Quote from: Gib;560718Skull, Garden of the Worm

Located deep within the Anvil of Sun and ruled over by the devious and gleefully malignant centipede creature known as Coil, Skull is a city built inside the final remaining relic of a long dead god. Despite Skull’s location at the center of the waste, cool air flows through its neighborhoods and lush tropical growth looms over its sparkling canals; further, the city boasts some of the most productive agricultural caverns (green shafts) on the continent.  This fecundity can be attributed in part to vast subterranean sea located far below Skull’s bustling streets, and on which the plants and people of Skull depend upon more than any other resource for their survival. It is perhaps the largest source of untainted water on the continent, maybe the world. Another contributing factor is the vast god skull itself; its osseus dome is semi translucent, blocking the worst effects of the sun, yet allowing sufficient light through to nourish the gardens below.

And some images:

A rider approaches from the East.



From the side



In Color:




From the top

Quote from: Gib;565306Skull is alive with conflict and strife. Arrayed beneath Coil, a myriad of organizations, institutions and societal estates struggle against one another, competing for resources, power and, ultimately, survival. These struggles manifest as a pervasive network of striving discord; this bitter and brittle lattice binds the city together; and friction between its components, as they twist and trespass against one another, provides the fuel that runs the engine of Skull’s society.  To understand Skull, one must understand these entities. The following section will look at the most important of Skull’s social constructs, but only in a cursory fashion. It shall, of course, be taken as read that each is, in reality, a universe in and unto itself, possessed of nuances both varied and numerous, the detailed examination of which lie beyond the scope of this inquiry.

Outsiders:
Several outside groups exert influence in Skull.

Airlords:
Arrogant and xenophobic, the airlords represent the largest independent shae population of Satan’s Spine. No clear indicator exists of the number of either the airlords or the ships in their fleet. What is known, however, is that the airlords are possessed of an advanced and refined airship technology, which they very much do not wish to share. Not only do the airlords wish to maintain sole proprietorship of their airship technology, they, as a matter of policy look upon any independent effort to gain access to the skies with a more than mild disfavor. Traditionally, the airlords have shown they will do whatever necessary to retard or obliterate the progress of any such projects and murder all those involved, as discretely as possible, of course. They currently maintain an embassy in the Forecourt, the main purpose of which is, at least superficially, to further the interest of the lively luxury/sumptuary goods trade, which they engage in with Coil’s priests. As to their feelings regarding Coil’s nascent airship program, none among the embassy contingent has seen fit to offer an opinion official, or otherwise.

The Herd:
Nuphal are large sentient pachyderms that, operating as a collective of clans, known as the Herd, control overland trade throughout the southern half of Satan’s Spine. If it is a staple of life and cannot be produced within Skull, it comes to the city via nuphal caravan. Famed for delivering goods intact and in a timely manner, the nuphal clan caravans boast an excellent reputation. Notably, the Herd represents a key link in the flesh trade. In fact, many worthies in Skull and beyond consider the nuphal caravans the only sensible way to transport slaves, an onerous enterprise at best, but of which the nuphal are the undisputed masters.

Each clan runs a caravan. Currently, twelve clans, each linked to the others through a weak form of ritualized telepathy, are thought to be in existence; each caravan follows the same route, known as the Golden Road, at evenly spaced intervals; excepting the duration of the Season of Storms, a new caravan arrives in Skull every month, usually before or within days of the departure of the most recent previous caravan. Individual nuphal act as caravan organizers, porters and guards. Additionally, the clans employ humanoid agents to further their ends within settlements and mercenaries to help guard their expeditions. Despite the Herd’s use of sell swords, nuphal warriors know few rivals in their capacity for destruction, and, although rare, there are powerful sorcerers among the ranks of the clans.

Currently the Herd is in a dispute with the Brotherhood of Blood regarding pay rates and labor conditions. Their relationship with the Slavers is currently without strife, but trouble may be brewing.

As with the Airlords, the Nuphal are less than enthused in regards to the Worm’s airship program, fearing that it might lead to a compromise of their near monopoly on trade with the city.

