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.

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