Those who travel underground have to face many hazards. One of the lesser of these is the Dungeon Tick. Almost invisible on the stone ceiling, it will wait many a year until it drops on a suitable host to feed on its blood.
Experienced adventurers who detect the tick sometimes chose to let it remain. Although the tick can sap vitality, it somehow enhance vision*, a useful tool when the light fails or utmost discression is required. Scholars have speculated that frequent exposure to dungeon ticks is what grants the underground dwellers their ability to see in the dark, and why, after a few generation of surface living, the ability fails.
Recently, scholars studying the life cycles of the dungeon ticks have made startling discoveries. Following a number of months of slow growth on its host, the tick falls off, finds a dark corner to hide and molts into a stony egg. After a month of incubation, this egg hatches.
At this point, the story becomes muddled. The wizard Lurm of Elderstone, who was trying to develop a dark-vision potion, believes that the egg hatches into a rat; while the Archbishop of Garboli claims to have proof positive that the tick becomes a pigeon, and has pressured the Pope to excommunicate Lurm over the affair. Po Befi, the Slugman Ambassador (and thus immune to threats of excommunication and far too wealthy for Lurm to bribe), was asked by the Pope to study the matter. The Slugman concluded that the egg becomes a *bat*. This, of course, did very little to settle the affair.
The three scholar agrees on what happens next however. After a period of feeding and growth, the critter molts again into an egg, which transforms into a gremlin. After some time of eating, this gremlin grows and guided by some magical instinct (or sense of smell as suggested by Po Befi), rejoins a goblin tribe (thus proving the dwarven affirmation that gremlins are immature goblins). Lurm believes that the goblin generates spores which become more ticks, while the Archbishop firmly believes that the ticks spontaneously generate. Research is ongoing, and Lurm has offered a bounty on live goblins.
Po Befi speculates that the stone underground is more nourishing, which is why surface dwelling goblins are often so wretched. Goblins do not appear to be aware of this cycle, but they do know that if they live in caves or other underground settings, the clan will get stronger over time. Too deep however and the critter - wether is be rat, pigeon or bat - fails to thrives, which explains the lack of goblins reported in the very depth of the earth.
*Adventurers wishing to let the dungeon tick feed on them to gain the 5 feet of darkvision can, but they lose 1 of their max HP, until the tick detaches, 2d4 weeks later. DM may allow PCs to develop permanent 10 feet darkvision after years of use.
Showing posts with label Biology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biology. Show all posts
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Sunday, August 18, 2019
The Ogre Mages and the Abattoir God.
This blog entry is based on the "curse as a class" entry by Bubbear Slug: The Abattoir God. I highly recommend you read it, but the tl,dr is this: A human is "chosen", slowly gains powers and becomes the Abattoir God, only to be later slaughtered and sacrificed by the cult members. A new one is then chosen - usually from among the cultist, but sometimes a random stranger.
This idea is too good to pass up, and here is how it would fit in Yoon Suin.
The Abattoir God's cult is ancient, and has its roots in Occidentalia, that mythical land far to the west. Its history is intimately tied in with the history of ogre-mages. The flesh of the Abattoir God is potent, and while the cultists eat much of it, they can raise significant funds by selling some of it to others. They also know that a member of the cult is not always chosen, and thus it is essential that outsiders also have access to the God-Flesh - only someone who has partaken in the Divine Flesh can be chosen to become the next Abattoir God.
About 1500 years ago, a mage, seeking to create a powerful servant, served head-cheese crafted with the brains of the sacrificed Abattoir God to an ogre. Pleased with the results, he repeated the experience. His two ogre servants, far cleverer and even tempered than a standard ogre, learned magic from him and served him well for several years. After a dozen years, they convinced them than a third member would serve him even better. They observed the procedure carefully, and after learning the secret, slew their master and left town with the third ogre. Thus was born the first three ogre-mages.
Knowing that God-Brain was essential to their propagation, one member infiltrated the cult while the other two worked to raise funds and located ogre candidates. During the next sacrifice, they purchased the entirety of the brain, and the number of Ogre mage jumped to almost a dozen. This persisted for several decades.
Over the decades, as the Authority's Church grew in power, the cult was displaced east, and the ogre-mage with them. Hearing of the greath wealth of Yoon Suin, and of the Rajah of Syr Darya's generous contracts to skilled mercenaries, the ogre mages manipulated the cult into crossing the mountains of the Moon (they were not so high back then) and entered Yoon Suin.
