I'd like to inject some foreshadowing and cryptic predictions into my AoW campaign, to instill a little suspense and mystery as well as to pre-warn the PCs about some of the tougher battles to come. So, I invite all of us to come here and provide visions, portents, dreams, and omens that can be given to the players to foreshadow future AoW events.
Here are the rules:
-- Keep it relatively brief - a paragraoh will do nicely.
-- Make sure to mention exactly what aspect/event of the AoW you are foreshadowing.
Here's a few examples of my own:
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You are standing on th eedge of a massive gorge - a huge wound in the earth. Above you, the sky is filled with dragons of all colors, wheeling and circling. Below you, on the walls of the gorge, stand hundreds of giants waving weapons of war. In each hand, you carry a cold iron key. Despite the miles-deep drop infront of you, you step forward into nothingness. Instead of falling to your doom, you find yourself standing before a great stone double door, decorated with intricate bas-releifs and a keyhole in the center of each. To each side of the door stands a massive stone statue of a humanoid. You insert the two keys into the door, and they swing open, bathing you in a deep red light. In unison, the statues drop to one knee in deference to you. The red light then overwhelms your vision.
--Referring to Kings of the Rift, the fact that two keys are needed to open the chamber of the Phylactery and that the Raams who guard the doors can be valuable allies if the doors are opened properly.
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A blue-eyed woman stands before you, in front of a massive wooden door. She seems to emit a faint glow of bluish light. She salutes you, then turns and opens the door. Beyond lies an impossibly large arena, with stands that reach to the heavens. You walk past the woman and enter the arena. As you pass her, she whispers to you "The Apostle must not convert a Champion." The Roar of the crowd then becomes deafening, and the vision fades.
-- From The Champion's Belt, referring first to Celeste, then to Raknian's plans to get the Ulgurstasa to eat Auric.
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Ooh, spooky stuff! C'mon, get those creative juices flowing! Let's have portents upon portents!
A dream comes to you. You stand before a great tower amidst ruins in a jungle. There is whispering in the air from an unknown source- "Wormgod," "Harbinger," they say. Suddenly, you are in the middle of a city. The sky is gray, the buildings ramshackle, and the sea laps against a nearby shore. The tower remains in front of you. All is still and calm for a moment, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, the ground cracks open and the hands of the dead reach from the grave, clawing at the living. People run screaming, and the lapping of the sea turns to a foul hiss as the water becomes a sea of writhing green. Lightning flahses, and fire begins to rain from the sky. The tower before you catches your eye again, and looking back, you see it transform into a massive, writhing green worm sprouting from the dirt. It thrashes around, issuing a defeaning screech, before looming over you and diving. You awaken just as the mouth of the monstrosity closes over you.
-Predicting The Spire of Long Shadows, its move to Alhaster, and the Kyuss-brought apocalypse to come.
these are kind of personalized for my players, but i'll share them anyway.
for the cleric of celestian:
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You awaken from your nights slumber quickly, the memory of your last dream etched into your mind.
Standing on a hill above diamond lake, you watch as the sky over the town turns black and bitter. The skies begin to pour forth a green rain – and where that rain hits the ground, a green fog rises. Stooping down to look at the ground more closely, you see that each drop of rain is a tiny green worm that quickly burrows into the earth.
Standing again, you look to your back – Diamond lake's observatory stands on the hill in a lone spot of sunlight. In the sky above, burning brightly enough to be seen through the noonday sky, are the seven stars of Celestian.
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for the lawful neutral warmage who came in at the very end of the whispering cairn, after alastor land had been put to "rest." if you can't tell, i'm planning on having my party go after the rod of 7 parts a bit more strongly than the Adventure Path has set up already.
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As you awaken from slumber, you can remember a few details of your last dream.
You stand bodiless in a place of gray mist, and a voice unknown to you rings out. “cousin – we never met in life, and we must still postpone our true meeting a little further – but know this – the ancient chaos against which our family guarded is coming again.”
