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  I, RACON ISLE AN 1 D R E A M I N G  
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  RfCHARD WATTS, CEOFF CILLAN, 
  PENELOPE LOVE, MARH MORRISON 
  WITH BRUNNER, BJBRKITEN, BORKOMKI, GASINER, 
  HI11, JOHNITON, KIRKBRIDE, ANDERjON, HARRISON 
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  this game, certain heroes discover secrets about the world of 
  ung Kingdoms, the nature of the universe, the gods of Law and 
  and their plans for the future. You and your friends will portray 
  Melnibone (#2901) 
  The ELRIC! GM Screen (#2902) 
  Sorcerers of Pan Tang (#2112) 
  Perils of the Young Kingdoms ( e 1 1  3) 
  Sea Kings of the Purple Towns (#2114) 
  decide your character should do. 
  5 2 0 9 5 >  
  9 781 568 82001 9 
  I S B N  1-56882-002-2 
  - 
  ua 
  950-A 56th STREET, OAKLAND CA 94608-3129 
  1 
  I 
  
  DRAGON ISLE AND DREAMING CITY 
  
  "SHINING LIKE DIAMONDS, OR LIKE THE SPARKLE OF 
  SUNLIGHTUPON THE WAVES, WERE THE CITIES OF THE 
  BRIGHT EMPIRE.AND LIKE THE WAVES, THE 10,000 YEARS 
  OF MELNIBONE'S REIGN UPON THE WORLD WERE DRAWN 
  BACK BY THE TIDE OF TIME." 
  -THE CHRONICLE OFTHE BLACH SWORD 
  
  BY 
  R I C H A R D WAnS 
  WITH 
  CEOFF CILLAN 
  PENELOPE LOVE 
  MARK MORRISON 
  BAIED UPON THE SOJOURNER'S GUIDE TO MELNIBONE, AS COMPILED BY 
  THE DISORDERED SCRIBES OF THE LEAGUE OF TUMULTUOUS ERUDITION. 
  COVER PAINTING FRANK BRUNNER 
  INTERIOR I LLUSTRATIONS GUSTAF BJBRKSTEN, JOHN BORKOWKI, 
  ALAIN GASSNER, MARK HILL, CHRIS JOHNSTON, MICHAEL KIRKBRIDE 
  MAPS PHIL ANDERSON, GUSTAF BJBRKSTEN, AND IAN HARRISON 
  PROJECT AND EDITORIAL MARK MORRISON 
  COPYREADING AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE ALLEN VARNEY AND RICHARD WArrS 
  EVEN FURTHER NlGGLlNG EDITORIAL LYNN WlLLlS 
  GRAPHIC DESIGN AND LAYOUT LES BROOKS 
  PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PETRA PINO 
  COVER DESIGN CHARLIE KRANK 
  - 
  1993 
  
  CONTENTS 
  BACKGROUND 
  INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 
  5 
  Richard Watts 
  MELNIBON~ .................................................................... 
  7 
  Richard Watts 
  MELNIBONEANS .......................................................... 
  31 
  Richard Watts 
  COSMOLOGY ................................................................ 
  47 
  Richard Watts 
  ENCOUNTERS ON MELNIBONE ................................. 
  52 
  Penelope Love and Richard Watts 
  MELNIBONEAN DIGEST ............................................... 
  56 
  Richard Watts & Divers Hands 
  SCENARIOS 
  THE SOJOURNER'S GUIDE TO MELNIBONE ............. 65 
  Geoff Gillan 
  THE SUFFER GLASS ................................................... 
  78 
  Geoff Gillan 
  THE GHOST OF CmES ............................................. 
  102 
  Penelope Love 
  INDEX .......................................................................... 
  122 
  DRAGON 81 DEMON SHEET ....................................... 
  124 
  MELNIBONEAN CHARACTER SHEET ...................... 
  125 
  OTHER CHAOSIUM RELEASES ................................ 
  127 
  WHEN IS MELNIBONE S E T ?  
  H E  EVENTS of this book are set one year before the situations 
  T 
  described in the novel Elfic of Melnibond by Michael Moorcock. 
  The Chaosium publications Sorcerers of Pan Tang, Perils of the 
  Young Kingdoms, and Sea Kings of the Purple Towns feature 
  backgrounds and adventures set within this prologue period. The 
  sack of lmnyr will be covered in a future €Irk release. 
  DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO MY MOTHER, WHO SHOWED ME NEW WORLDS. 
  -RICHARD 
  WATTS 
  Playtestem: David Bland, Rhonda Gillan, Rebecca Heath, Martin Liedke, Trent Moses, Darrel Munro, David Munro, and Jason Rowlands. 
  Thanks to Ian Harrison, the Northcote Lounge Room Set (that nebulous, hedonistic bunch),Justin K. Weaver 8, Mary Jane, 
  Garry Fay, Nick Hagger, Lawrence Whitaker, Allen Vamey, and Penelope Love. 
  WELNIBONE is published by Chaosium Inc. 
  MELNIBONE is copyright 01993 by Chaosium Inc.; all rights reserved. 
  Elricae trademark applied for by Chaosium Inc. MELNIBONE is a supplement intended for the Elric game. 
  Similarities between characters in MELNIBONE and persons living or dead are strictly coincidental. 
  Michael Moorcock's works Elric of Melnibon6, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, The Weird of the White Wolf, The Vanishing Tower. The Bane of the 
  Black Sword, Stombringer. The Fortress of the Pearl, Elric at the End of Time, and The Revenge of the Rose are respectively copyright 0 1963. 
  1964,1965,1967,1970,1972,1976,1977,1984,1989,1991 by Michael Moorcock. Quotes have been made for purposes of illustration. 
  The cover painting for MELNIBONE is 01993 by John Brunner; all rights reserved. 
  It shows dragon-riders above a portion of the Dreaming City. 
  Except in this publication and related advertising, or unless otherwise agreed to, artwork original to Melnibonb remains the property of the artists, 
  and is copyright by them under their separate copyrights. 
  The reproduction of material from within this book for the purposes of personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, 
  or other methods of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. 
  Please mail questions and comments concerning this book, as well as requests for free notices of Chaosium publications, to 
  Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th Street, Oakland CA 94608-3129, USA 
  Please do not phone in game questions; the quickest answer is often not the best answer. 
  ISBN 0-933635494. 
  Chaosium Publication 2901. Published in Septembert, 1993. For ages 14 and up. 
  Printed in the United States of America 
  4 
  
  OR 10,000 YEARS the Bright Empire of 
  Melnibonk ruled the world. The folk of Melnibonk are 
  not human, and their race is far older than humanity. 
  They are powerful sotcerers, and magic comes to them 
  as easy as breathing. In their heyday they forged unthinkable 
  pacts with Demon Gods, shaped the elements and the lands to 
  their liking, and tamed dragons and rode them to conquest 
  across many worlds. Old age has dulled the Bright Empire, 
  tarnished its proud beauty, and weakened its people; now the 
  Dragon Princes of Melnibonk conquer only in their 
  drug-induced dreams, as their Empire rots from within. Even 
  reduced to this crumbling introspection, they remain a great 
  power among the upstart human nations which have sprung up 
  around them in their dotage. Soon a new Emperor will come to 
  the Ruby Throne. Whether he will bring the Bright Empire to 
  glory or extinction is unknown, even in dreams. 
  Melnibonk, Dragon Isle and Dreaming City contains 
  background information for players and gamemasters alike, as 
  well as scenarios for the gamemaster’s eyes only. This book is 
  an evocation of the moods and images of Melnibonk, but does 
  not claim to be an exhaustive rendering of every detail of the 
  land. The Dragon Isle contains too much of marvel and wonder 
  to ever be described so completely. Close attention has been 
  paid to continuity with the books of Michael Moorcock. The 
  author hopes that only in cases where Mr. Moorcock is himself 
  contradictory will readers discover any anomaly with 
  references as they appear in the Elric saga. 
  The chapter ‘Melnibonf? presents the history of Melnibonhns 
  upon the world of the Young Kingdoms world, describing the 
  great island of Melnibonk and other places of note. Likewise the 
  city of Imnyr, last bastion of the Bright Empire’s glory, is 
  presented historically and physically. Creatures living only on the 
  Dragon Isle are also &tailed in this chapter. 
  The second chapter, ‘Melnibonh’, concerns the culture 
  and traditions of that non-human race. Topics such as clothing 
  and drugs are covered, as well as additional information for 
  creating Melnibonh adventurers. Descriptions and statistics 
  for important residents of the Dreaming City occur in this 
  chapter; these last differ in details from the rulesbook, where 
  such characters appear at their most powerful or at their most 
  representative to the Elric saga. 
  ‘Religion’ explores Melnibonkan theology. The chapter 
  discusses their beliefs concerning Chaos, the Balance, Law, the 
  Elemental Rulers, and the Plant- and Beast-Lords. 
  &counter tables for Imrryr and for MelnibonB as a whole are 
  found in ‘Encounters on Melnibonk’. 
  The ‘Melnibonk Digest’ contains a complete roster of statistics 
  for Melnibonh charactem and creatms, large and small. 
  Following this background come three scenarios, ‘The 
  Sojourner’s Guide to Melnibonk’, which sets the adventurers 
  loose on the Isle, exploring it at the behest of a league of Chaos 
  scholars; ‘The Suffer Glass’, which allows the adventurers to 
  be present at a pivotal point in the Bright Empire’s ancient 
  history, and to take actions that will change that history; and 
  ‘The Ghost of Cities’, which involves the adventurers in a 
  Melnibonkan’s search for her father, who is missing in spirit 
  but not in body. 
  SADRIC THE EIGHTY-SIXTH, 
  DYING EMPEROR OF MELNIBONf. 
  5 
  
  Y'DRAGON 
  SEA 
  
  HISTORY A 
  GRAPHY OF 
  THE DREAMING CI 
  E IMPERIAL PALACE 
  HIS CHAPTER discusses the land and legacy of 
  Melnibonk. The section ‘History of the Bright 
  Empire’ recounts 10,000 years of Melnibonk’s 
  history. Next, ‘The Dragon Isle’ describes the 
  geography of Melnibonk. The third section, ‘Dragons’, 
  unveils those most impressive denizens of the isle. Three 
  nearby islets are covered in ‘The Islands’. ‘The Dreaming 
  City’ depicts Imrryr, and lastly ‘The Imperial Palace’ plumbs 
  the mysteries of the city’s physical and spiritual heart. 
  UE TO THE sheer age of Melnibonk’s 
  civilization, not even its own scholars know all of 
  Melnibonk’s origins. Given the tens of thousands of 
  D 
  years in which the Dragon Isle has been populated, 
  it has become impossible to distinguish myth and reality. The 
  facts are few, and the legends contradictory. The reader may 
  recall that not even Elric, the greatest sorcerer-scholar I m q r  
  had seen for an age, could be sure of the details of his empire’s 
  None can say from what distant corner of the multiverse 
  those primal ancestors first sprang. The oldest legend of 
  Melnibonk, recorded in the Gabbling Sphere, speaks of that 
  inhuman folk coming to this world as cosmic wanderers, 
  fleeing from or pursued by some terrible catastrophe that had 
  consumed their original plane. Certain passages hint darkly 
  that the disaster was of their own creation. 
  In those long-distant days the proto-Melnibonkns served 
  the Balance. Chaos would not yet reckon in their nature for 
  many centuries. They already recognized the Elemental 
  Rulers and Beast- and Plant-Lords as essential to the 
  multiverse, but did not worship them. These young and vibrant 
  aliens were a non-violent people, although the rituals of 
  warfare were part of their heritage. 
  beginnings. 
  7 
  A NEW WORLD 
  ELVE THOUSAND 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  proto-Melnibonkns arrived on the world which would 
  slender folk swore to flee no more. Scattered across the earth 
  when they arrived, they slowly migrated toward a central 
  place, there to begin their new lives. Their new home was a 
  world only recently drastically reshaped by a war between the 
  Elemental Rulers. 
  Formed by Chaos, although no longer ruled by it, the earth 
  was a rawer, brighter world then. To an inhuman people who 
  had wandered from world to world across the Million Spheres, 
  this new home was a beauty and a delight. Their original 
  settlement, A’sha’hiian, “The First City,” lay at the southern tip 
  of an island they would later call Melnibonk. The island itself 
  was formed during the Elemental Wars, and had once been the 
  peaks of a mountain range overlooking the Oldest Ocean. 
  T” 
  one day include the Young Kingdoms. These tall, 
  R’LIN WREN A’A 
  Although many gathered at A’sha’hiian over the centuries, 
  some colonies remained where they fiit set foot upon their 
  new plane. Such a group founded the city later called R’lin 
  K’ren A’a. They were isolated there for many centuries, and 
  bred with a bestial race. They became debased and primitive. 
  Two thousand years after its foundation they were driven out 
  of R’lin K’ren A’a by Duke Arioch of Chaos, at a time when 
  Melnibonk was beginning a new and magical age. 
  THE OLDER ONES, 
  AND OTHERS 
  N AN CI E NT AN D inhuman Lawful race already 
  dwelt upon this world, although their civilization was 
  A 
  in decline. Time has obscured their name. Legends 
  speak of them as the Older Ones, quasi-immortals who might 
  die only through accident or violence. They had sprung up in 
  the world after the last Time Cycle, when the Doomed Folk 
  had half-destroyed the world and obliterated their own 
  civilization. As the Older Ones’ society aged and weakened, it 
  became unable to hold off the increasingly strong attacks, led 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  by the terrible Duke Damizhaan, that Chaos made against the 
  earth. The Older Ones welcomed the proto-Melnibonhs to 
  the world, hoping they would help defend against Chaos. The 
  noble houses of the two races intermarried, and exchanged 
  gifts and knowledge. 
  Other non-human races also then inhabited the world. The 
  dwellers in the Silent Land lived as they still do, within the 
  borders of their barren country and having little to do with the 
  outside world. This evil and isolated race would never become 
  part of the Bright Empire, nor would Melnibon6 ever attempt 
  to conquer them. The Winged Folk of Myyrrhn, lately evolved 
  from the bestial clakars and related in some way to the 
  inhuman residents of the Silent Land, were also a small nation 
  at this time. Over the millennia the Bright Empire would see 
  the Myyrrh nation grow and wane again before MelnibonC 
  began her own decline. 
  The only other inhuman race recorded by Melnibond’s 
  scribes (who take only a passing interest in those the Empire 
  succeeded, and even less in those it destroys) were the 
  Nihrain, who were to wake periodically during the Bright 
  Empire’s reign, often aiding Melnibonk. 
  THE RUNESWORDS 
  Among the objects which the Older Ones placed in the hands 
  of Mehibod’s great were two swords, forged from the stuff 
  of Chaos by Lawful weaponsmiths, and intended to fight 
  Chaos. So powerful were the runeswords Stormbringer and 
  Moumblade that they could slay the very Lords of Chaos 
  themselves. But the Older Ones hid the true nature and 
  purpose of the runeswords. The gifts of these swords, and their 
  Chaotic influence upon the successive generations, began the 
  corruption of those whose descendants would be 
  Melnibonkns. At first the leaders of Melnibonk sought to hide 
  the battle-lust the swords evoked, but soon they revelled in it. 
  THE CHAOS WARS 
  NE HUNDRED YEARS after the arrival of the 
  proto-Melnibonkans, Chaos came with all its 
  0 
  strength against the forces of Law and those of the 
  Balance who defended them. A time of madness and homr 
  crossed the world. Many warriors of pre-Melnibone fell in 
  battle against Duke Darnizhaan’s Chaos hordes. 
  One Champion of the Balance quested for the Ship Which 
  Sails Over Land And Sea, so that he might voyage across the 
  planes to bring dragons to join the fray. Though he succeeded, 
  S CENTURIES passed, the flames of Chaos that 
  Ah ad fanned the Bright Empire’s splendid heart 
  became diminished, and with them the courage and 
  sweet fancies of her Emperors. Remembering the lust 
  with which the Black Swords hungered for the souls of 
  those who forged them long ago, their later owners 
  feared the swords, and sought release from the 
  rune-cawed hellblades. Finally the Black Swords were 
  seized by the Lords of the Higher Worlds and then 
  hidden amongst the infinite worlds of possibility. 
  Chaos was not defeated until the two Black Swords were 
  carried into battle. In fear of those swords, Darnizhaan and 
  many of his fellow Chaos Lords gave up their substance, 
  hurling their lifestuff into Eternity in an attempt at immortality. 
  In time they would become known as the Dead Gods but, 
  unless killed by the runeswords, even Dead Gods would never 
  truly die. 
  THE DEATH OF THE OLDER ONES 
  The Black Swords proved treacherous. Those Older Ones who 
  could still fight had taken to the battlefield, and the 
  runeswards turned their wielders’ hands against those who had 
  forged them, slaying the Older Ones in the frenzy of battle. 
  Those few Older Ones who survived were the scholars of their 
  race, and thus were not on the field of battle. Within decades 
  they had died of grief, and the Older Ones were no more. 
  Rather than stay in A’sha’hiian, now a memorial to the dead, 
  the people founded a new settlement. H’hui’shan it was called, 
  “The City of the Island.”. The island itself was renamed 
  Mehibone. Any Older One name it had is lost to us. 
  FORGING AN EMPIRE 
  ITH CHAOS BANISHED, the Melnibonhns 
  could explore their new world. The love and honor 
  W 
  Melnibonhns held for nature when they served the 
  Balance allowed them to forge psychic bonds with the 
  dragons, those beasts drawn from another world to help them 
  against Chaos. Like the Black Swords, the dragons were 
  creatures of Chaos, and over the next few centuries something 
  of their nature began to appear in those who rode them. The 
  dragons’ wild spirits and greedy senses at first blended with 
  their riders only in flight. Soon, however, the strange dark 
  emotions became a permanent part of the dragon-warriors’ 
  personalities, and began to appear in their children. 
  As well as the Chaotic influence of the dragons, the baneful 
  aura of the Black Swords, now wielded by the most savage of 
  Melnibone’s Dragon Princes, made itself felt. Gradually the 
  untamed and vengeful spirit of Chaos became part of the spirit 
  of Melnibonk. 
  When other would-be conquerors rose up to threaten the 
  peace of their world, the dragon-riders were the first to fight 
  them back. Over the following centuries these defensive 
  battles became offensive. The dragon-warriors were in the 
  thick of these battles, and they became the most powerful of 
  Mehibonk’s nobility in a new social order. From a nation of 
  peaceful folk serving the Cosmic Balance, circumstance and 
  Fate conspired to make Melnibonk a warlike nation of amoral, 
  inhuman conquerors. Humanity did not yet exist upon the 
  world, and the few other non-human nations were no match 
  for Melnibonk’s arts of war. One by one they fell. This was ten 
  thousand years ago, and the age of the Bright Empire had 
  begun- 
  THE RETURN OF CHAOS 
  After centuries of fighting, MelnibonC had conquered the 
  world. Because the Cosmic Balance would forbid them 
  expansion of the Empire to make conquests upon other 
  worlds, certain heretical nobles suggested that Melnibone 
  should ally with Chaos instead. Under the aegis of Chaos, 
  Melnibone would find endless conquests and limitless 
  fascinations. 
  8 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E  
  Thus the desire for further conquests surpassed the limits of 
  the natural world, and bred great dissension within Melnibont. 
  Civil war broke out between those who favored Chaos (most 
  often the young, who had already been influenced by it) and 
  the old breed of Melnibonhns, who were still faithful to the 
  Balance. For three days battle raged across Melnibonk and the 
  Bright Empire. H’hui’shan was destroyed, and many 
  Melnibodans died or fled rather than treat with Chaos. These 
  refugees scattered to other planes and across the face of the 
  world. Those who favored Chaos were triumphant. 
  Duke Arioch of Chaos supplanted the worship of the 
  Cosmic Balance on Mehibonk. As patron of the Dragon Isle, 
  he was more demanding but also a far more active deity. 
  It was at this t h e  that the Lords of the Higher Worlds met at 
  R’lin K’ren A’a, driving forth its inhabitants. Some of the 
  degenerate people of R’lin K’ren A’a fled to the Sorcerer’s 
  Isle, where they later died. Storms carried still others as far as 
  the Dragon Isle, where their arrival was greeted with horror, 
  and all were executed. So confused is the history of Melnibont 
  that certain sources, for reasons of their own, claim that the 
  half-breeds of R’liin K’ren A’a actually founded the Dragon 
  Isle. This legend is most common in the Young Kingdoms, 
  where it may have began when humanity’s primeval ape-like 
  ancestors encountered the migrations of that devolved people. 
  H E  EARLIEST WRITTEN records of 
  Melnibont survive from the time Duke AriOch of 
  Chaos became patron of the Isle. Melnibont was 
  non-human subject nations rose up and attacked her. 
  Ferocious magicks laid waste to several, convincing all of the 
  sorcerous might now at the Bright Empire’s disposal. 
  THE GOLDEN ACE 
  The prestige and power of magic began to absorb the people of 
  MelnibonC, who slowly abandoned their engineering and 
  architectural ingenuity in favor of sorcery. The city of Imrryr 
  was the last great technical marvel Melnibontans wrought 
  before magic overcame them totally. Over a hundred years 
  after the destruction of H’hui’shan, Imrryr was built where 
  The City of the Island had fallen. An inspired city of towers 
  and spires, a marvel of masonry and stone, I m p  was to be 
  both testimony to the age of the Balance that had passed, and 
  Melnibont’s new dawn of Chaos, conquest, and sorcery. 
  The use of sorcery became entirely natural to Melnibonhs, 
  whose inhuman minds were perfectly suited to its exercise. 
  Pacts were sworn between the Bright Empire and the 
  Elemental Rulers and Beast- and Plant-Lords. Dragons sailed 
  through the skies of a dozen different worlds. Fleets of 
  hundreds of battle barges floated across the Oceans of this 
  world and beyond. Century followed century with no sign of 
  the Bright Empire ever diminishing. It was a time of wonder 
  and glory, of interplanar conquest and unbridled Chaos 
  unleashed upon a hundred worlds. 
  T 
  weakened by the civil war, and many of the 
  9 
  HE LIGHT OF THE EARLY MORNING touched 
  “ T 
  the tall towers of lmnyr and made them scintillate. 
  Each tower was of a different hue: there were a 
  thousand soft colours. There were rose pinks end pollen 
  yellows, there were purples and pale greens, mauves 
  and browns and oranges, hazy blues, whites and 
  powdery golds, all lovely in the sunlight.‘‘ 
  - 
  ELRIC OF 
  MELNIBON~ 
  INTROSPECTION AND ENNUI 
  On Melnibond the Emperors increasingly gathered power to 
  themselves. Where once the people met in forum and 
  parliament to discuss and direct Melnibonk’s course, now the 
  Emperor came to be supreme, and unchallenged decrees 
  issued from the Ruby Throne. 
  Denied the chance to act for the good of Melnibone, the 
  people grew uninclined to act at all, and became more 
  dependent on their slaves. Although they now could not 
  survive without them, Melnibontans hid their slaves away, lest 
  the sight of them offend sensibilities grown inhumanly 
  delicate. Perhaps jaded by exposure to the Higher Worlds, 
  perhaps sapped of curiosity by continued use of magicks, 
  Melnibonkans now turned to their dreams for pleasure. 
  Always a contemplative race, they became increasingly 
  absorbed by inner mysteries, avoiding the outside world. 
  Drugs fueled their inner visions. Drugs also controlled their 
  slave populations, once of inhuman prisoners, by now 
  increasingly of human stock. From this time, four thousand 
  years ago, I m ~ p  
  became known as the Dreaming City. 
  THE BEGINNING OF THE END 
  At the height of her power, Melnibonk’s people could reshape 
  entire nations for their momentary pleasure. The world of the 
  Young Kingdoms was their plaything. Chaos had made 
  MelnibonCans cruel and amoral, and as centuries passed it 
  seemed that they had always been so. Engrossed in their 
  sorceries and other-worldly conquests, the Melnibonkans did 
  not notice what was happening to their race. The quest for 
  more triumphs, further novelties and new experience had 
  blinded Melnibont to the world around her. 
  Meanwhile human races had evolved upon the earth. At first 
  no better than beasts, exposure to Melnibone and her people 
  pushed humanity up the road to civilization. All was slavery 
  and exploitation to start. 
  The first nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers traded at the 
  outskirts of Melnibonkn colonies a little over four thousand 
  years ago. Here they learned to grow crops from their 
  non-human masters. Human towns developed, as did the 
  benefits which accompany towns. The first human civilization 
  was Quarzhasaat, in what is today the Sighing Desert. It was 
  not recognized as an advanced nation by the Melnibonhns. 
  Over the following centuries the humans spread in swarms 
  acms the world. The nation of Quarzhasaat declared itself an 
  Empire two millennia ago, an event which caused no little 
  astonishment in Imrryr. That animals might have such 
  pretensions was a topic of some amusement to the 
  Melnibonkans, even more so when the Quarzhasaatim’s own 
  sorcerers destroyed their Empire by drowning it in sand. (They 
  had meant to destroy an invading Melnibonean army instead.) 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  The last known awakening of the Nihrain was at this time, and 
  perhaps they assisted in Quarzhasaat’s downfall. Once this 
  brief human joke had been played out, Melnibonk resumed her 
  all-consuming torpor. 
  THE DHARZI EMPIRE 
  The Dharzi were the last of the non-human nations to threaten 
  the Bright Empire. They became prominent some three 
  thousand years ago. It has been suggested that the Beastfolk, 
  as the Dharzi are sometimes known, were a Melnibonhn 
  experiment that went wrong. Regardless of their origin, the 
  Dharzi nation grew rapidly in size and might. Their animal 
  sorceries and potent worship of the Beast-Lords rapidly 
  elevated them to rival Melnibonk. Two aggressive, 
  expansionist empires could not coexist, and so a thousand 
  years ago war broke out between the Dharzi and the folk of the 
  Dragon Isle. 
  Unlike any battle which the Bright Empire had previously 
  fought, this one seriously threatened Melnibonk. The powerful 
  Dharzi Empire was almost her equal. Huge magicks unleashed 
  by both sides swept across and in some places reshaped the 
  world. The mighty spells which the best sorcerers of the 
  Dragon Isle desperately cast were, in the end, effective. Old 
  bargains Melniboni had made with the Beast-Lords decisively 
  weakened the Dharzi, but not without cost. Melnibonk 
  defeated her enemy at the expense of her own strength. 
  The greatest catastrophe was the eruption of a northern 
  volcano due to a wild surge of magic. Huge tidal waves swept 
  across the Pale and the Dragon Seas, and a rift was tom 
  between the planes. This cataclysm delivered the Mabden to 
  the shattered isle they would rename Pan Tang. But finally the 
  Dharzi were blasted into extinction. 
  The souldraining runes Melnibonk employed to destroy her 
  enemies also killed or mindblasted a generation of her own 
  sorcerers. Having also sustained crippling losses of warriors, 
  Melnibonk was fatally weakened. 
  For five hundred years the Bright Empire struggled on. Some 
  would call them her death struggles. Although her decline upon 
  the Young Kingdoms plane did not begin for some centuries, 
  Melnibonk now began to lose her dominions on foreign planes, 
  one by one. Soon it would be as if they had never existed. 
  THE RISE OF 
  THE YOUNG KINGDOMS 
  IVE CENTURI E$ AGO Melnibonk’s control over the 
  human populations of the world began to slip. 
  F Melnibonkans patronizingly referred to these nations as 
  the Young Kingdoms, in mocking contrast with Melnibonk’s 
  ancient power. Now fewer and fewer battle-barges were seen 
  upon the waves, Melnibonhn births declined, and outlying 
  Melnibonkan settlements were abandoned. The dragons began 
  to fail in numbers, as fewer and fewer eggs were laid each 
  year. Even the Lords of Chaos seemed to lose interest; magic 
  became increasingly difficult to employ, and spells lost their 
  potency or went awry. 
  During this period the machinations of the human sorceress 
  and servant of Law, Myshella of Kaneloon, were no doubt 
  responsible for many of Melniboni’s troubles. The patterns of 
  order in the rituals and liturgies Melnibonhns had created 
  around Chaos had, unwittingly, already weakened Chaos to an 
  extent; now humanity’s Church of Law further increased the 
  stability and structure of a world once ruled by the Lords of 
  Entropy, A Lawful barrier was constructed about the earth, 
  preventing the Dukes of Chaos ever fully ruling this plane, and 
  indeed it gradually reduced their influence upon it. 
  (At the time of Elric, the Lords of Chaos cannot or will not 
  be contacted because of this barrier, and have not manifested 
  upon the earth for a great number of years. It is Elric, greatest 
  sorcerer of his age, who will create an opening through this 
  bamer by his summoning of Arioch in Elric of Mehibonk. 
  This same barrier will one day be tom open by the insane 
  Theocrat of Pan Tang, as described in the novel Stormbringer, 
  allowing Chaos free reign upon the earth.) 
  If they could be freed from the oppression of the Bright 
  Empire, the human nations could grow and prosper. Lormyr 
  was first to declare itself independent, throwing off the 
  Melnibonian yoke four hundred years ago. Led by the 
  renowned hero Earl Aubec of Malador, the armies of humanity 
  triumphed in a decisive battle against Melnibonkan forces 
  ill-prepared for war and arrogantly ignorant of their 
  challenge=. Lormyr, ruled by Queen Eloarde, soon conquered 
  all of the newly independent Southlands, with Aubec leading 
  her armies on to triumph after triumph. 
  Across the world, nations rose and fell. Once the ships of 
  Melnibonk had come to them to plunder and steal, claiming 
  the right of tribute; now merchants of the Young Kingdoms 
  went to Imrryr, there to trade for the wondrous goods which 
  only Melnibonk could provide. From a martial power, 
  Melniboni became a mercantile one. By the time of Elric, this 
  trade alone keeps Melnibone alive. 
  CURRENT HISTORY 
  LTHOUCH ONLY IMRRYR remains of the 
  once-great cities of the Bright Empire, this last 
  A 
  stronghold is by no means weak. The much-reduced 
  fleet of golden battle-barges rarely sail upon the seas, but it 
  brings fire and inevitable destruction to upstart lordlings and 
  brigands who dare to attack the Dreaming City. The dragons 
  which slumber in deep caverns may be less numerous than 
  they once were, but when roused the fury of their inflammable 
  venom is just as potent. Protected by these forces, and 
  believing themselves unassailable, Melniboneans still view 
  themselves as the rightful masters of the Young Kingdoms. 
  MELNIBONE TODAY 
  Melnibonzs decline in strength has been matched by a decline 
  in spirit, and the populace of the Dreaming City no longer 
  venture far from their glittering towers. Every pleasure they 
  need is found within Imrryr’s walls. Those which are not made 
  there are brought to them, by slaves or by human merchants 
  pitifully eager for trade. Although humans fear and despise 
  Melnibonkans, they are eager for the wealth Melnibone holds. 
  Greed brings merchants and sailors to Imrryr. risking the 
  dangers of the sea maze to land and trade in the harbor. Great 
  volumes of regulations control humanity’s access to Imrryr, 
  and those who break those rules, even unknowingly, are 
  imprisoned, tortured, and enslaved. 
  The price is high, yet the thousands of merchants who visit 
  Melnibonk each year apparently believe it to be one worth 
  risking. Some pirates, perceiving Melnibone enfeebled, come 
  not to trade but to plunder. They are met with the same scorn 
  with which Melnibonkans treat all humanity, and with fire and 
  steel also. 
  10 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  Such is the heritage of the Bright Empire that the folk of the 
  Dragon Isle cannot conceive of a world not under their 
  dominion. Like a parent blinded to offsprings' new-found 
  independence, Melnibonk has yet to realize that the Young 
  Kingdoms have matured. Isolated from humanity and their 
  rapid development, Melnibonkans have become an 
  anachronism, outdated and decaying from within. 
  The current Emperor is Sadric the Eighty-Sixth, 421th 
  Sorcerer-Emperor to sit upon the Ruby Throne. The line is 
  unbroken since a ruler of the Bright Empire fust served Chaos. 
  Like the nation which he has ruled for half a century, Sadric is 
  an Emperor in decline. Since the death of his Empress some 20 
  years ago Sadric has given himself over to mourning, ignoring 
  his realm and indeed his surroundings almost entirely. He is 
  consumed by SOROW, and cares little for the activities of his 
  court, ruling over them in name only. It is many years since the 
  Emperor has exercised his Imperial will, and in that time 
  Mehibone has slipped further into decay. Mehibone is carried 
  forward only by the momentum of her traditions. Without 
  them, what is left of the Bright Empire would crumble and die. 
  Although their heresies are unspoken, there are those in the 
  Dreaming City who see Sadric as unfit to rule, weak, 
  apathetic, and uncaring. These individuals hope that when 
  Sadric's albino son Elric gains the Ruby Throne, he will usher 
  in a glorious new age of conquest and power. Omens and 
  prophecy have forecast that Elric is to be the greatest sorcerer 
  THE GOLDEN BATTLE-BARGES OF MELNIBONE 
  Melnibonk has seen for five hundred years. Others wonder 
  how such a sickly child could ever amount to anything. 
  As it happens, Elric does indeed lead Melnibone into a new 
  age, but not a glorious one. Within the space of a few short 
  years he destroys what remains of the Bright Empire, forever. 
  FUTURE EVENTS 
  ELNIBONE'S LONG AND glorious history is 
  soon to come crashing down. Her destruction is 
  M 
  still a few years away yet, and in those fleeting 
  years drama, death, romance, hue and cry, and dire sorcery 
  will rise up about the Ruby Throne. 
  )AT 
  THE GAMEMASTER'S DISCRETION, the Emperor 
  Sadric dies and Elric takes the Ruby Throne. 
  )THREE 
  MONTHS AFTER ELRIC'S ACCESSION, Prince 
  Yyrkoon and his supporters urge the Emperor to move 
  against the increasingly powerful Isle of Purple Towns, 
  claiming that nation of shopkeepers are denuding lmrryr of 
  her rightful trade. Rumors sweep the Foreign Quarter that all 
  human visitors to the Dreaming City are to be seized or 
  executed, and that dragons are being readied to fly to and 
  destroy the Purple Towns. Emperor Elric refuses to take 
  action against the Isle, stating that to take offense over mere 
  finances is un-Melnibonean. Prince Yyrkoon suffers a small 
  loss of face over this incident. 
  11 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  >EIGHT MONTHS LATER, a small fleet of Vilmirian 
  privateers sails against Mehibond, and at Yyrkoon's urging 
  they are destroyed utterly with dragon venom. Waking the 
  dragons for this petty attack prevents Melnibonb from sending 
  dragons against the Dorelite raiders who attack Melnibone 
  four months later. 
  )ONE 
  YEAR LATER, Prince Yyrkoon's ambition gets the 
  better of him during a sea battle against pirates from Dorel, 
  and he attempts to drown Elric and by treachery gain the 
  Ruby Throne. His actions discovered. Yyrkoon seizes Cymoril 
  and flees the Dragon Isle. Thousands of soldiers are sent 
  forth to scour the world, with no success. It is many months 
  before all of the searchers return to Imrryr. In desperation Elric 
  turns to Arioch, and swears fealty to him. Arioch reveals that 
  Yyrkoon is in hiding in Oin and Yu. Using the Ship Which Sails 
  Over Land and Sea, Elric travels to Oin, defeats his renegade 
  cousin, and wakes Cymoril from a sorcerous sleep. Elric also 
  acquires the lost runesword Stormbringer, and the tragic 
  drama of the albino Emperor's destiny begins to unfold. 
  These events are described in detail in Michael Moor- 
  cock's Elric of Melnibon6. 
  >AFTER ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS, Elric leaves 
  the Ruby Throne, installing his cousin Yyrkoon as regent 
  while he roams the world for twelve months. The albino 
  Emperor journeys first to the Isle of Purple Towns, then from 
  there on to Jadmar, Bakshaan, Ufych-Sormeer, lost 
  Quarzhasaat in the Sighing Desert, Filkhar, Argimiliar. and 
  Pikarayd, before being swept up in an adventure involving the 
  Blind Captain and his mysterious ship (see The Sailor on the 
  Seas offate). 
  >TWO YEARS FROM ELRIC'S ACCESSION, Yyrkoon's 
  ambition undoes him once more. He forges documents 
  purporting to prove Elric's death and declares himself 
  Emperor, the first to so rule from the Ruby Throne without the 
  Ring of Kings. An ancient prophecy foretells doom for 
  Melnibone should such an act ever occur. His sister, the 
  Princess Cymoril, fights against Yyrkoon's deeds, and to 
  silence her, he once more casts her into an ensorcelled sleep. 
  >SI% 
  MONTHS AFTER THAT, the Sack of lmrryr takes 
  place. Elric discovers Yyrkoon's fresh treachery upon 
  returning to the Purple Towns with his new-found friend Count 
  Smiorgan Baldhead. Elric makes temporary alliance among 
  the Young Kingdoms' naval powers, and a fleet of over a 
  thousand war galleys sails for Melnibone, bringing grim-faced 
  reavers to loot, slay, and bum. 
  Black-hearted Yyrkoon dies upon the blade of Stormbrin- 
  ger, but not before he causes Cymoril to be accidentally slain 
  by EM. lmrryr is destroyed, and the reavers sail away, fat 
  with loot. However, the dragons are awakened, and the victo- 
  rious raiders die beneath the flames of the Dragon Isle's final, 
  fiery breath. 
  HEY SPURRED THEIR steeds through the 
  " T 
  sun-speared wood and up the steep sides of the hill 
  beyond, racing down the other side and away across a 
  plain where noidel bushes grew, their lush, poison fruit 
  glimmering a purplish blue, a night-colour which even 
  the light of day could not disperse. There were many 
  such peculiar berries and herbs on Melnibone and it was 
  to some of them that Elric owed his life. Others were 
  used for sorcerous potions and had been sown 
  centuries before by Elric's ancestors. Now few 
  Melnibon6ans left lmrryr even to collect these harvests. 
  Only slaves visited the greater part of the island ...." 
  - 
  ELRIC OF MELNIBONL 
  Count Smiorgan. and the kings of Jharkor, Lormyr, 
  Tarkesh, Vilmir, and Argimiliar are killed in the Sack of Imrryr, 
  throwing their countries into turmoil and precipitating the 
  Doom of the World in years to come. 
  ELNIBON8 COMPRISES one large 
  island and three lesser isles. It was formed 
  20,000 years ago, when the Elemental Lords 
  Grome and Straasha fought. The world was 
  reshaped by their struggle, which tore open a mighty rift 
  through the mountains at the edge of the Oldest Ocean. As the 
  ocean flooded eastward, the peaks of those mountains became 
  the islands known today as the Melnibonkan archipelago. The 
  central island is Melnibone. The other three are Amashii, 
  Kiashu, and Wa'aiya'oro. 
  Although all four Melnibonkan islands were home to 
  inhuman and beautiful Melnibonkans at the height of the 
  Bright Empire's power, the outer three are now largely 
  abandoned. Upon the main island only one city, Imrryr, 
  remains populated. Countless towns and country villas were 
  deserted as the Melniboneans lost interest in the physical 
  world, turning to the solace of their drug-induced pleasures 
  and visions. Imrryr alone retains the glory of the Bright 
  Empire, and even there such glory consists largely of dreams. 
  CLIMATE 
  RADLED BETWEEN W A R M  currents from the 
  Boiling Sea and the colder waters of the Dragon Sea, 
  c 
  Melnibone's climate is stable across the island, 
  although not without local variation. The seasons are distinct. 
  Wet and humid summers are the norm, temperatures in the 
  south sometimes rising to uncomfortable extremes. Autumn 
  brings a burst of color to the island, the many softwood trees 
  flushing with glorious reds, oranges, and golds before their 
  leaves fall. Winters are cold and dry, with crisp clear mornings 
  and days of weak sunshine. Snow is uncommon except upon 
  the higher northern grounds of the Isolated Fells, and then only 
  on the coldest of days. Spring is the gentlest time of year, with 
  fields of flowers blossoming everywhere across Melnibone. 
  High rainfall (40 to 60 inches a year) encourages lush plant 
  growth. The winds of the Dragon Sea are unpredictable, often 
  bringing storms and strong rains to the northern coasts. The 
  southern coasts receive warm, gentle winds, mists, and light 
  but regular rains from the distant Boiling Sea. 
  Due to ths many sorcerers dwelling upon Melnibonk, the 
  island's weather does not always have the chance to be 
  average. Should a garden party be held, fine weather would be 
  required, and thus spells are worked to keep the skies clear. A 
  mage can just as easily summon elementals to bring storms 
  and rain. Because of this, actual conditions upon the Dragon 
  Isle are variable to an extreme. It is possible for the Plain of 
  Imrryr to bask in sunshine while thick fogs blanket the Golden 
  Hills and storms sweep the nearby Meadows of Lassitude. 
  12 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  GEOGRAPHY 
  E L N I B O N g  PROPER, themainisland, issome 
  375 miles long, and about 150 miles across at its 
  M 
  widest. Though it was always a beautiful land, 
  constant habitation transformed Melnibon6 into a verdant 
  gem. In the last five hundred years those who tended the 
  Dragon Isle lost interest in the lands outside Imrryr. In that 
  time Melnibone has grown wild, a huge garden whose beauty 
  is newly freed from the constraints of its inhuman gardeners. 
  THE WILD COAST 
  The northern coast of Melnibone, the Wild Coast, is a rough 
  coastline of cliffs, rocks, and small shingle beaches. Safe 
  landing sites are few and far between. The Dragon Sea, north 
  of Melnibone, is a well-known home to sea-serpents. A cold 
  and violent sea rages against the northern cliffs. Many 
  would-be pirates have been wrecked along the Wild Coast, 
  their hulls tom open by rocks hidden below the waterline or 
  smashed against the towering cliffs by contrary currents and 
  savage winds. Wise mariners avoid the area, unless their boats 
  are protected by powerful charms. 
  THE SOUTHERN SHORES 
  Melnibonk’s southern beaches are of clear white sands, 
  alternating with low cliffs and soft hills. They are bathed by 
  warm, sometimes steaming currents from the Boiling Sea. 
  Here and there are small stretches of tidal mangrove swamp. 
  Crabs, mudskippers, and a variety of other creatures can be 
  found here, including some crocodiles, whose numbers have 
  lately increased after teetering on the edge of extinction. Coral 
  reefs grow in the shallow seas, navigable only where the fresh 
  waters of the Lalkhu River flow out from the Imrryrian Bay. 
  Closer to shore are a number of craggy islets, miniature 
  mountains whose jagged faces are home to many types of 
  seabirds. The southern waters boast a variety of marine life, 
  providing much variety for the banquet tables of the Dreaming 
  City. Mists along Melnibon6’s southern beaches are common, 
  especially on spring and autumn mornings, rolling in from the 
  sea and blanketing the countryside. 
  THE ISOLATED FELLS 
  Although it has no mountains, over half of Melnibon6 is hilly 
  and extremely rocky. The Isolated Fells, the most ragged, lie at 
  the extreme north of Melnibone. The ocean has long worn 
  down and even part-swallowed what once were high mountain 
  peaks. Empty and desolate by Imrryrian standards, the 
  Isolated Fells are home to many wonders. The Dragon Isle’s 
  once-rich gold, copper, and tin mines are here, as are quarries 
  for granite, quartz, and marble. There is little coastal plain in 
  this part of the island, and the seas offshore are extremely 
  deep. The terrain consists of granite crags and outcroppings, 
  slashed here and there by white streams rushing to the sea. 
  Blanketed by bracken, heather, and long rustling grasses, the 
  Isolated Fells are the coldest part of Melnibon6, exposed to the 
  full fury of the Dragon Sea. Snow sometimes falls on the 
  highest hills in winter. Small upland lakes are dotted 
  throughout the Fells, their still waters dark and surprisingly 
  deep. Here also grow occasional scattered woodlands of fii, 
  spruce, beech, and pine, the evergreens standing out against 
  the bare and black branches of the deciduous soflwoods in 
  winter. 
  THE ENCIRCLING HILLS 
  Arange of steep hills rings the Plain of Imrryr. In ancient times 
  these were sand dunes, and marked the edge of the original 
  island. They have long since compacted into shale and been 
  covered in wind-blown soil. Many grasses grow on the hills, 
  whispering in the wind alongside gorse and great fields of 
  flowers. Few trees grow here, except in the lower hills to the 
  southeast, as their deepquesting roots soon outstretch the thin 
  soil to the sands and rock below. Some hardy pines and 
  conifers are found near the foothills. Shrubs survive although 
  even they are often thin and spindly. 
  Wandering the Encircling Hills today, one may find 
  seashells many miles from the sea. The shells are always 
  turned to stone, perhaps touched by Grome’s rage in the time 
  when he warred with Straasha the sea-king. 
  THE GOLDEN HILLS 
  The Golden Hills are the gentlest of Melnibond’s upland 
  country, in the south of the island. These slopes and valleys 
  were among the first areas of the Dragon lsle populated by the 
  Melniboneans, and many abandoned estates exist here. A 
  MITOW plain skirts the coast, beaches of white sand giving 
  way to green lawns and shady dells. Lower stretches of the 
  coast are somewhat swampy, with patches of mangroves 
  growing amidst the thick mud. 
  The Golden Hills receive the highest rainfall of any part of 
  Melnibone except for Kiashu. Storms from the Dragon Sea 
  and mists and rain from the Boiling Sea ensure riotous plant 
  growth. The northern reaches of the hills are scattered with 
  thickets of bamboo and rhododendron. Temperate rainforest 
  blankets the southern reaches. One can wander for hours 
  among the lush ferns and orchids. Tall softwood and 
  hardwood trees stretch their branches in a green canopy which 
  blocks out the sun. A tangle of lianas and vines grow 
  suspended from them. Common trees include fig trees, 
  broad-leafed rubber trees, towering cedars, and flowering 
  cherry trees. Camphor trees abound, their evergreen leaves 
  and timber impregnated with aromatic oil. 
  MEADOWS OF LASSITUDE 
  Central Melniboni consists of a large plateau, the Meadows of 
  Lassitude, extending from the sea-cliffs of the Wild Coast east 
  to the balmy southern sea. Situated between three ranges of 
  hills, the Meadows of Lassitude are a rolling grassy plain, 
  named because of the many soporific herbs found here. These 
  include blossoms, flowers, blooms, leaves, bark, shrubs, 
  fungi, and mosses. From these fields the Melniboneans extract 
  the drugs with which they pass their idle days. 
  The undulating miles of heath, bog, grassy plain, and 
  scattered trees which make up the Meadows of Lassitude seem 
  largely natural, a testament to the skills of the countless 
  landscapers and garden-slaves who have toiled here over the 
  centuries. Reshaped to aesthetic as well as ecological 
  demands, the Meadows are an endless vista of serenity and 
  peace. Grassy downs, babbling brooks in steepsided stony 
  valleys, small stands of slender white-trunked birch trees 
  trembling in the breeze, the gleam of sunlight off fen waters 
  where slow carp swim among the rushes. every arcadian idyll 
  one could desire is here. Once Emperors held court amid the 
  greenwood and dewed grass, and nobles dined by streams 
  beneath the moon. Now only slaves come, bidden by their 
  masters to collect the harvests and thereby further spur the 
  fantasies and visions of the Dreaming City. 
  13 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  - 
  “ T H E  TURF WAS CROSSED bv trails [Elrid had 
  I 
  known as a boy. He trod them as surely’as he had 
  done when, he recollected, his father4istant upon a 
  charger-called to some servitor to take care with the 
  child but to let him walk. He must grow up to remember 
  every pathway that existed in Melnibone; for in those 
  trails and tracks, those roads and highs, lay the 
  configuration of their history, the geometry of their 
  wisdom, t h e  very key to their most secret 
  understandings.” 
  -THE REVENGE OF THE ROSE 
  Many of the drug-yielding and pharmaceutical plants were 
  introduced from elsewhere in the Young Kingdoms. The 
  Meadows have been reshaped to favor many environments, 
  such as the complex of artificial wetlands that is home to a 
  variety of birds and aquatic life. Some imported plants thrive 
  in the Meadows in greater profusion than found nowadays in 
  their original habitat. 
  PLAIN OF IMRRYR 
  The Plain of Imrryr extends from the Encircling Hills to the 
  sea, stretching its fields of green turf, crops, and orchards in a 
  patchwork carpet about the Dreaming City. These are 
  farmlands, tended by drug-addicted garden-slaves who spend 
  their lives weeding, hoeing, and harvesting. Staples include 
  rice, wheat, and corn. Fruits include apples, oranges, peaches, 
  and grapes. Herds of cattle and sheep graze under the slaves’ 
  watchful eyes. Many delicately perfumed flowers also grow 
  upon the plain, as do scattered clumps of trees. 
  The rushing waters of the Lalkhu River spring from the 
  Encircling Hills, meandering across the green sward to join 
  the Bay of Imrryr. Vast and cool, the river’s waters irrigate 
  much of the farmlands in a glittering network of canals and 
  flooded fields. Its banks are lined with rushes and weeping 
  willows. White lilies nod on the cool, dark water in the river’s 
  slower stretches. The Lalkhu wildlife includes white cranes, 
  kingfishers, otters, and dragonflies. 
  THE INTANGIBLE FOREST 
  When thick sea-fogs roll through this forest, they obscure the tree 
  trunks so that leaves and branches seem to float wraith-like above 
  the ground. Thousands of years ago the Intangible Forest was a 
  small plantation near the shore where Melnibonk could glide 
  amongst the trees, reveling in the forest’s beauty. Trees in the 
  oldest part of the forest are unnaturally ordered, positioned where 
  they would be most aesthetically pleasing. With the passing years 
  the forest has slowly p w n ,  and natural disorder has extended the 
  forest’s borders. 
  Cool and damp, the Intangible Forest is a haven for those 
  seeking relief from the humid summer heat. An emerald carpet 
  of moss covers much of the forest floor, dappled with 
  green-tinged light where the sun penetrates the thick, leafy 
  canopy. There are over a hundred varieties of moss, soft, 
  springy, and mostly untrodden. There are parts of the forest 
  which have never been seen by a living MelnibonCan, and 
  steep-sided valleys where the sun never shines, so thick grow 
  the trees overhead. There are maples, their leaves changing to 
  fiery reds and oranges in autumn. Slender birch trees become 
  invisible when the winter fogs come, until they seem to be 
  nothing more than a fallen tree’s dream of life. Flowering 
  cherries scatter pink and white petals across the moss in 
  springtime. Graceful willows overhang narrow, twisting 
  streams. Chestnuts add their hoary branches to the rustling 
  canopy. There are gnarled oaks and pines where the forest 
  grows south across the Encircling Hills. Flowering shrubs 
  such as azaleas and rhododendron grow here also. Occasional 
  glades boast fields of bluebells, daffodils, snowdrops, and 
  crocuses, all raising their blossoms to greet the sun. 
  G EOMANTIC 
  CONFICU RATIONS 
  HE SIMPLE FOLK of the Young Kingdoms believe 
  Mehibonk to be haunted. Stories are told of sailors 
  they marched along some rutted track. Imrryr’s dreaming 
  residents know that Mehibond is a mystic land, its esoteric 
  wisdom encoded into a complex pattern of ley-lines and 
  pathways which crisscross the island. Standing stones, alone 
  or sometimes elaborately grouped, mark these occult 
  pathways. Lichen obscures many of the ancient carvings 
  engraved upon these grey and weathered megaliths. Some 
  lines follow the path of a normal road, but others cut across the 
  trackless hills. This network of lines and stones is encoded 
  with MelnibonC’s deepest secrets and mysteries, established at 
  the turn of ages when Imrryr’s people swore allegiance to 
  chaos. 
  If a full-blooded MelnibonCan, walking these pathways lays 
  down in the walker’s mind the possibilities and capabilities of 
  magic and sorcery. Among other things, it confers upon them 
  the ability to summon the Beast Lords. For young 
  MelnibonCan sorcerers, it replaces the years of meditation and 
  rigorous training humans must go through to discipline their 
  minds so that they may use magic. Often the week or so it 
  takes to “walk the bounds” is the only time a Mehibonean 
  leaves Imrryr in this day and age. Should a Mehibonean 
  initiate not walk these awakening pathways, he or she must 
  study to learn the magical arts, as do mundane human 
  sorcerers. Even so, such a MelnibonCan would progress far 
  more swiftly than any human scholar. 
  Heirs to the Ruby Throne undertake a trek around 
  Mehibod’s pathways and beyond, to instill in them a proper 
  sense of the punty of their land. 
  Other roads exist upon the Dragon Isle which lead to other 
  worlds. These gateways can be triggered with suitable 
  gestures and songs. Along these roads Melnibone once 
  marched her armies to invade and conquer nearby planes, 
  returning with vast wealth to enrich the Bright Empire. 
  Humans who have sought to invade the Dragon Isle are often 
  dispatched by activating a path the hapless humans have 
  chosen to follow, leading them all unknowing to another 
  world. Without the correct sorceries there is no way back. 
  Some of these magical roads lead to unintended worlds, and 
  some routes do not work at all. The magic which operates 
  many of them has gone awry over the years, the wisdom of the 
  ancients irreparable by the lethargic Melniboneans of today. 
  T 
  landing on MelnibonC, only to vanish into thin air as 
  14 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  PLACES OF NOTE 
  ........................................................................................................................... 
  ..................................... 
  ................................................ 
  ELOW ARE DESCRIBED a variety of locales upon 
  the Dragon Isle. This is by no means an exhaustive list, 
  B and gamemasters are urged to create new places and 
  expand upon those given here. 
  THE ARENA OF LOST SOULS 
  Three day’s ride north of Imrryr, amidst the undulating fields 
  of the Meadows of Lassitude, rear the stones of an ancient 
  arena. The fluted walls and flying buttresses are grey and 
  lichen-stained, and overgrown with rustling growths of 
  clinging ivy. From over the walls come sporadic, dreadful 
  roars and wailings, all the more horrid for the fact that 
  Melnibonh throats emit such sounds. Twenty guards are 
  stationed at the arena, although no games have been held here 
  for a thousand years. 
  The captives of the arena are sorcerers of Melnibonk who 
  have lost their souls. Their bodies remain animate and 
  functioning, but at a primitive, near-animal level. Stumbling 
  and clumsy, the soulless bodies seem possessed of a cold, 
  ferocious hatred of anything and everything unlike 
  themselves. The creatures are contained within the sunken 
  arena floor, which is below ground level. The many tiers of 
  seats which once filled the arena walls have largely rotted 
  away, revealing passages and rooms below once hidden from 
  view. Piles of windblown leaves rustle in the dark corners. 
  The first soulless sorcerers to be placed captive here were 
  mind-blasted survivors of the Dhaai wars. Ever since that 
  time, a thousand years ago, their numbers have increased. 
  Deprived of their souls, whatever animates the bodies has 
  rendered them almost immortal. The creatures are fed only 
  once a month, but they still live, although occasionally one is 
  devoured by the others. Emaciated, filthy, and with streaming 
  ragged hair, these shrieking, howling revenants are barely 
  recognizable as Melnibonh men and women. 
  THE DRAGON FALLS 
  The Dragon Falls splash a hundred feet down the dry stone 
  cliffs of the Encircling Hills, close to the source of the River 
  Lalkhu. The falls gained their name 9,500 years ago, when 
  Emperor Sadric the Third died here in battle. Legend says that 
  the Emperor’s opponent in the fatal combat was himself. A 
  damp, dark cavern behind the falls is said to be haunted by 
  Sadric’s silently pleading ghost, although for what the pale 
  figure begs no book tells. On moonlit nights the ghost of the 
  Emperor’s circling dragon-steed can be glimpsed reflected in 
  the pool at the foot of the waterfall, forever waiting for her 
  rider’s return. 
  THE FLOATING PALACE 
  Cradled in a cleft in the Golden Hills, close enough to the 
  southern shore to hear the crying of the gulls, is an abandoned 
  villa. Set within a lake which quite fills the valley in which it 
  stands, the palace seems to float upon the weed-choked and 
  stagnant waters. The Floating Palace is fashioned all of ivory, 
  the once-polished white now yellowed with age. Spires, 
  domes, walls, and doorways alike are decorated with an 
  intricate profusion of fine carvings. 
  None have holidayed within this ivory villa for many 
  centuries. Summers past saw its inhabitants glide across the 
  lake in flotillas of pleasure craft, their flickering torches 
  reflected amidst the ripples of their passage. Palace and lake 
  alike echoed with laughter, music, and song. In those days the 
  lake was kept well-stocked with fish. Long centuries of 
  neglect have left the waters more marsh than lake, home now 
  to ducks, duck weed, insects, and a few hardy eels. Insects and 
  mice now parade within the palace’s ivory walls. 
  THE LAHE OF MOON 
  High in the hills of the Isolated Fells lies a lake of liquid silver, 
  its metallic surface reflecting the gorse and rocky outcrops that 
  surround it. The silver is made from reflected moonlight, 
  magically transmogrified by crystal lenses situated on the 
  nearby hilltops. Only one of the lenses, constructed by sorcery 
  in distant millennia, still works. Once eight such crystal prisms 
  captured and converted the moonlight into silver, which then 
  flowed downhill to join the lake. Over the centuries of 
  Mehibonk’s decline the lenses broke one by one, and neither 
  the skill nor the inclination to repair them exists in lmrryr 
  today. The lake is less than half-full. 
  The Lake of Moon is one of many sources of MelnibonB’s 
  famed wealth. Slaves still come to the silver lake to scoop up 
  the cold, heavy liquid that solidifies the instant it is carried past 
  the lake’s sandy shores. The lumps of raw silver are then taken 
  back to Imrryr for smelting. During winter the edges of the 
  silver lake freeze. The silver removed from the area’s magical 
  influence remains solid in delicate forms. Sprays of metal are 
  wrought in this manner by the cleverest among Imrryr’s 
  silversmiths. 
  THE WEEPING GLADE OF GALITH L‘AR 
  A single slender tower of translucent quartz, capped with a 
  pointed roof of silver, stands within a ring of shaggy oak and 
  chestnut trees in a sheltered valley in the Golden Hills. The 
  trees are vast and ancient, planted more than four hundred 
  years ago. Regardless of the weather, it always rains within the 
  glade where the tower stands, although beneath the trees it is 
  relatively dry. Those who stand amidst the shadows and 
  leaf-mould under the spreading branches and thick trunks do 
  not do so for long. Beneath the trees the sound of sobbing 
  echoes endlessly, mingling with the damp and drip of the rain. 
  Never is there any sign of she who weeps so woefully amongst 
  the trees. 
  The tower was built four centuries ago at the request of a 
  Mehibonkn noblewoman, Lady Galith L‘Ar. She left lmrryr 
  and moved into the tower when she was a young woman. She 
  never returned to court, dying here alone and unniourned at 
  the age of 87. It is said by those that know such things that 
  Lady Galith’s only love died on the eve of their marriage. 
  Rather than go on with life without her, Lady L‘Ar moved here 
  to mourn until death claimed her also. The slender tower has 
  stood abandoned since. 
  The depressing atmosphere which lingers within the tower’s 
  walls is of such intensity that all who visit are infected by its 
  potent melancholy. Lady L‘Ar’s home is now shunned by all. 
  and the slaves who venture out across the island in search of 
  rare herbs never venture within. Those who do invariably go 
  mad, killing themselves or dying of a broken heart. Such was 
  the fate of Kahan the Seventh, 329th Emperor to sit upon the 
  Ruby Throne. Venturing to the tower to satisfy the urgings of 
  his twin brother, he returned a horror-haunted and trembling 
  man, dying within the year. Those who return from the tower 
  still capable of speech will not or cannot speak of what it 
  contains which is so devastating. The poisonous aura of the 
  tower clings even to objects taken from it, and those handling 
  such artifacts suffer strange and terrifying dreams. 
  15 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  WYRM COVE 
  Wyrm Cove is a small and lonely bay on Melnibone’s Wild 
  Coast.. Few make the effort to cross the moors and ragged hills 
  of the Isolated Fells which guard the cove on the landward 
  side. Any approach from the sea is made perilous by 
  treacherous currents and partially submerged rocks. Within 
  Wyrm Cove are steep cliffs with narrow shale beaches at their 
  feet. Colonies of cormorants and gannets live upon the cliffs’ 
  many niches and ledges. 
  Wyrm Cove gains its name from its most frequent visitors, the 
  rare and elusive sea serpents. Early summer nights see the 
  serpents congregating in the bay from the Dragon Sea. They 
  come to mate, the females returning in spring to give birth to their 
  live young. Sporting bright crests which they raise and lower in 
  complicated courting displays, the sea serpents gather here in 
  great n u m b  although reduced from the swarms of centuries 
  past. Sparring and spawning, the waters of Wyrm Cove boil with 
  their coiled fnasses and writhing, reptilian bodies. 
  While the males clash in duels, the females swim 
  encouragingly about them, spurring them on to greater efforts 
  and sometimes leaping or rearing out of the waves in 
  excitement. Once a partner is chosen the sea serpents couple, 
  tenderly entwining their sinuous bodies. The females return to 
  Wyrm Cove on the night of the first full moon in spring, giving 
  birth to their young live before returning to the depths of the 
  Dragon Sea. The new-born sea serpents are left to fend for 
  themselves. Few survive to maturity. Wyrm Cove, perhaps 
  because of its isolation, is thought to be the only breeding site 
  for sea serpents in the Young Kingdoms. 
  A’SHA’H I IAN 
  Overgrown ruins of white marble lie tumbled at the 
  Southernmost tip of the Dragon Isle. The first settlement upon 
  Mehibone, A’sha’hiian, was abandoned after the tumult and 
  horror of the Chaos Wars. Once a place of light and beauty, the 
  city is now a funereal monument to the dead race who ruled 
  this world before the coming of the Melnibonean people, and 
  with whose royal line they intermarried. 
  Broken towem, lower and less proud than those of mad Imrryr, 
  stand draped with ivy. Broad avenues are empty, save for rushing 
  wind and memories. The canals where slender gondolas once 
  sailed are dry and choked with weeds. Palace roofs are collapsed 
  upon mms so minimally furnished as to seem spartan by 
  Imnyrian standards. Before the Melnitxmk began to serve 
  Chaos, they were a calm, detached race. Once the Balance was 
  betrayed, h people of the Bright Empire gave themselves over 
  to luxuries and pleasure. A’sha’hiian is not only a tomb for the 
  people of a dead race, but also a memorial of what Melniboni 
  might have become. 
  THE DREAMING STONES 
  This ring of stone monoliths stands atop a low knoll 
  overlooking the Lalkhu River. A tossing emerald sea of 
  chestnut trees surrounds the hill, their branches bare and black 
  in winter. The roots of the trees are exposed among the mud 
  which soaks the hill. Anyone walking up to the standing stones 
  will find their feet weighed down by the mud’s sticky lumps. 
  Erected in a time now only a dream, the Dreaming Stones 
  are part of the invisible labyrinth of ley-lines, song-paths, and 
  megaliths woven into the fiber of Melnibone’s existence. 
  From a distance the stones seem moss-grown and craggy, but 
  basically not unusual. Close examination shows their surfaces 
  to be crisscrossed with inscriptions in archaic High Speech. 
  Alas, the weather has destroyed so much of the carvings as to 
  make them indecipherable. 
  Those with witch-sight might, on occasions such as the 
  night of a new moon, or on days when the sun rises as a faint 
  disc of blood in the sparkling vapor of a shifting fog, detect the 
  ancient force which impregnates these stones. Although their 
  power is long faded with age, sometimes the stones thrum 
  when touched. enough to set someone trembling in sympathy 
  with the note vibrating through the rock. 
  The ritual for correctly attuning this energy has been long lost, 
  although doubtless it sits misplaced in some idle lmrryrian 
  noble’s library waiting to be discovered. When correctly sung in 
  High Speech, the wild, wailing tongue of Chaos, those who stand 
  among the stones can magically transport themselves to one of 
  the Higher Worlds of the myriad Lords of Chaos. Without this 
  ritual, the best that can be hoped for is that those who sleep among 
  the stones may find their astral selves travelling briefly to other 
  planes in their dreams. 
  NDISTURBED FOR hundreds of years, 
  countless species of animals, large and small, 
  flourish upon Melnibone and her lesser isles. On 
  Melnibone proper there are few dangerous 
  animals remaining, most having been hunted to extinction 
  many millennia ago. Save for a handful of estuarine crocodiles 
  in the pockets of mangrove swamp along the southern shores, 
  the largest animals on the Dragon lsle are the skittish herds of 
  slender deer, and wild boar in the deeper glades of the 
  Meadows of Lassitude and upon the Isolated Fells. Hares, 
  rabbits, gray foxes, red squirrels, and wildcats dwell in some 
  numbers upon MelnibonB, as do bats, shrews, turtles, tortoises, 
  and many kinds of snakes and lizards. 
  Melnibone also supports a great variety of birds including 
  ruffled pheasants, crows, slender-legged white cranes, owls, 
  finches, swallows, hawks, falcons, cormorants, ducks, 
  nightingales, and small songbirds. It is a Melnibonean custom 
  to identify children with birds, a tradition honoring Lady 
  Fileet. Elric’s namebird is the small white falcon. 
  Sea-mammals abound in the waters around the island, 
  including bottle-nosed dolphins in the southern seas, and a 
  variety of seals, sea-otters, and walruses in the colder waters 
  off the Wild Coast. In the small, deep lakes of the Fells lives 
  the giant salamander, a harmless amphibian of startling size, 
  adults reaching up to five feet in length. When correctly 
  prepared, these creatures are considered a rare delicacy in 
  Imrryr, although few from that city hunt for them now. Other 
  aquatic animals include graceful otters in the isle’s placid 
  rivers, golden carp, crayfish, many sinall fish such as 
  sticklebacks and minnows, and frogs and other amphibians. 
  Melnibone and her attendant islets, uniquely in the Young 
  Kingdoms, have not a single species of spider. This quirk in 
  the ecology is ironed out by the sizeable number of 
  insect-eating shrews, small birds, mammals, and carnivorous 
  plants found across the Melnibonkan archipelago. 
  16 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  The southern isles, Wa'aiya'oro and Kiashu, have more 
  tropical climates. Kiashu has no animal life whatsover, 
  although some of its plants are sentient. Wa'aiya'oro has many 
  exotic creatures, such as tapirs, sleek spotted ocelots, winged 
  lizards, gliding snakes, treeclimbing crabs, civet cats, sloths, 
  wild boar, fishing eagles, garish parrots, and others. Most 
  striking of all are the last of a breed of small mammoths, now 
  extinct elsewhere in the world. 
  Two species once mmmon in MelnibonC and now extinct 
  were a long-legged breed of horse, and the legendary giant 
  oxen of antiquity, which were said to pull war-chariots into 
  battle many thousands of years ago. 
  LESSER MAMMOTHS 
  Rg&+J$ 
  Ht5 NATURAL ANIMAL is smaller and less 
  shaggy than their kindred which dwell in the barren 
  delicate creatures, their coloring reddish brown rather than the 
  brown-black of their northern cousins. Surprisingly quiet for 
  their size, lesser mammoths stand ten feet high at the shoulder. 
  Only the males have tusks, whereas both sexes of greater 
  mammoths bear them. Their wrinkled, hairy trunks end in 
  three nimble "fingers" unlike the northern species' two. In 
  ancient Mehibod these placid beasts would draw brightly 
  gilded, ornately carved carriages through the streets of Imrryr, 
  or sometimes pavilions upon their broad backs. 
  T 
  ice-fields of the far north. Lesser mammoths are more 
  LESSER MAMMOTH 
  Characterlstlca 
  Rolls 
  STR 
  3D6+30 
  CON 
  306+4 
  SI2 
  3D6+30 
  INT 
  1 D6+2 
  POW 
  3D6 
  DEX 
  3D6 
  HP 
  CON+SIZ-12 
  ARMOR: 6-points of hide and hair. 
  DAMAGE BONUS: +4D6 
  Average 
  40-41 
  40-41 
  5-6 
  10-11 
  10-11 
  68-70 
  14-15 
  Weapon Attack 
  Pany Damage 
  Gore' 
  65% 
  25% 
  1DlO+l +db 
  Toss" 
  50% 
  - 
  2D6 squeeze + 2D6 falling damage 
  Trample 
  75% 
  - 
  ED6 
  Only male lesser mammoths have tusks. 
  .. Lesser mammoths may pick up an opponent with their trunk, and either 
  squeeze them to death for 1D8 points of damage per round (the 
  Mammoth's own STR must be overcome by the opponent to get free) or fi 
  they overcome the opponent's SIZ with their STR, toss them up to half the 
  mammoth's STR in yards. 
  SKILLS Search 25%, Scent 50%. 
  DRAGONS 
  RACON5 HAVE DWELT within Melnibone's 
  caves since before the foundation of the Bright Empire. 
  D 
  They were originally led to this world fmm another 
  plane to assist in the battle against the Dead Gods. These vast 
  reptilian monsters, scaled, spined and crested, brought terror 
  wherever they flew, extending the boundaries of the Bright 
  Empire from plane b plane. They were ridden by the best 
  warriors of MelnibonC, both male and female. The dragon 
  sorceries which allow rider and mount to communicate, an 
  unnatml empathy and communion of will with will, were the 
  first and greatest magicks of early Melnibone. 
  Once there were thousands of dragons in the caves in the old 
  volcanic hills behind Imriyr. Now there are scarcely a hundred. 
  Dragons are about two feet long when they hatch. A dragon 
  of some 200 years, still in its childhood, averages 40 feet long, 
  with a leathery wing measuring 30 feet from base to clawed 
  tip. The creatures slowly continue to grow as long as they live. 
  There is no known upper limit to dragon size. Because of their 
  unnatural metabolism, dragons must sleep 100 years for every 
  day they are active. Dragons are incredibly long-lived. The 
  oldest dragon in Elric's time is 5,000-year-old Flamefang, 
  considered young for a dragon. Other dragons named in the 
  Elric saga include Scarsnout and Sweetclaw. 
  Dragons exude a particular, musty reptilian smell, almost 
  comforting to those who know them well. Despite their bulk, 
  dragons can run surprisingly fast on land. Their reflective 
  scales range in color from greenish-black to reddish-green to 
  greenish-gold, and shine like burnished metal. Dragons have 
  long forked tongues. With their slender necks, delicate snouts, 
  and ruffled crests, they are surprisingly attractive creatures. 
  When roused however, with venom igniting as it drips from 
  their jaws, lips curled back to reveal needle-sharp ivory fangs, 
  razor-sharp wattles raised on neck and tail, red nostrils dilated 
  and cold eyes staring down, a dragon is a fearsome sight. 
  Dragons are highly intelligent, understanding both 
  MelnibonCan and High Speech. In flight, dragons meld their 
  consciousness with that of their rider. The first time this 
  mindmeld occurs, the dragon communicates the name by 
  which the dragon knows the rider. Elric's name was Little Cat. 
  Dragons can fly through the planes of the multiverse, as well 
  as through time. Such actions require powerful sorceries, and 
  cause the dragons great stress. 
  Dragon saddles are works of art, with fine woods and 
  precious inlays. They are high front and back to hold the rider 
  secure. Silver stirrups hang for the rider's feet, and most 
  saddles have a richly embroidered sheath for the rider's 
  weapons. It is also possible to ride dragons bareback. 
  A flight of dragons and riders is directed through complicated 
  blasts on the Dragon-Horn. The horn is traditionally carried by 
  the Lord of The Dragon Caves, a hereditary title. Dragon Prince 
  (or Princess) is the title bestowed upon any dragon rider. An 
  ornamental goad is given to the rider to mark the new title, 
  although the weapon is rarely used. 
  More on dragons and their riders appears in this book's 
  scenario The Suffer Glass. 
  DRAGON RITUALS 
  The children of previous generations of Dragon Princes are 
  presented before the dragons at age 11. Having been taught the 
  Song of Approach in previous months, together with the ritual 
  steps and gestures used to sooth the dragons, the young rider 
  saddles the beast and mounts up. An experienced rider rides 
  another dragon alongside the novice, providing tuition in both 
  the skills and histories of dragonflight. Like all of 
  Mehibonkin life, dragon-riding is swathed in tradition. There 
  are songs and rituals to accompany every moment that dragon 
  and rider are together. 
  PROPERTIES OF DRAGON VENOM 
  Dragon venom has extraordinary qualities. It is highly 
  combustible, and bursts into flame on contact with air. This 
  17 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  FOR EVERY DAY OF DRAGON FURY, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SLUMBER. 
  venom ignites anything flammable it contacts, and no human 
  armor protects against dragonflame. 
  Dry deposits of venom cake the dragon’s lower jaw. When 
  scraped off, powdered, and dissolved in several cups of water, 
  the venom makes a powerful potion that confers strength and 
  vitality to the imbiber. Only alchemists with a Potions skill 
  greater than 80% know this, and even fewer have access to 
  dragon venom. The potion increases the imbiber’s S’IX and 
  CON each by 1D8+4 for ID10 hours, boosting both courage 
  and stamina. The drinker must succeed in a CON x5 roll, or the 
  agonizing pain that accompanies the first minutes of the 
  potion’s effect proves overwhelming, causing collapse in 
  convulsions for a number of hours equal to half the STR gain. 
  L 
  HREE SMALL ISLANDS off MelnibonC’s coast 
  can be considered to be the last outposts of the 
  Bright Empire. Each is lonely and desolate, too wild 
  T 
  or forlorn for habitation by the encroaching human 
  hordes. The islands are Amashii, Kiashu, and Wa’aiya’oro. 
  AMASHII 
  EVER POPULAR WITH Melnibonhns, Amashii 
  is a bleak and windswept island, fully exposed to the 
  N 
  fury of the Dragon Sea. Lashed by storms for much 
  of the year, its shoreline is forbidding and inhospitable, miles 
  of black cliffs and narrow shale beaches pounded by the 
  waves. Inland, Amashii consists almost entirely of bleak, 
  wind-scoured moors, dotted here and there with shallow lakes 
  reflecting the dreary, cloud-scabbed sky. Scattered stone ruins 
  on the northernmost peninsula once formed the tower-prison 
  of nobles exiled from Imrryr’s court over the centuries. 
  Amashii is home only to seabirds, fur seals, and ghosts. 
  KIASHU 
  N K IAS H U, the MelnibonCans indulged their 
  propensity for resculpting landscapes. The island 
  0 
  was shaped into a vision of loveliness. It was given 
  bays and beaches of clean white sand. There were cities where 
  canals wound between the palaces and beneath bridges of 
  petrified lace, the slow waters carrying swans and pleasure 
  barges amongst the reflections and pale lily blossoms. Ragged 
  black crags capped with snow reared in the center of the 
  island. Semi-tropical jungles lushly carpeted their foothills in 
  18 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  verdant green. The plains alternated fields of flowers with 
  shady forest, with cool glades and rushing streams. Artists and 
  poets would come to Kiashu to gain inspiration from the 
  island’s rare beauty, to walk with the tame herds of slender 
  deer, and to feed the plump contented birds which would fly to 
  their hands. 
  Today Kiashu is run wild, her pleasure gardens overgrown. 
  Trees and flowers grow riotously from ruined walls and 
  rooftops. The canals of Vlai’huan are choked with weeds 
  while those of sweet bkhaghai are dry and empty, the harbor 
  choked with sand. Where once lovers could stroll 
  hand-in-hand beneath the trees in the filtered moonlight, now 
  there are great thickets of tangled vines and thorns. Leaves 
  slowly decay into the rich black soil which carpets the jungle 
  floor. The mountains are abandoned, and their empty 
  ice-fields gleam in the sunlight. 
  Some of the sorceries used to reshape Kiashu have become 
  old and diseased, and their slow leaching has infected some of 
  the plants. Many species have become imbued with sentience, 
  and some are carnivorous. There are no animals on Kiashu, 
  and it is a dangerous place for humans. Botanical dangers 
  include vampire roses, gallows trees, and warthorns. 
  WA’AIYA’ORO 
  HICKLY FORESTED WITH semi-tropical 
  rainforest, Wa’aiya’oro was stocked with game to serve 
  and beasts from across the Young Kingdoms were installed 
  here and left to breed, as were strange creatures from planes 
  enslaved by the Bright Empire. The variety of terrain provided 
  habitats for many animals, not all of them dangerous, but 
  every one challenging to hunt. And hunted they were by the 
  jaded nobles of the Dreaming City, for trophies, for sport, for 
  the mindless slaughter. Slaves were pitted against monsters for 
  the pleasure in watching them die, and sometimes rare 
  creatures would be transported to Imrryr, there to pine and die 
  caged behind bars. 
  When the Melnibonhns’ dreams became all-consuming, 
  and they became unwilling to leave their towers for anything 
  so active as hunting, Wa’aiya’oro reverted to the wilderness. 
  Ocelots make their dens within the libraries of long-dead 
  sages, and hanging gardens of orchids and vines spring from 
  the windows of abandoned towers in once-grand Wakasabi. 
  Strange feral beasts prowl the island’s jungles. An unnatural 
  ecology has evolved on Wa’aiya’oro, kept in fragile balance. 
  T 
  as a hunting preserve for the Melnibonhs. Animals 
  T STOOD OUT IN STARK black silhouette, a city 
  ” I of fantastic magnificence, in conception and in 
  execution. It was the oldest city in the world, built by 
  artists and conceived as a work of art rather than a 
  functional dwelling place, but Elric knew that squalor 
  lurked in many narrow streets and the Lords of Imrtyr 
  left many of the towers empty and uninhabited rather 
  than let the bastard population of the city dwell within. 
  There were few Dragon Masters left: few who would 
  claim Melnibonean blood. ‘‘ 
  -WEIRD O F  THE WHITE WOLF, II, 2 
  Among the creatures which live upon the island are blind 
  moleworms from the Weeping Waste, lonely lesser 
  mammoths, tigers, solitary cave bears, scorpion-tailed spined 
  miskrags from the Fifth Plane, and the tree-slinging gabberer 
  from the jungles of Yu. The fabulously rare snow leopard lives 
  in the peaks of the mountains, unseen by Melniboneans for 
  over two hundred years. 
  TH SCINTILLATING towers 
  of 
  lacework-fiie stone, many-spired palaces of 
  crystal, and delicate mansions of ceramic and 
  W 
  bone, Imrryr is a city as wonderful as it is 
  haunting. It was created by artists instead of architects. To 
  human eyes much of her skyline is disturbing and unnatural, 
  exaggerated and insane. In her inhabitants’ narcotic dreams 
  the Bright Empire is still great, and the traditions of her ten 
  thousand years are ingrained and unchangeable. 
  HISTORY 
  ELNIBONE’S FIRST CAPITAL 
  was 
  H’hui’shan, destroyed during the Bright Empire’s 
  M 
  civil war. Proud H’hui’shan, with her rose gardens 
  and palaces of jade, was burnt by dragon venom. The blood of 
  the city’s inhuman inhabitants was spilled on the 
  paving-stones of her broad avenues. 
  A hundred years passed before construction began on the 
  towers of Imnyr. The new city was erected atop the shattered 
  ruins of the old. Traces of H’hui’shan still exist today. 
  Shattered jade lies buried in the clay, and ancient vaults and 
  stairwells have been incorporated into the foundations of 
  newer buildings. 
  As the Bright Empire eclipsed one world at first, and then 
  conquered many others across the planes, rich tribute from 
  the succession of subdued nations flowed into Imrryr. The 
  Dreaming City became the finest and most richly appointed 
  city of all Melnibonk, its inhabitants surrounded by 
  splendor and luxury. Wonders from many worlds filled 
  Imrryr’s halls and galleries. Diplomats, travelers, and 
  scholars from throughout the planes of Melnibonk’s 
  dominions formed a constant stream through Imrryr ’s 
  winding streets. 
  A thousand years ago Imrryr began to fall victim to the 
  languorous ennui that had for centuries gripped her 
  inhabitants, sapping them of their will and proud spirit and 
  replacing them with drug-inspired visions. Reeling From near 
  defeat at the hands of the Dharzi Empire, Melnibone began her 
  decline, and dreaming Imrryr with her. The Bright Empire 
  gradually lost her grip upon her extra-planar kingdoms, and 
  their exotic visitors and deputations no longer appeared at the 
  court of the Ruby Throne. 
  19 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  The birthrate began to fall, among the dragons as well as the 
  Melnibonkans. As the families who dwelt in them died, 
  once-grand towers were abandoned, sealed to foil the 
  ambitions of any half-breed or human slaves who dared to 
  think of living in even an approximation of Melnibonkan 
  glory. Some of Imrryr’s bright palaces and spires, each a 
  different shade and hue, have faded and fallen, slowly 
  crumbling and collapsing into themselves. Many towers are 
  still strong but even they, like their inhabitants, are rotting 
  from within. 
  Those towers stand empty and deserted. Mehibondam have 
  lost both the energy to care about and the skills to rebuild their 
  dying city. Visitors from the Young Kingdoms now come to 
  gaze upon Imrryr’s fading beauty. To them it is a splendid 
  vision, one that haunts their dreams. As yet the Young 
  Kingdoms have not the skills to create an Imrryr of their own, 
  although some have tried. Dhakos, capital of Jharkor, with its 
  squat array of stunted spires, is but an insulting shadow of the 
  Dreaming City. 
  Even though humans hate and fear Melnibont and all she 
  and her inhabitants represent, still they envy the rich wonders 
  that fill her halls. For those treasures that only Melnibonk can 
  provide-her 
  delicate artworks, precious gems and rare 
  metals-merchants, 
  sailors, and petty lordlings from 
  throughout the Young Kingdoms crowd Imrryr’s vast harbor. 
  The harbor is the only place where most visitors are permitted, 
  and even here they are subject to insulting and harsh laws 
  restricting their movements. 
  Within a few years Imrryr will be nothing but a dream, once 
  Prince Elric’s doom encompasses the Dreaming City. Imrryr 
  totters, and requires but a sharp nudge to send her toppling into 
  destruction. The Sack of Imrryr is described in the story “The 
  Dreaming City.” Until that time Imrryr stands as a testament to 
  more than ten thousand years of history, which tragedy will 
  claim in the end. 
  GEOGRAPHY 
  M RRY R S ITS U PON A series of knolls and low, rocky 
  hills. The harbor was once a lagoon separated from the sea 
  I 
  by rocky outcrops, through which the tides swept in 
  contrary eddies. The hills curve around the harbor to the 
  northeast, and are riddled with a network of old, hollow lava 
  tunnels, caves, and artificial passageways. The Lalkhu River 
  curves around Imrryr’s walls to the west, opening into the sea 
  a short distance from the harbor. Aqueducts carry its water to 
  the Dreaming City. 
  ATMOSPHERE 
  Imnyr seems frozen in time. Its wonders recall the glorious 
  past, while the present day has made but the slightest 
  impression among Imrryr ’s tapering towers and bulbous, 
  fanciful spires. A drugged and soporific silence hangs in the air 
  over the Dreaming City, occasionally broken by a slave’s 
  agonized screams or the ecstatic cry of a noble spurred to 
  fantasy by some aromatic smoke. Only the Foreign Quarter in 
  the harbor seems active, and there the actions of its inhabitants 
  are nervous and stilted, overawed by the alien beauty of their 
  surroundings. 
  APPEARANCE 
  H E NAMES OF TH 
  E artists, many and varied, who 
  planned the growth of the Dreaming City are lost to us. 
  T 
  Only Imrryr remains as testimony to their skill and 
  vision. The city grew rapidly, constructed with both 
  engineering skill and sorcerous ingenuity, following the 
  curves and rises of the ground. Her districts are many, the 
  towers and gardens of each varied and unique. Almost organic 
  in appearance, the Dreaming City seems to have sprung up 
  from the soil fully grown, like some rare and magnificent 
  orchid. The city is almost completely without straight lines. 
  Roads twist, walls bulge, and towers spiral and taper. Around 
  every comer lies some new wonder. Some compare Immyr to 
  the breathtaking loveliness of a coral reef or lace-like seashell. 
  In truth there can be no such comparisons, for Imrryr is unique 
  in her fading beauty. 
  Mehibonk’s thousands of graceful towers are each constructed 
  of a separate substance. Narrow streets twist up From the shore to 
  Imrryr’s heights. Eight broad thoroughfares meet at the palace, 
  forming the hub of the city. One of these major avenues is the 
  Processional Avenue, the the royal road which winds from 
  harborside to palace door. The palace itself is built atop the 
  highest hill of Imrryr, crowning the city with its needle-thin 
  spires, inlaid domes of alabaster and cut crystal, and minarets and 
  towers of a thousand hues. Of all the beautiful buildings in this 
  city, the Imperial palace is the most magnificent. 
  All roads in the Dreaming City are paved. Those roads 
  which receive the most traffic are constantly attended and 
  maintained by slaves. It is a sign of Melnibonk’s decay that 
  here and there some streets have developed potholes. Weeds 
  spring up in the roads where broken cobblestones remain 
  unrepaired. Only the major avenues of Imrryr are lit at night, 
  leaving the squalor of back alleys and the slaves’ slums hidden 
  in darkness. 
  FO RT I F I CAT1 0 N 5 
  URROUNDINC THE CITY and enclosing the 
  harbor is a 100-foot-high wall, with watchtowers and 
  parapet walkways placed along it. The wall is a solid 
  piece of stone, without seam or join, its outer face steep and 
  impossibly smooth. It is patrolled by the yellow-garbed 
  Imperial Guard, Imrryr’s rank-and-file troops, usually elite 
  slaves. 
  Five landward gates allow access to the island proper, and 
  see little use. The guards atop the walls are sunk in stupor, as a 
  result of long inactivity. The Gate of Jade is inlaid with 
  vertiginous carvings. The Gate of Bone is surmounted with the 
  massive bones of a creature from another plane, and leads to 
  the dragon caves north of the city. The Crystal Gate is a vast 
  prism, and when the sun is high overhead it has been known to 
  blind the traveler. The Gate of Flowers is more portcullis than 
  gate, composed entirely of the stalks and blossoms of 
  hundreds of different flowers, forming a scented, rustling 
  banier. The Gate Unseen is invisible except to Witch Sight, 
  and regularly changes position. 
  The sea-gate overlooks the open sea, flanking the five 
  mouths of the sea-maze. Here the guards are more alert. 
  Catapults are mounted on the walls here in case of attack by 
  pirates, an increasingly common event in the last hundred 
  years. 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  a 
  IMRRYR THE BEAUTIFUL 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  THE SEA-MAZE 
  H E S EA-MAZ E C RANTS Imrryr her isolation, and 
  her continued existence. It is a twisted and complicated 
  navigate the secret routes to reach the safety of the harbor. 
  Even before ships can pass through the portcullises of the 
  sea-maze, they must fmt pass the great gate in the sea-wall, 
  and its guards. Mehibonkin ships are allowed to glide through 
  the maze with little difficulty. Human ships must stop outside 
  the sea-gate. A Melnibonh pilot comes aboard, and all crew 
  are sent below decks save for the oars-master and helmsman, 
  who are masked. They must follow the instructions of the 
  pilot, who guides them blind through the tortuous labyrinth of 
  tunnels. Any ship whose helmsman is to slow to react to the 
  pilot’s instructions may crash against the rock walls of the 
  maze, and surviving crew members are enslaved thereafier in 
  bondage to the Mehibonkins. 
  There are five entrances to the sea-maze, blocked by 
  portcullises which can be raised and lowered in seconds. Five 
  safe routes lead through the caverns, known to only a chosen 
  few. Families of pilots are born and die in service in the maze, 
  each family training their successive generations in the 
  complex instructions of their own secret route through the 
  rocky channels. Few maps exist of the sea-maze. Those that 
  exist are hidden for most of the time by magic, and only the 
  wearer of the Actorios-the 
  Ring of Kings, birthright of the 
  Emperor-can 
  recover them from their place of concealment. 
  The sea-maze was once a natural network of caverns in the 
  cliff between the sea and a lagoon. The wizard-architect 
  Monshanjik formed the sea-maze with elemental aid 
  thousands of years ago. The rock-walled passages twist and 
  turn, sometimes briefly open to the sky, at others lightless and 
  seemingly impenetrable. Here and there side caverns open off 
  the tunnels where battle-barges can be concealed in ambush. 
  T 
  tangle of lightless tunnels. Ships must successfully 
  ARCH ITECTU RE 
  OWERS ARE PREDOMINANT in the Dreaming 
  City, often enclosed within high stone walls. Either low 
  parapets and spires, or a single, slender tower rising high 
  towards the heavens, Mehibonkan buildings display a feeling 
  of lightness, upward motion, and airy space. The low hills of 
  the city present a shimmering array of towers and spires. 
  Aesthetic appearance takes precedence over structural 
  soundness, and indeed those materials usually too weak or too 
  rare to build from presented no trouble to the amazing 
  sorcerous ingenuity of the artist-surveyors who built Imrryr of 
  old. 
  In the Dreaming City one can see towers of jade, marble, 
  alabaster, mother-of-pearl, ivory, glass, crystal, amber, gold, 
  obsidian, ice, amethyst, lapis lazuli, and many other 
  substances. Inside, the rooms are typically circular, with large 
  windows and high ceilings, full of light and beauty, with walls 
  and floors and ceilings inlaid with complex designs or painted 
  with superb murals. 
  All buildings in the Dreaming City are wonders of art and 
  architecture. Some towers have crystalline bridges as delicate 
  as spider webs arching from one structure to another. There are 
  towers which spiral about one another in an architectural 
  double-helix, and towers which twist and curve as they rise up 
  T 
  buildings adorned with a multiplicity of towers, 
  from the ground. One tower floats several feet above the 
  ground, moored by thick, tarred ropes to the sturdy trunks of 
  old, gnarled oaks. There are towers sharp as icicles, towers 
  like bones, towers like flowers with walls that unfold in the 
  sun, towers with balconies and windows of stained glass, 
  towers with bulbous domes, and towers with fanciful, intricate 
  spires. 
  Windows and doors are often placed so as to ideally display 
  the interior of a tower, in the same way that a picture frame 
  surrounds a painting. Doorways are rarely square. Instead they 
  are round, triangular, arched, or keyhole-shaped. Windows are 
  stained, diamond-paned, lead-lit, shuttered, bulging, concave, 
  or kaleidoscopic. Some windows are doors of glass, providing 
  access to an upper balcony. Glass in windows is the norm in 
  Imrryr rather than the exception, whereas most of the Young 
  Kingdoms use oiled paper or thin horn. 
  Gardens replicate the natural, wild beauty of the island. 
  They are miniature universes in which one observes and lives 
  with time and the seasons. Small gardens are tended around 
  the bases of most towers. Walls maintain a garden’s air of 
  private secrecy, masking its verdant arbors from passersby. 
  Small trees, artfully gnarled, are nurtured on low hillocks. 
  Pleasingly weathered rocks are arranged by fountains and 
  artificial streams. Such careful structure flatters 
  Melnibonkans, by emphasizing their control over the natural 
  world. In the gardens of abandoned palaces, that control is 
  mocked. Like the island itself, these untenanted gardens grow 
  wild, with thick tangles of brambles and wiry grass beneath 
  the tangled canopies of the trees. 
  Slaves’ quarters are hidden away, often underground or at 
  the rear of a building. Most towers and palaces are riddled 
  with a network of passageways and tunnels for the slaves’ use. 
  Melniboneans do not like to look upon their slaves, and often, 
  unless the slaves have been specially prepared and dressed, are 
  discomfited by their presence. These slave-warrens are almost 
  never entered by a Melnibonkan, and many would claim not to 
  be aware of their existence, so deliberately ignorant are they of 
  their slaves’ lives. 
  DECAY 
  ESPlTE THE WONDER and beauty which is the 
  Dreaming City, parts of Imrryr are collapsing in 
  D 
  decay. Here and there broken towers stand crumbling 
  against the cloud-streaked sky, and in the larger palaces one 
  may walk from rooms where golden door-handles gleam and 
  fine tapestries of silk hang upon the marble walls, into suites 
  empty save for cobwebs, dust, and broken windows gaping 
  open to the wind. The ravages of entropy are not immediately 
  noticeable to the visitor, but anyone who has spent some time 
  in Imrryr is aware of them. Most MelnibonCans don’t care 
  about it. 
  Imrryr is a city of contrasts, concealing its ugliness behind a 
  beautiful facade. It is a city where most inhabitants toil to 
  support the indolent, arrogant lives of the remaining few. The 
  enslaved workers are denied all but the dregs of the fruits of 
  their labor. 
  22 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  A RARE MAP OF IMRRYR 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  DOCTOR JESTCONDUCTING HIS ART. 
  PLACES OF NOTE 
  HE DREAMING CITY is a strange and fantastic 
  place. At every side, new wonders compete for the eye 
  including those likely to be encountered by every visitor to the 
  city, as well as more esoteric places. These represent a mere 
  fraction of the fabulous structures of Imnyr. 
  T 
  and eat Below are described a variety of locations, 
  THE HARBOR 
  DESlCNED FOR A N A W  of golden battle-barges, the 
  harbor of Imrryr dwarfs normal-sized vessels by comparison. 
  Even the largest Jharkorian war-galley would seem impotent 
  within its confines. Many MelnibonCan ships other than 
  warships were moored here in the harbor’s heyday. Apart from 
  the fBhing fleet of the slaves, the only ships today who count 
  this port their home are a handful of pleasurecraft, and only 
  forty odd battle-barges of the hundreds there once were. 
  Unlike normal ports, which bustle with movement and noise 
  day and night, the port of Imrryr seems listless, the very air 
  sedated. Sea gulls are the most active denizens of MelnibonC’s 
  harbor. 
  The port has delicate, fluted cranes like birds’ bones, long 
  piers and great wharves, cavernous dry docks, hundreds of 
  miles of rope and drying nets, fisher-slaves’ hovels, and 
  magical lighthouses. There are warehouses vast enough to 
  hold food for entire cities, and half-empty barracks for 
  Melnibonhn marines and sailors, their inhabitants’days spent 
  in listless drills and dreamed pleasures. The harbor district has 
  few towers, and those are relatively low in height, most under 
  200 feet. Squattest of these towers is that named after 
  Monshanjik, the wizard-architect who created the harbor and 
  maze which guards the Dragon Isle. Monshanjik Tower stands 
  on a small artificial peninsula which juts out into the harbor. 
  A stone wall some 40 feet high blocks most of Imnyr from 
  sight in the harbor. Its face, scalloped to shape the waves of the 
  sea, runs east and west to join with MelnibonB‘s outer wall. 
  There are three gates. The north gate is almost entirely unused, 
  as it stands within the Foreign Quarter. The central gate is the 
  beginning of the Processional, the Emperor’s road which leads 
  up the hill to the Imperial Palace. It is plated with richly 
  worked gold, inlaid with precious gemstones, and carved with 
  fine detail. Its hinges are of ivory, and it is barred with magic 
  as well as beams of mahogany. The south gate is the slaves’ 
  gate, and stands permanently ajar, weeds and flowers 
  springing up through the cracked cobblestones around it. The 
  huts and hovels of the fisher-slaves are built in the vicinity of 
  the south gate. 
  THE FOREIGN QUARTER 
  The Foreign Quarter stretches from Monshanjik Tower, in the 
  center of the quay-side, to the east end of the harbor. This is 
  where the ships of the human nations of the Young Kingdoms 
  dock. A number of inns and guest-houses can be found here, 
  including the Tormented Tavern, the Ascendant Darkness, and 
  Mykal N’gramath’s Hospice of Indolent Gratification. The 
  staff of almost all of these establishments have little in 
  common apart from some proportion of Melnibonhn blood 
  flowing in their veins, many of them indistinguishable to 
  humans from full-blooded Imrryrians. The appearance of a 
  Mehibonkan noble in these establishments is most rare. The 
  Foreign Quarter pulses with feverish activity day or night, as 
  ships load and unload, and merchants and princes conduct 
  24 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  hasty transactions in the shadows of alien spires. It is the most 
  active area of the Dreaming City, although a steady trade of 
  drugs moves through Imrryr’s harbor. 
  In the Foreign Quarter one can meet plump merchants from 
  Ilmiora, Dharijorian knights in their armor and nodding 
  plumes, Lormyrian philosophers in long robes, gaunt and 
  shadowy strangers wreathed in pipe-smoke and mystery, squat 
  and bestial tribesmen from the wilds beyond Yu clad only in 
  feathers and scars, clanking scale-mailed Jharkorians with 
  their spiked helms, warriors from the Sighing Desert in veils 
  and robes and wooden armor, and sailors in their universal 
  garb of loose trews and tattoos. While visiting the harbor 
  adventurers may become embroiled in a plethora of plots, as 
  well as chances for trade, intrigue, and affairs of the heart and 
  spirit. 
  MONSHANJIH TOWER 
  Its wide base tapering to a pointed roof, this squat tower is 
  some hundred feet high, the wide windows looking out from 
  its sea-green walls across a full, panoramic view of the harbor. 
  A large archway at ground level opens onto the Hall of 
  Concordance, where merchants and elite half-Melnibonbn 
  slave-officials bargain, argue, haggle and barter. They sit 
  cross-legged or recline upon rich cushions, while fan-wielding 
  slaves waft the warm and scented air toward them. 
  Occasionally members of the nobility descend to the level of 
  dealing with humans, but only when the deal promises 
  something of special interest to them. Much of the trade once 
  conducted in the Hall of Concordance is now carried out in the 
  Purple Towns. The hall, once crammed with a thousand 
  bustling merchants and sailors, stands half-empty. 
  An archway at the end of the hall leads via a ramp down to 
  the smoky, obsidian-walled depths of the dungeons, below the 
  waterline. Those who break the rules of the harbor are 
  imprisoned in damp, dark cells, made horrid with pestilential 
  odors and drifting sounds of pain. Doctor Jest practices his arts 
  here. 
  Stairs on either side of the Hall of Concordance lead to the 
  upper levels of Monshanjik Tower. The Grand Admiral of 
  Mehibonk’s M V ~ ,  
  Magum Colim, and Harbormaster Darin 
  Malvag have offices here. 
  THE PROCESSIONAL 
  This great road, one of the eight major thoroughfares that twist 
  their way through Imrrp, runs directly from the harbor to the 
  Imperial Palace. Its length is lined with towers, bulbous spired 
  domes, and intricate ironwork gateways into palaces and 
  gardens of sublime beauty. Walking the route of the 
  Processional reveals the most exquisite views of the Dreaming 
  City, as the road winds up the hill in serpentine arcs, looking 
  fiit towards the port and the glittering seas beyond, then 
  towards the rolling vales of the Meadows of Lassitude. 
  Countless lesser streets and alleys run off from the 
  Processional, plunging between towers and gardens and into 
  Imrryrian shadows. At the crest of the hill the Processional 
  ends where it enters Dominion Plaza a great square flanked by 
  the Imperial Palace, the Cathedral of Chaos, and the Elemental 
  court. 
  THE IMPERIAL PALACE 
  The Imperial Palace is situated at the end of the Processional. 
  It is discussed in detail in the section below. 
  THE ELEMENTAL COURT 
  This park is devoted to the Elemental Rulers and Beast- and 
  Plant-Lords. It is a place of rolling lawns and lakes, 
  shrubberies and mazes, fountains and flower-hds, sculpted 
  clumps of trees, statues, shrines, and wandering animals. Its 
  further districts are overgrown and unkempt. Nothing here is 
  caged. Tigers roam as free as the birds, and elementals also. 
  Though the Elemental Rulers are not worshipped in the 
  Dreaming City, they are respected. Defilers of their 
  sanctuaries are met with severe opposition, supernatural and 
  martial. 
  The Plant- and Beast-Lords are recognized by the variety of 
  flora and fauna which is to be found in the Court parklands, 
  while Earth, Air, Fire, and Water have well-defined shrines. In 
  each shrine the deity is represented literally by the element it 
  rules instead of a symbolic statue. 
  GARDEN OF L A S S A  a floating shrine to Lassa hovers 
  several feet above the ground. The shrubs and blossoms below 
  quiver in the constant breeze which holds it up. The great disk of 
  sculptured stone supports a light and airy temple of slender pillars 
  made of spinal columns amidst a lush bower of lawns and foun- 
  tains, echoing with the sounds of tinkling bells strung on silver 
  threads. 
  GROMES DARK: wom stone stairs lead down into the rich 
  earth and the darkness. The tunnels below are earth-walled, and 
  unstable, in that they move about underground, leading first one 
  way then another. Although there is no risk of the walls collaps- 
  ing, strangers are easily lost. Those familiar with the contrary 
  nature of Grome’s Dark know the secret way into the crystal 
  chamber at the heart of the labyrinth, past the Room of the Worm 
  and through the oppressive atmosphere of the Place of Subterra- 
  nean Asphyxiation, a room where light cannot exist and the air 
  tastes like soil. 
  HEARTH OF KAICATAL: more simple than the other 
  shrines, Kakatal’s Hearth is an open slab of rock. An eternal flame 
  belches forth from a narrow clack within it. The flame is said to 
  be so fierce that it could bum the unbumable and melt the Ruby 
  Throne. 
  STRAASHA’S WATER GARDEN: a complex of pools 
  and waterfalls, small streams and fountains, the splash, gurgle and 
  spray of the water garden is music to the ears, liquid notes end- 
  lessly repeated. Narrow bridges arc over the reflective ponds and 
  water lilies. 
  CATHEDRAL OF CHAOS 
  In its heyday the Cathedral of Chaos stood as a glorious, 
  glittering peak beside the palace, an octagonal structure of 
  rose-flecked azure stone, with a soaring tower upon the 
  heights of each angle. It rang with the perfectly pitched 
  screams of orchestral slaves and soft music. Incense drifted 
  through the echoing interior, and priests enacted the rituals of 
  their worship. 
  Now the cathedral is largely empty, save for beams of 
  sunlight shafting through the dusty air from holes gaping in 
  the sagging roof. One or two doddering priests go about their 
  duties. The statues of those gods of Chaos worshiped upon the 
  Dragon Isle stand within side chapels, as they have stood for 
  ten thousand years, smiling with malefic grace upon the pews 
  empty of congregations. Not even the oldest priest could 
  confirm or deny if the Lords of Uncertainty are amused by the 
  decay of the land they made powerful. 
  25 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  of the cathedral, smiling cold, cruel smiles, draped now with 
  dust and cobwebs. The silks and velvets of old exist only as 
  decaying scraps clinging to their smooth and perfect limbs. 
  Beneath the cathedral lie the Catacombs, echoing chambers 
  carved from raw granite, holding the moldering remnants of 
  the richly buried dead. Many miles of necropolitan 
  passageways wind beneath the depths of the city, connecting 
  the Imperial Palace and other towers, as well as tunnels even 
  more ancient than Imrryr. The entrance to the Catacombs in 
  the Imperial Palace is known as the Gate of the Dead. 
  LRlC LONGED FOR THE TOWERS, sweet 
  lullabies in stone, which stretched like guarding 
  fingers into Irnrryr’s blazing skies; he missed the sharp 
  wit and laughing ferocity of his kinfolk, the ready 
  understanding and the casual cruelty that to him had 
  seemed so ordinary in the time before he became a 
  -THE REVENGE OF THE ROSE, 1,l 
  As Melnibonk turned inward, organized religion became 
  less important in the people’s lives. Displays of faith became 
  personal and intimate gestures rather than open displays of 
  public ritual. For many, religion became lip service, and the 
  concept of worship and faith abstract and removed. Records 
  show that this was at the same time the Lords of Chaos began 
  to distance themselves from the world. This turning away of 
  attentions on both the macroscopic and microscopic levels of 
  the world is reflected in the decaying splendor of the Cathedral 
  of Chaos. Old priests die and no new acolytes come to take 
  their place, their hoards of wisdom and learning lost with their 
  passing. Only on rare occasions indeed does the grandeur and 
  color of ancient days return to the Cathedral. Imperial 
  weddings, coronations, and funerals are enacted on a vast and 
  dreadful scale, the Cathedral of Chaos resounding with the 
  tension and power of such ceremonies, 
  Six Lords of Chaos were worshiped by the Bright Empire in 
  its heyday, three great and three lesser, and a magnitude of 
  other minor Chaos deities. The mightiest three are Slortar the 
  Old, Chardros the Reaper, and faceless Mabelode. Underneath 
  them are Six-Breasted Arnara of Unmatched Eroticism, 
  Pyaray the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets, and 
  proud Arioch of the Seven Darks. Other Dukes which have 
  been revered and respected throughout Melnibone’s long 
  history include Haborym of the Fires Which Destroy, grim 
  Balaan, Verdelet the Devourer, and Aesma of the Silver Light. 
  Statues of ivory and inlaid gold stand within the side chapels 
  THE GARDEN OF MELANCHOLY ROSES 
  A pierced latticework wall of finely-cut white marble rings 
  this garden. A circular gateway permits entrance at each of the 
  four cardinal compass points. Within is an artificial landscape 
  designed to evoke sorrow in those who walk through it. 
  Splashing fountains recall the sound of falling tears, gloomy 
  oaks loom over emerald lawns, and arching bridges of inlaid 
  alabaster span limpid pools. Gravel paths twist through the 
  garden to present a new vision of natural beauty and harmony 
  at each turn. The many roses of the garden are. unique as well 
  as memorable and grow in countless beds. Every blossom is of 
  a rich violet, some so dark as to be almost black. Their subtle 
  perfumes are strong, although not overpowering, hanging rich 
  in the still air. 
  Adding to the garden’s despondent atmosphere are the 
  reports of a ghostly statue said to shift about its terraces, 
  moving from one place to the next whenever the viewer 
  glances away. At other times the statue is not visible at all, or 
  is a semi-translucent and insubstantial shape visible only from 
  the comer of one’s eye. Those who seek it deliberately never 
  find the statue, even if they search each gardened terrace. Only 
  to the unknowing and unexpecting does the statue-wraith 
  appear. 
  The origin of the “statue” is not common knowledge, even 
  in the Dreaming City. Rather than an inanimate carving, what 
  most presume a statue is the form of one Prince Carolak, a 
  half-Melnibonhn mercenary from Shazaar who was cast into 
  Limbo some two hundred years ago. Upon that demi-plane he 
  remains frozen, sometimes visible in our world, sometimes 
  not. Cursed by the Melnibonean sorcerer Earl Saxif D’Aan, 
  Prince Carolak‘s fate will be decided by Elric in years to come. 
  For now he drifts helpless but alive, caught between the planes 
  and sometimes appearing faintly as a ghost statue in the 
  ghostly garden. 
  Further details concerning Prince Carolak and his love for 
  Gratyesha, Princess of Fwem-Omeyo, appear in Moorcock’s 
  The Sailor On The Seas of Fate. 
  THE SPIRALLING TOWER 
  The Spiralling Tower is not one tower but two separate 
  structures, one of bluestone and one of ruby-red glass. They 
  spiral about one another so delicately that they might almost 
  be one. Despite their convoluted complexity, at no point do the 
  two towers touch. Their symmetrical construction is so careful 
  that one may step from the open doorway of one level across 
  into the doorway of the other. The interiors are full of teak and 
  mahogany panelling, inlaid with carnelian, mother-of-pearl 
  and lapis-lazuli, and the doors and window frames are carved 
  with intricate, interlocked knotwork. The Spiralling Tower 
  today stands empty and abandoned. When the last of the line 
  who dwelt here in luxurious splendor died a hundred years ago 
  the tower was sealed up and deserted, save only for the 
  26 
  
