Crown of Submission | Hystor | Yulth | Aelliah Natityrr | Six Curious Things for Sale
The Crown of Submission
Aboleths | Magic Item
Curiously wrought of platinum and gold and set with diamonds and rubies, the Crown of Submission is ever ill-set upon a human head.
The Crown of Submission is a powerful symbol of authority and dominance, and great power—and a terrible secret—lurks within. The crown increases the wearer’s Charisma by six points but only in regard to forcing unwilling subjects to the wearer’s will. It also enables the wearer to cast dominate person three times a day.
The undying spirit of Nar-ish-Gral, an aboleth who lurked in the deep oceans untold aeons ago, has dwelt in the crown since its physical body was destroyed by an incurable magical disease. The Crown of Submission was wrought as a temporary safe harbour for its soul until a new suitable body could be found. The crown was stolen shortly thereafter, and Nar-ish-Gral, trapped in its glittering body, has sought to return to the deep ocean ever since. Those wearing the crown are often beset by irresistible urges to hurl themselves into the sea, and several have been driven mad by relentless dreams of strange underwater cities and unspeakable urgings to commit terrible acts.
Hystor
Demon Queen | Snakefolk
CE demon queen of snakes and prophecy
Epithets: She Who Knows, the Snakemother
Symbol: Three-headed snake
Domains: Death, Knowledge
Favoured Weapon: Dagger
Raiment: Patterned robes of red, brown, yellow and black
Worshippers: Snakefolk, deranged cultists
Teachings: All that has been, all that is and all that will be is known to Hystor; they who know their fate can alter it through her wisdom and power
Holy Text: Hystor’s faithful have no unholy book; her priests gain insight and teachings from her revelations
New Spells: poison touch (as shocking grasp but does acid damage), crushing coils (as grasping hand)
Hystor, demon queen of snakes and prophecy, is an ancient power first worshipped countless millennia ago, when humans still crouched in caves and gazed up in wonder at the night sky. Her sigil is a three-headed snake; one head represents the past, one the present and one the future.
Her worshippers practice ophiomancy—the interpretation of omens and prophecies through the behaviour of snakes. Of course, given Hystor’s nature, this requires ritual sacrifice, with her priests joyfully feeding their victims to her sacred children. Some such doomed folk are hurled into pits filled with venomous snakes, while others are consigned to the crushing coils of gigantic constrictor snakes bred to unnatural size and virility. Her priests can read much into the pattern of bites upon a victim’s body or the arrangement of their crushed and broken bones.
Some of her priests even allow venomous snakes to bite them so that in their delirium they might receive their mistress’s revelations.
In ancient days, her priests bred sacred snakes for these rituals, and some of her pets reached monstrously vast proportions. Their progeny may yet survive in distant, isolated parts of the world.
Hystor’s worship is now consigned to history and to the world’s distant places. Only the snakefolk remember and revere Hystor in appreciable numbers. However, here and there deranged cultists—desperate for the power of fore-knowledge—try to worship her in the old ways.
Yulth
City
Capital city of demon-haunted Icuthar, wicked Yulth overflows with misery and evil. Yulth is an ancient city—one of the longest continually occupied cities on the planet. It is a city built upon the ruins of ages past. Layers of antecedents lie below Yulth’s streets, intermingled with crypts and catacombs and the deep foundations of the city’s mighty sky-scraping ziggurats.
Many-stepped ziggurats surmounted by mighty weather-worn statues of the Faceless Dragon loom over Yulth’s streets. These are, perhaps, the oldest man-made structures on the planet, and their time-blurred steps have seen much horror and sacrifice over the long centuries of their existence. Within, Icuthar’s implacable sorcerer-priests, led by the Demon-King Incarnate, rule over the cowed populace. Scion of a bloodline said to stretch back millennia, the Demon-King Incarnate is Icuthar’s supreme authority and is said to consort with the Faceless Dragon itself. He is a figure of terror and awe to his subjects.
A sluggish river winds through Yulth’s heart; large and terrible beasts lurk within, and it is a rare day when some poor unfortunate or another does not go missing from the docks or waterfront. Nearby, a huge arena dominates central Yulth. Within, doomed slaves and prisoners fight among themselves or sometimes against the sorcerer-priest’s demonic pets for the only prize worth having—survival. Sometimes, the priesthood turns their pets loose at night onto the city’s streets to sate their hunger on whoever they choose.
See Also: Icuthar
Aelliah Natityrr
NPC
This obscenely wealthy middle-aged half-elf and her fortune are a matter of some whispered, jealous discussion in the surrounding community. Mystery breeds rumour, after all, and wealth breeds jealousy.
With no discernible income or means of supporting herself Aelliah Natityrr enjoys many of the finest things in life. Proud, haughty and antagonistic, she has few friends but many acquaintances. While Aelliah believes in the rule of law, she also believes that many of these rules and social conventions don’t apply to her—she knows best (due to her breeding and wealth).
Her wine cellar is famed throughout the region, and many merchants bearing new vintages make their way to her palatial townhouse. She has been known to go to great lengths to secure new wine, even despatching adventurers to escort merchants to distant lands in the hunt for new vintages.
Six Curious Things for Sale
Six Things | Items for Sale | Merchant
Vial of Green Slime (10 gp): The label identifies this as a jar of green slime, but the seller won’t guarantee that’s what’s inside—they (wisely) don’t want to open it.
Blue Dinosaur Figurine (3 gp): Exquisitely carved, this bright blue figurine depicts a ferocious dinosaur in all its primal glory. A small sect of mad folk who follow a prophetic but insane elf are searching for the figurine—they believe it has magic powers!
Map Blanket (1 gp): This warm traveller’s blanket has a map of the locality embroidered on one side.
Owlbear Cushion (10 gp): This four-foot-long cushion is stuffed with owlbear feathers “harvested” by the great half-orc hero Krorz, who was famed for his magic lance.
Magic Potion (100 gp): The seller has forgotten what this potion is meant to be, and is too cheap to get someone to identify it. As always, buyer beware.
Treasure Map (250 gp): This map shows where a group of adventurers buried their loot—in the depths of a then-abandoned mine. (Now, something terrible lives in the mine, but the map doesn’t mention this—obviously.)
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