#The Stygian Library

[nebmia]

Reviewing every rpg book on my shelf: 4, The Stygian Library

It occurs to me that I should be including links to these things... so here you go or here if you like pdfs.

The Stygian Library by Emily Allen is a depth crawl (a term originating with her previous iteration of the concept The Gardens of Ynn) where you delve into a spooky extradimensional library that generates as you explore it.

As the party explores the library you roll on tables of location, detail, and event, with the rolls modified by the depth you are at so things will tend to get weirder and more dangerous the further you get (and you will uncover more about the 'lore' of the library).

The first thing that Library excells at is atmosphere. The whole thing evokes a great blending of creepy and whimsical (aided by Alec Sorenson's evocative illustations). Somthing that helps this that many of the situations generated will not require combat (at least until the party does enough to piss off the denizens of the library to move from rolling on the 'encounters for visitors' table to the far less friendly 'encounters for intruders').

So long as you don't make a nuisance of yourselves it's possible to spend most of your time in the library fiddling with interesting stuff and chatting with amicable (if creepy) academics.

The book advises that you do not need to roll on tables to generate the library ahead of time. It's true that you don't need to but I would suggest that you probably should, unless your players have a fair bit of patience. Rolling all the tables and then looking up the details and stats blocks can take some time and a decent bit of cognative load. On generating my first room I ended up needing to roll a lot of times as I hit the jackpot on 'results that direct you to roll on different tables', which did put some of my more storygamer players backs up a bit.

I ended up calling a 5 min break and quickly prerolling enough rooms to get a good buffer going and I would suggest that as a good plan for anyone else running it. I also found it beneficial to have an idea what was going to be coming next as it gave me the option of linking the events in different rooms together. for instance I had rolled an encounter with some librarians that turned up badly injured and, as I knew what monster I had rolled in the next room, I was able to link those together and set up the next encounter.

Its a great book, but be prepared to flip back and forwards through it a lot (or be more sensible than me and print out some of the things you will need to keep referencing)

[uncleasriel]

I run this foir my Monday ttrpg group and they love it. I

The blend of macabre and whimsical appealed to my group's "Nice Churchgroup With A Dark Sense Of Humor" sensibilities. It leaned well into the campaign's premise of "P.G. Wodehouse's supporting cast enters an Otherspace on a lark", and the ongoing escapades of the Girl Scout Leader, Neighouring Handyman and Eccentric Estotericist Cousin Obsessed With Egyptian Wisdom are proving delightful. The oddities we all find as the decend into this strange library are steeped in that OSR aesthetic, remaining coherent, absurd, and delightfully grotesque in wasy that that nevertheless remain on the right side of Good Taste.

The random room generation is a constant source of delight, taking an hour or so of preparation to create twelve detailed rooms that have so far lasted roughly six 3-hour sessions of play from. As my party continues to to explore and fumble through the candle-lit, musty shelves of The Library, the unfolding randomness created by a truly strange menagerie of creatures and personalities remains as delightful as it is outlandish.

The portability to any OSR or d20-adjascent property makes good use of this, make it an easy sell for any group used to moreconventional D&D games. (I am using Beyond the Wall for the baseline experience, with only marginal hiccups). The experience of playing something like this takes a little getting used to (remembering to track Progress and pay attention to the Depth - flow charts and google docs are advised!), and the experience of coming to this is distinct from players more used to something robust (some would say bloated) as Curse of Strahd or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

Overall, however, I love this product. My friend Bill gifted me this for Chirstmas a few years ago, and it proved to be part of what helped me trusly understand why people were drawn to OSR style games. The elegant simplicity of the creature stats, the omnipresent presence of Depth, the fantastic commitment to tone - it's all here. Highly recommended, The Stygian Library remains one of the best gaming products I've read in years.

Send my regards to Librarians, and beware the Bandersnatch!

The Stygian Library by Emmy Allen

A procedurally-generated library dungeon set in the extra-dimensional space between every library in the universe. Each expedition generates its route as it explores, resulting in new locations and forbidden knowledge being discovered with every visit.

[mfreelovely]

My newest D&D character, Tephna of Wytchwood!

She's a gloom stalker ranger I made for a Stygian Library fun little campaign the vivacious and wonderful @oracleeyesart is running.

She's very outside of the kind of character I usually play and I'm SO EXCITED!!

