Glåugust Challenge 3: “The many qualities of night air.”

 

I’m doing a thing. It’s called “Glåugust” and from context, it seems to be about GLOG stuff. Being an incorrigible contrarian, I’m trying to do the challenge but with DCC RPG.

Night Air Concentrate

There is night air and there is Night Air: The former is merely the air of mundane night-time, while the latter is a semi-spiritual substance that mythopoeically resonates with The Dark Before Creation, where every sound, smell, or sensation is full of mystery and menace.

While some insist that location from whence Night Air is gathered affects its purity, it generally is of the same potency whether gathered in the mountains or the valley, sandy deserts or dark woods, although at judge’s discretion these locales may impart specific mercurial magic effects or corruptions.

On the other hand, potency IS affected by light: Only on the days of the new moon and waxing or waning crescent yield a truly useful materia. Candlelight spoils the air in a 100’ radius for 1d3 hours; larger fires spoil a greater area, with campfires spoiling in a 3000’ radius for 2d3 hours, and bonfires spoiling it for dozens of miles all through the night. Even magical light spoils the air, so infravision is essential whether it be natural or magical. Mages without either trustworthy helpers or such sight thus limit themselves to crescent moon expeditions. Generally speaking, the area where the air is to be collected must be at least half a mile away from civilization, although it is up to the judge to determine the qualifications thereof.

The Night Air must be collected in an opaque container and sealed in an airtight manner. After 7d5 hours, the container is noticeably heavier and cold, indicating it is ready to be used. Empty Moon Night Air Concentrate grants +1d and +2 CL to spells and rituals involving darkness, divination, dreams, enchantment, messages, metamorphosis, secrecy and summoning, all determined at the judge’s discretion, but also imparts an additional randomly-determined mercurial magic effect, and the spell inflicts corruption on ANY failure. Crescent Moon Night Air functions similarly but only imparts +1 CL.

Alternatively, it can be “drunk” to grant 1d3 points of temporary Luck and a randomly determined level of corruption using 1d3: 1) minor; 2) major; 3) greater. The judge may instead choose a thematically appropriate corruption to inflict.

It is said that the Concentrate can be distilled even further in certain Atlantean and Serpentine grimoires, but the information is obtuse and contradictory between sources.