The Island

of Par
https://igoeoer.itch.io/

IIsland
t is said the
was first
discovered by the
Creton monks. They
lived here as hermits
but were drawn out
by more ambitious
settlers. People came
and went since then,
carrying stories of
riches and warnings
of horrors. Cut off
from the Dying World,
the news of the world
coming to an end
has only recently
started to reach the
current occupants.
Too inconvenient
to believe.

The Island of Par is an independent

production by Igöör and is not
affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare
Games or Stockholm Kartell. It is
published under the MÖRK BORG
Third Party License.

MÖRK BORG is copyright

Ockult Örtmästare Games and
Stockholm Kartell.
 The Island of Par D. Dwellings
• 5D - Farmlands. Delban the dullard and his dozen
M. Monument:
• 5F - Tiled and cracked wooden wayside shrine. The
brothers. Celebrating a wedding. paint flaked off and the carved words
• 10E - A small forge. Gheras, the lonely smith. are unintelligible.
R. S. Complaining about the Mad Scholar hoarding • 7C - Withered stones covered with moss and ivy.
1A 10A all the ore. A face carved on it. If it rained recently the water
• 3I - Tattered tents. Torvul, Torbul and Tornul, runs from eyes, nostrils and mouth.
S. travelers roasting a stag. • 11F - A tall cairn. Fragments of skulls and rusty
3B • 7G - The new Inn. Itla, the owner. Building arrowheads nearby.
H. M. H. is still in progress. • 9J - Five lichen covered stone arcs aligned in a row.
5C 7C 10C VI. S. Seers: R. Ruins:
D. R.
5D
4. H.
8F
12D • 3B - Cave full of candles. Keys hang from the
ceiling. The quiet key collector and his acolytes.
• 7E- Ruined mosaic. Depicting worship
of a sleeping giant.
R. D.
II. 7E
Hates noise, loves keys. Sees from the keyholes. • 1A- Burial mound. Every sarcophagus has two
10E • 10A - A carriage pulled by donkeys. Caretakers bodies. One dressed in rags, one adorned.
M. M. look over the torso and the head. The head knows • 5H - Pillar with a statue of a holy figure giving a
1. 5F 11F of things done in cold blood. Hates people,
loves death.
scroll to a kneeling man.
• 12D - Stone obelisk. A serpent carved twisting
D. H. • 6L - A moss covered pit-house. The herb hag around it with the sun in its mouth.
7G 10G inside. Serving lichen tea. Hates capitalism, loves
lichen. She can talk with the stones.
H. Hazards:
I. 3.
R. C. • 11J - An abandoned monastery. The jolly order
IV. 5H V. 11H of poets. Rhyming in unison. Love booze, hate • 5C - Poisonous spores.
boredom They know all the gossip. • 8F - Crevasses hidden under snow.
D. C.
7I • 10G - Walls of brittle stones.
3I
• 10C - Corrosive pools.
C. Curses:
2. M.
9J
S.
11J • 3K - The land with no sound. Spending the night
I-VI. Quests:
here leaves ears ringing if strayed too far from the
C. C. cursed soil. (The mystics know: To lift the curse I. The Bullied Thieves.
3K 8K one must plug ears with the cursed soil for a day) II. The Pelt of a Friend.
• 11H - The land where water boils. The spiller of III.The Silhouette of Murder.
S.
blood on the cursed land will suffer IV. The Whispering Tunnels.
III. 6L
the same wounds. V. The Mold Problem.
• 7I - The land where light things drift slowly VI. The Old Fool.
into the cosmos. Ancient ropes dangle upwards,
tied to erected monoliths.
1-4. Settlements: 3. The Hold of Warmth - Warm and chaotic. Place
• 8K - The land where shadows turn to tar.
of brigands, thieves, pillaging and ambushes.
1. The First Settlement - Crude cradle of civilization.
Unnecessary violence is kept to a minimum. A
Place of money and merchants. Shabby wooden
walls and tall towers creak on the wind. Swarming
loosely defined code of honor is enforced by the d6 Non-settlement hex: d6 Foul Weather:
queen. Hot water running through the thick walls 1 : Encounter the next Step 1 : Foul Weather. You cant leave the Hex
with scvm from all walks of life. Farms, houses,
of the hold warming up the place. All the way from from Random Quest. or get proper sleep.
fishing villages, hunting huts and tents are
earth’s core. 2-3 : Encounter the next Step 2-3 : The clouds are gathering
scattered beyond the walls.
Home of the Warehouse Lords, the Church of from the Nearest Quest. If rolled again treated as Foul Weather.
4. The Mad Scholars Mines - Cold and private. Place 4-6 : Encounter the Hex’s Landmark. 4-6 : Weather is Fine for travel.
Violence and the Crate Cult.
of knowledge, secrets and ores. Otherwise All Clear.
Trade thrives with the Shepherds Commune and
the Mad Scholars Mines.
d6 Getting Lost:
2. The Shepherds Commune - Colorful fields of 1 : Circle back to where you started.
flowers and crops. Peaceful and docile. Place of 2-3 : Drift to a hex to the Left (2) or Right (3).
farms and crops. 4-6 : Progress as planned.
 d6 Quests Some traps are still functioning.
• A ruined corridor with a stone floor full of holes.
3. Sirpulach, a traveling artist, offers to paint a portrait 1. A procession of peasants. All sick and coughing,