[the-kingshound]

Recent IF updates (because if writes have fed us well lately)

Blood of the living (chapter 4) - fields of asphodels book 2

College tennis origin story (chapter 7) - in love

The Eternal Library (chapter 4)

Adoriel's Tears (part of chapter 2) - delicious

Love after death (chapter 3) - I am not ok

Apartment 502 (chapter 2)

The Bastard of camelot (chapter 4 + part of chapter 5)

After Dark (chapter 3)

Press play (chapter 3)

The soulforge order (chapter 2 part 1)

Stygian sun: total Eclypse (chapter 1 part 3) - I am not ok again. Don't touch my sibling

When Twilight strikes (chapter 12)

Burning Academia (chapter 3)

The trials and tribulations of Edward Harcourt (completed game) - criminal that I still have to play it, a bit afraid of the bad endings

Where they wait (VN, completed game)

The Woods Hungers (chapter 3)

Moonlight (chapter 1 part 2)

The Night Market book 2 (chapter 7)

Cantata (chapter 2) - there is lots of food because the author also has another completed if: Viatica

The Sovereign's Ring (new content)

Birds of a rose (new content)

From the mud (chapter 1)

Sentience (new content)

[thydungeongal]

You always have really good recommendations when it comes to dungeons, and I was wondering if you knew of more like Gardens of Ynn/Stygian Library. Not necessarily with the depth mechanic, but with the whole "The dungeon is procedurally generated live at the table as you progress."

I find it fits my GM style far better than any other adventure I try to run, but don't even know where to begin looking for stuff like that.

Hey Check Out This Cool Thing I Found In The Gullet for Fivewild (an absolutely hilarious hack of D&D 5e) is another depthcrawl with mechanics very similar to Ynn and Stygian Library. It's also very funny, just like Fivewild.

Castle Gargantua is a dungeon crawl module with lots of randomized elements, but without the depth mechanics.

Downcrawl is an engine for generating random, open-ended adventures in a mythic underworld. I literally just found out about this one and apparently there's a second edition on the way. I think I might have to get it.

[cavegirlpoems]

Hello, new follower here! I saw you mentioned you worked on several RPGs, may I ask what those were? I'm always looking to find new cool RPGs!

OK so, off the top of my head: TTRPGs: -Wolfpacks & Winter Snow (osr weird fantasy paleolithic with too much historical research) -Dungeon Bitches (PbtA dyke-punk dungeon-horror full of sex and body horror) -Esoteric Enterprises (osr modern-day occult gangsters/urban exploration) -Haunt/Hearts (romantic lyric game about a lesbian ghost) -The Yellow Curtain (experimental metafiction King In Yellow/RevStar) -Deep Morphean Transmissions (dreamscape conspiricy noir surrealism in a setting kept secret from the players ooc) Modules/Settings/Adventures: The Gardens Of Ynn (whimsical fantasy in a ruined extradimensional garden, procedurally generated osr) The Stygian Library (whimsical fantasy in a haunted extradimensional library, procedurally generated osr) Dead Girls In Sarkash Forest (feminine horror with tragically undead protagonists, mork borg for riot grrls) Wounded Hungry & Forgotten (a mini bestiary for Dungeon Bitches) Black Lung (Dungeon Bitches in the industrial revolution, again with too much historical resarch: out any day now i promise) Wargames: The Dolorous Stroke (experimental detailed skirmish game based on medieval romances with knights going on quests) Black Death Walking (narrative campaign skirmish game set in the 15th century with zombies and satan) Currently In Progress (in various stages of done, titles subject to change, may or may not actually get finished): Black Death Rising (osr religious horror with zombies, fascists and satan all trying to kill you, same setting as Black Death Walking) The Bleeding Gullet (a body-horror OSR setting in a giant mutant-filled chasm that makes you violently ill if you try to leave it) In The Black Cloister (experimental solo wargame where you explore a ruined nunnery/vinyard full of weird monsters) Sunset Seas (nautical osr adventure where you sail around exploring various increasingly weird islands on the edge of the world)

[moonstruckme]

part 3 of sirius x remus's roommate reader when+? +$? $???? ur writing is too good frs

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

Thanks sweetheart! I made an inference, so I hope I caught your meaning here haha (upon further reflection, I may have jumped to conclusions....but here you go anyway)

cw: smut, mdni, everything is consensual !

modern au

Sirius Black x fem!reader ♡ 900 words

“Come on, gorgeous, make some sounds for me,” Sirius says, and instead you swirl your hips, laughing when he groans. 

“You first,” you tease. 

Sirius tightens his grip on you in response, fingers digging into the fat of your hips. Your breath catches in your throat, but you do your best to keep the effects of his touch from showing on your face. 

It’s always a power play with you two, and this is no different. Sirius is determined to make you finish first, and you’re determined to foil him. That being said, you don’t have all day. Remus has only gone study in the library, and the last thing you want is for him to come home to the ambient noise of his roommate and his best friend fucking in the room opposite his. You quicken your pace, and Sirius’ features tighten, hands moving hastily to your sides, trying to slow you despite what his body so clearly wants. 

“Come on, pretty boy,” you croon, but you’re panting, your clit finding traction with every movement of your hips. 

“Getting tired?” Sirius asks, something close to desperation in his tone. “We can switch.” 

“Not tired,” you say feebly, but Sirius is already stabilizing your hips against his, careful but efficient as he flips you over. He folds himself over you, sucking your bottom lip into his mouth while pushing further inside you. His teeth scrape over your lip cruelly as he moves tantalizingly slow, dragging against the back wall of your cunt. You writhe underneath him. “Fuck,” you gasp. “No fair.” 

