Month: Dec 2022

Frostkeeper Construct

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The twenty first day of Dice-ember see’s our party entering deeper into the quarry. Having fought off cavern dwelling creatures they turn the corner just in time to witness the enchantress finish her ritual to create a Frostkeeper Construct.

Frostkeeper Construct

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The thrum of magic began to get more palpable as the party got closer to the pulsating light source. The sound of combat from the icicle like creatures and the party didn’t cause any disturbances from the lower levels of the cavern. However this also meant that the ritual had not stopped and that what ever was in the next room was likely aware of their presence.

As the flickering light from the room head touched their shoes the thrum and rhythmic chanting ceased. Panting could be heard from the chamber but the flickering light was the only sound that could be heard.

Turning the corner the party spied a young woman collapsed on a chair made from a solid block of ice. A table in front of her lay empty except for a puddle of water and some ruined rope and belts. After a moment the girl looked up, clutching a broken arm to her chest as she looked, dazed, about the room. A trickle of blood came down her head as she gazed hazily at the party. “You… You’re not meant to be here. Go. Now. The ritual was a failure. He is.. the frostkeeper construct is not right. Oh gods something went wrong.” Aster said as she began to shake. “The commands I placed on him are not enough. I thought I could save him but no. I have tortured him. Be careful. He is coming.”

A pattering of feet on the cold stone floor could be heard in the darkness beyond the flickering light from several braziers. The light so harsh in the darkness that even those with darkvision struggled to see into the murk beyond. A howl or rage, both human and monster bellowed forth and a large, man shaped creature rushed forward.

First contact – Frostkeeper Construct

It’s shoulders were broad, its torso bare with a dark ice creating its muscular form. Large powerful legs with sharp blades of ice that jutted out from its knees into the ground below enabled it to move quickly and stably. However the party wasn’t ready for the human arm encased in sections of dark ice. Nor the very human eyes that looked outwards from the head of the creation. The moment the party realised that his construct was created on top of, well what remained of a humans body the full horror of the creation came into perspective.

Rushing forward the frostkeeper construct smashed through the ice formed table and rushed towards the party. Rage, pain and confusion glowed from its foggy eyes as it did what it knew best, prepare for a fight.

Tonight the full extent of the enchantresses constructs comes to be known. The Frostkeeper Construct is a shell that protects the young man the Enchantress was pursuing, yet something went horribly wrong. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to find out more about the layout of the areas and what our party will be fighting. Also don’t forget to come back this weekend as we bring Dice-ember to a conclusion for this year. And lastly, as we come to the end of the year don’t forget to spend some time with those that matter the most to you. It’s the time we take to reflect and celebrate what means the most to us. So don’t forget to relax and start the new year refreshed and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Aster Sepharin

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The twentieth day of Dice-ember finally brings Aster Sepharin to us. So let’s look at our antagonist for this years Dice-ember and the imagery that inspires her. She is a young yet powerful mage who is driven to master her art not just for herself, but for a village that would rather she didn’t. But people do crazy things for the things and people that they believe they love.

Aster Sepharin

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Aster Sepharin: Created in nightcafe.studio

Aster is young by magic user standards but she is dedicated and driven to her craft. Not necessarily evil or bad but her creations or, to be more exact, her inexperience with them leads to disaster. She is after all a passionate yet frustrated young lady that others don’t share her vision or drive. Yet despite her drive, talent and passion she still has room left in her life for generosity and despite the means to getting there her creation of constructs was meant to be the way forward into the new era for the townsfolk of Snowtown.

Aster Sepharin: created in artbreeder

And that’s it for tonight. As we inch closer to the end of the year I wanted to say thanks for those who have joined me for this journey. Don’t forget to keep the spark of creativity alive this festive season and don’t forget to come back for the last few days of Dice-ember as we wrap up this adventure. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Quarry’s frozen Caverns

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The nineteenth day of Dice-ember brings us to the heart of the adventure, the Quarry’s frozen caverns which houses the lair of the enchantress. As the party descend the frozen steps deeper into the stone quarry the what will the darkness below reveal.

