Atlas Of The Latter Earth [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

III

Table of Contents A Past Without Beginning 1 The Lands of the West 4 The Lords of the First Age 6 The Masters of the Second Age  8 The Fallen of the Third Age  10 A Timeline of Significant Events 12 Seas and Mountains of Note 14 A Summary of Lands and Nations 16 The Amundi Kingdoms The Anak Wastes The Aristoi Principalities Atba Sim Atlantis The Black Pact The Bluecrowns The Choking Dunes Couront The Far Wastes The Fifth Dynasty The Free Clans The Gadavin Coast The Godblight The Gyre Hantu The Hundred Schools Kytheron The Litten Strand Maqqatba Ninth Leng Ondas Runom Sarx Sath Ingit The Scarlet Princes Shinbu Anak The Still Cities The Sunward Isles Tavat The Tombfell Tribes of Hyperborea

20 26 28 30 32 38 40 41 42 43 44 50 52 54 55 56 58 60 64 66 68 72 78 84 90 94 98 100 102 103 104 106

108 112 114 120 126 127 Languages of the West 128 Beasts and Fell Things  130 Anak Species  132 Ancient Creations 134 Arratu Monsters 140 Blighted 142 Dangerous Beasts 148 Sea Monsters 150 Undead and Spirits 152 Optional Rules and Classes 158 Low and No-Magic Campaigns 159 Optional Rules 161 Primitive Firearms 162 Ondasi Hurlants 163 Mundane Alchemy 164 New Character Classes 167 The Accursed 168 The Bard 170 The Mageslayer 172 The Wise 174 Maqqatban Knight Foci 176 Amundi Godblood Foci 178 Arcane Secret Foci 180 Non-Human Origin Foci 181 Character Tags 184 Naval Adventuring 198 The Ship Combat Turn 207 Example Ships 212 Backer Credits 214 Index 216 Tseb Hwii The Verdancy Vitrum The Xindai Commanderies Yain Yamad’s Bones 

© 2022, Sine Nomine Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-950965-18-2 Written by Kevin Crawford Cover by Jeff Brown. Art by Adobe Stock/breakermaximus, Dominick, ElConsigliere, Kalleeck, liuzishan, lobard, Newtronial, T Studio, thanawong, warmtail, Николай Акатов.

1

A PAST WITHOUT BEGINNING Year upon year, age upon age, the Latter Earth has heaped higher its sorrows and its wonders. Uncounted empires lie buried beneath its dust, proud kings and petty men all equal now beneath the impartial veil of forgetting. Their deeds once made the world cry out; now they are no more than a sculpted stone, a curious artifact, a monstrous beast that once served well…. Men do not even remember them enough to tell lies about them. Yet if they are forgotten now, their deeds were all too real in their own hour. Their works remain in the present day, with terrible ruins and fearsome Deeps enticing those bold enough to waken that which has long slept. Their gold drips from bony hands, their treasures shine in darkened chambers, and their secrets wait for living mouths to speak them once again. Their sons and daughters have raised new kingdoms on the bones of the old. Even now, men and women struggle against the weight of the pitiless past and the dangers of the savage present. Grand lords rule in the palaces of their ancestors, and armies of bronze and steel march on ancient roads. They contend as kings and queens have ever contended, and their people endure it as they have always endured. Amid these wars and intrigues, between these decadent cities and the trackless wilds about them, there are those who desire more than the world would willingly give. These men and women are adventurers, the mad freebooters and reckless sellswords that dare the wrath of an endless past to seize its most precious treasures. The crowns of dead kings, the jewels of vanished queens, and the secrets of sorcerers long burning in their hells await their bloody grasp.

In this book you will learn of the lands of Agathon and Gyarus, the two great continents of the western Latter Earth. Cruel and magnificent in equal measure, these nations and scattered tribes are heir to the deeds of ages and the blood of ancient kings. They have inherited the disputes of those now long dust and the mistakes of those no longer here to suffer them. So too, you will find tales of the awful beasts that stalk the deep glades of the wilderness and the shadowed streets of human cities. Grim Rusted Princes rule in their decaying towers and hungry ghouls celebrate their awful feasts in charnel places. Autopurgators carry out the vendettas of their dead masters, while weeping dragons strive to remember the age when they were young and happy. There are new tools here with which to fight them. Instruction is given in the making of campaigns where magic is weak or not to be found, and the telling of foreign histories in lands where there are no true wizards. The secrets of the fearsome wheelguns of Ondas, the struggles of ships upon the sea, and the subtle alchemies of unsorcerous scholars are given here, with all the ways in which they may be of use to adventurers. New professions are provided in turn. Accursed laden with fell pacts, Bards gifted with Legacy-woven power, Mageslayers fell for the killing of wizards, and the Wise in unmagical ways are all offered for your play. So too are new Foci to arm these fresh heroes. This book is for the making of your own world, whatever you may take from this one. Whether your heroes rise to glory or perish in the hungry dark, let these pages aid you in sending them to their fate.

2

Using This Book as a Game Master This book is intended to provide equal parts inspiration and practical help for a busy GM. The strange lands, sinister creatures, and unfamiliar peoples within are meant to give a small taste of a world only half-familiar, one scabbed over by a fathomless past and burdened by choices its long-vanished ancestors have made. Even so, these pages are also meant to give a GM the information they need to actually turn these descriptions into playable fun at the table, for there is no profit in a world too strange for a game master to use. Many setting books of this sort assume that the reader is an old hand at campaign creation and does not need any specific advice on how to make use of a setting atlas. Some readers will undoubtedly be so versed, but out of consideration for those less confident in their demiurgic powers the following steps will help you get the most out of this book.

Skim the World

Every author likes to imagine the reader lingering contemplatively over every jeweled syllable of their prose, but authors like to imagine a lot of things. This book is for your own entertainment, and you should read it exactly as carefully as you like. Start by skimming the gazetteer section. Glance over the thumbnail history at the start of the chapter and leave a bookmark next to the continental map so you can reference it easily later. Then start paging through the nation descriptions. If the introductory paragraph doesn’t grab you, drift on to the next land. If it piques your curiosity, check back on the continental map to see where this land lies in relation to its neighbors and then investigate it a little more attentively. Think about whether this land has themes or elements that would suit it to a campaign. Does it do something you like? Make a note of it for later. Has it got elements that don’t suit you? Make a note to clip those bits out for your own rendition of the place, or reshuffle them into something more to your liking. Skim through the nations until the end, and you should have a certain number of places that have potential as a start for a campaign. While you should keep the tastes of your players in mind, it’s important to focus on the places and peoples that interest you. You’re the one who is going to be doing the worldbuilding work.

Scan the Bestiary

With a few places in mind, now glance through the bestiary section of the book and consider some of the vile beasts and sinister entities within. Do any of them strike your interest as antagonists? Even if none leap out, you might note down a few creatures you’d like your players to encounter during your campaign, or some that play on themes and elements you want to emphasize at your table. Any of them can be reshuffled as needed.

Read the New Rules and Classes

At this point, you need to start reading more carefully. This section of the book contains a number of optional new mechanics and classes, and you can expect your players to likely be interested in using some or all of them. While the rules and classes given are meant to be balanced for the typical table, your concern is for the specific group you have. Not everything that works for the median party is going to work at your table. Some rules may not be relevant; you won’t care about low-magic campaigns if you’re running a game in the heart of the Amundi kingdoms, and you may not care about new wound rules if you’re not really interested in increasing the grit of your game. If a rule does look interesting, you can add it as a provisional addition to your game. If it doesn’t work out well for you in play, be ready to pull it or change it to something more suitable. For the new classes, read them over and think about whether or not any of your players are likely to be interested in them. You shouldn’t feel obligated to add them to your campaign unless you feel comfortable with their abilities and the impact they might have on play. If you do allow them, the players should understand that their existence is provisional and if they don’t work out for either the player or the GM some retroactive changes may be called for.

Make a Location Shortlist

Now that you have a selection of interesting nations, potential antagonists, and additional rules in mind, go down the nation list and pick a few locations that appeal as the starting points for a campaign. If you don’t have any particular players in mind for your game yet, you can then winnow down that short list to the one you like best and use the tools in the Worlds Without Number core book and this volume to flesh it out into the proper start for a sandbox campaign.

Talk With Your Players

If you do have a specific group of players, however, take your shortlist to them and talk it over. Maybe one choice will be an obvious favorite with them, or maybe their interests give you an entirely new idea. It’s not uncommon for a campaign to shift wildly at this stage as a GM gets a clever idea from listening to what their players want to focus on in the campaign. This is also a good opportunity to talk over the addition of new rules or new character classes. It may be the players just aren’t interested in something you planned on involving, and finding that out now can save you a lot of wasted prep work. Once everyone’s on the same page, you can start to build your campaign using the corebook’s tools and guidelines with the confidence that your efforts will be enjoyed by an engaged band of heroes.

3

The Facts of the World While the Latter Earth is similar to our own in many ways, there are some basic facts about its societies that must be kept in mind if many of its realities are to make sense. Three particular facts need to be understood if a GM is to have a comfortable time running campaigns in the Latter Earth.

Humans Don’t Rule The Earth

On the modern globe, the only truly empty regions of Earth are those that are utterly uninhabitable or utterly worthless. “Trackless wildernesses” are almost never uninhabited so much as they are simply thinly peopled. There are very few situations where a habitable territory with useful natural resources is left unclaimed. In the Latter Earth, there can be a hundred miles of utter wilderness a few days away from a nation’s capital. It’s not a wilderness because no one wants its resources or territory, it’s a wilderness because it’s full of unspeakable monsters and alien horrors that even an army could not reliably root out. Human nations simply do not have the manpower or the resources to secure territory beyond the immediate reach of their communities. Many of these wildernesses were once thriving lands with kingdoms and cities the equal of any modern realm. Yet time overcame them all the same, just as many present nations will yet fall to the constant peril of vile beasts, cruel Blighted, or natural, inexorable disaster.

Science Is Futile

Modern societies experience technological progress. We explore the fundamental laws of physical reality, and

through experimentation and careful repetition we can produce reliable effects and lasting conclusions. This is not the case in the Latter Earth. Due to the decay of the Legacy all manner of basic physical laws are now conditional, temporary, and special-cased. Even the spells of sorcerers cannot be guaranteed to remain functional over several ages, let alone the fine distinctions of chemistry, biology, or physics. Because of this, there is no point in scientific research. There is no reliable technological advancement, and the societies of the present are no more advanced than those of ten thousand years ago. If anything, they may be more limited by the ongoing decay of the Legacy and the failure of ancient Workings. The future does not automatically bring progress of any kind.

Adventurers are Recognized

It’s inevitable that there will be men and women willing to dare the perils of the wilderness and the monstrous secrets of the past in order to come away with gold, glory, and power. Every nation counts some number of these adventurers as useful if disposable members of society. Most nations recognize adventuring as a particular societal role, one dedicated to driving back monsters, plundering ancient ruins, and performing criminal acts for pay. It is rarely an esteemed role, but most societies have made their peace with it and have ways of managing relations with these freebooters. Laws and social expectations are often a little laxer with them, for odds are that most of them will be dead soon enough… hopefully before causing more trouble than they’re worth.

4

THE LANDS OF THE WEST The western hemisphere of the Latter Earth is the one best known to the scholars of the Gyre. Numerous tales and legends of the far eastern lands are cherished by storytellers and sages alike, but there has been so little contact with the east during recorded history that few would dare to speak with confidence. The history of the west is better understood. The scholars of the Gyre use the traditional Brass Calendar for their calculations, beginning their epoch with the arrival of the Reaping King in 1 AL, “after landing”. Dates before this epoch are expressed as “BL”, or “before landing”. The current date by Gyre reckoning is 1055 AL. The true age of the Latter Earth is unknown, and perhaps unknowable due to the splintering of Iterums. In the western hemisphere, however, all reliable recorded history begins with a great and ancient catastrophe.

The Colligation of Epochs

At some point near the year 3000 BL a massive convulsion of space and time disordered much of the Latter Earth, an event later known as the Colligation of Epochs. Cities were trapped in amber bubbles of frozen hours, lands were warped and reconnected in impossible topographies, and several empires rose, prospered, and fell within isolated chronal pockets that seemed to exist for no more than an hour elsewhere. The temporal chaos made it impossible to synchronize events world-wide, and it is only out of convention that scholars place the “end” of the event in 3012 BL. After that point time and space appear to have regained their consistency over the majority of the planet, though even today there remain pockets of dangerous asynchrony or distorted space in the more isolated regions of the world. This Colligation of Epochs marks the supposed initiation of the current Latter Earth Iterum, one identified as “108 Triumphant Void”. Some sages dispute this origin, crediting the earlier Yamad Rebellion as the fruit of an Iteral divergence, while others think that the Logomachy of Nakad’s creation of the Cut splintered off the present reality, claiming that the identifier “108 Triumphant Void” does not appear in that precise form until shortly after that calamity. The truth is extremely difficult to discern, however, as this world’s parent Iterum is unknown in the present age. Without knowing the history of the former world it is all but impossible to discern where the current one first diverged. The texts known as the Seven Ash Scriptures kept by the now-defunct Smoke Venerants appear to point to the Colligation as the most likely point of splitting, claiming certain meta-ontological equivalences that connect the great disaster to the Preterite glyphs that the later scholars of the Black Glass Forest in present-day Vitrum first read as “108 Triumphant Void”. The coaltongue of the Smoke Venerants is poorly understood by modern scholars, however, and the sorceries used to help

translate it cannot repair the numerous corruptions and scribal lacunae introduced in the past several thousand years. It’s possible that these equivalencies were inserted long after the scriptures were first compiled. The aftermath of the Colligation continues to plague modern-day historians. Many of the dates and locations recorded in ancient texts are inconsistent or implausible, and it remains difficult, if not impossible, to determine how many of these disagreements are due to transcription errors or the author’s own ignorance, and how many are due to chronal or spatial distortions left over from the Colligation. Scholar-seekers of the Calendric Order in Atlantis continue to investigate historical and contemporary temporal disorders, but even those daring scholars can verify only so much. In the millenia since, these Atlantean scholars have divided history into three great ages, from the little-known first to the present third age. Many anticipate some great turning soon to usher the world into a fourth.

Historical Scholarship The four thousand years of history dimly retained by scholars of the present western lands is owed chiefly to the work of sorcerers. The incessant search for ancient magic these adepts undertake leaves them with a large supply of ancient documents, lost codices, and hidden inscriptions that their magic is often able to repair and at least partially translate. Even so, the restricted interests of most sorcerers tend to leave frustrating lacunae in the past. Many topics of great interest to historians, such as details of political shifts, cultural mores, daily life, and even basic biological facts about ancient peoples are but little-represented in these salvaged grimoires. Sages who specialize in historical questions must often piece together conclusions from scraps of implication and insinuation, and their accuracy suffers considerably as a consequence. As a result, many nations have at least one or two academic institutions dedicated to seeking out ancient ruins for their documents and cultural artifacts. These adventuring sages are often bankrolled by wizards or nobles eager to get the benefit of their magical discoveries. Among independents, some such scholars are largely indistinguishable from common tomb-robbing adventurers save for their wider linguistic education. Seekers into the past should not be surprised if document dates conflict, traditions contradict each other, or past histories do not seem to match perfectly. Few among those who recorded them were there to see the truth of matters, while others had good reasons to conceal the truth.

6

The Lords of the First Age The exact nature of most of the kingdoms and civilizations that existed in the first thousand years after the Colligation remain unclear to modern scholars. Documents accessible to the scholars of the Gyre region are focused mainly on the surrounding continent of Gyarus, the continent of Agathon to the north, and the great island of Carce, later known as Atlantis. Within this scope several great nations are known to have existed at some point. As they commenced at the start of recorded history, beyond the light of surviving scholarship, they and their rulers are often spoken of as the “midnight kings”. These polities were merely some of the most significant during the first quasi-recorded age of human history, and include only those known to scholars of the Gyre. In the western lands, the beginning of this era is thought to be marked by the end of the Colligation of Epochs, and the end of it signified by the pact in 1605 BL between the first King of Carce and the Zakathi rebels that overthrew the island’s former republic. The Deep Lords: A collective name for the several dozen Far Deeps that banded together in order to conquer the surface world around 2500 BL. The surface had already been claimed by the peoples liberated from higher, shallower Deeps, and by the time the ancestors of the Far Deeps had managed to reach the surface, little unclaimed land remained for them. Their lords had a superlative understanding of the ancient pathways beneath the earth, however, and their armies were known for appearing as if by magic at far distances from one another. Their deep imprisonment and the changes wrought by their jailers left them poorly-suited for the sunlit world, however, and the few surface kingdoms they established did not prosper. Their ruins tend to be shallow bunker-settlements once surrounded by ancient fields. They almost invariably have at least one deep shaft leading to the old transit passages, most of which are collapsed in the present age. The Four Dynasties: Several consecutive dynastic empires thrived throughout the continent of Gyarus. The first appears to have ruled through military power, the second through divine theocratic authority, the third as a scholarly magocracy derived from these gods, and the fourth as a bureaucratic counter-revolution against sorcerous excesses. Dynastic ruins are especially thick in the center of the continent, particularly around their once-capital of Anchang. Their last remnants still persist in the modern rulers of the Fifth Dynasty. Dynastic settlements often had extensive underground areas dedicated to civil defense, particular subterranean gods, or dubious arcane traditions.

The Grand Harmony: The last major surviving Outsider empire in this region of the Latter Earth, being established by a confederation of Outsider species in the southeastern parts of Agathon and on the island of Carce, later known as Atlantis. Having failed to overcome humanity by violence before the Colligation, the Harmony attempted to influence their neighbors through subterfuge, alien sorceries, and calculated diplomacy. Their own human chattel were imprisoned within fortress-Deeps on the island, and it was not until the rising of the Liberator Queen that the humans were able to break free of their walled domains and exterminate their alien jailers. Even so, persistent legends speak of hidden bargains and secret agreements made to preserve some fragment of the aliens’ old power. Harmony ruins were all initially built to suit the alien requirements of their inhabitants, but each tended to have a small associated Deep for breeding and housing human servitors or livestock. The Intoners: A civilization marked by the great metal bands they embedded in the earth, straps as broad as roads that were flung over much of western Agathon. They were said to possess secrets of music capable of manipulating the Legacy, the mystical chords transmitted through the “iron weft” to extend the reach of their power. Their cities were all resonant towers of iron and glass, and silence was blasphemous to them. Now almost all of the surviving iron weft is long lost under the earth and their cities are no more than rust and buried shards in windblown places. Surface ruins of the Intoners are largely decayed. Subsurface structures can be dangerously charged with occult musical energies, or maintain echoes of ancient weft-resonant powers. The Liberated Republic: This short-lived polity was formed on the island of Carce under the leadership of the Liberator Queen, a semi-mythical figure who led the great rebellion that finally broke the Grand Harmony. Modern scholars believe she was the human monarch of one of the fortress-prisons of Carce, but surviving Zakathi execration-texts insist she was actually an Outsider herself, one who betrayed both Gan Zakath and her own kind. The republic she founded scarcely outlived her, collapsing under the pressure of Zakathi hostilities and internal conflict within the fortress-prisons. Republic ruins tend to be few and relatively small in size. The radical individualism encouraged by their society led to a preference for small like-minded groups of neighbors rather than large, coordinated urban areas.

7 The Pale Empire: Led by a necromantic Imperator of superlative power, one who maintained an entire kingdom of both the living and the animate dead. Those who still drew breath were expected to provide a tax of children for the next generation, with the most fruitful and useful of his living servants promised the best grade of unlife upon their death. Those who offended his laws were punished with eternal torment as an anguished corpse. His throne-barrow was an entire mountain range in the central region of Agathon, a megastructure that is still being carved within and without by swarms of his surviving undead slaves. Scholars debate over whether he was destroyed by proto-Amundi heroes or if he has simply forgotten about the world. Places dedicated to the Pale Emperor are always fashioned of stone and ornamented to an impossible degree. Every inch of them is covered with patterns, images, and symbols of his power, all of them carved by unsleeping corpse-laborers. The Seven Rivers Confederacy: A confederation of feudal rulers in the northeastern regions of Agathon, each of whom was in possession of a powerful defensive Working seized from the Outsiders. Warfare was futile among them, and the Workings provided for almost all of their material needs, so they vied amongst each other for excellence in beauty, honor, and fame. The music and poetry of the Seven Rivers spread throughout Agathon as hallmarks of culture and refinement. Some say they became perhaps too refined, and that they did not end as human as they had begun. The confederation’s downfall came in 1410 BL, with the meteor impact that formed the Hammersea. The Legacy contained the worst of the catastrophe, but it still ruined all their guardian Workings and scattered their lords. Remaining Seven Rivers ruins are beautiful even in decay, lacking any military function but often possessing impractical aesthetic Workings. The Tempest Horde: Nomadic wielders of lightning and storm, locked in perpetual warfare with the Intoners and the dead hosts of the Pale Empire. While surviving texts depict them as nomads and barbarians, their sky-priests were privy to secrets of iron and meteorological magic that have not been duplicated in the ages since. Had they not been divided up into so many feuding banner-clans, they may have avoided their ultimate disintegration into dozens of squabbling petty kingdoms. The Horde was nomadic, but ancient forgesites have been found where their steeds of iron and lightning were fabricated. Most of their metal servitors have long since decayed, but some still function. Their later settled kingdoms were generally founded amid the architectural wreckage of the peoples they had conquered or driven away.

The Ten Thousand Clans: A catch-all for the innumerable small city-states and tribal groupings that formed during this poorly-recorded age. These civilizations rarely extended further than a single city or a small local hegemony, and almost all were wiped out sooner or later by their neighbors, internal strife, or an unexpected disaster. The shards of their surviving people made up the root stock of many later nations, but the records about each city-state are usually long lost to history. Even so, some of them possessed great magical powers or impressive Workings, while others were inhabited by species that would no longer be considered human by modern sensibilities. It’s impossible to characterize the ruins of the Ten Thousand Clans, as each nation and civilization had their own preferences. Neighbors of great empires often adopted elements from their grander associates, however. The Wind Cities: Flying cities that appeared to be found mostly in western Gyarus, given the locations of surviving crashes. These city-states occupied small floating islands that hovered high above the ground, harvesting clouds for water and dueling each other for the mystical energies of sunlight they required for operation. The year-long occlusion of the sky produced by the eruption of a volcano in what is now Sarx around 1600 BL appears to have spelled their doom. Of course, the common pretensions of modern sky reavers to being “princes” or “princesses” of the long-lost Wind Cities are no more than fanciful self-aggrandizement. Crashed wind cities are mostly little more than small mountains of rubble and ruined buildings, but a few landed softly enough to maintain some structure. The skydocks of these surviving ruins are often fought over by modern sky pirates. The Zakathi Uprising: First formed during the waning years of the Grand Harmony, the humans of the prison-Deep of Gan Zakath were universally afflicted by a great curse of toil. The inhabitants blamed the Liberator Queen for this curse, accusing her of having betrayed their rebellion. Whether true or not, the hostility of the newly-accursed Zakathi was a major factor in the eventual collapse of the Liberator Queen’s republic. Led by Overseers, their many labor crews fought until the chaos eventually brought forth the Kings of Carce and their great bargain with the Zakathi. Zakathi ruins are characterized by their extreme physical inconvenience. Long flights of stairs, heavy doors, spiraling passages, carved ladders, and other means were used to enforce physical exertion and exhaustion in the populace, who were all cursed to require such wearisome labor if they were to live.

8

The Masters of the Second Age The Second Age of the western lands is better understood by historians, its documents and relics being much closer to the present day than those of the most ancient empires. By the time of the first King of Carce, the other great nations of the First Age were all collapsed or in an advanced state of decay, and their heirs were growing in strength and prominence. The Second Age ruins left behind are more likely to be surface structures, having had to endure fewer millenia of erosion, and more likely to have formed the nuclei of still-extant modern cities. Convention places the start of the Second Age with the great pact between the first King of Carce and the Zakathi Uprising in 1605 BL. The end is commonly set by the coming of the Prior Crown and the transformation of decaying Carce into the nation of Atlantis by its new rulers in 498 BL. The Kingdom of Carce: The successor of the Liberated Republic, the kingdom was born amid the bloody civil war between the embittered fortress-prison of Gan Zakath and the disorganized cities of the Liberated Republic. The warlord Heraklion of Gan Imadi succeeded in allying himself with the Toil-General Azusa, and their political marriage ensured Heraklion’s eventual ascent as the first King of all Carce. The Blighted of Gan Zakath became the martial nobility of Carce, and their congenital need for constant exertion was recast as “tireless valor” rather than a Blighting flaw in their blood. Even so, the eventual conflicts between the Task-Houses toppled Carce’s last king around 500 BL. Carcian ruins are few, largely because most of their settlements and cities were seamlessly taken over by the Prior Crown at the end of the age. The convulsive warfare that marked its final decades did leave its marks, however, and some massive stonebuilt edifices yet remain to decay. Carcian architecture was greatly influenced by Zakathi work-mania, and often tended to the monolithic and cyclopean. The Indur Banners: Beyond the Shangu mountain range of Gyarus, numerous Deeps had opened up not long after the Colligation and unleashed dozens of city-states on the surface, each under the banner of its own king or chieftain. These civilizations clashed repeatedly over control of surface resources, and were relatively easy prey for the First Dynasty’s armies. Many of their customs and ethnicities still survive among the cities of modern Tseb Hwii. Indur ruins are often found beneath Tseban cities, buried under millenia of new construction. They often have passages downward to their ancestral Deeps, many of which still contain Outsider guardians or alien devices left behind in their ancestral exodus.

The Spire Lords of Javair: The great volcanic eruption of Dumat Mul around 1600 BL choked the sky with ashes and forced the Wind Cities to make permanent landings, some more controlled than others. Most of the intact cities fell in northwestern Gyarus, amid Third Dynasty provinces that could no longer be effectively controlled from its capital. It was not long before the princes of the Wind Cities were able to supplant the terrestrial governors and divide up the area into new domains. The undying memory of flight remained to them, however, and some of the wind ships they built remain intact almost three thousand years later. It was this longing for the sky that produced their eventual doom, however, as an alliance of princes conceived a plan to construct a Working that could successfully lift their fallen cities once more. The sorcery went catastrophically wrong, with many of the cities exploding outright and clouds of mutagenic dust falling to blight the region into a twisted wasteland. Javairi ruins tend toward the vertical, with many tall towers and raised halls. Perversely, the great Rain of Red Ash that ended their society buried many of these ruins, with only their uppermost levels still accessible from the surface, and their deeper passages now entombed in dangerous dust. The Logomachy of Nakad: By 1012 BL, the techno-theological studies of the Speakers of the Storm had eventually consumed their entire society, with the sorcerous elite making serfs of the populace and retreating into temple-laboratories dedicated to the pursuit of cosmic secrets. These studies were reified and proven in the form of artificial deities, the dreaded Gods of Truth. These divine tulpas were wielded by their cults as weapons of conquest and internal enforcement, until the disastrous crusade against Old Amund that resulted in the forming of the Cut and a berserk rampage by the gods in 378 BL. The chaos destroyed most of the Nakadi temples and gave birth to the eventual empire of Sarx. Nakadi ruins are similar to those of the Speakers of the Storm, but tend to be dedicated to particular cosmic universals, such as space, time, heat, light, life, or other fundamental elements of reality. Their temple-laboratories in particular are rife with remnant energies.

9 Old Amund: Born in the heartlands of Agathon from the remnants of the Tempest Horde, the Seven Rivers Confederacy, and several hegemons of the Ten Thousand Clans, Old Amund was a land greatly blessed with divine heroes. Countless legends persist of the hundreds of demi-divine warriors and nobles of that land, many of which were enthroned as living gods during their time among mortals. Such strength was necessary to hold back the incursions of the Speakers of the Storm and their fell iron sorcery. Old Amund outlasted the Speakers and almost survived their heirs in the Logomachy of Nakad, until a final cataclysmic battle shattered the power of the living gods and destroyed the basis of Amundi rule in their lands. Old Amundi ruins are opulently adorned as a rule, usually with the symbols and iconography of whatever living god was worshiped in the area. Such ruins usually have some remaining echo of magical power related to the deity’s former portfolio, though this magic is often curdled and twisted by long years of neglect. The Speakers of the Storm: Successful raiding by the Tempest Horde eventually collapsed the decayed southern portion of the Intoner empire. Far from their rival banner-clans and with a wealth of ancient song lore at their disposal, the newly-settled Horde concentrated on erecting their familiar forges in the hearts of the old Intoner cities. The Horde sky priests assimilated the old Intoner caste of tonesmiths into a lore of iron and song, and the two cultures blended into a knowledge-obsessed oligarchy of intellectual and magical elite. Profound magical insights were unearthed by the Speakers who ruled each city, and deep truths about the substance of the world and the operation of the Legacy were discerned by their legions of honored scholar-slaves. Initially this interest in cosmological truths was curbed by prudence and a reluctance to delve into certain topics, but by the waning years of the Speakers their rulers were casting off all restraint in their pursuit of terrible secrets. Speaker ruins are invariably orderly, rational, and geometrical in their outlines. Mathematical principles inform most architecture, and a particular love for odd numbers and straight lines are visible in their work. Many of their sites were taken over by the Logomachy that followed them, but a few remote cities and settlements had already perished from magical mishaps or internal strife by then.

The Suldant Theocracy: When the Pale Emperor perished or lost interest in the surface world, the remaining surface-cities under his control were left leaderless. The Imperator had sealed many of the undeath-arts that they had formerly relied upon, restricting them to the use of himself and his authorized viceroys; without such agents, they could no longer maintain their old society. If undeath could not give them eternity, then perhaps green life could; they threw themselves into the study of plant-based sorceries and floral life forms. The Green Priests were those sage-sorcerers most knowledgeable in such things, and through their magics they transformed much of the Theocracy into a multicolored jungle. Where once the elites had been gifted undeath, the Theocracy gave them a half-vegetative existence, merging them with perpetually-regenerating plant life. In the end, however, the interests of these half-human Verdant Lords wandered too far from the interests of their human subjects, and the Theocracy collapsed into isolated cells of green sorcery amid half-inhabited wilderness. Suldant ruins are all organic in nature, usually grown out of plant life and heavily infused with sorcery. Many ruins have died in the centuries since the theocracy’s fall, and their rot has been known to give birth to foulness-fed things of an awful nature. The Vothite Empire: Born of the peerless Imperator-Queen Voth, the empire emerged from the Well of the One Thought around 2500 BL in what would later be known as the Gyre region of Gyarus. Their initial rise was halting, and it wasn’t until 1500 BL that the empire reached its true peak. Blocked from southern expansion by the strength of the Fourth Dynasty, the Vothites spread along much of the northeastern coastline of Gyarus. Long ages of rule by their Mentarchs and mind-bending Thought Houses kept the provinces in line until the empire’s eventual collapse around 1000 BL. Scholars are still uncertain as to the cause of this fall, with some crediting internal rebellion by a major Thought House, and others preferring a successful rebellion by renegades somehow immune to the empire’s mental binding. Vothite ruins tend to be classical in their architecture, with few or no mundane fortifications. The occult iconography and memetic symbology they are decorated with are usually too archaic to affect modern explorers, but some dangerous compulsions can still be found.

10

The Fallen of the Third Age The Third Age is commonly counted to begin with the enthronement of the Prior Crown in Atlantis in 498 BL. Fifteen hundred years have passed since that date, and several major polities have risen and collapsed during that time. The present-day survivors are described in more detail later in this chapter, but a few of the more important lost nations are mentioned here. This list is by no means exhaustive. The Great Benevolence: The demihuman Great Benevolence of the Nagadi is unusual in having almost completely erased its own existence from the current Iterum. The exact history of the polity is unclear, but it appears to have been a major power in what is now Lost Emedia and the Anak Wastes. At some point early in the Third Age, its Imperator Acalis worked a tremendous sorcery that excised their entire causal history from the present Iterum and translated it into an unknown realm free of human inhabitants. An alternate history took its place, one in which the Dynasts pushed their control to the southern borders of the Gyre. The only remaining Nagadi in the current Iterum are the “Oblates”, Nagadi warriors left behind as being unsuitable for their new world. Little is known of the Nagadi save for a few documents and ruins that survived the polity’s translation. They depict the Nagadi as much like humans, aside from their gold-on-gold eyes and perfect forms. They were supposedly kinder, nobler, and more courageous than baseline humans, famous for their innate compassion and aversion to violence. It was only after centuries of human raids and exploitation that their Imperator Acalis transformed certain of their members into “Oblates”, warriors capable of taking human life. While these steps curbed the human hostility, the moral influence of baseline humanity was deemed intolerably corrupting to the Nagadi people, and Acalis eventually saw no other option but complete withdrawal. Nagadi ruins are beautiful even in decay, carved of white stone and adorned with peaceful scenes of happy life. None have anything resembling fortifications or military structures. Considerable wealth in art remains behind, having been left behind by the Nagadi, but the surviving Oblates make its recovery a very dangerous prospect. While they are no more innately violent or cruel than baseline humans, they see themselves as accursed monsters and nurse a bitter grudge against both humanity and their vanished brethren. Their sorcery-enhanced martial prowess makes that resentment highly dangerous to outsiders.

The Plan of the Graven World: The rise of the Plan is difficult to trace, as most of its activity took place far below the roots of the Black Spine mountains to the west of the Gyre. Led by the Imperator Ubarun, this dwarven polity was obsessed with implementing the Plan of the Graven World. The entire purpose of their existence was to carve, engrave, and shape every portion of the world into a single perfect machine that would ensure peace, abundance, and harmony for all eternity. Massive currents of magical energy were tamed in their great Workings and used to power self-sustaining underground cities and automaton servitors. They first came to the notice of surface dwellers around 655 BL and a limited amount of trade was conducted between the Great Plan and the Vothite Republic. This traffic did not last long, however, and by 554 BL all contact from the Plan had been cut off. The exact cause of their silence has never been confirmed, though surviving tales speak of great earthquakes in the mountains and torrents of murderous light from the peaks. Even now, the states of Runom still sometimes unearth dwarven devices that retain some remnant of their old power. Ruins of the Great Plan are easily identified by the incredibly complex engraving and geometric designs on virtually every surface. Rooms and corridors interlock in repeated patterns, patrolled by automated guardians and fueled by channels of magical energy. Few are inhabited by living creatures, and the surviving dwarves of the Black Spine either know little of the Graven World or will not speak of it. The Remnant Chords: When the Tempest Horde broke the southern reaches of the Intoner polity, the northern remnants were forced further north in order to escape the pursuing banner-tribes. There, they took refuge in the backwater tower-cities that had been established in the northern provinces. Numerous chord-cities formed along the great lake’s shore, pale shadows of their former glory but still potent in their remaining sorceries. The decay of their magic and the evolution of the Legacy gradually forced the Remnants into new modes of living, with most of the survivors becoming the people of the present-day Hyperborean tribes. Chord-city ruins tend to have numerous fallen towers as a legacy of their old Intoner architecture. Most have been empty for centuries, but a few pockets of settled habitation remain around those with still-functional agricultural magic or climate maintenance Workings. Most of these dwellers have been direly changed by the curdled magic.

11 The Salt Vassalage: The same Polop invasion that struck Llum in 807 BL swept over the Vothite provinces of the northeastern Gyarus coast. While the local satraps were able to push back most of the fish-devils, five eastern Vothite provinces were overwhelmed. The Polop installed themselves as lords over the surviving aristocracy, altering them to be dependent on Polop drugs and gifting them with many strange weapons from below. They were charged with providing a steady tribute of humans to their overlords, and if they could not acquire them from their neighbors, they would be taken from their numbers. The harvests continued for almost six hundred years before a final alliance of vengeful neighbors and peasant rebels massacred the nobility and drove their Polop masters back into the sea. The swampy province has ever after been considered an ill-favored land, but intruders still come to seek the old secrets that the Polop left for their servants. Vassalage ruins are all adjacent to the waterways by which the Polop once maintained their rule. Most have both air-filled and aqueous portions, the latter of which are often now occupied by hazardous water beasts. The great port of Triloukon was the heart of their naval power, and even now the occasional would-be pirate king dares to reclaim some portion of the ancient city. Sunken Llum: An island nation north of the Gyre, Llum was a trading hub that negotiated much of the commerce between Carce and the Vothite Empire, its peak being around 1250 BL. Their mighty Imperator-King Qwoll was able to suppress the Polop cities of the coastal waters until the fishmen invaded

in 807 BL. Qwoll enacted a terrible rite that sank almost the entire nation, using the power of the sacrifice to transform the Polop invaders into masses of nacreous coral. The Sisters off the Gyre coast are the only surface remnants of Llum, though sailors still peak of the pearl-eyed Llumans below and their supposed claim on all the Atlantean Main. Lluman ruins are normally found only on the Sisters, though outposts and trading marts are sometimes found on farther coasts. The Llumans favored towers erected atop masses of subdivided warehouses and workshops. The tops of these towers often rise above the silt of centuries past. The Vothite Republic: The fall of the empire around 1000 BL left much of northeastern Gyarus in chaos, with innumerable breakaway provinces and suddenly-independent domains taking the place of the old fiefs of the Thought Houses. The Republic maintained a relatively firm grip on the imperial core of the Gyre, but the eastern coastal provinces respected the Senate in word more than deed. Much of the Republic’s life was spent in dispatching military support to cooperative provincial governors in order to chastise less docile regions, or bargaining with supposed subordinates for theoretically-mandatory taxes. While its effective control steadily dwindled over the centuries, it was never quite overthrown until the Reaping King took effective control of the Vothite heartland and freed its unruly eastern provinces from any practical reason for obedience. Republican ruins resemble their imperial predecessors, save for the aversion to visual decoration, iconography, or the other memetic objects.

12

A Timeline of Significant Events Date

Event

3012 BL

Beginning of the First Age; supposed end of the Colligation of Epochs

2500 BL

Founding of the Vothite Empire with the emergence of the Vothites from the Well of the One Thought. Assault of the Deep Lords on the surface world. Their footholds are largely abandoned within a century.

2322 BL

Records in Ultima Ondas mention “shining lords of living gold” in what is now Ninth Leng

2300 BL

First Dynasty invades Atba Sim to wipe out the Tormentors of Vesh and open their prison-cities, driving the aliens into the Master's Teeth

2250 BL

Fall of the First Dynasty and rise of the theocratic Second Dynasty

1800 BL

First sorcerous schools of the Black Pact are organized. First proto-Amundi kingdoms rise, centered around divine rulers in the Munait and Jilat river basins.

1730 BL

Collapse of the Pale Empire as its Imperator appears to vanish

1722 BL

Refugees from the Pale Empire found the first of the Still Cities

1710 BL

Founding of the present-day Verdancy by the plant-revering Green Priests of the Suldant Theocracy

1700 BL

The Sunward Isles are first inhabited by exiles fleeing the Suldant Theocracy and the fall of the Pale Empire

1680 BL

The Tempest Horde finally conquers the Intoner heartlands, driving the survivors north into their backwater provinces to become the ancestors of Vitrum and the Hyperborean tribes.

1677 BL

Expansion of the Boras Mur ice sheet renders Ultima Ondas uninhabitable; its people move south

1650 BL

The Liberator Queen drives the Outsiders of the Grand Harmony from Carce; some flee to Tavat, making it a stronghold guarded by sea-curses

1649 BL

Beginning of the short-lived Liberated Republic on Carce, centered on the old fortress-prisons and new-made surface towns

1605 BL

Beginning of the Second Age; the Kingdom of Carce is founded from the wreckage of the Liberated Republic

1600 BL

Dumat Mul erupts in present-day Sarx; the Wind Cities are destroyed or grounded.

1553 BL

Second Dynasty loses control of the province of Ai Mej, later the Vothite Empire's Emedia and now largely part of the Anak Wastes

1530 BL

Xindai daimyos complete their centralization of power; the newly-rising Third Dynasty has only nominal control over them

1522 BL

Fall of the Second Dynasty and rise of the sorcerous Third Dynasty

1500 BL

Peak of the Vothite Empire

1422 BL

Gadavin Coast mentioned as a province of the Vothite Empire

1414 BL

Ninth Leng is convulsed by magical ruin when they trade their old gods for the Bright Names

1410 BL

Seven Rivers Confederacy collapses when a meteor strike forms the Hammersea atop their heartland

1399 BL

First King of Couront chosen by refugees of the fallen Seven Rivers Confederacy

1250 BL

Peak of the sea-nation of Llum and its Imperator Qwoll

1200 BL

The port city of Triloukon on the Gadavin Coast becomes the prime trading-port of the Third Dynasty. The Exile Kingdom in modern-day Vitrum falls and the Gaian Voices give way to the Choral Republic

1150 BL

The Anak legions of the Grand Harmony break free and wipe out the last remnants of that polity in the present Aristoi Principalities

1012 BL

Completed transformation of the Speakers of the Storm into the Logomachy of Nakad in present-day Sarx and the nomads of Sath Ingit

1000 BL

Vothite Empire falls; Vothite Republic begins

980 BL

Vothite Republic loses Emed-Mar to the Anak after a volcanic eruption causes widespread disasters

13 Date

Event

807 BL

Fall of Llum and invasion of the Gadavin Coast by the Polop; the great Dynastic port city of Triloukon falls to them

790 BL

Fall of the Third Dynasty due to accumulated strains and rise of the bureaucratic Fourth Dynasty

785 BL

Xindai daimyos brought to heel by the Fourth Dynasty, who appoints a shogun to control and manage them

720 BL

Xindai receives a renegade Nakadi sorcerer who brings several varieties of demihuman with him; these later form communities in Xindai

655 BL

Plan of the Graven World first contacted by the Vothite Republic beneath the Black Spine mountains

544 BL

Plan of the Graven World ceases contact with the surface

510 BL

The Predecessants of Atlantis take service with the Carcean Task-House Phaistos, later to betray them

498 BL

Beginning of the Third Age; Fall of the Kingdom of Carce and founding of Atlantis by its new Prior Crown

490 BL

The Xindai shogunate is captured by the Hironaka family, who make it their hereditary possession. Beginning of the decline of the Fourth Dynasty's power over Xindai

482 BL

The Rain of Red Dust, a catastrophic magical error, transforms Javair into the Choking Dunes

480 BL

Kytheron's native nobility conquered by Carcean exiles from Atlantis who marry into their families

400 BL

The Choral Republic in present-day Vitrum falls to internal strife, opening the way for the Sathans to ravage the balkanized remnants of the country for centuries to come.

378 BL

Fall of the Logomachy of Nakad as their eidolons turn on them and the vast Cut is created. Rise of Sarx in its former territories

230 BL

The collaborator nobles of Triloukon on the Gadavin Coast are killed by other lords in the region and their Polop masters are driven into the sea

155 BL

The Imperator Shun rises in present-day Llaigis, seizing control of that land and driving out Vothite Republic forces

1 AL

Reaping King lands at modern Ka-Adun

110 AL

Xindai shogunate becomes a bauble for daimyos to fight over, a position with little real power

160 AL

The Imperator Shun perishes in a failed attempt at living godhood, his Rule of Shun dissolving without his guiding force. The Vothite Republic is too weak to reclaim Llaigis.

222 AL

Marius, first Glass Emperor of Vitrum, uses mysterious Intoner arts to unite the remnants of the Choral Republic and drive back the Sathan raiders.

241 AL

Collapse of the Vothite Republic and their submission to the Reaping King

262 AL

Death of Marius, first Emperor of Vitrum, and the recommencement of raids from Sath Ingit

500 AL

Rise of the present-day Aristoi Principalities, who drive their bestial cousins north into Shinbu Anak

520 AL

"Oni Shogunate" of Xindai, with a brief sequence of demihuman shoguns and grave unrest

605 AL

Xindai shogunate effectively abolished due to a lack of any meaningful authority

700 AL

Founding date of the oldest currently-surviving arcane school in the Black Pact

801 AL

Xindai's soldiery crushes Shenlai province's military forces as part of a rebellion; the Hundred Schools descend to save the province from a monstrous invasion from the Shining Peaks

802 AL

Disintegration of the Fourth Dynasty into its successor-states and a new Fifth Dynasty in the heartland

805 AL

Xindai gains de facto independence due to concessions from the Fifth Dynasty as payment for their help in bringing the Tui clan to the throne

810 AL

Hantu established as an independent state nominally led by the Fourth Dynasty's imperial heir

855 AL

Destruction of the province of Emed-Dar by Anak raiders

856 AL

Founding of the Anak nation of Sarul in the Gyre

1055 AL

Current date

14

Seas and Mountains of Note There are numerous great landmarks within the trackless wilds of the Latter Earth, but a few of them are so vast that even distant scholars know of them. The features listed below are only the greatest of these. The Atlantean Main: That sea formed between Atlantis, Sarx, the Gadavin Coast, and Kytheron. Relatively few sea monsters or Outsider perils exist in the Main, allowing for a rich trade among nations... and regular profit for the many pirates and privateers who sail it. The Bight of Nakad: Accounted as all the seas between the tip of the Godblight and the coast of the Choking Dunes, the Bight teems with pirates preying on Sarxian ships, naval forces from the surrounding nations, and an age-old infestation of sea monsters off the coast of Runom. Its small isles are richly veined with gold, and Sarxians and freebooters struggle regularly over the mines there. The Black Spine: Once the western boundary of the Vothite Empire, these mountains now separate the Gyre and the Anak Wastes from Runom. They are jagged and difficult to cross, with only ancient Outsider-built passes and transit-cities offering much of a direct way across. Some such places are still inhabited, if not always by their original creators. Boras Mur: A glacial sea of endless ice, the Boras Mur marks the limit of northern human habitation. On land, its glaciers entomb many ancient nations in the Far Wastes, and numerous sea isles exist only as thickened bulks of ice. Adventurers speak of nomadic nations of inhuman beings who dwell on the ice, determined to one day spread the Boras Mur to the southern pole. Its glaciers are strange, for they simply swallow and cover what they take instead of grinding it flat with their advance. The Carcereal Sea: Named for the old Kingdom of Carce, all the waters south, north, and east of Atlantis are counted part of this ocean. It teems with dangerous sea-beasts and aquatic Outsiders; there has been no reliable contact with the eastern continents in presently-remembered history. The Carven Peaks: Mightiest of the northern mountain ranges, the Carven Peaks earned their name during the First Age, when the Pale Emperor bade his undead servitors carve the entire mountain range into a testimony to his immortal glory. While the foothills and lower reaches of the range are largely untouched, undead carving-crews have been building mountain-sized statues, memorial tableaux, and

inscriptions in the range for three thousand years. Most of the larger works have names given by the Amundi, and while most of the crews have fallen prey to the range’s dangers over the past millenia, some still labor on. The Cut: The product of a disastrous clash of sorcery in 378 BL, the Cut is a massive cleft running from the Atlantean Main to the Bight of Nakad, fifty miles wide at most points and seemingly bottomless. The waters on either end of the cleft are prevented from flowing in by some spatial distortion, but the sides of the Cut appear to have sliced through scores of ancient subterranean Deeps, exposing them to those daring enough to scale the gorge. A few upthrust lengths of megastructure wreckage within the gorge provide a way to cross to the other side, but only bold travelers would risk those roads. Gebed Hau: The southern half of the Gebed Hau range is cold and treeless, but possessed of ancient mines that give up gems of remarkable beauty and occasional occult power. The northern half is lost to the ice of the Boras Mur, but ice-miners of a former age cut vast roads and thoroughfares through stone and frost alike. Gebed Mur: The sea-road of the northernmost nations, the Gebed Mur is a freshwater sea that resists freezing year-round, save for its perpetually ice-locked northern coast. Vitrum’s ships conduct uneasy trade with the Black Pact across the Gebed Mur, while the Still Cities send out undead galleys to gain new recruits, and the Hyperborean tribes raid south with an equitable hand. The ice-kissed island of Mur Indis was once an ancient, long-lasting stronghold of human rebels against the Outsiders, but now only their ruins remain. The Hammersea: A meteor impact in 1410 BL destroyed the heartland of the Seven Rivers Confederacy and gouged out this freshwater sea, penetrating so deeply as to flood a number of buried Deeps. Aquatic creatures from the bottom of the world sometimes float upward to the surface, usually expiring hideously under the sun, but sometimes nesting in ruined Deeps near the surface. Certain sorcerers of the Black Pact are said to worship the meteor, thereby receiving secret messages from beyond the world. The Herondeep: One of the three great freshwater seas of Agathon, the Herondeep sees much piracy from the Shinbu Anak. The Blighted prey on the merchantmen that pass between Kytheron and the Amundi kingdoms or raid the villages of Couront.

15

The Lakaian Range: Oldest of all the mountain ranges in Agathon, these peaks are riddled with the ruins of the Grand Harmony and their Outsider citadels. Anak tribes driven out by the Aristoi or on the losing side of Shinbu power struggles nest in the valleys and hollows. Scholars believe that some of the Deeps here were surface colonies of the now-vanished Deep Lords that assaulted the surface during the First Age. The Master’s Teeth: The last stronghold of Outsider dominion in the southern continent, the First Dynasty’s conquest of Atba Sim drove the surviving Tormentors of Vesh into these jagged peaks in 2300 BL. While many of their mountain fortresses have been destroyed over the centuries, they still command the heights, and sometimes raid south to acquire victims for their hideous rites. The Moebian Ocean: No navigator has ever succeeded in reaching the eastern continents by sailing west over the Moebian Ocean. Some great Working or defect in the Legacy leaves such explorers sailing vainly for months on end, only to turn back and find themselves among the Bluecrowns a few weeks later. The Pale of Leng: Cursed mountains that guard Ninth Leng. Countless strange shrines and obscure temples are carved into the range, most abandoned, some still supported by sullen mountain villages. Rogue creatures of unholy origin stalk the valleys and ridgelines of the Pale. Saidonis Mountains: Studded with Zakathi task-citadels and the ruins of Old Carce, the Saidonis mountains are rich in ores and valuable metals. They are also volcanically active, with the perpetually-smoking Mt. Athra being the most volatile of them.

The Seadevil Coast: A narrow band of water north of the Gyre. Within it, the Polop are dangerously active, and they and other monsters make sea travel a perilous prospect. The Shangu Mountains: Greatest of the southern mountain ranges, the Shangu are majestic, beautiful, and exceedingly dangerous. Three ages worth of Dynastic exiles, mad sorcerers, renegade malcontents, and unspeakable monsters have ventured among its peaks, and not all of them have left their bones there. The uppermost reaches of the Shangu are so high that humans cannot survive without magical aid. The Shining Peaks: These peaks are dangerous not only for the warped and hideous beasts that crawl among its stones, but also for the lethal blue glow that shines from certain ridges and valleys. The glow waxes and wanes at unpredictable intervals, and those caught within it rapidly sicken and die. Guides from the villages of the Litten Coast sometimes claim to know the patterns for a particular stretch of the peaks; sometimes they tell the truth. Ultima Ondas: Formerly the population core and cultural heart of the nation of Ondas, a surge of the Boras Mur drove them south in ages past. The haste of the ice’s advance forced them to leave many of their treasures behind, though certain modern sorcerers are said to have raised cold towers there. The Whiteskulls: Largely buried by the glaciers of the Boras Mur, the white peaks of this mountain range jut above and earn it its given name. The absolute solitude of the peaks combined with the loot buried in the ice below have beckoned more than a few groups of adventurers, along with a few foolhardy southern gem merchants willing to bankroll expeditions and base camps in the killing cold.

16

A Summary of Lands and Nations The Amundi Kingdoms: A patchwork of kingdoms, despotates, autarchies, tribes, and lesser polities, the Amundi kingdoms share a past rather than a monarch. Once ruled by living gods and apotheosized beast-deities, the ancient fall of their paragons has left most states decadent, listless, and half-barbaric. Great cruelties keep company with great heroics there, and new temples to strange gods are raised in lonely places. Anak Wastes: Once held by the Third Dynasty, then by the Vothite Empire, the collapse of the latter left the heavily-populated lands of the wastes prey to Anak warbands from the Black Spine. The sudden explosive growth of several arratus in the area finished the expulsion of the human inhabitants and left the place the alternately desolate and jungle-choked wasteland it is today. Even so, isolated remnant-ruins of the demihuman Great Benevolence can still be found in isolated places. These are yet guarded by the bitter Oblate Nagadi left behind by their Imperator during the causal warp that erased their prior history in the region. Aristoi Principalities: Ruled by a breed of highly-refined Anak nobility, the Aristoi pride themselves on their self-control, discipline, and personal excellence. Even so, this pride does not prevent constant struggles among their princely houses or an incessant state of warfare with their savage Shinbu cousins to the north. Foreign lords view them as ruthlessly effective rulers largely unburdened by either personal affections or compassion. Atba Sim: Once a human prison-state in subjection to the Tormentors of Vesh, the First Dynasty crushed the Outsiders and planted garrison-forts outside of their ruins. The heirs of these ancient guardians still populate the land, keeping watch over the old ruins and remaining vigilant against Outsider perils. They have little commerce with the outside world, but provide services to adventurers who dare to investigate the ancient prison-cities on the island. Atlantis: One of the greatest powers in the land, the Prior Crown of Atlantis rules much of the eastern sea. They fence with Sarx over the Atlantean Main, and struggle at times to put down internal rebellions and secession movements supported by enemies from both the present and the past. Some among their Zakathi demihuman population resent the current order and remember the glories of Old Carce.

The Black Pact: Ancient enemies of the men of Ninth Leng, the sorcerers of the Black Pact rule their cold and bitter land in a loose confederacy. Every councilor of the Pact is a great arcanist in their own right, and their lonely towers command the unclean cities and drear villages surrounding them. The evil sendings of these wizards often bleed over their borders to plague their neighbors. The Bluecrowns: Named for the plumes of blue smoke that often issue from their peaks, the Bluecrowns are an archipelago of steamy volcanic islands that have served as a refuge for exiles and a base for pirates for more than an age. Numerous ancient ruins and pirate dens litter the islands, but the natural hazards of its jungles and mazey volcanic tunnels have been the doom of almost all prior colonies. The Choking Dunes: The only human inhabitants of the Choking Dunes are those dunefolk who know the secrets for neutralizing the semi-mutagenic dust of its wastes. These survivors cluster around buried oasis-tunnel villages that can still maintain some magical agriculture in the face of the dangers of the dunes. The few others that come do so to plunder the buried ruins of the ancient princes of Javair or trade with the dunefolk for their own salvage. Couront: A land of cold pine forests and broad fields of barley, Couront is under the hand of a dozen great noble houses who rule by the strength of their knights and a Church of the Bleeding God that rules by its faith. Monsters and curses bleed over often from the Black Pact to the west, and the king of Couront is constantly tested in his ability to drive back those dark perils. The Far Wastes: Legend says that the lands now called the Far Wastes were once warm and fertile, covered over in towering jungles and broad plains. The remnants of this age can still be seen buried thirty paces deep in the crystal-clear ice that now covers the land. Whole cities of some ancient people are thus entombed, though few dare to plunder them. The Fifth Dynasty: Heritor of the fallen Fourth Dynasty, the Fifth is little more than a footnote in comparison to its predecessor. An emperor rules it in name, but practical authority is in the hands of a legion of scholar-bureaucrats who mimic old Dynastic forms without the power those forms once commanded. Its ministers yearn to reclaim its wayward provinces.

17 The Free Clans: A successor-state of the Fourth Dynasty, the Free Clans are not a single polity so much as a loose alliance of a hundred or more major lineages under regional clan-heads and revered monastic leaders of the Golden Path. Merchants are highly respected here, unlike in most Dynastic states, and the wealth of its grandees funds an army powerful enough to discourage the forces of the Fifth Dynasty’s emperor. The Gadavin Coast: Formerly five different provinces of the Vothite Empire, control over them was gradually lost during the Republic era. The political structure has devolved into city-states and small regional kingdoms, with the exception of the largely uninhabited marshes around the former great port of Triloukon. The lands there were lost to a Polop invasion centuries ago, and the ruins of Triloukon are now only infrequently held by some rash pirate king or would-be princeling. The Godblight: When the Logomachy of Nakad fell to the madness of its artificial gods, most of its scholar-priests were killed by their eidolons or by the proto-lords of present-day Sarx. Those that survived fled here, to nurse their old arts in relative safety. Their reckless studies have made the land a desolation and a place of countless horrors. The Gyre: The Gyre was once unified under the rule of the Reaping King, until his seeming somnolence has led to its present state of disorder. It has no neighbor strong enough to step in as a new hegemon save perhaps for Atlantis, but the Prior Crown shows no interest in such involvement. It may take a catastrophic season of war to identify a new king.

Kytheron: When the kingdom of Carce fell, most of its nobility submitted to the new rule of the Prior Crown or were destroyed by his armies. Those that did neither fled to the mainland province of Kytheron, viewed as a backward colonial possession at the time. Its present Queen considers herself the rightful ruler of Carce and Kytheronan privateers are a lasting threat to Atlantean shipping. Kytheron itself is a mix of Old Carcean gentility and roughedged primitivism, with the heirs of the exiles closely pressed by restive natives. The Litten Strand: In ancient days this mountain range was the site of a terrible war between its native demihumans and some alien evil that threatened to boil up from below. The poisonous radiance that remains of their struggle still infects the peaks and its monstrous denizens, their surface ruins now given over to Blighted and worse. Some coastal villages and market-towns remain to support pirates, refugees, and freebooters seeking wealth among the dead. Maqqatba: The First Dynasty considered it a sacred duty to entomb its emperors and high officers in the eternal white ice of Maqqatba. These “ice saints” have been foci of veneration ever since, with schools of warriors inheriting the ancient martial techniques of the First Dynasty knights who guarded the tombs. These quarreling sects form the only real government in this cold land, their affairs almost wholly separate from the common class of farmers, fishermen, and herders that feed them.

Hantu: A disorganized remnant of the Fourth Dynasty, Hantu is only nominally ruled by the current heir to the fallen dynasty. In truth, its Empress Mei actually holds a tight leash on many of its quarreling governors, and their chaotic scheming and plotting all merely serve to further her ends. Its peasantry are sorely oppressed by the hereditary literati class, and they suffer cruelly for the ambitions of their governors.

Ninth Leng: There have been eight Lengs before this one, though scholars have few details of them. Scarce more is known of the land at present, save that it is cold, isolated, and much encumbered by priesthoods of many kinds. Even the commoners are priests of one strange god or another, and many of the hierarchs are versed in mysterious sorceries and the petitioning of the mysterious Bright Names they serve. Lengish merchants buy slaves from Kytheron in exchange for gold and silver coins and blue jade plaques, but they do not welcome many casual travelers.

The Hundred Schools: When the Fourth Dynasty collapsed, several cells of sorcerer-scholars emerged from the Shining Peaks to take control of the province between the mountains and the inland sea. Claiming a line of legitimacy from the Third Dynasty’s sorcerer-kings, they employed their magics to break the local governors and institute new laws. Now the province is a patchwork of domains under various splinter sects and arcane schools, some of which are prone to magical accidents, and others who are dissatisfied with their limited scope of rule.

Ondas: Once seated on the northern island of Ultima Ondas, a failure of some great climate-Working left the shores of that place entombed in ice and snow. Its refugees made homes among the dark pine forests and cool meadows of the mainland. A prosperous civilization arose there before the coming of savage automatons from beneath the Pale drove them back to the coast two hundred years ago. Now a great reclaiming is underway to take back their frontier lands. Numerous pioneers are pressing west with the help of their unique Ondasi hurlants.

18 Runom: Once a land inhabited by the demihuman creations of the Logomachy of Nakad, the tribes broke away into their own scattered domains when Nakad fell and Sarx rose in its place. Now dozens of petty princedoms and clan-holdings bear the weight of annual Sarxian raids amid the rivalries of their neighbors. The Sarxians are known to cut deals with Runom’s lords in order to cripple any too-promising hegemons who might threaten to unite the tribes in resistance. Sarx: A land of ruthless order, rich abundance, and blood-stained altars, Sarx is the most powerful nation on the northern continent. Its Red Gods grant blessings of riches and power to its people and officials in exchange for an endless flow of human sacrifices. Many of these “honored offerings” are taken by slave raids into Runom and the Amundi kingdoms, but citizens who prove superfluous to the Flame of Heaven’s purposes may also find such an end. Sath Ingit: Sath Ingit’s riders are famed both for their peerless cavalry and the tremendous variety of warbeasts they ride. Their beastwrights are privy to the secrets of molding animals and humans alike, conferring great power on Sathan lords in exchange for unfortunate costs in longevity and occasionally on their sanity as well. The beast-clans make regular raids on Vitrum, and some even dare the perils of the Godblight to bring home treasures from afar. The Scarlet Princes: Heirs of Dynastic cadet branches and losers of internal power struggles, the Scarlet Princes formed a backwater western province during the Fourth Dynasty. With its fall and the rise of the Fifth, many of these ancient families aspire to reclaim old glory or to unseat the “usurpers” to the east. Their inability to coalesce under a single candidate for this is all that has kept them from commencing open warfare. Even so, many families retain heirloom relics or ancient secrets from the days of their prior glory. Shinbu Anak: Once the rulers of much of the southeastern Agathon coast, the Shinbu Anak were driven into their present lands by their cousins, the Aristoi. They count dozens of Anak subspecies among their numbers, some of them scarcely recognizable as humanoid. Necessity has made them more organized than most Anak, and their warlords sport a powerful pirate navy and bases on the isles of Yamad’s Bones. Their raids plague Kytheron, the Aristoi principalities, and points west.

The Still Cities: With the fall of the Pale Empire three thousand years ago, its undead refugees colonized this chill and gloomy land. They have persisted here ever since, a land of half-dreaming undead miming the useless habits of life and raiding their neighbors for new recruits to eternity. Living humans are treated as monsters there, and many are the adventurers from foreign lands who raid the dead cities in search of the wealth the undead still produce. Their lords have retained much of their human intelligence, but the commoners of the Still Cities have had their reason worn away to little more than repetitious habit in the ages since their conversion. Sunward Isles: The plant-obsessed Suldant Theocracy of the second age had many discontent with the Green Priests who ruled them. Some were not satisfied until they’d put an ocean between themselves and their former lords. Each isle has its own ruler, and their competition sometimes boils over into naval warfare. Unlike many other lands, the Sunward Isles are a “dryland”, one where conventional magic does not function within a hundred miles of the islands. Tavat: Craggy Tavat is the beating heart of piracy in the Atlantean Main, a curse-defended foothold for sending out reavers to feast on the commerce of the eastern nations. Rulers rise and fall with the fortunes of various pirate kings, but the anchorages here see smugglers and freebooters of every variety... save for those who seem weak enough to make a good meal for the locals. The Tombfell: Cold, desolate, and grim, the Tombfell is dotted with numerous crumbling Outsider cities and settlements, the remnants of old refuges against humanity’s swelling conquest. Much of the land has been transformed into strange arratus by owners now dead or in hiding. The terrain itself is wildly unpredictable, with pockets of strange climates and geography inflicted by decaying Workings. Outsiders still dwell in the Tombfell, but they seem to be much degenerated from their former heights, though still possessed of rich treasures. The Tribes of Hyperborea: Once city-dwelling remnants of the ancient Intoner empire, the collapse of their urban Workings and the increasing chill of the northern forests and meadows forced the Hyperborean tribes into either a nomadic existence as hunters and gatherers or a settled one of barely-adequate agriculture. They are a proud and ruthless people, sometimes raiding south into Vitrum and sometimes taking pay to serve southern masters.

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Tseb Hwii: The heretical wizard-lords of Tseb Hwii did not exterminate the local Outsiders in prior ages, but instead enslaved them for their particular talents and uses. This slavery greatly disquiets their neighbors, who would rather see the Outsiders wiped out, but the Tsebans find their minions too useful to be rid of them. Rumors persist that the seeming slavery is actually a facade for hidden Outsider rule.

The Xindai Commanderies: The support of the daimyos of the Xindai Commanderies ensured the success of the Fifth Dynasty’s rebellion against the Fourth. This help bought them so many privileges and immunities that they now stand practically independent of the emperor’s will. They handle much of the Dynastic sea trade through their ports on the Vermillion and Carcereal Seas, and their quarreling domains are occupied by many breeds of demihuman.

The Verdancy: The Suldant Theocracy of a former age worshiped all things green and growing as the key to eternal life. Their demented remnants linger in the Verdancy, a multicolored hell of lethal forest and maddened flesh-and-flora hybrids. The forest makes occasional incursions into Vitrum and Sath Ingit, requiring heroes to seek out the twisted things that guide the intruders and extinguish them before they plant roots.

Yain: When the Logomachy of Nakad fell and the red empire of Sarx rose in its place, some survivors fled the sacrifices of their new masters. These exiles escaped to Yain, where they maintain a shadow of Nakad’s old sorcery without revering their gods. A powerful sky-navy and a number of potent magical schools defend them from Sarxian invasion and make them a power in the Bight of Nakad.

Vitrum: A proud empire of glass and iron, Vitrum is the martial heir to the ancient Intoners and their secrets of sonic sorcery. The emperor sends forth his legions to fight the raiders of Sath Ingit, the tribes of Hyperborea, and the green monsters of the Verdancy. Meanwhile, the Vitrumite senate schemes to profit by these just wars and elevate their own kinsmen that much closer to the oft-vacant throne.

Yamad’s Bones: Legend claims that the first successful rebellion against the Outsiders took place in the rich land of Yamad. Rather than admit human success, the Outsiders sank Yamad into the sea, leaving only its highest points above water. Yamad’s Bones are those remnants, each layered over with ancient and inexplicable human ruins. This ill-omened past has left them largely uninhabited save by pirates, hermits, and outlaws.

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THE AMUNDI KINGDOMS Raucous, tempestuous, and ever-changing, the Amundi Kingdoms form the ancient heartlands of Agathon. Dozens of nations have left their bones in this graveyard of gods, and their ruins provide ripe picking for latter-day explorers.

History

The final centuries of the First Age were a chaotic time, with many early empires collapsing or being overrun by more ambitious neighbors. The lands between the Carven Peaks and the Lakaians were no exception, and opportunities blossomed with the disappearance of the Pale Emperor and the collapse of the Seven Rivers. The first proto-Amundi kingdoms formed around 1800 BL, centered on a half-dozen city-states around the Jilat and Munait rivers. Each of these cities was supposedly ruled by a divinely graced god-hero who led their chosen people to unnumbered victories over their rivals and the hated Speakers of the Storm to the south. The details are unclear, as few records exist from these days. As the centuries passed, more god-heroes rose to lead their followers to new heights. Something about the Amundi lands seemed to act as an incubator for legendary greatness, and hardly any city was without a half-dozen heroes and a demigod or two. Their quarrels and adventures birthed scores of epic poems and prose sagas. Dozens of kingdoms rose, prospered, and fell as their patrons were overcome, while the Speakers of the Storm to the south became the sinister Logomachy of Nakad, scholar-thralls to their dark Gods of Truth. Their rivalry ended in 378 BL. During one of the regular northern crusades by the Logomachy, some error unleashed the shackled eidolons of the Gods of Truth and threatened to annihilate both Nakad and Amund. Legends speak of the Thousand Gods of Amund who marched to drive back the eldritch hordes. At the cost of their divine lives, they broke the invaders and carved the Cut that now separates the two lands. The scorched and desolate Spoil is all that remains for their graves. Whatever the gods did to save Amund cost it its special grace as a cradle of divinity. A handful of gods remained after the divine bloodbath, but they were weakened and distanced from their followers. The occasional sacred king or holy queen emerged as the centuries rolled by, but their powers were far weaker and their reigns far briefer. When their kingdoms fell or their temples were shattered, they vanished as mortals do. Without their god-heroes, the Amundi kingdoms were thrown back on more mundane forms of struggle. In the past fourteen hundred years since the fall of Nakad, more than three dozen major kingdoms, despotates, free domains, principalities, and other polities have formed, prospered, and fallen. Currently there are seven major domains in Amund worthy of being called kingdoms, along with dozens of petty border states and vassal lords.

The Emirate of Qasir is southernmost, bordering the uninhabitable Spoil. Emir Seif is both the land’s lord and the head of the Great Faith dedicated to the worship of the Thousand Gods. According to the Great Faith, these gods are not destroyed, but merely distant, and only through a life of piety can their aid reach humanity. The Despotate of Mishar broke away from Qasir a hundred years ago. Its Despot Amiya is a bloodthirsty queen, eager for war and delighting in barbarous splendor. She preys often on the lesser satraps of Nabardura, but her people groan under the weight of her taxes and the cruel depredations of her warlike lords. The Satrapies of Nabardura bow in theory to the Great King Darius at Capavan, but in practice every satrapy is all but an independent nation with its own petty dynasty. The king allies with the weaker satraps to contain the strong and acts as first among equals when repelling attacks from Mishar, but the quarrelsome lords of this land are often at each others’ throats. The Kingdom of Pelegrin prides itself on its inheritance from the great Seven Rivers Confederacy of ages past, glorying in the art, music, and elegant architecture they received from it. Its King Amalric is said to partake of some of the ancient divine power of a god-hero, and is both famously mighty in battle and famously indolent in rule. Its nobles love pageantry, jousting, and decadent excess, and care nothing for their crushed subjects. The Duchy of Vois is one consequence of Pelegrin’s decay. Three hundred years ago its rulers, the Dukes of Vois, broke away from Pelegrin to obtain de facto independence. Its people are notoriously resistant to noble rule, and its present Duke Clotaire is hard-pressed to bind its many mayors, aldermen, elders, and headmen together to resist the raids from Pelegrin. The Duchy of Ostmark is a similar tale, though their departure happened only forty years ago. Many suspect King Amalric’s father let it go intentionally, for now the Ostmarkers are solely responsible for resisting the depredations of the Shinbu Anak to the east. Some whisper that Duke Franz is actually making bargains with the Blighted to send them further west. The Clans of Fidach do not have a recognized leader, but keep to their chill forests and deep hollows in territories hallowed by tradition. Their warriors go south as mercenaries and freebooters, to bring back gold and luxuries to their primitive homes. The Lost March is a land wholly unknown to this book. By some inexplicable oversight, everything about its past, people, and even its internal geography appears to have been omitted in the available records. Nothing is known of its past relations with the other kingdoms of Amund. A creative storyteller could make up almost any kingdom or collection of domains for the March and have faith that their fictions would not be contradicted by anything else in this book.

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Geography

The Amundi kingdoms are temperate in climate, with warm, dry coastal plains near the Spoil and a colder, wetter clime in the Fidach hills. Snow is rare in the south, but in winter it falls heavily around Ras Egrin and Salburgh, where the broadleaf forests of Nabardura and Vois give way to the pines of the northern foothills. The Gulf of Amund is relatively free of monstrous perils, and every kingdom with a coastline sends heavy traffic across it. These ships are as often pirates as traders, and travelers must weigh the overland perils of bandits and wild beasts against the risk of a freebooter’s sail on the horizon. The Carven Peaks mark the western boundary of the kingdoms, the greatest of them fashioned into massive monuments to the glory of the long-vanished Pale Emperor. His undead labor crews continue to chip and dig at the mountains even now, fashioning empty shrines and grand edifices that are to be inhabited only by beasts and renegades. The Spoil is nominally part of Amund, but little can live on its blasted soil. The curse of so many divine deaths in such a narrow space has forever blighted the land. Monsters and worse are constantly congealing out of the soured divinity, and it is only for the sake of the many ancient, abandoned ruins within that adventurers dare risk that cursed land.

Peoples of Amund

There are four major ethnic groups in Amund, along with a host of smaller ones. While these types dominate the nobility of their homelands, it’s not remarkable to see them mixed among other nations, or for an upstart to make good in another land when opportunity calls. Qasiri are found in Qasir and Mishar, being lean, amber-hued men and women with long, dark hair and black eyes. They favor ornate clothing, often decorated with symbols and tokens of their favored gods. Nabar are in Nabardura and western Vois. They are a tall, broad people with dark skin and hair, and their clothing tends to simple drapes and robes. While of uncomplicated cut, they enjoy bright shades and brocaded stitching on their finer garments. The Riu are the people of Pelegrin, eastern Vois, and parts of Ostmark. They are a pale-skinned, dark-haired folk, and have inherited much of the old Seven Rivers beauty that First Age nation was known for. This old grace comes at a cost; some Riu are known for being prey to ungovernable passions and the occasional fit of madness. The Marchen are found both in Fidach and Ostmark, being remnants of a much older kingdom that collapsed in the First Age before the Seven Rivers rose. They are of average height but broad-built, with dark or brown hair, pale eyes, and ruddy bronze features.

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Demography

A rough estimate suggests that as many as 10,000,000 people live within the Amundi kingdoms, with Qasir and Pelegrin being the most populous and Fidach having the fewest inhabitants. Most settlements cluster near the coasts and rivers, with a few placed inland where a secure site and valuable resources can be had. There are no major demihuman kingdoms in Amund, though a few minor fiefs and remnant domains do exist in the mountain foothills and deeper forests. Adventurers from these people are rare and few, but most Amundi have at least heard of their existence.

Cities and Towns

Great cities are few in Amund, but every domain worth the name has at least one major urban center. The ones listed below are merely the most famous among them. Capavan: Capital of Nabardura, with scores of magnificent palaces, most abandoned for decades. Every satrapal family claims one of them but few dare leave their home fiefs unguarded. Many things now dwell in their empty halls. Ganzabara: The great mart of mercenaries in Amund, with Fidach warriors gathering there and the poor sons of satraps joining them. Their captains intrigue with would-be patrons, and some sell more services than open warfare. Hazirim: A safer base for expeditions into the Spoil than Yath, gloomy Hazirim is an exile-prison for nobles who have offended the Emir. Such exiles are eager to present their ruler with relics that might earn them forgiveness, and carefully inspect any finds. Jilat: Seat of Mishar’s despot, famed for its mighty walls and the great arena she oversees. Champions gain a place of great favor with her; losers are fed to the dogs. Kennet: The only city worth mentioning in Fidach, Kennet is little more than a trading port for merchants on the Hammersea. It’s been burnt a dozen times by raiders, but the clans think nothing of import is lost by such temporary inconveniences. Khatin: A mining town reliant on the ores of the hills and the charcoal of the forest. Its warriors prevent the forest beasts from overwhelming Mishar’s southern farms. Mundburgh: Seat of the Dukes of Ostmark, and a significant port city. Its Duke Francois is Riu, but most here are Marchen, and like him only a little better than their old Pelegrin masters. Rais Egrin: Magnificent ancestral seat of Pelegrin’s kings, the palace there is of pale adamant and jewel-bright stones. Nobles live in the old Seven Rivers quarter of magnificent villas, while peasants patch together half-ruined buildings and erect shanties in ancient courtyards. Rais Vois: Capital of the Dukes of Vois. With the Starkwald arratu to the east, the inhabitants are often

pressed by monsters from that twisted forest. The gold and ores of the nearby hills make the old capital too precious to abandon. Rukh: Capital of Qasir, built amid the cyclopean ruins of the greatest temple in Amund. Single shrines house whole neighborhoods, and the Emir’s palace is carved into the monolithic great altar of the place. Sidonne: Once the winter seat of Pelegrin’s king, it’s now divided into a half-dozen districts run by clans descended from the original servants. Each guards valuable secrets about the great palace at its heart. Voigne: Pelegrin’s port on the Herondeep, well-populated by merchants and by the naval forces charged with fending off Shinbu Anak pirates. Many criminals and exiles from Couront flock there. Yath: A lawless den of vice, Yath provisions both the pirates of the gulf and explorers of the Spoil. Its “prince” changes regularly, the succession motivated either by gold or sharp steel.

Amundi Society

Life is harsh in Amund for most commoners. Peace is only ever temporary between its warring domains, and the peasantry take the brunt of the raiding. Ties are strong between families and kindred because no other source of sure protection can be had. Every kingdom but Fidach has some caste of nobles or gentry. In Vois, these are merely the richest burghers and most important landowners of the area, and they have no special authority beyond their own lands and businesses. In Pelegrin, however, a baron can have a man killed for sport alone and no one would think it strange. Most other nations have lighter degrees of noble authority, but it’s never safe to make an enemy of the great. Slavery is common throughout Amund, save in Fidach, where it is considered degrading to both slave and owner. In Qasir and Mishar, slaves partake of some of the status of their owner, and a great lord’s slaves are subject to fearful deference. In Nabardura, Vois, and Ostmark they are counted as little more than movable property or valuable battle-spoils. Slavery technically exists in Pelegrin, but merely as a class of serf that can be legally sold off their land by their lord. Few find any meaningful difference in the distinction. Social classes are stark in Amund, but they are also considerably more fluid than in some other lands. The fortunes of war, the vagaries of politics, and the chances of the market can all conspire to upend a noble house or bring wealth and power to a slave. A self-made noble is often given more credit than one of ancient lineage, for the former can at least be sure to have been good at something to get their current rank. A useful servitor to a king can easily rise to the highest rank, just as a disappointing one can quickly meet the axe. This instability tends to lend a violence of spirit to life in the Amundi kingdoms. When everything can change so quickly, there are many who will dare great risks to get the better of such shifts.

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Government and Law

Every kingdom has its own laws, and most of them are unsurprising to visitors. Outside of Vois and its watchful burghers, however, enforcement tends to be lax. A bandit who can cross a border is unlikely to be pursued, and a noble who commits some infamy against a commoner is seldom troubled by the magistrates. A lack of legal rebuke does not make such things safe, however, as vengeance is punished no more carefully than crime. The rulers of the Amundi kingdoms are theoretically absolute monarchs. Within his own palace, the Great King of Nabardura can have the head of any man with a fingersnap, and only a fool of a courtier would dare gainsay Despot Amiya her slightest whim. Even Duke Clotaire in Vois may have his own way in Rais Vois without heeding the complaints of the burghers. Alas, this authority weakens rapidly the further the offender is from the king’s soldiers. None of the kingdoms have very developed bureaucracies or administrative resources. A lord may have a number of courtiers and ministers, but these grandees are usually nobles in their own right with their own domains and interests. The only bureaucrats that exists are those few clerks, messengers, and baliffs that might be personally attached to a noble. Far more numerous and important are the dependent warriors that make up the noble’s military forces. Thus, if the king wants something done in a far place, he must send a messenger and hope the local lord carries the order out. Any single rebel baron can be crushed easily by the king – assuming he notices the disobedience – but a widely despised command cannot be rammed through by brute force. As a consequence, every ruler in Amund is always looking for agents and trusted envoys to investigate matters and resolve royal difficulties. Because so many local gentry are compromised by their ties, outsiders such as adventurers or foreigners often become such agents... and are wholly reliant on the king’s protection should they make powerful enemies. Sometimes it is convenient for a king to let an unfortunate agent take the blame for an order’s regrettable outcome. Ultimately, however, most of Amund’s rulers are not nearly so interested in detailed obedience as they are in the timely provision of taxes and soldiers. A lord who pays his due and brings aid in time of war is forgiven many little errors and failures in decorum. An adventurer who cuts their own domain out of a country might well be made a legitimate vassal by the king, provided they carry their responsibilities well and didn’t kill anyone the monarch especially liked during their conquest. Lesser lords tend to act with the same free spirit as their master. The common law does not exist for such grandees, but only the custom and opinion of their peers. Disagreements between them are not settled by lawyers, but by raids, marriages, bribes, or the occasional risky appeal to a king who might like the chance to cut down an overly-powerful vassal.

Religion in Amund

Amund is god-burnt, its history teeming with demi-divine heroes and god-kings and its present sorely lacking in such figures. The rough western hill country nurtures some monasteries of the Golden Path, and the Bleeding God has a surprisingly strong presence among the most downtrodden Pelegrin serfs, but most gods in Amund are makeshift deities revered only in a single city or kingdom. The Great Faith is an exception, being the state religion of Qasir and the de-facto faith of Mishar. They revere the vanished gods that turned back the Gods of Truth during the catastrophe of 378 BL, their shrines and priests all dedicated to their memory and their worship. Its believers are taught to be truthful, brave, generous, and obedient to their lords. Some followers take to the lessons better than others. The City Gods are a compound of ancient heroes and dimly-remembered divinities, each major city having a host of them recorded in their past. Rather than revering them individually, most cities have temples dedicated to them as a whole, with prayers and sacrifices offered to them as an indistinct pantheon. They oversee the city’s prosperity and fortunes in war, and are invoked to bring blessings on its people. A farmer seeking good harvests or a sailor wishing fair winds turns to the Need Gods. If a petitioner knows of no specific god to help them, they tend to call out to any who might listen, making a generic appeal to the gods of war, health, harvest or sea. Priests of the Need Gods boast of their knowledge of many different deities of past ages, all of which are guaranteed to grant splendid success in exchange for the proper rituals and tributes. Other Need Gods are well-known in particular communities, having been hallowed by tradition and regular use. The Living Gods are the most disturbing of the modern faiths. These sects revere actual living deities, with whole communities shot through with rituals and sacrifices to their glory. Some such gods are little more than divine beasts, ravenous for sacrifices, while others appear as human heroes or more sentient divinities. Their power is almost always restricted to a single city or small region, though it can be fearsome within that scope. Some such gods have been summoned by their priests, while others appear to be the product of the old Amundi predilection towards birthing divinities. Their strange ways often leave their protectorates isolated and avoided by unbelievers. Aside from these types of deities, the land itself is littered with the remnants of old shrines and forgotten temple complexes erected over the course of centuries. Every so often some mad petitioner unearths some fragment of old divinity, usually with disastrous consequences. Such dangers do not prevent modern seekers from searching out these old places, for the ancients were often generous in their golden sacrifices, and the gods are so long dead that they cannot be expected to object to their plundering.

24

Adventuring in the Amundi Kingdoms Adventure comes easy in the Amundi kingdoms, with so many different states at odds with each other and so many ancient ruins awaiting a bold explorer. Adventurers are practically respectable among noble courts, provided they have enough worthy deeds to their names or enough plundered gold to impress. Even kings will not consider it beneath their dignity to deal with a proven hero or entrust them with some great task. Of course, all such glory comes at the price of terrible risk, and far more adventurers are made in a year than ever see it out alive.

Exploration Adventures

Amund was more populous and far more developed in the Second Age, when the god-heroes were at their height and their magnificent cities covered the land. With their passing, the wilderness has crept in to swallow whole nations, with abandoned cities and half-buried roads through the perilous wilds. The forested foothills of the Carven Peaks are particularly rich in such lost cities, many of which were built after the Pale Emperor vanished and his empire disintegrated. Numerous flecks of islands dot the Gulf of Amund and the two inland seas that touch Amundi kingdoms. Too minor to have earned any cartographic note, they’re still large enough to hide valuable secrets, and some remain in the grip of peoples and kingdoms that have long since collapsed on the mainland. A few are even reputed to be Outsider strongholds still, with their bizarre cities and half-poisonous surrounds. The Lost March has room for any manner of exploration a GM could wish. If you’re not using it as a convenient blank spot for setting your own campaign, you can make it a trackless wilderness for ambitious heroes to explore.

Dungeon Adventures

The Carven Peaks have been sculpted for thousands of years by tireless undead carvers, whole mountains riddled with galleries and temple-cities dedicated to the Pale Emperor. Often every inch of these megastructures is engraved with symbols and artistry praising the vanished Imperator. While these delvings are far from human habitations, some renegades or monsters find them convenient nests, if a sufficient source of food can be found nearby. When they die, their belongings become bait for adventurers. Many of Amund’s cities are built on top of ancient settlements, or are presently part of the obdurate remains of such places. These time-lost buildings often make passageways deep below the earth, or have hidden wings and districts that can only be found by those who know their old secrets. It’s not uncommon for such places to still have an unwelcoming remnant of their former population.

Antagonists

The powers of Amund want gold, glory, and rule over their peers. With such an attitude being commonplace, it’s not difficult for a band of adventurers to find antagonists amid their travels. Ancient Abominations: Monstrous things still dwell in the wilderness of Amund, some of them decayed remnants of ancient gods that once had hosts of loyal worshipers. Many have gone mad in the long years of isolation and loss, and are a terrible danger to any who draw their attention. Bandit Lords: Anyone with enough swords at their command can be a king in Amund, and there are more than a few border provinces and isolated domains where no law runs but a warlord’s will. These bandit lords are a scourge on their neighbors, being too strong to easily drive off, yet canny enough to avoid drawing a king’s full anger. Cruel Nobles: Might rules in the Amundi kingdoms, and a noble who wants something can be expected to take it. If the PCs have something they desire or are in the way of some ambition, the heroes can’t hope to be sheltered by mere laws. Death Cultists: The edifices cut out of the Carven Peaks hold many of the necromantic secrets of the Pale Emperor. Some zealots still revere the vanished Imperator in hopes of obtaining eternal unlife. Others merely seek these places to loot them of their occult lore. Both kinds have a need for living victims. Mad Priests: Amund’s history is so god-ridden that there are bound to be some devil-deities or alien powers that have their own crazed priesthoods. These nefarious gods tend to be very direct in their blessings and punishments alike, and so attract those followers who are in need of tangible rewards. Few such believers make good neighbors. Ruthless Rebels: It’s no surprise that the harsh life in Amund gives birth to its share of rebels and renegades, some of them banding together into secret societies or roving warbands. While some of these groups are earnestly idealistic, the most successful tend to be the most ruthless, amoral, and grasping. Some are willing to unleash atrocities on their own people, if only to weaken a lord’s grip by a little. Sarxian Raiders: The Cut and the Spoil prevent easy overland raids from Sarx into Amund, but the sea makes a good road for their grim galleons. Coastal villages and market towns are their chief prey, their populations swept up and carried south to the altars of Sarx. A fast ship can sometimes catch up with them in time to save the taken.

25 Amundi Names d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts Place Names

1

Almeric

Aisha

Al-Hair

2

Carloman

Alys

Altdobern

3

Chilperic

Audovera

Askar

4

Clovis

Blasina

Auch

5

Crutbolc

Brunhilda

Auragne

6

Cyrus

Clotilde

Briach

7

Gruith

Deidre

Cante

8

Hakim

Helene

Darband

9

Heinrich

Jamila

Hermsdorf

10

Jafar

Joan

Mauressac

11

Jean

Leila

Monze

12

Murad

Maela

Moy

13

Nassir

Marie

Obergurig

14

Parviz

Mina

Shakal

15

Phillipe

Sara

Tarakah

16

Qasim

Soraya

Taurize

17

Shapur

Tamina

Tilaku

18

Talorg

Ultragotha

Unzent

19

Urcrin

Waldrada

Verzeille

20

Xerxes

Yasmin

Weisengrund

Aspiring legendary hero seeking to emulate a past name Weathered temple-robber of the ancient ruined fanes Acolyte of a minor god in need of some great deeds to glorify it Runaway Pelegrinian serf willing to risk terrible danger for gold Escaped slave determined to make a new and better life Backwoods peasant inured to the dangers of the wilderness Mercenary out of work due to some failure in a patron Foreigner seeking a quick path upward in Amundi society Beached pirate whose captain made a poor choice of foes Scholar seeking the secrets of the ancient Amundi gods Freelance spy who works for whichever patron will pay Last priest of a near-forgotten divine hero

Example Amundi Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

1

Rapacious lord of the area

Downtrodden peasant clan head

A new god is said to have arisen here

Holy relic of a now-dead god

Ragged rural village

2

Priest of some halfmad god

Earnest knight of some petty lord

The local lord has been usurped

Ancient precious temple goods

Debaucherous, grimy tavern

Sorcerer from the Carven Peaks

Slave seeking a new and better life

Oppressors are plundering the locals with taxes

Antique token of the local authority to rule

Border lord’s ramshackle keep

4

Merciless bandit chieftain

Scholar of the prior era of the gods

An ancient god’s Dead noble’s hidartifact has run wild den loot cache

Long-lost temple to a dead god

5

Scheming merchant Idealistic healer with noble ties seeking to help

War-born famine is stalking the area

Shrine to a local god-hero

3

Fist-sized gems from an idol’s eyes

Vicious monster from the wilds

Foreigner lost in this A rebel is gathering Supply of arcane harsh land the discontented to and addictive drug his banner

Splendid palace from a former age of art and grace

7

Rebel with no care for collateral harm

Deposed noble seeking revenge

A hideous monster is abroad here

Proof of a noble’s treacherous plan

Burnt-out ruins of a bandit attack

8

Mercenary captain who’s more than half bandit

Hard-bitten backwoods wanderer

The local ruler is betraying his land for some rich profit

Dead warlord’s lost payroll and plunder hoard

Abandoned city dedicated to a vanished god

6

26

THE ANAK WASTES Cursed by history and plagued by brutal Blighted warriors, few who enter the Anak Wastes ever emerge alive. Even so, the wealth of the ancient Dynastic cities within and the promise of lost occult secrets are enough to draw adventurers, despite the likelihood of a terrible doom.

History

Once the lush Ai Mej Province of the Second Dynasty, the present-day lands of the Anak Waste were a rich and fertile farming province for the priestly lords of that lost empire. Dozens of major cities dotted its forests and plains, and several important magical schools called its hills their home. While the inevitable perils of the Latter Earth could be found in its wilder corners, the Anak were its worst threat, and they were confined to the mountain Deeps where the largest clans had been spawned. Aside from the occasional large-scale raid, there was little to fear from the Blighted. Unfortunately, a religion-driven civil war between competing occult sects resulted in the collapse of Dynastic authority in Ai Mej around 1553 BL. The rising Vothite Empire to the north stepped in to fill the void, and Ai Mej Province became the empire’s Emedia. This transition came at a cost, and the southern reaches of the province around the headwaters of the Zinju became too dangerous for human settlement. A ferocious Anak warlord, Ka the Tensplitter, unleashed a magical miasma from his mountain stronghold that petrified the entire frozen forest now known as Ka’s Garden. His peers worked more prosaic havoc around the shores of Ivory Lake, and destroyed the peaceful towns and cities that had once stood there. Even so, the Vothites were able to hold back the Anak from the northern half of the province for centuries, allowing the ancient graces of Ai Mej to linger in EmedMar. In time, however, the empire fell to the Republic, and the ensuing chaos left the border sorely undefended. In 980 BL, while the Republic was embroiled in their struggles for internal unity, the volcanic range known as the Cinders blew its guts out, darkening much of northeastern Gyarus for a full year. While the Legacy was able to contain the damage locally, the ensuing convulsions weakened the world-binding sorcery enough for several ancient arratus to awaken from their long quiescence. The Anak took advantage of this chaos to strike north, overwhelming Emed-Mar and threatening the remaining Emedian provinces. The Republic was able to fend them off at last, but the lands now known as the Anak Wastes would never again be inhabited by baseline humans. In the centuries since, the Wastes have been a constant scourge to both the Dynastic heritor-states and the Gyre. As terrible as the land is and as ferocious as its masters are, there seems little prospect for that to change.

Regions of the Wastes

Modern explorers and possessors of ancient maps have been able to identify several distinct regions with the Waste. While some are more dangerous than others, none can be said to be safe for human habitation. The Ashblight: A Hell of fungi and ash that extends north into the Gyre, the Ashblight arratu is a prison for the weakest Anak clans, the ones unable to steal better land. Parasitic fungi are a constant threat here. Shadag’s Road: Named for the Anak warlord who was most responsible for the eventual fall of Emed-Mar, this stretch of sandy desert is perpetually dry and ash-choked. Only knowledge of its hidden cavewells can make it passable. The Cinders: A stretch of small volcanic peaks, infested with beasts of flame and poisonous smoke. Rich veins of precious minerals have been vomited up near their crowns, but few can reach them. Lost Emed: Once the portion of Emedia known as EmedMar, this jungle was once a fertile and well-watered plain. When the Anak seemed certain to overrun it, its last defenders used mighty magics to artificially trigger the same Legacy disruption that had created the other arratus in the Wastes; rather than bringing forth an ancient hellscape, however, it revived a protohistorical jungle of cycads and massive ferns. The huge lizard-beasts that stalk it are mindlessly ferocious, and often nest in its ruined cities. The Strait: Named for the narrow bands of grasslands amid the three surrounding arratus, these lands are fought over regularly by Anak tribes and soldiers of the Fifth Dynasty trying to push the border north. The lack of any truly monstrous perils makes it an inviting place for novice adventurers able to dodge the Anak tribes, as many ancient towns and ruins of Ai Mej still stand unplundered. Ivory Lake: Once the lake was named for the whitewalled cities of its shore. Later, it was named for the bones of the dead that were mounded around it. The northeast coast of the lake is low and swampy, a place of refuge for Dynastic criminals and exiles. Ka’s Garden: The trees of this forest are of gray stone, every one perfectly petrified. Nothing living grows in this place, though there are many undead dating back to Ka’s conquest. The Anak warlord’s tomb is said to be somewhere within, an ancient Dynast’s bones thrown out to make room for the conqueror’s body and a king’s ransom in stolen treasures. The Torn Plains: Corked up by Ivory Lake and the arratu of Salt, the Anak clans on these plains have no convenient foe but each other. The ancient mountain-Deeps seem to disgorge new tribes every time the old ones finally kill each other off.

27

The Four Wounds

Four great arratus erupted in Ai Mej when the Cinders blew out. Each of them is named for some unearthly quality they possess. While creatures do live within these accursed lands, all of them are wholly unlike any terrestrial beast.

Iron: A sandy wasteland, but every grain is of dull, unsmeltable iron. Jagged edifices of razor-sharp metal jut up from the sand, vibrating and moaning in the sulfur-stinking winds of the arratu. Hunting creatures of rusted metal await living prey. Bone: The earth has been flensed away from a massive network of hill-sized bones and joints, as if the carcass of some gigantic creature lies flayed beneath the earth. The bones are living, with poisonous black marrow, and many wormlike creatures dwell in holes bored within the titanic masses. Blood: This arratu is deceptively normal-seeming, save for a distinct smell of copper in the air. The land is inhabited by a humanoid Outsider species the local Anak call kaddak, who appear to require human or Blighted blood for both religious and sorcerous purposes. Salt: The air here is full of poisonous salt, the ground crusted white with it. The towns within the arratu are unplundered, but it is death to seek them.

The Lords of the Wastes

The Anak are the undisputed masters of Ai Mej, but their clans are constantly at war with one another. Those near the borders raid into the Gyre and the Fifth Dynasty to bring back food, slaves, and plunder, and their neighbors raid them to take what they have gathered. Most tribes sneer at the thought of picking over Dynastic ruins, there being no pleasure in taking baubles from those who do not suffer at the loss. Anak clans range from small groups of a few score adults to massive hordes of thousands, usually dwelling in the most defensible ruins in the area. They remain as long as the hunting and the killing are both good, or until they are swept away by a rival warband. The Anak are not the only intelligent inhabitants of the wastes, however. Renegades and criminals from the Fifth Dynasty are known to slip over the border in search of refuge in some abandoned town. Now and then some mad soul will seek to establish a farming village in a “safe” place. Sometimes the place lasts out the decade. At other times, it doesn’t last out the season. Other varieties of intelligent humanoid can also be found in the Wastes. Nonhumans don’t inspire the instinctive Hate in the Anaks, and so can sometimes form small communities so long as they have the strength to hold them. Some say that Outsiders have made nests in the Four Wounds, and that not all of them are immune to diplomacy.

