I have added some descriptions (and a couple minor things, such as a random table for rolling potions if you like.) Please do not be constrained by the descriptions, nor assume that they are sufficient - if there are other things mentioned in the notes that you want to mention, please do so, the descriptions are not necessarily sufficient and should be adapted to the observer and circumstances. (And grammatical naturalness, if you’re quoting them verbatim, of course.)
With reference to the various maps:
neighswango-topo:
There are five caves. Assign the cave contents at random, chosen from below:
d6
1-3
Nothing of consequence: harmless bats, an illegible graffito, the cave is totally sumped
4
Temperamental bats (not harmless)
5
An unusually large and perfect iron concretion (maybe it’s magical, maybe it isn’t.)
6
Giant, vicious raccoon or a viscous [sic] bear
Each spring cave is small (less than 10m long in total); the cave ceiling becomes apparently lower with respect to the water (in reality, the floor descends and the water level remains the same); the flowing water is clean and drinkable although unpleasantly ferric in taste.
The cave becomes impassable even if one is willing to go underwater within an additional 15 m or so, ending in a rockfall from which water emerges forcefully (10-40 L/sec)
The dry cave is similar to the four spring caves but has no water at present (and has not for centuries.) There are iron stains on the walls.
(Cave descriptions)
(alt) There’s a musty, earthy smell. It’s not entirely displeasing.
(Observant, especially if viscous bear, but applicable to other caves as well.
Caves sometimes have ‘cave snot.’) There’s some slime on the walls.
(alt) There are few stalactites.
(alt) The cave interior is cool and humid.
(alt) A cool, wet breeze escapes the dark cave.
(alt) Strange, beautiful cave formations cover the ceiling.
(alt) The water has left brownish-red stains on the limestone walls of the cave.
(The dry cave has brown stains as well.)
The shimmering springs issue from caves. The spring has iron precipitate accreting bathtub-ring-style around the edges and the water seems to shimmer in the sunlight.
Ruin near springs:
This is the remains of a prospecting camp - the ponies quickly decided to put their operation in a more defendable area with more stable soil. There is very little visible here, it’s like something an archaeologist would sift through hoping to find buttons and broken pots. (Such things might indeed be found.) Maybe some pony lost something valuable here, in the chaos of a monster attack. At one point there was a wooden lean-to but it is long obliterated by the forest.
Ruin near southernmost spring:
The ruin of a winch and cart used to haul up bog ore from the low-lying swamp, up a track. A sort of railroad was planned but not finished. There is a fallen-down shack that might be infested with dangerous insects or rodents of some kind, and might contain a (discharged) magic wand of a utilitarian nature. There is also a dangerous mine excavation nearby, totaling only 5m, where they attempted to dig for purer iron ore. It is partially collapsed and liable to further collapse if disturbed.
(Winch & shed ruin) There is a rusting cast-iron winch here, half-buried in the soil. It stands next to the ruins of a shack, which have fallen down. The ancient wood is covered with a variety of colorful lichens. They encroach on a rusting iron sign on the ruined shack, which reads “NEIGHSWANGO” in a old-fashioned lettering style.
(tracks)
A pair of iron rails go from the winch down to the bog itself. A pair of axles, wheels and some hardware are all that’s left of a small cart that once ran on the rails.
(mine) There is a squarish tunnel leading into the hillside. The entrance was once framed by timbers, but they have rotted away to a few mossy remnants. The floor is irregularly covered by piles of rocks and soil, but the passage remains passable.
(further within the mine) The timber supports inside the mine are better preserved than those at the entrance (if perceptive) but they still look quite rotten.
Roots grow down through the ceiling of the tunnel, which is irregular and full of holes.
(if perceptive) The holes seem to correspond to the rocks on the floor...
Increasingly as you go farther in, the walls expose ruddy, grainy ore.
(If they made it to the end without collapsing it) The passage ends in a rockfall.
