When In Inaust

Gray, misty Inaust on Whulggan Sound is a place few choose to visit except on the most important of errands. If by some strange fortune you should find yourself in that city, here are several ways to pass the time:

• Enjoy a meal of grilled slug skewers with fermented fish sauce. We recommend the establishment Respa's Hearth as a superior venue for the dish. If your finances allow for such luxuries, the salt-cured glount roe makes a sublime antipasto. The glount roe trade can be cutthroat, and sabotage of a competitor or attempting to gain an advantage by substitution of roe of less desirable fish can occur. The glount themselves are edible, though it is considered lower class fare.
• Marvel at the spectacle and clamor of the mating combats of the morhuk on several sandbanks and islets.  The bellicose and lustful creatures pose a risk to navigation at such times, but the local nobility view them as totemic and forbid their harm under serious penalty. The fishers and boat operators are less favorably disposed toward the creatures and sometimes hire groups of ruffians to hunt the beasts with clubs under cover of night. 

• Acquire a coat, cape, or hat of fur and be the talk of the town in more Southron climes as you cut a figure of exotic, rustic fashion. Be sure to consult your furrier (we recommend Omer Zwirn & Sons) regarding the current status of sumptuary ordinance. The upper classes reserve some pelts for their own use, and the most prized varieties change frequently.

For those who arrive in Inaust in a state of embarrassment regarding their finances, we offer the following means of acquiring funds which are somewhat unique to the region:

• Compete in a birling contest. There are gambling establishment in the coarser areas of town where the woodsman's diversion of trying to stay standing upon a free-floating log while pushing an opponent from theirs. Entrants are paid a sum for competing and may win larger purses for performance. Would-be competitors are urged make every effort to discern the parameters of the any contest they may participate in, as some entrepreneurial-minded hosts have enhanced their offerings by pitting traditional contestants against wild beasts.
• Find employment as a boatman. No extensive knowledge of sea or maritime lore is necessary to serve as a cranksman or treadman on one of the many paddle wheel boats that ply the Sound. Stamina is the only prerequisite, though you would do well to pay the modest dues for membership in the Propellers Union, lest you face a beating and dunking from those toiling with you.

The Shreev Comes to Thono Inn

Our Gnydrion game in Grok?! continued last Sunday. The party:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond. Reckless.
• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A vagabond as well, but more measured.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - Dabbler in the arcane. This time, he dabbles!
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - Scruffy teamster with a blunderbuss and a willingness to use it.

With the alleged Wol Zunderbast defeated, the party has to come up with a way to keep him restrained until the Shreev arrives. They come up with a plan of "harsh swaddling" with bedsheets, but the assassin almost breaks free, and they have to subdue him again. Just when they think they have it figured out, the concierge arrives, concerned with the noise.

The concierge summons the owner, Gris Samber, who takes position of the restrained assassin and has his men lock him in a closet. The group isn't happy about this, but they don't have a way out (though Antor certainly contemplates stunning his way out). They do insist that Yzma be allowed to stand guard, and Samber agrees.

While they wait, Jerfus contrives to get a look at Zunderbast's room. His attempts to drive off the guard set there by Samber with odious habits backfires and instead wins him a friend--unfortunately not friendly enough to allow him in the room unobserved.

At last, Shreev Molok and Var Nee arrive. They group follows them to the closet--which when opened appears empty! It's only a trick, and Zunderbast drops from the ceiling and makes a break for the door. Yzma shoots him in the leg, halting his escape.

For their efforts, the Shreev allows them to keep Zunderbast's full purse and to stay another night at the resort on the Compulsor's account.

The Uninvited Worm

Our Gnydrion game in Grok?! continued last Sunday. The group:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond with a stun wand--and reckless is his middle name!
• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A vagabond, as well. A man who enjoys a good meal.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - Dabbler in the arcane. When a spell is cast, he does it.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - Teamster with a blunderbuss.

The group sends a message by courier to the Shreev Molok and the Eminent Compulsor. They don't expect back up to arrive for hours, so they must prepare for the rendezvous with the mysterious Wol Zunderbast themselves.

As anyone faced with nothing to do but wait and the ability to expense luxuries, they order room service: grilled velocipede haunch with a side of turnips. Antor requests his well done to the scandalized reaction of the staff. When Nortin opens the dome on his dish he finds a large, fat worm-caterpillar thing with glowing, strobing eyes. 

