Filing off the serial numbers

1) You discover a human skeleton, one hand wrapped around a shining spear with a brilliant silver head -- plainly magical -- the other grasping a crumbled ball of deerhide. What's left of his clothing is badly raked and bloodstained, and one leg stretches out at a very unnatural angle. A moldy backpack is nearby, but not much in it is intact, although you find a hunting knife and matching hatchet that’s only slightly rusted and a handful of slightly tarnished silver pennies. Not too far away is the skeleton of a mountain lion. Unfolding the ball of deerhide, there are crude letters written in charcoal on it. "Hey stranger," it reads, "Being of sound mind and bust legs, I will all to whatever finds me.  Gods hope it ain’t no orc.  I gots the creetur what got me.  Hope I died game.  Buy the boyz down at the Post a drink on me. Anyway I am dead.  Yours, Hatchet Nath."

2) A vast crashing upslope ... and the startling sight is of a person screeching and waving a big sword, chasing a large bear, both whom dash past you without a second glance. Even more startling is about a half minute later, when you see the bear chasing the person back uphill!

3) There's a human head, at ground level, in the middle of the trail. Only it still seems attached to a living body, but ALL you can see is the head ... buried up to the chin.  The person sings out to you, cheerfully, as if lacking a care in the world.

4) The hamlet -- there were only a few homes -- was attacked and burned out yesterday, it seems. Pretty much everything portable was looted. There are no survivors, save for a child who's something like six or seven, numbed and mute with the things the child saw.

5) You encounter a small tribe of backcountry hunters, who despite a significant language barrier, have indicated that the hunting is good, that they're settling down for the evening, and you're invited to dinner. If you accept, there's no chicanery or ill-intent, and there's a pleasant feast and some singing (it turns out that you know a couple tunes in common, even if you have different words for the lyrics). When you wake up in the morning, you're informed that your own contributions to the feast require recompense.  You are now married to this cute nubile teenager (of your preferred sex, at least) over here, huzzah! Glowers and snarls are the result of any reaction on your part short of unqualified delight ... ("You turn down this gift, they'll slit you, me, Caleb and the horses from crotch to eyeball with a dull deer antler!")

6) Your path takes you through a sacred burial ground of the local indigs, where their deceased are exposed on platforms for so-called "sky burial" with their weapons and treasured possessions.  Frontier rumor informs you that your presence here is sacrilegious, but tall defiles make going around difficult, and near-impossible if you've got mounts.

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

Now.  While this could be the start of a list of interesting wilderness encounters (and it comes from a forum thread of the same), the punchline is that I took the inspiration for all of them from a TV movie I saw in my youth: Jeremiah Johnson, starring Robert Redford as a mountain man in the Rockies in the mid-19th century.  Something of a labor of love on the part of Redford and director Sydney Pollock, it’s very evocative, well-done, and faithful to the hardships great and small of wilderness life.

It also had a bunch of pretty nifty “encounters,” which happened in the order I’ve put them, and drove a fair bit of the plot.  #6 set up this next encounter:

7) Your path takes you back through that sacred burial ground, a few days later ... only there’s a new addition.  A necklace and other trinkets, all of which you know full well: you gave them to the teenage spouse you acquired in Encounter #5.

This turns out about as well as you’re imagining it did.  Cue the plot of the whole rest of the movie.

Unless your players saw the movie (and the oldest of my players was 7 years old when this movie aired in 1972) you could just about run those encounters straight and they'd never know the difference.  The way #6 actually spun out in the movie is that Jeremiah’s asked to lead a cavalry detachment to Point B, the way goes through the burial ground, Jeremiah knows that it’s a bad idea, knows that the Crow will take deep offense, but the cavalry officer is insistent and wants to waste no more time breaking trail around the site.

Easy enough to file off the serial numbers, though, which the encounter as depicted above does.  And for what movie or book couldn’t you do that?

30 Generals

(These were written for a gaming site, and each of the following is a real or fictional general.  Feel free to steal!)

"Wait till you see the greens of their eyes!"

1) The McClellan:  A meticulous planner and an expert in logistics, the McClellan wants to be prepared.  Thoroughly prepared.  He’s the sort who’ll visit individual units to check their kit, ask the troopers what their needs are, eat in their messes to ensure the food is well cooked.  He’s also a sound theoretical tactician, and wrote the army’s tactics manual.  Somehow, all this doesn’t translate onto the battlefield, where he’s hesitant to risk the army he loves so much, skittish and easily convinced the enemy’s forces are far larger than they really are.  He’s never commanded a decisive defeat, but he’s never come close to gaining a decisive victory, either.  While he wins few battles and his superiors are fed up with him, he has the staunch support of his soldiers.

2) The Scott: He’s the nation’s greatest living military legend.  He’s served on active duty longer than any general ever has, and he's been a general longer than any general's ever been.  He was a general three wars and nearly fifty years ago, and in the last war the Scott was both the army’s general-in-chief and the cunning strategist who led the national army to victory against impressive odds.  Decades later, he’s still the general-in-chief, and still a sound strategist.  But now there’s a new war, and the Scott is an old man: sick, obese, unable to take the field.  It doesn’t help his cause that he’s a bit hidebound, still prefers the field tactics of an earlier day, and is increasingly fussy in his dotage.  For the first time, younger officers mutter that he ought to be superseded.

3) The Massengale: All his career, he’s been a political animal.  He had the right education, the right social lines, the handsome features, the brilliant smile.  He started as the aide-de-camp to an important general, parlayed that into a high staff position in the national military establishment, and leapfrogged up the ranks of the peacetime army.  He’s an ace at making his superiors look good and himself look better, and is the fellow you want on the dance floor, in the banquet hall, at the conference table.  Amoral, smooth, he has no qualms about backstabbing anyone who’s no longer of use to him, the road to military oblivion is paved with the skins of his enemies, and common soldiers are beneath his notice.  Now that the next great war has come, his chance to do what he must to become general-in-chief one day has finally arrived: to have operational command of troops ... something he’s never done.

4) The Stuart: A belle sabeur, he’s the very image of the dashing cavalier.  He goes into battle wearing silks, sashes and plumes, and he’s a popular hero to many.  He’s also a brilliant cavalry general, famous for daring and successful raids behind enemy lines.  He’s lucky, he’s good at what he does ... but the Stuart has a dangerous problem with ego and distractions.  He may well pause in his duty to throw an impromptu gala ball (which he loves) or to wear out his troopers with parades and reviews (which he also loves), and he’ll freelance to rack up some new and impressive feat at the risk of his command.

5) The Giap: His nation is weak, and faced with powerful enemies who’ve occupied large stretches of the land.  Self-trained as a soldier but an avid student of tactics, he has been forced to become a master of guerilla warfare.  While secretly he yearns for a great decisive set piece battle, his patience and iron will prevent him from such a foolish mistake, and instead the Giap channels his intellect into developing unorthodox and asymmetric tactics to counter the enemy’s military might.  In particular, he will push his men into doing things thought impossible, like maneuvering through purportedly impenetrable jungle.  His only weaknesses are off of the battlefield; he is ruthlessly authoritarian if in charge of civilians, and his love for the ladies offends the rigid moralists of his culture.

6) The Damon: A decent, honorable soldier who came up from the ranks after winning the nation’s highest military honor, he spent many years in hardship posts before gaining general’s rank.  He makes friends easily, but he’s no politician, won’t compromise for barracks advantage, and has his share of enemies in the hierarchy.  The Damon is also plain and outspoken, and has views about warfare and patriotism which offend glory-loving civilians with no notion of the horrors of war and even less desire to hear about them.  Another trait that offends people is that while he scrupulously follows the codes of war off the battlefield, he sees no reason to hold back on the battlefield, advocating tactics and weapons his culture finds inhumane in the belief that anything which shortens the war is humane.

7) The Tserclaes: He’s been a commanding general for decades, and has an impressive record of victory: he has never lost a battle in which he’s enjoyed sole command.  His men revere him for that, and would follow him anywhere.  He is no innovator – although he has mastered the time-honored battle tactics associated with the infantry he commands.  His approach to combat is straightforward ... march to where the enemy is, and pound them head-on until they yield.  He’s known to be extremely loyal, and will never betray or cheat his nation. As against that, the Tserclaes has gained a reputation for battlefield brutality even by the standards of his brutal era, having butchered more than one army in retreat and engaging in more than one infamous sack of a captured city.

8) The Gars: A man who sees further than other commanders of his day, he hasn’t invented any new tactics, but is the master synthesist, and melds ideas into formations and tactics that have proven startlingly effective.  (Moreover, he has an unparalleled record for training his lieutenants to be great generals in their own right.)  Notable for piety even in a pious age, he will not permit blasphemy in his army, and has curious renown for writing popular hymns.  What endears him most to his men is that the Gars asks nothing of his men he shrinks from himself, and leads from the front: he is in his own right a deadly warrior.  But he has taken more of his share of wounds over the years – which hasn’t at all curbed his reckless desire to fight – and some worry that the next battle could be his last.

9) The von Clausewitz: He’s had a long military career, and has been in a number of battles, but he’s usually held staff positions – chief of staff, inspector-general and the like.  The largest unit he’s led in battle was a brigade, and that as subordinate to another.  His reputation rests on his being a notable military theorist.  Even there, his views are somewhat heretical, for he’s less concerned with the minutiae of mathematics and drill than with the philosophy of battle and on war itself, and he’s deeply skeptical of a number of long-cherished military shibboleths.  Nonetheless, many generals swear by his writings, although to the von Clausewitz’s irritation, they tend to “interpret” his views to support their own prejudices.

10) The Ewell:  He’s a profane eccentric, a hypochondriac fond of bizarre diets and whacky non-sequiturs, with more nervous tics than many a trooper cares to count.  He’s also been a brave general for years, operating as the loyal and effective subordinate to one of the most renowned commanders of the day, and despite his quirks, his men have always followed him with a will.  But his superior has just died, and the Ewell has been promoted to run his old army.  Without the old general’s firm hand on several willful subordinates that the Ewell must now command (or, as to that, directing the Ewell himself), it’s anyone’s guess how he’ll perform at his new elevated rank.

