ROSE BAILEY, BENJAMIN BAUGH, STORN COOK, STEFFIE DE VAAN, MEGHAN FITZGERALD, JORDAN GOLDFARB, DANIELLE LAUZON, ETHAN SKEMP, LAUREN STONE, TRAVIS STOUT, AUDREY WHITMAN
C AV AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
CREDITS
PLAYTESTERS
Creator and Developer: Rose Bailey
Devon Amnott, Cassandra Angel, Daniel Bayn, Landon Beasley, Jesse Bockweg, Kari Brewer, David Brookshaw, Bill Authors: Rose Bailey, Benjamin Baugh, Storn Cook, Steffie de Vaan, Meghan Fitzgerald, Jordan Goldfarb, Dan- Buchalter, Sarah Buchanan, Elliot Cavnaugh, Pauline Chan, Ryan Chenoweth, Clete Collum, Brian Conley, William Darr, ielle Lauzon, Ethan Skemp, Lauren Stone, Travis Stout Nicholas Davey, Roderick Easton, Nathan Emery, Henri FeiSenior Writer: Audrey Whitman jge, Sarah Fitch, Thomas Franklin, Barnaby Fullerton, Chris Nathan Grego Battlehymn and the Damsel Messiah Created By: Johnson, Stephen Gawrit, Maarten Gilberts, Nathan ry, Jonathan Harden, Nathan Henderson, Olivia Hill, Nick Judd Karlman Hoffman, Michael Holland, Ronald Hoogakker, Rory Hop Editor: Dixie Cochran kins, Jesse Hughes, Drew Hults, Matthew Knighton, John Indexer: Rita Tatum Jaeger, Jaeger, Christopher Johnson, Jamie Kelley, Kelley, Michelle Kruse, Piotr Kubowicz, Tony Kuntzelman, Jeremiah Lamantia, Shawn Cover Artist: Chris Huth Lyons, Rick MacLennan, Thomas Martin, Gene McDonald, Interior Artists: Andrew Trabbold, Eric Lofgren, Nate Brett Murphy, Stephen Noa, Craig Oxbrow, Crystal Paras, Pride, Doug Stambaugh, Joel Biske, John Wilson, Alex Michael Pareman, Nicholas Petroski, Rich Piraro, Alex PotaSheikman nos, Neall Raemonn Price, Sherry Raynor, Mallory Reaves, Art Director: Michael Chaney Tyler Roberts, Ian Ruark, Jamie Russell, Ralph Shonemann, Ethan Smith, Michael Smith, Travis Travis Stout, Richard Stratton, PECIAL HANKS Faye Sutherland, Megan Suttner, Andrzej Szoka, Nathan Thompson, James Tucker, Margaret Weddell, Charles Wells, Benjamin Baugh, Craig Oxbrow, Neall Raemonn Price, Jamie Wheeler, Wheeler, Quinn Wilson, Filamena Filamena Young, Young, Piotr Zbierand Audrey Whitman, for reviewing countless early drafts. ski Daniel Bayn, whose mechanics got the early versions of the game up and running.
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Cam Banks, CJ Carella, Chris Rutkowski, and Greg Stolze, whose work influenced the system.
N THE E COVER ON TH
Judd Karlman, for letting me cross over with his own Mars. Dixie Cochran and Elizabeth Greenberg, for editing early Cavaliers projects.
Dubious heroes Valentine and Soteria flee the guards of Lady Aldonza Arez. Valentine Valentine has stolen the head of a prophet, which yet speaks in tongues. Soteria has stolen the heart of a courtier, somewhat less literally.
The Dead Gamers Society and the Wrecking Crew, for running excellent convention games, and all of the attendees at Gen Con and other shows who played in those games.
These two women, whose partnership varies in nature as do the wind-blown sands, are archetypal examples of the rogues of dying Mars.
Logan Storm and Henry R. Moore III, for their generous backing.
Reckless, witty, and not a little dangerous, theirs are adventures your heroes' will rival and surpass.
Richard Thomas, for early encouragement and ultimately picking up the game for publication. RPGnet and its community, for providing the original space for discussing the setting. Eddy Webb, for being an eternal sounding board.
© 2018 2018 Rose Bailey. All rights reserved. Text and illustrations are the property of Rose Bailey. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher publish er is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and one printed copy which may be reproduced for personal use only. The mention of or reference to any company or product product in these pages is not a challenge ch allenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses the fantastic for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for ente rtainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised. 2
INTRODUCTION Basics Book Overview
CHAPTER 1: 1: THE APPRENTICE’S TALE The Desert Towns Sand and Sky The Red Cities The People Warfare Medicine The Lost Places
ULES CHAPTER 2: 2: R ULES Basics Characters Actions Lasting Consequences Exerting and Exhausting Traits Talents Drama Points Trouble Strain Conditions Improvement and Change Character Creation Example of Character Creation Non-Player Characters Combat The Combat Round Example
8
Combat Maneuvers Strike Parry Disarm Draw Corps-a-Corps Feint Lunge Riposte Shove Sweep Attack Combo Talents Ranged Weapons Unarmed Combat Minions and Mobs Challenges The Map The Uncanny The Adept Arts Astrology Fixing Origins Anger Battlehymn Chiaro Cimmeria Coronal Foresight Illium Siren Skarras Surtur Wyeth Valley Vance Zaiu Caravans Ziggur
8 8
12 12 12 13 14 16 16 16
20 20 20 20 20 21 21 22 22 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 3
28 28 28 28 28 28 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 30 31 31 32 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 39 40 40
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
Zodiac Dust Towns Careers Adept Assassin Astrologer Cavalier Courtesan Entertainer Fixer Laborer Merchant Noble Physician Pilot Priest Scavenger Scholar Servant Soldier Thief Talents Cunning Talents Always a Way Out Bribery Cheat Disguise Hidden Pockets Improvised Tools Lawyer Vouchsafe Forceful Talents Dangerous Reputation Demolish Dress to Impress Offer They Can’t Refuse In Demand Graceful Talents Acrobat Climber Free Running Showoff Vanish in a Crowd Career Talents Adept Dowsing Psychometric Master Telekinetic Control Windspeaking
41 41
Assassin Bleeding Cut Invisible Blade Slip the Knife Deeper Taste of Poison Astrologer Foreordained Master Astrologer Portents Quick Read Cavalier Fast Footwork Flashing Blades Mounted Combatant Courtesan Accepted Everywhere Importance of Ceremony Seduction Whispered Secrets Entertainer Distraction Inspiration Impressive Physique Keeping Up with the News Fixer Cobble Together Director I Made It, I Know How It Works Mastercrafter Laborer Basic Artisan Jack of All Trades Scrapper Merchant Appraisal Good Deal Well-Traveled Noble Command Respect Friends in High Places Put it on my Tab Physician Expert Treatment Quick Treatment Soothe Pilot In Command Navigational Expertise They All Work the Same Priest Calming Presence Ritual Fervor Raise Morale
42 42 43 43 43 43 44 45 45 46 46 46 46 47 48 48 49 50 50 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 53 53 53 53 53 53 4
53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 56
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Scavenger Friends in Low Places This Will Do Tomb Raider Scholar Forge Documents Ready to Research Well-Read Servant Blade Carrier The Back Door Unobtrusive Soldier Deadly Force Pistoleer Tactician Thief Charlatan Pick Pocket Sneak Non-Player Combat Talents Stand Together (Minion Only) Mob Violence (Minion Only) Daring Reversal Evasive Footwork Reckless Assault Paths
56 56 56 56 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 58 58 58 58 58 58
The Wyeth The Zaius Religions
Astrology of Zodiac The Church of the Damsel Messiah Fire Priests of Surtur Initiates of the Labyrinthine Mysteries Wyeth Reincarnation Cycle Yellow Silks of Ziggur Zaius Ancestor Worship Mystery Cults Cities and Regions
58
Path of the Barbarian Path of Bloody Knives Path of the Conqueror Path of the Coward Path of the Deceiver Path of the Devoted Path of the Entranced Path of the First Footstep Path of Giving Hands Path of Jeweled Thrones Path of Lamentation Path of the Legendary Path of Open Arms Path of the Night-Thief Path of Promises Kept Path of the Vendetta
58 58 58 58 58 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59
CHAPTER 3: CIVILIZATION
62
Peoples
62
The Red Martians The Roundheads The Pale Martians The Skarruts
62 64 64 66
69
69 70 71 71 72 73 73 74 75
Anger Locations Battlehymn Locations Chiaro Locations Cimmeria Coronal
75 75 80 80 83 84 88 92
Locations Foresight Locations Illium Locations Siren Locations Skarras Locations Surtur Locations Vance Locations Wyeth Locations Ziggur Locations Zodiac Locations
93 98 98 102 102 106 107 111 111 116 116 120 121 126 126 130 130 135 135
CHAPTER 4: A WORLD OF ADVENTURE
142
The Poles
142
North Plains of the Pillar 5
66 67
143 143
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
The Bone Annals Cycnus, the Drifting Ruin South Black Rubble Gallow’s End The Temple of the Poppy Brides Arcadia
The Shanties Excavations The Memory of Waves Meridian
145 148 149 149 151 153 154
155 158 160 162
Hazard The Honeycomb Muniqa
162 163 164
The Prismatic Wastes
165
Rainbow Cave of the Hyaline Mother Armonica Canyon Skarras
Dangling Raster Hirshel Noachia Tharsis
The Lunar Mosaic The Sleeping Witches Zohar That Was Promised
CHAPTER 5: GAME MASTER R ESOURCES Characters: The Personagenesis Machine Adventures: The Tribulation Engine
Location Opening Conflict Roles Tilts Secrets Example of Usage
APPENDIX A: BESTIARY Beasts of Burden Aepys Horus Oleph
Razok Yummoc Friends Eora Meles Singing Spider Beasts of the Desert Caute (or Ghost Cat) Ghosts Machaira Weasels Beasts of the Wood Cerana Fagun Bug Ikkun Parasite (Deephome) Miyuk Naruk Wyeth Deer Beasts of the Wastes Jackal Scorpion King Steppes Locust Ursavas Beasts of the City Pale Martian Cities Automatons (or Machine Spiders) Lapin Vulture Vance Salamander Sand Spider Sparrow Chiaro Delve Beetle Ice Hornets Milak Illium Glasscutter (Prismatic) Wasp Radium Rat Silicon Crab Surtur Bharal Glome Bug Ormerian Lizard Skarras Gallum
165 167 169 171
171 172 173 174
174 175 175
180 180 186
186 188 191 191 193 194
196 196 196 197 197 6
198 198 199 199 199 200 200 200 200 202 202 203 203 203 203 204 204 204 205 205 205 206 206 207 207 207 207 208 208 208 208 209 209 209 209 210 210 210 210 211 211 211 211 211 212 212
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Laradill Sandskin Skulker Beasts of the Water Fishwife Lamia Lungfish Beasts of Legend Blind Snake Roc Tomb Stalker
212 212 213 213 213 214 214 215 215 215 215
APPENDIX B: GEAR
217
Basic Gear
218
Clothing Bone Angel Clasp Ghostly Scarf the Color of Rain Jade and Black Glass Bracelet Leather Sawbones Satchel Serpentsilk Shawl Food Heart of Palm Wine Sweet Crescent Bread Wildhoney Tea Instruments Aoide Lark’s Tongue Sea Bells Objects and Tools Book of Gondola Tickets Ceramic Meles-hair Brush Intarsia Jewelry Box Maiden’s Finger
Missal of the Witch’s Cradle Photinus Lamp Weapons Cold and Glittering Knife Hide and Horn Bow Lathed Whip Sister’s Flintlaser Pistol Two Feet Standing Nephrite Dagger Wolf Spider Rifle Rarities
218 218 218 218 218 218 218 218 219 219 219 219 219 219 219 219 219 220 220
7
220 220 220 220 220 221 221 221 221 221 222
Clothing Brooch of the Damsel Messiah Caute Fur Cloak Anchorite’s Veil Food Winnowgrass Instruments
222 222 222 222 222 222 222
Wyeth Harp Seven Cresting Waves Wooden Drum, Inlaid with Silver Stars Objects and Tools A Spoke From The Wind’s Saddle Clockwork Heart Map of the Heavens (Stationary) Weapons Echidna’s Tooth Opening of the Way Staff of Life Ten Devils Caught
222 223 223 223 223 223 223 224 224 224 224 224
Building Your Own
225
APPENDIX C: INSPIRATION
226
BASICS
Return now to dying Mars in its last age of glory. A planet of flashing swords and choking sands, of winking courtesans and lantern-lit canal cities. Mars, where fortune and death are two sides of the same obsidian chit. Where lost cities and dry oceans stretch between the last bastions of civilization. Where the First Martians, the monument-builders, are but a haunted memory. Where the Red Martians have become decadent and giddy in their last days. Where the Pale Martians rule the wastes, remembering a history whose weight would crush a lesser people.
Cavaliers of Mars is designed for two to five players, each of whom creates their own hero, and a single Game Master (GM), who creates situations and threats against which those heroes can shine.
When the outcome of an action is in doubt, players roll a pool of dice (in sizes from d6 to d12), based on their characters’ traits, and pick the two highest. They compare the result to that of a similar pool rolled by the GM, which includes dice for the action’s difficulty and/ or the traits of opposing characters. These rolls usually provide a straight success or failure, but can have ongoing consequences at the GM’s discretion.
Find yourself digging desperately for treasure in the lost tombs of Chiaro, spitting defiance at the Roundhead priests of wild Ziggur, dashing across the towered crypts of Vance. Lock steel with the Princess Invincible, even as your hand reaches towards your flintlaser for insurance.
Characters also have Talents, which enable players to skip rolling under certain circumstances in favor of an effect that “just works.”
Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance. Cavaliers of Mars is a roleplaying game of adventure on a dying world. It combines swashbuckling action with desperation and ambition.
For violent conflict, players select a pool of dice representing their characters’ individual maneuvers. Everyone rolls, then the maneuvers are resolved in order from the highest die to the lowest.
Mars is a world of pageantry, where masked balls conceal dark intrigues. It’s also a world of crowded city streets, where the people jostle each other in long water lines. This is a world where a celebrated officer in a shining army can be worn down to a nameless wanderer, selling his sword in dusty desert towns.
Finally, players can tweak the odds of their heroes’ actions or assume narrative control by spending Drama Points. Drama Points are regained when heroes get into trouble or find themselves seriously disadvantaged.
BOOK OVERVIEW
In this dying, predatory world, there’s a place for characters with their own morality. For people willing to take a stand. And to kick a whole lot of ass.
• Chapter 1: The Apprentice’s Tale presents an in-character overview of our Mars through the eyes of a cavalier’s apprentice.
Cavaliers of Mars is about hope and honor at the end of the world. 8
INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 2: Rules introduces the DEIMOS system, including character creation, combat, uncanny abilities, and more.
• Appendix A: Bestiary tells tales of the strange creatures of Mars, and provides their game mechanics.
• Chapter 3: Civilization describes the peoples, religions, and major cities of Mars.
• Appendix B: Gear covers a selection of objects and equipment useful (and hazardous) to heroes.
• Chapter 4: A World of Adventure details exotic locations from across the world.
• Appendix C: Inspiration offers examples of fantasy and historical fiction that inform our Mars and can inspire your characters and adventures.
• Chapter 5: Game Master Resources includes tools and generators to help the GM prepare sessions and stories.
9
“I have lived a long life,” my master used to say. “Soon it will be my turn to die. And not long after, the world’s turn.” And then he would order another drink. When my master took me in, I might as well have been an orphan. He bought me from my mother for a handful of ceramic chits laced with the radium of Illium. They were worth a dozen rations of water, but he might as well have handed her his flask of liquor directly. I know he was carrying one. Why my master did that, I don’t know. He told me, at various times, that my father had been his brother-in-law, or that they had served together in the war. There were other stories, too. Any or all of them could have been true. I often suspect that he took me on because he pitied me. Whatever the case, he raised me from the age of 13 as his own child. He died three years ago. The master was a man of wild stories. He had been across our Red World a dozen times or more. He told me of hard-fought battles, of daring deeds, of the love of princes and princesses. He talked most often when we were practicing with swords. I think he talked to teach me how to fight while distracted. He told me his stories, and he told me that one day I would have as many of my own. From the time he adopted me until his death, he made his way as a fencing instructor and a hired bravo. He made little money this way, but always enough to keep him in his cups and to keep me well-looked-after. This book is our world as he saw it, the world in which he lived and died. I am giving you his words as honestly as I can, and with care taken not to reveal certain indelicate secrets. I am giving you the legacy of a dying man on a dying world. I am giving you Mars.
THE DESERT TOWNS
from experience. More than once, my master and I were hunted across the desert by those would have our water. Some towns will hire wanderers as protectors, to ward off desert raiders, or even to enforce the law.
I spent the first 13 years of my life in the desert. It is, as anyone will tell you, a hard life, harder even than in the cities. We were fortunate…we had an old well, an artifact of the First Martians that plunged deep into the permafrost and sucked out the water.
A few of our ill-omened expeditions into the lost places began in towns like the one I grew up in. Despite the danger ahead, I was never tempted to stay behind.
The desert brigands merely collected dues from our village; we were spared the seasonal ravaging that came to so many others. My master told me about the brigands. He told me that no man joins them by choice, that they are bands of outcasts driven farther away from society than any others, save perhaps the lost inhabitants of the dusk cities.
SAND AND SKY We live upon an old world, and you can find that in every aspect of life and death. My master often spoke of the world dying. As a child I imagined I could hear its groaning sighs on the wind. As a grown woman, that is not a fancy I have entirely left behind.
He never said whether he fought with or against them. Without walls or buildings, the desert towns are also subject to the full fury of the elements, including the dust storms. When those great red clouds come rolling out of the desert, they bring scouring debris. Worse, though, is the dust itself, fine as smoke. It seems to suck the moisture from your tissue, and you must try desperately to hold your breath, lest you be taken by a ghost. Storms give voice and motive power to the dead, who can otherwise travel only on the wind.
My first voyage across the desert began the day after my master bought me. Or, as I’ve come to think, bought my freedom. Clad in long desert robes and silk breathing masks, we set out beyond the borders of the square mile in which I had lived all my life. The desert, then as now, was temperate by day, frigid by night, and extended forever in all directions. Though we followed an ancient track, no one could have seen it who had not learned it by heart, master to apprentice, as it was with me.
Still, there are reasons to stay. Overland trade can support many a community, as can the rare operating mine. Some take the difficult path of raising meat animals, and bring in a measure of prosperity in selling them to the larger settlements. Some few are even located on oases, where vegetables can be grown and water is not quite so scarce.
My master often said that the sun no longer looms as large as once it did. Certainly, it no longer warms the planet with the same intensity. While the air itself is thin, it is thick with dust, creating the strange scarlet skies. As the sun rises or sets, the dust gives it an eerie blue halo. Like many, my master was superstitious about night and the color blue. Twilight lasts an hour or more at both at
Desert towns aren’t precisely hospitable, but they can be good places to go to ground. I can vouch for this 12
THE DESERT TOWNS | SAND AND SKY | THE RED CITIES
sunrise and sunset, and at that time you can clearly see the blue star called Earth.
rock, which somehow traps the water from the pole with no need of canals. There, it even rains. In Ziggur, a place I shall shun and curse all my days, the people are rationed water that condenses within the atmosphere processor.
Dust storms are common, and can cover huge regions. We were fortunate not to encounter any during my first desert crossing. A few times a century, a storm will rise out of Hell’s Basin and engulf the entire world. A planetwide dust storm can leave behind an epidemic of the maddened and possessed. It fell to my master sometimes to put such people to the sword.
In any city, the majority of construction is stone and mud brick. Sometimes, this construction can be quite shoddy…my master told the story of being thrown through a third-story wall in Chiaro. Daily life is a struggle for all. No one is well-heeled enough to be certain where their next skin of water will come from. Every hand toils to earn food and water, whether attached to the arm of a laborer, a scribe, or a sellsword. Still, better the cities than the sort of town I grew up in.
Bodies of water are few, and rain is rare a nd precious. Some parts of Mars have not seen a drop in thousands of years. Sometimes I’ve seen ice clouds in the coldest, highest parts of the sky, giving it a violet hue. This ice can be harvested by intrepid flyers – one of the thousand ways Illium maintains its flowing fountains and generous water rations. Other water comes from ancient wells, or is processed from layers of ice beneath the sand. The marsh people of the old sea beds distill their water from the muck. Indeed, I have been forced to do so myself, and can say that the results are musty and unpleasant, but as life-giving as a drink from any other source
Traveling between cities can be difficult. Hire a boat down the canals, and you risk pirates. Desert thieves say the water pirates are soft; the two missing fingers on my master’s left hand put the lie to that. Travel overland, and you risk the desert thieves, not to mention the desert itself. Yet for all that, the journeys are worth it. Few of the city-states are truly self-sufficient, and anyone who can trade or steal commodities in one to sell in another stands to earn more than their share of water.
Yet Mars’ greatest waterworks, those which sustain our remaining societies, are the canals. The canals are the final legacy of the First Martians, miraculous channels that melt water from the polar cap and irrigate large sections of the planet. Nearly all of the Red Cities depend on the canals for water and trade, and repairs to the canal network are one of the few subjects that can bring our feuding rulers together in cooperation.
Ah, but how to buy that water, or the knife you need to earn it? Each city manufactures its own money, backed at some level or another by rations of food or water. Most use ceramic coins or chits, treated in some way as to challenge the skills of counterfeiters. In Vance, for example, an iridescent glaze is applied; a similar technique is used in Zodiac. Illium’s coins give off a radium glow; I’ve used one to lure a mark down an alley on a dark, cold night.
THE R ED CITIES What to say of the cities? After he bought me, my master brought me to Vance, where we lived modestly in a room above his favorite tavern. Despite his occasional protestations, I can think of no better place to have grown up. In Vance, the canals divide into a spiderweb of streams, which serve as the city’s streets. At night, a thousand colored lanterns light the channels. The city refuses to sleep. In those late hours, a handful of chits can buy almost anything, though one must watch one’s purse closely. My master would often say that Vance is a city of thieves, yet I could say the same of any other city we visited. Perhaps it was the company we kept.
The greatest quantities of both money and resources are naturally controlled by the upper classes, our supposed betters. Different cities have different aristocracies, ranging from Vance with its nobility of merchants and thieves to the theocracy of cursed Ziggur. Yet the divide between rich and poor is razor thin, a fact of which every one of us is keenly aware. Thus, some of the wealthy are given to acts of extreme generosity, in the hopes that we will visit the same upon them should their fortunes turn. In general, the people of Mars are given to grand gestures. We are keenly aware that we live in our planet’s last days, and so we weep and curse and love openly and with abandon.
The Red Cities number some two dozen. Every one is located near some source of water. Thus, most are located along the canals, as Vance is. Yet there are a few outliers. Star-ruled Zodiac is an oasis within a great bowl of
13
CHAPTER ONE: THE APPRENTICE’S TALE
This is true of no one more than the rogues of the Red Cities, a fraternity of which I have sometimes been a member. Gamblers curse their luck with the names of forgotten gods, while bravos seek satisfaction of one another in the streets and taverns. A slight against a hired sword can find a man with a handspan of steel protruding from his back. These rough characters inhabit the lower-class portions of town, but are sometimes hired by the upper crust as bodyguards and assassins. Many times, my master was hired by a young noble to fight a duel in his place.
THE PEOPLE Mars is home to many peoples. The most numerous are the Red Martians, of which I am one. We are the common people of the Red Cities, and I suppose I must admit that our rulers are of the same descent. We share our history with the Pales, though you’d hardly know it to see them. They are giants, and my master fought not a few. The Pales stand over eight feet, with four arms. I would not have believed that every one of those hands could hold a sword, but I have seen it with my own eyes – and been lucky to survive. Their eyes are large, their hair black and long, and their mouths sport two small tusks. Like us, they are the descendants of desert nomads who survived the drying of the seas and the fall of the cities of the First Martians. Unlike us, they choose to reclaim these cities. Of course, there are not many of them anymore – the First Cities are dangerous places, as is the open desert – yet they live in small settlements among rebuilt ruins. I have heard them called a savage race, but my master often said that we are no less savage. For, if we were not, how could we survive in a world that also contains them? We Reds and Pales are not alone, of course. The Zaius, sought after as physicians and wise men, resemble the apes even more than we. The women of Wyeth are as much plant as animal, and much feared as warriors. The Skarruts survived where most other lizards died, evolving to generate heat within their own bodies. And there are others, smaller, stranger peoples who might be found in the bazaars of Vance or their own lost cities. Whence came so many peoples and the fragments of culture we share is unknown to me. I’ve heard it said that we were created by the First Martians, each with some purpose in a grand design. Some astrologers
14
claim that we were seeded from distant stars, that the First Martians themselves were survivors of some earlier, more beautiful world. My master, though he could wax philosophical given enough drink, dismissed these questions as the domain of scholars hunched over
THE PEOPLE
books and bones. I myself think that when our world truly lived, it was simply abundant in all things, thinking creatures included. During my apprenticeship and in the years beyond, I have never met a man quite like my master…yet I have
met many who share the same wanderlust, the same greed, and the same passion for reckless adventure. I have met these among all the people I have encountered on our Red World. For some, there is no place in life but that carved with the point of a sword.
My Master’s Last Moments
15
CHAPTER ONE: THE APPRENTICE’S TALE
WARFARE
of battle. Fortunately for the rest of us, the long enmity between the two states prevents either from reaching too far.
My master was not alone in living by the sword. Indeed, he was slower to draw it in anger than many of those he associated with. In this world, everything of value must be protected with force, whether by fending off desert raiders and canal pirates, or marching across the desert to defend an oasis town. While we are not by nature murderous, we are often driven to violence to protect what is ours and take what we need from others.
Wars between the city-states are sudden and short. At 19, I fought alongside my master in one of Vance’s mercenary companies. In that year as a soldier, I probably learned as much of the world as I did in the entire six prior. When the war ended, we were once again unemployed, and took to guarding caravans for a while. Truthfully, we rarely had to draw steel. Most of the bandits were people we had fought beside in the war.
Most warfare is conducted at little greater than arms’ length. Knives and spearpoints are made from bone. When I was 15, I offended the honor of a young gentleman. Or, rather, I refused both his advances and his demands for my food. Ringed by his friends, we fought a traditional duel. I slew him. After all, I was hungrier. But afterwards, I retched for hours.
Still, from time to time, we were forced to kill former comrades. He never told me aloud, but I believe that is why we soon left the caravans to seek our fortunes in the lost places.
MEDICINE
We left town under something of a cloud, but when we next reached civilization, my master gave me my first steel dagger. Metal weapons are valuable indeed, for quality steel comes only from Surtur or the forges of far Deimos.
The other reason we left guard duty was that I took a nasty cut to my sword arm. My master always told me that he needed me to watch his back. By the time I was 21 this was actually true, and I needed a good arm to do it. Our physicians are well educated in anatomy, and skilled at the ugly art of surgery. Like most drugs, their anesthetics are dangerously strong, and difficult to dose safely. However, they are well-known and widely available, provided the physician’s price can be met.
Our most common firearm is the flintlaser, which is slow to reload but deadly and reliable. My master insisted that I carry at least one flintlaser ready to fire at all times, a practice I have not abandoned. Many sorts of beast are employed as cavalry mounts. Flying terros and their landbound cousins, the ostoros, are difficult to tame but highly prized. My master was a peculiar breed of cutthroat, a cavalier who could ride all manner of beast. Cavaliers keep their methods close to their chests, but more than one has found employment training the army of a city-state or hill-tribe in the mastery of a particular mount. I learned riding from my master as I grew to womanhood and we spent more and more time on the road. Someday, I think, I shall teach another, provided the world lives that long.
My cut was treated with a peculiar gum derived from trees in the canyon-forest of Wyeth. Wyeth gum is antiseptic, and firms quickly when applied to a wound. It acts as a coagulant, stopping bleeding, yet is porous enough to allow drainage. Wounds treated this way heal quickly and leave only light scars. My arm recovered swiftly, though it still aches from time to time. If a wounded person is treated quickly enough, they can often return to at least light physical labor within hours. I have heard soldiers boast that with a vial of Wyeth gum and a pitcher of liquor, they can fight until the end of days.
Illium and Zodiac both possess flying ships, based upon a secret anti-gravity element. When I was 16, my master and I were caught in a bombardment by Illium’s forces. We spent the entire night lying flat on the floor, hoping that no bombs would fall upon the hovel we had commandeered. I didn’t sleep a wink, between the explosions outside and the cooling body of the homeowner lying next to me.
THE LOST PLACES As I was saying, during my recovery, we began to plan an expedition to the lost places. We traveled to Chiaro. We took up lodging in a tent city in Chiaro-that-is, but within sight of our goal: Chiaro -that-was. Chiaro-that-is is a reasonably hospitable place. Poor, but the basic necessities of life are available. Oases within the city space
The capability to unleash such horrors makes most cities afraid to challenge Illium or Zodiac on the field 16
WARFARE | MEDICINE | LOST PLACES
provide food, along with some yumocs raised for meat. We were just two more would-be tomb robbers spending our last chits on the chance of a fortune.
their number. Many more, I was told, lie slumbering beneath the sand. Of course, the ruins of the First Martians are not the only forsaken places on the Red World. Lesser peoples have risen and fallen, leaving their own abandoned cities and degenerate remnants. These so-called dusk cities lie empty, or are inhabited by small, cult-like populations who cling to the homes of ancestors they can no longer comprehend.
At night, by blue flames, we would stare out at Chiaro-that-was, silhouetted against the stars. Staring out at what the First Martians left behind. In that epoch, the world was filled with life. Plants, beasts, and sentient creatures all thrived and multiplied. The First Martians built grand cities along the azure seas, yet still pushed back the many-colored jungles only a little. They even built cities under the oceans, protected by crystal domes from the water and from the great leviathans of that impossible age.
All of these lost places are tempting targets for graverobbers and treasure hunters, such as my master and I. We spent weeks in Chiaro-that-was, hunting for an untouched tomb, for a cache of relics no one had yet dared plunder. We carried blue flames to keep the tomb stalkers at bay…perhaps they worked.
In Chiaro, as in a few other places, they left monuments of unimaginable scale. Here were the pyramid-tombs that must have housed their kings, and sphinxes with their eyes towards heaven. Why they built on this scale is hard for those of us who remain to imagine, but I think they did so simply because they could .
Perhaps we would have found our treasure there. But one evening, as the blue star rose and we made camp, my master’s coughing was a little worse than it had been. His body seemed a little more bent than the day before, and it had seemed a little more bent the day before that. As the twilight dwindled, he told me stories about my father. I don’t know if they were true; I hope some of them were.
Now, these places are abandoned. No throngs fill the city streets, no worshippers gather at the feet of the pyramids or in the eyes of the sphinxes. Many of the treasures of the First Martians lay untouched, as they have since times undreamt of. Not that that’s ever stopped anyone from dreaming of the treasures themselves.
He talked, and he sang, a little feebly. Old soldiers’ songs, maybe learned on the steppe in his youth. He told me of the end of the world, of the days when the atmosphere processors would breathe their last, of desert winters that would last forever. He kept asking me to refill his cup; when there was no more liquor, I filled it with water. He didn’t seem to notice. And, as the ice of night fell around us, my master died. His final words were simple, affectionate, and then he closed his eyes forever.
The First Martians are so long gone that even their ghosts have likely scattered on the winds. Yet their treasures still have guardians. The tomb stalkers are strange, tripodal machines that move quietly through the ruins. Their voices are keening and creaking…I only heard them from miles away, and still the memory makes me shudder. They sweep the abandoned streets of all life, sparing the occasional beast only so it can chase intruders into their paths.
I packed up our camp. I could hear the tomb stalkers, and had no desire to take any chances. In the icy night, I began my walk back towards the blue lamps of Chiaro-that-is.
In Chiaro, I was told many times that those tomb stalkers visible within the ruins are only a fraction of
And so, in the lost place, I left the man who found me.
17
Click. Click. Click. I was locked in a hollowed-out tourmaline circuit breaker, windowless and too-warm and faintly purring with piezoelectric discharge. But I was inside, and the bees (their wings beating so hard I could still hear them hissing) were out there. And maybe, maybe I’d finally found a control room that would shut them off. Panels one and four were cracked and cold, probably broken when the city first crashed against the ice. It had, admittedly, been an ambitious plan. Climb the shattered towers of Eos, find the crystalline star chart within, and use it to turn the sky ever so slightly. To shift a destiny a little, trading disaster now for only a brush with death later. Stealing from the future to give a lover an extra 10 years of life isn’t much more selfish than praying for Hy to pass over you, or for the Maiden to shield you with her hand when the sacred moment comes. I was just being a little more proactive. A little moxie and a natural talent for mischief can accomplish more than you might think. The air over panel two was so hot it rippled. I tried to step back and fell against the bone and brass door. The hissing outside picked back up. Great, I’d reminded them where I was. And I had made it far, farther even than I’d really hoped. I told a thousand lies to wheedle even a fragment of a polar map from a water trader, and a handful more to talk my way onto his crew. Then I walked alone across the bare glacier for days when a wandering ursavas from the steppes ravaged what was left of my caravan. I tore my hands again and again climbing through crystal corridors so clear the arctic sun lit my way. I’d reached out my hand and nudged the blue star into her future, the green into her past. They wouldn’t be quiet years, but she’d have them. I don’t think she’d have been the sort to retire, anyway. She’d die with her boots on or not at all. Panel three wasn’t wrecked, probably wasn’t leaking radiant energy, and more importantly, seemed responsive when I nudged it with the handle of my knife. To suffocate now, hiding from a swarm of clockwork bees, seemed an undignified end to the story, whatever the benefit might have been to a woman currently crossing a different desert. One who was presumably still too angry at me to return my letters. And sure, she could keep being mad at me if I was dead, but it wouldn’t be very satisfying for either of us. Of course, I’m not really conversant in ancient tongues. Vikos? What is that, water? Town? A stinger bent the brass of the door in towards me. Wherever it was was probably better than here, at least. I pressed the button and my stomach fell away as the circuit slid free from its casing and plummeted. Oh, right. Gorge.
Cavaliers of Mars is powered by the DEIMOS sys-
Origin, Career, or Relationship that will help you. The GM is the final arbiter of what Traits apply.
tem, which mixes simple success-or-failure resolution for non-combat tasks with a tactical combat engine based on choosing several actions for your character per round, then resolving those actions simultaneously with those of your character’s opponents.
Another player can help by describing a way his character helps yours, then contributing his highest relevant die to your pool. The GM then picks two dice. If the opposition is inanimate, then the GM picks two dice of the same size to represent the difficulty (2d6, 2d8, 2d10, or 2d12). If the opposition is a non-player character or creature, the GM takes the character’s Resolve die, and the die for the non-player character’s most relevant Trait (like Stubborn as a Steppes Bear d8). The GM may also include one die for difficulty (d6, d8, d10, or d12).
BASICS CHARACTERS Your character is made up of Traits, each ranked as a die size from d6 to d12. For example, your character’s Traits might include For Love d8, With Force d6, and Cavalier d8.
You and the GM each roll your dice, and each pick the two highest. If your result is higher than the GM’s, Traits include Motivations, Methods, Origins, your character succeeds, and the GM narrates your sucCareers, and Relationships. cess. If the GM’s result is higher, the opposition overYour character also has a special Trait, Speed, comes your character, and you narrate the result. which is rated as a number rather than a die type. Speed Basic actions can be used for fighting instead of the determines how many actions your character can take combat system, in order to speed things up. But to kill per round in closely-timed situations, like combat. (or inflict any other Condition on) a significant characFinally, your character has Talents, which create ter, you must call for a combat. exceptions to the normal rules.
LASTING CONSEQUENCES
ACTIONS
Some actions have lingering consequences beyond their immediate effects. Examples include astrological predictions, building or repairing equipment, inspiring or tricking people, political manipulations, and infiltrating a group or place. The GM is the final arbiter of what actions may have lasting consequences.
Basic actions are resolved by rolling a pool of dice against an opposing pool belonging to another player or the GM. To form your pool, first pick a Motivation (For Honor, For Love, or For Self) and a Method (With Cunning, With Force, or With Grace). Add these two dice to your pool. Then, add one die each for any
A successful action generates a Windfall die: a d4 added to a basic action or combat roll as a bonus die. When a player 20
BASICS
A quartet of Vancians gamble on a story earns Windfall, he holds it in reserve until he chooses to use it. In basic actions, the Windfall die is rolled and added to the player’s result after he selects his top two dice. For combat actions, the Windfall die is rolled and added to a single action die of the player’s choice. This must be done after action pools are rolled, but before the Clash of Steel phase begins.
by astrology must be used on actions relevant to the prediction. Only one Windfall or Misfortune die can apply to any given roll. All unused Windfall and Misfortune vanishes at the end of the session, unless otherwise noted in a specific system.
A failed action generates a Misfortune die, also a d4. Usually the GM holds Misfortune in reserve until she chooses to add it to a player’s pool for a basic action or a non-player character’s combat roll, though some actions allow players to inflict Misfortune instead. If the Misfortune die matches any other die in a basic action’s pool, the GM or player introduces some complication — reinforcements arrive, a sandstorm sweeps the area, a character discovers her coin purse is missing, etc. If nothing matches the Misfortune die, the characters have cheated fate only temporarily; the GM retrieves the Misfortune die to use again later.
EXERTING AND EXHAUSTING TRAITS Some rules, such as basic and Career Talents, require you to exert a Trait, stepping its die down by one until the end of the session. A Trait at d4 can no longer be exerted. A Trait can also be exhausted, meaning that it immediately becomes a d4 for the rest of the session. A Trait must currently be d8 or higher to be exhausted.
In combat, Misfortune dice simply become Windfall for the player’s opponent instead.
TALENTS
Most Windfall and Misfortune can be used on any kind of action, although exceptions are noted in specific systems. For instance, consequences generated
Talents give your character special abilities. Basic or career Talents usually give you narrative effects without requiring you to roll a basic action. 21
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
DRAMA POINTS Drama Points are a player resource for influencing the flow of the game. They let players achieve great deeds and insert plot twists, and compensate them when the tables turn.
SPENDING DRAMA POINTS There are seven uses for Drama Points. Activating the Benefit Side of a Piece of Gear:
The player can use the Benefit effect on her character’s equipment. Exceptional Action: When rolling a basic action,
the player can add a third die to her total result. Just a Scratch: After combat, the player may re-
move half of her character’s current Strain. Lore: The character just happens to know an ob-
scure truth or rumor that helps in the current situation. Her player can ask the GM, but it’s encouraged that the player make up the fact herself.
PLOT TWISTS VERSUS JUST ASKING Cavaliers of Mars is
designed to be a game where everyone cooperates to experience an entertaining story. A lot of the time, the GM may just want to ask players what happens, or take suggestions. For example, looking around a murder scene, the GM might ask a player what his character’s looking for, and go with that. For example, the player might say “this guy was a champion pit fighter, I probably know him from my Entertainer days.” Spending a Drama Point, though, is for something weightier or more unlikely, like “I turn over the body...and see my brother’s face staring blankly back at me!”
Memorable Roleplaying: Particularly great dia-
logue, moving character interactions, or an ingenious response to a problem should earn 1 or 2 Drama Points.
Plot Twist: Fate intervenes in the character’s favor.
For example, an ally shows up just in time to help her fend off assassins, or she stumbles across a piece of critical evidence. As with Lore, the player is encouraged to come up with this themselves, subject to GM approval.
Self-Sacrifice: When a character gives up some-
thing vital or puts themselves at great risk for others, the player should earn 1 or 2 Drama Points.
Rally: In combat, the player may roll a d4 and add
the result to any of her action dice.
Trouble: When a character’s Trouble comes back
to haunt him, his player should earn a Drama Point.
Second Wind: In combat, after making a Resolve
TROUBLE
Roll, the player can roll a d4 and add it to the result of her Motivation die.
GAINING DRAMA POINTS Players start each session with 5 Drama Points. The GM awards Drama Points, but players should speak up when they think one of their peers ought to earn points. There are five ways to gain Drama Points. Drama Points always reset to 5 at the beginning of the next session. Activating the Drawback Side of a Piece of Gear:
When the player or the GM activates a piece of equipment’s Drawback effect, the player gains a Drama Point.
Each player character has a Trouble, like a particular disadvantage or a mysterious enemy in her past. When a character’s Trouble comes back to haunt her, her player takes a Drama Point. A player can earn a point this way up to once per scene. When a non-player character’s Trouble comes into play, it grants an extra d6 to non-combat rolls against that character. In combat, the player (or GM) who triggered the Trouble chooses one of the non-player character’s action dice to discard, after rolling.
STRAIN
Disaster: When something deadly or tragic befalls
the player characters, and they didn’t have a chance to prevent it, each affected character’s player should receive 1 or 2 Drama Points.
Strain represents the effects of injury and fatigue on characters, and setbacks on fixing projects. After combat ends, a player can automatically reduce her character’s Strain by half. After that, the character
22
BASICS
needs a full night’s rest to rid herself of the rest of the Strain. Strain goes away completely at the end of a session.
IMPROVEMENT AND CHANGE
CONDITIONS
Your character becomes more capable and gains new abilities as the game goes on. These improvements are purchased with Experience.
A conflict can inflict Conditions on a character, The main way to gain Experience is by following reflecting the emotional or physical consequences of being Taken Out. When a Condition disadvantages a your character’s Paths. Paths are general tendencies or player character significantly, or prevents them from story arcs that you want your character to follow. For doing something they’d otherwise be able to, the player example, the Path of the Barbarian encourages your character to defy local laws and customs, while the gets a Drama Point. Path of the Night-Thief rewards daring thefts. As with Trouble, a player can only earn one Drama Each Path has two triggers: one that gives 1 Point from Conditions per scene. Experience, and one that gives 2 Experience. When Conditions usually last until the end of a game your character fulfills a trigger, she gains the associatsession, although a player can choose for her characed Experience reward. Each trigger only gives a reward ter to suffer the Condition for longer. Occasionally, once per session. it will make narrative sense to remove the Condition You also gain 1 Experience just for attending a from play before the end of a session, such as if enough in-character time passes for an injury to heal on its session. own. Just go ahead and do that if you need to. EXPERIENCE COSTS The available Conditions are:
◊
Exhausted
◊
Injured
◊
In Love
◊
Melancholy
◊
Presumed Dead
◊
Trapped
◊
Vengeful
You may spend Experience on the following improvements. Improve a Method by one step, while decreasing another Method by one step: 2 Experience. When
you do this, add one Talent linked to the increasing Method, and remove one Talent linked to the decreasing Method. You may not decrease a Method below d6 this way, or increase a Method to d12. Improve a Method by one step: 5 Experience.
When you do this, also pick a new basic Talent. Improve a Career by one step: 3 Experience.
When non-player characters suffer Conditions, When you do this, also pick a new Career Talent. Improve an Origin, Relationship, or Free Trait they grant an extra d6 to non-combat rolls against them that exploit those Conditions. In combat, when by one step: 2 Experience a player character exploits a non-player character’s Master a Combat Maneuver: 2 Experience Condition, the player chooses one of the non-player CHANGING MOTIVATIONS character’s action dice to discard, after rolling. A character can only have one instance of a Condition. If a player wants to choose Injured twice, then he should take Presumed Dead, instead. Conditions expire for non-player characters as for player characters, but the GM is encouraged to only very rarely clear a Condition for a non-player character before the end of a session, since that tends to make players feel cheated of their victories.
Motivations may not be changed with Experience, but instead are changed when you feel your character’s story needs them to. At the end of any session, you may increase a Motivation by one step if you also decrease another Motivation by one step. You may not increase a Motivation above d10, nor may you decrease a Motivation below d6.
23
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
CHANGING TROUBLE
Rate your Origin d6. 2. Pick your first Career, and rate it d6.
At the end of any session where you feel your character’s biggest challenges have changed, you may rewrite your character’s Trouble.
3. Name a Relationship with a friend, a lover, or a
possession, and rate it d6.
CHARACTER CREATION
4. Pick your second Career. Either rate a new Career
d6, or step up your first Career to d8. 5. Name a Relationship to another player’s charac-
ter and rate it d6.
To create a character, follow the steps below, adding Traits to your character sheet or stepping them up as instructed. Reference the Origins and Careers in the appendices.
6. Pick your third Career. Either rate a new Career
d6, or step up your first or second Career. 7. Step up any two previous Traits once, or step up
1. For Origin, pick your starting point from the
one previous Trait two times.
following: ◊
8. Name your Trouble.
The Court: Your character has an aristocratic
upbringing (although he may himself be a Servant or some such rather than an Aristocrat). ◊
◊
9. Set your Motivations and Methods. ◊
one of the city-states, perhaps begging or stealing, or, maybe more likely, doing a lot of odd jobs to get by.
Distribute a d10, a d8, and a d6 between the following Motivations:
◊
For Honor... Keeping your word, standing up for
The Bazaar: You grew up in the bazaars, a craft-
◊
The Street: You began your life on the streets of
the downtrodden, upholding your family name. your friends, winning trust.
er’s shop, or as a member of a merchant’s retinue. He was most likely one of the commercially-centered middle class. ◊
◊
The Caravans: As a child, you travelled desert
◊
Likewise distribute a d10, a d8, and a d6 between the following Methods:
◊
...with Cunning: Hatching schemes, feinting, di-
verting suspicion.
The Dust Towns: You were raised in one of
Mars’ many tiny settlements that live on the edge. Some survive because of ancient wells, others because they’re located near a mine or other resource. ◊
◊
For the Dust Towns, do as above, but name your hometown in place of the city-state.
◊
For the Caravans, pick two city-states, giving yourself an Origin like Grew Up in a Caravan Between Vance and Illium.
...with Force: Breaking down barriers, smashing
through defenses, overwhelming objections. ◊
...with Grace: Sleight of hand, slipping out of the
way, diplomacy.
For the Court, the Street, or the Bazaar, pick a city-state, giving you an Origin like Streets of Chiaro.
◊
For Self... Looking for a profit, avenging your
pride, saving your own skin.
pathways or sailed the canals between cities, giving you a slightly more cosmopolitan experience than others. ◊
For Love... Pursuing romance, standing up for
10. Pick any two Paths to guide your advancement. 11. Set Speed to 3. Select Talents. Pick four Talents:
two from any list, and at least two connected to your Careers.
24
CHARACTER CREATION | NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
EXAMPLE OF CHARACTER CREATION
Thief d8: I made my way stealing scraps, now my
prizes are... bigger Talents:
I sit down to create Valentine, a devil-may-care swordswoman who actually cares too much.
Always a Way Out
◊
I choose The Street and Illium for her Origin, at d6.
Deadly Force
◊
I choose Thief for her first Career, at d6.
◊
I name a Relationship with a possession, a Clockwork Heart, at d6.
◊
I choose Soldier for her second Career, at d6.
◊
I name her partnership with Soteria, the character of the player to my right, at d6.
◊
◊
I choose Thief again for her third Career, stepping up her existing Thief Trait to d8.
◊
I step up her Clockwork Heart Trait to d8 and step up her Relationship with Soteria to d8.
◊
I name her Trouble, that she can’t stand to be outsmarted.
◊
I give her For Self d10, For Love d8, and For Honor d6, then With Cunning d10, With Grace d8, and With Force d6.
◊
I pick Path of the Night-Thief and Path of Open Arms.
◊
I set her Speed to 3. I select Always a Way Out and Disguise. From her Careers, I select Deadly Force from Soldier, and Charlatan from Thief.
Disguise Charlatan
N ON -PLAYER CHARACTERS To create a non-player character, use the following steps. 1. In place of Motivations, non-player characters
have a Resolve die. For most characters, set this at d6 or d8. Someone very determined might have a d10. A d12 is unusual, and should generally be reserved for a tough antagonist. 2.
Allocate three basic Traits at d10, d8, and d6. An exceptional character might have a d12, while a weak one might go no higher than d8s. The character uses these in place of the Methods, Motivations, and so on of player characters. These Traits should cover the character’s basic actions in the story, and give a sense of who they are. For example, a character might have Incurable Gossip, Thrillseeker, or A Thousand Battle Scars.
3. Decide the character’s Trouble, such as Starved
With Ambition, or Would Do Anything To See Child’s Face Again.
VALENTINE
4.
For Honor... d6 | For Love... d8 | For Self... d10 ...with Cunning d10 | ...with Force d6 | ...with Grace d8
Set the character’s combat Traits, if they’re likely to end up in a conflict. Most non-player characters have a Speed of 2. Regular combatants have 3 or 4, while particularly tough ones have 5 or 6.This has a big impact on how dangerous characters are in a fight.
For damage, an unarmed character will generally inflict 1 Strain, a casually-armed character will inflict 2 Strain, and someone both tough and looking for trouble will inflict 3.
Origin d6: Streets of Illium Trouble: If there’s a trick afoot, it better be mine Paths: Path of the Night-Thief, Path of Open Arms Clockwork Heart d8: The damnable machine
5. Pick the character’s default combat pool, with a
gives me life and strength, but I don’t know how many ticks I have left
number of action dice equal to their Speed. For example, an aggressive character might have Strike/Strike/Parry. The GM is free to adjust these on the fly, but picking a standard pool in advance makes fight scenes move faster.
Partnership with Soteria d8: We’ve been back to
back dozens of times, and front to front a dozen more Soldier d6: I’ve sometimes made my living as a
hired blade; I’ve also lost it that way
6. Pick or create any special abilities. 25
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
DO YOU WANT TO HAVE A FIGHT SCENE?
Physical conflicts can be resolved as basic actions, which will speed along the flow of the session. The combat rules are intended for dramatic duels and melees, and are only mechanically necessary to inflict the Injured or Presumed Dead Conditions. If you don’t want to invest the time, or don’t need to inflict a Condition, use a basic action instead.
STAT BLOCK
White d10s: Stunt dice, representing moving
around the battlefield, or taking actions that change the situation to your advantage.
A non-player character stat block looks like this.
Blue d4s: Bonus dice from sources like Drama
Points and Scenery.
[Name], [short description][tab]Resolve: [Resolve die] Traits: [Trait 1] [Trait die], [Trait 2] [Trait die], [Trait 3] [Trait die] Trouble: [Trouble] Combat Pool: [List of actions delineated by slashes, like Strike/Strike/Parry][tab]Damage: [Damage] Special Abilities: [If any.]
THE COMBAT R OUND Each round is divided into three phases: Taking Up Dice, Clash of Steel and Break.
TAKING UP DICE
COMBAT DICE POOLS
You and the other players decide your characters’ tactics. Fill your hand with as many dice as your character’s Speed rating in any combination of Strike, Parry, and Stunt dice. For example, a character with a Speed rating of four might pick up two Strike dice, one Parry die, and one Stunt die. All players take up dice simultaneously, and don’t need to announce what dice they’re choosing.
The GM can roll dice separately for individual characters, or combine them all into a single pool. The former is generally appropriate for duels with one or two antagonists, while the latter is better for large action scenes.
ACTION POINTS In combat, the GM activates non-player character abilities by spending from a pool of Action Points which covers all characters.
Then, roll the dice in your hand. Sort your dice by action type, and then from highest to lowest.
CLASH OF STEEL
Normally, each non-minion adversary contributes 1 Action Point to the scene. For a harder fight, or one where multiple player characters oppose a single foe, add 2 for the signature enemies.
The GM counts down from 10 to 1. When the GM calls a number that you have a Strike or Stunt die equal to, it’s your character’s turn to act.
COMBAT
Strikes and Parries
In combat, you get a number of actions equal to your character’s Speed rating. Each action is represented by a single die. At the beginning of a round, you decide which actions your character will be performing, and gather a hand of dice to represent them.
For a Strike die, select a target within your weapon range. Compare your Strike die to the target’s highest Parry die. If your Strike die is greater than his Parry die, the hit lands, and the Parry die is unaffected.
There are four types of action dice.
If your Strike die is equal to or lower than his Parry die, both it and the Parry die are discarded, and no hit lands.
Red d10s: Strike dice, representing attacks and ag-
gressive actions. Black d10s: Parry dice, representing blocks and
When a Strike lands against a minion, compare the rolled value of the Strike with the minion group’s
dodges. 26
COMBAT
Parry Level. If the die is higher than the Threshold, the minion is killed, knocked unconscious, or otherwise removed from the conflict.
since movement can allow you to withdraw from striking range for the rest of the round.) Stunts can’t be Parried. The way to counter them is to pull off a Stunt that counters the narrative advantage gained. The GM may disallow a Stunt that doesn’t make sense.
When a strike lands against a player character or significant non-player character, it inflicts Strain on that character based on your character’s weapon’s damage rating.
BREAK The final phase of the combat round determines who’s too injured or exhausted to continue. Each player makes a Resolve Roll, using their character’s most relevant Motivation die.
Stunts
For a Stunt die, choose one of two effects. You may move one space on the map for each die you have that matches the current count. Alternatively, you may change the scene to your advantage. For example, you might knock a candelabrum over on a foe, forcing them to Parry your attacks between blazing candles!
If the die comes up greater than or equal to your character’s Strain value, your character may participate in the next round.
Stunts are usually things your character does, but you can use them to create events that benefit you, as well. Your love might dash into the room to see you fighting the count, distracting him at a critical moment.
If the die comes up less than your character’s Strain value, your character is Taken Out: she is wounded, unconscious, or otherwise removed from combat for the rest of the scene. At the end of the fight, she receives a Condition.
A Stunt gives you or an ally a +2 bonus to one Strike or Parry die, in addition to the benefits of manipulating the scene. The bonus must be used before the end of the round. (Using the Stunt in this way is sometimes less advantageous than using it for movement,
EXAMPLE The Apprentice, young ward of a cavalier, is surrounded by a gang of boys demanding her water. She
27
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
picks up a sharp rock and calls out their leader, who responds by drawing a crude knife.
You may use one maneuver per round. Except for the basic Strike and Parry, you can’t use the same maneuver in two consecutive rounds.
The Apprentice has a Speed of 3, and the boy has a Speed of 2. She’s in an aggressive mood, so her player picks two red Strike dice and one black Parry. The boy is wary of her defiant attitude so the GM splits his pool between one red Strike and one black Parry.
The variety of maneuvers can create some decision paralysis for new players. Feel free to stick to the basic Strike, Parry, and Stunt until you’re ready to experiment with fancier moves.
The player and the GM roll. The player rolls 8 and 6 on the Apprentice’s Strikes, and 7 on her Parry. The GM rolls 7 on the boy’s Strike, and 4 on his Parry.
STRIKE You stab, slash, or bash your foe. Action: Strike Mastery: +1 damage
The Clash of Steel begins. The GM counts down from 10. On 8, the Apprentice lunges, making a savage swing at the boy’s head with her rock. Since her Strike die is higher than his only Parry, she connects, sending him reeling. He takes 1 Strain. He keeps his Parry die.
PARRY You deftly block or evade an attack. Action: Parry Mastery: +2 to a single Parry
On 7, the boy regains his footing and slashes with his knife. Since the Apprentice has a Parry of 7, she leaps lightly out of the way. She takes no Strain. Her Parry die is discarded.
DISARM You knock your opponent’s weapon from their hand. Action: Stunt Effect: Disarmed advantage; opponent can’t use maneuvers like Riposte or Sweep Attack until they pick up a weapon using a Stunt or during the Break phase. Mastery: +2 bonus to Disarm Stunt die
On 6, the Apprentice Strikes again, this time aiming to sweep the boy’s legs out from under him. Since he only has a Parry die of 4, she succeeds, and he lands unceremoniously on his backside. He takes another 1 point of Strain.
DRAW CORPS-A-CORPS You draw your opponent in, pressing body to body as you grapple. Action: Stunt Effect: Corps-a-corps advantage; only fists and daggers can be used while advantage is in play. You or your foe may use a Stunt to break free. Mastery: Make a single armed Strike immediately after drawing close
At the Break, it’s time to make Resolve Rolls. Since the Apprentice hasn’t taken any Strain so far in this fight, the player doesn’t have to make one. If she did, she’d use the Apprentice’s For Self Motivation, at d8. The boy, meanwhile, has a Resolve of d4. The GM rolls the die and gets a 1, so the boy is Taken Out. The boy stays on the ground, humiliated. He still gets water…in the form of the Apprentice’s spit upon his cheek.
FEINT You make a false attack, and your enemy’s defense gives you an opening. Action: Stunt Effect: Opponent is distracted until the end of the round. One Strike against a distracted character counts as +2 higher than normal. Mastery: The second Strike against the character counts as +1
The player chooses to inflict the Injured Condition…though after this defeat, she doesn’t expect to see the boy or his cronies again.
COMBAT MANEUVERS Combat maneuvers are optional special moves that replace the effects of your regular action dice. Anyone can use any maneuver, provided they meet the requirements and pay any costs. Each maneuver also has a Mastery effect, which you can buy to add additional benefits.
28
COMBAT
LUNGE You thrust forward with your entire body, putting devastating force behind your weapon but leaving yourself open to attack. Action: Parry Effect: The Parry becomes a Strike. Mastery: The Lunge deals +1 damage
Most ranged weapons need to be reloaded between shots. This happens automatically in the Break phase. Thus, they can only inflict a single successful Strike. However, ranged weapons can also be aimed, essentially combining Strikes. Each Strike die in the player’s pool can be spent to add +2 to the value of the highest Strike die in the pool.
RIPOSTE Your opponent’s assault leaves her open, and you strike back. Action: Parry Effect: If your successful Parry is higher than the Strike it counters, promote one Strike to the level of the Parry and resolve it immediately. Mastery: +1 damage
UNARMED COMBAT
Many ranged weapons can’t be used to Parry, meaning that the character must Parry as if unarmed. Parry dice can still be used to dodge ranged Strikes.
If a character lacks a weapon, she takes 1 Strain for any successful Parry against an armed opponent in close combat.
MINIONS AND MOBS
SHOVE You crash into your foe with great force, pushing them into a less advantageous position. Action: Stunt Effect: Your foe is moved one space. Mastery: You may also resolve your next highest Strike die while pushing your foe.
Since having the GM track a hand of dice for each individual non-player character in a big fight scene could get cumbersome, mobs of minor characters (minions) use a simplified set of rules. Each minion group has a Parry Level: 2, 4, 6, or 8. When an individual minion gets hit with a Strike equal to or greater than their group’s Threshold, they’re killed, knocked unconscious, or otherwise removed from action.
SWEEP ATTACK You swing your weapon in a wide arc, sending your enemies sprawling. Action: Strike Cost: Exert Force Requirement: Using a heavy swinging weapon Effect: Attack each enemy in space Drawback: -2 to highest Parry Mastery: No Parry penalty
The GM rolls one pool of dice for an entire group, with a Speed rating equal to the number of minions in the group who haven’t yet been defeated. Minions shouldn’t usually Parry -- their dice should typically be Strikes and Stunt. As the Clash of Steel resolves, the GM can use any die for any minion in the group.
COMBO TALENTS
Some minions have special abilities that they can spend Stunts to use.
Certain Talents offer special effects based on combinations of actions in combat. To use a combo Talent, you need to have the listed actions in your pool. The Talent may also list a cost in dice. Those dice count to meet the requirements, but are skipped during the Clash of Steel. Action dice not spent to meet a cost are resolved normally. Each action die can only count toward one combo per round.
CHALLENGES Not all dangers can be faced with steel. The heroes might find themselves in a burning building, or traversing wind-worn cliffs which may crumble at any moment, or playing a game of chance and skill against a criminal to gain her aid. When you want to play out a danger over multiple actions, you can use a challenge.
R ANGED WEAPONS Slightly different rules apply when a combatant is using a flintlaser, sling, or other weapon intended for attacking at a distance.
Challenges use similar rules to combat, just slightly reframed. Strikes are active attempts to overcome the danger, while Parries represent caution or quick thinking. Stunts have the same role as in combat. 29
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
Challenges have the following Traits:
which require an effort to move through. For example, in a theater, the stage might be a single space, since bounding from one side to another is trivial, while the seating might be two or three spaces, representing the challenge of pushing through the rowdy patrons.
Parry Level: 2, 4, 6, or 8. This represents the chal-
lenge’s resistance to being resolved. Strike Level: 2, 4, 6, or 8. Used like a Strike die.
Each turn, the challenge gets one Strike of this value against each character it’s threatening.
R ANGE
Damage: The amount of Strain the challenge
In the below example, each of the circles and rectangles counts as a space. Relative position between characters affects what weapons they can use effectively. Close combat weapons require characters to be in the same space or adjacent spaces, while ranged weapons can attack any space, as long at the GM rules that the character using the weapon can see the target and that field of fire isn’t blocked by obstacles.
inflicts if a character fails to meet or exceed its Parry Threshold. Challenge Rating: The number of successful
Strikes it takes to end the challenge. Used in place of a Resolve Roll at the end of a turn. You should vary the challenge rating based on the number of player characters involved. Usually, the Challenge Rating should be 1 or 2 points per player. (Alternatively, you can assign a Resolve die and narrate a successful roll by the challenge as representing the situation getting worse.)
SCENERY DICE Spaces on the map may have Scenery dice associated with them. These are d4s that represent features like ropes to swing on, sandbags to knock over, curtains to dodge behind, and so on. Once per turn, you may describe how your character makes use of the Scenery, and add the result to one of your action dice.
THE MAP Maps are simple flow charts showing the different places characters can move in the current scene. Map spaces don’t represent exact distances, but instead areas
BALCONY
CORRIDOR
STAGE
THEATRE
ORCHESTRA
SEAT
CHEAP SEATS
30
FOYER
THE UNCANNY
THE UNCANNY
psychometer can touch a target and glean general impressions of one event from its past, or one Trait from a character’s sheet. He can’t learn details without exertion, though. Relationships read as “this person has a lover in this city” or “this person treasures something he carries,” for instance.
No doubt clouds the minds of the Martian people that skyships fly, Roundheads move boulders with their minds, and sometimes prophecies come to pass. Beyond that, though, a thousand arguments express a thousand beliefs about those awe-inspiring savants with uncanny powers who walk among them. When an astrologer tells the princess that if she fights her rival on the second day of the second month she’ll defeat him, and she does, is it written in the stars or just a coincidence? Do adepts draw their power from the gods, a curse, some cosmic force, or sheer force of will? No one knows, though that doesn’t stop some from claiming their truths as the only truth.
The player can exert his Career die to:
Fixing, astrology, and the adept arts make up the known uncanny Careers in Cavaliers of Mars. Any character can dip into as many of these as she likes. The source of such esoteric talents is a mystery, so no one can say why some take well to all things mystical while others master one or none; but sorcerers who command the skies, the mind, and the past are feared and envied in every land.
THE ADEPT ARTS Long have scholars studied history’s psychics to define and describe the limits of their power. Long have they failed. While patterns do emerge, enough contradictions and exceptions arise to refute any rules these sages presume to pen.
•
Touch an object and take a basic action to relive an event from its past. This includes details from the object’s point of view and any emotional context surrounding how it was used. It can also reveal the identity of the object’s owner or creator.
•
Touch a person and take a basic action to relive a memory from her past. This can reveal specifics, such as the name and description of her lover or the name of her hometown.
•
Touch a piece of equipment to learn its Benefit and Drawback functions, and any other special modifications or abilities it possesses. Getting hit by a weapon in close combat counts as a touch.
•
Take a basic action to relive one scene from the past that took place in the location where he stands, learning who was present and what they did.
TELEKINESIS Telekinetics can affect the world through sheer will, transcending the physical in favor of the cerebral. A telekinetic can levitate over minor obstacles or reach a vertical height up to the second floor of a building. She can move light objects with her mind that she could normally move by hand, with no fine control.
Three adept arts appear commonly enough to be considered core to the Career: psychometry, telekinesis, and telepathy. Whenever a character gains an adept Career die or steps it up to a larger die, her player chooses one of these three arts and the character gains access to its abilities. Players can purchase other, less common arts as Talents (p. 51), such as dowsing or windspeaking.
The player can exert her Career die to:
An adept can use minor expressions of her powers without her player rolling dice, as long as she has at least a d6 in the Career. She can perform more impressive feats by exerting her Career die. Each art has special guidelines around how these powers work. Unlike normal exertion, adept dice can be exerted even at d4, but doing so makes the entire art unavailable, including for casual use, until the character rests fully.
PSYCHOMETRY Psychometers can read the histories of people and objects with a simple touch, laying bare time’s tapestry. A 31
•
Take a basic action to levitate over major obstacles or reach any vertical height as long as she has somewhere to alight.
•
Take a basic action to move heavier objects up to her own body weight; exerting her Career die twice allows her to move something even heavier, once per scene.
•
In combat, use a Scenery die in a non-adjacent space on the map.
•
Make a telekinetic strike, attacking without a weapon at a distance. A telekinetic strike deals 1 damage at any range.
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
•
In combat, alter one movement another character takes with a Stunt die. This includes moving one space in a different direction, depositing them on top of a nearby obstacle, or stopping them from moving at all on that count.
party invitation. If another character takes her advice, that character gains a Windfall die. If her advice is ignored, she gains a Misfortune die to hold over whoever disregarded her omen. The player can earn a Drama Point by suggesting, or accepting the GM’s suggestion, that something in the scene is foretold and presages doom. If she does, she introduces a major complication to the scene based on whatever she decides her character has predicted.
TELEPATHY Telepaths can speak directly into others’ minds and skim the seas of thought to fish for secrets. A telepath can send messages to someone without speaking aloud, and glean the surface thoughts and general attitude of one target. He must be able to perceive his intended target to use telepathy.
An astrologer can use astrological and numerological signs to build a horoscope for someone with a basic action as long as she knows two important pieces of information: the date the subject was born, and the name the subject was given at birth. Building a horoscope for a Pale Martian requires his egg name. If successful, the character may use that horoscope as the basis for future divination about the subject. Learning the proper details about powerful or reclusive people is a dangerous but rewarding proposition. Some luminaries, like Illium’s Princess Invincible, carefully conceal their origins and true name to thwart enemy astrologers.
The player can exert his Career die to: •
Take a basic action to determine whether someone is deceitful or honest. This ability doesn’t read specific statements, but rather the target’s overall demeanor and aura.
•
Take a basic action to learn someone’s Trouble Trait, or another secret that’s relevant to current events. This ability won’t reveal details, but could reveal that someone has been to Chiaro before or is hiding information about how the queen died.
•
Spy on one character’s dice pool in combat before it’s rolled.
•
Mentally communicate with someone in both directions for the rest of the scene, regardless of where the target goes after he makes the connection.
With horoscope in hand, a character can take a basic action to observe the night sky and make a prediction about her subject’s future. She may ask one yes/ no question and receive a true answer from the GM, although as every augur knows well, the knowledge itself and the passage of time can shift events to invalidate such answers. If the character has access to mystical instruments that chart the changing skies over time, she can perform much deeper and more accurate divinations. Such instruments include orreries, astraria and other astrological clocks, astrolabes, and documented star charts. Telescopes, rare and expensive, also aid in the art of divination by the stars. Some such instruments, left behind by vanished civilizations and impossible to duplicate, perform even more miraculous feats than simply predicting the future.
ASTROLOGY From the gleaming Panopticon of Zodiac to the fortune-tellers peddling their numbers under the tents of Hazard, the turning of the heavens speaks volumes to those Martians who tune their ears to listen. Whole civilizations have risen and fallen on the word of ancient prophecies laid down when the sky was new, and few rulers of modern Mars dare ignore the auguries of the wise.
Using instruments and a horoscope, the astrologer can perform a ritual and take a basic action focusing on a person, place, or upcoming event. The GM sets the inanimate difficulty based on how much information she has: 2d6 reflects basic horoscopic details and nothing more, all the way up to 2d12 indicating intimate personal knowledge of the subject or exhaustive research. Success allows the player to ask any question — not necessarily yes/no — about the subject and receive a true answer from the GM. Broad questions such as “what will happen if…?” won’t yield useful clues,
A player with the astrologer Career can roll a basic action at any point during a scene to declare that something is auspicious or inauspicious, based on numerological insights, previous divinations, or grand prophecies she has studied. If she succeeds, her character may make a recommendation to do or avoid doing something specific, such as sparing a thief’s life or declining a 32
THE UNCANNY
so the player should keep her questions fairly specific: “Which captains will attend the festival?” or “if I accept this deal will I find my brother?” are good examples.
A fixer can take a basic action to glean the Benefit and Drawback functions of a piece of equipment, as well as any special modifications or abilities it possesses. A basic action can also aid a fixer in combat, allowing him to study a mechanical opponent and glean insight into its weaknesses, gaining a Windfall die to use against it.
The player also receives a Windfall die, which she should keep separate from Windfall acquired in other ways. Later that session, she may declare that any action relevant to the subject of the divination is governed by the signs, using the Windfall or lending it to someone else if he takes her advice on the matter. In addition to its usual effects, if this Windfall die comes up a 4, the person who benefited from it gains another Windfall die that she may then use or lend for another roll relevant to the divination. This chain continues until no 4 is rolled, until the divination is no longer relevant, or until the session ends.
A fixer can take a basic action at any point during a scene to declare that he has made a temporary modification to a piece of gear, allowing it to exceed its usual function for the scene. He might rig a crossbow with a grappling hook to make the hook fly farther, or fuel a skyship with a dangerously volatile substance to give it a speed boost at some risk. If the roll fails, the fixer still makes the modification, but the GM gains a Misfortune die to use for the equipment.
Failure on a ritual divination roll still allows the player to ask a question and receive a true answer, but the character’s reading hits upon a highly volatile or unstable point in time that yields wildly unpredictable results. The player gains two destiny dice, both d4s. At any time later that session, she may declare a significant moment as above and add both destiny dice to the pool of a basic action. If they match, she adds them both to the roll’s total; if not, she subtracts them both.
Whenever a fixer wants to build, repair, or study something significant that requires specialized expertise, forgotten lore, mystical knowledge, or engineering ingenuity, the GM should call for the fixing system. Examples include building a skyship, repairing an atmosphere processor, studying the functions of a buried automaton, or inventing a new type of water pump.
FIXING
•
The roving fixer, carrying his singular tools and forgotten lore from town to town and stopping at every unexplored ruin along the way, is a fixture in many a Martian oasis tale passed down throughout the generations. Fixers study rites and charms to appease machine spirits, engineer rigs to solve problems from the personal to the societal, and repair ancient devices that keep life on Mars from snuffing out like a candle in the black.
• Black d10s: Research and Ritual (R&R) dice. The fixer and his allies use these to lay groundwork with lore and mystical preparations.
The fixing system is similar to combat. The fixer and his allies can use four types of action dice: Red d10s: Work dice for the fixer, or Strike dice
for his allies. Work dice represent making progress on the project, while Strike dice represent dealing with threats and obstacles.
•
White d10s: Component dice. The fixer and his
allies use these to represent materials and tools already gathered, or to find or improvise what’s needed.
Anyone can use a basic action to build or repair something, or figure out how a piece of equipment works, if the object is simple enough. Carpenters and weaponsmiths needn’t be fixers, and it doesn’t require esoteric knowledge to make basic gear for one’s profession. Laborers often know a variety of crafty trades and can produce a wide range of items that don’t rely on engineering. A fixer’s job begins when a village relies on a single piece of technology that’s impossible to find in any bazaar, when an expedition into Chiaro-that-was stumbles across a dangerous mechanical foe, or when an Illian noble commissions a new skyship for her eldest daughter’s 16th birthday. Any blacksmith can forge a blade, but only a fixer can craft a flintlaser pistol.
• Blue d4s: Bonus dice from sources like Drama Points and Windfall. The GM uses four different and opposing types of action dice:
•
Red d10s: Opposition dice, which represent any
kind of direct hurdle or complication — enemies, precarious debris, dangerous malfunctions, etc. Work dice must oppose Opposition related to the device itself, and every project must have at least one such Opposition die.
33
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
• Black d10s: Time dice, which represent the time limit. •
the fixer decides on Benefit and Drawback functions for the equipment. When repairing or studying something, the fixer learns these functions instead, as well as the history and/or rumors surrounding the device, and hints about who used it before him. The player is encouraged to come up with the functions he learns, although he may defer to the GM. A successful project attaches a number of Windfall dice to the device equal to the number of starting dice in the GM’s pool. These are added to actions that use the device, one per roll, until they run out.
White d10s: Rarity dice, which represent how
old, rare, and/or unknown the device is. • Blue d4s: Bonus dice from Misfortune and other sources. Like combat, each round is divided into three phases: Taking Up Dice, Calculated Risk, and Break.
TAKING UP DICE
If the project accumulated Strain, the fixer rolls his Career die. If it comes up greater than or equal to the Strain, the players may continue to the next round and try to eliminate more GM dice. If not, the project fails. The players may choose to fail rather than continue, if they wish to avoid spending too many rounds on one project. A failed project still works as intended, but all GM dice remaining are converted to Misfortune dice that attach to the device, as above. Any player may instead take any number of these onto himself, ensuring perfect results in exchange for personal complications.
Players take up action dice equal to their Speed, in a combination depending on their estimation of the situation. If they know they’re running out of time, they can choose to focus more on R&R dice, for example. Each round, the fixer adds his Career die to one action pool. The GM doesn’t have a Speed — instead, she decides on the total pool for the project based on circumstances. Unlike players, the GM doesn’t reset the number of dice she takes up each round. Instead, the players work to eliminate all of the GM’s dice from the total pool before Strain forces the fixer to stop working.
Windfall and Misfortune generated this way persist beyond the end of the session.
The GM’s pool typically contains three dice per player, in any combination that makes sense for the project. Studying a unique device imposes more Rarity dice, while repairing a simple flintlaser pistol while bandits attack all around imposes more Opposition dice. If the characters are in a particularly stressful situation, severely pressed for time, or unearthing something unique and wondrous, the GM can add a few dice to the pool to drive home the high stakes. Most projects should only take a round or two if the players roll well.
ORIGINS ANGER
Just to the south of the Wyeth Valley lies the Pale Martian city, Anger. The city is made up of gleaming, white-and-red stone and metal structures built upon the remains of an ancient First Martian terraforming machine. The city is a series of circular plateaus set atop one another, each smaller than the one before. Five major roads lead CALCULATED R ISK from the highest plateau in the center of the city all the way During the Calculated Risk phase, opposed dice are out to the farthest reaches, truncated with large white obecompared to each other from highest to lowest: Work/ lisks. Firestorms and windstorms ravage the city on a reguStrike to Opposition dice, R&R to Time dice, and lar basis, causing constant danger and change. The people Components to Rarity dice. In each pair, the higher of Anger accept this change in stride, and are a people full die eliminates the lower one. Eliminated GM dice don’t of passion. If you grew up in Anger, you could be a wide return in subsequent rounds. Dice with no opposition range of social classes; scholars, merchants, military, fixers, remain. For every GM die left in the pool at the end of or even caravan traders. As a youth in Anger, you watched the phase, the project gains a point of Strain. the older generations before you enact change and push the boundaries. When your time came, you too sought change.
BREAK
Pick One
During the Break phase, the GM and players should narrate how each exchange ended up based on which dice were rolled and eliminated. If the project accumulated no Strain, it succeeds. When building something,
1. You spent a great deal of time in the Purple Light with your friends philosophizing about a better Anger. What was your passionate pursuit? 34
ORIGINS
2. You once went on a caravan trip up to Wyeth territory. What did you learn there?
4. Your best friend lived in the slums and eventually joined up with the Red Fingers gang. What did this do to your friendship?
3. Your best friend was forced to choose a gender and occupation they did not completely identify with. How did you console them?
5. As a teenager, someone offered you a decent sum of money to sneak into the Damsel’s Tomb and make a rubbing of one of the tombstones. Who paid you, and why?
4. You and a friend were once caught outside the city during a firestorm. How did you survive?
6. Your parents wanted you to join the Church as a priestess. Why did you deny them?
5. Your mother had a gambling problem, and spent way too much time at the Arena. How did this affect you?
CHIARO
6. While still young, a repair crew displaced your family from their homes as they tore it down to repair the machine underneath. Where did you end up living afterward?
Far to the north lies Chiaro, a Red Martian city of monuments and mystery. The city was built upon the ruins of past civilizations, which in turn were built upon First Martian ruins. Chiaro-that-was is located near great Cydonian pyramids and First Martian catacombs. The area is rife with tomb raiders and artifact hunters. Chiaro-that-is is a high-walled trade city located on the Stygian canal. This area thrives on the relics from Chiaro-that-was and the ice caravans traveling between the poles. People of all ilk make their way to Chiaro seeking adventure and glory within the ruins near Chiaro-that-was, yet much of the surface has been picked clean. Growing up in Chiaro, you would have had relatives in the tomb-robbing trade, and probably met a lot of foreigners seeking their fortunes the same way.
BATTLEHYMN Battlehymn is the seat of power of the Church of the Damsel Messiah. The Red Martian city is filled with beautiful architecture, temples, universities, hospitals, and merchants looking to make money from the pilgrims traveling through. The city has equal parts wealthy pilgrims seeking blessings from the Matriarch of the Church and the sick and poor seeking solace from the Church. The northern shores are home to docks and the temple district teems with trade and religious ceremony. The southern shores are less used and are home to the indigents and seedier elements of the city. The Matriarch dictates the law of the city, though her reach rarely extends farther south than the docks. Growing up, you would have had relatives in one of three different social groups; priests of the Church, merchants or shop owners servicing the city, or the poor and destitute looking to make a living through panhandling or theft.
Pick One
1. When you were a teenager, a young boy tried to pick your pocket. What did you do? 2. One of your childhood friends ran away to join an ice caravan. What was the last thing you said to them?
Pick One
3. A friend dared you to spend the night among the Cydonian monuments, and you accepted. What happened to you there?
1. When you were young, you visited the Temple of the Voice and a priestess there gave you words of advice. What did she tell you?
4. Once, a blind monk stopped you in the middle of the street. What did he tell you?
2. As a teenager, you witnessed Templars harassing shop owners for payments. How did you react?
5. You and your friends went to investigate the broken atmosphere processor as children. What did you find there?
3. Templars accused one of your friends of heresy and tried her publicly for her crimes. What did you do to help her?
6. As a child, you watched a tomb robber beaten and robbed on the street. How did you react?
35
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
Cimmeria’s Quinon Palace
CIMMERIA Nomadic Red Martians sparsely populate the violet plains of Cimmeria. The Qan and the Ozaks have been living in the area for millennia watching the rise and fall of empires, including their own. A fungus that grows on the dead, consuming corpses and creating walking dead that spread the fungus far and wide mars the area. Those who make their homes there set fire to the ground before making camp, and burn their dead as opposed to allowing the fungus to take them. Despite the common threat, the Qan and Ozaks are at war with one another and have been for centuries. Whenever caravans or groups of the opposing factions happen upon one another, it always ends in bloodshed, creating more corpses for the fungus to proliferate. Life on the plains is not easy, and your character is either a Qan or an Ozak filled with hatred for the other. Qan create small tent cities and attempt to carve space from the fungus to live normal lives. Ozaks are more nomadic and seek peace through hard work and training. Pick One
1. When you were young, you witnessed a beloved family member’s corpse taken by the fungus and given a semblance of life. How did this affect you?
2. During your youth, rivals attacked your caravan in the middle of the night. What did you do? 3. Your caravan once traveled near the Fibonacci Knot, and you went inside the first rings. What did you see there? 4. Your grandfather left your caravan to travel to the Atai Monastery to spend his last days. What was the last thing he said to you? 5. Your family lived in a small settlement near Qinon until a Ozak attack forced everyone to leave. Where did you go? 6. You once watched as someone ate a fruit from a corpse tress. What happened?
CORONAL To the west of Vance sits her ancient sister-city of Coronal, built on the side of an active volcano. The city was built by a civilization long gone, but the buildings and structures still remain in pristine condition, due to mysterious silver spiders that come and repair and fix the buildings each night. For this reason, no new structures ever remain built within the city, as the spiders destroy 36
ORIGINS
them in the middle of the night. The city’s growth is stifled in this way, and only the rich and powerful live in the city proper. Anyone unable to secure one of the ancient buildings is relegated to a small shanty town just outside of Coronal called Almeida. The people of Coronal are farmers and workers who make their living selling food and crafts to Vance and other city-states. A military force sent from Vance rules the city of Coronal. If you grew up in Coronal, your family are likely farmers or crafters.
fumes that arise from the depths and peer into the heart of history. To try and record what they learn for further study in Metanoia. Full-time residents include the sort of Martians who have strong beliefs about ghosts, whether to know them, learn from them, banish them, or eat them. Cultists and historians, artists and priests are called from all corners of Mars to stand at the edge of the abyss and look into it. Pick one:
Pick One
1. You were 13 when you first saw the Lost Child in your dreams, still searching the sand. What did she tell you as you walked with her?
1. Your friend once caught a spider at the Xeta Geyser. What did you do with it? 2. As a child, you happened upon a mystery cult who were attempting to read patterns in the spider’s metallic webbing. What were they doing?
2. Soon you’ll be old enough to climb down the Southern Stair and welcome your first ghost into your mind. You’ve trained for this since you were old enough to name the constellations in the sky. What is staying your hand?
3. A city guard once grabbed you and attempted to force you to run an errand for him for free. How did you react?
3. Day and night you study the book you stole from Metanoia, trying to cast your mind into the past to grasp the meaning of its strange script. What do you hope to uncover in its pages?
4. City guards arrested your best friend for inciting a riot in an attempt to get people to fight for democracy in the city. What did you do to help her?
4. When you were 31 and a day, you realized that the ghosts around you were trapped, secretly longing to return to the soil where they could merge and be reborn as Mars’s green lands. Who taught you to banish them?
5. You and a friend spent time scavenging near the lava flows. What did you find? 6. You grew up in Vale, but your best friend grew up in Almeida. How did this difference affect your friendship?
5.
FORESIGHT Seated on a carved plateau just within the impact crater of Hell’s Basin, Foresight curls along the cliff face around it—continually building out onto adjacent ridges and burrowing into the stone itself. That cocoon of rock protects it from the worst of the sandstorms that regularly blast out of its neighbor, which boom past them but do no more than scour the Southern Stair clean and rattle their windows. It leaves them continually surrounded by a haze of dust though, turning the air perpetually dim and red. It was originally a Pale Martian outpost, and they still make up a narrow majority of the population, so it is built to their scale and smaller creatures may find the terrain rough going. Everyone is welcome in Foresight, though, provided they share the city’s single-minded devotion to the past and the knowledge ghosts may have of it. Pale Martian pilgrims travel here to breathe in the smoky
In the glossolalia you record from street prophets and lunatics, you think you are beginning to see a pattern. When will you follow the map you’ve drawn from their words?
ILLIUM The Red Martian city of Illium sits atop the Radium Plateau. This high-walled city is built of reaching towers and sky bridges connecting buildings high above the ground. The buildings are all glittering white stone and lit at night by red, softly-glowing radium lamps. The university is regarded as the most prestigious learning facility on Mars, and people travel from all over for the chance to study there. The city is prosperous due to the unprecedented abundance of water afforded by the underground reclamation system. Of course, the city’s sky navy is the reason for much of the prosperity. The fleet is one of the largest on Mars, rivaled only by that of Zodiac. The city-state is quick to go to war when
37
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
it suits, and reaps the benefits of such. Growing up in Illium, you more than likely served the mandatory two year term in the sky navy. You know someone who is still in the sky navy, and more than likely have family members who still serve. Your family could be merchants, fixers, scholars, or transplants who came from another area looking for wealth in Illium.
2. As a child, you watched the guards in Nadamban forcibly remove a lost wanderer. How did you react? 3. Your best friend died in a sandstorm near Voshi. How did this affect you?
Pick One
4. You and a group of friends decided to travel the labyrinth of Himk to visit the Temple of the Poppy Brides. What happened to you?
1. Your best friend decided to skip town before her term of service in the sky navy came up. What was the last thing she said to you?
5. Once, you and your friends were caught in a flash flood in the halls of Nadamban. How did you survive?
2. When you were an adolescent, you saw Princess Invincible give a speech from Horizon’s Terror. How did this make you feel?
6. Your family survived by stealing what they could, but all you wanted to do was live in the crystal palace. How did you get out of the criminal life?
3. When you were a child, you got lost in the University. What did you do?
SKARRAS
4. After your two-year term was up with the sky navy, you wanted to remain, but you were not allowed. What happened?
Skarras is a relic of a better age and a more prosperous time. The Skarruts continue to dwell in their city, as old as any First Martian ruin, and just as dilapidated. The city once sat gloriously on the shores of one of the great Martian oceans. Now, it sits at the top of a mountain surrounded by dust and raging storms. The city is a monument to time, the buildings falling apart, and older areas of the city are abandoned as they become unlivable. The Skarruts endure, unable or unwilling to relocate, and in serious debt as their city continues to fall to ruins around them. Now the Skarruts sell themselves as guards and mercenaries, hoping to gain enough money to keep their city alive, much less rebuild the broken parts. Growing up in Skarras, you were trained as a warrior, learning the sling and pole in equal measures. Your family could be workers, stone masons, mercenaries, or itinerate architects.
