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.
- A series of metal towers runs along the length of Titanic Ridge in the Black Riage. The towers are covered with red and blue lights, and most of these lights are still functional. Or, at least, they were. There’s a rumour that the lights are gradually switching off. Not all at once but, every now and then, one will fade and die, never to come back on again.
- Deep within a canyon in the Black Riage is an enormous statue of a vaguely humanoid figure with their hands aloft, seemingly always holding the sun between them during the day, and a full moon at night. A community has built up around this statue, who call it Curtar and believe it to be the creator of the universe. There’s a rumour that, recently, the cult was disturbed when it is said the sun disappeared from Curtar’s hands during the day, and some think it is a sign of the end of the universe.
- Hidden Naresh lies on one of the paths through the Black Riage and travelling through the mountain range that way requires the traveller also go through the unpleasant city. Most would choose a different route, especially as it’s said that many of those who do choose to travel through Hidden Naresh never make it out the other side.
- In winter, Tremble Pass is more often than not the only one of the three passes through the Black Riage that remains clear of snow, funnelling traffic through a known route. There’s a rumour that, when this happens, the number of losses that happen in the pass increases noticeably, as presumably someone, perhaps bandits or abhumans, is taking advantage of knowing just where travellers will need to be.
- Legrash is a stopping point in Tremble Pass in the Black Riage, but one that is avoided by many travellers unless they don’t have a choice, as both the settlement and its inns have a poor reputation. It’s possible that the reputation may not be as bad as the settlement truly deserves, either; there are rumours of travellers disappearing in the vicinity of it.
- Mencala Peak in the Black Riage is known to be home to two savage tribes of lattimors that attack anyone, and everyone, on sight. The mountain is also a volcano that constantly rumbles, and recently the rumbling has grown more frequent, together with ground tremors. It could be that Mencala is about to erupt, and an eruption could drive the lattimors into the lower lands before it happens.
- Mt. Zanlis, the tallest peak in the Black Riage, is known locally for all sorts of strange events happening in the region, from peculiar physical manifestations to the appearance of creatures or disappearance of travellers. Though not everyone who passes through the region sees anything out of the ordinary. It’s rumoured that the disappearance of people is followed, not long afterwards, by the appearance of strange beings. Some suggest the mountain is abducting and transforming people, then releasing them again.
- The Slant Milieu in the Black Riage is a place where a wind called the welkerwind blows nonstop, bending everything within the region towards the ground. There’s a rumour that this isn’t all the welkerwind does, that when the wind blows through the Slant Milieu in the right way, words can be heard on the wind. No-one knows what these words are, but it’s said that they tell secrets of the world to those who do manage to understand them.
- The Sorcan is the closest thing that Hidden Naresh in the Black Riage has to a ruler, though if so, he’s a ruler who seems unconcerned with whether or not the city, or its people, flourish or die; one appears to be just as uninteresting as the other. There’s a rumour that The Sorcan is seeking something and that they will give a great deal to possess it, but it isn’t known if this is a thing, a person, knowledge or something else entirely.
- There’s a citadel in the foothills of the Black Riage that anyone with any sense avoids, for it is believed to be home of a great evil. There are few people who live in the region closest to the citadel, and there are rumours that some of those have started disappearing of late, including entire hamlets that have supposedly vanished between one visit and the next.
Want some items that could be used as oddities? Check out 100 Xenoarchaeological Finds.