Mordolic

 

I found the questions HERE (Thanks to Dan over at Throne of Salt).

Mordolic is a gigantic, labyrinthine industrial hell-city, in the bleeding heart of the world. It’s riven by social division, dangerous wizards, bizarre martial orders and literal horns-and-fire-for-blood Devils.

Nobody in Mordolic is human. Most people have horns and forked tongues.

 

Special Note: Dying in Mordolic just means your character’s soul is separated from their body.

Those with prepared backup Vessels can just get right back up. It’s only final if a Devil gets involved or there’s no Vessels that suit you left.

 

SEVEN BASIC CLASSES

               Diabolist – Not a wizard. Not a cleric. More like a lawyer.

               Machine Knight – Bizarre chivalric holdovers in blood-powered mechanized armour.

               Wizards - Atrous, Panglossian and Unchartered

               Cultist – Adherent of one of the 77 Saint’s Cults. Impossibly varied.

               Noble – Afforded special rights and powers by lineage alone.

               Bound Devil – Burnt and Bound by Silver.  

               Expert – Sawbones, Alchemist or Esoteric.

 

122 QUESTIONS:

 

1.     What skill is rolled on for rope bondage?

Knots. Very important to know how to tie Knots in Mordolic.

 

2.     Is this society a gift economy?

More of a favour economy.

Everyone keeps extensive lists of what favours are owed to them and by them, and what grade of favours those are. The Grades are Minor, Median, Major, and Mortal.

 

3.     Do they have any cultural taboos?

Contract breaking, Kin-slaying, Monarchy, and marriage between social classes, in decreasing order of severity.

 

4.     Who are their social pariahs?

The Poor and the Soulless. A category with a lot of overlap in Mordolic.

 

5.     Where are tailors?

Inner Heart, the centremost district, a gothic, towering babel of palaces and convenience in red and gold. It rises towerlike from the fungus infested slum of Low Town.

A bizarre bylaw of a long-gone Senate says that all Tailors must be Imps, the least kind of Devil. So they are. They flap round you like rude, talkative bats with tape measures, because that’s more or less what they are.

 

6.     Is there a way to avoid traveling by boat?

There are no seas near Mordolic. There are lots of bogs, and also the Mord Reservoir under the city, though. The proper way to travel is on a boat, of course, usually decked out with servants, attendant devils, that sort of thing.

Only uncouth mercenaries, wizards and the Poor rely on the dangerous and unstable teleportation network to reach the outer limits of Mordolic’s demesne.

 

7.     What do heavy mounted infantry ride?

Devils, primarily. ‘Cavalry Devils’ look a bit like a massive horned human twisted roughly in the shape of a horse. All you need then are your stirrups, your black iron armour and your carbine, and you’re ready to go.

 

8.     Are there entities that buy a human soul?

A better question: are there entities that don’t?

 

9.     Does anyone buy corpses without questions?

Everyone. You always need a spare vessel in Mordolic, damn the source. The only time this might become a problem is if the person’s face is on a bulletin, a statue or a coin.

 

10. Do people pay to see wunderkammer?

Oh sure, it’s all the rage among the nobles and the bourgeois in Inner Heart. It’s also weirdly becoming a trend in the factory district of the Spine, albeit on a much less grand scale.

 

11. Are there weapons that work better against armoured foes?

Anbar Guns, primary tools of Knight-Slayers all over.

They fire bolts of magical lightning that are far, far worse if you’re locked in a suit of Machine-mail or black iron Cavalier armour.  

12. Is there a mechanic for fighting dishonourably?

A newly minted Machine Knight will probably be genuinely caught off guard if you try and stab them in the groin or back. They’re so heavily trained in ‘Traditional’ fighting that they tend to be surprised by cheap shots.

A veteran will see it coming from a mile off, knock your sword away, and turn that mechanised gauntlet to snapping your neck.

 

13. Is there a mechanic around playing a character with miserable stats?

The Soulless have a horrible time doing anything. They’re alive, they’re breathing, feeling, conscious -they’ve just lost their vital spark, quite literally.