5. One of the Masters of the University favored you and were certain to get a coveted spot in his class. Why didn’t you go? 6. You once ventured into the necropolis below the city alone. What happened to you there?
SIREN The city of Siren lies near the Temple of the Poppy Brides. Its closest neighbor is the city of Honor to the north, with their outer reaches separated only by a perpetual sand storm. The city is a multilevel sprawling place with dangers at every turn, and thriving life despite constant sand storms, flooding, hungry ghosts, and a twisting landscape that kills as often as it shelters. Above, the city is filled with itinerant wayfarers who cast their tents within a labyrinth of stone and sand. In a nearby valley, farmers brave sheer rock faces, floods, and intense sand storms to harvest food for the rest of the city. Below it all resides the city’s elite, the Queen and her entourage, in a crystalline castle far beneath the wastes above. Growing up in Siren, your family was either farmers, guards, or criminals. Pick One
1. You once witnessed someone in Himk allow a ghost to possess them for several days. What happened?
Pick One
1. Your parents were commissioned onto a Zodiac war ship when you were young. What happened to them? 2. During your formative years, your best friend joined the Revolution. How did you react to this? 3. You had a young cousin who was trapped in the Shades. No one wanted to help get them out. What did you do? 4. Your brother ran away from home in an attempt to escape going to war for Illium. How did this impact you? 38
ORIGINS
WYETH VALLEY
5. You once traveled to the Sky Fields to scavenge parts for sale. What did you see there?
The Wyeth Valley is a deep crevice scarring the face of Mars. Within it are lush forests, ancient trees, and the Wyeth people. Cities in the Wyeth Valley are built in and around the trees. Wyela is the easternmost, and one of the greatest, Wyeth cities, and most well-known to outsiders. The city is founded upon a knot of giant trees twisting up and in upon one another. The crevices, trunks, root systems and leafy cover are all the makings of a Wyeth home. The Wyeth people worship their ancestors, believing in an elaborate reincarnation cycle. Growing up in the Wyeth Valley, you watch the other Wyeth take up roles necessary for the society at the time. Your family is likely to include gatherers, gardeners, and warriors alike.
6. You trained under a master stone mason during your formative years. Why did you abandon him?
SURTUR Built on top of an ancient volcano, Surtur is the home of Pale and Red Martians alike. Smoke and ash from the volcano constantly covers the place, which casts the city into a perpetual twilight state. The city is a First Martian construct, but the wealth of minerals and ores the city boasts causes it to keep a lively Red Martian populace. They claim to house the first forge ever built by First Martians, and still use it to this day to create holy relics. Surtur is built in tiers across the volcano’s surface, with mine entrances interspersed between homes and shops. The people of Surtur are miners one and all; everyone gives time to work the earth as a sacred duty. The Fire Priests, who worship the First Martians as gods, rule the people of Surtur in both religion and government. Growing up in Surtur means working the mines on a daily basis, and following the rule of the Fire Priests. You could be either Red or Pale Martian from Surtur, as both groups have equal representation in the city. Your family contains artisans, merchants, and traders to some degree.
Pick One
1. Your seed sisters all wanted to stay in Wyela as long as possible and did not leave when you did. What did you say to them before you left? 2. In your adolescence, you spent some time in the krem den training as a seer. What vision shaped you the most? 3. You and your friends went into the south jungle alone for several days. What happened to you while you were away?
Pick One
1. On your first trip to the Obsidian Plaza, you were caught there after dark when the Obsidian Block started up. What happened to you?
4. Before you left home, a Life Speaker sat with you to speak with one of your ancestors. What advice did you get?
2. When you were young, a Fire Priest told you he saw your future in the flames. What did he tell you?
5. Stories of Deephome always fascinated you as a child. To what lengths did you go to find an entrance?
3. Once, as an adolescent, a mine collapsed on you and your best friend. How did you escape?
6. Creatures from the jungle attacked your family when you were still a seedling. How did you react?
4. Your childhood friends dared you to walk alone in the Volcanic Gardens. What did you do there?
VANCE
5. A friendly Fire Priest once invited you to watch a fire reading at a forge. How did you feel about the experience?
Built at an intersection of several major canals sits Vance, a Red Martian merchant city. The canal system is an intricate web of tiered cascades and interwoven locks and flows. Water flows as streets in Vance, with buildings towering up alongside them. The canals bring trade and visitors to Vance, allowing the merchants to grow wealthy and influential. Most everyone in Vance is a tradesman of some sort. Even those who rule the city are the wealthiest
6. As a small child, a friend dared you to run into the First Forge and touch it with your bare hand. How did you react?
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CHAPTER TWO: RULES
of the merchant families. Growing up in Vance, you saw your fair share of outsiders and traders. You could come from many diverse backgrounds; your family could be merchants as high as one of the great merchant families, or beggars and thieves down in the Dredge. Pick One
2. When you were an adolescent, your friend decided to remain in a city-state rather than continue on with the rest of the caravan. How did you react? 3. As a child, your caravan once picked up a ghost eater. What did you learn from him? 4. Your parents sold trinkets in towns to make a living. Why did you refuse to take up their trade?
1. When you were young, a snotty noble challenged your best friend to a duel in the Arez plaza. What did you do to help her?
5. Your sister was married off to a man in another caravan. What advice did you give her before she left?
2. As a child, you were approached to help some men steal from one of the lesser merchant families. How did you respond?
6. You visited the Fourier Spire once when you were a small child. What part of Zaiu history did you learn there?
3. You grew up in the Dredge as an orphan. What did you have to do to survive?
ZIGGUR
4. When you were young, you witnessed one of the Hounds harassing an old woman. What did you do? 5. Your childhood friend was heir to one of the great merchant families. She came to you to divulge that she wanted to run away. How did you counsel her? 6. Once, in the Hangman’s garden, you met a stranger who was admiring the tortured sculptures. He told you a story. What was it?
ZAIU CARAVANS The Zaius do not have a single location they call home, so much as a set of carts, cars, and beasts to pull them. They are a nomadic people, traveling the face of Mars, and while they claim no single location as their home, they consider the caravans they travel in home enough. The caravans tend to be large moving communities with moving homes full of personality and culture. Each wagon and cart is brightly painted with the history of the caravan and hung with ornate decorations and jewelry signifying important ancestors. The Zaiu people are deeply intelligent and amazing crafters and fixers. Growing up with these nomads, you probably followed a specific route across Mars between a few different city-states. Your family makes its living by making and selling wares to these city-states. Pick One
Built on and around a large atmosphere processor, Ziggur is the largest Roundhead settlement, and the only city ruled by Roundheads. Much of the city is built of mismatched blocks pulled from nearby Cydonian ruins, or built directly on the processor. The city is filled with cobbled-together hovels gathered in the shadow of the great processor. The Yellow Silks rule the city and live within garden terraces built up along the processor’s side. These quarters are decadent by comparison to the rest of the houses in the city. Eu is the leader of the Yellow Silks and controls the water in the city, but is unable to police the area in a military fashion. Due to this, Ziggur is a mostly lawless area, though the few criminals who are caught are ritually sacrificed on the steps leading up to the processor’s entrance. Such a hefty punishment for crime serves as a good deterrent. Life in Ziggur is not always easy, but it seems better than any of the other atmosphere processor monasteries. Pick One
1. As an adolescent, you aspired to be a Yellow Silk. You spent some amount of time in the Yellow Cloister. Why did you leave? 2. When you were young, you watched a crime happen in front of you and no one seemed to care. How did you react? 3. The first time you witnessed a ritual sacrifice, Eu gave a rare speech before the killing. What did he say? 4. You and your friends once snuck inside the atmosphere processor to look around. What did you find there?
1. You have learned all the ancestor stories for your caravan. Which one holds the most meaning for you? 40
ORIGINS
5. Once, while in the Merchant Quarter, a criminal beseeched you to help her hide from the Yellow Silks. How did you react?
5. You had a chance to have your stars read by an important astrologer. What did she tell you? 6. As a child, someone picked a fight with you about your star sign. How did you react?
6. Your best friend growing up was a Roundhead whose family made a long trek across Mars from a different atmosphere processor. How did you help her acclimate to Ziggur?
DUST TOWNS All across Mars stand small dust towns, not much larger than a couple of hundred people, all gathered near a small water source. Maybe there’s a nearly-defunct well, or a small polar runoff that ends at the settlement. Whatever the people can use to survive, they do. These towns are usually filled with Red Martians, and run by the town elders. People in dust towns lead hard and simple lives, not having the wherewithal to engage in the decadence of the city-states. Growing up in a dust town, your family was likely to be farmers or herders.
ZODIAC Zodiac is situated in the center of a vegetation-rich crater in the northern hemisphere of Mars. The crater captures polar moisture as it flows past, and is one of the few places left on Mars with a natural water supply and growth. The city is a beautiful masterpiece, with trees and plants growing in and around the city, allowing for ornate gardens and grass-filled lawns. The city is ruled by a spiritual and theocratic leader, called the Arbiter, whose word is law in the heavens. The people of Zodiac run their daily lives by the stars and seek the wisdom of the stars through contemplation and meditation. Zodiac boasts a sky fleet large enough to match that of Illium, and even they follow the movements of the stars with astrologers aboard each ship. Growing up in Zodiac, the sign of the stars you were born under meant as much as the job you did or the actions you took. You know people from all walks of life, but the stars tell the real stories in Zodiac.
Pick One
1. When you were young, a caravan came through town and the people in it were rough and stole from the townsfolk. How did you react? 2. Once, when you were an adolescent, you were caught outside in a dust storm. What did you do to survive? 3. When you were a child, a lone mercenary came through town and stayed for a week. What did you learn from her?
Pick One
1. You were born under an auspicious star sign. What does your birth star say about you?
4. As a child, you befriended an elderly woman who told you stories of her adventures. Who was she?
2. When you were an adolescent, you found out your best friend was born under an unlucky star sign, but was hiding it from everyone. How did you react when you found out?
5. The summer of your 15th year, crops failed due to drought. What did you do to help your family survive the hardship?
3. When you were young, you tried to join the sky navy, but they turned you away. Why and how did you react?
6. Bandits raided your town in the middle of the night, killing several elders. How did you help the town?
4. You served in the sky navy and in the shipyards for several years when young. What stories did you learn there?
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CHAPTER TWO: RULES
CAREERS Careers help both tell the story of your character’s life and what he can do.
right to speak or to eat only by performing feats of the mind.
If you don’t see something here, feel free to make it up.
While numerous orders attempt this training, true adepts are few and far between. Some orders, such as the Roundheads, combine psychic training with the mastery of mathematics or other sciences. Certainly, the results of these methods speak for themselves, as most Roundheads demonstrate uncanny mental powers. Others combine the arts with ecstatic religious experiences, believing that the alternation of deprivation and excess can stretch the boundaries of the mind.
A few Careers listed here have notes on specific abilities they possess. These aren’t the entirety of what they can do with that Trait, but are instead special cases.
ADEPT Adepts are those skilled in the psychic arts. A few are prodigies, whose abilities develop naturally during their youths. Others are “gifted” after being struck with terrible illnesses or tragedies. Most, however, learn the arts through long and arduous study. Potential adepts are brought up as ascetics, earning the
ADEPT
ASTROLOGER 42
ASSASSIN
CAREERS
Adepts are feared by common Martians, but not unduly so. The average Martian cannot guess at the powers of a psychic opponent, while he knows the adept’s estimation of him will be flawless. Adepts find employment as priests, advisors, and, in some unusual cases, courtesans.
they live as the highest caste. They are held in greater awe than any priest, for even gods are subject to the decrees of the stars. The Arbiter is first among astrologers. Trappings: An astrolabe, star charts, horoscopes of
the powerful.
CAVALIER
Trappings: A faint crackle in the air, as if before
a storm.
A cavalier is someone who knows how to seize the reins and ride. To ride the terro that soars, the horus that sees dangers in its rider’s future, the wind-ships of the Zomek. A cavalier can ride anything. Some say that the greatest of cavaliers ride the wind itself, as ghosts do.
ASSASSIN Hired killers take many forms on Mars. Some are elite warriors, able to best even the most dangerous of opponents in single combat. Others are more subtle, as adept at intrigue as poison. And many are simple butchers, blunt instruments moved into the right place at the right time.
There are no formal rosters, no monastery...riding, shooting and the blade are taught father to daughter, master to apprentice, drunk to generous bartender. Every cavalier is a different kind of person, but most are for hire, and all but a spare few are killers.
Career assassins work for hire, and are usually found in the employ of one wealthy interest or another. In Vance, assassination is a common ploy in the politics of the merchant houses. There, political murder is considered primarily the crime of the patron, rather than the hand that wields the knife. In Ziggur, assassins pursue prey more vulnerable here than elsewhere, or find employment with the small, but dedicated, cells of revolutionaries.
The Qans and the Ozaks both employ cavaliers in their centuries-long war across the steppe. Few Zaius care to ride, but often a science-priest of the ape men will employ a cavalier as a bodyguard. The one sure mark of the cavalier trade are their hats, broad and long, warding the sand out of their killers’ eyes.
A few assassins wander the desert paths, spending years tracking a single quarry, and striking them down at the most poetic possible moment.
Trappings: A long, broad black hat, a sword, treats
for various beasts.
COURTESAN
Trappings: Poison, small blades, a disguise.
ASTROLOGER Astrologers divine the will and ways of the heavens. An astrologer’s tools are mathematics and charts, much as a sailor in ancient days. Nearly every great city has astrologers, even when they are forbidden, as in Ziggur. The wealthiest of astrologers have great telescopes, mounted upon rooftops or even sacred hills. A few telescopes survive from the age of the first Martians, and an astrologer who can command one of these is mighty indeed. Finding such an instrument might well be the ultimate ambition of an adventuring astrologer. In Zodiac, astrologers are particularly respected. Far from selling their services on the streets, as in Vance,
43
Courtesans decorate the arms of their patrons, as well as warm their beds. Even the lowest courtesans dress in vivid and revealing clothing, hoping to catch the eye of a noble or a wealthy merchant. In most cities, courtesans can be distinguished not only by their clothing, but by the glass lanterns they carry. An exquisite courtesan is the mark of a person who has not only money, but taste as well. Courtesans often practice other professions in order to make themselves more attractive additions to a household. Astrologers or fixers are common. A few are even physicians, caring for the flesh’s every need. Traveling courtesans are often seeking a place in some new city, perhaps trading on their very foreignness. Others have tired of the life of a living accessory, and seek to make their own fortunes.
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
Trappings: Silk garments and sparkling jewelry in
Many entertainers practice traditional arts. There are dancers whose sinuous movements may trace their descent all the way to the First Martians. Likewise, poets are expected to have as much mastery of classical epics as of composing new verse.
bright colors.
ENTERTAINER From the poets who speak flattery in the ears of nobles to the dancers who please their eyes, entertainers are an important part of Martian society. Traveling storytellers tell not only jokes and folktales, but also carry with them the news of the day.
Some entertainers do work of a bloodier sort. These are the gladiators of the pits in Chiaro and Ziggur, or the show-duelists of Vance and Zodiac. Entertainers are often found traveling, for the favor of a city never seems to last quite as long as it should.
Entertainers serve, and occupy, every social class. Street poets shout lyrically in the bazaars, hoping for a few chits of ceramic or obsidian. In some places, such as Illium, any performer of some talent is respected. In others, such as Surtur, the entertainer is merely a necessity to maintain morale.
CAVALIER
Trappings: A pleasant voice and a repertoire of po-
ems or songs; for a gladiator, a sporting weapon.
COURTESAN 44
ENTERTAINER
CAREERS
FIXER
Trappings: Metal oddments for use in manipulat-
ing machines, some kind of grease.
LABORER
Fixers maintain the machines left by the great civilizations of the past. Nearly every village has at least one fixer, charged with keeping devices such as water pumps or powered lights working. The great cities have hundreds of fixers, available for hire.
Laborers make up the majority of the Martian population, whether canal-side dockworkers, skilled crafters or peasant farmers. Martians say that toil by hand is the oldest profession, for who other than laborers raised the pyramids or other great monuments? Who else can bring life from the dead soil?
Talented fixers are a necessity of survival on Mars. The most fortunate and experienced fixers maintain great works like canals or atmosphere processors, literally making life possible for the remaining Martians.
Farmers raise the vegetables and fungi that feed most of Mars. They use water in greater abundance than other Martians, yet, if possible, hold it in even more reverence. For if a soldier runs out of water, he alone dies. If a farmer runs out of water, a whole village may die… and not mercifully.
Fixers are also the keepers of esoteric lore. Often, a particularly great machine will have its own rituals and prayers, as important to its upkeep as physical repair. Wandering fixers are often in search of more of this lore, as well as exotic machines with which they might build a reputation.
FIXER
LABORER 45
MERCHANT
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
Crafters master arts like tanning and smithing, producing the clothing and weapons needed so desperately by the rest of Mars. In their shops they weave garments of silk and carve knives of bone. They depend on the labors of miners and hunters, who bring them raw materials.
favor shown to those born under the most auspicious signs. Ziggur has few nobles; the closest equivalents are the favored servants of Eu. Likewise Surtur, where power resides with those chosen to join the priesthood.
Disinherited nobles often seek adventure and the means to return to their accustomed lifestyles. Some Many laborers are slaves, spat upon and worked to young nobles travel on grand tours of Mars, or labor the bone. There is not a one but dreams of rebellion… alongside others in search of a taste of the real world. and not a few rise up against their masters. On Mars, Trappings: Books of law, palatial dwellings, hoards who holds power can change with one swing of a sharp of wealth. rock.
PHYSICIAN
Trappings: Workers’ clothing, tools appropriate to
the trade.
From the witch-doctor of the streets to the courtiers of the haughtiest noble, physicians tend the ills and wounds of the populace. Physicians hold in their hands the very powers of life and death, and are held in high esteem accordingly.
MERCHANT On Mars, everything can be bought, and everything will be sold. Merchants make their living off of these exchanges, moving goods from one city to another. Merchants range from scrawny peddlers selling trinkets from village to village, to water-fat princes whose duties are largely administrative. The great merchants are among the most powerful people on Mars, ruling houses that may even span more than one city. Surtur’s merchants are a breed apart from the others, tight-lipped and tight-fisted traders who return all of their wealth to the government of the Fire Priests. Most merchants have spent at least some of their life as travelers and adventurers. For many, the lure of exotic lands is as powerful as the lure of water. Others are made to serve by their families, with treks from city to city serving as rites of passage.
The most successful physicians train under a master, who in turn trained under another master. The secrets of the body are passed down with great reverence, and some are closely guarded. Also passed down are secret signs and greetings, so that members of this august profession can distinguish each other from upstarts and charlatans. Physicians are much in demand for caravans and expeditions, for travel on Mars is extremely hazardous to the body. A physician might even be the keeper of a traveling party’s water supply, rationing the essence of life. Trappings: Saws and knives, esoteric drugs.
trade routes.
Treat Wounds: When treating another character, physicians can roll their Career die and remove a number of Strain equal to the die roll. Treatment takes half as many hours as the rolled value.
N OBLE
PILOT
Trappings: Ledgers, ink-stained fingers, maps of
Nearly every land on dying Mars has its aristocracy. Pilots are those who steer the great ships of Illium Nobles inherit or buy positions of rulership and carry and Zodiac through the red sky. Becoming a pilot takes out the duties of government. Few nobles are truly idle. years of training, beginning with sailing dust boats Every hand on Mars works, even if that work is the fu- across the desert in the manner of the Zomek. Pilots rious scribbling of pen on ledger. are an elite social class. In Illium, they are the most reThe nature of nobility varies from land to land. In spected people in the military. In Zodiac, they sit at the Vance, the nobility are nearly all merchant-aristocrats Arbiter’s great table. who sponsor city services and army units. In Illium, noGreat legends surround the early pilots, and are told bles are the most educated scholars. Zodiac’s aristocra- across Mars. One of the most popular concerns the Ancient cy is made up of the descendants of past Arbiters, with Mariner, who spent 12 minutes crossing the sky, though it 46
CAREERS
NOBLE
PHYSICIAN
seemed to him 12 years. Children are told that the voice of the Mariner can still be heard on the wind, crying in exultation and horror at seeing the world revealed to him.
PILOT
shout on the corners and in the squares, decrying the decadence of the populace and their devotion to flesh and vanity. Among the Pale Martians, prophets exhort their followers to follow the example of the moons, to shine brightly even if it means shining alone. Surtur’s Fire Priests preach the scripture of the First Martians, read from the bands of hieroglyphs that circle the great volcanoes. The populations of lost cities often cling to their forsaken homes only because of misdirected piety.
Trappings: Charts, navigational instruments, cere-
monial winged knife.
PRIEST Priests keep alive the embers of the old religions, which are as essential and endangered as any fire on Mars. Zeal and sacrifice are the tools of a priest.
Maverick priests teach the worship of new gods and ideas. Their cults are often vital and devoted, though always small. There are always rumors of a new and dangerous prophet rallying wanderers in the desert and raising an army.
The priests of Illium are soldiers who go to war alongside their fellows. The Silks of Ziggur teach the worship of the great wind spirits in the atmosphere processor, and make offerings to it. In Vance, priests
Trappings: Scripture, on paper or tablet; tattoos
and piercings. 47
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
SCAVENGER
Fierce independence is another mark of a scavenger. While few are above working together when the need arises, many travel alone, hoping to keep the prizes of exploration for themselves.
The vast wastes of Mars are dotted with forgotten cities, tombs, and mines. Scavengers seek out these strange, lost places, looking to recover treasure or technological artifacts. Others act as prospectors, searching for the last remains of Mars’ natural resources.
Scavengers are often hired as guides by travelers, for they are capable of guiding a party in the wilderness when the beaten path must be avoided for fear of bandits, or because of a secret mission.
Scavengers are typically experienced desert survivors, since they stray far from the canals and trade routes. They walk the lonely old coasts, looking for the ruins of great ports on dried-up seas. Red Martian scavengers often find themselves in conflict with the Pale societies that make the ruins their homes. Pale scavengers, on the other hand, are often treated as thieves by their fellows.
PRIEST
Trappings: Red scarf, blue flame lantern, map with
strange symbols.
SCHOLAR Scholars are the keepers of history and law, as well as delvers into forbidden secrets. They read and write for the masses, or practice obscure arts in the highest towers of the aristocracy.
SCAVENGER 48
SCHOLAR
TALENTS
In Illium, the scholars of the University serve the state. In most other lands, scholars must practice other professions or find wealthy patrons from among the noble or merchant classes. Some scholars serve mercenary soldiers as both guides and the custodians of well-worn maps.
Many servants are indentured, paying off a debt owed to or bought by their master. Others are members of vassal families who have served a particular group of masters since time immemorial. In merchant cities such as Vance or even Chiaro, the customary robe of a servant is black, reminding him not to spend too much time dawdling in the sun.
Not a few scholars find themselves trekking across the wastes in search of lost civilizations and the knowledge they left behind. These dream of unearthing ancient secrets, bringing to light that which none has dared stare upon in millennia.
Some servants hold high social status, such as the architects who design cities and monuments. These servants are often considered indispensable by their masters, and the defection of one to another house, however legal, could ignite a deadly feud.
Trappings: Books of lost lore, letters written for others.
SERVANT
Trappings: Servants’
clothing, tools appropriate to specific jobs.
The needs of the powerful must be tended to. Princes must be dressed. Dinners must be cooked. Callouses must be scraped from feet. Such are the duties of servants, the oft-silent figures who take care of households and businesses.
SERVANT
SOLDIER 49
THIEF
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
SOLDIER
THIEF
War-torn Mars is ever in need of soldiers. Whether highly-trained professionals or rabble given spears and slings, soldiers are the hands and claws of every ruler’s strong arm.
Many are the thieves of dying Mars. For even now, as the sands seek to claim the world forever, there are great treasures to be had, and great fortunes to be made. Some thieves are great dreamers, imagining one grand haul that will elevate them to the merchant or noble classes. Others dream of no more than a few obsidian chits from a laborer’s pocket, enough to pay for tonight’s water and a simple bed.
The soldiers of Vance are mostly sellswords, their units sponsored by the merchant houses. In Illium, they are the personal servants of the Princess Invincible, who often chooses her consort from among their ranks. Every citizen of that city must serve a term in the army. In Ziggur, the core of the army are the guards of Eu. All of the people of Surtur conduct themselves with military discipline, and the true warriors are legendary.
Thieves range from pickpockets to second-story burglars to deadly brigands. They have no real organization, but many know thief-marks, the secret symbols of their profession. These marks sometimes contain warnings, such as the presence of a guardian beast, or boasts, recording that a great thief looted this house.
Many soldiers are mercenaries, the cause they serve varying by day and by coin. Mercenaries often travel across Mars, seeking their water from a wide range of princes, priests, and warlords. The wealthy keep retinues of hired guards to protect against thieves and assassins.
Whether driven out of the cities or tempted by ancient maps they stole, many thieves eventually find themselves drawn to Mars’ ruins and lost places. Those are the places of the greatest dreams, and the greatest nightmares.
Trappings: Sword and spear, flintlock pistol, occa-
sionally armor.
Trappings: Hidden blades, lock-picks, rope,
pry-bar.
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TALENTS
TALENTS CUNNING TALENTS ALWAYS A WAY OUT Despite the danger all around, you see a path to safety...at least for a little while. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: You see a way to get out of immediate danger. Reaching it may still be a challenge.
HIDDEN POCKETS You make an object disappear. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: You may conceal a single hand-sized object on your person. No inspection this scene will detect it.
BRIBERY You tempt an official into helping you. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: The official accepts your bribe.
IMPROVISED TOOLS You’ve run into an unusual need...and found an unusual solution. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: When you find you need a tool to practice one of your Careers that you would not normally carry on your person, you can find an improvised alternative.
CHEAT You don’t like the odds, so you make your own. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: You find an opportunity to rig a game of chance, allowing you to pick one winner or one loser.
LAWYER Your obscure knowledge of local law or culture lets you find a loophole. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: When in trouble, you may ask the GM to tell you a local law or taboo that can help. (Feel free to make suggestions about what it is.)
DISGUISE With a few simple tricks, you take on a new identity. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: For the rest of the scene, you convince witnesses that you are who you appear to be. You can take on the identity of a real person, but may still need to roll to fool those who have met them.
VOUCHSAFE You know your people... and can convince them to hide you. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Cunning Effect: You convince a person who shares part of your Origin (such as the Streets or the Bazaar) to hide you from pursuers or investigators.
FORCEFUL TALENTS DANGEROUS REPUTATION You disclose your identity, and sow fear in the hearts of those around you. Trait: Force Cost: Exert Force Effect: By revealing who you are (either by name or talked-about past deeds), you intimidate those you reveal your identity to.
DEMOLISH With fists or weapons, you smash through an obstacle. Trait: Force Cost: Exert Force Effect: If you could normally destroy an object within a few hours, you may destroy it immediately instead.
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CHAPTER TWO: RULES
DRESS TO IMPRESS All eyes are on your attire, whether out of admiration, desire, or jealousy. Trait: Force Cost: Exert Force Effect: You can determine exactly the right clothing to impress a given audience. This can mean attracting attention at a social occasion, or bolstering the impression that you’re someone important.
OFFER THEY CAN’T REFUSE You put a business proposition in terms your audience has no choice but to accept. Trait: Force Cost: Exert Force Effect: The other party agrees to your offer, though they may not be happy about it. IN DEMAND You’re rarely out of work. Trait: Force (when selecting this Talent, also pick a Career to link it to) Cost: Exert the linked Career Effect: Within less than a day, you can find work in your linked Career.
GRACEFUL TALENTS ACROBAT You leap and tumble with almost impossible finesse. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Grace Effect: You can make a leap or handle a fall without any adverse effects.
SHOWOFF You do the impossible, and you make it look easy. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Grace Effect: When making a Grace roll, add a d12 to your pool and a d8 to the opposition.
CLIMBER You scramble up, never mind the sheerness of the surface. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Grace Effect: You can climb surfaces which are completely smooth or otherwise have no handholds.
VANISH IN A CROWD You’re hard to notice, or keep eyes on. In a few moments, you vanish into the bustle of the city streets. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Grace Effect: When there’s a crowd around you, you can lose pursuers in it and walk casually away.
FREE RUNNING You sprint through buildings and past obstacles as easily as down an empty street. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Grace Effect: Run unhindered by what’s in your way. You can escape most pursuit or catch most quarries easily, and on the rare occasion you can’t, you gain a d12 to try.
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TALENTS
CAREER TALENTS ADEPT
INVISIBLE BLADE By taking advantage of distraction or the cover of darkness, you can slip your blade through the best of defenses. Combo: 1 Strike, 1 Stunt Cost: 1 Stunt Effect: This Talent can only be used when previously hidden, or after Stunting behind your opponent. When applying your Strike die to an opponent, you choose which Parry die they use against your attack.
DOWSING You are able to feel the presence of a certain naturally-occurring phenomenon. Cost: Exert Career Effect: Your character can detect the presence of a specific item within 10 miles, and its exact location within a mile. When dowsing, the character must say what she is looking for, such as water, photonic sand, volcanoes, radium, krem, etc. Dowsing can be used to find specific items, such as “Hilarity’s krem stash” or “Tess’s water ration”, but the GM gains a Misfortune die.
SLIP THE KNIFE DEEPER You use precision instead of force when striking, able to find vulnerable areas or vital organs in a swift strike. Combo: 2 Strike Cost: 1 successful Strike Effect: Deal an additional Strain with close-combat weapons.
PSYCHOMETRIC MASTER You are capable of sensing histories without the need to touch your subject. Trait: Force Cost: Exert an additional Career Effect: When activating a psychometry power, you do not need to touch the subject to learn its details. Your character must still be able to see and sense the subject.
TASTE OF POISON You know the tools of your trade well enough to recognize poisons. Trait: Cunning Cost: Exert Career Effect: You can identify any poison, including knowing where it came from and who is likely to use such a poison.
TELEKINETIC CONTROL Your mental strike is powerful enough to move opponents as well as deal damage. Combo: 1 Strike, 1 Stunt Effect: When using Telekinesis to strike in combat, also move the opponent up to one space in any direction.
ASTROLOGER
WINDSPEAKING You can commune with ghosts. Trait: Grace Cost: Exert Career Effect: You can do one of the following actions: allow a ghost to inhabit your body and speak through your lips, allow a ghost to manifest and communicate with those who are present, or ask the wind spirits to guide your hand, giving you a bonus die to use on any action in combat this round.
FOREORDAINED You have seen the future, and know exactly what to do. Trait: Force Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: You gain one piece of information pertaining to the plot, specifically what action to take next or how to solve a problem. MASTER ASTROLOGER Your predictions are accurate, even with minimal information. Cost: Exert Career Effect: When creating a horoscope for a person, you only need to know their birth name. Additionally, when performing a ritual divination, the character gains a single die step above what she normally would, based on the information she has about her subject.
ASSASSIN BLEEDING CUT Your strike opens arteries and leave lasting damage. Combo: 1 Strike Cost: 1 successful Strike Effect: You inflict a -1 penalty to the opponent’s Resolve Roll during the Break for the rest of the combat.
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CHAPTER TWO: RULES
PORTENTS You predict someone’s doom. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You make a prediction of doom about your subject, which then comes true before the end of the session.
SEDUCTION You know all the right things to say and do. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You seduce your intended target into spending the night with you. You can either gain a single secret from her, or prevent her from taking action in the time you are together.
QUICK READ After speaking with someone for a short amount of time, you can do a quick reading, giving you an advantage over them. Cost: Exert Career Effect: After having a conversation with someone, you can quickly consult the stars to gain a single piece of information about them.
WHISPERED SECRETS You can gain even the most well-kept secrets within a single night. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: You spend an evening with a person and learn their deepest or most carefully-held secret.
ENTERTAINER
CAVALIER
DISTRACTION You put on a performance that distracts those watching you. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: You entertain a group of people, which distracts them from noticing other actions. Allies acting outside your performance gain a Windfall die to their actions.
FAST FOOTWORK You are able to move quickly across a battlefield Combo: 1 Parry, 1 Stunt Effect: You can move up to two spaces on the map for each Stunt die. FLASHING BLADES You put on a show with your weapons, impressing those who see you. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You make a display of your swordwork, which impresses and pleases those watching.
INSPIRATION Your performance inspires people to action. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: Anyone watching your performance is inspired to take an action you have encouraged. If they were already inclined to take this action, they gain a Windfall die when enacting it.
MOUNTED COMBATANT You are skilled at fighting while mounted. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You gain an additional point of Speed for this turn while mounted.
IMPRESSIVE PHYSIQUE Your physical training, either as an acrobat or a gladiator, impresses and intimidates those around you. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You flex your muscles and show off your body, which intimidates those who are watching.
COURTESAN ACCEPTED EVERYWHERE You are particularly welcome in polite society. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You gain entrance into a social function, highend establishment, or party without challenge.
KEEPING UP WITH THE NEWS You are a source of news, and it finds its way to you quickly. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You learn the latest and most up-to-date news for the area you are in.
IMPORTANCE OF CEREMONY You are well versed in ceremony and social ritual. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You know exactly what to do in a social situation, even obscure social rituals that might otherwise embarrass or trip up others.
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TALENTS
FIXER
MERCHANT
COBBLE TOGETHER You can fix something on the fly, though it will likely need further repair in the future. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: Your character can modify or fix a single item immediately, and it works perfectly for the rest of the scene.
APPRAISAL You know the value of an item. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You know what an item is used for, and its going rate on the open market. GOOD DEAL You negotiate a good deal for buying or selling. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You set a reasonable price for selling or buying an item, which your patron willingly accepts.
DIRECTOR Your expertise allows you to direct others to assist you better. Combo: 1 Work, 1 Research and Ritual Cost: 1 Work Effect: You enable one ally to apply Strike dice as Work dice for this phase of the fixing.
WELL-TRAVELED Traveling is common in your trade, and you know the ins and outs of even the tiniest towns. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You know the layout of whatever city or settlement you happen to be in, and can find your way easily.
I MADE IT, I KNOW HOW IT WORKS Only you can unlock the full potential of your own construct. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: Activate the Benefit effect on a piece of equipment your character made, repaired, or assisted in making.
N OBLE COMMAND RESPECT Your noble demeanor forces others to pay attention to you. Trait: Force Cost: Exert Career Effect: Others must defer to you in a conversation and are unwilling to show you disrespect.
MASTERCRAFTER Fixing comes easily to you, making actions easier. Cost: Exert Career Effect: Gain an additional die for this fixing action.
LABORER
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES You are a trusted confidant to important people. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You can gain a single piece of information pertaining to the nobility in the area.
BASIC ARTISAN You have a modicum of training in fixing, though you are not as capable as a Fixer. Combo: 1 Strike, 1 Component Cost: 1 Strike Effect: You may use the rest of your Strike dice as Work dice for this phase of the fixing.
PUT IT ON MY TAB You can procure even the most extravagant items, even if you can’t actually afford them. Cost: Exert Career Effect: Just by stating your name and rank, you can procure any item, no matter the expense, with expectation to pay later.
JACK OF ALL TRADES You don’t need additional training to pick up any tools and do a job. Cost: Exert Career Effect: When taking a basic action that involves any kind of labor, add your Force die to the pool. If the action already included Force, add an additional die. SCRAPPER Your strength lends itself well to close combat. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You deal an additional point of Strain with unarmed Strikes for the rest of scene. 55
CHAPTER TWO: RULES
PHYSICIAN
PRIEST
EXPERT TREATMENT Your healing touch reduces the aches and pains of the injured. Cost: Exert Career Effect: When using the Treat Wounds action, your character removes one additional Strain from her patient, and reduces the time it takes to treat by one hour.
CALMING PRESENCE You know how to ease other’s minds. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You calm a person or a group, preventing them from taking rash actions. RITUAL FERVOR You perform a religious ritual that incites others. Cost: Exert Career Effect: Your ritual raises emotions and whips others into religious frenzy. You can give the group a specific goal, which they will attempt to achieve when the ritual is finished, or you can simply incite high emotions with no focus.
QUICK TREATMENT You can quickly patch up a wound to get people back on their feet. Cost: Exert Career Effect: During the Break phase of combat, you can allow one ally to reroll her Motivation die at a +1 bonus. SOOTHE You can help people overcome difficulties for a short time. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You allow a character to ignore all her Conditions for the rest of the scene.
RAISE MORALE Your wise words bolster those around you. Cost: Exert Career Effect: Chose one other person who can recover a single exerted Trait by one step.
SCAVENGER
PILOT
FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES You know people in the underground market. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You make a deal with, or gain information from, a person in the underground.
IN COMMAND When you give orders, people follow them. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You give orders to a group of people, and they follow them, afraid to anger you. NAVIGATIONAL EXPERTISE You cannot get lost when traveling. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You are able to figure out how to get to the nearest major or minor landmark, or in which direction your destination lies.
THIS WILL DO You are able to find parts or materials for necessary tasks. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You find all the materials necessary for a certain task. Additionally, when assisting with a fixing action, you can use this Talent to gain an additional Components die above your normal Speed.
THEY ALL WORK THE SAME You can figure out how to pilot anything, even if you’ve never tried it before. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You are able to pilot any craft. If you have never encountered or dealt with the craft before, the Game Master gains a Misfortune die.
TOMB RAIDER If you’ve been in one cavern or tomb, you’ve been in them all. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You find your way through underground passages and mazes without getting lost.
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TALENTS
SCHOLAR
SOLDIER
FORGE DOCUMENTS You can make documents look authentic to fool authorities. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You make a convincing forgery of an official document.
DEADLY FORCE Your training makes you a deadly combatant. Cost: Exhaust Career Effect: Gain a +1 bonus to all Strike dice this action. This Talent is activated after the dice are rolled, but before Clash of Steel begins.
READY TO RESEARCH You are skilled in working against the clock to figure out vital information. Cost: Exert Career Effect: When assisting in a fixing action, you can add an additional Research and Ritual die to your pool, above your normal Speed.
PISTOLEER You are trained in the use of firearms. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You spend one fewer Stunt die to reload a firearm than normal for the rest of the scene. TACTICIAN Your training allows you to direct others in combat. Combo: 1 Strike, 1 Parry, 1 Stunt Cost: 1 Stunt Effect: You may lend a single Strike, Parry, or Stunt die to a nearby ally, or you may allow an ally to donate any one of his dice to another ally.
WELL-READ You are able to remember obscure information you’ve read previously. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You can ask the GM to give you a single piece of information that your character would have read pertaining to a particular situation or plot.
THIEF
SERVANT
CHARLATAN You can convince anyone you’re telling the truth. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You convince listeners that you are telling the truth about a situation, even to the point of believing that anyone who tells a different version of the story is lying.
BLADE CARRIER You always have a weapon or tool on hand for your master. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You can say that you happen to have an appropriate weapon or item on hand to use for a special occasion.
PICK POCKET You have light and quick fingers, able to relieve people of their belongings without notice. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You are able to take a single item from the pockets of your target without anyone noticing.
THE BACK DOOR You know where the back doors and servants’ entrances are on most houses. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You know a secret entrance into a house or estate.
SNEAK You keep to the shadows, avoiding guards or other unwanted attention. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You are able to bypass notice as long as you do not engage another character for the rest of the scene.
UNOBTRUSIVE People don’t notice you, and will say things they wouldn’t normally in the presence of others. Cost: Exert Career Effect: You listen in on an important conversation without being noticed.
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CHAPTER TWO: RULES
N ON -PLAYER COMBAT TALENTS DARING REVERSAL You found the perfect opening to attack. Unfortunately, so did your opponent. Cost: 1 Action Point Effect: When a non-player character suffers strain from a successful Strike, the GM may activate this talent to allow that character to make a sudden counterattack. The GM rolls a single Strike die, and if the result is equal to or higher than the value of the Strike that inflicted the initial strain, the Strike resolves immediately. Otherwise, the counterattack is ineffectual, and does not need to be Parried.
Non-player characters may benefit from Talents the GM activates by spending action points. STAND TOGETHER (MINION ONLY) Your foes fight in close formation, covering each other’s backs and guarding flanks. Cost: 1 Action Point Effect: The Parry Level of a single minion group increases by the number of minions in the group, to a maximum of 9. Any member of the minion group that is more than one space away from another minion in the group does not receive the benefit of this effect.
EVASIVE FOOTWORK The grace of your opponent allows him to dance between your strikes, denying you the advantage of numbers. Cost: 2 Action Points Effect: A non-player character chosen by the GM gains additional Parry dice for every enemy attacking him past the first.
MOB VIOLENCE (MINION ONLY) Enemies close in around you, promising violence from every direction. Cost: 1 Action Point. Effect: When a minion group resolves multiple Strikes on the same target this round, the GM may activate this talent to increase the value of the Parry result needed to cancel Strikes by 1 for each Strike the minion group has already landed on that character.
RECKLESS ASSAULT Your foe throws everything she has into a series of startling attacks. Her lowered guard could be a boon to you, assuming you survive to exploit it. Cost: 2 Action Points. Effect: One non-player character chosen by the GM may resolve all their Strikes for the round as if she had rolled entirely 10s, for the purposes of determining the order of actions only. Each Parry die that character took up at the start of the round reduces the speed of her strikes.
PATHS PATH OF THE BARBARIAN 1 Experience: Defy local law or custom. 2 Experience: Overthrow a local law or custom.
PATH OF THE COWARD 1 Experience: Escape danger by running from it. (Maximum once per session.) 2 Experience: Escape danger by running from it and endangering another character.
PATH OF BLOODY KNIVES 1 Experience: Defeat a threat by killing someone, or several someones. 2 Experience: Slay a person or beast mightier than you.
PATH OF THE DECEIVER 1 Experience: Deceive another character. 2 Experience: Deceive another character against substantial evidence.
PATH OF THE CONQUEROR 1 Experience: Increase in power or prominence. 2 Experience: Rise to a position of significant leadership.
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PATHS
PATH OF THE DEVOTED When you choose this path, pick someone or something your character devotes themselves to. 1 Experience: Protect the subject of your devotion. 2 Experience: Risk your life to protect the subject of your devotion.
PATH OF THE LEGENDARY 1 Experience: Do something that spreads your reputation. 2 Experience: Risk death or worse to spread your reputation. PATH OF OPEN ARMS 1 Experience: Seduce another character. 2 Experience: Seduce another character...while or after saving them from death or worse.
PATH OF THE ENTRANCED 1 Experience: Pursue an item or tale of the uncanny. 2 Experience: Give over your own will to an uncanny force.
PATH OF THE NIGHT-THIEF 1 Experience: Take something that does not belong to you. 2 Experience: Risk your life or something greater to take something that does not belong to you.
PATH OF THE FIRST FOOTSTEP 1 Experience: Find a place that has never been found before, abandoned for a long time, or kept concealed. 2 Experience: Find a place that has never been found before, abandoned for a long time, or kept concealed, and find a great treasure there.
PATH OF PROMISES KEPT When you choose this path, pick a specific vow for your character to make. 1 Experience: The vow is kept in the face of duress. 2 Experience: The vow is kept in the face of death or worse.
PATH OF GIVING HANDS 1 Experience: Help someone who cannot help themselves. 2 Experience: Save someone from a threat as bad as, or worse than, death.
PATH OF THE VENDETTA When you choose this path, pick someone or something your character has a serious grudge against. 1 Experience: Inconvenience the subject of your vendetta. 2 Experience: Seriously hurt the subject of your vendetta.
PATH OF JEWELED THRONES 1 Experience: Obtain wealth over the course of an adventure. 2 Experience: Spend your wealth in extravagant fashion. PATH OF LAMENTATION 1 Experience: Commemorate something or someone great and lost. 2 Experience: Leave a glorious monument to someone or something great and lost.
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Valencia, It’s been awhile.
No, that’s stupid. I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye. You would have tried to talk me out of it. You were always telling me what to do.
No, too accusing. Darla kicked hard against the wagon, just above where I was sheltering (hiding) in the lee of the wheel. I staggered up and shook the sand out of my scarf. She’d torn her harness free and was running around loose, getting the other aepys riled up. The dust storm was lifting, but maybe she didn’t like those forms that were weaving through it ahead of us. There was already smoke on the wind, and I could hear fire snapping behind me. Before I even turned, I knew our lamp oil was going up in flames. I miss you, I love you, I’m sorry.
Independently, a raiding party and a pair of machaira had picked this moment to menace our caravan. And, apparently, the cats were already among the pigeons. Some aepys were furiously biting their way out of their ropes, and showing the raiders their spurs, while the raiders tried to pacify them long enough to actually rustle them. The horus was already dead. The machaira were ganging up on an oleph that had run out of room to retreat. And our navigator was literally on fire. Valencia, I wanted to be a cavalier. Someone with a name you’d recognize if you read it in the papers.
I used to be a soldier, which is less helpful than you might think in a disaster. I’m still not used to being the one who’s supposed to give orders. Really, I just yelled as loud as I could, and let the aepys continue menacing the raiders while we drove off the machaira. It wasn’t much of a fight, one was already dragging the quartermaster away, and the more stubborn one eventually followed. The oleph was still standing, sort of. Not fit to pull a caravan for a few months, but they might live long enough to recuperate in a town. Half the caravan was burning, which is well enough, since the raiders made off with the most tractable of the aepys and we were down several pack animals. A quarter of the travelers were dead or wounded, and the doctor was looking at me like I’d done her a personal wrong. Perhaps her and the quartermaster had been close. Valencia, we didn’t win, but we didn’t lose. I’ll be back someday. I can’t ask you to wait for me, but please wait. I’ll come back.
I’ll send it soon. Valencia deserves to know what happened. She might think I’m dead. I’ll pick up some paper when we pass through the next town, maybe tomorrow. Maybe borrow a clay pencil from the doctor. She’s always chewing on the end of one. I’ll write it tomorrow.
In its last days, Mars yet boasts a dazzling array of peoples and cities. From many-spired Illium to ill-omened Ziggur, the world’s last inhabitants build and feud and rush heedlessly toward the end of history.
PEOPLES Mars is home to hundreds of distinct peoples and cultures. Some of the peoples share physical similarities and ancestry, though their cultures define them in ways that make them completely alien to each other. Mars was once teeming with life, and fringe populations of all kinds still populate its dusty corners.
Red Martians claim to be the direct descendants of the First Martians, making them superior to both their distant relatives, the Roundheads, and the Pale Martians. They have long since abandoned the ruined cities of the First Martians, and leave those strange wonders to the Pale Martians. Both groups look upon the Red Martians with disdain for abandoning the wealth of knowledge and heritage remaining in the ruins of the First Martians.
THE R ED MARTIANS
Red Martians are not actually red, but instead range from tan to dark brown with a coppery undertone to their skin, and have hair that ranges from coppery to deep black, thin and wavy to thick and curly and sometimes even kinky. They have deep-set, expressive eyes and hard-edged, yet rounded, facial features.
Of all the Martians, the Reds are small, slow, and frail. It is amazing they have survived as well as they have considering all these weaknesses. Their strengths, though: Perseverance, intelligence, and wit clearly make up for all other lacks. – Excerpts from Tiendle’s Anatomy of a Martian
Red Martians follow a multitude of different religions, tending to fall into whatever faith the prevailing city or culture they live near follows. The Reds have a strange phenomenon of developing mystery cults to one unknown technology or element or another. Some entire city-states are ruled by these cults. The most popular Red Martian religion is the Church of the Damsel Messiah.
An ambitious people full of passionate desires and reckless abandon, the Red Martians are the most numerous of the remaining people on Mars. They live along the canals in expansive city-states, and cling to life in dust-towns where the wells have all but dried up. Others travel well-worn caravan routes across the endless deserts. Their society is fractious, with many different governing bodies controlling one city or another, and those who travel between or live on the edges seek to find a niche to maintain a livelihood.
Red Martian cities include Vance, Zodiac, Illium, and Chiaro, and they live alongside the Pale Martians in Surtur.
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PEOPLES
THE PEOPLE OF THE LABYRINTH
dark city lit to dazzling beauty with brightly glowing flowers and lichen. While not all stories and rumors about the area can be believed, most Martians are certain the Reds living in the city are still there in some form or another.
The rumors are many and varied. Cannibal tribes run by a magical woman, people who can create water out of nothing, glowing plants and animals that give any who eat them mystical powers. I’m going to find out for myself what lies in the Labyrinth of Night once and for all. – The last entry in the diary of Diokel, explorer
ANS AND OZAKS THE Q They kill us, we kill them. It is a war older than any of us, and I’m not even sure why it’s going on. All I know, is that if I don’t do something first, it will be my body that’s burning in the field to keep the fungus at bay. – Serenai, Clan Chieftan of the South Plains Ozaks
Soon after the First Martians disappeared, as the Red Martians made their way across the planet to settle cities, a group of voyagers made their way into the Wyeth Valley. They did not make contact with the Wyeth, but instead traveled far to the northernmost tip of the canyon, a place where the sun cannot reach, and found a wondrous landscape of luminous flora and fauna. They built a city there and lived in a perpetual twilight within the glowing cavern. As the years passed and the city became prosperous, trade between the Red Martians and the Wyeth flourished, despite the Wyeth’s misgivings about the Reds living so close to their homeland.
Long ago, on the plains of Cimmeria, reigned the great Qan Empire. At the height of the Qans’ power, they ruled over the Ozaks. The Ozaks were farmers and sometimes sellswords, but all their efforts went unwillingly towards the service of the Qans. The Qans did not even bother to grow their own food, instead taking what they needed from the Ozaks. The Ozaks sought ways to free themselves, and had even begun to organize a resistance when the presence of the purple fungus was first noticed. No one really knows where the fungus came from, or how it first spread along the Cimmeria plains, but its presence gave the Ozaks the leverage they needed to rise up against the Qans.
One night a bright light fell from the sky and all communication between the Red Martians in the Labyrinth of Night and those outside was shut off. Some claim the Reds in the Labyrinth all died that night and the city they built is a vast abandoned wasteland. Others claim the light was the landing of an alien creature from the amber star, Venus. Those who have traveled to the Labyrinth since then come back with wild stories. One described an indoctrinated people who devoutly worship alien gods under the sway of a Venusian witch-queen, who attempted to control her through magic before she made a daring escape. Another told a tale in which he discovered a nearly-abandoned city with a giant monolith in the center, one whose construction he could not determine and that was vastly different from even First Martian artifacts. Yet another told of barely surviving a strange tempest within the can yon and being nursed back to health by a Red female in a
The first reports of dead bodies rising from their graves sent cities all across the Cimmeria plains into a fearful frenzy. The Ozaks took advantage of the heightened state of paranoia and turned on their masters. Of course, those dead bodies also rose from the grave to eventually infect more people with the fungus. Soon the Qan blamed the Ozaks for the phenomenon and they declared war.
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With most of the Qans’ infrastructure lost to the Ozaks, including food and grain stores, the Qans took to raiding Ozak camps to steal necessary supplies. And where the bloodshed went, the fungus followed. Within a single generation, the Cimmerian plains were covered in the fungus, and the Qan and Ozak survivors learned to compensate for the fungus. Still, to this day, when any of the re-
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maining Qan or Ozak people meet one another, it ends in bloodshed, which only serves to feed the fungus.
ogy, and spend a great deal of time searching out and learning about all they can find. Some Roundheads make pilgrimages across Mars to visit and enter every single atmosphere processor on the planet, hoping to gain enlightenment through their journeys.
The Ozak people have always been very practical, with roots in hard work and suffering for their people. All Ozaks train as warriors, as well as any other duty they may perform for their clan. When an Ozak is too old or injured to continue fighting, she retires to a monastery and devotes her life to religious callings.
The Roundheads are named such because their brains have grown to such a prodigious size that they forced a deformation of the skull and bleaching of the skin. The shapes of their heads are not unlike those of the Skarruts, but their foreheads bulge queerly, as if an alien brain mass throbs beneath. They often decorate their heads with ornate mathematical tattoos and symbols.
THE R OUNDHEADS An extraordinary group of people that showcase the Red Martian strengths. They have a few non-standard appearance issues, but their mental capacity is definitely beyond anything we have seen with any of the other Red Martian subgroups. Simply astounding. – Excerpts from Tiendle’s “Anatomy of a Martian”
Roundheads can be found in any of the Red Martian populations, though they gravitate towards one another, seeking out like-brained individuals. All major Roundhead monasteries are situated in or near atmosphere processors, including the largest and most famous such settlement, Ziggur.
Roundheads are a brilliant group of Red Martians. Like other Red Martians, they maintain direct lineage to the First Martians, though they claim their intelligence and mental capacity make them the true heirs to the First Martians. They believe they are entitled to respect and deference from what they refer to as lesser Reds because of this. They disdain the Pales’ similar claim and do not recognize the Pale Martians as actual descendants of the First Martians at all.
THE PALE MARTIANS
Roundhead society is built on the idea that they are the only ones who still know and understand the practices of the First Martians. They spend much of their time practicing and training the mental arts. Some Roundheads spend their entire lives around atmosphere processors, believing the pure air found there enhances their faculties. They claim to be able to maintain and operate the processors, though few Martians would know if that were true. They practice a nearly slavish worship of First Martian technol A ROUNDHEAD 64
Tall, strong, lean, the perfect specimen of Martian anatomy. The adaptation of the third and fourth upper limbs lends a grace of dexterity lost from all other groups of Martians. Their intelligence and steadfastness is clearly a great asset that only assists their superior physique. – Excerpts from Tiendle’s Anatomy of a Martian The Pale Martians are a group of disciplined and graceful people with long memories. They believe they are related to the Red Martians and are descended from the First Martians. Their numbers are small and they live only in the ruins of the First Martian cities. They claim to be faithful heirs of the First Martians, the Reds having abandoned their past to live in their own city-states. Pale Martian society is rigidly divided into societal roles. Pale children are agendered
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and do not even have proper names — instead having temporary “egg names” — as they go through rigorous training. Training of Pale Martian children follows a militaristic pattern in which children are sorted by aptitude and trained from very early on to fit a single gender and social role. Once the child reaches majority, it has the option to choose a new name or keep its egg name. In most cases, the final role is decided through lineage, though some children may have the potential to join a more prestigious caste, such as the military, during assignment. Once a role has been assigned, the Pale Martian is expected to remain in it for the rest of their life. During training and assignment, Pales are expected to take on a personal scholarly project in which they learn to understand and preserve the knowledge of the First Martians in some way. While their society is not completely military, most Pale Martian cities operate under martial law. The culture of the Pales is generally more uniform than that of the Reds, but the divisions between city-states and their leaders are sharp. In general, Pales disdain Reds for betraying their heritage, but they are not above working with them if the need arises. In the city of Surtur, the Pales live alongside the Reds, but only because the Fire Priests have forged a culture based on Pale beliefs that bind the two groups together. They tend to look at other populations in a condescending light. While the Skarruts, Wyeth, and Zaius do not uphold the First Martians’ ideals, they are also not descended from them, so it’s less of an
issue. They do not dislike these people, but instead feel superior to them. Some Pale tribes can be found along the vast Wyeth canyon trading their services as mercenaries for food and Wyeth gum. Pale Martians are aptly named, with nearly white skin and glossy, flowing black hair. They are tall people with four arms; a longer upper pair giving them great reach, and a dexterous lower pair making them skilled fixers. Their cities are named after emotional states and character traits, such as Anger, Crisis, and Foresight.
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THE SKARRUTS I learned in my travels that though the Skarrut people seem to be always in someone else’s employ, they are not a docile folk. No, not tamed, simply doing a job and doing it well. When I see them, I always say a small prayer to the stars that their job doesn’t have anything to do with me. – Diary entry from Kiu, Zodiac sky ship operator Within the walls of Skarras live master stone masons and crafters. World-renowned for their stone craft, the Skarruts are also widely admired for their art and architecture. The Skarruts are a graceful and proud people, yet they live under an ancient, crippling debt that renders their city-state in a constant state of need. The city-state must hire its people out to gain revenue to pay back all it owes, and every Skarrut is expected to take on at least one job for the city in her lifetime.
who have earned scars or broken scales. For this reason, they consider it fashionable to scar themselves after battle, or after great achievements, to show off their accomplishments. Generally, the older a Skarrut is, the more scars she will have to show for her life.
THE WYETH The Wyeth women pose an interesting quandary. They refuse to sit still long enough for a study, so we must only report what they tell us. Which is simply that they are Martians, and as the trees. Further study is needed. – Excerpts from Tiendle’s “Anatomy of a Martian” The Wyeth are a nation of sentient plantlike women. They make their home in the Wyeth Valley and are believed to be one of the very few indigenous Martian species. The Wyeth are a proud and secretive people, rarely inviting outsiders into their home, though they are happy to trade krem, Wyeth gum, and food to their neighbors.
Skarruts are skilled stone crafters and their art is highly praised and valuable. Be yond that, they create masterful works of architecture, sometimes art in their own right. Their stone cisterns are modern wonders of aquaculture, eking water out for a network of minor canals and irrigation ditches from the northern pole.
The Wyeth only leave their lush forested valley to travel Mars as a type of fertility rite. Few know the true nature of the activity, though it is believed that the Wyeth require several years in the harsh Martian environment to reach sexual maturity. Other Martians simply refer to them as the Wyeth women. No one other than the Wyeth knows if they have a true gender, though they present in the typical fashion of other female Martians.
The Skarruts fashion superb slings from the tough leather of a yummoc, and are uniquely built to employ various stone ammunition with deadly aplomb. They craft a variety of rock ammunitions; obsidian to shatter and fragment, tungsten for stunning, red jade for piercing. Their elite slingers use pole slings, but these rare wood weapons are awarded only to the best. Skarrut pole fighting is a beautiful art of defense and subduing, involving not only the pole and the body of the Skarrut, but the sling itself on the pole for tripping, binding, and distraction. Skarruts are lizard-like in appearance, with golden scales and long, strong arms. They are at a height similar to Red Martians, though they rival the Wyeth for strength and fortitude. The Skarrut people are proud of their warrior heritage and tend to look with admiration on any
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In truth, the Wyeth are agendered conditional hermaphrodites. Young Wyeth have female sex organs, but do not present secondary sex characteristics and will remain that way unless they leave their forests. Upon leaving the forested valley, they develop secondary sexual characteristics indicative of females. Over a period of several years, they develop male sex organs, and the ability to present secondary sexual characteristics indicative of males. During that time, the Wyeth makes her way doing
PEOPLES
itinerant work as a trader or a mercenary. Some take up a calling to be priests and encourage the restoration of Mars to that of their lush forested home.
extraordinarily intelligent and create some of the most fantastic architecture on Mars. They are renowned for being physicians, priests, and fixers, and when their caravans come near towns, people flock to them for all sorts of trade. Some city-states even dedicate festival days for known Zaiu arrivals.
Wyeth society is dictated by the roles the women must take on at any one time. In times of peace, the Wyeth may be content to reproduce and gather wealth for their families, and the societal roles will include those who provide sustenance, security, and guidance and those who provide seed and reproductive capabilities. In times of trouble more of the Wyeth may take up the role of warrior or hunter, setting aside reproduction for a time to ensure the safety of her tribe. Each role is just as revered as any other and Wyeth often choose based on the needs of the group at the time. Those who choose to leave the forest for reproductive maturity are expected to bring back new knowledge and techniques for the betterment of society. Those who remain serve as the leaders and decision-makers for the group. Those who gather food and Wyeth gum for use and trade, or those who take up arms to protect the forests, are seen as wise, and their opinions carry great weight in decision making. Despite all this, different tribes of Wyeth can be factious and prone to conflict among groups. They present enough of a unified front to other Martians to form mutual defense pacts with some of their neighbors.
The Zaius are a people who love pomp and circumstance. Once a year each caravan sets down roots for several days to repaint the brightly-colored patterns on their wagons as a way to remember the past. The paintings represent an important part of history, and as they paint they tell stories. Even the Zaiu children are expected to put on pageants displaying all they’ve learned in the previous year during this fes-
Wyeth are tall and slender, with dark, bark-like skin and green or brown hair like sagebrush. They are enough like other Martians to eat the vegetables and fungi that form the staple diet of other peoples.
THE ZAIUS I’m glad they are peaceful enough when they come through on their caravans. Could you imagine fighting one? I mean, they ride through dust storms and face down ghosts for fun. – Diary entry from Diona, Vance city guard The Zaius share some ancestry with the Red and Pale Martians, yet none claim to be descended from the First Martians. The Zaius are a nomadic people, traveling the dusty wastes from one watering hole to another in large caravans of wooden carts and dust riders. Despite what appears to be a poor and humble life, the Zaius are
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A Zaiu and a Pale Martian celebrate a successful journey tival. While the celebration is one of Zaiu tradition, outsiders are welcome to come and enjoy the spectacle if they can make it. No festival is as great and spectacular, though, as the great meeting in the desert. This festival happens once every four years, when all the Zaiu caravans attempt to meet at the Fourier Spire, the single largest and most complex monolith on Mars. The Zaius claim that their ancestors created the construct using complex mathematical equations, though the veracity of that claim can no longer be determined. Either way, the Zaius have painted the whole structure from top to bottom with the entirety of their history. Few other than the Zaius even know of the structure’s existence,
as it lies in the heart of the Nowhere Plains, guarded by deadly sandstorms. When they come together, the Zaius spend an entire fortnight repainting and sharing stories among the caravans that could make it. Outsiders may be welcome, though only those who come with a caravan have any hope of finding the place. Like the Red and Pales, the Zaius are a higher ape, though larger, stronger, and faster than their distant cousins. An adult Zaiu walks about seven feet erect. All but their faces are covered in hair, the color and pattern of which varies by family. While they walk upright, a sprinting Zaiu will run on all fours, and can attain great speed. They like to adorn themselves with jewelry of beaten metal, which is hung from braids all over their bodies.
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R ELIGIONS The people of Mars are a superstitious lot. They attribute much of what they don’t understand about their world to higher powers or ancient designs. Those higher powers are not always gods, and the ancient designs are not always recognized as technology. For the current inhabitants of Mars, the First Martians, their legacy, and the technologies they left behind are mysterious enough to warrant veneration. Below are only a few examples of the multitudes of different beliefs on Mars.
stars astrology, but it’s not a belief, so much as a practice. Everyone practices astrology, though only trained priests can accurately measure and glean true meaning from the stars. Even young children know some of the most constant stars, and can map their trek through the sky with little difficulty. The people generally follow one or two stars across the night sky, using those stars’ placement to influence their decisions. The highest priest, and the supreme astrologer, is the Arbiter. The people of Zodiac say that he understands the stars with such precision that his will is law in heaven and on Mars, though his word as law generally only spreads as far as Zodiac and its surrounding lands. The Arbiter’s word rules the city of Zodiac, and his interpretation of the stars keeps the city moving smoothly. His priests spread his word throughout the city and relay his interpretations. Each sky-ship in Zodiac’s enormous fleet houses at least one astrologer-priest for guidance and protection in battle.
ASTROLOGY OF ZODIAC The people of Zodiac look to the stars for wisdom and guidance in their daily lives. The stars are not gods, though many of the people of Zodiac anthropomorphize them as a way of trying to understand their messages. To outsiders, the city of Zodiac may appear to worship the stars, but this is not completely accurate. Zodiac’s religion is built on reverence for the stars and their movements in the heavens.
The stars play such a huge role in Zodiac’s daily business that legends surrounding them are extremely common. One such legend relates the story of the creation of Zodiac. In a time before the Arbiter and astrology, the people of Mars refused to pay heed to the stars and their alignments. The stars moved and danced in the heavens, attempting to gain the people’s attentions, but few knew what they were seeing. Time after time, the stars attempt-
All people of Zodiac conduct business and make important life decisions based on the movement of the stars. They plant, harvest, trade, stockpile, and make all economic and military decisions based on the placement of the stars in the sky above. The city has prospered in this way for centuries. Zodiac’s religion doesn’t really have a name. The people reverently call analyzing the
Zaiu children perform a religious pageant
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THE CHURCH OF THE THE DAMSEL MESSIAH
ed to avert crisis on Mars, yet the Martians were ignorant of the warnings. After one momentous occasion in which war, famine, pestilence, and plague ravaged the cities of Mars, the stars decided to give up on Martians. One star, named Zodiac, felt an overwhelming sympathy for the Martians. She decided to sacrifice her place among the heavens and come to Mars to show them how to follow the movements of the stars. Her brother and sister stars mocked her, and told her she would become a Martian and never be allowed a place in the heavens again if she left them, yet she did anyway. She landed on Mars, and created a huge crater upon impact. Those Martians who looked to the sky, or watched the stars, traced her path and came to find her. Zodiac taught any who came how to read the stars and understand their message. She only had a few initiates, but she taught them all she could. The first to arrive at the site was the first Arbiter. To this day, only the most devout priests are ever considered for the prestigious title of Arbiter.
Of all the religions and belief systems on Mars, the Church of the Damsel Messiah is the most widespread. Generally, beliefs do not pass beyond the borders of the city-states that foster them, but the Church of the Damsel has a militant branch of missionaries who spread the word of the Damsel far across Mars, setting up temples and monasteries in almost all Red Martian lands. Legend has it that the Damsel was born in a mountain village, overlooking a decadent merchant city of a long-vanished empire. While visiting a temple in the city, she noticed a priest had drawn a protective circle incorrectly. She was very young and had no religious training, but, despite this, she corrected a rather grievous error. The temple viewed her as a prodigy and took her in for priestess training. Against the orders of the temple, the Damsel favored ministering to the poor and downtrodden. Soon, she grew frustrated with the corruption of the temple by the wealthy donors and she left, walking off into the desert.
Another legend tells of Zodiac’s jealous brother, Dolos, who wanted the people of Zodiac to worship him alone in the heavens. He came to Mars in the guise of a talented creator, who crafted wondrous technologies for the people of Mars. During the nights, he spent his time building a machine so vast that he had to hide it under the surface of the planet. As an affront to Zodiac, Dolos built the technology directly under her crater, with her being none the wiser. Dolos’s machine would gain control of the stars in the heavens and allow him to move them as he saw fit. fi t. His intention was to then reveal himself as the most supreme star, whose will was enacted all across the heavens. One night, as he was sneaking into his underground workshop, the first Arbiter found him and subdued him. He brought Dolos to Zodiac for judgment. Zodiac had pity on her brother and forgave him for his attempt to gain control of the Martians, but she could not let him go unpunished. She pleaded to the other stars to not let him return to his rightful place among them. Instead, she cast him into the heavens, alone and nameless, to ever wander the night sky as the Stranger. The first Arbiter hid the Stranger’s technology so no one on Mars could ever use it.
As she walked in the endless red sand, she encountered a serpent who guided her to the top of an ancient tomb, where she could see all the lands of Mars. The serpent then offered her an empire of everything she could see. The Damsel refused the offer. It offered her supreme rule over the temple she had abandoned. She refused again. Finally, the serpent offered her water. The Damsel was sorely tempted, but refused for the third and final time. At this, the serpent moved as if to attack her, but the Damsel spoke in a holy Voice and smote him down, binding the creature to her will instead. The Voice remained with her, and when she returned to the city, she used it to drive the merchants and corrupt priests from the temple. She opened it up as a sanctuary for the homeless and destitute, and the rest of the priests became her disciples. The power of her Voice filled the imperial governor with shame, and he surrendered the city to her.
The last legend sits strangely with the people of Zodiac. The idea that a machine might exist that can move the stars makes people uncomfortable. They view this as the domain of tricksters, and have a tendency to view anyone well versed in machinery as suspect. This creates a peculiar social standing for Zodiac’s fixers. The city relies on them to maintain the sky fleet, in addition to the needs of any large Martian city, but they’re often thought of as slippery and overly clever.
The Damsel’s message and her miracles spread throughout the empire. Over generations, the poor joined political dissidents and rose up, eventually making the ageless Damsel empress. She destroyed the monuments to avarice left by her predecessors, and continued to preach the virtues of piety and humility. She maintained a special bond with the poor of her 70
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kingdom; in exchange for her generosity, they were her eyes and ears. Her rule was a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity for her empire. In the end, she feared the power she wielded would corrupt her, so she left this world, taking her serpent with her.
The Fire Priests see crafting and making as gifts from the gods, and their metalworking is viewed as the purest form of dedication and worship. The works of the miner and the artisan are sacred above all things, their arts dedicated to the great ancestors. Priests are usually artisans and master crafters who oversee large shops of apprentices. Some members form monastic orders, isolated from the rest of Surtur to produce metalwork that follows principles of sacred geometry. Outsiders might call this work decorative, but for the Fire Priests, the act of forging is an act of divination.
Whatever might have remained of the Damsel’s empire is long since buried beneath the shifting sands, lost to time. The disciples and those who followed the Damsel remained, and created a church surrounding her teachings. Power over the Church resides with the Matriarch of Battlehymn, who oversees a network of temples and monasteries across large parts of Mars.
The Fire Priests rule Surtur as a theocracy. They claim to divine the will of the ancestors in the flames and molten metal of the forges, and guide the people through these acts. Their chief holy site is the First Forge, the place where ancient Martians alloyed metal for the first time. The city leaders are not just a cabal of priests sitting about divining meaning from fire. They have a regimented hierarchy overseen by a council of five of the most talented and educated Fire Priests. Each council member is in charge of one level of bureaucracy within the city: military, economy, civic matters, crafting, and mining. Below them, myriad priests in different offices run the day-to-day affairs of the city.
Some say the Matriarch is the Damsel in disguise, using anonymity to keep herself separated from the power her followers would inevitably bestow upon her. Others say the Matriarch is in contact with the Damsel, and enacts her will as best she can. Either way, the Matriarch is the supreme power for the church, and her words are law for the clergy. The Church is still dedicated to ministering to the poor, but has opened its doors to wealthy patronage once again. The Matriarch dwells in a golden palace on a hill, and the monasteries and temples of the Damsel are among the most beautifully-decorated holy sites on Mars.
Religious ceremonies are regimented, with specific times of day dedicated to worship during which the entire city seems to cease functioning as the people stop what they’re doing to kneel and stare into the flames for contemplation. Once a week, everyone is expected to attend temple, though temple services are held daily to stagger between worship and sacred work. Everyone in the city works. Even the high council can be seen every once in a while working the mines or in a lowly shop’s forge to spread teaching in a personal manner. Chaplains work daily beside the miners pulling the sacred metals from the earth and blessing those who find rich veins. The priests of Surtur aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, though they don’t see the grime of mining and metalworking as dirt at all.
The church has a tradition of spreading the Word of the Damsel through missionaries, and those who take up the sacred duty belong to the order of the Exalted Missionary Sisters. These priestesses train to speak with the Voice and go out into the world to teach and spread the word. As travel around Mars can be dangerous, the Missionary Sisters are battle-trained warriors. The Church is organized in a military fashion, and their priestesses are so well-known for their military prowess that few people willingly cross their paths.
IRE PRIESTS OF SURTUR FIRE
While many Pale Martians revere the First Martians and seek to learn all they can about their ancient ancestors, the Red Martians of Surtur have taken that NITIATES OF reverence and turned it into full-on worship. In Surtur, the people view the First Martians as gods. These dei- THE THE ABYRINTHINE YSTERIES ties walked the face of Mars and laid the foundation for all of society to follow for millennia. The Fire Priests The people living in the dark reaches of the Labylead the people in this worship, believing that the city rinth of Night are deeply entrenched in the teachings of Surtur is the only place that still practices the true and ways of the witch-queen. The people of the Labteachings of their gods. The jump from Pale Martian yrinth cannot see the sky or the stars, but they know reverence to Surtur worship is an easy one to make, and of the amber star, and know it is named Venus. The may account for the integrated citizenry of Pale and witch-queen has taught her people about the ways of Red Martians that makes up Surtur’s society. Venus and her own gods, leading them in a worship of
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deities from a far distant world. Many of the people of the Labyrinth mistake her gods for the people of Venus themselves. They go so far as to believe the witchqueen herself is a god come to Mars to liberate them in its dying hours.
enters the seedling, giving it consciousness. This soul is made up of many Wyeth who came before. The Wyeth is then made whole and can be born of the seed pod. When the Wyeth eventually dies, her soul returns to the jungle, reuniting with the rest. The Wyeth do not mourn the seed pods that do not flourish, as they clearly were not ready to house the Wyeth souls.
The witch-queen is reclusive and secretive, and rarely allows anyone to enter her fortress in the center of the city. She does nothing to dissuade the belief that she is a goddess, and often uses that belief to her advantage when exhorting her people to do things they cannot understand. The cult that has arisen around her is loyal to a fault. Her moods dictate their every action, from when they can travel, harvest the glowing plants, or even rest. They refuse to act unless she has given explicit permission. This behavior has roots in a legend of early days in which people attempted to flee the city after the witch-queen first arrived, and she smote them all down one by one for fear that they would reveal her secrets.
Young Wyeth are deeply attuned to the jungle, and at this time, it is the easiest to learn the ancient art of tree speaking. Only those Wyeth thought to be possessed of old and wise souls are chosen for training. Most Wyeth are thought to be born of conglomerates of the sentient souls of the jungle, and do not have any recollection or sense of their previous lives. The Wyeth believe that this connection to the jungle is what prevents the young from developing the appropriate sex characteristics for reproduction. While the truth perhaps lies in the need for the drier and harsher Mars climates, most Wyeth report losing whatever tenuous connection they once had to the trees when they leave the jungle. For this reason, those chosen to speak with the trees never leave the jungle to reach sexual maturity. They are called Life Speakers, and have an honored place among the Wyeth. Usually, only one Life Speaker is present in any single generation, with several initiates waiting to take her place when she dies. Life Speaker training is a secretive practice, and potential initiates remain cloistered with the current Life Speaker until she dies. Many believe the process of speaking with the trees involves krem use, but only the Life Speakers truly know.
Despite her secretive nature, the people often witness the witch-queen’s power. She seems to be capable of influencing water, keeping the city in a constant state of abundance, and even causing rain when stores get too low. She is credited with the health of the crops and herds, and when the city falls on hard times, the citizens drown animal sacrifices in her honor. Much of the Labyrinth and the fortress the witch-queen lives in is a mystery to its inhabitants. The people of the Labyrinth whisper that those who prove themselves loyal and devout to the witch-queen will be rewarded with knowledge and direct teaching. These are the Initiates of the Labyrinthine Mysteries, and they carry the word of the witch-queen to the people, interpreting her moods and serving as intermediaries. The people view Initiates as blessed and holy people, and their words and orders are followed without question.
The Wyeth tell stories of some of the most famous Life Speakers. One such story relates to the first-ever incident of the Wyeth speaking to the trees. The story goes that in the ancient time, when lush vegetation covered all of Mars, the Wyeth spanned far and wide across the world. They did not always visit each other, and the valley was only one of many havens for the Wyeth. A young Wyeth was the only seedling to emerge from her pod, and she had broken memories of a great Wyeth warrior who had died a century before in another grove. The child perplexed the Wyeth, and she was shaken by her own inexplicable knowledge. She cried and begged for guidance and assistance, but none of the other Wyeth knew what to do for her.
WYETH R EINCARNATION EINCARNATION CYCLE Some Wyeth are rumored to speak with the trees of their jungle. Few outside of the Wyeth women know the truth of such claims. The Wyeth women believe a sentience inhabits the trees who can and will w ill communicate with those who have training in the practice. The ability to do so is very rare, and those Wyeth deeply revere those who can as wise women and prophets.
One night, while crying alone, she heard a voice within the jungle. It was comforting and embraced her like a blanket. It whispered stories to her of the origin of the Wyeth and her own long history, and the many times of her life, death, and rebirth. When the Wyeth
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found her, she was nestled into the branches of an ancient tree, sleeping peacefully. They woke her, and she related the tales she had been told. No other Wyeth had been in the grove with the child, and it didn’t take long for her to realize the trees had spoken to her.
while in other places crime runs rampant. These crimes go mostly unpunished unless the crime somehow affects the Yellow Silks themselves. The people of the city are expected to take care of their own affairs and heed the words of Eu.
She spent the rest of the years of her life learning to speak back to the trees, and ask questions of them. She learned to see the souls in other Wyeth, and gauge the strength and wisdom that each soul held. The First lived many lifetimes, never leaving the grove she grew up in and always in constant communication with the trees. She had several apprentices who took over her duties when she eventually died, and about once a century the First is believed to be reborn into a Life Speaker of great influence and wisdom.
Eu’s religion is not all water rations and silken clothing. The Silks preach the contemplation of the atmosphere processor, and spend a great deal of their focus on studying, maintaining, and improving Ziggur’s processor. A great deal of ritual goes into these acts, and it is said the Yellow Silks can listen to the thrum and hum of the processor and gain great insight into the mysteries of life and Mars. The Silks live within the great processor, so they can be closer to it and cater to its needs when necessary.
YELLOW SILKS OF ZIGGUR
Many of the acts of maintenance and of fixing the processor seem arcane and even barbaric. The Silks pay close attention to the rhythmic throbbing hum of the processor and base many judgements on its state of function. Certain rhythms require certain rituals, such as prayer, bloodletting, and even sentient sacrifice. The Silks are one of the few major religious orders on Mars to practice sentient sacrifice.
The Roundheads are a deeply-contemplative people, with most practicing some degree of asceticism. They all value knowledge and intelligence, and focus a great deal of time towards developing the mental arts. Large numbers of them dwell in or near atmosphere processors, believing that the pure air from them helps enhance the faculties.
Each ritual is performed at the top of great black steps leading up to the entrance of the atmosphere processor. Most rituals are public, and are well attended as Eu performs them. Sacrifice is the only acceptable form of capital punishment for criminals, and therefore these rituals draw the largest crowds. Eu stands above the crowds and flays the sacrifice, bathing the steps in blood.
For the most part, Roundheads live quiet and lowkey lives. The Yellow Silks are different. Led by the charismatic and mentally powerful Eu, they not only influence Ziggur’s affairs, they rule openly. While other politically-minded Roundheads are content to be the power behind the throne, the Silks wield political power and relish it. The Silks’ power stems from control over the condensation collected from the atmosphere processor. Ziggur’s processor is one of the largest on Mars, and the condensation is enough to provide water for the largest enclave of Roundhead supplicants on Mars.
ZAIUS ANCESTOR W WORSHIP Every Zaiu caravan contains a story, a tale of the past and the endeavors of that caravan’s ancestors. Brightly-painted carts and wagons proudly declare the honorable, and sometimes not so honorable, deeds of past Zaius throughout the ages. They have a strong oral tradition in which they recount tales of the past. Mostly these tales are to remember and venerate those who have come before, but many tales contain instructions on how to live well and appease the ancestors.
Eu rations the water out to the people of Ziggur, ensuring their loyalty. Of course, the privilege of water is highly taxed, allowing the Yellow Silks to live in a state of relative luxury, though luxury for Roundheads pales in comparison to the elegance and opulence of the merchant princes of Vance. They clothe themselves in their eponymous yellow silk, and have private quarters that most Roundheads view as decadent.
For the Zaius, their ancestors take an active role in their lives. The caravan’s prosperity and safety is in their hands. They spend a great deal of time ensuring the ancestors are content, and if someone does something to anger the ancestors, they must make amends or risk being exiled. Most Zaius caravans are made up
The Yellow Silks do not need the tight, almost military grip that the Fire Priests of Surtur maintain. Instead, the people serve and support them out of necessity, but the city the Silks rule is often lawless. In the wealthier neighborhoods, crime is almost nonexistent, 73
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of family groups, each with their own personal ancestors, and a few common ancestors for the whole caravan. They pass the time telling each other stories and philosophizing about the lessons they could learn.
on this pilgrimage is not only expected, but sought after, as the number of ghosts the caravan encounters determines how prosperous and fortunate the caravan will be for the next four years.
Legends and stories are only one part of the Zaius’ complicated religion. They also venerate their ancestors through learning and art. The paintings on the caravans are artistic representations of the most popular ancestors’ stories, but the Zaius memorialize each and every ancestor through art. Zaius create jewelry for their personal ancestors, and many of the metal beads and twists braided into their hair tell each of their stories.
The legends surrounding the Fourier Spire vary depending on which caravan is relating them. All the stories agree that the Zaius’ earliest ancestors created the Spire. One legend states that the ancestors embedded all their knowledge into a single mathematical equation and then used that equation to create the architecture for the Fourier Spire. If the Zaius can solve the equation of the structure, they can unlock the secrets of the past. Another, more obscure and slightly heretical legend recounts that the Zaius’ ancestors did not build the Spire. The story states that before the Zaius were on Mars, the First Martians created structures of immense technological power. One such building is the Fourier Spire the Zaius now venerate. Shortly after it was built, the Zaius came into being. The Zaius trace their roots back to the monolith because this is where their people were born. Their earliest ancestors did not create the structure, but were somehow created by it.
The Zaius have an interesting relationship with the ghosts of Mars. Ghosts represent the ancestors. Even if the Zaiu does not know the ghost, or where it came from, it is clearly someone’s ancestor, and has some kind of story to tell. Most Zaius have very few encounters with ghosts. Meeting a ghost is considered a great boon from the ancestors. When such an encounter occurs, the Zaiu opens themself up to the ghost, hoping to allow the ghost to possess them, so that they may give the ancestor a voice to speak and tell the wisdom of the past. These Zaius claim to have a way to speak directly with the ghost and retain control over their own bodies. Others refer to them as Ghost Eaters, and they have a place of honor in all caravans, though they tend to belong to no caravan in particular. These solitary Zaius always have a place in a caravan when they meet up, in return for whatever secrets they may have learned during their searching.
MYSTERY CULTS All across Mars, in hidden shrines and beneath nameless statues, citizens in hooded robes and masks gather to sing ancient songs. In private apartments or abandoned buildings, the opulent offer their faith to gods that were old before the oceans vanished. They mark their membership with secret phrases and arcane hand gestures only those in the know would recognize.
Even though the Zaius are a nomadic people, they have many religious sites all across Mars, which they visit whenever they can. These sites are generally architectural wonders created by their ancestors, and certain sites are more important to certain caravans, depending on which ancestor is responsible for them.
These mystery cults spring up in every major Red Martian city, and a few others as well, and number into the hundreds across the world. In some places, like Ziggur or Surtur, the practitioners must maintain secrecy, lest the authorities make an example of heretics. Zodiac’s mystery cults are heavily influenced by the city’s common belief in the dictates of the stars. In other cities, such as Vance or Illium, they are collectively the most common faiths. Here, membership in different cults tends to be an open secret. Devotees vie for exclusive patronage from important members of the city, and being in the right cult can be a powerful tool for climbing the social hierarchy.
The most well-known site is the Fourier Spire, a mathematical construct in the Nowhere Plains. This site is holy to every single Zaius, no matter which caravan they belong to. The Fourier Spire said to contain the entirety of the Zaius’ history. The structure is so large and complex that no one Zaiu knows the entirety of the history contained there. Many caravans know parts, and once every four years, as many caravans as are able meet there to repaint the structure and recount the stories found there. The site has a dual purpose, as being located in the Nowhere Plains, the caravans often brave sandstorms to reach it. Encountering ghosts
Every mystery cult is different, though they have many similarities. Memberships in mystery cults tend to be by invitation only, though how inviting one cult is versus another depends a lot on the membership. 74
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Some cults invite anyone who shows even the slightest interest, while others are particularly exclusive. All the cults promise access to secret knowledge or prosperity to those who practice their clandestine rites. Many involve the worship of a god whose name is spoken only in whispers, for fear of angering it. Some offer mysteri-
CITIES
ous power and possible transcendence beyond fleshly afflictions and concerns. Some cults promote violence and brutality, while others encourage quiet contemplation, and still others endure self-mutilation and sacrifice to pay proper homage to their god.
AND R EGIONS
Below are some of Mars’ most populous or otherwise important cities and regions. Each is presented with several locations in which to set scenes, and each location has story hooks to start you off, characters to encounter, and hazards for your heroes to face. These are given in lists of two, three, or six options, so that if you want to get started right away, you can just roll a few d6s to pick the elements of your adventure.
career? While their elders push back with the authority of those who believe the system works, Anger’s youth rises up to demand change
LOCATIONS THE MARKET In the outer ring’s bustling market, a Red Martian or Skarrut need never worry about being too small or having only two arms. Instead, stalls and equipment are the right size and make for foreigners, as Anger’s merchants are eager to accommodate their customers. The Pale Martians themselves remain disciplined in all they do; market stalls are perfectly aligned and even the busiest trader keeps his wares meticulously ordered. But signs of change are beginning to seep in, and frivolous cloths decorate stalls while the Pale Martians themselves take a break from their rigorous schedule to idle about.
