Underworld Adventurer

  Cardinal Hill (The Heart of Topside) At the center of Topside sits its necropolis- a hill covered with arching paths lined with sepulchers and sarcophagi. It can be seen from any point in the settlement making it a key directional landmark. All of the graves here sit above ground as the people of Dungeon World have learned the hard way that only bad things come to those that inter the dead in the soil born of Tiamat’s decaying body. 12. The Rose Mausoleum At the top of the hill, a tall mausoleum rises to tower above the settlement. The head of the Grave Wardens based here, the shockingly tweenage High Sexton , claims its pink marble walls protect its inhabitants from the effects of the phlogistan. The structure's entrance is marked by a skull relief that possesses eyes set with rubies. Carved into the floor are the words, “Remember that you must die”. Visitors are known to perform Spiritual Execrises in the form of offerings to the dead they have interred there. The attempts se...

  Royal Bay (Southeast Topside) Bluestone and slate-roofed cottages overlook the harsh rocks lapped by the flow of phlogistan rolling in from the Astral Sea. The remains of beached monstrosities and wrecked astral vessels dragged in by the cosmic tide litter the rocks. 10. The Three Wizards This crumbling coastal estate has been repurposed into lodgings for those lost souls who have yet to establish a permanent domicile in Topside. Callidine , one who speaks with two voices, is like a midwife ushering those newly arrived into life on Dungeon World. The following lodgings can be secured on a monthly basis as no one is just “passing through” Dungeon World: *The Common Room (3gp) - a spot can be found among the tented silks around the room’s pool of fresh water. Those that do must pass a Constitution check or suffer a -1 penalty to attack and damages on their next delve due to bad sleep. Those that fail also have a 1-in-6 chance of falling to memorize a spell (roll for each slot they ...

The Pitch (Northeast Topside) Tall buildings with blackened timber frames line the narrow, dark cobble stone streets of the Pitch. Its smoke choked paths are home to what entertainment there is to be found in Topside. Often light on foot traffic during the day, the district comes alive with pleasure seekers and spectators of Dungeon World's many contests. 7. The Forge of the (Dungeon) World Pressed against the side of Cardinal Hill stretches Topside’s only smithy. It’s large size seems absurd for it houses but a single ironsmith- Brok . The Dungeon World native is a licensed armorer capable of crafting 5 weapons or 3 shields or 1 suit of armor a month. When drinking at the nearby tavern, he is known to fall into sad lamentations about the Splendid Items he used to forge with his dwarven siblings. 8. The Alchemist’s Jug This halfling-run tavern is the last of Topside’s public drinking establishments. While the taps of the rest of the drinking holes long went dry, the Full-Pint fam...

Emerald Terrace (Northwest Topside) Moss-covered paving stones carve a path through the overgrown landscape of Topside’s northwestern quarter. Sparse, ivy-covered residences mark hilly terrain otherwise dotted with pavilions and pagodas. Herds of goats forage grasses in the shadows of small-scale terraced farms. 4. Seedholm Overlooking it all, high on the edge of Dungeon World, sits the baroque manor house that is center to Topside’s elven diaspora. Founded by refugees of a wilted branch of Yggdrasil, the estate was constructed at the site where their migrational samara marooned them on Dungeon World. Their matriarch, the Lady-Bound-in-Leaves , has shrewdly leveraged their colony-ship supplies to position them at the center of Topside’s high society. Their balls and soirees are packed with the who’s-who of Dungeon World’s surface society- often making it the perfect place to Find the Right Buyer for antiquities and curios dragged out of the halls below. 5. Thunder Grove A large but s...

Ashtown (Southwest Topside) It is said that all the narrow streets and twisting alleys of Ashtown lead to the fountain courtyard catty-corner of the necropolis. They are dotted with the white-washed homes of petty bureaucrats, the families of dragoons, and the occasional arcanist. At the courtyard itself rest the three most significant buildings in Ashtown.  1. Ashtown Stationers Labyrinthine aisles of book crafting supplies snake around this single-floor establishment. The smell of pipeweed smoke and the sounds of magic-users locked in joyous debate lead to the shop’s oak counter. There, the blind proprietor named Old Emrys holds court in front of a shelf of rare materials for the spellbook illuminations essential for completing Spellcraft downtimes. The following mundane supplies can be purchased here: *A vial of ink (1gp) *A quill (1gp) *Parchment (1gp per 2 sheets) *Scroll case (1gp) 2. The Lodge of the Five Dragons An old sign featuring five dragons locked in a pentangle ma...

The settlement known as Topside stretches across most of the surface of Dungeon World. Newcomers may find it strange that Topside, marginally a village in scale, is divided into five districts- four quarters orbiting a necropolis. Even stranger is that each of these districts are built of color-coded materials creating sharp delineations in neighborhood aesthetics. Locals, however, find none of this unusual at all. For the former, they all claim that the districts were once needed for, you see, Dungeon World used to be bigger. Ah, while none could quite say when or possesses memory of this past, it is an accepted truth in Topside. As to the latter, the strong color profiles are out of pure practical materiality. Topside was constructed from building supplies hewn from the Rainbow Mother herself- each district from one of the five sections of the chromatic monstrosity Tiamat. They are: Ashtown - The center of what remains of Topside's government. It also the hub of the settlement...