Because of the curse of Syr Darya, the cult moved south and east, and is no longer as firmly controlled by the Ogre Mages. They are desperately trying to keep the knowledge of the potency of the god-brain away from the Slug-men. So far they have succeeded, but they know it is but a matter of time.
Flesh of the Abbatoir God:
These are several reputed, rumored or speculated magical items that can be created from the flesh of the Abbatoir God. The following are mostly confirmed:
Divine sausage: Not only do these sausage fill the eater with divine strenght (treat as potion of fire giant strenght) they also have minor healing properties (heal 1d6 hp).
Hide of the god: Leather from the Abbatoir God is well suited for enchantment. That from a chosen one of dwarven background makes for particularly potent armor (+2 CON on top of other effects).
Bristles of the god: the coarse hair of the Abbatoir God is useful for brushes used to scribe magical scrolls with divine spells. Ground in a powder, they can be used to make dust of sneezing and choking.
Headcheese of the God: As detailed above, elevates the mind to a higher plane and provides magic. A very well kept secret. A potion made with cerebral fluid will grant the drinker an extra MD (1 use only).
Eyes of the God: No known properties, but the Ogre-Mages, as a diversionary tactic, keep spreading rumors that they are phenomenal. Sooner or later someone will find the way to use them properly.
The priests of the Vulture God are very curious about the Abbatoir God's flesh, but leery of consuming it or offering it as sacrifice. What if they - or their God! - is chosen?
For each template of Ogre Mage, your HP goes up by 2 and your strength and intelligence goes up by 1 each. You gain one Spell Dice (SD) and learn spells (see table below)
A: Large fame, +1 SD
B: Ogre weapon, +1 SD
C: Fast healing, +1 SD
D: Tough, +1 SD
Large frame: You gain +1d6 HP. You are 7 feet + 1d6 inches tall, and you grow another 6 inches per template.
Ogre weapon: Your weapon damage dice goes up by one step. An ogre dagger does 1d8 dmg, etc.
Fast healing: You heal 1d6 hp per hour of rest.
Tough: You reduce incoming damage by 1.
Spells: Roll a 1d6 at level 1, 2 and 3 to learn 1 spell (reroll if the same spell is obtained). At level 4, choose 1 spell and roll a 1d8 for another.
1: Invisibility
2: Fly
3: Polymorphe to humanoid form
4: Ogrify - inflict the Ogre Curse on a cruel child.
5: Charm person
6: Sleep
7: Gaseous form
8: Cone of Cold
Finally, the Abattoir God should not be confused with Rustok the God of Butchers. Takes the form of a blood-stained grey langur (a type of monkey), favored color is yellow, bones are his preferred sacrificed. The God himself is never sacrificed, oh no, and this whole abattoir "God" is heretical nonsense.
Thank you to Bubbear Slug for the original idea, and Unlawful games for further suggestions.
Edit: some more writings on the Abattoir God (and other very neat cults), by a group of authors, can be found here.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
On the Ecology of Bugs and Spells
One of the important ideas in my take on Yoon Suin is that magic is *so valuable* that people will go to great lenght to get it, slugmen and humans alike. So if a would-be magic user can't hack it as a wizard, they will try all sorts of "alternative routes" to get to that magical power - things like alchemy, figmentalism, or golemology. Others learn magical crafts that are passed down within families, like kojo-making amongst the Lamarakhi. So for every proper wizard you have a bunch of summoners, weird priests and the like.
That can be a challenge, rule wise, but it doesn't have to be. The GLOG has many strengths, and one of them is that creating a new class is very easy. So if you - or your player! - has a cool idea, you can create a class for it, or adapt one from the web (there are a LOT of Glog classes out there, and their creators would be delighted if you use them). One such interesting class is the Bug Collector. Go read it to fully appreciate it, but basically it's a spell-caster adjacent class that uses bugs to generate magical-ish effects.
On the GLOG discord server, this class came up and was discussed. How did this *work* really. Were the bugs just like spells? Did it "merge" well with the GLOG's main spellcasting system used by wizards? (In brief: spells are not techniques, they are beings made of ideas and spirit stuff. A wizard brain's is used to wield these beings. Arnold's K class poked fun at the concept a bit).
