Saturday, January 2, 2016

1d10 Payments for Magical Healing


Holy Men disdain your filthy lucre.  Here are some things they might demand instead.



1. Your Firstborn Child
2. Your Name.  You must now go by a title given by the cleric.
3. Your Name.  You must switch names with the cleric.  (40% that the cleric is cursed and is trying to evade identification by malign forces)
4. Your Sense.  Lose a sense of your choice.
5. Your Fingernails.  No, not just the clippings.  The whole thing.  
6. Your Blood.  A good amount, perhaps a Liter.
7. Your Stealth. You have to wear a bell for the rest of your life.
8. Your Teeth.  3 minimum.
9. Your Dreams.  You will never dream again.
10. Your Promise.  You owe the cleric one.




Friday, January 1, 2016

Five more Questions for Elam


Five more questions about Elam, the Land of a Thousand Towers

Religious focus on these questions

  1. Who is the richest person in the land?
Private wealth is still technically illegal.  All wealth and potable water belongs to whatever Wizard-King controls the territory it sits on.  However, under the enlightened rule of Feretha the Apostate private industry has flourished in Denethix.  The richest person within the city is Abu al-Hassan, Director of the Bank Inviolable.  He never makes an investment without sleeping on it and then interpreting his dreams for auspicious signs.  A pious man, he bankrolls much of the religious architecture in Denethix.  His desire to preserve his temples often leads him to conflict with the Grand Vizer, Koyl Yrenum, who has a more interventionist view of city building and rebuilding.  

The Bank Inviolatable
        2.  Where can we go to get some magical healing?

Some clerics have healing invocations, but most sane people stay the hell away from clerics unless their wounds are dire.  If you're desperate, you can go to the City Temple and see which gods or clerics are represented. The selection of clerics and gods present changes by the day as holy men wander through.  Know that most holy men will not accept gold or silver, and may ask for things like fingers, your voice, your name or your firstborn child.  Alternatively, you can go to the Cult of Science, which holds a separate headquarters in Denethix and will often accept artifacts from the Before Time for payment.  However, their strange tinctures and methods are not likely to work, and will often leave you with new problems even if they do.

"Can you cast Cure Light Wounds?"
        3.  Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Similar to the above question, clerics at the City Temple might be able to help for a steeper price.  The Cult of Science is starting to get a little out of its pay grade at this level of malady, but might be able to at least change your situation.  An example: You've been polymorphed into a horse.  They could remove your horse head and attach it to a human body to try and get you back part of the way.  

At the level of Death/Undeath, very few people would be able to help you.  You could go find and petition a god directly.  Remember that every god exists physically somewhere in the world, Princess Mononoke style.  They are often unhappy to be interrupted and delight in twisting the words of mortals around to fulfill their requests ironically, so be careful.

You asked to not be polymorphed into a horse anymore, and got your wish!
  

A Wizard-King might have the ability to help you, but almost every one is so irrevocably insane that getting any help would be a trial.  

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

Kind of.  Each magic user powerful enough to found such a society has instead built a huge tower/mech-robot and claimed a swath of the land as their own private domain for twisted magical experiments, and has little interest in training potential rivals.  Magic knowledge is guarded jealously, and certainly not shared with filthy PCs.  Killing a Wizard-King or stealing their spellbook is a potential source of new spells if you've got the ability. 

The Church of Starry Wisdom is the last major religious organization in Denethix, and is made up primarily of Magic Users, not clerics.  They seek to bring back the old gods from beyond the vale, and destroy all human life.  They could train you if you're a good stargazer and also want to destroy all human life.  

It's probably fine


        5:Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

Wise men and women abound in the Bazaar Incomparable, selling their consult, services and aid.  If you ask around and check references you can  get loyal and expert help at a cheap price.  It's also possible that you'll be fleeced by con artists, but the Feasters (town police force) actually do a good job at keeping outright fraud to a minimum.    

Toad Sages are available on request

If you want even more esoteric help, you can go to the Aesthetic Hermits in the Western Mountains and pass their demanding trials.  They're happy to aid those who pass.