11) The Mitchell: He is a daring, tireless, committed leader, and was chosen to lead a new and promising arm of service.  He feels that he proved the new arm’s worth in battle, and indeed is convinced that this type of unit – if properly developed – will revolutionize war.  As such, the Mitchell is an unstinting advocate of the service arm, and openly derisive of traditionalist generals, feeling that they’re only interested in fighting the previous war.  He’s crossed the line into open insubordination on the subject more than once -- not helped by the fact that he's a very heavy drinker -- and a number of generals want him muzzled ... or cashiered.

12) The Baner: As a young boy, he was forced to watch his mother and aunt executed for treason for being on the wrong side of a succession dispute.  But he was befriended by the king’s son, and pledged loyalty to the dynasty when the prince took the throne and restored the Baner’s family lands and title.  But that is all the Baner is loyal to, and he respects nothing and no one else.  He will defend the new Queen now that her father, his friend, is dead, but damn all else that gets in his path.  Unsparing in his wrath, he will attempt things other generals won’t – night attacks, midwinter campaigns – despite the toll it takes on his men.  His lifelong griefs he drowns in alcohol, which is visibly affecting his health ... though not (yet) his skill on the field.

13) The Hood: Eager to lead his troops into battle, he has distinguished himself on many a field as a leader of smaller formations, mostly of countrymen of his from a remote province.  “A lion, not a fox,” as one fellow officer called him, his bravery has led to near-fatal wounds that still impair him, though he insists on continuing to wear the colors.  (Off the field, by contrast, he is personally shy, and has a diffident manner which astounds those who know only of his repute in war.)  Now he has been put in charge of an army for the first time, with his nation badly battered and nearing final defeat; while he is the youngest commanding general on either side, it is hoped that his aggressive nature will turn the tide.  The Hood hopes so, at least, and feels that he not only has no choice save to take the long chance, but that he’d rather go down swinging than survive the war not having done his utmost.

14) The Burnside: He was out of the army for years as a businessman (involved in manufacturing weapons, as to that), although he commanded his province's militia, studiously drilling with the local units.  When the next great war came, he became a general.  But even though he won a couple minor battles, he’s not a good one, and he’s the first to tell you that.  Yet somehow he keeps getting promoted, and he keeps muffing battles.  He doesn’t want higher command, and turns it down as often as he dares, but the vagaries of politics, a string of bumblers, and the chance of a rival general he hates taking the top position have thrust him into a spotlight he’s convinced he’s incapable of meeting.  He’s also patriotic to a fault (he’s very willing to throw civilians in prison for even hinting at sedition) and may not feel it’s his right to tell his superiors no.

15) The Bragg: The best that can be said about him is that he’s “touchy.”  Anything that goes wrong is one of his subordinates’ fault.  Anything that the enemy does right is because one of his subordinates failed to react in time.  He’s constantly complaining about them and they’re constantly trying to subvert him in return.  Beyond that, he’s just as likely to pick fights with his superiors, writing frequent notes about his lack of support.  (His men, who despise him as a butcher enamored of frontal assaults and viciously harsh discipline, rather wish they could pick a fight with him themselves.)  He’s been court-martialed, censured, reprimanded ... but keeps his position because of his past as a war hero and the backing of the realm’s ruler, a personal friend of his.

16) The Kilpatrick: He’s fearless, blustery and a schemer, and is where he is because of his mastery of political manipulation.  A cavalry commander, he’s notorious among his men for suicidal charges and ordering his troopers well past the point of exhaustion and breakdown, and the rankers hate his guts.  His reputation is little enhanced by his taste for peculation, his lack of personal morals – up to keeping prostitutes in his tent on campaign – and his callous treatment of subordinates.  Still, the politicians enjoy victories, and pay little attention to the cost that "Kill-cavalry" pays for his methods.

17) The Morgan: He’s actually from the future – brought back to this time and dimension through means unknown.  He has command of technologies and techniques far in advance of the primitive times in which he finds himself, and being industrious in nature, convinces the ruler to let him replicate them.  They’ve stood in very good stead on the battlefield ... so far.  But the Morgan is brash and breezy, dismissive of the customs of the realm, derisive of the traditions of the culture, contemptuous of the ruling class and their ways, and not-so-secretly believes that his knowledge and talents should have him ruling the whole land.  Those generals brought low by the Morgan’s successes thirst to encompass his ruin.

18) The Hawkwood: He’s the most famous mercenary general of the era.  Quicksilver brilliant, he always seems to be on the victor’s side on the field.  Of course, he tends to ensure that: he has no compunction about switching sides, and will often take a contract from one side and then go to the other and see if they’ll better it, keeping the payments in any event.  (His men revel in the flows of cash, more than any other mercenary commander commands, and stay loyal, ironically enough.)  The Hawkwood is no orator, and doesn’t rally troops with personal magnetism or stirring speeches – just by the reputation of a man who always wins.

19) The Boudicca: In an era and a culture where women are not soldiers, less so commanders, she is the notable exception.  She’s no great tactician, but her harsh voice and piercing glare would shame many a drill sergeant, and she prides herself on being as tough as any soldier.  What really makes her stand out is that she’s got more skin in the game than any other general: her family was among the victims of atrocities wrought by the other side, and she will never, ever, ever quit, not while she’s still breathing, not as long as she still has a half-dozen soldiers to command.  In like fashion, the laws of war mean nothing to her any more, and massacres of defeated armies – or captured cities – at the hands of her army are commonplace.

20) The Jomini: The great rhetorical opponent of the von Clausewitz, he is a military theorist who scoffs at the notion of philosophy and holds to that of geometry: that a scientific approach reveals all manner of patterns which can be brought to play on the battlefield ... if on a flat plain, as opposed to rough terrain, where the numbers aren't so neat and pretty.  His works are popular, and have led to him being appointed as a general (though never in full command, something that irks him) by more than one side.  While this has come back to bite him when one side commissioning him declares war on another, the Jomini’s diligent staff work continues to commend him.  He is, however, a sycophant, and tends to tell a ruler what he or she wants to hear to gain preferment.

21) The Van Dorn: He was a compromise candidate – the two other choices being bitter rivals, and other candidates wanting no part of the fractious command – and it was a surprise when he was appointed to the post, despite his successes as a leader of light cavalry.  Aware that he was only the fifth or sixth choice, he thirsts to prove himself, despite his warring subordinates and the shambolic state of his army.  Emotional and impulsive, he expects to gain a glorious reputation, come what may.  He also has prominence as a painter and a poet, which he practices to clear his mind of military matters, but more recklessly, he is a “terror to ugly husbands,” caring little for the status or power of those he cuckolds.

22) The Rosecrans: A skilled engineer and successful educator, he was humiliated when he was kept at his desk at the national military academy when cadets and fellow officers alike were rushed into the last war, gaining glory that the Rosecrans never saw.  Needing to support his family in a better fashion than his mid-rank officer’s pay could manage, he resigned his commission and went successfully into business.  The new war has brought many retired officers back to the colors, and the Rosecrans was put in charge of a modest force, to good effect, where he outmaneuvered the enemy without giving battle.  Now he has his own army ... but while he is good at maneuver, he is a poor tactician, given to confusing and unrealistic orders, and is wont to dive into the front lines waving his sword rather than commanding the effort.

23) The Pompey: A young, successful, ambitious general, he dismays the conservatives in the government by his rapid rise, and his cavalier approach to legality: the Pompey often gets his way by subtly threatening the government with his loyal army.  His tactics are only efficient and neither inspired nor imaginative, and he can be tricked – if only temporarily – on the battlefield.  He is unparalleled at logistics and strategy, and wins his battles largely by choosing the right battlefields, thinking two steps ahead, and maneuvering his columns to put the enemy in untenable situations.  He’ll also readily adapt strategy to the opponent’s behavior: against a larger army he’ll fight a war of maneuver, against a defensive army he’ll fight a war of attrition, against a hesitant enemy he’ll go on a swirling offensive.  Many believe he is destined to rise to the top – something his foes in high places devoutly wish to prevent.

24) The Forrest: In an army dominated by the aristocracy and the gentry, he’s a rough frontier commoner.  In an army where most of the leading generals are scions of the nation’s military academy, he’s self-taught.  In an army where the commanders all started as officers, he started as a simple recruit.  In an army where the gentleman officers despise those in trade, he’s not merely a former tradesman, but a gambler and slave-trader.  Yet his brutal and innovative methods have made him his nation’s greatest cavalry commander and a tactician of impressive gifts, and he believes in the virtues of high mobility.  In personal combat he has yet to meet his equal, and is said to have slain dozens of the enemy personally while leading his troops (as well as having a record number of horses killed under him).  The Forrest does not believe in quarter, and seldom offers it, contributing to the dread in which enemy generals hold him.  It would be a dark day for the enemy should the Forrest ever reach high command – but he is dismissed as merely a successful raider by those same gentleman generals.

25) The Montmorency: He’s the protégé of the nation’s most famous general, and now that he’s succeeded the old woman he seems fair to better his retired mentor’s record.  He’s even won a nickname – the “Tapestrymaker” – based on the number of captured colors he’s sent back to the capital.  Logistics bores him, idle camp life sends him into paroxysms of depraved excess, and he’s had a hand in at least one notable war atrocity, but on the field he’s undefeated.  Somehow, he stays loyal to the nation, despite political infighting that has had him spending time in prison on trumped-up charges ... but when the war trumpets sound, the Montmorency is always hastily pardoned and put back in harness.  A pungent humor seems to keep him sane.

26) The Vauban: He’s the foremost military engineer of his age, and his nation has raised taxes to a near-ruinous level to rebuild obsolete fortresses and castles to his design.  Beyond that, his tactics for prosecuting a siege have proven very successful and been widely adopted, and one would imagine the Vauban’s reputation to be complete.  Unfortunately, he’s a prolific writer – and a proud member of the national academy of scholars – and a frequent critic of the government, proposing radical changes in land use (he’s advocated ceding territory he deems too difficult to defend), taxation and religious practice.  It’s increasingly felt that his military services are dispensable ... especially since they are mostly in theories already well known.

