Tuesday 9 November 2021

Chambers of the Frog Council



Sorta isometric attempt.

So you can tell when frog folk are having elections or some celebration by the noise for miles around. If you are brave enough or possibly a good negotiator with a sack of giant bugs and grubs you might get to see one and return. 

In new and poor areas the domes are mud over woven reed domes are constantly repaired. The ones made long ago or by the advanced kingdoms use stone often by mud to stone magic. They have incredible acoustics for frog chorus singers but this is bad news for thieves. 

The main chamber has 9 sacred pools where elected frog councillors soak during debates and servants bring them choice bugs and sacred unguents. The council meet often or seldom leave growing to enormous size. For special debates, trials, ceremonies and new elder elections the lower area is full of frogfolk who croak as loudly as possible so the councillors can assess the popularity of an idea by the volume and quality of the singing. It is a bit frightening and deafening to human ears.

The ancestral chorus is where frog shaman guide visitors to sing with their ancestors the first frog who ruled the universe when the first land appeared in the waters in the infinite darkness. Frogs several times in their life come here to recite all their ancestors. Frogs without lineage have to get adopted and have to earn respect through service.

The chamber of heroes is to worship dozens of shrines of various petty frog gods, heroes and historic figures. Many priests of these cults visit here, many are nomadic maintaining petty shrines all over the frog kingdom.

The Frog God chamber has idols of the most popular frog gods in the local area often arranged into a family. Several priests work from here under a roster which they fight over. One of these gods shown as equal here is featured in the Patron frog god chamber with additional scenic art of their specific myths and deeds, possibly with some idols of their famous kin, prophets and offspring.

The fancier stone domes have ornate tile mosaic floors, excellent drains and carvings or murals of frog history. Such temples have chests of tithing and mounds of coins for treasure frogs to sit on or keep in their tummies. Small squawking alarm frogs are common by doors or in chests and react to motion. Bug treats and some expertise in frog handling you can silence these pests - standard skill for frog folk thieves. Sometimes they annoyingly live in noise enhancing niches and are hard to reach in their holes.

Thieves best if swimmers. Wearing frog cult robes might help. If really well prepared will practice some frog cult chants and walk funny with bowlegged hopping gait. Bug bribes for guardians is a must. Good luck in getting that frog gold.

The island will often be in a lake connected to a causeway. Some are surrounded by rafts growing vegetables and giant aquatic insect larvae. Some causeways have a raisable drawbridge or gatehouse. Some have acres of earthworks with ponds and moats and perhaps a hill fort.

d12 Area Encounters
1 Carpet of frogs everywhere, if any squeak 2d4 guards come running
2 Giant d4 amphibians d4 1=frog 2=toad 3=salamander 4=caecillian
3 Giant preditor d4 1=crocodile 2=snake 3=stork 4=snapping turtle
4 Chanting robed frog monks d4+4
5 Frogfolk pilgrims come for holy blessing d6+6
6 Frog farmer moving giant bugs and grubs with human servants for a feast
7 Frogfolk guards d4 1=escort sacrifices 2=escort frog heretic 3=guarding a frog elder on palanquin 4= hunting for intruders who must have upset the pond frog frogs
8 Giant arthropod d4 1=lobster 2=spider 3=scorpion 4=crab
9 Swarm of stinging flies
10 Giant Dragonfly, attracts angry frog folk with nets "you baby eating bug bastards!"
11 Human cultists with a priest and a werefrog bard
12 Visiting allies with escort  d4 1=salamander fire wizards 2=newt knights 3=toad witch 4=treefrog snipers

d12 What's in this sacred pool?
1 Tadpoles
2 Eggs
3 Frog couple in coitus
4 Idol of frog deity
5 Scattered coins from pilgrim wishes d100cp
6 Frog folk pilgrim or guard having a nice soak between duties
7 Frog monk meditating
8 Frog bard composing a new song
9 Frog scholar reading a waterproof set of wise scrolls
10 Frog cult silver holy symbol 30gp
11 Causes minor frog mutations if used to bathe or drink in non-amphibians
12 Potion like magical effect once per day per person

d12 Petty Frog Gods
+Page number for petty gods 1stEd if in that vol
1 Grandpa Toadflap pg63 stashes and caches
2 Johnny Hopper pg77 lounging lothario popular with bards and werefrogs
3 Wart Mother pg188 goddess of warts and glands
4 Orglab the great toad in the hole who likes to dig and hide
5 Eniac the time traveller with their mysterious medallion and robes
6 Babonk goddess of murky ponds and wells
7 Globbonk goddess of clean springs
8 Shrabob goddess of rivers and streams 
9 Ribibib goddess of mist and dewdrops
10 Tibbilok primordial water hoarding and bathhouses
11 Miglok god of surface tension, distorted light and poison
12 Waglub the bug herder and peacemaker

d12 Petty Frog Gods
+Page number for petty gods 1stEd if in that vol
1 Churglab goddess of fecundity, eggs, tadpoles and fertility
2 Oraglub god of hunting, ambush and wrestling, snake eater
3 Galumpbok goddess of trees and vegetation, treefrog monther
Gobbledok the great eater of all (death god, underworld in his belly)
5 Nipnops the horned lord of darkness and rage
6 Chaklak god of the rain, water and storms god, lord of gateways to other worlds
7 Tsathogua the god of wizardry and interstellar travel
8 Shobobog the bug and worm farming goddess 
9 Mushgwark the mushroom goddess of healing and potions
10 Morgwran the goddess of caves and witches
11 Mokbok god of war, slavery and weapons, master of war beasts
12 Sorklarb goddess of dark moisture, original amphibian lord of anurans (a salamander)

