These are the sea encounter seeds I've collected over the years. They won't make sense without the rest of the encounter anyway so Seriously don't freakin read! I will know if you do:)
337 The crew have been using a net to catch fish. This time they have caught a sea centaur, a strange-looking creature, with a top half like a man, and a bottom half like a sea horse. It struggles feebly, clutching at the net with webbed fingers, trying to saw it apart with a long, serrated dagger made of some sea shell. ‘We’ll have to kill it, Cap’n – they’re terrible bad luck to have on board,’ says the first mate.
One of the sailors is already readying his cutlass.
108 That night, your sleep is restless. You dream a most vivid dream. You are attacked by a gigantic sea monster, a mighty octopoid thing that encircles the ship with tree-like tentacles and pulls it under the waves. You sink into the bottle-green depths until you are caught in a glowing golden net. You wake in an undersea palace of multi-coloured coral, with mermaids to attend you. They lead you past trident-armed merman guards into a great hall. Seated upon two giant shells, like thrones, are the king and queen of the deep, with green hair, sea-grey eyes, and crowns of pale gold. Shoals of iridescent angel fish dart about in an intricate flashing dance of colour,
dancing for the rulers of the land beneath the waves. In awe, you bow before them. The queen indicates that you should entertain them, for they are bored! A silver flute appears in your hands.
39 You and some of your crew clamber aboard the wreck. You find some dead sailors amid the wreckage. Their bodies are curiously bloated.
56 A strange-looking craft is bobbing in the water. It is shaped like a cone, floating on its base, and as you draw nearer, you realize it is made entirely of metal! Its sail, a huge piece of cloth, seems to have collapsed and is spread out around it, on the surface of the sea. Great blue and white letters, in some foreign script, are painted on its side. You notice an opening on one side.
97 You climb down a narrow track to the beach. The sea pounds the rocky shore, and the spray lashes your face. A mournful, yet utterly captivating singing suddenly fills your ears. You look out to sea, and spot several mermaids and mermen, cavorting in the surf. ‘Come, come to us…’ one of them calls in a lilting voice that fills you with a yearning desire to plunge into the sea and swim out to them.
205 The runes are written in Old Shadar, an ancient language from thousands of years ago. You realize that the runes form a spell that will give you the power to breathe underwater for a few hours.
533 Wavering like will-o’-the-wisps above a light haze, a ship’s lights gradually appear out of the night. A pallid mariner in a ragged, ancient-looking coat calls to you from the rail, saying that the ship is under a curse. Behind him stands a throng of sad-faced seamen. ‘We cannot put in to any port,’ the captain explains in a hollow voice, ‘but are doomed to sail the high seas for evermore.’
556 One of the crew is revealed as a woman who disguised herself in order to sign aboard. Her deception only comes to light because she is about to give birth. ‘I thought he – er, she – was getting rather tubby,’ says the ship’s surgeon. ‘Can you deliver the child?’ you ask him. ‘You’re joking. I can barely set a splint.’ There is nothing for it. You must set a course for the Island of Fire, a volcanic isle which is the nearest place where you might find a competent midwife. Thankfully you reach it before the woman goes into labour. The islanders give you a friendly
welcome and their chief’s wives take the woman to their hut.
337 ‘The Sea of Hydras,’ the navigator says, pointing to the east. ‘Why is it so called?’ asks the cabin boy in a tone of wonder. The navigator gives a derisive snort of laughter. ‘Need you ask?’
538 you encounter a ship bound from Danger, where the harbour is set in cliffs a thousand feet above the sea and vessels must be winched up. The captain hails you and says he has a Cargo Unit of minerals in his hold that he would be willing to exchange for one Cargo Unit of any other commodity. Alter the details on your Ship’s Manifest if you trade cargoes with him.
460 A SHOOTING STAR The lookout reports seeing a meteor plunge out of the sky a few leagues to southward. The first mate thinks it might be worth investigating, but it is not as easy as he thinks. You will have to calculate how far the ship has gone since the meteor fell and then plot a course back.
441 AN UNCANNY AWAKENING Earlier in the day you had to order a lashing for one of the crew because of insubordination. Having escaped from the brig, the wretch comes stealing in on you in the night. If not for a creaky
floorboard he would have cut your throat while you slept. As it is, he gets first blow and you must fight him ithout the benefit
of weapon or armour.