Brotherhood of Blood:
The Brotherhood* of Blood is a mercenary guild. Skull is their power base as they have a special relationship with the Ministry of Control to whom they supply a large number of warriors. At any given time, the MoC employs roughly two thousand Brothers to act as bodyguards, fill positions in the watch and the city’s small standing army/expeditionary force, the Worm Guard.
Most of the mercenaries within the city are supplied with the necessary unguent and given lodging with their assignments. However, the Brotherhood provides lodging and other services for its members in the Forecourt, at their large compound: Murder House; administrative offices and training facilities are also located therein.

Currently the Brotherhood is at odds with the Herd regarding contractual rates and obligations. Business between the Herd and Brotherhood, however proceeds, for the most part as normal.

The regional presence of the Brotherhood of Blood is under the command of Field Marshal Krogg, a venerable Sasquatch, veteran of 100 battles; a seeming incorruptible individual, who apparently wishes for nothing more than to maintain the status quo and lose as few of her sell-swords as possible in the process.

(*misnomer as the “Brotherhood” consists of  both males and females as well as many individuals of several other less common variations).

The Rogues’ Knot:
The Rouges’ Knot, or ‘the crew’ as it’s sometimes called is a criminal organization elements of which can be found virtually in every civilized corner of Satan’s Spine.  However, what ever power the crew wields elsewhere, in Skull, the great organization is represented by a loosely knit band of barely competent operatives and semi-independent perpetrators, who, at best, manage to stay just one step ahead of the Worm’s Watch.

The Knot’s strongest beachhead within the city is within the back market community centered in the neighborhoods surrounding the Kennel.  Conflict between the black market vendors, the cutpurses and the blackguards serve to keep the group focused on internal concerns and almost a non-factor in city politics.

However, the leaders of the Knot in other cities watch and wait for a chance to move into Skull and establish a new power base.



The Slavers:
The Slavers have a large presence in Skull. Most of the slaves come from their pits on the island of Chain in the Stained Sea, as products of either their breeding or raiding programs. Many of the slaves are brought from lands far beyond Satan’s Spine and cannot speak the nameless ancient language of the region, and never seem to learn more than the rudiments of the tongue no matter how many years they spend in service.

The Envoy of Eyes is the official title given to the Slavers’ chief representative in Skull. Elegant and cruel, the Lady Brand, a peerless huntress and an assassin of legendary skill, is the current bearer of this honor; thus, she wears the Crown of Eyes, a circlet of metal set with ten evenly spaced, living eyes, giving her a 360º field of vision.  It is said that Lady Brand owes her skill to a Slaver breeding program gone terribly wrong. The truth of this claim is unknown. As with all other slavers, Lady brand dresses in furs at all time, even during the hottest weather, never showing her face. Whatever the case, whatever her secrets, Brand is a being of immense power.

The Slavers keep close relationships with the Brotherhood of Blood and the Nuphal. In many cities Slavers have a close relationship with the Rogues’ Knot, but in skull the thieves guild is not worthy of such an association.

As with the Brotherhood of Blood, it is in the best interest of the Slavers if the status quo remains unchanged. They are quite willing to spill blood to further this end, but will not put themselves at too great of a risk, preferring to ride out change rather than risk over much.

 On a personal note, I spent the last week plus walking across the desert. It sucks and I need to write some rules to mirror that. For one thing, consuming a gallon of water a day would still leave you dehydrated.The good news is you hardly ever have to stop for a piss.

Quote from: Gib;566096The Facility:
A vast Ziggurat of pipe work and concrete, the Facility dominates the region of the True Sea directly beneath Skull. The true nature of the monolithic structure is unknown. Delvers of the underworld and sailors of the True Sea have reported sightings of man shapes upon the walls of the great edifice, but no one has spoken to its inhabitants or is aware of their strange purpose.  
It is thought that the Facility exists to purify the water of the True Sea, but the veracity of the claim is unknown. What is true, however, is that the Facility’s pumps carry the water on which Skull depends for its survival from the sea and up to the city.  No one knows how long the pumps have been going or, for that matter, when they might stop.

