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.
- Becara is in many ways the leader of the Few, though that is a role she doesn’t claim the title of, though it’s one she effectively fills. It’s rumoured that Becara’s refusal to claim to be the leader is subterfuge, to hide the fact that she knows that, in truth, she runs the Few and without her the group would fall apart.
- Brave House in Umdera is where weapons and unarmed combat are trained by instructors who are members of the Few. It’s said that the Few keep an eye on those they are training, to see who might be worthy of joining their number, but no matter what, training is open to all.
- Coloured plumes of steam are emitted from the elixir distillery in Umdera, and inside the fumes can lead to blindness. It’s rumoured that even those fumes that are emitted into the atmosphere are dangerous for those who spend too much time near them, and over the years the effects can build up.
- Ethedrin is a skilled gambler and trader in secrets that can be found in Umdera’s Public House. It’s rumoured that some of the secrets he knows are used as blackmail material by the gambler, and that over the years he’s picked up just about every skeleton in the closet in the settlement, and now wields as much power as any of those who visibly hold it.
- Jherad the Sage is a student of the dream titans who perhaps knows more about them than anyone else living. He constantly wears skin-covering garments to cover up the damage he suffered when he was trampled by one of the dream titans. Some claim that Jherad is still attempting to gain as much knowledge about the creatures as he can so he can discover how to kill them in revenge for his injuries.
- Lia is a young distiller with so much talent for the craft that, despite being only fifteen, some of the varieties offered are her own concoctions. It’s rumoured that she’s still considering leaving the distillery, and as a result Xaozon is considering essentially bribing her to remain.
- Pilgrim Palon can be found in the Public House in Umdera, regaling people of all the expeditions she’s led in the past and usually saving things single-handedly. Some doubt her tales, especially as they seem to be endless, and there are rumours that Palon is not the brave adventurer she makes herself out to be and instead is a coward who has people looking for her under a different name after her cowardice landed them in mortal peril.
- The Few are a group of explorers based out of Brave House in Umdera who set out on expeditions into the nearest dream titan. Not all who set out return, though the group has so far been able to restore its numbers. There are rumours that those outside the core membership are the most likely to fail to return from an expedition and some say that’s because the core members kill those who have discovered things of spectacular value or interest and take them for their own.
- The Jalnarys are the two brothers and a sister who run the Public House in Umdera and most have difficulty telling the three apart unless they are together. It’s rumoured that the three may be clones, or something similar, and that they fled from something, which is why they mostly keep to the Public House.
- Xaozon the distiller was once an Aeon Priest but he left the Order of Truth for reasons he will not explain, though they seem to be painful for him. It’s said that Xaozon keeps an eye out for whenever Aeon Priests might visit Umdera, almost as if he’s looking for some in particular, or fears they may be looking for him.
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