9 Truths of Neurim

Consider this a reboot of the Neurim Primer.

1. The Sun Never Sets

The sun is always in the sky, and the land is ever bathed in its white light and warmth. The sun is dim, and Neurim's moons are visible in the sky (like the sun, the white moon Corhael and the red moon Mara take permanent residences in the sky, while the gene moon Astla orbits once every day and is how people on Neurim track time). The sun only sets if you travel far, and when it sets the land becomes dark and cold.

2. Bocathia Was Great

The Bocathian Empire was the greatest in this or any age, an immense magi-tech powered nation that spanned the globe. They succumbed to Plague, withered and rotted away in their own decadence, and their ruins litter the land.

3. The Zetterites Have Their Hands in Everything

For 600 years, the Zetterite Empire have spread their laws and church over all of the sunlit surface of Neurim, spreading far past the point their logistics allow. Every nation on Neurim either submits to the Empire, or has made long standing agreements for peace. The Zetterites have kidnapped hundreds of gods, and most have no opportunity to worship except in Zetterite built listening rooms.

4. The Zetterite Empire is on the Verge of Collapse

The Empire is beset on all sides. The orctide in the South, the Tahls in the North, the backstabbing Nastrans to the East, the heretic Svoggites in the West. Several decades of war have made the empire weak, and it can no longer afford to assert control over much of its territory.

5. Magic is Dying, Alchemy is Surpassing it

True magic died with Bocathia, and what we have now is a weak facsimile. Technology progresses further and further every day, and it's only a matter of time before an alchemist discovers the secrets to efficient engine making.

6. The Second Little War Ravaged the Land

When Balisarius rose from the dead for the second time, he resumed his war against the Empire. This war ravaged much of the Imperial heartland, which has yet to recover a decade later. 

7. The Plague is on the Wind Again

Everyone can tell. Folks come to the High Capitol with a cough in their lungs looking for a cure, but the Plague is no mere unbalancing of the humors. Entire towns on the borderlands wither away, and soon the Plague will reach its tendrils deep into the Empire proper.

8. Folks are Different Nowadays

When Bocathia fell, folks started being born different. Signs, they called them, afflictions of the human form. They can change, as one ages. They modify appearance, and can grant powers. The stout and rock-wise stone signed were first. Then were the red-haired and attuned to magic fair signed. 

9. Bad Things Live in the Dark

Where there is no sunlight, terrible things lurk and dwell, twisted monstrosities rise up from the shadows. Everbright lanterns mark roads through dense forests and valley paths wreathed in eternal shadows, managed by brave lamplighters.

Haustoriamancy (For Cairn)

 Magic (the stuff you're thinking of) is a long dead art, practiced only through ancient scrolls and dying magitech. In this age we have haustoriamancy, or if you are of a less educated sort, enchanting.

Enchanters do not make magic items, no +1 swords or rings of protection. No, they bring magical to the mundane to let the mundane perform the impossible. Only in the hands of an enchanter is a torch a bomb, or a rope a binding coil, or a wolf's pelt a snarling beast.

Haustoriamancy is intended to be the primary form of magic in a setting, with more traditional Cairn magic existing, but not intended as a primary source of a character's abilities.

Becoming an Enchanter

Enchanting is a specialized semi-magical technique present in some members of society. For purposes of PC's, it is assumed any PC has the ability to become an enchanter, but lack the training unless granted to them by a background. Training takes 100 silver (silver standard) and several months of dedicated practice.

In addition, a haustoriamancer requires a ley-enchanted item, items with natural magic present inside of them. These items are either ancient relics (made entirely of non-conductive material) or items of deep sentimental value (again, made of non-conductive material). Regardless of what a ley-enchanted item is made of, it acts as a simple weapon (1d6 damage), unless it's a weapon that would do more naturally.

Enchanting

To enchant, a haustoriamancer uses their ley-item to infuse magical energy into an item, with the following restrictions:

1. Items must be non-conductive. Magic does not like metal.
2. Items must be a single item. You can enchant a bag filled with dust, but not the dust within the bag.
3. Items must be solid. Water is not an object, but ice is.

To enchant an item, a huastoriamancer gains 1 fatigue and expends an action (if in combat), and then afterwards can command the item to do something that fits for that item. For example:

• A candle explodes into a large puddle of slippery wax.
• A rope attempts to bind someone like a serpent of its own will.
• A quill writes a message on a paper when a certain trigger is met.
• A torch shatters into a storm of sharp splinters.
• A bag of dust explodes into an obscuring cloud.
• An arrow flies an impossible path.

After performing its duties, an enchanted item crumbles to dust if not destroyed by its action. The effects of these commands are up to interpretation. Creative use of items carries the day.

Enchanting Other Things

Additional training can unlock other possible items for a haustoriamancer to use. Just as learning enchanting, these cost 100 silver (silver standard) and several months of training. In addition, most of them are considered illegal in civilized lands, and will be stated as such.

Familiars and Blood Enchanting

One can create a loyal and intelligent familiar by spreading their blood onto an enchanted doll or other small construct. These familiars can communicate and follow tasks.

One can create more familiars, or larger and more dangerous familiars, but this is considered illegal, as a familiar will attempt to kill its master if it gets the chance. Small, singular familiars simply lack the necessary ability to do so.

Ley-Combat

One can learn to master the power of their ley-enchanted item. Ley-combatants can turn their item into any form of weapon.

Fire

One can learn to enchant flames, allowing them to guide the flame (not command) and increase its size and temperature. As fires are, of course, alive, they have minds of their own and will obey less and less the larger they get. Pyromancy is illegal. 

Wind

Like fire, wind is a obviously alive. Unlike other forms of haustoriamancy, to learn to control the wind you must first bargain with it by climbing onto the highest peak in the region and offering something of great value to the wind (the giants bargained their voices). Once you and the wind reach accord, you cam now bind to breezes and command the wind.

Bones

One can animate the bones of the dead (a complete skeleton is a single object, after all) into unthinking, but utterly devoted thralls. Only capable of simple tasks, such as hauling goods or pointing a spear at something and as effective at those tasks as any animated skeleton would reasonably be. Ossomancy is not necromancy, as you are only animating the bones, not returning them to unlife. Ossomancy is also illegal, but only on moral grounds.

Biomancy

One can manipulate their own blood, organs, and flesh through enchanting like they would any other object. Such options include:

• Using your intestines like a whip or rope
• Turning your nails into claws to use as natural weapons or to climb a tree
• Altering your face and body to be uncrecognizable.

Biomancy takes extreme toll on the body, causing 1d6 points of strength damage after an enchantment is finished. Legends tell of powerful biomancers being able to manipulate the biologoy of other beings, most notably to create the ketch, also known as the worst predator to ever exist. Biomancy is illegal.

Dreams

There is no magic in dreams.

Finding training in oneiromancy is difficult. There are few practitioner, and those who are hunted relentlessly. Oneriomancers can infuse magic into their thoughts to create phantasms of their ideas. These phantasms are real, but only temporarily. These dreams act real, though are obviously made out of thin magenta light, rather than flesh. Dreaming things into existence is extremely taxing mentally, causing 1d6 points of willpower damage. Oneiromancy is extremely illegal.