Built by a human organization known as the Agency, the Facility dates from a short time before the arrival of the Welt. It is combination storage and research facility, curating weapons and other technology as well as hosting a range of laboratories designed to facilitate many different avenues of research.

Although the marks of deep time are easily seen in the ancient, cracked and crumbling concrete, the rusted pipes and omnipresent fungal infestation of the place, the Facility is not derelict.  Gene engineered monsters patrol the endless network of corridors and rooms and a variety of semi sentient humanoid drones maintain the machines. However, aside from the group’s ubiquitous symbol, little remains of the Agency or the culture that spawned it, but for the powerful and insane Dr. Warp. Unquestioned overlord of the Facility and its denizens, the doctor rules it all and as a descendent of the founders, represents the place’s last vestige of humanity, but in truth, he hasn’t been properly human for a very, very long time.

Quote from: Gib;584617Xolox, in the Black Smoke Sea:

Quote from: Gib;589374
12. Located at the northeastern base of the Hellhole, 12 is a Scorn settlement cluster, consisting of several large dome habitats and a number of underground complexes. The aliens represent the strongest military presence within the Black Smoke Sea, but they cannot be said to truly control the region. The Airlords trade with the Scorn, but neither the Herd nor the Trund do so.

Battlefield Reach:  The trackless, monster infested, radioactive wasteland known as Battlefield Reach sprawls across the ruins of what was once a great super-technological metropolis. Ranging from scrap metal to ancient coins to wondrous items of every possible description, the treasure yielded up by these ruins draws a steady stream of scavengers from across the length and breadth of Satan’s Spine.  Most of the scavenger bands meet up in and operate out of Great Stone Ship.


The Blacksmoke Sea:  Comprised primarily of cursed noxious vapors, toxic volcanic gas and malignant spectral plasm, the Black Smoke Sea occupies a great basin situated between the Western Mountains and the Cracked Land. Hazards abound, above, within and beneath the sea’s deadly black clouds. In addition to the unwholesome atmosphere, mysterious tribes and savage, twisted monstrosities evolved to survive in the poisonous environment inhabit and hunt the basin’s floor; violent seismic activity is frequent; and angry spirits filter and prowl through the gaseous murk, jealous of the living and eager to feast upon them.

The Bleak Mountains: High Windy and cold, the Bleak Mountains, present a marked contrast to the heat and aridity of the desert lowlands, but represent an environment as harsh and hostile to life as any in the region.  During the first decades of their lives, before they depart for the stars, many rocs make their nests on some of the higher peaks.

The remoteness and inaccessibility of the chain makes it an ideal refuge. The Dark Mark (an assassins’ guild) the Cult of Gllorr’r (a vile religion centered around an ancient Martian fertility deity) and countless dark wizards are said to have strongholds, hidden away within the mountain fastness. The White Apes have a city, Krag, halfway up the slope of the Thorn, the highest peak in the chain.  

The Cracked Land:  Boulder fields, volcanic vents and uneven, fissured plains of obsidian make up most of the Cracked Land. Magma elementals live and war amongst themselves in the deeper fissures. Loosely knit Sasquatch motorcycle gangs compete with a savage confederation of Minotaur road warrior tribes for control of the area. Each group lives a nomadic lifestyle, growing food in special oversized trucks and drawing on geothermal heat to power their vehicles.  There are no known permanent settlements.

Demon’s Beach: Once the floor of a long forgotten sea, Demon’s Beach is now a vast and flat expanse of crusted salt. The sun pummels the plain with savage, unrelenting intensity. Little lives above ground. However, a vast network of linked natural and artificial caverns, known as the Etros, lies buried deep beneath most of the salt flat. Many dangerous creatures live here. In most of the rest of Satan’s Spine it is commonly believed that Etros is where the souls of the dead reside. Little is known about the nameless domes in the northeastern expanse of Deamon’s Beach.

