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Rules • Themes • Bestiary • Religion • Races • Guilds • Families • Arlinac City • Maps • Adventures • Stories |
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Religion Table of Contents
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In the sample setting for Guilddom Adventures Made Easy religion serves three purposes. Foremost, it helps make the setting conducive for adventuring. The Powers create heroes and monsters, dungeons and temples, artifacts and quests. Second, it is a background of myths rooted in fact. The people of Arlinac City know many stories of ages past that grant them a sense of identity and purpose. Although these stories may have details that are inaccurate, overall they are trusted because they involve Divine Beings and Powers that are still active today. Religion is also a part of the lives of the people of Arlinac City. Many are actively devout. Their motivations for giving devotion, service, and/or worship arise from the core of who they are. Through religious activity individuals find comfort, experience joy, and receive guidance. Religion gives many organizations identity and purpose, and occasionally reasons for conflict. Thirdly, religion allows for monsters that must be fought with more than arms and armor. The Spiders, Undead, Dragons, Gembacks, Winter creatures, Zooks, and the reptiles of the Serpentine Swamp have religious origins and are thus best battled with guidance, gifts, or other aid from the Divine Beings or Powers. |
The Divine Beings remain active in shaping destiny. The Creator's voice is heard by many, but in deeds he prefers to remain subtly hidden. His hand is typically only recognized in hindsight. Victor and Vigor embody conflicting philosophies about how to develop the world according to the Creator's plan. Only because their actions are restrained by structures established by the Creator does their rivalry not affect living creatures too directly or alter the world too quickly.
Unlike the Powers, the Divine Beings use no visible forms. They are neither seen when awake nor with form in dreams or visions. They cannot be physically touched or hurt. They can observe any place, although Victor and Vigor can only focus their attention on one location at a time.
All three Divine Beings are referred to with masculine pronouns, although they have neither masculine nor feminine identity or traits.
In one sense, the Creator is a typical "blind watchmaker" perspective of God, Victor is Jesus according to Ephesians 3:10-11, and Vigor is the Adversary portrayed in the book of Job. But that would be an terribly incorrect oversimplification.
The Creator is undeniably active and often even chatty. Arlinac City has no atheists.
Victor is much more interested in virtue than people. He neither protects his followers nor spends time with them as a friend.
Vigor is not evil. In no way does he see himself as opposing the Creator. His created purpose is to slow down the pace of the Creator's plans. He never tries to thwart those plans or establish an alternative. Nor does he oppose virtues while promote vices. The only vice he encourages is an attitude of selfish individualism: self-loyalty, entitlement to the fruits of one's own labor, and protection of one's own property and legacy.
These differences result in a world that is planned yet uncertain, noble yet corrupt, overseen yet dangerous. It is a setting ripe for heroism and adventures.
The Creator has ultimate authority and patience. He is the most friendly of the Divine Beings or Powers, and the one with a clearest sense of humor. He is the source of all prophecies.
His plan for the world will inevitably be fulfilled in every detail. But his plan is his own secret, and questions abound. Which events and circumstance are among the plan's details? When will prophesied events unfold? At what pace will the plan progress?
The Creator enjoys when his creations speak to him aloud or through art. He may reply privately, using a quiet tone that seems very like normal thought except that it could never be mistaken for anything but the Creator's voice. Many of his replies are humorous truths the hearer would never have otherwise deduced or imagined.
The Creator abhors temples, shrines, or altars built in an attempt to serve or worship him. He knocks them down with lightning, small meteors, or a well-aimed giant watermelon.
The Creator chooses no champions, maintains no dungeons, establishes or oversees no organizations, and gives no gifts besides an occasional conversation.
A group of similar legends describe a special doorway through which the Creator will some day enter the world in bodily form. Differences among these legends include what the doorway is made of (diamond, gold, pure light, etc.) and where it is located (various famous or holy places).
Victor attempts to finish creating the world, bit by bit, by creating experiences that prove how virtues are superior to vices.
According to Victor the reason this troubled world exists is so the superiority of virtues in both good and evil situations can be sufficiently demonstrated. Once this witness is complete, the world will end and be replaced by a new world that is a paradise of unblemished virtues untroubled by vices.
Once each year Victor may appoint another champion. This person is under a geis to act virtuously in a certain way. The champion usually only has a vague idea about his or her mission, knowing which virtue is under Divine scrutiny but now when or how. Yet there is a confidence that Victor will arrange circumstances to allow the geis the maximal chance of successful fulfillment.
Victor maintains no dungeons, establishes or oversees no organizations, and gives no gifts.
Vigor attempts to prevent completion of the world through destruction, ruin, and decay.
Vigor agrees with Victor that when the world is in some sense "finished being created" then the Creator will immediately replace it with a new world. But Vigor believes that this world is valuable and should be sustained as long as possible. What is important, teaches Vigor, is to establish one's self in this world during the time granted. According to Vigor, his own existence and calling prove that the new world, even if it will be considered a paradise by its people, should wait for its turn.
Once each year Victor may give a gift. These gifts are the most powerful of items, with potency beyond any enchantment, and each aids either conquest, destruction, or protection. They can only be destroyed by another of Victor's gifts.
Vigor maintains no dungeons but does watch over ruins. Many of his deeds manifest at ruins. Many of his gifts are the final reward of quests that eventually lead to ruins.
Vigor appoints no champions and neither establishes nor oversees any organizations.
The Powers are unique creatures that have power and status beyond all but the Divine Beings. Although very different from one another, they share five similarities:
Unlike the Divine Beings, the Powers have physical bodies. They cannot be killed, but can be wounded if cut by bladed weapons made of Jadeite. Each can only observe the location in which it is present. However, using teleportation they can instantly travel to any place they have previously been.
Most Powers are very rarely encountered. They are among the forces that shape the world, not among the world's curiosities and obstacles.
The Powers allow the teaching of spiritual truths and pondering of virtues through a fantasy setting: issues such as contentment, temptation, pride, faith, and doubt can be woven into adventure plots and background stories. This cannot be done with the Divine Beings, for the realities of knowing and following the Divine Beings contradict the types of suspense and uncertainty necessary for a fun RPG adventure.
Jadeite is one of the two minerals commonly called jade. According to some Chinese legends, jade weapons can harm magical or immortal monsters and people. Some (but not all) of the monster types that serve the Powers are also vulnerable to specific material.
The Powers have slightly overlapping interests and authorities, most of which converge at the geographical focus of the setting, Arlinac Mountain. The Powers continually vie for influence over the mountain, city, and its inhabitants. The result is helpful for teaching spiritual truths: PCs should be alert because different Powers with conflicting goals are trying to convince, manipulate, trick, or coerce the city's residents.
The Powers described below exist in pairs, although often the pair did not appear at the same time historically and the current list is not intended to be exhaustive.
- Speleoth the Grin celebrates the joy in freedom, discovery, and seeing new things.
- Frosty Kostkey relishes the despair caused by monotony and confinement.
- Gnash promotes violence and predation among the unrepentant.
- The Lamia guides those who are violent yet repentant to be givers instead of predators.
- Pooka causes complications and removes tranquility by acts of mischief that teach hard lessons.
- Kitsunay brings resolution and wholeness through gifts of refreshment and illusion.
- Big Blackie is imprisoned, and tries to deceive and manipulate others to free him.
- Little Humble aids honest introspection so others can free themselves.
- Old Man River enforces rules and stability.
- Yarnspinner creates suspenseful situations requiring heroism and improvisation.
Picks and hammers make a crashing profound
Far--below the wind's calls, below our dear halls.
Mine for the ores who joy we spread 'round
Far--in our cavern home, to Dwoergs dwell alone.
Ours be the toil of those builders who dream,
Our ancestors' tools and sharp blades ever gleam.
Glory to delving, dark earth will astound
Far--the shine of each vein, the fruit of each seam.
Far--the shine of each vein, the fruit of each seam.
- Dweorg work song
Speleoth is the embodiment of the joys and thrills of exploration, especially exploration that is not searching for anything in particular but only follows curiosity. He is associated with caves and caverns for in those places every passage, formation, and gem is unique and potentially beautiful.
Speleoth appears visibly as a huge grin, the universal grin of joyful discovery. He watches over those intelligent races that live in caverns, caves, or tunnels. He also aids miners. However, Speleoth's spontaneous and disorganized perception of the world often makes his aid difficult to apply.