The creature was attacking them psychically! They had to struggle to avoid its soporific effect. They attacked the creature, and Jerfus finally knocked it to the ground, smothering with his bulk. 

At that point, the man calling himself Wol Zunderbast revealed himself. He was then wearing the traditional garb of a professional assassin. He had an organic-looking ieldri style needle gun pointed at them.

The group firmly declined his offer to politely allow him to kill them. A combat ensued, a mix of successful moves and almost slapstick failures. Despite Zunderbast's superior skills, he was out-numbered, and Antor and Yzma had distance weapons.

Encounters at Thono; Our Heroes Don't Get Baths

Bao dwek Thabub (art by Steven de Waele)

Our Gnydrion game in Grok?! continued last Sunday. The group was all there:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond on holiday. He wants to use that stun wand.
• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - Also a vagabond. Here, a large man at spycraft.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - Dabbler in the arcane. He wears a star in the center of his tunic.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - Teamster out of her element.

Ensconced in a suite in the Thono Inn, expensed to the Eminent Compulsor, the group enjoys a nice dinner and a bit of rest. The next morning finds them beginning their investigations to uncover the identity of Wol Zunderbast. In doing so they encounter (and are distracted by) some of the other guests: Bao dwek Thabub, typically pungent hwaopt scholar studying something called "fey vortices" in the area; Sula Av and Tharom Welk an overly friendly couple on holiday from Ascolanth.

Finally, after leaving a message at the desk in a failed stratagem to find Zunderbast's room, they encounter the man himself:

He's intense and no nonsense but arranges a meeting later that evening with Nortin to discuss the "item" further. He also invites in the game in the casino (five frond hokus or thari or even quorn lancets) but Nortin declines.

With the meeting set, the group decides to take advantage of the famous gas bathes fed by the eldritch substance of the Lake of Vermilion Mists. They head to the bathhouse, but they are told its out of order by the inebriated engineer, Ormuz Halx, who raves at them briefly about something in caves that wants to kill everyone. Before they can dig into these remarkable claims, Gris Samber shows up to usher Halx away apologetically, citing his drunkenness as the source of his odd behavior.

At Last, Thono Inn

 After a bit of a hiatus, or Gnydrion game using Grok?! continued. The party was complete:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond, now with the air of authority.
• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A Gentleman of the Road, high on patent medicine.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - An arcane dabbler whose quality is underappreciated.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - Just along for the ride.

Inside the mysterious chest in the wagon was a device of the Ancients that the group surmised was the peddler's means of making his patent medicines. It seemed to be missing any substrate for manufacture at present. The group loaded up the chest with the device and personal supplies of the medications, which Antor and Jerfus wasted no time indulging in.

Back on the road, they soon were in sight of the resort on the banks of the Lake of Vermilion Mists. They turned over their caloot and hostler with a suitable tip. They also chose to confide in the make regarding their special mission, but then they swore him to secrecy.

They make their way into the main building of the Inn, where they are greeted by Yrleen Thono, the 25th generation of her family to operate the resort, and her husband, Gris Samber. They confide in the couple regarding their mission from the Compulsor. After overcoming Samber's qualms, they are allowed a look in the guest book. There is indeed a "W. Zunderbast" who has been there 5 days. Probably the malefactor they are looking for!

Yrleen has Merva, one of the servants, lead them to their suite. They have their luggage (mainly their appropriated chest) brought up to the room. They look forward to a dinner of lake gas steamed land crab and seasonal vegetables.

Strange Things Along the Road to Thono Inn

After a holiday hiatus, our Gnydrion game in Grok?! continued last night. The party on hand:

• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A Vagabond, possibly coming up in the world.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - An arcane dabbler in need a good, stout staff.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - A teamster once more.

Drafted for a special mission by the Eminent Compulsor, the party wastes no time in exercising the perquisites such as they are of that position. Cue shopping montage with the hapless Deputy Var Nee in tow.

Provisions obtain for travel and Jerfus now dressed for the job he aspires to rather than the job he has, the party also acquires a caloot-pulled wagon to make the journey. The caloot is pictures above.

On the way, they encounter a peculiar--one of those various of abherrant magical energy. In this case, it's a circle of blue light accompanied by a sound of heavy breathing. When a beetle is placed inside, it gets exuberant growth on its carapace. None of the party deigns to enter themselves.