Ruin near southern end of Neighswango peninsula:
This was the facility for mooring the cargo vessels that would occasionally retrieve the iron ingots. (As time went on, and the reputation of the area grew, it became more difficult to get captains to make the journey, much less to recruit temporary labor.) If there isn’t a discharged magical wand in the spring, maybe there is one here, used by an Earth/Pegasus pony to telekinetically move the mooring chains if a unicorn was not available.
There has been some dredging here to make it possible to move a vessel through the swamp.
There is a sturdy-looking masonry pylon here on a cliff overlooking the swamp, with huge cast-iron rings on it. (If perceptive) Looking out toward the swamp, you can see that a wide band of darker water goes out from the cliff near the pylon to the clear water far beyond.
Structures in/near the Neighswango palisade (neighswango-structures) :
Walls: the original wall was a wooden palisade, treated with creosote. When the iron tower was built, it was surrounded by a more formidable iron and masonry wall, which the ponies planned to extend to the north, to include the charcoal kilns and room for future expansion, but never finished. They also planned to replace the old palisade with such a wall, but only got as far as replacing the northern wall intersecting with the wall surrounding the iron tower.
The wooden walls were 3.5m high. They are mostly fallen down and quite rotten; they are now essentially good for nothing but concealment or firewood.
In light of the controversy about the wooden walls’ state of decomposition, I’m going to just suggest you describe them however you like.
The masonry and iron wall was 4m high, 1m wide at its base and 50cm wide at its top. The top contains a catwalk and sharpened (at one time) wrought iron spikes facing outward. It is basically intact, although the wall on top of the tor was not built with sufficient thought on the differential thermal expansion of the rock and the surrounding hill, and cracked on the ends, leaving a gap into the area surrounding the Iron Tower. (A pony could squeeze through this gap.)
The masonry wall is high, strong and forbidding. Red stains run down from the formidable sharpened wrought-iron spikes topping the wall. There are a pair of large iron gates, massive and impenetrable; decades of neglect have resulting in their rusting shut, to say nothing of the overgrowth of vegetation obstructing their outward swing.
(Of gap, if knowledgeable) Untold years of weathering have accomplished what no attacker could - the differential expansion and contraction of the rocky tor with respect to the ground on which the rest of the wall rests, has damaged the inflexible masonry wall. There is now a gap between the tor and the wall, wide enough for a pony to squeeze through.
Iron Tower surround:
Heavily vegetated with brambles, a few shrubs and trees. The gates are inoperable because of accumulation of soil and plants on both sides, and the hinges have rusted tight as well.
There is one tree, much larger than the others (for it is old growth), which marks the semi-secret entrance to the iron tower. (See Iron Tower.) Lying on the rocky surface of the tor on which the Iron Tower is built are Steel Shear’s skeletal remains (and possibly the steel diadem, although it could be other places.)
(outside description)
A tall, sturdy-looking iron tower is perched on the largest of several tors near the Neighswango ruins. It has four metal horns projecting from a cupola. The shaft is built in sections and it is anchored securely to the bare rock surrounding it. It’s in surprisingly good condition, with only a hole in the roof to show for its long and lonely centuries overlooking the surrounding moor and the low wetlands beyond.
The tor is surrounded on three sides by a formidable masonry and iron wall, which with the tor form a sort of courtyard overlooked by the tower, although there is no obvious way to get on top of the tor where the tower is from the courtyard (if pegasus) for land-bound ponies. The courtyard contains an abundance of vegetation and one very large tree, which grows even higher than the wall and tor.
Gates (main gates):
These wooden and iron gates are totally ruined. The area is overgrown with brambles and moorland vegetation. The upper platform of the old blockhouse overlooks the area between the inner and outer gates. There are a couple of iron ingots here, and rusty hardware from a broken cart (now decayed)
Well:
A ‘hand’-dug water well. It still has water, but is fetid as the wellhouse collapsed. The well is overgrown with vegetation and somepony might fall in if walking above it. Fortunately, since it’s got so much vegetation in it and is quite wide (as ancient wells often were) they are unlikely to drown or be killed by the fall. Of course it probably has asphyxiant gases in it from the decay of vegetation.
