Inspirational Art: I still love that old Russ Nicholson and Erol Otus

Of all the artists in those old D&D hardcovers I got on Christmas 1981, my favorites remain Russ Nicholson for his work on the Fiend Folio and Erol Otus for his work on Deitities and Demigods, mostly in the Cthulhu Mythos section.

If you are to young or just joined the hobby after the period of AD&D 1st Edition, you can catch up on your Russ Nicholson art work through his blog at http://russnicholson.blogspot.com/ -- he is still producing madly detailed and creepy art on a regular basis, and it's still full of the horrific goodness his art instilled back in the day.

Erol Otus' official website is all but nonexistent, but sites devoted to his work are posted by Jeff Rients and Goodman Games, if you want to get a sense of his work, old and new. His work has graced work from Arduin to TSR to his own crazed creations to recent games -- not to mention his work on computer games.

If you do not harken from the same crusty old days of yore, I hope you can appreciate the mood and style of their work since it illuminates some of my personal aesthetic.

Estarion "Appendix N"

In the tradition of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, I present my literary influences on Estarion, the current campaign I am running.

Literary Major Influcences

• Leiber, Fritz: Swords and Deviltry, Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist, Swords Against Wizardry, Swords of Lankhmar, Swords and Ice Magic, Knight and Knave of Swords.
• Asprin, Robert, ed.: Thieves' World, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn

History

• Some of the geography and background is very, very, very loosely inspired by Constantinople, while other elements of it are inspired by the role of Egypt or the Levant in terms of its relation to Greece and Rome.
• While one reader has said that he saw Prince Lucius Gallus Martellus as a young Mark Antony, he's about 75% a smarter Prince Kadikithus from Thieves' World.

Gaming Campaigns: a huge chunk of the background for Estarion is mixed in with two city supplements from my youth, and one more recent book

• Chaosium: Pavis
• Judges' Guild: City State of the Invincible Overlord
• Lamentation of the Flame Princess: Vornheim

Mood and Inspiration: While Estarion does not directly emulate these sources, they are a major part of my sense of mood and style:

• Mosely, Walter: Devil in a Blue Dress, A Red Death, White Butterfly, Black Betty, A Little Yellow Dog, Gone Fishin', Bad Boy Brawley Brown, Six Easy Pieces, Little Scarlet, Cinnamon Kiss, Blonde Faith
• Vachss, Andrew: Flood, Strega, Blue Bell, Hard Candy
• Moore, C.L.:  Northwest of Earth (2007 collection by Paizo), plus her Jirel of Joiry stories.
• Brackett, Leigh: her Mars stories, the most recent of which are Paizo's printings of novels/novellas such Sword of Rhiannon, Secret of Sinharat, The Ginger Star, the Hounds of Skaith, The Reavers of Skaith
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice: A Princess of Mars, Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars
• Howard, Robert E.: his Conan stories, in particular.
• Grell, Mike: His 1970s/1980s run of The Warlord
• AMC's series "The Killing"
• The godawful but somehow compelling film "Krull".
• The art of Frank Frazetta, Jack Kirby, Erol Otus, and anyone else who wanders through my head.

The Magic-User as Doctoral Candidate

In the depths of preparing my dissertation proposal, I find myself thinking about the ways in which we conceive of the old-fashioned D&D magic-user. Typically, graduate students in the United States go through initial training, then some sort of qualifying exam (though, thankfully, my program has no qualification exam) with a dissertation proposal which must be defended, then the grad student must focus on their dissertation. The Magic-user is seen as spending time in an apprenticeship, deep in study, then after some sort of tests, he or she leaves for journeyman work in the field to master the art.

So maybe the magic-user's spell book is sort of his or her qualifying exam— it includes the spells he or she has managed to glean and master through research, and reflect an intellectual approach to magic in the world. Sure, every apprentice learns the basic principles, but one magic-user may have done his literature review in divinatory magic, and another could have done hers on fire magic. This intellectual approach (perhaps even a formalized intellectual tradition) guides his or her initial approach as a level one M-U. But to get full membership in the group, he or she will need to finish a final dissertation, present and defend it for review, and then become a full-fledged member of magical society.