Firearms for His Majesty the Worm

Neurim has guns. If I ever intend to run HMTW in Neurim (and I do) I will need rules for firearms. These are those. Balance is secondary to idea.

General Firearm Rules: Like other ranged weapons, bullets and gunpowder are required to use a firearm and stack 6 to a slot. Firearms are difficult to reload mid combat, and require discarding two cards as a miscellaneous action. Blunderbuss cannot be reloaded in combat. Firearms can't hurt magical things. Intense magic will break a firearm just as quick as water.

Pistol

Pistols deal piercing damage. They do not grant attacks favor when attacking you in melee like other ranged weapons.

Musket (2 Slots)

Muskets deal piercing damage. Muskets grant access to the bow's special Aim Challenge Action. While wielding a musket, those attacking you with a melee weapon have favor.

Blunderbuss (2 Slots)

Blunderbuss can either spray over an entire zone, dealing 1 wound to all things inside of it, or can be fired at an engagement, dealing piercing damages to all things within said engagement. You are liable to shoot your allies with a blunderbuss. Such is life. While wielding a blunderbuss, those attacking you with a melee weapon have favor.

The Powder Monks

Specialist warrior monks who use firearms. They were the first to adopt the strange technology, and as a result have an understanding over their weapons not seen in all of the lands. The Lord Saint Gideon was a powder monk, and it was his years in solitude studying the musket that taught him to skills necessary to hold back the orctide in the south. The powder monks are a reclusive lot, but they will teach anyone with the capacity to learn their secrets.

The following talents are intended to start unlearned for all paths, but can be learned by any path.

The Wind of Black Powder

As a miscellaneous action you can attach or remove a bladed bayonet to your firearm. While this bayonet is equipped, the firearm is a melee weapon (treated as a dagger for a pistol or a polearm for a musket or blunderbuss). If the firearm is loaded, you can remove the bayonet as part of a normal attack action.

Saint Gideon's Blessed Rounds

Spend a resolve to perform a trick shot that would be otherwise impossible, such as curving or bouncing a bullet.  This isn't magic (though it definitely looks like it).

Snapshot

You may Riposte as an interrupt action using a loaded firearm. If the riposte is successful, the attacker does not gain favor from using a melee weapon against you while wielding a missile weapon.

Planes are Dumb

 Plane: A world separate to the primary one in which a game takes place, usually representing an alignment or element. Not the air kind.

Today on my list of strange and unnecessary vendettas: Planes.

I don't really like them anymore. Like don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with planes as a concept, and a lot of the standard DnD ones are interesting on at least a surface level. In fact, I think the take of planes being separate places is perfectly valid and there's nothing wrong with it, I just prefer otherwise.

I don't need to write an essay on why I think the way I do. I'm just going to ask a series of questions: Is the Plane of Fire infinitely big? If so, what is going on everywhere else? Why do we only see part of it? If it isn't then how big is it? Do all worlds share the same Plane of Fire? Have fire elementals been to other planets? Do they know secrets of the universe that we could never know?

There are answers to these questions, and they are interesting to answer, but oh boy is the result weird.  I prefer my weirdness to originate from things the players can interact with.

Something I've been trying in Neurim is making any sort of outer plane part of the same universe. There was once a demiplane called the Gaol, but now the Gaol is just a cavern deep under the earth. You can go there, no portal required. The Gaol isn't just a thing in the lore, its a tangible thing the players can interact with. You want to visit the high god of this world? That's cool, just climb the space elevator or find a space ship. You want to visit the elemental plane of fire? That's cool, just find a way to the sun.

I am unsure how useful this will be. Perhaps you will find it inspiring.

9 Colors of Fire

1) Red-Orange.

The brilliant embers of a true fire are impossible to mistake.

All other flames are corrupted forms of this ancient and pure flame.

2) Blue.

Cobalt flame, immensely hot.

Smoke from a flame this hot can reveal wayward spirits and bring light to the truth long lost.

3) Azure.

The light of the dead star Gnottis, like ever-shifting azure glass, chill to the touch.

The star is dim and still, a monument to what was, like a glass eye. Gnottis died before Neurim knew life, yet still it clings to life animated by the glass flame. It was carried to Neurim by the servants of the Bodyless Ones known as husks. The azure flame of Gnottis is said to bring life to the inanimate though harvesting the flame is nigh impossible.

4) Burgundy.

The light of love, passion, and death. Lit ever eternal in the Crematori. 

In Sisthea the East the burgundy flame, carried from drowned Sisthea the West, burns eternal in the furnace of the great Crematori, where all Sistheans are burnt upon their death, their ashes feeding the flame. It is said that their passions color the flame. Such a deep and vibrant red could only be forged by love.

5) Magenta.

The light of illusion, a burning fire of falsehood.

It's a figment, really. An impossible sight born of an impossible color. All illusions are the shadows of this magenta flame. The most wily of illusionists can hide the flame, though novices and incompetents often fail to fool anyone with their magic. The flickering of a false flame gives it away.

6) Green.

Pale and sickly, simultaneously the color of half rotten olives and under-ripe limes.

Green flame roams the Eyeless Lands, brought by the ogres and their insipid illness from below. It is the flame of rot and disease, lit deep within the earth in the ancient city of Yersinia, long buried and left to rot and ruin. It is there that disease originates, and it is there that the sick flame burns brightest.

7) Royal Purple.

It is a regal flame, lit with a sense of self importance. It holds itself high.

It is the queen of flames, self appointed of course. Some believe it sapient. Grandiose arrogance allows fire to grow a mind. It thinks itself greater than you. It looks down at you with eyes made of drifting ash and tilts up a chin made of cinders.

8) Brass.

Liquid metal, flickering like fire.

A creation of the dwarves, once used by warriors who specialized in liquid metal weapons and armor. The art is mostly lost to the dwarves, stolen by the dragon-cult Hatavites.

9) Black.

It eats light.

An orcish invention, a flame designed to scorch gods. Few things can harm an idol and fewer still can harm divinity, but the horrid black flame of the orcs can. Enough flame and enough time will result in an undead god, the most powerful and twisted weapon of the orcs.

How Many Ancestries Is Too Many?

It's a question I have asked myself many times because I don't know. Ask anyone and you'll get a different answer. The human-centrist will argue one, just human. The standard-fantasy gamer will argue for 4, human, dwarf, elf, and halfling. The 5e-gamer will argue that there's no such thing as too many: more choice is always better.

Personally, I think there is a limit to the number of how many you can reasonably have. At a certain point, you have so many options that the average party becomes a glorified circus attraction and the things that are weird and unique cease to be interesting. In 5e, a party can consist of a sapient ooze, one of three seperate varieties of bird person, an interplanar warrior from space, and a turtle. That's not a party of adventurers. That's a zoo.

Neurim has 6: humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, mokhan (sapient rock people), and half-orcs. I have toyed with adding more, namely in the form of curseling ancestries, such as cambion/tieflings and ghouls, with curselings not being available for a first character due to weird rules and narratives. That feels good to me, though at times I wonder if cutting one of the original ancestries for something different would be cool. I like my dwarves and my halflings, which means it would be elves, and considering elves are such an extreme rarity in Neurim, it might make sense.

You'll notice I haven't answered the question. I don't have an answer. I'm not sure there is an answer to be had.

