31 Things You May Encounter In The City of Ten Thousand Daggers

This is a list of things that players may run into while out and about in Khezvaros. You can randomly generate an encounter by rolling 1d20+1d12-1.

1. Portrait

The Maiden of Rivergate

The Maiden of Rivergate is a mural painted on the inside walls of Old Town near where Rivergate Road meets Sigil Street. The painting depicts a beautiful woman with dark hair and a sly smile reclining on the ledge of a large open window. The architectural style of the window and the fact that only the night sky can be seen through it suggests that she's on the upper floor of a tower. However, the sky offers few clues to her location since it does not appear to be our sky; Two moons--one white, one red--hang there, along with unknown constellations and strange sky lights that match no known reports of heavenly phenomena on our world. Although the painting has been there for generations--there is considerable disagreement about when it first appeared--the paint is still fresh and vibrant, never fading or succumbing to wear and weather. According to some stories, the imperials have attempted to cover the mural on several occasions, but whatever they use to cover it inevitably falls apart in a matter of days: paint flakes off, cloth or leather coverings dry rot or are eaten by moths at alarming speeds, and even mortar and concrete crumbles to dust. The identity of the maiden depicted in the painting is a mystery; Even her historical era can't be deciphered: her simple formal gown is of a type that's been worn for centuries, her hair is gathered in a common braid that belies nothing of fad or fashion, and she wears no jewelry or other ornaments that might give away her identity. Theories about her identity range from Ilka the Faceless (when she still had a face) to Tolva, Queen of Thieves to various lesser known goddesses, queens, princesses, and heroes from the city's past.

2. Vanish

"Sorry about that unpleasantness, Dino. Give those Bullguards a coupla drinks on my tab next time they're off duty. Couldn't get rid of that guy through pleading or threats, so I had to resort to my status as a valued customer."
"We live to serve. What was with that guy anyhow?"
"Strangest thing. Guy comes up to me over near the market and acts like we're best friends or something. Say he needs my help because his wife and kids are under some kind of spell that made them forget him. When I told him I didn't know him, he said I must be under the same spell and started babbling about how he got jumped by thieves a few days ago and some guy took him in and nursed him back to health in his mansion--even hired him a carriage home--but now nobody remembers him. Thing is, when I asked where this mansion was he described the route to Blood Alley."
"You know what's funny about that story? I remember ol' Papa Minotaur telling me almost the exact same tale when I was just a lad. Said it happened right after he took over the place way back when."
"So, Dino, are you saying maybe we should just write this whole thing off to some kind of familial curse or hereditary madness?"
"What else you gonna do?"
--Exchange between Dionysus Minotaur and a customer

3. Abandoned

"Mox Hole Work Camp? Doesn't exist, at least if you ask the imperials. Most of us old timers have heard of it, though. Some even claim to have known or been a prisoner. It was a mine--silver, gold, iron, nobody really remembers--in the hills to the east. Closed down 40, maybe 50 years ago. A couple shipments failed to make their way into town, so the Legion sent some scouts out to see what happened. Nobody knows what they found there, but they never went back and tried to strike the place from maps and memory. Story says they even pulled up the roadstones and threw them down the mineshaft." -- Pap Janos

4. Enchant

You can't walk through Market Ward without somebody try to sell you a protective this or a lucky that, and a lot of people use the term "enchantment" to describe all manner of magical trinkets and baubles. A stickler, though, will tell you that these things are simple dweomers. They draw their power from the substances or processes used to make them, or from magical sigils and signs incorporated into their design. The thing about an enchantment is that it has to draw some of its power from Ruh, the magical force that exists only within living beings. For a minor enchantment, the user's Ruh will do the trick. More powerful enchantments have to be maintained by the wizard's own magical energy or by that of a magically powerful entity like a demon or Elteri. One reason wizards are so reluctant to cast powerful enchantments on behalf of others is that--assuming they don't have a powerful supernatural being under their control--it requires them to allocate a portion of their own magical energy to maintaining the enchantment.

