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.
- Astaria in the Divided Seas has built a large membrane across the Imoros Strait which is only opened for passing ships and water transports once per day, and at a cost at that. There are rumours that Astaria is planning to increase the amount they charge to open the membrane, and counter rumours that some of those who have to use the strait are getting increasingly tired of being gouged and are seeking other methods of dealing with the tariff.
- Halite Gabra is the current head of Our Order of the Lady of the Salt Way in the Divided Seas and used to be a member of the Order of Truth until she blinded and deafened herself following a vision. Or, at least, so it is claimed. Gabra is now said to see and hear using mechanical eyes and hearing aids, but there are rumours that perhaps she might not be as blind and death as she’s supposed to be, or that these were not self-inflicted.
- Hayrest in the Divided Seas is a surprising centre of scholarly pursuits, which some link to the city’s large population of varjellen. There are rumours, though, that strife is increasing between certain elements of the human population and the varjellen. Should this continue, the entire city could be put at risk of internal conflict.
- Hiberz is the nominal leader of the submerged city of Salachia in the Divided Seas. Some consider him to be the city’s saviour; others, its destroyer. The latter would happily see Hiberz dead so that they could restore the city properly, and its rumoured they have made several attempts to make this goal a reality, but so far have been unsuccessful.
- Navae Marica in the Divided Seas is smaller and shallower than the Sere Marica but, unlike the larger sea, is a source of fresh water, rather than salt. There are rumours, though, that recently the Navae Marica’s water has started to taste slightly salty, and that the saltiness is gradually increasing over time. If it is turning to salt, this could cause a serious problem for those that rely on its fresh water.
- Our Order of the Lady of the Salt Way in the Divided Seas like many religions considers others to be horribly misguided, though the Order is reputedly just waiting patiently for everyone else to see their truth. There’s a rumour, though, that a splinter faction of halites within the order have decided to hurry matters along a bit, by targeting followers of other religions and eliminating them; the more powerful the individual is within the religion, the better.
- Salachia is an underwater city at the bottom of the Sere Marica in the Divided Seas. The outside of the city is covered in crystalline creatures called chiffons that inhale the carbon dioxide released by the city’s inhabitants and exhale the oxygen needed to breathe. As well as the crisis caused by the city’s diminishing population, which results in fewer chiffons being attracted, it’s also rumoured that they have recently been dying off.
- Sere Marica in the Divided Seas is known for how hostile the environment surrounding it is to mechanical beings, as the salt is very hard on their mechanisms. It’s rumoured that the salt that appears in the Sere Marica is part of an ancient defence mechanism, one set up by a civilisation of a prior world that was under attack by mechanical foes.
- The halites, the followers of Our Order of the Lady of the Salt Way, live on an island in the Salted Marshes of the Divided Seas. There have been rumours about members of the group possibly eating their dead, after being cured in salt, but other, darker rumours suggest that a number of travellers in the region disappear and end up on the tables of the halites where they are consumed.
- The Sere Marica in the Divided Seas is a body of water filled with blue salts, though the water that flows into it is fresh. There’s a rumour of a vast ancient mechanism located somewhere on the bottom of the sea, one that changes the waters that enter the Sere Marica, adding the salt to them.
Want some items that could be used as oddities? Check out 100 Xenoarchaeological Finds.