searching for a doctor.
if escorted back to the settlement.
Spikes coming from the ground. 4. Two warriors, identical in every way, fight 2. Disease is spreading. None are safe. People become
I. The Bullied Thieves. • A stone door with dusty stairs leading down. suspicious and keep their distance.
A conflict rises as the former thieves lay their swords to to the death. The loser disappears. The winner is
Scratches on the walls. One of the steps is 3. An abandoned farm. A cross is drawn on the
take up plows and hoes. confused.
triggering a boulder to fall and roll down door. The walls inside pulsate with mold, forming
The Disgraced Knight 5. Good news. A recent curfew is canceled. Reports of
the stairs. spirals. Dead peasants on the floor.
HP 11, morale 9, rusty armor -d4, jagged sword d6. murders were found baseless because alleged victims
A passionate astronomer. His other part is isolated in 4. A cave. The lost herders of the Wrong Sheep
Desperate lunge: attacks twice on death. his observatory on the moon. The telescope requires were found alive. lick the walls. Dying one by one of sickness. They
Now a follower of the Church of Violence. He is seeking blood to move and his blood is long since dried out. 6. A figure rummaging through some papers. The want to go back to the Shepherds Commune.
the gods to kill and believes the Mad Scholar knows There is a way to travel between his observatory and the Being. The papers have scenes of torture depicted on 5. The doctors are having trouble dealing with
where to find them. Island but the entrance is lost. The portal is shaped as a them. The tortured person resembles a PC. an unknown sickness, lazarets are full. Medical care
1. Desperate Dregs are robbing a caravan transporting brass hoop. is sparse.
seeds and saplings. This is not the first time so the He has a vast library there. Some books belonged to the IV. The Whispering Tunnels. 6. An ancient skeleton is glued to the ground
Sleepless of the Arcane and contain the knowledge of The settlers are threatened by the natives. by the mold. It grows to occupy the skull and form
merchants hired some muscle.
how to forge new scrolls (The process requires a poem that The Finger Worm a tongue, a voice box and the lungs. The Mold
2. A crowd. A unit of Dregs is having a boxing match
describes what has to happen and a sacrifice for each word) HP 18, Morale —, finger-skin -d4, finger-teeth d8 Incarnate.
for fun. The winner pummels the loser to death. He is
tied up and questioned. Swears he doesn’t know what 1. A drooling peasant. Mind enslaved by the Mad Finger-like extremities move in mesmerizing waves
from one end to another. VI. The Old Fool.
came over him. Scholar. Hangs wanted posters. Reward for a lady A conclusion to an epochal drama.
When slain the fingers disperse in all directions. They
3. A totem of violence is discovered by one of Dregs. She that looks partly like a ferret.
will enter the underground rivers, then spread and grow The Sleepless of the Arcane
wants some help with investigating. It makes each 2. Kervor, a mercenary hired by the Mad Scholar.
in the valleys. Found purpose in arcane research. Shared his
day end in murder. Erected by the Disgraced Knight Riding to bring him the Amulet of Entrapment and knowledge and regretted it. Cursed the lands with the
1. Settlers in distress. Ground under barns caves in.
(who camps nearby). collect a reward. Unfortunately his horse broke a leg. Spiral Mold to find solitude. Destroyed most of his kin
Livestock stolen.
4. The Mad Scholars man set fire to the fields. Their 3. Spibl, a sulfur merchant. Eager to share a drink and with their consent but failed to follow.
2. A hole with no end, surrounded by mud. Emanating
blood drenched skeletons shed the flesh and haunt tell a story about how he got lost in the mountains heat. Deep otherworldly footprints lead inside. Burgal. The old pathetic bookworm.
the living. during a storm on the way back to the settlements. 3. Festering bites floating seemingly by HP 2, Morale 6, Decorated Mantle, Staff of Good Nights
5. The Queen of Dregs recruits people to kill the Mad He fell into a crevasse and only survived because he themselves. A body of a Whispering Risar with a sack d4 (1in6 chance the target falls asleep on hit).
Scholar once and for all. could hide in an abandoned temple he found there. of trinkets he brought from the settlement. Once, when harmed, can teleport a short distance away
6. A small army of the First Settlement is marching He tried to find it again but failed. 4. A chasm. Entrance to the lava tube. Leading to the from the attacker.
towards the Hold of Warmth. They want to take it 4. Peasants with cages full of ferrets on their way to the cold underground waters. Endless lake stretches 1. A miracle. Oasis bursts into existence. Scrolls and
