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Iron
Failing
An isle of decaying
metal bobbing in an ocean of brine, Iron Failing is a
creaking, cancerous place. The ironburg is a huge
construct of metal struggles to stay above the surface of
the Saline Sea, and its surface shows the wear of many
centuries of corrosive salt eating away at the
structure.
The burg is a massive hulk
several miles across, knee-deep in crumbling reddish
rust. Under the dusty exterior, if a cutter brushes away
the dead metal, there's a shiny metallic surface. It's
slowly being eaten away by the atmosphere -- Iron Failing
is slowly crumbling away and leaving a red-rust trail in
the Saline Sea behind it as it floats.
Nobody really knows where
the burg came from, or even whether it's natural, divine
or constructed by mortal hands -- the place is simply too
badly rusted away to be able to tell. Most planewalkers
agree that the place looks like it once was some sort of
metal city, long-since collapsed. One story goes however,
that a fiendish city of steel captured by an archon force
was wished here using mighty magics indeed. The
remaining fiends soon perished in the hostile environment
and the plane itself is slowly destroying the
evidence.
Another tale reckons Iron
Failing is the birthplace of rust monsters (some reckon
rust monsters aren't natural in the first place, but that
may not be the case). Indeed, these beasts infest the
island, searching for bare surfaces of metal which
haven't been corrupted by the salty spray. Failing that,
the beasts feast on the copious flakes of rust blowing
around. A plumper bunch of fine rust monsters you'll
never find. In fact, wizards keen on breeding the things
have been known to finance expeditions to capture
specimens. Strangely though the rusties here are more
aggressive and conniving than the average prime rust
monster. Maybe they've picked up a taste of the evil that
some historians say used to haunt the burg in its past
life.
Seas the
Dream
(by J.
M. McKenzie)
Excerpt from the
journals of Captain Bligh Tugmarin, a Prime sailor whose
personal belongings just turned up in a junk shop in
Sigil.
Log of the
Iris, Bligh Tugmarin Commanding
Everlast
Four, Sad King Billy 11:
Three days out
from Hamlin and trade is beginning without us. At least
we aren't the only ones late this year-- we've overtaken
the Kracken and are riding with the Devil's Biscuit to
port.
Sailing's good
this season, wind's sweet and clouds're full of gentle
rain instead of storms. Kept pace with The Otter today,
though we're the slower ship by far. If I didn't know
Suss as well as I do, I'd almost think they weren't
trying to beat us into port. Suss'd never hold back,
though. If there's a greedier man anywhere on the sea
I've never met him. In Derrytown they said he'd hired on
a wizard to keep his sails full and divine a safe course,
but that's not the Suss I know. He'd sooner part with his
head than gold. Still, though, it seems like he's driving
soft today, and it's unlike him to be late at all. Ah,
we'll catch old Otter in the night if he is holding back.
The men'll wake me and we can shout across if we can see
her for the bloody fog that blew up.
Everlast
Four, Sad King Billy 12:
We should be two
days out from Hamlin, but I can see land. A seafront
shantytown built of roped bridges and piled buildings.
Otter's nowhere in sight, but Devil's Biscuit is still
with us. With the wind dead, Old Jake and I pulled to and
bumped heads over this. We can't understand what's
happened. We've seen white skies before, but ones without
clouds? And the men are parched, they've sucked through a
week's ration of water in the night. We dropped buckets
to boil some fresh, but the water was bitter, poison, not
our friendly sea at all.
On top of that,
Iris is riding too high. She's listing badly, even with a
full load. I ordered Frump to take on some water as
ballast and he said the pumps locked up on it. "Crystals
in the piston," he said. "Locked tight," he said. God
help me if my men ever read this, but their captain is
scared. I've never seen anything like this.
The town put out a
ship today, it'll be here in hours. I told the men I'd
get some rest while I could, that tomorrow I'd never
sleep, I'd be so busy cutting deals and making them rich
men. Maybe I will. Maybe the ship from the town can
explain what's happened. But, God save my soul, what if
they can't?
