My first new fantasy poem in awhile! I have been running a lot of TTRPG games lately and some of my players' closest calls have been trap-related. That, paired with my recently listening to Throne of Iron's song "Shower of Steel" set my mind to thinking. This light-hearted ode to instant dungeon crawler death was the result.
Ambition is what brought you here
And carelessness lays you low.
If only you hadn't stepped there
Who can say how far you'd go?
One foot upon the pressure plate
Are all the darts required.
They flew free from their stone-made roost
And left you bloody and expired.
Try not to fret as you slip free
From your wasted mortal coil.
We promise you're not the first whose quest
These traps have left despoiled.
Just last week a tripwire
Unleashed a batch of poison gas.
The poor sad fools were left gasping
Until their lungs choked out their last.
And before that - one solemn day;
There was a pit of spikes!
It skewered a knight in polished mail
Like a boar stuck on a pike.
So as your soul begins to wander
On toward dark planes unknown.
Take solace that you're in good company
And that you won't be there alone!
