Difference between revisions of "Soft Places"

Revision as of 02:57, 20 December 2012

Backstory

(Source)

Soon, it would all come to an end. His years of service to pauper and prince, merchant and miner, king and coward. His summers spent watching the ships sail into the harbor packed with luxuries from afar and sailing back heavy with ore and gemstones. His winters tending to those clustered near the desert edge who had no other place to call home. His chances to see his grandchildren being born.

It was not fair. He who had spent so many years prolonging the lives of others, so many campaigns saving the foolish boys who ran off to war looking for glory, so many times keeping plague and famine from crushing the lifeblood of Silversail... yet for all the good he had done, and there was nothing he could do for himself.

He was dying. Oh, he could mend a broken limb, soothe the most severe of burns, bring a gaping wound to close, and bind, and heal. But there was nothing he knew that would stop the ravages of time.

He was dying and he was becoming obsessed with living. There must be some way to gain a few more years. Some elixir, some ritual, some sacrifice he could make... something to give him just a bit more time. He had combed the land from Tirantek to Dendeya looking for something to give him just a bit more time. He was not ready to let his life go.

He was becoming desperate. He had offered explorers gold and riches, titles and land and livestock... all for even a hint of another year. He begged and prayed and screamed his desire throughout the streets, but there was nothing to be found.

His days grew short. The breath was heavy in his throat and his limbs were like stones dragging him down into the soil. He thought of his childhood, and of the loves that he would never have. His mind, his mind which had always been his strength, was letting the details slowly slip away. But still, he searched.

And then, he found it. The binding was cracked and the pages had faded almost to the point of being blank. But the words were still there and they set off a fire in his mind.

On the borders of reality, there are soft places... insubstantial worlds where dream and reality mix, where directions become confused, and where even life and death meet in a union of gray. They are the backdrops of our dreams, the resting places for those making the great transition, and the refuge of gods long since forgotten. These are places of transition, where all things change and nothing is forever.

In an instant, he knew. He knew that he would not walk quietly from this world. He knew the place deep within the desert. He knew the words that would tear open the veil like a knife moving through sinew. He knew the place where he might hide, where even death would not find him. He knew that he would not travel from this life without one last fight.

General Information

Points of Interest

Population

NPCs

• Oasis
• Shipwreak
• Wandering Monk

Monsters

• Asp
• Coyote
• Fire Ant Soldier
• Honey Badger
• Meerkat
• Mongoose
• Rattlesnake
• Sand Spider
• Sand Viper
• Scorpion
• Tarantula
• Vulture

Bosses

• Grotesque
• Resca
• Roc

Hazards

• Death traps
• High monster poison

Loot

• Dead Rodent
• Rancid Meat Chunks

Forage

• Water

Notes

• This area is more often known by the description of its landscape: "Shifting Sands".
• The area loops back on itself.
• There is no way out of the area except via logging to local or using the Vortex Gate on Resca's square.

References

• Trevayne's "Soft Places" Announcement