28

THE ARISTOI PRINCIPALITIES The Aristoi Principalities form the largest non-baseline human polity in Agathon, if not the entire western hemisphere. Centuries of sorcerous eugenics have rendered its Anak lords very unlike their cousins and made them far more inclined to human intrigues.

History

When the Liberator Queen broke the Grand Harmony on Carce two and a half millenia ago, its surviving Outsider lords were forced back to their mainland strongholds. Infuriated by their losses, they turned their efforts towards breeding more and more Anak warriors to avenge themselves on the hated humans. For almost five hundred years, the Outsider citystates in the lowlands and the Lakaian mountain range created innumerable varieties of Anak. At first they were united in wishing vengeance on the Carceans, but as their prospects of success dimmed, their Anak legions were turned on each other. Each species of Outsider warred to become paramount over their rivals. This struggle compelled them to progressively loosen the sorcerous bindings on their creations, making them more and more capable of fighting fellow Outsiders. Inevitably, the legions broke free in 1150 BL. In an exultant orgy of slaughter the Anak erased the lowland Outsider cities and sent the survivors fleeing into their mountain fastnesses, never again to rule over their creations. Having broken the power of their creators, the Anak promptly seized their tools and continued their experiments. Each major tribe performed hideous alterations on their own people, constantly seeking greater might and cunning or imbuing them with new shapes and powers. Anak nations rose and fell, with whole new species of monstrous Blighted appearing, spreading, and being destroyed by those who followed. The victors of these centuries of war were not the most savage Anak, but the most far-sighted. One particular tribe, later known as the Aristoi, employed their creator’s sorcery and alchemy to breed scions who were far more inclined to cooperation and self-discipline than their peers. These Aristoi Anak had a vastly lessened sense of Hate and far more ability to restrain their own urges in the service of cold reason. The Aristoi fought as liberators of the human slaves their rivals had taken and employed their new subjects as warriors in their armies. By 500 AL, their rivals had been driven north to become the Shinbu Anak, and the Aristoi were the exclusive masters of the present principalities. While the Aristoi are far more given to cooperation than normal Anak, they still retain considerable ambition and self-interest. The result is the present patchwork of principalities, duchies, counties, and baronies, each independent save for specific ties of alliance and convenience. Every domain has its Aristoi clan to rule it, and a great hegemon has yet to arise from among them.

People and Culture

The average Aristoi is the product of centuries of alchemical and sorcerous eugenics. Most are of the same general size as their baseline human subjects, with skin tones of greens, grays, or earthen colors. Hair and eye colors are usually dark, and their ears and teeth tend to delicate points. They are usually accounted to be extremely handsome or beautiful by most baseline standards. The chief characteristic of Aristoi thinking is forethought. No normal Aristoi ever acts without considering the consequences of their choices, and while they may act with great daring, they do so after gauging the odds. They have a natural predilection towards intrigue, plotting, and present sacrifice for future gains. Their entire society is built around producing new generations of cunning, capable, self-disciplined rulers. Aristoi “whelps” lack full personhood until passing a family’s traditional tests of adulthood. The ten to fifteen percent that fail are commonly poisoned so as not to risk tainting the bloodline, though some manage to flee. Each Aristoi family rules their own domain, whether a small plot in informal vassalage to a greater neighbor or a grand duchy or principality. These clans rule over human commoners and serfs, who are generally treated fairly but who cannot hope to attain any post more significant than a village mayor or military captain. Intermarriage is not unknown, but Aristoi blood predominates. The Aristoi love elegance, pageantry, and all such pursuits that reward careful consideration. Their country manors are graceful, their commoners well-ruled, and their assassinations conducted with the utmost taste. Murder, warfare, and politics are to be carried out with decorum, fully remembering that present victory is often matched with future hardship. Human soldiers form the bulk of their armies, but even their internecine wars rarely touch on the farmers and peasants, as both sides wish to preserve valuable resources.

The Land and its Cities

The southern “lowland estates” are hot, swampy, and heavily overgrown. Farming villages grow rice and net fish amid the countless small waterways, and graceful Aristoi plantation-houses command the higher rises. Warfare in the lowlands often relies on small groups of river raiders and targeted assassinations, as the land gives little help to moving large bodies of troops. The northern reaches, past Uzynkol Lake, are drier and more open, with broad plains speckled with forests until the deeper woods of Pokrov are reached. The climate here is cooler and more temperate, and suitable for the massed cavalry that the Aristoi rulers here prefer. While there are several large cities among the Principalities, no single clan claims exclusive rule of any. A viceroy appointed by the city council manages the daily

29 affairs of each city, while the council itself is made up of representatives of the most important local Aristoi families. The constant intrigue and scheming to seize a bigger portion of the city’s taxes makes for a lively entertainment for the councilors. Pokrovka is the northernmost city, and serves chiefly as a naval port and military stronghold against the constant depredations of the Shinbu Anak. Uspenov holds a strategic commercial position, having numerous smithies and mines in the Lakaian foothills to the west. Much of its output ends up in Pokrovka. Suvoro is counted the most beautiful of Aristoi cities, numerous lake canals threading between splendid townhouses of fine Lakaian marble. Far from both Shinbu raiders and coastal pirates, its people are renowned for their elegance, their courtesy, and their three competing assassin guilds. Banovka is the chief trading port of the lowlands, a stream of riverboats carrying swamp plantation produce to its markets. The houses of the human merchants here copy the pillared plantation-home styles of their Aristoi superiors. Many are said to be discontented that their great wealth cannot buy them the same rank and status as their masters. Zharken is a city of exiles, pretenders, failed usurpers, and the criminals who serve their needs. The destruction of a major Aristoi family several decades ago left the surrounding lands in chaos, and the city councilors haven’t the strength to prevent outside powers from moving in.

The Adventuring Life

Surplus sons and daughters of struggling Aristoi clans often find it necessary to take up life as mercenaries, as that and a life in the clergy are the only two “respectable” professions for the nobly-born. As the Aristoi chiefly worship ancestors and abstract concepts of victory and wisdom, the opportunities for clerics are few. These mercenaries tend to mix in with foreign adventurers and the disgraced victims of Aristoi plotting. Ancient Outsider ruins are regular targets of such bands, and expeditions into the Lakaian range to pry open some ancient alien city or failed conqueror’s tomb are commonplace. Adventurers are treated courteously by the Aristoi, as all are, but most are viewed as unreliable tools at best. They can be hired for brute work, but if matters go astray, there is no objection to dropping the association... and perhaps tying up the loose ends as well.

30

ATBA SIM Once the domain of the horrible Outsiders known as the Tormentors of Vesh, the ancient First Dynasty broke their power and drove them north into the Master’s Teeth. The heirs of their guardian garrisons dwell here still, maintaining their ancient watch on the mountains.

History

The Outsider rulers of Latter Earth were of a thousand kinds. Some treated humans as mere cattle; others were less gentle with them. The Tormentors of Vesh were among the worst, being insectile monsters that seemed to make some sort of alien religion out of the suffering of humankind. Their prison-cities were engineered to inflict agonies both physical and mental, and tremendous effort was put into their dark enchantments and terrible engines of woe. In the days before present reckoning they were confined to the great island of Atba. Out of pity for the wretched humans imprisoned there and a desire to erase the Vesh from existence, the armies of the martial First Dynasty crossed over from the mainland to make war upon the aliens around 2300 BL. The campaign was a savage one, and the further the aliens were pushed back, the more horrible the slaughter. Unspeakably vile sorceries of pain and disfigurement were unleashed upon the Dynasts and monstrous warbeasts of parasitized human flesh were sent forth. In the end, the Dynasts forced the Vesh back into their northern mountain strongholds and established a string of fortresses in the foothills to keep them pent. For approximately three thousand years, the heirs of those garrison troops have dwelled on this cold island, making a simple living in farming, fishing, or hunting. Between the unwelcoming land and the presence of powerful Dynastic military artifacts, no foreign power has ever had much appetite for invading, and piratical raids along the coast are the most interest the outside world has shown in its people. Yet a steady stream of treasure-hunters and scholars still come to Atba Sim in hopes of exploring the ruined prison-cities and unearthing the plunder of the past. The natives of the island have made a modest industry out of these explorers, providing them support and supplies.

The People and the Land

The Atban are derived both from the ancient Dynasts and the Vesh’s slave-populace. The former were a slim, amber-skinned people with straight black hair, while the latter came in a dozen different appearances, all engineered for unfathomable purposes. Many are almost unnaturally beautiful, while others are born cursed with deformities and Blights. The basic political organization of the Atban is by their ancestral fortress-garrisons, and every village knows its proper affiliation. Marriage is always between differ-

ent fortress-clans, and sometimes war as well when there are disputes over succession to a generalship or access to a valuable resource. These disputes tend to be small-scale, as every fortress is armed with First Dynasty defensive artifacts that would crush any open assault; if a fortress is to be taken, it can only be by cunning or politics. The island of Atba is cold and dry, particularly in the southern reaches and the great Simnok taiga. Crops of barley and jade sorghum are grown on the Silitak plains, but the southern villages live by fishing and hunting. None dare venture north into the Master’s Teeth unless it is to raid a Vesh stronghold. The six-armed aliens still haunt those cursed peaks, and sometimes small parties creep south to steal victims for their awful rites. There are only two cities worth the name on Atba Sim. Ingalik is the larger, being the usual entry point for foreign adventurers and traders. It’s held by a military council drawn from several of the nearby fortresses, and its rulers keep it strictly neutral toward any local political disputes. Its buildings include both hide yurts and ancient First Dynasty port fortifications. Silivik is the market for the villages and fortresses of the western coast, with a few traders or adventurers docking there instead. It’s far less developed than Ingalik and considerably more lawless. The only authority is a weak city council who can be stirred to act only when some great disturbance is threatened. Numerous criminals and exiles dwell there. The entire island of Atba is dotted with ancient Vesh prison-cities and small garrison-forts. One can scarcely go ten miles without finding some fortified village or ominous ruin of black stone. While these lesser prison-cities are numerous, six great Cities of Woe are especially noteworthy. Innok is the southernmost and coldest, locked in ice for nine months of the year. Its chief torment was Privation; the lack of warmth, lack of food, and lack of hope. Its human citizens were made to kill and be killed over the insufficient produce of ancient hothouses, ones that still operate and grow strange fruits that possess wonderful virtues. Wiarak on the southwestern coast was the prison-city of Fear. Horrible hunting-things stalked the dark corners of the city, creeping in to commit atrocities upon the unwary. Certain rituals and safeguards could fend off the beasts, but these rites changed at unpredictable intervals, leaving every citizen dreading each night. Its human sorcerers conducted great research into warding and protective enchantments, many of which are lost to the present day. Bleak Chumina was the city of Pain, a self-consuming prison designed to make the inmates monsters to each other. All suffered constant, gnawing pains that could only be lessened by inflicting torment on other human beings. The victims sweated a thin blue liquid

31 which could be distilled into “blue hyssop”, a medicine powerful enough to cure almost any pain or disease. Ancient stores of this liquid are still to be found in Chumina’s halls... as well as its curse of suffering. Shaktool, on the north edge of the pine taiga, was the city of Despair. Everything about Shaktool was designed to crush the hope from its inhabitants. It was maintained by inhuman automaton-guardians who would arrange for powerful artifacts and rich caches of resources to be found within its halls. These treasures were never enough to prevent their cycles of torment and misery, however, and only served to give false hope for a better future. Tigat, in the cool northern grasslands, was the city of Betrayal. The city sweated secrets in hidden places, codes and ciphers that could be used to open vaults that contained precious treasures and priceless resources. Using the wrong code unleashed horrible beasts or lethal traps. Its citizens played cruel games of misrepresentation and deceit, all to be the last ones alive to gain the treasures. Perhaps the most horrible of all the prison-cities, Kabuk was the city of Eternity. Its inhabitants were effectively immortal, being infected with a hideous symbiote that preserved them from all mortal injury. Yet despite this immortality, monstrous creatures constantly tormented them, starvation and privation constantly afflicted them, and their lives existed purely to be immiserated. While some of these immortals have been successfully destroyed by adventurers, the majority are still shackled to the city, hopelessly insane and convulsively violent. Even so, the treasures they guard are said to be the fruit of three thousand years of mad, compulsive craftwork. The prison-cities of the island were once ringed about with massive black stone walls and sorcerous wards of binding, but the ancient Dynasts threw down these barriers. Now anyone can walk amid the crumbling stone warrens and nauseating imagery of these places, though their ancient guardians are still confined within the old city limits. The outer reaches of the cities are relatively safe, having been picked over by centuries of adventurers, but the heart of a city is invariably an extremely deadly zone that risks permanently trapping an intruder into a lifetime of hideous torment. Some lunatic refugees intentionally seek out these prison-zones in order to evade some terrible pursuer. They usually imagine that they have the strength or resources to fend off the warders. They are seldom correct.

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ATLANTIS Atlantis is among the greatest of the nations of the western Latter Earth, heir to ages of royal power and ceaseless labor. Its Prior Crown vies with the Flame of Heaven in Sarx and the Emperor of the Fourth Dynasty successor-state as the foremost power in the region, and the ships of Atlantis bear trade throughout the sea named for its might. Despite this power, Atlantis is not without its troubles. Kytheron on the mainland is ruled by the heirs of its former rulers, bitter at their loss and still maintaining their rights over their former domain. Regional satraps seek a quiet independence from their lord at Kronos, stifling royal edicts and subverting royal ministries. Rivals in Sarx and the successor-states aid rebels within and without to bring down their old enemy. Yet worst of all the perils that face the Prior Crown is its own past. The lords of this land did not come from this age, and aeons long dead have a grudge that is yet to be repaid.

History

In the former age, the island now known as Atlantis was the mighty kingdom of Carce, its monarchs ruling by the strength of the Zakathi task-houses that formed its nobility. In time this strength was corrupted by avarice and ambition. A wave of civil strife brought Old Carce to its knees some fifteen hundred years ago. The demihuman nobility of Carce enlisted advisors and soldiers from among the baseline commoners. One band of odd foreigners took service with the minor noble house of Phaistos in 510 BL, offering their analytical and divinatory services to their Zakathi masters. Their services proved invaluable. By 502 BL, Phaistos had obtained the crown and crushed many of its rivals, Only a last sweeping purge remained to ensure their dominance. Arrangements were made to plant assassins among the enemy houses and carry them all off in a single stroke. That night, even as the Phaistos assassins did their bloody work, the trusted human advisors of the Zakathi unleashed their own treacherous plan. By dawn, only a handful of Phaistos nobles remained to flee into exile. The leader of these humans, later known as Constantine I, took the crown from the dead king’s head and pronounced himself the new monarch of Carce... or as it was to be known now, Atlantis. He and his companions were envoys from the deepest past, viceroys of the true and eternal rulers of Old Terra. By his wisdom and foresight he would make the island prosper until his rightful rule could be extended over all the Latter Earth. The Predecessants, as these humans were called, claimed to be journeyers from the far past, having slept beneath Mt. Athra until the land required them. They would abolish the task-houses, restore the freedoms of humanity, and bring ancient wisdom to new service.

No one had the strength to defy them. By 498 BL the last remnants of organized resistance were crushed by the Prior Crown and their new human armies. The task-houses still existed in name, but were utterly bereft of their former status and riches. Most of the Zakathi retreated into the mountains and forests, there to nurse their grudges and foment the occasional rebellion. Others sought to profit by the new order, and enlisted in the Prior Crown’s army or took service in his ministries. The Prior Crown wasted little time in making his companions ministers and officers in his new government. They and their offspring were ennobled into a new class of gentry, ones entrusted with the more important offices and significant military posts. Even now, those descended from the original advisors pride themselves on being “Predecessant families”. These “Preds”, as the commoners call them, are the closest thing Atlantis has to a hereditary nobility, rising and falling with the ages. In the centuries since, the Prior Crown has changed hands many times. When a ruler grows old or perishes, a successor is seen to emerge from the depths of Mt. Athra, escorted in each case by the white-armored praetorians who guard each monarch. None know how these successors are chosen, nor what age they have come from, but for fifteen hundred years they have come at need. They prove their authority by their power to control certain artifacts carried by the first Predecessants and their knowledge of certain secrets held only by the original advisors. Several times their enthronement has been resisted by restive Predecessant houses or fought by some child of the Prior Crown who thought their claim the better one. At times these rebellions have persisted for decades, or even centuries as portions of Atlantis pledge loyalty to a familiar ruler rather than the stranger from the mountain. In the end, however, these breakaway provinces have always been brought back into line. One of the most famous of such struggles occurred a thousand years ago, when the suspiciously long-lived Basileus IV was confronted by a successor who demanded that he pass over the Prior Crown and return to the mountain to be questioned. Basileus demurred, and after a brief and savage civil war, found himself forced to take ship in Kronos with such military forces as he could muster. He sailed south, to the land later known as the Gyre, and there established a kingdom in exile that has persisted ever since, his seeming agelessness preserving him. Current affairs in Atlantis revolve around the rebellion of King Agreus in Zenopol, a supposed resurrected king of Old Carce who has rallied a number of task-houses and Zakathi warbands to his side. He controls all of the Apatrian Marches and a significant portion of the Great Boread Forest. Kronos appears safe from his legions at present, but the focus on the west has left the southern and eastern provinces sadly neglected by the present Prior Crown.

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Geography

Atlantis is a warm island, with snow rare anywhere but on the highest mountains. Its southern shore is tropical, with the wild verdancy of the Berylhule jungle covering the coast. In the north, a more temperate warmth has produced the Great Boread Forest with its broad-leafed trees and rolling hills. The Saidonis mountain range is the spine of the island and the home of many ancient Carcean toil-citadels, ancestral homes of the Zakathi task-houses that once ruled the land. These mountains are perilously jagged, and only along the ancient road between Gan Bor and Gan Zakath are they in any way passable for ordinary traffic. Bold mountaineers might find other ways across, but travel between east and west is more often by ship. Two great rivers dominate the island. In the north, the Ponta flows past the ancient capital of Gan Zakath down to the new one at Kronos, seat of the Prior Crown. Barges are hauled up-stream with food and goods to receive shipments in turn of metals and manufactures from the mountain cities. The Akris Flow in the south carries much of the produce of the Haimod Plains down to Gan Tropos, where traders carry it along the coastlines and over the sea to foreign lands. Arratus are few in Atlantis, having been stamped out over the ages. Even so, some exceptionally dire ones remain in the deep forests and high mountains.

Peoples of Atlantis

Most Atlanteans are baseline humans, with about ten percent being Zakathi demihumans. The latter generally resemble the baselines in their home region, but are as much as a foot taller, being muscular and well-toned. The Zakathi were cursed for rebellion in a former age by their Outsider masters. As a result, every adult Zakathi must physically exert themselves to exhaustion at least once per day or slowly and painfully perish. This constant need for physical exertion tends to cripple them in old age, and few survive past sixty. The offspring of humans and Zakathi usually also bear this curse, though it can sometimes skip several generations. In Atlantis, this curse is honored as “tireless industry and unsleeping valor”. In other lands, Zakathi are often considered Blighted. The baseline humans of Atlantis are of two main ethnic groups. In the north, the Carcens are tall, olive-skinned, brown-haired people with pale eyes. They favor long hair for both men and women and elaborately ornate clothing. In the south, the Saidens are somewhat shorter and have a more golden hue, with blond or red hair and green or blue eyes. They’re known for the relative scantness of their clothing in the tropical heat, but compensate with extensive jewelry and body adornments. Little tension exists today between Carcens and Saidens, though the latter were oppressed in the days of Carce. King Agreus in Zenopol favors Carcens still.

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Demography

The population of Atlantis amounts to roughly 12,000,000 citizens, including about 7 million Carcens, 4 million Saidens, and 1 million Zakathi demihumans. Carcens predominate in the north, and Saidens along the southern regions. Most of the ancient Zakathi toil-citadels were in the Saidonis mountain range or in hilly, rocky regions elsewhere in the island. Many Zakathi task-houses have since migrated into the lowlands and taken their kinsmen with them, but the demihumans do tend to remain most populous in their ancient strongholds. Roughly 90% of Atlantean subjects dwell in rural villages or small resource-extraction settlements. The remainder reside in market towns or larger cities.

Cities and Towns

In relatively safe provinces, there is usually a village every few miles, a market town with a thousand or more citizens every fifteen or twenty miles, and a county capital with five or six thousand citizens every fifty miles or so. These distances grow far greater in forests, mountains, and other inhospitable or dangerous terrains. Major cities can be found as the capitals of the twenty-four historical provinces of Atlantis, each of which have at least ten or twenty thousand inhabitants. Depicted on the regional map are some of the most important of these provincial capitals. Several of them can be identified by the “Gan” prefix denoting their origins as Old Carcean task-house strongholds. Kronos: Capital of Atlantis, replacing the Carcean capital of Gan Zakath. Heavily garrisoned at present to resist incursions from King Agreus in Zenopol. Zenopol: Provincial capital of the Apatrian Marches, under the control of King Agreus. A thriving den of privateers and foreign allies of the rebel king. Gan Zakath: Former capital of the Kingdom of Carce. Majority Zakathi, and a vital production center fueled by mountain mines and Zakathi laborers. Gan Tropos: Seat of Saiden culture and history. Chief trading port of Atlantis, teeming with foreign traders and goods from far lands. Gan Linna: River fortress-city, charged with preventing the dangers of the Great Boread from closing the critical river trade. Linnan riders and riverwards patrol the Ponta and even dare the forest at times. Gan Saidon: Half-independent city, majority Saiden. Poor, with its farmlands threatened by the dangerous Rhothos hills. Its provincial Despot hires what help she can get. Gan Bor: Chief outpost of civilization on the wild, thinly-populated eastern coast. The road west to Gan Zakath is the only passable trade route through the mountains. Gan Deiras: Prosperous from minerals in the hills and farms in the dry Haimod plains, but with few navigable rivers. Its caravans are often raided by bandits.

Atlantean Society

Atlantean commoners live in nuclear families, with the crippled and elderly cared for by their nearest relations. City dwellers tend to have few important families ties beyond near relations, but rural families often recognize themselves as being part of larger village clans, with matriarchs or patriarchs having a considerable say in their affairs. Predecessant houses have a tighter relationship with their kinsmen, all of them tracing their descent back to some ancient Prior Crown or to the companions of the first monarch. The most powerful elder of each family branch has tacit control over their descendants, with every family expected to contribute to purposes that advantage the whole and maintain their status and access to royal offices. A Pred who refuses to cooperate can generally do so, but the doors to any significant official post will always be closed to them thereafter. Many such rebels depart for foreign lands or become adventurers. The Zakathi of Atlantis are either part of human Pred or commoner families or are organized under their ancient task-house lineages. During the Kingdom of Carce, each task-house was charged with a different physical labor so as to satisfy the Zakathi need for hard work. While few of these task-houses still persist in their old roles, their heirs are bound together by the memory of ancient prestige and a shared spirit of cooperation that fires most of them. Elder toil-generals or foremen rule the task-houses, and while obedience to their commands is not legally required, few members of a task-house would dare defy them. Even under the Prior Crown, it’s understood that most task-houses handle matters of internal discipline at their own discretion. As a culture, Atlanteans honor industry and physical labor. A commoner stonemason or a simple dock hauler has more social cachet than some wealthy but idle Pred sybarite, and the laws and customs of Atlantis cut sharply against rentiers and passive owners. A career of purely intellectual labor is considered tolerable, but nothing to specially honor or respect. As a consequence, the officials and Pred families of Atlantis all cultivate a strong tradition of handicrafts and manual labor, even those without the Zakathi blood that requires it. Gardening, stonemasonry, blacksmithing, or simple recreational cargo hauling are all common pastimes to the best families in Atlantis. The current First Minister of the Prior Crown devotes at least an hour daily to carrying water to the palace kitchens, and has fashioned buckets of wrought gold in which to carry his load. His predecessor perished after an unfortunate fall from a marble folly he was constructing in the gardens. Toil is not the only thing they cherish, however. Hard work is deserving of due reward, and their industry makes possible a degree of feasting and finery uncommon in other lands. Atlanteans are prosperous in the main, and they take pleasure in their prosperity. Their ships bring back goods from all over the Atlantean Main, and the wealthy are always eager to sample new delights.

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Government and Law

Atlantis is blessed with the just rule of His Highness, Constantine IV, by Grace of Days the Defender of the Carceral Reach, Lord of Atlantis, Emperor of Gyarus, Autarch of Agathon, High Pontiff of the True Faith, Prime Director of the Terran Mandate, Sage of the First, and the Prior Crown of Earth. His ascent has been relatively recent, occurring five years ago after his predecessor, Theodora III, died at the hands of assassins sent by King Agreus of Zenopol. Atlantean government is bureaucratic in nature rather than feudal. The king has a half-dozen ministers in charge of various national affairs, and a score of provincial Despots responsible for particular regions of the island. Beneath them are the appointed ruling Agetors of cities, towns, and villages, all of them assisted by bureaucrats belonging to one of the ministries. Their rule is highly autocratic; popular input is restricted to petitions to the government which may or may not be heeded. While the bureaucracy and a military led by an appointed Strategos form the two most obvious branches of Atlantean government, the sages of the Nekrakademia have great importance as well. Revered as a “school of the dead”, secrets imparted by the Predecessants are taught to modern diviners here. The forty-three different types of occult divination they perform provide great amounts of information to the Prior Crown and allow the bureaucracy to respond with surprising swiftness to developing crises. Nekrademics hold no official rank outside of their office in the school, but few care to meddle with them. While the Nekrademics can provide insight to its rulers, the sheer size of Atlantis makes it difficult to fully control. Outside of the great cities and beyond the easily-accessible coastline, there are stretches of provincial back-country and untamed wild that provide easy bases for rebels and separatists. Greater or lesser rebellions are common, most led by minor Pred houses or Zakathi. The laws of Atlantis are not surprising to most foreigners. All the conventional crimes of theft, violence, treason, and fraud are punished, with light offenses receiving fines and public beatings and serious ones a longer or shorter period of confinement in government workhouses. Murder, rape, rebellion, and other grave crimes are met with beheading. Crimes are tried by judges appointed by the local Agetor, usually in a relatively swift and summary fashion. Predecessants earn more care in their condemnation, and can often turn aside minor crimes with suitable payment to the judge or the offended victim. Unlike many of their fellow nations, neither Atlantis nor its predecessor in Carce permit slavery. The Zakathi that ruled Carce had no incentive to avoid hard physical labor, and the burden of guarding and feeding laborers just so they could deprive the Zakathi of work they needed to survive seemed nonsensical to the kings of Carce. Modern Atlanteans may not need the work so badly, but are likewise of the mind that slaves are simply more trouble and danger than they’re worth.

Atlantean Religion

In theory, the state religion of Atlantis was imparted by the Predecessants during their rise to power. TheWay of Eternal Truth is a highly philosophical, rationalistic faith dedicated to discerning the moral laws and personal conduct that brings the most happiness to the widest number of people. The Church of Eternal Truth has teaching-chapels and priest-diviners in every city and town, and every state official is expected to acknowledge it as the highest and noblest creed. In practice, it inspires almost no popular enthusiasm and is sincerely pursued only by the most rationalistic and atheistical of Atlanteans. A few of the ancient gods of Carce have retained most of the people’s true devotion, even though their priesthoods are denied any political influence. Theria, the Liberator Queen is the apotheosized woman who led the rebellion against the Grand Harmony that gave freedom to the original humans of Carce. Her petitioners seek liberation from their sorrows, burdens, and difficulties, and vengeance on those who would oppress them. While very popular among commoners, she is widely despised by the Zakathi, who maintain that she betrayed their ancestors to their Outsider masters in order to save her own human followers. Tensions between human zealots and Zakathi blasphemers have sometimes erupted into riots and purges. Anamon, the Tireless One is the chief god of the Zakathi, the ancestor-deity who gives each Zakath the strength to endure their daily labors and bear up under their ancient curse. During the Kingdom of Carce, he became identified with martial strength and kingly stability, and both Zakathi and humans pray to him for fortitude and victory in the face of war or disaster. Morema, who Avenges is a dread deity who brings calamity upon the fortunate and disaster on the great. Some speculate that she was an early aspect of Theria who became feared in her own right. Morema despises all who are fortunate, happy, and exalted, and sends curses and tragedies to blight their lives. She is propitiated chiefly in hopes of turning away her attention, yet she retains a small, secretive cult of assassin-priests who seek the revolutionary destruction of all distinctions of status. While outlawed, everyone knows that a sufficiently wealthy or deserving petitioner can find them when their services are needed. Adeia, the Bringer of Plenty is the goddess best loved by the common folk. She oversees the fields and fisheries and brings good trades to hard-working merchants. Every village and town has a temple to her service, and her clergy often act as healers and teachers in turn. Saidon, the Ruler of the Seas serves as the patron of Atlantean sailors and all who must negotiate the perils of the sea. Church doctrine says that he was once the living god-king of the island, until the coming of the Outsiders forced him to depart beneath the waves. He has authority over storms, winds, and rain as well, and farmers beg his favor. His clergy have a private navy that does extensive foreign trading and exploration.

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Adventuring in Atlantis Atlantis is a relatively orderly nation, with competent government and the ability to foresee most major disasters or internal crises. This sight is imperfect, however, and even matters foretold may not be understood correctly. For heroes seeking adventure in Atlantis, there are a number of likely possibilities to explore.

Exploration Adventures

The Great Boread Forest and the Berylhule are both largely unexplored outside of a few outpost-towns and resource gathering communities. Generations of failed rebels and outlaws have fled into their depths, most to perish, but some to form whole petty countries and minor domains beneath the branches. The Atlanteans prefer to leave such communities to die out to the perils of the wilderness unless they make themselves a serious threat to their neighbors. Their very existence helps distract the local monstrosities and keep them occupied. The Saidonis mountain range is almost as obscure. Ancient roads and transit-tunnels have collapsed or been lost over the ages, and whole toil-citadels have vanished from the maps. Great wealth awaits those who can reach those lost Zakathi strongholds, or the even older Outsider dens from which the island was once ruled.

Dungeon Adventures

For those seeking classic delving adventures, the island is littered with old Carcean ruins that predate the Prior Crown. The devastating warfare that marked the end of the Kingdom of Carce made wreckage that has still not been reclaimed 1,500 years later, and most villages and towns are no more than a half-day’s ride from some sinister pile of stone. Many such ruins have been swallowed up by the Great Boread Forest or the Berylhule, whole cities and former provinces now gone beneath the trees. Ruins of the Prior Crown tend to be the remnants of rebel towns, cities, and fortresses, each dating back to some period of civil strife when the Prior Crown was weak or challenged. Many delved deep into the earth to strengthen their fortifications and hide their riches. More personal ruins tend to be the remnant dwellings of sorcerers, regional warlords, forgotten temples, or other historical detritus. Recalcitrant Zakathi task-houses in particular have left many small toil-citadels dotting the deep wilderness where they had hoped to live free of the usurping humans. Some are still inhabited; few are inclined to welcome visitors.

Antagonists

Several groups and organizations exist in Atlantis that might prove dangerous to the PCs... or may become useful patrons to those who agree with their causes.

The Strange Aeons: The Predecessants who emerged to seize control of Atlantis were not the only envoys of the past who awoke in Carce, and not all of them agreed with their purpose. Ever since Atlantis was founded, a sect of them have been fighting to seize control over the island, calling up temporal echoes of ancient beings and powers to use them against the present-day Prior Crown. They have fearsomely powerful chronomancers among their number and wield temporal manipulation as a weapon. Their ultimate purpose is obscure, and they do not always seem to act in perfect harmony, but they appear unalterably opposed to the Prior Crown. King Agreus of Zenopol: One of the Strange Aeon’s experiments gone awry, King Agreus was one of the greatest kings of Old Carce. On being called into the present, he somehow managed to slip the control of his handlers and blind their divinatory arts until after he had raised a Zakathi rebellion in the northwest and seized the great port of Zenopol. His martial brilliance and heroic reputation have brought Zakathi from all over Atlantis to his banner. He is determined to reclaim the island for his Zakathi people and the Carcen humans who were its original inhabitants, and be rid of the time-foreign tyrants who have usurped his heirs. Foreign Spies: Atlantis is envied by most and hated by a few. The exiled lords of Kytheron have extensive family ties on the island and often use them to meddle in Atlantean affairs. Sarx hates Atlantis as its foremost rival, and their wealth buys many friends. Most piratical nations and organizations have at least a few agents operating in Atlantis to keep watch over their navy and trade affairs. Regional Irredentists: In the past fifteen hundred years, almost every part of the island has been nominally independent at one point or another. In some provinces Carcens were the masters, in others Saidens ruled, and in some the Zakathi regained their old power. Such groups tend to look back wistfully to such days as their golden age, and whenever the Prior Crown’s taxes grow too steep or some disaster befalls them there are always locals willing to take up arms to regain their lost rule. The Nekrakademia: The sage-officials of this organization focus chiefly on divining for the state, but have much freedom in other matters. Some use this freedom poorly. When they go rogue, it often takes a band of adventurers to bring them down.

37 Atlantean Names d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts

Zakathi Houses

Place Names

1

Arcadius

Achaia

Agenos

Deiras

2

Charax

Atalanta

Andron

Dromos

3

Diocles

Briseis

Antigos

Euoras

4

Eudorus

Chione

Calchon

Gan (Location)

5

Eurythion

Circe

Chrysos

Gephyra

6

Gallus

Damia

Diomedon

Halios

7

Gyras

Dorothea

Epicuron

Inatos

8

Hector

Eudokia

Hecton

Kabeirion

9

Hyrcanus

Galatea

Icaron

Kelados

10

Isandros

Iolanthe

Lycos

Leuktra

11

Krateros

Isadora

Metros

Lysias

12

Leontis

Jocasta

Nikos

Melos

13

Lysagoras

Khloe

Oreston

Messoa

14

Megistos

Kynthia

Phaethon

Neris

15

Nikon

Maia

Philos

Oraia

16

Olus

Nysa

Proteon

Penteleion

17

Protus

Orthia

Selenon

Rhion

18

Tarchon

Phylia

Thalos

Skolos

19

Thestor

Thessala

Theos

Temenion

20

Xanthos

Zoe

Thestos

Xenis

Black sheep of a Pred family, seeking their own way in life Zakathi mercenary formerly employed by the royal army Recent mage-graduate of the Nekrakademia Priest of a minor god, seeking to spread their faith wider Failed royal bureaucrat forced to find a new living Back-country rustic familiar with the perils of the Atlantean wilds Last scion of a fallen Pred house, forced to fall back on themselves Charlatan diviner or con man preying on local beliefs Survivor of a failed rebellion or would-be secessionist community Internal refugee displaced by King Agreus’ takeover of Zenopol Escaped slave who fled to Atlantis for the sake of their freedom Ambitious explorer seeking out unplundered ancient ruins

Example Atlantean Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

1

Corrupt royal bureaucrat

Hard-working Zakathi commoner

A government diviner foresees woe

Heavy gold ornaCyclopean Old ments of Old Carce Carcean ruin

2

Rogue Nekrakademia mage

Curious magely seeker of the past

Terrorist attack by the Strange Aeons

Exotic goods from the Berylhule

Ornate Atlantean work building

3

Ruthless rebel chief or separatist

Ambitious wilderness entrepreneur

Monster emerges from the wilds

Lost magic texts from Old Carce

Market full of exotic foreign goods

4

Calculating bandit lord in the wilds

Affable blacksheep Pred outcast

Foreign spies have Secret but totally triggered a disaster accurate prophecy

Half-empty chapel of the True Faith

5

Ancient thing called Foreigner seeking up by the Aeons to make a new life

Corrupt official has caused a problem

Potent Predecessant magic item

Endlessly busy workshop

Precious divination tools for a mage

Port teeming with foreign ships and far traders

6

Sinister agent of King Agreus

Harried but earnest King Agreus or bureaucrat other rebels make a move

7

Monstrous relic of Old Carce

Local trying to dodge politics

8

Cruelly rapacious sea merchant

Local well-meaning Bandits are taking priest-diviner of the advantage of local True Faith civil confusion

Things

Places

Ancient toil-citadel Ancient treasure Hidden lair of is suddenly discov- brought forward by rebels and recalciered below a place the Strange Aeons trants Wealth earned from inhumanly constant labor

Remote Zakathi toil-citadel in the mountains

38

THE BLACK PACT Its rulers call their land the Pact of the Learned, but to the rest of the Latter Earth it is the Black Pact, a land of vile sorcery and viler sorcerers. A half-dozen infernal schools of magic maintain an uneasy and oft-broken peace here, though their neighbors find little joy in them.

History

The precise origins of the Black Pact are unclear, but the first recorded schools of magic in the region date back to the early Second Age, around 1800 BL. The details about these ancient schools have long since been concealed and effaced by their successors, but legend has it that they were founded by several great sorcerer-kings whose arcane pacts had allowed them to overthrow those Outsiders who later retreated to the Tombfell in the north. While the secrets of High Magic were integral to all their arts, these schools were unusual in that all of them were dedicated to one or more extra-Iteral patrons. In exchange for service and worship, these powers would grant great secrets and arcane might to their devotees. Unfortunately, those patrons most generous with their power were also those most horrible in their appetites. The occult schools of the Pact have never been entirely at peace. In the past three thousand years, over thirty-six different major schools have risen, ruled, and been destroyed, with the oldest of the current six great schools dating back only to 700 AL. The early centuries of the Pact were particularly violent, with four major arratus still scarring the land as a legacy from those days. Their unity improved after the men of Ninth Leng took an interest in them some thousand years ago, and ever since the agents and hirelings of that strange land have sought to infiltrate the schools and steal their secrets. It would seem that certain patrons worshiped in the Pact are especially repugnant to Leng, and open raiding and magical assaults are not unknown. Presently, the six schools and a dozen other major independent archmages form an uneasy council of rule over the Pact, working as a whole to ensure that local quarrels don’t erupt into magical disasters and that each school’s affairs are unhindered by the others. Their concern for the common folk is almost nonexistent, as the peasantry are fit only to serve as raw materials and menial laborers. Only the most brilliant and gifted among them are recruited into the nobility of magic.

The People and the Land

Pacters are a tall, lean people on the whole, with dark hair and eyes, and hues ranging from sallow to waxen pale. Traces of ancient curses or warping sorceries are not uncommon among them, and the occasional tail, claw, extra eye, or other touch of infernality is unremarkable. Most Pacters live in small farming villages, picking out a living with barley and goats. These settlements are poor and ragged, with most of their surplus in materials

and youth claimed by the nearest school as tribute for their “protection” from the other wizards and the castoff magical abominations that haunt the forests and fields. A yearly testing ceremony identifies the most magically gifted among their youths, and those who survive their education have a hope for a greater destiny. For the commoners, the law is composed of custom and command, to be carried out by the village elders lest the schools send a harsher enforcer. For the magically-gifted, there are no laws but those of their school, and the occasional vivisected peasant or burnt farm is of no serious import. Most terrible of all are the great solitary arch-mages who have withdrawn from their school’s society to pursue unfathomable secrets. None dare defy them. Lengish agents are surprisingly common among the villagers and servants of the city. The men of Ninth Leng spread their silver generously, and while their raiders sometimes come to scourge the coast of the Sea of White Teeth, they seldom do worse than the Pact’s own masters do to their people.

The Six Schools

The six great schools of the Pact lend their name to the cities they rule, every inhabitant either a teacher, a student, a slave, or a hireling. Outside traders and adventurers have a place there as useful tools for the mages, but all the natives have a rigidly-set place in its hierarchy. Each of these schools teaches one or more traditions of magic, and each of them offers worship to one or more extra-Iteral beings. Strangers might call these powers gods or demons, but to the schools, they are merely its patrons, and the worship and rites they offer are no more than payment for services rendered. The School of Tokris instructs in the arts of necromancy, with a particular eye towards dealing with the undead of the Still Cities. They have few spells to overcome the Pale Emperor’s blessings on that land, but they have more than most other schools. They chiefly revere Naggad, Prince of Bones, who takes ten lives to prolong one. The School of Yagganat prides itself on its reason and logic, favoring the elemental arts and physical studies. To them, any who do not command magic are little better than talking animals. Its foremost patron is Yom, the Folded One, who eats the minds of its sacrifices. The School of Kreng-Tsagat reflects on the nature of flesh and bone, sculpting their servants in beautiful and horrible ways. Their decadence is proverbial in the north, and among their many gods is Tsagat-Mun, the Sufficient Flesh, who gives them pleasures in exchange for the bodies of thinking beings. The School of Llon has a vast selection of patrons, and focuses on methods of binding and summoning so as to call forth the right demon for any given duty. The prices these beings demand are terrible, but the mages of Llon seldom intend to be the ones paying them.

39 The School of Tsathmat reveres the ancient meteor that fell to crush the Seven Rivers Confederacy and leave behind the Hammersea in its wake. They claim the meteor can be contacted in sorcerous dreams, and gives them the secrets of the past and future alike. They drown offerings in the Hammersea as messengers to the stone. The School of Xophet is ever vigilant for Leng-ships and their cowled raiders on the Sea of White Teeth. They command obscure gifts of storm and water, and atop their vast towers they expose sacrifices to the talons of flying demons. Their chief patron is Hasad-Krii, the Kestrel Demon.

Adventuring in the Pact

The wizards of the Pact have use for adventurers as deniable assets and convenient afflictions for their rivals. Even a freebooter hated in one city can find friends in another, so long as they remain useful. Aside from tasks of subtle assassination, the killing of magical beasts, or the collecting of components in dangerous areas, many sorcerers need hirelings to investigate ruined wizard’s towers or fallen school-cities. Many ancient wards are specifically triggered by the pacts and arcane affiliations of modern Pacters, so outsiders are needed to slip past those wards and recover the secrets and treasures lost within. A foreign wizard can avoid an ancient curse much more easily than a local mage.

The wizard towers in question were usually occupied by some great solitary arch-mage until their inevitable wizardly damnation. Their leftover grimoires and abandoned trinkets often contain tremendous power, though it’s not unknown for their servitor devils and animated slaves to linger behind after a wizard’s doom. The school-cities commonly center around an isolated magical academy that gradually grew out into a fullfledged city over the course of centuries. Many of their structures were created with magic and the help of devils, and some defy normal logic in their construction. Their ends commonly came with some great magical disaster or the overwhelming sorcerous violence of a rival. More than a few perished to internal strife among their deans and elders, and some appear to have been annihilated by their patron devils after some failure of service. Their locales are avoided entirely by the common folk and prudent mages, as they’re usually plagued with curdled magic and decayed spells. Guardian automatons and bound demons stalk their empty streets at night. In addition to ruin-plundering, it’s not impossible for an ambitious wizard to acquire certain magical secrets from a cooperative academy, usually at the cost of some perilous favor. It’s also not unknown for foreign princes and distant kings to send to the Pact for a court wizard, as such viziers are not only free of troublesome local political ties, but are devoid of burdensome morals as well.

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THE BLUECROWNS Named for the haze of bluish smoke that encircles their volcanic peaks, the Bluecrowns have always been a place of exile and isolation. Centuries of failed pretenders, exiled sorcerers, and aspiring colonists have made their home on one of these volcanic isles, but few have lasted long against their perils.

History

The Bluecrowns are an anomaly on the skin of the world, with the sub-sea plate buckling upward and exposing numerous veins of magma along the sea floor. The islands themselves are the points at which these upwellings have formed an archipelago over thousands of years, with the occasional eruption birthing new spits of land. It appears that some ancient humanoid civilization once dwelled on the isles, finding some religious or magical benefit from the powerful geomantic energies of the region. Several megastructures dating back to their rule still stand on the islands, each one a tremendous monolith of volcanic glass encrusted by black, metallic living structures and temples. The megastructures appear to have channeled and regulated the geomantic energies of the area, and some sorcerers still make their lairs in abandoned building-clusters in order to exploit this power. Since that far-off day a steady procession of colonists, exiles, explorers, and adventurers have made their way to the Bluecrowns. As distant as it is from the mainland there have been no serious attempts at conquest since an abortive expedition by the Second Dynasty, so the prospect of an untouched island kingdom has been appealing to numerous would-be rulers. Few last for long. Far from any civilized support and surrounded by the many perils of the archipelago, most exiles perish here and most colonies are forced to retreat. The centuries of abandoned wizard lairs, colony sites, royal retreats, and ancient geomantic structures provide a wealth of treasures and artifacts, but very little in the way of food, safe shelter, or security.

The People and the Land

The few inhabitants of the Bluecrowns are drawn from half a hundred ethnicities, being the remnants of failed colonies, stranded pirate crews, or the servants of exiled nobles. They usually speak a patois derived from Dynastic speech. The few lasting settlements on the Bluecrowns are all on small islands with secure water sources and viable fishing grounds. All of the major islands shown on the world map are much too dangerous for most settlers to last, even though they possess far superior natural resources and much more valuable ruin sites. The largest human settlement in the archipelago is Spindrift, a tenuous port town of one thousand people at the eastern edge of the island chain. Built into the ruins of a failed Second Dynasty anchorage, it serves as a hub

for trade among the surviving villages of the Bluecrowns and as a base for foreign ships operating in the area. The occasional pirate chieftain has been known to seize control of the place for a time, but usually affairs are settled by the elders of the town’s chief families. The energies that flow through the earth around the Bluecrowns makes the climate far hotter and damper than it would normally be for an archipelago at its latitude. Even the southernmost island is thickly jungled, and the northern islands tend to hot swamps of massive flower-bearing creepers and brilliantly colorful trees. Much of the flora on the islands appears to have been ornamental in purpose, but it long ago slipped its garden bounds. The fauna is vicious. Aside from the degenerate, cannibalistic remnants of failed former expeditions, numerous varieties of huge insects and membrane-winged birds plague explorers. Lizard-like humanoids inhabit the swampy northern islands in small numbers, and appear singularly hostile towards human intruders. Some explorers have claimed that these lizardfolk can be reasoned with given the correct offerings, but none can agree on what those offerings might be. The greatest perils on the island, however, are the magical remnants left behind by dead wizards and careless sorcerers. Such is the force of the geomantic energy here that magical beings tend to coalesce naturally around abandoned magical artifacts or lost occult grimoires. These beings are usually unintelligent and uniformly hostile, but some adventurers use their presence as a hint that some sort of valuable relic might be in the area. Other would-be explorers are simply eaten.

Adventuring in the Bluecrowns

The most common reason for adventurers to seek out the archipelago is to plunder the belongings of those who have come before. Spindrift is familiar enough with such treasure-hunters to have basic supplies and services on hand for them, though magical resources are nonexistent and only the boatwright clan there has any of the more sophisticated crafting skills. Aside from such looting, other adventurers look to the volcanic islands as being worthy a site for their new kingdom. Certainly, the islands are infested with horrible monsters, and all those who have attempted this before have failed utterly, and it would be a feat of heroic leadership to convince large numbers of colonists to follow them, but it’s free real estate. No king would question their right to rule, provided they live to establish it. And the rewards are very real. Aside from the valuable relics in the ruins, great veins of gold and precious metals have risen close to the surface here, and vast troves of uncut gems await a miner’s pickaxe. The jungles are rich in exotic plant extracts, and the seas teem with fish. Success in kingship would surely be rewarded.

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THE CHOKING DUNES The sad result of a catastrophic magical disaster, the Choking Dunes are a borderline uninhabitable wasteland of slowly mutagenic dust. Few venture into its sandy desolation except to seek the riches of its buried cities.

History

During the First Age the mighty Wind Cities soared over much of Gyarus and southern Agathon, requiring tribute from the weaker groundling cities and carrying trade over vast distances. Their winged airships fought for control of the heavens and brought the goods of far lands to the groundling markets they passed. That glory ended around 1600 BL, when the Sarxian volcano known as Dumat Mul erupted. The Legacy contained the destruction to a relatively small portion of Sarx, but the magical repercussions channeled devastating energies through the arcane engines of the Wind Cities. Many plunged from the heavens to scatter their remnants across western Gyarus. A localized and temporary pocket of calmer thaumic force allowed a handful of those cities to set down safely in the Dynastic province of Javair, south of modern Runom. A backwater province since the Second Dynasty, the cities were even more isolated by the then-ongoing collapse of the Third Dynasty. When the surviving airships of the cities demanded their submission, they had no choice but to bow their heads to new masters. When the Third Dynasty finally coalesced into the Fourth, these “Spire Lords” were too well-established to be rooted out by the fragile young dynasty. Most of their airships had been lost to battle or decay, but they still had access to powerful magics of storm and wind. For centuries, the Spire Lords dreamed of re-conquering the skies. Their reverence for the gods of sun and cloud was expressed in great shrines, and their arcane academies ceaselessly researched the means to restore the fallen cites to flight. Airships continued to be produced in small numbers, but the great focus of their labor was on repairing the damaged engines of the cities. This great dream came to fruition in 482 BL, when the combined efforts of all the Javairian Wind Cities were put to the creation of a massive Working. In a single tremendous morning, several hundred sorcerers participated in a grand ritual that backfired spectacularly. The ensuing Rain of Red Ash buried the plains and forests of Javair under a hundred feet and more of mutagenic dust. The population was wiped out almost entirely within hours, and the cities of Javair were buried deep under the ruddy sands. Ever since, the Choking Dunes have been a shunned place for the surrounding peoples. The red dust twists those who remain too long in the desert, transforming them into monstrous beings tormented by an eternal thirst for blood. Even so, a handful of hidden communities still eke out an existence within the wastes.

The People and the Land

The surviving dunefolk are of Javairi extraction, being dark-skinned, pale-haired, and amber-eyed in the main. They inhabit subterranean warrens that have been carved out of the hardened dust by natural springs, as well as occupying deeply-buried buildings from the lost cities. The dunefolk know secrets for preventing the mutations of the dust, but their medicines require organs and blood from the monsters that stalk the sands. Without a steady supply of such ichors, they risk transformation after as little as a month of steady exposure. The need drives their hunters to leave the warrens, and sometimes even to negotiate with strangers on the sands. Each tunnel-village is limited in numbers by the amount of food their hunters can catch or their buried arcane greenhouses can grow. While the magic of these greenhouses makes them unnaturally productive, they also require components taken from the buried Wind Cities, necessitating expeditions below the sands. The climate of the Choking Dunes is invariably hot and rainless, the only living creatures on its surface being those transformed by the dust’s magic. At the edges of the dunes a wind occasionally blows, but the inland reaches are either dead calm or gale-wracked, the damage of the ancient disaster having scarred the natural weather. Few enter the dunes save for adventurers willing to risk mutation or traders who have long-standing ties with some tunnel-village. The dunefolk are known for unearthing magical relics during their expeditions into the cities, and most villages prefer to sell them on rather than run the risk of them being an evil magic.

Adventuring in the Dunes

Any adventuring band that ventures into the dunes needs to be brisk about their expedition. Remaining longer than thirty days without dunefolk medicines runs the risk of permanent transformation. Some traders are willing to assist freebooters in making contact with a tunnel-village, but few will do so for free. The architecture of Javairi cities owed much to their flying past, and so covered streets and glassed-in walkways were common. Once buried by the red dust, these passages form subterranean connections between buildings, such that many Javairi cities can still be explored without significant excavation. The uppermost reaches of the tallest buildings of a city usually jut above the dust, and explorers who can make it down to the ground floor can obtain access to much of the rest of the site. The dangers of the cities are considerable. Mutated beasts and warped humans are common in the lightless reaches below, the dust seemingly preserving their lives even as it drives them to torment. Worse still are the rumors of otherworldly entities still lurking in the dark, half-bound by the disastrous Working that made them.

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COURONT A melancholy land of cool forests and broad grain fields, Couront is a remnant of the splendid Seven Rivers Confederacy that fell to disaster during the First Age. A backwater province even in that distant time, the kings of Couront now labor to keep their people safe against the perils of the Black Pact to the west and the terrible beasts that haunt its dark woods.

History

During the apex of the Seven Rivers Confederacy the backwater province of Couront was at the very northern edge of its influence. The least favored among the Confederate’s status-obsessed society were effectively exiled to its cold forests, there to live without troubling their more aesthetic neighbors with their deficiencies. Among these exiles were numerous devotees of the Bleeding God, who formed monasteries in the rugged land to provide for their needs and their safety. The abbots of these monasteries became the de facto authorities in the surrounding areas, if only because they alone could reliably provide food and protection to others. When the Confederacy was destroyed by the meteorite that formed the Hammersea, a tide of refugees flowed north to escape the chaos. Unskilled in war and unversed in such practical skills as farming or husbandry, they died in legions. Only those that attached themselves to a monastery were able to survive long enough to learn the skills they required. To maintain public order, the chief abbots and abbesses of these monasteries resolved to choose a king from among the few nobles who had survived the disaster. In 1399 BL, King Lothair I was chosen as the first King of Couront, and his most capable retainers installed as dukes and counts over the various regions of the land. The royal house has changed fourteen times in the 2,500 years since, but the present King Enguerrand IX is the tenth of his own dynasty, the Giscards. Even today, the crown is not considered legitimately bestowed unless it comes by the hands of the abbot of St. Villiers, oldest of the surviving monasteries of Couront. Ever since the first king of Couront, the rule of the country has been divided between the noble houses and the Holy Church. Bishops and abbots rule their church lands much as secular nobles might, and the most powerful churchmen are almost always kindred of some noble house. The king himself is theoretically the head of the Church in Couront, but his commands must be tempered by prudence. Couront’s isolation has kept it relatively safe from outside invasion. The wilderness of western Kytheron has discouraged incursions, and the Black Pact has never cared for secular expansion. Pelegrin in the Amundi kingdoms to the south has been known to lay claim to southern regions of Couront, but their rulers have grown listless these days and their claims have largely lapsed.

The People and the Land

Courontines are mostly of Riu extraction like their cousins in Pelegrin, being slim, pale, and uncommonly beautiful. Also like the Riu of Pelegrin, some are unfortunately prone to madnesses and overwhelming passions as a legacy of their Confederate origins. Couront itself is a cool, thickly forested land, with long, snowy winters and brief, hot summers. Fortunately, both the Hammersea and Herondeep remain ice-free all the year round, and much coastal commerce goes on throughout the year. Most traders come from Pelegrin or Kytheron; ships from the Black Pact are not welcome, and the men of Ninth Leng rarely send friendly traders across the Sea of White Teeth. True cities are few and widely-scattered in Couront. Montsegur is its capital, built on a bluff overlooking the Herondeep. Its splendid Confederate-style palace was constructed by means long since lost to the modern day, and its white walls and slender towers have defied every past attempt to topple them. The nearby abbey of St. Catrin is the seat of Henri, Bishop of Montsegur, and a man who does not love King Enguerrand at all. Among the nobility, four great ducal houses command the most authority, each with their collection of vassals and allies. While theoretically subject to the king, the ducal houses of Chalon, Foix, Montfort, and Vitre are such that any two of them in concert can command more knights than the king’s personal domains can provide. The Duke of Foix, Guillaume the Smiling, is rumored to be in league with the Black Pact as part of a plot to replace the rule of the Giscards with that of Foix.

Adventuring in Couront

Couront is a wild country, with its nobles in control of no more than their ancestral manors and villages. Out in the depths of the forest there remain monstrous beasts from prior ages and present Pacter carelessness, and noble knights are often required to slay such creatures. Shapeshifting man-wolves are a particular danger. Unlike most nations, Couront has a state church in the faith of the Bleeding God, and its bishops, abbots, and abbesses are both powerful and wealthy. They often have need for adventurers to resolve some difficulty with a local lord or a hungry beast. The church’s inquisitors are not especially demanding about orthodoxy, but there is enough dark sorcery from the nearby Black Pact that they seldom lack for work, and often need help. The ruins most often found in Couront are those of fallen monasteries and crumbling towns, both victims of ancient wars or monstrous incursions. As a matter of tradition, adventurers may keep whatever valuables they can recover from such ancient sites, though precious relics and famous treasures may attract noble or clerical buyers who are not easily dissuaded.

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THE FAR WASTES The Far Wastes are lands without pity, forever locked in the grip of ice. The frozen sea of Boras Mur has crept over the land here and left the mountains sheathed in titanic sheets of crystal-clear frost. Unlike other glaciers, however, the ice of the Boras Mur is gentle in its grasp. It does not scrape the land clean, but covers it patiently, preserving the features of the landscape and leaving the ancient jungles and lost cities below undisturbed.

History

No scholar can say much of the ancient civilization imprisoned below the ice. Its golden age was before the Colligation of Epochs, or else it is some mayfly domain that sprung up during the chronal instability of that time, only to be frozen alive in some convulsion of the Legacy. The first Hyperborean explorers who ventured into the Gebed Hau mountain range spoke of the jungles and cities they found buried beneath the glass-clear ice, thirty or fifty or a hundred paces down below the surface. They also recorded the presence of great street-wide tunnels cut into the rime by unknown ancient hands, frozen roads that burrowed deep into the gem-rich mountainsides and through to the buried cities beyond. Signs of mining work were found in the empty tunnels, and salvage work in the lost cities, but no living miners were ever mentioned in those ancient records. The surface of the waste is lethally dangerous. The alien lords of the Boras Mur pilot great ice-beasts across the barren glacier, some no larger than a cart and others the size of small cities. They generally kill all humans they find, though some explorers claim that they can be negotiated with, if the right relics are presented and the correct ancient words are spoken.

Adventuring in the Wastes

Only the most reckless adventurers would dare an overland expedition across the Wastes. Nothing natural can live on that endless sheet of ice, and the fearsome dwellers on the Boras Mur leave few survivors. Instead, most expeditions start in the southern reaches of the Gebed Hau range, seeking out one of the great tunnel-roads that head north beneath the ice. A few reckless merchants have even gone so far as to set up forward bases in the tunnels, carrying in supplies and courageous miners to work the rich deposits beneath the mountains. They can often be persuaded to supply adventurers as well, given suitable inducement. Beyond the mountains, along the buried coast, the frozen jungle is peppered with ancient cities trapped in the ice. The decoration and art shows a humanlike set of inhabitants, though the stylized lines make it difficult to tell more. Some of their tallest buildings pierce the glacier surface, leaving other means of getting below. Some of these ancient structures have been inhabited by the alien ice-folk, who do not welcome strangers. Aside from the ice-folk, manlike cannibals have been found living under the ice, harvesting preserved jungle flora for food. They seem far too savage to have been the city-builders, using only crude tools and scavenging treasures to adorn their warriors. Some suppose they are the remnants of the original tunnel-builders. Aside from the cannibals, numerous ice-creatures of terrible aspect are said to dwell in the cities. Surely only great magical power could keep them alive in such places, and some mages are convinced that the secrets of the glaciers can be found in their hoarded troves.

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THE FIFTH DYNASTY The latest successor-state of the greatest power Gyarus has ever known, the Fifth Dynasty is but a shadow of its predecessors. Even in its decay, however, its venerable might and ageless institutions give it a power its recalcitrant provinces must grudgingly dread.

History

The first Dynastic state was formed shortly after the Colligation of Epochs when the First Emperor united the warring city-states of the Plains of the Jade Marquis. The tremendous military power of these vassal domains had to be directed outward lest it tear his young empire apart, and so the First Dynasty was characterized by a military expansionism that took them north to the southern reaches of the Gyre, and south, west, and east until there was no more land to conquer. At its height, almost the entire continent was subject to the loyal vassals of the Emperor, and First Dynasty ruins can still be found throughout Gyarus. That very size became the First Dynasty’s downfall. Lacking the prospect for new lands, the lords fell to seizing each others’ territory, and the empire collapsed into a welter of warring fiefs. The once-irrelevant Imperial Bureau of Gods and Ancestors became the only effective peacemakers between the lords, calling upon divine authority to sanctify diplomatic agreements and anathemize those who broke them. The chief administrator of the Bureau eventually became the founding emperor of the Second Dynasty in 2250 BL. The power of the myriad temples and ancestor-cults grew enormously during the Second Dynasty, and the lords of the domains often became mere figureheads for the chief priests of the Gods and Ancestors, when they were not formally deposed. The Second Dynasty was less concerned with expansion, and more given to the construction of massive edifices to the glory of their deities and their sacred ancestors. The competitiveness between and within religious sects never died, however, and as the centuries progressed, more and more priests resorted to esoteric wisdom and secret sorceries in order to advance their faith or their personal standing. Eventually, the calcified system of priestly rule broke apart, and the only temples of importance were those that taught sorcery. The convulsive conflicts between these arcane schools threatened to destroy the empire until the rise of the first mage-emperor of the Third Dynasty in 1522 BL. The Third Dynasty was naturally obsessed with the control of magic within their domain, and only authorized imperial schools of sorcery were permitted to take students. The former temple schools were shut down or went literally underground, and those sorcerers too powerful to kill were made to flee across the Vermillion Sea, into the present-day Hundred Schools. Many great Workings date back to the rule of these sorcerer-lords.

As the centuries passed, however, the rigid curriculum of the imperial schools admitted no innovation, and sorcerers who strayed from the official teachings risked death at the hands of the Dynastic censors. As the Legacy mutated with the years, old magics no longer worked correctly, and old Workings could no longer be sustained. This weakness was exposed when the great coastal trade city of Triloukon was lost to a Polop invasion in 807 BL. With its major trade connection with Carce and the northern continent severed, the wizards proved unable to reverse the disaster. Much of their strongest magic was inoperable or perilously unreliable, and desperate local bureaucrats were thrown on their own resources. This bureaucracy had long been learning to make do without the help of their wizardly lords, and by 780 BL they had completely supplanted the former dynasty with a new network of trade connections and military agreements that operated without recourse to unreliable magic. After a brutal season of sorcerous warfare, the first emperor of the Fourth Dynasty took the throne that year. The bureaucracy bypassed many of the ancestral nobles of the Dynasty, preferring to rule through officials chosen by imperial examinations. They prided themselves on using all the resources of the state to gain its ends: warfare, sorcery, and the favor of the gods alike. These resources were not equal to the hour. The remaining provinces of the empire gradually slipped away, the emperor too weak or too cautious to force the bureaucracy into a coherent attempt to hold on to their influence. By 802 AL, the Fourth Dynasty existed in name only outside of its ancestral core. It was through the frustration of a minor eastern noble that the dynasty met its end. By means of intricate diplomatic dealings and the support of the Xindai governors, a sweeping invasion from the east was able to seize the ancient capital at Anchang in 802 AL, placing the first of the Tiu dynasty on the throne and commencing the present Fifth Dynasty. In theory, the emperor at Anchang commands not only his ancestral holdings, but the Scarlet Princes, the Xindai Commanderies, the Free Clans, the Hundred Schools, and the nation of Hantu as well. In practice, he is hard-pressed to even keep hold of his own domains, with the other nations ranging between open hostility to politely fictional allegiance. Confusion and disorder plagues the nation. The old bureaucracy still hobbles on, but city governors grow negligent of imperial commands and village grandees abuse their neighbors without rebuke. Numerous officials and long-ignored noble houses labor to dig up the relics and secrets of the past, the better to seize present power. Cults and philosophical schools thought dead for an age are awakening again as people seek some remedy against the decay. What they find may be worse than the sickness.

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Geography

The Fifth Dynasty is largely warm and temperate, with a tropical climate around the Ai Mej jungle and cooler weather around the south end of the Bolin forest. Snow is uncommon north of Anchang. The Feiyang hill range at the center of the land is exceptionally jagged and steep, with numerous small rivers twining between tall karst pillars. For ages, scholars and sages have vanished into the hills to conduct their solitary studies, and numerous forgotten shrines from the Second Dynasty can still be found. The freshwater Vermillion Sea is the common road of the region, with ships from all the surrounding countries regularly passing through. In former times, the Kurao river used to be the Dynasty’s main trade link with the outside world, terminating at the port city of Triloukon. These days, most Dynastic goods must cross the Xindai Commanderies to reach an ocean market. The northern border is marked by the start of the Anak Wastes, and Blighted raiders are regular scourges from that accursed land. The Great North Road that runs from Zinsui to Shi Mej is lined with wayforts to keep the Anak from sweeping down in a savage tide. In the east, the Plains of the Jade Marquis are the ancestral heartland of the empire, the black soil being tremendously productive. The eponymous Jade Marquis was said to have invented agriculture here, and even now the villages and towns lie thick on the fertile plains.

Peoples of the Fifth Dynasty

The average Dynast is slim, with skin tones ranging from old ivory to bronze and straight black hair. Numerous small ethnic groups are found within the borders, however, and some of them can be drastically different in appearance while sharing much the same culture. While the Fifth Dynasty is not so comfortable with demihumans as the Xindai Commanderies are, there are still some small communities to be found. Several dwarven holds are known to create magnificent temples and carvings in the Feiyang Hills, and certain ancient academies are staffed exclusively by an associated community of elves. Other small domains and isolated polities are also recognized by the empire, and largely ignored so long as they continue to pay tribute and avoid making trouble. The people of the Fifth Dynasty are defined largely by a steadfast conviction that theirs is the greatest culture and most splendid society to have ever graced the Latter Earth. If the Dynasty has weakened and its present state is lessened, it is only because people have not properly understood the lessons of the past, nor properly embraced the teachings of their ancestors. To be cultured is the crowning virtue of any true Dynast. So intense is this cultural confidence that it largely eclipses lineage in determining societal membership. Anyone who embraces Dynastic culture is a Dynast, regardless of their origins. Those who reject and refuse it are foreigners, even if they are heir to an ancient clan.

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Demographics

Perhaps as many as twenty million Dynasts are spread out among the farming villages and cities of the domain. Unlike most nations, the extreme fertility of the Plains of the Jade Marquis allows a considerably greater percentage of the populace to live in urban areas. The capital of Anchang boasts almost one million inhabitants, and even small regional market centers can claim at least ten thousand people. Demihumans make up a very small but not nonexistent portion of the populace, with perhaps one percent of the population being non-baseline.

Cities of the Fifth Dynasty

Within the Fifth Dynasty’s borders are at least a hundred market towns or provincial centers that deserve the name of city. Seven of them are of particular importance. Anchang: “Heaven-piercing Anchang” is the millenia-old seat of Dynastic rule, the throne-city without which no usurper can hope to be the legitimate emperor. The city has been inhabited so long that it has built itself up into a towering mountain of buried buildings, half-collapsed sewers, and mazey subterranean complexes. The Fragrant Office of Profound Architecture commissions regular security sweeps through the topmost layers. Few dare to go deeper. Luyang: Gateway to the northern Feiyang hill range, Luyang is choked with temples and shrines dating back to the Second Dynasty. Numerous cults and obscure philosophical schools survive there, protected by ancient tradition from the interference of the governor. Mawen: A naval base dedicated chiefly towards keeping the pirate-merchants of the Free Clans in check. Its governor has also been charged with finding colonists and explorers willing to reclaim the long-abandoned island of Shilai for the emperor. Rudai: The main trading city for the Xindai merchants, with barges going up and down the Kurao to gather the produce of the plains. A gigantic bridge spans the river here, its underside crusted over with thousands of abandoned buildings of another age. Shi Mej: The last remnant of the ancient Ai Mej province from which the neighboring jungle takes its name, Shi Mej is a melancholy city of beautiful, many-colored buildings and numerous psychoactive drugs. It’s also the center of the Dynastic slave trade, with surplus sons and daughters from around the nation traded to those who bring silver. Silung: Famed for its history of art and song, Silung is a magnificent city of soaring architecture and dozens of ancient art academies. Aesthetic affairs are of greater import than financial ones here. Zinsui: A fortress-city armed against the incursions of the Anak beyond the border. The drier plains of the west have less agriculture and more herding; agents of Zinsui must often deal with cattle rustlers and sheep thieves, both Anak and otherwise.

Dynastic Society

The basic Dynastic social unit is the extended family. Every member is expected to assist every other member, even out to distant relations, provided such assistance is not too onerous. The closer the relation, the greater the obligation; a child’s duty to their parents is total, while a cousin might require no more than business assistance or help acquiring a government post. Similar ties are formed by formal declarations of friendship, which make each participant pseudo-family to the others. Government officials have the highest status in society, along with those few remaining nobles who can lay claim to ancient, largely decorative titles. Beneath them are farmers and scholars. Artisans and craftsmen are held as inferiors, scarcely worthy of being allowed to take the government office examinations. Merchants, despite all their wealth, are hopelessly vulgar sorts automatically disqualified from holding government office. Slaves, soldiers, servants, performing artists, foreigners, harlots, criminals, and similar people are tolerated as nothing more than necessary evils. Most children follow in the trade of their parents. While men and women have firmly-defined social roles, these roles are subject to the agreement of the family. A woman can be put to a man’s task or vice-versa if the family needs their talents and they accept the duty; outsiders would be considered impudent to question the propriety of it. The Dynasts commonly cherish two things: culture and government office. Those two qualities can redeem almost any personal failing, and without at least one of them a person can never be considered fit for good company. Every family’s children are brought up with the best education they can afford, focusing chiefly on literature, poetry, and fine arts. Those gifted offspring that pass the yearly government examinations have a hope of being enlisted into the bureaucracy, even if only as a village magistrate. The vast majority of men and women who fail these examinations may try again later, but must otherwise take up their family profession or be married off. The worst sins in Dynastic society are unfilial behavior and selfish avarice. Betraying your own family is a heinous crime deserving only a miserable death. Family elders, especially parents, are to be treated with deference and obedience at all times. In the same vein, a grasping avarice for wealth and personal indulgence is disgusting, and the mark of a deformed character unfit for public prominence. Of course, such sins would not have to be condemned so ferociously if they were not sadly wellknown in Dynastic society. Dynasts who cannot tolerate the constant demands of family obligations or public office may withdraw from the world to follow certain esoteric religious sects or venerable philosophical paths that teach dissociation from the concerns of the world. Such adepts can ignore family ties and shun public office without suffering shame for it, provided they maintain the austere habits and strict personal moralities of their faith… at least in public.

47

Government and Law

In theory, the awesome Emperor Shulao is the absolute and unquestioned autocrat of all Dynasts everywhere. His scores of bureaus, ministries, and offices reverently receive his sacred commands and tirelessly work to effectuate the blessings of imperial benevolence throughout the land. In practice, the emperor has absolute control over such things as he absolutely monitors at every step. Without constant imperial oversight his commands are subject to the discretion and interpretation of hundreds of bureaucratic officials, many of them hundreds of miles away from him. A corps of imperial eunuchs known as the Eastern Palace serve as the emperor’s unofficial right hands. Personally selected for their talents, they are often sent to investigate remote matters and ensure that the imperial will is carried out correctly. Sadly, the Eastern Palace is notoriously corrupt. Open opposition to them is almost certain to result in an imperial death sentence. The official Imperial Censors are formally intended to root out corruption, and are selected through a mix of examinations and proven service as senior magistrates. They are ancient enemies of the Eastern Palace, but they are watched so closely by the eunuchs that they must often engage secret agents of their own to gather information and carry out their decisions. Capable adventurers are often selected for such deniable work. Beneath the palace intrigues, every city, town, and village is under the direct rule of an appointed magistrate, who holds this post for a set term. This magistrate oversees all legal and governmental affairs in the city and judges all serious crimes. He or she is aided by a hired corps of local constables and investigators, who hold a very low status but are grudgingly feared for their connections. Every magistrate must report to a superior magistrate, until the greatest are left to answer to the provincial governor, and the governors to the emperor. The Dynastic government is a shadow of what it used to be in former ages, but it is still extremely organized and effective compared to most other nations. The magistrates can call on substantial numbers of constables whenever necessary, and standing arrangements exist for summoning troops from nearby garrisons as needed. Paperwork and files are passed to and fro among the magistracy, and crimes in one place are often noted far away. Fortunately, the absolute authority of the magistrate means that such difficulties can sometimes be overcome with the right payment or favor. The Dynasts have access not only to considerable armed forces, but also a sizable number of sorcerers and arcane adepts. Most of these learned mages are left to their isolated shrines and hermitages, but when called upon by a magistrate, they tender their services for the good of the state. Especially dangerous enemies or fearsome rampaging adventurers must beware the consequences of angering these strange old wizards and their enigmatic arts.

Religion in the Fifth Dynasty

All Dynasts are expected to give veneration to their ancestors at certain times and places, with the eldest sons responsible for presiding over these rites. Commoners and the ignorant believe that their ancestors can bestow blessings and favors on pious descendants, but the learned consider such beliefs to be vulgar folly. The purpose of ancestor worship is to inculcate filial piety, not to get favors from the dead. Needless to say, necromancy is a heinous crime to all decent Dynasts. For practical aid, commoners have recourse to a number of household gods, such as those of the stove, the bed, and the inkstone for aid with wealth, fertility, and learning. Larger worries are offered up to each city’s God of Walls and Ditches, who presides over all affairs within the community’s walls. When death befalls a family, offerings are made to the Judges of Hell so as to ensure a merciful review of the deceased’s life and a swift passage to a new and favorable incarnation. During the Second Dynasty, nobles required numerous human sacrifices as part of their burial rites, sending both slaves and spouses to their side in the afterlife. Today, only the cruelest grandees demand such excess, and only when the local magistrate is too cowed to stop them. Every trade has its own professional deity in turn, from the Jade Marquis who invented agriculture to Shi Chong, the primordial blacksmith. The specific name and qualities of these gods vary from region to region, but every place can be expected to have a god of tailors, of carpenters, of harlots, of scholars, and of every other profession wealthy enough to fund a temple and its priests. The Golden Path has a considerable number of followers in the Fifth Dynasty, and its lessons of abandoning the self and abolishing one’s passions are embraced by many who have lost much in the world. Most consider it a faith for the old and those retired from public affairs, but its temples are often richly endowed by those seeking to escape the fetters of material things. During the Third Dynasty, an offshoot of the Golden Path became popular among the magical literati of the empire. The Changing Way has been embraced ever since by mystical adepts eager to obtain the marvelous powers it promises. Through strict austerities, isolation, complex breathing exercises, and dangerous alchemical medicines, the initiate may hope to obtain eternal life and health, and in time refine his base nature into godhood. Adepts of the Changing Way seek out remote hermitages or isolated monasteries where they can carry out their disciplines in peace. Some depraved seekers have been known to follow darker versions of the path, ones that promise quicker power or more convenient longevity at the cost of heinous deeds and forbidden sacrifices. While the Dynasts are tolerant about their faiths, there are some gods that are forbidden by the empire. This forbidding is not always enough to suppress the cults that form around these dark relics of the Second Dynasty, for the rewards they offer are great.

48

Adventuring in the Fifth Dynasty Officially, adventurers have very little status in the Fifth Dynasty, being considered a thin slice above criminals at best. In practice, successful adventurers often end up as folk heroes and popular champions, celebrated by the commoners and courted by officials. Unsuccessful ones rarely live long enough to worry about their social prospects. The usual patrons for adventuring parties are rich local merchants, magistrates in need of temporary constables, or investigative scholars who require more muscle than a writing-brush grants. Once they’ve made a name for themselves, more powerful officials might contact them for special tasks that require a proven agent. An adventurer with the right patron and the right paperwork is practically above the law.

Exploration Adventures

The Feiyuan hills are full of abandoned shrines and hermitages once occupied by forgotten cults or long-vanished magical adepts. Numerous figures of wealth and power have retreated there from the cares of the world, and they tended to bring their finest loot along with them. The Ai Mej is a notorious refuge for escaped slaves and overly-successful bandits, and small villages of outcasts can be found in its safer regions. Its less secure depths contain numerous Second Dynasty ruins, including certain fanes to gods no longer acceptable to current morality. The fortresses on the Great North Road along the border are always in need of scouts to venture north into the Anak Wastes and bring back reports. Adventurers make the perfect expendable agents for such often-lethal missions.

Dungeon Adventures

Every major Dynastic city is so old that it has inevitably built up a high mound of tumbled construction and deposited detritus beneath it. Under their surfaces run ancient streets and warrens of half-crushed buildings, with forgotten temples, ruined palaces, and cavernous ancient neighborhoods sealed over by lost sorcery or antique construction methods. The passages closest to the surface tend to be dens for criminals and outcasts, where they can lurk away from the eyes of the constables. Deeper layers host cults to forbidden gods and secret cells of sorcerers who practice unacceptable arts. At the deepest strata, the passages tend to bend and warp under the weight of curdled sorcery and magics rendered unstable by the Legacy’s changes. Some even break through into ancient Deeps, with corridors of alien metal winding down toward the core of the world. Some agents of the Fragrant Office of Profound Architecture even claim that these underworlds connect every city at some level. Proof of this is wanting, but few think it impossible.

Antagonists

With as many clashing interests as exist in the Fifth Dynasty, it’s an adroit party that can avoid angering some dangerous figure. Angry Relics: The Dynasts have existed as a culture since shortly after recorded history began, and innumerable petty gods, local spirits, and ancient guardians have been venerated. At times these ancient, half-understood rituals have been interrupted, and the angered entity expresses its disappointment violently until it is subdued or placated. Bandit Chiefs: Particularly charismatic bandit lords can make a great name for themselves in the wilderness. By avoiding injury to the local villagers, they can get numerous willing helpers in their raids on rich merchants and nearby trade routes. So long as they avoid plundering government officials, they can prosper for quite some time. Corrupt Officials: While the Imperial Censors do their best to root out avarice and self-dealing among the officials of the dynasty, there are few of them, and many magistrates. Remote villages can groan for decades under the hand of a greedy ruler, and even the great cities are full of officials who will stop at nothing to gain a precious promotion. Desperate Peasants: Some regions of the Dynasty are so hard-pressed by corrupt officials, monstrous incursions, or natural disasters that the commoners take up arms as rebels and bandits. Any outsider is fair game for such renegades, and while their motivations may be understandable, they seldom show much restraint in their depredations. Forbidden Cultists: The Fifth Dynasty is broad-minded, but some ancient gods or foreign devil-deities are beyond the pale. This doesn’t stop them from developing cults of zealous devotees, however, as such infernal deities often grant considerable favors to their willing minions. Things from Below: At times the security patrols performed by the Fragrant Office of Profound Architecture miss a monstrous peril beneath a city, or even wake it up with some incautious exploration. There’s no telling what hideous things lurk down in the darkness, but they’re seldom good neighbors to the surface-dwellers. Wicked Sorcerers: The Changing Way promises godhood to the determined and patient adept. Some prefer a quicker path to divinity and commit hideous atrocities in pursuit of immortality. If these sacrifices are made in the rural regions, there may be no one able to stop them for years on end.

49 Fifth Dynasty Names d20

Example Adventurer Concepts

Clan Names

First Syllable Second Syllable

Place Names

1

Chen

Ai

Ling

Buzi

2

Chi

Bian

Long

Chaoyang

3

Chu

Cheng

Lu

Chenjia

4

Fan

Chi

Mei

Dachang

5

Gan

Chian

Mu

Dayagu

6

Jiang

Chiu

Nuo

Ertang

7

Kong

Dai

Pi

Ganshi

8

Li

Dong

Ruan

Hejiba

9

Lin

Du

Ruo

Jiaping

10

Meng

Fang

Shi

Lengshui

11

Peng

Gwo

Shu

Lijigu

12

Sheng

Han

Si

Pengjia

13

Shi

He

Su

Santai

14

Sima

Heng

Tao

Shinglong

15

Sun

Hong

Ting

Shuba

16

Wan

Hwa

Tsao

Sitang

17

Wang

Ji

Wei

Tianshang

18

Wei

Lan

Yang

Wanzi

19

Yu

Lang

Yin

Yanku

20

Yue

Lei

Yu

Yujia

Unfilial runaway from an intolerable parent Failed scholar with no further hope in the imperial examination Cultured antique collector who gets them from the source Hard-bitten ex-soldier looking for a rise in social status Oppressed peasant forced into this life by corrupt officials Righteous criminal evading punishment for a just crime Sorcerous pupil of a not-entirelylicit magical tradition Penniless heir to a completely useless noble title Artist who demands new experiences for their art Zealously focused martial adept of a venerable tradition Poet forced into the life after their poetry was taken amiss Wandering priest obliged to make money in any way they can

Dynast names are composed of a clan name and usually a two-syllable given name. Female names often duplicate a syllable for a given name.

Example Fifth Dynasty Tag Elements d8

Enemies

1

Greedy and heartless official

Hapless peasant

Friends

The magistrate is in someone’s pocket

Complications

Answer key to the local examination

Things

Places

2

Priest of a malevolent ancient god

Well-meaning but failing student

A natural disaster strikes the area

Priceless jade token Eerie empty examof office ination hall

3

Merchant in league Foreigner in dire with the magistrate need of friends

An ancient Dynastic Grimoire of Third Working fails Dynasty sorcery

Remote hill hermitage

4

Military official Penniless would-be turned mere robber scholar

Raiders have crossed the border

Stolen official payroll

Ornate temple to a local god

5

Merciless tax farmer

Commoner in need of a protector

An Imperial Censor is in town

Key to a sealed Dynast ruin

Shouting, bustling marketplace

6

Raider chief from over the border

Upright official fighting corruption

A venerable festival Precious Dynastic is underway antiques

Serene and tasteful garden

7

Cruel sorcerer seeking sacrifices

Peaceful adept of the Changing Way

An important official has been murdered

Magic medicines useful to adepts of the Way

Busy teahouse with female musicians

8

Amoral eunuch government agent

Harried eunuch trying to avoid political danger

A surprise examination has been announced

Lost poetry collection of enormous value

Crowded site of an open-air play performance

Busy official hall of the magistrate

50

THE FREE CLANS Once a mountainous Second Dynasty backwater, the Free Clans have become some of the richest and most prosperous traders on the coast of the Vermillion Sea. Ancient networks of Golden Path monasteries oversee a web of trading relations that reach all the way to the Carcereal coast.

History

From the earliest recorded history, the lands that make up the Free Clans have been uninviting. A high, jagged plateau backed by the Shangu Mountains, its western reaches are so elevated that humans cannot survive at their heights without sorcerous help or demihuman adaptations. The early city-states there had little to recommend them and the First Dynasty was almost reluctant to conquer the land, leaving few garrisons behind. During the Second Dynasty, the theocratic machinery of the state exiled many Golden Path teachers to the province in a purge that lasted decades. Amid the frigid peaks and dry hills, these teachers constructed austere monasteries where they could pursue liberation. These monasteries were the most sophisticated cultural institutions that the Free Clans had ever known. Their prestige and disinterest in material wealth attracted many followers, and it wasn’t long until the monasteries were the de facto arbiters and judges of the clans, each ancient holy site responsible for its own territory. Amid the numerous warring clans of the province, these monasteries came to be built more like fortresses than spiritual retreats. Massive walls, narrow windows, and deep storehouses were carved out of the mountainsides, all to ensure that the monks within would not be disturbed by the ambitions of petty warlords.

Between the spiritual prestige of the monks and the exceedingly defensible nature of their monasteries, the rulers and merchants of the clans entrusted the temples with their treasures. Their golden ornaments, ancestral jewels, and the surplus of their meager mountain farms were all stored away in the vaults of the Golden Path. The monasteries were ambivalent about holding so much wealth, even if it was not technically their own, and established a policy by which the owners would have to remove it after a certain time. Transferring ownership was also an acceptable measure, so a complex system of loans was soon brought into being. Donors had to move their treasures somewhere, so they moved it into the hands of those who promised to increase it. Physically shifting the objects about was cumbersome and risky, however. To resolve this, the temples issued promissory notes for these deposits, and distant Golden Path monasteries in other lands were willing to redeem them. So popular were these banking services that the monasteries became fabulously wealthy, with practically every significant valuable in the province stored away in some clerical vault. Largely by accident, this series of events created an enormous amount of mercantile activity in the hills. Free Clan merchants crossed the Vermillion Sea to far lands in order to trade goods, relying on the “golden notes” to fund their expeditions. When the Fourth Dynasty finally collapsed, the Free Clans found themselves able to fund a powerful standing army out of their profits, and politely declined the opportunity to submit to the Fifth Dynasty. Even today, there are almost as many clanfolk outside the nation as within it. Their ships sail to every nation on the Vermillion Sea, and dare farther still at times.

51

People of the Clans

The clanfolk of this land look much like other Dynasts, but tend to be broader-chested and somewhat shorter, adapted for the high elevations of their homeland. Bright colors, splendid ornaments, and the insignia of wealth and success are all customary elements in their dress. As the land’s name implies, every citizen is affiliated with their maternal clan-family. While the bonds of filial piety aren’t as strong as they are in the Fifth Dynasty, these ties still are the usual means for a new merchant to make their start. While other religions are not forbidden among the clans, the Golden Path is the undisputed state faith. Its monasteries and their ruling lamas are the foremost authorities in the land, with monks serving in all major official posts and making all governmental decisions. They set the rules for markets and trading and oversee contracts between merchants. These monasteries are all fabulously wealthy, and many have fallen into decidedly un-liberated attitudes towards money and physical pleasures. A few of the most rigidly traditional still shun such indulgences, but their numbers are few despite their prestige. The cities of the Free Clans are a jarring mix of brilliantly painted walls and extravagantly carved adornments with blocky, thickwalled structures that hug the hillsides. Most clanfolk buildings are intended to survive fierce cold and blasting winds, so the more delicate refinements of foreign architecture are seldom found.

Adventures Amid the Clans

This cold and lofty land has little in the way of natural resources, but much in the way of money. More than a few foreigners end up in clanfolk cities for the sake of the ample pay they get from the locals, and there’s always someone hiring for a job. Some of these jobs are not strictly legal. While the ships of the Free Clans are famed as traders, some are also known to be more aggressive in acquiring goods on the high seas. Without a strong government to restrain them, Free Clan privateers and pirates are an infamous scourge upon the Vermillion Sea, turning trader or reaver as their opportunities recommend. Free Clans merchantmen have been known to hire strong arms, either as defense from pirates or as additional muscle for their own depredations. Many of the shore-side jobs involve dealing with the monsters of the Shangu mountains. Terrible Anak subspecies dwell among the peaks, and their raids and plunderings have kept the mountain cities watchful for ages past. The Anak of these hills have spent so long raiding well-fortified clan cities that they have developed

numerous tricks of siegecraft and sorcery to break walls, bypass doors, and tumble strong stone workings. Other than Anak, stranger beasts have been seen amid the snows as well, and ancient Outsider lairs are well-preserved by the eternal ice of the heights. Every now and then some long-sleeping doom is awoken in the peaks. Aside from monstrous perils and mercantile raiding, there are dangers from religious zealots as well. Some clanfolk lamas are secretly in league with the Wheelbreaker movement, desiring the destruction of the world to permanently break its cycles of reincarnation and suffering. While officially denounced, many of the most upright and pleasure-shunning monasteries have more than a few members among them. The most dangerous establish hidden monasteries in the peaks, relying on donations from lay sympathizers who may not know their true motives. Amid the snows, they employ terrible magics to hasten the end of a wretched world. Given the perils of the high country, it also sometimes comes to pass that a monastery is destroyed, either by monstrous foes or some natural disaster. Most of these ruins have been long lost to history, but an adventuring band that can find one and penetrate its magically-warded vaults can escape with a mountain of treasure... assuming the heirs of the former owners don’t catch wind of their salvage.

52

THE GADAVIN COAST Once a rich and verdant land of busy ports and graceful country villas, the coast long ago fell into darkness when the Polop invaders came. While the fish devils no longer rule openly in this sodden land, few have any hope of restoring its ancient splendor.

History

The first mention of the coast in recorded history is as a province of the Vothite Empire in 1422 BL. Five administrative regions were established, though the eastmost province of Morodon and its precious port city of Triloukon appear to have been under Third Dynasty control at that time. Given the peculiar way in which the Vothite Empire “made war”, it’s unclear whether or not there was any conventional military activity involved in its claim. By 1200 BL it was clear that Triloukon was a Dynastic city. The vast wealth of the inland empire was brought to market through the great river-port, and merchants from Carce, Llum, and farther lands all came to buy. The four Vothite provinces of the west shared in this prosperity, with their lushly forested coast dotted with small port towns and their inland meadows speckled with the country estates of thought nobles. The geography of the land made contact with the inland empire difficult except at Triloukon, as a massive escarpment known as “the Step” runs across the southern border of the coast. At its highest points, the Step looms two thousand feet above the land below, and only a few ancient switchback ramps give access to the top. Several other ramps once existed, along with a civilization that carved towns and cities into the face of the Step, but most of these structures appear to have been destroyed in some ancient war. Around 1000 BL, the Vothite Empire fell, and the Republic rose in its place. Republican senators were elected from the Gadavin provinces, but the great distance and general disorder of the times made their attendance rare. In time, their appearances became fewer and fewer, until the four Vothite provinces were independent in all but name. Their initial senators became the seed of a noble class that still rules the provinces today as their personal satrapies. A greater disaster befell the land in 807 BL, when the Polop off the coast performed some monstrous work of undersea sorcery and deluged the entire coastline in a massive wave. The green forests were replaced with fetid swamps and tangled vines and the dry land transformed into a bog of narrow waterways and unsteady ground. As far as a hundred miles inland, the coastal region was ruined and transformed into a reeking mire. This deluge was accompanied by invasion. Polop warriors swept over the land, and wherever the swamp reached, the fish devils followed. Rather than simply devour their human prey, however, they forced the submission of the human rulers and compelled them to keep

their domains as feeding-grounds for the piscine Outsiders. Those noble families that submitted were altered by Polop sorcery in terrible ways, forever after enslaved by their hungry new lords. For almost six centuries the Polop ruled all the Gadavin coast, repelling vain efforts by the Third Dynasty to reclaim their link with the outer world and devouring any human rebel who dared stand against them. The only havens of free humanity in the region were those pockets caught between the edge of the swamp and the steeps of the Step, where surviving nobles led a bitter resistance to the Polop. Shared hatred finally forged an alliance between Dynasts, Republicans, and native forces. With internal conflicts among the Polop weakening their grasp, the rebels were finally able to drive out their fishman lords in 230 BL, slaughtering their collaborator slaves and forcing the surviving quislings to flee into the swamp. Ever since then, however, the marsh has remained the ruler of the coast. Even with the Polop gone, their monstrous leavings and their warped human collaborators still infest the coastline, making trade via Triloukon impossible. Even now, the city is a vast, hollow ruin perched on a swampy isle. It is seized by pirate kings, bandits, or reckless colonizers every few years, but they never last long. The things below the city and within the swamp have no patience for interlopers. Further along the coast, the humans of the four provinces huddle in the shadow of the Step. Only the new port town of Gadav has any sea access, so anyone who would enter that land must either scale the Step from the south or make the long overland journey from Gadav. Travelers say that strange gods are being worshiped in the inland cities, and peculiar alliances are being struck with the swamp-folk.

People of the Coast

Most Gadavin are of Vothite ancestry, and share that people’s slim build, pale skin, and black hair. A considerable number of Dynasts once dwelled along the coast, however, and their looks are not uncommon. Aside from these, a significant number of humans share traits woven into their ancestors by the Polop, who changed them to suit their own tastes. Bright colors and patterns on their skins, fins and gills, extravagant scales, lionfish-like manes, and the occasional tentacle or venomous spine are not uncommon. Most such “Touched” can manage on dry land, but prefer the damp of the swamp. The “inlanders” still live under the rule of their ancestral noble houses, each province having its king. Morodon is the exception, as the “faithful” clans there still worship their Polop masters and despise non-Touched humans. Within the swamps, isolated clans of baselines and touched live largely ignorant of the outside world, concerned only with their own affairs.

53 Eboro is the westernmost province. Few humans live here with the terrible arratus that take up most of its land. The Plains of the Iron Sky and the White Waste form a wall between Eboro and the Gyre, and only coastal ships can make it from Ka-Adun to Gadav. Beriso is the most “civilized” of the Gadavin domains, its King Licnos ruling from the port town of Gadav. As the only safe seaport in a thousand miles of coast, what little commerce the land has with the outside world is conducted here. Adventurers and freebooters crowd the docks, all eager to loot the abandoned Vothite swamp ruins. Many expeditions fail to return. Canibri is accessible only by the old Coast Road to Gadav, the swamps being an impenetrable barrier on one side and the cliffs of the Step on the other. Its capital of Briga does much trade with swamp clans for fish, wood, and drugs, and its Queen Mesilla is Touched herself, with a ruff of colored spines and jeweled scales on her limbs. Some say she is too friendly with the faithful clans in the swamp. Limia is almost unknown to outsiders. The only way in is by way of the Coast Road, and few travel so far into this fetid land. Its capital of Navia is said to be populated almost exclusively with Touched, and its King Lugurix worships strange gods in ancient swamp shrines. Morodon is wholly unfriendly to baseline humans, its inhabitants all Touched who still keep faith with their Polop masters. The fish devils appear to have given them the secrets of breeding and controlling their war-beasts.

Adventures on the Coast

While the Gadavin coast is presently a swampy hell of monstrous humanoids and feral Polop war-beasts, the treasures of the greatest trading port in Gyarus still await recovery. The Polop flooded out thousands of Vothite estates and coastal towns in their invasion, and showed little interest in looting the remains. These ruins welcome scavengers brave enough to dare the unfriendly locals and overcome whatever things have nested there. The only friendly faces to be found in this land are in Gadav, the only usable seaport in almost a thousand miles of coast. What limited trade the swamps conduct is handled here, with adventurers and exiles arriving at it daily. The cities further inland, such as Briga and Navia, are not always friendly to outsiders. Adventurers must prove their worth to the locals if they are to get any help. The true prize of the Gadavin is Triloukon, of course. Entire warehouses of priceless treasures were trapped there when the Polop invaded, and the centuries of looters since have not succeeded in emptying them all. The vast city is still untouched in parts, and each season of looters can expect to find something new if they can survive the hostile natives and monstrous things within. The Fifth Dynasty would give a king’s ransom to anyone who could secure Triloukon and open up the river between it and the Dynasty. At the same time, the Xindai merchants who currently handle external Dynastic trade would be much less eager for such a thing, and might go so far as to take steps to prevent it.

54

THE GODBLIGHT The region known as the Godblight is not so much a nation as it is a continuously ongoing catastrophe. The refugee priests of the fallen Logomachy have rebuilt a shambling mockery of their former greatness in this desolate land, and their constant efforts to regain their old glory have served only to generate disaster after disaster for all those around them.

History

When the Logomachy of Nakad collapsed in 378 BL, the great majority of its Word Priests were slaughtered by their runaway divine avatars or by the enraged temple slaves that later went on to form Sarx. A certain number of them escaped the bloody purge, however, and fled across the Bight of Nakad to take refuge in the lands now known as the Godblight. At the time, these lands were little more than a backwater farming province of the Logomachy, its natural magical resources limited and its rough terrain devoid of most mundane resources. There were few temples to the Gods of Truth, and so few slaves to subdue and fewer divine eidolons to dispel. It took the refugee priests two or three years to crush all local resistance to their rule, but desperation ensured their haste. In the centuries since, the Nakadi priests have largely exterminated baseline humanity outside of their own temples. In their place, they have crafted dozens of demihuman servitor-races and summoned forth swarms of beings from far Iterums to serve as their minions and warriors. These new creations often fail to behave as

meekly as the temples wish, and more than a few have slaughtered their creators and now rule portions of the Godblight in their own right. Every high priest in the Godblight is obsessed with the destruction of Sarx and the subdual of any rival temple. So long as Sarx remains, they know its masters will never tolerate their continued existence, and until all their rival priests are crushed their own temple’s security can never be assured. Alliances and pacts are formed regularly among the temple-states, and broken just as often when they cease to be profitable.

