Lady Jorana's Garden of Statues

[alex_greene]

You know how occasionally I post here (and sometimes on the Traveller forum) with a weird dream that, for some reason, fits in with the themes of Legend.

Well, here's the latest one - the Obsidian Statue Garden of Lady Jorana.

Don't drink the water.

 

[Hopeless]

Nice idea, wasn't there something similar in the third or fourth Narnia book I think it was called the voyage of the far treader and they found an island with a pool filled with statues as I recall...

Hmm I'd throw in that if they spend the night they start to petrify if they stay out of the firelight.

Would make an eery adventure if they arrive at an abandoned ruin to meet up with some allies but there's no sign of them even after they cut their way through the overgrown foliage blocking their access to the interior of the ruin... and then next morning wake up to find only those who huddled close to the fires or outside of the ruin can be found although they find the ruin's flora has regrown itself over night forcing them to cut their way out... :twisted:

Did consider everyone inside the ruin disappears but I think it works better if there's a specific restriction rather than turn this into a TPK...

 

[Loz]

There's a very similar Elric story, too, where the statues are part of one of the games of Chaos Elric has to face.

 

[PeteN]

...and even earlier versions being R. E. Howard's 'Pool of the Black One' with a touch of C. A. Smith's 'The Maze of Maal Dweb'.

 

[alex_greene]

Or the Mediaeval stories of the legendary basilisk and cockatrice, the Greek myth of the Gorgon Medusa, and the tale of King Midas. All stories based around the terrifying concept of the Evil Eye being able to afflict the victim with a permanent loss of male potency (or, in the case of King Midas, the horror of being touched by another man ...)

I never read the Elric, Robert E Howard and C A Smith stories, so I wouldn't know about them. However, the other story mentioned, and I had to go and dig it up from the bottom of a very old pile of books, was The Voyage of The Dawn Treader - and it was a magical rock pool which turned everything that touched the waters into gold, including one, a relative of Narnia's nobility, who took a dive into the pool and turned into the most expensive skinny dip in history.

 

[PeteN]

Or the Mediaeval stories of the legendary basilisk and cockatrice, the Greek myth of the Gorgon Medusa, and the tale of King Midas. All stories based around the terrifying concept of the Evil Eye being able to afflict the victim with a permanent loss of male potency (or, in the case of King Midas, the horror of being touched by another man ...)

Save that the Conan story specifically relates to turning victims into statues by the touch of magical waters, and the Maal Dweb story revolves about the transformation of especially beautiful women in a garden to preserve them for all eternity - which I imagined are more pertinent aspects of your recounted dream.

Take it as a reading suggestion if you've never had the pleasure of perusing them...

 

[Hopeless]

I just wanted to say this thread has given me the inspiration for a game hoping to run it for Dragon Age but will do so in Legend if given half the chance! :twisted:

Have this idea where the players either run their own characters or use pre-gens which will include a newly wedded husband and wife with the wife being a sorceror with a specific talent that costs her a year of her life to perform impossible feats such as raise the dead or remove a curse.
Haven't thought about the rest of the party but am looking at there being an island cut off by a river on all sides that was once home to a settlement of elves (Dalish) who were effectively driven out when humans came along as the island was packed with the finest of timber.

However they began to cut down far too much timber and the trees that replaced them after time grew up shrivelled and horrible being virtually useless but the local human community were forced to rely on them as word of a curse spread after they drove off or killed the last elf living on the island.

People started disappearing usually if they ventured alone into the forest and sometimes in groups when they delved far too deeply into the heart of the island interior, guards were posted at every bridge crossing into that island as rumours spoke of something dark dwelling on the island (the blight had creatures stream from the island after the last time the timber was overharvested but noone knows where they came from or rather noone survived who could say).

The wife was fostered by a elven family until the death of her foster mother who passed onto her own caravan and an ancient staff which she usually leaves standing in a place deigned for it at the front of the caravan where it holds up a lantern used when it gets dark.
In return for that limitation she possesses the "sight" and upon crossing the bridge begins to witness what she can only call nightmares and as the game processes the players discover the only hope of the community and perhaps the rest of their homeland is if they can remove the curse... but at what cost?

Sorry but if I do get to run this I'll post back here and let you know what develops... well under Legend rules system of course!!! :evil:

 

[DamonJynx]

I never read the Elric, Robert E Howard and C A Smith stories, so I wouldn't know about them.

Do yourself a favour and read the entire Eternal Champion series by Moorcock; featuring Elric, Hawkmoon, Erekose, Corum, Urlik Skarsol and Jerry Cornelious among others but these are the main characters. I have a feeling that you will enjoy the Jerry Cornelious ones more than I.