Or it could just be that doctoral work is warping my brain.

Inspirational Art: Virgil Finlay Edition

Inspirational Visuals for Athanor

Pulpy Planetary Romance Plot Generation

Athanor is all about the pulpy planetary romance action. In that spirit, I offer my own Pulp Planetary Romance Plot Inspiro-tron. Roll on Chart A for your villain, Chart B for their evil scheme, Chart C if you need to determine a victim for the scheme or an ally for the hero to make along the way. Keep rolling for all you need, since heroes are always finding new supporting cast members to have to rescue later.

Chart D is for the plot devices, maguffins, or odd bits of alien technology that show up. Chart E is the plot twist about the larger campaign that the plot reveals. I have used a mix of actual elements of planetary romances I have read and some ideas that sounded good to me at the time. However, some word on the general plotting of Edgar Rice Burrough Barsoom-style tales is worth some time.

To be loose, general, and a little facetious, the general Edgar Rice Burrough style plot should resemble:

Villain(s) enact an Evil Scheme (usually involving the kidnapping of Dejah Thoris or another princess) that leads our hero to pursuing the Villains across the planet resulting in the Revelation of a Secret that affects the setting. In the end, the hero triumphs (usually rescuing the princess and killing a lot of bad guys along the way) with a different understanding of the world.

On with the charts.

Chart A: The Villain(s)

d10 Result
1 Cowardly and Treacherous Noble
2 Wise Scion of a Dead/Dying Race
3 Cold and Amoral Alien Scientist
4 Heartless Assassin
5 Rival
6 Bounty Hunter
7 Slavers
8 Pirates
9 Bandits
10 Cultists

Chart B: Evil Scheme

d Result
1 Kidnapping
2 Theft
3 Exploration
4 Chase
5 Attack
6 Brainwashing
7 Brain-stealing
8 Dishonor/Besmirch
9 Sell into Slavery
10 Imprison/Transform/Make Comatose

Chart C: Victim or Ally

d10 Result
1 Beautiful Princess
2 Noble Savage
3 Brave Warrior
4 Strange Alien
5 Scientist/Philosopher/Scholar/Priest
6 Ousted Nobleman
7 Misunderstood Scoundrel
8 Loyal Handmaiden
9 Brute with a Heart of Gold
10 Warrior-Maiden Who Will Not Allow Herself to Love

Chart D: Plot Devices & Maguffins

d10 Result
1 Ancient Weapon of Vast Power
2 Terrible Monster from the Dim Past
3 Advanced Power Source
4 Terraforming Device
5 Last Scion of an Ancient Race
6 Device that Will Make the User a (Near-)God
7 Mind Control Device
8 Army of Robots
9 Library of Lost Knowledge
10 Still Functioning Computer/AI/disembodied brain(s)

Chart E: Secret That The Plot Reveals

d8 Result
1 Lost City of Ancients Who are Now Degenerate.
2 Lost City of Ancients Who Have Vast Mental Powers But are Now Amoral
3 The Truth Behind the Locals' Belief About the Gods
4 A Terrible Monster Worshipped as a God
5 A Terrible Danger That is Coming From Far Away
6 A Lost Race Who Secretly Manipulates the World
7 The Villains Are Even Worse Than They Seemed
8 A Prophecy of Great Import

The Gods of Athanor

    My previous posts have given a very brief overview of religion and gods in Athanor. This is quite intentional. The Gods of Athanor are not common forces in the lives of the people of Athanor, as gods are often are in role-playing games. Rather, the gods do not grant magical power. Some gods are fictional or misinterpretations of historical figures. Others are powerful beings of supernatural power, but are not truly divine. Religion on Athanor is just another institution, corrupt and troublesome as any other.    I have treated religion as just a bit of background color, but with a little meat on its bones, the topic of religion can provide a little more structure to the game.

The Churches of Law
The churches of Law are highly revered throughout the Five Kingdoms. Part of this respect is the fact that the churches are highly conservative, institutionalized, and support the ideals of social order, rule of law, and polite society. While people follow such tenets wih varying degrees of devotion, these ideals tend to resonate strongly with the general populace, and have the ring of social truth in them.
Though they are closely allied, the Churches of Law consist of three separate churches, each with its own focus.