The Quarry’s frozen Caverns

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As the Guardians finally fell, their coal cores ceasing to burn with unnatural light the quarry fell silent except for the constant flow of frozen water into the lower levels. The path ahead through the quarry under the waterfall curtain appeared to be well worn despite being recently constructed. As they approached the stairs downwards the cacophony of the frigid water was enough to dim the keenest of senses. The sound of water hitting the pool from worn out stone and ice drowned out all other noise and sent sprays of cold water across the visitors.

Frozen blocks of ice led down in a large arcing staircase that doubled back on the cave entrance and lead under the waterfall. Frozen stalactites framed the ceiling like hundreds of razor sharp teeth from some giant beast. The feeling of dread and cold grew with every step down into the darkened depths. However as they stepped officially under the waterfall far below them was a flickering bright light that promised warmth and a reprieve of the darkness.

Somewhere deep below the arcane thrum was felt by those attuned to the mystical arts. A ritual was being undertaken down below. For this level of power to be felt at this distance it would be a strong one and it drew the party deeper into the quarry’s depths.

Watchers in the dark

As the party crossed under the stalactites the occasional drip of water or tap of a pebble or bit of ice falling from above interrupted their thoughts and conversation. But as they descended the wide stairs something watched them from above. Moving on tiny claws to adjust its position it lay in wait above the humans as they walked towards its hiding place.

As the party move towards the final stretch of this adventure its time to throw in the customary ambush encounter. Icicle looking creatures that drop from the roof to impale the party. But that’s not all this week brings as our young antagonist finishes up her ritual and the party are left to deal with the consequences. With a big week ahead you can’t forget to come back each day this week to see whats next instore for our party. Oh and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Downtime

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Hello all and good evening. Tonight we interrupt the regular planned update with a small message on downtime.

Now regardless of whether it is that you choose to spend your time on you’ll always find yourself wanting a break. Thats why most employment has days iff each week and holiday leave is super important when applying for jobs.

The same can be said for hobbies. You can definitely get hobby burnout and even if you love it sometimes you just need space. But not all the time is it deliberate or negative. Illness or a change in the regular schedule can be enough to enforce downtime. Its these moments that we can assess ourselves to see if we are still on the right track. To see if we still are happy with the value that we get out of the things we invest our time into.

Now… Tomorrow we’ll have two dice-ember posts as we look at wrapping it up for another year. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Preparation for greatness

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Tonight as we continue on this adventure I find myself at a crossroads. Wanting to explore more of the mad-mage Albazhar as well as looking into the enchantress who is in preparation for greatness. What I want to follow up with tonight is the trigger point of what takes the enchantress from helping the village to enslaving it. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Preparation for greatness

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Mark Kenderson had approached me today to apologise for how he had treated me the other week. He was Charming and polite and everything that drew me to him in the first place. After buying me a few pints and a meal he asked if he could come visit me tonight. I am so excited. He is the son of the leader of the town and if I can convince him that my creations are a boon for the village then the village will follow suit.

It’s only a few hours until dark, when he agreed he would come, so I better perfect my snowman and have it ready to be presentable. Today is the turning point, mark my words Snowtown will be on the map and we wont have to worry about unreliable mercenaries or labourers ever again!

Later

I was so foolish… Mark did show up but so did his buddies. They had no interest in my creations but had came with violence in their eyes. Mark tried to stop them from kicking in my door and for the first time in my life I regretted the distance my house was from the rest of the town. As the door crashed down the thugs pushed Mark down and stormed through. He pleaded for them to stop. He said he only wanted the creations smashed but didn’t want any harm to come to me. His companions thought otherwise.

The Snowman was so fast. It must have realised that they had ill content and the orders to protect the village took over. It was horrific. It was terrible. It was a work of perfection. The Snowman rolled over them, impaling them with its hardened wooden talons and ripped them apart. After the violence was over there was only three corpses on the ground. Mark was horrified and went to attack the Snowman. I tried to stop the snowman but it happened so fast and I was so slow.

Mark was killed. But I think I can save him. This book talks of more advanced rituals to bind flesh to constructs. I think I can use what the book teaches on flesh golems to save Mark. But I will need space and time. I think the Snowman and the others of its kind can help. I just hope that I am not too late as I move the rest of my worktable to the quarry where I have some guardians waiting on their cores.