27) The Grant: (No, not the one you think.)  The “Mad Musician” is an oddball, all agree.  He’s famously laconic, speaking mostly in barked out one-word sentences.  His only hobby – or vice – seems to be music; he’s a devoted cellist and composer, and brings his instrument on all campaigns.  Indeed, it’s whispered that his army career was made only because a general wanted a cello player for a string quartet.  Inarticulate, poorly educated, rough around the edges, dismissive of scouting, what has sustained him is his iron constitution, the discipline of his soldiers, his belief in outposts, entrenchment and gaming out scenarios ... And that the Grant is the world’s deadliest fighter.  With any weapon he is the master, and he has won more than one battle by literally riding to the front and single-handedly breaking the enemy line.  His men may think him insane, but they will follow him to Hell and back.

28) The McDonald: Like the Morgan, he hails from a land in another time and space, of technology far beyond that he finds here.  He was summoned by a magical spell, but the wizards didn’t quite get what they thought they were getting.  While he’s a thoughtful, intelligent young man, he was never a commander: only the sergeant of a small raiding unit.  In command now of an army, he’s won the day by pulling out techniques and stratagems of his time unknown to those of this land.  But the enemy is not stupid, they’re learning quickly, and -- being a competent soldier, but scarcely a master strategist -- the McDonald is running out of rabbits to pull out of his helmet.  He also came here only with the futuristic weapons he could carry on his back, and those are rapidly being depleted; he has taken to learning the sword and lance, but is by no means expert.  A tendency towards impetuosity is doing him no good.

29) The Wheeler: In the last war, much the same as the Stuart, he was a general of light cavalry renowned for his raids behind enemy lines. But while the daring, slashing raids captured the imagination of his nation, his disinterest in following orders, love for frontal assaults and the laxity of discipline which seeps through his command doesn't endear him to a number of his peers. (Chief among these is the Forrest, whose disciplined nature finds no tolerance for the Wheeler's antics, and has publicly sworn that he'd rather be dead than serve with him again.) Following the conflict, the Wheeler entered politics and gained high posts, and wrote several popular books of his adventures. Now, thirty years later, it's a new war, and the luster of his fame -- that, and that he's one of the last generals from the old war still fit for it -- has led him to be appointed commander of the national cavalry.

30) The Roosevelt: Sickly as a boy and home tutored in consequence, the young aristocrat grimly pushed himself to be an outdoorsman, building up his stamina with a stern regimen of physical training. While an excellent scholar, a life of letters simply bores the Roosevelt, and he'd rather be out hunting or exploring. Still, a man of his station accepts all duties presented to him, and he's had a series of ministerial posts ... although his enemies claim that it's more a matter of boundless ambition than disinterested service. But now! Now there's a war! And to be a real man, a man must fight! The Roosevelt secured a general's commission, gathered a unit full of fellow aristocrats and riders from his estates. His command -- backed by his money -- has the best of everything, but it's yet to be seen whether his impetuosity and self-confidence will win battles.

Exotic Settings: Lohvian Cuisine (II)

The second part of the setting information I have for Loh is the cuisine writeup.  As I've mentioned before, serving yourself a helping of Wikipedia is just dandy for setting detail, and what's listed below is mostly from the respective articles on Malay and Indonesian cuisine.  Bon appetit!

"I'm tellin' ya, it's made with orc meat!

 Food is *never* eaten with the left hand.  Chefs pay attention to the fragrance of dishes, adding floral and herbal essences to produce tantalizing odors.  These powerful essences – sometimes only one drop is needed – are sold by apothecaries.

Elements: Common ones include nasilemak (coconut rice) often used as a base.  Other standard bases include meats stewed with thick gravy, seafood seasoned with turmeric, spicy noodle dishes, selaika (= peanut butter), serikaya (coconut jam).  Channa is the foundational fried flatbread; it looks like a crepe, spread out until paper thin usually by "tossing" it on a flat surface, and gathered into a long rope-like mass. This "rope" is then wound into a knot or spiral and flattened.  It is usually served with a vegetable- or meat-based curry, or used to eat a thick stew, and is also commonly cooked with cheese, onions, red beans, chocolate, mushrooms or eggs.

Condiments: coconut milk, lime juice, plum vinegar

    belacan (sauce with chili peppers, shallots, garlic, fermented prawn paste)
    sambalado (green chili blended with garlic, shallot, tomato, lime juice, salt, then sauteed with oil to make a reddish paste or relish)
    goreng (fried shallot, red chili pepper, shrimp paste, salt, sauteed in coconut oil)
    petai (chili, garlic, shallot, sugar, salt, crushed fried peanuts, sauteed in light oil; used for chicken dishes)
    terasi (relish made of cucumber, cabbage, shallot, vinegar and pineapple)
    kerisik (toasted and salted coconut shreds, appears dark brown)

    curries (ariaya = chicken, aridagi = prawn, arikambi = mutton, ariika = fish, arikuda = bean)

Fruits: lychee, jackfruit, tamarind,

Spices: lemongrass, basil, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger, mustard seeds, fenugreek, galangal, pepper, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, coriander, anise – all traditionally stone ground.  

    dasar (shallot, garlic, coriander, lemongrass; used with so-called “white” dishes)
    mera (red chili pepper, shallot, tomato, coconut sugar, salt; used with “red” dishes)
    kunin (shallot, garlic, turmeric, coriander, ginger, black pepper; used with “yellow” dishes)
    lawar (orange chili pepper, anise, turmeric, ginger; used with “orange” dishes)

Meats: Fish, prawns, goat, lamb, chicken

Drinks: Tea is often served with ginger, jasmine (Vydra) or other floral elements, or coconut milk

    beras (rice beer)
    dedén (potent drink made from seared cane sugar, thick, brownish, very intoxicating)
    charaya (potent 90-proof drink distilled from rice wine)
    goribon (coconut palm wine, milky white)
    hanaza (distilled 60 proof rice brandy)
    inlichi (low alcohol lychee wine)
    kinomol (pale green rice wine, with different types of rice going into different blends)
    oshikun (weak millet beer, sometimes flavored with peanut or hazelnut)
    ruoma (plum wine)
    traitha (pomegranate wine)
    uladi (ginger wine, flavored with citrus; often cut with water to make a refreshing summer drink)
    zivani (distilled and stiff plum brandy, lavender colored)

Dishes:

    ambaka (charcoal-grilled chicken marinated in coconut oil and peanut sauce, with a spice rub before)

    acari (pickled vegetables and fruit with dried chili, peanuts and spices)

    ammasak (chicken casserole with sambalado and noodles, sometimes spiced with clove or anise)

    angangi (chicken slices simmered in a tomato base with shallot, onion, garlic, galangal, pepper, and lime)

    arisa (porridge/dumpling made from coarse-ground millet, mixed with seasoned minced meat)

    begedil (rice noodles dressed in a gravy made from belecan, tamarind, cucumber and dried shrimp)

    bobotin (spiced minced meat mixed with scrambled eggs)

    gulai (goat stew with unripe fruit, turmeric, pepper, ginger, lemongrass and coconut milk)

    kankang (bean stew served with cumin, onion, garlic, lemon juice and other optional ingredients)

    kwetia (stirfried rice noodles with pork and spices)

    laksa (spicy chicken/fish noodle soup)

    maridzo (savory goat- or mutton stew made with raisins, slivers of fish fried in sugared sauce, various vegetables, and heavily spiced)

    mikari (millet noodles with spicy curry soup)

    nasibriyan (saffron rice with meat-and-vegetable curry)

    nasikato (rice, minced fried chicken, belacan, with garlic, ginger, shallow, scallion, lime juice and/or vinegar as secondary ingredients, served in savory leaves)

    tabak (channa formed into a spiraled pyramid, filled with meat, onion and spices, then deep fried)

    urlambu (savory rice porridge made with a mixture of lemongrass and meat/veggie slivers, usually eaten communally)

Desserts:

    burketan (brown rice porridge with coconut milk and sugar)

    chendol (iced thick drink containing nokdumu, coconut milk, rice flour and dried fruit)

    cucimul (thicker channa, sweetened with sugar, served with jam)

    kaludol (minced fruit, rice flour, coconut milk)

    melhdoá (thick fruit pudding, custard-consistency and served hot)

    neninél (fruit sliced very thin and layered with perfumed sugar and spices over fine pastry sheets.  Sometimes served with dreamdrowse or moondust between the layers as well)

    nokdumu (lemongrass jelly, comes out black or dark green)

Street foods:

    alèl (thin slices of meat smeared with hot spices and seed paste, then wrapped in leaves and baked in the ashes of a slow fire)

    ambuya (sticky ball of sago or tapioca starch, alternately dipped into a spicy/sour gravy and a tomato base)

    ampla (cracker made from river fish – usually mackerel – rice starch and seasonings, and deep fried)

    lekor (savory fish cake)

    lemang (rice, jackfruit and coconut milk cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick)

    mélmél (fried rice kernels mixed with salt and spices, and served in little rice paper cones. Some vendors insert a tiny metal statue, coins and other “favors” into the mix for children)

    murtabak (channa stuffed with curry gravy)

    otakota (grilled fish cake made of ground fish meat mixed with tapioca starch and spices: ginger, turmeric, galangal, nutmeg, pepper, cardamom, tamarind)

Exotic Settings: The Land of Loh (I)

So ... on the gaming forum I frequent these days, there's been a recent debate on exotic settings -- what elements are desirable, how to do it, what not to do.  And I mentioned the recent work I'd done in putting the culture of this region on my gameworld together, and promised to post some sections for people's review.  This will not be for everyone, and the section I'm posting here is particularly long: no skin off of my nose if you pass it up!

A caveat: much of this is not original.  The concept of Loh comes from Kenneth Bulmer's Dray Prescot/ Scorpio series, and three of his later books in the series were set there.  It's a teensy bit generically Oriental, but far from excessively so.  A good bit more comes from M.A.R. Barker's seminal RPG Empire of the Petal Throne, and its setting, the empire of Tsolyanu on the world of Tekumel.  A large reason EPT never really took off, despite being the second RPG in print after D&D, is that its Malay/Mayan fusion of a setting is weird to Westerners: too exotic, too non-European, too violent, too sexualized, not in keeping with Ren Faire/Merrie Olde standards of chivalry.  I've always felt I was more adaptive than creative, and it saves a great deal of time to take what smart people have written and twist it to my own ends.  (Therefore, no nonsense about plagiarizing in these setting posts; I cheerfully admit that much of this is not my original work.) 