5. Misfortune

Because of their diverging philosophies on Fate, Choice, and Destiny, Tarsaks and imperials look at misfortune very differently. To the imperials, misfortune is Fate's punishment: Some failure on your part has caused Fate to put up obstacles that may prevent you from achieving your greatest destiny. To the natives--who view Fate as an impersonal cosmic force---misfortune is just a fact of life. You get caught up in Fate's web for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so the only thing you can do is look for a way to turn your bad situation into an opportunity.

6. Chasm

The Chasm of Lost Secrets is a deep fissure in the earth said to lie deep within the The Undercity. According to legend, a secret that is ritually cast into the Chasm can never be revealed. The ritual requires that the secret be written down using ink that contains a drop of blood from every person who knows the secret and signed by each of them using the same ink. The document is then sealed with wax into which a copper coin is embedded. Once the document is thrown into the chasm, the keepers of the secret will find themselves incapable of speaking of it, even to one another.

7. Thorn

Shadow Roses are rare flowers with translucent black petals and dark green stems that appear black in all but the brightest light. While the flower has a strange beauty, it's the stems--and particularly the thorns--that are most highly valued. If a drop of blood drawn by a prick from a Shadow Rose thorn is allowed to hit the ground, it will spawn a shadowy doppleganger of the wounded person. The doppleganger will immediately attack (and if necessary pursue) its progenitor until one of them is dead. Shadow Rose thorns are often incorporated into traps used to protect extremely valuable items or locations, but are--thankfully, for the thieves of Khezvaros--extremely rare. The magical and botanical conditions required to grow the plant, in addition to being a closely held secret, are very complex and exacting. Popular belief, for example, holds that Shadow Roses must be fertilized by the corpses of stillborn twins--not exactly something you can just pick up at the bazaar.

8. Howl

Anyone who spends much time in the City of Ten Thousand Daggers will eventually hear The Howl, a pained cry of many voices that rises up from the Arena Ward when a member of the Wolf Faction is killed during the games. Usually the howl is taken up by faction members and their supporters and ends relatively quickly. When a respected or especially popular athlete dies, however, it's common for members and fans of other factions to join in on the display of mourning, raising a din that can be heard across the city. When an especially popular athlete dies, the cry is often taken up outside of the arena, traveling back and forth across the city as the news spreads. While this is great fun for the city's dog population, it can bring commerce and other activities to a standstill. They say that when Turjvok of the Nine-Pound Fist was killed, nearly everyone in the city essentially howled in shifts for the better part of 3 days.

9. Mirror

Most items that a demon can be bound to permit the creature's release without much difficulty. All that is required is a disruption of the object's existential continuity--what would be called identity in a living thing. The item just has to be altered so that it's a new thing in some significant way: A sealed container is opened, a gemstone is shattered, or a ring is melted down to slag, for example. Mirrors are somewhat exempt because in most cases a destroyed mirror remains a mirror, albeit a smaller one. The demon remains trapped, its living space reduced. The main drawback of trapping demons in mirrors is that the demon can speak with and use magic against (but not physically interact with) anyone who looks into the mirror. Furthermore, if the demon can lure a victim into voluntarily entering the mirror (even if the victim believes it's a more mundane doorway), the victim becomes trapped inside with the demon and open to the creature's physical torment.

10. Broken

The soul-shattered are people whose minds have been ruined by the hazards of Soulfaring. Soul-shattering is often the result of traumatic or existentially distressing soul journeys: traveling through a hell dimension, meeting difficult-to-accept alternate versions of yourself, or encountering hidden truths and terrible secrets that contradict your basic understanding of how reality works. Soul-shattering can also occur more slowly as a result of an addiction to soulfaring, which eventually results in a addict becoming so preoccupied with venturing into other realities that they lose interest in functioning properly in this one.