and secure the trade route. Hold of the Mad Scholar. in the darkness. Something swims here. A Finger notes soak in the lake. Research on the powerful
Worm. suicide spell.
5. Travelers are attacked by bandits. They think The
5. A small village. Deafening roar of collapsing
II. The Pelt of a Friend. Ferret Lady is hiding with them. 2. Enter Burgal. Obsessed with finding the creator of
earth echoes far and wide. Where once was a village the magic scrolls.
A cursed explorer is on the run. 6. A hooded figure on the run from the Mad Scholar’s is now a crater. 3. A failed expedition. Returning from the
The Ferret Lady men. The Ferret lady. 6. A Whispering Risar guarding a lava tube. bleeding dunes to the Mad Scholar. Cursed and
HP 5, Morale 7, cloak and torn adventurer’s equipment, Pile of stuff brought from the settlements. Rocks, withering. One is unaffected but anemic, carrying the
dagger d4, bow d6. III. The Silhouette of Murder. ropes, some valuables. Others carry them deeper blood drinking chalice.
Wild instincts: can not be ambushed in the wild. A dark creature with no purpose. inside, they will come back any moment now. 4. The boiled corpses rise from the pools.
• A curse makes her slowly turn into a ferret if she is The Being Infected with the Spiral Mold. The previous settlers,
too far from the hold of the Mad Scholar. Shape of a man with skin that does not reflect light. It V. The Mold Problem. dead but animated. HP 8, Morale —, No armor,
• She knows where a powerful being resides. will follow and try to stay hidden. Then strike when the Unknown disease is spreading fast. Claws d4.
It is The Sleepless of the Stars, the topic of target is asleep. In case the target dies it assumes their Mold Incarnate 5. Phasing in and out, inverted tower. Full of salt and
her research. place. (Stats as a PC. On death the PC can continue to Vague concept of time. It was born of a spell cast red sand. A brass hoop, intricately decorated with
play as if nothing happened) gems and runes. (A portal to the observatory of the
The Sleepless of the Stars without scroll. Memories of countless deaths alternate
1. A big boulder. A man with no name is scratching a with calm passage of time. The spell will continue until Sleepless of the Stars. Activates if submerged in
Underneath a glacier crevasse. Ruins of a tilted temple
silhouette on its side with a chunk of coal. He says he the caster is no more. blood.)
that was built around the petrified giant’s body.
is not himself because he was killed and stolen. 6. The Sleepless of the Arcane. Lies still and defeated.
Dies only if his interest in life is sparked. He lost his
2. Peasants building a black wicker man to scare the
tower after botching a spell.
night away.
 d8 Factions on the Island
1. The Church of Violence 2. The Crate Cult 3. The warehouse lords 4. The shepherds commune and
Believe that only by influencing the world through The dock workers who speak in one voice. Always Oversee all business on the western shores. Closest the Wrong sheep
violent acts one can ascend and become closer to unload, always represented by a different person. Dusty thing to a government on the island. Profit off the work A cosmic being is hiding in the clouds. Barely visible,
the higher planes. The act of creation is an act of and emotionless. People who join the cult come home of the crate cult. Provide them food and shelter. Tax thin fishing lines like tentacles stretch all the way to the
violence. You do not serve gods, you kill them and take only once to say goodbye. everything they can. fields and end with something that looks to a human eye
their place. as a sheep.
If you choose to join. No weapons are allowed. After Resources
Resources a week of work you feel fatigued. That’s when in the • Command the closest thing to an army. Focused The shepherds are at peace. The Wrong Sheep talk when
• The church-tavern, an architectural abomination middle of the night you are brought to one of the well on guarding the warehouses. nobody else is around. It’s hard to resist joining them.
• Network of mercenaries and cheap muscle hidden warehouses. Inside, underneath the earth is the • Monopoly on everything that is not made on Now and then one lies in moss and dies with a smile,
Goals Dock Queen. Birthing crates and brainwashing new the island. while others dance and brew mead.
• Holds mass once a week. (Loud gathering of workers, while feeding on their minds. The Warehouse Goals
screaming drunk individuals. They share their Lords provide the people for the cult. The Dock Queen • Expand the settlements The being is not malicious. Feeding off the herders is
violent acts and discuss who is the closest to provides the only source of wares that are not made on • Full control of the island simply in its nature.
godhood which always results in heavy injuries the island. • Find resources, establish trade and strike deals
and sometimes murder.) with the mainland Resources