If you are lucky a frog god will eat your soul on death taking you to paradise in their bellies. Others not chosen get swallowed by Gobbledok but his cult get the best jobs in the administration. You can hear frogs chanting their god's names all year round. Don't underestimate them. 

d20 Frog Curses
1 Cant float, sink to the bottom of water like a stone
2 Swim in short circles barley forward
3 Unless constantly wet lose 1hp per hour from dry skin
4 Blind in any darkness even nigh or dim light
5 Cant stop singing loudly
6 Only speak in croaks
7 Cannot hop or jump
8 Skin becomes brilliant fluorescent colour
9 All amphibians hate you on sight
10 Only eat live animals
11 Smaller people or children look like deliciously tempting food
12 Afraid of light, save to try and do anything but flee or hide
13 Covered in bigger and bigger warts until hideous lump
14 T
urn to stone slowly, lose the point of Mov per day
15 You smell delicious attracting predators, even your friends findy you oddly temtping
16 Next time you talk croak instead
17 When talking your throat swells up bigger and bigger and won't deflate without surgery that might leave you mute if you live
18 Grow fungus in flesh slowly become a fungus zombie
19 Feel ill, vomit up a live toad every hour, nasty tasting and poison kind
20 Slowly turn into a frog folk but every amphibian can tell by markings you are a theif

d12 Frog Idols
1 Wet clay sculpture
2 Stones and vegetation
3 Stone made by mud to stone spell
4 Crude stone monolith
5 Crude stone carving with cloth robe
6 Wood carving some crude or abstract some refined
7 Woven from reeds
8 Stylised granite, diorite or basalt carving
9 Detailed heroic marble statue of great artistry
10 Painted streamlined stone statue, sometimes with real robes
11 Carved from jade or onyx
12 Stone and metal-coated statues 
with semi-precious gems for eyes, smaller idols may be solid metal. Metal type d4 1=gold 2=silver 3=copper 4=bronze, 

d12 Frog Mythos Art
1 Frogs fighting demon storks
2 Frogs fighting snakes and dinosaurs
3 A great flood that was a good time for frogs
4 In primal dark waters amphibians ruled the surface
5 Frogs 
defeated bugs and worms making them slaves and food
6 Frog councils meeting with huge crowds waving fists in frog salutes
7 Frog ancestors hopping from water to water spreading spawn
8 Frog hero riding giant frog vs monster
9 Toad wizards guard mirror to the frog fairy otherworld
10 Gathering of anuran allies of all amphibian kind making an alliance
11 Heretical amphibians driven away from waters
12 Vast frog citadel-metropolis in the swamp with tiny frogs at work and loyts of bugs

d12 Frog Heretics
1 Fire cultists, lose ties to elemental water and air and earth
2 Stork demons deceive sects pretending they are gods
3 Insect and worm cults placed above frog gods 
4 Fish and reptilian cults were placed above frog gods 
5 Human gods are not propper gods for frogs 

6 Devils or demons of all kinds dupe innocent frogs with lies
7 Salt cult are salt-tolerant amphibians mostly exterminated long ago who was too friendly with fish folk. Good frogs avoid salt unless for medical reasons like parasites or fungus removal and then go soak in proper water
8 Neoten try to remain juvenile immortals who never grow up and regenerate, like the terrible tadpole wizard sects
9 Bug demons promise bug but lie and deceive, beware strange evil false bugs 
10 Beaver lover cultists work with beavers to dam and flood areas which sounds good but it involves fraternising with mammals
11 Human lover cultists start to feel their pet and slave humans are worthy of love. They even enjoy living and working with humans and having human friends
12 Faerie land frogs may become entwined with elves, nymphs, dryads and many other nature spirits  


4 comments:

  1. I am so going to run this in our home campaign, which is becoming increasingly therio-centric.
    EMO produces more little gems than any other gaming source I know, and this is one of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thankyou very much - checkout my frog war posts too

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  2. Wow, just skimming those frog war posts has overloaded my mind. Gotta slowly ingest this stuff, like a swamp creature would..
    I spent a good part of my youth canoeing in little waterways and wetlands in Florida, so that's probably why this setting fuel appeals to me. Any chance of a Frog Book PDF in the vein of your Faerie Book? That latter is a masterpiece, which I've used frequently.
    One minor suggestion: under Heretics #1 maybe the fire cult should be linked to salamanders of the medieval alchemical sort.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. frog book will happen
      fire elemental heretics feature a bit in frogwars - fire newts, fire toads, proper salamanders from bx not ad&d all shunned their other elemental ties to go with fire and have lava tadpoles - yes welocome to expand these ties.

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