Closer to the lake, they encounter an intinerant salesman's wagon missing a wheel and apparently abandoned. They find a supple of two sorts of bottles inside. One is labelled "Hyunnir's Remedy" and the other "Balm of Tsura." Imbibing the remedy makes Jerfus feel invigorated, tingly, and extremely confident.

Next, they directed their attentions to a locked trunk. Jerfus fails to jimmy the lock, but Yzma succeeds in breaking it with the butt of her blunderbuss... 

A Meeting with the Compulsor

 

Parth Trantlor

Our Gnydrion game in Grok?! continued last night. The party on hand:

• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A Vagabond with the item everyone wants, but no clear idea how to make it pay.
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - An arcane dabbler who doesn't want to be tracked by telesthetic hounds.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - A grubby teamster who wonders how she got into this mess.

Jerfus Grek watched the events of the previous adventure unfold from a dark alley across the street from the Shreev's office and with the mysterious item secreted under his colorful cloak. In the morning when his confederates emerge, he accosted then and learned of the compulsion the Eminent Compulsor had put them under. 

There followed much discussion of just what to do. Jerfus argued for carefully consideration of all options: Perhaps they could yet turn this to their advantage? Yzma, mindful of the invisible brand on her hand, argued for immediate surrender of the item to the Shreev so they could be done with this. Given there was the shop of a purveyor of talismans and other magics nearby, Jerfus prevailed on the other two to at least inquire there first for possible magical remedies.

The talisman merchant was an unctuous individual named Parth Trantlor. He said he could acquire an obscuring enchantment which would theoretically keep one from the senses of a telesthetic hound, but it would cost a smaragdine scintilla--a price considerably more than any of them possessed. They also tried to surreptitiously inquire about the mirror. Trantlor hadn't heard of such a device and after consulting a tome proclaimed it must be an artifact of some sort, worth at least a purpure scintilla.

After leaving the talisman shop, Nortin examined the container tube using his arcane-honed senses. He "detected magic," to use the vernacular. Nortin and Yzma were firm it must be given to the Compulsor. Seeing the way of things, Jerfus agreed with the provision that he would be able to present it to the Compulsor along with his narrative of events. The two agreed.

At the Compulsor's office, Jerfus related to his Eminence and the Shreev that he had only taken the item with the safety of the populace in mind, and when he had learned of the items potential power, he had sought to put it in the rightful hands. 

Compulsor Wungar commended Jerfus' civic-mindedness and suggested there was a way he and his friends could be of service to the Panarch as they were obviously people of principle. He conscripted them on the spot and charged them with going undercover to meet the person Kreik was to take the tube to. When the individual was identified, they were to summon the authorities.

Sensing no way out, the group acquiesced, only arguing for some sort of stipend. The Compulsor agreed to provisioning, and allowed there might be some reward in the future. Not as hopeful an answer as they miight of wished, but it was something. They left with the Shreev to prepare. 

Gnydrion Chargen Tables for Grok?!

The lite rpg Grok?! uses random tables for character generation, but the standard ones weren't entirely suitable to my Gnydrion setting. I made my own for the columns where I thought it mattered. These were done quick to have something to use in play but if I ever were to publish them, they would probably get a more thoughtful review.

Background and an Asset

1. Fringe Theorist - a map detailing the location of fae vortices
2. Wastrel - a pillbox with an assortment of calmatives, excitants, analeptics, and euphoriants
3. Gambler - a deck of marked cards
4. Civil Servant - impenetrable but official looking documents
5. Academician - reference works
6. Rogue - dagger
7. Fugitive - shiv
8. Itinerant Mystic - worn mat for meditation and begging bowl
9. Dilettante - servant
10. Veteran - scars, each with a colorful story
11. Freelance Scrutinizer - sap
12. Mountebank - traveling case of tonic elixirs
13. Rhabdomancer - crystalline rod carried in a velvet-lined case
14. Vagabond - tinder pouch and firestone
15. Teamster - blunderbuss
16. Traveling Merchant - case full of wares
17. Entertainer - essential implement for your act
18. Arcane Dabbler - talisman with one spell
19. Artisan - trade tools
20. Mercenary - a good sword

Asset 2

1. outlandish hat
2. cape of shifting colors
3. muff pistol
4. nonnig
5. armor
6. throwing dagger
7. cracked eidolon crystal showing the image of a beautiful, desperate seeming woman
8. round trip first class airship ticket
9. magic spyglass
10. portable writing desk with pen, ink, and stationary
11. stylish rapier
12. vial of hwaopt intoxicant scent, malodorous to humans
13. letter of credit from a hohmmkudhuk craftsman
14. cage with fighting zegej
15. pouch of cured meat
16. invigorating elixir 
17. 25 feet of rope
18. lantern
19. pouch of dried mushrooms
20. stun wand