Charcoal kilns:
Simple clay structures for making charcoal. A cast iron retort was built later, it is lying nearby and is rusty but has not yet rusted through. (If someone who recognizes what they are sees them) You notice that there are some simple clay charcoal kilns here. A rusty, pitted cast iron retort, fallen from the brick fireplace that once supported it, is nearby. (inspecting it closely) It still smells of creosote. It’s rusty, but basically intact.
Furnace
A masonry blast furnace. It is built of firebrick that has been enchanted. It is still standing and mostly intact, but is ruined because the charge was not removed properly before it was abandoned. It contains iron, slag, charcoal, chalk, and iron ore and is tremendously heavy. On the top is a stove for heating the blast air, made of cast iron. Cast iron pipes lead to the foundry building, where bellows and a treadmill (now completely decayed) once were.
A tall masonry blast furnace juts out of the moorland. (if knowledgable) Its relatively slender shape suggests that it has been made with bricks enchanted to resist the rigors of the smelting operation. (On closer inspection) The structure is basically sound, but it is filled with an ugly fused mass of material.
It is topped with a cast-iron (knowledgeable) oven for pre-heating the blast air (not knowledgeable) mess of cast-iron pipes.
Forge
This is clearly the ruin of a forge and smith’s workshop. The sturdy structure was built of iron and masonry, but the roof has not withstood the test of time, and has collapsed almost totally - it’s propped up on one side by the massive, lichen-encrusted hearth of brick and stone. (magically observant) Traces of powerful fire-magic linger. (magically observant, and good roll for observation) The imprint is at least a couple hundred years old, but is still perceptible, and the magic used here went far beyond the sort of primitive hedge-wizardry that might have passed for ordinary industrial magic in those days. (closer examination or an excellent roll) It seems likely that a powerful magical artifact was among the last things created here.
This is where iron was wrought. There are smith’s tools here, some of which may be enchanted, all of which are rusty. There’s an anvil and a forge... obviously. They used a fan and flywheel here rather than bellows, which is seized with rust. The building is iron and masonry. The roof has almost totally collapsed. The building is a single story and it was partly open even when it was new.
Foundry
A large building has collapsed into a heaping ruin of wood and brick, except for the southwestern part of the structure, where an area of corrugated metal roof is still standing.
Supplies, moulds for cast iron objects, and various debris are scattered haphazardly around the floor, partly concealed by such overgrown vegetation as can live in the shadows of the ruin.
There are many long pole-shaped castings stacked in piles. On the side of the building nearer the furnace, and opposite the remaining roof section, is a dilapidated stack of air-handling machinery for the furnace.
This is where the iron was poured into castings, and stored awaiting the arrival of boats. There are many iron ingots here, some still in moulds, as well as castings of members of the iron wall being built to the north. The building is wood and masonry, with later iron additions; the roof is iron-plated wood. The roof has mostly collapsed. The ceiling of the building is about 7m high on the sides and 10m high in the center.
Blockhouse
This largely-wooden structure is almost totally collapsed except for a sturdier iron addition on one side - still, it’s rather precarious-looking. The ground floor seems to have been ravaged by a fire at some point as well. Some of the wooden walls have been reinforced with iron plates, which have mostly fallen off, either due to the fire or to decades of fungal growth. In the western corner of the building, some wooden structural members still stand vertically, covered in giant yellow mushrooms. (mycologically knowledgeable) They are sulphur shelf mushrooms, most too large to be tasty, but there are quite a few small, choice specimens. It seems the building once had a wood floor, but it has nearly entirely decayed into soil and been overgrown with vegetation.
This is where the ponies lived before the iron tower was completed. The building was initially one story and wooden; the exterior walls were later fortified with solid iron, and iron columns in one corner were added to support a second and third story. The building is standing, but the roof has partly collapsed, and the upper floors are in precarious condition - a pony walking there might collapse them.