He is honored or worshipped by Dweorgs, Bergtrolls, and Kobalts. Racial tensions and even hatred during warfare is dulled between Dweorgs, Bergtrolls, and Kobalts because they remember their shared values and their shared devotion to Speleoth. Before the Trooping War he also watched over the Unseemly and was worshipped by them, but they have now turned their backs on each other.
Speleoth is worshipped in "temples" that are large rooms and caverns in the underground dwellings of his followers. The Dweorgs are especially fond of building rooms dedicated to him: these are often the first rooms completed in a new excavation. Dweorg temples usually have rows of pews facing an altar and/or dais at the front of the room. Kobalt temples normally have circular floor plans and are focused around a central pit for ecstatic dancing.
Speleoth has no allies among the Powers. His main rival is Frosty Kostkey. Sometimes he also has conflicts with Yarnspinner when the latter's stories involve retrieving items from abandoned Dweorg, Bergtroll, or Kobalt settlements. Speleoth claims authority over all the caverns in Arlinac Mountain, although other Powers contest this claim.
Speleoth has one champion at a time, chosen to defend a cave from invaders (usually the minions of Frosty Kostkey). The person Speleoth appoints as his champion is able to walk through earth and does not need to sleep.
Speleoth creates the Gembacks, cave-dwelling creatures with an organic gem protruding from their spine. Most Gembacks are larger versions of normal troglobites, troglophiles, and trogloxenes (such as centipedes, millipedes, bats, beetles, flies, crickets, salamanders, rats, swifts, mites, snails, bears, foxes, raccoons, wild cats, fish, snakes, and frogs).
Each Gemback has a random magical ability. The creature might be able to turn invisible, fly slowly through the air, breathe fire, move twice as fast for a short time, etc. If the creature is killed, its gem may be removed and powdered to make a rare alchemy ingredient. This powder is required for any alchemy recipe that strongly bestows that same effect.
All Gemback gems are indistinguishable. Therefore a powdered gem's use would not be known unless the creature was observed using its ability. Alchemy shops sometimes sell unidentified Gemback powders greatly discounted, since attempting to use them is probably a waste of time and other ingredients. Purchasing gems or powder from a stranger is similarly risky, since the buyer has no guarantee that the seller really knows what he or she is selling.
Legends claim that blades coated with the mythical potion alkahest are extra damaging to gembacks.
Speleoth gives his devout followers alertness: all Perception skill attempts to avoid surprise are Easy.
Speleoth also gives some of his most devoted worshippers a dungeon of their own to explore. Some underground ruins are remnants of these dungeons that have already been explored and looted.
Speleoth begrudgingly supports a group of Gemback hunters named The Gem Collectors. He is pained that they kill his creatures, but forgives them since they are not killing for sport but rather to earn a living in a manner that allows them to spend as much time as possible exploring his caves.
The dungeons of Speleoth are many, for he delights in constructing for his cave-exploring followers new challenges with new rewards. Perhaps he also has a primary dungeon greater and older than any other, but if so it is only known in fables.
Speleoth's dungeons inherently have a goal or purpose, can be of any size and complexity, and can be be found underground nearly anywhere the GM desires. They are useful locations for adventures!
The PC could temporarily be one of Speleoth's champions, tasked with defending a cavern.
The word speleology means the scientific study of caves and the cave environment. I could not think of a suitable name for this Power based on the word caving, and the work spelunker has acquired negative connotations.
Speleoth's song is a modification of the Pomona College song Torchbearers.
Speleoth is one of the few Powers not based upon any traditional creatures from myth or legend. However, a being that oversees cave-like dungeons is simply too useful to not include in the religion of a fantasy RPG!
Alkahest is indeed a mythical universal solvent, although the "real" version would have more uses than fighting a certain kind of monster.
Yes, Kobalts worship with mosh pits.
Biting Cold wants your despair.
Weep and moan for Winter Glare.
Abandon hope, for don't you know?
None escape from Kostkey's snow.
- hiker's chant
Frosty Kostkey is in many ways the opposite of Speleoth. His domain is above ground. He embodies the bleak despair of freezing cold, the morbid uniformity of a snowstorm, and the frantic search not for something new but merely for a means of survival. His common visible appearance is a huge pair of wicked fangs or eyes that hover in wind-blown snow: the fangs are nicknamed "Biting Cold", and the eyes "Winter Glare".
Frosty Kostkey is the most skilled of machinists. He builds mostly weapons for this army, but occasionally will build elaborately fierce contraptions.
Frosty Kostkey is not normally worshipped by members of the intelligent races. Certainly no one would admit to such depravity.
His temples create regions of Winter around them, in which his monsters and armies flourish. Some ruins are his destroyed temples, which no longer cause this effect.
The Frosty Kostkey has no allies. He is often opposed by Speleoth, and sometimes opposed by Kitsunay.
Frosty Kostkey's champions are those (fortunately rare) machinists that have dedicated their lives to his service. They are taught much of Frosty Kostkey's expertise in this skill. Frosty Kostkey supernaturally changes many of their machines, enabling them to function unceasingly without maintenance.
Frosty Kostkey creates as his servants all sorts of wicked and cold-related monsters. These Winter Creatures always appear in the zones of Winter around his temples.
His monsters include huge winter wolves, grumpy and growly white bears, ice drakes, cunning ermines, carnivorous deer, trampling caribou, silent lynxes, wily foxes, ferocious penguins, ambushing porcupines, and short, malicious humanoids that build deadly machinery.
All of Frosty Kostkey's worshippers are given the ability to construct his temples. They can also walk across snow and ice without sinking or slipping and are immune to cold and snow.
Frosty Kostkey's most devout followers and many of his monsters are unnaturally stealthy. All their Sneak/Hide skill attempts are Easy.
Frosty Kostkey may also give physical gifts to his followers, most commonly a deadly machine but sometimes a steam-powered, flying sleigh.
Everyone has great fear of Frosty Kostkey's champions who, working alone, can create his temples and regions of Winter, then lead a Winter army into battle. Equally terrifying would be an cult whose many members are organized in their service of Frosty Kostkey.
Tavern tales and campfire stories describe many such cults, most fictitious. One cult that is real is named Frostbite. Frosty Kostkey is jealous of Arlinac Mountain and the city upon it, valued by so many Powers, and desires to establish Winter under and upon the mountain. Frostbite are city residents whose evil plans use rumor and terror to sow gloom and despair in Arlinac City. Frostbite hopes to increase emigration from the city and distract the other Powers from Frosty Kostkey's local champions.
Frosty Kostkey's dungeons are ice castles or fortresses that eventually from around his temples if the local spread of Winter is not countered. These fortifications are maze-like in layout and help Winter monsters guard the temple.
The PC might need to stop a temple of Frosty Kostkey from being built, or find a hidden, newly built temple to halt the spread of Winter. Either task may involve fighting one of Frosty Kostkey's champions.
Alternately, a PC might need to sabotage one of the potent mechanical items Frosty Kostkey has given one of his followers, or foil the newest scheme from Frostbite.
Frosty Kostkey's dungeons can be of any size and shape, and are suitable locations for a powerful PC to raid.
Frosty Kostkey is obviously a parody of Santa Claus, Jack Frost, and other Winter characters in Western stories. Frosty Kostkey is also based on Koschei the Deathless, a villain in Russian fairy tales with some ties to Winter through the name Crnobog.
Most stories of wolves or bears that prey upon people happen during the hungry winter months, making it natural to categorize "Winter" as a category of evil similar to undead or dragons.
Frosty Kostkey's two themes of winter and machinery allow exploration of how machinery can become bad when its uses are cold, impersonal, and monotonous.
Note that the machines constructed by Frosty Kostkey's champions might remain functional for centuries. This allows the GM to create locations populated by machines.
Frosty Kostkey is normally a force of evil, but his technological expertise might be required to bring down a mad scientist.
What's the way to gather the clouds away?
Life's bitterness can be changed to sweet.
Little Humble dances on, down the Subtle Sublime Street
Every girl and boy can learn to rest in joy.
Don't own, prize, or strive, but love all you meet.
Little Humble dances on, down the Subtle Sublime Street
- Therion children's song
Little Humble looks like a young girl, usually a Therion child. Her clothes are plain. She wears neither shoes nor jewelry. She enjoys being lent a pretty hat; from the the hat is returned to its owner until sundown, touching the hat will cure any disease.
Little Humble is the patron of the Subtle Sublime Street, a philosophy aiming to impart peace and purpose whose four tenants can be summarized as:
Little Humble cannot lie. Her name is used to enforce a vow. People swear by saying, "If I do not do such-and-such may Little Humble punish me." This vow, if broken, can cause misfortune.
