Welcome to Balazar

 Had a few new people turn up in my Griffin Mountain game recently and I realise I need a very quick intro to the setting and the rules.  

The Short Version

Stone age wilderness with Mycenaean outposts, plus Roman/Hindu – esque conquerors, Celto/Saxon – ish exiles and lots of spaced out shamen with weird tats. Long walks in the (sandbox) country meeting sabretooth tigers, trolls and dinosaurs. And ducks.

The Longer Version

The game is set in a backwoodsy corner of the world of Glorantha where the locals (you) are at a stone age level of technology. A few hundred years back a great hero, Balazar, invaded with a bunch of bronze age hoplites and built towns out of stone connected by roads. He went off to fight in the Dragonkill War, leaving his three sons in charge, and their descendants have been fighting each other ever since.

The Kings of the three vaguely Mycenaean citadels have groups of stone age tribes following them, but having a couple of dozen guys with bronze spears and few nags for light cavalry does not mean they have an easy ride of it. Controlling a population who can up sticks and hide in another part of the vast and trackless forest and prairie is almost impossible.

There is a back to this beyond, the Elder Wilds, an even more wild and woolly place inhabited by Trolls, Elves, Giants and a whole bunch of other dangerous critters, not least the Griffins.

The outside world is intruding. The Gloranthan equivalent to the Romans, the Lunar Empire, has invaded Elkoi, one of the three citadels, and are building a temple to their Red Moon goddess. A group of refugees (the Lunars say criminals and terrorists) from Dragon Pass have arrived in Trilus, the second citadel. And lurking in the background are the non-humans, the Dwarves, Elves and Trolls who once ruled this land, and might do again.

At the moment the party are followers of the King of Trilus, a heroic and charismatic hunter called Yalaring, who had traded in his flint spear for a crown. Follow him faithfully and promote his authority and you will be rewarded with real bronze weapons. The citadel has had a tough time of it of late though, and Yalaring might be hankering for the simple but harsh routine of the hunters life.
 
 The D&Ders version

Forget classes, forget XP points and forget alignment. Under the Legend rules, as with any BRP derived game, anyone can theoretically do anything. Your PC will start with a tribal background, a job (Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, Bard, Witch, Herder (if you live in a town)) and will have a mix of skills and a bunch of minor spells on top. If you want to get good at something then specialise, and get in with a local religion, they will give you access to all kinds of improved magic and special abilities.

Forget the 'generic fantasy' stereotypes for the various creatures as well. Gloranthan Dwarves, Elves and Trolls have their own quirks, and be ready for anything and everything to be intelligent and to have the equivalent of the old 3.5 'character levels', even the trees.

What kind of adventures do we do?

There are no dungeons, there is instead the Wilds, forests full of bickering tribesmen close to home but with ever more dangerous beasties the further away you get. Adventures so far have included fighting Trolls, werebears and zombies, settling tribal wars by ritual wrestling matches, finding abandoned cave-temples inhabited by weird and vile chaos monsters, traversing an elf-wood where the spirits have gone mad and the trees hate you, being chased by trollkin riding giant blowflies and rescuing ducks from the rotting interior of a dead bronotsaur, discovering ancient mysteries, fighting in a full scale battle, kidnap, murder, police work and becoming sporting heroes.

This is a sandbox, you can do whatever you like and go wherever you want, but don't expect bloody great signs saying 'dungeon here' and nor should you expect unambiguous 'baddies'. It is possible to make it to be a King or the greatest Shaman in the land, but it won't be easy.

More info here: 20 Questions about Griffin Mountain, Griffin Mountain on G+

The Strix

The Glorantha material for MRQ II did not include anything about the Red Moon, since they were all set on the Second Age, so I'm going to have to write my own Lunar lunacy.

by Rebecca Ryals Russel, borrowed from http://rryalsrussell.com/2011/05/30/mythology-of-graeae-and-harpies/harpy/

The Strix is a uniquely Lunar type of were-creature or demon. Most of the time it is a human, but on nights of the full moon its monstrous true form emerges, a semi avian creature with a bird's legs and feet and feathers running along its arms and on its head, with a pinched beak-like face and huge owl-like eyes. They are believed by many to be were owls, but the true Strix is monster that lives on the Red Moon.

Str 3d6+6                   16-17

Con 3d6                     10-11

Siz 2d6+6                  13

Int 2d6+6                    13

Pow 3d6                    10-11

Dex 3d6+3                13-14

Cha 1d6                    2-3

CA 3, SR 14

Claws size S range S Dam 1d6 + 1d4

Armour 1 point

Skills: Persistence 30%, Resilience 30%, Evade 40%, Perception 30%, Stealth 75%, Spirit Attack 50%, Flying 50%, Seduction 30%, Transform 75% 

It is not a strong flyer, but where possible it will swoop and grab onto a target and pull them down, trying to keep them cowering and disoriented. It is not a strong flyer (roll against its flying skill to get airborne for any meaningful distance) but its squawking and flapping are confusing and can be hard to handle. It can also be stealthy, lurking in the lower branches of trees and swooping silently behind its prey ready to strike. As with any were-creature once slain its spirit will try and covertly possess a new host and gradually turn it into a new Strix. 