Comments:
On an open sea in a
ridiculously huge cavern of air on the Plane of Salt sits
Seas the Dream. It is a waterfront shantytown, built of
suspended bridges and stilted buildings. Inspection shows
the planks and lines come from one source only-ships that
came in and never left. The ships, not only their wood
and rope behind, but their cargo, their provisions, and
their crews. So those in the burg are master traders,
getting what they can for as little as possible, before
the incoming ships realize they may not be able to go
home.
Chant:
Seas the Dream sits in a sea on the Plane of Salt,
sure. But it also sits in an ethereal sea, one plied by
Wanderers of the Brine (Salt Genasi) and Prime seamen
lost in mists and magic triangles. Sailors come in, but
some don't go out.
Dark:
Yep, Seas is a great
place to find a deal on some really great items. Heck,
most any of the locals would give you their arm for ride
out of town. As you can guess, food and water go for a
premium. So much of a premium, in fact, that some of the
ships that appear to leave don't, really. Why? Humans
have a lot of meat on their bones, you know. And elves
are so piquant.
The
Tears of K'un Lun
(by
Tom
Bubul)
Hearsay:
"It came to be that
on an ancient Prime world now lost to existence that a
Power of the Sea fell in love with a mortal of the land.
The Sea studied and adored this mortal, though could
never touch her, for she lived on land. After many years,
this mortal the Sea so adored finally took a ginger step
into the foam that frothed on a beach. The Sea was
overjoyed, and used its mighty tides to pull the mortal
closer to it. The sea pulled and pulled, until the mortal
was completely submerged - screaming for air and
floundering against the waves that so adored her. The
mortal drowned, and when the Sea realised what it had
done, it cried great tears. These tears exist still on
Salt, it is said, where lovers go to seek the solace of
the sea's tears to aid in their tearing
relationships."
- Nora Twelvetales,
Storyteller
The
Chant:
Five lakes arranged in a vague star formation, the
Tears of K'un Lun are each ponderous bodies of water, so
rich in salt that a body can actually walk across them
and only end up submerged to the ankles. The waters of
the lakes are a grand mockery to thirsty travellers of
the plane; there is no water to be found in the planes
that is less drinkable. Salt Mephits congregate at the
lakes and sloggosh herds mill about in the middles of the
lakes, dipping their salty beards in the water. They
occasionally search for fish that might happen to swim
too high in the salty water. The occasional superstitious
mortal comes to take a flask full of water in exchange
for whatever offering they might be able to make; a
tossed coin, a prayer, or even salt being thrown over a
shoulder are all common.
The
Dark:
The Tears of K'un Lun actually are the
tears of the sea; so heavily salted and emotionally
charged, they seeped their way to through the fabric of
the planes to rest on Salt. The Tears never dry up, and
are nearly impossible to store, due to the high salt
content; they quickly eat away at all manner of
containers. A canny basher who does find a way to store
them will quickly find that his searches for something to
aid in his love life weren't in vain. An ingested drop of
water from the Tears will allow him to spout poetry and
speak as flowery as the Sea to its precious mortal.
While causing a sod to suffer mild dehydration and a -2
to Constitution checks until he drinks a decent amount of
water, it gives a +4 to reaction adjustment. These
tears are also reported to be an ingredient in philters
of love.
An estranged proxy of the
prime power K'un Lun claims these lakes are holy to her
master, and dwells in and around the five lakes. Myrtle,
as she is known, does not prevent visitors from exploring
the lakes, but will act quickly and with great force to
defend the lakes from harm. She's also been known to help
weary travellers who need shelter by providing them with
conjured food and water, in exchange for them listening
to the sad story of K'un Lun. The Tears aren't strictly a
realm of the power, but in the godsforsaken plane of
Salt, any connection to divinity is considered
special.
Copyright
2000, the Mimir Team,
Layout by Jon Winter and Jeremiah Golden
Saline Sea picture by Vicki Hood
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