Little Humble has no allies. Her enemy is Gnash, whose active ruthlesness directly opposes her passive serenity.
Little Humble's champions are children who are given the ability to speak with animals and detect lies. This ability is lost the first time the champion tells a lie or otherwise purposefully speaks so that a listener reaches false conclusions.
Little Humble creates the Puddle Creatures: oozes, puddings, jellies, molds, and slimes. These creatures are actually colonies of single-cell units which are each barely visible to the eye.
Puddle Creatures are the least intelligent monsters created by any Power. Their only activities are resting or looking for food: they have no other goals, and own no wealth or equipment. They are normally solitary, except when a Puddle Creature has been very recently split into parts.
All Puddle Creatures are semi-transparent and puddle-like. They are usually encountered when resting motionless. They can slowly undulate across the ground or creep along a wall or roof. In bright light they are easy to see, but in poor light they are difficult to notice unless moving: outdoors they may be covered by vegetation they have not yet digested, and underground they can be mistaken for dampness. As a Puddle Creature ages it becomes even more difficult to see.
Puddle Creatures are able to detect heat and can track warm-blooded creatures by their footprints.
Puddle Creatures are completely resistant to therianthropy. Alternatively, some stories say that therianthropy works but entering a body that lacks a brain causes the Therion to go mad.
Puddle Creatures attack by Ensnaring prey. The portion of the prey Ensnared suffers damage each turn. The amount of damage depends upon how much of the prey is Ensnared (very large Puddle Creatures cause extra damage).
The five traditional ways to attack Puddle Creatures are by cutting, smashing, burning, freezing, or electrifying. For a particular Puddle Creature two of these will especially effective, two do nothing, and one will cause the creature to split into smaller, unharmed pieces.
Each particular Puddle Creature will have a dangerous "death throe". As examples, as it dies it might splatter, explode, or expel spores. Adventurers who attack a Puddle Creature should try to kill it from a distance.
Puddle Creatures age through six lifecycle stages, nicknamed Compost, Outhouse, Nuisance, Dangerous, and Deadly. These correspond to its maximum colony size: the single-cell units need to age before being able to effectively network in larger numbers. A Puddle Creature advances a lifecycle stage about anually. Puddle Creatures are often kept by members of the intelligent races for waste disposal purposes, placed safely in the bottom of outhouses or garbage pits. These "household puddles" need to be destroyed before their third year, for by that age a colony can be dangerous.
The smallest Puddle Creatures (Compost size) can only dissolve cellulose (plant material). They are often purposefully put in compost piles. Slightly larger colonies (Outhouse size) gain the ability to also dissolve proteins, but can still be safely kept in a metal container or at the bottom of a rock-walled pit. When an colony has grown to about three feet in diameter (Nuisance size) it gains the ability to also dissolve fats, making it a threat to sleeping animals. An even bigger Puddle Creature (Dangerous size) gains the abilities of dissolving rock and releasing spores that cause sneezing and dizziness. The largest Puddle Creatures (Deadly size) can release spores that paralyze and/or cause hallucinations.
Little Humble's most devout followers recieve aid finding hidding objects. When searching for any hidden object the Perception skill attempt is Easy.
Little Humble may also give one of her long hairs as a gift. When held it imparts boldness. When dissolved in tea it creates a drink that restores sight if the tea is completely and promptly drank.
Little Humble organizes her worshippers into Meek Manors: large homes for communal living to allow people to metitate and pray about the Subtle Sublime Street and together act upon its truths.
Meek Manor Members own nothing as individuals except one set of clothes. All other posessions are jointly owned by the Meek Manor. All Meek Manors grow their own food and otherwise rely on charity for income; many Members are skilled craftsfolk but all the items they produce are given away to the needy instead of sold for personal or Manorial income. Together Members practice unarmed martial arts to develop the body, and memorize poetry and philosophy to develop the mind. Most of they day is spent quietly or doing community service.
In most of Therion society, a Meek Manor Member is asked to judge legal disputes, as well as officiate trials, coronations, confirmations, marriages, and burials.
There are rumors of certain Meek Manors Members who have achieved fantastic abilities through their personal perfection of meditation, prayer, and martial arts. When investigated, none of the rumors bear fruit: those few rumors that do include the name of a Meek Manor or Member always use names eventually proved fictitious.
The dungeons of Little Humble are small cave complexes under snow-covered mountain peaks. They are empty of traps and monsters, but still guarded. Those who enter must overcome their own fears and desires to find what they seek.
Politicians and judges often send an adventurer looking for one of Little Humble's champions, hoping the champion will be willing to help resolve a crime or mystery by detecting who is lying. Alternately, the PC might need to help one of these champions who has gotten stuck in a tricky social situation because he or she refused to lie.
The PC might quest for one of Little Humble's hairs, to restore sight to a blind person or help a new, young ruler or military leader have boldness. Alternately, someone wealthy may be dying of a disease and offering a reward for any adventurer that can find Little Humble and petition her to visit the wealthy person and try on hats.
Perhaps the PC needs to find and explore one of the Little Humble's dungeons, so that penetrating its challenges will remove a curse or answer a question.
Little Humble exemplifies what the Tao Te Ching calls "non-Ado". But her philosophy has differences from the Way of Taoism, so the words "Way" and "Path" were avoided when inventing the name Subtle Sublime Street; once that phrase was invented it seemed unavoidable to make Little Humble's poem fit a modification of the Sesame Street theme song.
The line "gather the clouds away" is a tribute to Sean Russel's masterpiece, the two Initiate Brother novels.
There is an option of allowing not only Dweorgish Sthelmi tools but also the practices of Meek Manor Members to empower characters to move and fight like fictional protagonists of Chinese Wuxia literature.
Little Humble represents truth: she cannot lie, her champions can detect lies and must avoid lies, her name makes a vow binding, and her dungeons allow adventurers to seek truth. Note that "completing" one of Little Humble's dungeons is the closest thing to an Oracle among what the Powers do.
Fie! Fume! What do I hear?
A man who hurts what he should hold dear.
He beats his child and calls it love.
I'll take them both and drink their blood.
- Ogre nursery rhyme
Gnash is a being from another star, brought to the world during the Second Age to rule the Spiders, who alone among the ancient animals could disobey the Creator's plans. The other animals developed fear and prejudice, and stopped trusting any Spider. Shunned and persecuted, the Spiders pleaded for a king to rule and help them.
The Creator presented Gnash to the Spiders. Gnash rallied them and taught them to live as predators, in cooperative packs that fed on those neighbors who abhorred them. "Cannibals!" cried the other animals. "Justice!" cried Gnash.
Today, in the Fourth Age, few ancient animals remain. Ancient Spiders are almost never encountered. Now most of Gnash's worshippers are Ogres. Ogres show their devotion to Gnash by sacrificing ruthless intelligent creatures (including other Ogres) in an attempt to please and empower their deity.
Gnash is so rarely seen that stories and songs disagree about his appearance. Some claim he looks like an enormous spider. Others claim he has the upper body of an Ogre and a spider-like lower body. Other claim he has no true form but impersonates people as Ogres do.
Some non-Ogres believe Gnash is actually a fictitious creation of the oldest Grand Ogres, invented as part of their complex game to control Ogre society in which the winners feast upon the losers.
Gnash is only worshipped at the altars that Ogres build for him. These altars are usually kept secret, hidden inside buildings or caves. Adventurers sometimes discover that a ruin is actually an Ogre old altar site whose owner has moved away or been killed.
Gnash's worshippers secretly distribute religious texts that explain how to worship Gnash. These texts promise both ecstasy and peace of mind to those who properly offer Gnash ruthlessness. Such texts are mostly pleasant proverbs, oddly interrupted by short stories featuring acts shockingly calllous and dreadfully brutal, or eerily malevolent.
Gnash has no use for alliances and holds no grudges. Other Powers may consider Gnash an enemy, but Gnash has no interest in the other Powers: he is aware of them but seldom considers them.
Gnash's champions are the Horrors that he sometimes creates from the spirits of deceased Grand Ogres. These shadowy, incorporeal beings possess people to and drive them to acts of corruption, debaseness, intrigue, and eventually sadistic madness. When a Horror's host dies, the Horror possesses someone else nearby.