11. Escape

"The Prisoner's Lament" is a song that can be heard with some regularity in Shadow Ward and the Dagger Hill Slums. The song has a call and response structure wherein the initiator sings a verse, the next verse is contributed by another singer within earshot, and subsequent verses may be taken up by other singers or revert back to the original singer in seemingly random fashion. While the tune and subject matter of the song (the sad tale of an incarcerated prisoner) remain constant from one performance to the next, there appear to be a near infinite number of variations on the exact words of the song. That's because, to those in the know, the song is in fact a secret code used by criminals attempting to evade pursuit. The initial verse is a plea for help with lyrics that describe the general nature of the singer's predicament. For example, the prisoner begins the song in a tower if the singer desires escape via the Rooftop Highway, a dungeon if the singer needs to reach The Undercity, the Tower Street jail if the character wishes to remain at street level, and simply a cell if the singer has no preference or is open to any method of egress that presents itself. The responses relay general information or instructions from allies that will help the "prisoner" escape and are used to coordinate the activities of those offering assistance. They might reveal the location of a safe house or a route that has been cleared, convey a plan to ambush the pursuers, or call a crowd to a particular location in order to create a traffic jam between the pursuer and the pursued. Each verse is constructed by mixing a series of established code phrases with specific details that apply to the situation at hand. The latter are usually communicated using nicknames, lore, and contextual references that are familiar to most residents of the area but meaningless to outsiders.

12. Slime

In order for a Chimerist to practice their trade, their lab must be outfitted with a vat of primordial slime. This slightly luminescent, jelly-like substance is pale pink in color and forms naturally in both salt and fresh water as well as damp underground locations (especially crypts and other places where dead bodies accumulate). It can also be manufactured by breaking down fresh corpses using a sequence of alchemical substances and practices. Before the spark of life can be awakened in a new creation, it must be allowed to soak in primordial slime for a time that varies according to the nature and size of the creature being constructed. The resulting coating of slime is believed to act a conductor for the spark of life, increasing the likelihood of a viable creation.

13. Haunt

Madame Xanthia's Pleasure Palace is well known as a den of earthly pleasures, but there is one room where particularly adventurous patrons can avail themselves to a decidedly unearthly experience. By day, the upper floor of the east tower appears dusty and abandoned, but when night falls some spectral magic turns the room into a decadent love nest that seemingly anticipates the preferences and peccadilloes of the coming night's customer. The mistress of the suite is the ghost of a long-dead courtesan known as Wild Rose--whether she takes her name from or gave her name to the street that runs below her window is lost to history. Rose was one of the brothel's most accomplished courtesans when she met her untimely end at the hands of a jealous customer and has had a generations-long afterlife since with which to further refine her trade. Like the room, Rose has an uncanny ability to perfectly anticipate her customer's every fantasy, always appearing and acting in precisely the manner that most excites her client. There is no question that an evening with Wild Rose is an unparalleled experience, but it can come at a cost higher than even Madame Xanthia's considerable fee for Rose's services. Those who have spent a night in Wild Rose's bed have been known to exhibit unusual characteristics following the encounter. Customers have sprouted horns, woken up with prematurely white hair, gained the ability to see in the dark like a cat, ceased to cast a reflection in mirrors, found themselves trailed by an unwanted entourage of dogs, rats, crows, or other beasts, discovered that their touch spoils milk or wilts plants, exhibited previously unknown abilities, and become subject to strange or supernatural urges and compulsions.

14. Ruin

Eloszorian ruins litter the Tarsan Plain, but by far the most fascinating remnant of that long-ago empire is the floating city of Uszovaros . Mathematicians estimate that the chunk of floating earth on which the city rests covers an area of 2-3 square miles and is perhaps half a mile deep at its thickest point. It travels above the earth at about the height of a tall mountain peak, perhaps 15,000 feet. The city moves through the air slowly and in a seemingly random pattern and creates an unsurprising hubbub when it passes over or near inhabited territory. Because the massive ancient structures visible from the ground have clearly fallen into disrepair, most believe Uszovaros to be uninhabited. However, the presence of trees and other plant life has led some to speculate that the descendants of the original Usovarans still survive in a feral state, living off of vegetation, animal populations that were uprooted along with the city, stray birds who land on the floating island, and perhaps the flesh of enemy tribes. Since the handful of stories featuring adventurers traveling to the city using flying beasts, magic, and other methods diverge wildly, the truth is unsettled.

