The Spirit Waterfall
A small river cascades ten metres down, ending in a large pool at the bottom of the waterfall. As the PCs make their way down they hear whispering voices giggle and laugh, but no one can be seen and the sounds seem to be coming from all around.

If the PCs should chance to peek into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, they can glimpse female faces below the surface, bare skinned women of breathtaking beauty that wink and wave to them before they disappear into the mud beneath.

These are water spirits, 3 in number, and quite harmless, well mostly at least. They are unable to appear physically and can only be seen in the surface of the water (they would disappear should a PC dive after them). They have some control of the currents of the water and they can speak and sing, but mostly they just giggle and laugh.

The water spirits are sundered things, mostly benign but murderously mischievous at dusk and dawn. At these times they might tempt mortals to enter the waters and then use their powers to pull that individual beneath the surface, effectively trying to drown him. Only an exceptional swimmer, water magics or external help can aid such an individual.

The spirits change nature between night and day, even their laughter taking on a more somber (or eerie if you want) sound during the night. During that transition they are highly unstable. Go to Comment

Though I use one or two paragraphs more than the norm, I must say I LOVE these threads: They have revived my initiative and enabled me to post something short enough for me to have the time to do so. Go to Comment

The Troll Settlement
Credit goes to: Morgan, a former game master I've played with

As the PCs make their way through the dense trees of the forest, they suddenly can hear odd sounds somewhere far in front. "Gah-Gah-Gah! Ratsy-patsy-smash-bang!" is uttered by some gurgling voice and is accompanied by the squishing sound of something soft being slammed into something hard.

Then the trees become thinner and it is clear that some sort of cave is in front, leading down under a small hillock. In front of that cave is an ugly creature: A fledgling troll in his bear-skin diapers holding a rather dead giant rat by the tail. "Squishy-ratsy!" the child gurgles and resumes its slamming of the rat carcass into trees and rock, sqealing with delight as fragments of blood rain over its juvenile face.

The child is easily as tall as a 6' man even though it is sitting on its rump. Its strength is equal to that of two enraged barbarians and its wit a quarter of the intellect of aforementioned barbarian. If it can get its hands on a PC and begin its "squisy-game" with "new toys" it would be thrilled.

Inside the cave its mother is slaving over the cauldron, but will come to the aid of her child at an instance.

Father is not to be seen and has not been home for years (slain by valiant PCs no doubt). The mother talks a strange dialect of the PCs main tongue and can be reasoned with (not if her "gooly-goo" has been hurt). She is a mean adversary and quite skilled with the cleaver. If the child has been hurt in any way, she will go berserk and will fight even though she should be dead. She must literally be hacked apart. Go to Comment

I feel partial, but hey, had I not loved it I wouldn't have contributed. 5/5 + HoH Go to Comment

I felt partial and thus unable to vote. Go to Comment

The Dark Circle
Note: Makes use of another sub: Of Demons

The Dark Circle was a sisterhood of witches that believed in a spirit called "The Lord of Seven Desires". This spirit, or demonic power really, was the center of their ritual prayer, their divinations and the one they praised during their ritual murder-rape of men caught in the woods.

The PCs have arrived at their forested abode, a medium sized brick building surrounded by a ramshackle wooden fence. In the trees surrounding the building the sisterhood has strung up chickens after their neck. This marks their territory and also acts as a boundary: That which is within is consecrated ground - holy to the Lord of Seven Desires and his flock. The newest chickens are now days old, and maggots and flies infest them.

As soon as the PCs approach the brick building, something will seem odd. There is a whining noise from within, like the sound of steam from a kettle (which it is). Not only that, but the walls seem to be splattered in blood.

The reason is simple: The sisters of the Dark Circle finally acquired enough magic prowess and knowledge to summon the Lord of Seven Desires, or what they believed to be him. To enable him to manifest, the head sister, Lataran of Salmore, offered her naked body for possession and was placed inside a summoning circle. What really happened is uncertain, but the entity they summoned was not their beloved Lord of Seven Desires, but a darker entity still - The Demon known as "Murder, scion of Psychosis" by the learned, or simply "Malarch" by laymen.

As soon as the PCs go through the fence gate they will notice ten naked and mutilated women heaped against the fence. Their skin seems burnt, or boiled, and they have been cut with a knife again and again: eyelids cut away, gaping rifts from crotch to navel and so on. The only ones reveling in this ghastly sight are the flies, of which there seems to be millions.

It will turn out that only sister Lataran still lives, the unhappy victim of demonic manifestation. The demon allows her to have control of eyes and mouth and she will stalk the PCs, crying and begging; madly, frantically muttering childrens rhymes (she has gone completely bonkers and her mind is often seeking solace and comfort in the memories of childhood).

She appears naked, excepting a huge butchers knife and a kettle that is steaming, even though it is not on a fireplace. Her body is covered in rifts and wounds and it seems she is scolding herself as well as her victims.