Strix can, allegedly, mate with humans in their beast form. They can spend 1 magic point to use their Seduction power, opposed by the target's Persistence. They are not very good at it though, and use every trick they can such as aphrodisiacs and very dim lighting to get their way. If they survive the night the target has a % age chance of themselves subsequently turning into a Strix.

Strix will be able to use any Common Magic they know as humans, and if they are members of of a Lunar cult they will be able to use Moon Spirits, Divine Magic or Sorcery as well.

Strix are bloodthirsty beasts and generally not tolerated even amongst the Lunars themselves, though some of the bloodier Lunar cults such as Yara Aranis will have a few flapping about as temple guards. Strix can be restored to human form by rituals known to a few Lunar cults such as Jakaleel, Deezola and Rufelza.

Were-Creatures in Griffin Mountain

In some areas of Glorantha there are tribes that have no problem with blurring the line between man and beast and people like the Rathori and Telmori celebrate those members of their tribes who can change forms. Not so in Balazar, where prevailing opinion is that men should be men and beasts, beasts, and while the clan totem spirits are admired and emulated and called on for aid, no one in his right mind would want to be an actual animal, even for a little while.

Nonetheless it does happen. Shamen can use spirits by binding them into fetishes, using them as fetches, as guardian spirits or incarnated by taking them temporarily into their own bodies. They are usually pretty careful about what spirits they use for which purpose, but once in a while someone is tempted to incarnate an animal spirit rather than the more usual ancestor spirits.

This might look like a good idea; a fetish of a bear spirit might be used to give extra strength, OR maybe a bears toughness OR skill at wrestling; incarnating it gives all of these at once and many other bearish talents besides. But the bear spirit might not leave the shaman's body completely when the magic is over, and bit by bit such a residual spirit takes over. The bear-spirit gradually asserts itself, the human host becomes addicted to honey and fish, becomes bad tempered, grows slightly larger and hairier and becomes lethargic in the winter. He will insist nothing is wrong, but one Wild-day he will take the final step and transform into a bear (or wolf, or sabretooth tiger or whatever animal spirit he has unwisely taken on board). He can only be cured by exorcism.

The animal is apparently a normal one of its species, but has the intelligence and charisma of the human host, and the ability to use all his common magic, though spirit magic fetishes usually fall off or are destroyed with the clothes during transformation. This transformation is always complete. Halfway forms might exist in other parts of the world, but not in Balazar.

If a were-beast is slain the now homeless beast spirit will attempt to possess a new victim, having got used to the idea of parasitism on humans.

The Grey Wolf clan are considered especially prone to this problem. Back in the God Time Foundchild and Brother Dog had many confrontations with Telmor the Wolf. During the First Age the Telmori and Votanki lived side by side, and fought many battles. It was Jarzangai Cleareye of the Black Dog clan who finally solved the problem, capturing the entire Telmori tribe and offering them a choice; have the wolf spirits driven out of them by exorcism or die. Many escaped to foreign lands, but many others accepted and were purified at a now lost location called 'Last Howl'. The clan were renamed the White Dog clan and banned from contacting wolf spirits, but over time they returned to their old totem, but without the curse and without any overt enthusiasm for transformation. The other clans have not forgotten the origins of the Grey Wolf clan and are sure they still freely break the taboo against animal incarnation.

Shamen are sure that many creatures in Balazar originated in a similar way – the Trolls were a tribe that became possessed by night spirits, Elves were men who unwisely incarnated tree spirits, Dwarves are men possessed by stone spirits and giants and giant animals are possessed by mountain spirits. It is therefore theoretically possible to turn all of these back into men with an appropriate exorcism, but Balazar's shamen do not know the rituals.

The Crow Stone

I am changing the ruleset of my Griffin Mountain G+ game over to Legend, a very impressive looking iteration of the old RuneQuest/BRP rules which I am assured by a couple of my players works very well in practice too.


This does mean that I am going to have to rejig a fair chunk of my background notes on religion to tally with the new ruleset, so here is a document laying out the basics of the three major Great Spirits worshipped in Balazar - Foundchild, Votank and Grandmother Sky. I'll do another one for Balazar himself, Brother Dog, Rigtaina and Tharkantus at some point soon, and will probably come back and re write this odoc with a few more details as I cook them up.


UPDATE: Did the update already, and threw in some stuff on Hearth Spirits and Osentalka. Here is the new version.


The rules bits are in this free Legend ebook: Spirit Magic. 

The Balazarings are stone age spirit worshippers. Their religion is very flexible, with a whole range of powerful spirits available for worship.

Amongst these are the Hearth Spirits, powerful ancestors associated with a particular location. According to Shamanic lore there were at one time 25 hearths. Ten are well known. The locations of another three are known, the citadels, but their spirits have not been contacted by shamen for centuries, and no one now knows the rites. The others are more of a mystery. Firepoint is almost definitely one, Lookhill almost certainly another, some shamen are almost sure certain earthworks in the Dangerground must relate to another one at least, others may lay in lands now controlled by Tarsh, Holay and Imther. A shaman who recovered one of these ancient sites would wield unusual spirits that no other had access to, a matter of much status amongst the Balazarings.


