From nv91-asa@nada.kth.se Tue Nov 9 21:59:48 1996 Status: RO X-Status: Path: news.kth.se!solace!news.ind.mh.se!usenet From: cd@alfakonsult.se (cd skogsberg) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.storyteller Subject: The Black Stone Date: Sat, 09 Nov 1996 21:59:48 GMT Organization: Walkin' Dude Lines: 83 Message-ID: <562uvr$gi4@skarjeke.ind.mh.se> NNTP-Posting-Host: d104.gbg.pi.se X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.0.82 "They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk In dark, forgotten corners of the world, And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights, Shapes pent in Hell." -Justin Geoffrey The Surroundings The Black Stone stands in a glade above the small village of Stregoicavar. The village is inhabited by Magyars, but if one asks around they profess that the village is very old, and hasn't always been called Stregoicavar. The original inhabitants were wiped out by the Turks in 1526. The Stone itself is a 16-foot high, 1 and 1/2-foot wide octagon, made of some kind of black (duh!) stone. It is covered by hieroglyph- like letters; the lowest parts, however, has been rendered nigh un- readable by hammers and chisels. The attempted defacings have other- wise made little seeming impression on the Stone. It is mentioned in Von Junzt's _Nameless Cults_ as a *key*, but there is not much more mention than that in that accursed book. Other anthropologists are curiously unwilling to mention it, and the Technos have (or so it seems) suppressed information on the Stone. The Stone has been known to, when beheld at night, resembles a spire on some vast, cyclopean castle, where the surrounding mountains are battlements and turrets; some have actually *seen* things here, one was a poet named Justin Geoffrey, who died raving in a madhouse. The Effects of the Stone The Stone is clearly perceptible as a powerful node; however, few attempts have been made to claim it. If one sleeps near the Stone at Midsummers Night, hideous night- mares result, often followed by madness. Effects of sleeping near the Stone on Midwinter Night are not known, as all experimenters have vanished during the night. Magick use around the Stone is, depending on purpose and Sphere, either easier or harder than in most other places. (Use of "bad" magick, to harm, injure, summon evil spirits, etc. recieves a -1 to -2 on difficulty, depending on the "evilness" of the caster, while beneficial magick recieves a +1 to +2 to difficulty. The Sphere ratings are Corr 0, Entropy +2, Forces +2, Life +2/-2, Matter 0, Mind +1/-1, Prime -2, Spirit +2/-2, Time +2.) The Stone and Awakened Socieites Mages with Prime 1+ can feel the Quintessence flowing in the Stone, but are often loath to try to tap it, as it has an alien, evil-seeming resonance. Opininions of those in the know about the Stone Celestial Chorus: The Stone is an abomination in the eye of the One, but it resists all attempts to remove it. Dreamspeakers: Avoid it. It might not be a Wyrm-corrupted area, but it's worse - the outer madness awaits those who seek this abomination too intently. Verbena: For once, the extinction of a people was good. The original inhabitants of Xuthltan, as it was called in olden times, were twisted. Whatever the Chorus might mutter about "pagans" who lived there, it was a bad place. So, what do you think? cd (The Black Stone is also a smashing story by Robert E. Howard, and some of this stuff can be seen as a challenge to the copyrights held by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company (1931) or August Derleth and Donald Wandrei (1946), however, this is not so. Honest.) -- Favourite quote #456 Q: How do you deal with heavy traffic? A: Heavy psychedelics. cd skogsberg/Swedens Finest /cd@alfakonsult.se