ANGER Anger is beautiful. Houses and towers, erected from shining white stone and metal, sit on four circular plateaus rising to the center. Deep red stones, pulled from stone quarries nearby, alternate with the gleaming surfaces, and in the setting sun the city shines as if it were made from living flame. Five great roads – once canals, now paved over – cut outward across the circles, fanning out from the center spoke pointing to the North Pole. The roads run a few miles beyond the cityscape, and a great towering obelisk, made of glassy white stone, stands where each ends. The city is governed by 10 appointed Pale Martians: one for the smallest inner circle and then one more again for every circle after.
HOOKS
1. A lone caravan guard named Hellinar gallops into the market at breakneck speed. He is beat up and bloodied, and reveals that brigands are attacking the caravan from Wyeth. The citizens of Anger need that food to survive. 2. In exchange for fruit, grain, and vegetables, Anger lends military aid to Wyeth. Not keen on foreigners, the Wyeth requested the troops remain in Anger until needed. A battalion is getting ready to head out now . Is Wyeth under attack? Enterprising sellswords can use this to earn some chits. 3. A firestorm has risen in the plains surrounding Anger and is headed for the city. People frenzy to pack up and evacuate indoors. Characters can lend their aid to earn gratitude or chits, or use the distraction to give themselves a five-fingered discount. 4. Petar, a Pale Martian scientist, decides she would rather look to the future than the past, and desires employment with the sky engineers of Illium. Even in forward-thinking Anger, this is a step too far.
Anger is passion. The Pale Martians of Anger give their fullest to every endeavor, never doing anything halfheartedly and treating each moment as if it is their last. Young Pale Martians in Anger push the boundaries of their society. They engage in trade with other species, and when they return from Wyeth, they bring back more than fresh fruit – they bring fresh ideas. Even the weather in Anger fits that pattern – hot and sultry, it flares into firestorms in the summer season. Anger is change. The youngsters of Anger question why all mathematicians should be female, or all engineers male. For that matter, since Pale Martians choose their own gender, why shouldn’t they be free to alternate between them? And, while they’re on the subject, why should they even perform a task assigned to them by their mentor – why not choose their own 75
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She seeks foreigners who can smuggle her out of Anger and into Illium. 5. One night, the obelisk nearest the market begins to emit a soft, flute-like sound. When the first rays of dawn hit the obelisk, it opens to reveal an opaque stasis pod, tall enough to hold even the largest Pale Martian. The characters are at hand to witness this and have a moment to snatch the pod before Anger’s military arrives. 6. Merchants use leashed sand burrowers to clear caravans of pests. One burrower escaped a year ago near Anger and, back in its natural habitat, grew to 15 feet tall. The six-legged reptile is a threat to caravans and citizens alike, and the characters are hired to track and kill it (Large Sand Burrower: Camouflage d10, Quick Strike d8, Vicious Bite d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Not Clever).
3. A band of marauders coming from the south attacks the market regularly. Anger’s leaders don’t know where they lair. 4. Rzak, winged serpents twice as long as any Pale Martian, nest in the desert. Storms carry their eggs into the city. 5. Ziik bugs have an obsidian carapace that is resistant to firestorms. While their stings are painful, they cause little harm – except when their eggs hatch and they swarm. 6. Pale Martian con men have a great advantage: four arms. Games of chance with dice, cards, or cups end with visitors getting fleeced. To say nothing of the dexterity of Pale Martian pickpockets.
THE PURPLE LIGHT The Purple Light, named rather unimaginatively for its indigo-lit front, is a music stage, dance floor, and debate club rolled into one. Pale Martians of all ages gather here with one purpose: to test, push, and break boundaries. If change is coming gradually to Anger as a whole, the Purple Light exudes a deep yearning for it now. The club is a miasma of illegal substances, gender fluidity, and sexuality, and its patrons form a tightly-knit circle of support and challenges. This is Anger’s avant-garde, the rolling tide of change to wash over the city.
CHARACTERS
1. Sinom, Pale Martian fixer specializing in scavenging gear (New Inventions d12, Full of Stories d8, Makeshift Weapons d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Checkered Past) 2. Aare, Pale Martian caravan master traveling from Wyeth to Ziggur (Great Bargainer d10, Slick Sword d8, Boisterous d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Loud) 3. Nutesh, Red Martian trader previously from Ziggur, run afoul of the Yellow Silks (Friends in Low Places d10, Bodyguards d8, Eye for Detail d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Powerful Enemies) 4. Edris, Pale Martian scholar from Foresight recording the changes in Anger (Meticulous d10, Objective in All Things d8, Good Aim d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Unpleasant Demeanor) 5. Tanan, Ozak traveler new to Anger (Eager for New Horizons d10, Swift Blade d8, Makes Friends Easily d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Getting Older) 6. Vesa, Pale Martian market guard eager to meet new people (True Strike d10, Observant d8, Open-Minded d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Easily Bored)
HOOKS
1. The Purple Light gathers to support Nea as she changes to the male gender. Since they have no access to the customary ceremony to accomplish this, they’re using a homebrew of salutations and support. Taking part in the makeshift ritual is a great way for the characters to make lasting friends at the Purple Light. 2. After an evening at the Purple Light, the characters are intercepted by a Pale Martian enforcer, who orders them to leave the city come morning, for “inciting arousal.” Manu, from the Purple Light, overhears the exchange, and offers to put them up at her place illegally. 3. Arvo invites the characters to join him on a krem run to Wyela. He claims it will be fun, and the profits good. When they smuggle the drugs back into Anger, however, the group is caught and Arvo places the blame squarely on them. 4. The characters wake up hung over, with an elaborate pattern drawn on their bodies and no recollection of the previous night. Does the pattern have any meaning? The Purple Light is the first stop as they retrace their steps. 5. Wayward is denouncing her egg name, and instead assuming the name Sofias for ”knowledge.” Pale
HAZARDS
1. While the firestorms plaguing Anger keep the city meticulously clean, they cause severe burns or death to those caught outside. 2. Anger lies squarely in the Martian desert, and sandstorms regularly sweep over the city. When the storms come from the northeast, they always carry ghosts. 76
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Martians deliberately assign their children negative names lest ghosts become jealous, though, and sometimes parents really do know best. 6. The Purple Light is experimenting with a new drug made from poppies and corpse fruit seeds. The mix allows a user to relive their ancestors’ lives, but also makes them susceptible to possession by them. One night, a Pale Martian named Matte appears to be possessed by a First Martian. Is he faking it? CHARACTERS
1. Ada, Pale Martian scholar by day and dancer by night (Empirical Mindset d10, All The Right Moves d8, Hidden Blade d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Living in Two Worlds) 2. Elide Pale, Pale Martian music master of the Purple Light (Devoted Fans d12, Former Fixer d8, Good Aim d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Disapproving Family) 3. Kirsi, Pale Martian scholar of antiquities and proponent of change (Knows the Past d10, Strong on Issues d8, Dirty Fighting d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Belligerent) 4. Sorrow, Pale Martian adolescent frequenting the Purple Light (Mathematics d8, Knows All the Hiding Places d8, Quick Blade d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Rebelling Against Family) 5. Catalde, Red Martian noble from Vance, came for a relaxing night out (Swordsmaster d10, Well-Traveled d8, Cashflow d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Drinks Too Much) 6. Peliar, Wyeth krem supplier looking for new customers (Access to Krem d10, Spear Fighter d8, Great Bargainer d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Fierce Competitors)
the patrons’ active thoughts. This allows for great unity, and poor secret-keeping. 6. A Skarrut revolutionary has fled to the Purple Light. Skarras’ authorities have tracked him and are working with Anger’s leaders to raid the club and bring him back in.
THE ARENA The arena is a repurposed hole in the ground, a sunken circle in the city’s second ring where Pale Martians and foreigners test their martial prowess in friendly competition. It was once part of the First Martian artifact under Anger, and slitted metal pillars still move through the arena in an erratic pattern. Nowadays, though, the eerily-soft sound as the metal monstrosities shift and slide is drowned under the battle cries of warriors and the thunderous roar of the audience. Anyone is welcome here, as long as they have either blades or chits. HOOKS
1. The arena’s pillars rise and fall in an arrhythmic pace. One of the games sees warriors start on a separate pillar each, and fight the other competitors to claim the one that rises the highest. This game yields a great payout to the winner. 2. Anger’s leaders feel conflicted about the arena. The competition doesn’t threaten the machine – in fact, the game’s organizers take care to leave the arena spotless and well-oiled. Despite their stewardship, though, holding a competition atop a First Martian artifact is irreverent. One evening, while the characters are competing or in the audience, enforcers crack down on the games. 3. Marek, champion of the pillar game, is offering his Phobos-steel sword to a warrior who can beat him. The blade is preternaturally sharp, and anyone cut by it suffers terrible nightmares. Rumors claim that Marek is an adept and the nightmares fuel his psychic powers. 4. When one of the characters rises to be the clear favorite in their next match, they are strongly urged to “go down” in their next match. In exchange for the blow to their pride, bookmaker Iivan offers a cut of the earnings. 5. High-quality swords are frequently sold or traded at the arena. After a character picks up a new weapon, they are approached by Narseo, a Red Martian warrior from Chiaro, claiming it was stolen from her. She wants it back and will ask nicely once. Meanwhile the seller, Tuure, is nowhere to be found. 6. Though Anger’s citizens barely notice it anymore, the metal rings continue to vibrate softly. One
HAZARDS
1. Purple Lighters freely experiment with drugs, most of which cause a harmlessly-pleasant buzz, if you have a Pale Martian’s constitution. 2. Every revolution evokes a counter-movement. A group of adolescents calling themselves the Purifiers roams Anger at night, and they are violent towards foreigners. 3. A batch of smuggled krem brought fagun bugs. The pests prove impossible to remove and the Purple Light is considering leaving the doors open during the next firestorm. 4. Someone spiked the drinks. While the patrons themselves are perfectly safe while sleeping it off, their possessions certainly aren’t. 5. A freak combination of experimental music and pulsing strobe lights temporarily synchronizes 77
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A Skarrut with her net faces a Pale Martian with his many blades in Anger’s arena morning, the hum subtly changes, and that afternoon people at the arena become violently ill. Is the machine creating a viral agent, or trying to counteract a virus released by a different source?
6. Ausil, Pale Martian post-match cleaner (Repair Skills d10, Strong Stomach d8, Spear Fighter d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Dreams of Glory) HAZARDS
CHARACTERS
1. The pillars rise to deadly heights, heat up to burning temperatures, and vent steam at unpredictable intervals. They also move horizontally, crushing anyone caught between them. 2. The pillars are part of the machine’s gaseous output and, while they’re usually harmless, malfunctions sometimes purify the oxygen in the arena to toxic levels. 3. After being ridiculed for a particular bad loss, a warrior from Sutur slinks off. He comes back with friends to take revenge later. 4. Tiny blood worms feed off the mess left on the arena floor before the cleaning crew gets in. They crawl into the wounds of downed fighters and can cause necrosis. 5. Some competitors cheat and line their blades with poison to weaken opponents. While these are not intended to be lethal, it’s easy to miscalculate the effects on different races. 6. When the constellation of the Forge rises directly overhead, strong electric currents run through the pillars and the official fights are canceled.
1. Bau, Skarrut champion from Skarras Plaza seeking new challenges (Sling Pole d12, Strong Physique d8, Tactical Mind d8; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Old Scars) 2. Hoth, Red Martian underdog hoping for luck in the arena (Tenacious d10, Knows All The Fighters d8, Sword Arm d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Parry; Trouble: Too Friendly) 3. Einar, Pale Martian organizer of arena matches (Friendly Face d10, Former Champion d8, Big Bulk d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Fading Fame) 4. Pele, Pale Martian mathematician working as bookmaker (Great with Numbers d10, Unarmed Fighter d8, Quick as Lightning d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Not Strictly Legal) 5. Nyuk, Red Martian spectator to the match (Jovial d10, Hidden Blade d8, Glib Tongue d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Bets Too Much)
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plan is to study the machine by activating it – an endeavor that would doom Anger.
THE MACHINE Perfect concentric plateaus. The great obelisks. Dry weather and firestorms. All these hail back to a single reason: Anger is built on an ancient terraforming machine left behind by the First Martians. When the Pale Martians claimed Anger, the machine was already broken far beyond their ability to repair. Instead, they repaired what they could and used massive red stones, cut from the bedrock, to prop up what still stood. For a decade they worked on this and when the work was done, the city of Anger slowly piled atop it. The ringed machine remains accessible – sometimes legally, sometimes less so – for those interested in Anger’s past.
CHARACTERS
1. Atton, Pale Martian scientist with a passion for tinkering (Good with Machines d10, First Martian Lore d8, Competent Sword d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Confined by Rules) 2. Anxiety, adolescent Pale Martian working an apprenticeship at the museum (Sharp Mind d8, Scientist d8, Unarmed Combat d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Family Expectations) 3. Sadinu, Red Martian infiltrator from Ziggur (Black Blade d10, Hidden Footfalls d8, Precognition d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Family Held Hostage) 4. Joubin, Red Martian scholar turned scavenger (Quick Fingers d10, True Sword d8, Good Looking d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Restless) 5. Allim, Red Martian thief with a taste for danger (Against All Odds d10, Throwing Knives d8, Melts with Shadows d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Unnecessary Risks) 6. Ossar, Pale Martian city guard (Knows the Beat d10, Big Sword d8, Eye for Trouble d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Literal Minded)
HOOKS
1. Part of the machine is accessible in the museum, where tour guides explain its inner workings, with great detail to Pale Martians, and much eye rolling to foreigners. Even a cursory tour provides interested characters with great knowledge about the First Martians, and a plied guide can tell even more. 2. The highlight of the museum is a glass orb holding pink-flowered grass. No plant like it grows on Mars, and Xeor, a merchant from Vance, offers a great reward to anyone who can bring him the orb. No thief has managed the heist yet, as the orb is as high as two Pale Martians. 3. Anger is never still, as neighborhoods are torn down to grant access to the machine, then rebuilt once repairs are done. The leaders of Anger are always looking for people to work in these building crews, and characters can make a few coins this way. A young family – Illpa, Hator, and their child Anguish – refuses to leave their home in the characters’ assigned section. 4. A firestorm sweeps over Anger, and a crack erupts in the machine’s hull as it settles back. If the characters act before the Pale Martians become aware of the breach, they can use it to gain entry to the machine’s inner workings. 5. On nights when the blue star aligns with Phobos and Deimos, strange glyphs swirl under the obelisks’ glassy surface. Their meaning has always eluded the Pale Martians, but a young scientist named Varis claims she found a way to read them. Her translation reveals disturbing information about the First Martians, and could plunge Anger into chaos. 6. Iari, an adept from Chiaro, believes their five-sided pyramid and Anger’s five-spoked rings are related. He employs the characters to sneak him into the machine. Once inside, he reveals that his
HAZARDS
1. The museum, patrolled by guards, yields access to the machine. Cracks in the wall, caused by the machine resettling, also grant entrance, but they are prone to collapse. 2. Following on the heels of a sandstorm, scavenger cats sneak into the machine through an undiscovered crevasse. They attack people on the street. 3. Automaton spiders are plentiful inside the machine. Like their host, some malfunction and try to recycle everything that moves into new spiders. 4. The machine heats up at random intervals, causing the metal floor, walls, and ceilings to burn white hot. 5. The machine is divided into airtight compartments. Behind some doors, pure nitrogen lingers; behind others, airborne diseases. 6. The center of the rings holds a small collection of unused biological samples, intended for terraforming. While not dangerous in and of themselves, if a scientist actually grows a creature from the samples, it will destabilize Mars’ ecosystem or introduce a super predator.
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BATTLEHYMN
The district is open to the public, and the streets around the temples are filled with pilgrims, worshippers, the sick, and the wealthy alike. All come to seek the Word.
Located equidistant between Chiaro, Vance, and Illium, along a canal running east to west from Vance, sits the high temple of the Church of the Damsel, Battlehymn. Here, initiates of the Church are trained, ordained, and sent afield to man the temples and monasteries all across Mars. The temple itself consists of a magnificent palace complex at the top of a hill surrounded by lush garden grounds for reflection and contemplation. The compound includes the most ornate and decorated temple for worship boasted by the Church, with delicate spiral crenellations and gold-leaf inlays on every stone. Also within is an extensive learning center with a university-like atmosphere for training initiates. Here is where the Exalted Missionary Sisters learn to speak with the Voice, and is the only permanent home for the order.
HOOKS
1. Detterick, a lesser noble from Illium, has been paying tribute to the Church for 10 years. He is close to the priests, but he has never been allowed to meet the Matriarch. He’s convinced that the Matriarch is just a cover for the Damsel, who is still alive and running the Church from behind the scenes. He’s willing to pay handsomely for someone to help him break into the Matriarch’s private quarters. 2. Leyon, a newly-appointed temple priest, believes his office is haunted. He requests Church exorcists, but he is denied by his superior. He’s seeking outside help with the situation against the Church’s wishes. 3. A group of the Exalted Missionary Sisters was scheduled to return to the temple over a week before, but they are late to arrive. The Church is concerned that something might have happened to hold them up and is looking for someone to investigate. 4. Several people have come to the temple district seeking help for an illness that has left them unable to speak. The Exalted Missionary Sisters in residence are cloistered away, for fear of losing the Voice to the illness. Can someone find the source of the illness and help develop a cure before the Sisters are struck Voiceless? 5. Timin, a Skarrut architect, is working on the newest addition to the temple. While surveying an area, he inadvertently listened in on a plot between Danese and several others to overthrow the Matriarch. He’s looking for someone to help him figure out what to do with the information. 6. Urmel Boshur is interested in discovering the source of the Voice, and maybe learning it himself to use to his advantage. He’s willing to pay someone to spy on Voice lessons in the temple district and bring him back any information.
Battlehymn is more than just a temple and a place of worship; it is the most holy site for members of the Church of the Damsel and the seat of its power. A thriving city has grown up just outside the grounds of the temple that makes up the bulk of Battlehymn’s residence. The temple-city is governed by the Matriarch of the Church and follows Church law in all practices. Residents of the city cater to a larger itinerate population of pilgrims who travel down the canal to view the holy temple and to hear the Word of the Damsel, as spoken by those with the Voice. Much of the city’s economic support comes from wealthy patrons to the Church, who come to the city often to petition the Matriarch for special considerations.
LOCATIONS TEMPLE OF THE VOICE The Temple of the Voice is a palace at the top of a large hill north of the canal. The temple began as a modest monastery, with quarters for just a few of the priests in residence. As the Church gained patrons and funding, the monastery grew to include a university, a second, larger worship temple, a hospital, a dormitory, and a few other auxiliary buildings. Each new Matriarch commissioned a new building. Now, the temple district is a labyrinthine complex of buildings connected with tunnels and covered walkways haphazardly placed into whatever space is available. The whole area is referred to as the Temple of the Voice, and is mostly inhabited by priests and trainees.
CHARACTERS
1. Danese, The Matriarch’s right hand (The Church is My Home d8, Administrative Power d6, Keeper of Secrets d4; Resolve d10; Trouble: Corrupted by Power) 2. Silane, Teacher of the Voice (Master of the Voice d10, Trained for Battle d4, Cares for the Sick d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Blindly Follows Orders) 3. Dax, Temple librarian and historian (Expert on Damsel History d8, Lives to Teach d6, Been Here 80
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Through Three Matriarchs d4; Resolve d6; Trouble: Resistant to Change)
boat, they witness a woman snatch a package from Solemn, a Pale Martian. She is beside herself because the package contains her life’s work and all her possessions. She begs the characters to help her recover the package and to maybe give her a little money so she can find a place to stay for the night. All of this is part of an elaborate con the girl and Solemn use to get money from unsuspecting travelers. The harbormaster clues the characters in, but not before they offer assistance. 4. Someone is stealing cargo from ships docked in the canal. The Templars have been unsuccessful in finding the culprit; it’s possible they’ve been paid off. The boat captains have come together to offer anyone willing to help them a hefty sum. 5. The Templars are cracking down on smuggling goods through the docks. Even honest boat captains are held under suspicion. None of the smugglers know why the Church is taking such a strong interest, and suspect they are looking for something specific. If someone could find what the Templars are looking for, they’d certainly be rewarded, not to mention the goodwill they’d garner from the boat captains. 6. Warrin, a traveling Roundhead, was accused of being a member of a mystery cult, which is a crime punishable by death in Battlehymn. He can’t afford to pay off the charge because his accuser has more resources. He’s looking for someone willing to smuggle him through the city and onto a boat to get out before he’s picked up by the Templars.
HAZARDS
1. The palace is made up of a complex of buildings and temples, which can be tricky to navigate. It’s easy to make a wrong turn and end up in the wrong office or section without intending to. 2. The Matriarch’s chambers are guarded by Templars at all times. Anyone seeking an audience with her must wait in the main audience chamber with all other patrons. 3. Once a day, all the priests in the temple district form a procession to the temple for services and prayer. Everyone is expected to move aside and stop what they are doing to allow the procession to pass.
N ORTH SIDE CANAL Travelers entering Battlehymn via the canal must dock at the east side canal. All canal boats must stop here, even those just passing through on their way to Illium. The Tem plars check cargo and passengers from all boats wishing to dock, and those passing through must check in with the Church to ensure nothing is being smuggled to other parts of the city. The canal docks host workers, sailors, new visitors to the city, Church officials, and ruffians looking for an easy score. HOOKS
1. The priests are expecting a valuable shipment, and a large contingent of guards are prowling the docks. They’ve been secretive about what’s coming in, and this is making some of the merchants a little edgy. Nounce wants to know what the Church is up to so she can sell the information. She wants the characters to get close enough to the cargo to sneak a peek and come back to tell her what they found. 2. The Swift came into the canal dock two night ago and was immediately placed under quarantine with no explanation. Trielle, her captain, is convinced that Mani Hern, a rival ship captain who also deals in krem, paid off the harbor master to get an upper hand. Trielle’s goods are of the best quality, direct from the Wyeth krem dens. She knows if she can get the cargo off the boat, she can outsell Mani. She’s willing to pay someone to sneak past the guards and gain access to her boat to retrieve the krem. Rumor has it that if they sabotage her rival’s krem stores, she’ll double their pay. 3. As the characters come into town and off their
CHARACTERS
1. Nounce, Red Martian smuggling captain (Born to Sail d10, Never Loses Cargo d6, Deception is My Middle Name d4; Resolve d8; Trouble: Trusts No One) 2. Chaques Vipon, Red Martian harbormaster (Has Eyes Everywhere d8, Strong as Ten Zaius d8, Keen Memory d4; Resolve d8; Trouble: In Debt to the Church) 3. Feun Lavesk, Red Martian dockside religious zealot (The Word is Law d10, Ready to Fight d6, Judgement is its Own Reward d4; Resolve d6; Trouble: Holier than Thou) 4. Ansile, Red Martian bartending rumor-monger (Gift of Gab d8, Been Around for a While d6, Bar Brawler d4; Resolve d8; Trouble: Accepts Bribes from the Wrong People) 5. Lisse, Red Martian Templar patrolling the docks (Sharp Eye d4, Sharper Sword d6, Knows the Regulars d4; Resolve d6; Trouble: Too Deep in The Cups) 81
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6. Lotee, Wyeth traveling merchant and trader [At Home on the Docks d8, Has What You Need d6, Helping Hands d4; Resolve d6; Trouble: Young and Full of Ideas]
3. Some say Urmel Boshur of the Red Fingers gang is attempting to organize the different criminal elements in the slums. They want to work a deal with the Templars to have them turn a blind eye to thievery in the other parts of the city as long as the criminals don’t bother members of the Church. He’ll pay handsomely for information about both the other gangs and which of the priests are corrupt enough to take his offer.
HAZARDS
1. Swarms of beggars loiter around the canal docks waiting to harass anyone who looks like they might have money. 2. Canal boat operators tend to stick to the dockside until their boats leave port. Generally, they have nothing better to do than drink and start fights until the morning they sail out. 3. Pickpockets prowl the docks looking for easy marks. Loose chit bags, or displays of wealth, could attract unwanted attention. 4. The Church officials are always on the lookout for smugglers and thieves. Strangers are suspect unless they are clearly wealthy. 5. Scavenger animals lurk around the docks looking for scraps. Hungry scavengers can get bold enough to attack someone who stands around in one place for too long. 6. The population near the canals attracts carnivorous creatures that live in the waters. Falling into the water is dangerous, and not just because of the swiftly-flowing current.
CHARACTERS
1. Ophilee, Red Martian black market religious artifact dealer (Master Con Artist d8, Willing to Make a Deal d4, Expert in Church Artifacts d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Dangerous Goods, Dangerous Clients) 2. Urmel Boshur, Red Martian gang leader and master thief (Knows the Right People d6, Light Fingers d8, Most Comfortable at Night d4; Resolve d6; Trouble: Trusts Too Easily) 3. Lon, Street urchin informant (Accepted Everywhere d10, Knows Too Much d6, Tight Lipped d4; Resolve d4; Trouble: Does Anything for a Coin) HAZARDS
1. Gangs and ruffians flock to the deep slums and fight over territory in the lawless section of town. Each gang has a color or symbol used to recognize each other, but they change so often it’s hard to know when you might be wearing the wrong color in the wrong part of town. 2. A maichara has escaped (and probably eaten) its erstwhile owner. It prowls the streets at night, and has so far eluded capture or death. 3. Sand spiders infest the slums and prey on anyone too slow or stupid to avoid them. 4. Templars and priests rarely enter the slums. Crime runs rampant in the area, as well as sickness and disease. It’s just as easy to get sick as it is to lose your coin. 5. Beggars are more aggressive in the slums; they are as likely to attack as to ask for coins. 6. Gangs cut krem with all sorts of odd substances in attempts to make it go further. The effects tend to either make users comatose or filled with a relentless rage.
SOUTH SIDE SLUMS Though the Church ministers to the sick and the needy, not all gain admittance or get the help they need. Those with chronic illnesses, addictions, mental issues, or those simply seeking to disappear filter down to the slums. Even the priests do not frequent the slums, though the people here need the most care. HOOKS
1. A scholar of the Church believes he’s found concrete evidence that Battlehymn is built upon the ruins of the Damsel’s original seat of power. He needs to go to the site and verify his discovery, but the ancient building is deep beneath the slums. He’s looking for someone to guard him as he searches the slums. 2. A young priestess has taken up residence in the slums and is healing the sick and tending to the poor. The gangs seem to ignore her, and the destitute follow her around like she is the Damsel herself. She denies such claims, but the people around her say she should be the Matriarch of the Church and clean out the corruption. Rumor has it the Matriarch is looking to have the girl disappear quietly.
THE DAMSEL’S TOMB The story tells that the Damsel left her empire for fear the power she wielded would corrupt her. No one knows if she died, and if she did, her remains have never been recov82
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ered. The Damsel’s Tomb is a large catacomb that spans beneath the entirety of Battlehymn north of the canal. Every Matriarch and high priestess of any importance is interred there. The Church did not build the catacombs, they simply built on top of an existing structure. Deep inside the catacombs, deeper than the Church ever ventures, are untold artifacts and relics left by a people of a long past age. Some think maybe the First Martians built the Damsel’s Tomb, but few have ventured in far enough to find out.
CHARACTERS
1. Yuvenne, Red Martian curator of the tomb, (Knows all the Paths d10, A Vision for Every Grave d6, Trusted by the Church d8; Resolve d6, Trouble: Addicted to Krem) 2. Soliloquy, Pale Martian Damsel-era artifact collector (Dedicated to Work d8, Finds What She’s Looking For d6, Willing to Get Dirty d4; Resolve d8; Trouble: Church Heretic) 3. Nameless, Wyeth Exalted Missionary Sister speaker for the dead (Communes with Skulls d10, Attuned to Death d4, Speaks with the Voice d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Has Heretical Beliefs)
HOOKS
1. Someone reported they saw a dead body rise and walk around. They ran out of the catacombs, but are sure it’s still down there. When the characters investigate, they find traces of purple fungus. Someone brought the fungus into the tomb, and if it spreads, the outcome could be devastating. 2. Screams heard in the middle of the night have the tomb’s curator on edge. She can’t find any evidence, but sees signs of a struggle. She asks the characters to investigate. They find some of the tombs were recently opened, and fresh corpses have been placed inside. A killer is storing bodies in the catacombs, and they must be found before someone else dies. 3. Kuriost, a Pale Martian artifact collector, has traced a ring of First Martian origin to the Sixteenth Matriarch of the Church. He believes she was buried with the artifact, and is offering to pay the characters to enter the tomb and search for the ring there. He’s sure she was buried with other artifacts and treasures, and they can keep whatever else they find. 4. Looters have been visiting the tomb at night and breaking open the sacred burial places of the Matriarchs. The church is willing to pay anyone who can bring these heretics to justice. 5. A small group of priests entered the catacombs to pay their respects to the buried Matriarchs. They entered the tomb over a week before, but no one has seen them since. A search and rescue team was sent in after them a few days later, but they have also yet to return. Getting anxious, and unwilling to ask the Church to send more priests, Yuvenne asks the characters to go in search of the missing priests and the rescue party. 6. A mystery cult began performing rituals in the catacombs at night. They deface the tombs inside with arcane symbols and strange graffiti. The curator wants the cult found and stopped before they do any more damage to the holy resting places. The Church offers bounties on any confirmed cult members, which could fetch the characters a nice purse.
HAZARDS
1. Tomb stalkers roam the deepest part of the catacombs. 2. The doors and hallways in the oldest parts of the tomb open and close on their own. The path you take down into the catacombs may not be the one you need to use to escape. 3. Sections of the catacombs have been expanded through the years by the Church. These areas are not as structurally sound as the original complex and are prone to cave-ins. 4. Yuvenne, the curator of the catacombs, patrols the newer tombs, keeping an eye out for looters and those looking to deface the tombs. 5. Templars guard the entrance to the tomb at night, making it difficult to just walk right in. 6. Some areas of the catacombs have been sealed for centuries. Opening such tombs can release ancient horrors into the world.
CHIARO Chiaro was once upon the edge of a mighty river of Old Mars, built atop the ruins of a Cydonian city that itself was built atop one even older. As such, it lies among a network of valleys containing some of the greatest First Martian and Cydonian tombs and monuments. Chiaro is ruled by a council of elders. Some are alleged to have been children in past millennia when the Silt Sea was parted and perhaps the last of the First Martians still walked the world. The “city” is divided into two parts: Chiaro-that-was: Home
base for tomb robbers and those who supply and trade with them. A tent city surrounded by a low wall, running as close to the monuments’ edge as is (probably) safe. A few less ambitious 83
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raiders dig here hoping to find remnants of layered ruins, but this place is long since picked over. Chiaro-that-is: Further
to the southeast, a small port along the Stygian canal. A more prosperous city, high-walled and at less hazard from the things that walk the desert at night. Chiaro-that-is benefits from the relic trade in Chiaro-that-was, while also producing its own food and goods. At night the torches of Chiaro burn with blue flame, which the priests claim keeps the tomb stalkers at bay.
history. In emulation of their saint, they pluck out their eyes in a holy initiation ceremony, believing that to truly see the truths of time and space, one must cut out the distractions of the here and now. When many chant in tandem, they use echolocation to “see” their surroundings through the blending harmonies of the sounds they produce. They also know how to perform an ancient, sacred throat-singing technique, which they claim allows them to see far beyond the physical through its eerie overtones. Perhaps they view parallel dimensions, or far-off realms, or even the distant past or future. Or perhaps they view nothing at all.
To the south of both Chiaros is a defunct atmosphere processor, ruptured from the inside by incredible forces. Like all atmosphere processors, it is guarded with death traps. Unlike many, the secrets of its traps and chambers are unmapped, and no Roundhead is known to dwell here with his cult.
HOOKS
1. A monk approaches the characters with a strange warning: One of them is the crux of a looming cosmic event, but the monks only know faint details. The monk beseeches the characters to come to the Cloister and let the sacred chant reveal more. What will the monks do once they learn who is responsible and how? 2. The secretive Cloister’s vaults hold treasures from ages past, guarded jealously by the monks and their retainers. Word comes from a reliable source in Chiaro-that-was that a harp with crystal strings has begun to play itself within those vaults and is dangerous beyond measure, but the monks refuse to listen. Can anyone prevent the disastrous consequences?
LOCATIONS CLOISTER OF THE BLIND SAINT In Chiaro-that-is, a cavernous stone monastery lit with enormous blue-flame beacons at each of its four c or ners stands aloof from the bustle. The monks here revere the Blind Saint, whose story lies obscured in the dusts of
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3. The Cloister’s flame beacons burn continuously night and day, while most of the city’s torches burn only at night. Superstition says these beacons take the monks’ chorus into the sky and call out to something far away. Now, rumor has it that whatever it is has answered the call, and it’s coming.
HOOKS
1. A faint voice calls for help from within the processor’s shadowed recesses. The deeper in the characters travel, the more urgent its cries become. Is someone trapped in here? Is it the spirit of one who died here, lost and forgotten? Or something even more sinister? 2. A noble offers a ludicrous sum to any stout adventurer who can penetrate the processor’s defenses and learn its secrets. The offer seems straightforward on the surface, but after the characters accept, a rival noble offers an even more ludicrous sum for the same. Will either noble take no for an answer? Why are the secrets suddenly so important? 3. The characters hear a rumor that the processor has begun to emit a distant mechanical hum, as though something was activated inside, and reports say a peculiar odor lingers in the air around it. Is it miraculously functioning again, or is it spewing some kind of poison? Who’s responsible? 4. Somewhere inside the processor, a strange, multifaced clock counts down from 3,000 years. Only a few days are left before the final hand strikes zero. What happens then? Should it be prevented? Can it be prevented? 5. The characters find something of incredible value inside the processor — a gem of lost First Martian genius or a scrap of machinery made of pure radium, something that could win them riches. But as soon as they try to leave with it, the entire place locks down. Doors close and refuse to open, and all lights extinguish. 6. One room inside the processor contains posed and preserved corpses, positioned as though working on the machinery. Were they killed when the processor was ruptured, or at some other time? The characters can find clues hidden in nooks and crannies, if they can avoid the traps.
CHARACTERS
1. Djada, Red Martian monk and secret Cloister recruiter (Expressive Gestures d10, Uncanny Senses d8, Knows Too Much d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Blind when Alone) 2. Whisper, nervous Red Martian Cloister retainer (Orphan Raised by the Blind d8, Knows the Cloister Inside and Out d8, Apprentice Scribe d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Terrified of the Unknown) 3. Docya, Wyeth scribe and superstition monger, wants the Cloister’s secrets (Persuasive Pen d10, Noble Connections d8, Blends into a Crowd d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Can’t Take a Hint) HAZARDS
1. The Cloister is guarded by two imposing Skarrut mercenary siblings who only allow authorized visitors inside. (Sharp Blades d10, By Any Means Necessary d8, Stone-Faced d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry) 2. During certain celestial alignments, the monks shut themselves inside and chant for three days and three nights. While they do, the sky for miles around warps, showing otherworldly, disorienting visions. 3. The monks are capable of uncannily-coordinated combat when they fight while chanting in groups, almost as though they could read each other’s minds. (1 per player; Strike Threshold: 6)
R UPTURED ATMOSPHERE PROCESSOR
CHARACTERS
Long ago, a massive force ripped apart the atmosphere processor to the south of both cities from the inside. The Roundheads leave it be, having no interest in its broken husk, and none of the few scavengers who have returned from its labyrinthine guts can describe it accurately or act as guides. The secret of its ruin lies buried somewhere in its steel belly. Known, it might give great insight into the ways of the First Martians. But its traps are deadly, and its winding chambers stretch maze-like into the darkness, made impassable here and there by malfunctioning machinery, collapsed rubble, or razor-fanged traps exposed by the damage.
1. Taribat, Roundhead hiring fixers to repair the processor (Utterly Ruthless d10, Eye for Character d8, More Money than You d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Overzealous) 2. Yuyu, Red Martian scavenger who lives inside the processor (Last of My Kind d10, Mechanical Autodidact d8, Anything Is Food d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Alien to All) 3. Shyan, Zaiu scholar studying the processor (First Martian Expert d12, Suffers No Fools d8, Quick Wit d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Low on Resources) 85
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4. Barra, Red Martian found sleeping in stasis (Fights Dirty d8, Talks Dirty d8, Fearsome Mien d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 2 Strike; Trouble: Lost Memory) 5. Pimali, Red Martian peddling false processor maps (Could Sell Sand in the Desert d10, Underworld Connections d8, Mysterious Wealthy Benefactor d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: No True Allies) 6. Mun, Red Martian processor worshipper (Gentle but Firm d10, Dutiful until Death d8, Talks to the Wind d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Magnet for Thieves)
bought from the Pale Martians, carried on the backs of aepys and on wide canal barges. Impromptu marketplaces rise and fall constantly here as port merchant families and canal traders follow the shifting trends of the camp’s cycling population. The Reservoir Guardians are the camp’s most valuable, and most closely-watched, denizens. To be a Reservoir Guardian is a well-paid honor, but punishment is swift and harsh should anything happen to the glacier water on a Guardian’s watch. HOOKS
1. A reckless youth climbs the reservoir on a dare, and falls in while fleeing the Guardians. The youth can’t swim, but who will risk the wasting curse to fish someone out? Will the Guardians allow such a rescue to disturb the water further? 2. Canal pirates approach the characters with a proposal for a lucrative scam that involves the caravan master’s son and skimming a little water off the top. Turning them down means knowing too much and becoming a threat. 3. The camp falls prey to an earthquake, killing several Guardians on the eve of a caravan’s departure. Desperate to keep to the timetable lest the city’s water reserves deplete, the caravan master implores the characters to travel with them and guard the precious cargo, for a handsome reward. 4. A Reservoir Guardian is accused of sabotaging a botched delivery, and the elders plan to put her on trial. She approaches the characters, insisting she has done nothing, and begging them to represent her in the trial to prove her innocence. 5. A sickness breaks out in the city, and some experts claim the latest glacier water shipment contained a contaminant. The characters are hired to investigate this claim and determine whether it’s true — and if so, how such a contaminant came to be; or if not, why such a claim was made. 6. For years, several foreign noble families have quietly warred to see who could gain control of Chiaro’s reservoir first. So far none have succeeded, but they’re not above persuading or tricking strangers into maneuvering for them.
HAZARDS
1. A fanatic with followers claims the broken processor is blasphemous, and campaigns to have it destroyed or walled off, threatening violence if unheeded. 2. A great mechanical beast lurks in the processor’s dark places, spewing smoke and working its creaking limbs. It has lost its original purpose. (Enormous Claws d12, Dangerous Fumes d8, Erratic Function d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt) 3. It takes great concentration and an unerring sense of direction to find the path back to the exit once the characters enter the processor’s half-ruined maze. 4. Large swaths of the interior shudder in their instability, ready to collapse into rubble when disturbed, crushing interlopers and cutting off exploration — or escape — routes. 5. Explosives, hidden blades, noxious gas traps, and steel cages await the unwary throughout the processor. 6. Ice hornets, usually only found at the North Pole, built a nest in an uncannily-cold part of the processor. Their sting freezes skin and blood, and they are roused to fury by heat.
ICE CARAVAN CAMP Just north of Chiaro-that-is towers the Chiaro Reservoir, a hulking stone basin that holds the glacier water brought down from the North Polar Cap and delivers it into the city through channels controlled directly by the elders. The ice caravan camp surrounds the reservoir, with its Guardian barracks, its stables and craftsmen, and its haphazard tents. Here, Chiaro’s two caravans take turns living their lives — one rests its animals, restocks its supplies, repairs its equipment, and pursues its whims while the other takes up the hazardous journey to the North Pole. The ice water is transported in watertight containers
CHARACTERS
1. Dust, Red Martian child and caravan stowaway (Light Fingers d10, Big Brown Eyes d6, Stolen Flintlaser Pistol d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Sought by Abandoned Parent) 2. Anzoli, Red Martian captain of the Reservoir Guardians (Merciless Blade d8, Eyes Everywhere 86
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3. 4.
5. 6.
d8, Secret Lover d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Set in My Ways) Namenzira, Skarrut marketplace trader (Wide Smile d10, Exotic Tastes d8, Pretty Lies d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Abject Cowardice) Khebim, Red Martian aepys breeder (Speaks the Wild Languages d10, Retired Cavalier d8, Just Won’t Die d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Seen Too Much) Maatu, Red Martian barge sailor (Can’t Be Bought d10, Canal Rat d8, Worships the Ice Gods d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Can’t Read) Sejesta, Red Martian caravan entertainer (Rousing Performer d12, Friends in Low Places d8, Friends in High Places d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Falls in Love Easily)
won’t run. Carven Skyward Faces gaze at the stars, so massive that they can only be seen clearly from far above. Those who venture out among these monuments to sample their ancient secrets come first upon Cydonian marvels of stonework and architecture, sculpted statues with alien faces and labyrinthine crypts. Those who dig deeper and stray farther from the beaten paths find a layer of ruins and graveyards buried beneath the younger civilization’s legacy, onyx black machine -structures choked with sand, that show little hint of what they once were for. Among all these stride the tomb stalkers, tall machines with ridged, cyclopean heads walking on tripods of long metal limbs. HOOKS
1. The Singing Tomb is a pyramid close to the edge of Chiaro-that-was, unique for the indecipherable pattern of gaps in its walls. A wind sings through them, melodic and mourning, like the tomb itself keening for its dead. Any who sing along relive scenes from the lives of the entombed. Are they possessed by spirits, doomed to reenact tragedies, or does the wind simply carry memories in its ghostly dirge? 2. The Cydonian Labyrinth is said to house both the lost people’s greatest treasure and a dream-eating void at its center. No one has yet reached that center, but every year one of Chiaro-that-is’ nobles sponsors a band of adventurers to try their luck. 3. At the bottom of a crater shaped like an enormous footprint lies the Lyot Mirror, a glassy black surface that shows reflections of what might have been. It mesmerizes those who linger, and after a time they become dust devils, cursed to wander the lonely land. Maybe they could communicate, if anyone could survive being torn apart. 4. A scavenger gang takes up residence in a crumbling vault, claiming to have found a working First Martian water pump inside. Rumor has it they’re selling access at exorbitant prices, but is it real or just a scam? 5. A series of grisly murders among the tomb raiders has each group pointing fingers at the others, and a turf war among the tombs is about to break out — inevitably drawing the tomb stalkers’ attention. Can someone solve the murders before bloodshed starts? 6. A scholar hears about a living specimen of an originally river-dwelling creature long thought extinct, in the river valley among the tombs, but the area is too dangerous for her to investigate. She offers a reward to any who study it in her stead.
HAZARDS
1. Longstanding superstition says anyone who disturbs the glacier water before it reaches the city is cursed with a deadly wasting sickness. Locals have stories that back it up. 2. Some caravan camp denizens say they hear the call of the North, an urge to go into the vast, cold abyss and never return. Some have heeded it. Eventually, they say, all will heed it. 3. A caravan merchant sells curios that come from the North Pole. Soon, the curios thaw into parasites that leech blood from their hosts. 4. A feud breaks out between the two caravans during the changeover. Naked blades and flintlaser pistols are drawn on both sides, with everyone else caught in the middle. 5. A rare amphibious predator, the milak beast, emerges from the canal to feast on the caravan’s aepys. It attacks anyone who gets in its way. 6. Something came back from the North Pole with the recently-returned caravan, unbeknownst to them. It carries people off silently in the night, evading the Guardians with ease.
TOMB VALLEYS Beyond the drifting borders of Chiaro-that-was lie river valleys where the nobility of Cydonia and, before them, the panjandra of the First Martians were laid to rest. Out of the red sands rise great stone pyramid-tombs and grotesque, eroded quasi-Martian figures with distorted proportions. Ruined mausolea, half-sunk in the desert’s all-consuming maw, are built atop ungainly machines that
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CHARACTERS
1. Stray, Red Martian treasure hunter offering a share for protection (Opportunity Is My Middle Name d10, Nose for Trouble d8, Swift Dagger d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Built Like a Twig) 2. Netjera, Red Martian self-proclaimed tomb guide (Desert Survivor d10, Bandit Decoy d8, Disarming Smile d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Misplaced Loyalties) 3. Julid, Pale Martian outcast seeking redemption (Dedicated Relic Hunter d10, Adept-in-Training d8, Dead Languages d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Homesick) 4. Maryu, Zaiu ancestor-worshipping pilgrim (Ghost-Seeking Whistle d8, Believes All Are One d8, Deft Hands d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Trusts Too Easily) 5. Diavol, Red Martian cavalier with a vendetta (Valley Bandits Killed My Brother d10, Fencing Master d8, Dune Lion Tamer d6; Resolve d12; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Overweening Pride) 6. Jiani, cutthroat Red Martian archaeologist (Sneering Intellectual d12, Bigger and Better Things d8, Meticulous d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Attracts Rivals) HAZARDS
1. The characters think they’re excavating a Cydonian tomb, but in its bones is an ancient and malevolent machine they accidentally activate without knowing how. It seeks to capture and preserve them in its cabinet of once-living toys. 2. The Valley Bandits aren’t an organization so much as a plague. Small bands of savage guerrilla-fighting brigands live and lurk among the tombs, waiting for a ripe mark. (1 per player; Strike Threshold: 6) 3. The largest of the Skyward Faces bears an engraving at its base, posing a riddle to all who dare approach. A wrong answer can be fatal. 4. What the characters think is the entrance to a tomb turns out to be a sleeping tomb stalker buried under the sand. When it wakes, the ground trembles. 5. In some subterranean tombs live clumps of a strange blue cactus that gives off a bright glow. Its water is nourishing, but once aboveground it turns yellow and causes a bloody rash. 6. The gargantuan delve beetles stand guard inside pyramids, protecting Cydonian treasures.
CIMMERIA Protected from Cydonia’s lust for expansion by sheer distance and a mighty ring of mountains, the ancient Qan built an empire in Cimmeria. Conquering the Ozak people and setting them to work, the Qan turned the steppes into an oasis of fields and cities — until the fungus came. Old stories claim it was a biological attack from the Cydonians, fearing the Qan might come to rival them. Ozak legends say it was actually the Qan themselves who developed the fungus and accidentally set it loose upon themselves. Whatever the cause, the Qan empire soon fell as fields and cities alike were overrun by the violet creeper. The Qan and Ozak yet remain, locked in a deadly feud over ancient crimes that can neither be repaid nor undone. They live in nomadic groups and continually seek uninfected grounds where they can make camp or let their yummoc graze. At night, the fungus edges ever closer, as if drawn to the warmth and breath of living bodies. It’s with the dead that the fungus does its worst, though. Covering the dead like a shroud, the fungus absorbs their corpses and rebuilds their forms in a violet mockery. These corpse stalkers have a limited form of sentience, and their only goal is spreading the fungus wider. Qan and Ozak alike have taken to burning any nearby fungus when they make camp, lest they die in their sleep and are subsumed by it. Whenever Qan and Ozak meet, they paint the steppes red in blood and hope someone remains alive to burn the corpses.
LOCATIONS INON PALACE Q Once the splendorous capital of Qan, Qinon now lies deserted. Its five-ringed wall crumbled under Ozak vengeance and the ravages of time. Though the stone is blackened, from continual burnings to keep the fungus at bay, and tents stand in place of the elegant structures, the Qan have partially rebuilt the inner palace. They come here to bury their dead, if natural rot or the fungus don’t claim them first. To ensure a proper burial, many sickly Qan make the trek to Qinon while they are still alive, and the halls are filled with the weak and dying, and their faithful guardians.
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5. Siran, Ozak servant new to Qinon and planning to escape (Mental Mapping d10, Keen Ears d8, Easily Overlooked d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Impatient) 6. Asuran, Zaiu traveler far from home (Seeking New Horizons d10, Friendly Face d8, Keen Bow d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Restless Feet)
HOOKS
1. Matriarch Yeshuen came to die at Qinon’s palace. She made a lot of enemies in her time, and they are not content to let the old woman die peacefully. Yeshuen’s family hires the characters to guard her until it’s over. 2. Rumor claims the steppe fungus originated from Qinon. The characters are hired by Jetei, a Yellow Silk, to find this place of origin and return with a sample of the fungus growing there. They discover that Eu plans to use the fungus against rival citystates. 3. Qinon is laid out in an ancient star pattern no longer visible from Mars. Nasralla, an astrologer from Zodiac, hires the characters to map the city. When they arrive, Qinon has been struck by a natural catastrophe that left only corpse stalkers. 4. After a bloody encounter, the Qan are rife with Ozak prisoners. In an unexpected show of mercy, they offer to trade the prisoners back to their people in exchange for yummocs and grain. They seek outsiders to negotiate the deal for them. 5. Bedesh, an Ozak scholar, wishes to study the burial treasures of an ancient Qan oppressor. As it’s too risky for her to go herself, she seeks out the characters to do it for her. She provides them with a map to Qinon’s inner sanctum, but it’s badly outdated. 6. A Qan named Dologai emerges from one of the burial chambers and claims to be an emperor of old reawakened. He wishes to lead his people into a renewed conquest of the Ozak and sends out a call to arms, including for mercenaries. Meanwhile, other Qan have no interest in a major war, and hire the characters to kill him. CHARACTERS
1. Burtan, famed Qan warrior, now frail and confused (Doesn’t Get Sick d10, Trained Reflexes d8, Powerful Family d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Dazed Memories) 2. Ajan, Qan guardian of Qinon and loyal servant of the elders (Steadfast d10, Sharp Swords d8, Knows the Palace d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Cannot Leave) 3. Tagadir, Qan cavalier, accompanying their master on their last journey (Quick Sword d10, Witty Repartee d8, Eye to the Future d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: No Family) 4. Temulan, Ozak taken prisoner decades ago, serves at Qinon (Knows People d10, Survivor d8, Multi-Lingual d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Old Bones)
HAZARDS
1. A pack of ruin jackals has taken up residence in the south corner of Qinon palace. These lean and agile predators prey on the dying Qan. 2. Most of Qinon remains a ruin of broken floors and collapsing ceilings, waiting to trap anyone who dares explore its secrets. 3. The fungus is particularly active in Qinon. Patrols must burn away the fungus several times a night, lest it overrun the palace again. 4. The ghosts of ancient Qan and Ozak, killed when Qinon fell, still dwell in dusty corners of the ruins. 5. Two rival Qan come to die in Qinon. Their mutual hatred is not forgotten, and they set their followers on each other. The feud soon consumes the palace ruins. 6. The old Qan treat all others as their inferiors. Returning their subtle – or overt – signs of disdain however, is a certain way to invite violence.
ATAI MONASTERY Perhaps in response to the age of their enslavement, when they were worked until death, the Ozak take old age very seriously. Atai is one of several monasteries where Ozak spend their last years, and it is the most elaborate one by far. Built on the ruins of an ancient Qan city, Atai is painted in bright colors. Small flags, flying in every hue from the walls and deformed trees, tell the history of the Ozak – black for the age of enslavement, purple for years when the fungus spread particularly fast, yellow for years of happiness and peace. Every color has its own meaning and all Ozak are taught to read them. HOOKS
1. Toktah, an elder Ozak, wishes to retire to Atai Monastery, but he can’t shake the Qan following him and daren’t lead them to the refuge. He asks the characters to take care of the tail, landing them smack in the middle of the interracial conflict. 2. Whenever a new Ozak takes up monastery vows, she leaves behind the burdens of her life — literally — by adding them to an odd construct made of old 89
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3.
4.
5.
6.
pictures, never-used baby clothes, and broken promises. One morning though, the construct is gone. Did scavengers steal it? Did the fungus subsume it? The monastery seeks people to investigate the matter. A Qan force, led by the warrior Burhi, has found Atai monastery and is moving to attack. The monks send out a call to anyone willing to defend the monastery, or at least help evacuate. This plea reaches the characters’ ears. The monks have discovered a massive underground complex underneath the monastery. The maze-like halls are made of an unknown metal, through which a soft hum is emitted. As this is far beyond their ken, they discreetly send word to one of the characters to come investigate. Verdis, an elderly Zaiu, wishes to retire at an Ozak monastery. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know where any of them are. Can the characters get him in contact with the Ozaks? What if the monks don’t accept him, and Verdis is too old to make the return trip? An astrologer from Zodiac, Riman, claims he discovered a repeating pattern in the flags. Unfortunately, he can’t read their colors, so he doesn’t know what the pattern means. He asks the characters to find an Ozak willing to translate.
CHARACTERS
1. Ganbata, Ozak monk with an old body and brilliant mind (Sharp as a Razor d12, Herbology d10, Steady Hands d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Survived their Family) 2. Ghila, young Ozak learning their letters and flags (Clever Enough d10, Good Family d8, Beginning Sword d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Follies of Youth) 3. Labbakan, Qan prisoner with wounded pride (Great Rider d10, Good with a Bow d8, Keen Eye d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Reckless) 4. Meran, Red Martian from Battlehym and guest at Atai (Steady Pace d10, True Believer d8, Survivor d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Cannot Stop Preaching) 5. Enbish, Ozak of middle years and caretaker of the monks (Hidden Sword Skill d10, Great Cook d8, Swift Rider d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Loyal ‘til the End) 6. Chamba, Ozak monk not yet ready to retire (True Aim d10, Quiet Feet d8, Stick to the Shadows d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Mean)
spreads beyond the gardens and into the beds and mouths of monks. 2. Initially drawn by the yummoc herd kept by the monastery, a steppe bear begins to prey on the monks. 3. At the heart of Atai lies a crack in the earth from which multicolored smoke rises. The fumes grant powerful visions, but also carry a deadly toxin. 4. Small, quick birds are drawn to the monastery’s colored flags. They are pretty and usually silent — they sing when Deimos shines blue, and their song drives the listener mad. 5. The Qan attack any monastery they can find, killing all inhabitants. They claim this is their vengeance for the sack of Qinon. Now they attack Atai. 6. The fumes rising at the monastery’s heart are the breath of an ancient creature not native to Mars. The monks unknowingly guard its resting place and ensure its continued sleep with their daily rituals.
FIBONACCI KNOT Deep within the purple steppes, several fields of fungus meet and melt together. As if exchanging information, the clusters rebuild the dead and, sometimes, constructs and memories lost to time. At the Fibonacci Knot, the fungus curves in an unending spiral, mimicking the dawn of the universe. The Fibonacci Knot is large enough to enter, and enterprising scavengers have indeed done so. Inside, they claim, the violet walls are shaped in reliefs that reveal the history of the Qan and Ozak. Deeper inward, their history is replaced with depictions of towering creatures and ancient ships, though few make it back outside to tell these tales. HOOKS
1. Shadin, a Pale Martian scholar from Foresight, believes the Fibonacci Knot was pulled from the memories of the fungus’ earliest victims, and is actually a replica of a lost Cydonian construct. He hires the characters to escort him into the knot while he conducts his research. 2. A gash in the side of the Knot yields entry, but explorers haven’t discovered anything besides the wall relief and occasional predator nesting within. Notably, they never found the beginning or end of the spiral either. Cuarto, a scholar from Vance, wishes to investigate this spatial anomaly, and hires the characters to aid him. 3. The fungus at the ancient Fibonacci Knot no longer needs to rely on corpses to inhabit, but can
HAZARDS
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instead create figures of its own. These tall, faceless biped creatures now seek to communicate with the Qan and Ozak. But is this a first overture to peace, or to demand complete surrender of the steppes? The characters are present when the creatures make themselves known. 4. While they travel Cimmeria, the characters find the fungus encroaching on them nightly. Eking ever closer, it leaves only one path open and this leads the characters to the Fibonacci Knot. What force is steering them there? 5. Ozak legends tell of an ancient creature that carried a cochlea on its back. Believing the knot to be the overgrown remains of such a creature, Mazir, a Pale Martian from Foresight, has hired the characters to cut into the Knot and bring the pieces to him for investigation. 6. Once a year, the sky at the Knot colors purple with tiny flecks of the fungus. A scientist from Illium, named Saman, wishes to examine this phenomenon. Calling on personal favors, she has been granted a small skyship to travel to the Knot, but the crew has declined to join her on the ground. She hires the characters to serve as bodyguards and research crew. CHARACTERS
1. Sokhar, Qan thief lost on their way to the next big heist (Light Fingers d10, Fencing Master d8, Easy Smile d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Impossible Dreams) 2. Jihan, Ozak scholar investigating a cure for the fungus (Mycologist d10, Hidden Knife d8, Brave Heart d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Long Way From Home) 3. Wakar, Pale Martian historian specializing in lost relics (Ancient History d10, Master of Trivia d8, Good Aim d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Unconventional Theories) 4. Zalin, Red Martian scavenger staying away from the competition (Ambitious d10, Knows a Tavern in Every Town d8, Clockwork Hand d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Bad at their Job) 5. Sooran, Pale Martian scholar from Foresight planning to map the Fibonacci Knot (Mathematical Mind d10, Seasoned Traveler d8, Good Aim d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Single-Minded) 6. Junos, Roundhead and self-proclaimed ambassador to the fungal creatures (Flair for Languages d10, Eye for Opportunity d8, Quick Shot d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Weak Psionics)
HAZARDS
1. A large galak, a six-legged reptile, has made her lair inside the spiral. She’s laid eggs and defends them fiercely, not to mention that her babies need to eat. 2. A storm rages across the steppes, with the Knot and its mysteries offering the only refuge nearby. 3. The Riders of Baal, comprised of exiled Qan and Ozak, claim the Knot as altar to their dark god. Little is known of them, but all travelers fear the dust storms that herald the Riders’ coming. 4. Scavengers claim that simulacra tomb stalkers, created from fungus, wait for any who return from exploring the inside of the Knot. 5. Unlike the main fields of fungus, the Knot’s spores can infect living bodies, albeit only for a short time. The infected travel outward, hoping to cross the natural barriers of Cimmeria and spread the fungus to new locations. 6. Young Qan come to the Knot as part of their combat trials, and must challenge the first thing they see to a duel. Usually, that thing is a fungal creature, but not always.
FOREST OF CORPSES The western border of Cimmeria is marked by small and stunted trees. These trees rely on the fungus for sustenance, using their prehensile roots to snake around the violet creeper and gather it in. Occasionally, corpse trees entwine a decom posing corpse or corpse stalker along with the fungus, giving them their ominous name. The trees’ pollen is carried on the ever-present Martian winds, and they produce purple fruits, which cast a waxen light. Eating the fruit opens a person to possession — and draws the disembodied like water does travelers in the desert. The host retains her mind at the beginning and end of the possession, as her body absorbs and expels the fruit, allowing her to “speak” with the possessing ghost. HOOKS
1. Darian, a corpse fruit harvester from Vance, hires the characters to protect his workers as they make their way between the corpse trees. The process takes about a week, during which time the group must contend with threats from fungus, the trees themselves, the occasional ghost, and underpaid workers. 2. A caravan merchant named Jamyin seeks passage through the corpse tree forest and into Cimmeria. Repelled by the trees, she hires the characters to burn and carve a way through. But they discover the trees play a vital part in keeping the violet creeper contained to Cimmeria. 91
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3. After a year of particularly-virulent fungal spread, both the Qan and Ozaks take refuge in the corpse forest. They’ve already had several violent clashes and neither side can afford another bloodbath. They ask the characters to negotiate a peace that designates the corpse forest as neutral zone, without either of them losing face. 4. Legend has it all corpse trees are runners from an ancient tree sitting at the center of the forest. The grandmother tree yields a single fruit each year, which grants the eater power over the dead. A Roundhead named Gulis tasks the characters to retrieve this fruit, while his rivals hire teams of their own. 5. An Ozak with rotting flesh makes her way through the corpse forest. She claims she is dead, body and soul reanimated by consuming a corpse fruit while she died. If she is telling the truth, this is a powerful and valuable secret. But what if she is yet alive, and her rot is a contagious disease? 6. Two Ozak brothers, Arshan and Mardas, hope to contact the ghost of their father. They cannot decide who should eat the fruit and who should keep watch, for neither trusts the other. They seek someone to eat the fruit and be a conduit for the dead.
2. The fungus at the forest’s edge is extra thick and heavy, allowing it to cover and suffocate the living while they sleep. 3. Ghosts are drawn to the corpse fruit, adding danger to any dust storms in the area. 4. Animosity between groups of corpse fruit harvesters has come to a fevered pitch, and unwary travelers are caught between their blades. 5. Beware killing a Martian who has recently eaten corpse fruit, for his ghost will haunt the murderer in her sleep. 6. The wood of a corpse tree is cursed. Stories tell of Martians wounded by a mere splinter, and dying from unknown causes days later.
CORONAL A “sister-state” to the west of Vance, Coronal established itself as an outlying supply hub by harvesting building supplies and mineral deposits for Meridian’s agriculture and infrastructure. Modern Coronals live in either the valley or the ancient city carved into the side of an active volcano. The predominantly Red Martian population shares the city with a colony of spiders that spin metallic webs. In the night, the spiders set to work repairing any damage done to the city during the day. This symbiotic relationship has allowed Coronal to thrive despite the harsh conditions that come with living on the side of a volcano.
CHARACTERS
1. Nayan, Red Martian thief looking for corpse fruit (Knows the Way d10, Great Stamina d8, Gunslinger d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Lost Love) 2. Kiyuk, Red Martian harvest master from Vance (Big Body d10, Trade Empire d8, Keen Wit d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Easily Bored) 3. Tajin, Qan warrior lost in the forest of corpses (Keen Sword d10, Traveled Far d8, Loyal Steed d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Haunted) 4. Mungka, Ozak scholar seeking the secrets of the corpse trees (Cunning Mind d10, Silver Tongue d8, Quick Draw d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Untrustworthy) 5. Jina, Poppy Bride collecting corpse fruit for a draught of deathless sleep (Alchemist d10, Dreamer d8, Ambitious d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Enemies at Home) 6. Yalina, Wyeth orchard master looking for the grandmother tree (Pomologist d10, Strong d8, Daring d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Ill-Risked Plans)
The spiders charged with maintaining the city’s infrastructure are seemingly immune to the hazards of Coronal. Their thick metallic webs keep them grounded in the high winds. Able to withstand extreme temperatures, they traverse the surface lava flows with ease. On cooler days, the spiders can be seen warming themselves by the geyser and the hot springs south of the city. Unlike the Red Martians, since being introduced to Coronal the spiders have evolved to live in this climate. Most Coronals spend their lives in relative poverty, while cultivating and harvesting the land to provide wealth for the Vancian elite. Uprisings ae common, and in the wake of the most recent, the royal families have increased the military presence in the city. The increase in military personnel has displaced many, forcing them to move out of the valley, where the first settlement was established, into the steep ruins built into the side of the volcano. The swift migration of middle- and working-class citizens, displaced by the military, has led
HAZARDS
1. While the corpse trees cannot feed on the living, their prehensile roots gather the weak and sleeping alike in a deadly embrace. 92
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to an increase in makeshift townships among the an- fifty feet high. A large metal bubble, glistening in the sun, cient structures. Temporary housing made of cloth and consumes the head of the geyser, funneling every drop of stone, fastened in place by the spiders’ metallic webbing water into intricate metallic waterways that feed the city has replaced the natural façade of the volcano. and the farm system. While the citizens were crammed into stinking, Before the clean water travels to the city, it goes overfull camps at Almeida, the military found them- through a treatment facility at the geyser, separating the selves with rather pleasant accommodations. With the sediment from the liquid, and collecting the excess heat and open lava flow to the East and the geyser fields to the kinetic energy to power the turbines in the plant. 90 percent south, the valley lying to the northwest is the most vul- of the resulting sediment is separated into mineral componerable point for an attack. In the mornings, a breeze nents that are packaged and sent out to the other districts brings a fine mist across the valley as cool air condenses as an agricultural product. The remaining 10 percent is put the steam from the active lava flow. In the afternoons, back into the water as it exits the plant, to feed Coronal’s the heat of the day is swept away by the same breeze. farms to the south, using the soil to extract the remaining The morning mist allows vegetation to take root across sediment before passing the filtered water to the city. the valley, limiting the arid dust and keeping the popuWith the increased military presence in the city, a lation of ghosts to a manageable amount. secondary water system was ordered and installed, which With the recent mass relocation, old feuds have re- redirects 40 percent of the clean water directly to the valley. ignited in the cramped quarters of Almeida. While the Although there has been a 40-percent reduction in water to older generation turns its hostility inward, the younger the main pipeline, the sediment amounts remain the same, generation is focused on the outside forces that drove causing clogs along the pipeline. Services to the farms and the Coronals into the ancient settlement and out of the the village on the north face of the volcano have been intercity center. The political climate and living conditions rupted as the spiders attempt to clear the clog system. create an explosive environment in the already-tumulWhen asked why they could not simply decrease the tuous community. The families who once brokered amount of sediment put back into the system, the royal peace among the two settlements are now vying for families stated that the sudden increase in mineral output control of Almeida. As more lavish military quarters from Coronal would decrease the value of the export and and cramped makeshift villages are built, the hostility could potentially lead to a mineral shortage later, according between the city and the state increases. to the royal ecologist.
LOCATIONS
HOOKS
1. The workers at the water treatment plant have threatened to strike, unless the royals increase the percentage of sediment being exported. 2. A spider wrangler has been using the spiders to build another pipeline to an undisclosed location, stealing water and minerals from the main channel that feeds the city. 3. Fearful of a workers’ revolt, the military has increased their presence at the plant. The six-person security detail may be heavily armed, but they are unfamiliar with the mechanics of the processing plant. 4. Spiders are being redirected to maintain the pipeline, leaving the maintenance crew on the collection bubble understaffed. 5. Disgruntled citizens breached the treatment facility and are trying to sabotage the military’s pipeline. 6. Sediment backed up the pipeline feeding the city, and is flooding the treatment plant. Another geyser burst is set to go off in 10 minutes, which will
XETA GEYSER The Xeta Geyser south of the city of Coronal goes off every 15 minutes. In ancient times, the geyser was a beacon in the desert, guiding weary travelers to the city. Those who came from the east were thwarted by the lava flow, but those who approached from the west would find sanctuary in the valley. The spiders, originally stowaways with those first settlers, found the climate hospitable. They would scurry to the geyser between eruptions and build webs to capture the water, funneling it away from the explosive mouth of the geyser down the mountain, where it would cool and pool in a metallic, spider-web bowl down the hill. The open water vessel attracted insects, which the spiders feasted upon. The Martians adapted this instinctual water collection system and trained the spiders to build upon command. After centuries of manipulation and maintenance, the metallic web now spans the length of the geyser, stretching 93
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send another rush of water into the plant, forcing the water in the holding tank through the pipes. CHARACTERS
1. Ferdinand Gaspar, Red Martian Foreman (Buy and Sell Anyone d10, Poise d8, Flattery d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Deceptive but Inept) 2. Yrahi Arujo, Zaiu Spider Wrangler (Spatially Intelligent d10, Landscaping d8, Keeps Head Down d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Doesn’t Respect her Superiors) 3. Basurto, Red Martian Military Guard (Debonair d10, Carousing d8, Trendy d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: New to Coronal) 4. Bautista Ferro, Red Martian Geologist (Measured d10, Antagonistic d8, Athletic d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Vocal Opponent of Royal Policy) 5. Leticia Cruz, Red Martian Military Guard (Knife in the Dark d10, Silent Stalker of Prey d8, Provoking Fights d6; Resolve d10; Combat 3 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Always Looking for a Fight) 6. Maria Fonseca, Red Martian Rebel Leader (Selfless d10, Political d8, Earnest d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Always in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time)
ALMEIDA The once-historic ruins and stone houses of Coronal and Almeida have blended into an uncomfortable concoction of ancient stone housing, tent cities, and glistening metallic webs. As the population of Almeida has tripled in the last year, the strain of living on top of one another has destroyed the tenuous peace between the people of the valley and the mountain. The water- and waste-disposal systems are overburdened. The waste tubes, that used to efficiently carry all the waste in the city to the lava flow for disposal, are overrun with debris and outgassing. The outgassing, which used to ignite once a day, is now releasing every 10 minutes. With scarce resources, the older generation is becoming increasingly isolationist, segregating communities within Almeida between the original inhabitants of the mountain village and the “new” arrivals. Meanwhile, the younger generation is focusing their frustration on the imposing military force sent by the royals. The younger generation of Red Martians seeks democracy. They do not believe in the power of the class system, and seek to advance and rule themselves. A rebellion is growing within Almeida, and it seeks a means of redistributing the power back to the people of Coronal.
HAZARDS
HOOKS
1. The collection bubble is growing increasingly unstable, due to decreased maintenance. 2. The water rushing from the geyser through metallic tubes and collection chambers creates a low-lying fog, obscuring the pipes filled with boiling water. 3. Newly-deployed and heavily-armed military guards do not understand the layout of the factory. They frequently burn themselves on the pipes and take out their frustrations on the factory workers, or anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. 4. Spiders with metallic webs become violent when they feel mistreated. 5. The new military pipeline invaded the original building. The new pipeline twists around the existing structure. Full of boiling water, the metal pipes run along the ground and hover at head level in the fog. 6. The increased humidity from the second pipeline led to an infestation of toxic biota, which, if ingested, leaves the person in a hallucinogenic state.
1. The old houses of Coronal are waging a war over resources. Recruiting the disenfranchised, they engage in street fights and duels to reclaim the lands they feel are rightfully theirs. 2. Spider wranglers have smuggled in members of the Royal Colony to build stronger infrastructure. The old houses, rebels, and the military are seeking to control the rogue spiders. 3. A young rebel is trying to recruit children to save them from a life of crime for the old houses. As the rebels see it, working for an old house is no different from working for the royals. 4. Due to the increased sediment in the pipeline feeding the city and the reduction in services, Almeida’s water supply is dangerously low. The intermittent service leads to street vendors hoarding water and selling what was once a free commodity. 5. The royals have learned about a growing rebel threat. People are being detained and having their homes searched by the military. The raids are a nightly occurrence, as the city’s spider population has decreased substantially in the last year. Without the spiders, the city’s infrastructure is falling into disrepair. 94
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A market in Almeida. 6. An old house faction has been using the military raids to rob families in other parts of Almeida. With the military police focused on executing the raids, the rest of the city is left to their own devices.
6. Mateus Arujo, Retired Red Martian Spider Wrangler (Landscaping d10, Spatially Intelligent d8, Tireless d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Over-Protective Father)
CHARACTERS
HAZARDS
1. Avo Mata, Red Martian Matriarch (Organization and Materiel d10, Diplomatic Interpretation d8, Maternal Manipulation d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Steady and Stubborn) 2. Ana Paredes, Red Martian Rebel Leader (Charismatic Speaker d10, Veteran Campaigner d8, Empathy d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Selfless Martyr Syndrome) 3. Paulo Salazar, Red Martian Valley Patriarch (Learning the Ropes d10, Egomaniacal d8, Easily Underestimated d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Starved With Ambition) 4. Gomes, Red Martian Military Police Captain (Knows Every Weapon d10, Interrogation d8, Defend the City d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Suspects all Lower-Class Citizens of Corruption) 5. Ladro Ferro, Red Martian Water Merchant (Opportunistic Businessman d10, Salesman d8, A Way with Spiders d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Using Brother’s Position to Manipulate Market)
1. The increase in methane buildup in the waste pipes creates a fire hazard throughout Almeida. Poorly-constructed fabric dwellings are in constant danger of catching fire. 2. Military police roam the village, ready to arrest citizens for the slightest infractions. 3. Feral spiders have taken up residency in the village. When threatened, they can become incredibly violent and territorial. They are impervious to fire and their metallic shells are very hard to penetrate. 4. The old houses are demanding respect and loyalty. The wars between the families have segregated the cramped quarters into safe zones, dependent upon familial lines. 5. Water merchants have been gaining wealth and hoarding other resources throughout the village. The higher prices for goods has led to an increase in crime and desperation amongst the population. 95
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6. Surprise military raids turn the makeshift homes, and sanctuaries from the ghosts and dust, into a chaotic warzone. As people flee from their homes, they also have to try to protect themselves from being inhabited by the ghosts that arrive on the evening wind from Anger.
meets the sea. Each night they raid campgrounds for supplies to build their boat. 5. A scavenger is making obsidian from lava collected from the open flow. They use the obsidian to build and sell weapons to the highest bidder. They have amassed a cache of weapons for an arms deal with the rebels and Almeida gangs. 6. A rogue colony of spiders is trying to encase the lava flow. The metallic bridge would allow people to freely walk across the lava flow, with the right heat protection.
R IBERIA FOGO The banks along the open lava flow crumble and crash into the molten river that borders Riberia Fogo. Yellow and blue flames shoot through the ever-widening crevasse. Black and green streaks throughout the liquid magma reveal the remnants of the city’s waste management system. An underground river of lava flows from the base of the volcano out to the salt-laden ancient sea to the north of Coronal, breaking through the ground a day’s walk east of the city center. A skeleton crew guards the flow. Perched in their watchtowers, the spider-web walls allow the wind to sweep through the rooms, cooling the shelter and dispelling the radiant heat from the lava flow below. The two guards unlucky enough to be stationed at the watchtower are the only official law enforcement in Riberia Fogo.
CHARACTERS
1. Gelo, Red Martian Tower Guard (Patient d10, Empathic d8, Dreamer d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Can Never Get Published) 2. Rios, Wyeth Water Magician (Upsell d10, Personal Histories of the Seas d8, Alchemist d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Irregularities On the Books) 3. Rosario, Red Martian Scavenger (Bone-Picker d10, Exotic Herbologist d8, Petty Thief d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Would Sell Her Mother for a Jug of Water) 4. Joao, Morbid Red Martian Poet (Languishing Beauty d10, Sepulchral Verses d8, Aristocratic Gossip d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Romantically Enthralled By Tragic Endings) 5. Luana, Red Martian Scavenger (Seen It All d10, Frenetic Assassin d8, Philosopher d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Haunted by Ghosts of Those She’s Killed) 6. Thiago, Red Martian self-proclaimed speaker with the dead (Dire Pronouncements d10, Knows Everyone’s Story d8, Aura of Mystery d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Obsessed With “Last Requests”)
A treacherous journey across the eastern desert leads to Vance. Only a desperate person would attempt such a trek. But, in these times, desperation in Coronal is growing. The two-person crew that guards the lava flow must watch out for those few souls who try to cross the flow, or try to abuse its power. A few people live in the surrounding area, sustaining themselves by scavenging, hunting, and gathering the few creatures and plants that can thrive in this environ ment. Those who know how to desalinate the seawater have been able to scrape out a living and trade amongst the magma.
HAZARDS
1. Colony of feral spiders who build webbed bridges over the lava in the night. The conductive metal can incinerate nearby plant life. 2. A river of lava runs beneath the soft soil. A weary traveler has to watch their step, or they could fall through the brittle crust into the rushing magma. 3. Boiling sea water gives rise to creatures that can thrive in the high temperatures and feast on the nutrients in the cooling magma. Large sea creatures with thick skins, razor-sharp teeth, and sweet meat lurk offshore. 4. Scavengers raid camps in the night in search of supplies and something, anything, to eat. 5. Life on the ground leaves travelers susceptible to ghosts carried across the eastern desert from Vance.
HOOKS
1. A group of scavengers is trying to break down the watchtowers and collect the scrap metal. The two guards are trapped inside. 2. A sandstorm brought ghosts from Vance across the eastern desert, infecting one of the guards. A homicidal ghost has taken control of the guard and is hunting down anyone who tries to enter or leave Riberia Fogo. 3. The last water desalination expert is infected with a strange virus. The stores of fresh water are running out. Without a way to filter the water, the inhabitants of Riberia Fogo will perish. 4. A group of scavengers are building a boat to try and sail around the boiling waters where lava 96
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6. Minimal resources require trust and strong relationships with criminals for survival. The increased military presence in Coronal has created a lucrative industry for bounty hunters. The royals will pay handsomely for the head of anyone selling or buying goods from unregulated sources.
6. The fountain at the center of town is beginning to overflow and temporarily flood the square. A strange fungus is starting to take root in the stonework. CHARACTERS
1. Rei Barros, Red Martian Prince of Vale (Egomaniacal d10, Aristocratic Upbringing d8, Romantic d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Selfish Nobility) 2. Meira Barros, Red Martian Noble Nurse (Sexually Adventurous d10, Maternal d8, Cunning d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Rejects her Status as Heir to the Throne) 3. Belo, Red Martian Military Police (Romantic d10; Carnal Knowledge d8, Philosophical d6; Resolve d8; Combat 2 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Lets the Concept of Love Overrule Common Sense) 4. Droga, Red Martian Noble Drug Dealer (Scrounges the Most Interesting Things d10, Ingenious d8, Hard to Kill d6; Resolve d6; Combat 2 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Aspirations to Rule Vale) 5. Aranha, Red Martian Master Spider Wrangler (Master of Arachnids d10, Botany d8, Storyteller d6; Resolve d8; Combat 2 Parry/2 Stunt; Trouble: His Apprentices Keep Disappearing) 6. Vinicius Cruz, Red Martian Military General (Funeral Preparations and Rites d10, Uncanny Strength d8, Sensual d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Desire to be Nobility)
VALE The city center. Vale (the Valley) is the cultural center of Coronal. A fountain telling the history of Coronal desig nates the city square. The silver sculptures, maintained by the spiders, glisten in the water. Lush greens sprawl across the stone streets beneath the oppression of military boots. The old houses and city service buildings have been trans formed into barracks and supply rooms, the architecture indicative of the valley’s decadence. Waste-disposal vents are intricately built into metallic statues that line the streets. Flames burst from a molded torch or out of the mouth of dragons. The beautiful displays use the excess sewer gas to showcase the upper-class prestige of the valley folk, in stark contrast to the brutality of Almeida. Spiders, trained to maintain the sculptures, swiftly repair the pipes if a single strand is knocked out of place by the outgassing. Even without a wrangler present, the spiders dutifully tend to the sculpture gardens that line the streets, unlike the feral spiders of Almeida, who returned to their baser instincts. HOOKS
HAZARDS
1. Coronals who travel into Vale to tend to the needs of the military find themselves underpaid and facing increasing harassment and resentment from the royals. 2. The noble residents allowed to remain in Vale have become the target of harassment by the rebels in Almeida. 3. Supplies, meant to be funneled into the city, have been intercepted by scavengers on the road into Vale, leading to food and fuel shortages, and breeding hostility among the troops that have been relocated to Coronal. 4. The local prince is more interested in finding a princess than tending to the needs of his people. The growing rebel threat and military unrest is becoming burdensome to a figurehead who doesn’t care to make decisions. 5. Nurses at the health clinic have been smuggling supplies to Almeida during their nightly commute. The military police they enlisted to help them are being court martialed.
1. A restless prince has recruited some of the military to help advance his station. Armed with the best weapons money can buy and a lack of self-restraint, he uses his personal garrison to harass anyone he deems doesn’t belong in Vale. 2. Someone tried to clean the fungus around the square, and placed bits of it over the gas line exhaust pipes. When the fungus ignites, it fills the square with smoke that makes anyone who inhales it hallucinate. 3. Smugglers have been taking the new drug out of Vale to Almeida, and the old houses are not thrilled about the mind-altering substance. Enforcers have been ordered to interrogate any strangers and suspected dealers. 4. The flooding at the fountain is spreading to other pressure releases in the water pipeline. 5. The infrastructure cannot keep up with the rapid increase in population. The spiders, who are so attentive to their task, become more hostile as the outgassing of the waste system becomes more frequent. 97
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6. Bored soldiers, looking for stimulation, turn to the new street drug for entertainment. Armed and hallucinating they run through the streets, defending themselves against any perceived threats.
FORESIGHT What’s the earliest thing you can remember? Look backward, and try to bring it out into the daylight. That’s Foresight. A relentless search into the past, to hear the words of the First Martians and walk in their footsteps. To name the restless ghosts of Mars and tame them. Foresight is as peaceful as any city populated by both Red and Pale Martians can be, united as they are by a common need. There are doctrinal differences, of course. Some treasure ghosts as confidants, teachers, and a cache of as yet-untapped history. Some pity ghosts still trapped on Mars, denied even the peace of death. Some care only for the lives a ghost may destroy by stealing the body of a living Martian. (Who can truly consent to give up the sovereignty of their body?) But no one is indifferent to them, because by mining the past, they hope to discover Mars’ future. Common queries include what plan the First Martians had for this world, whether they’ll come back, and whether we can fix the damage they did.
LOCATIONS HOODED SISTERS’ PILGRIM DORMITORIES The Hooded Sisters accept any pilgrims engaged in respectful study of Hell’s Basin, or the ghosts that emerge from it. Most pilgrims stay only long enough to perform such religious services as their faith requires, but there is a small wing for long-term residents (Pale Martians may spend a year or more studying in Foresight to complete their spiritual education). Pilgrims have relatively free rein within the grounds, and are expected to assume some responsibility for their care. It’s too dry and dim for either a garden or weeds that might choke it, but the lichen beds need regular, careful tending (either harvesting or burning out contaminated patches). And, of course, everything is always dusty. HOOKS
1. The lichen beds along the southern wall are growing almost too fast to harvest, but the pilgrims who eat the lichen have been reporting strange side effects: voices, faces in the dust, and a burning desire to find someone, whose name they heard in a dream. The effect fades in a few days, but travelers are sneaking back in — to eat more and remember. One Zaiu priest discovered that the man she’s been seeing in her dreams is alive, in Anger, and she scraped up half the wall filling a basket that will let her keep remembering him. 2. Brother Aki shut himself in the Pale Martian chapel, seven days and nights ago. He still responds when questioned, but won’t open the door, even for Sister Esa. He says he’s on the verge of a breakthrough in understanding the nature of ghosts, and must stay close to the First Martian artifacts they have been keeping in the sanctum’s reliquary. Esa believes he’s failed to integrate an old ghost, and is fighting for control over his body. 3. Özge has become increasingly secretive about her research, and why it keeps taking her into the honeycomb caverns just above the West Horn Gate. Over time, sandstorms carved tunnels deep into the stone, leaving a lattice of smooth tunnels with papery-thin walls separating them. Now they draw those punishing winds in, away from Foresight, which gets a mist of dust and none of the wind’s bite. Why would an academic regularly forego what protection Foresight has to offer and navigate that treacherous maze?
The precariousness of their placement along the inner ring of the impact crater precludes much of a military presence, but it also dissuades would-be-warlords. The Qans and the Ozak, who are within easy riding distance, consider it far too dangerous to one’s soul to be worth any spoils, no matter how rich. And any other Martian unwise enough to ignore the constant threat of possession will find themselves drawn there anyway. Many Pale Martian astrologers and ghost eaters spend a few years of service in the Hooded Sisters Pilgrim Dormitories, but only Sister Esa and Brother Aki are permanent residents. They are probably a bit mad. Zaius priests frequently make pilgrimages to Foresight to conduct certain services for those of their clan who have died unexpectedly, or to confer with other priests in the library of memory. A few more prosaically-minded Martians are more concerned with an unusual installation near the bottom of the crater. If you don’t mind a little pressure sickness, or a few stretches of rope-assisted climbing, you can find a massive city block of First Martian machinery, designed to control the flow of a canal (among other functions yet to be understood). The only trouble is, the nearest canal is a several days’ ride to the east, and there’s no ravine under the crater deep enough to carry a ship. 98
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After getting her friends and co-religionists better locations in the square, she’s started targeting police activity against cults she considers too young to responsibly take on new followers. Several young priests have been beaten or kicked out of the square entirely. They, in turn, are recruiting among the traditionally-disenfranchised ghost eaters (whose work is so macabre they’re forced to squat in the slaughterhouse district). 2. A new arrival, one who has sought no new followers, nor joined another community, has been building an effigy in the middle of the square. Priests and astrologers alike have tried to tear it down, but she’s been steadily building it despite their interference for nearly a week. There’s a hollow inside just large enough for a Red Martian. 3. To rejuvenate an underused portion of Oleander Alley, several shopkeepers were relocated into the square while their buildings are demolished. The street communities don’t want the additional competition, the shopkeepers want their storefronts back, and the contractors want to know who all these bones belong to. From the moment the first hammer hit the first wall, they’ve been tumbling out clear down to the foundations, and they’re not from any animal a Foresight citizen has ever seen.
CHARACTERS
1. Sister Esa Who Goes With God, Pale Martian Ecstatic (Eye for Detail d12, Knife Edge of Truth d8, The People’s Flesh d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Put Away Worldly Things) 2. Ozge the Pale Martian Troublemaker (Paranatural Academic d10, Ivory Tower Adept d8, Hungry for Recognition d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: I’m Not a Loner, You’re Just Awful) 3. Martina Three Towers Standing, Pale Martian (A Lifetime’s Love of God d12, Everything Has a System d10, Ghost Speaker d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: A Voice in a Dream) HAZARDS
1. There’s a ghost eater lingering by the dormitory gate, trying to bully pilgrims into letting him remove their ghosts. He’s already harassed at least one dignitary, but he hasn’t been caught. 2. So close to the mouth of Mars, cautes grow to tremendous size and, as they are siblings to Mars’ ghosts, the sisters have shown no interest in driving them off. 3. There’s an invasive colony of prismatic wasps somewhere below the dormitory. Several attempts have been made to destroy it, but the nests keep returning. There must be another one somewhere deeper in the cliffs.