There are at least a few edible mushrooms, 1 kg of choice mushrooms plus 2+3d4 kg of marginal ones. None of the yellow flat mushrooms are poisonous, but of course there may be other poisonous mushrooms.
At some point, the blockhouse was ravaged by fire.
Blockhouse Ground floor:
The ponies originally slept and ate here. There’s a masonry fireplace at the wall dividing the common room (used for eating, cooking, socializing and storage of supplies) from their bedrooms. The ponies moved out of the blockhouse and into the iron tower, and left little behind in the way of personal effects. The ground floor of the blockhouse was then used for storage (mostly of food and other such mundane supplies.)
Ground floor bedroom contents:
d10
Seven rooms
1-5
Nothing of consequence; old furniture, rotten wooden stuff, totally burned out,
6-8
Parasprite infestation; fire ant colony (probably literally to do with fire); dire squirrel nest
9
More interesting supplies (e.g. ammo, iron objects)
10
Useless remains of food, mundane supplies
One room is larger than the others, and belonged to the leader of the party (Steel Shear). There is a very old equestrian gold coin in the room, which was inadvertently lost. The contents are otherwise the same as the others.
Blockhouse First story:
This appears to be the remains of a laboratory of some sort. Since a whole wall of the room is missing, the forest has infiltrated the interior; the alchemical equipment is dirty and waterspotted. There is a tattered bed on the far side of the room, which seems to have fared better than most of the rest of the contents, and a small stove nearby, which holds an alchemical retort. (on inspection) The retort is still sealed and intact. It is full of a thick, black tar, charred in places, adhering tightly to the glass.
There are some shelves, which have fallen over. Glass jars of reagents and samples, some of them broken, are nearby on the floor, with some other small objects.
There is a ramp up to the next level of the building.
Here is the assayer’s lab/workshop. Alchemical equipment remains here. Their alchemist was also their healer, and there is the tattered sickbed here as well (under the remaining roof, it is comparatively preserved.) There is a small stove. On the stove is an alchemical retort, full of black tar of some sort, probably not now healthful in the least if it ever was. The floor is mostly safe, but may have weak spots. A ramp leads to the second story.
There may be some alchemical reagents available, and possibly other stuff such as potions. There are samples of iron and this would be a good place for magical artifacts or wands, although they would probably be of a utilitarian nature. (The ponies were fighting monsters frequently, but the survivors probably took remaining weapon-type stuff with them.) In the medical supplies, there is a horn-ring for restraining unicorns, which was used to treat a case of magical incontinence. (Due to emotional stress, no doubt.) There may be other useful medical supplies, or not, in varying states of preservation.
Randomly generating potions, if desired: (should be 2d4 or so.)
d100
Type
%chance labeled
%chance tainted
0-9
Parasprite poison bait
80
N/A (only mildly poisonous to ponies)
10-26
Reagents for iron ore assay
50
N/A (poisonous)
27-40
Anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) potion
75
20
41-57
Healing balm
60
15
58-73
Combined snake venom antidote
75
10
74-89
Toilet Snake venom antidote
75
10
90-99
Bug repellant (excellent quality)
80
2
Blockhouse Second story:
This room was solidly armored with many hinged windows. It contains a ballista and ammunition. The tension has gone out of the string and the mechanisms are seized lightly with rust, but it is potentially repairable. The floor is dangerous in spots, however. The room is very dusty, and there is a large pile of guano in the center of the room. (There are some harmless bats that will awaken if disturbed and fly away; while they are themselves not dangerous, they might cause someone to stumble down the ramp well or onto an unsafe floor spot by rapid, uncareful movement.)
Roof platform:
A platform on the roof, accessible by hatch and ramp from the second story, with a wrought iron spiked railing. It overlooks the area between the double gates and outside the location of the palisade. There are some iron crossbow bolts here and a ruined emplaced crossbow, the bolts may have been protected from the elements by storage in an appropriate container.