  eternally-bound demons who rage imprisoned within its 
  double-helix walls. 
  COURTYARD OF HANDS 
  This open cobbled courtyard gains its name from the 
  elephant-sized sculptures of hands which amble slowly about 
  its area. Carved from the wrist down out of flawless rose-pink 
  marble flecked with gold, and magically animated, the hands 
  are possessed of no intelligence. Like giant stone five-fingered 
  spiders, the hands creep from place to place in an intricate, 
  endless dance. The spell which animates them is not effective 
  beyond the courtyard walls, nor are the hands small enough to 
  slip through the three gateways into the alleys beyond. By 
  Imrryrian tradition the Courtyard of Hands is a meeting place 
  for lovers, poets, and conspirators. 
  THE ORCHARD OF CRYSTALLIZED STARS 
  Day or night, a soft, shimmering glow shines gently over and 
  through the saffroncolored coral walls of this garden. The 
  silver light can be seen for some distance, its gentle radiance 
  flooding out across the neighboring towers like the light of the 
  stars. Beyond the demon gates grow a loose cluster of unusual 
  trees, their sharp-edged leaves lustrous and a dark, glossy 
  green. The dark red wood of these trees is valued for its 
  cinnamon scent, which hangs faintly in the orchard on still 
  days, elusive and soporific. 
  Radiant and crystalline fruit grows in brightly-shining 
  clusters upon the branches of the star-trees. They lose their 
  light when ripening, to fall as jewels upon the grass. If plucked 
  from a branch before it is ripe, a starfruit keeps its cold, 
  crystalline light for several days, while an entire branch would 
  stay fresh for more than a week if kept in mineral-rich water. 
  Unless allowed to ripen properly a starfruit does not last, 
  decaying into sludge. Slaves collect and sort the ripened fruit 
  by caret weight and quality. Most jewels from the star trees 
  range from 50 to 100 carets. 
  TOWER OF D’A’RPUTNA 
  A delicate tower of semi-transparent blue marble with roof, 
  doorways and shutters of gold, the Tower of D’a’rputna is by 
  tradition the home of the heir-elect to the Ruby Throne. 
  Standing close to the Imperial Palace (in which the crown 
  prince also has a suite of fine rooms), the twelve floors of the 
  Tower are crowded with an array of Melnibonkan furniture 
  and art, sometimes indistinguishable. 
  Prince Elric comes here rarely, and after his coronation the 
  Tower of D’a’rputna becomes one of the homes of Prince 
  Yyrkoon, becoming stained and soiled with his lusts. During 
  the future period of Yyrkoon’s one-year ascendancy to the 
  Ruby Throne, the tower stands empty and deserted, which is 
  why Elric orders Cymoril brought here in the Sack of Imrryr. 
  D’a’rputna, the Emperor for whom the tower was named, 
  never truly ruled eight thousand years ago, dying from a 
  seizure at the exact moment of his coronation. 
  THE DRAGON CAVES 
  The caves in which slumber Melnibonk’s greatest weapons, 
  ancient dragons which have patrolled the skies above a dozen 
  worlds, are outside the city proper. Beyond the Gate of Bone 
  the paved road cuts through gorse-carpeted hills and rocky 
  knolls. Twisting up through the hills, the road leads to a ragged 
  cleft that opens onto warm and musty darkness. Stairs, carved 
  out of the living rock, wind down into the caverns that riddle 
  the hills beneath Imrryr. Torches are hung at each twist of the 
  stairwell. The largest of the cave mouths overlooks the harbor 
  from the northeast, and is the passage by which dragons enter 
  and exit. The cave opening is in the face of a sheer cliff, in the 
  rocky mots of the sea-maze. 
  The dragons of Mehibod have slept and bred within these 
  caves before even the founding of the Bright Empire. Legends 
  speak of the dragons being led hence from some other world, 
  although some tales tell of dragons leading the Melnibonbn 
  people to this plane in their years of wandering. The caves, for 
  so long home to the vast, winged Chaos beasts, have been 
  stamped permanently by their reptilian inhabitants. Here and 
  there small pools of venom bum upon the rocks where they 
  have dripped from some slumbering dragon’s jaw, casting 
  flickering light in the darker corners of the caves. The musty 
  scent of dragons hangs in the air, and the caves are kept warm 
  and damp by their presence. Deep claw-marks gouge the rocks 
  where the creatures have flexed their talons as they slumber. 
  Less than a hundred dragons sleep within these caverns, where 
  thousands once were. 
  Some caves hold the ornate, individual saddles used to ride 
  the dragons, together with goads and standard-draped spears. 
  Others are now quarters for the Dragon Princes, decorated in 
  typically lush Melnibonkan fashion. In some stretches of 
  caverns hot springs gush boiling and frothing from deep clefts 
  in the rocks, collecting in steaming pools where the dragons 
  infrequently bathe. One cave is the final resting place of 
  dragons past, an uncanny expanse of titanic skeletons. Other 
  parts of the caverns are dark and dusty, long abandoned to the 
  pale, eyeless, crawling cave creatures common in such 
  underground environments. 
  FROM THE SILVER GRlMOlRE 
  HEN CAME THE Time of the Choosing, there 
  W 
  was no doubt in the mind of Sadric Lyran that the 
  sleek promises of Arioch of Chaos were the rightful 
  choice for the future of Melnibond. With glee Sadric 
  struck down the Three and Eight and One who sat in 
  Council in the forum, listening to the words of those 
  aggrieved and as chosen representatives of the people 
  passing judgment. By this act Sadric did spill the blood 
  that was his oath, and the Lord of the Seven Darks 
  appeared as if from the smoke of the blood which boiled 
  where it pooled upon the stones, declaring Sadric 
  Emperor of All the World, Master of Melnibonb and the 
  Arts (which Arioch would teach him). 
  To seal Sadric the First to his bargain, and to give him 
  means by which the Lord of the Higher Worlds could be 
  called, and to seal the pact between Arioch and Sadric 
  and his descendants unto the World’s End, Lord Arioch 
  did create of the blood spilt by Sadric’s bond and sword 
  a gem of deepest crimson. a red light burning in its 
  smoky heart which in truth were the souls of those that 
  Sadric had slain, forever damned. And this stone was 
  called Actorios, and it was made into a ring by the 
  Emperor Sadric after the Three-Day War and worn 
  forever by him and his descendants as a token of the 
  power of the Ruby Throne and those who sat upon it 
  across the years. Should ever an Emperor sit upon the 
  Ruby Throne and the Ring of Kings not rest upon his 
  hand, then Melnibond’s doom shall surely be upon her 
  and all her people. 
  27 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  H E  SPIRES OF THE Imperial Palace, seat of 
  Melnibonh power, rear atop Lmrryr’s highest hill 
  like an elaborate crown made by a crazed craftsman. 
  T 
  A great faceted dome curves at the palace’s heart 
  above the Hall of the Ruby Throne hundreds of feet above the 
  ground, carved from a diamond the size of a ballroom. About 
  the dome, tapering towers of varying heights bristle like 
  stalagmites, built of amber and jade, ceramics of pastel hues, 
  coral and quarried crystal, their bases ringed about the palace’s 
  descending ramparts and walls. The masterwork of the artists 
  who designed the Dreaming City, the Imperial Palace seems 
  like the convoluted spirals of some fanciful shell, the inner 
  chambers of mother-of-pearl concealing hidden wonders 
  enclosed within its core. 
  Even here at the heart of the once-strong Bright Empire, 
  age has taken its toll. The many rooms and suites of the 
  palace contain countless w-onders, much of them 
  abandoned, locked rooms given over to the dust and the 
  mice. There are floors of empty towers which have been 
  explored perhaps once in 200 years, with narrow windows 
  overlooking forgotten views. Treasure rooms contain the 
  looted riches of countless worlds, and tapestry-lined halls 
  display embroidered decorations that fall apart at the 
  lightest touch into a rainbow swirl of dust. 
  Those parts of the Tower of Kings still in use, such as the 
  Court of the Ruby Throne and the Emperor’s private suites, 
  retain much of their former glory. They are lushly 
  appointed and decorated without restraint of any kind, 
  although the unwary can step without warning from the 
  brightest banqueting hall into a stretch of the palace 
  abandoned centuries ago. Among the rooms still in use are 
  conservatories, observatories, opulent bedrooms containing 
  canopied four-poster beds, vast kitchens with ovens large 
  enough to roast teams of oxen, wardrobes the size of a 
  well-equipped dressmaker’s studio, and communal baths 
  and steam rooms where massage slaves await with oils and 
  hot towels. 
  For millennia the Imperial Palace was a vibrant home to 
  the most self-indulgent of the nobles of Melnibone, the 
  proud and glorious Emperors of the Ruby Throne, their 
  relations, visitors, and slaves. Now visitors are few, the 
  slaves skulk through shadows and secret ways to avoid 
  upsetting their overlords by their presence, and the 
  Emperor of the Ruby Throne is dying. Courtiers and 
  members of the Eagle Guard cluster in whispering groups 
  in a handful of chambers and hallways. They discuss art, 
  poetry, pain, anything but the glaringly obvious, that the 
  Bright Empire is no more, and the Dragon Isle a shadow 
  dissipatingbefore humanity’s dawn. 
  CORRIDOR OF KINGS 
  Once past the main gate and palace courtyard, a long, wide 
  hallway leads to the Court of the Ruby Throne. Known as the 
  Corridor of Kings, the hall is lined with alcoves containing 
  flawless busts of every Emperor or Empress to have ruled the 
  Dragon Isle, from the aquiline features of Sadric the First 
  onwards. Here can be found depictions of Elric the First, 80th 
  Emperor, and Iuntric the Tenth, said to have mated with a 
  demon, beside a jade bust of his daughter, the unnaturally 
  long-lived Terhali the Green Empress. The bust of Sadric the 
  Eighty-Sixth, 427th Emperor, stands close to the inlaid doors 
  leading to the Court of the Ruby Throne, Sadric’s habitual 
  expression of melancholy stamped upon the cold marble 
  features. There are many empty alcoves before the great doors 
  of the Court are reached. 
  THE COURT OF THE RUBY THRONE 
  Capped by the faceted diamond dome which crowns the 
  palace, the Court of the Ruby Throne is a vast oval-shaped 
  room, hundreds of feet long. From the grand doors opening 
  from the Corridor of Kings, one looks acros the mosaic floor 
  of inlaid gemstones and polished marble towards the 
  quartz-carved stairs leading upwards to the many-faceted 
  Ruby Throne. It sits atop a high dais, 20 feet above the floor. 
  Sunlight, broken up by the crystal dome, falls in rainbow pools 
  of color across the court. Looking directly upwards, one can 
  glimpse distorted images of the towers that encircle the dome. 
  The walls of the court are terraced with balconies and galleries 
  leading off into the depths of the palace, and hung with a 
  variety of banners, tapestries and pennants. From the galleries, 
  slave orchestras weave complex, ethereal melodies of refined 
  pain and grace, while other balconies support softly-wafting 
  vines bearing rich blossoms, their scents perfuming the still air 
  of the throne room. 
  The Ruby Throne is elevated above all the court. None but 
  the Emperor or Empress may sit upon the cold seat of the 
  Throne, although by Imperial leave favored courtiers may sit 
  on the topmost stair at the Emperor’s feet. A small door, 
  opening onto the Emperor’s private suites, stands a few steps 
  from the Throne, atop the dais. 
  The Ruby Throne is carved from one great gem, its 
  blood-red facets reflecting the court in a variety of distorted 
  ways. It is the ultimate seat and symbol of Melnibonean 
  power. He or she who sits in it has supreme power over the 
  lives of every other person in the Dreaming City, and, once 
  upon a time, the entire world and worlds beyond. Its material 
  worth is incalculable. 
  RITUALS OF THE RUBY THRONE 
  Thousands of years of established rule from the Ruby 
  Throne has ensured that a complex web of traditions and 
  rituals has grown up around the Emperor and his 
  Chaos-blessed reign. The current Emperor is sickly and 
  withdrawn, ignoring many such traditions. Perhaps the most 
  important of these was the sacrifice of twelve brides and their 
  grooms to the Lords of Chaos to ensure the happiness of the 
  Emperor’s own marriage. Many say that Sadric’s failure to 
  carry this out was the cause of his wife’s death during 
  childbirth, and the sickly albino heir who resulted from their 
  union. 
  The most frenetic ritual is the Wild Dance of Melniboni, 
  marking the death of an Emperor or Empress, which fills the 
  streets of the Dreaming City for seven days and nights, during 
  which time sleep is forbidden to all. Naked Dragon Princes 
  and Princesses prowl the streets, taking whomever they meet 
  and mating with them passionately and violently, to ensure the 
  birth of as many noble children as possible. During this wild 
  dance of misery slaves howl songs of mourning from atop the 
  highest of Imrryr’s towers, while others are eaten. The Wild 
  Dance ends as many lives as it creates. An old tower is pulled 
  .
  ,
  ,
  m
   
  28 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  down and a new one constructed and named after the dead 
  Emperor during the days of the Dance. 
  Another Melnibonh tradition is that the Emperor’s ship 
  must always be fiit to dock in Imrryr, and that the Emperor 
  must be present during the interngation of spies. 
  THE RING OF KINGS 
  ADE OF A SINGLE rare jewel set within a 
  mecarved band of silver, the Ring of Kings is the 
  M 
  most potent symbol of the Emperor’s might. The 
  crimson jewel, at the core of which bums a smoky glow, is 
  said to have been formed by the whim of Lord Aricch of 
  Chaos. Other Actorios are fabled to exist, but are dreadfully 
  rare, as it is said only the gods can create them. The Ring of 
  Kings marks its bearer as Emperor of the Ruby Throne. It also 
  contains magical power the wearer may draw upon at will, like 
  water from a reservoir. Elric uses the Actorios many times in 
  years to come, drawing upon it to fuel his sorceries. Because 
  of his sickliness, he lacks the stamina of his ancestors. 
  EMPEROR’S SUITE 
  Decorated for the most part in combinations of gold and 
  imperial yellow, these rooms were once the most lushly 
  appointed in all Melnibonk. The Emperor Sadric the 
  Eighty-Sixth has austere tastes however, and has chosen, 
  since the death of his wife, to furnish his suite in a spartan 
  manner. After Sadric’s death, Elric continues this most 
  un-Melnibon6an habit, disdaining the rich colors and 
  strange designs in which most of his people revel. A great 
  bed carved of ivory and heaped with silks and cushions 
  dominates the room, while books and scrolls lie 
  haphazardly across tabletops, chairs and the carpeted floor. 
  The narrow windows of the Emperor’s Suite look out 
  across the Dreaming City towards the sea. Sadric keeps 
  them heavily curtained, but when Elric is Emperor he sits 
  here often, gazing to the south and imagining the peoples of 
  those far-off lands. 
  GALLERY OF STAINED HISTORY 
  This arch-roofed hallway has many pillars and a buttressed 
  nave. Tall windows of stained glass line each side of the hall. 
  Once the multicolored glass told the history of the Bright 
  Empire, incredible in its detail. Time and the elements have 
  reduced the glory of this room to shards and cracked panes. 
  Most of the glass now lies in glittering drifts upon the 
  leaf-littered marble floor. Only a fraction of the panes remain 
  to tell their stories of the past in still-rich scarlets, azures. and 
  golds. 
  THE EMERALD ARBOR 
  This pleasant garden is constructed within a sizable chamber. 
  Its translucent jade walls allow a small amount of green-tinged 
  sunlight through to sustain the growth of certain selected 
  plants. Among the tangled shrubs and flowering vines which 
  sprawl here, long untended, stand six statues of gold. These 
  are the remains of six Vilmirian pirates who sought to loot 
  Mehibonk, believing her weak and decadent. The pirate chief 
  and his men had bragged that they would bathe in Imrryr’s 
  gold, and so by the Emperor Sadric’s order they were drowned 
  in a vat of molten gold so that they might keep their word. 
  Their charred, gilded corpses were placed here, an elegant 
  reminder of Melnibone’s imperial might over the Young 
  Kingdoms’ barbaric rabble. 
  TOWER OF BALL‘NEZBETT 
  In the Tower of B’all’nezbett, tallest tower of the many-spired 
  imperial palace, a hundred generations of Sorcerer-Emperors 
  have practiced their craft. Its doorway is of a shimmering 
  black crystalline substance with neither lock nor handle, and 
  opens only when a certain word is spoken. That word is taught 
  only to future Emperors of the Ruby Throne. No others may 
  enter the tower, unless they accompany an Emperor. Those 
  that do are often slaves intended for sacrifice. 
  Included in the Tower of B’all’nezbett, upon one of its many 
  floors, is the Imperial Library of the Emperors of Melnibonk. 
  This contains a plethora of grimoires, occult histories, and 
  treatises, covering every subject from the Frequencies of 
  Abandonment (inaudible to Melnibonhn ears but a potent 
  sorcerous weapon nonetheless) to dissertations on the history 
  and nature of the multiverse. (The most powerful of 
  Mehibonk’s sorcerers had but the barest grasp of the true facts 
  concerning the multiverse, but even so their wisdom far 
  eclipses the greatest of human scholars.) Elric had read every 
  book in the Imperial Library by his 15th birthday, some of 
  them more than once. The most famous tomes held here are 
  The Gabbling Sphere and the Silver Grimoire. Paintings of 
  other realms and portraits of the Elemental Rulers adorn the 
  library walls. 
  THE SILVER GRIMOIRE 
  The Silver Gnmoire was penned in the early days of the Bright 
  Empire, written by Dragon Prince Rykath Lyran, Disciple of 
  the Lord of the Seven Darks and brother of Sadric the First. 
  The grimoire is both a historical text, describing the history of 
  Melnibone with predictions for its future, and an occult 
  manifesto, containing many spells and rituals. 
  The grimoire’s lore is engraved upon pages of pure silver. 
  Sorcerous bindings prevent the book from tarnishing. except 
  where it has been touched. The fingerprints of Emperors long 
  dead dot its otherwise lustrous pages. The silver of which the 
  book is made was collected from the Lake of Moon. The 
  29 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  grimoire’s words only appear when the moon is visible in the 
  sky. At other times the pages are blank and featureless. 
  The covers of the grimoire are also of silver, embossed with 
  pearls and sapphires, and bound with dragonhide. In sheer 
  physical value, the book is worth thousands of bronzes, but the 
  knowledge it contains is absolutely priceless. 
  Its pages include a description of the Ship Which Sails Over 
  Land And Sea, and of how the Ship helped bring dragons to 
  this world before the Bright Empire dawned. There are many 
  prophecies, including one which states that Melnibonk’s doom 
  shall befall her and her people when an Emperor sits on the 
  Ruby Throne who does not wear the Ring of Kings. The pacts 
  which bound Sadric and his descendants to worship of Arioch 
  of Chaos are detailed. There are spells to raise mountain 
  ranges and dry up oceans, although these no longer work in 
  this plane because Law has increased its strength. There are 
  descriptions of the other worlds which were Melnibonk’s 
  extra-planar dominions. 
  GATES OF THE DEAD 
  The decaying splendors of the Melnibonkan royal line are 
  matched by the richness with which their folk are entombed in 
  the Catacombs beneath the palace. Beyond the fine carvings 
  which adorn the golden Gates of the Dead lie miles of vaults 
  and passageways, the still air redolent with the scent of decay. 
  The dead rulers of Melnibonk rot in silent grandeur, wrapped 
  in silks and velvets. They are buried with an array of jewels 
  and other objects they might need in their afterlife, including 
  slaves, lovers, pets and demons. Grand tombs hold the corpses 
  of Emperors and their consorts. Sadric descends the winding 
  stairs every day to grieve by the cold stone statue that marks 
  his wife’s vault. Q 
  3 0  
  
  CULTURE A N  
  DITIONS OF 
  TIM 
  LRlC 
  HE DRAGON FOLK of MelnibonC are alien. 
  Their moods are so different from human emotions 
  that they are considered insane by most Young 
  unremarkable in the Dreaming City is often taken as being 
  decadent, cruel, and evil by human witnesses. The 
  Mehibonkins are hated and feared in the lands which were 
  once their dominion, but are nowadays rarely seen in the 
  world outside Imrryr. 
  Surrounded by an aura of fear, suspicion, and legend, 
  Mehibonkins in turn treat humans with contempt. To them the 
  swarming races of humanity are little better than beasts, their 
  civilizations a crude, unflattering mockery of the glory of the 
  Bright Empire. The Dragon Folk have yet to learn how far 
  humanity has evolved in the last four thousand years. Before 
  they begin, it will be too late. 
  T 
  Kingdoms scholars. Behavior which is 
  PHYSICAL DETAILS 
  ELNIBONCANS ARE TALL and slender, and 
  their bones are delicate. They have slim-fmgered 
  M 
  hands, fine arms, and long legs. Women are 
  willowy and supple to human eyes, the men similarly languid. 
  The Melnibonh life span averages 90 years, with extremes 
  of 120 years not unheard of. Terhali the Green Empress, 
  allegedly the daughter of Iuntric X and a demon, lived for over 
  620 yea=. By contrast, average Young Kingdoms humans live 
  only to 40 or 50, their lives made harsh by disease as well as 
  day-to-day hardships. The lives of most adventurers are even 
  shorter. 
  MelnibonCans have slightly slanted eyes and pale skin. The 
  Melnibonian skull is narrower than that of a human, with high 
  cheekbones, and tapers towards the jaw. Ears are thin and 
  close to the skull, lobe-less and almost pointed. Possessed of 
  sensitive hearing, Melnibonhs dislike noise as much as they 
  enjoy harmony. Their voices are capable of a wide tonal range, 
  and their delicate eyes percieve a greater spectrum of colors 
  than humans. Their hair is fine and long. Most have dark hair, 
  usually black, although browns and auburns are not unknown. 
  MelnibonCans’ movements are smooth and graceful. Like 
  cats, a supple strength underlays their beauty. Many enemies 
  of MelnibonC have been deceived by this seeming softness 
  before being flayed by the steely claws hidden beneath. 
  PSYCHOLOGY 
  T HAS B E E N  remarked by human observers that 
  Melnibonhns must have set aside the softer virtues of 
  I emotion in their need to conquer the physical and 
  supernatural worlds, and that they have abandoned natural 
  beauty in favor of insane, drug-induced dreams of Chaos and 
  horror. Such false beliefs reveal the gulf which lies between 
  human and MelnibonCan comprehension and behavior. 
  The set of the Mehibonkan mind is such that concepts as 
  guilt and conscience are unknown to them. Once an act is 
  committed, it is beyond anyone’s ability to change it. Why 
  then should one feel nagging emotion over something that has 
  already happened and cannot be affected? Remorse is rare in a 
  Melnibonean life, nor is shame known to them. Melnibonhs 
  try not to let emotions affect their well-being, and may seem 
  cold and remote to human observers. All MelnibonCans are 
  taught to hide their feelings from lesser beings, and to 
  maintain a proper distance between themselves and those 
  below them. Unless in the grip of some furious passion 
  MelnibonCans seem detached, concealing their emotions 
  behind a guarded, implacable face. They do not speak freely, 
  guarding both thoughts and words. 
  Aware that they are naturally malicious, MelnibonCans need 
  no excuses to exercise their whims. Melnibonhns feel no 
  need to justify any act beyond the reason that they wanted to 
  do it. Good and evil are unknown to them. They simply are, 
  and that is all that can be asked. With their casual cruelty and 
  laughing ferocity the folk of the Dragon Isle judge things 
  neither sane nor insane, relishing every experience which 
  comes their way. 
  Along with their natural gift of sorcery, MelnibonCans 
  inherit a f
  i
   
  belief in omens and portents, often allowing 
  oracular consultations to decide their path. Melnibonbns do 
  not enjoy having to make choices. Tradition and ritual 
  prevents such tedious and unnecessary decisions. 
  Conservative and secretive, MelnibonCans are without the 
  human traits of self-control and self-restriction. What a 
  Melnibonean wants he takes, and if he must kill to have it, he 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  will do so without qualms. privacy is of utmost importance to 
  MelnibonCans, and many of them spend long days in 
  drug-enraptured meditative solitude. 
  MelnibonCans are sharp-witted, sensitive and cruel. Pain is 
  considered one of the finer of their arts. That which is sadism 
  in human eyes is to a MelnibonCan merely a deeper 
  appiation of a specialized art. The Imrryrian artiste, Doctor 
  Jest, considers that by inflicting pain upon his subjects he 
  raises them from dross flesh into a higher, more sensitive 
  form. 
  EMOTIONS 
  W X A  
  OVE IS NOT U N K N O W N  to MelnibonCans, 
  although it is rare. Once a Melnibonbn falls in love, it is 
  L 
  for life. Many never encounter love, their lives engrossed 
  in intellectual pursuits. but thii is no terrible thing. “Each 
  person’s life,” they say, “is destined from the moment of birth, 
  and only on some do the gods bestow that happy agony named 
  love.” Should the object of desire die, often the grieving lover 
  lives out the rest of existence in a drab and lifeless fashion, 
  waiting only to join the beloved in death 
  Melnibonhs often love no one but their immediate family, 
  and even then know that family bonds are not always strong. 
  They often seek holds over their relatives other than those of 
  blood. They are a manipulative and vengeful people, and 
  feuds on the Dragon Isle linger for centuries, taking on the 
  slow ordered steps of an intricate tradition, a dance performed 
  by an entire city. Once offended, a Melnibonkan will go to any 
  length for vengeance. Losing face is a deep dishonor. The only 
  fate considered w m e  than dishonor is exile, for nearly all 
  Melnibonhns consider banishment from the Dreaming City 
  to be worse than death. 
  Many observers have commented upon the seeming 
  amgance of MelnibonCans. From a Melnibonkn perspective 
  this is not arrogance at all, but instead an awareness of their 
  natural intellectual superiority. Melnibonkans are proud, and 
  from their perspective they have every reason to be. 
  Once roused, MelnibonCans are a frightful foe, their rage 
  fierce and brightly burning. The sight of an angry 
  Mehibodan is one to strike fear into the boldest of hearts. 
  Contorted by rage, the already inhuman Melnibonkan features 
  seem positively demonic. Melnibonkans revel in slaughter. 
  Bringing pain and destruction is an art and a sport, and one to 
  be relished. Melnibonkans’ eyes flash with fervor as they 
  laugh and howl the battle-songs of their ancestors. They are 
  allied with demons and aided by the most earth-shattering 
  0 MATTER THAT his spirit had rebelled and 
  “ N 
  made him question the Bright Empire’s every 
  assumption of its rights to rule over the demibrutes, the 
  human creatures, who had spread so thoroughly across 
  the great land masses of the North and West that they 
  were now called ”the Young Kingdoms” and dared, even 
  with their puny wizardries and unskilled battlers, to 
  challenge the power of the Sorcerer Emperors, of whom 
  he was the last in direct line.’‘ 
  -THE REVENGE OFTHE ROSE, I, 1 
  sorceries imaginable. To enter into combat with a 
  Melnibodan is to invite death. 
  SOCIETY 
  M R RY R I AN 5 OC I ETY I S surprisingly ordered, 
  considering their predisposition towards Chaos. Power is 
  I 
  held by the Emperor, affirmed and enforced by the heads 
  of established noble houses. Their rank is determined by the 
  number of generations their ancestors can be traced back. The 
  most important families can document a lineage of over ten 
  thousand years. Emperors are almost sacred, the inheritors of 
  centuries of lore and tradition. Their only duty is to rule their 
  subjects however they see fit. The sole authorities recognized 
  by all Melnibonkans are Chaos and the Ruby Throne, although 
  the respect for these icons varies among individuals. The only 
  morality held by Melnibonkans is a respect for the traditions 
  that rule their lives. 
  The head of each noble house holds one of the titles of the 
  Mehibonkan nobility. These include Grand Admiral, Lord of 
  the Dragon Caves, Lord High Executioner, and Master 
  Inquisitor. Although it is within the Emperor’s power to strip 
  the head of a noble House of his or her title and award it to 
  another, such a deed has never been performed in recorded 
  history. The titles are unassailable, passed down from 
  generation to generation. Some houses now hold many titles, 
  transferred to new blood after the diminution and extinction of 
  several lesser noble lineages. 
  Melnibonkan society observes no difference between male 
  and female in any way save their sexual characteristics. 
  Gender is no obstruction on the Dragon Isle, nor is age, 
  impairment, or sexual preference. An individual is only 
  ostracized by kindred if he or she breaks with the traditions 
  which bind Imrryrian society. 
  The noble houses are rigorous in keeping their bloodlines 
  pure, expelling impure offspring to the slave pits without 
  mercy. Those slaves with a more obviously Melnibonkan 
  appearance and mien become the overseers of their 
  mongrel brethren, human and hybrid alike. The 
  slave/master structure in Imrryr has produced a society 
  totally reliant upon its two parts. Without the drugs their 
  masters administer, the majority of the slaves in the 
  Dreaming City would die. Without the slaves to carry out 
  the simplest of day-to-day functions such as cooking and 
  cleaning, Melnibonkan society would collapse. 
  MelnibonCan life consists of a series of brittle poses, 
  mannered observances, and public rituals. Melnibonhns are 
  drilled in etiquette and the complex patterns of court ritual 
  from an early age. To an extent, the demands of tradition are 
  the only laws Melnibonhns recognize. The only rule that 
  holds true with every Melnibonkan is to seek pleasure 
  however one can. Prince Elric is doomed because of his 
  nature, unique upon the Dragon Isle, that he finds a moral 
  dilemma in Mehibonkan life. 
  So old is Melnibonkan society that many of its ways are set 
  in stone, traditions which have taken on the significance of law 
  simply because they have been followed for so long. To break 
  with tradition upon Melnibone is no small thing. Only the 
  powerful can do so without public rebuke and humiliation, and 
  even the Emperor thinks twice about flouting convention. 
  Sadric is the F i t  Emperor for many thousands of years to 
  wander from the path set down so many centuries before. His 
  32 
  
