Heavy Metal Fantasy Oracle

...for In a Wicked Age

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1,A barbarian from the Wastes, her hair drawn back and braided with silver bells; one for each man she has slain. 1,A beautiful priestess, naked save for a traditional headdress, on a pilgrimage to a distant monolith. 1,A beautiful woman and her bestial lover, hiding from view within her palanquin. 1,A black metal sword, lightly flecked with still-warm blood. 1,A bygone super-weapon, deployed anew to force an end to a petty war. 1,A cache of coins dug out of the wastelands, which cause all who carry them to sicken, lose their hair, and die. 1,A cache of high-technology relics from the days of the Ancient Men. 1,A chessboard of man-sized squares, concealing pressure-plates and traps to bind the unwary. 1,A circle of stones atop a barren hill; a border-marker between rival tribes. 1,A city of great hundred-story towers, the upper floors now unreachable, and occupied by winged predators. 1,A cloaked and cowled Royal Advisor, whose flesh and features are never seen. 1,A coffle of slaves, destined for hard labor in the toxic mines. 1,A complex device of brass and crystal, which amplifies the mind of its wielder to nearly uncontrollable levels. 1,A conquering nation, grinding its neighbors beneath its iron tread in the search for arable land. 1,A corpulent warlord, and the harem-girls plotting to murder him. 1,A creature massive and brutal, but intelligent as any human, and far more loyal. 1,A cruel yet practical despot, who controls the water-sources throughout an entire region. 1,A cunningly-fashioned metallic bird, whose camera-eyes report to an unknown monitor. 1,A dancer-assassin, trained to sacrifice her life for the kill, now unfortunately in love with her target. 1,A decadent princeling, indulging his grotesque appetites amid the ruins of his family’s estate. 1,A diamond of great price, sought by many, and made more valuable still by the symbolic information finely engraved across its every facet. 1,A dusty, sun-baked arena, where battles between chosen champions are fought to the death on bloody sand. 1,A floating castle, ringed with ancient gun-batteries, commanded by a zealot. 1,A generous and beloved local ruler compelled by circumstance to commit a secret outrage. 1,A giant effigy of a man, wreathed in undying flames, atop a high cliff. 1,A gigantic statue of a woman, green with verdigris, half-submerged in the surf. 1,A girl sold into slavery in a city far from her home, risking everything to return there. 1,A great brass battle-robot, obedient to a youth who has learned its coded command-name. 1,A great cataract, where doomed lovers come to meet for the last time. 1,A great colossus, honoring a fallen Emperor; its head ignominiously cast down, broken at its feet. 1,A hot-headed youth, sworn to overthrow those who rule in the name of dead Gods. 1,A hulking, furry brute – who is far more intelligent and articulate than he appears to be. 1,A hunting party of noblemen and their servants, on safari through the poison jungles. 1,A labyrinth guarding an ancient secret, whose ever-changing pathways reflect the mental state of anyone who walks it, inhabited by those whom it has driven mad. 1,A leprous outcast, victim of the drifting plague-dust, spreading contagion with his touch. 1,A lie, well-told, which brings great fortune to the teller. 1,A lone man with a sword, fighting for his life against a Nightmare Fiend. 1,A lonely guard-tower, where a retired General passes the evening of his life. 1,A loquacious thief and his axe-wielding companion, imprisoned for a crime they surely did commit. 1,A lord of the sea-rovers, striding the deck of his ram-prowed war galley as it bears down upon its prey. 1,A madcap musician, cadging drinks and singing prophecy. 1,A madman, styling himself a Wizard, his body replaced with iron and chrome. 1,A man driven mad by contact with an ancient machine-mind, and his cult of nihilistic followers. 1,A massive metal vehicle grinding slowly across the landscape, heedless of the fate of those it is about to crush. 1,A merchant, counting his coins in what he naïvely believes to be unobserved solitude. 1,A mighty six-legged feline, wicked and feral, acid saliva drooling from its fangs. 1,A mighty war-beast, caparisoned in silk & crystal. 1,A mighty warrior, vicious and cunning; but fearful of the ‘steel magic’ that survives from bygone days. 1,A musical instrument, cunningly wrought, which lulls listeners into a state of great suggestibility. 1,A naked man in a strange place, awoken in a body that is not his own. 1,A physician and poisoner; a solver of other people’s problems. 1,A pleasure-automaton built to fulfill its master’s every whim, now masterless and roaming the darkened streets. 1,A predator, by turns seeming both feline and insectile, stealing sheep and children. 1,A prisoner scheduled for execution, given a final opportunity to earn his freedom by risking almost-certain death. 1,A prisoner, publicly displayed, pelted with rinds and offal, seizing the chance to escape. 1,A radiation storm, slashing acid rain against the armored walls of a citadel where frightened survivors huddle. 1,A rapacious warlord, nearly immortal thanks to his use of a bygone healing machine. 1,A red-tressed sorceress, unwisely tempted into a challenge she cannot win. 1,A scantily-clad female paladin riding a winged beast, preparing to do battle with a vast army. 1,A scholar with steel eyes, with whom bygone machines communicate. 1,A secret, hedonistic cult practicing their rituals beneath the very noses of the authorities, and secreting their agents into the halls of power. 