Asset 3

1. small jar of cured glount roe, sealed
2. guardsman's baton
3. velvet-lined case of military medals
4. punch dagger
5. voice altering oral lozenge stone
6. leather case with two syringes of thrall slime
7. Wurvulb's Primer on Ieldri Language
8. jar of analgesic linament
9. broad-brimmed hat concealing steal skullcap
10. signet ring with enigmatic but portentous engraving
11. brass knuckles
12. sedative powder (2 beast of burden calibrated doses)
13. hatchet
14. box of cheep cheroots
15. medallion authorizing operation of a commercial paddle boat in Whulggan Sound 
16. basket of two candy manikins
17. Offical pardon for a Jeng Turly signed by the Provincal Governor
18. toiletry kit with mirror, tweezers, straight razor, and coagulating powder
19. pistol ballester
20. scratch and smell pamphlet map of the library of Ao-Dweb

Names, Female:

1. Nurila Tambrol
2. Tobrana Velth
3. An Morold
4. Inerva Alanx
5. Fanora Zriol
6. Pema Rheest
7. Nima Ermot
8. Yzma Vekna
9. Alux Vrys
10. Raiga Mehtaloon
11. Syara Wanzor
12. Irallene Tark

Names, Male:

1. Glismo Nadok
2. Reet Ulam
3. Antor Hogus
4. Ger Vortin
5. Zamo Thrase
6. Druf Ombry
7. Nortin Tauss
8. Grevan Calo
9. Trane Durnur
10. Mulz Thomber
11. Jerfus Grek
12. Sy Kamor

Under Compulsion in Phaelorn Gap

 

Our Gnydrion game using Grok?! continued last night. The party on hand:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond with a stun gun and a dislike of authority, worse now than ever!
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - An arcane dabbler just trying to get by.
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - A grubby teamster watching things spiral out of control.

Having rashly summoned the law last adventure, the party must now deal the consequences. Var Nee the deputy is out of his depth and aware of it once he hears the story of the quaklu and the double Kreik Gelmots. He wisely goes to summon the Shreev while leaving the bleary-eyed innkeeper to watch them.

Shreev Molok is in no mood for the situation that confronts him. He rounds them all up and takes them back to the jail. The original (presumed) Gelmot, still stunned, is locked in a cell, while the others are invited to be guests until the matter can be sorted out. They protest this confinement and while they argued with the Shreev, two things happen. The first is that Gelmot wakes up and more or less confirms their story (while trying to present himself in the best light). The remaining mystery is what has become of the mirror. While they are contemplating this, the other happens, which is that the Fake Gelmot tries to leave.

Molok and Var Nee try to confine him, but his limbs do not appear to be made of mundane flesh. He twists free and scuttles out the door on four limbs. Molok pursues him, ballester in hand, while Var Nee continues to watch the others.

Var Nee shares some liquor with Hogus which serves to moderate the latter's ill-temper for a while. Molok returns and tells them that the other Gelmot dissolved after stumbling into a fumarole and being shot in the head by Molok's ballester.

He tells everyone that they will likely be released, however, they must tell their stories to his superior, Eminent Compulsor Briszm Wungar. Var Nee had already hinted that Wungar is a man much concerned with personal enrichment.

Not having any place else to go, the party takes Molok up on his offer to sleep in the jail, only to consider they might have made an error when the building is locked from the outside and they are trapped. The recriminations fly, then, both from and to Gelmot (who Hogus eventually stuns again) and between Tauss and Hogus. They consider breaking out in some way, but ultimately decide to play it cool and not become fugitives.

The next morning, Briszm Wungar arrives to speak with them, the small man riding some alien creature. He suggests the way to ensure their freedom from any legal suspicion is to locate the mirror and return it to him. Gelmot blames its absence on their also conspicuously absent friend, Jerfus Grek. The Compulsor releases them to find Grek and the mirror (though Gelmot must await their efforts in jail) but has their hands marked with a device that will allow telesthetic hounds to track them, should they choose to shirk this charge.

