ISSUM

The City of Crystal Towers

With its 57,400 inhabitants, Issum is the moon’s largest and most powerful city-state, and merchant ships from foreign lands often visit its port. It is located on the southern shore of the Silver River, where the river flows into the sea. Gray banners wave from the slender glass towers, adorned with the white Silvermane, Issum’s coat of arms. 

The city was ancient when mankind was young, and the name of the people whose hands raised its glittering domes and soaring crystal towers has long been lost in the mists of time. In the days of yore, the city’s avenues, parks, and plazas were bustling with life and enterprise. In the latter millennia, however, the population has slowly but surely shrunk to a sorrowful sliver, only a hundredth of what it once was. The city’s ruling caste has lost all curiosity about the outside world and spends its days dreaming of bygone glories. The area currently inhabited is 3.5 square miles, but the city is surrounded by an area ten times as large, covered by ruins. Many streets lie empty and quiet, and the magnificent palaces are slowly being buried beneath the dust of centuries.

Government

Ever since the royal house of Parthat was deposed 600 years ago, Issum has been ruled by a satrap chosen by the Lunar Queen. The satrap, in turn, appoints the officials of the city from among the mighty families. These officials have great autonomy and are expected to take initiative on their own, in line with the satrap’s wishes and the city’s best interests. Issum is a chaotic collection of factions, led by the heads of the various noble families, vying for positions of power and the satrap’s favor. The bureaucracy is bloated, labyrinthine, and thoroughly corrupt. All subjects, however, are required to swear unconditional fidelity and absolute obedience to the Lunar Queen, Issum, and the satrap.

The Living Soul of the City

Mokar is a Silvermane with snow-white, scaly skin. Unlike other specimens of its kind, Mokar is intelligent and can speak. It is more than two thousand years old and shows no signs of aging. The ancient beast is worshiped as an incarnation of the city’s soul, and its image adorns Issum’s city coat of arms. Mokar lives in the temple of the Lunar Queen, but roams freely in the city and eats anyone or anything who crosses its path. It enjoys playing with its victims before devouring them. If anyone were to slay the beast, the perpetrator and anyone living under the same roof as them would be punished with an elaborate and painful death. Should the beast be seriously injured, the temple of the Lunar Queen will use all its resources to save its life.

Mokar

• Armour Class 3 [16]
• Hit Dice 7*
• Attacks 2 claws (1d4 hp each) + 1 bite (1d8)
• THAC0 13 [+6]
• Movement 120’ (40’)
• Saving Throws D8 W9 P10 B10 S12 (7)
• Morale 9
• Alignment Lawful
• XP
• Number Appearing 1 (1)
• Treasure Type U

• Regeneration. When damaged, Mokar gains 1d4 hp at the start of each round, if it is alive.

Military

Issum has one of the moon’s finest and most distinguished armies, surpassed only by the city’s arch-enemy, Zarthoris Plenia. This high level of military preparedness is necessary to repel the recurring threat from the hordes of batkin. It is also rumored that the arch-lamiae in Zarthoris Plenia are preparing for war against Issum.

Issum is surrounded by a 90′ high city wall of somber, gray lunar rock. The three gate towers are equipped with ray cannons, and each tower is manned by a garrison of three hundred guards, tasked with patrolling a section of the wall. The soldiers are dressed in gray cloaks and armed with halberds and rayguns.

The city’s cavalry comprises ten platoons, each with twenty-five gazelope riders armed with sabers, lances, and rayguns. They wear plumed helmets and gray suits with silver-colored pennants attached to the back in the shape of wings. The cavalry also has four hovering artillery platforms.

The navy has one large galley, the Ruler of the Waves, and three small galleys: the Sea-beast, the Grey Gazelope, and the Scimitar. 

The air force consists of the aether-cruisers Thunderbolt (Destroyer class) and the Celestial Wrath (Annihilator class), as well as 5 Interceptors and 15 Sentinels. The pilots enjoy the absolute highest status among Issum’s armed forces, and only aristocrats are eligible to serve in the Air Force.

