Squidslippers [The Day After Ragnarok]

Squidslippers – Google Docs

Squidslippers

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

This piece of Ophi-Tech consists of muscle tissue from the Serpent that has been carefully inhibited at key spots by Bakelite inserts, thus keeping the items from running off on their own.  Squidslippers look unpleasantly like two constantly writhing boots made up of miscellaneous squid parts. Anyone who is familiar with minor horror pulp writers of the 20th Century will immediately think of ‘shoggoths,’ instead — but that’s still a pretty obscure reference in 1947.

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Rock Island River-Keep [The Day After Ragnarok].

Rock Island River-Keep – Google Docs

Rock Island River-Keep

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

City: Rock Island, Illinois

Population: 12,000/100,000

Controls: Rock Island County, Rock Island

Government: Strongman

Problem: Serpent Cult

Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods

City Aspect: Militaristic.

 

Prior to the Serpentfall, the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois made significant amounts of ordinance, howitzers, and small arms.  When news of the collapse hit, base commander Colonel Carl Waldmann immediately ordered the island itself sealed off. As chaos reigned up and down the Mississippi, the arsenal was hastily, then thoroughly fortified.  Three years later, the entire island is a formidable nut to crack.

Continue reading Rock Island River-Keep [The Day After Ragnarok].

Concombre de la Mort. [The Day After Ragnarok]

Concombre de la mort – Google Docs

Concombre de la mort

[The Day After Ragnarok]

The Concombre de la mort (‘Death cucumber’) is a mutated version of Ecballium elaterium, which is also known as the ‘squirting cucumber’ for its ability to briefly take flight under the right circumstances.  This particular North African variant has been heavily tainted by the Serpent: it now shoots itself with enough velocity to break bones, and is even more poisonous than the original. Its toxin acts as a powerful purgative, emetic, and diuretic; this generally incapacitates the victim for about an hour, unless it kills him outright. Continue reading Concombre de la Mort. [The Day After Ragnarok]

Ectoplalm [The Day After Ragnarok]

Ectoplalm – Google Docs

Ectoplalm

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

This stuff replaces regular napalm for the flamethrower (use the stats for the weapon found on page 37 of The Day After Ragnarok). It does considerably less damage (2d6) to normal targets, but it is pure death on Serpent-Tainted objects and monsters (3d10).  Bizarrely, Ectoplalm acts as an extinguishing agent on ophiline (refined Serpent oil).  If used on the countryside, a full tank of Ectoplalm can reduce the Serpent Taint of a quarter acre of land by 1.  This is of course done by burning everything down to the grassroots, but it works.

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Savage Sell-Blades of Dayton [The Day After Ragnarok]

City_ Dayton, Ohio – Google Docs

 

Savage Sell-Blades of Dayton

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

City: Dayton, Ohio

Population: 30,000/180,000

Controls: Montgomery County

Government: Democratic, for the moment

Problem: Hostile City

Heroic Opportunity: Mercenary Work

City Aspect: Militaristic and Mercantile  

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Silk-Haunted Paterson [The Day After Ragnarok]

Silk-Haunted Paterson – Google Docs

Silk-Haunted Paterson

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

City: Paterson, NJ

Population: 6,000

Controls: Paterson itself, on a good day

Government: Squatters

Problem: Monsters

Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods

City Aspect: Mercantile

Note: the Serpent Taint level of Paterson itself is 3, but the area around it is ST 4.

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Whipraffes. [The Day After Ragnarok]

Whipraffes – Google Docs

 

Whipraffes

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

The southern coil of the Serpent slammed down right in the middle of giraffe territories in Africa.  The miasmic poisons still rising off of the Serpent’s dead hide reliably mutates giraffes into vicious carnivores with snake-like necks; they use their heads as living clubs, stunning prey before the whipraffe eats it alive with razor-sharp teeth. Fortunately, Whipraffes are not poisonous; unfortunately, they hunt in packs (1d4+1).

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The Crimson City of Milwaukee [The Day After Ragnarok]

Crimson City of Milwaukee – Google Docs

The Crimson City of Milwaukee

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

City: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Population: 50,000/300,000

Controls: Central-eastern Wisconsin

Government: Despotism

Problem: Food Shortage

Heroic Opportunity: Mercenary Work

City Aspect: Militaristic

 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin was always a haven for Reds; and after the Serpentfall the local Communists were organized enough to take control of the city.  Technically, current mayor (and Socialist) Frank Zeidler was democratically elected; however, the People’s Councils that guarantee Zeidler’s rule have shown no interest in ever having another election.  Mayor Zeidler is thus in the unique position of being a despot who can do anything — except change the system.

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Creature Seed: Torpedo Bees.

Torpedo Bees – Google Docs

Torpedo Bees

perdita floridensis diabolicus

[The Day After Ragnarok]
Prior to the Serpentfall, these Floridian bees were small, inoffensive, and were aquatic in their larval and pupal stage.  Being drowned under the obscenely mutagenic impact of tons of Serpent-tainted seawater has made their descendants much larger (6 to 8 inches), exceptionally aggressive, and fully amphibious.  A Torpedo Bee can fly at full speed in water and air.

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Church of the Brazen Serpent [Day After Ragnarok]

Church of the Brazen Serpent – Google Docs

Church of the Brazen Serpent

[The Day After Ragnarok]

 

 

Three years ago it was just another snake cult — actually, three years ago it was just a pair of minor medical Greek organizations at the University of Kansas. Then the Serpentfall happened, and the brothers at the local chapter of Phi Delta Epsilon soon discovered that certain of their rituals seemed to have rather more real-world medical relevance than they had had before.  Meanwhile, the sisters of Sigma Theta Tau discovered something similar, only in the field of prophecy and divination. Fortunately for them, in the chaos that gripped Kansas City — along with the rest of the Poisoned Lands — anyone with demonstrable medical skill could be forgiven minor foibles, such as ‘honoring’ the brazen serpent of the Old Testament and favorably mentioning the Witch of Endor in sermons. After all, it really was all in the Bible.  

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