Wastrel Opus - Hustler of Counterfeit Magick

Wastrel Opus is man of low moral character, but it wasn't always that way.  A long time ago he was a student at the Citadel Fantastick under the tutelage of two great wizards, Andante Sinker and Micro Kilos.  He showed some promise but couldn't get out of the shadow of his two great teachers.

To remedy that, he copied down as many spells he could from his teachers and then left the confines of the Citadel and set up shop in downtown Imajapoor.  He encouraged budding wizards to come  share and develop their magick inside his shop.  But little did they know, he was closely watching what they were doing, and eventually started duplicating various spells and potions.  He kicked out the developing wizards after he copied and sold much of the magick that he stole from the students and from Andante Sinker and Micro Kilos.

Now the problem with counterfeit magick is that it has a tendency to come back to bite you.  It's a pale shadow of the original magick so it might drain some of your Kremm or you could lose control over the spell that is being cast.  So a lot of magick newbies found themselves either with failed spells or injured because of poor quality spells.

This went on for about nine years until a few of the former students noticed some of their work was being sold under the name of Wastrel Opus.  Infuriated they brought it to the attention of the Citadel and Andante and Micro notice their work was also amongst the stolen magick.  The two wizards went down to Wastrel's shop to confront him, along with a couple of Ogres .   Wastrel childishly denied the accusations even though he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  An infuriated Andante cast him out of Imajapoor and Wastrel was forced to pack up and leave Imajapoor in disgrace.

A few years passed and some counterfeit magick started popping up again in Imajapoor.  The counterfeits are a bit more obvious, and Imajapoorans don't truck with cheap magick.  So somewhere on the outskirts of Imajapoor, an indigent Wastrel lives in a shack and is the butt of a lot of the Hobbillies jokes as he hustles cheap magick.  And if you listen from the walls of the city you can hear him shouting, "I'm still here, people still love me and I'm still important!"

Schools Of Magick In Imajapoor

"Alright class, who can tell me how the schools of Magick are organized at the Citadel Fantastick?" Queried Headmaster Herionymous Posh.

"That's easy sir, by color of course." squeaked a new student "You've got black and white magick wich are oppposites and then you have the various color spectrums like green for druidry, and Blue for..

"Yes yes yes that would be all too simple wouldn't it?"piped in the Headmaster "But here at Citadel Fantastick we do things differently. Instead we opted for smell !  If you think about it smell has a way of getting embedded in your memory, you smell a spell and instantly you know what form of magick it is.  No color charts or bar graphs, it's all up here," said the Headmaster pointed at his head.

"Sweet smells can be identified with Enchantment, rotting smells with Necromancy, organic smells with Druidry, sulphuric smells with Demonology, and so forth."

Sir I'm picking up a smell right now, what magick is brewing?"  Questioned a student standing close to the Headmaster.

"I smell something too, kind of like brimstone.  Is it a summoning spell?"  Chimed a student.

"No, it smells more like a curse" added another student.

"Oh, erm ...sorry I stopped off at the Rat On A Stick before class," said an embarrassed Headmaster "I mean that was a warding spell.  Class dismissed!"

The Cursed Codpiece of Consuming Coruscation

Mondo Pizarro IV Conquering Principe of Imajapoor seeking a cure for baldness (after all a conqueror just can't be seen in oil paintings without any hair) had his court magicians hard at work on it.  One particular magician Don Fuego de la Pantalones claimed to have the cure and produced an elixir that the Pricipe of Imajapoor was to put inside his prized golden jewel encrusted codpiece.  Little did the Pizarro know, that Don Fuego was actually attempting to assassinate the prince and take the crown of the City State of Imajapoor.

Luckily Pizarro had his loyal garment donner try on the codpiece first (after all who wants to wear a codpiece unless someone else had tried it on first)?  The royal donner screamed in pain and ran around the courtroom.  Finally the courts magicians were able to remove the codpiece but the damage had already been done.

Don Fuego was captured by the Imajapoor Guard and thrown in the dungeon awaiting execution.  The codpiece disappeared, some say it was discarded, othere say Don Fuego was forced to wear it, others say it ended up in the Underdrekk of Imajapoor waiting to be claimed by some unsuspecting treasure hunter.

If the Codpiece is donned whether being added to an armor collection or what not it will inflict 6D6 worth of damage.  Otherwise it may be worth a hefty sum just in it's gold weight in gold and jewels (around 1,200).  But otherwise I don't recommend putting on strange codpieces that you just happen on.

