Saturday, 20 December 2025

City of 100 Gods, Traders Wake: They Who Store The Grain (35); The Deep One (36)

This post is part of a series concerning the City of a Hundred Gods, a proto-Neolithic megalopolis brimming with conflicting factions, a technocratic theocracy and unique encounter tables for each ward.

Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh's Granaries by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1874)

City of a Hundred Gods: The Story So Far


...but now we turn to a new district, known to poets and administrators alike as Traders Wake, though  common folk know all these wards as The Bread Basket...

Traders Wake

This district is a densely pack labyrinth of silos, warehouses and markets, with lanes barely wide enough for a fully-laden donkey opening out onto broad courtyards, thronging with shrill yet melodic exchanges of broker-priests.

The biggest trade here is the that which the city cannot produce itself: grain, principally wheat and barley. But this is also where sailors along the Black River eventually emerge with their tributes to the Golden One from lands far away. This is where the most foreign and alien gods—those of the Sea (36, 37)—are revered.

When moving through the district by day, roll encounters on 1d12 every turn. If main streets are followed, it takes 2 turns to reach an adjoining ward. Exploring a ward in this district more carefully can take, hours, but roll encounters every once an hour: 
  1. 1d8 Solar Guards arresting someone attempting to evade their balloted fate
  2. 1d8 hungry children or 1d4 hungry elders begging for food.
  3. Priest of the Lucky Gecko, exchanging goods and services for additional ballots and vice versa.
  4. 1d4 Black robed priests of Faharra, either dragging a sled containing 1d4 human corpses or exchanging ballots (or bread) for dung cakes.
  5. A flock of 1d100 pigeons feeding on an overturned basket of grain
  6. Herd of 2d4 donkeys (50% chance attended by a Priest of the Donkey Rider(Ward 38)
  7. 1d6 Children of the Beggar Prince (Ward 19) looking to overturn a bread delivery 
  8. Someone loudly celebrating their triumph in the ballot: they are to be ennobled!
  9. Terrifyingly large crowd (2d100 people) heading for the temple of bread after receiving their ballots late: they move like a tidal wave through the street
  10. Four baker-boys carrying a litter of 10d20 freshly baked robes, covered with an ornately embroidered spider-silk cloth 
  11. Roll for an encounter specific to the ward (see tables below)
  12. Roll 2 encounters specific to the ward and connect them.
Encounters by night:
  1. 1d100 rats scouring the streets for crumbs
  2. 1d8 Glaucons, trying to locate the Temple of the Deep One 
  3. The Rat King (17) accompanied by 1d6 giant rats & 1d4 Rat Priests on a diplomatic mission to collect crumbs for his children
  4. 1d4 Black robed priests of Faharra on a secret murder mission
  5. A swarm of 1d100 bats
  6. Fire in the Flour Mill! Call for the Priests of Pulukhu (22)!
  7. 1d6 footpads: they will strike if they outnumber the party, else they'll bother someone else 
  8. A starving, shivering beggar
  9. A solitary dog padding through the streets
  10. Roll for an encounter specific to the ward (see tables below)
  11. Roll for an encounter specific to an adjoining ward (see tables below)
  12. Roll 2 encounters specific to the ward and connect them.
The finite universe is contained by the City walls: beyond, the Endless Village repeats itself



