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. Ellabon is the current regent for Yorvic, the three-year-old ruler of Malevich, and will continue being regent until Yorvic passes the ritual of second birth at age thirteen. There’s a rumour, though, that Ellabon enjoys ruling the nation and has no desire to step down when Yorvic is old enough. It’s being said that Ellabon is already making plans to ensure that Yorvic, for whatever reason, will be unable to take his rightful place as king.
2. Living in the lower reaches of Stirthal in Malevich is a creature called Quanon, an expert on energy sources and power generation. Quanon charges a lot for his services, but is also willing to accept barter, if the item is interesting enough. There’s a rumour that Quanon is searching for a specific item and is willing to pay a substantial amount for it, if it is found. It’s believed Quanon is looking for an experimental energy source from a prior world.
3. Marrizek is the ruler of Stirthal in Malevich, taking the title of Governor and claiming to rule the Voil Chasm as well, in the name of the king. It’s said that the Governor is planning to make her claim of rulership over the chasm fact, rather than vanity, and intends to start sending groups down into it to establish cliffside routes and waystations, broadening these out by burrowing into the rock itself and building the city downward and across.
4. Malevich is constantly under threat by bands of abhumans, who roam the country in small, disorganised bands. A worrying rumour is that some of the bands of abhumans are neither small nor disorganised, instead being large and well-led. No-one has been able to confirm these rumours, but one reason being given for this is that no-one has, to date, survived an encounter with one of the larger bands.
5. Neverlost is a powerful fortification in Malevich, home to Duke Theomal. The castle has never fallen and, in times of need, the duke offers sanctuary within its walls to those that can pay the price. The duke’s family becomes wealthier and more powerful every time Neverlost is used as a refuge by others, and there’s a rumour that some of this wealth goes towards funding the very problems that drive people to take shelter within the castle’s walls.
6. Parts of Stirthal in Malevich are built onto the sides of the cliffs of the Voil Chasm. These homes are the most prized in the city, and as such are the preferred residences and business locations of the city’s wealthy and powerful. There are rumours, though, that there are concerns about the safety of some of the cliffside dwellings, and that some people have plunged to their deaths when part of their expensive home suddenly gave way.
7. The bandit clans of Malevich are all organised under the command of the Bandit King, Polele, and it’s said many of the bandits are veterans of the wars fought by Malevich in the past. The bandits have a degree of organisation and skill that rivals the country’s armed forces and it’s rumoured that they are planning to overturn the current government. Given that the peasantry of Malevich are kept on the verge of starvation by the nobility, an attempt to depose the nobles could easily be greeted with widespread popular support.
8. The Thyrn are the city guards of Stirthal in Malevich and are well trained and easily seen in their distinctive black and gold armour. The Thyrn have a reputation for violence and oppression, but also for being utterly loyal to the city’s ruler, Governor Marrizek. However, some suggest that this apparent loyalty is not real, and that the Thyrn are the true rulers of the city, with Marrizek being no more than their puppet.
9. The Voil Chasm serves as the southern border of Malevich, a huge rent in the earth, once called the Earthwound, up to 25 miles wide in places and in some parts approaching that in depth. No-one has ever fully explored the chasm, or travelled to the deepest regions, but there’s a rumour that some of those who have delved deeply have never returned. Whether they simply fell prey to the hazards of travelling so far down into the chasm, or whether they prey to something living in the depths, isn’t known.
10. Thriest is the official capital of Malevich but, as the regent and the child-king are in Stirthal, the palace, and much of the city, is abandoned, with only about half the population living there that used to live there. Whole buildings and sometimes entire streets, are abandoned, and there are rumours that some areas are becoming increasingly sparse of population, though no-one seems to know where the people who were living there have gone.