There is a straight 50% chance that a given Hearth Spirit may be counted amongst a Balazaring's ancestors. No living Shaman, not even Blueface, has gained the friendship of all ten known Hearths. A sample Hearth Spirit cult is given below.


Crow Stone


Legend of the Crow Stone
The Sun was killed, dragged out of the sky by jealous enemies and stabbed with the black knife called Death. The world became dark and the Trolls came and killed many, including Morak. Crow was hungry and came across Morak's body, and to the horror of his mourning children pecked out his eye. They cursed him and he turned black as the night he had flown out of, and as he fled he called out 'This isn't Morak, he is dead! His soul yearns to be free, let me have the body if you don't want to eat it yourself.'
But they didn't, and they buried Morak under a great mound. Many more died and their stinking bodies lay strewn across the plain making hunting impossible, so many other clans listened to Crow and put the bodies of their dead high up in the trees, where he could collect them.
Crow grew greedy and he went about the plains whispering tales in the ear of each chief and in the ears of the sons of chiefs and caused many fights and rebellions and many battles. Eventually Foundchild caught him and asked him why. 'You told men to hunt beasts for food only not pleasure, and the scraps they leave for me are tiny. War is different, war makes a lot of carrion, war is good for the crows. Its good for men as well, stops bickering and clears the air. If it wasn't for war each man would sit and curse at all others and all would be miserable.'


Foundchild was not impressed by this argument and slew Crow on the spot and had Votank bury him under a tall spire of rock. Those with long standing feuds come to this stone and fight under the eye of the Crow, leaving the bodies to lay under the open sky on the surrounding plain. And Crow tells them the secrets of making war, to encourage more to do so.


A long time ago there was a Crow tribe, but legend says most of the men went away to fight as mercenaries in foreign lands and their women joined other tribes, voluntarily or by capture.


Description
Crow Stone is a carved rock like a huge flint knife sticking out of the ground on a flat plain a couple of miles wide. The plain is littered with bones and flint arrow and spearheads, though every so often a shaman will come and pick them up and make a pile and cover it with turf and a rock. There are a thousand of these tumuli littering the area, witnesses to the warlike nature of man. No one lives at the stone itself, but nearby, in a cave overlooking the river, you will find a cave with a hermit shaman named Tazaring Squinteye who will tell people the lore of the Crow Stone, and there is usually a camp of one or other of the clans (75% Crocodile, 10% Great Bison, 5% Red Sable, 5% Impala, 5% two camps, roll again) within a mile of the site.


The shaman will organise ritual battles, where the chiefs and men of two feuding tribes can meet and work out their differences in blood. He then adjudicates who has won and once he has spoken the feud is supposed to be over, but the last fight here, between the Sables and the Great Bisons, was unsatisfactory, not enough men of each clan turned up to make it a true contest. Tazaring is trying to organise a rematch. Individual duels are fought here as well, always to the death, and this does not count as murder under tribal law. The relatives of the deceased will often seek more direct revenge though, and this suits the Crow spirit very well.


Follower
There is a 50% chance of the Crow Stone not responding to a given person simply because he is not counted amongst their ancestors. If he does listen the petitioner must sleep, alone and unarmed, by the Stone itself. He is woken by the spirits of those slain on that plain and has to fight his way to safety, a Heroquest of resonance 40%. First he must stand his ground and not flee at the sight of the dead (Resilience 40%), then he must grab a weapon from the many broken ones on the ground (Evade 20%), and fight at least three foes (Close Combat 20%, 40%, 50%), finally falling to a wound, and realising that death is not to be feared and giving himself to the crows (Persistence 20%). Those already allied to the Crow's enemies and rivals Morak and Redwyrm have +20% resonance, those who bring a herd beast to feed the crows get -5%, those who bring a dead sentient get -10%.


The broken weapon is tied into a medicine bundle and as long as the petitioner has this he will get +5% Resilience while fighting in a duel or battle under the shadow of the Crow Stone.


If a follower brings part of the body of a slain human, dwarf, troll, broo or elf enemy to the stone he is allowed to learn the common magic Fanaticism. The shaman here also teaches Bladesharp and Bludgeon to followers, and will teach Axe and Shield or Warclub and Shield combat for a suitable consideration and Lore (Tribal Warfare). The follower can now see Crow spirits, bloodthirsty, angry and hungry, but they are still hostile to him and if they speak to him at all it is to deride his warrior prowess and urge him to kill more enemies.


Crow Warrior (Votary)
Crow's cult skills are: Any close combat, Unarmed, Resilience, Evade and Lore (Tribal Warfare), and any warrior with 50% in any five of these and who has the Fanaticism spell can become a Crow Warrior. Crow warriors are known mankillers and may be shunned by the more peaceable tribesmen. They have the geas 'Always try and slay hyaenas', the great enemies of the Crow.


They may seek the blessing of the Crow on a personal feud (Another quest of Resonance 60%) getting +10% to hit and +1 damage bonus step against that individual target.


Those who slay a man and bring his hand to the stone can learn one point of Bladesharp or Bludgeon and gain the right to put black feathers on their weapon, those who slay a man and brings his eye to the stone gains Detect Enemies and a Crow tattoo on his cheek.