Thanks for joining me tonight as we look at the trigger point for Aster, our young enchantress, moving out of the village in the days leading up to the party’s arrival. This sets the scene for the time to come and gives a bit of an insight into the final encounter with the enchantress and her frosty constructs in Snowtown. Don’t forget to come back next week and, as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Sudden Visitor

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Tonight we find ourselves approaching the last week of Dice-ember. Tonight we look towards our young enchantress trying to deal with sudden visitor and what it may mean for her.

Sudden Visitor

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As she walked around her little house in Snowtown the enchantress studied the notebook she had begun to learn advanced enchanting with. There was something she was missing. The constructs she had made were volatile and were prone to falling apart and the magic unravelling as quickly as she had weaved it. The twigs for a skeleton and compressed snow made for strong and durable bodies however the advanced magic she was trying to wield was causing the issue.

A cup on the table wobbled and fell over which caused her to jump. Startled she placed a hand on a small knife she held under her robes, normally used for enchanting, and looked around the small room that was her kitchen and workshop. The front door was slightly ajar which she was sure she had closed before. The cold frigid wind blustered in which threatened to extinguish her candles so, not seeing anything immediately she closed the door, barred it and went to go re-ignite some candles that had spluttered out.

‘Before you freak out can you put down the knife please?’ a small voice asked from near her table. She whirled around and drew her knife looking for the source of the voice. ‘I have a message – I have a message!’ the voice shrieked, a high nasally voice that made her immediately think it was a Goblin.

Looking over the table she spied a goblin that was dressed in a humble blue robe, with no weapons. ‘What do you want Goblin and spit it out’ she hissed at the goblin. She began to mutter a spell under her breath to increase her defences.

‘My master hopes you like his book but wants to ask what you are using as a core?’ the Goblin asked nervously as it moved towards the wall.

‘The core?’ the enchantress asked perplexed. A moment later and it occurred to her. More advanced constructs have a core that stores residual or reserve magical energy. This helps to stabilise the construct and make it more reliable. Ignoring the goblin she rummaged through her workbench before finding a lump of coal. Something that she hadn’t needed that day to start her fire but something that could retain magical energy.

This is the thing. As long as she buried it deep enough in the construct the snow and wood should be able to keep it safe and it should stabilise her creations.

The goblin smiled and quietly slipped out a window before being abruptly summoned back to its masters dimension.

Another night of Dice-ember down and another part of the overall story coming together. Just one more week left and by this time next weekend the adventure will be over!. So don’t forget to come back each day this coming week, and tomorrow, to stay up to date on the adventure. And, as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Snowcraft Guardian

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The sixteenth day of dice-ember sees the Snowcraft Guardian come to life and ambush our party in the quarry. This creature, err, construct is something that the young enchantress created as a way of defending her lair from those who would wish her harm. But the are by far not her strongest creation.

Snowcraft Guardian

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The snowcraft guardian is compressed snow that looks vaguely humanoid in shape, if you squint a fair bit. Large biceps and forearms have been formed and shards of ice form claws or club-like slabs where the hands would be. These creatures are an ambush predator and will move only once their pray have passed them. Attacking from behind to knock unconscious or rend in two with their eviscerating claws.

Created in tetra-cube

Encounter

Two or three per member should be more than enough as its meant to be a low level adventure. But balancing them according to party size would be fine. Having these and a few animated snowmen or animated snowballs could lower the overall difficulty but keep the encounter at a multi-combatant encounter.

I’d position these near the cliffs, the cart and where the water falls into the mining pit in the centre of the quarry. Moving swiftly as a group to the nearest party member, noiselessly as possible, then attacking without warning. These are not exactly strong enough to down a party member outright (except for maybe a mage) but they are durable and will put up a fight.

That’s about all for tonight!. These creatures are guardians of the cave and won’t let anyone other than their creator into it. But they aren’t smart or very aware of their own mortality so they wont flee to save themselves or avoid fighting near cliffs and such which could cause perilous to them. But don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content where we explore more journal entries and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Snowtown Quarry

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The fifteenth day of Dice-ember I bring to you the Snowtown Quarry map. This is where we look to encounter some particularly nasty constructs and investigate further into where the constructs may be coming from. This map has a lot of layering work and the river was a bit of a harder one to do so it took quite a bit of time tonight. So I hope you enjoy and can find use of this snowy quarry map in your own games or this adventure!