The demi-plane known as Dungeon World was created by the benevolent patron known as the Game Master in a times long past. The gods had slain the Mother of Monsters, Tiamat, and from her corpse did the Game Master form his favorite place. From her flesh came the earth of Dungeon World. From her tears, he poured its waters. From her rib cage, he raised the realm’s sky. He hired dwarves to mine the body so he could construct dwellings to reside. The tunnels carved by their labors created five halls beneath Dungeon World- Alabaster, Beryl, Obsidian, Ruby, and Sapphire. It is these halls the Game Master has solicited for adventurers to tidied them up. He had been banished from all corporal realms for eons untold but, recently, that has all turned around. In his absence, subjects neglected their duties. Age brought disrepair. Opportunity welcomed unruly squatters. He really wants to get these underground halls just like how he likes them but it will be centuries before he will possess enough...

“Attention, ah, lost souls. It is I, the Game Master. You may know me for my recent work sponsoring spellcasters or teaming up with Thor and the Wizards Three to defeat Vecna, but I am an ancient being of *chuckle* unmeasurable power. After a long exile from a corporal existence: I am back! Well... I have started manifesting in physical form and do I have an opportunity for you!” “ I once again rule over my favorite pocket dimension. In my absence, bad things have happened. The dungeons below my cosmic adobe are a mess! As I still have a few hundred years until I achieve full physical form, I am flummoxed as to how to clean them up. This is where you come in. You see, I thought you could end your days of being adrift in the astral sea and, instead, come to my cozy dimension and be ADVENTURERS!” “I am currently granting licenses for seven adventuring classes: cleric, dwarf, elf, fighter, halfling, magic-user, and thief! Some might find this strict policy old fashioned or maybe even out ...

On a mission to restore the petrified Fredrick Featherstone to flesh, Bors the Bald made some decision of regret involving the cave elves. Bors gathered the following party to once again venture to the Twilight Shores to infiltrarte the caves inhabited by the Nightmare Court: Party: Bex (Level 4 Vat Spawn) Bors the Bald (Level 5 Dwarf) Butterfingers (Level 1 Halfling hireling) Eddie the Hook (Level 3 Grappler) Yeoman Klang (Level 3 Thief hireling), deceased Fredrick Featherstone (Level 5 Vestigator) Sunya Strong (Level 4 hireling) Gil (Level 2 Magic-User present) present Sessions #95 Rumble Beerforged (Level 2 Dwarf) After months of absence in Orm, the group was spotted climbing down the fireplace into the Drinking Crow from the fey drinking hole the Hob Nob. Accompanying them were a young cave elf named Zep along with two time-lost escaped prisoners of the cave elves: Holbek the Cobbler and Tamm, a magic-user trapped in the body of a 10 year old girl.  Treasure torch and tinder bo...

Following the events festivities of  the  Resplendent Fête , a group of the Red Riders set out to collect one of the three crucial ingredients for making the stew that reverse the aliment that is preventing Copra Kaan from healing. Based on research performed by Copra, it was believed that some wight mushrooms (known for growing in resting places of the dead) could be found in a tomb at the center of Orm's graveyard. It is said to be the resting place of a Sorcerer King that ruled over Orm centuries ago. The Party: Armeen of the Two Rivers (Level 5 Cleric of Danu) Copra Kaan (Level 4 Vat Spawn Antaur) Crambo (Level 5 Magic-User) Agera (Level 3 Fighting Mutant Retainer) Fr. Bert (Level 5 Errant Friar of Arishem the Judge) Petra P. (Leve 4 Elf) Treasure A pair of jewel-encrusted gold serpent armbands worth 500gp 10 coins weight of Wight Mushrooms Experience Points 500xp from treasure Headless undead defeated 10 x 25xp Mushroom headed zombies defeated 2 x 35xp Player Character Cu...

 Back at the dawning days of autumn, a group of the Red Riders left from the Drinking Crow to journey into the Complex. They aimed to join a pair of lunar elves, Aureal and Ruitat, on their spiritual quest give to them by their Dreaming Tree: journey into the plane-hopping dungeon called the Black Pyramid. Visions of this foreboding structure had plagued the citizens of Orm for over a year. They grew more ominous and vivid with each passing day until it had materialized within the Great Cavern. What would they find within the pyramid? The Red Riders that had lived among lunar elves had been told it contained wealth beyond their wildest dreams. More importantly, the structure was a spiritual trial that could result in profound understandings. This view was not shared by others. The Phantomorians who had been staying at the Lazy River warned of the existential threat posed by the Black Pyramid. They preach that it is the embodiment of the left hand path that stands in opposition of t...

 It has been a minute since I have posted anything here. A big part of that is most of the sessions I have been able to run have been off in the pan-dimensional dungeon called the "Black Pyramid" (a concept borrowed from Ben L.'s Wishery campaign). Neither party exploring this planar sub-dungeon has returned to Orm yet so I have been keeping details under wraps. I do have an unposted recap of one of the sessions of the Castora Cup drawn by Nita's player and cup dsigner Curtis. Here it is:

  The Castora Cup designed by Castora's player Curtis Lorithk created by Curtis The first annual Castora Cup was held under the Hunter's Moon. Cast under the Bronze Dragon Galatea's smith, Kirathk, the trophy aims to honor the memory of Castora, the deceased Order member the tournament honors. To win the Castora Cup, each team was scored on speed, strength of the monsters battled, and the team's ability to work together towards their mutual survival. Any group bringing a torch, lantern, candle, or item with Continual Light cast on it are disqualified. Four teams, each with sponsors from the Impossible Fortress' court, competed.  The first place team wins 1000gp ea. and possession of the Castora Cup until the next Hunter's Moon. Second place wins 500gp ea. Third place takes home 100gp ea. Not all of the teams held to the five member average honoring the Dragons of the Order of the Dragon. Teams are given +500 bonus points for every member below five and -500 poin...