So ... here 'tis.  Lohvian culture practices and miscellany.  Loh = the region; Serioli = the language and ethnic group.

* * * * * * * * *

Politics:  Nominally, the Empire of Walfarg (currently styled the “Empire of Taira”) still exists, and the Seal Emperor rules from the Jasmine Throne in Tsungfaril, with the High Lords of the Twice Thirteen Dominions as His loyal servants and lieutenants, in a vast realm ranging down the great Valley from the Wizards’ Realm almost to the sea.

The facts on the ground are far different. In fact, the Emperor reigns, not rules, and the sway of Tsungfaril does not stretch much beyond the core dominions: Mindroling, Jenderak, Chai Yarchen, Hul Cheka – and in weaker reigns, not always that far.  In an Ottoman-like system, the various High Lords jockey for position and influence, in ever-shifting coalitions and cabals ... formally paying lip service to the Jasmine Throne, effectively as independent warlords.  

The three dominions that now comprise the nation of Mirdain are formally an independent kingdom, defying the Emperor’s writ.  So, too, it has been many years since Tsungfaril’s writ ran as far as controlling Vankaris, Lohrhiang, Simbiling or Chai Seletari, and the Dominions further downriver are only nominally are part of the Empire: words on paper and empty titles proclaimed before the Jasmine Throne.  The Dominion of Ternantung is not even that much, and it is carefully left unsaid in Tsungfaril that there used to be two more Dominions: Vinkleden and Panjang, now part of the New Moon Confederacy and the westernmost reach of the ancient imperial lands.

The Clan: The fundamental unit of Serioli life is the clan. Most Lohvians live with others of their clan in a common dwelling, or “clan house.” A small clanhouse might have only the extended generations of a single family, while those in great cities might house over a thousand clan members, servants and slaves.

Serioli children know who their mothers are (see Marriage Customs, below), but paternity is often casually tracked, and the identity of biological fathers is not usually considered terribly important. Adult males are “clan-fathers” or “clan-uncles” to a child, while adult females are “clan-mothers” or “clan-aunts.” Children are commonly given “school names” when they survive to nine months old, and do not receive their adult names until their 14th year, upon which they earn their majority. Lifestyles are polyamorous, and many formal marriages are triads or groups.

Clanhouses may be as simple as rural dwellings of thatch or sod, to walled estates or multistoried complexes.  Middle-class clan houses include a walled front courtyard where transactions and deliveries take place; an entrance hall, with sitting-rooms off to the side; a refectory which doubles as a celebration hall; slaves’ quarters and animal pens around the rear; warehouses for mercantile clans; sundry kitchens, restrooms, closets, etc.  Private family apartments are the norm among higher clans, with those of a higher lineage within a clan having preference.  Separate dormitories are common for children, young men and young women (although fraternization is not frowned upon).  Some clans also have large baths tended by specially-trained slaves, massage rooms, workshops (for the crafting clans), or other facilities.

Most clans have traditional occupations, so in addition to being the centers of family life, clanhouses are where the bulk of the trade and commerce of Loh takes place.  Those (say) born into a stoneworking clan are trained in masonry as they grow.  If the clan’s occupation is not to one’s liking, a young adult – at age 14 – is free to engage in a number of occupations, such as the military, the priesthood, the civil bureaucracy or sorcery.  It is difficult, however, to take up a different trade under the control of a different clan.

Marriage Customs: Everyone gets married: to be an adult bachelor/ette is considered weird, and people just don’t take conspicuously unmarried types other than uhus seriously.  Group marriages are common, and many patterns are possible.  The outright social rules are:

    (1) marrying someone from a higher status clan is laudable, but a “marriage price” needs to be paid upward as compensation;

    (2) you can’t marry within your lineage, but there is no incest taboo otherwise – for instance, if your father is from a lower lineage, he would take his wife’s clan name upon marriage, and it would be quite legal and proper to marry a half-sibling from the father’s first marriage;

    (3) by contrast, it’s also weird to be a virgin upon marriage, and sexual experimentation as a youth is expected ... but only within your lineage and generation.  Experimenting with one’s (teen, full) sibling is expected; doing so with your best friend’s parent/child is taboo.  (Further, while premarital sex under these circumstances is the norm, premarital pregnancy as a result is shocking and not to be tolerated.)

    (4) blatant cross-generational marriage is frowned upon, but this is determined upon lineage lines, with considerable fudging and jostling.  Even so, a much older person will almost never marry a much younger person, fudging notwithstanding ... if children are necessary, concubinage is one way out.  (Children born of slaves, however, are always, always held illegitimate.)

    (5) Societal pressure to be married is so strong that widowers will often marry wives’ younger sisters, and widows their husbands’ younger brothers.  Such a marriage will keep the link between the families and maintain the existing household structure intact.  However ...

    (6) ... a person may also be wed to a dead person.  In the ceremony (and often in the nuptial bed) the role of the deceased is acted out by a stand-in, more often than not a lineage relative of the deceased.  Any children born of the union are attributed to the dead spouse, and are recognized as his/her descendants; it is a cultural imperative that no one question the parentage.  A ghost can thus become the culturally and legally recognized parent of a newborn child.

Society:  An important element is the concept of khomoyi, or “place.”  Everyone has a role, and is expected to fulfill it.  Striving to achieve unseemly heights, ambition beyond one’s station, is considered somewhat blasphemous.  Likewise, failing to maintain one’s station is considered a threat to society.  

This is tied to the dual ethic of lan (noble) and bussan (ignoble) actions.  To act within one’s station is lan.  It is noble, for instance, for someone born into a mat-weaving clan to participate in the clan business of weaving mats.  That person can also nobly seek to be a simple soldier in the ranks, or a low-ranking acolyte in a temple.  Acts of presumption, in contrast, are bussan.  Should (say) the mat weaver join a temple and ambitiously begin to scheme to be the High Priest, he would be looked upon as behaving in an unseemly and ignoble fashion. Similarly, should someone from a high ranking clan take up the work of a simple laborer, society would be shocked at such ignoble behavior.  Failure to behave “nobly” reflects badly upon the clan as well as the individual, and clan members will be quick to react to such behavior.

These values are situationally subjective.  Is not a woman lan when she performs acts of charity and kindness?  Is she not bussan when she acts in a violent fashion?  In both cases, these are dependent on whether the recipients are worthy of the behavior.  To show kindness to a sworn enemy of one’s clan may be lan to his clanmembers; it is certainly bussan to one’s own.  The Lohvian understands, as few outsiders do, that morality is malleable and situational, and the only sound path is to cleave to one’s clan and faith.

Should a person continue ignoble behavior, the clan will seek to correct it, first with advice, then with sanctions.  Ultimately, a persistently ignoble member will be ejected from their clan.  To be made “nakomé” – clanless – is considered a horrifying fate (using the term to someone, as it happens, is a deadly insult).  Such people will find themselves without lodging or employment, dependent upon handouts, unprotected, and only acts of startling nobility and character would induce a clan to invite a nakomé to join.

Attire:  The well-dressed Lohvian wears a poncho-like tunic called a firya, overlapping four or five inches down from the shoulder, open down the sides but secured with loose, often-decorative lacing.  A double sash (slightly offset to form a flattened “X”) belts the firya, often plaited with the clan’s colors.  Loose, baggy trousers are also worn by both sexes, though kilt-like garments are also in fashion.  Headgear is diverse: turbans (among the upper classes), basketcaps and headcloths all common.  Full robes are also worn by the upper classes.

More uncommon garments include the so-called “mage’s mantle,” a sleeveless knee-length mantle almost exclusively worn by sorcerers, generally patterned, embroidered or colored in styles particular to the order.  Priests often don gi-like open heavy shirts, but almost invariably wear braids at the shoulder (very like European-style military fourragères) that denote faith, status and rank; a Heraldry (Serioli clerical) roll will determine the exact status.  Finally, it is a custom that wearing a grey silk scarf is a privilege reserved for warriors who have slain an enemy in combat.

Gestures:

    Arm held outward, palm down, two fingers extended: interruption will NOT be tolerated.
    Both hands, palm down, fingers spread widely: apologies.   
    Clapping the hands together: summoning a slave.  Rather a deadly insult if obviously NOT doing so.
    Clapping a hand to the throat, taking it away, and raising the chin: “I bare the throat” – the ritual resignation of Jikaida, and generally meaning “You win” and/or “I give up.”
    Clasping the right upper arm of another with your right hand: Fervent greeting of close comrades.
    Fingersnapping: applause.
    General interjections, hesitation markers or response particles: Ai, Cha, Hai, Khe, Ohe, Tla.
    Hand out, palm up, rocking side to side: Asking for help.
    Holding the left hand breast-high, folding the fingers inward, and shaking it slightly back and forth: disapproval.  “I don’t agree.”
    Making a circle of one’s thumb and forefinger, and making an emphatic jerk of the hand: insinuating the other person is clanless, a strong insult.
    Palm held upwards: general approval
    Slapping the fingertips into the palm of the same hand: Between lovers, denotes affection and sexual desire.  Between others, an obscene gesture.
    Slapping the chest with an open right hand: Llahal!
    Tapping the middle three fingers to one’s opposing upper arm: A faith greeting within Upuaut circles; an insult – “Burn you!” – to someone known not to be of the faith.
    Two fingers touching closed lips: agreement, acknowledgment; very much so, if the fingers are tapping.

Holidays: Above and beyond normal Celduin holidays, Lohvians celebrate these:

    Hasanpór (Kelusse 1): a day of feasts, gift-giving, pageants and parades.

    Rites of Kaopan (Planting season): ensuring the fertility of the fields through the placement of blue and yellow paper hexagons, incense, and sacrifice (the most highly prized which involve slaves).

    Drénggar (Hisivan 10): The Unveiling of Beauty, commemorated with spectacular rituals and debauched orgies. 

    Menggano (Hisivan 17): The Enhancement of the Emerald Radiance.  Following close on the heels of the Unveiling of Beauty, with a whole week to recover in between, Lohvians throw themselves into this festival with a will, honoring it with elaborate feasts, more ritual, and more orgies. 