“Sorry, darling,” he hums, not sounding very sorry at all. He nips playfully at your shoulder, relishing in your unraveling. “Can’t help myself, you just look so pretty like this.” 

Sirius looks rather pretty himself. It’s really not fair for any boy to have eyelashes so long that they brush his cheekbones, or hair so Stygian black that it glows silvery blue in the moonlight coming in through the window. His eyes are darker than you’ve ever seen them, pupils blown wide enough to nearly eclipse his irises, and the smirk that twists his lips is as hot as it is infuriating. 

You try to regain the upper hand, leaning upwards to kiss under his ear where you know he likes it, but Sirius’s thumb finds your clit, drawing sloppy figure-eights over the bead until you’re arching unwillingly into his touch. 

“Fuck.” There’s frustration to be found even in your whimper as Sirius picks up his pace, rutting faster and deeper inside you. “Fuck fuck fuck—”

“You can do it, sweet thing,” he coos encouragingly. “Cum for me.” 

You could pick any one of the words that have just left his mouth to be your undoing, but together, they’re a fatal combination. You go limp under Sirius, but his cheers are short-lived before they give way to a groan as he finds his own release. Dizzy with your high, you laugh against his lips while his fingers stutter and slow on your clit. Sirius buries his head in your neck, and you blow a piece of his hair—it’s soft as dandelion fluff, the asshole—away from your mouth. 

“What’re you laughing at?” he pants. “I won.” 

“You cheated,” you argue, though you know he had, technically, beaten you. It had felt like a win for you, though. “Doesn’t count. Plus, you were like, two seconds behind me.” 

Sirius chuckles, and you tense as he lifts his head, one dark swath of eyebrow raised impossibly high. “Yeah?” he asks, getting his breathing under control as he slides out of you. His eyes stay on yours, challenge glinting like a single star in the abyss of his pupils while he moves down your body. “I bet I can get you there again in five minutes or less.” 

You try to scoff, but it comes out pitchy as his hands sweep confidently across your thighs. “There’s no way.” 

Sirius’ incisors flash when he grins. “You’re on, sweetheart.” 

You tense in anticipation, but then you hear the distinct sound of a key jiggling in the front door. You and Sirius both freeze, hardly breathing as your finicky lock clicks this way and that. 

“Rain check?” you ask quietly, and Sirius nods, grabbing his pants from your floor and tossing you your shirt. You both tug on your clothes as quickly as possible, and you’ve never been more grateful for the difficulty of opening the door to your apartment, sending a silent apology to your landlord for all the times you’ve bugged him to fix it. You even have time to check your appearance in the mirror, running your fingers through your hair before going to help Remus with the door. 

“Hey, Moons,” Sirius says, sitting casually on your couch as Remus comes in. “How was the library?” 

“It was good,” Remus replies, setting down his book bag and slipping off his shoes. “How has your night been?” 

“Good. You know, fine,” you say, with what you hope is convincing insouciance. Sirius shoots you a look that conveys an eye roll without giving one. “That lock, huh? I can’t believe they haven’t fixed it yet.” 

“I don’t know how you have so many problems with it,” Remus replies briskly, going down the hall to his room. “It always works fine for me, I just thought you might appreciate the notice to put your clothes back on.”

[theinstagrahame]

Back at it again with my mailbox. Having an extremely weird few months still, and 2025 continues to be an absolute shit year.

But, here's a bunch of neat stuff I've gotten this last couple of months.

Transgender Deathmatch Legend II: Ever since listening to the first version of this on Party of One, it's been on my mind to pick up. Kayla Dice is also a designer I keep an eye out for, because everything from Rat Wave Game House is unique and cool. So, this was an easy yes, when it hit the crowdfunders.

Triangle Agency (box set): The corporate horror meets weird sci-fi angle of Triangle Agency is an easy sell, and I was feeling flush the month this came into crowdfunding land. So, I was more than happy to get this incredible box, which includes a notebook and dice, in addition to the core book and a collection of really amazing-sounding adventures. I've got a few friends I think would really vibe with this game.

Navathem's End: I'm super public about how I got into the hobby through the Ampersand Game, and how it never really satisfied me once I really got to know it. The pitch of Navathem's End really hooked me, because it seemed like it hit the same notes, but did it with a system I was way more interested in (PbtA). Plus, the creators are extremely talented and, honestly, underrated.

Valiant Horizons: I am always in awe of @basilisika's art, and @binarystargames's game design. Valiant Horizons also hearkens back to a really formative era of RPG design, which was sort of mid-college for me, when I had disposable income and few responsibilities. So, even though I haven't brough it to the table, Valiant Horizons feels very nostalgic. I really can't wait to find an excuse to run it.