Fala the Lightbringer
    The Church of Fala the Lightbringer preaches the virtues of charity, social giving, sacred life and social justice. It runs several charities, and is devoted to running soup kitchens, hospitals, and schools throughout the Five Kingdoms. They teach the value of obedience, piety, self-discipline, and kindness, and are active missionaries in spreading the faith.
    The priests of Fala swear oaths of chastity and poverty, though they may carry and use the wealth of the church. Thus, they may have items on extended loan from the church, but may own nothing of their own. Thus, any appearance of wealth among the holy is just a misunderstanding, as the faithful own nothing and but use what is given them by Fala.
    They teach that it is a kindness to educate heathens in the Way, and thus support the Inquisition of the Serinites. They believe that virtue is hard work, and thus demand much work from penitents. They oppose moral weakness in the form of Chaos and heathen idolatry, and work to make sure that the State supports the churches of law only. They would love to convert Alemania from their heathen atheism to understanding the True Way.
    For its charity work, the Church controls much wealth, and collects it aggressively from the faithful. Such wealth grants great power, and the control much land in order to do their work. Many of the younger children of the ruling families of the Five Kingdoms are sent to the Church to learn and to form stronger ties to the church for their families. Some might see this as poltical manipulation or finding a way to divert vst church funds to the wealthy, but such a perspective would be bitter and jaded.

Malkut the Scholar
    The god Malkut and his church are dedicated to learning and scholarship, searching Ancient tomes not only for learning and facts, but for spiritual enlightenment on the nture of the universe. The Malkuti teach the value of keeping the mind focused on the Word and the Way, of studying and interpreing the Holy Word for insights into the world at large, and of properly educating the faithful.
    The priests and priestesses of Malkut swear vows of poverty. They focus on developing a demeanor that is detached, thoughtful, and driven by philosophical and intellectual devotion to the holy teachings of the Gods of Law. They are builders of schools and libraries, and use teaching as a form of missionary work.
    They teach the values of self-reflection, self-discipline, prayer, service, and obdedience to the Way of Malkut. Their teaching and spiritual work focus on mental discipline, devotiton of religious study, and finding ways to unite the Word with the World.
    The Church of Malkut controls most of the large collections of books and scholarship extant in the Five Kingdoms, including carefully guarded libraries of forbidden lore. They are always seeking ways to gain more knowledge, translate Ancient books, and learn more of the history and science of the past.

Serin of the Iron Fist
    Serin is the goddess of discipline and protector of the faithful. She is the Fist of Law, who teaches that strength of resolve is the highest system of belief, even beyond the evidence of reason or material evidence. Her followers form a small but fanatical order of fighting priests who act as defenders of caravans, protectors of religious missions, and hunters of abominations and witches. The Serinites form two orders: the Knights of the Temple, who defend churches of law and caravans of the faithful; the Knights of the Flame, who hunt monsters and witches, and act as the investigators for the church. They ae often called the Inquisition.
    Priests and priestesses of Serin swear oaths of poverty and chastity, and live ascetic lives that involve dedication to spiritual and physical warfare. Their order follow military lines, with brother- and sister-soldiers, and father- and mother- sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. These ranks are highly ordered and disciplined, with strict codes of obedience and procedure.
    The Serinites have the least to do with common folk, focusing on their war on spiritual evil in the world. This ofen makes them seem cold, distant, even cruel to outsiders who do not understand the need for strict dedication to the war against Evil in order to protect the innocent.

The Churches of Chaos
    In contrast to the the churches of Law, the disparate churches of Chaos promise practices that support individual freedoms of expression and behavior. While the churches of Law are socially sanctioned, institutionalized, and tied to the greater social order, the churches of Chaos present themselves as counter-cultural or revolutionary, even if this is only marginally true. There are dozens of Churches of Chaos, but in Zamora, six churches are currently active.

