Snail People of Uod

A lifelong native of Imphomonee, Favod the Younger was the most sought after artist of the previous century. His father, Favod the Elder, was a sculptor of middling talent who kept the family well off with statuary for the Eskla nobles of the city. In an attempt to woo the heart of a crushed dame, Favod the Younger first attempted the arts by creating a deathmask of the girl's fallen brother. The magnificent construction won him the favour of the girl and her whole family, and soon Favod the Younger was the famous artist of the city. Due to the nature of his work, wealthy families would transport him in advance of the demise of fading relatives and keep him in Opulent surroundings. Pieces of his work exists in mansions and museums all along the Minkush River Valley, and his success enable Favod to purchase an immense structure overlooking the falls in Imphomonee. For a few years, it became fashionable to hold masked balls where the courtiers would were faux-deathmasks of thems...

Viljimil (Clan of the Mottled Bull) is known throughout magical lodges as circumspect and devoted scholar who created the most detailed account (Viljimil's Hierarchy) of known spirits and tales of daemonology. But as a budding sorcerer, he was quickly found to be lacking the willpower to command certain orders of Chlendi spirits and instead devoted himself to more scholarly pursuits. He spent the majority of his adult life travelling throughout the Rhiat, taking notes and collect true names from other dweomercrafters, whether they were Heteri shamans, Mindat theurges, or the local herbalist from a pocket community of Chlendi. Viljimil was well into middle age when he finally returned to Asklor to compose the text itself. He enlisted a team of nog servants to attend to his needs, organize texts and keep him supplied. As a result, scholar today argue whether the taxonomical decisions on Heteri beast forms were Viljimil's actual intent, or is pages were taken by his chef to wr...

Despite the threats of further border skirmished, Mindat philosopher-scientists continue to make surreptitious expeditions to the isles west of the Shn continent. They believe the mantis-folk living the fetid hills there bear some relationship to the remnants of experiments they have found in subterranean caverns left by the snail people. The mantis-folk there have a warrior caste whose internal organs are replace with an alchemical paste. The organs are in term placed in oil covered pots which are secreted away in similar caves. This procedure is believed to slow the aging process and make one resilient to bleeding out from wounds in combat.

Four more years and I'll be out of slavery. I look out at the black obelisks lining the palace wall and that blasted massive statue the Mindat left in the harbour, and I wonder if the "New Days of the Heteri Kings" are any better than the old regime. At least I don't have to listen to any crazy-hatted mystics bleating on about with lectures from the White Book. Once a month, my debtmaster lets me head into Dunzeldaryn - in exchange for attending the orgies at his temple, he's knocking a month off my term. Not a bad trade, I wager - The incense doesn't burn my eyes as much, but I doubt the scars on my chest will ever fade away.

The Vumach sign is said to have been taught to Heteri shamans by the four-armed frog people that lived in the mountain passes southeast of Sofegai. The arrangement of one's fingers on a human hand requires much more practice and flexibility. The proper display of the Vumach Sign will make spirits and creatures of other spheres pause, allowing time to prepare an incantation of defense (or allow those of wisdom to flee the scene).

The Clan of the Sunset Moss, or Qod Etherhi, are only of founding clans of the Chlendi settlements of the Rhiat. They are historically notable for took the Chlendi crown in one of the few interruptions of the Black Lily dynasty. After an occurrence of the Chlendi Black Pox on the mainland, Iminir of the Black Lily Crown offered himself in sacrifice to Paeglaphiis, Chlendi spirit of disease. Lacking a an heir Iminir's cousin, Shokinnan of the Sunset Moss, took the crown and seat upon the Crooked Throne. Shokinnan and his clan held title for almost 150 years before an arranged marriage restored the Black Lily to their rightful spot in 1687. Shokinnan was the founder Pugshlow, and the clan remains the rulers of the region. The town's original border can be seen in a ring of swamp graves 3 miles out. During the border skirmished with the Maetah, the Etherhi claim pacts with a Chlendi War Spirit, Itil-called-the-Vengeful. They claim the blessing of this spirit allowed acid to p...