So how can we fit this bug collector idea into the GLOG "spell ecology" principles? How on earth is a bug collector getting magic out of *bugs?!?*
Easy. Bugs are spellcasters. How else could a bumblebee fly? The water flea breathe under water? The worm swim through the earth? Magic that is it. Insects are symbiotic beings, a tiny body of brittle flesh with various spells riding along. All the bug collector is doing is forcing bugs to use their magics for the bug collector's benefit.
And that is why the world is so full of magic - bugs are everywhere, carrying their spells and flinging them around mindlessly to perform their buggy tasks. Wizards find this idea offensive and preposterous - but they are wrong. Only the best of the bug collectors have grasped what is going on, and are better for it.
The alchemist may think of his potion having medicinal properties because of the mercury and gem dust he put in it, but he's wrong. It's the honey added for flavor that is the source of potency - all those spells of food and royalty (the hands of the king are the hands of a healer). Wine has magic, because it's made by yeast who wields tiny spells to brew and ferment. Naphtha is full of spells that have rotted under the earth for eons, closer to Hell for a near eternity, and the spirit of Fire has leached into them.
But what does his mean, on a grander scale? That bugs have so many spells, and humans so little? Why is this so? It's because the mind is almost like a spell and it crowds out other spells. And THAT idea has consequences! Such as:
1: Wizards have poor judgement because they made holes in their mind to make room for spells.
2: The mind is almost a spell, but not quite because it needs a meatsack to keep it going. But then... is that true? Is the soul a spell? Is the body a "meat magical item", a peculiar wand? Necromancy - raising a zombie - is like a human's crude imitation of nature, puting a not quite soul in a not quite body, geting not quite life. Furthermore, if the Soul just a kind of spells, (or spells are a kind of souls) there are all sorts of grand cosmological consequences to this too.
5: Metals have no magic at all. But metals have properties. Copper conducts electricity. Arsenic is poisonous. Not because they are magical, but because they do for actual valid reasons that you would know, had you paid more attention to in chemistry class that is. And I suppose you could *add* magic to metal, it just never has spells to begin with.
It was pointed out to me that once the players discover this, they may want to use this - have the PCs get poison magic out of wasps for example. But that's ok, they aren't very good at it... and if they want to be, so be it! Let them take levels of bug collector, or candle mage, bird witch, summoner, whatever is fun and vaguely balanced!
Many thanks go to the GLOG Discord collective for ideas and commentary, notably Madilynn for planting the question in my mind, for pointing out how potent honey could be, and thoughts on adventurer behavior.
That can be a challenge, rule wise, but it doesn't have to be. The GLOG has many strengths, and one of them is that creating a new class is very easy. So if you - or your player! - has a cool idea, you can create a class for it, or adapt one from the web (there are a LOT of Glog classes out there, and their creators would be delighted if you use them). One such interesting class is the Bug Collector. Go read it to fully appreciate it, but basically it's a spell-caster adjacent class that uses bugs to generate magical-ish effects.
On the GLOG discord server, this class came up and was discussed. How did this *work* really. Were the bugs just like spells? Did it "merge" well with the GLOG's main spellcasting system used by wizards? (In brief: spells are not techniques, they are beings made of ideas and spirit stuff. A wizard brain's is used to wield these beings. Arnold's K class poked fun at the concept a bit).
So how can we fit this bug collector idea into the GLOG "spell ecology" principles? How on earth is a bug collector getting magic out of *bugs?!?*
Easy. Bugs are spellcasters. How else could a bumblebee fly? The water flea breathe under water? The worm swim through the earth? Magic that is it. Insects are symbiotic beings, a tiny body of brittle flesh with various spells riding along. All the bug collector is doing is forcing bugs to use their magics for the bug collector's benefit.
And that is why the world is so full of magic - bugs are everywhere, carrying their spells and flinging them around mindlessly to perform their buggy tasks. Wizards find this idea offensive and preposterous - but they are wrong. Only the best of the bug collectors have grasped what is going on, and are better for it.
The alchemist may think of his potion having medicinal properties because of the mercury and gem dust he put in it, but he's wrong. It's the honey added for flavor that is the source of potency - all those spells of food and royalty (the hands of the king are the hands of a healer). Wine has magic, because it's made by yeast who wields tiny spells to brew and ferment. Naphtha is full of spells that have rotted under the earth for eons, closer to Hell for a near eternity, and the spirit of Fire has leached into them.
