“The inside of the nyek was strewn with oddities, things that glittered and shone, talked and sang and echoed our voices. Were they there, inside the creature all along? Had it eaten them? Incorporated them? Or were they already here on the beach, just waiting to be found?”
~Garene, wreck survivor and cofounder of Maer Outpost
This tiny town along the coast began life as a shipwreck—or rather, as the point of collision between a passing ship and a young bellowing nyek. Both the vessel and the creature were destroyed in the impact, sending shards of ship and bone and supplies and skin scattering across the shore.
Those who survived the wreck—two women named Garene and Tiage, and a thuman named Maer—set up a temporary camp with whatever supplies they could gather. Surprisingly, they found far more in the wreckage than had been on the ship. All manner of the numenera were tangled among the nyek’s corpse: oddities, cyphers, unknown parts, and even a few intact artifacts.
and the scholars must work together to create an understanding of what they’ve learned. An entire building is dedicated to recording and then piecing together all of the different bits of information the tomb has provided. Anyone who is not out in the world as a missionary is expected to spend much of his day working in this building.
A small percentage of scholars go mad when the hieroglyphs are shown upon their faces. It might occur during their first prayer or their hundredth, but all who are afflicted rise into the air briefly, as if no longer held by gravity, and then fall limp to the ground, babbling words that sound like sparks from an electric current. They appear to recover, but a day or so later, they begin to believe they are not themselves, but rather are the person who was standing nearest to them at the time of the incident. So far, the orange globe has given no information on the reason for the madness or how to treat it. Those with the mimicking disease are housed in a special building called the Ephemeral Ward until a cure can be found.
Bellowing nyeks are behemoth amphibian creatures with multiple finwings and a long, serpentine tail. They spend most of their lives in the air, flying and leaping above the ocean’s surface. Once they reach a certain size, however, they become waterbound, able to breach the surface only rarely. The sight of a fully grown bellowing nyek breaching is one of wonder to even the most hardened and experienced Ninth Worlders. Bellowing nyek: level 9; Armor 5; swims up to 500 feet (152 m) each round
EDELMID
An island in the southwestern region of the Cays, Edelmid’s entire surface is covered with huge ringed structures. These rings, called Grask’s Hoops, vary in height and size. The largest is just over 200 miles (322 km) across and 1 mile (2 km) above sea level.
The structures are layers upon layers of rings made of what looks like a combination of dirt and sand. However, the substance doesn’t act like typical soil or drit. Very little seems to grow in it, it is harder than stone when wet, and it runs in rivers when dry. As the material shifts and hardens and shifts again, always the rings remain, perfect circles spreading outward.
The weather on Edelmid is daunting and disconcerting to the unprepared.
• Travelers might find themselves stuck in a storm of scent—tiny star-shaped drops that break open upon them not with liquid, but with smells. Sometimes a storm carries just one odor, good or bad, in its downpour; other times it drenches creatures in a cacophony of fresh fruit, Somehow word spread, and soon people
began arriving on the beach, asking to purchase this thing or that thing. It wasn’t long before Maer’s Outpost became a place to buy things you couldn’t find elsewhere. The store, built inside the remains of the nyek, is a long, rambling, tunnel-like structure, full of pockets and side rooms.
Garene has since passed on, but Tiage, with Maer at her side, continues to run the town and the trading post. Ships continually arrive from nearby islands and from much farther away as well, carrying those who seek rare and unusual items.
No one is entirely sure where the goods continue to come from—Tiage and Maer don’t tell—and, besides, who wants to look a gift aneen in the mouth? Customers gladly take what’s offered, especially since prices are more than fair. Often, the item you’re looking for isn’t there when you arrive, but Tiage will tell you to come back in a few days or a week. Upon your return, she will send Maer into one of the back rooms to retrieve your desired item.
OMARIS HEARSAY
To Create a Man: A woman named Brige, a member of the glaili strippers, announced that she discovered how to compress glaili and turn it into a living human. Unfortunately, the first one she created ran off and has disappeared. Brige is willing to pay handsomely for the return of her “proof.”
Horrors Unleashed: A swarm of grublike insects was discovered and accidentally released from one of the passageways in the northernmost kubic. The grubs enter people through any available orifices and grow large enough to burst open the bodies of their hosts. They then “carry” the body around, using it as protection and nutrients. The people of the area are calling for assistance in destroying the plague.
THE WEIRD OF OMARIS
Unusual Gifts: In a small village called Hardu, a strand of a clear, jellylike substance 20 feet long (6 m) and 5 inches around (13 cm) has been winding its way through the streets, hovering about 3 feet (1 m) in the air. Hundreds of long, white tendrils hang down, and most people who touch one discover a new oddity or cypher on their person within a few hours. The discovery of the object is accompanied by an intense throbbing behind the eyes.
