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. Abikitan has a shop on the Float that sells puff pastries but she’s more well-known for her healing services, which compete with those of the Canonicate’s Healer. Despite the Healer rarely leaving the main arcology, there are rumours that the Caononicate is still contemplating shutting down a rival.
2. Senior members of Taracal’s Canonicate Council meet every week to discuss the city’s most pressing issues. It’s rumoured that recently the council has become fractured over some matter, with some members of the council wanting to pursue one solution, and the rest another.
3. Taracal trades with many coastal cities, and has built up quite a network over the years. Some say that the floating arcology doesn’t merely trade with the cities of the coast, they also secretly invest some of the money made from trade in businesses in those cities, gradually building up their influence and power.
4. The bonds are those who commit crimes in Taracal or who come to the city with nothing to offer, and they are pressed into indentured servitude for five years. It’s rumoured that the number of bonds from outside the city has been increasing, due to an attempt to reduce the number of citizens in service, and that the city government is less than bothered about how such are obtained.
5. The Canonicate of Taracal is comprised of those who pledge themselves to the Unfathomable. The organisation governs Taracal, but has a lot of turnover, as few can use the Unfathomable’s powers for more than a few years without risking death. Former members leave Taracal, and it’s said that a large network of former members covers much of the Steadfast, perhaps with some goal in mind.
6. The Float is the name given to the raft, piers and craft that are either permanently fixed or moored to Taracal, and it’s also a place where many different things are bought and sold. Fish is, naturally, one of these things, but there are rumours you can buy anything needed at the Float, even if what you want is illegal in the arcology.
7. The Overseer is the one who soon approaches new arrivals to Taracal, to determine if they should be taken into service as bonds, because they can’t leave on their own, or be given another option. It’s rumoured that some of those who could make their own way off the arcology still end up as one of the bonds, as whatever means they had of leaving mysteriously vanishes or is stolen.
8. The Sky Deck is the topmost level of Taracal and is home to many different activities, most of them seemingly innocuous. It’s rumoured, though, that the Canonicate keeps an eye on just who is on the Sky Deck and what activities they take part in, as a person’s leisure activities can give insights into their character.
9. The undersea community of Skelirroth sometimes comes into conflict with Taracal, as the dredges that comprise Skelirroth damage the parts of the ocean they pass through, which includes those that Taracal does. It’s rumoured that the floating arcology has recently been hiring mercenaries onshore, especially those with maritime and underwater experience, perhaps with the intent of launching an attack on the undersea community.
10. Though there are rumours that some of the bonds of Taracal, those forced into indentured servitude, are planning revolt, nothing has ever come of it. Some say that this is because the plans are still coming to fruition; others that the Canonicate has spies within the bonds that report on those planning anything.

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