 

14. Are there holy fools or other types of weird sacred people?

Hagiographers are fully expected to live in the gutter with a notebook, a white robe and a silver quill, constantly on the lookout for would be Saints to consider for canonisation.

Nobody fucks with Hagiographers. Devils will, but with hesitation, since they know that’s a one-way path to Imprisonment or Banishment.

 

15. What cults venerate pleasure?

The cult of St. Lorn, the Saint of Pleasure, Revelry and Rest, funnily enough.

They believe that seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is the optimal way to navigate life. They also like to drink a lot of alcohol and consume vast quantities of narcotics to turn the brain (and conscience) effectively off.

 

16. What magic trades stability for power?

The magic of the Atrous Wizards.

The Dooms of Panglossian Magic don’t actually stop you from being a Wizard until you’re a silver statue – meanwhile, the very first Atrous Doom (commonly called the “Soot Demon”) is a serious fucker – but, in general, the Atrous Wizards have better spells.

 

17. What art movement is causing the strongest reaction?

Mordolic loves their abstract art. It’s kind of their entire style. So, the Grotesque Realism movement sweeping Lorn’s Rest is ruffling some Bourgeois feathers in Inner Heart.

 

18. What narcotics are available? Which ones trade power for years?

Hundreds of varieties. The most well known in Low Town is derived from a kind of fungus. It’s called Mush, and it basically knocks you unconscious and makes you hallucinate.

Claric is the narcotic of the nobility. It makes you not need to sleep in exchange for fucking you right up. It’s basically Cocaine^2

 

19. Can I buy ground glass?

Yes!

You can buy almost anything at the Cacophonic Market in Low Town. The Cacophonic Market is run by a group of Outsiders from a place called Dolomn (in writing), where even the slightest sound will kill you. They’re rather enjoying the chance to make music, sing and scream while they’re here. 

 

20. What religious festival is most prominent for the wealthy?

The Feast of St. Amadeta.

St. Amadeta is the Saint of Justice, Wisdom and Civilisation – generally used as a Mordic national symbol despite the fact she never set foot in the damned place and regularly ranted against it in her holy texts.

The Feast is usually spent being very smug, very rich, having ‘wise debate’ and lauding the greatness of Mordolic.

 

21. the poor?

The Feast of the Nameless Saint.

The Nameless Saint is the Saint of the Destitute, Desperate and Ill. Their Feast involves the upper classes engaging in generous charity (many say the designation of this as a holy act allows the rich to get away with no charity at all the rest of the year.)

 

22. the largest foreign national community?

The largest foreign national community are the “Outsiders from Vord” a frozen island that the armies of Mordolic are currently conquering violently.

The Vordish have taken quite a shine to St. Ragged and his Feast. He is the Saint of Assassins, Rebellions, and the Slaying of Kings.

 

23. practiced by the diaspora?

Depends on which Mordic Diaspora we’re talking about.

The ones who fled beyond the city’s control, to the ragged edges of the world, away from the City of Blood and Glass? Probably the Feast of St. Virmeaux, the Saint of Journeys, Nomads and the Lost. Celebrated by symbolically forgetting where you’re from.

Among those out there with the armies of Mordolic? The conquering scum on the Cavalry Devils and in the black hulled warships? They celebrate the Feast of St. Carnelian, the Saint of Power, Victory and Glory.

 

24. that causes mass return?

Only the greatest Feast of all, the Feast of St. Mord at the end of the year, calls every Mordic back from Distant Climes to drink animal blood and sing praises with their family and favour-debtors.

St. Mord is the Saint of the City. Nobody and everybody prays at her altar. She founded this city. She has a very contested legacy - good? or bad? Certainly, a Diabolist either way.

 

25. What are only nobles allowed to own?

History books are tightly controlled by the nobility, as are the local ‘car’ equivalents (Anbaric Carriages).

 

26. Is there an active criminal or taxless market?

At least five, all in competition.

The most secretive and lucrative one is the Knot, a tangled mess of criminal contacts who ship their goods through the Mord Reservoir in secret.

 

27. What is mass imported and prone to price fluctuations?

Bread (never a part of the ancient Mordolic cuisine, but increasingly popular), Fresh Water (the reservoir is… weird), and most metals except Silver, which is abundant in the surrounding bogs (the origin of the Mordic habit of devil-binding).

