The Cliff and Valley
Another continuatio of the heroes' journey through Daemonland.
An ancient spirit known as the Elephant God said to them 'Thou hath defeated me, and thou shalt have thy prize: All the valleys and forest beyond yon cliff art for thou and thine.' Having beaten the not-so-malevolent spirit and laid it to rest, the heroes now stand at the edge of the greatest cliff in all the world. The land they see is know theirs, but what does it hold?
The heroes, weary and broken after a race through the hellish deserts of Outer Daemonland, stand above the ancient cliffs. The Elephant God has finally been put to rest. He was not as evil as he appeared to be. He has promised the heroes the land that they now see. But how to get down the titanic, nearly-sheer cliffs?
-There is a ruined fortress of a curious sort, perched on the edge of the cliff. Tunnels beneath the fortress wind down to the bottom, but all manner of vile beasts and indescribable beings dwell in these tunnels, and they are highly unstable to boot.
-Several miles to the east, a cyclopean stairway has been carved from the face of the cliff. The broken bases of titanic columns rest on every other step. Some of these columns are intact, and some may have fallen across the stair, smashing the steps or blocking the way with their bulk.
-If the heroes are well prepared, they may have climbing gear with them. If so, they can rappel down the cliff.
-If they travel two miles to the west and cross over a dune, the heroes will come to an oases of pure water where a group of sheer-stalkers lives. (Sheer-stalkers: Beasts that walk down sheer cliffs.)
-Magical means, of course.
When the heroes find a way to the bottom of the cliff, they find themselves in a lush, swampy forest. To the south, the clouded wall of the cliffs soars into the sky. To the north, the forest stretches to the foothills of the most fantasticaly high mountains the heroes have ever seen, white and glimmering with snow and ice. There are bizarre animals found nowhere else in the world in this valley, and beings that have not existed elsewhere for millions of years, including:
-Assorted Dinosauria, including Tyrant Lizards (T-Rex), and Quick Slashers (Velociraptors).
-Dire animals.
-Races that are thought to be extinct.
In addition, the place is filled with ancient ruins that seem to call out to the heroes, filling their minds with irrational promises.
The heroes, if they have not fared so well during their journey through Daemonland, find that the forest is bountiful enough to be a home. They may leave if they wish, or stay, but sometime within three days of seeing the mysterious mountain peaks at the north end of the valley, the heroes will get a strange urge to seek those mountains.
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? Responses (9)
I supppose this is more of a setting...
And a pretty unique setting at that. Might be worth a move. Except for the sporadic cliff cave encounters, I think a kingdom on a cliff is a great addition. After all, it happened in real life. Like the addition of the cliff walkers too, although of those I would love to hear more of.
BUMP!
I never should have gone past 'We Generals Three'.
This actually got me to thinking about a vertical dungeon, like a mine or something, but where most of the corridors are vertical instead of horizontal. Most often, people in a dungeon skip over the parts where you're walking down a corridor. What if you had to rappel down each corridor or climb ropes back up? This would make the encounter with a wandering monster VERY interesting. I was thinking about the movie 'Them!', a nuclear mutation of ants, maybe the ants could be like crawling around in their caves and such, and attack as they are easily climbing and moving around(they have no problems with the corridors being vertical). I can see something like this being particularly deadly, though, if you have long vertical drops and encounters in those drops. 'The bug knocks you off your rope, you drop 200 feet to your death.' Ah well, something to consider.
Heh, vertical dungeons are cool. Years ago my players had to flee up the pulley chains of a dysfunctional tower elevator while hundreds of enemies pursued them. On the different tower levels they found remains after the previous occupants... alchemical explosives, tables, ropes, etc. all of which they put to good use. (If they did not put it to good use, I made certain their hunters used them). Well, the players managed to ascend the tower and flee on the balustrade, ducking beneath the parapet as they ran (to avoid detection by those who had not entered the tower), ultimately escaping into the mountain tunnel network the balustrade connected with, but the players never forgot that exhilarating vertical struggle, and it still stands as one of the more exciting battles they ever played. What can I say? Vertical battles rule. =)
It should of had more votes in the past. I don't know why they didn't transfer. This is what I voted a long time ago.
BUMP!
You can turn it into a setting now, if you wish.
Interesting setting, but I would like to see a lot more added to it.
It's got good bones :)