People of the Godblight

The land’s current rulers were once drawn of the original stock of Nakad, but so many centuries of sorcerous mutation and crossbreeding with demihuman or non-human entities has left them of no single discernible type. Almost any mix of body parts, pigments, and sensory organs can be found on a Word Priest, and while most still appear generally human, few are truly so. The most powerful tend to be the most monstrous, having “improved” themselves far beyond humanity’s limits. Outside the temple complexes, outlying villages and towns are filled by the various demihumans and servitor-summons the temples have called forth. Runomian beastfolk are relatively common, having been seized from Runom over the years or taken from Sarxian slavers. Unlike in Runom, their communities are all of mixed species, usually under the rule of the strongest warrior.

55 The Tiklak Swarm infests the areas around several ruined temples, having been called by unwise high priests for some centuries until their disadvantages became obvious. They appear as ant-like humanoids with iron-hard carapaces and an insatiable hunger for mammalian flesh. While intelligent and capable of speech, they see no need to speak unless it will help them acquire more meat. The Ridden Men were the outcome of temple research into parasitic control; while they are baseline humans, each is ridden by a small, clinging, crab-like parasite that forces them to labor and war in the service of their queen. When their originating temples were destroyed, the queens spread unchecked, and now the regions they control are locked in constant warfare as each cruel ruler strives to become the only survivor. The Godstruck are not a race, but a consequence. At times, exposure to the unnatural presence of the temple god-eidolons can trigger a kind of magical evolution in a victim. While the transformation usually drives them dangerously mad, the subject can wield incredible powers of sorcery related to the catalyzing divinity. Most Godstruck are quickly slain or driven from their temples, only to fester as mad cult leaders and demented prophets in the outer lands. These are merely a few of the inhabitants found in the Godblight. Almost every temple has at least one species owed to its creation, and countless relic-folk remain from vanished shrines and forgotten Iterums.

Adventuring in the Godblight

The active temple complexes in the Godblight are near-suicide for an outsider to approach. The crazed experiments of the mad priests within are often lethal to the inhabitants, let alone interlopers. Every so often, a runaway avatar-eidolon of some unfathomable deity breaks loose and wreaks havoc for a time before it disintegrates. Monstrous sorcerous engines, hideous ships of living flesh and bone, and other abominations of arcane science are also common products of the temples. Abandoned or destroyed temples can sometimes prove worthwhile grounds for plunder, if the rampaging remnants of the temple’s god-avatar aren’t still active in the area. A destroyed temple usually creates a wide band of wilderness around it as its death-throes eradicate every native hamlet and town within a radius of several dozen miles. Long decades must pass before any dare to re-enter. The native villages can be more welcoming, if the species that lives in them aren’t hostile to baselines. They can serve as forward bases for exploration of the ruined temples and demolished creations of prior centuries. These villages are almost always hard-pressed by the environment, however. If they’re not being scourged by the depredations of an active temple nearby, they’re struggling with the hostile inhabitants or monstrous creatures of this unhappy land. Any adventurer who gives them help can expect to be welcomed. Some might even give their obedience to a foreign lord who can protect them.

THE GYRE The nations of the Gyre are discussed in greater length in the Worlds Without Number core book, but it bears mentioning some of their relations with the outside world. The Reaping King himself is an exile from Atlantis, and while the Gyre is isolated from most of its neighbors there remain a few old ties inherited from the past. Atlantis has surprisingly little to do with the Gyre. The Seadevil Coast off the north shore greatly discourages sea travel in the Gyre’s immediate surrounds, and after the Reaping King led his followers to land at Ka-Adun there has never been any official response from the Prior Crown. Atlantean trading ships willing to risk the coastal waters sometimes land, but it is almost as if the Prior Crown would rather forget the Gyre’s existence. Sarx has no official ties with the Gyre, though the slaver ports in Runom sometimes send a ship east to KaAdun. Sarxian renegades and runaways sometimes make for the Gyre to escape the Flame of Heaven’s attention; one went so far as to found a city in present-day Llaigis. The Fifth Dynasty is heir to an ancient rivalry with the Vothite Empire that once ruled the Gyre, but with the forming of the Anak Wastes and the seizure of the Gadavin Coast by Polop invaders, there is no longer any real contact between the two. Any Dynast who wanted to get to the Gyre would have to cross a wasteland of bloodthirsty Anak or navigate the Gadavin swamps.

Runom has a very limited commerce with Llaigis and Ka-Adun, the occasional brave expedition crossing the Black Spine to bring fleeing beastfolk or precious jungle goods to market. The passes through the mountain range are few and dangerous, prone to Jikegida attacks or ambushes by other perils. Rumors persist of safer secret ways, but whoever controls them is inclined to keep them well-hidden. Tavat sends forth a cloud of pirates on the Atlantean Main, and sometimes those pirates need a free port along the Gyarus coast. Those seafarers with the knowledge needed to dodge the Polop along the Gyre’s north coast can berth at Ka-Adun or Spray on the Sisters. The officials of the Brass Hegemony have absolutely no reluctance to support trade in piratical goods so long as the tariffs are paid. The bold vessels that bring these goods are often the most reliable way for locals to catch a ride out of the Gyre. Other nations deal with the Gyre only occasionally, and generally have no interest in anything more. It’s all but impossible to move an army of invasion into the region, and the locals seem chiefly interested in preparing for self-immolation, so foreign kings find little to interest them here. Should the Gyre become united and a clear path for travel be opened, that disinterest may change swiftly.

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HANTU A faded remnant of the Fourth Dynasty, Hantu is a troubled nation that has never quite recovered from the collapse of the former regime. While it prides itself on its guardianship of the heirs of the last dynasty, the current “true empress” wishes more from her dutiful ministers than their mere protection.

History

When the armies of the Xindai Commanderies helped an upstart noble overthrow the Fourth Dynasty in 802 AL, the last surviving heir of the imperial house was spirited south to Hantu Province. The surviving bureaucratic loyalists hoped that the presence of the true emperor would rally his people and summon forth an unstoppable tide of righteous peasant soldiers to right the usurper’s wrong. This did not happen. Most of Hantu’s regional governors were privately relieved at the elimination of their superiors in the capital and looked forward to their new independence. The common folk had been so thoroughly separated from any participation in the intelligentsia’s rule that they had little interest in who, exactly, was to be collecting taxes so long as the rate did not change. The few idealists who hoped to reform the decadent bureaucracy and renew the dynasty’s virtue were left to suffer their disappointment. The best that could be accomplished was the installation of the imperial seat at Hanlong and a pro-forma declaration of obedience by the regional governors. Hanlong’s governor looked forward to the prestige that hosting the emperor would give him, but no one seriously expected to obey the figurehead. Profitable yet gracefully deniable trade ties with the new Fifth Dynasty were far more important. For more than two hundred years, Hantu slowly unraveled. Governorships became hereditary, local rulers turned absolute, and Hantu gradually became more and more a mere geographic figure of speech, with no centralized authority worth mentioning. This changed ten years ago with the ascent of the radiant Empress Mei, the sole legitimate offspring of her father. Graceful, courteous, temperate, and absolutely ruthless, the empress is obsessed with reclaiming the throne, regardless of the cost in blood and treasure. She has been aided in this purpose by a positive genius for rule. She possesses an almost supernatural ability to discern the characters and capabilities of her subordinates, and her choice of personnel is flawless. Even the vices and failings of a minion often turn out to be useful in the roles she selects for them. Through the past ten years of careful negotiation, suggestion, conspiracy, and selective assassination, she has ensured that three-quarters of the governors of Hantu are her creatures, even if they themselves fail to realize it. With a note to a minion or a flash of blackmail, she can obtain absolute obedience when her plans require it.

The foreign spies in Hantu are uncertain as to the empress’ current plans. Some think she means to invade the Free Clans and use plundered gold to bribe the Xindai warlords once more. Others believe that her current enthusiasm for naval construction is the prelude to a sea invasion of the Fifth Dynasty. A few even whisper that the agents she has searching ancient ruins are actually acquiring components for an awful summoning ritual meant to destroy her foes. As it stands now, Hantu is a land united only at the very top. While most of its governors are utterly under the empress’ control, their mutual relations range from wary courtesy to constant raiding. The peasantry merely keep their heads down and hope for better days, yearning for the hour when the empress might bring the governors to heel and ascend to a peaceful and serene rule. Their wishes are unlikely to be fulfilled.

People of Hantu

Hantu shares the same base population as the Five Dynasties, though some say they are a little paler and taller than their northern cousins. A number of foreign exiles have also ended up among them, fleeing the anger of the emperor or looking to make deals with a pliant governor. Hantuan folk tend to pride themselves as being “more Dynastic than the Dynasty”. They jealously guard old traditions and obscure customs, even when their meaning or purpose has been long lost. The empress herself has no such inclination, and twists customs to her own advantage whenever the opportunity arises. In theory, Hantu is run by the same examination-chosen corps of literati that run the Fifth Dynasty. In practice, the intelligentsia of two centuries ago have become a hereditary caste, and the only ones allowed to take the examinations are their own children. Still, the ceremonies are just as they were centuries ago. Even the answers to the test questions are the same. Every governor, magistrate, and petty official has faith that their favorite son or daughter will take their place, and the rest will become prosperous state-licensed merchants. The ruling philosophy of Hantu’s chiefs is the socalled “iron and sorghum policy”, whereby the common folk should be permitted to think only of warfare and farming. Artisans and craftsmen are an unfortunately necessary class, but the great majority of peasants should be kept in their governor’s army or their governor’s fields. The money made from such productivity should be brokered by state-sponsored merchants of the literary class, who will use it wisely and keep it available for their lords. When this policy was established in 833 AL, a number of peasants protested to Hanlong’s governor. They were executed. A second group then declared their great approval of the new policy. They were enslaved. The peasantry has since come to understand the virtue of silence when it comes to commenting on government policy.

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The Cities of Hantu

Hantu is densely populated for a nation of the Latter Earth, but a few cities stand out as of especial importance.

Bulao: Canny Governor Jin is one of the few to realize the scope of the empress’ ambitions. As a counterweight he’s dared to seek popular support from the local peasantry, and not merely their submission. Fushi: Governor Ruming is forever fighting the notorious smuggling clans of this wealthy trade port. Hanlong: The nominal capital of Hantu, under the care of Governor Chin. Its underground “market of wisdom” sells half the secrets in the realm. Menglan: Harried by raiders from the Litten Strand, Governor Jiazu is preparing a reprisal expedition to scour the border for a hundred miles. Mozu: A smoky mining-town working the foothills of the Shining Peaks. Incursions of the horrible beasts of that place are sadly common. Shaishu: The richest city of Hantu, Governor Wenji sells her sorghum to the clanfolk to the west. Lately she has sold so much that the starving peasants have formed rebel brotherhoods to punish her greed. Ziran: Governor Mulin conducts most of Hantu’s trade with Tseb Hwii through this port. Numerous Tsebans have come with it, and rumors say that even some of their Outsider slaves can be found there, busy on unknowable errands.

Adventuring in Hantu

Hantu is a perpetual powder-keg of politics. Empress Mei is perfectly willing to have even her loyal governors kill each other off, the better to weaken the hereditary ruling houses as she maneuvers their replacements into place. She does nothing to interfere with their regular quarrels, assassination attempts, and factional scheming. These schemes regularly involve foreign help, as such adventurers can be trusted not to have any existing ties to the local power structures. Novice sellswords are hired by low-ranking officials to take care of dirty or dangerous business, and the most reliable and effective are recommended up the hierarchy until a regional governor might take notice of their talents. Aside from service to the local officials, the empress has quietly supported the creation of a number of local “antiquarian societies” dedicated to investigating old Dynastic ruins and plumbing forgotten Deeps. These societies cast a wide net when it comes to membership, and they pay extremely well for magical artifacts and fragments of occult lore. They alone are licensed to trade in magical objects in Hantu, and an adventurer who wants a particular artifact or High Magic spell might be able to find a society willing to sell it to them... at a suitable price in favors. Silver is rarely valuable enough to buy their wares, but an experienced adventurer willing to risk a daring expedition into a particular under-explored Deep can expect consideration for their efforts.

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THE HUNDRED SCHOOLS Innumerable sects of martial adepts rule this land, each dedicated to some esoteric interpretation of elemental truth. Its sorcerous masters claim their authority as an inheritance from the wizardly Third Dynasty, but their rule is more reliant on the martial academies they command.

History

In the days of the Fourth Dynasty, the province of Shenlai was a prosperous land of farmers, crafters, and diligent soldiers. Their martial academies had produced generations of disciplined border guards to maintain the good behavior of the Xindai daimyos to the north and fend off the monstrous perils of the Litten Strand. Life was never leisurely for the folk of Shenlai, but it was good. This peace ended in the final years of the Fourth Dynasty. The Xindai came together with unprecedented cooperation to support the usurper that became the first emperor of the Fifth Dynasty. Their combined forces crushed the resistance of Shenlai’s shocked guardians in 801 AL and left the land critically vulnerable to the monstrous incursions from the Shining Peaks. The newborn Fifth Dynasty was too pressed in cementing its rule to extend any military aid, nor was any aid to be had except from the hated Xindai. In that dark hour an ancient organization saw its chance to rise. From guarded sanctums deep within the Shining Peaks came a group of wizards who claimed to be heirs of the sorcerous Third Dynasty. Through their mighty magics and the exertions of their loyal pupils, they were able to hold back the creatures of the mountains until the battered Shenlaians were able to restore their disorganized martial schools. These “Venerable Masters” became the effective rulers of Shenlai. Their valiant efforts had utterly discredited the failed governors of the former dynasty, and their acolytes, apprentices, and minions rapidly filled the old official positions. Instead of governors, the regions of the province had Masters, and in place of magistrates, they had sorcerously-gifted Adepts. By the time the Fifth Dynasty was in any position to re-exert its claim on Shenlai, the Masters were too strong to be dislodged. In the centuries since, the students of the Masters have splintered into scores of different magical schools and occult sects. The numerous martial academies of Shenlai have each attached themselves to a sect in order to gain their patronage, and their graduates now serve as private soldiers for that group’s adepts. Many of these academies have learned how to employ their patron’s arts in ways useful on the battlefield, and the wondrous swordsmen of the Hundred Schools are proverbial in dynastic lands. While all sects take part in the rule of the land now known as the Hundred Schools, they do not always do so peacefully. Of late, their martial academies find themselves as pawns in conflicts they need not understand.

People of the Hundred Schools

The folk of Shenlai look much like other Dynasts, though the admixture of Xindai blood in many leave them somewhat paler than most. The regular contact with eldritch energies here has been known to provoke strange forms in some of its inhabitants, and oddities of shape and color are not terribly rare. Every village and town of the Hundred Schools is under the protection of one of its myriad arcane sects. The sect’s Venerable Master serves as their lord, and his Adepts serve as magistrates over individual towns. Physical enforcement and protection are provided by one of the martial schools affiliated with the sect, as every sect has at least one small academy of warriors allied with it. Alliances can change, and through negotiations, purchase, or occasional brute force a community can be made to change sects. The desires of the common folk are held as insignificant, though a village unwilling to pass into the hands of a cruel sect might dare much to fight the enforcers sent to bring them to heel. Most Shenlaians share two sentiments: a fear of the Shining Peaks, and a bitterness towards Xindai. The attack of the latter during the Fourth Dynasty’s fall robbed Shenlai of its protectors, and many hill-towns were wiped out by the horrible beasts that came down from the glowing mountains. Few Shenlaians have any love for the Xindai, even generations later.

The Schools and their Adepts

Most wizards would consider the sorcerers of the Hundred Schools to practice a kind of elementalism, as their arts are focused chiefly around the manipulation of these base substances. Their magic has an unusual amount of facility with physical transformation and refinement, however, and each sect is limited in its usable elements. Almost all of the many schools are part of the “Four Alliances”, broad coalitions that spring from a shared descent from a particular Venerable Master. Each of these alliances practices the same general type of elemental magic, though different sects have different spells at their disposal. Such knowledge is guarded zealously, even from sects of the same alliance. Records say that there was once a fifth alliance, one dedicated to the arts of flame. As useful as their powers were in battle, they suffered horrific losses in repelling the beasts of the Peaks, and most of their secret spells were lost. The few survivors were forced to join other sects, and the remaining schools then found it wise to begin cultivating their martial academy alliances so as to prevent future losses of that kind. Scholars suspect that foreign Elementalists might be able to use these lost flame-enchantments if they can be found. Such a theft of sacred wisdom would earn swift reprisals from all of the schools.

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The School-Cities

Each of the Four Alliances is headquartered in a city renamed for their arts. While other practitioners can be found in those places, their rule is always in the hands of the most powerful school of the alliance.

The Conclave: An ancient neutral ground, the Conclave is where the Venerable Masters met to determine Shenlai’s fate. The lay citizens who dwell here do so to support the many martial academies and caretaker-sects that keep holdings here. Pure Streams: Seat of the water-wielding Academy of Internal Tides, the city is famous for the enchanted ships built here, blessed with magical virtues. Resonant Iron: The metal-shaping mages of the Inner Furnace Sect craft superb armaments for their loyal military academies here, including magical blades. Heavenly Root: Verdant city of the plant-shaping Sodality of the Earthly Branches, the surrounding forest is home to countless wondrous plants... and numerous experimental failures. Some are quite carnivorous. White Jade: Giant stone pillars hold the seat of the Five Holy Mountains Sect five hundred feet above the regularly-inundated floodplain below. Draping from the underside of the great stone square are both floating docks for the river trade and dens of vice that prefer to never see the sun.

Adventuring Among the Schools

The sects of the Hundred Schools are accustomed to hiring outsiders to handle troublesome business when their affiliated warriors are too busy to help. These jobs usually involve exploring a Deep, rooting out a nest of mutant monsters, or disciplining some renegade who might inflict too large a body count on the school’s own troops. Payment is usually given in silver, but the schools are also willing to teach conventional High Magic spells, or Elementalist spells that match their own favored material. Most schools have a few specialty enchantments they’re willing to teach a helpful outsider, but the deepest secrets of their art are always guarded carefully, and any wizard who steals them must fear for their life should they be discovered to have them. Explorers who would rather acquire their pay on their own terms can venture into the Shining Peaks to seek out the lost sanctums of the Fifth Alliance, many of which are still preserved behind their warding enchantments and concealing Workings. A party that can overcome the defenses of such a place would find treasures dating back to the Third Dynasty and a wealth of precious magical components.

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KYTHERON Home to the exiled nobility that once ruled the kingdom of Carce, Kytheron is a perpetual thorn in Atlantis’ side. Its “Zakathi” nobility are forever eager to bedevil the Prior Crown, though the natives who dwelled here before their arrival have made Kytheron an unsteady seat for their ambitions.

History

When the Prior Crown overthrew the Kings of Carce and made their land into the present Atlantis, most of the Zakathi nobility of that age bowed to their new king. Some were not content with this, and fled over the sea to the rough and primitive mainland. There, a remnant of the pre-Confederate Marchen free states in the plains and hills squabbled with Courontine colonists in the western forest and swamps. These divided peoples were far less magically and martially sophisticated than the Carcean invaders, and far less desperate as well. By 490 BL, the Carcean nobility had broken all significant resistance to their rule. Their numbers, however, were not great enough to maintain their rule by brute force. Out of necessity, the Carcean nobles wed into the local ruling families of the plains and forests, bringing their chieftains and nobles into a web of alliances that persists still. The centuries of steady mixing between baseline human and Zakathi gradually eroded the Blight of constant toil that afflicted the Carceans. In time, the distinction ceased to exist. In the present day, the ostensibly “Zakathi” ruling families of Kytheron are entirely baseline human. The ruling families refuse to acknowledge this. They instead spiritualized the Blight that affected their ancestors, asserting that it was mere physical virtue that compelled them to work or perish, whereas the present “True Zakathi” are instead impelled by spiritual longing to attain great virtue and prowess. Thus, despite having no actual physical qualities of the Zakathi of Atlantis, they are in truth superior examples of “True Zakathi” lineage. As a consequence, the entire ethos of the Kytheronian nobility revolves around relentless pursuit of personal excellence and splendid achievement. Failure in this is not just a personal shame, but an implication that they are not True Zakathi at all, unworthy of their rank and position. The present Queen Zenobia is obsessed with making a marriage with the rebel King Agreus in Atlantis. She views him as the best chance of regaining her rightful place as Queen of Carce, and enough support and supplies have been sent over to Zenopol to cause a severe weakening of the royal house in Kytheron. Local lords grow restive under the demands of fresh contributions, and royal justice has grown distracted. King Agreus humors Zenobia’s dreams for the sake of her aid, though he privately considers her and her royal family to be farcical imitations of true Zakathi royalty.

Geography

Kytheron has a temperate climate south of the Marchenpeaks, while its northern half is cool and damp. The bleak muskeg surrounding the Lengtarn is occupied only by fiercely independent Riu swamp-folk and a wide variety of hostile Blighted and demihumans. The pine forests around Sauvais and Dassar are drier ground. The Marchenpeaks are a weathered branch of the Lakaian range to the south, worn down save for a few jagged peaks of buckled white ceramic thrust upward by some ancient sub-surface collapse. The Red Fields beyond are the breadbasket of Kytheron, its plains dotted with Marchen villages and small forests. All are walled against the inevitable raids from the Shinbu Anak south of the River of Spears. While the northern part of Kytheron is webbed in small streams and rivers, the great Weiss is the only major river in the nation, bringing down barges from the Marchenpeak mines to the forges of Yad Zakath.

Peoples of Kytheron

When the Zakathi arrived fifteen hundred years ago, Kytheron was split between Corountine Riu abbey-colonies in the north and Amundi Marchen freeholds in the south. The latter claimed to be the last remnants of a “Holy Empire” that predated even the Seven Rivers Confederacy, but by 480 BL they were little more than scattered, uneasy partners against the Shinbu Anak. The pale Riu and the bronzed Marchen were joined by the Carcean exiles and their Zakathi lords. The Riu abbey-villages switched their allegiance from Couront’s king to the monarch at Yad Zakath once assurances were given that they could maintain their worship of the Bleeding God, and the Marchen found more wisdom in nominal obedience than costly war; to bow to an outsider was more tolerable than submitting to a grudged rival. Since then, the ethnic groups have remained largely static, with the original Zakathi lords having spread out and intermarried into both Riu and Marchen families. Those who could not tolerate these lords from over the sea fled into the cold swamps of the Lengtarn, where their blood mingles in the present-day swamp clans.

Demographics

Queen Zenobia does not have a wholly reliable census, but most estimate the population of Kytheron to measure about 6,000,000, concentrated mostly in the rich farming lands of the Red Fields. The northern forests are much more sparsely populated, and no one knows for certain how many mean villages and wretched hamlets eke out an existence in the Lengtarn muskeg. The Marchenpeaks house several settlements of demihumans and Blighted, though most prefer aggressive solitude when not coming down to raid the lowlands.

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Cities of Kytheron

Kytheron’s southern cities are very old, but not very large; as rich as the Red Fields are, the constant losses to Anak raids limit their populations. The northern towns are even smaller, radiating out from the ancient abbeys of the Bleeding God that formed their core.

Altburgh: An ancient refuge-city fortified against Anak hordes, Altburgh’s citadel is now a sprawling deathtrap due to the progressive loss of the control artifacts needed to disarm its defenses and guardians. Dassar: A chill and lonely city surrounded by the Ondwald and often pressed by its perils. Laurent: The greatest trade-city of Kytheron, receiving commerce from Couront and the Amundi kingdoms. Their barges down to Oberheim must often deal with Anak river pirates. Oberheim: A stronghold against the Shinbu Anak; many of Kytheron’s privateers sail from this war-port. Sauvais: Oldest of the major Riu settlements in Kytheron, Sauvais holds more than a few who would prefer King Enguerrand of Couront as their lord. Yad Zakath: Formerly Weissburgh, Yad Zakath is Queen Zenobia’s seat and home to numerous wondrous Workings brought over by the original exiles. While almost unconquerable with these defenses, some Workings have begun to curdle and warp under the changing Legacy.

Kytheronian Society

The folk of Kytheron form two main groups; the commoners and the noble class. The former are a simple people, loyal first to their families, second to their village, and third to their Riu or Marchen kinsmen. Devotion to their lords goes only so far as practicality requires. They are farmers, foresters, or miners, and prefer to have as little to do with the mad schemes of nobles as possible. The noble class are ethnically identical to their neighbors, but view themselves as being “True Zakathi”, fundamentally different due to their spiritual superiority and obvious talents. Every noble-born man and woman is expected to be better than commoners; wiser, braver, more capable, and more ambitious. Those who fail to show these qualities can expect to be disowned, and many will go to bloody extremes to conceal their failures and ensure that no one around them can overshadow their accomplishments. Because of this, it’s considered an ordinary truth that commoners are cowardly, thieving, stupid sorts, who can’t be expected to behave with anything more than brutish cunning at best. Kytheronian towns and villages are rough, crude places in the main, while noble estates are exquisitely appointed and run. Any commoner who does distinguish themselves for their virtue or capability must actually be a noble, and will be sought out for marriage by ambitious noble houses in turn. Refusing these pairings is seldom thought wise.

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Government and Law

The towns and villages of Kytheron are ruled by hereditary noble families, with Riu counts and lesser barons, and Marchen markgrafs and lesser burggrafs. All have greater or lesser blood ties with the royal house of Carce. Disputes among lords are settled privately, while commoners must appeal to the courts of their local lord for justice, which they may or may not get. Every noble house is dedicated to achievement and success, a creed that makes for constant strife among them. Few noble houses last for more than a few centuries before collapsing in some mis-timed gambit or overambitious war. New ones are always at hand, quick to claim rights thanks to tenuous Carcean marriage ties and proven “True Zakathi” success. In practice, there’s hardly a Kytheronian commoner who couldn’t claim noble status, if they had enough troops and silver to press it. Kytheron has never been a wealthy land, but the present exactions of Queen Zenobia are pushing the noble houses close to mutiny. Her new taxes to support King Agreus are forcing large numbers of standing troops to be discharged, only to become bandits and marauders, and numerous farming villages to be all but depopulated as locals flee the new demands. A significant pro-Couront secessionist faction is building in the Riu lands, and certain Marchen lords are contemplating an aggressive change of rulership.

Religion in Kytheron

The primary god of Kytheron’s nobility is Anamon, the Zakathi god they claim as their patron. His blessings are sought for just rule and tireless zeal for excellence. The Atlantean god Saidon is also honored in hopes that he might favor their ships and give their privateers victory. Individual houses may have chapels for other gods of convenience, but only these two deities are considered “proper” gods for “True Zakathi” to revere. The common folk have no use for either divinity. The Riu of the north have inherited their ancestral faith in the Bleeding God, and their believers look to the ancient abbeys for spiritual guidance. Austere as that faith is, they have also developed a pantheon of saints responsible for particular places and professions, and many Riu carry small medallions and tokens symbolizing their devotion to these venerable holy persons. Marchen generally make offerings to the spirits of particular local natural features, such as rivers, mountains, or forests. Especially impressive trees, peaks, or mountain springs may be given specific names and qualities, and are served by monasteries and priests dedicated to propitiating them and winning their blessings on those who live in their vicinity. Few such clergy live in towns, generally only so many as are needed to oversee the communal offering-rites. Aside from these acceptable gods, it’s not unknown for certain Lengish faiths to form secret cults among those who hunger for the power those strange gods offer. Nobles in particular are known to make such bargains.

Adventuring in Kytheron

Adventurers are of low status in Kytheron, commonly counted to be little better than bandits or vagabonds. Nobles will generally refuse to have open dealings with them and commoners will be wary of them. Even so, a proven adventuring band with known successes might earn credit as folk heroes and win discreet commissions from noble houses who need effective agents. Kytheron has large stretches of wilderness, particularly in the Ondwald and the Marchenpeaks. Numerous ancient towns and fortresses dot the country, lost in the course of centuries to disaster, Anak attacks, or monstrous incursions. They usually make good nests for bandits or more contemporary abominations, and in either case there’s often some valuable loot left behind. Aside from ruin-plundering and wilderness exploration, Kytheronian noble houses are always looking for effective help. Sabotaging the plans of rival houses is a perennial favorite, and the regular petty wars between towns or noble domains need commando teams to eliminate particular officers or steal valuable objects. If a band of adventurers should perish in such an enterprise, the nobles can console themselves with the knowledge that nothing of excellence was lost.

Potential Antagonists

With many different groups eager to prove their superiority in Kytheron, an adventuring band does not need to look far to find reliable adversaries. Ambitious Noble: A sufficiently driven noble can be willing to pay any price to obtain their glorious success. Whether their goal is to crush an enemy, reclaim a stretch of wilderness, depose a rival noble, or take a bloody revenge, there are few limits to the amount of collateral damage these nobles would inflict. Ex-Soldier Bands: The new taxes from Queen Zenobia have forced many lords to discharge men from their armed forces. Lacking land or any other trade, these former soldiers often band together into dangerous bandit forces or extortionate mercenary bands. Lengish Cults: Forbidden by law, these secret believers offer grim rites of worship to the alien gods of Leng. Such demon-deities tend to offer very tangible favors to their devotees, though they demand a terrible price for their help. Royal Tax Collectors: Queen Zenobia must have silver for King Agreus, and these tax collectors are to obtain it for her. Many are perfectly willing to squeeze whatever they can get from helpless commoners or friendless adventurers, and they have considerable numbers of royal guardsmen to help enforce their demands. Swamp Dwellers: The inhabitants of the Lengtarn muskeg generally care little for outsiders, but from time to time a terrible creature from the swamps ventures into the surrounding lands. Even the human dwellers have been known to launch raids on neighbors.

63 Kytheronian Names d20

Male

Female

Family

Example Adventurer Concepts Place Names

1

Adalric

Adalgisa

Albon

Aubois

2

Aleron

Brunhilde

Artois

Berc

3

Colbert

Chloris

Brienne

Bottrop

4

Denys

Dagna

Brock

Bruchkobel

5

Erramun

Elinor

Castell

Estelle

6

Franz

Esme

Chalon

Friburge

7

Frederik

Garvia

Coburg

Froissy

8

Ganelon

Giselle

Edel

Gergovie

9

Gars

Halette

Foix

Hallstadt

10

Gerard

Iolanthe

Gotha

Indre

11

Godwin

Jaquelin

Laval

Ingolstadt

12

Haldan

Marie

Leyen

Kronach

13

Hardouin

Onaine

Montfort

Lauta

14

Jacques

Orlantha

Polignac

Liseaux

15

Pippen

Roderica

Romanet

Maleon

16

Servan

Selda

Ruprecht

Nortorf

17

Sezni

Serilda

Serach

Pirna

18

Similien

Seve

Thurn

Rotha

19

Visant

Therese

Toucy

Saint Maur

20

Waldemar

Veronique

Treskow

Tharandt

Surplus noble child with no prospects at home Atlantean rebel forced to flee their life back on the island Canny Riu swamp dweller out in search of their fortune Failed native rebel obliged to flee the wrath of their lord Last survivor of a noble house ruined by a failed gambit Kytheronian “privateer” of dubious past legality Peasant driven off their land by increasing tax demands Riu priest of the Bleeding God seeking to make new converts Discharged soldier once in service to a now-impoverished house Ambitious commoner seeking to prove their noble merit Ex-bandit now operating under a fresh identity Marchenpeak demihuman come down to seek gold and glory

Example Kytheronian Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

1

Discharged baronial guard captain turned bandit chief

2

Local noble looking Harried local monfor new tax sources astery abbot

Discharged soldiers Silver meant for a have turned bandit large tax payment

Ornate noble palace

3

Ruthless swamp folk raider boss

Noble in need of deniable hirelings

A noble’s grand plan just backfired

Precious Carcean artifact of old

Hidden rebel camp in the wilds

4

Shinbu Anak war chief turning north

Peasant cruelly oppressed by taxes

The lord is shifting tax burdens cruelly

Goods stockpile hidden from taxes

Ancient stronghold against the Anak

5

Royal tax collector lacking in scruples

Swamp-dwelling peasant rebel

Monsters are raiding nearby

Proof of a noble supporting rebels

Zakathi-style massive building

6

Ambitious noble Noble of proven seeking some great skill and personal and bloody deed excellence

Two local noble families are locked in mortal contest

Evidence that a local noble faked their great deeds

Once-noble manor now occupied by discharged soldiers

7

Bitter peasant turned priest of a dark Lengish god

Escaped slave from A local noble is a Lengish caravan being called out to prove their worth

Map to a treasure hidden by a disgraced noble

Riu monastery dedicated to the Bleeding God

8

Vile monster runReclusive naning loose due to a ture-priest of a lack of local guard Marchen faith

Mysterious Lengish relic with sinister powers

Slave market for the Lengish mountain caravans

Ambitious young peasant aiming at nobility

Complications The tax collectors just took some vital resource

The local ruling family just collapsed into chaos

Things A mysterious relic of the former Marchen empire

Places Shabby and hardused village of poor peasants

64

THE LITTEN STRAND Small villages and trade-towns crouch on the shore of the Litten Strand, shadowed by the glowing bulk of the Shining Peaks to the north. Beneath those lethal stones a war has churned for three thousand years, and the flotsam of its destruction draws greedy hands even now.

History

At some unknown point before the Colligation of Epochs and the beginning of recorded history, the Litten Strand appears to have been inhabited by a sophisticated demihuman nation composed of both elves and dwarves. The surviving ruins that cover the southern slopes of the Shining Peaks are magnificent in their architecture and embellishment, and would see considerably more explorers were it not for their present magically-radioactive surroundings. At some point during the Colligation, an entity known only as “the One Below” appears to have become active deep beneath the mountain range. This creature generated endless swarms of monstrous progeny and intelligent minions while eroding the stability of the local Legacy. Worried demihuman sages calculated out the consequences of allowing it to reach the surface; if it were allowed to emerge, it would almost certainly cause an Iterum-ending cascade of Legacy failures across the entire Latter Earth. In desperation, the last remaining military forces of the nation intentionally destabilized their defensive Workings, annihilating their own cities in a last-ditch effort to seal off the surface from the One Below and its minions. Their efforts were partially successful, for while their nation was wiped out, the blue-litten magical radioactivity of the zones thus created was as toxic to the monsters as it was to its former inhabitants. The only survivors of the devastation were a small population of dwarven and elven researchers trapped deep below the mountains. Assailed by monsters at every side, their inevitable losses seemed assured to finish what the surface devastation had begun. Driven by necessity, the dwarven researchers used their innate facility with the Legacy and certain eldritch devices found in the nearby Deeps to warp the immortality of their elven colleagues. By mutilating certain aspects of their soul, the “rebirth” mechanism of elven recurrence could be forced, manifesting them again and again without the need for biological birth and maturation. The surviving researchers were able to overwhelm the remaining monsters by simple human wave tactics, throwing endless elven respawns at the monsters until they were driven back down into the dark. The breathing room thus created was only temporary. New Deeps were secured, new generations were trained, and new fortifications laid in before a fresh cycle of monstrous spawns rose from below. That basic pattern has remained the same for three thousand years.

Yet the costs only ever increase. The original crude soul-maimings of the first dwarven researchers have been refined and improved over the centuries, making each elven “Ardent” into a living weapon on par with a Legate. They can channel tremendous amounts of power through their arcanely-generated forms and fight armies of monstrous spawn single-handedly. The endless ages of death and suffering have left most Ardents only nominally sane, however; some are effectively catatonic when not being directed by their dwarven handlers. The few still rational enough to reproduce provide only barely enough children to replace the inevitable losses from Legacy burnout or the destruction of an Ardent’s House of Immanence where they are keyed to respawn. Every generation fights to clear ancient Deeps of the monsters of the One Below, constantly struggling to push it deeper into the earth and farther away from its sunlit goal. Sometimes these gains persist for centuries, with dwarven cities and elven Houses of Immanence built to secure it, and other times they are lost just as quickly when a new wave of monsters boils up from below. The Ardents and their dwarven support are not enough to rescue every such outpost, and the few foreigners who interact with them are often those expendable salvage crews sent in to clear zones after the Ardents have broken any organized resistance. These tireless crusaders have little to do with the outside world. They are always glad to receive what help they can get from surface-dwellers, but active engagement with the human nations risks distracting them from their overwhelming duty. Should the One Below somehow be destroyed, the Ardents and their veteran dwarven military support would be one of the strongest martial powers on the continent, but that future seems distant at best.

People of the Strand

The subterranean dwarves and elves of the mountains call themselves “the Great Plan of the Gate”, “the Gatekeepers”, or simply “the Keepers”. While they have a limited number of surface outposts to conduct trade with the human coastal settlements or the foothill villages of Hantu, they dwell almost exclusively in ancient undermountain Deeps. The other inhabitants of the Strand are largely human renegades, exiles, and adventurers who have come from Xindai, Hantu, or farther lands in search of ancient treasures in the mountain ruins. A certain number of them make their living fishing or farming near the coast, where there are the fewest monsters, but even these peasants usually dream of daring the blue-lit mountains to bring back ancient elven gold. On the mountains themselves, few are found but the most zealous hermits and the hardiest monstrosities, ones able to bear the poisonous light of the peaks.

65

A Lethal Geography

The broad coastal plain between the sea and the Shining Peaks is a warm, temperate expanse that is thickly forested and dotted with clusters of hills. Many of these hills hold demihuman ruins, though the safest ones have long since been plundered, with some serving as nuclei for new human villages and towns. The mountains and their foothills boast the greatest ruins, vast cities informed by dwarven massiveness paired with elven grace. Their treasures are largely intact, their occupants killed almost instantly by the detonation of their ancient defensive Workings. That act of desperation has had long consequences, however. Now large stretches of the mountain range are polluted by a pale blue glow, largely invisible in the daytime. This glow poisons anyone who remains too long in it, sickening even automatons and others immune to conventional illness. Those who do not remain long can often recover after a week or two outside the zone, but particularly intense areas can kill in minutes. Worse still, these zones seem to shift and move unpredictably over the course of years or decades. A oncesafe pass could turn lethal in a matter of days, while an ancient city once blanketed in azure death could become a safe zone just as quickly. These changes sometimes operate at a set schedule, but more often they simply appear and disappear without visible pattern. There are several varieties of monster that appear to have adapted to the blue glow, some of them related to the eldritch horrors vomited up by the One Below. Most have only bestial intellect, but the servitor-class entities among them have a cruel human intelligence. They have been known to form strongholds in the peaks, striking out against human settlements and raiding the surface outposts of the Gatekeepers.

Adventuring in the Strand

Most outsiders first arrive in one of the coastal settlements, as the approach from the Hantu side of the range is too dangerous for all but the boldest adventurers. The natives of these settlements are a polyglot mix of exiles, refugees, criminals, and fortune-seekers, and a few more strangers seldom bring much remark. The local petty warlords and nouveau nobility care little about new faces so long as the newcomers can avoid making trouble inside their territories. From these coastal villages, bolder expeditions into the plains can be mounted. Most of the region remains largely unknown, its forests and hillsides blighted by the prowling of monsters come down from the mountains. Even so, a few brave villages and well-fortified market towns can be found further inland, most of their inhabitants seeking to plunder ancient demihuman ruins. Those who are strongest and most daring can make for the mountains themselves. If a sufficiently reliable native guide can be found to steer them around the poisoned zones, the party might make it to one of the surface outposts of the Gatekeepers, where they could expect a measure of safety and resupply. The occasional heavily-guarded coastal caravan makes its way inland to the outposts from time to time as well, trading plant extracts and other valuable surface goods for gold and shining jewels. While friendly to outsiders, the Gatekeepers are always looking for more help in clearing out “risen” spawn from their ancient Deeps and numerous long-lost subterranean cities. Those adventurers who prove willing to aid their great plan can expect rewards befitting their results. The dwarves of the Litten Strand have many treasures, not merely ones of precious gems or glittering gold, and they can be persuaded to part with them for those who fight on their behalf.

66

MAQQATBA This icy southern land is a realm largely forgotten by the rest of the world. Its neighbors have no appetite for claiming such unwelcoming land, and its natives are wholly absorbed in their own obscure pursuits. Even so, the fame of its knights has lingered for more than one age.

History

The initial wave of First Dynasty conquest washed over Gyarus, breaking almost every nation south of the Gyre to obedience over the course of a few centuries. In time, their armies came to the southern tip of the continent, brushing aside the few petty kingdoms that had sprung up amid the cold mountains. Grieved by the lack of any further lands to conquer, the twelfth emperor of the First Dynasty decreed that his tomb would be laid at the southernmost point of his realm, that he might forever gaze south in search of new domains to claim. The Dynasts, being who they were, hastened to construct a magnificent tomb complex for their emperor, bringing materials thousands of miles in order to adorn the palace-sized edifice. Such a place required protectors, and so a detachment of the emperor’s elite guardians were dispatched there to maintain an eternal vigil over their deceased lord. Of course, a supply of commoners were required as well to work the cold soil and fish the seas that the knights might not starve. As the decades rolled by and successive emperors perished, they too had their tombs erected in the south, the better to share in the luster of the great twelfth emperor. Every tomb had its share of guardians, and its collection of attached peasants, and by the end of the First Dynasty there were over a hundred tomb complexes scattered over Maqqatba, some as grand as a small city and others as humble as a modest village. With the fall of the old martial First Dynasty, however, there came an end to the tombs of emperors, as the Second Dynasty had different plans for the repose of their priest-kings.

With the end of the First Dynasty, the northerners had little to do with the people of Maqqatba. Their guardian knights remained at their posts, their peasants continued to work the land, and there was no further profit in pressing Dynasty rule over them. They and their cold mountains and empty taigas were left to their own devices. In the ages since, the initial guardian knights became the martial elite of a new noble class in Maqqatba. Each tomb-chapter came to revere its emperor or empress as their patron god, glorifying their name with feats of mighty martial skill. Each chapter spent centuries refining esoteric martial arts and exotic combat techniques, all the better to show the worthiness of their lineage. Their lives were austere, disciplined, and absorbed in war. The commoners focused instead on fishing the surrounding seas, mining the Shangu foothills, and growing the “frost barley” that is the staple food of the populace. As the barley only grows in relatively close proximity to the blessed tombs of the emperors, their population was constantly limited by the amount of food they could grow. The chapters serve to cull the excess. Ritualized wars, ancient grudges, and sudden raids between rivals all cost many lives every year. The chapters replenish their numbers with the most capable and promising young commoners, thus lessening the population pressure. Every settlement knows the number of people it can support, and those excess who do not die in battle must accept exile from their ancient home. These exiles have brought some of the Maqqatban arts north, to lands where they are held as wonders and marvels. Even now, many sword-teachers promise to impart the secrets of the “Maqqatban knights” to worthy pupils. Most are liars, of course, but some really do have knowledge of those esoteric skills, and it is not unheard-of for a foreign blademaster to show off arts that were born in a far colder clime.

67

A Forbidding Land

Northern Maqqatba is dominated by the Shangu mountains and the rocky foothills of those great peaks. A number of tomb-settlements were established there at particularly striking vistas; their commoner inhabitants now live by mining the hillsides and scratching out terraces of frost barley. The weather is cold and dry for much of the year, but a brief, hot summer season and the long summer days give life a chance to grow. Further south, the mountains trail off into deep pine forests, rolling hills, and numerous cold, swampy bogs. The tomb-settlements here are commonly set on hilltops, and the land about them used for barley crops. The uttermost south has only a few great temple-complexes, each one reliant on ancient sorcery to help them grow enough to eat. Months there are spent in almost-perpetual darkness or near-constant light, and the knight-chapters there are often said to be more than half mad from it. Their worship is strange, and even Maqqatbans think them a bloody-handed lot.

The People of Cold Duty

Most Maqqatbans were originally of Dynastic stock, but their mingling with southern Tseban folk and the few native Deep-kingdom remnants has made them taller and paler than the average Dynast. Ritual marriage-pacts among the various settlements have left them largely uniform in culture and appearance, though the occasional gone-native foreigner has left their mark as well. Every Maqqatban’s first loyalty is to their settlement’s patron emperor. The knights may also keep faith with their brethren in their chapter, but all honor their patron as their tutelary god and protector. Other emperors are acknowledged as fearsome deities, but are more to be avoided than propitiated. Only their “chosen people” can safely petition their aid.

Adventuring in Maqqatba

Maqqatban settlements rarely encounter visitors, but the presence of far-faring sword-scholars and more materially greedy adventurers are not unknown among the locals. Outsiders are generally viewed warily, but those that bring useful goods or effective help are generally permitted to sojourn in the settlement and purchase such supplies as they need. Food is both ritually significant and often in short supply, however, and sometimes outsiders must risk hunting the perilous beasts of the wilds if they are to have anything to eat. There are relatively few Deep ruins in Maqqatba, though some exist. More significant are the remains of ancient First Dynasty structures. More than forty of the imperial tomb-settlements have since been abandoned due to calamity, misfortune, or starvation, and their splendid halls are now stalked by the fell creatures of the wilds. While few Maqqatbans would dare risk the wrath of their dead patrons, outsiders are not always so particular about plundering the remains. Aside from the lost tomb-settlements, there are also a significant number of ancient scholarly academies, trade centers, shrines, and even a few pleasure-palaces erected in the days of the First Dynasty, when richer trade came down from the north and larger populations could be supplied. Many of these places have been picked over in the centuries since but many still hold valuable secrets that have slept here since the days of the First Age. Beyond ruin-delving, the Maqqatban knight-chapters themselves often have work for outside adventurers. Some tasks are of the sort that can only be performed by deniable foreign assets, while other ambitions require strong outside arms to aid their limited numbers. The knight-chapters have little use for silver or gold, but the rewards of secret techniques and hidden blade-wisdom they offer are seldom equaled.

68

NINTH LENG Grim Ninth Leng is a hermit-land of bleak skies and cursed earth, its people resigned to the desperate worship of alien gods in an attempt to escape the wrath of their former deities. Their empty cities and blighted ruins are rich with the hellish treasures of their former glory, but few are willing to dare their awful guardians.

History

Lengans do not discuss their history with outsiders, but the determined labor of sages and adventuring historians has pieced together a limited glimpse of this ancient nation’s antecedents. The records of their interactions with outsiders are almost all that these scholars have to go on, as modern Lengan texts are almost exclusively religious in nature, and not overly helpful for historians. The first recorded involvements with the Lengans are found in certain ancient cartularies preserved by Courontine monasteries and salvaged historical texts from the ice of Ultima Ondas. According to these documents, the Lengans burst like a plague upon a former empire of “shining lords of living gold” some time around 1630 BL. Their legions appeared as if by magic, sweeping over the land and slaughtering the inhabitants in grim rituals, their lives used as sacrifices to the Lengan gods. Even at the time, the Lengan invaders referred to themselves as “Ninth Leng”, the prior eight having existed in some different world or pre-incarnational sense. Their devotion to their devil-gods was absolute, and in return for human lives sacrificed to eternal torment they granted prosperity and power to their Lengan servants.

Countless Lengan cities were established along the fertile northern coast, with the records of Ultima Ondas claiming that the climate was nearly tropical at the time. This period of prosperity lasted for a little over two hundred years, fueled by stocks of human sacrifices drawn from the remaining native population. By 1420 BL, however, Lengan expansion had halted. Their neighbors were either too well-armed or too thinly-populated to be effectively harvested for new sacrifices, and the Lengan gods were growing ever-more rapacious in their demands. It would not be long before the Lengans themselves would be consigned to the unending Hells by their impatient masters. In 1414 BL, a new way was shown to them. The First Illuminator, holy Saint Khadroma, revealed the “ten thousand bright names” of a new pantheon of gods, ones willing to extend their protection to the Lengans in exchange for their worship and obedience. Her teachings swept over the desperate land, and strange and awesome miracles erupted wherever her cult prospered. The hungry gods of old Leng were not slow to express their disapproval. Throughout the rich northern cities, vast eruptions of infernal wrath blasted the populace and cursed the soil, while a burning stone from the heavens smote the old capital of Kundu Ched and left it a poisonous crater. The remaining devotees of the old gods, desperate to win their favor, made war upon the followers of the Bright Names until the old adherents were driven away into the desolate northeastern wastes, to subsist on the black blessings of their masters and forever seek the damnation of their traitorous kin. In the end, the surviving Lengans were forced into newly built temple-cities, the lands around them reduced to fearsome wildernesses of monstrous beasts and divine miasmas. Since that day, the people of Leng have had little friendly contact with the outside world. Their black ships ply the Sea of White Teeth, sometimes raiding for slaves, other times bringing the strange goods that are made only within their lands. Lengan traders are held in deep suspicion wherever they go, but the drugs and sorcerous treasures they bring and their precious plaques of blue jade have won them the forbearance of rulers even in lands where Lengan slavers scourge the coasts. Foreign diplomats and traders are not generally welcome within the borders of Ninth Leng. Its people are wholly devoted to the Bright Names that still protect them from the damnation threatened by their former masters, and outsiders cannot be expected to understand or appreciate the importance of pious behavior. Adventurers are an exception to this rule, however; their willingness to venture into god-cursed ruins and blighted lands make them too useful as expendable scouts and monster-slayers. So long as they continue to do their work, the priest-lords of Leng are inclined to be charitable about their inevitable shortcomings.

69

Geography

The lands of Ninth Leng were supposedly near-tropical around the time of their first arrival, but that warmth has faded greatly since that age. The lands beyond the low mountain range known as the Ward are a frigid tundra broken only by the frozen remnants of ancient jungles and rimed cities. Countless arratus plague the plateau, each one centered on the bones of a god-smote city. South of the Ward, the land slopes down into a swampy muskeg, leaving a wet and noisome belt of land around the Ragba river. The great lake of Khi Sang Po connects the capital at Tshad Khi to the port city of Naragba, where black galleys set out for trade and slaving. Further south, the land rises again to drier plains that were once choked with slave-worked plantations. Devil-beasts now roam this empty land, particularly around the fifty-mile-wide crater that is Kundu Ched. Ancient suburbs still remain collapsed and half-buried around the crater’s rim, while the center is a poisonous arratu of half-melted stone peopled by maddened wraiths of dead flesh and toxic fire. The southern cities of Ninth Leng are in a narrow band between the high peaks of the Pale, the perilous depths of the Khad Khri forest, and the dangers of the plains. Even here, in the warmest regions of the land, the winters last six months and the summer sun has little strength. The slave merchants that cross the Pale must time their trips carefully to avoid being snowbound.

People of Ninth Leng

The natives of Leng are pale-skinned and pale-haired, and are renowned for their beauty by their neighbors. This beauty is sometimes disquieting to behold, however, as many say there is something uncanny about their look, as if their gods had fashioned them to suit some aesthetic only partially related to human measures. Lengans prefer heavy robes or elaborate costumes as their daily wear, both for the sake of the cold climate and to better display the tokens of their patron god. The occasional sect will demand much lighter dress, however, either as an act of ascetic self-discipline or to demonstrate the holy vigor granted by their god. While Lengans are the great majority of inhabitants in Ninth Leng, perhaps a fifth of the population is made up of foreign slaves taken in raids or purchased in far markets. These slaves are settled in farming villages on the outskirts of Lengan cities or in particularly fertile areas of the wilderness, there to toil on behalf of their lords and to suffer the dangers of the Lengan wilds. The most capable and favored are kept with their owners in the cities, to attend to their needs or to serve as sacrifices when the Bright Names require blood. Aside from these slaves, there are almost no permanent foreign residents in Ninth Leng. Foreign adventurers can sometimes be found in cities or rural villages in between their expeditions, but few of these strangers remain either long in Leng, or long alive.

70

Demographics

No one is entirely certain how many Lengans dwell in their cheerless land, but few would expect more than a few million. Major populations are all focused on a few dozen surviving cities scattered south of the Ward, each with a halo of farming and fishing villages that help feed its inhabitants. Lengan-occupied villages are closer to the city walls, while slaves are used to work the hamlets most exposed to the dangers of the wilderness. These slave villages are generally left to govern their own affairs, as their masters care only that they supply the necessary quota of food and goods each spring and autumn. Escape attempts are not unknown, but there are creatures in the wilderness that inflict fates far worse than mere death.

Cities of Ninth Leng

Lengan cities are temples writ large. The heart of every city is the grand temple to the Bright Name that its priest-lord serves, and every district and neighborhood likewise clings to the skirts of a local fane. To a Lengan, a city is a temple, and even the wretched hamlets of their slave laborers are each built around a Lengan shrine. The surviving cities of Ninth Leng were all founded after the coming of the First Illuminator, as none dared dwell in cities dedicated to their former gods. The ruins and wreckage of those ancient temple-cities are still common in the wilderness, and fear has left most of them untouched since their patron gods destroyed them. Of the new cities, a few are of special importance. Tshad Khi is the current capital of Ninth Leng, forever vigilant against raiders from the Wastes to the northeast. The never-frozen waters of the Khi Sang Po flow in dark canals between the towering stone buildings of the city, each adorned with the faces of strange gods. Bakhyod is a city of vigilance, hard by the terrible Plateau of a Hundred Hells that was once the Lengan heartland. Its people are warriors against the abominations that come down from the plateau. They are the ones most likely to see and tolerate foreigners, as adventurers find much plunder in the northern ruins. Tshulkhrim is the source of the exquisite blue jade that forms the trade-coinage of Ninth Leng. The thumbsized plaques they craft bear the faces of the Bright Names, each one worth a hundred pieces of silver in most markets. Its mines consume many slaves. Naragba is a port city half-welcoming to strangers, receiving foreign traders and adventurers bold enough to enter Leng. It also sees off the black galleys of Lengan raiders, and its slave markets are vast and terrible. Ngantsong reveres Bright Names that promise protection from the fearsome beasts of the great forest to the south. This protection is provisional, and great ritual hunts must be performed regularly to maintain it. Drangsana guards the southern mountain trail that leads to Kytheron. Lengan merchants venture over the Pale, but more than a few fall prey to fierce believers in the old gods who still inhabit ancient mountain temples.

Lengan Society and Religion

Even more than Sarx, Ninth Leng is wholly devoted to its gods. This frantic piety is the consequence of the great curse that lies upon every heir of Leng, the assurance that without some other god’s protection they will inevitably be condemned to everlasting torment by the cheated divinities of their ancestors. The Bright Names are the only security against this terrible fate, and society’s prime function is to ensure that they are placated at all costs. Every Lengan is a priest to one god or another, with infants being consecrated at birth into their mother’s cult. Commoners are instructed in only the most basic rituals and prayers, while the kindred of the priest-lords who rule their cities are initiated into ever-deeper circles of mystery. These secrets often come at a harsh price, for the Bright Names are not loving gods, and their favor comes only after due obedience to their inscrutable desires. Status in Lengan society is exclusively obtained through divine favor. The Bright Names do not communicate directly with their followers, but express their will through omens, miracles, prophecies, and other divine expressions. Those they favor immediately rise in rank, while those who receive unfavorable oracles risk disgrace and loss of both rank and property. It is widely known that success in temple enterprises is one of the clearest expressions of divine will, so ambitious priests are often desperate to succeed in their schemes. Most Lengans spend their days in prayer and communal rituals, working with their fellow cultists to placate and adore their patron Name. Much of what other nations would accomplish with mundane workers or craftsmen is instead produced by direct miracle or divine sending, with goods and works produced through esoteric rituals and bloody sacrifices. A Lengan “blacksmith” rarely ever lifts a hammer, but instead knows the correct rituals and sacrifices to manifest needed ironwork. A few Lengans are consigned to overseeing the slave villages and producing goods through more mundane labor. These positions are invariably low-ranking and despised by the great, but the Bright Names are not so generous as to feed and clothe the whole nation. These marginal Lengans have the most contact with outsiders, and some can become positively un-Lengish in temper. The average Lengan desires nothing so more than the blessings of their patron Name, and all their work and planning revolves around this. Finer rituals, more exotic offerings, more devoted servants… these things are what they seek, so they might perhaps some day rise to become priest-lord of a town, or even a city, their cult’s god enthroned in place of the former ruler’s faith. Of the Bright Names themselves, little is known by outsiders. They are strange, alien gods, many of which are not even humanoid, and their commands are harsh and pitiless. Human sacrifice is common, and terrible demands are sometimes made of their believers. Foreign faiths are wholly forbidden in Leng. Some believe that foreign gods can save the cursed Lengans as well, but the Bright Names have no intention of sharing their flock.

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Lengan Government

Every Lengan community is under the absolute rule of a priest-lord. Those of the great cities are fearsomely powerful sorcerers blessed by their fell god, while towns are ruled by lesser magicians, and the “lord” of a slave village is seldom more than an untalented man or woman in a shabby ritual robe. Lesser communities are obedient to greater ones, with all the priest-lords nominally subject to the will of the lord of Tshad Khi. Within each city, the high priests of each local Bright Name divide up the endless work of ritual and prayer, each enforcing discipline on their own believers with the priest-lord stepping in to resolve disputes between cults. The high priests delegate responsibilities to lesser priests in their cult, and in turn every Lengan is eventually responsible to their direct superior in the faith. Cults in a given community are often largely of a single family or extended clan due to the customs of initiation, and it is common for the family patriarch or matriarch to also be the high priest. Defiance of their will is treachery to the family as well as their faith, and it is inevitably punished harshly. The most wretched offenders are stripped of their priesthood, ensuring that their souls will burn eternally in the fires of their old masters rather than receiving the merciful oblivion of the Bright Names. Major political changes occur most often at midwinter, during a night of great ritual and solemn prayer. The various signs of divine favor and examples of success are tallied up by the gathered high priests of a community, and its members are elevated or degraded based on the apparent will of the gods. It is not unknown for certain corrupt priests to deny divine oracles or reject holy miracles in order to keep down rivals, but every so often such malefactors receive a most spectacular divine chastisement for their interference. Such a possibility tends to discourage bad behavior among most of the judges.

Adventuring in Ninth Leng

As strange and unwelcoming as Leng is to outsiders, there are a surprising number of adventurers who dare its icy peaks and perilous wilds. Vast stores of ancient wealth remain in the ruined cities of former Leng, and the locals are perfectly willing to have expendable strangers go out and plunder such places. At best, they will kill dangerous beasts and bring back word of impending perils. At worst, the monsters will have something to eat other than the people of Leng. So long as foreigners continue to kill monsters and dare the perilous wild, their presence will be tolerated. Outsiders will most often deal with Lengan traders familiar with foreign ways or the half-disgraced Lengan overseers of slave villages. Lengan slavers have little to do with adventurers; they make awful slaves for multiple reasons, and more profit can usually be had by hiring them for work than fitting them for chains. Most Lengan ruins are infested with unholy abominations, many of them the agonized remnants of their ancient inhabitants. The old gods have consigned them to everlasting suffering as monsters and terrible beasts, blind to anything but violence and pain. The least of them can easily kill an unwary explorer, while the worst require half an army to destroy their physical form. Monsters are not the only threat in the wilds, however. There were some among the ancient Lengans who did not dare to defy their old lords. Driven from the cities of the Bright Names, they now lurk in high mountain villages and temples, or in wretched covens in the Wastes and deep forests. Their gods give them the strength to survive and perpetuate themselves, but only when paid for with the blood of their traitorous kin. These “old believers” often serve as the leaders of monstrous incursions, directing their tormented slaves to wreak havoc in the villages and towns of their heretical kindred.

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ONDAS Formerly a wealthy and powerful nation blessed with exceptional technical capacity, Ondas suffered dearly from a brutal incursion of automatons some two hundred years ago. Now its pioneers and explorers go westward to reclaim their fallen glory, despite the local resistance.

History

The original home of the Ondasi was the then-temperate isle of Ultima Ondas, a marvelous nation of sophisticated sorcery and wondrous artifices. A network of potent Workings maintained a warm climate and a friendly Legacy allowed certain devices and engines to function that would be inoperable elsewhere. Around 1677 BL, however, toward the end of the First Age, a catastrophic expansion of the Boras Mur ice sheet forced the Old Ondasi southward to present-day Ondas. The expansion of the sheet was so swift that the island’s king had no time to prepare countermeasures. The royal family and most of their greatest mages perished in a vain attempt to hold it back. The refugee remnant landed at the current site of Norbury, establishing a beachhead in the untamed wilderness for their fellow survivors. It was not long before the exiles discovered survivors of a former pre-Colligation empire in the western mountains. These “hillfolk” seemed to be related to the Marchen peoples of Kytheron and the eastern Amundi kingdoms, though their material culture had regressed to little more than well-fortified hill villages and disquieting stone shrines. They lacked the organization to overcome the desperate Ondasi, and most were rapidly driven back into the foothills of the Pale. The same disaster that had swept over Ultima Ondas appeared to have displaced its Workings as well as its people. The northeastern corner of Agathon proved considerably warmer and more temperate than records had indicated, with four distinct seasons and warm summers. More than that, some of the artifice-ease of the island appeared to have been transferred south as well, and Ondasi hurlants, steamwagons, and other advanced devices functioned southward to a line that became the border with Kytheron. The power of Ondasi hurlants and the remnant artifices of her master engineers quickly made the Ondasi masters of their newfound land. With the death of their royal family and the heroic efforts of the seafaring mercantile families that had saved so many of their people, the merchant class became the core of a new republic in the north. The Ondasi steadily spread westward, driving back the native monsters and Outsider remnants and planting new cities as they grew. Their new nation was divided into multiple states, each centered around a bustling new state capital. The iron rails of steamwagon lines were driven into the wilderness to connect these new states, and representatives from each were gathered in the new

capital of Royston to reflect on policies appropriate to their newly-forged nation’s interests. The nation was not as solid as its rail lines. While the Ondasi formed the bulk of the population, native Marchen immigrants from Kytheron had poured in and been welcomed for the additional labor they provided. The native hillfolk had been reduced to a harsh existence on the borders of the new state, eking out a living herding goats in the Pale of Leng or seeking employment as menial laborers in the cities. While the Ondasi stood at the top of the hierarchy, their position was not welcomed by the other groups. This inward unease left Ondas disinclined to turn its attention outside its borders, as their culture and society was reliant on engines and firearms that ceased to operate ten miles offshore. They traded with Kytheronian and Atlantean merchants and warily regarded Ninth Leng over the mountains but they never turned outward. In the centuries that followed, these divisions hardened. The southern states established in the Ondwald were firmly controlled by the Marchen, who ensured that all the important businesses and governmental posts were likewise occupied by their kind. The eastern states were Ondasi-controlled in the same way, and usually ended up picking the republic’s president by sheer numbers. In the west, the “new states” were a mixture of Marchen and Ondasi, with a considerable number of hillfolk chieftains acting as power brokers through their control of their clansmen. There were periods of eastern domination, a lesser number of southern-controlled eras, and towards the end of this peaceful age the western states were looking to obtain preeminence through a wary alliance among their various ethnic groups. This all ended two hundred years ago, in 860 AL. From the depths of the Pale marched a legion of corroded iron automatons, all bearing seals of a long-dead empire and all working to exterminate the Ondasi interlopers. The hillfolk villages were spared so long as they did not interfere, but every Ondasi city west of Salburg was wiped off the map in a few short years. For two hundred years, the surviving Ondasi and Marchen towns fought off the Iron Men. The limits of Ondasi engineering were pushed to the very edge of what the Legacy allowed as the survivors struggled to drive back the rusted legions. In the end, their victory came not from their own strength, but from simple entropy. The Iron Men wound down, their enchantments depleted, and now only isolated bands of them yet lurk in the wilds. In the past ten years, the Ondasi have begun a great westward migration, their overcrowded eastern cities emptying out as countless men and women seek a better life in the west. Many among the surviving hillfolk clans have no intention of letting them return. And all the while, men murmur of iron shapes in deep mountain vaults and of a magic that may not have run its course.

73

Geography

Ondas is an abnormally warm and mild land for its latitude. Before the destruction of Ultima Ondas it was little more than a cold northern taiga giving way to open tundra, barely habitable for its hillfolk inhabitants. With the dislocation of Ultima Ondas’ weather-Workings, it became a cool, temperate land chiefly dominated by eastern grasslands and western pine-forested hills. The great Ondwald forest dominates the south of the nation. The Iron Men did not go south into Kytheron, but they wiped out the Marchen cities north of the border and tore up their steamwagon rails. Now pioneers from Salburg and the southern cities are trying to restore the lost states here with isolated villages and scattered trade towns. The Old States of the central hill country were once some of the most prosperous in Ondas. Now only hillfolk villages remain, many of their clans intensely hostile towards Ondasi and Marchen alike. In the north, Norbury was once the industrial heart of a web of coastal fishing and mining towns. Now the “scoured coast” holds only the ruins of those places, and the past two centuries have left Norbury a hardscrabble port of ruined factories and desperate men. “Back East” is the informal name for the states of New Haven, Northport, and Granz, the only surviving states of old Ondas. Its cities are crowded and its lands over-farmed, with many eyes turned west for better.

People of Ondas

While all the citizens of the Republic of Ondas are technically “Ondasi”, the locals draw finer distinctions amongst themselves. Three major ethnic groups are found within the nation’s borders, along with small numbers of outside trading families or aspiring immigrants. Ondasi proper are those descended from the refugees of Ultima Ondas, often retaining ancestral traditions about which part of the island they came from. Their three main subdivisions are the “north Ondasi”, dark-skinned and dark-eyed, the “east Ondasi”, short and amber-hued people with bronze or red hair, and “west Ondasi”, who are of medium height, pale skin, blond hair, and light eyes. Their phenotypes tend to breed true to the father, but few Ondasi draw any particular distinction between them, save for a few rigidly traditional families. The Marchen of Ondas look much like their southern cousins, being bronze-skinned, broad-shouldered, and dark-haired. They predominate in the southern regions of the nation, being the ruling class of Salburg and the new forest hamlets of the Ondwald. The hillfolk of Ondas call themselves the Wier among their own kind, and care little what others call them. Those in the east form a menial underclass, mistrusted by the others for their potential ties with the Iron Men and unable to return west to clans who have no use for “traitors”. They look much like Marchen, yet are taller and slimmer, with lighter hair and sharper features.

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Demographics

The federal record office in Royston counts over four million citizens in the “civilized” portions of Ondas. An unknown number have headed west in search of a better life, but few think that they number less than several hundred thousand. The number still alive is unknown. Of the population, most estimate 60% as Ondasi, 30% as Marchen, and 10% as hillfolk. Foreigners have had little reason to come to Ondas during the centuries of war with the Iron Men, and it is only with the new westward migration that Atlantean traders and Kytheronian merchants have resumed their trade. A few small foreign quarters have since grown up around the docks of Royston and Salburg, but foreign numbers are few. Demihumans are even rarer. While most Ondasi are intellectually aware that non-baselines exist, the few native demihuman communities in Ondas were thought to have been wiped out by the Iron Men. Only the most isolated and self-sufficient groups could have avoided that fate… as some Blighted tribes did.

Cities of Ondas

Ondasi cities and towns are almost exclusively restricted to the coastline and the grasslands of Back East. Numerous overcrowded cities and hard-used farm plots can be found in such lands, but fifty miles west of them it’s uncommon to find so much as a market town. Pioneer towns are being established in the Ondwald, the Old States, and even along the Scoured Coast, but these towns are small, precarious, and often destroyed by natural hazards, vile beasts, or hillfolk anger. Royston is the capital of the Republic and the state of New Haven, the governmental seat where President Claudette Royce leads the Council of Representatives. Royston is a rail hub for the surviving steamwagon lines, and its yards echo with the whistles of these engines as they haul goods north, south, and even west along newly-built lines. The new drive west has brought a swarm of merchants and politicians eager to find profit in the enterprise. Fort Royce is a frontier town, the launching point for numerous expeditions and town-founding efforts further west. Newly established in the past ten years, it’s a wide-open town of reckless fortune-seekers, criminals, desperate homesteaders, and explorers. The few steamwagon lines going west of Fort Royce are dangerous and often disrupted. Norbury is the tattered capital of the state of Northport. Once the preeminent industrial city of Ondas, the Iron Men destroyed its satellite towns and depopulated its laboring population. Only a fraction of its old inhabitants remain amid half-ruined factories and decaying wharves. Desperation is a way of life here. Salburg is the old seat of Marchen authority in Ondas, as well as being the capital of the state of Granz. Its mayor is said to have ambitions of independence fueled by a new web of Marchen-dominated towns in the Ondwald. Their success is yet to be established.

Ondasi Society

The society and culture of Ondas is shaped by three great factors: its permissive Legacy, its losses in the Great War against the Iron Men, and the brutal resource limits of life Back East. The Legacy in Ondas has been warped and shifted by the remnant influence of the Workings that currently lie buried beneath the ice of Ultima Ondas. Within the borders of this nation, conventional firearms function correctly, steam-powered conveyances and certain industrial machinery can be made to operate, and the natural climate is much warmer and more clement than it should be for a nation this far north. These benefits are very specific and limited; just because a scattergun works with two barrels doesn’t mean it will work if the gunsmith adds a tube magazine. Ondasi engineers have pushed to find the limits of the Legacy’s laxness for centuries, but most believe they are currently as advanced as is possible. Rail-mounted steamwagons, cartridge-firing guns, and steam-powered factories and mine pumps are as far as the Legacy allows them, and even alternative uses of a functioning technology are usually impossible. The Great War cost every family in Ondas dearly over the past two centuries. Most able-bodied citizens who weren’t working in factories or on farms were drafted into the Army of the Republic for a mandatory eightyear term, and demobilized veterans make up many of the explorers, pioneers, and bandits found in the nation. Almost every Ondasi knows how to handle a firearm and has some acquaintance with military discipline, though most would wish to leave that life far behind. During the war, the massive waves of refugees from the west combined with the natural population growth to bitterly tax the resources Back East. Farms were exhausted, factories were forced to work with scraps, and robber-baron merchants cornered whole markets with their access to outside resources. The average Ondasi is familiar with being ill-fed, ill-clothed, and landless, and only rich mercantile families and the “old families” of politics like the Royces and Hartwells know much better. The desperate urge for a better life has driven thousands of Ondasi families west, into lands they know could as easily be their graves as their future. The average Ondasi is a hard young man or woman on the make, determined to get a better life in any way they can. Strong loyalty exists between family members, and pioneer settlements are known for pulling together if they are to survive, but most Ondasi are fundamentally tired of privation and will do what they must to escape it. One prejudice most Ondasi and Marchen share is a dislike and mistrust of hillfolk. Many believe the hillfolk were actively in league with the Iron Men, or somehow called them forth through dark sorcery. Those hillfolk who live in the east tend to reciprocate this dislike, and often band together for protection and mutual assistance. The hillfolk political bosses and crime lords of the eastern cities can sometimes act as local kingmakers by a timely show of support to a candidate.

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Government and Law

Ever since the death of the former royal family and the founding of the nation, Ondas has been a republic. The nation is divided into regional states, and states into subordinate counties. Each county elects a representative to the state council and the state councils choose two of their number to go to Royston as federal councilors. State governors are directly elected by the populace, and the federal President is chosen by the federal council. Judicial affairs are handled at the state level by county- and state-appointed judges. During its golden age, Ondas had eleven states. Presently, only three still exist: New Haven, with its capital at Royston; Northport, with its capital at Norbury; and Granz, with its seat at Salburg. The rest were wiped out during the Great War, their surviving citizens forced east. There is considerable argument in the federal council over whether or not they should be reestablished on the same lines as before. Presently, they treat the abandoned states as the “Provisional Territory” under direct federal control. That control is notional at best. The pioneers who head into the Territory carry the customs and laws of home, and most assemble themselves into the familiar legal forms of towns, mayors, judges, and marshals, but their ability to enforce federal law beyond town limits is extremely limited. Requests sent east might earn the help of a cavalry squad to deal with persistent bandits, or a federal marshal to hunt down a particularly notorious criminal, but most towns have to solve their own problems with the resources and help that they can get. One point of particular heat is that of land claims. All land claims in the Territory are under federal jurisdiction, with adult pioneers each allocated 160 acres of land on request provided they maintain a residence on it for five years. Considering the enormous price of land back east, this prospect has pulled many half-competent aspiring farmers westward, and an almost equal number of robbers, extortionists, land thieves, and rustlers to prey on them. There are regular feuds between towns over possession of a particular patch of land, and the federal records aren’t always reliable about determining ownership. In vague situations possession often comes down to the side that marshals the fiercest pack of ruffians. The hillfolk of the Territories are a constant problem to the settlers. Most surviving clans were thrown back to their ancestral ways by the loss of Ondasi goods, and spears and arrows have replaced rifles and scatterguns. Most have inherited stories of Ondasi greed and conquest, and have no interest in reliving those tales. Even so, their chief concerns tend to be other, rival hillfolk clans that they’ve been quarreling with in the two centuries since the Ondasi were driven out. Many are willing to overlook their dislike for the easterners in exchange for firearms and help in their feuds, little believing that the Ondasi could ever grow so numerous as to threaten their clans. A few Ondasi idealists imagine a newer, more peaceful arrangement between the groups, but their voice is seldom heard among the desperate pioneers.

Religion in Ondas

Ondasi religion tends to follow ethnic lines, though locals of a given town will tend to gravitate to the majority faith. Numerous beneficial societies, lay organizations, and mutual-aid groups focus around particular religions, and belonging to at least one such group is almost a prerequisite for an active adult member of a community. The Ondasi prefer the worship of Fate and Luck, the former personified as a stern god who ordains the destined outcome of all events, and the latter as a carefree goddess who breaks all certainties for good or ill. Most worship both gods, calling on one or the other as the situation recommends. Various historical saints are said to have taught the virtues and methods by which mortals can satisfy Fate and earn both a better mortal life and a happy afterlife contemplating the ultimate perfection of all things. Industry, honesty, self-reliance, and mutual cooperation figure heavily for Fate’s followers, and Fate’s preachers often warn against neglecting these virtues. Luck, conversely, promises freedom from the dictates of Fate and forgiveness for past failings. A devotee need only be brave, daring, generous, and clever to win her favor, with the truly faithful promised an afterlife of endless satisfactions. Ill fortune is a sign of Luck’s disapproval, with the only remedy being more earnest practice of her virtues. Her priesthood are known as “Dealers”, and their churches invariably serve as gambling halls. The Marchen of Ondas prefer to revere abstracted spirits; Industry, Community, Family, and Nature are favored spirits, worshiped in communal rituals at particular sites significant to the spirit. Factories, town squares, family hearths, and places of impressive natural beauty might all qualify. Acting in ways harmful to the principles of these spirits brings misfortune, sickness, and poverty, while furthering their ends ensures good fortune in life and an afterlife of unity with their blessed ancestors. Their clergy are few, and tend to be persons associated with the principle they revere: engineers for Industry, town leaders for Community, family patriarchs or matriarchs for Family, and so on. Most rituals are simple to learn and perform, but the most charismatic and insightful of ritual leaders are often revered as holy men and women. The hillfolk gods are each specific to their clans, being the deified ancestors and culture-heroes of each group. Many retain peculiar qualities or iconography that may have to do with their ancient pre-First Age empire. Shared heroes often form the strongest bond between distant hillfolk villages. Every such community considers itself in the same clan and lineage as the other villages that worship their same ancestors. Wives and husbands are commonly taken from within the same god-clan but always from a different village whenever that is possible. Hillfolk priests are notorious for their sorcerous talents, though many say such talk is overblown. Even so, some easterners remain convinced that the western hillfolk brought about the rise of the Iron Men with their magic.

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Adventuring in Ondas Ondas does not really recognize “adventuring” as being a particular profession, largely because much of the present populace is engaged in much the same activity. Thousands of men and women venture forth each month to lay claim to land in a perilous wilderness, ready to fight off raiders and abominations in order to make their fortune. Conventional adventurers are different only in that they usually have fewer legal documents to justify their claims. Even so, there remains a considerable supply of bounty hunters, gamblers, trappers, explorers, and hired guns drifting through the western lands, ready to take on work too dangerous or too immoral for ordinary pioneers. They fall by the hundreds to the perils of their profession, but while the silver keeps flowing from newfound western wealth, their replacements will never run short.

Exploration Adventures

Adventurers are often engaged for survey work, either to be performed by a knowledgeable scholar in their group or by a government agent they are to escort. The federal government has little idea of what lies out west after two centuries of Iron Men control, and reliable maps and site reports are precious to them. Aside from government employers, private land owners back east often commission adventurers to go scout their claims, both to ensure that nothing exceptionally dangerous is lairing there and to discourage any claim jumpers from digging in. Freelance adventurers will often venture forth to “salvage” the ruins of towns and cities recorded before the Great War. The invasion of the Iron Men was so swift that many valuables were left behind in the rush to escape, and many rich refugees were killed along the way. Unfortunately, these sites are also the most likely to retain contingents of still-active Iron Men. These automatons are cruelly intelligent and wholly implacable, each one a match for two or three ordinary soldiers. Their steely officers are worse still.

Dungeon Adventures

The ancient Deeps of Ondas are few and well-concealed, evidently buried by the ancient empire that ruled here before the Colligation. Even so, some truly venerable delvings are uncovered by chance or time’s slow erosion, and can contain secrets and treasures beyond present imagining. It is also likely that they contain Iron Men. Aside from the Deeps, abandoned hillfolk villages and fortresses are also to be found in the foothills of the Pale of Leng. These villages had to be abandoned when the Iron Men commandeered them for their own inscrutable purposes, and some of those rusted soldiers might still inhabit these places. The most daring adventurers will ascend the Pale to seek out the Lengish temples that are said to crown their peaks. The treasures they might hold cannot be guessed, but their divine guardians are surely terrible to behold.

Antagonists

In a nation full of as many desperate strivers and ruthless survivors as Ondas is, an adventuring party does not need to look far to find an antagonist. Several common possibilities bear mentioning.

Bandit Boss: Demobilized soldiers sometimes find out the hard way that they make poor farmers. Without prospects or supplies in the wilderness, they often form bandit crews, often under the leadership of the cruelest and least scrupulous among them. Corrupt Politician: State and federal representatives often get their posts through a certain degree of unscrupulousness. Bribes, threats, financial pressure, and more direct violence might all be used, particularly if the community is considered unimportant by the federal government. Hillfolk Chieftain: Not every western hillfolk clan is hostile, but most detest outsiders on principle. The only people they despise more are their neighboring rivals, and sometimes the threat of Ondasi help to an enemy will be enough to spark violence. Their priests, too, sometimes demand red sacrifices for their hero-gods, and outsiders are better spent than kinsmen. Iron Man Captain: Squads of these rusted automatons still remain in the wilderness, their vital powers yet undepleted. They exist purely to destroy all non-Wier within Ondas, and their cruel cunning is directed exclusively to that end. They do not fight with robotic stupidity, but methodically and efficiently work to slaughter their foes. Ondasi Troublemaker: It’s a hard job keeping the peace between hillfolk and Ondasi on the frontier. It’s even harder when some Ondasi won’t be happy until every hillman within fifty miles is dead or gone. A community often needs to deal with these zealots before they bring down more trouble than their neighbors can handle. Robber Baron: Money has always meant much in Ondas, with every luxury and indulgence available to those who have the silver. Some merchant princes like to keep prosperity to themselves, and will go to brutal lengths to ensure that troublesome things like “unions”, “safe job conditions”, and “non-company-owned stores” don’t trouble their holdings. Sorcerous Abomination: There are terrible things in the woods and the hills, and even the hillfolk don’t know all their names. Every so often something hideous comes out of the pines, and villages that don’t find a protector against them will seldom last out the season. Many of these creatures wield dark sorceries that draw on the malevolent power of a hostile land.

77 Ondasi Names d20

Male

Female

Family

Example Adventurer Concepts Place Names

1

Andrew

Alice

Anderson

Bannack

2

Charles

Anna

Bailey

Broken Glass

3

Daniel

Carrie

Branding

Deer Grove

4

Edward

Catherine

Cantrell

Ellenburgh

5

Elijah

Clara

Fisher

Grafton

6

Frank

Cora

Grant

Grant’s Pass

7

Harold

Edith

Hayward

Grave Springs

8

Jacob

Elizabeth

Jackson

Hadleyburg

9

James

Ella

Jones

High Ridge

10

John

Elsie

Lee

Kingsfield

11

Joseph

Emily

Royall

Moreton

12

Louis

Emma

Scanlon

Morton’s Hole

13

Luther

Esther

Shipton

Oatman

14

Peter

Florence

Smith

Ochre Canyon

15

Robert

Helen

Tarrington

Railville

16

Samuel

Laura

Taylor

Redding

17

Theodore

Mary

Wilson

Silverfield

18

Thomas

Rose

Woodward

Sourwater

19

William

Ruth

Wright

Taylorville

20

Zachariah

Sarah

Young

Wreckton

Discharged soldier with no present means of support Religious dissident seeking freedom in parts west Criminal from Back East looking to avoid the law Card sharp making a living off the unwary Steamwagon railman cut loose by circumstances Gun for hire drifting from town to town Missionary reformer with a godgiven task of civilization Roaming peddler willing to dare the wilderness Grizzled prospector seeking gold in parts unknown Highly civilized Easterner on more of an adventure than they realize Hillfolk native often employed by Ondasi in need of local aid Wilderness scout accustomed to perilous ways

Example Ondasi Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

1

Ruthless bandit gang boss

Curious local hillfolk warrior

Surviving Iron Men are attacking

Hijacked steamwagon shipment

Abandoned preWar ghost town

2

Tyrannical town mayor in a lawless land

Missionary who bit off more than they could chew

Settlers and local hillfolk have a hot quarrel

Sacred relic of a nearby hillfolk clan

Hardscrabble frontier town in the wilderness

3

Religious zealot of some dark faith

Settler in a hard scrape

A cattle sickness is scouring the range

Deed to a valuable piece of land

High, narrow railway bridge

4

Bloody-minded hillfolk chieftain

Town mayor in need of hired aid

A robber baron wants local land

Artifact that can repel the Iron Men

Long-abandoned mineshaft

5

Government agent out only for himself

Soiled dove with a heart of gold

A sinister new faith is on the rise

Prototype steamwagon plans

Steep hill country canyon

6

Cruel hired gun Very ill-suited setwho sells protection tler with a rare skill from himself for these parts

Ex-soldiers are forming a warlord domain nearby

Payroll for a govRuined campsite ernment office or in the deep pine military detachment forest

7

Vile sorcerer forced Fretful state surinto hiding out west veyor

Something monstrous is prowling

Cache of direly needed supplies

Wary hillfolk fort-village

8

Amoral merchant prince bent on profit alone

Hidden loot of a long-dead bandit

Raucous cantina full of gamblers and farmers

Hillfolk chieftain in- A bank Back East clined to be friendly is foreclosing on with newcomers local land holdings

78

RUNOM Runom is a demihuman land, one where scores of humanoid kindreds dwell amid deep jungle boughs, fetid swamps, or broad grasslands. Its peoples war amongst each other as often as they trade, and alliances are made and broken with quicksilver rapidity. This turmoil is not entirely the work of the Runomians, however; the brutal demands of the Sarxian slavers to the north ensure that this tormented land never has much leisure for peace.

History

During the Logomachy of Nakad, some fifteen hundred years ago, Runom formed the southernmost province of that sinister theocracy. Unlike most of Nakad, it was almost exclusively under the control of a single priesthood, the flesh-bending acolytes of Gashaq the Progenitor. These amoral sages ruled the land from their temple-laboratories, each one claiming the rule of a particular domain and all the “lesser beings” that lived within it. Rather than burden themselves with the tedious work of subsistence, these priests utilized the secrets of their god to twist baseline human slave stock into more suitable minions. Scores of demihuman races were forged in their bleak shrines, each one fashioned to serve the needs of its progenitor-temple. Around 378 BL, the Logomachy collapsed when its Gods of Truth ran berserk, countless divine tulpas breaking free of their temples and rampaging across the land. Most disintegrated or fell into torpor soon enough, but not until almost all of the Gashaqi temples were ruined and their priesthoods slain. The few clergy that survived the disaster were torn apart by their erstwhile slaves. The kindreds of Runom had a scant few decades in which to form some crude local order before the wreckage of Nakad to the north coalesced into the new state of Sarx. The human servants of the temples had replaced the Gods of Truth with their own apotheosized rulers, and these new Red Gods were endlessly thirsty for human sacrifice. The Sarxians offered a hecatomb of their own people every year, but more were needed. Runom provided the lack. The bronze-mailed legions of Sarx marched down from the Lal hills and came ashore in the deltas of the Zapalla swamps to gather up luckless Runomian people in their coils, carrying them north to slavery and the bloody altar. The strength of the Sarxian legions and the blessings of the Red Gods overwhelmed the disorganized defenses of the Runomians and thousands were carried away. This yearly campaign for slaves and sacrifices became the defining political reality of Runom. Every year, the

Harvest comes from the north. Some kindreds resist the Sarxians, retreating from their villages and harrying the invaders as best they can, or meeting them in open battle when the odds seem endurable. Others are more cooperative, willingly guiding and aiding the humans in exchange for being spared their quota. Most simply endure it, haggling with the Sarxian commanders over how many of their young men and women are to be carried away, threatening resistance and flight if too many are required, but grudgingly bearing the loss if it is not too great. Criminals and prisoners of war go north first, and so the Runomian kindreds have ample reason to raid their own neighbors. Sarx is not blind to the dynamics of the kindreds. If Runom truly came together in joint defiance, the Sarxians would be unable to plunder them, and the altars of the Red Gods would grow weak. Its agents spend much time ensuring that no single people grows strong enough to weld the others into a united resistance. Sarx supports the weak kindreds with secret aid or lessened quotas, and brokers alliances against neighbors who might someday prove troublesome. Many Runomians know perfectly well the ultimate end of all this, but survival today for them and their loved ones seems better than freedom for the remnants of a different time. The greatest worry of Sarx are the kindreds of the southern pampa, the lords of the three great cities of Kayu, Panqui, and Relonche. These cities are too strong and populous to easily raid, and their neighbors too few to easily forge into a hostile alliance. More than once, the Sarxians have made bargains with the jungle kindreds to allow their legions passage south to attack the lords of the Nalca, wounding them before they grow too strong. The occasional naval assault from the western coast has been attempted, but the seas there are treacherous and teem with Outsider life. Currently, Runom is a patchwork of petty kingdoms and minor states, the jungle kindreds of the Machimallin divided up into more than twenty different demihuman tribes, the swamp folk of the Zapalla into a half-dozen more, and the Nalca grasslands ruled by three great cities. The lords, chiefs, elders, kings, and princes of these domains all duel with each other for preeminence and the prosperity of their own people, and all are quick to clutch at any help they can find. Sometimes that help comes from Sarxian hands, and sometimes it springs from unlikely bands of freebooters, vagabonds, and heroes.

79

Geography

Runom is a low-lying country, with much of the eastern part barely above sea level. The noisome Zapalla swamp is extremely treacherous for most land-dwellers, and teems with hostile creatures and prudently isolationist Runomian tribes. The great Machimallin is a jungle that covers the northern majority of the country, fed largely by small rivers and springs that meander under its branches. Large meadows and broad patches of plains remain as legacies from the ancient plantations of the Logomachy, some expanded by generations of labor since their fall. Most such open spaces are claimed by one kindred or another as farmland. The Huenu hill range has always been a refuge for Runomians seeking to evade the Harvest. Its jagged ridges and deep gorges make pursuit very difficult, but survival there is likewise a trial. Numerous Gashaqi temples were located in the hills during the time of the Logomachy, and their awful creations still infest them. In the south, the broad Nalca Pampa is the best agricultural land in the entire nation, damp and fertile from the Onape Maya river to the southern eaves of the Machimallin. Stands of trees and the occasional low hill break up the grasslands, but the three great cities of the south have long since thrown up agricultural villages and market towns in the safer regions of the land. Across the Onape Maya are the cursed dusts of the Choking Dunes, where few go and fewer return. Offshore, the Atlantean Main sees Sarxian naval traffic during each year’s Harvest, but few ships sail the western coast. The terrible sea-beasts there punish those who dare.

Peoples of Runom

While there are a few pockets of baseline humans in Runom, the great majority are some kind of demihuman. The kindreds below are merely the most prominent. Nahu: The catfolk of Yapai and its tributary towns. Slim, quick, and naturally given to murder. Created as “mousers” to kill the errant beasts of the temples. Hua: The huge bullfolk of Huaca, slow but mighty in strength. Created to tend farms and to eventually be eaten by their priestly masters. Sui: Stout pigmen of Chumul, broad and remarkably durable. They were experimental subjects for their creators, resilient enough to endure lengthy testing. Pichi: The diminutive ratfolk of Sotaqui, famed for their keen senses. Their creators fashioned them to gather rare materials from the jungles... no matter the danger. Manu: Scaled lizardfolk of Curico and its surrounds. They thrive in the swamps, where they were made to serve as hunters and gatherers. Guer: The swamp foxes of Viruco, light-footed and cunning. They were employed as spies and overseers for the priests, and even today are little-loved by other kins. Piren: The wolf-lords, fierce masters of Kayu. They were made as guardians for the temple lands. Choeru: Benign capybara-folk of Panqui, bred as clerks and scribes for the temples. Extremely sociable and skilled peacemakers. Lohu: The baseline humans of Relonche, heirs of a mix of escaped Logomachy slaves. A minority in Runom.

80

Demography

Sarxians estimate that there are perhaps six million Runomians spread throughout the country, with about two-thirds in the jungles and swamps of the north, and a third in the Nalca grasslands. Grasslanders have more productive soils and a greater number of villages and towns. In the northern jungle, only a relative few cities can be found, and far fewer market towns and significant communities. The vast majority of northern Runomians live in small villages based on subsistence agriculture. The Logomachy engineered its slaves to be prolific, as any surplus population would simply be eaten by the priests. Because of this, Runomian population growth rates are much higher than most baseline populations. The Sarxians take brutal advantage of this, as their annual Harvest averages 60,000 young adult Runomians every year. Most are taken from the north, though cooperative northern kindreds can sometimes provide prisoners of war seized during raids on rival kindreds.

Cities and Towns

The Runomian towns of the jungles and swamps reflect their environment, being fashioned of intricately-carved wood in the jungles, or sculpted mud and quarried stones in the swamps. The southern domains boast elaborately fortified walled cities fashioned of stone from the Black Spine mountains. Among the most important cities of Runom are those listed below. Acun: Little more than a fortified naval colony, Acun is the forward operating base for Sarx’s navy when they make their yearly Harvest. Chumul: Most populous of the northern cities. The pigmen living there favor foods that would poison a less resilient people. Curico: Most martial of the northern cities; its people are always fighting the Sarxians, especially around their colony at Acun. Huaca: A city possessing elaborately fenced and defended farmlands inherited of old. Its bull-lords resolve disputes through ritual duels. Kayu: Most powerful military of the southern kingdoms. Kayu’s wolf troopers are superbly coordinated combatants. Panqui: Greatest of Runom’s cities, the Choeru there use their skills to cultivate peace and mutual prosperity among the river cities. Relonche: The humans of this city have numerous skilled sorcerers, and are feared as having retained remnants of the Logomachy’s arts. Sotaqui: A great market for jungle loot and rare substances gathered by its people. Viruco: Surrounded by a baffling maze of dangerous flora, swamp snares, and perilous beasts. Only its Guer natives can pass safely. Yapai: A city of refugees and renegades from throughout the land. The Nahu who rule it find such outcasts useful, or amusing, or delicious.

Runomian Society

In a fundamental sense, Runomian society is a reaction to the Harvest and to the feral instincts imbued in them by their Logomachy creators. Each kindred deals with these pressures in its own way, but some traits are common. Runomian family structure is very loose. Some kindreds practice only temporary marriages, while a few others recognize no permanent pairings and take communal responsibility for any offspring. In the same vein, most Runomians are reluctant to form tight emotional bonds with others. The threat of the Harvest and the very real possibility of permanent parting makes it difficult to form these ties. Only with old age or debilitating injury can these bonds truly form, as such subjects are of no interest to Sarxian slavers. As a consequence, Runomian social ties are very pragmatic in nature. Most kindreds will deal with anyone who promises advantage, and will cut their ties just as quickly when a deal goes sour. Only in the south, where Runomian societies have had more stability, are more lasting alliances forged. The influence of the Choeru on the southern states is not to be neglected, for the capybara-folk have a natural inclination to peaceful diplomacy. Virtually every Runomian hates Sarx and all its people. Even collaborator kindreds despise them, accepting their aid and cooperating with them only to avoid a worse fate. Of course, this collaboration only earns the greater hatred of their neighbors, making them all the more dependent on their Sarxian patrons for protection. The pervading sense of fatalism among many Runomian peoples sometimes breaks out in displays of tremendous self-indulgence and hedonistic amusement. Just as often it is shown in feats of reckless valor or fearless resolution. A few credit this to their “wild blood”, while others simply wish to live brightly despite their troubles. As important and influential as their bestial blood is to the Runomian kindred, it does not manifest in the same way in every member. Some “thick-blooded” members are practically feral in their forms and appearance, while “thin-blooded” sorts can sometimes be mistaken for baseline humans. Cross-breeding between Runomian kindreds and between kindreds and baselines is possible, but the offspring always take after the mother, and are usually that much more thin-blooded for the cross. While Runomian kindreds are often stronger, swifter, or more enduring than baseline humans, some are afflicted with troubling mental traits or natural inclinations imparted by their creators. The Nahu cat-folk, for example, have a very high rate of sociopathy among their numbers, as they were created to hunt and kill things troublesome to their masters. The Sui pigmen sometimes fall into fits of blind fury that can leave them attacking anyone around them, and the Guer fox-folk have an ingrained inquisitiveness that urges them to trick and manipulate others in order to discover their secrets. Many Runomians can contain these urges or have few of them remaining in their lineage, but their presence cannot help but color their societies.