    Lésdrim (Celebros 10): The Birthday of the Seal Emperor.  Commemorated with military parades and drills throughout the bounds of the old Empire – even in far-off dominions in which Tsungfaril’s writ runs very thinly indeed.  Held on this day no matter the actual birthdate of the reigning Emperor.

    Vraháma (Oranor 10): Celebration of Splendid Victories, commemorated with military pageants at local military barracks and at temples of Upuaut.  Battles prominently attributed to localities are highlighted.

    Ngaqómi (Alatur 12): Feast of the Many-Colored Lanterns, where rice lanterns are sent skyward, followed by block parties, feasts ... and the occasional orgy.

    Chitlásha (Harvest time):  Masque of the Old and the New, celebrated with public carnivals.

Proverbs and Idioms

    A habit once formed is a rod of laen.
    Give an enemy no time even to say farewell to his last breath.
    Bad blood never dries.
    It is not seemly for a mortal to overmaster the Gods: saying of the epic hero Hrugga, who won the world, two moons, and half as much again from the Goddess Vasha – yet graciously continued to stake everything he had on each play until he had lost it all back again.
    Brave times demand brave men.
    Do not worry about being there for the launching, just be there for the laying of the keel: mariners’ saying relating to having children.
    What lasts longer, the mountains or the River?
    He has never strayed from his color: the highest praise one can offer; the literal meaning is obscure, but is thought by some to refer to the White Lotus’ lodges.
    Like groping for a sovereign in a barrel of snakes.
    Men act not because of honor or duty but for a slight to their great-grandfather's chamberpot.
    Naivete is the clay from which heroes are molded.
    Nothing truly glorious is attained through moderation.
    Let us nobly end what treacherously began!: statement by a Seal Empress (whose forebear was a usurper) to her executioners.
    ... since the gods were children.
    Webs spun over webs make for tangles.
    The head of an enemy is a joy for one's descendants.
    To bargain with a Warwiker (Menaheem, Confederate, elf ...) is to throw away one's purse.
    Trust was ever the death of heroes.
    We are the People, and our lands are the World.  All else is the concern of barbarian gods.
    What greedy eyes cannot see, clever hands cannot steal.
    Where power exists, there are deeds.

Miscellany:

    * Gamelan: The national musical style, performed in ensembles with metallophones, gongs, drums and bamboo flutes. 

    * Pastimes:  Loh is pleasure-oriented and lax.  Bribery and trafficking in favors are a way of life.  In Loh, you can buy anybody or anything.  The more decadent go in a big way for music, dance, mime, jugglers, alcohol, drugs, illicit sex and street parties.  This relaxation has also created a renaissance of literature and the arts.  Filled with schools, with poetry symposia, with aspiring artists and writers, Loh believes itself unequaled as a home for the intellectual elite.  The average Serioli knows more of poetry and literature than upper-class citizens of more work-oriented lands.  (That all this flies in the face of cultural precepts of moderation, frugality and modesty is a well-known paradox, and gives the clergy, busybodies and philosophers much upon which to chew.)

    * Sport: The popular sport in Loh – aside from gladiatorial matches, archery and hunting – is marotlàn, a soccer-like game played by four simultaneously competing teams of five or six a side, using a leather or canvas ball about the size of a volleyball and played on a hexagonal field.  Competitive kite flying is also popular, with the strings bearing glued-in shards of glass or pottery so as to cut the foes’ kites free. 

     Qadàrni is the curious custom of having a full-scale battle to settle a score, satisfy a point of honor, or adjudicate an intractable dispute or legal case.  The competitors can be any entity – private individuals, clans, temples, societies, and even political polities up to Dominions.  Qadàrni battles (in stark contrast to so-called “low” wars, Qadardááli, where no holds are barred) are governed by strict rules of honor.

    First off, the forces involved can be as large as the competitors can afford, although honor demands that the sides start (nominally) even, and it gains little honor if one’s forces are known to be a great deal more capable than their numerically even foes.  Indeed, to choose to fight a foe that is significantly more numerous is considered dishonorable, as the commander is seen to be putting his personal glory over all other considerations.  Secondly, to cheat, employ treachery or otherwise act dishonorably is not allowed.

    Such a battle begins at dawn and takes one hour, or when one side is either disabled – or slain – to a man or concedes; prisoners, however, may be taken.  If neither side concedes, a panel of judges determines the victor; each side nominates a judge of proven worth and honor, and those two pick a third.  The result of a qadàrni battle is considered binding and final on all.  (It is also a major spectator sport, and an occasion for a great deal of gambling.)

    * Funerals: Regardless of standard religious rites, a Serioli funeral has certain traits.  Cremation is the universal practice, and the fabric with which body is wound, and the amount and quality of the wood chosen, is heavily rank-dependent.  The ashes of infants who have not yet received their school names are always interred within their clanhouses, because their spirits are considered too young and dependent to know where else to go.  While cremations take place the day after death, if a soul is not passed on through the repositor/dikaster system, the clan holds a feast a month thereafter, to celebrate the soul’s arrival at the sunny uplands beyond the Ice Floes.  This trip is considered in Loh to take a month (and it is not considered that a soul would fail in this).  A particularly honored clan member is memorialized – if space allows – by a stone or metal plaque set in the inner wall of the clanhouse’s courtyard.

    The souls of those who die during Alyena are believed to sometimes return to their clanhouses in the form of a spirit-bird.  These revenants are always malicious and evil, no matter the character of the dead.  Further, while suicide has no particular stigma in Loh, killing oneself by drowning is considered highly shameful.  Those who do it are posthumously cast out of their clans and lineages (and the bodies tossed into garbage piles or middens), but the shame and disfavor linger like a miasma over their relatives.

Advantages (for characters born in Loh):

    Harmony [+10]: You are receptive to the flow of the elements around and through you.  You can learn the Esoteric Skills Autohypnosis, Body Control, Breath Control, Mental Strength and Pressure Secrets, as well as cinematic versions of Erotic Art, Physician, Architecture and Natural Philosophy, and detect and identify spiritual disturbances.  Those who seek or practice the harmonious life (or Varuna worshipers, since this is a variant of Blessed) sense your inner harmony, and react to you at +1.
                               
    Uhu [+9]: Serioli custom is for a third gender: the uhu, who are without primary or secondary sexual characteristics.  Uhus shave themselves bald, and their voices have a noticeable odd tang to them.  They cannot bear or engender children, and are immune to seduction (though not necessarily to Sex Appeal rolls, however much at penalties).  It is considered meritorious to be an uhu, in that one can live one’s life dispassionately and with calm.  They have preference as teachers, advisors, bureaucrats, priests and judges, the more so in that an uhu cannot rule in its own name, lead a clan or business enterprise, or have heirs-at-law (their possessions go at death to the lineage or lord).  It is considered declassé and shocking to make someone an uhu surgically; far more often, they are made so by White Lotus mages, who are paid very handsomely for the privilege.  The point cost includes the Social Regard: Respected and the Longevity advantages, as well as an offsetting Reputation between those who respect the uhu’s clear head and those who find the state unnatural and creepy.

Disadvantages (for characters born in Loh):

    Code of Honor (Serioli) [-10]: Show humanity to others, especially those set under you or who owe you duty; good will is more important than following exact rules.  Influence others by example rather than by force.  Respect Serioli society, its customs and traditions.  Understand the distinction between khomoyi, lan and bussan, and live by them.  Perform your duties properly and with honor to the Emperor, your overlord, your parents, your spouse, your teachers, your older siblings and your friends ... living or dead.

    Compulsive Behavior (Ladravaya) [-5]: The Vengali Table of Correspondences is taken to extremes.  A fireplace must face to the north.  A woodbin must be painted green.  Savory foods really should only be eaten during the night time.  Pressing a sheet of lead against your chest is a good remedy for coughing fits.  And so on.  This can also be expressed as an Odious Personal Habit, depending on how obnoxious you make yourself over this.

    Delusion (Serioli chauvinist) [-5]: Everything Lohvian is just better.  Serioli is a finer, purer language than the monkey speech belched by the rabble outside the Valley.  Serioli ways are just superior.  Serioli blood is better than the thinner stuff flowing through barbarian veins.  Outside ways are not treated with contempt – it is not their fault that they were born foolish barbarians – as much as with indifference.

    Disciplines of Faith (Contemplation) [-5]: You engage in regular meditation through stillness, attention, breathing exercises and calisthenics, at least once daily.  At all times, you maintain habits of moderation in diet, possessions and enjoyments.  Other people who spend time with you, if not themselves students or fellow contemplatives, regard you as unworldly and react at -1.

    Social Stigma: unmarried [-5]: Adults in Lohvian society are expected to be married (see below), and widow/ers are expected to remarry, without unseemly delay.  Only clergy or those under strong vows of service avoid the stigma.

    Vow (The Three Treasures) [-5]: As a model for living, strive to: (1) practice mercy or nonaggression;  (2) be frugal and economical; (3) be humble, and do not dare to put yourself first.

The Joy of Calendars

I was asked on a forum once whether (among my many other cultural game fillips) I utilized IC calendars.  Good heavens, all the freaking time, was my response.  Since my gameworld isn't a one-dimensional save point between dungeon crawls, seasons happen.  High holy days happen.  Traditional village celebrations happen.  Lunar phases happen.

The party might pass through a village where the locals aren't ready at the drop of a silver to cater to their needs, because it's the day of the midsummer Fire Dance festival, and everyone who isn't wearing a costume and capering on the cliffside is a spectator cheering the dancers on.  (Plenty of free ale and festival eats, though!)

It does make a certain sense to hire an orc as your "Green Man" ...

The party might be looking forward to the high holy day of the state religion,  nine days from now, when people wanting to undergo vision quests in the precincts of the High Basilica have unusual success in seeing the path.  

(They'd also better plan on about twenty thousand pilgrims hitting town a few days beforehand, and every inn and tavern space booked up.  This would also be a factor in large-scale seasonal trade fairs, celebrations of the monarch’s birthday, and all manner of predictable events of which the locals would take advantage.  I once lived in proximity to New England’s regional fair, which takes place over two weeks and three weekends, it’s sited in a small city, it averages almost a hundred thousand visitors a day, and homeowners within a half-mile make hundreds of dollars a day selling parking spots.)