Greenhorns: I've picked up a couple of other titles from Spicy Tuna, and I am a sucker for weird sci-fi. Greenhorns promises to be weird, OSR-flavored, and really fun. It seems like the kind of game that lends itself well to goofy sci-fi shenanigans, which sometimes that's what you're looking for.

Fabula Ultima - Press Start: Read this on a business trip, and it's honestly a really great intro to a really neat game. The quickstart does a pretty sound job of introducing mechanics a little at a time, and I feel like I could run the intro adventure with the book and nothing else. It's a fascinating example of a Quickstart, and also really makes me jazzed about Fabula as a game.

Citizen Sleeper - Cycles of the Eye: This was a no-brainer. Citizen Sleeper was easily one of the best computer RPGs I've played in a long time, and a tabletop version by Alfred Valley was an easy "yes" from me. But it also came with a themed Tarot deck with characters from the game, which really pushed it over the top.

Farewell to Arms - Redux: I'm very curious about Mork Borg in general, and I like the idea of it, even if I'm not totally in love with the idea. But I do really love how quickly it's spread and grown as a game. This is meant to be a WWI-era sequel to Mork Borg, which I think is a fascinating premise, but I also think the horrors of WWI would make for a really fascinating campaign.

Dagger to the Heart: In this house, we love Heart: The City Beneath. So, the first full expansion for Heart was an easy grab. I haven't really dug into it, but I'm certain there will be bits that want to go into whatever Heart campaign I eventually run or play in.

Gardens of Ynn: I am a sucker for cloth-bound covers, but also I'm still in my Adventure Module era. Exploring an ever-deepening, weird garden maze seems like exactly the kind of thing I'd like to torment some players with.

The Stygian Library: Gardens of Ynn's crowdfund included a reprint of the Stygian Library (or was it the other way around? Apologies, I have had *a week* this week). I really like and respect the designer of both titles, and dark academia always piques my interest. So, yeah, let's go get some forbidden knowledge and then have a forbidden garden party, why not?

Best Left Buried: Deeper: If I don't miss my recollection, my beloved Orbital Blues is loosely built on the same engine as BLB, and it was the big gap in my SoulMuppet collection. I also have several books written with BLB in mind, so it seemed like it was time to pick up the core book and dive in.

The Zine Club books of the month(s) were:

UST -Unresolved Sexual Tension

Told by Starlight

GORE

Wolves at the Lake

Black Mold at Claus Manor

Salutations Mr Grey

Welcome to St Julian's

Dark Designs in Verdigris

Once again, don't know a ton about most of these, but they are by amazing designers, and I'm excited to dig in. Plus One EXP's Zine Club has been a really neat way to expand on your collection and support indie creators, so y'know, check that out and you too could have mystery exciting stuff thrown at you.

Bonus board game:

A fer years ago, I played Chronicles of Crime, an app-enabled mystery game by the same publishers. So I picked this up, because the Urban Fantasy/Mystery element was intriguing. I've just skimmed through the materials, but it is very interesting so far, light RPG elements, and I'm curious to see how the app interacts with the game.

[leeisjustlee]

My Stygian design + small rewrite cus I'm bored

Time of the pillars

Stygian after seeing the sirens being defeated he started, he thought of the plan of sharing the pillars magic with him but the spell for this practice requires great magic skills and power. So Stygian studied dark magic. Instead of stealing the pillars artifacts, Stygian actually borrowed it from the pillars with the reasoning of a surprise. Starswirl being suspicious of Stygian, followed him. He saw Stygian uses dark magic and thought Stygian was trying to do something bad to the artifacts so he interrupted the spell causing it to backfire destroying Stygian horn (I think broken horn is fun and brings more conflict)

After the incident, Stygian was cast out of the group. At first, he wasn't bitter nor hateful but gossip(I don't have a better word) about him practicing dark magic caused him to be exiled. Hitting the lowest point, he found the well of shadow. The shadows whispered into his ears into his ears stir up the hateful and resentful thoughts, they showed empathy and welcomed him with an open hoof. What he doesn't know this was the shadows manipulation to get a host. He let the shadows possessed him and fused into the pony of shadows.

Now days Equestria

After having the misunderstanding resolved with stygian wanting to leave, the shadows showed its true nature. Desperately trying to stir up conflict by whispering into Stygian ears but this time Stygian is no longer alone and determined to leave. In their last attempt, the shadows try to consume Stygian, Twilight and starlight but with the help of the others were able to pull out and escape last minute before being consumed. Although he is now separated from the shadows, Stygian spent so much time as one with the shadow that a little bit of it stayed and worked as a functional horn and (kinda functionable) wings.

Now, Stygian is working in a library at Canterlot, writing novels as a hobby. He still visits his friends whenever he's on break and currently is doing alright.

[oakfathers-blessings]

@mfreelovely ‘s Ranger, Tephna, from our Stygian Library Campaign run by @oracleeyesart !!