• Find and kill a God Resources NPCs • Delicious mead
• Get a supply of mead directly from the Shepherds • Food, shelter and protection provided by the • Lord of the settlements. Acts as a local mayor. • Largest farming hub on the island. (Without it
Commune. (Tastes of flower fields and serenity. warehouse lords. Big fella with bushy mustache, tips are curled the peasants outside the First Settlement will fall
Has a calming effect.) • They are many and they are as one. upwards. Lazy and spoiled. Takes care of the Crate into starvation)
NPCs Goals Cult’s needs and makes sure they are left alone. • Hypnotic horror from beyond the stars
• The keeper-priest. A burly bald man with a vertical • Gain followers • Lord-guardian. Tired and pale. A man of great Goals
scar going through his vertex. He doesn’t want to • Unload crates stature. Commands the army and protects the • Steady influx of fresh minds
talk about it. NPCs warehouses and the First Settlement. List of the • Not being disturbed
• The cook. Old blind woman, trying her • The workers. Unresponsive, pale, quiet. Redirect problems he faces only grows and other lords are
best. During mass she can’t suppress an everyone to the speaker. The longer they unload not helping. Pestered by complaining peasants.
indulgent smile. crates the weaker they become. Eventually secretly Suspects the lord bookkeeper in a foul play but has
• Regulars. Patchwork of the ugliest mugs on disposed of. no proof.
the island. • The speaker. Always nearby, overseeing the work. • Lord bookkeeper. Catalog and archive. Greed
Never the same person. The one who speaks for drives him. Wants to steal the Dock Queen from
the cult. Dismissive and always wants everyone to the Crate Cult for himself. Has a secret cave in the
get back to work. basalt cliffs. Hides his stash of maps and relics.
• The Dock Queen. Without her the cultists grow
nervous and then mad with rage, murdering
everyone in sight.
5. The Queen of Dregs 6. The Mad Scholar 7. The Whispering Risar 8. The Spiral Mold
She and her dregs, former deserters and killers want to He and his followers are delving deeper into the Invisible to the living. The giants come from the lava Stringy and moist streaks of different colors cling to
carve a place for themselves. mountains. Obsessed by the lust for knowledge and tunnels. Three meters tall they mostly crawl on all fours surfaces and spread in shapes of spirals. A product of an
Bloodshot eyes stare at the Mad Scholar in fear of what hidden arcane treasures. Can only trust the branded and whisper in broken tongues. They are annoyed with ancient spell that forbade large gatherings of humans.
he might uncover if left unchecked. followers whose will is in his grasp. The branding leaves the noises people make. Awakened by the settlers. Learn by infecting the living.
the target’s mind weak. Once infected the victim tires easily and infects others
“All my life I took. The more I took, the better my life Resources through spores in the bodily fluids.
became. And when the time came to give back I ran. Resources • Natural strength and stealth.
Now, here, me and my men have nothing to take • The towers, personal quarters of the Mad Scholar, • Knowledge of the Island. Resources
anymore. So we make and we earn. And others want to contain the biggest collection of books, maps and Goals • Can assume human shape and communicate if the
take from us.” scrolls on the island. Always looking for more. • Consume the flesh. area contains enough mold and is dark and moist.
Some are brought with the expeditions, some are • Destroy and wreak havoc until the settlers leave. • Restless and highly contagious
Resources found in the ruins, beneath the mountains. • Digging tunnels under the settlements. After Goals
• Old and well protected Hold of Warmth. • Access to the maze of mines and caves. enough tunnels are dug the settlements will cave • Learning about settlers. Left unchecked the mold
• Large force of loyal and experienced killers. • Followers. Branded by magic and bent to his will. in, killing everyone and leaving a crater. decides humans are too dangerous to leave alive
Goals Goals and the disease turns deadly. The corpses bloat
• Establish self sufficient state • Delve deeper. Amass power and knowledge. The Whispering Risar and explode in a cloud of spores.
• Destroy the Mad Scholar before he dooms us all. • Get rid of any disturbance. The insolent Queen HP 29, morale 8, No Armor, Fist d6.
(His mines are difficult to navigate, a map could of Dregs must be punished. (There is a spell Invisible to the living: DR14 Presence test or
help. There are bound to be traps and magic that can trigger the volcano under the Hold of DR18 to hit and defend against.
involved. Better find out how before the attack.) Warmth to erupt. The visions showed him that the
tome containing it must be in possession of The
Sleepless of the Arcane)

