Angmairre, City of Sailors and Whores

**Mild Spoilers Sunday Game**

The kingdom has no knights, only sea captains. All nobles must serve as a captain on at least one sea-voyage to keep their hereditary titles.

Within the Palace of Splinters, a looming structure built of captured enemy ships, sits the weak King Telwar Liq, a puppet to his warmongering wife, Celine Liq. The agitates for war against the Nilfenbergians. The court, thus far, have kept her in check. All assassination attempts have failed, miserably. She takes each attempt as proof of Nilfenbergian aggression.

During the day, the city is thronged with porters and traders, hawking exotic wares of all types, the ale houses filled with sailors on shore leave. At night, the sailors have had their fill of drink, and partake in brawling or prostitutes. They are famed for their skills, and a sea-captain is wise to give extended shore-leave here. The slave markets of Angmairre are huge, and it is the only place on the continent where slavery is legal.

1d8 Encounters in Angmairre

1 - 1d4 Runaway Slaves, 50% chance perused hotly. Keeping them would be theft, but grant you loyal companions. (60% level 1 fighter, else level 1 specialist with randomly distributed skills)

2 - A huge brawl between sailors, d20 a side. They're all laughing and complimenting one another on good technique. Drawing weapons is a sure way to get killed.

3 - 1d6 Sailors acting as a press gang. They'll ignore people they don't think they could bludgeon into submission.

4 - A Nilfenbergian witch-refugee, unable to join the College without a reference, but unable to ply her trade without membership papers. She seeks a group to travel with. 1d4th Level MU.

5 - 1d6 Nobles dressed up gaudily as nautical beasts, en route to a party, surrounded with 2d4 guards.

6 - 1d4 Druids, infiltrating the city to destroy it from the inside. They are usually rooted out and destroyed by the College within a week. They keep trying anyway.

7 -  Nilfenbergian spies, posing as merchants. No war is planned, as they are engaged against the Demon Sultanate, but it pays to keep an eye on the last remaining free kingdom on the continent.

8 - Adventurers! Here for 1) a job 2) looking for work 3) R&R 4) you.

If an adventurer stays in one of the more lavish establishments whilst still bearing their arms and the general demeanor of a ruffian, they are inevitably approached with work. 

1d8 Jobs From Nobility & Pay

1 - Slander an opposing house. Use your imagination. 500sp+

2 - Sink a ship. This could be a rival house or someone else in the family. 1000sp+

3 - Ruin a political marriage by causing one of the betrothed to fall in love and marry someone else. 1000sp+

4 - Apply pressure to a house wizard of the College to turn traitor to the family they currently serve. 750sp+

5 - Collect monster eggs to build a menagerie to rival any other. Price is per-egg, going up for more dangerous/rare creatures.

6 - Murder the current heir. 1500sp+

7 - Burn down the holdings of a rival. 300sp+

8 - Find something to greatly embarrass a rival in court without destroying their reputation. 750sp+

Beyond the Mountains

*Sunday Players Go Away*

Across the Northern border of the Nilfenbergian Empire lies the Petty Kingdoms - each run by a self-styled autocrat, all too aware of their insignificance. It is said the witches have saved them from being absorbed. The truth is the Empire is under threat from the Demon Sultanate. But this is of little interest. The Petty Kingdoms end abruptly with the Mountains. Some call them the Brokejaws. Others the Spinal Peaks. Yet others the Marginal Range. But to most, they are simply the Mountains.

Some small villages lurk in the shadows of these imposing peaks - folk scraping by in the crags and fearful of the creatures that crawl from chasms in the deeper ranges. They have little to trade but furs and warnings.

Beyond the Mountains is ash and ice. A desolate terrible plain, marred only by the broken teeth of buildings long-hidden by the ice and snow, appearing more like dunes after the many years of frostbitten burial.

People once lived in these buildings, but now they live above them, grim scavengers atop their dog-driven sledges, tearing across the dead country, either starving or committing to cannibalism. They know not of the secrets buried beneath them, but whisper to their rare children that things forgotten should stay that way. None will enter the ice-bound city beneath them, and they are right to.

A name forgotten a thousand times, no expedition ever returning to restore the torch of knowledge, the city evoked it's own end, as such things always go. A people enslaved by another, joint in a collective plea for revenge - and so it was when the Riven Wolf heard their plight. The plain was blasted for six hundred days with storms and snow, the wind tearing skin free and stealing children into the sky, their screams lost in the howling, their tears freezing in their eyes, tumbling blind through snow thicker than castles.

Seeking a weapon here is madness - all that could be learned is an end to both the Empire and the Sultanate. Yet the expedition left, and is now sealed in the glacier-riddled city with the creeping horrors.

