Alone in the Labyrinth: City of 100 Gods 4/10: The Last Ladders

These are the final wards of The Ladders, the City of a Hundred Gods' warren of slums lying beyond its perimeter walls. Movement through the district is brought to life by day and night encounter tables in this post. Initial thoughts for abstracting the map and navigating the city are here, but this is up for revision.

The setting assumes PCs are outcast hunting gatherers visiting a Neolithic proto-city, but this could easily be re-skinned for an antediluvian/weird bronze age sword-and-sorcery game

The walls of Ichan-Qаl’а, Khiva, Uzbekistan

31. The Kite-Flyer (Cloud Temple)

Image/icon/idol: a diamond shape kite with a tail of hawk feathers
Followers: popular with children, especially those of the Great Houses. It is a privilege to fly kites from the Cloud Temple reserved for the Golden One.
Priests: robes of white and blue strips interwoven with feathers, pointed caps and kites. The Kite Flyer is a sky god but a gentle one.
Notes: worship of the Kite Flyer was encouraged to undermine and trivialise The Falcon when Sun worship became the dominant cult of the city. Kites carrying humans are no longer permitted: it inevitably leads to the reintroduction of death-by-kite, which tends to bring out the tyrannical side of the Golden zone.

Cloud Temple ward is famed for its colourful flags and bunting, contributing to a permanent atmosphere of festivity. It is not without its issues, however: the attendance of prominent noble houses to engage in the kite flying festivities presents lot of opportunities for bold outlaws.

Cloud Temple, specific encounters by day

Family of local kitemakers (1d12) making kites
Kite Flyer in human form, feeding pigeons. Ignored by all: will grant boons for information about the activities of Yezu's priests (ward 25)
Kite flying battle royale between 2d4 adults. Large crowd watching the performance.
Old man carrying 1d6 caged birds. Willing to release them in exchange for ballots.
Priest of the Kite Flyer demonstrating aerial acrobatics
Prominent noble children (1d4) with 1d6 chaperones (tutors, nurses, servants etc.) and 1d46 armed guards
Solar guards (2d4) looking out for young ruffians and troublemakers.
Toothless old woman offering homemade sweets and cakes to children of noble birth. Willing to trade for equivalent value items with those of lesser heritage.
Young ruffians (1d6) looking to separate a young noble from their handlers and then their possessions
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results

Cloud Temple, specific encounters by night

Gang of local youths (1d6), looking for their ""friend"
Giant fruit bats (1d10) eager for sweets
Noble child, lost and afraid, fleeing an attempted abduction
Rogue ghoul, free of the necropolis, looking to drag flesh back to its parlour
Solar Guards (1d8) on patrol
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results

32. The King with Many Mouths (Old Necropolis)

Right panel of Ryck Rudd's "baconian" triptych 3 Studies for Self Portrait

Image/icon/idol: crudely drawn circular mouth lined with triangular teeth; a lamprey; a crowned lamprey
Followers: among ordinary denizens the King is not so much followed as appeased. Those choosing to inter their dead (though among believes in the flesh, there is no choice) in the Old Necropolis do so at risk of the corpses being consumed by ghouls; they placate the king-with-many-mouths (and his offspring) with other offerings. But those afflicted by the hunger also honour him as their lord and master, as the begin their transition to life as corpse-eaters
Priests: the complete ghoul is revered as a herald and embodiment of the King-with-Many-Mouths, and thus assume the role of priest. Mostly they negotiate rights of access to tombs, including complex deeds about what can or cannot be eaten, by whom and when. Mostly these deeds consist of promises to stock the tomb with rotting animal carcasses (and occasional humans) in return for allowing a chamber to remain pristine, Thus the ghoul-priest is part landlord, part gangster and part tomb guardian. Complex micro-economies exist among networks of ghouls within the old Necropolis
Notes: The King-with-Many-Mouths is not merely a mythical figure. It is said that a ghoul who returns to the habit of eating the living, not the dead undergoes a second transition into the multi-mouthed ghoul-god. However, this act is distasteful to the Full Ghoul, and requires monk-like levels of ascetic devotion. It also brings the attention of the Solar Guard: while they accept they can only contain, not eradicate the ghoul problem, they will not tolerate a many-mouthed flesh-eating demon int their city,

The Old Necropolis is a series of small, truncated pyramids identical to those of the Shambles (although their doors are partially sealed. This is a city of the dead, but it also houses the living with nowhere left to turn: thieves, mutants, and those cursed by the hunger, all subservient to the ruling ghoul class.