Ogres are zealously inspired when following the orders of someone posessed by a Horror. Any Ogre fighting in the same battle with an allied Horror gains unnatural high morale (it will fight as if each skill attempt involves personally cooperating with the Horror, as well as any actual companions with whom it is sharing the attack).
No one knows how to kill a Horror. However, it cannot travel without a host. Horrors are disposed of by killing their host when the host is isolated: the person is chained and taken to a barren and never-traveled location and either left to starve or killed with a slow-acting poison.
Like most of Gnash's activities, the suffering and ruthlessness caused by Horrors extends far beyond the few Horrors that actually exist. There are very few Grand Ogres and only some become Horrors. However, the concept of Horrors can enable evil even if no real Horror is present. As examples, a serial killer might be a madman who has falsely convinced himself that the motivation for his crimes is possession by a Horror, or an influential guild leader might be framed for a crime in such a way that people falsely suspect he or she is possessed by a Horror.
Gnash creates the curse of necromobility: the Undead are his monsters. Any creature that dies in certain circumstances can become affected by necromobility, although only with intelligent humanoids does the curse fully develop.
The circumstances that cause necromobility are widely varied, but all lead back to Gnash. Known causes include being sacrificed on one of his altars, dying near a famous meteor in the Ognost Plains said to be from Gnash's star, or an intelligent person dying while praying to Gnash with an especially intense desire for vengeance or destruction. No one knows the cause of the many Undead in the Fortress atop Arlinac Mountain, nor if Gnash has plans involving the mountain or city.
An Undead is often especially vulnerable to something related to the source of their necromobility. For example, an Undead created at one of Gnash's altars might be vulnerable to a weapon made from the stones of that altar, to the cloth worn by the Ogre who did the sacrificing, or even proximity to the altar after it was ruined. A noble killed by an assassin hired by a rival noble family who became an Undead because of a dying prayer to Gnash might be vulnerable to the dagger the assassin used, or seeing the coat of arms of the rival family, or hearing the voices of his children whose safety was foremost in his mind as he died.
As an Undead feeds to satisfy its specific needs its changes drastically, progressing from an initial stage in which it is a mindless creature animated by magic through developments of metabolism, strength, special abilities, and intelligence. Less advanced stages of Undead ignore each other; more advanced Undead can control lesser Undead. Undead can appear in any size group. Lesser Undead are nearly mindless, and are thus usually found near the source of their necromobility.
All Undead have glowing white eyes. Undead do not age. Whatever evil power animates them prevents natural decay. Lesser Undead do not heal, so these are often badly wounded or sometimes even skeletal. Undead animals cannot be affected by therianthropy. An Undead who was once a member of the intelligent races can still be the target of semblancy (an Ogre can to impersonate one).
Among animals and most other creatures the stages of necromobility are Zombie, Ghoul, and Vampire. However, among former members of the intelligent races a final stages can happen: Lich.
Gnash grants energy in destruction to those who are devout in following and serving him. His worshippers immediately receive a free attack each time they defeat a foe in combat.
Gnash also gives tomes of forbidden knowledge to his most fanatical servants. Reading these unlocks a strange and fantastic ability, but at great cost to health and sanity.
Ogres are powerful and feared, but at least they are solitary. Even more dreadful are well-organized cults of people who worship of Gnash.
Although such cultists lack semblancy, the other racial abilities can be twisted to serve Gnash. Ironically, cults that worship Gnash can be the most racially diverse groups. Pursuing destruction and vengeance, the races that typically cooperate join company by Kobalt criminals exiled from ther Superfamily, Mer pirates eager to pillage, and normally unwelcome Unseemly.
In Arlinac City the largest Gnash cult is named Up Link. Its cultists seek to live their lives as did the ancient Spiders, by preying upon those who live near them but are not like them. They consider themselves a "higher link" on the food chain and ladder of city power.
Gnash has many dungeons shaped like enormous mansions, which can appear or vanish like a mirage. Within are huge rooms decorated with shining artwork and dark rooms furnished with grim instruments of terror and pain. The only books in Gnash's mansion are cookbooks for which reading even a single page causes irreparable madness.
Gnash's followers are often fanatic plotters of evil. As a last resort, Gnash might be petitioned to help overthrow a ruthless tyrant.
The scheme of a Grand Ogre might need countering before the Grand Ogre earns becoming a Horror after his death: the hero's work is to both prevent a crime and limit that Ogre's evils to his mortal days.
Gnash is based upon the Great Old Ones of the Lovecraft Mythos: an evil creature from outer space who thrives on devouring and destruction.
Gnash differs from the Great Old Ones because he prefers experiencing that devouring and destruction second-hand, by enticing normal people to "accumulate" deeds of ruthlessness before metaphorically consuming them. Three similarities remain: knowledge relating to Gnash can be found in obscure and foreboding arcane books, pursuit of such knowledge causes depression and insanity as the reader learns that in strength and intelligence the eight intelligent races are insignificant on the cosmic scale, and adventure plots may still center around a fanatic Gnash-cult that is planning an evil and maddening ritual.
Gnash allows philosophical musing on the "otherness" of ruthlessness and harmful consumption: people's inclinations towards actions their own consciences know are overly merciless, self-interested, or gluttonous can sometimes resemble an external influence rather than an internal desire.
Gnash's nursery rhyme ponders Fee-fi-fo-fum. Do the "Fie! Fume" belong to the villainous father or the speaker? This version is perhaps less gruesome than what Jack's giant chants, but irrationally offends more by its blatant unfairness (Jack's giant would also have eaten both father and daughter).
Gaining a free attack after killing a foe is similar to an ability in other game systems commonly called "cleave". Its historic root is Dave Arneson's similar "Chop Til You Drop" rule.
Cute Pooka, tough Pooka, with nine eyes you see.
Kind Pooka, rough Pooka, please do not touch me.
Fearful Pooka, brave Pooka, who guards Fair-Be.
Silly Pooka, grave Pooka, misleads so we may see.
- Bergtroll playground rhyme
Pooka is a thousand-year-old Spider with nine eyes. He can change his for to appear as any woodland creature, and usually wears the shape of a cute squirrel pup or kitten. In any form he is normally silent. When he does speak, his voice is deep and keen, changing to a vivid screech when angered.
Pooka can be cute and cuddly or frightening and dangerous. He is both compassionate and mischievous, well-meaning yet sometimes threatening.
The Pooka does pranks and thefts intend to teach a lesson or build character. He visits people isolated from the way life's challenges nurture growth and maturity, and with disguise or dreams disrupts fixed habits, disturbs tranquility, or undermimes security. As examples: a noble used to the comforts of city life might be taken into the forest and abandoned; a spoiled child might be led through the slums; a reclusive coward might trapped with a predator he must fight alone; or proud merchant might be put into circumstances requiring him to rely on the generosity of strangers.
Pooka is also protective of forests and any forester treated unfairly by urban neighbors. He appreciates gold but not other treasure. He keeps a hoard of gold that he does not enjoy himself but rather uses to protect people who live in the forest by helping them purchase land, chase away robbers with hired mercenaries, etc.
Pooka is very fond of tea. He dislikes birds, which can smell its spiderish nature and sometimes attack him.
When Pooka is attacked he retaliates fiercely even if the attack does not injure him. He is deadly in combat, since during his thousand years he has seen many terrible creatures whose form he can adopt, he is very clever and quick, and he makes full use of his abilities as a Power to teleport and ignore most sources of damage.
Pooka is guardian of the realm of Fair-Be, a magical world of health and joy. Few people and creatures are allowed to enter Fair-Be. None who enter ever return, for only Pooka can leave Fair-Be. Yet Pooka delivers enough messages and tokens from its inhabitants to prove the realm's existance and character.
Pooka is rarely worshipped, for he has never taught what attitudes or actions he would consider worshipful. However, his aid is often requested with heartfelt prayers.
The Pooka considers Gnash his enemy, for it was Gnash who changed most of the ancient Spiders (his relatives and friends) into vampiric predators.
Pooka's champions are people entrusted with proclaiming judgment and woe to settlements where most inhabitants have become blinded by wealth, ambition, or desires. Understandably, they often get into trouble with the local authorities. To compensate, these champions cannot be harmed by normal weapons and Pooka is likely to directly intervene if their suffering becomes too extreme.
Pooka creates the Fell Animals, which are unusually large and powerful version of common animals. As a Fell Animal grows it gains exaggerations of its animal-ish nature and personality. The Pooka uses the Fell Animals to teach that excess can disrupt habits, tranquility, and security as effectively as lack.