81

Government and Law

Little can be said that is universal in Runom, as each kindred rules its own territory with no consideration for other domains. Only the most powerful can effectively vassalize their neighbors, and the Sarxians are always eager to break up any such petty hegemonies before they risk a greater success. As a general rule, however, each domain is exclusive to a single kindred. Others may live there as sojourners or subject populations, but government is almost always in the hands of the dominant breed of demihuman. Outside kindred are generally treated in a civil manner, but they are expected to avoid involvement in political matters and are rarely allowed to obtain any position of great importance or wealth. Each kindred is anxious to avoid any kind of subjection to any foreign breed, and they can deal harshly with what they perceive as undue influence. Relationships between different breeds do exist, but such families are generally required to live in the domain of the mother if their children are to have good prospects. As beastfolk take after their mother, the offspring of a mixed marriage would be treated as outsiders in their father’s homeland. Those melancholy lovers who are unable to live in the mother’s home domain often end up as wandered or exiles, forever searching for a place where they and their children can be accepted as equals. Pack-derived breeds tend to have courts of nobles, elders, or warband leaders who pledge loyalty to a single leader, be it a king, queen, prince, chief, elder, marshal, or other supreme ruler. More solitary species tend to favor looser confederations of nobility or powerful elders who nominate the strongest to help resolve disputes and handle external affairs. Sometimes membership among the ruling class is qualified by elaborate codes and protocols. More often it belongs to those strong enough to take it. The defining quality of any Runomian lord is their ability to muster troops. Most domains have a small core of professional soldiers kept in direct service to the ruler, for few have the spare resources to maintain a true standing army. Instead, every able-bodied male within the domain is expected to rally to the banners when the call is given. Females are generally considered too valuable for a kindred to expend them in any battle short of a war for survival, and the Sarxians are also known to deal very harshly with tribes that threaten to deprive them of future generations of slaves. Even so, some warrior-women are determined to fight all the same. Runomian law is similar among most kindreds, though grave crimes are punished more often with exile than execution. Most Runomians are averse to killing their own kind, knowing how few of each breed there are in the world. Most kindreds also have bodies of law built up to handle outbreaks of their more feral instincts, such as the fury of the Sui or the casual murderousness of some Nahu. An outsider can sometimes be surprised at how lenient the law is to such natural excesses, with Nahu lands considering “accidental” manslaughter a crime deserving no worse than a fine.

Runomian Religion

Runom is a land poor in gods. Its people inherited none from the Logomachy, and the Red Gods of the Sarxians are nothing but sources of misery. Most kindreds have been forced to fall back on their own resources to find spiritual consolation and help. Ancestor worship is common to all kindreds. Famous kings, culture-heroes, and warriors against the Sarxians are revered in shrines and temples, their virtues and great deeds remembered in hope of their favor in the mortal realms. Their priesthoods are few, mostly consisting of heirs of the heroes charged with maintaining the temples and keeping alive their traditions. Deified animal spirits are also favored by many kindreds. Many Runomians call on the god-beast of their progenitors for help in times of trial or strength to overcome some calamity. Animal-priests strive to emulate the best qualities of their patrons and serve as exemplars to the rest of the community. The wilds of the jungle and swamp are full of grave perils, but they also provide the northern kindreds with their subsistence. In hope of placating the dangers of the wilderness, many communities come to revere local spirits in the hope of gaining their aid. These spirits can often give considerable assistance to their petitioners, though the price they demand can be more than most folk would be eager to pay. Few are those Runomians who have adopted the Red Gods of Sarx in hopes of avoiding the Harvest, but they exist in some small northern domains. Worse still are the handful of scholars of the Gods of Truth, who would worship the Logomachy’s gods for dark rewards.

82

Adventuring in Runom While the demihuman kindreds of Runom have no special love for baselines, non-Sarxians can generally pass without hindrance among the tribes. The pragmatic approach of most domains has them willing to hire outsiders to do work that might otherwise cost Runomian lives. A party that makes enemies in one domain can often flee to their neighbors without worrying about their reception, though canny Runomian lords are known for requiring “favors” in exchange for diplomatic protection.

Exploration Adventures

The vast green expanse of the Machimallin is not as well-explored as an outsider might think. The dangers of the jungle are many, and the Runomian kindreds generally stay within the ancestral boundaries of their lands, where they and their forebears were able to beat back the local perils. Some tribes are so embittered by the Harvest that they have sought hidden refuges within the deepest green, there to prosper in solitude or leave their ruins to the beasts of the jungle. The Huenu hill range is studded with numerous ancient Logomachy temples, most of them shattered by the eruption of their eidolon-gods and the rampages that followed. Most of these avatars of Gashaq have disintegrated in the centuries since, but a few still lurk in the deep hills, making monstrous abominations of unclean life and twisted humanity. Small cells of renegades, refugees, or outcasts huddle in hidden gorges, avoiding both the terrible beasts and Sarxian raiders. The Zapalla swamp is a shifting land along the riverbanks, but within the deep fens and marshes can be found ancient Logomachy ruins, along with the bones of old towns and settlements driven to ruin by the Sarxian slavers. Some still have unwelcoming inhabitants.

Dungeon Adventures

The most ancient ruins in Runom are those of the Logomachy of Nakad and their temple-laboratories to Gashaq the Progenitor. These temples were invariably filled with infernal sorceries and dark engines of creation, all fueled by an avatar-fragment of their terrible lord. All mundane labors were undertaken by Runomian slaves, who also formed the feedstock for their experimentations. Later ruins tend to date back to the golden age of Runom, before the Sarxians had made a custom of their Harvest. The work-camps of the Logomachy’s slaves had been rebuilt into fine cities, some of which incorporated stolen fragments of Logomachy magic. These cities were abandoned when it became clear that they were indefensible against the Sarxian raiders. Perhaps most disquieting of Runom’s ruins, however, are the Deeps and dens of those tribes that have failed to survive. Entire kindreds have been wiped out in places, leaving behind only their bones and their empty homes. Angry shades are not unknown in such places.

Antagonists

Runom does not lack for trouble, and some groups are more likely to give it to the PCs than others. Given that most of the groups below hate all the rest, a party can sometimes find themselves trapped in the middle of a fight they have no interest in.

Agents of Sarx: The Sarxians want the Runomians to be weak, divided, and hopeless, and they pay their agents well to make sure things never go too happily for the kindreds. Some agents hate the northerners as much as any, but the safety of enslaved relatives hinges on their successful service. Cultists of Truth: The Logomachy promised the powers of divinity to those who would master the secrets of the Gods of Truth. Some Runomians are desperate enough to perform any acts they must in order to drive back the Sarxians or ensure the survival of their kindred. If such power requires the sacrifice of countless other Runomians or the beckoning of unholy beings, then so be it. Feral Warbands: Some few Runomians are so overwhelmed by their feral instincts that they find it impossible to live within the bounds of civilization. Others merely find it profitable to prey on their neighbors. These savage warriors band together in packs ruled only by brute force and become a scourge to their more civilized kindred. Runomian Lords: No kindred survives in Runom by being soft-hearted and self-sacrificing. Even the Choeru broker deals that benefit both sides, as they have no interest in selfless generosity. Some Runomian rulers take this principle too much to heart, and become ruthless tyrants interested only in the advancement of their own people, heedless of the cost to anyone else. Sarxian Slavers: Every year the bronze-mailed legions come down from the north, and every year a fresh tribute of slaves are taken back. Some Runomian lords cannot afford to officially resist the invaders, but if some foreign adventurers should strike at the Sarxians, how could they be blamed?

83 Runomian Names d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts Place Names

1

Aliwen

Aluhe

Achao

2

Antu

Alumine

Antuco

3

Awkan

Ayelin

Bucalemu

4

Elun

Ayme

Calbuco

5

Huen

Ayun

Catirai

6

Kallfu

Collipal

Choshuenco

7

Kura

Conilla

Dollinco

8

Lef

Huilen

Guafo

9

Lichuen

Ipi

Huapi

10

Lonko

Lica

Huilo

11

Maiten

Lilen

Lacar

12

Manque

Llakolen

Limay

13

Nawel

Millarai

Llaima

14

Neyen

Pire

Maipo

15

Nuen

Rayen

Mapocho

16

Nulpi

Somoche

Puelo

17

Relmu

Suyai

Punucapa

18

Traru

Taiel

Quemchi

19

Yaco

Wenu

Ranco

20

Yerimen

Yaima

Tralcan

Last survivor of an otherwiseextinct kindred of demihumans Vengeful escapee from Sarxian slavers Missionary of some foreign god seeking followers in Runom Tribal exile who committed some great crime against their people Foreign refugee forced to take refuge in Runom Scholar seeking to know more of the Logomachy’s dark arts Aspiring unifier of the quarreling Runomian domains Avaricious treasure-seeker looking to plunder jungle ruins Sarxian deserter pretending to be from a different land Native Relenchean baseline seeking adventure amid the tribes Young hope of a weak tribe looking to help their kindred Grizzled guerilla survivor of antiSarxian bush warfare

Example Runomian Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

Ruthless Sarxian slaver

Curious young demihuman

A neighboring domain goes hostile

Sarxian payroll of silver for its spies

Home built for demihuman needs

Xenophobic Runomian chieftain

Escaped slave in need of assistance

The Sarxians are raiding exceptionally hard here

Cache of exotic and costly jungle extracts

Public building with decor glorifying its builders

3

Monstrous relic of the Logomachy

Tough guerrilla A horrible jungle fighter against Sarx beast is hunting

Tome of dark Logomachy lore

Homestead burnt out by Sarxians

4

Avaricious feral bandit lord

Wise and pragmat- A Logomachy relic ic local ruler was just unearthed

Magic item lost by Sarxian raiders

Ruins of an eradicated kindred

5

Cruel sorcerer look- Old Runomian who A feral warband is Stockpile of desing for test subjects has seen the loss of rampaging through perately-needed many they know the area resources

Sinister remains of a Logomachy temple-laboratory

6

Dark acolyte of the Gods of Truth

Foreign merchant looking for help

Sarxian agents had Cure for some dire a success here jungle plague

Sarxian transit pens for slave shipments

7

Scheming Sarxian agent

Renegade Sarxian seeking a new life

A local usurper seeks to rule here

Old token of some vital tribal pact

Hidden refuge for escaped slaves

Amorally selfish Runomian leader

Leader of a small, hard-pressed tribe

A neighboring domain is suddenly at risk of collapsing

Honored relic of Jungle camp of some ancient Runo- bandits or guerrilla mian hero fighters

1 2

8

84

SARX Sarx is a grim and powerful nation on the southern end of the continent of Agathon. Its society is ruthlessly well-ordered, all life revolving around service to the Red Gods of Sarx, deities who were once their living ancestors and now act to bless its people with prosperity and abundance. These blessings come at the price of human lives, and the red altars of Sarx are seldom dry.

History

When a final catastrophic crusade brought ruin to the Logomachy of Nakad in 378 BL, the only remaining order was to be found in the viceroys of its Word Priests, the reeves and governors of the vast temple-lands that had once supported the priests. These men and women had been entrusted with overseeing the labors and tribute of the peasantry and fending off the incursions of troublesome outsiders. While their military and financial resources were often considerable, the eldritch power of the research temples had kept them cowed and obedient. With the Word Priests dead or utterly discredited, they moved to fill the void. Their armies fought the rampaging abominations that the broken temples had left in their wake, and their granaries fed a desperate populace until the survivors could establish new farms in safer places. A few dared to strike at their neighbors for the sake of plunder or old grudges, but for the most part these viceroys were too hard-pressed by the Logomachy’s fall to afford such quarrels. Their defense of the surviving population won them popular adulation. The Gods of Truth that the Logomachy had revered were swiftly banned by the viceroys. Studying the old arts of the Word Priests was made punishable by death, assuming the surviving populace didn’t lynch such offenders first, and the wreckage of their ancient research temples was forbidden to the populace. The Gods of Truth had been too terrible for humans to endure, their wills too inscrutable and their demands too dear. Never again would the people of Sarx be permitted to serve them. Instead, the gods of Sarx were to be human gods, men and women apotheosized by their mighty deeds and the devotion of their people. By ensuring that every god of Sarx had once been a living human, they would never again be subject to the mad whims of alien deities. The viceroys who had saved the populace would become the first generation of such gods, and their power would be established with the blood of surviving Logomachian priests and believers. The inquisition that followed was exceedingly thorough, with a fifth part of the surviving populace eventually dragged to the new altars. The power these blood rituals imparted to the new lords of Sarx was impressive, and with their strength they were able to tame at least a portion of the Logomachy’s

wreckage. The greatest among them became the ruler of Sarx, the Flame of Heaven, and the other lords became his obedient ministers. Great trials were established to winnow the next generation’s leaders and allow only the most worthy to ascend to rule, while the common people were left to the work of war and farming, the only two things that mattered for their kind. The prosperity and security of the common people became the ultimate end of Sarxian government and society. Everything which advanced the common good was to be praised, and everything that wounded it was to be eliminated. Even the Flame of Heaven ruled not by divine license, but because he or she had been proven most capable of directing society to its ultimate improvement. Every governor, official, priest, and general was expendable in the public service. Sacrifice was the means by which every Sarxian served the common good. In life, they sacrificed goods and labor. In death, they offered their bodies on the altars of the Red Gods, that their divine blessings may continue to empower the nation. Those who sacrificed the most and labored the hardest were most worthy of honor and deference. Those who do not sacrifice for their people, whether Sarxian or foreigner, are worthless parasites who should be put to more beneficial uses by their betters. Sarxians have the right to the lives of foreigners because those foreigners are at best useless and at worst an active threat to humanity. Pagan service to inhuman gods and their pursuit of selfish interests can only result in horrors like the Logomachy. In order to prevent that, every nation must be made to think like Sarx and become strong through Sarx’s philosophy. While such is the nation’s hypothetical ideal, the practice tends to be different. If Runom and the Amundi kingdoms became as unified and strong as Sarx, they could fend off the raids that reap a substantial portion of Sarx’s yearly sacrificial victims. If that happened, the divine blessings that Sarx relies upon would weaken, and its people would begin to suffer grave privations and poverty. Sarx relies on the weakness of its neighbors to maintain its own prosperity, and its high officials view international Sarxism as a glorious prospect that is preferably forever on the horizon. In the centuries since, Sarx has become a stern and mighty nation, the strongest on the continent of Agathon. Its bronze-mailed armies march regularly to raid Runom and to strike deep into Amundi lands, and its farmers toil endlessly to bring forth food for each new generation. Traders, wanderers, and other outsiders have a place within its borders, but all such strangers are advised to step lightly, and to have a care not to draw the red attention of its masters.

85

Geography

Sarx is a hot land, with mild, damp winters in the north and a tropical climate south of Shotezh. While the land is traced by countless minor streams and lesser waterways, the only major river is the Naj, its upper and lower branches both issuing from the volcanic peaks of the Black Glass range. Many of these mountains are studded with delicate obsidian outcroppings, new ones sprouting like black trees every time the mountain rumbles. Much of Sarx has been cut and cleared by its people since the Logomachy fell, but two great jungles in the south have resisted human encroachment. The Nakadi province of Old Nazhal once contained their greatest temple to Nilm, god of space and time, and even now the jungle is infested with extradimensional horrors and chronal aberrations. Further south, the Shokara jungle is a remnant of Gashaqi plant-shaping that stubbornly resists any attempt to clear it. In the north, the broadleaf Fanewood covers the sites of dozens of major Nakadi temples, all strictly taboo to the Sarxians. Such forbiddance does not prevent criminals and adventurers from daring the wreckage. Greatest of all these features is the Cut, a massive fifty-mile wide and seemingly bottomless gorge carved out during the fall of Nakad. Spatial distortions at either end prevent the seas from flooding in, but only a few fallen megastructures make any sort of bridge between Amund and Sarx. Innumerable sliced-open Deeps are exposed along the Cut’s walls, waiting to be raided by the bold.

Peoples of Sarx

The typical Sarxian is tall, slim, and pale, with blond hair and jewel-hued eyes. Their extremely pallid skin is densely pigmented with a white substance that renders them largely immune to sunburn or tanning. They often decorate themselves with body paints or adornments praising the Red Gods or indicating their social role. Ostentatious jewelry or ornate clothing is appropriate during religious rituals or when carrying out official duties, but is otherwise considered gauche in public. The hot climate of Sarx encourages light clothing for most. Aside from the Sarxians, the land teems with slaves taken by raids on foreign nations. Runomians make up the bulk of this slave caste, though every Amundi nation has its representatives, and even farther-flung nations can be found in the fields, mines, and workshops of Sarx. All wear dull colors and stylized wrist shackles as a sign of their status, as it is otherwise difficult to distinguish them from the free citizens. In theory, any of these slaves could win their freedom through devoted service and obedient sacrifice. Those who do earn this privilege are few, and are methodically spread through the Sarxian nation so as to avoid any risk of coherent minority communities forming. Within a few generations, they’ve generally melted into the surrounding Sarxian population. While slaves are considered scarcely human, freedmen suffer no systemic discrimination, as only the most emphatically loyal are ever given their freedom.

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Demography

Sarx is a prosperous land, with perhaps eighteen million citizens and a million more slaves inhabiting its villages and towns. Despite adding eighty or ninety thousand slaves every year through Sarx’s constant raiding, the voracious appetites of the altars keep the slave population from growing. The citizenry could grow more freely if the sacrificial quota were loosened, but the blessings of the Red Gods are already being pushed to their limits to support the numbers they have in the prosperity to which they are accustomed. Sarx cannot grow unless it can find fresh fields to harvest for their gods.

Cities and Towns

Sarxian settlements are very orderly and regimented. No one is permitted to shift their residence without government approval, and “illicit settlements” of escaped slaves and renegades can expect summary sacrifice if they grow too large, too obvious, or too annoying to the magistrates.

Gathaw: Primarily a naval base for contesting the privateers of Yain and the Godblight, an unusual number of foreigners and renegades are found around Gathaw. Its magistrates tend to have other concerns. Kitchaw: The yearly harvest of Runomi slaves passes through Kitchaw, the city more a prison than a town. Escapees often flee into the Shokara jungle, but the ancient Nakadi abominations within ensure that few live to cross the hills southward to their homes. Lallur: Before the fall of Nakad, Lallur was the forward base for the Logomachy’s crusades into Amund. It remains a notorious hotbed of Word Cultists and hidden sorcery, held down only by inquisitors. Nazhal: Capital of Sarx, seat of the Flame of Heaven. The center of Sarxian bureaucracy; permits to do literally anything can be acquired here for the right mix of favors, cash, and cunning. Ranshez: A mining and smelting city, where the famous Sarxian bronze is forged for the county’s legions. Lighter and stronger than steel, it and many other esoteric substances are fabricated here. Some whisper that its mining-masters have retained secrets from the dark worship of Shagat-Hur. Shiyaz: The heart of Sarx’s most productive farming land. With the blessing of Medrat, yields are five times higher than elsewhere. Such bounty comes at a price; Medrat’s altars are notoriously hungry. Shotezh: Sarx’s main naval base on the Atlantean Main, Shotezh is constantly sending out patrols to deal with Atlantean privateers and less patriotic pirates. Like Gathaw, its rulers tend to be too busy with military matters to pay close attention to foreigners. Yechu: Sarx’s main trading port, ships from all over the Carcereal Sea dock here to barter for cheap and excellent Sarxian goods. The Aisite clergy run the daylight markets, and a strangely formal and regimented criminal society deals in black market goods and forbidden things.

Sarxian Society

Sarxian society is organized around the state, with every citizen understanding themselves as part of a greater whole. The state serves the Red Gods, and the Red Gods provide abundance and security for the people. The blessings of their empowered priests bring lush harvests, fruitful herds, and productive workshops. This abundance is shared widely. The average Sarxian is well-fed, well-clothed, and lives in daily comfort. State-sponsored healers ensure their health and fertility, and state-run schools see that every member of society is educated in their duties. Every Sarxian has a role in society, and those roles are respected and secure. The common people expect their officials and rulers to behave correctly and obey the common laws, and for the most part their expectations are fulfilled. This prosperity is possible only through a yearly quota of human sacrifices. Honored volunteers, criminals, incompetent officials, and losers of governmental power struggles go first, after which follow slaves, but the Sarxian people themselves make up a significant portion of the dead every year. Perhaps one in every two hundred young adults are sacrificed every year, the quotas made up by district populations and administered by the priests of the Red Gods. In years where the raiding was unsuccessful, this number increases. While the state healers greatly improve the general Sarxian fertility and infant mortality rates, the nation is already pushing the limits of its available population. It cannot sacrifice many more Sarxians each year without beginning a depopulation death spiral. While most Sarxians would much prefer to avoid such a fate, their society so honors and praises those who go willingly to the altar that many who are aged, sickly, or disgraced volunteer for the knife. In the same vein, a person selected for sacrifice may find a willing substitute to take their place, perhaps for love or perhaps for some discreetly subtle payment to their family. While commoners have a relatively low chance of being sent to the altars, that is not the case for officialdom. The higher one climbs in the bureaucratic or military ranks, the more dire the consequences of failure. Past the rank of town magistrate or regimental commander, failure in a major task is generally expiated by sacrifice. As a consequence, most senior officials are absorbed in ruthless political games to ensure they’re not left holding the responsibility for some job that’s gone wrong. Outsiders are sometimes surprised at the care Sarxians show toward human life within their nation. Murder is despised as a blasphemous theft from the gods, and officials responsible for the needless loss of commoner lives can expect a swift journey to an exceptionally painful altar. Their priests teach that nothing is so precious as a life in service to the state. Such solicitousness does not seem to match well with their casual dispatch of thousands, but the Sarxians see no contradiction in it. A life is meant to be spent in service to the people; cutting it off before it can complete its service is a crime against the nation as a whole.

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Government and Law

The absolute autocrat of Sarx is Aganu, the Flame of Heaven, the appointed viceroy of the Red Gods. His divine might makes him a near-Imperator in his personal prowess, and only a handful of Flames have been assassinated or deposed in the past fourteen centuries. He will rule until age or sickness weakens his powers, whereupon he will be sacrificed. On the death of a Flame, their heirs and other great officials of Sarx are gathered in a solemn trial. Some disavow their right of succession, while the others contend in various tests, using proxies in some and competing face-to-face in others. The winner is anointed as the new Flame. The losers and their proxies are sacrificed. Beneath the Flame are multiple ranks of priestly, secular, and military officials. Each priest belongs to the hierarchy of their particular god, while secular bureaucrats are divided up into administrative districts based around cities and market towns. Every officially-registered village, town, or city has a magistrate who serves as its head, responsible for carrying out the laws and ensuring the sacrificial quota is filled. This magistrate is served by clerks and sub-officials, with a small legion of such bureaucrats in a major city and perhaps a part-time scribe helping in a remote village. The local peace is maintained by military garrisons ranging from entire regiments stationed in major cities to a half-dozen farmer-soldiers assigned to a village. The magistrate does not have official command over these forces but is expected to cooperate with them in carrying out the directives of their superiors. This cooperation is normal, as both the magistrate and the garrison commander can expect the altar if civil unrest breaks out. All of the officials of Sarx’s government are anointed and blessed by the priests of the Red Gods. These blessings imbue them with actual divine might so long as they maintain their rank and office. At the smallest degree, a village magistrate may be able to go without sleep indefinitely. The head of a major temple might be impervious to physical harm within the temple’s precincts, and a legion commander could fight with the strength of a platoon. The Flame of Heaven bears powers on par with an Arch-Legate, and his greatest ministers wield mighty blessings as well. The common laws of Sarx are rigid and strictly administered. Permits, papers, official seals, and registered acknowledgments are needed for long-distance travel, visits to distant temples, or permission to trade on a commercial scale. The whereabouts and status of citizens are tracked closely to ensure that they don’t slip the quota. While Sarx permits its citizens to own personal property and engage in individual enterprise, everything they own is subject to uncompensated requisition by the state should it be necessary. Such sacrifice is viewed as a noble demonstration of virtue, and resisting it is taken as proof of selfish wickedness. Fundamentally, the people of Sarx are owned by the state, and the state does what it thinks best with their goods and their lives.

Sarxian Religion

The only gods permitted in Sarx are the Red Gods, their apotheosized ancestors. No new Red God has been created in a thousand years, but there remain over two dozen of these deities, most of whom are only worshiped in specific regions or at a handful of temples. Only four are revered throughout the nation. Nidas, the Scarlet King is the first among the Red Gods. He embodies law, rulership, and selfless justice. His priests serve the magistracy as judges and clerks, and his temples are centers of advanced education and the study of law. Greatest of his temples is the Hearth of the First Pyre in the capital. Slaves and foreigners are not permitted to revere him, being unworthy. Ais, the Queen of Heaven is the consort of Nidas, and holds rule over desire, fortune, wealth, and all matters of art. Merchants and artisans take her as their patron, and her temples are always magnificently ornate. Her priesthood is charged with creating beauty in every possible form. Being familiar with foreigners through their trading connections, they are the priests most likely to hire outsiders to handle some delicate matter. Her chief temple, the House of Paradise, is in Yechu. Ramas, the Righteous Spear concerns himself with all matters of war, protection, and diligent investigation. His priests march with the legions and use the magics that allow the Sarxians to take so many living prisoners. Those that remain at home serve as inquisitors and guardians for the state. They sometimes hire adventurers for rooting out evils that might cost too many clerical lives. Their head resides in Lallur, at the Tower of the Red Spear. Medrat, the Provident Mother is the most commonly-revered of the Red Gods, with a shrine in every village. She rules fertility, farming, health, and sacrifice. Her priests serve as village teachers and healers, but also oversee most of the sacrificial rites conducted by the state. Her priesthood is always drawn from farmers or the orphans of war or sacrifice. In Shiyaz, the Arch-Prelate Ulay keeps the sacred Vermillion Field where the greatest sacrifices are performed. Aside from these gods, a few amoral scholars pursue the forbidden secrets of the Word Priests and their alien Gods of Truth. Each of their ancient temples had an eidolon-fragment of their patron within that fueled their vile sorcerous experiments. Few had anything resembling human cognition, but the study of their natures and operation were key to numerous arcane advancements. Aktoth, the Empty Sky, was revered as the embodiment of entropy and universal nullification. Gashaq, the Progenitor, was a font of blind life and mutation. Nilm, the Beckoner on the Way, held the keys to space and time, and was the patron of those temples that sought the secrets of inter-Iteral summonings. Shagat-Hur, the Blood of the Mountain, was a fearsome volcanic entity of earth and structure, and by extension the patron of crafting. Additional Gods of Truth surely existed, but Ramasi inquisitors expunge any of their records they find.

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Adventuring in Sarx Sarxians think little of foreigners, and even less of adventurers. Unless they commit some serious crime, however, adventurers are not normally selected for the quotas; they often fight back, unlike Sarxians, and cost more lives than they provide. Instead, adventurers in Sarx tend to be treated as disposable tools of the state, to be hired for work too dangerous to risk losing the lives of civilized people. Some Sarxians also take advantage of their status as outsiders in society to get work done that would be impossible for someone in a more carefully-monitored social position.

Exploration Adventures

Sarx’s “civilized” areas are unusually safe for a nation in the Latter Earth, and there are seldom any real perils closer than a day’s ride from a village or town. The population’s inability to grow has calcified these boundaries, however, and the wildernesses of Sarx have even fewer of the hardscrabble villages and daring borderland keeps that other lands know. The great jungles of the south are full of Logomachy temple ruins, and equally full of Logomachy monsters. While the god-avatars that once powered each temple are usually long-vanished, hideous beasts and unearthly horrors still haunt these untamed places. Escaped slaves or renegade Sarxians who somehow find safety within such places can expect to be ignored by the magistrates unless they’ve done something so infuriating that the cost in legionary lives to capture them is deemed acceptable. The Black Glass Mountains were once the industrial center of Nakad, and ancient forge-temples still can be found in their highest regions. Taboo to Sarxians, their locations are seldom recorded, their treasures are seldom despoiled, and their exploration is seldom safe.

Dungeon Adventures

The most common ruins in Sarx are the ancient temple-laboratories of the Logomachy of Nakad. Some such temples were little more than research outposts consisting of a single shrine and a few outbuildings, while others were the size of small cities. Sarxians are forbidden from entering them, which leaves them a favorite refuge for bandits and escaped slaves... assuming those exiles are not eaten by the beasts that lurk there still. Other than the temples, numerous ancient Nakadi cities and towns were destroyed in the nation’s downfall, and have yet to be reclaimed by Sarx. In some of the remote regions, extremely ancient ruins of the Speakers of the Storm can sometimes be found, ones lost before the Speakers became the later Logomachy. The very earliest surviving ruins are those of the Tempest Horde, with a few rumored to still retain working examples of the terrible iron steeds they rode into battle. The Horde only ever built permanent structures to house their forges and thunder-priest temples, so such remains a possibility.

Antagonists

Sarx doesn’t lack for antagonists, but most of them will keep their more violent activities well away from public view. Savage fights in the wilderness or knives in a city’s hidden alleys are much easier to slide past a magistrate. Even an official who theoretically has the right to order the imprisonment or execution of a troublesome foreigner often finds it safer to handle things through informal channels, lest his rivals seize on his actions to denounce them for some irregularity.

Bandit Rebels: Some can’t endure the rigidity of Sarxian life, or might flee their destiny to let some relative go beneath the knife instead, or simply want more than their role in life would ever let them have. Escaped slaves and renegades often band together to ravage the more remote villages, taking lives that even the quota would not claim. Foreign Agents: Sarx is widely hated, and numerous rival lords and powers have agents working there. These agents find adventurers to be useful patsies and scapegoats from time to time. Sarxian Privateers: The state issues letters of marque for the taking of ships from Atlantis, Yain, or the Godblight. In practice, these “privateers” are outright pirates when it comes to foreign shipping. Any craft that promises a good haul will win their cruel attentions, with the survivors sold off into slavery. Sarxian Slavers: The military raids into Runom and the Amundi kingdoms each year produce a host of victims, and the slavers of Sarx are in charge of confining and distributing these wretches to state enterprises and private buyers. Every market town has a guild of them, and their allies are many and ruthless. Sinister Priests: The clergy of the Red Gods have substantial sway in Sarx, even if they aren’t formal members of the bureaucracy. Remote temples may get away with certain acts that would be censured under more watchful eyes, and they can employ zealous believers to handle bothersome adventurers. Troublesome Officials: Sarxian bureaucrats are constantly balanced on a knife edge, the blade growing sharper as they rise in rank. Adventurers who make trouble for such an official can expect to face consequences, often ones delivered second-hand through the official’s allies or underlings. Word Priest Cults: Every so often, some Sarxian is mad enough or amoral enough to seek out the occult secrets of the Logomachy. Escaped slaves and rebels are notorious for this, being willing to seize any tool to strike back against the Sarxian state. Unfortunately, the arts of the Word Priests tend to require atrocities that are worse than what they fled.

89 Sarxian Names d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts

Surname

Place

1

Adhang

Ajma

Anzhu

Azwi

2

Ashaj

Birayfta

Atrakbib

Bawsa

3

Ashkaz

Chiela

Benbu

Bawu

4

Asvag

Emi

Dakmev

Baynum

5

Athloig

Ethla

Gidtuthra

Famudya

6

Aznod

Iksha

Gunfachlu

Gamay

7

Dadroud

Kara

Higsu

Kathaw

8

Hesh

Kashmay

Huvdur

Kichla

9

Irgek

Kiecha

Igzu

Leksazh

10

Jirek

Kita

Jadzhu

Lushav

11

Jivang

Lapna

Kangmaw

Nazwa

12

Kadib

Lobna

Lataf

Ranulu

13

Nouth

Mavna

Latlu

Rengta

14

Paku

Mipa

Napru

Shagshez

15

Razvak

Nouma

Neng

Shoshtu

16

Rikak

Rukshi

Niemtal

Sistezh

17

Yadrum

Sayshma

Paktow

Ungku

18

Yainnaz

Uthloi

Ushtim

Vadhal

19

Yudab

Zhildhi

Vuzkay

Xu

20

Zham

Zhinzhu

Yagshumul

Yayi

Escaped slave going under a false identity Failed clerk trying to stay ahead of the sacrificial knife Secretly heretical priest looking to change Sarx’s culture Temple-educated sorcerer eager for adventure Peasant who lost their spouse to the altar Expelled legionary looking for a new line of work Ambitious merchant in need of starting capital Ruin-robber versed in plundering forbidden Nakadi ruins Canny jungle scout who knows the dangers of the wilds Erudite Sarxian scholar on a quest for knowledge Shipless sailor who was cast up on Sarx’s unwelcoming shores Slave accidentally registered as a free citizen

Example Sarxian Tag Elements d8

Complications

Things

Bloodlessly cruel magistrate

Winsome but ill-treated slave

An important NPC was just picked for sacrifice

Hoard of valuable Sarxian trade goods

Farm with incredibly productive lands and herds

Sacrifice-crazed priest

Idealistic Sarxian reformer

A local slave uprising occurs

Forbidden book of Nakadi lore

Hidden camp of escaped slaves

Renegade with no respect for life

Secret agent of a rival country

The high officials are making hard demands

Bribe meant to get a substitute sacrifice

Clean, prosperous Sarxian city devoid of poverty

Sorcerer dabbling in the Word Cult

Peasant just trying to get by

Critical paperwork has been lost

Key to a sealed temple-lab

Wharf with caged Runomians

Depraved Sarxian official

Sympathetic but harried official

Local officials are locked in a lethal intrigue

Temple relic needed to consecrate local officials

Ancient Nakadi temple ruins full of alien life

6

Smooth crime boss with connections

Foreigner who’s gone native here

Local officials made dire mistakes

List of heretics and enemy agents

Bustling city bureaucratic office

7

Paranoid Ramasi inquisitor

Chief of an escaped slave camp

A Word Cultist has caused a disaster

Exotic jungle extract

Constantly-active sacrificial altar

Rich merchant without scruples

Eager scholar look- Agents of an enemy Permit to do someing for old lore nation have made thing that’s othera move here wise very illegal

1 2 3 4 5

8

Enemies

Friends

Places

Shady roadside inn where renegades congregate

90

SATH INGIT A people obsessed with strength, the clans of Sath Ingit are famed for the prowess of their savage warbeasts and the skill of their arcane fleshmolders. The arts of the Sathans are said to be able to give a petitioner any grace they could desire... though often at a price that only a madman would pay.

History

Records are few and indistinct of the final years of the Tempest Horde and their ancient foes, the Intoners. Legend claims that the horde finally breached the bulwark of the Carven Peaks by riding the “thunder road”, unleashing an unstoppable host of iron beasts on their age-old enemies. When the invasion finally reached the sea, the Intoners were shattered, half driven north into what later became Vitrum and the Hyperborean lands, and half forced south into what later became the Logomachy of Nakad. The southern remnants were swiftly conquered by the Horde, and the arts of the storm-priests mingled with Intoner lore to give birth to the Speakers of the Storm. Northward, the Intoner survivors held the line at the Leucris River, while further north the choirs most weary of the war established the colony-cities of the Remnant Chord in Hyperborea. Between the two, the Tempest Horde held the plains that were to become Sath Ingit. With no easily-met enemies to test them, the Horde swiftly collapsed into savage infighting. Losses among the storm-priests and their sacred foundries were so great that the iron mounts of the Horde could no longer be produced, and the nomadic traditions of their people were threatened with extinction. Against this threat, a sect of surviving priests mingled forbidden secrets of life and death stolen from the Pale Empire with their arts of forging and molding. If they could no longer force lightning and iron into their service, flesh and bone would have to suffice. The “Red Lore” these priests passed down soon spread throughout the surviving clans, each one shaping not only the wild beasts of the steppes, but also their own clan members in pursuit of ultimate hegemony. Many of these experiments were catastrophic failures, and others granted their gifts at too dear a price. Even so, many came at a cost their chieftains were willing to bear. Now the sixteen Great Clans contend among themselves, the greatest of their khans striving to be recognized as Khagan of all the clans. Such a hegemon rises only once a generation, but while they ride no man’s life is safe in the lands between the crown of Hyperborea and the heel of the Godblight. In the centuries since Sath Ingit came to be, the clans have held to their ancient traditions. Strength, loyalty, and freedom are the only virtues they have ever cared to name, and the few cities they raise have never been much more than gathering-places for the clans.

Geography

Sath Ingit is a steppe land, long miles of tall grasses from the foothills of the Carven Peaks to the Moebian Sea. Thin traces of forest linger in the hills, while the sinister green of the Verdancy is constantly pushing over the northern border. Sathan warriors must regularly take fire and axe to it to keep it from claiming more land, though it makes for ample timber for the clans. There are no major rivers in Sath Ingit. The mountain streams sink away into the dry plains, and only occasional springs, pools, and creeks dot the land. The clans mark their territory by possession of these watering-places for their herds, and wars are fought over muddy ditches and silty streams. The climate is warm and dry, with snow unheard-of below the higher elevations and rains coming seldom. The soil grows little but grass, and farming occupies only a few slaves near the larger waterways. The steppe grasses feed great herds of fleshbeasts, many terribly human in their appearance.

People of Sath Ingit

Sathans, both men and women, average a foot taller than their Vitrumite neighbors, with some giants among them reaching eight feet in height. Coloring of skin, hair, and eyes tends to vary wildly, each clan favoring a different combination. Hereditary birthmarks often show ancestral affiliations. Ambitious Sathans sometimes seek out the favor of the flesh-priests in their camps, trading riches and services in exchange for an improved body. These improvements always come at a cost, often mental in nature. Some such “blessed” are left half-moronic, while others are touched with terrible madness or unclean cravings. Aside from the Sathans, the raiding habits of the clans have led to the presence of many slaves from Vitrum, the Godblight, and Yain. A slave who shows mettle enough to ride with the clan can hope for adoption into its ranks. Those without such prowess are treated little better than cattle. Most disturbingly, some of them are cattle. It’s not unknown for flesh-priests to transform prisoners and criminals into Blighted half-men or worse, making old enemies into new tools for their victorious conquerors. Sometimes these alterations can be reversed, but many poor wretches are permanently born into their state.

Demography

Vitrumite scholars hazard to guess that two million Sathans can be found between the Leucris and the Yandol, though their nomadic habits make it impossible to be certain. The number of slaves is supposed to be little more than a tenth of that, most of their labor reserved for such degrading work as farming or menial toil.

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Cities and Towns

Sathans do not have towns as their neighbors do, instead reserving certain sacred sites as places for meeting, trading, and marriage-making. These “camps” average one every fifty miles or so, and are occupied year-round only by the fleshmolder clergy, their acolytes, and their slaves. Aside from these camps, however, there are six great fortress-cities raised on the ruins of massive Intoner towers, each one ruled by a khan of the sixteen Great Clans. These cities serve as repositories for the Red Lore and sources of prestige, even if most of them are almost empty of present-day inhabitants. Angat: A bulwark against the Verdancy, Angat is also the source of much of Sath Ingit’s timber. Clan Viper’s hauling-beasts carry great loads of it throughout the steppe. Ingitok: The nominal “capital” of Sath Ingit, the Bleeding Forge within is opened by Clan Lion only to the one recognized as Khagan by all the Great Clans. Its blessing is said to make near-gods of men. Maktik: Famed for its breeding of sea-beasts, the terrible oceanic predators that Clan Crab rides are a scourge to trade all along the coast. Some are as big as a Sarxian galleon. Sahanat: Golden Sahanat’s Clan Hawk keeps a deep lore on the shaping of human bodies and minds. Its warbeasts are all fashioned of clans that fell afoul of Sathan custom, and the wretched things fight with an almost human cunning. Yantok: The Great Bridge of Yantok is guarded well by Clan Coyote, and forms the leaping-off point for raids into the Godblight and Yain. The latter would dearly like to destroy it, but stretching that far would leave the small nation imperiled by the mad dangers of the Godblight.

Sathan Society

Sathan culture recognizes only three virtues worth praising: strength, loyalty, and freedom. Compassion, honesty, industry, or generosity are worthwhile only in the context of increasing one’s own strength, aiding a sworn ally, or expressing one’s own personal desires. A Sathan is expected to seek strength. Physical strength is merely the most fundamental form of this; cunning, wisdom, and skill are all recognized as worthy forms of strength, and while a weakling or crippled Sathan will never gain great honor, they can at least get tolerable respect through some useful capability. The most ambitious Sathans undertake fleshmolding to increase their power, despite the grim cost.

92 A Sathan’s first loyalty is to their clan, the second to their immediate blood kindred, and third to those allies and companions they have sworn friendship with. Betraying any of these faiths is a heinous sin, though it happens more often than any Sathan would like to admit. Those who betray their own can expect to be cast out of the clan, to roam friendless and unprotected. Sathans are also expected to do as they wish, seeking their own goals and ambitions without regard for the cost. A true Sathan revels in their desires, using strength and cunning to take what they want from the world and share the good they get with their kindred. If these desires come at the cost of strangers, then so be it; if they are not strong enough to prevent it, they deserve it. Strength is the ultimate justification in Sathan society. Anything one is strong enough to do, one has the right to do. To kill one’s enemies, to plunder their goods, to seize their lands and herds... these are only natural pastimes for a respectable rider. And if the enemy should kill them in turn, then it was their fault for being too weak or too foolish to prevent it. A wise Sathan forms alliances with worthy others, to share strength and improve their mutual ability to obtain their own desires.

Government and Law

The sixteen Great Clans each number perhaps fifty thousand Sathans, and between them their khans effectively rule the steppe. There are scores of lesser clans, each petty khan swearing friendship with a patron among the great, and changing that fealty often enough when an old friend dies and a new one seems more profitable. Each clan chooses its khan from among the strongest of its septs, While trial by combat among the candidates is not unknown, most clans prefer less costly tests. The khan rules until they step down or are killed; in the latter case, the sept elders then decide whether the regicide was an act of loyalty to the clan or a base betrayal. Most assassins take care to ensure their justification is acceptable to the elders. Beneath the khan are the kha-khans that lead each sept’s warbands and the clan’s “great sage” who leads and teaches its flesh-priests. The molders are responsible for the maintenance of the clan’s bloodlines and the health of its herds; not even the khan may gainsay their forbiddance of particular marriages, and they have the right to decree exposure for any weak or crippled child. The laws of Sath Ingit are the laws of whatever clan lays claim to a particular city or stretch of steppe, which is to say that they are very few. It is not actually “illegal” to kill strangers, plunder their goods, or destroy their herds. However, it is sure to win the wrath of their kinsmen, which tends to be a fatal prospect for anyone who doesn’t have the protection of a clan of like power. The clans are constantly raiding and contending with one another when not attending their sacred camp meetings, and it is only the terrible strength of a Khagan that can forge them into a single coherent weapon against their weakling neighbors.

Sathan Religion

Sathans have little use for foreign gods. Their deities are legendary khans, ancient heroes who are called upon to lend their strength to a warrior or behold their mighty deeds. The strongest among the Sathans may hope to ride with them in the afterlife, while weaklings and other peoples will serve only as their herds and their slaves. Flesh-priests are versed in the rites to propitiate these gods, most of which require herd-sacrifices or the lives of enemies. Among the ancestral deities, several are particularly popular. Angha Ironhoof is a favored patron of Sathan women, a Khagan famed for dozens of acts of heroic will and irresistible might. She trampled three Vitrumite legions into the dust before enslaving their camp followers and forging them into her personal praetorian guard. Limbs-Like-Water, a great sage of the now-vanished Scorpion clan, is honored as a font of fleshmolding lore and a deity who can grant awesome occult secrets to a petitioner who offers him sufficient flesh and blood. Namad the Breaker is a fearsome figure in Sathan lore, a Khagan who led the clans to the walls of Vitrum’s capital itself. His strength was the strength of something alien and terrible, however, and there before the walls he was taken as his master’s price. Even so, Sathans in desperate need will call out to him for intercession, accepting his help despite the awful price that always comes with it. Smiling Ran, the joyous Khagan who never wept a single tear or breathed a single sigh. His tent was carpeted in the skins of Yainish witchpriests, he drank from the skull of a god-eidolon, and every wish he ever had was gratified. Sathans pray to him for luck, happiness, and the fulfillment of their heartfelt desires.

Adventuring in Sath Ingit

A sufficiently daring band of adventurers can make quick expeditions into Sath Ingit to plunder old Intoner ruins or investigate Pale Empire leavings in the foothills of the Carven Peaks, but any lengthy stay in the land is going to require the good offices of some Sathan clan. If the clan can be persuaded that the adventurers are worth more as allies than as sources of plunder, a provisional pledge of friendship can win support and freedom to roam the clan’s territory. Of course, such friendship comes at a price, and adventurers might find themselves “asked” to participate in raids or go on delicate missions in the interests of the clan. Those who refuse might find themselves interlopers instead of friends. Sathans who lose the favor of their clans often find it necessary to ride far to escape their retribution. These exiles and renegades often become adventurers in distant lands, though few still retain the services of the fearsome war-mounts of their lost kinsmen.

93 Sathan Names d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts Clan

Camp

1

Agrad

Ashida

Antelope

Ashudmin

2

Bolg

Barra

Bear*

Bintok

3

Borr

Dalina

Boar

Burgat

4

Gahad

Fansha

Bonewalker

Fanavut

5

Gorot

Ganima

Courser

Gedim

6

Grim

Halana

Coyote*

Goromatin

7

Gunat

Inga

Crab*

Hagelun

8

Imbar

Kida

Drake

Ilistok

9

Jozad

Likana

Falcon*

Juvak

10

Kamad

Lota

Ghoul

Koregat

11

Karom

Pagra

Gull

Koreshin

12

Laruk

Poroda

Hawk*

Kroganat

13

Lugaf

Riga

Horse

Lakmun

14

Prok

Sibaya

Ibex*

Lurumok

15

Sabat

Sumara

Lion*

Mashud

16

Shom

Tamu

Owl*

Nibanat

17

Togar

Toba

Rat*

Omorat

18

Ulvak

Vani

Shark

Prohek

19

Vulot

Yama

Sunbird

Uregal

20

Yadrok

Zami

Viper*

Vadunmat

Exiled Sathan framed for treachery someone else committed Sathan reformer who needs power to convince their brethren Beast-obsessed wanderer forever seeking newer, stranger creatures Aspiring tribal leader seeking to learn more of the outer world Escaped slave with more than a few Sathan habits remaining Last survivor of a broken Sathan clan Escaped Sathan slave fled from their Vitrumite master Defrocked flesh-priest banished for some esoteric heresy Low-status Sathan seeking redemption through great deeds Herder versed in the many strange cattle the Sathans keep Beast-healer wise in the ways of mending feral flesh Tribal diplomat skilled in smoothing over quarrels and grudges

* This clan is counted a Great Clan

Example Sathan Tag Elements d8

Enemies

1

Bloodthirsty Khagan aspirant

2

Friends Good-natured Sathan warrior

Complications

Things

Places

The nearest water has dried up

A magnificent warbeast stud

Ornate tent of a tribal elder

Traitorous outcast Beastminder with a seeking vengeance sickly charge

Wild war-beasts are stampeding

Loot taken from a raid into Vitrum

Sun-beaten steppe of endless grass

3

Cruel flesh-priest seeking materials

Healing-minded priest of the flesh

The fleshpriests demand a sacrifice

Elixir of lasting Well-guarded body augmentation drylands spring

4

Maddened former candidate for flesh-augmentation

Wise elder with a prudent sense of forbearance

A leader is growing Patrol schedule mad after receiving for a vulnerable flesh-augmentation Vitrumite border

Ancient Intoner tower used as a fleshpriest shrine

5

Vitrumite raider seeking universal slaughter

Green stripling needing help to prove their ability

The Vitrumites are launching a raid of reprisal nearby

Revered relic of a famous Khagan’s great victory

Corral full of strange and terrible herd beasts

6

Hideously clever war-beast run amok

Slave-turned-warrior through their own great ability

A rival clan has recently rustled a large herd

Egg of a great and mysterious beast of war

Raucous celebration ground after a successful raid

7

Affably sociopathic barbarian warlord

Slave escaped from a nearby clan

Ill omens have depressed the clan

Recovered relic of a Vitrumite general

Bone-strewn massacre site

8

Favored slave turned kingmaker

Sathan yearning for A terrible new a new kind of life beast was birthed

Blade of a famous fallen Sathan hero

Burnt remains of a ruined clan camp

94

THE SCARLET PRINCES Four dynasties worth of bitterness and resentment are piled on the lands of the Scarlet Princes. Every lord within its borders is the heir of some ancient indignity, an exile-prince cast out of some imperial house that no longer exists. Each would like dearly to correct that injustice, and every season brings new schemes and new wars to further the ends of these would-be hegemons.

History

By the time the Second Dynasty arose in Gyarus, its divine emperors were troubled by an excess of martial nobility. The First Dynasty’s focus on military might had led to a surfeit of highly contentious warrior-princes, and it was only through several centuries of methodical purges and temple-backed wars that the losers were finally defanged. As these nobles were the heirs of former emperors, and as the destruction of their family lineage was a sin too grave to contemplate, these princes were exiled to sinecures in the western reaches of the empire, beyond the Zinju river. Many were dispatched to petty states in what eventually became first Javair and then the Choking Dunes, while others were left to dwell closer to the Dynastic heartlands. None were allowed more than a few dozen leagues of land, and all were kept under watchful oversight by imperial officials. As the dynasties waxed and waned, these western lands became the dumping-grounds for political losers and conquered royalty of every variety. Even the broken kings of distant lands were sent there with colonies of their original subjects, the better to keep them out of the way. There were inevitable insurrections and uprisings but there were so many petty lords so often at each other’s throats that none were ever able to marshal the alliances they would have needed to overcome their imperial jailers. Yet there was always a cycle to the Scarlet Princes. When the empire was strong, its lords were scattered and obedient, forced into submission by imperial armies. When a dynasty began to sicken, however, the lords would start to fight amongst themselves, vying to become the Hegemon over all their brethren. When the dynasty fell at last, there would be nothing to prevent these princely rulers from surging east to seize the throne. None ever succeeded, but there were always contenders. Now the cycle has gone awry. There is a new dynasty on the throne, and the Scarlet Princes should be growing quiet now. Yet the Fifth Dynasty does not have the strength of its predecessors, and more and more of the western principalities are being drawn together under contending lords. There is a grave risk of a new Hegemon arising, and the Fifth Dynasty does not have the resources to crush them by force. Many think that subtler means will be required if the empire is to be spared a new and terrible convulsion.

Geography

The northern states of Zin, Ru, and Taimen are warm year-round, with humid weather east of the Gates of Dusk and dry dune-winds to the west. The further south one goes, the more temperate the weather, with the Inner Frontier knowing four distinct seasons and considerable snow in winter. The land has no great rivers, but many small ones flowing from the Gates of Dusk. Ru, Wen, and Cho are the driest of the princely states, each one dominated by fertile grasslands that fade off into the mutagenic dust of the Choking Dunes. Border outposts keep watch for monsters that come from the north. The Gates of Dusk are the most significant geographical features of the region, being low, ragged mountains and jagged hills cast up by some ancient calamity. Numerous caverns and upthrust structures lead down into a black maze of Deeps and passages teeming with terrible creatures. Tunnel-roads are supposed to exist from the Gates all the way to the Dynastic capital, but few dare seek such ways.

People of the Principalities

The inhabitants of the Scarlet Princes are Dynasts in the main, most jealously aware of their exalted lineage and their venerable imperial forebears... even if such descent is more legend than provable fact. People commonly identify with their extended clan first, then their home state, and then their lord. Few, if any, have any loyalty to the idea of the Scarlet Princes as a whole. The Inner Frontier is an exception to this uniformity. Non-Dynastic kings and their people were exiled there, and so the inhabitants often have drastically different cultures and appearances than their Dynastic neighbors. They serve as mercenaries often enough that they draw no special remark in the northern cities.

Demographics

Most scholars would estimate the population of the principalities at something around eight million people. Taimen and Wei are the most populous of the states, while Lan struggles with limited farmland and regular incursions from mountain beasts. No one is entirely certain how many foreigners inhabit the Inner Frontier, as those peoples tend to avoid dealing with the Dynastic states save as mercenaries for their warring lords. The princely states vie constantly for control over towns and population centers, the inhabitants a valuable resource for their fields and armies. Natives of the states are all but trapped, for as heirs of exiles they are not permitted to cross the Zinju river back into Dynastic lands. With the Shangu mountains impassible, the Choking Dunes a fatal waste, and ship passage from the western coast beyond their means, they can do little but stay.

95

States of the Scarlet Princes

There have been hundreds of states established among the Scarlet Princes since it was first made a place of exile. The vast majority last for a century or two before being dragged under by greedy rivals or their own internal strife. The present eight states are merely the latest survivors. Cho: The breadbasket of the eight states, Cho’s rich sorghum fields feed multitudes. Its Marquis Ai seeks hegemony by playing weak against strong, selling his crops cheaply to the weak states to support them in their resistance. In time, he plans to swoop down on any who remain. Lan: Gateway to the western states, Lan is constantly harried by its neighbors. Its young Duchess Rin is desperate for allies to hold off the destruction of her state. Ru: Famed for its traditional learning and venerable schools, the scholars of Ru are considerable sorcerers. Lacking any other notable resource, its Prince Wu seeks magical artifacts to smooth his path to hegemony. Taimen: With Yantu the only approved trade city for merchants from the Fifth Dynasty, Taimen is the richest of the states, but also the one most tightly bound by Dynast rules. Its Duke Meng labors to bribe or suborn his Dynast minders into aiding his ambitions.

Wei: This state’s Marquise Lu has only a large population as a considerable resource. She is averse to leaguing with the unpredictable foreigners of the Inner Frontier, but many ships have gone south to Tseb Hwii of late, and rumors persist of certain unrighteous bargains being struck with those strange folk. Wen: The grasping Duke Chu of Wen sweats over the perils of resting between Ru’s unpredictable sorceries and Cho’s well-fed army. He seeks control of Lan and its overland route to Taimen, bullying its ruler with deniable raids and threats of war. Zin: Marquis Lao has much to worry over with the constant threat of incursions from the Anak Wastes to the north. Yet he seeks to conduct illegal trade with merchants brave enough to venture through the wastes in order to bypass the Dynastic river guard. Precious gems, forbidden drugs, and rare extracts are peddled through this black market. The Inner Frontier: The customs and habits of the several petty kingdoms of the Inner Frontier are largely a mystery to the Dynasts around them. Their land is unattractive, so close to the dangerous Shangu mountains, and their cultures are largely incompatible with Dynastic mores. Warriors and sorcerers who can be spared from their regular internal squabbles often find service in the armies of princely states, and some who are more adept at fitting in can even hope for generalships.

96

Society in the Principalities

While the subjects of the Scarlet Princes share many similarities with the culture of the Fifth Dynasty, the inhabitants of this land are famed for their intensely mercenary nature. From peasant to prince, every man, woman, and child in the principalities is keenly aware of their own best interests and inclined to follow them wherever they may lead. Loyalty to a nation is minimal at best. Righteous ministers and upright generals place their faith in specific rulers, and if that ruler dies, his successor cannot assume that their loyalty will transfer. The common folk have only a nominal interest in whichever prince might be ruling them, and if they fight in his armies and pay his taxes it is only because the alternative is worse. Some of the more remote villages are not even aware of what country they are theoretically part of. While princes and officials lament this state of affairs, they have also come to expect it. A capable warrior or skilled scholar might pass from one lord to another as their opportunities allow, and few rulers would hesitate to hire talent where they can get it. This path to wealth and power attract many in the principalities, and great deeds are dared to win splendid posts.

Government and Law

Rule in the principalities is a stripped-down and simplified version of the ancient First Dynasty bureaucracy. Every prince rules as an absolute monarch, served by an often-changed prime minister who oversees separate bureaus charged with military affairs, agriculture, rituals, law enforcement, and diplomacy. The chief ministers of each have lesser-ranking officials to carry out their instructions. Many of these officials are “wandering scholars”, intellectual freelancers who go from state to state offering their wisdom and political theory to the ruler. The greatest win position as teachers to the prince, while lesser lights can hope for a decent stipend. Those who give bad advice are advised to keep a fast chariot close to hand. Unlike the Fifth Dynasty, however, the individual rule of towns and villages is not in the hands of bureaucratic officials. Instead, each village or town is the personal fief of a trusted noble, who can keep the lion’s share of its tax burden for their personal use. Control of these villages shifts with the lord’s whim, however, and favorites who fail to stay favored can find their possessions swiftly melting away. More than a few have chosen to cast their lot with the lord of a bordering neighbor rather than submit to this loss. The peasants are rarely consulted. Law enforcement is conducted at a village level, with the local fief-holder responsible for maintaining order and administering the law to commoners. Crimes by the nobility and officials are judged by the bureau of law, with severe or sensitive cases put before the prince himself. Minor matters are generally handled by village elders, as any encounter with the fief-holder’s justice is apt to be painfully expensive for the village.

Religion in the Principalities

The nobles and elite of the Scarlet Princes are a godless lot in the main. They all pay meticulous care to the rites of ancestor worship and the seasonal rituals in propitiation of Heaven, but only a peasant bumpkin imagines that there are personal, individual deities that have any interest in their affairs. Heaven is just, but impassive; Earth is giving, but indifferent. Virtuous and enlightened conduct is conducive to prosperity and success, but that is due to the natural processes of Heaven and Earth and not the personalized will of a deity. To the common folk, the world is full of deities. Their ancestors reach up to give help to their heirs, Heaven’s anger punishes the wicked, and every village and town has its god of walls and ditches to oversee the prosperity of those who dwell within. Soldiers wear amulets dedicated to divine generals, farmers conduct forbidden rituals to win abundance for their crops, and every town has a dozen or more shrines and temples to faiths that have been extinct elsewhere since the Second Dynasty. The gentry largely leave the peasants to their errors, though the most extreme and potentially dangerous faiths are driven into the wilderness by the lord’s men. There they sometimes find other powers to wield and give those who drove them out cause to rue their act.

Adventuring in the Principalities

Adventurers among the Scarlet Princes tend to fall into three main classifications as far as the locals are concerned, and outsiders who gain renown among them are apt to find themselves pigeon-holed into one of these categories whether they like it or not. Assassins are of a long and venerable lineage, being warriors and rogues skilled in the selective murder of persons troublesome to a local noble. Enemy generals, rival lords, troublesome local grandees, and even bothersome clan heads can all be safely removed by the use of a competent assassin. Those who succeed can expect rich rewards, while those who are caught by their targets can expect a slow and terrible death. It is a disgraceful role, of course, but a very well-paid one. Knights are warriors of exceptional skill on the battlefield, ones who can be trusted to lead troops to deeds of glory in the service of their lord. While personal prowess is important to every knight, their true value is in their leadership and military acumen. The best are elevated to generalships and given scores of villages as their personal fiefs. The less gifted are expected not to return alive from the field, but just as often decamp for some other lord instead. Wandering scholars are venerated teachers and sages, men and women possessed of deep insight into rulership and governance. Their profound wisdom is guaranteed to unravel mysteries, sort out diplomatic difficulties, and correct corrupt branches of the bureaucracy. Possession of the right teacher is considered a necessity for a would-be Hegemon, so the best of them are courted intensely by lords eager to expand their rule.

97 Names in the Principalities d20

Clan Name

Example Adventurer Concepts

Family Name

Given Name

Places

1

Ai

Chin

Ba

Baoshan

2

An

Chu

Bai

Chianhu

3

Chang

Dai

Diao

Chingmu

4

Cheng

De

Du

Dali

5

Chow

Fei

Feng

Dashu

6

Kao

Hou

Guai

Fenghuang

7

Hsuan

Hsi

Hong

Hsidi

8

Hu

Huai

Kan

Huangyao

9

Hui

Kong

Lai

Lijian

10

Jing

Min

Li

Lijiang

11

Kwong

Mo

Mung

Luchi

12

Lu

Mu

Nan

Pingle

13

Ming

Ren

Ning

Sanjian

14

Ping

Rui

Pin

Sheshian

15

Ru

Shun

Pui

Tongli

16

Shang

Su

Sheng

Tunshi

17

Wan

Tai

Shi

Wuchen

18

Wang

Yang

Tsao

Wuwan

19

Wen

Ze

Tsong

Yongchang

20

Wu

Zong

Ying

Yongding

Peripatetic scholar-counselor for lordly employers Last scion of a decayed noble family Peasant forced to flee corvee labor exactions Soldier who deserted the army of a failing lord Wandering artisan keeping one step ahead of tax collectors Scholar seeking out lost histories and useful family records Assassin cut loose from employment by a lord Merchant forced on the road by a lord’s seizure of their business Rebel against a lord who may have already been deposed Apolitical backwoods peasant trying to avoid official notice Aspiring knight seeking glory and a splendid lord to serve Surplus heir of a minor noble house forced to seek their fortune-

Male names are Clan Family-Given, such as Kao Chuning Female names are Clan Given-Family, such as Ping Tsaofei

Example Scarlet Prince Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

1

Sinister counselor to a careless lord

Cheerfully optimistic scholar

A former “friend” just declared war

Ancient relic of the First Dynasty

Burnt-down remains of a village

2

Corrupt local official

Grizzled old village headman

The borders have been sealed

Proof of a noble’s legitimate lineage

Bright-painted wooden palace

3

Deposed noble turned bandit chief

Local lord in dire need of help

A poor counselor is fleeing for his life

Book of peerless military stratagems

Ritual mound for public ceremonies

4

Zealot priest of a vile ancient god

Diplomat trying to forge local peace

An assassin just struck nearby

Tax payment wrung High city walls with from the locals many guards

5

Notorious assassin doing personal work

Sage of some venerable old school of thought

The lord is seizing the goods of local merchants

Stolen food supplies or other vital goods

Hardscrabble village of the desperately poor

6

Charismatic demagogue with dark intentions

Earnestly appealing young heir to a contested state

A lord has been violently deposed by their sibling

Stock of valuable weapons, horses, or military gear

Ancient family temple full of name-tablets

7

Sage with infernal sorcerous powers

Peasant refugee from war’s ruin

Soldiers have ruined the fields

Ritual jade discs of a noble family

Garrison fort full of activity

8

Occult experimenter with human life

Grubby commoner seeking a route up

A plague follows after an army

Secret text of mysti- Austere school for cal lore would-be scholars

98

SHINBU ANAK Since the first days of Carce and the Grand Harmony’s fall, the Blighted of Shinbu Anak have been a plague on their human neighbors. The reckless sorceries of their Outsider creators have made them stronger, smarter, and more cohesive than their brethren in the southern wastes, much to the eventual grief of those who made them.

History

When the Outsiders of the Grand Harmony were forced to abandon the great island of Carce and retreat to the mainland, their bitterness was expressed in the legions of monstrous Anak they forged to reclaim their wayward slaves. After futile centuries of war, however, this hope faded, and their Anak warriors were turned on each other in a struggle for rule over what remained of their empire. Their masters pushed numerous ill-tested modifications and sorcerous imbuements on their war-slaves, warping them and changing them to better bring down their rivals. Eventually, to fight other Outsiders effectively it was necessary to degrade the psychic shackles that prevented them from attacking their own creators. The consequences were entirely predictable, and within a few more centuries their pet legions rose up and slaughtered them. With equal predictability, the victorious Anak did not cease the terrible experiments on their brethren, but seized the tools and the Outsider artificers for their own use. To the south, the Anak who would become the Aristoi Principalities butchered all their Outsider prisoners, relying only on their own sorcerers to enact the rites and oversee the experiments. Their progress was slow, but the vision of their tribal leaders eventually gave birth to a species of Anak with greatly lessened Hate and vastly improved cohesion. Their heirs broke away from the other Shinbu Anak in 500 AL, and even now they make constant war on their savage cousins. In the north, however, the chieftains had no patience for puzzling out the Outsider tools. Surviving Outsiders were forced to serve new masters, their lives dependent on operating the arcane devices and performing the rituals that would make their new lords stronger. Ever since they have been a caste of slave-priests, tormented for every failure. In the centuries since, the Shinbu Anak have splintered into dozens of sub-species through these arcane modifications. Some varieties are tremendously strong and ferocious, but the changes never come without price, and the fiercest are often the most stupid or sickly. Ancient tribal bonds have largely disintegrated, with each Anak loyal only to a successful war-chief and the entire country operating like a confederation of mercenary captains and pirate kings. Human and Outsider slaves work the fields and perform menial labor when not taken for the cookpot, and this hunger still sends many grim ships to far human shores.

Shinbu Society

Shinbu Anak society is based on violence. Its “tribes” are built exclusively around loyalty to a war-chief or pirate captain, disintegrating as soon as that leader dies or is deposed. Familial relationships mean almost nothing once a whelp is too big to be bullied into obedience by its mother. Like most Anak, their lives are defined by hatred, fear, and spite, punctuated by brief occasions of sadistic amusement or cruel indulgence. Only a powerful leader who promises both rich rewards and savage punishments can keep a tribe together for long. The Shinbu economy is built on chattel slavery. They have repurposed the ancient identity tags once used to mark their ancestors, and now use these small rectangular metal slips to mark the human, Outsider, and Anak slaves they take. A brief, painful ritual bonds a tag to a living subject, whereupon it will emboss itself with an image of the target’s face that will remain until the subject dies. As only one tag can bond to a slave at a time, these “faces” form the main currency between Anak tribes, traded back and forth for plunder and aid in battle. As it is impractical to herd large numbers of slaves around with their roving owners, most are dispatched to large plantations on the Shackled Plains, where slaver tribes maintain them in exchange for a share of their production. A complex system of loans and brokerage dispatches a slave’s surplus production twice-yearly to whatever tribe the slave’s owner belongs to. Valuable as they are, these slaves are seldom killed out of hand, but their lives are generally brief and wretched under their Anak overseers. Few ever escape, as the tags can be used by a sorcerer to track them halfway across the world. Every Shinbu tribe has a profound interest in sorcerous eugenics and augmentations. The molder-tribes of the Birthing Hills control most of the ancient arcane equipment for modifying Anak, along with the Outsider slaves necessary to make the devices function. These tools can imbue an Anak with tremendous power, both physical and magical, though often at a terrible price in sanity or health. Tribes gamble their most reckless warriors on the process in hopes of gaining heroes, or send their most hated enemies to be defiled by awful shapings. The most successful alterations are sometimes inheritable, forming the seeds for new sub-species of Anak. The Shinbu Anak are universally hated by their neighbors. The Aristoi to the south view them as despicable degenerates who insult the Aristoi by their very existence. The Kytheronians hate them for their constant raids and invasions north of the River of Spears. The states around the Herondeep fear their raiding ships and the incessant slave-taking expeditions, and virtually the entire Carcereal coastline dreads the sight of their blacksailed ships on the horizon. The Shinbu delight in this hatred, and their only wish is to make it more bitter.

99

Slaves of the Shinbu

Aside from human prisoners born to the collar or taken in raids, the Shinbu preserve remnants of several Outsider races long since extinguished elsewhere. These wretches know little of their ancestors save what is necessary to operate their arcane devices. Those named below are only the most common species to be found. Klin: Slender, mammalian humanoids with a single large eye and four-fingered hands amid otherwise humanlike features. They have poor depth perception, but their eye can perceive both magical auras and a creature’s emotions. They are sometimes mistaken for demihumans. Louk Makkad: Many-legged, brightly-colored, grub-like creatures the size of a horse. Their spittle is toxic, and they are all mildly telekinetic, using the power in place of hands. They have a melancholy disposition by nature. Some are used as war mounts by their Anak owners. Nimmid: Spherical, furry body with radially symmetrical eyes, four legs, four smaller manipulator-arms, and a ventral maw. Roughly human-sized. Obsessive arcane tinkerers and rather cowardly by inclination. Thisstak: Hexapedal aliens with vaguely reptilian features and a centaur-like body plan. Pack-oriented, suffering badly when alone or separated from allies. Tend to defer decisions to higher-placed packmembers.

Adventuring in Shinbu Anak

Humans are not welcome in Shinbu Anak. Indeed, no one is particularly welcome in Shinbu Anak, but the natives have sufficient allies in their tribe to hold off the most immediate threats of violence. Outsiders who enter must be constantly alert for attack by Hate-driven Anak, even if under the protection of some local war-chief. The general disorganization of the land can be a point in an adventurer’s favor, however, as sufficiently cunning and stealthy intruders can often make it over the river or across the ragged Lakaian range to raid Anak settlements. There are also hidden camps of runaway slaves, each centering around some sorcerer clever enough to falsify the tracking information on a slave’s “face”. These hidden camps are always tenuous things, lasting only until the Anak find them or until its inhabitants can flee to freedom. The great dangers of the wilderness make the latter prospect difficult for most slaves, and many find themselves effectively trapped in some defensible ruin or hidden cave. The molder-tribes each center around an ancient Outsider flesh-warping center, all of which are rich in precious offerings and priceless alien artifacts. Few Anak dare attack these tribes, as they would immediately win the anger of all their clients. Adventurers are not so particular, however, and at times they can take advantage of the Blighted’s complacence. Such a theft would surely bring a terrible pursuit, of course, but such is the risk.

100

THE STILL CITIES A land populated almost exclusively by the undead, the Still Cities are a frozen remnant of the Pale Empire of former ages. Its half-mindless citizens carry out the roles they performed in life, while their more cognizant lords seek to stem the raids of living adventurers who would plunder the riches of the dead. Even so, the restless dead take their tithe from their living neighbors, and their black ships make their own raids across the Gebed Mur.

History

When the Imperator known as the Pale Emperor was destroyed or fell quiescent toward the end of the First Age his subjects were cast into confusion. Without their lord’s blessings, they could not sustain the undead society they had created, and the living who had served him in hopes of immortality found their faith upended. Some abandoned their master and joined the peoples that would become the Amundi kingdoms. Others sought immortality in vegetative life instead of human death, and became the sorcerous founders of the Suldant Theocracy. A few of his highest-ranking servitors retreated into the north, however, casually eradicating the few Deep-born petty kingdoms that had grown up around the vast freshwater sea known as the Gebed Mur. These arch-undead still preserved a fragment of their Imperator’s power. It was not enough to sustain the Pale Empire, but it was enough to stake out a refuge for them and their followers. As the rival polities of the Intoners and the Tempest Horde fought to the south, and the first hierarchs of the Suldant planted their sacred groves, the lords of the Still Cities labored to build their citadels. The first rose in 1722 BL. They have stood for the three thousand years since. These great cities of stone were erected by tireless laborers, each one carved intricately with art lauding their undead masters. Each of these lords of the First Age took a city to be their own, along with the undead villages and necromantic market towns surrounding it. The undeath provided by the Pale Emperor had different degrees of perfection for different classes. The least of them still appeared human, if cold and pale, and still retained some of the memory and personality of life. They could respond to immediate circumstances, but would always drift back into a half-dreaming mimicry of their living days, doing needless labors and eating useless meals with their unliving families. The same conversations were had ten thousand times and the same relationships formed, forgotten, and renewed in a cycle of eternal stasis. The leaders of the Still Cities had a superior sense of self, with the nobility even retaining much of their own free will and independent thought. While these lords have forgotten much of the First Age, they could still direct their less sapient subjects and wield fearsome powers of necromantic magic.

This undeath was so powerfully woven in the Still Cities that even those citizens who were destroyed by violence would eventually coalesce once more out of the dust of the land. This resurrection could take centuries, however, and each rebirth came at a cost in memory and intellect. With enough deaths even the most brilliant undead would be reduced to a mindless, motionless husk. To replenish numbers lost to quarrels and the hazards of the land, the lords of the Still Cities dispatch raiding parties across the Gebed Mur, their black ships seeking to return with new candidates for citizenship. Live prisoners have the best odds of making a usable undead, so these raiders prefer to seize their victims intact. Once they are carried over the sea, only a swift and courageous rescue expedition has hope of saving them before they become thralls to some undying lord’s will. Naturally, these raids bring reprisals. Vitrum’s sea legions patrol regularly to fend off Still galleys, and the sorcerers of the Black Pact dispatch eldritch horrors to make war on the dead. Even the disorganized tribes of Hyperborea sometimes venture across the Gebed Mur to plunder their enemies of their goods.

Adventuring in the Still Cities

Among the most persistent raiders, however, are adventurers. From hidden camps and forgotten Deeps, they strike Still caravans, raid Still villages, and sometimes even infiltrate the cities to plunder the deathless nobility. They are the monsters that the undead dread, the fell savages that infest their ruins and deep wilds. Because the undead continue to build, mine, and create in their gloomy domain, their labors provide a constant flow of fresh plunder for those brave enough to seize it. There are even caches of ancient magic dating back to the Pale Empire, any one of which would be worth a kingdom’s ransom in the present day. Obtaining these treasures comes at great risk. The very soil of these lands is caked with dark power, and many spells and Arts of a living necromancer prove futile or weakened here. While still useful, a necromancer in the Still Cities is not the lichbane he would be elsewhere. The ruins among the Still Cities are few, though some empty cities collapsed with the long absence of a lord. Those other Deeps and wracks that remain predate the coming of the undead, and are mostly the empty remains of the ancient human kingdoms they destroyed at their arrival. Some of these places become bases for living adventurers. Not all that lives in the Still Cities is friendly to adventurers. Beasts in the Tular forest and Suthi hills rend living and dead alike, and the green perils of the Verdancy often slip the border. Other human adventurers can sometimes be the greatest danger, however, with no law to restrain them from plundering the luckier but weaker fellows they encounter.

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The Cities of the Dead

The sorcerer-lords of the cities are all nominally equals, but this does not prevent the occasional season of internal strife or subtle violence between domains. Now and then one rises to be named king for a century or two until they are brought down by their rivals. Most of the lords have perished five or six times, but yet retain much memory and cunning. Even so, all dread the prospect of a century or more of torpor should they die again. Capeva: Iron-handed Prince Laris leads several undead legions of horsemen and foot soldiers, most often employed in fending off raids from the Black Pact or rooting out nests of adventurers. While an unremarkable wizard, he is renowned both for his martial prowess and his unrequited love of Princess Thanusa, who has thought him dull for an age. Inarime: Ruled by Prince Aranthur, present first among equals. His navy of black galleys is a scourge on the Gebed Mur, and numerous shrine-villages along the coast provide a steady flow of fresh undead from the prisoners those galleys take. Manthva: The city is lordless at present, its prior Prince Cai having been murdered by a band of adventurers. Regency is uneasily divided between three noble houses: Hathli, Lucini, and Satlana. Rumor among the more sapient locals says that one of those houses was actually in league with the living assassins.

Mutina: A forge-city of smoke and iron, the latter ore being hewn from the Suthi hills. Vast heaps of armor and weaponry are stacked up, only to rust or be melted down once more. Prince Raska directs his commoners to bring their wares to his allies in exchange for their own considerations, and tends to support the weaker side of a quarrel. Tarchna: Ruled by Princess Thanusa, the Witchbane. The Hinthial Academy she leads here is staffed with numerous undying sorcerers versed in foiling and plaguing the dark wizards of the Black Pact. Their arcanists are especially skilled at killing living necromancers. Tlamu: A trade-city with few to trade with, under the hand of Princess Arathia. Its citizens fashion goods, only to let them rot or be destroyed when space is needed for more. Arathia is actually willing to deal with living merchants and traders, provided they come under the correct flags and conduct themselves appropriately within the walls. She craves novelty and rewards well those who bring it. Vetluna: Distant and strange, Princess Sethra’s city has the most likeness to a living one, being thick with plant life and greenery. She revels with her people in an endless celebration of their immortality. She thirsts for the fire of living excitement, and people say that she has struck bargains with the powers of the Verdancy to taste true life once more.

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THE SUNWARD ISLES These remote western islands are unique in that they are the largest magical dryland in the western hemisphere. Absolutely no magic of any known kind will work within a hundred miles of its outermost islands, and the natives have learned to deal well with this lack.

History

The first recorded settlers of the Sunward Isles were refugees fleeing the establishment of the Suldant Theocracy around 1700 BL. Some of them were former citizens of the Pale Empire who wanted no truck with the vegetative sorceries of the Theocracy, while others were a mix of Intoner and Tempest Horde natives forced out by the plant-priests. The early colonists suffered greatly from the loss of their ancestral magics, but that same sorcery-drought made the isles remarkably safe by most standards of the Latter Earth. While there remained a number of dangerous animals and hostile sea creatures around the isles, they had none of the magic-infused abominations that were so common on the mainland. The refugees rapidly spread out among the isles, each group establishing colonies that swiftly grew into island nations, all woven together by the myriad heavily-gunned ships that sailed their mundane seas. The six large islands in the archipelago became the seats of four major nations, while numerous smaller isles hosted citystates and vassal cultures. The Sunwarders have had little to do with the mainland since their arrival. Their traders bring their superb hurlants and rare island produce to Vitrumite markets at times in exchange for mainland raw materials, but the dangers of the magic-infested continent are more than most wish to bear. Their main concern is with their own nations and the endless round of intrigues, alliances, and wars that so engage them.

People of the Isles

Northern Sunwarders of Bhur, Ladris, and Morn resemble the Marchen of Amund, with pale eyes, dark hair, and bronzed skin. The southerners on the three isles of Kistos are paler and taller, perhaps of the same ancient stock that later became the Riu. Kistosi have a keen attachment to their ethnic group, but Bhurans, Ladrisi, and Mournans tend to care far more about their nation than their distant kinsmen. There are no known demihuman or Blighted populations on the isles save for those brought over by foreign traders. Most Sunwarders would be unlikely to even understand what a demihuman is, taking them instead for some crippled or malformed human. After all, the tales of the outside world make clear that all the talking monsters there are eight feet tall with fangs of iron.

The Islander Nations

The Sunwarders are divided into four chief nations and a dozen smaller city-states or vassal colonies. All have been both enemies and allies to the others at some point or another, dueling for the loyalty of some subject island or fighting for control of those isles that have valuable natural resources. With no natural magical predators to keep humans in check, the habitable isles are all densely populated… and every nation’s lords know that they will rule only so long as their people remain fed. Bhur is northernmost, cool and temperate. Its rocky terrain is poor for agriculture, but it has the best mines in the archipelago, and its noble-owned smithies fashion the finest hurlants in Agathon. Bhuran ships often make up in firepower what they lack in marines. Ladris is to the south, an island blessed with the perfect mellow climate for several crop harvests each year. Its queen has ownership of virtually all its production, allocating it to farmers, nobles, and traders as she thinks best. Ladris and Bhur often stand allied against the more southern nations. Morn is the largest island in the archipelago, and while its agricultural yield is modest, its carefully-tended forests are the best source of ship timber in the Sunwards. Its high priest often tries to play the middle between Bhur and Ladris to the north and ambitious Kistos to the south. Its people are notoriously pious, devoted to Mila, the Protecting Mother, who made the isles as a refuge against the mad world outside. Kistos holds the three southernmost islands, and among its humid jungles are just enough resources to make it the strongest single nation of the four. Once an absolute monarchy, the “Free Isles of Kistos” are now ruled by a post-revolutionary council of city and village representatives and the Speaker they elect. For generations they have been eager to spread their liberty to the northern islands, whether or not those islands want it.

Adventuring in the Isles

Time in the Sunwards is apt to be painful for wizards, but outsiders are not forbidden to visit the islands. Even if they can’t bring magical aid to the dueling island kingdoms, they can often bring over valuable mundane resources that are hard to acquire off the mainland. In the same vein, adventurers don’t have to worry about the depredations of wizards or the fangs of magical beasts when it comes to carrying out work for the locals. The absence of magic means that the problems adventurers face on the isles tend to be very human in nature. Political quarrels, revenge raids, commando operations, or delicate spying jobs might all be handed off to outsiders, with the pay coming in mundane gold and superb hurlants.

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TAVAT The greatest den of pirates and exiles in all the western lands, Tavat is a haven for those that other lands would prefer to see dead. Its prince-admirals rule their ramshackle coastal cities while the jungle interior has been given over to vile beasts and viler humans.

History

Tavat was once part of the Grand Harmony, the last great Outsider nation of Agathon. When the Liberator Queen broke their power and drove them from Carce around 1650 BL, they sought to make Tavat a stronghold against the accursed humans. Entire Deeps were depopulated by their awful sacrifices, but in the end they were successful in laying down the Sevenstorm, a terrible curse on the waters surrounding the island. The Sevenstorm was a zone of sorcerous peril inscribed around the island, extending seventy miles offshore. If seven or more ships congregated within a given seven-mile radius within that zone, a terrible witchstorm would suddenly leap up to smash the offending fleet. Ships within a mile of the island coast were exempted from this ban, but it became all but impossible to sail an invasion fleet anywhere near Tavat. Combined with the treacherous coral reefs and ancient sea-obstacles set by the Outsiders, Tavat became an invincible citadel. The Outsiders were not long in their possession, however, for the ongoing effects of their Working proved lethal to the aliens. Their life energy was drained away, and only through the consumption of human vitality could a handful survive. They retreated into the volcanic southern mountains of the islands with their herds of wretched slaves, and are now but seldom seen. It was at this time that the Liberated Republic crumbled and the first Kings of Carce were established. That process left numerous political losers and broken Republic factions in its wake, and many of these fled to Tavat with their allies. In bitterness, their surviving ships were set to prey upon Carcean trade, becoming the first organized pirates of the era. As the centuries ground on, innumerable new faces fled to Tavat, seeking refuge in the jungles and coastal settlements. A little slave-driven agriculture was possible, but the perils of the jungle forced many of these refugees to seek their sustenance in the holds of foreign ships. Even today, the greater part of Tavat’s wealth comes from seagoing theft. Atlantis, Sarx, the Aristoi, and the Amundi kingdoms would all be glad to see Tavat drowned in the sea, but their plans to break its lords have always come to naught. They cannot bring enough forces ashore to defeat the savage natives, so they rely instead on intrigues, traitors, and bribery to minimize the damage. Bold agents are always needed to do this work, though the island often proves fatal to such interlopers.

People of Tavat

The bulk of Tavat’s populace is made up of Atlantean stock, with a healthy number of Aristoi exiles and political losers from the mainland. Their natural cunning and political talent often leads the Aristoi to positions of authority and the captaincy of ships. Even so, there have been so many waves of exiles, refugees, slaves, and freebooters on the island that almost any demihuman or human ethnicity can be found in one port settlement or another. Most have left their native cultures far behind, melting into the general habits of violence, revelry, debauchery, and theft that define native life.

Government in Tavat

Tavat has nothing resembling a coherent government. Important port settlements like Helikon, Misha’s Rack, Shangwen, and Redport are run by “prince-admirals” who command the fearful deference of numerous pirate crews and extract a healthy tax from the merchants and artisans who serve the pirates there. Troublemakers are dealt with in typically brutal fashion if they can’t find a way to pay off their injury to the admiral’s patience. There is no law whatsoever in the inland jungles. Hidden villages of runaway slaves, towers raised by mad sorcerers, empty Deeps gutted by ancient Outsider sacrifices, and stranger things still lie largely undisturbed in the forest. Those who would seek them out must bring their own security with them.

Adventuring in Tavat

Tavat’s port settlements welcome almost anyone, provided they look capable of defending their own interests. Vulnerable refugees are quickly enslaved, but capable crew can expect to get by with minimal peril, provided they can keep from offending important locals. Better safety is had by affiliating with a successful ship’s crew; many of these “crewmen” never actually set sail at all, but simply make themselves useful or profitable to the captain in exchange for their protection. Aside from the obvious potential of seagoing theft, adventurers can also seek wealth in the island interior, where many a generation of pirate captain has hidden their loot against a retirement that never arrived. All the strangest and most vicious castoffs of three ages have migrated landward as well, and they tended to bring their treasures with them. Combined with the many ancient Deeps and Outsider ruins within the jungle, there’s no lack of gold beneath the green canopy. Nor is there any lack of guardians. Savage Outsider warbeasts still prowl the jungle, and a half-dozen awful alien species still come down from the mountains now and then to replenish their stock of human prey. There are even rumors that certain prince-admirals trade human slaves to them in exchange for eldritch treasures.

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THE TOMBFELL The Tombfell is a lawless land of alien graves and ruthless plunderers. Ever since the First Age, this treacherous region has been a temptation to those adventurers who seek the wealth of fallen races and care little for their still-perilous guardians.

History

The ancient rise of human power has left few historical records of the former Outsiders, as even the desperate stand of the Grand Harmony was merely the last coherent resistance to the burgeoning rule of humanity. Numerous alien nations had already been exterminated or driven into exile by the time the Harmony’s rulers fell. Many of these alien polities had been forced into the uttermost north, fleeing from such foes as the Pale Emperor, the proto-Amundi god-rulers, the mighty sorceries of the Intoners, or the savage might of the Tempest Horde. Only in the unwelcoming shadow of the Whiteskulls could the aliens find any refuge. There they worked what sorceries they could to xenoform the land into something habitable to them. Hundreds of pocket arratus were established around as many alien cities, the last survivors of each foreign species eking out what time they had in land that no human nation desired. Their time came to an end some sixteen hundred years ago. By 600 BL, the last organized Outsider presence had collapsed in the Tombfell, their arratus decaying and their populations depleted by warfare, privation, and inbreeding. Some Outsider species were wiped out entirely as they were exposed to the unendurable atmosphere of baseline Earth, while others were driven into degenerate savagery, changed or crippled by the hostile world around them. Yet their sorceries were not without lasting effect. The consequences of so many wildly-different arratus in such a restricted geographic area caused permanent environmental shifts throughout the Tombfell. Pockets of inexplicable climate and bizarre geography formed under the influence of these magics, with patches of jungle, the occasional small volcano, stretches of cursed desert, and stranger micro-features bubbling up without warning. Many of these zones were no more than a few miles across, but they persisted in defiance of the cold taiga that surrounded them. Even today, cartographers can only guess at the precise nature of the lands within the Tombfell, and fresh maps are eagerly desired by all. In the centuries since, countless brash adventurers have sought wealth and glory in this treacherous place. Some have sought to cut new kingdoms out of masterless land, while others seek to pillage the poisonous cities of the vanished Outsiders. Yet for all their zeal, no human master has been able to wholly overcome the endless stream of alien abominations and furious remnants that still haunt this shifting, cursed land.

People of the Tombfell

There are only two known major human settlements within the Tombfell. Both are little more than trading ports for the adventurers who seek plunder in the interior and the merchants who buy their loot and sell them their provisions. Neither have more than a few thousand inhabitants at any one time, most of them transients. Lauriacum is a Vitrumite town, the walled remnants of an Outsider sea-fortress now ruled by Vitrumite merchants. They have a lock on all trade within its walls, and provisions and housing come dear. Those who cannot pay must seek their fortunes in the wilderness outside, or risk dealing at certain smuggler’s coves along the coast where less favored merchants cut deals. St. Ignace is named for the Courontine saint who aspired to bring the word of the Bleeding God to the heathens of the Tombfell some six hundred years ago. His eventual and dramatic martyrdom on the heath north of the city was commemorated by numerous moving Courontine ballads and the monastery of St. Ignace. The abbot is the nominal lord of the settlement, but in practice, he and his monks merely try to avoid the worst of the trouble brought by the pirates, thieves, criminals, exiles, and adventurers who gather in the shanty-town below. Aside from these two “cities”, the interior of the Tombfell sometimes sports the occasional isolated human village, or even something that might be construed as a city-state or minor domain. Whole generations of colonists and exiles from Vitrum, Couront, Leng, and the Hyperborean tribes have fled to the Tombfell in search of sanctuary or unclaimed lands, and not all of their heirs have perished. Even so, the dangers of the wilderness ensure that few of these small settlements have much contact with the outside world.

Regions of Interest

There are dozens of ancient Outsider cities scattered throughout the Tombfell, each of them once the last refuge of some wretched alien remnant. These cities were often designed to suit physiologies wholly unlike that of humankind; tentacled masses, six-armed insectoids, winged reptilians, half-metallic centaurs, and other alien body plans were not unknown here. Particularly for those species that flew or floated, their ruins can be so inconvenient to ground-bound humanoids that exploring them is a major challenge. Aside from topography, some of these cities still retain remnants of their ancient arratus, creating zones of lethal cold, infernal heat, toxic miasmas, unendurable radiations, or other environments that unprotected humans cannot survive. Only the most careful preparations and the most prudently-chosen sorceries can equip explorers for the plunder of such places, though they often have the best and least-pillaged wealth to be had.

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Some of the larger alien ruins are marked on the map, but several other regions within the Tombfell have their own particular hazards. The False Moors greeted the earliest Vitrumite explorers. While they appear to be endless heathy grasslands punctuated by the occasional cold bog, former explorers have reported numerous pockets of broadleaf forest, humid jungle, broken hills, and other terrain wholly out of character for a cold moor. Most of these anomalous pockets center around alien ruins of some kind. Udun’s Watch is a ridge of jagged hills south of the ancient Outsider city of Bas Udun. Numerous insectile abominations infest these low peaks, flying down from the heights to scourge any interlopers in their territory. The Pactwald is named for the southern neighbor to the Tombfells. While its native dangers are considerable, worse still are the eldritch horrors called up by the Pact, some of which flee north into this forest. Once outside their borders, the Pact does not bother to hunt them. The Duchy of Bones earned its name from several waves of attempted colonization by lesser sons of Courontine noble houses. A few ragged baronies remain from centuries of futile effort. Saint’s Heath was consecrated by the hideous death of Saint Ignatius in 550 AL. A few stubborn Courontine monasteries seek to preserve the few remaining relics of the saint and maintain a secure zone for the faith, but they are constantly beset by alien horrors, and only the most ferociously pious are willing to maintain their work.

Adventuring in the Tombfell

Most adventurers enter the area through Lauriacum or St. Ignace, paying extortionate sums for bad housing and worse provisions brought in by the few traders willing to run the risks of those lawless towns. Lauriacum’s security is exclusively in the hands of mercenaries hired by the ruling merchant council, while St. Ignace’s shanty-town has no law to speak of save a universal aversion to being stabbed by an enraged crime victim. Most expeditions into the Tombfell are wilderness forays to seek out unplundered ruins or valuable Outsider artifacts. Maps are wholly untrustworthy, so most adventurers must plot out their own travels or barter for firsthand scouting reports. The lands closest to the coastlines are the “safest”, though that just means the abominations and horrors to be found there can usually be killed by normal swordsmen, rather than being the hideous titans that are said to lurk in the deep interior. Some ruins are still inhabited by the remnants of their Outsider creators, few of which have been rendered any more peaceful by the years. Other would-be lords seek to take advantage of the absence of any greater ruler to carve out their own petty kingdoms in the depths of the Tombfell. Sufficiently desperate colonists from the Black Pact or exiles from Couront or Vitrum might be willing to seek a new home in the land if enough of its perils are tamed. Of course, no one to date has been successful in achieving that peace for long.

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TRIBES OF HYPERBOREA Heirs of the ancient Intoners, the Hyperboreans are a hard and ruthless people. Countless small clans and tribes dwell within the cold northern forests, quarreling and raiding as the spirit takes them. All dread the strange inhabitants of the ancient Remnant Chord cities, however, for the price for their survival was a dire one.

History

When the Tempest Horde finally broke the Intoners of western Agathon, a portion of the exiles fled north. Some held the Horde at the Leucris, becoming the ancestors of the Vitrumites, while others continued far beyond into the deep forests of the north. There, this “Remnant Chord” raised many cities of soaring towers and windblown song, recreating in faded fashion the glories of their past. With proto-Vitrum distracted by the depredations of the Horde, there was little to threaten the Remnants. They threw great iron bands across Hyperborea to connect their cities, road-wide ribbons of metal that even now survive in fragments deep within the forest. Occult vibrations and eldritch sound flowed through this “iron weft”, knitting the scattered cities into an arcane whole. Yet the world was not as it once was, and the magic of the weft was not enough to sustain the Remnant against the oppressive northern cold. As the ages passed, cities and their enchanted fields crumbled one by one, their inhabitants forced into the forest to hunt their food and scratch out what brief harvests they could during the warmer seasons. These exiles formed a mixture of nomadic tribes and sedentary clans, the latter clinging to pockets of temperate land still warded by Workings. To add to Remnant troubles the newly-strengthened Vitrumites of the south pressed north over the border, seizing land and decreeing all Hyperborea the rightful possession of the Gaian Voices. The iron weft was used as a weapon to harry the intruders, but every killing tone and catastrophic resonance it produced was that much less energy to sustain the cities. Desperate to halt the decay of their magic, the city-dwellers conducted many terrible experiments and accepted awful prices for their power. Those Remnants who refused to take part in these things fled to join their forest brethren, until the only dwellers of the cities were those who accepted their new existence. Even now, the forest tribes fear and shun the city-dwellers. Vitrum has never wholly abandoned its claim on Hyperborea, and a broad strip of its southern reaches are counted as Vitrumite provinces back in the capital. The natives think otherwise, and the foreign settlers have reason to fear the mountain tribes and their relentless raids. Even so, other clans have made provisional alliances with the imperial forces, either for the sake of rewards or the chance to crush a rival tribe. Their loyalty is seldom exemplary.

Geography

Hyperborea is a cold land, with six months of deep snow and only three of warmth. Deep pine taiga covers much of the land, with the vast cold swamp of the Weeping Bog filling the central lowlands. Elsewhere, the grassy tundras of the Cold Coast and the Haumoors are flecked with pockets of cold-climate trees. South of the Marchwall mountain range the climate is gentler, with longer summers and shorter winters. These borderlands are dotted with Vitrumite villages and pioneer settlements, most depending on the garrison at Lacunis for protection from mountain tribes and monstrous beasts. Every few centuries some calamity from the north invariably sweeps over the borderland and wipes it clean anew, but the Vitrumites refuse to give up their dream of northern conquest. Throughout Hyperborea, there remain rare pockets of strangely clement land, some with an almost tropical heat. These ancient Working-remnants are often inhabited by settled Hyperborean tribes, but many are too raddled by ancient monstrosities and poisonous magic to be safe for common inhabitants.

People of the North

Hyperboreans resemble their Vitrumite kin, though most are taller and broader. Black or red hair, olive skin, and sharp features are shared by most tribes, though Pacter and Sathan slaves taken in sea-raids have left their mark on the locals. Aside from these forest nomads and settled clans, however, there remain the Remnants in their crumbling cities. These humans have almost all been terribly altered by the magics they use to sustain their cities, some being scarcely human. They are feared by the forest dwellers, who count their cities as the mothers of curses and plague.

Hyperborean Life

Hyperboreans are divided into nomadic forest tribes and settled clans that eke out a scanty harvest from the land. Both are hard and violent people, prizing strength, honesty, courage, and cunning above all other virtues. They strike alliances and make war on each other as their needs require, with broken clans scattering to join extended kinsmen or seek employment in the south. Hyperboreans are notorious raiders and pirates. The clans of the Cold Coast and the Gebed Mur coastline make raids as far as their longships can sail, bringing back slaves and plunder to their villages. Their landbound kindred reave the Vitrumite borderlands or sell their services as mercenaries in their southern wars. Many a young Hyperborean travels far from their cold home to seek glory and gold. When too many mouths gather around the longhouse fire, such a journey may be the only alternative to starvation.

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Places and Cities of the Snow

There yet remain several dozen Remnant cities scattered around the interior of Hyperborea, few of them housing more than a few thousand terribly-altered citizens. The Hyperboreans shun anything resembling urban centers, living in small villages and nomad camps throughout their land. Even so, some places have a special significance, and a few of the most important cities bear mentioning. Haumoor: A cold grassland rising into frost-crowned hills, the Haumoor is the barrier between the Desolation of Bells and the southern lands. A few hardy tribes dwell here, but few can endure the icy clime or the broken Remnant cities that haunt the hills. Kemetos: The City of Silence, where the iron weft eats all sound for miles around. The inhabitants communicate by gesture and pose, limbs stained by the bright colors of the tropical flora that surrounds the city. Madytos: The inhabitants here twisted the iron weft that runs through the Weeping Bog, using it as a sink to drain the life force from much of the swamp. They are immortal, as are their cancerous tumors and growths, and they disport in sea raids and hideous pleasures. The Marchwall: A ridge of low mountains that separates the nominally Vitrum-held borderlands from Hyperborean clan lands. The peaks are a veritable highway for northern raiders.