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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. Auspar is the capital of Thaemor and is known as the City of Needles, for it is filled with tall, thin structures of many different types. Residents use these, and other means, as a way of ascending into the sky so that they can literally look down on the kingdoms around them. Recently, there have been an unusual number of incidents involving these structures. Though anything that involves people climbing into the air on a thin structure is naturally prone to accidents, there have been far more such recently than would be expected.
2. Children in the city of Stirc in Thaemor, at about age two, all begin to have an imaginary friend called Olpenda. Every child in the city has Olpenda for a friend. To date, Olpenda has been treated as an unusual, but not malevolent, being, and some assume that there is a being behind the imaginary friend. However, there have recently been rumours of children going missing, apparently having followed Olpenda to somewhere unknown.
3. Goldguard Landon was the warrior who drove the forces of Navarene, Draolis and Malevich from the lands he would call Thaemor, though he proved less able as an administrator. His son, Kaldon, had no heirs survive him and Holiva the First took over the rulership, even though no-one remembers his origin. Recently, there has been a rumour that Kaldon either did not die when it was thought, or that he was deposed by Holiva and imprisoned somewhere, and that Kaldon’s location has now been discovered.
4. Holiva the First, ruler of Thaemor, has been attempting to revive something called the shadow herd, who will make the whole world kneel at the feet of Thaemor and Holiva. Superstition in the land does tell of something called the shadow herd, but most believe, or perhaps hope, that it is just superstition. Because there have been rumours of shadowy things being seen within the country in recent weeks, perhaps suggesting that Holiva has achieved a measure of success.
5. Jyrek in Thaemor was built by Kaldon, a former ruler of the nation, to protect just his family and may well be one of the best-defended cities in the entire Steadfast, though now it has a significantly greater population. There’s a rumour that the city’s leaders think this makes them better suited to rule the country from their city, and given the current leader, they may well have a point, and are planning on using Jyrek as a base from which to conquer the rest of Thaemor.
6. Navarene, Draolis and Malevich each used to desire the land now known as the kingdom of Thaemor, and fought a three-way war over it. Though the war ended when Goldguard Landon took control of the land and created Thaemor, the three kingdoms have never truly given up on their desire to own the land. It’s rumoured that at least one of them is undermining Thaemor from within in order to weaken it so that they can move in and take possession.
7. Recently, a device was activated in Thaemor called the Great Reach that allows instantaneous travel from Thaemor to the distant land of Corao. Though the Great Reach has proven a boon in some ways, there are rumours that there’s a price to use it. That, every so often, one of the travellers who uses the device never emerges from the other end, instead swallowed up by something that lives in the space between the spaces.
8. The Eyren is an egg-shaped structure floating in the centre of Jyrek that was commissioned by Kaldon, the former rumour of Thaemor, as a place to house and protect his family. After a flaw in the Eyren resulted in Kaldon’s family all dying, the structure was sealed off and no-one was allowed to enter. Though the Eyren still floats in Jyrek, most inhabitants pay it no heed, but there’s a rumour that activity has been seen around, and perhaps even in, the Eyren recently, suggesting that perhaps new occupants have moved in.
9. The people of Thaemor know that their ruler, Holiva the First, is not sane though they dare not say this. Holiva’s vizier is the Hand of Melch, which is merely a shadow puppet created by Holiva’s own hand. There are rumours, though, that the Hand of Melch has been seen to move without Holiva’s hand making a movement, which leads to the worrying theory that the Hand might be real.
10. The Precipice is the tallest and thinnest building in Auspar, the capital of Thaemor, and is the home of Holiva. Holiva increases the height of the Precipice every year, dangerous work that nowadays is suicidal. Recently, it’s said that the last piece added to the Precipice fell off, and that Holiva is now planning on getting someone to increase the height again, with a warning that any failure to do so will have consequences on their family.

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

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. Beoth in Draolis was struck with an illness which the inhabitants called the “toothless bile.” The illness killed many of the city’s people, and left many more bedridden for some time. No cure has been discovered for the illness, but Aeon Priests constructed a device called the Arch of Illness, which glows when someone afflicted with the disease passes through. There’s a rumour that the arch doesn’t always work correctly, and a worry that some people with the disease may have passed through without it registering.
2. Castle Sarrat in Draolis has been growing ever since the Horges family moved into it seventy years ago. No-one really knows anything about the process, only that new areas suddenly appear in a matter of moments. It’s rumoured that, in recent months, the rate at which the castle is growing has been accelerating, with new portions being added with great rapidity. Some are concerned that the castle will start to engulf the surrounding lands.
3. Draolis used to be ruled by a powerful queen whose symbol was a roaring tiger. Her line died out and was replaced by a council of plutocrats who wished to keep power rather than hand it over to another hereditary line. Many of the people wish to return to the previous rulership, as they believe the nation was more glorious back then, and there’s a rumour that the queen’s line hadn’t died out fully, and that there are still descendants who could take the throne, if the people united behind them.
4. Kordech in Draolis is devoted to the sale, breeding and slaughter of shiul, a valuable source of meat. The cattle, which are popular targets for various predators as well as bandits, are protected at night by wooden palisades erected by those that look after them. It’s rumoured, though, that a number of shiul have recently started disappearing from within the palisades themselves, disappearing with no sign of either them or what might have taken them.
5. Mayor Marvyr Rann of Qi in Draolis lives in a dirigible out of a fear that if he ever treads on the earth he will sicken and die. It’s rumoured that Rann’s dirigible nearly came to earth recently without the mayor’s approval. Some say that it was sabotaged in an attempt to bring Rann back to the ground. If it’s true that Rann will die if he touches the ground, this was an assassination attempt, and it’s said that the mayor is certainly treating it as such.
6. Sister Tevera, a priestess of the cult of Nauz, the Stargod, become the mayor of Beoth in Draolis after the previous mayor died. Tevera is continually clashing with the Aeon Priests over handling the toothless bile that afflicts the city, and it’s rumoured that the priests would be glad to see her replaced with someone who would make their job easier. It’s even rumoured that some of the priests might be willing to help Sister Tevera on her way out of the job.
7. The Fourth Mark in Draolis is a strange construction with a tower like base rising hundreds of feet in the air, topped by a crescent shape. Over the years, many have tried and failed to get through the synth hatch that blocks access to the structure’s head, but there’s a rumour that one of the more recent groups to attempt access never returned. Whether this means that they got through, and were stuck or transported elsewhere, whether they were vapourised or whether they were simply never witnessed leaving isn’t known.
8. The inhabitants of the city of Qi in Draolis often travel from place to place within the city using dirigibles and balloons, though such devices are rarely used to venture over longer distances, as the vehicles lack the capability. Recently, there have been a number of incidents with the vehicles, accidents within the city where they have crashed or otherwise started to fall from the sky. So far, none of these have been serious, but there’s a concern that such is only a matter of time.
9. The Marish Clan of Qi in Draolis have their fingers in all sorts of illegal pies, mostly involving goods that have been stolen in some way, but they also conduct murder for hire. There’s a rumour, though, that the clan is looking to expand into other arenas. A few political figures are said to have died recently, seemingly killed by the Marish, and it’s thought that the clan is attempting to become a political power in the city, not just a purely criminal one. Though some see little difference.
10. The Zhev are the elite peacekeeping force of Qi in Draolis and are flying cylindrical automatons that were created by the Amber Pope. The city’s rulers are able to repair the existing Zhev, but not make new ones, and the city’s area has expanded since the automatons were first created. The rulers are rumoured to be spending a lot of effort into looking for methods to create new Zhev, so that the entirety of Qi falls under their protection once again.

