Language is an essential part of any culture. Culture wouldn't exist without some form of communication, and humans communicate by speaking. But the connection is deeper even than that. The language helps to define the culture which uses it, and is in turn affected by that culture. This dynamic process is what keeps a language 'alive': Latin is a dead language because the culture to which it belonged no longer exists.

This looks like an elaborately fashioned wooden egg-cup, but it is a powerful magical tool, used mainly by witches to conjure up spirits and familiars.

Hathalfar holds the writhing troll down with his gloved fist and sword. The beast squirms at the touch of metal. 'How far is Kolm?' he demands for the third time. 'I said! A long way away,' replies the troll.

She has everything: stunningly good looks, sharp brains and oodles of power: she's going to be a Queen. The only drawback is that she doesn't want to be a Queen.

A dangerous book of maps...

Sometimes locks need that extra sharp fingernail to twist the catch. Sometimes a thief might find himself locked in a prison with a wooden door. The Muzzled Mouse is a hideous little tool which helps one in such situations...

The mystery of fyre is one which has much occupyed my studies and the studies of men before me. ... I have concluded that fyre is the product of Fyre Antes.

Professor J Klewlise, "On the nature and origin of fyre" (1542)

The grisly anthropomorphisation of a rockfall...

When wizards go mad, what curious ruins do they leave behind?

The silver necklaces whose inset gems display the status of the wearer.

Dragons, being huge and meaty, are the ideal habitat for countless unpleasant parasites.

Two sly-looking men turn up in town accompanied by a third man who says very little and who they don't allow to be seen much.

To give a world a feeling of otherworldliness, it is best to replace some standard, everyday objects by imaginitive replacements. I thought I'd turn to musical instruments as music often defines (or embodies) a culture.

This is just a first idea, feel free to post some more, because I will...

A transcription, beyng the seminal introduction by Mr S J Ponsuler to the theory and praxis of Dracapodemy, the studie of Dragons' migration patterns. This tome ys to be founde in the librarie of Anserne University, alonge with many years of copies of the Dracapodemyst's Almanac not to mention verious othere tomes on the subjecte.

(Another submission I'm transferring over to the main site from the fora).

A disembodied hand enthralled by an evil wizard to fetch books for him.

In the darkness in the south transept of the Cathedral of Isielles stands the resplendent Clock of Shadows. It tells more than just the time of day...

Creepy, Crawley, Buzzing, Digging, Biting, Building, Sticking, Jumping, Clicking, and all the other things these small things do.

The characters are stranded on an island, where a wizard, corrupted by the powers of the first Blue Book, has been killed by his own magical experiments. They will discover the awful truth that lurks in his subterranean workshop, and a seed of evil will be sown...

Unknown to anyone, a glamorous ball for the Duke of Erezi will turn into a confusing and chaotic bloodbath.

Archaeologists have long wondered about the origins of 'cup and ring-marked stones', the mysterious rocks found on deserted tracts of moorland bearing markings resembling small shallow pits with concentric rings and dating to the Bronze-age.