Neurim Lore Primer

This post should act as a reasonable introduction to my fantasy world Neurim. Neurim was designed as a fantasy world that appears very standard on its face, but becomes weirder the closer you look. This post should help make some of that weirdness more obvious. 

The universe that Neurim takes place in is the Concordance. Neurim is a Concord, or world, within that Concordance.

The World.

See map here.

Neurim is a roughly Earth-sized world with a year of exactly 360 days. Most cultures divide these days into 12 months of 30 days each. The current year is 443 AF (after founding) as defined by the Zetterite calendar. 

In the east are the Tiers of the Sevenwoods, the Folleyfaults, and Dunset, charecterized by vast forests and rolling hills. The Sevenwoods are home to the seven major kingdoms of the Zetterite Empire, as well as it's capital of Anastor. The Folleyfaults are barren, hilly, and rocky, home to many ancient ruins and the city of Witches. Dunset is a land trapped in eternal autumn, and is the empire's defensive line against invasion.

To the north is Oth Elana, the land of the Kingdoms of the Omentahl. These lands cold and bitter, and frequented by rain and snow. Immense taiga forests dot the land, as well as the immense Stillwind Rise, a plateau without wind. Further north are the boreal lands, and to the west is the great forest of Songmaiden's Meath, the home of the druids. Further west still are the great wastelands of Azad-Ghul and the Dust Abyss.

Separating the Tiers and Oth Elana is the alpine region of Lost Muine, the once homeland of the dwarves. West of it is the Silkcat Jungle, a massive temperate rainforest. Past it are the lands of Zaruchyat, now called Hayekar by the orcs that drove the human inhabitants away.

East of the Tiers, across the Reaches of our Hands is the Thousand Miles, a track of endless desert. From the Painted Desert in the north, to the Stone Forest, to the Dune Sea and the Tar Marshes. The southern tip of the Thousand Miles is the magic city of Zahallas, and on it's eastern edge are the rotting lands of Asur, home of the first kingdom of humanity Asuria.

South of the Tiers is the great crater known as Svog, home of the Svoggite Church who worship the slumbering god Svoggoth within. Bodies have a habit of winding up within Svog. Further south still is the decaying remnants of the Great Tree of the Elves, and even further south is the Zetterite nation of Sisthea. East from there leads to the great canyon-valleys of the Dromudine.

Crossing the sea to the south leads to the continent of Mgamba, a land of jungles, deserts, and savannahs. A number of nations dot the land, most united in a great union.

There is also the Shattered Continent of Zatrom, which orbits the earth, completing a cycle twice a year. It is a land of harsh terrain and floating stones, connected by a metaphorical sea which allows ships to float and fish to swim. It's most common inhabitants of the Mokhan, a kind of rock person, and the alchemists of Arcologium.

Major Factions and Core Conflict.

The Zetterite Empire, the greatest in the world, is a powerful fuedal state (think 14th century Europe) that controls its subsidiaries by taking their gods, trapped in physical idols, and keeping them in its capital city, only allowing the most powerful to speak outside of the city's walls, known as the Zettar. It is lead by the Godhead, a title passed down from worthy female successor to worthy female successor.

Their primary enemy are the Omentahlic Kingdoms (think 9th century anglo-saxons, celtic tribes, and norse tribes), who are led by an enigmatic religious prophet known as the Word. After losing their gods to the Zetterites in a great war, the Omentahl rebelled by creating new gods that were not bound by idol. and thus harder to steal, known as the Omentahl.

The Omentahl and Zetterites have fought two wars, one 120 years ago, and another 40 years ago.

Smaller Factions.

The Svoggite Grand Church is a hyper-religious society with a positive view on undead and dark magics. 20 years ago they attempted to convert the world by force to their views during the Cadaver Crusade, which hurt the Zetterite Empire immensely, though the crusade was unsuccessful.

Many druids, fearful of Zetterite oppresion, have also banded together under a figure known as the Animus, who wishes to destroy the Zetterite Empire.

The Trading House of Hatavius is a merchant-cult obsessed with gaining money and ascending to dragonhood. 

The orcs of Hayeker, led by a figure known only as the Warchief, have attempted many times to invade the lands to the west and destroy all gods for good, though they have been driven back all times.

In the south, much of Mgamba is united under a single senate, the Electrum Council. The land is a testament to what humans can do with peace.

There is also the ghoul kingdom of Asura, the art and reincarnation obsessed Dromudine, the enigmatic doomsday Star Cult, the demon worshiping Disciples of Mother, as well as the mage society led by the Winedark Council and the Alchemists led by the Five Engines..

Magic and Technology.

Magic in Neurim is pure chaos distilled into words which can be read by the magically gifted. These words are located on quartz gems known as steles, which are copied onto scrolls for ease of daily memorization and use. Magic works by breaking down reality and causing fundamental rules to break.

Alchemy, synonymous with science on Neurim, is a set of complex rules, interactions, experiments, and theories to explain how the universe works. Alchemists can perform all sorts of technological feats, from creating automata to firearms. Alchemy breaks down near magic, and thus alchemists and mages rarely get along.

Ancestries.

These are the most common sapient species in Neurim, ranged in order of least rare to rarest. There are more, but these are by far the most common.

Humans.

Humans are the most common ancestry on Neurim. They are extremely varied, and around what you'd expect, though humans do have the ability to smell magic.

Dwarves.

Dwarves are short and stout, often with grand and mighty beards which they take pride in. Dwarves do not reproduce sexually (in fact, they have no sexual organs at all), but are instead constructed by their forefathers. Dwarves have hearts made of rare gems, and are immortal as long as they eat gems or valuable minerals. Dwarves are defined by their cycle, or generation. The current cycle is the 13th. The dwarves are slowly dying off, and many believe the 13th cycle will be the final.

Halflings.

Halflings were a diplomat-species brought to Neurim by aliens known as the Bodyless Ones. Halflings have an appearance resembling whatever species they live nearest, as they have an uncanny ability to adapt to the most common local species. Often, they appear as short humans with elf ears. Halflings are easy to get along with, and are incapable of creating their own societies without the presence of other species.

Elves.

There are three kinds of elf, lead, bark, and root. Together, they were once trees, but millennia of jealousy and hatred split them. Elves are haughty and self-important, and live lives with as little risk as possible, as their deaths will kill an elf of the other types. Elves that deny this lifestyle are known as half-elves, and are the kind of elves most see outside of elven cities. Elves are an extreme rarity outside of their cities, to the point where many generations can go by never seeing one.

Mokhan.

Mokhan are intelligent stone humanoids, animated by a magical force that gives them life. They have elonged limbs, are around 7 feet tall, and are stronger than humans. Mokhan often feel a lack of purpose, which they find physically painful, and try to alleviate it with art or adventure.

Voghul.

The mask-makers. Thin and lithe, with needle legs. They have universally pale hair, and their faces lack any discernible features. They make masks to fit in with common society, often taking after animals. Voghul are seen as strange and eccentric, with their almost dance-like movements and peculiar patterns of thought causing them to stand out despite their best efforts.

Half-Orcs.