May only bind one Crow spirit, which he may bind himself or receive from a master. Crow spirits are neutral to him. Crow Warriors must kill one sentient creature per year as a sacrifice to their bound Crow spirit, and must kill one herd beast and leave it to rot on the plains for the Crows.


Crow Master (Seer)
Must have 75% in five cult skills, must know Fanaticism, Bladesharp 2 or Bludgeon 2 and Detect Enemies. There can be only five Crow Masters, the Master of the West Plain, The Master of the East Plain, The Master of the Woods, The Master of Rodi's Gap and the Master of Eyes. The master may not actually dwell in these areas, but the titles fall to whoever kills their current incumbent. When a potential master presents himself at the Crow Stone a crow files to each of the masters to warn them, and the candidate has to track one of them down and kill him. Any means fair or foul are permissible, but any Master has the gains the geas Never refuse a challenge. Masters try and see to it that any candidate gets stabbed in the back and left to rot long before they get close enough to speak.


Can command and bind the Crow spirits, the usual fetishes involve human bone, broken flint weapons, crow feathers and desiccated eyes. Crow Masters are dangerous opponents and as well as the cult skills are often talented at Craft (Traps), Perception and Stealth. Many have died without knowing a Crow Master and his band were on their trail. A master can bind up to half his CHA worth of crow spirits (he can have others through any connection to other spirits) and these spirits are now friendly to him. One of the most common spirits bound are those allowing the master to command crows, which make excellent scouts and messengers.


He may quest for the right to bind curse spirits, which he can send to haunt cowards and those who refuse summons to fight at the Stone (Resonance 90%), may create a Crow Blessed weapon (Resonance 70%) with extra armour, hit points and damage, and may acquire the Heroic Ability Battle Fury.


The most well known Crow Master is Longstride Stormcrow, Master of the West Plain and also a High Shaman of Votank. He should have been made Crow Shaman last time the position came up, so they say, but he somehow persuaded the dying incumbent to nominate someone else instead. The Master of the Forests, Tollor Blackbeard, is a Black Lion and has been blamed for a number of incidents of banditry on the territory of the King of Trilus; the Master of Eyes, Hangazar the Cruel, is allegedly in the pay of the Lunars; the Master of the East Plain, Challa the She Bear, has trolls in her warband and has a price on her head at Dykene, and the Master of Rodi's Gap, Uzar Tall-as-a-Pine, has left Balazar for parts unknown.


Crow Shaman (Shaman)
Any Master may challenge the Shaman for his position, but few do. The Shaman must stay at the Crow Stone and be neutral in any Clan feuds and most Crow Masters only became such as they were warlike, vengeful and loved a good fight. A dying Shaman may however just command one of the Masters to take up the post and threaten dire curses if he doesn't comply. There follows a series of bloody duels at the Stone as the Crow Warriors sort out who gets the vacant Master place, and the feuds deriving from them often spark a tribal war a couple of years down the line.


The main power of the Crow Shaman is to adjudicate battles and feuds. When sufficient lives have been lost through ambush and attrition out on the plains, the chiefs of the warring tribes will come to the shaman and ask him to decide how many duels or how large a formal battle will end the fight for good. They are not bound to accept his judgement, but they often do. The Crow Shaman has a standing offer to end the conflict between any Citadel Kings who care to consult him, but only Yalaring has ever entertained the idea, and he knows the Kings of Dykene and Elkoi would never accept the outcome. Some Dykeneans say it is because he is afraid he will be asked to face Skilfil Heartpiercer in single combat and he knows he will lose.


The current Crow Shaman, Tazaring Squinteye, is in his sixties and was a member of the Crocodile clan before taking up this clan-neutral post. He fought a famous feud with Rantarra of the Great Sables, a warrior devoted to the Redwyrm spirit, and is certain that the Lunars are plotting to subvert Crow Stone as they subverted Redwyrm. This has made him something of a pacifist, wanting to conserve the blood of true Balazarings against the Lunar threat. He has looked on the introduction of Shield Push with interest, having seen Trollball played up in the Dangerground and seen how such sports reduce conflict without quite as much blood spilled. Starting a Shield Push league will be weird and foreign, hard to sell to the various bloody-handed Crow Warriors round Balazar and and harder yet to persuade the Crow spirits.

20 Questions: Griffin Mountain

Jeff Rients asked 20 questions about your campaign setting, I did Tekumel yesterday, today I'm doing my other G+ game, Griffin Mountain.

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

You ain't a cleric mate, you are a shaman, a guy who sees the spirits inhabiting the land, animals, air, sky, rocks and everything else. If that sounds like he is on drugs that is because he probably is on drugs; chewing certain weeds and eating certain mushrooms helps get into the trance like state that enables him to call out to these spirits and have a chat.

