1d20 Random Encounter Table For Along The Passages & Roads of the Boreas Winds

The years are a falling of snow,
Slow but without cessation,
On hills and mountains and towers and worlds that were;
But snow, and the crawling night wherein it fell,
May be washed away in one swifter hour of flame:
Thus it was that some slant of sunset
In the chasms of pilèd cloud—
Transient mountains that made a new horizon,
Uplifting the west to fantastic pinnacles—
Smote warm in a buried realm of the spirit,
Till the snows of forgetfulness were gone.
Clear in the vistas of memory,
The peaks of a world long unremembered
Soared further than clouds but fell not,
Based on hills that shook not nor melted
With that burden enormous, hardly to be believed.
Rent with stupendous chasms,
Full of an umber twilight,
I beheld that larger world :
Bright was the twilight, clear like ethereal wine
Above, but low in the clefts it thickened,
Dull as with duskier tincture.
Like whimsical wings outspread but unstirring,
Flowers that seemed spirits of the twilight
That must pass with its passing—
Too fragile for day or for darkness—
Fed the dusk with more delicate hues than its own;
Stars that were nearer, more radiant than ours,
Quivered and pulsed in the clear thin gold of the sky.
These things I beheld
Till the gold was shaken with tight
Of fantastical wings like broken shadows
Forerunning the darkness;
Till the twilight shivered with outcry of eldritch voices
Like pain's last cry ere oblivion.

Remembered Light  (1912)  by Clark Ashton Smith

Adventurers don't know what sights might be encountered when the step onto the Boreas winds into the Outer Darkness between the stars. Many  encounters await them among the dead spaces between the dimensions & planets. For there are horrid & ancient things trapped in the Outer Darkness imprisoned but not dead waiting for the juicy & sacrosanct souls of humanity to step over The Threshold. The Threshold  that holds back the ever washing washing unreality of primal chaos.



There are demons, fallen gods, & far worse trapped in amber & crystal prisons cast into the darkness. But among them is rumored to be doors to the primal underworld with its twisting tunnels & slip trails down into Hel itself. Many of these empty halls & ruined abodes of the gods are filled with millions of souls from the ravaging of Earth. The nameless goddess who rules this place controls trillions of souls both of men & other far older essences. She has many names & it is said that still in Underborea one can find her name on metal foil paged grimoires & in the secret doctrines of Ixian necrotic cults. There is a 10% chance should her name be uttered during an encounter with the right manners that she may grant a boon should the proper respect be shown to her. Otherwise she might take the fool's soul instead.

Certain armies of warriors have used the passages between the Boreas winds as a sorcererous short cut during times of war when their wizards have sacrificed fair haired youths to open the passages between worlds as a tactical advantage. These passages are fraught with danger as many men often seek riches sewn at their feet where the Elemental plane's bounty tides itself against the hidden corners of unreality.


Any items such as gems or crystals will most likely at best be cursed & at worst could be the egg of some nameless elemental horror. Here then are twenty encounters along the passages &  roads of the Boreas winds for fools & madmen to falter into.



1d20 Random Encounter Table For 
Along The Passages &  Roads of the Boreas Winds

1. 1d8 Ice zombies of a lost unit of late Roman legionaries. They will stop to ask directions but their incredible hunger for the living will cause them to attack anyone they meet. 
2. A necromancer & his demonic servant on a quest for a demon stone egg from the Outer Edges. 
3. A floating crystal skull belonging to lich servant of Cthulhu on its way to its teacher & demonic tentacled master. 
4. A angelic servant of Law on its way to help to heal a dying paladin trapped on a nearby asteroid. It will try to enroll the PC's help with promises of reward but will use a geas if necessary. 
5. A crystallized ghoul who needs to feed on the living as soon as possible.  
6. Three serpent men upon a barge of sorcerous gold & jet who are looking for test subjects for their latest project. They are seventh level black wizards of the darkest stripe and have energy weapons.
7. Giant soul devouring Outer Darkness life form that needs to feed on the living and will assume for 1d20 hours the form of the person it consumes. Perfect in almost every detail, this vile creature will try to feed on 1d6 others each one assuming the perfect shape to trap their prey. 
8. 1d6 Mi Go on an errant for one of their dangerous masters. 
9. 1d ghouls with a 7th level black wizard half ghoul master. They cross the winds on their way to the underworld. 
10. The giant head of a fallen god that acts as the base for 1d10 brigands and outlaws lead by a capable 8th level wizard. His rival is a lich and seeks the wizard's head for a magick relic's creation. 
11. 1d10 giant violet fungus that feeds on the souls & flesh of the living. 
12. 1d4 brain parasites with zombie bodies floating through the void. 
13. A giant crystal warrior belonging to a clan of stone giants who looking for sacrifices to their heathen Lovecraftian god thing. 
14. Giant skull of some ancient warrior whose soul is trapped in the thing. It whispers strange and damning secrets to those who spend more then 1d6 hours with it. Certain Ixian necromancers would pay handsomely for the skull's location. 
15. Pack of 1d8 gargoyles on the hunt for prey and guess whose on the menu! 
16.  Remains of an ancient void craft wheeling its way through the void. There is a 10% chance of 1d6 pieces of treasure on board with undead alien guardians. 
17. The burnt to a crisp wreck of an ancient long boat with a Ju Ju zombie warrior chieftain on board and 1d6 relics & treasure. 
18. The remains of a fallen demon frozen and seemingly unmoving. 
19. 1d20 damned souls looking for victims. 
20. A strange temple building trapped on the back of a crystallized star spawn of Cthulhu. An eerie light beckons to those outside. Can you resist?