What we know about the Dead City

The Dead City continues ever onwards and remains resistant to sense. It's apparent that there is an underlying order and consistency with the goings on of the inhabitants, but it's unclear what the cause or the purpose is. I can assure players that the city revealed itself fully and made its plans known, that the undertow is there, occasionally sweeping us all along.


What do we know?

The dead do not often stay dead
The thief (put down by his friends after a failed attempt at curing him resulted in excruciating pain) and the the fanatic (head constricted off by mind worms) continue on "living", but their un-lives are distinct. One is blind and sees only by the light of the living, while one remains in robust health as long as he eats brain matter. Inconsistent.

What becomes of the nobles and peasants we've killed is another mystery, never having stayed long enough to find out.

The city doesn't care
After a few weeks of timidity it became clear that the city was far less chaotic than it was imagined. Instead of a burning hostility we instead found a simmering indifference. The inhabitants have their ways, and they will not be interrupted. The most significant disruptions was the liberation of the colosseum and its gladiators. Has it been ignored because of the injured god of murder that claims it? Or is the city just slow to react?

The lovers know something
The twin lovers of the ivory and grey towers, first advisers to the king, masters of the 10th emanation. have, by royal decree, set their full faculties to freeing the city in its entirety. Their towers were intricate and made no sense, abandoned and rotten. We took the eye of a god and fled, content to return and find what happened to the lovers another day.

The towers are now sealed. Cocooned in crystalline snot and arguing amongst themselves. It's obvious they are heading to a course of action, but no one has returned or heard anything more of them.

We have astral tails
Found via happy accident, and trailed to a church of many gods and sermons. There is a way out.


The shores of the river have beaches of gold
The river flows back and forth seemingly at random, picked over for its meagre offerings of flesh by the stilt people. It washes up from down stream, but we were too fearful to find the source. It is beyond the edge of the city beneath the cliffs, and unkind things come with it.

Flesh is valuable
The rich store it in iron boxes, the richest wear it in all its corpulent glory. The poor are just bones.

The Book Of Maiz

Format stolen from Logan Knight:

http://www.lastgaspgrimoire.com/religion-is-a-nest-of-serpents/

The Book

Of

Maiz

You are a Mystic of Maiz, your actions need no explanation.

When you wish something to happen, roll below.

4d6	Invocation
18-24	Success
15-17	Success requires Minor/Situational Devotion
13-14	Major Pact
7-12	Inopportune Favour
4-6	Brilliant Manifestation of Divinity

The Liturgies of your faith are a contextual guide to the levels of power you can call upon.

Favour may be used in one of two ways for Invocation:

• Before Rolling, you can offer any number of Favour points to allow you to re-roll that many dice. You can stop at any time but you have to keep the final result.
• After rolling, if the result is more than 12 you can use Favour points, but can’t re-roll each dice more than once.

Every re-roll adds a Round to the time needed for Invocation. If your Invocation has an ongoing effect or you gain Inopportune Favour, roll below to determine how long it lasts. When the time ends you can offer another Favour point to roll again and prolong the effect.

d12	Duration x d6
1-9	Rounds
11-11	Turns
12	Days

Inherent Abilities

Smell the Heart Fire
With a few moments assesment you can determine the relative strength of another in relation to yourself

War Boar
Mystics of Maiz are resistant to mundane pain and cannot be coerced with it

Healing
You may also attempt to heal wounds, sickness, and curses.
(One attempt only.)

4d6	Restore/Purge
18-24	Success
15-17	Success/Bestowed Mark
13-14	Bestowed Mark
7-12	Malpractice
4-6	Brilliant Manifestation of Divinity

Favour can be used in the same manner as Invocation, and if the subject of your healing is part of the cult of Maiz you can re-roll one dice without using Favour.

Calling Upon a Liturgy Beyond Your Reach

If your level is lower than the requirement for a higher liturgy, you must offer a number of Favour points equal to double the levels you are missing in order to attempt to Invoke it. These Favour points don’t grant any re-rolls.

The First Liturgy
Mystic Level 1
In the order of minor aspects of fire, shouting, feats of strength and belligerence

The Second Liturgy
Mystic Level 3
In the order of the sparking of blood fury, rousing monotonous singing, minor porcine transformations

The Third Liturgy
Mystic Level 5
In the order of war-sound, bestowal of significant aspect of the boar, the infliction of pain

The Fourth Liturgy
Mystic Level 7
In the order of feats of head crushing, eye gouging, teeth ripping strength, major aspect of fire

The Fifth Liturgy
Mystic Level 9
In the order of rampant conflagrations, transforming into the avatar of Maiz, the War Boar

Explanation of Terms

Favour
Gain Favour with Maiz by performing actions that please him.

1 POINT

• Smash the skull of a living enemy

• Destroy something beautiful
• Eat a ritual meal of splintered bone

5 POINTS

• Perform a significant act of vengeance, for yourself or another

• Refuse sleep

15 POINTS

• Provoke an act of mass violence
• Kill a Mystic (of any god), shatter his skull and stamp his brains into the dirt

Minor/Situational Devotion
Invocation requires either something immediately obvious that would please Maiz, or the result of this table:

d6	Minor Devotion
1	Promise of a pleasing offering.
2	Short-term abstinence or indulgence.
3	Manifest something holy from your flesh.
4	Perform a sacred ritual.
5	Recount your deeds (offer d4 Favour points)
6	Religious fever (roll on Duration table).

Major Pact
You must agree to undertake a quest or something equally weighty for Maiz in order for the Invocation to be successful. If you already have one unfinished and you roll another, the Invocation simply fails.

Inopportune Favour
You are honoured with a manifestation of Maiz’s blessing, though the timing could be better. Roll on Duration table unless you used Favour for the roll, in which case the effect is permanent.
Gain d4 points of Favour.

Brilliant Manifestation of Divinity
Your body shreds in the birthing of a terrible avatar of your god, roll on Duration table then roll up a new character. In the case of a Restore/Purge roll it is the target that erupts.

Bestowed Mark
Maiz’s influence manifests as a mutation of His animal aspect. Roll on Duration table unless you used favour for the roll, in which case the effect is permanent.

Malpractice
Oh, gosh, this isn’t quite what you meant to happen. Take a look at the GM, he’s rolling on a table. This isn’t good.

Religious Fever
Mindless, uncontrollable worship until the duration ends.

The Lovers

Did you know there are 22 Major Arcana? That's a lot! One down though.

I think it's ok to share this map, which I thoroughly enjoyed making. The players and anyone else who may go on to play it can look at it all they like IT WON'T HELP YOU.

Since adopting the 12-year-old me mapping system things have been going a lot smoother. Top down is not how I experience the environment, and is extremely boring to use for making lots of tall buildings. So fuck it, cutaways.