CHARACTERS
1. Barteck, a Missionary of The Church of The Maiden’s Bounty, Pale Martian (To Bloom a Desert d12, To Speak Her Name d10, Charm a Snake from its Skin d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Out of Favor with City Council) 2. Talin the Silent, Pale Martian (Freedom in Work d12, Raw and Bloody Edge of Faith d10, My Body is a Choir d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Shaken Heart, Shaken Conviction) 3. Parvin, newly elevated by Deborah, Pale Martian (Favorite of God and Woman d10, Peaceful Voice in a Peaceful Body d8, Milk of Kindness d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: Knowing Gentrificator)
DELPHIC SQUARE If you want a bespoke soul purgative brewed according to your star sign, six offers to convert to religions that are three weeks old, or a mediated conversation with your choice of ancestor, come to Delphic Square. Foresight is a city full of prophets and priests, cult leaders, and scientists, and they all want a sympathetic audience. Naturally there are conmen and grifters, but the most obvious don’t last long. Annoy too many of the street preachers and you may find that all the best corners are full tomorrow; play at tarot too badly and your cards (or your fingers) might turn up missing. The best games are the long ones, and in that heady atmosphere, you may find your faith strengthening. Perhaps you do need to personally banish 10,000 ghosts to return Mars to its state of grace.
HAZARDS
1. Arguments over the shape of the community (between old and young cultists, shopkeepers and street preachers, ghost eaters and priests, the police and everyone) are escalating to blows, and spilling out into the street daily. 2. There’s a healthy aftermarket for ensuring that a prophecy, once made, is fulfilled. Some providers are freelance, listening around and following anyone who looks displeased with their fortune (in order to help it come true as soon as possible).
HOOKS
1. A schism is forming within the street-preacher community. One of their number has made it into a position of some little authority in local government, and is using it to throw her weight around. 99
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Some work closely with one or more fortune tellers, and collect a fixed percentage of whatever they steal. The latter tend to be more organized, the former more violent. 3. Anxious to return to their lives, some shopkeepers have taken up hauling away the bones that used to be their walls. Too long carrying them, though, and they get pale and sickly. Longer, and their bodies start to fail entirely. It looks almost like radiation sickness.
MEMORY’S LAST R EST (THE LIBRARY OF MEMORY) Recessed deep into the caverns of Foresight, protected even from some of the dust that coats the city, is the Library of Memory. For as long as there has been a Foresight, an elderly woman and a score of her personal assistants have recorded and dutifully maintained an archive of every memory travelers offer her. The Archivist is an excellent interviewer, and the library contains hundreds of thousands of richly-recorded memories. Good manners will get you a peek at the filing system she uses to collect those memories, otherwise you’ll be at the mercy of her shelving staff and what they think you deserve to read. HOOKS
1. There have been a number of attempted thefts from the section of the library called “The Time of Roses.” None have succeeded (the library’s anti-theft deterrents are more formidable than the scant staff might suggest), but it’s troubling that multiple people have tried, and that all the thefts have targeted a single subject. 2. The Archivist never answers to any other name, but appears in heartbeats when she’s mentioned or requested in low, soft tones. In living memory, no other Foresight resident can recall another Archivist holding her position, and none of her assistants have even expressed a desire to fill her position when she dies or retires. Who, or what, is she? 3. Travelers who have had their memories recorded sometimes mention a blunting of emotion that follows the experience. All of the facts remain, but some of the weight and meaning have gone. Yet, when you read their accounts, you’re almost overcome by the pure strength of feeling that permeates them.
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There’s long, slow rustling, like scales through dead grass, shallow gouges in the stonework underfoot, and also the complete lack of so much as a wasp.
CHARACTERS
1. The Archivist, Caretaker of the Past (The Right Question d12, Servant of History d10, Living Memory d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Bound by Duty) 2. Deniz, Cautious Pale Martian Assistant (The Right Answer d10, Handmaiden to Knowledge d8, Love of The Word d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: Church of Pure Reason) 3. Azad, Who is Nearly Ready to Publish, Pale Martian (Depth of Research d12, Way with Words d10, A Brief History of Mars d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Loves the Sound of His Own Voice)
HOOKS
1. Something definitely lives in the machinery below Foresight, though it has, as yet, not made itself known to either the city in general or Roya’s crew in specific. But while they haven’t found the borders of this set of tunnels yet, no other mapped canals or known First Martian installations go anywhere near Hell’s Basin. So whatever it is, it’s been there for a very long time. 2. There’s simply too much architecture to only be a canal management system. Many of Mars’ canals are mapped (after a fashion), and their control panels are smaller than atmosphere processors. They’re compact, ingenious in their design for a system that complex. But there’s far more machinery than they were expecting, more than they’ve ever seen, and some of it is still quietly running, drawing power from hand-thick cables drilled straight into the stone around them, performing unknown tasks. 3. Like all superstitious sailors, Roya has a theory. There was a underground port here, a channel through which all other canals passed, before whatever struck Mars so hard it left a crater that still pours out sand and ghosts. It was destroyed so completely that no trace of it remains but this block of relays, broken and sending the dangerously erratic signals that make the canals so treacherous today.
HAZARDS
1. Whoever is trying to steal texts from the library isn’t succeeding, but they have the numbers to keep trying despite the cost, and apparently no fear of injury in the course of their theft attempts. 2. Reviewing a memory is more complex than reading, though not quite the same as viewing, the way an adept might project something into your mind. The reader is subsumed, however briefly, in someone else’s life, seeing and feeling all that they felt and knew at that moment. 3. Access to the library is a privilege, and rowdy or insufficiently-respectful guests may discover what happens to would-be thieves.
SERVICE ENTRANCE TO THE WEST HORN GATE MACHINE Down the southern stairs, over deep crevasses strung across with rope bridges and marked with cairns, so deep the change in atmospheric pressure makes even seasoned archaeologists ill, there’s a tall, narrow door set into the basin wall. Roya Turhan was the first person to figure out how to open it without blasting loose the whole hillside and, honestly, one of few willing to risk ghosts and pressure sickness on the strength of a damaged map and a telescope. But Roya Turhan rode the canals before she was an engi neer; mortal danger in the depths of Mars is woven in the fabric of her life. Together with her son Isaac and a series of beleaguered assistants, she’s been exploring one of the deepest First Martian installations ever discovered.
CHARACTERS
It extends at least a half a mile in every direction, and her crew hasn’t found its borders yet. They’ve spent the last six months carefully isolating blocks of machinery and ap plying power to them, and near as they’ve been able to tell, it once regulated canal water, and filtered...something out of it. But too much is broken or wholly unrecognizable, and they’ve become convinced they are not alone in the tunnels. 101
1. Roya Turhan, Pale Martian Head Engineer (To Divine the Machine d12, Canal Captain’s Daughter d10, Gentler with Machines d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Longs for the Sea) 2. Isaac Turhan, Pale Martian Dedicated Son (I Can Fix That d12, A Breadth of Understanding d10, Poise in Peril d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: In the Shadow of a Genius) 3. Étienne, Red Martian Mechanic of No Great Fortune (Problem Solver d10, Mind for Maps d8, Conflict Resolution in the Workplace d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: Unluckiest Man on Mars) HAZARDS
1. The few scales Étienne has discovered throughout the mapped portions of the machine are pale and as long as his outstretched hand. He’d really prefer to never go back underground, but it’s a job undone, and he remembers where each one was.
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2. While no other creatures of any kind have made themselves known, a dark fungus grows on some of the deepest walls, and the clouds of spores they release leave you dizzy and forgetful. 3. Blocks of the machinery whir to life periodically, apparently without being touched by any members of Roya’s dig. Are they being controlled from elsewhere? Or is whatever is leaving those scales more active while they are at base camp?
LOCATIONS THE FORTRESS INVINCIBLE
ILLIUM High on the Radium Plateau rises many-spired Illium. Illium, city of learning and commerce…and of war. Broad, well-paved streets thread their way throughout the city, and the nights are lit by radium lamps. High, white walls encircle the city, but do not rise as high as the towered homes of the aristocracy. Great machines pump water from the canal below the plateau, through a labyrinth of caves whose layout is a closely guarded secret. The caves also hide Illium’s wondrous reclamation systems, which allow the people of the city to live with an almost unheard-of abundance of water. In Illium, there are fountains in every square, and baths in every neighborhood. The University of Illium is widely considered the greatest remaining seat of learning on Mars.
The Fortress Invincible may be the most heavily-defended place on Mars. Here, in her shining palace that reaches into the heavens, the Princess Invincible rules unequivocally. In the Moon Chamber, her Council of Judgment decides the fates of citizens and the shape of the city’s future. In the Sun Chamber, the Princess mounts her silver throne and dispenses wisdom to the people. In the Ray Chamber, those who dare defy the Princess perish, disintegrated to ash in the searing heat of a First Martian weapon of devastating power. From its pier atop the Fortress’ highest spire, her own personal skyship — Horizon’s Terror — scatters these ashes on the wind over the city as a reminder to all. When Illium goes to war, she draws her blade and takes to the sky with her soldiers. The sight of her ship alone has been known to send hardened troops scurrying to surrender.
Yet, plentiful water is not the true wonder of Illium. That honor belongs to the magnificent sky navy, 100 ships buoyed by a mysterious anti-gravity element. The sky navy, docking at Illium’s highest towers and spreading forth across all of Mars, gives Illium nearly unmatched power in trade and war. Of the other city-states, only Illium’s rival Zodiac possesses the secret of flight. A term of two years’ service in the army or navy is compulsory for citizens of Illium. Slaves may be emancipated in exchange for military service, but must serve until honorably discharged. Such discharges are usually granted only for old age. The dead are processed for their water, and then laid to rest in the upper cave complexes. The mummies of Illium figure heavily in the scare-stories other Martians tell their children. The Princess Invincible and her Council of Judgment rule Illium. The word of the Princess is law, and disobedience is punishable by death in the Ray Chamber. The people of Illium believe the Princess wise beyond measure…for if they thought otherwise, they might see that they live and die at the whim of an all-powerful and unaccountable goddess. 102
HOOKS
1. One of the characters turns out to look nearly identical to the Princess Invincible. They receive a myriad of proposals and offers — everything from impersonating the Princess for gain, to acting as her official body double at boring society functions, to posing with noble children for portraits. 2. The characters are called in by the Council of Judgment, and ordered to provide testimony for a crime they are meant to have witnessed. The only problem is, they didn’t witness it. Is this all a misunderstanding, or has someone embroiled them in a sticky situation on purpose? 3. While attending the Princess in the Sun Chamber, the characters hear the plea of a family that lives out on the Radium Plateau, asking for soldiers to protect their village from roving bandits. The Princess refuses and sends them away, giving no reasons. 4. Someone the characters know is innocent is arrested and dragged to the Fortress, destined for the Ray Chamber. Do they dare intervene, risking the same fate for themselves? Can they gather enough evidence to convince the Council before the deed is done? 5. The characters receive an offer: Go to the Sun Chamber and copy down what the Princess says into a specific book, word for word, in exchange for payment. The offer is too generous to be on the up-and-up, but the task seems so innocuous. What’s so important about this book? Why hire strangers to do such a small thing?
CITIES AND REGIONS
The Princess Invincible presides in glory over an execution in the Ray Chamber
5. Dinni, Skarrut Ray Chamber guard (Pole Sling Master d10, Heart of Stone d8, Eyes of Steel d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/ 1 Stunt; Trouble: Gambling Habit) 6. Rhes, Red Martian Moon Chamber messenger (Swift Feet d10, Sixth Child of a Noble House d8, Fly on the Wall d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Sibling Rivalry)
6. While exploring elsewhere in the city, the characters come across a door that should lead into a storeroom, but instead leads into the Fortress’ extensive cellars. What treasures might such a place hold in store, if they can avoid getting caught? How did such a passage come to be? CHARACTERS
1. Captain Kromis, Red Martian second-in-command of Horizon’s Terror (Decorated Soldier d10, Right Hand of Justice d8, Ships Are Better than People d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Criminal Past) 2. Vestai of Black Sand, Red Martian noble seeking the Princess’ favor (Irresistible Good Looks d12, Victory Is Worth Any Price d8, Fancy Footwork d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Glory Hound) 3. Sebaste the August, Red Martian member of the Council of Judgment (Brood of Many Scions d8, Weighty Words d8, Smells a Rat d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: Hard of Hearing) 4. Trif, Red Martian Sun Chamber petitioner (Impetuous Entrepreneur d10, If Wishes Were Horses d8, Lights Up the Room d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Empty Purse)
HAZARDS
1. When the Ray Chamber would create a martyr or grant too quick a demise, the Princess Invincible challenges the criminal to a duel to the death. No one has ever defeated her. 2. The Sun Chamber is a battlefield of words, where each question posed is an army’s advance and each careful greeting a tactical maneuver. 3. Drunken beastmasters gossip about a vicious, many-fanged beast with wings of enormous span that lives beneath the Fortress, kept by the Princess as a last resort against invasion or siege. (Aerial Mobility d12, Toothy Maw d10, Doesn’t Take Orders d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Stunt) 4. Servants at the Fortress murmur that those who wander where they shouldn’t come under a curse of confusion, doomed to forget everything they knew. 103
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5. Anyone who tries to stow away on Horizon’s Terror must contend with the ship’s tenacious and loyal crew. (1 per player; Strike Threshold: 4) 6. The wide plaza stretching out before the Fortress gates is prime real estate for traders hawking souvenirs and street fare with booming voices and tantalizing deals. Beware, all who planned to leave with any coin.
6. The sky navy holds an auction for a newly-retired ship. While attending, the characters discover that a merchant consortium has rigged the outcome in its favor and intends to sell the ship’s technology to a foreign broker without the Princess’ permission…for an awful lot of money. CHARACTERS
1. Novian, Red Martian illegitimate child of nobility (Hardworking Young Soldier d10, Standard Issue Blade d6, I Will Win a Title d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Seeks Acceptance) 2. Volca (aka Qaysa), Red Martian Zodiac spy and navy infiltrator (Hoarder of Secrets d10, Friend to Birds d8, Crack Shot d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Hidden Identity) 3. Vestai of a Thousand Lights, Red Martian naval astrologer (Enigmatic Horoscope Reader d12, Always on Course d10, Night Owl d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Incorrigible Dreamer) 4. Marchai of the Valiant Horn, Red Martian admiral (Survived Ten Feuds d10, Voice of Command d8, Mentor to All d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Secret Fatal Illness) 5. Kaesii, Red Martian naval shipwright (Anti-Gravity Expert d10, Bon Vivant d8, Flock of Admirers d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Common-Blooded Narcissist) 6. Kismet, Red Martian soldier and ex-slave (Hears Everything d12, Daring Maneuvers d8, Born in a Far-Off Land d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Wants Freedom and Peace)
SKY N AVY PORT The Pride of Illium, the Moonrise Fleet, the Living Storm — all of Mars knows the city’s majestic sky navy by these names, and many others besides. Its twin flagships, Scythe of Phobos and Lance of Deimos, cut distinctive and awe-inspiring figures against the sky. When the armada comes home to roost, its ships dock atop the gleaming spires of Sky Navy Port, a vast forest of towers, radium beacons, and barracks. Its shipyard is guarded fiercely day and night, protected by a high barricade and restricted to only the most trusted personnel. The fixers and builders who work on the sky navy’s ships are celebrities, and always travel with assigned bodyguards lest their secrets fall into foreign hands. The navy’s highest ranks are reserved for those of aristocratic blood, and feuds break out over pro motions and medals given to rivals. HOOKS
1. By chance, the characters stumble upon a well-hidden group of dissidents among the navy’s ranks who have grown disillusioned with the Princess Invincible’s omnipotent wisdom, and plan to enlist like-minded souls to overthrow her. 2. The navy recruits volunteers for a mission to take down infamous sky pirate and Illium deserter Cosmalia Crimson. Once the characters join up, they realize that details of the plan don’t fit together quite right. Why would the navy need volunteers to hunt pirates? What’s really going on? 3. An admiral gives a rousing speech, and the characters are part of a massive crowd assembled to hear it. As they listen, they notice that the admiral speaks oddly, as though hidden between the lines might be an encoded message. Can they decipher it? 4. Reports of an approaching invasion force reache the navy, and they mobilize for war. Citizens are expected to participate, and many are rounded up for emergency training at the port — including at least one of the characters. 5. A prisoner from Illium’s last battle, kept for interrogation, escapes. The soldiers patrol the city relentlessly looking for the escapee, who approaches the characters and begs for help.
HAZARDS
1. An accident at the shipyard causes the gravity in this whole area of the city to fluctuate out of control. 2. One of the anti-gravity platforms that transports passengers up and down the tall towers malfunctions, leaving the characters stranded high above the ground. 3. The sky navy has adopted the Princess’ dueling traditions, but (usually) stops short of death. Insulting a naval officer, even by accident, is grounds for a challenge. 4. Reports say a disturbingly-large amount of photonic sand has been stolen from the armory. Whoever stole it could strike at any time. 5. An enthusiastic shipwright asks the characters to help test an experimental weapon, but most of the kinks have yet to be worked out. 6. A damaged ship on its way back to port is about to crash — right into the square where the characters happen to be, along with dozens of others. 104
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pavilion that takes students into the sky and away from the city. What they learn there remains a mystery, but some intrepid busybodies have dared everyone they know to sneak in and find out.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLIUM Would-be students travel from all over Mars to the sprawling University of Illium, where if they prove themselves well enough (or they know the right people) they can study with venerated scholars of all fields: science, astrology, history, language, music, and even the secrets of the adepts. A complex, towering fountain with many levels and radium lights twinkling from within its waters graces the inner plaza. The central spire stands like an anchor around which the rest of the campus radiates in areologically-significant patterns, with lofty sky bridges connecting the structures. The spire was originally all there was to the university, one of the first buildings of Illium. Over time, it expanded to embrace the many Martians flocking to its learned halls. Today, it’s one of the few places where one might see a Roundhead and a Pale Martian sitting side by side — even if it’s only to see who can impress the Master more.
CHARACTERS
1. Flint, Red Martian university servant (Reformed Thief d8, Entrance Exam Junkie d6, Cheating Is Wrong d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Not Very Bright) 2. Master Lipita, Roundhead scholar of antiquities (Undisputed Cydonian Expert d12, Valuable Pottery Collection d8, Polyglot d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Despises Students and Strangers) 3. Headmaster Marchai of Nebulae, Red Martian university leader (Pleasantly Cunning d12, Master of Commerce d10, Let’s Make a Deal d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Overprotective Parent) 4. Rubica, Red Martian university student (Library Addict d8, Secret Stash of Relics d8, Problem Solver d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Two Left Feet) 5. Rezzan, Pale Martian university student (Knows Sacrifices to Every God d10, Fits in Everywhere d8, High Fashion d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Tempted by Criminal Offers) 6. Theonin, Red Martian university student (Child of a Vestai d10, Money Enough for Anything d8, Tall but Meek d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Disastrously Untalented Adept)
HOOKS
1. The university clock tower has run continuously since the founding of the city ages ago, chiming the hours in perfect synchronization with the world’s turning. Now it’s stopped. No one knows why, but everyone knows that if it doesn’t chime the swiftly-approaching hour, something terrible will happen. 2. The abandoned tower on the west side of campus is boarded up day and night, said to be the site of monstrous crimes in the distant past. It’s been empty as long as anyone can remember — but the characters could swear they saw someone peering down at them from the topmost window. 3. The university is holding a citywide competition for musicians of all kinds to prove their performing prowess. The winner is granted a significant sum of money — and perhaps more importantly, a personal audience with the Princess Invincible herself. 4. A group of advanced students claims to have discovered, through data collected and analyzed over time, an ancient storm still writhing and thundering, raining water into a faraway canyon on the other side of the Radium Plateau. They need someone to visit the place to confirm their findings, and bring back samples. 5. The university guards catch an assassin trying to kill one of Illium’s most renowned Masters. As the characters witness the arrest, or perhaps the intended punishment, one of them sees that the assassin is someone from their past. 6. Only the top performers in each scholarly field win invitations to the Floating Study, an anti-gravity
HAZARDS
1. Two rival Masters recruit volunteers for their research, performing increasingly strange and unsettling experiments. Eventually, they turn dangerous. 2. Hordes of large rodents called radium rats haunt the university’s alleys. Their eyes glow a dull crimson, their teeth are sharp, and they spread a radiation sickness. 3. Students notice a bizarre shift in behavior and habits in their favorite Master, and they suspect he’s been replaced by someone — or something — else. 4. The university claims to have one library, but in fact it has two. The second is sealed and hidden away, a prison that holds a powerful and dangerous adept. 5. Everyone loves the new Master. Even people who just yesterday expressed the opposite. Soon, the few people on campus who don’t love the new Master know something’s wrong. 6. A student from Zodiac enrolls with the Headmaster’s blessing. The Illium natives don’t trust or care for this turn of events, and soon things get ugly. 105
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PLATEAU CAVES Beneath the city, another world stretches its fingers deep into the earth. Far from the clash of blades and chatter of markets is a subtler noise: the distant, muted rush of water gilding the silence of the tomb. Catacombs line the upper cave system for miles, where the husk-dry, mummi fied corpses of Illium’s dead are interred after their water is removed and returned to the reclamation systems for processing. Those with money or prestige enough are buried in ornate caskets with the weapons and tools they wielded in life, while others are simply lined up in plain stone boxes or even wrapped only in oilcloths, if stone is too rich for their family’s blood. Deeper still than Illium’s necropolis runs the elaborate network of pipes, pumps, and reclamation machines that connect the canal below to the city above and transform the fluids of the dead into clean, usable water. A spare few know how to navigate these caves, and even fewer know how to operate the machines. HOOKS
1. Somewhere inside the catacombs is a door that only seldom exists. Its surface is carved with unrecognizable runes and it vanishes unpredictably, only to return with equal capriciousness. Where does it lead? When it’s gone, where does it go? And what happens if someone is inside when it disappears? 2. A trader from Vance persuades the characters to make their way down into the caves and study one of the reclamation machines. She calls it a “cultural exchange,” and promises they’ll be rewarded handsomely for a thorough report. 3. The characters purchase a rare and extravagant weapon, only to discover that the salesman was a fence pawning off stolen grave goods from the tomb of an influential Illian family. The family is well-known for its sorcerous ties and the characters soon realize that the weapon is cursed. CHARACTERS
1. Mystras, Red Martian catacomb tour guide (Illium History Buff d10, Unafraid of the Dark d8, Trusty Dagger d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Morbid Curiosity) 2. Kaniklai of Three Circles, Red Martian adept (Deadspeaker d12, Renowned Mystic d8, Loyal Pet Eora d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Blind) 3. Oea, Red Martian reclamation system engineer (Clever and Resourceful d10, Down to Mars d8, Tough and Muscular d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Blunt Speech)
HAZARDS
1. One area of the cave system doesn’t function within the normal three spatial dimensions. Tunnels don’t lead where they should, and objects (or people) tossed down a hole fall back down from above. 2. In the dark of the catacombs, people have been known to vanish without a trace, and some others say they hear the footsteps of the walking dead just like in the children’s tales. 3. It’s easy to get lost under the city without a map, and maps are notoriously difficult to come by.
SIREN East of Anger, south of Honor, and North of the Temple of the Poppy Brides, lies Siren. This waystation protects the rest of the world from the Temple of the Poppy Brides, and the Brides from the rest of the world. Siren is a city wrought with traditions and people of fortitude and merit. The life of a Sireni is difficult and structured. The scarcity of resources have made the Sireni very protective of their lands and supplies. The ornate veils worn by the women in Nadamban showcase the need for protection and the aristocracy of the royal family dwelling in the subterranean Crystal Palace. Steeped in traditions, in Siren survival is paramount. Full-body regalia made of thick, heavy fabric worn in Voshi by the Sireni is as pragmatic as it is a cultural artifact. The warm, heavy wrappings protect them from the sun, winter chill, and incessant sandstorm. Juxtaposing these traditional garments is the freedom and haphazard nature of the Sireni in Himk. The labyrinthine land above the Crystal Palace is inhabited by nomadic outcasts, who turn against the traditional fear of ghosts and the need to protect themselves against possession. The nomadic people of the Himk sustain off the land and the travelers unfortunate enough to lose themselves to the land. People who would be labeled thieves, murderers, or charlatans in other cities are considered ingenious or savvy in Himk. Siren is a matriarchal society. The Queen of Siren is host to all the past Sireni queens and is the keeper of the historical record of Siren. In Nadamban, purity of spirit is valued above class or station. Where nobility is a fixed commodity in other kingdoms, the Sireni princess is free to choose any man who is pure of spirit and make him the future king of Siren, regardless of birth. The early passing of the King of Siren has left a cultural 106
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void that the Sireni hope to fill in the near future as t he princess reaches a suitable marrying age.
LOCATIONS ADAMBAN N ADAMBAN
redirecting water to the storage caverns, to protect their homes and businesses from flooding and replenish their stores. Fearful of foreign ghosts, swept through the tunnels before a rainstorm, the Sireni meticulously maintain the crystal caves, removing all dust particles from the walls and floors, to keep the water from being contaminated.
Beneath the city of Siren lies a network of crystal caves, Nadamban. The opaque walls allow light to travel through the pathways, refracting against the crystal walls, casting rainbows along the tunnels. Strong winds blow through the chambers; the crystal vibrates and sings. The Sireni use these songs to find their way through Nadamban from the Crystal Palace to the Temple of the Poppy Brides. The northern winds that sweep through Nadamban carry ghosts from surrounding kingdoms. To protect themselves, Sireni women wear ornate veils, and the men protect their faces with thick handkerchiefs knotted at the base of their skulls. Ghosts are highly revered in Sireni culture. When a loved one passes on, their ghost is taken in by their closest relative, so that traditions and memories can be handed down through the generations. Foreign ghosts are feared by the Sireni, as their memories may be absorbed and replace the ancestral line. The Queen of Siren is heavily guarded, as she carries all of the ghosts of previous Sireni Queens. Her daughter, Maral, will carry this burden when her mother passes. Her guards accompany her wherever she goes, even within the Crystal Palace. When she comes of age, Maral will be married to a suitor of her mother’s choosing. The Sireni man who will become the king must be free of foreign ghosts and prepared to invite the ghosts of past kings into his body, as part of the marriage ceremony. Maral’s father passed away when she was 10. His ghosts are stored in a crystal vial by an ancient order of guardians, the Pashtpan. In this matriarchal society the king is merely a figurehead. However, if one of the other families were to obtain the ghosts of the Sireni kings the results would be catastrophic. The kings have a vast knowledge of Sireni holdings, secrets, and infrastructure. This information would leave the Sireni vulnerable to attacks or blackmail by the other royals. During rare rainstorms, Nadamban bristles to life. The rushing water, percussive against the crystal walls, trickles and funnels into water storage tanks built into the caves. Sireni men and women line the tunnels with crystal sheets, 107 107
HOOKS
1. A weary traveler, traveler, coated in dust from lands unknown, enters the caves trying to escape a flash flood. His body is swept through the tunnels, water rushing behind him and down through the small cracks in the crystal to the water storage tanks. Search the body and determine if the reservoir has been contaminated. 2. A visitor from the Zodiac’s Zodiac’s Red Martian court has been found searching for the kings’ ghosts. 3. Maral’s 16th 16th birthday is quickly approaching, and the Queen has demanded her daughter start courting Sireni men to find an appropriate suitor. 4. The princess Maral is found with one of her handmaidens, not wearing her protective veil. There is concern that she may be contaminated. 5. Several members of the royal royal court have recently gone missing. They were last seen near Princess Maral’s chambers. 6. A member of the Pashtpan abandoned his post, guarding the kings’ ghosts. His veil is discovered in the chamber near a broken vial. CHARACTERS
1. Maral, Red Martian Princess of Siren (Poise d10, d10, Flattery d8, Empathetic d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Sheltered to the Point of Dependency) 2. Taguhi, Red Martian Queen of Siren (Historical Knowledge d10, Keeper of Secrets d8, Political Savvy d6; Resolve d12; d12; Trouble: Holds Traditions Traditions Highest) 3. Anot, Red Martian Stranger (Flattery d10, Carousing d8, Hustler d6; Resolve d6; Combat 1 Parry/2 Stunt; Trouble: Wrong Wrong Place Wrong Time) 4. Tarim, Pashtpan Loyal Loyal (Political d10, d10, Spatially Intelligent d8, Loyal d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Blindly Follows) 5. Vartan, Pashtpan Betrayer (Knife in the Dark d10, d10, Keeper of Secrets d8, Ambitious d6; Resolve d6; Combat 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Always Looking to Advance) 6. Anush, Handmaid (Selfless d10, Romantic d8, Earnest d6; Resolve d10; d10; Trouble: In Love with the t he Princess)
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ing a vacation from their lives, and escaping the hardships for a moment of adventure. adventure.
HAZARDS
1. The queen is irrationally afraid of strangers. If she perceives a threat, she will lock down the kingdom. 2. The water system is not prepared prepared to handle flash floods or the frequency of the winter rain. 3. The winds have been increasing increasing in frequency and intensity, making it more difficult to maintain the t he dust in the tunnels. 4. A stranger is found pouring a vial of red red sand in the tunnels near the crystal palace. 5. The queen believes believes someone has been spying on the princess. She has stationed three guards (Combat 2 Strike/1 Parry) outside the princess’s chambers. 6. The water tanks are full and lower lower levels of the caverns are flooding. The chamber holding the kings’ ghosts is in a secret cavern near the flooding.
HOOKS
1. A new guide is providing providing tours to Nadamban, but his first three parties have never been seen again. 2. Strangers have been been flocking to Himk, clogging the roads trying to find their way to the Temple of the Poppy Brides. The merchants on the road have a surplus of goods and fresh meat. 3. A royal caravan has come to Himk and is looking for supplies and a guide to the Crystal Palace. 4. A new drug has found its way to Himk. A fungus that causes severe hallucinations is being mixed with dust containing ghosts. 5. Two merchants merchants are fighting over a territory where travelers have been known to veer off the main path, leading them back to the beginning of the labyrinth. 6. Colonies of spiders are moving moving out of the desert into the settlements along the road.
IMK HIMK The city on the ground, Himk, controls c ontrols the gateway to Nadamban. Strangers could wander the badlands badlands for years and never stumble upon the entrance to the crystal caves. Circular trails wind travelers back to the beginning of a labyrinth built of sand and stone. Straying from the path usually results in one of three outcomes: a return to the beginning, restless wandering, or death. Weary travelers have established tent cities near caves and at the base of the mountains. The few who call Himk their home trade in wares and supplies, scavenging the lands, and profit off the travelers who lose their way to the Temple of the Poppy Brides or the Crystal Palace. A few locals work as guides that can be rented out for a steep price to those capable of paying their hefty fees. fees. Himk is home to several indigenous flora and fauna. The creatures have evolved to survive in the arid and windy desert climate, burrowing in the sand to escape the heat of the day and the blistering cold of winter nights. Straying from the road can end with a dinner invitation from a spider colony. colony. Quick travelers may find spiders a delicacy, delicacy, but most are discovered by other scavengers in the morning. When the winds are still and the sun is low, low, Himk provides wonderful vistas vistas overlooking the lands south of Arcadia and west of Anger. Anger. The strong winds bring ghosts from every kingdom. Unlike the Sireni Sireni of Nadamban, the people in Himk revel in the experience of being being inhabited by ghosts from strange lands. Taking Taking in a new ghost is like taktak108 108
CHARACTERS
1. Aram, Red Martian Martian Merchant (Organization and Materiel d10, Diplomatic Interpretation d8, Market Manipulation d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Losing Suppliers) 2. Sard, Red Martian Spider Chef (Culinary Expertise d10, Expert Trapper d8, Empathy d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Respects His Ingredients More Than His Customers) 3. Voski, Red Martian Scavenger (Learning the Ropes d10, Egomaniacal d8, Easily Underestimated d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Starved With Ambition 4. Han, Red Martian Guide (Knows Every Every Weapon d10, Interrogation d8, Defend the City d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Favors the Highest Bidder) 5. Vorsord, Vorsord, Red Martian Retired Spider Wrangler Wrangler (Opportunistic Businessman d8, Salesman d8, A Way with Spiders d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Addicted to Fungi Ghosts) 6. Katar, Red Martian Prince of Himk (Landscaping d10, Historical Knowledge d8, Aristocratic d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Not Really a Prince) HAZARDS
1. Hallucinating drug addicts possessed by murderous ghosts. 2. Scavengers that would just as easily take your life as your wallet. 3. Feral spiders are moving into the cities in droves. droves.
CITIES AND REGIONS
4. Foreign ghosts do not know the routes in in and out of Himk. 5. Don’t ask about the meat. 6. Circular labyrinth populated by thieves, thieves, murderers, and spiders.
During rainstorms the cliff becomes a waterfall, and farmers on the bluff are forced forced to seek refuge refuge in the workers’ caves until the cliff is dry enough to return to Voshi. Beneath the sleeping chambers are food- and water-storage pods, used to safeguard the city against against starvation in the rainy season.
VOSHI
HOOKS
The city that borders Honor, Honor, Voshi, is protected by an eternal sandstorm. The Sireni who live in Voshi wear garments garments that cover their bodies bodies from from head head to toe to to protect protect themselves from the blistering sands and the ghosts that howl within. The wall of sand circulating in the valley between Honor and Voshi has forced the people to settle underground, as strong winds make it too difficult to build on the surface. Dwelling sacks driven deep into the soft clay are inflated from the surface and connected to one another via narrow tunnels. Underground Underground springs provide water for the city. Food is grown on the bluff overlooking the valley. Farmers Farmers rappel down the cliff with food and supplies for the city. Working Working in three- day shifts, the workers climb the sheer rock face with empty baskets and return with them full of grains and fruits harvested from from the ancient trees and plants that grow on the bluff.
1. Persistent rains have forced the farmers to stay on the bluff, and food stores are running low. 2. A group of refugees have have traveled through the sandstorm wall to Voshi. These strangers seem to be under some kind of trance. 3. The bluff has been spewing water into the valley, valley, threatening to flood the underground city. The water level is rising in the underground springs. 4. Mining debris was carried into the sandstorm. The shards of stone cut holes in the protective fabric worn by the Sireni, leaving them susceptible to the ghosts swirling in the storm. 5. One of the elders was recently recently infested by a murderous ghost and is confined to their sleeping chamber, as the waters rise and threaten to flood the makeshift cell.
The people of Voshi, eager to escape the weather.
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6. A group of farmers is stranded on the cliff face, in the middle of rappelling down from a harvest, as a storm rolls in. CHARACTERS
1. Levon, Red Martian Farmer (Patient d10, d10, Empathic d8, Poet d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Overly Cautious) 2. Nerses, Red Martian Elder (Record Keeper Keeper d10, Personal Histories of the Sand d8, Alchemist d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: A Scholar, Not a Practitioner) 3. Hish, Pale Martian Medicine Medicine Man (Bone-Picker d10, Charismatic d8, Exotic Botanist d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Better Showman than a Shaman) 4. Sirvard, Pale Martian Stranger (Languishing Beauty d10, Sepulchral Verses d8, Gossip d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Romantically Enthralled with w ith Tragic Endings) 5. Hrod, Possessed Red Red Martian Elder (Seen It All d10, Murderous Murderous Rampage d8, Philosopher Ph ilosopher d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Haunted by Ghosts of Those She’s Killed) 6. Siranush, Red Martian Village Matriarch (Dire Pronouncements d10, Knows Everyone’s Story d8, Aura of Mystery d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Obsessed With “Last Requests”)
FERMA The farmland above Voshi Voshi is home to the oldest trees in Siren. Ferma provides temporary housing for the farmers in the valley during their three-day three- day shifts. During the peak harvest season, the farmland bustles with life as the number of harvesters doubles. The shortage of caves requires the first shift to build a tent city for the additional workers. The rest of the year, the tent supplies tuck into the caves, providing additional bedding and warmth warmth in the winter. winter. The prolific fruit trees and ancient grains have sup ported the people in Voshi Voshi for thousands of years. Without Without the indigenous plants, life in the valley would cease to exist. Over the last few decades, seeds carried on the wind from foreign lands have settled settled into Ferma Ferma and threatened threatened the yearly crop. A growing population and dwindling dwindling food source has increased the demand for cultivation and harvesters, a demand Ferma is struggling to meet. HOOKS
1. One of the harvesters exceeded exceeded their quota. An unripened fruit tree was harvested, destroying the crop and diminishing the yield for the following year. 2. In a heavy rain, fruit falls from the trees. Fruit found on the ground is considered fair game; opportunistic harvesters fight one another to increase their yield along the cliff. 3. Unseasonably-hot weather made the grains bolt early, ruining the harvest. The grains are used to feed the harvesters as they work Ferma. Without the grain, the harvesters will need to find an alternative source of food, or be forced to consume their profits. 4. A strange plant has begun to grow among the grains. Farmers who touch the weed with their bare hands experience stomach pains and hallucinations. One of the farmers, believes he had a vision. 5. A man is found unconscious at the base of a tree, tree, with a fungus-covered piece of fruit in his hand. In his pocket is a harvester quota book; the first three pages are filled, but the man has no money or crops with him, except the spoiled fruit. 6. Someone cut the ropes that lead from the cliff to the valley floor. The harvesters have to find anothan other way down the sheer cliff face to deliver their crops.
HAZARDS
1. Voshi sandstorms force travelers travelers to seek refuge in the underground cities, where bandits exploit the unlucky who cross their path. 2. A heavy rainfall consumes consumes the dry earth in a flash flood. Travelers Travelers on the surface s urface find themselves t hemselves between a wall of swirling sand and a wall of rushing water. 3. Anyone wishing to escape the valley valley has to traverse a sheer cliff face by following a centuries-old climbing rope path. 4. Running low on supplies, the only way to gather food requires a strong will, a stronger back, and a vertical cliff to get to the farmlands on the ridge above the valley. 5. An advantageous merchant has taken taken to renting sleeping pods for the harvest. His high prices and limited resources are breeding infighting amongst the harvesters. 6. Angry ghosts trapped in the sandstorm fight to escape the storm by hitching a ride inside of a traveler.
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the Skarruts, accustomed to thriving on trade, went into debt. Its quick and adaptive people eventually learned to make do, but not before Skarras’ debt was crippling. Now, Skarrut children sell themselves as mercenaries and their stone masonry, once famed, has come to a grinding halt — in the dying days of Mars, more money can be made from violence than from craftsmanship.
CHARACTERS
1. Ishkan, Red Martian Stranger (Egomaniacal d10, Aristocratic Upbringing d8, Romantic d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Selfish Nobility) 2. Aghavni, Wyeth Camp Cook (Cleans Up Miraculously d10, Master of Two Social Strata d8, Structured d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Needs to Follow a Recipe) 3. Hogh, Red Martian Head Farmer (Romantic d10; Botanical d8, Philosophical d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Fears Change) 4. Vora, Red Martian Novice Farmer (Book Smart d10, Ingenious d8, Hard to Kill d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Hates Tradition) 5. Bahan, Red Martian Scavenger (Master of Arachnids d10, Tinkerer d8, Storyteller d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Haphazard Roguish Spirit) 6. Busaban, Zaiu Master Botanist (Apothecary d10, Nostalgic d8, Traditional Healer d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Diminishing Physical Health)
Skarras has long since fallen into disrepair. Most of the underground rivers are as dust-swept as Mars’ surface, but a few carry heavy brine water. Ruled by the same mysterious forces as all of Mars’ rivers, the brine water alternates between super-cooled — flash-freezing anything it touches — and boiling. The plateaus of the city itself have crumbled, the great domed harbor lies dry, and the mighty towers have fallen. Entire swaths of the city are no longer connected to the others, as bridges leading to them lie broken. Only the towering walls and famous stone cisterns, which ferry water from the northern pole to Skarras’ web of underground canals, see regular maintenance. Occasionally, a Skarrut leader proposes to repair parts of the city. Very rarely, one proposes delving deeper into the mountain-that-was in an attempt to recapture the glory of the past. Mostly, though, the Skarruts react with pragmatism, relocating inhabitants as needed and sealing off the fallen areas. To live in ruins while remembering greatness is the lot of Skarras.
HAZARDS
1. The sharp cliff face, imperceptible in the dark, has been a quick end for many harvesters over the years. 2. An invasive weed is making people fall ill and hallucinate. 3. Scavengers strike in the night, stealing rations and crops. Come morning, a harvester is missing. 4. Flash floods sweep farmers and harvesters over the cliff into the valley below. 5. A generational war is raging between the elders, who value tradition, and the Voshi youth, who long to resettle in Ferma to live a simpler, peaceful, and safer life outside of the valley. A young man declares his intention to settle in Ferma; the next morning his body is found at the base of the cliff. 6. After the young man’s body was found, someone cut the ropes to the valley floor. A civil war is brewing on the cliffs of Ferma.
SKARRAS
LOCATIONS THE PLAZA The rings and plateaus of Skarras hold myriad market squares, but ask for “the plaza” and a visitor is inevitably directed to this one. The history of Skarras, carved by generations of masons into the plaza floor and buildings, lives side by side with the modern era where market stalls bustle with wares and trade. No doubt the highlight of the plaza is the free-fighting Skarruts, whose movements flow like desert sand and who take on challengers for a fee. Scarification artists await their clientele with knife and nail, to etch great deeds into their skin. This market is alive, a show of what Skarras might yet be if it can rise above its debt.
A great mountain once dominated this land, until the Skarruts came. Carrying chisel and hammer, they carved domes and spires, walls and bridges from the mountain, until it yielded the greatest city since Arcadia: Skarras. Located perfectly for trade on the Martian ocean, Skarras survived both the fall of the First Martians and the rise of the Cydonians. But then the waters dried up, leaving only red dust and endless storms, and
HOOKS
1. Casmus, a free-fighting champion, is taking on challengers and offers double money back to anyone who can beat him. When one of the characters does, the champion doesn’t have the necessary chits, but he offers them a mysterious amber gem instead. Rivets inside the amber sketch a perfect map of the Labyrinth of Night. 111
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2. Citizens go missing, and the trail of blood leads to a small, unmarked building off the side of the plaza. Here lies one of the entrances to Skarras Mountain at the heart of the city, and caverns run deep into the mountain’s core where dark things reign. 3. Recognizing the skill of the Skarruts, the First Martians proclaimed Skarras a sister to Arcadia and a third, still-lost city far in the Martian Ocean. The plaza is a massive portal to matching squares in both broken Arcadia and the unnamed city. It’s been dormant for years, but can be revived by clever scavengers. 4. Rasul, a Red Martian thief, came to Skarras to find a buyer for a piece of meteorite stolen from a Yellow Silk. When a bounty hunter from Ziggur spots him in the plaza, though, the thief quickly discards of the stone — by slipping it into one of the characters’ pockets. 5. The Kimmun mercenary company has found an ancient, undetonated weapon in the Prismatic Wastes. They’ve come to recruit Skarruts to guard the dig site, and anyone good with a sword is welcome to sign up. What do the characters make of this excavation of a First Martian weapon? 6. Bookkeepers offer great odds on fights, enticing veterans and new travelers alike. When one of the characters loses a shoo-in, the helpful bookkeeper, Otay, proposes to erase their debt if they transport a small package to “a friend” in Vance. CHARACTERS
1. Dagan, young Skarrut stone mason following a dream (Skilled Hands d10, Patient d8, Lost Causes d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Living in the Past) 2. Usilli, old Skarrut stone carver specializing in weapons (Tough as Nails d10, Stone Cutter d8, Pole Slinger d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Crippled) 3. Relinku, Skarrut guide showing visitors the plaza (Knows the Way d10, Amateur Historian d8, Keen Eye d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Talks too Much) 4. Kashir, Skarrut free-fighting champion (Martial Artist d12, Bluster d8, Gauge Opponent d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Big Mouth) 5. Ninsun, Skarrut guard watching the plaza (Keen Eye d10, Slingshot d8, Stern Voice d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt/1M/0P; Trouble: Corrupt Boss) 6. Anbat, Skarrut pickpocket operating from the plaza (Swift Fingers d10; Easy Smile d8; Catch Me First d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Loves a Challenge)
HAZARDS
1. When Deimos aligns with the amber star, discerning ears hear ocean waves, and people dream of the time Mars still had water. The water dream brings risk of drowning though, and some never awake from it. 2. When Skarras is closest to the sun, the plaza floor becomes scorchingly hot. 3. A small earthquake creates cracks in the plaza floor, and toxic saline gasses rise up from the boiling brine river below. 4. Skarras’ state of disrepair finally sends a tower near the plaza tumbling down. Every day is market day at the plaza, leading to panicked masses in addition to falling stones. 5. Scarification artists etch great deeds in a supplicant’s skin, but beware to those who exaggerate, for the artist will cut out the offending falsehood. 6. On blue-star nights, when violence is in the air and the heat is unbearable, people disappear without a trace. It is rumored to be the wrath of the ancients.
THE SHADES The top of this tower crumbled three generations ago, smashing through the bridge below and causing a cascade. Only the lowest bridge, the seventh, remains, and it is precariously piled with debris. Families gather together at the lowest plateau, near the bridge and its tentative connection to the main city. The shadows of the tower’s jagged silhouette cast these survivors in perpetual twilight, giving rise to the area’s name. As time passes, the Skarruts at the center of the Shades become less and less like their civilized cousins, while strange creatures rise up from the bedrock below to hunt the remaining families. HOOKS
1. Mezur, patriarch of a rich Skarrut family, is offering a reward to anyone willing to brave the Shades and evacuate his lost cousins. It’s a noble sentiment, but do the cousins even want to come? And what prompted the rescue effort after three generations? 2. When a family of seven is brutally eviscerated, inhabitants of the Shades approach the characters to investigate. Rather than monsters, they find the trail leads to another family living in the Shades. Are they being set up, or did they really commit this atrocity? 3. Gray-skinned mutants roam the Shades, though they are never seen where light falls. The charac112
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ters are tasked with tracking the grays’ lair and killing them, but discover the grays are sapient, and have a civilization of their own in Skarras Mountain. 4. A deadly and highly-infectious disease has sprung up in the Shades, prompting Skarras’ leadership to quarantine the fallen tower. Mashem, a leader from the Shades, soon sends word they’ve all been cured. Is this genuine, or a ruse to lift the quarantine? Then, one of the characters begins to show symptoms. 5. People in the Shades are hungry. If someone risks their life to gather eggs from the gull nests perched atop the tower, they’ll be a hero forever — or at least, until hunger rears its head again. 6. Isolation and incest are taking their toll on the Shades, and the inhabitants of the tower’s recesses become increasingly feral. These Skarrut, who barely speak, can be recognized by their tarnished scales and hunchbacked posture. Their families work to keep them safe and hidden, but the characters come across a nest of these mutants.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
response, the remaining citizens organized their own vigilante groups. The spirits of Skarruts killed in the collapse still roam the Shades. They attack anyone on sight. Sandskins, bipedal creatures made of rock and dust, stalk the Shades. They crave flesh, for they have none of their own. Though the seventh bridge yet stands, debris, vermin, and predators form their own danger to those seeking to cross. Parts of the Shades remain unstable to this day, and sections of the tower collapse when explored. Large gulls nest on the highest parts of the crumbled tower. They are violently territorial during mating season, and have no qualms about attacking Martians for food when rearing their young.
THE R EVOLUTION UNDERGROUND Though its headquarters lie in the long-defunct harbor, the Revolution Underground is more than a single location. It is a thought, a sentiment, a call for action spread from seedy bars to elite salons, and it’s slowly rising throughout Skarras. Members of the revolution feel the Skarrut people are unfairly chained by debt; their sires and grandsires have toiled to work it off, as will their children and their children’s children. “The enslavement of Skarras through debt must stop,” say the revolutionaries, and if this goal cannot be attained peacefully, they are ready to overthrow their leadership and go to war for it.
CHARACTERS
1. Ahum, Skarrut Shades community leader (Reasonable Demands d10, Eye to the Future d8, Stern Reprimands d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Seen Better Days) 2. Silili, Skarrut inhabitant of the Shades who wants to stay (Scavenger d10, Can Cook Anything d8, Sure Footing d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Sticky Fingers) 3. Nurrtu, Skarrut inhabitant of the Shades who is planning to leave (Knows a Guy d10, Amiable d8, Easy Chits d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Always Looking for the Next Big Thing) 4. Urbaru, Skarrut trading food to the Shades at impossible prices (Business Sense d10, Show Off d8, Money Flow d6; Resolve d6; Trouble; Bit of a Sleaze) 5. Nanni, small-time Skarrut criminal scraping to get by (Nimble Fingers d10, Quick and Slippery d8, Surprisingly Likeable d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Bad Timing) 6. Muiko, Red Martian delivering charitable aid to the Shades (Rich Family d10, Makes Friends Easily d8, Well-Connected d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: No Sense of Danger)
HOOKS
1. Mistaken for a revolutionary group, the characters are invited to a secret meeting in the harbor. Do they go? What do they do when someone recognizes they’re not who they should be? 2. Bijan, a revolutionary, hires the characters to ferry a strange ore to the city-state of Surtur, but they discover the material is intended to create a high-impact bomb. 3. The characters are asked to deliver a message to a shopkeeper named Kalesh, near the plaza. Before they can, though, Kalesh is arrested for being a member of the revolution. The characters can give the missive to the Skarras authorities and risk being detained, too, or decipher the coded message for themselves. 4. The characters are approached by Kian, a Skarrut enforcer, who informs them one of their close contacts is a member of the revolution. The characters are tasked to spy on her, or suffer the enforcers’ wrath.
HAZARDS
1. The Shades knows no law. Robbers, bounty hunters, and outright murderers operate openly. In 113
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5. If the characters seem sympathetic to the revolution, they are quickly called upon to use their skills to procure funds for the cause. After all, preparing for war is expensive. 6. The characters hear that the revolution is planning to assassinate a Skarrut leader for bending to the will of the creditors. The leader visits the plaza every morning and this is where the attack takes place, catching innocent bystanders in the crossfire. CHARACTERS
1. Lombak, Red Martian ideologue who believes in equality (Believer d10, Foot Soldier d8, Daring d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Overly Zealous) 2. Entanna, Skarrut who came for love and stayed for the revolution (Sex Appeal d10, Pretty Tough d8, Basic Fighting Skills d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Revolutionary by Accident) 3. Puizu, Skarrut leader of revolution cell (Strategic Thinker d10, Slingshot d8, For the Cause d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Stunt; Trouble: Won’t Compromise) 4. Taribat, Red Martian shopkeeper running a front for the revolution (Sales Pitch d10, Discreet d8, Bribe Money d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Has Been Made) 5. Varian, Red Martian spy from Zodiac, hoping to destabilize and weaken Skarras (Glib Tongue d10, Expert Sword d8, Secret Connections d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Wants to Defect) 6. Nashan, Skarrut spy for the establishment (Fighting Skills d10, Watchful Eye d8, Knows the Revolution d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Distrusted)
lair here. They are as large as a Martian, and ravenous for meat (Gnarbur Worm: Burrow d10, Pack Hunting d8, Paralyzing Venom d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike; Trouble: Always Hungry).
SKY FIELDS A little to the southeast of Skarras, cloaked by the presence of hostile Cimmeria, lies Sky Fields. Gravity is weak here, and massive boulders hang in the air while flying reptiles, too fat to normally remain aloft, make their way between. Sky Fields would be an incomparable resource for the Skarruts — if they could only capitalize it. Skarras lacks the funds and expertise to properly harness the forces active in Sky Fields, nor can they be overt in their exploration of it, for fear of drawing attention from their powerful and greedy neighbors. As it is, the path to Skarras’ renewed greatness lies right within their reach, yet far beyond their grasp. HOOKS
1. Small groups of Skarruts have formed villages on the largest floating boulders. These townsteads, far away from politics and war, offer a perfect refuge for characters needing to lie low. 2. The characters are invited on a Skarrut expedition to investigate Sky Fields. When removed from the Fields, both rocks and floating creatures are as beholden to gravity as anything else on Mars. The secret to Sky Fields lies neither in its ore, nor in the natural capabilities of its fauna. 3. The characters are invited to razok harvesting day! While young daredevils distract the parent razoks, other daredevils steal their eggs so the chicks may be hand-reared to yield slightly less vicious razoks, suitable for riding. 4. Herds of gallum float through Sky Fields. These large, fat herbivores aren’t aggressive, but their bulk makes them dangerous. Occasionally a gallum swallows a piece of rock, which is transformed to a rare gemstone via the acids in its stomachs. Sifting through gallum feces is a niche occupation, but more lucrative than people think. 5. Despite Skarras’ efforts, the Princess Invincible knows about Sky Fields. She hasn’t sent a force as she doesn’t want to alert Zodiac and Vance, but does want to claim Sky Fields and its anti-gravity forces for herself. The characters make perfect third-party spies. 6. A new species of flying predator has been introduced by a traveler. The creature attacks everything in sight and is destabilizing the ecosystem. The people of Sky Fields offer a reward to anyone who brings back either eggs or wings of the new creatures.
HAZARDS
1. The Revolutionary Underground deliberately holds its meetings in locations that are either closed to the public, or carry enough criminal elements and natural dangers to discourage prying eyes. 2. The revolution shares the harbor with a pack of skulkers — large, cat-like creatures with a taste for flesh. 3. The Garana Inn, where the Revolution frequently meets, is full of pickpockets and thieves. 4. The idyllically-named “River Retreat” takes place deep inside Skarras Mountain. The revolution meets here to discuss its long-term plans, as long as nearby lava rivers don’t rise to kill them all. 5. The spirit of a Skarrut killed in a revolution attack is going through the revolutionary ranks, killing them one by one. 6. Revolutionaries meet in ancient underground canals, long fallen dry, but Gnarbur worms also 114
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A Skarrut priest shows zir oldest child Sky Fields for the first time
CHARACTERS
1. Pirum, Skarrut razok pilot (Expert Flier d10, Amazing Luck d8, Razok Whisperer d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Wanted by the Law) 2. Anu, elected Skarrut leader of Boulder Town (Public Speaker d10, Tough Cookie d8, Eye to the Future d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Won’t Bend) 3. Rishuk, Skarrut inhabitant of Boulder Town (Rock Farming d10, Warm Personality d8, Improvised Weapons d6; Resolve d8, Trouble: Single Parent) 4. Arukan, Red Martian gallumstone harvester (Sky Sailing d10, Rough Soul d8, Affluent d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Stinks) 5. Hadan, Red Martian prospector from Illium (Easily Overlooked d10, Scientific Curiosity d8, Knife Fighter d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Has No Answers) 6. Melodi, Red Martian escaped convict from Siren (Con Artist d10, Sweet Smile d8, Eye for Marks d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike; Trouble: On the Run)
2. 3.
4. 5.
6.
HAZARDS
1. New arrivals are beset by low-gravity illness. Symptoms range from joint pain, sudden fatigue, 115
and a marbled skin rash, to a burning sensation in the chest, trouble breathing, and possible death. While the rocks of Sky Fields hover perfectly in midair, they don’t keep still. Navigating them without being squashed is tricky. Razoks are winged predatory reptiles. While they look fat and plump, they are surprisingly fast. They also have strong muscles, sharp beaks, and foul tempers. A gallum herd is headed straight for a rock with freshly-planted crops. If they eat the crops, people in nearby townsteads will starve next harvest. Sky Fielders travel the Fields on sailing ships and flying mounts. Both carry risks. The ships rely on airwaves in Sky Fields: some never-changing and carefully documented, others capricious and sudden. The fliers range from small, vicious, and hard to train, to overly large, gentle, and hard to steer. Characters staying in the Fields for longer than half a year suffer reduced bone density, muscle strength, and circulation. That’s not a problem as long as they remain in the Fields, but becomes debilitating once they leave.
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SURTUR
HOOKS
1. The forge runs low on charstone, a precious crystal said to absorb prayer and release it into the fire, making the fire burn hotter. It’s used to craft religious artifacts for the Fire Priests, who implore the characters to obtain more from the wild volcanic garden where it grows, guarded by sharp-eyed ormerian lizards. 2. When the characters arrive in Surtur, they are immediately greeted by a Fire Priest who claims he saw them coming in the sparks of the forge. The priest insists they must work in the mines, as ordained by the sacred flame. 3. A ceremonial sword, forged with Surtur’s rarest alloy, is stolen from the altar of the First Forge. The priests hire the characters to track down the culprit and bring the sword back. But, once found, the culprit offers them a share of the profits from the weapon’s imminent sale. 4. Surtur considers the constellation of the Forge to be its patron. Whenever the sun passes into that sign, the First Forge sponsors a festival to celebrate the legend: In Surtur, they say the constellation is the anvil upon which the First Martians forged the bones of the world, and after so many millennia, the bones’ rust gives Mars its red color. 5. The characters are detained by a priest who accuses them of forgery, showing higher authorities that something they carry is nigh-identical to a sacramental item crafted at the First Forge. In Surtur, the counterfeit of a sacred work is punishable by sacrificing the offender to the volcano. 6. A foreign smith claims to have evidence that, in fact, First Martian alloys were invented in another city. The Fire Priests ask the characters to inspect this so-called evidence — and to prove it false, by any means necessary.
Surtur lies in the land of Tharsis, atop Mars’ largest volcano. The entire region is covered in a perpetual cloud of smoke and ash. Day never dawns in Surtur, only a sort of wan twilight. The landscape is harsh and alien, populated by beasts strange even upon Mars. The people of Surtur labor around the clock in their mines and forges. Metals that are rare across the face of Mars are common in Surtur, and the city has grown rich through trade. Here, Pale Martians work alongside Red for common cause. Yet Surtur is a harsh land, and prosperity has made it no less harsh. Surtur is ruled by the Fire Priests, who deify the First Martians and consider the people of Surtur their last true heirs. Only in the factory-forges of Surtur, they say, are the ancient arts of metalwork still practiced. Armed with some of the finest weaponry in the world, the armies of Surtur are feared by their neighbors. While they lack large quantities of photonic sand, their swords are sharp and sturdy, and they fight with unmatched discipline. Recently, Surtur opened new mining projects to the north of its traditional territory, protected by these feared legions. Rumors say that prospectors found a vein of radium, or of the precious anti-gravity element used by Zodiac and Illium. If Surtur could mine these elements for itself and combine them with its abundance of conventional metals, it could become wealthy beyond measure, or become the most-feared nation on Mars.
LOCATIONS THE FIRST FORGE
CHARACTERS
1. Shildr, Pale Martian teller of fortunes (Flame Diviner d12, Numerologist d8, Wisdom Comes with Age d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Terrible Arthritis) 2. Skorla, Pale Martian master artisan (Innovative Techniques d10, Known Worldwide d8, Humble and Devout d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Overextended Workaholic) 3. Asvi, Red Martian Fire Priest (Chantmaster d10, Keeper of the Electrum Chalice d8, No Mercy d6; Resolve d12; Trouble: Rivals Covet My Position) 4. Borsny, Red Martian First Forge guard (No Funny Business d10, Personal Arsenal d8, Child of Priests d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Low Tolerance for Liquor)
Both workshop and place of worship, the First Forge is a sacred foundry where only the most highly-respected and pious artisans may work their will upon the elements of Mars. The devout say that here in this forge is where the First Martians invented the art of alloying metals. Each piece crafted here is inscribed with prayers and sigils, and never sold for money. Instead, the workshop’s bounty is used by the Fire Priests alone. The song of hammer and anvil is fortified by numinous chanting, which resonates against the cavernous walls. The First Forge is the only place on Mars where certain rare alloys can be made, and the secrets of their making are closely kept. 116
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5. Volvaer, Pale Martian postulant (Student of Runes d10, Steady Hand d8, My Father’s Burin d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Constantly Underestimated) 6. Udai, Zaiu pilgrim (Traveling Fixer d10, Religious Scholar d8, Vivid Imagination d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Talks Too Much)
4. A strange creature that appears to be part living animal and part rock formation follows one of the characters wherever they go. It doesn’t appear hostile, but it won’t leave no matter what threats or enticements are brought to bear. 5. The characters excavate what seems to be a valuable stone with amazing properties, but when they try to bring their find back to the city to make some profit, they become the laughingstock of the marketplace. Why? 6. Two different merchants want the characters to bring back an extremely rare bird native to the gardens. One wants the bird alive for its captivating song, but the other wants it dead for its eyeballs and liver, considered delicacies in soup.
HAZARDS
1. A sacred artifact begins to emit strange, dissonant sounds, sending priests into fits or unexplained long sleeps. Some say it’s a message or warning from the First Martians. 2. Surtur prefers swift justice at sword point or volcano’s edge. The Fire Priests despise long trials and rarely show mercy. Ignorance is never an excuse. 3. An accident at the Forge creates a stream of molten metal that carves its way through the temple and out into the streets. Somehow, it shows no signs of stopping or cooling.
CHARACTERS
1. Dyrfin, Pale Martian trader (Crystallographer d10, Eye for Rarity d8, Expensive Radium Lantern d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Heedless of Danger) 2. Dweller in Corners, Red Martian poacher (Throwing Spear d10, Hides in Shadows d8, No Loyalties d6; Resolve d12; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Wanted Everywhere) 3. Hvals, Red Martian runaway child (Friend to Animals d8, Won’t Go Home d6, Swift Runner d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Easy Mark)
VOLCANIC GARDENS On the outskirts of Surtur, a series of deep clefts in the volcano’s face form what the Fire Priests call the volcanic gardens — places lush not with flora, but with naturally-growing crystals of all kinds, and wildlife that thrives in the harsh climate. Artificers and metallurgists value the plethora of raw materials found here, and many risk their lives to obtain rare and precious supplies, or send others to do the same in their stead. The most common predators are the ormerian lizards, known for their keen eyesight and enormous, barbed tails. Surtur law forbids hunting the living creatures in the volcanic gardens, considering their ecosystem a gift from the First Martians.
HAZARDS
1. While exploring a narrow ridge, one of the characters finds themselves trapped by a crystal deposit that seems to be attracted to living flesh. 2. Garden travelers must beware crevices where lava bubbles up from the volcano’s depths and areas where the rocky ground heats up to unbearable temperatures. 3. Ormerian lizards are fiercely territorial. 4. A niche full of crystal statues turns out to be the resting place for people turned to stone by an insidious parasite that lives there. 5. The volcanic gardens are prime territory for poachers, home to unique and exotic creatures. Their traps are just as dangerous for people as they are for prey. 6. Excavating the notorious and valuable tinder gem is a hazardous undertaking. In its unrefined form, it burns continuously like a miniature star.
HOOKS
1. A young apprentice came to gather crystals for her master, but never returned. Her master begs the characters to find her, being too old and frail to brave the gardens. 2. The characters discover a new kind of crystal, whether by accident or careful delving, and now everyone wants a piece of the discovery. The characters find the longer they possess the crystal and its source, the less they want to share. 3. An injured, young ormerian lizard lies in the characters’ path, ravaged by some larger predator. They would need to take it back to the city to give it proper care and save its life, but in between are miles of treacherous terrain and other lizards who won’t understand their benign intentions.
SURTUR MINES The work of miners in Surtur is considered just as sacred as the work of artisans and smiths. Miners and chap117
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lains descend together into the bowels of Mars to collect its bounty and sing their thanks to the First Martians for the gift of endurance to withstand the mine’s perils. Clever devices, rigged by ancient fixers, carry the workers up and down between the mine’s levels and transport the raw metals to the surface. Shrines dot the tunnels, and workers say that anyone who removes a haul from the mine without the appropriate prayers is doomed to fade into a mere shadow.
HAZARDS
1. An ailment characterized by a chronic cough is common in Surtur, especially among miners and those who live near the mines. Outsiders call it “Surtur syndrome.” 2. Down in the mines, wherever the torchlight doesn’t reach, a sound like thousands of chirping insects fills the pitch darkness. No one is certain what makes the noise. 3. The miners train magma voles, large burrowing creatures, to help them dig their tunnels. Normally the voles are quite tame, but the scent of blood drives them into a frenzy. 4. The priests learn that a newly-discovered ore they’ve been mining for months is toxic to Red Martians. Unfortunately, it’s already been used in countless projects around town. 5. Miners must always be vigilant and cautious, lest one incorrectly-opened tunnel brings down a cave-in, or exposes workers to poisonous fumes. 6. A strong metal door blocks off a portion of the mine, painted with the Surtur symbol for blasphemy. A sickly light seeps through the cracks under the door.
HOOKS
1. The Fire Priests have failed to adequately hush a rumor that someone has found evidence of a potential subterranean water source adjacent to the mines. Now, all manner of interested parties scheme to claim it. 2. One of the worst mining accidents in Surtur’s history claimed dozens of lives 20 years ago. Now, a priest presumed dead returns, alleged to have survived in the mines all this time. But details of his story don’t quite match up. 3. For one day a year, the skies above Surtur clear as the smoke and ash howl down from the heights to fill the mines. Some say the smoke carries the spirits of those for whom the mine has become a tomb. Anyone caught inside during this event is certain to die, or worse. CHARACTERS
1. Karli, Red Martian chaplain and foreman (Meticulous Mind d8, Brawny Body d8, Beloved by Workers d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Has Never Seen the Sun) 2. Lifuin, Pale Martian youth new to mining (Dreams of a Brighter Place d10, Nimble Fingers d8, Melodious Voice d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Terrified of the Dark) 3. Olubr, Pale Martian mine medic (Keeps Everyone Going d10, Death Is Preferable to Blasphemy d8, Gentle Manner d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Strict Faith) 4. Zabaia, Pale Martian trying to purchase a mine (Royalty of an Arcadian Tribe d10, Business Savvy d8, Endless Resources d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Doesn’t Understand Surtur) 5. Gamelat, Roundhead adept working for the Fire Priests (Sense for Deposits d12, Master Cartographer d8, Volcano Hermit d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Shunned by My Own People) 6. Canary, Red Martian thief posing as a miner (Desperate Times, Desperate Measures d10, Lies are Livelihood d8, Cheerful Grin d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Someone’s Onto Me)
THE PLAZA OBSIDIAN A wide plaza on the northern side of the city is a bustling center for foreign trade, local social customs, and diplomatic functions. It takes its name from the black, glassy surface it’s built on, the result of a centuries-old volcanic eruption that covered the area with swiftly-cooling magma. The Plaza Obsidian is one of the most sweltering places in Surtur, but such a rich culture grew up around it that it’s always crowded anyway. Late at night, it’s home to the Obsidian Block, a not-so-secret slave market, and exotic masquerade parties where the highly-disciplined Surtur folk can let their hair down anonymously. In Surtur, slaves aren’t allowed to work in the mines — instead, they perform domestic tasks or manual labor for construction crews. HOOKS
1. One of the characters dances with a mesmerizing masked partner several nights in a row, until they suspect their partner is someone they call enemy by day. By night, though, the sparks fly, and their partner starts to show signs of deeper interest. 2. A black-market artisan promises to teach the characters a holy secret of the Fire Priest smiths, obtained at high cost, for a price. Such a secret could be uniquely lucrative, but could also send the characters to a fiery death should they be discovered practicing it. 118
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Revelers in Surtur celebrate the Small Moon Festival. 3. An ambassador from the nearby kingdom of Vidar insists that Surtur’s new northern mine belongs to the Vidarese. The characters are tasked with infiltrating the opposing kingdom to assess the truth of the claim, while Surtur’s army prepares for war. 4. Fanatics from another city come to convince their fellow Pale Martians that by living alongside the Red Martians, they shame their ancestors. The newcomers preach openly in the Plaza, and plan to abscond with Surtur’s Pales by force if they refuse to come willingly. 5. People report headaches, dizziness, and strange visions if they stay too long in the Plaza. Soon, a priest approaches the characters and accuses them of disrupting the Plaza’s sacred geometry. If they don’t repair it immediately, they’ll be fed to the volcano — but first they must figure out how they broke it in the first place. 6. From across the Plaza late at night, one of the characters’ names is called out in desperate tones. An old friend languishes in chains on the Obsidian Block, and begs for help.
2. 3.
4. 5.
6.
Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Works for Two Opposing Masters) Aeling, Red Martian peddler of drugs and pleasures (Enticing Voice d10, Show-Off d8, Novice Pickpocket d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Gets Greedy) Thrima, Red Martian one-armed soldier (Outfights Pales with Four Swords d10, Ancestral Artisan Blade d8, Perfect Discipline d8; Resolve d12; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Lost Family to Raiders) Svindr, Red Martian youth (Adopted by Pale Parents d10, Fulfills High Expectations d8, Quick Temper d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Suffers Bullying) Kizurra, Skarrut cavalier passing through (Mercenary for Hire d10, Lifelong Quest d8, Wry Humor d8; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Tilts at Windmills) Geirol, Pale Martian artisan dreaming of starflight (Seeks Secret of Flight d12, Expert Metalworker d10, Red Martian Spouse d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Loose Tongue)
CHARACTERS
HAZARDS
1. Jolie, Zaiu street musician and assassin (Virtuoso Player d12, Weaponized Instruments d8, Disappears in a Crowd d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1
1. Slavers in Surtur aren’t always picky about whom they capture for the Obsidian Block. Angering the wrong person could put the characters on their list of targets. 119
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2. To be in the Plaza Obsidian at night without a mask is a serious taboo, even if you lose it halfway through the party. 3. An ostentatiously-dressed individual at the masquerade wears a perfume that enchants anyone who lingers close by. Soon, a trail of obedient servants follows their every step. 4. A beast tamer’s animals break loose — or are let loose — in the Plaza and go berserk, sowing chaos and attacking people. Among them are an enormous steppes bear and a cageful of silicon crabs. 5. A Fire Priest goes undercover as a black-market buyer to catch would-be fences daring enough to try to peddle sacred wares. 6. The cutpurses in Surtur don’t always stick to cutting purses, and some of them are organized into well-funded guilds or highly structured gangs.
The city is monumental in scope, carved from huge blocks of red and white rock, and reaching nearly a dozen stories towards the sky. Locally, the inhabitants enjoy shade, sweet water, and the produce of the farms along the canals. Trade, both by canal and caravan, also brings exotic goods and great wealth. At night, the city is lit with many-colored lanterns, according to a superstition deeply held but long since forgotten. Windows are made from glass salvaged from the Prismatic Wastes, fit together into intricate patterns. Vance does not possess a skynavy as such, though its greatest scientists are working long and hard at the problem, and have perfected other means of short-term flight. The city does have several towers with sky docks for visiting dignitaries from Zodiac and Illium. A few merchant houses own skyyachts, but, so far, none have replicated the technology.
VANCE In the central portion of Meridian, Vance lies at the intersection of several canals, and is thus rich in Mars’ most valuable commodity: water. The city is actually built on top of the canals, creating, at the surface, a network of subcanals that carry freight and people.
The Prince of Vance is chosen from among the merchant houses, and the city employs a regular and professional fighting force, the Hounds of the Prince. The master of this force is the Dog of Vance, and is nearly as powerful as the prince himself. In matters of war, his power becomes supreme. However, since companies of Hounds are sponsored by the merchant
Vance, its many levels set beneath its towering tombs. 120
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houses, their loyalty quickly returns to the commercial establishment when peace begins again. Many conmen, mercenaries, and outright thieves people the lower quarters of Vance, for such people flock to wealth. It is not unusual to see a chief of a Pale tribe drinking alongside a group of Red cavaliers, while an urchin attempts to loosen their pockets. The crypts in the city are in its highest towers. Soldiers refer to watching from the towers as “cryptwatch,” and the term is sometimes used by civilians to refer to a tedious nocturnal task. The poor and the criminal dead are placed in the outgoing canals, to be swept away forever.
LOCATIONS THE PLAZA AREZ The wealth of the Arez family is one of the wonders of Vance, or so the Arez’ have always felt. The plaza that carries their name is a monument to their glory. Several tiered orchards boast a colonnade of bronze statues lionizing the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Arez family, interspersed with small, expensively-maintained trees. The park is a popular place to be seen during the day, and famously dangerous at night. Rich as the Arez are, they would rather divert funds to the latest commissioned sculpture than pay the Hounds’ wages to keep the Plaza safe after dark. HOOKS
1. The Plaza sees many nighttime duels for honor and love. The characters are asked to be the seconds for one such duel, perhaps for both parties. But the paramour in question shows more favor to one of the characters than to the two duelists… 2. One of the rarer trees in the garden is ailing, and nothing is working so far. The Arez know of a rare alchemical treatment that may help, and will commission adventurers to retrieve it rather than suffer the loss of face from a visible failure. 3. A small band of refugees has taken to camping in the Plaza at night. The Arez want the vagrants gone, by any means necessary, but the drifters offer a counterproposal — information about the walking weapon that destroyed their village. 4. Rumor has it that one of the Arez ancestors steps down from its pedestal and paces the Plaza at night. It does not seem to respect its own bloodline, and has driven Arez youths from the park. Is it a powerful ghost, a mechanical wonder, or something else entirely?
5. Two feuding Arez dignitaries insist on having statues made of themselves, each one finer than their rival’s. They throw bribes and threats at artists, commission even more outlandish models, and are on the verge of hiring vandals. 6. A friend of the characters’ simply must deliver a package to someone who will be waiting in the Plaza on a moonlit night. The friend suspects it’s the prince in disguise. CHARACTERS
1. Niccol Arez, Red Martian noble patron (Buy and Sell Anyone d10, Thrillseeker d8, Amateur Swordfighter d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Brokering a Grand Adventure) 2. Petal, Wyeth caretaker and rumormonger (Incurable Gossip d10, Landscaping d8, Keeps Head Down d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Loves a Good Scandal) 3. Rhial, Red Martian admirer and hanger-on (Flattery d10, Carousing d8, Fashionable d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Duelist Groupie) 4. Vanetto Furiosi, Red Martian assassin (Lethal Duelist d10, Provoking Duels d8, Gambler d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Detested Throughout the City) 5. Mirth, Pale Martian shadowy murderer (Knife in the Dark d10, Silent Stalker of Prey d8, Signature Bloodletting Style d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Seeks a Worthy Opponent) 6. Andromache, Red Martian sculptor’s apprentice (Humble and Inoffensive d8, Talent for Sculpture d8, Earnest d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Caught an Arez Noble’s Eye) HAZARDS
1. There are robbers and assailants in the Plaza more nights than not. 2. A disgraced Arez intends to commit suicide under his grandfather’s eye, and isn’t above taking others with him. 3. The Arez’ hired guards have instructions to spare no force when evicting people from the Plaza at dusk. 4. Some say there are Arez ghosts entombed in the statues, which emerge if anyone damages the bronze in any way. 5. It’s rare for Hounds to come through the Plaza at night, but when they do, they’re prone to assume anyone they come across is a robber. 6. An Arez has planted poisonous thornbushes and toxic fungi at the base of a “beloved” parent’s statue. 121
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THE PALACE OF THE DOG
CHARACTERS
1. Solas Tireen, Red Martian adjutant to the Dog (Organization and Materiel d10, Diplomatic Interpretation d8, Every Hound Knows a Blade d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Keeps the Dog’s Ugliest Secret) 2. Miordas Cavenem, Skarrut grand swordmaster (Lord of Blades d12, Veteran Campaigner d10, Instruction Through Pain d8; Resolve d8; Combat S1/P1/M1; Trouble: Would Do Anything To See Child’s Face Again) 3. Cur, Red Martian raw Hound recruit (Learning the Ropes d8, Raised in the Dredge d8, Easily Overlooked d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Starved With Ambition) 4. Toxotes, Zaiu Zodiac-born Hound quartermaster (Knows Every Weapon d10, Supply Train Logistics d8, Defend the Supplies d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Suspected of Harboring Zodiac Secrets) 5. Nicola Dravant, Red Martian Hound stablemaster (Rides Like a Storm d10, Veterinary Medicine d8, A Way with Beasts d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Cares More for Beasts than Hounds) 6. Oriante, Red Martian obsessive military engineer (Armorer and Shipwright d10, Scholar of the Ancients d8, Tireless d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Promised Prince a Sky-Navy)
If the palace of the prince is a brilliant jewel, the Palace of the Dog is the sharp-pronged steel clasp that clutches it. The Dog of Vance makes his home in a simple-seeming tower with narrow windows that gaze out over the barracks, training yards, stables, and armories that comprise his true holding. The stones here are caked with dust, sweat, and even blood: the pigments of the city’s military strength. One pack of Hounds or another is inevitably sparring in the courtyards at any hour, and the poorer soldiers drink within the Palace’s Spartan taverns instead of the finer wineshops of Vance. HOOKS
1. The Dog allows his soldiers some luxuries, for the sake of morale, but sternly rations the number of indulgences per soldier. An enterprising pleasure-broker could make fine coin smuggling delights in past the quota-keeping pursers, and back out the next morning. 2. One of the many mercenaries of Vance stands out as a singular beauty, catching the hearts of civilians and fellow Hounds alike. The guards organize an impromptu tournament, in order to establish a civilized queue for each enamored warrior to try their suit in turn, while hoping the object of their adoration is watching. 3. A timid merchant wishes to sever a contract with a bullying guard, but lacks the spine to do so alone. They contract the characters to accompany them to the Palace of the Dog and help deliver the unfortunate news to the hard-eyed slayers. 4. A Hound company has recently severed its contract with its patron merchant house, citing irreconcilable differences in religion and philosophy. The Dog is concerned that an uncontracted company with strong opinions is trouble waiting to happen, and wants the freelancers reconciled, re-enlightened, or relocated. 5. The Hound beast-tamers command a high price, and merchants wealthy enough to hire them also sponsor the trips to find eggs and young for the beast-tamers to train. Bringing back a ferocious pup or rare egg is also the only way to purchase a master falconer’s trained beast for one’s own. 6. A pack of Hounds confiscated a cartload of goods and drove it back to the Palace of the Dog. Hidden among those goods is a rare and wondrous treasure, or a box of secret letters, something that is best stolen back before the Dog notices this hidden bounty.
HAZARDS
1. When one is taking a stroll through any casual approximation of a military compound, there is always a danger of soldiers who decide they care little for your face as is. 2. The trained beasts are sometimes ill-tempered and prone to turn on those using them, and the stablemaster doesn’t accept “self-defense” as an excuse for injuring them. 3. In times of peace, soldiers get bored. Alcohol flows. Words are spoken. Fists fly with a remarkable nonchalance as to the particulars of whomever they contact. 4. A band of narcotic-crazed anarchists take it into their heads to topple the Dog and thus usher in a new order of disorder. Anyone nearby is likely to be caught in their blast radius. 5. A band of Hounds makes an arrest on trumped-up charges, having been paid very well — possibly by one of the characters’ enemies — to carry out some coin-weighted version of justice. 6. An impromptu sparring bout turns suddenly dangerous, as one of the principles switches to naked steel. Was it a dire insult, or some infection in the spleen? 122
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It Quickly d8, Discerning Eye d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Wracked With Ennui) 2. Othell Catash, Zaiu grave-goods auctioneer (Upsell d8, Personal Histories of the Deceased d8, Legalist d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Irregularities On the Books) 3. Bier, Red Martian lowly gardener (Bone-Picker d10, Exotic Herbologist d8, Petty Thief d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Can’t Get Rid of This Ring) 4. Israfel, Pale Martian morbid poet (Languishing Beauty d10, Sepulchral Verses d8, Aristocratic Gossip d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Romantically Enthralled By Tragic Endings) 5. Mors Annuvin, Red Martian groundswarden Hound (Seen It All d10, Deft Hand With a Cudgel d8, Philosopher d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Targeted by Underworld) 6. Annataris, Pale Martian self-proclaimed speaker with the dead (Dire Pronouncements d10, Knows Everyone’s Story d8, Aura of Mystery d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Obsessed With “Last Requests”)
HANGMAN ’S GARDEN Beauty and morbidity can walk hand-in-hand in Vance. A long-ago prince insisted on having the bodies of executed traitors and criminals displayed for the public’s edification. And so he built the Hangman’s Garden, a public park dedicated to the fate of enemies of the state. His successor, a kindlier sort, chose to beautify the grim spectacle with more flowering plants and gently-curving sculpture — but she kept the execution grounds, as a soft reminder of the rule of law. Now the Hangman’s Garden is one of the most beautiful places in Vance, if one doesn’t mind the sight of skulls tangled in thorns or gilded corpses posed like statuary. HOOKS
1. A particularly notorious criminal escapes justice, and a sizable bounty is posted. The reward for the fugitive’s cadaver is a mere tenth of what’s offered for a live capture, especially with no marks or blemishes that might spoil the display. 2. One of the executed corpses on display turns out to still be alive, the beneficiary of insufficient poison or electricity, or a botched strangulation. A hasty argument begins in the Garden as to whether this proves the culprit’s innocence, or if the criminal is legally dead at this point. 3. The characters learn that the key to an enciphered map is tattooed on the body of a murderer recently sentenced to death. If the corpse is transformed into art, the tattoo will be lost. It’s a race to steal the corpse — or at least its skin — before the embalmer artists transform it into a monument. 4. The characters obtain evidence that a captive is innocent of the crime committed. Unfortunately, the executioners find their prisoner exceptionally beautiful, and have their hearts set on crafting a masterpiece to move the hearts of all Vance. 5. A traveling troupe performs a satirical play among the garden of corpses, lampooning the so-called right of one Martian to give death to another. The prince’s guards pay close attention — is this insurgency, and if not, will it matter? 6. A young couple plans to commit suicide in the Garden, and have their star-crossed love immortalized forever. They plead with the characters for assistance in distracting the guards and setting up the display. Can they be talked out of it? Or is the artistic opportunity impossible to pass up? CHARACTERS
1. Montresor Ketch, Red Martian maestro executioner artist (Gilded Cadaver Sculptor d12, End
HAZARDS
1. The Hangman’s Garden is reputed to be an ideal place for people who’ve “earned it” to meet an appropriate fate. Old enemies keep an eye out for rivals who enter the place. 2. Despite the rituals performed at dawn and dusk, and the offerings left before the most tortured displays, there is, of course, always a risk of ghosts. 3. The Garden is a common destination for people who feel they have little left to live for. Occasionally one indulges in narcotics and strives for an artistically-tragic death, blade in hand. 4. One of the displays was made from a criminal who had a dangerous device implanted while exploring an ancient ruin. The device’s countdown has finally ended. 5. An elaborate sculpture comes crashing down, the splinters of bone far less dangerous than the razor-sharp glass shards. 6. A demented killer aspires to join the executioner artists, and prowls the garden at night to find someone to assist with an “audition.”
THE DREDGE The finer the district in Vance, the quicker the canals flow. The Dredge, then, is the lower section where the water flows slowest. The canals are fetid and almost stagnant, and so (by reputation) are the denizens. Disgraced nobles and 123
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4. Otharion, Red Martian sovereign of the canal vermin (Scrounges the Most Interesting Things d10, Vermin Piper d8, Hard to Kill d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Power Struggle With Rival Monarch) 5. Bauble, Zaiu tinker and gewgaw dealer (Repurpose d10, Here’s a One-of-a-Kind Thing d8, Hidden Weapon d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Three Prior Identities) 6. Sardonyx, Pale Martian mortician and gondolier (Funeral Preparations and Rites d10, Uncanny Strength d8, Canal Knowledge d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Stalked by Ghosts)
refugees set up tents of faded colors, and criminals operate out of houseboats with narrow windows. The Hounds never travel through the Dredge, leaving the locals in the hands of “benevolent citizens’ associations.” For all that, the Dredge still has a spark of defiance that belies its torpid canals. It’s a dangerous place to live, but you can see and hear things here you’d never encounter in any other part of Vance. HOOKS
1. During festivals, Dredge citizens arm themselves with sticks and fight brutal mock battles over the district bridges. Making a good showing in a bridge battle is a good way to earn the respect of some of the dangerous locals. 2. A noble was accosted while walking one of the many bridges high above the Dredge, and threw a treasure down into the lower canals rather than surrender it. Now the noble wants it back, subtly, if at all possible. 3. The gangs of the Dredge are locked in constant feuds. If the characters accept an offer of employment as enforcers, they can help one gang reach a stronger (and more grateful) position, or help distribute the power more equally. 4. A discredited scientist is forced to make do with the scrap and salvage of the Dredge. She swears she could complete the experiment that disgraced her and win back her former station, if she could get the right materials. 5. A pickpocket does the unusual, and attempts to place something in a character’s purse. The object turns out to be the seal of a lofty merchant family, and a way to pose as a long-lost relative. Why give something like that away — what’s the catch? 6. A strange boat appears and disappears in the Dredge, seemingly from under the shadow of a bridge. The locals assume it’s a ghost craft, but it allegedly gives off a strange musical drone and the smell of ozone. CHARACTERS
1. Clars Nassist, Red Martian impoverished noble turned guide (Vance’s Secrets d10, Aristocratic Upbringing d8, Adept Negotiator d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Still In Debt) 2. Simohn, Red Martian beggar-courtesan (Cleans Up Miraculously d10, Master of Two Social Strata d8, Poison Tongue d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Trail of Broken Hearts) 3. Persavus, Zaiu murderer-for-hire (Strangler d12; Philosophical d8, Rooftop to Rooftop d8; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Disowned by Mate and Children)
HAZARDS
1. The gangs of the Dredge are very territorial, taking any trespass as a potentially-dangerous loss of face. 2. An old enemy of the characters managed to survive a prior clash, but fell from grace and now lurks among the penniless dispossessed. 3. A family of desperate murderers pose as boatfolk, offering cut rates for canal transit and turning on any passengers they can get away with attacking. 4. The Hounds sometimes visit the Dredge in disguise, starting vicious brawls to “scout new talent.” 5. A beetle-vendor keeps a rare soporific species, prone to biting new owners with an intoxicating venom. The insect-seller then catches up and rifles the sleeping customer’s purse. 6. Fights in the Dredge sometimes turn into running chases over rooftops with loose tiles, under bridges where lungmold bats roost, and through rickety scaffolds over the foul waters.