Asheba the Creator
    The Church of Asheba is devoted to artists, craftspeople, and magic-users. This means that it has lasting attentions to several guilds, noble families, and powerful individuals. This is the most mainstream of the chaos cults, and stresses the role of creation as a positive. As an outgrowth, the church is tied to charitable work in feeding the poor, opening schools, and providing alternative voices to those who wish to challenge the hegemony of the churches of Law.
    The priests and priestesses of Asheba have no single code of dress or conduct, but follow loose guidelines for kindness, ethical behavior, and respect for life. They stand for freedom and individuality as well. They do not take oaths of poverty or chastity, instead focusing on oaths of service.
    Due to the church’s followers, the Ashebans have a great deal of wealth and influence, making them a thorn in the side of the churches of Law. This is a position Ashebans relish, considering themselves social gadflies and potential change agents.

Bel the Liberator
    The church of Bel is devoted to serving the poor and downtrodden. They not only set up charities in the poorest communities, but serve as a voice of liberation and opposition to slavery, exploitation, and centralized government. As a result, the church of Bel is outlawed quite broadly, and its churches quickly razed.
    In Zamora, this church is underground, gathering its followers in the barrens on the edge of the city. Beggars and outcasts are its followers, and its leaders are trained insurgents who are generally from lesser families of wealth who have cast aside their former lives out of disillusionment.
    Bel’s followers are known to participate in resistance acts ranging from protests and heckling to vandalism to direct acts of violence. Different cells have different goals, but the authorities treat all of them as potential sites for resistance and violence.

Checkah the Trickster
    The god of trickery is the subject of many popular tales, and the worship of Checkah is popular among gamblers, the poor, and criminals. The Church of Checkah, however, is the precinct of a small group of criminals and anarchists, who practice their worship in the Undercity. Checkah followers believe that they can show their beliefs best through committing memorable crimes, practical jokes, or acts of sabotage that will make them legendary in renown. His followers have no church as such, but gather as cells to share tales, conspire together, and add adventure to the world.

Kesh the Destroyer
    The cult of Kesh is outlawed, since the worship of Kesh is the worship of death and destruction. Kesh worship is ecstatic, involving orgies of drugs and sex in which worshipers receive visions of the god, promising paradise eternal to those who unlease his blessings of violence on the world. His priests meet secretly with followers, seeking ways to bring turmoil and conflict to the world. Few would openly admit worship of this god.

Tala the Corruptor
    The cult of Tala is likewise outlawed, in many ways a more subtle counterpart to Kesh. Unlike Kesh, Tala’s cult believes the world is debased, and the only way to purify the soul is to cleanse it through experiencing its baseness without pretension. They believe cruelty, murder, violence, and decadence are steps on the path to enlightenment and that by expressing all the worst in you, you will reach a point where you are cleansed of evil, and become pure. They feel their goal is to guide all they can through the same process, tempting others to evil and exposing the corruption of mortal life so that all souls may find peace beyond their own mortality. Talans work in small cells of no more than 3 individuals, who meet in masks and hide their identities from one another. Their actions are criminal and dangerous, and Talans are hunted.

Vanya of the Silken Thighs
    The Temple of Vanya of the Silken Thighs has a high priestess and a body of priests and priestesses that worship the goddess of pleasure through carnal sacrifice, charging alms from worshippers for the privelege of blessed congress. This is a wealthy temple, despite its lack of political influence, with many worshippers coming through its doors every day.

My struggles with Vancian magic and S&W

Traditional D&D style "Vancian" fire-and-forget magic is useful because it's easy to master mechanically, but difficult to master in play. You don't really need to learn a significant new mechanic to use magic, and though there is a high level of learning for spellcasters, it is a manageable sort of just-in-time learning as the magic-user player doesn't need to master all spells, just the ones in his or her character's spell book.

However, the drawbacks to me are a sense of danger and risk in using spells that seems to match the Sword and Sorcery genre (after all, spells incur no inherent risk to the caster such as failure or magical mishap), and a need for different types of characters to use very different mechanics in play, making it harder to teach new players how to play since learning to play one kind of character does not necessarily teach transferable skills to learn how to play another.