But what does his mean, on a grander scale? That bugs have so many spells, and humans so little? Why is this so? It's because the mind is almost like a spell and it crowds out other spells. And THAT idea has consequences! Such as:
1: Wizards have poor judgement because they made holes in their mind to make room for spells.
2: The mind is almost a spell, but not quite because it needs a meatsack to keep it going. But then... is that true? Is the soul a spell? Is the body a "meat magical item", a peculiar wand? Necromancy - raising a zombie - is like a human's crude imitation of nature, puting a not quite soul in a not quite body, geting not quite life. Furthermore, if the Soul just a kind of spells, (or spells are a kind of souls) there are all sorts of grand cosmological consequences to this too.
3: The more intelligent an animal is, the less magic it has. This is why birds are magical, but most of them not as much as bugs. Also, why there are so many stupid wizards (even prior to making holes in their minds).
3b: Perhaps the ability to cast spells for humans is dependent on an illness which makes holes in your brain.
5: Metals have no magic at all. But metals have properties. Copper conducts electricity. Arsenic is poisonous. Not because they are magical, but because they do for actual valid reasons that you would know, had you paid more attention to in chemistry class that is. And I suppose you could *add* magic to metal, it just never has spells to begin with.
It was pointed out to me that once the players discover this, they may want to use this - have the PCs get poison magic out of wasps for example. But that's ok, they aren't very good at it... and if they want to be, so be it! Let them take levels of bug collector, or candle mage, bird witch, summoner, whatever is fun and vaguely balanced!
Many thanks go to the GLOG Discord collective for ideas and commentary, notably Madilynn for planting the question in my mind, for pointing out how potent honey could be, and thoughts on adventurer behavior.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Grown in Darkness
The other day as I was surfing the internet, I stumbled upon this story:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190424-the-english-vegetable-picked-by-candlelight
In brief, someone discovered that if you forced rhubarb to grow by candlelight, it would force them to draw upon their resources and become much sweeter. I'm not sure if I'm being a botany geek here, but this seemed remarkably like a... very Yoon-Suin thing to do. Sure you grow bizarre vegetables in the dark in D&D but in the real world? No way...
And yet, here we are.
So in honor of forced rhubarb, I guess I have to force myself to write down a few ideas I had about the power of darkness in Yoon Suin.
First, yet another god!
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190424-the-english-vegetable-picked-by-candlelight
In brief, someone discovered that if you forced rhubarb to grow by candlelight, it would force them to draw upon their resources and become much sweeter. I'm not sure if I'm being a botany geek here, but this seemed remarkably like a... very Yoon-Suin thing to do. Sure you grow bizarre vegetables in the dark in D&D but in the real world? No way...
And yet, here we are.
So in honor of forced rhubarb, I guess I have to force myself to write down a few ideas I had about the power of darkness in Yoon Suin.
First, yet another god!
Lyla, the dark soap mistress. This peculiar cult is not very popular due to being... strange, even by the Yellow City standards. The goddess takes the shape of an odd Beetle-octopus, and appreciates the sacrifice invertebrate. The sacred color is black, and the cult takes the devotion to this color to an alarming extreme. The priesthood is composed entirely of human women who dye their skin black. The more advanced the holy woman, the deeper and
more total the shade (teeth, eyes etc become black too). Other cults consider this concern over color to be over the top.
The high priestess has become so dark that she is but a silhouette, appearing not as a black shape but almost as a human-shaped hole in the universe (Look up vantablack to get an idea). She is said to be one of the most powerful holy woman in the city, and slugmen sometimes pay great fees to consult her on various matters.
High rituals of the cult includes sleeping in ink, sometimes for very long
periods. Other strange
rituals include very long washing (most people aren't "holy enough"
to withstand this, skin gets irritated, although certain slugmen say it is just *the thing* to get over an opium addiction). Soap is seen as holy because it reveals (the sheen of soapy water gives substance and detail to very dark objects/people) , but also the soap is needed to keep
dust etc at bay that would keep true blackness from being possible.
Besides the high priestess, another cultist gained some notoriety - the would be successor, Chi Da Mat, was banished for her greed. She relocated to Ras Bolon and quickly took over the cult of the Black Lotus, a different goddess concerned with magic, women and the harvest. She is said to wield not inconsiderable mystical and temporal power, and charges dearly for her services.
Second, a peculiar tea:
The unseen brew.