THE IRON TOWER (also, Ponies)
The ponies’ new home. The entrance is concealed behind a tree, although it’s very easy to find if one is looking for it and not that hard even if you aren’t. An incredibly sturdy cast door banded with wrought iron bars the way. It has also rusted shut, but could be opened again with reasonable force. The door is doubly barred from the inside, with steel bars. It can be opened with magic (difficult, given its heft and that the inside is unseen and unfamiliar; it may take an hour or more), or some other way, or from the inside rather easier.
(outside description repeated from above)
A tall, sturdy-looking iron tower is perched on the largest of several tors near the Neighswango ruins. It has four metal horns projecting from a cupola. The shaft is built in sections and it is anchored securely to the bare rock surrounding it. It’s in surprisingly good condition, with only a hole in the roof to show for its long and lonely centuries overlooking the surrounding moor and the low wetlands beyond.
The tor is surrounded on three sides by a formidable masonry and iron wall, which with the tor form a sort of courtyard overlooked by the tower, although there is no obvious way to get on top of the tor where the tower is from the courtyard (if pegasus) for land-bound ponies. The courtyard contains an abundance of vegetation and one very large tree, which grows even higher than the wall and tor.
(passage description)
A long passage fades into blackness. (if day) There is a light breeze going into the tunnel.
The walls are hewn from the rock of the tor and are unnaturally smooth (alt, magical) and have been cut by magic. (further down the passage, esp. if anyone inspects the floor) The floor is clean and dry, although if you listen carefully, you can hear occasional dripping sounds [coming from a slow leak in the center armory/tower area] from within the heart of the tor. The floor is covered with sinusoidal undulations (if knowledgeable) which you recognize as typical of magical stonecutting - they’re designed to increase traction on the otherwise preternaturally smooth surface.
BASEMENT LEVEL
The passage behind the iron door leads to a circular chamber underneath the tower, in the tor.
The basement is mostly intact, except for some water accumulation through leaks in the ceiling: there is standing water in the center area.
The ponies each had rooms here; there was also a common room, workshop, and kitchen (smaller than the one in the blockhouse). The circular chamber is rather tall, but the ponies’ bedrooms are only normal height; the area above them was used as a storage platform. The bedrooms are on the perimeter of one half of the basement level, opening into the common room. The kitchen and workshop are the other half of the basement. (The entrance passage opens into that half, kitchen on one side and workshop on the other.) [from Owen: The kitchen includes a drilled well with a hoofpump; due to decayed seals, however, the pump is inoperable. The kitchen’s flue runs up through the tower to a covered opening at the peak. The tower’s water closet (reference picture if toilet design questioned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JapaneseSquatToilet.jpg) is mounted above the kitchen, next to the entrance; the flush tank uses a separate hoofpump to draw water from the same well, and the sewage line runs down the side of the entry tunnel. Just inside the door, a the sewer line enters a diagonal hole bored through the rock and into the ground; this connects to a buried pipe leading to a septic tank buried just inside the tower enclosure wall with the drainage field on the other side. The basement and tower were lit by small pieces of metal enchanted to provide a glow; the enchantments have since run down, however] In the very center is an iron cylinder that is part of the foundations of the tower above. It has a iron hatch which opens outward. It has a handle. The hatch is closed, and the handle is somewhat rusty. In this center chamber, two meters of rain water has accumulated, and it will rush out suddenly if the door is opened, flooding the whole basement to a depth of a few cm. (It will take weeks to drain through the cracks in the stone floor.)
“Bryce: My thinking was that the tower itself acted as ventilation in that
when the sun hits it, it will become quite warm
and transmit that heat to the inside, causing a convection draught.
But the chimney is still a good idea
since, well, you want the smoke to get out other than by that route.
(kinda sorta like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower )
ping
me: ...I'll say that you just
Jon: (admiring the solar tower)
me: didn't notice the air vents at the top or bottom of the tower.
I certainly didn't completely forget about people needing to breathe, nope!”
Randomize the bedrooms’ order however is desired.
Order, clockwise:
4-5, 6, 1-7, 3, 2
From Owen: “Also, the lights in here are equipped with opaque covers that can be placed over them.”