Orcs are a virus that infect and warp humans into stronger humanoids with mottled skin, goat-eyes, claws for fingers, a lack of blood, and bones that twist in unnatural ways. Orcs are natural dystheists, believing that all gods must be killed, and have created an endless war machine to do this. Orcs that reject this are known as half-orcs, and are the only kind of peaceful orc you are liable to find in much of Neruim.

Common Threats.

These are some of the common enemy creatures common to Neurim. It isn't inclusive of every option, and only include intelligent beings. Presented in order of most normal to least normal.

Humans.

Bandits and raiders, to Zetterite and Omentahlic forces, to Svoggite crusaders and Asurian ghoul nobles, aggresive humans are common to all of Neurim.

Goblins and The Dark.

The Dark is an intelligent malevolent force that wishes to destroy all sapient life. To do this, it creates monsters, known as goblins. Goblins are highly varied, but are united by a lack of nose and sharp ears. Goblins are incabaple of doing anything that will not eventually result in the death of sapient humanoids, and while they build societies, it is simply to destroy better. It isn't their fault, they can't do otherwise.

Orcs.

An endless industrial war machine. Orcs use anti-holy magic and turn god corpses into powerful machines to aid in their war. Orc invasions are rare, but smaller orc warbands are a common sight .

Kobolds.

Blue scaled lizard humanoids. They live in the deep places of the earth, as the sun causes them to catch fire. Their breath is toxic smoke, and given time they would replace all air on Neurim with it. Kobolds are gifted craftsman, able to create complex machinery out of nothing but stone and waste-copper. They are the sworn enemies of dwarves.

The Fomorian.

Also known as the ogres, the Fomorian are a species of lesser giants cursed with endless disease. They are massive, with bodies covered in a network of wounds, fungal infections, and insects. They live all over Neurim, but are most common near their home in Eluid's Pox.

Husks.

Husks are necro-mechnical machines made of bone and bismuth and animated by astral fire, like azure glass flame. Husks were workers of the Bodyless Ones, but were left behind after being used for war. They are like malfunctioning machines, confused and dangerous. They come in many shapes.

The Gaolmen.

The once faithful servants of a deity, they were imprisoned for committing the Crime Unspoken. When they finally found their way out, they were misshapen, malformed, wrong. Elongated proportions, twisted shapes, and empty pits where faces should be. Though they are incapable of speaking, they continue to worship their traitor-god, kidnapping people and turning them into more gaolmen, endlessly growing their god's flock.

Ghaal, Ghaal-ar, and Ghaal-ratha.

Beings from another world, the Land of Flesh and Metal, often called demons, are malformed and twisted half-metal monstrosities that relish in death. Ghaal-ar, or true demons, are incapable of coming to Neurim if not summoned, so they turn themselves into evil and corrupting weapons known as Ghaal to convince mortals to open portals to The Land of Flesh and Metal. Ghaal-ratha, or devils, are demons that have constructed societies with strict rules. They can come to Neurim without assistance, but are bound by a strict code.

Bhityile.

Two-dimensional psychic beings most commonly found in the vast caverns beneath Neurim known as the Dark World below. They are led by the Abathethi, the voiceless lords. Their plans are unknowable and to them we are but pawns in their great work. 

 

 

Husks, the Azure Dead

The Azure Dead.

There are few places on Neurim where one can find hordes of the mindless dead: the great crater-tomb of Svog, Asuria, and the southern reaches of the continent of Mgamba. A different plague infests the world: husks. Ancient worker constructs made of bismuth and bone, animated by blue astral fire, like gaseous glass.

Husks, also known as the Azure Dead, are not undead, though most anti-undead measures on Neurim are designed to also work on them. They are constructs, animated by magical energy, skeletons reinforced with bismuth armor and forced to move by astral fire, the force of the Dead Star, Gnottis, forcing animation into that which is long dead. 

Husks are ancient, hundreds of thousands of years old. They were the worker constructs of the once rulers of Neurim, known only as the Bodyless Ones. They are connected by a vast mind-network that allows them to communicate in an instant, though this network is in disrepair and husks have a tendency to lay inanimate for millennia, until forced to rise again by the presence of a demiurge or a mage with the knowledge of the arcana of stars.

Armies of the Bismuth Host.

The husks were not built for war. They are service-machines, designed for manual labor and planet re-shaping. Even today, the husks are not designed for combat. They try to kill with sharpened fingers and rocks. Husks are incapable of using weaponry. Their machine minds cannot grasp the concept.

No one knows why the husks gave up on their mission to do war. All that is known by historians (elves alive since that day) is that one day the husks began to tear each other limb from limb. Beautiful violence performed by machines with no idea of how to do violence. Wherever one finds supplies of bismuth, it is a safe assumption that the husks warred there in elder days. The husks that survive today are those that were the victors of their battles.

Modern husks are only animate when in the range of a demiurge or a controlling mage. Better maintained husks can travel further from their source of animation before shutting down, up to 100 miles.

Husks.

Drudges.

The lowest workers. Built of the skeleton of a human or elf, reinforced with bismuth armor. 

HD: 1

Defense: As Chain.

Mobility: As Human.

Tactics: Swarm. Husks are incapable of more complex tactics.

---

Halfling Solidarity: Husks will not attack halflings unless the halfling attacks them first.
Half-Dead: Effected by all effects that only work on undead, such as turn undead, but do not take damage from being healed.

Claws: As sword.

 

Reavers.

Immense harvester husks. Built of the skeletons of ogres or trolls but with their arms replaced with massive bismuth blades. 

HD: 6

Defense: As Plate.

Mobility: As Ogre.

Tactics: Swarm with the drudges.

---

Halfling Solidarity: Husks will not attack halflings unless the halfling attacks them first.

Half-Dead: Effected by all effects that only work on undead, such as turn undead, but do not take damage from being healed.

Reaping Blades: As greatsword times two. Hits all adjacent creatures, including other husks.

Priests.

Repair husks. A humans skeleton hovering a few inches above the ground, with robes of paper-thin bismuth. Their skulls are replaced with bismuth. They move as if puppeted by string.

HD: 4

Defense: As Chain.

Mobility: As Human, but Hovers.

Tactics: Hide behind other husks.

---

Halfling Solidarity: Husks will not attack halflings unless the halfling attacks them first.

Repair Protocol: Another husk is healed for health equal to 1 HD.
Overdrive Protocol: .Another full-health husk takes an immediate turn, then dies.

Hosts.

Formed of the skeletons of a large beast like an elephant. The back has been replaced with a bismuth construct with a number of holes carved in the side. Deploys small workers, formed of smaller beast skeletons, no larger than a dog.

HD: 5
Defense: As Plate.
Mobility: As Human.
Tactics: Hide behind other husks. Deploy lots of workers. When out of workers, flee.
---
Halfling Solidarity: Husks will not attack halflings unless the halfling attacks them first.
Half-Dead: Effected by all effects that only work on undead, such as turn undead, but do not take damage from being healed.
Worker Host: A hosts has 2d20 workers remaining in it. Workers have 1 hit point and deal 1 damage with an attack (no roll to hit). When killed in melee by a trained combatant, the killer gets another attack.
Deploy Worker: The host deploys 1d4+1 workers.

Demiurges.

Husks designed as receptor towers for other husks. Built of the bones of an immense creature, like a dragon or giant, but with bismuth wings.  

HD: 12

Defense: As Plate +2.

Mobility: As Dragon.

