Wise Loresheets

Inspired by Loresheets from Weapons of the Gods, I’m making a Loresheet for each character, giving them some basic information about their wise.

This does a couple of things:

*Imparts some flavorful setting knowledge.

*Imparts some rumors that the player might want to follow up on as an adventure hook.

*Imparts some clues about the information- if the player is paying attention, this information might come up in play, and they might be able to make use of it, without a roll.

Neat! I dug the Loresheets in WotG. Can you post some of your Wise Loresheets here when you’re done?

Yes, I’m intrigued.

LORESHEET: THIEVES’ GUILD WISE

The Thieves’ Guild is not so much a formal organization like the trade guilds across the lands, as it is a brotherhood of like minded individuals. All you have to do to be in the Guild is to be a thief, and respect the code of ‘honor amongst thieves.’ Don’t steal from other thieves, don’t aid the watch, and aid other thieves when times are tough.

Someone with a letter branded on their face is almost certainly going to be part of the Guild. Branding and Exile is a common punishment for crimes that are serious enough to warrant more than a fine, but less than death. Common letters are T for Thief, S for Smuggler, F for Forger, P for Pirate, H for Heretic.

An outlaw legend has it that a wizard in Gilthorne can remove brands from your face… but at what price?

A common greeting amonst thieves is to ask one’s profession, and respond “a bit of this, a bit of that.” The asker then responds with “I’ve been down that long, long, road myself.”

Thieves and outlaws scrawl symbols to warn or aid others. These can be found in cities, on buildings, or even in dungeons. Some common Thief Marks

Thief Establishment

Safe Haven

Stash

Easy Mark

Beware the Watch!

Unsafe Place

Trap

Dangerous Person

LORESHEET: RUNE WISE

There are thousands upon thousands of runes, based on different mythic alphabets: the Primal Elthark, the Elven Cirthnil, the Dwarven Davek, and the Hugrunar Runes of Mythic Thought.

When used in enchanting, runic sentences are inscribed in a fractal state, rather than inscribing each rune is sequence, the largest most significant rune encompasses the component runes. Doing so compounds the inherent power of each rune.

In the Primal Elthark, there are five key runes, the Elements themselves, and the Dread Rune, or Chaos Rune. In Elthark numerology, each element is associated with a specific number: Air with 1, Water with 2, Fire with 3, and Earth with 4. Chaos is associated with the number 7 and was held to be unlucky, but modern magicians know there is power in Chaos.

(Drawings of the basic runes go here)

LORESHEET: POISON-WISE

In Gilthorne, anything can be bought for a price, and life is cheap. With goods from a dozen lands flowing through the city’s docks, there are many local and exotic means of death for sale.

Bleeder’s Bane is a simple but brutal poison favored by bravos and assassins. When the liquid comes into contact with blood, it “ignites” the blood, causing a powerful burning sensation that damages the victim’s blood vessels. While the effect is rarely immediately fatal, the associated knife wounds tend to finish the target off.

Gut Rot is a nasty little poison brewed from an herb native to the northern hills. The mixture has a strong taste of alchohol, so it is typically used to spike a beer or wine. When drunk, Gut Rot begins dissolving the victim’s stomach lining and other internal organs, causing their body to malfunction from the inside out.

Insanity Powder is painstakingly created from the Madness Blossoms of the East. It can either be ingested, or mixed into incense and inhaled. Insanity Powder causes the target to act erratically, and not at all like themselves. Some mystics intentionally partake of the stuff because they believe it grants them insight into the world beyond.

Rock Spider Venom is extracted from the giant spider’s poison glands. The venom has paralytic properties, allowing the spider to feed at its leisure.

Black Lotus Extract is the perhaps the most feared of all poisons, the concentrated oil of the deadly Black Lotus flower. Even a single drop in contact with the skin can kill. It is deadly coated on an assassin’s blade, and to imbibe of it is almost a certain death.

SLAVER-WISE

The faithful of Bramkirk are ever vigiliant against the slavers of Gilthorne, forming a protective bastion against the forces of the wicked men of the north.

In ages past, the armies of Gilthorne would sweep across the north, and knights of Bramkirk and Amhurst would meet them in battle when able. But neither Gilthorne nor Bramkirk has had the resources for an army since the fall of Amhurst and the Siege of Hadrian’s Rock.

Now, the Slavers tend to operate in bands of six to eight men, often under one of the banners of the mercenary companies of Gilthorne- the War Wolves, the Chainers, or the Red Hands. The Slavers use whips, nets, and cudgels to subdue lone wanderers and drag them back to Gilthorne. All Slaver bands are mixed gender.

Once in the city, Slaves are put to work as servants, laborers, prostitutes, or rowers on boats (the worst fate of all.) Under Gilthorne Law, only men may own male slaves, and only women may own female slaves, so the sex trade (of free women and slaves alike) has come to be regulated and enforced by women.

Slaves in Gilthorne can marry, with the consent of their owners. The child of two slaves is a slave, however the child of a slave and a freeman is born free.

Gilthorners see nothing wrong with this practice; they believe it is the right of the strong to rule over the weak, and whatever they can take is theirs by right.

