talons or weapon (+Spells), Move 6, Save 15, HDE/XP 4/120, Special: Dry Hags can attack with a Dessicatory Embrace on any To Hit roll of 19 or 20 forcing the target to Save or suffer 2d4 extra damage from being drained of moisture. Anyone killed in this manner becomes a Dry Dead slave to the Hags. Each one has 2d4 random spells and 1 or 2 magical weapons.
8. Starlit Mire (1): HD 3, HP 16, AC 8[11], Atk 1 Emanation of the Void; Move 0, Save 14, HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Anyone stepping into an area within a 30' radius of the Starlit Mire must Save or be exposed to the flesh-blasting cold of deep space. Should anyone be enveloped by the Mire for longer than 5 minutes, their corpse will be randomly teleported across space and time and lost forever.
9. Skin-Eaters (2d4): HD 2; HP 14; AC 6[13]; Atk 1 Claw or weapon; Move 9; Save 14; HDE/XP 4/120; Special: Every 6 points of damage inflicted by a Skin Eater results in the loss of 1 CHAR point, permanently (unless restored by magic/medicine). They may only have one over-sized claw, but they wield a wickedly barbed hook-cleaver in the more humanish off-hand. They really do eat the skin flayed from their victims.
10. Manticore (1d2): HD 6+4; HP 32; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 Claw, Bite or Tail-spikes; Move 12/8 (flies); Save 13; HDE/XP 8/800; Special flight and tail-spikes. (Manticore starts with 24 spikes and can hurl up to six spikes per attack to a maximum range of 180 feet.)
11. Womanticore (1d4): HD 6+3; HP 30; AC 4[15]; Atk 2 Claw, Bite or Tail-spikes; Move 12/8 (flies); Save 12; HDE/XP 9/900; Special flight and tail-spikes. (Womanticore starts with 36 spikes and can hurl up to four spikes per attack to a maximum range of 200 feet.) Special: Sussurussic Sibillance -- Womanticores can attempt to Charm any who listen to their voice and they make slaves of those who prove vulnerable to their uncanny wiles.
12. Mindless Shamblers (2d12): HD 1; HP 4; AC 8[11]; Atk 1 Strike or weapon; Move 6; Save 18; HDE/XP 2/25; Special: Immune to Sleep, Charm, all mind-related affects. On any roll of '20' the Mindless Shambler latches onto their victim and drains either 1 INT, WIS or CHAR, gaining that point for their own stats. Any Mindless Shambler achieving more than 3 points in each of the three affected areas begins to regain/develop their own points for these attributes at a rate of 1 point per attribute each week, but of course they can always speed this process up by absorbing points from victims. Anyone killed by a Mindless Shambler rises as one themself in 1d4 hours. Those who regain enough points become new personalities, lacking all recollection of whomever they might have been before, and are effectively new people...but they are a weird form of demi-undead, incapable of benefiting from Clerical healing (unless the cleric serves a deity of abominations/undead). Victims can recover their drained stats as normal, or speed the process via a Restoration spell.
13. Grollaks (3d6); HD 2+1; HP 16; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 Bite; Move 9; Save 16; HDE/XP 6/60; Special: Attack from below--they literally burrow underneath their prey and then burst forth from their shallow tunnel and attempt to drag the meat down into the darkness. Anyone who makes a Save hears or notices the shifting of the soil in time to prepare for the onslaught...otherwise the nasty little creatures will gain surprise. Note: Grollaks cannot burrow effectively through rock, they prefer loose soils and turf. One in Six encounters is not with a pack of Grollaks, but the collapse of one of their old tunnels.
14. Sting Worms (1d4): HD 7; HP 34; AC 3[16]; Atk 1 Sting; Move 8; Save 16; HDE/XP 9/1,100; Special: poison sting (poison is incredibly virulent and requires 3 consecutive saves to beat it).
15. Seething Seepage (1): HD 4; HP 26; AC 8[11]; Atk 1 Corrosive Saturation; Move 3; Save 15; HDE/XP 5/240; Special: Remains unseen as it lurks beneath debris and sand, waiting for victims to walk over its body, then it rears up and attempts to form a gelatinous crater or bowl from its own flesh that it then fills with a potent, corrosive stew of digestive juices. It takes less than 3 minutes for the 'bowl' to fill to capacity. The juices destroy leather, corrode metals, and discolor flesh that survives the attack to a grotesque mottled green and yellow that is easily recognized as the 'mark of the lurker.'
16. Dry Dead (2d6): HD 1; HP 4; AC 8[11]; Atk 1 Strike or weapon; Move 6; Save 18; HDE/XP 2/25; Special: One in six can perform Call Hag in place of an attack. Spell will summon 1d4 Dry Hags. When killed, these bodies crumble into clouds of choking, cloying dust that impedes visibility to 50% in a 30' radius.
17. Rampant Flesh (1d4); HD 4; HP 30; AC 5[14]; Atk 2 Bulgy Pseudopods; Move 6; Save 16; HDE/XP 6/400. Autonomous masses of living flesh that crawl about bonelessly and malevolently across the sands looking for things to eat.
18. Rock Giant (1d2): HD 8; HP 46; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 weapon or thrown rocks; Move 12; Save 11; HDE/XP 10/1,300; Special: Throw rocks for 3d6 damage or assume rock-form (immobile) to surprise prey/victims. Rock Giants can also cause Petrification by way of their gaze attack up to 3/times per day. These hulking brutes remain unaffected by all mental attacks, Charms or illusions. They will reform from rubble if not completely scattered over an area equal to one square mile per HD. Some rocks are actually the scattered remains of Rock Giants and can be caused to sprout into a small 1 HD version of the creature if soaked in blood for 1d4 hours. They tend to mature rather quickly, so long as they get plenty to eat...
19. Slimefall. Foul-smelling masses of greenish slime drizzle over everything for the next 1d4 hours and covering an area of roughly (3d6 miles). The slime seems inert, rotting and is thoroughly inedible. If it is exposed to necrotized flesh for longer than a day, it coalesces into a mass of actual Green Slime.
20. Special Encounter.