THE GUILDHALL OF THE MOURNERS On the canal-streets of Vance, just off the Plaza Arez, sits a long, low, somber hall, all in grays and blacks and cool, muted blues. Here, amid its many-columned halls and deep vaults, the venerable Guild of Mourners practices its trade and teaches its apprentices. The Garment-Renders study the Thirty-Nine Tearings that express every kind of grief, the Keeners learn the cries that unlock the heart and ward against the deceased’s ghost, and the Whirling Threnodists master the steps of the Memoria, which lifts the spirits of those who remain. And in the deeper vaults, they learn the other secret arts of the Guild of Mourners: the way of poison and knife and strangling silks. Long ago, the guildmasters realized they could increase their revenue by providing their own clients, and from there it was a short step to hiring out their services for both the death and the funeral. Today the Mourners’ 124
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Guild is one of the richest in Vance and the surrounding regions. It’s something of an open secret among those wealthy enough (and vicious enough) to hire assassins that the Guild of Mourners is the best, and contracts often take guild members all across Mars. While the Guild has few scruples regarding contracts, the guildmasters hold all Mourners to exacting standards of decorum, discretion, and dignity, all vestiges of their services as comforters of the bereaved. HOOKS
1. Who assassinates the assassins? Respected members of the Guild are turning up dead all across Vance. It could be a vendetta by a rival assassin school, but why then are the targets all prominent performers of the Guild’s legitimate services? 2. An onset of plague leaves the Mourners badly understaffed for funeral duties. With all guild members busy paying professional respects to the important dead, it’s a perfect time for enterprising independent killers to carve out a niche for themselves. 3. When the Guild of Mourners goes on strike in response to legislation restricting how many mourners can be hired per funeral, Vancian nobility is faced with a crucial assassin shortage. What happens when you do scab work against a guild of elite hired killers? 4. Tastes in Vance change from ostentatious funerals to simple, subdued services and obscenely expensive monuments. Suddenly there’s a shadow war on between the Guild of Mourners and the Stonecutters’ Fraternity. And no, the Stonecutters aren’t secretly an elite mercenary unit. Yet. 5. It’s time for the annual labor negotiations between the Guild of Mourners and the magistrates of Vance. At the same time, a shadow negotiation is taking place between the Guild’s hired killers and the various ambitious aristocrats, crime lords, and plutocrats who employ them. 6. Everyone knows that the Guild paymasters send all collected profits to their counting house on the first of every month. The shipment is never guarded, because in 150 years no one ever dared try to steal it. Until last night.
Negotiation d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/2 Parry; Trouble: Ambition) 4. Mithral, clueless Zaiu apprentice (Quick Study d10, From a Good Family d8, Picking Up Some Disturbing Skills d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: “Wait, We’re Assassins?”) 5. Nerush the Shiv, Red Martian scab (Non-Union Killer d10, Cut Prices, Cut Throats d8, No Loyalty Whatsoever d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Damn Dirty Scab) 6. Kuval Dax, Skarrut information broker (Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy d10; Password? I Can Get the Password d8, Quid Pro Quo d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Nobody Likes a Tattletale) HAZARDS
1. Many of the tunnels below the Guildhall are laden with deadly traps, used to train apprentices in the arts of infiltration. 2. The Cloister Bell in the single tower that rises from the northeastern corner of the complex calls all Mourners to the defense of the Guildhall. It is only rung in times of great peril, for anyone within the Guildhall when it sounds who is not marked with the Guild’s tattoo of membership is struck dead. 3. The Fellowship of Keeners are rumored to have the power to whistle up ghosts and command stranger spirits still. 4. Each of the various Fellowships within the Guild of Mourners has a particular specialty: The Garment-Renders are expert stranglers and alley-workers, the Keeners excel in the use of poison, and the Whirling Threnodists are unmatched as infiltrators and duelists. While few can afford the astronomical fees for hiring more than one Mourner, the Fellowships are all trained to support each other, and an assassination squad is very nearly unstoppable. 5. Apprentices of the Guild are earmarked early on for whether they will play “the Black Game” (legitimate professional mourning) or “the Blue Game” (assassination). A Black Player who discovers the Blue Game is the only exception the Guild makes to its rule against taking contracts on members. 6. The Guild of Mourners prefers to do its job with a minimum of fuss and inconvenience to the bereaved. Often an assassin will present herself to the target, explain the situation as gently as possible, and offer to meet somewhere private to do the deed at the victim’s earliest convenience. In the history of the Guild, only a dozen have attempted to break that appointment or to cheat their fate. The examples they made are still studied by the Guild of Torturers.
CHARACTERS
1. Guildmaster Parthos, Pale Martian Keener (Voice That Shatters Glass d10, Improbable Number of Knives d8, Savvy Politician d8; Resolve d10; Combat: 3S/1 Stunt; Trouble: Radical Politics) 2. Mathos the Mourner, reformed Red Martian assassin (Code of No Killing d10, Unfortunate Moral Compass d8, Quick-Footed d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Hunted by the Guild) 3. Usu, Roundhead union negotiator (Drive a Hard Bargain d10, Psychic Assassin d8, Aggressive 125
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WYETH Wyeth Valley is the greatest canyon system on Mars, a gash in the world’s surface thousands of miles long and plunging to depths that even the First Martians did not fully explore. Sheltered and set apart, the depths of Wyeth house an ecosystem unlike any other on Mars. The Wyeth women claim the valley’s upper range, building their cities in trees that were already ancient when the Cydonians rose to power. Here, they tend orchards yielding thick, succulent fruit for the tables of the rich and powerful, and farm the coveted healing gum and esoteric krem spice. Trading in a bounty that has no equal on Mars, Wyeths grow fat in chits. Even opulent riches and towering canyon walls do not protect Wyeth absolutely though. The Witch Queen rules in her Labyrinth to the west of the valley, and she sets her ambitions toward the Wyeth’s domain. The greatest threat to the Wyeth women, however, comes from below. In the far dark of Wyeth Valley lies a great rainforest, dangerous as it is beautiful, home to predators that cast their gaze upward to the sun — and prey that roams freely there. The Wyeth erect great barriers against these incursions. They patrol the forests surrounding their cities and seedling groves, where unborn Wyeth children gestate under the attention of the Wyeth husbands. Even with all the precautions, though, clever predators break through to remind the women that the greatest danger to their way of life lies right beneath their feet.
LOCATIONS
2. Niccia used to run a successful gum tree orchard, but parasites have infected her trees. Now, she’s nearing bankruptcy. In a last effort to regain her position, Nicia seeks out the characters to carry the parasite to other orchards, thus skyrocketing the price of what little gum is left — including hers. 3. A new mutation of termites has erupted in Wyela, burrowing into the trees and wooden houses, and even attacking the Wyeth’s bark-skin. The Wyeth seek a team of fleshlings, immune to the termites, to stop the threat and find its source. Rumor quickly spreads that the Witch Queen is behind the plague. 4. The mayna tree yields fruit only once every four years. Its fruits are incomparable in their bittersweet taste, and awaken psychic powers in those who eat them. Seven mayna fruits are up for auction, and the characters are hired to represent an anonymous bidder in the prolonged, and at times bloody, bidding war. 5. The roots of Wyela have seen too much water recently, causing them to rot. The lowest-lying buildings needs to be evacuated, and their people rehomed — a massive undertaking. In addition to immediate help with the evacuation, the Wyeth seek out people to find the responsible stream, deep in the forest, and dam it. 6. A feud between two Wyeth families has escalated into open warfare. A third family employs the characters to mediate between the rivals and restore peace to Wyela’s streets — by any means necessary. CHARACTERS
1. Mirrei, Wyeth gum trader, always looking for new buyers (Shipping Network d10, Former Soldier d8, Rich d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Old Enemies) 2. Sotia, ambitious Wyeth gum harvester (Access to Wyeth Gum d10, Strong Back d8, Always Planning a New Scheme d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Doesn’t Follow Through) 3. Alvar, Pale Martian gum trader from Anger with money problems (Keeping Up Appearances d10, Eye for Talent d8, Well-Connected d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Bad Cash Flow) 4. Cedroc, Zaiu planning to explore Wyeth Valley (Off the Beaten Path d10, Resourceful d8, Fixer d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Restless Feet) 5. Herlee, young Red Martian, perhaps too eager to see the world (Brave d10, Quick Study d8, Fleet of Foot d6; Resolve d6, Trouble: Inexperienced) 6. Jael, Red Martian Witch Queen spy come to assess Wyela’s strength (Blends In d10, Reads People d8, Silent Killer d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Indebted)
WYELA Twisting around and into each other, the trees of Wyela form a massive labyrinthian knot of bark and leaves. Here, inside the hollows of trunks, nooks of cradling branches, and under deep roots, the people of Wyeth make their easternmost city. Traders of every ilk visit Wyela for its wares. Today, krem to the Arbiter, gum to the Princess Invincible, and sweet fruits to the Merchant Prince; tomorrow, bartering starts anew and the wares find different homes. Wyela is the first — and often only — Wyeth city fleshlings see, and the only one where they are readily welcomed. HOOKS
1. A gum trader by the name of Zidaina has found her incoming shipments missing. Is this a fluke, a rival making trouble, or a forest predator disrupting the gum route? Zidaina hires the characters to find out and, most importantly, put her shipments back en route. 126
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HAZARDS
1. The journey to Wyela is full of dangers: Naruk monkeys, blood ferns, and razor beetles abound in the forest (see Seedling Grove Hazards). 2. While the most-frequented areas are made safe to visitors, most of Wyela’s high, narrow, and unstable pathways have no railings. 3. An abandoned house near the top of the canopy has become unstable and pieces come crashing down, threatening those below. 4. Toxic resin drips down from the tree cluster. To the Wyeth, this is common knowledge. To visitors, it’s a very nasty surprise. 5. A miyuk, a six-legged reptilian predator the size of a large dog, has made its way up from the forest to look for prey. 6. When the ebon horns blow, it is best to get inside. A biting wind descends on the forest, howling through the canyon to scour flesh from bones.
either side of the room. People of every race visit here, eyes half-closed, pupils dilated, mouths open in ecstasy as they inhale the krem. They are mere posers, pleasure-seekers mingling with criminals. The real seers lie in the rooms beyond — Wyeth women whose bodies and minds are saturated with krem, allowing them to unveil the mysteries of the future, and sometimes the past, for those who can afford their services. HOOKS
1. Krem prophetess Milan foretells the fall of Vance’s merchant prince. In response, the prince sends a team of assassins to kill the prophetess, while his enemies hire a team to protect her — after all, the prince looks weak as long as the prophetess lives. 2. A batch of bad krem keeps users trapped inside a nightmare state, and the den’s proprietress Hizar seeks people to discreetly get them out. The characters discover that they can use the nightmare to travel a simulacra of Mars, accurate to every detail. 3. Hizar, the owner of Wyela’s krem den, finds her supply cut off without word or warning. She hires the characters to investigate, and they soon find that a Red Martian entrepreneur is also setting up a krem den and is blocking access to the market.
KREM DEN Wyela’s krem den has no name, no sign to announce its presence to the world. Smoke and the scent of cinnamon greet the visitor upon entry, and benches are lined up on
An exhausted Wyeth relaxes by inhaling Krem vapor.
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4. Shaya, a once-famous cavalier, spends her dying days in the comfort of the krem den. Before she passes, she brags about an object of great personal value stolen from the Princess Invincible. Needless to say, the Princess wants it back — as do her rivals. The characters, however, are closest to grabbing it. 5. Baba, a Red Martian thief, believes an esoteric mix of krem and poppies allows the user to create a new universe from their dreams. He asks the characters to aid him in this quest by stealing krem for him. In return, he will make them gods in his new universe. 6. The characters are hired to transport a shipment of krem to Zodiac. Does this mean Zodiac’s astrologers are gaining their knowledge from spice visions, rather than reading the heavens? The resulting scandal would rock Zodiac, which is exactly what its rivals want. The transport is attacked on the way. CHARACTERS
1. Baltu, Skarrut guard with an eye for the right customer (Will Kick You Out d10, Good Judge of Character d8, Protective d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Parry; Trouble: Soft Spot for Women) 2. Lylan, Wyeth working at the krem den (Eye for Money d10, Corrupting Influence d8, Steady Supply of Krem d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Skims off the Top) 3. Mizre, Red Martian looking to waste their inheritance (Famous Father d10, Cash Flow d8, Good with a Sword d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Family Feud) 4. Hungo, Roundhead adept seeking spice visions (Telekinetic Abilities d10, Reader of Heavens d8, Trade Connections d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Spent All Savings on Krem) 5. Arliea, Wyeth prophetess who sees future opportunities (Loyal Customers d10, Palm Reader d8, Cold Reader d6; Resolve d6, Trouble: Lied to the Wrong People) 6. Cynan, Wyeth prophetess who sees dark things (Interpret Omens d10, Cult Followers d8, Con Artist d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Cannot See her Own Fate)
2. Every spice den has its own recipe for cutting krem to yield an esoteric high. Krem that is cut too thinly or mixed with the wrong substances brings bestial behavior, nightmares, or even death. 3. Small red spiders, named fagun bugs, are attracted to the scent of spice and flesh, and prey upon strung-out users. Quality krem dens have employees to keep the fagun bugs at bay, but not every establishment is so scrupulous. 4. Wherever addled, semi-conscious people collect, pickpockets are about. The krem den is no different. 5. The krem den is experimenting with a new spice mix, and seeks test subjects. The job is well-paying (and the krem free), but dangerous. 6. Rumor has it that krem does not merely yield visions, but opens a mental portal to a parallel Mars. The inhabitants of this Mars seek to possess the bodies of krem users.
SEEDLING GROVE Wyela’s seedling grove lies hidden in the forest, away from the city proper and protected from outsiders. The air carries the scent of life, the grass is soft, and sunlight filters through the great canopy. Wyeth women give their unborn children over to the care of the Wyeth husbands, who regulate their own oxygen and temperature output to create perfect conditions for the seed pods. The trees’ dexterous vines gently turn the seeds, ensuring every child her time in the sun. This symbiotic relationship is as old as Wyeth itself, though only the women know what the husbands get from it. HOOKS
1. Leonor is wanted for crimes committed in Surtur, and enforcers have followed her back to Wyeth. Now the time has come for her to visit the nearby seeding grove, and she asks the characters to protect her on her journey. 2. A Wyeth husband killed the seed pods under his care. Communicating with the tree as only they can, the Wyeth women learn that he did so because the pods were “infected.” But with what? And is it true, or did the husband make a mistake, or even lie? The women are too close to the matter to be objective, and hire the characters to get to the truth. 3. A large, ape-like predator has emerged from Wyeth’s deep. Having a taste for seed pods, the creature has already decimated one seeding grove. Can the characters stop it? And is the beast a unique mutant, or the first of a new threat?
HAZARDS
1. Krem is a highly-addictive substance. When a character imbibes krem, their player rolls against 2d6, with the GM increasing the die size for every time the character used krem before (with a cap of 2d12). 128
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4. The Wyeth women hear of a plan from the Witch Queen to steal seed pods and raise the children as her servants. The women arm themselves to protect the seedling groves, and seek warriors to take the fight to the Labyrinth of Night. But is the story even true? 5. Most seed pods hold three to six Wyeth children. This one held only a single girl. She claims to be the Damsel Messiah reincarnated, and asks the characters to escort her to Battlehymn. Is this reincarnation the real deal, or did someone tamper with the seed pod? 6. Ebbar, a Roundhead scientist, seeks to obtain a seed pod for experimentation and research. He hires the characters to steal one for him. CHARACTERS
1. Spiridon, Wyeth heavy with seed pods, traveling to the grove (Goes the Distance d10, Carries a Large Stick d8, Walks Silently d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Loner) 2. Nemeain, Wyeth scout patrolling the seedling grove (Neither Heard nor Seen d10, Knows the Terrain d8, Expert Tracker d8; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Needs to Know All the Angles First) 3. Diantha, Wyeth guarding Wyela’s seedling grove (Talks to Trees d10, Formidable Opponent d8, Soft-Spoken d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Overly Protective ) 4. Kirri, Red Martian thief with a talent for schemes (Eye for Treasure d10, Seedy Contacts d8, Clever Trickster d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Overconfident) 5. Marin, Zaiu scavenger with no real plans (Excellent Spear Throw d10, Oxen Shield d8, Smarter Than He Looks d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Just One More Drink) 6. Harm, rebellious Pale Martian studying Wyeth gender identity (Sharp Eye d10, Keen Mind d8, Immersed in Other Cultures d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Insecure)
4. Razor beetles, aplenty in Wyeth, pose no threat to the bark-skinned Wyeth women. They snack on the flesh of softer creatures though. 5. The heat in the seedling grove becomes sweltering at noon. It’s perfect for the pods, but fleshlings suffer burns to their skin and eyes, if left unprotected. 6. Wyeth are very protective of the seedling grove. Non-Wyeth, if they even discover the nature of the Wyeth’s reproductive cycle, must follow a strict protocol to be admitted. Failure to comply is punished by death.
DEEPHOME Far under Wyela, below even the Valley’s moss-covered floor, lies ancient and slumbering Deephome. Deephome is a cyclopean construct built by the First Martians on vast and impossible principles. The mists of eons obscure the machine’s purpose and its workings, but none of that matters in these last days. What matters is that Deephome, abandoned and sealed when the First Martian civilization was still young, is in pristine condition. Claiming Deephome is no easy prize by any stretch of the imagination, but if it can be done, it would surely be the greatest of all. HOOKS
1. An ancient, carved stone, rumored to open the entrance to Deephome, surfaces in Vance’s black market. Held up to the light of the Crucible constellation, the carvings map the path to Deephome. The map assumes Mars to be as it once was, and some routes are lost. 2. Ralond, a Red Martian scavenger, approaches the characters. He has found Deephome and offers to share the glory if they help him explore the facility. Making inquiries quickly reveals that this scavenger has a regular partner, but he claims she found the job too dangerous. Is he being truthful, or did another fate befall her? 3. A mutation of ikkun parasites has begun infecting the Wyeth women. The women of the first infected town have already slaughtered each other, and a second town was burned to prevent the parasite from spreading. Now, the Wyeth seek help from outsiders to find the source of the mutation and stop it. 4. The Arbiter and the Princess Invincible have both discovered the location of Deephome. They have equipped teams to claim the lost relic, kicking off a rat race between Zodiac and Illium. But are the characters on the actual exploration team, or on the decoy team sent as sacrificial lambs to lead the rivals in the wrong direction?
HAZARDS
1. Wyeth husbands can produce pheromones that induce drowsiness and sleep in potential predators, which definitely includes any non-Wyeth. 2. Naruk, small monkeys with bright sapphire fur and sharp teeth, are addicted to the seed pods’ scent. They attack anyone trying to remove a seed pod. 3. Blood ferns grow nearby, curling and twisting in the wind. Their leaves are lined with miniscule, barbed hooks, waiting to entrap any flesh they touch. 129
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5. Deephome becomes active, causing tremors all over Mars and leading to the partial cave-in of Wyeth Valley. The city-states scramble to find out what happened, none more so than the afflicted Wyeth. The characters are called upon to follow one of the research leads (eventually taking them to Deephome), or steal a rival city-state’s research notes. 6. Legend claims that the only way to find Deephome is through krem-induced dreams where the machine speaks to the worthy. Do the characters risk addiction to test this legend? CHARACTERS
1. Shard, Roundhead scholar investigating rumors of Deephome (Procurer of Ancient Knowledge d10, Highly On-Task d8, Head of the Class d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Relies Solely on Books) 2. Niciama, Wyeth sentinel guarding the deep forest from fleshlings (Camouflage d10, Silent Killer d8, Gives One Warning d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Cold Heart) 3. Riza, Red Martian fixer looking for fame (Comes Prepared d10, Sharp as a Razor d8, Plays Well with Others d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Scrawny). 4. Jaliqai, Skarrut bodyguard with nothing better to do (One With his Weapon d10, Strong Arm d8, Silent as Nightfall d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Listless) 5. Maruk, Red Martian Cryptozoologist, looking for new species (Not Afraid of Anything d10, Font of Knowledge d8, Can Make a Meal Out of Anything d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Underestimates Danger) 6. Kuchar, Qan veteran of a dozen expeditions (Hard Boiled d10, Will Try Anything d8, Steady hand d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Loyalty Issues) HAZARDS
1. Deephome lies in the rainforest of Wyeth, which is one of the most inaccessible regions on Mars. Dangerous beasts are many, as well as quicksand and deep chasms. 2. Ikkun parasites cause increasingly-violent hallucinations. The Wyeth are immune to the pests, but creatures made of flesh aren’t. 3. Ikkun hounds, large, red-skinned predators with rows of razor teeth, are certainly the most dangerous species appropriated by the Ikkun parasites. 4. A scavenger found her way to Deephome, only to be infected by the parasites. She attacks other Martians on sight, as her hallucinations paint them into monsters.
5. The ghosts of the First Martians once operating Deephome await on the dust within the machine. 6. The Machine Spirit, tasked with keeping the First Martians safe, locked Deephome to keep a parasite infection from spreading. As that act condemned the Martians already infected, the omnipresent Spirit malfunctioned. Millennia of isolation have only furthered its madness.
ZIGGUR Sprawling outward from one of the Atmosphere Processors, Ziggur is ruled by the Roundhead Eu of the Seven Yellow Silks and his acolytes. It’s a rough city — Eu’s personal guards dispense law, and there aren’t enough of them to create the kind of dictatorship some other city-states enjoy. Eu is reputed to be a mighty sorcerer and thaumaturge, and can sometimes be seen surveying his city from one of the gardened terraces of the Processor. The exact nature of his personal powers is open to dispute, but he is commonly believed to have developed abilities of the mind as far beyond those of other Roundheads as Roundheads are beyond ordinary Red Martians. The safest places in the city are the Atmosphere Processor itself, which serves as Eu’s manse, and the merchant quarter, where traders from Vance, Surtur, and other cities maintain a mercenary guard. Most foreigners stay in or near the merchant quarter. The First Martians demolished a substantial complex of ruins to build the waterway and the Processor, and most of the surface stones from these ruins have been carried away to build the houses and hovels of Ziggur. However, the basements of Ziggur are often only a few layers above great ruins of the Cydonians and other past Martian cultures. An unusual site lies west of the city: a giant, ridged dome resembling the head of a tomb stalker, but over a mile in diameter. The dome can be seen clearly from high points in Ziggur...as, occasionally, can the small army of lesser tomb stalkers that prevent any from approaching it. This appears to be the largest gathering of tomb stalkers anywhere besides the Cydonian Labyrinth of Chiaro-that-was.
LOCATIONS THE PROCESSOR There are many atmosphere processors on Mars, by necessity; in Ziggur the emphasis is on The. This massive en gine is the source of the city’s water, its many terraces hous130
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Illieu prepares a sacrifice (not shown: a nigh-impossible rescue plan) frenzy. Rumor has it that Eu has fallen ill, and his fever dreams are infecting those around him. The characters are commissioned to fetch a rare elixir to alleviate the Yellow Silks’ suffering and allow the water to flow safely again. 4. One of the Yellow Silks schemes to replace Eu, but cannot find catspaws; the locals are too fearful that Eu will read their plots like an open book. She turns to the characters with a proposition to sabotage the Processor and discredit Eu, promising great rewards once she is master of Ziggur. 5. Every year, Eu commissions an artistic competition, to add another portrait of himself to his statuary garden. The creator of the likeness he finds most flattering receives triple water rations for a year. The characters may be asked to sabotage rival entries, convince Eu that a satirical work actually flatters him, or even to smuggle someone inside the garden in a hollow pediment. 6. One of the Yellow Silks takes a fancy to one of the characters, and is very surprised to realize it. It would certainly be a romance fraught with the spice of danger, as would refusing the priest’s affections.
ing gardens and orchards that drink before anyone in Ziggur save Eu and the Yellow Silks. The Roundheads claim to have built the structure, but its elegant symmetry gives lie to that claim — no other Roundhead-designed building in the city has the same grandeur. The Yellow Silks reside in barracks built into the edifice, and Eu has chosen a particularly-fine terrace as his manse. Supplicants gather at the Processor daily to plead for water, and are compelled to attend when Eu announces another blood sacrifice atop the Scarlet Stair. HOOKS
1. The sacrifices offered to the Processor are usually criminals, but exceptions do happen. The characters learn that a friend of theirs has been sentenced to the Scarlet Stair for refusing the advances of a Yellow Silk priest. Such a rescue could play out in the Processor’s corridors, or on the Stair itself. 2. The Processor is behaving in a way the Yellow Silks have never seen before. They grudgingly turn to outsiders to bring in a Roundhead from another city’s atmosphere processor to advise them. The pay is exceptional if the operation’s utter secrecy is guaranteed; to admit ignorance would be humiliating. 3. The inhabitants of the Processor are suffering from a sudden rash of hallucinations and spasms of 131
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CHARACTERS
1. Niurt, Roundhead harried Yellow Silk priest (Relies on Status d10, Keeps the Processor Functions Running d8, Menial Errands d6; Reslove d4; Trouble: Bottom of the Pecking Order) 2. Obasya, Red Martian concubine to Eu (Waiflike Charm d10, Slip Unseen Through the Corridors d8, Epicurean d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Unwitting Informant to Eu) 3. Darut, Roundhead dispassionate Keeper of the Sacrifices (Loyal Gaoler d10, Master of Cudgel and Scourge d8, Self-Taught Anatomist d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Hated By his Underlings) 4. Shemaaz, Roundhead captain of Eu’s personal guard (Ruthless Duelist d10, Interprets Orders as Needed d8, Talent for Poetry d6; Resolve d8; Combat 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Divided Loyalties) 5. Yusut, Red Martian steward of the kitchens (Exacting Bookkeeping d10, Knowledge of Worldly Cuisine d8, Underappreciated d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Blackmailed for Dipping Into the Private Reserves) 6. Utnish, Roundhead Yellow Silk water-scrivener (Water Logistics d10, Petty Bureaucratic Mischief d8, Hard-Hearted d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Most Hated Person in the Processor)
the city, noticeably more welcoming, and arguably quite a bit safer. The traders employ a small regiment of mercenary guards, recognized by their gold-hued helms and facial scars. Some exacting city planner laid out the quarter’s establish ments to match the geography of Mars itself, so the star marked inns catering to Zodiac are close to the skewer-houses selling Chiaro cuisine. In the interests of diplomacy, the Yellow Silks are officially prohibited from capturing sacrifices in this quarter, making it a prime haven for escapees. HOOKS
1. Ordinarily, the authorities look the other way when valuable visitors bring some of the more harmless “proscribed goods” into the quarter, to permit comfort and maintain goodwill. A rules-minded acolyte is changing that, in an attempt to rise in Eu’s esteem. The acolyte will have to be discredited, subverted, or vanished, whatever causes the least stir. 2. The merchant guards’ scars are sometimes self-inflicted, but it’s best to have witnesses. A guard is interested in acquiring some fresh scars in front of a crowd, if she can find a blade skilled enough not to maim her in the process, and morally flexible enough not to mind the dubious honor of the situation. 3. The Yellow Silks are only officially prohibited from capturing sacrifices in the Merchant Quarter. The actual rule is “don’t let the foreigners see you make the capture.” When a fugitive begs for asylum among the characters, the covert spies of the Yellow Silks are certainly watching to see what they do. 4. Two merchants from rival cities have built gray-market empires in the quarter, and each is looking to edge the other out. Puissant characters would make fine additional muscle, and there’s even the opportunity to play both sides if one’s subtle enough. 5. A recent theft left a merchant without coin to pay his guards. He turns to the characters for help, either in quickly acquiring some valuables to keep the guards in line, or in providing security for a dangerous but (he assures) very profitable deal. 6. Someone has been poisoning merchants, and leaving xenophobic threats at the scene. It may be an attempt to drive out the foreigners, or it may be a ruse to conceal another series of thefts or the elimination of rivals.
HAZARDS
1. A poorly-maintained condenser malfunctions, sending gouts of scalding steam through a corridor and necessitating quick repair. 2. A band of criminals attempts to rescue their comrade from the Scarlet Stair, inciting fearful riots as the Yellow Silks try to quell the crowds. 3. A bookkeeping error cut off a small district’s water rationing, leading the thirsty and desperate citizens to protest at the Processor. 4. Razor-billed, short-tempered birds nest among the upper reaches of the Processor’s tines, making repair work even more dangerous. 5. The Yellow Silks claim to have disarmed all the deathtraps in the Processor. The truth is that they avoid those they don’t understand. Beware disused corridors. 6. The guards chosen to escort sacrifices to the Scarlet Stair are chosen for their stoicism in the face of blood. Several have begun to enjoy the sight. UARTER THE MERCHANT Q
CHARACTERS
1. Hashmut, Roundhead local justice (Detail-Minded Legalist d10, Grudging Diplomat d8, Petty Intrigues d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Irregularities in the Records)
Foreigners in Ziggur usually stay within the bounds of the merchant quarter, marked by its green roofs and pen nants. The area is slightly more prosperous than the rest of 132
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2. Ilnana, Roundhead shrewd fixer (Matching Problems to Solutions d10, Informants in Odd Places d8, Fine Print d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: There’s Always a Catch) 3. Augaste, Pale Martian Chiaro antiquities merchant (Wonders of the Dead For Sale d10, Constant Traveler d8; Gossip From Afar d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Macabre Fascination with Grave Goods) 4. Valut, aging Skarrut mercenary guard (Still In My Prime d10, Veteran Skirmisher d8, Carousing d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Heart Isn’t What It Used To Be) 5. Turns, Red Martian extortionist bully (Nice Place You Have Here d10, That Was Clumsy of Me d8, Let’s Take This Outside d6; Resolve d6; Combat 1 Strike; Trouble: Underestimates the Wrong People) 6. Urmaa, Zaiu dealer in exotic elixirs (Persuasive Sales Pitch d10, Alchemy of Narcotics d8, Cut and Run d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Indulges in the Finer Distillations)
to grind the creativity and ambition out of them, while keeping them logical and alert — Eu wants no rivals. Many of the exercises channel the Roundhead intellect into the art of technological design, meaning the Cloister also serves a secondary purpose as a weaponry designer’s think-tank. A number of fascinating experiments can be found on the upper floors. HOOKS
1. Many cities’ agents have interests in the various devices produced by the Cloister’s acolytes. Infiltrating the Cloister is difficult enough for anyone who isn’t a Roundhead, but the rewards are handsome for bringing out any discarded experiment that shows promise. 2. A young acolyte chafes at the discipline, and has deduced that completing the training would actually dull the mind in unpleasant ways. The characters are asked to help the Roundhead escape the Cloister and settle somewhere out from under of the watchful eye of Eu. 3. The higher up in the pyramid, the more the acolytes become obsessed with little games of status. Senior students are prone to hire outsiders as catspaws, performing strange tasks and recovering unusual relics to further their own esoteric “scores.” 4. A young genius has applied to the Cloister, but the trouble is they aren’t a Roundhead. If the characters can persuade the Dominus-Instructor to admit the unusual applicant — all the harder for a Pale Martian, Skarrut, or Zaiu — someday they’ll have a genuine friend in the Processor, presuming their friend survives the process. 5. The Cloister’s library is functional, but a long way from astounding. The Dominus-Instructor is authorized to pay well for strange and esoteric volumes of science and lore, especially those that can’t just be found in a book-merchant’s stall. 6. A Zigguran approaches the characters with a story of revenge, having been wronged by someone who is now an acolyte of the Cloister. If the acolyte joins the Yellow Silks, rightful retribution will be all but impossible. Acolytes are more expendable, though, and a clever band could perhaps find a way to seal the vendetta without infuriating Eu.
HAZARDS
1. The ruthless gangs that prowl other portions of Ziggur sometimes cross over into the Merchant Quarter, in search of fat purses who’ve neglected to hire mercenary guards. 2. The problem with mercenaries is keeping them happy — if they feel unappreciated or underpaid, they may try to extort additional coin at the point of a blade. 3. It is prohibited for priests to capture criminals for sacrifice in the Merchant Quarter, but some disreputable citizens are not above making “citizen’s arrests” for a kickback. 4. Smugglers trade in everything, even live and dangerous beasts. And some are foolish enough to let one slip its chains. 5. It’s all too easy for a sick or infected merchant to bring a contagious affliction to the quarter, and a good healer’s hard to find. 6. The quarter’s men and women of pleasure have long had to band together for survival, and they take the slightest insults with deadly seriousness.
CHARACTERS
THE YELLOW CLOISTER
1. Pakul, Roundhead Dominus-Instructor (Shape the Mind d10, Polymath d8, Administrate the Cloister d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Very Closely Watched) 2. Akka, Roundhead promising student (Experimental Engineer d10, Focus on the Task At Hand d8, Talent for Destruction d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Doesn’t Want To Surrender Ambition)
There’s no mistaking this training hall for aspiring Yellow Silks. The ugly pyramid sits near the Processor, its often mismatched stones smeared with a mustard-colored paint. The Yellow Cloister is where Roundheads go to rise to the highest tier, and earn their saffron robes. The training process is designed 133
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3. Ruap, Roundhead commander of the night guards (Eye Out For Trouble d10, Subdue Interlopers d8, Creative Interrogator d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Habit of Dangerous Liaisons) 4. Shurkul, Roundhead armorer-prefect (Weapon Design d10, If I Can Make It I Can Use It d8, Intimidating Presence d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Fascination with Tyranny) 5. Nium, Roundhead spy from Vance (Conceal Intentions d10, Architect-Engineer d8, Contacts in the Merchant Quarter d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Hates the Assignment) 6. Tiok, manipulative Roundhead senior acolyte (Game of Catspaws d8, Serve the Processor d8, Gloat d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Can’t Refuse a Game of Status)
2.
3.
4.
HAZARDS
1. An experimental weapon goes haywire, and can’t be shut off safely — certainly not by its creator, who was its first victim. 2. The guards are often overzealous, prone to detaining any unfamiliar face that isn’t a Roundhead, no explanations given. 3. When a servant brings in a foreign illness from the Merchant Quarter, it quickly spreads in the cramped barracks. 4. A bullying acolyte has subverted several of the guards through blackmail, and wants to see them spread a little fear for the sake of entertainment. 5. Some of the more dangerous alchemical research required the acquisition of live venomous vermin. It takes only a moment of carelessness for some of them to get loose. 6. A flawed alchemical formula floods the Cloister with dangerous fumes. Will they rise to the senior levels, or sink to the lower levels and spill out into the streets?
5.
6.
avenge old slights. Rescuing the Roundhead could be a way to earn a favor from Eu’s priests, though it would require subtlety to avoid angering the court. A jester-masked vendor offers peculiar wonders for sale, and has uncanny insight into the needs of the customer — a fertility amulet for a childless wanderer, a strange humming dagger for a woman with a vendetta, and so on. Spy or savant? Many would like to know, and to divine the source of these unique oddments. A large criminal house from above plots to absorb the Court into their territory. They lack the savvy to outmaneuver the underdwellers, but they have muscle and bullheadedness on their side. If the Court loses its independence, its more interesting facets will surely be lost. A fortuneteller offers a free divination to the characters, speaking of murderous blades and opportunity in far locales. Does the vision reflect a rare psychic gift, or is the fortuneteller attempting to warn the characters of an intrigue already in motion against them? The largest gambling house offers wagers of particularly-singular stakes. A player can wager their personal freedom to gain the unquestioning services of a skilled fighter, scholar, thief, or advocate. Some of these games are rigged, serving as a way for one party to hire another “by chance,” concealing their true intent. The Inverted Court gives up none of their own; if a courtier assaults or robs a wealthy merchant from above, it takes dedicated bounty hunters to bring the offender to aboveground justice.
CHARACTERS
1. Elod, Red Martian Lord of Low Justice (Arbiter of All Kinds d10, Knows Everyone by Reputation d8, Encourages Donations d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Wanted by the Yellow Silks) 2. Aust, Pale Martian vengeance-monger (Retribution By the Sword d10, Ruiner of Reputations d8, Property Damage Will Do d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Personal Vendetta Beyond Reach) 3. Izrir, Roundhead scholar of antiquities (Knowledge of the Ruins d10, Wheedling d8, Hide Behind Bodyguards d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Paranoid Obsession with his Studies) 4. Nab, Red Martian innocent waif, guide, and lookout (Knows the Tunnels d10, Smells a Guard a League Away d8, Play Innocent d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Desperately Needs a Parent) 5. Grist, Red Martian beggar-enforcer (Innocuous Pile of Rags d10, Keeps the Peace With a Knife
THE INVERTED COURT Beneath the streets of Ziggur, in the arched vaults of Cydonian ruins, the lowest and most cunning gather in a clandestine not-district they call the Inverted Court. Here criminals keep exacting laws, beggars enforce a tense peace, and almost anything is for sale. At the Court’s thriving black market, all the vendors go masked and cloaked by tradition, though their vizards and satins can range from dark and dour to vibrantly baroque. The Court cultivates a reputation for bloody danger, in part to keep out any visitors too timid to fit in. HOOKS
1. A gang of kidnappers brings a Yellow Silk captive to the court, with intentions of selling opportunities to 134
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d8, Rumormill d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Degenerative Nerve Disease) 6. Hrildr, Pale Martian outcast doctor of Surtur (Medical Treatment d10, Make Do With What I’ve Got d8, Exceptional Knife d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: They’re Still Looking For Me)
Powerful as Zodiac’s skyships are, they are matched by those of Illium, which is more than willing to arm other city-states should Zodiac’s ambitions become imperial. If the Arbiter ever shudders, it is because he fears the thought of Vance and Ziggur armed for war in the heavens.
LOCATIONS
HAZARDS
THE PANOPTICON
1. The Inverted Court is a place where cutpurses and robbers of all stripes are free to ply their trade, and they do so whenever they find a politically-suitable target. 2. Bounty hunters sent from the Merchant Quarter rarely discriminate between the associates of their target and people who just happened to be in a conversation with the target at the time. 3. They say there’s a severed mechanical hand that crawls the tunnels. It’s the size of an oleph, and easily crushes flesh and bone like overripe berries. 4. Part of the ruins has been given over to a sewer system, where fish-like reptiles with long, needle-toothed jaws prey on smaller vermin and zealously guard their nests. 5. The more poorly-maintained tunnels are reputedly in constant danger of collapse. Many court members have been lost to the occasional shifting block or caved-in ceiling. 6. Sickness is easy to come by, whether from exposure to sewage, unwholesome lichens, or spending too much time around other courtiers.
The citadel of the Arbiter is a mirror. The Panopticon shines with glass of many hues, blown from sands gathered from across Mars, the reflections of all of Zodiac caught in its turrets and buttresses. But it also mirrors the Arbiter, for it is smooth and polished and always cool to the touch. The tallest of its towers holds one of the grand wonders of Zodiac, a gleaming orrery of lenses that responds to the secret words passed down from one Arbiter to the next. Many would kill to possess it, for it’s said to be as much weapon as divining tool. HOOKS
ZODIAC Towering above the rim of its shallow crater stands Zodiac the defiant. Zodiac, which needs no waterway. Zodiac, of a hundred soaring ships. Zodiac, blessed with the power of artificial flight. Zodiac is built in the center of a shallow, but lush, oasis-crater. The walls of the crater trap polar moisture, allowing flowers and trees to grow within and without the city. Whether Zodiac or Illium was the first to develop artificial flight is a matter of some argument. The flyers of each city operate on the same principles, and harness the same mysterious anti-gravity element, but otherwise differ vastly in design. Both have possessed the secret since early in this stage of Martian civilization. Zodiac shuns the Pale Martians, but welcomes the Zaius, provided, of course, that the House of the Arbiter is kept informed. The Arbiter’s will is said to be supreme in the heavens. On Mars, it is chiefly supreme within the bounds of Zodiac and its vassal lands. 135
1. The Arbiter grants the characters an audience, speaking in vague terms of a doom they carry with them. If they are willing to visit this doom on an enemy, preferably one far from Zodiac, he will divine three true answers for them, of any sort. 2. An ambitious astrologer wishes to have a prophecy placed in the Panopticon libraries, to encourage the Arbiter to name her as successor. Is the prophecy false, or true? If true, why the intrigue? 3. A rich employer will give a king’s ransom to anyone who can slip into the Panopticon, attune the grand orrery to his time of birth, and bring back the divination it foretells. He has already purchased the loyalty of several guards — the rest is “mere details.” 4. One of the Arbiter’s hand-picked guards was murdered just before a major ritual. The call goes out for someone with a nativity matching the dead guard’s, which happens to be one of the characters. It’s a prestigious opportunity, but whoever wants the ritual to fail will surely target the replacement. 5. A young noble craves a rendezvous with a colleague or one of the characters, but it must be at a specific time on a specific evening, and the guards make punctuality an issue. The noble’s beauty is one enticement — the chance to spite a petty, vindictive spouse who has already offended the characters is another. 6. The Arbiter has learned of a Pale Martian who is foretold to have a momentous destiny. The characters
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The Panopticon, observatory-palace of the Arbiter.
are employed to find the individual, convince him or her to accept the Arbiter’s invitation, and then smuggle the target into the Panopticon. It wouldn’t do to have a Pale Martian enter through the front door.
6. Talbur, Zaiu aspiring architect/weaponeer (Lens Engineering d10, Architect d8, Works at All Hours d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Frustrated That Nobody Listens)
CHARACTERS
HAZARDS
1. Roshanak, Red Martian Shield of the Arbiter (Tireless Bodyguard d10, Unattainably Enticing d8, Dishonorable Past d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Love Doomed by the Stars) 2. Zayina, Red Martian handmaiden to the star charts (Many Irons in the Fire d10, Researcher d8, Fades Into the Background d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Secret Knowledge of Dire Portents) 3. Mussa, Zaiu glass-polisher (Drudge d10, Unintentional Eavesdropper d8, Keeps His Head Down d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Right Place, Wrong Time) 4. Feyda, Red Martian would-be consort to the Arbiter (Seductive d10, Talent for Intrigues d8, Contacts in the City d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Jealous of the Wrong People) 5. Alradin, Red Martian appointed spy-catcher (Sees Through You d10, Hidden Blades d8, Subverts Enemy Agents d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Conflicting Ambitions)
1. Several of the guards are jostling for promotion, and quick to “spot evidence” that visitors are secretly thieves, or spies for another city. 2. The maze of reflections makes it very easy to unintentionally eavesdrop on an event happening two halls away. It is not unheard of to be drawn into lethal intrigues against one’s will. 3. The Panopticon is an unparalleled stage for a beautiful duel, and certain assassins loiter in its public courts, eager to take offense with “foreordained” prey. 4. When one of the lens weapons misfires into a crystalline tower, the tower refracts the beam into 100 lesser searing rays. Chaos in the palace ensues. 5. Many of the upper balconies used for stargazing are also ideal locations for assassination attempts. A simple push, and a victim plummets to land on hard stone or unyielding crystal. 136
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6. The sunlight at sunset during the equinoxes strikes a particular northern beacon at just the right angle to create kaleidoscopic refractions throughout the tower. The refractions induce violent hallucinations in those caught within the lights.
CHARACTERS
1. Zafir, Red Martian freelance duelist looking for work (Taunting Manipulator d10, Canny Swordsman d8, Trades on his Reputation d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Debts Almost Without Number) 2. Safeera, Pale Martian shrine maiden to the Lost Child (Soothsayer d10, Secret Cutthroat d8, Vulnerable Charm d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Burden of Orphans’ Vengeance) 3. Iasmina, Red Martian black-market gardener (Psychotropic Gardener d10, An Extract for Every Taste d8, Silver-Tongued Barterer d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Under Threat of Acquisition) 4. Nasreen, Red Martian idle noble with peculiar goals (Carouser and Gallivanter d10, Moneylender d8, Amateur Astrologer d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Prisoner of Own Superstition) 5. Pira, young, disreputable Red Martian fog-monkey trainer (Surprisingly Nimble d10, Fetch It While Nobody’s Looking d8, Perfectly Innocuous d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Authorities Are Catching On) 6. Jafal, temporarily-embarrassed Zaiu scholar-poet (Esoterically Verbose d10, Between Situations d8, Thirsty for Opportunity d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Offended the Wrong People)
THE SLANTED GROVE The Slanted Grove rings the city as the procession of star signs rings the night sky. The lush gardens and orchards that feed the city are interspersed with 12 lesser parks, each one housing a shrine to one of the zodiacal signs. The lesser parks are, of course, popular spots for mediation, assignations, performances, and duels. They can even go largely unnoticed, if one is daring enough to hold an event in a park where the ruling sign is considered unlucky for the endeavor. When two people meet in the Slanted Grove, for reasons of love or war, it is considered foreordained. HOOKS
1. The masters of the larger orchards pay exceptionally well for rare plants. At present, the bulbs of certain cultivars of constella-lilies fetch outrageous sums in Zodiac and beyond. Status-seekers are willing to risk bankruptcy to own these precious flowers with the stars written in their petals. 2. The annual census of the Slanted Grove is a solemn occasion, thick with ritual. The order of the gardens is meant to reflect the order of the skies. More than one gardener or even shrine-priest is willing to hire clever rogues to help them trick the Nominators, obscuring their true resources in favor of something more respectably ordered. 3. At the great Conjunctional Festival, astrologer-priests of the 12 shrines offer prizes to whoever can provide the most moving testimonial about how their birth sign aided them in a time of great need. They don’t even care if the stories are true, as long as they’re inspirational. Their rivals, though, might feel differently. 4. A priest fears she won’t go into labor in time for her child to be born under the right sign. She insists on a particular elixir made by a hermit alchemist in the deserts outside Zodiac. She offers esoteric blessings as a reward if the characters can retrieve it before the sun passes from the house of her sign. 5. Two shrines are feuding over a donated work of art that was begun under one star sign and completed under the next. The characters are the closest thing to impartial judges they can find. 6. A strange poison is seeping into the roots of an orchard, apparently from below. The characters are offered exotic alchemical rewards if they can explore the lower tunnels of Zodiac and discover the source, whether accident of nature or deliberate sabotage.
HAZARDS
1. In order to protect their precious crop of sapphire-pears, a family has taken to loosing semitrained glitterspindles in their orchards during the evening. A few of the surly arachnids have begun to roam. 2. The rivalry between the Desert Spider and River shrines has grown worse of late, with each shrine recruiting bands of bully-bravos to harass their neighbor’s faithful. 3. When a meteor shower is predicted, the gardens fill up with gamblers wagering on the starfalls. The most potent liquors are produced for the event, and often the sharpest knives. 4. Some gardeners grow poisonous fruits that are easily mistaken for more succulent fare. A few hide these trees among their more harmless relatives, and allow would-be thieves to test the year’s toxicity. 5. A few orchards attract rapacious birds that can easily maim anyone drawing near without the appropriate metal cage-masks. 6. Some of the trysts in the Orchard are more forbidden than others, and protected by overzealous guards. 137
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THE SHIPYARDS
CHARACTERS
1. Azimuth, eccentric Red Martian genius shipwright (Skyship Engineering d10, Risky Modifications d8, Cheerful Soliloquy d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Embarrassing His Rivals) 2. Antaryaz, Skarrut captain of security (Watching For Foreigners d10, Capable Warrior d8, Pious d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Targeted By Illium Spies) 3. Tiefa, nimble Zaiu bread-seller to the workers (Up and Down the Scaffolds d10, Overhears Things d8, Fine Breads For Sale d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Ailing Mother) 4. Masruun, Red Martian rabblerousing labor leader (Rally the Workers d10, Skyship Engineering d8, Good with a Hammer d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Reputation as a Troublemaker) 5. Rahaz, Red Martian freelance navigator (Recall Charts from Memory d10, Reading the Stars d8, Old Skysailor’s Tales d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Urge To See Ancient Wonders) 6. Taburo, Pale Martian emotionless smuggler (Intricate Planner d10, The Value of Things d8, It’s Only Business d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Neglected Family)
Outlanders would argue that the bristling towers of Zodiac’s shipyards are as magnificent a treasure as the Panopticon itself. Here, workers sling themselves from silken lines and clamber across lattices of scaffolding to assemble the elegant starsailors, or to clean and repair the veteran skyships resting at their elevated quays. The shipyards’ overseers are selected from those with the most auspicious nativity charts, for the strength of Zodiac must be husbanded by the luckiest as well as the wisest. Dashing captains sell transport across the skies even to outsiders, as long as the omens are good and the price is appropriate. HOOKS
1. The annual Dust Regatta is about to begin. Wealthy and unscrupulous ship owners are always looking for talented free agents to ensure them a win in the aerial race, whether hired aboard their own ship or smuggled aboard a rival’s. 2. A skyship captain made a wager that he can retrieve a jewel from the floating ruin of Cycnus, and rashly swore an oath on his birth stars to succeed. The captain is in desperate need of blades, enough so to recruit them in any way possible. 3. An Illium spy attempts to infiltrate the shipyards and learn the latest secrets of Zodiac shipbuilding. The characters could be enlisted either to aid the spy’s efforts, or to thwart them. It promises an opportunity to rise in the esteem of either city (and fall in the other’s), but beware of learning too much… 4. A message from the Arbiter must reach the other side of Mars, and at all possible speed. The skyship Flare is hiring security for the voyage, including outsider blades. They clearly anticipate some danger that can attack from the skies — an Illium warship, great predatory birds, or something else? 5. A Zodiac skyship limps into port, badly damaged. Its crew spins a tale of being attacked by a flying ship manned by corsairs. Where could they have gotten such a thing? The Arbiter immediately places a massive bounty on their heads, with triple rewards if the stolen ship is brought back as well. 6. The shipwrights have discovered that a wondrous glass-like metal drawn from ancient ruins has excellent promise in creating more powerful and reliable gravity engines. A hollow mountain filled with such ruins becomes the site of a new gold rush, with ample opportunity for profit.
HAZARDS
1. When a plank, hammer, or gutter-torch falls from a workman’s hand, or when a workman falls entirely, the ricochets off the scaffold and spars could send it, or them, in any direction. 2. Dangerous work means dangerous workers. Some criminals work off their sentences in the slings, but not all of them lose their taste for blood. 3. A crippled skyship lists in its dock, damaging the tower to the point of possible collapse. 4. A saboteur strikes at a skyship under construction, using explosives to bring it crashing to earth, and possibly the docking tower as well. 5. A sniper chooses one of the higher towers to take shots at a dignitary touring the construction facilities, and any other targets of opportunity that strike their fancy. 6. A damaged gravity engine begins leaking terrible alchemical toxins, as likely to mutate a Martian’s flesh as choke their lungs or hemorrhage their veins.
THE SHROUDED DISTRICT Every city requires its underclass. In Zodiac, those unlucky enough to be born under unfortunate conjunctions, or even under those less-reputable star signs, 138
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gather in the Shrouded District. The Inauspicious, as they’re known, range from beggars and criminals to honest drudges — certainly more honest than the charlatan priests who make good business selling “lucky hours” where beneficial stars might temporarily offset one’s poor fate. The rough and asymmetrical district attracts most foreign visitors, as there are no secrets to steal here, and the luck of the Inauspicious isn’t something that can rub off on the more fortunately born. HOOKS
1. Once a month, the priests of the ruling sign gather to transfer children; those born Inauspicious are given to the families of the district, while those born into the district to luckier signs are escorted to new homes. The event always sees a few people try to hide, reclaim, or switch their children. 2. A heretical priest is preaching a creed that describes the zodiacal signs as equal in celestial fortune, and blames the low status of the Inauspicious as human error. The priest is rapidly gaining followers, which worries certain figures in the Panopticon. But doomed causes have a way of drawing heroes… 3. A beautiful youth approaches the characters for assistance, claiming to have been born under a nobler sky. It is a tale of jealous rivals who forged a false nativity chart, and had the youth condemned as Inauspicious. If the characters obtain proof of the true birth, they’d gain a most grateful friend in high standing — assuming the story’s true. 4. An alchemist is attempting to refine a variant of krem that would allow the partaker to view the turning heavens in their true glory. Unfortunately, there are still some flaws in the product, and a friend of the characters falls very ill, gasping about the pitiless space between the stars. 5. A small group of Pale Martians have settled into the district, much to the displeasure of many neighbors. The dislike appears to be mutual, leading many to question what it is they truly seek in Zodiac. The theory is that they keep some First Martian secret that must be unlocked by the key of Zodiacal religious knowledge: two traditions like two parts of a sundered amulet. 6. A scruffy insect breeder has developed a strain of scintilla-scarabs that are practically identical to the pedigreed pets of the highest-class districts. Other breeders want to extinguish this business expediently, before their own prized strains become less singular, and therefore less valuable.
CHARACTERS
1. Jokul, Zaiu roustabout and muscle-broker (Knows Someone d10, Back Alley Brawler d8, Nose For Trouble d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: No Such Thing As Enough Coin) 2. Masreena, Red Martian philanthropic noble in disguise (Tend To the Ailing d10, Earnest Intensity d8, Elude the Family Guards d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Forbidden To Enter the Quarter) 3. Anrafir, Red Martian errant priest of an unlucky sign (Visionary Soothsayer d10, Star Ritualist d8, Petty Cutpurse d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Never Leaves Well Enough Alone) 4. Shehab, “the Meteor,” Red Martian displaced blade-for-hire (Merciless Reputation d10, Brutal Fighting Style d8, Scrounging for Work d8; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt Trouble: Ruined a Prominent Marriage) 5. Rubiyar, Red Martian gossip and fortuneteller (Rumormonger d10, A Hundred and One Divinations d8, Always Moving d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Blasphemer) 6. Qalif, Red Martian beggar and assassin (Unexpected Blades d10, Simply a Poor Maimed Beggar d8, Cautious Observer d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Bent by Weighty Responsibilities) HAZARDS
1. Though it’s highly illegal, small bands of thrill-seeking, high-class citizens come slumming incognito to prey on the Inauspicious, and also upon any unfortunate witnesses. 2. When either moon crosses into one of the inauspicious zodiacal constellations, the district erupts into a festival during which all laws are rescinded. 3. Shipyard workers maimed in accidents come to the Shrouded Quarter to beg. Some turn to robbery, convinced they’re still more star-favored than the Inauspicious. 4. A gang of superstitious youths decides to do something about their poor fortune, and begins waylaying outsiders to prove that someone’s worse off than they are. 5. A sickness spreads through the district. The Arbiter declares it part of the inevitable misfortune of the Inauspicious, and dispatches only a token force of overworked doctors. 6. The quarter is home to many cheap distilleries catering to the unlucky. The signature spirit, nadir, tends to make drunks melancholic — and sometimes, nihilistically violent. 139
My name is Étienne, and I’m the unluckiest man on Mars. Wait, let me go back. Six weeks ago, I found a scale the size of a dinner plate. When I tried to hide it in some machinery, I found another one. Just as I picked that one up, Issac (my boss’s son, and too intense for my own good) walked by. And he wanted to go tell Ms. Turhan himself, right now. Now, I was more than happy to give him all the credit, but he dragged me along, too. So, I found myself explaining to the Captain how these aren’t even the first scales I’ve seen, and yes, probably I could point the locations out on a map. I mean, I made those maps. Next thing I know I’m dangling in a rope harness above the central block. Well, the block that’s at the center of our maps at least — I think we’re actually southwest of the true center of the complex. But I’m swaying there in the stillness, shining a penny-light down the midline, looking for a hidden cul de sac my sounding says should be there. Unfortunately, I find it. Two miserable tugs on my leash and down I go, slowly spinning as the rope twists. And I wince almost before I hear the snap. The water I splash into is slimy with algae, but fresh enough, and takes my fall without much complaint. It is, however, absolutely devoid of fish. So I sigh, and wonder what they’ll tell my mother when they can’t recover the body. I walk down the bank of the canal, and try to cheer myself up by composing my obituary, but I feel this terrible ache in my ears and teeth and the soles of my feet. Perhaps nothing will get a chance to eat me, and the tunnel will collapse instead. It’s less exciting than being devoured by a monster, but maybe it’s more respectable to be crushed by stones instead of sharp teeth. That happy thought lasts just until I round the next corner, when I see something that might be a Pale Martian, all dour and wide in the face, but attached to a body twice as long as the cargo ship I rode to get from Chiaro to Vance. It opens its mouth and flicks a tongue as long as my arm. Then it cocks its head, and my eardrums shake like they’re going to pop out of my skull again. I fell, I guess. There was a lot of blood in my corneas when I came to, floating in the canal a mile or so from where I landed. Issac picked me up once I made it to an emergency beacon, and asked me what I saw. So I told him (and then the Captain) the whole awful story, but all they wanted to know is how soon I can go back, and what I think it said. I’m not quite sure, but I think the answer to both questions is “no”.
Beyond the calls of the water sellers and the courtesans, beyond the struggling farms that dot the canals, lie spectacles and treasures to tempt the imagination, and beasts and horrors to chill the blood. This chapter surveys just some of the thousands of exotic and deadly locales of the Red World. As in the previous chapter, locations are presented with lists of characters, story hooks, and hazards. They are again numbered so you can roll a d6 to pick some out and dive right in.
THE POLES Modern Mars is a desolation of sand and loss compared to the green Mars the First Martians thrived on. The dead ocean of Arcadia is testament to what the world has lost since the Firsts’ passing. Scholars say it is the winds out of space that dry the world, curing it like peppered meat. And they say that once the world was protected, once it was held between two great godly hands, shielded like a match lit in a windstorm. But in these fallen times, one hand is lost, the other weakens, and cold cosmic winds threaten to snuff the world right out. The Ancients saw the dangers and, like the thinning atmosphere, and built wonders to counter the entropy they found so abhorrent in nature. They raised the Pillars, north and south, situating them upon the exact points of the planet’s rotational axis. Until ones makes pilgrimage to North Pillar, it is almost impossible to conceive of the scale of these artifacts. North Pillar is a cylinder of the same glossy, black, impossibly-strong material in the Atmosphere Processor ziggurats. It is almost exactly 100 miles in circumference, and roughly 31 miles across. What truly challenges the mind is the height of the edifice. Near as can be estimated, North Pillar is 10,000 miles high, and capped with an enor-
mous ringlike structure that remains fixed in place, relative to the motion of Mars — and therefore, the rotation of North Pillar — beneath it. This ring structure is so black and unreflective that it can only be observed when it obstructs the light from stars. Thus, the Pillar socketed into the black ring structure rotates with the motion of the world, and like a dynamo, generates weird forces. The chief measurable effect is the creation of an invisible protective shield, which, were the system functioning properly, would shield Mars from the slow death of desiccation and suffocation of the baleful black of hungry space. North Pillar continues to grind, the ancient systems straining to shield the world alone, while South Pillar lies broken, victim to the cataclysms of some ancient eon. Where North Pillar is a place of awe, of contagious religiosity, the Southern Black Rubble is a haunted place raw with loss and the triumph of entropy. When the South Pillar shattered, it rained down millions of tons of the shiny black material of its making, devastating the region, leaving broken chaos terrain, crater, and devastation. Above the Southern Rubble, the ring still floats, locked in place opposite its still-socketed northern fellow. From
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within this black object, a weird purple light shines, almost invisible to the eyes of most modern Martians. The empty socket pours out this eerie, cold radiance, and it makes some minerals and materials glow, including teeth. If the religious are called to the north, then the hopeless are drawn south. It is a place stage-dressed perfectly for the most romantic, heartbroken suicide.
N ORTH PLAINS OF THE PILLAR The cold plains of the Martian north were once sea, the most striking remnants of which can be seen in the silts and dead coral of Arcadia, though the ice of the north was also once living ocean. Spearing upwards from this tundra is the North Pillar, visible on most days from 100 miles all around, though it is often hidden in the storms and clouds of the region. The pillar defies the mind to encompass it, and the eye bargains with reality, trying to haggle the scale down to something understandable, but the pillar’s height cannot be so comfortably rationalized. When observed from the limit at which it can be clearly seen, it is an inky slash drawn from the horizon to vanish above. In the half-year polar night, it is almost completely invisible. During the day, it’s a featureless black line dividing the sky. As one nears the base of the pillar, the scale begins to threaten sanity, and it becomes obvious why so many cults are born in the north. At the base, the pillar is wide as a city, featureless, shiny, slick, and black. Clustered around the base at regular intervals are the 100 Temples of the Red Bone Bloom, where a renegade sect of Roundheads worship and contemplate the enormity of the pillar. They once were among those sent north to tend to the canal heads, which are fed from the polar icepack, but become so enraptured that they stayed, and others of their kind have since been drawn to fill their ranks. Most of their “temples” are little more than hermitages, where a single acolyte sits in meditation, in psychic rapport with the Roundheads in the temples on either side of theirs. The largest of their temples, and one fully deserving of the name, is north of the Bone Annals, and is built from blocks of bedrock shaped with psychokinetic force. There dwells the cult’s Most Holy, the Roundhead who most perfectly demonstrates the philosophies of the religion. With regular exposure to the unseen radiations and psychic emanations of the pillar, a roundhead may expand their consciousness and the vessel of their consciousness,
until the sutures of their skull finally burst, freeing the brain to emerge from the red bone bloom of the cult’s name. The Most Holy is an enormous, livid red brain enveloped in and carried by a field of psychic force, engorged with power and trailing spinal nerves like tendrils. Aspirants of the cult all show signs of cranial compression, beyond even that of ordinary Roundheads. As they near their own apotheosis, the skin of their heads stretches and tears, weeping blood, until finally the brain is freed in a burst of bone and gore. The adherents to Red Bone Bloom are increasingly bound to the proximity of the pillar, as they depend on it more and more for psychic sustenance. The more advanced their transformation, the closer they must keep. But not all the dwellers of the Northern Pillar Region are so constrained. The Tribes of Ur and Wur roam the cold north, cloaked head to foot in furs, and wearing elaborate masks, each unique. The Tribes do not seem to hunt and do not trade; indeed none have ever see members eat or remove their masks or furs. They have a stature twice the height of a Red Martian, but a thinness in keeping with the Pale Martian people — though under the furs, this is difficult to judge. If attacked, they reply with hoots and gleeful violence, using weapons improvised from horns, tusks, and jawbones. None are ever known to have died, and no small ones suggesting children are ever seen. When they can be induced to speak, they do so in the same language and accent of the one speaking to them, to a degree some find mocking. They will sometimes demand to be given things others carry with them, insisting that it be “made a gift, make a gift of it” and they demand that when given, their name be spoken. “Say you give this to Olok. Say you make a gift to Olok.” Sometimes, they will give gifts, insisting the gift be acknowledged with the use of their name. “Say, you thank Olok for the gift.” There is a quality of ritual to these exchanges, and the air is pregnant with violence until the names are spoken as demanded. What only a few travelers know is that these immortal giants are not whole creatures. Some cataclysm robbed them of something essential, some element of self. Their masks are their identities, their names only remembered as long as they are regularly reminded of them. Without its mask, the blank pale face of a tribesman stares questioning, existentially emptied of self. And, even stranger, all members of Ur and Wur will consider anything wearing a mask to be the individual or thing it depicts. Wear Olok’s mask, and to the tribe, you are Olok, even if you are merely a mortal come by a mask through accident or adventure. The northern region is also lousy with mad prophets, doomsday cults, gurus, and truthseekers. There are
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several rather famous pleasure resorts just on the edge of the region, but still in sight of the Pillar, promising refined and enlightened debauchery for the wealthy and the bored who wish their gluttony given a sauce of spirituality, and their orgies the perfume of holiness. Among these the House of the Black Pillar is the most famous, and its master Chopo Congreico justly infamous. HOOKS
1. A young Roundhead of the characters’ good acquaintance abandons her duties, and leaves only a cryptic note in the clipped efficient shorthand of her people. SELF depart NorWes 334 degrees - Dest. N.Pillar - ENTITY OTHER worry/negative - SELF preparations/positive - SELF return/negative - SELF -> ENTITY OTHER affection/positive/ eternal. SELF DESIG. HUMMA ALDABARA SECOND SINGLE CHILD SIGMA SIGMA. Young Humma’s crèche-mother is concerned, despite the assurances of Humma’s words... ENTITY OTHER worry/negative. The characters and Humma’s crèche-mother are most certainly worry/positive. 2. An expedition left Vance two weeks ago, led by Doctor Deruga Sheol, the imminent expert on the Northern Pillar’s construction and function. They travel a complex route, which ultimately will bring them to the base of the pillar, where Doctor Sehol will deploy their hyperflash photoexcavator in an effort to remove a sample of pillar material for testing. The mechanism acts like a scaled-up flintlock, with more exquisitely-refined focusing elements. They rate their chance of success very highly. All seems well, except for the furor erupting from the Astrologers’ quarter. A new disaster looms over the world, then falls… unless someone can intervene. 3. Famed Pillar Region explorer Brandywine Cutter is missing, andpresumed lost. According to the terms of her will, death must be confirmed and witnessed — which was probably a deliberate joke on her part, since given her avocation, she was always most likely to die somewhere awful, freezing, and remote. 4. The refined debauchery of Chopo Congreico’s House of the Black Pillar attracts the wealthy and the powerful, and among that number many who prefer to do business while soaking in perfumed water, sweating in a sauna, or cavorting with nubile, professionally-attractive youths. Getting access to the people and the information they need leads the characters to Congreico’s establishment. How they enter is up to them. 5. By way of messengers, Brother Face of the Red Bone Bloom summons the characters at the re-
quest of an exceptional acolyte about to experience the bloom, and their apotheosis. The young Roundhead wishes their last moments of confinement with their chrysalis to be witnessed by those who knew them in life. 6. Most Holy is missing! Their temple chambers lie empty, with the crackling residue of psychic struggle all that remains. Brother Face admits one of his order’s great secrets — that they cannot long survive separation from the pillar. If the Most Holy is not recovered, the enormous ancient brain and all the wisdom and power it contains will be lost. CHARACTERS
1. Most Holy, eldest of the Red Bone Bloom, enormous floating psychic brain (Entity of Pure Thought and Psychic Force d12, The Poetics of Ancient Engineering d10, Cult Politics d8, Resolve d12; Trouble: A limbless, senseless, floating brain that cannot leave the Pillar lest it wither away) 2. Brother Face, the Red Bone Bloom acolyte tasked with speaking with outsiders, still reasonably presentable (Enhanced Psychic Force d10, Open Honest Face d8, Defend the Order with What Strength He Has d6, Resolve d8; Trouble: Wracked with pain from his slowly splitting skull) 3. Chopo Congreico, master of the House of the Black Pillar and many other famously erect things (Deliciously Naughty Procurer of Exotic Pleasures d12, Beneath the Pomp, a Shrewd Head for Business d10, Knows all the Dirt d10, Resolve d8; Trouble: Knows all the dirt but knows all the dirt) 4. Brandywine Cutter, adventurer and expert on the pillar region, expedition leader, and master brak sled driver (“I’ve seen this before!” d10, “It’s simple, when you’ve got the nerve to give it your all!” d8, “I’m Brandywine! Who might you be?” d8, Resolve d12; Trouble: Expert at survival, but no sense of her own mortality) 5. Doctor Deruga Sheol, monomaniacal student of First Martian wonders, only partially possessed by ancient ghosts, only nominally sane (First Martian Scholar d12, Inventor of Strange Scientific Instruments and Tools d10, Utter Spite for Lesser Minds d8, Resolve d8; Trouble: His science might end the world, and he may or may not care even if he knew) 6. Humma Aldabara, Second Single Child Sigma Sigma, promising young Roundhead experiencing a crisis of personal meaning and a rebellious phase (First Student in Her Crèche’s Mentalism Coursework d8, Idealistic But Restless Truth Seeker d6, Dreams of an Elder Age d6, Resolve d8; Trouble: Hopelessly Naive) 144
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1. The North Pillar Region is cold and savage. Nothing grows here, so what lives in the region lives by predation. Eat or be eaten. 2. The Ur and Wur are erratic and mercurial, intelligent enough to seem clairvoyant, and given to inexplicable cruelty. 3. The pillar itself seems to hum, rumble, and burrow into the mind. Stare too long at it, and a sort of hypnosis steals time; look up and hours have passed. It is the unmistakable proof that others came before you, that they were mighty, and that you would be an insect in their eyes. Madness and religious mania are constant threats in the north. 4. The wastes are full of prophets and hermits and cultists and seekers, many with only a tenuous grasp on reality, and aching bellies that faith alone won’t fill. That they’ve survived at all means their knives are sharp, and their religions forgiving of the occasional bout of cannibalism. 5. Heavily-armed parties of soldiers out of Devotion, Heartbreak, Dread, and Patience patrol the fringes of the North Pillar Region, seeking to contain its strangeness, and stop any along the major routes who look like they may endanger the pillar, anger the Ur and Wur, or encourage the maniacs to organize and make trouble for those outland of the Pillar’s shadow. 6. The weather itself can be a killer — blowing salt, wind cold enough to freeze tears, and erratic storms of swirling snow, dust, and lightning.
1. The keeper of the Bone Annals is a strange figure in voluminous kaftans and a bone mask; scholars who wish to peruse the Annals must pay her in kind. She prefers skeletal writings (which, while rare in other First Martian ruins, aren’t unheard of), but will accept more traditional texts. She’ll also accept bones of sufficient quality or rarity — though what exactly that entails is anyone’s guess. 2. An astrologer from Zodiac will pay a vast fortune for an ancient orrery carved from the jaws of a dune lion. Since the Bone Annals are a strictly non-lending library, retrieving it will require getting in undetected and hauling the seven-meter jaws out — all without alerting the Bibliognost or her clattering servitors. 3. A Chiaran scholar hires bodyguards for a journey to the Annals. As payment for her access, she brings a rare treasure: the Life of St. Eccius, etched with painstaking detail into the saint’s own skull. Unfortunately, the Pious Assemblage of St. Eccius takes exception to the theft of their relic. 4. A rare polar storm tears up the permafrost and the dust beneath it. A storm of ghosts is now bearing down on the Annals, all eager to reclaim their bones. 5. In an ancient ruin in the Nowhere Plains, rumor tells of a machine that can reconstitute the dead from but a single flake of bone. A debased cult has found the ruin, and even now its agents make for the Bone Annals, where the spine of their twisted messiah rests in the Political History stacks. 6. The Osseous Bibliognost sends tiny, skeletal automata to the greatest scholars across Mars, inviting them to a symposium where the merits of their work will be judged, and the one deemed wisest will be richly rewarded. In truth, the Bibliognost is dying, and the competition is her way of selecting a worthy replacement to be flensed down and made into a thing like her.
THE BONE ANNALS Far in the desolate north, past Chiaro, past even Zodiac the Defiant, lies a great storehouse of the First Martians. What name they gave it is lost to time, but scholars who brave the tundra to seek its mysteries name it the Bone Annals, for every text, every image, even the very halls themselves are made from the bones of living things. Oleph legbones are the pillars holding up a roof of interwoven vertebrae from beasts great and small, and shelves of ribcages are filled with rattling wisdom. Poems are delicately etched on the scapulae of Wyeth deer. Records of the lives of great Martians past are carved into skulls, the text impossibly small and winding dizzyingly along the contours of the bones. Even learning to follow the flow of the text, to use the intricate array of magnifying lenses required to render the letters legible, is the work of years, but for those willing to take the journey and pay the scholar’s fees set by the Osseous Bibliognost, the rewards are incalculable.
CHARACTERS
1. The Osseous Bibliognost, mysterious keeper of the Annals (Secrets of the Ages d10, Terrifying Apparition d8, Vicious Bony Talons d6; Resolve d12; Combat: 2 Strike/2 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Slowly Falling Apart) 2. Kulak, Zaiu scholar and trophy hunter (Concise History of Illium d10, Backbiting Academic Politics d8, Oleph-Caliber Flintlock d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1Strike/2 Stunt; Trouble: Wanted for Poaching) 145
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3. Krew the Undertaker, Undertaker, opportunistic Skarrut mortician (Solemn, Dignified Dign ified Front d10; Lying Lying Little Weasel d8, Every Bone Has its Price Pri ce d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Completely Morally Bankrupt) 4. Attilar, deranged Red Red Martian cultist (The Gibbering Truth of Ithnol d10, Zealotry d8, Sacrificial Dagger d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 3 Stunt; Trouble: The Mask is Slipping) 5. Itli the Scrivener, Pale Pale Martian Bone Carver (An Artist in Ivory d10, Attention to Detail d8, Steady Hands d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Why Are the Skulls Talking to Me?) 6. Shinton the Apprentice, Roundhead novitiate (Ambition d10, Eyes That Take in Everything d8, Friends in Surprisingly Low Places d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Only a Matter of Time Before the Bibliognost Detects the Forgery) HAZARDS
1. The Osseous Bibliognost is served by a variety of automata constructed of bone and wire and strange, ancient technology. Some of these serve as docents or cataloguers, but a cadre of things the size and shape of Pale Martians, the Clattering Hoplites (Bony Jaws and Osseous Claws d8; Bone Armor d8; Feel Neither Pain Nor Pity d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Limited Sapience) act as guards and enforcers. 2. The Bibliognost prohibits violence or the disruption of scholarly work, but academia can be a vicious tangle of rivalries and political backstabbing. Unwary visitors often find themselves drawn into proxy wars between the rival department chairs of distant universities. 3. All who would study at the Bone Annals must pay for the privilege up front. Should the guest overstay his welcome, or should the payment prove less impressive than it first seemed, the Osseous Bibliognost has been known to extract the remainder of the payment from the debtor’s skeletal system. 4. Not all the knowledge stored in the Bone Annals is wholesome. Even scholars who can get past the fact that their reading material is written on dead things might stumble across a frank description of how to build an ancient superweapon, or a mathematical theorem that unlocks a means of commanding the ghost storm. 5. Should the Annals ever be compromised, the Osseous Bibliognost can, with a single command, cause the entire library to sink beneath the ice, never to be seen again.
6. Sterilization is not a part of the Bone Annals’ collections process. It’s entirely possible some ancient work still bears enough organic matter to host a hibernating plague, just waiting for a luckless carrier to come along.
THE DRIFTING R UIN UIN CYCNUS, THE Most who see Cycnus mistake it for a dust-colored cloud. In reality, it is an asymmetrical tumble of stones, of towers intact and half-fallen, atop a severed mountain that drifts through the sky wherever the winds take it. Those few scholars who’ve reached Cycnus and returned describe Cydonian machines still feeding on unseen forces to keep the ruined city aloft, long after the last of its masters perished. They also describe ruthless, four-armed mechanical sentinels, towers clouded with flying lampreys, and an inescapable sense of loss. The Drifting Ruin is in two parts: the city proper, and the berg-tunnels. The city is half-fallen, exposed to constant weather, but it is also the least-plundered Cydonian ruin known to civilization. The berg-tunnels run through the mountain, and are occupied mostly by the machines that keep the city afloat. Both portions are protected by the Cycnus sentinels, which invariably drag away the bodies of the slain for some strange and mute purpose. HOOKS
1. One of the many scholars fascinated by Cydonia commissions the characters as an escort on a Cycnus expedition. The scholar’s maps are largely theoretical, but the exotic plunder to be had surely outweighs any uncertainty. 2. Several cities offer a fine bounty for one of the four-armed mechanical soldiers, disabled but not destroyed. The trouble is discerning how to disable them. Rumor has it an ex-Zodiac fixer learned the trick, before being banished to the wastes for an indiscretion. 3. A group of bandits has managed to set up a temporary roost in one of the towers, and use odd gliders with rocket boosters to raid any small settlements Cycnus drifts drif ts over. Many wealthy patrons want the bandits disposed of. 4. A maddened explorer returns returns from Cycnus, speaking of a mechanical Mother-in-the-Deeps that gave “birth” to a new sentinel. The tale is foolish, but powerful patrons believe it’d be even more foolish to ignore the possibility.
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5. A salvager baron is hatching an audacious scheme to break the gravity engines inside Cycnus, bringing the city down in a selected valley, that it may be more conveniently looted. If volunteers don’t show themselves for this hazardous errand, they might be coerced. 6. A group of lesser noble scions intend to colonize colonize Cycnus, taking control of the engines and establishing a new city-state. They have ships, engineers, and guards, and are paying well to acquire more of each. And they might even succeed…. CHARACTERS
1. Parthenos, Red Martian Zodiac explorer (Archaeologist d10, Skyship Engineer d8, Eyes on the Horizon d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Reputation On the Line) 2. Gaff, shipwrecked Illium Red Red Martian skysailor (Make the Most of Luck d10, Avoid Avoid Being Noticed d8, Sail the Skies d6; Resolve 3; Trouble: Desperate to Return Home) 3. Nul, amnesiac Red Martian hermit (Unexplained Cydonian Memories 5, Mechanical Idiot Savant 4, Forager 3; Resolve 3; Trouble: Doesn’t Know Face of Betrayer) HAZARDS
1. The 10-foot-tall, 10-foot-tall, four-armed mechanical sentinels of Cycnus disable as often as they kill, and carry away living and dead. d ead. (Three Crescent Swords d10, One Interposing Shield d8, Implacable d6; Resolve 5; Trouble: Inscrutable Orders) 2. Sky lampreys are ribbon-finned flying amphibians, peculiar to Cycnus. (Diving Bite d10, Lashing Tail d8, Awkward Flier d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Guard Rainwater Pools) 3. Sometimes the engines holding Cycnus aloft falter, and the city plummets for a few seconds before regaining its levitation, hurling its residents into disarray. 4. The tunnels in the lower lower mountain are filled with the traps and hazardous mechanical workings common to Cydonian ruins. 5. With all the work it takes to get to Cycnus, rival plunderers are often violently disinclined to share, and sometimes come armed with old relics. 6. A gravity engine misfire causes one of the tumbled sections of ruin to fall up, along with anyone within, and any ship lines tethered to the stones.
SOUTH UBBLE BLACK R UBBLE Where the Northern Pillar defies the mind to encompass its scale, the debris fields of the Southern Black Rubble defy the heart to encompass the tragedy. The cataclysm that shattered the Southern Pillar must have rung the world like a gong, the rain of fragments frag ments a hellish drumming for hours. Whatever geography existed there before the cataclysm was obliterated, leaving a broken landscape of chaos terrain, craters, fissures, and twisted fangs of ice caused when the polar snow pack was melted by impact heat, then rapidly re-frozen into tortured forms. The lands of the Southern pole are littered with fragments of the pillar, from pieces the size of mountains to those merely the size of boulders. Weirdly, eirdly, there seems to be a minimum size of these fragments - none are smaller than can be encompassed easily by twenty people linking hands. The greatest fragment is Lamentations, a mountain of black pillar material named for the tiny Pale Martian community huddled beneath it, tending the Field of Farewell, a place of duels, suicides, and executions. Those who die on the Field never leave ghosts or spirits behind, but die utterly and beyond all recourse. Even the stars forget those who die there. The uncanny light of the Uncoupled Ring gives the whole of the Southern Black Rubble an unsettling quality, especially prominent in the half-year night of the polar region. The barely-visible purple makes some minerals glow with virulent, unhealthy light, as well as some cloth, metals, certain grooming accoutrements, and most people’s teeth. As the saying goes, “In “ In the South, assassins never smile.” Among those who dwell under this light, tumors and lesions are epidemic on exposed skin, and denizens of the region wear veils and robes that completely hide their bodies. The shattering of the Southern Pillar did serve some scholars of the First Martians’ technologies. By studying the largest fragments, they determined that the pillar — and presumably its Northern sister — was hollow. hollow. Further, that the wall thickness varied through the pillar’s height, from a thickness of up to a mile, to a thinness of only a few dozen feet. The pattern of these thickenings and thinnings must have served some purpose in the pillar’s function, but none know what it might have been. Or indeed, what the interior of the Southern Pillar might have once contained. 149 149
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A Weeper encampment among Black Rubble Wandering among these fragments, ignoring everything but their hopeless labors, are the Weepers. These enormous, ancient machine creatures hunch inside their tatters and accretions, the rubbish they collect with their tiny manipulator cilia to form robes of garbage, perhaps in the hope of reassembling it all one day. Their forms are something of the spider, something of the ape, something of the form of modern folk, and something older. It is hard to see, as they hunch, and move with painful slowness. They sometimes move the smaller fragments of the pillar, as if in half-hearted efforts to reassemble it. They take their name from the constant drip of black fluid trickling from the cracks in their bent bodies, most visible on their exposed faces.
tireless. The tears grant energy without euphoria, the energy of grinding water, able to cut mile-deep canyons given time, and time is something else the tears seem to offer — a sort of bleak immortality, washed clean of hope, meaning, and purpose. “Drink the tears, and join us Brother. Walk, and watch, and contemplate the endings of all things.”
The tears of the Weepers are a sacrament to the Fellowship of Futility, the cult of nihilistic vagabonds who follow the Weepers in their wandering. The cult thinks they are its angels, fallen to Mars, stripped of dignity and purpose. So the disaffected who join the Fellowship feel a kinship with them. The tears are bitter; they stain the lips and teeth black, and pain the stomach awfully. The Fellowship are of poor health all, from exposure to the harsh climate, and from the malnutrition that comes with their inflamed bellies. Yet, they are also 150
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1. When the characters hear the one they seek fled south in the wake of tragedy, they may imagine them dead on the cold fields, a lonely suicide in the shadow of a Pillar fragment. But word comes that they have been sighted, sipping tears with the Fellowship, and following the Weeper known as Grandfather Agony. 2. The price the collector offered for a fragment of the South Pillar seemed exorbitant, until the characters understood the minimum size of such things, and saw the smallest fragment possible themselves. Getting to the southern debris fields was hard enough. Now, hauling the massive thing over the shattered ground may prove their undoing. 3. When the pillar fell it broke the land open, revealing things buried since before even the First Mar-
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tians walked the world. Knowledge of these things and their location would be worth a fortune, but no maps exist that chart the broken land. 4. The spy’s journal is coded and written in an ink made from the blood of the pith fly, so it’s completely invisible to any means of detecting it, save for the uncanny purple glow of the southern ring-light. But the spy wants her journal back, and given that it’s written to be read under ring-light, she must know this place better than the characters do. 5. One of the characters has been challenged, and their honor impugned. Society whispers they’re a coward not to answer such insult. Their associates are not at home to them when they pay a call, lest the stain of scandal spread. The character must face this enemy in the shadow of Lamentations, and one of them will be lost to time and the night, and the stars that rule that life will wink out. 6. The Merry Wives was blown off course on its route from Vance to Anger by an unseasonal blow out of Coronal. Her master struggled with torn rigging, broken decking, and failing levitational machinery, finally crashing somewhere in the edges of the Southern Black Rubble. It would be one of those inevitable tragedies of aviation, were the daughter of Anger’s military commandant not aboard, traveling home from her post in the Angeri embassy in Vance.
5. Eight-Finger, Zaiu evangelical nihilist of Grandfather Agony’s entourage. (Utterly Inured to Pain and Fear d12, Inflict Pain to Bless with Hopelessness d10, d6 Lead his Fellowship, Resolve d10; Trouble: Haunted by the life he had before this endless desolation) 6. Reverend Otho, Zaiu cultist leading his followers to the promised land (Preach the Words of the First d10, Inspire Suicidal Loyalty d8, Fight for the Faith d8, Resolve d12; Trouble: A true believer, who will never be dissuaded from the notion that there is a waiting paradise at the pole, beyond the Black Rubble) THREATS
1. The broken land is treacherous, full of fissures and fangs of rock, and the black rubble demands so many detours from planned routes that it is incredibly easy to become hopelessly lost. 2. Cultists seeking some truth in the south often become lost, maddened in the maze of black fragments and chaos terrain, and go feral. 3. The Weepers are not generally considered aggressive, though they sometimes crush people entirely by accident. But if they see something that sets them off, something that reminds them of what they were before the Pillar’s fall, then they will attack with all their strength and cyclopean mass. 4. Ring-light induces weird mutations and tumors in those who dwell beneath it too long. Strange, lonely things bask under its glow, creatures of cancer and hate. 5. The Weeper’s black tears are a popular drug for some who desire endurance without excitement or judgement-affecting euphoria. Jurists, bankers, and bookkeepers sometimes take it to maintain their energy when working days without sleep. And where there is a market, there are people who exploit it — gangs will follow the oily trails the Weepers leave, tracking them until they can attack. 6. Watch them long enough, and the pieces of black rubble seem to move. The small pieces might move as much as a finger’s breadth a year. The larger, no more than a hair. But they all seem to be creeping toward the pole. Once noticed, it will be all you can dream about, until you somehow materially assist this weird “migration.”