Great Stone Ship: A titanic sea-going vessel of unknown origin and purpose, Great Stone Ship lies on the desert floor, marking out the northeast boundary of Battlefield Reach. At the base of the ship, in the shade on its northern side, crouches a lowdown settlement of scavengers and prospectors. It is here that the narcotic telouze is manufactured, distilled from a viscous black ooze that rises up from lesions in the earth, found in secret caverns either beneath or nearby the ship.  As with most aspects of life at Great Stone Ship, the Telouze trade is tightly controlled by the local chapter of the Rogue’s Knot.

Krag:  Halfway up the slopes of the mountain called Thorn, the White ape city of Krag resides at roughly 350 chains (23,000 feet/7010 meters) above sea level. Although considered somewhat reclusive, the yeti trade with both the Airlords and the Nuphal; however such is not the case regarding the Trund with whom the residents of Krag have an age long enmity. The city’s defenses are considered to be invulnerable, and the Snow Guard, Krag’s army, second to none; however, it is not military prowess for which the city is known, but for sorcery.  While the white apes remain aloof, and officially neutral in regards to politics, individual brothers of Thorn’s Shadow (the city’s fraternal order of sorcerers) are employed as viziers in nearly every court across the breadth of Satan’s Spine.

Port: What is left of the ancient city of Port can be found near the summit of a low mountain rising up from the bone white plain of Demon’s Beach. This lonely mountain was once a small island, but the land lifted and the sea receded, leaving the city marooned far inland.

Due to its altitude, Port has a milder climate than the desert below.  Life flourishes there. The city has two functioning ag-caverns and access to clean water.  Seeing a chance for sustained survival, if not endless wealth, several factions vie for control of the ancient ruins. The rat folk are probably the strongest group, but several individual monsters rival them in power. Port is one of the few places with easily found access to the Etros.

Rrouz: Famed for its smithies and their wares, Rrouz is also the home to many artisans, artificers and craftsmen of all sorts. The city is nominally under Shae control, but taxes are used to pay tribute to Skull and in reality the ruling council is little more than a puppet government; it is Coil who actually controls Rrouz.  Despite this affiliation, the city is far less oppressive than Skull itself. Many expatriates live in a small neighborhood called Skull-town. Everyone trades at R’Rouz.

Skull: Located deep within the Anvil of Sun and ruled over by the devious and gleefully malignant centipede creature known as Coil, Skull is a city built inside the final remaining relic of a long dead god. Despite Skull’s location at the center of the waste, cool air flows through its neighborhoods and lush tropical growth looms over its sparkling canals; further, the city boasts some of the most productive agricultural caverns (green shafts) on the continent.  This fecundity can be attributed in part to vast subterranean sea located far below Skull’s bustling streets, and on which the plants and people of Skull depend upon more than any other resource for their survival. It is perhaps the largest source of untainted water on the continent, maybe the world. Another contributing factor is the vast god skull itself; its osseus dome is semi translucent, blocking the worst effects of the sun, yet allowing sufficient light through to nourish the gardens below.
 
The Skrag:  A generally flat, but somewhat rolling expanse of sage steppe, the Skrag supports a surprising array of life forms. Beneficiaries of rainfall and runoff patterns, scrub and cactus grow in abundance sufficient to support large herbivores and their attendant predators. During lean times, hunters from all over the deep desert will cross over to the Skrag to look for game. This is a dangerous practice, however; the native predators are clever and bloodthirsty opportunists, who wont hesitate to turn a competitor into a meal.

Quote from: Gib;800025Hah, thanks.

As I mentioned elsewhere I have a broken leg and subsequently have lots of time on my hands. I have been going over the stuff above and altering it for a mars based game. This has been pretty easy, which is no surprise, because I was thinking of Athas (Dark Sun) and Barsoom when I made it originally.  

Adding in red and green martians, for example, really works for me.

I'll be using Fantastic Heroes and Whitchery as my base game, and the winged folk and whitchling races too. I am also going to have Wild Maratians, which are beast people like in Kamandi.