Despite being a ward of tombs, there are still places to eat, drink and obtain provisions. Use the table for open houses in this post but roll 1d20. On a 13 or above none of the open tombs are offering any fare. Goods and services are always of low quality and quantity.

Old Necropolis, specific encounters by day

Adult pariahs (1d8) smoking sorcerers sage in a vandalised mausoleum.
Bereaved adult, wailing outside a desecrated tomb of a loved one: they were unable to keep up regular payments to the ghoul-priests.
Black-robed priest of Faharra pulling a sled laden with rotten animal carcasses to be interred as ghoul-bait.
Funeral party: priest of the Lord of the Dead (ward 33) in spotless cream robes. Partially mummified corpse borne in a litter, 3d6 mourners.
Old woman praying that the Lord of the Dead protect her corpse from desecration by ghouls.
Party of mourners re-stocking a tomb with animal carcasses and repairing an access door.
Priest of the many-mouthed king, wrapped in layers to protect from the sun. Rasping voice. 1d6 pariah accomplices.
Starving adult, skin pallid and gaunt, slumped in the doorway to an abandoned mausoleum.
Tomb-broker negotiating with ghoul-priest over rights of access to a particular mausoleum.
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results

Old Necropolis, specific encounters by night

Flesh-eater: ghoul-priest with great ambition to become the next King-with-Many-Mouths, believes they can eat live flesh again to achieve this. Nauseated by the thought.
Gang of cursed pariahs (1d8) raiding a tomb for dead flesh.
Gang of cursed pariahs (2d4 mutants or zoanthropes) looking for ghouls and their minions to kill.
King-with-Many-Mouths: a bestial humanoid reeking of death, flesh covered in toothed lacerations. Voice smooth as silk.
Priest of the many-mouthed king alongside 1d6 "hungry" accomplices, extracting tribute from a tomb..
Renegade solar guards (1d8) looking to kill some ghouls
Starving adults (1d12) huddled around a small fire inside an abandoned tomb.
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results

33. The Lord of the Dead (New Necropolis)

Nergal

Image/icon/idol: a skull; the glyph for death (a square with edges extended, like a tic-tac-toe grid)
Followers: The Lord of the Dead is honoured by all, for he comes for us all in the end. But here we are most concerned with those Believers in the Flesh, who wish to inter their bodies indefinitely.
Priests: In contrast to the black-robed priests of Faharra, the Priests of the Lord of the Dead wear dazzling, cream-coloured hooded cloaks over white tunics. For believers in the flesh they preside over both the preparation of the body and the rites of internment.
Notes: In the City of 100 Gods the priests of the Lord of the Dead are most commonly associated with the Cult of Belief in the Flesh, which assumes that are physical bodies are required either immediately after death or in some far-flung future reanimation scenario. The extent to which the priesthood actually adhere to these beliefs is opaque, as the cult has mostly emerged as a folk belief following assimilation of a forgotten community generations ago. Most denizens believe the body should be destroyed by fire after death to facilitate the spirit's journey to the next life.

The "New" Necropolis is entirely made up of tombs: there are no open houses here, but street vendors might be encountered.