CHARACTERS
1. Captain Diargo Brecha Van Hialda, Red Martian master of the ill-fated Merry Wives (Sky Captain d10, Old Soldier d8, Tough Nut d8, Resolve d8; Trouble: Wounded from the crash, and hiding the extent from the other survivors) 2. Under-Commander Duul Heggasdaughter, ambitious Red Martian daughter of a famously soldierly mother (Ambitious Officer d10, Tactical Adept d8, Traditional Warksills d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Impatient, impatient with the pace of her advancement, impatient with everyone around her) 3. Sils Maladactal, Red Martian mercenary spy drawn to the southern desolation (Vanish from the Mind’s Eye d12, Thousand Faces d8, Survive the Southern Desolation d8, Resolve d8; Trouble: Secrets in the journal are enough to see 100 powerful people ruined, all with the wealth to hire 1,000 assassins to kill to protect their secrets) 4. Brakka Bergula, Red Martian chief of the Lamentations clan, and Duels Master for the Fields of Farewell (Old Clan Chief d10, Ritual Combat d8, History of Mortal Duels d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Childless, with no heir. Fears the loss of traditions and all he knows of his people)
GALLOW’S END A dozen atmosphere processors dot the wastes around terraced Ziggur. Even the least worldly knows this to be true. The constellation of 12 feeds into the 151
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central processor that is the heart of Ziggur, and the Roundhead priests give offerings and prayers to each. But what the unworldly do not know, what indeed no one but the Hangman of Ziggur knows, is the location of the final processor: the Dread 13th. The Blue Pyramid. Gallow’s End. It is where Ziggur executes its most heinous criminals, an unhallowed place at the center of an endless typhoon of dust and angry ghosts. And it is perilously close to breaking down. Gallow’s End sits in a bowl-shaped crater, ringed with impassable mountains, a day’s ride southeast of Ziggur. The only road in or out is an underground tunnel that leads directly into the underbelly of the atmospheric processor. The processor itself has been modified, or perhaps it is merely malfunctioning in a useful way: Instead of releasing processed air in an upward column, it ejects the air in a spiral pattern, churning up a vast, rotary dust storm with the ziggurat as its eye. Every month at the turning of Deimos, death-row prisoners from Ziggur, guilty of the basest crimes and vilest treasons, are transported under heavy guard, along with the Hangman of Ziggur, to Gallow’s End. There, on the top of the ziggurat, open to the storm, they are hanged. The hangman then flings the corpses from the walls, giving the deceased over, body and soul, to the storm. Ziggur has used Gallow’s End as an execution ground for nearly a century, and the storm within now holds thousands of angry ghosts.
4. The last batch of execution victims managed to overpower their guards and settle in for a siege. They have hostages (three Roundhead technicians whose prayer-maintenance keeps the processor working as intended), supplies, and weapons, and they’re threatening to collapse the only tunnel in if their demands for a skyship and a lot of money aren’t met. 5. A minor malfunction in the ducting fans disrupts the cyclonic circulation of the storm, causing the winds to slam into the processor itself. Shame the atmospheric seals haven’t been replaced in 75 years. 6. A prisoner makes a break for it, braving the ghost storm while still alive. Probably he’s dead within minutes, but who can say what the dead might do for a chance at escape? CHARACTERS
1. Ashurr, the Hangman of Ziggur (Left Hand of Eu d10, Yellow Veil Training d6, Hands Like Cave Spiders d8; Resolve d10; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Morally Conflicted) 2. Enok, Red Martian escaped (and possessed) convict (I Have a Ghost for That d10, All the Voices in My Head 8, Criminal Connections d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt Trouble: Which Soul is Even Mine?) 3. Usa, Roundhead Chief Technician (Vast Technological Liturgy d10, Secret Passages Through the Processor d8, Don’t Ask Questions d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Political Exile) HAZARDS
HOOKS
1. No one’s ever seen such a concentrated mass of ghosts before. At any moment, the storm could reach critical mass and collapse in on itself, tearing a hole in the world and creating a kind of ghost singularity. The scholar-priests on site aren’t sure what that means, but it’s probably not good. 2. The endless cyclone isn’t just full of ghosts; lightning strikes are common in the crater, and while the processor is shielded, particularly bad strikes can shut down critical systems for hours at a time — and anyone caught outside seems to draw bolts like a copper rod. 3. The only safe way into the crater is through the underground tunnel, but it’s a straight shot with nowhere to hide and lots of guards. Anyone wanting to get in (or out) undetected would have to try to find a route over the surrounding mountains and brave the storm. 4. Though the storm itself is mostly confined to the crater around the ziggurat, the massive cyclone cannot help but disturb the weather for miles around the
1. Framed (or maybe just caught) for a capital crime in Ziggur, the characters are loaded onto the prison caravan to Gallow’s End. With only a day’s journey to the hangman’s noose, they must engineer an escape plan. 2. Ekbal the Architect designed and built Eu’s palace, and he alone knows the key that opens the secret passage from the Cydonian ruins straight to the great Eu’s meditation cloister. Pity, then, that he was executed for treason days after the palace was completed. His ghost might be willing to offer up the information, but how to find one ghost among thousands? 3. The endless storm of Gallow’s End is by no deliberate design, no matter what the Yellow Silks say. The processor is malfunctioning, and soon — maybe tomorrow, maybe in 100 years (but probably tomorrow) — it will fail catastrophically. When it does, the ghost storm will lose its anchor, and the vengeful dead will descend on Ziggur and strip it to the stones. 152
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canyon. Errant winds and sudden turbulence create a hazard for skyships flying near the crater, and since the existence of Gallow’s End is a closely-guarded secret, few captains know to avoid it. 5. The storm is, of course, full of ghosts — and while some ghosts are benevolent shades, or at worst decent folk desperate for a body again, most of those that died in Gallow’s End were violent criminals. Sure, Eu has the odd political dissident killed, but for the most part it’s a bunch of dead killers, slavers, and generally-vile examples of Martian life. 6. Eu is paranoid that any of Ziggur’s enemies who discover the existence of Gallow’s End could find a way to use it against the city. Thus, any unauthorized persons who learn of the crater’s existence are relentlessly pursued by the Stranglers of Ziggur (Silent as the Grave d10, Silken Cords d8, Unceasing Pursuit d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Must Never Be Seen), a secret sect of assassins within the Yellow Silks.
2. An unexpectedly-harsh winter kills many of the Brides’ poppy fields, while at the same time tensions rise between Siren and Honor. War seems inevitable — is it coincidence, or is there truth to the rumor that the holy poppies only grow atop Martian graves? 3. A prominent Anger dignitary dies by murder while visiting Siren. The assassin is quickly arrested, but claims she has no memory of anything between imbibing a bilious liqueur, bought from the Poppy Brides three days ago, and her arrest. 4. A violent criminal on the run from Wyeth claims sanctuary at the Temple of the Poppy Brides. When the law catches up to zir, they find zir lost in the Catacombs of Memory, regressed to a point in zir life before ze became a criminal. The Wyeth insist on extradition, but the Brides say the person who committed those crimes is dead. SITES
THE TEMPLE OF THE POPPY BRIDES The hills south of Siren bloom crimson like a sea of blood, perfuming the air with a heavy, odorless, sopoforic miasma. These are the fields tended by the Poppy Brides, whose sacred arts produce powerful dreams and prophetic visions. The veiled priestesses with their otherworldly voices (and, it’s rumored, faces) trade their lesser draughts for food, water, and necessaries in the markets of Siren, but if you brave the journey to their temple, they will show you their greater mysteries. And all it costs you is a single fresh corpse, not yet ripened. The Poppy Brides brew 1,000 different draughts, meant variously to be drunk, smoked, or even injected. Blue Oculus is dripped into the eyes and grants visions of those who are false. Yellow Veil grants a peaceful sleep, untroubled by the guilt of deeds ill-done. Tholak plunges the drinker into a deep dream in which they experience the entire 87-year life of a Vancian rug merchant named Tholak in a single night. Other concoctions, it’s rumored, can bend the will of the mighty to the Brides’ whims or instill subtle suggestions to ensure that events proceed as the veiled ones desire. HOOKS
1. It’s nearly impossible to remove a Poppy Bride’s veil, and to do so is sure to earn the enmity of the entire order. Naturally, when a Poppy Bride’s veil turns up in a Sireni auction house, it draws the curious and the wealthier-than-sensible set. 153
1. The Catacombs of Memory: Deep below the Temple of the Poppy Brides is a maze of twisting caverns and passages. Some are natural, others appear carved, but everyone who enters sees them as somehow familiar, as though they visited regularly long ago. Your memories are there — yours and anyone else’s who wanders the subterranean grottoes. Walk the right paths and you can relive parts of your life: maybe to remember what’s forgotten, maybe just to kiss your lover or hold your child one last time. Walk the wrong ones and you might never return to the present, or your mind might be undone entirely. 2. The Chamber of Trembling: Withdrawal from the effects of the holy poppies is an unpleasant process, replete with violent shaking fits, cramps, fevers...and prophetic visions. In the Chamber of Trembling, Poppy Brides let themselves become addicted and undergo withdrawal, all for glimpses of the future to guide their order. 3. The Holy Poppy Fields: Acres of poppies grow around the Temple of the Poppy Brides, but only a single road cuts through the field. Trespassing into the fields is not only forbidden, it’s dangerous: If the Poppy Brides don’t kill you and bury you to feed the next crop, the flowers’ perfume will draw you into a sleep from which you never awaken. 4. The Processing Chamber: Part alchemical workstation, part distillery, part chapel, full of vast vats of bubbling, multicolored nectar and strange smoke, this room is where the Brides prepare their concoctions. Few who have not learned the Nine Sacred Breaths and the Four Invisible Wardings can stand the fumes for long. 5. Poppy Caravan: At regular intervals, a large caravan of Poppy Brides and mercenary guards makes
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the round trip from the temple to Siren. The caravan takes two weeks for each leg of the journey, and is frequently the target of bandits on its outgoing run. Strangely, though, the same band of outlaws never seems to attack the caravan twice.
2. Mixing draughts of the holy poppy poppy can have deleterious effects, ranging from mild poisoning to the imbiber’s body violently exploding. Very rarely, mixing draughts imparts adept powers on the imbiber. 3. It’s said that to look on the face of a Poppy Poppy Bride is to look upon your deepest regret. Whether that’s due to some strange psychic power or because you will shortly be beaten to death by an irate priestess is open to debate. 4. Only one petitioner is permitted in the Catacombs of Memory at a time. If more than one person descends into those caverns, they risk wandering into each other’s’ memories and exchanging whole parts of their lives. 5. Those who are not initiated into the mysteries of the Poppy Brides are advised never to descend below the third vault in the Catacombs of Memory. Beyond that point, you find the genetic memories of your ancestors, and the sudden rush of conflicting memories can overwhelm even the strongest mind. 6. Not all the dreams the Poppy Brides brew are pleasant ones. Anger them, and you may find that your every meal brings with it a new nightmare.
CHARACTERS
1. Shouzai, Dream Brewer Brewer (I Have an Elixir for That d10, Bottled Nightmares d8, Brew Your Heart’s Desire d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Too-High Dream Tolerance) 2. Kailon, Caravan Mistress (Quick Wits and Quicker Flintlocks d10, Ride Herd d8, Deal You Under the Table d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Illicit Side Business) 3. Chulien, the lost Matron (Respected Matron d10, Keeper Keeper of Many Secrets d8, Wearer Wearer of the th e Crimson Veil d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Regressed to Five-Year-Old Five-Year-Old Self by Catacombs of Memor y) HAZARDS
1. The holy poppies aren’t aren’t the only things that feed on charnel pits. Carrion voles burrow beneath the roots, seeking the freshest corpses, and they aren’t afraid of taking a bite out of a careless foot.
ARCADIA There is a ballad, once quite popular in Vance, Vance, with a second verse sung thusly: His lips, dried now, now, red wined and once kissed A heart of memories, his heat, chilled embers Coral broke, seas fled, salted sands all remained Dead glory’s ghost, Arcadia remembers Even when not sung with nine-string accompaniment, that sentiment is a common one — that Arcadia is the easiest metaphor to describe something wonderful, long lost, now dead. When the First Martians built her, the world was blue and green. Perhaps to celebrate themselves, their technology, and their wisdom, they located their cities not out of convenience, but to exalt in overcoming impossibility. possibility. So Arcadia they built beneath the waves of a water so wide its far side hid below the horizon. The waters once lay like a blue veil across a cross the head of Mars, but now the hidden waters of North Pillar and the frozen caverns beneath are all that remain of it. The northerly region, now called Arcadia, takes its name from the
city Arcadia — the City of Seven Domes, now beached, listing thirty degrees from true, equidistant from DevoDevo tion and Heartbreak, but close to nothing. The city’s architects were inspired by the shapes of the deeps, and the city was a wonder of curves and rounded forms. It was built on a foundation of metallic coral, grown to shape by the Ancient’s sciences, and thereon they raised seven transparent domes, huge as foothills. The Three Lesser domes, the Three Greater, and the Grand Dome — the only one that has not succumbed to entropy and the violence of greedy hands, and is now called the Unbroken Dome. For, despite lying in sepulchral ease in one of the coldest and driest places on Mars, Arcadia swarms with life, rapacious, with violent hands. People of desperate and avaricious character are drawn to Arcadia, some seeking to dredge the sands for miracles, and others to crack the dome open for its wonders and the wealth they imagine it will grant. Too many come for a taste of the drug extasia caerulea, caerulea , called also glory’s ghost, blue sand, and dream salt. salt.
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All around the foundered ancient city, there is the wild growth of modern settlement, lawless and ungoverned. These shanties are deadly for the unwary, always hungry to chew up the idealistic or innocent. What order there is here is enforced by the gangs that control the shanties, the excavations built in and through Arcadia, and the surrounding territories — the silt-fine wastes of sand called the Memory of Waves. These gangs vie for control, each with a firmer hold over one of Arcadia’s major locales, but always striving to claim the other two. In the shanties, the deadly newcomer Generous Hagatha is dominant. In the excavations, Old Devontine of the Devontine Clan still hangs on, his old-fashioned style of criminality marking him as the winner in the last generation’s gang war for control of Arcadia. Out in the Memory of Waves, it is the Sandfish Cult that holds sway, controlling absolutely the water supply of Arcadia, and worshipping at weather-worn altars with their strange and secret rites. Arcadia balances precariously on the lip of chaos and violence, held back only by the canny greed of its ganglords, none of whom are entirely confident in their ability to defeat the other two.
THE SHANTIES For hundreds of years, the desperate, the greedy, greedy, the hopeful, and the lost have wandered across the Memory of Waves, and found their way to Arcadia. They were lured by its half-buried Lower Domes, and the still-mags till-magnificent Greater Dome, its once-clear material now scuffed by the sandstorms of ages to dull semi-translucence. To those so lured, the hints of shapes within make promises of desires become real. But these desperate seekers cannot live on their dreams alone, cannot sleep on beds of hope. They might aspire to the clouds, but they live in the shanties, which are as ramshackle and wild as a razor gull’s rookery. rookery. The shanties surround Arcadia, but swell most at the southeast and northwest, where the main caravan routes from Devotion and Heartbreak come in. They buildings of the shanties are a wild affair, tents and shacks, huts, and rubble-built compounds. Most building materials, other than bagged sand, are scavenged from Arcadia — plates of weird metal, sheets of sail-like cloth, slabs of the dead, metallic coral cut from the foundations of Arcadia by diamond wire saws, and whatever rubble and rubbish can be dragged
Shanties surround the ruins of Arcadia.
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from the excavations and made into shelter. The materials are often cemented in place by the excretions of the corpsemites kept by undertaker-builders. These pale insects serve two purposes within the settlement. Firstly, they consume the dead, keeping the place relatively free of rotting corpses. Secondly, the secretions they use to build their earthen mounds in more natural settings serve as a universal cement. Thus, buildings in the shanties are rated on a scale based on how many corpses the mites must have eaten to secrete enough resin to hold them together. A seven-corpse house is what hardworking folk aspire to — large, comfortable, with a walled private courtyard, and well-sealed against night chills. Most folk are lucky to live in a split -corpse dwelling though, with resin from some fraction of a single corpse holding its material in place against the relentless night winds. Old family dwellings are bound fast by the digested flesh and bones of ancestors. Hauntings are not unusual, and funerals are traditionally accompanied by home improvement.
outland fellow exiles, and the Merry Band of ever-smiling soulless puppets she controls with her will. She takes her title from her preferred method of exexecution, when she wishes to make an example of someone who has betrayed her or personally insulted her. She wears a phial of the highest-quality glory’s ghost about her neck, dream salt refined to its purest form, and from this will administer a lethal dose to her victims. These unfortunates take in one dose more extasia caerulea than a wealthy addict would consume in their whole life. A fortune’s worth of drug, as one generous gift. Those who experience Hagatha’s generosity experience a perfect vision of lost Arcadia in its prime, and are filled with the exultant joy and glory of her builders, then die in ecstasy as the ghosts of the dead city crawl into their veins and eat their soul, leaving them empty and smiling. Into these empty vessels, Hagatha pours a drop of her own soul, turning her victims into something akin to a limb, moving as she wills them, speaking as she speaks, and showing her all they see.
The Merry Band of Generous Hagatha rules the shanties, controlling the markets at So’ese Gate and Nor’wes Gate, running fairly conventional protection and extortion rackets among the populace of the shanties, and taking a cut of almost every transaction above a certain threshold. Most significantly, Hagatha controls production and distribution of the extasia caerulea drug, famous and prized for the visions of glory, and feelings of confidence and certainty it grants. The dream sand is sifted in the workshops Hagatha oversees, separated from the dry silts duned around Arcadia, first through wire mesh, then cloth, and finally after many refinements, through silk screens so fine they can hold water. The blue powder that results can be ingested in many ways, but is commonly mixed with snuff and sniffed off the back of the hand when one needs a boost in confidence and energy. energy. It is a potent drug, as it must be, since it is composed of the desiccated and sand-ground mortal remains of the long dead First Martians who once dwelled in Arcadia. Generous Hagatha is a relative newcomer newc omer to the Arcadian gang world, emerging from the Memory of Waves less than a decade ago, and within a few months eliminating the previous ganglord ruler of the Shanties, and sorely pressuring her two rivals. Nobody is sure where she is from, and she will not reveal it. She’s spoken bitterly of living in exile and squalor — despite the peerless luxury her power affords her — and she has the manners of a prince, and ruddy complexion and Vancian accent of a noble of that city. Her gang is a mix of thuggish soldiers, 156 156
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1. Brother Rat-Tooth, Rat-Tooth, the wiry and cunning gutter priest, begs the characters to deliver a message for him, to one much too exalted and fancy for him to approach personally. personall y. They find the brother surprisingly heavy with coin, and outlandishly generous in his pitch. He gives them a filthy but sealed letter, and an empty snuffbox of silver and shell elaborately worked with the initials of “J. V.” When they present the letter and this item to Doctor Sunshine, the Zaiu expert on dream salt, he reacts with surprise and then surprising violence, demanding to know who sent them, and threatening their lives if they do not tell. 2. In the shanties, a revel can become a riot without warning, and a fist thrown t hrown over a spilled drink can become spilled blood in the streets. Caught in such a fray, the characters find themselves in the company of a child who huddles close to them for protection, a child far too clean and far too expensively dressed to be a native of the shanties. 3. Seeing trouble, and possible rivals, in the characters, Generous Hagatha invites them to her luxurious compound — said to be a 40-corpse house — to feed them, get them drunk, and size them up. Any pleasure desired is provided, and Hagatha is a generous host who might reveal more than she intends to when she’s into her own cups. With at least one character, Hagatha will have devastating sexual chemistry.
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4. A nightmare creature the height of 60 men was seen attacking one of the Devontine Clan’s storehouses at the edge of the excavations last night, and witnesses describe it’s wide-finned head far above, suspended by saclike structures, and from the head its dozens of whip-thin tendrils that descended to the ground, which it used to slash open the storehouse, smash and loot the contents, and rip apart a dozen attendants and Devontine gang soldiers. They say it moved off rapidly into the shanties with a spiraling motion of its tentacles. A friend of the characters witnessed the creature’s attack, and is wanted by both Hagatha and the Old Devontine for questioning, unlikely gently. 5. A devotee of dream sand, and friend, ally, or lovlover to one of the characters succumbs to the drug, and falls into a twitching nightmare coma. Investigation reveals their supply is tainted, adulterated by whatever it was cut with. Without knowing the nature of the taint, no counterdrug can be formulated. Worse, there is only so long the psyche of their friend can endure the hell they’ve been trapped in, before it leaves them with permanent mental damage. They were sold the th e drug by Tcivit T’cho, their regular dealer, but she is unwilling to reveal her supplier, unless persuaded. 6. After many years apart, after the broken heart has healed, one of the characters sees an old lover, possibly a true love, lost to folly, lack of care, or tragedy. At first, they don’t seem to recognize the character, and look on with a vague smile, but then seem to take life and become animated. Though…something is very odd about them….
5. Daelebresa Bin Lebrou, lost Red Martian child of wealth (Babe in the Woods d8, Tiny Emperor d6, A child’s boundless energy d6, Resolve d6; Trouble: Does not want to be returned to family) 6. Brother Rat-Tooth, priest-prophet of the Rites of the Gutter Prince, knows the score (His Rats Lurk in Every Wall d12, Wait, Where Did He Go? d10, The dirtiest fighter d10, Resolve d12; Trouble: Broke, halfdrunk, coughing up phlegm — business as usual.) HAZARDS
1. The shanties are lousy with thieves and thugs, willing to pick your pocket, split your skull, or sell your corpse to a builder for a half dram of brackish water. 2. The gangs skirmish in the streets, and one can get caught in the violence as Hagatha’s people fend off raids by her rivals. 3. When dark comes down, a cold like the breath breath of black space descends on Arcadia, and the night-winds blow. When they blow from the north, they extinguish any fire they touch, dim lights, and muffle sounds. Being caught out of doors on a Norwind Night can be deadly. Creatures that abhor the light are free to walk openly on such evenings. 4. Extasia caerulea is painstakingly painstakingl y sifted from the sands of Arcadia, which means the sands are laced with the drug, and even in such dilute concentrations, everyone who dwells here breathes it, eats it, and drinks it all the time. It perhaps explains the restless arrogance of the typical Arcadian, the swagger that marks them, the confidence out of all proportion to their actual abilities. It also explains the dreams, dreams of sea, dreams of leviathans, dreams of sacrifice to the lords of the lost deeps. Those of a psychical character may find these dreams take on an unexpected reality. 5. A sickness sweeps the shanties, a ragged ragged cough, congested lungs, and hacked black sputum. For the first time, the builders have more corpses than their colonies of corpsemites can eat, and no work for them in any case. The coughed-up black ichor spat into the streets moves on its own, but only when unwatched, and coalesces in pools and crevices, merging, growing. It is something from before history, reborn perhaps from a single remaining spore lost in the sands of Arcadia. 6. They call it Tall Tall Fellow, Daddy Longfingers, or the Moon Stalker — the weird, tall creature, of bulbous head and 100-yard tentacles has begun haunting the fringes of the shanties, and though few claim to have seen it personally, most swear it’s real as sin and debt, stalking to catch the unwary.
CHARACTERS
1. Generous Hagatha, exiled Red Red Martian noble-turned-ganglord (Viciousness Channeled Like a Vancian Canal d12, d12, Knows the Street d10, But Remembers the Court and Salon d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Despises her exile, even while dominating the shanties) 2. Six Stones, Skarrut pole-slinger and Hagatha’s strong right arm (Wind Throw Stone Slingpole Fighting d10, Knows the Score d8, Competent Lieutenant, Resolve d6; Trouble: Violent Drunk) 3. Doctor Sunshine, Zaiu expert on formulating extasia caerulea (Connoisseur of Drugs, Addicted to None d12, Alchemical Narcosynthesis d10, Cunning Survivor Hidden Beneath the Cheery Fool d8, Resolve d8; Trouble: Experimental Drug Subjects Seeking Revenge) 4. Tcivit T’Cho, T’Cho, three-armed Pale Martian Martian and reliable drug dealer (Read the Streets d10, Quick with a Word of a Blade d8, Psychokinetic Fourth Arm d6, Resolve d8; Trouble: Samples the Wares) 157 157
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EXCAVATIONS Rising in rickety height all about the Arcadian domes are the excavations, working structures where materials and wonders are exhumed from the sand-choked city’s carcass. They’re cleaned, sorted, catalogued, and then filtered out into the shanties, to the markets, traders, caravans, relic hunters, private buyers, and others in the business of selling the scraps of meat picked from the bones of the dead city. The excavations almost form a city-withina-city, and are sharply delineated from the shanties. Those who live in the excavations often consider the people of the shanties parasitic, living off the labor of the excavator guilds, and the trade their work attracts. This is an attitude encouraged by the excavations’ dominant gang. The excavations are controlled by the Devontine Clan, who’ve organized for stability for decades. Each profession with the excavation has their own guild or association, and the Devontines encourage this, as extorting a central organization is easier than extorting individual workers. Within the excavation, there are wine shops and brothels, dance halls, physikers, professionally-associated mystery cults, and markets for working and domestic supplies. The Devontine Clan works to keep as many people as possible within the excavations, and tries to prevent as much of the trade as possible from leaking out to the shanties. If Arcadia were a canal oyster, open on the half shell, awaiting the lips of a decadent gourmand, then domes are an embarrassment of pearls. There is a curve of the Three Lesser domes, then a larger curve of the Three Greater, and finally, raised high on the top edge of the up-tilted city shell, the Grand Dome. This pearl is still unbroken, and indeed is pearlescent when kissed by the sister moons. The Three Lesser domes are mostly buried, cracked and filled with shifting sands. The lowliest excavators scavenge what they can here, from digs prone to collapse, shorn up poorly with scavenged materials. The Three Lesser domes were, most likely, the residences of the city’s common citizens, fabulous by modern standards, but merely adequate by the standards of the First Martians. From here, many domestic artifacts of unknown purposes and functions are scavenged, along with baubles and trinkets, most nonfunctional, merely curiosities bound for the bulk market and sold by weight, to one day find their way into a bazaar on the outskirts of Foresight, having acquired a rich and colorful story and a polish of wax along the way.
The next domes, the Three Greater, are as broken as the Three Lesser, though only two were destroyed in the cataclysm. The centermost dome was breached via unknown means by the grandfather of the Devontine clan’s current elderly patriarch. The Pale Martian known simply as Old Devontine maintains that the secret to breaching First Martian domes is one his family keeps, and this exclusive knowledge is one of the reasons the other two gangs dare not strike directly, for if the Old Devontine dies, that secret will be lost. The Greater Domes contained the residences of the priest-engineers of the city, and the fabulous machinery and sacred auto-occultic incanting engines that powered the city, and allowed it to prosper beneath the crush of the lost waters. These domes produce few trinkets, but much wealth is made providing guided access to the wonders they contain to academics, engineers, and those seeking to reclaim the lost knowledge of the First. Finally, the Unbreached Dome. It is twice the size of the Greater domes, and holds unknowable wonders, unlimited wealth, the power to change the world, gods, goddesses, and all manner of sacred unions of divine gender, depending on who you ask, and what drugs they are addicted to. There are half a dozen religions dedicated to the Mysterious Pearl, and the world’s great cities and universities maintain (at not inconsiderable expense) departments and agents who monitor the excavations around the Unbreached Dome. Some seek a covert way to open it, others, by means cunning as a stiletto or blunt as a bootheel, seek to stop all serious efforts to breach it. What it contains, none can say without recourse to faith. But those who watch it will swear that they can see movement within sometimes, and the vague forms, suggesting perhaps buildings or palaces, change over time.
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1. Prandish Vineto approaches the characters with an incredible offer — exquisite artifacts of the first quality and functional tools of the old priest-engineers of the Greater Domes. In trade for these, Vineto asks that the characters assist in faking her death, and exfiltrating her from Devontine-controlled territory. 2. The characters are almost bowled over by a fleeing, filthy youth. Reen Scutt is pursued by Huula Ver Argola and a skirmish party of Devontine soldiers. She begs the characters to take a message to Brother Rat-Tooth in the shanties, before vanishing into the maze of digs and scaffolding. Huula will be very in-
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3.
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5.
6.
terested in anything the urchin may have said to the characters, the gist of which was: “Tell him, the old one knows nothing! The secret is a bluff. The Dome cannot be breached! He will reward you! I flee!” Havish Kirklun has been behaving very strangely, and the Association of Excavation Masters he belongs to asks the characters to make discreet inquiries. Kirklun seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time with the Opening Eye cult, which is not among those approved by the Association as an acceptable cult for a Master to join. He and his fellows spend hours standing with their faces pressed to the Grand Dome’s clearest surfaces, staring hard within while acolytes drip their own carefully-gathered tears onto the watchers’ eyes, so they may gaze without blinking into the dome. Kirklun has seen things in there that have changed him. Things which might change everything. The Tall Fellow attacks! While going about their business one night, the characters are caught in an attack by the Tall Fellow. It swoops in silently, hidden in the dark above the lights of the excavation, to drop down onto a sorting warehouse where artifacts are graded for sale, and rips the roof off. When lights can be aimed upward, the bulbous shape they’ve heard described is revealed, but to their outland eyes a new detail emerges — the bulbous structures seem to be balloons, from which the actual finned head of the thing hangs. If they’ve seen such a thing out in the Memory of Waves, they’ll recognize it as some kind of silt crawler, but unlike its creeping cousins in the wastes, the Tall Fellow moves with eerie aquatic grace when suspended by these balloons. Who could have equipped this ancient, monstrous thing with this prosthetic? And do the characters have time to wonder about such things, when the air is filled with screams and whiplike tendrils of pale gray metal? In a thirsty rage, Huula Ver Argola slays a Sandfish water carrier, and all shipments of water to the excavations stop until the defiant Pale Martian can be brought out into the Memory of Waves and made to answer for the killing. It falls to the characters to find him, defy those loyal to him who help him hide, and see that the Sandfish are satisfied before the excavation succumbs to thirst, and open war breaks out as its dwellers seek water in the shanties. Pualo Patrae sends Huula Ver Argola to invite the characters to the Devontine villa, a surprisingly elegant structure in the thick of the Grand Dome excavations. The characters have come to the old ganglord’s attention, as any extraordinary outsiders of their stature must, and he wishes to ask them a favor. “If you can find a way to murder me, freeing me from this failing carcass, you will be
rewarded fabulously, and my daughter may claim her place as Devontine. But, it must be clear neither Hagatha or Sandfish slew me, or there will be war. I…regret the bargain I made when I claimed my title. I regret swearing to my grandfather that I would live until the Grand Dome cracked open. When sworn under the wrong stars, such an oath is sacrosanct.” Bound together with one fate, Undying Pualo and the Unbreached Dome. CHARACTERS
1. Pualo Patrae, the Old Devontine, Red Martian (Cunning Old Bastard d12, Commands Loyalty, Inspires Respect d10, Still Knows Which End of a Machete to Hold d8, Resolve d12; Trouble: Dying But Can’t Die.) 2. Prisca Patrae, Red Martian restless favored child of the Old Devontine (Mistress of Cat Paw and Cat Rake Sword Styles d10, Educated at Foreign Universities d10, A Poison for Every Occasion d8, Resolve d6; Trouble: Easily Bored) 3. Huula Ver Argola, Red Martian captain of Devontine gang soldiers (Old Street Monster d10, Veteran of 1,000 Knife Fights d10, Knows What the Old Man Would Want d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Loves Prisca Patrae, but believes he will one day have to kill her) 4. Prandish Vineto, morally-conflicted Red Martian antiquities expert (Value the Secrets of the First to the Ha’penny d12, Commune with the Spirits of the Dead First d10, Mercantile Adept d8, Resolve d6; Trouble: Easily Possessed by Ancient Ghosts) 5. Havish Kirklun, Red Martian excavations master, high officiant of the Opening Eye cult. (Master Excavator d12, Network of Cultists, Unblinking Evil Eye d8, Resolve d12; Trouble: Increasingly bad at his day job, courting disaster at his work site) 6. Reen Scutt, fourth-class Red Martian sand mover, devotee of the Rites of the Gutter Prince (The Invisibility of Poverty d12, Self-Taught Confidential Agent d8, Initiate in the Gutter Prince’s Outer Mystery d6, Resolve d10; Trouble: Rail thin, hungry, stinks of fermented rat sauce) HAZARDS
1. The excavations are a dangerous mix of industry and housing, great teetering scaffolding looming over rows of workers’ houses, the cracked domes shadowing both homes and workshops. The place operates at the speed of money, and safety is a distant concern — heavy loads swing on long cables, scaffoldings teeter and sway, overloaded hauling animals are beaten until they bolt and stampede, and the excavators of all classes work hard, drink harder, and punch hardest. 159
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ers, though rather than deadening and killing nerves, it desiccates flesh. The silt crawlers, as they’re sometimes called, are rarely spotted in sight of Arcadia itself.
2. Strange things are dug from the shattered domes sometimes, artifacts of unknown purpose, but still potent function. Some can cause flesh to sublimate, evaporating like mist. Others can fuse objects or people together with unbreakable bonds. Some simply explode violently when exposed to any of dozens of possible stimuli, from sunlight, to wind, to air, to warm skin, to particular emotions. 3. The Devontine Clan guards its territory aggressively, and if they suspect you are looking for trouble, or serve Hagatha or Sandfish, they’ll set their gang soldiers to watching, following, and harassing. 4. The approved mystery cults of the excavations are all generally stable, and their devotees learn discipline, which serves their professions well (and is why they are among the approved mysteries), but this requirement does nothing to blunt the secret horror of some of their sacred rites. The shanties provide an unlimited supply of supplicant-victims, and none of the guilds care if you come to the work site with a sacrifice’s blood under your fingernails, so long as you come on time and ready to labor. 5. The trace concentrations of dream sand, mixed with the silt and dust shifted by the ton in the excavations, is higher than anywhere else in the region, and so without ever deliberately using the drug, the dwellers in the excavations are all thoroughly addicted, a fact that makes leaving the Devontine’s territory much more difficult for them, as the depression of the dream sand crash is fearsome, and lasts as long as the drug’s habitual use. 6. If Old Devontine passes, the star-sealed fate he shares with the Grand Dome will be fulfilled, and the mountainous edifice will shatter in exact correspondence to how violently the old man dies.
There are only two known safe routes through the Memory of Waves, those followed by the caravans carrying the wealth of scavenge to Devotion or Heartbreak, and returning with supplies, foodstuffs, and precious commodities like wine, wool, beautiful youths, and basic tools. Nothing grows in Arcadia; no herds are pastured. It is a cold desolation like nothing else on Mars, and so these caravan routes are tenuous lifelines, and a testament to the value of Arcadian wonders and the dream salt trade. Before the Sandfish came to power in the Memory of Waves, banditry was common. Now though, few dare take the risk, despite the value of the cargo. The Sandfish charge a modest toll to caravans, and maintain their right to inspect the cargo to and from. They will occasionally help themselves to an artifact or supplies, though they are scrupulous about paying the caravans a fair price for what they take for themselves. What they do not permit the caravans to carry is water. They claim water, and its distribution, as their exclusive right, and are said to know all the secret wells and soaks in the Memory of Waves, and to tend the primitive canals, which direct a vital trickle to the shanties and excavations, and which they supplement with deliveries of water from their own caravans that travel unknown routes in the wastes.
THE MEMORY OF WAVES When the old waters vanished, they left behind plains of sand and silt. This landscape is studded with dead, razor-sharp corals, black nodules, hungry crevices capped with thin layers of salt-cemented sand, and leviathan bones, the skulls of which have become the temple-houses of the Sandfish Cult. There are rumors of things out there, too, wandering the wastes — perhaps cousin-machines to the tomb stalkers of Cydonia. Unlike the tomb stalkers, though, these waste machines seem broken or weak, unable to support their own weight, and so they drag themselves along the sand with their whiplike limbs, sometimes lying buried and in wait for anything to walk upon them. Some possess an ability not unlike the death ray of the tomb stalk-
Those who raid caravans or who are caught smuggling water are often found dead, mauled as if by barracuda or shark, crushed by tentacles, or pierced by poisoned fins, with their desiccated bodies covered in dried blood and fine white sand. The Sandfish commune with the lost waters; the ghost of an ocean is their god, and at their command the fish and monsters of that dead sea arise from their own dust and swim in the air, biting and feeding, ripping and devouring. The ocean, when it lived, was a place of beauty, but also of absolute savagery and predation. The sand remember when they were waves, and the Sandfish know another secret — blood is sea water, the same salt, the same life. The folk of Mars walk a dry land, but carry the seas within themselves, the last living waters of the dead ocean that they sometimes name in their rites, Mother of Mars. They are not a picky cult, and when called upon to free this captive red sea, they can usually find a sacrificial victim whose removal will be seen as a civic good rather than a horrific cult murder. It is said that the water they grant Arcadia’s modern people is paid for with the blood memory of the lost sea.
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out pausing. If they continue to observe the thing, it will float across the Memory of Waves until it arrives at a hidden grotto, screened by fans of dead coral. There it will slowly descend, legs retracting into its head, then coming to rest. A figure will emerge from the grotto, doing something complex and obscure to Tall Fellow. If they can creep close enough to see the person’s face, they’ll be struck by the unchanging smile of delight it wears, and its eyes, half-lidded as if in in pleasure.
HOOKS
1. The caravan the characters are traveling with is stopped by a party of Sandfish cultists who appear from the Memory of Waves in a swirl of dust. The caravan master, Garl Reginto, with whom the party may have become friendly, is confronted, and presented with evidence of water smuggling. He claims no knowledge of the illicit water, admitting only to the Sandfish-approved traveling ration all caravans are allowed. They wish to take the master away, to ascertain the truth of his statements. He and his guard wish otherwise. If nobody intervenes, violence will erupt. 2. The famous adventurer, poet, socialite, and mercantile force of nature Margolite De La Experita Extravaganta wishes to travel rough in the Memory of Waves, plumbing its secrets. Who better to hire as guards, guides, and companions than the characters? 3. The renowned expert on First Martian civilization, Professor Hershel Saenendoa is worried — his research into modern and ancient astrological systems has revealed what he believes to be a flaw in the modern reckoning, a blind spot in the prediction of world-altering events. To prove his thesis, he must make astrological observations at the geographic loci of events — seven locations in the Memory of Sands — which will allow him to pinpoint the causal nexus. He predicts cataclysm within a decade if he cannot complete his research. 4. Water carrier Anemone approaches the characters, conveying a request for them to attend upon her master, Matron Eel Bone Bless at the Holy Skull of Al’Aloon, the Sandfish cult’s most sacred temple. “Do you see?” the stern head priest asks them, after showing them an empty cistern, “The waters dry, the wells empty. There is a great thirst in our Mother, but only those who may walk freely in shanty and excavation might find its cause.” The characters may suspect they are being dispatched to find a sacrifice for this mother of the cult, one which might make the precious trickle flow once again. 5. While passing a group of silent, robed Sandfish, one bumps into a character with uncharacteristic lack of deference. Later, they will find a crumpled wad of sandy paper in their pocket, with a simple note in uneducated scrawl: “RAHT TOOF — THAY SAE NO SEEKRET. OLD MAN DI TO BRAAK EGG.” 6. Within sight of Arcadia one night, the characters witness a violent commotion, and from the city the weird, bulb-headed form of Tall Fellow emerges into the open waste,s pursued by a party of the Old Devontine’s soldiers, who it will slaughter with-
CHARACTERS
1. Matron Eel Bone Bless, newly ascendant Red Martian pontiff of the Sandfish cult (Mistress of Mother Ocean’s Dead Children d12, Playing at Politics d10, Initiate the Mother Ocean’s Inner Mystery d10, Resolve d12; Trouble: Struggling to Cement Control over Cult) 2. Water carrier Anemone, Red Martian Sandfish spymaster (Spy and Master to Spies d10, Call the Mother Ocean’s Dead Children Home d10, Evasion and Escape d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Struggling With Crisis of Faith) 3. Margolite De La Experita Extravaganta, Red Martian magnate adventurer (Consummate Adventurer d12, Social Dynamo d10, Wealthy Beyond all Reason d10, Resolve d8; Trouble: A string of jilted lovers and spouses follows close behind) 4. Garl Reginto, Caravaneer, Red Martian occasional smuggler (Sensible Caravan Master d10, Can Handle Himself d8, Dicker like a Hazardi Pimp d8, Resolve d8; Trouble: Gambling debts mean he’s under the thumb of whoever holds his markers) 5. Professor Hershel Saenendoa, Red Martian scholar (Geo-Astrologer d12, Peripatetic Scholar d10, Scrappy Academic d8, Resolve d10; Trouble: Predictions Rarely Believed ) 6. Sister Shell, aspirant Sandfish acolyte, and secret devotee of the Gutter Prince (Deep Cover Cult Agent d10, Gutter Prince Mysteries d8, Vs. Sandfish Mysteries d6, Resolve d6; Trouble: The conflicting initiations are starting to tear her mind in two) HAZARDS
1. The Memory of Waves is a sharp and thirsty place, full of natural hazards and unnatural hauntings. One can fall into a crevasse, be slashed on corals, succumb to thirst, or fall prey to bandit or sea ghost. 2. Sandfish guard their secrets jealously, and will call their dead swimming allies to slay those whose who see too much. 161
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3. Mystics sometimes walk into the wastes seeking wisdom in the cold dust, but what seeks them is not always wise — the things that can enter an open mind in the Memory of Waves are ancient and inhuman, capricious and cruel. Beware the hermits in this desert. 4. The silt crawlers of the wastes seem pathetic, and unable to lift themselves and walk, but beware their power. They were made to swim, not crawl, yet are still deadly if not swift in this, the ocean’s grave.
5. When moonlight plays on the salt crystals that encrust the black nodules littering the wastes, ancient things hatch. Most die in this dried-up world, but if one can find some measure of warm, salty water in which to sink — like that carried in a Martian’s veins — it will root in, and root deep. 6. Stare too long into the Memory of Waves, and it will stare back. The mind is carried to strange places on the winds that blow there.
MERIDIAN Meridian is one of the heartlands of Mars, the canal-rich region that supports Vance and Coronal.
HAZARD
it seems that it was a means to offload the ugly debts the school owes. But the winner finds out that there’s something even more sinister at play. CHARACTERS
The traveler Sereanites described the tent city of Hazard as “scattered about a crossroads between Chiaro, Zodiac, and Vance, like dice lying where they’ve been thrown.” The comparison is simple but inevitable, given that Hazard is the most notorious gambling town in all of Mars. It perhaps began with merchants at a caravanserai dealing with more money than sense, but now it is a living temple to the 99 capricious gods of luck. Hazard is a town of countless superstitions. Residents bet on the smallest things, hoping to draw out any bad luck on trivial affairs and save the good for important issues. It’s also a place where people wager far more than just coin or goods. All the most interesting gambles take place in Hazard, where they say you can lose even your shadow if you sit down at the wrong table. HOOKS
1. It’s the fifth year of the most ambitious race known, one that starts in Hazard and runs through the three points of Vance, Chiaro, and Zodiac before returning to Hazard. Eclectic and dangerous racing teams are gathering, each one ready to prove themselves the swiftest and hardiest to claim the prize. 2. A rival of the characters’ makes a wager of a month’s service — as bodyguard, lover, or even menial servant. If one (or all) of the characters is willing to match the bet, it would be a golden opportunity to settle old scores. Of course, the same’s true for the rival… 3. A young Chiaro scion bets the deed to the family sword school — and then plays to lose. At first
1. Innuku, Skarrut former champion of the plaza (Brutal Fighter d10, Legbreaker d8, Fugitive d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Killed the Wrong Opponent) 2. Taldion, mysterious Red Martian grandmaster (Master of All Chess d10, Military Strategist d8, Innocuous d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Disgraced and Hunted By Former Allies) 3. Gameez, Red Martian moneychanger (Rumors From Every City d10, Eye For Coin d8, Wheedle d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Can’t Keep Mouth Shut) 4. Tychean, Red Martian luck-priest (Encyclopedia of Superstitions d8, Lucky Breaks d8, Timely Advice d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Two-Sided Blessings Always Come True) 5. Sabaton, wandering Red Martian wrestler (A Thousand Holds d10, Work the Crowd d8, Please the Ladies d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Believes Own Reputation) 6. Doctor Amedio, prosthetics vendor (Craft Artificial Limbs d10, Surgeon d8, Black Market Limb Trade d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Should Never Have Gotten Into Gambling) HAZARDS
1. Some freelancers pick deliberate fights with strong-looking strangers while their friends bet on the ensuing brawls — or duels, if sufficient money’s at stake. 2. Criminals are typically condemned to Sting, Slash, or Shield, wherein their fate is decided by the erratic bladetail decapedes kept for that purpose. (Lashing Tail d10, Poison Bite d8, Defensive Curl d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Burrowers) 162
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A Red Martian couple visit the Honeycomb on an ill-conceived holiday
3. Hazard is kept well out of the path of dust storms, but sometimes freak accidents happen. A wall of dust and ghosts brews up, and its path might or might not take it through Hazard. What are the odds?
HOOKS
THE HONEYCOMB From a distance, this grand mountain seems oddly polychromatic — its rust-colored surface glistens with streaks of gold and emerald, and dark specks seem to dance on it. As one draws nearer, it becomes apparent the specks are living things, crawling in and out of stained openings into the rock. The Honeycomb is a hollow mountain, a colossal collection of hives. Many huge arthropods and other vermin infest the Honeycomb, preying on one another in a complex relationship of feuding hive territories. The mountain’s rock nourishes a variety of curious lichens that feed the more herbivorous crawlers, which in turn feed the more carnivorous hives. A handful of daring souls harvest t he Honeycomb, slipping into the mazelike tunnels armed with smoke-guns or other such tricks, to bring out the singular nectars within. It’s intensely dangerous work, but the rewards are nourishing, ecstatic, or psychotropic elixirs found nowhere else on Mars. 163
1. To make a dramatic point, a judge has condemned a group of criminals to be fed into the hives of Honeycomb. The characters, arrested for minor and perhaps fictional charges, have been added to the shipment just to keep the numbers impressive. 2. The insects of one of the apex hives have been rapidly showing signs of increasing intelligence, most recently carving symbols into their walls that appear to be some form of pictogram. The colony of harvesters is very nervous about this development, and needs a solution. 3. A recent harvesting expedition brought back pieces of ancient artifact machines that were embedded in the hive’s wax. Is there a ruin below Honeycomb that only the arthropods have reached? 4. A noble’s bacchanal is spoiled by a batch of nectars that contained an unpleasantly-psychoactive impurity. An initial investigation concludes that if the nectars were poisoned, then it must have taken place back at the Honeycomb camps. Who would dare? 5. The Honeycomb sees a few “holy men” here and there, who partake of the nectars and pronounce strange prophecies. The cult of a particularly charismatic oracle is growing rapidly, drawing dreamer-adherents from the cities, and threatening to interfere with the nectar business.
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6. An enterprising merchant plans to start a honey farm of his own. He has already begun to cultivate similar fungi in tunnels under his manse — now all he needs is a pupal queen, delivered intact so it can begin a hive of its own upon emergence. CHARACTERS
1. Gur, Skarrut tunnel guide (Navigate the Honeycomb d10, Soporific Smoke Grenades d8, Vanish Into the Shadows d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Powerful City Debt) 2. Dieco Ranvan, Red Martian Vancian toxicologist (Exotic Poisons d10, Web of Intrigues d8, Self-Defense d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Marked for Death by Own Teacher) 3. Zizz, Red Martian tribal speaker-to-the-shelledones (Manipulate Hive Workers d10, Insect Cultist d8, Chitin Blades d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Abandoned Past as Vancian Noble) 4. Sussur, Red Martian veteran nectar harvester (Smoke Gun d8, Hive Knowledge d8, Keep Skin Intact d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Rare Addiction) 5. Iaco Mannocor, Red Martian opportunistic entrepreneur (Business Savvy d10, Wall of Guards d8, Double-Dealing d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Sank Too Much Money Into This Enterprise) 6. Isidore Deimoran, Red Martian enthusiastic naturalist (Innocent Charm d8, Amateur Student of Zoology d6, Concealed Pistol d6; Resolve d4; Trouble: Poor Threat Assessment) HAZARDS
1. The finest nectar is produced by brewer wasps of the apex hive. 2. The barrel-sized vespid predators called honey-hawks prey on targets who smell of a hive. 3. In a hive of docile glittershells, a small group of nectar aficionados have set up a camp. Their elixir of choice makes them increasingly paranoid and territorial toward other Martians. 4. Several of the more intoxicating nectars are brewed from large, purplish, psychotropic bracket fungi. The tunnels become more dangerous when the fungi are sporing. 5. A battle breaks out on the border between two hives, and the pheromonal aggression spreads quickly throughout each. Normally-docile workers lash out at anything not of the hive. 6. The base camps of nectar harvesters are tense, paranoid places. Gathering nectar is very dangerous work, and harvesters are quick to defend their take against anything they see as banditry — especially when honey-drunk.
MUNIQA It seems like one of any number of market towns near Vance. Perhaps the people seem a bit stiff. Perhaps visitors are politely, but firmly, encouraged to conduct their business and move on, and perhaps no one ever actually sees meat come out of the slaughterhouse, but still. It’s ordinary. Boring. The kind of place you become an adventurer to get away from. Except for the fact that not a single, solitary person lives there. Every citizen of Muniqa, every animal in their pens and every plant in their gardens, is a First Martian automaton. They’re incredibly lifelike — other than the aforementioned stiffness; unless one is injured it’s virtually impossible to see through the façade — but subtle cues like the lack of an actual harvest, the fact that only a very few children seem to live in the village, and the fact that none of the private homes have any of the necessary facilities for living people, hint that something is amiss. The inhabitants mostly resemble Red Martians from early adulthood to near-senescence. A few children and representations of other peoples exist, but they are very much in the minority. Although they appear to be fully-functional living beings, the Muniqs cannot reproduce sexually — when a family desires “children,” they must wait for (or cause) another member of the community to cease functioning, at which point the parts can be repurposed. Typically, the “parents” donate some of their redundant mechanisms, as this is the closest they can come to passing on their genes. Due to the inevitable breakdown of components, this isn’t a closed system: The population is steadily declining. HOOKS
1. A string of disappearances, young men and women from surrounding villages, leads back to Muniqa. All were last seen leaving a social event with a man from the town — harvest balls, town festivals, and the like. The perpetrator is trying to reverse the automata’s population decline by replacing failed mechanical components with biological ones. Several of his “children” are hidden in a cellar beneath his house — and some of them seem to be alive. 2. While passing through the town, characters are approached by a wide-eyed Roundhead who quietly begs them to help him escape. It seems he’s one of the few who can repair the ancient automata, and he’s being held hostage for his services. 3. Word reaches Muniqa of an ancient vault full of similar automata, long inactive. The village elders will pay handsomely for any that are brought 164
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back, but the site is infested with machine spiders and First Martian war machines. 4. In a ruin miles from Muniqa, a machine rumbles to life. A forgotten transmitter sends a signal, and every automaton in Muniqa sets down their tools, unfurls terrible weapons concealed within their limbs, and begins to march on Vance. 5. A plague strikes the region around Vance, and, despite the Muniqs’ best efforts, word begins to spread about the one village untouched by the disease. Suddenly the town is full of refugees seeking to escape the plague, doctors trying to figure out why no one is sick, and mystics proclaiming it an omen. Muniqa is filled to capacity — and it’s running out of food. 6. Every night at midnight, every Muniq in the village marches out to an empty field not far from the village to sing. The song lasts for a few minutes, then the automata wait expectantly for an hour before returning to their homes. If asked, none of them admit to being aware of this behavior. Three nights ago, something began to sing back.
d8, Friendly and Outgoing d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Starting to See Through the Cracks) 3. Akaleth the Butcher, town enforcer (Big, Sharp Knives d10, Fists Like Boulders d6, Loyal to a Fault d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Can’t Stand the Sight of Blood) 4. Usa, Roundhead “doctor” (I Can Fix Anything d10; Ancient Martian Lore d8; Surprisingly Intricate Toolkit d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Prisoner) HAZARDS
1. The Muniqs are generally peaceful and uninterested in causing strife, but they are deeply committed to maintaining their secrecy. They fear (rightly) that if their nature were discovered they would be subject to vivisection and experimentation by those who study ancient Martian technology. Anyone unlucky enough to see one injured or put together the clues will be attacked mercilessly. 2. Muniqs have a reputation for being tough and hard workers, which makes them occasionally subject to slave raids. 3. Whatever purpose the Muniqa automata were originally built for, it’s long forgotten. But certain behavioral protocols are still embedded deep in their mechanical brains, and sometimes a seemingly-innocuous word, gesture, or image provokes one into a homicidal trance state.
CHARACTERS
1. Oktar, village headwoman (Shrewd Negotiator d10, Startlingly Strong d8, Words of Wisdom d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Can’t Keep This Secret Forever) 2. Milrun the Unknowing, ignorant automaton (Just Naturally Tough I Guess d10, Investigative Mind
THE PRISMATIC WASTES A vast, empty quarter stretches from Vance to Hell’s Basin. Once a swathe of sandy scrubland, it was long ago the site of a terrible war amongst the First Martians. Whatever weapons they deployed in that war are thankfully lost to the dust of history, but their effects linger still: Across the landscape, the sand has been fused into sheets of multicolored glass. Green and gold, red and blue, silver and deep violet — by airship, on a cloudy day, it’s a hypnotically-beautiful sight. On the ground, in the harsh light of the noon sun, it can blind you, if it doesn’t cook you alive or starve you to death. And then, of course, you have the Chromat to worry about. Picture them: perhaps the size of a Red Martian, but hunched and twisted, with deeply pitted eyes and near-lipless mouths. Skin a patchwork of different colors, all so translucent you’d think they were made of the glass of their homeland. They need to eat and drink like anyone else (and watching their organs work through their skin is
a…singular experience), but they’re at least partially sustained by the deadly radiation of their homeland. They’re not feral, but theirs is a harsh life, and the choice between attacking travelers and dying is no choice at all. Wise Martians don’t dare risk the deep Wastes, where the glass is 10 meters thick and hot as a griddle, but stick to the outskirts where the Chromat keep trading camps. Rich Martians the world over love Prismatic glass for sculpture, stainedglass windows, and experiments both scientific and mystical, and there’s a killing to be made trading the trinkets of the city-states to Chromat glass-collectors.
R AINBOW Rainbow is the largest and most continuously populated of the Chromat trading camps, situated at the end of a road that once led from Vance to some forgotten city in the Wastes. The glass ground cover is thin here, so thin that a strong blow or a falling body can crack it. Officially,
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all shattered ground cover is collected by the camp administrators and thrown into the Glass Pit, but the poorest citizens scavenge what they can. It’s a rough town, full of all sorts of dangerous people and black-market goods, but step wrong and you might end up with your throat slit and your body cut to ribbons after a Glass Pit funeral. HOOKS
6. Exploitation of the Chromat and disregard for their land rights is a common problem in the Wastes, and it’s exacerbated in Rainbow, where colonialist attitudes and the prospect of easy riches meet in an ugly combination. A growing number of young Chromat have come together to protect their rights, and heroic adventurers from beyond the Wastes are exactly the allies they need. CHARACTERS
1. Thanks to its frontier location and the laissez-faire attitudes of the Chromat who control the town, Rainbow is a popular place for black-market deals and criminal auctions. In the back rooms of taverns and glass-ceilinged basements, shady characters from across Mars have paid exorbitant prices to participate in Amok-Nar’s latest auction. Treasures looted from ancient ruins and royal palaces alike will be on display, as well as something truly special, a treasure beyond price known only as the Gallowglass. 2. Chromat tribes recognize no rights to the Wastes but their own, but the governors of Rainbow are easily bribed and so it’s a common staging ground for illegal, wildcat glass-harvesting operations. These operations are always looking for mercenary security forces and specialized labor, and the hazard pay is generous. Then again, so are the hazards. 3. The glass streets of Rainbow are shattered in the wake of brawls with alarming regularity — in fact, you’d think there would be no ground cover left at all. But the glass seems to recover, growing like a scab over a wound until it reclaims its previous borders — and then a little more. 4. Sun Wheels are found throughout the Wastes, along the migratory routes used by Chromat glasscutters. Designed to offer temporary shelter in the event of unexpected sun, they consist of a shallow pit drilled down into the glass, with several short tunnels spoking off the central shaft to keep travelers out of direct sunlight. They are at best a temporary protection: Prolonged sunlight can still heat the glass to the point that a Sun Wheel resembles the inside of an oven. Every glass prospector out there has a story about finding a cooked corpse in a Sun Wheel, variously clutching a fabulous glass gem, a huge sack of money, or a treasure map. Some of those stories are even true. 5. The Glasscutter’s Union of Vance is sponsoring a cross-Wastes sled race, starting in Rainbow and skirting Hell’s Basin to finish in Illium. Contestants will have to brave deadly heat, toxic radiation, and the desolate landscape, but the prize is wealth beyond imagining.
1. Nuqab, Chromat Overseer of Trade (Greased Palms d10, Gatekeeper d8, Red Tape d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: No Scruples Whatsoever) 2. Shumar, wildcat Red Martian glasscutter (Survivalist d10, Eye for Opportunity d8, Reckless Disregard for Law and Order d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Riddled with Cancer) 3. Kavok of the Wild Eyes, Zaiu crime boss (The Zartini Crime Family d10, Offers That Should Really Be Given Due Consideration d8, Black Market Connections d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: The Costacci Consortium) 4. The Gallowglass, an Ancient Martian soldier-golem made of Prismatic glass, whose features match no known peoples of Mars (Great Glass Axe d10, Impenetrable Glass Armor d8, Heart Like an Atomic Furnace d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 3 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Bound in Servitude) 5. Ua, Roundhead glass-sled racer (Meticulous Plans d10, Loyal Eora Pack d8; Flawless Orienteering d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Deeply in Debt) 6. Qiban, Chromat Rights Activist (Firebrand d10, Lots of Like-Minded Friends d8, Knowledge of the Wastes d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Parry/2 Stunt; Trouble: Enemies. Lots of Enemies) HAZARDS
1. For such a small outpost, Rainbow is carved up between nearly a dozen criminal interests. Wander down the wrong glass-fronted street or wear the wrong color in the wrong bar, and you’re in for trouble. 2. While it’s possible to hire reputable guides into the interior of the Wastes — Chromat, or those with good relations with the Chromat tribes who can guarantee safe passage — at least a third of them are scoundrels who lead travelers into the Wastes and either kill them or wait for them to die of exposure or radiation poisoning. 3. While Rainbow itself is on the outskirts of the Wastes and thus relatively safe from radiation poisoning, anyone venturing deeper into the Wastes needs to 166
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take daily doses of “Illium salt,” which provides some small protection against radiation poisoning. 4. The Glass Pit is a popular place to dispose of the corpses that are an unavoidable waste product of criminal enterprise. There’s enough blood and bile down among the shards to raise up a whole lot of angry ghosts, should someone want to. 5. Contrary to popular belief, putting powdered glass into someone’s food won’t kill them. Unless of course it’s Prismatic Glass, which is mildly radioactive even long after it’s taken from the Wastes, and is thus a popular poison. 6. On streets of glass, a weapon is always near at hand. Even a friendly, honest bar brawl can turn deadly when someone grabs a chunk of pavement that can lay a throat open to the bone.
CAVE OF THE HYALINE MOTHER The Cave of the Hyaline Mother is really more of a gaping pit in the ground, but it’s the center of Chromat religion. According to their legends, the Hyaline Mother once dwelt among the moons and marveled at the innumerable hues of the stars. But when she gazed down at the surface of Mars, she grieved, for all was the color of rust and blood. So she sacrificed herself, plunging from the heavens and piercing the stone deep within the Wastes. Her coming turned the sands to glass and brought forth the Chromat, but she was a goddess of the cold and lifeless stars and knew naught of living things, and so the Chromat revere her for giving them life and despise her for giving them such a desolate homeland. Chromat who seek to understand the mysteries of the Wastes come here and are invigorated, but the glass surrounding the Cave is littered with the cancerous bones of other Martians who dared blaspheme by coming here. HOOKS
1. When the story of the Hyaline Mother reaches the Pale Martians of Anger, they recognize it as a millennia-distorted tale of a First Martian orbital weapon strike. If the weapon, as Chromat religion implies, is still intact down there, it could represent one of the most significant finds in centuries. 2. Chromat priests journey to the Cave of the Mother to receive her wisdom in the form of psychic visions. Many times these visions are cryptic, filled with strange symbols and omens of loss or failure, which the priests interpret as omens or taboos for their people to follow. Recently, though, the visions have changed; a young Chromat girl has received a divine
message: The Vitreous Father has woken from sleep, and must be reunited with his bride. The Mother has located him: at the deepest point of Hell’s Basin. 3. Blasphemously echoing the fall of the Hyaline Mother, a demon of the outer black falls from the sky in a terrible plume of fire and crashes into the Prismatic Wastes. The impact shatters glass for kilometers around, flinging tiny shards into the sky to fall as a deadly rain. The Mother screams the error of this mockery into her priests’ dreams, along with an image of those responsible: the sigil of the City of Anger. Only there can the Mother be appeased. What could she be asking for but blood? 4. Fewer and fewer Chromats are seen at the trading camps on the outskirts of the Prismatic Wastes. When pressed for the reason, the few that still come say their priests have received visions from the Mother that something wondrous will happen in one week’s time. The tribes have flocked to the Cave of the Hyaline Mother, but what is she counting down to? 5. After centuries of quiescence, new life begins to emerge from the Cave of the Hyaline Mother. Shambling things of yellow fungus, amorphous and yet somehow terribly akin to the form of Pale Martians, they stalk and devour Chromats by the dim, reflected light of the moons. Religious fundamentalism takes hold as the tribes seek to understand how they have displeased their goddess, setting the stage for a witch hunt — or a crusade. CHARACTERS
1. Akulon, Chromat Vessel of the Mother’s Wisdom (Holy Purpose d10, Psychic Visions d8, Loyal Followers d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Obsessively Zealous Followers) 2. Umlos Who Has Seen Her Face and Bears Her Sword, Chromat (Righteous Warrior d10, Vitrification Ray d8, A Leader to Her People d6; Resolve d10; Combat: 2 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Incessant Visions) 3. Kal-Lag, Pale Martian Archaeologist (Working Theory of the Ancients d10, Friendly with the Locals d8, An Explanation for Everything d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: A Blasphemer and Doesn’t Realize It) HAZARDS
1. The Cave of the Hyaline Mother is the most intensely-radioactive region in all the Prismatic Wastes. Chromats are invigorated by it, but few other Martians can survive more than a day or two near the cave’s mouth, and without extremely powerful (read: First Martian) radiation shielding, entering the cave is a death sentence. 167
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2. The Mother’s Angels guard her slumber well: Within the Cave of the Hyaline Mother, explorers who survive the fatal radiation must contend with ghostly figures of smokeless fire, whose swords of light carve Deimos steel like soft cheese. 3. Even non-Chromat Adepts who approach the Cave of the Hyaline Mother can receive messages from her, but their minds are ill-prepared for
contact with divinity. Brain damage, aneurisms, and even spontaneous incineration are all known side effects. 4. The Middle Children are a Chromat tribe who dwell near the Mother’s cave. According to their legends, the Eldest Children inherited the Deep Wastes where the glass is thicker than a Chromat is tall, and the Youngest Children were given leave
Worshippers at the Cave of the Hyaline Mother 168
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to explore the boundaries of the Wastes where the glass crunches underfoot, but the Middle Children were apportioned nowhere, and so they stayed behind to guard the Mother. They are fiercely devoted and prohibit all but tribal priests to approach the mouth of the cave — violently, if necessary. 5. The area around the Cave of the Mother is seismically unstable. Minor quakes are common, and
often cause the glass surface to shear, creating hard-to-see, yet razor-edged, crevasses. 6. Yellow Walkers (Amorphous Body d10, Damnably Strong d8, Hypnotic Keening d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 2 Strike; Trouble: Hunger Without End) normally feed on the radioactive flesh of Chromats, but any Martian who gets near the Cave of the Hyaline Mother picks up enough radiation to look like a meal to one of them.
ARMONICA CANYON Armonica Canyon lies near the edge of Hell’s Basin, in the most thickly-glassed part of the Prismatic Wastes. It’s the only source on Mars for Blackglass, which is valued not only for its beauty, but for its ability to dampen the psychic powers of Adepts and their ilk. Extracting the glass without fracturing it (and thus rendering it useless) requires sophisticated drilling equipment beyond the means of the Chromat, and at present a wildcat mining operation out of Illium is the sole concern operating in the canyon. The radiation, scorching heat, and Chromat attacks are dangerous enough, but when the wind whistles through the canyon after a rain (infrequent, but less so than elsewhere on Mars), it produces an eerie music that plunges listeners into a deep melancholy, and eventually drives them mad. SITES
1. The mining camp’s canteen is a makeshift tent of highly-reflective fabric set up in the lee of a tall glass spire. Here the wildcatters spend most of their pay on alcohol and illicit gambling, but the canteen also serves as company store, payroll office, and center of gossip. 2. Wildcatters aren’t known for their subdued, reserved behaviors, which is why the Hot Box exists. (Actually, five of them are scattered around the camp, but it’s always just “the Hot Box.”) These cells, sized just big enough for one person, are carved directly into the glass walls, positioned so they sit in the sunlight for at least a few hours every day. Most days they don’t get quite hot enough to literally cook the prisoner. 3. Cutting Blackglass is hot, sweaty, arduous work, and it starts at the Forge. Here, a team of grunts ensures that a ready supply of red-hot iron rods is always on hand. It’s a ramshackle thing — the only permanent structure in the canyon, but shoddily built and featuring a very large fire perilously close to a whole lot of fuel.
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4. The Quiet Room is a tent of thick leather, its flaps treated with sealant salvaged from an ancient ruin. If you get inside and get some wax into your ears before the canyon song reaches full volume, it provides at least a modicum of protection. The Quiet Room can squeeze about 250 Red Martian-sized souls inside. Presently, 200 wildcatters work the canyon, with more arriving every day. 5. Whistler’s Tower, at the southern tip of the camp, is the duty station for cutters who didn’t quite screw up enough to warrant the Hot Box. It’s the first place where the wind picks up after the rains, and it’s the job of whatever poor soul is stationed at its top to listen for the song and sound the alarm when it comes. It also happens to be damn near impossible to get down from the tower and into the Quiet Room before the canyon’s song reaches full volume. 6. The Docks are a cluster of tall, narrow spires of glass-clad rock lashed together by rope bridges and crude cargo lifts. It’s here that airships from Zodiac dock to offload mail and supplies in exchange for the precious Blackglass.
but after three days of searching no one’s been able to find her. Now more cutters are going missing: two, sometimes three a night. 5. While cutting through a particularly-rich vein of Blackglass, a crew finds a three-meter-diameter circular tunnel bored through the glass, plunging sharply down below the surface. It’s not smooth like a lava tube (and in any case the area isn’t volcanically active): it’s ridged, like a tunnel left by a burrowing creature. 6. A wealthy Zodiac aristocrat is murdered by psychic assault — which shouldn’t have been possible given the amount of Blackglass he wore every day. When it comes out that the “Blackglass” is just regular, clear Prismatic glass melted down and treated with ash, his heirs hire investigators to travel to Armonica Canyon and figure out who’s skimming off the top. CHARACTERS
1. Thantras, Red Martian wildcat leader (My Crew is the Best Crew d10, Handy With a Cutting Iron d8, My Own Boss d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Deep in the Red) 2. Muk, Zaiu head of camp security (No Nonsense Law Ape d10, Backup d8, Power of Arrest d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/2 Stunt; Trouble: Authoritarian Streak) 3. Qandr, Pale Martian drunk (Troublemaker d10, All the Gossip d8, 30-Year Veteran d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Nobody Listens to an Old Drunk)
HOOKS
1. At the peak of the cutting season (high summer, when the rains are fewest and the wind quietest), an unexpected storm hits the canyon, threatening a song of unprecedented volume. Before the camp can be evacuated, scouts report that a massive ghost storm has brewed up out of Hell’s Basin and is also heading right for the canyon — almost as if called there. 2. A labor organizer is put in the Hot Box after an altercation with company security. It was supposed to be just a day to stew, but when they open the Box to pull her out, she’s dead. Now, rumors of reprisals are flying around the camp, and all it’ll take to touch off the powder keg is one wrong word or a little too much booze. 3. An explosion at the Forge kills several wildcatters, injures many more, and knocks out the Docks. With the camp surgeon badly overworked, it’s a race against time to find a way to evacuate the camp before the canyon whistles up its next song. 4. The lookout on Whistler’s Tower didn’t make it back to the Quiet Room before the last canyon song. Normally anyone caught outside during the song is found in short order, catatonic or dead,
HAZARDS
1. It takes about two minutes from the first skirling whistle to full-blown canyon song. The wildcatters drill frequently enough to get to safety within that time, but outsiders who aren’t familiar with it can easily get caught out. 2. Unlike elsewhere in the Wastes, the glass in Armonica Canyon is meters thick and extremely hard. It doesn’t chip easily, and the surface is slick and smooth, making footing precarious. 3. The Ghoul of the Glass (Damn Near Invisible d10, Strangling Fingers d8, Knows the Camp Like the Back of Her Hand d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Stunt; Trouble: Compelled by the Canyon’s Song) is probably just a story the old wildcatters tell new recruits to scare them. Probably.
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SKARRAS North of Cimmeria and its deadly fecundity lie the plains of Skarras. When the Skarruts venture across this landscape, they are always on their way somewhere… for while the environs of Skarras are not scoured by the permanent cyclones of the Nowhere Plains to the north, those storms spawn gritty, ghost-filled clouds of sand and rock that billow south. First Martians occupy the city of Dread, but even their traders will not shelter in the shadow of Dangling Raster.
DANGLING R ASTER North of Skarras and east of Dread it waits, set like the sword of Damocles on the underside of a vast, natural archway. Its inverted spires hang from the stone, some ending hundreds of meters above the ground below, some nearly brushing the floor of the ancient, lava-carved valley. Once it was a great city, that much is plain — a tangled webwork of bridges, liftways, and flying docks bristles and juts still from the structure — but its doom was long ago, and its purpose a mystery to those few explorers who have dared to map it. It was a temple, some say, to gods long-vanished from the face of Mars, who brought riches from beyond the stars. It was a hub of trade, say others, built to command the Flowstone Road and extract tribute from the obsidian-hulled triremes that sailed the molten rock, laden with shining treasure. A thousand tales give the old ruin a thousand different purposes, from the venal to the sublime. Whatever version you might hear in the gin- soaked taverns of Skarras, one thing is as constant as the polestar: treasure. Wealth beyond measure lies heaped and unclaimed in the anti-towers of Raster, they say. It must do — why else would the ancients build such a strange and inhospitable place? And surely it’s never been claimed, they press on. After all, it’s weeks out from Skarras across barren plains and lava fields, with precious little shelter from the howling Martian wind, and no food or water to speak of. And that’s before you take into account the Hanging Apes.
dertakers pry open his left fist, they find an ornate silver key, stamped with a sigil that can only be an image of Dangling Raster. 2. The Elysian Mount rumbles and smokes, and suddenly the long-fabled treasures of Dangling Raster risk being burned to cinder by the eruption. The get-rich-quick schemers are out in force: One band of mercenaries and treasure hunters proposes a lightning raid on the ruins to find and seize what they can, and damn the Hanging Apes and the perils of the lava fields. A rich water baron proposes financing a lava break dug out by Skarrut masons. But when the water baron and the mercenary financier turn up dead, it’s clear that a third faction is in play — one that wants to see Raster and all its secrets buried in molten stone. 3. A Zaiu biologist wants to study the Hanging Apes and their remarkable adaptations to their isolated habitat. She hires stout adventurers to escort her to Raster and swears she’ll go no higher than the Fourth Reach, but when the first night’s camp is interrupted by drums and a whistling of the wind that can only be described as musical, it becomes clear that the Hanging Apes are not the mere beasts they seem. 4. Strange airships, painted a pale blue to blend with the sunset, appear out of the empty west every night. They dock at the highest foundations of Dangling Raster for the entire night, then sail on to the east at dawn. No one ever sees a ship making the return journey, and no explorer has found a way past the 18th Reach, well below the ships’ docks. If the blue ships have a crew, they’ve never made themselves known. SITES
1. Groundscrape Tower: The “tallest” of Dangling Raster’s towers, reaching nearly a hundred meters straight down from the archway that is the ruin’s foundation. It ends 10 meters above the valley floor, and is the most common point of ingress for explorers. Its lifts and staircases are only intermittently functional: Climbing above the Fourth Reach necessitates moving between towers and crisscrossing the city to find clear places to climb. 2. The Upper Reaches: Above the 15th Reach (that is, the 15th level as measured from the bottom of Groundscrape Tower) is the domain of the Hanging Apes. While they often descend to the lower Reaches to hunt and forage, climbing above the 15th Reach brings a much-increased danger
HOOKS
1. A hardened explorer of the wastes staggers into Skarras, delirious from exposure and ranting about the Inverse Portal and a place where the stars flow backward. He dies a few days later, without ever regaining lucidity, and when the un171
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of attack. Some explorers report seeing totems of bone and chipped obsidian that seem to be placed as warnings or territorial markers. 3. The Woman in Green: On a narrow skybridge at the 13th Reach, one that has never been mapped to a known route through the ruin, is a Red Martian woman in a green tunic. She sits calmly, in a pose of apparent meditation: legs folded beneath her, head bowed, hands clasped. She is quite obviously dead and partially mummified by the constant, dry wind, but even the carnivorous Hanging Apes have not disturbed her body. While no one seems to know how to get to her, she’s easily visible from most of the Lower Reaches, and serves as an orienteering reference for other explorers. 4. The Observatory: A huge stone dome on the Ninth Reach, the Observatory is so named because it resembles almost precisely the great observatories of Zodiac. Never mind the fact that this one is placed such that the only possible thing its telescope could see would be the valley below. 5. The Golden Doors: On an otherwise-unremarkable tower at the 23rd Reach, a pair of golden doors, fully six meters high and three across, can be seen shining in the sunlight at dawn and dusk in the spring and winter. No explorer has found a way past the 18th Reach and returned to tell of it, but cartographers with telescopes have charted a probable path from the Woman in Green to the Golden Doors. 6. The Bridge: Crossing the actual rock bridge Dangling Raster hangs from is a perilous feat: the Amazonian highlands are sheer and smooth, with no protection from winds that can reach hundreds of kilometers per hour. The few who have attempted it report that the only way into the towers from above would be to rappel down the wall of the bridge itself, and that though the bridge seems like a solid arch of unbroken rock, something comes up from beneath at night to snatch the unwary. Something bigger and faster than any Hanging Ape.
d10, “Ropes? Who Needs Ropes?” d8, Hanging Ape Whisperer d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: “Now How Do I Get Down?”) HAZARDS
1. The Hanging Apes of Raster (Two Hearts, Four Limbs, Lots of Teeth d10, Iron Grip d8, Unbelievably Flexible d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 2 Strike/2 Stunt; Trouble: You) 2. Unexpected crosswinds coupled with a lack of guard rails make being swept off into the void a constant risk. 3. Many routes through the ruin are only accessible via unstable rope bridges, swinging vines, or perilously-narrow ledges. 4. Not all the towers of Raster are securely anchored — a quake or a volcanic eruption could send one tumbling to the valley below.
HIRSHEL Once, a city of glass and stone sparkled upon the Radium Plateau. Time has buried it beneath dunes of sand, but the sand remembers. The dreaming dead wake the dunes to yearning, wanting to recreate the city in their grains but not knowing how. All they can do is shift into the shapes it dimly recalls — a staircase here, a tower there, and more often than not, a muddle of half-understood forms rising and falling at the fragments of whims. This is Hirshel as it has become. HOOKS
1. Music changes the sand’s mindless remembrance into an inspired ballet, shifting it into shapes and images that match the timbre and mood. If a song resonates particularly with a memory buried in the dunes, the shape it makes crystallizes into a glass statue. 2. Blood spilled on the sands of Hirshel reminds the former city of the violence that ended its days in the sun. The sands attack with armed limbs and deadly pits, tense up into harsh and jagged abstract shapes and traps, and turn a deeper crimson. Can the characters discover what might calm the dunes again? 3. Whenever a ship from Illium passes over Hirshel, the sands respond, reaching up into the sky as though they might join in the ship’s journey. If the city once knew the secret of flight, perhaps deposits of the precious antigravity element still lie buried somewhere here.
CHARACTERS
1. Kalada, Red Martian ruins guide (Tougher Than Old Leather d10, Dreams of Raster-That-Was d8, Every Kind of Rope You Could Want d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Bored Rich Kids) 2. Shon-Kar, Zaiu zoologist (Walking Zoological Encyclopedia d10, Specimen Catalog d8, “I’ve Only Read About This!” d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: “I’ve Only Read About This!”) 3. Raklow the Scrambler, Pale Martian free climber (Four Arms Means Twice as Many Handholds 172
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though how varies from person to person. Even those who leave Noachia can’t escape it — so, most say, why bother?
CHARACTERS
1. The Dune-Lover, Red Martian wanderer (Medium for the Wind d10, Desert Dweller d8, Haunting Beauty d8; Resolve d8; Trouble: Dogged by the Past) 2. Ashok, Zaiu troubadour and troupe leader (Joyous Song d10, Generous Soul d8, Dune Favorite d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Wrapped Up in Others) 3. Phion, Red Martian trapped in a sand prison (Life Is Honor d12, Precision Swordsmanship d8, Knack for Provocation d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry; Trouble: Desperate Enough for Anything)
HOOKS
1. A merchant sets up shop along the most direct route into the city, spreading word of a genuine fountain of youth from Ziggur to Illium, and charging for admission. Nobody warns his customers what awaits them in the gray city. 2. The characters are dragged before Noachia’s kangaroo court on some nonsensical charge, and the crowd eats up every minute. The penalty is death, but fortunately, one of the city’s denizens agrees to represent the characters’ case. But is the offer sincere, or just another part of the show? 3. A reclusive cult of Noachim that lives in the abandoned sewers under the streets claims that one of the characters is their god reincarnated in mortal form, insisting that they take their rightful divine place and deliver the righteous from their immortal curse.
HAZARDS
1. Living scorpions with carapaces of scintillant glass roam the dunes, thirsty for the blood their dead cousins spurn. 2. Shelters under the Radium Plateau’s sweltering heat can vanish as easily as they form, leaving those relying on their shade to the sun’s severe glare.
CHARACTERS
N OACHIA Noachia, the dystopian paradise. Noachia, the dusk city of angels. Noachia, where death has no meaning and life isn’t far behind. These are the rumors passed from caravan to caravan on the Radium Plateau about the gray city, worn like a grandfather’s abandoned coat by its reckless squatters. The people here drink from the well they call the Deep, which plunges headlong into the depths beneath the Plateau to bring up cool water. It sustains life the way water should, but also in ways that it shouldn’t. The few who call the dead old city home cannot age or fall ill, cannot starve or wither. If they’re killed, their bodies are committed to the Deep and, within a fortnight, they rise reborn from mud and clay, just as they were…at least, on the surface. Since they don’t fear death and life is unchanging, they constantly seek new ways to feel alive and think nothing of wanton violence. After so many years of resurrection with the radium-saturated miracle waters of the Deep in their veins, the Noachim glow with an otherworldly light, and they’re all linked by an eerie but subtle similarity that makes outsiders shiver without knowing why. They each can feel what the others feel to some extent,
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1. Imbrael, Red Martian pleasure seeker (Narcotic Tolerance d10, Wild Abandon d8, Contagious Laugh d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Addicted to Everything) 2. Anixion, Red Martian self-imposed exile (Plateau Wanderer d8, Pack Rat d8, Glows in the Dark d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Haunted by the Deep) 3. Jarizur, Red Martian gang leader (Rousing Battle Cry d10, Steals from Everyone d8, Fiercely Territorial d6; Resolve d8; Combat: 2 Strike/; Trouble: Impatient) HAZARDS
1. The gambling dens of Noachia rival Ziggur’s Inverted Court for oddities, but beware playing to win — outsiders aren’t told that prizes run the gamut of extreme experiences. 2. A few sects among the Noachim believe themselves chosen by some higher power to decide who lives and who dies. Their judgments are seldom rooted in compassion or justice. 3. One menacing cutpurse is much the same as another — literally. The characters are hounded by an endless series of violent thieves no matter where they go, all speaking eerily-similar words.
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THARSIS Tharsis is a bleak land that stretches between Surtur, Skarras, and the Labyrinth of Night.
THE LUNAR MOSAIC Stretching out on the southwestern outskirts of Tharsis, a string of impact craters in an otherwise-barren wasteland gives testament to a Martian sky once abundant with moons. Lunar scholars believe the Red World had as many as six moons long ago, but that some incredible force broke them and scattered their remains, sending them crashing in pieces to Mars. No one agrees on what might have sundered the four dead moons — a cosmic enemy, a passing comet, ruinous sorcery — but those who remember such things do know that the Lunar Mosaic is where the riven satellites touched down. A miasmic energy field that might once have protected the lunar inhabitants now malfunctions dangerously, surrounding the whole area like a curtain of floating oil. It shuts in myriad ruins from the moons’ surfaces and shuts out any who can’t withstand its debilitating touch long enough to pass through. For those who can, the wrecks of lunar ports and evidence preserved by thin air remain for the exploration. HOOKS
1. A series of still-clear footprints leads from the northernmost crater into Arcadia. Could someone have survived the lunar crash and escaped to beg help from the Pale Martian cities? Or perhaps someone came ages ago from Arcadia to investigate and returned home with long-lost secrets that could be unearthed? 2. In the wreckage, the characters find a message addressed to someone long forgotten, in a language lost to time. It contains a map pointing to an unknown device, marked with coil-shaped sigils. It takes expert navigation to translate the pre-crash map into something that makes sense at the bottom of the modern crater. 3. Debris from strange ships with an alien look and odd, brightly-colored sigils lie scattered about, matching no known historical Martian characteristics. Did these ships bring visitors from a different star? If a method safer than the shipsling could be gleaned for travel to Deimos, it could revolutionize war and trade both. 4. Skeletons and other evidence uncovered gradually in the ruins of a shattered port paint the picture of an ancient guerrilla war fought over resources,
or the right to leave the moon, or for some other purpose. Savvy archaeologists can follow the trail of clues to discover what the moon people coveted — and whether it’s still here. 5. Seen from above, the craters’ layout suggests not only a premeditation to the moons’ destruction, but a pattern. Was it part of some massive ritual that called down the wrath of gods on the lunar people? Were they a sacrifice to some larger purpose? 6. One of the characters finds that while they are inside the energy field, they experience some kind of transformation that gives them amazing abilities or features they never had before. Leaving transforms them back to their usual state. Can they figure out a way to take the change along? Will they choose to stay? Or must they learn to accept themselves the way they are? CHARACTERS
1. Laleha, Pale Martian explorer and peddler (Friendly Schemer d10, Miracle Medicine d8, I’ve Been Around d8; Resolve d6; Trouble: Martian Who Cried Wolf) 2. Kyba, wealthy Red Martian noble (Covets Lunar Ruins d10; Allergic to Work d8, Auction Broker d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Dismisses Hard Truths) 3. Sibish, crater dweller (Unknown Species d12, Hunts Leshmai d8, Waiting for Deimos Lover d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Long Isolation) HAZARDS
1. The energy field encircling the Mosaic saps the strength and life from living creatures that pass into it, and melts certain inorganic materials into a viscous paste. 2. Showers of enormous meteors land in this area with alarming frequency, and can’t be predicted. 3. The characters accidentally trip a still-functioning security alarm. The loud keening sound attracts natural predators, and the energy field solidifies, trapping the characters inside. 4. A peculiar oily fungus grows in abundance at the bottom of the craters, found nowhere else on Mars. Eating it provides plenty of nutrients, but also causes a violent rash that eventually grows fungus of its own if not cured. 5. The Lunar Mosaic is far from any atmosphere processor, and the air is fragile and thin. Spend174
THARSIS
ing too much time here can make one lightheaded and dizzy. 6. The leshmai are predatory primates once native to the dead moons. On Mars, they developed fantastic strength to compensate for its stronger gravity. When they run, the ground shakes.