1,A self-aware computer, long-ago gone mad, now worshiped as a god. 1,A sinewy old scoundrel; a good man to have at your back, they say; but keep him away from your money, your liquor, and your women. 1,A small metal box, which whispers secrets in a language nearly forgotten. 1,A Sorcerer with blazing eyes, who controls the very thoughts of others. 1,A Sorceress whose mind-magics can break the will or wrack the flesh of her foes. 1,A step-pyramid, surrounded by a chanting throng, awaiting a sacrifice. 1,A stolen dagger, concealed but ready. 1,A sudden attack of conscience, which changes everything. 1,A temple to forgotten gods, dangerous to those who tread it’s halls unwarily. 1,A tireless metal steed, powered by the lightning itself. 1,A trading caravan of shrewd insect-creatures, hiding their true motives. 1,A tray of delicate pastries, presented by a nubile servant. 1,A tribe of panther-women from the far South, each a warrior soul-bonded to her battle-beast companion. 1,A troop of fire-lancers, pennons flying in the hot wind, following the armored goddess who rides at the head of their column. 1,A vast, formless creature, absorbing and consuming entire villages, leaving nothing living in its wake. 1,A village in the trees, whose residence are decidedly unfriendly to strangers. 1,A young mother, fleeing after giving birth to an unnatural child. 1,A youth, abducted to become the latest guinea-pig for an unorthodox experimenter. 1,A youth, mind-bonded to a great plains cat, guarding their primitive tribe against the depredations of an advancing Empire. 1,Aerial cavalrymen, mounted on giant wasps, harrying their prey. 1,An almost undetectable poison. 1,An army of bestial men, riding hard to meet their destiny of blood and dust. 1,An invisible assassin, stalking through a crowded street festival. 1,An overseer of slaves, easily distracted by his pleasures. 1,An underground temple, it’s great pools and brazen statues tended by a race of silent servitors. 1,An underling, easily dismissed, and therefore ideally placed to strike. 1,Animal-human hybrids, descendants of Ancient experiments, seeking knowledge of their origin. 1,Bestial half-men, kept as slaves, rising up against their masters. 1,Crumbling ruins, overtaken by jungle creepers and vines; greenery which hides gleaming and predatory eyes … 1,Glowing, curved bands of light in the sky; the harbinger of an oncoming Hell-storm which will shatter all those caught within it. 1,Heavily-swaddled warriors, riding in squads on the backs of gigantic centipedes, patrolling the borders of their sovereign territory. 1,Huge tracks across the dusty plain, each clearly showing three great claws. 1,Knights armed with laser-lances, doing battle for their Majesties. 1,Raiders sailing black-oak triremes armed with sun-weapons, demanding tribute from the coastal cities. 1,Serpent cultists, who split their tongues to honor their dark and venomous god. 1,Seven warriors, each as unique as night is different from day, bound together by a common destiny. 1,Shining metal balls, hovering and darting through the still midsummer air. 1,Someone implanted with the larvae of a Hive Queen, doomed to become food for the Swarm. 1,Stars in the night sky that were moved in Ancient times. No one now living can read their message. 1,Stooped, reptilian laborers toiling under the merciless sun. 1,Swarms of flesh-tearing insects, released from an Ancient bunker by someone more meddlesome than wise. 1,Swaths of metallic sand, wearing away the earth, exposing the steel bones of the world to prying eyes. 1,The architect of a vast defensive work, realizing that he is about to be buried within it to protect its secrets. 1,The crumbling stone walls of a great manse, carved with cyclopean bas-reliefs; home now only to cowed and degenerate tribesmen. 1,The flying battle-barge of a cruel Empress, raining death & destruction upon her disloyal subjects. 1,The fossilized skeleton of a great beast, sheltering a village of primitives beneath its arching ribcage. 1,The gladiator-pits of a great settlement, where men and beasts are condemned to die. 1,The last defenders of a surrounded garrison. 1,The last enclave of Ancient Men, sleeping in suspended animation for millennia, ready to be awakened. 1,The machine-guardians of a holy site. 1,The mighty Sun-sword, an artifact from the Last Days of Man. 1,The mind-magics of a Wizard in disguise. 1,The quest for a power-source of the Ancient Men. 1,The recumbent forms of ancient gods – effigies only; or are they the gods themselves, waiting to awaken? 1,The shattered Moon, studied with telescopes by diviners, scholars and alchemists seeking to understand and master the power which broke apart Earth’s celestial consort. 1,The Shining Tower, a structure with no doorway, said to be the home of the Veiled Magician. 1,The Star Man, returned from a centuries-long journey beyond the sky, awakening from his slumber to a world gone mad. 1,The tinkered-together remains of several bygone vehicles, kept running by faith as much as skill. 1,The twisted mutant creatures who inhabit the endless tunnels deep below the ground. 1,The whirling blades of dervish war-dancers, casting droplets of blood in a fine mist. 1,Thunder shatters the sky as silver wings rip clouds asunder – mighty war-machines of the Lost Age fly again! 1,Two weary travelers, crossing a glass plain which stretches for hundreds of miles in every direction, waterless and deadly. 1,Wasteland scavengers, faceless in their radiation armor, bearing a precious burden. 1,Wine drunk from a golden goblet, which grants visions of the future, followed by a swift death. 1,Zombie-cyborgs, whose metal components keep them active even as their dead flesh decays.
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