(A) Monstrous RPG Carnival
So I decided to take part in this months RPG Blog Carnival with a little bit of my worldbuilding.
Find the Host here https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2023/10/its-october-rpg-blog-carnival-and.html (also shout-out to Tim from 2011 http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2011/05/you-can-leave-your-hat-on-magic-hats-in.html)
Monster – The Vilt
It was said hordes of the vilt were always following God Sorcerer, even when he was still just one of the Wasteland Sorcerers. Others claimed vilt were part of his warband after his return from foreign lands, as if he learned how to create them there. But the truth as far as we know is this ability was given to him after defeating The Hand of Solitude, chosen of the god of life and blood. Only arcane mastery supported with divine power was able to create them.
The vilt are, or rather were, humans. They do keep similar form – two arms, two legs, torso and head. But their skin lacks colour, it is grey and rough and coarse. They don’t have any hair on their bodies. Their teeth are grinded, eyes bloodshot and nails thick. Each of them carries a Brand of God Sorcerer on their forehead. They are strong, fast and quiet, perfect warriors and predators. Each is as powerful as a group of human warriors. They do not possess ability of higher intelligence – they don’t question their position or goal in life. They don’t speak besides simple signals about the world around them. They do as they are told by people wielding the power. Genderless. Never able to riot. But unable to see through clever strategies and tactics. Unable to use complex mechanisms, riding horses or weapons more complex than a spear and sword. Uncreative.
They are made by God Sorcerer and his Adepts by burning the Brand into a teenage person’s forehead. Then they’re fed special foods and injected alchemical substances. Such person’s growth is sped up, they develop more muscles, tougher bones, more agile joints. Brain is stunted, mind melts into simple form, hair fall out and skin gets rough. By three years from the start of the transformation they are formed. Almost perfect soldiers. The scourge of Biteara and other unconquered lands.
As mentioned before the vilt are not most clever creatures. They cannot reproduce neither with each other nor with humans. Left on their own they’ll go feral, start hunting for food to sustain themselves and cease to do anything else. Since their lifespan is thought to be four times longer than humans there may be cases of such dormant warriors in the wild only waiting for some foul magician to gain control of them.
God – The Hundred Legged One
When the fifth chosen fell by God Sorcerer’s hand all other gods became silent. It is well known truth. But some of them found their ways of getting their voice back. Always foul and cruel ways. The Hundred Legged One, also called Spider Dread, was once one of minor wilderness gods, taking care of spiders and other vermin in one of the valleys in Titanic Mountains. Once silent it started wandering, spreading its spies far and wide. It started devouring the last pieces of divinity it could found – creatures marked by God-Sorcerer. Slowly it recovered its voice, hunting corrupted beasts and fouled spirits, becoming more like them in the process.
At the moment Spider Dread is a god with a voice. It looks like a spider with large amounts of additional legs and creatures marked by it also tend to have additional limbs as well as discoloration and other mutations. It is lurking in its valley, wandering around, hungry not only for sorcerous power but flesh of all. Its spies are spiders, discoloured with extra legs, who observe, relay information and lure people and other animals into the valley or surrounding areas where the god could travel easily.
Towards people who can defend against an ambush and the first strike of the Hundred Legged One, god becomes generous. It starts talking with you calmly and gently. It asks you questions and truthfully answers if you ask any. But at some point there is a dilemma it presents to you – it is hungry. And in order not to be eaten you need to propose something else. It is interested in food – especially raw flesh – information, magic and entertainment. There are stories of groups of adventurers who crossed its lands safely just because musician travelling with them gave performance of their life.
The Horror – I wanted to talk about an otherworldly plague and what effect it had on Biteara but COVID seems still too fresh for me.
That’s all for tonight.