21. The Austere and Ancient Order of the Yellow Blossom

Today’s words are Serious and Spell.  Built into the side of the Aemgruelllo Rim, overlooking not just the cactus forest but the rocky rim going in both directions and the flatter desert lands below, looms a lone wizard’s tower, sprouting from the rock alongside a waterfall, one of many that trickle down through desert valleys toward faraway lands.  Within the tower dwells the Archmage of the Austere and Ancient Order of the Yellow Blossom.  For all the pompousness of the title, it is just one lonely wizard who is kind of serious but also kind of a weirdo, and there is no Austere and Ancient Order of the Yellow Blossom; at least, not anymore, except for this weirdo, and they are more interested in redoing arcane experiments from ages lost in their books than any furthering of magical knowledge.

What can be found or done here

Make a quest to the tower, thinking there might be knowledge; stumble here accidentally, either as a result of wandering in the woods, or as a result of an arcane mishap somewhere else in the world, coupled with the Archmage making a mistake in their calculations; or the Archmage could even intentionally summon someone here and give them a quest.

22. Khraazmreig Aandruumh

Today’s word is Chains: within the mountainside are a group of dwarves chained, some literally and others figuratively, to the will of a group of terrifying dragons.  The dwarves themselves are known as the Khraazmreig, and they inhabit Khraazmreig Aandjruumh, their ancient homeland, invaded by the dragons and long enslaved.  The dragons keep them enthralled through a combination of strength, fear, and a collection of kobold-like intermediaries, who are secretly the larval stage of the dragons, fighting each other and oppressing the dwarves to earn the right to ascend to full dragonhood.  Somewhere in the background is probably a race of even mightier and more terrifying elder dragons who hold all of the chains.

What can be found or done here

Try to free the dwarves (a mighty task); learn about the dwarves, and why the spirits of this land no longer protec them; learn secrets about the kobolds; learn even deeper secrets about the dragons and how truly monstrous they are.

23. Gmaaschdjruumh

Today’s word is Thunder.  Zooming over the desert, far from the main river valley, where the sands are often hit with furious thunderstorms including great wind.  In fact, some of the ecosystem has evolved to take advantage of lightning, with some tall cacti acting as lightning rods that seize the energy and use it to thrive.  Beneath the surface of the desert are all sorts of living creatures that have formed symbiosis with such plants, including all sorts of voles and mice and snakes and ants and birds, but also an intelligent group of corvid-people (Khoarmk) who live in burrows in the Gmaaschdjruumh (literally thunder-realm) and poke their heads out in the aftermath of the storms to salvage whatever they can.  They are industrious and mechanical, harnessing the surplus lightning and storing it for their own uses.

What can be found or done here

Arcane items powered by arcane electricity, or quests to fix broken equipment in distant outposts, or to fight off subterranean monsters.

24. The Djyoarmk

Today’s word is Picture.  The other size of the river valley, still arid and dry, dwell the Djyoarmk (close relatives of the Khoarmk), who are more like little songbirds than crows, in adobe huts built on cliffsides and extending back into the sandstone.  They are fabulous artisans, making all manner of pottery and mixing up colors that cannot even be imagined by those with lesser sight.  Their cities are grand and glorious, and they welcome visitors, especially as they have usually been isolated from more dangerous races by the river and the desert.  Their signature creations are landscape frescoes painted on pottery or on the walls of their own houses.

What can be found or done here

Though usually isolated, they have been occasionally raided, and when that happens they grow bitter and cruel, though they have no strength of arms, so they often must hire outsiders to do their dirty work.

25. The Wall of Flowers

Today’s word is Wall: the Djyoarmk built a huge wall on the opposte side of their desert, long ago, to combat raiding goblin creatures.  The wall did not work very well, so today it is all ruins, though the goblins rarely come anymore.  Now the remnants of the wall have been painted with flowers, and the towers are testaments to art rather than to war.

What can be found or done here

This is a place heavy with spirits, both of the dead in wars past and those who love the arts that have flourished here.  A good place to come and commune and learn about the spirit world.

26. The River Djwiefll

Today’s word is Fragile: a big river (Djwiefll) runs out of the Aemgruelllo Rim, gathering streams along the way.  At the same time, the desert grows drier, giving rise to a third kind of birdfolk, the Psoarmk, who are a little bigger (though still small) and take after small hawks.  They are still not warlike, but make their homes in a combination of cliffside dwellings, floating stilt villages, and ground nests.  Otherwise they do not tend to build great structures, focusing instead on the mundane things they need to cultivate the flood plains.

What can be found or done here

More spirits, especially animal spirits, abound in the river ecosystems, and they often feel threatened by the expansion of the locals or just the general troubles of the world.  There are also water spirits hidden in various places, overlapping with the next location.

27. The Tchoedl

Today’s words are Pond and Folk: Pondfolk!  These are definitely little toad dudes (in fact, let’s call them the Tchoedl) that live under the stillwater ponds that dot the lower reaches of the Djwiefll, leading all the way down to where a delta starts to form and the water grows brackish enough that they dislike it, and the alligators and crocodiles grow numerous enough to keep them out.

What can be found or done here

The ponds are full of water spirits that the toad folk revere, so they are not usually perturbed unless relaying information from other, deeper spirits.  The toads themselves do not need much, but they send people out into the world frequently to gather knowledge, resources, and simple things that they amass in their watery homes, so all manner of items can be found here.

28. The Honeyreed Fields

Today’s words are Candy and Smiling: a sugarcane reed grows in the marshes at the delta mouth of the Djwiefll.  This Honeyreed plant is cultivated by relatives of the toadfolk, who are hardier and more able to deal with the greater threats of the delta, with the help of excellent bees.  And they make all manner of fine sugary goods, including, of course, rum that is renowned the world over, which they trade to seagoers even though they do not travel the oceans themselves.

What can be found or done here

Toads, bees, and crocodiles.

29. The Vreiy

Today’s words are Volume and Noise: the incessant slap of the sea against the shore, the violent thrashing of the beasts that prowl beneath the delta, the strident screech of the seabirds feasting on offal.  No one lives in the lower portions of the delta known as the Vreiy, or almost no one, and the coast is thick with fog and scattered with the husks of ships that failed to make the passage.

What can be found or done here

Isolated lighthouses maintained by squat toads or agitated birdfolk, connected by impossible-to-find paths and stepstones and bridges, some of them hidden below the tidelines; waterfolk who just want to be left alone, perhaps exiles; broken ships and the treasures and dangers they left behind; raucous spirits unperturbed since the dawn of the world.