341 AN UNCHARTED ISLAND You put into a bay on a small uncharted island. Going ashore to replenish your supplies, you come across a huge serpent with skin like tree-bark lying in the shade of the trees. It watches you
with cold intensity. ‘Shall we kill it, skipper?’ asks the master of arms.
161 A STRONG CURRENT. It pulls you faster and faster, into the mouth of a massive whirl pool.
A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE has a map to treasure.
AN ATTRACTIVE THING This creature is a nereid, a being of pure water. She is chaotic evil and possesses an insidious and clever mind, hidden beneath her alien beauty and seeming naivete. She will retreat from close combat and conceal herself in the water. Out of the water she will assume the form of a beautiful woman. However, in the water she is 95% undetectable, and then only as a golden mantling of angel seaweed, for she is virtually transparent therein. Men are particularly vulnerable to this creature, for her naked form is poison to them, and those looking at her will find themselves incapable of causing her harm. Though her kiss brings sweet bliss it may also bring a watery doom. Each time a character is kissed by a nereid, he must save versus breath weapons at -2 or drown instantly. If the character succeeds, he will experience the ultimate in pleasure; but if he fails, then his lungs will take fire, his throat will seize up, and a greyness will overtake his senses as the end comes.
A GRISLY SACRIFICE It takes place in an underwater lair. "There is a nasty ceremony taking place here. Four sahuagin priestesses stand with their heads bowed, emitting a low droning sound. They each hold a small, squirming sahuagin in their left hand and a short staff in their right, their arms upraised. The hatchlings emit thin, pitiful wails. Above the priestesses, circling the altar area, is a huge white shark some 20 feet in length, revered by the sahuagin and considered by them to be a direct representative of their deity Sekolah. The wriggling hatchlings are young sahuagin who do not measure up to the rigorous physical standards of the sahuagin race. They are therefore being sacrificed to the shark. The ritual is a lengthy one, the sacrifices grisly affairs and will make any non-evil character observing them sick at heart."
254 (spires) A BODY IN THE WATER. Either a mutanied pirate captain, diseased sailor, or pathfinder with a bag of gems.
211 SHIPS FROM THE UNDERWORLD (spires)Your ship is buffeted by a wave as three ships burst out of the ocean. They are galleons from the underworld, manned by the twisted bodies of the dead and captained by lesser demons. Their faces leer at you as the pack plot a course to intercept. To fight would be utter foolishness, leaving only two options.
Try to outrun the ships
or parley
93 (spires) THE EDGE OF THE WORLD You sail on, as if forever, with your cabin boy atop the crows nest constantly scanning the horizon for something… anything… Finally one morning you hear that fateful cry – ‘Edge!! The Edge of the World!!’ There is a sudden uproar as your crew scramble onto the deck and look out to their doom. Panic sets in and the deck is in chaos. You attempt to keep your cool as you realise that your ship is being pulled faster and faster toward that sharp drop. You can’t help but consider it somewhat poetic as you look upon that undefinable point at which the sky ends and that deep black impenetrable void begins. You are one of the few mortals who have gazed upon the Edge of the World, and your fame will soon spread through seafaring myth.
484 (howling) INTO THE UNDERWORLD 1 You sail for days. Suddenly the ship surges forward, out of control! To your horror, a gigantic whirlpool appears in the middle of the ocean, sucking you down with relentless speed. Soon you are hurtling around on sheer walls of water. The sky is a small blue window that looks down at you through the
towering columns of the sea! ‘We are being sucked into the land below the world by the Demons of the Deep!’ howls one of your men.
333 (howling) You take the ship north until you are passing the Peaks at the Edge of the World to the west – awesome mountains that rise majestically into the clouds. To the north, you find that the sea comes up against huge cliffs, towering into the heavens. A strong current threatens to pull your ship into a gigantic cave at the base of the cliffs. The sea churns violently at the cave mouth, throwing up great waves. On either side of the cave mouth, two enormous statues stand waist-deep in the sea. They are stone warriors of cyclopean size, weather-beaten and pitted – they have been standing there for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands. Their faces look out across the world, as if observing distant events far off to the south. ‘The Silent Sentinels,’ whispers one of the crew in awed tones. ‘Aye,’ says another, ‘the Guardians at the World’s Edge. Best to turn back now, captain.’ ‘Some say that’s the Mouth of Harkun, the elder god from whose bones the world was formed, and that it leads to the land below the world! Turn back, cap’n, please!’ says your first mate.
