The Urban Thirteen Questions Deal in the city of Sharike, trading city of the northern Spirelands.
1. Tell me about a church, temple, ashram, etc. in this neighborhood
Obelisk of Words. An obelisk is type of stand-alone religious site that attracts followers for its special focus, very rarely to a specific or single deity. This is a twelve foot tall grey stone obelisk dedicated to words, knowledge and revelation. On the four edges it has inspirational script in Elven, Horn, Dwarven and Celestial. It inspires those near it to learn, especially by reading or paying very close attention. There is an 80% chance that anyone who spends 10 or more minutes in concentration will begin to babble in a foreign language (80% + 3% per point of intelligence above 15 but no more than once every 50 days.)
2. Tell me about a shop that sells standard equipment and one of the shopkeeper's quirks
*Ni-Nack, an ugly pixie fey who sells little statues in a former masonry plot. When invoked the statue gives a +2 bonus to a specific type of physical activity (jumping, swimming, etc). He wants to give them out to almost every group he meets, and tells the groups that they can get another one if they return with stories about how and when the statue was used. 49% of the time the statue is used it will crumble to dust.
3. Tell me about someone who sells something illicit in this community
*Kasanno, an elderly Elven mortician that sells corpses, stolen from the city mausoleums. These corpses can be used for kindling, building material, decoration but usually its the secrets that they may know that motivates buyers. She usually sells the corpses for 5 crowns a piece, but will charge in the hundreds for the corpses of specific individuals or those with a specific background, history or occupation. She is a well known presence in the market at night but none of the lawful forces try to arrest or ever cause problems for her.
4. Tell me about a powerful wizard or warlock in this neighborhood
*Thakor D'Kosh, Dwarf Master of Stone. He has the ability to inhabit statues and get them to act independently for short periods of time for up to 1 minute. His spells revolve around stone, motion or protection. He has a small rolling ball (use stats of a small earth elemental) that follows him everywhere that is essentially a familiar and acts somewhat like a puppy. He can be hired, but will only go into the underearth for heavy price (300 crowns standard, 1000 crowns for underground missions.) He will not petrify sentient creatures, until they are dead, then he has no qualms about it.
5. Tell me about a feared warrior who lives in this neighborhood
*Vnresh, Corlth warrior from an unknown northern tribe. His people study the mindscape, and are
able to manifest a personal psychic weapon. Unresh was the first local warrior to master the whip. Has been accepted into a dozen or more dueling schools, and have been on a score of adventuring teams. Strangely he doesn't seem motivated by this type of activity, he adventures until he has enough coin to whore about for a while. He feels he is destined for something great, but is unsure of what that will be, so he wants to keep himself open for destiny. His people praise him to his face, but many secretly despise him for his laziness.
6. Tell me about someone who is wealthy in this neighborhood
*Gulgani D'Gannor, Acolyte of Tears, is a Phaetox, whose people reside high above in the cloud-isles. A collector of art and other objects of mystery, she has the uncanny ability to buy things before they explode in value,which is where her incredible wealth comes from. When she is moved to tears, she is inspired to take incredible acts of danger or charity to assist those downtrodden. As a Phaetox, she is physically unable to lie or deceive anyone at any time. Most of her people have golden flame wings to enable them to fly for short periods of time. Her wings are white fire, an ominous omen among her kin. She resides in her own Tower of Birds, a wonderous and very tall aviary, where both her people and any visitors to the city can stay for up to three days, as long as they do not lie to or hurt any other visitor, but after those days they must depart.
7. Tell me about someone you can go to for help in this neighborhood
*City Swords of the Orange Zelth. The honour-bound colour of the Lord of Honour (Japeth - High God of Courage), these members listen to tales of intrigue, and then agree to go on quests to complete your mission. They don't accept payment, except they want you to fly their banner for 41 days. They are seen as bullies by many official military groups, especially the Knights of Japeth, yet they are respected by the poor for their help. Most known for the boisterous parties when they complete a mission.
8. Tell me about someone you can go to for information in this neighborhood
*Weeping Statue of Annanasa. The only known statue to this demi-goddess, that is widely believed not to permit artistic portrayal. The stories go that if you go to the statue and sing a song of tragedy, you will be given a powerful and unquestionable truth in your dreams. If your song is not moving, you may be cursed in going bald, losing your voice for two days, or hiccuping anytime you drink., etc. Those who dare try to damage the statue or cause dishonor to the Weeping Statue are cursed into blindness, as their eyes rot out in two days time. (Will DC 25 to avoid.)
9. Tell me about a gang or criminal organization operating in this neighborhood
*Graylenne Swords, a supposed hobby club that encourages honorable dueling. Has long been suspected that this is merely the front for a cult that is dedicated to killing for a dark purpose. They only accept those who have failed or kicked out of military service. Their entry fee is very high (100 crowns or gold pieces / year.) but in return they get access to the club's arsenal, training and more.
10. Tell me about a pub, club, cabaret, gymnasium, bathhouse, etc. where adventurers hang
*Bubblarium House - Duk'sheeth, a lizardith took over an illegal brothel, and turned it into a bathhouse, where land-walkers can pay to bathe with reptiles, snakes and other things that hiss. Though still quite new, stories abound of the patrons being overwhelmed by urges to complete tasks that they never knew about, or have temporary skill points in areas that the individual had no particular knowledge in. Dark rumors are bubbling of males being impregnated after bathing in the waters, but this is unsubstantiated.
11. Tell me about an ongoing problem in this neighborhood
*Dropping Heads. During the Day of Screams (local festival) tying small, ugly or scary paper-mache heads onto the eaves of homes is a tradition to encourage games, songs and scares by the younglings. Until a group of green gremlins saw the festivities and misunderstood and started hiding actual heads into some of the older houses of the neighbourhood.
12. Tell me about a popular form of entertainment or a popular entertainer in this neighborhood
*Bazanno, a spinning wheel game, formerly popularized by immigrants from the Phastian Desert.
During play, small items of wealth or personal worth are placed in small covered boxes at the end of the wheel by no fewer than five patrons, and then the wheel is spun. When the wheel stops, patrons MUST retrieve the object from the box that comes in front of them. Sometimes a gem, a weapon or a vial of poison or a scorpion. Many times, none of the retrieved objects come from any of the current players. What you get is in comparable value to what you paid out or so it is assumed. Stories go that every Bazanno in play at the same time, all around the world are somehow mysteriously connected. Since only five boxes can be opened at once, no one is quite sure how this works.
13. Tell me about a food or drink that is popular in this neighborhood
*Kiisrk - A highly acidic and fermented drink from the Kissik, an purple-orange hanging pulpy fruit grown in dark alleyways. The fruit must be inseminated by the Frass Fly and then kept cold for at least three months. The drink not only intoxicates, it gives some imbibers a short time capacity to understand Frass, a local fey language. It must be eaten raw from the fruit or drank when crushed and mixed with liquid. It has an incredibly short span before it becomes highly poisonous, (DC 15 to avoid unconsciousness for up to one week) and addictive (DC 23 to avoid physical urging.) Because of these side-affects, it is not widely grown and usually destroyed on sight.
Again, thanks to Jack Shear!
