Friday, December 23, 2011

Legends and Lies

Pages six and seven of the Isle of the Unknown give us a bunch of legends and rumors. You can get a lot of mileage out of that d30 table, but why stop at d30? Here's an ongoing list that anyone can add to, in the grand Gorgonmilk tradition. Play along if you dare.
D100 legends and rumors about the Isle of the Unknown

*NOW UPDATED WITH SCIENCE FANTASY CONTENT*

1-30. refer to Isle of the Unknown, pages 6-7.
31. The Fire Wizard in hex 1807 and the Ice Wizard in 0807 were once steadfast allies, but the seductive enchantress in hex 1915 came between them.
32. The Aardvark Men in 1213 plot against the gardener in 1212.
33. The Giant Frog in 2203 is the true King of the Island. The man who sits upon the throne in 2409 is an imposter.
34. The old man in the secluded glen in hex 0611 was living on the Isle when the Romans arrived.
35. The statue in 0902 bears a vague familial resemblance to the crone in hex 1002.
36. The little girl wandering through hex 0406 once won a debate against the parliament of owls in hex 1511, thus gaining her clairvoyance.
37. On the night of the new moon, a coven dedicated to the goddess Hecate performs esoteric rights in the ruined temple in 0615.
38. In the town in hex 1814, no man may kill a cat.
39. The cup in the cave in hex 0313 is the True Grail, stolen from Templars and brought to the Isle by the Invisible Knight, Sir Garlen. Sir Garlen's son still holds the family castle in hex 0710.
40. The pelts of the Bat Men in hex 1413 are prized by an assassin’s guild based out of the city in 2409, and fetch exorbitant sums in the Night Market.
41. A recent crime wave plagues the City in Hex 2409. People all round town are reporting the loss of small items from their homes.  Many of these items are without value and there seems to be no connection apart from their small size.
42. A drunk in the Temple Ward of the city in hex 2409 swears that common rats are building something in the Old City.
43. The ruined temple in the Old City was once dedicated to the goddess Hecate.
44. The Diabolic High Priest in 1507 has growing influence among the decadent upper class in the City in hex 2409
45. A healer in the City in hex 2409 will pay 200gp for a sample of the slime exuded by the cave bear in hex 1216. He believes it will help him find a cure for a beloved noble afflicted with the Raggi Bump.
46. A man at a tavern called the Green Manalishi in the most unsavory neighborhood of the City in hex 2409 is a devotee of Tsathogguah, and he and his associates will pay 500gp for the live capture of the beast in hex 1710, which they believe to be an incarnation of a Hyberborean Elk Goddess.
47. It is said that no questions are asked by the merchants of the Night Market in the City in hex 2409.
48. A 4th level fighting man jailed by the City Watch in hex 2409 claims to be from the future.
49. A group of five unscrupulous Fighting Men (3rd level) will perform any deed, no matter how vile. You'll find them drinking in the Night Market in hex 2409.
50. The holy sisters of the convent on the hillside above the City in hex 2409 are vampires.
51. Every red bird on the Isle can speak the common tongue.
52. An aesthete in the town in hex 0903 asserts that the same hand carved every statue on the Isle.
53. The Alchemist (hex 1006) believes the leaves of the aspen in hex 0708 could multiply the efficacy of his potion.
54. It is said that Judas Iscariot hung himself from the tree in hex 2015.
55. The pit in hex 1205 is a gateway to the Mythic Underworld.
56. The many sorcerous denizens of the Isle are the last survivors of a race that inhabited the Isle before the Romans wiped them out.
57. A suicide cult believes that the entire Isle is merely the dream of a man named Geoffrey who lives in hex 0812, and all who die upon it wake up safely in another world.
58. Three ghostly sailors, adrift in a rowboat in hex 2415, will answer three questions about the Isle in exchange for a bottle of rum.
59. A small shrine in hex 1705 houses the head of John the Baptist.
60. No wound suffered in a certain meadow in hex 0513 will prove fatal, no matter how grievous, but the effect lasts only as long as the wounded remains there.

