Spooktober 2023 | Stubtober!

There's nothing spookier than a gigantic pile of unsorted concepts swimming around in your brain. Well, besides the task of sorting them.

Time is so terribly short this year, especially with my full plate of tasks and adventures to tackle. With WorldEmber on the horizon (as we know it's always coming), I feel a need to do some very early prep. Spooktober shall be my first stop in preparing myself for this winter's writing shenanigans!

This Spooktober, I will be making numerous stubs in an effort to prepare a world development roadmap for Malkora, which will outline all of the most important articles I have yet to write, but plan to. The full roadmap will available to all of my Oracles, but the entries I add during Spooktober will all be found in this article!

Want Secrets?

Certain articles may have additional secrets for GMs — pick the role that suits you!
Seeker — Player Knowledge
Dawnbringer — GM Secrets

Prompt 1 — Crow

The Gilded Crow is a bird commonly found in the city of Aurel, named not for its natural plumage, but for the plumage of the Gilded Pigeon they use to adorn themselves. These are a subspecies of a more widespread species of crow with similar plume-wearing behaviors.

Prompt 2 — Specter

The Caldera is what remains of an immense ancient volcano which once bubbled in Central Nefyran. Now dormant, the volcano left behind this titanic structure, now housing abundant life and water. The high cliff faces of the Caldera cultivated an ecosystem of interesting creatures rare in other lands.

Prompt 3 — Helpless

The Leyline of Agitation carries the magics of energy and activity throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Inertia, which carries passivity and idleness. Wherever this leyline emerges, chaos rules, bringing with it effects such as intense volcanic activity, destructive natural disasters, and shifting lands.

Prompt 4 — Stalk

Prayer wands commonly crafted in the Savelan Northlands from Stonegrass Lavender stalks, also known as fieldblues, used in prayer to the goddess Levje. These fragrant wands of lavender are used in rituals of prayer aimed towards crop health and community wellness.

Prompt 5 — Dry

Bark Moss is a fungus found in Brineveil Forest, in the Kingdom of Arsavela. These mushrooms have a rich brown color, growing in flat shelves from tree trunks. These mushrooms are often dried and powdered, for culinary use, for their rich flavor.

Prompt 6 — Despair

Prompt 7 — Incorporeal

Unlike other leylines of Malkora, which carry different forms of magic, the Leyline of Potency is an amplifying force. Wherever this leyline emerges, other forms of magic are empowered, bolstering their effects and the range of any other emergences found within Potency's influence.

Prompt 8 — Thunder

Blood of the Barrens are crystalline structures found concentrated in scattered locations within the Melocazh Barrens. Named for their slender forms, which interweave like webs or veins, these crystals are rare finds, but accumulate in large quantities wherever they form.

Prompt 9 — Sharp

Genesis Vampires appear in regions where the leyline of genesis emerges. As humans are imbued by the leyline's energy, those who do not receive this boon find themselves drawn to their essence, which often results in a powerful impulse to feed on their genesis-imbued blood.

Prompt 10 — Claw

The Leyline of Genesis carries the magics of life and vitality throughout Malkora, opposite to the leyline of atrophy, which carries death and decay. Wherever the leyline emerges, life surges, resulting in effects ranging from rapid overgrowth, to mass proliferation, and an abundance of megafauna.

Prompt 11 — Cryptic

The Sandshifter is a creature of myth, known only from travelers' recounting strange sightings in the Melocazh Barrens in their exodus from the dessicated sands. Often described as humanoid creatures with horrific insectoid features, most who hear the tales of sandshifters brush them off as mirages.

Prompt 12 — Harvest

The Harvest Belt is a region in the Kingdom of Arsavela, making up the majority of the Savelan Northlands' southern and southeastern lands. Most of Arsavela's most influential agricultural giants reside here, producing most of the kingdom's agricultural output.

Prompt 13 — Summoning

Prompt 14 — Apparition

The Leyline of Celerity carries the magics of haste and dispersion throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Abeyance, which carries rigidity and longevity. Wherever this leyline emerges, form scatters, bringing with it effects such as illusory structures, rapidly accelerated processes, and intense winds.

Prompt 15 — Eerie

Prompt 16 — Moon

The Leyline of Revelation carries the magics of light and vision throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Obscurity, which carries shadow and secrecy. Wherever this leyline emerges, perception clears, bringing with it effects such as absence of shadow, sun-bleached lands, and inability to deceive.

Prompt 17 — Void

Unlike other leylines of Malkora, which carry different forms of magic, the Leyline of Oblivion is a consuming force. Wherever this leyline emerges, other forms of magic are snuffed out, leaving a magical void behind — this is rumored to be the cause of the Nameless Age.

Prompt 18 — Fade

The Leyline of Obscurity carries the magics of shadow and secrecy throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Revelation, which carries light and vision. Wherever this leyline emerges, shadow cloaks the land, resulting in effects such as abnormal darkness, obscured truths, and deceptive landscapes.

Prompt 19 — Clock

The Leyline of Abeyance carries the magics of rigidity and longevity throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Celerity, which carries haste and dispersion. Wherever this leyline emerges, form is bolstered, bringing with it effects such as rising peaks, earthen formations, and impenetrable or indestructable surfaces.

Prompt 20 — Pale

Stalagmite Urchin are a species of hedgehog found scuttling around stones in the deep caves beneath Arsavela. Because they live in depths where the sunlight does not reach, these creatures are often pale and blind, but many display light sensitivity when exposed to a light source.

Prompt 21 — Nausea

The Leyline of Atrophy carries the magics of death and decay throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Genesis, which carries life and vitality. Wherever this leyline emerges, decay follows, resulting in effects such as withering life, proliferation of fungus and carrion crawlers, and undeath.

Prompt 22 — Shiver

The Leyline of Inertia carries the magics of passivity and idleness throughout Malkora, opposite to the Leyline of Agitation, which carries energy and activity. Wherever this leyline emerges, stillness takes hold, resulting in effects such as steep drops in temperature, pure silence, and restricted movement ability.

Prompt 23 — Fate

Prompt 24 — Slither

Prompt 25 — Hopeless

Prompt 26 — Epitaph

Prompt 27 — Drown

The Northlands Catfish is a fish found in the lake surrounding Stone Island in the Savelan Northlands. They are a rare catch, but a favorite food among some Northlands families. Rumors have spread of catfish of enormous size lurking in these waters, which can swallow grown humans.