  ME LN I B O N  E A N  5 
  . 
  ELRICAND CYMORIL, IN THE DAYS BEFORETHEIR LOVE WAS DOOMED. 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  WARRIORS OF MELNIBONE. 
  CLOTHING AND FASHION 
  ELNIBONEANS EXPRESS themselvesthrough 
  their clothes. Clothing is a way of stating oneself, 
  M 
  one’s moods, station and vocation. Individuality is 
  conveyed in a thousand subtle ways through the drape of a 
  sash at an angle opposed to the current style or in the flutter of 
  rainbow-hued ribbons. Delighting in a rich mixture of lush 
  colors, Mehibonkan costume is composed of startling blends 
  of fabric, texture, and hue. Clothing upon the Dragon Isle 
  differs from summer to winter, and between court garb and 
  everyday costume, but regardless of season it shares the 
  common features of luxury, beauty, and style. 
  Common elements of Melnibonk costume include velvet, 
  silk, linen, brocade, satin, cloth-of-gold or silver, fine leathers 
  and suedes, furs, feathers, and delicate jewelry of pearls and 
  precious metals and stones. Cleverly dyed colors are carefully 
  blended and contrasted, with lush mixtures of pigments and 
  hues in a variety of fabrics. Accessories carried by the 
  fashionable among both sexes include lace handkerchiefs, 
  small decorative daggers, perfumed pomanders, gloves, and 
  fans. Most clothing is adorned with lace, braid, or complex 
  embroidery. Hand-painted motifs also appear, stylized flowers 
  such as roses, water-lilies and chrysanthemums, geometrical 
  designs, birds, animals, and objects such as fans or landscapes. 
  son Elric will be even more unconventional when he ascends 
  the Ruby Throne. 
  EDUCATION 
  ELNIBONEANS ARE NOT fond of 
  responsibility, and it is rare for a woman to 
  M 
  sacrifice her time and freedom to allow a child to 
  be born. Contraceptive herbs are customarily used. If a woman 
  does decide to bear a child, she has little to do with the infant 
  after the birth, except on a formal basis. Once a Mehibonkan 
  child is born, his or her upbringing is largely entrusted to 
  slaves. They rear and educate the child, providing lengthy 
  instruction in Melnibonk’s long rituals and ancient traditions. 
  Reading and writing lessons begin at age two or three, sorcery 
  within the year if applicable. 
  Discipline of the body begins at the same time as does 
  discipline of the mind. Although a child will not pick up a real 
  sword until the age of ten, from six years age and upwards 
  Mehibonkan children are given weapon training, as well as 
  general exercise. Elite slaves from throughout the Young 
  Kingdoms are available to instruct the youth of Imrryr. 
  weapon masters collected at great cost from across the world. 
  Education concerning Melnibonk’s many drugs is also started 
  as soon as a child is old enough to leam to pick and choose. 
  34 
  
  M E L N I B O N E A N S  
  COURT CLOTHING 
  Just as the Court of the Ruby Throne outshines the barbaric 
  splendor of any Young Kingdoms nation, so too do even its 
  lesser courtiers dress more finely than the richest human king. 
  Court garb is intricate and majestic. The cost of a Melnibonkn 
  court robe would feed a family of Vilmirian peasants for 
  several years. Long, sweeping robes or gowns are the norm in 
  court-men’s 
  full-sleeved, women’s sleeveless. These are 
  fashioned of shimmering fabrics in green, gold, deep azure 
  and rich violet, reds and autumn vermilion and a thousand 
  other hues, cleverly dyed and wrought with a variety of colors 
  that blend instead of clashing. 
  Such garb is voluminous and dramatic, often heavy, and 
  many nobles learn to use the sweeping folds of their garments 
  to punctuate a conversation or illustrate an argued position. 
  Lighter gowns are worn in warmer weather. Garb of heavy 
  fabrics, long fur jerkins, and heavy cloaks are worn in winter. 
  Women drape themselves with elaborate fringed shawls and 
  finely embroidered scarves in colder weather to compensate 
  for the sleeves their courtly gowns lack. Beneath their robes 
  Melnibonkns may wear light blouses or high-collared shirts 
  of fine samite or silk, with loose sleeves or sleeveless, and 
  hose, woolen in winter, silk in summer. Robes may be slashed 
  to allow puffs of this lighter fabric to be visible. 
  Undergarments are invariably made of fine linen. Broad 
  sashes and cummerbunds worn over robes are not uncommon. 
  Soft and ornate slippers are worn indoors, outdoors high 
  leather boots with ornate stitching and buckles. 
  Often nobles’ robes are of a material predominantly the hue 
  of their banner or device, each noble identified with a 
  particular shade. Guards, slaves, and retinue are usually 
  garbed in matching apparel. For example, the color of the 
  Emperor, his private suite, and state robes is yellow or 
  cloth-of-gold, the device of the Royal House a scarlet dragon 
  rampant on a gold field. Imrryrian court functions present a 
  fabulous array of rainbowcolored rippling gowns and robes 
  of costly fabrics, sweeping and shimmering about the steps of 
  the Ruby Throne. 
  EVERYDAY WEAR 
  When not at court Melnibonkans wear simpler clothing, but 
  even the simplest tunic is lushly embellished, be it padded, 
  brocaded, embroidered with gold thread, or sewn with pearls. 
  Dresses are the norm for women, doublets and tunics for men, 
  while all wear hose, silk in summer, fine wool in winter. 
  Cloaks are worn by both sexes. Women’s garb is generally 
  sleeveless. 
  Wamors on duty wear quilted and padded jerkins beneath 
  their chased and embellished armor, long sleeved shirts, and 
  loose breeks or kilts. Foot soldiers wear leather sandals, and 
  cavalry wear calf-length riding boots. Depending on which 
  nobelhouse they serve, warriors’ cloaks and accoutrements 
  consist of one major color. Those guards in service to the 
  Emperor wear yellow, others deep red, scintillating blue, and 
  every possible color of the spectrum in between. 
  War regalia consists of fine armor, lacquered, enameled, and 
  polished: breastplates, gorgets, vambraces, gauntlets, cuisses 
  and greaves. As Melnibone’s wars become a thing of the past, 
  the fashions of armor in Imrryr grow increasingly baroque. 
  Helmets are omate, often inlaid with ivory or gold in delicate 
  filigree. The helms of the Dragon Princes are the most ornate, 
  cast in the form of their awesome mounts. The dragons are 
  depicted winged, rearing, mouths as visors, scales embracing 
  II the world seemed blue and gold and green and 
  “A 
  white, and Elric, pulling his boat up on the beach, 
  breathed the clean sharp air of winter and savoured the 
  scent of decaying leaves and rotting undergrowth. 
  Somewhere a bitch fox barked her pleasure to her mate 
  and Elric regretted the fact that his depleted race no 
  longer appreciated natural beauty, preferring to stay 
  close to their city and spend many of their days in 
  drugged slumber. It was not the city which dreamed, but 
  its over civilised inhabitants.“ 
  -WEIRD OF THE WHITE WOLF, II,Z 
  the warrior’s head and face. Weapons are similarly f i e  and 
  slim, light slender swords, deadly bone bows, and long spears 
  with sharp, leaf-shaped blades. 
  Makeup is generally worn by Melnibonean women, who 
  paint designs upon their eyelids and cheekbones to enhance 
  their beauty. This fashion dates from the time of Terhali the 
  Green Empress, when sycophantic courtiers painted 
  themselves in order to attain a coloration similar to the 
  Empress’ own skin. Facial hair is unfashionable among 
  Melnibonean men, being seen as barbaric and primitive. 
  “Apes encourage facial hair, Melniboneans do not,” so the 
  saying goes. Of late some dandies have began to cultivate long 
  waxed moustaches and small beards. 
  Hair is worn long and loose by both sexes, although the 
  ladies of the court sometimes pile their hair in elaborate 
  styles above their heads. Filigree tiaras of platinum, or 
  combs carved of coral or ivory might be worn to hold the 
  hair in place. Scented and oiled, ringleted and curled, the 
  fashionable of Emperor Sadric’s courtiers adorn their hair 
  with strings of pearls or glittering gemstones strung on 
  silver chains. Some may place miniature lanterns in their 
  hair, or otherwise sculpt and transform their tresses into 
  complex designs. 
  COINS OF THE REALM 
  ELNIBONE‘S COINACE IS the oldest in the 
  Young Kingdoms. It inspired other nations to 
  M 
  mint their own, despite contrary rumors spread 
  by the Church of Goldar. Only Melnibone’s nobles 
  exchanged these first coins, and so they were suitably 
  sumptuous, minted of silver-platinum alloy and struck with 
  the portrait of the ruling emperor on one side and a dragon 
  in flight on the reverse. 
  That design has been preserved for millennia. Known now 
  as silver dragons, they are worth five gold coins from any 
  human nation, or about 5000 bronzes in value. Silver dragons 
  occasionally pass into human hands. Mehibonk’s lesser silver 
  (lacking platinum alloy and the dragon image) is the coin most 
  commonly exchanged with humans. Worth about 11 0 bronzes 
  each, Elric brings these and jewels when he later journeys into 
  the Young Kingdoms. 
  Melnibonean gold wheels, the intricately carved 
  artwork-medallions crafted to mark the reign of each Emperor, 
  are rarely seen. They are virtually priceless. Gold wheels are 
  memorials, not circulating coins, even in Imnyr. 
  35 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  THE HARBOR EDICT 
  NOTICE WHEREBY HUMAN PETITIONERS MAY PRESENTTHEMSELVES FOR CONSIDERATION 
  OF ADMllTANCE TO IMRRYR THE BEAUTIFUL, CITY OF DREAMS, AUGUST CAPITAL OF THE 
  BRIGHT E M P I R E  AND BELOVED OF ARIOCH, LORD OF THE SEVEN DARKS, DUKE OF CHAOS, 
  KNIGHT OF THE SWORDS, AND MOST DREAD LORD OF ENTROPY. 
  OMPILED THIS DAY being the 9125th day of the rule of 
  C his Most Beatific Imperial Majesty, King Sadric the 
  Eighty-Sixth, Emperor by Right of Birth, Inheritor of the Ruby 
  Throne, Bearer of the Actorios. Master of MelnibontS, Exponent 
  ot Her Secret Arts, by the hand of Vasarik Dvom, unworthy 
  scribe of her most blessed by the command of the Emperor 
  and fortunate Lady T'varla Ryun, Dragon Princess, Mistress of 
  the Dark Calling, Adept of the Order of the Whispering Phoenix, 
  who states that it is her unfortunate but devoted task to record 
  for the benefit of mere humans the instructions of the 427th 
  Emperor of the Ruby Throne, as concerning the entrance of 
  such cattle into the bounds of the Dreaming City. 
  RULE THE FIRST 
  0 H U M A N  MAY enter the gates of lmnyr with purpose 
  N 
  of mind other than trade with emissaries of the Ruby 
  Throne, or else humbly seeking knowledge from her 
  inhabitants, knowing full well that those of the Dragon Isle are 
  their superiors in all areas of wisdom and enlightenment. 
  RULE THE 
  TIS FORBIDDEN FOR any save those of the blood of the 
  I 
  Dragon Isle, pure and unsullied with lesser ichor, to be 
  conversant with the mysteries of the labyrinth whereby the 
  entrance ways of lmrryr are guarded. All foreigners must, when 
  entering the harbor of the Dreaming City, be masked when in 
  command of a ship, so that MelnibonB's pilots may guide them 
  Treacherous humans who by duplicity or with malice 
  aforethought seek admittance to lmrryr shall be taken forthwith 
  to the Tower of Monshanjik by Knights of the Order of the 
  Eagle, there to be given over to the pleasures of the Master 
  Inquisitor, artist of pain. 
  SECOND 
  with skill and wisdom through the pathways of the maze, while 
  those of no rank such as and including passengers and 
  common sailors will take themselves below deck on pain of 
  blinding. Those who seek to learn and navigate the secretways 
  through the revered sea-maze of Monshanjik shall have their 
  eyes put out. 
  RULE THE THIRD 
  NCE ADMlmANCE TO the harbor is gained, no 
  0 
  human shall speak to one of Melnibonean blood unless 
  spoken to, nor shall any human stand higher than one of the 
  Dragon Isle, abasing themselves forthwith and prostrate upon 
  the floor when ft citizen of lmnyr passes by or enters into the 
  room. When so honored as to share the presence of Prince or 
  RULE THE 
  HAT SECTION OF THE harbor north of the Tower of 
  T 
  Monshanjik up to the base of the Great Wall shall be 
  deemed the Foreign Quarter, and is appointed to the use and 
  practices of those aliens present in our Dreaming City. This 
  area alone may be inhabited by the transient human visitors for 
  a period not more than seven days and seven nights, being a 
  Princess of Dragons, who must not be sullied by human gaze, 
  humans will avert their eyes, never looking directly at one who 
  shares the blood of the Ruby Throne, else be executed, or 
  enslaved, or given over to the meritorious Master Inquisitor and 
  his companion vivisectistes. 
  FOURTH 
  week in the common reckoning, unless in position of rare 
  privilege. Any human lingering in the harbor after the elapse of 
  their period of entry shall be expelled forthwith, or enslaved, or 
  given up to the tender ministrations of His Most Beatific 
  Emperor's beloved Master Inquisitor. 
  RULE THE FIFTH 
  CCESS TO ANY OTHER area of lmnyr other than that 
  A
  d
   
  eclared officially Foreign is denied, forbidden, and 
  foresworn by those of foreign blood, unless in extraordinary 
  circumstances which must include authorization from the Ruby 
  Throne, including guaranteed bonds of behavior and obeyance 
  to MelnibontSan commands of authority from the human in 
  question, together with the recommendation and guarantee of 
  at least one noble from the Imperial Court who knows full well 
  that the breaking of any laws by the sponsored foreigner shall 
  result in his or her own punishment and humiliation by Royal 
  Edict and Decree. 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E A N 5  
  LANGUAGE 
  E LO D I C AN D especially rhythmic when 
  speaking their own tongue, Mehibodan voices 
  M 
  possess a wider, more resonant vocal range than 
  that of humans. "bo tongues are used in the main in the 
  Dreaming City, although some scholar-nobles speak 
  languages long dead in the Young Kingdoms as well as upon 
  other planes. The main tongue of the Bright Empire is 
  Mehibokn (or low Melnibonkan), used for general 
  conversation among the languid nobility as well as among 
  their slaves. The Common tongue of the Young Kingdoms is a 
  corruption of this language, reflecting debased echoes of 
  Melnibonkn speech picked up by the human pets of inhuman 
  overlords centuries ago. Common is used amongst the general 
  slave rabble, although their elite overseers speak fluent 
  Mehibodan. No true Melnibonkan willingly learns such a 
  gutter tongue as Common. 
  High Speech (or Oldor High Melnibonebn, or High Tongue) 
  is the language of Emperors and sorcerers, and was taught to 
  Sadric the First, founding Emperor of Melnibonk, before 
  Imrryr's foundations were laid. It is said to be the primal 
  language of Chaos, spoken even by the very Lords of Entropy 
  themselves. On Melnibonk it is taught only to the children of 
  the nobility. In these times, that includes all Melnibonhn 
  children bom in the Dreaming City. High Speech is forbidden 
  to non-Melnibonkans, even the elite half-Mehibonkin slaves. 
  A human using High Speech on Melnibonk earns a painful 
  death, a penalty extracted from more than one Young 
  Kingdoms scholar attempting to impress the Dragon Princes. 
  High Speech is a rich and formal language, ponderous but 
  finely equipped to describe concepts, phenomena, and 
  qualities. Melnibonkan is as beautiful to the ear, but far less 
  poetical. High Speech is used in modem Imrryr at coronations, 
  weddings, and funerals, as well as for sorcerous activity. 
  In the Young Kingdoms, High Speech circulates mainly 
  among sorcerers and the cultural elite, even the best of whom 
  master only the rudiments. Even the most literate human 
  speaks High Speech clumsily and lacks subtlety and insight 
  with it. Some Young Kingdoms scholars learn it as others learn 
  Myyrrhn or Mong, for its value as an additional tongue in their 
  studies. For human sorcerers, it is invaluable. No one uses it in 
  day-to-day life. 
  FOOD AND DRINK 
  ELNIBONCANS HAVE delicate and 
  well-developed palates. Melnibonkan food is 
  M 
  succulent and rich, spiced and seasoned with a 
  variety of herbs and other flavorings. Exotic feasts are the 
  norm, although the slaves who make up the majority of 
  Melnibod's population must subsist on food ranging from 
  worse to nauseating. Seafood plays an extensive part in the 
  Melnibonhn diet, supplemented by fruits from the southern 
  isles of Kiashu and Wa'aiya'oro. 
  Dishes featured on Melnibonkan menus include raw beef 
  served in a pepper and red wine sauce, fine slices of chili 
  served atop sea-urchin patk, green turtle soup cooked in its 
  own shell with ginger and garlic, roast swan stuffed with 
  quails in turn stuffed with dates and honey, baby octopus 
  served alive and wriggling, slices of raw fEh wrapped in rice 
  and seaweed, desserts of pomegranates, peaches, grapes, and 
  strawberries, light airy cakes, chocolate tarts, sherbets, and 
  imaginative sculptures of flavored ice. 
  Wine is savored in Imrryr. Melnibonhns enjoy the golden 
  chardonnays of Cadsandria, ports and muscats from 
  Nargesser, and even rare wines from distant worlds, wines so 
  potent that one may get drunk and dream for days on only their 
  fumes. Some are served cold, some heated and spiced. 
  Melnibonkans also favor a variety of nectars, meads and 
  spirits. Beers and ales are generally considered a poorer drink, 
  the choice of slaves and base foreigners. 
  Few of the dreaming inhabitants of Imrryr are actually 
  aware of where their wine cellars are, as such matters concern 
  only the slaves sent to retrieve a bottled vintage for their 
  masters' pleasures. Many secret stashes of wine exist across 
  the Dragon Isle, lying dusty and forgotten in long-abandoned 
  villas. The art of wine-making, or at least its subleties, has 
  been forgotten on Melnibonk, and the wines bottled today 
  cannot compare to vintages of the past. Only inferior wines are 
  traded with humans, the better vintages reserved for refined 
  Melnibonean palates. 
  ARTS AND PASTIMES 
  E LN I BON f AN I ARE possessed of razor-sharp 
  and questing intellects. While they may seem a 
  M 
  warlike, violent race, they also embrace the gentler 
  arts, such as painting, dancing, poetry and song. Some write 
  unstructured symphonies as paeans to Chaos, with randomly 
  placed notes in incoherent melodies. Others sing exquisite 
  arias, pen dissertations, construct theorems of sorcery, compile 
  grimoires and compendiums of lore, or paint grandiose 
  landscapes of impossible worlds as murals upon their walls. 
  Sculpture, dance, and other refined arts fill the empty days for 
  many Melnibonhs. All residents take drugs as an art form, 
  striving to find more beautiful visions, ascend to higher 
  realities, and to expand their minds to newer limits around 
  increasingly impossible concepts. Such arts are often solitary, 
  although regular drug orgies are held where groups take 
  identical drugs, experiencing similar altered states and 
  perceptions at the same time. 
  The people of Imrryr delight in lush a@ unusual design in 
  their art and decoration. Most are free to indulge their desires 
  as they will, giving their time almost exclusively over to the 
  seeking of pleasure. Urgency is virtually unknown in the 
  Dreaming City. While some practice decadent and terrible 
  sports, most Melnibonhns spend their time in drug-induced 
  realms and states of rapture. 
  Melnibonkans pass their days with their every emotion and 
  appetite sharpened by a variety of drugs, and a walk through 
  the Dreaming City may find them at every turn. Here a woman 
  is weeping at the sad sound of a fountain's falling tears. There 
  a group is softly humming along to the Agonized Orchestra, 
  the surgically-perfected, tortured slave-chorus, as they scream 
  sweet songs of pain. Others engage in long, languorous 
  love-making amidst silks and hallucinogenic clouds of 
  sweet-smelling incense; partake in banquets of epic proportion 
  and tantalizing variety; navigate the mysteries of distant 
  planes or their inner minds; study and understand the 
  workings of the human body, the wonders of the circulatory 
  system, and the unfolding mystery that is the brain; and dance 
  with delicate grace through complex, intertwining patterns 
  where a missed step could result in death or, worse. exile from 
  the Emperor's court. 
  37 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  SLAVES 
  E LN I BONE DE P E N  DS upon her slaves, who in 
  turn depend upon Melnibonk. Drugged, dazed, and 
  M 
  controlled by their inhuman masters, the slaves of 
  the Dreaming City are generally treated better than their peers 
  in other nations. Only laboring slaves have a short life-span, 
  exhausted and broken by their harsh work. The majority of 
  Melnibonkn slaves live a long, rich life, dining on finer fare 
  than the free peasants of many lands, and clad in the cast-off 
  finery of their lords and ladies. Regardless of their station, all 
  slaves on Melnibonk are controlled by their dependence upon 
  the dreams their drugs bring, and thus the drugs’ source, their 
  inhuman overlords. Drugs make their lives far more pleasant 
  than they would otherwise be. The pain and torment of their 
  lot is blurred in a warm narwtic fog. 
  Waves make up approximately nine-tenths of Mehibonk’s 
  population. Some of these are part-Melnibonkan, performing 
  an elite servant-overseer role in Imrryrian society. Most slaves 
  are human, either descended from generations of enslaved 
  ancestors, or survivors of ships which have crashed while 
  navigating Imrryr’s maze, or enslaved for breaking one of the 
  myriad laws of the harbor. 
  Any task which Melnibonkans cannot bring themselves to 
  perform, slaves cany out for them. Because the sight of their 
  slaves is disagreeable to many Melnibonkans, a hidden 
  network of corridors and passageways exists throughout the 
  Dreaming City. With them, slaves can travel about 
  undetectably. These warrens let slaves traverse Imrryr from 
  north to south without once seeing the light of day. 
  NLY IN THE LAST 300 years have humans 
  ,been allowed within h y r  on any basis other 
  than slavery. The fitst free humans to visit the 
  Dreaming City were a delegation from the newly 
  independent nation of Lormyr, representing Queen Eloarde. 
  They were permitted no further than a small section of the 
  harbor, and the Tower of Monshanjik. These areas were 
  considered soiled by the human’s presence, and have been 
  abandoned by most Imnyrians ever since. 
  Today, with concessions gained by successive delegations 
  of ambassadors and merchants, humans may enter the harbor 
  and trading areas of Monshanjik Tower relatively freely. 
  Access to any other area of the city is strictly limited. Many 
  Melnibonkans find the presence of civilized humans (as 
  opposed to their slaves) quite intolerable, while the best 
  treatment humans can expect is patronizing amusement from 
  their impassive, alien hosts. When speaking to humans, most 
  Melnibonkans speak slowly and use small words, as if talking 
  to a child. Melnibonkans are always surprised if a human 
  speaks Melnibonh. Human who dare speak the High Tongue 
  risk arrest for sacrilege, and execution. 
  Considerable rules restrict the actions of any human in 
  Imrryr. The five main laws are summarized in a document 
  t was in their dreams that the nobles of Melnibone 
  found most of their pleasures; they had ever been a 
  moody and inward-looking race and it was for this 
  quality that lmrryr had came to be named the Dreaming 
  City. There, even the meanest slaves chewed berries to 
  bring them oblivion and thus were easily controlled, for 
  they came to depend on their dreams. 
  - 
  ELRlC OFMELNIBONL, 1.3 
  known as the Visitor’s Code, also referred to as the Harbor 
  Edict, first written about 25 years ago. All visitors to the 
  Dreaming City must memorize it, and unless they can show 
  familiarity with it, are generally forbidden to leave their ship. 
  Such orders come not from the Melnibonhs, but from the 
  Captain, who is usually loath to lose passengers or crew to an 
  infringement of the port rules. 
  Breakers of the many laws which cover human access to 
  Melnibone are summarily taken by the Eagle Guard to the 
  torture chambers and cells of Monshanjik Tower. 
  One rule of the Harbor Edict forbids any human to speak to 
  a Melnibonkan without having been spoken to first. A polite 
  Imrryrian will give a human allowance to speak upon f i t  
  meeting, but more traditional-minded Melnibonbns might 
  scrutinize an increasingly nervous human for hours at a time 
  before speaking their f i t  word. 
  As well as the five principal rules of the Harbor Edict, there 
  exist a complex web of minor rules and regulations, to which 
  new decrees are added regularly. The most recent was the 
  banning of any inhabitant of the Isle of Purple Towns, or any 
  person known to do business with them. The Purple Towners 
  are actively competing with Imrryr as a center of trade. This 
  has not harmed Melnibonk, but the humans deserve 
  punishment for their hubris. Hence they are forbidden from 
  Melnibone and her wonders. 
  TRADE AND TRADING 
  H E ON LY VIS IT0 RS allowed in Imrryr are those 
  who come to trade, and scholars who come to learn 
  T 
  from Melnibonk’s ancient wisdom. Despite the many 
  dangers which face foreigners, people swarm to the Dreaming 
  City, merchants from almost every nation of the Young 
  Kingdoms as well as sorcerers, sages, and seekers after truth. 
  Ten years ago the merchants came not only to trade with 
  Melnibonkans, but with one another as well. These days most 
  such trade is done in the Purple Towns. 
  TRADE GOODS 
  Most traders come for MelnibonB’s rare and wondrous works 
  of art, pearls, fine jewels, and precious metals. Others come 
  for drugs, sorcery, salt, spices, wine, glass and earthenware. 
  Melnibonk is rumored to possess inexhaustible wealth. 
  Although the amount of gold and jewelry exported has 
  dropped in quantity, the quality remains fine. All artwork 
  which Melnibonk exports nowadays is antique. The art 
  currently produced in Imrryr lacks the subtlety of that 
  produced in previous centuries, before the Dragon Isle’s 
  inexorable decline commenced. Imports to the Dragon Isle 
  38 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E A N S  
  include slaves, grain, cotton, worked leather, horses, and 
  other herd beasts. 
  WHAT FOREIGNERS KNOW 
  ELNIBONE IS THE most talked about 
  nation of all the Young Kingdoms, and spinners 
  M 
  of fireside tales in smoky taverns rival one 
  another with the tall stories they tell about the Dragon Isle 
  and its inhuman inhabitants. That the Bright Empire once 
  ruled all the nations of the world is still a sore point with 
  many humans, who are threatened by MelnibonCan 
  sorcery and angered by the race’s continuing arrogance. In 
  less civilized quarters, Mehibonkns are seen as demons 
  in service to unnatural gods. Humans speak with greed of 
  MelnibonC’s endless wealth, and with fear when 
  recounting stories of old retribution against those who 
  dared threaten the Dragon Isle. Eyewitness tales of those 
  brave enough to have traveled to the Dreaming City add 
  add spice to these yams. 
  Sorcerers know that Melniboneans are the supreme 
  masters of the magical arts, while worshipers at the 
  Temples of Law are told that MelnibonCans are evil, 
  decadent and insane. Among the Purple Towns, whose 
  people have taken the measure of these aliens, 
  Melnibonkns are mistrusted rather than hated. On Pan 
  Tang they are despised with a jealous loathing. Spreading 
  fear, rumor, and superstition in their wake, Melnibonhns 
  are known of everywhere in the Young Kingdoms. 
  H E  DREAMING CITY gained its name 
  centuries past because of the nearly uniform use of 
  drugs and potions which titillate, terrify, and control 
  the minds of its inhabitants. Melniboneans and their 
  human slaves alike partake of a variety of drugs; the former for 
  the experiences which the drugs bring, the latter without 
  choice. 
  For the Melnibonh nobility, drugs are a way of escaping 
  the tedium of daily existence and reliving the faded splendors 
  of the Bright Empire’s glorious past. Drugs also provide new, 
  sometimes terrifying experiences, as well as assisting and 
  stimulating sorcery, pain, and other experiences and desires. In 
  the dreams which their drugs produce, Melnibonkans find 
  wonders which would drive lesser beings mad, and delight in 
  horrors which bring rare smiles to their beautiful, impassive 
  faces. 
  Enraptured by the mind-expanding qualities of the 
  substances they consume, Melnibonians spend long days 
  wrapped in drug-induced pleasure, their minds caught up in 
  the beauty of a dewdrop refracting rainbows on the petal of a 
  rose; formulating delicate poetry of breath-taking melancholy; 
  or psychically traversing the boundaries of Lord Arioch’s 
  Seven Darks. At other times MelnibonCans ingest drugs to 
  Drug 
  Type(s) 
  Skill 
  Cost 
  Arveed 
  P,N 
  81% 
  10 bronzelglass 
  Glifilinar 
  S 
  81 % 
  200 bronzelflask 
  GddenMoss 
  M 
  51 % 
  85 bronze per sq. foot 
  Hellebore 
  0 
  31 % 
  80 bronzelpinch 
  ImanaRoot 
  S 
  61% 
  20 bronzelounce 
  Mandragore 
  0,s 
  31 % 
  25 bronzelpouch 
  Garbleweed 
  P,M 
  71% 
  30 bronzelounce 
  Bloodflame 
  P 
  71% 
  6 bronzelgram 
  Noidel 
  0 
  21% 
  15 bronzelplant 
  Xanan 
  N 
  71% 
  5 bronzelounce 
  DRUG: Name of the drug. Further description is given 
  below. 
  TYPE(S1: M - medicinal, N - narcotic, 0 - occult, 
  P - psychoactive, S - stimulant. 
  POTIONS SHILL: The minimum skill level in Potions 
  required to correctly harvest and process the plant from 
  which the drug is extracted. The physician or alchemist 
  needs a skill roll to see if the batch succeeds. A Natural 
  World roll might have to be made to locate where the drug 
  is grown. 
  C O S T  Cost in bronzes to buy the drug on the Melnibonean 
  market. Human traders reselling these drugs in the Young 
  Kingdoms mark up prices tenfold or more. 
  keep them active and alert, heightening reactions and stamina 
  as well as moods and emotions. 
  MelnibonC’s many slaves, human and half-breed alike, 
  partake in drugs at their masters’ and mistresses’ command. 
  Happy slaves are productive slaves, and so they toil for their 
  masters in drug-induced love, even nurturing the gardens 
  which produce the drugs that enslave them. 
  Laboring slaves are constantly sedated with potions and 
  powders in their food and wine to sap their willpower and 
  destroy their intellects. Trustworthy slaves, and those who 
  must perform tasks needing concentration and skill, are dosed 
  with more sophisticated drugs. Such brews are invariably 
  addictive. Without the pleasure the drugs bring, the slaves find 
  their existences less bearable, sometimes agonizing. In some 
  cases slaves know that their addiction to certain drugs keeps 
  them alive, and thus must toil always at the command of those 
  who hold the substance of their sweet suffering. 
  Melnibonean adventurers, unless willing to be ostracized 
  and considered eccentric by their inhuman peers, will no doubt 
  partake of recreational substances. Valued human visitors to 
  the Dragon Isle may also be introduced to enjoyable 
  hallucinogens, or unknowingly drugged by Melniboneans 
  hungry for control. 
  As the variety of drugs cultivated and created by the 
  Melnibonkan race over the centuries is astoundingly varied, 
  only a small sample can be mentioned here. There are many 
  drug-producing plants farmed on the Dragon Isle, as well as 
  herbs aromatic and flavorsome, and plants grown only for the 
  beauty of their blossoms. Gamemasters should have no 
  qualms in introducing substances of their own creation into 
  Imrryr-based campaigns. 
  39 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  OCCULT 
  The sorcerer-nobles of Melnibonb use these in their magicks. 
  Some send the sorcerer into a trance. Others sharpen their 
  summoning skills, or open their eyes to worlds beyond. They 
  are also used in magical potions and occult infusions. Other 
  drugs in this class attract or repel demons and other-planar 
  entities. Numberless occult drugs and herbs were gathered 
  from other nations and other worlds over so many millennia. 
  Strange, often-forgotten plants now grow in profusion 
  everywhere on the Isle of Melnibone. 
  PSYCHOACTIVE 
  These drugs stimulate the mind or alter thoughts, mood, 
  emotions, and perceptions of color, time, and sensation. The 
  weaker drugs in this category, and the early stages of strong 
  psychoactives, produce euphoria, uncontrollable laughter, 
  fixed grins, meandering conversations, and feelings of 
  empathy. Strong psychoactive substances induce 
  hallucinations and alter the mind. 
  Melnibonkans use psychoactive drugs to control and in 
  some cases to destroy the minds of slaves. Just as frequently 
  they use them for their own enjoyment. Psychoactive drugs 
  are rarely physically addictive, but many users find the ease 
  with which the drugged state is achieved to be so compelling 
  that they neglect or refuse other ways to gain the pleasures that 
  the drug brings. Prolonged frequent use can result in memory 
  loss, depression, or flatness of emotion, and general 
  withdrawal. Repeated strong doses of some psychoactives can 
  induce psychosis. 
  STlMU LANT 
  Stimulants arouse, excite, and give the user feelings of rushing 
  energy, joy, and supreme self-control. Although it is possible 
  to offset exhaustion with stimulants, most give only temporary 
  or illusory stamina. They can also affect emotions, 
  coordination, muscle control, and sexual drive. Stimulants 
  sometimes affect appetite, eliminating hunger pangs until the 
  drug wears off, at which point the user may collapse. 
  Stimulants are addictive, and regular or large doses can create 
  delusions of grandeur or of fearful suspicion. Heavy stimulant 
  users may become aggressive or nervous, and may lose 
  control of random small muscles in the face or limbs. 
  GARBLEWEED 
  (MEDICINAL. PSYCHOACTIVE) 
  ARBLEWEED GROWS 
  all across the 
  G Mehibonean archipelago, the Isle of Purple 
  Towns, Sorcerer’s Isle, and the northern region of the 
  Southern Continent. The tough, woody stalks of the 
  plant grow up to 20 feet high, and thick as a person’s 
  wrist. Leaves are numerous and broad, with five 
  points and a serrated edge. In spring and late summer 
  the female plants grow resin-rich blossoms, or heads. 
  The heads, and to a lesser extent the leaves, if dried 
  and smoked, create a relaxed feeling of mild hilarity 
  and peacefulness, reducing INT by 1 D3 for 1-2 hours. 
  A user with a failed Charisma roll experiences 
  paranoia and nervousness. The empathy among 
  garbleweed smokers lets them understand one 
  another’s drug-addled conversations, which seem to 
  explain everything while making no sense at all. As 
  medicine, garbleweed relieves stress and nausea and 
  also promotes appetite. Regular heavy use affects 
  memory, speech, and activity levels. Slaves on 
  Melnibon6 smoke garbleweed, as do sailors across 
  the Young Kingdoms. It is said that frequent users can 
  be recognized by their hairy noses, but this may not 
  be true. 
  DRUGS OF THE D R A G O N  ISLE 
  PON TH E Meadows of Lassitude grow a profusion 
  of herbs, shrubs, roots, flowers, and mosses. Slaves of 
  U 
  Melnibone gather these plants at appropriate times of 
  the year, and deliver them to Imrryr. Other slaves extract from 
  the raw plants the drugs that are smoked, drunk, eaten, or 
  absorbed through the skin-that 
  alter perceptions of color, 
  time, and space, that heighten sensation, touch, or sound, or 
  enhance physical or mental characteristics. 
  This section details ten drugs, natural and otherwise, 
  commonly found on Melnibone. Many others exist, and 
  gamemasters should invent further drugs following the 
  examples given here. 
  MEDICINAL 
  Drugs in this category affect the body. Some increase or 
  decrease Strength or Constitution. Healing herbs aid or speed 
  recovery from injury or disease. 
  NARCOTIC 
  These drugs have powerful relaxant and depressant qualities, 
  cause drowsiness or lack of co-ordination, and may interfere 
  with memory and speech. Narcotic drugs are physically 
  addictive. Withdrawal signs include sweating, muscular 
  tremors, aches, and mental anguish as the lack of the drug 
  sends shivers of pain through the user’s body. The foods 
  Melnibonkn slaves eat often include narcotics that render 
  them passive and tranquil, and thus controllable. 
  Melnibonhns smoke other M ~ C O ~ ~ C S  
  or absorb them through 
  the skin, gainiig a feeling of soothing peace. 
  DRUGS IN COMMON USE 
  H E E D  (N A RCOTl C, PSYC H OACTI VE) 
  Arveed, known as the “yellow wine of madness” in the Young 
  Kingdoms, confers dreams of strange worlds and distant 
  spheres. Arveed is brewed only in Ilmar, one of the city-states 
  of Ilmiora. Humans are far more susceptible to the effects of 
  AN& 
  than are Melnibonhns. The wine has a potency of 
  1D10+5, different vintages varying in quality. Drinkers of 
  Arveed match their CON against the wine’s potency. A 
  successful roll means the wine increases Listen, Scent, and 
  Taste skills by 1D5+5 percentiles for ID3 hours. Failure 
  means visions of a thousand other worlds grip the victim’s 
  mind. This drives human drinkets to gibbering insanity, but a 
  Melnibonkn must drink an entire bottle of strong Arveed to 
  fall into visionary unconsciousness. 
  BLOOD FLAME (PSYCHOACTIVE) 
  The sap of the Kaelthorn tree, when gathered and lightly dried, 
  becomes a sticky yellow resin, which when smoked inspires 
  40 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E A N 5  
  visions of hellfire and demon-inflicted suffering. Bloodflame, 
  as the sap is called, burns slowly, with a sharp, citrus odor. Its 
  name originates from the common sensation that the drug has 
  turned one’s blood to fire, burning through the veins like lava. 
  On Melnibon6 its users have tired of ethereal beauty, and seek 
  instead darker, more passionate pleasures to arouse their jaded 
  senses. They also use Bloodflame to punish disobedient 
  slaves. A victim who takes it unawares matches INT against 
  Bloodflame’s potency of 2D6+2. Success increases Million 
  Spheres skill by 10 percentiles for 1D4 hours. Failure means 
  the victim receives no skill increase and believes the drug’s 
  hallucinations are real. In both cases pain reduces physical 
  skills by 25 percentiles for one hour. 
  GLI FI Ll NAR (ST1 M U LANn 
  Glifilin mushrooms grow only on rotting wood in the f i t  
  month of autumn. Their caps and stalks are opalescent, their 
  gills faintly green. The drug extracted from their juices makes 
  a powerful stimulant of potency 3D10. A single drop of 
  Glifilinar, administered in water, provokes a dramatic 
  response. The user’s body produces maximum energy, 
  allowing prodigious feats of stamina, strength and speed. This 
  effectively doubles the user’s STR, cow and Dmfor 10+1D10 
  hours. Unfortunately, the body burns itself up, breaking down 
  fat, muscle tissue, and internal organs to fuel the 
  drug-provoked activity. The drug is always fatal. Its emaciated 
  victims die in gasping agony. Melnibonean battle-barge 
  captains give Glifilinar to slaves to provoke emergency speed. 
  GOLDEN MOSS (ME D I C I N A U 
  Golden Moss grows at the edge of the Meadows of Lassitude 
  by the Intangible Forest, where slender young saplings shake 
  their branches at the rolling sky and the low, boulderdotted 
  weald rises at their roots. As rare as it is useful, Golden Moss 
  grows only in the shade, near water stained with the tannin of 
  oak leaves. A poultice made from Golden Moss heals 2D6 
  points of damage in 1D6 hours. It heals bums without 
  scarring. 
  H E LLE B O  RE (OCC U LT) 
  This perennial, a creeper, grows wherever demons have shed 
  blood. The six-inch plant has vivid pink flowers, silky-haired, 
  fingernail-sized circular leaves, and an exposed root network. 
  A sorcerer who ritually bums dried Hellebore blossoms may 
  summon a representative of the demon breed whose blood 
  fertilized that plant. The sorcerer need not know the demon’s 
  breed name. Once the demon appears, the sorcerer must bind 
  or command it as usual. 
  IMANA ROOT (STIMULANT) 
  The poisonous imana bush, a spined and spindly plant, never 
  reaches over four feet in height. When soaked in water for 
  three days to leach out toxins, then dried and powdered, its 
  root scrapings can be mixed with wine to create a bitter-tasting 
  but effective potion. The potion adds 1D6+2 to smfor 1D6+2 
  hours. If not correctly prepared, imam root becomes a deadly 
  poison with 2D 10 potency. Those who employ imana root use 
  strong spices to conceal its acrid taste. 
  MANDRAGORE (OCCULT) 
  Mandragore is an evergreen perennial flower native to the 
  Marshes of the Mist but cultivated for centuries on Melnibone. 
  The plant’s sword-like, dark green leaves grow from a 
  fist-sized bulb in shallow wetlands and fens. Each plant bears 
  three or four unscented purple-blue blossoms shot through 
  with reddish veins near the stalk. Something in their delicately 
  beautiful shape resembles a dragon and rider-thus the plant’s 
  name. When burned, the dried and powdered flower induces a 
  trance that adds 1D20 percentiles to the success chance of any 
  communication with dragons for 4-8 hours. A pinch of 
  mandragore pollen, sniffed or rubbed into the gums, dispels 
  feelings of drowsiness for 4-8 hours, but once it has worn off 
  the user feels twice as tired. Mandragore stays in the 
  bloodstream for a day after use. Further benefits during this 
  time require a dose twice as large as the first. 
  NOIDEL (OCCULT) 
  Noidel bushes dot the Plain of Imrryr. The plants have an 
  unusual occult property: they grow shadows the way most 
  plants grow flowers. The ground beneath a noidel bush and the 
  spaces between its broad leaves are always in shade, no matter 
  how low or how diffuse is the sunlight. When squeezed or 
  crushed the dark blue-purple berries make a poisonous drink 
  of POT 15 that destroys first the retinas of the eye, then the 
  tissue of the brain. 
  %ANAN (NARCOTIC) 
  This pamsitic orchid-like plant grows from the branches of 
  other trees, drawing nutrients from the host p€ant’s sap. Xanan 
  flowers are orange, mottled with reddish markings, the leaves 
  long and drooping. A POT 16 narcotic, the Xanan leaf 
  effectively removes individual thoughts from any who chew 
  it, Effects last one day. Slaves drugged with Xanan lose their 
  intellect and self-awareness, becoming automatons-perfect 
  laborers. 
  N 
  IN THE TIME 
  OF ELRIC 
  D 
  ETA1 LED BELOW are nine Melniboneans, 
  drawn from the works of Michael Moorcock. 
  These are among the most powerful and ambitious 
  people in Imnyr, and the adventurers may have a 
  chance to meet them. In the case of Doctor Jest, this may well 
  be a singularly unfortunate experience. 
  The characters are given in accordance with their status at 
  this prologue stage of the Elric saga. Thus, Elric is presented 
  without Stormbringer, Dyvim Slorm (as yet unknown to Elric) 
  does not appear, and the Emperor Sadric yet lives. 
  SADRIC THE EIGHTY-SI%TH 
  HE E M P E R O R  SADRIC is tall and filled with 
  misery. Even by Melnibonkan standards he is of 
  T 
  exceptional height, and he stoops because of this. He 
  has heavy-lidded eyes, prominent brows, a long, sharp nose 
  and delicate be-ringed hands. It is his habit to speak in a dry, 
  clear whisper, forcing others to fall silent and pay close 
  attention to his words. Enfeebled by age and illness, Sadtic is 
  41 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  slowly and painfully dying, neglecting his imperial duties and 
  retreating into a haze of pain, drugs and sorrow. 
  The Emperor has ruled Melnibonk for almost fifty years, 
  although he did not take a consort until more than a decade of 
  his reign had passed. Contravening Melnibonh tradition, 
  Sadric did not choose to sacrifice twelve brides and grooms to 
  ensure his own marriage’s success. His consort bore him a son, 
  the sickly Elric, but died as a result. Sadric lives only for her 
  memory, and the faint hope that they be reunited in the 
  afterlife. Such longings reveal the Emperor Sadric to be quite 
  un-Mehibonkan in his thinking, a habit later evident in his 
  unusual son. 
  Never in all the years of Elric’s upbringing did Sadric 
  display any emotion to his son other than a cold hatred. 
  However, he ensured that the child was reared according to 
  tradition, including a thorough education in every art and skill 
  a future Emperor should need. 
  Sadric ensured that his wife’s spirit would be safe in the 
  Forest of Souls, beyond the far bank of the Last River, by 
  means of a Scroll of Dead-Speaking. There she waits for his 
  shade to depart this world. However, his soul is sworn to his 
  patron, Lord Arioch of Chaos. Sadric has a plan to escape his 
  bargain, and consequently has also pledged his soul to 
  Mashabak of Chaos. At the moment of his death, when the two 
  Chaos Lords appear, Sadric intends to throw a false soul 
  before them, allowing his spirit to flee while the two Dukes of 
  Entropy battle over what they assume to be the life-essence of 
  Sadric the Eighty-Sixth. The success of this bold endeavor is 
  recorded in Moorcock‘s novel The Revenge of The Rose. 
  SADRICTHE EIGHTY-SI%TH, 
  427TH EMPEROR OF MELNIBONE 
  Chaos 500, Balance 81, Law 135 
  STR 16 (lo)* 
  CON 13 (8)t SIZ 14 INT29 
  POW 30 
  DEX18 
  APPl5 
  HP 14 (1l)t 
  ‘shows decline in last illness. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 (none during final illness). 
  Weapons: Sceptre 110%, 1D6+2+1D4 
  Broadsword 167%. 1 D8+1+1 D4+6D10 
  Full Shield 160%, 22 HP + 2D10 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on) +6D10, Meln. plate demon armor 
  Spells, Invocations, etc.: any in the rulesbook, plus the dragon 
  songs, plus any the gamemaster wishes to create; Sadric can 
  have 58 in memory. 
  Skills: Art (Courtly Manners) 135%, Bargain 101 %, Common 
  Tongue 60%, Dodge 65%, Evaluate 122%, Fast Talk 78%, High 
  Speech 125%, Insight 190%, Listen 75%, Mabden 41 %, Melni- 
  bonean 145%, Million Spheres 28%, Natural World 122%, Navi- 
  gate 90%, Oratory 200%, Physik So%, Potions 140%, Ride 80%, 
  ScenVTaste 120Y0, Unknown Kingdoms 61 %, Young Kingdoms 
  170%. 
  A SADRIC’S GREATER DEMON SCEPTRE: an ivory scepter 
  inlaid with rubies, diamonds, and otredos. The sceptre is the 
  focus for 44 average armed bal’boosts; they wait on another 
  plane for Sadric’s call. In addition, the sceptre contains one 
  object-bound greater demon. 
  STR24 
  CON20 
  INT28 
  POW22 
  Abilities: Teleport, carry =to its STR 
  Hear, CON ~ 5 %  
  Knowledge, INT ~ 3 % .  
  A SADRIC’S GREATER DEMON BROADSWORD: of gold, 
  and encrusted with gems and baroquely wrought fancy- 
  work. It is very heavy as a weapon, so Sadric causes his de- 
  mon to do most of the lifting. 
  STRlO 
  INTB 
  POW17 
  Abilities: Demon Weapon, adds 6D10 
  Lift, STR x3. 
  A SADRIC‘S GREATER DEMON SHIELD: on it is blazoned 
  Sadric’s ancestor-king, first setting foot on the Dragon Isle. 
  Abilities: Demon Shield, adds 2D10 
  Dazzle, 100%. 
  A SADRIC’S GREATER DEMON ARMOR: it is ail in what 
  seems to be glittering black, and is said to be able to wlth- 
  stand even the bite of Stormbringer and Mournblade. Drag- 
  ons and dragon heads are etched and sculpted in the metal, 
  and they look out in every direction, the better to guard the 
  embodiment of the Dragon Throne. 
  Abilities: Demon Armor, adds 6D10 
  Leap, up to 50 yards hor., 30 yds vertically 
  Absorb Missile, 1 1 0 % . 
  DlAVON 5LAR 
  H I I HALF-H UMAN bodyslave to the Emperor 
  Sadric is a subtly powerful influence in court life. 
  favor turned away from them, and it is considered wise to 
  bring a gift for Slar when seeking an audience with the doleful 
  Sadric. Diavon is Sadric’s closest confidante and advisor, as 
  well as an intimate and useful assistant. He lays out the 
  Emperor’s robes, helps him dress and bathe, and stands behind 
  the Emperor’s chair at banquets. In short, he awaits Sadric’s 
  every call and serves him with what seems the utmost faith. 
  Diavon Slar ’s delicate Melnibonkn features are blended 
  with the coarse and swarthy features of his Pikaraydian father, 
  slave of a now dead Imnyrian princess. His hair is thick and 
  bristling, his eyebrows a solid bar joined above his broad nose, 
  his almost pointed ears have pronounced lobes, and his build 
  is short and solid. Slar’s Mehibonkan heritage shows in his 
  intense eyes, high cheekbones, quick wits, and fluid grace. 
  When Sadric dies, Diavon Slar is 53. He flees Melnibonk, 
  stealing the carved rosewood box which holds the Emperor’s 
  real soul. Thinking to gain power over the Emperor’s ghost, or 
  to sell the soul to the Theocrat of Pan Tang, Slar’s dreams are 
  dashed when his ship is seized by Purple Towns slavers. The 
  soulbox is lost, and Slar spends his last days laboring in a 
  marble quarry in the highlands of the Isle of Purple Towns. 
  T 
  Nobles whom he dislikes often find the Emperor’s 
  DlAVON SLAR, bodyslave to Emperor Sadric 
  Chaos 91, Balance 12, Law 41 
  STRl5 
  CON13 
  SIZ8 
  INT17 
  POW10 
  DEX14 
  APP10 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: Dagger 65%, damage 1 D4+2 
  Strangle 80%, damage 1 D3 (STR vs STR to break free) 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Demon’s Ear (l), Heal (2), Refutation (14), Speed of 
  Vezhan (1-3), Undo Magic (1-4), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Bargain 124%, Common Tongue 85%. Conceal 65%, 
  Dodge 60%. Etiquette 95%, Groom 98%, Insight 71 %, Listen 
  80%, Melnibonean 85%, Move Quietly 6O%, Search 65%. 
  HP 11 
  DRAGON PRINCE ELRIC 
  LTHOUCH NOT YETdoomed ortragic, Elric is a 
  singular and rumor-haunted individual, even upon the 
  A 
  Dragon Isle. An albino, his eyes have irises of 
  blood-red, and his skin and hair are white as bone. He dresses 
  42 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E A N I  
  richly, as befits a Mehibonkan prince, and always in garments 
  of unsurpassed quality. 
  From his earliest day Elric has been raised to rule, and has 
  thus been given the best education a future Emperor could 
  have. It is his early days that Elric treasures the most, before he 
  became aware of his father’s hate for him. 
  Due to his physical weakness, he was unable to join his 
  brightly sadistic playfellows at their games, and instead passed 
  the long days in reading. Already set apart from his peers by 
  his high station and albinoism, Elric became a greater 
  curiosity by learning more than any other of his kin for 
  centuries. He now has a great store of learning, ranging from 
  the secret song paths of the Dragon Isle to the spells and rituals 
  which concem the great reptiles themselves. Such immersion 
  in philosophy and lore has taught Elric not only sorcery-it 
  has also planted the seeds of doubt in his mind, so that he 
  contemplates alien concepts such as morality and guilt, issues 
  that trouble none of the Bright Empire but himself. 
  Elric depends upon complex and constant draughts of 
  magical potions. Without the drugs that keep him strong, Elric 
  might be unable to lift his head from the pillow he rests upon. 
  Other sorcerous draughts also keep Elric’s eyes clear and his 
  hearing sharp. He spurns the more revelatory and entertaining 
  drugs that his kindred take constantly, distancing himself 
  further from the introspective race he is to rule one day. Often 
  Elric walks alone through the Imperial Palace, his friends and 
  family lost to the world in drug-induced dreams. 
  Elric sleeps little, and is somewhat troubled by heights. He 
  is often lonely, although he does not discuss this and is not 
  really aware of the concept. He loves his father, although 
  unhappily, savoring the rare occasions when Sadric deigns to 
  speak with him. Elric attempts to prove his worth to Sadric 
  through feats of sorcery and daring. As a youth not yet fifteen 
  years of age, Elric rode naked on a dragon above the 
  Dreaming City without girth or saddle. Far from impressed, 
  Sadric was furious that the imperial heir had endangered 
  himself so. 
  Aloof and distant, with only a small circle of true friends, 
  Elric stands on the fringe of Imrryrian life until he assumes the 
  mantle of emperor. 
  DRAGON PRINCE ELRlC OF MELNIBONE, heir-apparent 
  Chaos 125, Balance 15, Law 24 
  STR 15 (5)’CON 15 (5)’ 
  SIZ 15 INT28 
  POW 35 
  DEX20 
  APP11 
  HP 15 (10)‘ 
  witbout drugs. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 (or none, lacking drugs). 
  Weapons: Great Sword 80%. 2D8+1 D4 
  Sea Axe 80%, 2D6+2+1 D4 
  Bone Bow 80%, damage 2D6+1+1 D2 
  Short Spear 80%, damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 
  Full Shield EO%, kb+l D4+1 D4,22 HP 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 helm on, Melnibonhn plate armor 
  Spells, etc: Bounty of Straasha (4). Chain of Being (4), Flames 
  of Kakatal (4), Gift of Grome (4), Heal (2), Hell’s Armor (14), 
  Refutation (1-4), Soul of Chardros (1-3), Summon Demon (l), 
  Summon Elemental (1). Undo Magic (1-4), Wings of Lassa (4), 
  Wisdom of Slortar (1.3); summonings, the dragon lays, invoca- 
  tions as the gamemaster sees fit. 
  Skills: Art (Conversation) 35%, Bargain 89%, Common Tongue 
  lo%, Dodge 8O%, Ethics 23%, Evaluate 88%, Fast Talk 47%, 
  High Speech 75%, Insight 64%, Jump 45%, Listen 82%, Mabden 
  7%, Melnibonean 140%, Million Spheres 17%, Move Quietly 
  56%. Natural World 23%, Navigate 35%, Oratory 22%, Physik 
  36%. Potions 79%, Ride 64%. Sailing 25%. Scribe 48%, Search 
  50%, Swim 50%, Throw 42%, Trap 25%, Unknown Kingdoms 
  6%, witch Sight 50%, Young Kingdoms 28%. 
  TANGLEBONES 
  HEREVER ELRIC goes, his faithful bodyslave 
  Tanglebones goes also, unless specifically 
  W 
  commanded otherwise by his master. He is tall and 
  old for his 54 years, his back stooped, and his limbs gnarled 
  and twisted from cruel labors that scarred his youthful 
  captivity. He is of an undefinable mixture of human and 
  Melnibonkn blood, and has a gaunt, expressive face, creased 
  with many wrinkles. Partly bald, he shaves to stubble the little 
  gray hair that remain. His tangled, lurching gait has a certain 
  grace, and in fact he is a patient weaponmaster well-suited to 
  teaching. Tanglebones taught Elric his battle-skills, training 
  him with blades, the bow, and spears on foot or horse. (Elric 
  learned for himself the lessons taught by history, tactics, plans, 
  skirmishes, and diversions, from the books in his father’s 
  library.) 
  With his long, knotted fiigers Tanglebones also attends to 
  Elric’s personal needs, assisting him with his wardrobe and 
  day to day wishes. Tanglebones acts as butler, chamberlain, 
  bath attendant, confidante, and valet for the albino Prince, 
  serving him out of honest love. In many ways, Tanglebones 
  treats Elric as if he was his own son, although always at a 
  respectful distance. 
  TANGLEBONES, bodyslave to Prince Elric 
  Chaos 71, Balance 67, Law 51 
  STR18 
  CON14 
  SIZ18 
  INT12 
  POW10 
  DEX15 
  APP7 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Bone Bow 92%. damage 2D6+1 +1 D3 
  Sea Axe 105%, damage 1 D4+2 +1 D6 
  Great Sword 127%, damage 2D8 +1 D6 
  Full Shield 94%, damage kb+l D4+1 D6. 22 hit points 
  Spear 110%. damage 1 D6+1+1 D6 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: none. 
  Skills: Common Tonuge 50%, Listen 67%, Mehibonean 65%. 
  Respect Melniboneans 97%, Search 45%, ScentJTaste 42%. 
  DRAGON PRINCE YYRHOON 
  RKOON IS COUSIN to Prince Elric, and was 
  raised to believe that it was he who would inherit the 
  expected to reach adulthood. Yyrkoon’s ambition was kindled 
  from the beginning, and flattery surrounds him still. As Sadric 
  deteriorates, the Ruby Throne must soon fall vacant, and Elric 
  yet lives. Even now Yyrkoon’s ambitions fester, planning foul 
  treachery against the albino so that he might be crowned 
  Emperor of Melnibonk after all. 
  Yyrkoon has dark, Melnibonkn eyes and long, black hair 
  which he keeps oiled and waved. He dresses in silks, brocades, 
  furs, and jewels. A Dragon Prince, Yyrkoon’s banner is of dark 
  crimson, adorned with a golden dragon rampant. Yyrkoon 
  knows himself to be darkly handsome, as well as the best 
  noble swordsman in Imrryr. Admirers and obsequious 
  courtiers surround him constantly. 
  Yyrkoon’s sister Cymoril spurns him in favor of Elric, and 
  this angers him greatly, for he loves her with an incestuous 
  Y 
  Ruby Throne, since being so sickly Elric was not 
  43 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  DRAGON PRINCE YYRKOON 
  jealousy. It angers him that Cymoril should instead seek to 
  dilute her blood with someone of Elric’s degeneracy. 
  He is becoming a potent sorcerer, specializing in demons 
  and the forces of Chaos. He delights in the pain and 
  exploitation of his victims. Screams of pain, temr, and despair 
  regularly echo from within Yyrkoon’s pleasure c h a m h .  
  Yyrkoon is sardonic, rash, and vain. He has great pride in 
  the traditions of his noble House. His greed and ambition 
  spells the doom of MelnibonC in the years to come. 
  DRAGON PRINCE YYRKOON, The Treacherous 
  Chaos 95, Balance 11, Law 1 
  STR16 
  CON15 
  SI216 
  INT15 
  POW29 
  DEX14 
  APPl5 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Demon Great Sword 140%, 2D8+104+2010 
  Demon Shortsword 126%, D6+1+1 D4+2D10 
  Sea Axe 85%, 2D6+2+1D4 
  Dagger 48%, 1 D4+2+1 W 
  Full Shield 90%. kb+l D4+1 D4, 22 hit points 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on) +2D10 Meln. plate demon armor. 
  Spells: Curse of Chaos (4), Flames of Kakatal (4). Refutation (1- 
  4), Soul of Chardros (1-3), 
  Summon Demon (1). Summon Ele- 
  mental (l), Undo Magic (1-4). Wings of Lassa (4), and what other 
  magic the gamemaster desires or creates. 
  Skills: Art (Torture) 35%, Common Tongue 38%. Dodge 96%, 
  Fast Talk 55%. Hide 41%, High Speech 70%, Listen 51 %, Melni- 
  bonean 75%, Million Spheres 22%, Natural World 59%, Oratory 
  95%, Potions 67%, Ride 48%, Search 27%, Unknown Kingdoms 
  1 %, Witch Sight 69%, Young Kingdoms 14%. 
  A WRKOON’S LESSER DEMON GREAT SWORD: rich 
  opals and peryx spiral up the hilt of this golden weapon. 
  INT 3 
  POW 9 
  Ability: Demon Weapon, adds 2D10 
  A WRKOON’S LESSER DEMON SHORTSWORD: has an or- 
  nately carved ivory handle into which have been hammered 
  knots of gold. 
  INT 5 
  POW 12 
  Ability: Demon Weapon, adds 201 0 
  A YYRKOON’S LESSER DEMON ARMOR: black, like Elric’s, 
  and dragon-helmed. 
  INT 2 
  POW 14 
  Ability: Demon Armor, adds 2D10. 
  PRINCESS CYMORIL 
  HE SLENDER, raven-haired Cymoril is a royal 
  princess of MelnibonC, although not of the same House 
  forbidden by him to speak with Elric, whom she loves, or to 
  practice sorcery. She delights in disobeying him on both 
  counts. Like most MelnibonCan women, Cymoril is 
  strong-willed and sure of herself. Unlike her peen, she does 
  not paint tawdry designs upon her eyelids and cheekbones, but 
  relies upon her natural grace and charm. She dresses most 
  often in garments of subtle and graduated shades of blue, set 
  off with diamonds, sapphires, and gold. 
  Cymoril was mischievous when she was young, and first 
  befriended Elric when both were absconding from lessons. 
  She accidentally encountered the young albino in a forgotten 
  library in an abandoned wing of the Imperial Palace. Over the 
  years, the pair’s friendship has deepened into love. 
  Cymoril has occasional flashes of presentience. She has a 
  questioning mind and a keen intellect, but even so is 
  bewildered and almost frightened by the strange ideas that 
  T 
  as Prince Elric. Cymoril is Yyrkoon’s sister, and 
  44 
  
  M E L N I B O N E A N S  
  Elric voices. Cymoril is fully Melnibonkan, and cannot bring 
  herself to talk as casually as Elric does in their private 
  conversations. She is trained in all the traditional Melnibonhn 
  arts, and often takes drugs for the pleasures and visions they 
  bring. Cymoril is aware that Elric finds this habit distasteful, 
  but has vowed to maintain her independence in their 
  Among the few courtiers whom Elric counts as friends, 
  Cymoril is the dearest, privy to his innermost thoughts. They 
  have little more than a year together before Elric’s fate 
  ensnares all of Melnibcmk in its destructive web. 
  PRINCESS CYMORIL 
  Chaos 30, Balance 25, Law 3 
  STRl2 
  CON12 
  SI210 
  INT23 
  POW24 
  DEX17 
  APP21 
  HP 11 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapon: Dagger 30%, 1 D4+2. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Heal (2), Summon Elemental (l), Visage Of Arioch (1-3), 
  Wings Of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Art (Conversation) 90%, Art (Song) 50%, Dodge 30%, 
  Evaluate 70%, High Speech 11%, Insight 135%, Listen 60%, Mel- 
  nibonean 115%, Million Spheres 4%, Move Quietly 30%, Natural 
  World 35%, Physik 30%, Ride 60%, ScentlTaste 35%, Swim 
  60%, Witch Sight 75%, Young Kingdoms 11%. 
  A CYMORIL‘S LESSER DEMON EARRING: Lyret, bound In a 
  gold earring, whispers and soothes when bid. 
  INT15 
  POW16 
  Skills: Art (Conversation) loo%, Art (Courtly Manners) loo%, Art 
  (Declaim Poetry) 100%. Art (Song) loo%, (Tell Story) 100%. 
  relationship. 
  DYVIM WAR 
  E IS ANOTHER OF Elric’s close friends, the 
  same small group that contains Cymoril and Magum 
  H 
  Colim. The Lord of the Dragon Caves is a hereditary 
  title, and one which Dyvim Tvar cames with pride, as his 
  family have done for millennia. The banner of his house is a 
  pennant bearing zigzag lines of black and yellow. His own 
  device is of a dormant blue dragon on a white field. It is 
  Dyvim Tvar’s custom to dress in clothes of white or pale 
  yellow. He is older than Elric, but his mother and Elric’s were 
  cousins, and princesses both. Dyvim Tvar has two mistresses, 
  and each has borne him a son 
  He is pragmatic, level-headed, and a fine battle-commander. 
  The massed troops of the Dragon Isle are his charge, and he is 
  versed in military lore as well as the rituals of the Dragon 
  Caves. Dyvim Tvar spends much of his time in the caverns 
  where his vast, reptilian charges slumber. 
  Although he dreams of Melnibonk’s glorious past, Dyvim 
  Tvar has vague fears for the future of his nation and people. 
  BAlTLE COMMANDER DWIM WAR, Lord of the Dragon 
  Caves 
  Chaos 128, Balance 68. Law 23 
  STR18 
  CON17 
  SI217 
  INT24 
  POW24 
  DEX13 
  APP16 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Bone Bow 130%, 2D6+1+1D3 
  Battle Axe 125%, 1 D8+2+1 D6 
  Great Sword 135%, 208+1 D6 
  Shortsword 124%, 1 D6+1+1 D6 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on) +2D10, Meln. plate demon armor. 
  Spells: Demon’s Eye (l), Flames of Kakatal(4), Hell’s Armor (1- 
  4), Hell’s Razor (1 4), Sinew of Chardros(l-3), Summon Demon 
  (l), Summon Elemental (1) Wings of Lassa (4). the dragon lays, 
  and whatever magic the gamemaster desires. 
  Skills: Art (Lute) 49%, Bargain 40%, Climb 60%, Common 
  Tongue 21%, Dodge 65%, Evaluate 59%, Fast Talk 102%, Hide 
  66%, High Speech 18%, Insight 32%, Jump 57%, Usten 40%, 
  Metnibonban 120%. Million Spheres 05%, Move Quietly do%, 
  Natural World 33%, Navigate 33%, Oratory 72%, Physik 40%, 
  Ride 80%. Ride Dragon 89%, Search 50%, Sound the Dragon- 
  Horn 79%, Swim 67%, Throw 70%, Witch Sight 40%, Young King- 
  doms 23%. 
  A DYVIM WAR’S LESSER DEMON ARMOR: black steel ar- 
  mor, chased with red dragons. 
  INT7 
  POW11 
  Ability: Demon Annor, adds 2D10. 
  M A G U M  C O L I M  
  ACUM COLIM WILL soon become Grand 
  Admiral of the Imrryrian Navy. He is proud, 
  M 
  resourceful and dignified, tall and slender, often 
  clad in fanciful sea-green armor. His eyes are deep blue, 
  almost purple, and he has a fihe, floating mane of hair. 
  Despite their difference in age, Colim is among the albino 
  prince’s closest companions at court. He is also one of 
  Emperor Sadric’s most trusted advisers, and has long been a 
  familiar sight around the Ruby Throne. He is personally 
  responsible for Prince Elric’s considerable knowledge of 
  Melnibonk’s fleet, having early noticed the sickly child’s thirst 
  for learning. 
  Admiral Colim is a master tactician, and has won every sea 
  battle in which he has fought. As Grand Admiral, he’ll 
  command the navy from the battle-barge flagship, The Son Of 
  Pyaray. 
  He staunchly upholds Melnibonk and her traditions, and 
  despises Yyrkoon and his ilk. Although Colim doubts that 
  Elric makes a fit heir apparent, he keeps such thoughts to 
  himself, recognizing the albino’s right to inherit the Ruby 
  Throne. 
  ADMIRAL MAGUM COLIM 
  Chaos 120, Balance 61, Law 78 
  STR13 
  CON13 
  SIZ15 
  INT22 
  POW23 
  DEX13 
  APP15 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Short Spear 110%, damage lD6+1+lD4+3DlO+lD4 
  Bone Bow 85%, 2D6+1+1 D2 
  Sea Axe 93%, 2D6+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonban plate armor 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4). Demon’s Eye (1). Hell’s Razor (1- 
  4). Midnight (1). Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Bargain 75%, Climb 43%, Common Tongue 50%. Evalu- 
  ate 57%. High Speech 17%, Insight 40%, Melnibonean 110%, 
  Natural World 65%. Naval Tactics 110%. Navigate 92%, Physik 
  73%, Sailing 90%, Search 49%, Swim 60%. Young Kingdoms 
  35%. 
  MAGUM COLIM’S GREATER DEMON SPEAR: in place of an 
  ordinary point, its wicked head is shaped and painted like a 
  flying fish. Thrown, it wings back after hitting the target, re- 
  turning to Magum Colim. 
  STR8 
  CON21 
  SIZ3 
  INT 5 
  POW 17 
  DEX12 
  MOV15 
  HP 11 
  Abilities: Demon Weapon, adds 3D10+1 D4 
  Wings, automatic. 
  45 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  DOCTOR JEST 
  OCTO R J E IT I 5 tall and cadaverous, lithe and full 
  of a quick, feral energy. Everything about him is thin, 
  D 
  f m  
  his cruel lips and slim fingers to his fine hair and 
  rushing, sibilant whisper. His hair, skin and eyes are all pale. 
  Doctor Jest wears bloodstained garments of white when about 
  his work At court functions he dresses in elegant finery of red 
  velvet adorned with black lace and needlepoint. The Chief 
  Interrogator of the Dragon Isle, Doctor Jest spends so much 
  time in the cells and torture chambers beneath the Tower Of 
  Monshanjik that he is unused to bright light, squinting at 
  anything brighter than a torch. 
  He is a consummate master of the arts of agony, dancing 
  about his pain-wracked charges with the skill of an artist. No 
  human who visits Imrryr willingly makes his acquaintance. 
  Appointed to his position two or three years ago by the 
  Emperor Sadric, Doctor Jest is an enigmatic presence beside 
  the Ruby Throne. His allegiances are unknown, his desires 
  unspoken. Only the sleek, swift subtleties of pain rouse 
  excitement and pleasure in his cold, pale eyes. 
  DOCTOR JEST, Imperial Inquisitor General 
  Chaos 320, Balance 19, Law 144 
  STR15 
  CON12 
  SIZ16 
  INT23 
  POW23 
  DEX20 
  APP10 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Dagger 70%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Glass Slivers 181 %. damage excruciating pain 
  Needles 219%, damage 1 CON nerve damage with critical 
  Scalpel 129%, damage 1 D4 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Heal (2), Hell's Razor (1-4), 
  Make Fast (1). Suppleness of Xiombarg (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Conversation) 57%, Art (Torture) 229%, Common 
  Tongue 70%, Enjoy Life 43%, Fast Talk 61 %, High Speech 21 %, 
  Insight 101%, Listen 75%, Mabden 24%, Mehibonean 115%, 
  Natural World 60%. Oratory 58%, Physik 79%, Potions 25%. 
  Scent/Taste 60%, Scribe 78%, Young Kingdoms 24%. 
  woven black leather glove that squeaks constantly when 
  moving. Bound within it is a dhrutine demon, who enhances 
  Dr. Jest's already superbly gruesome technique by playing 
  upon specific nerve fibers of the screaming victims. 
  STR13 
  CON17 
  SIZ2 
  INT11 
  POW23 
  DEX16 
  HPlO 
  Abilities: Drain Soul, P0W:POW 
  Manipulate, at 120%, agonizes individual nerves 
  Paralyze, C0N:CON 
  Suture, heals 2 HP and scars the target 0 
  A DOCTOR JEST'S GREATER DEMON GLOVE: a finely- 
  46 
  