In addition to this, an additional 5.100 able-bodied citizens can be called together to take part in the People’s Guard, a national militia, armed with slings, spears, and shields.

The satrap is protected by the Silver Guard, a corps of a hundred elite soldiers, trained since childhood. They wear white overalls, carry round shields of moonsilver, and wield rayguns and swords.

Player characters who wish to acquire citizenship of Issum can perform military service. They will have to muster and receive basic training and are then placed either in the guard on the city wall or in the navy. Those who prove capable can advance to the cavalry. When a character has gained two levels of experience during their military service, they have proved themselves worthy of citizenship and can choose whether to remain in service or muster out.

Laws

Law and order in Issum is in equal parts a matter of tradition, politics, and brutal violence. Among the lower castes, street gangs act as a kind of militia that keeps order in their respective city blocks. The families of the aristocracy all have guard forces of their own. Disputes between families are effectively a pure power struggle, but the verdict is always given the weight of tradition by referring to some paragraph in Issum’s millennia-old law code. When a dispute cannot be resolved through the court, aristocrats sometimes challenge each other to a duel on the Field of Glory. 

If someone from the lower castes has committed some kind of crime against a member of the ruling class, there are no limits to what the victim can do to win redress. If the aggrieved aristocrat is merciful, he may request that the offender be extradited and subjected to whatever punishment the victim deems appropriate. However, collective punishment is not uncommon. The criminal’s family may be tortured to death, or their neighborhood may be leveled to the ground, depending on what the privileged class deems necessary. Aristocrats’ crimes against the lower castes never have legal consequences. At best, a symbolic fine can be imposed, but often the whole thing is overlooked in silence.

The Night Watchmen, the secret police of the Satrap, monitor everything and everyone in search of the enemies of the state. Those suspected of posing a threat to the rulers of Issum are treated mercilessly, regardless of whether they are plebeians or aristocrats. The whole city is therefore permeated by paranoia and an informer mentality.

Significant regulations

The following laws are likely to affect the PCs.

• It is illegal to carry a weapon without a license from the House of Corporations.
• It is illegal to trade in antiques without a license from the House of Corporations.
• A special permit from the House of Corporations is required to recruit retainers or mercenaries.
• Only the Hexagon may trade in advanced technology.
• It is illegal to sell or possess crystal dust.

Street Gangs

The streets of Issum are dominated by gangs. They maintain order in their territories and protect their people from other gangs. Anyone who is not affiliated with a gang is practically without legal protection. Most gangs look the other way when confronted with criminal activity on their streets, as long as they get a share of the proceeds. Many gangs also have a particular criminal activity that they specialize in.

A gang consists of 3d10+5 Bandits (see Old School Essentials Referee’s Tome). In their headquarters, they have a type A treasure.

Ethnic minorities

The majority of lunarians living in Issum are descended from many generations who have lived within the City of the Crystal Towers. But many have arrived more recently. The two most significant groups are the Ghantoreans and the Zarthoric exiles.

The Ghantorean diaspora

When the city-state of Ghantor was laid waste a hundred years ago by ravaging Batkin hordes, a small splinter of the population managed to seek a safe harbor in Issum. However, the rulers of Issum did not welcome the refugees freely. The roughly one thousand persons: two aristocratic houses with servants, guards, retinue, and some sundry citizens, were forced to part with all their valuables. Those who could not pay by other means were sold into slavery. The Ghantorean minority in Issum has not forgotten this injustice. In theory, they are granted the same rights as any other citizen of Issum, but they are still viewed as strangers, and in practice, they must often perform twice as well to be considered equal. Today, many Ghantoreans support themselves by running glassworks and taverns and raising billhogs. The heads of houses Duraj and Zanda are not recognized as aristocracy in Issum, but their status as leaders is indisputable within the Ghantorean community. The lords of the Ghantorean diaspora could be interested in employing daring adventurers to look for lost heirlooms in the ruins of their city. 

