Decemberists Oracle

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I'm making an oracle for In A Wicked Age based on the songs of The Decemberists, one of my favorite bands. If you know them, you know their lyrics are ripe for this sort of thing.

I think I'm off to a good start, but I'm running out of steam at only halfway done. I'd like to have around 50 total (52 to be exact). Here's what I have so far. Please join in the fun!

1. A white crane, helpless and bloodied by an arrow, not at all what it seems.
2. A luckless mariner, haunted and wild-eyed at the bulwark, bent on revenge.
3. The sole survivors of a shipwreck, huddled close and fearful.
4. A whispered curse, the last words of an old woman dying from heartbreak.
5. A pale and lovely stranger, arrived at moonrise beneath the birch boughs, wielding secret talents.
6. A sudden transformation, revealing truths better left concealed.
7. A harbor lost within the reeds, home to an ancient sleeper, fouled with piles of tiny bones.
8. A new-born babe, foretold by sages, rocked within its cradle of briars.
9. The landlord's daughter, threatened with word and pistol at the hands of a wandering rogue.
10. A fresh corpse laid to rest by the water's edge, coins for weights upon its eyes.
11. A soldier's sweetheart, vigilant for his return against all rumors of his death, beginning to show her condition.
12. Two families, locked in a blood feud, muskets at the ready and no quarter given.
13. The betrayal of a secret romance, with deadly consequences.
14. A gang of murderous youths, knives glinting under the gaslights, the boogeymen of children's lore.
15. The ill-timed arrival of a raft of refugees, seeking new homes far from the war.
16. The ghost of a soldier, heedless of his fall in battle, marching ever homeward.
17. The lamp-lit tent of a teller of fortunes, redolent of cinnamon, cardamom, and myrrh.
18. A sickly legionnaire, veteran of exotic wars, the last of his laudanum clutched in his bony hands.
19. A veiled young virgin on camelback, the prince's betrothed, conveyed by night to her lover's hiding place.
20. A bejeweled palanquin on the back of an elephant, centerpiece of the the Queen's procession.
21. A fine robe of gold and silk Arabian thread, the burial robes for one of surprisingly low station.
22. A teenage lookout on a signal tower, sentinel for a convocation of burglars.
23. A deadly accusation, pointed at the wrong man, but the lie believed.
24. A sweaty bagman, dreading watchful agents, anxious to be rid of the evidence.

Crossposted with Story Games.

Labels: iawa

posted by John Harper at 5:32 PM