Steve B's page

Why do you want to write a prophecy? Is it to provide narrative direction for the players? Is it to help them distinguish plot points from random events? Is it to provide the party with a new rule system? Once you know what purpose the prophecy serves, you'll be better prepared to write one that works for the campaign.

I think the elements in your prophecy need to be made more visual and more concrete based on the specific details of the campaign. Checking out the cards in a harrow deck might give you some ideas for how to represent the events. As some have suggested, metaphor is the best way to get specific without giving it all away. The poetry of it can keep your players invested in the mystery as they try to match events to the symbols you've used, or even puzzle out whether what you've said is literally true.

A "golden flood" can be an army marching under yellow banners, a large inheritance from a wealthy benefactor, or even just an actual flood viewed at sunrise. A "leaky dragon" in a prophecy can represent an NPC who likes spicy food but tears up when he eats, or a run-down ship called The Wyvern. You should have some idea what you want it to mean initially, but as the game develops these poetic symbols will give you the chance to nudge the meaning of the prophecy.

One of the lines in a prophecy I wrote for a Rise of the Runelords campaign was about a "town that drowns in a fast, green flood." While the players assume it means a coming goblin attack, it could just as easily be a respiratory plague that causes victims to cough up green mucous, or a mysterious magical fog that puts everyone to sleep. Heck, it could even be that green tea merchants begin running a lucrative trading route through town and the townsfolk start making loads of money off the extra business.

There are a lot of ways to handle prophecies but I think you have to start with what you want it to do in the game. From there, a lot of your other questions will be answered.