Elias’ Thoughts – After sitting with not being satisfied with how the Luh-Voh were initially written and then doing a deep dive on Hadrea, the Undercity, I decided that I needed to revisit the initial posting. I’m happy with aspects of the entries from last week, such as the underlying voodoo flavor of Abijah, but I didn’t like some of the cultural touchpoints that were brought to mind when I re-read the entries. So, here’s a reimagining of the Luh-Voh people as seers/hedge witches, some items that can be incorporated with them, and then a few more Talents. Enjoy!
Monday 3/25:
Luh-Voh rewrite: A secretive and reclusive people, the Luh-Voh have traversed the waters and reed beds of Lake Lacrim for as long as any citizen of Peccatu can remember. Widely respected for their skills with herbal remedies, their advice is highly sought when someone takes ill. The Luh-Voh can often be seen fishing off their boats made from twisted reeds but will quickly punt their craft back into the shallow reed beds if approached on the open water. The best way to come in contact with a Luh-Vohian is when they visit the houseboat communities of Hadrea to trade. Here the Luh-Voh trade for fresh water and food, offering healing poultices, dried gourds, or other odds and ends in exchange.
They also offer trade in the form of portents of the future. The Luh-Voh seem to have been blessed with the ability of divination and will readily trade presages if asked respectfully and offered the correct items for trade. No one has quite figured out what drives the desire of the Luh-Voh when it comes to trading in futures, some requests have included a single, rusty nail (to anchor intentions), a knot tied in silk by the requester’s lover (to help unravel fate), or a clay die with 5 blank sides (to help prevent randomness). Regardless of what is requested by the Luh-Voh, the asker has only a single hour to return with the item, otherwise the Luh-Vohian will depart and refuse to presage for the failed requestor ever again.
Some Archivists have attempted to study the Luh-Voh but they were unable to determine where they draw their abilities from. Those that volunteered to be interviewed said they drew power from the lake itself, which is why they refused to touch dry land. They said that if they were ever to willingly leave the lake, their abilities would forsake them. The Archivists also made note of something named reverently as “Abijah,” but outside of a brief mention of hidden altars, the Archivists were unable to learn more.
Tuesday 3/26:
Sight Orb
Magic Item
Object
1 Slot
Created by the Luh-Voh, a Sight Orb is a small glass sphere that contains a human shaped effigy made of twisted reeds suspended in lake water. Even when not touched, the liquid in the orb occasionally swirls, kicking up a flurry of lake mud that churns around the effigy.
The Sight Orb is created with a specific person modeled in effigy in the center. When in possession of a Sight Orb, you know the general direction and vague distance (very far, middling, close, very close, etc.) of the effigy person’s location. Additionally, once per day, the Sight Orb can be shaken to set the lake water and mud swirling, which then reveals a bird’s eye view of the effigy person. The effigy person can be watched for up to 5 minutes in this way, the effigy person can’t see the viewer but does have a vaguely unsettled feeling, as if being watched. No sound is transmitted, only the visual.
“Take care not to break it… Unless you want to, I suppose.”
Wednesday 3/27:
Munguent Poultice
Mundane Item
Consumable, 1 Use
1 Slot
A strip of dirty looking gauze packed with broken reeds and powerfully earthy smelling mud. The mud still contains a rainbow kaleidoscope slick of chemical runoff from the Undercity, but the Luh-Voh swear by its healing powers.
Must be applied to a limb and kept in place without getting wet for a full Day (4 Watches). If successful, any Poisons, Diseases, or Addictions the user is suffering from immediately progress one Effect Duration as the toxins are drawn from their body.
“The smell is how you know it’s working, drylander.”
Thursday 3/28:
Abijah Vessel
Magic Item
Consumable, 1 Use
1 Slot
A ridged, dry gourd, hempen rope tied around the vessel’s neck allows it to be easily carried around a belt loop or offers a convenient place to hold while throwing the gourd. The exterior feels brittle, when shaken the contents alternate between wet sloshing, a low hiss, or extremely faint… Laughter?
The Abijah Vessel can be uncorked or thrown, either of which immediately releases the contents. When releasing the contents, roll 1d3 and consult the table below:
| Roll | Effect |
| 1 | A wave of fetid lake mud pours out of the Vessel. If uncorked it provides Cover 4 for the user for two rounds as the mud forms a swirling miasma in front of them. If thrown, the mud blinds the target for two rounds unless they use a Slow Action to wipe the mud away. |
| 2 | A Nakrina slithers forth from the Vessel, attacking the nearest target regardless of affiliation. |
| 3 | A dark green cloud of swamp gas pours from the Vessel that resolves into a vaguely humanoid shaped apparition. If uncorked, the specter flows across the user’s body and heals them of 2 HP or NP of damage. If thrown, the apparition forces itself into the target’s mouth and causes 2 HP or NP worth of damage. |
“Go ahead, open it up, you never know what Abijah brings.”
