The Holy Mountain and the Town
SectionOSE HMS · p.4
Open source p.4There is a mountain decked with snow even in hottest summer. So tall its peak leaves folk gasping like fish. So deep its roots drink from the undersea itself. Worshipped so long the very rocks reek of divinity. At its foundations is a bottomless lake. In this lake swims the God Fish. According to the new faith this is nonsense and superstition. According to the old faith the Fish is so old that the very pantheon it belonged to is forgotten, if there ever was such a conclave of divinities. Is it a titan? A leftover from an earlier creation? The Fish does not say. At the mountain’s feet, like a determined barnacle, is the town of Plish. It is neither large nor prominent, but it is ancient. Its bowl of a valley is a haven on the road between two much larger lands. When civilization’s tide recedes, the terraced farms feed the hardy Plishlings. When it rises, as now, the mines reopen and thrum, drawing living metal and antic gemstones from beneath the berg.
Plish Town Factions
The town’s 3 most prominent powers are:
- The town council, representing the local great families.
- The Hérmes Mining Company, the largest employer and a source of both innovation and tension.
- The new faith’s priest-governor, the strongest link to the central government.
The Plishlings and the Newfolk
The town’s lower classes divide loosely into Plishlings and Newfolk. The native Plishlings are mostly servants, peasants, and craftsmen. They are fond of the old faith and resistant to change. The newfolk are mostly specialists and labourers come to work in the mines. The two groups distrust one another more than their rulers.
The Cult of the God Carp
Finally, there is a surprisingly inept secret society: the Cult of the God Carp. It unites all the town’s classes and factions in the secret sign of the wiggly finger moustache. It is traditionalist, superstitious, and dedicated to appeasing the mythical Pharaoh Fish— though few of its members still believe it exists.
Earthquakes
When the party first enters the town, a powerful earthquake strikes. Towers sway, roads buck, walls fall. Scores are injured. The party is affected: a random PC is struck by a falling flower pot for damage (save vs wands to avoid). Rumours and accusations fly about the disaster’s causes. Further quakes soon follow, raising anxieties to a fever pitch.
| d8 | Rumours and Events |
|---|---|
| 1 | The priest-governor destroyed the Holy Threespring, bringing the quakes upon the town (P; known by everyone; true, but not the real cause). |
| 2 | The miners of the Imperial Company broke into a living machine (P; known by miners and owners; true, but not the real cause). |
| 3 | A young hunter ascended the mountain to shoot the sacred Goldhorn (P; known to some peasants; true, but not the real cause). |
| 4 | A vagabond spelunker-adventurer crawled beneath the mountain to win the fabled heart of the earth (T; known to some unreliable drunkards; true, the real cause). |
| 5 | The waters from the mountains are magical and help with rheumatism (T; true, but irrelevant). |
| 6 | “Alium” bones wash out of the mountain. It’s the “aliums” that did it, made the quakes (P; vivid conspiracy talk; partly true, strange bones do wash out, but aliens didn’t cause the quakes). |
| 7 | The heights of the mountain are haunted by angels that guard the innocent wild creatures (P; general knowledge; partly true, the God Carp guards the animals). |
| 8 | The local oldfolk settled their valley from an underground vault (P; malicious outlander gossip; partly true, but irrelevant to the quakes). |
Timeline
Time is tracked using 2 hour watches. The adventure lasts 6 days (72 watches) from the first earthquake to the final rumble of the God Carp’s agitation.
- Day 1 (watches 1–12): The first earthquake strikes. The cult encourages someone (perhaps a recently arrived adventuring party?) to go into the mountain and help the Holy Fish.
- Day 2 (watches 13–24): A second earthquake strikes. People move their belongings into tents. The town council hires a team to go into the mountain; offering disreputable types 5gp each per day, respectable folks 500gp each, and aristocrats an expense account and the right to take whatever they want from the mountain.
- Day 3 (watches 25–36): Mild tremors and aftershocks. Administrator and priest-governor organize an official expedition (if the PCs haven’t gone yet, this should be them). They arrange an expense account, life insurance of 1,000gp, and 50gp per day per expedition member.
- Day 4 (watches 37–48): Quiet day entices some people back to their homes.
- Day 5 (watches 49–60): If the party has not yet appeased the God Carp, the strongest earthquake strikes. Landslides rip down the Holy Mountain’s flanks. The entire hillside quarter slides into the river. Hundreds lose their lives. The mine entrance (B: The Hérmes Mines) is buried.
- Day 6 (watches 61–72): At day’s end, the God Carp recovers its composure and returns to its chthonic dreams. The deepest ways close. The mountain rests. Whether or not the party has reached the God Carp, or solved the earthquakes’ actual cause, the collapse table (see rear endpapers) enters play and the PCs must escape.
Entering the Mountain
There are 3 entrances to the deep places beneath the mountain.
A: The Holy Threespring
(page 12)
Three beautiful falls emerged from the rock into a crystal pool where the old faithful worshipped. A few days ago the priest-governor had them blown up. A wound now yawns into the mountains’ bowels. Suggested by: Cult of the God Carp, the Mining Company. Distance from Plish: 1 watch.
B: The Hérmes Mines
(page 20)
The Hérmes Company expanded the ancient mine. Golem excavators and elemental engines tunneled deep, seeking the intelligent metal that wizards covet. Suggested by: New Faith, Lower Classes. Distance from Plish: 1 watch.
C: The Goldhorn’s Doom
(page 28)
Hidden entrance. Beyond the Krummholz, on the rocky edge of the mountain’s great cuboid peak, cunningly concealed from prying eyes. Found by the foolish young hunter seeking the Goldhorn. Suggested by: Nobody, except some lowly peasants. Distance from Plish: 3 watches.