 

28. What is the staple grain?

Nolt. It’s kind of like rice, but green and disgusting.

A common joke is that Mordolic invaded half the world to steal better cuisine.

 

29. What is the most popular leisure activity?

Depends on social class:

The Nobles: Narcotics and Playing Games with the Lives of Social Inferiors.
The Bourgeois: Intellectual Debate and Social Drinking.
The Middle Class: Reading and Prayer to Maintain Respectabilty. 
The Working Class: Arena Bloodsport and Binge Drinking.
The Poor: Fucking Leisure Activities? What are we, rich?

 

30. What is the highest complexity of metallurgy attained?

Roughly modern levels of metallurgy.  The strongest metals are black iron, red iron, and un-silver.

 

31. What is the most ornate form of ceremonial armour?

Senatorial Parade Armour. Layered red and black iron, crowned with silver and un-silver.  “The Four Metals”.

 

32. What metal is rare?

Un-silver, thankfully. 

“Devils, Burnt and Bound by Silver” right? You quote that at Devils, when they give you lip. Silver’s pure, a sign that the Saints want us to control the Devils, by binding them in silver.

Un-silver is a greenish, warped metal.

“Mortals, Burnt and Bound by Un-Silver”, is what the Devils quote back.

 

33. What is used for coinage?

Hellglass. It’s green, translucent and nearly indestructible once set. It’s made from sand dredged up from the Otolket Mines outside of the city, which supposedly dip into Hell – not that the Otolket Authority let anyone in to check.

 

34. Is there a temple-bank?

Yes. The only Bank in Mordolic is the Bank of St. Measure, the Saint of Currency, Trade and Wealth.

It viciously stamps out competitors and mortgages out souls, limbs and relatives, all while singing the Litany of Measure and putting on a charitable front.  

 

35. What is the cultural perception of wizards?

The poor view Atrous Wizards with admiration, and Panglossian Wizards with justified terror.

The rich shower Atrous Wizards with disdain and mockery, and Panglossian Wizards with praise and respect.

The army use both as tools.

All Mordic Citizens, rich and poor alike, have a bogeyman-esque fear of Unchartered Wizards.

 

36. Are wizards registered?

Yes, by the Panglossian Tower or the Atrous Halls.

The Panglossian Tower is found at the highest point of Mordolic’s Holy Quarter. It’s sponsored by the Saints Church. It educates ‘the good wizards’ in a ceramic Sphere which hangs above Easternway like a juvenile moon.

The Atrous Halls lie at the bottom of Low Town, a short stroll down Liches’ Lane to the Burnt-Out District and it’s Inken Deep. The Atrous Halls are a labyrinth of pitch black, obsidian corridors where light is completely banned and every corner might be a dead drop or switch-back. Surviving a course of education there is liable to produce a paranoid wreck with amazing magical talent.

If you’re not registered (or from any tradition that isn’t Atrous or Panglossian) you’re Unchartered.

 

37. How are mad wizards disposed of?

Wrapped in Hellglass Chains and cast into the Inken Deep below the Burnt-Out District.

It’s very rare for a rogue wizard to come back from that. But when they do? Boy oh boy, watch out.

 

38. What wizard is considered a paragon?

The Archivist of the Panglossian Tower, Passerine Sol. She’s a wizard of great power and social standing who rarely leaves the Sphere - except to save Mordolic from the catastrophe of the month.

She’s the head of the Panglossian Wizards and has suffered two of her Dooms already – her face and right torso replaced by a spiny bloom of silver.

 

39. What wizard is anathema?

Mox Vox Tox, an Outsider from Vord. A terrifying Unchartered wizard with some serious Blood Magic and four arms. Was bound in Hellglass and cast into Inken Deep – is pulling himself out by his teeth a centimetre at a time.

 

40. Are wizards eligible for citizenship?

Certainly. More to the point, you must be a Citizen to be a Wizard in Mordolic. Unchartered Outsider Wizards are basically on the run from the Charter Office and it’s Wroughts at all times.

 

41. What are the patrician virtues (if any) in the culture?

Honesty, Skill at Violence, Rhetorical Prowess, Diabolism and Family Loyalty.