Friday 3/29:
Nakrina – An aquatic snake found in Lake Lacrim, these variegated red and yellow serpents spend the majority of their time underwater, lounging in the shallows and surfacing only to breath. When disturbed, most frequently from prey swimming by or through an errant footstep, the snake strikes and immediately tries to constrict whatever disturbed it. Strong enough to trip a human but not big enough to consume one, Nakrina have been the source of many accidental drownings.
Stats
HP: 3
NP: 2
Armor: 2 (scales)
Attributes
Grit – 4
Finesse – 2
Logic – 2
Moxie – 2
Special: While in the shallows of Lake Lacrim or in the reed beds, a Nakrina has a +4 to Reconnoiter checks against being spotted.
Attacks:
Bite: The Nakrina sinks its teeth into a target, non-venomous but still painful. Make an attack against a target in Engaged range with 4 Base Dice and Weapon Damage 1.
Constrict: The Nakrina springs at a target in Close range and attempts to wrap itself around them, make the attack with 8 Base Dice and Weapon Damage 0. If successful, the target is constricted and knocked prone. The target may make an Assault or Agility check to escape from the constriction, this check is made with a -2 modifier.
Tactics: The Nakrina is most often encountered by accident and will immediately try to Constrict any target that moves within Close range of them. Since they primarily reside in the shallows of Lake Lacrim, any human sized target that is knocked prone by Constrict is at serious risk of drowning. While a target is Constricted, the Nakrina will make Bite attacks, but this isn’t their primary mode of attack.
A Nakrina is a serious risk as they can easily drown anyone that stumbles upon one. If a party member is tripped and taken underwater, the others should immediately try to kill the snake to free their colleague. Otherwise, Nakrina are best avoided, but their ability to blend into their surroundings can make that a difficult task.
Saturday 3/30:
(Talent) Sprinter: When using two Fast Actions for movement on a turn, move one additional Zone than you otherwise would be able to.
Sunday 3/31:
(Talent) Feint: When in Close range to an enemy, you may use your Fast Action to change initiative cards with them. Starting on the next round, you and the enemy switch spots in initiative, which continues for the rest of combat or until initiative is impacted through a Talent, Specialization, or Spell.
Evan’s Thoughts – A week of general continuings while I slowly get chunks of my time back. The Starling Legion sect breakdown, another room for the Grand Cathedral with an element of cost-benefit looping, and some artifacts that can be gained from the Bastille Judges. Perhaps one day I’ll actually manage to wrap up the Judges, but not this week. Otherwise, there’s a Soldier Saint Relic re-contextualizing brewing in the background, and with it a codification of general magic item ranking, likely more on that in subsequent weeks.
Monday 3/25
Geniocratic Sect: One of the philosophical schools of leadership within the Ideologue Assembly of the Starling Legion. Adherents of this approach advocate for government by a council of intellectuals pulled from an elevated aristocratic class. The Geniocrats see the short sighted, reactionary policies of the Protectorate as a sign of humanity circling the societal drain. Without an eye for the long view and minds capable of implementing the expansive policies necessary to perpetuate survival, the Geniocrats theorize the decline of humanity into a series of short term populist appeals that exchange now for later. With well reasoned academics at the helm this race to the bottom can be averted, allowing a well considered, sustainable structure to be implemented by those capable of providing society with what it needs rather than what it wants.
The Geniocrats are backed by the Peace Doktors, who see themselves as the natural heirs of an intellectual ascent. The Peace Doktors work behind the scenes with the Geniocrats, simultaneously providing strategic support via advisors, sowing the seeds of a cerebral revolution amongst the populace through their clinics, and denigrating the existing government amongst their academic peers. Viewing the Geniocrats as enlightened lap dogs, the Peace Doktors are all too willing to allow the working class revolutionaries to do the dirty work necessary for their rise to prominence.
Tuesday 3/26
Bertrand Wilson
Contemplative, decisive, aloof
“Living in the moment is excellent for a man and terrible for society.”
The director of the Geniocratic Sect. A man of ideals who is unafraid to share them. Entirely convinced of his own moral superiority and unwilling to consider alternative perspectives, even when eloquently presented. Unwavering in the belief that his actions benefit society at a large, which will eventually recognize and appreciate his contributions. Sees the world as either pawns or impediments in the pursuit of his objectives; objects to be utilized or neutralized in order to achieve the goals necessary for society to flourish. Thoroughly considers outcomes before acting, but once he has decided on a course of action he executes on it with absolute resolve.
Wants: To see the proper value placed on intellect and the ignorant silenced.
Knows: The nature of the Peace Doktor’s clinics. The vices of the upper district (Herena, Koiro, Plunu) Colonels.
