Aquatic Peoples of the Brook and River

Today’s inspiration is two variations of a mermaid with stats for Dungeon World and Pathfinder. One is inspired by the Amazon River Dolphin and the other my own invention, a small mermaid suited for life in streams and brooks.

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Rivfolk

A woman washes her clothes near the river when a splash of water catches her eye. She barely misses the sight of a pink tail disappearing back into the muddy waters. The washing board drops from her hand as she turns to run, but she slows to look over her shoulder and catch the eye of the handsome man now standing on the shore.

Making their home in deep rivers and lakes, rivfolk possess the most magical abilities of all aquatic peoples. At night, rivfolk can turn their tails into legs; rivmen use this ability primarily to seduce human women. Some even believe that there are no rivmaids, and that the rivmen depend on human women to continue their species. All rivfolk act as guardians of the river they live in and will drown those who seek to harm it.

Contessa Moldred’s Mad Winery

An adventure prompt for Halloween! This is slightly darker than I usually like to write, but it is Halloween. Hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think in the comments.

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The cold floor seeped through her dress, through her skin, through her muscles and came to rest in her bones. She waited for It to start again. The clawing, the screaming, and the pain. The door squeaked open, a figure slipped in.

“Hold out your arm.”

Meeting the Nomadic Queen

Just one ‘box-text’ description this week. I was planning on doing a few ‘Meeting Nobility’ box-texts, but then started working on a Halloween Adventure. If you have any ‘nobility’ scenes you’d like to see me write about, please put them in the comments.

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Lines of black tents crouch low in the desert sands, the roofs of each sagging upon their supports; one tent toward the center of the encampment towers above the rest. From a distance, the tents look abandoned aside from some small black goats. Inside the tall tent, however, many people in billowing black dress lounge on low couches covered in colorful cushions. Rugs completely cover the sandy ground. An updraft sweeps through the tent and through the tent’s roof, providing much needed relief from the heat. On the finest couch sits a woman whose black dress is embedded with golden thread shimmering even in the dim light. White diamonds and gold hang heavily from her ears, fingers and neck. She holds a long pipe in one hand and with her other, sips from a dainty cup smelling of strong coffee.

New New Tinkertown

Here are five ‘box-text’ descriptions for the town of New, New Tinkertown, a technologically-forward city that acts as a magnet for inventors. This town was designed by Eric Lochstampfor, and you can find his full design layout here. His idea was expanded upon with permission for this post.

The purpose of ‘box-text’ descriptions is to set the scene by reading them aloud during your game.

Center Town

The main business and tour district.

“Welcome to Center Town!” loudly proclaims the giant sign atop New New Tinkertown’s Grand Pavilion. Under the pavilion, an automaton band continuously plays the latest hit tunes, although it’s hard to hear with all the other sounds competing for attention. People rush by in vehicles of all sorts: odd two-wheeled ‘cyclers,’ golem carriages, even giant kites which soar through the air. Inventors’ contraptions whirl, blink and dance outside the shops to lure customers inside.

The Burn

An area abandoned after a Tinker’s invention violently exploded.

While a few steps away the streets hum with traffic, here not even a stray haunts the burned-out ruins.