When a traveller is adrift in the blue dunes of Vaarn’s desert, he dreams of a city. When the camel’s hump sways beneath him, he dreams of a cushioned alcove in a tavern, with learned conversation and hookah smoke coiling languidly in the air; when Vaarn’s red sun beats upon his head he dreams of cool avenues shaded by demure and welcoming lemon trees. Oppressed by his loneliness, the traveller dreams of a city where the crowds embrace him and strangers greet him as brother; when he swills the last dregs of water around blistered gums he dreams of a a fountain in a public courtyard, where the daughters of the neighbourhood arrive to draw water and eye a handsome stranger.

Gnomon, the city of shaded markets, at first appears to be this dream made solid. There are taverns with cushioned alcoves, as the traveller sought; also he will find learned conversation and hookah smoke, wide avenues flanked by lemon trees, public fountains and smiling maidens and strangers who greet him as brother. There are many sights in Gnomon, sights beyond the traveller’s dreams: glittering mezzanine gardens and parades of masked hierophants, guild halls where cone-hatted clerks ponder their ledgers of debt, babbling souks where the merchants mutter their bargains like mantras and even memories may be bought for the right price. Truly this was what he sought in a city.

So bewitched is our traveller, he scarcely notices that the merchants’ smiles do not reach their eyes, that the women who wave from passion-house windows have faces brittle as porcelain, that each stranger calling him brother has an accomplice reaching into his pocket. It is only as he leaves under cover of darkness, with a head ringing from cheap wine and a purse empty as his stomach, that the traveller begins to curse Gnomon, the undreamed-of city, the gilded trap. 

***

Vaults of Vaarn is an ongoing series of zines for science-fantasy tabletop RPG gaming. The second 48-page issue is a city-based adventure supplement for the setting, expanding on the far-future world outlined in the first issue. The reader can visit the city of Gnomon, a decadent and dangerous trade hub. 

Issue #2 Includes:

• Information and background on Gnomon: what it looks like, how it feels to walk through its streets, and why your playersmight visit the city.
• Seven major NPCs who influence the city's politics. Brief, evocative information on their appearance, personality, and desires.
• Guidance on how to use all seven major NPCs as either allies or antagonists for the players. No set narratives - just tools to create conflicts.
• Seven major factions, one linked to each major NPC. They run the gamut from water-hoarding militias and clandestine cannibal cults to sun worshippers and gladiator lawyers.
• Information on how the factions operate, how players might join them, and guidance on playing the factions against one another.
• Generator tables for creating merchant cartels, noble houses, taverns, pit fighting arenas,philosopher's guilds, gangs of criminals, and religious orders. Each comes with a custom-built drama table that can help you create stories at your gaming table.
• Street encounters, mercenaries for hire, and randomly generated Vaarnish meals.
• Further story hooks to help you flesh out an ongoing campaign set in the city.

Fully illustrated with evocative black and white line art.

48 pages, saddle-stitched zine, color cover, b&w interior. Incudes PDF.