15. Mist

Most spells named after a person bear the name of the wizard who discovered or most famously used them, but in the case of Ogut's Crimson Mist, the name attached to the spell is that of the sole survivor of its only documented use--though he didn't survive for long. Ogut was a legionnaire assigned to the estate of a prominent imperial noble family who, according to his testimony, was patrolling the grounds when he heard screams coming from the main house. As he rushed toward the building, he saw a glowing red fog wafting out from the windows and the door that another guard who had arrived just before Ogut had left standing open. Through the open door, Ogut saw his the fog thicken around his fellow legionnaire. A few minutes later, the guard's body burst open as the fog he had breathed in violently escaped his body. Ogut chose to save himself, which later got him executed for abandoning his post. The caster of the spell was never discovered and most assume that the knowledge of how to cast it died with them, whoever they were. There are of course regular rumors and claims that the spell survived or has been recreated, but there are no known instances of its use since Ogut's encounter.

16. Whisper

In Khezvaros, the word "whisper" used as a noun refers to any information that someone would like to keep under wraps and can range from juicy gossip to state secrets. Nobody really knows whether the term was co-opted by the League Of Whispers or was named after them, but they are undeniably the authorities on clandestine information of every type. In addition to making their living trading in such information, they are often consulted to negotiate a fair price for information between outside parties. The price for this service is the information itself, which the Whisperer must know in order to determine its value. This doesn't always work out for the seller: If they don't accept the Whisperer's price, the potential buyer can just deal with the Whisperer instead.

17. Shadow

The Shadow Ward, also known as the Shadows, covers the northern portion of the area surrounded by the walls that were built to protect the city as it spilled out around the walls of Old Town. The Shadows is surrounded by hills and large structures: Vargo's Hill with its castle to the west, The Tower of Daggers, which gives the city its alternate name atop Dagger Hill to the north, and The Slab and its massive statue of The Eternal Empress to the south. Between these landmarks, the city walls, and several other tall structures in the area, the sun only shines directly on Shadow Ward for a few hours on even the sunniest days.

18. Spirit

Most people believe in helyszellem, or spirits of place who watch over and protect certain locations. The spirits are believed to manifest as the result of activity (human and otherwise) that occurs in a way that distinguishes a particular area from its surroundings. So for example a large area of wild grassland that sees little activity beyond the coming and going of seasons, weather, and animals may have a single helyszellem that watches over hundreds or thousands of acres. If an empire builds a road through the plain, the road will eventually develop its own helyszellem, as will towns, farms, and other "new" places carved out of the plain. Helyszellem are mostly content to observe, but they do have a sense of self-preservation and can exercise some control over their environment and its plant and animal inhabitants. In cities like Khezvaros, helyszellum are both numerous and very knowledgeable, but only those with the proper training (like the Varosimancers can converse with the spirits to learn their secrets. However, some particularly powerful helyszellem are able to manifest themselves. This usually takes the form of a ghostly apparition, often in the likeness of a historical figure associated with the place. They most often appear to offer support or information to human protectors when the area is threatened, but they tend to do so indirectly and from a distance--for example, by leading someone to an little-known or overlooked resource. Whether this is due to the natural tendency of magical beings towards being cryptic or some supernatural constraint or compulsion is debatable.

19. Relic

The Father of Secrets was the legendary founder of the League Of Whispers. His real name was never made public even during his lifetime, but most believe that the name is known to highly-placed Whisperers, who are entrusted with the secret as a sign of position within the organization. According to legend, the Father of Secrets' true name is the key to unlocking the city's most deeply hidden lore. The Father of Secrets is believed to have lingered on long after his natural lifespan by becoming a lich, but even that powerful magic could only hold his body together for so long and eventually only his skull remained. After that, the Father of Secrets "slept," but even in his dormant state he absorbed all of the secrets that passed through the Vault of the Whisperers, where the skull is said to reside. It is commonly believed that anyone who knows the ancient Whisperer's true name can use it to awaken the skull and compel it to answer their questions.

20. Unquiet

Khezvarans use the phrase "unquiet night" as way of acknowledging a sense of dread or impending doom that occasionally grips the entire city or specific sections of it. Long-time natives of the city can often feel the coming of an unquiet night in their bones long before there are any obvious signs, but as the sun sets and the night gets darker even outsiders begin to feel a sort of nervous tension in the air that sets everyone on edge. Soldiers often compare an unquiet night to the feeling you get on the eve of a battle that you don't expect to survive, while those who live near The Necropolis compare it to the heaviness in the air just before the The Lord of Bones makes his presence known. When the night is unquiet, most people retire to the safety of their homes early but very few of them sleep, instead peering out into the darkness for signs of the shoe that they know is about to drop. More often than not, the shoe lands. It can be a natural disaster, a pitched battle between gangs or other factions, a high-profile crime or assassination that leads to an imperial crackdown, or some other tragedy, but an unquiet night inevitably presages something that will have lasting consequences for the city or a significant subset of its inhabitants.