Tactics: Use the husks as legion. Only engage when forced.

---

Halfling Solidarity: Husks will not attack halflings unless the halfling attacks them first.
Half-Dead: Effected by all effects that only work on undead, such as turn undead, but do not take damage from being healed.
Emergency Husk Call: Every turn the demiruge calls all nearby husks to its aid. Husks drop all current tasks and move at maximum speed to the Demiurge.

Husk Animator: The presence of a demiurge animates nearby husks. If the demiurge dies, all nearby husks animated by the demiurge cease animation.

Bismuth Claw: As greatsword times three. Makes this attack three times.
Astral Fire Breath: 60' cone, deals damage as fireball.

Oracles.

Oracles are heavily modified drudges, converted from physical labor to remembering machines. Oracles have the knowledge of the ancient days stored in their machine minds, though most of their data has been corrupted over millenia. Oracles are animated of their own will. Unlike all other non-demiurge husks, oracles can move throughout the world, which they do to record data and history.

An oracle has a 50% chance to remember any occurrence in the past century. Every century prior reduces the chance by 5%. A husk has a 1% minimum chance of remembering anything.

Oracles are non-violent, and will not attack unless provoked, even if nearby husks attack. If stats are necessary, use the drudge's.

Spell Words and Steles

Spell Words.

Magic is chaos, raw entropic force that bends the very laws of the universe to its whims. Thus is why alchemists hate magic. Science breaks down in the presence of magic. The fundamental laws break down. It is only near a spell that 1+1=3.

The raw chaos of magic is written into words. These words are illegible, barely more than a random assortment of lines and squiggles in the vague shape of something that might be readable if you squinted and tried very hard. Most find these spell words to be the nonsense that they are. It is only those who are magically inclined who can look upon the words of magic and understand that there is some hidden meaning. It is only they who can read the words, and it is they who can become mage.

When a mage speaks a spell word, a welling of magical energy is created in them, which is then usually channeled out through a tool such as a staff. The word is then forgotten. It is only in rare circumstances of the truly magically gifted that spell words can be remembered after use, and those with such power are often poisoned by an overabundance of magic. 

Spell words are divided into arcana. Each arcana contains a dozen or so spells, though no arcana has been completed. Doing so would allow the spell words to be combined into an immensely powerful ur-spell. The most common arcana is the prismatic arcana, which contains such spells as magic missile, multicolor armor, and color spray. The arcana of prayer, mostly used by clerics, contains spells like heal, flash of light, and turn undead. The number of arcana is unknown.

Steles.

Spell words exist on steles. Steles are quartz gems, somewhere between 3 and 10 feet tall, with a single flat face with a softly rounded side and back. A single spell word is carved into the flat face. The type of quartz varies based on the arcana of the spell (for example, spells of the prayer arcana are found on citrine while spells of the leaf arcana are found on moss agate).

Reality breaks down around steles. Those that hold weaker spells might only destabilize the rules of the universe within a few feet around them. Powerful ones can destabilize entire regions. Gravity reverses. Suddenly a square has 5 sides. Technology breaks near them. The more complex it is, the faster it breaks. 

It is lucky, perhaps, that such powerful steles no longer exist on Neurim. They have long since been destroyed. In ancient days, empires attempted to transport the most powerful of Neurim's steles. Doing so nearly destroyed the world. It did destroy much of the lands of the North, now referred to only as the Wastes.

There have been attempts to make more steles, but doing so has proven difficult. The only steles made in recorded history are the 17 teleportation words (the words of teleportation are all modified forms of the base teleportation spell word, thus they do not belong to an arcana).

Scrolls and Spellbooks.

As steles cannot be moved (not without consequence at least) the easiest way to access their knowledge at a difference is through the power of a scroll, a recreation of the spell word of a stele. Scrolls can be copied from each other, and it is through this method that spells spread. Spell words can be read off of a scroll, but doing so will destroy the scroll with magical energy. It is more common to memorize a spell word off a scroll so that it might be reused time and time again.

Scrolls are made using special parchment designed to hold magical energy This parchment is more resilient than other forms of paper to the general wear and tear of the world. Such is why scrolls tend to last centuries rather than years. Copying the word from a stele is an easy process, taking no more than a minute. Copying a spell word from a scroll requires copying the illegible scratch of the language of chaos perfectly. It is a difficult process that can take days or weeks.

Multiple scrolls bound together is a spellbook.

Steles as Reward.

Stele are an attempt at solving two issues: making magic feel stranger than the norm found in most DnD adjaecent settings, and to encourage mages to explore more. I find that mages don't have a lot of reasons to explore. Gold loses its luster after a while and mage find most magic items to be of less use than those of fighters. Steles solve that. Now a mage explore to find new spells, sometimes brand new spells that haven't seen the light of Neurim in millennia..

A stele can exist in a dungeon or other dangerous place much like any magic item or pile of treasure. A mage can learn of it and then adventure to it to add a new spell to their book. Outside of more common spells, where one might be able to procure a scroll, this is the only way to gain new spells. This provides an active reason to explore, even for experienced mages, as there is no way to research a new spell into existence. You either buy it off another mage, steal it off another mage, or go find it. Some steles, the powerful ones, can even warp dungeons into chaotic realms where reality works weird and is extra interesting to explore.

Map of Neurim

This is the world map of Neurim, or at least all of the world that matters. It's made by me. It gets its own post because I want an easy access place to link back to.

Neurim. Not pictured are the orcish steppes to the west, the extend of the norther wastes, the bitter northern sea, the bug isles to the east, the rest of Mgamba, and the Shattered Continent Zatrom.

Zahallas, City of the Mages

Zahallas, City of the Mages.

On a quiet peninsula in the west, on the southern reaches of The Thousand Miles, lays the city of Zahallas, a gray maze of impossible walkways and non-euclidean rooms. It's impossible to recreate. It's architecture disobeys all logic and reason. This betrays the fact that Zahallas doesn't exist.

Zahallas is as much a college as a city. All are permitted within its walls to learn, though the laws of the city are strict. None are permitted to speak within Zahallas' walls. It is said this is to make the casting of any spells obvious. While true, it is not the reason. There is a fear that speaking will remind the city that it does not exist.

Zahallas was not built. It appeared one day, thick with dust as if untouched by time for countless ages. The land surrounding it is gray and lifeless, though foolish creatures do make their home in and around the silent city. There is no sky within a hundred miles of Zahallas. The magic of clerics does not work there. The gods cannot hear you. This is because Zahallas doesn't exist.

The Winedark Hand.

When the city was first discovered, 7 mages found an ancient artifact at its heart: a seven fingered hand colored deep purple. Each mage took a finger, and together formed a council known as the Winedark Hand. The Hand ostensibly rule Zahallas, though most bow to the rules of various colleges and schools rather than the Hand directly.

When combined, the seven fingered hand can distort reality, change the truth of the world. This makes it dangerous. Now separate, the hand is greatly weakened. Each finger is powerful, yes, but nowhere near the truth distorting nature of the full hand. Many have tried to recombine the hand. All have failed.

Each member of the Winedark Hand is known as a finger, first through seventh, and holds the respective finger of the seven fingered hand. Each finger enhances certain forms of magical ability, allowing each mage to perform magical feats of immense power. Each finger also makes the mages decadent and lazy. With the fingers, the Winedark Hand could conquer Neurim. It is lucky that the fingers make this a nigh impossibility.

