Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we go for a stroll along the Boulderloft Pathway. Just remember: Don’t look down.
Boulderloft Pathway
Created by giants for use by the small folk hundreds of years ago, the Boulderloft Pathway is a series of gigantic rock stacked at almost impossible angles by master engineers. Even today, after the fall of the builders that made the thing, it still stands, as a monument to them for years to come. One end of the Boulderloft Pathway starts in the mountains near a now-destroyed and lost human kingdom, while the other end is lost in the clouds. It touches down on a few places in the land, functioning much as an enormous bridge. It culminates at a fortress on a cloud, one originally inhabited by cloud giants. It still culminates at that point, but the inhabitants are no longer giants. Instead, it’s a place haunted by spirits, and more urgently a mad, albino, red dragon.
Lay of the Land
Traversing the Boulderloft Pathway requires a lot of care for anyone who’s smaller than Large size. Footing is treacherous due to the possibility of slick stones – the original grooves in the stones have been worn away by weather and time, while the rain has carved new paths down the stone. As it stretches thousands of feet in the air, many creatures find the thin air uncomfortable, not to mention the dizzying effects of being so high up. Many have fallen to their deaths over the years, overcome with dizziness and unable to stop themselves from falling in time.
Creatures of larger sizes find that the Boulderloft Pathway acts much like an old set of stairs. The steps were carved for their size, though those on the lower end of the Large scale find it a bit awkward (one of the reasons that most ogres avoid climbing it, where giants sometimes still use it for parts of their journey).
Dangers
The dangers of the Boulderloft Pathway are few, but they are however big ones. Boulderloft is inhabited by a roc (PF2 / 5e ) that attacks any creatures of Medium size or below whenever it sees them. The wind is also a major problem, as strong gusts of wind – up to hurricane strength, have been known to pick up or chuck climbers from the lofty heights.
The biggest danger though is the dragon. Pyremaw is an ancient red dragon (PF2 / 5e) that lairs in the old castle at the end and is utterly and completely insane. Driven to exile by his albinism, he is shunned by other red dragons and considers the bestial white dragons to be well below his station. Pyremaw consumes anyone who comes close unless they are useful to him. And useful in this case means that they’re part of his plot. Pyremaw seeks to destroy his own kind, dragons and in particular red dragons, by any means possible, and has worked with many dragonslayers over the years. Of course, he is only doing this out of hatred, and not for any benign reasons, and many dragonslayers have come back to him, only to be devoured as he loses patience with them.
And with that, we hope to see you next week. 😊
Kim Frandsen
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