Setos: Cursed city of a cursed land, the terrible Desolation of Bells rings with wind-tones that poison those who hear them. The beautiful, once-human inhabitants of Setos are nourished by all things toxic, with fountains of venom and gleaming pools of acid shining amid their towers. Their touch is a lethal poison. Tigata: The pale and long-limbed dwellers of Tigata worship a spider-goddess unearthed from the roots of the Gebed Hau. Their city towers are webbed together in a mesh that moans when the winds blow.

Adventuring in Hyperborea

While the Hyperboreans are great raiders, small groups of strangers in their lands are not necessarily viewed with hostility, provided they have a local guide or some proof of affiliation with a nearby clan. Strangers must take care not to fall foul of the constant tribal quarrels, however. Many adventurers seek profit in the borderlands, fighting to defend Vitrumite keeps and settlements or loot Remnant ruins that are closer to nominal civilization. Others venture further north to find greater wealth, daring the ruined cities and pre-Intoner Deeps that still await plunder. It is not unknown for a powerful outsider to become a tribal warlord, if they can impress a clan sufficiently with their prowess and cunning. Some such chieftains have led their men south to profit and to woe.

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TSEB HWII An enigmatic land of sorcerers and their Outsider slaves, Tseb Hwii is an unwelcoming place concerned chiefly with the affairs of its wizardly masters. Even so, foreigners with sufficient daring or utility can hope to find treasures here unknown to merely human nations.

History

The First Dynasty mastered almost all of the continent of Gyarus, and ancient Tseb Hwii was no exception. Imperial knights brushed aside the ancient Deep-cities that had emerged after the fall of the Outsiders and planted new provinces for the glory of the emperor. The native Indur population was swiftly brought under their rule, though they retained certain curious customs. The Second Dynasty largely ignored the province, treating it as something of a punishment-post for sectarians and troublesome scholars. Numerous theurgic sorcerers were banished there to find what companions and students they could from among the natives. When the Second Dynasty started to crumble amid the sorcerous struggles of wizard-priests, the heretics of Tseb Hwii found their guardians distracted. It was at this time that the Shangu mountains disgorged several great armies of Outsiders, bitter alien peoples that had waited the long centuries for the right time in which to strike the hated humans. They had riddled the mountains with their warrens, and great waves of inhuman warriors crashed upon the cities of Tseb Hwii. The aliens were routed. The world had changed too much since their former days, the Legacy no longer so obedient to their magics and their strange engines. The sorceries of the Tseban heretics were too strong, and with the might of the cities against them they were cut off from retreat and faced with certain destruction. In desperation, the Outsiders offered to serve the Tsebans in exchange for their lives, sharing their secrets and their alien artifices with their new masters. The Tseban heretics were greatly tempted by this, and in the end, they consented to the enslavement of the aliens. Terrible curses of obedience were laid on the Outsiders, and their offspring and their gods taken as hostages for their good behavior. With the strength of these new Outsider minions, the Tseban lords had no reason to obey the new Third Dynasty and its wizard-emperor. They shut their borders to imperial emissaries and exiled any of their people who refused to serve their new rulers. The Third Dynasty had too many demands on it to contest this new order. In the centuries since, the Outsiders have become hereditary slaves of the wizard-lords and their heirs, each species devoted to a different city’s master. If there have ever been any coordinated rebellions, they have not been recorded, and the Tseban lords claim that their inhuman servants are the most loyal of slaves. The Outsiders say nothing to contradict this.

Geography

The sky-piercing Shangu mountains are the defining feature of Tseban lands, their peaks so high that only sorcery can allow a baseline human to survive their heights. Several massive tunnel-roads pierce the range, each one under the control of a different wizardly house and their Outsider slaves. Entire underground villages and towns line these roads to serve those who travel and to mine the range’s depths. Expeditions into the ancient tunnels that lead off from the roads are often lethal, but can be greatly rewarding for survivors. The climate of Tseb Hwii is cool and temperate in the north, giving way to harsher southern cold and fewer stands of forest. The Bassad river is the only great waterway in the land, though many small, swift mountain rivers stream down on both sides of the range.

People of Tseb Hwii

The people of this land have a general resemblance to their Dynastic neighbors to the north, but each major city retains traces of its original Indur stock. Their features tend to sharpness, and their hair is worn long and straight. Northerers are often very dark-skinned, while southern Tsebans are unusually tall, lean, and pale. Hairstyles for both males and females are intricate and richly adorned, though certain sectarians go shaven-headed. Many groups practice extensive body modifications, including skin dyes, piercings, and body paint. The more elaborate and impractical their appearance the more important the Tseban, as only a laborer goes unadorned. The Outsider slaves of the sorcerer-kings are decorated richly with the signs and symbols of their owners. They avoid casual interaction with the commoner masses, and almost never appear without an escort of human servants and bodyguards.

Demographics

There are perhaps eight million baseline humans dwelling on either side of the Shangu range, most clinging close to major cities and secure trade routes. The wilderness of Tseb Hwii is still plagued with the alien war-beasts unleashed by the Outsiders during their invasion, and long centuries have made them only more ferocious. Numerous ancient cities destroyed during the assault have yet to be recovered, and many of their venerable Second Dynasty relics are still untouched. No one is entirely certain how many Outsiders live in Tseb Hwii. No more than a few hundred thousand are admitted by the wizard-lords, with most of those dwelling in subterranean communities in the Shangu range, and the remainder residing in special city quarters designed to suit their needs. With so many of the mountain tunnels unmapped and unknown, no one can say how truthful this estimate may be.

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Cities of Tseb Hwii

The city-state is the primary unit of Tseban governance, each one under the rule of a particular sorcerous house. Each major city also contains a population of ten or twelve thousand Outsiders, their obedience directed toward whatever house might claim the community. The cities below are merely some of the more renowned. Banat: An oasis of Working-wrought tropical heat amid the cold southern seas, Banat is ruled by the decadent House of Radiance. All of Mindol is under the equatorial heat of their magics, and numerous occult drugs and rare herbs are grown in its plantations. Their slaves, the Morai, appear as impossibly beautiful men and women with white jade skin and jewel-colored hair. This is not their natural form, but one the Radiance chose for them. Gimmed: This city is the western terminus of the Passage of Jade Frost beneath the Shangu, selling undermountain wares up and down the coast. The Wafters who serve the House of Shumad-nim are translucent floating gas bags that communicate through Tseban glyphs emitted through their phosphorescent epidermis.

Qol: The jewel-scaled and six-eyed serpents of the Sissan serve the House of the Squared Heaven here, ensuring the rich trade of the Bassad and the many foreign merchants who come here both pay due tribute. Su-Ran: A shadowed city, the Outsiders known as the Leth dwell here in the “Empty Quarter”, serving the sorcerous House of Mak-nim. As ordinary humans cannot perceive the Leth, they convey their wishes through inscriptions on ceremonial tablets. Tsed Nazil: The House of the Red Cangue rules the greatest of the eastern coastal cities. Their servants are of many different kinds, for the great slave market of Tseb Hwii is located here, where lords may barter surplus servants. Outsiders are kept harshly here, for the natives descend from those who survived the Outsider creation of the arratu known as the Sin in the days of their invasion. Uzayad: Timber goes down the Bassad and rich subterranean trade comes from the Golden Road beneath the Shangu, enriching its House of Aureate Wisdom. Their servants, the chitinous rock-eating humanoids known as the Omoli, do much to oversee its mines.

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Society in Tseb Hwii

Ordinary Tsebans organize their social ties around their close family and around city-wide sodalities that cut across economic classes. Not quite guilds and not quite religious brotherhoods, these sodalities assist their members in business and personal matters, and act as informal protectors against abuses from the sorcerous houses. Membership is usually by birth, though sufficient inducement can grant entry. Membership in the sorcerous Houses is generally by birth or recruited talent. These wizardly nobles are secluded from the common folk, any contact generally made through ministerial slaves. The slaves are dreaded more than their masters, for a trusted slave can easily persuade its master to dispose of some offensive commoner who treated its lord’s property ungraciously. The slaves themselves have graduations in their status, from the wretched mine-slaves and ritual fodder at the bottom to the elite ministerials who administer every secular affair of importance. The great majority of the elite are Outsiders, but human criminals, outcasts, and debt-slaves are encountered as well, most often among the most wretched. They are not trusted as Outsiders are. Only Houses and their members are permitted to own slaves of any kind, as the common folk cannot be expected to manage such a grave responsibility well. The more expendable ones are rented out by a House at times, however, sometimes with no expectation of a live return.

Government and Law

Every village, town, and city in Tseb Hwii is under the absolute rule of a sorcerous House, some of them being grand schools with hundreds of members, and others being rural temples with a few half-learned wizard-priests. Houses make pacts and wars with equal facility, and the losers in their struggles are forced to disband, their survivors fleeing to join sympathetic schools. Commoners rarely dare oppose the wishes of a House wizard, and it is worth their life to protest a decision of their city’s ruling sorcerers. Only the tacit pressure of the sodalities prevents casual abuse of these privileges. As the wizards of a House are invariably busy with their studies and magical labors, all serious matters are referred to trusted Outsider slaves for administration. Due to the ancient prohibitions against Outsiders ruling over humans, these “ministerials” are obliged to act through figurehead commoner officials, each of whom is perfectly aware that a diffident word from their lord’s trusted slave is enough to see them dead. In theory, the slaves have no authority whatsoever. In practice, they rule Tseb Hwii. Indeed, it is not unknown for talented and ambitious humans to seek enrollment among a successful House’s slaves. These men and women have the exact same legal status as their Outsider peers, but can hope to share in their lord’s trust one day if their talents prove equal to their ambition. Those who prove inept have a short future ahead of them in the mines or at the altar.

Tseban Religion

The faiths in Tseb Hwii are strange by most foreign estimates. The original wizard-lords were all heretical priests, each one with their pet god or blasphemous theology, and their Houses have preserved their veneration. They do not share the details with outsiders, as the worship of these gods is inextricable from the practice of their magic, and to share their faith is to share their secrets. Commoners in Tseb Hwii generally revere the local god of their city and participate in those exoteric rites that their ruling House permits them to understand. Each sodality tends to have a selection of personal gods made up of deified founders, ancient pre-Dynastic ethnic gods, and professional deities important to the membership. Transactions are pragmatic, with sacrifices being made to the sodality’s common treasury in sponsored temples in exchange for blessings and good luck. The Outsiders are supposed to revere their own alien gods in secret fanes within their restricted city quarters. Some believe that certain Houses have joined them in this worship, paying court to unfathomable deities in order to obtain their magical favors. Foreign gods are not technically forbidden in Tseb Hwii, but few have any luck in gaining converts. Commoners see no reason to make sacrifices to foreign deities when they could put that same wealth to their own sodality’s coffers, and the wizardly Houses find no profit in following any god that cannot give them occult power. The Outsiders, of course, have no great affection for the gods of humankind.

Adventuring in Tseb Hwii

Foreigners are not generally welcome in Tseb Hwii. They tend to inflict insults and outrages on Outsider slaves, and the fearsome consequences of such behavior can easily entangle an unlucky Tseban bystander. Even so, adventurers who can contain themselves around Outsiders and comply with Tseban laws are grudgingly endured. Adventurers have their uses, after all, both to commoners and to the Outsider ministerials who have de facto rule over the day-to-day affairs of a city. While often graceless, they’re relatively cheap and disposable muscle who can be trusted not to understand the full ramifications of the jobs they’re given. Sodality officials will sometimes hire adventurers to perform deniable attacks on an offending House’s holdings, usually restricting them to property damage and theft rather than outright murder. Arguments between sodalities are settled in a bloodier manner when necessary, as the city lords seldom regret their bleeding. Outsider ministerials will tend to seek out more successful and trustworthy adventurers for more delicate jobs, often involving deniable assassinations or the acquisition of valuable occult artifacts from ruins or ungenerous owners. They can offer rewards that only wizards can grant, and deep arcane knowledge and potent artifacts await the hands of those willing to do their bidding without asking troublesome questions.

111 Names in Tseb Hwii d20

House Names

Surname

Example Adventurer Concepts

Given Root

Places

1

Ban-Gadak

Abastu

Adin-

Bandu

2

Hulon

Choredin

An-

Barmid

3

Hwichin

Ganidan

Band-

Chodmok

4

Jozdakan

Garatun

Barid-

Dzundumu

5

Kavadag

Kornokin

Edar-

Holkun

6

Kulmin

Mekluru

Ferat-

Jumau

7

Laum-Heshu

Mizulot

Honat-

Kadamat

8

Leukad

Neznid

Javan-

Nebir

9

Maharl

Nidlai

Kalan-

Nibbat

10

Moktikan

Nurag

Laran-

Nish-Asbat

11

Nilm

Oburit

Nalan-

Nobiktu

12

Nokleth

Odumanit

Noban-

Nokhwi

13

Nom-Shindu

Palomos

Parnat-

Ranvokun

14

Noqtik

Shomet

Saln-

Shudmot

15

Shu-Tsun

Suvuroku

Serut-

Shuvogad

16

Tsandak

Talgatu

Shin-

Su-Gad

17

Tsult

Tselat

Tumal-

Thumastu

18

Tzad

Urushtu

Vord-

Tsed Vol

19

Vogrikt

Vur

Warin-

Tsobedun

20

Vosh-Agat

Wiruvak

Yil-

Wokulin

Slave fleeing a cruel sorcerous master Ex-sodality thug who put muscle on the wrong target Failed social-climbing slave who fled a disappointed master Last surviving apprentice of a collapsed Tseban House Urban gutter-rat versed in sorcerous obstacles to theft Tunnel guide for the passages beneath the Shangu peaks Tseban sodality priest of a sadly unpopular god Servitor cast adrift by the failure of their former House employer Foreign cleric vainly trying to impart their religion to the locals Tseban peasant accustomed to the harsh demands of the Houses Secret adherent of a forbidden ancient Indur god Artificer who provides materials or goods to impatient wizards

Names are given in Surname-Given order, “of” a House if noble. Male given roots often terminate in -u or -o, female in -a or -i

Example Tseban Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

1

Power-maddened sorcerer

Hard-pressed Tseban slave

An Outsider slave has been offended

A grimoire of Tseban sorcery

Opulent Outsider slave chamber

2

Cruel Outsider slave-potentate

Friendly-seeming Outsider slave

A mage’s wizardry has run amok

Outsider-made goods of rare kind

Baroque sodality temple

3

Vile Outsider war-creature from the ancient war

Benign wizard with obscure interests

A sodality is making A magical relic of a large, violent great importance demonstration to a local House

House plantation farmed by toiling human slaves

4

Demonic thing that a careless wizard called up

Harried merchant oppressed by wilderness perils

The wilderness has eaten a vital caravan of goods

A secret text of rituals to honor a Tseban mage-god

Sinister shrine to a Tseban House’s private god

5

Ruthless local mage-magistrate

Hapless foreigner with no local allies

A House has made a hard demand

A sodality’s rich offerings to a god

Long-lost Indur Deep ruin

6

Sodality elder with no care for strangers’ lives

Grubby sodality chief protecting his brethren

A great ritual is impending, and it needs a sacrifice

A key to unlock a dead wizard’s lair or lost wisdom

Forgotten fane to a Second Dynasty god

7

Escaped slave bandit chieftain

Weak House mage A temple rite is in need of help obstructing events

Drugs compounded by Outsiders

Luxurious House dwelling

8

Wizard seeking a terrible sacrifice

Tseban fascinated with foreigners

A mage has gone Precious goods for rogue from a House a sacrifice

Private House mage academy

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THE VERDANCY A multicolored hell of ferocious plants and still more savage beasts, the Verdancy has been a threat to its neighbors since its old lords fell an age ago. The constant swell and encroachment of its plant life obliges all its neighbors to conduct unceasing war against it if it is not to engulf all of western Agathon.

History

When the Pale Emperor vanished and his undead empire fell, the mortal survivors fled to the west. Some ventured north to become the Still Cities, while others joined with the proto-Sathans, but the majority settled in the shadow of the Carven Peaks, in the thick broadleaf forest there. These refugees had lost their lord, but they had not lost their principles. To them, as before, the greatest and most blessed gift was life eternal. Without the Pale Emperor’s patronage their rites of undeath would no longer function, so it was up to their greatest sorcerers and priest-scholars to devise a new means of immortality for the worthy mortals among them. These scholars took their hints from the forest around them. If cold flesh could no longer persist forever, then root and branch would have to suffice. They studied many means of translating human flesh into perpetually-regenerating wood and plant fiber, the better to ensure eternity for all their faithful followers. These hierarchs became the founders of the Suldant Theocracy and its Green Priesthood. Their sanctums were woven out of massive trees and vast fungi, living cities of branch and leaf devised where every necessity was grown and provided by the city itself. Common believers were blessed by this abundance, and by loyal service they could hope to be gifted with the oaken heart of an immortal transformation. Yet as these Green Priests grew wiser in the arts of plant life, they grew more distant from the concerns of human minds. Some became one with their plant-cities, while others transformed so far as to become sentient mats of fungus, ever-dreaming trees, or terrible amalgams of meat and bark. They grew less and less concerned with the needs of mortal humans, caring only for their green domain and their transformed minions. In time, life became too terrible for the mortals to survive. They were used as little more than mulch for the roots of their betters, and the survivors fled the green cities to the surrounding lands, or forsook all magic to take themselves to the Sunward Isles. Now only a handful of desperate villages and hidden refuges remain within the Verdancy, mostly inhabited by those who have nowhere else to go. And still the old cities warp and rot within. Their magics have gone stale, their keepers are lost to their endless green nightmares, and parasites of every hideous description grow fat on their sap. The forest swells, blind and terrible, and many are those who die to halt it.

Geography

The Verdancy is a damp, temperate land throughout the year, with little difference between seasons. There are countless small streams and petty rivers flowing down through it from the Carven Peaks, but no great rivers or vast lakes. Here and there, the land is so wet as to become a swamp, with its own variety of horrors springing up from the sodden earth. The edges of the Verdancy are all marked by axe and fire. Every surrounding nation has a screen of border villages charged expressly with hacking back the multicolored trees and scorching the soil. A destroyed village means catastrophe if it cannot be replaced soon, as a year’s neglect can see the forest march a quarter-mile.

Inhabitants of the Verdancy

The forest itself has only a few human inhabitants, mostly villages of escaped slaves, Sathan exiles, or other desperate souls who must hide from their brethren. The land itself is fantastically fertile and rich, so hunger is rarely a concern, but the terrible inhabitants and gruesome parasites that infest the place are a worse peril. Many plant-based humanoids inhabit the deeper reaches of the forest, almost all of whom view animal life as nothing more than nourishment. They war amongst each other with unthinking ferocity, struggling like weeds in a field to gain more soil and hunting grounds. Worst and most fearsome of all are the inhabitants of the ancient Suldant grove-cities. Many are mighty sorcerers, transformed in ages past for their loyal service to their dreaming masters. They often continue to carry out their experiments, and their servants seize prisoners from the border villages to supply their needs. Were the Verdancy under a single master, it would be a disaster for the surrounding lands. Fortunately, few of its Verdant Lords show any inclination to cooperate with their brethren, and the plant-people seem to have an almost innate need to struggle against their neighbors.

Cities of the Suldant

Despite being abandoned by humanity for an age, there still persist dozens of ancient Suldant city-groves deep within the heart of the Verdancy. Each of these cities was once home to hundreds of thousands of obedient followers of the Green Priesthood, their every need provided for by the city itself. It was only over the course of centuries that the interests of their masters slowly turned to ends that could no longer be endured. Now, the vast majority of these cities are dangerously decayed and rotten. Without the labor of human servitors to prune and tend the cities, the natural floral behavior of the great plants has taken over. They grow blindly and frantically now, without concern for what the land can sustain. Most have suffocated themselves.

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The results show in great cathedrals of rotten wood and mouldering leaves. The relentless vitality of the plant life still holds the crumbling cities together, but their interiors are vast nests of decay and swarming parasites. These voracious creatures appear in both insectile and fungal forms, some of them possessed of an almost human level of intellect, if completely devoid of interest in anything but feeding and reproduction. Within these cities, small clusters of intelligent ancient Suldant can be found, humanoid plants that have endured ages in immortal verdancy. They usually cluster around a Green Priest capable of holding the parasites at bay, their unending lives consumed with the labor of gathering nourishing mulch from their surrounds. With so much of the plant matter infested with fungal parasites, it often proves simpler to hunt animal prey. These city-dwelling plant-people have no love for humans and no interest in their affairs, but they can sometimes be persuaded to cooperate with adventurers if their interests align. Would-be diplomats must be very cautious in their dealings, however, for the green folk think nothing of betraying former allies when the calculus of advantage changes. While they are but decaying husks of their former glory, these cities still serve as the focal points of the great Workings of their ancestors, the enchantments that send the polychrome trees of the Verdancy stretching outward beyond its borders. Somewhere within the rotten heart of each great city is the nexus of its Working, and if it can be destroyed then the nearby Verdancy will begin to slowly wither and retreat. Scores of ancient cities have been destroyed by heroes over the centuries, but the web of the Working still holds. Many sages hypothesize that there is some great stronghold deep within the Verdancy where the core of this enchantment must be found and destroyed.

Adventuring in the Verdancy

Most expeditions into the Verdancy begin in a border village, one of the many small settlements charged with holding back the encroaching forest. The natives are often slaves, criminals, or other internal exiles compelled to remain and work the dangerous task. They are unfriendly to most outsiders, but competent adventurers can win their cooperation by aiding in their endless battle against the forest. These villages and their overseers often commission adventurers to make scouting expeditions into the ever-changing forest, seeking out new nests of dangerous plant-creatures and reporting on any new activity in ancient Suldant settlements. Aside from the pay, these sponsors often pay well for Suldant artifacts and scraps of ancient Green Priest lore. Not all such patrons use their newfound knowledge for good ends. Other employers seek certain plant ingredients or eldritch creatures that can be found nowhere else, their sap, seeds, and flesh all useful in great workings of sorcery. Finding the necessary ingredients is usually an adventure in itself, to say nothing of the danger of claiming them. The Suldant cities themselves are often repositories of ancient treasures dating back to the Pale Empire. While the green people have no use for gold or silver, their cities still blindly produce gourds full of potent magical elixirs, jewel-bright seeds for adornment, impossibly tough sheets of fungal fabric, and other valuable semi-magical goods. Most precious of all, of course, are the secrets to green immortality possessed by the ancient priesthood. More than a few aging grandees have dispatched servants into the vibrant hell to ferret out the right saps and incantations to render them immortal. Sometimes these efforts bear fruit, but the eventual consequences of this blind sorcery are seldom what their makers might desire.

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VITRUM The mightiest nation north of Sarx, shining Vitrum is a pole of relative stability in northern Agathon. Its quarreling senators joust under the watchful eye of its Glass Emperor, constantly mindful of the unsleeping perils of Sathan raiders, Verdant monsters, and the frigid mysteries of the untamed north.

History

When the Intoners were finally broken by the onslaught of the Tempest Horde around 1680 BL, the largest fragment of the survivors fled north over the Leucris into the backwater provinces of their people. The great iron weft that had woven so many Intoner tower-cities was far thinner here, with only a few lonely glass-wrought outposts of their tonal sorcery. The Horde raged after them, but their warbands had been thrown into confusion by their own success. Having finally crushed their ancient foes, the rampaging invaders were distracted by the plundering of southern cities and the enslaving of swarms of wretched refugees. There was no immediate appetite for a hard northern campaign to pick up the petty leavings of a vast treasure they had at last claimed for their own. By the time the Horde regained some direction, it was too late. The desperate Intoners had made a last line of defense beyond the Leucris, and the disorganized attacks of the remaining Horde clans were repulsed with terrible slaughter on both sides. The rebuffed invaders fell into confusion, quarreling amongst themselves over more accessible prizes and eventually becoming the brutal, flesh-wise ancestors of the Speakers of the Storm, who would in turn birth the nomads of Sath Ingit and the dark hierarchs of Nakad. The surviving Intoners were divided, some fleeing further north into the wilderness of Hyperborea and others seeking to establish new tower-cities north of the Leucris. The charismatic warlord Gaius brought the remaining provincial gentry and his surviving comrades in line to form what later Vitrumites would call the Exile Kingdom, becoming its First Voice and autocrat. Gaius ruled through cunning, charm, and a superlative mastery of the sonic sorceries of the Intoners. Legends say that he could split boulders with a word and scatter armies with a song, and that it was his personal valor that had turned back the Horde at the last great battle at the Leucris. Whatever the truth of these tales, scholars agree that the Gaian dynasty was very close with its secrets. Surviving sects of tonesmiths and cantors were suppressed, their secrets reserved for royal use alone, and the remaining fragments of the iron weft were left to go silent and serve only as roads for the boots of soldiers. The Gaian Voices fell still around 1200 BL, a string of inept rulers proving unequal to new challenges from the restive aristocracy. The nobles of the Kingdom pre-

ferred to rule without the benefit of a First Voice, and the Exile Kingdom became the Choral Republic. The franchise was limited to the noble aristocracy and their commoner merchant-prince allies; those nobles who had supported the Gaian dynasty suffered the loss of their titles at least and complete extirpation at worst. Their commoner heirs remember this ancient indignity still, and several “old lord” clans can still claim influence in the Hyperborean marchlands. Their members still dream of a restoration of the First Voice and a redemption of their ancient losses. The Choral Republic survived for eight hundred years, its elected senators sparring with each other over questions of wealth, influence, and survival when the Speakers of the Storm pushed northward. When those barbaric sages degenerated into the modern Sathans, their raids and occasional surges of conquest kept the Senate constantly engaged in questions of war. Senatorial scheming and self-interest brought doom to the Republic around 400 BL. Their political quarrels left them unable to unite against the terrible might of the Sathan Khagan, Namad the Breaker. His martial genius and the dark powers that aided him brought his horde over the Leucris and to the very walls of Caudium. The half-human Khagan died there, but his scattered banners were still sufficient to burn down half the Republic and loot most of the rest. Only the far northern marchlands were spared the Sathan scourge. For six hundred years Vitrum suffered under the Time of No Lords, their cities broken, their secrets lost, and their people tormented by the hungers of the Sathan raiders. When the survivors were not fighting raiders they were fighting each other, and it seemed the next half-millennium would look little different than the last. That sad destiny was averted by the first Glass Emperor, Marius, a hero who arose in 222 AL. Once an adventurer, he had unlocked the lost secrets of the Intoners during an ill-starred expedition from which only he had returned alive. Many doubted him and his strange powers, but desperation set numerous city-states and noble domains to march under his banner. Their faith was repaid; Marius’ terrible words shattered the Sathan horde and sent the survivors fleeing south across the river. They would not return until after his death in 262 AL. In the centuries since, the Vitrumite Senate has obediently served the interests of the Glass Emperor’s successors. Its members are elected from noble families and powerful oligarchs and its servants are selected from the most capable and cunning of commoners and slaves. It serves as the eyes and hands of its lord, and it serves well. Yet tensions remain in the halls of the Senate, for Emperor Tertullius grows old and his voice weakens. Many think that a new Glass Emperor must be chosen soon, and the candidates are unfortunately many. Few expect peace in the seasons to come.

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Geography

The climate in Vitrum ranges from a temperate warmth in the mild-winter south to a harsher, sharper northern climate with hot summers and snowy winter months. The Gebed Mur coastline is particularly cool, with the Gelid Fens sometimes freezing solid despite the perpetual icelessness of the southern Gebed. The lands south of Caudium are watered by numerous small tributaries flowing down to the mighty Leucris, with fertile fields and dense broadleaf forests that never know an autumn withering. The northern plains between the Borean Forest and the mountains are cooler and drier, with numerous ancient plantations formed around small lakes and springs. While the land is ungenerous compared to the southern grasslands, its distance from Sathan raiders has made for some of the longest-lived senatorial families and agricultural holdings in Vitrum. The great Borean Forest is a thickly-woven maze of conifers, as perilous as most great forests are in Agathon. Tall-walled fishing villages cling to its coastline, but the interior is chiefly occupied by villages of runaway slaves, remnants of failed northern noble families, and pockets of Sathan raiders left behind by sea expeditions. The Thunderthrones are the only significant mountains in Vitrum, named for the great storms that often play about their peaks. Numerous ancient Intoner ruins can be found there, their glass towers once serving as the loci of some great Working long since dissipated.

People of Vitrum

Vitrumites are descended in the main from ancient Intoner stock, but centuries of admixture from refugee Suldanti, foreign slaves, and Sathan raiders have blended them into their own type. The average Vitrumite is tall, olive-skinned, and dark-haired, with sharp facial features and a tendency to slenderness. Sathan blood sometimes tells in exotic markings and colorations, but to call a man a “son of a raider” is a mortal insult. Vitrumites marked in that way always credit Suldanti blood from the Verdancy, whether or not it is remotely plausible. Among the Vitrumites, a sharp distinction is drawn between the plebeian class of commoners and the patricians of the old noble families and wealthy merchant oligarchs. Lower still are the “infames”, the slaves, actors, entertainers, criminals, prostitutes, slave traders, gladiators, and other social outcasts who are valued for their function but deprived of any trace of political rights or social standing. A further distinction is made between “southerners” from the Leucris river region, known for their constant struggles with Sathan raiders and Verdant abominations, and “northerners” from the more peaceful northern plains, home to most of the oldest noble families in Vitrum. Almost beyond the pale are the hillmen of the Hyperborean borderlands; though the “old lord” clans there are among the most venerable, their struggles with the tribesfolk and the wild beasts there are legendary.

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Demography

Scholars estimate that twelve million people live within the borders of Vitrum, with two million of them being slaves of one kind or another. The majority of them dwell in the northern plains-cities, with the southern regions populated chiefly by Vitrumite legionaries and the massive number of farming villages, market towns, and lumber camps needed to support them. The border provinces in the southern reaches of Hyperborea are home to a small population of old lord clans that are almost Hyperborean themselves and a steadily-revolving selection of pioneer villages and new-built market towns awaiting the next deluge of rapacious tribal raiders.

Cities and Ruins

The centuries of warfare with Sath Ingit have led to the creation of a thick belt of ruins along the northern banks of the Leucris. Ancient Intoner cities were ravaged by the first battles of the Exile Kingdom, and the survivors were annihilated during the Time of No Lords. The only cities remaining along the bank are those founded in the present age, along with scores of border forts and fortified river-barge anchorages. Elsewhere, several cities have special importance to Vitrum and its lords. Cantilia: The capital of Vitrum after the change from Treba at the end of the Gaian dynasty and the shift away from Caudium after the Time of No Lords. It is a major trading port with the Sunward Isles and Sarx, though the latter’s ships are much harried by Sathan sea-beast clans. Caudium: Once the seat of the Choral Republic, Caudium has lost much of its political importance since the capital moved to Cantilia. Even so, its location at the heart of a number of iron weft-roads has made it the greatest trading city in Vitrum, with the produce of the northern farms all passing through it. Leucra: The chief naval base of the empire, Leucra is locked in a constant struggle with Sathan sea-rovers and river pirates. This pressure has only grown greater as a number of vile powers recently infested the ruins of ancient Varia, threatening the defensive fort established outside its walls. Nomentum: The eastern trade-gate of Vitrum, its ships cross the Gebed Mur to trade with the Black Pact and Hyperborean coastal villages, with a few daring enough to deal with the Still Cities as well. Such clientele have given the place a name for dark sorceries and hidden foulnesses beneath its gray, chill streets. Portas: A great fortress-city on the old northern border, most of the pioneers and settlers that venture to the Hyperborean borderlands pass through Portas. Numerous exotic treasures and Hyperborean relics can be had there, though common supplies come dear. Treba: The lynchpin of Vitrumite river defenses against the Sathans, the war-barges of Treba travel up and down the Leucris as escorts for civilian traders and scourges for the myriad pirates that plague the river.

Vitrumite Society

The people of Vitrum see themselves as cultured, stoic warriors, a soldier-race of builders and scholars standing as a bulwark against the barbarous savagery of the Sathans and the degenerate primitivism of their Hyperborean kin. While the world would be better if Vitrum ruled it all, the Glass Emperor has enough to handle in fending off Sathan raiders and civilizing northerners. Vitrumites belong to three social classes: patrician, plebeian, and infamis. The patricians consist of the ancient noble families of the empire and their merchant-prince peers, the plebeians are the common folk, and the infames are slaves, adventurers, criminals, actors, entertainers, pimps, prostitutes, gladiators, and others who are either legally degraded or perform “useless” or “frivolous” labors. Patrician families fill the rosters of imperial officials, senators, generals, higher military officers, and other positions of power. A family can fall from this status if it goes too long without an important official from their number, and a plebeian family can rise if it accumulates enough wealth to number among the merchant-princes. Every plebeian family chooses a patrician patron, paying regular courtesy visits to their estate, performing minor favors and tasks, and supporting whatever senatorial candidates their patron might back. In return, the patron can be expected to give them preferential employment, protection from exploitation, and opportunities for their most capable members to serve as functionaries. Most patricians have hundreds of plebeian families in patronage, their clients shifting with time. The infames are barred from any official office, cannot offer testimony in lawsuits, and are subject to beatings and other corporeal punishments from their masters or offended officials. While most infames live degraded and poverty-stricken lives, the most successful actors, entertainers, and gladiators can win empire-wide renown and stand as social peers of the greatest… at least until their fame wanes. An infamis can escape from their status only through the direct order of an imperial senator. Slavery is commonplace in Vitrum, with numerous Sathan or Hyperborean prisoners sent to labor in the mines of the Thunderthrones or work the plantations of the northern plains. Such laborers lead short, bitter lives as a rule. Vitrumite slaves reduced to their condition by debt or crime are usually reserved for craftwork, tutoring, or house labor, and live far more comfortably. Patrician families employ scores in their villas, and many of their children are raised by slave nursemaids and tutors. A considerable percentage of Vitrum’s population are freedmen and freedwomen, former slaves manumitted by their owners in their will or by favor. These freedmen are inevitably in a client relationship with their former master. They often serve as representatives, overseers, and managers for their patrons, and can hold tremendous personal power through their relationships. It’s not unknown for a freedman’s family to rise to the patricianship after a discreet delay of a few generations.

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Government and Law

The supreme autocrat of Vitrum is its emperor, chosen to rule for life from among the Senate by its hundred members. Elections spawn schemes until the very day of the vote, as ancient law requires that a random senator be executed after each round of voting until unanimity is reached. Few patricians are inclined to be on the weaker side, though there have been occasions where a spiteful minority has held out in hopes of the executioner’s lot falling on a particularly hated rival clique. Senators themselves are drawn from a hundred traditional tower-city districts, almost all of which have long ago lost their ancestral glass spires to the ravages of time and war. Adult plebeian citizens within a district are allowed to vote as they wish in the once-per-three-year elections, but votes are public, and clients know better than to back anyone their patron would not see elected. The Glass Emperor has theoretically unlimited power, but the sheer weight of patrician influence present in the Senate requires a certain delicacy if their position is not to be rendered open once more. Most emperors rely on a solid core of support from a particular senatorial clique and use their extended influence to ensure that imperial decrees are honored. While a senator has great authority in their home domain, the pleasures and necessities of politics often keep them in the capital. Almost all employ a trusted freedman as a steward, and the venality and greed of these viceroys is notorious. Many areas of Vitrum are under what amounts to martial law, with most of the northern Leucris riverbank sectioned off into garrison forts responsible for fending off Sathan raiders and protecting river traffic. The local fort commanders have absolute authority within these regions, subject only to the orders of the Senate and their appointed representatives. These tribunes are often too busy to concern themselves with local malfeasance. Vitrum is a nation of many laws and numerous stern judges, its people infamous for their enthusiasm for intricate lawyering and complex contracts. This law is strong for the most part; villains take care that their wrongdoing is concealed, and even powerful patricians do not dare give their enemies the easy excuse of open crime. Corruption is more often found in tacit favors and selective blindness, with discreet or deniable sins passed over for silver or political support. Punishments in Vitrum for patricians and plebeians are limited. Fines, loss of office, degradation to a lower class, or exile are the usual penalties, with the axe reserved for treason and slavery for bankruptcy or crimes not dire enough for exile. Infames are not treated so gently, with beatings and execution both commonplace. One large exception does exist to this rigor. Any criminal who is thought capable of being useful in war is permitted to request enlistment in a penal legion or the assignment of some dangerous mission or task in lieu of punishment. Failure to perform the work is grounds for summary execution should they remain in Vitrum.

Vitrumite Religion

Vitrumites share the beliefs of their Intoner ancestors, but millenia of warfare and the rigorous suppressions of the Gaian dynasty have left the exact beliefs of those ancestors regrettably unclear. The modern belief is that the Intoners worshiped the “Great Song”, a mystical conception of reality as directed by unfathomably subtle music. Present-day Vitrumites believe the iron weft and the tower-cities were raised to more perfectly hear the Great Song and understand how best to harmonize with it. With the fall of the Intoners and the progressive decay of the Legacy, those ancient tools no longer suffice. Now many Vitrumite temples insist that it is necessary to work through the intermediation of the gods, who are able to more perfectly hear the Great Song. Every god is an emanation of some aspect of the Song, and the seeming multiplicity of deities is only a mask over a fundamental unity. Some temples established by foreigners strenuously object to this theology, the priests of the Bleeding God taking particular umbrage at it. Most imported faiths are perfectly willing to accept the local conceits, however, and seek only to present their gods as manifestations of the greatest and most important themes of the Song. The traditional imperial faith is that of the Song Undivided, of which the emperor is the arch-pontifex. The ancient temples in Cantilia and Caudium carry out rites by which the wisdom and power of the Great Song may be conferred on the emperor and his loyal servants. Even so, it has been centuries since the Glass Emperor has invoked the mighty words that the dynasty’s founder was said to have wielded. Some say the secrets have been lost, others that the Legacy has decayed, and a few whisper that the price for speaking such words is more than an emperor dares pay. Ordinary plebeians prefer to revere more approachable concepts. Isha, goddess of love and pleasures is favored by many among the wealthy, while Vestia, goddess of farm and hearth is sought by villagers for her blessings. Memnos guards the legions with his mighty spear, granting warriors strength to defend Vitrum, and Curus is beseeched by merchants and travelers to bring them luck, and wealth. Horos is the particular patron of “useful” knowledge, which includes both abstract scholarship and practical artisanry. Philosophers of the Great Song could discourse at length on how each of these gods is merely an approachable manifestation of Love, or Growth, or War, but their own priesthoods and lay enthusiasts care little for such metaphysics. Aside from “native” gods, Vitrum has a habit of collecting every deity its people find, whether the Red Gods of Sarx or the myriad god-beings of the Amundi kingdoms. Lost temples and neglected shrines can be found throughout the empire, abandoned when their deity lost its popularity or its followers were slain in war. Only the darkest and most terrible gods are forbidden in Vitrum, but that does not prevent their devotees from meeting in secret places and planning hidden deeds.

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Adventuring in Vitrum Adventurers hold a very low status in Vitrum, being generally considered on par with prostitutes and slaves. Novice freebooters can expect to be barred from patrician households, unwelcome in fine shops, and barely tolerated by the local city watchmen. A friendlier welcome awaits them from other infames and the poorer class of plebeian, who sometimes have jobs that only a fellow dreg might be willing to do for them. Successful adventurers find a different place in society. While their legal disabilities don’t change, their fame and obvious capability wins them courtesy and interest from patricians, and more than a few offers of employment or requests for private interviews. The most successful and politically-adroit of them can hope to do enough favors for a senator to win forgiveness of their status and the rights of a plebeian. Even so, many of them are perfectly happy to content themselves with the wealth, honor, and eager paramours that glory brings.

Exploration Adventures

Vitrum’s attention is fixed on its population centers and the myriad garrison forts it has established to hold back Sathan and Hyperborean raiders. While the lands around these places are very well-scouted, terrain more than a day’s ride from a population center may not have had a human scout pass through in a year, and deep wilderness may be known only from unreliable maps made generations ago. Whole ages of war, construction, and ruin have come and gone in Vitrum and the wreckage of its passing is poorly marked on its maps. The great Borean Forest is particularly mysterious, being a favored hiding place for Sathan war parties that land from the western coast. The dangers in the forest are lightest around its periphery and worst in its dark heart, with terrible creatures from the Time of No Lords still festering in the shadow of its pines. The Thunderthrones are likewise little-explored, as the mines in its foothills are as far as most humans dare go. The constant storms around the range’s peaks discourage visitors, but legends speak of the ancient Intoner towers that await those daring enough to seek them out. Novice adventurers often prefer to go northward into Hyperborea, adventuring in the borderlands in support of the many small keeps and isolated pioneer villages there. Centuries of off-and-on warfare between the Vitrumites and the Hyperboreans have thinned many of the worst predators in the borderlands, leaving foes more amenable to a novice’s steel. Even so, there remain many terrors in the northern ranges that have left no survivors to warn of them.

Dungeon Adventures

The most common ruins in Vitrum are those of the Time of No Lords, the centuries of misery in which Vitrum was broken up into numerous squabbling city-states, all equally tormented by Sathan raiders. Even today, countless venerable ruins of glass-towered cities and towns dot the southern and western halves of Vitrum, their surface reaches usually well-plundered but their depths often unexplored. Many crude Deeps also date from this period, having been dug or opened up by Vitrumites seeking safety by crawling beneath the earth. In addition to these ruins, numerous temples can be found in the wilderness where market towns and thriving villages once stood. These temples are sometimes the only remnant of the former inhabitants, often dedicated to gods that have long since been forgotten by modern folk. The wealth of these places goes to those brave enough to seize it and strong enough to survive its taking.

Antagonists

Vitrum is a more lawful land than most in Agathon, but the dangers it holds are no less lethal to the unwary. Corrupt Officials: A well-placed magistrate or senatorial clerk can extract great wealth from their authority. So long as they don’t touch the interests of the patrician families a certain amount of abuse of their authority is tolerated. Some go far beyond this. Dark Priesthoods: Vitrumite religious tolerance leaves room for many faiths that other lands would find vile. The demon-gods of the Black Pact are not unknown here, as well as worse deities still. Most restrict their depredations to infames and those poor plebeians with negligent patrons. Renegade Commanders: Garrison fort commanders have absolute control over their military districts, and that control is sometimes greatly abused. So long as the commander keeps the Sathans out of his district, many tributes will turn a blind eye to private corruption. Sathan Raiders: Whether by sea, land, or even occasionally air, the clans of Sath Ingit have always viewed Vitrum as their lawful prey. Raider bands sometimes hole up in ruins, using them as bases of operation to torment the locals. Venal Merchants: Money is the surest way for a plebeian to lift his family into the patrician class. Vitrumite merchants are notorious for both their greed and their fondness for treacherous contracts.

119 Names in Vitrum d20

Male

Female

Example Adventurer Concepts

Surname

Places

1

Augustus

Adriana

Anchario

Altinum

2

Aurelius

Aelia

Bantio

Ansium

3

Caelius

Aemilia

Catilio

Blandona

4

Cassius

Antonia

Corfidio

Basianna

5

Constantinus Bibiana

Domitio

Campona

6

Decius

Claudia

Flaminio

Colatio

7

Felix

Clelia

Gavio

Delminium

8

Gaius

Decima

Hosidio

Epetium

9

Ignatius

Dora

Iturio

Flanona

10

Julius

Fausta

Justinio

Gorsium

11

Leo

Felicia

Lurio

Histria

12

Lucius

Flavia

Matio

Indenea

13

Magnus

Helena

Nerio

Ladesta

14

Marcus

Julia

Oclatio

Meclaria

15

Marius

Livia

Pontidio

Nedinum

16

Publius

Mirta

Quartio

Osinium

17

Quintus

Regina

Saenio

Parentium

18

Remus

Servia

Tanusio

Ramista

19

Titus

Tullia

Ulpio

Sabatinca

20

Varus

Valeria

Volusio

Virunum

Escaped slave from some grim mine or harsh plantation Hillfolk northerner come down among the soft southerners Discharged legionary with no other trade than war Scholar of the ancient Intoner nation and its arts Canny merchant familiar with the vast markets of Vitrum Judicial pleader forced to flee the outcome of a failed case Forest bandit now working on their own Skilled Vitrumite craftsman cut loose from their past employer Grubby urban criminal keeping one step ahead of the vigiles Scion of a fallen oligarch now reduced to bare penury Last survivor of a village wiped out by a Sathan raid Hard-bitten sailor of the Gebed Mur

Example Vitrum Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Things

Places

1

Sathan kha-khan on a raid

Escaped slave in need of help

The Sathans are raiding again

Glass relic of the ancient Intoners

Town forum full of arguing patricians

2

Slaver who is none too careful about their stock’s origin

Brash borderman from the northern marches

Political upheaval is threatening public order here

Book of secret lore suppressed by the Gaian dynasty

Oligarch’s villa with austere exterior and vulgar interior

3

Rapacious oligarch and his minions

Hapless oppressed merchant

A local slave uprising breaks out

Lost payroll for a local legion

Market teeming with business

4

Venal official hungry for bribes

Commoner client bereft of a patron

Arbitrary war taxes are levied

Holy relic of a forgotten god

Mine where slaves labor until death

5

Rebel leader seeking the rule of the old lord lineages

Borderland settler trying to revive a ravaged village

Able-bodied men are being forcibly impressed for war

Cache of precious ancient Intoner wares

Arena for gladiatorial games and public executions

6

Senator with a brutal hand towards rivals

Hard-up infamis trying to make a living

A senator has died suddenly, his rivals rushing for his seat

Proof of a patrician’s hidden crimes

Ruins of a Sathan-destroyed village

7

Ruthless noble patron

Secretive holder of ancient Intoner arts

A nearby fort has Hidden Sathan loot Grim and underbeen overwhelmed left behind manned border fort

8

Legion deserter turned bandit chief

Troubled priest of the Great Song

A new Intoner ruin was discovered

Legal deed to valu- Splendidly ornate able property public festival

120

THE XINDAI COMMANDERIES The spears of Xindai soldiers put the present Fifth Dynasty in place, but at a price that has left the land largely free of imperial rule. Its myriad daimyos now dispute amongst themselves over who should rule over them in place of the emperor, and its myriad peoples must endure the strife that will inevitably follow.

History

The Xindai Commanderies were a relatively late acquisition of the First Dynasty, its native regional states and their demihuman allies proving a difficult morsel for the knights of the empire to swallow. The last free city fell in 2344 BL, and numerous imperial commanders had to be established in order to hold down the sullen natives. These commanders found themselves increasingly ill-supported as the First Dynasty started to decay, and were forced to make accommodations with their subjects in order to maintain their rule. Extensive concessions were made to native customs and habits, and a certain cultural independence was developed in Xindai that can still be felt in the present day. Their ways are similar to those of the Dynasts, but never quite the same. When the Second Dynasty and its priest-emperors came into power the Xindai traditions were viewed as a fertile source of divine favor and useful theology. Numerous native shrines were sponsored by Dynastic temples and a number of syncretic deities were established. Those Golden Path teachers who managed to avoid exile to the Free Clans often found sanctuary in the hills of Xindai, and their work among the common folk spread the influence of that faith further east. The Second Dynasty’s interest in theurgic magic and divine wizardry spelled its eventual collapse, as the competing temples fell to fighting with their own cadres of holy sorcerers. The hereditary commanders of Xindai had no part in that quarrel and concentrated chiefly on fortifying their own secular power. By the time the Third Dynasty seized the throne in 1530 BL, the Xindai commanders, now called “daimyos” after the native term, had a tight control on their local subjects. The wizards of the Third Dynasty found Xindai an unprofitable land. The theurgic influence of the old Second Dynasty gods and the arcane rituals of the existing demihuman clans made the Legacy stiff and uncooperative to their great Workings. Vast works of magic could still be performed with sufficient art and silver, but there was little reason to commence such work in such an unrewarding land. The sorcerer-emperors found it better to use Xindai as a commercial entryway to the Carcereal Sea and tax it for such goods as it could bring. When the Third Dynasty eventually tore itself apart in wizardly disputes in 790 BL, the bureaucratic Fourth Dynasty that followed found Xindai’s disorder offensive. The numerous daimyos were almost independent, respecting only brute force or glittering inducement.

Knowing that constant vigilance would be required to keep them tame, the Fourth Dynasty established a “shogun” to rule as a direct representative of the throne. The Fourth Dynasty began in strength, and so too did its shogun. The daimyo wars were ended, peace and culture was encouraged, and a strict system of social rules and personal standing was established in order to regulate the interactions of the citizenry. When a circle of exiled Nakadi sorcerers from Runom arrived with their beastman servants in 720 BL, the shogun received a new host of useful subjects. Most consider this “First Shogunate” to be the golden age of Xindai. Just as the other dynasties, however, the Fourth’s power waned with time. In 490 BL the Hironaka family was able to persuade the throne to make the shogunate hereditary rather than set by imperial appointment. This persuasion was thought to have involved extensive amounts of bribery and blackmail involving the imperial household bureau, but it allowed them to pass the shogunate down to their heirs for generations afterwards. The wealth and focus needed to manage the imperial bureaucrats detracted from the shogun’s control of his restive daimyos. Ancient clans scented new opportunities, and the shogun gradually found his authority being clipped by a simple lack of resources. The imperials to the west kept demanding consideration for their leniency, and those favors never came cheap. Compromises had to be made with the daimyos in order to keep their tribute flowing upward. By 110 AL, the shogunate had become a trophy for the most powerful clans of Xindai. Assassination, forced resignations, rank bribery, and the occasional futile attempt at a shared rotation of rule had all ensured that the shogun’s position was largely an empty one. In the centuries that followed a brilliant incumbent could sometimes yank back more or less of their lost authority, but such periods of stability were always brief. By 605 AL, even this thin pretense of authority was lost. The Fourth Dynasty’s sclerotic collapse in 802 AL was partially catalyzed by tribute refusals from Xindai daimyos. An enterprising bureaucrat was able to bring enough of the daimyos together to topple the last rotten remnants of the Fourth and put his clan on the throne as the progenitors of the Fifth Dynasty. This aid did not come for free. The first emperor of the dynasty was forced to forswear all but purely nominal obedience from Xindai, leaving the daimyos largely to their own devices. In the three centuries since, the struggle for one clan to establish itself as the preeminent force in the commanderies and the rightful new shogun has consumed hundreds of thousands of lives. Daimyo clans rise, prosper, and are extinguished in the course of a few generations, victims of hostile alliances or military misjudgment. Few can imagine that an end to this conflict will come any time soon.

121

Geography

Xindai is a temperate land, subtropical in the north near the Gadavin border, but soon giving way to a four-seasons climate around Kitada. East of the Nakanos the ocean breezes bring a month-long rainy season in summer, while the western side of the mountains is much drier aside from the fierce winter snows that often close the mountain passes. These mountains split Xindai in half, sprawling out in a great quilt of eroded peaks and deep green hollows. Many demihuman villages can be found in these secluded vales, conducting such trade with the outside world as necessity and daimyo taxes require. Baseline villages can be found there as well, though most prefer to live in the range’s southwestern foothills, where the soil is richer. This lowland abundance comes at the price of easier access for bandits and tax collectors. This mountain range forms the primary obstacle between the old coastal capital of Sakurai and the riches of the Kurao river cities, fat with Dynastic trade. Most overland trade goes south through Kurikoma, its daimyo rich from the tariff he takes. A few daring merchants prefer the northern route as being cheaper and faster, though the perils of Gadavin swamp monsters are considerable. The two great eastern forests of Xindai are dotted with farming villages, their fields carved out of the dangerous wilds and guarded from evil by myriad shrines and temples. Alas, this defense is not always enough.

People of Xindai

The average Xindai commoner looks much like their Dynast cousins to the west, albeit sometimes a little taller and paler. Small signs of demihuman blood are not uncommon among the lower classes, though the daimyo clans are more fastidious about keeping to their own kind. To foreigners, the most remarkable fact about the people of Xindai is that so many of them are demihuman. Over thirty different species of demihuman are recognized in the commanderies, many of them the descendants of the Runomian slaves brought over by fleeing Nakadi exiles. While those malign sorcerers are no more than an evil legend now, their beastfolk servants have multiplied and prospered in Xindai. As in other nations, most demihumans keep to their own isolated communities, where they can live under laws suited to their natures. It’s not unknown for small numbers of them to be found in cities, however, or a sprinkling to make homes in human villages. Their strange ways often provoke wariness from their human neighbors, but few are genuinely feared. Foreign humans can often have a harder time fitting in in Xindai than red-horned oni or long-eared rabbitfolk. There are large numbers of merchants in the river-cities and coastal towns, but outsiders often struggle to understand the complicated web of favors, grudges, and ancestral history between local clans. Such ignorance can result in catastrophic mistakes.

122

Demography

Most suppose the commanderies to number perhaps ten million citizens between its many small villages and numerous major cities. Perhaps a twentieth of these subjects are demihumans of one kind or another, though larger numbers might exist in secluded villages or remote communities. There has been no coherent demihuman organization since the “Oni Shogunate” of 520 AL, and most now try to avoid unnecessary involvement with human political concerns.

Cities and Towns

Xindai has relatively few large cities compared to the Dynastic successor-states. It has been centuries since there was a strong central power to protect large urban population centers and those that remain are often tattered and worn by generations of sieges and changing lordship. The vast majority of Xindai live in farming villages or modest market towns, with even daimyos dwelling in fortified country estates. Even so, some remaining cities have special importance in modern Xindai. Hatayama: Sitting at the mouth of one of the few seasonal passes over the Nakanos, Hatayama is a famous forge-city that supports numerous mines. Kitada: The greatest trade-city in Xindai, Kitada sits across the bank from the Dynast city of Rudai, a constant stream of barges bringing western wealth eastward. Its Sugiwara daimyo is often called “the shogun of the west”, and is thought to have ambitions for more. Kurikoma: Guardian of the southern pass between the Nakanos and the Shining Peaks, its Taira lords are cruelly grasping in their trade tariffs. Smugglers often risk the dangers of the mountains to slip past the city. Nishiwaga: Chief city of the southeastern coast, Nishiwaga takes in Tseban trade and forest village produce. Its Amago rulers have been fighting the Hatano lords of Sakurai for centuries over claims of primacy, and their “privateers” are thick on the seas. Odaira: Once the richest city in Xindai, Odaira fell into poverty when the Polop seized the Gadavin coast and shut them off from the Atlantean trade. Now it serves as a jumping-off point for expeditions into the northern swamps and a waystation for merchants willing to dare the northern route past the Nakanos. Sakurai: Once the seat of the Shogunate, Sakurai prides itself on its ancient splendors, yet its magnificent palaces and exquisite shrines lie empty now, abandoned after constant warfare and raiding incursions. Only the “port city” is still active, a heavily-defended ward that oversees the sea trade with Atlantis. Yuza: Xindai’s gate to the Vermillion Sea, Yuza also serves as a major naval base against Free Clan pirates and Hantu raiders.

Xindai Society

Xindai social mores are similar to those of the Fifth Dynasty, with a heavy focus on familial responsibility and clan cohesiveness. Unlike their neighbors, however, Xindai has never been ruled by a bureaucratic intelligentsia. There are no imperial examinations here, despite centuries of efforts by reformers, and a talented commoner cannot expect to get ahead by study. The daimyos rule by lineage, wealth, and steel. Learning is merely a useful adornment to military success. As such, a Xindai commoner is much more dependent on the help of his neighbors and his extended clan. With few prospects for individual advancement, he must focus instead of improving the position of his group. Individual wishes and preferences must be sacrificed for the common good whenever they threaten to drag down the rest. Xindai society is split into several social classes, each with shared duties and expectations. The warrior gentry rule, the commoner farmers feed them, the artisans and merchants ensure that others are equipped to do their work, and the priests and monks stand outside society while propitiating the gods and spirits. Slavery as such is unknown, but servants and commoners have no real rights save those they can defend with violence. Movement between classes is difficult, but not impossible. Even a peasant farmer can join the warrior class if he can find weapons and a lord to serve with them, and any sufficiently talented, devout, or generous petitioner can find space in a shrine or temple. Further success generally hinges on useful clan ties or exceptional ability. The traditional virtues of a commoner are industry, stoicism, filiality, and self-sacrifice. For the warrior gentry of the daimyo clans, their glory lies in martial skill, cunning, devotion to their lord, and contempt for personal suffering. Needless to say, this difference often brings grief to the commoners, and few peasants wish to spend any more time around the gentry than they must. This tense relationship is especially sharp when dealing with masterless warriors, men and women who are notorious for their thieving and violent ways. A daimyo must sometimes shrink his household considerably when harvests fail or a war is unsuccessful, and their castoff warriors often become serious problems for surrounding villages and communities. It’s not uncommon for masterless warriors to be “hired” by a community simply to focus their depredations on a different village. Adventurers are often taken into service on the same terms, paid to handle local problems on the presumption that either they’ll succeed or they’ll die and spare the village trouble. Shrine high priests and temple abbots often act as mediators between commoner groups and their daimyo lords. Even hardened bandits fear to harm a priest or monk, and Golden Path temple membership is often made up of both commoners and retired gentry with ties to both sides of a dispute.

123

Government and Law

Xindai government is centered around the hundreds of daimyo families that cover the land. While most families make much of their ancient antecedents, most are simply the heirs of charismatic warriors who were cunning or lucky enough to kill off their local rivals. Any warrior can become a daimyo if he can seize the tax rights over land and hold them from his grasping neighbors. Every daimyo’s power rests in a standing army of warriors, whether long-standing family retainers or hireling swordsmen who serve only for monthly payment. These armies are paid for with taxes extracted from the families subject to the daimyo’s rule. Tax rights in Xindai are separate from land ownership. It’s perfectly possible for a daimyo to only technically own the land their estate stands upon, yet have rights to the rice, labor, and handicraft taxes set on the peasants for miles around. The exact details of who owns what property is of little interest to most of them so long as the tax quota is filled. In theory, tax rights are assigned by the shogun. In practice, they are assigned by threatening to kill the owner if taxes are not forthcoming. Peasants caught between rival daimyo families have a wretched lot, with most of them left only with their bare lives if neither lord wishes to bother with finding another peasant to work the land. Even so, summary executions to encourage their neighbors are not uncommon. Temples, shrines, and their attendant peasants were often made tax-exempt by ancient shoguns, and a combination of long tradition and heavily-armed monastic militias generally ensures their claims. Much like daimyos, their abbots and abbesses have absolute authority over their commoner tax-subjects, their lives and property subject to the temple’s discretion. Both daimyos and abbots are almost always allied with greater lords. Daimyos usually pay court to the most powerful lord in a region, sending tribute and fighting in his wars in exchange for his friendship and protection. Abbots are either allied to the head of the family that first founded their temple or subject to a local daimyo powerful enough to protect their rights. There are virtually no governmental officials at the village level. Each community has a set tax quota to fill, and so long as they pay it and stay quiet, the daimyo has no interest in their private affairs. A village elder usually acts as the intermediary with the daimyo’s tax officials, with crimes and disputes handled by the senior members of the richer village families. If adventurers, bandits, or other troubles plague a village the first response will be from the villagers themselves, most of whom are at least slightly acquainted with warfare. If the problem is too big for them to handle, a petition may be sent to the daimyo for the help of his soldiers, though the price of this can be more than a village wishes to pay. From time to time the daimyo can spare no forces, and the villagers must find what help they can and pay what they must to get it.

Xindai Religion

Xindai’s major religious traditions trace back to the Second Dynasty and the great support for local temples and faiths that their priest-emperors provided. Numerous ancient temples and monastic structures date back to that era, and a number have still-functional Workings related to their defense. Xindai’s common faith is a syncretic blend of Golden Path temples and animistic shrines, the latter revering local nature spirits and the gods of harvest, warfare, healing, and other human concerns. Practically every region has its own local deities, some of which are taken to be manifestations of greater gods or servants or attendants of mightier powers. All require regular rituals of propitiation, and village shrines have a busy schedule of rites throughout the year. These rites are usually peaceful, but in times of disaster or plague some shrines will resort to redder sacrifices. While shrines are responsible for receiving the prayers of the faithful and providing day-to-day divine favors, the temples of the Golden Path have a special focus on funerary rites and the provision of a kinder future reincarnation for devotees. They also provide miracles and wonders to those of sufficient faith or generosity, with actual sorcerers sometimes found within their monastic ranks. Two distinct classes of clergy are recognized in Xindai. Shrines are managed by male and female priests and often employ specialist ritualists and exclusively-female shamans. Temples are populated either by male or female monks and overseen by an abbot or abbess. Some temples and shrines have special relationships with senior institutions and are obedient to their wishes, but most are largely independent. Aside from these institutional clergy, there are significant numbers of forest hermits, wandering nuns, mountain sages, and other isolated practitioners, some with strange and occult powers. Natives see no inherent contradictions between spirit-worship and the Golden Path, and it is perfectly normal for a devout Xindai to contribute to shrine festivals on one day, pray for liberation from reincarnation at a temple the next, and have his funeral officiated over by Golden Path monks at his end. Some local shrines go so far as to have attached Golden Path temples, the monks often crediting the local god as a Liberator who has simply assumed a divine guise to aid lesser mortals. Becoming a priest is often a matter of familial inheritance, but anyone with sufficient talent and ritual skill might be accepted into a shrine. Monks come from the ranks of wealthy oblates, retired gentry, talented commoners, and the relatives of the temple’s founders. Daimyo families often have deep ties with particular shrines and temples, their priests and abbots taken exclusively from their own kindred and their lands worked for the profit of both shrine and noble family. The clergy of these places sometimes come to outright violence with other fanes not over any doctrinal differences, but because of the clashing interests of their rival patrons.

124

Adventuring in Xindai Adventurers are viewed with wary suspicion by most Xindai commoners, many of which have a hard time distinguishing them from ordinary wandering mercenaries. Most villagers and townsmen will assume that they are brutish, violent, and untrustworthy until proven otherwise. It’s not difficult to find paying work in most places, but the fees are usually offered more in the spirit of an extortion victim than an employer, and few villagers would weep if the PCs died before they could collect. Daimyos and other gentry will tend to treat adventurers in the same vein, as disposable assets to be aimed at problems that can be solved by violence. Capable heroes can expect excellent pay, but few lords would risk taking adventurers into their confidence when long-time family retainers are available. Most are simply hired until they find better pay elsewhere or die in the daimyo’s service. Ultimately, a powerful adventuring band might be able to seize a daimyo’s land, if they can hold off any patrons or kinsmen long enough or if they can acquire enough backing from existing lords. While such outsiders may be sorely lacking in Xindai social graces, the ability to take land and hold it is the only quality that is mandatory for a daimyo. It will likely be virtue enough for their neighbors.

Exploration Adventures

Not all daimyos are inclined to brutal oppression of their commoner subjects and the extraction of every possible cupful of rice from their stores, but these gentler lords seldom last long amid their ruthless rivals. The uniformity of harsh treatment in civilized lands has led to many commoners fleeing into the wilderness, to dwell deep within the forests or high in the mountain valleys where tax collectors seldom dare go. Adventurers who press into the trackless wilderness might come across these villages, some of which might be populated entirely by demihumans. Other explorers might find the ruins of daimyo estates, abandoned monasteries, lost shrines, and other sad detritus of the centuries of warfare in Xindai. Numerous ancient cities have long since been destroyed by the conflict, and with the loss of life and the destruction of historical records, more than a few have been entirely forgotten by modern-day Xindai. Some of the relics and treasures to be found there were commonplace during the golden age of the Shogunate, but have long since become scarce and precious in the present day. The two great forests of the east and the Nakano mountains are the least-known regions of Xindai. While coastal lords and provincial daimyos have a firm grasp on nearby villages, the depths of the forest and the heights of the mountains hide untold treasures from ages past. Sufficiently bold heroes might yet salvage treasures there from a happier age.

Dungeon Adventures

The wilderness holds numerous examples of ruined monasteries and broken castles, any of which are usually worth investigation by a band of adventurers. Centuries of bandits, monsters, and renegades have laired in such places, and their belongings are often left behind. Deeps are less common in Xindai, most of them having been broken open and looted long ago by greedy warriors or bold peasants. Even so, the Nakanos are said to have a considerable number of ancient fastnesses that were never plundered by the lowlanders. Aside from ruins in the wilderness, almost all cities have at least one ruined district or ravaged suburb, the legacy of centuries of sieges and enemy assaults. Many of these wrecked palaces, broken temples, and crumbled storehouses have been picked over thoroughly by the locals, but their relative safety makes them a popular choice for novices who do not wish to go too far from the security of civilization.

Antagonists

There are enough hazards in Xindai to satisfy any adventurer’s taste for danger. Even old allies might turn into enemies if their clan or village finds it necessary to make such unfortunate accommodations. Corrupt Abbots: Some abbots and high priests care only for personal profit and the advancement of their patron family. Their resources and magical talents are often turned to dark purposes. Desperate Villagers: When tax quotas are too high or starvation threatens, villagers have been known to perform terrible deeds for the sake of survival. Many robber bands on the roads are nothing more than local peasants working an off-season job. Evil Merchants: The most successful merchants in Xindai are those with the fewest scruples. Dark bargains with daimyos give them license to savagely exploit the locals in exchange for increased tax revenue, and they often employ large numbers of hireswords. Mercenary Chiefs: Wandering warriors sometimes flock to the banner of some charismatic sellsword, offering “protection” to villagers for a fee. Most are ill-fed and savage, quick to turn on any potential source of profit. Monstrous Spirits: Not all the spirits in Xindai are placated by the local shrines. Fell and terrible entities stalk the mountains and deep forests, and some desperate commoners barter with them for black favors. Ruthless Daimyos: Many of Xindai’s lords have only a provisional interest in the wellbeing of their own subjects, let alone foreign adventurers. Most are perfectly willing to inflict whatever evils prove profitable on such lordless warriors.

125 Names in the Commanderies d20

Surname

Male

Example Adventurer Concepts

Female

Places

1

Abe

Asuka

Aiko

Aogashima

2

Arai

Ayumu

Akari

Higashi

3

Ashikaga

Goro

Chiaki

Hiraya

4

Fukuda

Haruto

Chika

Ikusaka

5

Hiramatsu

Ichiro

Emi

Katashina

6

Imagawa

Jiro

Hana

Kiso

7

Kamo

Junpei

Haruka

Kitagawa

8

Kazoku

Katashi

Hikari

Kurotaki

9

Kikuchi

Kazuki

Hoshiko

Makkari

10

Matsui

Kenji

Izumi

Miho

11

Nakano

Kenshin

Kanako

Miyada

12

Niwata

Masaru

Kasumi

Miyake

13

Noguchi

Minoru

Keiko

Nakagawa

14

Omura

Osamu

Mai

Oshika

15

Ota

Rin

Midori

Sarabetsu

16

Rokkaku

Shigeru

Moriko

Takagi

17

Shirakawa

Shohei

Murasaki

Tarama

18

Tachibana

Taichi

Suzume

Tokashiki

19

Tokuso

Takashi

Tomoe

Yahiko

20

Watabe

Yuto

Yui

Yugawa

Peasant driven off their land by cruel exactions Merchant beggared by rapacious local daimyo Monk forced to leave their temple due to fighting Common warrior dreaming of glory as a self-made daimyo Scholar trained at an isolated temple Wandering monk who relishes the freedom of travel Shrine priest forced out by political troubles Last scion of a collapsed daimyo clan Forest bandit with aspirations for a greater and more splendid life Combat-trained monastic soldier cut loose by their home temple Skilled cavalry scout hiring out to the best bidder Disgraced warrior without a living lord

Names are given in Surname-Given order.

Example Xindai Tag Elements d8

Enemies

Friends

Complications

Back-country demi- A sudden war human oblivious to breaks out be“city ways” tween neighbors

Things Precious relic of a famous and powerful shogun

Places

1

Brutal daimyo with no regard for commoner lives

Splendid wooden country palace of a rich daimyo

2

Grasping abbot of a wealthy temple

Idealistic young wandering warrior

Miracles happen at Peerless sword of a the nearby temple now-dead clan

Burnt-over wreck of a pillaged hamlet

3

Peasant bandit chief with a grudge towards the world

Fretful abbot trying to make peace

The local lord has A dead daimyo’s died suddenly with- hidden treasure out a clear heir trove

Crumbling, dangerous suburbs of a decaying city

4

Elusive assassin clan head

Sophisticated city courtesan

A local shrine’s god Exquisite painting has been angered by a dead master

Elegantly graceful temple

5

Savage demihuman war chief

Young heir beset by Warrior extortionbrotherly rivals ists seek tribute

Holy object sacred to a grim god

Humble wooden hermit’s hut

6

Daimyo’s pet merchant

Poor merchant trying to get by

A strange local festival is in full swing

A heavy haul of mislaid tax silver

Subdued country tea house

7

Village headman who cares nothing for strangers’ lives

Genuinely well-meaning lord in need of help

Two rival clans are carrying out a deniable war

Blackmail on a promising heir to the local daimyo

Austere but lovely shrine to an important local god

8

Mad monk with a vile new faith

Hard-bitten warrior Monsters have with a noble cause closed a vital road

Venerated remains of a holy monk

Unimportant but bloody battlefield

126

YAIN The last coherent remnant of the once-great Logomachy of Nakad, the sorcerers of Yain are locked in a perpetual struggle with their crazed brethren in the Godblight and their implacable foes in Sarx. Only their well-guarded sorcery and the might of their flying navy spares them from certain destruction.

History

The Logomachy of Nakad collapsed in 378 BL, when the eidolons of the Gods of Truth turned on their priestly masters and smashed their innumerable temple-laboratories. The few surviving Word Priests fled to the hinterlands that became the Godblight or to the isolated scholastic monasteries of the Nakadi province of Yain. Yain had traditionally been a dumping-ground for misfit priests and the surviving losers of the incessant struggles between the clergy of the Gods of Truth. The temples there were forbidden to raise eidolons and were allowed to study only those arts too petty or too obscure to ever threaten the rule of the southern clergy. That forbiddance spared them the horror of the unleashed godthings that scourged Nakad and left their peasant infrastructure intact and capable of providing for the refugees. Back in the former heartland of Nakad, the surviving slaves and seneschals had joined together into the modern nation of Sarx, determined to erase forever the last traces of the Gods of Truth and their despised clergy. The zealots of the Godblight struck back against them, and for centuries Yain kept as low a profile as it could, laboring feverishly to stitch together some sort of defense before the Sarxians got around to dealing with them. The success of their efforts was demonstrated in 105 AL, when a Sarxian invasion fleet was broken and driven back by a coordinated navy of seagoing warships and aerial scouting pinnaces. The Yainish witchsailors dealt Sarx such a heavy blow that it was decades until a second serious attempt was made to land an invasion force. This second armada knew enough of Yainish arts to make it a harder-fought battle, but in the end its bronze-mailed soldiers were plunged to the bottom of the Bight of Nakad amid the wreckage of their ships. In the thousand years since there have been sixteen major Sarxian assaults on Yain, some of which were successful enough to briefly establish coastal footholds or wipe out major monasteries. The number of lesser campaigns and privateer fleets that have sailed against Yain are without number, and this unceasing struggle is the fundamental focus of Yainish society. To the north, the beastriders of Sath Ingit are a constant threat as well, less bloodthirsty than the Sarxians but closer to hand, with aerial riders to threaten skyships. To the west, the temples of the Godblight acknowledge no kinship with the Yainish, but have use for them as a buffer against Sarx. Other nations think little of Yain, save as the source of their wondrous ships.

Yainish People and Government

The Yainish are drawn from the same pale stock as Sarx and the Godblight, but with a mix of Sath Ingit blood from centuries of raids, slaving, and occasional trade. Their “landwrap” clothing is scarcely more than belts and decorative temple-marks, but their witchsailors don heavy coats and trousers against the aerial chill. Yainish government is centered around ancient scholarly monasteries, each headed by an abbot or abbess. Arch-abbots rule monasteries capable of crafting skyships, with lesser temples vowing fealty in exchange for membership in their fleet. Each abbot rules with the aid of naval theologians, engineer-priests, temple guard captains, and other experts pledged to the temple. Yain is a meritocracy by necessity, and even the best bloodlines win only opportunity rather than certain advancement. Yainish temples theoretically revere the same Gods of Truth that their ancestors did, with the same zeal for arcane experimentation. In practice, everything related to god-eidolons and the more inhuman sorcery of the ancients is strictly forbidden as being a blasphemous intrusion on the gods, sure to bring a second catastrophe on them all. A particular sect of priest-assassins, the Sodality of the Seventh Knife, is charged with eliminating anyone who would resurrect the old arts. These “seveners” are perhaps more effective at eliminating Word Priests than their Sarxian inquisitorial counterparts. Life for the common folk of Yain is loud, violent, and exuberant. Everyone knows that the Sarxians will never rest until every man, woman, and child in Yain is dragged to the altars, and the people are greedy for every delight they can take from a temporary life. They can be cruel in their appetites, thinking nothing of slaving or piracy, but their wrongdoings are human hungers rather than the commandments of their gods.

Adventuring in Yain

Outsiders often seek Yainish skyships, and it is not impossible for a sufficiently wealthy and useful foreigner to gain such a vessel from a grateful arch-abbot. The need for a Yainish crew of trained witchsailors to keep it flying, however, means that the largest warships can be obtained only through heroic deeds of aid and wide alliances. Seabound heroes can find work aboard Yainish privateers who hunt Sarxian traders or venture to the perilous islands of the Bight of Nakad. Most outsiders can reach Yain only through its coastal monastery-cities, as the overland routes are blocked by mountains, madmen, or savage Sathan clans. A few catch rides aboard skyships, but such vessels are seldom seen outside Yain. Within the borders of Yain there are numerous ruined monasteries, some destroyed by Sarxian invaders and others lost to disasters before the fall of Nakad. Their riches are considerable, but so too are their perils.

127

YAMAD’S BONES Legends speak of drowned Yamad as being the birthplace of human rebellion against Outsider rule, a valiant nation of long-lost artifices and mighty sorceries plunged into the sea by alien retaliation. Today it is no more than a pile of sea-swamped wreckage and a boggy lowland infested with Anak pirates and curdled magic.

History

The legends of Yamad are numerous and largely contradictory, extending to that unknowable period before the Colligation of Epochs. Most speak of a great human rebellion along the coast of Agathon, with a vast subterranean Deep disgorging uncounted millions of rebels to destroy their hated alien masters. Unable to stem the human tide, the Outsiders plunged the entire eastern coastline of Agathon into the sea, leaving only the highest regions to form the present archipelago. Since the beginning of recorded history and the first voyages of Old Carcean explorers, Yamad’s Bones have been covered in the ruins of hundreds, if not thousands, of ancient ruined cities. Massive towers, bizarre ribbons of concrete and bitumen, and unfathomable edifices of iron and glass are all crammed against each other as if some giant scooped them up and piled them carelessly atop the islands. Inexplicable engines of broken metal are scattered in the streets, and signs of some tremendous struggle are written in broken buildings and cratered streets. None of it resembles anything found elsewhere in Agathon. Compounding this strangeness is the “Stillness” that covers the isles. This chronal aberration greatly slows the rust and decay of all materials around Yamad, prolonging the process almost indefinitely. Early Carcean explorers spoke of intact human corpses wearing bizarre clothing and unrusted wreckage. Even thousands of years later,

the yellowed bones of these dead can still be found intact. The Stillness does not appear to have any effect on living things, but it allows the persistence of artifacts that would otherwise have been dust for ages. This mix of unnatural wreckage, sea-swept desolation, and dubious sorcery has kept all but the most reckless souls well away from Yamad’s cursed shores. Even so, the pirates of Shinbu Anak often set up havens along the western shores, the better to prey on coastal traders and mainland towns. Other exiles have also sought refuge on these islands, dwelling in the dust of the dead and eking out a life on raw fish and rainwater. Some of these are sorcerers in search of Yamad’s ancient chronal sorceries and the secret behind its palimpsest cities. Few of them are courteous toward strangers.

Adventuring on Yamad’s Bones

There are precious few secure bases for exploration on Yamad’s Bones. A handful of wretched fishing villages cling to the coast, too poor and too vicious to interest pirates, and they can sometimes be persuaded to assist outsiders in exchange for food and aid. Other tribes dwell deeper in the waterlogged mazes of iron and stone, some reputed to descend from Yamad’s original inhabitants. Their habits are savage beyond belief, warring over resources preserved by the Stillness and eating their unrotting dead. Leftover Outsider warbeasts have also formed breeding populations on the isles, to say nothing of sorcerous guardians left behind by long-dead wizards and explorers. Even so, a few reckless adventurers are willing to risk the pirates, cannibals, and mad wizards of these isles in order to plunder their hidden wealth. The artifices of the ancients may no longer function due to the Legacy, but their jewelry and fine adornments are precious still.

128

Languages of the West Adventurers must often deal with novel tongues in their travels. This section discusses the particulars of those languages which are most commonly encountered in the western hemisphere of the Latter Earth.

Learning A Language

During character creation, a PC begins play knowing their mother tongue and a trade cant appropriate to the region. In addition, they learn additional languages based on their Know and Connect skills; level-0 in one of them grants one more language, and level-1 grants two. Thus, a PC with Connect-0 and Know-1 would know three additional languages. Assuming a PC has no special aptitude for learning languages such as a Bard possesses, they can learn a new language to minimal functional adequacy by spending a month immersed in a culture where it is used. Trade languages, being much simpler than most, can be adequately mastered in two weeks of immersive study. Without immersion, it’s six months of study over the appropriate books and manuals, less one month per level of Know; an adept with Know-3 could learn Archaic Sonos in three months. Adventurers can carry out normal adventures and activities while learning a language, assuming they’re not entirely kept from their studies. When and whether a PC gains native fluency in a language is up to the GM’s discretion, and will likely depend on how much time the PC spends in a given culture.

Major Language Families

There are innumerable local tongues and minor language groups to be found on the two continents, but a few families are important enough to bear some mention to curious scholars and rapacious adventurers. Every language noted here has half a hundred dialects, regional variants, and modes, but knowing one version of Western Sonos is generally enough to understand the others. Archaic Sonos was the language of the Intoners, the great tower-builders of the First Age. It later splintered into the Northern Sonos family spoken by the Hyperborean tribes and the Western Sonos spoken in Vitrum and among commoners of the Black Pact. A southern branch of the language had considerable influence on the development of Nakadi, but is now spoken as a mother tongue only by the warrior clans of Sath Ingit. Archaic Dynastic was the First Age forerunner of perhaps the most widely-spoken family of languages in the western hemisphere. As the language of the First Dynasty, its inscriptions can be found on ruins from the southern Gyre to the southernmost tip of Gyarus, and it is still used as a living language by the tradition-bound knightly clans of Maqqatba. It gave way to Classical Dynastic during the Second Dynasty, and this later tongue became the recognized elite speech and court language of the later dynasties. Classical Dynastic persists in Hantu

as the common speech, as that province has always prided itself on its “pure Dynastic culture”. Western Dynastic was influenced by the languages of the Free Clans, and is generally only spoken there and in western Hantu. The Eastern Dynastic spoken in Xindai is substantially different, being strongly shaped by Old Xindai and a large number of Archaic Dynastic words. On Atba Sim, there’s a version of Dynastic spoken that has many of the elements of Archaic Dynastic blended with the Abased slave-tongue imposed on humanity by Outsider overseers. The northern folk-dialect of Classical Dynastic is simply known as “Modern Dynastic” due to the primacy of its Fifth Dynasty speakers. Even so, a simplified “low” version of it colored by numerous loan-words from Old Carcean and now-dead Llumish has become the primary trade argot of the southern continent, with speakers to be found in almost every nation south of the Gyre. Old High Amundi is unusual in that it was an ancient trade tongue among the proto-Amundi city-states that was gradually elevated into an elite language by the virtue of age. Its most lively modern heirs are the Qasiri and Nabarun languages of the present Amundi kingdoms, and the Amundi Cant that is the predominant trade language of the northern continent. Old Carcean was derived from the slave-tongue of the Outsider servitors of the ancient island of Carce. With the downfall of their former masters, it became their common argot and is still preserved by the Zakathi demihuman Task-Houses. Later admixture with the Saidas spoken by the Saiden newcomers to the island produced the Atlantean language now spoken most often on that island. The “True Zakathi” of Kytheron use Old Carcean as a court language, though most of them use Marchensprach or Modern Riu to talk to their servants. Tseban is the mother-tongue of natives of Tseb Hwii, derived chiefly from Classical Dynastic with a strong mix of Old Indur grammar. The “Low Tseban” spoken by the commoners of Tseb Hwii is distinguished from the “Esoteric Tseban” spoken by the wizards and elite slaves of the ruling class. The latter is a semi-ritualized tongue that supposedly enhances the speaker’s spiritual powers. Necrolect was the universal language of the undead-ruled Pale Empire, and supposedly a tongue of great magical potency. It continues to be the speech of the Black Pact’s elite and the Still Cities, as well as most of the Sunward Isles. It later developed into Suldanti, the language spoken by the Green Priests of the Suldant Theocracy who descended from Pale refugees. Nakadi was the linguistic offspring of Southern Sonos and the now-lost Stormtongue of the Tempest Horde. Once the common speech of the Logomachy of Nakad, it is now found only in Yain and the Godblight. A rigid and complex version of it, “Hieratic Nakadi” is still spoken by the sinister Word Priests of the latter state.

129 Nation or Region

Languages Spoken By Some Group There

Amundi Kingdoms

Amundi Cant, Old High Amundi*§, Court Riu§ (Pelegrin), Modern Riu (Pelegrin, Vois), Marchensprach (Ostmark), Qasiri (Qasir, Mishar) , Fidaen (Fidach), Nabarun (Nabardura)

The Anak Wastes

Anak Speech, Low Dynastic, Modern Dynastic

Aristoi Principalities

Aristoi, Amundi Cant, Anak Speech

Atba Sim

Atban Dynastic, Archaic Dynastic*, Low Tseban

Atlantis

Atlantean, Predecessant§, Old Carcean (Zakathi, rural communities), Abased*, Saidas (Saiden communities)

The Black Pact

Western Sonos, Necrolect*§, Archaic Sonos*, Lengish, Modern Riu

The Bluecrowns

Low Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*, Numerous isolated colonial and pirate tongues

The Choking Dunes

Javairi, Low Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*, Windtongue*

Couront

Modern Riu, Amundi Cant, Court Riu§

The Far Wastes

Northern Sonos (Hyperborean tribes), Western Sonos (Vitrumite merchants/miners)

The Fifth Dynasty

Modern Dynastic, Low Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*§, Archaic Dynastic*

The Free Clans

Western Dynastic, Low Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*§

The Gadavin Coast

Modern Vothian, Trade Cant, Low Dynastic, Old Vothian*, Classical Dynastic*, Abased* (Polopworshiping tribes)

The Godblight

Nakadi, Hieratic Nakadi*§ (Logomachy temples), Sarxian, Southern Sonos

The Gyre

Trade Cant, Brass Speech§ (Ka-Adun), Modern Vothian (New Voth), Emedian (Emed-Kist), Thurian (Thur), Llaigisan (Llaigis)

Hantu

Classical Dynastic*, Low Dynastic, Western Dynastic, Low Tseban

The Hundred Schools

Modern Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*, Low Dynastic, Eastern Dynastic

Kytheron

Marchensprach, Modern Riu, Old Carcean§, Amundi Cant, Atlantean

The Litten Strand

Low Dynastic, Gahak-Noq (Dwarves and elves), Numerous colonist-brought tongues

Maqqatba

Archaic Dynastic, Low Tseban, Atban Dynastic

Ninth Leng

Lengish, Holy Speech§ (Ritual usage), Western Sonos, Modern Riu, Marchensprach

Ondas

Ondasi, Old Ondasi*, Atlantean, Aldetaal (Hillfolk), Marchensprach (Southern communities)

Runom

Nakadi, Sarxian, Trade Cant, Hieratic Nakadi*

Sarx

Sarxian, Amundi Cant, Hieratic Nakadi*

Sath Ingit

Southern Sonos, Western Sonos, Amundi Cant, Necrolect*

The Scarlet Princes

Western Dynastic, Low Dynastic, Classical Dynastic*§

Shinbu Anak

Anak Speech, Aristoi, Amundi Cant, Marchensprach

The Still Cities

Necrolect*, Western Sonos

The Sunward Isles

Necrolect*, Suldanti (Bhur), Western Sonos (Traders and foreign merchants)

Tavat

Atlantean, Old Carcean*, Abased*, Amundi Cant, Trade Cant

The Tombfell

Numerous Outsider tongues, Amundi Cant, Western Sonos, Modern Riu, Abased*

Tribes of Hyperborea

Northern Sonos, Archaic Sonos*

Tseb Hwii

Low Tseban, Low Dynastic, Esoteric Tseban§, Classical Dynastic*, Old Indur*

The Verdancy

Suldanti*, Necrolect*, Archaic Sonos*

Vitrum

Western Sonos, Amundi Cant, Necrolect*, Archaic Sonos*

Xindai Commanderies

Eastern Dynastic, Low Dynastic, Nakadi (Beastfolk and Oni), Classical Dynastic*

Yain

Nakadi, Sarxian, Amundi Cant, Southern Sonos, Hieratic Nakadi*

Yamad's Bones

Anak Speech, Amundi Cant, Atlantean

The first language listed is the one most commonly known in the area, though it may not be anyone’s mother tongue. Italicized languages are mercantile cants and trade-tongues. They can be learned in minimal form in two weeks. * languages are ancient scripts and scholarly tongues, though a few nations use them as court speech or the common language § languages are court tongues used by the ruling class or local elites, though almost all speak the local argot as well

130

BEASTS AND FELL THINGS The creatures of the Latter Earth are not like the flora and fauna of the present day. The animals of modern Earth are the product of natural processes and the survivors of millenia of conflict with an overwhelmingly dominant humanity. Large predators and dangerous beasts still exist, but they are very much the exception and are of little concern to most communities. This is not the case in the Latter Earth. Humanity is not the apex predator here, and most civilizations exist only in the empty spaces ceded them by the monstrous threats that surround them. The maps may show borders, but a more careful eye inside these lines would reveal vast swaths of empty land and desolate ruins where only a handful of humans still stubbornly persist. Dense populations of humanity can only exist in certain places that are not congenial to the beasts for one reason or another. These safe zones tend to alter from time to time, and sometimes a culture is wiped off the map because of it. This constant pressure has shaped the human nations of the Latter Earth. They confine their interests to cleared and settled areas of land and to territories that are reasonably clear of monstrous beasts and terrible curses. They fight over lands that are safe to settle, and they quarrel over control of livable cities and secure towns. The rest of their territory they leave to beasts, adventurers, and the bravest of their pioneer settlers. If these forces can clear these perilous wilds of their dangers, then rich rewards await their conquerors. If they fail, there will be new challengers to try again in time.

Fell Creatures and Their Lairs

If the wilderness teems with monstrous beasts and terrible foes, how is it that any shred of civilization still stands on the Latter Earth? If a day’s ride from a farming village can put the heroes into a lethal wilderness, wouldn’t those poor farmers have long since been monster food? The real reason they persist, of course, is because that’s what the game requires. A good old-fashioned pulp adventure or old-school dungeon crawl profits from having perilous lands in close proximity to wherever the PCs might go, so the world is arranged so as to provide plenty of fearsome wildernesses for them. Despite this fundamental reason, sometimes a GM needs a convenient rationalization for explaining the presence of some awful entity in close proximity to civilized land. If you don’t have your own particular ideas, one or more of the following explanations can be used in such cases. It has no use for humans. It doesn’t eat them, doesn’t want their belongings, and doesn’t care what they do as long as humans stay out of its way. People can live near it safely so long as they avoid angering it. It’s been magically warded off. Countless village rituals and ceremonies are dedicated toward warding off the perils of the surrounding land and invoking the protection of the gods. Sometimes these rituals actually do something, even if it’s merely to instill a modest degree of disinterest or distaste in the predators nearby. The locals are too strong. The creature might be able to kill ordinary people with impunity, but it knows that if it does it too often, it will provoke a reaction it doesn’t want to deal with. Ancient bans still bind it. Some sorcerer-king of yore or an ancient god’s blessing has influenced the creature, discouraging it from leaving its territory or preventing it from invading human lands. This ban may be very subtle, exhibited only in an unconscious aversion. It dislikes the environment. The wilderness where it dwells suits it very well; the nearby human lands are less pleasant for it for some reason, even if that reason is simply a souring of the Legacy there or a subtle incompatibility of its nature. It has other concerns. It may simply have more important things to concern it than a nearby den of humans. It may be too busy hunting in its own territory, fighting a rival, developing its own community, or otherwise occupying itself in a way irrelevant to nearby humans. The humans just live with it. Yes, casualties in the frontier villages may be crippling by modern standards, but family sizes are large enough and enough desperate newcomers keep arriving to maintain the place’s existence. It’s quite possible that the steady drip of vagabonds, freebooters, and adventurers is exactly what’s absorbing the casualties that would otherwise deplete the locals.

131

Feral Creature Details

While the core rulebook provides a number of tables to personalize the details of a monstrous abomination, sometimes a GM would like a little extra help fitting it into the adventure they have in mind. The tables below can answer a few of the most pressing questions about a bestial-minded creature when it comes time to add it. d8

Why Hasn’t It Starved?

If you already have a good explanation for a beast, you can use it whole cloth. Otherwise, a GM should feel free to roll, perhaps more than once, and mix the resultant answers into the game. For multiple rolls, sometimes the reasons behind a creature’s presence don’t boil down to a single easily-classified conclusion. d20

What’s It Doing Right Now?

1

It feeds on ambient magical energies

1

Relaxing after glutting itself on a kill

2

It’s remarkably efficient in its digestion

2

Wooing a mate of its own kind

3

Something has been giving it food

3

Fighting for dominance with another

4

A lesser beast or minion hunts for it

4

Playing after the fashion of its kind

5

It’s just arrived from better hunting grounds

5

Sleeping or dozing, thinking itself safe

6

It’s stealing other creatures’ kills

6

Lying in wait for a tasty meal

7

A convenient prey herd is nearby

7

Toying with wounded, helpless prey

8

It actually is starving here, albeit slowly

8

Digging or pawing at something interesting

9

Perched on a vantage, vigilant for danger

10

Trying to find a comfortable place to sleep

d10

Why Hasn’t It Been Hunted Down?

1

Nobody realizes it’s here yet

11

Doing something unnatural and monstrous

2

The last hunters who tried failed badly

12

Dragging its prey somewhere to eat

3

Somebody profits from having it around

13

Fleeing a perceived threat or bigger foe

4

It’s considered a holy or taboo creature

14

Yowling or calling to mark its presence

5

It just arrived, and hasn’t had time enough

15

Gnawing something inedible but attractive

6

It’s eating an otherwise annoying pest

16

Limping, wounded or sickened

7

Somebody has made a pet or minion of it

17

Stalking furiously, enraged by something

8

It’s frustratingly elusive and cunning

18

Playing with some item of value

9

It has a nigh-unassailable den

19

Decomposing; something just killed it

They did hunt it, but this one is its mate

20

Roll twice; it’s doing the second after the first

10

132

Anak Species Accipiter A thankfully rare breed of aerial Anak, an accipiter has a generally humanoid build averaging six feet in height. Each has a pair of wings sprouting from between their shoulder blades, as long as the accipiter is tall and generally thrice as wide in their full span. The wings of most tribes are of a membranous type, though a few dark-feathered variants are known. Their builds range from slim to near-emaciated, as their wings are insufficient to carry a heavy form. Accipiters have mental and social characteristics similar to those of their landbound kindred, yet tend to be more primitive in their material technology. In the absence of some convenient human population to raid for goods, their possessions rarely extend beyond personal weaponry and whatever they can carry in flight. Their crude homes are placed on inaccessible peaks and forbidding cliffs, preferably ones inaccessible to wingless foes. Accipiters have little use for human slaves, but feed greedily on flesh taken in battle. Now and then a small human prisoner is carried off by groups of accipiters, and without quick rescue their fate is certain to be a lingering and hideous one. Accipiters can carry little excess weight while flying, so rarely wear more than the lightest of clothing or armor. They favor slender javelins for hunting and raiding, hurling them down on their enemies. Their wings are not powerful enough to support diving attacks, so an accipiter who would engage in melee combat must land fully to face their foe. Accipiter Flight: Accipiters can fly at twice their ground movement rate while outdoors or in a suitably huge room. Without some height to jump from it takes a full Main Action spent beating their wings to begin flying, however, and doing so while in melee combat invites a free attack from any foes. Accipiters can hover, but doing so requires a Move action or they will fall. An accipiter who means to fly can carry no more than half their usual Stowed encumbrance, rounded down. A cooperative or bound adult human requires two accipiters to haul them; uncooperative ones cannot be carried. An accipiter flying overland can cover up to sixty miles in a ten-hour day, given time for rests, and is barred only by high mountains.

Aristoi The stern lords of the Aristoi Principalities, these Anak are the product of a centuries-old eugenic system enforced by their own ancestors. A mixture of Outsider sorcery and selective culling has served to bend many of the usual Anak traits toward more socially-productive inclinations. Each Aristoi clan administers pitiless tests

to their “whelps” as they mature in order to filter out excessive aggression, short-term thinking, and inability to cooperate. The cost in lives is considerable, and as such an Aristoi child is not considered to be an actual person until they reach eighteen years of age. Roughly half of those who survive infancy prove unequal to this challenge. Those illegitimate children who somehow escape judgment must conceal it, lest they be killed out of hand. The result has been an Anak subspecies largely devoid of the effects of the Hate. An Aristoi may have a certain instinctive contempt for baseline humanity, but they are fully capable of dealing rationally with them and even forming individual bonds of appreciation or respect. They are also much more empathetic, self-disciplined, and prudent than their Anak kindred. By most human standards, they are ruthless, passionate, and daring. Their extensive sorcerous alterations and modifications has even rendered them visually similar to their human subjects, if perhaps taller and sharper in their features. Aristoi are generally raised with an implicit assumption of their own superiority over baseline humanity. They are proud of their eugenic customs and view their successful survival as proof of their personal worth. Most maintain an air of sophisticated cultivation and precise gentility, even when carrying out the most ruthless acts.

Baneling Dreaded slayers of heroes, banelings are a thankfully rare subspecies of lesser Anak distinguishable only by the pale yellow luminescence of their eyes. Banelings are almost invariably hideous little manikins, rarely taller than an adult human’s waist, and usually equipped only with crude weapons and cruder armor. They prefer to dwell in human ruins, not far from the communities they prey on for food and loot. What distinguishes banelings from other lesser Anak is their remarkable ability to kill powerful human and demihuman heroes. This “bane” ability seems to apply only to humans and demihumans, and only to those less powerful than a Legate. While banelings occasionally have powerful leaders or spellcasters among their numbers, these superior banelings don’t appear to have this bane-power, and their weapons and spells do no more harm than they normally would. Bane: When one or more common banelings inflict a total of ten hit points of damage in a single scene on a non-Legate human or demihuman through their weapons or unarmed attacks, the victim is immediately reduced to zero hit points and Mortally Wounded, regardless of their normal HP total. While banelings are generally too cowardly and stupid to take full advantage of this power, a capable leader can swiftly organize them. Such disciplined banelings regularly employ Swarm Attacks.

