A Continent of Banalities

 A demi-god character for ARC Doom.  Sehrbaz is chained at the bottom of the ocean, but he is nothing if not irrepressible. Whenever there is a great feast, children set some food aside, in case Sehrbaz makes an appearance and brings them wonders. Once the world was a drab place, gray and with little joy. The only god who took interest in humanity was Trickster. Perhaps the other gods had grown weary of Trickster, and that was why he delighted himself with pulling cruel jokes on humanity. Once he tricked a young fool into letting himself be buried in the earth. That way he would sprout and grow offspring like fruit, Trickster claimed. Sehrbaz was the one who found the fool, weeping through mouthfuls of dirt. “If Trickster is here” Sehrbaz mused “who is guarding his house and riches?” He convinced some children to dress themselves in leaves and go pretend that they were the buried fools' offspring. While they distracted Trickster it was easy for Sehrbaz to sneak up to Trickster...

  Today's ARC Doom character is Otter, an animal spirit.  Otter is old. He was created along with the other first animals, which means that he ought to remember when Hunger snuck into the world, or when Death took up Her mantle and became the One You Meet At Road’s End. Otter lives in the present though, and if you want him to reminisce, you best bring him a juicy fish and a jug of heady brandy. Then you can ask him about deals and feuds that are older than the snow on the mountains and the tolling of bells.  Otter will likely tell the story about how Rabbit tricked himself by trying to fish like Otter. Rabbit and Otter are tricksters both, and Otter will not tell stories about how Rabbit tricked him.  Otter is not one for hard labor, but prefers fishing and wrestling his rambunctious grandchildren. His curiosity has killed him more than once, but so far he has returned. Some say he ate all the fish in the River Styx.  Otter [He/him] APPROACHES CREATIVE: +2...

This character is (a) Bauk, a Slavic troll or bogeyman. We're still on ARC Doom.  Bauk eats humans, but Bauk is not the enemy of them. Humans eat cow. Are humans enemies of cow? Bauk reminds humans that darkness is dangerous. That there are hungry things outside their ugly firelight. Bauk is not afraid of fire, but fire is enemy of Bauk. Bright and painful. Maybe Bauk drives humans into the arms of fire?  Bauk [Bauk/bauk] BLOOD (2d6+5): 15                  GUTS (2d6+ 1):  7 APPROACHES CREATIVE:+1                    CAREFUL:+2                       CONCERTED: 0 SKILLS Knowledge Skills (none) Social Skills Impose 2 Insight: 1 Physical Skills Coordination 1 Physique 2 Weaponry 1 Pragmatic Skills (none) Prowess (none) Inventory 6 days’ rations Shrunken monkey(?) heads Sturdy claws [+2 Blood Damage] Clarity of Purpose [+2 Guts De...

Another ARC Doom character, a Celestial bureaucrat. The character is made using a combo of point-buy and random rolls.  Ogdena, Rightly Guided Engineer, [She/her] Bureaucratic engineer who believes in a vast conspiracy and speaks very softly.  Ogdena is a bureaucrat in the Celestial Bureaucracy’s R&D department, the Architecture subdivision. It was Ogdena who signed off on the first triumphal arch. It was, well, a triumph. Things were looking decidedly sunny, and Ogdena even started looking around for a suitable romantic partner.  The next day someone sabotaged the pneumatic mail to her office. It took days to discover and weeks to be properly fixed. Meanwhile Ogdena missed a meeting with big-account demons from the Exsanguinated Badlands of Xhillez, landing her in hot water with her boss and several hotshots from Sales.  That was when she started to believe that there was a great conspiracy within the Bureaucracy, working to keep the mortal world manageable by s...

[This is a creature from Chilean folklore which I've altered a bit to suit my diabolical purposes] The colo colo is a creature like a large rat coated with greasy gray feathers in place of fur. Its eyes are black and matted, and its mouth is a beak with serrated bone ridges. It makes a sound that is uncannily like that of a crying baby. It is most commonly found in Sarkash. The colo colo will enter a home quietly, and will proceed to suck the blood from the inhabitants while they sleep, and at the same time inject its own saliva into their bloodstreams. This induces a light kalopsia in the victim (the delusion or hallucination that things are more beautiful than they really are).  The effect is cumulative, and victims will likely have a very skewed view of reality about a week in. The inhabitants of the house will become listless and weak, but will also become increasingly euphoric. That, along with a smell of carrion with no apparent source, are the surest signs of col...

The Gnomes In Wästland they call them kabouter, in Galgenbeck gnomes. In the following we shall use the latter. Gnomes are possibly maggots in the flesh of a pre-creation giant, or a failed attempt hidden underground, in favor of humanity. They do not age or change. They are barren. A gnome is about the size of a baby. When seen above ground their skin has the bruised quality of a newborn. Their hands are webbed and clawed and clotted with dirt. Gnomes seem ill-formed and twisted, like something stillborn. Their teeth are sharp and uneven like those of a pike. Their beardsare like porcupine quills. Their eyes shine. Gnomes hate us like neglected children hate a favored sibling. They hate us for the Sun, which they cannot endure. They hate us for the children they cannot themselves conceive. Gnomes in effigy Gnomes steal infants and toddlers to raiseas their own. In the child’s place they leave a cunning automaton, created in their subterranean workshops. The automaton, o...

(The following is inspired by a piece of art by Evlyn Moreau. Follow her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/evlynmoreau/posts) Some say she is the mother of all bats, daughter of Luna, the warm embrace of night, or the promise of the world made bearable by darkness. Other call her vampire, mother of demons, sister of Lilith. Her worshipers flock to Conal County, Texas to worship at Bracken Cave, where her offspring hang by the millions. In Yunnan province, China she is the bringer of five blessings or disease. In Spandau Citadel in Berlin, her offspring is said to spell out her secret name as they swarm under the castle’s vaulted ceilings. Used with permission Whatever her true nature, she is a nurturing friend to all bats. Humans she tolerates, if they show respect and kindness to her charges Winged Embrace The simplest of the Mother’s blessings is simply her embrace. Thosewo invoke her will feel enveloped by mighty wings and clutched to a furry bosom. Th...

(Sorry I've neglected the blog! I've been overwhelmed). Everything shakes, and all things are shaken loose. In the body. In the world.   A Wolf whose maw reaches from earth to heaven swallows the sun.   A Worm so vast that it fills up the ocean, drags itself up on land, spewing venom and fire, setting the world ablaze. The World Ash shakes from the tremors, and bursts into flame. Its fiery branches tear down the stars. Heimdall sounds his horn, and it drowns out the heavens’ thunder. The dead warriors stumble out onto the Plain of Iða, but giant birds, fire-drakes and flying lizards fill the sky, and descend upon them, crushing them under their weight. Below in Midgard, humanity swarms out of its broken cities, like ants from a destroyed nest. The jotun trample them, and cross the rainbow bridge, breaking it as they march. The Wolf strides into Asgard, and the Worm rises up, sinks its teeth into Hlidskialf, and pulls itself up. The mighty go...