Duplicate Protection: A full suit of armor washed ashore outside Maer Outpost, the metal dented and scratched, with the name Kyale stamped onto the front. A day later, what appeared to be the same piece of armor, with the same marks, washed ashore in the same place. And again a day later. Since then, five more identical pieces of armor have appeared.
Although getting caught in a sensation storm of any kind is discombobulating— causing nonadapted creatures to be stunned or dazed for anywhere from one round to one day—touchstorms are potentially deadly. Being in a bad touchstorm for just ten minutes can cause 10 points of Might damage and 5 points of Intellect damage (both ignore most Armor).
Crowns of Kavess: Covering a large area in the center of each of Grask’s Hoops, a gelatinous raspberry-red plant grows in crystalline clumps. Called Crowns of Kavess, the plants grow up to 10 feet (3 m) high and survive by “drinking” the scents and sounds brought by the storms. After these large storms, each group of crowns begins to vibrate and churn, working together as if they’re a single large machine. Within a day, the largest crown in the area sprouts one or sometimes two powerful artifacts at the top of its tallest crystalline structure. Removing the artifact intact is a level 5 task.
To protect themselves during this time, the crowns emit clouds of red chemicals that color the earth and air for miles. The chemical storm lingers for one day, attempting to attract all organic organisms in the area. Creatures that fall prey to the chemicals are compelled to get to the crowns as quickly as they can and defend them (and most important, the artifact) from any perceived threats for one hour, until they are brought to their senses, or until their death.
animal dung, green twigs, and the mating stench of unknown animals.
• When the wind picks up, it carries the sounds of long ago—not the noise of the traveler’s past, but of someone else’s. • A touchstorm is an experience wished
only upon one’s worst enemies. This silent and invisible—but often deadly— weatherfront erupts in a series of sensations, from the barest of ticklish touches to the agony of being beaten repeatedly.
• The rarest weather pattern is tidalsnow, a wet, low-hanging cloud that starts at the size of a fist and grows larger over a week or two. When it reaches a critical mass— usually a mile or so across—it explodes, pelting the land with small creatures, oddities, bits of the numenera, and anything else it has gathered from . . . somewhere. While it might seem like such a place wouldn’t sustain life, Edelmid is home to a variety of plants and animals, many of which have adapted to thrive in the unusual ecosystem.
Crown of Kavess: level 3; health 20; Armor 1 (plus any Armor from the creature that is defending them)
Chemical storm: level 3, persuasion as level 5 If an artifact grown by a crown is depleted, the user can attempt to revive the artifact by providing it with an intense sensory experience, such as the emotional death of a loved one; a beautifully cooked, savory meal; or being bathed in the blood of enemies. Reviving the artifact in this way is a level 4 task. Once revived, the artifact returns to its former depletion rate.
They hunt in packs of three to ten, using their enhanced sense organs to sniff out those in hiding. Fast and stealthy, they sneak up on prey and use bludgeoning weapons to attack. Their preference is to make their prey submit in some way and acknowledge the power of the Purblind before being killed and eaten. But if the usken just have to kill someone, they will do that, too.
The leader of each pack typically carries an artifact (sometimes two) gathered from one of the Crowns of Kavess.
ISEATH
The only notable gathering of creatures on Edelmid is in the town of Iseath. Located at the juxtaposition of two large hoops and the shore, Iseath is a military-style complex run by a creature called Damor the Cleansed.
The complex is designed to hold up to 10,000 inhabitants (although it currently holds much fewer than that) and is efficient, neat, and clean. Creature comforts abound, including warm water (generated by an odd device in the middle of the city that is powered by a swarm of winged creatures), soft lights that come on automatically in the evening, and a large working farm and kitchen that provides sustenance for everyone.
Damor the Cleansed stands nearly 10 feet (3 m) tall, and for all intents and purposes, she is a cybernetic organism, although her organic parts appear to consist of a biological metal. She doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, and spends her extensive brainpower on building an army to fight the forces that are coming to the Ninth World to take her back to her homeworld, a place she calls Symas Anet. She is not a fighter but a thinker and a leader, and she is incredibly good at both, almost as if she was bred or created for that purpose.
Her companion is Cily, a spiderlike Edel’s Erynth Grask: A peculiar subspecies
of erynth grask thrives beneath Edelmid’s hoops. This dark purple and black creature is slightly smaller around and longer than the main species, and typically has eight small arms instead of six. They mark their bodies extensively, often using an unknown process that causes their symbols to glow with a green bioluminescent light.