The Mad Scholar himself

HP 23, morale 10, kinetic barrier -d4, shortsword d4.
Gaze of doom: After focusing on a target for d4 rounds
it’s HP lowers to 0.
Summon servants: d8 Mad Servants appear out of
nowhere. (HP 5, morale —, rags and mail -d4, axe d6.
Grapple: DR8 Strength test or skip a turn)

The Mad Scholar found a body of one of the Sleepless,

deep in the mountain. The path to it takes many days.
A steep climb, crawling in a tight cave, hoping it
would not become filled with water. After crossing the
underground river, the giant’s shoulder can be found in
a large opening. It is being mined by the followers of the
Mad Scholar. He believes the body is key to unparalleled
magic powers.

Consuming the stones in a ritual he discovered can d6:

1. Give a surge of arcane high. Double the effects of
spells.
2-4. Give visions of the past. Enigmatic and largely
unhelpful. (The Sleepless of the Stars in his
observatory, the basilisks entering the realm
through rifts, A knight erecting a totem of violence
in the Queen of Dregs’s domain)
5-6. Cause memory loss and severe addiction.
 Timeline Things taking
place in...
Eons ago - The creator made the Sleepless and tasked Centuries ago - It is said some of the Sleepless grew
them to prepare the world for the first men. tired of the world and wanted to stop existing. The
And so they did. attempt to do so caused the island to appear and started
The creator spread himself around the world as seeds the decay of reality.
of men and beast and the Sleepless never heard of him d20 The River Valleys on d12 The Mountain Ranges
again. After it was done their bodies fossilized and Now - As the island was discovered, the interest in it the West 1. Snowy peaks.
became stone. grew. Mystics and heretics delve deeper believing there 1. The black sand beaches. 2. Loose stones.
With no new orders the souls of the Sleepless became is hidden knowledge and relics on the island. Some 2. Scattered fragments of glaciers. 3. Avalanche.
free and spread around the world and the stars. Some escape here to hide from the crown. Until now the 3. Basalt cliffs. 4. Melting glacier tongue.
to seek other creators, some to see the men grow and island remains unclaimed because of some bureaucratic
4. Mats of moss and tiny flowers. 5. Crevasses of endless depth.
some to consume all the men and the beast to become as hurdles and unresolved legal disputes.
5. Stones covered in lichen. 6. Bone-shattering proglacial rivers.
creator themselves. 6. Foaming rivers. 7. Iron and copper mines.
As time passed they became feared and worshiped The Sleepless: 7. Waterfalls. 8. Patrol of the Queen of Dregs.
as gods then learned from as wise sages and Each divided into two physical beings. One is the 8. Small and rare forests. 9. Escapees from the Mad Scholars’ mines.
finally forgotten. body. A giant, long since petrified. One is the soul. A 9. Caved in openings to lava tubes lead into the dark (Branded by his magic, their flesh melts