The party might be hellbent on getting down to Veredar Island NOW, because the monsoon season's kicking off down there in three weeks, and even with a weather mage witching the sails they'll be cutting the timing fine.

The party might be hoping for a moonless night to make that strike, and the scholar with the ephemeris knows the next one is four days from now, but the next one beyond that is fifteen days down the road.  (Hope she made the roll by enough to know that Rosverando's Comet is due to hit perihelion fourteen days from now, so they better not dawdle.)

And the party might want to pitilessly kill every damn partying local blowing a vuvuzela underneath their inn window ...

All this is fixed; I run a sandbox.  Part and parcel of that is I don't throw in bullshit "coincidental" monsoons/eclipses/full moons just to provide random extra obstacles to the party.  I don't see why a group can't plan carefully to deal with seasonal/meteorological/celestial factors just as readily as they plan for fortifications, the strength of oppositions, the power of sorcerers, or any other such "traditional" wargaming-style complication ... and I don't see any reason NOT to hose a party that can't be bothered, the same way I wouldn't take it easy on a party that attempted a frontal assault against suicidally heavy odds.

Hard to create?  Not at all.  There’s going to be a spring planting festival: damn near every culture has one.  There’s going to be a harvest festival: damn near every culture has one.  There’s going to be a holiday celebrating the founding of the nation.  The ruler’s birthday will likely be a holiday ... and not only has more than one culture used that day to designate the new year, some of them have trouble in how the change to a new ruler upsets the bookkeeping!  Your religions will have holidays.  There’ll be the commemoration of a great battle.  (A number of nations commemorate great defeats!) A major athletic festival like the Olympics or the Kentucky Derby.  The traditional day every year when new apprentices are taken, or the knightly order elevates new knights, or annual quitrents are due, or the Blessing Of The Fleet takes place, or last year's wine is broached.  

Heck, one of the oldest known ongoing holidays is Lanimer Week in the town of Lanark in Scotland, which grew organically from the town being granted royal city status 900 years ago, a condition that the local merchants ceremonially inspect the boundary stones on that date each year, and celebrations springing up from that.  Or the town where I grew up, which has an annual celebration at the beginning of May based around the running of the herring.  (I am not making this up.)  Come to that, said town had an annual ritual as late as the 1980s where the selectmen would walk the bounds of the down, touching up the paint on the carved boundary stones.  This involved some measure of bushwhacking, with many of the stones being in forests or marshlands ...

So come up with a couple a month.  This is far from over the top; England celebrated 33 “saint’s days” before the UK’s holiday schedule was settled in the 19th century.  Plenty of online lists of such holidays and how they were/are celebrated – just file off the serial numbers and you’re good!

Picking Up The Wand / The Rainbow Sword

So here I am again.  It's been several years.  But I've been sitting on some things to say, and so therefore.  Without further ado ... 

“So, my sisters.”  I gazed out the clerestory window at the tableau in Court Square, and I made no doubt my gaze was as stony as were the rest of the Conclave.  “I see what you see.  Is there truly any doubt?”

“None,” said Mother Arathena, with a bitter hiss.  “That jackal has the true Sword.  Captain Noran saw her hack through half the enemy cohort to reach the postern gate, and I know Noran to be a reliable man.  Not given to exaggeration.”  She swallowed hard, tearing her gaze away from the triumphant spectacle outside.  “But – but how?  How was It found, after so long?”

Mother Selanya tossed her head with a sneer – she seldom had use for Arathena, I knew.  “Lady’s Grace, who cares?  Dueled with dragons or bought it from a peddler, what boots it?  The question is this: what do we do?”  Her mouth was set; she didn’t know.  Neither did the others.

Neither did I.

* * * * * * * * * 

“ ... and in the sundering terror of that hour, the Fell Lord, the Mantled One came forth in sooth.  In his clawed hand was raised the Great Fear, the darkness deeper than shadow, his sceptre and sword.  And its touch was Death, and the very air turned to poison whence It cleaved.  Strong heroes shuddered, and their boasts and resolve tore into silence in the fetid air like fabric rent between charging bulls.  But none would charge here.  None could speak.  Few could breathe.

“Yet the Lady stood, the golden, thunder-armed.  Awful was the grasping fear, but yet She stood.  In mighty array was Her raiment, in Her palm was strength, and in Her hand was the incarnation of pure light: Peace’s Friend, the Immortal Protector, the Rainbow Sword of the legends.  She was fury’s harbinger in lightning as She – She alone! – moved to face the Fell Lord, the Mantled One.  And that very lightning, with a screaming akin to the clangor of a thousand insane bells, ripped the poisoned air asunder as the blades clashed ...”

- from the Canticles of the Rose City, canto VII, The Last Battle Of The First War 

It is a battlesword wrought of milky crystal, which shines with rainbow hues of innermost radiance when it catches any light.  No wire or wrappings mar the shaped glass-smooth hilt, nor gems or carvings its surface.  The invincible blade of the Time Before Time, the Rainbow Sword features in many of the legends and myths of the world.  The one who wields it in battle is invincible, and it has been long sought by scholars and warlords alike.

Now it’s been found.  Not by a goddess of rainbows, but by living mortals.  And the world will never be the same.

* * * * * * *

This is, if you will, a Kobayashi Maru-type find: something that tests the character and common sense of your party, and not a plot hook to be used lightly.  

The Sword is part of the creation myth, the favored weapon of the Lady of Thunders, the goddess who defeated the great evil in the War of the Gods at the dawn of the world.  She renounced all violence after that hour, and famously left the Sword in the blooded dust of that fatal field.  There are legends of its reappearance thereafter, but they are generally disputed, and felt by many to be outright apocryphal.

It is a thing of elemental, divine power.  Don’t bother with stats for it; the Sword transcends such things.  Anyone it strikes in battle is instantly killed.  Anything it is used to smite is destroyed.  Hack a barrier with it, and the barrier is blown to pieces.  Chop at a two-century-old oak with it, and the tree is shattered into splinters with a hundred-foot cone of destruction.  It parries any attack, or any number of attackers.  Its wielder can’t be stunned, drained, affected by mind-control or direct damage magics, possessed, anything like that.

Other than that, we’re not talking Stormbringer here: it won’t corrupt you (except in so far as wielding an invincible blade of legend will go to a person’s head), the souls of its victims aren't consumed in horrible screaming, the Lady of Thunders doesn’t want it back, you’re not mystically bound to it, and there’s no Dark Being with a mirror-image version out there seeking a cataclysmic confrontation.  But:

* The literary influence to consider here isn’t Moorcock; it’s Saberhagen.  This is the sort of weapon over which wars are fought, or heavily influenced by its presence on one side or another. Its owner has a big red X on his or her back, from many sides.

* Never mind the ambitious monarchs, wizards or warlords who want it.  Gods will want it, either to use themselves, or to wrench out of mortal hands a weapon known to be a godslayer.  Sensible Powers-That-Be want to steal or disenchant it to keep anyone else from using it. The church of the Lady of Thunders (a pacifist faith these many thousands of years) finds its existence somewhat embarrassing, and its ownership by a mere mortal sacrilegious.  Uppity heroes will think they ought to be the one wielding it, or that the one who is doesn’t at all deserve it, and they’d like to test out this “invincible in battle” BS themselves.

* Read between the lines, and the weapon doesn’t make the wielder completely invulnerable.  He or she still has to sleep, eat, use the jakes, bathe, and do a lot of things that don’t involve holding the naked blade, which is the only time its powers work.  “Invincible in battle” doesn’t mean the wielder can’t be drowned, crushed in a landslide or roasted by a volcano.  (Also, I'm not enthusiastic about the wielder's chances solo against an artillery barrage or a crossbow regiment.)

* Further ... while the wielder’s stamina and weapon skills are significantly improved (however your system handles such things), they’re not limitless – a pudgy scholar neither turns into Conan nor can fight for tireless hours on end.  Apply common sense: wrapping the palsied hand of a 90-year-old invalid around the hilt doesn’t turn him into Conan either.

But given all that, the way to play the Sword is as a horrifically destructive force of nature.  Just plain drawing it exposes its bone-shaking aura, Fright Checks being appropriate.  Spar jokingly with it, and you’re going to find yourself cutting your sparring partner in half.  Poke someone just a half-inch deep with it, and he’ll scream as his organs all explode at once and that “half-inch deep” incision suddenly becomes large enough to put your fist into.  You really can knock down a castle tower with it, or at the least blow a hole in its side large enough to drive a wagon-and-four through.  Jam it point-first into the ground, and you’ll provoke an earthquake at least.  Drive the point home (without saying so explicitly) that this is something plainly not meant for mortals, the use of which involves perils beyond imagining.

The Corpora of War

A very longstanding feature of my gameworld Celduin is that -- many long centuries ago -- the religion of the fire/war god of the pantheon imposed something of a cross between the Geneva Conventions and a code of honor on the conduct of mercenaries in war.  Subsequently interpreted and amended over the years, it's widely honored to the present day.

"Kill them all!  But honorably!"

Honorable actions are not mandatory; dishonorable actions are to be always avoided.  Actions that are not dishonorable are legal, but not the path of greatest honor.  Obviously, some tenets are more honored in the breach than in the observance.

For those of you scoring at home, a “paktun” is a warrior of great prowess and honor, voted the accolade on the battlefield by the collective paktuns there present; they wear a distinctive silver medallion on a rainbow ribbon.  “Nikobi” (half-oath) is the contractual arrangement between mercenaries and their employer.

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- It is dishonorable to betray your employers, explicitly or implicitly.  It is dishonorable to disobey direct orders.  Obeying the laws of the nation under which you serve is honorable; obedience of an order in clear conflict with the law is a matter of conscience, but following the order is the path of greater honor, unless the order itself be dishonorable.

- It is dishonorable to slay or enslave soldiers who have surrendered, or to directly assist those doing so.  It is honorable to disobey orders to do so.  It is not dishonorable to loot the defeated or conquered territory.

- It is not dishonorable, under threat of certain doom, to surrender one’s command to a superior foe.  To do so is a matter of personal conscience.  It is dishonorable to knowingly lead one’s troops into certain death, and honorable to disobey orders to do so.  It is not dishonorable to lead volunteers into such situations in order to protect a line of retreat.