This black tea is grown in the shade, on steep northern slopes in Sughd that never seen the sun. It is the harvest process however which is most particular - only on moonless night, cloudy if possible. The harvesters are "honored" slaves, who are born and live in perpetual darkness, only coming out of their lightless halls to perform the harvest. The same slaves perform the post-harvest processing, fermentation and packaging in complete darkness. Each packet is carefully sealed against light contamination, and is sold for 10 rupees (2 gp) per packet (one packet being sufficient to brew one teapot).
The tea is said to taste best if brewed and drunk in complete darkness, and is the preferred brew of cynics. It is also used by serious-minded slugmen who wish to ponder "what could go wrong" with a project, as it blackens the mood and strips the drinker of unwarranted optimism. It is also said to be a suitable base medium for various types of darkness magic.
(edit: this was in part inspired by the imperial silver tips which really should be part of yoon-suin anyway. )
(edit: this was in part inspired by the imperial silver tips which really should be part of yoon-suin anyway. )
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Cheating death in Yoon-Suin
Slug men do not live long... in theory. Their natural life-span is perhaps 50 years. However, the Tea Masters have long ago discovered the secrets of a life-extending tea. A slugman who drinks a cup of this elixir daily can expect to live 150-250 years. The slug-men call this simply "yellow tea" - their near dependence on it is a well kept secret.
There is now enough yellow tea for every slugmen... But it wasn't always so. Initially, the yellow tea was reserved for wizards. As supplies increased, the tea was given to other spellcasters as well. Today, the core of the tradition remains and is sacrosant: a slugman must demonstrate that they can wield magic (without items) in a short but critical ceremony called "the Proving" so that they can earn the right to yellow tea. Cheating invites exile.
Those who pass this important rite of passage gain access to a long life and the full privileges of being a slugman. Slugmen who fail to Prove themselves are second-class citizens, doomed to die early and aforded few chances to breed. Some become resigned and hedonistic petty officials. Others become driven, determine to find magic, or live life to the fullest. They often resort to crime, as they fear exile less than other slugmen - who fear losing access to the special tea. There is no time limit for a slugman to "Prove" themselves - if one manages to master magic later in life despite failing earlier, perhaps by finding a new (or ancient) form or magic, or by forging a pact with some petty god or entity, they will gain access to the yellow tea.
Some slugmen who haven't proven themselves take to eating large quantities of solid tea in hope to extending their lives and it somewhat works (gaining 10-15 years); this behavior is explained as "tea addiction".
Scholars have noted that the support of slugmen who fail to master arcane magic and who start worshiping various gods (and thus become holymen) plays an important part in maintaining the large number of shrine to obscure gods in the Yellow City - a single slugman's patronage can ensure a failing's cult survival.
The yellow tea does not work properly for humans. It halts aging for a decade or two, invariably followed by a fatal wasting disease. Some other alchemical means can prolonge human life for some times, but amongst archmage, these are insufficient.
The choice remaining are lichdom (wich few take), or undergo the ritual kown as Enftebtemang's Palmastic Transformation. This complex procedure results in the mage losing his head, and faces appearing on his palm. This may damage sanity somewhat, but does extend life by several centuries. Some say that when the two palms are joined together, the face changes, and Enftebtemang can speak through.
(See page 259 and 262 of the book for notes and illustration of such an archmage)
Design note: This was inspired by the notion that "all slugmen are magic users or holy men." Why are slugmen so eager to learn magic? Because it's a matter of life and death
There is now enough yellow tea for every slugmen... But it wasn't always so. Initially, the yellow tea was reserved for wizards. As supplies increased, the tea was given to other spellcasters as well. Today, the core of the tradition remains and is sacrosant: a slugman must demonstrate that they can wield magic (without items) in a short but critical ceremony called "the Proving" so that they can earn the right to yellow tea. Cheating invites exile.
Those who pass this important rite of passage gain access to a long life and the full privileges of being a slugman. Slugmen who fail to Prove themselves are second-class citizens, doomed to die early and aforded few chances to breed. Some become resigned and hedonistic petty officials. Others become driven, determine to find magic, or live life to the fullest. They often resort to crime, as they fear exile less than other slugmen - who fear losing access to the special tea. There is no time limit for a slugman to "Prove" themselves - if one manages to master magic later in life despite failing earlier, perhaps by finding a new (or ancient) form or magic, or by forging a pact with some petty god or entity, they will gain access to the yellow tea.
