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. Today we visit an old battlefield at the Command Beacon.
Command Beacon
Lying far to the east, on an old battlefield is the Command Beacon, a magical construct left over from a war that passed into history long ago. What hasn’t been forgotten is the power of that Command Beacon, as it still beckons those around it to fight in a cause that’s not just lost, but utterly forgotten by the common folks. Even sages have trouble identifying who fought on either side of the war (or if there were more than two sides) but its influence is still felt.
Lay of the Land
The Command Beacon lies amidst a fairly desolate stretch of grasslands. It bears the scars of a battle fought long ago, with plenty of rusting weapons and armor lying here and there under the soil. The occasional skeleton surfaces as well, but for the most part, they have decayed long ago.
The tower itself is nearly 200 feet tall, though exact measurements are hard to come by, as the tower shimmers and shifts constantly. It is made of dark metal, somewhat reminiscent of a carbon-rich stone, though the material has been confirmed to be metal, and magnetic. Whoever constructed it has been long lost to history, but they chose an imposing gothic style for the tower, making it resemble 4 claws stabbing into the heavens from a gigantic, vaguely humanoid, arm. Lightning strikes it often, even when there is no thunderstorm in the area, causing some to believe that the lightning strikes actually emanate from the tower itself. They believe that it is releasing some form of magical energy and that the lightning discharges are simply traveling back along the “trail” created by these emanations. What these emanations are is unknown, though sages are very curious, as they do not seem tied to the rest of the dangers of the Command Beacon.
What they do agree on, however, is that they’re very glad that the Command Beacon does not appear to be a necromantic construct of any sort, but instead one created using enchantment magic.
Dangers
Anyone coming within 1 mile of the Command Beacon finds themselves being drawn towards the Command Beacon. Gently and almost imperceptibly at first, but then gradually increasing the closer one gets. When within 200 feet, the sensation becomes so strong that resisting the urge to touch the Command Beacon requires a DC 15 Wisdom save (DC 15 basic Will save for Pathfinder 2). Those who resist are beset with visions of ill omen, where they are attacked and killed by their friends and family, and most flee the area willingly. Those who fail, and who proceed to touch the Command Beacon disappear from view, reappearing five minutes later.
At first, they appear normal, but closer inspection reveals that their eyes are now completely black and they have been dominated by the Command Beacon’s creator. For the most part they will act normal, but they will talk about the “Glory of the Dark Empire” and will attack any halfling that they see on sight, screaming obscenities and “Death to the traitors!” – If questioned about the Dark Empire, they’ll treat the questioner as being slow of mind, as if the answer should be obvious. “The Dark Empire and the Dark Emperor is the ruler of all the lands, you know that” and similar sentences are common.
If cured of the domination effect, the eyes regain their normal color, and the person affected remembers nothing of their time, except visions of “human sacrifice, eternal wars, and the hubris of an Emperor who wanted to become a God.”
Remember, don’t get close, and see you next time. 😊
Kim Frandsen
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Thanks for another one of these!
Added to the Blog Database.
https://jonbupp.wordpress.com/blog-database/dungeon-master/adventure-environments/wilderness/plains/