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

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. Farond, the mayor of Omar in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, is a tough individual who maintains order in her equally tough town using a suit of ancient armour and its devastating numenera weapons. There’s a rumour, though, that Farond is quietly seeking out people familiar with that sort of armour, as reputedly it’s starting to fail and becoming less effective. Without the armour, Mayor Farond will have much greater difficulty maintaining order.
2. It’s been said that King Laird, the ruler of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, hasn’t been seen in public in some time. Some are claiming that the king is very ill; others that he’s actually died and his advisors are ruling in his stead. Most citizens of the Sea Kingdom, whilst loyal to the king, dislike a heavy-handed government and, should the king truly be unable to rule or dead, as long as whoever is doing so in his stead doesn’t alter the current situation, they may well go along with it.
3. Keford is a lumber town in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan and the lumberjacks of Keford frequently cross into Navarene to harvest wood from the Westwood, as there is no firm border. Navarene does patrol the woods, and sometimes the lumberjacks and soldiers come into conflict. Recently, a number of parties on both sides, lumberjacks and soldiers alike, have disappeared in the woods without a trace. Both Navarene and Ghan seem to think the other is responsible.
4. King Laird, the ruler of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, lives in the Coral Palace in the City of Bridges, taking up most of one platform and provides a location for the king’s personal ships to dock. Recently, those close to the palace have said that access to it has been greatly restricted, with outsiders being searched before entering and leaving, and that there has been a substantial increase in the guard presence.
5. Massive humanoid statues float above the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, ancient war machines that have done nothing but float above the hills, never travelling far from their origin point. They have floated for so long that most don’t pay them much attention any longer. Recently, though, some of the inhabitants of the region have claimed that they have seen signs of activity from some of the machines. Not much, little more than twitches or lights, but they seem to suggest that the war machines are coming back to life somehow.
6. Omar in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is a mining town whose miners cut away metal from an ancient structure below the surface, which can then be reforged, though not easily. The metal, known as omaroa or azure steel, is in great demand, but there are rumours that recently supplies have started to become scarcer. It’s been said that the miners have run into trouble, perhaps an ancient defence mechanism that is objecting to the intruders and attacking them.
7. The City of Bridges is the capital of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan, though truthfully the construction is not in Ghan itself, but stretches out into the sea, a series of metal platforms joined together by a web of bridges. The platforms are constructed from materials from prior world and, until now, have proven perfectly safe. There’s a rumour, though, that some of the material of which the city is constructed has started to rapidly fail. Should this not be stopped, then the city may have to have large parts replaced, or perhaps even abandoned.
8. The lumber town of Keford in the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is known for the constant, and deafening, noise that can constantly be heard by everyone except, oddly, those that are blind. The sound is deafening enough that those who can hear it find it troublesome, and there are rumours that the sound is both growing louder and that the area in which it can be heard is growing in size.
9. The Sea Kingdom of Ghan maintains its position primarily through the leverage of its vast merchant fleet. With the ships being merchant ships, they are not an immediate military threat to any other nation, but they could also be converted to naval vessels if need be. The merchant fleet is also a vital part of the economy of the Steadfast; loss of it would cause damage to the trade routes that the other kingdoms depend on. In recent months, losses amongst the merchant fleet have apparently been higher than normal. More vessels are being lost, and lost without a trace, than is usual. It could be that a foreign power is attempting to reduce the fleet’s utility, harming the Sea Kingdom and, perhaps, the other nations of the Steadfast as well.
10. There are rumours of a chain of islands leagues to the west of the Steadfast, and King Laird of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan is said to be preparing an expedition to head to those islands to discover if they are as rumoured. Some say that the expedition has actually happened, and that the fleet discovered something extremely unusual, perhaps extremely dangerous, and that its discovery is being covered up until a course of action can be decided on.

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