*TREASURE HERE*

SURVIVOR PACK - 4d4 Humans w/ Spears, Dog-Leather Armour. They fight from the back of Dog Driven Sleds (treat as mounted). Each sled has a team of 6 dogs, and can have 3 men fighting and a fourth driving.

FROST MAD DEAD
The people of the city gathered together to conserve warthm - from each cluster emerged one frozen by the cursed flesh of their peers, forever seeking warmth.
HD 4
AC as CHAIN - HARD FROZEN FLESH
MOV as OLD MAN
ATTACK +4 - 2D8 ICY GRIP (8+ damage freezes random limb - cannot be used until thawed out).
M 7 / 12 IN PRESENCE OF FIRE. OH TO BE WARM AGAIN.
2d6 APPEARING

CHAINED OVERSEER
Before the slaves realised what they had invited, they rose up and bound the overseers in chain. The numbing effect of the chains protected them from the blasting to come.
HD 6
AC as PLATE - MANY CHAINS - MAGIC IS ROUTED INTO CHAINS, HAS NO EFFECT IN 30FT RADIUS
MOV as MAN BEARING GREAT WEIGHT
ATTACK +6 - 2D4 WHIP + SAVE VS ENTANGLE - TAKE NO ACTION UNTIL CHAIN BROKEN. EACH ENTANGLED PERSON REDUCES AC OF OVERSEER BY 1.
M 10 / 3 IN PRESENCE OF SLAVES (That is, anyone dressed in rags)
1D4 APPEARING

SLAVE SPIRIT CONGLOMERATION
So too did the slaves gather for warmth in their rags and chains. They pressed closer and closer until their very souls touched, fusing them together in anguish and fear and regret. The only thing that could drive the result away is the whip of their tormentors.
HD 1
AC as INSUBSTANTIAL - CANNOT BE HARMED WITH PHYSICAL WEAPONS. (Except Whip)
MOV as CRIPPLED HORSE
ATTACK +0 (IGNORES ARMOUR) - SAVE OR 1D8 CON DAMAGE FROM UNEARTHLY COLD.
M 2
1d4 APPEARING

Rivalries, The Strength of a Hateful Bond

In the backwards villages in central Nilfenbergia, feuds between siblings are quashed quickly, for fear of a Rivalry. Once both siblings have committed injury to the other, they are both open to the influence of a Rivalry, an intangible spirit of ill will made manifest.

The first sign is the sudden cessation of hostilities between the siblings. Indeed, they grow close, often being seen conversing together. This is no agreement however, but the influence of the Rivalry, driving the pain and hate of mutual wounds outwards, directed to the village at large. The methods the siblings take depend on their genders.

Two brothers will become sly, manipulative, twisting the desires and dreams of others to crush them and see them hurt, eventually aiming to drive the village apart from each other, a community at war the final goal.

Two sisters will become violent, aggressive, starting physical confrontations and always escalating to naked steel as quickly as possible. Some of the worst bandits of the Nilfenberg Empire have been these sisters, driven by a Rivalry to terrorize, plunder and burn across the realm.

A brother and a sister will be a bizarre combination of the two, both freely switching between roles as the situation determines. A sickening sexual element evolves from this Rivalry, each delighting in the flesh of the other and both in their victims. Kinfucker is one of the more heinous insults in the Nilfenbergian lexicon.

In the case of twins, each gains the ability to shift their appearance to the other, one of them becoming the known destroyer, the other angelic, a seeming force for good in the community.

--

Banishing the Rivalry is no easy task - one must investigate the feud from it's start, and unravel each wrong committed, finally tricking the siblings into forgiving one another. Records on this succeeding are scant and likely untrue, the Church usually burning them alive once caught.

Parasite Host - Class

Some are children in the Fever Swamp are chosen to be a Host. They are treated incredibly well, spared the hardship of the swamp-dweller life, princes of the decay and dirty water. On the cusp of adulthood, they are stripped and blindfolded. A shaman, daubed in the protective berry juices and herbs, is the only company they have on the journey to find a Transfiguration Worm. If one is not found within the week, calamity is sure to follow. The last year it happened, Nilfenbergian scouts burnt twelve villages.

The Worm found, the child is offered as host. The worm burrows into the spine, and lodges there, enmeshing itself within the spinal cord of the host. The child is then left in the Swamp, unknowingly tugged by the Worm to find new experiences. Eventually, the Worm has experienced enough, and will force the host back to the Swamp, barely even human. It is not known why they collect experiences.

Transfiguration Host - HD, SAVES AS SPECIALIST, XP AS FIGHTER.

