A gateway into a hell realm
VESTIBULE
A sandwich-board sign, solid gold: āWelcome 967th Great Race Participants!ā
A statue of the Monkey King looms. Astride the staircase to the Mural Hall (pg xx), balls shining street-lamp brightāBrass Tower property glows fluorescent in their light.
Two gods guard the way. āThe Tower is closed for a special occasion. Your invitation?ā
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āHORSE-HEADā, DOOR GODDESS HD 5, as heavy armour, trident 2d8. Morale 12. Polearm arts, watching, running.
Decay is a racing horse. Hit by her trident, age d10 years.
Horse-head is a hell-deity, tricked by the Monkey King into servitude. You cannot sneak past. Try a bribe? She wants to taste horse meat. She will not know the difference.
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āOX-FACEā, DOOR GOD HD 5, as heavy armour, trident 2d8. Morale 12. Polearm arts, goring, snoring.
Misfortune is a lumbering ox. Hit by his trident, fumble your next action.
Ox-face is a star-god, the Monkey Kingās sworn bosom-brother. Hates Horse-head, and incorruptibleābut 2-in-6 chance he is asleep at the job.
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("Two scary dumbasses guarding the way into the place you wanna go" is a trope I always seem to want to write into RPGs.
This is not even the first time I've used Horse-face and Ox-head in writing; they appear in this story, about a businessman's takeover of Hellā
A concept which itself got recycled in "Spy In The House Of Eth".
Guess I keep cannibalising myself? Maybe that's why I'm attached to the idea of the horse-headed hell god wanting to eat their namesake.)
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( Image sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/creypw/the_blue_balls_of_a_vervet_monkey/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox-Head_and_Horse-Face )