NEEDS-A-LITTLE-SALT-WISE

It always needs a little salt.

Salt is awesome. The best salt comes from the Yoruba Salt Tree, which burns to salt instead of ash. Next best is sea salt, which comes from boiling sea water. Last is rock salt, which is painstakingly mined from the earth, but each has their own unique flavors.

If you want to preserve food, the best way is to salt it.

Salt also has purification properties, so it’s useful in Alchemic preparations and Exorcism rituals, as long as the Salt is of sufficient purity.

Alchemic Salts are weird; they are associated with one of the four primal elements. You do not want to eat them, at least not properly prepared.

Animals love salt too! They will travel miles to find naturally occuring salt formations and lick them.

LIZARDMEN WISE

Lizardmen live in swampy or coast areas. Before the Flood, there were only scant communities of Lizardmen in this area, but since, their population has exploded, and their reach covers the entire Bog of Despair.

Lizardmen are taller than humans, and have massive muscular tails, and powerful jaws. Lizardmen are carnivorous, and eat men, elves, and halflings. Some Lizardmen are even larger, swelling to great size and having almost impenetrable scales.

There are three main tribes of Lizardmen in the area, but dozens of smaller ones. The Bone Flute tribe dominates the southern marshes, and frequently raids Bradmore and caravans going to Grants-By-Drowns. The Black Spear tribe dominates the northern marshes, and is said to have taken over an abandoned human castle. The Ghost Eater tribe inhabits the river area towards Lewlonmudra, and is said to have powerful magics.
The smaller Dark Moon tribe is willing to trade with humans and halflings for livestock, liquor, and fine tools. The Dark Moon provide rare herbs, spices, and salvage.

Flattery is ill-advised against Lizardmen; they do not react well to compliments. Everyone’s relative status should be evident to all involved, and pointing out another’s strengths is a sign of inferiority and weakness, a prey behavior. Insulting a Lizardman can have mixed results; he might feel a need to prove you otherwise. Or he might put a spear through your gut.

The best way to get a Lizardman’s ear (or his stuff) is to offer him a gift, doing so shows you respect the Lizardman and have wealth to spare. A Lizardman who is offered a gift will offer a gift in turn; this way they show status and wealth. It is a dire insult to refuse a gift, and a grievous social gaff to fail to offer a gift when given one.

Lizardmen do not haggle.

DWARVEN CRAFT WISE

Dwarves are master crafters. Dwarven mastercraftsmen spend multiple human lifetimes on their chosen trade, and practice secret techniques developed over millennia. Only the elves can be said to rival the achievements of Dwarven-kind.

Dwarves favor stonework, metalwork, engraving, and sculpture. Dwarven Clay is molded into shape then Forge-fired until it is as hard as stone, and nearly indistinguishable from such to an outsider. Orichalchum, or Dwarven Steel, is a unique alloy made from gold and iron.

MINE WISE

There are many kinds of mines, and many mining techniques. Some useful things that can be mined for are iron, coal, salt, gold, silver, gems, and other precious metals.

Quarrying involves digging a deep layered pit, each layer narrower than the one above it, making a reverse ziggurat shape. Lodes are extracted, and the remaining stone is shipped out and used as building materials.

Drift Mining uses Adits, or horizontal shafts dug into the side of a hill or mountain. Drift Mining is often combined with Hushing. A reservoir is built above the intended mine site and filled with water, then is opened into the mine complex. The shafts slope upwards slightly so water flows out of the mine, along with sediment and weaker rock, leaver more valuable fundaments behind.

Another use for water in mining is Hydraulic Mining, which uses highly pressurized jets of water to break up rock formations. It is theorized that this could be expanded on a larger scale to pump heated sand into the earth to create a massive, mineable site, but Dwarvenkind have yet to implement this.

Fire-Setting involves igniting fires near stone, then dousing the rock with cold water. The thermal shock results in fractures, making the stone easier to mine.

Shaft Mining uses vertical shafts, used to reach materials only found deep underground. A cage and winch system is installed to allow the miners to traverse up and down the shaft. Shaft Mining is extremely difficult, but can be very rewarding.

Slope Mining uses diagonally downward slopes to get the benefits of Shaft Mining, but with some easier access to lower levels.

Stoping is the process of mining upwards when one finds a lode from the bottom. It is a more efficient process than mining downwards.

Retreat Mining is a process where one digs out a room with support pillars, and then collapses the support pillars, partially caving in the empty space with the intent of revealing more lodes.

Ventilation is very important in a mine! Coal fumes can be noxious and air has difficulty getting in, and methods like Fire-Setting create a lot of smoke. Many mines have extra shafts specifically for ventilation.

These are great!

So much flavor and world building here, well done sir.

Willow’s a she. :slight_smile:

Meh, we live in a post-feminist world, right? Women can be sirs to me.

Fair enough!

These are really good, Willow.

I love the Needs A Little Salt-wise myself; I was a bit stymied as to how I’d use it. These give just enough info to get my brain working!

Why don’t lizardmen eat dwarves? I mean, I know why I don’t, I was just curious if we share similar tastes.