Followers of Chaos, Imajapoor

No religion is more evil than those that worship the gods of chaos. Their bloody handed priests offer up unwilling sacrifices to the foulspawn of the void. Thuggee fanatics skulk in the dark alleyways of Imajapoor awaiting fresh victims for their bloody rites. Evil sorcerers recite blasphemous incantations to call up the powers of eternal damnation to do their bidding.

This evil that festers in Imajapoor would be a force to be reckoned with it it weren't for one thing....Chaos has a hard time getting organized.....

Thuggee #1: "Aye, 'ere comes a victim of opportunity. A chance to show the Dark Lord Aaaaactchooolhu my quality as a servant! Pass me the garrote."

Thuggee #2: "Garrote? I thought you brought the garrote? I brought the liverwurst sandwiches."

Thuggee #1: " 'ow are we going to relieve our victims from their mortal coil with a liverwurst sandwich?"

Thuggee #2: " I dunno, it's a few days old maybe we could give 'em food poisoning."

Thuggee #1: "Arrrr yer son-of-a-bachelor!" (Biffs Thuggee #2 in the snout)

Thuggee #2: "There's no call for violence, I was just trying to be thoughtful and pack a lunch for us. And you have to get all cross with me. Honestly I don't know why I try any...."

Victim of Opportunity: "Excuse me sir, is this your garrote?"

Thuggee #2: "Why yes, thank you sir. Very kind of you to return it."

Victim of Opportunity: "Think nothing of it, I wouldn't want it to get into the wrong hands. There's Chaos cultists in these back alleys. Have a nice day."

Thuggee #2: "He was a right sort of chap, wasn't he?"

Thuggee #1: "A real gentleman. You never expect to meet someone with manners in the back alleys."

Thuggee #3: "Hello chums, I brought the tea kettle!"

Thuggee #2: "Cracking good idea! I could go for a cuppa. Did you bring any cups?"

Thuggee #1: "No I didn't, but I have a pocket full of currents. By the way, where did the victim go?"

You get the idea. It's a really evil cult that does really really bad bad things if they ever got around to doing them.

Rat Touched

The Cult of the Rat envy the features of their rodent brethren, and through alchemy and dark magicks they've learned to alter their physiognomy. The cultists refer to this as being Rat Touched. Slowly their front teeth start to turn into the visage of the Ouroborats gnawing teeth, chipping away at the vermin covered sphere of the world. Some start to grow tails and tiny hairs all over their bodies.

The most horrendous of all is the Aspect of Bubo. Hulking ten foot tall, half goblin half rat beast forever roaming the mazes of the underdrek looking to glut itself on man-flesh! Sometimes goblin flesh too, although they consider it a great honor to be chosen by the Aspect of Bubo and to feed the holy World Rat!

Gutter Dwarves

Criminal activity is a way of life in the garbage strewn streets of Imajapoor. A lot of the urban youth start urban tribes also known as gangs. Dwarven youths who grow up in the strict and stoic manner of their parents, find themselves at odds with traditional way of life. Many dwarves choose to leave their ancestral homes of stone (Steinheim) for the streets of Imajapoor. Living on the streets is tough, many of the dwarf kids turn to petty larceny, theft, armed robbery and sometimes murder.

Some time ago a lowlife gang calling itself The Gutter Dwarves formed, and has become quite a nuisance in Imajapoor proper. A lot of the gang members choose to shave their heads and beards (which is a huge taboo in dwarf society), while others spike up their hair and dye it unnatural colors.

The Gutter Dwarves aren't very sophisticated mainly due to their youth, average age is around 40-70 years of age. They stick more to low level of street crime and thuggery, Don't let that lull you into a false sense of security, if you see members of the gang avoid them at all costs!

**Thanks to the good Prof. Gremlin for this idea**

Foulsome Prison Blues - Imajapoor

"But I stabbed a man in Imajapoor, just to watch him die" - popular song in Imajapoor by The Bard In Black

Foulsome Prison is where they throw you when they want to forget about you. You don't necessarily have to do something immoral or against the law to get sent there. In fact, Imajapoor was built upon criminal activity. But if you don't pay off the right people, you might find find yourself shackled to a 40 pound iron ball inside a 4X8 cell with three other room mates.

Getting out of Foulsome can be a bit tricky too. There's plenty of guards inside and on the walls of the prison, plus several beasties guarding the courtyard. If you can get to the storm sewers that would be your best route, but they lead to the mazes of the Underdrek!

Best thing to do is lay low, and keep a low profile when visiting Imajapoor. At least until you have enough geld to pay bribes, or enough muscle to not worry about paying bribes!

Keep on Rockin' & Role Playing!