Coffee, Code, and Chronicles

Quentin is the crank, kook, quack, eccentric, and inventive craftsman of the Institute. Quentin's gadgets are largely useless, but make a big show, and the show often results in an unmitigated disaster in the moment, but an equally unparalleled success that makes for Quentin's impeccable reputation. Recent devices included: The “Throat-Singer’s Deceiver" A stiff leather collar with a hidden reed-and-bellows mechanism tucked under the chin. The agent twists a small knob to activate it. It’s supposed to perfectly mimic any voice the wearer has heard that day; ideal for impersonating a guard captain or seductive noblewoman during a whispered conversation at a feast. How it actually works is the first twist makes the collar emit a loud, wet QUACK like a startled goose. Every subsequent word the agent tries to speak comes out as a ridiculous, warbling mix of their own voice and farm-animal sounds. The “Nightwalker’s Deception" Soft-soled leather boots with a heel-mounted c...

The Purple Hand is an insidious cult dedicated the Chaos god of Tzeentch, known also as the The Changer of Ways. The cult seeks to bring the downfall of the Empire and in the upheaval realize a quest of power that will bring about change, in its most primal sense. This goal is affected through the manipulation and infiltration of Cult members in political and religious positions as well as the corruption of those already in power.  The cult is highly effective in these positions and sows rumors that pit many factions against each other to affect Tzeentch's goal. Unfortunately, the Purple Hand's power makes other cults of the Ruinous Powers envious rivals. The strife attenuates the Purple Hand's plans as other cults work against them. Khorne cultists may murder the best agents of the Purple Hand. Nurgle cultists may sow sickness in a district of a city that a well placed agent may have an interest in for rents or commerce. Slannesh cultists will leverage a vice a particular ...

There once was a ranger so bold,   Who joined a wild band for some gold.   On a dwarven steamship,     Mid the waves' furious grip,   His head flew off—lost in the cold   So goes the tale of the Owly in many port taverns on the Sea of Claws. Untold is that his murderer met summary justice in the labyrinthine decks of the HIS Potemkin.

Niklos Kaunitz was born under the sign of Mummet the Fool in 2497 IC. Raised by an artistic father that traded in calligraphy for social and official business, Niklos was expected to carry on his father's trade. While he was naturally gifted with a brush and ink, he was bored with “learning his letters." Niklos instead found trading his physical talents as muscle earned far better coin, to one that didn't have a lot of expenses living under another's roof. When the roof was no longer available, Niklos's coin didn't go as far. He still could earn with his fists. Niklos's follow through in a fight was earning him a reputation. You owed Niklos in a card game and couldn't pay, pray he pulled his punches and left you with coin for a drink to numb pain. Niklos ran a few games in Übersreik before the Institute crossed his path. He was about to petition “the Guild" for more tables for games and cement his position as a racketeer. Yet Niklos soon found hims...

The Lady of the Lake is Bretonnia's patron goddess. “The Lady" and her cult is the very foundation of the kingdoms of Bretonnia. Appearing before the knight Gilles le Breton and his closest counsel more that 1500 years ago, on the eve of a great battle, she blessed each them and with a sip from a magical grail, made them the first Grail Knights. They went into battle the next day to defeat a massive Greenskin army of Orcs and Goblins. The victory cemented the feudal system of Bretonnia. Rarely worshipped outside Bretonnia, within the Empire The Lady is seen as a servant of the goddess Myrmidia. Blasphemy, even heresy, in Bretonnia, this understanding aligns well with Myrmidia's warlike aspect and martial ken. In some seminaries, especially Myrmidian, the teaching goes so far as to state that The Lady is just another name for Myrmidia. Then there is the question of The Lady's most faithful servants and messengers, the Grail Damsels. It is whispered these messengers are ...