[soulmuppet]

Gardens of Ynn: Update

The layout is complete and the book is off having its pre-press proofs and last touch ups. We expect the PDF to be in your hands within the next couple of weeks at most. 

We're setting up a BackerKit page as we speak, both to ensure we have accurate delivery information for our backers and for folks who missed out on the Kickstarter to jump in on pre-orders.

The Online Generator

David Schirduan of Technical Grimoire is almost finished with his Gardens of Ynn online generator. Just porting it over to the SoulMuppet site and running a few test runs. This generator will be available to anyone and makes running this depth-crawl adventure even easier. For a preview of what this is going to look like, head over to the Stygian Library online generator for his previous work.

[ultimavela]

This past weekend, I had the luck of being able to visit some friends at their place to continue a game that we have been playing sporadically whenever we can meet.

They live in another country, which makes every meeting and schedule of a new game difficult but also special, as until now, we have decided only to play in person.

We are playing Knave with an extra modified version of the “Stamina” mechanics of Grave, and some ideas coming from Mork Borg.

The setting we have created has “Dolmenwood” and the “Old World” (Warhammer fantasy) on the same continent, and includes the “Goblin curse” from Mork Borg as a recurrent topic on the adventures and, recently, players have found their way into the “Stygian Library”.

In our last game (we played three sessions the past weekend), the PCs confronted someone that has been following them after some climatic events. This mysterious figure followed them to the “Stygian Library”, and to make thing a little spicier, between session I created an extra room-staircase based on Harry Potter’s grand staircase, so if they escaped or confronted their stalker, they will have to transverse a room that is eternally changing (the rest of the “Stygian Library” we played as intended, by generating the rooms, events, and details while playing, wituoput preparing anything in advance).

It's a super simple concept, but it worked super well when we played in it, so I thought maybe someone else could enjoy it.

So here it is, the eternally changing staircase!

[frozenfancies]

In which I and @cavegirlpoems chat about OSR depthcrawls and then take a sideline into shaking our fists at clouds.

[nvthedasmode]

The Dread Wolf's Grave

Notes:

Very short one-shot fic inspired by the quote; 'They asked "do you love her to death?" I said, "speak of her over my grave and watch how she brings me back to life.'

Lavellan's name is Harellan, 'Raven' is Varric's nickname for her.

One of Harellan's nervous habits is rolling coins over her knuckles.

Set sometime during early Veilguard, Solas presumed to be at the Lighthouse rather than in a separate prison.

First ever fic! I am not a writer! I am just a lil guy with a lot of feelings!

And I am so sorry I have no idea how to write Solas and Varric lol.

-----

To say that Varric was uncomfortable was an understatement. It was one thing to ask a dwarf to live on the surface, another thing entirely to ask him to make himself at home in the Fade. Unfortunately, he had little say in the matter. The Veilguard had settled themselves within a deep pocket of the Fade; a safe haven from the blighted elven gods now roaming Thedas, and thus far it had proven to be a wise choice.

Their new home was where he emerged from now, and the morning silence (save for Bellara’s excessive snoring) was a welcome indication that everyone was still fast asleep. Or, at least, everyone but the one elusive elf he was looking for. Once he was confident he had not woken anyone up with his heavy dwarven tread, Varric’s footsteps established a leisurely pace as he descended the stygian steps weaving from the gilded door of the Lighthouse to the shifting island below.

The Dread Wolf’s corner of the Fade expanded before him, shimmering masses of Fade-touched rock floating across the enchanted vista as unhindered wisps of magic soared above him like stars against Kirkwall’s night sky. It was brighter, warmer, but still as commanding as the area of the Fade the fear demon had ruled. Some of the silhouetted islands in the distance would have been large enough to cast a city the size of Starkhaven into complete shadow, and some dipped deeper than even the oldest of thaigs. Smaller rocks housed old and ruined walls, frescos of the fabled wolf glowing faintly from the veilfire sconces and causing him to appear equal parts treacherous and feeble.

The littlest cluster of rocks presented an assortment of ancient elven … trees, Varric assumed. Their metal base gave way to a spherical head that sprouted sharp, golden branches. They wove intricate shapes that moved to shelter a gleaming emerald centre, glinting like fire. This group veered closer to the island he now trudged along, glittering vines with blossoms as large as ponds wrapping themselves around the jagged surfaces and reaching out to grasp their neighbour - a complex walkway of mystic bridges that connected the islands, forming an imposing jungle that served as a shrine to what once was.

Far above him, when he thought to look, Varric could have sworn he could make out the slightest shape of an azure city, light refracting across the landscape as if it was pouring through a window in a Chantry cathedral. The sight was often cloaked in a calculated mist, as though his eyes were intruding on an intimate scene between two lovers - but every time he rubbed his eyes to see it clearer, it had vanished.