Upon leveling, roll on the appropriate level chart - 

Levels 1-3

d6	Benefit
1	The Transfiguration Worm senses some base magical potential, and stimulates it. The Host wakes up each morning with a random level 1 spell ready for use.
2	The fingers and toes of the Host become like those of a gecko, granting +4 in climb and removing the need for rope – if hands and feet are uncovered.
3	The host awakes with the taste of blood in their mouth – their canines have been forced out by razor-sharp fangs. They can bite for 1d6 damage.
4	The jaw and stomach of the host are modified – the host can dislocate their jaw (by hand) to swallow small objects, and can then vomit them back up at will.
5	The host will not live long – the Worm knows this, and accelerates their metabolism. Their healing rate is doubled, but the host takes a -2 penalty on saves against poison and disease.
6	The olfactory glands of the host are heightened to the point where they rival that of a domestic dog.

Levels 4-6

d6	Benefit
1	The nervous system of the host is radically rewired, granting the ability to learn the last d4 weeks of memory contained within any brain eaten.
2	The host gains a toxin gland, which can be mixed with saliva and spat into the eyes, causing d4 days of blindness of a failed save vs poison. 2/day.
3	An ungainly protrusion from the back of the skull is in fact a gland which can generate enough electricity to stun a human-sized target for 1d6 rounds. 1/day.
4	The host complains of great pains from one arm, and they can feel a twisting and grinding from the bones. Once they eventually pass out, sweat drenched and delirious with pain, the flesh of the arm sloughs off to reveal a wickedly sharp bone-blade, capable of dealing 1d10+1 damage, with +2 to hit. Of course, they no longer have a hand.
5	The parasite has matured enough to tap into its own magical potential – the host memorises a random second level spell when they sleep.
6	The host gains the ability to vomit intense acid once a day, dealing 2d8 damage to those in front of them – however, the higher d8 of damage is dealt to the host as they are burned by the acid.

Levels 7+

d6	Benefit
1	A pair of bat-like wings violently erupt from the back of the host, destroying any armour worn. The muscles of the back become knotted and powerful, enabling flight but disallowing any armour or tight clothing not tailor made.
2	Without warning, the knees of the host snap backwards with a sickening crunch, resembling the legs of a bird. The muscles moan and twist at their sudden growth. The host moves at twice their original speed.
3	The host falls to the ground, screaming, as they nearly double in size, all fragile or worn equipment destroyed. Any natural attacks move up a dice size for damage. The strength of the host is set to 18, and they gain HP equal to their level times two.
4+	The time has come – the parasite takes control, driving the host back towards the Fever Swamp.

CULTS.

Being a record of the Proscribed Cults and Societies of the Nilfenbergian Empire.

"The god you believe in is safe - because it does not exist. Your god is not real. Ours are."
 -Heretic Jean Halet prior to his burning.

Cult of the Unknown / Forgottten.

You shall know them by the wearing of any faded, destroyed or worn religious symbol.
The power is forgotten and stronger for it. Weakness through worship, and strength through obscurity. Only a select few may know of the cult, and fewer still be indoctrinated. The commands - Destroy libraries. Kill scholars and the faithful. Hide me and forget me - and so I shall grow. The most forgetful shall be rewarded.

Pestilent Church

Those afflicted are those blessed – fever dreams speak truer than the unclouded eye, as it is writ within the Book of Lepers. The Prophets are the afflicted, and they render truth throughout their suffering.

We, the Seekers, find the Prophets and bring them to our hallowed halls, wherein the Minders will prolong the flickering flame of a Prophets life and record their sacred words, to be added to the manifold predictions of the Prophets. These are stored within the Blighted Archives, wherein senior Seekers will divine the true meanings and guide the faithful.

--

We give prayer in the Hall of Moans, wherein the most blessed of prophets, immobile in their holy state, moan and reveal the hidden secrets. The only hymns in our church will be those of the Prophets, leading us forwards. Oh, the irony the most agonised are the most blessed, begging for death when they are on the edge of divinity.

Some diseases spew forth substance, bile, blood and fluid. Some prophets spew prophecy. Within the Chamber, the Minders discern meaning like the Haruspices of old, but informed with truth and disease rather than primitive superstition and animal entrails.

Within the Blighted Archives we store the words of all Prophets, as well as our relics – whether they be hated cures for blessings or the viscera of the most notable saints. Each Prophet receives a tome, eventually bound in their own skin, no matter how leprous.

The Unwashed Servants of the Immaculate Prince, the Purest Divinity Untainted.

The commandment - Debase this World and Honour Me.

Loved is the sewer and the charcoal burner.

My idols are filth encrusted - better they do not pretend to reflect my glory.

You shall worship me as a Soiled God - the Immaculate Prince cannot be understood by your mere meat and filth and dust and dirt.

All members of this foulsome cult are well versed in the desecration and defilment of religious structures.

