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Samara Nyeme
The enigmatic and powerful Madame Koto, witchy, plump as a mighty fruit, who runs the local bar, a place always undergoing fabulous mutations, where every day is a celebration, an affirmation of her legend. Prepared to sacrifice all to her burning ambition and subsequently becomes a little too involved with the local political thugs and the evil side of the spirit world. Has followers.
If a character dies in this dreamworld, she just shows up in a different village
Death’s house. Eight hours from the crossroads. No one on the road. Death tends a yam garden. A small rolling drum on the verandah, whose strings follow Death’s orders. Centuries-old skeletons. Burning bones as wood, using skulls as basins, plates, and tumblers. Offers guests a bed made with human bones, then enters late at night with a club to thrash out the guest’s head.
The complete gentleman dazzles men and women who follow him, but all his body parts are rented from others. Bottom to top he disassembles himself as he walks through the endless forest, returning each piece to its rightful owner and paying a rental fee. Ultimately he is reduced to a skull, humming with a terrible voice. His house is an underground hole, where thousands of other skulls live, using large frogs as stools. They roll along the ground. They have a pit filled with magic cowries, which are the source of their power. They tie a rope with a magic cowry around the neck of prisoners; the cowry makes noise if they try to escape. The prisoner cannot speak or eat until the cowry is removed. There are two magical plants, one whose leaves, if eaten, restore the speech, the other whose leaves loosen the rope making the awful noise.
A character’s thumb swells, then bursts; out comes a boy talking like a ten-year-old. Within the hour, he grows to more than three feet. He asks his mother if she knows his name, then his father; he identifies himself as "ZURRJIR," which he says means "son who would change himself into another thing very soon." ZURRJIR knows everything the characters know; he eats obscene quantities, leaving everyone else to starve. He’s physically powerful, able to beat dozens of people to death at once. He still considers the PCs his mother and father. He survives damage, just getting more burned and beat-up-looking.
In the bush: wormlike white creatures with a smooth skin, a quarter of a mile long, with one mouth at the end. Travel in packs of around a hundred. Their flesh is clammy and cold. They try to rub up against people for warmth, while endlessly saying "coldcoldcoldcdolcdold." If the characters light a fire, the creatures will circle it and leave the PCs alone.
A sign on the road says "Unreturnable-Heaven’s Town." Hundreds of crazed, violent people swarm the PCs, beating them. They are brought before the king, who orders that their heads be shaved. Using pieces of broken bottles, the townspeople shave the PCs’ heads, then beat them some more. Holes are dug, and the characters are buried to their necks. They are flogged about the head some more, then an eagle flies overhead. The townspeople run away at this omen. Shortly after, it begins to rain, loosening the dirt around the characters.
Song, Dance, and Drum are the personifications of music and dancing. The most contagious singing, the catchiest rhythm, a dance you just wanna be a part of. They wander around, attracting people to join them in celebration.
Wraith-Island. Actually a benevolent place. A friendly town where everyone is starving. Weeds grow preternaturally fast here, to full size in a matter of minutes, so nothing they plant can grow. If the PCs investigate, they’ll find a tiny man without a name. The king had to give everyone a name, but this two-inch-tall man couldn’t attract the king’s attention, and so he was never named. He’s been making the weeds grow; if the king would only give him a name, he’ll stop making the weeds grow.
A market filled with strange creatures. One creature, which looks like a shriveled purple jack-o’-lantern, is immortal; it will try to buy your death from you. He can pay up to eighty pounds for it. Should a character sell, he or she will gain an extra hero point.
The tree is stark white, with a pair of human hands extruding from it. The hands beckon the characters to come in. If the characters climb into the tree, they’ll realize that they’re in a big house, in a big beautiful town. A woman named Faithful-Mother will come and take care of the PCs.
Abiku, or spirit-children, are ghosts in Nyeme's dream who are always being reborn. They consider life much too painful, and make a pact to die as soon as they can if they get born.
Cats can talk.