Navigating Zahallas.

Zahallas is a city of impossible geometry. Navigating it is a learned skill. When halls occupy the same space and buildings are larger on the inside with exits on the opposite side of the city as their entrances, navigation by normal means is impossible.

Attempting to get somewhere in the city without help is basically impossible (5% chance). A navigator can be hired for 10 gold per day. In addition, anyone native to the city or with at least 1 level in an arcane spell casting class can navigate the city with ease. The city is easy to navigate when you ignore physical space and only look at it through magical means.

The Skyless Wilds.

The peninsula Zahallas sits on is a lifeless gray waste. Grass grows, but it is devoid of color and ceases to exist when you look at it closely. Trees appear, but only at the edges of your vision. Sometimes you might feel the touch of the wind of the heat of the sun, but these feelings will fade. After all, Zahallas doesn't exist.

These wilds are scarred by magical experiments. Burnt out craters, illusions like theater screens, and conjured beings that have forgotten how to leave. The wilds are uniquely dangerous unless one sticks to the protected road to Zahallas. Any other route leads to danger and starvation.

Creatures of the Skyless Wilds.

Formless Conjurations.

Many conjurations fail to stop existing within the Skyless Wilds (20% chance). Those that fail to return to magical energy and live on eventually forget what they were, becoming a gray mass of false flesh similar to an ooze. They have no intelligence and are drawn to large sources of magical energy.

Roll a d6. That's how hit dice they have. Conjuring spells can be used to constrain them back in a form and remove their hostility.

Mana Kites.

Like a giant manta ray with leathery brown skin and obvious veins. Wings with a diameter of up to 3 feet, and long spindly bodies. They float 5-10 feet in the air, skimming magical residue. 1 hit die, but can only attack by casting magic missile as a 1st-level caster. They'd rather flee than fight thought.

Lost Dead.

When one dies in the Skyless Lands, they must be returned to the rest of the world within a week or their soul will be stuck in the Skyless Lands forever. These lost souls are incapable of finding an afterlife, which brings them great dissatisfaction. Their only goal is to find peace.

Like a ghost, except all they do is posses people, walk them out of the Skyless Lands, and then use their bodies to commit suicide. Doing this leaves the soul of the body behind, who become one of the lost dead. Any of the seven fingers can be used to destroy lost dead permanently.

Superpositers.

A sagging and round body held up by four spindly legs, like those of a harvestman. Their bodies are bright blue, and they're about the same size as a full grown human. They have massive fangs, nearly a foot long, but the fangs are stored in the body when not in use.

They exist in multiple places at once. They can occupy anywhere within a 10-foot sphere, appearing blurry and shifting constantly. This makes them impossible to hit through sources such as swords or arrows, but fireballs and magic missiles work perfectly. After being hit, their position is known until their next turn, when they go back to being anywhere. They have 3 hit dice, and their fangs do damage like a great axe.

Truly ancient superpositers can reach the size of buildings. At this size, their legs are like spears and their fangs like boulders. You would struggle to fight one. They live underground, sleeping for ages. Their skin and fangs can be used to create superposition armor and weapons respectively. They lie about where you or your weapon really are. Be wary of them. A superposition fighter would be unbeatable.

Gnolls and Bone Magic

 This is part 2 of a series on The Thousand Miles. You can find part 1 here.

Gnolls.

Gnolls were a successful mistake. An ancient alchemist granted sapience to hyenas in the hopes of creating an army. This foolish ambition was predicated on the false belief of hyenas as vicious thieves and grave-robbers but all he created were packs of nomadic hyena-people with the power to make tools and wield weapons.

Like hyenas, gnolls are matriarchal. Their societies are small family groups led by the oldest woman. The other women in her clan her children or grandchildren, and the men all gnolls from other clans. Gnoll clans kick out their adult male children. It is a holdover from their days as hyenas. The specifics of gnoll relationships vary from clan to clan. Some are monogamous. Others keep dozens of drudge-men. Regardless, gnoll men do not hunt. Only the women do that.

Gnolls working with other species have a habit of refusing to work with men. To them, a man in a position of power is clearly unworthy of said position. As a result, most places where gnolls frequent have high ranking women in charge of dealing with gnolls. This behavior can be unlearned, but gnolls do not often live long enough to unlearn it.

Gnolls are nomadic, wandering in search of water and food. Most gnolls maintain specific migration routes which they follow consistently. A gnoll clan knows all the other clans nearby, such is the fate of their intermingling. There are a few permanent gnoll settlements in the Miles, mostly made in caverns or beast burrows. Gnolls have a preference towards spears, clubs, and javelins. Most gnoll tools are made of stone, as gnolls lack the ability to perform complex metallurgy, owing to their nomadic lifestyle.

Gnoll mercenaries are a common sight
on the Tin Road. Around 70%
of all Tin Road guards are gnolls.

Gnolls place great significance on beast pelts. A gnoll hunter is measured by the pelt they wear, which always be the most valuable of their pelts. Lion pelts are the most valuable, followed by elephant, crocodile, and hyena pelts. Some gnoll tribes treat insect chitins like pelts. Gnolls do not deal in coin. They will barter only with pelts, water, or other valuables.

Many have the false assumption that gnolls have domesticated hyenas. This is, of course, false. Hyenas are difficult to tame, let alone domesticate. Gnolls prefer less-intelligent animals fit for carrying such as camels or giant beetles. Large gnoll clans might have a pack of royal hyenas for protecting their matriarch, but these hyenas are tamed through magic.

Gnolls as Enemies.

Most gnoll men are smaller than their counterparts. They have 1 hit die and only their jaws for combat. Drudge gnolls have half a hit die. Gnoll women have 2 hit die and have access to spears, clubs, and/or javelins. Matriarchs have 3 hit die and are marrow speakers (see below). All gnolls have the ability to bite a target below half health for free once per turn.

Gnolls prefer hit and run tactics. They will toss javelins and harry you through the desert until you die of exhaustion. They only engage when their targets are weakened, and only when strictly necessary.

To hear the words of the marrow.

It has secrets long forgotten by time. Photo by Wilmy van Ulft on Unsplash

Gnolls have one form of magic. Sure, they might learn to speak through the wind, or to divine the future in the entrails of the fallen, or in rare cases to practice the arcane craft of mages and sorcerers, but gnolls have one magic that is truly theirs: marrow speaking.

Many see a gnoll clad in furs wrapped in hundreds of bones and think of them as macabre and obsessed with death. This is false. Gnolls are no more obsessed with death than any other mortal species. Gnolls have simply learned to listen to the whispers of bones.

When the body withers away and succumbs to rot and all that remains are bones, it is a fair assumption that there is nothing of value left. Bones are not edible. They make for poor tools. But they remember being alive. They can tell you their secrets, if you know how to listen. And they'd give anything for a few moments of the feeling of life. It is this knowledge the marrow speaker uses.

All matriarchs know how to speak to the bones. Her second in command, often her eldest daughter, will be her apprentice. Larger clans of gnolls might have more marrow speakers, but no more than 1 per 50.