Fell Animals can breed, but most are newly created by Pooka. Usually Fell Animals appear in small numbers. Occasionally a large number of Fell Animals will roam together.
As Fell Animals grow they go through three developmental stages: Giant Animal, Shadow Animal, and Grim Animal. Besides acquiring increasingly exaggerated traits, the animal gains a visible aura and resistance to cold, heat, and therianthropy.
Fell Animals are valued by Unseemly, who put them to sleep with enchantment and use them as guards for treasure chambers.
Those people most favored by Pooka are granted unusual endurance. Lack enhances rather than impedes them: when at half FP or less they receive a +1 bonus to all skill checks, and they ignore the usual -1 penalty to skill checks when FP ‒ ENC is 2 or less.
Near Arlinac City a group known as the Jester-Rogues has recently begun protecting and harassing travelers on the main road. Information is scanty, but several accounts claim the group is devoted to and/or working on behalf of Pooka.
Pooka's dungeons are dream-worlds. Their size and nature vary wildly, but all these dreams involve seeking a certain object. If the object is found then the dreamer finds the object beside him or her upon waking (and during the seeking has learned a valuable lesson).
Pooka can be the source of small adventures for a new PC. For example, the PC might be asked to rescue a noble's child from the woods after Pooka kidnapped it or lured it away.
The PC might also be appointed one of Pooka's champions, challenged by one of Pooka's dreams, or asked to deal with the Jester-Rogues.
Pooka is built from the many versions of a Puck, Pooka, or Hobgoblin: the most active or the king among fair folk.
Fair-Be is an idealized heavenly place whose name is a word play on Faerie, the place fair folk live, of which naturally many versions also exist.
Kitsunay, Kitsunay, whom will you hold?
Your heart ever warm, your days ever old.
You may bring him joy, but he'll bring you grief,
Illusions and fires give comfort so brief.
- Therion nursery rhyme
Kitsunay is a thousand-year-old Fox with nine tails. She can change her form to appear as any humanoid. She is protective of grain fields and any poor farmer treated unfairly by wealthier neighbors. She does not fight directly, but creates illusion and throws glowing orbs that contain fire or lightning. Her touch gives refreshment. She values beauty in contentment, health in relaxation, refreshment in serenity, and the virtue in feeling ready to care for others.
Many stories tell of Kitsunay's desire to shed her powers and live humbly as the wife of a Therion farmer. In these stories she is able to enjoy a few months or years of happy matrimony but eventually her identity is revealed by her idealism or immortality.
On nights with a new moon Kitsunay becomes dangerously mischievous--never towards a family she has joined, but often frightening or harming others in that village or town. She later regrets this behavior. She has never explained her lack of self-control on these nights: bards hypothesize that it relates to her desire to become a Therion, or to a traumatic event in Kitsunay's long history.
Kitsunay is very fond of noodles. She dislikes dogs, which are able to smell her foxish nature and usually attack her.
Many rural merchants worship Kitsunay and raise their prices when a customer does not.
Many Therions treat any woman they meet alone in farming land as Kitsunay: speaking very respectfully and offering her aid while remaining a safe distance away. Some Therions build small shrines to Kitsunay in their homes, in which are fragrant candles and a steamy bowl of savory noodles. A large city may have a hospital staffed by her followers.
Kitsunary has no real allies or enemies, except that she occasionally helps her followers fight the monsters of other Powers who are troubling their homes or fields.
Kitsunay's champions are selected to help restore harmony after a civic trauma such as fire, flood, or siege. They are granted the ability to heal minds of emotional injuries. A willing recipient can be freed of even deeply rooted bitterness, anger, denial, doubt, prejudice, false understandings, and other mental burdens.
Sometimes the curse of necromobility flows from an emotional pain the deceased suffered and cannot escape from through death. When this is true, Kitsunay's champions can use their ability to heal minds to remove the curse of necromobility.
Kitsunay watches over the few remaining animals from the First Age. Some are well known, such as Atchu the island turtle and Lou the Monkey. The are undoubtedly others living reclusive existences.
With her most devout worshippers Kitsunay shares her gifting of refreshment. Once each day these worshippers can restore someone else's FP to the maximum amount.
In and around Arlinac City, a group of men who have romantic idealizations of Kitsunay have recently formed the Suitor's Club, in which they compete to be the most charming fellow, hoping to attract her attention. Perhaps Kitsunay has yet to take notice of them. Or perhaps she has noticed them and is dilligently avoiding them.
Kitsunay's dungeons are places of rest or refuge that only exist for short times. Many travelers tell stories in which they came across an empty waystop, tea house, shrine, park, or inn that vanished as soon as they left. When found by children, these ephemeral places are not empty but are occupied by a fox-like woman who acts as their guide and host. A few, untrusted, stories describe children accidentally finding such a place not during travels but when exploring a home's dark cellar or armoire.
A PC in a city might make use of Kitsunay's hospitals if healing from a serious wound. The PC might be asked by Kitsunay to help defend one of the anicent animals.
Kitsunay is obviously based on a blend of the various Asian stories of kitsune fox-spirits.
Her nature prompts questions about the extent to which contentment and rest are achievable or virtuous in a setting with villains to fight and heroic deeds to be done.
The names Atchu and Lou are tribute to A'Tuin the star turtle of Discworld and King Louie of The Jungle Book.
Letting children visit a fantasy place by traveling through a wardrobe is an obvious reference to Narnia.
Slither, hiss, trouble, and woe:
Where the Lamia reaches, none else will go.
If bitterness has drained your cup to the dregs,
The Lamia will refill it, in exchange for your legs.
- Kobalt rhyme
The Lamia appears as a very beautiful woman. She may turn her lower body into that of a snake. She watches over the Serpentine Swamp, a long east-west region of swamp, marsh, and wetland forest that extends from the Broad Plans to the west of Arlinac Mountain all the way to the western edge of the continent.
Long ago the Lamia was a snake, who was present when the Six Splended Trees were destroyed by Big Blackie. She alone was repentant among all the animals who soon afterward became violent. Now she cares for the outcasts of any intelligent race who in repentance seek to turn from violent to virtuous lives.
The Lamia's worshippers build her Temples to guard her relics. Most relics are one of her scales, but some are pieces of her scintillating shed snake-skin.
The Lamia hates Big Blackie. The Lamia is bothered by Gnash, who promotes violence among the unrepentant, but she has trouble opposing Gnash's secretive followers. Long ago the Lamia was allied with Old Man River, but Old Man River is now distanced from other Powers.
The Lamia appoints females as her champions and gives them an intelligent reptile as a companion. Those appointed need not be her worshippers.
Many of her champions are also granted invulnerability to poisons when their eyes are closed and covered. The Lamia's champions usually have the task of fighting a dragon, but may also be assigned other quests.
The Lamia rules over the reptiles of the Serpentine Swamp and the large sea creatures that live where the Serpentine Swamp and ocean meet. She often grants these monsters more intelligence than usual, and sometimes other special abilities. Most famous are the giant snakes and sea monsters, but the Lamia cares equally for her diminuative subjects.
The Dragons claim that the Lamia is envious that Big Blackie has powerful children and in mimcry is trying to create powerful reptiles of her own. The Lamia disagrees, saying that Dragons are brutal, barbarous, and not worth emulating. The Lamia's creatures and Dragons fight whenever they meet.
The Lamia grants her devout worshippers luck in archery: all Shoot/Fire skill attempts for bow use against stationary targets are Easy.
The Lamia occasionally gives her followers enchanted items that help communicate with or control serpents. She also gives small statues of herself called nagarath-women that absorb poison if touched to a poisoned wound.
The most famous of the Lamia's organizations, and the only one demonstrably sponsored by her, is The Hiss. Those of her worshippers who have lived violent lives but intensely desire to increase in virtue are changed by the Lamia so that from the waist down have a snake's tail.
The Hiss form societies based upon five cardinal virtues: honesty, loyalty, charity, integrity, and humility. Members advance through five stages as the cardinal virtues are mastered. All newly created Hiss have black tails and are selfish but will always keep their word. Those who have mastered loyalty are no longer selfish when pursuing their community duties and their tail color changes to deep red. Those who mature further develop charity and will sometimes give beyond what duty requires; these have orange tails. Those who develop integrity are generous and kind in all situations and have yellow tails. The most mature, the elders among The Hiss, have mastered humility and always looks to others instead of themselves; these have green tails. The changes in tail coloration are gradual as spots, stripes, or speckles of the next color slowly appear and become more dominant.