Occurrences in the Night in and Around Phaelorn Gap

 

Art by Marvano

Our Gnydrion game using Grok?! continued last night. The party on hand:

• Antor Hogus (Paul) - Vagabond with a stun gun and now a chatty quaklu
• Nortin Tauss (Aaron) - An arcane dabbler, skeptical of Hogus' decisions
• Yzma Vekna (Andrea) - A grubby teamster trying to be the voice of reason
• Jerfus Grek (Jason) - A vagabond, but fat where Hogus is lean, and possessed of a kaleidoscopic cloak

The quaklu, ungagged last session, related to Antor Hogus that it had seen a murder. Kreik Gelmot had dropped a body wrapped in a cloth into a pit outside of town, then he tried to dispose of quaklu who had witness the deed.

Jerfus Grek, resposing on the scrub nearby around a meager campfire of dried caloot dung,  overheard this entire story and strode up to see if there was some way he might profit. Around this time, the others arrived. Jerfus shared some honeyed, beetle-spiced dusted pastries to win them all over.

The group had the quaklu lead them (after it was placated with a pastry) across the plain to the whole where the body was dropped. It appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft or well. The ascertained their was indeed a body in the hole, but it was dead! Bafflingly, the individual in the pit named himself as Kreik Gelmot!

The group thought of various ways to allow him to climb out, but they were stymied by Gelmot's reported injuries. Using Jerfus' undergarment wrap and Yzma's collapsible pole, Yzma manages to get itno the whole and get Gelmot out.

He seems injured pretty bad, but while they are discussing what to do, he stands up and straightens his own broken limbs then walks off toward town. The party finds this highly unusual and suspects the first Gelmot is the genuine one (if there is a genuine one) and this one is some sort of doppelganger. Antor tries to stun him, but he shrugs it off and keeps going.

Yzma rushes ahead to town to warn the law, The Shreev is in bed but she finds his deputy, Varr Nee. He's skeptical of their claims of the Gelmot Double being unusual, so they get no help.

Yzma and Jerfus shadow Gelmot Double to the hotel, The Golden Idle. He enters a room where they find the other Gelmot. He tells them quite a tale: He took on a job from a mysterious individual he took to be a high official to deliver a tube-shaped container (unopened) to a Wol Zumderbast  at the Inn at Thono. Gelmot's curiosity got the better of him and he broke the wax seal of the tube and found a strange, flexible mirror inside. When he unrolled it to examine it, his reflection started to move out of sync with him, then stepped from the mirror!  He subdued the double and tried to dispose of it to hide his actions, but the talkative quaklu gave it all away. 

While he's telling his story, Jerfus slips the tube from Gelmot's bag, and when he gets a chanc,e hides it outside the hotel. The others arrive, and Gelmot begs them all to dispose of the doppelganger. They refuse and instead stun him and tie him up. Then, they summon the deputy, who demands an explanation for the strange scene.

The Gagged Quaklu

We did some in my Gnydrion setting this weekend in the area of the Lake of Vermilion Mists using the rules lite game Grok?! Most of the players had the game, but none of us had ever played it, so it was a good excuse to take it for a spin.

I quickly put together new Background and Asset tables, but it was a rush job, and something I'm probably revisit over time. Anyway, the players were:

Aaron as  Nortin Tauss, an arcane dabbler possessed of a vial of hwaopt intoxicant for some reason.
Andrea -  Yzma Vekna, teamster with poor hygiene and a blunderbuss.
Paul - Antor Hogus, skinny vagrant with a stun wand.

Yzma and Nortin arrived in Phaelorn Gap on the stage coach out of Flinterjay. (Yzma was driving, Nortin a passenger.) Antor was already in town, sleeping in the stables and doing odd jobs. They all intended to eventually make their way to the hippy spectacle of the Festival of the Hierodule in the vicinity of the Lake, but at the moment they were looking for lodging for the night.

Finding the hotel a bit pricey, Nortin, on recommendation of the local constabulary, sought a room at the more modestly priced (and appointed) boarding house of Milda Brept. While Nortin and Yzma discuss the hidden fees and riders associated with boarding with Matron Brept, Antor inquires if there is any work for him. Another stranger at the boarding house, one Kreik Gelmot, speaks up to offer him a minor commission.

In the boarding house's back yard, Gelmot explains that he has a quaklu (either a flightless bird with hands or a feathered theropod dinosaur with beak, depending on how you look at it, used as a riding animal) he wishes to part with. He wishes Antor to take the beast outside of town and make sure he doesn't return. Interestingly, the quaklu is muzzled, which isn't common. 