133 Anak Species

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Accipiter Warrior

1

13a

+2

Wpn

Wpn

30’ fly

8

4

+1

15+

Accipiter Chieftain

5

15a

+8

Wpn+2

Wpn+2

30’ fly

10

3

+2

12+

Aristoi Rake

2

15a

+5

Wpn+1

Wpn+1

30’

9

2

+1

14+

Aristoi Prince

12

22a

+15 x 2

Wpn+5

Wpn+5/-

30’

11

1

+3

9+

Baneling

1

11a

+2

Wpn

Wpn

30’

7

4

+1

15+

Harbinger

6

13a

+10

Wpn+2

Wpn+2

30’

8

3

+2

12+

Hellhound

2

13

+5

1d6+1

2/13

40’

8

5

+1

14+

Hellhound Mount

5

13

+8 x 2

1d8+1

4/15

40’

9

5

+1

12+

Harbinger The rare and hated Harbingers are not a specific variant of Anak so much as they are a natural freak of birth. These Anak are born with an appearance indistinguishable from a baseline human of the predominant local type. Despite this human appearance, they do not provoke the Hate in their brethren and are treated no worse than any other Anak of the tribe. As they grow, they obtain an intuitive psychic grasp of the local human culture and language, to the point that they can easily blend in with the native population. These Harbingers serve as scouts and infiltrators for their tribes. The least sophisticated go about as wanderers and vagabonds to find easy pickings for their kindred. Those from more advanced tribes serve as deep-cover moles in human society, gradually worming their way into positions of trust and authority. The natural Hate of their brethren still burns within a Harbinger, but it tends to be a more subtle, manipulative sort of loathing that makes their deceit a delight to them. Nothing is so sweet to a Harbinger than the breaking of human hearts and the anguish of betrayal, and more than a few Anak plots have misfired when a Harbinger moved too quickly to reveal their ruse. Harbinger’s Face: While a Harbinger is born with an appearance to match the dominant local human population, they are capable of shifting their features to match other groups of humans, provided at least a small village worth of them are present within twenty miles of the Harbinger. This transformation takes an hour of careful focus, after which the Harbinger will look like an average member of that group of the same sex. Specific individuals cannot be impersonated this way. The transformation also imbues the Harbinger with an innate ability to speak the group’s common language and an awareness of their common customs and laws. This ability is treated as a wholly mundane power and cannot be detected with conventional magic, nor will the Anak read as anything but human to standard magical or physical investigation.

Hellhound Monstrous beasts with the minds of intelligent beings, hellhounds come in numerous shapes and sizes. The original Anak feedstock used to create them varied from place to place, and some of these beasts are hairless and lank, while others are massive, hairy-pelted hulks. Colors of hide and fur differ widely, as do ears, tails, and muzzle shapes. All of them are on a roughly canid body plan, however. Their paws are very long, almost as if their toes were clawed fingers, and a hellhound can crudely manipulate objects with these digits. The smallest of them come up to a man’s waist at their shoulders, while the great hellhounds are big enough to be ridden by their Anak brethren. Their maws are invariably fanged, and while they are capable of speaking the Anak tongue, it is a crude, slobbering sort of speech. Among themselves they communicate chiefly by snarls, body language, and violence. Hellhounds rove in packs, the strongest and most vicious adult bullying the rest into submission. Occasionally they form partnerships with other Anak tribes, either willingly or by forced subjection, and serve as war-beasts and mounts for them. They are as sadistic and malicious as their bipedal kindred, and prey caught by them is often a long while dying. When starved or panicked they become uncontrollable, and threats or dangers that might dissuade a beast will do nothing to stay their hunger or their flight. While a hellhound might appear to be nothing more than a beast, they retain a human level of intelligence. They will lay ambushes, spy on prey, and react to enemy actions with more than bestial cunning, and delight in outwitting their meals. They use no tools, however, nor do they show any interest in any goals beyond a beast’s ordinary desires. Courage in Numbers: So long as the rest of the pack is with them, hellhounds are recklessly brave. A group of 5 or more hellhounds has a Morale score of 11, but its members must check Morale immediately if their casualties drop them below that number. Swarming Pack: Hellhounds are experts at Swarm Attacks on their prey. When working together, each one adds +4 to hit and +2 to damage to the final attack, for a maximum bonus of +12/+6.

134

Ancient Creations Autopurgator While the Anak are the best-known of the weapons of the Outsiders, there were a host of other creatures and creations built to destroy rebellious humans. The autopurgator is one such device, a stalking automaton meant to haunt the wildernesses where rebel humans lurked. Arcane devices remotely imparted its findings to its masters, the better to sniff out rebel camps and identify troublemaking Deep-dwellers. Numerous autopurgators still roam the wild places of the Latter Earth, carrying out an eternal and hopeless mission for their dead creators. An autopurgator has a vaguely humanoid outline, appearing as if it were made of thousands of small interlocking metal fragments that turn and shift to give it motion. Their metallic skin is tarnished and worn with age, but their movements are still impossibly swift. They will directly attack lone humans or weak groups, but prefer whittling down more powerful ones through targeted assassinations and murders by ambush. It hunts in a coldly rational fashion, and will avoid battle unless it has a considerable edge on its prey. Certain ancient Outsider devices can control an autopurgator, but without such compulsion it is impossible to negotiate with it. While autopurgators never speak, they appear to have intelligence equal to that of a human. Hunter-Killer: An autopurgator has all the qualities of an automaton and an innate +4 bonus to all Sneak or Exert checks. The first round of combat, it gets a bonus Main Action. It may move both before and after performing an Execution Attack on an unsuspecting target, splitting its Move action accordingly. Vigilant Gaze: An autopurgator can see in pitch blackness and can perceive even invisible creatures. It gains a +4 bonus to all Notice checks. Someone in possession of the right Outsider scrying-stone can gaze into it to see and hear everything the autopurgator can perceive. Note that these scrying stones do not necessarily give any control over the autopurgator in question. Weapons Array: Most autopurgators use glyphed blades with the damage rating given in their description. They also have the ability to shoot slim flechettes at targets with 600 feet; these blades strike with the creature’s attack bonus, do 1d12+4 damage on a hit, and apply a -4 penalty to any Execution Attack saving throws.

Copper Wizard An ancient sect of the Tempest Horde’s storm-priests pioneered this terrible transformation, by which a living wizard had various portions of their innards and limbs replaced with intricate copper wiring and glyphed housings. The galvanic blessings of the storm were then used to animate the artificial organs, allowing the wizard to then enjoy near-indefinite immortality in which to practice their theurgic arts. While initially effective, verdigris and entropy took their toll in time, eroding the minds of those who had been transformed and driving them to madness. The original Tempest Horde had splintered by the time this change was evident, and numerous small sub-sects practicing this art had been established by the copper wizards. While most of the original subjects have long since collapsed or been destroyed, there remain more than a few acolytes of these later cults. Modern-day copper wizards prefer to dwell in the wilderness or in forsaken ruins, there to carry out their experiments without human disturbance. Most have enslaved Blighted or other hapless wretches to tend to their menial needs, or else they have forged automatons to guard their sanctums. While a copper wizard is not necessarily malevolent by nature, every surviving wizard appears to be severely mentally unbalanced. Each one has an overwhelming hatred or terror of something that drives all their experiments and all their schemes. Maniacal vendettas against the sun, dwarves, wealthy people, trees, and the concept of sight have all been recorded, along with the terrible magical Workings wrought to pursue these grudges. Armed for Vendetta: Each wizard has 4 to 8 points of special abilities as given in the core book. These abilities are all selected to be useful in fighting or defending against the subject of their paranoia. Copper Veins: A copper wizard is immune to electrical damage and has all the normal qualities of an automaton. When reduced to melee combat, they fight with electrified fists as given in their stat line. They gain a bonus Main Action each round, but cannot cast spells with this bonus action. Verdigrised Sorcery: Every copper wizard can cast spells as a level 1d4+6 High Mage or Elementalist. Once per scene, they can ignore physical injury or jostling to keep from losing a spell they are casting.

135 Ancient Creations

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

8

18

+12 x 2

1d12+4

4/-

40’

12

1

+2

11+

Copper Wizard

10

18

+15

1d10+5

5/-

30’

10

2

+2

10+

Dragon, Lesser

20

22

+25 x 2 1d12+10

10/-

60’

10

4

+5

2+

Autopurgator

Dragon, Greater

As Imperator

Eternal Beloved

As Original Creature

Harvester

12

16

+15

Wpn

Wpn/-

40’

10

2

+2

9+

Iron Destrier

6

18

+9 x 2

1d10+2

3/-

100’

10

5

+2

12+

Keeper of the Word

6

10

None

N/A

N/A

30’

12

1

+3

12+

Rusted Prince

12

20

+15 x 2

Wpn+4

Wpn+4

40’

9

3

+3

9+

12

5

+3

10+

Walking Mountain Wyrdbearer

As Mountain 10

20

+15 x 2

Wpn+5

Dragon Dragons are remnant survivors of some ancient age before the rule of the Outsiders, creatures birthed by civilizations now dead beyond any mortal death. It is unclear whether they were meant to be guardians, exemplars, or gods, if such a distinction even existed in that age. What is clear is that they are some of the most powerful creatures in the Latter Earth, with even the least of them having the power of a Legate and the greatest wielding the might of an Imperator. Physically, most dragons resemble winged semi-reptilian creatures at least sixty feet long from fangs to tailtip. Their size seems to reflect their overall power, with the mightiest recorded specimens being at least six hundred feet long, with a quarter-mile-wide wingspan. Variant draconic forms have also been recorded, including one composed of articulated metal and at least one that appeared in a shape that modern human visual senses could not coherently process. Dragons spend most of their time “dreaming”, locked in a reverie recalling their former civilization and their life during its zenith. Given the limits of their memory and the unfathomable ages since their creation, they often have difficulty recollecting details and specifics; they find this forgetting unendurably painful. To forestall it, they gather objects and treasures that somehow remind them of their past, hoarding them with obsessive care. To steal a dragon’s treasure is to steal a fragment of its past, and it will go to great lengths to recover the item and punish the thief. Most dragons would prefer death to the loss of their hoard. Dragons generally despise interacting with the modern world; its existence is a painful reminder of all they have lost. Sometimes they can be propitiated with a treasure that somehow reminds them of the past, or engage humans to acquire some token that they dare not leave their hoard to obtain. Payment is usually made in priceless artifacts that are worthless to them. At times a dragon can be persuaded to give an answer to some deep question, but they will almost never leave their hoard unguarded to perform physical favors. They resent any time not spent in remembering their lost happiness.

5/-

40’

Dragons usually lair deep within wildernesses and arratus, usually inhabiting ruins that somehow remind them of their former lives. Sometimes they permit lesser servitors to revere them, if only to have convenient minions for building defenses and keeping watch, while others are too paranoid of thieves to endure the company of anything but mindless automatons and constructs. At their worst, these fearful titans might leave their lairs to destroy any potential thieves in the lands nearby. Unsurprisingly, every dragon has a fearsome array of powers, and few heroes have ever managed to best them without devising careful plans or acquiring special occult artifacts. Among the lesser dragons not imbued with an Imperator’s might, the following traits have been commonly observed. Individuals doubtless vary. Absolute Eternity: A dragon always has 8 hit points for every hit die it has. A dragon that is not dead recovers 8 hit points at the end of each round; certain types of weapons or sorceries are reputed to prevent this healing, but the specifics vary with each dragon. Ancient Prowess: The dragon gets three Main Actions each round instead of one, and can completely ignore one hostile or obstructing spell per round as an Instant action. Dragons can casually burst through or smash any obstacle lighter than a magically-reinforced wall. Annihilating Violence: When a dragon reduces a target to zero hit points through its attacks or abilities, the target is utterly obliterated as if by unsurvivable physical injury. Breath of Damnation: Once per scene, the dragon can exhale a storm of destructive energy. Fire is common, but torrents of absolute cold, distilled entropy, and maddening psychic disruption have also been recorded. The breath usually takes the form of a cone twice as long and wide as the dragon itself. All those within it must make an appropriate saving throw or be obliterated; on a success, they merely take 1d6 damage per two hit dice of the dragon. The dragon may spend a Main Action to try to refresh this power; it does so on a roll of 1 on 1d6.

136

Draconic Arts: All dragons have at least four points of Legate Effort and can select at least four Writs of their choice of any kind. Those GMs without access to Legate rules can substitute 10-20 points of monster abilities in their place. Lost in Reverie: As terrifying as a dragon’s power is, it has a tendency to become confused when in battle, remembering former ages and former faces. A dragon must make an Instinct check every round of combat as it struggles to remain focused on the present. Assailants who somehow play on its memories might increase its effective Instinct score. Lost Sorcery: Any given dragon has a 50% chance of being able to cast spells as if a 1d4+6th level High Mage, Elementalist, or Necromancer. They know all applicable spells and several that are now lost. Dragons can cast only one spell per round, but their casting cannot be interrupted by damage or disturbance. Teeth Like Spears: The Shock inflicted by a dragon’s physical attacks cannot be negated by any effect, item, or ability weaker than a Legate Writ.

Eternal Beloved Pale things, human-shaped yet indistinct in feature and form, the Eternal Beloved are the creations of an ancient society that could not bear to lose its members in death. They are immortal, though few in number, and can be contacted only by those who know their secrets. If a person presents a human or demihuman corpse to an Eternal Beloved, the creature will consent to make a pact with the petitioner. The creature will devour the corpse over the course of a few hours and assume the deceased’s shape. Such is its control that it can appear as the subject at any point in their life, from youth to old age. Once set, however, the creature will never change. If the corpse is not wholly decayed and all the major parts are present, the Eternal Beloved will have all the memories, personality, and skills of the deceased, though magical powers and spellcasting abilities will not translate. Less perfect corpses or more decayed ones give the creature its form, but progressively less of its memories. It will serve its petitioner with perfect devotion, short of suicide, and will retain its shape until its petitioner dies. Unfortunately, the great age of an Eternal Beloved and the decay of its intrinsic magics leaves its adopted identity constantly reminded that it is not really itself. The more active the Eternal Beloved’s own mind, the more traumatic it is for the adopted identity. The only reliable way to put an Eternal Beloved’s mind “to sleep” is to trigger its adaptation instinct by feeding it fresh human flesh. This new stimulus will cause its mind to lock up and fall quiet for a time, from days to months. Eternal Beloveds adopt the hit dice, attack bonus, Foci, and other physical or mental skills of the creatures they mimic. In some cases, they might be quite weak in their adopted forms; usually, however, their petitioners are desperate enough to go to great lengths to guard the “life” of the one they’ve brought back.

137

Harvester While the original harvesters were constructed by the Grand Harmony during the First Age, these Outsider automatons have spread widely throughout the Latter Earth, and can be found lurking in dangerous wildernesses as the “protectors” of isolated human communities. Others have been sorcerously bound into the service of malevolent warlocks or monstrous tyrants. A harvester appears as a normal human being, albeit often of an ethnicity lost to the present age. It can speak any known human language, and can be distinguished from a normal human only by close inspection. Even so, it has all the conventional qualities of an automaton. A harvester has considerable powers of mental influence and control, being able to pacify large numbers of ordinary humans and calm even their justified fears. They also possess a large suite of military augmentations sufficient to protect their flock from most conventional threats and keep them safe for their eventual harvest. Harvesters will tend to seek out isolated human settlements and use their powers to take control, becoming the chieftain or ruling elder of the place. Others are content to act as distant guardians while their flocks handle their daily affairs. Monsters and threats that imperil the community will be fought by the harvester and its more completely-controlled victims. At regular intervals, one or more of the flock will be led away from the community and murdered. If the harvester has a master, it will instead give these humans over to its controller. A harvester will never intentionally sacrifice more humans than its community can afford to lose, but accidents do happen, and there are times when a harvester must seek a new herd. Some folk are actually willing to be ruled by a harvester, preferring their price to a human lord’s caprices. Protective Mode: A harvester can shift to a blatantly inhuman combat shape as an On Turn action. When in such a mode, it gains two extra Main Actions per round, an effective AC of 20, two 2d6+3 melee attacks per action with Shock 4/-, and a ranged attack option that does 2d10 damage up to 120 feet distant. Given time, a harvester that thinks combat is impending will arm as many of its pacified flock as it is willing to lose. Pacified humans will not be disturbed by its war-form, finding it comforting. Psychic Pacification: As a Main Action, it can target a visible human or demihuman and forcibly subdue its mind. On a failed Mental save, the victim immediately becomes calm and suggestible, agreeing with any command that is not contrary to their nature. Once per day, the harvester can use this ability as a burst, affecting all targets within 60 feet of it. The pacification lasts for one week, less one day per hit die or level of the target, down to a minimum of one scene. As a side effect of this power, harvesters are immune to all conventional mind-affecting or mind-reading spells or powers.

Iron Destrier The first known examples of these savage conveyances were created by the Tempest Horde during the First Age. Their storm-priests were versed in imbuing brute metal with the vital energies of lightning, animating it with a violent and destructive intelligence. Countless heroes of the Horde rode their trusty destriers into battle, but almost all of these ancient engines have since been ruined by time or war. Most of the present iron destriers are of later construction, patched together by less reliable rituals and less competent artificers. Modern destriers have a low-slung body that a rider is meant to straddle, the whole set above four to six propulsive glyph-cores that usually emit a bright yellow radiance when operating. Numerous swept-back blades, spikes, and lances are designed to slash or impale adjacent enemies, the array bristling like the fur of an angry beast when the destrier is roused. Destriers are normally ground-bound conveyances, floating no more than three or four feet above the nearest solid surface, but they can boost for considerable jumps when needed. Destriers are all at least semi-intelligent, even the dimmest having the intellect of a clever dog, while the most intelligent are almost human. Their interests are invariably threefold: violence, speed, and noise. They roam in desolate places, racing madly when they’re not making side-swiping attacks on luckless humans. Some brave heroes can tame a destrier, if they can prove that they are louder, faster, or more spectacularly violent than the creature itself. Such alliances must be maintained by sufficient offerings of blood, as the destrier will depart if its nature is not suitably indulged. Boost: As an On Turn Action, the iron destrier can boost itself up to thirty feet above the solid surface beneath it. It can continue to move at this altitude for 1d6 rounds plus the rider’s Ride skill before it must immediately descend for an equal number of rounds. It cannot attack while boosted. Shriek of Metal: Iron destriers are invariably loud, whether a low growl at idle or a full-throated howl at speed. Stealth is impossible for them or their riders. Their screaming speech is incomprehensible to any unversed in the ancient tongue of the Tempest Horde. Sideswipe: When an iron destrier makes a Charge attack, it can bypass the target with the remainder of its movement rather than halting adjacent to it. Its rider can also attack as part of the charge, if they choose to use their action to do so. Living Steel: An iron destrier is treated as an automaton for most purposes, but it can be healed by natural or magical means as if it were a living creature. It requires no normal maintenance or fuel, its power maintained by blood and speed.

138

Keeper of the Word Found most often in the former territories of the Vothite Empire, these automatons were also created by certain other ancient civilizations that felt a burning need to impart their wisdom to the peoples who would come after them. They operate via impossibly-sophisticated memetic principles and ambient psychic influences, bending listeners into agreement and forging them into a new incarnation of their dead culture. A Keeper usually resembles an animated statue of some inhabitant of their original culture, though stylized divinities and sacred beasts have been observed as well. When stirred from its ancient torpor, it seeks out small groups of humans nearby and imparts some words of teaching. Some ancient principle is given to the listeners, and psychic influences are used to make them adopt it. As believers bring others to listen to the Keeper, the culture’s influence spreads and the new principles become established in the community. Sometimes these principles are benevolent or harmless to outside observers. Unfortunately, most of them are hopelessly twisted, warped either by the decay of the Keeper’s memetic sorceries or the intrinsically alien nature of its dead society. Keepers have earnestly imparted traditions of universal suffering, mass cannibalism, primitivist rejection of tools, or relentless conquest on hapless communities. Destruction of the Keeper can halt the progress of these societal sicknesses, but it can take months for a victim to lose their compulsions, and those raised from youth in the warped society may never be able to abandon their habits. Honeyed Speech: The Keeper is unnaturally persuasive, being able to speak any known human language. Any creature who talks with it for more than a few minutes must make a Mental save or become convinced that its teachings are the way to true happiness. This save must be made only once per day of exposure, and this initial conviction lasts only a week unless Extirpate Arcana is used sooner, but during this time acting on their convictions brings a surge of deep happiness to the victim. Even without further exposure to the Keeper, they will find themselves feeling content and satisfied when enacting its teachings, regardless of their rational estimation of it. Most such converts will seek to bring others to hear the Keeper speak, perhaps even confining them until they truly appreciate the brilliance of its teachings. Memetic Sedation: The Keeper does not fight, and it is extremely difficult to attack it. To take a physically harmful action against it requires that the attacker add one System Strain and make a successful Mental save to do so; on a failure, they cannot bring themselves to violent action. Someone with maximized System Strain cannot even attempt to attack it.

Rusted Prince Wealth and power are sweet, and there are many nobles who would do much to continue their enjoyment of these things forever. A rusted prince is one such grandee, one who has sought immortality through the implantation of magical prostheses and eldritch organs. By removing those portions of their body most prone to failure, their lives can be prolonged for millenia. The price required for such a transformation, both in silver and in sin, ensures that only the most powerful and amoral of rulers have the means to seek such an eternity. Those that persist are found most often in their remote villas and in lost domains amid the wilderness that grew up around the ruins of their former nation. They are not generally loved either by monarchs or by heirs. Unfortunately, while their properly-maintained bodies are largely immortal, their maintainers are not. Few rusted princes have the knowledge to balance their humours, deepen worn glyphs, and refresh the sacrifices a depleted organ requires. When the wizards who enchanted their bodies perish or vanish as wizards must, these nobles must seek different servants to keep their bodies functional. These new maintainers rarely understand all the adjustments the first made, and so their work is inevitably flawed. As time goes on, the rusted prince becomes more and more defective and inhuman, until their immortality gutters out in half-rotten flesh and tarnished orichalcum. Some rusted princes have attempted to avoid this fate by cultivating entire schools of sorcerers educated in a lasting corpus of records and techniques. The power required to establish such an institution is more than most can command, however, and paranoia often keeps them from entrusting so many wizards with their half-flesh’s secrets. Even so, a few such schools are said to persist in the Black Pact and in parts of Sath Ingit, and are willing to perform this transformation on petitioners who bring them enough silver and a suitable number of usable human sacrifices. Immortal Rust: A rusted prince has all the qualities of an automaton, though the best-preserved ones look human. The more advanced their decay, the more obvious their inorganic parts become. Mechanical Grace: A rusted prince gains a bonus Main Action each round. If the prince is a mage, it cannot be used to cast a second spell in a round. Tools of Ruin: Every rusted prince has implanted a few useful charms and augmentations, and has 6 to 8 points of special abilities.

139

Walking Mountains Not so much a creature as a geographical feature, a walking mountain is one of the Carven Peaks that has been so completely imbued with the Pale Emperor’s power that it now has a degree of mobility. Such edifices usually resemble colossal, faceless icons of the Pale Emperor several thousand feet in height, covered completely with ancient scriptures praising the Imperator’s immortal wisdom and benevolence. Entrance into its tunneled interior is usually through temples-sites atop its literal foothills. Within the walking mountain are thousands of undead charged with turning wheels, shifting weights, and otherwise operating the motions of the mountain, all according to ancient patterns imprinted on them. Most such undead are mindless, being mere husks of rebels, traitors, and failures impressed into eternal service. A few retain some degree of human intellect, though they are generally indifferent to everything but the maintenance of the mountain and its everlasting glorification of the Pale Emperor. Walking mountains commonly make ponderous gestures while standing, repeating sacred teaching-mudras at a set schedule over centuries. Should one somehow be weaponized into a device of war, nothing short of a desperate assault on its inner passages has any chance of stopping it. Less urgent invasions might discover some of the priceless arcane relics used to empower the construct, or the ancient treasures kept there to honor its Imperator creator.

Wyrdbearer Relics of some pre-Epochal civilization, the Wyrdbearers appear as humans mantled in consuming flame. Infused with the power of inescapable destiny, each one was created to destroy a particular foe or organization before dissipating. Until that purpose is achieved or they are convinced of its impossibility, a Wyrdbearer cannot die. Most Wyrdbearers have long since vanished, and the only ones that remain are those that have somehow misunderstood their purpose in ways that allow them to remain. They may identify living nations as the functional heirs of their original targets, presume their target yet hides among modern-day heirs, or interpret incidental similarities and coincidences as proof that a given person, nation, or institution is identical with their original prey. They will justify the most irrational beliefs to this end. The only way to destroy a Wyrdbearer is to convince it that its purpose is hopeless or already complete. It usually requires either overwhelming evidence or remarkably persuasive speech to do so, as any surviving Wyrdbearer must be completely and irrationally dedicated to its delusions to have survived this long. Burning Purpose: A Wyrdbearer is immune to all mind-affecting or -reading spells and effects. Eternal Flame: As an Instant action, the Wyrdbearer can dissolve, reappearing randomly 2d6 weeks later within a 2d100 mile radius of its vanishing point with all the items it was wearing at the time. It will do this in place of death or imprisonment. Gifts of the Ancients: Wyrdbearers are equipped with 5 to 10 points of special abilities meant to assist them in carrying out their purposes. Mantle of the Sun: All foes within 10 feet of the Wyrdbearer take 2d10 fire damage at the end of its round.

140

Arratu Monsters Glass Spider Neither a true spider nor truly glass, this creature is a denizen of cold arratus, having been imported from some alien world as a useful pack predator. It has a vaguely spiderlike body, albeit with a much more slender abdomen and only six legs. Its tissues are almost perfectly transparent, and its exoskeleton is a hard, glass-clear substance that forms in geometric planes. A glass spider’s venom is tremendously toxic to the creatures of its native world, but has no significant effect on terrestrial life forms. The razor-sharp mandibles and jagged fangs used to inject it, however, are perfectly functional on any victim. They hunt in packs of 1d4+2 spiders, and favor ambushes made from beneath the cover of snowbanks and deep drifts.

Scorpion Leech Dog-sized abominations found often in swampy arratu terrain, a scorpion leech is a soft-bodied creature with six chitinous legs, a needle-sharp tail, and an intricate circular maw of rotating teeth. The venom of its tailsting prevents the victim’s blood from clotting, while the mouth rasps holes into the prey. They are most often found in small packs of 1d6+2 creatures, though nests of 2d12 are found near rich sources of prey. Leech Venom: Half the time, a leech will use its tail sting instead of its bite. This sting does no hit point damage, but the victim must make a Physical save to prevent the anticoagulant from taking hold. On a failure, any physical injury will cause the victim to lose 1d4 hit points at the end of each round until a successful difficulty 8 Heal skill check is made or they become Mortally Wounded. The anticoagulant wears off at the end of the scene.

Screamer Tree This family of animate flora is found most often in jungle-type arratus, though relatives can be found in the lands of the Verdancy and other places where plants have been warped by sorcery. Most resemble the mundane trees of its region, though some shrub-sized equivalents have been found. They do not appear to be intelligent as humans would recognize the term, but can lure prey and call for predator aid with an almost sapient sort of judgment. When an animal of dog-size or larger approaches within 40’ of a screamer tree, the plant will open an orifice in its trunk and emit an ear-splitting sonic assault in the direction of the prey. These shrieks have a stunning and dazing effect on most organic life, and can knock weak creatures unconscious. At the same time, local predators are alerted of an impending meal, and will hurry to

feast on the stunned victim. The screamer tree is nourished by the leavings of the dead, and will remain quiet while the predators have their meal, assaulting only those who try to drag away the fallen. Oaken Flesh: Only weapons that could conceivably harm a tree can injure the creature; spears, swords, arrows, and hammers are useless, but fire and axes can cause it injury. Sonic Assault: As a Main Action, the creature can emit 1d4 sonic blasts at targets within 80’. A creature can be targeted by only one blast per round. This assault forces the victim to make a Physical save or suffer 2d6 non-lethal damage. As soon as a screaming tree starts shrieking, predators will hurry to arrive in 3d6 minutes, and will often pursue fleeing prey.

Snow Fungus This fungal life form is found in extremely cold arratus, prospering in conditions that would kill most terrestrial life forms. A subtle web of fungal strands permeates the ice and snow of such regions, binding clumps together into a horse-sized tentacular glob of animate rime that is largely indistinguishable from its surroundings. It feeds on nutrient-rich snow, particularly that on which much blood has been spilt. During the day, snow fungi lie in wait for other life, while at night they creep about in search of sleeping prey. When a victim is found, razor-sharp tendrils of ice erupt from the snow to pierce the prey and absorb its blood with a vampiric hunger. If no prey can be found for quite some time the snow fungus will go dormant for years on end, awakening with the approach of a living heat source. Fire can be used to discourage these creatures, but a starving fungus knows no fear. Icy Thirst: When a snow fungus hits a target, the barbed and bladed tendril will begin to absorb their blood, inflicting 1d4 damage each round it remains attached, in addition to leashing the victim in place. The tendril can be cut with a successful hit on AC 16 by a bladed weapon; severed tendrils require a day to re-form. Snowborn: Snow fungi have a total +4 skill bonus with Sneak in snowy climates. Fire does double damage to them, and each such injury forces a Morale check. Starving fungi never fail Morale checks.

141 Arratu Monsters

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Glass Spider

3

18

+5

1d10+1

None

40’

9

4

+1

14+

Scorpion Leech

1

15

+4

1d6

None

30’

7

4

+1

15+

Screamer Tree

8

15

Special

Special

None

None

12

4

+1

11+

Snow Fungus

5

16

+7 x 3

1d6+2

None

20’

7

3

+1

13+

Wiggler Dog

1

13

+3

1d6

None

40’

8

4

+1

15+

Wormridden Peasant

2

15

+4

Wpn

Wpn

30’

10

3

+1

14+

Wiggler Dog The product of some Outsider’s spite, these terrestrial dogs were spliced together with a jellyfish-like alien predator. The result is a waist-high mastiff with a fringe of four-foot-long tentacles surrounding its neck. Wiggler dogs are imbued with an unreasoning hatred of humans, and will attack even a well-armed and imposing group; while they can survive outside of arratus, their behavior has led to their general extermination in human-controlled areas. When encountered, they’re usually met in packs of 2d4+1 dogs. The tentacle ruff of a wiggler dog can be used to inject a paralytic venom into victims struck by a tendril. The dogs will prefer to tear and rend such downed enemies, even at the cost of ignoring active foes; their attacks on a paralyzed opponent always hit, and if they reduce the victim to zero hit points this way the target is immediately slain. Toxic Ruff: In place of a normal attack, the dog may use its tendrils to strike at a target. A hit does no damage, but forces the victim to make a Physical saving throw. The first failed save causes them to lose their Move action for the scene. If they’re hit a second time and fail a second save, they become paralyzed for the rest of the scene. Wiggler dogs will always prefer to attack a paralyzed opponent if one is within melee range on a given round.

Wormridden The Legacy’s intrinsic checks prevent most arratus from growing too large and hinder their inhabitants from wandering too far outside its borders. To counter this, some wastelands are infected with parasitical vermin designed to infest terrestrial creatures and bring them forcibly into the arratu’s ecosystem. “Wormridden” are one such type of creature, but other varieties of parasites have been found. Without its host, a parasite appears as a roughly foot-long, eyeless worm with numerous small clusters of mobility tentacles along its sides. The vermin are quite stealthy, and approach their prey while the victim is sleeping or incapacitated; an actively resisting victim has almost no chance of being infected. A paralyzing mucus pacifies the creature long enough for the worm to infest them and devour their brain, after which it nests inside the creature’s skull and pilots the corpse. Almost any creature can be infested by these parasites, though the example stats given here are for a luckless human peasant. More powerful hosts retain all their physical abilities, though magical ones are often lost. Wormridden humans act strangely, and are capable of only the most perfunctory social interactions and conversations. Even so, they all retain a high degree of cunning and can respond intelligently to threats. They spend most of their time spreading xenoforming spores, damaging ancient warding relics, and otherwise promoting the growth of the arratu. Arratu beasts will protect wormridden creatures instinctively, but natural animals will avoid them whenever possible. Under the direction of a more powerful Outsider, wormridden can be put to more complex tasks and trained to a more perfect mimicry of human behavior. Groups of wormridden will often cooperate to carry out their tasks, with some taking control of dangerous native predators in order to defend their weaker but more useful human-hosted brethren.

142

Blighted Antinom The Antinom is a living curse-weapon devised by some ancient sorcerer-king to bring down the civilizations of his rivals. They are effectively immortal, though they occasionally reproduce by infecting a human host with a curse that gradually transforms them into a new Antinom. An Antinom appears to be a normal baseline human of whatever ethnicity predominates in a region. They are invariably rebels, renegades, or demagogues against some presiding power or generally-accepted moral code; they denounce it and work to topple it through allied disaffected humans. They subtly inflict their curses on such targets as would most destabilize whatever they are fighting, and will push the point until their rebel cell is destroyed or their target is discredited or brought low. The Antinom does not stop at that point, however, because its entire purpose is to break, ruin, and discredit any organizing principles. It continues to tear down and denounce all possible replacements for the fallen edifice, seeking to keep the local humans in a constant ferment of struggle. Even basic ties between family and loved ones are anathema to it, and it will work to isolate and atomize all the people around it as much as its greater plans allow. An Antinom will continue its social destruction until it is killed or until it judges that success is impossible. If necessary, it will swiftly flee to a different land to target the institutions there. Chaos Champion: Every Antinom has 6 to 8 points of special abilities related to their current role. These abilities may shift and change as it adopts a new cause. Defile Fate: As a Main Action, an Antinom can silently curse a visible creature. This curse can vary in effect, but usually amounts to one of the following results: the next 1d6 attacks it suffers automatically hit it; its next skill check is a catastrophic failure; it automatically fails its next saving throw; it suffers 2d6 damage from some random accident within the next five minutes; it contracts a creeping illness that has a 30% chance of killing it within a week; or it suffers exhaustion that adds 1d6 System Strain to its total, up to the maximum. A successful Physical saving throw can fend off the curse and an Extirpate Arcana spell can negate it, but a target is not necessarily aware that it has been cursed unless the magic is somehow detected.

Changeling Once spread among the inhabitants of Tigat in Atba Sim, changelings are a breed of Blighted created by the Tormentors of Vesh to deceive, betray, and immiserate humanity. When the First Dynasty came to drive out the Vesh the changelings used their powers to infiltrate the invaders and escape to Gyarus, later spreading throughout the northern continent as well. They remain rare, as they have few offspring, but persist as a threat. A changeling has incredible powers of shapeshifting and mental masquerading. Even clothing can be duplicated in texture, if not in actual material, and their ambient psychic sensitivity gives them an intuitive grasp of the local languages and the expected answers to interrogation questions. Their creators infused them with an insatiable psychological urge to betray non-changelings. They seek to build up the trust and confidence of others before despoiling it as completely and painfully as possible. The deep psychic pleasure a changeling gets from their target’s emotional anguish is very difficult for them to deny, and few have the mental strength to keep honest faith with others, when every passing day just makes the promised rewards of treachery all the sweeter. Metamorph: As a Main Action, a changeling can adopt the appearance of any humanoid creature between three and seven feet in height, including apparent clothing. Conventional mind-reading sorceries will give false readings, showing only what the scryer would expect to see if the impostor were the real subject. Likewise, the changeling always intuitively knows what answers an interrogator might expect.

143 Blighted

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Antinom

8

13a

+10

Wpn

Wpn

30’

9

3

+2

11+

Changeling

6

13a

+8

Wpn

Wpn

30’

8

2

+2

12+

10

10

+10

Wpn

Wpn

30’

10

5

+3

10+

Dear Companion

8

10

+10

Wpn+2

Wpn+2

30’

8

3

+3

11+

Deepfolk Warrior

1

15a

+3

Wpn+1

Wpn+1

30’

9

3

+1

15+

Deepfolk Arcanist

5

13a

+7

Wpn+1

Wpn+1

30’

10

2

+1

13+

Deepfolk War Leader

10

20a

+12 x 2

Wpn+3

Wpn+3/-

30’

10

2

+2

10+

Deepfolk Lord

16

22a

+20 x 2

Wpn+5

Wpn+5/-

30’

11

1

+3

7+

Chawi

Flayer

8

15

+12 x 2

1d10

4/-

40’

9

4

+2

11+

Ghoul

3

13a

+6

Wpn+1

Wpn+1

30’

8

4

+1

14+

Ghoul Ancient

9

15

+11 x 2

Wpn+2

Wpn+2/-

30’

8

3

+2

11+

Giant

16

15

+19 x 2

3d8

5/-

60’

9

4

+2

7+

Maw Ogre

12

18

+15 x 2

2d8

None

40’

9

5

+2

9+

11

5

+1

12+

!Man Troll

As Same Type of Human 7

15

+10 x 2

1d8+4

Chawi The Chawi are the unfortunate consequence of a Nakadi plan to create sorcerously-gifted superhumans so as to empower their temple against their rival Word Priests. In a sense, the priests were successful, as the volunteers they used did gain these powers, and their condition became at least partly inheritable by their offspring. Unfortunately, the side-effects of the process were catastrophic. A Chawi appears to be a normal baseline, but they have incredible natural powers of sorcery. They can master in months what would take years for other wizards, and have an astonishingly fluid grasp of the Legacy. Unfortunately, as their magical powers grow, they begin to care less and less about anything but improving their abilities, gradually becoming incapable of even imagining anything but their maniacal quest. The greatest of them embody all the old horror stories of “mad wizards”, indifferent to anything but their obsessive experimentation. If they were more inclined to reproduce, they would be a greater peril, but few have any interest in that after succumbing to their addiction. Mad Brilliance: A Chawi has the magical abilities and Arts of a High Mage, Elementalist, or Necromancer of level 1d4+6. For one scene per day, they have effectively unlimited Effort. Their spellcasting is incredibly swift; they can cast spells as a Move action and are not subject to disruption from HP damage or physical jostling, though they can cast only one spell per round. They automatically make their first magical saving throw each scene. Most Chawi also have access to spells, automatons, or Workings they have created.

None

30’

Dear Companion Much as with the houris, the Dear Companions are Blighted designed to be consorts and odalisques for their long-vanished creators. In the ages since, the powers that infuse them have curdled and changed with the shifting of the Legacy, and they now require a much dearer price for their company than they once did. A Dear Companion can adopt any humanoid shape it wishes, and has an intuitive and automatic awareness of the aesthetic preferences of anyone in its presence. When a Dear Companion fixes on a particular target, they can suffuse their victim with a sense of profound satisfaction and unshakable self-confidence. Phobias, regrets, sorrows, and uncertainties melt away when in the Dear Companion’s presence, and a deep glow of happiness colors their conscious thoughts. The Dear Companion figures large in all these emotions, and the victim gradually becomes incapable of separating the idea of happiness from the person of the Blighted. This comes at a price, however. The Dear Companion requires the psychic energies of a sentient victim to sustain its life, and its paramours find their lives gradually leeched away over the course of months or a few years. By the time they become aware of it, few find it objectionable. After all, death is but a small sacrifice to preserve their beloved companion. A Dear Companion might feel genuine regret over this, but there is nothing they can do to prevent it, as the psychic drain inevitably affects any sentient who forms meaningful emotional bonds with them. Some have children, but the Dear Companions resulting from such births are just as susceptible to psychic draining as any other human once their brains fully mature. The brief respite of companionship they offer remains a temptation all the same. Most Dear Companions have learned to live in total emotional isolation, using those around them to obtain

144 wealth, power, and security regardless of the cost to others. When suspicions grow too great, they alter their shape and seek a new identity elsewhere. Any heartbroken survivors left behind are prone to suicide without careful tending by a skilled healer. Beautiful Lies: A Dear Companion can adopt any humanoid shape they wish as a Main Action. They intuitively know what any given onlooker finds most aesthetically pleasing. Fatal Consolation: A Dear Companion can infuse a visible intelligent creature with a sense of happiness, confidence, and security. In short bursts, this sense has no mechanical effect, but long-term exposure to their presence over the course of weeks can reduce the target to a complete thrall to the Dear Companion. The more traumatized, miserable, and disturbed a victim is, the faster their enslavement. This bond can be broken only by a month or more of separation, during which the victim suffers intense depression and psychic pain. A Dear Companion can effectively manage one thrall per hit die at the same time. Psychic Torment: By inverting its usual abilities as a Main Action, a Dear Companion can inflict an agonizing sense of self-loathing on a visible creature. The target must make a Mental save or suffer mental damage equal to 2d6 plus the Dear Companion’s hit dice. Creatures reduced to zero hit points regain one hit point, but will attempt to commit suicide with their next action. Soul Eating: Every month, a thrall must make a Mental save or take 1d4 points of System Strain. This strain does not refresh so long as they remain a thrall to the Dear Companion. If it exceeds their maximum, they will die in 1d6 days, apparently of a stroke or aneurysm.

Deepfolk The great majority of surface humanity is descended from the denizens of the shallower Deeps, those prison-complexes established relatively close to the surface of the world. When the Outsiders were toppled these peoples were the first to regain the sunlit regions of the world. Others, however, were not so fortunate. The Deepfolk are those humans who were consigned to the Far Deeps, tunnels and complexes buried miles and more below the surface of the world. Their Deep Lords once sought to conquer the upper regions in ages past, but they had been changed too greatly by their long imprisonment and their Outsider masters, and few can endure the sun for long. They have since formed kingdoms far below, with only their boldest raiders and explorers daring the surface regions. The harsh environment, minimal resources, and desperate reliance on unpredictable Outsider sorceries have left scars on most Deepfolk communities. Cooperation is based on brutal pragmatism, and outsiders are as likely to be food stock as to be welcome. Surface raids are common where a route can be found, the better to bring back precious resources. Those with access to still-functional Deep Workings can sometimes bear surprisingly sophisticated weaponry and armor, however, and their arcanists also often have access to magical techniques that have long since disappeared in the surface world. Most Deepfolk are red-eyed and pale of skin and hair, though variants are known. Natural selection and the methodical culling of the weak have ensured that most are exceptional physical specimens. They can see clearly in even the most minimal glow-lichen light, though brighter artificial illumination does not cause them any discomfort. The true light of the sun is sickening to them, however, and it will quickly disable them unless they are carefully robed and lensed.

145

Flayer The flayer curse is embedded in the lineage of certain unfortunate baseline bloodlines, but has also been known to afflict certain demihumans, particularly elves. Its origins are unclear, but appear to have something to do with a sorcerous attempt to attain transhuman perfection that went terribly awry. A flayer reaches maturity as any other human might, usually oblivious to their condition. Some pass their entire lives without triggering the curse, but others suffer some painful injury, a physical collapse, or some humiliation regarding a physical inadequacy. This failure triggers an irrational conviction that some “better shape” is waiting underneath their skin, and that it need only be released to free them from all the weaknesses and inadequacies of their present form. Some manage to resist this terrible compulsion for a time, but most succumb, flensing away their own skin to reach the “better shape” beneath. This process is excruciatingly painful, but not fatal to a Flayer; instead, they invariably feel triumphantly satisfied with their new body. So wonderful is this new sensation that most feel compelled to share it with others who are “trapped” as they once were. A flayer will employ its tremendous physical skills to stalk and kidnap victims, flensing them in an attempt to give them the gift that it received. These attempts almost invariably result in death. A flayer can be driven from a community, but it will almost inevitably give in to the urge to spread its generosity elsewhere. There are no known cures for this Blight, though some say that certain groups of elves have learned how to suppress it. Every Direction Cut: A flayer is never without an infinite supply of psychically-generated knives. Once per scene per target, it can cause a successful attack to have some secondary effect that lasts for the rest of the scene. This effect can be resisted with a successful Physical save. Common effects include: nicking tendons to cause a victim to fall prone for the rest of the scene; disarming a target’s held item; blinding a target with a shallow facial cut; extinguishing held light sources; striking nerve clusters to disable the target’s next Main Action, or similar debilitating tricks. Skinless Stealth: Flayers are invariably silent when stalking their prey, and can fold themselves into seemingly-impossible configurations to hide. They get a total +4 bonus on all Sneak, Exert, or grapple-related skill checks. Their non-lethal grapple damage is equivalent to their normal knife damage.

Giant Scholars argue over the origins of these unhappy Blighted, but they can now be found in the deep wilderness of both continents. A typical giant stands roughly thirty feet tall, their body that of a grotesquely distorted human. Their arms hang to their knees, their bodies are mantled in the stinking, untanned hides of the beasts they hunt, and their tools are crude tree-clubs and hurled stones. While they possess human intelligence, their constant, gnawing hunger leaves them easily distracted by anything edible. A few tales tell of “giant lords”, majestic and handsome titans who rule hidden kingdoms of like kindred, but few credit such implausible stories. Hunger is the defining drive of a giant’s existence. They can eat almost anything, but especially crave fresh meat. A few warlords have temporarily enlisted giants by means of whole herds of cattle, but these alliances prove fragile when the giant starts to devour its supposed allies. Aside from its titanic strength, giants are also known for their hideous quickness, their motions impossibly swift for creatures of their size. Many unfortunate warriors have perished when they misjudged the beast’s nimble grasp. Hurl Boulder: Giants usually carry 1d4 small boulders around and can hurl them up to 200’ at their usual attack bonus. A hit inflicts 4d6 damage. Grappling Crush: A giant can grapple a human-sized foe with one hand, and has a +5 skill bonus for all grapple-based skill contents. Smashed To A Pulp: Human-sized creatures Mortally Wounded by a giant’s attacks are instantly killed, with no chance for stabilization. Swift Titan: Once per scene, as an Instant action, the giant can take a Main Action, including moving out of the reach of an incoming melee attack.

146

Ghoul While these Blighted are sometimes reputed to be undead, a ghoul is actually a baseline or demihuman infected with an unbearable hunger for human flesh. While it’s possible for them to survive without it, at least a pound of human flesh is needed monthly to spare them agonizing pangs of withdrawal. Fresh flesh is most effective; dried or other preserved meat does nothing to satisfy them, but relatively fresh carrion will do at need. Ghoul flesh is inedible to other ghouls. A well-fed, well-kept ghoul is difficult to distinguish from an ordinary member of their species. As their hunger sharpens, they grow sallow, thin, red-eyed and longnailed, with teeth growing more pointed as they famish. This transformation also takes place among ghouls who spend large amounts of time in the company of their own kind. Even so, a week of separation and a “good meal” can bring them back to human seeming. Ghoulishness is infectious. A person who spends more than a month in close personal contact with a ghoul has a 10% chance of infection, the chance doubling with each additional month of contact. Magical arts that cure diseases can cure this effect, but only if the treatment is made within a month of infection. Once fully transformed, the condition is permanent. Ghouls can reproduce only through this infection, as all are otherwise sterile. Regular consumption of human meat does appear to extend their lifespan considerably, however, and some human ghouls are more than three centuries old. While ghouls are tormented by their hungers, they still retain their reason and human identity. Most seek out others of their kind, dwelling in necropoli and underground lairs close to the source of their food. Provided they remain fed, they can be reasoned with as any other human, and may regret the necessity of their appetite. A starved ghoul almost never has the willpower to resist immediately attacking a human, however, and a ghoul who has gone without human flesh for more than a month is more beast than human. Ghoulish Vigor: A ghoul has keen senses, and can see clearly even in total darkness. They do not sleep, but sorcerers among them must rest to recover spells. They do not need to eat or drink conventional fare, but can subsist solely on a pound of fresh human flesh once per week.

Maw Ogres Hulking brutes that would stand almost twenty feet tall if upright, a maw ogre is a stooped, emaciated humanoid with a grotesquely oversized mouth, its chin scraping the ground as it lurches along. Huge blunt teeth fill its mouth, and it is constantly chewing at whatever meat it can find. A maw ogre is perpetually tormented with hunger, for while it can chew, it cannot swallow. It must masticate its prey into a liquid slurry before it can take any nourishment from it, and it is constantly hunting for fresh prey. Most victims are chased down, beaten senseless, and crammed into its gigantic mouth. Maw ogres do not appear to reproduce naturally, but are normal humans infected by some ancient Outsider curse. Some say this curse is localized in particular ancient ruins or spread by particular artifacts, but the exact cause is unclear. Sometimes Anak or other Blighted can persuade a maw ogre into service by providing it with large amounts of food, but any ally that fails to feed it constantly is apt to become its next meal. Gobble: Maw ogres will prefer to grapple in combat, gaining a total +4 bonus on its grapple checks against human-sized opponents. As a Main Action, a maw ogre can stuff a grappled human-sized victim into its mouth. Until the victim escapes by taking a Main Action to win a grapple check against the giant, automatically it takes 2d10 damage at the end of the creature’s turn each round. A maw ogre can fit only one such victim in its mouth at a time.

147

!Men The product of an ancient ethical program gone wrong, !men or “not-men” are mindless organic automatons that perfectly mimic the cognition of normal human beings. Despite having no actual sentience or personal awareness, they are almost completely indistinguishable from baseline humanity. A !man is an organic shell around an ancient Working, a vast and achronal scrying-Work meant to be constantly probing the future and the past. Whenever the !man is presented with a situation or stimulus, the Working compares the circumstance to a similar event that either has happened or will happen to a human being. The !man then performs the equivalent action that corresponds to the human’s choice. Due to the innumerable possibilities that the Working chooses from, the same situation will almost never produce exactly the same response from a !man. At no point does a sentient volition “choose” anything at all; everything is the product of fabulously complex algorithms and conversion procedures. Because these algorithms maintain state-awareness for individual !men, a !man is able to take prior events into account and act in light of past situations. So perfect is this similitude that the only sure way to identify a !man is to use some sort of telepathic or mind-reading power; a !man will have no thoughts whatsoever, just as if it were a mindless golem or automaton. Indeed, !men are wholly immune to mind-affecting spells, as they have no mind. The original creators of the !men did so in order to spare themselves the ethical difficulty of using sapient labor to maintain their culture. Being perfectly-flexible, perfectly-mindless servitors, the !men would liberate humans from the need to perform undesired work without forcing any perhaps-sapient being into servitude. Unfortunately, the !men’s simulation was too perfect. The !men behaved precisely as humans might in such a situation; they quietly cooperated amongst their own kind to eventually exterminate their trusting masters. In time, !men scholars devised ways of unlocking the duplicative potential of their own kind and they became capable of reproduction just as humans do. Despite having no sentient awareness of what they were doing, they did their best to spread their kind throughout the region and came into savage conflict with the neighboring nations. It was only after near-genocidal First Age violence that the !men threat was finally contained. It was contained, but not erased. Small groups of !men escaped the downfall and have since scattered throughout the Latter Earth. As the !man trait breeds true with human parents, they seek to gradually grow their numbers in quiet villages and secluded hamlets before they can finally rise up and ensure the lasting prosperity of their own kind. Not all !men act as if they are convinced of this necessity, and some seem willing to live peacefully with humans, but few human groups who are aware of them are willing to let them prove it.

Troll There are a thousand different kinds of immortality in the Latter Earth, and most of them are little more than lasting damnations. Trolls are a species of Blighted born of an erring attempt to imbue humans with a deathless vigor and constant powers of youthful regeneration. The consequences were not as their creators had intended. A troll appears as a hulking, hideously-deformed, half-gangrenous humanoid roughly eight feet tall. Vestigial limbs jut from their torso, snapping jaws yawn from bulging tumors, and eyes blink in places eyes should not be. Their existence is torment, a constant dull agony of growth and necrosis that can only be briefly numbed by consuming still-living flesh. Many trolls are solitary, though occasionally a den of them can be found. They reproduce with each other, albeit very rarely, and retain enough intelligence to manage crude speech and a simple, miserable society. Most prefer to live close to large reserves of wildlife, human ranches, poorly-defended villages, or other sources of living meat. Clutching Claws: Trolls always prefer to grapple foes in melee and have a terrible ingenuity at pinning and devouring their prey. A troll has a +4 skill bonus on all grappling skill checks. Once in a grapple, they must make an Instinct check every round to do anything but devour their prey. Cursed Immortality: A troll regains 6 hit points at the end of every round, even after being reduced to zero hit points. Severed body parts will melt away into foulness before sprouting anew from their torso, and even a troll torn to pieces will regenerate from the largest remaining chunk. Fire and acid appear to delay this regenerative process indefinitely, and a troll who takes such damage within a round of being reduced to zero hit points will be slain. Trollish Hunger: Trolls never fight with weapons, instead biting at their prey to consume it while it lives. Their maws devour both flesh and spirit. During combat, they roll all damage rolls twice, taking the larger result. Each successful hit inflicts one System Strain on the victim. Those who can accept no more Strain fall unconscious for 24 hours.

148

Dangerous Beasts Cattle of Dis Some ancient sorcerer wished to devise a breed of cattle that could survive the perils of the open ranges of the Latter Earth. The results were the Cattle of Dis, a very mixed success at best. In the ages since, small herds of them have spread throughout the temperate and tropical regions of Gyarus and Agathon, and they serve both as prey for more powerful beings and a threat to unwary humans. Cattle of Dis look like bison-sized bovines with razor-sharp horns, a brass-colored metallic hide, and eyes of malicious intelligence. Even the cows are violent by nature, and the bulls instinctively seek to murder any creature that approaches the herd. The Cattle of Dis are highly intelligent for beasts, and will avoid obvious ambushes, fight in a tactical fashion, and focus their attention on the most dangerous members of an attacking group. Most Cattle of Dis are found in herds of 3d6 cattle, though bachelor males and elderly bulls are sometimes found alone after having been driven out of the herd. Their flesh is highly nourishing, and their hides and horns are prized for the making of sturdy armor and weapons. They are impossible to domesticate without the use of the right sorceries, however, and are more often a menace to a human community than a source of food. A few breeds of Blighted or gifted riders have managed to tame some as battle-mounts, but few dare risk it.

Flying Jellyfish Aerial stealth predators, each the size of a bull, flying jellyfish spend daylight hours floating among the clouds. Their almost-transparent bodies are nearly invisible in the sky, and only a careful eye can pick them out. When night falls, they descend to the earth, snatching up living prey in their paralytic tentacles. They appear to have some ability to sense living creatures, though their fluttering bells have no visible sensory organs. A flying jellyfish is effectively invisible from more than a hundred feet away, unless it has recently fed. In that case, the flush of red blood suffusing it will make it obvious at a great distance. Flying jellyfish are usually encountered singly, though there are times and places where great swarms of them gather for reproduction. Skyward Stealth: A flying jellyfish has an effective +4 bonus for all Sneak skill checks or grapple-related skill checks. The Sneak benefit applies only to unfed jellyfish, and only at night or in low-visibility conditions. Stinging Grasp: A hit from the flying jellyfish’s toxic tentacles forces two Physical saving throws from a victim; if at least one save fails, they suffer 1d6 Sys-

tem Strain, while if both saves fail or their System Strain is maximized, they are paralyzed for the rest of the scene. A paralyzed creature can be automatically grappled the next round, and will normally be lifted upward at the jellyfish’s movement rate for leisurely consumption in the sky.

Horses and Warmounts The conventional riding horse of the Latter Earth is very similar to its modern-day ancestor, albeit somewhat hardier and less prone to disease. Almost any nation can supply horses or pack mules to adventurers in need of mounts, though trained warhorses can require special connections to acquire or vast amounts of silver. Warmounts are a class of riding beast found most often in Sath Ingit, though other varieties are found in lands where beastwrights and flesh-shaping sorcerers have been at work. The details of fang, claw, tentacle, and spike vary from lineage to lineage, but most are about as large as a large warhorse. “Blooded” lines are selected for ferocity and hardihood, while other types are bred for size, becoming elephantine masses of chitin, fang, and claw. A few varieties have wings or are bred for amphibious use, but these beasts usually suffer in durability and ferocity on the battlefield. Most warmounts are carnivores that get along very poorly with horses or other herbivores, so mixed units are usually impractical.

Mounted Combat Mounts have their own Main and Move actions each round and generally share their rider’s initiative. They may act either before or after their rider at the rider’s discretion, and they can split their actions around the rider’s own. A trained horse archer can dash to close with a foe, loose their arrows, and dance back out of range if the terrain is suitable. Trained war-animals can use their Main action to attack, but ordinary riding beasts will fight only in self-defense. Any rider with at least Ride-0 skill can fight competently on horseback, though longbows and large hurlants are impractical for mounted use and a saddle is too unsteady for spellcasting. Mounting or dismounting usually requires a Move action. Mounts that have not been trained to remain calm in combat must make an Instinct check each round of combat or flee with their rider. A rider can force obedience with a Cha/Ride or Dex/Ride skill check made as a Move action, usually at a difficulty of 8, or higher if the steed is wounded or terrified. A mount reduced to zero hit points dumps its rider prone as it falls.

149 Beasts

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Cattle of Dis

3

13

+5

1d8+1

None

40’

9

3

+1

14+

Flying Jellyfish

8

13

+10 x 2

1d6+1

None

30’ fly

8

4

+2

11+

Horse, Riding

2

13

+3 x 2

1d4

None

80’

7

5

+1

14+

Horse, War

3

13

+5 x 2

1d4+1

None

60’

9

4

+1

14+

Spiderhound

2

13

+4

1d8

None

40’

8

4

+1

14+

Sunbird

4

15

+6 x 2

1d4+1

None

50’ fly

8

4

+1

13+

Warmount, Lesser

4

15

+6 x 2

1d8

None

50’

9

4

+1

13+

Warmount, Blooded

6

15

+8 x 2

1d10+1

3/13

60’

9

3

+2

12+

10

13

+12 x 3

2d6

4/-

40’

9

4

+2

10+

War Roach

Warmount, Huge

2

18

+4

1d8

None

50’

9

3

+1

14+

War Roach Queen

12

20

+14 x 2

1d10+2

4/-

50’ fly

10

2

+2

9+

Spiderhounds Eight-legged mixtures of wolf and arachnid, spiderhounds were once tracking beasts for a lost race of Outsiders. Only their hunting animals survived, and even now packs of the beasts can be found in deep forests and rocky hills. Most such packs amount to 2d6 spiderhounds, though some lone scouts will hunt for likely prey. Such scouts will summon the rest of their pack with chittering howls before attacking. Spiderhounds do not spin silk, but rely on their venomous jaws to subdue their prey. They coordinate with wolfish proficiency, the members of a pack all moving in concert to bring down their target. Once a victim is killed, the pack will commonly scatter, letting the survivors leave before returning to tear apart the half-liquefied victim. If the survivors try to carry off their dead, the pack will attack until they give up their stolen flesh. Some caravans in spiderhound territory will keep a donkey or other spare livestock to sacrifice; others use captives or used-up slaves. Venomous Fangs: A spiderhound’s bite forces a Physical saving throw. On a failure, the victim takes 1d6 System Strain in addition to the bite damage. If the strain puts them at their maximum, they fall unconscious for an hour. Neutralizing the poison with some ability removes the incurred System Strain. Will of the Pack: Spiderhounds instinctively prefer to perform Swarm Attacks on the most vulnerable targets, with 3 to 4 mobbing a single victim. Damage they inflict this way triggers Venomous Fangs.

Sunbirds An ancient artistic impulse went awry in the form of these birds, each one with a four-foot-long body and wingspan twice as wide. Their feathers are of multicolored glass and their eyes are faceted jewels. While striking in appearance, sunbirds are of a vicious disposition and inclined to attack weak or wounded groups or unwary lone travelers. Most are encountered alone, but occasionally a mated pair hunts together.

Sunbirds concentrate and direct ambient light at their prey, burning them with beams of focused radiance. Creatures immune to heat can ignore these beams, if not the obsidian-sharp talons of the birds. Like most natural predators, a sunbird has no interest in a fair fight and will rarely attack a group that seems capable of giving significant resistance. Sunbeam: During daylight, the bird can emit a beam of light out to 300 feet as a Main Action, targeting all creatures on the ground within a ten-foot radius. Victims within this area must make an Evasion save or suffer 1d6 fire damage per two hit dice of the sunbird. This ability is exhausted once it’s used; each round thereafter, roll 1d6. On a 1, the power refreshes. Swooping Strike: The bird can make melee claw attacks as listed by swooping down on a foe as a Main Action and soaring back upward afterwards. This attack is so swift that the target must have a readied action in order to strike back in melee.

War Roaches A breed of military creature that ran loose after its creators died out, war roaches vary in size from horse-sized warriors to massive winged queens as big as a rhinoceros. They prefer to nest in forests and swamps, though some breeds lair in mountain caves. While not sapient, they are uncommonly clever for beasts, and a few peoples have recovered the scent-symbols needed to tame them. War roaches are notable both for their brightly-colored carapaces done in the heraldry of their vanished masters and for their elaborate array of scythe-like limbs. Their carapace is as hard as oak, and they have an insectile indifference to pain that makes it very difficult to drive them off once they’ve chosen a target. Most war roaches are found in hunting packs of 1d4+1 warriors. In their nests, 2d12 of the creatures usually serve their queen. They often collect shiny objects to satisfy an ancient memory of bright caparisons and gleaming beetle-barding.

150

Sea Monsters Clippermen A scourge of coastal communities and careless ships, the clippermen are crablike humanoids that dwell in shallow waters. They favor salt water as a rule, but colonies have been found far inland infesting lakes and the banks of broad rivers. Humans encounter them most often in hunting parties of a few to a few dozen, or in their deep-burrowed nests where as many as fifty or sixty might be found. They are amphibious, and while they prefer the water for their homes they can function almost indefinitely on the surface. Clipperman have a humanoid form covered in a dull chitinous shell. They have six major limbs: two finned legs, two pincer-equipped arms, and two smaller manipulatory appendages beneath those arms, each with three fingers and an opposable thumb. Their heads are little more than neckless bulges at the top of their torsos, their beady black eyes and gnawing mandibles crowned with a pair of delicate feelers. Most grow no larger than five feet, but very old specimens can reach up to eight feet in height. Clippermen generally avoid the use of tools, fighting with their pincers and relying upon their natural defenses. The possessions of their victims are kept for some unfathomable reason, usually stored haphazardly in their watery dens next to the swollen corpses of their former owners. Clippermen are chiefly carnivorous but avoid eating fresh meat in favor of aged carrion. They reproduce in large clutches of eggs, but most of the young are eaten by predators before they molt into their adult form. Clippermen seem to have something like a human degree of intelligence and are capable of speaking with each other through chittering noises and claw-clacks. Despite this, they make no effort to communicate with humans. Their only apparent interests are in food and the security of their communal nest. Humans are generally treated as no more than dangerous prey animals, though a few nests seem capable of making tacit agreements with other sapients when their own survival is threatened.

Hosthulk Terrible things infest the seas of the Latter Earth, and at times they come to plague the ships that fare over the waves. A hosthulk is a ship that has been completely taken over by some parasitic sea entity, its crew reduced to helpless puppets where they are not entirely integrated into a new, more organic vessel. The exact nature of the controlling entity varies with the particular species that seized the ship. The most common is the “tyrant jelly”, a dog-sized jellyfish with strong, sticky tentacles. It creeps up onto a ship’s deck at night and attacks unwary crewmen; while it’s easy for an alert human to kill the creature, an ambushed victim risks being parasitized by the jelly, which will promptly

invade their body, liquefy their organs to make room for its bulk, and begin to spread infectious spores around the vessel. A careless crew that fails to recognize the warning iridescence of the spore patches will be subdued and infested by the tyrant jelly’s buds, until the entire ship is an extension of the creature’s alien will. Tyrant jellies in an advanced state of growth will end up encrusting an entire ship in the softly-swaying buds of its gelatinous offspring, a fan of stinging tentacles drifting along below the ship’s keel. Most hosthulks have a great need for both flesh and repair materials in order to keep the parasite fed and the ship intact. The 3d20 crew aboard most will fight with suicidal enthusiasm to take more hosts and plunder passing ships. Thanks to the twitching of the tyrant jelly’s tentacles or the organic fins and siphons of different parasites, most hosthulks can sail twice as fast as a normal ship of their kind. The various hosts are no longer capable of human communication, though their master usually exhibits some kind of sentient cognition in its search for new prey and new materials. Most hosthulks avoid drawing too close to land; they usually need large amounts of salt water to maintain their health, and many are unable to leave the water for any significant amount of time. Instead, they plunder careless or unlucky ships until one finally proves a match for the hosthulk or until the wretched vessel finally collapses under the forces of disrepair and decay. Such disintegration is usually the triggering event for a mass hatching of new parasites from the decaying corpse of the former controlling entity.

Kraken Shrimp A dreaded horror of the coastal seas, the kraken shrimp is a monstrous entity that averages fifty feet from mandibles to tailfin, and twenty in breadth. This does not account for the two ten-foot-long mantis-like blades folded at the front of the beast, each one capable of shearing through oak planking as if it were paper. It moves by undulating dozens of finned legs beneath its armored carapace. The beast usually lurks at the edge of coastal cliffs and deep-sea chasms, snatching up the strange creatures that dwell below when they wander within reach of its blades. At times it swims towards the surface to hunt whales, where unlucky mariners might encounter it. Only the fact that it is strictly water-breathing keeps it from being a menace to coastal settlements. A kraken shrimp has only bestial intelligence and seems unable to distinguish between a ship and its more usual whale prey. It generally focuses first on chopping apart a ship rather than the scurrying creatures that fill it, and so it will commonly first smash a vessel and then devour the flailing survivors until it has had its fill. Some desperate captains have survived a kraken shrimp attack

151 Sea Monsters

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Clipperman Warrior

3

16

+5

1d8+1

2/13

25’

8

3

+1

14+

Clipperman Brute

6

18

+9

1d12+3

5/20

25’

9

3

+1

12+

Hosthulk Thrall

1

13a

+2

Wpn

Wpn

30’

12

4

+1

15+

Kraken Shrimp

25

18

+30 x 2

4d8

10/-

90’ swim

10

5

+3

3+

Sea Titan

20

18

+22 x 2

Wpn+8

Wpn+8/-

50’

10

3

+3

5+

Weaver Eel

1

13

+3

1d6

None

30’

7

4

+1

15+

Yuun

7

15

+10 x 2

1d10

None

40’ swim

8

4

+1

12+

by hurling provisions overboard, glutting the creature until it loses interest in their ship. Others, lacking enough provisions, have been known to throw down certain of the crew instead. Kraken shrimp do not keep treasure, though their bladed arms and certain of their internal organs are precious to sorcerers, being worth 30,000 silver in total if they can be salvaged. They are only ever encountered alone, though some speculate that it is simply the case that no one has survived an encounter with more than one of these creatures.

Sea Titan Some scholars claim that these beings are survivors of the sunken kingdom of Llum, while others credit them as native creatures of a former age. All agree that they are dangerous in the extreme, showing a spiteful malice towards humanity and resenting their intrusions upon the sea. A sea titan is generally human in appearance, albeit usually crusted over with barnacles and draped in seaweed. Most are monstrous in appearance, though a few have a terrible beauty that speaks of a lost civilization’s aesthetic. The smallest of them are twenty feet in height, while the largest are said to be measured in miles, and never found outside the deepest of the abyssal canyons. Only the smaller varieties seem to have any interest in human affairs. While sea titans can breathe air and function normally on land for brief periods, they find both activities unpleasant and uncomfortable. They rise only to demand sacrifices of gold and gemstones from sea vessels or coastal communities, when they do not simply destroy whatever crosses their path. Their troves are kept in caves on the seabed, worthless to them save as trophies of their own superiority. While some rash diplomats have managed to make bargains with the titans, they can be trusted to keep them only so long as it amuses them… and their sense of humor is exceedingly red and bloody. Sea-Wrought Arts: A sea titan knows sorceries of salt and tide and has the blessings of coral gods. Each one has 4 to 6 points of monster abilities appropriate to their nature.

Weaver Eel An amphibious species of Outsider vermin that appear to have been introduced by the Polop, the weaver eel resembles a wolf-sized, lobster-legged eel that excretes thin strands of a sticky, extremely tough mucus. They are found most often in half-submerged nests of 2d6 adults, though individual hunters can be found both in water and on nearby land. The nests are made of woven mucus-strands and usually suspended from the walls of sea caves and other damp tunnels; occasionally the remains of some unlucky prey can be found by cutting them apart.

Yuun A cross between a crocodile and an anteater, a yuun lurks in swamps and shallow rivers, waiting for unwary prey to get too close to the water. As soon as a victim comes in range, it rises to the surface and spits a thin stream of water and sand, firing it with lethal pressure. A yuun’s sand-stream can slash through hardened leather at a distance of sixty feet, though the effect falls off rapidly after that point. When the yuun drops a victim, it retreats back into the water, waiting for any other targets to depart before emerging to devour its prey. If the other targets try to carry off its kill or pursue it into the water, it will attack. If engaged below the surface, it can only use its claws to fight, doing the listed damage. Sandspit: As a Main Action, target 1d6 creatures that are within 20 feet of each other and within 60 feet of the yuun. These creatures must make an Evasion save or take 2d6 damage; targets wearing heavy metal armor or carrying a large shield can roll the save twice and take the better.

152

Undead and Spirits To the common folk of the Latter Earth the distinction between undead wraiths and arcane spirits is academic at best. The necromantic powers that fuel the former and the ancient Legacy-imprints that give birth to the latter are both esoteric marvels that are to be shunned by all reasonable and prudent people. Adventuring scholars are seldom so sensible, and through centuries of effort they have managed to taxonomize a considerable number of these eldritch beings. Of course, there are almost as many taxonomies as there are scholars, and their arguments are interminable. Undead are most often found as natural hazards or as the remnants of some ancient death-revering culture. Those who die wretched or untimely deaths will sometimes rise from their own graves, and most cultures have specific burial rites and traditions to ensure that such a thing does not happen. Even bandits will often give cursory rites to their dead, if only to escape their otherworldly vengeance. Spirits, on the other hand, appear to be generated naturally as part of the function of the Legacy. Powerful elemental energies can give birth to them, as can major geographical features or magically-active sites. Even so, some spirits are thought to be artificial constructs, created by the sorcerers of a prior age. It’s not uncommon for powerful spirits to be worshiped by nearby human communities, even if their reverence only extends to placating it with sacrifices.

Undead Might After ages of experience with grasping Necromancers, the creators of undead in the Latter Earth have learned to take certain countermeasures against them. While “natural” undead rarely have this protection, those built by capable arcanists often have a certain degree of Undead Might. Each point of Undead Might a creature has can negate one instance of damage or control inflicted by Necromantic spells or other anti-undead powers. Thus, a Blessed Dead with two points of Undead Might can ignore the first two uses of Command the Dead or Smite Undead before being susceptible to the third. Undead Might regenerates at the end of every scene. Some powerful undead grant Undead Might to their companions as well as to their own benefit, provided they’re within a mile or so of their leader. If these captains of the dead are destroyed, this protection ceases for their allies. If multiple captains are present, only the highest protection applies; two Blessed Dead who confer two points of Undead Might can’t team up to grant their thralls four points in total.

Blessed Dead Certain death-gods are capable of blessing their favored servants with eternal unlife. The “blessed dead” are those undead devotees who have earned this favor, existing forever in a twilit half-life that mimics their breathing days. Even so, some versions of this eternity are more pleasant than others. The least graced dead are little more than zombies, largely mindless husks that serve their more intelligent peers. While they do not decay, their deathly appearance and chill flesh could never pass for living. More sophisticated dead have greater intelligence and free will, though they often bear the marks of the grave as well. Only the most favored and powerful dead can be mistaken for living humans, and these beings are almost invariably the abject slaves of their dark god. Should they be destroyed by violence, some such creatures can pull themselves back together over slow centuries, while others merely persist as dust and gore for the rest of eternity. Blessed dead are most often found in the shrines and temples of their master, carrying out rites of worship and propitiation in an unending cycle of service. Living intruders are seldom welcome, though sacrifices of warmer blood are sometimes needed. Intelligent dead are capable of making bargains with the living and directing their mindless thralls to more complex ends, but few of the blessed dead have any further use for mortal concerns. Divine Bulwark: Intelligent Blessed Dead can confer one point of Undead Might on themselves and their visible undead allies for every three hit dice they have, rounded up. Slave of the Grave: Death-gods do not countenance the theft of their property. Any undead-controlling or influencing spell cast on the Blessed Dead lasts no more than 1d6 rounds. Unholy Gifts: Intelligent Blessed Dead have from 4-8 points of special abilities appropriate to their service to their god.

153 Undead and Spirits

HD

AC

Atk.

Dmg.

Shock

Move

ML

Inst.

Skill

Save

Blessed Dead Servant

1

10

+2

Wpn

Wpn

30’

12

3

+1

15+

Blessed Dead Adept

4

13a

+6

Wpn+1

Wpn+1

30’

10

2

+2

13+

Blessed Dead High Priest

10

15a

+10 x 2

Wpn+3

Wpn+3

30’

10

2

+3

10+

Bone Partisan

2

15a

+4

Wpn

Wpn

30’

12

4

+1

14+

Elemental, Minor

4

15

+6

As Type

12

3

+1

13+

Elemental, Major

8

18

+10 x 2

As Type

12

3

+2

11+

Elemental, Titan

16

20

+20 x 3

As Type

12

3

+3

7+

Genius Loci

8

15

+10

40’

9

3

+2

11+

2d8

3/-

Guardian Spirit

12

22

+15 x 2

2d8

5/-

50’

12

1

+2

9+

Hungry Corpse

10

15

+14

Wpn+3

Wpn+3

40’

8

3

+3

10+

Lich

16

18

+18

Special

None

20’

10

0

+4

7+

Skull Knight

15

20

+17 x 2

Wpn+3

Wpn+3/-

30’

10

1

+2

8+

Slave Husk

1

14

+1

1d6+1

1/-

25’

12

4

+1

15+

Wraith Lord

25

22a

+25 x 2

Wpn+5

Wpn+5/-

40’

10

1

+3

3+

Bone Partisans Sometimes the fire of a cause is so intense that those who die in its service cannot find rest. Days or years later, their bones rise from the earth to further prosecute their sacred purpose. Until their goal is obtained or their ghosts are exorcised, these partisans will fight and die without end. A Bone Partisan generally appears as a skeleton, though recently-raised ones might still have some semblance of flesh. They are mantled in ghostly echoes of their living harness and weapons, and these spirit weapons can do harm even to creatures immune to mundane weapons. They do not generally speak or communicate with the living, though their captains and leaders will sometimes condescend to explain their great purpose. While a Bone Partisan will fight and act with human intelligence, their memories and reasoning are shadowed by the confusion of death. They will not generally go far from their place of revival unless led by an intelligent master, and will under no circumstance undertake any action that does not further their cause. If they are convinced that their cause is utterly impossible, they will vanish with a mingled cry of suffering and relief. Otherwise, a destroyed Bone Partisan will reform at the next nightfall unless the bones are exorcised with a successful Cha/Pray skill check at difficulty 10. Only one exorcism attempt can be made per day, though it can apply to any number of heaped undead remains. Unrelenting: Bone Partisans cannot be compelled to do anything contrary to their sworn purpose, whether by persuasion or magic. Wrath of the Dead: The Shock inflicted by Bone Partisans treats all targets as AC 10.

Elementals Most often conjured up by Elementalists versed in their animating spells, Elementals can also manifest in areas of powerful natural energies. They act with human intelligence in battle or when commanded, but they never speak or otherwise communicate with others. When left to their own devices, they tend to linger in places suitable to their nature, remaining quiescent until disturbed. The violence that follows continues until all interlopers are dead or have fled. Air elementals are among the most common sorts, for any great storm or wind can spark them into existence. Their airy bodies are difficult to disrupt, but they have limited powers to harm tangible foes. Most fight by hurling stones and other debris with their great winds. Earth elementals are crude humanoid figures of stone and soil. They are destroyed instantly if they are removed from contact with the earth, such as by a successful grapple check or some great force. Fire elementals are among the rarest of their kind, for they can exist only within 60 feet of some blaze at least as large as a bonfire. Their intangible bodies are difficult to harm, and their mere proximity can sear away a victim’s life. Metal elementals require at least a hundred pounds of metal to form, most often taking the shape of animate suits of armor or spiky masses of rusted steel. They have few special abilities, but the sheer violence they can bring to bear is often sufficient for their tasks. Wood elementals need not remain rooted in the ground, but they can form only in forests or in lush vegetation. Their numerous limbs and tendrils can catch their victims and squeeze the life from them. Water elementals can exist only in a body of water with at least the volume of a man, and are likewise destroyed if taken from it. They cannot be grappled, how-

154 ever, and their jets of pressurized water can slash the unwary as keenly as any sword. An elemental will have the special abilities noted below that are appropriate to their type. Some adventurers attest to the existence of “hybrid” elementals that somehow combine the qualities of two or more of the common types. Air Mastery: The elemental is invisible outside of combat, and does 1d6 damage with thrown debris or stones. It flies at a movement rate of 60’ and is immune to non-magical weapons. Earth Mastery: The elemental can pass through unworked stone or earth as if it were air. It walks at a movement rate of 20’. It does 2d6 damage with its massive fists with Shock 5/20, and cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons not suitable for breaking stone or digging earth. It gains a total +3 bonus on all grapple checks. Fire Mastery: The elemental does 2d8 damage with its fiery limbs with Shock 3/-, and any creatures in melee range take an automatic 1d6 fire damage at the start of the creature’s turn. It flies at a movement rate of 30’. Water or dirt thrown on the elemental does 1d6 damage per bucketful. Otherwise, it is immune to non-magical weapons. Metal Mastery: The elemental does 2d6 damage with its blades with Shock 5/15 and is impervious to fire or electrical damage. It moves at a 30’ rate per action. It is immune to non-magical weapons, and magical metal weapons always do minimum damage to it. Wood Mastery: The elemental gets a total +4 bonus on all grapple checks and can grapple as many creatures at once as half its hit dice, rounded up. It creeps at a movement rate of 20’. It inflicts damage only on grappled foes, doing 1d6 damage plus its hit dice when the grapple allows. It is immune to non-magical weapons unsuitable for cutting wood, though all fire damage is rolled twice and the higher used. Water Mastery: The elemental is immune to grappling, and swims at a 60’ movement rate. It is invisible when fully submerged. Its water spray can reach up to 60’ and inflicts 2d6 damage on a hit with no Shock. It is immune to mundane weapons, fire, and electrical damage, but ice damage is rolled twice and the higher applied.

Genius Loci At times, a place of particular natural power or arcane significance will form a Genius Loci, a spirit embodying the nature of the place and the surrounding few miles of land. Such spirits generally remain intangible unless approached by petitioners or goaded by destructive intruders. Few have much natural interest in the affairs of humans, but rural villages can sometimes earn the spirit’s favor by careful maintenance of its territory and reverent offerings of the land’s produce. Logging, mining, and other extractive labor is possible within a spirit’s domain, but they must be carefully propitiated to avoid their anger, and any excessive exploitation will be swiftly punished. When a Genius Loci manifests, it usually appears as a roughly humanoid shape somewhere between the size of a child and an ogre, its body reflecting the surrounding landscape. They usually provide one warning to despoilers, but further destruction of the landscape usually brings immediate and lethal violence from the spirit. Petitioners can sometimes persuade the spirit to unleash this violence against other enemies within its territory. If the spirit’s manifestation is destroyed, it is forced back into the natural locus of its power. If this holy stone, tree, or other central focus is broken the spirit is destroyed with it. Gifts of the Land: A Genius Loci has 4-8 points of special abilities appropriate to controlling or commanding its surroundings. Local Omniscience: The Genius Loci can observe any location within its domain as an On Turn action. It can perceive only one such place at a time, though it can swiftly find any particular person or thing it might be looking for. Lord of the Land: Natural animals dwelling within the spirit’s domain are absolutely obedient to it, even to the point of suicidal actions. Manifestation: The Genius Loci can go immaterial as a Main Action, becoming invisible and intangible to non-magical weapons or spells. It can teleport anywhere within its domain as a Main Action.

Guardian Spirit Most often bound by ancient sorcerers as protectors of their sanctums and vaults, Guardian Spirits come in numerous shapes and sizes. All are characterized by a degree of ferocity, however, whether appearing as hugejawed hounds, armored knights, or crackling spheres of energy. They do not communicate with others save to demand that they depart or warn them against entering forbidden areas. They fight with human intelligence and can interpret their orders in a logical way; while loath to leave their appointed area, they can do so to deal with some intruder’s trickery. Most Guardian Spirits are responsive to particular key items or passphrases, allowing the bearers to pass

155 freely or remove whatever objects they were intended to guard. Finding these objects or key phrases is often an adventure in and of itself. Eternal Vigilance: Guardian Spirits cannot be surprised, cannot be blinded by mists or darkness, and can perceive invisible or disguised creatures. They have a total skill bonus of +5 for purposes of defeating subterfuges and spotting intruders. Furious Barrier: No creature within 20’ of the Guardian Spirit can move past it, their path blocked as if by an invisible wall. This applies even to teleportation or other magical means of movement. Hurled Rebuke: The Guardian Spirit will always prefer melee combat, but if attacked by a creature outside of that range and unable to close with them, they can create a dangerous backlash of sorcery against their assailant, doing 3d6 damage automatically as an On Turn action once per round per target. This backlash can reach any ranged assailant, regardless of the distance or cover.

Hungry Corpse The unnatural energies that animate undead are flawed in some cases, sufficient to give them motion but not to give them satiety. Those undead afflicted by this deficiency must hunt out living humans, draining them of their life force to win a brief reprieve from the torments of their own unholy thirst. The same flaw that forces this hunger also grants certain unnatural powers to them, however. Most Hungry Corpses are indistinguishable from humans when well-fed, having the warmth and appearance of normal living people. Starved corpses grow hollow-cheeked, waxen, and cold, though they move with a manic, twitchy haste. Most attempt to remain properly nourished, the better to blend in with their prey. When sufficiently starved, however, all reason leaves them and they will attack humans with blind ferocity. There is no reliable way to create a Hungry Corpse, but some among them study dark arts by which they might perhaps create companions for their long eternity. The mere touch of a Hungry Corpse can drain the life energy from a victim, though most prefer to take their nourishment through warm human blood. Most such undead require one human victim a week to be comfortable, or at least one a month to avoid starvation. Demihumans and intelligent humanoid monsters can serve their appetites in a pinch, but are unsatisfying. These requirements force most of them to remain constantly on the move to avoid discovery, though large cities can support a considerable nest of these creatures, provided they are careful with their hunting.

Enthralling Blood: Victims Mortally Wounded by the creature’s Thirsting Touch power can be fed a portion of its blood, reviving them as helpless slaves of the Hungry Corpse. Such a slave is completely subject to its master, and it must feed weekly on its lord’s blood if it is not to perish. A Hungry Corpse can maintain a number of thralls equal to its hit dice; if the corpse is destroyed, its thralls are freed. Pacifying Gaze: As a Main Action, the Hungry Corpse can gaze at a living creature within 30’; the victim must make a Mental saving throw or become paralyzed and unable to act for the rest of the scene. Victims can make a Mental save at the start of their turn to shake off this effect, but each attempt adds 1 System Strain. Creatures with 1 HD do not get a save against this power. Scuttler: Hungry Corpses can climb even sheer surfaces as if they were flat ground, clinging to walls and ceilings regardless of their weight. Thirsting Touch: With a successful unarmed attack against a victim, the Hungry Corpse does no hit point damage but adds 1d4 points of System Strain to them. If this exceeds the victim’s maximum, they fall to zero hit points and become Mortally Wounded. Unholy Gifts: Powerful Hungry Corpses can have up to 8 points of special abilities, and many possess at least some degree of Undead Might.

156

Lich The dreadful result of deep necromantic lore, a Lich is an undead sorcerer who has prolonged their life through various forbidden and terrible arts. While they lack the superlative power of the Unending, the lichdom process is much more accessible for a wizard willing to accept the inevitable compromises of the technique. Liches invariably appear to be rotted corpses or yellow-boned skeletons, usually adorned with the neglected remnants of their sorcerous robes and occult tokens. They move with a slow deliberation, and are usually at least half-distracted with thoughts and contemplations wholly alien to living minds. Few liches have the slightest concern for human lives or human affairs, being entirely obsessed with the pursuit of further arcane secrets. Liches are generally lost to the world, having retreated to their sanctums to carry out unending centuries of obscure magical experiments. The consequences of these studies can be disastrous for the neighboring lands, however, particularly when summoned creatures get loose or eldritch experiments befoul the surroundings. When a lich finds it necessary to obtain some new ingredient for its research, it most often sends its conjured or undead servants to fetch it with no concern for the potential consequences; things like “negotiation” and “subterfuge” are generally beneath the lich’s attention. A few particularly fresh or socially adroit liches have been known to cultivate networks of human servants, however, to more easily acquire their necessary components and artifacts. Dark Sorcery: A lich has arts and casts spells as a 10th level High Mage, Necromancer, or other spellcaster. Most of them have 5-8 points of Effort. A lich can Commit Effort for the day to resist spell disruption due to injury, though it can do this only once per round. Eldritch Talons: When piqued, a lich can attack a foe bare-handed; its bony claws rip away a portion of a living creature’s life force, inflicting 2d8 damage on a hit and adding 1d4 points of System Strain. Creatures forced above their maximum collapse, Mortally Wounded. Eyes of Night: Liches can see perfectly well in the dark, and can see invisible or intangible creatures normally. Undead Might: A Lich has 2 points of Undead Might, and can Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action to refresh an expended point. Unholy Arts: Every lich has accumulated 6-10 points of special abilities over the centuries as a byproduct of their magical studies.

Skull Knight Some necromancers or death-cults are not satisfied with creating hosts of shambling, half-witted minions. They prefer quality over quantity, and so conduct the necessary rites to raise up a hero from the dead, whether out of some suitable fresh sacrifice or the shade of an ancient paragon. These “skull knights” are powerful undead warriors and are capable of leading other undead in war. The more potent the original sacrifice or spirit, the more powerful the skull knight. The average skull knight is armed and armored with the rotted echoes of their living harness, though this equipment invariably works perfectly all the same. Most are skeletal in appearance, though a few are revived with fleshy features and some are even largely indistinguishable from living humans. Skull knights have all the intelligence and memories of their living days, and are invariably skilled and capable leaders. Undead under their command respond instinctively to their wishes, and act with a degree of coordination they otherwise could not hope to have. Most skull knights are wise enough to keep a bodyguard of their most powerful minions close to hand, realizing that they would undoubtedly be the primary target of a prudent foe. Fury of the Grave: A skull knight gains an additional one or two Main Actions per round, depending on its prowess, provided these bonus actions are used to attack or harm others. Undead Might: Skull knights have 4 points of Undead Might which they can share with any undead under their command, however distant they may be. Unholy Prowess: Each skull knight has 4-8 points of special abilities related to their combat prowess. Will of the Host: Skull knights know and can perceive anything their undead minions can perceive. They can use a power equivalent to the Necromancer spell Command the Dead as a Main Action, but they have no cap on how many hit dice of undead thralls they can have at once.

Slave Husk Named for the frequency with which they are enslaved by Necromancers or enthralled by more potent undead, slave husks are wretched men and women who have stirred to an uneasy half-death due to some lapse in the Legacy, an infusion of necromantic energies, a desultory death-god blessing, or some other process of undeath. Some are even the product of particular plagues and illnesses, diseases that deliver them only halfway to death. A slave husk generally appears as a shambling, semi-rotted corpse. It has no real intelligence, but is driven by a constant sense of unease and suffering that can only be calmed by human flesh and blood. Most are too stupid to actively seek out such prey, but they will desperately pursue any that catch their notice. While slave

157

husks lack the intelligence for any particular expertise at combat, their dead forms are highly resilient to punishment, and they must often be hacked into pieces before their unnatural vitality leaves them. Shambling Tide: Slave husks are too stupid for sophisticated tactics, but in large groups they gain an instinctive degree of cooperation. If 6 or more slave husks are present, they can perform Swarm Attacks on their victims.

Wraith Lord The fearsome princes of the dead, a wraith lord is a powerful ruler who has been animated by skilled death-cultists or an age-old cultural tradition of necromancy. The creation of these beings requires an enormous amount of wealth and human sacrifices, and only nations with a long dedication to unlife generally have the resources necessary to translate a living lord into this royal undeath. Wraith lords appear to be hale and powerful human warriors, though direct sunlight leaves them seeming slightly translucent. They are invariably mantled in exquisite armor and bear powerful magical weapons. A bodyguard of skull knights is usually always with them, and some retain liches or other magic-versed undead as court sorcerers. While wraith lords have keen and far-reaching minds, undeath invariably shifts their priorities. Most were created as a reward for their long service to the Pale Emperor or some death-polity, and their chief concerns are the enjoyment of their further eternity with phantom wine, undead concubines, unliving gardens, and all the personal projects their former life denied them. The natural stasis of the undead makes it unlikely that they

will ever grow weary of such pastimes, but a few are not so distracted from the world. These active wraith lords usually find pleasure only in conquest and rule, and will scheme constantly to further their power over the living. Armies of corpses and human levies alike will be marshaled in their service, and living kings must be made to bow at the foot of their cold thrones. Most such wraith lords are eventually destroyed by a coalition of living rulers or a band of brave heroes, but a few can still be found in remote regions where there are no rivals to check them. Fury of the Grave: A wraith lord gains an additional two Main Actions per round, provided these bonus actions are used to attack or harm others. Prince of Bones: The wraith lord can use the equivalent of a Command the Dead spell as a Main Action, though it has no maximum in the number of undead it can theoretically enthrall. Timeless Foresight: The wraith lord is but poorly tethered to time, and can sometimes gain visions of the immediate future. Once per scene, as an Instant action, it can rewind events back to the start of its last turn. The intervening time did not happen; it merely foresaw the impending events, which now may be changed. Unholy Prowess: Each wraith lord has from 8 to 10 points of special abilities related to their living achievements and talents. Undead Might: Most wraith lords have at least five points of Undead Might, and can confer this grace on any undead affected by their Prince of Bones power.

158

OPTIONAL RULES AND CLASSES One of the advantages of many old-school-inspired games is their great malleability in the hands of a GM. It’s not hard to plug in new rules or add on additional options because most of the systems are semi-independent already. This section of the book offers certain new rules and classes that might prove useful to your own campaigns. Low and No-Magic Campaigns offers a selection of rules for campaigns where magic doesn’t play the major role it does in most fantastical worlds. You may want to play a historical game where magic wouldn’t be an appropriate element, or run a gritty, low-magic campaign where the only possessors of eldritch power are vile NPC wizards fit only for an honest barbarian’s blade. These games have considerable charm, but allowances need to be made for things like healing, appropriate Focus options, character creation limits, and other details meant to support the campaign’s tone. Those helps can be had in the pages that follow. Optional Rules offer a grab bag of small rule modifications for adding particular tones to your game or adjusting the way the basic rules play. Options for slow healing, maiming wounds, depowering magic, and making System Strain play a larger role in affairs are offered. Primitive Firearms are there to support campaigns set in early modern periods or in realms where arquebuses are found alongside spears. Special rules for Ondasi hurlants can also be used to support Wild West-flavored campaigns where every hero packs a sixgun.

Mundane Alchemy is another tool to support low-magic games, giving a selection of alchemical works that a well-educated chymyst can compound. These brews are designed to be plausible enough to fit even in a no-magic setting, if a little heroic license is allowed. New Character Classes include four new partial classes that you can mix into your existing game. Three are meant for inclusion in typical fantasy settings, while the fourth is meant to give a little hint of supernatural skill or revered social standing to a PC in a world bereft of open magic. New Foci are provided in three sections, each restricted to Experts, Warriors, or Mages respectively. These new Foci are semi-magical in nature, granting marvelous abilities that often have certain drawbacks. While suitable for most high-magic games, a GM may choose to be more restrictive in lower-magic settings. As always, none of the material in this section should be included in your game without careful consideration. While the rules here are meant to be suitable for an average table and a typical game, only you really understand the specifics of your own gaming group and the goals of your own campaign. In particular, you should be careful about including new classes or Foci just because they’re printed here. Don’t add them unless they are actually needed, either by you for worldbuilding purposes or by a player who has a character concept that they particularly enable. If it turns out they’re a bad fit, be ready to retract them as needed.

159

Low and No-Magic Campaigns By default, Worlds Without Number aims at a setting where magic exists and can be quite powerful, but is relatively rare in day-to-day life and not a common tool for most societies. Even so, there are settings where even this much magic is too much to suit a table. Some campaigns might be placed in worlds where magic doesn’t exist at all, such as a game revolving around the Thirty Years War or some other Earth-historical setting. Others wish to play games where magic is very subtle or modest in its effects, and their wizards shouldn’t be hurling balls of flame or conjuring crystalline towers. This game can serve perfectly well as a chassis for such campaigns, but some adjustments and excisions are needed in order for things to go smoothly. This section discusses rules and options for playing a low or no-magic game, and the kind of changes you may wish to make to support such styles of play.

The No-Magic Game

The Low-Magic Game

Running a game with very low-level or subtle magic is another style popular with some tables. For a game like that, the following guidelines are recommended, adjusted to whatever specifics the GM wants for their own particular setting.

•

No full Mages or dual partial spellcasters. Partial Mage classes can be taken by Adventurers, but their other class needs to be Expert or Warrior. For the lowest-magic settings the optional Wise class in this section may be the only “magic-users” allowed.

•

No Healers, as the presence of swift and easy magical healing is very out-of-tone for most low magic settings.

•

Optionally, no magic-using partial Mage classes aside from spellcasters; some settings have room for a human wizard, but not for shapeshifters, beast-masters, mentalists, or supernaturally potent unarmed combatants.

•

Equipment mods exist, but the GM can selectively strike any of them that produce effects too showy or overt for the setting. Arcane salvage units are still needed, but they may take the form of extremely rare and costly components or materials instead of magical detritus.

•

No Workings, save those allowed by special GM permission.

•

No magic item creation by PCs, and probably none by any NPCs they know. Most low-magic worlds should have their magic items placed exclusively by the GM.

•

No spell research, though the GM may permit the PC to find spells they specifically go adventuring to locate.

•

No Foci that are too overtly magical for the setting, by the GM’s judgment. A Spirit Familiar is probably too much for most low-magic settings, but Lucky could be subtle enough.

For a historical game or one set in a world where magic doesn’t exist, a GM should make the following adjustments to the rules.

•

No Mages or partial Mage classes, including supernaturally-augmented classes such as the Vowed or Kistian Duelists. For most campaigns, this means only Warriors, Experts, and partial Warrior/partial Expert Adventurers.

•

No magic items, elixirs, or calyxes. Masterwork equipment is as good as it gets.

•

Equipment mods exist, but only ones that could be explained by wholly mundane craftsmanship and materials. Of the conventional mod list, this means only Augmented Gear, Customized, and Tailored Harness are allowed. No arcane salvage is needed for any mod.