1. Shear Steel (Unicorn) Artificier/engineer. Mare.
Fifth to die. (suicide, threw herself off of the iron tower)
Shear Steel was the leader of the party, and the one who spearheaded the operation.
An experienced battlemage and maker of magical artifacts. Besides hoping to get stinking rich off of selling bog iron and its products, Shear Steel dreamed of a stronger, more militarized Equestria, armed by her enterprise. Shear Steel had difficulty admitting defeat under any circumstances.
Shear Steel’s prior career was as an artificer for the royal curia, but she was dismissed after it came to light that she had robbed a grave to obtain alicorn for use in an evil magical artifact, offering no better excuse for this ghoulish deed than “I was in a strange mood that night.”
Shear Steel’s Bedroom:
Contains a bed, unmade, mildewed. Her dresser, including enchanted heat-proof robes and pointy hat. Chest of functional but obsolete magical artificing instruments. (Of limited use to nonspecialists.) Personal effects, including some mundane jewelry, much of it made of steel rather than precious metals. Her diary, mildewed, written in code anyway. (unreadable.) Some books, variable condition, on artifact-making and also mundane aspects of crafting. One, which concerns (illegal) sorts of magical weapons, is valuable for its rarity.
2. Marsh Mallow (Unicorn) Alchemist/herbalist/cook/healer. Mare.
Marsh Mallow took any of her good stuff with her, so just furniture in poor to fair condition. She did leave behind a few heavy books on herbs and cooking, which may be in fair to poor condition.
Survived.
Marsh Mallow was an albino unicorn mare.
3. Hot Blast (Pegasus). Metallurgist. Stallion.
Hot Blast took any of his good stuff with him, so just furniture in poor to fair condition.
Sixth to die (after fleeing, in the Everfree)
4. Henrietta Bessemare (Unicorn) Metallurgist/smith/architect. Mare.
First to die (Before the iron tower was finished), in monster attack
(flying monster landed inside the palisade and ate her at night, as
she was returning to the tower basement from checking the furnace.)
Henrietta’s room contains books on a variety of topics, some on her trade, but also many novels and fictional works. (Not particularly valuable). Her accessories, including a kiln entry suit, are there. There’s a book about industrial fire magic, but (as Firebug would recognize) it’s quite obsolete. There’s a crib for a foal here. (Henrietta was pregnant by Monk Bond when she died.) The iron tower was her brainchild.
“CD: (Yes, though I'm still curious what the novels DO contain if not teen romance)
me: Science fiction and adventure stories, mostly.”
5. Monk Bond (Earth Pony) Builder/miner. Stallion.
second/third to die, while working the charcoal kilns (monster attack)
A no-nonsense, down to earth pony, who joined the expedition with his twin brother Common Bond. His room contains mundane personal effects. Mate of Henrietta.
6. Common Bond (Earth Pony) Builder/miner. Stallion.
Third/second to die, while working the charcoal kilns (monster attack)
A no-nonsense, down to earth pony, who joined the expedition with his twin brother Monk Bond. His room contains mundane personal effects.
7. Rich Fen (Earth Pony) Bog-iron miner, prospector/swamp specialist, spelunker. Stallion.
Fourth to die. (Killed in the swamp while alone)
Mate of Shear Steel. His room contains his caving kit (lamp, helmet, coveralls) and mining stuff (including a rod enchanted to detect bog iron) and a very fine rustproof acidproof pickaxe made for him by Steel Shear.
IRON TOWER proper:
The long shaft of the iron tower contains a spiral staircase and not much else. The staircase is dangerous and missing in spans. It contains a masonry liner for increased stability.
IRON TOWER observation platform:
Copula and iron dome. This is a possible location of the Steel Diadem if Steel Shear removed it before killing herself. The tower offers a commanding view of the surroundings and is designed to enhance by 25% all magic cast from the center of the observation deck. (Crystals to support this function are placed throughout the iron tower, but are integrated into its structure and will not work if removed.) There is a hole in the rusted roof through which a pony (and a lot of rain) can fit.
