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Category: Steel-Realms
Fecund Swarm
Posted on February 7, 2025 in Steel-Realms
A Fecund Swarm is a swarm of creatures made up of Blood Worms, mosquitoes, and centipedes. Once created, they cover a target area and deliver a potent set of irritants, damage, and disease. Once they damage a target, they spray blood blinding everyone in the swarm until they take an action to clear their eyes.
This creature is part of the Steel Realms Bestiary, but is uniquely associated with the Orrish in the Dark Lands.
- Summoned by Orrish witches, warlocks, shamans, and priests.
- A ‘conjure-bag’ made of humanoid skin which is cut open and the swarm spills forth.
i20™ Swarm Details
Base statistics of a (20′ cube) Insect Swarm; like all swarms, if a target leaves the area (to outrun them), they get an attack of opportunity – this cannot be negated due to sheer numbers. They are +5 attack bonus; in addition to damage, the target must make a DC 10 Constitution/Vigor check or the damage is aggravated. The victim loses 1 health per round until 4 (2 if a half swarm) is taken. Additionally; Once the damage a target, they spray blood blinding everyone in the swarm until they take an action to clear their eyes.
iCore™ Swarm Details
Bloodworms
Posted on February 7, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Bloodworms are a disgusting creature that is bred in the Dark Lands by the Orrish trap master all over. It is a key ingredient in Wormblat and creating a Fecund Swarm. Individually they are relatively harmless, though aggressive and will latch on like a lamprey and drain blood slowly.
This creature is part of the Steel Realms Bestiary, but is uniquely associated with the Orrish in the Dark Lands.
The worms are raised in a bed of offal and blood, and rituals are spoken over them by the trap masters as they play a torturous bone whistle or pipe. unholy water is added as well as flesh from the dead. The worms grow to 25cm in length, and have a toothed mouth.
The Blood Vurms were originally created by Gorvyrm, Master of the Blood Vurms. Some of their stock was once stolen from the The Fields of Blood by the Orrish to create their Bloodworm pits.
Orrish Trap Masters
Posted on February 7, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The Orrish are well known for their use of traps. This is a known element when dealing with them, and when exploring their lairs and camps (even outside the Dark Lands), it is prudent to take time and care whenever maneuvering through them. There is a role within their society that amounts to a ‘Trap Master‘ – proficient in creating all manner of traps and tricks with a crew of attendants learning and assisting as part of the Orrish Fighting Forces. There is no signifier for this that has ever been seen – i.e. one cannot tell a goblin trap master from a normal raider. For a goblin raiding party, much of what they do is improvised. Within a group, each one carries crude trinkets, baubles, and materials that the trap master can use, that accumulates as they raid places and get materials. In addition to the normal damage and inconveniences, the trap master also specialize in the making of Wormblat and using materials in The Underlands.
Making Wormblat: The care of and use of Blood Worms in making Wormblat is mostly left to the trap masters.
Common Trap Elements
- Razor Web from the Spiders of Go-Zen
- Stone Caltrops: These are often in a corridor covered with flat plates of stone than will sustain weights of under 100 lbs and break under more.
i20™ Trap Master Details
Weapons
- Dart Thrower: A stationary 3 vertical ‘dart bow’ – Range 30/80 only – this can be triggered by any and quickly reloaded; Made by goblin Trap Master for use in small warrens.
iCore™ Trap Master Details
Ebon Shrikes (agents of the Unholy Trio)
Posted on February 6, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The Ebon Shrike is a spirit from the abyss summoned by a priest of The unholy Trio for 1 year (through a blood offering ritual). It is always in pain, always vicious and angry. It looks like a disheveled crow, and loses feathers whenever it alights, only to grow them back in a moment with blood oozing from the creature. It is silent and deadly. It can detect familiars in 80m radius, or anything acting like one (with a link to a master). It does not communicate except in a low raspy, coughing voice that sounds like its choking on blood and sand.
Arvban Keep – Picket Keep of the Riverdans (ruins)
Posted on February 6, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Arvban Keep – Picket Keep of the Riverdans was a high foothills keep that was once used as a base of operations for patrolling the Mistveil Hills in the east of the Riverdan of Bondeu when the Orrish incursions were bad 800 years ago. It was sacked by the Orrish, re-taken, and sacked at least twice more. There is nearly nothing left of it now, and it is too isolated and the Riverdan of Bondeu too poor to maintain it.
Little is remembered about this specific fort – it had only military significance (like most of its kind), it was not large, and it was used for defense against the Orrish only. The entire upper story is gone. There are just broken ruins of the main floor from the last reports a hundred years ago. It is assumed that there is an underkeep, but no maps exist of it. There was a water source nearby (obviously), and a stream flowed below the crags it sat on. Rumors say it was named for Lady Celia Arvban, niece of one of the Burren family rulers of Bondeu – but there is no known significance to that.
It was once one of the Picket Keeps of the Heartlands, and nearly all in the Riverdans are in ruins and uninhabited.
The Approach Road
Its almost 6 miles long, switchback and crumbling in parts. On the final approach, there is a whole section washed out.
Upper Keep
The area has no doors and a few holes in full walls. In some places debris provides minor cover at best and slows movement. There are no light sources, artwork, engravings, etc.
Ravine
The sun rarely gets into the full depths of the ravine on the south side of the ruined keep. Coming out of the ground is a stream, that leads east and goes into the rocks again. There is an obvious drainage path of other run-off when it rains going into the ravine and merging with this flow – though it is but a trickle now.