Month: May 2015

News told around the caravans’ campfires:

Thanks to the efforts of Plika, disciple of the Middle Kingdom physician Yuan Sala, the plague in Yiwu is all but over. The aftermath of the plague may take longer to recover from: the population was reduced not only by the many deaths, but also by the exile of many outsiders and former citizens.

From the Miran Cache #25, a message to a salt merchant in Anxi, dated to the Blossoming of 115:

There is great demand for salt across the basin! In Kucina they run short, in Aksu they pay any price, in Niya they beg me to sell them more. We must take advantage of this opportunity. But take care as you send the next caravan: not only are there bandits on the roads, but regiments of soldiers. Archers of Niya, Green Banner soldiers of the Middle Kingdom: I fear a clash may happen soon.

 

From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:

In the season of Blossoming, nomads from the north terrorized the country around Anxi, skirmishing with patrols marching under the green banners of the Western Armies of the Middle Kingdom.

A mounted regiment, previously stationed south of Dukhan, travelled northward, together with other troops, five thousand in all, to deal with the nomad incursion.

The people of Anxi hid behind their walls, wondering what would influence the outcome of this conflict…

Excerpt from the Reports of the Western Armies at Dukhan, Blossoming 115:

Received: Shipment of vegetables. Paid on delivery.

Received: One contingent of slaves, condemned under the laws of Lop Nur for harboring thieves and brigands in their village. Marked as tribute.

Received: Iron weapons, for purposes of inspection. Lantern markings.

Received: Salt. Local source. Paid with credit.

An excerpt from Ban Zhao’s Histories of the Western Hinterlands:

As one travels across the desert, one may encounter a black standing stone. Some stand alone, some are grouped with others. There are many to be found in the desert north of Lop Nur. When asked, the people of that place say they do not remember who placed them there. Truly, the hinterlands are a quaint and curious place!

Excerpt from the writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast of Rûm (circ. 1650):
Ot Bitkileri: Volume of mystic secrets, rumored to have the secrets of the distant sages inscribed in a language spoken by angels and wild beasts. Secrets of vegetation unfurl beneath the crimson scroll. The Wheel of Fortune governs those whose understanding is coagulated within the crucible of its insight.

Excerpt from The Blackstone Dungeon Master’s Guide (1976):
Ott Bitkileri: Ott Bitkileri (3rd level cleric) is clad in a black robe with glowing runes. (AC 1, C 3, 16hp, #AT 1, D 2-7 (staff) ML 10). His spells are: cause misfortune (force player to reroll die) and cause light wounds (inflicts 2-7 points of damage). He carries a potion of cure disease.

From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:

The magistrate of Yiwu sat before the people and pronounced judgement upon those who falsely accused their neighbors of hoarding the hill herbs, and upon those who maintained supply of medicinal tea in secret, and upon those who overcharged the ill, and upon those who falsely advertized a cure for the plague, and upon those who adulterated the tea with samphire. Then she pronounced this judgement: “Upon the liars, let their tongues be scalded with saltwater. Upon the misers, a caning. Upon the greedy, a double caning. Upon the charlatans, exile. Upon the adulterators, death. These are the ways of our ancestors.”

From Miran Cache #25: An excerpt from a letter to someone in Anxi:

Unlike the rumors one hears about Dayuan, Wenli is quite well supplied at present: caravans from the farmlands of southern Gushi have been arriving, and all the city is quite taken with their comparatively exotic fruits and quaint manufacture. The local markets are bustling with purchasers. And unlike Yiwu, we do not lack medications.

However, we do not have a ready supply of samphire, and consequently our glasswork suffers for it. If you could arrange for a shipment of the samphire that grows so plentifully near Anxi, I’m sure I could find a suitable purchaser…