Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we look at the Blinkmoth Nexus and the strange creatures that dwell there.
Blinkmoth Nexus
The blinkmoth nexus is generally considered to be one of the most beautiful sites in the world. Dark trees stretch for miles around, while streaks of silver light travel between the boughs. Some point to the strange hexagonal pattern on the floor as evidence that the Blinkmoth Nexus is not a natural occurrence, but no one knows who was behind the original creation, as all divination magics fail when it comes to this place. There are no living beings native to the Nexus, apart from the eponymous Blinkmoths themselves, and it is debatable if they are animals, constructs, fey, or something else entirely. They do not communicate in an understandable way to outsiders either, but they are not actively hostile unless someone tries to damage the Nexus itself.
Lay of the Land
The Blinkmoth Nexus is for all intents and purposes a forest, where the boughs are made of a strange metal that’s as hard as granite. There is no life, but the streaks between the boughs themselves are, in fact, the living Blinkmoths. They persist mostly as energy throughout their lives, taking form only when threatened. Moving through the Nexus proves to be easy, though you have to be wary of not tripping over roots. In fact, apart from the toots, and where decay has caused some of the boughs to collapse, they are remarkably similar. Each bough appears to have been spaced exactly 10 feet from any others, at least originally, but organic growth has caused them to move closer. Even then, the difference between each bough in any given area are minor, down to the point of being so similar as to cause deja vu. However, when moving from one area of the forest to another, which happens every other mile, the trees on the boundary mix the styles and appearances of the boughs in each section, but each section is clearly distinct from the next.
Dangers
There are no living creatures within the Nexus, apart from the Blinkmoths themselves. There are no resources for living creatures to eat or drink, and the Blinkmoths themselves consist of light. (Use the rules for the PF2 arbiter inevitables for the Blinkmoths, but add that they have the incorporeal trait – something that requires 3 actions to either activate or deactivate. For 5e use the rules for the emerald eye, but add the incorporeal movement trait from ghosts, and consider the eye bound to the forest.) That is not to say that the nexus is safe – starvation and thirst prove great dangers, as the place is confusing and it’s easy to get lost. And all divination magic fails, meaning that finding your way in, or out, can be exceedingly difficult. Some undead creatures have taken up residence here as well, especially ghosts, specters, and other disembodied undead, as they feel reinvigorated by the energy of the Nexus. This seems to be only a feeling, rather than actual empowerment, but it may be just a matter of how long they reside in the Blinkmoth Nexus, before they attain a higher level of power.
Kim Frandsen
Latest posts by Kim Frandsen (see all)
- Finder’s Archive – Crypt of the Eternals - June 2, 2023
