Oddities for the Etheric Void
Outer space is big and empty, even when it’s full of luminiferous æther. But that just means there’s plenty of room to hide a whole new batch of oddities! So the next time your heroes are flying the wend and weft of the winds between the realms in their star clipper, hitching a ride in the belly of a giant space whale, or taking a quick jaunt to the nearest crystal moon inside a sporty ornithopter, roll on the table below to see what strange thing drifts into their path!
The skeletal remains of a massive beast of the ether twist and twitch, it’s bones given a sinister suggestion of life by the writhing of thousands of scavenging gloam eels greedily picking off the last scraps of flesh. Even after meal of this size the gloam eels’ hunger is unsated.
A trail of gold dust cuts a shimmering line through the void. If followed, the trail leads to a comet made of ice and gold dust with a solid gold core, or an ambush set by an eccentric ether pirate.
A planetoid absent from all charts drifts by in a stretch of void where no planet should be. At its closes approach the surface of the planet splits open to reveal an eye the size of a sub-continent that casually regards the party as they pass.
A living constellation resembling a stag bounds through the ether followed shortly after by a celestial huntress.
A turbulent etheric storm lays in the heroes’ path, it’s roiling surface illuminated by constant arcs of lighting. Within the storm, and indeed the cause of the storm, is a swarm of 2d4 thunder eels, each the size of a ship of the line.
A triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side.
A gray comet with a tail like a tattered funeral shroud drifts past. At the comet’s nucleus is the severed head of a murdered god, the deity’s final agonies frozen upon its face.
A magnetic asteroid drifts past. All unattended iron objects and magnetic items are swiftly pulled to the asteroid’s pitted surface to join other objects it has captured over the ages.
A lonely demigod of the heavens perches on a jagged scrap of an exploded planet. Every now and then the deity nocks a celestial arrow and fires it towards a nearby star, at which point the arrow transforms into shooting star. There is an equal chance these shooting starts are portents of doom, portents of joy, or grant the wish of the first creature to wish upon it.
A glass bottle drifts past. Within the bottle is an exact replica of the party’s ether ship, right down to tiny figurines clearly representative of the party.
A heavy iron cannonball fired in battle 1d100x years ago, its surface pitted by stellar dust, goes whizzing past. A wrecked pirate vessel, its holds still brimming with plunder, waits to be looted at the cannonball's point of origin.
A massive globule of water churls slowly, its surface rippling as if disturbed by solar winds. Within the globule wondrous fish of all kinds swim in great schools, and mighty whales break the surface to breath deep of the ether. One can almost hear singing echoing up from deep within the globule's heart.
A massive starachnid spins a tangled web held taught by a circle of rotating asteroids. The mile long treads of the web are so fine they are almost invisible. Only the circular arrangement of asteroids betrays its presence.
A bubble of gas suspended within the ether. There is an equal chance the gas is flammable, hallucinogenic, poisonous, or foul smelling but otherwise harmless.
A half-starved and entirely mad star sailor clings desperately to a section of hull not much larger than himself. Gripped by paroxysms of terror, he rambles endlessly about "that which devours the sky!"
The planets in a nearby solar system enter a once-in-an-epoch alignment, projecting a beam of etheric force that pulls the party's conveyance wildly off course. The player's vessel remains trapped in this solar system until the alignment ends in 1d100x hours.
An unseen musician plays a vigorous jig on a hornpipe. This musician cannot be found, but the hornpipe can be heard again once every 1d4 days. After 2d6 jigs, the musician can be found. A small, rat-like creature in a tattered old sailor suit plays the pipes an is convinced it is a legitimate and long-serving part of the crew.
A planet with striking pale rings passes in the distance. However, these rings are composed of countless sun-bleached skulls.
An astrologer in a hot air balloon bristling with telescopes and other astronomical apparatus drifts past. The astrologer furiously scribbles complex notes and star chats, leaving a trail of discarded notes in the balloon's wake.
A wyrmhole flickers and spirals in the distance. The party's destination is clearly visible on the other side of the wyrmhole's oscillating core. The party is free to use this shortcut to arrive at their destination instantly, though this risks drawing the ire of the stellar drake who lives in this wrinkle in the fabric of the universe.
The ether grows deathly cold. Hoarfrost covers every surface, breath steams, open flames dim and provide little warmth, and even the stars seem to grow cold. This deathly chill persists for 1d4x hours.
An ether pirate scout flits by using a kite-like apparatus to ply the stellar winds. Upon spotting the party the scout makes a mad dash back to his home vessel to report his find.
The stars, planets, and celestial objects resonate with one another producing haunting tones that echo both the last boom of creation and the first crack of doom. These tones persist for 1d4 hours.
A sidereal predator, its armored scales reflecting distant starlight like shards of polished onyx, follows in the wake of the party's conveyance hoping for an easy meal. So long as the party's craft remains in the ether, the predator follows for 1d6 days at which point it attacks unless its hunger has been otherwise sated.
The ether ripples and colors shift as time itself wrinkles and stretches. There is an equal chance time advances or retreats. If time advances everything within this region of space ages 1d6 years, food spoils, and all but the most finely crafted objects wear and break down. If time retreats everything within this region de-ages 1d6 years, discarded scraps become fresh food again, and broken and worn objects mend themselves and become practically brand new.
And that’s only the beginning of the ether’s limitless potential! Check with us again as your favorite d-Infinity contributors add oddities of their own. And if you are so inspired why not post your own oddities in the comments below?