21. Shatter

The folklore of Khezvaros includes numerous tales of its two most legendary thieves, Tolva, Queen of Thieves and the Prince of Shadows. In defiance of generally accepted history, a number of stories exist which feature both characters as co-conspirators, rivals, or even lovers. The Shattered Diamond Inn stands on the spot where one of these stories is reputed to have taken place and takes its name from the events of the story. According to the legend, a wealthy outsider named Khourosh arrived in Khezvaros and began constructing an estate near the Horse Lords Camp. The first structure completed was a tall, securely gated tower that was said to be guarded by all manner of traps and creatures. These precautions were necessary to protect Khourosh's vast treasure, which included a diamond the size of a lion's head. Naturally, both Tolva and the Prince of Shadows quickly made plans to rob the place.
As fate would have it, both thieves chose the same night for their infiltration and it wasn't long before the considerable security measures in place forced them to join forces in order to survive. They managed to make it out with the Diamond of Khourosh, eventually stopping to rest at the spot where the Shattered Diamond would later stand. After a long and fruitless discussion about who should get the diamond, the Prince of Shadows bet Tolva that he could fit the massive gemstone into a wine bottle. After clarifying that he was not permitted to break or alter the bottle in any way, Tolva took the bet. The Prince of Shadows of course had a plan, using a bit of magic he had learned to shatter the diamond into a thousand pieces that would easily fit through the neck of the bottle. Tolva admitted defeat, but not without pilfering several shards of the diamond while she distracted the Prince of Shadows with praise and flattery for his cleverness. With these shards missing, the Prince was unable to use his spell to restore the diamond to its natural form. Even though the shards were less valuable than the whole diamond would have been, they were still diamonds, so the Prince of Shadows sold, traded, and gambled them away just as he would any haul, spreading the pieces of the diamond to the four winds. Today, every irregularly-shaped stone that appears is speculated to be a shard of Khourosh's diamond.

22. Lock

They say that locks are a deterrent to opportunists but a mere annoyance to dedicated thieves. The truth of this observation is bolstered by the demand for Wardsmiths among the inhabitants of the city lucky enough to have something worth stealing. Wardsmiths use a mixture of magic, engineering, and craftsmanship to secure other peoples' valuables. Depending on the client's need for security (and ability to pay), the Wardsmith's creations can range from a cursed or poisoned lock to a labyrinthine outer vault filled with devious traps, elaborate puzzle locks, and demonic or chimerical guard creatures. In the interest of experimentation and research, the Wardsmith's guild maintains a number buildings and other structures around the city that have come to be known as Gauntlets . When a gauntlet is in operation, the adventurous or desperate can pay a (usually small) fee for the chance to overcome the security measures inside and collect a token from the inner vault. This token can be exchanged at the Wardsmith's Guild Hall for whatever prize has been offered for completing the gauntlet. A bonus is typically on the table for winners who are willing to give an accounting of how they made it through the gauntlet and answer the Wardsmiths' questions.

23. Door

"Look inside before you cross the threshold" is a common Khezvaran phrase that's often used when people part company. While usually seen as as a warning to be cautious and vigilant, the origins of the phrase are completely literal. While most doors lead to the same location every time they're opened, there are times when doors open to unexpected locales, usually other realities. When the time is right, otherwise normal doors can lead to geographically non-adjacent locales like The Invisible Market, the Vault of the Whisperers, the Carrion Moors, and many other unexpected places.

24. Curse

Although the term "curse" is often used to describe a variety of negative magical effects, a true curse is more narrowly defined: True curses affect objects, locations, or bloodlines, not individuals; They can only be broken through very specific methods that usually involve some form of penitence or retribution; and they can only be brought into being by petitioning extremely powerful magical entities such as gods, dragons, or powerful Elteri. This last requirement is the most dangerous aspect of a true curse, since failure to convince the entity that the curse is justified can cause them to punish the petitioner for wasting their time.

