ALABASTER AND OLD ROPE

“When you have forded the river, when you have

crossed the mountain pass, you suddenly find before
you the city of Moriana, its alabaster gates transparent
in the sunlight, its coral columns supporting pedi-
ments encrusted with serpentine, its villas all of glass
like aquariums where the shadows of dancing girls
with silvery scales swim beneath the medusa-shaped
chandeliers.

If this is not your first journey, you already know that

cities like this have an obverse: you have only to walk
a semi-circle and you will come into view of Moriana’s
hidden face, an expanse of rusting sheet metal,
sackcloths, planks bristling with spikes, pipes black with
soot, piles of tins, behind walls with fading signs, frames
of staved-in straw chairs, ropes good only for hanging
oneself from a rotten beam.”
CALVINO, Invisible Cities (1972)

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 Alabaster and Old Rope

GM! Read the following

aloud to your players.
Dear freebooters,

You were born in the city of Dis, an interplanar,

This setting was written for
Chris McDowall’s Into the monstrous thing that consumes other cities. You make
Odd, but using ideas and
moves from the Dungeon your way as a freelancer: you find jobs, you do them,
World companion piece
Dark Heart of the Dreamer. you get paid. One day you’ll take your stash and retire...
It’s a strange, transitional
kind of thing. but not today.
If using Dungeon World,
treat a fail as a 6- and a You’re finding work in the parish of Moriana, a real
pass as a 7-9. On a 10+
they gain an additional Jekyll-and-Hyde kind of place. Behind every smile
insight or benefit, or an
approaching threat is and shining boulevard is a rotten sneer or shattered
reduced.
alleyway. Appearances are fickle in Moriana, and every-
one’s got secrets.

You’ve been working for the Shining Trustees recently,

an ‘honourable’ company that often needs dishonour-
able work doing. They’ve paid well and on time, so far.
In fact you’re on your way back from a job for them
right now. What was it?
When you closely examine
a place or person, on a
‡‡ Break into the seclusium of the late Walter
pass you also reveal an
uncomfortable truth (for
Frakes (discreetly!) and find proof of his financial
them, for you, or both.)
wrongdoings
‡‡ Kill Snezka-Snezka, diplomat for the parish of
Phyllis, before their meeting with the Sultana of Dis

‡‡ ‘Acquire’ a book from the Agate library that the

Trustees claim is theirs by law

‡‡ Investigate the death of a beautiful youth, who

only appears dead from a certain angle.

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 If you’re playing Dungeon
Make a WIL saving throw to see how the job went. On World, roll+INT. If you’re
playing World of Dungeons,
a pass you turned a profit of 2d6x5 silver between you. the Leadership skill applies.
On a miss, the job’s not over yet - the GM will describe
what’s a threat right now, then ask “what do you do?”
They’ll also ask follow-up questions like “What made
this job personal?” or “When did things start to go
wrong?”

When the job is over, we pick things up a few days later

with you all standing on the corner of Lux and Hobbes,
in the shadow of Karsenon Cathedral.

Columns of coral tower overhead, decorated with

griffins and gorgons. Everything is pristine white, but
the city’s hidden side is never far away - glimpsed in a
reflection, half-heard in a back-alley or spotted across
the road. Now is the time to take stock, find fresh
supplies and plan your next job.

What do you do?

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 Alabaster and Old Rope

THE SECLUSIUM OF WALTER

FRAKES
In life, Walter Frakes was an architect and magic-user
of some skill. As well as his private contracts, Frakes
was responsible for the design of several ‘bigger on the
inside’ tenement blocks designed as low-cost housing.

After his death one of these blocks collapsed, killing

Stakes: Questions about
the world; play to find out dozens. You have reason to believe there is evidence of
the answers. May have
long-term ramifications. Frakes’ dangerous cost-cutting measures somewhere
in his old town home, currently under lockdown by the
Questions: Things to
consider (by yourself before city militia.
the adventure, and your
players during it.)
STAKES
Understandings: Facts or
rumours the characters are
The gratitude/enmity of the Frakes estate
already aware of. Points in
italics require the character Closure for the people of the tenement blocks
to Spout Lore, or do some
research first.
QUESTIONS
Dangers, Impressions and
Encounters: Descriptive aids
Whose parents knew Walter Frakes personally? What
for the GM: locations, and
sights, sounds, smells, etc.
do they owe him? (Money, gratitude, payback?)
Creatures and situations that
could threaten the party, or Who survived Walter Frakes? (A distant relative, son or
make their lives harder.
daughter, vain wife, or penniless concubine?)

How did Walter Frakes die? What has the police inves-
tigation revealed so far?

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UNDERSTANDINGS

Walter Frakes was a famous architect and wizard, but one of

his public works collapsed recently. His death was considered
suspicious. In private, he was selfish and miserly.

Walter Frakes’ ‘seclusium’ is an old townhouse on the far side of

Moriana, built to his specification. Supposedly, no-one’s been in
or out since his death except the police.

DANGERS, IMPRESSIONS AND ENCOUNTERS

Errant magic (staircases to nowhere, confusing room plans,

endless corridors) that may trap them in an endless loop

The police (gathering alarm bells, sentries, police tape) that

may delay or detain them

Walter Frakes’ enemies (your rivals or his ex-colleagues) that

may take credit for your work, or destroy evidence

Shoddy workmanship (collapsing rafters; broken traps) that

may injure or entomb them

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 Alabaster and Old Rope

KILL SNEZKA-SNEZKA
QUESTIONS

How does Snezka-Snezka defend himself? Who has already

found this out, the hard way?