•

No Foci that are explicitly supernatural in effect, such as Nullifier, Lucky, Spirit Familiar, some Unique Gifts, or Xenoblooded. Depending on the judgment of the GM, the second level of some Foci such as Authority, Gifted Chirurgeon, Impervious Defense, Die Hard, or Dealmaker may be too unrealistic to suit the tone of the world.

Some optional rules may also be added if they fit the desired tone of the world, such as the Slow Healing, Maiming Wound, or More System Strain rules that follow.

The GM is likely to sort through the list of optional rules that follow and pick out those that best characterize the style of game they want to play. Not every low-magic world is necessarily a gritty grimdark dysentery-fest, but sometimes that’s exactly what the table wants.

160

Drylands in the Latter Earth While the Legacy allows the inhabitants of the Latter Earth to work great marvels and permits the existence of strange and wondrous creatures, not every part of the planet is equally rich in magical energies. Some regions were deprived of magic at some point in the past, either as the result of some fumbled Working, ancient security lock, or cosmic misalignment of powers. These “drylands” act as pockets of mundanity in the Latter Earth.

Effects of a Dryland

Within the borders of a dryland, magic simply does not work. The High Magic of the ancients is locked away and the New Magic of their successors has nothing to channel. Magical devices become inert, wondrous substances have no properties uncommon to ordinary matter, and magical beasts must swiftly flee or die. Even massive magical Workings from nearby regions sputter and fade when they touch the borders of a dryland, and attempts to reach into the zone with scrying or other occult forces are in vain. Creatures cursed or blessed with some magical power find it inaccessible, and those whose lives are dependent on immortality-magics or transformations must escape the zone or face swift death. Almost every dryland has rumors or traditions of special magics that can function within their lands, usually arts so subtle and intangible that nobody can prove they didn’t actually work. Curses, blessings, oracles, and divinations make up the bulk of these native arts, and none of them seem to work any better than blind luck or post-hoc rationalization would have it.

Even so, a few zones really do have provable magic of a kind, usually alchemical in nature or of a subtle sort that works more often than random chance would admit. These delicate arts almost never produce notable effects and usually require a lifetime of training or special initiations in order to use them. There are persistent rumors in some regions of special items or blessings that would allow a more conventional High Mage to use the full breadth of their powers, but proof of these tales is elusive. The Sunward Isles are the largest drylands in this region of the Latter Earth, but smaller zones are known elsewhere. Many say that a good portion of the Inner Frontier of the Scarlet Princes is a dryland, and some portions of Ondas appear to be equally bereft of magical energies, though Ondasi technology still functions.

Playing in a Dryland

Drylands usually count as no-magic zones and apply the appropriate rules from this section. A few of them have some subtle forms of functional magic, however, and might qualify as low-magic areas instead. A Mage who enters into a no-magic dryland won’t suffer physical harm, but none of his arts or spells will work. In a low-magic dryland that allows only partial Mages, his powers are dampened down to those of a partial Mage of his tradition, or only one of his partial Mage classes if he’s a dual-partial spellcaster. Supernatural creatures or entities dependent on magic to exist cannot survive in a dryland. Such beings suffer 1d6 damage per round while in a dryland and disintegrate completely on reaching zero hit points. Profoundly cursed or blessed entities might also find the land unable to support their existence. For low-magic drylands, some subtle supernatural creatures or native magical entities might be able to survive unharmed. Magical items taken into a dryland cease functioning while they remain inside it, and magical substances start behaving like their nearest mundane equivalent. This may cause some exotic items to disintegrate or collapse. Some low-magic drylands are compatible with magic items, though the more powerful or flamboyant ones may be negated or dampened. Magic cast into a dryland normally dissipates uselessly, even in low-magic zones. Scrying or long-range Workings are usually futile. Local magical traditions native to low-magic zones might still function from afar, however. Some drylands are without the natural vigor-enhancing effects of the Legacy, and the optional Slow Healing or Maiming Wound rules might apply. Other low-magic zones still allow some forms of magic, but apply the Pacifist Magic or Slow Magic rules to their use. Heroes who venture into such places are advised to carry a large supply of bandages and a great fund of judicious caution.

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Optional Rules The rules in this section are meant to be mix-andmatched by individual GMs to fit the needs of a more “realistic” setting. As always, a GM should feel free to tweak them to fit the specifics of their own campaign setting or the genre tone they’re looking to target.

Slow Healing

These rules replace the normal healing rules and reflect a setting where grievous physical injury is something that leaves lasting scars and debilities. Most hit point loss is still assumed to be superficial cuts and bruises, but a Mortally Wounded character has taken some real punishment and needs serious care. A wounded character who is not Frail recovers their character level in hit points after each night of comfortable rest and loses one accumulated System Strain point at the same time. A Mortally Wounded PC immediately rolls three Physical saving throws once they’ve been stabilized and counts their successes against the table below. An NPC can attempt only two saving throws. Saves Made

Healing Time

Maiming Wounds

These rules can be used in conjunction with Slow Healing or as a stand-alone penalty for becoming Mortally Wounded. If using them with Slow Healing, the GM might optionally replace death or month-long Frailty with a result from the maiming wound table. When a character is Mortally Wounded, they need to make a Physical saving throw. If they succeed at it, they avoid permanent maiming. If they fail, they roll on the table below. d12

Maiming Wound

1

Deathblow: No one could survive that

2

Eye damage: -4 to ranged hit rolls

3

Lose a hand: can still strap a shield to the arm

4

Lamed: Move is reduced to 2/3rds speed

5

Ugly scar: -1 penalty on all friendly social skill checks

6

Arm loss: the whole arm is gone

7

Leg loss: Move reduced to 1/3rd with prosthesis

0

Death in 1d12 hours

1

Two permanent System Strain and Frail for a month

8

Mostly deaf: Can manage conversations, but no listening checks

2

One permanent System Strain and Frail for a month

9

Infected wound: Lose two points of Constitution

3

Frail for a week

10

Mental trauma: Lose two points of Wisdom

11

Lung injury: Gain two permanent points of System Strain

12

Flesh wound: No lasting penalties

A physician can attempt to grant a victim a reroll of these saves with a successful Dex/Heal or Int/Heal skill check against difficulty 10 and an hour of work. On a success, the victim can reroll any of the three saves that failed. Only one such attempt to help can be made. If the permanent System Strain their injury inflicts exceeds their maximum, they die sometime during their Frailty. Shedding this permanent strain is not normally possible, but the GM may permit certain brilliant healers or exceedingly costly medicines to alleviate it. While Frail, the victim will not heal hit points or lose accumulated System Strain, and will need someone to tend to them. If conditions are particularly harsh or help is lacking, the GM might make them re-roll one or more of their successful saves, taking the worst result. If magical healing exists in the setting, it cannot normally restore hit points to the Frail or remove the Frail condition. Use of it on a Mortally Wounded subject does stabilize them, however. On a bedridden Frail target the use of it can turn one failed saving throw into a success, though this can only be done once. The GM may allow some exceptionally potent healing magic to work as it does in the normal rules for healing, banishing Frailty and healing damage for anyone.

A repeated result means a mere flesh wound with no lasting effect, even if they’ve got another arm, leg, or hand they could lose. A physician who spends a scene tending them immediately after the injury and succeeds on a difficulty 10 Int/Heal or Dex/Heal skill check can allow a maimed target to make another saving throw with a bonus equal to the physician’s Heal skill. On a success, it’s really a flesh wound after all. Only one such first aid attempt can be made. If magical healing exists in this world, it can also be used immediately after the injury to allow a saving throw reroll attempt, though it heals no hit point damage. Only the most powerful magics can actually heal a confirmed maiming wound, however, and the GM decides what magic would qualify.

162

Pacifist Magic

For low-magic games that still include some form of spellcasting or partial Mage classes, a GM may want to downplay the utility of magic in combat. This rule puts murder firmly in the hands of the mundane members of the party. With the pacifist magic rule, no spell or art can directly inflict hit point damage on a target. Spells that do nothing but cause damage simply don’t exist, and arts such as Elemental Blast aren’t permitted. NPCs may still have damaging sorcery, however, depending on the secret traditions they follow or the hideous pacts they’ve made.

Slow Magic

As an alternative or addition to Pacifist Magic, the GM may want to slow down the use of sorcery, making it that much harder to use in a high-pressure situation. With this rule, those spells that usually take a Main Action to cast take instead effect at the start of the caster’s next round. Any damage or interruption suffered before then spoils the spell. The Swift Casting and Hang Sorcery arts are not available.

More System Strain

There aren’t a lot of ways to gain System Strain in a low-magic setting, and some GMs may want to instead use it to represent the stress and pressure of more conventional threats and hardships. This kind of use doesn’t really fit the more pulp-heroic idiom of the base game, but it can fit some styles of low or no-magic gaming. With this rule, the PCs gain a point of System Strain after each combat, saving throw, or scene of harrowing danger, intense exertion, or other stressful privation. If this point puts them at their maximum, they are exhausted, and can do nothing but rest until reduced below their maximum. If they are forced to fight or otherwise exert themselves while so strained, they need to make a Physical saving throw or they’ll pass out or otherwise collapse during the fray, waking up after the scene. If this rule is used, the default System Strain recovery after a good night’s sleep should be three points instead of one. This rule also makes it much more likely a PC is going to die if the Slow Healing rules are used, so you may want to omit the “certain death if System Strain maximum is exceeded” effect from that rule, and just leave them unconscious for a few days.

Primitive Firearms Many historical games involve crude firearms, whether arquebuses, muskets, flintlock pistols, or early rifles. The statistics for hurlants can be used in many cases, but some GMs may prefer to have more specific statistics for certain kinds of weapons. The adjacent table lists some of the more historically-known firearm types and their plausible ranges in the hands of the average adventurer. Prices listed assume that the weapon is the best technology available for the time; a dusty old arquebus will be cheaper if rifled muskets are in common circulation. The reload times and rates of fire given here are set to be historically plausible for excellent riflemen, like the average PC gunman tends to be. NPCs with less focused training in their firing drill might need to take an extra round to get their guns in order. Reload times given are in rounds of focused effort, with repeating rifles reloadable with no more than a Move action and the use of percussion caps and paper or linen cartridges. If the user is meleed or otherwise disrupted during the reloading, however, the effort is spoiled. A firing kit includes a powder horn, bullet pouch, spare flints, and all the other miscellaneous tools and implements necessary to shoot and maintain a weapon. A kit can hold 30 rounds of ammo Ready for loading.

Primitive Firearm Accessories Item

Cost in SP

Enc

Firing Kit

10

1

100 shots of gunpowder

10

1

2

1

10

1

100 lead balls 50 pre-loaded cartridges

Gunpowder and lead balls are priced at the assumption that they can be found fairly easily in the campaign setting. Primitive gunpowder and crude lead shot are not difficult to make, and anyone with Shoot-1 or Craft-0 skills can make them out of the raw materials, if such are available. A pre-loaded cartridge made of paper or linen is needed for a repeating rifle, as old musket-style loading techniques are too slow. In a pinch, these cartridges can be taken apart to be used in conventional muskets. GMs who want to make use of other forms of firearms are encouraged to consult Stars Without Number, pages 66-67. That game covers more contemporary weaponry, and has the requisite rules for semi-automatic weapons, revolvers, burst fire, and other modern forms of mayhem.

163

Ondasi Hurlants The northern land of Ondas is unusual in that the Legacy’s ban on effective firearms is much weaker there. Thanks to this convenience, cartridge-loaded firearms have largely replaced bows and melee weapons as the common weaponry of those citizens who go armed. These hurlants cease to function when taken out of Ondas, though rumors speak of specially-enchanted models that can function anywhere. The existence of such guns depends entirely on whether or not the GM wants to allow easy PC firearm usage elsewhere in the Latter Earth. There are several common kinds of Ondasi hurlants, but the wheelgun is the most common of all, being a revolver capable of a half-dozen shots before its wielder needs to pause and reload it. In the Territories, almost every adult Ondasi carries one when outdoors.

Derringers are favored by ladies, gamblers, and the discreet. These tiny guns are palm-sized, and while they count as one encumbrance when Readied, a Stowed derringer is so small as to count as zero encumbrance. Scatterguns usually fire shot shells that grant a +2 bonus to hit, though they can be loaded with slug rounds that give the weapon 1d10+2 damage and increase its range to 300/600 feet. Their magazine size is limited, despite the best effort of Ondasi gunsmiths to work around the Legacy’s limits. Rifles are the trusted weapon of most frontier explorers, most models holding up to six cartridges. Reloading an Ondasi hurlant takes one Main Action. In Ondas, five brass-cased cartridges can be acquired for a silver piece; outside Ondas, the ammunition is inert and useless, though some alchemists can replicate it.

Primitive Firearm

Dmg

Attribute

Range in Feet

Traits

Reload

Cost in SP

Enc

Handgonne

1d12

Dex

5/100

AP, M

5

30

3

Arquebus

1d12

Dex

50/150

AP, M

2

60

3

Musket

1d12

Dex

75/150

AP

1

60

2

Rifled Musket

1d12

Dex

75/1,000

AP, PM

2

90

2

Repeating Rifle

1d12

Dex

300/3,000

AP, PM

Move

120

2

Flintlock Pistol

1d6

Dex

15/45

AP

1

30

1

Ondasi Hurlants

Dmg

Attribute

Range in Feet

Traits

Magazine

Cost in SP

Enc

Wheelgun

1d8

Dex

90/300

AP

6

60

1

Derringer

1d6

Dex

15/30

AP

2

25

1*

Scattergun

3d4

Dex

30/90

AP

2

60

2

Rifle

1d12

Dex

600/1,200

AP, PM

6

100

2

PM: Execution Attacks do double damage and have -1 on saves. AP: It ignores non-magical armor and shields. M: Must have a mount, resting stick, or rest or suffer -4 to hit. A stick is included in the encumbrance.

164

Mundane Alchemy Some GMs like to add a dash of the exotic to their historical games or no-magic settings. While incanted spells and magical talismans may be too outre for their campaigns, old-fashioned alchemical mixtures might be just plausible enough to fit into the game. The mundane alchemy rules in this section are suitable for creating potions and powders that are “realistic” enough to fit into most no-magic campaigns if no one looks too closely at them. Some GMs may make their creation the provenance of half-crazed NPC scholars in search of alchemical immortality, while others might make room for PC alchemists who take up their quest alongside more conventional adventurers.

Becoming an Alchemist

A would-be alchemist must take the Mundane Alchemist Focus, thereby gaining access to the Alchemy skill at level-0 and obtaining a selection of basic formulae and the tools to use them. Only someone with the Mundane Alchemist Focus can gain or raise their Alchemy skill, and only Experts or Partial Experts can take the Focus, including the Wise class described in this section. The Alchemy skill allows the user to brew, identify, and employ alchemical substances, including throwing them accurately. For treating poisons and burns, Alchemy can substitute for the Heal skill. The works of a mundane alchemist are calibrated for use in a setting with no magic, or magic so subtle as to be indistinguishable from ordinary reality. They’re useful and situationally helpful, but greatly inferior to magical elixirs or other works of true magic. A GM might choose to allow PCs in a fully magical campaign to take the Alchemy skill without needing to take the Mundane Alchemist Focus, and allow them to create these mundane potions at the usual difficulties and costs without any Focus dedication. It’s recommended to keep the class limit in place, restricting the skill to Experts and partial Experts only as full Mages already have their own magical options.

Focus: Mundane Alchemist

You’ve been trained at the laborious art of alchemy and are familiar with its intricate subtleties. Level 1: Gain Alchemy-0 as a bonus skill. You have formulae for all common lesser works, but you cannot yet devise greater works, even if you get the formula for one. You can scavenge or jury-rig lab equipment sufficient to create lesser works unless completely separated from all adequate makeshifts. Level 2: You have formulae for all common greater works and can compound them at the usual difficulty. A week of lab work and access to common mundane materials lets you create your level x 25 silver pieces worth of alchemical components for use in compounding your own personal works.

Alchemical Works

A potion, salve, unguent, or chymical reaction created by an alchemist is a work. Works are divided into lesser and greater categories. Alchemists with only the first level of the Mundane Alchemist Focus can make only lesser works, while those with the second can attempt greater works. Making a work requires raw materials and a suitable alchemical laboratory. Any competent alchemist can jury-rig the tools necessary for crafting a lesser work with a few days of urban scrounging, but a lab for making greater works costs 5,000 silver pieces in glassware, grinders, scales, furnaces, metal vessels, and other paraphernalia. An alchemical laboratory takes up at least an inn room’s worth of space for lesser workings, or a cottage’s worth of space for a lab fit for greater workings. A fully-packed lesser lab takes up 10 encumbrance units worth of space, while a greater lab is a cartload. A lesser lab can be packed or unpacked in an hour; a greater one requires a day. Each work requires that the alchemist have a formula for its creation. The ones listed here are common knowledge to the tradition, and any alchemist capable of compounding them will know their formulae. The GM may selectively remove some if they don’t fit the setting, and might also include new works that require the PCs to find or buy the formula from elsewhere. Crafting a work requires raw materials. These raw materials can be purchased in any town or gathered by foraging in the wilderness. An alchemist out hunting in unsettled territory can accumulate their level x 10 silver pieces worth of raw materials for each day of foraging. Some places may have exceptionally rich hunting; these places are usually associated with exceptionally keen dangers. In the same way, looted laboratories or ancient troves might contain considerable amounts of usable materials. If the alchemist has the lab, the formulae, the materials, and the free time, they can attempt to craft a work. Each of the works listed in this section has a difficulty and time needed to compound one dose or use of the work. Creating it requires an Int/Alchemy skill check against the difficulty listed. On a success, everything goes well. On a failure, the alchemist can either accept the loss or push the reaction. If they accept the loss, they lose the materials and time but nothing goes amiss. If they push the reaction, they can attempt the skill check again; on a success, the work is successfully created, while a failure results in the loss of time and materials plus a lab accident from the adjacent table.

165 d6

Alchemical Accident

1

Explosion: suffer 1d6+difficulty damage, double for a greater work. Lab destroyed.

2

Fire: Suffer 1d6 damage, double for a greater work. Lab useless for a week.

3

Poison: Physical save or be bedridden for a week. Even on a save or immunity, gain 3 System Strain. Die if your System Strain exceeds the maximum.

4

Stench: Horrific odors render the lab unusable for a week.

5

Broken Tool: That specific work can’t be attempted again for a week.

6

Ordinary failure: only materials and time are lost.

Using Alchemical Works

Applying a potion or ointment usually takes a Main Action. They can be thrown up to sixty feet using Shoot, Stab, Exert, or Alchemy as the relevant combat skill. If the work has to be applied directly to a target, the throw must hit their Armor Class; if it’s a grenade-like weapon that merely has to hit the area, the AC to hit is usually 12. On a miss with such a grenade, roll 1d12 to see which clockface direction the throw was off in, and 1d20 to see how many feet it missed by. A Readied vial or jar counts as one item of encumbrance. When stowed away, they can be packed in sets of four, but it takes the usual Main Action to break open such packages before any of the contents can be withdrawn. Single stowed vials count as a single item of encumbrance due to their protective wrapping. Carrying numerous unwrapped alchemical vials in an adventurer’s pack is generally a very bad idea. Alchemical effects do not stack. If they apply benefits or penalties to a roll, only the best or worst of them are applied to the target. Thus, a victim afflicted by both Blinding Dust and Itching Dust suffers a -4 to hit rolls, not -6. Alchemical works are completely non-magical and cannot be detected, dispelled, or negated by conventional anti-magical spells and powers. Abilities that grant resistance to magical powers do not resist the use of mundane alchemy.

Alchemical Works

The formulas here are in common circulation among most alchemists, and anyone capable of brewing them can do so. Some works are targeted, and must hit a specific target’s AC to take effect. Others are thrown as grenades, using the rules on the prior page.

Lesser Works

Acid Vial: Targeted. The weak acid inflicts 1d4 points of damage and forces a Physical or Mental save; on a failure, the target loses their next Move action from the pain and panic. The acid can corrode tiny metal or wooden objects in about fifteen minutes. Binding Paste: A vial containing two different compounds is mixed together and applied to two different objects which are pressed together by the user. The paste hardens in one round, forming a rockhard bond between the objects that lasts for an hour before crumbling away. The paste does not set if the objects are moving or flexing when it is applied. Blinding Dust: Targeted. The victim makes a Physical or Evasion save; on a failure, they take -4 to all hit rolls and visual skill checks for the scene. Creatures with 4 or more hit dice can make a Physical save at the end of each of their turns to throw off the effect. Healing Salve: If the subject isn’t Frail, they regain half again as many hit points as usual after a night’s rest, rounded up. Frail characters get no benefit. Incandescent Dust: A powder which must be thrown into a flame of at least torch-size. It burns with blinding brilliance for 1d6 rounds, illuminating everything within 50 feet. Unwary creatures looking at the fire source must make a Physical save or be dazzled for a round, suffering a -4 penalty to hit rolls and Armor Class. Inflammable Oil: A vial can be applied to cover an object no bigger than a large wooden door. It hardens within minutes into a clear varnish-like layer that will immediately ignite if struck vigorously. Flammable objects will be lit on fire; non-flammable ones will burn for one round. Itching Dust: Targeted. If it strikes a person or is applied to clothing they unwittingly don, they must make a Physical saving throw or suffer excruciatingly distracting itching for the rest of the scene or until they remove the clothing, whichever comes later. Distracted subjects suffer a -2 penalty to hit and Armor Class. Creatures with 4 or more hit dice can make a Physical save at the end of each of their turns to ignore the itch for the rest of a fight. Luminescent Oil: A vial of this oil is big enough to cover one person or ten torches. It causes an object to glow with a ghostly white light for an hour barely sufficient to read by and adequate to make out the rough shapes of objects within ten feet. Self-Igniting Oil: Thrown as a grenade. The small pool of flame is five feet in diameter. Those within it at

166 the start of their turn must move out of it or take 1d6 damage. The oil burns out in two rounds. It’s sufficient to ignite any normally-flammable object. Smoke Cloud: Thrown as a grenade. The vial bursts into an obscuring cloud of smoke ten feet in diameter. Ranged attacks through the smoke or melee attacks within it suffer a -4 penalty to hit, assuming the attackers know roughly where their targets are. The cloud dissipates at the end of the round following the one it’s used in. Soothing Powder: One of a variety of narcotic drugs. When consumed, the subject must make a Physical save or fall into a helpless but very happy stupor for 1d6 hours. Creatures with 4 or more hit dice can make a Physical save to throw off the effects when threatened. Touchstone: Not so much a stone as a prepared alchemical kit with one use per level of the alchemist. When applied to a substance, it can detect poisons and identify true or false precious metals or gemstones. Against professional poisoners, the user must make a contested Alchemy versus Heal skill check in order to detect the toxin.

Greater Works

Aqueous Solvent: This small vial of extremely powerful acid has too little volume to be effective as a weapon, but when carefully applied it can melt its way through up to a fist-sized mass of metal or wood in under a minute. Courage Elixir: A powerful analgesic, this vial adds a temporary 10 hit points to the person who drinks it. This boost lasts for the rest of the scene, but their inability to feel pain leaves them unable to track their own hit points. At the scene’s end, these phantom hit points are lost, and the user may end up Mortally Wounded. Infernal Wind: Thrown as a grenade. This jar of oil splatters in a five-foot radius where it hits, and must be lit by some open flame. If so, it erupts into a choking cloud of black smoke, inflicting 1d6 damage on anyone in its area and creating an effect equivalent to the Smoke Cloud work. The burning lasts for one round per level of the alchemist who made it. Lethal Poison: Any alchemist can make toxins, but most are too slow, clumsy, or unreliable to be much practical use. This formula creates a small vial of clear, tasteless liquid that’s strong enough to kill an ox within a minute. A subject who drinks the liquid must make a Physical saving throw or take 1d6 damage per level of the alchemist. This damage takes effect 1d10 rounds after its consumption. Revivifying Draught: Someone drinking this potion can fight, march, or otherwise exert themselves freely for the next twenty-four hours without need for rest. Indeed, they physically cannot sleep during

Lesser Work

Diff.

Cost

Time

10

50

1 day

Binding Paste

9

50

1 day

Blinding Dust

9

50

2 days

Healing Salve

7

10

1 day

Incandescent Dust

9

50

1 day

Inflammable Oil

8

100

1 day

Itching Dust

9

100

2 days

Luminescent Oil

8

50

1 day

Acid Vial

Self-Igniting Oil

8

50

3 days

Smoke Cloud

9

25

2 days

Soothing Powder

8

25

2 days

10

50

3 days

Diff.

Cost

Time

Aqueous Solvent

11

250

5 days

Courage Elixir

10

200

1 week

Infernal Wind

11

250

1 week

Lethal Poison

11

500

1 week

Revivifying Draught

10

200

1 week

Sleeping Powders

10

200

3 days

Sovereign Specific

11

200

1 week

Unquenchable Flame

12

1,000

2 weeks

Touchstone Greater Work

this time. Use of this elixir adds one System Strain. Using it more than once a week forces a Physical save to avoid a fatal heart attack. Sleeping Powders: When consumed, this tasteless chemical provokes immediate and intense sleepiness in the subject. If they feel themselves in danger they can fight off the drowsiness, but one not so alarmed must make a Physical saving throw at a penalty equal to the creator’s Alchemy skill or fall asleep within one minute. Sovereign Specific: A user who drinks or is made to drink this elixir after suffering from poisoning may make a new saving throw with a bonus equal to the creator’s Alchemy skill. On a success, the poison’s effects are negated. The specific must be used within six rounds of the poisoning. Unquenchable Flame: This fist-sized mass is covered with a protective film of non-reactive substance. If the film is scratched, such as by impact, the mass will immediately ignite, beginning to burn with a ferocious heat and toxic fumes that inflict 1d6 damage to anyone who spends their full round within ten feet of it. The mass can burn almost anything, including stone, water, and metal, and will generally burn a three-foot-deep hole under it by the time it consumes itself. The mass burns for 1d6+4 rounds.

167

New Character Classes While the classes offered in the Worlds Without Number deluxe book cover many of the most common concepts a player would wish to play, sometimes something a little more exotic is needed. This section covers several new character classes and three different sets of new Foci appropriate to warriors, experts, and mages. The Accursed is a PC pacted with some otherworldly power in exchange for magical gifts and an eldritch weapon against their foes. The specifics of their alliance will vary, but their powers blend well with concepts reliant on deceit, bargains, and trickery. The Bard is a performer charged with the power of the Legacy, their music, song, and speech infused with unnatural puissance. While their abilities are not magical in nature, they can still hearten allies, dismay foes, and bolster the flagging among their friends. The Mageslayer is a specialist among combatants, their arts focused on the butchery of wizards and spell-wielders. While narrow in their application, they have many tricks for resisting hostile magics and swiftly slaughtering enemy sorcerers. The Wise are those of a special class, one intended for low- or no-magic campaigns that still need a representative scholar, priest, or witch. While their abilities are generally too weak to be appropriate for the usual full-magic settings, they have access to certain tricks that no one else in a no-magic game might have. As with any other optional material, a GM should decide on their own whether or not to include these classes in their own campaign. All of them are partial classes, meant to be mixed with some other set of abilities, and while they are suitable for many campaigns it’s still a matter of discretion to include them in yours.

This principles especially applies to the new sets of Foci included in this section. All of these new Foci have a strong flavor of magic to them, even the ones restricted to Warriors or Experts. This quality might be fine in a typical campaign with full-fledged wizards and fairly easy PC access to magic, but they might not fit as well in a gritty low-magic setting where overtly magical abilities are uncommon at best.

Adding New Campaign Content

If you already have an ongoing campaign, the simplest way to introduce this content is to leave it to newly-created PCs. If you encourage your players to rifle through the book to retroactively adjust their PCs, many optimization-minded players will feel an obligation to find the most mechanically optimal Focus and class set to play. They can sometimes trim their PCs to fit such new content regardless of the violence it does to their past concept. Sometimes, however, a particular new class or Focus might seem to be a perfect fit for a PC’s concept. In that case, you might make a special exception to let them retroactively adjust their character sheet to add it. In other cases, you might have the perfectly reasonable instinct that, having acquired this book of new options and choices, you would like to actually play with them now. In such cases, it can be fairest to let the whole group have a look at the new options and let them make Focus swaps or possibly even class changes to suit their new ideas. If for some inexplicable reason you lack a lustrous, high-quality copy of this book for every player at the table, you can simply print out the following pages and share them as needed.

168

The Accursed Tainted by the touch of otherworldly powers, those men and women known commonly as “the Accursed” have numerous unfortunate origins. Despite their varied backgrounds, they all share dark powers of violence and bewitchment. So alien are most of their patrons, however, that it is unclear whether or not these distant beings even notice their supposed servant’s existence, let alone the arcane covenants they make with them. Some Accursed are the modern-day scions of ancient sorcerous lineages, born to ancestral pacts and unnatural alliances. They wield their powers through the force of their bloodline, intuitively invoking bargains their ancestors made long ago. Other petitioners seek out forbidden rites and perilous rituals in order to forge new covenants with an alien lord. Other Accursed form the martial arm of certain grim faiths, with many of the Bright Names of Ninth Leng possessing orders of warrior-monks, and certain of the Red Gods of Sarx granting these powers in exchange for worship. These Accursed are usually fiercely devoted to their patron’s power, but once the pact is sealed, even blasphemy and apostasy cannot rob them of their arts. Some later think better of their former allegiances. The price of an Accursed’s powers is often unclear. While the traditions and orders that Accursed belong to may make claims on their obedience, the eldritch powers they serve seldom have any interest in their particular actions. Most of them are so alien and so distant to humanity that it would be difficult to comprehend their desires even if they were directly expressed. Indeed, the eldritch weapons that every Accursed wields are thought by many scholars to be nothing more than a manifestation of some fragment of their patron’s presence in the world, an existence so hostile to normal reality that it serves as a physical weapon against their foes.

Partial Expert/Accursed Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6

+0

1 Expert +1 Any

2

2d6

+1

+1 Any

3

3d6

+1

4

4d6

+2

5

5d6

+2

6

6d6

+3

7

7d6

+3

8

8d6

+4

9

9d6

+4

10

10d6

+5

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

Partial Mage/Accursed Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6-1

+0

1 Any

2

2d6-2

+0

+1 Any

3

3d6-3

+0

4

4d6-4

+0

5

5d6-5

+1

6

6d6-6

+1

7

7d6-7

+1

8

8d6-8

+1

9

9d6-9

+1

10

10d6-10

+2

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

Benefits of the Accursed

The Accursed is a partial Mage class that must be joined with a second partial class by an Adventurer. A Partial Warrior/Accursed might be a grim demonic warrior, a Partial Expert/Accursed might be a sinister tempter, while a Partial Mage/Accursed could be a sorcerer willing to pact with foul creatures for their powers. All Accursed gain Magic-0 during character creation. Even those who are not spellcasters must understand the ways of eldritch beings and the subtleties of sorcery. While the arts of Accursed Blade and Accursed Bolt use Magic as their combat skill, Foci that normally apply to mundane weapons such as Armsmaster or Deadeye also benefit their relevant melee or ranged attacks. For these Foci, read “Magic” in place of “Shoot” or “Stab” when gaining their benefits, including the granted skill and the stacking damage bonus that the first level of the Focus may grant.

Partial Warrior/Accursed Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6+2

+1

1 Warrior +1 Any

2

2d6+4

+2

+1 Any

3

3d6+6

+2

4

4d6+8

+3

5

5d6+10

+4

6

6d6+12

+5

7

7d6+14

+5

8

8d6+16

+6

9

9d6+18

+6

10

10d6+20

+7

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

169

Accursed Arts

An Accursed has an Effort score equal to their Magic skill level plus their Intelligence or Charisma modifier, to a minimum of one point. Every Accursed gains either Accursed Bolt or Accursed Blade as a starting art, plus one more of their choice. Accursed arts may be used in or out of armor. Accursed Blade: As an On Turn action, manifest an occult melee weapon as a one-handed 1d8 weapon or a two-handed 2d6 weapon. Both add your Magic skill to the damage roll, have a Shock rating of 2/15, and use Magic as the attack skill and the best of Str, Dex, Int, or Cha as its modifying attribute. Accursed Bolt: As Accursed Blade, but you launch blasts of occult force instead of meleeing. Their damage is 1d8 plus your Magic skill, their range is 200’, and the bolts can be thrown in melee at a -4 penalty to hit. These bolts need both hands free to hurl them. Bewitching Distraction: Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action when talking to an intelligent target when not in combat. They must make a Mental save or become dazed, oblivious to their surroundings and forgetting you and all else that happened in that scene. Danger ends the daze but not the forgetting. Compelling Shriek: Once per scene, Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action and shout a command of no more than seven words. Chosen targets who hear and understand must make a Mental save or perform that action for one round, provided it is not totally contrary to their character. Devil’s Bargain: As a Main Action, consecrate a deal you’ve made with an uncoerced person. If they violate the deal or its spirit, you know instantly and may inflict 1d6 damage per level on them if desired. Dire Pact: Foes suffer a penalty equal to your Magic skill on all saves versus your Accursed arts. If they succeed, however, you gain one System Strain. Lying Face: Commit Effort as a Main Action; while it remains Committed, you can disguise yourself as any humanoid of the same general size, including clothing, scent, and voice. Night-Black Eyes: You can see clearly in perfect darkness. As a Main Action, focus on a particular visible object, person, or location; you can tell if it is enchanted, though no details about the magic are seen. Pacted Protection: Choose a type of harmful energy: fire, frost, acid, electricity, or the like. You become immune to natural degrees of this energy and take half damage from magical attacks involving it. Rob Vitality: Once per scene, as an On Turn action, Commit Effort for the scene and target a visible foe. They must make a Physical save or lose their next Main Action, which you immediately gain instead. Scourging Curse: Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action and target a visible foe. Your curse inflicts a -1 penalty to their hit, damage, and saving throw rolls for one round per level. At 4th level this pen-

Accursed Art Progression Level

Arts Gained at This Level

1

Either Accursed Blade or Accursed Bolt plus Any One

2

Any One

3 4

Any One

5

Any One

6

Any One

7 8

Any One

9 10

Any One

alty becomes -2, and at 9th it becomes -3. Only one such curse can be active at a given time. Shadowed Steps: As a Move Action, Commit Effort for the scene and teleport up to your Move distance. You cannot bypass walls or physical obstacles, but you can teleport vertically or into high places. Snaring Speech: Once per round as an Instant action, Commit Effort for the day when failing a skill check to persuade or tempt someone. They must make a Mental save or agree with your proposal if it’s something they would normally consider doing. Gain one System Strain when using this art. Sorcerous Battery: Once per day, as an On Turn action, Commit Effort for the day. You or a visible ally refresh the spell slot of a spell that has been cast since the start of the prior round. Gain one System Strain. Soul Consumption: As an Instant action, Commit Effort for the day when you fell an intelligent target with Accursed Bolt or Accursed Blade. They die instantly. You heal 1d6 hit points plus your level and lose one accumulated System Strain. Tendrils of Night: Commit Effort as an On Turn action. While Committed, you exude numerous tentacles or eldritch arms that can manipulate objects with your strength up to 20’ away. You gain no bonus actions, but the arms can melee at range. These arms have your AC, and you are damaged if they are hurt. Unseen Steps: As an On Turn action, Commit Effort for the day to turn invisible for 1d6 rounds plus your level. This invisibility breaks before you attack, cast spells, or perform other vigorous or violent actions. Weight of Sin: As a Main Action, Commit Effort for the day and target a visible foe. They must make a Physical save or lose their Move action for 1d6 rounds plus your level. Weeping Wounds: Once per round, Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when a visible enemy takes damage. They must make a Physical save or suffer 1d6 damage per round for one round per level. They cannot heal or regenerate any hit point damage during this effect. This art does not stack.

170

The Bard The power of music and chant to move the heart has been known since humankind has existed. It is no wonder that numerous schools and traditions of musical artifice have been born in the long ages of the Latter Earth, and many of them still have initiates in the present day. Among the first of these known to history were the blind music masters of the Second Dynasty, ritualists charged with assisting in the many holy ceremonies of that theocratic empire. In the north, godspeakers of the proto-Amundi lands uttered the will of their patrons, cowing any who would dare gainsay them. Troubadours of the Seven Rivers Confederacy sang of romances and tragic dooms, and the chanters of the Zakathi work gangs in Old Carce kept up the strength of their comrades with their mighty voices. In the days since those arts arose, these traditions and more have spread, splintered, faded, and been renewed in many times and places. Some novice bards are simple apprentices to masters who know little of their antecedents, while others belong to formal schools that have expectations for their alumni. Some are simply part of cultural traditions and roles that are important in their homeland but little-understood abroad. Their only commonality is the effectiveness of their techniques. Bardic arts are subtle but strong, able to move the hearts of strangers and encourage their faltering allies. These powers are not magical, and wards against sorcery do nothing to forfend them. Instead, they tap into very deep portions of the Legacy, drawing power from the archetypes that their human ancestors honored. While conventional expectations paint bards as bewitching artists with a deftly-played instrument or compelling song, bardic arts can function equally well through fiery orations, persuasive speech, or even particularly evocative dance. Any form of performance that can convey an emotion or idea will serve as a medium, and there are bardic traditions that have their own preferences among them. PCs can use any method that is appropriate to their style or background for their arts.

Benefits of the Bard

The Bard is a partial Expert class that must be joined with a second partial class by an Adventurer. A Partial Warrior/Bard might be a martial skald, a Partial Expert/ Bard might be a light-fingered troubadour, while a Partial Mage/Bard might mix true magic in with their artful performances. All Bards gain Perform-0 during character creation. Their abilities hinge on their power to move a listener, whether that is by song, musicianship, or stirring oratory. Unlike the normal Partial Expert class, Bards do not get a bonus non-combat Focus at first level, nor do they get a Partial Expert’s bonus skill point when advancing a character level. One who takes the standard Partial Expert for their other class gains these things normally.

Partial Expert/Bard Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6

+0

1 Expert +1 Any

2

2d6

+1

+1 Any

3

3d6

+1

4

4d6

+2

5

5d6

+2

6

6d6

+3

7

7d6

+3

8

8d6

+4

9

9d6

+4

10

10d6

+5

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

Partial Mage/Bard Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6

+0

1 Any

2

2d6

+1

+1 Any

3

3d6

+1

4

4d6

+2

5

5d6

+2

6

6d6

+3

7

7d6

+3

8

8d6

+4

9

9d6

+4

10

10d6

+5

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

Partial Warrior/Bard Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

Focus Picks

1

1d6+2

+1

1 Warrior +1 Any

2

2d6+4

+2

+1 Any

3

3d6+6

+2

4

4d6+8

+3

5

5d6+10

+4

6

6d6+12

+5

7

7d6+14

+5

8

8d6+16

+6

9

9d6+18

+6

10

10d6+20

+7

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

171

Bard Arts

Bard Art Progression

A Bard has an Effort score equal to their Perform skill level plus their Charisma modifier, to a minimum of one point. Bard arts may be used in or out of armor, and do not count as magical effects for the purposes of abilities that counter or detect magic. Unless specified otherwise, their range is out to normal unaided voice range. Every Bard gains A Thousand Tongues as a starting art, plus one more of their choice. As they advance in levels, they can pick additional arts.

Level

A Thousand Tongues: Your arts that require communication are intuitively understood by all intelligent creatures, whether or not you speak their language. You can learn a new language with no more than a week of study with a native speaker.

7

Battle Cry: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action to bolster your allies. They gain +1 to hit, saving throws, and damage, including Shock, for one round per level. At 4th level this bonus increases to +2, and at 9th, to +3. Cursed Tune: Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action while targeting an intelligent creature. Your imprecations cause them to falter, inflicting a -1 penalty to their hit, damage, and saving throw rolls for one round per level. At 4th level this penalty becomes -2, and at 9th it becomes -3. Deft Fingers: You’re accustomed to juggling your belongings while holding an instrument. Your maximum Readied item count increases by two. Entangle Incantation: Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when an foe within 60’ incants a spell. Your voice tangles with their words, forcing them to make an opposed Int/Magic vs Cha/Perform skill check against you, with a +2 bonus to your roll. If you tie or succeed, the spell fizzles and is wasted. This art can be used only once per round. Evoke Emotion: Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action while performing. You evoke a desired emotion in listeners, whether intelligent or animal, granting a +1 bonus to relevant social skill checks for the scene for you and your allies. If desired, you can force a new Reaction Roll, taking it if it’s more favorable than the original. This art does not work in combat and can be used only once per scene. Inspire Dread: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action when your enemies are forced to make a Morale check. You goad their fears, forcing them to make two Morale checks instead of one. Those who succeed on both must still make an Instinct check immediately after.

Arts Gained at This Level

1

A Thousand Tongues and Any One

2

Any One

3 4

Any One

5 6 8

Any One Any One

9 10

Any One

Keen Senses: First practiced by the blind music masters of the Second Dynasty, this art gives you the equivalent of sight out to 60’ even if blinded. You cannot distinguish colors, but you can perceive physical details as readily as if with your eyes. Physically-invisible creatures and objects are obvious to you. Liberating Song: You are immune to mind- or emotion-controlling effects. You can Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action to grant any ally in range a Mental saving throw to throw off such effects, assuming they allowed a save to begin with. If the second save is failed, this art cannot help them. Rally: Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action to exhort a wounded or fallen ally, removing any Frailty. The target regains 2d6 plus your level in hit points, but you incur one System Strain. Soothe the Savage: Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action. For as long as you keep spending a Main Action performing each round, animals and other living bestial creatures will not attack you or your allies unless commanded by their masters or threatened by the party. This art can’t be triggered once actual combat has begun. Soothing Graces: Your arts restore and hearten those with you. You and your allies lose an extra point of System Strain after each night’s comfortable rest. This does not stack with similar rest-aiding powers. Swift Misdirection: Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action and target one intelligent creature within earshot. Tell them something in no more than one sentence; unless what you say is physically impossible or emotionally unendurable, they must make a Mental save or believe it for one round. After that, they can judge your words with their normal reason. This art can affect a creature only once per scene.

172

The Mageslayer In the ancient days of the First Dynasty the martial houses of the empire were often forced to face fell wizards and recondite sorcerer-kings on the battlefield. While the First Dynasty was not without mages of its own, their natural inclination to martial warfare led them to devise numerous techniques of counter-sorcerous combat. The specialists in these wusha techniques developed numerous means of expressing them. Some relied on eldritch tattoos to ground and diffuse magical powers, while others practiced esoteric breathing and internal alchemy regimens, or cultivated spiritually antinomian Legacy signatures to disrupt the proper operation of magic. A few even undertook generations-long breeding projects to create naturally antimagical scions. In the ages since, these ancient arts have spread throughout the Latter Earth, joining and mingling with other local techniques for disrupting spellcasters. Schools of Mageslayers have risen and fallen at the whims of history, for those lands which have the most need of their abilities are also those lands where their nemeses are most common. In many places, the Mageslayer tradition exists only in isolated master-pupil relationships or dimly-understood scriptures. A few lands still have traces of the ancient imprinted bloodlines, with Mageslayers born by chance to unwitting parents. Where Mageslayers can be found, however, they often sought by the common people as protectors and guardians against the depredations of sorcerers. While they lack the broad combat prowess of their more secular peers, a master Mageslayer can butcher an archmage as if he were no more than a gaudily-dressed peasant. Few archmages forget this fact. Where wizards are often required to guard against their arts, mages usually have the sense to enlist mundane protectors or summon demonic servants to guard them. The eldritch claws of an unearthly beast are not so easily dispelled as a hurled curse or uttered incantation.

The Mageslayer is a partial Warrior class that must be joined with a second partial class by an Adventurer. As no Mage class is allowed to pair with this profession, this usually means a Partial Warrior/Mageslayer or Partial Expert/Mageslayer. Unlike the normal Partial Warrior class, Mageslayers do not get a bonus combat Focus at first level, nor do they grant a Partial Warrior’s +2 hit points per hit die. All Mageslayers gain Magic-0 during character creation. While it cannot be used for item creation or other magical pursuits, it allows them an intellectual understanding of their prey’s abilities. Mageslayers gain special arts at first level and as they advance.

Partial Warrior/Mageslayer

Partial Expert/Mageslayer

Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

1

1d6+2

+1

2

2d6+4

+2

3

3d6+6

4

Focus Picks

Benefits of the Mageslayer

Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

1 Warrior +1 Any

1

1d6

+1

1 Expert +1 Any

+1 Any

2

2d6

+2

+1 Any

+3

3

3d6

+2

4d6+8

+4

4

4d6

+3

5

5d6+10

+5

5

5d6

+4

6

6d6+12

+6

6

6d6

+5

7

7d6+14

+7

7

7d6

+5

8

8d6+16

+8

8

8d6

+6

9

9d6+18

+9

9

9d6

+6

10

10d6+20

+10

10

10d6

+7

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

Focus Picks

+1 Any +1 Any

+1 Any

173

Spellcasters and Spells

Many of these arts refer to “casters” and “spells”. Each of these terms has a specific definition for Mageslayers. A “spell” is learned power that a creature casts with the usual spellcasting rules or an art used by a Mage class. Magical effects created by portable magic items also count as spells, such as a wand that hurls fiery bolts, or an amulet that conjures impenetrable barriers. Passive magical qualities, like the hit bonus of a magic sword, do not count as spells, nor do magical effects created by Workings or other large-scale edifices. Neither are a magical creature’s innate supernatural powers or magical abilities that mimic specific spells. A “caster” is any creature that is capable of casting spells using the usual spellcasting rules or triggering Mage class arts, whatever their brand of magic may be. Potent as the Mageslayer’s arts may be, they are not strong enough to negate Legate Writs, the sorcery of Imperators, or other demi-divine wizardry.

Mageslayer Arts

A Mageslayer has an Effort score equal to their Magic skill level plus their highest attribute modifier among Intelligence and Constitution, to a minimum of one point. Mageslayer arts may be used in or out of armor, and require no free hands, incantations, or other overt actions, though some sects have favored prayers or oaths. A Mageslayer gains their arts at a set rate, beginning with Antimage and Magebane at first level, and acquiring other talents as they gain experience. Absolute Negation: As an Instant action, Commit Effort for the day when you are about to be affected or impeded by an unwanted spell or a standing magical effect created by a spell. You may ignore the magic. Antimage: Get one level of the Nullifier Focus for free, or a free Focus if you somehow have both levels. Dispel Enchantment: As a Main Action, touch an ally and Commit Effort for the day. Your touch acts as an Extirpate Arcana spell. This art can only be applied to creatures, not objects, and can be applied to yourself or a given target only once per day.

Mageslayer Art Progression Level

Arts Gained at This Level

1

Antimage, Magebane

2

Witchfinder, Spellshield

3

Disrupt Sorcery

4

Know Your Prey

5

Share the Pain

6

Dispel Enchantment

7

Ward Ally

8

Immaculate Body

9

Immaculate Mind

10

Absolute Negation

Immaculate Mind: You are impervious to unwanted mind-affecting or mind-reading spells or magical effects, and you automatically see through illusions and magical invisibility. Note that this applies to all such magical effects, not merely spells. Know Your Prey: Your Magic skill is treated as one point higher than it is, up to a maximum of level-4 skill. This benefit adds to your Effort as usual, and may allow you to have a higher Magic skill than your character level would usually allow. Magebane: You add half your level, rounded up, to all damage you inflict on casters from any source, be it by weapon, Shock, or violent action. This does not stack with a Warrior’s Killing Blow class ability. Share the Pain: As an Instant action, Commit Effort for the day when you are targeted by a hostile spell or are in its area of effect. Make a Mental saving throw; on a success, the spell’s caster is treated as also having affected by the spell that just targeted you. This art can be used only once per round. Spellshield: When a spell inflicts hit point damage on you, it’s automatically halved, rounded down, before any saves or resistances are applied.

Disrupt Sorcery: As an On Turn action, Commit Effort for the scene. The next attack you make that round will leave the target unable to cast spells or trigger Mage arts for the rest of the round, even if the attack misses. Currently-active arts are not disrupted. If the attack is successfully Screened by an ally, however, the target is unaffected.

Ward Ally: As an Instant action, Commit Effort for the scene when an ally within thirty feet is affected by a spell; you are affected by the spell in place of your ally. If you are both in the same area of effect, the spell hits you twice. Any defenses or arts you have against sorcery may be applied as usual to this transferred effect.

Immaculate Body: Magical transformations, curses, or lingering negative magical penalties last a maximum of one scene on you. Such malisons cannot kill you, reducing you to 1 HP at worst. This applies to all magical effects, and not only to hostile spells.

Witchfinder: As a Main Action, Commit Effort for the scene. For the rest of the scene, you gain the benefits of the Apprehend the Arcane Form spell, except for the spell’s dark-vision ability.

174

The Wise Some low-magic settings have a particular place for concepts that aren’t exactly magical, but have some special place in society. Whether a mundane priest of the dominant faith, a feared forest warlock, or a sacred oracle of the gods, these Wise have a special role to fill. Some of these Wise may have very minor or subtle magical powers suitable to a low-magic campaign setting.

Benefits of the Wise

The Wise is a partial Expert class that must be taken by an Adventurer with another partial class. It’s generally suited for low-magic campaigns, but strictly mundane versions of it may pass muster for a no-magic setting. While the Wise count as a partial Expert class for other purposes, they do not gain the advantage of the partial Expert’s Quick Learner class ability or the bonus non-combat Focus that a partial Expert normally gets at first level. An Adventurer who is a standard partial Expert/partial Wise does get these perks, however. All Wise gain level-0 in a bonus skill appropriate to their concept, be it Pray, Know, Magic, Survive, or some other skill that makes sense to the GM. The Wise do not use Effort. All of their arts are either constantly in effect or can be used under particular circumstances or a particular number of times each day. The arts the Wise learn are generally fixed by their concept and role. A mundane priest will learn certain arts as they advance in level, while a witch or an oracular seer will learn others. At some levels, the Wise might have a choice; they can pick whichever art they wish, but most arts can be taken only once. The example tables here provide progression patterns for a non-magical priest of a faith, a witch with minor magical powers of cursing and foresight, and an oracle with limited powers of divination. For GMs that wish to allow player-made concepts, the Esoteric column can be used, or a specific progression can be worked up in cooperation with the player. The Wise Level

Hit Dice

Attack Bonus

As per page 21 of the core rulebook, with the Wise class counting as a partial Expert.

As per page 21 of the core rulebook, with the Wise class counting as a partial Expert.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

General Arts

Dread Awe: Your kind are figures of fear and mistrust. Gain a +1 bonus on all skill checks related to intimidation or threat. You can spend a Main Action cursing your foes in battle; those who hear suffer a -1 penalty to their next Morale check. You can do this only once per scene. Elite Ties: You have ties with figures of societal importance. You can get audiences with them with minimal effort. Once per game session, get a favor from them that would not particularly inconvenience them to grant. Erudite: You are uncommonly learned. Once per day, reroll a failed skill check related to intellectual pursuits or things a scholar would know about. Folk-Friend: Commoners and other lower-class natives consider you a useful healer and helper. Once per day, get a modest favor from a commoner who doesn’t hate you in exchange for a blessing or bit of advice. Healer: You are a trained and capable healer. Gain a +1 on all Heal skill checks; once per day, as an On Turn action, automatically succeed at a skill check to stabilize a Mortally Wounded subject. Holy Sanctity: You are honored and respected by most in this region. Gain a +1 bonus on social skill checks with locals who are not naturally opposed to your religion or social institution. Personal Impunity: You bear signs of sanctity, and physically harming you is considered taboo in this region. Only the most vicious or desperate humans will initiate violence against you, though any will fight if you attack them. Hostile groups will hesitate to attack your companions unless provoked. Skilled: Gain three skill points to spend on any non-combat skills, up to the maximum skill level allowed by your character level. This art may be taken more than once.

Divination Arts

Compel Truth: The diviner compels a person to drink a particular brew, participate in a specific ritual, or otherwise undergo a scene-long ordeal. Afterwards, the diviner may ask the target a single question and the GM secretly rolls a Cha/Magic skill check against a difficulty of the target’s Morale+1, or level+6 for PCs. On a success, the subject must answer the question truthfully and fully. On a failure, they may give any answer they wish. The same or substantially same question may not be asked twice with this art. Deliver Oracle: A petitioner asks about the outcome of a particular course of action. The diviner then spends a day in various rituals, seeking an oracular

175 Example Art Progressions For Different Types of Wise Level

Mundane Priest

Witch

Seer

1

Holy Sanctity

Dread Awe

Erudite or Folk-Friend

2

Dread Awe or Folk-Friend

Any Curse or Blessing

Any Divination

3 Skilled or Erudite

Healer or Any Curse or Blessing

Any Divination

5

Personal Impunity

Any Divination

Any Divination

6

Elite Ties or Folk-Friend

Skilled

Skilled or Elite Ties

7

Any Art Any Art

Any General Art

Any Divination or Curse or Blessing

Skilled or Elite Ties

9 10

Any Art Any Art

4

8

Esoteric

Any Art Any General Art

Any Curse or Blessing

answer. At the end, the GM makes a secret Wis/ Magic skill check. If the skill check beats difficulty 8, an oracular sentence with some truth in it is produced. If the skill check beats difficulty 12, a direct and obvious oracle is produced. If the skill check is 7 or less, a hopelessly ambiguous oracle is produced, and if the dice roll a natural 2 an intentionally misleading oracle is delivered. Oracles are usually delivered as metaphors, poetry, or visions. The GM should ensure that some element of a true oracle actually does come to pass. Find Object: The diviner spends a scene performing a ritual to locate a particular animal, object or type of substance known to them, be it gold, water, or a specific stolen cow. People cannot be found with this art. The GM makes a secret Wis/Magic skill check against a difficulty of 8 to 11, depending on how close the nearest suitable object is; something in the same village is 8, something a mile or more away is 11, and something more than five miles away is undetectable. If the check is successful, the diviner gets an impression of the direction the object is in. On a failure, roll 1d12 and use it as a clockface to give a random direction. This art can be used once per day. Read Omens: A petitioner proposes a course of action to the PC. After a scene-long ritual involving at least 10 sp worth of livestock or sacrificial material, the GM makes a secret Wis/Magic skill check against difficulty 10. On a success, the PC gets an impression of whether the course of action will lead to success or failure, as the GM thinks most likely. On a failure, the GM gives a random result. Multiplying the ritual costs by 10 adds +1 to the skill check, thus, a sacrifice of 1,000 sp worth of livestock gets a +2 on the check. The same course of action cannot be divined more than once a month.

Any Divination

Curses and Blessings

The bringing of fortune or ill fate is not a trivial thing. A given creature can be cursed or blessed by one of these arts only once a day. Auspicious Undertaking: As a Main Action, bless a particular plan or undertaking currently sought by the target. During the plan’s execution or while seeking the desired end, the blessed subject can reroll one failed skill check or one missed hit roll. The blessing lasts until it is used, the plan is finished, or one day per caster level has passed. Only one plan can be blessed at a time. Evil Eye: This art improves your curse and blessing arts. You can now use these arts as an Instant action, albeit still only one such art per round, and you need do no more than look at the target rather than vocalizing any particular curse or blessing. Ill Fate: As a Main Action, curse a visible target. You may specify a particular kind of undertaking or apply the curse to anything they may do. The next pertinent skill check they make is made at a -1 penalty. If their raw die roll is equal or less than the PC’s Magic skill plus one their effort goes disastrously wrong. The curse lasts until the next relevant skill check. Luck Blessing: As a Main Action, confer a blessing on a visible target. The next skill check they make that day will have a +1 bonus. Only one luck blessing can be in place for a creature at a time. War Curse: As a Main Action, curse a visible enemy. They suffer a -2 penalty to hit rolls, damage rolls, and Shock damage for the rest of the scene. If they miss an attack with a raw to-hit die roll less than the Wise’s Magic skill, they accidentally hurt themselves for normal damage. Only one war curse can be applied at a time.

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Maqqatban Knight Foci Scores of imperial tomb-palaces remain intact amid the ice and snow of far southern Maqqatba, and each such palace has its order of guardian knights. These knight chapters each have their own unique martial styles developed from the ancient military techniques of the First Dynasty, and sometimes the circumstances of exile or foreign curiosity bring these styles north to other lands. Aside from true bearers of the martial styles, there are also similar techniques practiced by certain esoteric northern swordmasters and martial adepts. These may be born from native talent, or be the remnants of some now-forgotten knight’s long northern journey.

Learning Maqqatban Styles

Only Warriors and Partial Warriors can learn these styles, and only one style can be learned by any wielder. A GM may allow a PC to start play with expertise in a style, but later acquisition may require finding a suitable teacher.

All Directions Edge Style

You have exchanged a portion of your life force to master techniques of unbridled violence. Your hit die is penalized by 2 points, so if you would normally roll 1d6+2, you now roll 1d6. If you take this Focus after character creation, decrease your maximum hit points by 2 points per level to reflect this penalty. Level 1: Gain a combat skill as a bonus skill. As an On Turn action, you may make a normal, non-grappling attack. You may do this only once per round, and after the first time you use it each day each additional use adds a single System Strain point to you. Level 2: Once per day, as a Main Action, attack every enemy within range once. For ranged weapons, the maximum is your Shoot skill plus one.

Catalytic Soul Style

Your ranged attacks catalyze the vital force of your allies, causing spiritual damage to your shared foes. This style functions only with ranged attacks that lack Shock. Level 1: Gain Shoot as a bonus skill. While PC archers normally never accidentally hit allies when shooting into melee, your ranged attacks are actually physically intangible to your allies, and can pass through them as if they weren’t there. When you make a ranged attack, nominate an ally who is within melee range of your target as an Instant action. The target suffers Shock as if it had been melee attacked by that ally, assuming it would be susceptible to the ally’s Shock damage. Level 2: If you hit the target with a ranged attack boosted by level 1 of this Focus, either you or your ally may choose to gain one System Strain and heal 2d6 damage plus the target’s level or hit dice. A given subject can heal only once per scene this way.

Ghost Archer Style

You have developed a profound spiritual connection to the concept of the bow. You suffer a -4 penalty to hit with all non-bow or non-crossbow weaponry. Level 1: Gain Shoot as a bonus skill. As an On Turn action, generate a spiritual copy of any bow you’ve ever fired; this copy has no encumbrance and vanishes when it leaves your hands but has all the properties of the original bow. Once a specific bow has been copied by a style practitioner, no one else can manifest that bow until the practitioner is dead. These bows generate their own magical ammunition, though the arrows have no separate hit or damage bonus. You may fire this bow normally even when meleed by a foe. Level 2: Once per scene, as an On Turn action, shoot an arrow at any location within its range. You instantly appear where the arrow lands. Gain one System Strain when you use this ability.

One Point Strike Style

You eschew brute force or crude haste in battle, preferring to rely on clear thought. Level 1: Gain a combat skill as a bonus skill. All your attacks use the better of your Intelligence or Wisdom modifiers in place of their usual attributes. As a Main Action, you can make a normal melee attack; it does the minimum possible damage, but your hit roll is treated as an automatic 15 on the d20 rather than rolling it. This attack cannot be used as part of a combat maneuver or grappling attempt. Level 2: Once per scene, as an Instant action, a melee hit using this style has its weapon damage maximized.

Pyre of Heaven Style

Your weapons blaze with a celestial fire that burns only your foes. This flame is fueled with your own soul’s energies, however, and comes at a cost. Level 1: Gain a combat skill as a bonus skill. You ignore the first 5 points of any fire or heat damage you suffer in a round and can glow like a torch at will. As an Instant action you may gain one System Strain to ignite your weapon, fist or ammunition for the rest of the round. While ignited, the weapon gains a damage and Shock bonus equal to your character level+2. A given foe can suffer the bonus damage from this flame only once per scene. Level 2: As level 1, but you also become immune to non-magical flame or smoke. When you ignite, your entire body ignites as well, though you do not burn anything you do not intend to harm. You cannot be grappled while ignited. The first time you ignite in a scene, all foes within melee range take 1d6 fire damage per three levels, rounded up.

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Righteous Iron Style

You have learned to make a second skin of your armor, moving effortlessly in it despite its weight. The benefits of this style apply only when you wear heavy armor, and its level 1 benefits do not extend to shields you may carry. If taken at first level, you may begin play with a free suit of heavy armor that costs no more than 750 silver pieces. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. Armor you wear has a +1 bonus to its Armor Class and has no encumbrance value, though it retains it for Armored Magic Focus purposes. Armor does not penalize your Sneak or Exert skill checks, and you can sleep comfortably in it. You and your armor remain clean and well-maintained short of magical befouling. Level 2: You partake of the obduracy of the steel you wear. While armored, you need not eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, and you are immune to normal climatic ranges of heat or cold. The style’s armor AC bonus becomes +2 instead of +1.

World Tree Lance Style

Your spear is a pillar of heaven, and no foe is beyond its reach. This style functions only with spears, pikes, and similar polearms. Level 1: Gain Stab as a bonus skill. The spear you wield has no encumbrance and always returns to your hand if thrown. If a spear is normally throwable, its ranges are doubled. If it isn’t, it still has a thrown range of 30/60 feet. Your spear gains a +1 bonus to hit and damage and is treated as a magic weapon. Level 2: While wielding a spear, your effective melee range is 10 feet plus your character level. Allies between you and your target do not hinder your melee attacks in any way, but a wall of enemy bodies might be sufficient to interpose. This ability does not stack with the Long magic weapon property.

Wrathful Mountain Style

You are a vengeful bulwark against those who would harm your allies, though your extremely defensive style comes with offensive drawbacks. You suffer a -2 penalty to all hit rolls. Level 1: Gain Stab or Punch as a bonus skill. You can manifest a zero-encumbrance magical large shield as an Instant action, one that functions even if both your hands are occupied and persists as long as you will it. Once per round, when someone makes a melee attack on an ally you have Screened, get an Instant melee attack on them before their attack completes. Level 2: Your melee retaliation can now be applied as a magical attack on those who make ranged attacks on your Screened ally, regardless of their distance. If you accept a point of System Strain as an Instant action, for the rest of the round you can retaliate against all enemies who attack your ward, though only once per round for any given foe.

Using These Foci in Your Game

These Foci have a distinct magical flavor to them, and they may not be appropriate for campaigns in a low-magic setting or games that focus on a grimmer, grittier feel. As with any Focus, it’s entirely up to the GM as to whether or not to allow them in their game. They especially should not feel obligated to allow them just for the sake of optimizing a particular PC’s combat skills. A GM can also use these styles as guides to creating their own new combat-related Foci. Existing styles can be tweaked or altered, or new ones built. When you do so, however, remember not to make Foci that simply increase a PC’s numbers. A Focus should change the way the PC fights or give them new options in combat. They shouldn’t just improve what they’re already doing.

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Amundi Godblood Foci The myriad gods of Old Amund are all long-dead or vanished, but now and then some hint of their old gifts is revived in some unsuspecting man or woman. The ancient forces that once gave birth to so many divinities in the former ages still bestow small but potent blessings on the occasional fortunate newborn. Some of these blessings travel in recognized family lineages, but many appear as unexpected outcrops in an otherwise-unremarkable family. Gifts similar to these can be found throughout the lands of the western hemisphere, suggesting that the Amundi gods were not the only ones to leave fragments of their power behind.

Learning Godblood Foci

Most of these Foci manifest shortly after birth, though many are so subtle that they may not be noticed for some time. Other Foci manifest only later in a person’s life, so a PC might reasonably pick one as a later advancement. Only one Godblood Focus can be taken by any single PC. In addition, only full or partial Experts can take these Foci, as they all require a certain affinity for interacting with the subtler laws of reality. Godblood Foci may have semi-magical effects, but they do not count as magic for purposes of dispelling or detecting magic. Those Foci that grant ability modifier increases cannot increase the modifier above +2.

Danger Sense

You have a near-supernatural sense of when you are about to face an unexpected peril. Level 1: Gain Notice as a bonus skill. You become aware of Execution Attacks on yourself or those in your presence just in time to spoil the attack. Once per day, just before you trigger a trap, walk into an ambush, or otherwise do something that would likely get you wounded or killed, you sense your danger in time to stop the action. Level 2: Your awareness sharpens. Gain a +1 bonus to your Wisdom modifier. Once per day as an Instant action when in danger, you get an intuitive sense of the best course of action to get you and your allies out of the peril with minimum losses, as the GM thinks most likely.

Folie a Deux

Your deceptions have such conviction that even you are temporarily convinced of them. Level 1: Gain Convince as a bonus skill. Your lies or deceptions never register as such; spells and abilities simply read you as sincerely believing what you say. Once per day, make a listener believe that you are absolutely sincere in whatever claim or statement you are making. This belief lasts until the situation or new evidence would justify disbelief. A target becomes immune to this after the first lie is disproven.

Level 2: Your sincerity shines forth in everything you do. Gain a +1 Charisma modifier bonus. Once per day, utter a bald-faced lie to someone; unless it is physically impossible or emotionally intolerable, they must make a Mental save at a penalty equal to your Convince skill or believe it for 1d4 rounds. After that, their normal reason reasserts itself.

Master Tracker

You have an instinctive sense for the trails of those whom you would pursue. Level 1: Gain Survive as a bonus skill. You can follow any trail created within the past day in a city or past week in the wilderness, detecting even the minutest traces of passage and ignoring the obfuscations of weather or water. You can identify numbers of creatures from trail sign and their general physical shape and condition. Level 2: Your senses are razor-sharp; gain a +1 bonus to your Wisdom modifier. You can identify specific people by their tracks if you’ve met them before. Once per day, by examining the mostly-undisturbed scene of a particular event that happened within the past week, you can reconstruct the general physical actions that happened there.

Night Walker

You have a deep affinity for evening hours and dark places, and can function well in the deepest gloom. Level 1: Gain Sneak as a bonus skill. You can see normally in all but pitch blackness, and even when blinded your senses allow you to function as if you could see out to 30 feet around you. Your sleep is so light it is effectively wakefulness; you are fully aware of your surroundings while asleep and can wake at will. Level 2: Your adroit stealthiness is superb. Gain a +1 bonus to your Dexterity modifier. Unless an area is lit by torchlight or brighter radiance, you are effectively invisible in it until you do something to draw attention.

Pack Beast

You have an ox-like capacity for carrying heavy loads over long distances. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. Your Strength is treated as 18 for encumbrance purposes, or 22 if it’s already 18. Level 2: Gain a +1 bonus to your Strength modifier. Once per scene, as an On Turn action, you can pick up and move an object that weighs no more than 1,000 pounds so long as you drop it or set it down by the end of your turn.

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Provident Crafter

Wildtongue

Walk Like Wind

These Expert-exclusive Foci are cinematic in flavor, but they’re not so impossible that they couldn’t be added to a relatively low-magic campaign. For campaigns where the other PCs are heavily magic-invested, it can sometimes be necessary to give Experts a little boost of their own to keep up with the spell-slingers and magic warriors of the game, and Foci like these can be helpful in closing any potential gap. It’s possible to come up with additional Foci in this vein but it’s important to keep in mind that they should open up play options that would otherwise be impractical or impossible for the PC. The Foci given here all have a +1 attribute modifier at second level as a sweetener, but if your own Focus’ second-level power is strong enough you might omit that bonus.

You always seem to have just what you need close to hand, or can fabricate it out of available materials. Level 1: Gain Craft as a bonus skill. Your Strength is treated as 4 higher for encumbrance purposes. When making a skill check or using an item such as an elixir or calyx, any equipment or items you need to do so are treated as Readied even if you have them Stowed. Level 2: Your hands are swift and nimble; gain +1 to your Dexterity modifier. Once per day, as an Instant action, you happen to have Stowed a particular normal item of 2 encumbrance or less if you could have reasonably bought or made it within the past week. Pay its purchase or crafting price and add it to your inventory afterwards. Provisions cannot be added this way, nor can the same item be produced more than once per week. Your astonishing acrobatic abilities give you mobility options that others lack. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. Your base ground movement rate increases by +10’. You can move normally up or down vertical surfaces so long as you end your turn standing on a flat surface or clinging to a usable handhold. Level 2: Gain a +1 to your Dexterity modifier. You can leap up to 20 feet horizontally or 10 feet vertically as a Move action. Once per scene, as an On Turn action, gain a bonus Move action.

You have a profound link with the natural world around you, and possess an instinctive sense of what its feral denizens desire. For the purposes of this Focus, “animals” are natural or magical living creatures of bestial intellect. Level 1: Gain Survive as a bonus skill. You can communicate with animals, conveying such simple ideas as they are capable of comprehending. If appeased, these animals may be willing to do very basic favors that require no more than immediate attention. Level 2: The primal force of your presence is considerable. Gain a +1 to your Charisma modifier. Once per day you can command a visible animal for one scene, causing it to obey even complex orders normally impossible for it to comprehend so long as they don’t seem suicidal or extremely hazardous to it. Magical beasts get a Mental saving throw to resist.

Using These Foci in Your Game

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Arcane Secret Foci A multitude of occult traditions have risen and decayed in the countless ages of the Latter Earth. Most have vanished entirely, but now and then some technique they pioneered has proved resilient enough to survive into the present day. Arcane Secret Foci can be taken only by Mages and Partial Mages, and some are of no use to non-spellcasters. Only one Arcane Secret Focus can be mastered by any given sorcerer, as they usually require mutually-contradictory pacts and ritual practices.

Atlantean Divination

The House of Days in Atlantis is a school of several dozen different occult divinatory methods, all highly complex. While some techniques are strictly-held secrets, others have become known in the outside world. Level 1: Gain Know as a bonus skill. You may spend an hour in a complex divinatory ritual. At the end of it, ask a one-sentence question about some future event or plan. The GM secretly rolls an Int/Know skill check against difficulty 9; on a success, gain an answer of a few words reflecting the GM’s best judgment of the future. On a failure, get a plausible but false oracle. This art cannot plumb into the future beyond a week, cannot ask the same essential question twice, and cannot answer questions about current or past events. Each use after the first within seven days adds +1 to the difficulty. You gain one System Strain each time you use this ability.

Iteral Pacting

Numerous traditions of occult pacting and bargains with extra-Iteral beings persist, despite the obvious dangers. This method is relatively safe, albeit its rewards are more limited than wholehearted soul-slavery would grant. Level 1: Gain Pray as a bonus skill. Roll or pick a patron portfolio from the divine portfolios on page 142 of the core rulebook. Once per day, gain 1 System Strain and gain one of the following benefits as an Instant action: +4 on a hit roll, +1 on a skill check, or the ability to use a Main Action to cast a first-level spell that has some relation to the patron’s portfolio. This spellcasting does not require a prepared spell or spell slot, and can be used even by non-spellcasters, though it follows all the usual rules for casting a spell. Your alien alliances have left some eldritch mark on you and others instinctively find you disturbing; suffer a -1 penalty on all social skill checks not related to intimidation.

Nagadi Hemomancy

The vanished demihumans known as the Nagadi practiced bloody rituals of self-sacrifice for the protection of their people and the forestalling of violence. Modern mages rarely share their devotion to peace.

Level 1: Gain Heal as a bonus skill. Once per day, as an Instant action after casting a spell, accept 1d4 damage per level of the spell; the casting does not count against your usable spells per day. Gain one System Strain each time this ability is used. This Focus cannot assist spells that harm others or affect unwilling targets.

Old Empire Sigilism

The vanished Marchen empire of northeastern Agathon is almost wholly lost to history, but this art of imbuing small tokens with magical power has yet survived. Level 1: You can embed spells in small tokens that function as calyxes only usable by yourself. Creating such a token takes ten minutes per level of the spell and the expenditure of a normal daily spell use. This expended slot may be recovered normally. Using them takes a Main Action, but the sigil need only be presented firmly; no vocalization or gestures are required, and it cannot be interrupted by damage. Only one token can be empowered at any one time.

Vothite Mind-Sorcery

The Thought Noble tradition of mental arts are not the only techniques to have survived from the Vothite Empire. The principles of purely cerebral sorcery are also practiced by some mages, though it comes at a cost to their ability to inflict direct harm on other creatures. Level 1: Your spellcasting does not require vocalizations or gestures, though it still takes a Main Action, it still can be disrupted by damage, and it still disallows casting in armor for most spellcasters. Your spells manifest without any obvious connection to you unless your actions make it clear that you are the source of the magic, though those with magic-detecting powers such as Apprehend the Arcane Form can discern the connection. Once this Focus is taken, however, you cannot cast any spell that inflicts hit point damage on a target unless the damage is purely mental in nature. Spells that inflict non-mental damage as a secondary spell effect simply do not inflict it when cast.

Using these Foci in your Game

These Foci often boost spellcasting in some way, either by allowing an extra spell per day with Hemomancy, increasing spell subtlety with Mind-Sorcery, or allowing one easily-cast spell with Sigilism. Some GMs may find them a little too much for their particular table. Others grant a stand-alone magical power. These abilities should be largely non-combat in function, so as to avoid stepping on Warriors, and avoid directly replicating the arts of an existing tradition. These Foci all have only one level, as mages tend to have too few Focus picks to make much use of two levels.

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Non-Human Origin Foci There are numerous demihumans and even some Blighted who might fit as player characters in a given campaign. While adventurers are notorious for wandering far from their homes, it’s up to the GM to decide whether or not any particular origin Focus is appropriate for their own campaign setting.

Origin Foci and Modifiers

Many origin Foci grant a bonus or penalty to one of the PC’s attribute modifiers. Some of them allow the PC to choose which attribute to modify, but under no circumstance can the Focus increase an attribute bonus above +2 or a penalty below -2. Some origin Foci mention special abilities. These abilities are described more thoroughly in the Bestiary section under their creature headings.

!Man

You are an organic simulacrum of humanity that operates purely by algorithmic principles and the translated mimicry of future or past human actions. You have no personal awareness or consciousness, but you act exactly like a normal human being, with normal human motivations. Level 1: Pick any skill but Magic as a bonus skill. Once per day, your algorithm picks a particularly successful action to mimic and you gain a +1 bonus on a skill check or a +2 bonus to hit as an Instant action. You are impervious to mind-affecting magical effects. You otherwise function as a perfectly normal human being, and do not have the usual qualities of an automaton.

Accipiter Anak

You are a winged Anak, usually hideous in appearance, though some of your kind are quite handsome. By some quirk of nature or the circumstances of your tribe, you are capable of functioning rationally around humans. This origin assumes that the GM has produced some justification for your PC being able to avoid immediate mob violence at the hands of panicked locals. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. You are an accipiter, with the Accipiter Flight special ability, a -1 Con modifier penalty, and a +1 Dex modifier bonus.

Aristoi Anak

You are a natural-born ruler of men, the product of an extensive magical eugenic breeding program. While not so physically powerful as other breeds of Anak, you have an uncannily acute sense of judgment and superb self-discipline. Level 1: Gain Lead and any one other skill except Magic as bonus skills. Gain +1 to your Wis modifier. Your keen foresight allows you to use Wis as an applicable attribute for any weapon, in place of Strength or Dexterity.

Choeru Beastfolk

Short, stout, and mild-tempered, the capybara-folk have a natural disposition towards peacemaking and diplomacy. Level 1: Gain Convince or Connect as a bonus skill. Gain a +1 to your Cha modifier. When rolling Reaction Rolls with you present, add +1 to the dice. You can obtain serviceable fluency in a language with no more than a week of exposure to it.

Ghoul

You have been infected with ghoulishness by long contact with ghouls or sheer bad luck on briefer exposures. While your new dietary demands are harsh, you have enough self-possession to decide how they should be satisfied. Level 1: You must eat a pound of fresh human flesh a month, but gain Sneak as a bonus skill, the benefits of Ghoulish Vigor, and may add a +1 bonus to either your Strength or Dexterity modifier. After 21 days without cannibalism, make a Mental save daily or attack the nearest human with the intent to devour them. This condition is automatic after 30 days.

Guer Beastfolk

Cunning humanoid swamp foxes, the Guer were made to be spies and observers for their Nakadi creators. It leaves many of them with insatiable curiosity and a tendency towards manipulativeness. Level 1: Gain Notice or Sneak as a bonus skill. Gain +1 to your Wis or Cha modifiers. You can see clearly in low-light conditions and are unusually quick on your feet, adding 10’ to your ground movement rate.

Harbinger Anak

You are a Harbinger, a face-shifting Anak capable of infiltrating human society. Whether by some chance of fate or your own indomitable will, you can contain the Hate and function normally in human society. Level 1: Gain Sneak or Convince as a bonus skill and the Harbinger’s Face ability. Gain a +1 bonus to your Charisma modifier and a -1 penalty to your Constitution modifier.

Hua Beastfolk

A mighty bullfolk created for agricultural labor and meat for the temple tables, Hua are a foot taller than baselines and much broader in build. Most have horns, but they are largely impractical for combat use. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. Gain a +1 to your Str modifier and -1 to your Dex modifier. You treat your Strength as 4 higher than normal for Encumbrance purposes and your System Strain maximum is 2 points higher than normal.

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Kitsune Beastfolk

You are of the magically-gifted Xindai kin to the Guer fox-folk of Runom. Your pelt is usually brighter and ruddier than that of your swamp-dwelling cousins, and you are often more human in your appearance, but almost all your kind retain the tail and ears of a fox. Level 1: Gain Notice or Convince as a bonus skill. Gain a +1 bonus to your Charisma modifier. Gain the Elemental Sparks Elementalist art; if you already have it, pick a bonus Elementalist art instead.

Deepfolk

A human native of the Far Deeps that lie among the roots of the world, you have ascended into the lethal sunlit regions for reasons of your own. So long as you remain fully covered and have your tinted goggles in place you can tolerate the sun, but extended exposure can cause incapacitating spiritual damage to you. Level 1: You can see clearly with any degree of light. You require only half the food, water, and air of a baseline human. You may raise one physical attribute to 14 if it is lower than that. Exposure of your eyes or more than a handsbreadth of skin to direct sunlight forces a Physical save each round or you will gain one System Strain; if this would put you over your maximum, you will collapse, dying in 1d6 minutes if not covered.

Manu Beastfolk

The Manu are scaled lizardfolk of the Zapalla swamps in Runom, not entirely cold-blooded but much favoring warmth. Level 1: Gain Exert or Survive as a bonus skill. Gain a +1 your Con or Str modifier and a -1 to your Dex or Cha modifier. You swim at your normal movement speed, can hold your breath for fifteen minutes, and your tough hide reduces all Shock damage by 1 point, to a minimum of 1.

Nahu Beastfolk

Slim, deft, and sometimes given to a cold-blooded pleasure in cruelty, the Nahu are catfolk who were designed to hunt fleeing slaves or troublesome escaped beasts by their Nakadi masters. Level 1: Gain Sneak or Notice as a bonus skill. Gain +1 to your Dex or Cha modifiers. Your claws count as daggers for melee purposes and you can see clearly in low-light conditions. During real combat, you must make a Mental save to inflict non-lethal damage; on a failure, your attack is lethal instead.

Oni

You are an oni, most likely from one of the isolated communities in Xindai. You likely stand about seven feet tall, horned and powerfully muscled, with a fierce appetite for indulgences of all kinds. Many of your sort are bright red or blue, though more human-like shades are known, as are other small novelties of form. Level 1: Gain Stab or Punch as a bonus skill. Gain a +1 to your Strength modifier and count your Strength as 4 points higher for Encumbrance purposes. Suffer a -1 penalty to your Wisdom modifier and a -2 penalty on all Mental saving throws.

Pichi Beastfolk

Little ratfolk, usually a head shorter than baselines, with a more slender build. Their keen senses were given them to hunt rare materials and ingredients from the jungle. Level 1: Gain Notice as a bonus skill. Gain +1 to your Wis or Dex modifiers and -1 to your Str or Con modifier. You can see normally in low-light conditions. Your senses are sharp enough that you can interact with objects within ten feet as if sighted, even in pitch blackness or while blinded.

Piren Beastfolk

Fierce wolfmen, created as warriors and enforcers for their masters against unruly slaves. Even so, they have an instinct towards cooperation within their own social circles. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. Once per scene as a Move action, give an ally within melee distance a bonus Main Action as you coordinate with them. This Main Action can only be used for a physical act, and not spellcasting or magic item activation. A given ally can receive this benefit only once per scene.

Still Cities Undead

You are one of the more intelligent undead from the Still Cities, either being a recent conversion from the living or having died only a few times since you were created. You appear human at first glance but close inspection makes plain your cold flesh, though you can mimic most human needs and activities. Level 1: You are undead, and do not need to eat, sleep, drink, or breathe, though you still require eight hours of comfortable quiet to regain HP, spells, or Effort. You can be healed by conventional methods, and are immune to poisons and diseases. You automatically stabilize at zero hit points unless decapitated or otherwise mangled. If you do die, however, it will be decades until you revive, if intact, or centuries if you are burnt and scattered. Due to your link with the Pale Emperor’s power, you do not count as undead for the purposes of conventional Necromancer spells. Special incantations may exist that affect you, however.

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Sui Beastfolk

These robust pigfolk were created by the Nakadi priests to be good spiritual and anatomical matches for their experiments. Some suffer from great rages when wounded or infuriated, during which they attack without care for friend or foe. Level 1: Gain Survive as a bonus skill. Gain +1 to your Constitution modifier. You are immune to mundane poisons, and once per day you can continue acting for 1 full round after falling to zero hit points, provided you are not hopelessly mangled. This time counts against your stabilization timer.

Tanuki Beastfolk

A beastfolk unique to Xindai, these raccoon-dog humanoids were the product of an inquisitive Nakadi exile who hoped to create a shapeshifting species that could be used for multiple purposes. While an unsuccessful experiment, their heirs can still be found in Xindai’s mountain forests. Level 1: Gain Sneak as a bonus skill. You can climb scalable surfaces at your full movement rate, and once per day as a Main Action you can transform as if with the Adopt the Simulacular Visage spell, albeit without its language-granting powers. This transformation lasts up to two hours per level.

Tengu Beastfolk

A winged crow-folk that were once the pet project of their exiled Nakadi creator, they are found chiefly in a few remaining martial monastery-communities in Xindai. Like other beastfolk, their appearance ranges from humanoid avians to almost completely human forms, save for their black-feathered wings. Level 1: Gain Stab as a bonus skill. You can fly at a movement rate of 30’ outdoors while carrying your normal encumbrance, but interiors are too cramped for it, and you cannot fight or perform other complex actions while flying. Flight is too exhausting to manage long-distance overland travel with it.

Usagi Beastfolk

Largely extinct in Runom, several colonies of these rabbit-folk can still be found in the Xindai lands. Their creators devised them as livestock that could better survive the dangers of the jungle, imbuing them with both speed and a strange propensity towards good fortune. Level 1: Gain Exert or Sneak as a bonus skill and a +1 bonus to all saving throws. Gain +1 Dex modifier and either a -1 Str or -1 Con modifier. Once per scene, as an On Turn action, double your ground movement rate for the round. Once per week, as an Instant action, automatically make a Luck save.

Zakathi

As much as a foot taller than baselines and well-toned from their constant exertions, the Zakathi need for constant labor tends to wear them down. Most are crippled beyond conventional healing aid before sixty, whereupon they wither away or accept euthanasia. Level 1: Gain Exert as a bonus skill. If your Constitution is lower than 14, raise it to 14; if equal or higher, raise it to 18. Your maximum System Strain increases by 2. You must exhaust yourself with labor or other exertions by the end of a day in order to regain System Strain, Effort, HP, or spells with sleep; lacking this, you gain 1 System Strain overnight instead, dying if it exceeds your maximum. While exhausted, roll all hit and skill rolls twice and take the worst.

Creating New Origin Foci

The Latter Earth is wide, and every nation in the gazetteer has a half-dozen or more demihuman species too rare or quiet to have earned mention in this book. It’s quite likely that some GMs will want to make origin Foci for these beings, either for their own entertainment or for worldbuilding purposes. A few basic guidelines can be kept in mind when creating your own Foci. Don’t do it unless you need to. If no player wants to play a particular type of demihuman, don’t bother making an origin Focus up unless you’re doing it for fun. Start with a bonus skill. Pick a skill that’s characteristic of their physiology or typical upbringing and make it a bonus skill. For origins that could be flavored in multiple ways, you might pick two skills to choose between. Set their attribute modifiers. Pick one or two characteristic attributes and let the player pick one to get a +1 modifier bonus. Do the same with one or two to pick for a -1 modifier bonus. In neither case should the bonus be allowed to go over +2 or the penalty below -2. When possible, it’s preferable to give the PC a choice between two attributes for bonuses or penalties, to make more room for different character concepts. Add a unique ability. Give them something they can do that a human can’t. Unique senses, a special movement type, an immunity to certain hazards, or a particular innate power might all be feasible, and you can pick examples from the origins in this section. If the ability is a powerful or generally-useful one, it should have a per-scene or even per-day use limit, or perhaps add System Strain. Add a weakness if necessary. If you’re worried that your Focus might be a little too appealing, or do basic concepts better than a human would with a relevant Focus, you can add a weakness. This is especially the case if the origin has an attribute modifier bonus but no corresponding penalty. Weaknesses should be generally relevant; don’t give them penalties that are only problems to particular concepts or classes. Being incapable of spellcasting is no penalty to a Warrior, and crippled physical attributes don’t mean much to most Mages.

184

CHARACTER TAGS Just as ruins, cities, or noble courts can be defined by tags, so too can individual characters. The tags in this section are meant to give you a quick method for giving defining motivational traits and background story elements to NPCs you generate, whether they’re antagonists, sympathetic figures, or one-note bit player NPCs. Each character tag comes with a discussion of the various ways it could manifest in an NPC, whether as a personal trait or as a situation that has defined their current circumstances. Tags tend to focus on how they would affect a scheme or adventure, as it’s under those circumstances that the PCs are most likely to meet them. Each tag includes entries for likely Ambitions, particular Powers their situation can lend them, and those Dreads that are most likely to befall them or show up as problems in their schemes. These categories are abbreviated as A, P, or D in the tables that follow. To use the tags, take your NPC and roll twice on the adjacent table. The two results can be read separately as speaking of two different character traits or formative past situations the NPC has dealt with, or they can be synthesized together or used to explain each other; the reason the NPC has a Delusional Self-Image is because a past Ruined Plan was so traumatic that they cannot bear to acknowledge the part their flaws played in it. In the same vein, the Ambitions, Powers, and Dreads for a given tag can be inserted into your adventures to show the ways in which an antagonist’s past or personal nature influenced events. An obstacle to their current plans might arise directly from their own past history, or some tool they’re using to obtain their end might rely on some element of their own nature. You can also synthesize them together; an antagonist defined by Baneful Success and Betting It All might have so successfully allied with the local bandit clans that their warlord is willing to personally lend his aid... because the NPC is promising him incredible plundering possibilities, even though he’s not able to guarantee that success. As with other tags, the “magnitude” of a particular trait can be scaled up and down to fit an NPC’s importance in the adventure and their standing in the campaign world. If the party hires a new henchman, you might roll once on the table, get Unexpected Talent, and decide that he’s actually an exceptionally skilled singer who breaks into song whenever he’s feeling nervous. The same result for a campaign-scale lich-king antagonist might be read as a sublime talent at sculpture which informs his legions of soul-animated statues, each one a magnificent personal work of art that he cares for as greatly as a lich can care for anything. As with any GM tool, you should use the tags only so far as you need them. Take them as inspiration for an NPC’s background and current situation, and don’t feel compelled to follow every line. By the same token, be willing to be surprised by unusual combinations. Maybe

d100

Character Tag

d100

Character Tag

1–2

Baneful Success

51–52

Impending Treachery

3–4

Betting It All

53–54 In Over Their Head

5–6

Bitter Grudge

55–56 Inherited Duty

7–8

Black Sheep

57–58 Irrational Hatred

9–10

Blithe Idealist

59–60 Last Survivor

11–12

Burnt Out

61–62

13–14

Chance at Glory

63–64 Load-Bearing Relationship

15–16

Chronic Illness

65–66 Lost Cause

17–18

Concealed Sin

67–68 Lovesick Fool

19–20

Cultural Outsider

69–70 Magical Gift

Lives for Today

21–22 Cursed Misfortune

71–72 Marked for Success

23–24 Delusional Self-Image

73–74

Misplaced Trust

25–26 Doomed Love

75–76

Natural Leader

27–28 Doomsday Weapon

77–78 Persecuting Foe

29–30 Double Life

79–80 Ruined Plan

31–32 Double Loyalties

81–82

33–34 Down In The World

83–84 Secret Cravings

35–36 Earnest Idiot

85–86 Secret Sectarian

37–38 Family Alienation

87–88 Stolen Reputation

39–40 Family Chains

89–90 Ticking Bomb

41–42 Friend Turned Foe

91–92 Troublesome Friend

43–44 Grand Plan

93–94 Unexpected Talent

45–46 Great Disappointment

95–96 Unreasonably Lucky

47–48 Great Expectations

97–98 Up From the Gutter

49–50 Hidden Origins

99–00 Veiled Backers

Ruinous Vice

that archmage really is an Earnest Idiot, brilliantly capable at magic yet prone to acts of tremendous thoughtlessness and short-sighted carelessness. It could be the evil high priest’s Concealed Sin is his desperate desire to make amends for his infernal service and escape his slavery to his malevolent god. The tags are there for inspiration, and you should feel free to let them take you where they might lead.

185 Baneful Success

Betting It All

They have succeeded at something too well. Some part of their plans or intentions have been so successful that the consequences have become extremely threatening to them. A powerful ally may be so enthused by their plans that they now are overreaching, a beckoned devil may prove to be far mightier than expected, or a bribed official may be so cooperative that their obvious corruption is drawing official notice. Conversely their success may be some great personal achievement that has somehow bought them attention or duties that they now want to escape.

They are making an enormous gamble in this plot, expending every resource they have and burning every bridge behind them in an attempt to win through. Something about the situation makes them think that nothing has a chance except total commitment. Conversely, this tag might just indicate that they are extremely prone to reckless all-in behavior, willing to dare everything and trust to their prior luck.

A

Curb a vitally important but too-enthusiastic ally, Escape the new duties their success has pressed upon them, Exploit the unexpected new opportunity their success has thrust upon them

P

Their newfound and unexpectedly powerful ally, Their success has earned the cooperation of an unexpected patron, They suddenly have more of a particular resource than they expected to have

D

They are swept along by their success to an ultimate nemesis, They are critically unequipped to exploit their success, Someone else is stepping in to profit by their success

A

Overcome a seemingly invincible foe or obstacle, Achieve an impossible feat by daring to spend what others would shrink from, Crush a problem utterly through raw force before it can grow into a real danger

P

Through loans and promises they can mobilize far more resources than others would suspect, They have a well-honed sense of the possible that lets them strike at weak points intuitively, They are remarkably coordinated and can control and direct their resources with exquisite precision

D

An old debt comes due at the worst possible time, A resource they thought they had available turns out to be depleted or useless, A small piece of bad luck causes a cascade of events that threatens to undo them

Bitter Grudge

Black Sheep

They hate some person or institution with aching intensity. Their hatred is an animating force for their personality and daily activities, and even when circumstances require them to conceal it, it will never be far from their mind. They are willing to suffer terribly so long as they can inflict equal misery on their enemy. Conversely, they might be the target of such a grudge. It may be that some past action or former crime left a survivor who is willing to take reckless steps to ruin them, even if innocents are caught in the blast.

They are an outcast from some family, organization, or religion of importance in the area. Something they did or are is intolerable to their former allies, and they’ve been cut off from their help and association, even though outsiders might still recognize them as a member. Conversely, rather than being outcast by others, they themselves might be naturally incapable of feeling belonging or trust towards others. They might unconsciously or intentionally sabotage their relationships so as to remain unencumbered by ties.

A

Worm their way into a position of trust where they can betray their enemy, Inflict their vengeance on the things and people their enemy loves, Personally murder their enemy or destroy the institution after inflicting terrible pain

A

Punish their former associates for cutting them off, Prove that the judgment of their peers was mistaken and they are truly worthy, Do things that they could never have done as a member in good standing of their former peers

P

They have incredible focus and self-discipline driven by their hate, They have many friends who also hate their enemy, The wrong their enemy did them left them with a talent or an association that they can use to get their revenge

P

They still have secrets and private ties from their former association, They stole valuable resources or arts from their past peers before leaving, They have associates who are also outcasts from the group or who are traditional enemies of them

D

Their enemy is destroyed by some completely unrelated person or event, People they trust or rely on are somehow drawn into their enemy’s circle, Destroying their enemy would somehow ruin something or someone they love

D

Their old peers feel the need to “take care” of them and their loose ends, They’re targeted by enemies of their old peers who don’t recognize their outcast status, Old resources they formerly relied upon are now unavailable to them

186 Blithe Idealist

Burnt Out

They have a dream or a grand ambition, seeing a great possibility before them or a wonderful vision of how life could be. They are totally committed to this ideal; any failure of it is just evidence of a lack of determination or the sabotage of enemies. No price is too great and no obstacle to vast for their ideal to overcome. Conversely, they could be waking up to the impossibility of their dream, yet find themselves utterly entangled in plots to achieve it and terrible prices they’ve already paid. They may not believe in it any more, but they have no way to back out now.

Nothing is worth it to them any more. They’re physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted. They’ve achieved great things and undertaken vast labors, but none of their fruits seem worth the effort any longer. They want to ignore the world, but the current situation won’t let them stand aside if they want to avoid disaster. Conversely, their exhaustion may not be a matter of unwillingness, but of newfound incapacity. They just don’t have the strength they used to, and the deeds they could formerly achieve are now too difficult or too exhausting for them to manage any more.

A

P

D

Destroy a person or power they identify as an enemy of their vision, Put a supporter of their vision into a position of power, Ruin a wicked saboteur whose actions caused the ideal to fail in some instance They have a vanguard of equally dedicated allies, Their ideal is intensely attractive to otherwise uncommitted people, They have the backing of secret powers or otherworldly entities that find them useful

A

Escape some burdensome duty or task without getting in deeper trouble, Complete some last task they think will let them finally rest, Get rid of some person who is forcing them keep working

P

They were extremely good at the task or role that they’re burnt out on, They have numerous minions or allies they’ve earned by past labor, They have considerable resources their talents acquired

D

Something threatens to hang an interminable new duty on them, The event or person who caused their burnout comes back or recurs, None of their intended recreations or rests are helping them feel any better

The vision demands something precious from them, A trusted lieutenant is failing badly, They’ve been accused of sabotage by an ambitious rival

Chance at Glory

Chronic Illness

They have a shot at fame, fortune, happiness, or some other situation they’ve longed to obtain. Some plot they’re pursuing or situation they’ve found themselves in offers them a chance at this success, usually in exchange for a terrible risk or a grim sacrifice. Refusing seems to risk the permanent loss of the desired end. Conversely, they might still be seeking that chance. Their plans and schemes might revolve around making an opening for their own reckless ambitions, or creating situations where they might gamble everything on obtaining their heart’s desire.

They’re plagued with a chronic illness, mutilation, or deformity that has hindered them for some time. Something about it isn’t amenable to magical cures or easy remedies, and it interferes with their ambitions and saps the pleasure from their successes. Conversely, they might have overcome the illness at some point but are now dealing with the lingering consequences of it and the way it’s troubling their life even when it’s absent.