Knob. Poor Knob. Faithful Knob. Earnest Knob. Knob the squire. Knob the flea. Knob the load. Throughout the Empire, there are zealots of every sanctioned and outlawed cult. Always a sight to behold, and sometimes fear, these zealots can be mere street barkers, sign bearers, or the celibate and poor faithful priests serving their cult. On the other extreme are the fanatics, the flagellants, and the gangs of screaming men (and women) throwing themselves on the shield walls of greenskin, zombie, or mutant armies in far flung parts of the Old World. Knob is closer to the former than the latter. He is an Sigmar anchorite, and a very bad one as he will often find himself much like a hermit, wandering from place to place, alone, only to begin troubling some faithful for company. Knob is often encountered in fervent prayer atop a forgotten pier in a harbor or fallen tree or tree stump in a river. Awakened by a ship's bell or the sounds of men shouting on a passing vessel, Knob will begin e...

Atop the Fauschlag sits the City of the White Wolf, Middenheim. The Fauschlag itself is the god Taal's gift to his brother Ulric. 2300 years ago on the Imperial Calendar, Wulcan, High Priest in the cult of Ulric was visited by the deity. Striking the ground with the butt of Blitzbeil, Ulric's personal great axe, a great flame erupted. Ulric commanded Wulcan to build him a grand temple, saying, “On this spot, as long as this fire burns in its hearth, your people shall endure." Today, the temple is a castle as well as a cathedral. The flame burns in front of the High Altar in a high vaulted roof of awe inspiring architecture. The grand nave and chancel hold more than 1000 worshipers and the acoustics said to be so fine that the High Priest may whisper and the worshipper in the furthest corner of the nave may hear perfectly—and an Ulrican priest is not one to whisper. The flame itself is a center piece of the temple and is often used in important state functions and high prof...

The cosmopolitan city-state of Marienburg, capital of the “Wasteland," is home to scores of respectable taverns, clubs, and restaurants, catering to an ever growing merchant class calling the largest port of the River Reik home. Serving the lower classes in the districts of Marienburg are hundreds of watering holes, dives, dens, and snugs. One such Kneipe  is the Brickskeller, or in the common tongue, Brick Cellar. Here the criminal boss Pit van Kars, a priest of Ranald, the patron deity of all rogues, and his gang, all acolytes to be sure, runs his city wide operations. As a priest, if part-time, he evangelizes to all that seek meaning to their behaviors and absolution for the actions on the streets and canals of Marienburg. Herr van Kars influence is far reaching, as far north as Almshoven and very likely with cult contacts deep in the Empire itself. His operation is without boundaries in endeavor or entrepreneurship. Herr van Kars is known to employ the finest forgers in Marien...

In the 200 years since the Great Chaos Incursion that left the village of Almshoven mostly in ruins, save its well known lighthouse looking over the Manaanspoort Sea, Almshoven is again inhabited. It is also known for its massive Garden to Morr, still in use, but largely overgrown and permanently shrouded in a mist or fog the clutches at the weeds and headstones, defying even the hottest day. The centuries old ruins invited treasure hunters, or grave robbers, depending on which side of the calculus one viewed the participants. The character of these opportunists naturally invited others and Almshoven is almost a proper village again with a functioning port.  It's having your bare feet on the ground in Almshoven that one finds the details disquieting. Almshoven is run by a brute of a man known as “The Gut." His laws are simple: Permitted to duel; if challenged, you get to choose the weapon. Until death or submission. No interference. Or you’re dead. No magic. Or you’re dead. No...

I've started seeing an emergent trend in Role Playing Games (RPGs) of late.  The issue with using the word “emergent" is that the algorithms at play in many platforms are geared to feeding you more of what you watch. Platforms become echo chambers.  Solo gaming may in fact not be emergent at all. But I consume a lot of role playing media on YouTube and there are a few “soloists" that I've caught and thus YouTube desires to feed the beast. Of the two “soloists" that have my attention, the first has more than 20,000 subscribers, the other just 920. The former is published, the latter is prolific and seems to be highly detail oriented with a lot of personal frameworks to drive the story telling in a purely randomly generated manner. Soloing I'm told is also called “journaling." I like this framing and as one that watches a limited amount of the available content can see how “journaling" is apropos . A gamer can quickly find themselves seeking to capita...