Where is Snezka-Snezka staying? (See setting the scene for

ideas.) How has it been secretly fortified?

Where are the Sultana and Snezka-Snezka going to meet? How

far away is the Sultana now?

UNDERSTANDINGS

Snezka-Snezka has a private relationship with the Sultana,

matriarch of Dis. It might be sexual, which given Dis was the
Sultana’s first child, says a lot about his sex life.

DANGERS, IMPRESSIONS AND ENCOUNTERS

Enemies in hiding (disguised guards and Road Wardens) that

may strike when you least expect it
The Sultanas wrath (the Road Wardens, wanted posters) that
may force you to go on the run

Snezka’s military training (clever traps, ambushes, can move

quickly) that puts you in dangerous places

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 THE AGATE LIBRARY
The Agate Library deals primarily with the destruction of books,
converting them to lines of perfect, crystalline code. Many seek
to decipher the code and learn the secrets of their archives,
or steal uploaded volumes yet to be destroyed. Others, like
the Shining Trustees, dispute the Libraries claim on certain
volumes but would prefer not to be seen to be disagreeing with
the powerful faction.

STAKES

What tomes can be secured before their ritual ‘uploading’?

What the Librarians intend to do with all their stored data?

Can the party decipher the Agate code?

UNDERSTANDINGS

The Agate Library frequently take books to be ‘uploaded’ and

destroyed, but no-one but them can decipher their code. Their
stone Librarians are a force to be reckoned with.

DANGERS, IMPRESSIONS AND ENCOUNTERS

Zealous shushers

Endless halls of virtual code

‘Holodeck’ style virtual rooms

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 Alabaster and Old Rope

THE BELOVED YOUTH’S DEATH

When you closely examine
the dead youth, roll+WIS.
STAKES
On a 10+, you see a broken
corpse, blood matted from Who was the youth? Where did he live? Who were his
a blunt head wound. On
a 7-9, you’d assume he’s friends, his enemies, his lovers, his family?
sleeping other than the lack
of breathing. On a miss, you
see his innocent face in your
Who was the killer? Who will they kill next? What will
dreams for days afterward...
the murders prevent?

QUESTIONS

Why do the youth’s injuries seem familiar?

Where do you start your investigation? Who doesn’t

want to be there?

UNDERSTANDINGS

Mentioning you’re working for the Shining Trustees

gives you some authority, but this is Moriana - everyone
thinks they have authority over everyone else.

DANGERS, IMPRESSIONS AND ENCOUNTERS

Grieving family that believe you’re here for the wrong

reasons

The killer, that wants to stay a mystery at any cost

Unsavoury types, that don’t take kindly to your nosing

around

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 SETTING THE SCENE
When you need a location to throw them into, roll on the table
below. Consider each one as you would a ‘dungeon’ - describe
what’s threatening them right now, what they see, hear and
smell, and what they can take advantage of.

1. Catacomb (of which duke or baron?)

2. Temple (to which deity?)

3. Tower (guarding what locale?)

4. Alley (leading to where - roll again)

5. Public Bath (where which notary is relaxing?)

6. Block of Apartments (Upper or working class?)

7. Guildhouse (of which company?)

8. Theatre (what opera, play or festival is playing?)

9. Barracks, Sheriffs, or Gaol (Who do you know on duty?)

10. Zoo (what mythological creature is the star attraction?)

11. Market (what exotic flavours do they smell?)

12. Fighting Pit (Who’s staged a revolt?)

When - and only when! - you have used each and every one of
these in at least one game, you may start them in a tavern, pub,
bar, inn, alehouse, etc. instead.

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 Alabaster and Old Rope

HERE COMES THE

NEIGHBOURHOOD
These rules based on
ideas originally appearing
You’ll need a sheet of paper, a ruler, a handful of pens
in Vornheim and used
frequently, to great effect.
and maybe 15 minutes.
These rules best represent
semi-random city streets.
Start with two lines in a cross (†, not X) through the the
For interiors, you’ll want
something more traditional.
page. These are your high street and busy thorough-
How about a random
geomorph or two from
fare, name them. (I went with Lux and Hobbes.)
davesmapper.com?
To fill the neighbourhood with roads, write down
the names of numbers, one through ten. Draw them
randomly, but try and connect adjoining roads. You
could go higher or lower than ten depending on the
scale of your neighbourhood.

Finally, note five or so places of interest on the map,

spaced out reasonably equally. (I put the first one on
the corner of Lux and Hobbes, and started the players
there.) Details can probably wait until you need them,
or you could roll on the table above.

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Writing & layout © Joe
Banner. Text available under
a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.
Into the Odd by Chris
McDowall, used with thanks.
(Chris, sort out your licensing
please ☺)
Dungeon World CC-BY 3.0,
Sage LaTorra & Adam Koebel.
Dark Heart of the Dreamer
CC-BY J.Walton.
Visit joebanner.co.uk
for more content.
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Alabaster and Old Rope
MY THANKS
To my munificent patrons, who helped make this possible:
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(Mortaine), Tim Dennett, Tim Jensen, Tim Reed, Tom
Sambles, Wes Fournier, Zane Dempsey, Zane Gunton