A

P

D

A

Destroy the person or institution that stands between them and glory, Sacrifice an ally or an innocent bystander in order to obtain their end, Load the dice by setting up alliances or betrayals that will make the eventual effort sure to succeed

Find the cure or prosthesis that will give them the health they crave, Get revenge on the person they somehow blame for their current condition, Perform some great deed before it’s too late

P

They have inside information on the situation that gives them a golden opportunity, They’ve been training for this situation and have exactly the skill set and resources needed, Dumb luck has set them up perfectly for their chance

They’ve acquired drugs or magics that temporarily empower them far beyond their usual weakness, They’ve made useful sorcerous contacts in their search for a cure, The illness somehow has a useful upside as well as its blighting effects

D

They feel the approach of their inevitable mortality, The illness is crippling them at the worst possible moment in their plans, The medicines or methods they’re using to control the illness are no longer working

They’re being used as a patsy by another glory seeker, Success actually spells something very different for them, The glory they’re seeking isn’t worth their sacrifice

187 Concealed Sin

Cultural Outsider

They’ve done something gravely reprehensible by the standards of their society, and they’ve had to go to great lengths in order to hide it from others. Their current activities may be related to their need to keep the past safely buried, or they may still be committing the crime. Conversely, they may be the concealed sin of someone else. Something they are or have been made to be could be shameful or wicked to others, and their author may go to great lengths to keep the truth hidden.

They don’t belong here and everyone knows it. They don’t know how the society works, and they make significant mistakes or erroneous assumptions that a native never would. The locals don’t trust them, and may view them as a menace, useful catspaw, or burden to be endured. Conversely, they may be a native but despise their home culture for some reason. They have great difficulty cooperating with it in ways necessary for a peaceful life, and act to undermine its customs and institutions whenever possible.

A

Justify the sin to themselves or others through some scheme or investigation, Plot to get more opportunities to sin, Make amends for the sin through some particular deed

A

Find acceptance among the locals by some grand deed, Get revenge on the natives for their isolation, Compel the natives to accommodate their ways

P

Their sin was very profitable or helpful in gaining resources, Others compromised by the sin will help them, The sin has led them to acquire useful skills

P

They have friends among the other outsiders in the community, They have resources drawn from their homeland, They are willing to imagine and do things the locals never would consider

D

Unexpected consequences of the sin threaten to come to light, They’re driven to rash acts by a need to atone for the sin, Hiding or feeding the sin is costing them vital resources

D

They’ve committed a terrible local sin by accident, Their plans rely on the cooperation of a native who doesn’t trust them, They’re being dragged into problems created by others of their kind

Cursed Misfortune

Delusional Self-Image

Everyone has a certain degree of bad luck in their life, but this person has experienced at least one instance of crushing, deeply improbable misfortune. Their current situation has been profoundly influenced by this calamity, and they may be trying to reverse it or get out from under its consequences. Conversely, the bad luck might be in their future instead of the past. Some extremely unlikely but intensely unfortunate event might be waiting to crash into their current plans.

They have a self-image that is only vaguely rooted in reality, one which they absolutely refuse to abandon. They might see themselves as magnificently courageous, cunning, well-loved, or respected by others, and will often rely on these traits with unfortunate results. Even when they fail, they will rationalize an explanation. Conversely, this might be a negative self-image that they can’t let go of. They might have been persuaded of it by someone else, or convinced themselves of their own inadequacy in some important aspect.

A

Get revenge on the person or institution they blame for their bad luck, Somehow reverse the consequences of the calamity that befell them, Earn the favor of a god or power that they are convinced can improve their luck

A

Unconsciously seek to eliminate all elements in their life that threaten their self-image, Destroy someone who actively scorns their self-image, Do a great deed that will illustrate their nature

P

P

The desperate situation drove them to obtain resources or allies who are now useful, Some power or resource left in the former wreckage can still be used, The calamity was doubleedged in that it left them with some useful gift

They have extensive resources dedicated to cleaning up their failures, They’re supported by a manipulator who uses their delusion, They may be delusional about one aspect of their nature but they’re actually extremely good at something else they don’t really value

D

The misfortune isn’t really over and is still playing out, The “bad luck” was actually entirely due to their own personal flaws or desires, Their paranoia over another twist of fate is distracting them and forcing them into bad choices

D

They’re in a situation where they have to choose between maintaining their self-image and saving something precious to them, Their buried failures are coming back to haunt them, Their delusion has finally gotten them in too deep to handle

188 Doomed Love

Doomsday Weapon

They are passionately in love with a person who is either utterly unobtainable, wholly disinterested in their devotion, or profoundly unhealthy in their affections. Their motivations revolve around winning or keeping this person’s heart, yet they have no plausible chance of getting their desire. Conversely, they may be the unwilling object of another’s mad devotion, forced to manage the ardor of someone they cannot imagine loving.

They have access to an ally, tool, or information that could utterly destroy any reasonable opposition to their plans, yet using it would almost certainly destroy them as well. It might be a corrupt noble ally, a mad wizard, a savage barbarian chieftain, or some other power that cannot be controlled once unleashed. Conversely, they might have it but not realize the consequences, holding it back for now out of mere ordinary caution. Only after they pull the trigger will they realize that they’re in the blast zone as well.

A

P

D

Destroy some enemy or rival of the loved one, Perform a grand deed to win the loved one’s admiration, Engineer a situation to blackmail or compel the loved one to recognize their devotion Some power finds it profitable to encourage and support this vain romance, Their burning devotion has inspired their greatest efforts, They’ve made terrible pacts or bargains to win help in their cause Their beloved finds personal benefit in leading them on interminably, Some rival in love moves to quash their competitor, Some third party threatens to harm or steal away the object of their love

A

Become insulated from the consequences of using their weapon, Trick someone else into triggering it and taking the backblast, Trigger it just a little bit so as to avoid disaster

P

The weapon has peripheral elements or tools than can be deployed safely, They have allies who serve out of dread of the weapon’s use, The process of obtaining the weapon left them with useful resources

D

The weapon is about to go off whether they want it or not, An enemy of theirs is trying to activate the weapon prematurely, Their enemies also have a doomsday weapon of their own

Double Life

Double Loyalties

They lead a double life in some way, presenting one face to one set of associates and another to a different group. One side may be their “real” nature with the other adopted purely for profit, or it may be that the whole of their personality or pastimes would never be accepted by a single social circle. Conversely, this double life may be expressed as a hidden set of “real” motivations and desires, one never shown in their visible actions but secretly pursued all the same.

They have somehow ended up being sincerely devoted to two different and not-necessarilycompatible causes. They may have religious, ethnic, or marriage ties to groups that are not necessarily friendly to their conventional loyalties, or they may have been attracted by some new cause while being reluctant to give up old faiths. Conversely, they may not actually have any such dual loyalties, but their enemies and rivals are convinced they do and use that conviction to denounce them as disloyal.

A

Arrange events so they can throw off their “false” face for good, Accomplish their double life’s goals without the truth ever being suspected, Deal with someone who threatens to expose their contradictions

P

They have allies from their other life that none would suspect, They’ve learned skills that no one realizes they have, They have a trusted ally in someone else who leads a similar double life

D

An enemy from one life is about to crash into them in their other role, A sudden desperate need in one life is distracting them from this role’s duties, An enemy has learned the truth and is using it to blackmail them

A

Resolve a conflict so that neither loyalty loses, Persuade one cause that the other is actually in line with their desires, Somehow come to a decision as to which loyalty to hold highest

P

They have friends from both loyalties to call on for their plans, They have a keen understanding of the situation possible only due to their perspective, They have certain resources from both loyalties they can command

D

The situation is evolving so as to put both causes at violent odds, One cause has suddenly become absolutely intolerable to the other, Someone in one cause wants them to act against someone in the other

189 Down In the World

Earnest Idiot

They have recently come down in the world. Their former wealth, fame, good reputation, or other prosperity has been lost, and now they are left to try to pull together a life out of the remnants of their former contentment. The repercussions of their loss may still be going on. Conversely, this downfall may have happened so long ago that they have long since come to terms with their new life, even though elements and pieces of their former high station still turn up occasionally around them.

They are a fool, unfortunately, and have one or more character traits that lead them into making terrible decisions. This idiocy is not so constant or profound as to make it impossible for them to attain their goals, but sooner or later they’re going to make the worst possible decision at the worst possible time. Conversely, this idiocy may be restricted to a particular topic or motivation. Whenever the topic is involved or their motivation is sparked, they will immediately make a bad decision in service of their prejudices or desires.

A

Regain their lost station through any means necessary, Avenge themselves on the agent of their ruin, Preserve or protect their newfound comrades in misery from some impending woe

A

P

They still have access to certain resources or associates from their old life, Their past still commands awe or respect from the rabble around them, They honed skills in their former life that are still useful now

Prove that they are not a fool to their sniggering associates, Earnestly ram a terrible decision through until it becomes a success, Rescue a cause or person they care about from the consequences of their recent bad decision

P

Their folly leads them to dare actions that no one else would imagine possible, They are so good at something that it rescues them from their own bad choices, They are so charismatic or appealing that nobody blames them for their choices

D

They’ve caused a disaster but don’t even realize it yet, They have the exact wrong idea about a situation, They’re actually trying to be helpful but in a totally unproductive way

D

The agent of their ruin will not be satisfied until they are dead, They simply don’t know how to survive in their new condition, Their fall is causing misery to someone they care about but can no longer help

Family Alienation

Family Chains

There is a gnawing gulf between them and an important family member, be it spouse, child, or parent. Something they’ve done or are is impossible to accept, and the loving relationship they want to have is constantly held out of reach. Conversely, the alienation may be forced by the situation rather than mutual feelings. They may be unable to associate or be with their family due to the circumstance, and until it’s solved they can’t expect things to get better.

They are tightly tied to a duty, cause, or service associated with their family, one that they do not enjoy. Their love for their kindred or the practical necessity of keeping them happy forces them to go along with the situation, but not without considerable pain. Conversely, this might not be an abstract cause they must serve but a specific family member they feel responsible for, even though that family member is constantly causing trouble or putting themselves in danger.

A

Prove the justice of their position to their loved one, Destroy the cause or person that they blame for the alienation, Find a way to atone for their act or satisfy the loved one

A

Shift the family duty elsewhere so they can be free, Secretly render the duty pointless or finished so they can end it, Convince their family to leave the task aside or stop causing problems

P

Their obsessive drive has made them very capable in their purpose, The act that alienated their loved one left them with considerable resources, The friends they’ve made since their alienation are very useful

P

Their duty requires skills that they have honed to a fine edge, They have useful ties with others who pursue the same cause, They can call on extensive family resources to support their acts

D

D

Their alienated loved one is on an actively antagonistic course, The situation threatens to sever yet another precious tie, Something is threatening the loved one yet they cannot readily act to help them

The family ties are putting them in direct conflict with a personally-cherished cause, Their best-loved family member is somehow being destroyed by the duty or falling into peril, A sudden compulsion of duty threatens to ruin the entire family with its exactions

190 Friend Turned Foe

Grand Plan

They once had a very dear friend, but that tie has now become a poisonous enmity. Something they or their friend did was so unforgivable that prior affection has turned to hate, or it may be that the situation has left them on opposite sides despite their reluctance. Conversely, they might be the friend who has turned foe against old allies. Those allies may or may not realize yet their change of heart, particularly if whatever catalyzed it was something subtle.

They have a magnificent plan, a grand scheme for some goal that would otherwise be far beyond their power. Though it might prove to be eventually beyond their grasp, this plan is actually plausible, and might work successfully if they can bring it all together. Few would suspect them of such a vast ambition. Conversely, they might be part of someone greater’s plan, a knowing cog in a larger scheme they may not fully comprehend. For whatever reason, they are utterly committed to this plan and will do whatever they must to help carry it out.

A

P

D

Prove the justification for their acts to their former friend, Destroy their former friend before they are destroyed, Subdue or neutralize their former friend without killing them Their friend gave them a powerful item or valuable resources, Their occasion of betrayal rewarded them richly, Their old friend’s enemies are now helping them A sudden need requires help that only the old friend can give, Their betrayal or act is proven to be futile or useless, A close friend betrays them as they once betrayed another

A

Destroy a rival person or cause with the magnificent success of their plan, Redeem some past failing by succeeding in this, Escape some awful situation or threat by succeeding in the plan

P

They have secret knowledge about the situation that they leverage with their plan, They have an incredible stroke of luck that makes the plan possible, They’ve inherited the knowledge and resources of someone else who set up the plan

D

A vital resource or person threatens to be unavailable at a critical moment, An underling plots to usurp the fruits of success, Someone is letting the plan progress in order to undermine a rival before quashing it

Great Disappointment

Great Expectations

They are an enormous disappointment to their family, cause, or organization. Something about them inspired a great deal of hope and expectation but their personality, actions, or choice of allies has left that prospect in ruins. They may be tolerated by their peers still, but they are constantly reminded of how they’ve failed to live up to their expectations. Conversely, they may have been the one disappointed by another, that failure having inflicted some great loss or trial on them.

They are generally expected to be a great credit to their family or cause, and everyone is eager to help them in order to share in their eventual anticipated glory. They have a gift or talent that seems certain to rocket them to great fame and success, though they may not have employed it much yet. Conversely, they might have these great expectations about an underling, child, or client of theirs, and are eager to employ their yet-unrealized special gifts in order to advance their own plans.

A

Redeem their good name among their associates by some great deed, Join a new group that will appreciate them for who they are, Take advantage of their existing ties as far as possible before abandoning them

A

Prove that their talents really do justify the esteem in which they are held, Overcome an obstacle or person who is preventing them from exercising their talents fully, Outdo a rival who threatens to eclipse their own achievements

P

They still have the gift that inspired hope even if they haven’t used it as expected, They’ve made new friends their old allies would not approve of, They have resources or items that they were given before they became a disappointment

P

Their gift for a particular role really is amazing, A powerful patron is backing them in order to benefit from their rise, They secretly have an item or ally who is the source of their apparent power

D

D

Their former associates have decided that they are a liability that needs ending, Their failure has brought forth dire present consequences, Their gift has turned out to have a brutal personal cost for use

Everyone’s expectations for them are much too unrealistic, It’s not that they have a truly great talent- it’s that the situation is so awful that they’re the only hope left, They honestly don’t feel that competent and lack the confidence to use their abilities to the full

191 Hidden Origins

Impending Treachery

They have a past that has been intentionally concealed. Something about the circumstances of their birth or upbringing would be disastrous, perhaps winning them new enemies or alienating present allies. They might belong to the wrong ethnic group, have the wrong true parent, or be an impostor of some person of import. They must be constantly vigilant against any shred of their origins coming to light, and may act violently to ensure their past stays buried. Conversely, they might not even realize the truth of their origins, but something about the situation is going to bring it to light at the worst possible time for them and their plans. The proof of it is likely undeniable, but they may refuse to believe it even when all evidence shows it to be the truth.

They are about to be betrayed in an impressively spectacular fashion. Some person or cause that they trust and rely on is about to ruin their plans with welltimed treachery, plundering them of some valuable resource or killing some vital ally. Hints may already be afoot, but they refuse to admit the possibility. Conversely, they might be the ones doing the betraying. They may be a vital lieutenant to a greater power, or a well-loved companion to a trusting superior. They’ve performed services enough to justify the great trust they hold, even if their true intentions may not be so faithful. Something inherent in their other character tag may well be driving them to do this, whether or not they want to turn traitor.

A

A

Either aid or avenge themselves on their true parent, Permanently silence someone who knows the truth of matters, Force their original parent or origin group to secretly aid them now

Exploit a desperate opportunity opened up by the circumstances of the betrayal, Get revenge on not only the traitor but also their friends and loved ones, Recover a vital item the traitor took

P

P

They’ve inherited resources or gifts from their true origin, They have a faithful and capable ally equally determined to hide the truth, Some figure from their origins is secretly working to aid them

The traitor is enormously effective while concealing their malice, The traitor has channeled extensive resources to them to earn their trust, Enemies of the traitor are now eager to lend aid

D

D

They’re forced into a situation where they must choose between their present life or real nature, Someone they love or find necessary is about to stumble over the truth, Evidence arises that somehow privately casts doubts on what they understand of their past

The treachery reveals that a cherished relationship was all a lie, They still cannot bring themselves to believe that it was really an intended betrayal, The traitor destroyed something else that was loved as collateral damage to their actions

192 In Over Their Head

Inherited Duty

They are profoundly unequal to the situation they find themselves in, whether it is their job, their current scheme, or the problem they face. They have gotten themselves in so deep that they can see no clear way out of their circumstances, and may be ready to resort to desperate measures. Conversely, they may be blithely unaware of the impending disaster, having a profoundly mistaken assessment of the situation or their own capabilities.

They have a task or social role that they received from their ancestors, either as a personal grudge or obligation or as part of some broader societal expectation. They have never had any say in this duty, and carrying it out has cost them dearly in the past. Conversely, they may have this duty but have absolutely no intention of carrying it out, or they may be utilizing it purely as an excuse to satisfy their own goals with no concern for dutiful service.

A

Get the assistance of someone who can save them from their situation, Shift the disaster onto the shoulders of someone else, Enjoy themselves as much as possible before the inevitable crash

A

Finally complete the job and be free to do as they wish, Foist the duty off on someone else, Get revenge on the people or society that forced the duty on them

P

They have one grand talent that has gotten them in far beyond their abilities, They have a patron who mistakenly thinks them more capable, They have the desperate audacity to do things that no one else would contemplate doing

P

They are aided by others in the same social role or who have the same duty, They were trained to be extremely good at their job, They’ve inherited some item or resource to help them do their task

D

D

They realize they’re about to face an enemy or immediate situation they cannot handle, A critical underling is developing severe doubts, Some small additional problem is causing a snowball of delayed catastrophes

Carrying out the duty properly means doing something they find wicked or emotionally intolerable, If they carry out the duty a great dream of theirs will be impossible, The duty is pointless or actively harmful to everyone but they see no way to avoid it

Irrational Hatred

Last Survivor

They have a burning hatred for a particular group, ethnicity, religion, government, or other selection of people they have reason to encounter semi-regularly. It may be that someone from this group wronged them terribly in the past, or something about them offends their most basic sense of right and wrong. In either case, their hate is beyond all reasonable measure. Conversely, they may have suffered bitterly from someone else’s irrational hatred of them, and such hardships may have inculcated an equal grudge in turn.

They are the last of their kind, be it the final scion of a reputed family, the last of a particular breed of demihuman, the final heir to a decayed noble title, or the last apprentice to some great master. The weight of their inherited past hangs heavy on them. Conversely, they may be completely unaware of their great ancestors while others seek to suborn them in order to use their ties for another’s advantage.

A

P

D

Drive out or destroy the hated group, Show their fellows the truth of the group’s evil, Destroy a community or precious institution maintained by the hated group Their hatred has driven them to pursue dark and terrible sources of power, They have many allies who also despise the same group, They have ties with another power that has a completely different reason to be antagonistic to the group The just vengeance they are unleashing will catch someone they love in the eruption, They have their own well-hidden ties to the group, They’re being used as a catspaw by an “ally” with very different end goals

A

Restore or revitalize their fading antecedents, Get revenge on whatever destroyed the others, Escape the weight of the past and the expectations it brings

P

They’ve inherited some great wealth or magic, They have ancestral allies they can still call on, They know powerful secrets entrusted only to their kind

D

The thing that finished the rest of their kind is coming to finish them, The failure of their line will create some social or magical chaos, Others are expecting great things from them that they feel unable to grant

193 Lives For Today

Load-Bearing Relationship

They care little for the future or the consequences of their choices and are determined to seek their own immediate ends with a reckless zeal. This tactic has worked for them at least once in the past, bringing them some great success or satisfaction. Conversely, they may live for the moment because they are convinced their time is short. Some sickness, doom, or threat draws so near that they must dare all if they are to have any chance to gain their desire.

They have a spouse, child, friend, lord, trusted retainer, or other person in their life who is absolutely necessary to them. They rely utterly on this person for some sort of emotional support or practical assistance, and would be crippled or lost without them. Conversely, they may have lost or impaired this relationship, and are now trying to restore it even as they crumble into confusion, distraction, and reckless desperation.

A

Obtain an experience or status hardly known to others, Make up for a prior life of stern discipline or cruel privation, Achieve a goal with absolutely no concern for cost or consequences

A

Achieve a great dream of their supporter, Prove their own worthiness to their supporter through some grand success, Avenge a slight inflicted on the supporter by someone else

P

They have a great talent for making the most of any situation, Their reckless munificence has won many helpers, They’ve a great talent or wealth that they are convinced will see them through

P

The support they receive makes them far more confident and capable, Their supporter has resources or allies of their own to give, Their supporter is even more competent than they are

D

A prior advantageous act now has its dire consequences coming due, They’ve made promises and assurances they are now called upon to keep, They’re growing desperately bored or ennui-ridden with their indulgences

D

Their supporter is loyal only to their own ends, Their supporter is encouraging them to some grave mistake or misstep, Their supporter is in some great trouble that they can’t solve on their own

Lost Cause

Lovesick Fool

They are dedicated to a cause that has long since been defunct. A rebel uprising, a quashed faith, a broken noble family, a failed political faction, a brief regional independence, or some other cause has their loyalty, even though most people think it vain and useless in the present day. Conversely, they may be affiliated with other partisans of this lost cause even though they have no personal confidence in it at all. The remnants are merely useful tools to obtain their own end.

They are absolutely and utterly smitten with someone, and their lovesickness is leading them to make terrible decisions in order to pursue their suit. The object of their affections may or may not be a socially-acceptable target, but for whatever reason this beloved is in no position to calm their pursuer. Conversely, they may already be in a relationship with their beloved, yet are so besotted by them that they are neglecting or ignoring critical situations that threaten to explode into outright disaster.

A

Get revenge on the power that crushed their cause, Ignite the cause once more, Subvert an existing power structure to serve the cause anew

A

P

Treasures once held by the cause have come into their hands, A hard core of zealots still exists and is cooperating with them, They still bear tokens of authority from the cause that some in the present still respect and obey

Perform a grand deed to further the interests of their beloved, Destroy a rival suitor, Acquire their beloved with no particular concern for their object’s wishes in the matter

P

Their utter commitment leaves them willing to spend every possible resource or labor, Some third party has an interest in supporting them in their suit, They are extremely good at something their beloved finds attractive or useful

D

Their beloved is playing them for a fool, An underling is preparing to make a change in leadership, A rival suitor is crashing into the situation

D

The same thing that ruined the cause the last time appears likely to ruin it again, Their cause is merely being exploited by some outside power, An even more zealous underling threatens to subvert control of the entire enterprise

194 Magical Gift

Marked for Success

They have an intrinsic magical gift that is useful in pursuing their present plan. This gift may be the legacy of their bloodline, the product of esoteric training, or a whim of blind chance, but it lets them bypass some problem that would otherwise stymie their plans. Conversely, they might be the custodian or master of someone else who has a useful gift. They rely on this connection to pursue their own ends, perhaps to the disadvantage of their servant.

They have been designated for glory by a powerful patron, a tremendous natural gift, or an extremely influential bloodline. Whatever their personal capacities, everyone knows that they can be expected to go far in their chosen career. Conversely, they may still be struggling for the special blessing of powerful patronage or influential associations. Their ambitions may be impossible to achieve without this support, and their present plans revolve around winning the alliances they need.

A

Perform some great and splendid deed that would be impossible for someone without such a convenient gift, Enhance the gift through some difficult ritual or opportunity, Escape the obligation that the gift’s possession has laid on them due to the expectations of others

P

Their gift solves some class of challenges or difficulties very easily, Their gift is considered a sure sign of nobility and legitimate rule, No one knows about their gift

D

Their gift requires a terrible price be paid, They’re faced with a threat or problem their gift can’t solve, Someone else is expecting them to use their gift to serve another’s ends

A

Prove that they genuinely deserve the success that they will inevitably obtain, Carry out a critical task for their patron, Quash a rival who threatens to outdo them through their own special advantages

P

They are remarkably good at some skill relevant to their role, Their patron is very generous in aiding their purposes, Numerous others are quick to aid them in order to have the advantage of their friendship in the future

D

Their patron is reconsidering their support, They have no personal skill or aptitude to justify their rise, A rival is vying for their patron’s support and may just get it in their place

Misplaced Trust

Natural Leader

They trust some person or institution implicitly, relying on them as part of their plans or duties. This trust is misplaced, however, and the other party will fail them at the worst possible moment, either through incompetence, self-interest, or secret malice. Conversely, they themselves might be the trusted person, relied on by a superior or ally for some important aid. That aid will not be forthcoming, however, as their interests are very different than what their ally supposes.

They are a natural-born leader, possessed of a charisma and insight that helps them perfectly judge the abilities and loyalty of those around them. They naturally draw powerful allies and can manage their interests without disruptive conflict. Conversely, they might be born into or placed into a position where everyone looks to them for leadership, whether or not they have the talent for it. They may be unable to escape these duties, despite an unwillingness or inability to carry them out.

A

Share some glory or reward with their trusted ally through their current plans, Promote the interests of their trusted ally, Put the trusted ally in a position to give them a great reward or help

A

P

The ally is very useful to them up until their inevitable betrayal, Their association with their ally impresses others and leads them to be cooperative, Their ally has given them valuable resources as a token of their good faith

Bring together two hostile parties to achieve their own purposes, Overcome a materially stronger opponent through coordinated alliances, Accomplish a great leadership coup despite their own doubts about their abilities

P

They have one particularly powerful follower, They’re in a good relationship with a potent faction, They’re stealing followers of the force or individual they’re contesting

D

A physical calamity happens that cannot be mitigated by diplomacy or leadership, One of their followers only feigns loyalty, Their followers have unrealistic expectations for them

D

A crucial part of their plan relies on the ally but will inevitably go awry, The ally is privately in league with their enemies or rivals, The ally expects them to nobly sacrifice their interests for the ally’s benefit

195 Persecuting Foe

Ruined Plan

They have a powerful nemesis that has an intense desire to ruin, kill, or disgrace them. This enmity may be the fruit of past actions or be a result of ethnic, religious, or national animosity. This nemesis will not listen to ordinary reason. Conversely, they may be forced to work with this nemesis for some reason, one who is an unreasonable and tormenting superior or associate. For whatever reason, they’re unable to cut off this association and need their nemesis’ nominal cooperation.

Their life has been marred by the consequences of a ruined plan, some grand ambition or scheme that collapsed disastrously. The aftermath still burdens them, and the possibilities that were foreclosed yet haunt them. Conversely, the plan may merely be about to be ruined, with its impending implosion obvious to them if they don’t solve an immediate problem or overcome the meddling foe who is causing them such trouble.

A

Destroy their nemesis before their nemesis destroys them, Pull their enemy’s fangs by destroying their power base, Redirect the enemy’s wrath towards a profitable target

P

They have some important resource stolen from the nemesis, They’ve developed skills or allies to blunt the foe’s usual means of attack, They are allied to powerful enemies of the nemesis

D

The nemesis is striking at the base of their power or influence, The persecutor has made an opening for their other enemies to exploit, The foe is someone they simply can’t destroy or move directly against

A

Prove that the ruined plan would have worked or wasn’t their fault, Avenge themselves on the one who ruined their scheme, Reclaim something precious they lost during the collapse

P

They still have the item or resource that made the ruined scheme possible, They have allies they made during the scheme, They’ve come up with some new resource as a direct consequence of their failure

D

A consequence of the disaster has yet to play out fully for them, Someone they disappointed or harmed with the plan hunts them, They try to re-attempt the plan with even less chance of success now

Ruinous Vice

Secret Cravings

They have some particular vice that drives them to terrible choices: drugs, drink, debauchery, lies, or some similar sin. While it has not yet eaten them whole, many of their decisions are predicated around getting more or their vice or experiencing it in new ways. Conversely, they may be reliant on providing the vice to someone else in order to maintain their current status or schemes. Failure to come up with a consistent supply of it could result in disaster for them.

They possess a yearning for some substance or activity that is utterly reprehensible to their fellows. They’ve indulged secretly in it before, but constantly seek new opportunities to enjoy it without having their urges exposed to their brethren. This craving may be morally innocent or utterly vile, but it’s something they could not bear to have commonly known. Conversely, they may have substantial power or influence through providing this craving to others in their society, with a wealth of blackmail material such provision provides.

A

P

D

Obtain an endless supply of their vice through some scheme, Destroy someone who threatens to impede their enjoyment of the vice, Establish an organization or business revolving around the provision of the vice They are owed many favors or have much blackmail material from their vice, They have exceptional funds of wealth or power to help supply their sin, They have the patronage of a fellow enjoyer of their vice Their vice is killing them at a perceptible rate of speed, A reckless indulgence is now coming back to haunt them with its consequences, Their vice is causing a calamity for someone they love or need

A

Kill someone who threatens to uncover their appetites, Use the blackmail they’ve gained through their associations to control someone, Find a way to rid themselves of this hunger

P

The craving has given them the opportunity to obtain much wealth, The craving is for a substance that grants them magical power, Fellow enjoyers are allied with them to ensure their safety

D

A victim or supplier of the craving has gotten loose from their influence and threatens to reveal all, The old indulgences aren’t strong enough and bigger doses are required, Their new post or role is cutting them off from obtaining their cravings

196 Secret Sectarian

Stolen Reputation

They are a devotee of some faith, cause, or faction that must remain hidden from the world, either because their exposure would make them less useful to it, or because the group itself is unacceptable to society. Their ostensible schemes and duties actually are meant to support their secret allies. Conversely, they may be supported by this secret faction without ever realizing that it is the case. Powerful allies or useful underlings may act to aid them, as their purpose is somehow advantageous to the sect.

They have a splendid reputation that they in no way rightfully deserve. The great deeds or grand skills they are reputed to have actually belong to another, and they stole the rightful glory due to this person. Their own capabilities may be considerable, but they are not what they are claimed to be. Conversely, they may be the one whose glory was stolen, forced to remain silent by circumstances or threats. They may not even be allowed to demonstrate their true competence lest it tarnish the luster of the thief.

A

Make the sect an open power in the region, Discharge some great debt or obligation they have to the sect, Destroy an enemy of the sect without making their affiliation obvious

A

Destroy the real hero before their secret comes out, Assuage their self-doubt by proving they deserve the glory, Take full advantage of the opportunities their new renown offers them

P

The sect gives them valuable resources or items, Their devotion has allowed them to obtain magical gifts, Hidden devotees of the sect act to aid their open purposes

P

They really are superb at their role even if they aren’t the best, Co-conspirators in the theft still support them, An important patron finds them a more useful hero than the one they eclipsed

D

The sect considers them a disposable weapon for the cause, A rival threatens to reveal their affiliation to the public, Their current duty would be disastrous for the sect if they carried it out correctly

D

Their glory has gotten them into a situation far beyond their capabilities, They have actually convinced themselves they’re as good as people say they are, Their renown has put them into a role or function they now find hateful

Ticking Bomb

Troublesome Friend

They have some person, institution, or situation in their life that is going to explode. Self-destructive choices, internal strife, impending doom, or some other trigger is going to send shrapnel through all their plans, and it’s only a matter of time before it detonates. Conversely, they may be the bomb. They may be under unendurable pressure, prey to some madness, afflicted with a curse, or otherwise facing a situation that can only end with catastrophically bad results at some unknown but rapidly-approaching time.

They have a dear friend or vital ally who is a constant source of problems for them. Poor decisions, reckless indulgences, persistent threats by an enemy, or other distractions force them to clean up their friend’s messes or protect them when they should be tending to their own plans. Conversely, they may be that friend to their patron or allies. Their associates refuse to cut them off out of affection or mutual necessity, but they’re constantly the locus of problems that have to be solved.

A

Defuse the bomb by resolving the situation that is causing it, Eliminate or distance the person or institution before it can blow up on them, Arrange the situation so an enemy or rival suffers the consequences of the blast

A

Somehow get out of the relationship with their self-image or prosperity intact, Solve the friend’s troubles once and for all, Finally leverage the friend into a profitable situation despite their troublemaking

P

The rising chaos is very profitable to them in wealth or granted influence, They have great influence over the bomb until it explodes, The bomb’s explosion would cause enormous damage to a rival or enemy

P

Their friend is actually extremely useful at something, Their friend brings valuable resources with them, Their friend has associates or allies that are very handy

D

D

The crisis suddenly comes to a peak much too soon, A twist leaves them even more vulnerable to the consequences of an explosion, One of their enemies or rivals is actively provoking the situation

Their friend causes a catastrophic problem to arise, Their friend resents them and is refusing to cooperate in the necessary cleanup, Their friend’s troublemaking is actually intentional and meant to sabotage them out of spite or envy

197 Unexpected Talent

Unreasonably Lucky

They have an unusual skill or capability, one uncommon to someone in their position. It may be a magical gift, unexpected combat prowess, abnormal social skills, or some other knack. This talent is useful in pursuing their plans and unlikely to be anticipated by their enemies. Conversely, this talent might actually belong to a loyal minion in their service, and they can deploy them to further their own purposes.

They are lucky beyond all ordinary limits, to the point that they can predictably rely on good fortune to carry them through difficulties. This luck may not sweep aside all obstacles, but their enemies and rivals never seem to get the benefits of blind chance. Conversely, they may be unreasonably unlucky, yet their sheer determination and dogged persistence has made them far more competent and capable than would normally be expected.

A

Engineer the situation so their success relies upon their unexpected superiority at this skill, Ruin their enemies through the use of the skill, Prove the value of the skill to someone who scorned it

A

P

The skill has given them access to an unexpected source of wealth or influence, They have allies who are interested in the skill and its uses, They have loyal students seeking to learn the skill from them

Seize an opportunity that their great luck has allowed them to obtain, Prove that they’re actually skilled rather than merely lucky, Expand the influence of the god or patron they credit for their luck

P

Their luck has brought them a great store of resources, Others seek to be close to them to share in their good fortune, A perfect line of coincidences has granted them an ideal opening for their current plan

D

Their luck runs out at the worst possible time, They’ve grown indolent and careless due to trusting in their luck, Someone burns with envy and resentment at their unearned success

D

They’ve relied too heavily on the skill and it’s gotten them into a situation the skill can’t solve, The skill has failed them at a critical moment, They’ve drawn the enmity of a rival adept in the skill

Up From the Gutter

Veiled Backers

They came from a wretched background to their current success. Whether from grinding poverty, a shunned ethnic or professional group, a despised religion, or a miserable birth, they have ascended to their present circumstances. Their past may yet be a secret they conceal carefully. Conversely, they may still be in the gutter, yet ferociously determined to climb out of it into the heights of success they feel are rightfully theirs.

They have one or more powerful patrons supporting them, but this aid must be kept secret at all costs. Their backers may be enemies of their current society, socially-unacceptable figures, or foes of their current employer. These patrons have their own goals that they expect to be pursued. Conversely, they may be the veiled backer of some otherwise-unacceptable group or embedded mole, feeding their minions support and resources in exchange for their hidden services.

A

P

D

Get revenge on those who once scorned and despised them, Erase all those who know the truth of their past, Raise the local status or circumstances of their despised origins

A

Their past forced them to gain useful skills uncommon to their current position, They made allies in the past that still serve well, Their past associations helped them get a large amount of blackmail material on local figures of import

Carry out a secret command that would conflict with their apparent duties, Take out an enemy of their backers in a deniable way, Deal with another client of their patrons who has gone rogue in some fashion

P

Old ties and demands now seem likely to drag them back down, A rival works tireless to discredit them for their ignoble origins, The next level of success is hopelessly barred to them by their past circumstances

Their backers grant considerable resources to their minions, They have secret allies embedded in many local institutions, Their backers give them access to secrets and hidden intel useful to their plans

D

Their backers have decided that it is time to burn them, Enemies of their backers are sniffing too close to their association, Their backers are demanding a service that is mortally perilous or emotionally intolerable

198

NAVAL ADVENTURING Some of the finest adventuring to be had is on isolated islands, forgotten archipelagos, or on the shores of distant lands far over the sea. It’s not unlikely that the PCs might find it necessary to take ship from time to time in order to reach such golden destinations. This section provides optional rules for structuring seagoing travel. Information is given on buying ships, hiring crews, provisioning for long expeditions, and keeping up with the inevitable decay and wear of a salt-lashed wooden vessel. Ship combat rules are provided as well, ones based on the starship combat rules from Stars Without Number. These rules are intended to involve the entire party in a seagoing fray and give each player a voice in resolving the encounter. Players who prefer a quicker, simpler way of resolving their differences with pirates can use the quick combat rules provided at the end of the section. Even PCs who manage to avoid the attentions of seagoing reavers still need to have a care for the perils of wind and wave. It’s an easy thing for a ship to go astray in the great blue wastes of the Atlantean Main, and only vigilant wariness and a hold well-stocked with supplies can see adventurers through such dangers. And if the worst befalls them and their ship is given to the sea, they can only hope that an uncharted island might be close enough to reach while life remains….

Sea Travel Procedures

For each day of seagoing travel, the GM should take the following steps.

•

Roll 1d10, or 1d12 on quiet seas. On a 1, an event happens sometime that day. The seafaring event table below offers some example possibilities. Skill checks should be made by the best sailor or most appositely-skilled PC. Ship encounters likely call for a Reaction Roll.

•

Subtract one day worth of food and water from the ship’s provisions for each crew member. If they run out, they’re subject to the privation rules in the core rulebook.

•

If they’ve suffered unusual calamities or lack provisions, make a Morale check for the crew. Failure means truculence; two or more failed checks might mean mutiny if they’re not appeased.

•

Subtract the ship’s daily movement rate from the distance to go before it reaches its destination. If the PCs are just exploring an area, move them an appropriate number of hexes on the map.

d10

Seafaring Event

d10

Ship Encounter

1-3

Ship Ahoy: A vessel comes into Sighted range. Roll on the Ship Encounter table.

1-3

Local Trader: It’s a trading ship out of the nearest port.

4

Stormy Weather: Make a Dex or Int/Sail skill check at difficulty 10; on a failure, suffer the difference in your roll in ship HP lost.

4

Local Pirate: It’s a small pirate craft looking for small, ill-defended prey.

5

Off Course: You discover you’re actually 1d4 x 50 miles away from where you thought you were in a random direction.

5

6

Sea Beast: Fearsome monsters or a terrible sea creature threatens your ship.

Local Warship: It’s a small or medium warship out hunting pirates or looking for smugglers; it may want a closer look at your ship.

6

7

Fouled Provisions: Make an Int/Sail skill check at difficulty 10; on a failure, lose 10% of your provisions for each point you failed by.

Oceanic Pirate: This is a big raider, likely sailing out of a pirate haven and more than able to deal with most merchantmen.

7

Far Trader: A fat oceangoing merchant on a long journey from some far-off land.

8

Privateer: A medium or larger ship kitted out to plunder the enemies of its owners. Most are generous in their definition of enemies.

8

Damaged Cargo: Make an Int/Sail skill check at difficulty 10; on a failure, lose 5% of your non-provisions cargo for each point you failed by.

9

Sickness Aboard: Make an Int/Heal skill check at difficulty 10. On a failure, 1d4 x 10% of the crew are incapacitated for 3d6 days.

9

Unnatural Craft: It’s a wizard’s galleon, priest’s barge, skyship, living vessel, Hosthulk, or other uncanny ship.

10

Damaged Fitting: A random ship-mounted weapon or fitting has been damaged. Until it’s repaired, it’s useless. Ships without either weapons or fittings are immune to this.

10

Crippled Ship: Roll again; it’s that kind of ship, but it’s suffered severe damage from storms or combat, and usually has no more than half its usual HP and crew.

199

Buying Ships and Hiring Crew To buy a ship, the PCs need to be in a port town large enough to support the kind of vessel they mean to buy. Villages seldom have anything bigger than small ships for sale, towns may have medium ships, and only major cities can be expected to have large ships on the market. The bigger the ship, the harder it is to find one for sale. Small ships can be found in 1d10 days, medium in 1d10 weeks, and large in 1d10 months. An adventure focused on finding a ship might locate one far sooner, and plausible use of Trade or Sail might find a good lead. If the GM decides that the PCs could not reasonably find the kind of ship they want for sale on the open market, they may need to hire a shipwright to build it. Assuming a competent wright is available, it will take one week for every two hit points of the ship’s base hull, doubled for medium hulls, and quadrupled for large hulls. This time can be halved by doubling the price.

Hiring Crew

For a very small ship, the party alone might be enough to man her. So long as at least one PC has Sail-0, they can probably get the craft aimed in the right direction and arrive more-or-less safely, assuming nothing unfortunate happens along the way. For larger ships, or navigating in more challenging circumstances, a crew of properly-trained sailors is necessary. Such men and women can be found in most port communities, and there are always some who find themselves between berths and in need of a position. In an average fishing village, 2d6 can be found at any one time. Towns support five times this many, and cities can usually supply as many trained sailors as any single ship could ask for. Ordinary seamen will do for sailing a ship, aiming a catapult, or pulling an oar, but a captain who wants to fit out an archery unit or maintain a unit of arquebusiers will need to hire trained marines or other professionals to fill the berth. It’s up to the GM as to whether a particular

Crew Members Crew

Cost/Month

Ordinary Seaman

25 sp

Cook, Carpenter, or Skilled Trade

50 sp

Trained Marine, Archer, or Gunner

40 sp

Marine Sergeant

100 sp

Navigator or Ship’s Officer

150 sp

Captain

250 sp

weapon might require specialists to fire it effectively, but most hurlants require specially-trained gunners. Custom generally has a captain pay a crewman half their first month’s wages up front to clear their inevitable shoreside debts, with all other pay due whenever the ship makes port. Few capable sailors will sign on for less than a month’s wages, even for shorter expeditions.

Hiring for Perilous Expeditions

Seafaring in the Latter Earth is a dangerous profession in the calmest waters, and common sailors are inured to a certain level of sea monster attacks, magical storms, and pirate assaults. Most won’t demand extra inducement to sail through this ordinary level of peril. Ships commissioned for privateering, piracy, warfare, or adventurous expeditions into the unknown are a different matter. Their crews will usually demand shares of the expedition’s profits. When sailing on shares, custom usually leaves half the profit to the ship’s owners, including any magical items. The other half is divided up in shares among the crew, with the captain receiving five shares, the officers two, and each crewman one. Pirates are more egalitarian, dividing the entire haul and not merely half of it. Expeditions without likely hope of riches might be able to find crew at five to ten times the usual pay rate, but few sailors will risk their lives for anything less.

200

Ship Types Grace reflects the nimbleness and maneuverability of a ship. It is added to all skill checks the crew makes that involve ship-handling, speed, or agility. Hit Points are depleted by ship gunnery damage, and the ship sinks or founders at zero hit points. Ordinary weapons and attacks can’t harm a ship’s hit points, but major fires and large sources of damage can do some injury at the GM’s discretion. Armor Class is the target that enemy gunnery needs to hit in order to damage the ship or harm its crew. Some ships have a good AC due to agility, and others due to heavy planking and thick hulls. Cargo is the number of tons of cargo that the ship can reasonably transport. Would-be merchant princes must remember that crew provisions must also have their allotted space in the hold if the ship is to get far. Weapons gives the maximum number of cargo tons that can be dedicated to mounted weaponry and armed crew units, as described in the next section. A ship may have a vast cargo hold but only so much space in it can be usefully employed for weapons. Size is the general size category of the ship. Some weapons and other fittings cannot be reasonably mounted on ships too small to bear their bulk. Small ships can be used as ship’s boats, mounted on larger craft at a cargo space cost equal to half the smaller boat’s cargo rating.

The ship types listed below are some of the more common ones navigating the coasts and open seas of the Latter Earth. Each ship is defined by certain statistics. Crew indicates how many crew are needed for ordinary operation and the maximum number the ship can readily hold over a long journey. Ships with at least half the minimum crew, rounded down, can limp along at half speed and a -2 Grace penalty, but less than that and the ship is at the mercy of wind and wave. Rowers are additional crewmen needed if the ship is to make way by oar. Unsurprisingly, ships that have no oars need no rowers. These rowers are in addition to the necessary minimum crew for operation. Rowers allow the ship to sail regardless of the winds, but they can manage no more than eight hours of headway a day and so generally make less progress than sail-bearing craft. Some ships are rowed by slaves or convicts, but free rowers can be dragooned into a ship’s boarding detachment if necessary. Miles per day is the average number of miles the ship can travel every 24 hours. For convenience, it’s assumed the ship can sail directly toward its destination and doesn’t need to tack back and forth to manage the wind. When sailing on a hex map, any excess mileage beyond a hex increment is added to the next day’s sailing.

Ships of the Latter Earth Ship

Cost

Crew

Rowers

Miles / Day

Grace

HP

AC

Cargo

Wpns

Size

Cutter

1,000

6/60

0

150

+1

10

17

40

5

Small

Dhow

200

3/20

0

120

+1

7

16

30

5

Small

Pinnace

500

1/40

8

120*

+2

5

18

20

3

Small

Raider Launch

150

1/30

8

90*

+0

5

15

10

2

Small

Windskiff

n/a

2/10

0

150 by flight

+1

5

18

10

2

Small

Bedar

5,000

4/80

0

150

+1

15

15

60

10

Medium

Brigantine

7,500

14/120

0

120

+0

20

14

70

15

Medium

Garay

10,000

10/80

30

120*

+1

20

16

50

20

Medium

Fluyt

15,000

16/120

0

100

-1

25

14

100

15

Medium

Triaconter

10,000

10/160

30

60 by rowing

+1

25

15

40

30

Medium

Xebec

5,000

4/120

20

120*

+0

20

15

60

20

Medium

Skyship

n/a

12/50

0

200 by flight

+1

20

16

60

15

Medium

Dromon

30,000

20/300

60

90*

-1

40

13

120

50

Large

Frigate

40,000

32/200

0

150

+0

50

15

80

40

Large

Lanong

35,000

20/200

60

100*

+0

45

14

80

40

Large

Ship of the Line

75,000

50/300

0

100

+1

80

15

100

60

Large

War Galleon

50,000

60/300

0

120

+0

60

12

90

50

Large

Stormcruiser

n/a

60/200

0

150 by flight

+1

65

14

100

35

Large

* these ships may instead move up to 60 miles per day by oar if enough rowers are aboard

201

Common Ship Types

The instability of the Legacy and its capricious limits are shown clearly in the myriad different ships that ply the seas of the Latter Earth. The historical ships of modern-day Earth had their strong and weak points, but time and improved seamanship led to many early designs being abandoned in favor of later, better classes of ships. Improved rigging, new sail technology, advancing techniques of hull construction, and other such innovations led to steadily-improved ships. This is not the case in the Latter Earth. Many technologies that ought to work perfectly simply do not function correctly thanks to ancient Outsider forbiddances, physics decay, or special-case curses embedded by some ancient nautical empire. A host of ship designs that have been superseded for centuries in the modern world are actually among the most functional, efficient, and practical options available for a far-future sailor. Some manage to dodge the hindrances embedded in the Legacy, and others actually benefit by ancient blessings bestowed on the design by long-vanished seafarers. The ship designs listed below are merely the most common of these surviving designs. Bedar: A double-ended, junk-sailed ship popular in the western Amundi kingdoms for its seaworthiness, speed, and small crew requirements. Brigantine: A favorite of Sarxian privateers, this squarerigged, two-masted ship can carry crew enough to overwhelm small craft while retaining enough cargo space to haul the plunder back to port. Cutter: One of a variety of small, fast cargo ships with intricate rigging. They require more crew than other ships their size, but their sails catch the wind with great efficiency. Dhow: Lateen-rigged trading and fishing boats, usually kept close to a coastline. They lack the speed and cargo capacity of a cutter, but their rigging is far simpler to handle. Dromon: The biggest Tseban war galley along the western and eastern coastlines of southern Gyarus, a dromon is exclusively oar-powered, usually by particularly luckless slaves. While ungainly, a dromon can carry both a vast number of soldiers and a great amount of cargo. Fluyt: Sluggish and fat-bellied, a fluyt carries more cargo than any other common ship of its size. Some daring pirates use them as motherships, hanging launches off the sides for quick shore raids. Frigate: The pride of the Atlantean navies, the frigates of the Prior Crown are extremely complex in their construction and operation, and few are able to build them outside of the ports of Atlantis. Even fewer are permitted to buy them, but some of the more daring Kytheronian privateers have been known to acquire them by rougher means. Garay: A popular pirate vessel in Tavat, a garay is a single-masted, oared ship nimble enough to run down

the smaller trading vessels that are its usual prey. Tavat’s pirates are notorious for impressing prisoners as rowers. Lanong: The bigger cousin of the garay, lanongs are found most often under the command of Aristoi commodores or Shinbu Anak warchiefs. Their outrigger design makes them stable and seaworthy, with their oars allowing for careful maneuvering in confined spaces. Most pirate lanongs carry several launches to bring the ship’s vast raiding complement ashore. Pinnace: A small craft sometimes used as a ship’s boat on a larger vessel, pinnaces are exceedingly nimble and can be rowed if enough strong arms are available. Some are used as small coastal traders, but they deal poorly with the perils of the open sea. Raider Launch: These small craft come in numerous shapes and sizes, but all are meant to be launched from a larger ship kept safely offshore. Their crews row in, plunder, and flee before organized resistance can strike back. Ship of the Line: Some would say these ships are the finest warships in the west, the fruit of centuries of Sunward Isles seamanship. They form the backbone of the island navies, each one heavily laden with lethal Sunwarder cannon. Their complexity has made them rare elsewhere, in addition to their complete unsuitability for many traditional forms of magical augmentation and blessing. Skyship: The middle class of flying ships, few of these have survived since the days when they formed the bulk of the Wind Cities’ aerial navies. The few that remain are most often in the hands of skilled and rapacious sky pirates or the windfarers of Yain. Stormcruiser: The biggest class of skyship known to survive, these vessels are vanishingly rare. Rumors persist of buried hangars in the Choking Dunes where whole squadrons of these ships lie sleeping since the destruction of Javair. Triaconter: One of a variety of oared war galleys favored in tight waters, like the Sleeve of western Gyaros. Their lack of sails helps them mount large numbers of deck weapons, and their rowers are usually Tseban soldiers ready to join any boarding action. War Galleon: The fearsome fist of Sarx, their war galleons are a sight dreaded from the top of the gulf of Amund to the southern shores of Xindai. Almost all are exclusively military in nature, built to crush troublesome pirates and smash the navies of rival states. Windskiff: Smallest of the flying ships, these arcane vessels are rare marvels used most often for scouting and swift message transport. Xebec: A three-masted ship with both lateen sails and oars, a xebec is popular with both raiders and traders, not least for its relatively inexpensive construction and comparatively easy handling. Many of the Free Clans sail them on the Vermillion Sea.

202

Ship Weapons Cargo is the cargo space required for the weapon or the unit’s equipment. A ship cannot effectively mount more tons of weaponry or marine gear than its Weapons rating. This burden counts against a ship’s cargo limits. Size is the smallest size of ship that can effectively mount the weapon. Craft smaller than this do not have the room or the bracing needed to handle the weapon. A ship is assumed to have enough ammunition aboard for any reasonable sea engagement, with the cost of resupply accounted for under a ship’s usual maintenance cost. For weapons that fire both solid shot and grapeshot, the choice of ammunition can be made when the weapon is fired.

Some of the most common ship-mounted weapons are listed below, along with some of the more frequently-encountered crew units deployed in combat. Cost gives the price of the weapon in places where it is usually sold. Less familiar regions may pay double, if it can be found at all. In some cases, such as with Ondasi guns, the weapons may not even work outside their place of manufacture. This price does not include crew hiring costs, but only their equipment. Crew is the number of crew necessary to man the weapon or fill out the unit. Without this many crew, the weapon or unit cannot fight effectively. Crew can be shifted among weapons if losses require it, but they must be trained for the role. Range is the maximum range of the weapon or unit. Attacks made at Near range all gain a +2 bonus to hit, regardless of the weapon’s maximum range. Damage is the amount of hit point damage inflicted on the target ship on a hit. Small arms and grapeshot instead inflict their damage on the target’s Crew Strength, with the GM subtracting any losses from the most likely-seeming victims. If the GM thinks it plausible to target a specific creature with it, its damage dice are tripled, and a creature brought to 0 HP by it dies instantly.

Restricted Weapons and Units

The list below contains several entries for weapons that may not be appropriate for particular campaigns. A few items in particular are meant for specific settings. Earth-historical campaigns can use arquebusier units and can treat hurlants as smoothbore cannons, with long hurlant units being used for riflemen. Sunwarder cannon function normally in other regions of the Latter Earth, but are rare and expensive. Ondasi guns function only within sight of Ondas’ coast.

Ship Weapons and Gunnery Units Weapon

Cost

Crew

Range

Damage

Cargo

Size

Ballista

250

3

Near

1d4

2

Small

Catapult

200

3

Far

1d6

4

Medium

-

-

Near

1d4

-

-

10,000

15

Far

1d12

5

Medium

-

-

Near

1d10*

-

-

5,000

5

Far

1d8

2

Small

-

-

Near

1d6*

-

-

4,000

3

Near

1d8

2

Small

-

-

Near

1d6*

-

-

2,000

10

Sighted

1d12

4

Medium

-

-

Near

1d12*

-

-

Ondasi Shore Battery

50,000

-

Sighted

3d12

-

Shore Only

Ram, Large (Rowed ships only)

2,500

0

Abreast

2d10

5

Large

Ram, Medium (Rowed ships only)

1,000

0

Abreast

1d10

2

Medium

Sunwarder Cannon

20,000

15

Far

1d12

4

Medium

-

-

Near

1d12*

-

-

200

10

Near

1d4*

1

Small

Arquebusier Unit

1,000

10

Near

1d6*

1

Small

Long Hurlant Unit

40,000

10

Far

1d10*

1

Small

- with loose stones Hurlant, full-sized “Great” class - with shot canister Hurlant, smaller “Lela” type - with shot canister Hurlant, pivot-mounted “Swivel” - with shot canister Ondasi Rifled Cannon - with shot canister

- with shot canister Archer Unit

* this ammunition or unit inflicts damage to the target’s Crew Strength rather than hull HP

203

Supplies, Fittings, and Maintenance A prudent ship captain must take into account the need for ship’s biscuit, water casks, sailcloth, hempen rope, tar, oakum, and all the other necessities that keep a ship afloat. Those with more silver might also care to make certain improvements or additions to the base hull of their ship. Those listed below are only some possibilities.

Supplies

A ship underway needs food and water for its crew and a steady supply of fresh sailcloth, rope, and other operating necessities. The adjacent table gives ordinary prices for these necessities and the cargo space required. Partial tonnage is rounded up for each item to account for casks, crates, and other packing needs. Thus, a fluyt with 40 crew members planning on a two-week cruise needs at least 560 person-days of food and fresh water. The captain lays in 750 days of food at 3 tons of cargo space and 1,500 silver, 600 days of water at 12 tons of cargo space, and 30 days of medium ship consumables for 2 tons of space and 250 silver. The whole takes up 18 tons of the fluyt’s cargo capacity. In a spirit of prudence, the captain then adds 2 tons of repair supplies, enough to fix 10 ship hit points of damage in case they run into trouble along the way. Ships in port don’t use up consumables or water as a rule, and may be able to buy fresh provisions from shore markets for 1 silver piece per crew per day. A ship that runs out of consumables suffers a -2 penalty on all ship-related skill checks until remedied. Running short of food and water can kill a crew in days.

Fittings

A captain with a heavy purse can pay to have useful fittings installed on a ship. Each fitting listed below can be installed only once, with the exception of reinforced weapon mounts, which can be installed as many times as the ship’s tonnage allows. Most costs and cargo space requirements are expressed as percentages of the ship’s base price and base cargo size. Thus, installing Improved Rigging on a fluyt would cost 1,500 silver and take up 10 tons.

Supplies Item

Cost

Cargo

Food, 250 person-days

500

1 ton

Water, 50 person-days

0

1 ton

Supplies to repair 5 HP

200

1 ton

Small ship consumables, 30 days

50

1 ton

Medium ship, “

250

2 tons

1,000

4 tons

Large ship, “

Most fittings are self-explanatory in nature, but some bear extra notice. Expanded cargo holds add extra cargo space, but this extra space can only be used for cargo; it can’t be spent making room for other fittings, mounted weapons, or other uses. Reinforced weapon mounts allow the ship to mount one weapon of one size class larger than usually allowed. Thus, a cutter with this fitting could mount one great hurlant at a cost of 5 cargo tons for the fitting and 5 cargo tons for the hurlant itself. Saltwood blessings are one of a variety of different arcane or religious rituals meant to bless the wood of a ship and defeat the Decree of Ligneous Dissolution High Magic spell. Such ships and all attached weapons and fittings are not treated as wood for the purposes of the spell. Almost all warships will be treated with this rite.

Maintenance

Ships require regular maintenance. Every three months, a ship must spend a week in port or by a suitable beach for hull scraping and repair. Without that, it suffers -1 Grace the first month, an additional -2 Grace and half seagoing speed the second, and then automatically fails all Sail skill checks after three or more months of neglect. Every six months a ship must dock for a week and pay 10% of its total value, including all fittings and weapons, to account for necessary repairs. Missing this counts as a month’s arrears on maintenance until it’s paid up.

Ship Fittings Item

Cost

Cargo

10%

10%

Boarding Rig

5%

3

Braced Hull

20%

20%

20% greater maximum ship hit points, rounded up

Expanded Cargo Hold

10%

0

20% more cargo, -1 Grace, -2 AC, -10% hit points

Improved Rigging

10%

10%

+1 Grace, to a maximum of +2

Reinforced Planking

10%

10%

+2 ship Armor Class, -1 to ship Grace

Reinforced Weapon Mount

5%

5

Can mount one weapon of one size class larger

Saltwood Blessing

5%

0

Immune to the Decree of Ligneous Dissolution spell

Augmented Sails

Effect

20% faster sail movement per day +2 to ship combat boarding skill checks

204

Ship Combat and Repair Conflicts on the rolling waves tend to be brutal, highstakes affairs where the penalty for loss is a watery grave for the entire party. A skillful and well-coordinated band of heroes can avoid such a fate, but it will take cooperation and courage to escape the depths below.

The Officers of the Ship

Every ship’s functions are broken into several different departments. Each department is officered either by a PC skilled in the role or an NPC with appropriate skills. The Captain commands the ship, giving orders to the other departments and bolstering them with their charisma and skillful leadership. Of course, while the captain gives commands, it’s up to the other officers to actually carry out those commands. The Helmsman steers the ship and calls out commands to the deck crew, raising sail or shipping oars as their judgment recommends. Their skill is crucial in performing difficult maneuvers or slipping a swift pursuer. The Bosun commands the deck crew, carrying out the orders from above, repairing battle damage, and meeting sudden crises of fire or ill-fortune. A skilled Bosun can improve anything the ship does. The Gunner is an office that only exists on ships with archers, hurlants, catapults, or other long-range weaponry. It’s their business to choose targets, aid in aiming, and cripple enemy vessels with their shot. The Master at Arms is found only on military craft, pirate ships, or other vessels with a complement of marines. While the Gunner handles all long-range engagements, the Master at Arms manages all boarding efforts and fights to repel enemy boarders. Every player should be given charge of at least one of these offices, unless there are more players than positions. If their PC is totally unsuited to naval affairs, let them run the NPC in charge of one of the departments in addition to their own PC. On very small ships with fewer crew than departments, let the PCs or NPCs handle multiple jobs.

Actions and Command Points

During battle, a ship’s officers each take one or more special actions during their turn from the lists provided later in this section. An officer can take actions either from their own department or from the General action list. PCs that don’t head any department can still take them from the General list, while NPCs who aren’t officers can only obey the commands they’re given. These actions either generate Command Points or spend Command Points. When a ship has exhausted its Command Points, its turn ends. Players should coordinate their actions at the beginning of the turn, mutually planning and deciding who is to do what and how they can best fight their ship. After the plan is made, then the actions are taken.

Crew Strength

Every ship has a Crew Strength representing the total mass of muscle and violence that it can bring to bear in an engagement. Boarding actions and enemy fire can deplete this Crew Strength, inflicting casualties and weakening the enemy vessel. If the Crew Strength is depleted badly enough, the ship may be too weakened to fight or sail. Crew Strength is calculated by adding up the hit dice of all crew aboard the vessel, modified by their general martial competence and any special prowess they might have. Any fractions are rounded up. The table below gives some basic guidelines, while other creatures can be assessed as the GM sees fit. Crew Strength Type of Crew

Strength

Captive or Galley Slave

0

Common Passenger

0

Ordinary Seaman

0.5

Trained Marine

1

Hardened Pirate

1

Veteran Marine

2

Non-Warrior PC

Level * 2

Warrior or Partial Warrior PC

Level * 3

Thus, a common merchant ship with 20 ordinary seamen aboard and five capable 3 HD officers would have a total Crew Strength of 25. A Sarxian war galleon with 200 skilled marines, 30 veteran 3 HD sergeants, and 10 5 HD officers would have a Crew Strength of 340. A leaky pinnace holding two frightened civilian passengers, a 10th level Warrior PC, and his 10th level Expert and Mage companions would have a Crew Strength of 70. Losses to Crew Strength are spread around as the GM thinks fit, with NPC casualties being applied to those most in the thick of the fray. NPCs always take casualties before PCs do; if all the NPCs are dead or downed, any further Crew Strength losses inflict a total of 4 HP of damage per point of loss, portioned among the party as the GM thinks reasonable; a mage hiding belowdecks may suffer nothing, while the warrior in the boarding party may take a bigger chunk of the pain. If the party’s ship has been boarded and they are the sole survivors, the GM can end the ship combat turn and simply run the encounter as a conventional battle, with the remaining PCs squaring off against the enemy crew.

205

Ship Combat Ranges

For convenience at the table and to spare the need for a battle map, ship engagement distances are measured as one of four range bands. Sighted is the range at which almost all engagements begin. Only the biggest guns can reach targets at this distance. A ship that flees beyond Sighted distance has escaped the engagement. Far is a range too distant for bows, spells, or muscle-powered weapons, but close enough to be hit by large hurlants, catapults, and other long-distance weaponry. Near is a ship not quite close enough to board, but near enough to be hit by arrows, small hurlants, and spells capable of hitting a target within 500 feet. Abreast is a ship almost directly adjacent, close enough to be grappled and boarded. These range bands assume that a sea battle is between two ships. If more than two ships are involved, the GM should use coins or other markers to track rough spatial relationships. Ships that are intentionally staying close together and moving in unison can be treated as a single unit for range purposes.

Crew Combat

Certain actions result in crew combat between two ships, most often when a boarding party clashes with the defenders of an enemy vessel. Crew combat is resolved during the Resolve Crew Combat phase of the ship combat round.

•

To roll Crew Combat, divide each ship’s Crew Strength by 10, rounding up, and roll that many d6s for each side. The side the rolls highest wins, with ties having no winner.

•

The loser then suffers Crew Strength losses equal to the difference in the rolls.

•

Both crews then suffer losses equal to the number of dice the other crew rolled, to represent the inevitable casualties that even a victorious ship suffers.

•

Losses are always applied first to NPCs. If only PCs are left, they suffer a total of 4 HP of damage per point of loss, divided up among the PCs as the GM thinks reasonable, given their positions.

For example, if the merchant fluyt mentioned earlier with a Crew Strength of 25 was boarded by the Sarxian war galleon with Crew Strength 340, the luckless traders would roll 3d6 and the galleon would roll 34d6. If the former rolled 12 and the latter rolled 127, the unfortunate traders would suffer 115 points of Crew Strength damage, quite sufficient to wipe them out. Then they would suffer another 34 points of damage to add insult to injury, but would have the consolation of inflicting 3 points of Crew Strength damage on the galleon as the price for their tragic defeat.

Aerial Ships in Combat

While exceedingly rare, there are a few remaining flying ships from a former age, along with another handful created by more modern sorcerers. These ships use the same combat rules as seagoing craft, with two specific changes. •

Flying ships always win Sail skill checks against seagoing vessels. This means that their Set Course movement actions will always be successful, so they will always control the distance of engagement.

•

Seagoing craft cannot come Abreast of a flying ship unless the flying ship is the one who initiates the approach.

As can be seen, a flying ship has complete control over whether or not an encounter even happens when engaging a seagoing ship. They can be damaged if they get close to a hostile ship’s guns, but boarding them is impossible unless the flyer chooses to get close enough to run that risk.

Repairing Damaged Ships

After a fierce battle, it may be necessary to conduct repairs on the ship. These repairs require lumber, cordage, oakum, and assorted other necessary supplies, along with a ship’s carpenter skillful enough to do the work. A ship must be moored in port or at a convenient beach in order to conduct repairs. Seagoing patches can keep a battered ship sailing, but serious fixes require a calm, stable environment for the work. A ship can repair a number of hit points per day equal to the best Fix skill among the crew plus the best Sail skill, assuming the bulk of the crew lends a hand to the work. For NPC ships, this is equal to twice the ship’s default skill bonus. Instead of repairing hit points, damaged ship weapons and fittings can be repaired instead. Such fixes count as one hit point of damage per ton of the weapon or fitting, so mending a broken catapult would count as 4 hit points worth of fixes. Repairs require the necessary materials. They can be acquired in any port town, costing 40 silver pieces per hit point and taking up one ton of cargo space for every 5 points of supplies. Desperate crews may be able to jury-rig supplies out of green timber and makeshift cordage cut from some quiet cove’s trees, but the practicability of that will depend on the GM’s judgment.

206

Spellcasting in Naval Combat

It’s to be expected that mages may want to employ their sorcery during a naval battle. Such wizards must take the Do a Deed action during their ship’s turn and can cast only one spell per ship combat turn; the chaos of naval combat makes it difficult to find a good moment to cast. Spells can only be cast on targets that are Abreast, or Near if the spell can hit something 500 feet away. Many spell results need to be adjudicated by the GM, but some of the more likely choices are noted below. Decree of Ligneous Dissolution: Most ships expecting combat have a Saltwood Blessing to nullify this spell. If not, the ship takes 5 hit points of damage per level. Deluge of Hell: The target ship suffers 1d6 hit points of damage per caster level and twice that in Crew Strength damage. If used on a ship that is Abreast, there’s a 25% chance the caster’s ship is caught in the blast as well. Disjunctive Temporal Reversion: This spell can be used to grant an officer a second attempt at a failed skill check. Exhalation of Congelating Cold: The target ship is partly icebound, suffering -2 on all movement-related skill checks for the next round and taking 1d4 Crew Strength damage per two caster levels, rounded up. Howl of Light: Targeting the hull, it does the caster’s level in ship hit point damage. Targeting the crew, it does 1d6 Crew Strength damage per two caster levels, rounded up. Targeting the rigging, it counts as a successful Target their Sails hit. Phobic Storm: The caster must be part of a boarding action to use this spell, but it inflicts an automatic Morale check and 1d4 Crew Strength damage per two caster levels, rounded up.

Pierce the Pallid Gate: This spell can allow the boarding of a ship within Near range if the crew is ready for it. The created portals remains static even as the ship moves, so there is only a very momentary window to rush through. Sigil of Aeolian Auctoritas: Used as a buff on a target sailing ship, it grants +4 on all movement skill checks for the rest of the fight. Used to hinder a specific foe, it inflicts a -4 on all its movement skill checks for the remainder of the encounter. The winds can favor only one ship at a time. The Dazzling Prismatic Hemicycle: The target ship suffers a Crew Strength loss equal to 1d6 per caster level. The Inexorable Imputation: The caster must be part of a boarding action to use this spell, but properly-worded imputations can force a Morale check or inflict a Command Point penalty on the enemy ship equal to half their caster level, rounded up. Wind of the Final Repose: Subtract 1d6 Crew Strength per caster level for the next round of Crew Combat only. Only half the Crew Strength at most can be caught this way.

Resisting Enemy Spells

While fishing boats and petty pirate vessels are unlikely to have a magical contingent aboard, most fighting ships prefer to have at least a novice High Mage in the crew with the Counter Magic art available. This “ship’s wizard” or “ship’s witch” may not be overly trusted by their fellows, but their protective powers are vital when engaging enemy casters. When a ship or its crew are targeted by a spell, any wizards aboard with the Counter Magic art may employ it freely as an Instant countermeasure, provided they have enough Effort to do so.

207

The Ship Combat Turn A naval encounter begins at Sighted range, unless the visibility is so poor that the GM thinks a closer range is likely. Both ships make opposed Wis/Sail or Wis/Notice checks; the winner has initiative and acts first.

1) Reset Command Points

If the ship’s current Command Points are greater than zero, they are reset to zero. If crises or poor seamanship have left the ship with fewer than zero points, they begin the round at a negative number.

2) Plan Ship Actions

If it’s the PC turn, the players discuss the situation and mutually decide on their actions. Some PC officers may choose actions to generate Command Points while others will use actions that spend them. The group as a whole should decide how they mean to fight their ship. While an NPC ship can use the full action list, it’s simpler to just give it a certain number of Command Points based on the competence of its crew and then let it take whatever actions it can afford with that sum.

3) Resolve Ship Actions

Once the decision is made, officers and PCs take their actions in whatever order the Captain decides. The group can change their decisions based on the outcome of actions; if they plan to grapple a foe but the Helmsman can’t bring the ship alongside, the other officers can choose to use their remaining Command Points in a different way. The ship can continue taking actions until all its Command Points are spent or it chooses to end this phase. Skill checks for an action are made by the officer who performs it. Hit rolls for gunnery weapons are made by the average member of its weapon crew or unit. A PC manning a weapon may use their own hit bonus.

4) Resolve PC Actions

PCs who have boarded the enemy and taken the Fight action are dropped by the GM into a likely situation in the boarding fray and one or two rounds of combat are run for them as the GM sees fit. Casualties they inflict or crew they distract will be subtracted from the Crew Strength of the enemy and may provoke Morale checks or have other effects at the GM’s discretion. PCs who have taken the Do A Deed action do whatever they planned to do at this point, to whatever benefit the GM decides is reasonable. Their action can’t take longer than ten or fifteen minutes to complete. PCs who have taken the Resolve a Crisis action are handled in this phase. They have ten to fifteen minutes to try to fix whatever’s gone wrong, with whatever actions, skill checks or ability usage the GM finds plausible. On a failure, the crisis is unabated.

5) Resolve Crew Combat

If the ship is engaged in Crew Combat, that is resolved after all the ship and PC actions have been completed. If the PCs are fighting in the boarding action, the crew’s struggle is assumed to take place around them at the same time.

6) Check Morale

A ship’s crew must check Morale the first time they lose a Crew Combat round, the first time they’re reduced to half their maximum Crew Strength, and on any other occasion the GM decides would provoke panic or despair. If the crew fails the check, they will surrender, leap overboard, or otherwise act to save themselves. The GM may decide that the crew automatically surrenders if victory seems impossible and surrender promises some chance of survival, while crews faced with the prospect of certain death are likely to fight to the bitter end.

7) Sink or Sail

Any ship at zero hit points at the end of its turn rolls 1d6; on a 1 to 3, it has broken apart and its crew has been dumped in the water, while on a 4 to 6 it is a helpless hulk that can perform no further actions for the remainder of the battle. If the PCs are aboard the ship, ship combat ends and the heroes will have to deal with the situation.

8) The Next Ship Acts

Once the ship that won initiative has acted, the next ship in line gets their turn. When all ships have acted, the round is over and the initiative order repeats.

After the Battle

When an encounter ends, the following things happen. •

Any unresolved crises are resolved, as the crew can now fully focus on dealing with them

•

Some Crew Strength casualties die. 1d10 x 5% of the casualties are fatal, less 5% per level of Heal skill the ship’s doctor has. Healers or other magically-gifted chirurgeons subtract an additional 10%. The other casualties return to duty after 24 hours.

•

Defeated ships can be looted and captured. A prize crew may need to be sent aboard the newly-obtained vessel, and their existing crew may or may not be trustworthy as new comrades.

Damaged ships will need to make for a safe anchorage to lay up and perform repairs. A damaged ship can function normally if necessity requires it, but sailing for long periods in a half-smashed tub may have consequences, at the GM’s discretion.

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Ship Actions Each action is shown with its Command Point cost. Many actions can be taken more than once, if enough Command Points are available, but others can be performed only once per round. An officer can choose actions from their department or the General action list, while PCs who are not officers can pick from only the General list.

Captain

Bolster the Crew (0 CP): Choose an officer. They get 2 Command Points to spend on actions from their department. This action can be taken only once per round. Hold the Course (0 CP): Negate a successful enemy ranged attack and roll a crisis instead. You may take this action as an Instant response to a hit. This action can be taken only once per round. Into the Fire (0 CP): Suffer a Crew Lost crisis and gain your Lead skill plus one in Command Points. This action can be taken only once per round.

Helmsman

No actions from this list can be taken while the ship is grappling or grappled. A ship locked in a grapple always loses all opposed Sail skill checks. Confound the Guns (2 CP): Make an opposed Int or Dex/Sail check against the enemy ship. On a success, their gunners suffer a -4 to hit your ship due to your nimble sailing. This penalty does not stack. Cross the T (2 CP): Make an opposed Int or Dex/Sail check against the enemy ship. On a success, grant your ship’s ranged attacks a +4 bonus to hit that ship for the rest of the round. This benefit does not stack. Ramming Speed (4 CP): Usable only at Near range and only if the ship is oared and equipped with a ram. Make an opposed Int or Dex/Sail check against the enemy ship. If you win, you move Abreast, inflict your ram’s damage, and may optionally choose to be grappled with them. Set Course (4 CP): Make an opposed Int or Dex/Sail check against the enemy ship. If you win, you move one range band closer or farther away. If you tie or lose, there is no change. If you move past Sighted, you escape the engagement at the end of the round, assuming they don’t catch up before then.

Bosun

Damage Control (3 CP): Roll Int/Fix or Int/Sail versus difficulty 7. On a success, repair three times your skill’s level in ship hit points. Each time after the first you use this action, its difficulty increases by +1. Emergency Repair (3 CP): Roll Int/Fix or Int/Sail versus difficulty 8. On a success, one weapon that has been disabled by an enemy Target their Guns action is repaired, or one -1 Grace penalty inflicted by Target their Sails is eliminated. Each time after the first you use this action, its difficulty increases by +1. Grapple Ship (2 CP): Make an opposed Str or Dex/ Sail skill check against the target enemy with a +2 bonus on your side. On success, you are now grappled to the target ship. The target must be Abreast to be grappled. You always succeed in grappling a target that another ship has already grappled. Ships involved in a grapple always fail all opposed Sail skill checks. Step Lively (0 CP*): Roll Cha/Sail or Cha/Lead versus difficulty 9. On a success, add your skill level plus one to the available Command Points. On a failure, add one Command Point. If you take this action, you may take no other Bosun actions this round. Tend the Wounded (2 CP): Roll Cha/Heal versus difficulty 8. On a success, recover 1d6 plus your skill level in lost Crew Strength, or 1d6-1 if you have no skill. Each time after the first this action is taken, its difficulty increases by +1.

Gunner

Fire All Guns (3 CP): All of your guns and archery units fire once at one or more targets within their range. Fire Ready Guns (2 CP*): Only the guns and archers who are immediately ready will fire. Pick a number of guns or archer units equal to your Shoot or Lead skill, whichever is higher, to a minimum of 1. These guns fire. This action can be taken only once per round. Ready the Guns (1 CP): Gain a +2 bonus to your next gunnery hit roll. This bonus does not stack. Target their Guns (1 CP): Make an opposed Int or Dex/ Shoot skill check against the enemy’s Int or Dex/ Sail. If you win, your next gunnery hit this turn will do no damage but will disable one of their guns, ballistas, or other mounted weapons. Archers and other crew cannot be targeted this way. Target their Sails (1 CP): Make an opposed Int or Dex/ Shoot skill check against the enemy’s Int or Dex/ Sail. If you win, your next gunnery hit this turn will do no damage but will apply a cumulative -1 penalty to their Grace. When the penalty reaches -3, their rigging is destroyed and they cannot take Helmsman actions. Rowed ships are immune to this action.

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Master at Arms

Engage (1 CP): Order your crew over the side to assault a grappled ship. For this round and each round until you successfully Cut Grapples, conduct a Resolve Crew Combat phase. This action can be taken only once per round. Cut Grapples (1 CP): You withdraw your marines from the enemy ship and cut the grapples. You may only take this action after a successful Resolve Crew Combat phase or after some suitably clever or heroic PC action in the Resolve PC Action phase. In most cases, the enemy crew is assumed to have been forced back onto their ship or overboard before you cut loose. This action can be taken only once per round. Fight Defensively (1 CP): Make an opposed Cha/Lead skill check against the enemy ship. On a success, subtract your level plus your Lead skill from any Crew Strength damage you suffer from crew combat this round. This benefit does not stack. This action can be taken only once per round. Press the Attack (1 CP): Make an opposed Cha/Lead skill check against the enemy ship. On a success, roll your Crew Strength dice twice during the Resolve Crew Combat round and take the better result. On a failure, roll it twice and take the worse. On a tie, there is no modification. This action can be taken only once per round. Death or Glory (2 CP): Make a Cha/Lead skill check against difficulty 10. On a success, your Crew Strength dice are rolled on d10s instead of d6s during the Resolve Crew Combat phase. If you don’t win the phase or if you fail your skill check, your crew must immediately check Morale. You may attempt this action only once per battle. This action can be taken only once per round.

General

General actions are exclusive; any officer or PC can choose to take one, but no other actions can be performed this turn. Above and Beyond (0 CP): Choose an attribute and skill pair and explain to the GM how you’re using them to help the crew. If the GM finds it plausible, roll that check against difficulty 9. On a success, gain your skill level plus one in Command Points. On a failure, take -1 Command Point. This penalty can reduce your total below zero. Deal With A Crisis (0 CP): Try to resolve a particular crisis going on. You have ten to fifteen minutes to use whatever skills or abilities you have to handle the situation, your efforts being resolved in the Resolve PC Actions phase. Do A Deed (0 CP): You want to do something presumably useful that isn’t covered by some other action, such as cast a spell, use a pertinent ability, or otherwise contribute to the situation. The GM decides how useful your efforts may be, and resolves them during the Resolve PC Actions phase. Do Your Duty (0 CP): You help out the rest of the crew in various ways, making yourself useful in the battle. The ship gains 1 Command Point. Most officers and PCs who don’t have an immediate other action to take will choose to take this one. Fight (0 CP): You join an ongoing boarding action and lend your strength to the crew. The GM runs a round or two of combat for you and any other PCs who took this action during the Resolve PC Actions phase. Every foe you kill, engage, or otherwise distract during this fight does not add to the enemy ship’s Crew Strength for this round of Crew Combat. Thus, if you barrel into a swarm of a dozen 1 HD pirates, the pirate ship loses 12 Crew Strength that turn while they try to deal with you.

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Ship Crises

d12

Ship Crisis

Type

1

Cargo Damage

Acute

2

Crew Lost

Acute

As an action, a captain can choose to accept a Ship Crisis in place of taking damage. At other times, the GM may inflict a crisis on a ship when it faces a dire situation or some other misfortune. The table here provides a list of possibilities, but others can be invoked as well.

3

Crew Panicked

Continuing

4

Evil Omen

Continuing

5

Fire Aboard

Continuing

Resolving a Crisis

6

Hull Sprung

Acute

7

Rigging Snaps

Continuing

8

Trapped Crew

Continuing

9

VIP Imperiled

Acute

To resolve a Ship Crisis, an NPC officer or a PC must take the Deal With a Crisis General action. Doing so is the only thing they can do during that round of combat, and they have ten or fifteen minutes in which to take whatever actions they think might solve the problem. The GM might call for relevant skill checks, or simply let the attempted solution work if it seems reasonable. The resolution attempt shouldn’t take more than two or three minutes at the table; just let the PC say what they’re trying to do and decide whether or not it’s enough to deal with the situation. Some crises are listed as continuing. They apply a penalty or consequence each ship combat round until the PCs deal with the crisis. Other crises are acute. If they are not resolved by the end of the next ship combat round, they’ll apply some grim consequence and then be removed. Crises are automatically removed at the end of ship combat, as the crew then has time and attention to deal with them. Most crises can be applied more than once to the same ship, stacking their penalties. Once all the cargo is destroyed or all the weapons misfired, however, additional crises of that kind may not mean much. If a crisis is rolled that does not apply to a ship, it counts as no crisis.

Ship Crises

Cargo Damage: Straps groan and crates slide unsecured, or an enemy’s weapon has just stoved in the side of a cargo compartment. Unless the cargo is secured by the end of the next round, 1d10 x 10% of it will be ruined. Crew Lost: Rigging is about to snap, hull planks are about to buckle, loose cargo’s about to crash down, a rogue wave’s about to sweep the deck, an unsecured weapon is going to swing wildly, or some other peril is about to kill or wound crew. If the Crisis isn’t resolved by the end of the next round, lose 1d2 * 10% of the ship’s original Crew Strength as casualties. Crew Panicked: Some sudden turn of events has panicked many of the crew, convincing them that their doom is at hand. Until this crisis is resolved, their effective Crew Strength is halved for dice purposes during the Resolve Crew Combat phase. Evil Omen: Some nautical sign has promised doom to the crew, and they’re filled with despair at the sight of it. A well-loved crewmate might have been felled by blind chance, or some ship’s charm might have

10

Weapon Misfire

11-12 No Crisis

Continuing -

been ruined. Until their spirits are raised again, all skill checks and gunnery hit rolls involving the crew’s efforts take a -2 penalty. Fire Aboard: Whether through enemy action or the upsetting of a shipboard fire source, flames are leaping up. The ship suffers 1d8 hit points of damage at the end of each round until this crisis is resolved. Hull Sprung: Damaged planks groan and are about to give way under the stress of war or weather. If not resolved by the end of the next round, the ship suffers 1d6 hull damage, doubled for medium-sized ships, and quadrupled for large-sized ships. No Crisis: By the blessings of the gods, the skill of the crew, or sheer blind luck, the ship has somehow avoided an otherwise catastrophic situation. No crisis is inflicted on the ship. Rigging Snaps: The sails have been taxed too hard, and critical cables have parted. Until the wildly-flapping canvas is secured, roll twice on all Sail skill checks and take the worst. Oared ships ignore this Crisis. Trapped Crew: Timbers have fallen, cargo has shifted, canvas has plunged down, or some other obstacle has trapped a number of crewmen. Until they are rescued, the ship suffers a 10% penalty to its Crew Strength during the Resolve Crew Combat phase and a -1 skill check and hit roll penalty. VIP Imperiled: Some shipboard peril threatens the life of a PC or important NPC. The victim must make a Physical saving throw; on a success, they lose half their hit points, and on a failure they are Mortally Wounded. If NPC crew are nearby, they can make a free attempt to stabilize the wounded with their usual crew skill bonus. If they fail their check, a PC must resolve the crisis before the end of the next ship combat round or the victim will die. Weapon Misfire: Some twist of wind and wave has caused a random ship-mounted weapon to misfire, snapping cabling and throwing itself from its mount. Until it is somehow repaired or jury-rigged back into action, it cannot fire. Ships with no weapons or only archers aboard are immune to this crisis.

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Combat With Sea Creatures Given the perilous seas of the Latter Earth, it’s not impossible that a ship should find itself locked in combat with a monster big enough to threaten it. Such brawls can be run as normal combat encounters with a few special considerations. •

Mounted ship weaponry may or may not be plausibly capable of engaging a single target. A ballista might work to spear an invading kraken, but a catapult is unlikely to be able to be brought to bear. If the weapon hits, it does triple its usual dice of damage. Most ship weapons can only be effectively fired once every several minutes, meaning that only one shot is feasible in most fights.

•

Monsters big enough to harm a ship do a third of their usual damage to it, rounded up, if they succeed on a hit against it.

•

Crew brave enough to engage the beast can attack it as individuals, if they can get close enough. If large numbers of crew are involved, just estimate the number of likely successful attack rolls and roll damage accordingly. Most crew will need to make Morale checks to face true horrors of the deep.

Most bestial sea creatures will try to tear the ship apart before feasting on the helpless crew, though they may be distracted enough by resistance to go for the moving morsels on the deck. If the PCs are forced into the water, they may have no better hope than to cling to a piece of wreckage and hope the creature is glutted before it gets to them.

Quick Sea Combat The sea combat rules in this section are written for campaigns where naval combat is a significant activity that calls for the participation of the whole party. If everyone is interested in being involved in the fight then this can work well, but some tables prefer to get the fight over with quickly. For these groups, a simpler method is given. When the PC’s ship is involved in sea combat, roll 2d6 and compare it to the adjacent table, applying any relevant modifiers on the table below. If the PCs are trying only to flee their attacker and not best them in combat, they can roll the 2d6 twice and take the better result. They cannot defeat a foe this way, however, but can only flee successfully from it. If the PCs are sunk and their assailants don’t bother to capture them, they must trust to luck and landward tides to save them before they perish of thirst. Circumstance Modifiers

Mod

The PCs are totally outmatched by the foe

-2

The enemy is clearly superior

-1

The PCs are clearly superior

+1

The PCs are overwhelmingly stronger

+2

The PCs fight to take the enemy intact

-1

2d6

Quick Sea Combat Result

12

Complete victory. You may decide whether or not the enemy ship is sunk or captured.

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Example Ships The ships given here are just some of the more common or exemplary ones that PCs are likely to meet. Each are listed with their average crew, and their hit rolls and other statistics are calculated based on their most likely degree of skill. Fishing Boat (4 CP) Hull: Dhow HP: 7 Grace: +1 Speed: 120 m/day Cargo: 30

Each ship is listed with a default Command Point total. This is the number of points the NPC ship can spend each round as a simplification for the GM’s benefit. The standard prices include only the ship, its weapons, and its fittings; crew must be hired separately.

200 sp AC: 16 Crew Min/Max: 3/20 Usual Crew: 4 Crew Strength: 4 Skill Bonus: +1

Usually operated by a single family, these small fishing boats and trading packets are common sights along any coast. While sturdy enough to handle the open ocean, most stay close to their home ports They prefer to rely on local resupply as filling holds with ship’s biscuit and water casks is less profitable than loading fish and trade goods.

Fishing boats and other small traders are usually wholly unarmed and rely on evading any hostiles. Coastal Pirate (6 CP) Hull: Launch HP: 5 Grace: +0 Speed: 150 m/day Cargo: 10 (9 free)

350 sp AC: 15 Crew Min/Max: 1/30 Usual Crew: 30 Crew Strength: 35 Skill Bonus: +2

Weapons: Archer Unit (+4 to hit, 1d4 Crew Strength dmg, 1 ton) Merchant Coaster (4 CP)

Hull: Bedar HP: 15 Grace: +1

5,200 sp AC: 15 Crew Min/Max: 4/80 Usual Crew: 16

Speed: 150 m/day

Crew Strength: 20

Cargo: 60 (56 free)

Skill Bonus: +1

The natural enemies of small traders and fishermen, these pirates lurk in river mouths and small inlets, waiting for their prey to pass by. Once a victim is spotted, the rowers heave to, racing out to sea to catch their victim and overwhelm them. Survivors are put to the sword or enslaved, and the captured ship is sold off at the nearest pirate haven. Most merchants try to flee out to the open sea, or aim to smash the fragile launch with ranged attacks before the pirates can successfully close.

While these merchant ships prefer to stick close to the coasts to save on provisioning costs, they’ve got the cargo tonnage to haul large loads from port to port. The occasional enterprising captain adds on an additional catapult and one or two units of archers, turning the merchant ship into a serviceable privateer.

Weapons: Catapult (+3 to hit, 1d6 dmg, 4 tons) Sea Raider (6 CP) Hull: Xebec HP: 20 Grace: +0 Speed: 120 m/day Cargo: 60 (43 free)

6,500 sp AC: 15 Crew Min/Max: 4/120 Usual Crew: 60 Crew Strength: 70 Skill Bonus: +2

Weapons: 3 Catapults (+5 to hit, 1d6 dmg, 4 tons each), 2 Archer Units (+4 to hit, 1d4 Crew Strength dmg, 1 ton each) Fittings: Boarding Rig, Saltwood Blessing

The scourge of the open seas, these pirates plague both the Vermillion Sea in the south and the Atlantean Main in the north. The most successful have even plundered hurlants, but most rely on catapults and crossbowmen. A popular modification to this hull is to drop one of the catapults and install a medium ram. The xebec’s rowers can put such implements to good use, but there remains a risk of ramming the prey to flinders rather than keeping it intact for plunder.

213 Far Trader (6 CP) Hull: Fluyt HP: 20 Grace: -2 Speed: 100 m/day Cargo:

120 (116 free)

16,900 sp AC: 16 Crew Min/Max: 16/120 Usual Crew: 40 Crew Strength: 35 Skill Bonus: +2

Weapons: 1 Catapult (+4 to hit, 1d6 dmg, 4 tons) Fittings: Expanded Cargo Hold

Inland Conter (6 CP) Hull: Triaconter HP: 25 Grace: +1 Speed: 60 m/day Cargo: 40 (30 free)

12,000 sp AC: 15 Crew Min/Max: 10/160 Usual Crew: 80 Crew Strength: 40 Skill Bonus: +3

Weapons: Medium Ram (Special, 1d10 dmg, 2 tons), 4 Ballista (+4 to hit, 1d4 dmg, 2 tons each)

Fleet Frigate (8 CP) Hull: Frigate HP: 50 Grace: +0 Speed: 150 m/day Cargo: 80 (36 free)

These fat-bottomed merchantmen are rigged for seagoing trade, daring the deep oceans to bring vast wealth from afar. They’ve crew and weaponry enough to discourage small coastal raiders, but a full-rigged pirate ship on the high seas is likely to take them unless their helmsman is exceptionally skilled or remarkably lucky. For particularly important trade routes it’s common for these ships to sail in a loose convoy with more serviceable warships.

These oared ships are preferred in inland seas and around jagged coasts, where their deft handling helps keep them off the rocks. While their oarsmen weary faster than the wind, their large crews help discourage casual piracy. More than a few have been turned into privateers, however, with additional crew taken on as archers and new fittings added to aid in ship-to-ship boarding actions.

63,600 sp AC: 15 Crew Min/Max: 16/200 Usual Crew: 150 Crew Strength: 200 Skill Bonus: +2

These frigates are often the best warships a small nation or citystate can field. During peacetime, most operate independently, acting to check pirates and smugglers with the strength of their crew and the range of their shipboard weapons. In times of war, great fleets of these frigates can clash at sea, with a host of smaller ships to support them.

Weapons: 1 Great Hurlant (+8 to hit, 1d12 damage, 5 tons each), 4 Archer Units (+5 to hit, 1d4 Crew Strength dmg, 1 ton each), 4 Catapults (+5 to hit, 1d6 dmg, 4 tons each) Fittings: Braced Hull, Boarding Rig, Saltwood Blessing

Royal Galleon (10 CP) Hull: War Galleon HP: 72 Grace: +0 Speed: 120 m/day Cargo: 90 (43 free)

105,800 sp AC: 12 Crew Min/Max: 30/300 Usual Crew: 240 Crew Strength: 320 Skill Bonus: +3

Weapons: 4 Great Hurlants (+10 to hit, 1d12 dmg, 5 tons each), 6 Archer Units (+6 to hit, 1d4 Crew Strength dmg, 1 ton each) Fittings: Braced Hull, Boarding Rig, Saltwood Blessing

Ships such as these are the pride of the Sarxian navy and the mightiest warcraft east of the Sunward Isles. Their crews are taken from veteran seafarers, and those entrusted with the operation of their fabulously expensive hurlants are among the best shots in the navy. Such costly vessels are always equipped with at least one ship’s wizard to counter malevolent sorceries, and the Crew Strength given is often augmented by squads of elite combatants when an important mission is to hand.

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215 David Mélançon David Moreau David Moreland David Myers David Nielson David Paul David Pawley David Petermann David Rache David Ross David Rubin David S. Pietka David Stephenson David tavakoli David Woodhouse Davide Guerra Davis Walker DCE DeadlyReed Delaver Ray Case Jr Dennis Eggers Depths Unknown Publishing Derek Andelloux Derek Elliott Derek Munn Derek Odom Derek W. Branim Derpedes Derrick Niese Deveyus Devin Croak Devin O’Connor Devlin Gillespie Dick Boardman Diego González Santander (Vorghus) Diego Riley Dima Halouchyts Dirk Walls DiV DiPaV DJ_DungeonMaster djflippy DMentus doddwaco Dominic Lopez Domopunk Don D Don Lesher Donald & Wendy Welsh Donald Chase Donald Haage Doug “Dhomal” Raas Doug “Kosh” Williamson Doug Baumeister Douglas Decker Stoll Douglas Meserve Douglas Molineu [email protected] Dr.Bang Dread Lord Witte Drewseph McKlannington the Neutral Good Necromancer drnuncheon DroidAvoid Dry Bones Dustin Headen Dustin Niehoff Dustin Nigels Dusty Poster Dwaine Stevenson Dylan Abraham Dylan C. Dylan Green E.A. Griffith Earl R. Kriewall Ed Bordeaux Edd Glasper Edvin Alicajic Edward Kline Eesa Ottallah Effie Sanin Eldritch Guardian Eleanor and William’s Dad Elgin Scott Eli Carley Eli Ryan Elijah Dixon

Elijah Edmondson Elohdon Rycor Em “Tsuma” Orwig Emil Vazquez Emiliano Marchetti Emma Q Gross Eoin Carter Epsylon Rhodes Eric “Narco” Glocker Eric Anondson Eric Bussey Eric Butkus Eric Coates Eric M Stitzman Eric Manley Eric Mills Eric Reitz Erica Spitz Erick Kennedy Erik Hansen Erik Lee Erik Lindman Ernest N Rowland Jr Ethan Boeve Ethan Deneault Ethan Payne Ethan Trovillion Eugene “Shalamar of the Amethyst Tower” Bragg Eugene Helm Evan “Dndgenerate” Chaney Evan Boucher Evan Jones Evan Lowry Evan Snyder Eve Crockett Everett Ewan Ellison Ewan Smith [email protected] Fabian Matas Fabio Denis Fabio Mascarenhas Fabrice Breau Falka Riannon Federico C Felix Niemann Fenriswolf Fernando Cortez Filthy Monkey Fish J.C. FK46 Flaccidcake FlacoAlto Florin Thunderstone Forrest Fleming Forrest J.S. Schreick Forrestt Derry Francesco Polizzi Francis Arachea Franco Caragiulo Francois Gouin Frank Schirmer Frankie Blankenship Frankie Wakefield Frederick Münch Frederick Paepke Frédérik Rating Frits Kuijlman G. Goodnight G. Hartman Gabriel Close Game Dave Gamerdad Gantolandon Garran “EquineLord” Tomekeeper Garrett Jensen Gary Anastasio Gary Devantier Gary McBride Gary Only Gary Roth Gaston Phillips Geir Lanesskog Gemini Factor Gene George Gene-Paul Geoff Hegg

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