35. They Who Store the Grain (The Granaries)

  • Image/icon/idol: an ear of barley or wheat above a pyramid; a hand grasping a wheat stalk
  • Priests: dressed in humble sackcloth it is easy to mistake the Priests of They Who Store the Grain for pious ascetics. In truth they are unscrupulous ballot-lenders (and possible ballot-riggers), preying on the temptation of the poor and not-so-poor to invest in the grain stocks. Their Temple is a vast trading hall, where bemused members of the public wander amidst a carnival of coded hand signals, whistles and flag-waving... as the grain stores seek to separate people from their ballots in accordance with the whims of their invisible god (They Who Store the grain, the Invisible Hand)  
  • Followers: Followers are seekers of a solution to their misery. They borrow ballots and "bread-stocks" in the hope of paying off their debts. Usury is a crime across the city, except when the lender is They Who Store the grain, or the God of Goldsmiths. Others have hoarded ballots and seek to invest them in such debts, hoping to grow their wealth and status. 
  • Notes: The grain stores are protected by a special division of the Solar Guard, the Hand of the Sun. These guards are renowned for their readiness to inflict violence, even by the unusually cruel standards of the wider Solar Guard.
The main temple consists of a triple-storey covered forecourt, its high ceiling support by ancient columns built before the Age of Chaos. Priests in sackcloth call to one another across the hall, while the desperate—both rich and poor—mill between, hoping to reap the rewards of They Who Store the Grain. The rear of the temple is strictly off-limits, holding the city's emergency grain supply. Rumours that it is currently empty emerge every year: the rumour that they've always been empty is more recent.

Nearly every other building mirrors this in microcosm, right down to grain sheds with a single trader priest and a shrine on its porch. There also exist dormitories for younger priests, acolytes and service workers. Where the more senior priests reside is unclear, though it is widely rumoured that they dwell in the Garden City (61-70) and the Temples of Pleasure (71-80). 

Navigation

  • The canal flows from the Fire Pillars, dividing the ward from the Sump. The main temple backs on to the canal, and grain is only brought to this particular silo by boat and at night.
  • The canal flows straight into the Temples of the Deep One (36). Though it is not possible to follow the canal's route by foot, the Grand Axis runs roughly parallel to this route, ultimately terminating at the Temple of Prosperity (39)
  • The densely packed, tall silos and grand temples make it difficult to spot landmarks of neighbouring wards when not travelling along the canal or the main axis.

The Granaries, specific encounters by day
  1. 3d12 auroch laden with grain from a far-off land. The 2d4 drivers are struggling to keep the herd in line, with some wandering down random alleys 
  2. A wealthy artisan who is looking to exchange gold for ballots at a very generous rate: if he can gather sufficient ballots, he plans to invest in a very promising grain-stock.
  3. An impoverished elderly couple needing to pay off debts to unscrupulous priests of the Sky Serpent (49)
  4. 3d4 donkeys laden with grain led by a single Priest of He Who Distributes the Grain (38), effortless guiding them to a grain silo.
  5. 1d6 Hands of the Sun looking for troublemakers: if they outnumber the party, the party are the troublemakers.
  6. An invisible presence felt by the most spiritually attuned in any party, pushing them towards an opportunity to make a lot of profit.
The Granaries, specific encounters by night
  1. A single, drunken priest of the granaries. He has 1d100 ballots on his person. He is trying to get to (roll 1d100, that corresponds to the ward or god he needs to see)
  2. The Rat King (17) accompanied by 1d6 giant rats having a party with a barrel of wine, a sack of grain and 2d20 normal-size rats
  3. 1d6 acolytes of the granaries playing dice with 1d6 drunks: the game is rigged, the drunks don't realise it (yet)
  4. 1d6 Hands of the Sun looking for troublemakers: if they outnumber the party, the party are the troublemakers.
  5. A single donkey wandering the street aimlessly.
  6. An invisible presence felt by the most spiritually attuned in any party, pushing them towards an opportunity to accrue a lot of debt.

36. The Deep One (Salt Dock)

  • Image/icon/idol: a squid, a cephalopod tentacle, cyclopean ruins strangled by tentacles
  • Priests: Like worship of the Ocean Lord (37), the faith of the Deep One arrived in the city via sailors from foreign lands navigating the Black river north. However, it was the gradual monopolisation of the salt trade by so-called salt priests from the south that led to this temple's emergence as a consulate and important power-broker. Salt Priests are typically cloaked in indigo and white and carry no arms.
  • Followers: Blue-skinned southerners, sailors from across the known world (especially those that have survived drowning at sea), those who already worship the Ocean Lord (37) and perceive the Deep One as his alter-ego. Additionally, the monstrous Glaucon have been sighted more commonly in the city. When they are in attendance at the temple of their creator they are appropriately revered. The waters of the canal disgust them, and they eagerly await the time when the city is submerged.
  • Notes: The salt priests speak of the Great Drowning, when all of the lands are flooded following the Deep One rising from his slumber. This is to be a reckoning, with only the righteous surviving into the post-diluvian epoch
Navigation

