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Post by hengest on Jul 18, 2021 20:41:23 GMT -5
This courtyard is nearly a ruin, but a fresh ruin. There is water still in the pool around the fountain, and if you look close, you see movement that tells you it must be refreshed with a trickle even now. The broken benches have no moss on their newly-exposed surfaces. And the lovely statue is untouched. She sits almost as if seeing something at a distance. Without meaning to, you look in the direction of her gaze and, for a flicker of a moment, you see something other than the wood that surrounds the courtyard. Then nothing.
As you turn away, you hear a voice. "Sir," it says, "be so kind and give me a cup of water. I know it runs clear, but I feel so stiff and tired."
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Post by hengest on Jul 18, 2021 20:55:15 GMT -5
It is past midnight in the center of the town, but the waning moon gives you more than enough light to see by. As you pass through the square, your eyes are drawn to the dark form of the statue. At a distance, it appears almost resistant to what light there is in the square.
You walk up closer until you can see the statue better. Trying to make out the features in the gloom, you see some things you cannot explain. The statue appears to be standing, but at the same time, you see ghostly images of it doing other things on its pedestal: reaching out, pivoting as if to run, crouching down. You stare, transfixed, for a few seconds, until you think it must simply be fatigue and the darkness playing tricks on your eyes. You turn to go and find yourself face to face with the statue, close enough to feel its stony breath.
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Post by hengest on Jul 19, 2021 9:26:34 GMT -5
Moving cautiously through the rusted gate into abandoned city, you walk in a ways and turn around to take stock. On the inner wall, just above the gate, perched on a narrow balcony of stone, stands a startled young woman, utterly out of place in this ruin. You stare, wondering how she got there. After a few seconds, she calls to you in a voice so desperate as to be trusting, "Help...help me down from here."
Outcome 1: You go to help her down immediately, not taking your eyes off her. The little balcony is not so high, after all, and you are able to scramble up a bit, cling to the ledge, and awkwardly help her to crawl into your free arm until she can jump down without fear. As you plop back onto the earth beside her, she gazes at you, looking about as bewildered as you do.
Outcome 2: Having overcome your surprise and suspicion, you say you will find a ladder and come back. Turning away from her, you enter what looks like a watch house and rummage around. Calling to her over your shoulder, you hear no response.
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Post by mao on Jul 20, 2021 6:07:30 GMT -5
Moving cautiously through the rusted gate into abandoned city, you walk in a ways and turn around to take stock. On the inner wall, just above the gate, perched on a narrow balcony of stone, stands a startled young woman, utterly out of place in this ruin. You stare, wondering how she got there. After a few seconds, she calls to you in a voice so desperate as to be trusting, "Help...help me down from here." Outcome 1: You go to help her down immediately, not taking your eyes off her. The little balcony is not so high, after all, and you are able to scramble up a bit, cling to the ledge, and awkwardly help her to crawl into your free arm until she can jump down without fear. As you plop back onto the earth beside her, she gazes at you, looking about as bewildered as you do. Outcome 2: Having overcome your surprise and suspicion, you say you will find a ladder and come back. Turning away from her, you enter what looks like a watch house and rummage around. Calling to her over your shoulder, you hear no response. Outcome 3 You reach up to grab her and as your hand touches her she turns back into a statue again and falls on you. You have to make a saving throw or she hits you for 3d6 damage |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jul 20, 2021 8:56:34 GMT -5
Moving cautiously through the rusted gate into abandoned city, you walk in a ways and turn around to take stock. On the inner wall, just above the gate, perched on a narrow balcony of stone, stands a startled young woman, utterly out of place in this ruin. You stare, wondering how she got there. After a few seconds, she calls to you in a voice so desperate as to be trusting, "Help...help me down from here." Outcome 1: You go to help her down immediately, not taking your eyes off her. The little balcony is not so high, after all, and you are able to scramble up a bit, cling to the ledge, and awkwardly help her to crawl into your free arm until she can jump down without fear. As you plop back onto the earth beside her, she gazes at you, looking about as bewildered as you do. Outcome 2: Having overcome your surprise and suspicion, you say you will find a ladder and come back. Turning away from her, you enter what looks like a watch house and rummage around. Calling to her over your shoulder, you hear no response. Outcome 3 You reach up to grab her and as your hand touches her she turns back into a statue again and falls on you. You have to make a saving throw or she hits you for 3d6 damage   Killer DM mode |
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Post by hengest on Jul 20, 2021 10:03:15 GMT -5
