Big Ticket Mystery Theatre

The second post about questions posed by G+ readers. It's a few days late as I was away at the weekend at a birthday party, and I had a very busy week in general. However, here we are. This weeks question was from Chris Kutalik of Hill Cantons fame. His question was this:

What about the big ticket mysteries? Without spoilers, what are the strangest and deepest unexplained things about the world the players might encounter in their adventures?

The primary game mystery (or mysteries, really) revolves around the island of Thyle. What really happened there 200 years ago? What caused the Cerulean Plague, aka the Blue? What happened to the people who didn’t get off the island before the cordon was put in place? What happened to the Dwarves (and their goblin slaves) and the Elves, who retreated into their Vaults and forests respectively? What happened to the previous expeditions?

Then there are some less immediate mysteries:

What’s going on in distant Lutha? Once, Luthan merchants brought spices, foreign metals, woods and cloths to market from the far West. In recent years this trade has all but vanished, and no-one seems to know why. There are rumours of conquest and war, but no concrete information has filtered down to the ears of the common folks.

What do the Dwarves do with all their gold? Dwarves *never* make payments in gold. They will merrily make purchases in silver, gems and other valuables, but gold is strictly a one way deal. What do they do with it?

How does someone become a Saint? Pretty much everyone knows that the Saints were once mortals and that they somehow achieved apotheosis. However, there’s little or no information about how they managed it – even those Saints who have manifested to their followers are hazy on the subject.

Who are ‘The Makers’, the gods of the Dwarves?

Who or what is behind the Drachenmen? (Think Reavers from Firefly)

A fistful of magic

Following on from my previous entry, some of the nice folks on Google+ came up with some things to write about. The first, courtesy of Jez Gordon, is:

"Alright... how about Unique Magic Items for your players to uncover. And if you don't want to publicly give out the stats (cause you know, players can read too) maybe write it up in terms of legends about the items and possible clues to their attainment."

So, here are some items that are 'unique' to my game. They're not necessarily unique items though. There aren't many, just what I've bashed out when I've had ideas or notes I've written up.

The Tesseract

More properly a legendary artifact than mere magical item the Tesseract was kept at the heart of the Imperial prison, The Citadel of Ulan Gor, for centuries before even the rise of the Thyllian Empire. Of the Tesseract itself, it is said to be a nexus of magical flux energy, a physical manifestation of a rift in reality. The most powerful, dangerous, or insane criminals of the Empire were cast into the rift, sent to who knows where. Even now, tales are told of the banishment of Bargle the Usurper, who stole the throne for a dozen years before the rightful heir reclaimed it with fire and sword. In the aftermath of The Blue, none know what happened in the Citadel, or if the Tesseract is still protected by its supernatural guardians and ten-fold traps.

The Heart of Flame and the Heart of Sol

According to the liturgy of Sol, she was once a mortal woman who sought to bring light and warmth to the world. She and her warband travelled deep into the Underworld at the behest of a seer to find Draugha, the first and mightiest Dragon. They were opposed by servants of Aum, who had encased the world in ice and perpetual twilight. When Sol found the cavernous lair of Draugha, she found that the minions of the Moon had beaten them, and Draugha was mortally wounded. In an act of supreme self-sacrifice, Sol cut open her own breast and replaced her heart with that of Draugha. In doing so, she was filled with power and flame and upon her return to the surface ascended to heavens, engaging Aum in combat, putting out one of his eyes and beginning the eternal chase that continues to this day. Rumour suggests that Sols true heart continues to beat, even to this day, and if it were to be pierced, the sun would go out, darkness would fall, and Aum would be once again encase the world in ice. If it could be found, of course.

Saint Stephens Aegis

Saint Stephen was a humble goat herd who joined his people’s army to fight against the Zaharan Empire. Poor as dirt, he went to war armed with only his knife and sacrificed his last goat to make himself a shield. In war Stephen found his true calling as a both a leader and a warrior, and he used the shield both as protection and as a weapon, even hurling it at his foes with deadly accuracy. The spirit of the goat is said to have lived on within the shield, lashing out against the Zaharans and dealing powerful blows. After his ascension, the shield is said to have passed from warrior to warrior until it was taken and placed in Saint Stephens Shrine, in the Golden Mountains of Thyle.

Fires of Sol

The priesthood of the Sun Goddess produce a potent elixir that, it is said, is capable of curing any malady, healing and wound and even restoring the dead to life. It is also deathly poison to the undead and servants of Aum the Destroyer. Whilst the chattering tongues of the peasantry often exaggerate the actual powers of the Fires of Sol, there is truth in their words. The Fires of Sol are created by senior priests who are capable of imbuing the magical waters with increasingly potent effects. The divine liquids can be used as healing draught, as holy water and also as a light source as they glow with the very fires of Sol herself. More powerful versions can cure diseases or atrophied senses, and those blessed by the Illuminata Vita are among the mightiest curatives known to exist.

Illuminata Vita – The most senior ranking Priestesses of Sols church, leading the direction of the faith alongside the Illuminatus Grex, the Illuminata Hasta and the Illuminatus Hoplon.