25. Posses

While demons who manifest physically on our plane of existence are a terrifying adversary, those who manifest by taking control of humankind are a much more dangerous threat, since a demon who chooses its host well and plays its role convincingly can obtain access to the levers of power. Fortunately, there are are a number of ways to detect or reveal demonic possession. The most common test described in popular lore and stories involves the use of some symbol, incantation, object, or word of power that compels the demon to reveal itself. While this can work in some cases--particularly with common types of demons--most serious demon hunters consider this method a last resort because most such tests will only reveal certain types of demons, or in some cases even specific individual demons. More importantly, it's nearly impossible to administer such a test without revealing your suspicion and likely intention to the demon (and it's even more awkward if the suspected host isn't possessed). Along the same lines, no demon can deny their true name when correctly spoken.
Another method of demon detection involves the use of a mirror that belongs to or has likely been used frequently by the host. A mirror that has grown accustomed to someone's reflection will grow confused when another being attempts to cast the same reflection. As a result, it will show no reflection at all. Since this trick can also be used to reveal shapeshifters, imposters disguised by magic (but not mundane disguises), and other types of body snatchers, this test doesn't definitively prove possession, only that the person is not who they say they are.
If the essence of the person being possessed is permitted to remain within the body, the demon must regularly struggle against the host in order to maintain control. In this case, appeals or threats to the host's sense of self--their deeply held beliefs, valued friendships, or cherished memories, for example--can give the host a chance to regain temporary control or even cast out the demon. Because of this danger, any demon who wishes to maintain long-term control of a host will use magic to imprison the host's essence in an effigy, usually a statue or carving of the person. Since breaking the effigy returns the host to their body, durable materials like metal or stone are used whenever possible. If the effigy is sufficiently distant from the host's body, the host has no chance of regaining control (and may also go mad from their isolation). If the effigy and the host body come within proximity of one another, the host can attempt to return to and regain control of their body, which puts both the host and outside agents at an advantage when attempting to cast out the demon.

26. Abyss

The Abyss is one of the many Hell planes that Soulfarers and others who bring themselves into contact with other dimensions and their inhabitants can find themselves visiting if they aren't careful. The geography of The Abyss consists of a long, narrow stretch of rocky wasteland split in two by a massive chasm whose steep sides fall infinitely downward. Atop the chasm sits The Screaming City, dominion of the Pain Eaters who rule this realm. The lesser inhabitants live below among the ledges, mines, and caverns on and in the sides of the chasm, which is criss-crossed by natural and constructed bridges connecting the two sides. The various tribes of demons who live in the chasm spend their time attempting to curry favor with the Pain Eaters by harvesting the commodity that sustains the rulers of the abyss: suffering. While pain and torment inflicted upon members of rival tribes, traitors, and other demons makes up a portion of the suffering they offer up to their masters, human suffering is the true delicacy that the Pain Eaters value most. To this end, the tribes seek to acquire humans to torture through infernal pacts, bargains with other entities who traffic in mortal essence--The Lord of Bones, for example--and sometimes through simple abduction. Humans who visit the Abyss without the explicit protection of the Pain Eaters will find it nearly impossible to last long in the Abyss without being captured and subjected to horrific pain and suffering.

27. Echo

In addition to all the other dangers the world has to offer, twins and other multiples have to contend with Fate taking shortcuts with their lives. The phenomenon is known as "Fate's Echo." Whenever one twin experiences an especially fortuitous or disastrous turn of luck, the other twin's luck will change to match. This good or bad luck will continue until one of the siblings experiences a turn of luck in the opposite direction, at which point the other's luck will follow suit. If one of the twins dies (the ultimate bad turn of luck), the remaining sibling's chances of dying increase significantly for a time, but if they manage to survive Fate's Echo they'll find their luck improved for the rest of their days. Fate's Echo seems to weaken as twins age and their fates become less intertwined.

