10/25/2010 5:40:07 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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A thread for specific and generic locations that can be found anywhere in the Oathbound setting (not just the Forge).
A generic location that is much more common than one might think is the extradimesional space. Permanent M. Mansions, portable holes and similar magics litter the Forge. The reason most are not seen or used is that their entrance keys (required for permanent spells) have been lost or destroyed. There are many creatures in stasis, treasures and even temples to the bound god that are right in front of the noses of the people living there today. Finding and using them requires 9th level spells or, in the case of the temples, epic level magic.
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10/30/2010 4:35:27 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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When the mirrors of the Vault shattered, not only did the people freeze. In some places of high magic, so did emotion. A very long time ago, adventurers found these "emotion mines" and tapped them as a novelty resource. Each emotion has its own color so determing those that are desirable is easy, though it is getting more and more difficult as the mines are drying up. Fortunately wizards created spells that do the same (levels 7-9, depending on amount collected and range). But there are still some who want the original and are willing to pay a great deal for them.
Emotion ice must be eaten for it to felt and an ounce costs 5000 gp (500-1000 for the spell version). It does not melt no matter what the temperature is.
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11/14/2010 3:40:47 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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One common lair in Wildwood is the cavern tree. It is found in the temperate and tropical regions. Each has 2-4 holes in the trunk that lead down into hollow roots large enough to house a small family. People like to hide in them as the plant somehow covers their scent. Unfortunately a lot of monsters also like live in cavern trees for the same reason.
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12/2/2010 5:29:12 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Starships are found here and there on the Forge (and it orbit). Most are crashed but a few landed. The largest is a star destoyer (from the prequels) that had an unusually large number of Jedi aboard. It was taken by Bathkol for he wanted to learn from and teach them (force powers plus PrRs equal powerful people). The ship sits on the Kiln, slowly being demolished by rocks thrown in eruptions. Though it has been raided, there is still plenty of technology to be had for those who can survive the trip.
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12/14/2010 4:24:22 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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One of the issue of travelling the Forge is that there are many places that have the same common name. The Machine applies to several devices from an oddity in a museum in the Alliance to a cube, found in Arena, that is 30' on each side yet holds several cubic miles. The latter can be a source of clockwork horrors, warforged or certain templates that turn creatures into constructs.
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12/16/2010 4:51:48 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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There are many racial or species communities all over the Forge. The City of Penance is filled with them. One is a burned out OGRE (the ubertank) that familiar spawn (ie the magical offspring of familiars) have turned into a fortress that human sized creatures can't move in. It is found on the edge of Utopia and the church is very intolerant of the sapient animals but haven't moved on them yet. The officals want to turn the animals into slave labor, not eradicate them.
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12/17/2010 6:52:19 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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There are several hundred different kinds of clouds found on the Forge. Many are not made of water, but rather are waste products of massive fliers, alchemical smog (occasionally around floating labs), solids like false silver and oozes.
Some of the clouds are mined for alchemical and magical raw materials. This is very dangerous (claim jumpers, low oxygen, falling, cold, etc.) and in some ways resembles asteroid mining.
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12/24/2010 4:56:56 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Occasionally Haiel doesn't kill his prey. The ability to use raise dead is much too common to allow certain opponents to simply die and be brought back. In his fortress there is the Hall of Heads. Each head is on a pike and is alive. If the PCs want to free one or more of the people, they have to sneak into the fortress and retrieve the head(s). Unfortunately all of the heads want to escape and the appearance of someone starts most of them yelling, screaming for freedom.
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2/15/2011 8:35:01 PM
Saeth
Posts: 6
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Derek Holland wrote:
Occasionally Haiel doesn't kill his prey. The ability to use raise dead is much too common to allow certain opponents to simply die and be brought back. In his fortress there is the Hall of Heads. Each head is on a pike and is alive. If the PCs want to free one or more of the people, they have to sneak into the fortress and retrieve the head(s). Unfortunately all of the heads want to escape and the appearance of someone starts most of them yelling, screaming for freedom.
Been reading Hyperion I see. 
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2/16/2011 9:18:58 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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No, I was watching Futurama.
The Wellspring is large enough to contain many interesting locations. One is a garden tended by intelligent squid. The crop is a kind of crystal found no where else on the Forge. It has no magical value but is almost as hard as diamond and less brittle. People buy it from the squid for use in making certain wands and other magical items as well as jewelry.