Among The Hiss many stories attest that those who obtain humility are approached by the Llamia, who offers to restore them to their old bodies. But the offer is always refused because the elders prefer to remain in The Hiss society to help others follow the path of virtues.
A few legends claim that The Hiss have the ability to put their virtues in physical form. One of The Hiss who has developed loyalty, charity, or integrity can enter a trance and shed its snake skin. This causes the loss of that highest-obtained virtue; the individual immediately beings acting less mature. However, if the shed skin is eaten by another of The Hiss who is ready to obtain the crystallized virtue then the eater will effortlessly gain that virtue.
Societies of The Hiss exhibit a beautiful yet strange culture and craftsmanship. Members of The Hiss retain their memories and intelligence, but also aquire snake-like temperament and habits. They initially only cooperate with other Hiss whom they know. They are fond of eating eggs and freshly hunted game animals. As hunters they become skilled at archery and the use of poisons, but they prefer to flee from melee combat. Many of the Hiss keep small snakes as friends: more than pets, for the Hiss can speak with all snakes and many other reptiles.
The Hiss are supernaturally gifted at languages, and can learn an unfamiliar language in only a few hours. They are also able to mimic any voice they have heard, as well as sounds from nature.
The Lamia's huge and sprawling underground dungeon is deep in the Serpentine Swamp. Some stories say that the Lamia is the Serpentine Swamp personified in humanoid form; other stories claim her dungeon is the embodiment of all that the Serpentine Swamp means.
The PC could be one of the Lamia's champions, appointed to fight a dragon. This could happen without the PC's knowledge if the PC receives anonymous help from the Lamia.
The PC could also be one of the Lamia's outcasts, someone who had lived a selfish and violent life but "hit bottom", is genuinely repentant, and with the Lamia's aid is trying to turn over a new leaf. (It would be difficult to run adventures with the PC being one of The Hiss, because members of The Hiss are not accepted in Arlinac City and have trouble disguising themselves. However, there might be a member of The Hiss in or under Arlinac City for an important reason, whom the Lamia asks the PC to protect and help.)
The Lamia, like all Powers, is not omniscient and cannot teleport to any place she has never been. Thus she might need assistance locating and apprehending a formerly-repentant criminal whom she had been mentoring but who has recently backslidden into violent deeds and unsavory habits.
Perhaps the PC needs to enter the Lamia's dungeon to retrieve an item that helps fight dragons. Alternately, the PC must earn the aid of a group of the Lamia's followers, and a prerequisite to receiving the help is for the PC to prove himself or herself by entering the Lamia's dungeon to retrieve one of the Lamia's scales for that group to posses as a new relic.
The Lamia is loosely based on a Greek myth, but without the theme of child-eating that is central to that myth, and without the evil sorcery that has since become almost synonymous with Lamiae. This Lamia is also free from the gluttony, stupidity, and cannibalism associated with the Lamiae of modern Greek folk tradition.
This traditional figure has been changed into a heroine to underscore her purpose: she represents and oversees those who have repented from habits of evil and violence.
The nagarath-women statues are based on stones called nagarathnam or naga mani, "snake stones" or "cobra pearls", described as being able to absorb poison and bring good fortune.
Burn. Plunder. Steal. Hoard.
Dragons laugh in discord:
"By enough change he'll be restored:
This horde will free our ancient lord."
Chanted. Promised. Sang. Roared.
- old Dweorg song
Big Blackie is the greatest of all dragons and the only black dragon.
Long ago there were both good and evil dragons, but under Big Blackie's guidance all of the good dragons have been corrupted or killed by their evil brethren. Big Blackie's personality mirrors this darkness: more cruel and ruthless than majestic, personifying all that is greedy and terrible about dragons and nothing that is grand or noble.
Big Blackie was originally a normal dragon. After he destroyed the Six Splendid Trees he was imprisoned by the Creator. Legends name the rock that pins him Pillory. Big Blackie has remained an immobile captive ever since. Those events happened so long ago important details have been lost to time: Big Blackie's location is not know.
Although trapped physically, Big Blackie can communicate mentally with other dragons. He rules and guides them. Many tales foretell a day when the evil dragons will free their lord from Pillory; the details about when and how vary between these tales. One story even claims that Big Blackie sleeps far underground all other dragons are merely its dreams--and thus all dragon treasure hoards are really part of one hoard owned by Big Blackie.
Because Big Blackie has always been trapped, his abilities are untested. He is acknowledged as a Power because the Creator calls him a Power.
Big Blackie's hoard of treasure is immense and hidden in many locations. Any dragon can dedicated treasure to Big Blackie using a short ritual that transfers ownership. Thus by revealing the location of one of these stashes of treasure Big Blackie can give his treasures to his followers even though his own location is unknown and apparently inaccessible.
Big Blackie is seldom worshipped by members of the intelligent races. Those who claim to do so are usually insane and their "religion" suspect as an imagined excuse for depraved actions.
Evil dragons, under Big Blackie, are organized as a society named the Dragon Dominion. These greedy dragons seek more wealth for their hoards, but also cooperate to ensure that all young dragons in the Dominion have a large enough hoard to provide an acceptable minimum of intelligence and power. Sometimes Dominion dragons work together to accomplish larger goals, such as sacking a city or hunting a Grim Animal. The Dominion hunts the Lamia's reptiles, which its dragons claim are false pretenders to dragon-ness.
Big Blackie is opposed by the Lamia. Big Blackie has no allies.
Big Blackie's champions are dragons given a specific task to accomplish. If successful, they are rewarded with significant items from Big Blackie's own hoard.
Big Blackie's monsters are the dragons of the evil Dragon Dominion. This is probably all dragons: no other dragons have been encountered for centuries.
Dragons are large, thick-skinned lizards with a breath weapon who gain power from hoarding treasure. They are initially slow and ponderous, only attacking once every other combat turn.
Dragons do not age normally. Instead, they grow as they hoard treasure:
Dragons, when awake, are intuitively aware of the contents of their hoarded treasure and the location of each item. However, an item stolen is no longer owned by the dragon, who immediately loses the knowledge of its nature and location. Therefore an alert dragon can notice much about what looters at its hoard are doing, but a sleeping dragon is only able to realize upon waking that items are missing. (If the missing items were especially valued, the waking dragon would quickly deduce which they are.)
Contrary to many children's stories, intelligent dragons do not simply push their treasure into a pile to sleep upon. Instead, they are careful to hide their treasure effectively and keep useful enchanted items accessible.
Many unintelligent dragons are immune to Therianthropy. This could be due to hoarded armor, but stories also say this many unintelligent dragons are actually Therion Snags who have been in the form of a dragon for so long that their own personality and intelligence has faded away and been replaced by a dragon's.
A Therion using a dragon's shape retains that shape (including whether it has wings, its potential speed, and its AR) irregardless of how the dragon's hoard subsequently changes. Draconic breath and hypnotization are not copied with therianthropy.
Big Blackie grants both his draconic and other intelligent followers golden tongues: all Social/Etiquette skill attempts for persuasion, oration, and fast talking are Easy.
Big Blackie may also give his followers items from his hoard.
Humanoid followers of Big Blackie are sometimes given demi-dragon help, which makes many people leery of anyone with a demi-dragon pet.
Rumors are whispered of an evil cult in Arlinac City named Freedom that is trying to help the Dragon Dominion free Big Blackie.
The dungeons of Big Blackie are sprawling cave-lairs that Big Blackie makes for faithful and active members of the Dragon Dominion.
These lairs are much larger and more elaborately guarded than typical dragon lairs. Most are in remote and dangerous areas, such as mountain peaks or the middle of the Ognost Frontier, with false trails leading potential dragon-slayers on wild goose chances through these dangers. These lairs also have traps, oozes, and other hazards not normally found in dragon lairs. Multiple sleeping-rooms prevent trespassers from knowing where the dragon, if asleep, would be sleeping. Secret passages hide the hoard, and hidden escape routes allow a besieged dragon to flee and get help from other Dominion dragons (legends warn of "successful" treasure-hunters being killed during the return trip across that remote area as multiple dragons swoop down from the sky). Additionally, Big Blackie donates much gold to the dragons for whom it makes these lairs, often attracting treasure-seekers despite the enhanced peril: thus Big Blackie's apparent generosity actually leads to the Dominion collecting more new treasure, from the captured gear of slain treasure-seekers.
An adventure might require the PC to oppose on of Big Blackie's champions or a member of Freedom.