76 (blood) ASSAULT ON AN ISLAND Presently, you arrive off the northernmost tip of the mountainous isle of Enraki, home of the warrior priests of Asswr sel Dablo. These fearsome holy men, armed by the gods of war and protected by the gods of stone, reside in a fortress raised on the lower slopes of the island's precipitous central snow-capped mountain. They are very rich. You have three options to deprive them of this wealth:
A direct assault on the fortress;
Gaining entry to the fortress via a deception of some kind, then pilfering what you can;
Finding a way over the mountains behind the castle so as to assault the (most probably) lightly defended rear
270 LIZARD RACES The Bataar races are conducted on a long sandy stretch between the wharfs and the city. The enormous racing-lizards are restrained at one end of the straight track until the start of the race, when they fly down towards a staked Goblin at the other end. The first Bataar to set teeth into the unfortunate creature is declared the winner. From the field of twenty starters, you narrow the favourites down to
three: Fazima, Awkspeed and el-Savak. You must place a bet of 20 Gold Pieces or 2 slaves, whichever you prefer, on one of these. Choose which Bataar you will back,
239 AN ISLAND DUNGEON Climbing over the crumbling surface of these devastated hills, you stumble across a corner-stone from a piece of monumental masonry. Getting your crew to dig the earth and rocks away from around this, you find an ancient stone entrance to what may be a buried crypt, temple or mansion. Pulling away the stones that block the portal reveals a narrow but straight tunnel, plunging at a steep angle into the hill. Will you go down this tunnel with a few of your best men? (underground lake)
10 A SUNKEN SHIP (blood) One evening, with the sun setting over the sea to the west, you notice a phosphorescent wreck under the water to the side of the Banshee. Heaving to, you drop anchor and dive overboard for a closer look. You see a merchant vessel, lying in shallow water, with two large holes smashed in its hull - one in the stern and the other in the bow. Which will you swim into, the hole in the stern
44 SEA SPRITES UNDERWATER (blood (goes with 10) The hole leads into the captain's quarters, where you confront half a dozen Sea Sprites. These anxious little creatures dart nervously from side to side as you enter the vessel, then rush into the far corner of the room where they whisper together in high-pitched squeaks. Finally, one of them swims forward cautiously and says, 'We are magical creatures, O brave adventurer from the world above. If you will help us to recover a treasure, we will speak on your behalf to our cousins, the Wind Sprites, who will surely make your ship the fastest on the seas.' Will you help them
45 (blood) You arrive just offshore from Mount Martu-Amurru, a giant forest-covered peak that towers over the small fishing town of Kirkuk. Will you take your cut-throats ashore and try to frighten the townspeople into handing over most of their gold?
67 THE ROC 1 (blood) While you are sailing past the island, the ship suddenly falls into a very dark and sharply defined patch of shade. Looking up, you see an enormous bird, somewhat like a buzzard, only several hundred times bigger. It circles above the Banshee a
couple of times, then descends in a steep dive to attack. Your crew take up weapons to defend themselves.
151 - THE ROC 2 (blood) Climbing towards the mountain peak, you stumble across an enormous nest constructed from treetrunks and boulders. It contains three eggs, each as large as a man. It is obviously a Roc nest. Looking inside, you discover the narrow opening to a roughhewn
tunnel leading into the mountain-side. Just as you crawl in, alone, to have a closer look, a terrible flapping sound fills the air. The Roc is returning to its lair! Your crew, still outside the tunnel, scatter in panic, and run at full pelt towards the jungle. The
Roc lands on its nest with a squawk. You decide to follow the tunnel down.
77 As you march cross-country, a large body of heavily armed cavalry appears over a rise in front. They dispatch a herald towards you, who says, 'Adventurers, know that you are in the land of the King of the Four Winds and that His Majesty requests the pleasure of your company at his table.' Will you follow the herald towards the cavalry and then, presumably, to the King (bags of North and South winds, crew thinks it's gold)
146 (blood) THE AWKMUTE BIRDS - You learn from some of the new hands that there is a wealthy but unwholesome shrine, dedicated to the gods of pestilence, built some miles up the main river which flows to the side of Assur. Will you make a short detour upriver to check the place out.
