d24 Mythic Shoreline encounters boosted by neural networks

Starting with a d16 block of ideas from old folk tales, family stories and legends from North West Ireland.

Near shore graveyard marker, Co. Mayo

Mythic seashore encounters:
1. Shellfishers with baskets and large rakes, working along the tide line. They can tell you any movements along the coast and are happy to trade a delicious dinner for any extra hands to help them carry away the palm-sized cockles and hand-long razorfish they are raking up.
2. Lights at low tide, the spirits of a long dead chieftan and his warriors holding a moot on the strand exposed by the sea. Anyone who keeps distant and watches will see a full re-enactment of a key meeting before a battle that changed the local history. Reading lips by those who understand the old tongue is possible. The key point to be gleaned is where the battle took place and where the mighty artefacts the chief and his companions are wearing fell.
3. An ancient fey defense - a standing stone that flings iron far out to sea. The fey have long moved on after tide wore away a portion of their keep. The defense still stands, allowing those with fey-ancestry to pass while throwing any others who wear metal off the cliff it stands near.
4. A sea-stack fort which can be reached by a bridge that appears only by moonlight. The fort stands empty, but in good repair, left as if its owners expected to return one day. The goods and treasures within do not appear great but any familiar with local history will recognise crafts and metals long abandoned and these perfectly preserved daily wares could fetch a good price from collectors or those looking to bolster proof of their ancient noble lineage.
5. An old church, crumbling, the graves tumbling out as the sea eats away the graveyard. Bones are scattered across the sand of the fore-shore and each nightfall the unquiet spirit of the last keeper of the church appears, raving about unbelievers. Burying the bones respectfully will set them at ease.
6. A cottage of fisherfolk, among an abandoned village. They can provide shelter, warmth and a little plain food. They know all the local legends and can provide guidance to whatever the party may seek. For coin they could take people in their boat anywhere along the coast.
7. A sod-roofed house, ducks and geese, ferocious noise. An old blind lady lives here, last remnant of a far flung clan who often visit. She is surprisingly well informed about news in the realm in general and her judgement about the reactions of the high-and-mighty and how events will pan out is surprisingly good.
8. A donkey leading a cart laden with empty baskets home, alone. The driver has tumbled off somewhere back along the road. An open pot of spirits beneath the seat hints to his fate. Following the donkey leads to a small farm with an active still, back tracking it finds first the driver, snoring in a hedge, then a local house with most of the neighbourhood present, holding a wake for the recently deceased resident of that house. Music will be heard long before the house is sighted, at dawn the body will be carried to the graveyard for burial.
9. Locals with great baskets of sea-weed, carrying them from their shoreline harvest to the fields where they will put them. They know all the ways up and down the cliffs and where the local ruins are buried.
10. A cliff-top fortress where half has sheared off into the sea - raiders dwell here, striking the region. The easy access routes fell away, now it can only be landed by boat or by scaling the walls. The raiders will taunt any passers by from the heights and if they look wealthy, pursue them once the tide lets them launch their boat. Clearing out this gang will win great acclaim among the locals.
11. A wreck of a foreign invasion ship, guided by bad charts, driven onto rocks in a storm. Debris is scattered across the next few miles of beach, crab-eaten bones and sea-worn arms and equipment spread among it.
12. Grinding beach - strong currents drag rocks too and fro - an excellent place to drown or find smooth rocks. It is impossible to sleep near here with the noise.
13. Rip currents and a wicked spirit that attempts to lure travelers into the water. Warning totems are hammered into the ridge above the beach.
14. Fleeing lovers, she betrothed to a king, he once a trusted warrior. They are making for a hilltop ruin just inland to hide. Their pursuers are not far behind, their last stand will be bloody and brief.
15. A beached longboat with a party of giants from the land beyond. They are lead by a fearsome warlord with a single baleful glaring eye who has come to visit his son in law, a local lord.
16. A hero rests by a campfire near some rock pools. He roasts crabs in the ashes of his fire and offers to share his meager fare. He has been geased on a quest by his masters daughter to find a jeweled crab and is becoming concerned. What he seeks are opal crab-fossils in a nearby cliff

