Rolling Word Play – 58

Creating Roleplay ideas based on randomly generated words.  Here’s today’s selection:  Discover more about Chronicles Yards Seekers, Crumbs Checkpoint Typified, and Avoiding Hotels Courage.

Chronicles Yards Seekers
There is a novel book written by a very articulate and winged creature called Cnel, a Parin Parin bird, and is a record of the many gardens and yards he has visited in his lifetime.  The Parin Parin is a tropical bird of famed splendour.  The male’s golden and white plumage and the changeable colours of his head feathers is dazzling to behold.  But what is even more extraordinary is the way this bird can talk.  It knows almost every language; not just every bird call, but all creature languages.  It is therefore a very useful companion to have.   The pure female Parin Parin is less stunning by sight and doesn’t have the social graces of the male.  She does however pack quite a kick and is uncannily hard to catch, using her speed and agility, but also her hiding skills. The sheen on her feathers makes her blend in with most backgrounds.  The same sheen can be seen on the eggs she lays.  There are also half-breeds in existence which have picked up some of the Parin Parin’s characteristics.

Crumbs Checkpoint Typified
Down an alleyway, in amongst the outskirts of the city streets, there is a singularly peculiar sight.  A flat 20ft by 20ft façade made of wooden board fills the alleyway and stands upright with a crude, simple landscape painting drawn on the front facing the street.  In front of this simple board is a checkpoint with a barrier and a simple guardhouse.  There are normally two guards stationed outside it, although they do not show any great sense of wisdom between them.  They diligently guard the façade, but they will drop hints as to what they are protecting.  They say things like ‘it’s secret’ and ‘I’m not at liberty to say’, but then drop significant hints that it is a valuable area and that they are doing an important job.

If the adventurer’s come this way and are curious enough to evade the guards and investigate further, here are some possibilities as to what the area is:

  1. It is a wooden façade held up by wooden framing. The guards are delusional.
  2. Beyond the street’s floor the scene in the board is real. All creatures are crudely created as if painted by a small child.
  3. The board is a simple grid. Use a ‘touch-stone’ that the guards can describe and it transports the players to a different area of the map.  Could be a planar portal or a city map.
  4. The board is actually a large set of doors with handles hidden in the paintwork. Inside are rare, exotic creatures being looked after.
  5. The guards were right to try to warn the adventurers. The smell and texture of the board is incredibly strong, like bread but older and musty.  If the players touch the board they are at risk of being yet more crumbs in the picture!
  6. As the adventurers step past the checkpoint, time seems to slow and the guards float away as if in a frozen scream. The scene becomes a watery one.  At the bottom there is a mural of a street scene that can transport the players back.  What else is in the watery area is up to you.

Avoiding Hotels Courage
Celestial Promenade is the most exquisite street in the city.  To live and sample life here is to deal with temptation and luxury.  Many travellers and businessmen have lost their fortunes in such places whilst a much smaller number have made theirs.  The most famous gambling houses, escort services, chocolate and gin palaces and toy shops occupy a space in what is a sea of colourful building fronts.  During the day, musical marching bands parade up and down the promenade and samples of delicious bread and cakes are served.  At night, the scene turns darker in every sense with drugs and delights of the flesh on display. They say once you’ve been, you never really leave.  There’s always a party, a creature or a liquor that calls your name.