 

42. Is there a military cult, sacred band or other theocratic military order?

Other than the Knights Militant of St. Carnelian, which form the upper command structure of Mordolic’s armies, there are the Trionyms, bizarre adherents of the Saints’ Church who take no specific Saint and rename themselves with THREE WORD NAMES.

Their leader is called NO EYES LIAR. She has an unspeakable magic sword. She is, (and I don’t say this lightly), the worst person in all of Mordolic.

 

43. How is the military organized?

Poorly.

Mordolic is only winning because of sheer numbers and Devil-pacts.

The military is nominally under the authority of the cult of St. Carnelian, but in practice it’s basically 16 different armies all rampaging across the world (and occasionally fighting each other) with little central authority.

 

44. Is the military feared by the state?

God yes. The Senate are practically shitting their cochineal robes whenever any part of the military hierarchy comes within spitting distance of the city itself.

That’s why there’s so much war. Keep the generals and their belt-fed guns out in the field.

 

45. Is military service compulsory?

“4 Years’ Service from Every Mordic, for a Strong and Prosperous Empire”, go the posters.

In practice, the wealthy serve out their sentences nearby in safe posts. The poor get the full meat-grinder treatment.

 

46. What is worth more than financial wealth?

A good surname.

Even impoverished, a surname linking you to the founding aristocracy of Mordolic opens so, so many doors.

 

47. Is loaning with interest legal?

Loaning without is illegal, because that isn’t loaning. That’s charity, according to the Bank of St. Measure.

 

48. Are private loans legal?

No. Everything is mediated by the Bank of St. Measure.

 

49. Are debts forgiven on ceremonial or religious occasions?

Absolutely fucking not. What would Honest St. Measure think, we ask you that?

 

50. Are ancestors spirits ransomed from the church?

From the Church? No.

From Devils? Often. 

 

51. Are pardons available for crimes?

Only from Living Saints. So not fucking often, to say the least.

They roll around about twice a century, and potter around shaping society like clay before dying and getting ripped to shreds by relic-hunting clergy.

 

52. Is there licensed brigandage?

The Tatterdemalions aren’t exactly licensed, but the Senate doesn’t seem to do anything about them.

They’re a seeming hive mind of unsettling acrobat-assassins dressed like fools (as in, wearing masks and motley).

 

53. How does inheritance work?

Divided equally among all surviving children, adopted or biological. This leads to a lot of noble and bourgeois fratricide when big inheritances are on the line.

 

54. How do marriage contracts relate to property laws?

They don’t. Marriage is completely political. Property is transferred parent to child, never laterally.

 

55. Is there a socially sanctioned form of theft?

NOPE.

 

56. Does wealth grant access to elite social classes or are they hereditary, ceremonial or awarded?

The difference between the Nobles and the Bourgeois is not one of wealth. It is one of lineage.

The Nobles are descended from the Seven Founders and their families. The Bourgeois are not, even if they are richer. And you can’t change that.

 

57. How is the body understood?

Very well. Medicine is basically modern. It’s just the training and facilities that are abysmal.

 

58. Are there spiritual afflictions?

Too many to count. Most caused by Devils.

 

59. Does the culture believe in luck rituals?

Everyone but the Mordics do. The Mordic culture has a fervent love of determinism and Fate.

 

60. What diseases leave marks?

“Any disease treated by the Sawbones!”, goes the joke.

 

61. Are there lepers or a similar infected group separated?

Not really. The ill are put in (free) hospitals of wildly varying quality, not ostracised (medical quarantines do happen of course).

 

62. Is there a homo sacer?

Kinslayers lose all protection of the law if found guilty.

 

63. Is the spirit material? How is medicine learned?

The spirit is immaterial but commodified.

The Academy of Physicians was imported (literally. I mean "stolen with a giant teleportation circle") from the ancient city of Zamonassis. It’s in a district called Gatestone now. The quality of the education there has plummeted since, leading to the nickname ‘Sawbones’ being applied to the Physicians educated there.

 

64. Are there socially stigmatized groups of people for an inheritable trait?

Outsiders to Mordolic are always Outsiders – but their children are not. If you are born in Mordolic, then you are Mordic, no questions asked.

