Coldhearth, home of the Burnt Offerings
Tephrotic Nightmares · p.88 · 3p
Open source p.88E ncounter Table Modification— Faction Boats with Crew
The twinned peaks of the Coldhearth reveal themselves to be two halves on one whole—rock split in half by the immense heat of the conflagration that was. Strange metallic sheens dance on the narrow gully between them—the outer surface black, carbonised entirely. Cut into this charcoal scene: the narrow path from jetty to the strange construction of these heretic necromancers.
THE RIBS
Rather than in conventional buildings, most members gather amongst these boxy constructions, suspended between the two peaks. Access between them is through ramshackle ladders.
THE TOWERS
Above the Ribs, perched atop the twin false-peaks, the Towers rise. The Ribs are the synthesis of these two higher schools.
No extracted maps for this adventure — the map is in the source book: Open source p.88
Rooms (7)
1 Jetty p.88
A neat, tidy construction of bone and hide, near-unused but maintained by appearances. –1 vessels are moored—the crews eerily silent, the captains bearing the mark of a Burnt Offering. They have nothing to discuss with outsiders.
2 Floating Rib p.90
Those with something to trade, or business to conduct, are brought to the shadowed folds of the Floating Rib—the interiors filled with silk walls, fabric drapes. They have little to trade beside the construction of Corpse-Powered vessels. For each corpse required, they demand two in kind. Enemies of the Burnt Offerings count for double.
3 Dead Rib p.90
Where the dead await orders. They stand motionless. A forest of animate bone, the flesh gnawed off by the rats running riot amongst ossa pedis.
4 Not-Yet Dead Rib p.90
Where the Burnt Offerings dwell—utterly communal. Privacy is an illusion, and most spend little time here—sleep is a calling of the flesh. Painfully quiet, and lit by slow-burning embers everywhere.
5 Research Rib p.90
In contrast with their 6 sleeping chambers, the final Rib is a bustle of activity—all are intensely focused on the study of the necromantic art, the examination of corpses and the transient 5 nature of Flame as a metaphor for life itself. Filled with smoke and airborne Ash.
6 The Tower of Fire p.90
Those favouring the Flame as the movement, the transient property, the flicker of life fill the Tower of Fire—a narrow spiral of monastic cells wrapped around a huge flume for fire, lit during their fortnightly rituals, devotional to the flame. All here are accomplished Pyromancers first, Necromancers second. They request reliable allies fetch their prophesied holy book from the hidden fortress of the Arsonist—doing so before the other tower would ensure their ascendancy, and pays 100dw.
7 The Tower of Death p.90
Defined by the silence beyond quiet. Not the absence of sound, but the aggressive bustle of sound-negation. Anti-Sound to mask the groan of spirits denied rest, their bodies turned to new ends. The Necromancers here are barely distinguishable from their progeny—nearly entirely eaten by flames, flesh raw and exposed, dry tongues slapping in rotten jaws. There is no good reason to come here. They request reliable allies fetch their prophesied holy book from the hidden fortress of the Arsonist—doing so before the other tower would ensure their ascendancy, and pays 100dw.