The Despotic Queen of Shiant has decreed that a competition will take place in the month of Oconerry. She will have built a labyrinth through which the contenders must pass in order to win the ultimate prize: her hand in marriage.

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.

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.

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)

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...

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

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.

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

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

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

Although it can be a distraction, it can also add atmosphere to an adventure to have music playing in the background. Here are some pieces I'd recommend for different situations.

An icky sideline plot to a forest adventure.

"When our barbarian ancestors first arrived on the plains of our homeland, they found them covered in dust inches thick. They named them Muranvan, the Dusty Plains and armed with spades they cleared the dust heaving it off the edge of the world. For they had been chasing the Prey for long aeons up the face of the cliffs at the edge of the world, and in the chase had tired of their nomadic ways. They wanted a stable home. So they founded Takvanak, the City on the Plains. In the long silence after they had cleared the dust from Muranvan, rang out the deep and unforgettable tones of the Iron Heart, Saekeri, and the barbarians knelt and felt resounding reverence."

- The Saekeran, book 1 verse 1.

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...

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.

The grisly anthropomorphisation of a rockfall...

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).

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

Carmo keeps a shop in the backstreets of Erezi. It's not often visited, Carmo makes people feel...uneasy. Even the veterans of the Erezi underworld are uncomfortable being alone with Carmo. But they need to buy their traps from somewhere...