Some of the spirits floating about will be ancestor spirits and can be asked for favours of various kinds. Experienced shamen have kind of spirit contact book and can summon ancestors or other kinds of spirit who are good for a given task. Apprentices may or may not get listened to, and may or may not get decent levels of support.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

The three citadel towns all have trading posts where foreign merchants will exchange pelts and other local produce for foreign goods, but you can make a great deal of what you need yourself from stone, wood and bone, or barter for it with other tribesmen. If you want bronze gear you will have to go to the foreigners, or get in with the local Citadel Kings and earn their favour.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

Blueface is the greatest shaman in Balazar without a doubt, but he's a bit elusive when he doesn't want to be found. Impersonates a Sabretooth Tiger or so they say, but that's a bit risky for ordinary shamen. A man might get a bit too used to being a tiger, forget he was ever a man, but Blueface never does. He's been around for centuries they reckon and knows the name of every last beast on the plains, every stone, every stream and every blade of grass, bush and tree and most of the rocks. Bit taciturn are rocks, keep themselves to themselves.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

Probably Yalaring Monsterslayer, King of Trilus. He did slay a gigantic chaos demon singlehanded when everyone else had fled, but critics say it was a lucky shot or that the demon wasn't so tough; anyone stupid or stubborn enough not to run away could have taken it down. On the other hand Skilfil Heartpiercer is still reckoned to have some fight in him, he did fight the Sun Hawk Spirit for the right to tame the Great Hawks his guards ride, but that was twenty years back. Then there's Ogolorph Windshaper the Great Hunter, his tribe allegedly hunt Brontosaurs for a living, that takes some doing. Waddle Greenbeak is probably not top of anyone's list. He's the only duck in Balazar and gets funny looks wherever he goes, but there's something about the speed his hand goes for the hilt of his sword or the steely squawk he utters when talking of his patron god Hueymakt the Deathdrake that says he is more than just a Wild-day lunch with attitude.

6. Who is the richest person in the land?

Cyriel Endelkar, chief of the Lunar merchantmen. He undoubtedly loses money on his trade operations in Balazar proper, but he does have the supply contract for the Lunar garrison at Elkoi and a virtual monopoly on the export of slaves. Joh Mith does ok, but he works damned hard for his money, traipsing around the plains in all weathers with his caravan picking up a few antlers here and a few furs there. Then there are the Dwarves with all their bronze and iron and whatnot, but no one is sure whether Dwarves count as 'people'.

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?

Anyone can do it, just mutter the words, wave the fetch and it happens. Shamen are bit better at it than most, and if you want your leg stuck back on the Wise Women can call on Mother Sky herself to do it for you. They say that the foreign priestesses in Tilus and Elkoi are pretty handy, but most people stick with the ancestor spirits they know.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Shaman will have the smarts and magic to have a go at all of these, but only the most powerful with the greatest spirit allies will be able to do much to throw out the worst disease demons and search in the spirit world for those recently departed without getting lost themselves.

9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

Most Shamen are attached to a tribe, but impress the individual practitioner and he will teach you, even if your tribes are enemies. The foreigners say their gods will accept all comers and teach their magics to anyone, but at what cost? They will take your spirit away from the land to live on the moon or behind the west wind, away from your tribe, they say so themselves, and who wants that?

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

Depends what you want to know. The priests of Tharkantus can read, a bit, and know a few legends the wild and woolly shamen of the plains don't care to remember about the good old days when Balazar had towns and roads. Joh Mith has been further into the Elder Wilds than anyone except possibly Blueface, and the ancestor spirits can tell you lots. This foreigner Bluebird, the one teaching King Yalaring's son, claims to know a thing or two, but what he has to say seems so crazy and far away frm people's concerns half the time that no one really listens to him.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries?

Any tribesman will help you out, just ask, the Blazarings are honourable folk and hospitable to all, within reason. The friendlier your tribe is to theirs the more help you will get of course, and in some cases they'll just throw you a bone their dog has got tired of before slitting your throat and leaving you for the wolves, but that's tribal feuds for you. They rarely get that bad though.

If you want men to fight for you ask your own tribe, and offer the chance for loot or gifts of bronze. You could do some kind of deal with the Citadel Kings for the help of some of their soldiers for while, if there's a clear benefit to them.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Don't try anything around the Kings. They have large entourages of warriors, usually a few priests hanging about and maybe a shaman or two, and Yalaring will personally rip your to bits and Skilfil will skewer you with his magic spear before you get to say boo. Glyptus is a big fat idiot, even his own warriors think so, but he has Lunar demons on his side so be doubly careful around him. Otherwise the law extends as far as the Citadel warriors can make it stick with their personal might and the authority and honour of their respective regimes. When you are out in the wilds make friends with the bears.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern?

The trading posts have beer and entertainment and beds, but the city life costs and many a hunter has traded away all his furs for luxuries and cheap booze before he gets out of the door.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

If you meet a Broo kill it, no one is going to mind that, but opinions on Dwarves, Elves and Trolls are divided. Bears, especially the tricky ones that pretend to be men, are always worth bragging about and every so often something horrible and chaotic slithers south out of the Elder Wilds, like that thing King Yalaring took down ten years back. Then there's the dinosaurs. Not sure anyone has ever got an Allosaur, and no one ever killed Ormfang the Ice Dragon either.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

Always inter tribal feuds threatening to get nasty, like the Sable - Great Bison feud, and Trilus, Elkoi and Dykene are always rattling swords over something or other. Smart money says the Triloi and Dykeneans are going to go at it next.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

Not as such, but there is a great hunt every year where all the mightiest hunters of the land go after the biggest beast they can find equipped only with a loincloth, warpaint and a stone spear. Wrestling is popular in some parts (don't go up against a bear unless you really have to though). Some Lunar soldiers introduced the sport of Shield Push last year, and the Triloi are somehow current champions. You could try playing Trollball, there is always big money riding on that if you have someplace you can spend lead Bolgs.