Varric had learned that the island he had called home for the past few weeks could shift its appearance depending on his old friend’s mood. While the Lighthouse remained the same, often the Veilguard would wake up to see their interim home had a different garden to explore, each one shaped from Solas’ lonely library of memories. Sometimes there would be luscious fields of green, emerald blades swaying to a song none but they could hear as perfectly round drops of dew dissolved into dazzling specs of light. Other times there were seemingly never-ending pathways; rivers of crystal gems creating a map upon the island, waterfalls replacing cities and curious wisps building toy castles from motes of magic. Once, when Varric awoke in the dead of night (or as close as one could get to that, in the Fade), he peered out his window to see Solas strolling Skyhold’s grounds, his tired eyes never leaving the figures of Cole and the Inquisitor as they helped to soothe a dying woman lying by the campfire, clutching a fatal wound. Had Solas reached out to them, Varric did not know, for he had quickly retreated back to his bed to allow his old friend his privacy.

Today, as Varric disembarked the steps, the soles of his worn boots met an impossibly soft sand that shifted gently beneath his weight. Something resembling seashells dotted the ground, their surface gleaming and moving in a way that made them look more like creatures than collectible souvenirs. Out of baseless paranoia more than respect, Varric carefully picked his way across the fabricated beach to the towering figure in the distance.

Solas stood at the end of the beach, the ripples of the ocean creeping along the sand to stop just shy of the tips of his feet, as though magic itself dare not disturb him. He stood tall, gazing across his domain with an expression befitting his name as the manufactured breeze lifted the ends of his coat. Hands clasped habitually behind his back, a single gold coin rolled lazily across his knuckles, causing tiny spurts of reflected light to shower across his long fingers. Any reasonable dwarf back under the surface might have mistook it for magic.

“Good morning, Varric,” came his familiar voice. He spoke in barely more than a murmur despite Varric still being numerous paces away, yet he heard it as though they were standing next to each other.

“And here I thought it was only Rook who had to listen to your voice inside their head, Chuckles,” Varric shouted back, scowling half-heartedly when he saw Solas’ shoulders betray a small laugh.

Solas patiently waited until Varric had made it to his side before speaking again, finally turning his gaze to his friend with a playful smirk on his lips. “Ir abelas, I did not want to deny you the pleasure.”

Varric let out an indignant snort. “I’m starting to understand why so many dwarves stay below the surface.”

“To avoid speaking with me?”

“Now, now, I didn’t say that.”

“You did not need to,” Solas responded curtly. Varric was glad to see the smile still lingering.

At least he hasn’t lost his sense of humour.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, the sound of the waves crashing a few hundred yards ahead of them filling the space. Had he let his mind tune out for a moment, it would not have been unlike the mornings they had spent waking up to the sounds of the Storm Coast - Solas casting a protective barrier over the campfire before the Inquisitor burst into tears at the idea of going a single moment without her tea; Cassandra cursing from the edge of camp as she tried and failed to prove she could in fact approach a nug without scaring it away; Lace and Varric placing bets on how many more days it could rain before they all lost their minds. He wasn’t sure which put his back up more; being surrounded by suffocating grey and rain, slipping on lethal cliffs that never seemed to dry - or being in the Fade.

It was Solas who broke the silence first, as if sensing Varric’s unease. “How are you adjusting?”

Varric shrugged, stalling as he measured his response. It wasn’t in the nature of their relationship to lie to one another (or so I thought, he corrected himself), but he wasn’t about to start tearing apart his friend’s home either.

“I can’t exactly say I’m keen to settle down and start a family here, but I’ll give it to you - it’s impressive.”

“Thank you,” Solas sighed heavily, his eyes focused on something in the distance. “Imagine what it would be like without the Veil.”

“Chuckles, not now.”

“So, when would you propose-”

“I came here to talk to Solas,” Varric said morosely, feeling a pang of regret as Solas’ shoulders stiffened. “Not the Dread Wolf. How about you humour me, just this once? Then I promise we’ll go back to the uncomfortable ‘Child of the Stone’ and ‘Ancient Elven God’ dynamic.”

Solas silently met his eyes then, and the coin in his hands stilled as white knuckles wrapped around it tightly. Just like the painted walls on the islands floating around them, Varric could see his were tall but crumbling. Exhaustion and pain had sunk their bloodied talons into his sharp features, but under the wolf there was still the man. A friend that desperately wanted to get out.

“I’ve never been good at this sort of stuff,” Varric muttered, turning his gaze back toward the ocean, “but you left a lot of people behind. Good people, that missed you.”

“I am not unaware of that, Varric,” Solas replied. Varric could hear the sharpness to the tone, a warning that he should drop the subject immediately.

They both knew he wouldn’t.

“I mean, even Buttercup seemed upset - although she tried her best not to show it. With you gone, Cassandra became her next target for pranks, and we both know pissing off the Seeker is a dangerous choice at best - lethal at worst. I mean, I’m speaking from experience here.”

A quick glance to his right told him Solas was also very pointedly staring out at the ocean again, doing his best to look the picture of disinterest, but the ironclad set of his jaw gave him away. It always had.

