Numenera is a game published by Monte Cook Games. Its setting is the Ninth World, and this list has ten rumours for that setting. The rumours, which are similar to the Hearsay that can be found in the official books, can be used as adventure hooks or as simple misinformation.

1. Dynafel in Iscobal has been suffering from attacks by clouds of the yellow swarm of late, something the city walls cannot prevent and something the city guards are unable to fight. There are rumours that someone is, somehow, directing the yellow swarm deliberately ay Dynafel with the aim of, for whatever reason, damaging, or perhaps even destroying, the city.
2. Harcorth Munn, mayor of Dynafel in Iscobal, is a well-liked man who is a common sight at the city’s various places of entertainment, from bars to brothels. There’s a rumour that Munn is not the jovial person he often presents himself as, but in fact is a cold and grasping man with a firm grip around the various places he visits, and that when he travels to them it isn’t to sample the pleasures available, but to ensure that his investments are still going strong.
3. King Noren tiKalloban of Iscobal only just survived an attempt on his life, presumed to be at the bidding of the deposed Queen Whenith Sarromere, but lost an arm and an eye in the process. Only the numenera stockpile saved the king’s life. There’s a rumour, though, that not even the numenera were enough to save the king and that, in fact, he died as a result of the assassination, and that whoever is currently pretending to be king is some sort of numenera-created or disguised being.
4. Narla Deshu, the Aeon Priest who is chief among the experts working at the Dreaming Reliquary in Dynafel in Iscobal, has been getting increasingly involved in political affairs of late. There are rumours that what Narla is seen doling is only a fraction of what she’s attempting to do, and that she has a political reach that extends well beyond the city of Dynafel. Narla may even be powerful enough to dictate who sits on Iscobal’s throne.
5. Queen Whenith Sarromere, the ruler of Iscobal deposed by the father of the current king, Rabbar tiKalloban 40 years ago, is said to have died in exile in the land of Ancuan. There’s a rumour, though, that the queen did not die in exile, or perhaps she was able to recover through the use of numenera, and is still plotting to regain her throne, though she does so from without the country, not within.
6. The Cold Grasp operates out of Mulen in Iscobal, perhaps the most infamous group of assassins and thieves in the Steadfast. Though the Cold Grasp takes on contracts from others to carry out assassinations, there’s a rumour that everything they do is intended to further the secret goals of the group and its leader, Hedra. That no assassination is done unless the Cold Grasp will, in some way, benefit from it.
7. The Dreaming Reliquary in Dynafel in Iscobal is a place where Aeon Priests continue to follow the obsession with dreams that the exiled queen had. It’s rumoured that those who live too close to the reliquary often suffer strange dreams, and that sometimes some are afflicted by nightmares emanating from the Reliquary, nightmares that can be fatal to experience.
8. The Grand Theatre in Mulen, capital of Iscobal, was once a monument to art and culture, but it has recently become a dangerous place to visit, due to the actions of nobles allied with one faction or another. Intrigue, and assassinations, are becoming more common, and there are rumours that different factions are trying to employ the staff and artists who work at the theatre as a way of eavesdropping, or killing, those allied to opposing factions.
9. The Masked Legion is the secret police force of Mulen in Iscobal, that opposes the Sarromere family’s attempts to regain control of the nation from the current royal family. This results in the Legion occasionally falling afoul of the Cold Grasp and other such elements, but there’s a rumour that one reason the police are masked is that many of them are secretly members of the Cold Grasp as well, and that the supposed clashes between the groups are staged so that only those who do not know of the connection are at risk.
10. Underneath Mulen in Iscobal is a vast network of catacombs, secret passages, tombs and subterranean chambers. This undercity is home to thieves, beggars, escaped slaves and other creatures, most of whom no-one is really bothered about should they go missing. And there’s a rumour that, recently, people have been disappearing in greater numbers than usual. Some of those concerned about the underground realms are worried that one of the residents may have awoken something best left sleeping.

Want some items that could be used as oddities? Check out 100 Xenoarchaeological Finds.