  ME 
  L N I BON EA 
  EOLOCY AND 
  AND B 
  LORD5 
  H E  RELIGIOUS BELIEFS of the Bright Empire 
  wax and wane with MelnibonC’s fortunes. Ten 
  thousand years ago Arioch first turned his fickle 
  demon god. Chaos was strong in those days, and under its 
  aegis so too became Mehibonk. Magic is the essence of 
  Chaos, and through their worship of Chaos the Melnibonhns 
  became potent wielders of sorcery, summoning demons and 
  conquering other worlds. 
  Arioch has not manifested upon the Dragon Isle for five 
  hundred years, and the Lords of Disorder no longer bestow 
  their blessings upon the Melnibonh race. Magic goes awry. 
  The great rituals no longer produce the results of old. Ancient 
  spells and bindings fray. Yet MelnibonCan concern at this 
  decay always fades into slothful, drug-induced apathy. 
  This narcotic laze consumes MelnibonC’s church as it does 
  her people. Religious beliefs are lost amidst the opiate languor 
  which passes for activity in the Dreaming City. As the people 
  became lost in their dreams, they lost faith in their gods. 
  Melnibonbn religion was once a vital and colorful pageant of 
  ritual and faith. When the Bright Empire was at her peak none 
  needed proof that the Lords of Chaos existed, for many a time 
  in Melnibon6’s reign the Dukes of Entropy walked Imrryr’s 
  halls, and the evidence of sorcery was there for all to see. 
  Without Arioch’s blessing, and without him and his fellow 
  Lords of Chaos ceasing to manifest in all their inhuman glory, 
  MelnibonCans have turned away from active worship of 
  Chaos. Religion became abstracted from day-today life, and 
  hollow traditions replaced zealous belief in Chaos. 
  T 
  gaze upon the Dragon Isle and became its patron and 
  THE BALANCE 
  HEN THE MELNIBONEANS first arrived 
  upon the earth as cosmic wanderers, they served 
  W 
  the Cosmic Balance. The Balance is omnipotent 
  but non-directive, and its power is strong only when enough 
  believed in-then 
  it is mightier than Law and Chaos 
  combined. The Sanctuary of the Balance is said to be at the 
  core of the multiverse, and the worlds wherein it reigns 
  unhindered are scattered among the Million Spheres. 
  Although Law and Chaos must obey the Balance, both would 
  overthrow it if they could. The Cosmic Balance represents the 
  ebb and flux of tides, the turn of time and the change of the 
  seasons. It is a natural symmetry, a gentle and gradual force 
  which creates, supports, and adores all forms of life 
  throughout the multiverse. 
  Melnibonkan legend has it that the voice of the Balance 
  spoke only once, at the beginning of time. After ordering the 
  Lords of Law and Chaos and instructing them in the ordering 
  of the multiverse, it fell silent. Since then the Balance has 
  observed, acting only when its equilibrium is threatened. Both 
  the melancholy giant Mordaga and mad, bad Prince Gaynor 
  the Damned were once servants of the Balance, each punished 
  when they betrayed it. In Mordaga’s case, he tried to wrest the 
  Balance from the Cosmic Hand, and was banished to earth to 
  await his eventual doom. 
  The Balance is more an abstract power than a supreme 
  consciousness, the endless metamorphosis between birth and 
  death, light and dark, Law and Chaos. It is a harmonious 
  anarchy. From the Cosmic Balance came the multivetse. Only 
  the Balance can create new worlds and new sorts of life. Every 
  47 
  
  original thought is said to come from the Balance. The endless 
  mockeries of Chaos merely alter and rearrange that which is 
  already created, while Law strives for sparse perfection upon 
  a single theme. 
  When the MelnibonCans abandoned the Balance for the 
  bright promises of Chaos, they traded peace for power, and 
  satisfaction for hunger. Largely unchecked, Chaos 
  increased in the world. Humanity provided a 
  five-hundred-year pause with its worship of the Lords of 
  Law, in part causing MelnibonC’s decay. In years to come, 
  the Balance tips far enough to allow Chaos to breach the 
  Lawful barrier surrounding the earth, flooding through it to 
  devour the world and reign triumphant (as described in 
  Moorcock’s Stormbringer). Only by the destruction of this 
  world and the beginning of the next can the Balance 
  reassert itself. 
  THE ELEMENTALI 
  LEMENTAL POWER HAS been reduced in the last 
  five hundred years. In its place, Law has gradually 
  E increased its reign, thanks to humanity’s constant 
  prayers and ordered systems of belief. 
  The planes of all four elements intersect with that of 
  earth, but the kinship between MelnibonCans and water 
  elementals is closest. There are ancient legends on the 
  Dragon Isle which intimate that it was from the sea that 
  MelnibonCans had their ultimate birth, and perhaps it is for 
  this reason that Straasha has allied himself with the Dragon 
  Princes. 
  Much MelnibonCan sorcery revolves around the 
  commanding of elementals, who are friendlier and more 
  responsive than demons. While elementals must be 
  placated and convinced to carry out a task when 
  summoned, they are much less demanding than demons. 
  Demons usually require one or more souls, but elementals 
  have simpler tastes. The scent of a fresh-picked rose is 
  often sufficient for an air elemental. Earth elementals are 
  satisfied by the taste of a rare mineral. Water elementals 
  like to absorb the freshness of rain or melting snow. Fire 
  elementals delight in burning substances rarely available to 
  them, such as silks, artwork, and documents. The pacts of 
  mutual aid sworn long ago between Emperors of MelnibonC 
  and the Elemental Rulers ensure that elementals are normally 
  amicable towardtheir Melnibonkansummoners. 
  Humans often worshiped the elemental rulers, but 
  MelnibonCans see them more as equals, another race but 
  not a greater one. Because of fear and ignorance, humans 
  see elementals as supernatural, things more powerful and 
  more demanding than the world to which they are intrinsic. 
  When MelnibonCans worshipped the Cosmic Balance, they 
  were at one with the multiverse, and as such recognized the 
  essence of the elementals, realizing that they are central to 
  the very nature of the inhabitable worlds. 
  Elementals are the summary consciousnesses of natural 
  events. After another Time Cycle, they mostly will no 
  longer exist, but their propensities will survive, as natural 
  law. Without the inherent liveliness of the natural forces, 
  elementals could not and would not exist. 
  Lesser elementals have limited awareness and little sense 
  of time. They are far more rudimentary than the Elemental 
  Rulers, and the two are far more different in degree than 
  adult and child. Elementals once had the potential to grow 
  and mature, just as an acorn grows into an oak, or a river 
  into a sea, but the War of the Elements ended that. Now the 
  status of every elementals is fixed and, though they can die, 
  new ones cannot be born or created. 
  BEAST-LO RDS, PLANT-LORDS 
  HESE ENTITIES DRAW their essence from, and 
  recreate the essence of the broad sorts of earthly life. 
  summonable, and since each encompasses many similar 
  species, yet our perceptions of them draws us always toward 
  that conclusion. 
  The Plant-Lords are not worshiped at all in the Young 
  Kingdoms, whereas farmers are known to placate the 
  Beast-Lords through prayer and sacrifice in order to assure the 
  strength of their herds. On Melnibone, as the Bright Empire 
  lost much of its lore, knowledge of the Plant-Lords was largely 
  forgotten. Elric’s summoning of the Tangled Woman, Lady 
  Briar, in The Revenge ofthe Rose, is the first such summoning 
  for many thousands of years. 
  Like their elemental kindred, Plant-Lords and Beast-Lords 
  were never worshiped on Melnibone, although their power 
  was recognized by its inhuman people. MelnibonCan legends 
  refer to a time when the Beast- and Plant-Lords were ordered 
  by Law and Chaos. Their behavior and thoughts were laid 
  down within their minds, set and unchangeable. Once 
  programmed, they were dismissed to dwell within their 
  half-worlds about the earth. It is unknown whether each world 
  in the multiverse has its own set of Lords, or if one set does for 
  all. 
  Great and terrible pacts were forged with many of these 
  demi-gods by the Emperors of the Dragon Isle, long before 
  Elric’s time. The actorios stone, worn by all MelnibonCan 
  emperors in the Ring of Kings, is a symbol of these ancient 
  bargains, and guarantees the aid of the Beast-Lords to its 
  wearer. 
  Promises were sworn by the Melnibonbns in return for 
  these services. For example, they swore to Lady Fileet that no 
  T 
  They are not archetypes, since each is potentially 
  48 
  
  C O S M O L O G Y  
  A MELNIBONEAN CONTEMPLATING THE BEAUTY THAT LIES IN CHAOI. 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  Mehibodan should ever harm one of her feathered children. 
  In Imrryr only slaves may kill a bird and never within the city 
  walls, although the reason for the law is almost forgotten. The 
  pact between Melnihtans and Meerclaw of Cats was made 
  before the Melnibonhs even arrived on earth. Cats and 
  MelniboAns share certain qualities of pleasure, cruelty, and 
  Many other bargains, strange, sinister, and whimsical, were 
  to guarantee the Beast-Lords’ aid in the millennia to come. 
  These bargains, a thousand years ago, saved Melnibod from 
  defeat at the hands of the Dharzi. 
  sophistication. 
  LAW AND CHAOS 
  ;*pY*m* 
  ONG, LONG AGO, when the multiverse was young 
  and Melnibont was not even a dream, the Lords of 
  L Law and Chaos were known by one name, and were 
  inhabitants of a single world. They gave shape to the 
  multiverse, and ordered its worlds and creatures at the 
  command of the Cosmic Balance. When and how the Lords 
  of the Higher Worlds became separated into the forces of 
  Law and Chaos is unknown. 
  Since the civil war which destroyed H’hui’shan, the 
  Lords of Chaos have been worshiped upon Melnibont as 
  gods. Because Melnibontans are not human, and do not 
  possess the human trait of morality, they do not see Chaos 
  as evil. Evil is indeed a part of the nature of Chaos, but in 
  its wild freedom of form and structure Chaos embraces all 
  aspects of possibility, from random destruction to beautiful 
  creation. Melnibonbns revere Chaos for its feyness and 
  destructive freedom. Only humans, blinded by their 
  emotions, perceive the forces of Chaos as being 
  intrinsically harmful or malevolent. Because the sorcerers 
  of Pan Tang are a human race, the Lords of Chaos express 
  only their evil side upon that grim isle. 
  Law is the opposition of Chaos. To the ordinary human, Law 
  represents good to Chaos’ evil; the truth is far more complex 
  and much less dualistic. Whereas Chaos decries stillness, Law 
  treasures it. The symbol of the Lords of Law is a single arrow, 
  representing upward dynamic growth, the path to perfection, 
  while the eight arrows of Chaos, radiating outward from a 
  central point, represent endless possibility and infinite change. 
  World by world, Law and Chaos alike seek to eliminate the 
  other’s rule, so that only Law or only Chaos rules a sphere 
  supreme. 
  Once Law or Chaos is established upon a plane, the farce 
  subtly increases strength with the aim of dominating the entire 
  plane. Chaos claims that ultimate Law represents the 
  stagnation of perfection. Law argues that the creativity of 
  Chaos reptesents mere sterile and pointless rearrangement. In 
  truth, neither can exist without the other. Even though the 
  Cosmic Balance tilts to grant one or the other the upper hand 
  in the endless struggle, neither can ever truly win. 
  Both the Lords of Law and Chaos must obey the great edict 
  of the Cosmic Balance, which forbids them to interfere 
  directly with human affairs, forcing them use human agents on 
  earth. It is in the nature of Chaos to seek ways of avoiding and 
  circumventing this rule. Law has sworn to let humanity forge 
  its own destiny, though it feels free to intervene against agents 
  of chaos. 
  When a Lord of Law or Chaos manifests upon a world, it is 
  never with full energy. A fraction of the god’s self is extruded 
  to earth from whatever plane the deity inhabits, and by the 
  decree of the Balance each is forbidden to fully manifest upon 
  any plane save their own. 
  No summoning can ever force to appear a Lord of Law or 
  of Chaos if they do not wish to come. The Lords of Law 
  adopt human bodies of impossible perfection when they 
  manifest upon the earth. The Lords of Chaos choose bodies 
  similar to Melnibonbans, but far more beautiful. Humans 
  see each Lord of Chaos in whatever form they expect to 
  see. Given the standard human expectations of Chaos, the 
  Lords of Randomness are often hideous and terrible to 
  behold. 
  Lawful or Chaotic, all the Lords of the Higher Worlds agree 
  that the humblest human is harder to please than any god. 
  THE GODS OF CHAOS 
  HE CATHEDRAL OF CHAOS in Imrryr is 
  collapsing slowly into ruin. Statues of the Lords of 
  few and far between. Melnibonban religion has undergone 
  great change since those first, glorious years when Arioch 
  became patron of the Bright Empire. 
  Melnibonbans recognize a pantheon of Chaos. The three 
  oldest and mightiest of all the Lords are deathly Chardros 
  with his scythe, Mabelode Sword-King with his face in 
  shadow, and Slortar the Beautiful, whom ancient grimoires 
  call the oldest god of all. A second trio of terrible gods is led 
  by Duke Arioch of the Seven Darks, who is the Keeper of 
  the Black Swords and the Patron of the Dragon Isle. His 
  two companions are Six-Breasted Arnara of Unmatched 
  Eroticism, a goddess of sensuality and fertility, and Pyaray 
  of the Deeps, the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible 
  Secrets. 
  Lesser Chaos deities have smaller shrines and statuettes in 
  alcoves about the Cathedral of Chaos. These include Haborym 
  of the Fires which Destroy; Voroon, another Lord of the 
  Darks, Saebos and Aesma, the Twins of Destruction and 
  Creation; sweet Balaan, the Bringer of Heightened Sensation 
  (twisted into a foul god of torture upon Pan Tang, there 
  worshipped as Balan the Grim); sexless Xiombarg, male or 
  female at will, an unholy temptress; Lady Marthim; Verdelet 
  the Devourer; the infernal Dukes Malohin and Zhortra; and 
  countless others. 
  Balo the Jester is not worshiped. In Melnibonbn theology 
  he is neither a Lord of Chaos or a Lord of Law, but instead 
  moves between both factions at will. 
  T 
  Chaos stand amidst cobwebs and decay. Worshipers are 
  5 0  
  
  C O S M O L O G Y  
  BELIEFS 
  ?&2?2%%m>2 
  PON MELNIBONE it is widely held that Chaos 
  created the earth and ruled it until Law’s powers 
  U 
  became too great. Thereafter Law ruled the land and 
  Chaos ruled the seas. The shallows of the oceans are disputed 
  territory, between Straasha the Sea-King and the Chaos Fleets 
  of Pyaray. 
  Melnibondan religion is complex, involving a variety of 
  afterlives from which a soul may or may not be spared, 
  depending on the manner of its death and the way it lived. 
  Many Melnibondan afterlives are in fact other planes, to which 
  souls travel after death to serve the whims of their patron 
  demon. Only Emperors are said to be spared this fate. Their 
  shades inhabit a ghost of Imrryr, her glory unfaded, there to 
  dwell until the Dreaming City herself falls, although this may 
  be nothing but a hopeful fancy. 
  On Melnibond death is considered a transition, a Last River 
  leading to a variety of heavens and hells. Upon the far bank of 
  the Last River grows the Forest of Souls, a place of peace 
  where neither Law nor Chaos hold sway. Few spirits are 
  powerful enough to reach thii sweet eternity. Many souls, such 
  as the slave caste of the Dreaming City, spend their entire 
  afterlife trapped upon the Last River, an endless journey in 
  pursuit of whatever they most lacked in life, be it happiness, 
  love or even goodwill. The Last River is spoken of as a kind of 
  Limbo, although the true Limbo is a place much worse, a 
  timeless plane of perpetual chill inhabited by cold ghouls, ice 
  hounds, and much worse. Powerful sorcerers can sometimes 
  contact the souls of the dead and summon them from whatever 
  plane they now dwell on, much as one might summon a 
  demon, although such necTomantic practices are the sphere of 
  only the greatest practitioners of the magical arts. 
  Followers of Law on earth believe that the world’s 
  boundaries are set and unchangeable, and that the world is the 
  only ordered matter in a swirling sea of Chaos stuff. Those 
  who faithfully follow the tenets of LAW will be spared 
  dissolution in Chaos after death, to be reborn into the world 
  again and again until their spirits attain the purity of perfect 
  Law and achieve oneness with the White Lords. Followers of 
  Chaos decree that the world can be reshaped by the power of 
  belief, and that after death especially powerful souls may 
  become demons or otherwise join with Chaos. 0 
  51 
  
  ELNIBONE OFFERS many opportunities 
  to meet people, buy or sell goods, explore 
  lurid places, and flee imminent doom. The 
  following encounter tables may help when the 
  adventurers venture abroad in Melnibone. They can add spice 
  to an otherwise normal situation or inspire an abnormal 
  equivalent. Do not by any means feel restricted. If the dice don’t 
  offer an interesting result, rem11 or simply choose a better one. 
  Short descriptions of each encounter type follow the tables. 
  These paragraphs suggest ways to use the encounter in an 
  adventure. A rolled encounter may fill an entire play session, 
  given inspiration and willing players. 
  The Melnibone’ Digest chapter gives statistics for most of 
  these encounters. Adjust the listed statistics to suit the 
  adventurers’ abilities. 
  IN IMRRYR 
  EMPEROR ALONE: Sadric walks without slaves, guards, 
  or fawning courtiers, perhaps to moum for his dead wife, perhaps 
  to spy maliciously upon his citizens. Disease-ridden and dying, 
  his cadaverous figure hobbles everywhere without fear. 
  EMPEROR AND RETINUE: when the Emperor passes in 
  state, all must kneel, even the beasts. Chiming bells and harps and 
  singing slaves sound before him, and guards in flapping yellow 
  cloaks march before and behind. Jewels glint in the sunlight. 
  Elementals accompany the cavalcade, unseen but felt as ripples of 
  passing power that puts every hair a-prickle. 
  PRIEST: someone bereft of meaning because the Lords of 
  Chaos took away all blessings five hundred years ago. Mad-eyed, 
  hollow cheeked and desperate, wrapped in tattered finery, or an 
  austere, yellow-robed, rapturous aesthete. The priest seeks to de- 
  bate world views with the adventurers, or sneers at their paltry 
  religion. Perhaps they have a task-herb gathering, a request to 
  borrow a book or trinket from a friend-which they are too rari- 
  fied to attempt and brusquely delegate it to the nearest human. 
  NOBLE: riding a demonic steed, reclining on a sedan chair 
  drawn by drugged slaves, or a group, strolling and whispering 
  together. They may be Melnibonean nobles drawn from the Elric 
  aaga, such as Yyrkoon, or Dyvim Slorm. Two bored Melnibonean 
  IMRRYR ENCOUNTERS 
  TABLE 
  70100 
  01 
  02 
  03-05 
  06-1 5 
  16-20 
  21-25 
  26-27 
  28 
  31 -35 
  36-40 
  41 -45 
  46-60 
  61 -75 
  76-78 
  79-80 
  81 -85 
  66-90 
  91 -95 
  96-99 
  00 
  Encounter 
  Emperor Alone 
  Emperor and Retinue 
  Priest 
  Noble 
  Sorcerer 
  Scholar 
  Plotter 
  Aesthete 
  Imperial Guard 
  Silent Guard 
  Eagle Guard 
  Slave Group 
  Single Slave 
  Foreigner 
  Execution 
  Demon 
  Elemental 
  Magic 
  Wonder 
  Special Encounter 
  youths may use the adventurers as pawns in a bet. A particularly 
  sensitive noble may swoon from the shock if spoken to directly by 
  the adventurers, or order them them arrested on the spot, or just 
  sniff and sneer at them. 
  SORCERER sorcerers are more languorous and disinterested 
  than their fellow Melnibonkans. Sorcerer plots are generally 
  drawn out, ingenious, and designed toward a fittingly aesthetic 
  conclusion. Adventurers may enter at any point and fail to see the 
  meaning of what’s happening. A sorcerer may assign such tasks as 
  the discovery and delivery of something, be it the answer to a 
  52 
  
  E N C O U N T E R S  
  O N  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  riddle, a nonsense rhyme, a demon (bound or unbound, or in the 
  process of unbinding), a carnivorous flower or other out& object, 
  to a lover, a rival, or a third party who knows nothing about the 
  delivery. 
  SCHOLAR: an earnest student of literature, with inky ledgers 
  and vacant, dream-fdled gaze. Decadent Imrryr despises scholars, 
  since any with real talent choose to study magic, not history. 
  Scholars, like sorcerers, may send the adventurers on a quest after 
  a rare treatise, but most lack sorcered knowledge of the world. In 
  Melnibone such naivete can kill the enquirer, or at least his or her 
  employees. 
  PLOTTER: the adventurers could be drawn into some plot be- 
  tween the factions that spring up once the indifferent Elric as- 
  cends to the Ruby Throne. Each faction would be headed by one 
  of the nobles mentioned in the Elric saga. Perhaps one faction 
  gives the adventurers the task of revealing a secretive and rival 
  leader. 
  AESTHETE: such people outdo even the priests of Chaos in 
  their diligent search for pure experience. Conscious pleasure in 
  Mehibone encompasses not only ordinary satisfactions and 
  slavecraft such as painting, sculpture, and architecture, but also 
  personal manners, poise, and aesthetic conduct, and frequently 
  the vicarious emotions shared by an audience viewing ecstasy and 
  pain. Perhaps an aesthete wishes to involve the adventurers in his 
  or her experiments with living body sculpture, and must be per- 
  suaded that they are unfit material. Perhaps an aesthete desires a 
  merchant adventurer to provide a particular ingredient or slave to 
  stoke a jaded appetite. Perhaps the adventurers prove sufficiently 
  mannered so that an aesthete invites them to view his or her 
  collection of something. Imrryr’s supreme aesthete is probably 
  Doctor Jest. 
  IMPERIAL GUARD: yellow-cloaked, kilted, in sandals, 
  breastplates, and helmets, and carrying short swords. Despite 
  their lofty name, the Imperial Guards are the ordinary garrison 
  troops of Imrryr. They are mostly foot soldiers, with a squadron or 
  two of cavalry. They patrol the walls of the city and the city’s 
  streets, and act as soldiers or police as the situation demands. In 
  ancient days, the massed legions of the Imperial Guard marched 
  across many worlds, not just this one. Today the troops are mainly 
  half-bloods, though the officers are always lesser members of the 
  Melnibonkan nobility. Their rivals of long standing are the Eagle 
  Guard. A clever ruse is to play off the Imperials against the Eagle 
  Guard. 
  EAGLE GUARD: they patrol the harbor and palace, but take 
  little interest in events in Imrryr unless the Emperor is threatened. 
  A crack unit, the Eagle Knights, serve as the Emperor’s body- 
  guard. All members of the Eagle Guard wear white feather cloaks 
  over their armor, but only the the cloaks of the Eagle Knights 
  grant the power of brief fluttering flight for short distances. The 
  Eagle Guard ignore small fry such as adventurers, leaving them to 
  be apprehended by the inferior Imperial Guard. They will order 
  adventurers to wait where they are rather than to arrest them, but 
  the Imperial Guard is sometimes slow to respond. All members of 
  the Eagle Guard are full Melniboneans. 
  SILENT GUARD: these eunuch archers are elite troops who 
  never leave the Palace save at the Emperior’s command. Muted as 
  well as castrated, these half-caste slaves served faithfully to eam 
  the drugs they crave. A solitary Silent Guard might roam Imrryr 
  mourning his lost manhood, carrying out a decree from Sadric, or 
  pursuing some more sinister goal. 
  SLAVE GROUP being marched to the harbor or to repair a 
  street, and overseen by a half-breed who defers only to Melni- 
  bonbns. Dead slaves are not buried but flung into the harbor, 
  where they float briefly before being swallowed by the small, 
  eel-like sea-serpents there, the pets of powerful nobles. Occasion- 
  ally the tide sends whole schools of dead humans to bob beside an 
  incoming ship. The drugs that keep the slaves content also sap 
  their will and intellect, so they pay no heed. 
  SINGLE SLAVE: on an errand for his or her master, the slave 
  sneers at or ignores the adventurers as inferiors; or running away, 
  in which case he begs for help. The same slave may one day jeer 
  at the adventurers, and the next day appeal for rescue. Usually an 
  elite half-blood, as these are the only ones who can conquer the 
  enervating effects of Melnibonean slave drugs. 
  FOREIGNER: a scholar who has received special dispensation 
  to enter the Dreaming City in search of arcane wisdom; in the 
  harbor, a merchant, a sailor, trader, explorer, or a drug-dealer with 
  hollow eyes and nervous hands. Perhaps the foreigner seeks a 
  patron-preferably Melnibonean, but a wealthy adventurer would 
  do-“Have I, or have I not, got a deal for you!” 
  EXECUTION: a recalcitrant slave or a foreigner who broke 
  the Harbor Edicts. Never so simple as a hanging or burning, Mel- 
  nibonean executions are sadistic, inventive, spectacular, and ex- 
  tended. 
  DEMON: greater and lesser demons hurry about the city on 
  varying tasks for their masters, or are bound into objects both 
  splendid and ordinary, treasured in a noble’s hoard, or lost in a 
  dark corner. Adventurers can never be sure that objects, animals, 
  or slaves are not simply a disguise for a baleful power that if 
  provoked, or at the bidding of its master, could do them harm. 
  Demons, like slaves, might appeal to the adventurers to help them 
  from Melnibone, feigning subservience until far from the Dragon 
  Isle, when they plot to overcome their new masters. 
  ELEMENTAL elementals work around the city in manners 
  similar to those of demons. Springs of pure water bubble from the 
  ocean. A garden flourishes while rooted in solid stone. Adventur- 
  ers are enlisted to help launch a patently non-aerodynamic craft 
  built by a mad eccentric, which is bome upwards upon the wings 
  53 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  of the air. A small child builds elaborate sand castles on the shore 
  without lifting a finger. 
  MAGIC: a group, or a single person flying overhead held aloft 
  by elementals, or flung out of a tower window by a magical 
  explosion. The adventurers get caught up in a magical duel, or in 
  the search for some special ingredient for a spell or potion. 
  WONDER in Imrryr, wonders are commonplace. This is a 
  sight to make a human’s jaw drop, but likely to raise little more 
  than a polite yawn from a local. Examples are a waterfall w a d -  
  ing from midair, a flight of crystal birds, a blizzard of sweet- 
  smelling petals, a singing building, a conjuring of emerald 
  mirrors, or a great golden battle-barge gliding between Imrryr’s 
  towers. 
  SPECIAL ENCOUNTER a visit from an Elemental Ruler, 
  a Beast-Lord, or a lesser Chaotic power such as a demon whose 
  summoner failed in binding but who agrees to depart peacefully 
  after a tour of the city; dragons flying overhead in formation; a 
  dragon landing by, or on, the adventurers; some otherdimen- 
  sional manifestation of the Eternal Champion; two battle barges 
  holding real combat in the harbor for the entertainment of the 
  Emperor. 
  O N  THE ISLAND 
  NOBLE6): very rare. Perhaps for a particularly intricate plot, 
  or a picnic in the antique style where revellers, drugged and indo- 
  lent, loll beneath their pavilion amidst the remnants of their meal; 
  a tender lovers’ tryst, or a terminal attack of self loathing, both 
  leading to resentment of intruders. 
  SLAVES: sent at cettain times of the year to gather drug-yield- 
  ing plants and fungi, wildflowers, or animals. Overseen by a half- 
  blood, or on occasion by their master. 
  SORCERER solitary, or with a group of friends and slaves, 
  either to observe a rare conjunction of stars, worlds, or planes, or 
  for a special appeasement of Lord of Chaos, Beast-Lord, or Ele- 
  mental Ruler that cannot be undertaken in the city. Perhaps the 
  sorcerer must gather a herb under particular and exactly observed 
  conditions that could not be entrusted to slaves. (Circumstances 
  lDl00 
  0165 
  06-35 
  36-37 
  38-40 
  41-50 
  51-55 
  56-65 
  66-67 
  68-77 
  78-89 
  90-94 
  95-98 
  99 
  00 
  Encounter 
  Noble@) 
  Slaves 
  Sorcerer 
  Foreigners 
  Creature 
  Demon 
  Elemental 
  Ghost 
  Ruin 
  Weather 
  Magic 
  Wonder 
  Other Plane 
  Special Encounter 
  so bizarre, or a sorcerer so paranoid cannot bode well for the 
  adventurers.) 
  FOREIGNERS: what would foreigners be doing wandering 
  the Dreaming Isle? See ‘A Sojourner’s Guide’ for clues. Other- 
  wise they could be searching for one of the many treasures said to 
  be concealed upon the island, such as the prism that turns moon- 
  light into silver by the Lake of Moon. They could be spies, explor- 
  ers, tourists, researchers, or fellow adventurers seeking thrills in 
  this place of ghosts and mysteries. 
  CREATURE: one or more natural Melnibonhn animals, al- 
  tered owing to the Chaotic whim of the isle: a herd of milk white 
  deer with golden collars or splendid charcoal brood mares with 
  silver foals; a family of otters whose fur is flecked with precious 
  jewels from the lost, subterranean treasure chamber of which their 
  holt is made; a wild boar who leads its hunters on an extended 
  chase, and is finally bailed up in a ruinious tower. 
  DEMON: adventurers may have to rescue some slaves or a 
  picnicking party, or defend themselves from a demon, either un- 
  provoked or sent by an enemy to the adventurers or those being 
  attacked. For honor’s sake, such an attack demands retaliation. A 
  Knowledge demon attacks verbally, viciously insulting the ad- 
  venturer’s appearance, ability, intelligence, and legitimacy. 
  ELEMENTAL: elementals seem to desire most to be left alone; 
  unbound and distinguishable elementals are extremely rare. A 
  group of air elementals is summoned to change the weather, water 
  elementals chuckle in the springs they have created. Adventurers 
  are unlikely to actively encounter them, but their unseen presence 
  adds piquancy to any scene. 
  GHOST: it haunts because it has some task left unfinished on 
  this earth. The spirit could date from time immemorial, or it could 
  be new-born yesterday; it bids them finish the task or face super- 
  natural vengeance. Such a task could be simple or impossible and 
  its threats deadly or hollow. Tasks might range from telling a 
  woman dead a thousand years ago that the lingering shade loves 
  her still, to gathering its bones at another resting place, destroying 
  its murderer or descendants thereof, or flinging 20 living souls 
  from the highest spire of Imnyr. 
  54 
  
  E N C O U N T E R S  
  O N  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  RUIN: A crumbling, weed-choked tower, lost to time and the 
  devouring plant growth. Perhaps a staircase leads upward or 
  down, some grimoire waiting to be discovered, a ghost or demon 
  to be unleashed. Perhaps it is a folly designed to look antique to 
  please the whim of its builder, so that adventurers, thinking to 
  harmlessly explore, stumble into a well-appointed country resi- 
  dence and its displeased owner. 
  WEATHER a dramatic change of weather, to fog, blizzard, 
  excessive heat, drizzle, a wintry blast of ice-laden wind, or a rain 
  of trout or shoes. 
  MAGIC: a shimmering mirage, a mandrake root, a danger con- 
  cealed by illusion, the effects of some spell in prognss on the land’s 
  surface or stability, or a vegetative wyrd that slowly sttangles trees. 
  WONDER a lake without bottom, an animal with a human 
  attribute such as hands, eyes or voice, an incongruous object such 
  -- ---
  as a bridge in the middle of a field, or a block of ice that never 
  melts. Such could be the object of an adventurer’s quest. 
  OTHER PLAN E: the ancient ley-lines of Melnibone have led 
  the traveler onto another plane, or brought a part of that plane to 
  the Dragon Isle. This other plane fades away after a short period. 
  unless an adventurer fumbles a Luck roll, whereupon the luckless 
  toy of Fate is trapped there permanently. 
  SPECIAL ENCOUNTER the visitation of a Beast-Lord or 
  Elemental Ruler has a different effect in the country than in the 
  city. The adventures might stumble across a place where such 
  presences manifest, a glade festooned with ribands of bees and 
  fireflies, or filled with slow vegetative or reptilian energy. They 
  may unwittingly anger such a power by killing a favored beast or 
  follower, and have to fulfil a gas, or a task, or take up a burden or 
  a curse to appease it. Q 
  55 
  
  ERE ARE PROVIDED grouped and 
  individual statistics for residents of Melnibont. 
  These can be used in conjunction with the 
  encounter tables. Gamemasters will find this 
  section useful for spontaneous mini-adventures and 
  momentary encounters, as well as a point o f  reference for 
  other scenarios in this book 
  Few demons appear in these statistics, as few are bound 
  nowadays on Melnibont. Such demons that exist are in 
  ancient artifacts, handed down through the noble houses. In 
  some cases the demons have long since expired, or gone 
  insane, or simply ceased to function. 
  Elementals are also rarely bound, but are instead summoned 
  as needed. Such summonings take only one round, due to the 
  ancient pacts between the elemental rulers and the people o f  
  Melnibont. 
  SOLDIERS AND WARRIORS 
  H E R E A R E MANY Melnibontan warriors, o f  
  varying castes and kinds. Five martial orders are given 
  Eagle Knights guard the city’s most sacred places. The 
  Imperial Guard form the bulk of the regular legions, and the 
  Silent Guard support them in the field. The Imrryrian Lancers 
  are a cavalry unit from the Imperial Guard. 
  T 
  here. The Eagle Guard watch over Imrryr, and the elite 
  EAGLE GUARD 
  The Eagle Guard was originally established to ensure that Lady 
  Fileet’s Law was upheld: that none of Melnibonean blood would 
  ever slay a bird. Over time the Eagle Guard evolved to fulfill a 
  more generalized police role. They have superior rank to any in 
  the Imperial Guard, but their authority does not extend outside 
  the walls of Imrryr. All warriors of the Eagle Guard wear crested 
  helmets and feathered cloaks. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Long Spear 1 W%, 
  damage 1 D10+1+1 D4 
  Broadsword 90%, damage 1 D8+1+1 D4 
  Dagger 75%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 108+3 (helm on), Melnibonean Half Plate. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Hell’s Armor (1 4), Hell’s Sharp 
  Flame (1 4), Summon Elemental (l), Suppleness of Xiombarg (1 
  4), Speed of Vezhan (1 -3), Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 70%. Dodge 85%, Listen 70%, Melni- 
  bonean loo%, Move Quietly 8O%, Search 75%, Track 65%, 
  Witch Sight 50%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  SI2 
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  ONE 
  15 
  12 
  12 
  12 
  25 
  12 
  TWO 
  12 
  18 
  13 
  13 
  24 
  16 
  THREE 
  13 
  17 
  12 
  19 
  17 
  15 
  FOUR 
  11 
  10 
  15 
  12 
  24 
  13 
  FIVE 
  12 
  14 
  16 
  20 
  23 
  15 
  SIX 
  12 
  15 
  13 
  15 
  22 
  14 
  SEVEN 
  18 
  14 
  12 
  16 
  24 
  13 
  EIGHT 
  15 
  16 
  12 
  16 
  22 
  14 
  EAGLE KNIGHTS 
  Exceptional warriors, commanders of lesser orders, and the Em- 
  peror’s own bodyguard. They wear cloaks of white eagle feath- 
  ers. Air elementals have been bound into these cloaks, enabling 
  the knights to flutter and glide short distances. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Long Spear l a % ,  damage 1 D10+1+1 D6 
  Broadsword loo%, damage 1D8+1+1 D6 
  Dagger 90%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D8+3 (helm on), Melnibonean Half Plate. 
  Spells: Hell’s Armor (1 4). Hell’s Razor (1 -4). Suppleness of 
  Xiombarg (1-4), Speed of Vezhan (1-3), Summon Elemental (l), 
  Undo Magic (1-4), Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Demons & Elementals: Air elemental bound into cloak. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 75%. Dodge 90%, Insight 60%. Jump 
  90%, Listen 85%, Melnibonean 1 W%, 
  Search loo%, Track 90%, 
  Witch Sight 50%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  SI2 
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  ONE 
  18 
  14 
  15 
  15 
  16 
  15 
  TWO 
  16 
  14 
  17 
  12 
  20 
  16 
  THREE 
  14 
  13 
  20 
  14 
  21 
  17 
  FOUR 
  20 
  15 
  13 
  13 
  24 
  14 
  FIVE 
  14 
  18 
  19 
  11 
  19 
  19 
  SIX 
  20 
  11 
  14 
  17 
  18 
  13 
  SEVEN 
  15 
  18 
  18 
  11 
  21 
  18 
  EIGHT 
  14 
  16 
  19 
  12 
  27 
  18 
  IMPERIAL GUARD 
  These yellow-clad warriors are the principal force of Melnibon6. 
  They patrol the walls of the city, and guard against attack from 
  petty jealous human nations. In ancient times they marched in 
  vast legions across the world. Even today they occasionally 
  56 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  D I C E I T  
  board the battle-barges once more to repel some feeble human 
  assault. 
  Damage Bonus: +1D4. 
  Weapons: Baffle-axe (RH) 80%, damage 1 D8+2+1 D4 
  Battle-axe (LH) 80%, damage 1 D8+2+1 D4 
  Shortsword 75%, damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 
  Dagger 70%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D8+3 (helm on), Melnibonean Half Plate. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Demon's Eye (l), Heal (2), Hell's 
  Armor (1 -4), Hell's Razor (1 4), Horns of Hionhum (1 -3), Muddle 
  (1). Sinew of Mabelode (1-3), Speed of Vezhan (1-3), Supple- 
  ness of Xombarg (1-3), Ward (3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 50%, Dodge 75%, Listen 70%, Melni- 
  bonean 1 W%, 
  Ride 60%, Sailing 75%, Search 70%. Track 50%, 
  Witch Sight 30%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  S R  
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  ONE 
  13 
  13 
  12 
  14 
  23 
  13 
  TWO 
  18 
  9 
  14 
  20 
  22 
  12 
  THREE 
  11 
  14 
  14 
  16 
  16 
  14 
  FOUR 
  13 
  11 
  13 
  9 
  21 
  12 
  FIVE 
  17 
  17 
  14 
  11 
  19 
  16 
  SIX 
  15 
  16 
  15 
  15 
  20 
  16 
  SEVEN 
  15 
  16 
  13 
  16 
  26 
  15 
  EIGHT 
  13 
  16 
  13 
  18 
  17 
  15 
  ONE 
  TWO 
  THREE 
  FOUR 
  FIVE 
  SIX 
  SEVEN 
  EIGHT 
  STR 
  12 
  15 
  17 
  13 
  14 
  13 
  11 
  17 
  CON 
  17 
  15 
  20 
  20 
  19 
  20 
  15 
  20 
  SI2 
  13 
  14 
  8 
  16 
  12 
  13 
  15 
  12 
  DEX 
  20 
  19 
  20 
  20 
  20 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  POW 
  HP 
  16 
  15 
  13 
  15 
  18 
  14 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  16 
  14 
  17 
  15 
  15 
  18 
  16 
  DRAGON PRINCES 
  . 
  . . . . 
  . . . . . . . . 
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  RACON PRINCE 15 the title conferred to those 
  warrior-nobles of Melnibon6 who ride the dragons, 
  D 
  an increasingly rare event in this day and age. He or 
  she may spend years preparing and training, only to ride a 
  dragon once or twice in a lifetime. Dragon Princes are the 
  noblest of the noble, move in the upper echelons of 
  Melnibonhn society, and are invariably rich and powerful 
  beyond the dreams of most humans. Their numbers are greatly 
  reduced of old. 
  IMRRYRIAN LANCERS 
  The lmrryrian Lancers are a famous cavalry regiment quartered 
  in the city. They deal with the security of the island, striking faster 
  and further than infantry. They are part of the Imperial Guard, and 
  as such wear yellow doaks and amber plumes. Their horses are 
  caparisoned in gold and saffron. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Lance 90%, damage 1 D8+1+3D6 
  Small Shield 85%, damage KB+1 D3+1 D4.20 hit points 
  Broadsword 80%, damage 1 D8+1+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D8+3 (helm on), Metnibonban Half Plate. 
  Spells: Demon's Eye (l), Heal (2), Hell's Armor (1 4), Hell's Bul- 
  wark (14), Hell's Razor (14), Hell's Sharp Flame (1-4), Moonrise 
  (l), Muddle (1). Sinew of Mabelode (1-3). Speed of Vezhan (1-3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 50%, Dodge 60%, Jump 50%, Melni- 
  bonean 1 OO%, Natural World 40%, Ride 90%, Search 75%. 
  Track 65%, Witch Sight 30%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  SlZ 
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  ONE 
  17 
  18 
  11 
  9 
  23 
  15 
  TWO 
  18 
  14 
  13 
  15 
  28 
  14 
  THREE 
  12 
  9 
  18 
  13 
  26 
  14 
  FOUR 
  12 
  12 
  15 
  16 
  14 
  14 
  FIVE 
  16 
  19 
  15 
  15 
  25 
  17 
  SIX 
  14 
  10 
  18 
  13 
  22 
  14 
  SEVEN 
  16 
  11 
  16 
  10 
  16 
  14 
  EIGHT 
  15 
  17 
  13 
  11 
  23 
  15 
  DRAGON PRINCES 
  Even without their steeds, the Dragon Princes are a military unit 
  to be feared. They are the most skilled troops in Mehibone. They 
  wear gleaming scale armor and dragon helms. 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Great Sword 130%, damage 2D8+1 D4 
  Broadsword 120%. damage 108+1+1D4 
  Full Shield 120%. damage KB+1 D4+1D4, 22 hit points 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonean Plate. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Brazier of Power (4) Chain of Be- 
  ing (4), Demon's Eye (1). Flames of Kakatal (4), Gift of Grome 
  (4), Heal (2), Hell's Armor (1-4), Hell's Bulwark (14). Hell's Razor 
  (1-4), Hornsof Hionhurn (1-3), Midnight (l), Moonrise (l), Mud- 
  dle (l), Refutation (1 -4). Sinew of Mabelode (1 -3), Soul of 
  Chardros (1 4, 
  Speed of Vezhan (1 -3). Summon Demon (l), 
  Summon Elemental (l), Suppleness of Xiombarg (1-3), Undo 
  Magic (14), Visage of Arioch (1-3), Wings of Lassa (4). Wisdom 
  of Siortar (1 -3). 
  THE SILENT GUARD 
  Eunuch archers, taken from among the half-Melnibonean elite 
  slave population. Their tongues have been removed. They are 
  the best archers on Metnibone, wielding the bone bow with 
  deadly accuracy. 
  Damage Bonus: + l  D4. 
  Weapons: Melnibon6an Bone Bow 100%. damage 2D6+1+1D2 
  Shortsword 65%, damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 
  Dagger 55%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D6-1 (no helm), Leather. 
  Spells: Demon's Eye (l), 
  Heal (2), Hell's Armor (1 4). Hell's 
  Sharp Flame (14), Make Whole (3), Moonrise (1). Suppleness of 
  Xiombarg (1-3). 
  Skills: Craft (Fletching) 70%, Dodge 70%. Move Quietly EO%, 
  Search loo%, Understand Common Tongue 75%. Understand 
  Melnibonean 75%. 
  57 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  Skills: Art (Courtly Manners) 85%, Common Tongue 70%, 
  Dodge 75%, Dragon Song 95%, Melnibonean 125%, Million 
  Spheres lo%, Navigate 80%, Ride Dragon 150%, Search 85%, 
  Witch Sight 60%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  ONE 
  15 
  11 
  TWO 
  15 
  16 
  THREE 
  14 
  10 
  FOUR 
  16 
  13 
  FIVE 
  17 
  12 
  SIX 
  17 
  13 
  SEVEN 
  17 
  15 
  EIGHT 
  16 
  13 
  SI2 
  12 
  17 
  12 
  16 
  14 
  15 
  14 
  15 
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  14 
  24 
  12 
  13 
  29 
  17 
  15 
  25 
  11 
  14 
  31 
  15 
  16 
  26 
  13 
  17 
  24 
  14 
  17 
  25 
  15 
  18 
  30 
  14 
  DRAGON PRINCE AND RETINUE 
  This haughty Melniborkan lord, clad in the shimmering scaled ar- 
  mor of his station, glides through the streets of lmnyr accompa- 
  nied by his slaves. One shields him from the sun with a silken 
  parasol, another endlessly recites his praises, more walk behind 
  holding up his long cloak so that it does not drag on the ground. A 
  trusted elite child slave carries his ornamental goad, should he 
  have need of it. All are garbed in rich clothes of peach, carnelian, 
  port red and aquamarine. Adventurers who linger in the Dragon 
  Lord's vicinity are told to move on, as their drab appearance of- 
  fends his aesthetic sensibilities. 
  STR 14 
  CON15 
  SI217 
  INT22 
  POW25 
  DEX17 
  APP23 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: + l  D4 
  Weapons: Great Sword 112%, damage 2D8+1 D4 
  Goad 104%. damage 1 D4+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonean Plate 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Bounty of Straasha (4), Demon's 
  Ear (l), Demon's Eye (l), Flames of Kakatal (4), Gift of Grome 
  (41, Heal (2), Hell's Armor (la), Hell's Razor (la), Horns of Hion- 
  hum (1-3), Midnight (l), Moonrise (1). Muddle (l), Plasticity of 
  Balo (1-3), Refutation (14), Sinew of Mabelode (1-3). Soul of 
  Chardros (1 -3). Speed of Vezhan (1 -3), Summon Elemental (l), 
  Suppleness of Xiombarg (1-3), Undo Magic (1-4), Visage of 
  Arioch (1-3), Ward (3), Wings of Lassa (4), Wisdom of Slottar (1- 
  3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 55%, Dodge 63%, Dragon Song 91 %, 
  Melnibonean loo%, Million Spheres 11%, Navigate 82%, Ride 
  Dragon 144%, Search 82%, Witch Sight 58%. 
  BROODING DRAGON PRINCESS 
  This statuesque Dragon Princess has long, silver-streaked raven 
  hair falling across her red-lacquered armor. She is accompanied 
  by a slave who nurses an ivory casket filled with glowing coals. 
  Nestled amongst the embers is an opalescent egg, the size of a 
  person's head. It is a dragon egg, and soon to hatch. The prin- 
  cess spends all of her time attending to it, never allowing it to 
  leave her sight. Powerful drugs keep her awake, and her indigo 
  eyes burn with tension. If the egg hatches, she will be ecstatic. 
  Should some misfortune befall either egg or dragonet, she will 
  first fly into a terrible rage, then a dolorous and suicidal melan- 
  STR16 
  CON13 
  SI217 
  INT25 
  POW24 
  DEX13 
  APP21 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6 
  Weapons: Great Sword 137%. damage 2D8+1 D6 
  Dagger 73%. damage 1 D4+2+1 D6 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonean Plate. 
  Spells: Breath of Life (l), 
  Demon's Eye (l), Heal (2). Hell's Ar- 
  mor (1-4), Hell's Razor (la), Homs of Hionhurn (1-3), Make Fast 
  (l), Make Whole (3). Midnight (l), Moonrise (l), Plasticity of Balo 
  (1-3). Refutation (1-4), Sinew of Mabelode (1-3), Soul of 
  Chardros (1-3), Speed of Vezhan (1 -3), 
  Suppleness of Xiombarg 
  choly. 
  (1-3). Undo Magic (14), Visage of Arioch (1-3), Ward (3), Wis- 
  dom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 60%, Dodge 79%, Dragon Song 96%, 
  High Speech 40%, Listen 68%, Melnibonean 125%, Million 
  Spheres 18%, Natural Word 79%. Navigate 88%, Potions 110%, 
  Ride Dragon 132%. Search 92%, Witch Sight 67%. 
  DRAGONS 
  H ESE VAST, SCALED reptiles slumber in cavems 
  beneath Imnyr, periodically awakening to fly forth and 
  T 
  spread fear and destruction at their masters' bidding. 
  MELNIBONeAN DRAGONS 
  Here are a flight of dragons, majestic and terrible. Use them in 
  conjunction with the eight Dragon Princes given above, on those 
  rare occasions when the dragons wake. 
  Damage Bonus: +3D8 
  Weapons: Bite 25%, damage 7D8 
  Combustible Venom 70%, damage 1 D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of CON yards. 
  Tail Swipe 20%, damage 1 D8+7D8 
  Armor: 2D8+8, dragon scales. 
  Skills: Remember 75%. Search 80%. 
  ONE 
  TWO 
  THREE 
  FOUR 
  FIVE 
  SIX 
  SEVEN 
  EIGHT 
  STR 
  64 
  70 
  68 
  66 
  63 
  65 
  62 
  67 
  CON 
  76 
  89 
  71 
  60 
  81 
  54 
  64 
  74 
  SI2 
  67 
  65 
  60 
  66 
  69 
  60 
  60 
  64 
  DEX 
  POW 
  HP 
  14 
  15 
  72 
  9 
  21 
  77 
  12 
  19 
  66 
  14 
  16 
  63 
  10 
  15 
  75 
  13 
  17 
  57 
  11 
  14 
  62 
  12 
  18 
  69 
  NOBLES 
  VE RY F U L 1-B LOO DE D MelnibonCan is a noble. 
  Most prefer the drugenhanced solitude of their towers 
  E 
  to the streets, but some travel about for various reasons. 
  Nobles might be accompanied by a full retinue, or ride past on 
  a sedan chair or demonic steed, or might be alone, wrapped in 
  contemplation or drugged frenzy. 
  BATTLE-BARGE COMMANDER 
  This grave-faced woman is tall and imperious. She wears no 
  make-up, and disdains diaphanous cloth in favor of armor fash- 
  ioned from sea shells. Her hair is cut short to fit under a conch- 
  shell helmet, and her cloak is deep blue. She talks of nothing 
  save the waves and the ocean. Her attendant slaves are all hand- 
  picked from sailors imprisoned in Monshanjik Tower. 
  STRl5 
  CON14 
  SIZ18 
  lNT23 
  POW21 
  DEX14 
  APP19 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Broadsword 149%, damage 1D8+1+1 D6 
  Large Shield 136%, damage KB, 26 hit points 
  Dagger 108%, damage 1 D4+2+1D4 
  Armor: 1 D8+2D10 (helm on), Lacquered Sea-shell demon armor. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4). Brazier of Power (4). Breath of 
  Life (l), Chain of Being (4). Demon's Eye (l), Heal (2), Summon 
  Elemental (1). 
  Bound Demons 81 Elementals: Air elemental bound into helmet, 
  provides air in the event of falling overboard. 
  Lesser demon bound into ancient suit of sea-shell armor. 
  5 8  
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  D I G E S T  
  Skills: Common Tongue 70%, Dodge 76%, Mehibonean 115%, 
  Natural World 65%, Navigate 138%, Oratory 117%, Sailing 110%, 
  Scribe 91 %, Swim 82%, Unknown Kingdoms 18%. Witch Sight 
  71 %, Young Kingdoms 66%. 
  SHHH’AHHHH, lesser demon, bound into armor. 
  STR 15 
  CON23 
  SI218 
  INT6 
  POW20 
  DEX4 
  MOVO 
  HP 21 
  Abilities: Demon A m r ,  adds 2D10 
  Need: To never be more than one mile from the sea. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 20. 
  COW-EYED NOBLEMAN 
  This noble is obsessed by the purity of the Melnibon6an blood- 
  line, and stops and questions others of his race about their rela- 
  tives and ancestors. His slaves carry long rolls of paper with me- 
  ticulous family trees and precise annotations, as well as ink and 
  quills. He ignores humans. Should he be directly affronted, such 
  as by a human laying a hand on his shoulder, or even by being 
  spoken to rudely, he is so overcome with shock that he swoons to 
  the ground. Once recovered, he cries weakly for the brute’s exe- 
  cution. He wears a full-sleeved gown of opalescent silk, which 
  shimmers with a thousand rainbow hues. His waist-length hair is 
  combed and scented. 
  STR12 
  CON14 
  SI215 
  INT27 
  POW21 
  DEX13 
  APP19 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Midnight (l), Moonrise (1). Refutation (14), Undo Magic 
  (14), Visage of Arioch (1-3), Ward (3), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Courtly Manners) 113%, Mehibonean 135%, Oratory 
  77%, Scenflaste 51%. Scribe 99%, Witch Sight 30%. 
  HALLUCINATING NOBLEWOMAN 
  Inspired by the drugs which burn feverishly bright in her hazel- 
  brown eyes, this woman drifts ethereally along Imrryr’s twisted 
  streets. She speaks with people who are not there, tries to walk 
  through walls, and croons and giggles over the rainbow colors in 
  a fountain’s spray. Her patient slaves guide her away from situ- 
  ations where their mistress might hurt herself, but allow her other- 
  wise to walk where she will. This noblewoman dresses in an off- 
  the-shoulder sleeveless shift of lace and transparent silk. Her 
  make-up is smeared, her blue-black hair tangled and caught with 
  leaves, and her feet are bare and bruised. 
  STR11 
  CON14 
  SIZ13 
  INT20 
  POW25 
  DEXl2 
  APP17 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Flames of Kakatal (4), Gift of 
  Grome (4). Midnight (l), Moonrise (l), Summon Plant Lord (5), 
  Summon Elemental (l), Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Climb 40%, Jump 42%, Melnibonean loo%, Potions 94%, 
  Skip 60%, Swim 25%, Witch Sight 30%. 
  BRIGHTLY-CLAD NOBLE 
  This smirking, enigmatic nobleman wears a patchwork cloak of 
  butterfly wings sewn together with spider silk. He is interested in 
  things alchemical. He is recruiting nimble-fingered slaves to pluck 
  the stings from wasps and bees, and intends to distill the venom 
  to make a powerful new drug. 
  STR14 
  CON12 
  SI215 
  INT26 
  POW25 
  DEX14 
  APP18 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Poisoned Rapier 71 %, damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 +POT 20 
  poison 
  Armor: 1 D6-1 (no helm), Brightly Quilted Leather. 
  Spells: Flames of Kakatal (4). Summon Elemental (l), 
  Supple- 
  ness of Xiombarg (1 -3), Wisdom of Slortar (1 -3). 
  Skills: Hide 74%. Natural World 59%, Potions 101%, Search 
  78%, Trap 77%. Witch Sight 47%. 
  NOBLE CHILDREN 
  A small group of lazily sadistic Mehibonean children, their bright 
  young eyes sparkling with happy malice, accompanied by their 
  concerned slaves. All are breathtakingly dressed in a broad spec- 
  trum of colors, some indistinguishable to the human eye. Should 
  the children encounter any creature or race they are unfamiliar 
  with, they demand to know how it works and everything about it, 
  complete with a vivisection lesson to further their understanding. 
  They draw sharp, silver-bladed scalpels and daggers, eager to 
  begin. Their games are many, their attention spans short, their 
  motivations inhuman and hedonistic. 
  Damage Bonus: -1 D4 
  Weapons: Knife 40%, damage 1 D4+2-1 D4 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: none. 
  Skills: Dodge 60%, Hide 70%, Melnibonean 50%, Natural World 
  10%. 
  ONE 
  TWO 
  THREE 
  FOUR 
  FIVE 
  SIX 
  SEVEN 
  EIGHT 
  STR 
  CON 
  SI2 
  7 
  0 
  9 
  a 
  10 
  7 
  9 
  9 
  7 
  6 
  6 
  5 
  6 
  10 
  10 
  0 
  10 
  7 
  7 
  5 
  9 
  7 
  11 
  7 
  DEX 
  POW 
  np 
  10 
  23 
  9 
  15 
  24 
  9 
  15 
  23 
  8 
  17 
  22 
  6 
  14 
  24 
  10 
  12 
  24 
  9 
  13 
  16 
  7 
  10 
  29 
  9 
  SORCERERS 
  LTHOUCH NOT ALL MelnibonCans are 
  sorcerers, those who are display a familiarity with the 
  A 
  arcane that comes only through birthright. Wielders of 
  great magic, with all manner of powers at their beck and call, 
  Melnibonkn sorcerers made the Bright Empire a force to be 
  feared, and one to last ten thousand years. Encounters with 
  such supernatural practitioners are always fraught with peril. 
  5 9  
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  HURRIED SORCERER 
  This thin, gawky man rubs his hands constantly. cracking his 
  knuckles when excited. His long, reddish-brown hair floats 
  around his slender face, and he has grey eyes. He is a devotee 
  of Nnuuurrrr’c’c, Lord of Insects, and resembles an insect in his 
  nervous, twitching gestures. Clad at all time in a long, russet 
  gown which drags on the ground behind him, small fragments of 
  the cloth constantly tear away, becoming insects which creep or 
  fly away into the world. 
  S I R  11 
  CON8 
  SIZ17 
  INT25 
  POW28 
  DEXlO 
  APPl3 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Brazier of Power (4), Chain of B e  
  ing (4), Chaos Warp (4), Curse of Chaos (4), Flames of Kakatal 
  (4), Gift of Grome (4), Make Fast (l), Make Whole (3), Midnight 
  (l), Moonrise (l), Muddle (l), Pox (l), Refutation (14), Soul of 
  Chardros (1-3), Speed ofVezhan (1-3), Summon Demon (l), 
  Summon Elemental (l), Undo Magic (1-4), Ward (3), Wings of 
  Lassa (4), Wisdom of Slortar (1 -3). 
  Demons & Elementals: Lesser demon bound into cloak. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 45%, Fast Talk 58%, High Speech 19%. 
  Melnibonean 125%, Million Spheres 17%, Natural World 120%. 
  Scribe 77%. 
  Z‘CCCCCC’K, lesser Insect demon, bound into cloak. 
  STR6 
  CON15 
  SIZ17 
  INT7 
  POW16 
  DEX27 
  MOVO 
  HP 16 
  Abilities: Locusts, damage 1 D8 from insect bites. 
  Need: To strip one corpse of flesh per day. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 23. 
  MYSTERIOUS SORCERESS 
  This exceptionally tall and gaunt woman is dressed in shadows 
  which pool around her feet and lap with cold velvet tongues at 
  the feet of passers-by. Her interest is in emotional suffering, and 
  she lingers with any who can tell tales of broken hearts and 
  doomed lives. She is attended by demons of lassitude, melan- 
  choly and despair, and she spreads exhaustion, depression, and 
  unutterable woe. Her hair is long and black, her eyes dark, her 
  soft skin the color of milk. 
  STR12 
  CON10 
  SIZ20 
  INT30 
  POW28 
  DEX11 
  APP19 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Brazier of Power (4), Chain of 
  Being (4), Demon’s Ear (l), Midnight (l), Muddle (1). Refutation 
  (1-4), Soul of Chardros (1-3), Summon Demon (l), Undo Magic 
  (1-4), Visage of Arioch (1 -3), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Demons & Eiementals: several lesser demons of woe are in 
  attendance. 
  Enchantments: Cloak of Shadows, a garment of shifting 
  blackness, conferring Hide 500%. 
  Skills: Art (Tragedy) 157%, Common Tongue 90%, Disguise 
  79%, Hide 500%, High Speech 47%, Melnibonean 150%, Move 
  Quietly 88%, Oratory 164%, Scribe 111 %. 
  VERLAINES, lesser demons of woe and misery, sniffling 
  shadowy humanoid figures with brimming eyes and trem- 
  bling voices. 
  STR7 
  CON6 
  SIZ5 
  INT21 
  POW15 
  DEX 8 
  MOV shuffle4 
  HP 6 
  Abilities: Knowledge (Doomed Loves), accuracy 63%. 
  Cause Misery, resist demon’s POW with INT or be cast into 
  inconsolable melancholy for one hour. 
  Need: To reduce one person to despair each day. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 22. 
  SINUOUS SORCERER 
  This slender young Mehibonean has a great mane of brown- 
  black hair that reaches to his waist. He dresses in a loose- 
  sleeved shirt of copper-colored satin, a wine-red velvet doublet 
  encrusted with gold and pearls, and ultramarine hose. He has a 
  sibilant, sensuous voice, and deep blue eyes. His hair is ensor- 
  celled, swirling and writhing with a life of its own. When the sor- 
  cerer is asleep his hair is his bodyguard, and has more than once 
  throttled a would-be assassin in the night. By day his hair is play- 
  ful and curious, often entwining itself around interesting objects 
  or people. 
  STR13 
  CON11 
  SI214 
  INT25 
  POW27 
  DEX15 
  APP23 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Strangle with Hair 75%, damage as per spot rule for 
  drowning. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Brazier of Power (4), Chain of Being (4), Demon’s Ear 
  (1). Midnight (l), Moonrise (l), Muddle (l), Plasticity of Balo (1- 
  3). Refutation (14), Sinew of Mabelode (1-3). Speed of Vezhan 
  (1-3), Summon Demon (l), Summon Elemental (l), Suppleness 
  of Xiombarg (1-3), Undo Magic (1-4), Visage of Arioch (1-3), 
  Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Art (Dance) 92%, Art (Seduction) 118%. Common Tongue 
  95%, Craft (Sleight of Hair) 75%, Melnibonean 125%, Move 9ui- 
  etly 71 %, Oratory 96%, Potions 66%, Witch Sight 45%. 
  AQUATIC SORCERESS 
  This sorceress dresses in flowing silks of blue and green. Her 
  speech is languid, and liquid. She travels in a crystal egg carried 
  upon water elemental, which washes about the streets of Imrryr. 
  Her tower stands in a lake, bounded by a wall of ice, but a 
  stone’s throw from the Courtyard of Hands. Only the roof of the 
  tower stands above the lake’s surface, with a single door inset. It 
  is dry inside, and one can stare out the windows to see eels and 
  fat perch and otters playing amongst the weeds and rushes. 
  STRl2 
  CON11 
  SIZ14 
  INT29 
  POW28 
  DEX17 
  APP18 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Brazier of Power (4), Breath of 
  Life (l), Chain of Being (4), Make Fast (l), Make Whole (3), 
  Moonrise (l), Muddle (1). Plasticity of Balo (1-3), Refutation (1- 
  4). Soul of Chardros (1-3), Speed of Vezhan (1-3), Summon Ele- 
  mental (l), Suppleness of Xiombarg (1-3), Undo Magic (14), Vis- 
  age of Arioch (1 -3), Ward (3), Wisdom of Slortar (1 -3). 
  Bound Demons & Elementals: water elemental bound beneath 
  crystal egg. 
  Skills: Melnibonean 145%, Million Spheres 13%, Natural World 
  86%, Navigate 54%, Sailing 79%, Swim 87%, Witch Sight 52%. 
  D REAM E RS 
  ERE I S  A CROSS-SECTION of the folk of the 
  Dreaming City, six individuals who work at 
  H 
  realizing dreams, or are simply lost in them. Each 
  might involve the adventurers in their schemes and visions. 
  AGING PRIEST 
  This elderly Melnibonean is stooped and thin, his skin translu- 
  cent, his long silver hair falling about him in disarray. He wears 
  the robes of a Priest of Chaos, and goes about muttering to him- 
  self. He seeks slaves to assist him in lighting the tapers and sing- 
  ing dark hymns. Those who accompany him find that the candles 
  are mere wax stumps, the temple roof is open in places, and the 
  nesting birds are more likely to enjoy the hymns than the absent 
  and indifferent Dukes of Disorder. 
  6 0  
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  D I G E S T  
  STR8 
  CON7 
  SIZ14 
  INT13 
  POW32 
  DEX6 
  APP17 
  HP 11 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: Obsidian Dagger 30%, damage 1 D4+2. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: long forgotten. A Fast Talk might persuade the priest to re- 
  call one, but a Heal spell is just as likely to come out as Hell's 
  Sharp Flame. 
  Skills: Art (Worship) 71 %, Mehibonean 65%, Million Spheres 
  24%, Muttered Chaos Catechisms 13%. 
  ABSORBED SCHOLAR 
  This driven academic is usually half-dressed in a motley of 
  clothing, and pursued by slaves clutching the rest of his gar- 
  ments. He never stands still long enough for them to properly 
  attend his grooming, for he is always dashing off to consult 
  some volume or conduct some experiment. His eyes burn in- 
  tensely, but whether from madness or inspiration is hard to 
  judge. 
  STR14 
  CON12 
  SIZ15 
  INT30 
  POW19 
  DEX11 
  APP16 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Silver Quill 22%. damage 1 D2 
  Armor: 102 from some random piece about his person, a plate- 
  mail greave or a pot helm perhaps. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Flames of Kakatal(4), Gift of 
  Grome (4), Summon Elemental (l), Wings of Lassa (4), Wisdom 
  of Slortar (1-3). 
  Demons & Elementals: A patient earth elemental shambles 
  after him. carrying instruments and bookshelves. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 75%, High Speech 31 %, Mehibonean 
  150%. Million Spheres 20%, Natural World 72%, Physik 87%. Po- 
  tions 71 %, Scribe 86%. Unknown Kingdoms ll%, Witch Sight 
  42%, Young Kingdoms 64%. 
  SCHEMING PLOTTER 
  This handsome noble is dressed in orange velvet, with ruffles and 
  lace. He strolls the streets of lmrryr like a dandy, and always 
  takes the time to greet strangers. He is a friendly face in this self- 
  obsessed city. However, his mind is turning over how best he can 
  use these new acquaintances to his advantage. Would they bring 
  him kudos if he introduced them to the court? Could he use them 
  to plague his enemies with their human boorishness? No opportu- 
  nity or possibility escapes him. He is always seen with a stylish 
  companion. 
  STRl2 
  CON11 
  SI214 
  INT23 
  POW22 
  DEX13 
  APP20 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +lD4. 
  Weapons: Jewelled Broadsword 61 %, damage 1 D8+1+1 D4 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Demon's Ear (l), Midnight (l), Muddle (l), Pox (l), 
  Vis- 
  age of Arioch (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Courtly Manners) 99%, Common Tongue 90%. Con- 
  ceal Object 78%, Insight 72%. Listen 8O%, Melnibonean 115%, 
  Oratory 102%, Witch Sight 44%. 
  VISIONARY ARTIST 
  This wide-eyed Melnibonean woman is dressed in a paint-spat- 
  tered smock, and her hair is tied up and tucked under a loose 
  hat. She is followed by a score of slaves, including carpenters, 
  tailors, hairdressers, painters, and other craftspeople. She be- 
  holds Imrryr, her finest creation. She is the city's artist, its sculp- 
  tor. She walks inside her greatest work, making final adjust- 
  ments before presenting her work to the emperor. That building 
  needs some lattice, this wolfhound must be blue, that adven- 
  turer's nose simply will not do. Could this be true, is she mad, 
  or is it merely a beautiful dream wafting from the fragrant pipe 
  she smokes? Whatever the case, her slaves work hard to fol- 
  low the great artist's instructions. 
  61 
  STR15 
  CON12 
  SIZ17 
  INT26 
  POW21 
  DEX18 
  APP17 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Demon's Eye (l), 
  Flames of 
  Kakatal(4), Gift of Grome (4). Make Fast (l), Make Whole (3). 
  Moonrise (l), Summon Elemental (l), Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Art (Painting) 194%. Art (Sculpture) 133%, Common 
  Tongue 65%, Melnibonean 130%, Search 90%. Witch Sight 73%. 
  DREAMING VOYAGER 
  This Melnibonean woman could at first be mistaken for a 
  corpse. Her skin is as white as marble, and her eyes are dark 
  pits. But she breathes, slow and deep, and her body blooms 
  with the last stage of pregnancy. She does not go out, but re- 
  poses on silken cushions, dressed in layers of black taffeta. 
  Without leaving her tower, she has voyaged on wings of hallu- 
  cinogens to countless spheres and realms. She has, she says, 
  seen both the beginning and the end of the Bright Empire, 
  flown across the world as a dragon, and taken Arioch as a 
  lover. All of these things are true, to her at least. What of the 
  child she bears? 
  STR5 
  CON15 
  SIZ17 
  INT26 
  POW24 
  DEX7 
  APP19 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: her mind is too addled to recall them. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 70%, Melnibonean 120%, Million 
  Spheres 96%, Potions 238%, Unknown Languages 85%. Witch 
  Sight 120%. 
  %ENOPHOBIC DUELIST 
  This Melnibonean is clad in squares of red and green leather, 
  held together with small silver chains. He despises humans, ab- 
  hors them, and will not brook their presence on the same street 
  as him. His slaves all wear hoods, to hide their repugnant non- 
  Melnibonean features. Given the choice, he would expunge the 
  race. Adventurers had best stay out of his way, for his temper 
  is short, and he is not unskilled at combat and other forms of 
  murder. 
  STR 17 
  CON14 
  SI213 
  INT20 
  POW23 
  DEX15 
  APPl6 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1D4. 
  Weapons: Rapier 126%. damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 
  Dagger 94%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D6-1 (no helm), Leather. 
  Spells: Hell's Armor (1 -4). Hell's Razor (1 -4), Hell's Sharp Flame 
  (1-4), Homs of Hionhurn (1-3), Sinew of Mabelode (1-3), Speed 
  of Vezhan (1-3). Suppleness of Xiombarg (1-3). 
  Skills: Dodge 76%, Oratory 64%, Mehibonean 100%. 
  SLAVES 
  LL MELNIBONEANS keep slaves. If judged by 
  the standards by which humans treat their own kind, 
  A 
  then it is far better to be enslaved in Imrryr than any 
  other city in the Young Kingdoms. For the most part slaves on 
  the Dragon Isle are well fed and well clothed, and kept 
  drugged and content. 
  MUTANT SLAVE 
  This hybrid human slave has eyes extended from their sockets 
  on slowly flexing stalks, courtesy of his master's arcane skills. He 
  can look forwards and over his shoulder at the same time, thus 
  making a useful bodyguard. 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  STR17 
  CON16 
  SIZ16 
  INT11 
  POW10 
  DEX13 
  APP3 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Brawl 82%, damage 1 D3+1 D6 
  Wrestle 71 %, damage special 
  Armor: 1 D6-1 (no helm), Leather. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 55%, Dodge 56%, Jump 48%. Search 
  99%, Throw 60%, Track 91 %. 
  BODY SLAVE 
  This mute slave walks before his mistress everywhere she goes, 
  scattering rose petals in the air before her path and scenting the 
  air she breathes with their delicate perfume. His long auburn hair 
  is oiled, and tied back in a waist-length plait, and he wears intri- 
  cately embroidered velvet robes. 
  STR11 
  CON10 
  SIZ13 
  INT12 
  POW14 
  DEX13 
  APPl8 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Enchantments: The rose petals which he throws about him 
  come from an endless source, the small leather pouch upon his 
  hip. It opens onto an other-dimensional space containing a 
  garden of hypnotically-singing roses, their petals of crimson, 
  emerald and gold. 
  Skills: Art (Strike Pleasing Pose) 65%, Scenuaste 78%, Under- 
  stand Common Tongue 60%. 
  HALF-MELNIBONeAN SLAVE 
  Although partially of human blood, this slave passes for a Melni- 
  bonean under all but the closest scrutiny. She is one of the elite 
  slaves upon the Isle, and is a trusted emissary of her master. She 
  delivers messages on his behalf, massages his feet, writes his let- 
  ters and invitations, and speaks for him should he wish not to 
  lower himself to such a common task. Tall, slender and proud, 
  she is clad in whispering silk, her hair unbound, with intricate de- 
  signs painted upon her cheeks and eyelids. 
  STRlO 
  CON9 
  SIZ14 
  INT14 
  POW12 
  DEX12 
  APP16 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 70%, Craft (Massage) 83%, Melni- 
  bonean 70%. Oratory 44%, Physik 62%, Scribe 70%. 
  LABORING SLAVE 
  Brutal and bestial, this slave is kept in a mindless state by power- 
  ful drugs. He cannot speak, but only grunt, drooling uncon- 
  trollably all the while. His callused, muscular body is clad in filthy 
  rags. His hair is caked with dirt, his eyes are unfocused. This 
  slave obeys any order quite literally. Denied of the drugs which 
  sustain him, he would erupt in a murderous rage, before dying in 
  twitching agony a few hours later. 
  STR 22 (11) CON 24 (12) SIZ 13 INT5 (10) 
  POW 11 
  DEX6(12) APP7 
  HP 23 (1 2) 
  Numbers in parentheses represent the slave in 
  his undmgged stare. 
  Damage Bonus: +2D6 (none). 
  Weapons: Brawl 50%, damage 1 D3+2D6 (1 D3+0) 
  Armor: none. 
  Skills: Dodge 12%, Drool & Grunt 25%, Follow Instructions 
  100%. Understand Common Tongue 25%. 
  HOUSEHOLD SLAVES 
  Every tower in lmrryr is cleaned and maintained by slaves. These 
  men and women traipse about in a dazed state, looking to the 
  well-being of their masters. They do not contemplate revolt, or 
  anything else for that matter. They are dressed in the fashion of 
  the tower. Tastes range from neat formal liverv to outlandish cos- 
  tumes and dyed hair.- 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: none. 
  Skills: Craft (Domestic Duties) 60%. 
  STR 
  CON 
  SI2 
  DEX 
  ONE 
  I1 
  10 
  13 
  9 
  TWO 
  13 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  THREE 
  12 
  10 
  12 
  8 
  FOUR 
  11 
  13 
  10 
  10 
  flVE 
  10 
  9 
  7 
  11 
  11 
  13 
  8 
  SEVEN 
  9 
  11 
  10 
  10 
  EIGHT 
  10 
  8 
  I1 
  10 
  SIX 
  8 
  POW 
  8 
  10 
  9 
  7 
  12 
  6 
  11 
  5 
  HP 
  12 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  8 
  12 
  11 
  10 
  DEMONS 
  E W ME LN I BON f AN 5 TO DAY have the energy to 
  summon and bind new demons. Most of those demon 
  F artifacts found upon the Dragon Isle are antique, their 
  binding sigils fraying, the demons often cantankerous, 
  troublesome, or weakened by the passing of time. Demons are 
  most usually summoned and requested to do a single task 
  before being released. Those demons found bound are often 
  startling and unique, chosen as much for their appearance, 
  beautiful or terrifying, as for their powers. 
  ABANDONED DEMON 
  This demon was the lover of a Melnibon6an lordling long 
  dead, and has languished for centuries, forgotten, bound into a 
  pearl-handled mirror. It is supposed to reflect the face of the 
  beholder's true love, so that one may recognize he, she or it 
  upon f i t  meeting. Now it only ever shows the tawny-eyed 
  and mournful face of the late, lamented Prince Phylos 
  Mykrates. Sacrificing an innocent to the demon in the mirror 
  causes it to manifest, allegedly for a night of rapturous love, 
  but of late it makes a depressing and lackluster companion. 
  STR14 
  CON13 
  SIZ16 
  INT10 
  POW20 
  DEX 16 
  APP 36 
  MOV sashay-8 
  HP 15 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Abilities: Soul Sight, range 100 yards. 
  Skills: Lovemaking 100%, Reflect True Love loo%, Weep and 
  Sigh 100%. 
  Need: To be wrapped in silk when not in use. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 40. 
  ANGRY DEMON 
  This spined, cat-like demon manifests once per day on com- 
  mand, wreathed in an aura of green flames. It is bound into an or- 
  nate tiara of silver, set with diamonds and black pearls. The de- 
  mon communicates with the tiara's wearer in telepathic yowls and 
  hisses. It was originally bound for 100 years, and has been 
  trapped for five times that number. Once manifested its binding is 
  void, and caterwauling and clawing the demon attacks once and 
  departs, unless immediately rebound. 
  STR23 
  CON17 
  SI220 
  INT7 
  POW16 
  DEX 27 
  MOV lope-14 
  HP 19 
  Abilities: Demon Amor, 1 D8 flaming green fur. 
  Bite, at 80% damage 1 D10+1 D6 
  Claw, at 50% damage 1 D8+2+2D8 
  Skills: Dodge 54%, Pounce 70%. 
  Need: To be released. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 38. 
  62 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  D I G E S T  
  BORED DEMON 
  This diminutive, warty humanoid is a game player. It has long 
  arms and clever fingers, blinking orange eyes and a gap-toothed 
  grin. It knows every game of skill and tactics in the Million 
  Spheres, or so it claims, but is suffering from dreadful boredom 
  due to the lack of worthy opponents. A truly brilliant adversary 
  (INT 21 or more) engages its interest, proving it an intelligent and 
  competitive player and conversationalist. 
  STRlO 
  CON14 
  SI28 
  INT21 
  POW16 
  DEX 19 
  MOV hop-10 
  HP 11 
  Abilities: Manipulate, at 30%. 
  Play Game, match INTINT to determine winner. 
  Skills: Art (Conversation) 90%. 
  Need: To play chess daily against an intelligent opponent. 
  Magic Points Cost to Summon: 28. 
  BEASTS 
  3% 
  EW LARGE PREDATORS survive on the Dragon 
  Isle. Here are three that may prove a threat and a 
  F challenge to adventurers. 
  WILD BOAR 
  This tusked brute hunts deep in the glades of the Isolated Fells. 
  He is as broad as a horse, and heavier than a bull. Those who 
  hunt him may soon have cause to regret it. He does not fall down 
  until dead, ignoring major wounds or unconsciousness. 
  STR24 
  CON20 
  SIZ33 
  INT6 
  POW 15 
  DEX 11 
  MOV trot-1 0 
  HP 27 
  Damage Bonus: +3D6 
  Weapons: Gore 50%. damage 2D6+3D6 
  Trample 75%, damage 6D6 to downed foe 
  Armor: 1 D4+1, bristled skin 
  Skills: Scent 80%. 
  ANCIENT CROCODILE 
  This sly old reptile suns himself in the southern marshes. He has 
  had occasion to sample human and Melnibonean flesh, and 
  rather likes it. When such delicacies draw near, he eases into the 
  water and becomes a floating log. 
  STR36 
  CON26 
  SI236 
  INT9 
  POW 16 
  DEX 8 
  MOV swim-6 
  HP 31 
  Damage Bonus: +3D6 
  Weapons: Bite 50%. damage 1 D10+3D6 
  Armor: 1 D3+2, scaly hide 
  Skills: Hide EO%, Move Quietly 35%, ScentjTaste 60%. 
  LESSER MAMMOTH 
  This hairy mastodon is shy and docile. She dwells in the forests 
  of Wa’aiya’oro. She has no fear of men, because she has never 
  seen one. If they hurt her, her baffled rage will be murderous. 
  STR40 
  CON14 
  SIZ44 
  INT5 
  POW 9 
  DEX 8 
  MOV run-1 0 
  HP 29 
  Damage Bonus: +4D6 
  Weapons: Trunk 50%, constrict for 4D6 damage 
  Trample 50%, damage 8D6 
  Armor: 1 D6+4, hide and hair 
  Skills: Search 25%, Scent 50%. 
  WYRMS 
  EA SERPENTS ARE FEARED by sailors across the 
  Young Kingdoms, and they swim in great shoals in the 
  waters of Wyrm Cove. Ships which venture there during 
  the mating season are never heard of again. At other times of 
  the year the serpents are encountered singly or in pairs. 
  MALE SEA SERPENT 
  This old male could wrap himself around a human ship, and has 
  done so on many occasions. He lost one eye to a harpoon a dec- 
  ade ago, and still bears that hatred towards the beings that float 
  above the water. His heavy scales are deep-green, tuming black 
  with age. 
  STR74 
  CON84 
  SIZ102 
  INT13 
  POW15 
  DEX 11 
  MOV swim-10 
  HP 93 
  Damage Bonus: +1 OD6. 
  Weapons: Bite 60%, damage 5D6 
  Coil and Crush 70%, damage 20D6 
  Tail 40%, damage 1 D10+10D6 
  Armor: 2D4+4, heavy scales. 
  Skills: Sense Ship 60%, Swim 100%. 
  FEMALE SEA SERPENT 
  This graceful female delights in the water, arcing and leaping in a 
  brilliant flash of blue light. She has beautiful jewelled scales. She 
  does not hunt shipping, preferring fish and other less dangerous 
  Prey. 
  STR53 
  CON63 
  SI281 
  INT14 
  POW13 
  DEX 16 
  MOV swim-10 
  HP 72 
  Damage Bonus: +7D6. 
  Weapons: Bite 50%, damage 7D6 
  Tail 30%, damage 1 D10+7D6 
  Armor: 2D4, jewelled scales. 
  Skills: Leap 80%, Swim 100%. 
  YOUNG SEA SERPENT 
  This pale hatchling is mottled yellow. She is no threat to shipping, 
  but would make short work of a swimmer. If hungry, she might 
  even tackle a raft. Any severe wound drives her back to the deep, 
  where the sharks will fall upon her. 
  STR26 
  CON25 
  SI231 
  INT7 
  DEX 14 
  MOV swim-1 2 
  HP 23 
  Damage Bonus: +3D6 
  Weapons: Bite 40%, damage 3D6 
  Armor: 1 D4, soft scales 
  Skills: Sense Weak Prey 40%, Swim 100%. 0 
  POW 11 
  63 
  