Some slugmen who haven't proven themselves take to eating large quantities of solid tea in hope to extending their lives and it somewhat works (gaining 10-15 years); this behavior is explained as "tea addiction".
Scholars have noted that the support of slugmen who fail to master arcane magic and who start worshiping various gods (and thus become holymen) plays an important part in maintaining the large number of shrine to obscure gods in the Yellow City - a single slugman's patronage can ensure a failing's cult survival.
The yellow tea does not work properly for humans. It halts aging for a decade or two, invariably followed by a fatal wasting disease. Some other alchemical means can prolonge human life for some times, but amongst archmage, these are insufficient.
The choice remaining are lichdom (wich few take), or undergo the ritual kown as Enftebtemang's Palmastic Transformation. This complex procedure results in the mage losing his head, and faces appearing on his palm. This may damage sanity somewhat, but does extend life by several centuries. Some say that when the two palms are joined together, the face changes, and Enftebtemang can speak through.
(See page 259 and 262 of the book for notes and illustration of such an archmage)
Design note: This was inspired by the notion that "all slugmen are magic users or holy men." Why are slugmen so eager to learn magic? Because it's a matter of life and death
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
The House of Beetles
Here is one of many noble slugmen house in the Yellow City, in the Yoon Suin setting.
The house of beetles (Waa Bu) used to be a small scholarly house specializing in the study of insects. Their studies allowed them to breed and control Messenger Beetles, which when released will instinctively return to the location they associate with their nests - perhaps carrying as mall message with them.
This discovery has become a lucrative messenger beetle service connecting the slugpeople Houses as well as many other institutions, as the beetles are able to cross the Yellow City much faster than a courier. This has allowed the house to rise in importance, and although they have nowhere the influence of one of the 17 houses on the Council, they are much more powerful than the average house of scholars.
Ironically, this large concentration of messenger beetles attracted predators, and the house had to employ archers to protect incoming/leaving messengers. Over time the house thus developed a reputation for crack archery. To succeed like a beetle archer means to get very good at something despite it never being your goal.
The House of beetle is located in the Old Quarters. The house has almost 150 members, along with numerous servants who look after the messenger beetles and the archers. Their compound features many tall towers.
Notable members include Qa Fol, who deals in commercial matters and is a holyman of the Lord of Bread (level 4) and who bemoans the quantities of bread he has to eat. An ex-member is Fo Kulo (mage level 9), who was now exiled for intercepting and selling Council messages.
The house of beetles (Waa Bu) used to be a small scholarly house specializing in the study of insects. Their studies allowed them to breed and control Messenger Beetles, which when released will instinctively return to the location they associate with their nests - perhaps carrying as mall message with them.
This discovery has become a lucrative messenger beetle service connecting the slugpeople Houses as well as many other institutions, as the beetles are able to cross the Yellow City much faster than a courier. This has allowed the house to rise in importance, and although they have nowhere the influence of one of the 17 houses on the Council, they are much more powerful than the average house of scholars.
Ironically, this large concentration of messenger beetles attracted predators, and the house had to employ archers to protect incoming/leaving messengers. Over time the house thus developed a reputation for crack archery. To succeed like a beetle archer means to get very good at something despite it never being your goal.
The House of beetle is located in the Old Quarters. The house has almost 150 members, along with numerous servants who look after the messenger beetles and the archers. Their compound features many tall towers.
Notable members include Qa Fol, who deals in commercial matters and is a holyman of the Lord of Bread (level 4) and who bemoans the quantities of bread he has to eat. An ex-member is Fo Kulo (mage level 9), who was now exiled for intercepting and selling Council messages.
Slugmen Biology
Here are my notes on slugmen biology and reproduction, and how it affects their culture
tl:dr: slugs are not mammals, and slugmen are not a natural race.
Slugmen are hermaphrodites and do not have a biological gender. However, a few (perhaps 10%) do adopt the human custom of having genders.
Slugmen were "invented" by the Archmage Enftebtemang a very, very long time ago to assist him in his endeavors. At the end of his very long life, he revealed to his servants the secret so they could continue their race and his work (keep those damned Krakens from going upriver!)