I have certainly thought about some tinkering with the standard Swords and Wizardry magic system. But at this point, I'm leaving the rules be since I think too much fiddling with the magic rules can upset the applecart, and at that point I might as well be re-tooling the system from scratch. In the end, I don't love Vancian spellcasting, but I think it's a tool that does get the job done with a minimum of new design and without needing to worry about the difficulty of teaching the system to new players.

So what is my problem? Fluff. Vibe. Feel. Mojo. The sense that this doesn't feel right. The solution? I have to be better as a DM of talking about the fluff side of magic, making it feel more dangerous, powerful, and eerie. Then get over the tinkering desire to make it "just right" for my tastes rather than workable for the game and the players.

12 Inns and Taverns in Zamora

1. The Black Pearl (Shadow Quarter): An tavern frequented by criminals,thugs, and generally dangerous folk, the Black Pearl is a place to find disreputable folk for tasks not generally suited for polite company.
2. The Boneyard (Shadow Quarter): This inn is best known for its gambling rooms, though it is also notable for its terrible rooms, overpriced food, watered down drinks, and unsavory regulars.
3. The Dancing Girallon (Merchant Quarter): A working person's tavern, the Dancing Girallon is small, cramped, and dominated by its loud and hirsute owner, Armando Pasillo, and the huge taxidermied girallon in a comical pose in the main room.
4. The Feathered Serpent (Merchant Quarter): Located near the city's main temples of Law, this inn is clean, with comfortable rooms, simple but hearty food at reasonable prices, and a very respectable clientele.
5. Firewaters (Shadow Quarter): This tavern is a dive, but a dive frequented by the children of the wealthy who live for a taste of the way that the lower clases live
6. Garcia's Old Peculiar (Tower Quarter): Run by an elderly former instructor at the Tower of Wizardry, Garcia's is well known for its owner's eccentricities, which include oddly bubbling (and flavored) drinks, practical jokes, and impractical magical effects placed on the establishment itself that make the place quirky or even surreal.
7. The Golden Chalice (Gold Quarter): A fine but pedestrian inn which caters to traveling merchants and down-on-their luck nobles without holdings of their own. It is a respectable and boring place, though some of the wealthy patrons may actually be involved in complex intrigues.
8. Ouroboros (Gold Quarter): A fine restaurant and tavern known for innovative and exotic food and drinks as well as its very expensive prices. This is where the powerful and influential go to eat and to be seen.
9. Ramirez' (Shadow Quarter): The middle-aged owner of this place seems bigger than life, and is rumored to be a powerful swordsman who seems able to survived terrible wounds and to talk authoritatively about historical events. His accent is clearly not Zamoran, but he is well-liked and people do not challenge him about his true origins. He likes to remind customers about to brawl not to lose their heads, by force is necessary. This makes Ramirez' a nice sort of neutral ground where parties can meet despite disputes and be assured of neutral ground.
10. The Silk Slipper (Shadow Quarter): Poor food, weak drinks, and high prices are generally ignored here, since the real business at the Silk Slipper has more to do with the women in the main hall and the rooms upstairs.
11. The Silver Horn (Merchant Quarter): A pale imitation of the Gold Chalice, the Silver Horn is a safe, boring, and respectable inn for the safe, boring and respectable.
12. The Temple (Merchant Quarter): A low-class tavern across from the Feathered Serpent. Its customers are laborers and traders who live ordinary and hard lives, and need a drink now and then. Or every day. Regulars can then tell others in their lives that they need go to the Temple so it doesn't seem as if they are going out drinking.

Dragons in Zamora

I had originally thought that I was going to avoid dragons in Athanor. I had dinosaurs, after all, and lots of odd bits of monstery goodness. Who needs dragons. Then I thought better about it. What I used to hate about dragons in AD&D as a wee lad is that they were just another monster, and often far too easy to kill, especially for a large party, and so dragons left a bad taste in my mouth. I can't remember the last time I had a dragon in a game -- even games of Dungeons and Dragons.

So now, thinking more about it, I want dragons to be odd, creepy, and mysterious. All that to preface my brief notes on Dragons in the Campaign:

Dragons were manufactured in Ancient times as servitors of the Witch Kings of Ylum. Forged of magic and genetic technology, the dragons served as guardians of the Witch Kings, and either as land or aerial combat platforms. Durable, armored, and deadly, each dragon was a unique being, capable of cenuries of life and cunningly intelligent.