First sighting:
Sister Lataran will crouch naked in front of a deceased sister, singing a childrens' song and pouring boiling water onto her breasts. She will also be scratching something onto the cheek of the woman. When the PCs step closer, she turns around and runs into another room. When the PCs check out the corpse, they will discover that the words "You are next"

Supernatural abilities gained by the demon presence:
-Twice natural speed
-Can be utterly silent if it desires, but it thrives on the horror that the muttering and boiling steam instills in the PCs. It is also so arrogant it believes it cannot be defeated by mere mortals.
-Supernatural strength
-Immune to soul affecting magics

Limitations:
- Body is tougher than normal, but still feels pain (it is the enslaved spirit of sister Lataran that screams, not the demon)
- Arms hacked off stay hacked off (no regeneration)
- Organ damage is most likely fatal, though blood loss seems not so dangerous.
- Vulnerable to frost related magics and holy items and weapons

Tactics:
- Hit and run (The PCs will hear the sound of the kettle and the maddened crying and muttering ever "around the next corner" (she is using her superior speed to toy with them). She will then hit the PCs, preferably a lone PC, and try to murder him quickly. If she does murder him, she will also try to mutilate his/hers corpse and pour boiling hot water over his/hers carcass.

She will not tire until they are all dead or she is dead (or exorcised) herself. Go to Comment

I just have to add:
This little seance took an hour of real time and it horrified the players. They were so afraid they didn't know what to do. It was a huge success! Go to Comment

Romancing the Stone

As the PCs approach the sound of a great commotion deep in a wooded clearing, they come upon a tied up runty satyr and two seedy looking men arguing quite loudly. It seems that the Satyr knows where one of the legendary Thrar stones could be found, or at least that is what the two treasure-hunters believe. They are getting ready to torture the young satyr into telling them its location. The PCs can react any number of ways. The truth of the matter, is the satyr has no idea what a Thrar stone even is, much less where one can be found, but if the PCs rescue the poor creature from the bullies, they would have his great appreciation, which may manifest itself in a later forest adventure or encounter. Go to Comment

Another beaut Scras! Go to Comment

Whispering Pines

One way or another the PCs find themselves in that "haunted" part of the forest, men call the Whispering Pines. The trees do indeed seem to "whisper" as they mysteriously rustle, even in times of little to no wind. This area is generally spooky and eerie, but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens as the PCs traverse this strange patch of wood. Unidentifiable sounds, strange glimpses, and general weirdness always seem to be present here, but this is nothing more than a a stretch of forest meant to freak out PCs, who are ofcourse bracing for the "worst" as they make their way among the Whispering Pines. Go to Comment

I like this one...simply because I KNOW how my PCs would react. They would slaughter the pursuing men first, then ask questions later. After all, "there are naked woman...running...being chased...men with wolf-head hoods...MUST BE HERO, MUST KILL...then go get "thanked"!!!" :D Go to Comment

Thusly HE spake, and so it came to be. Go to Comment

Romancing The Stone Part II

The runty satyr returns when the PCs least expect him. Perhaps a different forest? or quite some time later in the same woods. He proudly presents the PCs with one of the actual Thrar Stones! Runty claims that after the PCs saved his furry skin, the satyr inquired about Thrar Stones among his fellow forest dwellers. He was directed to an ancient elm, where one such rare stone could be found. He retrieved it, and now gifts it to the PCs for saving his life. Oh goody! A good deed, an appreciative and enterprising satyr, and now a reward!

One problem. This particular Thrar Stone is imbued with a curious taint. Whomever possesses it for some time, begins to long for the particular forest of its origin. The stone ever wishes to return to its elm, and no matter where or how far the PC travels, a controllable but nagging urge to return to "that place where we saved the satyr" is always felt. This can certainly vex fellow PCs. Go to Comment

Definitely another really useful scroll... Go to Comment

The Shadowy Heart

The party discovers that their path leads down into a valley within the wood. The foliage overhead is much more dense that that seen on other parts of the forest, blocking nearly all the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. As they cautiously proceed, they discover that there is little underbrush, but the ground ahead is strangely spongy and covered with small mushrooms. A scent of decay hangs in the air here.

Near the center of the valley, an ancient tree stands, its vine-covered trunk strangely swaying in a nonexistent wind. This unnerving titan of the forest almost seems to pulse with blasphemous energy, if one watches long enough. Go to Comment

Great scroll, perfect for any trek through the wilds. Small reminder to update the table of contents with the new entries after the smelly ones. Go to Comment

An interesting set of random encounters.  Quite a few of them serve only to increase the atmosphere of a place, but I guess that can be useful for roleplaying purposes.

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Take a look at Books if you still won't have enough. :) Go to Comment

Though I'm not a fan of the particular submissions of mine which you chose... SOme of my earlier, shittier work. Go to Comment

I am very amused by each item having a link to another item. Go to Comment