Zarratolpa

A cloud within which one hundred and one forgotten, faded, or ill-fated Demigods reside.

Have they hidden themselves away from the troubles of the many planes? Or are they trapped, their influences barred, their domains destroyed? Or is this merely somewhere to play, and to slumber; to wait, and to watch?

Among the Demigods, too, are some who simply wish not to be found, and yet all - being Demigods - expect (nay, demand) some level of submission, repentance, adoration, and veneration.

Across the many realms these deities are viewed variously - often as imps, fairies, wisps, and spirits. Other times as sounds, or a presence behind the shadows, at the edges of what is known, and unknown.

This cloud in which they now dwell is a most curious place, where one may encounter the deities in various divine states and assignations, often brought forth by pious petition, prayer, and reverent yearning, or simply by treading on a tail, or knocking over a milk-pail.

Use this section as a quick reference during play, or at the start of a Session to refresh your GM senses!

Sights

• Delicate mists that curl and wash gently about you.

• Unusual fungi and soft coral-like growths that shimmer and sparkle in near-transparency.

• Strange, orb-like lights that float and dance upon the air.

• Delicate crystal shards that seem to sprout from the air, and grow at unlikely angles.

Sounds

• A shimmering, twinkling chime.

• Occasional distant rumble of thunder.

• Gentle pitter-pattering. Footsteps, perhaps? Or distant rain?

• Faint voices, barely discernible, like prayers carried on a gentle breeze.

Smells

• Milk & honey.

• Ale, wine, & mead.

• Perfumed fire & incense.

• The forest after a rainstorm, meadows bathed in summer sun, seawater against the rocky cliffs.

If the mortal realms and the many creatures and peoples therein have asked, or begged, or prayed for it, whether in secret silence in the darkest of nights, or as a maddening throng on the bloodiest of battlefield, its echoes are somewhere here.

Unusual beasts and creatures feed upon these unanswered petitions which, in turn, are devoured by the demigods.

Adventurers find their way here, too - seeking holy intervention, or divine inspiration.

Being ever fair, the demigods devise consequences according to their whims; sacrosanct and all-hallowed.

Prayers arrive, it is true, as do contracts (broken and fulfilled), proclamations, appeasements, sacrifices, offerings, curses, blasphemes, and fractured hopes.

Some believe, too, that this is where the spirits of lost children come to reside eternally.

Whispers and signs in dreams, for the most part, seeding all manner of divine vision and holy quest, birthing saints and temples, imparting new worlds and old stars into the chaos and fabric of infinity.

The whims of Zarratolpa’s demigods have shaped the fates of much, and of many, from the trivial to the eternal.

Anything - or, indeed, everything - that one might imagine or wish for is possible in Zarratolpa. 

A pagoda of shimmering gold, with cushions stuffed with honey, and coated in silk? Or perhaps a roaring camp-fire seven hundred feet tall, a silver jug of endless mead, and a magical boar whose roasted flesh is restored with each dawn?

Dream of it, picture it within the mind's eye, and all shall be yours upon which to lay your head, and to fill your empty soul, and to rest..

The scales of divinity are forever in flux; each deity watchful, scheming, plotting an unbounded cosmic path, the motives of which no mortal may ever derive.

Might one demi-god lord over another? Finding status far above or below? Or are such considerations the folly of petty mortals?

Each god resides within its own uniquely divine state, sometimes according to that over which they are lord, often times in a manner that will leave mortal bewildered and confounded.

Whether such a state may be construed as containing "culture" is entirely for the mortal realm to debate, a such things are ripe for (mis) interpretation.

For Divine States, see the random table below.

Each Demigod exists in a "Divine State" - sometimes elemental, at other times physical, or even dream-like and ephemeral.

Whatever presence the Demigod wishes to inhabit, your Adventurers will perhaps come to know of it, and to recognise it.

Should you so wish, roll 1d100 on the table below to realise this aspect of the deity you have called forth, or simply choose your favourite!

1 - 10 - A slick ooze that flaps and tumbles pathetically towards you. You sense its longing; its hunger.

11 -20 - A crisp whisper that flickers all around you, it is hard to discern, and wishes not to approach.

21 - 30 - A vague sense of longing and fear and disquiet. You feel you are watched.

31 - 40 - A thickness in your throat begins to choke you, before a thread of twine and muck, hair and wire is pulled from your mouth.

41 - 50 - A gentle breeze that arrives, cooling your brow, and calming your tempers.

51 - 60 - A lilting, angular music, from beneath the earth and from the stars above. It chimes, throbs, and pulsates the closer it gets.

61 - 70 - A prickling pain dances across your flesh, leaving bruises and strange marks and symbols upon your skin.

71 - 80 - A flock of tiny, pin-prick sized creatures, swarming about you, the presence of the deity carried somewhere within.

81 - 90 - A standing stone erupts from the ground before you, a wide crack in its front reveals the beady-eye of its deity.

91 - 100 - A dark portal of unspooling space before you, its gloom enticing, its voice a lingering echo of time and space.

101 - A vast ball of shimmering, pulsating light. A voice from within bends the knee, unspools the mind, and causes you to weep uncontrollably.

Each divinity blesses its followers with a totemic artefact or item that may in some way be carried or worn.