“And Ruffles! I thought she would never stop accidentally adding your frilly cakes to the Val Royeaux order list each month. Eventually, me and the Kid-”

“Did you come out here with the intent to torture me, Varric?” Solas snapped, his proud mask melting away to pained anger as he pressed his eyes closed. His nose scrunched as he breathed through it, the waves that stretched before them stuttering and turning a sickly green. “Do you see me as so many of my People do? Do you also think me a heartless monster with no feelings?”

Against his will, Varric’s mind recalled his friend’s broken sobs as she read Sutherland’s reports about the monstrous demon that had plagued Skyhold. Her heart’s deepest regrets ravaging the place they had once called home, the scars of his past forever embedded in the old Inquisition fortress.

“No,” he sighed. “I don’t think that at all, Chuckles.”

Another deep breath from Solas. The water slowly began to settle once more, melting back to a cool, pure cerulean that would have made the painters at Halamshiral turn crimson with embarrassment.

“Then what can I do for you?”

“Remember,” Varric said shortly.

Solas opened his eyes to peer at Varric with confusion, and he could see the purple storm deep within them threatening to pour out and engulf the island they now stood upon.

Silently, Varric nodded to Solas’ hands, still held tightly shut as though he were frightened of dropping whatever was in them. Solas slowly unfurled his fingers, the gold coin nestled innocently in his palm, small dents pressed into his pale skin from clasping it so desperately. The purple storm observed it silently, eyes barely blinking as they stared.

“I saw you playing with it,” Varric said gently, feeling his friend was more a terrified Halla than the dreaded wolf in that moment. “Raven used to do the same thing, when she was nervous. Ruffles had to pry it from her hand when we went to the Winter Palace.”

Solas continued staring at the coin, his expression unreadable. “She gave this to me on the way to the Temple of Mythal,” he said tentatively, as though testing out the words in his mouth. Varric supposed this was the first time he had allowed himself to speak of her in years. “She said she had no need for it any longer, since she had …”

“Since she had your hand to hold,” Varric finished for him. “She said it loud enough for the entire camp to hear.” The memory almost made him smile himself.

A ghost of a smile tried to lift the corners of Solas’ mouth, but it faltered before it even began.

“I remember.”

Varric did smile then. I knew you were still in there, Chuckles.

“Do you still love her?”

There was barely a heartbeat before Solas tore his eyes away from the coin, wrapping his fingers safely around it once more before straightening to his full height and turning to look along the endless sands.

Varric felt the Fade change before he saw it. The sands before them rippled and swirled, floating smoothly into the air to reveal the harsh black rock of the island below. A deep shadow lurked over the area, a stark contrast to the vivid, colourful sky behind it. The sands shifted and formed a familiar image; tall swaths of darkness encircling a small enclave while a suffocating green mist rolled along the floor, catching Varric’s ankles and sending small tendrils up his legs that dissipated as quickly as they appeared. Paltry red spirits skittered around nervously, as if they were constantly running toward - or away from - something.

This was the graveyard from the Fear demon’s lair. Or - more accurately, Varric supposed - Solas’ memory of it.

There was a slight adjustment, however. Only one, solitary gravestone sat in the enclave. The stone it was made from looked sick, brimming with fear and unspoken terrors, its aura almost oppressive.

Varric approached it wordlessly. The words upon it were the same and yet not as he remembered - the elegant, smug carvings of the fear demon were gone, replaced by hurried, almost infantile writing that looked as if it had been carved with a very sharp claw.

‘Solas,’ it read. ‘Dying alone.’

It was only then that Varric saw them. A spectral version of Solas - his friend, Solas - appeared slowly from the darkness, smiling as he offered a gloved hand to the second figure that manifested. Harellan met his smile with her own, eagerly gripping his hand and laughing as he twirled her into his arms. The scarlet spirits, appearing to be calmed by the two newcomers, turned to watch, sweeping closer to the radiant scene that seemed to consume the darkness around it. Varric could hear the faint sound of a band playing from - somewhere? Nowhere? The memory of his friends didn’t seem to care, nor did they notice him or the cruel grave at their feet. They danced and looked at no one but each other, and Varric was irrevocably certain that they would dance forever if the world would let them.

The lonely voice came from behind him then. It was so thick with immeasurable pain that Varric could not bring himself to turn around.

“Speak of her over my grave, Varric,” Solas murmured, “and watch how she brings me back to life."

[thydungeongal]

Out of prepublished modules/adventures/etc. from any system, what are your favorites?

I'm a huge fan of Gardens of Ynn and The Stygian Library by @cavegirlpoems, they're both OSR so roughly compatible with pre-WotC editions of D&D (0D&D to AD&D 2e) and other compatible games.