Most of the dragons have died in the centuries, but there are three dragons in Zamora. The first is the Tower Dragon, a 100-foot-long blue serpentine creature with long, lithe limbs, a huge crocodilian head with a mouth filled with foot-long teeth, and great cat-like eyes. The Tower Dragon sleeps most days coiled around the Tower of Wizardry, and is the pet and guardian of the Tower of Wizardry. The dragon cannot fly, but breaths lightning and is able to communicate empathically and to cause fear through telempathic broadcast. He moves seldom, but if moved to attack is an implacable foe.

The second is the Great Dragon, who arrived in Zamora with the Overlord. This great, winged dragon is 80 feet long, with three heads. One breathes fire, one breathes lightning, the third breathes frost. Its iridescent green scales are impervious to most weapons, and its wings seem to blot out the sky when the Overlord flies out over the city on its back. The Great Dragon sleeps for long periods of time, woken only to serve the whim of the Overlord.

The Shadow Dragon is a terror of the undercity. Only forty feet long, the Shadow Dragon is a master of darkness and a necromancer of no small ability. Ruthless and spiteful toward humans, the Shadow Dragon is an enemy of Vog Mur and maintains his own undead fortress below he city, from which he preys upon the living and amuses himself by he suffering he causes.

The Overlord's Four Children

Alaric the Dragon
Alaric is the eldest of the Overlord's children. His palace is in the north, where he has built a small cult. He has the head of a great lizard, scaled skin, and a long tail. He is swift-moving, brutal and a powerful wizard. He is said to delight in combat, has an arena where combatants fight for his entertainment. It is said that Alaric sometimes eats particularly impressive competitors.

Basilia the Huntress
Basilia the Huntress is cruelly beautiful, with alabaster skin and black hair. He hands end in long, steel-hard claws, and her long limbs are graceful, and her movement swift. She has a palace in the east, where she is served by her harpy servants, made for her by The Surgeon. It is rumored that she catches and hunts men with her harpies in the tunnels below her palace.

Celestina the Beautiful
Celestina is a sorceress with a beautiful voice and an incredible voice. Her head, however, is attached to a long, snake-like body. She is is outgoing and known as a healer and seeress. Her palace is in the south, and guarded by machines loyal to her.

Desiderio the Libertine
Desiderio looks human, but has four arms. He is outgoing, fun, and lecherous. His pleasure palace is in the west, where he indulges many diverse tastes with many, diverse partners. He is a scoundrel of the highest order, and is served by a number of white-skinned pygmies made for him by Vog Mur.

The Overlord

The Overlord, whose name is lost in obscurity, has been ruler over Zamora for at least five decades. Legend says that he was an adventurer who returned to the city from the wastes dressed in magical golden armor which made him invulnerable and gave him mastery over lightning and fire. He brought order to the chaos of the ruined city, rebuilt its core, created alliances with powerful factions in and below the city, while promoting minor conflicts between others to create a city where powers were balanced against each other and the Overlord's might proved to be greatest.

No one has seen the Overlord's face. His "children" appear to be cloned or engineered in the Flesh Vats of Vog-Mur, and tend to be strange aberrations engineered for decadence and degeneracy. Most of these children have set up palaces in the wastes of the city or in the underworld, and have little to do with the others, merely entertaining themselves in their palaces. The Overlord seems to have no concerns regarding them, and they have no influence with him, though many seek their favor as powerful entities.

The Overlord tends to delegate authority to a vast bureaucracy of petty officials, served by Dromian runners and workers, and guarded by his Vat Men who act as his personal guard and retinue. His spies are trained dopplegangers bred by Vog-Mur in his clone pits.

Many of the Overlord's actions seem mad, random, or inscrutible, though few would say that to him directly. His rule is one of fear and mostly benign dictatorship.

