My players are swiftly approaching a plot arc they have long been pursuing that will take place in Duervna, a keeps-to-itself state that’s long been riding high on the benefits reaped from localized magical effects and resources.

On a whim and a player’s suggestion for a hireling’s background (and the great accompanying voice acting he provided) Ireland was loosely chosen as the linguistic influence for Duervna. I’m not aiming to ship magical !ireland but forgoing phrases and mannerisms seems like I’d be passing up some low key immersive gems. How much to layer these sorts of things in, to what degree might I be inclined to pull from historical culture and what do the particulars of Duervna change for these tidbits?

Magic is in the air. This setting has power coming from leylines in the earth as one possible source. Duervna is situated right over a potent nexus that has gradually affected the residents over the ages. Enter magicyte (ore) aeternum (processed), a trope certified blue magic rock that acts as a conduit for the ambient magic. When discussing the particulars of it with the aforementioned party member he remarked it sounded a lot like Dune’s spice. Power the pseudo magic items, spice the foods, use it in lavish art as displays of wealth. I figure blue could become the color of wealth but what then of typical clothing?

Magic is used for anything where the cost benefit ratio is favorable. Government by some mix of lords and elected officials. Harsh prison sentence means you’re headed to the magicyte mines. Everyone has magical tattoos that are used for displaying their name and affiliations as floating runes. (The hireling, as a branded military deserter, has his shameful runes always on. Though he’s getting pardoned when they arrive). One party member is secretly disinherited nobility from Duervna, and the party has seen he wreckage of a civilization that harnessed leylines (And necromancy) to power their flying cities only for a cataclysm to drop it all from the sky and turn the survivors to desperate measures to sustain the amount of magic they were dependent on.

The party is coming here simply to get a meteorite forged to serve as a power source for a few flying contraptions from the crashed city they plan on bolting into their ship. I’d like to strike them with a sense of Different and Fantastic that calls back to the wonders of childhood discovery. And so I come to you fellow playgrounders wondering what details, what delivery methods, which props and scenes have been amazing on the delivery and evocation of feelings. For a group of tired 9-5ers staring at a roll20 splash of some lovingly rendered city where can I direct my efforts to best strike immersion, interest, and in these jaded times perhaps a bit of awe (or foreboding at a future foreshadowed)?

What storytelling tools and delivery methods have you found particularly helpful or otherwise experienced as impactful that I might adopt here?