(IRON tower proper description here)
The iron tower stretches overhead (if appropriate time of day) with a long shaft of light penetrating deep into the stronghold below. A staircase winds around the inside perimeter of the tower, although it does not seem to have fared as well as the rest of the structure and seems in a precarious state. (if observant) There are crystals set in iron sconces (nonmagical) set irregularly around the tower walls (mage) positioned carefully on the tower walls at the nodes of a magical standing wave. (observant mage / good roll) The tower seems to be a magical amplifier, tapping into the natural magic of the Everfree Forest, although it seems to be out of alignment.
Hide randomly in one or none of the rooms, some money in a dresser or something?
The STEEL DIADEM:
This was an artifact made by Steel Shear. It is an enchanted diadem, made of finest damascene steel. All craftsunicornship is of the highest quality :D It is magically rustproof, heatproof (warning: not suitable for conventional volcanic disposal), corrosionproof and highly durable. It can be worn by any pony, having an arch for a unicorn’s horn to emerge if necessary. It is not inlaid with any gems, and is not carved except for functional runes on the inner side of the band (not visible if one is wearing it.) Its properties (beyond that it is highly magical and of amazing quality) are very difficult to determine and it is protected against routine reverse engineering.
Descriptions:
(Applicable generally, but especially if it is preternaturally desirable)
It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.
It has no decorative engravings or adornments, but it’s perfect in its simplicity. The surface is
polished damascene steel, conspicuously free of rust.
(If the viewer is perceptive) There are some fine functional magic runes engraved on the
inner surface of the diadem.
(some magical skill) Their meaning is not clear.
(Some knowledge of artifacting) The style is archaic and unfamiliar.
(Considerable skill or good roll) The function of the runes is deliberately obfuscated. [Optionally reveal one of the positive properties, if any, warning that there are clearly other unaccounted-for functions, if applicable.]
(If touched and #5, #6 or #18 & not #1) It feels comfortingly warm to the touch.
(if touched and #15, #16, #10 & toucher a unicorn, #14) Touching it feels so right.
It seems like was meant for you. (Alternately) Destiny seems to have brought it to you...
(If #8): Perhaps your eyes are playing tricks on you, but it seems faintly translucent.
(#8 or #11 & unicorn or other overtly magical creature) It has an odd magical intangibility to it.
(#19, #20 & unicorn or other overtly magical creature): It fairly radiates magical power.
(#13, #9 and touched) A mental image of fire and steel momentarily flashes before you.
(alternately) Touching the diadem fills your mind with strange images of fire and steel,
but it quickly passes.
It has 4d4 other properties, to be determined (reroll duplicates, or just pick properties):
(If properties make it both lethal and unremovable in a setting where special effort would be required to allow the players to remove it in time, reroll one property or the other; conversely, if the party had easy means to removed cursed magical artifacts, it might be fine to leave it to them to figure out they should remove it.)
1
Cursed. Slowly drains the wearer’s life-force (increasing hunger and fatigue) over ~45 days.
2
Preternaturally noticeable. Ponies cannot fail to notice it or, if worn, its wearer. If they can’t see it because it’s blocked, they will nontheless be aware of its general location.
3
Cursed. Cannot be removed once worn, unless the wearer dies or removed by appropriate magic.
4
Cursed. The aetherial condensers have gone bad, resulting in increased magical power draw. Now only works if worn by a unicorn, and then doubles their required food intake.
5
Protection from fire. The wearer is fireproofed and heatproofed.
6
Protection from chemicals. The wearer is protected from chemical attack.
7
Cannot be lost or disposed of. It can be removed (unless otherwise cursed by #3), but it will always return to its owner within a day. If sold or given away, it will not become attached to a new owner. Only appropriate magic or death of the owner terminates ownership.
8
Confers invisibility for a brief time daily (if combined with #2, people will be unaware what exactly they are noticing) A unicorn can control it magically after figuring out its trigger; a naive unicorn or any other pony type will become invisible after wearing it and randomly thereafter if they do not remove it before the day is up.