So, no, unless being poor is considered inheritable.

 

65. What cosmetics or prosthetics are used to hide marks of aging, scarring or amputations?

There’s a subculture of Nobles who tend to wear porcelain death-masks to hide the horrific things having upwards of a hundred Devil-pacts active does to you.

Panglossian Wizards wear white ceramic masks to hide the fact that they’re slowly turning into a statue of blossomed silver.

Bone, iron and wooden prostheses are all available, ubiquitous, useful and relatively cheap.

 

66. What are the cultures spiritual afflictions?

Other than Soullessness, it’s broadly agreed that lacking Ambition is a kind of imbalance in the soul.

 

67. How is “age” understood?

It isn’t.

Nobody in this world ages, with the exception of the pitiable Humans of the Lankoma Islands. 

Society turns over all the same due to Plague, Devils, War, Murder, Illness, etc – people die by all the ways you’re familiar with, and more, just not by the knife of time.

 

68. Are there Sin Eaters or Snake Oil Salesmen?

Too many to count. They’re thick on the ground in Lorn’s Rest and Low Town.

 

69. How are covens, universities, apprenticeships, mystery cults and research societies structured for initiates?

The sheer variance between the 77 Saintly Cults is impossible to cover.

Panglossian Wizards need seven meaningful references to get in to the Sphere. ‘Meaningful’ is usually based on social status.

Atrous Wizards just have to survive getting to the middle of the Halls without falling down a dead drop or being eaten by grues. This is about as hard as getting seven meaningful references.

Machine Knights are taught master-apprentice, as are Uncharted Wizards.

Sawbones and Alchemists go to school.

 

70. How do you know someone is a magic user?

Atrous and Panglossian wizards must wear black and white robes and masks respectively (spells don’t work without).

You can’t tell with Unchartered Wizards, which is why they’re scary.

 

71. Do they sell their souls? Eat devils? Bargain with gods & minor divinities? Become intoxicated?

YES.
YES (Cult of St. Eidel the Hungry).
YES.
ABSOLUTELY YES.

 

72. What sort of scholars are there?

Wizards aren’t scholars. They’re slowly dying fools with phenomenal cosmic power at their fingertips.

There’s two kinds: The Cult of St. Lily, and the Umber School. 

The School are cripplingly biased towards Mordolic and casually eager to rewrite history. The Cult are a rare voice of peace, reason and honesty, peeking up above the slimy tides of ignorance and hatred that flow down Mordolic’s streets.

 

73. Are they connected to church authorities or as court functionaries?

The Cult of St. Lily, Saint of Writing, Truth and History, are most definitely connected to church authorities -  they’re 1/77^th of the whole church, actually.

The Umber School are an “independent” institution in Easternway who are, in function, the Mordic propaganda office. They’re reviled everywhere that the fragmented fist of Mordolic can’t reach.

 

74. Are they a religious order?

The Cult are. The School say they aren’t.

 

75. What are the standards of scholarship?

Rigorous in the Cult, lax in the School.

 

76. What technology is eroding traditional society or being acclimated to it?

Depends on who you ask, but the current innovation is electricity (not modern shiny wires, but big dangerous cables, loud ass generators and wiring with zero safety standards).

 

77. Is murder available for hire?

Sure! Just call up your local Tatterdemalions and hope they don’t kill you on a whim first!

 

78. As individuals or professional organization?

Depends on which theory on the Tatterdemalions you subscribe to.

 

79. Are there criminal brotherhoods or street gangs or bandit clans that hire out members?

There are a great many crime families and street gangs in Low Town, Sunkenwall and the Burnt-Out District.

Most have weird initiation rites and weirder traditions. Most are in cahoots with Unchartered Wizards and rogue devils.

 

80. How is labour contracted?

Generally, by waving a big bag of Hellglass.

 

81. Who is allowed to contract?

Anyone with a big bag of Hellglass.

 

82. What behaviour’s punishment do other cultures consider unnecessarily harsh?

The Mordic justice system cuts the hand off thieves. They don’t have other forms of violent punishment outside the Guillotine, and the world sees it as a weird Mordic neurosis – thief-hating.