The three noted this as unusual and assumed something else was going on. Yzma examined the animal and found it to be sound to her experience eye for draught beasts. Nortin threatened to summon Shreev Molok. Fearing this potential income might be snatched from him, Antor quickly pulled up the stake and leaped upon the creatures back to ride away.

Gelmot was satisfied enough with this outcome and departed. Nortin and Yzma were still curious and followed on foot.

In the scrub outside of town, Antor removed the quaklu's gag. It was indeed one of those rare, atavistic specimens, capable of speech. It immediately began squawking that it had seen a murder!

Medioxumate Devils

 

Art by Ske Bozic

Zeniba Goll, called Zeniba the Shrewd, self-anointed Mayor-Prefect of  Wollusk is the leader of gang known as the Medioxumate Devils. It is through this group of cutthroats that she maintains her hold on the town and resists overthrow by the faction led by Sodmos Thalur the Vitner.

Pictured here: Kro, Skeesik Two-Knives, Zeniba, Chult Angmox, and Olma "Silence" Mondark.

I've been reading the rules lite rpg Grok?! recently, so here are Zeniba's stats in that:

ZENIBA

Traits: Aging, former bodyguard, gang boss, "The Shrewd", wants to run Wollusk

 Assets: Power Rod, leather armor, goon entourage, [+4 slots]

Scintilla

Scintilla are the common currency of civilized Gyndrion. They are naturally occurring shield-shaped crystals of various colors, with the most common known as opaline. The are typically harvested from areas with a history of volcanic activity, but their generation also relates in poorly understood ways to the flows or lines of fae, the energy which is harnessed to work magic.

Pre-scintilla crystals form within cysts occurring underground with have the appearance of geodes. The crystals within fracture into scintilla upon exposure to air. Scintilla are harvested from ruptured nodules, though the nodules themselves may be excavated and carefully ruptured by hand, a process called "cracking." Cracking tends to yield more scintilla, but over lower value.

Despite claims by montebanks, no sophont of Gnydrion has every been proven to be able to detect pre-scintilla nodules. So-called scintilla-sniffing nonnigs however are able to do so, though how they do this is mysterious.

In addition to their pleasing, crystalline appearance, scintilla are favored as currency because they are impossible to counterfeit, even through use of magic. In fact, scintilla are minor magical insulators, absorbing and dissipating fae energy directed specifically upon them, turning black and cracking in the process.

The Island and the Censor

Pohjal or in older texts Cinis Pohjal is a large island of volcanic origin within the Lake of Vermilion Mists. It is a desolate place of ash and pumice, dotted with hot springs and smoking holes, and attracting an inordinate number of noisome gas flies. In summary, there is little to recommend it, except that is also a place where scintilla may be gathered without diving and the attendant risk of angry urulu.

Scintilla cysts burst in the warmth of the hotsprings, and sifting the loose sand from their bottoms can yield imperfect--but perfectly spendable--scintilla of opaline and citrine colors with the rare sanguine. By some oversight of Panarchic edict, the ownership of scintilla gathered naturally above the lake's surface is an open question, allowing a legal opportunity for others to lay a claim so long as they can avoid disputation with the Eminent Compulsor or his agents. 

Besides the inconvenience of reaching the island and retrieving the scintilla there is another factor discouraging their acquisition. The island is the home of a baleful Visitant known as the Censor. This being is said to appear as a slender automaton with feminine form and four arms, two of which have dexterous hands and two large, scalpel-blades. The Censor lies dormant much of the time, but when she awakens, she seeks sophonts to improve upon in the direction of her moral sensibilities.  There are cases of individuals emerging her editing free of their previous vices and deficits of character to go on to lives of distinction, but they are rare.

Telesthetic Hound

The telesthetic hounds of Gnydrion are a domestic animal of obscure origins. As their name suggests, they are superficially similar to the canines brought from Earth in ancient times, but they possess a number of anatomic and physiologic differences, most obviously the extended and flexible snout ending in a star-shaped sensory organ. The protuberances radiating from the nose are sensitive to magic and allow the hound to track the aura of creatures and in some cases predict their future whereabouts.

The hounds are commonly bred within the Doar Obdurate where they are used not only to track criminals, but to predict dissident behavior via their sensitivity to human emotion. Scholars are divided on whether the hounds' capabilities actually allow this, but the Obdurs have never been zealous to let mere proof get in the way of legal certainty.