The Pleasure-dome of Sshenssu Salessh

Sshenssu Salessh is a Hssu merchant whose focus is in providing services to humans. His Pleasure Dome provides a mix of services that serve the hedonistic desires of humans. His Pleasure Dome is a large building on the edge of the plaza, and it offers three kinds of services: gambling in the casino, a mix of alcohol and recreational drugs (such as ssharu and black lotus) in the bar, and a wide variety of erotic services in the brothel. Salessh is cold and alien, has trouble telling apart individual humans (or even understanding the difference between males and females), and has no concern for human morality or inhibitions, or their value as more than resources for profit. He isn't malicious— he just doesn't really see humans as really equal to Hssu.

"Mad" Hakim Al'Azif's Mercantile Emporium

Hakim Al'Azif, the Mad Mal-Akkan, is known for his huge merchant tent in the plaza, where he sells a wide variety of goods for "prices so low, I must be mad!" Hakim dresses in a colorful kaftan and a great turban adorned with gems and plumes. His great waxed mustachios and wild eyebrows match his wide eyes, and provide a strong sense of frenetic energy. His prices are actually quite average, but his selection is broad, and often includes rare and unusual items, sometimes of dubious origins. He drives a hard bargain, but can be bartered with and will negotiate prices if he sees something in it for himself. He is guarded by two burly, shirtless Mal-Akkans with tulwars named Adbul and Hazrad.

Mother Grubb's

Mother Grubb's, just on the southeastern edge of the Plaza, is a popular eatery and tavern among the poor of Zamora. The place serves a wide variety of meal beetles and meal beetle grubs – roasted, stewed, fried, baked, boiled — all served by a staff of dromian workers for Mother Grubb, a chubby, brick-red matronly woman. Mother Grubb is loud, boisterous and friendly, and her establishment is a respectable place, even if it is filled with the poor and out-of-sorts.

The Surgeon

In the Plaza, he's called The Surgeon, The Alemanian, and The Fixer. His actual name is Deidrich Todenkopf. He is tall, gaunt, and hairless, with ashen blue skin and pale eyes. He dresses an ill-fitting black suit with a red velvet waitscoat, a shiny gold pocket watch, and a stained and ancient lab coat. He wears a device riveted into his left temple that includes armatures with a variety of lenses he can move into a mix of combinations as he looks at objects and surgeries. He moves with a strange, spidery graces and speaks with an almost alient dispassion. His hard, pinched face is almost impossible to read.

The Surgeon is a skilled physician, but his other services are the ones that make him notable and notorious. The rumor is that the Surgeon is skilled in advanced Alemanian medicine, and is able to perform certain enhancements for customers, giving them strange, even superhuman abilities. If it is true, his clients seem to keep their changes covert, since such abilities don't seem to appear where others can see them.

The Surgeon is obsessed with talking about his theory of Transhumanism, that humans can transcend their humanity to a state of physical, mental, and moral transcendence in which they are no longer bound by primitive physical, mental, and moral boundaries. He often rants about such things in detail.

The Surgeon is served by a hunchbacked Alemanian dwarf named Einhardt. Einhardt speaks little, is immensely strong, and deeply loyal.

Draft: Language Table

Following yesterday's post, a language table for Athanor, based on the similar table in Tunnels and Trolls. Players can roll on this for bonus languages based on INT. Alternately, players can choose from results from 01 - 93.

d100  Result
01 - 20  Alemanian
21 - 25  Dromian (can understand but not speak)
25 - 35  Duma
36 - 40  Ghul (no written script)
41 - 45  Hssu
46 - 55  Khitai
56 - 75  Mal'Akkan
76 - 82  Throon (no written script)
83 - 85  Ancient Aquilan
85 - 87  Ancient Saal'Keshi
88 - 90  Ancient Turanian
91 - 93  Ancient Ylumi
94 - 95  Low Speech (dinosaurs)
96 - 97  Low Speech (mammals)
98 - 99  Low Speech (arthropods)
00       Wizard Speech

• Ancient languages are written only — scholars can only guess at proper pronunciation.
  


• Low Speech languages represent the ability to communicate with lower life forms. This grants semi-empathic communication rather than true speech.


• Wizard Speech is telepathic communication, across languages and without need of sound.