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

The Lunars are up to something, everyone knows it, we just don't know what. Forget this alms giving and free onion soup at the temples, sandals for kiddies and missionary medical assistance malarkey, they are just fronts for whatever mad Loonie nonsense they have brewing. The wolves howl under the full moon, the bears get restless and the Broo dance. That means something...

18. What is there to eat around here?

If you are in a citadel bacon and beer, everywhere else the diet is a bit more varied and often more lively - you eat what stands still long enough for you to kill it. Get some hunting dogs and one of those native dog handlers who was brought up with dogs as his brothers, worth their weight in bison ribs.

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

The Iron Crown of Throggar, the Windberry Tree, Elkoi's giant taming ring for starters. You could try getting one of Skilfil's nice magic weapons off him, or you could go up into the mountains to see the giant Gonn Orta and trade with him for any number of mind bogglingly powerful (and expensive) artefacts.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

You see that mountain there to the south east, the pointy white one. That's Ormfang. No he doesn't live in a cave on the mountain, that's him, coiled up and sleeping with a pile of ice on top and glacier running down his nose. He hasn't moved for years but he does have nightmares once in a while and everyone knows about it because it blows a blizzard for four weeks at a go, the thaw comes six weeks late and you will probably starve and that's if your lucky enough not to find one of his 'dreams' howling out of the white hell around you with a thousand glittering fangs ready to snap you up at a gulp. He ate several cities in Dragon Pass, so he might have some boodle.

The Griffins up at Griffin Mountain have been there forever, so they may well have some serious loot put by as well, and then there is Gonn Orta. See that mountain to the North west...? No that's not him, that's his uncle Skik, Gonn lives under the crag to the left.. or is it the right? Or that mountain there is Skik and this ones Hrak? Oh well anyway, there's Eleven Big Giant Mountains and Three Little ones, and Gonn Orta sits amongst them set on turning into a mountain himself, and in the meantime buying and selling magic items like they were bolts of deerskin or something. He's got loot, lots of it.

20 Questions: Tekumel

Jeff Rients asked 20 questions about your campaign setting. Tekumel isn't my setting, but these are the answers for the campaign I'm currently running

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

There are 20 Gods in the standard Tsolyani pantheon and the Temples that worship them are huge wealthy institutions controlling large tracts of land. Each god has dozens of 'aspects' covering a part of the gods area of competence, and shrines can be found in every home. The gods are real. You sacrifice and they do you favours, annoy them and bad things will happen to you; every temple has volumes of attested interventions direct and indirect by their chosen deity and everyone has felt or can point to a relative who has felt the touch of the gods in some way. People are not slaves to their gods though, and many of their clergy are just in it for the salary or the education that might get them a place in the civil service. Theologians jabber at great length about the nature of the gods, but their true nature is beyond the ken of man.

The temples teach magic. Not as a gift from their god directly, but because the Temples are large institutions full of libraries and scholars, and there is no secular university that could equal the thoroughness and reliability of their teaching. Magic is very hazardous, deviating from the age old and well tested syllabuses of the Temples is a huge risk.

There are gods outside the Pavarian 20. The Livyani Shadow Gods, Hrsh, Shiringgayi, and dozens more, but their worship is discouraged in Tsolaynu and most foreigners join a local temple that includes aspects close to their own deities nature.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

There are many shops and bazaars all over the city of Jakalla selling almost anything imaginable from sandals to slaves. But some items are only available at certain places, such as some of the more exotic drugs from the bazaar outside the Temple of Dlamelish, and it is often a good idea to go to the clanhouse of the craftsmen who make a given item and get something specially made.

3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

Any armourer worth his salt could make you something suitable, if you had the money and the social status to make it worth his while. The social status bit is important. The best armourers have 'luxury brand' cachet that they don't want to lose by being seen to deal with lowlifes like most adventurers, or doing something crazy like making an outfit for a Ssu, the hated enemy of all mankind.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

The Undying Wizards are a body of wizards so august and mighty that they allegedly range throughout the many universes and times as easily as ordinary mortals might stroll down to the cloth market for a fresh sleeping mat. They only appear very occasionally on our mundane plane though, and when they do it is usually because there is serious trouble afoot that may lead to the end of the world.

The wizard you are most likely to meet in Jakalla, or at least glimpse far off sitting on a palanquin surrounded by a small army of bodyguards when he emerges from his tower, is Ruvadis the Wearer of Eyes, though Akhone hiVarashmek, Badragu (High Adept of the Powers) of the Temple of Gruganu ranks him only fourth in the city after himself at third. He won't say who numbers one and two are, he just taps on the ground with his staff, softly.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

The Emperor himself of course! Didn't he personally lead a successful invasion of Saa Allaqi, then turn his army round and win the Civil War? Of course the Emperor never leaves Avanthar these days, but Karim Missum, though getting on, is still a pretty good swordsman and a great general.