 

83. How is the law executed by an individual charged with representing the state or an independent institutions?

Usually from the barrel of a gun.

 

84. Do you hire barristers? Are priests involved?

You do, and they are, because the barristers are priests, from the Cult of St. Argenta, the Saint of Judgement, Law and Punishment. 

 

85. Is trial by combat or another alternate legal?

Trial by combat is an ancient right, afforded only to the Nobility.

Trial by ordeal is available to all and is heavily codified – a test of your Fate. If you survive, the Saints clearly have a purpose for you.

 

86. What is the recreational drug abuse your culture has organized meetings around?

Alcohol for most, specifically a kind of truly awful black wine brewed from Nolt called Noltovia.

 

87. What is considered a negative habit imported from another culture?

Nothing. All of the excesses of Mordolic are its own. Even the most vicious Mordic nationalist has no illusions about the ‘purity’ or ‘goodness’ of the City of Blood and Glass.

 

88. How are addicts treated?

Overall, with compassion. It is understood that addiction is not a moral failing, but a power of the narcotics or drink.

To mistreat an addict is like mocking a man who was poisoned to death, because he did not simply overpower the poison. It is ridiculous and unhelpful, in essence.

 

89. Is a bar tab used to hire on cannon fodder or sailors?

Not necessary. Universal conscription is already in place.

 

90. What is the tabooest vice?

Narcotics, unless you’re a noble, then it’s fine. (“They need clarity and energy to bear the weight of Mordolic on their shoulders! You’re just looking for a cheap high, Citizen!”)

 

91. What functionary has the most individuals financially interested in their death?

Tied between Anon Moderatus, High Priest of the Cult-Bank of St. Measure, and Venemille Viscaro, Speaker of the Senate.

Both of them are stuffy old fucks, moderating influences, who control things like money and prevent new, weirdshit laws. Their days are numbered.

 

92. What is the local menace?

Other than the literal armies of Hell being employed as street sweepers, butlers and general all purpose magical dogsbodies?

 

93. What borders are unclear?

Mordolic’s, actually. They draw their demesne around the entire world. Everyone else disagrees.

 

94. What existential threat exists that locals don’t understand?

This is a hell of a list. The three most pressing are:

Hell, and the fact that basically fracking it for devils, magic and glass is (you heard it here first) a fucking awful idea.

The Rest of the World have finally got around to the fact that Mordolic is the number one threat to… everything, really, what with the above hell fracking. They’re planning a counterattack (slowly and with a lot of fractiousness).

The Nameless Saint. Now, normally, the way things go is this: a Hagiographer identifies a Living Saint. They live a life. Then die, and become a deified being, their body parts waved around in reliquaries, etc.
But for the Nameless Saint of the Destitute, Desperate and Ill, that did not appeal at all. So, they became a Lich. They’re the most powerful Unchartered Wizard in the history of Mordolic and they’re just down there in the Undercity. Waiting.

 

95. Are there ongoing conflicts and can individuals hire into an organization or pledge troops in exchange for plunder?

The Conquest of Vord, the Seven Snakes War, the War of the Southern Plain, the Sargovic Skirmishes, the War in Shelonas, the Silent War, the Loud War, the Dreamer’s War, the Conquest of Besul, the Rebellion in Zamonassis, the Amber-Trader’s War...

 

96. How are soldiers usually paid?

In Hellglass and Honour Certificates.

Certificates have no monetary value, but they do have massive social currency.

 

97. Are there honour duels or other ceremonial or cultural combats as an outlet for symbolic war?

Person to person duels are a normal way of resolving conflicts when words have failed.

There is no symbolic war in Mordolic. There is only a black iron warship sailing up and levelling the locality.

 

98. What area is seditious?

In Mordolic? The fungus infested Low Town, the pornographically poor Burnt-Out District, the artists’ colony of Lorn’s Rest, the outer district of Swordmaker’s Hill, the underground No-Shore and the bog-bounded Sunkenwall – among others. 

 

99. Is gambling legal?

Only if you’re staking your soul. Gambling money is frowned upon as childish and pointless.