  Melnibone’, ye Dragon Isle 
  Disorder48 Scribes 
  League of Turn%tuous Erudition 
  r- 
  .
  b
   
  Shonjun Lecallis, Master 
  /’ 
  PLAYER’S MAP OF MELNIBONE. 
  
  H E  DISORDERED SCRIBES of the League of 
  Tumultuous Erudition are a Chaos organization of 
  scholars. Their goal is to record the experience of 
  nation. They are deep in competition with their Lawful 
  counterparts, the Iron Sages of the Order of the Brass Quill. 
  Sinbos H’nd’n is the Disordered Scribe who volunteered to 
  tour Melnibonk and keep a journal of his discoveries. Alas, 
  H’nd’n has not retuned, and it may take more than mere 
  academics to rescue him. The league needs bold adventurers 
  to follow H’nd’n’s route and seek him out. Such an expedition 
  would also be the perfect opportunity to test a new breed of 
  demon which the league hopes to employ as a hardier 
  alternative to wandering scribes. 
  T 
  traversing the entire Young Kingdoms, nation by 
  H E  LEAGUE OF Tumultuous Erudition has a 
  floating headquarters, the scribe-ship Wandering 
  Wisdom. The craft may be encountered on the ocean, 
  T 
  or in any port in the Young Kingdoms. If at sea, the 
  Wandering Wmdum simply hails the adventurers’ ship, asking 
  if bold souls are willing to undertake a journey of great 
  importance. If the craft is docked, the scribes send out leaflets 
  and messengers to say that hardy and inquisitive adventurers 
  are sought for a profitable mission. 
  In some way, then, the adventurers are invited to come 
  aboard the Wandering Wisdom for an interview with the head 
  of the league. 
  The Captain of the vessel is Grodonion M’Glak, a 
  Jharkorian scholar. He wears voluminous robes with sleeves to 
  match, hanging down over his hands as though the garment 
  belonged to a much larger man. He stands seven feet tall, but 
  only five feet two of this is actually him. The rest is a 
  varnished scalplock which stands straight up from his head. It 
  serves him as a spike file, and scraps of foolscap paper are 
  impaled all along its length. M’Glak frequently tears off a 
  random piece, consults it, then eats it. 
  M’Glak warmly greets the visitors. He is the soul of 
  politeness and companionship. He thrusts back the sleeves of 
  his robe and holds his arms wide, grinning all the while. 
  “Welcome aboard the Wandering Wmabm! May the Dukes of 
  Disorder bless thee with fancy, curiosity, and energy. May you 
  never know all there is to learn, for in that there lies staleness, 
  bleakness, and doom. Yet, may you forever seek that very 
  goal, always to be tantalizingly denied.” At this he breaks off 
  and shakes the hands of the adventurers. “A ritual greeting, 
  you understand. Would you follow me? Our league-master 
  would have words with you.” 
  H E  DISORDERED SCRIBES of the League of 
  T 
  Tumultuous Erudition are an organization of 
  scholars aligned with Chaos. Their principle project is a 
  series of volumes detailing each of the Young 
  Kingdoms, with the general title of the Sojourner’s 
  Guides. 
  The 
  scribes seek more 
  than harvesting 
  knowledge of the 
  lands and cultures 
  of 
  the Young 
  Kingdoms. 
  By 
  distributing such 
  knowledge, they 
  hope to encourage 
  a Chaotic mixing of 
  cultures 
  and 
  mores, with the 
  result that people 
  borrow ideas from cultures they had hitherto known little 
  about. Eventually the Young Kingdoms will blend 
  together to form an amazing new whole. Whether this 
  greater vision is fulfilled, the individual books will be 
  excellent travelers’ companions. 
  65 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  GRODONION M’GLAW, 
  CAPTAIN OF THE WANDERING WISDOM 
  Chaos 87, Balance 05, Law 03 
  STRl2 
  CON14 
  SI210 
  INT18 
  POW16 
  DEX15 
  APP11 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapon: Varnished head spike 54%, damage 1 D4 
  Armor: Leather (1 D6-1). 
  Spells: Make Fast (1). Make Whole (3), Summon Elemental (1). 
  Wings of Lassa (4), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3), Witch Sight (3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 90%, Dodge 63%. High Speech 17%, 
  Melnibonban 65%, Navigate 94%. Sailing 86%, Scribe 75%, Un- 
  known Kingdoms 7%, Young Kingdoms 82%. 
  THE LEAGUE-MASTERS DEAL 
  ‘C LAK TAKES TH E adventurers below deck. He 
  bustles with self-importance. Since he must tilt his 
  M 
  scalp-spike to accommodate the low ceilings, 
  adventurers who precede him stand a minor chance of being 
  impaled. He knocks politely at a mahogany door, and a 
  woman’s voice bids him to enter. He ushers the adventurers 
  within. 
  Inside is a spacious cabin cramped with books, scrolls, files 
  and volumes of all kinds. Bookshelves cram and cover every 
  inch of wall space. The assembled learning is recorded on cork 
  board, vellum, plain parchment, and heavy clay block. The 
  documents line the walls in great stacks, and teeter in piles on 
  the tops of the shelves. 
  In the center of the mom is a wide table, littered with books 
  and paper. Small demonic writing implements scamper about 
  - 
  \
  b
   . 
  - 
  - 
  - 
  a=+sNw 
  93 
  THE LEAGUE-MASTERS CABIN 
  the table surface, rubbing unmentionable portions of their 
  bodies upon various blank sheets and peering with satisfaction 
  at the symbols created thereon. 
  Above the table swings a large golden cage. Within it is a 
  monkey, its head distended to reveal a giant pulsing bmin. The 
  monkey squats with glazed eyes as its demon cage chatters 
  into its ear and turns the pages of a large book before it. 
  The league-master herself is a massive woman. Her black 
  robes are covered with arcane symbols. Her face is pouched, 
  but her eyes are bright and energetic. She studies a clay tablet 
  upon which a sylph gently blows, clearing the detritus of ages 
  from its surface. M’Glak announces the adventurers, with full 
  names if he knows them. 
  The league-master smiles broadly and bids the adventurers 
  to sit. To do this they must clear books and scrolls from the 
  chairs. When they are settled, she introduces herself. “I am 
  Shonjun Lecallis, Master of the League of Tumultuous 
  Erudition. We are a Chaos order of knowledge and learning. In 
  the pursuit of this knowledge we are mapping the entire 
  world.” 
  She looks at them, expecting an acknowledgment of this 
  ambitious and wondrous plan. If none come forth, she frowns, 
  since she needs people with imagination, not dullards. 
  Lecallis explains that scribes are sent abroad to the lands of 
  the Young Kingdoms, there to record everything they 
  encounter of the people, places, and custom. The editors of 
  the league compile these accounts into volumes, which are 
  then copied by ranks of scribes, or the Devouring Press, a 
  demon. The books are bound and distributed throughout the 
  Kingdoms. Thus far two volumes have been completed. Some 
  66 
  
  S O J O U R N E R ' S  
  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  countries are proving more difficult than others. Seven scribes 
  have been lost on Pan Tang alone. 
  "Our best scribe is missing on Melnibonk. We want you to 
  locate him or find his records." The scribe's name is Sinbos 
  Hnd'n. Shonjun describes him as thin, with tinted green hair 
  and four earrings in each ear. 
  The loss of the other scribes brings her to a second point. 
  The wear and tear on the scribes in mapping some of the 
  wilder places of the Young Kingdoms is proving to be a 
  debilitating to the league. The alternative is to send demons to 
  record the data. The league believes it has located a breed 
  appropriate to the task. One of them is to be summoned and 
  bound in servitude to the adventurers. The demon can record 
  information about Melnibonk along the journey. The 
  adventurers are to escort the demon and monitor its efficiency. 
  This way, should tragedy happen and the scribe dies and his 
  records lost, we shall have the demon's as replacement" 
  Adventurers are handed an outline map of the isle of 
  Mehibond, with the route of the scribe marked upon it. This is 
  reproduced at the front of this scenario, and the gamemaster 
  should hand the players a copy at this point. The adventurers 
  are expected to fill in all details of their exploration, in case the 
  demon does not perform properly. 
  THE SOJOURNER'S GUIDES 
  TO THE YOUNG KINGDOMS 
  H E  SOJOURNER'S G U I D E S  are 
  the 
  T 
  masterworks of the League of Tumultuous 
  Erudition. To date, two volumes have been published. 
  The books are about 8" by 12" and bound in leather, 
  and are thick enough to take up half of a saddlebag. 
  There are copies of both in the library on the Wandering 
  Wisdom. The gamemaster may elect which lands have 
  been covered, as suits the campaign, but if that does 
  not matter then the subjects are Pan Tang and Isle of 
  Purple Towns, respectively. Each book contains the 
  following: 
  +Maps: accurate and well drawn, if somewhat 
  fanciful. 
  +Geography: notes on the land, townships, climate, 
  and the surrounding seas. 
  + People: the inhabitants, their language, culture, arts, 
  and ways. 
  + History: the rise of the kingdoms, their great leaders, 
  and their legends. 
  Information gleaned from the books has a 30% chance 
  of being inaccurate or out-of-date. Adventurers may 
  consult the volumes as they travel, but there is a 
  danger of being misled by a misdirected scribe. 
  Reading a Sojourner's Guide in its entirety adds 5 
  percentiles to the adventurer's Young Kingdoms skill. A 
  hand-scribed copy of either volume can be purchased 
  for 500 bronzes. The League needs about six months 
  for a copyist to reproduce a book. 
  These books resemble the average Elric 
  sourcebook. Future publications may be 
  considered addtionalfruits of the League S labors. 
  The league-master offers payment of 5000 bronzes to every 
  adventurer who returns, or else arcane knowledge of 
  comparable worth. 
  SHONJUN LECALLIS, MASTER OF 
  THE LEAGUE OF TUMULTUOUS ERUDITION 
  Chaos 104, Balance 71, Law 84 
  STR11 
  CON14 
  SI217 
  INT23 
  POW19 
  DEXlO 
  APPl2 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapon: Dagger 46%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: none. 
  Magic: Bounty of Straasha (4), Demon's Ear (1). Moonrise ((l), 
  Refutation (la), 
  Soul of Chardros (1-3), Summon Elemental (l), 
  Summon Demon (l), Wings of Lassa (4), Wisdom of Slortar (1- 
  3). Witch Sight (3). 
  Skills: Bargain 82%, Common Tongue 115%, Evaluate 89%. 
  High Speech 19%, Insight 67%, Mabden 27%. Mehibonean 
  85%, Mong 51 %, Natural World 102%, Opish 40%, Potions 91 %, 
  Scholarly Debate 78%, Scribe 165%, Unknown Kingdoms 19%, 
  Young Kingdoms 124% 
  HP16 
  MP19 
  TO THE 
  RACON ISLE 
  0 
  NCE THE BARGAIN is struck the 
  Wandering Wmdom turns in the direction of 
  Melnibont. Below are descriptions of the ship 
  and the daily routines. Gamemasters may 
  extrapolate incidents and adventures from these as the voyage 
  continues, or simply presume the voyage to be an uneventful 
  one. In any case, the Wandering Wadom is a vessel worth 
  exploring. 
  THE WANDERING WISDOM 
  HE WANDERING WISDOM is a bireme. She is 
  equipped with two banks of oars, as well as sails. She 
  T 
  entirely crewed by scholars and scribes, with some 
  demon and elemental aid. 
  DECK: the deck is uncrowded and polished to a high shine. 
  Close. examination and Search rolls reveal intricate glyphs carved 
  all over the surface of the deck. These are High Speech symbols 
  avidly meditated on by the sailor-scribes who polish and swab the 
  deck. 
  STERN: at the stern of the deck is inscribed the sign of Chaos, 
  for summoning purposes. Adventurers may make use of this, pro- 
  vided they know the True Name or breed of the demon they wish 
  to summon. The scribes consider random summoning too danger- 
  ous and insist instead that the adventurer research for the demon 
  desired in the ship's library. 
  RIGGING: the sails of the ship are covered by writing and can 
  be read like enonnous books. Each sail is a new volume. Many 
  sailor-scribes sit astride the mast spars and fixedly read the sheets 
  as their hands work mechanically at their nautical duties. 
  67 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  BRIDGE: Captam M’Glak is generally found here, consulting his 
  demon navigator Gribblenot, a spheroid thing with a pointed head, 
  much like the captain’s hair-spike. But the demon’s head rocks and 
  points in variom directions to aid the Captain’s figuring. 
  CABINS: there are two decks below. On the first is the crew 
  quartem Acabm with six hammocks is available for the adventurers. 
  LIBRARY: between decks a space only a yard high runs the 
  entire length of the ship. Stored in here are massive numbers of 
  scrolls, so chosen for their better storage capacity. This is the 
  ship’s library. Kajahagag, a tiny demon with great spindly hands 
  and a long nose, is the ship’s librarian. It scoots between the decks 
  to locate particular scrolls and brings them to readers. 
  Adventurers may check out only one scroll at a time and 
  must return it before they leave the ship. A successful 
  Common Tongue roll is necessary to comprehend the scroll. 
  Thorough study of one of these scrolls takes 3+ 1D3 days. At 
  the gamemaster’s discretion, the scroll may be useful, 
  misleading, or simply amusing. For those who cannot read, 
  Kajahagag recommends among an excellent selection of 
  illuminated picture scrolls, though these are mainly about 
  scholar-adventurers performing amazing feats. 
  LEAGUE-MASTER’S CABIN: the league-master is never 
  out of her cabin, but toils at her arcane studies the entire time. The 
  cabin is described earlier, in ‘The League-Master’s Deal.’ 
  CAPTAIN’S CABIN: Captain M’Glaksleeps in a large four- 
  poster bed. The canopy is a sheet of writing, changed daily. Also 
  in his room is a sea chest which folds out to become a well- 
  stocked bookcase. These books are about sailing and navigation. 
  Studying four of them increases an adventurer’s Sailing and Navi- 
  gate skills by 1D3 percentiles each. 
  CREW QUARTERS: a long cabin swaying with forty ham- 
  mocks. The crew takes turns manning the oars, working in the 
  rigging, or studying. The ship tends to run by sail at night, allow- 
  ing rest for almost everyone. 
  GALLEY: the ship’s main power comes from its banks of oars. 
  These are not manned by slaves, but by willing crew members. 
  Each oar has been equipped with a frame that holds an upright 
  book A page-turner is attached which flips a page with each 
  backstroke of the oar. The rower-scribes are quick readers, and are 
  keen to stay in stroke to keep those pages tuming, a satisfactory 
  arrangement all around. 
  S H I P S  ROUTINE 
  HE SHIP HASA NUMBERofdailyroutines.The 
  adventurers are welcome to join in. The scribes are 
  T 
  greatly amused if the adventurers can’t quite keep up, 
  and suitably impressed if they can. 
  MORNING 
  CHANT OF KNOWLEDGE: a convoluted oration 
  delivered in Melnibonh by the Captain and echoed by the 
  crew. Those with successful Melnibonhn rolls, or merely a 
  critical Idea roll (they don’t know what the syllables mean, but 
  they can repeat them) are considered to have repeated the 
  words satisfactorily. Each morning the chant is different. 
  CHAOS EXERCISES: at mid-morning the scribes perform 
  strange slow movements that represent the eight points of Chaos. 
  These require a successful Dexterity roll to perform correctly. 
  MIDDAY 
  NAVIGATION: the Captain takes his position at the helm 
  and consults Gribblenot, his navigation demon. This is a good 
  time for adventurers of a nautical bent to question him about 
  his methods and perhaps pick up a few pointers. 
  If a prospective student is particularly persuasive, the 
  Captain will teach either Sailing or Navigate. Presume that the 
  Captain’s skillful instruction (and the Wandering Wrabm S 
  circuitous course) allows him to teach one or the other skill by 
  the time the ship reaches MelnibonC. If a roll of INlk4 or less 
  succeeds, the student adds ID 10 percentiles in one or the other 
  skill. Captain M’Glak accepts no fee for his service. 
  AFTERNOON 
  SA1 L READ1 NGS: scribes aloft in the rigging give readings 
  from the text upon the sails. These usually concern obscure 
  points of Chaos theology but are sometimes more general (and 
  more entertaining) matter, such as legends. 
  DECK READINGS: the sail readers are matched by their on- 
  deck counterparts. The deck glyphs are always in verse. The deck- 
  scribes match the rhythms of their scrubbing with those of the 
  meter. 
  NIGHT 
  STAR SICHTINCS: scribes man the rigging to make 
  detailed records of the starry skies under which the ship sails, 
  as well as the position of each heavenly body to their current 
  location. This is cancelled on nights of poor visibility. 
  P H OS P H 0 ROU S WATCH : overnight, a couple of crew 
  members stay on deck to spot phosphorescent or otherwise 
  illuminated ocean life. Knowledge of deep-sea Chaos things is 
  scanty and highly-prized. Adventurers may volunteer for such 
  duty. A successful CON x5 roll is required to remain awake and 
  a successful Search roll is needed to spot anything. There is 
  one chance per night of a sighting, which then should be 
  described by the player and logged by his adventurer. The fiit 
  successful Search roll merits an experience check. 
  SHIPS CREW 
  Forty crew members serve on board the Wandering Wrdom, 
  twenty-three men and seventeen women. All are devoted to 
  the tenets of the League. Each is fortunate to be aboard such a 
  remarkable craft. All are generally friendly and cooperative. 
  They believe that politeness garners much valuable 
  information from local sources, and are trained to be tolerant 
  and ingratiating. 
  They are naturally and incurably curious. They freely give 
  information, but they are greedy for recompense in the same 
  vein. They question adventurers for every scrap of knowledge, 
  always hoping to gain that extra bit of learning that puts them 
  ahead of their rivals, the Order of the Brass Quill. 
  ORDINARY SA1 LOR-SCRIBE 
  Sailor-scribes wear motley and colorful clothing, with a doth 
  badge to denote their membership in the order. They are more in- 
  terested in intellectual pursuits than their own appearance, and 
  often are somewhat rumpled and smelly, with their fingers stained 
  black with ink. 
  Chaos 71, Balance 45, Law 35 
  STR11 
  CON14 
  SIZ10 
  INT16 
  POW15 
  DEX16 
  APP13 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: Scimitar 47%, damage 1 D6+1 +db 
  Armor: 1 D6-1, Sea Leather 
  68 
  
  S O J O U R N E R ‘ S  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  Spells: Breath of Life (l), 
  Heal (2), Wisdom of Slortar (1 -3), 
  Witch Sight (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Sing) 36%, Climb 84%, Common Tongue 80%, Craft 
  (Sailmaking) 37%, Craft (Carpentry) 44%, Melnibondan 40%, 
  Navigate 25%, Repair/Devise 64%. Sailing 50%, Scribe 68%, Un- 
  known Kingdoms 3%. Young Kingdoms 51 %. 
  THE DEMON SCRIBE 
  NCE WITHIN SIGHT of Melnibonk the demon 
  scribe is summoned. The league-master herself 
  0 
  performs the summoning, at the summoning sigil on 
  the ship’s deck It takes twelve hours. As a useful sacrifice to 
  this sort of demon, she bums a hundred rare maps and 
  treatises, an act causing the sailor-scribes to openly weep. 
  A chattering sound comes from the pile of smoldering 
  parchments, and a small infemal figure waddles out, stuffig 
  random pieces of flaming paper into its mouth. It is ugly and 
  humanoid, but with writhing appendages in place of hands. Its 
  gelid limbs are dexterous enough to grip pens and small 
  valuable objects. It greets Lecallis in a harsh and grating voice. 
  Only Lecallis knows its True Name, but it answers to 
  Nokdoxtor. 
  The demon has an infallible memory and is in all ways an 
  excellent scribe, save one thing. Unknown to the league, 
  Nokdoxtor’s personality is abrasive and opinionated. At any 
  given time and in any situation it is guaranteed to say the most 
  insulting, inflammatory things to anyone it meets. It amuses 
  itself by abusing people and starting fights. The demon keeps 
  this side of itself hidden until it is deposited on the island of 
  Melnibonk with the adventurers. 
  NOWDOXTOR, OBNOXIOUS DEMON SCRIBE 
  STR4 
  CON18 
  SIZ6 
  INT21 
  POW15 
  DEX16 
  MOV8 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Abilities: Carapace, 1 D2 snaky skin. 
  Distend, at 40%. 
  Knowledge, at 63%, concerning Melnibon6an geography. 
  See, 
  at 40%. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 42%, Conceal Object 30%, Dodge 32%, 
  Own Plane 15%, Melnibonean 20%. 
  Need: make caustic comments. 
  Breed: demon scribe. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 32. 
  THE DRAGON SHORES 
  T LAST THE COAST of Melnibonk is sighted. 
  Captain M’Glak weighs anchor, with the intent of 
  A 
  approaching under cover of darkness. The ship floats 
  idly as the scholars discuss the number of hours until 
  sundown, and whether the prevailing currents are westerly or 
  southerly. Hours pass. 
  As the sun sets, the Wandering Wisdom approaches 
  Melnibonk from the northeast. The league-master has 
  instructed that the sailor-scribes will investigate two of the 
  smaller islands while the adventurers are on the mainland. She 
  avoids Amashii, the northwestern isle in the Dragon Sea, as 
  she believes the tales of abundant sea serpents there. Even her 
  curiosity has limits. 
  As the ship draws near the coast of Wa’aiya’oro those 
  scribes not involved with rowing or rigging cluster at the rail. 
  “I’VE NEVER S E E N  SO MANY 
  GREAT POISONOUS PLANTS! TRY ONE.’ 
  Competition for good viewing spots is intense. The island is 
  completely forested, tangles of dense vegetation everywhere. 
  A Listen roll detects the calls of distant animals, but the 
  distance is too great and the night too dark to identify them. 
  Two scribes set off in a small boat crammed with nets and 
  bottles. They are nervous but resolute. 
  The ship swings around the isle and closer to the shore of the 
  mainland, and thus passes the southernmost isle, Kiashu. In 
  the moonlight, Kiashu reveals splendid white beaches and a 
  confusion of mountains and forests beyond, with the high 
  snow peaks of its inner mountains towering improbably over 
  all. Two scribes are also put ashore here. 
  Finally the Wandering Wisdom cuts her way across to the 
  mainland, avoiding the reefs by running as close to the coast of 
  Kiashu as M’Glak dares. 
  ECALLIS ORDERS THE lowering of a boat and 
  comes and clasps the hands of the adventurers 
  warmly. “Bring back knowledge, my friends. 
  L 
  Knowledge blooms like the brightest flower, but it 
  will never fade under the careful ministrations of the League 
  of Tumultuous Erudition!” 
  69 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  The ship is to return to the coast at midnight ten days hence. 
  It will come Once more to this same place one week after that. 
  If the adventurers have failed to return, in a month’s time the 
  Wandering Wisdom is due to present itself in Imnyr as part of 
  a trading group. If the adventurers can make their way to 
  Dreaming City, the league officials will be briefed and on the 
  lookout for them. 
  The boat is readied. The demon, Nokdoxtor, is sat in the 
  stem of the craft. It reniains silent. Once the adventurers are 
  secured in the boat, scribes row them to the shores of the 
  Dragon Isle, and quickly return to the ship. 
  The adventurers are deposited near the site of the ancient 
  city of A’sha’hiian. The bulk of the ruins can be seen in the 
  journey to the coast. They may, if they wish, detour there and 
  examine them, otherwise they may choose any direction. 
  TOURING MELNIBONE 
  LLOW THE ADVENTURERS a free hand in 
  defining their route around Melnibonk. The missing 
  A 
  scribe is located at the far end of the isle, so it really 
  does not matter which way the party decides to go. The areas 
  and encounters described below follow no sequence. For 
  convenience, they are presented in roughly counter-clockwise 
  order: A’sha’hiian, the Wild Coast, the Golden Hills, the 
  Meadows of Lassitude, the Isolated Fells, the Intangible 
  Forest, the Encircling Hills, and the Shores of the Boiling Sea, 
  respectively. 
  One encounter is presented for each area. There is a brief 
  physical description of the locale, which can be supplemented 
  by the more detailed discussion in the Melnibone‘ chapter. 
  Since the map they have been given shows no interior detail, 
  the adventurers may wish to know what to call the various 
  sections of the country through which they are traveling. 
  Passing slaves are a good source of such knowledge. Some 
  are astonished to see free humans in the interior of Melnibonk, 
  since that is forbidden, but most have no howledge of that 
  law. So few Melnibonkans travel the interior that the 
  prohibition is somewhat hypothetical. 
  Each encounter also includes sections on what information 
  might be learned about the missing scribe in each locale, and 
  what Nokdoxtor’s opinion is of the area. 
  These encounters should not be the only excitement 
  adventurers have upon this strangest of lands. Use the 
  ‘Encounters on Melnibonk’ in this book to create further 
  episodes. The Melnibom‘ Digest lists many peoples that they 
  might conceivably meet. The Melnibone’chapter gives further 
  information about the geography of the isle, and places of 
  note. The adventurers have a rare chance to explore the 
  mainland of Melnibonk, and should be free to savor the 
  experience. 
  No encounters are given for Imrryr, although all of the other 
  scenarios in this book begin there. If the adventurers wish to 
  dally in the Dreaming City, there is ample material to keep 
  them amused and in peril for their entire stay. 
  A’SHA’HIIAN 
  HE MARBLE RUINS OF THE First City liequiet 
  and calm in the morning sun. This is an excellent place 
  T 
  for the adventurers to pitch their first camp while they 
  plan their exploration of the isle. 
  INFORMATION: a successful Track roll fiids fresh human 
  boot prints in the ruined streets. In an empty villa, a successful 
  Search roll discovers a campsite of ashes, a broken specimen jar, 
  and a few crumpled attempts to map A’sha’hiian, signed by Sin- 
  bos H’nd’n. The camp is over a month old. 
  THE DEMON’S THOUGHTS: 
  On A’sha’hiian: “So this is the cradle of their civilization, 
  eh? Should have been drowned at birth.” 
  On the missing scribe: “I figure anyone who vanishes on 
  Melnibonk is only half as stupid as the person who volunteers 
  to go looking for him.” 
  THE WILD COAST 
  ROCKY, RUGGED COASTLINE fends off the 
  pounding waves of the Dragon Sea. The encounter 
  A 
  described below presumes at some stage the 
  adventurers stray near the cliffs. 
  THE BATTERED SHIP 
  As adventurers traverse the coastline, a successful Search 
  brings their attention to a wreck of a ship on the rocks below. 
  It is a low sloop. There is no sign of any crew. 
  The cliff above the rocks is steep and jagged, and a Climb 
  roll is needed to descend safely. If the adventurers reach the 
  wreck they find a mean ship with little in the way of 
  equipment, already looted. The ship’s name is Laughing Vile 
  Death. 
  A Search roll reveals a tattered, seawater-soaked ship’s log. 
  The log records a heavy storm and the ship’s mast breaking, 
  killing the Captain as it fell. A last desperate entry reveals a 
  dash for the beach, and shelter. There are three moldering dead 
  men in the wreck, two Jharkorians and a Tarkeshite. 
  Earlier entries seem to suggest that the craft engaged in 
  piracy, but (since only shipowners and harbormasters reliably 
  inspect the logbook) the descriptions are circumspect. 
  7 0  
  
  S O J O U R N E R ‘ S  
  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  THE SURVIVORS 
  Upon this inhospitable shore the wreck’s survivors eke out an 
  unpleasant existence. They are pirates. a motley bunch out of 
  Jharkor. They made an abortive attempt on the Wild Coast, 
  hoping to find strange plants, substances, and buried riches. 
  Only ten now survive. 
  They have been living in caves and stewing driftwood, sea 
  shells, and shoes for food. The ship’s meager stores ran out three 
  days ago. They are crazed with hunger, desperation and fear. 
  Their new captain is the qummmkr, Lop0 Bedinbin. Lop0 is a 
  one-med man with a squint, who is fast approaching the ragged 
  edge of sanity. When he speaks he finishes every sentence with a 
  rhetorical question, and has been given to screaming “Bleed the 
  donkey!” in his sleep. Despite this, he is the most stable member 
  of the crew. Lop0 fears the crew will soon kill him and eat him if 
  he cannot lead them to safety. 
  The pirates are on the lookout for any travelers in the area, 
  and consider the adventurers blessings from the gods. They 
  beg the adventurers for help. Failing that, they may try capture 
  the adventurers, although their physical condition is weak. 
  These pirates have several options. 
  >REPAIRING THE SHIP: if the adventurers have any 
  aptitude as carpenters and shipwrights, the pirates are keen 
  to have their craft rebuilt and to get off this island. They may 
  split up their group and set some of the adventurers to work 
  while the rest of the group explore inland. 
  >EXPLORING THE ISLAND: the pirates know little about 
  Melnibone save that it is dangerous. They take the 
  adventurers on a trip inland for supplies and perhaps to 
  recoup their fortunes. The adventurers, so far as the pirates 
  are concerned, are handy, dispensable crew. Should the party 
  exhibit knowledge of the area, or of plants or wildlife, the 
  pirates’ esteem them. 
  >SELLING THE ADVENTURERS AS SLAVES: the pirates 
  may decide they can turn a healthy profit by trading the 
  adventurers to the Melniboneans. They try this if the party 
  looks useful, but not in a way that helps the pirates. 
  >HEEL-HAUL THE QUARTERMASTER: the pirates will 
  mutiny and kill Lop0 if an adventurer looks like a better leader. 
  They swear allegiance to their new captain, offering Lopo’s 
  blood as the ink with which to sign the deal. 
  The pirate crew make a dangerous nuisance, and may be hard to 
  shake off. Their greed is a continual hazard if they join the adven- 
  turers, as most have eyes only for profit. Nokdoxtor delights in 
  stirring up trouble between them and the adventurers. 
  INFORMATION: the pirates have not seen the scribe, nor 
  anyone else since their shipwreck. They lie about him in an effort 
  to trick the adventurers, but Fast Talk or simple cross-examination 
  soon exposes their ignorance. 
  THE D EMONS THOUGHTS: to the pirates: “Obviously 
  the storm that laid you jokers low had all the strength of a gentle 
  breeze. With your sort of seamanship you should be highwaymen. 
  Anybody got a small bronze coin so that I can hire this bunch as 
  retainers for a year?” 
  On the coast: “I’ve seen friendlier places in the Nine Hells.” 
  THE GOLDEN HILLS 
  HE GOLDEN HILL5 AREmadeupofsoftlyrolling 
  hills and verdant trees and shrubs. Forests abound, 
  T 
  within which a not of plant and animal life thrives. 
  THE BOTANISTAND THE BOLE 
  Deep in one of the thickest forests, a Melnibonhn noble, 
  Prince Merriva’an, is hunting. Five docile slaves accompany 
  him. He seeks a tree called Kri’isin ’nii. The bole of this tree is 
  said to give forth one single flower, from which may be 
  extracted a drug that sways the mind utterly of whoever takes 
  it. He wishes to administer this to his lover, Lady Jelen 
  Haslo’on, whom he insists is being wooed away by his rival, a 
  captain of one of the battle-barges, Kyuin D’oy. 
  The Prince does not consider this unfair, since he knows that his 
  the energies of living creatures about it. Merriva’an will not tell 
  the adventurers this. Once he encounters them, rather than waste 
  his slaves he plans that the adventmrs will be the sacrifices who 
  distract the tree while he gains the precious bud. 
  If the adventurers survive, the Prince reports them as human 
  spies, and a troop of guards are dispatched to capture or kill 
  them. Humans are, after all, forbidden beyond the harbor. 
  He is charming and helpful, and offers the adventurers his 
  story, leaving out the part about the danger of the tree, and 
  exaggerating the number of flowers to a dozen. He paints 
  Kyuin as an uncaring ape who has the lady in his thrall. In this 
  way he hopes to lure the adventurers to assist him. 
  Natural World rolls enable the adventurers to find 
  Kri’isin’nii. The tree slumbers in a vale that is dead of all life 
  save its hideous pulsating self. It is a broad and leafy 
  evergreen, tinged with gold and russet. One small yellow 
  flower grows at the base of the tree. 
  The tree is ravenously hungry for life force, and drains 
  outright any life within five yards of it. Its deep questing roots 
  suck nourishment from the earth, and it has leeched all life 
  from the soil in the valley, killing all of the other plants. It 
  thrives in an expanse of sterility and silence. 
  The tree is capable of moving its branches to snare victims, but 
  it prefers not to unless it they are likely to escape. Adventurers 
  who wish to pluck the flower must succeed in both Dexterity and 
  Dodge rolls to snatch the bloom and run. If the flower is picked, 
  Kri’isin’nii rapidly wilts and dies. The bark peels, the leaves rot, 
  and foul-smelling sap dribbles from the bole. 
  If Meniva’an gains the flower, he returns to Imrryr. He brews 
  the petals into a potion and gives it to Jelen to drink She falls 
  irrevocably in love with him, but to a degree both obsessive and 
  destructive. She will not leave his side, not even to sleep or eat, 
  and suicides if she is ever separated from him for even a few 
  moments. She is dead within the week He writes a tragic opera 
  about their love, and is the toast of the Dreaming City. 
  PRINCE MERRIVA’AN, TRAGIC LOVER 
  Merriva’an is slender and pale, and obviously more accustomed 
  to luxury than to hiking cross-country. His eyes are soft and dark. 
  He is dressed in fashionable traveling clothing, most of which is 
  impractical. His new boots hurt his feet, his sweeping silken 
  green cloak is forever snagging on brambles, and his padded re- 
  versible tunic is too warm by far. 
  Chaos 240, Balance 38, Law 80 
  STR11 
  CON10 
  SI218 
  INT17 
  POW18 
  DEX12 
  APP16 
  HP 14 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Carved Narwhal Tusk Walking Stick 25%. damage 
  1 D6+1 D4 
  Bone Bow 63%. damage 1 D8+2+1 D2 
  Armor: 1 -point quilted clothing. 
  rival is also using sorc4xy. The danger is that Kri’isin’nii devours 
  -continued next page 
  71 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  PRINCE MERRIVA’AN, CONTINUED 
  Spells: Heal (2), Visage of Arioch (1-3), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Compose Tragic Opera) 132%, Art (Courtly Manners) 
  97%, Art (Unfolding Paper Sculpture) 89%, Bargain 44%. High 
  Speech 7%, Mehibondan 111 %, Natural World 26%, Oratory 
  84%, Potions 32%, Scribe 75%, Witch Sight 55%. 
  ICRI’ISINNII, THE HUNGRY TREE 
  STR16 
  CON20 
  SI250 
  INT20 
  POW18 
  DEX3 
  MOVO 
  HP 35 
  Damage Bonus: +3M. 
  Armor: &point bark. 
  Weapons: Grasp 55%, holds victim unless STR:STR roll sue 
  ce0dS. 
  Ability: Drain, at 100%. in a five yard radius. 
  It costs the vicbm 106 magic points unless a roll of P0W.POW 
  resistance table succeeds. The victim feels a nagging headache 
  and listlessness, but nothing that indicates the tree is the source. 
  If Kri’isin’nii’s attack fails, the target senses hostility from the tree, 
  and a feeling of being probed and explored that is both intangible 
  and disturbing. Victims with zero magic points fall unconscious, 
  after which the tree drains them of 1 D3 points of POW per round 
  until they are lifeless. 
  Skills: Sense Lle 100%. 
  INFORMATION: Merriva’an has seen a green-haired slave 
  attached to a party of nobles, picnicking in the area just south east 
  of the Isolated Fells. They may yet be there. He exchanges this 
  information for the adventurers’ help. 
  THE DEMONS THOUGHTS: On Merriva’an: “If this 
  is a higher race, give me the stupid people every time. Present 
  company excepted.” 
  On the area: “I have a friend, lives not many planes away. 
  Kills plants at a touch. You want I should call him?” If the poor 
  adventurers decide to call such a creature with the name 
  Nokdoxtor gives them, they get another of his breed. The two 
  demons comment endlessly on everything and fight between 
  themselves. 
  THE MEADOWS OF LASSITUDE 
  ERE ARETHE BEAUTIFULmeadowswiththeir 
  plethora of strange unearthly plants yielding all 
  H 
  manner of drugs. 
  THE GARDEN OF NO RETURN 
  Within the meadows is a quiet vale thick with flowers, 
  known as The Garden of No Return. The garden is a maze of 
  high hedges shot through with strange flowers of all kinds. In 
  the heart of the maze blooms a garden of wondrous plants. 
  The maze has a hidden magical pattern which, once walked. 
  traps the stroller forever. Within, aimless people meander 
  about, slaves and Melnibonh alike, their minds gone as 
  they continue to wander within the strange garden. They eat 
  fruit and seem content enough, but they can never leave. 
  The scent of the flowers is soporific. After a while in the 
  maze, those trapped have no desire to leave. The potency of 
  thii effect begins at one, or as the gamemaster sees fit, and 
  increases by one point for each succeeding hour. Match this 
  against the CON of the adventurer as a Resistance Table roll. 
  Overcome, he or she is lost until rescued by a stronger-willed 
  person Again the gamemaster decides if a Resistance Table 
  roll is necessary. 
  Grant one adventurer a Luck roll each hour. If he or she 
  succeeds, the adventurer witnesses an escape. The person 
  weaves drunkenly, staying on the Same spot. A successful Idea 
  roll allows the adventurer to perceive that these deliberate 
  steps are not a dance but a performance of the same pattern of 
  twists and turns that they made in traversing the maze, just 
  reversed and performed in one location. A Dexterity roll 
  allows him or her to copy it accurately. 
  This is the only way out, to walk the pattern of the maze 
  backwards in one place. Then the adventurer realizes that he or 
  can see the Meadows of Lassitude beyond the flowers, and can 
  push past the plants to freedom. Any reasonable plan to rescue 
  the other adventurers deserves to succeed. 
  THE LOST 
  Take denizens of the maze from the ‘Melnibon6an Digest’ if 
  you need. They are all relaxed and pleasant, but bewildered, as 
  they know they have forgotten something important. 
  INFORMATION: the scribe was here and got out. A Search 
  roll discovers a page of his notebook, with a description of the 
  garden. He has signed the bottom of the page, as is his habit. The 
  page is found face downwards. On the back, facing up, is the plan 
  of the garden the scribe has sketched. There are smudges of foot- 
  prints on the paper. 
  THE D EMON‘S THOUGHTS: on the Garden: “I hate 
  flowers. They make me sneeze. Aaaachoo! It’s okay, that stuff 
  doesn’t stick to skin, really.” 
  On the Meadows: “Now I know what’s wrong with these 
  people. They live in a place like this.” 
  THE ISOLATED FELLS 
  ILLS OF BRACKEN AND heathersweep across 
  this part of the island. It is chill here, and of a 
  H 
  desolation almost poetical. 
  THE SLAVE MURAL 
  A group of human slaves are journeying through the Fells, 
  returning from the Lake of Moon and laden with silver. The 
  leader of the slaves is Rexis, a thirteen year old boy. He is 
  surprised to meet strangers abroad. “My mistress, Lady 
  Mabov, has gathered every walking person in these parts, to 
  serve in her mural.” 
  Lady Mabov’s encampment is but two hours’ walk. The 
  splendor of the Melnibonkans’ camp is overwhelmed by the 
  enormity of the work of art before them. Almost a quarter of a 
  mile long there stands a twenty foot high wall. Upon this wall 
  is painted scenes of battle in vivid colors. In the blink of an 
  eye, these colors and figures move to become a family portrait, 
  or a field of flowers. 
  This staggering achievement is in fact a wall of men and 
  women, all naked and each painted a different solid and vivid 
  color. The missing scribe, H’nd’n, is among them, drugged 
  into a blissful sleep and painted orange. He is easily identified 
  by his four eamngs. A Search roll notices him. 
  A party of Mehibonkan nobles watches as a beautiful and 
  stately woman gives directions to other slaves who in turn 
  shout commands along the wall. At her behest, the picture is 
  changing and changing. She is entranced with her work, her 
  eyes shining fixedly. 
  72 
  
  S O J O U R N E R ‘ S  
  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  TERMINAL ENNUI 
  The rest of the MelnibonCans look, and indeed are, 
  stupefyingly bored. Their leader is the Lady’s brother, Myrms, 
  who has the adventurers seized as they approach his group or 
  the wall. He has over a hundred slaves at his command, many 
  well-armed, and brooks no arguments. 
  a bored eyebrow upon regarding the adventurers. 
  It would seem that these impertinent humans appear to be 
  roaming the s a d  land of the Dragon Isle without permission, 
  and should thus be executed. However, he is too lethargic to think 
  up a torture witty enough for the purpose. 
  If the adventurers ask about the missing scribe, Myrrus 
  allows them to look for him on the wall. Once he has heard the 
  adventuren’ story, he asks, in bored tones, “Now give me one 
  reason why you should not join him. And a further reason why 
  you should not be executed for your trespass here. Better yet, 
  amuse me. For if you bring some relief to my friends and 
  myself, who are suffering the agony of unrelieved tedium, 
  then I shall not only let you free, but convince my sister to 
  replace your friend with another body, and you may take him 
  along as well.” 
  How the adventurers amuse the bored Melnibonh is up to 
  the players. The Melnibonkans have seen and done 
  everything. If the adventurers manage to amuse Myms and 
  his entourage, he is as good as his word. If not, they must do 
  some quick thinking or some formidable fighting to escape. 
  Myrms 
  “AMUSE US.’ 
  In judging whether the players come up with something 
  sufficiently diverting, there is one easy test: is the gamemaster 
  amused, or surprised? This is a perfect gauge of the depths of 
  their ingenuity. If they can make the gamemaster laugh with 
  pleasure, or perform some entirely unexpected or ingenious 
  spectacle, they should be allowed to go free. Appropriate skill 
  rolls may assist. In this situation, a fumble is of as much 
  interest as a critical. 
  INFORMATION: the scribe is here, as described above. Part 
  of the adventured task is complete. Unfortunately, he has lost all 
  of his notes. 
  THE DEMON‘S THOUGHTS: on the Melniboneans: 
  “What a boring bunch. You reckon it’s the drug use or the con- 
  genital stupidity that makes them like this? I’ve seen more life in 
  a bone-yard.” 
  ON THE FELLS: “The Dragon Isle? Looks more like the 
  Bracken Isle to me.” 
  TO H’ND”: “I’m your replacement. You’re fired. Nothing 
  personal. You were doing a great job there as wallpaper, it 
  suited your intellectual capacity.” 
  THE MISSING SCHOLAR 
  Hnd‘n is pleasantly stoned, and objects mildly to accompanying 
  the adventurers. In a day or so he straightens out, and thanks them 
  for rescuing him. He is open, friendly and keenly perceptive. He 
  is eager to compare experiences on MelnibonC. He has 
  73 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  SNIZZBINGS 
  NlZZBlNGS ARE SMALL pulsating worms with teeth 
  s 
  and six appendages which may be legs. Unlike most 
  demons, they cannot be negotiated with; if summoned, and 
  that is attempted, they may freely choose to remain with their 
  summoner, in the hope that he will provide a good meal, either 
  in his own person or from those he may lead them to. They 
  have no personalities, but do emit an annoying whines when 
  hungry. 
  A snizzbing reproduces after consuming hit points of blood 
  equal to its SIZ. The demon hides in a crevice or in folded 
  clothing, then splits messily into two smaller snizzbings, which 
  attempt to remain concealed for eight days while maturing, 
  and then seek to feed. Allow division whenever a sniubing 
  attack equals 4 on the Bite damage roll. 
  Sniubings ordinarily attack as one, once per day, but here 
  the gamemaster should first stage annoyance attacks in order 
  to first give D’Bravad’s behavior some scope. 
  Allow the adventurers to make sweep attacks against these 
  creatures, slaying one for every four points of damage 
  inflicted. For example, a broadsword hit for 10 points of 
  damage slays two of them. 
  SAMPLE SNIZZBING, 
  A DEMON WORM THAT GNAWS 
  STR3 
  CON4 
  SI24 
  INT3 
  POW 12 
  DEX 15 
  MOV slither 9 
  HP 4 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Ability: Bite, at 20%. damage 1 D4. 
  Need: drink fresh blood at least once a week. 
  Breed: snizzbing. 
  formulated a complex theory that the isle is a living metaphor 
  for the ailing emperor Sadric, which only he can understand. 
  SlNBOS H’ND’N 
  Chaos 64, Balance 51, Law 55 
  STR12 
  CON15 
  SIZ10 
  INT17 
  POW12 
  DEX9 
  APP14 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Heal (2), Liken Shape (4), Wisdom of Slortar (1-3), Witch 
  Sight (3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 85%, High Speech 9%, Melnibon6an 
  73%, Natural World 63%, Navigate 52%, Oratory 81 %, Physik 
  51%. Sailing 50%, Scribe 120%, Search 55%. Unknown King- 
  doms 4%, Young Kingdoms 73%. 
  THE INTANGIBLE FOREST 
  H E MI ST-SH ROU DE D DEPTHS of the Intangible 
  Forest are a spectral wonder, mossy and abounding 
  T 
  with surprising life. 
  THE HAUNTED DEPTHS 
  Deep in the forest is the mad Pan Tangian escaped slave, 
  Trugose D’Bravad. He lives in a make-shift tree house and 
  spends his time making mist-sculptures of demons he 
  wishes to summon but has not the sacrifice to do so. 
  He has had one successful summoning, by bargaining 
  with the sum of his own flesh. However, the summoning 
  went awry, and instead of a demon who could teleport 
  from this place he called up a snizzbing, one of a 
  flesh-eating worm-like breed which spawns after feeding. 
  There are now fifty of them. 
  The creatures feed each day on the wretched Pan 
  Tangian, but never so much as to kill him. He is in 
  constant pain, and desperate to find substitute fodder for 
  the demons. The adventurers will do nicely. 
  In fact, of course, D’Bravad could dismiss the 
  snizzbings at any time, but in his madness he has 
  convinced himself that the dismissing procedure does not 
  work. He will refuse to dismiss them even at the pain of 
  death. If the adventurers kill him, the snizzbings are free 
  to return to their own plane. Maybe some will. 
  D’Bravad was once a solid and oddly handsome 
  sorcerer. Now he is a gaunt and scarred madman, with 
  only the rags of his slave robes for equipment and demons 
  for company. The Snizzbings have consumed his left ear, 
  three fingers on each hand, all his toes except for the 
  middle on the left foot, and sundry other bite-size pieces 
  from his diminishing frame. 
  Snizzbings move faster than a human runner. When 
  commanded they form a kind of carpet for D’Bravad to 
  stand upon and pursue any quarry. “Oh get them, my 
  pets!” he implores his slithering pack. “Feed upon their 
  sweetmeats and leave me be! Then return me to Pan Tang, 
  or kill me, but finish this exile!” 
  Trugose was insane when taken as a slave. Now he is a 
  ranting, drooling maniac. He makes a less philosophical 
  adversary than is usually found on the Dragon Isle. 
  TRUGOSE D’BRAVAD, THE MAD PAN TANGIAN 
  Chaos 130, Balance 15, Law 41 
  STR16 
  CON16 
  SIZ15 
  INT17 
  POW19 
  DEX8 
  APP4 
  HP 16 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Armor: none. 
  Weapons: Brawl 37%, damage 1 D3+1 D4 
  Sharpened Stick 51 %, damage 1 D6+1+1D4 
  Spells: Buzzard Eyes (l), Hell’s Sharp Flame (1-4), Midnight (l), 
  Pox (l), Summon Demon (1). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 95%, Dodge 45%, Mabden 30%, Melni- 
  bonean 22%, Navigate 65%, Oratory 32%, Rant & Rave 135%, 
  Search 55%. 
  INFORMATION: the scribe has not been here. Adventurers 
  may establish his route as being around the westem coast of the 
  island, from his conspicuous absence from any of the areas on this 
  side. 
  THE DEMON’STHOUGHTS: 
  ON TH E PAN TANG IAN: “Cheery company this guy. If 
  demons are eating him they must have stronger stomachs than 
  I’ve got.” 
  ON THE FOREST: “Do you know most of the insect life 
  I’ve seen here is deadly? Take the thing crawling up your leg 
  for instance. . . .” 
  74 
  
  SOJ O U  RN E R ' S  
  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  T H E  ENCIRCLING HILLS 
  H E S E  STEEP HILLS ARE cliffs and old dunes 
  circling the Plain of Imnyr. Sea shells and other aquatic 
  T 
  residue is found here. Natural World rolls conclude that 
  this was an earlier s h m  for the isle. 
  THE STONE FISH 
  Here among the trees and grassy hills are the remains of a 
  stone fish. The fBh is massive, its spine running like a great 
  rock formation over two entire hills. A Young Kingdoms roll 
  reveals this fish to be a gloopuyla, a favorite beast of Straasha. 
  A successful Million Spheres roll, library research, or query to 
  a demon of knowledge reveals its special significance. If one 
  sacrifices one point of POW to Straasha while touching the 
  skeleton, a scale breaks off whole, new, and shining blue. 
  Used as a shield, this scale blocks all attacks by any sea 
  creature, save those of Chaos things. If it is returned to the sea 
  with thanks, Straasha grants one year's bountiful fishing as a 
  reward. 
  Them a r e t h d O f S c a l ~  
  sincethisfishwassoenomous. 
  Adventmrs may take as many as they have POW to spare. 
  INFORMATION: the missing scribe never made it this far. 
  Searching this area convinces the adventurers that he plainly took 
  the Wild Coast route. 
  THE DEMON'S THOUGHTS: of the area it sings, "Oh 
  give me a home, where the fiih are all stone, and the kelp and the 
  seaweed are clay." 
  T H E  SHORES OF 
  T H E  BOILING SEA 
  HESE SHORES OFFER LOW cliffs, with warm 
  water and beaches of white sand. Thm are scattered 
  T 
  patches of mangmve swamp. The beaches of the Boiling 
  Sea are where the adventurers must wait for the ship to return. 
  THE IRON SACES 
  A party from the Order of the Brass Quill is here, traveling 
  across MelnibonC. They are attempting exactly what the 
  League of Tumultuous Erudition have been trying, but for 
  quite different reasons. 
  The party is five strong, and led by Compiler Grut. They ride 
  an enormous metal crab. All wear the uniform of the Brass 
  Quill, a white robe with a brass Arrow of LAW embossed upon 
  the breast, a helm that resembles the nib of a quill and yields 
  no combat protection, and sensible boots. 
  The Lawful sages are not out to harm the adventurers, but 
  are certainly curious about them. Grut is keen to find out what 
  they know, how long they have been traveling, what obstacles 
  they may have encountered, and would very much like to see 
  their map. He becomes antagonistic if the adventurers (or the 
  demon) offer no help, or flaunt their knowledge. In those cases 
  his clear duty to confiscate their records (though not their 
  demon), even though the data is likely to be subtly polluted by 
  the extravagances of Chaos. H'nd'n huddles behind the 
  adventurers, and will not himself resist. 
  The adventurers might convince the Brass Quill researchers 
  to leave them alone, this requiring a lengthy philosophical 
  argument. Grut is glad to debate. Each side should roll Oratory 
  until one side fails. Grut's arguments are next, followed by 
  w 
  75 
  H'nd'n's arguments. If an adventurer has a higher Oratory, he 
  or she should advance the arguments. 
  CRUT'S ARGUMENTS 
  Knowledge is the property of scholars. 
  >Unless properly stored, knowledge becomes distorted and is 
  eventually lost. 
  >The Disordered Scribes are sloppy and unscholarly, with poor 
  regard for footnoting, documenting, correlation, and rigorous 
  analysis. 
  >The thread used to bind the Sojourner's Guides is inferior. 
  H'ND'N'S ARGUMENTS: 
  Knowledge is free to everyone. 
  Knowledge grows and strengthens in the telling, as each new 
  mind adds to its total weight. 
  >The Iron Sages are repressed and retentive, lacking creativity, 
  fresh ideas, genuine insight, or lateral thinking. 
  >The nibs the Iron Sages use are so sharp they score right 
  through the parchment, leaving their books in scraps and 
  nightmarish pieces. 
  NOKDO%TOR'S ARCUMENTS: 
  Knowledge takes brains, and no one here seems to have any. 
  >Knowledge is much better buried in a locked box at the 
  bottom of the ocean than in the hands of idiot sages and 
  illiterate scribes. 
  >Both groups have all the scholarly prowess of a tribe of 
  monkeys beset with diarrhea. 
  >Grut's feet smell, and H'nd'n's haircut makes him look like he 
  has a vine growing out of his head. 
  The scholars argue for a time, with interjections from the demon 
  and the adventurers, as they wish. If an adventurer makes a point 
  or shows reasonable signs of intelligence, Grut honors their vic- 
  tory, and the Iron Sages depart, to continue their own assessment 
  of the Dragon Isle. 
  The adventurers are also free to threaten the use of force in 
  order to seize the records of the Lawful scholars. A better 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  THE ORDER O F  
  THEBRAISQUILL 
  H E  IRON SAGES of the Order of the Brass Quill 
  League of Tumultuous Erudition. They were founded in 
  Vilmir, but have spread throughout those lands which 
  are bastions of Law. They were originally a fanatic sect 
  of the cult of Arkyn, 
  who then broke 
  away and formed 
  T 
  are the rivals of the Disordered Scribes of the 
  theiiown order. 
  The Iron Sages 
  believe that they 
  must 
  record, 
  catalog, and codify 
  everything known 
  in the Young 
  Kingdoms. They 
  disapprove of the 
  h a p h a z a r d  
  fl 
  misinformation 
  dispensed by the League of Tumultuous Erudition. 
  Rather than share learning, the Order of the Brass Quill 
  locks it away, piece by piece, all through the lands of 
  Law. Everything thus known and unshared, nothing can 
  change, and all mystery, speculation, and wonder must 
  end. In this way Law and the One Way can come to 
  every land. 
  Armor: 1 D3-1 (no helm), reinforced cloth 
  Skills: Listen 86%, Scribe (Shorthand) 80%, Young Kingdoms 
  40%. 
  SAGE BENTEN OF THE BRASS QUILL 
  Benten is a fiftyish man with the pursed lips and disapproving 
  face of a genuine pedant and bureaucrat. He loudly corrects any 
  mispronunciations, bad grammar, or erroneous facts. 
  Chaos 60, Balance 07, Law 81 
  STR9 
  CON13 
  SIZ11 
  INT17 
  POW12 
  DEX8 
  APP9 
  HP12 
  MP12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: 1 D3-1 (no helm), reinforced cloth 
  Skills: Insight 3%, Look Disapproving 75%, Scribe 44%, Young 
  Kingdoms 61 %. 
  CARTOCRAPHERSHENNISOF THE BRASS QUILL 
  Shennis is a tall, athletic woman with a stem expression and a 
  good sense of humor. She undertakes all of the dangerous tasks, 
  such as scaling cliffs and climbing trees. She is working on a de- 
  finitive map of Melnibone. 
  Chaos 29, Balance 81, Law 70 
  STRl5 
  CON14 
  SIZ17 
  INT16 
  POW13 
  DEX14 
  APP11 
  HP16 
  MP13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Brass-shod Quarterstaff 76%, damage 1 D8 +1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D3-1 (no helm), reinforced cloth 
  Skills: Climb 88%, Dodge 83%, Jump 63%, Navigate 93%. Sail- 
  ing 79%. Scribe 63%, Swim 75%. 
  solution would be to exchange all data, so that both groups 
  have more than they began with. 
  This encounter demonstrates the enmity between the two 
  groups, and their essential lack of difference. 
  COMPILERCRUTOFTHE BRASS QUILL 
  Grut leads the expedition. He is a big cold-eyed man with an out- 
  thrust jaw, the stout rock around which the other sages revolve. 
  He is utterly involved in his mission, and utterly convinced of the 
  divine need to deliver knowledge into the locked vaults of Law. 
  Chaos 28, Balance 51, Law 89 
  STR15 
  CON17 
  SI218 
  INT18 
  POW14 
  DEX12 
  APP13 
  HP 18 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapons: Brass Club 90%, damage 1 D8 +1 D6 
  Armor: 1 D3-1 (no helm), reinforced cloth 
  Spells: No Iron Sage would ever commit such heresy. 
  Skills: Dodge 37%, Evaluate 70%, Insight 50%, Make Emphatic 
  Pronouncement 90%, Natural World 80%, Navigate 30%. Oratory 
  81%, Physik 45%, Scribe loo%, Search 87%, Unknown King- 
  doms lo%, Young Kingdoms 85%. 
  SAGE HORDAWOF THE BRASS QUILL 
  Hordak is a small woman with the look of a zealot. She continu- 
  ously commits information to a small pad with a frantic shorthand. 
  She is too busy writing to look up or take any action, even when 
  in danger. 
  Chaos 15, Balance 61, Law 90 
  STRl2 
  CON11 
  SIZ8 
  INT14 
  POW 12 
  DEX16 
  APP11 
  HP10 
  MP12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: Sharpened Stylus 30%, damage 1 D3. 
  DOGSBODY SNOOT, LACKEY 
  Snoot is a small repressed clod burdened with equipment that 
  even the crab can’t carry. 
  Chaos 18, Balance 09, Law 57 
  STR11 
  CON9 
  SIZ7 
  INT9 
  POW8 
  DEXlO 
  APP6 
  HP 8 
  MP 8 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: 1 D3-1 (helm on), reinforced cloth. 
  Skills: Fetch and Carry 50%, Move Quietly 13%. Whine 90%. 
  LAWFUL CONVEYANCE #16, GIANT METAL CRAB 
  The sentient mechanical crab is broad enough to carry the sages 
  and most of their gear. If there is a threat, it seeks to scuttle 
  away, bearing them to safety. If there is no retreat, it turns and en- 
  gages. The crab is the sages’ only real hope of survival in a hos- 
  tile country. 
  STR30 
  CON30 
  SIZ30 
  INT15 
  POW15 
  DEX15 
  MOV8 
  HP 30 
  Damage Bonus: +3D6. 
  Weapons: Claw (x2), at 50%, damage 1 D6+3D6. 
  Trample. 80%, damage 6D6 on fallen opponents only. 
  Armor: 10-pt metal shell. 
  Skills: Clack Claws Menacingly 70%, Scuttle Over any but Verti- 
  cal Terrain 90%. 
  THE DEMON3 THOUGHTS: 
  ON TH E COAST: “Muck and marsh. This place is stickier 
  than Pyaray’s eight armpits.” 
  0 N TH E B RAS S QU I L L: “ h k y ,  looky, h k y .  Tin Heads 
  from the Plane Ridiculous. You’re late, guys, we’ve already 
  got this place pegged. We know everything, and we murdered 
  all our sources so you’ll never find out what.” 
  76 
  