The Black Ziggurat of Jalamere



One More Sighting of the Infamous Black Ziggurat

Since it was first discovered by players in Blair's Planet Algol campaign early in 2010, the Black Ziggurat has appeared in a number of other games, settings and campaigns across the blog-o-sphere. In his post 'The Blackest Tesserzigguract', the idea of a cross-campaign 'Black Ziggurat' that subtly (and sometimes unsubtly) obtruded into all manner of other settings, planes, dimensions, etc. was further elaborated, to wit: There ought to be dozens of these things out there, all of them highly mysterious, hugely dangerous and potentially interconnected -- that last being subject to GM whim.


So there is a mysterious Black Ziggurat out amid the drifting dunes and harsh wastes of Jalamere. It reeks of preternatural power and pre-dates humanity by millions of years...and it is said by nomads and others who've been unfortunate enough to have encountered the place in their travels that the whole place exudes a miasmic influence that spawns nightmares and worse. Hungry spirits and worse things prowl the broken escarpment that forms a semi-natural wall around the Black Ziggurat.


No one sane goes there. No one sane has ever come back.

There are rumors of terrifying hybridized manticore-medusa creatures nesting in the escarpment near-by the Black Ziggurat, but no survivors have returned with any details as of yet.


No one from the surrounding area will willingly lead anyone to this place, except those of the Wultru and Nirizi tribes, but since those particularly unsavory humanoids are far from trustworthy, it may not be wise to hire their services in this regard...


Black Ziggurat Encounter Tables

• Encounters within a 1 mile radius
• Encounters within a 10 mile radius
• Encounters within a 100 mile radius
• encounters within a 1,000 mile radius
• Encounters at the Black Ziggurat
• Writhing Masses & Worse
• Special Encounters (Black Ziggurat)

20 Major Dungeons/Ruins (Jalamere)

Here's a quick list of 20 sites we want to make sure are included in the final map of Jalamere. So far.

Major Dungeon/Ruin Sites of Jalamere

1. Black Ziggurat (see Black Ziggurat of Jalamere and Black Ziggurat of Jalamere Part Two for more details concerning the immediate area surrounding this strange hyper-dimensional structure)
2. Borderland Keep
3. Brazen Tomb of Gargantua (One of many such entrances)
4. Crash-Site
5. Mysterious Mounds connected by subterranean canals
6. Octagonal Keep
7. Arid plateaus criss-crossed by lines like at Nazca, only for real, sort of...
8. Disangled Ruins
9. Phantasmal City that might not really be there after all
10. Village with strange inter-planar ties to Wermspittle...includes a section of Haunted Hop-Yards
11. Vast labyrinth of catacombs accessed via a dismal sepulchre like the one in The Statement of Randolph Carter by HPL
12. Peak Fortress of the Visitors
13. Crater-Lake within a Black Lagoon
14. Tsan Yian Colony-Dome
15. Escher-site: See Swords & Dorkery's Escher Challenge
16. Cliff-stairs
17. The Dome
18. Gardens of the Resolute Empress
19. Blasted Pyramids of Nitocrimelle
20. Lost City of Jikai

Details to follow...

