Before the gods had finished creating the earth, there were things that walked on primordial ground. Among the things that grew was the first Spell-Garden, and The First Wizard was born from a particularly large rose there. It was he who grew the Horned Ones and weaved them from spells, malice, and colours.
The original Horned Ones are mostly extinct now, struck down by the same Sky Bone-Shattering event that destroyed the First Wizard and the City of Petals. That was a long time ago, and the Magical Bones of The First Wizard have been consumed thrice over now by other Eldest. They currently sit in the stomach of the Dusk Lord.
The few remaining Horned Ones and their many descendants don't particularly like their origin myth, even if it is true. How would you like it if all the legends about you said you were full of malice.
The original Horned Ones are mostly extinct now, struck down by the same Sky Bone-Shattering event that destroyed the First Wizard and the City of Petals. That was a long time ago, and the Magical Bones of The First Wizard have been consumed thrice over now by other Eldest. They currently sit in the stomach of the Dusk Lord.
The few remaining Horned Ones and their many descendants don't particularly like their origin myth, even if it is true. How would you like it if all the legends about you said you were full of malice.
A Brief History of Horned Ones (and their descendants)
In the days before the Sky Shattering, twisted rain fell on the horns of outcast Horned Ones outside the City of Petals. This rain made them twisted, many-legged beasts who lost their once refined sentience. These beasts-who-were-once-bipeds were called Low Ones, and they were used as mounts and beasts of burden.
A few young Horned Ones, brave, bold, brash, (and bored) formed the Exalted Knights. They were a militant order self-tasked with the destruction of the megafauna that stalked the earth in those days, along with anything else they thought might present a reasonable test to their might. It is the descendants of this Order that roves the earth in pugnacious pursuit of worthy conflict, though now they march under the banners of THE UTTERSWORD. Exalted Knight armor is always spiked, a way to show reverence to the thorns of their rose forebears.
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| (image from the glorious ksbd) |
The Horned Ones had among them many masterful Wizards at this time too who joined in research with The Crystal Singers (resonant Stonefolk who shared their appreciation of knowledge and magical crafting). The alliance would eventually form the legendary city of Nexus. The early days of this alliance were shaky at best, due to a rogue group of Exalted Knights stealing the legendary sword Heart-Render from one of the laboratories. The story of Nexus is one for another time though.
Then the Shattering happened.
Today, no one knows what curse or vengeful god the First Wizard must have earned the ire of, but pictographic records indicate some sort of catastrophic event around the year 200 struck down the powerful Eldest, along with his sacred city and most of his Horned Ones. The iconography indicates sharpened bones falling from the sky, but the takeover of the area that was once the City of Petals by the undead armies of the Dusk Lord have kept modern archaeologists from uncovering any more evidence that might help solve the centuries old mystery of the mass deaths.
Two centuries or so after the events of the Shattering, a mysterious woman called The Last Witch was born among one of the few surviving Horned Ones. A masterful fleshcrafter and spell-artist, she perfected a method of hybridization with the surrounding human tribes, calling the hybrid species of half-breeds New Horned Ones.
After two more centuries of subverting and conquering the human life in the area to make more New Horned Ones, a the Last Witch commissioned the building of a city called Ori. Within, She formed an elite network of biomancers called the Azoth, who are well versed in the arts of fleshcraft and spycraft. It was they who perfected the forms of the giant silk-worms that produce the vast amounts of silk the city exports, as well as the magic that allows one to extract and bottle threads of memory.
They also uplifted the remaining Low Ones, calling the re-sentient species Reformed Ones and freeing them from their bondage.
The only thing the city of Ori produces more than spies, silk, and mutants is it's excellent cheese.
What they look like:
The skin color of all old and new Horned Ones and their variants resemble that of flowers. Use the random flower generator here. Use my horn generator here. Their eyes tend to be exotic bright colors like violet, pink, white, or yellow.Original Horned Ones tend to tower over the modern races at around 8 feet tall from head to toe. They have regal, symmetrical faces and majestic horns that add to their already impressive height.
New Horned Ones tend to be be slightly taller than an average human, though with their mastery of fleshcrafting they can pay to change their musculature and form to become as slim or as strong as they wish. They tend to have several mutations.
Reformed Ones tend to be many-legged tauric beings whose forms vary wildly.
What they wear: Citizens of Ori enjoy silk robes and kimonos specifically tailored to fit any extra limbs or protruding oddities. Individuality is a valued trait, and so the city is full of eye-catching clothing and styles that compliment the exotic skin colors of their wearers. Body modifications are popular. Filing down horns to be asymmetrical, body piercings of all types (especially on horns), and elaborate tattoos made from bottled memory threads are some of the more popular choices. Some enjoy the look of the blue ribbons of Crown and tie them on their horns. Flowers and flower imagery is pervasive and always popular.
What they sound like: Hushed, calm. Sometimes patronizing, but almost always friendly. When they raise their voice, even a little, the force of their words can be felt. Listeners describe it as an "angry garden, where the birds keep chirping amongst each other as they plot your murder"
What other think of them:
+Exotic, reserved, friendly
-Secretive, freaks, malevolent
Stats:
For New Horned Ones, use the Tiefling stats of your choice and give them 1d4 mutations off the table of your choice. If it's particularly debilitating, they likely have some money stashed away and are saving up to pay a fleshcrafter to get rid of it. It was probably either a prank or intended to be a cool mutation that went horribly wrong. I like this oneReformed Ones have stats as a Centaur and 1d6 mutations.
Old Horned Ones cast spells as a high level magic user and can be run using the Lich or Devil stats of your choice.
As a rule, you can't kill an Exalted Knight in combat. They probably won't consider anything that doesn't have a significant legend behind it to be a threat. Traps/dirty tricks/assassinations and similar things can work, but then you probably end up CONSCRIPTED yourself if you manage to kill one. ALWAYS put on some symphonic metal music whenever one is nearby. If everyone is conscripted, start a new campaign with this.
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| A New Horned One Cheese Merchant (Art by Josh Corpuz) |
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| Art by 艺数绘 |
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SourceTwo Reformed Ones |
Plot Threads:
- The spies of the Azoth keep blackmail on every significant noble and head of state in the Orian Vault. The information is kept from bottled memories, so not even it's collectors know exactly what the blackmail is. The Vault is well guarded and holds not just blackmail but the secret identity of several sleeper agents, a number of state secrets, and dangerous infohazards.
- A popular spying technique by Orians is to offer minor cosmetic changes for a reasonable price through fleshcraft. Spies can then see through any eyes that have been affected. The Azoth will kill to keep this secret, and someone important just found out how it works.
- The Thought-Peddlers Guild has angered the Fromager Consortium by reportedly stealing the recipe for one of their most famous cheeses. Now, no-one can remember what it is or who might have it, and the two guilds are about to start brawling in an all-out street war.
(A big thank you again to the OSR discord and to everyone who participated!)
hell yeah
ReplyDeleteThis is spot-on to my imagination.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I want MORE!!
ReplyDelete