61. Heartbreakingly beautiful piping can be heard near the river in hex 1812
62.  Those who spend the night under the boughs of the single, gnarled tree on the lonely hill report hearing a sound not unlike an infant crying in the night. (Trey
63. In a small clearing, a thin man with an unsettlingly wide and unchanging grin sits at a table set up to play a game of drafts. He waits for a challenger. (Trey)
64. The strange creatures living on the Island are descended from the menagerie of a Lemurian prince. 
65. The strange creatures living on the Island are the result of Space Alien technology. 
66. A Mother Box in hex 2114 longs to be reunited with the Father Box in hex 1404.
67. The Subhuman tribes of the Island are said to be gathering in the mountains in hexes 0808, 0908, 1008, and 0909, though no man can say why.
68. An albino Megatherium in hex 1313 will teach magic to anyone willing to swear a sacred vow of nonviolence. 
69. A masked, weaponless fighting man who wanders the hexes near 2012 will teach the deadly art Robot Fighting to anyone who can pin him.
70. Those deemed worthy may enter the Chaos Monastery in hex 2010. The seven monks therein are sworn enemies of the monks in hex 1109.
71. A fiendish T-Rex is decimating the mammoth herds in hexes surrounding 1202.
72. The caverns beneath the Island are said to contain ancient Hyperborian machinery. 
73. A dungeon in hex 1507 contains a rich horde. Among the items is a helm, which allows the wearer to scry the immediate surroundings of every magic statue on the Island. 
74. A troop of Lemurs in hex 2107 are said to be good at repairing ancient machinery.
75. The cats of the town in hex 1814 always know when someone’s lying.
76. Hex 1108 contains a massive computer facility. The machines are still operational, though no one knows their purpose.
77. A sea cave in hex 1002 is filled with Hag Jelly. Beware the crone on the tiny island 300’ from the shore.
78. When moonlight strikes the columns in hex 1104, an Astral Gate appears.
79. Fragments chipped from the obelisk in hex 1007 are a powerful reagent valued by Alchemists.
80. The flowers of the meadow in hex 0909 contain powerful intoxicants prized by merchants.
81. 36 of the statues in hex 1308 are covered by lichen used in the preparation of the Plutonian Drug.
82. The bizarre mushroom in hex 1613 is wanted for crimes committed against fungus kind. The Myconid Council in hex 1713 will pay handsomely for its capture.
83. A Druidess near the pines in hex 1804 is a Dark Yoga instructor.
84. The four crystals in hex 2004 contain the Four Aspects of the Dark Lord.
85. A child recently born in the town in hex 1809 is said to be the next incarnation of (D8: 1. Christ, 2. Satan, 3. Thor 4. The Crawling Chaos, 5. The Golden Child, 6. Elvis, 7. Clark Ashton Smith, 8. UltraVishnu.)
86. The human workers digging in hex 2007 are looking for a crystal crown which _when placed atop the head of any humanoid statue- will magically transmute it into a creature of flesh and bone. The effect remains only as long as the crown is worn, and it also works on those petrified by Medusas.
87. A coven of Medusas live near the ruined temple in hex 0615
88. Barbarians have recently begun arriving on the Island’s southern shore. They claim that a great calamity has befallen the lands beyond the sea.
89. Atlantean ruins rise from the waves in hex 0304 when Aldebaran looms.
90. Three mummy scientists live in a quaint country manor in hex 0904

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2 comments:

  1. Thanks very uch for these posts. I recently received Isle of the Unknown myself and I have been thinking about running it in the new year.

    I would be very interested to see how you do with translating the mass of data in the book into a working game.

    I made a list of all the Hexes in the Isle for randomisation purposes. I dont't know if you would find it useful at all. If you do you can find it here

    http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/

    On the right. If so, at least it will save you 30 minutes of writing down numbers.

    Please keep posting and let us know how the game goes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 62. Those who spend the night under the boughs of the single, gnarled tree on the lonely hill report hearing a sound not unlike an infant crying in the night.
    63. In a small clearing, an thin man with an unsettlingly wide and unchanging grin sits at a table set up to play a game of drafts. He waits for a challenger.

    ReplyDelete