D10: Numenera Rumours – Starter Communities IV

Numenera Cover
TM and © 2019 Monte Cook Games, LLC.

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. Krem are flying beetles ridden by the inhabitants of Tarshu, and they are smaller, domesticated versions of the wild bugs. It’s rumoured, though, that sometimes the domesticated krem turn on their riders, most often just tipping them off to their deaths when flying.
  2. Skylord Bellen is the current ruler of Tarshu, a former krem jockey who had to retire and who’s proven less than entirely capable at his new job. It’s rumoured that some within the settlement are trying to get Bellen replaced, believing he is unfit to run the place.
  3. Someone has reputedly been tampering with the crystals that keep the floating rocks of Tarshu aloft, and the citizens dearly want to find out who is doing this. It’s probable that when they do, that individual will be summarily executed, possibly by tossing them off the rocks.
  4. Speaker Marto of Stonefoot has been trying to come up with some way of parlaying the valuable resources the village controls into a way of protecting her people and expanding their territory. It’s rumoured that Marto is looking for individuals to venture out beyond Stonefoot’s swamps to see if the resources can be utilised in some way.
  5. Stonefoot is built on a cluster of artificial mounds and it’s rumoured that some of the mounds in the village pre-date its existence, being something stumbled across by the first settlers. It’s thought that perhaps these mounds are a relic from a prior world, and that they may hide secrets within them.
  6. Tarshu is built on floating rocks that straddle a canyon, which makes space in the town at a high premium. Ancient technology keeps the rocks floating and in place and the inhabitants would love to get their hands on similar technology, especially as they are unwilling to tamper with the things that keep their town standing.
  7. The inhabitants of the floating community Tarshu have a somewhat condescending attitude to those they consider to be from the “mainland”, and it’s rumoured that sometimes this condescension is more than that, with those not from the community thrown off the floating rocks on which it is built.
  8. Tribes of yovoki who live in the swamps around Stonefoot are a problem for the villagers, as the yovoki can easily leap to the top of the all surrounding the village. There are also rumours of a great leader arising in the depths of the swamp, one who will unite the yovoki and bring about the end of Stonefoot.
  9. Water in Tarshu comes from a large pipe that directs water from nearby streams across the floating settlement’s main bridge, though households are required to store water in case this is ever cut off. Some of the inhabitants feel that the amount of water stored is insufficient to deal with any serious problem, and that more should be stored.
  10. Within Stonefoot is a large, muddy pit from which a substance similar to apt clay can be harvested. It’s rumoured that sometimes other substances bubble up from the pit, though this happens very rarely and is mostly covered up by those in the know.

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

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