AAJ Entry - Lake Lulutika
My mini-region submission for The Antarctica Adventure Jam. Written for WUTC, but gold instead of silver.
See the map for hex locations (the entries themselves will be there eventually).
Lake Lulutika
A rare lake in the endless moss-filled tundra, which remains unfrozen in winter. Filled with long-tailed fish of many colors. The poisonous fish taste delicious, but require knowledge in order to prepare safely.
Encounters
| 1d3 (add +1 if anyone is carrying Lover's Beard) | Encounters | Weather (Summer) | Weather (Winter) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6 Villagers | Moist | Frigid |
| 2 | 2d6 Bandits | Moist | Frigid |
| 3 | 1d2 Terror Birds | Wet | Freezing |
| 4 | 2d3 Children of the Lake (as Deep Ones) | Wet | Freezing |
Magic
Spells
Scry Ex-Lover
One-use: Smear fermented Lover's Beard (stem cut into pieces, smashed into a pulp, stuffed into a glass jar and left underground for a week) onto a circular pane of glass. Can observe an ex-lover for an hour.
Wards
Lover's Beard
A flowering plant with slender stems, growing in a chain like fashion, hanging off the ends of rocks and cliffs in the swamps near Lake Lulutika. Tea made from its lavender petals relaxes muscles and enhances feelings of connectedness between people, often used for sex. +6 Warding against ex-lovers.
Swamps near Lake Lulutika (1)
Minor Gods
Lulutika
Disposition: 2d6
+1 if you bury Lover's Beard next to the lake.
+1 if you have a lover who has thought about you today.
-1 if you have lived a life of violence
-1 if you have not groomed yourself today
You must call on Lulutika at the side of her lake, and inscribe your question upon a scroll and drop it into the water.
On a hostile result: A song calls you into the lake, and you become a Child of the Lake.
On a negative or disinterested result: Nothing happens.
On a positive result: A woman rises from the lake and describes a location of great beauty from around the continent, and tells you how to get there.
On a friendly result: A woman rises from the lake and whispers to you the answer to your question. If the question is unknowable, she gives you a kiss instead.
Coast
198.323 Tsotanga Swamp
A single hut stands out in the marshy swamp. Inside, Yoshimi (3 HD Frog Spirit) welcomes any visitors, and if they seem kind, she asks if they would venture to her former lover (the crab spirit in hex 190.313) and see if she would join her again. If the visitors seem mercenary, she will teach the spell Scry Ex-Lover in exchange for her lover tied and dropped at her feet.
Yoshimi grows a secret stash of Lover's Beard beneath her hut, accessible through a trap door. One could harvest 4 plants each half-year.
Yoshimi proudly shows off her most prized possession to all visitors: Opus 19 (“The Two Seasons”), from the Frog Orchestra in Zurth (56-264). She will not admit how it came into her life.
199.322 Bandits
Several heavy slingers watch a gathering of ape-fur tents surrounded by wooden stakes.
32 former Clan Snow Ape (see hex 192.314) slave-soldiers killed their masters and escaped several years ago. They have forehead scars where they burned off their slave tattoos. The bandits live off pilfered food from Tsalatagra, which they gather once a season.
Ako (Fighter 4, 9 AC, Sword) led the uprising and led the survivors to the lake. Waka (Fighter 3, 9 AC, Heavy sling), his lieutenant, openly complains that they should adapt to their circumstances and end their life of banditry. About half the bandits support each leader.
19 bandits are AC 10 and equipped with swords. 11 bandits are AC 10 and equipped with heavy slings (as longbows).
The bandits have taken in a wandering tuxedo cat (see 187.309). They describe him as a kind young man who loves stealing fish when they aren’t looking.
Ako's people are slowly vanishing. He does not know that most of the bandits secretly gather Lover's Breath to make tea and fall prey to the Children of the Lake.
The bandits horde loot from their former masters (bandits I):
- 400 gp
- 100 jars of preserved Wooly Bee honey (5 sp each, consumed in emergencies)
200.322 Tsalatagra
A quiet circle of mud huts next to the lake, with dyed linen banners flapping in the wind.
The fishers treat Kimoko as their leader. She came to the village after her exile from The Oiligan Empire. On her arrival a decade ago, , she buried a chest with an exquisite tea set (500 gp) and old intelligence from the listening post at 28.8.
The villagers approach friendly faces and ask them to talk to Kimoko about their bandit problem.
Each year, the bandits to the north take most of Tsalatagra's stock of purified fish, leaving the villagers to force their elders to starve. Kimoko would trade her buried box for help in eliminating the bandits.
201.323 Submerged Cave System
A crack in the bottom of the lake hides a submerged cave system where 24 Children of the Lake dance, mate, and perform unintelligible rituals, when not out searching for Lover's Beard for their mistress.
Deep in the cave, they collect the belongings of those who have joined them (monstrous II):
- 400 gp
- 2 baskets of shells (150 gp each)
201.324 Sunken Temple
A round curved building sits on the bottom of the lake, covered in moss. A forgotten people carved a relief into the walls of the room. It shows a figure dropping a scroll with words into the lake, and the next carving is split in two horizontally: One shows a figure walking into the lake, the other shows a woman whispering into the figure’s ear.
The floor contains 10 small embedded pearls (50 gp each). Each take a turn to carve out or risk damaging them.
25% chance each turn that 4 Children of the Lake appear to investigate intruders.
202.323 Hanan
An empty village, the mud huts disintegrating into the swamp. Various jars and other fermentation supplies lay broken.
6 stone markers remain undisturbed. 10% chance to have an unbroken jar of fermented Lover's Beard buried underneath, otherwise a broken jar remains.