6. Who is the richest person in the land?

The Emperor owns everything and everybody, we are merely his slaves and those things we dare to call our own are just lent to us for the duration of our paltry lives by his grace and generosity.

Locally to Jakalla, Prince Rereshqala has a good few million kaitars and very pretty palace down by the sea, and the Jade Diadem own a good chunk of the land the city is built on.

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?

The temple of your own deity will be able to do a few things, but if you get seriously bashed about then the Temple of Ketengku, God of Medicine, has the best spells.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Any temple can deal with poison, most diseases and curses, and can even raise you from the dead. Persuading them that you are a worthy case and finding the necessary fees are another matter. In practice forget resurrection, you need to be someone of very great importance to be considered; curses can always be worked off by grovelling to the cursing deity or demon, or by sufficiently large sacrifices to ones own deity.

9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

All magicians are part of a temple, they will teach you what you need to know. A few 'freelance' wizards will tell you they can teach you outside the temple system, but they are almost invariably charlatans and if they are not the Temples will catch up with them sooner or later and make them suffer.

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

Alchemists can be found in any market place, but bear in mind that alchemy in Tekumel is not an inherently magical occupation - their products are mundane drugs and antispetics, dyestuffs and essential oils. Magic potions? Maybe some of the higher ups in some of the spookier temples like Ksarul and Hru'u could get you strange ingredients from the Demon Planes, but you would have be part of one of their strange secret societies to get access to them.

Sages are available at any temple, bit each specialises in its own area of knowledge. Experts in warfare, arms and armour you would find at the Temple of Karakan, natural history at Avanthe and so on. Best general knowledge resources are the temples of Thumis and Ksarul.

Other experts can be found among the clans; architects, engineers, lawyers etc.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries?

Go down to the Foreign Quarter and hang about for a kiren (half an hour), offer the first lowlife who tried to cut your throat double what's in you purse to become your bodyguard against the second and there you have it. Usually people are a bit more organised about it - you can put posters up on the front wall of the temple of Karakan for a fee, and there are always a few toughs hanging round the Armourers shops in the Foreign Quarter. If you want N'luss, and you probably will, them being a foot taller than everyone else and hard as nails, go ask Vaghba at the Little Mountain boarding house if any of her 'clan' will join you, Pakalans can be had cheap if you are willing to take the risk of them absconding with your loot before the job's done, more expensive but very reliable ex-legionaries can often be found at the Palace of Glorious War and if you are willing to hire any hobo who can carry a pointy stick go to the Tower of the Red Dome.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Tsolyanu is a police state. Every government department has its own police, every government building has a busy office devoted to handling information from and payments to police informers, there are cops of every kind from the village headsman's kid brother who wanders around at night with a big stick, through to the secret police of the Omnipotent Azure Legion who make the KGB look like neighbourhood watch. Nowhere actually outlaws the carrying of arms or the use of magic outright all the time, but if you are in the least bit tempted to use these things to cause trouble or acquire stuff that ain't yours through violence or menaces please bear in mind that you are never more than twenty feet from a cop, and ten from a snitch.

Then there are the civil penalties. You do not commit misdeeds against an individual, you commit it against his clan, and they will engage lawyers who will demand shamtla, damages. If you can't pay your clan will pay for you, but then they might sell you as a slave to make up the loss. If you won't pay we get into clan feud territory, and assassin clans might get involved, and it just all gets nasty.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern?

There are no taverns. No Tsolyani would want to run the risk of eating and drinking in the same place and at the same time as persons below them on the social scale. Groups of persons may, and often do, buy kegs of beer or amphorae of wine and get drunk together in a room but only when all know each other or know people who can vouch for their drinking buddies bona fides. You will find groups of drunks lounging near the wine sellers stalls in the grottier Foreign Quarter bazaars, but these people are Nakome with no honour. Better sorts might hire a room in a winemaker's clanhouse for a private party, but no taverns.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

In the area of Jakalla you can always earn a bounty for the heads of Hluturgu, the Swamp Frogs, ugly little beasts that surge out of the Layoda Swamps every few years in mass migrations/invasions laying waste to all in their path. The seagoing Hluss are also always a problem and Ssu and Stinking Ones are rumoured to appear in the Tsuru'um (underworld) beneath the city every once in a while.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

There is a rebellion going on in the Chaigari Protectorate, and the Salarvyani are always 

threatening to take back Ru. If they were to do so the Palace of Glorious War would call up auxiliaries to support the legions. If you do join a legion watch out for the Qadarnikoi, the 'little wars' that are fought as a kind of team sport or duel between rival nations military units.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

The Hirilakte arenas are always looking for gladiators, and great fame and wealth are available for some. Many fights in the arenas are in fact duels, fought out in public, and have no cash prize. Less lethal games include wrestling, martolan (a kind of four sided football), archery and javelin throwing, but the money isn't so good.

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

Dozens, possibly hundreds. Each state has its own secret police and spy organisations, all the temples have political factions and secret, fanatical and/or militant sects, Dhichune the Usurper is allegedly still alive and wants the throne back, illegal drug (usually Zu'ur) smuggling operations are nearly as ruthless and vicious as the OAL units devoted to suppressing them, and then there are the sects of the Pariah Gods, and the less said about them the better lest their awful minions suddenly appear next to you and suck out your very soul. If you are not in a secret society you are just not trying hard enough.