  I O J O U R N E R ’ I  G U I D E  
  T O  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  H E  WANDERING WI5DOM awaits the 
  adventurers as appointed. The league-master is 
  anxious for news. She hopes that the adventurers 
  T 
  have managed to rescue H’nd’n, or at least to 
  replace him and his information with well-documented data of 
  their own. 
  If they have failed, Lecallis is regretful, but understanding. 
  After all, the Dragon Isle is a challenge that her best people 
  have yet to crack. She rewards the adventurers for their valiant 
  effort by taking them to the nearest convenient port, and 
  giving them five hundred bronzes apiece. 
  If they succeeded, they not only receive the full payment, 
  but have endeared themselves to a useful society of people. 
  Gamemasters may wish to introduce the League of 
  Tumultuous Erudition in future scenarios, as a source of aid 
  and information. 
  If the adventurers have shown themselves to be ready 
  workers, and have not done anything wilfully ignorant or 
  brutal, Lecallis invites any open-minded persons of a scholarly 
  bent to join the Disordered Scribes. 
  Neither of the research teams put ashore on Wa’aiya’oro and 
  Kiashu have returned (having fallen prey to hungry animals 
  and hungry plants, respectively). If the gamemaster desires a 
  further scenario, Lecallis asks the adventurers to go in search 
  of more missing scribes. 
  Finally, Lecallis asks the adventurers to submit a report on 
  the performance of the demon scribe Nokdoxtor. If they 
  presents an unfavorable view of the creature, Lecallis sighs 
  with regret, and then binds him into an inkwell. Nokdoxtor 
  barely has enough time to accuse them of plagiarism before he 
  disappears into the object with a foul pop. Lecallis presents the 
  inkwell to the adventures as a memento of their sojourn on 
  Mehibonk. 0 
  77 
  
  M E L N I  B O N E  
  N THE DARK days of MeInibonCs civil war, when 
  the people of that strange race fought each other to 
  decide whether they would serve Chaos or the Balance, 
  there existed a repository of great Chaos power, the 
  Suffer Glass. So arcane was the artifact that even the brilliant 
  Melnibonkns could not fathom it. Before they could tap its 
  promise of ultimate Chaos, the Suffer Glass was destroyed 
  during a siege upon Castle Crow, the place where it was kept. 
  Thousands of years later there comes a Mehibonean with a 
  passion for his people’s past and a fear of the future. Doctor 
  Qua, a sorcerer, has been dabbling in the idea of shifting 
  planes to accomplish time-travel. He has created a drug with 
  which he can alter consciousness sufficiently to transport the 
  imbiber to another era. This is temporary, and it is only with 
  great manipulation of sorcerous forces that the doctor can 
  allow the time travelers to interact with their new dimension in 
  anything but a passive sense. 
  He has managed to consolidate this technique, enough to put 
  his plan into action. On a vision-trip into the future he saw the 
  fall of Mehibonk. He mistakenly attributes this to the peoples 
  of Pan Tang, who he sees as the greatest threat to the Bright 
  Empire. Qua believes that with the Suffer Glass restored to 
  Mehibonk, the gods of Chaos will heed the Melnibonhs 
  rather than the upstart humans. The Pan Tangians and other 
  human peoples will be expunged, and Melnibonk’s future 
  secured, perhaps even enhanced. It could mean a new 
  flowering of the Bright Empire. 
  To effect this Doctor Qua has one simple need. He requires 
  someone to stop the Suffer Glass from being destroyed in the 
  attack on Castle Crow during the Civil War. Their mere 
  presence will accomplish this, as such a Chaotic intrusion 
  stymies the laws of the Balance. He has the extant pieces of the 
  glass in his possession, which means that if it is not destroyed 
  in the void of history, he will own the artifact complete. Then 
  he can study it and put it to proper use. 
  THE HATE BEAST 
  HE SCENARIO BEGINS with the adventurers 
  gathered in one of the harbor taverns in the Foreign 
  TQ 
  uarter of the city of Imrryr. The place is the 
  Tormented Inn. The Inn is called thus for its strange 
  architecture, said to have been affected by a demon attack 
  upon the humans who gather there. The Melnibokns refer to 
  it as such, because they reason that the place is tormented by 
  having humans reside in it. 
  The place is strange and twisted, with ceilings that slope at odd 
  angles, corridors that lead nowhere, and uneven floors. Wiling 
  and structural beams thrust through walls and floors. Doorways 
  of unusual shape slump as though forgotten in comers. The 
  angles of certain rooms suggest that of a listing ship. 
  For all that, it is comfortable enough, and one of the few 
  friendly places for those on Melnibonk who are not native. The 
  innkeeper is Grop Bedeeber, a fat man with a strange cast to his 
  f e a m .  Bedeeber is in fact a quarter-breed Melnibonh, but is 
  not responsive to prying questions about his ancestry. He runs the 
  place with the aid of a single slave called Poursweepslop. 
  On the afternoon in question the tavern is crowded with 
  oily-bearded, beer-swilling Tarkeshites, sailors from a 
  northern ship recently put in to trade in Imrryr. It is loud and 
  noisy in the public bar, and amidst the riotous assembly a 
  stranger makes his entrance. 
  THE STRANGER 
  The stranger is thin and hooded, and by his bearing and step 
  may be taken for a Melnibonkan, although he is somewhat 
  short. A successful Search roll glimpses dark eyes and silver 
  hair beneath his hood, and the dance of gaudy colors beneath 
  his somber cloak. A demon accompanies him, a squat, 
  toad-like thing with ten legs and a tiny pimple for a head on 
  top of its enormous body. This tiny head jabbers obscenities 
  and scowls at everyone, but it is so small that its abuse is no 
  more than the whispers of a mouse. The stranger crosses the 
  room and sits in a comer vacated by alarmed sailors. The 
  demon sits quietly by his side, held by a silver chain. 
  The stranger’s name is Doctor Qua and the creature is his 
  Hate Beast, whose empathic attack begins to emanate from it 
  almost immediately. 
  DOCTORQUA 
  Chaos 181, Balance 68, Law 120 
  STRl2 
  CON14 
  SIZ16 
  INT24 
  POW30 
  DEX19 
  APP13 
  HP15 
  MP30 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4 
  78 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A S S  
  Armor: 1 D6-1, patchwork leather; uses demon cloak to teleport 
  away from danger. 
  Weapon: Demon Scimitar 96%, 1 D8+1+1 D4+1 D10 
  Dagger 80%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Demon’s Ear ((l), Midnight (l), 
  Muddle (1). Refutation (1-4), Summon Demon (l), Undo Magic (1- 
  4). Ward (3). Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Common Tongue 80%, High Speech 40%, Mabden 25%, 
  Melnibonean la%, 
  Million Spheres 29%. Natural World 87%, 
  Oratory 91 %, Potions 136%, Scribe 140%. 
  DOCTOR QUA’S GREATER DEMON SCIMITAR, Brakkn’ll, 
  which keens and moans when out of the scabbard. 
  INT8 
  POW19 
  Ability: Demon Weapon, adds 1 D10. 
  DOCTOR QUA’S LESSER DEMON CLOAK, Sh’foonnn. 
  STR18 
  CON22 
  SIZ22 
  INT13 
  POW 12 
  Abilities: Telepor. 
  Fog, at 60%, creates malodorous fog-bank 22 yards high and 28 
  yards wide. 
  THE HATE BEAST, lesser demon, humanoid, furious. 
  STR7 
  CON14 
  SIZ20 
  INT8 
  POW 15 
  DEXG 
  MOV3 
  HP 19 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Abilities: Emanate Hatred, at loo%, match demon’s POW 
  against victim’s INT. 
  Carapace, 1 D10+1 D2 toad skin. 
  Need: maintain nearly inaudible tirade of perpetual abuse. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 30. 
  THE BAR BRAWL 
  UA’S INTENTION IS to begin a terrible brawl 
  and to observe who among the common throng 
  Q 
  distinguish themselves. At least one of the 
  adventurers should m e  to the attention of the good doctor. 
  As the Hate Beast broadcasts, a huge, ugly sailor develops a 
  hatred for one of the adventurers. Violence erupts when most 
  of the Tarkeshites decide that they loathe their companions, 
  the rest of the clientele, and the decor. The barkeep starts 
  throwing wine pots from behind the bar, while his slave 
  scurries into the night for help. 
  Have the players roll against the Hate Beast to see which 
  adventurers fall foul of the demon’s potency. Those receiving 
  failures find hot rage welling in them, and wish to lash out at 
  whoever comes withii reach. This is a time for punch-ups and 
  amusing but harmless violence. Adventurers who draw swords 
  soon have them tangled in flying drapes and other bric-a-brac, 
  or knocked away by well-swung bar stools. 
  The brawl breaks up when a company of soldiers arrives 
  from a Lormyrian vessel. The captain is keen to suppress the 
  ruckus before the Mehibonkins take a hand and he begins to 
  lose crew. With successful Idea rolls, alert adventurers may 
  guess that the cloaked Mehibonkan has somehow caused the 
  fight. Once Doctor Qua has had a chance to watch the warriors 
  in action, he slinks out into the fog to prepare a further 
  surprise. Once he and his Hate Beast depart, no one in the bar 
  can recall why the fight began, save the adventurers, and all 
  feel disconcerted and foolish. 
  THE INCOMPARABLE DOCTOR QUA 
  THE VISION IN THE GLOOM 
  HEN THE ADVENTURERS leave the bar, 
  they encounter the doctor’s second test. Out in the 
  W 
  street, a strong wind whips up from nowhere. 
  Those making Search rolls can literally see this wind. It is 
  crimson, flecked with gold Its force tugs at clothing and 
  tosses hats from heads as it begins to twist into visible shapes. 
  Figures appear, a huge dragon with a Melnibonkan warrior 
  upon its back, and four cowering men folk. 
  The warriors beneath the dragon are strange stunted men, 
  dressed in coarse wool and warped leather. They brandish 
  spears with which they poke the massive beast above them, to 
  little avail. The dragon draws breath and incinerates all save 
  one, in a mighty, acidic blast. The adventurers feel a rush of 
  hot air, but suffer no ill effects. The wind begins to die and the 
  vision fades. The mist vanishes in a splash of crimson and 
  gold, but leaves one figure behind, the primeval warrior who 
  escaped the dragon’s breath. 
  The man is bestial and howling, the spittle of madness and 
  battle-lust upon his lips. He speaks in a harsh guttural 
  language which has a vague relationship to Mabden, and those 
  who can make Speak Mabden rolls at half-chance may 
  converse with him. He screams and lunges at the adventurers 
  with his spear. His name is Yahgaar. 
  During the fight, Doctor Qua scampers around, watching 
  delightedly, joy shining in his eyes. He attempts to touch the 
  79 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  warrior to feel that he is real, and this only drives the poor 
  creature to greater frenzy. 
  YAHGAAR 
  Yahgaar believes that the adventurers are demons. He is both ter- 
  rified and confused, and fights until knocked out or killed. 
  Chaos 15, Balance 40, Law 17 
  STR16 
  CON18 
  SIZ7 
  INT 8 
  POW 9 
  DEX14 
  APP6 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: Short Spear 79%, damage 1 D6+1 
  Small Shield 76%, damage KB +1 D3+db, 20 hit points 
  Armor: 1 D4-1 (cap on), Skins and Hides. 
  Skills: Dodge 64%, Listen 75%, Proto-Mabden 50%, Search 
  55%. Track 86%. 
  since individual demons may get frisky. Match the POW of 
  each demon against that of its passenger. If the demon wins, it 
  plays a prank upon the adventurer; see the Transportation 
  Mishap Table, nearby. This prank is not fatal, as the demon 
  fears Qua too greatly for that. 
  VEELEIN, LESSER DEMON, 
  CARRIAGE OF THE DEMON EXPRESS 
  STRl2 
  CON17 
  SIZ22 
  INT7 
  POW13 
  DEX14 
  MOV8 
  HP 12 each 
  Abilities: Lift, at 80%, up to SI2 24 for transportation purposes. 
  Bite, at 40% damage is 1 D8. 
  Dimensions, at lo%, one other dimension where Qua normally 
  keeps them. 
  See, at 85%. 
  Need: play prank upon passenger. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 66. 
  FTER THE WARRIOR is dead, unconscious, 
  or subdued, Doctor Qua steps forward and stares 
  at the adventurers intently, as though judging 
  A 
  them. They might rightly blame him for the attack 
  they have just suffered, and the earlier disruption in the bar, 
  but Qua is not perturbed. He holds up a hand for silence. 
  “Cease your babbling. The things you have seen tonight 
  were mere tests. I require warriors both brave and cunning, 
  and you have performed adequately. Would you work for me? 
  I offer 6000 bronzes to you each, in purest lake silver, and 
  priceless knowledge in addition. I must have your answer 
  first.” Qua is eager for their agreement, and if pressed will 
  increase his offer, without providing much in the way of 
  information about the task. He disdains to discuss his work in 
  the street. He desires that they accompany him to his tower, if 
  only to learn more that might help them make their decision. 
  He explains that he cannot take the adventurers into the 
  confmes of Imrryr proper by normal means, but must use 
  sorcery so they are not detected. When the adventurers agree 
  to accompany him, he releases the demons he has ready. 
  THE DEMON E%PREJS 
  NORMOUS GREEN DEMONS issue forth come 
  fian a belt which Qua wears. There are as many of them as 
  E there are adventurers. Each is a big carbuncled 
  centipede-thing, green and viscous, with a segmented torso and 
  no legs, just spines pmtruding from the body. Each demon is 
  squat and round with a massive hinged mouth. Its mouth swings 
  open, and within the jaws the mouth and tongue transform to 
  make a comfortable seat. Qua m m g e s  them to take their seats 
  quickly. Once they are within the demons, the things join tail to 
  mouth, as though wagons in a train, and depaxt. 
  The demon express passes through the streets of Imrryr, the 
  illegal visitors are well-hidden from the eyes of the Eagle 
  Guard. However, riding the express presents its own hazard, 
  THE DIFFIDENT HOST 
  HE DEMON EXPRESS deposits the adventurers 
  outside a tower of odd symmetry and weird ambience. 
  with pastel and delicate hue. Though a single tower, it is 
  T 
  It is a serpentine, elegant construction, shimmering 
  TRANSPORTATION 
  MISHAP TABLE 
  Choose one from the list below, or roll 108. 
  1. The demon starts rotating at high speed. The adven- 
  turer must receive an CON x3 roil or become dizzy. 
  2. The demon bounces and bumps the adventurer, as if 
  traveling over a corrugated road. The adventurer 
  must roll CON x5 or be sick. 
  3. The demon belches constantly, treating the adven- 
  turer to its foul breath. 
  4. The demon disengages from the rest and plunges 
  into the harbor. The adventurer is soaked. Then it 
  dances back to the rest of the express. 
  5. The demon swallows the adventurer whole, but 
  quickly coughs him or her back up. The adventurer 
  is covered in foul-smelling muck from the demon’s 
  innards. 
  6. The demon disengages and strands the adventurer 
  atop the highest spire in Imrryr. The adventurer must 
  receive a successful Dexterity roll to clasp on to the 
  precarious perch. The demon catches him or her if a 
  fall begins, then rejoins the rest of the express. 
  7. The demon flips open when passing a group of Impe- 
  rial Guards, giving them a glimpse of the human 
  within. Then it speeds on, outrunning the guards and 
  snickering to itself. 
  8. The demon disengages and takes a detour through 
  another plane, treating the adventurers to a view of 
  a nightmare world of strange Chaos beasts, some of 
  whom resemble the demon. After a minute or two it 
  returns to the Young Kingdoms plane and reattaches 
  itself to the other demons. 
  80 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A S S  
  somehow subtly more, as though it contained suggestions of 
  further construction, but not the construction itself. 
  Doctor Qua steps before them, revealed at last. Beneath his 
  large ragged cloak which keeps him from the prying eyes of 
  the throng he sports a quilted outfit resembling a harlequin's, 
  all silk and brocade. His red, yellow, and blue suit has pockets 
  all over it, and each one bulges with a strange instrument. 
  Besides being shorter than most Melnibonb, his head is 
  slightly broader, hinting at some other strain in his blood. He 
  has silvery hair and dark eyes and a full, sensuous mouth. His 
  features are crueler than the usual Mehibonkan cast, since his 
  brows draw down together and a strong crease sits above his 
  nose. The doctor is keen on all things historical, particularly 
  that period of the Bright Empire when the Melnibonhs went 
  abroad upon the land and destroyed or subdued the other 
  non-human races, before the coming of humanity to the world. 
  Qua tells the adventurers they have the run of the tower and 
  the grounds for a while, and may enjoy themselves. There are 
  plenty of cooperative slaves who can bring food, suggest 
  activities, and so on. Then the adventurers will be summoned 
  and Qua will explain much more of what they are b do. For 
  now, if he is to succeed in sending them on this adventure, he 
  must work The tower slaves will look to any desires the 
  adventurers may have. There is only one room forbidden them 
  and that is the room in which Qua works. 
  THE TOWER OF DOCTOR QUA 
  OME FEATURES OF THE tower and grounds are 
  offered below. A description of the closed chamber is 
  given under the heading Tales of the T i e  Winds. 
  THE STABLES AND MEADOW 
  The horses here are the finest Melnibonh steeds. There are 
  also two demon steeds. These two appear normal except for 
  one chaotic feature each. The first has a bunched pair of wings 
  upon its back which allow it to lift itself and one rider not 
  above SIZ 13. The second has hooves which make a great 
  thunderous noise when it runs, making it a dauntingly 
  effective warhorse. Adventurers must Fast Talk the stable 
  slaves to permit them to ride these particular mounts. 
  Surrounding the tower is a beautiful emerald green meadow. 
  The meadow is long and broad, too big to be believably within 
  Imrryr, partly within another plane at the gamemaster's 
  discretion, bounded by careful walls. Chaos blooms abound, 
  as do long stretches of glorious lawn where the adventurers 
  might ride or frolic as they will. 
  THE GUEST ROOMS 
  These am massive and beautiful areas in which guests may 
  amuse themselves. All are built in rounded patterns, yet none 
  are truly circular. All as well contain a noticeable distortion, as 
  though the rooms slanted toward some destination like 
  rounded tunnels into infinity. 
  M U S I C  ROOM a selection of outk instruments and sheet 
  music are kept here, including the strange Vmrkuhrian Triple 
  Horn and the Concerto for Twenty Fingers written for it. 
  H U E  CHAMBER: a place of many strange and startling color 
  changes, where guests may be alternately soothed, stimulated, or 
  enraged. 
  These are the rooms of the Guest Chambers: 
  DOCTOR QUA'S TOWER 
  81 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  DREAM CAVERN: this room, shaped like a natural cavern, 
  contains many dreams on tap. People only have to inhale the drug 
  burning in a brazier in the center of the room to find themselves 
  dreaming all kinds of strange and wondrous things. The dreams 
  may be frightening, comforting, stimulating, or unfathomable. 
  THE AGONY HOUSE: this room is locked and guarded by 
  thme husky slaves and a demon door named Sneakbane. Sneak- 
  bane is a vociferous demon, and delights in heaping abuse upon 
  any who would thwart his charge of guarding his master’s pri- 
  vacy. He has a f i e  line in invective, “Try not your stumbling 
  fingers on me, oaf of the lowest, cankerous, dung-besmirched 
  kind.” He is capable of backing up his words with an iron-tipped 
  bite. The door is of 20-point wood and iron, plus Sneakbane’s 
  2D10 Carapace defense. 
  Currently Qua is working in here, as it leads to his 
  Summoning Chamber. He takes a dim view of any adventurers 
  who wander in and break his concentration. 
  SNEAWBANE, GREATER DEMON, 
  BOUND INTO DOOR 
  STR20 
  CON100 SI220 
  INT15 
  POW25 
  DEX6 
  MOVO 
  HP 35 
  Abilities: Bite. at 200%, damage is 401 0. 
  See. 
  Carapace 2D10. 
  Need: periodically swings open and slams shut, waking sleepers 
  and knocking small objects off shelves. 
  Skill: Oratory (Abuse) 50%. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 71. 
  QUA’S PRIVATE QUARTERS 
  Qua did not forbid the adventurers to enter his private rooms, 
  and the slaves do not prevent them from doing so. These 
  quarters are surprisingly sparse. They resemble more the cell 
  of a monk of Donblas than the chambers of a Melnibonkn 
  scholar. Boob take the place of luxury furnishings. There are 
  ANCIENT HE WAS, 
  SORROWFUL I N  WISDOM, 
  TERRIBLE I N  POWER, 
  ELEGANT IN PAIN, 
  EMBRACER OF ENTROPY, 
  DESIRER OF DISORDER, 
  COURTIER OF CHAOS, 
  HIS TROOPS AND BEASTS, 
  HISSWORD AND MIND, 
  HIS ESSENCE: 
  ALL TO CHAOS, THE BALANCE DEFIED! 
  many arcane volumes of Bright Empire history, most in 
  Melnibonkn, though some are in an unreadable language. 
  One is in a language similar to MelnibonBan, and is called A 
  History of the War Against the Nhadragh by Joyn Alden Yoav. 
  It relates the history of a Melnibonkn-like race called the 
  Vadhagh. 
  A carved mahogany desk is scattered with the detritus of 
  Qua’s most recent work He is in the process of illuminating a 
  verse with gold leaf and crimson ink The borders have a 
  draconic motif. The title of the piece is “The Rhyme of K’lac 
  Asdarc.” 
  The library can be used to learn more about Asdarc. 
  Successful rolls in both Search and Melnibonh discover that 
  Asdarc was one of the great sorcerers who fought against the 
  forces of the Balance in the Melnibonkn Civil War. 
  THE FATEFUL SUMMONS 
  LAVES DRAW BATHS for the adventurers, filled 
  with rich scented bath oils and exotic fragrances. New 
  clothes are provided for each adventurer, and the slaves 
  insist with dull repetition that everyone dons this garb. The 
  clothes resemble a uniform, consisting of black shirts and 
  breeches with fine silver trim, black leather knee boots and a 
  quilted silver doublet which acts as leather armor. Lastly there 
  is a black headband with silver runes. Adventurers proficient 
  in Melnibonkn translate them as The Dragon Troops of K’lac 
  Asdarc. 
  Once dressed, the adventurers are taken to the Agony 
  House. The door stands open. Sneakbane is silent. 
  THE AGONY HOUSE 
  Here Qua conducts what a human would consider his most 
  dubious experiments. The walls are covered in numberless 
  masks depicting various contortions and agonies, some in the 
  very act of being prodded, pulled, or skewered. Yet the 
  workmanship and the aesthetic of the masks are so exquisite 
  that they almost become attractive. The floor is carpeted in 
  rich black fur. 
  THE SUMMONING CHAMBER 
  Beyond the Agony House is Qua’s private Summoning 
  Chamber. This stone chamber, with its graven floor of 
  symbols and signs, is lowering and foreboding. At the far 
  wall of the chamber stands a black stone pedestal. Upon 
  this rests a few pieces of shattered glass. Though broken, 
  the pieces are plainly of superior workmanship. The curves 
  are delicate, and the fine etchings upon the surface are 
  subtle and beautiful. Each who handles a shard needs a 
  successful Dexterity roll, or receives hand cuts for 1D3 
  damage. Witch Sight toward the glass shows the pieces to 
  have a strong aura of Chaos, so bright as to almost dazzle 
  the viewer. 
  TALES OF THE TIME WINDS 
  UA MEETS TH E adventurers with an expansive 
  smile, out of character for the taciturn Melnibonkn 
  Q 
  who had previously shown emotion only during the 
  appearance of the primitive warrior. 
  Qua has changed to an outfit of silken yellow and a 
  close-fitting cap of red. His slippers are also red and silken. He 
  82 
  
  M E L N I  
  B O N E  
  wears a small demon upon the bridge of his nose. The tiny 
  demon is golden and shimmering. It sits with its legs astride 
  the MelnibonCan’s nose. At the end of each leg descends a 
  circle filled with a clear but slightly distorting lens. The demon 
  allows Qua to see into certain Chaos planes to better aid his 
  summonings. 
  Qua leads his guests to the pedestal and the glass. “Let me 
  elucidate what you witnessed earlier,” he says. “It will help 
  you understand the nature of the journey you are to undertake 
  for me.” 
  Qua explains that the figures the adventurers saw fighting in 
  the street, the men and the dragon, were as dreams, images 
  conjured up from a dim and all but forgotten past. These 
  dreams can be experienced by the adventurers themselves. 
  They need only imbibe a certain consciousness-altering 
  substance to know of some of the history of the race of 
  Melnibone. But Qua has gone one step further. He has 
  combined this drug with a summoning, a demon he calls the 
  Time Wind. This creature may take passengers through the 
  planes, and they will experience the past or the future as 
  though they were there. 
  Qua now wishes to undertake an experiment. He wants 
  the adventurers to assume the mantle of MelnibonCans, 
  something they can easily do in the dream state, and 
  experience the past for 24 hours. At the end of this time, he 
  is going to make them real. Their Melnibonean guises will 
  fall from them and they can influence the past. Up until 
  then they will be as actors in a drama. At that moment they 
  will be the playwrights themselves. To test whether they 
  may have influence on the past they are to save the glass 
  Qua has before them. This piece, the Suffer Glass, belonged 
  to the collection of Prince Dusac of Castle Crow, during the 
  MelnibonCan Civil War. It was broken during an attack on 
  the castle by the forces of the Balance. The adventurers 
  have merely to secrete it to where it cannot be damaged. 
  The pieces in Qua’s possession will reconstruct into the 
  whole. The experiment will be proved a success and the 
  adventurers will have earned their fee. It stands at 6,000 
  bronzes apiece, plus a further 5,000 for a successful 
  mission. 
  F THE ADVENTURERS as a whole refuse the 
  journey, the gamemaster could infuse the air of the 
  room with the dream-drug, and send off everyone 
  If it is merely a matter of money, Qua will increase their 
  fees, but above 10,000 bronzes each takes profound 
  insult at such manipulation, and resolves to have his 
  slaves ambush them after their return to the present. 
  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 
  UA I S  WI L LI NC TO answer questions about the 
  historical period into which the adventurers will 
  Q 
  go. Unhappily, even in the knowledge of 
  I DE NTlCAL ENCHANTED 
  BROADSWORDS 
  H E  NAMES O F  the swords are Vengeance, 
  Vicious, Vigor, Villain, etc., as many as are needed. In 
  the Civil War, most of the ordinary soldiers had little or 
  no magic; those Chaotics of low Power and 
  considerable wealth had demon weapons re-bound to 
  them, or else tried to obtain enchanted weapons (as 
  indeed did those of the Balance). 
  Each sword looks rather plain, except for the Sign of 
  Chaos on the pommel. In combat, add 1D8 points of 
  damage to its damage: thus such a blade does 1 D8+1 
  ordinary damage, plus wielder’s damage bonus, plus 
  another 1 D8 damage from the enchantment. Each has 
  50 hit points, and the minimum STR/DEX for the 
  weapon is 6/6. The scabbards for the blades are each 
  decorated with dragons subtly embossed into the 
  leather. 
  T 
  Venom, Venture, Verity, Vermin, Verve, Vexed, 
  Melnibonean scholars there are gaps, one of the reasons for 
  the adventurers’ current journey. The gamemaster can refer to 
  the History section of the Melnibone‘ chapter under the 
  sub-heading ‘The Return of Chaos,’ for a brief description 
  of the conflict between Melniboneans loyal to the Balance 
  and those loyal to Chaos. 
  The uniform the adventurers wear is that of a group of 
  elite mercenaries. This group was near the Battle of Castle 
  Crow, but not present at it. Under this guise they will be 
  welcomed at Castle Crow by Prince Dusac. 
  Finally Qua assures them except for the brief moments in 
  which they will become themselves they cannot be 
  permanently harmed. If they are killed they will be shocked 
  out of their reverie but merely be back with Qua awaiting 
  the return of the rest of the party. 
  Qua omits any mention of the nature of the Suffer Glass. 
  If asked, he says that it is a minor but aesthetic piece, and 
  should serve well as a test of the experiment’s success. 
  Insight reveals that Qua obviously knows the artifact to be 
  more important than he indicates. 
  EQUIPMENT 
  Qua gives each person a small crystal coin inscribed with 
  the image of a dragon. These pieces further identify the 
  bearer as a soldier in the army of the sorcerer Asdarc. Qua 
  considers his words for a moment: “When you must sing, 
  also concentrate through these disks, and your music will 
  be augmented.” That is all he will say on the subject. 
  Perhaps to divert the adventurers, he also offers the 
  adventurers one enchanted broadsword apiece. He knows it 
  would be suspicious if they arrived with no magic. Qua 
  frowns at grasping adventurers who try to wheedle more 
  out of him, and should an adventurer already possess a 
  demon weapon, the offer is not made at all. “When you are 
  done,” he snaps, “I shall want them back.” 
  83 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  UA PASSES A GOLDEN dragon goblet 
  among the adventurers. This is the 
  dream-inducing drug needed for the 
  Q 
  adventurers to mentally integrate with their 
  new surroundings. The liquid is blue and bitter, smelling 
  vaguely of flowers and tasting like almonds. After each 
  adventurer has taken a long sip, Qua pours the dregs from 
  the goblet into an elegant eyedropper. With this he places a 
  droplet into each eye of all of the adventurers. If some resist 
  he claims it is the best way that he can keep a check to make 
  certain they are safe. The drops allow him to see through 
  the adventurers’ eyes. If he needs to make them real and to 
  bring them back quicker, he can summon the appropriate 
  demon. 
  Qua’s slaves help him into a ceremonial robe of Arioch, 
  all black with golden thread. He begins to intone the 
  summoning. Soon the room grows dark and strange breezes 
  start from nowhere. The crimson and gold wind of time 
  arrives. 
  The wind envelops the adventurers. Qua remains in the 
  center of the vortex, gesticulating and howling wild 
  syllables. Within the storm the adventurers’ vision blurs. 
  All around becomes a chaos of whirling scenes and 
  peoples. The colors of red and gold dominate everything, 
  painting all the giddy scenes with their own hue until the 
  adventurers become sick at the very sight of the colors. The 
  pain of the voyage is intense. Adventurers must succeed in 
  a CON x3 or pass out. At last the whirring whistling tornado 
  of time sets the adventurers down in a new land, and as new 
  people. 
  BEING M E L N I B O N E A N  
  N D E R TH E D R UC’S influence, the adventurers 
  become Melnibonkan for the duration of their 
  U 
  dream. Potion and sorcery combine to make them 
  experience the past as though they are literally there. 
  Assuming Melnibonkan form entails considerable 
  physiological and psychological changes. The adventurers 
  retain their original personalities and general physiques, 
  but their outlooks become more subtle, and more dark. In 
  this state, they cannot alter history, nor can they actually 
  die. However, they can suffer psychological effects at the 
  end of their sojourn as MelnibonBans. These are dealt with 
  under Aftermath and Consequences, below. 
  APPEARANCE 
  All the adventurers now have the long, narrow skulls of the 
  Melnibodan. Their hair is fine and silky, though retains its 
  original color. The eyes also stay the same color, but 
  become almond-shaped and knowing. The skin is pale and 
  soft, and the body tall and lean. The adventurers still 
  recognize each other, but newcomers would be 
  hard-pressed to know they were anything but 
  MelnibonBans. 
  OUTLOOH 
  The adventurers’ new mind-set is more like a Melnibonkan. 
  They find new interest in matters metaphysical and 
  philosophic and less recourse to what might otherwise be 
  called “sentiment.” This includes care for others, concern 
  over people’s well-being, and affection for one person or 
  another. Likewise they find cruelty acceptable if it has style 
  and sophistication about it. 
  SHILLS 
  Acclimatization to the new body takes 1D3 hours. During 
  this time, all physical skills (such as Jump, Attack, Dodge, 
  and the like) are at half-chance. The adventurers’ statistics 
  remain the same, although their SIZ is spread over a taller, 
  thinner frame. 
  They speak Melnibonkan as though it were their native 
  tongue. The subtleties of High Speech are beyond them 
  unless they are already able to speak that language. All 
  conversations take place in ordinary Mehibonkan, since 
  the higher tongue is reserved for ceremony and sorcery. 
  Adventurers experience the subtle changes of 
  MelnibonBan physiognomy through improved eyesight and 
  hearing. This comes from the innate sensitivity of the 
  MelnibonBan race. Their peculiar eyes offer a wider 
  spectrum of colors and richer more vibrant hues. 
  Everything is brighter and more vivid. Hearing too is more 
  sensitive. Adventurers may add 15% to Search and Listen 
  for their duration as Melnibonkans, to better approximate 
  these differences. They also gain the Witch Sight, as per the 
  spell, but as a skill at POW ~ 3 %  
  each. Finally, each gains the 
  Million Spheres skill at a percentage of half that of Witch 
  Sight (round fractions up). 
  All of these increases in skill disappear when the 
  adventurers return to themselves. 
  DEATH AND INJURY 
  While in the dream-state the adventurers cannot truly die. 
  However death, and even serious injury, do have 
  consequences. Dying while under the time-drug at once 
  brings the adventurer back to the present time in his or her 
  own body. The adventurer is comatose and awakes only by 
  Qua’s sorcery or by a successful Physik roll. 
  Receiving a major wound while under the time-drug may 
  bring about phantom injury. Adventurers failing an Idea 
  roll believe that they still have the injury after returning to 
  their own body. The adventurer acts at all times as though 
  the physical damage were real. Thus an adventurer who lost 
  an eye can no longer see through that eye. The adventurer 
  may be convinced that the wound is non-existent, but only 
  through a dramatic demonstration (such as dangling them 
  off a cliff by a limb they believe severed), or by lengthy and 
  successful Oratory. 
  BEING NORMAL 
  Once the dream-state is no longer in effect, the adventurers 
  are back to being their true selves. While dreaming they are 
  Melniboneans the adventurer’s true forms waft in a 
  Chaos-void, and only reunited with their consciousness at 
  the command of Qua. Should an adventurer become 
  permanently separated from his true inner self by madness 
  or dire torture, he is lost forever, a sad Chaos-driven thing 
  who may from time to time haunt the dreams of his less 
  vulnerable companions. 
  84 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  G L A S S  
  THE FLIGHTON THE PLAINS 
  H E  ADVENTURERS ARRIVE upon a high ridge 
  overlooking wind-swept moors and downs. The world 
  sweeter, and more vivid. A successful Navigation roll by 
  someone who knows the geography of Mehibonk identifies 
  the place as the Isolated Fells. Perhaps a mile across the 
  Meadows of Lassitude to the southwest stands a massive 
  castle, whose alien and inhuman architecture make it resemble 
  a giant black bird squatted upon the plain. Beyond the castle 
  rises the ragged line of the Encircling Hills. 
  A Search detects a cloud of dust moving beyond the 
  heat-haze to the north. This cloud surrounds an army, at this 
  point merely a gathering of specks, but obviously a sizable 
  force. A second Search roll spies nine horsemen in white and 
  green riding hard across the plain for the castle. 
  Closer at hand, a Listen detects voices calling. A mounted 
  group of Melnibonkan warriors is searching the foot of the 
  ridge. The detachment is twenty strong. They wear light 
  armor, of feathers and cloth, and a mixture of red and blue 
  clothing. They carry bows and swords. They are a group of 
  scouts of the Army of the Balance, and the adventurers are 
  their Chaos prey. 
  The adventwen must all succeed in Hide rolls, or else be 
  spotted. If this happens, the scouts gesticulate and draw weapons, 
  and p
  d
   
  up the ridge. Six remain mounted, in case the 
  adventums attempt escape. The ridge is the high ground, and the 
  attackem face that disadvantage, but they are fine archers, and 
  half of the remaink strive to pin down their quarry while the 
  other seven attempt to outflank them. The adventunm must hope 
  to whittle down their numbers and then engage them 
  hand-to-hand, or else flee along the top of the ridge. 
  A few thousand yards south a path leads down to the plains. 
  With speed and stealth the adventurers may make this and 
  leave the Melnibonhs struggling up the ridge after them, but 
  even so the small mounted reserve force pursue them across 
  the plains. Since the adventurers are on foot, they must engage 
  the horseman well before the walls of Castle Crow. On the 
  plains are only short grasses and small hillocks, nary a place to 
  hide or ambush. 
  Adventurers who attempt to parley are taken prisoner. The 
  commander of the scouts takes them north to meet the main 
  force, for questioning under torture. The gamemaster may 
  choose to have the adventurers rescued by a group of Chaos 
  outriders from Castle Crow before this happens. 
  For ordinary warriors on both sides, see the ‘Mehibonkan 
  Digest.’ 
  T 
  they look upon seems newer than their own, brighter, 
  H E  HULHINC fortifications are black as coal. 
  Crenelated outer walls surround a massive central 
  tower with two great battlements which curve east 
  T 
  and west, giving the appearance of huge wings. The 
  gate is a twin-structure, made entirely of bronze. Pennants 
  flying from the top of the tower depict the device of Prince 
  Dusac, a gaunt ebon crow upon a field of crimsons, oranges 
  and greens. The upper fluting of the tower’s highest minaret is 
  also of bronze, giving the appearance of a beak. For all its 
  black stone and grim aspect, the fortification retains the 
  artistry and odd aesthetics of the Melnibonh culture. 
  The gates are opened for the adventurers. In the courtyard open, 
  the scene is part carnival, part siege. Soldiers move to and fro 
  preparing for the coming combat, but there are also jugglers, 
  conjurers, fm-breathers, and even a strange man in oddcolored 
  clothing walking on stilts and screaming philosophy. 
  The Captain of the Castle Garrison strides over to the 
  adventurers, followed by lieutenants and sycophants. He is a 
  tall Melnibonkn, wearing a dust colored outfit and heavy 
  black cape. He is weary and brusque. He announces himself as 
  Karndell, loyal servant of Arioch and Prince Dusac, and states 
  his rank. “You were not expected for a week,” he says, looking 
  pointedly at the insignia the adventurers wear. If they 
  performed valorously against the Army of the Balance in sight 
  of the castle the Captain is less wary, although still suspicious. 
  Intelligent remarks impress Karndell as much as do the 
  identifying dragon crystals each of the adventurers were 
  given. Fast Talk rolls reinforce the story. When he is satisfied, 
  he bustles them across the courtyard and into the castle proper. 
  As the adventurers pass by the stables, Search rolls note that 
  the ostlers are saddling a dozen black horses for immediate 
  travel. A group men and women in soft, expensive clothing 
  wait impatiently. 
  THE BELEAGUERED PRINCE 
  HE ADVENTURERS CATCH only a fleeting 
  glimpse of the interior of the castle as Kamdell hurries 
  preparations for war. Staircases from the upper level of the 
  keep are jammed with servants carrying furniture downstairs. 
  The walls are beautifully adorned, and the flagstones are 
  intricate mosaics of vast design, but the frenetic activity 
  obscures any artistic appreciation. 
  The adventurers are taken to the Great Hall, in the main 
  tower. This hall is cold and bare, holding only tokens of war in 
  carved niches around the wall. Prince Dusac has foregone the 
  niceties of decoration in this room and uses its sparseness to 
  aid his concentration on things martial. One niche is covered 
  by a tapestry which depicts scenes of abundance and 
  desolation intermingled in one surreal landscape, and the 
  prince stands before it in silent contemplation. 
  Dusac is a tall Melnibonkn with raven hair and eyes at once 
  cloudy and sharp. His features are noble, but his body is that of 
  a wamor, lean and wiry. He wears a battered black leather coat 
  over embroidered clothes of green and white. He wears no 
  insignia of his high office save an exquisitely worked emerald 
  and silver ring upon the fourth finger of his left hand. 
  PRINCE DUSAC, PRINCE OF CROWS 
  Chaos 140, Balance 88, Law 80 
  STR18 
  CON17 
  SI217 
  INT23 
  POW24 
  DEX16 
  APPl6 
  HP 17 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonean Plate 
  Weapons: Demon Spear 214Y0, damage 1 D10+1+1D6+3D10 
  T 
  them through. Soldiers move about briskly making 
  -continued next page 
  85 
  