A small boy, transparent as glass materializes in front of you. His neck is broken at an odd angle, and his fingernails have grown long and ragged. “not one of your companions knows the truth. Some who were on the path died, and another has wandered from the path.” he turns away from you walking away into the mists. “remember what you saw in Icosial's tomb, for no longer do our patrons live. Find the staff.”
You stand alone in a field. The wind whips around you hair, whispers in you ear. Suddenly you hear a low thumping. The thumps grow louder. You cannot turn around. Whatever it is, it has come up directly behind you. You try to cry out, but you cannot. Suddenly you are devoured by what appears to be a large shoe.
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Come on! You've got to throw a curve ball sometimes!
Anyway. This vision is seen after the carn, and only after they've left
You seem to fly into the cave. Darkness seems to cover all. Instead of going fowards to a larger chamber, you turn right suddenly, and crash into a set of rocks. You suddenly wake.
This is forshadowing the Whispering Cairn The player should have this dream several times, but after Allustun has removed the stones, the vision continues
Instead of crashing into the wall, you see that it has dissappeared. You move towards what seems to be a gateway inside of the air. A claw extends from this and slices your throat. Then the dream goes dark.
You stand in a vast arena basking in the adoration of millions. The hero to so many, your friends and compatriots and that hot girl from the tavern last week all fawn at your feet. Its good to be the champion. Suddenly the earth begins shaking and a terrible monstrosity all fangs and mouths breaks through the dusty ground, devouring everyone around you. And you are alone. All alone.
--- Reference to the champions belt.
I'm running online, and we're moving slowly, so I'm not too worried about people remembering details several months later when these things actually come up... plus, it's been ten sessions and they only just now got to Filge, so I needed something to get the phrase "Age of Worms" into their heads...
Avedrion's Dream (ranger, underground environmentalist): You were deep beneath a mine in an underground chamber with a black pool. A being--man? woman?--in long green robes approached you. He (for the sake of narration) was wearing a mask, but you knew that underneath the mask there was no face. He spoke in a whisper. "We three have paved the way. Our god soon rises. From three will become one." You drew your swords to attack him, but with a motion he cut your hand off at the wrist. As you crumpled in pain, he whispered to you, "The Age of Worms is coming..."
Hannah's Dream (fighter, redneck): You went out back behind your parents home where they keep the livestock and poultry. One of the chickens was dead upon her nest, her neck broken. Still, even dead, she spoke to you, "My egg, my egg..." You looked underneath her and found a large black egg in the nest. It cracked open and a handful of large green worms slithered out. The chicken clucked a final warning before dying, swarmed over with the wriggling nightcrawlers, "The Age of Worms is coming..."
Ashella's Dream (mage, wannabe alchemist): You were running back to the abandoned mine office that Phwex had been living in... something was wrong, you'd forgotten something. Strangely, when you returned, you were already there, talking to the other party members. You approached yourself, a strange feeling in your mind, like someone was listening to your thoughts. The mirror-Ashella turned, and as she opened her mouth to speak, four long worms stretched out like tongues, hanging from her chin. "The Age of Worms is coming..." the other you whispered malevolently...
Arkin's Dream (fighter/thief, Smenk's goon): You were in a great arena, facing off against a mighty warrior. You could hear the cheers of the crowd as you rushed forward into battle. Just before you engaged the fighter, though, a great worm cames up from the earth and swallowed him. As the warrior was being pulled down the creature's mouth, he reached out to you for help, crying, "The Age of Worms is coming..." just before the dead of the earth began to rise...
Angie's Dream (cleric, mother of five): You were walking through the destroyed wreckage of Diamond Lake. Phwex was walking alongside you, counting the dead. A great black dragon flew overhead, and you turned to run, but Phwex put a calming hand on your shoulder. "Don't fear him, he's not dead," he said. "It's the dead ones you have to worry about." The black dragon flew higher, eclipsing the sun. "The Age of Worms is coming," Phwex said, and you could see that he was nothing but a walking corpse, who crumbled into dust before your eyes...
(Phwex was an NPC red herring who brought them to the cairn and then got assassinated by his girlfriend's father's hired killer.)
Suffice it to say, the portents got the session off to quite a creepy start, which made the trip into the observatory all the more disquieting. Thanks for the great idea!