Ymir. E-mir? Yee-mir? The pronunciation is something of mystery in the Empire's colleges. Scholars debate the creature's very existence not just the name's sound. Many take the side that this creature is just a garden variety “abominable snowman," or Yeti. In fact, the Ymir is a distinct creature akin to the foul Beastman of the Empire’s dark, and often corrupted, forests. Yet those that have traveled the lands of Norsca write that the Ymir has a specific diet: human flesh. Contrast, the scholars will point out, the varied diet of a beastman horde. Norscian skalds tell travelers that Ymir is largely a solitary creature, mating briefly for “litter of whelps." If they speak any language, it is one of grunts and low moans. Standing taller than a human by a foot or two and weighing more than 21 stones, Ymir are covered in a thick, matted white fur—lending much to the debate of Yeti or not Yeti—fouled not just by excrement, but also frozen blut und fleisch  that is oft...

Xe'ddu has many names to mortals. As all daemons fail to grasp the purposes for which they are summoned, pulled to the material planes by rituals old and new, and often in service of Greater daemons or the Dark Prince and Lord of Pleasure and Excess, Slaanesh. The One of Whips, Holder of the Lash, Nine Tails, and many other names have been used in mortal rituals. These names are quite literal in that they recognize Xe'ddu's favored instrument in her service to Slaanesh: the whip.  She cares not what the mortals call her. Though she would never reveal her true name. For a mortal to know her true name would be to cede control on the mortal plane. And yet a mortal may bargain with Xe'ddu's masters to learn her true name. Such a bargain would carry a cost, but Xe'ddu knows that for the right sacrifice to her whips, perhaps a new cultist that imagines divine pleasure at the end of her untiring lashes, Xe'ddu may offer the name of other lesser daemons. Of course, ...

The Free Town of Übersreik sits astride the River Teufel in the Principality of Reikland in the Empire. Its high stone walls, the work of many dwarves from nearby holds in the Grey Mountains also serve as a defense from invasion through the Grey Lady Pass. Known for its master stone masons, Übersreik residents enjoy construction on stone foundations, but no landmark is more important than the bridge over the Teufel. The great stone bridge is a feat of Dwarven engineering unmatched in the Empire. The bridge is a major thoroughfare in the town, carrying trade north to Bögenhafen and Nuln to the south. The river is choked with boats and barges carrying quarried stone to Altdorf and ore south on the River Reik, via the Teufel, to the forges of Nuln. This trade results in great warehouse districts on the shores and docks of the river and the accompanying accommodations for guilds, trade unions, porters, sailors, boatmen, brothels, taverns, drug dens, and much more. Editor's Note This wa...

The Winds of Magic envelop the Old World. Invisible to all save Elves or Man—touched in the womb by their unstoppable influence—the Winds have 10 “colors." The Elves have mastered the Winds. Master Elven wizards came with Elven traders millennia ago to the Old World and spoke of great “gates" in their ancestral lands. Spewing from these gates were the Winds of Magic, carried aloft to wrap the world. From beyond these gates dark beings—daemons and beasts—came to roam the world. The Elves, in time and at great societal cost, had reversed the gates to drain the world of the Winds influence. This may continue today and some heretical scholars believe it is why there are “convulsions" in the Old World as the Winds diminish and the influence of the gods with them. The Elves are master's of all 10 colors. Man is wielder of nine, but never a master. There are eight widely used colors by Man. A ninth “color,"  Dhar —the “Dark Wind"—influences and corrupts the eight....

Religious scholars quietly hold debate on the nature of the gods. Sometimes these debates are written down and collected, immediately becoming heretical texts that can find those possessing them in some very serious extra judicial trouble. One such work that circulated in history studies on Bretonnia is On the Viydagg and The Lady of the Lake, look at daemons of law in Bretonnia  by Merovech De Boutellier. Unlike some “heretical" texts, passages of this work are rumored to have been read to the Emperor, who allegedly said of the kingdom to the west after the reading, “It is a silly place." The book, religious in tone, is understood  in the Empire  to be a critical work on Bretonnia's ruling class of Knights. To possess a copy in Bretonnia however is to be fed alive to the truffle hounds. The Viydagg is said to be a daemon of light, created by the gods, and sometimes called a “Life Elemental." The Viydagg appears as a beautiful maiden standing 10 feet tall in flowing ...