Zarthoric exiles

During the republican revolution and the subsequent vampire coup, in Zarthoris Plenia, many aristocrats fled the City of the Black Legion. Some of these ended up in the unlikely haven of their primary rival, Issum. A dozen Zarthoric aristocrats, with their accompanying retinue, were allowed to enter the City of the Crystal Towers. This was not an act of charity on behalf of the rulers of Issum. The Zarthoric exiles are all eager to vanquish the vampire cabal that has stolen their home and could become useful when the brewing war between Issum and Zarthoris Plenia breaks out for real. For now, they court the satrap and the noble houses for favors and listen anxiously for news from home. They could be interested in hiring intrepid adventurers to travel to Zarthoris Plenia as spies or saboteurs.

Festivals

Life in Issum is governed by age-old traditions and rituals whose significance has often been lost in history’s mists. Six major holidays are celebrated annually, but there are also countless minor holidays.

The Festival of the Lunar Queen, on the 1st ul of the shesh of the Blood Panther.

The magnificent history of the Moon and the hope of passing it on for a few more generations are celebrated. During the day, the Daughter of Issum is appointed. All young women of the city may participate and test their strength, cunning, and courage. The winner is sent to the Ivory Palace (#1722) to join the Lunar Queen’s Invincible Celestial Guard.

Ancestors’ Day, on the 14th ul of the shesh of the Silver Spider.

This festival honors the dead of the city and reminds the living that they will one day join them. The townspeople dress in ashes and eat skull cakes while the denizens of the grave are dressed in finery and paraded in the streets. The people gather at the foot of Zanador the Shimmering, the spire of the temple of the Lunar Queen, where the great catacombs are located, and chant, ”Bring out our dead!” The priests of the Lunar Queen bring the dead of the mausoleum back to life with the sacred Bone Flute. Those who can’t afford to keep their dead in the mausoleum and whose ancestors are therefore not included in this resurrection instead make puppets of their skulls and bones. Paupers can earn an extra buck by weeping over the departed family members of the wealthy.

The Day of the Sun, on the 7th ul of the shesh of the Silvermane. 

This feast is celebrated in honor of the satrap. The ruler of the city travels along the streets on a richly decorated hovercraft platform accompanied by a parade of aristocratic families, bureaucratic dignitaries, and the military. At Victory Square, in the Lower City, the youths who have come of age during the year gather to swear allegiance to the Satrap. It is said that once upon a time, the crowd of children could fill the whole square. These days, it is seldom more than a handful or two who take the oath. The day ends with a gladiator fight at the Field of Glory. The winner receives an honorary award from the Satrap himself.

The Gauntlet of Freedom, on the 2nd ul of the shesh of the Gazelope.

To alleviate the expenditures of the reformatory, prisoners and lunatics are given a chance to regain their freedom. They are allowed to run down the street from the penitentiary to the Traitor’s Gate. Those who come out of the city alive have won their freedom. The Penitentiary sells stones and sticks of approved weight to the spectators. Anyone who attacks the runners with too heavy stones or sticks must run the gauntlet themselves.

The Celebration of the Working People, on the 10th ul of the shesh of the Myrmont.

In the House of Corporations, medals are awarded to the Heroes of Labour. The idler of the year is elected through a procedure where everyone in the city writes the name of the person they think has been the laziest on a pot shard. The votes are collected the day before, and the verdict is announced by the grandmasters of the corporations. The idler is evicted from the city through the Traitors’ Gate and is banished for ten years. In the evening, the aristocrats bring gifts of food to the plebeians and proletarians.

The Celebration of the Eternal Heroes, on the 7th ul of the shesh of the Bone Wolf.

Issum’s military demonstrates its strength in festive ways. The soldiers parade with orchestras, the fighter pilots show off their skills in the sky, and the ray cannons on the walls fire salutes. The Satrap gives a speech to the troops that often lasts six hours or more. Of course, the soldiers have to stand at attention in the meantime. Those who faint are assigned to scrub the latrines for the coming year.