Phaelorn Gap

Shreev Seg Molok (art by Jason Sholtis)

Phaelorn Gap is a town near the Lake of Vermilion Mists along the Panarch's roadway heading east away from the great cities and across the mountains. It is the center of the scintilla harvesting industry with the Lake. The wealth harvested from the Lake belongs by law to the Panarch and flows to his coffers save that which is paid in renumeration or lost to corruption. 

The divers, young, unmarried women by tradition, receive little in the way of wages for their efforts, but do receive a state pension upon retirement. Some former divers become matrons, responsible for wrangling and discipline of the divers and insuring they do not skim from harvest unduly. The matrons, of course, take their gratuity before the Panarch gets his.

Operations in Phaelorn Gap are overseen by the Eminent Compulsor. The current holder of that position is Briszm Wungar. Officially his only function is to ensure the scintilla are transported West and the Panarch receives his due. In practice, he is the overseer of the entire operation, enriched by his own peculation.

Wungar is not personally an opposing man, so he must rely on the dignity of his office and the strong arms of his local enforcers to assure his will is done. Chief among these enforcers is the Shreev, Seg Molok, and his subalterns. Molok is a veteran of minor conflicts in the region and is said to have survived (after sufficient brave resistance, certainly) the Whelming of Fort Olmovar by the Great M'Gog Horde. He is a man respected by the townsfolk of Phaelorn Gap for his pragmatism and evenhandedness. His sense of honor and appreciation of duty is such that the size of the inducement proffered sways him less than his reckoning of the ethical questions involved. 

Thono Inn

The Thono Inn and Baths are a famed, but aging attraction near the Lake of Vermilion Mists, which offer "gas baths" of the peculiar substance of the Lake itself in addition to more traditional bathing. Yrming is the eleventh generation of Thonos to run the baths, though in truth she leaves the day-to-day management to her husband, Gris Samber, while she manages the special activities for the inn's extensive festival schedule that borrows holidays liberally from diverse civic and religious calendars. So large are the baths that Thono Village has arisen nearby to support it. 

The pumps which support the unique bath offerings require the work of an expert engineer to maintain. Ormaz Halx is the current individual charged with this task. He is given to reminding anyone that questions his decisions that he once studied at the hwaopt library (true in the strictest sense). He is also given to intemperance regarding the local distilled spirit. When deep in inebriation, he has been known to speak of a mysterious cave containing crystalline columns which somehow fulfill desires. He will angrily deny every having said anything of the sort when sober.

The Thono family and their loyal employees have a historic antipathy with the Cult of the Hierodule who bring their celebratory revels to the vicinity annually. This ill-feeling is primarily financial, owing to the grubby, vagabond nature of the cult leaders and their followers, and the promiscuous ways of the cult's youthful celebrants who provide for free erotic services for which the inn's contracted, professional staff would charge.

Gris Samber takes a broad view of who one day might be a paying customer and so does not urge his staff to violence against their transients, with the probable exception of Bardo Clart, the cult's current wild-eyed and hirsute leader.  

Witchmire Rumors

 A few rumors regarding the Witchmire on Gnydrion:

• “Does the Witchmire seem forlorn in aspect? Well, so it is. But it is also locale of historic importance as the site of the Landfall, which is to say, the place of humankin’s advent on Gnydrion.” 
• “I take you for experienced travelers, inured to the variegated configurations human appetite and proclivity may take, so I will speak with candor unadorned by circumlocution: The prominent families of Gamory are perverse. Their cult seeks congress of a carnal nature with ieldra.”
• “The witch Heth has come to live on an island surrounded by treacherous quag. She wears the semblance of a crone, but in her true form she is youthful and very beautiful. She holds a treasure of jewels and fine trinkets lavished upon her by wealthy suitors in her homeland.”
• “Last winter, a mushroom-hunter of Draum made it known he had happened by a Black Obelisk with an aperture where before there had been scatheless stone. Word perhaps traveled as far south as Ascolanth, for scant months ago a party led by a trio of sorcerers arrived. They hired a guide and undertook to find the Obelisk. None of that expedition returned.”
• “Are you familiar with the ditty? It speaks of the disappearance and looked-for triumphant return of  Prince Wanaxandor. He found it expedient to flee more civilized regions after his ill-planned efforts to overthrow the rule of his uncle, the Panarch. He is popularly supposed by rustics and simpletons to be in hiding, gathering a force armed with dire alien armaments, plundered from the Black Obelisks for a repeated attempt.”
• “Wollusk is no more in the grip of rogues meager of scruple than most habitations similarly situated far from civilization, but Zeniba and her Devils have a zeal in the application of violence that borders on obsessive. My admonition: watch yourselves and do not attract undue notice!”
• “A famed medium from the South has recently arrived. She offers intercession for the folk of the region with the wrathful presences of the Mire. She asks no compensation at present for her services. Popular opinion is divided between those that regard her as a fool and those that judge her insane. I am broader of imagination than most and accord both concepts a measure of validity. Be that as it may, I suppose she will need escorts in her endeavors.”

