Dictionary of Mu

Background

Player Characters

Hong Ling (Tony)

Khan of a small nomad tribe of the wastelands.

Appearance: Dark-skinned, stocky and dressed in red metal armour.

Telltale: Black eyeballs.

Stamina: 3 (Khan-born) Lore: 3 (Waste-schooled) Will: 4 (Born to rule) Past: 4 (Outlaw) Humanity: 3

Price: Scarred (-1 to reaction checks)

Kicker: After returning from the his quest in the desert with his new demon, he discovers that his tribe has been massacred by rival factions.

Count Varuna Shakti (Robin)

Appearance: A blue mohawk leading down to a mullet at the back. Royal blue ???, brown desert survival suit. Crystal katana.

Telltale: Slightly magnetic

Stamina: 2 (Atlantean-trained) Lore: 4 (Through the epochs) Will: 4(Born to rule) Past: 4 (Atlantean science-wizard) Humanity: 4

Price: Deranged (-1 to first interactions)

Kicker: The council of Atlantis have banished Shakti for his trespass and awakening of Solomon XIII and placed a bounty on his head. A small group of Atlanteans have secretly promised him support, though. What are their motivations.

Ah-Booh the Goatherd (Craig)

Appearance: 17 years old, smooth-skinned and beardless.

Telltale: A faint smell of rot.

Stamina: 3 (Basalt-hewn) Lore: 2 (Solar-schooled) Will: 5 (Chained, Survive this rock) Past: 3 (Goatherd) Humanity: 4

Price: Smells bad (-1 to social interactions)

Under the influence of Nebulous, he is compelled to eat everything -- mud, rock, wood, dirt, dust, blood, filth, flesh -- and vomit it back out in the chosen locations. The process of ingesting these things changes them.

Kicker: Nebulous has just announced that the next thing it needs to consume is a demon.

Demons

Ablat Red

Ablat Red takes the form of a suit of armour, once a symbol of power to the Khans of the wasteland. Before its loss to the world, it brought its wearers the power they needed to rule or destroy nations.

It takes the form of a red metallic suit of armour that occasionally crackles with strange energy.

Desire: Power

Need: To destroy priceless artefacts

Stamina 9 Lore 9 Will 10 Power 10

Abilities: Boost Will, Boost Stamina, Confuse, Armour, Protection from heat, Travel, Warp, Fast, Perception of body language

Hong Ling was on a quest through the wastes when he found this lost relic of his tribe. The armour spoke to him of the power it had given his predecessors and told him that it could make him the ruler of all the tribes of Marr'd. As they spoke, Ablat Red asked Hong to let him hold the pendant of office that he wore around his neck, a priceless artefact that had been passed down through generations of tribal Khans. As soon as the armour gripped the pendant, its fist clenched and crushed it. Despite this, Hong agreed to let the armour take him on his path to glory, and the two walked out of the wasteland together.

Solomon XIII

Solomon XIII is the memory of the long dead Atlantean computer system that used to run Marr'd. There are old communications stations and weapon systems all over the planet that it can reactivate, shifting its consciousness between them.

It takes the form of pulsing electronic circuitry, fused with the spinal column of Count Shakti.

Desire: To create a world of law and order.

Need: To follow rules

Count Shakti discovered the remnants of Solomon XIII in the ruins of the Atlantean undercity, while searching for traces of a secretive cabal of sorcerers who were rumoured to work there. He managed to activate the long-dead systems and started to negotiate with the demon about how they should ally themselves to restore Atlantis to its former glory. Solomon XIII stated that it would only do this if the Count agreed to follow the prescribed protocols. When the Count demanded clarification, it transmitted the entirety of its programming into his brain, overloading his nervous system and leaving him somewhat deranged. The Count then took part of Solomon's circuitry into his body, and they became one.

Nebulous

Nebulous is the remnant of the original life that flourished on Marr'd, long before the arrival of humans. It is richly varied, fecund and quite alien.

It takes the form of an intestinal parasite, nestled in the digestive tract of Ah-Booh. It drives Ah-Booh to consume a wide variety of life forms, so that it can understand them and use them as raw materials for the rebirth of primal Marr'd.

Desire: To return Marr'd to its original, pre-human state.

Need: To consume a different type of life form every week.

Telltale: The host is always eating

Stamina 8 Lore 9 Will 10 Power 10

Ah-Booh was minding his goats when one of them got stuck in a small cave. When he tried to rescue it, the floor collapsed and the two of them fell down into a cavern that pulsed with strange organic material. The goat was drawn into the the material, until only its head protruded. The head then spoke to Ah-Booh, telling him that the cavern represented the last of the original life of Marr'd. The demon offered Ah-Booh power and experience, if he would bind with it and take it out into the world. Ah-Booh swallowed some of the material and became one with it.

NPCs

Ritu Shakti, sister of Count Varuna Shakti. A noble of Atlantis with her own, hidden motives.

Hong Tsu Lin, the wife of Hong Ling, has been captured, raped and now held as concubine of Khan Wang Xiao.

Hong Chang, 10 year old son of Hong Ling, kept as slave by Khan Wang Xiao, with neck yoke and held in a cage as an object of tribal ridicule.

Hong Ling's hated twin brother Chen, is one of the Khan's trusted lieutenants and indeed helped plan destruction of his tribe. All other family members, father, mother, etc., were killed in the attack on the tribe.

Khan Wang Xiao, desert Khan and Hong Ling's chief rival

The Jarl of Spiders, ruler of the desert town of Octen Lake

Ah-Pook, Ah-Booh's younger sister, missing since Ah-Booh ate his parents

Shilana Maraktu, Atlantean noble found at Octen Lake, apparently a consort of the Jarl of Spiders. She has begged not to be identified and wants only to be called Finna

Herrgier, son of Vragi, chief guard to the Jarl of Spiders. He always wears metal armour, even in the desert sun, and radiates cold. His shadow seems to move at a slight delay to the rest of him.

The Clan Hong, all apparently dead, but still given to visiting Hong Ling. Varuna Shakti suspects them to be a single demon.

Sessions