Snowtown Quarry

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The rocky walls are extremely steep and over twenty feet tall. The ledge above the quarry itself is covered in trees that appear to be trying to take back the scarred land. In the middle of the quarry a large sinkhole or perhaps open mine has been left to be filled with the river that has cut its way through the land and into the quarry itself.

Bits of debris and the remnants of a ruined mine track and cart can be found in the quarry but the dark cave entrance lays next to the waterfall where a constant flow of frigid water flows down. The water itself is covered by a thin layer of ice and is reasonable deep above the quarry but shallow on the open rocky field.

Created in Inkarnate

Tonight I had another play around with Inkarnate. It was good to get back into more focused map making and spending more time and effort in trying to blend the chaotic elements of natural landscape together. Maps like these are quite versatile and this one can be used not only for D&D but also Soulbound, Openlengends RPG as well as other game systems, fantasy or otherwise. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the statblock of the creatures eluded to over the past weekAnd, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Snow covered stones

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The fourteenth day of Dice-ember brings our party to overlook the scene of the snow covered stones of the quarry. The noon sun makes exploring around the stark white snow and the contrasting dark stone to be a dangerous one. The party will have to think quickly if they want to avoid becoming the latest casualties of the large shapes that move around the snow covered stones.

Snow covered stones

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A few hours walk from Snowtown, high in the Gritch mountains the quarry stood nearly motionless and abandoned. Talking to the Goliath chief of the tribe that called Snowtown neighbours some calamity had occurred where miners were lost and unable to be dug out many years ago. Since then the quarry lay destitute, abandoned and quiet as it fell into disrepair.

However, the quarry was a different view now as somewhere higher in the mountains snow had begun to melt and a stream had formed a waterfall into the quarry. The thin frozen surface of the stream concealed the moving water underneath. As the cold water crashed on the rocks below into the quarry small icicle particles rained down on the party. The edges of the quarry seemed to be relatively solid and dry as the water disappeared into a mineshaft that was near the centre of the field. Moving around the quarry the party were blissfully unaware of the sentient structures that watched from under the mounds of snow. Large hulking limbs slowly came to life as the adventures moved close to them.

Slowly hulking masses of stone studded snow lumbered forward towards the party as they noticed a large cavern behind the frigid stream. Only when falling snow thudded on the ground behind them did they realise too late that they were in grave danger and the constructs of the quarry were upon them.

A smaller on tonight as I want to save some reveals for the rest of the week. There is one more week after this one left of Dice-ember content so don’t forget to come back each day this week ad we near the finish line. On another note I will be going back to a more one shot structure next year. Having a year long adventure is fun but I want to get back into smaller bite sized content chunks. So don’t forget to look out for that, and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The view from above Snowtown

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The thirteenth day of Dice-ember brings more images to invoke the wonders of winter in the wilderness. The view from above Snowtown is stunning. Endless fields of white, smoke from chimneys above and the scattering of townsfolk moving about their lives. For the Party however it brings more questions than answers and the day ahead of them is one full of adventure.

The view from above Snowtown

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The view from above Snowtown: Created in nightcafe.studio

The town of Snowtown situated amongst snow covered rocky outcrops gives it the appearance of a much larger village. However there isn’t many dwellings in the town and the blankets of snow flank most of the useable land nearby. The mountains around the town are host to bountiful trees and wildlife if there are people experienced enough to know where to look.

Trek of the goliaths : Created in nightcafe.studio

Through the rocky valleys and trees the Goliath come from a nearby village to Snowtown. Sturdy and tribal these are hardy people of the land who seek balance and peace with their neighbours.

The People

Goliath Elder: created in Artbreeder
Goliath Warrior: Created in Artbreeder

A shorter one this week as images normally take some time to wrok out. A mix of Artbreeder and nightcafe.studio tonight as I try to find the mix between what can be created and used from AI (nightcafe) and what I need to tweak myself to get the things just right (artbreeder). Utilising both to get what I want and how I envision it may be the right way forward as the landscapes from Nightcafe are just great. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more twists as the party look into the Quarry and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe