In the centre of the Lands of Autumn writhes the Tempest, tomb and prison of the Old Gods. Within, fragments of a million gods coalesce and intermingle, their split-second thoughts and dreams resounding in the world outside. All who have sought to enter the Tempest have perished, but many have tried, for within the Tempest it is said that one can obtain all the knowledge of the gods of old. The H’San nomads patrol the edges of the wastelands surrounding the Tempest, killing all those who would enter it and bring about the Final Night. But their sacred task is not merely to keep the avaricious sons of man out of the Tempest. It is also to keep things in.
Sometimes sufficient fragments coalesce within the writhing Tempest to form a temporary body. Most of these quickly dissolve back into the noetic currents, but on rare occasions one will survive long enough to escape from its hellish womb and emerge in the world outside.
These are named the Progeny of the Storm. They are the malformed chimerae of the gods and demons from the cultures of. Though they are abominations, poisoning the world with their very presence, they nevertheless carry within them the spark of the divine.
Magic shapes itself to their insane whims and half-thoughts. The earth boils and runs like water wherever they thread. A gaze can turn a man into a pillar of salt. Rippling muscles white like marble or black as obsidian can pulverize stone or tear through steel like paper. The fabric of creation itself rejects them and scalds them like boiling water. Each of the Progeny is unique, endowed with the strength of an army and a vitality drawn from the primal heart of creation itself.
Often they behave as little more then animals in a state of constant agony, but at rare times they will speak of the things they have seen within the Tempest.
Many die within days as they stray farther away from the baleful radiance of the Tempest, drawn to wander the lands beyond by some unknowable compulsion. Some are hunted down and killed by the H’san, who keep special Tzyanese weaponry forged for that very purpose and will violate their oaths of self-reliance to carry out this holy murder. Often a single Progeny will kill dozens of warriors, and it is fortunate for the tribes that less then one Progeny will emerge per decade.
Amongst the H’san, a man who hunts the Progeny and lives to tell the tale will have a dozen wives, bound to refrain from murderous infighting for this occasion alone. Hated and feared are those that would consume the flesh of the Progeny with the hope of becoming like gods, and tales of the atrocities commited by such abominations are the stuff of fireside legends and the nightmares of Shamans. So it is that the H’san sacrifice their sons and daughters so civilised men may live in a world that is cruel but sane.
Rarer still, the Progeny are sought out by unscrupulous adventurers seeking to harvest their divine flesh for purposes best left unspoken, or encountered wholly by chance by those cursed with ill fortune.
(the stats given below are merely a sampling of the possibilities and should be taken as such)
Size: The size of the progeny varies but they are always larger then man-sized
HD: 20 (missing d100% of its hp from exposure)
No appearing: 1
AC: As plate (10%), plate +1(30%), plate +3 (20%), plate+4(20%), plate+5(10%) or leather armour(10%)
No. Attacks: 1-4(roll once when generating the Progeny)
Damage: xd4 (20%) xd6 (50%) or xd10(30%) (roll 1d6 for x when generating Progeny)
Speed: As plate(60%) or riding horse(40%)
Int: 3(90%) or 20+(10%)
Morale: 7(90%) or 12(10%)
Special:
-Immune to invisibility, illusion, paralysis, enchantment, polymorph and death magic.
-Take half damage from fire, cold, acid or lightning. Immune to normal fire.
-Can only be harmed by Tzyanese artifacts, weapons quenched in the blood of other Progeny or Sorcery.
-All living things coming within 20 miles of the Progeny must make save vs death for each hour of proximity. On a failed save they lose 1 point of constitution. This point may be alchemically or surgically restored by a healer of sufficent knowledge at the cost of 500 gp per point lost.
-Roll 1d12(but a sample of the kind of abilities one can expect).
1. Attacks are poisoned with the substance of creation. Creatures taking damage from the Progeny must save vs poison or be injected with a shapechanging poison. After the initial failed save, poisoned creatures must make a saving throw vs polymorph every 8 hours. On a failed save, the creature is shapechanged per GM’s discretion(do not forget to roll for system shock!). After 3 consecutive failed saves the creature’s original body and mind are forever lost, and he joins the malformed horrors that stalk the Tempest Lands. Powerful magical healing is sufficient to cleanse the taint from one’s body, and a skilled transmuter may restore a creature to his original shape. The Progeny will attempt to flee after all its adversaries have been infected with primordial chaos.
2. The Progeny’s eyes blaze with the barely contained power of the divine. Any creature that meets its gaze must make a saving throw vs polymorph or be turned into a pillar of salt. The Progeny has a morale of 12.
3. The Progeny may cast spells as though it were a 20th level sorcerer/20th level cleric. It may employ only spells with baneful effects, never beneficial ones, even on itself. The Progeny hates all sorcerers and will target them above all others.
4. All sorcery within 30 feet of the Progeny has a 50% chance of going haywire and failing. The Progeny’s attacks deal no damage but instead drain 1 level. Those bathing in its blood take 1 level drain for each round of contact. Immersion causes instant death. Those that are drained of all life are turned into its deathless servants, empty husks that perform blasphemous orgiastic rites and find new sacrifices for the Progeny to feed upon. The Progeny heals 1d8 hit points for each level drained.
5. Whenever the Progeny takes more then 5 hp worth of damage, its spilled blood forms into a tiny duplicate of itself. The duplicate has only 1 HD and lacks this ability but is otherwise identical. If the original progeny is slain but some of its duplicates escape they may turn into a perfect copy of the Progeny.
6. The very earth shapes itself to the whims and desires of the Progeny. Each round the Progeny must(not optional!) cast the equivalent of stoneshape, stone to mud, mud to stone or wall of stone as a free action.
7. The hide of the progeny is invulnerable. The Progeny cannot be harmed by piercing or slashing weapons, though clever players might attempt to wound the creature in the eyes or mouth. If they do not explicitly state they are doing so, they inflict damage only on a natural 20.
8. The Progeny may breathe a 50 ft. cone of colourless fire every 1d4 rounds. The flame inflicts 10d10 points of damage(save vs breath weapon for half) and ignores all forms of magical protection and fire resistance.
9. The Progeny infects others with its madness and all who come within 10 feet of it must make a saving throw vs spells or act as though they are under the effect of a Confusion spell. The Progeny is deluded into thinking all who come under the effect of its aura are its worshippers, and will not harm and will even protect them unless they cause direct harm to it.
10. Whether because of its unearthly beauty or hideous ugliness, all who look directly upon the Progeny must make a saving throw vs death or be blinded for a year and a day. The Progeny may not supress this effect.
11. The Progeny has blood like acid, and any who strike it in melee must make a saving throw vs breath weapon or take 2d6 points of acid damage. 10% chance of even magical weapons being damaged. Immersing oneself in its blood still provides a beneficial effect but will inflict 10d6 points of damage and permanently lower charisma by 2 points.
12. Roll Twice.
Those men with courage like steel and hearts like black ice may decide to bathe in the blood of a fallen Progeny and consume its flesh, thereby gaining some of its divine essence. This is not without risk, and those who decide to persue this dire course of action must make a system shock roll or the equivalent thereof or perish in the attempt. Those that survive are invested with a silver of the divine. They gain 1 level immediately, are restored to the prime of their life and increase their ability scores by 1 each, but their minds and bodies have been permanently altered and they must feed exclusively on human flesh to survive from now on.
If none is available they will gnaw upon themselves until they eventually perish from their injuries. The H’san will immediately recognise the telltale signs (violet eyes, unnatural vitality, golden hair) of those that feed upon the Progeny and will stop at nothing to slay them.
And of course a sample Tzyanese artifact.
The Deiophage – Accursed half-living weaponry forged by the Tzyanese to fight their divine adversaries. Now they are in the hands of the stoic H’San.
A deiophage resembles a khopesh or dirk(there are other types) forged from black glass, with veins of purple ichor running through it. A deiophage will inflict severe damage against any being of divine origin, leaving permanent wounds (no regeneration or magical healing possible, natural healing takes place only at 1/10th rate) and will, to a lesser extent, protect its owner from the power of the divine(+2 bonus on saving throws and half damage from spells/powers). The weapon has an unfortunate side effect: the wielder gradually transforms into a Tzyanese half-human creature, with alien appetites and alien mindset, as the purple veins spread their mutagenic toxins through his body. The H’san will slay even their own children for possession of such a weapon.
Age of Dusk 