Jalamere 2: Zones

Okay, so we handled Step One of Mr. Conley's 'How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox' Checklist in the Jalamere 1 post where we briefly introduced  the Worldrim and sketched-in something of the rough features that we had in mind for this Fantasy Sandbox. Now we're moving on to Step Two: Labeling Important Regions.


As you can see from the revised map above, we've color-coded the underlying terrain/pseudo-topography and broken it into Six Zones. The larger, 11x17/300dpi version of the Jalamere Zone Map is at our Free Stuff Folder at BOX, so if you want a copy, you can either click on it via the handy gadget in the right-hand side-bar, or click this link: http://www.box.net/shared/fdv1xfjrb9xzyraueesy .


The Six Zones range from Zone 1 which is the mostly vertical region of Great Cliffs that extend downwards from the very edge of the Worldrim; to Zone 6 which is a bleak, barren and very rugged environment dominated by shifting dust, grit and debris. There is one more zone, the Outer Zone where the atmosphere extends outwards from the Worldrim just enough to establish a semi-viable region dominated by flying beasts, harpies and worse, which would very likely be a Zone unto itself. But we're going to leave the Outer Zone alone for now and come back to it later.


Zone 1 is an extreme environment; Zone 2 is a windy rocky region where life is hanging on desperately and it may well be where the Player Characters are most likely to begin (though that could change...); Zone 3 is a transitional environment that shifts and combines aspects of Zones 2 and 4; Zone 4 is a little less windy, but a whole lot more rocky and goes from increasingly steep hills to mesa, buttes, and bad lands; Zone 5 is another transitional region that blends aspects of Zones 4 and 6 into one another; Zone 6 is the Deep Wastes, a cold, dusty, barren place where things tend to bleed through from other places.


Each Zone has a range of Terrain Types associated with it, and thus will have its own set of Weather, Effects, Events, Typical Encounters and Wandering Monster Tables. That will allow us to make each region more distinct and to build adventure seeds and plot-hooks that take advantage of the special conditions and opportunities to be found in each Zone.


Here are our preliminary notes for the Six Zones, so far. All of this is subject to change as we move ahead with this series, but this is a good beginning from which to start thinking about what sorts of creatures live here, and how people might adapt in order to survive in this place, etc.




Zone One Terrain Types

1. Rim Regions  -  Crumbling, eroded and unstable lands prone to collapse. Harpy Aeries and the Roosts of other kinds of Winged Folk are often encountered in these areas.
2. Edgelands  -  Rocky, lichen-dense regions where sparse grass and twisted trees try desperately to make things just a bit more stable. 
3. Waterfalls  -  Strange, slippery and extremely treacherous regions of mist, fog and mighty cataracts rushing off of the very edge of the Worldrim into whatever lies beyond. Ravenous great gray oozes are known to prowl these areas.
4. Cliffs  -  The craggy, heavily eroded and cracked vertical face of the Worldrim where gargoyles perch and more than just spiders hunt the unwary.
5. Abyssal Peaks  -  Massive half-gnawed remnants of ancient chunks of the Worldrim that have separated or fallen away from the current edge. Many are dotted with strange ruins and winged things will often flutter to and fro on strange errands.
6. Special  -  Chasms that run right to the edge like chutes, strange mounds or heaps of talus and debris raised right on the very edge of the world for unknown purposes, ruins clinging to the cliff-face, and other such places yet to be determined.

Zone Two Terrain Types

1. Rimward Steppes  -  Cold, constantly windy, hardscrabble region that is dominated by clusters of rocky formations that jut upwards into the clouds like the colossal fingers of dead gods.
2. Howling Hills  -  Bare and blasted regions of broken stone and huge boulders that whistle and moan with the passage of the winds and other things drawn to such utter desolation. Carnivorous lichens and outcast spirits congregate in the wind-lashed gaps and pockets formed by haphazard mounds of boulders scattered all over this area.
3. Grasslands  -  From coarse spiky grasses to elegant stands of bamboo, this region is dominated by rolling vistas of grasses, herds of grazing creatures, and the sporadic clumps of thorny brush or densely packed forests that stand out like leafy green islands surrounded by seas of grass waving and swaying in the capricious winds that come in off of the Howling Hills.
4. Woodlands  -  Vast, dark forests of gigantic trees that extend across the horizon like a living wall that obscures and hides what might lie beyond...or beneath their moss-draped and vine-heavy boughs.
5. Special  -  Gravel strewn gullies, brush-bordered gorges, chasms, pits, rock mounds, ruins, and such places.