The PC or a friend of the PC could have a demi-dragon pet, and struggle with the prejudice directed against people with demi-dragon pets.
A PC might be hired as a scout, to locate and explore a dragon's lair: the PC should avoid meeting the dragon and instead create maps and strategies for a larger group to use.
Big Blackie is in some sense a tribute to the Dungeons and Dragons I played as a child, in which dragons were the ultimate opponents, representing both the greatest danger and the largest treasure.
Notice that the word dragon is not capitalized as are the other names for kinds of monsters created by the Powers. This is because the world had dragons before Big Blackie was a Power.
Take a drink, take a seat, listen to my tale.
Dangers loom, bravery shines, unfortunates prevail.
Hope and justice win again, it warms you like your ale.
"Life should be like that!" you say,
Then I agree and start my play.
Enjoy your stay. Pray do not fail.
- on a painted sign at an entrance to the Enchanted Forest
Yarnspinner oversees the Enchanted Forest. Within it he takes on numerous forms, often appearing as characters in the stories and adventures he creates within its borders. Often these people are wearing a gold brooch, which signifies their dual status as character and narrator.
The Enchanted Forest has impenetrable borders except for a few paths that are sunny and clear. Those who enter without focusing on a desire or goal will travel along a boring path while encountering nothing, or perhaps find that the path engages in twists and turns that soon lead out of the forest. Travelers who enter with a desire or goal in mind soon have an adventure, whose difficulty corresponds to the size and significance of their objective. Yarnspinner will also structure the story they follow and challenges they meet so that they learn and grow more than they intended.
Yarnspinner seeks to promote self-efficacy in his followers. The concept of obedience is foreign to his worship: his followers either enter the Enchanted Forest seeking adventure or they do not.
Yarnspinner is primarily worshipped with personal shrines, at which his followers dedicate to him items of historic value recovered from abandoned buildings, neglected attics, and old ruins. Yarnspinner will often appear in a dream or vision, to tell the worshipper what to do with the item: usually take it into the Enchanted Forest so that recovering cultural artifact or returning it to its rightful owner can become the goal of someone else's quest.
Yarnspinner has no allies or enemies, although he is in many ways the opposite of Old Man River.
Yarnspinner's champions are incorporeal creatures named Foreshadows. They are seen outside the Enchanted Forest when Yarnspinner wishes to communicate warnings, clues, or other messages about the future. They cannot be fought, and usually vanish after sharing their message.
Some scholars say the often-changing signposts in the Enchanted Forest are either a type of Foreshadow or a second, similar kind of champion.
Yarnspinner's monsters are the Arzens: strange humanoids that live in the Enchanted Forest and become parts of quests there. There are eight kinds of Arzens. Each kind corresponds to one of the eight intelligent races and exaggerates that race's stereotypical vice.
Arzens are intelligent and wicked. If encountered in a group then all will have matching armor and weapons, and sometimes other equipment. Arzens working in a group will have roles such as scouts, messengers, raiders, and captains. During combat, most Arzens fight alone or in pairs. Arzenic life is difficult to understand, for the Enchanted Forest presents very few opportunities for observing Arzens in their settlements and societies. It is suspected that Arzenic culture lacks most kinds of art and crafting.
Arzens sometimes appear outside the Enchanted Forest in groups of four to a dozen. When this happens, it is because the Arzens are being sent by Yarnspinner as a warning or reminder about the dangers of religious corruption. A group of Arzens might be attempting military conquest, acting unethically because of payment or bribery, overzealously punishing whomever they encounter that does not conform to a certain behavior, villifying an innocent with libelous rumors, extorting false tithes, or avenging a crime or insult against one of the Powers or its followers. A group of Arzens might also interfere with a religious official officiating a trial, coronation, confirmation, marriage, or burial.
In rural areas, these small groups of Arzens are usually welcomed with extreme politeness: most likely the Arzens are passing through to a more populous area, and everyone is eager to see them depart without trouble. In large towns and cities Arzens are often attacked when seen.
The Brydle look like young adult male Therions who have an animal feature. Common examples are the Swine-Headed, Mouse-Faced, Snake-Mouthed, and Ram-Footed. Brydles represent the vice of assuming that other people are more like us than they really are. The size of Brydles varies: some are scaled so that their humanoid parts are of normal size, others are scaled so that their animal parts are of normal size. None are shapechangers, although some behave like bears and use both bipedal posture (for standing and tool use) and quadrapedal posture (for running).
The Wrakle look like old, tall, thin Ogres with wizened faces. Despite their apparent physical frailty they possess great strength and fortitude. They are dangerously active gluttons, even more hungry and predatory than real Ogres. They especially enjoy devouring priests and others who are devout, especially while interrupting religious observances or rituals. Wrakles seldom use weapons, for their fingernails are sharp and very poisonous. Wrakles can create illusions, but these are much more limited than the illusions of Unseemly chronistry: he illusion must be near the Wrakle, and if anyone viewing the illusion actively attempts to disbelieve in it then it vanishes. Many Wrakles disguise themselves with illusion to act as someone in need or a potential ally, then wait for the best chance to attack.
Troggles are stout, winged humanoids made of stone. Despite their weight they can fly nimbly. They have two great loves: eating radishes and stealing any item they see someone else enjoying to try playing with it themselves. If pursued, a Troggle thief can usually be convinced to peacefully return the stolen item. Troggles neither eat nor sleep; some look down upon "lesser" humanoids burdened by these needs.
Pikles are small humanoids with bumpy green skin that regenerate incredibly quickly from wounds (1 FP per round). They have leathery skin, pointy ears, and long, sharp teeth. Because of their renegeration and incredibly competitive temperament, Pickles spend a lot of time fighting among themselves. Pikles normally live in large groups, both so that warriors can protect the workers and so that each Pikle will have many companions with whom to argue and fight. Pikles prefer to take over natural caves or abandoned ruins, but are able to dig cavern-complexes; their own tunnels and caves are much like those of Kobalts but smaller and more sprawling. Pikles do not manufacture tools but readily use them: they dig with stolen mining equipment and fight with stolen weapons. Except for shields, stolen armor does not usually fit them and is kept only because it is shiny. Pikles often tame or breed a pack of animals who help hunt or guard the lair (usually dogs or wolves, but sometimes large lizards or cats); perhaps the Arzen's own pack-like nature aids in working with these animals.
Vineles (pronounced vine-els) are plant-creatures with two stubby legs, two incredibly long vine-like arms, and two eyes on stalks. They have difficulty walking and spend most of their time sitting inside or under plants, keeping their arms hidden under leaves or slightly underground. Many behave like decorator crabs, gathering plants with which to camouflage themselves. They attack prey by strangling it with their arms, preferably without revealing their body's location.
A Melusle cannot change its appearance at will, but when encountered will initially look like a different kind of humanoid. It may appear to be in need of help or as a potential ally. At first it will be genuinely helpful to whomever it meets. However, as time goes on it will become more and more demanding. As soon as a demand is not met, the Melusle reverts to its true appearance (with two wings and two tails) and then vanishes, taking with it any remaining sources of aid it has bestowed to its former companions.
A Cephle looks like a Bergtroll of regal bearing but with a dog's head. They travel in patrols and seek to use conquest to spread what they perceive as their enlightened superiority.
Berkles are sturdy warriors who are skilled in Machinery and wear animal pelts instead of armor. They make their shields from a dark, hard wood named hariy. When in battle the Berkles light the edges of these shields on fire: inhaling the smoke and biting the charred edges causes them to enter a trance of strength and fury. The Berkles will fight to defend any plants or animals in the Enchanted Forest, and sometimes fight outsiders for no reason at all. When not fighting they make loud music in drum circles. They decorate their bodies with meaningless tattoos and piercings in any part of the body (as opposed to Therions, who use specific tattoos to identify clan and family, and use piercings only to wear earrings and nose rings). Berkles believe that if they kill enough enemies they will be granted a flying mount and allowed to join what their legends describe as the Wild Hunt.
Arzens are named after the metal arsenic, just as Kobalts are named after cobalt. Arsenic is what made cobalt mining dangerous: because the primary ores of cobalt contain arsenic, smelting them creates dangerous arsenic oxide. By extension, Arzens represent what is poisonous about each of the eight intelligent races.