These items may be inscribed with the holy symbol(s) representative of each demigod, or with runes, prayers, holy rites, and scriptures.

Roll 1d100 on the table below to discern its form, or choose your favourite.

1 - 5 - a three-pronged branding seared upon the flesh.

6 - 10 - a charred ear worn about the neck on a thread of scorched leather.

11 - 15 - a glass wand that glows with holy light when near to its adherent's temples.

16 - 20 - A triangular-shaped mark upon the palm of one hand.

21 - 25 - A green rod of fire and flame.

26 - 30 - A silver circlet speckled with blinking eyes.

31 - 35 - A square-edged ring of brass imbued with divine arcana.

36 - 40 - A dragon-scale glove worn upon the right hand.

41 - 45 - A small yellow bird perched upon the shoulder that twitters messages from the divine.

46 - 50 - A golden javelin tipped with a dimly illuminating orb that flickers on and off.

51 - 55 - A noose worn about the neck.

56 - 60 - A crown of animal horns and antlers.

61 - 65 - A triangular medallion of both fire and ice.

66 - 70 - A shield emblazoned with a half-moon.

71 - 75 - A breast-plate upon which is nailed a single severed tongue.

76 - 80 - An adamantine dagger with a bejewelled scabbard.

81 - 85 - One missing finger from the left hand.

86 - 90 - A silver chalice able to turn any liquid to a holy water.

91 - 95 - A small eight-spoked wheel, worn or marked upon the adherent.

96 - 100 - A delicately small blue flower, hidden from sight somewhere upon the person.

101 - A white hot star, roughly the size of a fist, that burns brilliantly, hovering a few feet above the head of its follower(s).

For each capricious turn, and unfathomable urge, the whims and desires of the many Demi-Gods are writ large in legends and lore.

In return for their divine aid or assistance some may call for offerings, others for sacrifice.

Roll 1d100 on the table below to decide what the Deity desires, or choose as you see fit.

1-5 - A soul, freshly plucked.

6-10 - An eye, or tooth; a tongue, or a finger.

11-15 - The moon caught in a filthy puddle.

16-20 - A golden chalice of golden blessed wine.

21-25 - A songbird's sing.

26-30 - The last ray of sunlight.

31-35 - The first sprig of harvest's wheat.

36-40 - The glance of a stranger's longing.

41-45 - A sackful of sea-glass.

46-50 - A fistful of moorland mist.

51-55 - A moment of your time.

56-60 - The wings of a flea able to carry a dragon's tooth.

61-65 - One truth, and one lie.

66-70 - A magnificent feast.

71-75 - A temple built in their honour.

76-80 - A song composed that celebrates their divinity.

81-85 - An ocean in an oyster shell.

86-90 - The crown of a king or a queen.

91-95 - A drop of eternity.

96-101 - All that you own.

For an added dimension of divine cruelty, we recommend flipping a coin to decide whether such an offering will result in a showering of blessings, or a cacophony of curses!

ROLL 1d20 for a ZARRATOLPA TRINKET

1 - A severed head that recites terrible poetry.

2 - A small wooden chalice flecked with peeling gold leaf.

3 - A silver dagger studded with infernal jewels.

4 - A circlet fashioned from gut and fish-eyes.

5 - A censer packed full of tiny, smouldering skulls.

6 - A strip of golden cloth torn from some holy vestment.

7 - A gleamingly bright brass nail.

8 - A withered finger furnishing a silver ring.

9 - A small leather pouch made from flayed flesh.

10 - Several knuckle bones inscribed with names of the dead.

11 - A small prayer book depicting ancient diagrams and depictions of portal-travel.

12 - A golden bell that chimes in reverse.

13 - A buckler embedded with a face that screams with impassioned rage when the shield is used.

14 - A candle of black wax.

15 - A glittering veil dotted with tearful pearls.

16 - A breastplate of clockwork that chimes for sacrifice and offerings.

17 - A small shred of cloth smeared with sweet and heady smelling grease.

18 - A beating heart.

19 - A cloak studded with tiny portals too small for anything, or anyone, to pass through.

20 - A bottomless satchel in which resides one thousand hungry souls.

What brings your Party to Zarratolpa? What fates have brought this strange assembly of Demigods to the attentions of your Adventurers?

Roll 1d6 to discern :

1 - None of the major - or even minor - Gods dare place their divine faith in your hapless, feckless band of (mis)Adventurers. Seek then, you must, the disastrous Demigods of Zarratolpa, and hope that their blessings may aid you.

2 - A band of orphans are being terrorised by all manner of capricious spirits, and need help. Zarratolpa may be home to whatever is responsible.

3 - A deceased loved one or friend of the Party has had their spirit wrongly absorbed into Zarratolpa. Is something awry? Or merely a slip of the divine hand? Only a visit into this holy cloud shall discern.

4 - A terrible enemy must be defeated. Their weaknesses having been identified, a small band of Demigods are required to aid in the final battle.

5 - A monarch has tasked the Party with providing divine entertainments for their upcoming coronation. What better assembly than the Demigods of Zarratolpa.

6 - An artefact of immense power has been stolen, and has been hidden somewhere within the mists of Zarratolpa.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and is intended simply to stir the pot of your own imagination.

Use them as starting-points, or ignore them entirely in favour of your own Adventure Hooks!