2. Iarle, Red Martian alabaster artisan (Inspired Artwork d10, Talk of the Town d8, Attractive and Shy d6; Resolve d6; Trouble: Easily Convinced) 3. Dioniz, Red Martian merchant from Coronal (Elitist Connoisseur d12, Shrewd Opportunist d8, Shameless Flirt d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: A Long Way from Home)
THE SLEEPING WITCHES
HAZARDS
Far to the southeast of Surtur, the Tharsis Mountains and the bottomless fissure known as the Lacuna stand as a barrier between Tharsis and the Labyrinth of Night. The tallest among them are three broad and (mostly) dormant volcanoes, the Sleeping Witches. Arsia the Maiden is the southernmost volcano, restless in her tormented slumber. Pavonis the Mother is the central volcano, sleeping deeply while the precious glaciers of which she was once so proud slowly melt. Ascraeus the Matriarch is the northernmost volcano, shaking the earth with her mighty snores. Their gentle slopes teem with villages that worship them as goddesses and produce fantastical artistic works of alabaster representing their various forms that would fetch a hefty price, if anyone else on Mars knew about them. These people hold sleep to be a sacred state and practice several different kinds of oneiromancy.
1. Once a year, the sky above Arsia erupts into a massive dust cyclone, choking the air with slag and soot for miles. To venture outside is to risk one’s life. 2. Dream oracles concoct a potent type of mineral brew that sends the imbiber into a wild sleep and conjures vivid, prophetic dreams. If the dosage isn’t exactly right, the sleeper may never wake. 3. An abandoned village sits atop a priceless trove of mineable ore, but its broken roads, toxic fumes, and collapsing sinkholes betray the subterranean fire that’s been burning beneath it for centuries. 4. Cavaliers come from all over Tharsis to tame the enormous and vicious caldera hawks as mounts, and risk life and limb to collect the volcanic gems they use in their nests. 5. Arsia’s infamous hot springs are part luxurious pastime, part deadly threat. Predicting when they’ll heat up to unbearable extremes is a friendly competition between oracles. 6. Traversing Ascraeus’ slopes is hazardous not only for her capricious rockslides, but also for her sudden earthquakes and blade-sharp volcanic grasses.
HOOKS
1. Every village has its own set of prophesies predicting Arsia’s next waking and its own set of legends about what happens then. Two different factions believe she’ll wake soon, but their disagreements about how and what they should do about it are about to erupt into violence. 2. Pavonis’ prized glaciers lie just under the surface of the rock face, protected from erosion and the harsh sun. Village ice miners carefully chip away bits of pumice and basalt to get at the water beneath. But, every year, the ice melts faster and faster. How can it be preserved? 3. The village of Escha on the slopes of Ascraeus sits directly in the path of a massive landslide that the dream oracles say will come any day now. But the villagers refuse to leave, claiming that the goddess has given them signs. Can signs alone save 100 lives? CHARACTERS
1. Annikki, Red Martian dream oracle (Mineral Brewer d10, Ecstatic Dreams d8, Unshakeable Faith d6; Resolve d8; Trouble: Addicted to the Brew)
ZOHAR THAT WAS PROMISED Then come ye to Zohar and behold the promise of Sesinah fulfilled. In the valley of the tree shall ye be washed in the blood of the faithful and be guarded by wrathful angels set about thee to the ruin of thine oppressors. — The Book of the Zoharim, Wanderings 7:13 It lies many months’ journey south of Arcadia, in the forgotten valley of a long-dry river. It is Zohar, the Place That Was Promised, and by a miracle of Sesinah of the Ten-Faces it sustains the Zoharim in the wastes — for in that desolate place where naught should bear fruit, a great tree climbs toward the heavens, and the tree is named Zohar. Pure, clean water drips from its branches, and its fruits are healthful and sweet. The Pale Martians who dwell around it call themselves the Zoharim and say that, of old, their ancestors fled 175
CHAPTER FOUR: A WORLD OF ADVENTURE
Arcadian persecution under the guidance of a prophet named Alhaz, who led them to their foreordained home. They are few in number and devoutly religious, though the faith of Sesinah is all but unknown outside the valley of the tree. The Zoharim religion is one of intricate mystery. They believe that Zohar is a representation on Mars of the mind of God, and believe that by climbing it they attain oneness with Sesinah. This is not as easy as it seems: Zohar stands over 100 meters tall, and its bark is slick with sap that induces a state of euphoria when it comes into contact with bare skin. The high priests of the Zoharim recognize 10 Stations of the Tree, corresponding to the 10 Faces of God, and only the most pious can climb the entire path. Visitors are welcomed in Zohar, for God commands that the stranger be cared for, but they are also feared: according to the Zoharite faith, their valley is protected by angels set at either end, who guard them from discovery and subjugation by their old masters. Strangers coming into the valley are a warning that the angels are displeased, and must be offered sacrifice to regain their blessing. The Zoharim do not sacrifice their guests, of course: Rather, for every stranger who comes to Zohar, the Zoharim choose a promising youth from their own number and hang them from the lowest branches of the tree. HOOKS
1. Most visitors to Zohar are so appalled by the rite of sacrifice that they never share its location after leaving. A water prospector from Surtur, though, discovered the valley and deduced that Zohar must be fed by a bountiful underground reservoir. She reasons that there’s no need to seize the land or pay for it: Just head out with a caravan a few hundred strong to “negotiate,” then watch the zealots off themselves en masse. 2. A new drug is showing up on the streets of Surtur and Siren, made from the sap of the Zoharim’s sacred tree. Refined and processed, it’s a highly-addictive euphoric that inspires a kind of religious mania that drives addicts to travel toward Zohar. 3. The sacrifice of the innocent occurs when strangers prepare to leave the valley once more. The only way to dissuade the high priest from enacting it is to climb the tree and prove that a visitor is no stranger, but a lost Zoharite returning home. Shame the Speaker of the Angel of the North doesn’t want to see any new converts. 4. On the eve of their departure from the valley,
A Zoharite climbs the Stations of the Tree 176
THARSIS
a young Zoharite approaches the characters and begs them to help him get out. It seems he’s marked for sacrifice and doesn’t want to die. Of course, slipping away in the night just means the High Priest will choose another sacrifice in the morning.
HAZARDS
1. Trying to climb Zohar to prove one’s enlightenment to the Zoharim. The higher you go, the thinner and slicker the branches become — and the more potent the narcotic sap. 2. Travelers entering the Valley of the Tree seem to attract fierce storms and rockslides, almost as if an occult hand were guiding the disasters toward them. 3. The sand beneath Zohar has been watered with the blood of many of the faithful. When the wind howls and the dust storms roll in, the ghosts of ancient sacrifices frolic around the tree, seeking whom they may become.
CHARACTERS
1. Hazim, Pale Martian High Priest (Voice of the Community d10, Rock of Faith d8, Initiate of the Seventh Station d6; Resolve d10; Trouble: Ambitious Under-Priests) 2. Kulak, Pale Martian Mother of Wisdom (Chooser of the Slain d10, Very Sharp Knife d8, Quiet Devotion d6; Resolve d6; Combat: 1 Strike/1 Parry/1 Stunt; Trouble: Never Climbed the Tree)
177
“I don’t know how to say...what to say. What words do I need to use to ask?” She was clawing softly at her skin, drawing pale streaks along her forearms with nails torn to the quick. In a voice so soft I almost didn’t hear her, “It’s until death do us part, yeah? Well he’s dead, but he won’t part. Please. Please help me. I feel him in my bones and on my breath. Get him out.” Two zaius were smoking in the alley outside. Their meandering duet on oud and aoide had drawn an audience, and the dancers were trilling something high and sad, their voices weaving around each other and the plaintive music. It echoed around us, in the oil-lamp light, on the unclean side of town. Ghost eaters bundled up with the slaughterhouses and crematoriums and plague doctors. The scent of the sandstorm still lingered on her, spicy and rank. And when she leaned into the light I could see the edge of him, pushing against her skin. Whether he was her lover or not I couldn’t say, but certainly this ghost was hungry for contact with her. He was faintly crawling within her eyes, looking possessively out at me. I nodded, and gestured to the sparsely-furnished room. A bed, a lamp, a pile of carpets, a lap desk, a few wax copy books. If she had known to find me, she knew what she was asking. She knew the price. She awkwardly started to sit on the ground, slid into a kneel, and finally fell to her side. Where she lay, curled around her heart, against the edge of my bed. I took up a seat a respectful distance away, and held out my hand. She eventually took it, and pressed it to her heart. I could feel his resistance before I spoke a word, before I made an incision. Not many ghosts want to be eaten, but this one pushed back jealously as soon as the thought of permission sparked in her mind. Almost before she could speak he was trying to close her mouth. But even a syllable is enough, if the meaning is clear and the sentiment is true. I made the incision as quickly as I could, startling her to stillness before she could flinch from the pain. The dancers outside picked up speed, the loose lines weaving into smaller, concentric circles. The players slowly caught up, and a fife player slid in contra punctum. I lit the salvia and sativa, and spoke. Softly at first, so that my words just touched her skin. The incision flared like a hibiscus flower, and the first shape began to emerge—dusty and cool and not yet like a man, but like the idea of one. We whispered together in the oil light, as I told her her memories of him, and he writhed in the heavy smoke in the air around us. One by one we drew them out and cast them into the smoke. Outside the dancers called and the players wailed, and we were all of us caught up in the music of mourning.
We have endeavored to present the world of Mars in as useful a fashion as we can, and to make as much of the descriptions of its people, cities, and regions table-facing as possible. This weird Mars only lives through you and your games, your players, and your table. Each locale in Chapter 3 offers numbered lists to cue adventure and add complications. The tools found in this section take this a step or two further, and incorporate the location-specific lists into their processes. As always, trust your judgement, gut, sense of story, and the agency of your players before you trust our convoluted narrative machinery. If one of these generators outputs nonsensical results, which you have no interest in reconciling with your table’s particular tastes and history, then tweak to suit, ignore it, or as the astrologers do, note the presence of Vesta in Phobos’s Third House, and, without loss of honor, abandon the results and reroll.
That said, see what your imagination can do with a nonsense result. A character with a known personality is fitted into an adventure seed in such a way as to contradict established characterization? It might be a result you can’t use, or that discontinuity itself might be part of the adventure. Why is she acting this way? This isn’t like her at all. Suddenly, the adventure has another element, another avenue for your players to explore, and you their GM have a challenge before you — take these strange results, and weave a cohesive story from the chaos as your players interact with them. There is pleasure to be had in surrendering yourself to the oracular power of rolled dice, taking whatever weird scraps they offer, and making them into something wonderful. This is part of the game you alone get to play, unless you choose to share it. Onwards, onwards to victory or madness.
CHARACTERS: THE PERSONAGENESIS MACHINE When you require a non-player character, and wish to be surprised and delighted by the unexpected, actuate the machine with eight rolls of two d6s of different colors, and with the results on the tables, to complete the sentence below. Dice used in the Personagenesis Machine are read with one color representing the first digit in a two-digit number and the second color representing the second digit. For example, a roll of 1 and 3 would be
read as 13. You may also roll 1 die twice to generate the first and second digits of the lookup number.
You meet_______table 1+2_______ , a ______table 3______ ______table 4_______ from _______table 5_______ with _______table 6_________ who wants ______table 7__________ but _______table 8____________ .
180
CHARACTERS: THE PERSONAGENESIS MACHINE
1. NAME, PART THE FIRST
3. DESCRIPTOR
2. NAME, PART THE SECOND
11.
Red
11.
Cogleostri
11.
Morose
12.
Gorgeous
12.
DeVance
12.
Famous
13.
Aria
13.
Valentine
13.
Irascible
14.
Early
14.
Bussolano
14.
Childish
15.
Lucca
15.
Lightfinger
15.
Larcenous
16.
Green
16.
Castlagarda
16.
Trustworthy
21.
Alessi
21.
Tarek
21.
Lying
22.
Black
22.
Aguinaga
22.
Doomed
23.
Siena
23.
Moon
23.
Possessed
24.
Umber
24.
DeSerafin
24.
Driven
25.
Sane
25.
Costa-Condradi
25.
Smooth
26.
Amilia
26.
Tsa
26.
Heartbroken
31.
Callis
31.
Ferriz
31.
Oathbound
32.
Violet
32.
Gohar
32.
Fool
33.
Gemma
33.
Sagessa
33.
Crude
34.
Nico
34.
Elbatanawy
34.
Educated
35.
Trista
35.
Knows Secrets
35.
Drunk
36.
Sanguine
36.
Delirachio
36.
Insightful
41.
Arlo
41.
Fan
41.
Elderly
42.
Lucky
42.
Delfin
42.
Star-mad
43.
Santo
43.
Sun
43.
Addict
44.
Bleak
44.
Schiavokla
44.
Talkative
45.
Neph
45.
Saadauri
45.
Haunted
46.
Osir
46.
Ariza
46.
Honorable
51.
Nubin
51.
Wei
51.
Unhinged
52.
Orange
52.
Verabenova
52.
Fastidious
53.
Xao
53.
Ahmin-Geb
53.
Enormous
54.
Chiniq
54.
Volpe
54.
Cursed
55.
Forgotten
55.
Hendhal
55.
Filthy
56.
Vaughn
56.
Puglessi
56.
Laconic
61.
Mahaska
61.
Yei
61.
Cultured
62.
Prince
62.
Nerinavari
62.
Creepy
63.
Ochekka
63.
Quillion
63.
Dapper
64.
Zandophen
64.
DeZodiac
64.
Boisterous
65.
Aubergine
65.
Redhand
65.
Master
66.
Lalawythika
66.
Brevarusso
66.
Dead
181
CHAPTER FIVE: GAME MASTER RESOURCES
4. VOCATION OR AVOCATION
11.
Assassin
12.
Pirate
13.
Coachman
14.
Sailor
15.
Soldier
16.
Poet
21.
Adept
22.
Cultist
23.
Nomad
24.
Thug
25.
Astrologer
26.
Spy
31.
Inquisitor
32.
Composer
33.
Magus
34.
Informant
35.
Prophet
36.
Explorer
41.
Tinker
42.
Scribe
43.
Dream Seller
44.
Bandit
45.
Guard
46.
Balladeer
51.
Engineer
52.
Con Artist
53.
Automaton
54.
Cartographer
55.
Merchant
56.
Sculptor
61.
Investigator
62.
Zealot
63.
Thief
64.
Occultist
65.
Painter
66.
Antiquarian
5. FROM... AT LEAST LATELY (GRANTS A D6 TRAIT RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE OF THE INDICATED LOCALE)
182
11.
North Pillar Region
12.
Vance
13.
Arcadia
14.
Arcadia — the shanties
15.
Arcadia — the excavations
16.
The Prismatic Wastes
21.
Coronal
22.
Surtur
23.
Foresight
24.
Battlehymn
25.
Battlehymn - Southside Slums
26.
Illium
31.
Skarras
32.
Chiaro-that-is
33.
Chiaro-that-was
34.
Chiaro — Tomb Valleys
35.
Chiaro — Cloister of the Blind Saint
36.
Hazard
41.
Noachiq
42.
The Sleeping Witches
43.
Cyncus
44.
Ziggur
45.
Zodiac
46.
Dangling Raster
51.
The Honeycomb
52.
Muniqq
53.
Anger
54.
Anger — the markets
55.
Anger — the arena
56.
Siren
61.
Cimmeria
62.
Cimmeria — Qinon Palace
63.
Cimmeria — Forest of Corpses
64.
Wyeth
65.
Wyeth — Deephome
66.
Southern Black Rubble
CHARACTERS: THE PERSONAGENESIS MACHINE
6. TROUBLE OR SECRET DEPTHS (+ OR - IMPROVES OR REDUCES THE DIE TYPE AN INDICATED TRAIT, MINIMUM D4)
11.
Only months to live (-Resolve)
12.
A crowd of hangers-on and followers (+Resolve)
13.
Uncanny insight into the immediate future (+Descriptor Trait)
14.
Knowledge of your current troubles (+Resolve)
15.
A death warrant in their home city (-From Trait)
16.
A strange lingering odor (-Resolve)
21.
A pigheaded attitude (+Resolve)
22.
An unexpected familial relationship (+Resolve)
23.
A tendency to be hypnotized by music (-Resolve)
24.
Always another concealed weapon (+Vocation)
25.
A bone-deep ache for revenge (+Resolve, -Descriptor Trait, +From Trait)
26.
Dueling scars (+Resolve, gain “Flashing Blade” at d8)
31.
A weird, universal beauty (+Resolve, gain “Gorgeous to Everybody” trait at d8)
32.
Ink-stained fingers (Gain “Incredibly Well-Read” trait at d8)
33.
More confidence than ability (+Resolve, -Vocation)
34.
Modesty about impressive skill (-Resolve, +Vocation)
35.
A surprisingly-high bounty (+Resolve, +Vocation trait, -From trait)
36.
A highly-infectious disease (-Vocation Trait, -Resolve, +Descriptor Trait)
41.
A nostalgic character (+From trait)
42.
Astrological tattoos (+Resolve, +Descriptor Trait)
43.
A hidden parasitic twin skilled in the dark arts (Gains “Parasitic Adept” trait at d8)
44.
More passion than sense (+Resolve, +Descriptor Trait, -Vocation Trait)
45.
A necklace of ears (+Resolve, -From Trait)
46.
A salty vocabulary (+Resolve, -From Trait)
51.
Haunted eyes (-Resolve, +Vocation Trait)
52.
Vulnerability to iron and bone (-Resolve when wounded by iron or bone)
53.
Well-worn boots (+Resolve, +Vocation Trait, +From Trait)
54.
A cursed aura (+Resolve, -Home Trait, -Background Trait, +Vocation Trait)
55.
Transplanted maichara glands (+Resolve, +Vocation Trait, -From Trait)
56.
A string of jilted lovers, some of whom seek revenge (+Resolve Trait, -From Trait)
61.
No memory of how they arrived (-Descriptor Trait)
62.
Uncanny pheromones (+Resolve, Gain “Intensely Persuasive” at d8 when dealing with own species)
63.
The appetite of 10 hungry Pale Martians (+Resolve)
64.
A wicked sense of humor (+Resolve, +From trait)
65.
An intelligent parasite (-Resolve, +Descriptor Trait, -Vocation Trait)
66.
A ghost-bone flute (Gains “Play the dead to life” trait at d8)
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CHAPTER FIVE: GAME MASTER RESOURCES
7. MOTIVATING NEED OR DESIRE (+ OR - IMPROVES OR REDUCES THE DIE TYPE OF AN INDICATED TRAIT, MINIMUM D4)
11.
An exotic drug (+Resolve, until obtained, then -Resolve)
12.
The respect of their distant mother (-Resolve, +Descriptor trait, +Vocation trait)
13.
Transcend mortality (+Resolve)
14.
Vengeance (+Resolve)
15.
Their shattered confidence (-Resolve)
16.
Found a dynasty (+From trait)
21.
To become madly wealthy
22.
A way to transform their body to match their spirit (+Resolve)
23.
The memories sold to the Faceless Gondolier (+Resolve, -Descriptor Trait)
24.
Enact secret revenge on the heroes
25.
To be the best they can be (+Resolve, +Descriptor trait, -Vocation trait)
26.
A good death, a proud death
31.
To inherit their family’s estates (+From trait)
32.
Defeat the fears that plague them (-Resolve)
33.
To avoid anything resembling hard work (-Resolve)
34.
An end to this suffering, but one that won’t damn their soul (-Resolve)
35.
See again the face of their god (+Resolve, -From trait, -Descriptor trait)
36.
To be respected, or at least feared (+Resolve)
41.
To save their lover’s spirit from the cold hell between the stars (+Resolve, gain “Necroastrology” trait at d8)
42.
To produce a masterwork (+Resolve, +Vocation trait)
43.
Their stolen eye (+Resolve, -Descriptor trait)
44.
A worthy protégé to teach (+Vocation trait)
45.
Regain their lost honor (-Resolve)
46.
A reason to go on living
51.
Good drink, good friends, a quiet life (-Resolve)
52.
To write the definitive guide to their particular interest (+Vocation trait)
53.
Feast upon the meat of all the peoples of Mars (Gain “Secret Cannibal” trait at d8)
54.
A new lover (+Resolve)
55.
To find a worthy opponent (+Resolve, Gain “Artist With the Blade” trait at d8)
56.
Find their lost family (+From trait)
61.
A successor, worthy of the name (+From trait, +Vocation trait)
62.
To kill…one more time…just one more time…only once, I promise Mother, only one more kill… (-Resolve, gain “Secret Murderer” trait at d8)
63.
Something new, something to ease this crushing curse of boredom (-Resolve, +Descriptor trait)
64.
Become the greatest of their vocation to ever live (+Vocation trait)
65.
To make their broken heart into unfeeling stone (+Resolve, -From trait)
66.
Their freedom from indenture to a hateful master (+Resolve)
184
CHARACTERS: THE PERSONAGENESIS MACHINE
8. COMPLICATING FACTOR (+ OR - IMPROVES OR REDUCES THE DIE TYPE AN INDICATED TRAIT, MINIMUM D4)
11.
They won’t, not without help
12.
The injuries they are hiding will kill them unless they get help
13.
They rarely stay in the same place long enough
14.
They will do anything to keep their secrets safe
15.
They only continue out of inertia
16.
They need guidance to achieve this
21.
When the moons shine together above, their form warps and they become something monstrous and hungry
22.
At night, the weird old machine creeps closer and closer
23.
They are actually dead, existing in twilight and unable to move on until someone helps them get what they need
24.
They are bound by love
25.
They are fleeing a politically-vital betrothal
26.
They suffer from painful seizures
31.
They escaped a quarantine, and might be carrying plague
32.
They fall in love too easily
33.
They overindulge in food and drink at every opportunity
34.
Unknown to all, they are secretly a prince fleeing their responsibilities (secretly replace Vocation with “Prince”)
35.
They are hunted by enemies from the same place as they are
36.
They have never known love
41.
They are haunted by agonizing visions of the First Martians
42.
They are as easily distracted as a newborn kitten
43.
Their enemies conspire to destroy them, and any close to them
44.
The Beast of Phobos stalks them for the marrow in their bones
45.
They need trustworthy accomplices
46.
Their debts are insurmountable.
51.
They are actually a fraud and imposter (secretly replace Descriptor with “Lying” and Vocation with “Trickster”
52.
They are addicted to a drug controlled by their enemy’s family
53.
Their arrogance makes them profoundly unlikeable
54.
They are not who they seem to be (roll again for Descriptor and Vocation when their true identity is revealed)
55.
They are crippled by their profound racism
56.
They dream of greater things
61.
Their gambling habit will ensure they fail
62.
They are tormented by memories of things they can’t change
63.
The stars were cast against them at birth
64.
They don’t trust anyone
65.
They have lost the jewel containing their soul
66.
They are haunted by demon-ghosts
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Sanguine Puglessi performs the song of their joy and mourning. For example, suppose you need a quick character you can use to make a sand schooner journey more eventful for your players.
a way to transform their body to match their spirit, but the stars were cast against them at birth. ”
You roll 55, 56, 35, 16, 42, 31, 22, 63. Referencing the tables, you generate this descriptive sentence:
Sanguine Puglessi, drunken star-crossed poet seeking truth in beauty (Drunk d6, Poet d6, From The Three Witches d6, Gorgeous to Everybody d8, Resolve d10)
“You meet Sanguine Puglessi, a drunk poet from The Three Witches with a weird, universal beauty who wants
From this, we can also determine Sanguine’s traits.
ADVENTURES: THE TRIBULATION ENGINE Life is complex and tiring, and sometimes the concerns of real life consume the vital energies and fluids of a Game Master’s creativity. If stumped for ideas on how to complicate and invigorate the lives of a party of player characters, a beleaguered GM may rely upon Doctor Jester’s latest innovation in shared interactive socially-mediated narrative adventure game technology. The Tribulation Engine provides random, but personalized, adventure seeds, sprouts, cuttings, and rootstock.
LOCATION Skip this step if you know where you want the adventure to take place (for example, in the current locale). You will use the tables for Characters, Threats, and Hooks from this locale in later stages. To find a locale, roll one d8 and one d10 to generate a two- digit number. Use the d8 to represent the first digit and the d10 to represent the second digit, reading a result of 10 as 0.
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ANGER 1. The Market 2. The Purple Light 3. The Arena 4. The Machine
SIREN 29. Nadamban 30. Himk 31. Voshi 32. Ferma
BATTLEHYMN 5. Temple of the Voice 6. North Side Canal 7. South Side Slums 8. The Damsel’s Tomb
SKARRAS 33. The Plaza 34. The Shades 35. The Revolution Underground 36. Sky Fields
CHIARO 9. Cloister of the Blind Saint 10. Ruptured Atmosphere Processor 11. Ice Caravan Camp 12. Tomb Valleys
SURTUR 37. The First Forge 38. Volcanic Gardens 39. Surtur Mines 40. The Plaza Obsidian
CIMMERIA 13. Qinon Palace 14. Atai Monastery 15. Fibonacci Knot 16. Forest of Corpses
VANCE 41. The Plaza Arez 42. The Palace of the Dog 43. Hangman’s Garden 44. The Dredge 45. The Guildhall of the Mourners
CORONAL 17. Xeta Geyser 18. Almeida 19. Riberia Fogo 20. Vale FORESIGHT 21. Hooded Sisters Pilgrim Dormitory 22. Delphic Square 23. Memory’s Last Rest (The Library of Memory) 24. Service Entrance to the West Horn Gate Machine ILLIUM 25. The Fortress Invincible 26. Sky Navy Port 27. University of Illium 28. Plateau Caves
NORTH POLE 58. Plains of the Pillar 59. The Bone Annals 60. Cycnus, the Drifting Ruin
WYETH 46. Wyela 47. Krem Den 48. Seedling Grove 49. Deephome ZIGGUR 50. The Processor 51. The Merchant Quarter 52. The Yellow Cloister 53. The Inverted Court ZODIAC 54. The Panopticon 55. The Slanted Grove 56. The Shipyards 57. The Shrouded District
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SOUTH POLE 61. Black Rubble 62. Gallow’s End 63. The Temple of the Poppy Brides ARCADIA 64. The Shanties 65. Excavations 66. The Memory of Waves MERIDIAN 67. Hazard 68. The Honeycomb 69. Muniqua THE PRISMATIC WASTES 70. Rainbow 71. Cave of the Hyaline Mother 72. Armonica Canyon RADIUM PLATEAU/SKARRAS 73. Dangling Raster 74. Hirshel 75. Noachia THARSIS 76. The Lunar Mosaic 77. The Sleeping Witches 78. Zohar That Was Promised TRAVEL 79-80. Travel between two locations. Roll twice more on this table.
CHAPTER FIVE: GAME MASTER RESOURCES
OPENING CONFLICT Roll two d6s, and read the results as a two-digit number, the first die indicating the first digit, the second die indicating the second digit. Let us all remember and thank Georges Polti, who foresaw our eventual need to generate dramatic conflict with a roll of two six-sided dice, and constructed his The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations accordingly. Each Conflict defines the core struggle underpinning the adventure, and defines some Roles, which will be filled with player and non-player characters. These roles imply relationships among the characters drawn in, but are also fairly roomy containers, and are able to accommodate many different characters. The combination of character — their particular place in the world, motivations, personality, and position — and role juxtaposed against other characters informs the drama. Character roles in bold type indicate major or essential roles for the conflict, while those in italics are secondary or supporting roles. 11. A Plea for Relief: A Persecutor’s actions or decisions oppresses the Supplicant, who seeks relief by an appeal to the Authority, the results of which are uncertain. Sometimes, an Advocate speaks on the Supplicant’s behalf, and access to the Authority is controlled by a Gatekeeper. 12. An Escape from Justice: The Unfortunate has committed some trespass, and is justly punished by the Threatener, until a Rescuer helps the Unfortunate escape. Sometimes a Guard keeps the Unfortunate from escaping on their own, a Hidden Ally helps the Unfortunate, or a Guide leads a Rescuer to where the Unfortunate is held, where a Torturer may be inflicting the Threatener’s punishment. After a successful rescue, the Hound may pursue. 13. Vengeance for an Unpunished Crime: The Avenger suffered because of the Criminal’s actions, and those actions were never justly punished. Denied justice, the Avenger seeks revenge. Sometimes, an Avenger has the help of an Accomplice, and sometimes the Criminal was assisted by Conspirators in their crime or by a Dupe who helped the Criminal without realizing it , and is served by a Henchman, who does their dirty work. 14. Vengeance of Kin upon Kin: The Guilty Kin commits a crime against a relation, the Victim who may exist now only in memory or as a ghost. The Avenger is kin to them both, and seeks vengeance on behalf of the Victim. These relation188
ships might be familial, or could be organizational — all parties belong to a business, a cult, a religion, a gang, or a secret society. Prior to the crime and vengeance, all had a reasonably amicable relationship. Sometimes, other kinfolk or retainers are involved, including the Broken One, who is shattered by the crime and the vengeance for it, the Disbeliever who refuses to believe the Avenger’s claims, the Peacemaker who seeks to settle matters, valuing peace over justice, and the Quieter who cares only for the reputation of the family, and covers up crime and vengeance. 15. Escape and Pursuit: The Fugitive flees punishment, hounded by the Pursuer because of a misunderstood crime. Sometimes, a Judge has declared the Fugitive guilty and may or may not question that judgement, a Protector takes the Fugitive in and offers them safety and succor at some personal risk, and a True Criminal might exist who is really guilty of the crime. 16. Usurpation: The Power is defeated by the victorious Enemy and thrown down from their seat of rule, which is taken by the Enemy, while the Power may escape with the help of the loyal Lieutenant who is captured in their place or escapes and leaves the Power in enemy hands. Sometimes, a Betrayer helps the Enemy defeat the Power, a Messenger carries news of the defeat to the Power’s friends and Distant Relations, and an Enemy Agent pursues any remaining loyalists. 21. Cruel Misfortune: the Unfortunate suffers at the hands of the Master, who is goaded to greater cruelty by the Devil. Often, the Unfortunate does not know why they are made to suffer or who inflicts it. Sometimes, Bystanders are caught up in the Master’s cruelty, and the Devil will not be satisfied without a Sacrifice. 22. Revolt: The Tyrant is plotted against by a Revolutionary and Conspirators who seek to overthrow the Tyrant’s rule. Sometimes, an Assassin is retained to eliminate Tyrant or Revolutionary, and the Tyrant is served by the Loyal Retainer to the very end. 23. A Daring Robbery: The Bold Leader, with the help of their Lieutenant, commits an audacious theft of something the Adversary treasures enough to secure with a Guardian, and the Bold Leader may or may not escape clean. Sometimes the Bold Leader is assisted by Specialists, has the help of an Insider and, after the robbery, is pursued by the Adversary’s Hunter. 24. Kidnapping: an Abductor takes the Kidnapped from their Guardian for reasons which may not
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be obvious. Sometimes, the Abductor is assisted by an Accomplice, and the Kidnapped is accompanied in their abduction by a trusted Retainer, and if the kidnapping is not all it seems, a Witness may be able to reveal the truth of the situation. 25. Challenging Enigma: a Challenger imposes a problem on the Seeker that demands they improve their skill or ability to overcome, better preparing them for their future struggles. A Challenger may appear cruel, but their ultimate motivation is to teach through adversity. Sometimes, a Challenger is served by Goads who harass or bully a Seeker in service of the lesson being taught, and Guides offer aid in overcoming the problem and realizing the lesson being taught. 26. Frustrated Desire: A Solicitor desires something controlled by the Possessor, who denies the Solicitor their desire. Sometimes, an Arbiter stands between Solicitor and Possessor, and tries to negotiate a settlement. The Solicitor employs an Advocate to try and convince the Possessor to relinquish the object, or they use a Thief to steal the Object, which is sometimes a person. 31. Alliance with an Enemy: A Rival and their Opponent ally against a Malevolent Third, forming an unstable alliance in order to persecute their mutually-hated foe. Sometimes, a Saboteur tries to undermine the alliance between Rival and Opponent. The Malevolent Third may control a Dangerous Power so great, the alliance against them is needed to counter it, and their Advocate may convince one of the attacking parties to change sides. 32. Rivalry for Affection: The Object of general admiration chooses the Preferred over the Rejected, though both vie for the Object’s affections, resulting in the Rejected’s resentment and possible reprisals. Sometimes, access to the Object is strictly limited by a Guardian, and the conflicting parties must employ a Go-Between to carry messages. 33. Murderous Infidelity: The Betrayed trusts their Partner, but the Partner conspires with their Lover (or Conspirator, if the affair is not romantic) to murder the Betrayed, taking their position and power, as well as breaking faith with them. Sometimes, the betraying couple employs an Assassin to do the dirty work for them, especially if the Betrayed has a Defender and, if successful, a Witness may know the truth of the crime, and have to be dealt with. 34. Afflicted by Madness: The Afflicted suffers a break from reality, perhaps due to trauma (gen-
erate a Threat), drugs, exposure to the unnatural, etc. In their altered state, they inflict harm on the Victim, who is innocent but is perceived as a Devil by the Afflicted. Sometimes, the Afflicted is under the baleful influence of a Manipulator, and the Afflicted’s Confidants might be able to get them to a Healer who can cure their madness, if not in time to avoid harm to the victim, at least in time that it might be addressed. 35. Harmful Imprudence: The Imprudent acts recklessly or out of ignorance, harming the Victim and/or causing the loss of someone Precious to the victim, and also possibly the Imprudent. Sometimes, a Victim or Precious becomes a Fury seeking revenge for the wrong done, a Council forces the Imprudent to recognize the harm they have done, or an Enabler helps them justify it and escape the consequences. 36. Involuntary Romantic Crime: a Lover and their Beloved enjoy a relationship which inadvertently breaks a taboo, law, or restriction, and a Revealer makes the relationship known if secret or the broken taboo known if not. Sometimes, a Jealous Love informs the Revealer of the truth, Cursed Offspring of the union literally or symbolically are branded with the crime of the Lover and Beloved, and a Monster arises, twisted by the crime and driven to destroy the Lover and Beloved. 41. Accidental Kin Killing: Through an accident of circumstances, a Killer unknowingly slays the Unrecognized Victim who is one of the Killer’s kin, relations, friends, or allies. Sometimes, the Unrecognized Victim becomes a Secret Avenger, using their status as believed dead to enact revenge. A Witness knows the truth of the crime, and may inform a Revealer who will make it known if an Investigator does not uncover the truth. 42. Sacrifice for Idealism: A Hero sacrifices a thing of value or a Beloved person in support of an ideal, and the thing or Beloved is taken by a Creditor. Sometimes, resentment at being sacrificed turns the Beloved into an Enemy, and/ or the Creditor turns out to have been a Devil seeking to ruin the Hero with the pain of the sacrifice. 43. Sacrifice for Love: A Hero sacrifices a thing of value or a Beloved person to save a Love, and the thing or Beloved is taken by a Creditor. Sometimes, resentment at being rejected by the Hero to save the Love turns the Beloved into a Fury seeking revenge, and/or the Creditor turns out to have been a Devil seeking to ruin the Hero with the pain of the sacrifice. 189
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44. Sacrifice Everything for Passion: A Lover feels so strongly for the Object of their affection that they sacrifice something or someone Precious, and when called to task for this by Authority, they destroy any who try and restrain their passion. Sometimes, a Defender of the Object is also destroyed, and the Authority sends their Deputy to stop or destroy the Lover. 45. Necessity of Sacrifice: A Hero must wrong the Beloved Victim because of a necessity imposed by a threat (generate a threat) or the actions of a Foe able to pose a powerful threat. Sometimes, the Hero is attacked by the Beloved Victim’s Righteous Defender, who does not understand or care about the necessity, and the Foe might be moved to make their own sacrifice of their Love to counter the Hero’s sacrifice. 46. Asymmetrical Rivalry: The Superior Rival bests the Inferior Rival to win the Object of the rivalry. Sometimes, the Inferior Rival seeks the aid of a Hidden Master to surpass the Superior Rival, reversing the roles, or the Object may flee with a Lover away from both the rivals. 51. Infidelity: The Unfaithful Partner betrays the Deceived Partner, conspiring with their Lover to keep the infidelity secret or to remove the Deceived Partner from the scene entirely. Sometimes, the Unfaithful Partner and Lover seek a ruling from a Judge, which will validate their relationship and leave the Deceived Partner without recourse, while a Deceived Partner may become suspicious and acquire the help of an Informer to investigate and reveal the truth. 52. Crime of Love: The Lover and their Beloved conspire to break a law or taboo together, which threatens their relationship and risks the wrath of the Authority against which they trespass. Sometimes, Lover and Beloved are separated by an Agent of the Authority seeking to bring them to task, and a family friend of one or both may try and break the relationship in order to rescue one of them from the consequences. 53. Discovery of a Loved One’s Secret Crime: The Discoverer finds evidence that the Guilty One, whom they love, has committed an undeniable wrongdoing, and the revulsion they feel for the crime conflicts with their love for the Guilty One. A Justice seeks to punish this crime, were it known who committed it. Sometimes, a Confidant of the Discoverer also knows of the crime, and may reveal it while the Justice sends an Inquisitor to use whatever means are needed to extract confessions. 54. Adversity Faced by Love: A Lover and their Beloved face an obstacle personified by an
Authority, which holds power over at least one lover. Sometimes, a Confidant of the Lover or Beloved will aid them, and their Relations might try and separate them to prevent either the wrath of the Authority, or their embarrassment. 55. Facing a Loved Enemy: The Lover is allied with the Hater, who despises the Beloved Enemy as much as the Lover cherishes them. While Lover and Hater must fight together against the Beloved Enemy, the Lover must try and minimize the harm done their beloved. Sometimes, the Beloved Enemy has a Rival who may betray them to the Hater, and a loyal Retainer to either Lover or Beloved Enemy can act as go-between. 56. Driven by Ambition: The Ambitious one seeks the object or position they desire, but is opposed by an Adversary and competing against a Rival who desires the same elevation. Sometimes, a Mentor councils on strategy, or a Moderate councils on tempering ambition with wisdom, while the Inconstant Friend might trade sides between Ambitious and Rival, based on who is winning. 61. Conflict with the Divine: A Mortal challenges the design of a god or other immortal, whose will is knowingly or unknowingly done by a Hand, bringing suffering to Bystander and Beloved alike. Sometimes, an opposing divinity uses a Pawn to interfere, a Faithful individual strikes at the presumptive Mortal, and a Medium perceives all the divine influences at play. 62. Violence from Mistaken Jealousy: The Jealous one is harmed by the mistake or action of an Instigator and becomes jealous of something of the Possessor’s. They lash out at a Supposed Accomplice of the Possessor’s. Sometimes, the object of jealousy is a Desired person who may suffer, and an Arbiter may be able to clear up the misunderstanding before anyone suffers. 63. Mistaken Judgement: The Judge falls victim to the Deceiver, and then the Judge passes sentence against the Innocent One and the Guilty One escapes justice. Sometimes, a Confessor learns of the deception but is bound not to reveal it, and those who suffer for the false judgement become Avengers who blame the Judge. 64. Responsibility and Remorse: The Culprit has harmed the Victim, and an Interrogator seeks to understand why. A Judge assesses punishment, based on how the Culprit accepts and makes amends. Sometimes, a Deceiver is responsible for the Culprit believing they are righteous, and a Judge may employ an Inquisitor to extract the truth. 65. Finding the Lost: The Seeker struggles to find the Lost One, who has vanished. Sometimes a Beast 190
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has taken the Lost One, a Trickster confounds the Seeker, or the Lost One has actually fled with an Accomplice rather than become lost. 66. Slain Love: The Beloved is slain by the Executioner, and this is witnessed by the Friend who relays the news to the Beloved’s Lover, who acts accordingly. Sometimes, the Accomplice of the Executioner intercepts the Friend and blames them for the slaying.
them personally, and their actions during the adventure carry particular weight. Player characters who are not singled out as Protagonists are Meddlers. They participate in the adventure normally, but do so with less personal investment and potential for change. Make a list of the involved characters in the order you determine them.
R OLES
Assign the characters in order to the major roles listed in the opening conflict you selected previously unless, of course, the role majorly interferes with their preferred play style, or otherwise is a role they do not wish to play. When out of major roles, assign remaining characters to Secondary roles, following the above guidelines. If you have more characters than roles, any extra after the last role is filled are dropped. Player characters become Meddlers, like those unselected in the previous step.
Roll a number of d8s equal to t he number of player characters plus the number of major roles in the opening conflict. Compare results of 1 through 6 to the list of Characters for the locale you are using to determine who they are. A result of 7 or 8 indicates a player character is personally involved. You may randomly select which player character is indicated, determine it randomly through a die roll or the drawing of straws, on a volunteer basis, by selecting the next player in line, or base it on the characters’ longstanding grudges and passive-aggressive resentment.
Consider for a moment the location of the conflict, this particular arrangement of characters, and what this implies about their relationships in the opening action of the adventure.
Matching values indicate a Secret associated with that character.
TILTS
If established non-player characters are in play, use d12s rather than d8s. A result of 7, 8, or 9 indicates an established NPC is involved. A result of 10, 11, or 12 indicates a player character is involved.
Roll twice on the following table using the two-d6 method for generating two-digit numbers. This gives you two Tilts, which will throw off the equilibrium of the opening conflict, and break its symmetry (if your players have not already done so with their own devilish ingenuity).
Personally-involved player characters are Protagonists — the stakes and conflicts of the adventure affect 11.
Role Reversal: Swap Roles between two randomly-determined characters, and reframe the conflict accordingly.
12.
Anger Among Allies: Animosity threatens to break the relationship between allied characters in conflict.
13.
A Wild Character Appears: Generate a new character, and drop them into the conflict strongly allied with one party.
14.
Change of Venue: Move the conflict to another locale, which demands travel. Pick or roll for a new location.
15.
Betrayal: A friendly character is revealed to have been an antagonist all along.
16.
Mastermind Revealed: Generate a new character, who is revealed to be the mastermind behind the opening conflict.
21.
Disaster!: Generate a Threat, which disrupts action or a major dramatic moment.
22.
Sideline: Generate a Hook, and tie it into the adventure conflict loosely.
23.
Flashback: Take the character back to the time before the opening conflict and play out a brief flashback scene that offers insight into the current state of affairs.
24.
Heel Turn: An ambiguous character is revealed to be an antagonist.
25.
Usurpation: A Meddler assumes a major role, displacing the previous character.
26.
Love blooms in strange soil: The unlikeliest characters find unexpected feelings for one another. 191
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31.
Flight: A major character is driven to flee and hide, and must be found.
32.
Unseen Agency Revealed: An unknown supernatural influence shapes the conflict for its own purposes.
33.
Unexpected Message: A character receives a communication that changes everything.
34.
Murdered Innocent: A bystander, associate, friend, or uninvolved ally of a character is killed by mistake.
35.
The Gauntlet is Thrown: A challenge to a duel interrupts matters.
36.
Arrogance Rules: A character rejects the advice and wisdom of another, and pursues their own, foolish course of action instead.
41.
Long Knives: One party tries to clear the field in a grand sweep, eliminating all the opposition in one spasm of decisive violence.
42.
Broken Alliance: Allied characters have a falling out.
43.
Enter the Authorities: Those responsible for law, order, or resolving conflicts become involved.
44.
Unfortunate Witness: A character witnesses something they should not have seen, and is endangered because of it.
45.
Unwise Affair: Passion overwhelms judgement, and people who should not dally do so.
46.
A Secret Bargain is Struck: Two characters reach their own agreement, which may change their loyalties or create a new alliance.
51.
Stolen Power: The source or symbol of a character’s power is stolen, weakening them.
52.
Too Good to Pass Up: A character is offered something so valuable to them that they betray their loyalties.
53.
Elevation of the Humble: A minor or supporting character is elevated in importance, becoming key to the conflict.
54.
Affliction: A character falls ill, and is weakened and may be dying.
55.
History Reframes the Present: Information about what has gone before casts the current conflict into a new light.
56.
Stone Heart: A character denies their former feelings for another character, rejecting them without explanation.
61.
Destruction of Property: Whether accidentally or deliberately, the conflict destroys the property of a character or ally.
62.
Restless Spirits: Ghosts intrude into the conflict with their own agenda.
63.
The Dead Return: A character thought dead is revealed not to be, either through trickery or accident.
64.
Apocalyptic Events: Awful disaster begins, threatening everyone and everything. Use Threats for ideas, and amplify them to an apocalyptic scale.
65.
Peace by the Sword: A new party enters the conflict, intent on settling it with force if need be.
66.
It was all just a dream.
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SECRETS Some characters come with a Secret that will shake things up when revealed. Some of these will be known to the character, and so should be shared with the player, to be revealed when it seems to make sense. Others are for you to reveal when they make sense in the unfolding adventure. 11.
Secret sibling
41.
Secret princess
12.
Undeclared love
42.
Unrevealed skills
13.
Thief
43.
Living a lie
14.
Imposter
44.
Agent of outside influence
15.
Addiction
45.
Nursing a grudge
16.
Family connection
46.
Subject to unnatural transformation
21.
Traitor
51.
Cursed to enjoy no happiness
22.
Sinister motives
52.
Hunted by old enemies
23.
Hidden agenda
53.
Stole from an ally
24.
Parent
54.
Helped an enemy for mysterious reasons
25.
Child
55.
Doomed to die in the end
26.
In Debt
56.
Secretly under the control of another
31.
Heresy
61.
Really in it for the money
32.
Not left handed
62.
Masquerading as somebody else
33.
Blackmailer
63.
Wants to see the world burn
34.
Blackmailed
64.
In service to an alien god
35.
Murderer
65.
Reincarnated lover to a reincarnated enemy
36.
Incriminating documents to be sent to authorities if they die
66.
Disconnected from reality
Accusations fly within an unlikely family. 193
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EXAMPLE OF USAGE
8 and 7 are player characters. I roll 22 and 44 for the two Secrets.
Valentine, slim and wicked, is accompanied by Soteria, brazen and tall. These occasional lovers and regular antagonists make a foursome with the much more laconic Numbers, who is similarly entangled with the Apprentice, whose given name is a secret power. Their fth wheel is Etienne, the unluckiest man on Mars. Given how close his companions are sitting to their partners around the re, he feels little guilt sharing his tendency towards accidental exploration, when he sug gests a trip to...
2 Volca (aka Qaysa), Red Martian Zodiac spy and navy infiltrator Secret - Sinister Motives 8 Valentine Secret - Agent of an Outside Power 3 Vestai of a Thousand Lights, Red Martian naval astrologer 7 Numbers 5 Kaesii, Red Martian naval shipwright
My players are anxious to begin, but I have no idea where this episode will even begin. The players’ characters are…
1 Novian, Red Martian illegitimate child of nobility I take these characters, and slide them in order into the roles from the opening conflict.
Valentine Soteria
Major Roles
Numbers
Discoverer - Volca
The Apprentice
Guilty One - Valentine
Etienne
The Justice - Vestai
I roll 26 to determine the location of the adventure, which gives me the Sky Navy Port in Illium
Secondary Roles
I roll 53 to decide the opening conflict, resulting in Discovery of a loved one’s secret crime . Given this party’s romantic pairings, that result speaks to me immediately. This also gives me the roles I need to fill with characters.
Inquisitor - Kaesii
Confidant - Numbers Meddlers
Novian The Apprentice
Major Roles
Soteria
Discoverer
Etienne
Guilty One The Justice Secondary Roles
Confidant Inquisitor Now, to populate that conflict with characters. There are three major roles and five players, so I roll 8d8 getting 2, 8, 3, 8, 7, 5, 2, 1. When I remove the duplicates, that is 2, 8, 3, 7, 5, and 1, with Secrets for 2 and 8. I check the character table for the Sky Navy Port and use it, and going around the table clockwise to pick player characters, I make my character list for the core conflict. The 2, 3, 5, and 1 are NPC ’s and the
Now, things are getting very interesting. On the sly, I ask Valentine’s player whom the swordsman might serve covertly, and which power he might act as an agent of in the Sky Navy Port of Illium. She considers, and suggests “I might owe a great deal of money to an underworld figure who asks me to do something on the downlow.” It all comes together now. The actions begins with Valentine’s return to the group’s shared lodgings near the Sky Navy Port in Illium. Soteria smells satisfaction, guilt, and somebody else’s cologne on Valentine. The promise of a well-paying job hasn’t yet materialized for them, though Valentine seems to have mostly been busy catching up with
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an old “friend” who works in the yard under the name Volca, and Valentine smiles at that name.
Volca is, right now, on the way to the party’s lodgings, intent on having it out with Valentine for the betrayal of trust and the threat to his own espionage operation.
Only Numbers (and their player) knows what Valentine has been up to (beyond his dalliance) — he’s used the rekindled affection Volca feels for him to access restricted areas, and steal a copy of the Navy’s sealed strategic orders for the next month, a theft accidentally observed by Volca. Valentine confessed this to Numbers while deep in his cups the previous night, something Valentine does not remember doing.
Kaesii is tossing the suspects’ chambers, growing closer to Volca’s, where he might discover evidence of Volca’s Zodiac affiliation.
Vestai is watching for an event like this, having seen the potential for a damaging leak in the month’s strategic bonecasting and counterespionage star chart. To prevent anyone in the chain of command — which may be compromised — from becoming aware, she’s tasked shipwright Kaesii with investigating, and given him her seal to make the assignment official. Kaesii has grabbed the biggest keel smiths and iron workers in the yard for backup in case things go south.
Vestai is smoking dreamer’s leaf and throwing bones, trying to squeeze more accuracy from the counterespionage forecast. The signs are confusing, because two spies aligned with different groups are at work within her organization. And after some time, I have two Tilts to unleash, which will shake things up. For these, I roll 24 and 44 which gives me Flashback and Unfortunate Witness. So, at some point we’ll revisit the past to inform the present, and a witness to something will suffer for what they see…
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The world is an ordered thing. A single text chaining one creature to the other as inexorably as veeta follows alpha. If you can understand the words the world is made of, you might read the spirit out of it as easily as you could the line of feathers along an eora’s tail. Read closely and well, and add your own notes as you encounter the other peoples of Mars. The ones who, by accident or choice, refused the call of civilization. Your book of beasts must record both the shape and the secret names of each thing that creeps — under sun or moons or blue stars. Where a beast resembles a Martian, perhaps it also knows the diseases that afflict us.
Where the stars resemble a beast, perhaps they inhabit our lives as openly. The map of the stars is a map of the Martian body, and a map of its beasts is a map of its soul. Creatures in Cavaliers of Mars have Traits and Resolve. They also specify difficulty dice for the GM to add to his pool whenever a character tries to interact with them in three particular ways. To Fight is used in combat; To Escape From is used when a character wants to flee the beast; and To Charm is used when a character wants to tame, befriend, or train it. A creature’s entry may omit one or more of these difficulties.
BEASTS OF BURDEN AEPYS Darla kicked at the harness half-heartedly, sulking more than really trying to escape. But then, she was a thoroughbred. Strong, hot-blooded, and smart enough to get bored. A mount for derring-do and racing, stuck hauling the same three trunks and a dusty old man to and fro across Coronal all day. I was bored too, and at least I was allowed to menace anyone who got close enough to see a sword point. But you bite even one princeling and suddenly you have to wear a muzzle. I’m jealous, I would have liked to bite him too. — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary in the month of the Wind’s Saddle The aepys is a proud and clever problem-solver, with a beak sharp enough to remind you of your manners if you’re lax with them. They’re three to four
meters tall from spurred dewclaw to crest, and a few hundred pounds of feathery, death-defying spirit. They can’t fly far with their vestigial wings, but wild aepys have been observed using them to slow their descent along steep crags, and trained aepys can maneuver and brake better than any mount of comparable size. Male aepys are somewhat more docile, but are bulkier and less maneuverable, preferring to simply trample quarry rather than attempt to catch it. Groups of aepys can work together under sufficiently-adverse circumstances, but most choose not to, preferring to be the center of attention.
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ABILITY: THRILL-SEEKER Like her Red Martian companions, an aepys is adventurous, and inclined toward the path with the most glory and praise. She’s about as lucky as your average cavalier. The GM gains a Windfall die whenever the aepys succeeds on an action that bucks expectations or invites danger. He can use this Windfall on behalf of the aepys or its rider.
one. The GM can spend an Action Point, or the rider’s player can spend a Drama Point, to automatically avoid the next attack or hazard that would threaten the horus or its rider.
HORUS
Leathery and hump-backed, the oleph is a prickly, but potentially loyal, beast of burden. They range from one to three meters at the shoulder, with twin heads on long-stalked necks. These heads speak to one another, after a fashion, in cryptic riddles, and seem to appreciate humor about the end of all things. Olephs can be found in the southern Martian deserts, but they claim to be from elsewhere: a home to which they cannot return, and to which a lonely oleph may sing when the moon is blue. Native to some warmer climate, they prefer to avoid the cold wastes north of Chiaro, but they
OLEPH
Meeting an Oleph is always a curious experience; to get anywhere at all a formal introduction is necessary, and a gift ABILITY: BONE-BREAKER is preferred. One must offer the heads an opportunity to disA bird as big as an aepys can’t be too picky about what cuss your request in their sibilant, riddling tongue, and one kind of meat it eats, so their beaks are sturdy enough to must also respect their decision once made (an angry oleph crack open the joints of anything with flesh. If the aepys inflicts Strain with a successful Strike on a living, breathing can’t be made to do anything but trample your cargo). — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, opponent, that opponent decreases their Speed by 1 on their next combat action. in the month of the Witch’s Cradle
“Tha simpleton, tha dim leakyface puella. Wilst tha cry all contrariwise ‘cause tha great furry lizard sees blood on the stone? Tha chose this. Now get ye up and move along quickwise. Preparing, us. Girding, or whatever tha soldiers do. At least tha has a sword, all myself has is a book and a lackawit farmgirl.” —Gemma Hosepha Jones, with a peculiar way of encouraging The horus knows, in a small way, what will be. With a rider clever enough to ask, it can tell you about the certainty of water, or hospitality, or violence in the future of itself and its rider. But not the possibility of them. Where there is doubt, or chance, it cannot see clearly enough to understand what lies ahead. A prestigious beast perhaps, and beautiful too — with a lovely sleek cloak of downy fur, and large slitted eyes. But not always one well-favored by fortune.
Traits: Responsive Mount d10, Hard to Spook d8, Enchanting Looks d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d12, To Charm d6, To Fight d6 ABILITY: PRECOGNITION A perceptive rider can tell when the creature senses water or danger. A player can roll a basic action With Cunning to see whether the horus senses a particular event in the immediate future. The Cavalier Career is always relevant. ABILITY: SLIP With sure knowledge of a specific future, a horus can maneuver through the choices that lead from now to then safely, slipping around and past dangers that are not the foreseen
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can sometimes be persuaded with promises of unusual herbs or bright dyes with which to paint their skin.
for the right bird to swoop down on and swallow whole. Their wings aren’t sturdy enough for the higher g ravity of other regions of Mars, though, where they do not fly so much as awkwardly glide between close objects and complain loudly about it.
Traits: Put My Back Into It d10, Bigger Than You d8, Never Alone d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Fight d8, To Escape From d6 ABILITY: TREMBLE The footfall of an oleph is not a gentle sound. A precise strike can shake a cavalier’s bones and knock him from his feet, un-ideally placed for subsequent strikes. The GM can spend an Action Point to make everyone in spaces adjacent to the oleph fall prone. ABILITY: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE An oleph’s voice is a precise tool, soft and beguiling or vast and terrible. Where a sweet song calms and distracts, a twin roar can deafen and stun.
R AZOK Even a trained razok is wily and mean, and inclined to test its rider at every opportunity. Affect disinterest or boredom with their tricks and they’ll just escalate until you react. Trick it back if you think you can, but be careful not to underestimate it. They’ll lose respect for you and act out even more if your pranks are too easy. — Excerpted from the infamous Razok training manual, Wicked Lizards and the Stupid Children Who Ride Them
Traits: Razor-Sharp Beak d10, Doesn’t Like You d8, Staying Aloft d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Charm d12, To Fight d8, To Escape From d8
YUMMOC A leathery old yummoc leaned against the fence and huffed at me. It was bony and creaking, long past the plump spryness of its calfhood, and yet I would have sworn it rolled its rheumy eyes at me. Even an ancient bull yummoc thought I was being melodramatic, hiding out here in the pastures. But if you’re planning to accept a prince’s bargain, I suppose a little flight into the countryside is expected. Being married never seems like it’s worth the trouble in mother’s stories. — Selina, née Tran, in the month of the Crown of Heather
A belligerent, winged reptile native to Skarras, which, if caught and trained from birth, can be persuaded to allow a rider. They aren’t domestic, exactly. Trained razoks are largely shunned by their wild siblings, and the eggs they lay, if bred with one another, produce lizards more fearful than friendly. Their plump bodies are somewhat deceptive, though. Razoks are dense with muscle, and that coating of fat keeps them warm and fast—even in the frigid upper atmosphere of the Sky Fields, where they can linger for hours waiting
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Yummocs are herd animals, better suited for a Mars that was a little wetter than it is today. Their meat and hide are still terribly valuable, but their needs seem less tenable day by day. Enterprising ranchers have been trying to breed a more drought-resistant dame, in the hopes of continuing their livelihood in the face of a drying Mars. But it’s been tough and thankless work, skill relentlessly applied for only the slightest return.
Traits: Leathery Hide d8, Follow the Herd d6, Patience Is a Virtue d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d6, To Fight d6, To Charm d6
FRIENDS
FRIENDS EORA “When the world was young, and the world was new The eora travelled two by two With fairy mites and sharp-eyed kites and bells of sweet sea blue Kiss a lizard, kiss a lizard, kiss a lizard — you!” Noisy children and their beasties swarmed past me while I tried to drown my sorrows at a wildhoney tea counter. All night spying on a dusty Illium diplomat, only to discover that she was doing nothing more sinister than enjoying the many embraces of Vance. No one was going to spare coin for the names of last night’s lovers. I looked down over my tall glass cup at the feathered, scaly face of the eora I’d been feeding sparrow scraps to. Well, at least I’d made a friend. — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, in the month of the Crucible and the Maiden There’s no more loyal friend than a tamed eora. Most feathered lizards are bipedal, and no more than
knee-high to a Red Martian (though it’s said the Pale Martians breed eoras big enough to ride). But they’ve got jaws like a jackal, and a mind clever enough to use them. Eoras are sneaky and willful as pups, but pack animals at heart, and deeply-devoted guardians.
Traits: Loyal to a Fault d10, Relentless Jaws d8, Mischief Maker d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Fight d8, To Escape From d6, To Charm d6 ABILITY: TRAP Once upon a time, eoras were tamed to herd the vast flocks of the first Martians. And they remember in their hearts how to protect their sheep. The GM can spend an Action Point to gain +1 to all Stunt dice for the eora this action, activated after dice are rolled but before Clash of Steel begins, as long as the eora is defending another character. If the beast is loyal to a player’s character, that player may spend a Drama Point to have the GM activate this ability on her behalf. ABILITY: SNATCH The eora has a terribly strong bite, one that can rend flesh and shatter bone. And if he can’t get between an attacker and his mistress, he’ll simply have to take the arm that would strike her. When a character the eora is defending would suffer Strain from a successful Strike against her, the GM can spend an Action Point to roll a single Strike die. If the result is equal to or higher than the Strike die that succeeded against the character, transfer the Strain from that character to the attacker instead. If the beast is loyal to a player’s character, that player may spend a Drama Point to have the GM activate this ability on her behalf.
MELES
A Colony of Eoras
She wheezed faintly when I scratched behind her dirty ears, and sped up to a guttural purr as I dusted the sand and pebbles out of her striped fur. Then she shook out her little legs and panted a bit, showing me the wet sheen on her fangs. She must have run across some suspicious looking serpents while underground. They were nearly dripping with oily venom. — Blaise, canal technician, in the month of the River
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S
S
A meles is an amiable, if somewhat dim, friend to INGING PIDER farmers and archeologists alike. Slow, patient diggers the size of a young aepys, who can hollow out broad She reached out to caress a sparkling leg with her irrigation tunnels and gently uncover dangerous, po finger. “It’s true, then? You actually found one.” Parmys tentially-unstable digging sites. While less clever than twitched the cage away again. “Careful! You’ll corrode it if an eora or an aepys, the meles is sturdier and less prone you keep trying to touch it like that.” to skittishness in the face of danger. Perhaps because, — A jeweler and her thief lover protected by dense fur and a strong venomous bite, they can largely fend for themselves in the face of any but Singing spiders are tiny, delicate animals (multi-legged, the most persistent predator. but not true insects) that pair-bond, and spin glass filament webs. They’re native to the Labyrinth of Night, where they leech silicates from the stone walls, and absorb “rain” from Traits: Slow and Steady d10, Venomous Bite d8, No the Labyrinth’s storms. Highly prized by specialized jewelSand Too Thick d6 ers, who can coax them into spinning both beautiful jewelResolve: d12 ry and complex musical structures. A mated pair is a lavish, Difficulties: To Fight d8, To Escape From d6, To Charm expensive gift, typically given between lovers. d6
Traits: Virtuoso Weaver d10, Mated for Life d8, Dweller in the Dark d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d8
BEASTS OF THE DESERT CAUTE (OR GHOST CAT) Cover your mouth in a sandstorm, my loveI hear a caute on the wind, A caute carrying its kin; Come creeping from the valleys with the sand at her back, A sigh in her throat, and a hungry host. Cover your mouth in a sandstorm, my loveLeave her sage and hyssop, Leave her honey and wine, She’ll creep down to the valleys with the sand at her feet, A smile in her throat and a quiet ghost. — A Children’s Book of Robber Verses
Traits: Haunting Gaze d10, Desert Camouflage d8, Worldly and Wise d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Escape From d8, To Fight d6 ABILITY: SECRET The caute has heard your name on the wind, and it knows a paralyzing fear to whisper in your ear. ABILITY: GHOST MISTRESS A caute doesn’t summon ghosts (perhaps out of professional courtesy), but knows the ways of their eyes and their voices. Cautes are immune to haunting and can’t be possessed against their will.
GHOSTS
Cautes, they say, are haunted; every tiny alley whelp I looked into the yawning gulf of Hell’s Basin and and roaming desert beast is a messenger to the hungry ghosts wept. Even if I stood here with my mouth open for 100 of the desert storm. Superstition, clearly. And yet, uniquely nights, I might never find Anatolia. I might never even of Mars’s many peoples and beasts (and more besides), the know if she made it here. Maybe her spirit was at rest. caute can travel safely through the whipping sandstorms. In — Dysis Horae, Sister of Anatolia, the midst of those biting winds, it steps neatly through the in the month of the Stranger gusts, triple-lidded blue eyes sensing every creeping thing that shivers and waits for the storm to end. In daylight, only A ghost knows your name like you know how to the blue of those eyes can distinguish the red and silver pelt breathe, in a secret way that burns and chokes if you try of a caute from the sand on which it lies. to stop. And the more it knows, the longer it can stay in 200
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THE DESERT’S GRASPING HANDS
You may find your ghosts have other ways. A way is something a ghost knows because of who they are (invoking how they died, or something they’re lacking, or some driving desire), expressed through some quality of the desert. Ghosts, by a forgotten pact, cannot touch a living Martian without permission. So a ghost who died by violence might have a way that invokes the pain of that violence (either emotional or physical), but cannot inflict stress or injury by their own hand. They might inflict the heat of the sun, or the smoothness of the sand, or the endless horizon, but cannot themselves burn or abrade or create new madness where there was none before.
A traveler at the eye of a ghost storm the shadows of living, carried by dust and storm. If you breathe a ghost in, it can live again, a little — curling into your body and whispering into your ears and your heart. Some Martians, out of loneliness or longing or love of the divine, welcome ghosts into themselves. To hold on to a remembered lover, to walk more closely the steps of the first Martians, to not be alone. Most possessions are less willing, though, and not all ghosts feel compelled to be truthful about who they once were. A ghosteater might draw one back out of your heart, but it’ll leave a mark. A long blue streak where the incision was made, and scars where the memories it touched used to be. Ghosts as a community have ways, but not every ghost knows every way. A way might evoke how a ghost’s first body died, the missing thing that’s still tying them to Mars, or a desire too strong to sate. A young ghost might know two; an experienced or especially resilient ghost might know four or more. When a ghost calls up a way, they can choose to terrorize a single traveler or split their attention and haunt a traveler’s companions as well.
Traits: Passenger on the Air d12, Memory Stirs and Hearts Listen d8, Bottomless Well of Secrets d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d8, To Charm d8
ABILITY: POSSESSION AND HAUNTING A ghost needs to succeed at a basic action to possess someone unwilling to receive it. It can use basic actions to haunt people with whatever ways it knows, their effects perceptible or invisible to anyone present as it desires, and a successful haunting is a lasting effect that gives the GM Misfortune. WAY OF THE STINGING EYES The desert is dust and sand and the salt of your own sweat, grinding relentlessly against you — eyes painted black against the glare, grit crawling under your skin. WAY OF THE BURNING VOICE The desert is endless heat and the dizzy rage of exhaustion, driving harsh words (and more besides) from the mouth of your sister. WAY OF THE COOL BREATH The desert is cold down to your bones, the dry air drawing water from your breath with every exhalation. WAY OF THE OPEN HAND The desert is need, running low on, and then out of, the things that keep a caravan moving —water and wine, hope and mercy. WAY OF THE CLOSED HEART The desert is loneliness and the fading echoes of how it must have been, when you could remember the stars in the heavens and name them with a lover.
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WAY OF THE DESERT SONG The desert is a sand dune humming like a bowstring, then calling out in booms and whispers when the wind rushes hard over you.
Traits: Hunter Among Hunters d12, No Terrain Too Rough d8, Solitude Is My Shield d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d8, To Charm d8
WAY OF THE SILENT STEP The desert is hard pebbles and striped glass shards that are sand-in-waiting, ready to collapse underfoot in a spray of powder and crumbling rock.
ABILITY: FACE ALL RED Once the machaira locks its jaws shut, its grip can haul a beast of any size over miles of terrain. Dragging it, slowly but surely, back to its nest. It automatically wins contests to hold onto its prey unless its opponent has a d10 or d12 in her pool.
MACHAIRA “A slab of muscle no softer than a canyon wall slid past us, feet and jaws stained red and brown. We pressed desperately away from it, not even daring to breathe out the thick scent of blood the machaira carried with it. For all its fearsome jaws, it was as blind in this sandstorm as we were. And perhaps too full of our friends to bother chasing two more priestesses into the dunes.” — Sun and Xueming, in the month of the Lost Child The machaira is an asocial apex predator, with a dense coat of fur and textured paws for running across dunes faster than all but the best-bred racing aepys. They will mind their single cub for a few months — until it can run fast enough to nip at a Martian’s heels, and keep its mother in sight. But they otherwise prefer to ignore one another. Because the machaira is always hunting, and always hungry, and other lions can only be competition. Machairas are not especially bright, but they make up for it in sheer strength and stamina. After catching its prey with the heavy row of fangs that line its jaws, the machaira can simply drag an unlucky beast back toward its nest until it bleeds out.
ABILITY: RACE THE WIND It kills slowly, but never underestimate how swift and soundless the machaira might be while racing to the spot where it will first strike. It automatically wins contests of speed unless its opponent has a d10 or d12 in her pool.
WEASELS “What do you mean, you lost it? What happened to the leash?” — A very concerned caravan driver Tame weasels, usually, are kept small and safe in traveling boxes. They cocoon, wrapping themselves in their long whip tail and six furry legs, and nap until woken — to serve as pet rat catchers and exterminators of the many noxious insects that can bedevil a caravan. A wild weasel, on the other hand, is limited only by the size of the burrow it digs itself. Specimens upwards of four and a half meters have been seen, though never caught. Traits: Cruel
and Terrible d10, As Big as I Need to Be d8, Sharp and Beady Eyes d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To
Escape From d8, To Fight d6, To Charm d6
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BEASTS OF THE WOOD CERANA The air hummed, soft and low as a sigh, louder than thunder. Moving slowly, like a dance through the high grasses, she lifted the thatch and wood roof and pulled out a frame — exposing wax, larvae, and honey alike. Gently, she tapped the larvae into a sealed jar, and slid an empty comb in to replace the one she’d removed. Larvae for the white’s poison-tipped arrows, wax for the reds, and honey for home. — Mellifera, beekeeper While you can harvest a kind of spicy syrup from the nests of locusts, the cerana is the only true bee of Mars. It’s native to the cool grassy fields along the cliffs of the Wyeth Valley, but invasive among any grasses where the occasional rain might fall. Unfortunately, it relies on certain flowers to produce edible honey, so while small colonies occasionally appear in the Labyrinth of Night, they produce only a toxic blue fluid — phosphorescent like the plants that line the walls of those caverns, but no more edible. The Wyeth have cultivated them safely for generations upon generations, though. They harvest the wax that makes their skin supple and their wooden goods shine, the honey they feed their children, and the paralyzing poison they use to hunt those that might disturb the tranquility of the valley.
Traits (as a swarm): Hive Mind d10, Poisonous Sting d8, Attracted to Bright Colors d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d8, To Fight d8, To Charm d6
FAGUN BUG “We’re a respectable establishment, Menia. And we must be seen to keep the fagun off their soft skins. But, well, the urgency varies. Use the soft bristle brush for the newcomers, they’ll wake more easily when pinched, and spot the bites on their skin more quickly. An old hand, on his third day, won’t wake enough to smell the insecticide. If his skin is oily, he can be persuaded not to notice.” — Petra to Menia, a daughter and a new apprentice Tiny red spiders are drawn to the smell of krem and hot flesh, and will sting those who sleep away their nights — drinking tiny drops of their spiced blood. A
respectable den will make an effort to keep their guest free of pests and insects. But the deeper the addiction, the less likely a customer is to notice in the first place.
Traits: Ravenous Blood-Drinker d10, Too Small to Hunt d8, Breeds Uncontrollably d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Escape From d12
IKKUN PARASITE (DEEPHOME) “Everything is so much clearer, now. All the twinges in my heart when I looked into the crowds of Vance. All the little fears that plagued me and whispered in the night. They were for a reason. They brought me here, and a Naruk spoke to me through certain signs. It taught me how to spot the monsters wearing Martian faces, and what to do when I found them. I’ve been running all my life, but now I know what I’m running towards.” — Weis, rubbing the sleep from his eyes The mind is delicate, balancing the complex humours that form reason and understanding and emotion. But the body is sturdy, and will steadfastly work to reclaim lost abilities, compensating for any lack with whatever it has to hand. Some lucky folk (and beasts) may find a disease that lays their brother low does not affect them. Some are ill for a day, or a week, but shake it off. Some never stand again. Their minds break in subtle ways, and their bodies move and work and speak with a different sort of guidance. The Wyeth do not suffer from ikkun parasites. Their skin is thick, and even soft-barked babies throw off a parasite like a passing cold. Other Martians are not so lucky. Their skin is easy to pierce, and their bodies unprepared to shake off the damage an ikkun can wreak on their minds. The luckiest suffer from hallucinations, ever more violent over time, but tolerable with skilled treatment. For some, the worm hooks deep into them, and their mind breaks apart to accommodate it. They may look, and sometimes behave, as if they remained their old selves, but a crawling madness has been triggered within. The more aggressive the beast (or Martian), the harder it is to shake off. Some hounds, now known by their systemic infection with ikkun parasites, carry it in their saliva, which can easily infect skin broken by their triple rows of jagged teeth.
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Traits: Driven to Spread d12, Thrives on Aggression d8, Agenda of Its Own d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d8
MIYUK “I brought you a gift.” “Did you? Where is it?” “Just here, the miyuk. To keep you safe when you go out among the reds.”
Traits: Follows Its Nose d10, Fair-Weather Friend d8, Runs with Gusto d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Fight d8, To Escape From d8 ABILITY: WANDERLUST Even a trained, somewhat-loyal miyuk hears the song of the woods in its reptilian heart. One day, and maybe soon, it will throw off the society of Martian folk and run towards it again. A miyuk always knows the direction and rough distance to the nearest wooded area.
N
“You got me an ill-tempered snake dog to keep me safe ARUK while traveling. And what am I to do when it hares off into the desert, as it will do because I’m not a beast trainer?” “Once, when the forest was young, and the husbands — Helania, third of six, picked up root and traveled among us, the naruk spoke and in the month of the Broken Spire walked as Wyeth do. With clever hands they crafted, and with clever minds they spun, until one found the first krem pod. Even the Wyeth have cause to catch and tame They smelled deeply of its spice, and turned all their crafts hounds. In this case, a six-legged serpent of a hound, toward it, until one by one they forgot their cleverness in love cold-blooded, long-legged and crammed with sinewy of its scent. We learn from them, this way, not to breathe it too energy. A miyuk might only reach a sister’s thigh, but deeply, or too often, lest we forget our own way.” it can be brave and true, for a time. The wildness can’t — Thamyra, to a pod of young girls be trained out of them though, and from time to time they escape back into the forest, or out into the deserts beyond.
The naruk, these days, are small and fierce, with brilliant blue fur easily spotted among the leaves of the trees they guard. Their teeth are too sharp for speech, but sharp enough to crack a pod, and bite the hand that might take it from them.
Traits: Greedy Bastard d10, Dexterous Climber d8, Needle-Sharp Teeth d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Fight d6, To Escape From d6
WYETH DEER I crouched near the edge of the vulture’s nest, still as a cat. Its mistress was long gone, but my scrambling along the cliff face had startled the prize I wished to extract. Long past the time my calves had seized, I was rewarded by the chirping song of a family of wyeth deer, creeping out between the interlocked branches of the nest. — Excerpts from the autobiography of Bathsheba Prince, noted Archaeologist and Grave Robber
A Miyuk on the prowl.
The Wyeth Deer is not precisely from Wyeth, but its deep green, mossy body suggests the lush forests the Wyeth protect. A family of deer is voracious and will breed prodigiously if their chosen burrow is dense with 204
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insects and parasites. Small packs tend to form symbiotic relationships with larger predators; by using their articulated hoof-like digits to climb delicately through the dense underbrush of a nest, they can easily avoid disturbing its occupants. And, since deer flesh is highly toxic (though hallucinogenic to Pale Martians), they are well protected from those predators whose nests they inhabit.
Traits: Friends Meaner than Me d10, Quick and Lightfooted d8, At Home Anywhere d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d8, To Charm d6
ABILITY: SPORE The breath of a Wyeth deer contains a tiny filament of its poison; a gas that dizzies and blinds even strong men. The deer can perform a Breathe maneuver with a Strike die. If the attack hits, its target loses his vision for the scene, and whenever he moves in combat, he does so in a random direction. ABILITY: DISAPPEAR It is very hard to find a Wyeth deer that does not wish to be seen. As long as it blends in with its surroundings or has plenty of cover in which to hide, a player requires a d12 in her pool to attempt to find it.
BEASTS OF THE WASTES J ACKAL They fell to a sleeping sickness, one after another. A great dry beast with black eyes and dusky skin slithered back to their camp night after night to drink the moisture out of them. Not that I would have mourned them, they were going to leave me in this cage clear back to Chiaro. A slave maybe, if they couldn’t get a worthwhile ransom. But as each one broke apart into dust and mummified bone, I couldn’t help but fear the bite that would catch me trapped, without even a knife to defend myself. — Tilly Eugene, expecting to not remain a prisoner much longer Jackals can be found amid the mountains and steppes, and some small packs prefer the stony comforts of Chiaro’s ruins. Long and slender and so flexible as to be almost boneless, they can squeeze through a crack the size of a Red Martian’s hand and pop an improperly sealed door off its hinges. It retains water in small bladders throughout its body, and reabsorbs it only sparingly, allowing it to sleep under the dry dust of a courtyard for months at a time. The toxin it secretes leaves a hunter so tired as to forget their surroundings. This allows the jackal to return to an unconscious meal some hours later, when their heart has slowed almost to stopping and they’ve lost the will to wake.
Traits: Pliable as Putty d10, The Color of Dust d8, Clings to Life d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d12, To Charm d8, To Fight d6
ABILITY: SOMA The bite is not so sharp as to wound badly. A sting and a gash that even a child could bandage, shrugged off when the jackal runs. But the weariness, you can feel it in your bones. When the jackal successfully bites someone, the GM gains a Misfortune die to use against that character. Until that Misfortune comes to pass or vanishes, the character’s Speed is reduced by one and she must succeed at a basic action, opposed by the jackal’s Traits, once per scene or fall into a deep sleep. ABILITY: DRINK At its leisure, the jackal can return to a victim and drink its body dry, leaving nothing but dust and powdered bone behind. If it has several uninterrupted minutes to feed on someone, one of that character’s Traits becomes exhausted, even if it’s currently a d6. If the last of a character’s Traits becomes exhausted this way, he’s drained and will die if the jackal feeds on him again.
SCORPION KING “It would be pitiful if it wasn’t trying to kill all our livestock.” — Afua, a trader and rancher Scorpions nest in that which has been allowed to dry and desiccate in the wastes of Mars. Left too long, their limbs will begin to fuse together. Starving and half mad, a mass of claws and stinging tails will burst out of the mummy and stagger through wastes and half-broken temples, looking for enough food to sustain their many, many mouths.
Traits: Many-Limbed Horror d10, Insatiable Hunger d8, Wasteland Rover d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Fight d6, To Escape From d6
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STEPPES LOCUST “As per our arrangement, a tally of our engagements this season: Losses: 3 yummocs, 8 Squires to various soldiers, 2 Cavaliers of the Thorn Arch Gains: 30 whole locust chitin plates, assorted decorative fragments, 200 kilos of dried locust flesh Coronal officially requests aid, in the form of 1 family of cavalry officers, in return for 30% of the chitin returns and all of the processed locust meat.” — Letter from Maristela Zarko, Duce of the West Gate, Knight of the Order of the Golden Maiden to Börte of Qongirat, Ambassador of the Ozak Nations The locust is a huge, destructive insect native to the steppes, but invasive throughout the wastes. Every part of the locust is valuable, from chitinous shell to gamey meat, but you’ll have a devil of a time getting it. Even one is a challenge, and a swarm is deadly to all but the most skilled fighters. The Ozak and Qan nations will even pause their endless war against one another to eradicate a swarm. Smaller fragments of their shells are often used as knife handles, but one rarely kills a locust without shattering the chest-plates too badly to use them whole as armor plating.
Traits: Deadly Swarm d10, Flesh-Eating Mandibles d8, Iridescent Chitinous Armor d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d8, To Charm d8
Ursavas form a rare alliance to set upon a caravan As big as a machaira, but smarter, meaner, and able to use tools and tricks to lure a meal away from its bodyguards. A bear so vicious that it can’t stand the sight of its own cubs, and abandons them at birth, perhaps later to kill them in the territory disputes travelers can hear from miles away. A creature as happy to eat its own as it is to eat a Martian.
Traits: Master of Deception d10, Vicious Cannibal d8, Claws the Size of Your Head d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Fight d10, To Escape From d8, To Charm d8
ABILITY: SWARM One locust knows where to find its hive, and how to call its hatchmates to itself.
URSAVAS Never answer a wail from deep in the wastes. If you’re lucky, the worst thing you’ll find is a nest of locusts. More likely it’s an ursavas trying to lure you away from the firelight to catch an easy meal. Be as wary of food untouched along a trade route. A scorpion king might only kill one yummoc, but the bear that set the trap is hoping to catch all of us. — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, in the month of the Stranger Ursavas are a campfire story to frighten young cavaliers into doing their duty and carefully tending a caravan.
ABILITY: LONELY CRY An ursavas has a flexible voice, and while it can’t quite match the words of Martians, it can mimic the sobs and frightened cries they make. ABILITY: JAWS OF HUNGER A particularly old or clever ursavas might engage in a prolonged stalking attempt — first destroying the supply wagons of a caravan, then luring clusters of travelers off-road with food stolen from their own pockets. If an ursavas has the time and resources to play the long game, step its To Escape From die up to a d10.
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BEASTS OF THE CITY PALE MARTIAN CITIES
ABILITY: NET No one knows the lay of a web better than its weaver; and no seeker could move so quickly through it. Add one to a machine spider’s Speed as long as it’s in its web.
AUTOMATONS (OR MACHINE SPIDERS)
ABILITY: DECONSTRUCT What lands in the web of the weaver is a gift to the weaver and the web, and quickly, with their gentlest teeth, they will cease its motion before grinding it fully at their leisure. A machine spider gains an extra Strike die against anyone in its web.
“Who resembles the steppes locust, which satisfies its every desire? They are the Martians who, after being struck down by our enemy’s arrows, take those arrows up and pierce our heart again with them.
LAPIN
Who resembles the machine spider, which satisfies the needs of The People? They are the Martians who, when showered with our enemy’s arrows, remain untouched because they are dressed in holy bone.
Oh how they cried in the dead of night, ghostly and haunting as they grieved their dead sister. None would speak to us after that, even the lapins from Children, burn away your fickleness, and turn your passion always towards The People. Be the Martians who, families too far away to have p ossibly known. They under a torrent of arrows, shatter them and force them into jus t fall silent at our approac h, staring angrily, an d would not take up their tending or their song until we the hearts of our enemies.” — Sister Dorotheus of Metanoia, left again. — Jessamyn Jacobs, assistant to Bathsheba Prince Letters for the Third Egg Year and writer of Seven Chronicles of Valerian and Castilleja The machine spiders are hand-sized creatures that infest the ruins of First Martian cities, collectively weaving enormous webs out of stinging silken cords. Whatever their original purpose, they are now cultivated by the Pale Martians to weave the watertight fabrics from which they build their homes and make their clothes. With some careful training and a talented herder, they can even be used to weave the seamless containers Chiaro relies on to ship chunks of glacier water south. While they meticulously demolish any material (biological or not) that gets caught in their webs, it isn’t clear that they eat what they catch, so much as break it down into usable parts. When one ”dies,” its nestmates immediately descend on it to dismantle its corpse, and build a new spider to replace it. Only the very lucky have ever managed to preserve an automaton body from this fate, and none have quite discovered the mechanism by which they spin. Special Note: Automatons are not naturally combative, and seem only dimly aware of anything outside their meditative weaving, but if provoked or pursued, they will retreat deeper into their nest.
Traits: Master Crafter d10, Single-Minded with Purpose d8, Mechanical Beast d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Fight d6, To Escape From d6, To Charm d6
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VANCE
Tiny hares, made of horn and glass, congregate along the glacier wall in families of 20-30. They sing, and know, and farm in a small way. Harvesting those seeds and grasses as can be found so far north, and ALAMANDER planting the salvage in fields they till with their siblings. They make decisions as a group, operating as a hive “Rats and salamanders in the grain, cautes chasing with queens and daughters, and communicate through them about, and dizzy arrayed all around in mine storethem (somehow) to other families hundreds of miles houses. What does us have weasels and peacocks for, if not away. A lapin removed from her family will wither — to catch verminy bits? Mother-of-pearl, tha keeps the house losing speech, then song, then heart. At the moment not at all.” she dies, her family will take up a wail, changing their — Pepper (Susanna) Vipert, family song forever. Their mournful singing has been Quartermaster to the House of Nacre, Castor, and Silk the focus of study for a few Pale Martian academics, but lapins seem contemptuous of Martian research on their Salamanders may have originally been from Arcawords, and rarely make an effort to explain themselves dia, but like rats and the poor, they will always be among to those outside their species. But when the moon is us. In the wild, the tough-skinned lizards eat most anyblue, families across the glacial fields come together and thing small enough to get their jaws around. But ones sing sweet and high. And the ice trembles with their that stay too long in the city develop a taste for sweets small voices. and grains — sneaking through cracks in storehouses and bakeries, and stuffing themselves silly. More skin and cartilage than meat, and bitter enough (though not Traits: For Family d10, We Are All Connected d8, poisonous, per se) that they’re not worth much to eat. Moves Glaciers to Weep d8 So no one much bothers to catch them for a pot. A Resolve: d8 handful of skin could patch your boots though, if you Difficulties: To Escape From d6, To Charm d6 were in a bad way.