One might be able to convince the gnolls to teach them how to listen to the bones. It'll take time, and they will only teach it to women, but the magically inclined can learn to listen to the stories the bones speak. Lift a bone to your ear. Listen close for the shifting of blood inside, the way the sand in the wind taps against, the subtle changes in the bones weight. These are the words of the bones. Fresh bones are loud. Ancient bones speak with little more than a whisper.

Bones can perform all manor of magical spell by remembering the past. A wizard might create a fireball by causing the air to combust, but a marrow speaker can create a fireball by using a bone that remembers dying in an inferno to recreate that inferno. Mechanically, marrow speakers can cast spells as a wizard of a level equal to their hit die. After being used to cast a spell, the bones fade to dust. Having lived again, there is nothing for them in this world.

Six spells the bones can teach you.

Buoyancy.

The fin bones of ancient fish remember where land was once water. One can use them to swim through the water that once was, at least until the fins disintegrate. Small fins can be destroyed in a minute. Large ones might last hours.

Guard.

Bones marked by ancient and deep scars are more resilient than normal bones. They can be used to absorb a dangerous hit before fading into dust.

Seek.

Fresh bones work best for seeking. Ask the bones to find you something they would remember, then crack them to release the blood stuck in the marrow. It will show you the way. They can always find the rest of their body.

Fuse

Rarely, a marrow speaker might find bones that have fused together. These bones can be used by the marrow speaker to impart their fusion to two inanimate objects, adhering them stronger than any glue.

Animate.

With a whole skeleton, a marrow speaker might convince the bones to move once more. This is temporary. They were not designed for this. They are like a necromancer skeleton, but more brittle, and they fade to dust when they are defeated.

This is not necromancy. Necromancy forces life into bones. A marrow speaker coaxes what life is left out of them.

Tar.

The bones of something that drowned in tar have powerful magic. When a marrow speaker snaps one all nearby creatures (except the marrow speaker) will feel as though they are coated in tar, limiting their movement. This doesn't last long, less than 30 seconds. It fails to work on beings that would be immune to the effects of swimming in tar, like tar elementals.

The Thousand Miles

The Thousand Miles.

Photo by David Wirzba on Unsplash

 

The western reaches of Neurim are dominated by a massive desert known as The Thousand Miles. The region is not one singular desert, but instead a series of biomes related by a lack of rainfall and the blistering sun.

The Stone Forest .

In the center of the Miles is the Stone Forest. Ancient rivers carved this winding canyon, leaving behind great pillars of painted rock. A few rivers remain, but they are stagnant and stained with mud. Still, some plant life remains, clinging to what shade there is and soaking up what water remains from the yearly flood in spring, where melted mountain snow runs through the forest.

Argava.

The forest is home to Argava, the largest permanent settlement in the Miles. It is a network of tunnels and homes carved out of a massive pillar. The lower levels act as a reservoir, holding as much flood water as the town needs to survive each year. Argavians accept coin as currency, but as a measure of water. In the Miles, water is worth more than its weight in gold.

Argava is run by the Tlah, a group of once nomadic water traders. They settled in Argava a long time ago, but they did not build it. The Tlah are technically vassals to the Zetterite Empire, the strongest and largest in the world, though the Tlah ignore Zetterite taxes as long as they keep the Tin Road open. The Tlah are strictly meritocratic. They try to place people in positions they can succeed in, and those who succeed are given power over those who don't.

Tlahlan soldiers use the stats of bandits or guards, whichever you prefer. They use scimitar and shield, and sometimes carry light crossbows. All tlahlan soldiers carry 1d4-1 cactus fans. Tlahlan soldier commanders carry whistles and ride camels. The Tlah can communicate wordlessly using these whistles.

The Tar Marshes.

To the south of the Stone Forest lay the Dune Sea and the tar marshes. Few pass through these lands except to reach the magic city of Zahallas.

Photo by Gilberto Parada on Unsplash

The Dune Sea is a vast and open desert, devoid of life except where there is an oasis. Merchants and nomads are the only who would willingly go there. The Dune Sea has frequent sandstorms. They can last for weeks. At times, they've lasted years.

Past the Dune Sea are the tar marshes, lakes of tar connected by rivers of black sludge. The ground there is nonviable, so soaked with tar as it is. There is great value in fishing bones out of the tar. There is one road through, to Zahallas. It is protected by hundreds of magical wards.

In the center of the marshes is Akrahiel, the Bonepowder Mountain. The name is not a metaphor. It is ruled by Mahkireth, often called the tar-black dragon.

 

The Painted Desert.

Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash

To the north is the painted desert. The dirt there is glorious colors of red, orange, yellow, and at places blue and purple. Trees can find root in the dirt, as devoid of nutrients as it is. Patches of forests and greenery make home for travelers and beasts alike. There's an old belief that there's gold in the dirt there, and many have tried digging for it. None have been successful yet.

Further to the west is Asuria, land of the ghouls. It weeps of rot.

The Tin Road.

In ancient days, the great kingdom of Asur needed copious amounts of tin to keep itself running. Tin is rare in those lands, and bronze was the best metal they could work, so they made a great trade route to the east to buy tin in exchange for copper. Asur has no more need for tin these days, but the trade route remains open.

This is the Tin Road, the safest route from easy to west. One could be a fool and try to cross the mountains and draw the ire of a giant or dragon, or one could be a fool and try to cross through the Dune Sea and die of thirst long before they ever found an oasis, but wise folk take the Tin Road. 

The Tin Road ends are Argava. It used to go further west, to Asuria, but now ghouls patrol that road. A road extends further south, but the historic Tin Road never went that far.

Creatures of The Thousand Miles.

Tar Elementals.

They're called elementals as a euphemism. Born of necromantic energy animating the bones of a beast that drowned in tar. Their bodies are thick and viscous, with protruding bones. Pseudo-pod like arms drag the creature to its prey. It can always have more bones. They can't be killed with swords or arrows or clubs. They can be trapped (they aren't very wise), healed back to proper death, or disenchanted, but striking one with a sword is asking to lose your sword to the tar. They fight like they have 5 hit dice.

Giant Antlions.

Take an antlion and make it six feet long. They dig pits in the sand and spray super-heated sand at anything that comes near. Like a shotgun crossed with a flamethrower. They have 2 hit dice, can hit multiple enemies at the same time, and hit very hard, but can only attack every other turn. They also have a bite with paralytic poison. This poison can be extracted after their death. It is quite valuable.

No one has ever seen an adult giant antlion. No one wants to see an adult giant antlion.

Stirges.

Giant flying mosquitos. They gather blood and bring it back to their nests, where flightless worker stirges mix it with their excretions to turn into into a thick pulp. Their hives are made of the stuff. It smells like iron and rotting meat for miles around a stirge nest. Blood squeezes out of the floor when you stop on it too. Their grubs live in the walls, feeding on the blood-pulp. Stirges also make "honey" as its called.  It tastes of rotten hopes but it never goes bad and is good at hydrating and that gives it value.

Skullbugs.

Small, scorpion like creatures, but without the stinging tail. They carry around skulls, and sing into them, attracting swarms of scorpions, spiders, beetles, and who knows what else. They use these swarms to kill, then lay their eggs inside the corpse. They hatch once all the meat is gone.

Horn Beetles.