- Lord Upuaut is our patron, and his servants and priests are honored by every true warrior.  It is highly dishonorable to knowingly harm any of His priests, or any healer or physician.  It is not dishonorable to defend yourself against an attack by a priest or physician, but you should seek to subdue him without killing.  Priests fighting in battle forfeit such protection.

- It is dishonorable to harm any civilian without just cause.  Being attacked by a civilian constitutes just cause; however, it is dishonorable to goad a civilian into attacking a trained warrior.

- It is honorable to care for your comrades, your weapon and your mounts before yourself, for they are your succor in battle. It is dishonorable to neglect your comrades in the field, the food and care of the troops you lead or of prisoners in battle.

- Mutual truces are sacred.  To violate the terms of a truce is blackest dishonor, and he who does so shall find that Lord Upuaut has turned His face away from him.  If ending a truce is necessary, it is dishonorable not to inform the enemy commander beforehand.  Heralds or emissaries must be given time to return to their lines, and if this is not possible they must be treated as honored guests, not as prisoners.

- The use of sorcery in battle, as with any other skill, is not dishonorable.  The use of necromancy is highly dishonorable, and its use in the field is just cause for the voiding of the nikobi.

- When captured in battle, it is not dishonorable to attempt to escape or to damage the foe in any way possible.  It is dishonorable to slay a recaptured escapee.  However, any escapee who breaks the law or slays his captors may be honorably dealt with as the laws require.  If parole is given, it is dishonorable for the parolee to try to escape.

- To disobey orders to perform dishonorable tasks is honorable.  It is dishonorable to do so without informing your commander why you are disobeying orders and without standing fast - if possible- to allow him to countermand.  If the commander knowingly persists in the ways of dishonor, the nikobi must be voided, for only a coward or a bandit remains under the charge of a dishonorable leader.  If there is dissension, the paktunsa must vote on the matter, a majority carrying.

- However, a mercenary’s conscience is his own, and to Lord Upuaut be the judgment.  It is honorable to convince a comrade to turn from the path of dishonor, but dishonorable to force him to do so.

- Honor and respect the paktunsa, for such warriors are blessed of the Lord Upuaut.  In return, a paktun’s actions and bearing must be worthy of respect, for he serves as an example to the host.  The paktun who acts in dishonor blackens the name of his host and his god; if he not repent of his evil, let him suffer just and sudden death.

- The blessing of the Lord Upuaut are upon the honorable mercenary, but His curse rests on he who acts with dishonor.

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There's a great deal of debate on those points; you can see where the Code has loopholes and conflicting sections. Mercenary rapists have tried to argue, for instance, that their victims weren't "harmed" – there ain't no open wounds, is there?

On the more liberal side of things, there's a faction that holds that looting "too much" harms the victims.

There's certainly plenty of fodder for barracks lawyers and litigants back in the cities; on the latter count, some of the nations are extending a concept akin to sovereign immunity on mercenary companies under their hire, pretty much solely to ensure that they can hire companies for the next campaigning season.

When all is said and done, of course, there are companies which skirt as close to the line as possible, the operating principle being "how much can we get away with before the paktunsa vote to take us out?"

The weather report

In my eternal quest for verisimilitude, I really like making sure weather is part and parcel of things.  Aren't storms part and parcel of thrilling adventures at sea?  Isn't it worth knowing whether it's going to be raining or not, going to be moonlit or not, when you try to get over the castle wall tomorrow night?

Now there are a couple ways of doing it.  I won't post any Random Weather tables; you can find them in carload lots on the Internet, and you don't need mine.  That's one, of course.

Another method is a surprisingly simple one I wonder why more GMs don't use.  Want random weather for your setting's area today?  Terrific.  What season is it?  Late spring?  Fair enough.  It's well into autumn here in New England as I type, but that's okay.  Fire up the weather site on your computer (you can find those in carload lots, too, and I use wunderground.com, myself) and pull up a town on the other side of the world.  So okay ... the weather report for Melbourne, Australia, right now has a daytime high tomorrow of 68 F, a nighttime low of 48.  They're predicting overcast with a chance of rain in the morning, and definite for the afternoon.  Light winds in the daytime, and winds from the WSW of 5-15 MPH after dark.  Morning twilight is at 5:30 AM, sunrise at 6, sunset at 8 PM, twilight until 8:30.  That's something you can get at a glance, and that's good enough to be going on with.

For my part, when I'm doing up an adventure, I work out the weather six days in advance, which doesn't take me very long -- 15 minutes or so?  The following is an example:

Weather for north and east coastal Avanari regions, next week:

1)    Scattered clouds    Morning fog                   

Silver Moon: waxing crescent, Red Moon: new, Blue Moon: waning gibbous

    High 79 degrees, Low 66 degrees
    Wind from the W, 11 mph
    Veering due south at night, 6 mph
    Waves 2 ft or less

2)    Partly cloudy        Light rain late                   

Silver Moon: half, Red Moon: waxing crescent, Blue Moon: waning gibbous

    High 81 degrees, Low 71 degrees
    Wind from the WSW, 12 mph and rising
    Veering SW at night, 25 mph
    Waves 5-7 ft and increasing

3)    Overcast        Light rain, squalls               

Silver Moon: half, Red Moon: waxing crescent, Blue Moon: waning gibbous

    High 73 degrees, Low 56 degrees
    Wind from the W, 27 mph with gusts
    Veering WNW at night, 12 mph
    Waves 8-10 feet ...

That's more or less what it looks like.  Wind speed and direction, and wave height, are important for my heavily-nautical campaign; they might not be for yours, although a 25+ mph crosswind is something of a suckfest for archers.  If I'm in a really complete mood, or the group's doing a planned night assault, I'll throw in when those moons are rising and setting, information I have on hand but don't often bother with putting out there.

The Books of the Fallen Empire

I entered a competition on another site for submissions based around the notion of the Fallen Empire.  This piece, about thirty "lost" books a party might rediscover, won the top prize; I remain rather pleased by it.

It's a bunch of archetypes: most the names, and in many cases the flavor text as well, come from real world examples of those archetypes.  Feel free to gank at will, and use them to develop the archetypes for your own campaigns!

A Journal of the Plague Year: “Poor Tiranara was entirely in an uproar - another love sonnet talking about the “Dark Man” of my fantasies?  I soothed her, in the end, but Trinity, am I tired of repeating that I say what I must to satisfy the public!”

The seminal diary of a great poet/author, about whom most of what is known comes from the text (and interpretations thereof) of her works.  The diary conclusively proves that a lot of the critical presumption is wrong -- what people widely believe the author meant by this or that element is completely contrary to the author’s express intent.

Ab Urbe Condita Libri: “Being the Fourteenth Volume of the History and Lore of Mighty Selisengard, May The Queen of Cities Reign Forever!”

Some (or all) of the missing volumes from a celebrated monumental history (or encyclopedia) long believed to be incomplete.

Archimedes Palimpsest: “The motion of the Whole is the same as the Sum of the Motion of its Parts; namely, that In cases when the fall of a rider on a white horse occurs, it is beneficial if one reads aloud the Second Precept Against Harm or completes a number of virtuous acts.”

An important lost work, known to scholars.  Some thrifty scribe took the last copy, scraped the parchment down, and inscribed an insipid, rambling religious text on the sheets ... but there are very faded marks of the original, and it might be able to be restored through sorcery of some sort.

Arzhang: “These are the signs of My Coming, and what which has been sent down to thee.  From Me is the truth, but most men do not believe.”

The holy scripture of a major religion, long lost and passed down only in oral tradition.  It may have sections contradicting in whole or in part current practice (which may have been corrupted in transmission), or detailing rites that have been forgotten, however consonant they may be with contemporary beliefs.

Book of the Watchers: “The man said to the woman, ‘You know what the priest is braying?  He says in his sermon that a comet is coming and that will be the end of the world!’”

A religious tome telling a familiar tale, well known to adherents of the dominant faith -- so much so that the faithful all recognize the familiar phraseology, and many can recite sections from memory -- but with numerous differences, in cadence, plot and characterization.

Bunnye Raising Fr Ye Victualles & Profite: “Linseed oil (raw, not boiled), 1 anker; gum camphor, 4 drams; oil of cajeput, 1 dram; oil of anise, 1/4 dram.  Mix with ye bunnye’s hay, 3 or 4 times daily.”

A hopelessly mundane book on a completely boring (or disgusting) subject ... only a section, two-thirds of the way through and seamlessly incorporated into the binding, details a dire prophecy or other warning, deliberately hidden there by the creator of the book.

Canon of Proportions: “If you place a spherical body between various objects - that is to say with sunlight on one side of it, and on the other a wall illuminated by the sun, which wall may be green or of any other color, while the surface on which it is placed may be red, and the two lateral sides are in shadow - you will see that the natural color of that body will assume something of the hue reflected from those objects.”

A massive series of notebooks, unmistakably in the hand of a renowned artist or scientist (despite being written in an odd mirror-image script), demonstrating that -- unknown to contemporary scholarship -- she was a genuine polymath, in complete command of many sciences and fields of study.  Included are many examples demonstrating that she invented certain things centuries before they became known to the culture - as well as some inventions not yet known to science.  Plainly they were compiled as a galley proof before publication, but there is nothing to indicate why they never were published.

Canticles of the Rose City: “Gandeleyn lokyd hym est and west, Be euery syde: ‘Hoo hat myn mayster slayin? Ho hat don this dede? Xal I neuer out of grene wode go Til I se sydis blede.’”

An epic song cycle -- or great work of fiction -- beloved in the present day ... and proving that it was written many centuries before its attribution to the person everyone had believed all this time was the author.

Casca the Mercenary: “XVII Kalends Sextilis: ... so when the whipping was done and that poor hook-nosed chap with the cross was dragged down the street, I sent Julia out to mop the blood off the cobbles - I’ve had poor business enough this week without that!  Marcian says the criminals will be nailed up just after noon, poor bastards.  I think I’ll go watch.  Aemilia came by at last - she’s newly betrothed to a fine young fellow ...”

A diary of someone ordinary, but who was witness to some significant historical event and has some startling eyewitness details (or, alternately, who just lived in a particularly extraordinary era).  There may be several such diaries, all from correspondents living in the same period, referencing some of the same events.