9
Cursed. Makes the wearer have horrible night terrors involving Neighswango. Can’t be removed by wearer.
10
Inexplicably fascinating and desirable to all unicorns. Must roll willpower to avoid trying to take and wear it if no one else is; must roll to avoid trying to steal it if the opportunity arises.
11
Confers controlled teleportation for a brief time daily (triggering rules per #8 above)
12
Confers greatly increased durability for a brief time daily (triggering rules per #8 above)
13
Cursed: Wearer destined to return to Neighswango, and inexplicably drawn to it by fantasies of wealth, power
14
Cursed: all who behold it when unworn must make willpower roll to avoid putting it on. If removed, the wearer will feel doomed and endangered for several days unless it is put back on.
15
Cursed: makes others hallucinate that the wearer is trying to secretly kill them. (Resistable with roll)
16
Cursed: makes the wearer think others are trying to secretly kill them. (Resistable with roll)
17
Cursed: feeds lust for power. Wearer will feel doomed if separated from it.
18
Creates a magical bubble shield at for a brief time daily (triggering rules per #8 above)
19
Doubles magical reserve (for unicorns), endurance (for pegasi, earth ponies)
20
Doubles magical power (for unicorns), speed (for pegasi), or strength (for earth ponies.)
Important Note: fate of Steel Diadem:
Remember to hide it somewhere in the iron tower, or else outside on the tor near Shear Steel’s shattered bones. It might also be in the water in the central well, where its lack of rust might well be highly conspicuous.
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS (not rolled too often):
10%
Dire Squirrel
10%
Nothing
10%
Carnivorous Brambles/thorns
20%
Snake (maybe venomous)
20%
Dire Racoon
30%
Noisome insects/spiders
Final thoughts:
Perhaps the last two ponies left in the aftermath of a final crisis which ended with Steel Shear barricading herself in the iron tower, going crazy and finally jumping off the tower (explaining how it came to be locked from the inside.)
Descriptions / hints
(brambles/thorns) They look very vivacious, in contrast to the scubby moorland plants.
(alt, high perception or good roll) You notice a surprising number of bird skeletons
in the undergrowth.
(High perception) They have many small red berries.
They’re appealing and delicious-looking.
(to Falafel) They’re the most among the most delicious-looking berries you’ve ever seen. (Although I suppose Falafel might recognize the hazard!)
Owen: I’m thinking that the first three instances of death (meaning first four deaths, since two of them were the same incident) were relatively spaced out. Rich Fen’s disappearance in the swamp, though, pushed the already unstable Shear Steel over the edge; she ordered the other two survivors to gather their things and leave, threatening them if necessary, barred herself in the tower structure, and then, when they’d gone, threw herself off.
THE VISCOUS BEAR
A viscous bear is a magical beast created by an equestrian biomage who did not question a typo on his orders to create a new war beast, during the ancient Bovid Wars. The result was an ursine creature similar to a grizzly bear in its size and shape, but made of a gelatinous ooze. The creatures were deployed during the war, without much success, but a few survived and managed to establish themselves in the Everfree forest and similar temperate, wild places.
The bear’s nervous system analogue is decentralized, and if it is split apart, each segment can act independently, although subject to its inherent limitations (e.g. a limb has no eyes with which to identify enemies at range.) The bear’s largest practical problem as a war beast was that its gelatinous claws and teeth do little damage, but it can envelope and suffocate enemies. The bear can be aerosolized by physical attacks, and is harmful if inhaled, although the immune system of a healthy pony should be able to clear a bear infection within a few days. (Suffering from a brief pneumonia-like illness.) The bear is mostly water, and is not flammable, but is vulnerable to being burned by other objects that are on fire. It is moderately sensitive to freezing and acid. It is essentially immune to bludgeoning, except with sufficient force that it is broken into pieces.
The bear is sticky, and creatures coming into physical contact with it will have to exert a fair amount of force to free themselves from it.