 

100.        What competitive game is considered contemplative?

Conquest. It’s like chess but the board’s twice as big and the squares have specific effects.

 

101.        What sport do street children play?

Bonesticks. It’s basically a particularly violent version of street hockey.

 

102.        What blood sports are legal?

The Zarn is a very big arena on the end of the Spine which features Locals and Outsiders alike pitted against alchemical beasts, well paid devils, or each other.

Surviving Zarni are rich, popular celebrities – but not a lot of Zarni reach that point.

 

103.        What illegal blood sports do elites favour?

There are no illegal blood sports, and the elites don’t favour them – they’re gauche.

 

104.        Is the breeding of fighting animals part of husbandry or specialized?

Mordolic doesn’t employ fighting animals – they use fighting constructs, powered by Devil blood, called Wroughts.

 

105.        Is it religiously sanctioned?

Lots of Wroughts are built by the Cult of St. Brigid, the Saint of Craft, Artisanry and Machines. Lots aren’t.

 

106.        What populist messianic tendencies, elite conspiracies, intelligence service or spy rings and noble plots are likely to get a lot of people killed?

Fuck me, it’s a big list. How long do you have?

 

107.        What religions are undergoing messianic Times?

The Saints Church, constantly. It’s kind of the point of the whole thing.

 

108.        What mystery cult has been imported? What syncretic tradition is emerging?

The Mordics like to try and figure out “what other cultures’ Saints are”, which is… fucking stupid, but also becomes a way for Outsiders to fit in to the vast, cracked puzzle of this city – sure, why can’t Old Morondam be a Saint, so long as you leave me alone, Mordic?

 

109.        What street food is sold?

Any kind you can imagine. But a lot of blood sausages, specifically.

 

110.        Are coffee, tea, alcohol or other drinks sold in ceremonial locations?

Not ceremonial, but Lorn’s Rest and the Spine are fucking lousy with cafes.

 

111.        What do the starving scavenge?

Mordolic’s rats are fat and omnipresent. Some of the fungus in Low Town won’t kill you immediately. The bogs are full of gharials, but also edible plants and fish.

 

112.        What is the nicest meal most citizens can attempt?

Something filling involving a lot of chicken, bread and beef, all of which are imports.

 

113.        What foods are associated with major festivals? What slaughter animals do poor families raise?

In Inner Mordolic, the classic animal is the pig – the pig is almost the Mordic national emblem. Aquaculture is also huge in those districts that abut the bogs, especially Sunkenwall.

 

114.        What artworks were stolen by a neighbouring civilization?

There was one: an abstract statue of St. Mord stolen by the now-ruined city of Redeem, centuries ago. That sparked the very first war, and since then, Mordolic have been robbing everyone else’s art.

 

115.        What crafts are practiced? What crafts are lost?

Metalwork, glassmaking, sculpture, architecture, soul-binding and painting are regarded as being good uses of your time.

Pottery used to be very popular, but the technique has faded.

 

116.        What crafts are constrained by resources?

Glassware made from Hellglass is pretty rare due to the tightly controlled flow of the necessary sand.

 

117.        What lost item is associated with your foundational myths?

The Twice Gold Hammer of St. Mord – supposedly it was used to lay The Spike, the metaphorical beginning of Mordolic, now buried somewhere in the city’s depths.

 

118.        What cursed item is in your cultures saddest songs?

The Mantle of St. Ragged. It drives powerful folk to make terrible decisions and doom their families.

A lot of poor people don’t exactly consider it cursed as much as possibly useful.

 

119.        Who rules the area and how much of their wealth is material and how much is symbolic?

The Nobles. Lots of both.

 

120.        Are there other species that collect valuables?

The Thieving Crow of Mordolic is endemic, large, and likes shiny shit.

 

121.        Are there resources harvested from “monsters”?

Devil blood as fuel is the one that springs to mind.

 

122.        Are there monsters that have been sealed off in desolate places?

Mindloss is a vast prison, directly under Inner Heart, where all rebellious or rogue Devils are bound thrice in silver and kept chained, to rot until the end of days. 

This is also where Mordolic keeps all the Princes of Hell they've deposed. That can't go wrong at all, hm?