  PRINCE DUSAC, CONTINUED 
  Spells: Hell’s Armor (14). Hell’s Razor (14), Hell’s Sharp Flame 
  (14), Horns of Hionhum (1-3), Invoke Arioch of the Seven Darks 
  (24%), Plasticity of Balo (1-3), Refutation (1-4), Sinew of Mabe- 
  lode (1-3), Soul of Chardros (1-3), Summon Demon (l), Supple- 
  ness of Xiombarg (1-3), Undo Magic (14), Ward (3), Wisdom of 
  Slottar (1 -3). 
  Skills: Call Raven 115%, Dodge 168%. High Speech 75%, Melni- 
  bonean 125%, Million Spheres 51%, Oratory 115%, Ride 184%, 
  Tactics 123%, Throw 107%. 
  HEARTPIERCER, greater demon, bound into spear 
  STRB 
  CON120 SI22 
  INTB 
  POW 24 
  DEXB 
  MOVO 
  HP 61 
  Ability: Demon Weapon. adds 3D10 to Dusac’s spear damage. 
  Need: kill one person daily. 
  THE PRINCE’S WELCOME 
  HE CAPTAIN ANNOUNCES the adventurers as 
  the Dragon Warriors of Asdarc. The prince breaks into 
  “Do you know that you have delivered us from our enemies? 
  My thanks and the blessings of Arioch upon thee. At present 
  we are caught between two forces. You are our timely 
  deliverers.” 
  The army which the adventurers saw to the north is the 
  Army of the Balance, heading toward the castle on their sweep 
  T 
  a rare smile and comes forth to greet the adventurers. 
  across the plains of Melnibone. The riders which the 
  adventurers saw race into the castle have reported that a sister 
  force is marching from the south, the Army of the Sorcerer 
  Opyine Manaak, who comes with five hundred men and 
  control of wind elementals. The prince holds over a thousand 
  warriors in Castle Crow, and the fortress is well constructed. 
  He can possibly defeat one army, but not both. 
  Now, with the elite Dragon Warriors here, the Army of the 
  Wind can be taken on and destroyed or depleted before they 
  reach the castle. The prince has assembled a party of diplomats 
  to go forth and parley with the Army of the Balance. This will 
  gain the time the adventures need to meet the Army of the 
  Wind head on. “I will give you the men you will need. The rest 
  is up to YOU.” Regardless of how many men the adventurers 
  ask for, the prince merely laughs. They only need four others, 
  and these await them in the courtyard. “I’m sure,” says the 
  prince, “your reputation does you justice.” 
  The party have no choice in this matter. They have identified 
  themselves as the Dragon Troops of Asdarc, and as those 
  warriors they must now serve the prince. He wishes them good 
  luck, and they are escorted out. Karndell takes them back to 
  the courtyard. 
  Four Melniboneans wait for the adventurers. These men are 
  dressed alike, in green and red uniforms and conical helms. 
  The greet the adventurers with deference. They have black 
  horses for the adventurers, as well as mounts for themselves. 
  These are the same steeds the 
  adventurers saw being saddled earlier. 
  “Here are your men,” the Captain 
  indicates. ”You will find the Army of the 
  Wind approaching from the south. 
  Arioch rides with you.’’ 
  CASTLE CROW SCHEMATIC 
  THE DIPLOMATS 
  5 THE ADVENTURERS 
  prepare to leave, the seven 
  A 
  well-dressed men and women 
  accost Kamdell. They are led by Shapin 
  Jadlor, a brooding Melnibonb with a 
  slight limp and a cruel twist to his mouth. 
  “And where are our horses, Captain? 
  Or are we to delay the Balance by 
  making it wait while we walk across the 
  plains?” 
  The Captain bows to Jadlor. “Lord 
  Jadlor, your mounts will be ready 
  shortly.” Jadlor steps up to the 
  adventurers and makes a sarcastic 
  remark about the wonders of Asdarc’s 
  men, and how truly wonderful they will 
  need to be to turn back an army of five 
  hundred. It is as though he is baiting the 
  adventurers, but the Captain intervenes. 
  “The prince has sent these men on a 
  mission of great urgency and danger, my 
  Lord, and they may not be delayed.” The 
  sardonic Jadlor turns on his heel and 
  leads away his group. 
  An ostler gives each of the 
  adventurers’ horses a black lump of 
  sugar. The horses chew them gladly, but 
  86 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A 5 5  
  soon after begin to shiver and twitch. The gates are then 
  opened, and the adventurers are free to ride. The horses burst 
  forwards with tremendous speed, and Ride rolls are needed to 
  cling on. 
  THE JOURNEY SOUTH 
  HE ADVENTURERS RIDE south. As they gallop, 
  the horses are wide-eyed and foaming. Their muscles 
  from their flanks. The drug they were given has lent them 
  incredible endurance, but the animals’ metabolism is visibly 
  consuming the animals themselves to sustain their pace. Even 
  a successful Potion roll does not identify the drug involved. 
  The men leading the adventurers are the Keepers of the 
  Dragon Caves, and that is their destination. They presume the 
  adventurers know this, and so offer no information unless 
  specifically asked. If the adventurers are clumsy in 
  questioning them, their leader, Dvyim Slvac, becomes 
  suspicious. He tries to get the adventurers to tell him precisely 
  how much they know about the dragon-kind. If he feels they 
  are not what they profess, he presumes they are spies sent from 
  the Army of the Balance. If this is the case he calls their bluff 
  and still takes them to the Dragon Caves in the knowledge the 
  dragons will soon devour them should they be impostors. 
  First their guides take them across the lush Meadows of 
  Lassitude, then over the steep and arid Encircling Hills, where 
  dust and dryness invades their throats as the horses clamber up 
  steep slopes. Beyond the hills lies the Plain of Imrryr. Imrryr 
  herself is not yet built. Instead, the jade palaces of H’hui’shan 
  yet stand, but perhaps not for long. A great thunderous cloud 
  of shimmering sorcery hovers over the city, and dark forms, 
  winged and terrible, crowd the skies overhead. 
  The riders cross the Plain of Imrryr and reach the rocky hills 
  beyond H’hui’shan. By now the horses are but living 
  skeletons. Call for Luck rolls. Those who receive failures have 
  their galloping horses die underneath them. Their hearts burst, 
  and each luckless adventurer is thrown off, suffering 1D6 
  damage unless a Jump roll is successfully made. 
  Dvyim reins in, and suggests everyone does likewise. This is 
  not easy, and Ride rolls are needed to stop the frantic beasts. 
  Adventurers who remember their humanity may wish to kill 
  the pain-wracked horses. The other Melniboneans are 
  confused by the purpose of such a merciful act. Why would 
  anyone pause do such a thiig? To them it is impossible to 
  understand. Can the adventurers supply some reason that their 
  guides accept? 
  Dark paths honeycomb the hillside, many leading into deep 
  caverns below the foothills. Dvyim takes the adventurers 
  underground. Before he does, he stops and warns them. “All 
  dragons have been pressed into the attack upon H’hui’shan, 
  save these. This group is ancient, and bad tempered. I fear not 
  many will be awake, and fewer helpful.” 
  T 
  begin to tighten, and fat can literally be Seen dissolving 
  H E  DRAGONS OF MelnibonC are more than 
  mere beasts. They are cunning and subtle, brutal and 
  wise. The pacts which the Melnibonkans have 
  being as close as kin to the pre-human folk Some facts of 
  dragon life will aid gamemasters in running this section of the 
  scenario. The adventurers learn them as they begin to 
  experience the delights of draconic company. 
  T 
  forged with them in ages past have resulted in their 
  NOMENCLATURE 
  RACONS MALES ARE drakes, dragon females 
  are jills. Each dragon has a True Name which can be 
  D 
  learned during bonding. Once learned, preface the 
  name with Lord or Lady, to ensure the dragon does not take 
  offence. On a successful roll the adventurer also learns his or 
  her own name, by which the dragons thereafter know them. 
  By announcing themselves as such, they further establish 
  rapport with the dragon. These are usually diminutives or pet 
  names, and wildly inappropriate (Elric’s is Little Cat!). 
  Gamemasters must invent names for the adventurers. 
  PHYSIOLOGY 
  RACONS ARE GRAY-GREEN, red-green, and 
  other shades within that spectrum. Their shading is 
  D 
  subtle, shimmering and scintillating. Dmgons expend 
  enormous energy in flying and must sleep one hundred years 
  for every day that they are active. Dragons are massive, yet not 
  cumbersome in their gait. 
  Half way along the underside of the neck is a place where 
  the dragon’s scales are soft. The stomach leather is also softer 
  than the rest. Only Melnibonkans skilled in dragon lore know 
  of these weaknesses. The rest of the body is heavily scaled. 
  Sharp ridges lie along neck and tail, and these extend when the 
  dragon is angry or under attack. They flatten when the beast is 
  relaxed. This can be a clue as to how a dragon is relating to an 
  adventurer. (Being devoured is another, less subtle clue). 
  Dragons have a natural ridge above where their wings join the 
  shoulders. It is here that the Dragon Rider sits, usually on a 
  saddle, though some Dragon Princes have been known to ride 
  bareback. 
  Dragons spit fiery venom from their mouths. This spittle is 
  drawn from hidden sacs within its neck. When angry, a 
  dragon’s breath is venomous and smoky. 
  COMMUNICATION 
  WITH DRAGONS 
  T I S  SA1 D THAT SOM E dragons speak, but this is so 
  rare as to be almost unheard of. Dragon and rider converse 
  1 in more subtle ways. This takes the form of Dragon Song, 
  a melding of song, speech, and gesture known to the 
  Mehibonkan Dragon Princes, and to few others. The speech 
  component is close to High Speech, but there are many other 
  parts of the communication. 
  87 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  Each song has its own, self explanatory title. Instances 
  include Song of Approach, Song of Command, and Song of 
  I- Would-Appreciate-Your-Continuing-Concem-In-This- 
  Matter. These are known also as Dragon Lays, though that 
  term is sometimes reserved for the formal recountings of 
  dragon deeds, done both to praise and to relay these 
  marvels. Adventurers wishing to communicate with 
  dragons must be Melnibonkn (or pseudo-Melnibondan, for 
  the purposes of this scenario) and receive an Oratory roll at 
  half-chance or less. The Oratory roll can be at full chance if 
  the adventurer has an Art or Craft which involves music, 
  such as singing or playing. If the roll succeeds, the dragon 
  may be spoken to (though it will not answer). It will obey, 
  provided its name is recognized and it has accepted the 
  person as a rider. 
  WlM SLVAC GUIDES the adventurers into the 
  caverns. Great vaunting ceilings created by eons of 
  D 
  erosion soar overhead. A slim path leads through a 
  forest of stalagmites, winding deep into the rock From all 
  comers is the pungent lizard-andsulphur smell of dragon. 
  Higher up, the path begins to wind into the very mountain 
  itself. Caverns mark the surface of the cave wall, dark 
  openings large enough to fit three mammoths. From within 
  each comes a soft rumble of beast breath. Along the path is an 
  ornate rack holding dragon goads and horns. “Choose your 
  beasts,” Dvyim advises. “Arioch grant that enough of them are 
  awake.” 
  The adventurers must ascend and go among the caverns. 
  Most of the dragons within are not awake, but are instead 
  rolled into a scaled hump, breathing rhythmically. If a dragon 
  is awake it sits forward, head near the opening of its cavern. Its 
  eyes are closed until an adventurer draws near, then the slits 
  widen as the shrewd inhuman gaze meets that of its prey or 
  bondsman. There is an alert dragon for each adventurer, 
  though some may need Search and Luck rolls to find them. 
  Having found or chosen a dragon, each adventurer must 
  contemplate the great beast and attempt to learn its True 
  Name. 
  Using the crystal dragon disk supplied by Doctor Qua aids 
  the adventurer’s Song of Approach and helps him or her focus 
  on the dragon’s name. Any skill roll attempted has its chance 
  for success doubled while the adventurer focuses through the 
  disk An adventurer has ten rounds. 
  If the adventurer fumbles around, or if he or she is 
  unsuccessful in communicating, at the end of the eighth 
  round the dragon attempts devouring the adventurer with a 
  single massive bite, swallowing him or her whole. A 
  successful Dodge or Jump roll avoids this fate. The dragon 
  does not pursue the rejected adventurer beyond its own 
  cavern. The adventurer is free to try again, with another 
  dragon. 
  When the adventurer is singing, the words seem to well up 
  from somewhere else once he or she has, falteringly, begun. 
  BONDING 
  Those who bond have each a sensation of melting confidence, 
  and the eyes of the dragon seem suddenly to swell and 
  swallow. Then comes a sense of determination and a haunting 
  memory of something very sly and very old, yet not lacking in 
  affection. Now the adventurer knows the dragon’s name as 
  though from childhood. Trust is absolute, and the bonder’s 
  understand of the dragon’s will and physical capacity is 
  intimate, as is that which the adventurers have now revealed to 
  their dragons. The reptilian odor of the caves is sweet, 
  invigorating, and friendly. 
  There are six dragons awake. Adventurers who do not have 
  dragons may accompany Dvyim Slvac on horseback across 
  the plains and be ready to engage the army on the ground if 
  things should go awry. Alternately gamemasters may add 
  further dragons to include all members of the party, though 
  finding too many dragons awake is unlikely. 
  LORD DEEPGOUGE 
  A massive old dragon with a withered right eye. He is recalcitrant 
  sometimes, but a deadly foe. Lord Deepgouge is slow to turn, be- 
  cause of his size and age. He is proud, and tries throws off any- 
  one who uses the goad on him. If that happens, the rider requires 
  a STR x5 roll to remain in the saddle, and would be wise not to 
  goad the Lord again. 
  STR86 
  CON 102 SI2 100 
  INT30 
  POW24 
  DEX 9 
  MOV fly 14 
  Damage Bonus: +11 D8. 
  Armor: 25-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 90%. damage 3D8. 
  Claw 90%, damage 1D6 +db. 
  Combustible Venom 90%, damage 1 D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 102 yards. 
  Skills: Contemplate Fate loo%, Ponder Dreams loo%, Remem- 
  ber loo%, Search 45%. 
  HP 101 
  ONDING BEGINS TO take place when the 
  B Dragon Songs have been successfully sung, and 
  completes once the dragon and rider are aloft. This 
  leads to the melding of minds that was the 
  Melniboneans’ first and deepest sorcery. Once a dragon 
  has accepted a person as ‘bondfriend‘ the dragon and 
  the rider are then as one. Emotions that the dragon feels 
  are shared by the rider. The rider’s emotions (such as 
  fear, uncertainty, remorse) are probably overwhelmed 
  by the dragon’s. This is reflected by a POW:POW struggle 
  on the resistance table, the winner dictating the 
  emotion. Few are the riders who influence the thoughts 
  of dragons. 
  Further, the rider and dragon have become one on a 
  deeper, more esoteric level. Their thought-processes 
  become mystically intertwined. The rider begins to 
  mouth the appropriate songs and words without 
  recourse to further effort. The dragon and the rider begin 
  to share awareness equally. The dragon embraces the 
  human spirit as surely as the rider embraces the 
  draconic. This is a feeling which scorches away the 
  human perceptions. as events and people are seen 
  from the perspective of an alien consciousness, 
  thousands of years old. Nonetheless, the intentions of 
  the rider survive, and missions can be accomplished. 
  88 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  G L A S S  
  LADY SCARSNOUT 
  This dragon has a scar under her chin. Patient and noble, Lady 
  Scarsnout does not take wild risks, and can be stubborn at times. 
  In later years she accompanies Elric backward in time to this 
  same period, as recorded in the novel The Revenge of the Rose. 
  STR61 
  CON60 
  SlZ64 
  INT19 
  POW17 
  DEX 13 
  MOVfly 14 
  HP 62 
  Damage Bonus: +7D8. 
  Armor: 20-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 40%. damage 3D8. 
  Claw W%, 
  damage 1 D6 +db. 
  Combustible Venom 75%, damage 1 D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 60 yards. 
  Skills: Remember 75%, Search 90%, Sing 80%. 
  LADY SWI FlTAl L 
  This active dragon is keen, once awake, to be in the air and en- 
  joying the sensation of freedom. She prefers to remain aloft in 
  battle and rely on her venom, and she uses her vast wings to fan 
  the flames. The rider needs a successful P0W:POW roll to force 
  her into melee. 
  STR59 
  CON62 
  SIZW 
  INT17 
  POW 17 
  DEX 15 
  MOVfly 14 
  HP 61 
  Damage Bonus: +6D8. 
  Armor: 20-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 25%, damage 3D8. 
  Claw 50%, damage 1D6 +db. 
  Combustible Venom 70%, damage 1D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 62 yards. 
  Skills: Graceful flight 150%, Search 85%. 
  LORD TOEGRIP 
  A young dragon, quick and playful. He delights in swooping on 
  foes and carrying them away, to be dropped from a great height. 
  He performs this trick at least once during any combat. Unless 
  lashed on, Lord Toegrip’s rider must make Dexterity rolls to stay 
  in the saddle during some of the dragon’s more acrobatic feats. 
  STR53 
  CON50 
  SIZ51 
  INT14 
  POW14 
  DEX 16 
  MOVfly 14 
  HP 51 
  Damage Bonus: +5D8. 
  Armor: 15-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 35%. damage 3D8. 
  Claw 50%. damage 1 W +db. 
  Talon Snatch 92%. seizes foe and drops during next round for 
  10D6 falling damage. 
  Combustible Venom 55%. damage lD6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 50 yards. 
  Skills: Search 70%. 
  LADY ROSESCALE 
  A deeply philosophical dragon and also a beautiful one, with 
  scales a soft shimmering pink over deep incarnadine. Lady 
  Rosescale has little interest in cornbat. The rider must succeed in 
  P0W:POW to remind her of the task at hand. 
  STR57 
  CON55 
  SIZ57 
  INT29 
  POW22 
  DEX 11 
  MOV fly 14 
  HP 56 
  Damage Bonus: +6D8. 
  Armor: 20-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 25%, damage 3D8. 
  Claw 25%, damage 1 D6 +db. 
  Combustible Venom 70%. damage 1 D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 55 yards. 
  Skills: Million Spheres 77%, Ponder Dreams 90%, Remember 
  88%, Search 71%. 
  LORD FLASHMAW 
  A martial, terrible dragon, one cruel and destructive. He delights 
  In closing with his prey and using merciless fang and claw. To re- 
  sist the dragon’s lust for carnage, roll POWPOW on the Resis- 
  tance Table. Failing, the adventurer too becomes crazed for 
  blood and plunges heedlessly into the fray. 
  STR71 
  CON75 
  SIZ68 
  INT17 
  POW 14 
  DEX 14 
  MOV fly 14 
  HP 72 
  Damage Bonus: +8D8. 
  Armor: 20-pt scales. 
  Weapons: Bite 57%. damage 3D8. 
  Claw 81 %, damage 1 D6 +db. 
  Combustible Venom 90%, damage 1D6+4 per round to each 
  target within an area of 75 yards. 
  Skills: Revel in Battle 100%. Search 66%. 
  FTER BONDING WITH their dragons, the 
  adventurem are ready to mount. In each cavern is 
  a beautiful saddle, supple and strong. Mounted 
  A 
  upon the saddle, goad and horn in hand, each 
  adventurer needs only a whisper of the Carry-Me-Aloft Song, 
  a tap of the goad, or a note of the dragon horn and the dragon 
  takes flight. 
  At first a dragon seems cumbersome as it shifts uneasily 
  beneath the adventurer. The beast snorts and shakes, its scales 
  rasping against the saddle and its leathery feet slapping across 
  on the rocky floor of the cavern. Sparks fly as massive claws 
  pound against the stone. Then its muscles bunch and the 
  D R A G O N  R I D I N G  
  RACON RIDING I S  the culmination of bonding 
  D 
  and communication. Bonding establishes a rapport 
  between rider and steed. The various dragon lays, 
  mainly the Command Song, communicate the rider’s 
  wishes to the dragon. In combat. allow the players to roll 
  the dragon’s attack and damage dice, to emphasize 
  that the two act as one. Dragons prefer to strike with 
  venomous fire rather than claw and fang, but the rider 
  may choose those attacks as he or she needs. 
  Here are the tools of Dragon Riding. 
  THE DRAGON HORN: a strangely shaped horn 
  which sings out curious notes. Use the dragon horn for 
  short-hand commands when a Dragon Lay would take 
  too long. 
  THE DRAGON GOAD: a long spear-like goad which, 
  like the horn, is used for quick commands. Employ the 
  goad with care, as dragons do not take kindly to 
  goading except in emergency or when noise makes 
  other communication impossible. 
  THE SADDLE: the saddle is ornate and beautifully 
  sculptured, worthy of the magnificence of these great 
  beasts. It fits between the dragon’s wings. A long girth, 
  much like that put around a horse, attaches it. 
  89 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  - 
  DRAGON5 IN FLIGHT 
  adventurer feels the sweet lifting surge of flight as the great 
  beast roars through the caverns to the vast entrance, and 
  beyond. 
  Once into the blue skies the dragon unfurls to its full length, 
  and the push of its powerful wings drives it aloft. The dragon 
  is exhilarated at the experience of flying again, and the 
  adventurer must resist the dragon's POW not to share the same 
  exhilaration. At the adventurers' behest the dragons turn 
  northeast, where the Amy of the Wind can already be seen. 
  As the adventurers wing closer to the vanguard of the 
  approaching Army of the Wind, a Search roll identifies the 
  components of the force. They are: 
  SCOUT WAGON: This remarkable craft has a massive sail 
  and huge stout wheels. It rolls across the plain under the power of 
  dozens of wind elementals. A ballista is mounted on the front of 
  the vehicle. Ten Melnibonkn scouts ride upon the wagon, and 
  fifty march behind it. 
  IN FANTRY: The main body of the army, three thousand Mel- 
  nibonean warriors marching in ranks. They carry gay pennants 
  and wear bright colors, but their faces are set and inhumanly grim. 
  CAVALRY: One thousand fighters on horseback ride at the 
  flanks of the army. These nobles are caparisoned for war. The 
  horses are armored, and the riders carry long spears. many deco- 
  rated with barbaric pennons in vivid colors. 
  THE FLYING C H A M B E R  Ten horses have stout cables 
  attached to them. Each cable connects to a set of ten cawed 
  wooden platforms, buoyed high in the air by eddying sylphs. A 
  sorcerer stands on each platform, and the whole arrangement con- 
  stantly rotates. The platforms are staggered at different heights, 
  towering sixty feet at the highest point. The sorcerers all chant 
  and make complicated gestures, ready to summon further aid 
  from h a .  
  THE BAHLE IN THE AIR 
  HE BAlTLE BETWEEN THE Dragon Riders and 
  the Army of the Wind should be suitably epic, with 
  distinguish themselves heroically. The dragons give the 
  adventurers a distinct advantage, despite the overwhelming 
  odds. Dragon riders should go first in any combat round, to 
  account for their superior speed and power. 
  T 
  opportunities on the part of the adventurers to 
  WIND ARMY TACTICS 
  Below are some of the tactics employed by the Army of the 
  Wind. It is assumed that the army is on the defensive. 
  CHARGE: The cavalry charges any ground forces, hoping to 
  overwhelm them by superior numbers. If this does not work, the 
  infantry moves in, in units of one hundred. If the cavalry is busy 
  elsewhere the infantry act first, attacking en masse. 
  D ISTRACTION: The Army of the Wind wishes to keep the 
  dragons off the flying chamber. The cavalry may set up diversion- 
  ary tactics, grouping into complex formations and running under 
  the dragons. They hurl spears with little real chance of success, 
  but they hope to distract the dragon riders while the sorcerers 
  conduct a summoning. 
  THE BALLISTA The ballista is the best conventional anti- 
  dragon weapon the Wind Army have. They only have the oppor- 
  tunity for one shot before the dragons are upon them. 
  90 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A 5 S  
  THE WIND D RACON: The Sorcerers of the Flying Cham- 
  ber create a wind dragon, a sylphean construct taking the form of 
  an enormous dragon. It has a wind-breath attack. This formidable 
  creature represents the Wind Army’s only real chance for victory. 
  DRAGON RIDER TACTICS 
  The following attack forms are available for the dragon riders. 
  HARRY: Dragons may harry a flying opponent by flying 
  around or near them and confusing them. This diversionary tactic 
  distracts the opponent for 1D3 rounds, but requires a successful 
  Ride on the part of the dragon rider. Failure means the rider has 
  not succeeded in distracting his opponent. A Fumble leaves the 
  dragon rider in a position vulnerable to attack. 
  STRAFE: Dragons may strafe ground forces, which quickly 
  scatter in the face of bombardment with flammable venom. A 
  successful breath attack hits 1D20 opponents. The wind 
  wagon is flammable and can only withstand 2 hits from a 
  dragon before it is completely destroyed. The sylphs around 
  the flying chamber are strong enough to divert dragon venom, 
  filling the air with a deadly whirlwind of burning liquid that 
  threatens dragon riders and ground forces alike. Adventurers 
  must receive successful Luck rolls to avoid being cooked by 
  their own deflected venom. 
  FANG AND CLAW: As a last-ditch effort dragons will 
  engage in melee, as per the standard combat rules. 
  STATISTICS 
  )For 
  soldiers of the Army of the Wind, use warriors from the 
  Melnibondan Digest. 
  )For 
  sorcerers, take them from the Melnibondan Digest, 
  deleting all magic save for air elemental summoning and the 
  spell Wings of Lassa. 
  For the wind wagon crew, use Warriors from the Melnibonban 
  Digest. Their ballista skill is 90%, but their chance to hit a 
  flying target is halved. The ballista fires once every thirty 
  combat rounds (about five minutes) and causes 10D6 
  damage. And yes, a ballista can impale. 
  WIND DRAGON 
  This summoned entity is a giant dragon created of whirling wind and 
  eddying currents. Its form can be dimly seen by the occasional 
  appearance of a sylph. Summoning it is the combined effort of ten 
  sorcerers contributing twenty magic points each. It takes them 1 D6 
  rounds to form it. Reduce the entity‘s statistics and attacks by 
  one-tenth for each sorcerer killed before the summoning is complete. 
  Its critical weakness is that if dragons fly through it, they can 
  dissipate the thing by throwing the component sylphs into chaos. 
  Riders who come close can note with Search rolls that some sylphs 
  are pulled away from the main body in the wake of a true dragon’s 
  passing. Flying directly through the wind dragon causes damage to 
  it equal to the true dragon’s STR. However, the rider must make a 
  Ride roll or be hurled out of the saddle by the shrieking winds. 
  STRl00 
  CON100 SI2100 
  INT15 
  POW15 
  DEX 20 
  MOV 15-fly 
  HP 100 
  Damage Bonus: +11 D6. 
  Abilities: Wind-breath, at 500%, damage lODlO in a 100 yard 
  area. 
  Windclaw, at 250%, damage 1 D6 +db. 
  Wind-bite, at 250%. damage 5D10. 
  Armor: none, although it is immune to dragon venom and missile 
  attacks. 
  Skills: none. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 200. 
  91 
  THE BAlTLE DONE 
  HE SURVIVING DRAGONS depositthesurviving 
  adventurers at Castle Crow, and then return to the 
  T 
  Dragon Caves, there to rest for a hundred years. They 
  are of no further use in the coming siege. 
  If the Army of the Wind has been shattered, there is an air of 
  triumph and conftdence at the castle. The adventurm are feted 
  as guests of honor, and their names are inscribed among the 
  castle’s Defenders of Honor. 
  If they were instead defeated or driven off, the Army of the 
  Wind makes its rendezvous with the Army of the Balance. The 
  castle’s defenders resolve to fight on, but there is a mood of 
  somber doom as the siege preparations are grimly made. 
  THE CROW 
  Y THE TIME THE adventurers return to the 
  castle, it is nightfall. Much of the mood of the castle 
  I depends upon the news the adventurers bring with 
  them (see above). The adventurers are met by 
  Karndell, and brought up to date about the conflict. 
  The diplomatic party met with success, but only in delaying 
  the main attack until tomorrow. The Balance force is larger 
  than they were led to believe, some twelve thousand strong. It 
  is commanded by Prince Rellvaan the Eagle, a skilled warrior 
  and tactician who wields the Sword of Harmony, a powerful 
  weapon of the Balance. Rellvaan is grouping his forces now 
  and will attack at dawn. The Balance sorcerers need time to 
  prepare for the onslaught, as do those of Chaos within the 
  castle walls. An hight roll notes that Kamdell’s face sets 
  when he speaks the name of Prince Rellvaan. He has been 
  forbidden to say any more about the enemy leader, and cannot 
  be drawn on the subject. 
  Prince Dusac has decreed that this last night is to be spent in 
  a feast. The adventurers are invited. The celebrations are set to 
  begin in two hours in the Great Hall. The adventurers are free 
  to amuse themselves as they see fit until then. 
  FINDING THE GLASS 
  HE ADVENTURERS ARE likely to spend the 
  time before the feast locating or learning about the 
  T 
  Suffer Glass. Several ways exist for them to 
  accomplish this goal. 
  EXPLORATION: the castle is huge, and only the most cur- 
  sory search could be conducted in the time available. Aside from 
  the Library and the Great Hall, most of the other rooms are private 
  chambers and areas such as kitchens, washrooms and the like. 
  The top floor of the castle has been cleared of all fittings and 
  made into a massive Summoning Hall for the coming battle. Sor- 
  cerers and servants are busily carving intricate sigils upon ail of 
  the floors and surfaces. 
  INTERVIEWING CASTLE PERSONNEL: most retain- 
  ers of the prince, identifiable in his livery, know of the glass and 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  of its resting place behind the tapestry in the Great Hall. They also 
  know it has important properties and that it is to be used in to- 
  night’s festivities. They speak freely to the adventurers, as guests 
  of their prince and obvious kinsmen. 
  LOITERING IN THE GREAT HALL once it has been 
  established where the glass lies, the adventurers find they cannot 
  get access to it before the feast. The hall is teeming with servants. 
  The gamemaster may wish to reward any particularly ingenious 
  player scheme to heist the glass, but the task should be difficult. If 
  taken, its loss would be discovered within half an hour, throwing 
  the castle into uproar. 
  RESEARCH: the castle has an extensive library. Four volumes 
  contain knowledge or hints about the Suffer Glass. Each book can 
  be located with a Search roll, and understood with a Scribe roll. 
  )Verities and Enchantments tells of eight great artifacts of 
  Chaos, and amongst them lists the Suffer Glass. It says that 
  such devices may only be destroyed by a great artifact of 
  equal power, of the Balance or of Law. The book tells nothing 
  of the actual nature of the glass. 
  Lord of he Seven Darks is a volume of poetry in homage to 
  Arioch. An early verse mentions a crystal cup from which 
  Arioch sups before he first comes to this plane. A later poem 
  says that he will drink from it once more before he ascends to 
  his utter dominion over the world, when it brims with the hot 
  blood of sundered kin. 
  >Spheres of Marvels Untold is a lexicon of the dimensions, a 
  long scroll of other planes which the author had visited. The 
  last place on the list is the Suffer Plane, a realm where pain is 
  exquisite. 
  The Lost Book of Kam’n’mell Kam’n’mlar is an elderly tome 
  kept in the upper stacks. It contains the following passage 
  concerning the suffer glass: “Long have been the years that 
  the strange dragon vessel has rested in Castle Crow. Longer 
  still have been the hours devoted to its study. While 
  interpretations are as multitudinous as scholars, all agree that 
  the Suffer Glass holds great Chaotic forces within its fragile 
  surface, ones powerful enough to bring down our castle’s 
  walls. Hamessing this power would seem beyond the finest 
  scholar, but should it be done, such a flowering of Chaos 
  would follow as surely to be a wonder upon the face of the 
  world.” 
  THE SUFFERGLASS 
  H E  GLASS I S  a crystal goblet with a wide bowl, thin 
  T 
  stem, and wide base. Cavorting dragons are 
  delicately etched on its surfaces, their tails entwining 
  around the stem. The glass is incredibly light but very 
  strong. It looks as though a mere whisper would shatter 
  it, but this is not the case. 
  Drinking from the glass brings a feeling of intense 
  agony mixed with great revelation. Adventurers who 
  receive successful CON xl rolls experience some of 
  the cosmic outlook of the elder races (those who get 
  failures fall into a pain-wracked stupor for 1 D3 hours). 
  Allow the fortunate a Luck roll each. With a success, 
  his or her INT rises permanently by 1 point. Failing, 
  those minds are scoured by the experience and each 
  loses 1 point of INT. 
  H E  ENEMY GATHERS OUT on the plain. 
  Anyone can walk along the battlements and see the 
  forces massing against the castle. The Army of the 
  T 
  Balance is orderly, and the campfires like stars 
  twinkle everywhere. They wait implacably for the dawn. 
  Within, rumors circulate that the revolt goes well in 
  H’hui’shan, but no one knows if this is true, or if it has 
  meaning if it is true, for the main blow of the Balance is surely 
  against Castle Crow itself. There is merriment, but also doubt. 
  All may be dead in the morning. 
  The prince and his followers brook no mention of fears. 
  Dusac is intent only on the esoteric debaucheries he has 
  planned for the coming festivities. For him the war is a thing 
  remote, not camped without his very door. 
  Thirty MelnibonCan nobles attend the main table of the 
  feast. The adventurers find themselves included in this 
  resplendent company if their fight against the Army of the 
  Wind went well. Kamdell is at the table, and so is the diplomat 
  Lord Jadlor, though he disdains to speak to mere warriors. The 
  rest of the castle complement are spread around the massive 
  hall at long tables. Everyone has dressed in their most 
  elaborate finery. 
  The Great Hall is lit with a thousand tall candles, each with 
  a flame of a different hue. Weird paper and fabric constructs 
  depend from the ceiling and shift to a demon wind, creating 
  various patterns and color combinations. In the center of the 
  room is a massive brazier. Pungent, aromatic smoke uncurls 
  from its belly and insinuates itself into the room. 
  A gong is struck, and the prince makes his entrance. All 
  stand. He is dressed in a heavy brocade robe, rich with threads 
  of silver and gold. Tableaux embroidered on his robe seem to 
  shift and replay as he walks. He turns to his guests. 
  “I offer you a banquet of eight courses. We shall revel in 
  Chaos, and it shall consume us. First we shall simultaneously 
  feast seven times over on food, drink, dreams, diversions, 
  death, dissonance and discourse. The eighth course is 
  suffering, and it starts with silence. The signal shall be a small 
  chime. Those who talk after the chime will be put to death. 
  Now begin.” 
  The hall erupts in tumultuous revelling, as all strive to 
  follow the prince’s instructions. Servants sweep forwards in a 
  busy tide, bearing platters of exotic foodstuffs, decanters of 
  vintage wine, and trays of hallucinogens. Acrobats and 
  jugglers burst into the hall, tumbling and spinning. Prisoners 
  taken from early skirmishes against the soldiers of the Balance 
  are marched in and killed one by one, by poison, strangulation, 
  decapitation, dismemberment, drowning, hanging, crushing, 
  or stabbing. A discordant orchestra strikes up, eight slave 
  musicians each with eight instruments apiece, each playing a 
  passage either up or down an octave and then changing 
  instrument, creating a swirling growl of rising and falling 
  notes. 
  During all of this, the Melnibonhns discuss, dispute, and 
  debate. Subjects touched upon include philosophy, sorcery, 
  theology, metaphysics, arts, and weather. Nobody mentions 
  92 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A 5 5  
  the war. The adventurers experience at first-hand the subtleties 
  and ironies of MelnibonCan conversation, which has a 
  tendency to tum back on itself in a welter of allusion and 
  self-referencing. They must succeed at Fast Talk rolls to keep 
  up, or else be thought of as simpletons. Lord Jadlor in 
  particular is quick to make jokes at the adventurers’ expense. 
  The talk gets louder, the executions increase in pace, the 
  musicians play faster and faster, the performers stage more 
  complex and dangerous displays, and the hallucinating guests 
  begin to shriek in delight and laugh with terror. The thousand 
  candles burn to their half-way mark and suddenly become 
  fireworks, splashing the hall with vibrant punctuation of sound 
  and color. 
  In the midst of all this chaos, Prince Dusac takes a tiny silver 
  chime from his pocket and taps it with a pin. Adventurers may 
  receive both Search rolls to see him take out the chime, and 
  Listen rolls to actually hear the sound. Those who succeed 
  may attempt Dexterity rolls to warn their comrades with a 
  quick gesture. The chime sounds. 
  Everything stops. A dozen or so people, possibly including 
  some of the adventurers, are caught out. Everyone is silent. 
  Without a word, the disgraced courtiers rise and walk over to 
  the executioners, who kill them soundlessly. 
  THE CEREMONY OFTHE 
  SUFFERERS 
  URINC THE HUSHED silence a slave appears, 
  altered especially for the occasion. He is a baroque 
  D 
  living interpretation of pain, a breathing edifice of 
  agony. His eyes have been sewn open and his flesh cut and 
  sliced and re-sewn, so that his entire exposed torso is a 
  patchwork of stunning and exquisite design, so symmetrical 
  and fantastic one can almost forget the suffering of its wearer. 
  If Melnibonbn, of course, no one would care, except to 
  applaud the artistry. 
  In his hands the slave carries a velvet purple cushion. Atop 
  the cushion is the Suffer Glass. Boiling in the vessel is a 
  viscous blue liquid shot with yellow. The slave brings the glass 
  to the prince. 
  Prince Dusac addresses specifically those at his own table. 
  “Now my guests, my honored elite, is the time to quaff of the 
  glass of Arioch himself, the cup of torment, the carafe of 
  malaise, the goblet of agony, the beaker of pain, the chalice of 
  distress. The Suffer Glass!” 
  So saying, the prince drinks deeply from the glass. At once 
  his face contorts in pain. Even as his features writhe in terrible 
  agony, his body twitching and spasming, there is a look upon 
  his face which bespeaks of wondrous enlightenment, a 
  glimpse into realms beyond even his advanced imagining. 
  As the glass passes around, each of the guests quaff it. The 
  effect on them is immediate and does not pass for half an hour. 
  No matter how much is dnmk from the glass, liquid always 
  remains for the next partaker. The adventurexs are expected to 
  drink also, and will be frowned upon if they do not. Such 
  behavior is reported to the prince afterwards and a good 
  excuse should be prepared. 
  SUCH EXQUISITE SUFFERING 
  H E  FEAST BREAMS UP. Prince Dusac retires to 
  his chambers. The rest of the revelers split into 
  smaller groups and wander elsewhere in the castle. 
  T 
  The Suffer Glass is taken away to the Summoning 
  Hall, which is now complete and empty. 
  The adventurers ma) leave the table with whomever they 
  please, or remain in the Great Hall. If they elect to follow the 
  glass or to follow Lord Jadlor, the results are seen below-see 
  ‘Lord Jadlor’s Expense.’ 
  LORD JADLOR’S E%PENSE 
  T I S  LORD JADLORS INTENTION to steal the 
  Suffer Glass this night and take it to the Army of the 
  I Balance. During his negotiations with Prince Rellvaan he 
  decided to change sides, more for his own survival than from 
  any philosophical motives. 
  Jadlor’s plan, if the adventurers do not intercede at any 
  stage, is as follows. He goes at once to the Summoning Hall. 
  There the suffering slave squats with the glass before him. 
  93 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  THE SWORD O F  HARMONY 
  HE SWORD I S  A great sword, pure white in color, 
  T 
  as though ceramic. It always hits for 16 points of 
  damage, and any Lawful or Chaotic creature from 
  another plane is instantly banished by its touch. In 
  combat it shines with a pure light, and sounds a radiant 
  humming. No one given to either Law or Chaos can 
  harm the wielder of the Sword of Harmony. In this 
  instance, given is defined as having more than 10 points 
  in Law or Chaos. 
  The sword and wielder strive for perfect Balance, with 
  each other and with the world around them. If ever the 
  wielder commits an act against this creed, or if the sword 
  is confronted by a cosmic event which challenges the 
  very foundation of the Balance, the sword shatters. 
  Unless halted, Jadlor slays the slave, and stows the glass in a 
  velvet pouch worn beneath his cloak. He descends the castle 
  stairs to the rear courtyard, where his mount awaits. Jadlor 
  announces that he is to make one last diplomatic gambit, and 
  demands that the gate be opened for him. He is obeyed and 
  flees into the night. 
  Once outside the walls he makes for the Army of the Balance. 
  It is a twenty minute ride, and he may be caught by pursuers 
  achieving Ride rolls. Again he claims that he is on a mission for 
  PMce Dusac. If all else fails he casts the spell Speed of Vezhan 
  on his horse and tries to make good his escape. 
  If Jadlor reaches the Balance army alive with the glass, he is 
  welcomed and thanked. Prince Rellvaan draws the Sword of 
  Harmony, and smashes the Suffer Glass. The adventurers have 
  failed, but only in Doctor Qua’s opinion. In a sense, the victory 
  is theirs, for they have thwarted the doctor’s plans by their own 
  inactivity. They must yet face his wrath. Proceed to The 
  Doctor’s Orders, at the scenario’s conclusion. 
  If Jadlor is captured by the adventurers, they are well 
  rewarded by the Prince of Crows, who promises a bag of silver 
  and new armor each. Under pain of subtle tortures, Jadlor 
  confesses his attempt to take the glass to the enemy. He has 
  seen the Sword of Harmony and knows it to be the deadly 
  enemy of the SufFer Glass. By offering up the glass, he hoped 
  to gain asylum with the Balance army. Once Prince Dusac has 
  decided he can get no more out of Jadlor, he orders Jadlor’s 
  slow death. 
  LORD JADLOR, TREASONOUS DIPLOMAT 
  Chaos 144, Balance 100, Law 51 
  STR11 
  CON13 
  SIZ15 
  INT18 
  POW17 
  DEXl2 
  APPlO 
  HP14 
  MP17 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Armor: none. 
  Weapons: Rapier 87%, damage 1D6+1 +db 
  Skills: Bargain la%, 
  Fast Talk 1369’0, Insight 1419’0, Melni- 
  bonean 101 %. Move Quietly 63%, Oratory 129%. 
  Spells: Demon’s Ear (1). Hell’s Razor (1-4), Liken Shape (4), Mid- 
  night (l), Speed of Vezhan (1-3). 
  PRINCE RELLVAAN, PRINCE OF EAGLES 
  Chaos 85, Balance 98, Law 89 
  STR18 
  CON17 
  SIZ17 
  INT23 
  POW24 
  DEX16 
  APP16 
  HP17 
  MP24 
  Armor: 1 D10+6 (helm on), Melnibonean Plate. 
  Weapon: Sword of Harmony 256%, damage 16+db 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Flames of Kakatal(4), Gift of 
  Grome (4), Invoke Fileet Lady of Birds 48%, Summon Elemental 
  (l), Wings of Lassa (4). 
  Skills: Call Eagle 115%, Dodge 168%, High Speech 90%, Melni- 
  bonean 115%, Million Spheres 51%, Oratory 115%. Ride la%, 
  Tactics 123%. 
  THE ARMY OF THE BALANCE 
  Select warriors from the Mehibonean Digest, deleting all spells 
  and summonings save those relating to the elements. 
  T H E  FATEFUL MESSENGER 
  FTER MIDNIGHT, any atop the walls note a 
  disturbance in the enemy camp. A rider pelts through 
  A 
  them, dodging blows, and breaks free to the castle. 
  The night-watch quickly open the gates to admit him, and 
  slam them shut before the enemy can exploit the momentary 
  breach. 
  Adventurers who are awake hear word of the arrival, or 
  perhaps even witness it if they are abroad. If they have retired 
  to their chambers, those making a Listen roll are woken by 
  sounds at their window, the clattering of hooves in the 
  courtyard below. 
  The rider’s name is Dyvlaak Tvim, and he wears the 
  black-and-silver uniform of the Dragon Troops of Prince 
  Asdarc. He has been wounded many times in his dash 
  through the enemy’s ranks, and a Physik roll notes that he is 
  near death. He gasps only “Take me to the prince,” and will 
  speak to none other, nor stop to receive healing. His news to 
  Dusac is that Asdarc sends his profound regrets, but can 
  spare no aid to Castle Crow in her hour of need, as all of his 
  forces are involved in the attack on H’hui’shan. 
  Dyvlaak’s arrival jeopardizes the adventurer’s cover. If 
  Asdarc has sent no troops, then who on earth are they? They 
  must act to silence the messenger. They can do this by 
  loudly declaring that he is a spy or an impostor, or simply 
  say that they were sent ahead, and that Asdarc must have 
  changed his mind since. 
  With successful Fast Talk rolls, Prince Dusac believes them, 
  for they have already done him great service in defeating the 
  Army of the Wind. They might also sidle up to the wounded 
  Dyvlaak and quietly stab him. A Conceal Object roll disguises 
  the weapon, and all assume that the fellow expired of his 
  wounds before he could deliver his message. Whether or not 
  he is stabbed, Dyvlaak soon dies. 
  If the adventurers do nothing to cover themselves, Prince 
  Dusac summons them and demands an explanation. His full 
  suspicions are roused, and only a successful Oratory 
  combined with a good story will allay them. If this fails, the 
  adventurers are seized and thrown into the dungeons beneath 
  Castle Crow. Prince Dusac promises them torture so novel that 
  they will admire its genius even as they shriek in pain, but he 
  delays commencement until after he has dealt with the 
  oncoming battle. The adventurers may sit harmlessly in the 
  cells, or attempt an escape. Such events are left to the 
  gamemaster. 
  94 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A S S  
  glass’ hiding place is not discovered, it survives into Doctor 
  Qua’s time. 
  T H E  ADVENTURERS’ DECISION 
  ITH BOTH JADLOR and the messenger dealt 
  with, all falls silent in Castle Crow, as the 
  W 
  defenders retire to their chambers, perhaps for the 
  last time. The adventurers are faced with a decision. What are 
  they to do regarding the glass? The ramifications of their 
  actions are discussed below, in the section headed Glass, 
  Sword, Adventurers. 
  This night is the adventurers’ first and last chance to act. If 
  they seize the opportunity, and visit the Balance army, or steal 
  the glass, the gamemaster must determine the outcome using 
  the guidelines below. If they are content to let events take their 
  course, dawn comes, and brings with it a war such as the 
  adventurers have never seen. 
  ADVENTURERS 
  HREE COMPONENTS determine the scenario’s 
  conclusion, and the fate of the future thereby. These 
  three are the Suffer Glass, the Sword of Harmony 
  T 
  and the adventurers themselves. 
  THE SWORD AND THE GLASS 
  The only thing that can break the Suffer Glass is a powerful 
  weapon of Law or the Balance, such as the Sword of 
  Harmony. Historically, this transpired, and the glass was 
  broken. 
  However, now the adventurers are present. If they take 
  action to either remove the glass or destroy the sword, history 
  will be changed. If they do nothing concerning the glass, and 
  never come into contact with the sword, history is assured, and 
  Doctor Qua is foiled. 
  THE ADVENTURERSAND THE SWORD 
  The only thing which can break the Sword of Harmony is a 
  chronic Imbalance. The adventurers are such an event. If ever 
  the adventurers and the sword should meet, Doctor Qua 
  incants the ritual which makes them real and human. This is 
  described below, under the heading Flesh and Bone. The 
  Balance is defied and the sword is sundered. With nothing left 
  to threaten it, the glass survives. 
  Two chances exist for the adventurers to meet Prince 
  Rellvaan, the wielder of the sword. The first is on the eve of 
  the siege, if they choose to ride out to the Army of the 
  Balance, either at their own behest or while pursuing Lord 
  Jadlor. The second is during the siege itself, when the 
  Balance army breaks through the walls and into Castle 
  Crow. 
  THE ADVENTURERSAND THE GLASS 
  If the adventurers steal the Suffer Glass, or hide it, or 
  otherwise keep it from the sword, then it is saved. If they are 
  suspected of such a theft, they are pursued by Prince Dusac 
  and his troops. The gamemaster can enact exciting scenes of 
  fight and flight. If the adventurers are not captured, or the 
  THE E N D  RESULT 
  F TH E GLASS I S  NOT destroyed, the future is 
  changed. Proceed to the section headed The Future in 
  If the glass is destroyed, the future is unaffected. Proceed to 
  I 
  chaos, below. 
  The Doctor’s Orders, located at the end of the scenario. 
  NCE DAY BREAMS, the Army of the Balance 
  stirs. Across the ranks and rows of soldiers there 
  is movement as thousands of figures rise as one. 
  0 
  The air above the army stirs with the summoned 
  forces of elementals and the noise of a hundred thousand 
  animals of all kinds as they arrive at the behest of the Beast 
  Lords. 
  Within Castle Crow the great summoning begins. Horrors 
  and beauties, martial and protective, demons of all 
  descriptions begin to mill in the Summoning Hall at the top of 
  the castle. The powers massed here are so great the siege is not 
  destined to last long. 
  ADVENTURERS IN THE BATTLE 
  The battle demonstrates the overwhelming power available to 
  the Melniboneans at this point of their history. The battle 
  follows none of the understandable tactics of conventional 
  combat. 
  The adventurers should have a chance to exchange blows 
  with enemies, but few engagements last more than a couple of 
  rounds before a burst of magic changes the ebb and flow of the 
  battle. This is not a toe-to-toe fight, but a vast and magical 
  conflict. 
  Have each adventurer roll on the Battle Events table a few 
  times. These simulate the bizarre and shifting nature of the 
  battle. 
  ENEMIES AND ALLIES 
  As needed, take statistics from the Melnibow‘an Digest to 
  represent the forces in the battle. 
  SIGHTS F R O M  
  THE B A H L E  O F  
  CASTLE CROW 
  ELOW ARE SOME OF THE sights and sounds 
  of the battle raging around and above the 
  B adventurers. 
  )A 
  thousand eagles fly into the eyes of great scaled demons 
  as they hop over the ramparts. 
  95 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  B A H L E  EVENTS TABLE 
  1. A warrior of the Balance engages the adventurer in melee. Next round, 
  the opponent is pulled headfirst into the air by a laughing demon. 
  2. A javelin composed of glowing blue light is hurled at the adventurer, 
  and he or she must roll Dodge to avoid it. If hit, the adventurer is 
  paralyzed for 1 D10 rounds unless able to resist its POT of 20 with his 
  or her CON. 
  3. Golden eagles dive down on the adventurer, causing him or her 1 D20 
  points of damage in accumulated pecking and taloning. Next round a 
  swarm of ravens intercepts the eagles, and the air is filled with black 
  and gold feathers. 
  4. A battlement near the adventurer collapses into sand. Roll Jump for the 
  adventurer, or he or she is buried. If buried, he or she suffocates as per 
  the Drowning rules unless rescued by a comrade. 
  5. A demon fighting alongside the adventurer suddenly detonates. The 
  adventurer is caught in the fringe of the blast, for 2D6 points of dam- 
  age. 
  6. The air around the adventurer becomes liquid. Unless he or she has 
  the Breath of Life spell, drowning begins. Movement through the liquid 
  is at half normal speed. The effect passes after 1 D10 rounds. 
  7. A noise of impossible pitch sounds. Unless the adventurer receives a 
  roll of CON x5 or less, he or she blacks out for 1 D6 rounds. 
  8. A Balance warrior riding on a sylph races past the adventurer, aiming a 
  blow in passing. Unless parried, the blow causes 1 D8+1+1 D4 dam- 
  age. 
  9. A wild boar charges the adventurer, on fire and squealing. Unless 
  Dodged, its tusks strike for 1 D8+2D6. The burning pig keeps running. 
  10. Three warriors of the Balance attack the adventurer. Prince Dusac 
  charges forward and slays two of them outright with one thrust of each 
  of his swords. The adventurer must deal with the third. 
  11. A powerful wind elemental tosses the adventurer high into the air. A 
  swooping demon rescues him or her before he or she hits the ground. 
  12. A doud of raging purple fire arcs across the ranks of the defenders. 
  The adventurer must roll his or her Luck or be ignited for 1 D6 points of 
  damage. 
  13. The ground underneath the adventurer disappears as a gnome shifts 
  it aside. The adventurer must receive a successful Jump roll, or fall 
  into the hole for 1 D6 damage. 
  14. A deafening explosion gives the adventurer concussion unless the 
  player can roll CON x5. Failing, the adventurer can do nothing but 
  crawl on hands and knees for 1 D10 rounds. 
  15. A mounted knight charges down on the adventurer with a steel lance. 
  Seconds before impact, horse and rider are tumed to stone. 
  16. A carpet of venomous snakes slither around the adventurer. With a 
  successful Luck roll, they bite harmlessly at the adventurer's stout 
  boots. Failing the roll, one grazes a thigh and injects adder venom of 
  POT 10. 
  17. Demon guts rain down on the adventurer, debris from some mid-air 
  combat. Failing a Dexterity roll, he or she slips over in the muck. 
  18. A fire elemental grazes across the heads of the defenders. Failing a 
  Luck roll, the adventurer is set alight for 1 D6 points of damage per 
  round. 
  19. Aprismatic ripple of air appears. The adventurer must roll Dexterity to 
  avoid it. Failing, he or she and the stones nearby are hurled into 
  another plane where purple grass waves slowly under a bloated red 
  sun. After a few moments, a demon pops up through the grass to carry 
  him back to the battle. 
  20. An arrow strikes the adventurer for 2D6+1 damage. 
  w-- 
  96 
  >The noisome smell of plague demons infests 
  everything as they stand upon the battlements 
  and turn to slimy ooze, dripping their diseased 
  matter upon the heads of the enemy. 
  >Gnomes begin to tear apart the walls, while 
  demons of all kinds devour them with glee. 
  >A barrage of sylphs lift Balance warriors over 
  the walls, but the defenders waiting there 
  impale them on gleaming spikes. 
  >Hordes of tiny demons pour out of rents in the 
  castle to bedevil the attackers. 
  >Fierce battle lust shines in the eyes of the 
  Melniboneans on both sides, sometimes made 
  poignant by the ironic realization that they are 
  slaying their own kin. 
  >A dirge to the Lords of Chaos is on the lips of 
  Captain Karndell as he is systematically tom 
  to pieces by the razor claws of a hundred 
  lionesses. 
  >Prince Dusac fights with a red great sword in 
  each hand, his lean frame swelled to powerful 
  proportions by the blessings of the Dukes of 
  Hell. 
  >Prince 
  Rellvaan, a tall blond figure, oddly 
  familiar, wielding a sword which flashes with 
  scorching white light that no demon or Chaos 
  warrior can withstand. 
  THE RETREAT 
  HE FORCES ASSAILING THE castle 
  prove too strong. The wall crumbles and 
  sounds the retreat, and all who can fall back to 
  make a stand at the Great Hall. The enemy is hard 
  on his heels. The adventurers may regroup with 
  him as he falls back 
  T 
  the Balance army surges in. Prince Dusac 
  >A successful Dexterity roll allows them to be by 
  his side. 
  >Those who fail find that one average opponent 
  stands between them and retreat. 
  >Those who fumble the roll face 1 D6 opponents, 
  and must fight their way through or perish. 
  Companions nearby may help, but this requires 
  a Search roll to notice that a compatriot in 
  trouble. 
  Within the hall, the prince seizes the Suffer Glass, 
  ready to defend it with his life (unless the glass has 
  already been hidden by the adventurers). He calls 
  his patron Arioch to the fray. 
  The door is battered open, and there stands 
  Prince Rellvaan at the head of his form, holding 
  aloft the shining Sword of Harmony. The two 
  princes stare at each other, and it is suddenly clear 
  to onlookers that they are in fact twin brothers, 
  their kinship severed by the Civil War. One chose 
  to serve the cup of pain, the other the sword of 
  justice. They gaze at each other, light and dark 
  reflected, and then rush together. 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  G L A S S  
  =TOR QUA SEES everything through the eyes 
  of the adventurers. As soon as they are near the 
  Sword of Harmony, he plays his hand. 
  D 
  At once a strange sensation comes over the 
  adventurers. A blinding glow envelopes them, and everyone 
  else present falls back, shielding their eyes. The adventurers 
  warp and change, and suddenly stand before the assembled 
  MelnibonCans in their true human form. After being 
  Melnibohn for so long, their real bodies seem flabby and 
  ungainly, ape-like and hairy. The voice of Doctor Qua rings 
  out from across the gulf of time. Already a wind is whirling 
  through the hall, tainted with yellow and red. 
  “Thank you, my pets. Your presence has altered the subtle 
  forces of the Balance. See how the instrument of the glass’ 
  destruction is itself destroyed. Your very humanity has 
  doomed the future of your race. Oh, exquisite irony.” 
  The Sword of Harmony loses its luster. Its blade darkens and 
  becomes riven with cracks. It shatters, falling in dead pieces at 
  Rellvaan’s feet. 
  All else, for the adventurers, is gold and crimson. The scene 
  blurs and disappears. On the journey back they can reflect on 
  how cruelly they have been ticked. The T i e  Wind shrieks at 
  their senses. Adventurers receive the improved chance of CON 
  x4 to stay conscious, as they have felt these winds before. 
  H E  ADVENTURERS ARRIVE at the place 
  from which they left, the Summoning Chamber of 
  Doctor Qua. It is still the same edifice, its design and 
  T 
  nature as before, except that the Suffer Glass stands 
  pristine and whole on its black pedestal. 
  Outside, things are by no means the same. Through the 
  windows, the graceful towers of Imrryr are gone. In their place 
  is seething Chaos stuff, ever changing, ever reforming. The 
  landscape is sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly, but never 
  static. Whole coastlines and cities form, only to be swept away 
  in the next chaos whim. 
  CHANGING WITH THE TIMES 
  The heritage of humanity has changed. The adventurers’ 
  players must now make Luck rolls. Success means that 
  although the adventurers are now slightly debased versions of 
  themselves, they are essentially the same. Failure means they 
  have been altered by the fact that the Young Kingdoms grew to 
  maturity under the blanket of Chaos. Subtract ID6 from APP, 
  INT, and POW. A fumbled roll means that they have not been 
  born at all, and vanish soon after their return. If the past is set 
  DOCTOR QUA, I PRESUME? 
  to rights, these changes are rectified, even that of complete 
  annihilation. 
  THE DOCTOR OF DISORDER 
  H E DO0 R TO TH E Summoning Chamber shudders 
  open. Doctor Qua enters. He is no longer the urbane 
  legs and two drooling mouths. Behind him comes a surge of 
  chaos matter, carrying demons. The demons in turn bear the 
  forms of any comrades who have been sent back to this time 
  through their deaths in the past. 
  “It is true!” the doctor exclaims. “The readings were correct 
  and here you are! Oh my friends, will you help?” 
  A successful Insight roll establishes that Qua has changed 
  inwardly as well as outwardly. Once a cruel sorcerer who 
  sought only for Chaos, now he is a worried scholar who strives 
  to rescind the mistakes of the past. 
  Qua tells the history of the Suffer Glass. The glass was saved 
  from near destruction by the bizarre appearance of humans at 
  the battle of Castle Crow, an act which shattered the Sword of 
  Harmony, the only weapon capable of destroying the glass. 
  The humans vanished, and in their place Arioch appeared, in 
  answer to the call of Prince Dusac the Raven. The Duke of the 
  Seven Darks utterly vanquished the forces of the Balance, and 
  as his reward drank deep from the glass, as he had before he 
  came to this plane. With this act the true power of the glass 
  T 
  Mehibonkan, but a pulsating gibbous thing with six 
  97 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  HE KEY THATQUA has given the adventurers is 
  T 
  a small gibbering demon, soft and round. It cannot 
  speak, merely nod and roll its putrid yellow eyeballs and 
  look encouraging. 
  was unleashed. Chaos was given utter dominion upon the 
  world, and all lands were made one. 
  Qua has studied the Glass for many years, and knows how 
  the adventurers may undo what they have done. If he sends 
  them back on the winds of time, they must destroy the glass 
  before its power is invoked, defying Arioch himself. They can 
  accomplish this by entering the glass, by means of a sentient 
  demon key which he gives to them. Once within the glass, 
  they must locate its core and destroy it. This will ensure their 
  return and set everything to rights. 
  Qua gives them little time to decide. With his new chaos 
  powers he is able to summon the Time Winds with one 
  fluttering gesticulation and three short syllables. Once again, 
  the adventurers are swept away. 
  BACK TO THE PAST 
  CAIN VIA TH E CHAOS wind the adventurers are 
  swept back in time. They stay conscious with a 
  A 
  SuC~Sful 
  CON fi roll. 
  They arrive at exactly the same time and place that they left, 
  as the Sword of Harmony shatters forever. This may have 
  occurred at the camp of the Army of the Balance, or in the 
  Great Hall of Castle Crow. 
  The adventurers must reach the Suffer Glass. If Prince 
  Dusac has it, this is comparatively easy. If they hid it 
  somewhere, they must first escape, using the momentary 
  confusion of the sword’s destruction to slip away. They may 
  soon be pursued by both the forces of Chaos and the Balance, 
  depending on how they have allied themselves. 
  Once they have the glass, the demon key does the rest. With 
  a high-pitched gibber and a noxious squirt it dissolves itself 
  into a greenish ichor. It floods over the adventurers, 
  transforming their flesh into fluid. They swirl around and into 
  the glass, and plunge downwards into the strange world of the 
  Suffer Glass, the Suffer Plane. 
  ROM THE RAGE and horror of the Melnibonhn 
  Civil War the adventurers are plunged into a world 
  which seems at first to be one of quietude and 
  F 
  placidity. They stand upon the shore of a surging 
  river, with a lowering mucus-green sky palpitating overhead. 
  A Listen roll hears wails and moans from the river and the far 
  shore, the sounds of suffering. 
  w 
  98 
  THE DEMON RAFT 
  THICK MIST DESCENDS upontheriver, bilious 
  green, like the sky. Out of the mist drifts a raft. The 
  A 
  craft is created from hundreds of bodies lashed 
  together. Each is still alive and aware of their situation. They 
  moan and gibber and their eyes roll. Piloting the craft is a 
  hideous demon, a great many-eyed seeping thing with muscles 
  bulging like burst flesh. Its toothless head grins at the 
  adventurers as it beckons them aboard. 
  “Where would you go?” the demon asks. “I go to the seat of 
  the King of Torment. Have you the stomach for judgement?” 
  If the adventurers decline, the demon cannot resist its stock 
  joke. It pulls a pulsating human stomach out from under its 
  robes and tosses it at the adventurers’ feet. “There,n it says, 
  “now you have.” If the adventurers refuse to go with him they 
  must wait until he returns one day later. Exploration of the 
  shores of the river reveals dead landscape and more 
  oppressive cries of pain. Among the cries the adventurers 
  identify people whose suffering they have caused. After this 
  time, the reappearance of the boatman should be a relief. 
  If they choose to board, the demon has a toll to extract. A 
  hidden appendage shoots out from the demon’s throat, tipped 
  with a rusted and leprous claw. The claw only causes 1D4 
  damage, but it leaves a hideous scar. This is the demon’s price. 
  A Dodge roll evades the throat-claw, but the person cannot 
  climb on board and must wait on the bank. 
  Adventurers who are scarred must roll Luck. On a success 
  the scar is somewhere unnoticeable. Failure means it is on the 
  face, and the adventurer must deduct one point of APP. A 
  fumble means that the demon has inflicted a hideous scar upon 
  the adventurer’s visage, causing 1D6 lost points of APP. These 
  scars are borne by the adventurers for the rest of their days, 
  and defy any alteration in time to correct or remove. 
  THE RIVER DEMON, HIDEOUS BOATMAN 
  The demon reacts badly to attacks from the adventurers. Such of- 
  fenders earn an instant position as part of the raft’s complement 
  of bodies, moaning and gibbering along with the rest of them. 
  Lashed adventurers remain so until rescued by their comrades. 
  STR50 
  CON89 
  SI241 
  INT14 
  POW27 
  DEX19 
  MOV10 
  HP 65 
  Damage Bonus: +5D6 
  Abilities: Hidden Claw. at 150%, damage is 1 D4 plus a scar for 
  1 APP unless a Luck roll is made. 
  Paralyze, at loo%, victim must resist the demon’s CON of 89. 
  Paralyzed victims are grabbed and lashed to the raft. When their 
  paralysis wears off, they can escape the raft on a roll of STR x l  , 
  but each attempt causes them 1 D6 damage. Reduced to zero hit 
  points, they find that they cannot die, but nor can they escape ev- 
  ermore. 
  Armor: the demon can sustain vast amounts of pain and does 
  not bleed, so all weapons cause minimum possible damage. 
  Need: scar any passengers traveling on the raft, after inflicting 
  them with the stomach joke. 
  Skills: Search 100%. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 85. 
  
  T H E  
  S U F F E R  
  C L A S 5  
  H E DEMON PI LOTS T H  E raft across the river of 
  phlegm. The demon’s sole topic of conversation rests 
  T 
  on how greatly the passengers will suffer when they 
  meet the King of Torment. 
  The landscape is dead and sickening. On both sides of the 
  river can be seen figures twisted with pain. A man wanders 
  along the shore, calling to the raft. His entrails are over his 
  shoulder, and dogs pursue him as they sup. 
  THETHRONE OF PAIN 
  HE RAFT REACHES THE POINTwheretheriver 
  appears to end, or perhaps where it begins. A massive 
  runs up to the huge standing gates. On all surfaces of the 
  chamber are depicted scenes of pain and suffering so terrible 
  as to make the things the adventurers have seen so far pale by 
  comparison. The demon makes the adventurers step off onto 
  the ramp, and frees those who have been part of the raft. “If 
  you cannot defeat him, all the suffering you have caused 
  others will be visited on you a thousandfold. I hope you were 
  kind to those you met in life.” Guffawing, the demon departs. 
  At the top of the ramp, the gates open onto the sole room of 
  the floating chamber. The entire room is lined with surging 
  chaos matter. The King of Torment sits within, awaiting the 
  raft’s cargo. He is a handsome man, whose body is a feast of 
  pain and lacerations, of suppurating wounds and festering 
  sores. His throne is made of spikes, burning coals, nails and 
  ground glass, all entwined around a stone frame. He is 
  massive, at least ten feet tall, and he beams down at the 
  adventurers. 
  T 
  chamber floats upon the water and a mile-wide ramp 
  THE KING’S CHALLENGE 
  HE KING WELCOMES THE adventurers heartily 
  and offers his challenge, without ado. “Hear this: if you 
  you are mine.” At this a panoply of suffering individuals is 
  T 
  defeat me, I am destroyed and you are free. Fail and 
  H E  KING I S  A greater demon, almost agod on this 
  T 
  plane. He is immune to pain of all kinds, so that any 
  damage inflicted upon him grants him more power over 
  this terrible domain. The foaming stuff around him is the 
  surging power of Chaos, just waiting to break out of the 
  glass and upon the world, bringing suffering with it. 
  The King may pluck anything out of the chaos matter 
  he sees fit, though he is unlikely to, since he disdains 
  combat, having no need. (The adventurers can form 
  individual objects by exerting their own wills, but they’ll 
  have to come up with the idea on their own.) When the 
  adventurers have ceased to amuse him, he merely 
  plucks a lasso of iron from the walls and binds them in 
  it. Demons come to take them to their torments. The 
  world remains as it is, until such times as Qua finds more 
  debased humans to send on his quest. 
  THE KING OF TORMENT 
  99 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  flashed before the eyes of the adventurers. All manner of 
  mental and physical torment is theirs to feast upon. The 
  King plucks a fistful of chaos matter out of the wall and 
  forms it into a sword. He throws it at the feet of the 
  adventurers. “his is chaos, and capable of anything.” Then 
  the King merely laughs, folds his arms and waits for their 
  attack. 
  DEFEATlNC THE KING 
  H E K I NC CAN BE defeated, and easily. With every 
  sword thrust, with every lash, with every punch he 
  feeling none of it. Indeed, he seems to grow larger each 
  time. 
  The adventurers may end his reign and destroy the glass 
  simply by making him comfortable. A pillow or cushion 
  plucked from the walls of Chaos would ease his suffering. A 
  successful use of an Art or Craft might take his mind off 
  T 
  laughs and delights. “More!” he cries, as though 
  THE TAINT 
  OF MELNIBONE 
  things. Five comforts in succession and he is defeated. He 
  screams for the adventurers to stop as he feels better and 
  better. At last, when it is all too much, the walls around him 
  shatter, and there is a deafening sound of breaking glass. The 
  adventurers are hurled back out of the Suffer Plane, and back 
  to the worldly location of the glass. 
  THE END OFTHEGLASS 
  O M  E TI M E HAS passed since the adventurers 
  dissolved into the glass. The scene of their return is one 
  5 
  of victory for Chaos. Prince Rellvaan lies dead at the feet 
  of his brother, Prince Dusac. A terrible figure towers over the 
  brooding prince, Arioch of the Seven Darks. Arioch holds the 
  Suffer Glass to his lips, ready to drink the blood of Rellvaan, 
  spilled by his brother’s hand. 
  Arioch’s refreshment turns to blinding pain as the glass 
  cracks apart. He roars with anger, but already the Time 
  Wind is embracing the adventurers and bearing them away 
  to safety. 
  Chaos has lost the Suffer Glass, but won the 
  war. The adventurers catch a glimpse of the 
  terrible desolation of H’hui’shan. But the loss 
  is not eternal. Other heroes and champions 
  will come to restore the Balance, even from 
  among the ranks of the Melniboneans 
  themselves. 
  ECOMlNGMELNlBONkAN might have a profound effect on a 
  B human. Players should attempt POW x l  rolls for each adventurer. 
  With a success, add 1 D3 to their INT, add one point to their Chaos box, 
  and roll once on the Taint Table. Failures suffer no effect but for 
  occasional nightmares. 
  TAINT TABLE 
  Roll 1 D8 
  1. Ca//ous. The adventurer becomes indifferent to all suffering, even 
  his or her own. 
  2. Chaos-aligned. The adventurer forgoes previous vows and takes up 
  the cause of Chaos. 
  3. Haunfed. The adventurer sees visions of a bleak and desolate fu- 
  ture, in which entropy reduces all things. There is no hope. 
  4. Distant. The adventurer finds it difficult to appreciate ordinary life. 
  Visions of greater knowledge are teasingly perceived. 
  5. Dragonkin. The adventurer has been profoundly changed by asso- 
  ciation with dragons. From now on h e  or she can communicate with 
  dragons like a Melnibonean. but the adventurer also becomes dark 
  of outlook and chaotic and random in nature. 
  6. Chaos Whimsy. The adventurer always uses random means to 
  make decisions, even vital ones. 
  7. Doom-Driven. The adventurer perceives his or her own doom, 
  brought by constant warfare, struggle, and strife. Violence becomes 
  more attractive, because it will lead him or her to a true wyrd. 
  8. Cursed. The adventurer is permanently transformed into the Melni- 
  bodan form assumed during the time journey. Family and friends 
  no longer welcome him or her. Shunned in the human Young King- 
  doms, he or she may need to align with Chaos in order to survive. 
  OR THE LAST TIME THE 
  adventurers ride the Time Wind, and 
  may make CON x5 rolls to avoid passing 
  out. It leaves them where they started, 
  in MelnibonC. All is at it should be. Imrryr is 
  still here, fair and delicate in the evening air. 
  Doctor Qua waits impatiently, MelnibonCan 
  once more, his greedy eyes fixed eagerly on the 
  shards of the glass. When it does not 
  reassemble, he turns on the adventurers with a 
  terrible glare. Because they averted the future’s 
  doom, his mutation therefore never occurred. 
  He has no memory of being a Chaos 
  monstrosity, nor of sending them back to 
  specifically destroy the glass. He thinks that 
  they have betrayed him, by refusing to save the 
  glass and simply returning here. Granted, he 
  learned much of the time of the Civil War by 
  watching through their eyes, but it is not 
  enough. He wanted the glass restored. 
  The adventurers might convince Qua of their 
  loyalty with a detailed explanation, and an 
  100 
  
  T H E  
  I U F F E R  
  C L A 5 5  
  Oratory roll. Even if he believes them, he throws them out of 
  his tower without reward. They have failed him. 
  The adventurers may feel that they have a score to settle 
  with the doctor. Qua tries weakly to summon demonic help, 
  but his efforts with the Time Winds have exhausted him. He 
  is not wearing his cloak, and thus cannot teleport away. He 
  has only his demon scimitar for his defence, and is quick to 
  surrender. 
  His slaves are in such a drugged state they merely watch 
  the adventurers depart. Kindly adventurers may even wish 
  to aid them to escape, but the slaves are not interested. They 
  wave the adventurers farewell and return to their duties. 
  Until the drugs wear off, at least, they are content. 
  There is little in the way of monetary or material rewards 
  for the adventurers, unless they take things into their own 
  hands. If Qua has been killed or subdued, the tower has 
  many treasures in coin and knowledge. The amount looted 
  is up to them, but if they take too much, the slaves begin to 
  get jittery about these interlopers ransacking their master's 
  belongings, and send for help. An Insight roll can help 
  establish this, and an Evaluate roll determines what a 
  reasonable amount would be: per person 5,OOO bronzes, one 
  grimoire written in High Speech, and one of the V-model 
  enchanted swords. 
  Finally, the adventurers must return to the Foreign 
  Quarter through the streets of Imrryr. The Encounters in 
  Imrryr table provides some sample run-ins with 
  Melniboneans before the adventurers are safely back at 
  their ship or inn. Once there, they can rest at last, but their 
  dreams that night are haunted by visions of the endless 
  suffering of humankind. 
  By ensuring that the Suffer Glass remained destroyed, as 
  decreed by history, adventurers have aided the Balance. 
  They gain four points each in their Balance boxes, and at 
  their individual option may also subtract three points from 
  their Chaos boxes. 0 
  I01 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  ESOLATE AND LOVELY the Ghost of Cities 
  I broods, above a plain that has never known the 
  ravages of time. It owes fealty neither to Law nor 
  Chaos. Only mortal creatures of the Young 
  Kingdoms are able to enter its gates, and then only as ghosts, 
  or in dreams. 
  Two sorcerers have lately come upon this city. Jaxoon 
  D’aan, a MelnibonCan dreamer, has lost his soul to it, 
  THE GHOST TOWER 
  . 
  A PORTION OF THE GHOST TOWER 
  becoming a ghost amongst the others peopling the Ghost of 
  Cities. Embol Krang, an evil Pan Tangian, is clawing his way 
  back from the living death into which his botched sorceries 
  have flung him. The adventurers, journeying in search the 
  dreaming D’aan, find their souls enthralled by the splendor 
  and loneliness of the Ghost of Cities, and then imperiled by the 
  vile Embol Krang. 
  THE INVITATION 
  HIS SCENARIO ASSUMES that the adventurers 
  are in Imrryr. They receive a scented missive from 
  yn D’aan. Slaves in the gray livery of the tower wait upon 
  them that evening. They usher the adventurers into a 
  carriage of a shimmering onyx drawn by beasts apparently 
  carved from the same material, whose ruby eyes glint with 
  demonic intelligence. 
  The coach carries them swiftly through the dark streets of 
  Imrryr, its common slave and beast quarters, past roaming 
  dreamers who give way before the dull flare of the team’s 
  eyes. High above, a violet and sapphire sunset tints Imrryr’s 
  delicate towers with a myriad impossible hues. 
  As night falls, they are lit on their way by one of the 
  slaves, who dowses himself in sweet smelling oils and then 
  sets himself afire, running tirelessly before the coach until 
  they reach the tower doors. 
  T 
  the mistress of the Ghost Tower, the Lady Klo’astra 
  s 
  TOWER 
  HIS TOWER I S  typical of Imrryr architecture in 
  some ways. It is tall and slender and beautiful, 
  tapering to a spire thousands of feet from the ground. 
  seamless crystal. During the day, the tower seems ethereal. It 
  T 
  Its composition is unique. It is built of an opaque, 
  102 
  
  T H E  
  G H O S T  
  OF 
  CITIES 
  is solid, but no mark can be made on its substance, and no rain 
  falls on it. It seems barely to touch this world, as unreal and 
  lovely as a lost dream. 
  At dusk, the tower gains presence, and an unearthly luster. It 
  has a definite height and breadth and is affected as normal by 
  the elements. If the radiant walls are examined closely, human 
  shapes seem to move inside, as if the tower were 
  semi-transparent. However, the shadows and their actions bear 
  no actual relationship to the dwellers within the tower. 
  The family within it is unusual by Melnibc4an standards, in 
  that everyone has some grasp of Common Tongue. Some 
  years ago this skill was installed magically for their use during 
  a masque and play, and then was forgotten. Few of 
  consequence in Imrryr would bother to learn a slaves’ argot, 
  though its knowledge is widespread among those who must 
  deal with humans. 
  WELCOME 
  HE DYING E M B E R S  OF the torch-slave are 
  shoveled aside. Carpets of rose petals, crushed 
  T 
  lavender, and sweet basil leaves are laid down from the 
  coach to the door. 
  The adventurers are led up countless flights of stairs. Plants 
  thrive in the stairwell, vying with each other to pleasure their 
  senses. Fruits, variegated foliage, and flowers give off both 
  sweet and bitter fragrances, so that the sweet never becomes 
  cloying, and no single scent dominates. These calculated 
  blends create exquisite perfumes that alternatively relax and 
  intoxicate. When they f i l l y  reach the head of the stairs, the 
  adventurers feel refreshed rather than exhausted. The tower’s 
  planner apparently had a subtle and harmonious mind. 
  On the T i l  floor, creepers, flowers and patterned leaves 
  cover the walls in living tapestries. Stingless velvet bees 
  compete with miniature hummingbirds for their nectar. 
  A successful Search roll notes a Melnibonk standing amid 
  this vegetable splendor. He is an older man, flaccid-faced and 
  unmoving. Creepers grow over him, and a pair of emerald and 
  sapphire hummingbirds nest in the crook of his elbow. He is 
  breathing but otherwise unresponsive. The slaves do not 
  remark upon him, and usher the adventurers onwards. 
  They pass through a series of libraries, with high shelves 
  and long reading tables. Each table is lit by a candle floating in 
  a bowl of water lilies. The libraries are filled with works 
  almost exclusively botanical, dealing with the vegetation of all 
  the planes which the Melnibonkans have ever inhabited, 
  visited, or speculated about. There is a small section devoted 
  to the complex etiquette of Imrryr, and another devoted to 
  sorceries. 
  A Melnibon&n boy is here, goggling at the pictures in a 
  book on succubi. Two great red, misty eyes, hovers 
  protectively in the air over its charge. The boy is A’Ary, and 
  the floating eyes belong to his demon, Fidelak. Interrupted, he 
  rudely orders the adventurers away. If they disappear 
  immediately, he forgets them. One word, or any tendency to 
  linger, and he remembers them. The later consequences of this 
  are dire. 
  A’ARY 
  A’Ary is Klo’astra yn’s son, a pallid thirteen year old. His 
  mother dresses him in the costliest fashions which he rapidly 
  reduces to comfortable, dirty rags. 
  ww 
  103 
  THE SLEEPER IN THE FLOWERS 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  A’Ary is reckless, quarrelsome. and self-absorbed. He rarely 
  considers the consequences of his actions. He is a bully, and 
  has the makings of a fine sadist (although the word has a 
  different meaning in Melnibonb society). 
  Fidelak is the only creature to attract the passionate affection 
  he otherwise reserves for himself. A’Ary dotes on the monster, 
  feeding it choice scraps for which it has no use, and claiming 
  for it rights and privileges normally reserved for 
  Melnibodans. His family tolerate this, knowing that he will 
  soon be old enough to be interested in adult occupations, and 
  then Fidelak will be relegated to its proper place. 
  A’AW, pallld 13 yearold son 
  Chaos 61, Balance 2, Law 9 
  STR13 
  CON12 
  SIZ9 
  INT15 
  POW17 
  DEX15 
  APP14 
  HP 11 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Weapons: Dagger 40%, damage 1 D4+2 
  Light Mace 31 %, damage 1 D6+2 
  Buckler 29%, kb+l D2.15 HP. 
  Spells: Liken Shape (4), Summon Demon (1). 
  Skills: Climb 62%, Common Tongue 30%, Dodge 59%, Hide 
  53%, High Speech 5%, Jump 46%, Melnibonean 75%. Move Qui- 
  etly 64%, Potions 21 %, Ride 50%. Search 44%, Scribe 20%, 
  Swim 51 %. 
  FIDELAH 
  Fidelak is A’Ary’ guardian demon. Fidelak appears as a pair of 
  large red eyes, two yards apart, attached to a semicorporeal 
  wisp of grayish smoke. A Search roll notes a fine, glittering 
  line that tethers one eye to the other. This is Fidelak’ mouth. 
  When angered, Fidelak rushes at the provoking object, and 
  opens its mouth, which gapes four yards high and two yards 
  wide. Within is a fanged maw, fringing a golden gullet that 
  leads to a spinning void. 
  Fidelak acts to protect the family, in particular A’Ary, whom 
  he shadows as a normal child would be accompanied by a 
  devoted pup. 
  FIDELAK, mostly invisible guardian demon 
  STR30 
  CON30 
  SIZ30 
  INT9 
  POW 12 
  DEX 14 
  MOV float-7 
  HP 30 
  Damage Bonus: +3D8 
  Abilities: Void Gullet, at 80%, anything swallowed by Fidelak 
  falls into the void, and is lost. 
  See, at 150%. 
  Armor: none, but Is immaterial, affected only by demon or en- 
  chanted weapons. 
  Need: Pant like a dog. 
  Magic Point Cost to Summon: 37. 
  THE MEETING 
  EYOND THE LIBRARIES isa botanical laboratory 
  several stories high, whose roof can evidently open, like 
  B 
  a great petalled iris, into the sky. 
  The lady Klo’astra yn is in the Iris, together with Theese and 
  Mariad. Klo’astra yn is completing a simple but rather 
  absorbing experiment. Theese is watching in admiring 
  indolence. Mariad is taking notes in a manner neither 
  scientific nor particularly methodical, pausing in her writing to 
  make helpful asides, such as “What was that phrase again 
  mother?” and “Could you spell that please?” 
  THE LADY HLO’ASTRAYN D’AAN 
  Klo’ash yn is the Mistress of the Ghost Tower. She is as 
  slender, remote, and typically MelnibonQn as her dwelling 
  place. She is 39 years old. She wears elegant clothes of gray 
  and muted green. 
  Klo’astra yn is wise, courte.ous, and soft-spoken, although 
  her genuine indifference to the common run of humanity 
  makes her appear vague. She spends most of her time 
  absorbed in her studies, still recovering from the deep hurt that 
  her father’s departure eight years ago inflicted on her. 
  KLOASTRA YN D’AAN, 
  Mistress of the Ghost Tower 
  Chaos 150, Balance 135, Law 34 
  STR11 
  CON12 
  SI213 
  INT19 
  POW27 
  DEX17 
  APP19 
  HP13 
  MP27 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Bounty of Straasha (4), Flames 
  of Kakatal(4), Gift of Grome (4), Heal (2), Liken Shape (a), Make 
  Fast (l), Make Whole (3), Moonrise (l), Summon Demon (l), 
  Summon Elemental (1). Undo Magic (1 -4), Visage of Arioch (1-3), 
  Wings of Lassa (4). Wisdom of Slortar. 
  Skills: Aesthetics 90%, Art (Compose Verse) 82%, Common 
  Tongue 45%, Control Children 35%, Craft (Gems) 97%. Evaluate 
  79%, Glide Soundlessly 85%, High Speech 21 %, Listen 47%. 
  Melnibonean 145%, Million Spheres 15%, Natural World 149%, 
  Potions 96%, Ride 60%, Scenuaste 77%, Scribe 70%. 
  MARIAD 
  Mariad is Klo’astra yn’s fifteen year old daughter. Her 
  resemblance to her mother is striking. She wears a flowing 
  dress of emerald green. Her earrings, necklace and belt are of 
  jade, hung with small, sweet-tongued bells. She wears wreaths 
  of fresh flowers in her hair. She restlesslv braids flowers and 
  leaves together whenever she has nothini better to do. 
  Mariad is less intelligent and more self-absorbed than 
  Klo’astra yn, with the supremely thick skin of a confident 
  teenager. Mariad is as hurt by her mother’s lack of interest in 
  her & Klo’astra yn was by Jaxoon’s. A lot of her actions stem 
  from this, as she attempts to attract and hold on to her mother’s 
  attention. Her relationship with Theese is in part a product of 
  this, in part a desire to prove herself better than Klo’astra yn, 
  and part a working out of adolescent rebellion. Genuine love 
  for Theese is not really present. Her elders indulge her in this 
  flirtation. 
  MARIAD, stormy 15 yearold daughter 
  Chaos 68, Balance 11, Law 9 
  STR14 
  CON12 
  SI211 
  INTl6 
  POW23 
  DEX15 
  APP17 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Armor: none. 
  Weapons: Shortsword 63%, damage 1 D6+1+1 D4 
  Dagger 45%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Buckler 72%, kb+l D2+1 D4.15 HP 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), Gift of Grome (4), Liken Shape 
  (4). Moonrise (l), Summon Elemental (l), Visage of Arioch (1-3). 
  Skills: Boss Slaves and Siblings 90%. Common Tongue 15%, 
  Conceal Object 39%, Craft (Braid Flowers) 87%, Dodge 64%, 
  Dote on Parent 56%. High Speech 5%, Listen 19%, Mehibonean 
  80%, Move Quietly 53%. Natural World 31 %. Potions 14%, Ride 
  40%, Scenflaste 37%, Search 42%. 
  v 
  104 
  
  T H E  
  C H O 5 T  
  OF 
  CITIEI 
  THEESE 
  Theese is extremely pale, an appearance he fakes with 
  cosmetics when necessary. He is the most fashionable of the 
  menage-a-trois, and takes pride in maintaining an air of 
  extreme lethargy and complete indifference. 
  Theese is an intelligent, passionate man with an inquiring 
  mind and enthusiastic nature, which constantly breaks through 
  his attempts at composure. He is deeply attached to Klo'astra 
  yn, but shows no outward sign of affection. He regards h4ariad 
  as an amusing divexsion. 
  THEESE WAF, LANGUID LOVER 
  STR13 
  CON10 
  SI215 
  INT18 
  POW22 
  DEX15 
  APP20 
  HP13 
  MP22 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapons: Rapier 47%. damage 1 D6+1 +db 
  Dagger 42%, damage 1 D4+2+1 D4 
  Armor: 1 D6-1 (no helm), quilted doublet. 
  Spells: Bounty of Straasha (4), flames of Kakatal (4), Gift of 
  Grome (4), Heal (2), Hell's Razor (1-4). Moonrise (l), Summon De- 
  mon (l), 
  Summon Elemental (l), Tread of Cran Liret (14), Undo 
  Magic (14), Ward (3), Wings of Lassa (4). Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Adore Klo'astra yn 90%, Common Tongue 35%, Dodge 
  35%, Entertain Mariad 75%, Evaluate 69%, High Speech 50%, In- 
  struct A'Ary 45%, Listen 69%. Metnibonean 115%, Million 
  Spheres 19%, Move Quietly 70%, Natural World 75%, Potions 
  137%, Ride 60%, Scenflaste 65%, Search 65%, Scribe 84%. 
  LADY KLOASTRA YN'S EXPERIMENT GOES AWRY 
  THE E%PERlMENT 
  ONE OF THEM FOR the moment notice the 
  arrival of the adventurers. Klo'astra yn has conjured 
  N 
  forth a plant elemental in a three-yard-wide scrolled, 
  silver petri dish in the middle of the chamber. A thick vine, it 
  is growing supernaturally fast, whipping violently about in 
  semi-sentient growth. It sheds clusters of fruit that are 
  propelled around the room by its thrashing, and prove to be 
  black seed pearls the size of raisins (worth 50 bronzes apiece). 
  A slave trots forward to announce the adventurers, and 
  unwittingly scuffs one of the protective lines chalked onto the 
  floor. The animate plant seizes and crushes him. The 
  supernatural force within evidently freed, the vine dies as 
  rapidly as it grew, flopping down into a pulpy black mass that 
  rots all over the floor. Slaves scurry to clean the mess, which 
  gives off a putrid stench quite out of keeping with the heady, 
  gracious perfumes of the rest of the tower. 
  Klo'astra yn is put out by the untimely interruption of the 
  unfortunate slave, more for the failure of her experiment than 
  for his death. Theese applauds languidly. Mariad bossily 
  recruits the adventurers to collect the scattered pearls. An 
  adventurer can find 1D6 of them with a successful Search, and 
  pocket them with a Conceal Object roll. 
  Only after a considerable period of time, or after the 
  adventurers explain the reason for their presence, do the 
  105 
  
  M E M I B O N E  
  family actually take any notice of them. Klo’astra yn sighs for 
  the mistake, whilst her daughter points out comfortingly that 
  humans are impossible to tell apart. Klo’astra yn then graces 
  the adventurm with her presence, leading them to divans in 
  another part of the Iris. 
  Deserted by her mother again, Mariad restlessly braids 
  flowers and leaves together until Theese claims her attention. 
  The discarded wreaths are picked up by slaves and used to 
  decorate the supper dishes. 
  AT KLOASTRA YN‘S PLEASURE 
  LAVES BRING REFRESHMENTS of spiced wine 
  vinegar and oysters, each oyster rimmed with gold dust, 
  5 
  and each containing a pearl worth 500 bronzes. Klo’astra 
  yn refmhes herself by dissolving the pearls into her wine and 
  drinking them. She is amused by any adventurer faux pas 
  during this light repast. For instance, an adventurer might 
  pocket the pearl, choke at the unexpected bitterness of the 
  wine, or actually eat the oyster. As a polite host, she disregards 
  all but the most oafish of table manners. 
  Klo’astra yn begins to tell the adventurers what she expects 
  of them (see Conversation with Klo’astra yn, below). 
  However, as she does so, the other residents of the Ghost 
  Tower make their boredom known. 
  to any extreme rudeness, and must be brought to heel by 
  Klo’astra yn. 
  Klo’astra yn indulgently listens to A’Ary, and after her fmt 
  suggestions are dismissed as even more boring (read a book, 
  summon a demon, supervise the slaves), she amnges for him 
  to be taken to a place of interest. Mariad promptly complains 
  at this favorable treatment, and the two bicker whilst Klo’astra 
  yn attempts to conclude the conversation with the adventurers. 
  Finally, she sends them off together, something which pleases 
  neither. They are still arguing they exit. 
  THEESE AGAIN 
  Theese, deprived by Mariad’s departure of his preferred 
  activity, saunters over and listens in on the rest of the 
  conversation. He attempts to conceal his interest. 
  CONVERSATION WITH 
  KLO’ASTRA YN 
  LOASTRA YN ASKS A slave to bring in her father, 
  who proves to be the creeper-wrapped man from the 
  I< 
  foyer. Another slave carries the hummingbird nest, 
  which is carefully placed in a large aviary at one end of the 
  Iris. The parent birds swirl anxiously around in a blur of living 
  colors. 
  THEESE AND MARIAD 
  Midway through the conversation, These and Mariad decide 
  to disport themselves in the original comer of the Iris. If any of 
  the adventurers are noticeably distracted by this, Klo’astra yn 
  ash her lover and her daughter to leave, as she would prefer 
  the visitors concentrate on her conversation. 
  NARY 
  A’Ary wanders in, followed as always by Fidelak. He rudely 
  butts in on the conversation, complains to Klo’astra yn that he 
  is bored, and sneers at the adventurers (“They look like 
  something that would interest Prince Elric”). Any snappy 
  comeback ensures that he persecutes them later. Fidelak reacts 
  T H E  STORY OF 
  HLOASTRA YN AND JAXOON 
  She begins by giving the adventurers the poem just below. It is 
  written in Melnibonhn. She comments, “For years my only 
  conversation with my father was in poems that we would leave 
  for each other to find, written words that were more beautiful, 
  more sublime, than anything we could say. The last poem he 
  wrote for me was this.” 
  Friend, why so restless? Whither must you wandel; 
  Since mortal venture only serves to feed the worm. 
  As a wave that has roamed the wild waters over 
  Dies choked on sand, mired in the slow earth S tomb. 
  Since this is so, why seek your lost endeavor; 
  Why journey far andfruitless? Rest your head. 
  And be at last at peace, all troubles over, 
  In these last lodgings of the restless dead, 
  “A few nights later he was gone,” she says, and then checks 
  herself, “Or rather, he was like this. . . .” She gestures to the silent 
  figure of Jaxoon. “And he has been ever since. Eight years now. 
  But on the same night our tower was transformed, and since then 
  it has been as it is now, a building of ghosts and mist.” 
  She is most distressed by this, as she loves her father, and 
  now he has gone from her. After years of research, she thinks 
  that she knows what happened, and how to retum him to his 
  former state. 
  Jaxoon was an accomplished dreamer, a weaver of visions. 
  On one of his mystic journeys he came across a place he called 
  the Ghost of Cities. Although this city could only be visited in 
  dreams, it was changeless and eternal. He became fascinated 
  with it, and would spend long periods of time there, sunk in a 
  drugged stupor. In a poem he wrote about it, he said that it was 
  peopled only by ghosts and that its buildings were alive. 
  106 
  