Usken: These abhuman brutes have thick, short torsos, with large feet and long legs that carry them quickly over the stretches of the hoops. They call themselves the Purblind and bear faces devoid of not just eyes but also nose, mouth, and ears. Their enhanced sensory organs are located in long tendrils that trail behind them. When the storms come, or when the crowns release their chemicals, the usken wrap their tendrils in protective gear to safeguard their senses. They are blind and deaf during this time, making them vulnerable; thus, they choose one or two of their fellow Purblind as sacrificial guards to protect the rest of the tribe.
Any other time, the usken are daunting, fierce foes who crave fresh meat and power.
Erynth grask seem to stay underground to avoid the red chemical clouds of the crowns, giving the impression that despite their alien nature, they might be affected by a chemical storm’s call to action. Usken: level 4; Armor
2; carries a medium bludgeoning weapon; when “senseless,” becomes level 1 in tasks involving perception, and all attacks and defense tasks are modified by one step to their detriment
Damor the Cleansed: level 5, mental tasks and leadership abilities as level 6 Usken leader: level 5; Armor 5; typically has a random artifact
Cily: level 3 Erynth grask,
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“On my homeworld, I am one of many, all the same. Here, I am the only. Here, I am the one who leads. I will never go back there. You will protect me. You will keep me here. You will be my saviors. Come now, and together we will clean this
world of those who defile it.” ~one of Damor’s inspirational speeches
in order to best fight them.
Once a person joins Damor’s army, he is in for life. A change of heart, a need to return home, or any other reason for attempting to leave is considered a form of treason, and Damor will quickly command someone to put an end to it.
RYNACH
Tucked between Angmorl and Darnali, Rynach is an island shrouded in the thick, tangled jungle called the Vatic Woods. Getting through the woods is a struggle that few attempt and even fewer creature that stands waist-high to Damor on
twelve long, thin legs and has an integrated transmission tower on its back. Cily’s job is to send broadcasts into the world every day, announcing the creation of the army and providing the location to interested parties.
The army that Damor is building comes from everywhere—she isn’t choosy. If they vow to protect her and fight against the army from Symas Anet, she takes them in. Currently her army is nearly 2,000 strong, including fighters, weaponsmiths, numenera crafters, and support staff. Damor believes in rewarding those who are loyal, and she works hard to provide her army with everything they can dream of (except, perhaps, freedom and originality).
Every army member wears a suit made in her likeness, no matter their species or gender. The suits give them some of Damor’s unique abilities—the ones, she says, that will best allow them to deal with the approaching forces—including detecting ultraviolet light, manipulating gravity, and going without food or water for up to a week. Time is spent creating weapons, improving the city, training for combat, and learning extensively about the people and culture of Damor’s homeworld
EDELMID HEARSAY
Joining the Ranks: A varjellen called Koukehry traveled a long way to join Damor’s army. Koukehry is not a believer, but a researcher; he wants to find out how to get to her homeworld. However, he has fallen ill in Maer Outpost and is asking for someone to help him get to Iseath. He understands that this is likely his final journey, but he wants to take it anyway. Body of Work: A large, living mass of gelatinous matter wanders Edelmid, apparently unaffected by the storms. Even the usken stay a safe distance from it. It speaks in a soft, melodious voice, quietly asking passersby for help in finding its true body so it can experience life again.
THE WEIRD OF EDELMID
The Shattering Vessel: In the very center of one of the hoops near Iseath, a large hickory-colored container covered with white footprints is slowly rising from the earth. Each day it rises a bit more. Small cracks are starting to appear along the top, showing a bright green light inside. Wildflower of Promise: Here and there, a low-lying garnet flower grows, its long- thorned tendrils stretching out along the ground. The tendrils yell to anyone who passes by, promising a quick death to all of their enemies if they just pick a flower and let it prick their finger.
Some members of Damor’s army say that she isn’t really a fugitive, but instead has been sent here to assemble an army to help those from Symas Anet take over the Ninth World. But no one says it very loudly.
Army member: level 3, tracking as level 4; Armor 3
succeed at. That’s because at some point the trees were biogenetically enhanced, designed to sniff out the ulterior motives of anyone entering the forest.
The trees, called hovering spoolwoods, bend their long limbs down over any approaching organic creature. They sweep their tendrils across hair or skin to create a telepathic connection, and then show the creature two very different possible futures and ask them to choose one. The spoolwoods spread the answer to all of the other trees on the island via their extensive root system and come to a joint decision. If the trees deem that a creature’s motives are true, they allow it to pass and even open the way. If not, the spoolwoods actively block passage and access
to the island. If a creature doesn’t leave when asked, the spoolwoods will attack (although it seems clear that their preference is to avoid combat if possible).