108 (blood) A WITCH - After a couple of hours, one of your crew returns to tell you that they have found a farm a short distance away. You go to the farmhouse and meet the owner, a strikingly beautiful young woman who runs the entire place by herself, her only company being many (and varied) exotic birds and the usual farm animals. When you arrive she is busy feeding your crew with soup and bread. 'I am so pleased to meet you,' she says breathlessly. 'Can I offer you something to eat?' Will you accept her offer and join your crew
167 (blood) THE THREE SISTERS - As you approach the three islands, you see they are grouped together quite closely. The nearest island is
low and looks fertile, with neatly tended orchards and small villages of thatched huts. The next island is actually an extinct volcano, its cone rising thousands of feet into the air, while the lower slopes are heavily timbered. The other island is, like the first, quite low, but is dominated by palms and sand. Which will you land on
315 (blood) THE DOORS - The abbot sighs, then whispers to his attendant monk, 'An opportunist.' He presses a carbuncle on his chair: the floor around you falls away and drops you into a deep, open pit-lose 2 points of STAMINA. 'Foolhardy pirate,' laughs the abbot, looking down from the edge of the pit. 'You must meet your destiny through one of these.' He points at four doors, one in each of the four walls of the pit. Each door has a different symbol carved into it. Which will you open:
The door with a star-burst carved in it? The door with an upside-down triangle? The door with a wheel? The door with a horizontal crescent?
339 (blood) THE CAT WITCH - You find yourself in a large room, empty but for the witch, who is standing in a circle on the floor. She holds a dagger in one hand and black cat in the other. 'Curse you,' she says. 'Why didn't you eat your meal, like the others? Now I must kill you, a task I do not relish.' She tosses the cat in the air and makes a sign with the dagger. Instantly, the cat multiplies into five, each a different colour; the five cats float rather mysteriously in the air. They circle around you, feinting and howling. Which animal
will you strike at:
Black cat?
White cat?
Red cat?
Brown cat?
Grey cat?
354 A PALM ISLAND - Passing through the palms, you come upon an unexpected sight. In the centre of the island is a large lagoon with a narrow entrance from the sea on the other side of the island. Anchored in the centre of this lagoon is a small pirate vessel, the crew of
which are rather busy burying something on the shore. Will you attack these competitors
369 VOLCANIC ISLAND
214 BURNING BARGE (blood) - The door crashes open to reveal a small shrine whose central feature is a wooden figure of a great
warrior lying in repose upon a raised dais. The dais is inscribed with the following:
AXILLON
WARRIOR SAINT
SLAYER OF DRAGONS
The figure has a crossbow of ebony slung from one shoulder. Taking this, you notice that the weapon, armed with one bolt, seems to be in working order. You don't have time to examine it too closely, however, as the fire, spreading rapidly through the barge, is threatening to cut you off. Time to leave.
320 A CURIOUS RING - With the beast dead, you search the ship at leisure, and discover masses of frozen crates, but no treasure other than a flame-red jewel set in a gold ring. The ring is inscribed on one side with a riddle: Where in Albion would you find that which lies
between above and below? And on the other side is what you presume is the answer: At the end, next to yourself. Odd. Then on 216.
216 (blood) A SALAMANDIR - When you enter the hall, the flames in the fire-pit leap to the ceiling, and a groan creaks throughout the room. 'Wait,' breathes a voice, 'wait.' Looking into the flames, you see a tenuous lizard-like creature, armed with a short trident, beckoning you closer. Its almost human eyes twinkle as it asks, 'Where in Albion would you find that which lies between above and below?'
248 (blood) THE DOOR OF UT-NAPISHTIM - The door is a massive stone affair with an ornately carved block set in its exact centre. Under this block is an inscription in a language which is so archaic that you have difficulty deciphering it. What you think it says is this: 'To greet Ut-Napishtim you must (will?) push (pull?) the handle into (out of?) the door.' Taking the carved block in hand, will you push it into the door, or pull it away from the door?
183 (blood) Eventually, the stairs end in a large mausoleum. Coffins, sarcophagi and even loose bodies, covered only with shrouds, crowd the crypt. You walk across the slimy floor and stand by one of the coffins, deciding whether or not to open it. A low groan passes through the chamber, followed by a wail. Turning slowly, you see the glowing white form of a great warrior, resplendent in armour, but
long dead. The ghost beckons to you with a white digit and, staring, whispers, 'Which . . . which way is the wind blowing, these days, on Enraki?' Paralysed with fear, what will you answer: north east south west?