The Many Mouths of Starvation / The Eaters / Cult of Consumption

We fight famine. We hold starvation at bay through our ceaseless consumption. Eat. Eat, Eat, That's all there is to it, my delicate morsel. Hm? Why should I not enjoy saving the world.

The Schism - Quantity or Quality? The Gluttons and the Gourmands. Which will sate a divine hunger best? Mountains of material, edible or no, or else the most exotic, the most daring culinary exploits? Gourmands are of noble birth, with vast sums of money and many strings to pull. Gluttons are simply unstoppable mountains of flesh, their custom steel teeth gnashing endlessly.

Peace Killers / The Cult of Limited Strife

Our enemy, the Strife King, the Lord of Battle, let slip a powerful secret - war is a limited resource. Peace shall reign triumphant once our task is complete. We are gladiators, killers, soldiers, mercenaries and generals all serving under the banner of peace. We spar endlessly afore entering the world to drain the pool of battle as quickly as we can, so that we may all know peace.

THE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

The Battle Exotic - The more unusual, the more novel the battle, the greater the drain upon that resource, War. These members are dressed flamboyantly and often wield custom made weapons, discarding them often to move onto something stranger - often mid-fight.

The Battle Extended - The cost of a fight upon that pool of War grows strongest with length - all fights should be drawn out as long as possible to maximise the cost. Adherents to this school will often bear heavy armour but very light weapons. Knights with knives.

The Battle Perfect - The higher the skill employed in the battle, the more taxing it is for the Strife King and his hoard of War. These inidividuals seek out the strongest, most skilled opponents. They will dedicate themselves entirely to a single style and weapon.

The Battle Tremendous - The volume is key - the largest battles, the greatest wars. Manipulators, generals and diplomats rather than the individual fighters of the other Schools.

Sighted Spiders, One Eyed Wolf

A tiny translucent spider, marked only by the tiny red speck (the egg) located in it's abdomen. The eggs reflects light like a cat's eye. They seek only to propagate the species through implanting their eggs into the eyes of just about any animal they find.

SIGHTED SPIDER
HP 1
AC AS LEATHER SIZE
ATTACK - SPECIAL
MORALE 12
MOV AS SPIDER
1D10 APPEARING

Attack - Sighted Spiders seek the eyes and deposit their tiny red eggs in the tear ducts. A day after being laid, the spiderlings burrow into the eye itself and feast on the vitreous humour. It take one spiderling a year to eat your eye, at which point it leaves.

Whilst infested, hosts gain the ability to read the information woven into any spider web, giving information on the local area and recent events, from a distinctly spidery perspective. With practice, the host gain retain this ability after the spiderling is fully grown and has left the eye.

Unintelligent animals gain a burgeoning consciousness, and will seek others of their kind to ponder the meaning of this. Such Sighted Animals communicate to each other via artfully arranged spiderwebs, and will maintain Sighted Spider nests for their children.

--

Corq, One Eyed Wolf
HD 4
AC AS CHAIN FROM SCARS, SPEED
ATTACKS - 1 BITE 1D10 2 CLAW 1D6
MORALE 10
MOV AS WOLF
1 APPEARING

Corq leads a pack of Sighted Wolves on a mission of revenge against the settlers burning the forest and killing his Blind kin. Corq is attempting to bargain with the Great Spiders of the deep forests, but the spiders do not trust the one eyed wolves.

Corq has brokered alliances with the other Sighted animals of the forest, most notably the Sighted Boars led by Two Tusk One Eye Three Leg and the Sighted Pigeons led by whomever COO's the loudest.

The settlers believe there to be a witches in the area, and have called for the Nilfenbergian witch-hunters to settle the matter.

Hooded Saints

HOODED SAINTS
1 HP
AC 16 - From speed of flight & size
MOV AS CROW
1 ATTACK - 1d4 Fly-by attack OR 1d4 Peck
M 7
2d20 APPEARING

The lonely spires and haunted crenellations of Nilfenberg are rife with the Hooded Saints - similar in all ways to the normal crow bar a dark hood of feathers sprouting from the neck and head. Often they can be spotted loitering, lurking, near prisons and executions squares, when they are not waging their bloody, endless war on the innumerable vermin of Nilfenberg.

To strike one is to offend the Church, and to kill one worse - a crime punishable by death. To kill a Saint one will feed the rest. Witch-hunters of the Church say the Saints will attack witches, offended by their foulsome, corrupt scent. Their retinues always carry at least one Saint, trained to kill on subtle command.

They accompany the armies of the Nilfenberg Empire to battle, and feed well on the results - it is whispered the nobility have sworn a pact with them to ensure victory, though the mechanisms of such are unknown. The feast of victory falls to them, regardless of who wins the day.

A Murder of Saints is a worrisome sight to any enemy of the Empire or the Church, and the murder of saint is followed by a great flight of the Hooded Saints.