Beetles & Birds

Beetle Milk Mead 

A beverage favored in the west of Gnydrion, beetle milk mead is made from the fermentation of a sugary liquid ("the milk") produced by a species of beetle native to the titanic trees of the coastal forests. These colonials insects have members of their community who function as living casks for their hive. They gorge themselves on food and store the liquid they produce in their abdomens so they distend to an incredible degree, having the appearance when full of plump fruit with a diameter as wide as the length of the first digit of a man's thumb. The milk is harvested from the engorged beetles and fermented. The resulting liquid is sometimes added to beer to sweeten it but can also be mixed with the local liquor to render that more enjoyable, as well.

The beetles are farmed by placing thick slices of the bark of their favored trees into beetlehouses. This practiced has allowed the production and enjoyment of beetle milk mead to spread to places where the trees do not grow.

Quaklu

Quaklus are the ubiquitous saddle birds of the Northwest region. It is assumed by most learned folk of the modern age, that the birds are a result of the puissant science of the ancients, though the pedants of the hwaopt have alleged that the quaklus are a distinct lineage from the creatures of humankin's homeworld and so must have been taken from some other world in the past.

Whatever their origins some quaklu, considered atavistic in the modern parlance, are more than just cunning animals and are capable of speech.  The accidental acquisition of such a gifted fowl is considered an unlucky turn due to their willingness to make their thoughts and wishes known--and unwelcome trait in a riding beast.

The Library, Ao-Dweb

What follows is excerpted from the journal publications of the scholar Nura Glismod who was sent by one minster or another of Ascolanth (the writ, in the manner of all standard Imperial bureaucrat text, is unclear on its specific authorities) as part of an "exchange" with the hwaopt at the Library of Ao-Dweb. 

First, I should address the less pleasant aspects of interaction with hwaopt, namely the odor. My associates and I utilized olfaction dampeners to make it bearable, but I found it necessary to burn my clothes afterwards.

What has generally been said about the Library is true: It is undoubtedly the greatest repository of knowledge currently in existence and a center for the most advanced scholarship in the world. It sprawls over numerous subterranean chambers, some of which must be natural, if modified, others some entirely constructed.

The humidity of caves would generally be a barrier to their use as an archive, but the hwaopt have enacted some sort of magical shield (one can feel it when entering the structure) that keeps the air dry. I was told by another visitor (a suspicious voluble An-Woon Thuan of the Mountain of Wizards) that the hwaopt have wards to dampen magics within the Library for fear of eroding their controlled encompassment.

The hwaopt organizational system is arcane. I was told that librarians only those you can passed rigorous examinations in the hwaopt classification of knowledge. The dangers to any would-be browser are more than merely not finding the volume one was looking for. I was told by our guide in what I assume are sober tones for a hwaopt that persons have become lost in the library for days when they wondered off to more esoteric collection areas. Apparently, scent plays some part in the hwaopt system, but the details are closely guarded.

One unusual danger in the Library: the occasional incursion by troglodytes from some neighboring caves. This occurred in a part of the structure why we were there. It is puzzling as to why the hwaopt allow this, when presumably they could prevent it. Instead, they merely close areas of the library to the public until the brutish creatures have moved on.

Perhaps related to this mystery, I happened to observe at a distance an interaction between a troglodyte and a hwaopt while we were being ushered to a different location due to the incursion. The hwaopt seemed in some sort of stupor, perhaps even paralzyed. The troglodyte approached very close with a demeanor of hostility, but the hwaopt remained rooted to the spot with an expression I would call vacant, while acknowledging the difficulty of diving meaning from their alien countenances. What became of the hwaopt, I do not know, and I thought it best not to question our guides on it.