78 THE ROC 3 (blood) The Roc drops you over the island. Falling only ten feet or so, you land in a large nest, occupied by three gigantic eggs. In the bottom of the nest is a hole, leading into a narrow, rough-hewn tunnel. Will you climb down into the hole before the Roc (or its mate) can resume the attack (turn to 78), or scurry down the side of the mountain, towards the lowland forest?
378 - A MOUNTIAN OF ICE
You sail out into the Southern Sea, heading south of Shurrupak towards Nippur - add 2 days to your LOG. The further you go south, the rougher the sea gets and the more unpredictable the weather. One evening, when a supernatural and freezing fog has cut visibility down to mere yards, you see a glowing mountain of ice floating in the sea. The Banshee is under full sail and heading straight towards this white monolith. the captain orders A CUDDLE TURN in order to present broad side.
90 DRAGON ISLAND (rising sun) You have entered the coastal waters of Dragon Island. ‘We must be careful, skipper,’ cautions one of the
deckhands. ‘I hear this is the home of Ranryu, the Serpent of Chaos.’ Drop anchor and go ashore? You go ashore to discover a terrifying vista of wind-blasted crags and smoking vents. Sinuous grey dragons crawl along the high ridges, pelting each other with jets of fire and acid. Their ferocious screeches echo across the barren landscape.
560 A PAPER LANTERN? (rising sun) An object resembling a giant paper lantern comes drifting over the fields. Intermittently it gives off a gleam of fiery yellow light. As it descends you can make out a man in wizard’s robes standing in a basket slung underneath the lantern, conjuring gouts of flame that he sends shooting up inside it. The strange craft bumps to a landing on a nearby hillock.
‘Hallo,’ calls the occupant of the basket. ‘Want a lift anywhere?’
608 442 A DRAGON (rising sun) The queen sweeps forward, her resplendent skirts of gold-laced black silk supported by a group of identical ladies-in-waiting. She tells you that her realm has lately been menaced by a terrible dragon. She has heard of your heroic reputation and asks if you will slay the dragon for her. Do as she bids‘The dragon has entered the palace!’ screams a footman. The courtiers fly to and fro in panic while you marshal the best of the paladins and lead them down the long staircase. The dragon squats in the vast hall below chewing the palace’s valiant defenders in its maws. Its head alone is longer than your ship! You give the order to attack, leading the paladins down the staircase in a reckless charge. The dragon bares its fangs and spits venom.
171 SNAKE ISLAND (rising sun) A mysterious island looms up ahead, pinpricks of flame glowing in the cover of night. The bosun gets a shiver and shakes his head. ‘We’ll not follow you there cap’n,’ he says. You can hear the sound of chanting in low tones coming from a flame lit area in the centre of the island, where you can see a small number of low lying buildings crafted from slabs of granite. There are no guards, and the figures inside seem to be concentrating in prayer.
23 CREWMAN SUICIDE (dark) - One of the crew goes mad and hurls himself from the rigging crying, ‘Hydras! Hydras! Cut off a head and two more shall take its place!’ You have his broken body wrapped in a sail and commended to the gods of the sea. Death aboard ship is always a bad omen
338 VAMPIRE ISLAND (dark) - You put ashore to take on fresh water. The crewmen are happy to cavort along the wide golden beach and explore the orchid scented jungle – until the ship’s priest comes staggering back with his throat slashed, gurgles ‘Iambic pentameter’ and dies at your feet. ‘Pentameter – that’s a sort of ship, like a quinquireme,’ says the first mate. ‘Iambic, though? Out of a port called Iambus? Where’s that?’ The rest of the shore party are spooked. They want to leave. Explore the island?
30 A GIANT CYLINDER ISLAND - The closer you get to the uncharted island, the greater your amazement. ‘Is it a natural island or a man-made thing?’ wonders the mate. You can understand why he’s baffled: what lies ahead of you is a disk of jet black marble almost half a kilometer across. It rises to a height of a good hundred metres above the water. From high in the smooth black cliffs, sunlight picks out the edges of a tunnel. (need a sea-green lense).