Wednesday 3/27
Sacrificial Needle
Artifact
Object
1 Slot
The Needle of Jephthah, the Eighth Judge. An oversized, rusted iron needle. Stinging nettles of revolt shoot through the skin of any who grasp it.
During a Rest, the bearer of the Needle may sacrifice any amount of HP to repair the durability of any weapon, gear, item, or object. The target can not be repaired to a higher durability than its current maximum. The HP sacrificed does not recover as a result of the Rest during which it was sacrificed, but is otherwise conventional HP damage.
“The great scales must balance. A weapon born necessitates a sacrifice of flesh.”
Thursday 3/28
The Wine Press
Room (The Grand Cathedral)
An open hill beside the Grand Cathedral, providing an unimpeded view of the Bastille’s harvesting fields. Penitents are constantly visible in the distance, toiling behind the ever blazing star fires. Gideon, the Fifth Judge stands in perpetual watch at the top of the hill, stoically waiting to carry out his duties.
A worn altar stone stands at the hill’s zenith, its ancient surface marred by the innumerable deep gouges of a heavy blade. A trail of scabbed gore stains the stone and surrounding ground. The wide mouth of an earthen well stands open nearby, a sharp drop of several hundred feet down into Selaphiel’s Respite and Jephthah’s limb pile below.
If a sacrifice is brought for dismemberment, Gideon will fulfill his duty as normal, regardless of who the victim is or who brings them. Gideon will attempt to kill and dismember any who approach without an offering.
Friday 3/29
Jagged Cleaver
Artifact
Weapon (Durability 3, Damage 3, Engaged)
2 Slots
One of the hands of Gideon, the Fifth Judge. A darkened wrought iron cleaver, it’s chipped and jagged edge sharp enough to slice at a touch. An unmistakable surge of primal fear and power sear those who take it’s haft.
Make attacks using Assault checks on targets in Engaged Range. When wielded as a weapon, each attack made with 3 or more successes severs a limb from the target, regardless of the damage actually dealt to them. The limb severed is determined by the wielder. A severed arm prevents attacks with two handed weapons, while a severed leg stops movement. Any enemy in the zone of a target that has a limb severed in this way must make a Resolve check or flee the conflict in terror. For each day a target is not damaged using this weapon, the wielder’s HP is reduced by 1. This HP does not recover as a result of Rest and can’t be magically healed until a target is wounded with the Jagged Cleaver.
Additionally, the wielder of the Cleaver can expend a Durability to cut through most any object, even magical metals. Solid walls and surfaces can’t be penetrated in this way.
“Its hunger knows no end, just a temporary satiation of the gnawing need.”
Saturday 3/30
Night Watch
Drug
Duration: 2
A long release synthetic adrenaline that elevates the heart rate and suppresses both sleep inducing chemical release and the biological capacity to fall asleep. Derived from a complex process of Chara decoction and concentration. Heavily utilized by the Protectorate during protracted conflicts and wilderness excursions.
While the Duration persists, the user is immune to all negative effects associated with not Resting. The user does not gain any benefits of Resting if they do not Rest. Additionally, while under the effects of the drug the target is unable to be put to sleep by either mundane or magical effects.
After Effects: For every day gone without Resting there is an ascending 1-in-6 chance the user will fly into an uncontrollable rage when the Duration ends, attacking the nearest target. This rage lasts until the target takes damage equal to the number of days they went without Resting. For example, if the user goes 3 days without Resting there is a 3-in-6 chance they will fly into a rage that doesn’t stop until they take 3 points of HP or NP damage.
Addictive: Moderately. Resolve check at -1 modifier after each use to avoid becoming addicted.
“We can’t afford to waste time with frivolities like sleep.”
Sunday 3/31
Wormskin Talisman
Artifact
Object
1 Slot
A patch of mottled skin from Tola, the Sixth Judge. Red flesh, marked by the scars and abrasions of unceasing self torment, bound by a woven iron chain. The heavy scent of wet leather tinges the air around it.
The bearer of the talisman can choose to make any check using d4s instead of d6s. If the bearer chooses to use this effect, every die in the check becomes a d4. In this case each 4 counts as a success. Checks made in this way can’t be pushed, and any 1s rolled deal damage to the bearer of the talisman as if the check had been pushed.
“Pain is the gateway to enlightenment. It identifies and purges the impediments of faith.”
This week marks one quarter of the way through the Lore 24 experience! Later this week we will have another Faction Dossier, this time focused on the knowledge hoarding Archive of the Scalped Lady. Next week the march of Lore 24 continues.
If you’re finding this sometime in the future, please check out the Lore 24 Post Repository to see a roundup of all the posts in this series.
We actively encourage comments, questions, and feedback; we’re excited to be sharing our work and would love to chat about it with anyone who’s interested!
Retreat to the Trench 
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