I'm very fond of Horror Harry's Haunted House, an introductory mystery for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy by @anim-ttrpgs. It's a perfect example of what I've previously spoken of as a "tutorial module": a module that lets the players learn the mechanics of the game by placing their characters in a low-stakes environment where they're not risking life and death while trying to solve the mystery, and because the mystery is literally like an escape room type attraction there are no actual consequences to the characters in the fiction should they fail to solve it or get the wrong culprit! It's great! You can get the game and the module here:

I'm also a fan of Music from a Darkened Room for Delta Green. It's a great haunted house module with a lot of really scary vibes. The original version of the module was released as a free pdf, but there's a new updated version that costs money which I haven't checked out. The original is a fun, albeit flawed scenario. The original free version is no longer distributed by the Delta Green license holders, but you can still find it. The updated version is only a few bucks in pdf.

Ultraviolet Grasslands is a fantastic prewritten module that actually has enough material enough for an entire campaign. It's basically a psychedelic science fantasy point crawl with illustrations in the style of Mœbius. Highly recommended.

[nyxdreamweaver]

You know her. You love them. Give it up for Mara Muhammad!!! I got some headcanons (Ik what I make is canon but still) made for my little creature/pos

⭑ ★ ⭑ ˗ ˏˋ 🌟 ´ˎ ˗ ⭑ ★ ⭑

Mara is goth!! Not just for the fashion but the ideals and movements they support.

While Moonie isn't punk, she was inspired by Thalia's whole look back when they were a kid and they got a battle jacket with the nb, Moongender and bi flag made by Percy for her birthday along with a moon pin. Every one of her friends all made pins for her jacket over the years.

Is a HUGE fan of gothic romance, specifically Phantom of the Opera (and had a big crush Christine) but the flipside, LOVES kid books like Wings of Fire, The 5 worlds, The girl from the sea, etc. Huge fan of queer books, especially graphic novels. But on the OTHER, mythology NERD!! Not only Greek and Roman but Norse, Egyptian and Chinese too.

Bonds with a BUNCH of night animals and crows and they all have names since according to them "They deserve it!!" Moonie basically has a crow army at their disposal and trained them to fight. It was pretty useful during Capture their flag or the Titan War.

Also, HUGE corvid defender!! They're just little guys!! If Moonie hears anyone shit talk about corvids, she would sic her friends on the fool.

Loves niche cartoons. If you talk with her on an average day and you ask them what tv shows they like, they would start talking about this old Italian cartoon that came out in 2006 called 'Monster Allegry' and she would explain the lore about Zeke's family and his missing dad for hours without a care in the world (that show is SO good, I miss it)

Stims: playing around with her hair or clothes, biting their nails, clothes (or biting stuff in general), does zoomies when she can't sit still for too long whenever they can

Moonie uses a chakram that's made of Stygian metal but the sharp part of the weapon, it's opalescent (made out of moonlight) and can blast lunar or star magic at her enemies. Both Nyx, Asteria and Selene made it for them when she was 10. Moonie calls her, Phéngos. In regular form, it turns into one of her bracelets but this is the weapon version (It's looks like this).

Does NOT have a healthy sleep schedule, one of the few cons of being the child of Nyx. She, Leo, Jason, Reyna and Annabeth consume the most amount of coffee on the Argo 2 and it scares the others about their health by the sheer amount of coffee they all drink in a whole day. (Emir had to cut them off till they all get better sleep schedules)

Since the night sky never looks same and can't be controlled, Mara's outfits always look different. They still dress goth but they changes into different styles of goth (i.e. whimsy goth, pink goth, romantic goth, etc)

Before the prophecy of 8, Mara had very few friends she trusted in their inner circle. Those being, Nico, Annabeth, Emir, Drew, Percy, Rachel, and Clovis. Everyone at camp feared them due to their mom, Nyx. While it took time to gain their trust and see her as a kindhearted kid and not a monster, Mara doesn't make a lot of friends at camp or in the mortal world. So Post-HOO she really enjoys her friendships with the Argo 2 crew.

If there was a library at CHB, she would LIVE in it. Moonie loves reading a bunch of different genres and would horde books in her cabin.

She has two piecings on her ears, a Septum piecing on their nose in MOA and Post-HOO, they planned on getting an earlobe piecings.

Favorite season is autumn and winter because time gets shorter and the night comes quicker than usual so she could hang out with everyone during the day

Arts n Crafts royalty!! Her go to is jewelry making and writing stories! While her weakness is pottery :( She could never make the shape she wants on the wheel and it always looks wonky at the end (Post HOO Leo teaches her pottery 'cause I also hc he's good at claywork since in my au he's the son of Prometheus)

While her favorite types of music is goth and punk genre, but musicals and folklore/storytelling genres hold a special place in her heart

Wears so much jewelry. It's crazy. Annabeth, Percy, and Drew always gift her some on her birthdays. Beaded jewelry is her favorite kind!

After HOO, Mara's night magic leaked into their skin creating similar to spots like this onto her body

There's more to come about my other ocs!!