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2/19/2011 5:10:41 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Another prison, one found in Penance, keeps the prisoners secure by simply making them float. They are stuck in position 3 or more feet off the ground. They are given food and water via telekinesis but otherwise are ignored. Escape is difficult as the walls are antimagical and intruders are most likely stuck along with the people they try to break out.
Intelligent elementals make up a part of the population of the Forge. Some try to live with biologicals and their neighbors have to deal with the oddest situations as well as the weirdest assistance. Almost all of them have suits that allow them to interact with others without burning/crushing/drowning by accident.
edited by Derek Holland on 2/19/2011
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2/25/2011 4:22:14 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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I don't know if I would put the stone forest in Penance, WW or Anvil. It has a high basilisk population and has so for many thousands of years. The other creatures here are slow, blind and drab as they evolve with a predator that kills via vision. The basilisks are constantly replaced by the domain lord or are spontaneously generated by local conditions- they can never be driven into extinction.
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3/2/2011 6:11:56 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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One of the hazards of mining goddust is a plant without a name. It went functionally extinct several million years ago but the seeds are still viable, at least those found in the mines. It takes the form of other plants, slowly accumulating special powers as it dies and is reincarnated. To permanently slay one of these plants require epic level magic. Otherwise it will come back again and again becoming more and more powerful.
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4/1/2011 4:04:53 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Similar to the cavern tree, mound trees were grown to provide cheap, well insulated buildings (land coral needs insulation). They require constant maintainance otherwise the interior will fill with new heartwood, a process meant to allow a tree to be reused rather than razed and a new one planted. These days many mound trees contain the well preserved remains of former inhabitants and their property.
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4/9/2011 5:09:10 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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On the oceans there are oases made of different kinds of water or other substances. Freshwater lakes, some containing fish or acting as protection for fish that can survive both fresh and salt, are the most common. Steam lakes, ice lakes (and different kinds of ice), peroxide lakes, oil lakes (which there are several kinds), and even natural air bubbles just below the surface. Travelling the seas is a dangerous affair as it is but these can sink ships, entangle them or allow weird creatures to stop and board them.
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12/27/2011 3:28:18 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Massive geodes exist within the Forge, created by earth elementals or mineral quasielementals as homes. Some have been forced to the surface to act as hives to allow interaction with surface dwellers or, in the case where the elementals have died off, gem mines. They can be a source of unique stones and minerals.
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1/19/2012 4:29:27 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Farming on the Forge isn't always about plants. There are crystal, emotion, symbiont, sound and even art farms.
Might you have some suggestions for other farms?
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2/9/2012 5:01:55 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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One thing I find a bit odd about the fantasy settings I have read is the lack of floating cities. Not in the air, but on water. It would be easy to develop a spell, Repel Land, that would be 3rd or 4th level that could bb used for enchanment of these places to ensure they don't beach themselves.
Cities in the form of ships filled with portable holes is another option.
In either case (though I would expect both on the Forge), the oceans of the Forge should be crawling with them.
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2/13/2012 3:40:52 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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The ethereal plane is not the only plane that can be accessed from the Forge. In fact there are hundreds known and possibly millions. Of course they only allow access between the Forge and themselves. Escape is impossible through these places.
What are they? Home away from homes created by fey (use a cut down version from Bastion's Faries), outsiders (tiny heavens and hells), mythological beings (the Dream Time), super aliens (Marvel's version of Asgard), the dead (a realm of the dead for more than just ghosts) and super powerful wizards and psions (just about anything you can think of). The PCs may create their own demi-planes to create a refuge from the Forge and they would be far from the first.
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7/9/2012 4:59:38 AM
Derek Holland
Posts: 366
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Based on this place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park
A series of lakes in Wildwood that turn dead flesh and plant material to wood, forming natural, temporary dams. The lakes change shape and size within a matter of decades, short enough that longer lived races can watch it in action. In fact thorns and dovers who live near the water use it as a graveyard, adding their dead.
Another lake, one in Penance, turns dead flesh to clay, a material very valuable to artificers. They can use the clay to make objects faster than from nothing alone (twice the mass and no increase to xp, if any). Each pound is worth 100 gp.
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