New Necropolis, specific encounters by day

Funeral party: priest of the Lord of the Dead in spotless cream robes. Wholly mummified corpse displayed in fine jewelry born in a litter, 6d10 mourners.
Ghoul-priest wrapped in layers to protect from the sun. Discussing boundary dispute with cream-cloaked Priest of the Dead. Mostly friendly.
Labourers (1d20) renovating a tomb of a forgotten noble, ready for a new family to occupy.
Labourers (1d8) and 1d4 priests of Sekyalmek (ward 6) overseeing the construction of a new mausoleum
Mourners (1d12) commemorating the anniversary of a death at a mausoleum
Solar guards (2d4) reminding everyone they're ever-vigilant

New Necropolis, specific encounters by night

Priest of the God of the Cracks showing 1d6 refugees to an empty tomb
Priests of Kaab (1d8) in search of fugitives
Renegade ghoul-priest and 1d6 hungry pariahs, looking to steal some corpses
Scattered mourners (2d12) from the funeral of a dignitary. Drunk.
Solar guards (2d4) looking for tomb robbers and other ghouls
The Lord of the Dead, just passing through, checking on the internment arrangements of his followers.
Tomb robbers (2d4) after jewelry, mostly. Possibly possess map to the buried catacombs of the Old City.
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results

34.The Burning Lady Ascended (The Pillars of Fire)

This is St Maud not Galadriel, though I concede they look identical (especially when on fire)

Image/icon/idol: a winged woman rising from a funeral pyre
Followers: elderly aristocratic widows
Priests: crimson and black-robed remnant of a once prominent cult
Notes: As previously mentioned, the Burning Lady was the last of the self-immolating widows, plucked from her death by the Sun himself and deified as a patron of abused and marginalised women. In the aftermath of the death of this cultural practice, a cult emerged around the concept of the Ascended Lady, mostly among aristocratic widows. They bequeath their corpse to the Pillars of Fire, where it is offered in tribute to the Burning Lady

The pillars of fire comprise approximately thirty stone columns between twenty and sixty feet in height, rising out of (mostly) beautifully maintained shrines to the Burning Lady (ascended). Around these areas densely packed mudbrick housing more typical of the Ladders houses "charfolk": the denizens of this ward relying on the dying tradition of aerial cremation for subsistence.

In return for alms supplied by shriens, charfolk keep the gardens of the shrines clean, the funeral pyres burning and the streets clear for mourners and worshippers. When asked to do so, it is also their sacred duty to collect the ashes (hence charfolk) and bones from the top of the pillars. The ashes are typically collected by priests of Faharra, while the bones are placed in ossuaries by priests of the Burning Lady (ascended).

Tragically (and despite the practice being illegal) widow self-immolation still occurs under the shadow of night. Only renegade Priests of the Burning Lady oversee this rite, as it is the antithesis of the Burning Lady's doctrine.

The Pillars of Fire, specific encounters by day

Ash or bits of burning fabric descending from funeral pyre above. Smell of burnt bacon.
Black robed priest of Faharra, piling a sled with ash provided by a charfolk family.
Charfolk (1d4) sweeping funerary ash from the street.
Charfolk (1d6 ) building a pyre atop a Funeral Pillar, priest of the Burning Lady Ascended looking on.
Charfolk (1d6) collecting the ashes and relics from the top a Funeral Pillar, supervised by a priest of the Burning Lady Ascended.
Elderly charfolk, toothless and emaciated, offering a crude fired-clay symbol of the Burning Lady ascended in return for food and water.
Funeral party: priest of the Burning Lady in black-and-red robes, pointed hat. Embalmed corpse born in a litter brimful of accelerant, 3d6 mourners.
Two strong charfolk carrying a funeral litter up a Funeral Pillar, with great care. They are ascending ladders either side of the column while holding either end of the litter.

The Pillars of Fire, specific encounters by night

Black robed priest of Faharra on a mission to murder a renegade priest still presiding over widow immolation.
Charfolk (1d4) sleeping at the steps to a funerary pillar.
Silent torchlight procession towards a funeral pyre: a renegade priest leads a white-robed widow to her final resting place, 1d8 mourner-supporters behind.
Solar Guard (1d6) specifically searching for illegal widow immolation.
Widow, prepared to die, ascending the ladder to a funerary pyre. At the foot stands a renegade priest and a party of 1d8 mourner-supporters, all keen that she sees it through.
Roll twice more on this table and combine the results