venerdì 11 dicembre 2020

Ruins of Azure - a location not quite from the Ultraviolet Grasslands

I finally started a Ultraviolet Grasslands campaign. I have been waiting for this since I first knew about the project and now I'm super happy!

I made the party start on the road between Emerald City and Ruins of Azure (I've got the idea from here). They had received a letter to deliver to a certain Baffo at the Violet City, and have been given a couple of mules each and supplies for the travel as a "payment" to complete the task. The mules too are to be handed to Baffo, as they were just free "transportation".

The heroes will have to form a caravan on their own starting from scratch. Maybe they will find a patron? Maybe they'll steal the mules? We'll see.

For the moment they have just reached the Ruins of Azure. I decided to develop them following the UVG locations template (I've never been to good at improvising). No discoveries though, as the Ruins are supposed to be just an introduction to the real deal.

I hope you like 'em!

Ruins of Azure

Among the rotting marshlands and the infested swamps of the Blue Land, between the lush Green Land and the quiet grassy Violet Land, lay the ancient Ruins of Azure. The remnant ashes and bones of the half-forgotten City of Azure, once a radiant beacon of civilisation from the time before the Blue God Incident, are now the camping ground of the few travellers, merchants and ne'er-do-wells who seeks refuge in the quasi-perilous end of the Right Road. Between the crumbling walls of the buildings, picked clean by decades of scavenging and treasure-hunting, travellers can spot small campfires and large complex of lustrous pavilion tents and some smiles of companionship. But not all who smile are good.

Encounters and Misfortunes on The Right Road: use the tables Misfortune around the Violet City and Encounters in the Violet Lands respectively (p.9)

Weather on the Crumbling Walls

The sunlight starts gleaming on the ruins from 07:45, but the sun itself hardly shows up behind the purple haze and the grey clouds. The air is damp and heavy with the stench of rot from the marshes, but the occasional favourable wind brings the clean saltwater smell from the near Circle Sea. Frequent downpours wash the ruins and keep the dust to the ground, but puddles of mud are ubiquitous and persistent.

Encounters between the Ruins (d8)

A band of yellowlander bandits (L1, ragtag, famished). Part of a merchant caravan ended in disaster, they have nothing but what they they are wearing, some blades and a cat rifle. And the will to survive.
Some Cultists of the Dead God (L2, somber) are searching for the right place to perform their summoning ritual. If not stopped or interfered with, the next road Encounter will be with the many-tentacled avatar of the Dead God (entry no.1 from Encounters in the Violet Lands, p.9).
Jamal the Peddler (L1, sly, amiable) sells rumors (made up? €10 each) and trinkets (roll 1d20 twice on the Strange Items or Soap-Sized Treasures table, p. 175) for triple their price.
Rober Jambeon, amateur archaeologist (L1, flamboyant), found an undisturbed tomb in the ruins. He needs someone to help him explore it and to protect him from occasional bandits.
Self-appointed Guardians of Azure (L2, honourable) who pretend to safeguard the ruins and travellers from scavengers and bandits, but are too few to be effective. Searching for (1-3) a lost child, (4-5) local bandits, (6) a hidden temple.
Duresa Dei Esquelet, fugitive slave (L1, bright but servile). Wants to reach the Violet City where his love, Destro, is waiting for her. Only partially true: he's really there, but with his wife and children.
An abandoned dog (L1, smelly, coward). The name has been filed from the collar. Likes to eat and sleep and be petted and eat. Useless as a dog, lovely as a pet.
Romeo, cat ambassador from the Violet City (L3, well spoken, curious) with his entourage (L1, weary) travelling towards the Emerald City. Wants new from Emerald City, some company, and adulation.

Travel Options

Rest, Among Ancient Ruins: the caravan may stop anywhere among the ruins, and everywhere is safe enough, save from the occasional bandits.
South-West, Violet City and the Ultraviolet Grasslands: adventure, excitement, death and despair await those who dare go forward. But, above all, freedom. Or so the stories tell.
East, Emerald City and Civilization(?): back to the bustling streets of Metropolis, controlled by greed and coin and the Cogflower Inquisition. The right place if you want to live a normal, simple, and boring life.