Giant beetles, somewhere between a dog and a horse in size. They skitter about eating cacti and bushes. Their shells are impossible smooth. Swords slight right off. As a result, their shells make excellent shields. They have 1 hit die.

Gnolls.

They get their own post.

Monsters.

Goblins with sandstone gold skin and rocky hide are common in all parts of the Miles. They crawl up at night, being born in small caves below the sand. Mahkireth's brood of tar-black kobolds are common in the marshes of the south.

See this post for monsters in Neurim.

Items of The Thousand Miles. 

Dripcoins.

Small bits of crystallized water make trading and transporting water easier. They look like little blue marbles and revert to normal water when crushed. One dripcoin is equal to one gold. A waterskin is equal to 100 gold. A barrel of water is equal to 10,000 gold.

Needle Fans.

Fans filled with cactus needles used by tlahlan warriors. They can be used to spray a cone of needles up to 15 feet away. Perfect for dealing with skullbug swarms.

Horn Beetle Shield.

Shield made from a horn beetle shell. Impossible smooth, but gets worn down fast without constant maintenance by a beetle. Provides additional defensive benefit, but only for 2d6 hits, then works as a normal shield.

The Horn of the Tlah.

A magical musical horn made from a dragon's, well, horn. The sound travels for miles. Like a horn of blasting but the sound is directable. Anyone the wielder doesn't wish to be harmed will be fine. Currently possessed by the leader of the Tlah in Argava.

The Oasis Pen.

A quill and ink-pot with the ability to draw mirages. Any who are not chosen by the user believe the mirage to be real until it is proven false. The pen can only be used once a day, with the magical ink refilling at midnight. Currently possessed by Mahkireth at the Bonepowder Mountain.

The Dark That Hates

 A thousand thousand years ago, an Dark first appeared. No one knows where the Dark came from. Some say it was the workings of a jealous god, others believe it to be the mistake of the first wizard, and others see it as a natural force, omnipresent in the universe.

The dark is ambivalent about you. It neither cares for you, nor sees you as a threat. It merely is. In contrast, The Dark (proper noun) knows you, and It absolutely despises you. It loathes you. It sees your existence as a personal affront to Itself. The Dark hates you. The Dark is Hate.

The Dark is a living force within the world of Neurim. Despite numerous attempts to do so, The Dark is impossible to communicate with, either because It cannot speak or because It can't be bothered to speak to mortals. Regardless, there are two truths known about The Dark: that It is intelligent and actively malicious (It wants every mortal dead), and that It is born of negative emotions. Places rich in anger, fear, and especially hatred summon The Dark. Mortal suffering feeds the dark. It knows this.

That's why It birthed monsters.

What makes a monster.

Monster is a word with a specific meaning in Neurim.

A human is not a monster, at least not in the literal sense. A human can think. A human has higher thought. A human can do whatever it wants if it puts its mind to it.

A dwarf is not a monster, at least not in the literal sense. A dwarf can think. A dwarf has higher thought. A dwarf can do whatever it wants if it puts its mind to it.

An orc is not a monster, at least not in the literal sense. An orc can think. An orc has higher thought. An orc can do whatever it wants if it puts its mind to it.

A goblin is a monster. It cannot think like a mortal. Its actions are programmed into it, like a machine. A goblins sole goal is to bring harm to mortals. Goblins may take intelligent actions, but they do so only to further their goal of bringing harm to mortals. Goblins might build a city, but the city is not like a human city. It is a war machine, designed to raise beasts and forge weapons to further the eternal war of The Dark against mortals. The goblins cannot stop themselves. A human might commit an act of evil because they chose to do so. A goblin does not get to choose. It is intelligent, yes, but it is not sapient.

There is one other difference between mortals and monsters. Monsters are created, literally forged by The Dark. There are no goblin children. They come out of the shadows fully formed and with ill-intent. Such is the way of things.

Those The Dark claimed.

Many a cult has tried to beseech The Dark for power. The Dark ignores them. To work with mortals would to go against every thing It stands for. A blasphemy against It's very existence. That has not stopped some from worshiping It like a god. 

Though The Dark refuses to work with mortals willingly, it has, at times, corrupted them on accident. Prolonged exposure to The Dark can change you. Warp your mind. Exacerbate your worst qualities.

The sixth cycle of the dwarves suffered this. Together they dug deep in search of the first dwarven ancestor, The Sculptor. At some point, they ran out of lamp oil, and they continued to toil in the dark. But the dark bred paranoia, and paranoia bred The Dark. Over years, the dwarves grew distrustful of others. Everyone else was a threat. The sixth could only trust the sixth. These dwarves are the Duergar. Some Duergar had their minds completely eaten by The Dark. They are the ur-paranoia, the beings from which distrust and fear are born, the Dero.

The elves once lived in harmony, together as elf-trees, immortal and wise. The high elves were the leaves, which brought the trees sun and bore beautiful flowers. The wood elves were the trunks, which brought stability and protection. And the dark elves were the roots, strong and proud, which gathered water and sustained the tree. Over the ages, the roots grew jealous of the attention the other elves got. The leaves grew wondrous fruit, and the trunk was home to many a beast, but the roots were left to be gnawed at by fungus and insects. It was this jealousy that formed The Dark, and what eventually convinced the dark elves to slither into the caverns below the earth, forever splitting the elf-trees.

These are the two most well known cases, but there are other such stories. Of shut-ins driven mad by their own anger, of small villages cursed not by goblins but by prejudice. Still, these cases are rare. The Dark prefers more direct methods.

The dungeon yet lives.

There are no mortals The Dark hates more than adventurers. It is them who interrupt It's work. It is adventurers who slay goblins, and bring light to places that It holds. For them it has created the ultimate threat: the dungeon.

There are places out there one might call a dungeon. Abandoned temples, ruined keeps, caves deep and dark. The Dark might have a presence within them. They might be home to monsters, and adventurers might plunder these places for riches. But they are not true dungeons. A true dungeon is alive.

Deep within the earth they churn, colossal entities of winding corridors, immense danger, and immense riches, each a terrible angler fish for adventurers. These dungeons are explicitly nonsensical. They steal from the world. A dungeon might eat a town, and then a town grows inside of it. They border on the reality of what is real and normal and what is eldritch and arcane. A dungeon might be filled with monsters, mortals, beasts, or whatever the dungeon decided to eat. The dungeons keep them safe and sustained, a minor price to pay to attract their true prey.

From the author.

Lore's over. You can stop reading if that's all you're interested in.

Neurim is my personal fantasy world, a place with all the fantasy tropes endemic to the standard, but with a layer of the strange and alien placed on top. The Dark is a core part of this world, an explanation for why monsters exist. There's a reason I tackled it first. It was the first thing I wrote. I wanted the act of killing monsters to be simple and universally acceptable. Goblins are basically biological robots. Killing them is a moral good. I'm also weird and picky about words in real life, so Neurim gets to be weird and picky too. A monster is an explicit thing, and while a human might be able to be a monster (figurative), they can never be a monster (literal).

Living dungeons are an in universe explanation for the mythic underworld. They are rare, ancient, and dangerous, and reality is allowed to be a bit weird inside of them. There are plenty of normal dungeons that abide the rules of the world in Neurim. There are also complexes of malicious stone that exist to eat adventurers.