Dictionary of Forgotten Things: “There are fifty-four cities in the island, all large and well built, the manners, customs, and laws of which are the same, and they are all contrived as near in the same manner as the ground on which they stand will allow.  The nearest lie at least twenty-four miles’ distance from one another ...”

An atlas describing an unknown land in exhaustive detail, an encyclopedia with entries of people, events and/or creatures with which scholarship is unfamiliar.  The punchline is that these are fictional, intended to be fantastic inventions.  (I’ve noted that many players of fantasy RPGs have a hard time conceptualizing the notion of not-real myth and fantasy within their own gameworlds’ cultures.)

Dr. Chase’s Receipt Book: “Moisten a sponge with oil extract of paraffin, roll it in fine powder of borax, and push it onto the wound for several hours daily.  Make sure that the band holding it to the limb is of undyed, unbleached muslin or linen.  For an obstinate case, use an insufflation of powdered vegetable charcoal.”

A large book stuffed with old, forgotten techniques for a field (or several fields) of science, industry or magic which went out of vogue for economic, cultural or technical reasons.  The reasons no longer apply, due either to changing viewpoints, scientific advances or other factors: for example, a useful herbal preparation that ceased to be employed because of wide access to a substitute herb, one no longer in cultivation.

Gingerbread: “4 Kelusse: Dawn - No change.  8 AM - Golden light in the southern sky, tinged with green.  10 AM - Light much reduced.  Noon - Golden light completely vanished.  2 PM - No change ...”

A book of detailed research, compiling events and patterns pertaining to then-current events.  It was plainly a work-in-progress compilation, without evident conclusion ... then.  Subsequent well-known events and/or history complete the pattern, and it would make much more sense to a researcher now.

Gnostic Bible: “I said to the savior, ‘High One, will all the souls be led safely into pure light?’ She answered and said to me, ‘These are great matters that have arisen in your mind, and it is difficult to explain them to anyone except those who are enlightened.’”

An entire book -- or collection of chapters, tales and/or essays -- devoted to one of the world’s leading faiths ... and which completely contradict several major doctrines of that faith, or introduce doctrines hitherto unknown to it.  The work may have been excised from the canon centuries ago as apocryphal.

History of Cardenio: “Fabian. Your master is wondrously distracted. / Giraldo. I believe so, sir, but I have ceased to wonder at his wondering wanderings. / Fabian. Why? / Giraldo. It seems to be his habitual manner after escaping away from any damsel's chamber.”

The text of a long-lost play (or novel) popularly attributed by literary scholars to the greatest author in the culture’s canon ... unfortunately, there are enough stylistic differences in the actual text to place the authorship in doubt.  Or is it, indeed, the true author’s voice, and if so, where does that leave his known corpora of tales?

Libri Sibyllini: “To cast the Blaze of Glory, it is well to have long fingers, up to one shaftment at the maximum length.  This is necessary in order to attain the perfect flow for the second and seventh passes of the left hand ...”

An ancient book of magic describing new spells or new techniques for casting them.  However, the book was written before the long centuries perfected contemporary sorcery, and the book makes some dangerously flawed presumptions, subsequently discarded, as well as using long-forgotten units of measurement.  Alternately, there are spells within far more powerful than their present-day analogues ... and far more dangerous and uncontrollable as well.
   
Meretricum Vita: “Some who were formerly convicted of heresy, and whom I confuted at the Council of Warwik, have dared to write to your Reverence that my opinions are neither orthodox nor in agreement with the Consistory. ‘The wife surprised me, coming up suddenly, did find me embracing the girl with my hands in her coats, and indeed I was with my mortar in her pestle. I was at a wonderful loss upon it and the girl also.’  What about this monstrosity merits anything beyond our calumny?” 

A legendary R-rated work -- whether fiction or non-fiction -- that was suppressed by the Powers-That-Be and has previously survived only in fragments, angrily quoted in more “decent” works as examples of the original’s immorality.

Mother Shipton Predictions: “The world to an end shall come, in eighteen hundred and eighty one.”

A book of collected prophecies from a “soothsayer” celebrated in ancient times, but long since discredited as a charlatan or madman.  The degree to which all the prophecies are useless is, of course, up to the GM ...

Pneumatica: “Let us now proceed to construct the necessary instruments, beginning with the less important, as from the elements. The following is a contrivance of use in pouring out wine. A hollow globe of bronze is provided, such as A B (fig. 6) pierced in the lower part with numerous small holes like a sieve ...”

Descriptions of scientific apparatuses which can be readily made by contemporary technology -- including steam engines, vending machines, wind-powered machinery, reciprocal pumps and the like -- but are unknown to, or forgotten by, current culture.

The Secret History: “When she had bared her nakedness, she would sink down to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves to whom the duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of barley from above onto the calyx of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the purpose, would next pick the grains one by one with their bills and eat.”

A history of well-known events by a noted historian of the period ... only describing all the salacious, ribald and even obscene details he left out of his “official” history.  A litany of infidelities, crimes, backstabbings and betrayals, often from individuals held out to be blameless (or even prominent culture heroes) in standard historical canon.

Tironian Notes: “Sdn at fst rfsd Agn he tld hr of th hm in whch y wld lv, th rch frs + ivry ncklcs th he wld gv hr ...”

It’s not so much that the book is in an ancient language; it’s that it’s written in what was apparently a standard shorthand of the day, which removes many vowels and makes heavy use of abbreviation and then-current idiom, rendering translation extremely difficult.

Tombs of the Kings: “Seventh Fane, Eleventh Sepulchre - here was interred Lady Arathena Elyanwe, illegitimate daughter of Prince Alveron II, buried in a kimono of sapphire blue embroidered in gold and green, also with a sapphire set in a platinum ring, and holding a kidskin bound Canon of Changes, while ...”

An immense, dry work, listing in exhaustive detail every tomb of every noble in the land, the biographies of said nobles, every item placed in every tomb, down to the middle names of the daughters-in-law of the masons who mortared up the tomb entrances ... that sort of thing.  The vast majority of these tombs are well-known and looted ages ago ... but one obscure section references some no one has heard of before.  Right under the current sprawling royal palace, somewhere.  And there are two pages torn out of the book.

Wyzards, Ye Care & Feeding Of: “I demanded he give me cheese.  He glared at me, then turned back to scratching that paper with the feather.  Useless master, I served him out by performing my relievements in his bin of enchanted spices -- Worthless spirit, keep on writing my words or I shall bite you.”

A somewhat jocular diary/owners’ manual of wizards, written from the point of view of a familiar.  The kicker is that although the book is many centuries/millennia old, the authoring familiar is known to the party -- either the familiar of a wizard they know, or the familiar of the party wizard -- and the book is either unmistakably in the familiar’s speech patterns, or else describes the familiar accurately enough to make an identification.

Contes de la Mere Oye: “My father, he died - but I can’t tell you how / But he left me six horses to drive on my plough / With a wimmy lo, wommy lo! / Wimmy lo!  Wommy lo! / Jack sing saddle oh!”

The original manuscript for a commonly known children's book of rhymes and/or folktales -- apparently in the author’s own hand -- but upon close examination, has some significant differences from the modern-day text.  The book is also heavily annotated in the margins, in the same hand, which indicates that the author’s intent is something else entirely: a prophecy, a satire of contemporary political events or persons, secret arcane knowledge, and the like.

Freedom and Necessity: “You must choose how you, and even I, proceed now ... for I cannot.  I have trusted in that natural reserve and discretion that I know to be so strong in you, dearest Cousin, to keep the source and contents of this letter from the knowledge of any other, unless the time and company be such to recommend their revelation.”

An epistolary work, purporting to be the correspondence of two famous -- or infamous -- individuals, not otherwise known to have had a romantic relationship, but clearly indicated to have had a torrid one indeed.

The Music Lesson: “I met up with the Khibil around dusk, and we went over the plan again.  That took a half hour, no more.  Then we sat in the bar, saying nothing.  There were dancers, but the Khibil just sneered.  I guess he wasn’t much for that kind of stuff.”

A diary detailing the theft of several works of art, magical artifacts or crown jewels, well known to the modern-day world.  The problem is threefold: first, they are not known to be stolen; second, a plainly ancient book has details and elements that fit only in modern-day times; third, the author (or another principal character) is known to the party -- the description is unmistakable -- but with a completely different personality than that depicted in the book.

Physiologus: “The shark is an amphibious animal: that is to say, it does not take in water, but breathes and sleeps and brings forth on dry land - only close to the shore - as being an animal furnished with feet; it spends, however, the greater part of its time in the sea and derives its food from it, so that it must be classed in the category of marine animals.”

A bestiary which describes known monsters and/or animals, with a lot of the details not only being wrong (or just differing from conventional wisdom) but glaringly so.  Many other setting details are surprisingly off-kilter as well ... to phrase things in 21st century terms, “Iowa” is situated by the sea, the “Grand Canyon” is north of Canada, and the “raspberries” given as the favorite food of sparrows are bright green and the size of softballs.

Trebatius Testa: “If any evil into which one has made, it is the right song and judgment. Let it be, if any man be evil, but if any man be good?  I deny any praise to the Emperor, for he knows the difference no more than does a swine!”

A play, story, ballad or other work of fiction, known to modern-day connoisseurs, which appears to be in this case the prototype of the work.  In the original, it heavily defames the rulers, Beautiful People and/or aristocracy of the period ... and is bowdlerized just as heavily to strip the salient details out in the final version.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten: “I hath dreamed the dreams of the Serpent-Folk, and communed with long-dead reptiles, and eagerly watched through the Ages the unending sorrows and suffering of mortalkind. I await the day when the hand of doom shall rise, and cast aside the remnants of a jaded, decayed mortalkind: and Those who Crawl and Slither shall again inherit the World.”

A detailed dissertation -- in monograph form, handwritten, even in an era of printing -- of one or more awful Pariah Cults, examining their practices and doctrine in nauseating detail.  Historically correct references to contemporary places and events are given, as well as allusions to how contemporary known figures are Secret Initiates.  The only hitch: the historical record makes no reference to the cult/s at all.  Anywhere.  Completely unknown.