LONE PINE HILL

Lone Pine Hill is visible from several miles in each direction.  On the Eastern side of the Kos River Valley, it rises from the surrounding gently sloped valley-floor.  Atop the hillock is a pine, ancient and vast.  It crawls upward, gnarl upon gnarl, a dense titan bristling with dark needles, hundreds of feet high and host to a self-contained ecosystem.

The undisputed master of that ecosystem is the White Serpus of Lone Pine Hill.  Albino and blue-eyed, it spends its days nestled in and amongst the innumerable curving boughs of the Lone Pine, descending only to destroy and devour anything larger than a Murder-Crow that passes beneath its home.

Once, the Serpus was a beautiful young woman.  Her lover traveled far away to war and never returned.  She waited by the Lone Pine until finally her spirit, fetted with jealously at the thought of him finding another, transformed her into a Serpus.  Since then, she has waited in the timeless manner of the Serpus for her lover to return.  Unfortunately, the mind of the Serpus has largely taken control by now, causing her to coil and to choke, to strangle and to envenom and to feed, and to spend dreaming decades in reptilian stupor, dreaming of her lost love.

The Serpus will not attack a young male warrior who does not attack her first.  Instead, she will descend silently and stare with bright blue eyes directly into his face until he does something.  If he treats her with kindness, he may be able to keep her as a "pet".
The only way to transform the Serpus back into the woman she once was is to pronounce (truthfully) that you love her at the Island-Temple at Par-Kos.

Amidst the tangled roots of the Pine lie half-bured the detritus of the Serpus.  Most of it consists of crinkly shed skin and the occasional animal bone or Lowder husk, but wedged between two massive roots is the skeleton of a Far-Traveler from the late 19th Century.  His corpse bears a large silver belt buckle attached to a shred of leather belt, and an antique (but still functional) .50 caliber revolver containing 2 spent shells and 4 unspent shells (should be treated as a magic item - non-Earthlings probably will not immediately grasp how it functions.  Medium range, deals 2d6 damage) along with a Bowie knife (treat as non-magical Dagger +1).  He also wears a gold ring on one finger and a pair of steel spurs.  Other than that, only a few buttons remain.

STAR EATER

This is a magic sword for my Pendragon of Mars campaign.

THE RELIC SWORD
"Star-Eater" is an ancient electro-sword from before the Apocalypse.  It can function as a normal sword, but this is not the true power.
STAR-EATER can be sheathed in a powerful electric field similar in design to a particle shield, which allows it to slice through any object.  Unlike a regular particle shield, STAR-EATER grows more powerful when it contacts extreme heat, energy, or kinetic force.
In addition, STAR-EATER contains a highly advanced onboard AI.  To activate this AI, several wires which hang from the pommel must be inserted into the wielder's nerve-endings.  Once this is done, the mind of the sword and the mind of the wielder become one.  The Sword is laden with complex spatial cognition algorithms.  When properly connected, the user can make Personal Combat checks at +10 and can also use the Sword to absorb incoming plasma blasts or laser beams.  As the sword absorbs more energy, it gains greater combat bonuses.
The Sword uses up a Type A energy cell every other round when the field is activated, except rounds in which it absorbs energy.  If the Sword is plugged into the wielder, it requires no energy cells (it instead draws from the life-force of the wielder).
Some say that the Sword is cursed, and will cause only destruction and ruin to all around it.  Every time STAR-EATER is plugged into the wielder's nervous system, he must take a check for trait: VENGEFUL

NEWS & GOSSIP in KOS

NEWS

Every town or city should have a random chart for news, which in turn provides opportunities for adventures.  These charts can also be used for gossip rolls, which some adventurers are wont to seek in every tavern large and small.  Or really any other time you feel lazy being a sandbox DM

if the Party stays in a certain settlement for a while, more News items should be added to each list.

Each chart should have the same 3 categories:
roll 1d3 per news/gossip
1. GOOD NEWS
2. TERRIBLE NEWS
3. SUPERNATURAL NEWS

Here's an incomplete example for the small caravanserai of PILGRIM'S PASSING:

GOODS NEWS!
1. "The new axe in Piku's shop is the finest I have yet seen.  I watched him shave Nahvarok with it, and  even Nahvarok had to laugh."
2. "The domesticated Carnivorous Goats are breeding rapidly - perhaps too rapidly."
3. "The Trader Jah is in town!  O Happy day! He brings always the finest goods from far-off lands, and never gives a bad deal.  The young people will be happy tonight when he opens his market in the center square.  I've heard Iaello may open one of his most hallucinatory fig wines."
4. "As I came here, I passed a Holy Man of God-Kos sitting by the side of the road.  He seemed lost in prayer, but had a small basket in front of him."
5. "Shearing Day is here!  It is time for all in the village to help wrangle and shear the female Canivorous Goats."
6. "Today is the Blessing-Day of Kos.  We must all go to the river to be re-baptized, to protect our village for another year.  Will you come/watch my insane bedridden grandfather/serve as an acolyte?"
7. "Today is the Thirteenth Ide of Io!  Free whippings and prostitutes for all!"
8. "The Loe River Clan have their basket-boats in the town harbor.  They are offering pearls and other strange things in return for metal."
9. "A minstrel is playing songs in Iaello's drinking house!  He appears a well-traveled fellow, and his voice is deep but pleasant.  He has an ear for tragedies and great deeds."
10. "Flax Harvest day!  Rhynt the Elder has demanded that all women take the traditional role of guarding the men while they harvest the Flax. (or vice versa)
11. "Did you see the Loean Barge at the docks?  By the Blank Face, I've rarely seen such riches!"
12. "A Road-Tribe is passing through town.  It's always worth seeing their bizarre walking houses, even if their goods are mostly junk."
13. "The Floods have come!   Quickly, retreat to the rooftops!  Today is a day of partying and celebration!"
14. "A Show-Barge is in town!  I always feel like a little child again when the Show-Barges come."
15. "A Harvestman named Logo was gone for a while.  We feared him dead, but he returned with powerful objects.  He said that he said seen strange things beneath the White Mounds, and was ready to go again."
ETC etc etc

