WIP for the Antarctic Hexcrawl Jam
303-372 Kandinsky’s Mountain
A winding path leads upwards to a 300′ high hill. The trees and ground are stained with blue dye, faded into purple (remnants of the destruction left by the Purple Wizard Monet). At its top is a cairn of red stones with a leaden plaque. On its face is the following inscription: “He did not paint things; he painted between things.”
The hill is formed from the rubble of a collapsed tower originally constructed by Kandinsky, a Red Wizard. The tower consisted of 13 floors, although floors 8 through 10 have been compressed together in to a jumbled mash. Excavating the tower requires 100 days of work per floor, split between up to 10 workers.
Treasure:
- 16000cp
- 15000sp
- 23 sets of paintbrushes and 14 vats of red dye, worth a total of 46000 gp
- flaming sword +1, +2 against aliens, +3 against philosophers, neutral. It has 1 intelligence.
- sword -2 (cursed), lawful. It has 10 intelligence and 3 ego. It grants its wielder the power of detecting magic, and detecting metal and identifying it, and detecting sloping passages. It communicates with its wielder via abstract art.
- Wand of Pyrotechnics
- scroll of Wall of Flame
- 6 star rubies worth 1000 gp each, 6000 gp total
- Painting with a Red Stain, worth 5000gp
303-373 White Widow Lair
Strands of webbed ice drip in sunlight. 37 white widows (HD 3, AC as Leather and Shield, Att 1 × freezing bite 1d6) dance among doubled pines. They are led by Alexis the Crawler (HD 3, AC as Chain), a a local folk-hero who has chosen the life of spiders. At midnight, the whistling of his harmonica can be heard from some distance, forming a rapid and nonhuman tempo. When he plays, the spiders move at double pace.
One does not imitate; one constitutes a block of becoming. Imitation enters in only as an adjustment of the block, like a finishing touch, a wink, a signature. But everything of importance happens elsewhere: in the becoming-spider of the dance, which occurs on the condition that the spider itself becomes sound and color, orchestra and painting.
A Thousand Plateaus, 305
303-374 Isakower’s Disc
A sweet smell of earthy undertones and peaches, exumed each evening by an orange moss that grows among fallen logs, known colloquially as Isakower’s Disc. At dusk, all those within the wood must save or fall into a enchanted sleep, waking up 2d4 days later and babbling through the duration with unintelligible monotonous speech. On waking, they will have the memory of being on a revolving disc, with something heavy lying on top of them.
Isakower’s Disc: Originally developed for clinicial trials on bats, this moss has now grown wild. If eaten, is poisonous, but can be distilled into a brew to create a potion of telekenesis. The process of creation takes three months and has a 75% chance of failure (resulting in poison) unless produced by a trained alchemist within a laboratory of at least 10,000gp.
303-375 Sword Merchant
Two brothers, Erckmann and Chatrian, operate a trading post where they sell magical swords. All of the swords are cursed. They have employed six guards (HD 1, AC as Chain).
Swords for Sale
- “The Crab Spider” — 200gp, -1, neutral, with hilt of barnacles. The curse can be broken through slaying a giant spider, after which it transforms into a +1 sword with +2 against spiders.
- “The Three Friends” — 500gp, -1, lawful, with 9 intelligence and 3 ego. Contains three distinct personalities which communicate via empathy. To break the curse, the wielder must make three new friends in three separate cities, after which turns into a +1 sword and grants the power to see those in need of friendship.
- “Madame Thérèse” — 1000gp, -2, chaotic, with 12 intelligence and 1 ego. Communicates via telepathy and can read magic. To break the curse, the wielder must slay a noble with an estate of at least 25,000gp, after which it turns into a +2 sword and grants the power of detecting anarchy and of noting shifting climates.
- “The Man-Wolf” — 2000gp, -2, neutral. To break the curse, the wielder must become infected with lycanthropy and raise a pack of at least 6 wolves, after which it turns into a +2 sword (+3 against wizards) and grants the power to leap up to 30 feet.