Zone Three Terrain Types

1. Steep Hills  -  Extremely difficult, exceptionally steep vertical faces that may or may not be entirely overgrown with twisted trees, densely inter-connected brush and some weird form of quasi-terrene coral.
2. Canopy  -  Humid, foggy regions of intensely overgrown pseudo-rainforest and/or jungle.
3. Overgrown Canyons  -  Domed-over natural pockets formed by erosion and other factors that have become thriving and verdant ecologies almost entirely cut-off from the rest of the world.
4. Lesser Bad Lands  -  Harsh, dry, rocky landscapes in-between the smaller rivers and dense woodlands. The Bad Lands start and stop abruptly, with little warning and even less rhyme or reason. They may not be entirely natural.
5. Lost Valleys  -  Isolated, hidden places located along convoluted and treacherous arroyos, smaller rivers, or bad land regions that open up into fertile valleys, lush box canyons and other wide open spaces.
6. Broken Places  -  Weak-spots and vortexes that have a particularly sorcerous influence on the surrounding landscape.
7. Special  -  TBD

Zone Four Terrain Types

1. Bad Lands  -  Harsh, dry, rocky landscapes in-between the smaller rivers and dense woodlands. The Bad Lands start and stop abruptly, with little warning and even less rhyme or reason. They may not be entirely natural.
2. Overgrown Canyons  -  Domed-over natural pockets formed by erosion and other factors that have become thriving and verdant ecologies almost entirely cut-off from the rest of the world.
3. Woodlands  -  Vast, dark forests of gigantic trees that extend across the horizon like a living wall that obscures and hides what might lie beyond...or beneath their moss-draped and vine-heavy boughs.
4. Pit Jungles  -  Massive sink-holes where the vegetation runs rampant and geysers spew super-heated steam upwards into the sky at random intervals.
5. Alkali and Salt Pans  -  Dry, dreary, desolate regions where very little grows and less can survive.
6. Special  -  TBD.

Zone Five Terrain Types

1. Alkali and Salt Pans  -  Dry, dreary, desolate regions where very little grows and less can survive.
2. Rocky Wastes  -  Bare expanses of crumbling and pitted rock with little else to be seen.
3. Collapsed Area  -  The crust has subsided or given way in this area, leaving everything a topsy-turvy mess of jumbled rock and shifting soil that is extremely treacherous to navigate on foot.
4. Thorn Forest  -  Dark, sinister clumps of ancient thorn-bushes the size of ancient trees. Few, if any birds can be spotted here.
5. Fern Niches  -  Eroded-out sections of cliffs, hills or even ancient colossal rockfalls that provide enough of an overhang to create a pleasant environment for all manner of ferns.
6. Special  -  Flat sandy regions, places of congealing shadows, coterminous ruins that lead across a dozen or more regions of time and space, dreaming woods, and more.

Zone Six Terrain Types

1. Barrens  -  Unpleasant stretches of broken hills, blasted buttes and convoluted --even curdled-looking canyons and defiles that extend outwards and onwards into the shimmering haze that marks the distant beginnings of the Deep Wastes.
2. Rocky Wastes  -  Bare expanses of crumbling and pitted rock with little else to be seen.
3. Collapsed Area  -  The crust has subsided or given way in this area, leaving everything a topsy-turvy mess of jumbled rock and shifting soil that is extremely treacherous to navigate on foot.
4. Thorn Forest  -  Dark, sinister clumps of ancient thorn-bushes the size of ancient trees. Few, if any birds can be spotted here.
5. Dust  - Seemingly endless shifting dunes of ultra-fine dust.
6. Gritlands  - Slightly caustic fields of grit that grind away at everything that comes into contact with this region.
7. Deep Wastes  -  Dark, dismal, haunted and accursed regions that extend outwards into whatever lies beyond.
8. Special  -  Vortexes, Weak-spots, Nexii, and all manner of weird and Damned Things.