These encounter ideas are bulked out using repeated firings of the Bellard tool with some minor sense-checking and clean up:
17. Sailing along at the edge of a cliff, a hero must fight to keep their ships off the rocks, while the crew of a wrecked ship try to help the hero
18. A ruined ship from an invading fleet where a captain has lost all his slaves, one of the crew is murdered and the rest have drowned. The rest are led astern by sailors that have been brought to the wreckage
19. A beachland camp. A brave old man has found himself surrounded by soldiers. The soldier that has caught him says 'you were born to serve my lord'. The old man says 'there are men that serve me who will not let me die'. A battle breaks out.
20. A hill-top ruin, now covered with sand, the remains of a ship, or the wreckage of an invading force. The king has given them a secret passage, and there they have strolled, searching for riches and glory. There, on a ledge in between the rocks and the waves, in the dead light of a star, they have found, or lost their treasure - a gold-plated sword, and a silver-plate, to make great gifts to the kings who shall pass through.
21. The coast is a muddy mess, where the river winds through thickets. The river flows from a cave to the sea. It flows through the ruins of the town with a chapel, the ruins of an inn and a castle from another time
22. The head of a great king's noble family; one who is a giant of great power, a king who always wants for nothing, and a woman who has long known the glory of great power.
23. A pirate prince who has taken refuge in the tower. A group of warriors surround it who would love nothing more than to meet their great hero in a battle.
24. The daughter of a famous pirate. One who has lived a long and glorious life and who has lost her mother.

These best six were culled from the deeply random outputs below. Useful as prompts, combined with creatures encountered table, they give some interesting context. Set 1.
A. A man has discovered a source of freshwater by the sea near his camp, it is an ancient water source, about a thousand years old, it has dried up leaving a river bed behind.
B. A young noble and his friends are hunting on the beach. They hear a noise, and then run to discover what it is. The king is there at the sound of their footsteps, holding a giant hammer. The king declares that the men he has brought with him are their enemies.
C. A boat docked at a beach with a young noble and his friends. The king has sent his scouts to watch them.
Set 2.
D. A pirate's treasure haul.
E. A party of travellers making landfall, the captain of a sail-borne vessel is about to board their ship when a strange spirit approaches him and says: "Let go of me! I'm a monster! I'm a nightmare! I want to see you! A ghost of a pirate, just like me!"
F. A group of explorers taking refuge in an ancient ruin. They must hide in the shadows or in the great hall to make their presence known.
G. The ghost of a fisherman's wife who can't bear to be seen leaving his home town. All they can do is remain in the town and they are now all dead.
Set 3.
H. Two companions find gold and other riches around a boulder. They are eager to make a fortune on the treasure but neither wants to leave the other to guard it.
I. An old man in a forest of long-lived trees walks between trees. He is no great man in battle but he keeps a lantern from a nearby tree for illumination. He is still in the forest and cannot be moved but his voice echoes among the trees and is now the wail of a ghost.
J. The old man asks the young hero why he needs to fight the dragon. She cannot say because of the magic but she knows he must win. She is unsure which of them is genuine as he and his companions have been geased on the same quest. In return, the dragon will give his dragon bone with the bone and bone is in the form of a claw.

Trim out the longer entries from the original table and test again to get set 4.
K. A sandy beach where a sailor might be stranded with a few bottles of water - a good place to lay low
L. A road that could lead anywhere, a path on the other side of the river
M. A village that's lost its villages. The village is broken - a village that once stood, but now is rotting. An abandoned church. A house that doesn't have a roof. A house that won't hold any water. A river that runs past a house that may never be built again. An old man in heavy old boots, standing on what used to be a bridge. A lighthouse that's gone.
N. A small city that's still standing. It's abandoned - broken and burnt, its remains left by those people who settled it.
O. It's dark and a little windy - I don't know why this is the case
P. A bridge across the water that never will be repaired. It'll be a good place to float
Q. It's a beach town for only one reason - a boat is stranded on it
R. The town is run down, deserted. No one comes to it. You'll need to make a way home. There's no one to tell you who you are

Take all the outputs from the first series (set 1-5) and use those as inputs to get set 6:
S. A group of pirates who have been driven mad by a giant's tongue, they can't bear to die and are unable to sail, so they sail in a boat to be sure of safety.
T. A man who has spent many a lonely night in the streets with a great white dragon, this dragon is finally free of the bonds of life.
U. A man in the shadow of the walls, he keeps vigil over a castle in a war that will see its greatest hero slain.
V. A great king's daughter whose father's great house has been shattered by her great hero's sword.
W. A pirate boy who finds himself caught in the arms of a great master who wants only one thing and is more than willing to give him anything.
X. A pirate prince whose pirates have found themselves caught in the arms of a pirate.