Ones well worth keeping an eye on are the Ndalu Society, the political wing of the Temple of Ksarul. Ksarul is the sinister god of secrets who had to be imprisoned by the other nine gods with help from one of the despised Pariah gods to stop him taking over the entire multiverse, so ambitious isn't the word for these people. Best mates with numerous species of demon as well. Another dangerous crowd are the Scroll of the Blaze Revealed, an extreme Vimuhla sect who live in secret monasteries and kill any who find them. They allegedly also sally forth to slay innocent civilians and hasten the consumption of the world as if a mere dust mote in the mighty and infinitely incandescent flame of Vimuhla's fire, but who can say.

18. What is there to eat around here?

Tekumel has the detritus of at least 14 different planetary ecosystems, and has a wide variety of foods, few of which are known today. Dna, a red colored starchy grain, is a staple, but barbecued snakes, boiled wasps and reconstructed dodos are also on the menu.

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

Lots. The one everyone wants is the Chariot of the Gods, a flying car, but the Alluring Maiden of Nga, an android assassin that doesn't give up until it has taken out its programmed target and the Hra Tank, wherin the Priests of Ksarul allegedly clone horrific monsters from lumps of dead flesh, are also well worth having. 

If you really want to cause trouble find the ten keys to the magical walls imprisoning Ksarul and let him go.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

Deep down in the underworlds there are great treasures to be had. If you make into the Bednjallan layer there is allegedly the Tomb of Mnekshetra, lesbian lover of the infamous Nyari of the Silken Thighs, and the Temples all have secret shrines to the more unhinged aspects of their deities that you might try and loot.

A Proclamation

Ohé!

Let all bow their heads in sorrow and rend their tunics asunder, let all weep inconsolably and let their tears fall into the dust, for the exquisite Ishó hiVaisúra, much beloved¹ Lady of the most noble clan of the Jade Diadem and most puissant and learned Durúnrakoi² of the Temple of the Obsidian Princess of Lubricious Delights³ has passed beyond this plane and now sails a barque crewed by her fivefold souls among the paradisiacal Islands of Teretané⁴.

Alas no more shall she taste the wine of Arko’éla, smell the essences of Vioséna and hear the sweet hymns of Teshkána, and no more shall she perform the bejewelled dances and silken movements before the Jade and Obsidian Altars of Choyá⁵, oh weep, weep one and all!

It was the most beloved ones’ final wish that she be laid to rest in the sacred city of Ngála within nine days of the Enhancement of the Emerald Radiance⁶ and to this end her most loyal paisaidhbáikhoi⁷ Mriyán⁸ Ashúko hiEktlenle is organising a Grand Procession of Mourning and Celebration to leave the city on the morning after this date.

All those who wish to pay their respects are more than welcome to accompany this procession, an itinerary for which can be obtained from the Office of Protocols at the Temple of Dlamélish during the Ténmres of the Market and Joyous Sitting Together⁹.

There is in addition a requirement for men accomplished with spear and bow to ensure the safety of the procession to the sacred city. Those interested will be provided with the 1^st form of Temple costume of the Green Lady¹⁰, suitable food, drink and other essential sustenance¹¹ on the journey, the blessing of Mrikáya¹² and a monetary consideration suitable to their skill and station. Those wishing to tender their services to our most beloved departed Lady should apply to Uténg hiSorúntle, Kási of the Dlamélish Temple Guards during the Ténmre of Labour¹³, 22-24 Fésru.

All Hail!

1 The actual word used here is dhupangétl’teténikh, a nearly untranslatable Tsolyáni compound meaning, literally, ‘gracefully fucked on many occasions’. ‘Much beloved’ will do, but those aware of the nature of the worship of Dlamélish will spot the nuances.

2 Enchantress – at least a level 5 Sorcerer professionally, 9^th-10^th Circle in priestly rankings.

3 Dlamélish in one her more conventional and less frankly expressed epithets.

4 i.e. she’s snuffed it.

5 All aspects of Dlamélish controlling various pleasurable experiences.

6 9^th of Drénggar; a day of feasting and orgies especially exuberantly celebrated in Jakálla.

7 Literally ‘spender of sexual leisure time’; read into this what you will, but ‘toyboy’ would not be an inappropriate translation to modern idiom.

8 ‘Bishop’ – 15^th Circle in the Priestly hierarchy, usually Level 7+.

9 Afternoon and early evening. A Tenmre is a period of 3 hours.

10 There are numerous forms of formal dress for various occasions and events. This is the minimum requirement for attendance as part of a Dlamélish ritual as opposed to a mere onlooker, but probably worth 10 káitars in itself.

11 Things Dlamélish followers regard as essential to life will  include booze, music, and quite probably sex and drugs as well. PCs will find few former employees of the Temple complaining about the perks, even if the pay can be a bit sparse at times.

12 She who takes Pleasure in Violence, the most martial of Dlamélish’s aspects, sometimes invoked by those keen on sado-masochistic sex.

13 Some time in the morning.

The above is an introduction to the adventure this Friday, dice up yer PCs if you haven't already  done so and join the funeral cortege.