In 2031, just a few years after the Dispersion of the Vaporous Host, a humble artisan in Vedeldermoush presented the Mindat Emperor Guad with a carved set of small wooden idols in likeness of the Imperial family. So struck by their beauty and the carver's story of the time and care that went into their making, he honoured the man with title and a place among the court. Scant months later, the Emperor Guad, his family, the artisan and most of the court will slaughtered in a coup, and the palace sacked. The idols were presumed lost or destroyed until one, that of the Guad infant son, appeared in a trove hauled from a shipwreck off the coast of Givos. It was passed on to the Preceptor of the Rais-Worm Lodge in Bolog, who purchased it from a gambler unaware of its significance. Study showed that the wood used in the idol was taken from a Sh'n soul tree, probably taken during the artisan's work as a shipwright during Mindat invasion of the Sh'n homeland. The carving depi...

The Chlendi people first ventured south to the swampy shores of the Rhiat 500 years ago. Despite condemnations of their elders, members of the Clan of the Black Lily listened to the prophecies of an oracle - one blinded to the sight of spirits but open to the sight of the future. They narrowly escaped the pox that would ravage their homeland. Ever since, the Chlendi have kept a keen eye for the sign of oracles. Female descendants of the original oracle, Laxotli, are kept in isolation, bred according to complex lineage charts in hopes they will bear the next bringer of truth. It is said the oracles speak with spirits will still and the womb and learn the arts of prescience, thus not needing the arts of Chlendi sorcery. Those born with six fingers are said to the mark of augury, and are denied their mother's milk. By stunting the physical growth, the oracle shall focus his vision. When the amberite mines of Asklor went dead, the Laxotli knew. When the city-now-called-Minkaraph fe...

A particularly slow moving river branch flows down from the mountains north of Pugshlow, and merges into the Minkush River at the town of Pasdani. If one walks upstream for a mile, you can see the river suddenly change from a virulent green to the normal muddy brown of the Minkush waters. Various scholars attribute the green colour to the swamp vegetation or mountain ores from the river's source, but few are satisfied with an explanation of why the colour disappears so suddenly. At that spot, the earth is dead and salted - no plants grow, and no animal approach the waters to drink. A sect of monks, learned in the Chlendi traditions of sorcery and shamanism, have devoted their existence to prayers and chants at this spot, all to placate the Nuxad, a flock of river spirits known throughout the northwest. Unlike most areas, here the Nuxad are not peaceful and wise. For centuries that have lashed out at passing travelers, boats, and the more innocent of deer, dragging them all to ...

Pretty Cool System

* Alchemy - achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making or conversion substances possessing omnessance qualities. * Astrology - while including divinatory practices, it is also the method of achieving change through attunement and manipulation of astral/etheric forces. Astrology as a form of divination is a perception of changes (often made by other astrologers) in these forces. * Conjuration - the magical art of evoking or calling forth spirits, demons, or other supernatural agent to bring spiritual inspiration, do the bidding of the magician or provide information. * Consecration - the enchantment, dedication, or attunement of physical objects or places. * Herbalism - traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plant, plant extracts, and other organic substances, and their use as sources of omnessance. Also includes the use of tonics, humours, and organ theory. * Mysticism - this style is concerned with the...

"Spirit Magic in Heroquest works by finding appropriate spirits and then, through a contest, bind them in a fetish of sorts, some obects that fit the intended purpose and the nature of the spirits. Some of those fetishes are one-time-only deals: Crush the fetish and the spirit comes out doing a deal for you, after which it's free to go on its way. Some are more permanent, giving the character an active magical ability that he can use over and over again." This is akin to some of the talisman and fetish ideas I stole from Shadowrun for the Chlendi. The same idea, but Shadowrun used it to give your character some setting flavour, but the effect was purely a mechanical bonus. Consider this stolen.

The Tall Prince is a Chlendi Spirit of Vengeance, with teeth of ivory and eyes of gold.  He is said to be the prince of a forgotten Chlendi clan, whose father poisoned him in the night so as to steal the prince's new bride.  To summon him, seek out the poisonous dewbite mushrooms in the deepest swamplands.  Prepare a broth of their stems and drink it at dusk.  When two moons appear as three, place a copper coin in your mouth, count to ten, and swallow it.  If your cause if just, you will awake when your vengeance is done.  The only cost is your little finger. During the 3rd Century, it became fashionable in some southern cities to remove the little finger from one's offhand to give an aura of machismo.  Youths and ne'er-do-wells would graffiti a four-fingered hand on the doors and buildings as a sign of intimidation.