S
VULTURE
“Not every beast of Mars has the spark of understanding, but of the ones that do, many choose to remain as they are. What does civilization offer the vulture or the lapin? What jokes can they tell, free from the burden of legitimacy?” — Sister Nimas Regula, of Patience, Letters for the Tenth Movement
Traits: Adaptable Little Bugger d8, Wall Walker d8, Doesn’t Give Up d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d6
SAND SPIDER
I saw a gray scurry far down the dune, long legs No more wicked than any other beast that eats flesh scratching up through the grass by the brackish irr igation for its supper, but perhaps more reviled for it. Vultures ditches. I whistled and dug into my pack for a rifle and a are smart and sensible, and speak to one another in a soft bag of rocks. If there was one sand spider there were 20, clicking language rich in sardonic humor. Their small and someone needed to get eyes on the flanking group while hands can wield rough tools, but they are largely unin- I blundered into the obvious trap. clined to turn those tools on other Martians. They prefer I got a whistle back, and another from the ranch instead to build themselves complex nests in high, safe hills, unreachable by ursavas or machaira. There they porch. Someone’s been keeping the home fires burning, engage in circular debates about what Mars is made of, I see. Well, the more the merrier, and the more likely the which are considered disproven (and therefore uninter- yummocs will make it to morning. —Ayo Nkechi Poole, hired hand and sometimes esting) by the higher orders of Martian thinkers. sharpshooter in the month of the Stranger
Traits: Architect of the Skies d10, Philosophical Thinker d8, Clever Scavenger d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d8, To Fight d6, To Charm d6
Individually, a sand spider isn’t much. A ball of gristle and meanness half the size of an underfed eora. But a pack of them can be clever, engaging in group tactics and minor trickery — laying traps, forming teams 208
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to herd targets together or pick off a straggler. Their ingenuity is limited, though, and they’re both too stupid to be worth training and too numerous to effectively exterminate. They range through the southern edge of Chiaro clear down to Anger, though they give the Prismatic Wastes a wide berth.
Traits (minion group): 1 per player + 1; Parry Level: 2 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Fight d6, To Escape From d6
SPARROW
Who put them there? Surely not the slick-shelled beetle sculptures that dotted the hallway. I heard a creak and startled, dropping my light. It cracked and flickered, and in the darkness, I heard 100 heavy feet. — ’Just’ Pietro, a self-proclaimed Prince Among Thieves Delve beetles are smart enough to be patient and loyal, but their thoughts move at a slow crawl compared to even other steadfast guardians of Cydonian treasure. At least partly a construct, their wants are few, and both their claws and their senses are unnaturally sharp. They dwell in entrances and antechambers, warding off those graverobbers as can be dissuaded by the neatly snipped bones gathering on the stone floors before them.
“When sparrow spoke and wren fought, the sparrow woke again one morning, and was bathed in morning light. The golden glow it gave her feathers pleased her, so much richer and brighter than her common brown Traits: Pincers Sharper than Surtur Blades d12, Sees in speckles. But morning became day became night, and the the Dark d10, Jealous Hoarder d6 gold evaporated off her wings like alchemy. Now sparrow Resolve: d8 was vain, but also clever. To keep her feathers gold, she’d Difficulties: To Fight d10, To Escape From d8, To Charm need to ask dawn for a filament of heaven, to keep nestled d8 in her breast. So she woke again, savoring the gold that would soon be hers, and flew toward the sun, rehearsing CE ORNETS her request. But the day grew hotter and the sun beat against poor sparrow, until she faltered, and fell. She slept “I’ve never felt so cold in my bones as when we all day and all night, pinned by the sun’s heat. And when stumbled on a hornet’s nest buried in the glacier. The two she woke, her feathers were bronzed all over, but her face miners closest to them were struck in the chest. They barely felt hot and sore. She was golden down to the shaft of her had a moment to scream before their lungs started freezing feathers, but her face had been burnt black. Now tell me, shut. That’s why I call myself lucky. I only lost an arm.” children. Did sparrow get the better of that bargain?” — Tycho Nara, a cavalier lucky enough to get old. — Clodia, to her elementary school class Near the very northern pole, an awful insect makes Golden sparrows are a terrible pest, and a danger its way in the world. An ice hornet’s sting paralyzes with to crops of grains and fruit alike, but the sweet tones of cold, and flesh touched by it will always need to be cut their songs keep them alive as both pampered pets… away before the chill leaks into your heart. The heat and a plentiful source of food for Vance’s poor. from a living body both attracts and distresses them, drawing them close to attack, but confusing their sensTraits: Dulcet Song d10, Selfish Moocher d8, Quick es. Fire provokes them, and in their rage they’ll sting Flight d6 themselves dry — ripping the stingers out of their body Resolve: d6 to freeze into stillness everything nearby. Difficulties: To Escape From d6, To Charm d6
I H
CHIARO DELVE BEETLE The air should have stank, with so many bodies on the ground. But it was strangely sterile. The way an empty house smells, when no one has ever lived there. Yet here was a pile of thieves a span deep, arranged as if for a pyre.
Traits: Dive Bomb d10, Roused to Fury by Heat d8, Magnetoreception d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Charm d8, To Fight d6 ABILITY: BONECHILLER A hornet will strike the closest mass of heat it can detect, and pierce deep. If their stinger strikes bone, the cold will creep through your marrow, freezing your bones until they crack. A character steps a Trait down by one die for each Strain be209
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yond the first she suffers from an ice hornet in a single scene, to a minimum of d4. These Traits recover at a rate of one die per scene until the end of the session, when they recover fully.
MILAK “I don’t know that we drove it off, per se. I think it just got full.” — Tamiko Rodriguez, caravan driver Mars did not dry out all at once. At first it was only the odd dry summer. Then all summers out of memory were arid. Then all seasons. The water slowly disappeared from air and soil beneath Martian feet. Some Martian beasts had time to adapt. The fish that breathed air could also wallow in mud. The wallower could also walk on land. Generations later, and the milak can crawl out of canals in search of richer prey than the silt of a riverbed can provide. Eoras, hounds, aepys, people. Milak are what passes for an amphibian on Mars — snakelike, with heavy coils and a pacifying bite, and legs just long enough to speed a retreat back underwater with its prize.
A shopkeeper finds their wares unexpectedly infested with glasscutter wasps
Traits: Canal Dweller d10, Swift and Sinuous d8, Indiscriminate Palate d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d8, To Charm d6
ous they are, though. It’s true they breed prodigiously, but something must kill enough of them that their numbers don’t overwhelm Illium’s streets.
ILLIUM GLASSCUTTER (PRISMATIC) WASP
Traits: Glasscutting Stinger d10, Blinding in the Light d8, Hardy Survivor d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d8, To Charm d8
Every terrible thing you’ve heard about them is true. They eat carrion of any kind. They’re immune to the radiation of the wastes. They steal bodies that (if ever seen again) they leave bursting with wasp larvae. Kill them if you must; run if you can. — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, in the month of the Scalpel
R ADIUM R AT “But doesn’t natural philosophy teach us that the strongest animal prevails?” “No, Cinna. Sometimes it’s enough merely to survive. Survive long enough to pass on your legacy to more children than the beast that is different from you.”
The prismatic wasps, iridescent as the glass they “But then, weak humours can prevail alongside the strong. How shear to build their towering nests, are native to the Prismatic Wastes. And somehow, they survive happily do we guard against weakness when it might be all around us?” in the shadow left by a weapon that melted the stone “Search deeply in the eyes of everyone you see. Watch their and sand to heavy sheets of radioactive glass. Fist-sized movements. Inform the authorities if you suspect they might harand easy to provoke (though why would you want to?), bor a secret weakness. We will know the ways of finding it, and a swarm can easily overpower any lone Martian des- the animals among us will thank us for our careful husbandry.” perate enough to make the trip, and maim a party of — Lucien Ooms, well-armored soldiers. No one knows quite how numerinstructor of Natural Philosophy and Adaptive Arts 210
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Radium rats came, in time, to tolerate the rigors of life in Illium. Skin and eyes bleached by generations of irradiation, they’re pale in daylight, with squinting red eyes. Their bite carries a little of the poison in their veins, giving the victim a slow-moving radiation sickness. They don’t live long, eventually falling to the sickness in their bones, but they live long enough.
be precarious. They mostly scrape lichens and mosses clean off the rocks, but when that’s particularly scarce, they’ll steal glome feed, or graze in the dry plains to the west.
Traits: Natural Rock Climber d8, Evasive Prey d8, Screeching Call d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d6, To Charm d6
Traits (minion group): 1 per player + 1; Parry Level: 2 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Fight d6
GLOME BUG
ABILITY: RADIATION SICKNESS Whenever radium rats inflict a Condition, the GM gains a Misfortune die to represent radium exposure.
“They’re not very pretty, and you need to shell them in a thresher before you can start fermenting the ammonia out. But once you’ve pureed that paste, and smoked it for another few months, it’s delicious — I swear.” — Atticus Juniper, rancher and Glome Paste Booster
SILICON CRAB
Glome bug is an acquired taste outside of Surtur, but quite popular there (despite how thoroughly it needs to be processed). It’s not hard to see why. They’re hardy, indifferent to the freshness of their feed, practically immune to the punishing heat, and astonishingly idle. Even their downy hair, if you can gather enough of it, makes a thread that’s an adequate substitute for flax or silk. In fact, being a glome rancher is preposterously easy — provided you can tolerate handling an acre of meter-long millipedes on a daily basis.
Always check your blades. Hold them to the light and check for glinting webs scattered along the length of the blade. A disreputable dealer will try to prevent you, or keep the lights in his storefront dim and diffuse to trick you. Insist on holding it up to sun- or starlight. — Nancie Sade-Waker, author of A Thousand Blades of Mercy: Compendium of the Many Blades of Mars Silicon crabs are ore eaters. They burrow into improperly-mined or inadequately-smelted minerals, creating tiny weaknesses and imperfections. A blade made by a tired hand, from metal she did not smith herself, might crack along the crystal webbing left in crab-infested metal.
Traits: No Heat Too Scorching d8, Effortless Survivor d6, Soft but Gross d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d6
Traits: Insidious Burrower d8, Smells Ore from a Mile Away d8, Too Small for the Naked Eye d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d10
ORMERIAN LIZARD
SURTUR
“Are you going to give me stitches or what? I’m filleted ass to elbow here.”
BHARAL
“And why were you baiting lizards in the hills?”
“I’m just making conversation. If you’d rather I didn’t give you a chance for the opium to kick in I suppose I could get started now.”
“Be as agile as the bharal, turning your face toward what you must do this moment. The past is trajectory, the future will not arrive until you succeed at the present jump. Be swift, children. Discover what is needed today.” — Tucki Badwater, to her pack of cutpurse orphans
“....would you believe my Gemma wanted a pet?” — Pavel Schiaparelli, to an aggrieved surgeon Ormerian lizards demand a wide territory, and guard it with a single-minded fury. Beaked and barbed, with thorny crests to flag their anger, they constantly patrols the borders of the rocky wasteland they claim. Mated pairs will patrol in shifts, one parent guarding the clutch while the other menaces intruders. They do not make particularly tractable pets.
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Traits: Heavy Barbed Tail d12, Keen Eyes d8, Sharp Toothy Beak d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Fight d10, To Charm d10, To Escape From d8
striking one with a stone. That’s all the welcome I’ll know what to do with. Kill a laradill for me.” — Aradella Castile, picking a caravan to follow, and already homesick Perhaps eons ago some laradill ancestor harassed the sailors of ancient Mars. Today, its grandchildren squawk and chase and menace Martians on land. Their calls are deafening and cacophonous, and in the early morning hours many Skarras children hunt them for both pennies and sport. They are somehow even more aggressive during mating season, when they have been known to chase one another miles away from their nests, biting and pulling at each other’s feathers all the while. They’re edible, if you can tolerate the noise to get at them.
SKARRAS GALLUM “Beauteous choice sire, a pearl of great price. See tha how it glitter-dances in the crystal light? Beveled from the loveliest veins of whalestone tha has ever seen. A fine gem, tha.” “Whalestone? A poetic name to be sure. What sort of rock is that when it’s at home?” “Oh, uh, carcibum callcinatea laxidasia...the, uh, gr ay kind what comes from mill-mining in the south fields.” “How charmingly evasive. I’ll take the lot anyway, but 10 centimes a gram and not a bit more of your highway robbery. …Oh, and one merchant to another, think of a better fake name next time.’” — Priyana Jubilee, respec’able merchant to The Quality of Mars and Peregrine Janit, who is already calculating a very substantial markup
Traits: Loud and Raucous d8, Cranky Aggressor d6, Flagrant Food Thief d6 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Escape From d8, To Fight d6
SANDSKIN The stony teeth ground painfully against my skin, but only dug against the surface. Too dull to pierce my leg, only
Fat herds of gallum float in the Sky Fields south of Skarras, grazing on the long strands of kelpy weeds and tillandsia brush, held aloft by the low gravity. They aren’t especially aggressive, except insofar as a nearsighted beast too big to see its sides might bash an inattentive Martian against the rocks. To manage that bulk on a diet of weeds and nettles, gallum must wring every last fiber out of their cud, which they digest at length in stomachs like pressure cookers. The odd pebble or rock that gets sucked up alongside is subjected to the same acids and pressures, creating gems of unusual color and luster. (They’re very popular in Coronal and Zodiac, though one suspects Skarras merchants neglect to mention their origin as glorified gallstones.)
Traits: Takes Up Space d8, Powerful Suction d6, Low-Gravity Dweller d6 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Charm d6
LARADILL An unfortunate traveler inhales a sandskin.
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SKULKER
worry at it and hope to pull it loose. It would have been tragic if it wasn’t trying to maul me to death and steal my skin. — Karel, philosophically regretting the spirit he would soon bind
Two skulkers padded softly down the alley, casually knocking over trash cans to critically examine their contents. One was already carrying a long bone, and the cracking noise it made as the beast turned it over and over in its jaws echoed up to the attic we were hiding in. Hope fully they weren’t hungry enough to hunt. — Sasha, recounting her childhood in A Debt Eternal: The Secret History of Skarras
Sandskins are barely living. A swirling cluster of rock and dust (and some say, fragments of ghosts too weak to have a soul to call their own). They crave flesh, any will do, to pour themselves into. Their desperate longing remains unfilled though. Even if they pour their dust into the mouth of a captive, whatever spirit possesses them simply reforms, hours or days later. There is no peace for a sandskin, not even the peace of death.
Some distant cousin of the caute, perhaps. A skulker is heir to none of the caute’s mysteries, but endowed with stamina and fangs that outclass most city beasts. They have an unfortunate taste for the flesh of Martians, though. They are dangerous creatures to leave alive, but also dangerous creatures to seek out and kill.
Traits: Unflagging Desperation d10, Miniature Sandstorm d6, Shifting Form d6 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Escape From d10, To Charm d8, To Fight d6
Traits: Hardy Endurer d10, Fangs to Tear Flesh d8, Nonchalant Intimidation d8 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Fight d10, To Escape From d8, To Charm d8
ABILITY: WHIRLWIND If given the chance, a sandskin will pour itself into the still living flesh of any Martian that walks and speaks. Desperate to have form and voice again, unable to sustain either.
BEASTS OF THE WATER FISHWIFE A cloud of fishwives moved past us, bumping against the bottom and sides of the canal ship, scorching it slightly with errant tendrils. And damned if that Roundhead didn’t reach out for one, ignoring the razorfish pulled to the surface by their light. He had lungs enough to scream at length as they swarmed his arm and started pulling him in, and we started pulling him back. He might live, he was lucky there was a sawbones on the ship in the first place. But the damage done to his face was quite extensive, and there was nothing left of the eyes to speak of. — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, in the month of the River The fishwives light your way in the deepest canals, luminescent under the waves. And that brightly-colored light can reveal things hiding in the silt below you that you might prefer not to see, or be seen by. Their long jelly tendrils leave black burns on the skin, and a tightness around the heart when you stray too far from water. But a fishwife is also filled with the silkiest powdery smoke, which, when breathed deeply from one not quite dead, can speed the mind of an adept past reason, to let them see things no one else has known.
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Traits: Searing Tendrils d10, Adept Tempter d8, Bioluminescence d8 Resolve: d6 Difficulties: To Escape From d8, To Fight d6, To Charm d6
d6
ABILITY: CANAL SONG The lamia sing, perhaps constantly, in tones too deep for Martian ears. But the water hears them, and it ripples and churns to deliver what favors a lamia might ask of it.
LAMIA
ABILITY: STONE SONG
The song of the canals is too deep to hear, except in your bones and in the pattern of the ripples on the water. I don’t know to whom they are singing — themselves, or other lonely serpents, perhaps. But I’m sure it is not I. I’ve lost more than one sailor to that thrum. One day they up and swim away, fish and eels parting before them. Perhaps they’ve finally been lured, only waiting for the serpent’s jaws to close around them. — Roya Turhan, Captain, and child of Captains
The canals are mapped, as well as they can be, but maps are unreliable. Roads might snap shut behind a cargo ship — its sailors drifting in the dark for hours before reemerging suddenly in another place, the stone groaning and quavering around them. Sailors are superstitious, and blame the lamia.
LUNGFISH
Practicality is fashionable this year. Little princesses Few Martians have seen a lamia. Not because they’re and lordlings taking knife lessons and learning to fillet a so mindlessly violent as to destroy anyone who might yummoc. Filling their private water supplies with importspot one, or necessarily because they’re rare. Lamia are ed lungfish, as though they weren’t already buying up the just regularly too smart to be caught. Certainly a sleek sweetest water. It takes being very rich indeed to make scale as long as a Pale Martian’s hand might float by on poverty and risk look so sleek and well-groomed. the water, or the deep scratches made by some slithering — Excerpts from The Apprentice’s Diary, beast might be heard echoing along the canal. But they in the month of the Lost Child appear to not wish to be found, and take some pains to avoid those stout-hearted or foolish enough to look for Barely alive, but precious beyond measure, a lunga sea serpent on purpose. Those that have succeeded fish is a living water filter. Left to their own devicreport a creature so long its coils could not be counted, es, they can even turn the brackish water that pools with a broad face that called to mind a Pale Martian. around a glacial melt into sweet, palatable water. Placed Often they are caught while defending a clutch (never in a cistern, they will slowly eat the soluble minerals more than two eggs), and the words they whisper while and ancient or exotic bacteria one might find in water driving an adventurer away shake one’s teeth with deep shipped from 1,000 miles away. A lifetime of heavy metvibrations below hearing. Some sailors believe they are al consumption makes them appallingly toxic, and too coming to understand the songs the lamia sing, the low valuable to risk eating besides. tones that echo through the caverns, shaking the water and disrupting navigation. And certainly it is language Traits: Water Cleanser d12, In Demand d8, Mud Hiberof a sort, but not one we’ve learned to speak. nator d6 Resolve: d6 Traits: Elusive Recluse d12, Voice of the Deep d8, ConDifficulties: To Charm d8 stricting Coils d8 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Charm d10, To Fight d8, To Escape From
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BEASTS OF LEGEND
BEASTS OF LEGEND BLIND SNAKE It creaked, shifting dust and rubble off its segmented body, and roared experimentally, as if trying to remember how it was done. The temple shook around us, and I had maybe as much as a minute to figure out how to keep us all from dying alongside this architecture. — Numbers, in a bit of a pickle
sky. If it lived at all, its slick fins would slide through the icy clouds of the north — hunting the ghostly sky fish that live there, and haunting the broken First Martian cities that dwell along the edge of the glaciers. The shadow cast by a roc foretells ill omens, disease, and secret wars. One born under his wing will be a monster or a prophet. A person who could break the world.
Traits: Silent Flyer d12, Blots Out the Sun d8, Questing Eye d8 A few still live, insofar as their kind does, curled in the Resolve: d10 bones of the eldest cities. The head of a blind snake could Difficulties: To Escape From d12, To Fight d8, To Charm d8 comfortably house a Pale Martian, curled up to sleep in a skull with no eye sockets. And yet they seem to see — trackOMB TALKER ing grave robbers throughout the city complex in which they have nested, sleepily guarding the gates to treasures “The call is unmistakable. A high whine will cut the air, not seen in a millennium. In the meantime, they chase metal shrieking as it pounds toward our trap. With any luck, young Martians out of the palaces of their betters. However we’ll have bought ourselves a few minutes to run past the massive the rest of a snake’s body might be, they’ve gone entryway it’s been idling in front of. With less, our distraction stiff with disuse, and a snake generally chooses not to follow will fail as soon as it gets within firing range. And no way to a robber too far outside of their tombs and tabernacles. tell for sure which it would be until we’re already running.” Some adventurers believe they don’t truly live. — Zuzuka Yeshvan, a native guide giving a thrill to That they’re either constructs like the tomb stalkers, some Vancian nobles playing at grave-robbing or the machine spiders cultivated by the Pale Martians. Either way, they dream in the stone, eternally listening for some signal that hasn’t come.
T
S
Traits: Seismic Communication d10, Massive Coils d8, Ancient Guardian d8 Resolve: d8 Difficulties: To Fight d10, To Charm d8, To Escape From d6
R OC When the world was young, when the world was new A clouded sky might come when the moon was blue His strong back carries the Stranger between empty places His silent wings cover over our faces Their trackless search leaves no traces The shadow they cast holds danger, it’s true May the secret they’re seeking not be about you — A Children’s Book of Robber Verses It’s said that the roc carries The Stranger on his back, even today. And together they watch for the secrets the land offers up when it forgets to fear the open
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A P P E N D I X A : B E S T I A RY
Tomb stalkers are strange machines that haunt the Cydonian monuments. Most who encounter a tomb stalker see it at a distance, or hear its low, keening voice on the wind.
Creatures struck by the death ray are alleged to experience swift deadening of the nervous system, before being raised and drained of vital fluids by the stalker’s tentacles.
Tomb stalkers stand at a variety of heights, though rarely less than three stories tall, on three flexible, metal limbs. These limbs descend from a ridged, metal head, from which also dangle a variety of manipulators and tentacles.
Tomb stalkers are the bane of those who raid the Cydonian temples and graveyards, but whether they are active guardians, opportunistic predators, or something else entirely remains a subject for campfire speculation.
The characteristic rust coloring of the tomb stalker gives credence to the theory these machine-beasts spend long periods of time lurking beneath the sand.
Traits: Cyclopean Death Ray d12, Gargantuan Tripod Legs d8, Subterranean Sand Prowler d8 Resolve: d10 Difficulties: To Fight d12, To Escape From d10
Their most-feared ability is the death ray, a beam of light emitted from the stalker’s single, ovoid “eye.”
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What you wear tells a story about who you are Together, you begin to have a picture of who you are, now. Your clothes mark you as a mendicant or a run- and what happened to bring you to this moment. Pick away prince or a holy sister at arms, and the people an item (or two) that evokes where you’ve been or who you pass on the streets of Vance know you by the you’ll become, or what you learned while hiding from things they’ve seen another sister do. It shapes their a tomb stalker in Chiaro-that-was. Then, decide how expectations of you in subtle ways, and not always you came by it, and what befell its former owner. After how you’d prefer. Do you dress to create those per- all, you lived to tell the tale, no matter how unlikely it ceptions, or subvert them? To calm the heart, or fire seemed at the time. Now both halves of that story are it? To pass invisibly, or provoke scrutiny? What you yours to describe — the victory and the consequences. carry tells another story about who you have been. To invoke the positive aspect of an item, spend a Drama Your hands hold the signs of who you’ve chosen to Point to gain its Benefit. To invoke the negative aspect, be. Rough or soft, agile or strong, they offer a truth suffer its Drawback and gain a Drama Point. about what you value and w hat you had to do to keep Most gear is just what it appears to be. A sword is yourself in bread and water. Do you carry a spear? An often only a sword, a flintlaser only a pistol. But some astrolabe? A satchel of herbs and as much of a medi- items are special, and figure meaningfully into your story. cal kit as you can afford? For gear that is simply itself, consult the following table. ITEM
CLOSE
1+ DISTANCE
PARRY/STUNT
Bow
0
3
Parry as Unarmed
Blunt Object
1 (2 if heavy)
0 (thrown)
Parry as Unarmed
Dagger
1
1 (thrown)
Can be used corps-a-corps
Flintlaser Pistol
1
2
Parry as Unarmed
Polearm/Spear
1
1 (thrown)
+1 damage on a Lunge
Staff
1
1 (up to 2 spaces)
Move foe 2 spaces instead of one with Shove
Sword
1
0 (thrown)
Gain Windfall on successful Riposte
Unarmed
1
n/a
1 Strain per successful Parry against armed foe in Close Quarters; can be used corps-a-corps
Whip
0
1 (up to 2 spaces)
As Unarmed; if used to Disarm, automatically gain foe’s weapon
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BASIC GEAR CLOTHING
LEATHER SAWBONES SATCHEL
BONE ANGEL CLASP
A worn, thin case filled with wyeth gum and sphag num moss, butterfly tape and laudanum. Benefit: Most of what an itinerant surgeon might need to keep body and soul together. Remove up to 2 additional points of Strain when treating a wound as with the Expert Treatment Talent.
A small buckle of bone and iron, carved into the shape of a six-armed angel. Benefit: Pin her at your heart, and take even a dram of solace, wherever it may be found. Reroll a Misfortune die when it comes up a match, and put off doom for another day.
Drawback: But
not exactly of the highest quality. This scalpel was scrubbed dry with sand, that thread stored soaking in milk of poppy. When you roll a 1 on Drawback: A blessing is only as strong as the faith your Career die to treat a patient, also inflict the Inof the blessed. If you suffer from a Condition, change a jured condition. Misfortune die’s result so that it matches another die.
SERPENTSILK SHAWL
GHOSTLY SCARF THE COLOR OF R AIN
Endless yards of shed salamander skin, woven into a body-enveloping shawl. Benefit: Papery and soft to the touch, but sturdy enough to resist the bone-drying desert wind. Add an extra d8 to your pools for resisting environmental hazards for the session.
Soothingly cool, but sturdy against the sand. When wrapped around a neck, it flutters even where there is no wind. Benefit: Shades your eyes from the sun and your mouth from the ghosts lurking in Mars’s terrible winds. Discard a Misfortune die associated with a ghost’s actions.
Drawback: A
figure shrouded in discarded skin may look otherworldly in the dusk between cities. Inhuman. Exert your Cunning or Grace die.
Drawback: Rain
is so rare, and moisture so prized, that a reminder of Mars’s soft and easy days is often met with an unkind word. Someone takes offense and picks a fight.
FOOD HEART OF PALM WINE
J ADE AND BLACK GLASS BRACELET Creamy green and smoky scales lazily circling your arm, each etched with one of Hy’s 77 names. Benefit: Remember what you have already done in the sky’s name, something forgotten and strange, and repeat it. Step an exerted or exhausted Career one die up (no farther than your maximum die size). Drawback: It’s a conspicuous choice, to remind those
around you of the secrets you have at your command. You draw the suspicious scrutiny of a major power here.
The syrup of life. See how it sweetens, then cheers, then sours — all in one night. Benefit: Tap a palm tree and collect its sap. In an hour, it will have become sweet and syrupy; in two, it becomes a potent brandy. You drink it while it’s still potent — step any exerted or exhausted Trait one die up (no farther than your maximum die size). Drawback: By morning it will have fermented into
a pot of sap so sour even an oleph won’t touch it. You drink it after it’s gone rotten, subtracting one from your Speed for the rest of the scene.
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BASIC GEAR
SWEET CRESCENT BREAD
LARK’S TONGUE
“Red for the blood our ancestors shed on Mars’s sand, sweet for love’s embrace, shaped like the moons that soar in our skies.” Benefit: Remember that you are a laughing child of Mars. The product of those who would not lay down and die just because the world was ending. Step any exhausted Method back to your maximum die size, and gain the Melancholy Condition.
Sing a morning song, a message of daybreak whistling through a metal pendant Benefit: If you play it when the moon is high, for as long as your breath fills the flute, the pale, cool dawn will hold back the sun. Reduce the Strain caused by an environmental hazard by 1 for any number of people no more than one space apart.
Drawback: Remember that life is
quick and death is long, and once upon a time your ancestors also believed themselves ageless conquerors and everlasting lovers. Gain the Melancholy Condition and encounter a ghost before the end of the session.
WILDHONEY TEA Honey gathered from locust nests, steeped with charcoal to leech out the poisons and insecticides. Brewed softly with such herbs as a careful witch might harvest from her own rooftop. Benefit: See Mars brighter, with crisper lines and heroics as yet undone. Another sip, another burst of potential leaping from your fingertips. Step any exhausted die back to your maximum die size, and gain the Melancholy Condition and 1 point of Strain. Drawback: Stop, and find yourself crashing against
a wall whose height you can’t imagine. The next time you would exert a die, exhaust it instead.
INSTRUMENTS AOIDE Coffee and honey, baglama and aoide and mandolin—voices low and syncopated, whispering in your ear hours after the cafe doors closed behind you. Benefit: No love song sounds as pure, no anthem as patriotic as played across an aiode’s trichord strings. Feel, and it feels with you, filling the hearts of anyone who will listen. Remove an Exhausted Condition, or 1 point of Strain. Drawback: The
aoide mourns with you, too. No heartbreak is more shattering, or failure so clearly fore ordained. Take on a Condition that someone in your audience currently suffers, while that person loses it.
Drawback: As
soon as you stop, the sky will remember, and its heat and light will leap forward to return to their business. You also take any Strain that an environmental hazard inflicts on one character adjacent to you, for the scene.
SEA BELLS The whispering echo of an ocean storm, trapped in a red, hollowed-out stone. Benefit: A sea bell can sense its mother, no matter how deep underground, and will point you to her. Exert any career die of d6 or higher to find the direction and general distance of the nearest water source, as with Dowsing. Drawback: A sea bell draws you just as close to all
the other deep desert creatures who crave sweet water. All creatures within a few miles can sense you as though they used Dowsing to find you.
OBJECTS AND TOOLS BOOK OF GONDOLA TICKETS Does it matter how I got them? The dockers’ guild stamp along the spine—just there. Can’t forge that. Benefit: Close enough to legal tender, and there’s still half a book left. Gain passage (poor quarters) on a gondola or canal barge. Drawback: Don’t let anyone look too close at that
guild stamp…too late. Discard the item.
CERAMIC MELES-HAIR BRUSH Fired clay flecked with silica, stuffed with bristles from a meles too old to till and too homely to stud. Benefit: A hundred strokes a day to leave your hair shining and bright, to focus your mind into the arrow
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that will pierce theirs. An adept can take a basic action to learn one secret about a non-player character without exerting their career die.
Benefit: Know
the days of the Witch’s masses, and know the way to spin a hiding place from glass and shadow. To wrap the world around the secret that is yourself. Exert a career die of d8 or higher to be comDrawback: Yet years later and people still smell the dirt of the fields on you. The doors of society re- pletely unnoticed for a scene. main just as closed as they were when you left your Drawback: The Witch’s child was never found. family behind you. Someone learns a secret about your The character finds herself unnoticed for a scene when past that you’d rather hide. she doesn’t want to be.
INTARSIA J EWELRY BOX
PHOTINUS LAMP
Intricately carved with designs of small flowers and deep deserts, wrought in bone and metal. Benefit: A puzzlebox for small treasures, protected by a complex interlocking mechanism. As with Hidden Pockets, store any small item in the box surreptitiously. Only the owner of the box can open it or detect its presence.
Painted inside with lucem ferre, carved into the shape of a beetle on a string. Benefit: Adjust the wings to light your way. The barest tick to read by, two wings to flood a room. Gain a bonus d8 to your pools for the rest of the scene when observing or navigating a darkened environment. This light cannot be extinguished by an adept.
Drawback: When warmed by your hands, the pat-
terns grow hypnotic and distracting. Long after you put it down, you long to touch it again, not to open but to caress. You become obsessed with the box and paranoid someone will take it from you.
MAIDEN ’S FINGER A delicate multitool, handle engraved with the story of the Maiden’s crucible. Second sister is shown looking sharply toward the point of its blade. Benefit: Sharp and strong, with tools as flexible as a spider’s leg. Temporarily gain an extra white d10, which automatically rolls a 10. Once you use it, the materials or tools it represents are no longer available for the rest of the scene. Drawback: Skill is a fine and clever thing, and op-
portunities to use that skill will quickly become their own reward. Regardless of whether those opportunities need taking. Temporarily gain an extra white d10. You can use it as many times as you want in the scene, but each time you do, the GM gains a Misfortune die.
MISSAL OF THE WITCH’S CRADLE
Drawback: Lots
of things are drawn to a light in the darkness. You encounter a threat that wouldn’t have found you otherwise.
WEAPONS COLD AND GLITTERING KNIFE Three finger-lengths of icy bone, edged with glass harvested from the Prismatic Wastes. Benefit: Nothing cuts more silently than a glass knife, and the poised cat carved into its blade catches the blood that might mark a killer’s hands. Inflict 1 extra Strain on the target of your choice at the Break of a combat. This Strain cannot be removed until the next session. Drawback: The
marks left by a glass blade glisten unhealthily in the sunlight. A strike that doesn’t kill will never heal, slowly poisoning the blood. You gain a rival dead-set on vengeance.
HIDE AND HORN BOW A long, thin antler — bent to fit a Pale Martian arm and strung with a dark red hide, supple with use. Benefit: To train an archer, begin while her grandmother is an egg. Bend a bow that her daughter will wield. No arrow flies so far as legacy. Whenever you aim for the rest of this combat, add an extra Strike die to your pool.
When her city began to smoke and burn, the Witch hid her child in a cradle of glass and sweet reeds, burying them in the hollow of a wyeth tree.
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BASIC GEAR
Drawback: You
carry a bow for everyone but yourself, and have nonetheless devoted your life to it. Gain the Vengeful Condition, focused on someone you love.
LATHED WHIP
TWO FEET STANDING A beaten-ore hand and a half sword, gray and pale and stark as the glaciers. Circling the pommel, an enamel painting of a Zaiu feast day. Benefit: Carry yourselves first on the backs of your family’s dreams for you, then on your teacher’s, then on your own. Your success is their safety. Their love is your shield. Reroll one Parry die, and take the better result.
Two meters of tanned yummoc hide, barbed with Surtur-forged steel, grown heavy and lithe with use. Benefit: The whip that drove the Lost Child’s father across the wastes as he stained Martian sand red. Drawback: How can your achievements really be After a successful Strike, draw your target into close range and inflict an additional 1 strain for every turn your own, when every stroke of your blade is for them? you are entangled together. You cannot use parry dice Reroll one Parry die, and take the worse result. while entangled. Drawback: Every
strike of the lathed whip must draw blood. And the longer it lays in your hands, the easier that will seem. Next time you want to inflict a Condition other than Injured, it becomes Injured instead.
SISTER ’S FLINTLASER PISTOL Before she left home, she pressed her old gun into your hands. “For luck.” Benefit: Even the nicks where bone met blade have been worn smooth, and her careful hands kept it in perfect order. Spend an action observing a fight through the pistol’s sight, then narrate a fact about the scene or a non-player character in it. For the rest of the scene, add a Stunt die to your pool on any actions that reference that fact. Drawback: Wherever
she went, a pistol was not enough to protect her. You can’t take up any Parry dice as long as you wield this weapon for the rest of the scene.
N EPHRITE DAGGER
Heavy and sharper than a cruel word, with a handle carved in the shape of a roaring machaira. Benefit: An ostentatious blade, to remind its target of who its owner is, and what they might get away with doing. Redirect the consequences of a matched Misfortune die to someone else. Drawback: A
blade to be recognized, and remembered. A signature for any actions its owner might take. Someone spots you with the weapon and realizes she owes you vengeance for a past deed.
WOLF SPIDER R IFLE A bolt-action rifle with a kick that’ll give you cause for second thoughts. Rounds that’ll knock straight through the carapace of a desert spider, and annoy a locust away from a soft target. Benefit: Not many guns that will put a spider pack off their prey, or rap firmly enough on the chitin of a locust for it to even notice. When you aim and successfully hit, move your target one space as with the Shove maneuver. Drawback: Getting
a locust to notice something else means, of course, that it’s noticed you. Every enemy that can do so attacks you next round.
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R ARITIES CLOTHING
er. Fully refresh an exerted or exhausted Career die. The first time you use any non-adept Career Talent afterward, pay its cost twice — exert a die twice instead of once, use two Stunt dice instead of one, etc.
BROOCH OF THE DAMSEL MESSIAH
Drawback: Wall
yourself into your mind, and you may never find your way out. Your body might burn, but your mind would ever remain. You can’t use any non-adept Career Talent for the rest of the session.
A radium-flecked triptych showing the Damsel Messiah rejecting, then binding an elder serpent, before stepping onto her throne in Hy-Brasil. Benefit: The damsel withstood temptation, looking down upon the kingdoms of Mars, and turned her tempter into her servant. Stand firm against any who INNOWGRASS might influence you, and put them under your heel. For the rest of the scene, ignore any attempt to influence You could eat it. When the grass grows only in dry your perception or beliefs, either verbally or supernatu- patches along the edge of a hollowed-out glacier. When the rally. Your mind cannot be read by an adept. aepys is terrified and the oleph exhausted. When you can’t remember the last time food passed your lips. Drawback: A demon underfoot may serve, but they do not stop being a demon. You become overcon Benefit: At that moment, winnowgrass will keep fident and allow someone to automatically succeed at you alive. Filling and nutritious, and so close to the one action to influence your perception or beliefs. edge of the world you don’t have many choices. The dreams are passing strange, though. Replace the ExAUTE UR LOAK hausted or Injured condition with Melancholy, and gain a d8 against environmental hazards for the rest of the Dappled red and gold and gray as the desert sand, scene. Gain 1 Strain, which cannot be healed until the warm at night and cool during the day. A cloak that gives end of the next session. your eyes the faintest cast of blue. Drawback: But perhaps you would have been bet Benefit: Snug in your cloak, shielded from the dust ter to eat the pack animals instead. Gain 1 Strain, which around you, know that you are protected even as the cannot be healed until the end of the next session, and storm rages. Ignore any environmental hazard. suffer distracting hallucinations until it’s healed.
FOOD W
C
F C
Drawback:
Cautes may quarrel amongst themselves, but do not take kindly to the loss of a single hair on the head of even one kitten. Nor is a ghost (when looking for an acquaintance who went missing) inclined to be forgiving. You encounter an angry caute or ghost — or both — who has a bone to pick with you.
ANCHORITE’S VEIL Turn your eyes ever inward. See only the path stretching out in your mind, and with every step your grasp will strengthen, your reach extend. Benefit: Adepts see a different world, and move it in secret ways. Close your eyes and study that which you find within. Then, without those distractions, you’ll find yourself unfettered by distance, unflagging in pow-
INSTRUMENTS WYETH HARP A singing bowl shaped from the bow of a wyeth husband, strung across with crystalline wire, inlaid with black and shining shell. Benefit: Hear a song of plenty, of companionship, and never feel alone. Hear the song of your ancestors rustling in the trees. Remove any Condition. a song of eternal industry, of sisters upon sisters, and never a moment of solitude. Hear the song of not even a soul to call your own. Temporarily replace one of your Traits among Origin, Careers,
222
Drawback: Hear
RARITIES
or Relationships with a Trait that belongs to another character (player or non-player) with a die size equal to or lower than yours, for the session.
SEVEN CRESTING WAVES
traveling towards the Labyrinth by half, and double the time spent traveling away. Drawback: Whatever
is drawing the spoke back toward the labyrinth is unlikely to be friendly to the one who bears the spoke when it arrives. As above, but as soon as you arrive, a threat makes itself known, and you can’t leave until you’ve dealt with it.
A bone flute forever cold to the touch, smelling of seawater, carved with crashing waves. Benefit: When the oceans were young, the caLOCKWORK EART nals sang this song in their hollow throats and waves crashed on their shores. Raise the levels of the canal See it hiss with steam as a doctor with stained black you are traveling, and change the direction of its wa- fingers maneuvers it into place. See the blood thicken and ters, for the scene. turn oily as it passes through. See it beat. See your lover breathe again. Drawback: Call the river and call the flood. A rising tide carries upward all the creatures that slept in Benefit: A purring heart to take the place of a flesh the silt below your barge and your feet. You encounter one. Carefully wound and cunningly made, so close and multiple subaqueous threats that you otherwise would yet so unlike the heart that it replaced. Move from a have avoided. Presumed Dead Condition to Injured, or Injured to Exhausted. If you would be Taken Out of a combat scene OODEN RUM NLAID WITH during the session when you activate this Benefit, you cannot choose to stay down. After you gain your first ILVER TARS Condition, get back up and rejoin the battle until you gain a second one or the scene ends. Feel the heart of the forest beating under your palm, Drawback: Driven by breath, it will beat in their feel your mind opening to the sky, feel the stars falling in. Benefit: Lose yourself in a rhythm the tombak chest, though for how long who can say. A year, perhaps, draws out of you, and see the stars clearly in your mind. or 20? A lifetime, perhaps, or too many? If you would be Know, while you’re playing, the fates those stars predict. Taken Out of a combat scene during the session when Divine the future, treating your Astrology Career die as you activate this Drawback, you cannot choose to stay down, no matter how many times they beat you. Each a d12 for the duration of the scene. time you gain a Condition, get back up and rejoin the Drawback: To open your mind to the stars draws battle until the scene ends. their attention to you as well. You might find yourself with more of a destiny than is strictly healthy. Gain two AP OF THE EAVENS destiny dice as though you had failed a ritual divination.
C
W S
S
D
H
,I
M H (STATIONARY)
OBJECTS AND TOOLS A SPOKE FROM THE WIND’S SADDLE “Of course, of course, the chariot shattered to pieces in the ancient mariner’s ride. There couldn’t be fragments around today. Yet watch it hover in your hand, see it point toward the Labyrinth of Night.” Benefit: A fragment of petrified wood that seems to catch in the air, floating, dragging you slightly with every step. And pointing unerringly toward the valley where it was once buried. Orient yourself unerringly toward the Labyrinth of Night. Reduce the time spent
Golden and glass and glimmering in the heat of Eos, locked behind a hundred crystal doors, is a star chart that can change the course of the heavens. Benefit: With a careful hand, you can change the shape of someone’s fate — change the face of their destiny. Drawback:
The future isn’t fixed, exactly, but prophecy won’t be dissuaded by the mere passage of time. After all, a hard eye and a quick temper might mellow, but how many Martians do you know who have ever truly changed the ways of their heart? Both effects are narrative, and should be discussed among players. A player or non-player character cannot
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be directly killed or brought back to life with the Map, but a future fate can be accelerated, postponed, or modified (with player permission).
WEAPONS
will be the nicest thing they call you, when your exploits come to light. For the rest of the session, exert your highest current Motivation by one die at the end of every scene in which you don’t kill or destroy something with this blade. Traits exerted this way don’t refresh until the end of the next session.
ECHIDNA’S TOOTH
STAFF OF LIFE
A backsword made from the eye tooth of a canal lamia, carved in the shape of a rearing serpent. Benefit: Echidna’s teeth are sharp enough to cut the tether between a soul and its body, between a shadow and the floor. Strike a blow that never heals, dealing 1 permanent Strain to the target.
Cut from young, still-green wood and cured under the desert sun. It’s been known to bloom when touched by rain and live water. Benefit: The staff has broken many bones, but never taken a life. And it falters, bending away from any lethal strike you might make. When coercion or a supernatural ability would force you to hurt or kill someone, you automatically resist the effect.
Drawback: That
which Echidna puts asunder can never be joined again. Strike a blow that puts your foe closer to the threshold of death — when you inflict any Strain and activate this Drawback, your enemy learns the secret of how you will die if events proceed along the path they’re on.
OPENING OF THE WAY
Drawback: Murderer
Drawback: It
can’t be held peacefully by someone who tries to kill. After every blow, it turns a little in your hands. For the rest of the session, you suffer one Strain for each Strain you inflict.
TEN DEVILS CAUGHT
Cut away the flesh, and you are left with a body. Cut A hollow bone blade hot as breath, humming faintly in away the falsehood, and you are left with the truth. That is its sheath like voices shouting from far away. the way of the swordsman, to kill even words. Benefit: To be struck is to smolder from the inside, Benefit: Open the path for a new truth by cleansing the wound packed full of embers and the feeling of 100 the world of an old one. Empty the stage of players, and hands reaching into your flesh. On a successful attack, sweep it clean. Automatically succeed at killing a per- you inflict 3 extra Strain to a target. That Strain cannot son or destroying something of value with this sword. be healed by rest. Then, roll a basic action For Honor against yourself, For Drawback: The blade that holds them is cracking, Self. Add a difficulty die to the second roll based on the oh so slightly, along the fuller. When unsheathed, cintotal Strain you have inflicted on player and non-player ders flick out, scorching the length of the fracture. Devcharacters this session: 0-1, d6; 2-3, d8; 4-5, d10; 6+, ils, once caught, do not stay caught forever. When you d12. If the first roll fails, immediately inflict the Injured suffer any Strain from an attack, you take 3 additional Condition on any player or non-player character in Strain, which cannot be healed by rest. your vicinity.
224
BUILDING YOUR OWN
BUILDING YOUR OWN We can’t, of course, encompass the breadth of Martian life. So here are some guidelines for coming up with your own items. When creating a new piece of gear, start by describing the object. How does it look, smell, or feel in the hand?
For example: • Rough-hewn stone blade • Cold silver torq, showing a roc in flight • Clean, freshly-transcribed hymnal
or session, and create a downside by considering how the item can make your character’s life more complicated in an interesting way. If the Benefit is powerful or provides a climactic turnaround, the Drawback should be equally powerful or climactic. Particularly devastating or complex Benefits may come with downsides of their own to fully express the story of the item — in cases like this, you can make the Drawback the other side of that coin by borrowing that downside and then building upon it. Remember that Benefits and Drawbacks are a major part of the Drama Point economy, so their effects should reflect the kinds of dramatic situations you want your character to get into.
Then, describe in story terms how the object can be used to help you.
For example:
For example:
• Stability and persistence of purpose can overcome more obstacles than clever blades. • The roc carries the Stranger on his back across the empty places of the world, learning the secret things that settled folk forget to see.
•
Benefit: Turn
•
Benefit: Exert
•
Benefit: In
• The 900 names of gods and angels, in crisp new calligraphy, waiting to be sung to the faithful and faithless alike. And how the object could be used against you.
For example: • Persistence can easily become unwieldy force, and stability — a blunt tool that goes unsharpened.
one Parry die into a Strike die after dice are rolled. Drawback: Turn one Parry die into a d8 before dice are rolled. any Career die to learn a secret about a player or non-player character, as with Telepathy. Gain a d6 to use this secret against them for the duration of this scene. Drawback: Someone knows you possess the roc’s eye, and vows to pry what you know from your mind.
a scene with an audience, reroll a Motivation die and take the better result. Draw back: In a scene with an audience, reroll a Motivation die and take the worse result.
Fixers can further modify gear with temporary upgrades, special abilities, and the like. If your character is a fixer, you can use the fixing system (p. 33) to alter items after you’ve built them using these guidelines.
• No one is glad to learn that a stranger knows them, particularly the homeless wanderer who is born under the Stranger’s sign. • Mars is stuffed full of gods, and everyone’s got a favorite. To sing anyone’s name is to invite spirited debate on whose is superior. Finally, devise unique mechanics that embody the Benefit and Drawback you’ve described. Draw a practical power from the narrative effects by considering how the Benefit might specifically help the player in a scene
By default, the Benefit and Drawback of a piece of gear that a character picks up along his travels aren’t readily apparent. Fixers and psychometers can use their abilities to glean these easily. Others must spend time and effort to draw the knowledge forth with trial and error, research the item in a forgotten tome, or seek out someone who knows more about it.
225
Cavaliers of Mars takes
its inspiration from pulp fantasy and historical fiction. Some sources are more romantic, others more exotic, and all thrilling.
element tends to happen on its own, and the latter is a good technique to consider when planning your sessions, whether as player or GM.
FANTASY
Lankhmar, as a setting, has been adapted for roleplaying games many times. TSR’s Lankhmar: City of Adventure, by Bruce Nesmith, Douglas Niles, and Ken Rolston, is one of the best sandbox-style city books ever produced for gaming. Mongoose’s Lankhmar and Nehwon supplements, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, hew close to the bleaker tone of the early stories. Finally, Pinnacle’s Lankhmar line includes a very adaptable book of adventures called Savage Tales of the Thieves’ Guild.
The Adventures of Eric John Stark, by Leigh Brackett
Brackett depicts an ancient Mars of crumbling towers and forgotten horrors beneath the ice. Her hero, Eric John Stark, is a hardboiled barbarian, a mercenary who’d make a great Cavaliers protagonist. Brackett’s Mars often seems haunted, with its strange talismans and sinister ruins...a feeling appropriate to exploring the world of Cavaliers of Mars.
Dictionary of Mu, by Judd Karlman
All of Stark’s adventures are good inspiration, but A supplement for the Sorcerer roleplaying game by the most influential on this book are “Black Amazon of Ron Edwards, Karlman’s epic presents a sweeping vision of Mars” and “The Secret of Sinharat.” Recent editions of Marr’d, a parched and desolate planet. Dictionary is equal most of the Stark stories are available from Paizo Pub- parts the Hebrew Bible and Robert E. Howard’s Conan, lishing. yet wholly remade by Karlman’s unrestrained imagination. Here you’ll find witch kings with legions of scheming brides The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and grooms, gray aliens plotting their escape from slavery, by Fritz Leiber and the Damsel Messiah herself, savior of mythic Hy-Brasil. Leiber’s stories of wandering swordsmen and exotic Dictionary of Mu was another early influence on metropoles are perfect models for Cavaliers adventures. Particularly consider some of the lesser-known stories Cavaliers of Mars, and by twists and turns of destilike “Claws from the Night,” which feature exotic crea- ny (and Judd’s gracious permission), you’ll find a few tures and customs, as well as bizarre cults. “Claws from echoes of Marr’d upon our Mars. the Night” also dwells on the city of Lankhmar’s skyline The Dying Earth, by Jack Vance of shattered temples, an image very appropriate to Mars. Vance’s first Dying Earth anthology is, with the exAlso have a look at Adept’s Gambit, an early novella about ception of the overt sorcery, about exactly the kind of strange curses and a journey into the eerie unknown. characters and locations we’d expect from Cavaliers of The two heroes’ adventures also rely on wry humor and perverse circumstance, particularly as the series goes on. In playing roleplaying games, the former
Mars, though some of the
protagonists aren’t appropriate player characters. His description of the city of Kaiin in “Turjan of Miir” could readily be Vance or Zodiac.
226
FANTASY | HISTORICAL FICTION
It was night in white-walled Kaiin, and festival time. Orange lanterns floated in the air, moving as the breeze took them. From the balconies dangled flower chains and cages of blue fireflies. The streets surged with the wine-flushed populace, costumed in a multitude of bizarre modes. Here was a Melantine bargeman, here a warrior of Valdaran’s Green Le gion, here another of ancient times wearing one of the old helmets. In a little cleared space, a garlanded courtesan of the Kauchique littoral danced the Dance of the Fourteen Silken Movements to the music of flutes. In the shadow of a balcony a girl barbarian of East Almery embraced a man blackened and in leather harness as a Deodand of the forest. They were gay, these people of waning Earth, feverishly merry, for infinite night was close at hand, when the red sun should finally flicker and go black.
ornate and exotic language. He’s a great influence for atmosphere, and originated the idea of the end of the world as something long, melancholy, and a bit romantic, rather than apocalyptic. My personal favorite Zothique tale is “Morthylla,” a love story that blurs the line between hungry ghosts and living outsiders.
HISTORICAL FICTION Captain Alatriste, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Pérez-Reverte’s Madrid is a city of intrigue and gossip, power and violence. It’s a city in a Golden Age... but, as the narrator notes in Purity of Blood, the common people see very little of that gold.
The sequel, The Eyes of the Overworld, follows traveling ne’er-do-well Cugel the Clever, who might make a diverting antagonist for a Cavaliers game.
The titular Diego Alatriste, hardboiled swashbuckler, is an ideal Cavaliers of Mars protagonist. So is his enemy, the cruel Italian swordsman Gualterio Malatesta. The translated novel and its sequels are full of wonderful passages like this: Truces from his adversaries, like periods of pros perity, were brief for this singular man, the hobgoblin of his enemies and the delight of his friends, who one moment might be mingling with nobles and scholars and the next scrabbling in his purse for the last maravedi. Changes of fortune... which so loves to change, and almost never for the better.
The roleplaying game of the same name, from Pelgrane Press, is also excellent and has a number of supplements that can be raided for your own game. The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, by Jan Potocki
Retell The Eyes of the Overworld by way of The Turn of the Screw and you’ll get this picaresque adventure novel, except that it vastly predates either one. Potocki’s novel is an exercise in just how tangled together a lot of seemingly-separate adventures can get, the kind of crazy quilt a Mars full of scoundrels and heroes might actually be. Perhaps the thing it does best is tell a story about deeply superstitious characters suffering strange events without the author making a clear statement on whether their beliefs have a basis in fact. That’s a strong component of Cavaliers of Mars, where you’ll tell the stories of a superstitious people who may or may not be right. The Martian Romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Burroughs invented planetary romance. A Princess of Mars and its sequels are an unending parade of thrilling action and encounters with strange beasts. Burroughs’ fantastical creatures are his greatest (though not only) influence on the present work, conjuring as they do thoughts of entire unearthly ecosystems. Zothique, by Clark Ashton Smith
Smith set his most memorable adventures on Zothique, the last continent in the world’s last age. He was a poet as well as a fiction writer, and it shows in his
As with most of this list, the whole series is worth reading. After the eponymous first book, have a look at Purity of Blood and The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet . We’ve heard good things about the Spanish roleplaying game based on the series, but haven’t been able to read it ourselves. The D’Artagnan Romances, by Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask are the best-known in this series, but all are worth reading. Dumas’ characters, while often easy to cheer for, are rough-edged and often as put upon by their loyalties as they are uplifted by them. But more than that, Dumas is on this list because he defined the villains of the swashbuckler. It’s hard to envision the genre without its Cardinal Richelieus and Milady de Winters. Another Dumas novel featuring Cardinal Richelieu, The Red Sphinx, was recently retranslated into English by Lawrence Ellsworth.
227
A P P E N D I X C : I N S P I R AT I O N
A NOTE ON CONTENT Much of the media suggested here is older and has politics that are disturbing by modern standards, particularly with regard to gender and race. We recommend approaching these sources with a critical eye.
The Dictionary of the Khazars, by Milorad Pavic
This might actually belong in the fantasy section. Like Gentleman of the Road, below, it concerns the mysterious kingdom of the Khazars, about whom we know very little. Pavic’s book, however, is substantially stranger and more exotic than Chabon’s. Take this passage, describing a princess: At night, she wore a single letter on each eyelid, inscribed as are those put on the eyelids of horses before a race. The letters came from the proscribed Khazar alphabet, in which each letter kills as soon as it is read. Blind men wrote them, and the ladies-in-waiting shut their eyes when they attended to the princess in the morning, before her bath. Thus, she was protected from her enemies while she slept.
Gentlemen of the Road is also good gaming inspiration for many of the same reasons as Leiber’s sword tales, which strongly influenced it. Goddess, by Kelly Gardiner
A fictional biography of real-life swashbuckler and opera star Julie d’Aubigny, Goddess styles itself as the confessions of a dying woman…but one who’s hardly repentant. The result is an alternately dashing and melancholy whirlwind of a novel, spanning love affairs, rebellion, and fame. The way Gardiner writes d’Aubigny’s look back has very much the same feeling as our look at the last days of Mars. D’Aubigny herself was a major influence on Cavaliers of Mars, and it’s worth looking up more flamboyant accounts of her life online.
Such customs would fit the aristocracy of the Red Martians well, and who’s to say there aren’t First Martian or Cydonian glyphs that could kill even as they’re mirrored in the mind’s eye? Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon
This novel follows two adventurers in an Eastern European kingdom where “a Jew’s worth was measured by his steel.” Chabon creates a distinct historical place... while at the same time making it a place outside our understanding of history. The result is simultaneously grounded and fantastic.
Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser
The Prisoner of Zenda as retold by cowardly and unlucky Victorian scoundrel Harry Flashman...who can’t seem to help coming out as the hero. Flashman is a bit of a swashbuckler, but has more than a little in common with Cugel the Clever. Flashman could be a Cavaliers of Mars protagonist, but also consider Rudi von Sternberg, the murderous sellsword, whom we’ve adapted as a Martian villain multiple times.
228
INDEX
A Action 8, 20 Basic 20-21, 26 Exceptional 22 Failed 21 Misfortune 21 Non-Player Character Points 26 Successful 20-21 Windfall 20-21 Adept 31, 105, 169, 213, 220, 222 Career 42-43 Dowsing 53 Psychometric Master 53 Telekinetic Control 53 Windspeaking 53 Adept Arts Psychometry 31, 53 Telekinesis 31-32, 53 Telepathy 32 Alhaz 176 Almeida 93 Characters 95 Hazards 95-96 Hooks 94-95 Anchorite’s Veil Benefit 222 Drawback 222 Ancient Mariner 46-47 Anger 65, 75, 106, 108, 209 Arena 77-78 Characters 76
Hazards 76 Hooks 75-76 Locations 75-79 Market 75 Machine 79-80 Origins 34-35 Purple Light 76-77 Aoide Benefit 219 Drawback 219 Arbiter 43, 46, 69, 70, 135 Arcadia 108, 111, 142, 143, 154, 175, 176, 208 Devontine Clan 155, 158 Excavations 158-160 Generous Hagatha 155, 156 Memory of Waves 155, 156, 160162 Sandfish Cult 155 Shanties 155-157 Arena Characters 78 Hazards 78 Hooks 77-78 Armonica Canyon 169-170 Characters 170 Hazards 170 Hooks 170 Sites 169-170 Arsia the Maiden 175 Ascraeus the Matriarch 175 Assassin 43, 50, 125, 149 Bleeding Cut 53 229
Career 43 Invisible Blade 53 Slip the Knife Deeper 53 Taste of Poison 53 Astrologer 14, 31, 32, 41, 43, 69, 98, 180 Arbiter. See Arbiter Foreordained, 53 Master 53 Portents 54 Quick Read 54 Astrology 32-33 Arbiter. See Arbiter Zodiac 69-70 Atai Monastery 89 Characters 90 Hazards 90 Hooks 89-90 Atmosphere Processor, The 130-131, 142 Characters 132 Hazards 132 Hooks 131
B Battlehymn 71, 80 Church of the Damsel Messiah. See Church of the Damsel Messiah Damsel’s Tomb 82-83 Locations 80-83 Matriarch 71, 80 North Side Canal 81-82 Origins 35
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
South Side Slums 82 Temple of the Voice 80-81 Beasts of Burden Aepys 60, 86, 196-197 , 200, 202, 210 Flying Terro 16, 43 Horus 43, 60 197 Oleph 60, 145, 197-198 Ostoro 16 Razok 198 Yummoc 66, 88, 198, 221 Beasts of Cities and Regions. See Chiaro Beasts; Illium Beasts; Skarras Beasts; Pale Martian Beasts; Surtur Beasts; Vance Beasts Beasts of the Desert Caute (Ghost Cat) 200, 208, 213, 222 Ghosts 37, 38, 74, 93, 98, 107, 152, 178, 200-201 Machaira 60, 202, 206 Weasels 202 Beasts of Legend Blind Snake 215 Roc 215, 225 Tomb Stalker 17, 84, 87, 130, 160, 215-216 , 217 Beasts of the Wastes Jackal 199, 205 Scorpion King 205, 206 Steppes Locust 203, 206, 219, 221 Ursavas 17, 206, 209 Beasts of the Water Fishwife 213-214 Lamia 214 Lungfish 214 Beasts of the Wood Cerana 203 Fagun Bug 203 Ikkun Parasite (Deephome) 203 Miyuk 204 Naruk 204 Wyeth Deer 145, 204-205 Blackglass 169
Blue Oculus 153 Blue Pyramid 152 Bone Angel Clasp Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Bone Annals 145, 148 Characters 145, 148 Hazards 148 Hooks 145 Book of Gondola Tickets Benefit 219 Drawback, 219 Brooch of the Damsel Messiah Benefit 222 Drawback 222
C Career 24 Improvement 23 Talents 21, 53-57 Careers 20, 42-50 Adept 42-43 Assassin 43 Astrologer 43 Cavalier 43, 44 Courtesan 43, 44 Entertainer 44 Fixer 33-34, 45 Laborer 45-46 Merchant 45, 46 Noble 46, 47 Physician 46, 47 Pilot 46-47 Priest 47, 48 Scavenger 48 Scholar 48-49 Servant 49 Soldier 49, 50 Thief 49, 50 Carven Skyward Faces 87 Caute Fur Cloak Benefit 222 Drawback 222 230
Cavalier 8, 16, 27, 43, 44, 60, 121, 206 Fast Footwork 54 Flashing Blades 54 Mounted Combatant 54 Cave of the Hyaline Mother Characters 167 Hazards 167-169 Hooks 167 Ceramic Meles-hair Brush Benefit 219-220 Drawback 220 Challenges 29-30 Damage 30 Parry Level 30 Rating 30 Strike Level 30 Change 23 Character Creation 24-25 Example 25 Personagenesis Machine 180-186 Characters 20 Chiaro 13, 16-17, 35, 207, 209 Cloister of the Blind Saint 84-85 Elders Council 83 Ice Caravan Camp 86-87 Locations 16-17, 83-88 Ruptured Atmosphere Processor 8586 Tomb Valleys 8, 87-88 Chiaro-that-is 16-17, 35, 84, 86 Chiaro-that-was 16-17, 33, 35, 8384, 87, 130, 217 Chits 13 Chromat 165, 166, 169 Church of the Damsel Messiah 35, 62, 70-71, 80 Cimmeria 36, 63, 88, 114, 171 Atai Monastery 89-90 Fibonacci Knot 90-91 Forest of Corpses 91-92 Locations 88-92 Qinon Palace 88-89 Cities. See specific cities.
INDEX
Clockwork Bees 18 Clockwork Heart Benefit 223 Drawback 223 Cloister of the Blind Saint Characters 85 Hazards 85 Hooks 84-85 Clothing and Jewelry Anchorite’s Veil 222 Bone Angel Clasp 218 Brooch of the Damsel Messiah 222 Caute Fur Cloak 222 Ghostly Scarf the Color of Rain 218 Jade and Black Glass Bracelet 218 Leather Sawbones Satchel 218 Cold and Glittering Knife Benefit 220 Drawback 220 Combat 26-27 Actions 20-21. See also Actions Dice Pools 26 Example 27-28 Non-Player Character 25-26, 58 Rally 22 Round, 26 Second Wind 22 Strain. See Strain Unarmed 29 Weapons. See Weapons Combat Maneuvers, 28-29 Disarm 28 Draw corps-a-corps 28 Feint 28 Lunge 29 Mastery 23 Parry 28 Riposte 29 Shove 29 Strike 28 Sweep Attack 29 Combat Round 26
Break 27 Clash of Steel 26 Taking Up Dice 26 Combat Talents Non-Player Character. See Non-Player Character: Combat Talents Combo Talents 29 Conditions 23 Exhausted 23 In Love 23 Injured 23, 26 Melancholy 23 Presumed Dead 23, 26 Trapped 23 Vengeful 23 Conflict 8, 26 Consequences, Lasting. See Lasting Consequences Coronal 36-37 , 92-93 Almeida 94-95 Locations 92-98 Riberia Fogo 96-97 Vale 97-98 Xeta Geyser, 93-94 Courtesan 8, 43-44, 142, 227 Accepted Everywhere 54 Importance of Ceremony 54 Seduction 54 Whispered Secrets 54 Crystal Palace 106, 107, 108 Cults, Mystery. See Mystery Cults Cunning Talents 51 Always a Way Out 51 Bribery 51 Cheat 51 Disguise 51 Hidden pockets 51 Improvised tools 51 Lawyer 51 Vouchsafe 51 Cycnus Characters 149 Hooks 148-149 231
Hazards 149
D Damsel, 70-71 Damsel’s Tomb, 82 Characters 83 Hazards 83 Hooks 83 Dangling Raster Characters 172 Hazards 172 Hooks 171 Sites 171-172 Deephome 129 Characters 130 Hazards 130 Hooks 129-130 Ikkun Parasite 203-204 Deimos 152 Forges 16 Lance 104 DEIMOS System, 20 Delphic Square Characters 99 Hazards 99-100 Hooks, 99 Desert 12-13 Brigands 12 Towns, 12 Devontine Clan 155, 158 Devotion 154, 155, 160 Dice 8, 20-21 Bonus 26 Misfortune 21 Parry 27-27 Resolve Roll 22 Scenery 30 Strike, 26-27 Stunt 26 Windfall 20-21 Disaster 22 Dolos (Zodiac’s brother) 70
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
Drama Points 8, 22 Gaining 23 Spending 22 Dread 171 13th feed. See Gallow’s End Dredge 123-124 Characters 124 Hazards 124 Hooks 124 Drifting Ruin. See Cycnus Dusk Cities 17 Dust Storms 12, 13 Dust Towns 41
E Earth 13 Echidna’s Tooth, 224 Benefit 224 Drawback 224 Entertainer 44 Distraction 54 Impressive Physique 54 Inspiration 54 Keeping Up with the News 54 Eos Towers 18 Equipment Benefit Effect 22 Drawback Side 22 Eu of the Seven Yellow Silks 46, 50, 73-74, 130-131, 133 Servants 46 Exalted Missionary Sisters 71 Excavations, 158 Characters 159 Hazards 159-160 Hooks 158-159 Mysterious Pearl 158 Three Greater Domes 158 Three Lesser Domes 158 Unbreached Dome 158 Experience 23 Extasia Caerulea 154, 156
F Fellowship of Futility 150 Ferma Characters 111 Hazards 111 Hooks 110 Fibonacci Knot Characters 91 Hazards 91 Hooks 90-91 Field of Farewell 149 Fire Priests 46, 65, 71, 116 First Forge 71 Characters 116-117 Hooks 116 Hazards 117 First Martians 8, 14, 62, 71 Automatons 164 Chiaro 17 Foresight 98 Canals 13 Fixer 33-34, 45 Cobble Together 55 Director 55 I Made It, I Know How It Works 55 Mastercrafter 55 Food Heart of Palm Wine 218 Sweet Crescent Bread 219 Wildhoney Tea 219 Winnowgrass 222 Forceful Talents 51-52 Dangerous Reputation 51 Demolish 51 Dress to Impress 52 In Demand 52 Offer They Can’t Refuse 52 Foresight 37 , 65, 98, 150 Delphic Square 99-100 Hooded Sisters Pilgrim Dormitories 98-99 Library of Memory 100-101 232
Location 98-102 West Horn Gate Machine Service Entrance 101-102 Forest of Corpses Characters 92 Hazards 92 Hooks 91-92 Fortress Invincible Characters 103 Hazards 103-104 Hooks 102-103 Fourier Spire 68, 74 Free Trait Improvement 23 Friends Eora 196, 199, 200, 210 Meles 199-200, 219 Singing Spider, 200
G Gallow’s End 151 Characters 152 Hazards 152-153 Hooks 152 Game Master (GM) 8 Actions 20 Adventures: The Tribulation Engine 186-187
Break 34 Calculated Risk 34 Customizing Elements, 225 Opening Conflict 188-191 Personagenesis Machine 180-186 Resources Example 194-195 Roles 191 Secrets 193 Taking Up Dice 34 Tilts 191-192 Gameplaying 8 Garment-Renders 124 Gear Table 217 See also Clothing; Food; Instruments; Objects and Tools; Weapons
INDEX
Generous Hagatha 155, 156 Merry Band 156 Ghost Cat. See Beasts of the Desert: Caute Ghost Eaters 74 Ghostly Scarf the Color of Rain Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Ghosts 178. See also Beasts of the Desert: Ghosts Glass Pit 166 Graceful Talents 52 Acrobat 52 Climber 52 Free Running 52 Showoff 52 Vanish in a Crowd 52 Guildhall of the Mourners 124 Characters 125 Hazards 125 Hooks 125
H Hanging Apes 171 Hangman’s Garden 123 Characters 123 Hazards 123 Hooks 123 Hazard Tent City 162 Characters 162 Fortune Tellers 32 Hazards 162-163 Hooks 162 Heart of Palm Wine Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Heartbreak 154, 155, 160 Hell’s Basin 13, 37, 165, 169 Hide and Horn Bow Benefit 220 Drawback 221 Himk 106
Characters 108 Hazards 108-109 Hooks 108 Hirshel 172 Characters 173 Hazards 173 Hooks 172 Honeycomb 163 Characters 164 Hazards 164 Hooks 163-164 Hooded Sisters’ Pilgrim Dormitories 98 Characters 99 Hazards 99 Hooks 98 Horizon’s Terror 102 House of the Black Pillar 144 Hy 18 Hyaline Mother 167
Silicon Crab 211 Improvement 23 Initiates of the Labyrinthine Mysteries 71-72 Instruments Aoide 219 Lark’s Tongue 219 Sea Bells 219 Seven Cresting Waves 223 Wooden Drum with Silver Stars 223 Wyeth Harp, 222-223 Intarsia Jewelry Box Benefit 220 Drawback 220 Inverted Court Characters 134-135 Hazards 135 Hooks 134
I
Jade and Black Glass Bracelet Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Jewelry. See Clothing and Jewelry
Ice Caravan Camp Characters 86-87 Hazards 87 Hooks 86 Illium 13, 37-38, 169 Council of Judgment 102 Entertainer 44 Flying Ships 16 Fortress Invincible 102-104 Locations 102-106 Noble 46 Pilot 46 Plateau Caves 106 Priest 47 Sky of Navy Port 104 Soldier 50 University 105 Illium Beasts Glasscutter (Prismatic) Wasps 210 Radium Rat 210-211
233
J
K Keeners 124 Krem Den Characters 128 Hazards 128 Hooks 127-128
L Laborer 45-46 Basic Artisan 55 Jack of All Trades 55 Scrapper 55 Labyrinth of Night 63, 174 Initiates of the Labyrinthine Mysteries 71-72 Lacuna fissure 175 Lamentations 149
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
Lance of Deimos 104 Lark’s Tongue Benefit 219 Drawback, 219 Lasting Consequences 20-21 Lathed Whip Benefit 221 Drawback 221 Leather Sawbones Satchel Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Library of Memory Archivist 100 Characters 101 Hazards 101 Hooks 100 Life Speakers 72, 73 Living Storm 104 Lore 22 Lost Places 16-17 Lunar Mosaic Characters 174 Hazards 174-175 Hooks 174
M Machine Characters 79 Hazards 79 Hooks 79 Maiden 18 Maiden’s Finger Benefit 220 Drawback 220 Map of the Heavens Benefit 223 Drawback 223 Maps 30 Master 10 Matriarch of Battlehymn 71, 80 Medicine 16 Memorable Roleplaying 22
Memoria 124 Memory of Waves 160 Characters 161 Hazards 161-162 Hooks, 161 Memory’s Last Rest. See Library of Memory Merchant Appraisal 55 Career 45, 46 Good Deal 55 Well Traveled 55 Merchant Quarter Characters 132-133 Hazards 133 Hooks 132 Meridian 120, 162-165 Hazard 162-163 Honeycomb 163-164 Muniqa 164-165 Method 20 Cunning 24 Force 24 Grace 24 Improvement 23 Minion 29 Mob Violence 58 Stand Together 58 Missal of the Witch’s Cradle Benefit 220 Drawback 220 Mobs 29 Money. See Chits Moonrise Fleet 104 Motivation 20 Changing 23 Honor 24 Love 24 Second Wind 22 Self 24 Ms. Turhan 140 Muniqa
234
Characters 165 Hazards 165 Hooks 164-165 Mysterious Pearl 158 Mystery Cults 74-75
N Nadamban 106 Characters 107 Hazards 108 Hooks 107 Nephrite Dagger Benefit 221 Drawback 221 Noachia 173 Characters 173 Hazards 173 Hooks 173 Noble Career 46, 47 Command Respect 55 Friends in High Places 55 Put It on My Tab 55 Non-Player Character, 25-34 Action Points 26 Character Creation 25-26 Combat Dice Pools 26 Combat Talents 58 Conditions 23 Daring Reversal 58 Evasive Footwork 58 Mob Violence (Minion Only) 58 Reckless Assault 58 Stand Together (Minion Only) 58 Stat Block 26 North Pillar Plains 144 Characters 144 Hooks 144 Threats 145 North Pole 143-149 Bone Annals 145, 148 Cycnus 148-149
INDEX
Map 146-147 North Pillar Plains 142-144 North Side Canal, 81 Characters 81-82 Hazards, 82 Hooks, 81 Nowhere Plains 74, 171
O Objects and Tools Book of Gondola Tickets 219 Ceramic Meles-hair Brush 219-220 Clockwork Heart 223 Intarsia Jewelry Box 220 Maiden’s Finger 220 Map of the Heavens 223 Missal of the Witch’s Cradle 220 Photinus Lamp 220 Spoke from the Wind’s Saddle 223 Obsidian Block 118 Old Devontine 155, 158 Oleph Bones 145 100 Temples of the Red Bone Bloom 143 Opening of the Way Benefit 224 Drawback 224 Origins 20, 34-41 Anger 34-35 Battlehymn 35 Bazaar 24 Caravans 24 Chiaro 35 Cimmeria 36 Coronal 36-37 Court 24 Dust Towns 24, 41 Foresight 37 Improvement 23 Siren 38 Skarras 38-39 Street 24 Surtur 39
Vance, 39-40 Wyeth Valley 39 Zaiu Caravans, 40 Ziggur 40-41 Zodiac 41 Osseous Bibliognost, 145 Outcome 8 Ozaks 36, 43, 63-64, 88, 89
P Palace of the Dog Characters 122 Hazards 122 Hooks 122 Pale Martian Beasts Lapin 207-208 Machine Spider (Automaton) 215 Vulture 208 Pale Martians 8, 14, 64-65 Anger 34-35, 65 Crisis 65 Foresight 65, 98 Priest 47 Scavenger 48 Surtur 39, 62 Panopticon 135 Characters 136 Hazards 136-137 Hooks 135-136 Path of the Barbarian 23, 58 Path of Bloody Knives 58 Path of the Conqueror 58 Path of the Coward 58 Path of the Deceiver 58 Path of the Devoted 59 Path of the Entranced 59 Path of the First Footstep 59 Path of Giving Hands 59 Path of Jeweled Thrones 59 Path of Lamentation 59 Path of the Legendary 59 Path of the Night-Thief 23, 59 235
207 ,
Path of Open Arms 59 Path of Promises Kept 59 Path of the Vendetta 59 Paths 23, 58-59 Pavonis the Mother 175 People 14-15 Personagenesis Machine 180 Avocation 182 Complicating Factor 185 From . . . 182 Motivating Need or Desire 184 Name, Descriptor 181 Secret Depths 183 Trouble 183 Vocation 182 Photinus Lamp Benefit 220 Drawback 220 Physician Career 46, 47 Expert Treatment 56 Quick Treatment 56 Soothe 56 Pillars 142 Pilot Career 46-47 In Command 56 Navigational Expertise 56 They All Work the Same 56 Plateau Caves 106 Characters 106 Hazards 106 Hooks 106 Plaza 111 Characters 113 Hazards 113 Hooks 111-112 Plaza Arez 121 Characters 121 Hazards 121 Hooks 121 Plaza Obsidian 118 Characters 119
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
Hazards 120 Hooks 118-119 Plot Twist 22 Poles 142. See also North Pole; South Pole Pride of Illium 104 Priest Calming Presence 56 Career 47 , 48 Raise Morale 56 Ritual Fervor 56 Princess Invincible 50, 102 Prismatic Wastes 165-170 Armonica Canyon 169-170 Cave of the Hyaline Mother 167-169 Rainbow 165-167 Purple Light 76 Characters 77 Hazards 77 Hooks 76-77
Q Qan 36, 43, 63-64, 88 Qinon Palace 88 Characters 89 Hazards 89 Hooks 89
R Radium Plateau 37, 102, 172, 173 Rainbow 165 Characters 166 Hazards 166-167 Hooks 166 Rally 22 Range, 30 Red Cities 13-14 Red Martians 8, 14, 62 Battlehymn 35 Chiaro 35, 62 Church of the Damsel Messiah 70-71 Cimmeria 36 Illium 37-38, 62
Roundheads 64 Scavenger 48 Surtur 39, 62 Vance 39-40, 62 Zodiac 62 Red Bone Bloom 143 Regions. See specific regions Relationships 20 Improvement 23 Religions 69-74. See also specific religions Resources 13 Revolution Underground 113 Characters 114 Hazards 114 Hooks 113-114 Riberia Fogo 96 Characters 96 Hazards 96-97 Hooks 96 Roundhead 42, 62, 64 Most Holy 143 North Pillar 143 Yellow Silks 73 Ziggur 64, 130 Ruptured Atmosphere Processor 85 Characters 85-86 Hazards 86 Hooks 85
S Sandfish Cult 155, 160 Scarlet Stair 131 Scavenger Career 48 Friends in Low Places 56 This Will Do 56 Tomb Raider 56 Scholar Career 48-49 Forge Documents 57 Ready to Research 57 Well-Read 57 236
Scythe of Phobos 104 Sea Bells Benefit 219 Drawback 219 Seedling Grove 128 Characters 129 Hazards 129 Hooks 128-129 Self-Sacrifice 22 Serpentsilk Shawl Benefit 218 Drawback 218 Servant Back Door 57 Blade Carrier 57 Career 49 Unobtrusive 57 Service Entrance to the West Horn Gate Machine. See West Horn Gate Machine Service Entrance Sesinah of the Ten-Faces 175, 176 Seven Cresting Waves Benefit 223 Drawback 223 Shades 112 Characters 113 Hazards 113 Hooks 112-113 Shanties 155-156 Characters 157 Hazards 157 Hooks 156-157 Shipyards 138 Characters 138 Hazards 138 Hooks 138 Shrouded District 139 Characters 139 Hazards 139 Hooks 139 Siren 38 Ferma 110-111 Himk 108-109
INDEX
King 106 Pistoleer 57 Locations 106-111 Tactician 57 Maral 107 South Pillar 142 Nadamban 107-108 Ring 142-143 Queen 106 Shattered 149 Voshii 109-110 South Pole 149-154 Sister’s Flintlaser Pistol Black Rubble 149-151 Benefit 221 Gallow’s End 151-152 Drawback 221 Temple of the Poppy Brides 153-154 Skarras 38-39, 66, 111-115, 171- South Side Slums 82 173, 174 Characters 82 Dangling Raster 171-172 Hazards 82 Hirshel 172-173 Hooks 82 Locations 111-115 Southern Black Rubble 142, 149-151 Noachia 173 Characters 151 Plaza 111-112 Fellowship of Futility 150 Revolution Underground 113-114 Field of Farewell 149 Shades 112-113 Hooks 150-151 Sky Fields 114-115 Lamentations 149 Skarras Beasts Threats 151 Gallum 212 Uncoupled Ring 149 Sandskin 212-213 Weepers 150 Skulker 213 Speed 20, 24 Skarruts 14, 65, 66 Spiders 92 Sky Fields 114 Spoke from the Wind’s Saddle Characters 115 Benefit 223 Hazards 115 Drawback 223 Hooks 114 Strain 22-23 Sky Navy Port 104 Just a Scratch 22 Characters 104 Stranger 70 Hazards 104 Stunts 27 Hooks 104 Disarm 28 Slanted Grove 137 Draw Corps-a-corps 28 Characters 137 Feint 28 Hazards 137 Surtur 16, 39, 174 Hooks 137 Entertainer 44 Sleeping Witches 175 Fire Priests 71 Characters 175 First Forge 116-117 Hazards 175 Locations 116-120 Hooks 175 Merchants 46 Soldier Noble 46 Career 49, 50 Plaza Obsidian 118-120 Deadly Force 57 Soldier 50 237
Volcanic Gardens 117 Surtur Beasts Bharal 211 Glome Bug 211 Ormerian Lizard 117, 211-212 Surtur Mines 117-118 Characters 118 Hazards 118 Hooks 118 Sweet Crescent Bread Benefit 219 Drawback 219
T Talents 8, 21 Cunning. See Cunning Talents Forceful. See Forceful Talents Career. See Career Talents Combo 29 Graceful. See Graceful Talents Selection 24 Temple of the Poppy Brides 38, 106, 107, 108 Characters 154 Hazards 154 Hooks 153 Sites 153-154 Temple of the Voice 80 Characters 81 Hazards 81 Hooks 80 Ten Devils Caught Benefit 224 Drawback 224 Tharsis 116, 174-177 Lunar Mosaic 174-175 Sleeping Witches 175 Zohar That Was Promised 175-177 Tharsis Mountains 175 Thief Career 49, 50 Charlatan 57 Pick Pocket 57
C AVA L I E R S O F M A R S
Sneak 57 Tholak 153 Tomb Stalkers 17 Tomb Valleys 87 Characters 88 Hazards 88 Hooks 87 Tools. See Objects and Tools Traits Careers 20 Exerting, Exhausting 21 Methods 20 Motivations 20 Origins 20 Relationships 20 Speed 20 Traveling 13 Triggers 23 Trouble 22 Changing 23 Turham, Roya 101 Two Feet Standing Sword Benefit 221 Drawback 221
U Uncanny 31 Uncoupled Ring 149 University of Illium 105 Characters 105 Hazards 105 Hooks 105 Ur Tribe 143
V Vale 19 Characters 97-98 Hazards 97 Hooks 97 Vance 13, 14, 39-40, 162, 163, 165 Assassins 43 Astrologers 43 Dog 120
Dredge 123-124 Entertainer 44 Guildhall of the Mourners 124-125 Hangman’s Garden 123-124 Hounds of the Prince 120-121 Locations 120-125 Mercenaries 16 Noble 46 Palace of the Dog 122 Plaza Ares, 121 Priest 47 Prince 120 Soldier 50 Vance Beasts Salamander 208 Sand Spider 208-209 Sparrow 209 Venus 71-72 Voice 70 Volcanic Gardens 117 Characters 117 Hazards 117 Hooks 117 Voshi 106 Characters 110 Hazards 110 Hooks 108-109
W Warfare 16. See also Combat; Weapons Wastes. See Prismatic Wastes Water 13 Weapons Flintlaser 16 Spearpoints, Daggers 16 Cold and Glittering Knife 220 Echidna’s Tooth 224 Hide and Horn Bow 220-221 Lathed Whip 221 Nephrite Dagger 221 Opening of the Way 224 Ranged 29 238
Sister’s Flintlaser Pistol 221 Staff of Life 224 Ten Devils Caught 224 Two Feet Standing Sword 221 Wolf Spider Rifle 221 Weepers 150 West Horn Gate Machine Service Entrance 101 Characters 101 Hazards 101-102 Hooks 101 Whirling Threnodists 124 Wildhoney Tea Benefit 219 Drawback 219 Winnowgrass Benefit 222 Drawback 222 Winnowgrass Benefit 222 Drawback 222 Witch-queen 71-72 Wolf Spider Rifle Benefit 221 Drawback 221 Wooden Drum with Silver Stars Benefit 223 Drawback 223 Wounds 16 Wur Tribe 143 Wyela 126 Characters 126 Hazards 127 Hooks 126 Wyeth Gum 16 Wyeth Harp Benefit 222 Drawback 222-224 Wyeth Reincarnation Cycle 72-73 Wyeth Valley 34, 39, 63, 65, 66-67 Characters 126 Deephome 129-130 Hazards 126
INDEX
Hooks 126 Krem Den 127-128 Locations 126-130 Seedling Grove 128-129 Witch Queen 126 Wyela, 126-127
X Xeta Geyser 93 Characters 94 Hazards 94 Hooks 93-94
Y Yellow Cloister 133 Characters 133-134 Hazards 134 Hooks 133 Yellow Silks 40, 73, 131, 132 Yellow Veil 153
Z Zaius 14, 43, 65, 67-68 Ancestor Worship 73-74 Caravans 40 Foresight 98 Zigger, 13, 40-41 Assassins 43 Atmospheric Processor 130-132 Entertainer 44 Eu of the Seven Yellow Silks 130, 131, 133 Gallow’s End 151-153 Hangman 152 Inverted Court 134-135 Locations 130-135 Merchant Quarter 132-133 Noble 46 Soldier 50 Yellow Cloister 133-134 Yellow Silks 47, 73 Zodiac 13, 41
239
Arbiter 135 Astrologers 43 Astrology 69-70 Entertainer 44 Fixers 70 Flying ships 16 Locations 135-139 Noble 46 Panopticon 32, 135-137 Pilot 46 Shipyards 138 Shrouded District 138-139 Slanted Grove 137 Zodiac (star) 70 Zohar That Was Promised 175 Characters 177 Hazards 177 Hooks 176-177 Zoharim 175-176 10 Faces of God 176 10 Stations of the Tree 176 Zomek Windships 43
MOTIVATIONS
For Honor... For Love... For Self...
NAME:
STRAIN:
PLAYER:
SPEED:
EXPERIENCE:
DRAMA POINTS:
METHODS
CONDITIONS
... With Cunning ... With Force .. With Grace
EXHAUSED INJURED IN LOVE
TALENTS
MELANCHOLY PRESUMED DEAD TRAPPED VENGEFUL
TRAITS Trait
Rating
Description
NOTES