When two slugmen mate, they exchange spermatozoa and fertilize their eggs internally. After a few months of gestation, the eggs are hatched, about 2d4 per parent. The eggs are then given to the Tea Master, who will bathe them in strange substances and perform arcane rituals for another few months. The eggs will then hatch into a large slug (1-2 pounds). These sluglings will be fed special diets and closely guarded for about a year. At this point, the surviving slugs will be subjected to various tests. The one deemed superior will be selected for a final ritual and series of treatment, resulting in a metamorphosis yielding a small, young slugman, at which point the Teamaster's role end and the parents begin anew. This metamorphosis is taxing and not all sluglings survive - weaker sluglings are not expected to make it and "disposed of". Because of this, the average mating will yield one or two slugman offspring (ie one per parent if all goes well).
Rarely, a clutch will yield two sluglings of superior quality with no clear winner. In those cases, they will both be metamorphosed. If they both survive, they are called "clutch siblings" and are the equivalent of twins.
This biology results in a complicated network of family ties. The slugman who provided the spermatozoa is considered the "father" and the slugman who carried the eggs the "mother" (slugmen who adopt genders will usually only perform one of these tasks. To genderless slugmen, there is no gendered connotations). Slugmen who are born of the same mating (but not the same clutch) are called "mate-siblings" and are considered almost as close as clutch-siblings. There are also couple-siblings (born of the same two parents but a different mating) and parent siblings (who share one parent). Cousin relationships are tangled indeed.
The key role the Teamaster plays in reproduction gives them tremendous power in slugman society. They are never the leader of the house, but are often a neutral party that can help arbitrate intra-house conflicts.
Teamasters constantly refine and experiment with their incubation protocols, trying to match bloodlines, ingredients and rituals to produce powerful slugmen offspring. The recipe and rituals that will successfully create a slugman that can wield magic is well understood, but this results in an individual who can only cast a few spells and is quite lazy - ie the average slugman. To generate the type of slugperson who will be more capable - the leadership type , or the adventurer - requires much experimentation. A bit of powdered dragon scale might result in a sorcerer instead of a wizard (to use 5e terms). A competent teamaster is key to a house's success.
If two slugmen breed and no Teamaster treats the eggs... you get slugs, nothing more. Slugmen who are considered abject failures may get to mate, but they won't get to breed - why ruin a future offspring with bad genes?
Anatomy
Slugmen have eyes on stalks/tentacles, and have 2 "chemical sensing" stalks they use to smell and taste - they dip these tentacles in their food before eating it. Their mouth contains a large powerful tongue studded with small teeth-like projections which they use to rasp at hard food. This mouth - the "eating mouth" is not used to speak as it is not connected to the lung. The fact that humans speak with their eating mouth is clear evidence of Slugmen superiority.
Although many slugmen have very refined tastes, they are omnivores that can eat almost anything organic - some slugmen dishes are simply unpalatable to humans.
Slugmen breathe through a large pore over their right shoulder - the pneumostome. This opening is also used to speak and is known as "the speaking mouth". Slugmen breath slower (2-3 breath per minutes) than humans but in larger volumes. To put your right foot forward in slugmen society is the correct one, so that the breathing pore faces towards your interlocutor. Putting your left foot forward when speaking is disrespectful as it faces the speaking mouth away from your interlocutor and puts the anus forward (which is near the left shoulder).
Slugmen have two independent eyes on tentacles. They do not see very well at long distance but have effectively 360 degree vision. A slugman who keeps both eyes on something is very intrigued by said things.
Slugmen have hands with 3 fingers and one thumb, and feet with 3 toes. Their fingers have a few hard knobs on them vaguely analogous to nails on human
Slugmen are mostly boneless, but have an internal vestigial shell that helps protect some of the organs. A secondary shell helps protect the six-lobed brain.
Slugmen prefer humid environment as very dry conditions can desiccate them if they don't drink enough water/tea.
Lastly, slugmen are resistant to poison in general (all those opium binges and capacity to eat almost anything) BUT they are vulnerable to alcohol. Primates - and humans in particular - are far more resistant to alcohol than most animals. How do you think an elephant - a 5 ton animal - can get drunk on eating fermented apples?! Because our capacity to drink is abnormal, and they don't have that. Treat each drink a slugman drinks as the equivalent of 8 drinks, at least.
tl:dr: slugs are not mammals, and slugmen are not a natural race.
Slugmen are hermaphrodites and do not have a biological gender. However, a few (perhaps 10%) do adopt the human custom of having genders.
Slugmen were "invented" by the Archmage Enftebtemang a very, very long time ago to assist him in his endeavors. At the end of his very long life, he revealed to his servants the secret so they could continue their race and his work (keep those damned Krakens from going upriver!)