  T H E  
  G H O S T  
  O F  
  CITIES 
  Evidently, she says, he decided to bring forth one of the 
  buildings of the Ghost of Cities to Imrryr, the Ghost Tower. 
  Unfortunately and equally evidently, the Ghost of Cities 
  exacts its own equilibrium. In bringing forth the building, he 
  left his own ghost behind, and he is now a soulless mute. 
  With this knowledge, she and Theese created an artifact 
  known as the Soul Noose, which allows the wielder to trap 
  souls. Theese was able, after a number of false starts, to 
  concoct a dream drug that allowed entry to the Ghost of Cities. 
  Klo’astra yn then administered the drug to twenty slaves, 
  with instructions to take the Soul Noose to the place in the 
  Ghost of Cities where the Ghost Tower once stood, and where, 
  presumably, her father’s ghost is bound. Jaxoon’s soul would 
  be trapped by the noose and an equal weight in souls (of the 
  slaves) left to maintain the balance. Jaxoon would thus be 
  returned to her. 
  The slaves were supposed to awaken months ago. They 
  have not done so. Their tardiness has stretched from being 
  unforgivable to unnatural. Eleven have died. The remainder 
  have now been removed from the dream drug, but have not 
  woken. They are evidently unable to return. The leader of the 
  slaves, Depus, last night became curiously afflicted, totally 
  transparent, and the Soul Noose, which was in his keeping, 
  likewise. Finally alarmed, she thought to recruit the 
  adventurers. Here she ends her history. 
  Klo’astra yn’s search is spurred on as much by her desire to 
  repay the hurt in full, by baffled affection, as by her professed 
  eagerness to make good his loss. The hurt is as great as the 
  love she still bears him, and it is for this reason she is not 
  interested in going to the Ghost of Cities herself, or sending 
  fellow Melnibonhs. She considers the whole effort of such 
  an expedition demeaning, and no true expression of filial love. 
  Insight rolls may grant some clues to her decision. 
  JAXOON D’AAN 
  Jaxoon’s handsome face is left ugly for the lack of any 
  animating spark. He stands and breathes, but otherwise his 
  body remains in any position it is placed. He is dressed in a 
  grey shift. 
  Jaxoon was a remote, dispassionate man, more interested in 
  mystic visions than the mundane life of Imrryr. His rare 
  affections were indulged by his daughter, but his soul was 
  moved more by poetry than physical appetite. Through his life 
  he gradually became more detached, particularly after the 
  death of L‘lea, Klo’astra yn’s mother. Finally he decided to 
  depart it altogether, and inhabit the Ghost of Cities. He trusted 
  to his daughter the care of his trifling mortal remnant in the 
  Young Kingdoms, and knew that he would be giving her the 
  Ghost Tower in any case. He thought that this would soften the 
  blow of his rejection. 
  JA%OOND’AAN,THE SLEEPER IN THE ROSES 
  Chaos 233, Balance 160, Law 51 
  STRl3 
  CON12 
  SI213 
  INT26 
  POW26 
  DEXl2 
  APP16 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D4. 
  Weapon: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Bounty of Straasha (4). Flames 
  of Kakatal(4), GiA of Grome (4), Heal (2), Liken Shape (4), Make 
  Fast (l), Make Whole (3). Midnight (l), Moonrise (l), Refutation 
  (1-4), Soul of Chardros (1-3), Summon Demon (l), Summon Ele- 
  mental (l), Undo Magic (1 -4), Visage of Arioch (1-3), Ward (3), 
  Wings of Lassa (4). Wisdom of Slortar (1-3). 
  Skills: Art (Compose Verse) 82%, Common Tongue 30%, Evalu- 
  ate 99%. High Speech 55%, Listen 97%, Melnibonean 145%, Mil- 
  lion Spheres 30%, Natural World 128%, Potions 116%, 
  ScenWTaste loo%, Scribe 134%. Search 95%. 
  THE ADVENTURERSTASKS 
  HE ASKS THE adventurers, whose souls are sturdy 
  and untainted by will-sapping drugs as are those of 
  I 
  MelnibonC’s human slaves, to go to the Ghost of Cities, 
  find the slaves, recover the essence of the Soul Noose, and 
  fiiish the task. Returning to their place of entry with her 
  father’s soul is sufficient to return them to this sphere. 
  Klo’astra yn also prizes Depus for his loyalty, much as a 
  human prizes a favorite dog, and she values his return. 
  PHANTOM ROSES 
  As an afterthought she mentions that her father once wrote a 
  piece of doggerel, concerning a flower that has aroused her 
  botanical interest. She has no other clues to this flower, but 
  asks that if the adventurers have time, they could keep a look 
  out for them, and gather them for her. 
  Only the eye of death discloses 
  Where twine and suckle phantom roses. 
  Pluck theseflowers with mortal breath, 
  But only with the clutch of death. 
  REWARDS 
  LOASTRA YN DOES NOT propose a reward, and 
  is somewhat taken aback if the adventurers ask for one. 
  I< She thinks of humans as beings who do what she wants 
  for the pleasure of serving her. After some thought she says 
  they could take items from the family treasure vaults, or that 
  she could arrange an audience for them with someone of the 
  inner circle of the Court. 
  She sends them with some slaves to tour the vaults if they 
  doubt her. The treasure rooms are splendid, brimming with 
  enchanted and demonic weapons and armor, and all sorts of 
  artifacts of fine Mehibonkan make. She allows the 
  adventurers to nominate their own rewards, with a ceiling of 
  20,000 bronzes worth of equipment for the entire party. 
  Everything is worth twice as much as the prices listed in the 
  rulesbook, because of the superb workmanship. Evaluate rolls 
  assist in selecting the finest pieces. 
  SETTING OFF 
  HE ADVENTURERS ARE strippedoftheirclothing 
  by slaves, bathed, laved with rare soaps and anointed 
  T 
  with costly unguents. Their hair is cut and nails 
  trimmed. Their clothes and possessions are brought back to 
  them, thoroughly cleaned and repaired, and they are led into 
  the vault, as behind them the slaves frantically SCOUT and 
  cleanse the rooms where the hirelings have left their dirt. 
  THE ADVENTURERZ’SLAVES 
  One slave is to accompany each adventurer. The slaves are 
  uniformly attractive, although their faces are dulled and 
  107 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  vacant. All are addicted to soul-sapping drugs, and require 
  daily doses from a chest of drugs to entrusted to the 
  adventurers. 
  The drugs make them want to serve the adventurers to the 
  best of their ability, although it also makes them move slowly 
  and languidly and destroys their initiative. They act as if 
  immune to physical pain. They can go without food, water, 
  and sleep for extended periods of time, and without 
  impairment of their work, as long as they maintain their drug 
  intake. 
  The slaves are accustomed to the genteel pace and utter 
  luxury of lifestyle practiced by the Melnibonh, and seek to 
  pamper their new masters. They know great shame is if unable 
  to obey an order, and each without fail calmly offers to commit 
  suicide in compensation for such failure. 
  SLAVES FROM THE GHOST TOWER 
  STR 
  CON 
  SI2 
  INT 
  POW 
  DEX 
  APP 
  HP 
  YP 
  DB 
  Sex 
  Age 
  JEM 
  12 
  16 
  14 
  13 
  6 
  11 
  18 
  15 
  6 
  1 D4 
  Male 
  23 
  TORGRIM 
  12 
  15 
  13 
  11 
  5 
  12 
  18 
  14 
  5 
  1 D4 
  Male 
  18 
  WYLADNA 
  12 
  17 
  11 
  12 
  7 
  10 
  18 
  14 
  7 
  None 
  Female 
  32 
  PERENTHE CALLUM 
  12 
  11 
  12 
  10 
  12 
  12 
  11 
  14 
  6 
  8 
  9 
  8 
  18 
  18 
  12 
  11 
  6 
  8 
  None 
  None 
  Female 
  Male 
  13 
  47 
  Armor: None. 
  Weapons: None. 
  Skills: Climb 40%, Common Tongue 45%, Craft (Serving) 80%, 
  Melnibon6an 50%. Move Quietly 40%. Natural World lo%, Po- 
  tions 10%. 
  THE SLEEPING SLAVES 
  Like Jaxoon, the ten slaves remaining of the original rescue 
  party are lax and unresisting. Their only movement is the 
  regular rise and fall of their ribs, their only sound their 
  sonorous breathing. They lie pillowed in fragrant cushions and 
  covered with shimmering silks. Their bodies are insubstantial 
  during the day, becoming solid and radiant with the glow of 
  the Ghost Tower at night. 
  Depus, the leader slave, in whose slack grasp rests the Soul 
  Noose, has become ethereal at all times, a shimmering 
  inconstant outline. Nothing in this world can affect him, or the 
  precious Noose-a 
  shadowy, triple-stranded torque of silver, 
  diamonds, and black opals. 
  THE SECRET OF THE SLAVES 
  Normal dreamers in the Ghost of Cities are more real than 
  ghosts, and the substance that remains in Imrryr reflects this. 
  The slaves have been ensorcelled by Embol Krang, whereas 
  Jaxoon made a unique bargain with the city, and thus his 
  mortal remains do not fade. Furthermore, the slaves have fared 
  worse in their long slumber than the more magically resistant 
  Melnibonean. Their ribs, skulls and pelvis jut painfully, and 
  pressure sores are opening, despite the constant attendance of 
  other slaves who nightly bathe and shift them, and feed them 
  meat broths and pureed h i t .  
  ENTERING AND 
  LEAVING THE CITY 
  H E P ROC E $5 I 5 complicated, as is evidenced by the 
  years of effort it took to discover. The Ghost of Cities is 
  circumstances, accomplished dreamers, or others assisted by 
  powerful sorceries, can enter. 
  The essence of all artifacts in contact with the dreamer’s 
  bodies are transferred to this place with them, with one major 
  prohibition. No otherworldly creatures can visit there, no 
  demons and no elementals. Klo’astm yn has tried, and all 
  bindings were broken. If the adventurers attempt to take such 
  to the Ghost of Cities they are freed en route, and do not 
  appear there. 
  It seems that the Ghost of Cities is inhabited only by human 
  or near-human souls, and some force keeps all other life 
  aspects out. She thinks this is because it is the echo of some 
  lost civilization that owed fealty to neither Law nor Chaos, and 
  even in death bars them entry. 
  T 
  normally entered only by the dead. Under certain 
  THE ADVENTURERS EMBARK 
  H E GOODS THAT ARE piled in reaching and 
  touching distance around the adventurers are far more 
  chest of spices and drugs that would fetch 25.000 bronzes in 
  the Young Kingdoms. 
  Goods to be carried by the slaves include a pavilion and 
  fittings, carpets, rope, oil lamps, wine and foodstuffs, silver 
  filigreed eating and drinking vessels, and a brass astrolabe and 
  sextant. They also have opulent and useless trinkets such as 
  perfumes and herbal sachets, musical instruments, and 
  bejewelled tent pegs. 
  When everyone is settled, T h e e  hands round a steaming, 
  amber stirrup cup. It contains a creamy, pungent, smoking 
  liquid. Pleasant herbs have been added, that imperfectly mask 
  the bitter aniseed of the dream drug, brewed from the herbs 
  sleepwell, fennel, and valerian. Adventurers have to succeed 
  in a CON x5 roll to induce themselves to swallow it. If they fail 
  they retch the liquid up, and must try again. 
  T 
  than they could possibly need, including a jewelled 
  ENTERING THE CITY 
  DVENTURERS I N G E S T I N G  THE drug 
  experience a blinding flash that turns into a vivid 
  A 
  hallucination. They find themselves falling very 
  suddenly toward swiftly rising ground, which shifts 
  bewilderingly as they approach. As they tumble, they glimpse 
  towers, roofs, bridges, and canals cloaked in a bright yet hazy 
  mist. Despite the speed of their descent each lands with no 
  more than a slight bump. They have fallen asleep without 
  realizing it, and into the lap of the Ghost of Cities. 
  If the first adventurer looks up, the following adventurer 
  appears as a black pin-prick in the sky, a tear in reality that 
  swells and ebbs in size, growing larger as it drops. The fallen 
  is hopelessly and constantly contorted, at one moment all feet 
  and hands, and the next a swollen face attached to a shrivelled 
  bladder of a body. It is as though the Ghost of Cities were 
  viewing them through a distorting prism, and struggling to fit 
  their shape into the scheme of things. As they drop further 
  108 
  
  T H E  
  C H O I T  
  OF 
  CITIES 
  their shape becomes constant, until their feet touch the ground 
  and they become normal. 
  Adventurm who take the drug together appear in the same 
  place in the city. Those who succeed in Luck rolls land on the 
  ground. Those who fail end up somewhere inconvenient, on a 
  roof, stair or dome, up a tree, in a canal, or within a nearby 
  building, from where they must make Climb or Jump rolls to 
  rejoin the others. 
  Adventurm who failed to ingest the drug at fust must wait 
  for Theese to brew up another batch. They appear in another 
  part of the city, at a distance of 1D8 miles from the others, and 
  must work their way through with successful Navigate or 
  Track rolls, until they reach parts or people that they know. 
  The slaves’ first actions on arrival are to offer the 
  adventurexs refreshments, while they set up the pavilion to 
  mark the entrance point to the waking world. Its bright walls 
  and banners flutter inconsequential amid the enduring 
  grandeur of the Ghost of Cities. 
  REALITY 
  ESPITE THEIR SOMEWHAT outre entrance, 
  reality is the same for the adventurers here as 
  D 
  elsewhere. If they die, they’re dead; their dreaming 
  body is cut off from its soul, and both perish. If the dead 
  adventurer can make a Luck roll, he or she remains here 
  eternally, a shade among the rest, haunting the Ghost of Cities. 
  THE SEARCH 
  HE ADVENTURERS MAY vary their activities 
  according to the time limit they have set themselves, 
  follows below is a description of the important encounters, 
  and a likely scenario. Individual gamemasters must juggle 
  events to suit their players interest and initiative. 
  Finding the single vacant plot of land that marks the Ghost 
  Tower’s original site within the endless maze of buildings is 
  next to impossible, without knowledge of the city or a guide. 
  Track rolls find evidence of the earlier band of slaves, close 
  to the adventurer’s point of entry. These can be followed to the 
  environs of the Shadow Tower, where all traces vanish as the 
  tainted surrounds mislead and confuse the search. 
  Other information must be garnered from meetings with the 
  other inhabitants of the Ghost of Cities. 
  T 
  and the players’ perceptions of their tasks. What 
  H E  ClTYJPREADSASfarastheeyecanseein 
  all directions. Towers, spires, palaces, temples and 
  squms are joined by bridges, arches, esplanades, 
  T 
  stairs, lane-ways, and columned parades, and laced 
  with dry canals. Statues and dead trees stand rank on rank 
  down the eminent avenues, and dot the squares and gardens. 
  Around the greater buildings stand the remnants of formal 
  1 
  
  M E L N I B O N ~  
  gardens. Shrivelled stalks stand mute testament to former 
  forests of flowers. Dried leaves hang listlessly from withered 
  bushes, waiting far a wind that will never blow again to set 
  them free. 
  The city glows in a tranquil light, yet is cloaked with a 
  bright, hazy mist that conceals as much as the light reveals. 
  This mist is strongest at noon, when visibility is reduced to 
  100 feet, and dissipates at night. Through the mist, glorious 
  shafts of light fall, pin-pointing a spire here, and there washing 
  a wall with gold. With dawn and dusk the mellow rays touch 
  the eternal city a moment with mortality. 
  The buildings are of no particular time or place, or, more 
  correctly, of every time and place. All have architectural merit. 
  The adventurers are struck by this architectural confusion, and 
  by the strength, simplicity, or beauty of the individual 
  buildings. It is as though the city were a resting place of 
  architecture, and the final proof that every great building gains 
  a soul. 
  The city is empty of people. No one dwells in these vacant 
  shells, and no one gathers in its public places. The Ghost of 
  Cities is beautiful but it is unspeakably lonely and sorrowful. 
  Buildings are created to house people, and they mown the loss 
  of their inhabitants. 
  As living visitors move through this city, the dull air 
  quickens. The buildings soften their facades in welcome, and 
  seem to entreat entry. The dead trees stir a little, as for a 
  moment sap rum in them, and they reach their branches higher 
  and prouder, saluting. The city hungers for human souls. The 
  longer the strangers stay, the more radiant it becomes. It 
  catches at their memories of buildings where they have been 
  1020 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  4 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  Ghost 
  Maron' 
  Sulvi' 
  Smaul' 
  Arlan' 
  Moku 
  Arwill 
  Pikil 
  Varn 
  Only 
  Ankharon 
  Dantik 
  Relloric 
  Korel 
  Brangym 
  Estercion 
  Semalla 
  Hilva 
  Merik 
  Benon 
  20 
  Fruppli 
  Vhese bur ghosts are fully detailed. Other ghosts are 
  only sketched briefly. 
  happy, and recreates them in glimpses down side alleys. It 
  changes the echoes of their voices into greetings from friends 
  long dead, and promises of eternal peace. 
  THE LONELY CITY 
  HE LONGER THE ADVENTURERS stay in the 
  Ghost of Cities, the more insistent its siren song 
  their minds, a call for them to die, and be sundered from it 
  never more. Jaxoon heard this call, but MelnibonBan and 
  accomplished dreamer that he was, he was able to cheat both 
  death and separation, becoming one with the Ghost of Cities 
  whilst remaining alive. The adventurers may not be so lucky. 
  For each visit, they must make a Powroll on departure, starting 
  with POW x10, and decreasing by 1 multiplier for each 
  successive visit. If they fail this roll, they do not wish to leave. 
  The Ghost of Cities should be constantly evoked to remind 
  the players of the supernatural background to their 
  adventuring. But it should not be allowed to take over the 
  foreground adventure. The adventurers have no influence over 
  it. They cannot even map its entirety because it is infinite, and 
  their players may only be bored by long narrative descriptions 
  in which they have no part. 
  T 
  becomes, until it becomes a gentle murmur forever in 
  INHABITANTS 
  HOSTS INHABIT THIS place, people who have 
  hearkened to its call and dwell in peace here. Many 
  C 
  eventually become one with their beloved city, and 
  lose all remembrance of themselves. This is the city's ultimate 
  blessing. Some hungry souls seek Tanelorn here, even in 
  death, but cannot find it. Travelers or malingerers, ghosts of 
  mortals are generally invisible to mortal dreamers. They 
  become visible at odd times during the night, and at that time 
  they can be trapped with the Soul Noose. 
  The adventurers meet 1D6 ghosts on any one night. These 
  visions last for lDlO rounds, in coincidental freaks of time 
  which enable the living and dead to see each other. 
  Ghosts are ethereal and radiant. Their faces are engrossed 
  and their eyes filled with visions of splendor. They dress in the 
  fashions of all ages and places. They walk blithely through 
  humans and walls, unless delayed with successful Oratory, 
  when they perceive the dreamer. Those met near the Shadow 
  Tower flee unless Fast Talked into staying, for they have learnt 
  to fear capture by Embol Krang. 
  The converted regard strangers with kindly eyes, and 
  beseech the adventurers to join them and revel in the dead 
  city's splendor. When this invitation is refused, they shake 
  their heads sadly, with ghost tears tricking from their faces. 
  Those seeking Tanelom question the dreamers eagerly about 
  that fabled city. Some seekers may not realize that they are 
  dead, and on being informed that they are spirits they flee, 
  shrieking, in the realization that now they will never find 
  content. 
  Once the adventurers refuse the invitation to join with the 
  city, or admit that they do not know of Tanelom, the ghost 
  departs. Departure can be delayed if players are cunning in the 
  phrasing of their questions and answers. But ghosts become 
  insistent towards the end of the time they are allowed, and 
  soon drift away and vanish. 
  110 
  
  T H E  
  G H O S T  
  OF 
  CITI E S  
  THE KNOWLEDGE OF GHOSTS 
  Conversation ranges over the varied personal histories and 
  goals of the ghosts, the Ghost of Cities, visiting dreamers, and 
  the effects of Embol Krang on the city. 
  THE SHADOW TOWER Most ghosts know the location 
  of the Shadow Tower, and its effects on the Ghost of Cities. Some 
  warn the adventurers not to go there, but others implore them to 
  rid the city of the abomination, as it is destroying them and alter- 
  ing the peaceful mood of the Ghost of Cities to one of terror. As 
  ghosts, they cannot harm the Shadow Tower or its mortal deni- 
  zens. 
  The Shadow Tower is close at hand. The adventurers need 
  only question two ghosts with this knowledge to be directed to 
  its darkness-tainted environs, 1D3 days’ journey from their 
  original position. 
  THE GHOSTTOWER fewghostsknowtheplacewherethe 
  Ghost Tower once stood, although some recall seeing a Melni- 
  bonkan dreamer in the city. It takes the adventurers 1D6 nights of 
  journeying and successfully questioning ghosts to discover the 
  tower’s site by themselves, as each ghost is able to direct them a 
  little further in their search. 
  THE MISSING SLAVES: some ghosts saw Depus and his 
  procession of slaves wandering through the city. None have seen 
  them for a while, and when last seen the mortals were heading 
  westward, where the Shadow Tower lies. 
  FOUR GHOSTS 
  M A R O N  
  Maron appears as a small man in his mid-thirties, wearing 
  sailor’s garb. In life he was a sailor from the Purple Towns. His 
  speech echoes nautical parlance even in death. He slew 
  himself when lost at sea, fearing to be press-ganged into 
  Pyaray’s foul fleet if he drowned. For this act he gained the 
  shelter of this place, “where there is no more sea,” he says 
  sadly. A wide-traveled soul, he discusses the architecture with 
  authority, wondering at the wide range encompassed by the 
  Ghost of Cities, and guessing at the reason. 
  Maron knows of the vacant plot where the Ghost Tower 
  once stood, because it is the only bare patch of ground in the 
  city. He has seen a dreamer there, a Melnibonh. 
  MARON, ghost of a sailor 
  INT12 
  POW17 
  SUWl 
  Sulvi appears as a woman in her late twenties. She carries 
  herself with a dignity born of the trials she has undergone. 
  After a hard, unwillingly adventurous life, Sulvi was 
  captured and cruelly slain by the sorcerers of Pan Tang. By 
  force of will she found peace in the Ghost of Cities. She seeks 
  to be at one with the city, and implores others to join in the rest 
  that she has gained. She is visibly disturbed if questioned on 
  her life, as her receding memories awake. She flees prolonged 
  questioning. 
  She has seen the Shadow Tower, and fled in terror, knowing 
  its origin and history from her time on the Demon Isle. She 
  saw a face in an upper window, as of a dreamer imprisoned 
  there. 
  SULVI, ghost of a slave 
  INT14 
  POW16 
  OTHER GHOSTS 
  MOKU, ghost of a hunter 
  INT14 
  POW11 
  ARWILL, ghost of a merchant 
  INT16 
  POW 13 
  PIKIL, ghost of a madman 
  INT8 
  POW18 
  VARN, ghost of a craftsman 
  INT13 
  POW 12 
  ONLY, ghost of a nomad 
  INT12 
  POW 15 
  ANKHARON, ghost of a sorcerer 
  INT19 
  POW23 
  DANTIK, ghost of a warrior 
  INTll 
  POW 12 
  RELLORIC, ghost of a troubadour 
  KOREL, ghost of an artist 
  BRANGYM, ghost of a blacksmith 
  INT15 
  POW 14 
  INT17 
  POW 14 
  INT12 
  POW 12 
  ESTERCION, ghost of a king 
  INT14 
  POW 13 
  SEMALLA, ghost of a gossip 
  INT13 
  POW 10 
  HILVA, ghost of a murderer 
  INT9 
  POW8 
  MERIK, ghost of a physician 
  INT15 
  POW 12 
  BENON, ghost of a prophet 
  FRUPPLI, ghost of a fool 
  INT13 
  POW 13 
  INT17 
  POW 15 
  SMAUL OF NADSOKOR 
  Smaul appears as a small, filthy wretch, with no hands and 
  blood blisters oozing all over his body. His age is impossible 
  to guess, but he is either very young or very old. 
  Smaul defied Urish, King of the Beggars, by championing 
  Tanelorn, a place of which he knows nothing except that it 
  offers peace. He was first mutilated and then put to death for 
  his impiety. Even in death he seeks the shelter of the Etemal 
  City, although now he can never go there. 
  SMAUL OF NADSOKOR, ghost of a beggar 
  INT10 
  POW13 
  111 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  GHOST ROSES 
  Only the eye of dealf, discloses 
  Where twine and suckle phantom mses. 
  Pluck these flowers with mortal breath, 
  But only with the clutch of death. 
  HANTOM ROSES are scarce. They grow in the 
  P 
  graveyards of the Ghost of Cities, and only ghosts can see 
  them. Like the ghosts, they are invisible, except for rare 
  conjunctions of the twin realities of the Ghost of Cities. 
  To approximate the rarity of the coincidence required, ghost 
  roses become corporeal to a mortal searcher only if he or she 
  receives a successful POW x l  roll whilst searching at night. 
  The roses are semi-corporeal, and can only be gathered for 
  1 D10 rounds before they disappear again. 
  They have the sum, sweet, scent of rain-washed roses, and 
  their location can be determined by a ScentlTaste roll, even if 
  the searcher can neither see nor touch them. This fragrance 
  lingers supernaturally long in the memories of those who 
  experience it. It is a strong aid to memory. Those making a 
  Luck roll recall a pleasant scene from the past, those failing 
  remember something horrendous. 
  Mortals can easily distinguish the flowers from the dead 
  vegetation by looking through the eyes of a skull. Those 
  searching with such an aid need only successes in Search and 
  Natural World, trying once every four hours. They can pick 
  them only whilst looking through their viewing aid. Otherwise 
  the roses are invisible and incorporeal. although they can still 
  be smelt. 
  Anyone in the moment of death can also perceive phantom 
  roses, blooming all around them in heady luxuriance. 
  Phantom roses climb and ramble over monuments, statues, 
  walls and occasionally engulf entire buildings. There is only 
  ever one plant in one location. They are ethereal and radiant, 
  silver-hued. Their wraith-flowers turn towards any living soul 
  that approaches them. Their leaves twitch, and their tendrils 
  move slyly in the adventurer’s direction. 
  The roses can be safely picked only by using a dead limb, 
  or, again, by someone dying. They can be carried by a dead 
  limb but die within hours. If plucked by someone mortally 
  wounded, they take psychic root in the person’s dying soul, 
  and flourish for years, requiring no other nourishment. 
  Ghost roses are vampiric. If deliberately plucked by the 
  living, they attempt to take root in that person’s soul. The roses 
  have a POW of 3D6. and must overcome the victim’s POW on 
  the Resistance Table. If they succeed they take root, and drain 
  1 point of POW per day. Such a person is saturated with their 
  spectral perfume, and the roses are visible to them at all times. 
  When the host‘s POW reaches zero he or she dies, and the 
  rose blooms. 
  A bush will only attack a particular person once. Ghost roses 
  cannot spread into the soul of someone who does not wish to 
  pluck them. Any POW lost to the roses is permanent, even if 
  their graft is removed. 
  112 
  If 
  any of the adventurers are women, Arlan gallantly 
  offers them a rose, as he has seen the mast beautiful roses 
  growing hereabouts. However, once he realizes that he is 
  dead, he is more stunned than anything else, and wanders 
  away, “to have a bit o f  a think.” The adventurer must then 
  find and pick her own ghost roses. 
  ARLAN, ghost of an aristocrat 
  INT15 
  POW14 
  ILE THE ADVENTURERS wander 
  in dreams, the real-world inhabitants of 
  the Ghost Tower begin to take an active 
  W 
  interest in their fate. 
  MARIAD’S ADVENTURE 
  ARlAD DECIDES TO take a look at this 
  place that everybody is making such a fuss 
  M 
  about, in another attempt to attract the 
  attention o f  her mother. She steals some of the dream drug 
  from Theese, and pays a visit. Her father’s daughter, she 
  falls in love with the Ghost of Cities as well, however her 
  healthy level of self-interest keeps her from wishing to 
  stay there. 
  Evidence o f  Mariad my be found. A Track roll uncovers 
  the footprints of a slim female, and an Idea roll reminds 
  the tracker that ghosts leave no trace, but mortals do. A 
  Search roll discovers some dead flowers woven together, 
  and an Insight recalls Klo’astra yn’s daughter doing this 
  when she is bored or lonely. A Listen roll may hear her 
  singing as she goes. 
  If the adventurers actively seek Mariad, then at some 
  point they find her, or vice versa (“Ym hoo! Hullo 
  everybody!”). She assumes command o f  the expedition, 
  bosses everyone about, teases the ghosts, sulks, attempts 
  to go off by herself, and otherwise behaves like a spoiled 
  child. Despite her faults, she is a competent and confident 
  warrior, and does not hesitate to draw weapons and wade 
  into combat if the opportunity should arise. 
  If they do not seek her out, or even actively avoid her, 
  then at the gamemaster’s option she becomes bored and 
  leaves, or else falls into the clutches o f  Embol Krang. If 
  the latter occurs, the adventurers may discover clues of a 
  brief battle and abduction, with scattered b d d s  of knotted 
  vegetation strewn amidst severed zombie hands and 
  
  T H E  
  G H O S T  
  OF 
  C I T I E S  
  noses. Scuff marks lead west from the scene, towards the 
  Shadow Tower. 
  A’ARY’S REVENGE 
  , , . . . . . , , . . . . . . . . . . 
  ’ARY TOO IS BORED, and has no outlet for his 
  tedium save the sleeping forms of the adventurers. He 
  A 
  amuses himself in harmless diversions, such as 
  trailing someone’s hand in a bowl of warm water in an effort 
  to stimulate the emptying of the bladder, shaving a head in a 
  comic pattern, stripping another naked, or swapping around 
  their possessions. None of this has any bearing on their 
  wankrings thmugh the Ghost of Cities, but may cause them 
  some discomfort on waking. 
  Adventurers who angered or belittled him are subjected to 
  particularly malicious tricks, such as minor torture to the 
  extent of a ID6 hit point loss. T h w  failing a Luck roll receive 
  a scar which subtracts one point from their APP. 
  A’Ary knows that his mother will be displeased if he causes 
  the adventurers any grievous harm, even though they are only 
  humans. As it is, he blames his petty crimes on one of the other 
  slaves, and volunteers to conduct the flogging himself. 
  JMOON’S PREOCCUPATION 
  HE SITE OF THE ABSENT Ghost Tower can be 
  found via the directions of ghosts. The plot where the 
  by Jaxoon’s repeated attempts at poetry. Jaxoon’s spirit 
  sporadically appears at the site of the Ghost Tower, troubled 
  by the poem’s inadequacies. 
  T 
  tower once stood is rough and blackened, as if plowed, 
  Dug into the earth is the following: 
  I dwell in the city of my dreams, my ghostly vision 
  Although in another place my mortal husk draws breath. 
  Step through Tianelornk gates oh stranger and be merry, 
  The glory that you seek lies mute in death. 
  The word I has been scratched out, and You tentatively 
  substituted. Above my dreams is written Yours, whose? 
  Beneath the last line is another note, mute in the jaws/maw of 
  death??? 
  Owing to the unique bargain he has stuck with the Ghost of 
  Cities, Jaxoon’s ghost has particular powers. He is able, of his 
  own will, to maintain his visibility. He is free to travel 
  anywhere within the city. 
  Jaxoon’s face is as calm and radiant as his fellow ghosts. He 
  is supremely content and has no wish to return to Imrryr. He is 
  surprised and amused if adventurers th-d to tell him their 
  story, although he prefers to discuss the problems of his 
  incomplete poem. It is his 500th attempt, and he still has not 
  succeeded in perfecting the metaphor. 
  He attempts to evade capture by the Soul Noose, vanishing 
  if the adventurers persist. He cannot retreat to his body without 
  the adventurers returning his ghost to Imrryr via the Soul 
  Noose or one of Embol Krang’s bottles. 
  JAXOON D A A N S  SOUL, the dreamer in his dream 
  INT26 
  POW26 
  WHERE TWINE AND SUCKLE PHANTOM ROSES 
  113 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  TOWER 
  ROUND THE SHADOW TOWER for 
  almost a square mile, the Ghost of Cities has been 
  warped. The splendid boulevards and palaces 
  A 
  have been replaced by the architecture of fear, 
  buildings shaped by twisted genius to inspire loathing, awe 
  and hatred. In the Young Kingdoms these structures are mostly 
  found in Hwamgaarl, and include temples, jails, abattoirs, and 
  other palaces designed to crush the human spirit. Shadows of 
  these buildings now surround the Shadow Tower. 
  On the fringes, the buildings mix with the normal 
  architecture of the Ghost of Cities. Adventurers who make 
  repeated visits to this area become aware that it is growing 
  slowly and slyly, warping the other buildings, expanding 
  outward like a cancer. 
  Within this quarter, the lane-ways are narrow, cramped 
  and sinister, winding secretively between houses whose 
  overhangs block out the sky. Many of these lanes lead to the 
  Shadow Tower, even those that seem at first to lead away. 
  The houses creak furtively, and their windows are small and 
  shadowed so that nothing can be seen within. Vile stenches 
  well from them. The atmosphere becomes claustrophobic 
  and threatening. The gentle mist becomes an ominous 
  miasma, and sunset and sunrise drench everything 
  blood-red. The more impressive buildings loom 
  threateningly and abruptly through the fog, their facades 
  denying escape, promising retribution. 
  The ghosts that inhabit them are shades or victims of evil, 
  who gloat over the adventurers, knowing that they are 
  doomed. 
  A successful Navigate is required to escape from this area 
  once it has been entered, into the saner air of the greater City. 
  Finding the Shadow Tower also requires a Navigate roll, or 
  bullying some poor ghost into revealing its location. Sooner or 
  later, but surely, it will find them. 
  If the adventurers are inclined to be paranoid or suspicious 
  of each other, now is the time for the gamemaster to provoke 
  them further. If they are speaking to each other, and fail their 
  Listen rolls, twist their words to fuel their suspicions and 
  hatreds. Invoke the feeling that they are being watched and 
  smirked over, perhaps by their so-called friends. Once they 
  have left this part of the city, this feeling ceases. 
  THE UNHAPPY HISTORY 
  OF EMBOL KRANG 
  NCE A POWERFUL sorcerer, Embol Krang in his 
  hubris sought to better the Melnibonbns, and gain 
  0 
  control of Stormbringer and Mournblade. He failed 
  and found himself cut off from aid on the Shadow Plane, the 
  resting place of those two swords. 
  His great powers and skills are just sufficient to ward off the 
  demon godlings that roam that dreadful place. Trapped in the 
  Shadow Plane, and surviving only within the small space 
  protected by his demon wards, Embol Krang became an 
  accomplished dreamer. He stumbled across the Ghost of 
  Cities, and eventually was able to conjure forth a dream of his 
  tower. 
  Here he dwells, returning only to his Shadow Plane prison 
  for one hour in twenty-four, to attend to his failing body’s 
  needs and to maintain the wards that alone protect him from 
  the horrors Beyond. The ethos of the Ghost of Cities allows 
  the Shadow Tower admittance for its complete adherence to its 
  charter, and its presence warps the City. 
  Embol Krang has thus endured two centuries alone. He is 
  now a twisted shrivelled lich-like creature, his powers 
  supernaturally extending his life as he flails about, with 
  increasing desperation, for escape. His hatred for beauty 
  and his powerful ego mean that he rejects the death-lure of 
  the Ghost of Cities. He has gained power over souls and 
  ghosts in a way similar to that of an ordinary sorcerer’s 
  power over demons and elementals. He can bind them and 
  control them. 
  When the MelnibonBan slaves came looking for their 
  master, He tricked and trapped them, and forced their story 
  from them. A MelnibonBan dreamer, a powerful sorcerer, in 
  the same predicament as himself--truly the gods have 
  finally seen fit to release him from this hell! Krang will not 
  believe that someone would willingly come to this place, 
  and even if Jaxoon tells him so assumes only that the other 
  is bluffing, or seeking some advantage by saying so. and 
  does not really mean it. The arrival of the slaves 
  incidentally fixed his other problem. He has found a way to 
  bring them more fully into the Ghost of Cities and deny 
  their owner a chance to remove them from his power. Now 
  he can experiment on them, and use their mouths to let the 
  dead speak. 
  He has used the technique on Depus to obtain the Soul 
  Noose. He similarly ensorcels one slave for each day forward 
  from this, until all are in his power. 
  Embol Krang’s triumph is in the inventive use to which he 
  has put the Soul Noose. He sends Depus out to trap ghosts, 
  114 
  
  T H E  
  G H O S T  
  OF 
  CITIES 
  who are then forced into carcasses of the slaves. This is 
  the only time he allows the Soul Noose to leave his 
  person. He kills the slaves fmt to ensure the compliance 
  of the ghosts. He questions the resultant zombie, seeking 
  information on the layout of the city and the former 
  location of the Ghost Tower and its owner. His needlessly 
  brutal methods have worked against him, as the ghosts, 
  trapped and despairing but strong-willed, have united in 
  refusing to give the information he seeks. 
  He created ten corpses inhabited by ghosts, before it 
  occurred to him how wasteful the procedure was. Now 
  he uses the zombies as ceremonial guards to his tower 
  when they are not answering his questions, and has 
  refined his technique to the point where he uses the 
  same carcass to question a number of ghosts, ousting 
  one as he traps another. He intends only using another 
  of his limited supply of slaves when the body falls 
  apart. He does not free ousted ghosts but keeps them in 
  glass bottles, in case he needs to question them again. 
  In this way he has acquired a thorough knowledge of 
  the nearer parts of the City, shown in a large map on the 
  walls of the Summoning Chamber. If this map is stolen, or 
  examined with a successful Memorize, the adventurers no 
  longer need to Navigate rolls while searching the Ghost of 
  Cities. 
  EMBOL H U N G  
  Embol Krang lives only through the force of his will. His 
  long, scanty hairs are combed across his blotched, balding 
  head, and fall about a face whose notable features are his huge 
  nose, sunken cheeks, and palsied grin. His fingernails and hair 
  are long and filthy. He is emaciated and crooked, and twisted 
  about himself until his face seems a grinning skull, nodding 
  and eager in its palsy, even when Embol Krang is enraged. 
  When angry or happy, he dribbles. 
  In his new morbidity he wears a shroud encumbered with 
  grave mould. The Soul Noose, heavy and opalescent, sparkles 
  around his withered, bowed, neck 
  Embol Krang is quick-witted, powerful, and mean-spirited. 
  He excelled in the devious internal politics of Pan Tang, and is 
  unlikely to be caught out by relative novices such as the 
  adventurers. He seizes the initiative where he can and reacts 
  quickly when he cannot. 
  In his necromantic solitude Embol Krang has lost most of 
  his ability to deal with the living, becoming a necromancer 
  almost by default. If he has extended conversation with the 
  adventurers, he becomes unsure of himself-their free wills 
  challenge his dreary existence. Really he would be happier if 
  they were dead, and he able to pull them at will in and out of 
  his horrible bottles. 
  Embol Krang’s chief method of defence is a pre-arranged 
  order with his followers to shield his body with theirs. He then 
  flees into his own body on the Shadow Plane. 
  EMBOL WRANG,VILE SORCERER OF PAN TANG 
  Chaos 291, Balance 38, Law 90 
  STRS 
  CON30 
  SI28 
  INT21 
  POW30 
  DEX11 
  APP3 
  HP 19 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapon: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  SOUL ENTRAPMENT 
  H I S  SPELL IS ENACTED on a dreamer or ghost, at a 
  POWPOW roll. It takes three melee rounds to cast. The caster 
  must have both hands free, complete concentration, and the 
  soul being bound must be visible to the caster. 
  It ties the soul to the sorcerer’s whim in the Ghost of Cities. 
  The bound soul can take no physical action against the 
  sorcerer, and must obey his orders. The victim’s sleeping body 
  in the Young Kingdoms becomes permanently ethereal, and 
  cannot be affected, although its silvery outline can be seen, 
  and it retains a slight resistance. 
  The entrapment spell can be learned or reversed if a 
  sorcerer with a Million Spheres of 20% or more examines 
  Embol Krang’s notes for at least one week, and then receives 
  a successful Dl00 roll. The spell only works in the Ghost of 
  Cities. 
  Embol Krang can also drain power from ghosts for his own 
  use, as a punishment, or to kill. He uses POW on a point for 
  point basis, and can also convert 10 POW points drained from 
  a target into 1 point of personal CON. This is the way he 
  maintains his vitality. 
  T 
  cost of 1 POW to the spell-caster, and a successful 
  Spells: Bonds Unbreakable (3), Hell’s Hammer (14), Hell’s Ra- 
  zor (1 4), Midnight (l), Muddle (l), Pox (l), Refutation (1-4), Soul 
  of Chardros (1-3), Soul Entrapment,’ Summon Ghost,’ Undo 
  Magic (1-4). Ward (3). Wisdom of Slortar (1-3), Witch Sight (3). 
  these spells work only in the Ghost of Cities. 
  Skills: Common 105%, Conceal Object 76%, Dodge 35%, Evalu- 
  ate 76%, Fast Talk 78%, High Speech 50%, Listen 56%, Mabden 
  105%, Melnibonean 95%, Million Spheres 68%, Move Quietly 
  146%. Natural World 30%, Oratory 34%, Potions 82%, Scribe 
  214%, Search 88%. Subdue Ghost 76%, Torture Ghost 89%. 
  THE DREAM O F  A SORCERER 
  MBOL KRANG SPENDS most of his time in his 
  tower. On rare occasions he ventures out at night with a 
  E retinue of five zombies, taking a stroll and enjoying the 
  atmosphere. 
  Embol Krang acts in a friendly manner if met peacefully. He 
  initially sees the adventurers as trapped souls like himself, 
  eager to be used to find release. However his natural Pan 
  Tangian assumptions of superiority and brutality are likely to 
  stand in the way of any permanent alliance. 
  If Embol Krang catches Jaxoon, the two equally stubborn, 
  quarrelsome, and powerful souls rapidly reach an impasse. 
  Jaxoon refuses to do anything for Krang whilst trapped in a 
  bottle or human corpse. Krang has nothing to bargain with, as 
  Jaxoon does not want to leave the Ghost of Cities. 
  Conversation between the antagonists consists of icy repartee, 
  with occasional lapses into incoherent raving on the part of 
  Embol Krang. 
  The adventurers inadvertently break this impasse by 
  introducing Mariad. Once Embol Krang finds out who she is 
  and gets her into his power, he ensorcels her soul, turning her 
  Young Kingdoms body translucent and untouchable. Jaxoon 
  agrees to aid him for the sake of his daughter, although a veil 
  had best be drawn over the grotesque scenes which then ensue, 
  115 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  now that the Pan Tangian has two helpless Melnibonkans in 
  Working together the two sorcerers take one month to 
  liberate Embol Krang from the Shadow Plane. The Shadow 
  Tower returns in triumph to Hwamgaarl, a great evil released 
  into the waking world. It is unlikely that Krang would free 
  either Jaxoon or Mariad. Even on his return to the Young 
  Kingdoms, he would doubtless find some way to take their 
  souls with him, and enjoy their suffering. 
  his power. 
  EMBOL ICRANG'S DEATHLY HORDE 
  Their armor is a dream of Embol Krang's former ceremonial 
  guards armor. Embol Krang has decorated this armor by entrust- 
  ing it with grave-mold and cobwebs. The ghost-zombies keep a 
  constant, whispered plaint to be released. If a zombie is de- 
  stroved the ghost bound within is freed, and vanishes lauahing 
  andsinging ior joy. 
  - 
  the adventurers seek to fight, and herd them to the pens of the 
  Shadow Tower if they flee or elect to be arrested. Embol 
  Krang then interviews them. 
  Depus only suggests plans if the adventurers are stuck, or if 
  the gamemaster wishes a voice in the proceedings. If Depus is 
  killed, he becomes a ghost, and may be communicated with at 
  some later date. 
  DEPUS, head slave 
  Chaos 66%, Balance 49%, Law 59%. 
  STR16 
  CON14 
  SI212 
  INTI5 
  POW13 
  DEX16 
  APP15 
  HP 13 
  Damage Bonus: +1 D6. 
  Weapon: Fruit Knife 41 %, damage 1 D4+1 D6 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: none. 
  STR 
  CON 
  SIZ 
  INT 
  POW 
  DEX 
  APP 
  HP 
  MP 
  DB 
  m 
  m
  #
  3
  w
  r
  W
  #
  #
  7
   
  16 
  15 
  17 
  12 
  16 
  15 
  17 
  14 
  13 
  16 
  12 
  14 
  13 
  16 
  7 
  5 
  6
  5
  7
  5
  6
   
  1 
  1 
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
   
  9 
  0 
  0
  7
  9
  0
  0
   
  3 
  3 
  3
  3
  3
  3
  3
   
  15 
  14 
  17 
  12 
  15 
  14 
  17 
  0 
  0 
  0
  0
  0
  0
  0
   
  1W 
  1W 
  106 
  1D4 1D4 1D4 1D6 
  10 
  10 
  ia 
  10 
  10 
  10 
  10 
  # 
  18 
  12 
  12 
  5 
  1 
  7 
  3 
  12 
  0 
  1D4 
  Weapon: Heavy Mace 35%, damage 1 D8+2 +db 
  Half Shield 35%, kb+l D2+db, 15 HP 
  Armor: Dream Armor (1 D6) 
  Spells: none. 
  Skills: Common Tongue lo%, Moan Beseechingly 45%. 
  DEPUS 
  Depus is a sallow, short, thin man with a neatly trimmed black 
  beard and moustache. His face is as calm and vacant as the rest 
  of the slaves, and his movements equally unhurried. His eyes 
  retain the spark of intelligence and cunning. 
  He wears the gray sheath-cloth of slaves of the Ghost Tower, 
  ornamented by silver embroidery and buckles to mark his 
  higher status. His only weapon is his platinum h i t  knife, 
  which doubles as a lock-pick, stone-from-hoof remover, nail 
  trimmer, grout cleaner, oyster opener, and musical instrument. 
  Depus is imperturbable (he calls his current situation 
  'somewhat awkward'), and has a deadpan, cynical sense of 
  humor, such that it is often hard to work out if he is joking. His 
  loyalty is to the family of the Ghost Tower. If he can find a way 
  to rescue Jaxoon, he will, even at the cost of his own soul. He 
  relies on his rescuers, and takes drastic action only if they fail. 
  Embol Krang occasionally sends Depus out into the 
  Ghost of Cities in search of fresh souls. For each day the 
  adventurers spend in the Ghost of Cities, they have a 10% 
  chance of encountering Depus and his band of zombie 
  retainers. Within the half day's journey that encompasses 
  the area infected by the Shadow Tower, the chance to 
  encounter Depus increases to 25 % . 
  Depus hails the adventurers in a friendly fashion, explaining 
  his situation as rapidly as possible. If there are a small number 
  of adventurers, and he thinks the zombies will overwhelm 
  them, he advises them to give themselves up. If there is a large 
  band of adventurers, he leaves it to them to decide on their 
  actions. His zombies, moaning their ceaseless plaint, attack if 
  Skills: Art (Juggle) 66%, Climb 53%, Common Tongue 75%. 
  Craft lServinal90%. Dodge 67%. Exhibit Guile 75%. Melni- 
  bonean 50%;icrlove Quiecy 83%,-Natural World 20%, Potions 
  20%. 
  THE OTHER SLAVES, ten survivors 
  STR12 
  CON12 
  SI212 
  INT11 
  POW10 
  DEX13 
  APPl3 
  HP 12 
  Damage Bonus: none. 
  Weapons: none. 
  Armor: none. 
  Spells: none. 
  Skills: Common Tongue 55%, Craft (Serving) 60%, Dodge 30%, 
  Melnibonean 30%. Move Quietly 40%, Natural World lo%, Po- 
  tions 10%. 
  H E  SHADOW TOWER is the essence of the 
  architecture of Pan Tang-short, 
  squat, ugly, 
  spiked, and designed to look malevolent. It 
  T 
  achieves the last effortlessly. Its shadow is cast in 
  Hwamgaarl, not here. 
  The Shadow Tower of Embol Krang is one of the high points 
  of any tour of Hwamgaarl, and any adventurer familiar with 
  that baleful city recognizes its outline. The tower itself no 
  longer exists in Pan Tang. On a successful Young Kingdoms 
  roll, adventurers recall that the tower was thought to be 
  destroyed two centuries ago, together with its builder Embol 
  Krang, in a failed attempt to summon the blades Stormbringer 
  and Mournblade to the Young Kingdoms. 
  There are four stories above ground and a myriad, mostly 
  unused, below. The tower has only one ground floor entrance 
  and no windows or roof entrance. Its outer walls are thick and 
  strong, festooned with a grim panoply of spikes, hooks, and 
  skull-carvings. 
  
  T H E  
  GHOST 
  OF 
  CITIES 
  THE IHADOWTOWER 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  S U  B-BASEME NTS 
  36% 
  0 R M  E R LY TH E S LAVE pens, torture chambers, and 
  prisons of the Shadow Tower in its hey-day, these 
  F 
  sub-basements are now a maze of empty, ink-black 
  chambers. 
  BASEMENT 
  HE BASEMENTCONTAINS theslaveandzombie 
  pens. Depus is allowed his freedom, and has a bed in a 
  in the basement with the rest when their master returns to the 
  Shadow Plane. Depus has the most freedom of any of the 
  slaves and is consequently the most closely watched. Embol 
  Krang has taken all their gear for his own use. 
  Ehbol Kmng assumes the slaves of MelniW are like those of 
  Pan Tang, ruled by fear. However the drugs and lifestyle of Imrryr 
  Soffens their servitude, indeed make many love it, and some 
  revere their masters. Unknown to him Depus, as a leader slave, 
  accustomed to organizing and running Klo’ast~a yn’s estates, has 
  a certain tolerance to the drugs, and a cunning and astute mind 
  He is playing along with the Pan Tangian, intending to rescue his 
  master when the time comes. 
  Embol Krang’s routine suspicions mean that whenever he 
  sends Depus afield he sends half his zombie force with him, 
  but he has no particular suspicions that his slave is not as 
  obedient as the rest, if a trifle more useful. 
  T 
  slightly more comfortable comer, although he is locked 
  GROUND FLOOR 
  HE DOORWAY IS PURE Pan Tang, with the 
  typical archway motif of skulls and crossed scythes 
  head of a leering demon, but the demon it once bound has 
  gone. 
  If adventurers knock, Depus opens the door and after his 
  initial surprise, ushers them up to Embol Krang. If they 
  T 
  of the worshiper of Chardros. The knocker is the 
  TOP FLOOR 
  HIS 15 WHERE EMBOL KRANC spends most of 
  his time. The central Summoning Chamber has doors to 
  with a gently undulating curtain, which leads to the Shadow 
  Plane. 
  Roll lDlOO to determine where Embol Krang is when the 
  adventurers arrive: 
  T 
  the Sigil and Bottle Vaults, and an archway covered 
  01-30 
  Sigil Vault 
  31-60 
  Bottle Vault 
  61-90 
  Summoning Chamber 
  91-00 
  Shadow Plane 
  If he is in the Bottle Vault, the noise made by the trapped 
  ghosts covers any noise the adventurers make. If he is on 
  the Shadow Plane, the adventurers have an hour or less 
  before he returns, and he will not return there a second time 
  until 24 hours have elapsed. If he is in the Summoning 
  Chamber, they cannot go further without him detecting 
  them. 
  118 
  break in, they must make a successful Pick Lockroll, ora STR 
  roll against STR 50 of the door. Breaking through the door 
  causes enough noise to ruin any element of surprise. 
  ENTRANCE 
  The Tower of Embol Krang exists partly in three places, 
  Hwamgaarl, the Shadow Plane, and the Ghost of Cities. 
  These can be glimpsed as the adventurers pass through the 
  archway, although only the tower in the Ghost of Cities is 
  actually entered. The first glimpse is of the Shadow Plane, 
  a churning maelstrom in which vast, horribly vague, shapes 
  lurk. Second is a glimpse of Hwamgaarl at night, and the 
  distant sound of a roaring tiger, almost as horrible. 
  Finally it settles into the entrance of the Shadow Tower, a 
  series of plain, deserted kitchens, empty quarters for the 
  more important slaves, and the ante-chambers of the tower. 
  The wall niches once contained Pan Tangian treasures, but 
  are now decorated with skulls and patterns of bones. Embol 
  Krang has dug up piles of skulls and bones from the 
  cemeteries and despoiled catacombs and arranged his 
  charnel plunder artistically around the place to make it 
  seem mbre homely. The tower air is dry and earthy. 
  UPPER FLOOR 
  ERE ARE EMBOL KRANC’S bed chambers 
  and the living quarters of the tower. Zombies 
  H 
  guard it, mindlessly mimicking the actions they 
  performed in life. 
  Unless invited in, the adventurers need to sneak through 
  here. If spotted, the zombies rush them, moaning their 
  ceaseless plaint, “I am Rayne of Argimiliar, remember me.“ 
  “I do not choose this, forgive me.” “Lorgem-Til-Nio, 1 was 
  a king of Tarkesh once.” “Kill me. Kill me.” They attack as 
  they have been ordered, and fight to their full ability, 
  although their dead eyes beseech forgiveness. If the 
  adventurers are invited guests, the zombies shuffle around 
  ignoring them. 
  
  T H E  
  C H O 5 T  
  OF 
  CITI E $  
  THE SUMMONING 
  CHAMBER 
  This central room is used by Embol 
  Krang as a zombie interrogation 
  chamber. It is a bare room whose marble 
  floor is engraved with now-useless 
  diagrams and the geometric shapes of 
  sorceries, and studded with empty 
  candle holders. A map of the parts of the 
  city that he knows is pinned to the south 
  wall. 
  An altar to Chardros the Reaper, 
  patron of Pan Tang, is in the center of 
  the chamber. It has been converted to a 
  zombie restraining device, with the 
  addition of some straps of leather 
  reinforced with bronze. An inert 
  cadaver lies on the slab, an empty 
  vessel for possession by Krang’s 
  bottled ghosts. 
  Next to the altar is an incense holder, 
  and a bottle rack. The final item of 
  furniture is a reading stand, so that 
  Embol Krang can refresh his memory 
  whilst swapping ghosts, or recite the 
  incantations necessary to enforce his 
  will on a surly newcomer. The three 
  items are of rich materials but their 
  decorations bear the taint of Pan Tang, 
  with recurrent motifs of torture and 
  despair. 
  THE SIGILVAULT 
  This is Embol Krang’s library, and 
  anywhere else it would be priceless. It 
  is filled with grimoires, including 
  some lost in the two centuries since his disappearance, and 
  some that were rare then. It is now useless, for demons are 
  barred from entry to the Ghost of Cities. 
  It is a musty room filled with shelves, stacked books and 
  manuscripts, a large desk and several chairs. An engraving 
  of the Eight Chaos Lords of Pan Tang dominates the east 
  wall. Their eyes follow intruders around the room. 
  THE BOlTLE VAULT 
  Here are kept ghosts whom Embol Krang has trapped and 
  stuffed into glass bottles. Each bottle sealed with red wax on 
  which he has written the name and title of the shade 
  imprisoned within, eg., Zjml of the Court of the Yellow King, 
  Mayna of the Purple Towns. Ynith of Lormyr; etc. The chamber 
  is filled with an intense aura of despair and anguish, radiating 
  from the icy containers. With a successful Listen roll, faint 
  screams can be heard en masse, pleading for release. 
  Close examination of any bottle (successful Search) notes 
  the trapped wraith within, a grey roiling mist with a pleading 
  face and hands pressed against the glass. Breaking the bottle or 
  the seal frees the ghost, who rapidly fades from view, laughing 
  and singing for joy. 
  The noise of the vault changes if Embol Krang is present. 
  The bottled ghosts hiss at him, chanting defiance. They are 
  stilled only by his glares, and wild threats to drain them of 
  power and feed them to the demons on the Shadow Plane. 
  EMBOL KRANC AND HIS HORRIBLE BO1TLEI 
  ENTRANCE TO 
  THE SHADOW PLANE 
  HE CURTAIN LIFTED, this room opens into the 
  Summoning Chamber on the Shadow Plane. The 
  cold, and touching it fills the adventurer with dread. Beyond 
  can be clearly seen the sleeping undead, Embol Krang, 
  surrounded by his wards. The walls of the tower on the 
  Shadow Plane do not exist. Instead the walls are of the 
  seething, shadowy chaos of that Plane, from which demon 
  faces chuckle and leer, pressing themselves against the 
  magical walls before being swept away by the chaos currents 
  that perpetually eddy there. 
  The undulations of the curtain follow the movement of 
  restless air that actually resists the dreamer leaving the original 
  chamber, and does not allow the passage of missiles or other 
  weapons. Living matter must receive a successful Resistance 
  Table roll of STRSTR 15 to pass through this barrier (except 
  for Embol Krang, who built the barrier and passes through 
  without problems, becoming a specter on the other side). By 
  passing from the dream Shadow Tower the dreamer has left 
  the protection of the Ghost of Cities. When that happens, roll 
  Luck. One of the following happens. 
  If the roll succeeds, the dreamer’s soul is instantly snapped 
  back to wherever his or her body is. Adventurers wake back in 
  Klo’astra yn’s vaults, in Imrryr. 
  T 
  entrance shimmers like a heat mirage although it is 
  119 
  
  M E L N I B O N E  
  If the roll fails, the dreamer’s soul is on the Shadow 
  Plane with no physical body. The dream-body they left 
  in the Ghost of Cities vanishes. The adventurer cannot 
  return. They can possess Embol Krang’s body without 
  a POW roll, as its soul is absent. Once encased in 
  Embol Krang’s slimy and dissolute flesh, the 
  adventurer lacks the knowledge to get out of it. 
  Embol Krang’s real tower is similar to the dream 
  tower, save for the wards and the Shadow Plane 
  surrounding it, and the lack of any inhabitants. There 
  is a greater clutter of artifacts, as Embol Krang only 
  brings those he needs into the ghost-tower, in an 
  attempt to spare his powers. There are many bottles, of 
  all sizes and shapes. 
  Destroying the wards destroys the Shadow Tower, 
  Embol Krang’s body, and the adventurer’s spirit. The 
  adventurer dies immediately, devoured by ultimate 
  Chaos. Krang dies once the twenty-three hours he has 
  before he must return has elapsed. His animosity 
  towards any remaining adventurers in the interim is 
  extreme. The dreamshadow Tower and its surrounds 
  stays whatever the outcome, having acquired a 
  legitimate foothold in the Ghost of Cities. The taint 
  simply does not spread any further. 
  If not destroyed, within 24 hours or less, depending 
  on the time of day, Embol Krang is going to return for 
  his one hour’s penance, and want his body back, on a 
  POWPOW Resistance Table roll. Two souls cannot 
  possess one body, and the loser of this psychic combat 
  is dispossessed. Embol Krang ’s anger at the adventurers’ 
  trespass ensures that he attempts to bottle them for 
  interrogation. As long as their souls remains alive until the 
  time set aside for their drugged stupor elapses, they can return 
  safely to Imrryr. 
  H E  GHOSTOF 
  CITIES 
  F T H E  ADVENTURERS foil Embol Krang, the 
  Spirit of the Ghost of Cities manifests to them, and tells 
  them anything further that they need to know. 
  Either the facade of a grand building transforms itself 
  into a building-like countenance and speaks, or the 
  adventurers seemingly swing up into the sky, and they see, laid 
  out below them, the Ghost of Cities become a giant stony face. 
  Either manifestation speaks in a voice like the clashing of 
  stone and ringing of trumpets. Sustained conversation is 
  deafening. 
  The Spirit tells them that they have altered the fabric of the 
  City, halting its evolution from a place of peace to one of terror 
  to those restless souls who inhabit it. Although becoming a 
  place of terror would have been a nice change, the adventurers 
  have nevertheless performed a significant action in stopping 
  the slide, and in return it offers those rewards within its power. 
  THE SOUL NOOSE 
  H E  SOUL NOOSE 
  is a weighty, iridescent, 
  T 
  triple-stranded torque of silver, diamonds, and black 
  opals. It has a value of 25,000 bronzes for its metal and 
  gems, and double that for its sorcerous powers. 
  The essence of the soul noose is tied to the person who 
  holds it in the waking world. If removed from their 
  possession it fades from the Ghost of Cities within the hour, 
  unless it is bound to the city with Embol Krang’s soul 
  entrapment spell. If this spell is cast upon it, it remains in the 
  Ghost of Cities, regardless of who holds it. Its waking world 
  counterpart becomes ethereal at all times. 
  The Soul Noose can only work on a ghost visible to the 
  wielder. It must come in contact with the spirit, most often 
  looped around their neck, whilst the wielder holds onto it in 
  two places to complete the circuit. A P0W:POW Resistance 
  Table struggle then occurs. More than one person can hold 
  onto the noose and combine their POW in the attack, if they 
  know the Chain of Being spell. 
  If the spirit’s power is overcome, the Soul Noose absorbs 
  it. Embol Krang and Klo’astra yn both know how to loose a 
  captured soul back into a body. If the spirit wins, it flees. If 
  the wielder fumbles the POW roll, the Soul Noose absorbs 
  their soul instead. 
  It grants a spirit-guide to the location of the Ghost Tower and 
  Jaxoon’s soul, or knowledge of the location of ghost roses, or 
  anything within its power that the adventurers request. It has 
  little power outside its own realm and cannot help them there, 
  except to return them immediately to the waking world. 
  If the adventurers have done all their tasks, then the Spirit 
  has nothing to offer except its recognition of their deeds. It 
  also promises that for those who wish it, and who 
  acknowledge no other gods or who foreswear them, that upon 
  death they will rejoin the Ghost of Cities in its eternal slumber 
  and delight. 
  F RESCUED, JAXOON behaves in a way 
  understandable only to those who have also lost their 
  heart’s desire, mitigated a trifle if the adventurers 
  rescued him from Embol Krang’s clutches. Once his 
  soul is rejoined to his body, he stalks off in a tremendous, 
  silent rage. Klo’astra yn is untroubled by this, and smiles 
  tranquilly at his rescuers. If there is a hint of satisfied malice in 
  her look, it is of no concern to theirs. 
  Now that the task is done, Klo’astra yn recovers from her 
  hurt, and to Them’s delight takes a renewed interest in life. 
  Jaxoon vows vengeance on those who tore him from his 
  beloved city, but finds himself again absorbed in his family. If 
  Mariad enjoyed her experience with the adventures, she 
  acquires a taste for wandering, which alone may save her from 
  120 
  
  T H E  
  C H O 5 T  
  O F  
  CITIES 
  Imrryr‘s final doom. The family force A‘Ary to apologize for 
  his persecution. 
  The Ghost Tower is restored to its former appearance, a 
  tapering gray tower of pleasant form, but without the 
  unearthly translucence and beauty imbued upon it by Jaxoon’s 
  bargain with the Ghost of Cities. 
  Klo’astra yn is able to remove any ghost rose intrusion into 
  an adventurer’s soul after 1D6 days of study. She offers to buy 
  such a person first, as a valuable and interesting species of 
  root-graft, and at a price ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 
  bronzes, depending on their condition. She can revive Ghost 
  Roses plucked with a dead limb, as long as the roses reach her 
  within the day. She devotes considerable time to mating 
  prisms, windows or viewing apertures from the necessary 
  ingredients, so that the phantom roses can be admired by the 
  living. 
  If he survives, Depus takes on his duties where he left them. 
  He supervises the opening of the family vaults, and allows the 
  adventurers to choose their reward. He remains a friend for 
  life, and in his capacity as an honored slave can aid the 
  adventurers in many ways. However, once the adventurers 
  have left the tower, all further encounters with Klo’astra yn are 
  met with only a smiling but vague recollection that they once 
  served her well. d 
  121 
  
  INDE% 
  ,.., ..................................................... 
  .... ........................... 
  ,~~~ 
  y,.... < ..................... 
  ~..~~. 
  ..: : , 
  A 
  A'sha'hiian 7,16,70 
  Actorios 48 
  Actorios, The 22,27,29,48 
  Aesma 26,50 
  Amashii 12, 18 
  Arena of Lost Souls 15 
  Argimiliar 12 
  42,47,50 
  Arkyn 76 
  Amara 26,50 
  Aubec 10 
  AriOCh 7,9,12,26 - 27,29, 
  B 
  Bakshaan 12 
  Balaan 26,s 
  Balance, The 7 - 8,16,47,50 
  Balo 50 
  Barrier of Law 48 
  Battle-barges 10 
  Bay of lmrryr 14 
  Beast- and Plant-Lords 7,9, 
  Boiling Sea 12 - 13 
  10,45 
  C 
  .:.x.:.>:.: ....................... . . _.. 
  ..:.:.x<.:.:<...:.: ..::.:.: ::.. .~... 
  ............................ 
  ., :.:: 
  Catacombs. The 26 
  Cathedral of Chaos 25,50 
  Chaos 7 - 10,16,25,28,32, 
  Chaos Fleet 51 
  ChaosWars 8 
  Chardros 26, 50 
  Climate of Melnibone 12 
  Common Tongue 37 
  Corridor of Kings 28 
  Court of the Ruby Throne 28 
  Courtyard of Crystallized 
  Courtyard of Hands, The 27 
  Cymoril 12,27,43 - 45 
  37,47 -48,50 - 51 
  Stars,The 27 
  D 
  Darnizhaan 8 
  Dead Gods, The 8,17 
  Dhakos 20 
  Dharijor 25 
  Dharzi, The 10,19 
  Diavon Star 42 
  Disordered Scribes of the 
  League of Tumultuous 
  Erudition 65 
  Doctor Jest 25,32,46 
  Doomed Folk, The 7 
  Dorel 12 
  Dragon Caves 17,27,88 
  Dragon Falls 15 
  Dragon Goad 89 
  Dragon Horn 17.89 
  Elemental Wars 7 
  Eloarde 10 
  Elric 7,lO-12,17,26-27, 
  29,32,42 - 45 
  Emerald Arbor, The 29 
  Emperor's Suite 29 
  Encircling Hills, The 13 - 15 
  F 
  Fifth Plane 19 
  Fileet 16 
  Filkar 12 
  Floating Palace, The 15 
  Dragon Saddle 89 
  Dragon Sea 12 - 13,16 
  Dragon Skeletons 27 
  Dragon Songs 87 
  Dragons 8 - 10,12,17,20,87 
  Dragons, Secret Names of 87 
  Dreaming Stones 16 
  Drugs 9.14,32,34,37 - 39 
  DyvimTvar 45 
  E 
  Eagle Guard 28 
  Earl Saxif DAan 26 
  Elemental Court 25 
  Elemental Rulers 7, 9 
  Forest of Souls 42, 51 
  Future Events 11 
  Fwem-Omeyo 26 
  G 
  Gallery of Stained History 29 
  Garden of Melancholy Roses 
  Gate of Bone 20,27 
  Gate of Crystal 20 
  Gate of Flowers 20 
  Gate of Jade 20 
  Gate of the Dead 26 
  Gate Unseen 20 
  Gates of the Dead 30 
  26 
  Goldar 35 
  Golden Hills 12, 15 
  Golden Hills, The 12,13,15 
  Gratyesha 26 
  Great Wall 36 
  Grome 12 
  H 
  H'hui'shan 8 - 9,19 
  Haborym 26,50 
  Hall of Concordance 25 
  Hall of the Ruby Throne 28 
  Harbor 10,24,53 
  Harbor Edict 38 
  Harbormaster 25 
  Heir-elect to the Throne 27 
  High Speech 16 - 17,37 
  Humans 9 
  I 
  llmiora 25,40 
  Imperial Guard 20 
  Imperial Palace 24 - 28 
  lmrryr 9,12,16,19,50 
  lmrrynan Bay 13 
  Intangible Forest, The 14,41 
  Iron Sages of the Order of 
  Isle of Purple Towns, The 
  Isolated Fell 12 - 13, 
  the Brass Quill 76 
  11 - 12,25,38 - 40 
  15 - 16 
  J 
  Jadmar 12 
  Jharkor 12,20,24 - 25 
  K 
  Kiashu 12 - 13,17 - 18, 
  Kri'isin'nii 71 
  37,69 
  L 
  Lake of Moon, The 15 
  Lalkhu River 13 - 16,20 
  122 
  
  Last River 51 
  Law 7 8, 10,30,39,47 48, 
  50-51,76 
  Lawful Barrier 10 
  Ley-lines 14,16 
  LifeSpan 31 
  Lokhaghai 19 
  Lords of Chaos 26 
  Lords of the Higher Worlds 
  Lormyr 10,12,25,38 
  8-9,50 
  M 
  , , ,.:,..:. _.:,j, .., .: , :..: ..... :>..:.:...:.:.:.:.: 
  .,.:.: ::~~.~.:~.~.~.:.:...) 
  ..)..i.(i 
  .,.... 
  +?> .... :.:.:.:.: 
  Mabden 10 
  Mabelode 26,50 
  Magum Colim 25,45 
  Malohim 50 
  Mammoths 17,19 
  Marthim 50 
  Mashabak 42 
  Meadows of Lassitude 
  Meerclaw 50 
  MelnibonB's Formation 12 
  Melnibonean History 7 
  Melnibonean Language 37 
  Miskrag 19 
  Moleworms 19 
  Monshanjik 22 
  Monshanjik Tower 24 - 25, 
  36,38,46 
  Mordaga 47 
  Moumblade 8 
  Multiverse 17 
  Myshella of Kaneloon 10 
  Myyrrhn 8 
  12 - 13,15 - 16,40 * 41 
  N 
  ~ _..: .... ~~.:.:.:.:,:.~>,:.>,.:.:.:.:<:.: 
  ,:: 
  ..x:.:.xw.,w.:.:.:.:~:.x<.~:x.:.:.:.:~.::l.:~: .: .::: 
  Necromancy 51 
  Nihrain 8 
  0 
  ,., , , ..:~ 
  .s.: ~.:.:.::. . , ........................... 
  .: :.:~... 
  ,. :.:.:.:...:.:.:.. ... <:: ?,<A.:.:.:w.:.x.:.:.:.:.: 
  Oin 12 
  Older Ones, The 7 - 8 
  P 
  Pan Tang 10,39,50 
  Passageways, 
  the hidden network 38 
  Pikarayd 12 
  Plain of lmrryr 12 - 14,41 
  Plant and Beast Lords 7,9, 
  10,48 
  Potions 43 
  Potions Skill 39 
  Prince Carolak 26 
  Prince Gaynor the 
  Processional Avenue, 
  Pvarav 26.50 - 51 
  Damned 47 
  The 24-25 
  s 
  Sack of lmrryr 12 
  Sadric 11,28 - 29,32, 
  Scroll of Dead-Speaking 42 
  Sea Serpents 16 
  Sea-serpents 13 
  Shazaar 26 
  Ship Which Sails Over 
  Land And Sea, The 
  8,12,30 
  Sighing Desert 9,12,25 
  Silent Land 8 
  Silver Grimoire 8,29 
  Slaves 9,13,15,22,32,34, 
  41 -43,45-46 
  38-40,50 
  4 
  Quarzhasaat 9.12 
  R 
  R'lin Kren A'a 7,9 
  Religion 26 
  Ring of Kings see Actorios 
  Rituals 28 
  Ruby Throne, The 28 
  Runeswords 8 
  Slaves' Gate 24 
  Slortar 26, 50 
  Smiorgan Baldhead 12 
  Sojourner's Guides 67 
  Sorcerer's Isle 9,40 
  Sorcery 9 - 10,12,14,20, 
  Southern Continent 40 
  Southern Shores, The 13 
  Spiders 16 
  Spiralling Tower, The 26 
  Stormbringer 8,12 
  Straasha 12,48,51,75 
  29 - 30,39 - 40,43,47,51 
  T 
  Tanglebones 43 
  Tarkesh 12 
  Theocrat of Pan Tang 10,42 
  Three Day War 9 
  Tower of B'all'nezbett 29 
  Tower of D'a'rputna 27 
  Tower of Kings 28 
  U 
  Ufych-Sormeer 12 
  V 
  Verdele 26,50 
  Vilmir 12,76 
  Vilmire 12 
  Vlai'huan2-19 
  Voroon4-50 
  W 
  Wa'aiya'oro 12, 17 - 19, 
  Wakasabi 19 
  Weeping Glade of Galith CAr 
  Wild Coast, The 13,16 
  Wild Dance of Melnibone 28 
  Witch Sight 20 
  WyrmCove 16 
  37,69 
  15 
  % 
  Xiombarg 50 
  Y 
  Young Kingdoms, The 
  Yu 12,25 
  Yyrkoon 11 -12,27,44-45 
  10 -12,25 
  Z 
  Zhortra 50 
  123 
  
  SYMBOL / PORTRAIT L
  D E M O N  / ELEMENTAL SHEET 
  Uliu 
  True Name 
  keed 
  Description 
  Ned 
  Attitude 
  h o l e  Points to Summon 
  CHARACTERISTICS 8
  -
   
  SHILLS 
  M A G I C  POINTS '7 
  HIT POINTS 4 
  UNCONSCOUS 
  unmnrdap 0 1  2 3 4 
  m - 2  4 0 
  +1 +2 3 4 
  13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 
  13 14 15 18 17 18 19 20 
  0 
  29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 
  29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 
  Pow x
  s
  -
   
  3 7 3 0 3 3 4 0 4 1 4 2 4 3 4 4  
  3 7 3 8 3 8 4 0 4 1 4 2 4 3 4 4  
  4 5 4 6 4 7 4 6 4 9 5 0 5 1  52 
  4 5 4 6 4 7 4 8 4 8 5 0 5 1 5 2  
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  KING OF SARTAR 
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  The facts, history, 
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Elric/Melnibone.pdf