humanoid figure with cracked and flaking skin.
obsidian depth. as they try to escape)
10. Countless birds and insects riot between the 10. Arctic fox with a stolen chicken.
Random tables bushes. Then silence. 11. Animal tracks in the snow.
d20 Creatures d12 Treasure 11. Fields of volcanic rocks. 12. Piercing winds.
1. Regional Creature (Feretory: 12-21/Eat Prey Kill) 1. Corpse Plunder 12. Deserters and malefactors. (Going east to join the
2. Pale One (Core: 71) 2. d100 Trinkets Queen of Dregs) d8 The Bleeding Dunes on
3. Dusk Gnoum (Core: III) 3. Silver 13. The blissful shepherds herd their flock. (Their the East
4. Scum (Core: 59) 4. d10 Weapon (Core: 20-23) peaceful melted minds are not easily stimulated)
1. Erupting boiling Sulfur.
5. Blood Drenched Skeleton (Core: 62) 5. d4+1 Armour (Core: 24) 14. The fields are plowed by the peaceful folk.
2. Sulfur mines. (Miserable but hospitable
6. Zombie (Core: 65) 6. Piece of equipment (Core: 25) 15. Criminal scvm is on the verge of madness.
miners work them.)
7. Mongrel (Core: III) 7. d4 Doses of a potion (Core: 56) Tortured by unexpected horrors and banished
3. Caravans of sulfur merchants. (Travel west to sell
8. Goblin (Core: 58) 8. Unclean scroll (Core: 35) from the settlements. (They are building a ship to
it as fertilizer. Perilous business and high profits.)
9. Guards with Sharpened Teeth (Core: III) 9. Sacred scroll (Core: 35) escape from the island)
4. Bleeding dunes. Colored by sulfur, limestone,
10. Earthbound (Core: 70) 10. Tablet of Obscurity (Feretory: cover)) 16. Pilgrims. Traveling west to join the Mad Scholar.
obsidian and iron.
11. Prowler (Core: 72) 11. Occult Treasure (Core: cover), 17. Animal tracks. Escaped livestock
5. A field of brittle white bones.
12. Wickhead Knife-Wielder (Core: 68) 12. Tenebrous Relic (Feretory: 48-53) or something else?
6. Acidic winds.
13. Wraith (Core: 61) 18. Whispering Risar. Butchering some
7. Ruins of an obelisk. Guarded by
14. Undead Doll (Core: 66) d4 Denizens traveling merchants.
a hidden presence.
15. Nesting Death (Core: III) 1. Weak: Malnourished Peasants, Guards, 19. Mold in a shape of a human. Mold Incarnate
8. Unbearable stench. A weapon buried in the sand.
16. Lich (Core: 63) Brainwashed Infantry. running after a herder and his Wrong Sheep.
(Ground gives in, scorching hot
17. Berserker (Core: 60) HP 2, Morale 3, No armor, Femur/Knife/Shovel 20. A cloud of mist seems to chase you. The distance is
water runs underneath)
18. Wyvern (Core: 69) d4.asd shortening rapidly.
19. Grotesque (Core: 67) 2. Dangerous: Mercenaries, Assassin’s, Militia.
20. Troll (Core: 64) HP 11, Morale 7, No armor, Zweihänder/
Warhammer/Club/Axe/Bow/Crossbow d6/d8/d10
3. Tough: Man-at-arms, Soldiers, Templars.
HP 16, Morale 9, Chainmail/Lamellar/Plate
-d4/-d6, Sword/Shield/Mace d4/d6
4. Cunning: Clergy, Cultists, Nobles.
HP 11, Morale 8, No armor, Staff/Dagger d4 +
scroll/table of obscurity