  • The Temple of the Deep One faces the canal, with smaller shrines and customs-houses lining its banks on both sides. 
  • Multiple wharfs receive goods other than salt, though no other priests may attend to the goods arriving here. Behind the principal buildings are numerous dens and guest-hearths, where exotic wares and pleasures may be attained
  • As mentioned, the Grand Axis permits a clear route towards thee Temple of Prosperity, and multiple locks allow the canal to be crossed.
  • Acolytes of the Deep One provided transport along the canal for a small fee.

The Salt Docks, specific encounters by day
  1. 1d4 Salt Priests from the South, looking to liaise with their local counterparts at t
  2. Someone selling dried squid, perhaps somewhat provocatively given the location
  3. 2d4 sailors from lands beyond the south. They wear strange clothes and speak in unfamiliar tongues
  4. 1d6 salt priests inspecting a cargo unloaded from other lands.
  5. A huge barge laden with tribute docking 
  6. 1d6 Priests of  Pulukhu, (22), repairing a lock-gate
  7. A street-vendor peddling something exotic (1d6) 1- sleepflower 2-3- unusual poison 4-5- an infant reptilian 6- a brass pass to the Garden City (61-70) or the Temples of Pleasure (71-80). 
  8. A single glaucon flanked by 1d4 salt priests
  9. 1d12 sex workers
  10. Pilgrims arriving from distant land by barge. They are here for (roll 1d100)
  11. Royal Barge of a Southern Prince or Princess, ostentatiously gilded
  12. A barge containing caged beasts or monsters. roll 1d6 1- polar bear 2- 2d4 velociraptors 3- smilodon 4- horned ogre 5- griffin or manticore 6- hooded medusa
The Salt Docks, specific encounters by night
  1. A silent barge manned by 1d6 priests of the God of the Cracks (16). Beneath a tarpaulin, 4d12 refugees
  2. 1d8 Protectors of Kaab (9), searching for a fugitive
  3. 1d6 Glaucon. They are looking to kidnap children from the orphanages of the Ocean Lord (37).
  4. 1d6 sex workers: it's a quiet night and they're bored
  5. A comatose sailor, drunk or overdosing on sleepflower
  6. 1d8 Solar Guard. They're not really supposed to be here, but they don't like being told what to do.
  7. 2d6 blue-skinned southerners, the servants of a prince or princess currently being entertained in a better part of town. They are off-the-leash and keen to enjoy themselves.
  8. 1d6 Priests of  Pulukhu, (22), repairing a lock-gate at night to avoid crowds.
  9. 1d6 Priests of the Ocean Lord (37) looking to vandalise a temple of the Deep One
  10. 16 Acolytes of the Deep One, looking for a "volunteer" for a secret rite
  11. A gigantic tentacle emerging from the canal, just for a second or two
  12. An empty barge propelling itself along the canal by an unknown force. Of course there is treasure inside, but it's almost certainly cursed.
~

City 26

If you follow the Atelier Hwei Instagram you may have seen this post regarding an upcoming challenge: City 26. 

I'll make sure to do a more thorough post before the year is out, but essentially the challenge is to create a new ward of the city every week for the entirety of 2026. Here's Pete Lattimore of Garblag Games' infographic to give  you a better idea of what this might look like:


It's my excuse to get the City of 100 Gods to something approaching completion after sitting on it for far too long... but this also means I need to get motoring and put out at least 13 more wards in the next 11 days if I'm going to get myself up to speed!

Links

Part 1... City Limits
Part 2... Gates and Ladders
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/12/city-of-hundred-gods-part-210-remaining.html

Part 3... Further Along the Ladders
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2025/02/city-of-hundred-gods-pt-310-further.html

Part 4... The Last Ladders
Part N....Navigating the City

at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)