Moving cautiously through the rusted gate into abandoned city, you walk in a ways and turn around to take stock. On the inner wall, just above the gate, perched on a narrow balcony of stone, stands a startled young woman, utterly out of place in this ruin. You stare, wondering how she got there. After a few seconds, she calls to you in a voice so desperate as to be trusting, "Help...help me down from here." Outcome 1: You go to help her down immediately, not taking your eyes off her. The little balcony is not so high, after all, and you are able to scramble up a bit, cling to the ledge, and awkwardly help her to crawl into your free arm until she can jump down without fear. As you plop back onto the earth beside her, she gazes at you, looking about as bewildered as you do. Outcome 2: Having overcome your surprise and suspicion, you say you will find a ladder and come back. Turning away from her, you enter what looks like a watch house and rummage around. Calling to her over your shoulder, you hear no response. Outcome 3 You reach up to grab her and as your hand touches her she turns back into a statue again and falls on you. You have to make a saving throw or she hits you for 3d6 damage 3d6, what a dame! But seriously, I like the twist here. My idea was that she's a statue when nobody's looking at her (so you can detect this only by talking to her while you're doing something else). I like that touch would re-freeze her when you aren't expecting it. |
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Post by hengest on Jul 20, 2021 14:41:54 GMT -5
No one has much to say about the stone statue that sits hunched in grief at the edge of the pond. Children do come here to fish, but they keep a respectful distance from the statue. There are no jokes or games centered on her. Some call her "the statue," and some "the lady." It is said among the children that the lady turned to stone when she cried all her tears away. Why she cried for so long is unclear. Some say she missed her lover, who drowned, and some say she lost a lovely golden ball.  |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jul 20, 2021 15:58:10 GMT -5
No one has much to say about the stone statue that sits hunched in grief at the edge of the pond. Children do come here to fish, but they keep a respectful distance from the statue. There are no jokes or games centered on her. Some call her "the statue," and some "the lady." It is said among the children that the lady turned to stone when she cried all her tears away. Why she cried for so long is unclear. Some say she missed her lover, who drowned, and some say she lost a lovely golden ball. Have an Exalt! |
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Post by hengest on Aug 2, 2021 20:43:44 GMT -5
The Lady of the LakeA few minutes of paddling will bring you to the small island with its strange stone platform in the middle of the lake. It is as it appeared from shore: there is nothing really to moor your boat to, and nothing but the statue of the lady on the platform, save the crumbled remains of two other statues. The lady looks proud and strong in her bearing, almost royal. She is made of black marble but her eyes are a pink-purple porphyry. The air this far out is cool and refreshing. The atmosphere is peaceful, with only a long-faded bitter taste to it. The lady may speak to those on her island. She may prefer to speak on one of these topics: 1d4| 1 | what happened to her fellow statues | | 2 | who she was in life and how she came to be here | | 3 | her knowledge of the lake and local lands around it, detailed but somewhat out of date | | 4 | why her eyes are made of a different stone |
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Post by hengest on Jan 11, 2022 23:05:59 GMT -5
The statue of the lady astride her pony-sized cat is the centerpiece of the square. Both are painted to look quite lifelike, although the paint is beginning to show its lack of maintenance.
The lady has dark hair in loose ringlets and light brown skin. She is depicted leaning a bit forward, as if anxious to ride. Her scale armor that covers her torso is shown as tight enough to reveal her woman's form, which suggests artistic license or perhaps that the armor was purely ceremonial and was in fact so form-fitting. Instead of any kind of shin armor, she is wearing functional-looking black leather boots with a couple inches of heel. The outfit is completed by the hoodless cloak sculpted so as to look a bit like it is catching the wind without actually flying out behind the rider.
The cat may be even more lifelike than the rider. Its musculature is recognizable as feline but gives an impression of the robustness that would be required to carry a human rider. You get the sense that the cat, at least, was sculpted with reference to a live model. It seems it could not be a product of pure imagination.
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Post by hengest on Jun 26, 2022 20:17:18 GMT -5
The statue of the lady astride her pony-sized cat is the centerpiece of the square. Both are painted to look quite lifelike, although the paint is beginning to show its lack of maintenance. The lady has dark hair in loose ringlets and light brown skin. She is depicted leaning a bit forward, as if anxious to ride. Her scale armor that covers her torso is shown as tight enough to reveal her woman's form, which suggests artistic license or perhaps that the armor was purely ceremonial and was in fact so form-fitting. Instead of any kind of shin armor, she is wearing functional-looking black leather boots with a couple inches of heel. The outfit is completed by the hoodless cloak sculpted so as to look a bit like it is catching the wind without actually flying out behind the rider. The cat may be even more lifelike than the rider. Its musculature is recognizable as feline but gives an impression of the robustness that would be required to carry a human rider. You get the sense that the cat, at least, was sculpted with reference to a live model. It seems it could not be a product of pure imagination. Another totally forgotten thread! I wish I were the guy that wrote all this! Anyway, on another note, starting it here rather than in another thread... How about a Living Statue template to be fleshed out in each campaign where it occurs? A statue of a founder or noteworthy personage, perhaps even more interesting if not a noble but a widely admired commoner. The statue may return to life in a time of great need for its people. A statue might be the actual ruler, and the fleshly lords are only stewards. Maybe this calls for a generator... |
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Killer DM mode