28. Darkness

"The Darkness" is the name that Khezvarans give to the brief but terrifying reign of Gr'thkor the Demon King , which took place between the end of the Dragon Pacts and the coming of the empire. While demons have menaced the city nearly since its founding, the idea of an entire army of demons invading the city was never considered a viable threat by anyone outside of a few religious kooks. Only a few types of demons have the ability to travel to our world freely without human or magical intervention, and summoning (much less controlling) more than a handful of demons at the same time is beyond the powers of even the greatest human wizard.
Nobody really knows how Gr'thkor conducted his army to Khezvaros, but their approach from the direction of the The Necropolis has led many to assume that they entered our world by way of the Carrion Moors after striking some bargain with The Lord of Bones. The demon army met little resistance from a city still unaccustomed to having to defend itself without a dragon protector at its back. Once the demons established themselves, they set about turning the city into a terrifying hellscape of horror and depravity that tested the limits of human sanity. Many Khezvarans failed this test; it's said that once Gr'thkor's army was repelled, the asylums--including dozens of new ones hastily founded to deal with the crisis--were so full that only those with means or powerful friends could secure a bed for themselves or loved ones. The rest of the afflicted were herded deep into The Undercity and left to fend for themselves. This has unsurprisingly led to rumors of a race of insane mutant cave people who have been inbreeding somewhere below the city for generations.

29. Hunt

The Troll Hunt is a rather elaborate competition that previously took place during the festival to celebrate the renewal of the city's pact with Kirlyok but now happens slightly later, during the imperial festival that supplanted the dragon's holiday. The Troll Hunt begins with dozens of Arena athletes scattering throughout the city. Ten of these athletes are assigned to be trolls. The trolls are indistinguishable from the rest, but if anyone asks them if they're a troll and issues a challenge, the athlete must confirm their trollhood and accept the challenge. The first person who confirms that the athlete is a troll receives a gold piece reward.
After the troll is discovered, their identity and general location--they are free to move around, as long as they remain in public locations--spread quickly and the "troll" is soon inundated with challenges. The nature of these challenges can be anything--duels, parlor games, athletic competitions, riddles, and rhyme battles are common--but after the first challenge the troll has no obligation to accept. If the troll declines or loses a challenge, they give the challenger a special silver coin. These coins are minted in secrecy shortly before the competition to guard against counterfeits and are slightly different for each troll. They can usually be exchanged for several times the value of the silver they're made of.
Near the end of the festival, the trolls retire to the arena and those who collected silver from all ten trolls are expected to make themselves known to the Master of Games by the end of the evening's first chariot race. This earns the competitor 5 gold pieces and the option to participate in the evening's gladiatorial competitions. Those who choose to fight are divided into 10 groups, each of which is paired with one of the trolls for a "last warrior standing" battle. The winner of each battle (whether a civilian or an Arena athlete) wins 50 gold pieces and moves on to the final battle of the evening. The winner of the final battle receives a prize of 500 Gold Pieces and the title of "Troll Slayer," which presumably comes with an invitation to join the Trollslayers Brotherhood, if such an organization actually exists.

30. Tear

Anyone who frequents the Dock Ward or Fisherman's Ridge will eventually hear the story of--or perhaps even encounter--the ghost known as The Weeping Fishwife. She's usually spotted along the southern dock area around Fishmarket Square on nights when it's stormy or when there's a squall visible from shore. She's usually found staring out to sea and, as her name implies, weeping inconsolably. The legend of the Weeping Fishwife says that her husband was out on the water when a sudden storm swept in and she stood on the docks late into the night hoping for his return but fearing the worst. When she realized that he wasn't coming back, she jumped into the sea so she could follow him to his destiny. Unfortunately she did not share his destiny and was washed back to shore to live the rest of her life in such misery that she became trapped here as a ghost when she finally died. It's said that anyone who can collect some of the fishwife's tears can drink them in order to temporarily gain her inability to drown.

31. Drown

Dead Man's Finger is a type of seaweed that's often found in shallows along the coast near Khezvaros. The plant grows in thick clumps that whip and sway aggressively even under relatively calm conditions. Those who aren't careful near Dead Man's Fingers can quickly find themselves hopelessly entangled in the stuff and pulled beneath the waves to their death. This seeming malice on the part of the seaweed is likely the inspiration from the legend that it springs up from the bodies of the drowned and is biologically driven to harvest more corpses so that it can thrive.