TERRIBLE NEWS!
1. "Someone has stolen the Silent Girl!
2. "There is a duellist pacing around in the town square.  He says he seeks a worthy foe.  Sherriff Dronlan Three-Swords will probably kill him soon."
3. "The handle to my shovel broke!  Fah... I'll have to cut a new one.  I hate to buy anything from the Wood Tribe."
4. "A minstrel has appeared at Iaello's Drinking House.  He is quite handsome and has a fine tenor.  I have a feeling there will be jealous men tonight."
5. "I'm worried about Abor the Gong-Man.  He pleaded for higher wages, Elder Rhynt denied him.  Now, he seems to spend all his time moping at the Drinking House or alone."
6. "It's time for the Flax Planting.  All hands are needed - both to plant the seeds and to fight off monsters."
7. "A Toad-Man Bully has shown up in town.  He's pushed several people around on the street and hit one man with a broken shovel-handle.  Now he sits in Iaello's Drinking House, demanding free wine and picking fights with everyone.  Everybody's too scared to do anything about it, and Sherriff Dronlan Three-Swords is in one of his moods."
8. "Rooster the Red Merchant is in town.  He always has rare things, but I would count my fingers after meeting him.  The mothers had better lock up their daughters."
9. RAID!
...etc ...etc

SUPERNATURAL NEWS!

1. "I saw a Goblin last night.  It was in my shelf, watching me.  I threw a good blanket over the shelf, but he only watched me from beneath.  I sang loudly, blinked three times, and crossed my eyes at him.  After that, I could tell he was harmless, but he continued watching me all night and gave me nightmares."

2. "There are far more Ravens than usual.  Either Rhialto is planning something, or we're in for bloodshed soon."

3. "A Ghost has inhabited Five's farm!  He tried to chase it out by throwing rocks and shouting, but it did not work.  Nobody knows what to do - he can't go home."

4. etc etec 

DOMESTICATED BEASTS of KOS

DOMESTICATED BEASTS of KOS
A Beast is a creature which is too large or strange to be an animal.

1. Herd Beasts - very important for labor + trade.  large, stupid and slow, good for hauling carts & meat. this term is used to describe any livestock kept for the aforementioned purposes. endlessly proliferate pagentries of horns, frills and antlers.
2. Carnivorous Goat - goats have evolved to eat anything, including humans.   Swift omnivorous scavengers with 6 legs, crab-like shell on the back, and fangs.  Produce sweet milk and wool, and are thus kept as livestock despite their dangerous nature.  Steamed legs are a delicacy
3. Pack-Lizard - large, slow-moving lizard used for desert travel.
4. Riding Lizard - deinonychus-sized speedy predators, used as deadly light calvary
5. Riding Bird - exceedingly swift, can fly in short bursts and uses wings to propel self when running or jumping.  used as courier mounts
6. Blood-Beast - provides nourishing blood, useful for drinking in lieu of water.  Nutritious Blood can also ferment to form a thick alcoholic slurry, or mixed with ground grains to provide a protein-rich gruel.  This gruel is sometimes boiled in cases made in the small carapace of the Blood-Beast's thorax, and then allowed to congeal into Blood Pudding - a rare treat on the march.  Immobile and otherwise almost worthless
7. The Chained Artifact
8. Scrap-Beast - road-tribes sometimes construct these golem-like creatures from scrap wood, small structures, and bits and pieces of other large animals.  Family groupings then live atop and travel upon these ungainly engines
9. Armor-Beast - large and loud mixture of insect, dinosaur, crustacean and pachyderm.  Used as steeds for ultra-heavy shock cavalry, or goaded forth as living siege engines. long, banner-like tails slowly change color to match the coat-of-arms of the owner
10. Pavilion-Monsters - large pachyderms outfitted with various spikes, hooks, palisades and fighting platforms to deter attackers.  Used as mobile fortifications and personnel carriers during battle.
11. The Tower-Monster - local name for a enormous brachiosaurus with a small keep built onto its back
12. Riding Snail - very slow, but able to crawl up vertical surfaces.  retracts into shell when it perceives danger, whether the owner would prefer or not