The Old World is both blessed and fouled by the Winds of Magic. In the latter, the Winds can be manipulated and corrupted into Dhar , the Dark Wind. Dhar  fuels Dark Magic. Dark Magic is the tool of those that serve Chaos in all its manifestations: disease, indulgence, murder, and change. But necromancy holds a special attraction to the wielders of Dhar : to fuel the armies of undead mustered by power hungry and vengeful Necromancers. The Vampire Counts are also skilled necromancers and their subjects are often slaves in life and death. The Undead in fact includes many forms that, on casual inspection, may appear to be alive. Vampires are the most common form of Undead in this category. It is said that many “upstanding" nobles of the Empire may be Vampires. Ghouls are often placed in the category, but ghouls have been observed in “social groups" and often act alone without a Necromancer master. The greatest number of Undead are what we call “zombies" or the skeletal men,...

So many minor, backwater gods. This author could not begin to name them all. Most are tolerated by all the cults. As all the sanctioned cults acknowledge the other gods, and by all accounts most upstanding citizens will pay respects to them all in due course. Minor gods are also commonly called the “penny gods." These minor gods may  earn a penny saved in their evocation and are, by most religious scholars, nothing more than a peasant's superstition given embodiment in the mind of the evoker. Certain zealots might see this as heresy, but these same peasants are always shown under interrogation to be true to Sigmar and the other gods. Tahrveg is also known as the The Keen Arrow. Honored by archers of the Empire's armies, Tahrveg is one minor god that may earn an archer court martial. And as most peasants are conscripted, court-martial can mean serious punishment. What act would earn such harsh punishment? A blood sacrifice. Some archers have been known to cut their last fi...

Names have power. It is said that Daemonologists pay great costs of earthly and spiritual forms to learn the true name of the foul spirits they summon. To learn the true name of a summoned, often a foul bargain may be struck with another spirit. These rituals are not known to the author and only speculation. The cults of the Empire, save the Verenans, believe that names carry power over the named. Many miracles, hermetic magics, and the rituals of the same must use the name of the receiver for effectiveness, demonstrating the power in a name. Save the Venenans, as mentioned lest forgotten, cults bestow upon their priesthood sacred names . These names may not be secret, but may often be used in ceremony or in correspondence. To the acquaintances of the priests, the use of the name may create confusion. As many cults will bestow a new sacred name  with each higher appointment—the first given as an Initiate to a cult—the same acquaintances, accustomed to one sacred name, must learn an...

Magic in the Old World is dangerous. For those targeted and for those wielding the power of the Winds. Especially for those wielding the power.  T his errant or intentional use of the Winds may produce Rotwyrms.  Rotwyrms seem to be reported by  wizards of the Jade and Amethyst winds. Some reports say that those wielding magic dealing with flesh, such as dark wizards of the Ruinous god Slaanesh or necromancers summon Rotwyrms as a counter spell . Empire wizards employed on the battlefield have encountered Rotwyrms emerging from the bodies of dead allies or enemies due to a faulty casting. In all reports, it may simply be the  presence of dead flesh. Rotwyrms are not of this world. They possess the ability to pass through shield or armor, consuming metal, wood, and cloth with a singular goal: to consume the living flesh of their summoner. Wizards encountering Rotwyrms may suddenly turn from the battlefield in terror. Allies near a battlefield wizard have testified in ...

The Old World is full of tradition and ritual. Whether in a cosmopolitan city or a frigid village in the northern reaches of the Empire The Quickening remains practiced and is observed by all the sanctioned cults (and some not sanctioned, but tolerated). The Quickening is the tradition that occurs on the 11th birthday of a boy or girl. On the day of The Quickening it is common law that the child is officially an adult. Many of the rights granted on this day include: inheritance, apprenticeship, liability, and marriage.  Common ceremonies include “The Dooming." This practice is more superstition than certainty and  involves a wise woman of the family, a grandmother or older matriarch, observing some tick or behavior of the child and declaring the thing to be the child's fateful end. Doomings have been recorded for centuries and include: Thy last meal shall be at an inn or tavern Terrible things will happen to thy fingers if thou dippest them into too many pies Thou shalt know a...