When two slugmen mate, they exchange spermatozoa and fertilize their eggs internally. After a few months of gestation, the eggs are hatched, about 2d4 per parent. The eggs are then given to the Tea Master, who will bathe them in strange substances and perform arcane rituals for another few months. The eggs will then hatch into a large slug (1-2 pounds). These sluglings will be fed special diets and closely guarded for about a year. At this point, the surviving slugs will be subjected to various tests. The one deemed superior will be selected for a final ritual and series of treatment, resulting in a metamorphosis yielding a small, young slugman, at which point the Teamaster's role end and the parents begin anew. This metamorphosis is taxing and not all sluglings survive - weaker sluglings are not expected to make it and "disposed of". Because of this, the average mating will yield one or two slugman offspring (ie one per parent if all goes well).
Rarely, a clutch will yield two sluglings of superior quality with no clear winner. In those cases, they will both be metamorphosed. If they both survive, they are called "clutch siblings" and are the equivalent of twins.
This biology results in a complicated network of family ties. The slugman who provided the spermatozoa is considered the "father" and the slugman who carried the eggs the "mother" (slugmen who adopt genders will usually only perform one of these tasks. To genderless slugmen, there is no gendered connotations). Slugmen who are born of the same mating (but not the same clutch) are called "mate-siblings" and are considered almost as close as clutch-siblings. There are also couple-siblings (born of the same two parents but a different mating) and parent siblings (who share one parent). Cousin relationships are tangled indeed.
The key role the Teamaster plays in reproduction gives them tremendous power in slugman society. They are never the leader of the house, but are often a neutral party that can help arbitrate intra-house conflicts.
Teamasters constantly refine and experiment with their incubation protocols, trying to match bloodlines, ingredients and rituals to produce powerful slugmen offspring. The recipe and rituals that will successfully create a slugman that can wield magic is well understood, but this results in an individual who can only cast a few spells and is quite lazy - ie the average slugman. To generate the type of slugperson who will be more capable - the leadership type , or the adventurer - requires much experimentation. A bit of powdered dragon scale might result in a sorcerer instead of a wizard (to use 5e terms). A competent teamaster is key to a house's success.
If two slugmen breed and no Teamaster treats the eggs... you get slugs, nothing more. Slugmen who are considered abject failures may get to mate, but they won't get to breed - why ruin a future offspring with bad genes?
Anatomy
Slugmen have eyes on stalks/tentacles, and have 2 "chemical sensing" stalks they use to smell and taste - they dip these tentacles in their food before eating it. Their mouth contains a large powerful tongue studded with small teeth-like projections which they use to rasp at hard food. This mouth - the "eating mouth" is not used to speak as it is not connected to the lung. The fact that humans speak with their eating mouth is clear evidence of Slugmen superiority.
Although many slugmen have very refined tastes, they are omnivores that can eat almost anything organic - some slugmen dishes are simply unpalatable to humans.
Slugmen breathe through a large pore over their right shoulder - the pneumostome. This opening is also used to speak and is known as "the speaking mouth". Slugmen breath slower (2-3 breath per minutes) than humans but in larger volumes. To put your right foot forward in slugmen society is the correct one, so that the breathing pore faces towards your interlocutor. Putting your left foot forward when speaking is disrespectful as it faces the speaking mouth away from your interlocutor and puts the anus forward (which is near the left shoulder).
Slugmen have two independent eyes on tentacles. They do not see very well at long distance but have effectively 360 degree vision. A slugman who keeps both eyes on something is very intrigued by said things.
Slugmen have hands with 3 fingers and one thumb, and feet with 3 toes. Their fingers have a few hard knobs on them vaguely analogous to nails on human
Slugmen are mostly boneless, but have an internal vestigial shell that helps protect some of the organs. A secondary shell helps protect the six-lobed brain.
Slugmen prefer humid environment as very dry conditions can desiccate them if they don't drink enough water/tea.
Lastly, slugmen are resistant to poison in general (all those opium binges and capacity to eat almost anything) BUT they are vulnerable to alcohol. Primates - and humans in particular - are far more resistant to alcohol than most animals. How do you think an elephant - a 5 ton animal - can get drunk on eating fermented apples?! Because our capacity to drink is abnormal, and they don't have that. Treat each drink a slugman drinks as the equivalent of 8 drinks, at least.
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