Scrap of Epic Poetry
Story, common
Price: none | no sentimentality
This piece of parchment contains what appears to be a draft of a few stanzas of an epic poem, with many revision marks and words scratched out and replaced. Nevertheless, the writing is evocative and creative, leading you to wonder who created—and then discarded—this work. The DM can craft an adventure around why the poet would give away this poem or roll against the following tables:
Table
| d8 | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1 | Frustration after being unable to find an audience |
| 2 | Inability to complete the poem due to writer’s block |
| 3 | Completion of the final draft of the poem, rendering the early drafts expendable even if they hold sentimental value |
| 4 | Desire to obtain something from the Gray Merchant to help with the poet’s art |
| 5 | Hope to give the Gray Merchant new meaning and identity in life through artistic inspiration |
| 6 | Belief that the unfinished poem would find its way into the hands of someone who needs it |
| 7 | Fear because reading the poem causes terrible nightmares |
| 8 | Sadness due to real world events that occurred during the writing of the poem making it impossible to work on it without being reminded of tragedy |
Table
| d6 | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | A copy of a completed poem (DM’s choice whether it has magic properties) |
| 2 | A magic item from table B in chapter 3 |
| 3 | The poet as a trustworthy contact |
| 4 | Cryptic hints about how to progress another quest the party is undertaking |
| 5 | The poet as the party’s companion to chronicle its tale |
| 6 | The poet as a traveling bard who spreads heroic tales of the party’s deeds, building a reputation for the party |
Table
| d6 | Subject |
|---|---|
| 1 | A great war |
| 2 | A doomed romance |
| 3 | The adventures of someone chosen by the gods to be their champion |
| 4 | A mission to slay a great monster |
| 5 | A struggling polis returning to glory under the guidance of its former ruler’s heir |
| 6 | The fall of a hero who dared challenge the gods |
Table
| d10 | Location and Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Building an audience in Meletis |
| 2 | Chronicling heroic deeds in Akros |
| 3 | Communing with nature in Setessa |
| 4 | Contemplating the world’s edge at Kruphix’s Temple of Mystery |
| 5 | Exploring sorrow in the ruins of Iretis |
| 6 | Captured for sacrifice in the minotaur polis of Skophos |
| 7 | Seeking an answer from the gods at the shrine of Nykthos |
| 8 | Accompanying a group of adventurers sailing the ocean beyond the Siren Sea |
| 9 | Adopted by centaurs in the Nessian Wilds in exchange for a promise to tell their stories |
| 10 | Inspiring the leonin of Tethmos to rise up and conquer the world |
Source: The Gray Merchant of Asphodel