Southland: Ayers Rock

THE SOUTHLAND

A Fantasy Core Setting

© Jerry Harris 2014

Published here as Open Game Content.

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Ayers Rock (Ancient-Uluru, also “The Rock”)

Seven Sisters Myth: The Sisters came here to seek the wisdom of the spirits in their escape.  After distracting the mad cannibals guarding the grounds with easier prey, the Sisters performed the Dreamtime ceremony and spoke to the spirits.  For their help, the Sisters raised a giant mound in memorial to them.

The Bell Bird Brothers Myth: (Most Ancient sites have more than one myth attached to them.  This is one of the more famous, non-Sisters myth.)  The Bell Bird Brothers were once hunting a trophy animal near Uluru, who disappeared into the rock.  The Brothers performed the Dreamtime ceremony and followed him inside.  They found a long corridor of tombs and their animal killed by a blue-tongued creature.  With their magic, they set fire to its tomb, grabbed their prey, and escaped.

This is no ordinary big rock.  Physically, it’s a massive sandstone structure, six miles in circumference and 1100 ft tall.  Metaphysically, it’s a giant magical tomb and a conduit to other worlds, dimensions, and times.  However, unless one knows the “Dreamtime” ceremony, it’s just a big rock.  The tomb’s main defense against looters is that it exists in the Astral Plane, the Dream Lands.  [The characters might already have some familiarity with the Astral Plane and its inhabitants if they survived The Endless Night in Azimuth House.] Of course, that’s in addition to a multitude of Trolls that hunt around the rock.  Also, the various Humanoid tribes have attached a mystical significance to this place and frequent it.  And, there are a large number of dangerous undead and spirits in the tombs themselves.

The Ancients regarded this as place as a religious artifact.  It was where they received their advanced magical knowledge.  Supplicants would enter the mystical caves, which are covered in painted magical symbols.  Via a fasting induced trance and various narcotics, they entered into a state they called “Dreamtime.”  Their spirits would enter the Astral Plane.  From there they could commune with supernatural entities and gain their knowledge.

There are various high-level Wizard spells which can be used to enter the Dreamtime.  There are Ancient magical ceremonies which can be used by anyone, but they are hard to come by and very hard to enact for non-magic-users (you may need to acquire the services of an Ancient scholar at the University perhaps).  There are caves in the rock which function as portals into the Dreamtime with certain celestial alignments, though no one has catalogued more than a couple of them.  The Humanoids seem to be well acquainted with them.  Finally, there are spirits living in the caves who might be persuaded to “open the door” for others, for favors. 

There are also various points of departure once inside the Rock, depending upon where you entered.  There are two known caves which are entries into the so-called “Avenue of Kings,” a massive series of burial chambers.  [And here’s a good place to drop in your favorite tomb dungeon.]  Other caves go to other places, including other planets, dimensions, and even different times, though there always seems to be a time-limit on travelers before they are drawn back to their entry cave (as though they’d never actually left the cave).  Of course, there are also caves and pits in the Rock that are just simply haunted, though beings there may have extensive knowledge of the environment.