A trip to the Smaragdine Mountains of the Strange New World can get a guy killed--particularly if the guy in question winds up peeping at a beauteous hill-billy giantess while she is bathing, and even more particularly if the protective father of said giantess is somewhere abouts when this peeping occurs.
llicit peeping related dangers aside, the Smaragdines have other hazards to offer. The inbred (and ill-tempered) ogres are around as well. They're often purveyors of bootleg alchemicals, but they don’t sell to those they don’t know, and stranger and “revenuer” are equivalent states in the dim, ogre mind.
Then they are conjure-folk. Nominally human, conjure-folk (or witch-folk) have made dark bargains for magical powers. Bargains that have made them more--and less--than regular humanity. They prefer the rural Smaragdines for the isolation they provide but also because nodes of greater magical energy are more common their than elsewhere. The skin that separates the material plane from the outer dark is easier to prick or pierce.
So why would anyone else want to go to the Smaragdines? Well, besides the scenic beauty, there’s mineral wealth to be exploited in the mountains, and the companies that do so often hire adventurers as muscle or troubleshooters. Law enforcement tries to stamp out illicit alchemical trade, and criminal types want to bring these same wares to market in the cities. Finally, there are the more unusual cases: academics looking to prove various theories in a variety of fields of study, or rich hunters looking to bag an exotic monster, or even Heliotrope talent scouts looking for the next it girl.
Maybe one about nine feet tall.
Illustration above by Reno Maniquis for Weird Adventures.
11 comments:
Let's see, I rolled a three:
In lieu of something constructive or pithy to say, I just wanted you to know I appreciate your contribution to the hobby. Well done!
Hehe, seriously; great work as always Trey!
I prefer the giantess, big in the trunk.
@Johnathan - I'm glad you didn't roll a denounciation. Thanks for stopping by. :)
@Angry Lurker - Very sensible. ;)
I really like the bootleg alchemicals. Very cool and evocative of the the setting/time, although my favorite thing from your strange new world is still probably the Hobgoblin hobos.
Also that's a strangely specific illustration. Weird.
Hey, Pierce. It's not so weird, really--I comissioned that illo months ago to show the specific scene it shows. :)
The hobogoblins may actually be my favorite thing, too (if I'm allowed to pick one amongst my own stuff), though it varies from time to time.
What The Angry Lurker said!
Big trunks are old school, I suppose. ;)
Hmm the question is though what were those to guys doing there in the first place? Were they after some moonshine alchemicals or simply the mineral wealth?
Good question. Given the tommy gun in they're possession I doubt they're miners--but maybe they're adventurers with some other goal?
You always make me giggle. For various reasons.
As long as you're laughing with me. ;)
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