The Brydle fill the otherwise missing role of hybrid-men in common folk tales. Therions have no half-animal state, whereas Brydles have no other option. The GM is encouraged to create Brydles based upon common figures of speech. Three example are above: the insults pig-headed (stubborn), rat-faced (sneaky hypocrite), snake-tongued (sweet-talking swindler), and goat-footed (sexual predator). This presents the NPC with a possibly misleading visual clue: will these Brydles behave according to the figure of speech they represent or not? Yet other traditional fantasy hybrid-men such as Lizard-Men and Frog-Men are definitely options.
Wrakles are loosely based on rakshasas. They exaggerate the Ogrish vice of gluttony.
Troggles are based on both gargoyles, Fraggles, and the various types of troglodytes popular in other role-playing and computer games. They exaggerate the Dweorgish vice of envy.
Pikles poke fun at the traditional Advanced Dungeons & Dragons trolls, which are known for green, bumpy skin and rapid regeneration (but are tall and thin). They exaggerate the Kobalt vice of competition.
Vineles exaggerate the male Pixy vice of sloth.
Melusles are based on the legendary melusines. They exaggerate the Mer vice of entitlement.
Cephles are named after cynocephaly. But they are based more upon the picture of a gnoll in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, which presented those cynocephali as tall and stately, wearing thick furs and adorned with heavy jewelry. They exaggerate the Bergtroll vice of trying to find contentment through luxury.
Berkles are based upon beserkers and the city of Berkeley in California. They exaggerate the Unseemly vice of impatience. The wood hariy pays tribute to the Harii warriors of Roman legend.
Yarnspinner gives his worshippers good fortune: after the morning's devotional time the worshipper receives a Reroll that is lost if not used that day.
Yarnspinner oversees the Stagehands, his devout servants who work with the Foreshadows to communicate to the town and arrange events.
In Arlinac Town many hoodlums have formed Single-Weapon Gangs because Yarnspinner inexplicably favors groups of thugs who all wield the same melee weapon.
Yarnspinner's "dungeons" are the adventures he creates within the Enchanted Forest. These adventures are always isolated from the real world: a new problem or crime is being caused by a villainous person or creature. The quest's internal logic is clear: all goals, conflicts, and puzzles are clear and the solution is always sensible (even if not obvious). Most conflicts are short and involve familiar monsters (usually Arzens) and predictable tropes. Any enchanted items will be useful to a hero or heroine who finds them.
The Enchanted Forest can be an unlimited source of small adventures. The PC might also be hired to help someone who entered the Enchanted Forest but has become stuck or captured by villains.
Yarnspinner is not based on any legendary figure. But a Power in charge of fairy tale tropes and settings is worth including!
Text below is being edited...
Down from the peaks the river falls,
Crashing down high, stony walls.
In froth and roar to us it calls
As it starts its journey.
Swiftly it dives down under ground,
Tunnels of water slam and pound.
It fills the hill with damp and sound
Halfway along its journey.
To the ocean deep it flows,
Wide and deep and strong it goes.
We hear new songs and old echoes
As it completes its journey.
- Navigator song
Old Man River cares for and has authority over the Arlin River. The guild called the Navigators follows his rules and receives his protection when on or near its waters.
Usually Old Man River communicates by deeds, not words. Most significantly, he punishes those of his followers who violate his moral code, but he himself has never explained the rules he enforces. Over many years the members of the Navigators guild have attentively studies and codifies these laws, and named them the Code of Harmony.
The Code of Harmony includes commonly understood vices such as theft, lying, unprovoked violence against people or their property, and gluttony. It considers criminal both thefts of property and thefts of honor: insulting someone is a crime unless the person insulted admits the truth of the slur.
Normally Old Man River may only reward or punish those who have covenanted with him and vowed to follow his rules (for example, the Navigators). However, Old Man River may act (and is often blamed) when people disappear after committing a crime against the Arlin River, such as badly overfishing or polluting it.
Those who worship Old Man River always build a home that touches the Arlin River. Whether the home is a boat, house, or even temporary encampment these homes always include a shrine to Old Man River on a small dock. (Usually this is a "ritual dock" too small for actual boat use.) If any of Old Man River's worshippers have committed an unconfessed crime then during the night Old Man River might take the person away.
Old Man River has degenerated over the centuries, exchanging his nobility for legalism. This decay has accelerated in recent years, causing extreme distress to his followers. Old Man River is now fixated on his unreasonable expectations of moral purity. He still delights in his followers' obedience to the Code of Harmony, but takes increasing pleasure in manipulating circumstances to show people that they cannot live up to his standards.
Old Man River is the only Power to decree certain calendar days are holy days. These days are both appointments for worship and instructions for optimal fishing, agriculture, and animal husbandry. For example, the Day of Flax Planting is a day when all farmers know to plant their flax, although only Old Man River's followers congregate to pray for a good harvest. Originally each holy day featured a few ritual things to do. Over time, Old Man River has added to each day a host of prohibitions that now overshadow the positive requirements.
Long ago Old Man River was firmly allied with the Lamia against Big Blackie. That alliance has not been tested for centuries and is probably broken: Big Blackie has remained imprisoned; the Lamia has few dealings with the Arlin River; and Old Man River has changed for the worse, distancing himself from the other Powers.
The champions of Old Man River are the incorporeal Haunts. These are immaterial haunts: dim, transparent figures that look like shadow and smoke. These troubled or troubling creatures are the central feature of many stories that Therions tell each other at night by firelight. Haunts do not interact with the physical world except to chant or moan messages. Each Haunt represents the essence of a past idea, place, or person; it is fixated on one goal and is driven to attempt to convince the living to make that goal happen. Haunts are "echoes" of the past that are unable to clearly see the present; they are not truly continuations of what existed in the past or evidence of an afterlife.
For example, a recently demolished orphanage might be reflected in a Haunts that desperately wants to make sure the orphans find homes, prompting it to proclaim the childrens' merits to any who will listen. As another example, the murder of a merchant by his business partner might produce a Haunts that yearns for the crime to be punished, who points out evidence to help the victim's family prosecute the murderer.
The Wights are...
Old Man River gives his followers skill in nautical combat: all attacks made while onboard a ship are Easy. To his most devout worshippers he grants the ability to walk safely on the surface of the Arlin River.
He also bestows favor in fishing and navigating the Arlin River, and guidance in local agriculture.
The Paddle
Old Man River does not create normal dungeons. Instead he inscribes a Rune on a wall or piece of furniture. The Rune disrupts normal life by distorting people (and sometimes places) near where they are inscribed. A Rune is usually hidden: on a dark basement wall, up in an attic, on the underside of a table, etc. Many old Runes probably exist in Arlinac Town, never found even years after their intended work was complete.
Old Man River uses his Runes in ways he perceives as aiding justice. For example, he might punish a man who mistreats a servant by inscribing a Rune that exaggerates that man's cruelty until it affects his family and colleagues. Most Runes do indeed achieve the justice Old Man River desires, but also cause extensive tangential suffering.
All Runes bring out the worst in people who dwell near them. Runes can influence thoughts and emotions to inflame old grudges, rekindle old fueds, heighten worries and mistrust, and/or intensify interpersonal misunderstandings and miscommunication. A few Runes also effect places: some distort the laws of nature in the room or building or create a frightening, sneaky, and unique monster that uses the room as its lair.
The only way to remove a Rune is using the solvent azoth, an expensive potion that skilled alchemists can create. The Rune will vanish, but the wall or furniture on which it was inscribed will be restored with no damage or lasting mark.
Note that the situations created by one of Old Man River's Runes are in many ways the opposite of the adventures of Yarnspinner. The setting is a normal location, in which normal behavior is distorted to change what is natural. The root of the conflict is hidden, the plot is a web of past and present events, stife happens when normal people to do bad things, and sometimes the bizarre or eerie intrudes inexplicably into normalcy. If the Rune creates a magic item it will be too corrupt, dangerous, or limited to be useful to the hero who finds it.
Holy days are always opportune times for adventures, as many people are busy with rites or celebration. Before the holy day the preparations might include challenging tasks, and during the holy day devout merchants may need hired help to guard their shops.
The PC can help untangle the problems caused by a rune, or might even be directly targeted by one.
Old Man River takes his name from a famous song, but unlike most of the GAME setting is not otherwise based upon older fairy tales or myths.
The Navigator song is a modification of the prologue from the musical Into the Woods.
His protectiveness for the Arlin River and its inhabitants allows exploring when group loyalty is virtuous and when it masks prejudice or greed.
Wights are based upon the wights of old legends, not the undead creatures of other role-playing games.
The solvent azoth is based upon the legendary azoth, one name for the material for which ancient alchemists strived.