53 Answers About Hell in Sunday Holmes
Elmcat and Josh of Rise up Comus both recently wrote lists of questions to answer for sandbox campaigns. I decided to answer them as a worldbuilding aid for my Sunday Holmes game, as I have recently sent my players to Hell. Anyway here's 53 answers about Hell.
- How do we discover places worth exploring around here?
- Ask somebody! Or look for landmarks. Monoliths, towns, etcetera all work as points to travel towards.
- What places do people travel great distances to visit?
- Pemmog, the capital of this Duchy of Hell, is a big one!
- Where do we go for a meal, a bed, and some good company?
- In towns, travelers sleep and eat in the outlying townsfolks' homes. Cities have inns and whatnot.
- Who else is out there exploring dangerous places?
- Knights errant, drifters, and other outcasts.
- What are people fighting over around here?
- Land and identity.
- How do we stock up for a week in the wilderness?
- Buy shit in a town: food, supplies, pack animals.
- How do we find out what we're getting into before we set out?
- Ask around; plenty of merchants travel around and bring news of the world.
- How else could we make our fortune around here?
- Start a merchant company or business; be granted a fief by a noble and develop it.
- How do the seasons affect where we can go?
- The wet season has a tendency to wash out all the roads; people mostly travel during the cooler, drier season.
- Where do we find people willing to work for us?
- Towns again! The larger the town, the larger the population of possible hirelings.
- If one of us is hurt or ill, how can we get them back on their feet?
- Well you have the Arm now, but the best bet is rest in a safe place. HP is regained through bed rest in town, barring magic.
- How do we find out what we've got our hands on?
- Take it to an expert! Jewelers, bankers, sages, etc.
- How do we turn the treasure we find into coin?
- Auction it off, sell it to collectors or institutions - that's how you'll make the most money.
- If we stayed here for a few weeks, what could we get involved in?
- Politics and intrigues! Pick a favorite Baron, join a guild, that sort of thing.
- How can we send word to someone several days' travel away?
- Hire a messenger to ride it out, or get it flown if it's urgent.
- How do we become more than strangers to the people here?
- Buying people drinks is a good first step, as is attending local events. Go to Church!
- How do we keep our treasure safe while we're away?
- Exchange it for a promissory note from a Knight-Banker. Then you can redeem that at any of their bank-strongholds.
- If we needed a miracle, where would we turn?
- Pray to God! Or a saint, who can relay your prayer.
- What if we want something nobody sells?
- Steal it! Lmao
- How can we get an audience with someone powerful?
- Find something valuable on their land, do something impressive or notorious.
- What could we learn to do here that we can't do yet?
- Esoteric techniques, fighting styles, how to enter hibernation - go find a hermit or a wizard or something.
- How do we get our hands on something we're not supposed to have?
- Theft!
- How do we get others to back a plan we can't afford ourselves?
- Beg, plead, make compromises. Promise some cut or benefit to someone powerful.
- If someone dies working for us, what are we expected to do?
- Cremate what's left of them so they don't rise as undead and tell their family if possible. Hold a lavish funeral for and bury a clay effigy so a demon doesn't steal their spot in the afterlife.
- What could we do with a fortune around here?
- Buy things, up to status and position - the nobility/clergy are poor and will absolutely grant land and a title for cash.
- What if we cleared out an abandoned fortress and wanted to keep it?
- Gotta finagle it out of the hands of the noble who owns it first. All land is owned by someone, and that someone isn't you.
- What would it take to change who makes the rules here?
- Unthinkable! And anyway the removal of the King would collapse the whole feudal system of relationships that makes society function. But you can certainly try revolution, or usurpation.
- What would make people remember our names?
- Be sainted through miracle-working and populism.
- Where can I learn new spells?
- Apprentice to a wizard for 10,001 days. Or, like, get a spellbook and study a lot.
- Who is the greatest wizard in all the land? (And is this wizard hot or not?)
- Xagyg the Magnifilendiferous, and it depends on whether you like decrepit wife-beaters or not.
- What are the major religions?
- Just the one, that of the Plenate Church (Plenarism). Were there ever any other religions?
YesWe'll never know!
- Just the one, that of the Plenate Church (Plenarism). Were there ever any other religions?
- Who are the gods? (What do my minced oaths sound like?)
- Just the one, but the saints serve as mediators. Take the name of God or any saint in vain, go hog wild - just not in front of a priest ;)
- Where can I be from?
- Well if you make a new character, one of the many fiefdoms of Hell.
- Who holds power? Who is marginalized? (Put another way: Who tills the land, and who "owns" it?)
- The King of Hell is the face of the Second Estate (nobility) in Hell, and the Dual Patriarchs control the First (church). Mostly it's humans all the way down, though, with a few demons in positions of nobility.
- Where can I receive magical healing and be cured of curses?
- Go to a cathedral in a major city.
- How are families organized?
- In theory around the father, in practice it really varies.
- How do you usually travel between cities?
- Roads! Walk, or ride an animal.
- Who is a renowned hero from the past? What is their name and what did they accomplish?
- Saint Prigent, who converted the King of Hell to Plenarism.
- How does magic work?
- Who knows? You wave your hands and things happen, but only after years of practice. It's a mystery!1
- Can I buy magic potions at a store?
- Not just any store, but in a big enough city sure.
- Can I buy magic swords at a store?
- See above.
- Can I sell magic potions and magic swords?
- Yes!
- What are three mythic treasures of this land and where are they rumored to be?
- The Scepter, Shroud, and Death Mask of the first King of Hell. They're rumored to lie in great city-mausoleums in the Seventh Ring.
- I'm being accused of a crime. What happens next? Who judges me and what sort of punishment can I expect?
- Depends on the crime! You're brought before a person of power (from a village constable to the King, depending) and sentenced - to a fine, dismemberment, hanging, exile, or something stranger.
- What do we spend our hard-earned gold on? Where do we spend it?
- Go out gambling and drinking, or improve your gear. Flaunt it, in any case.
- What are the biggest yearly festivals? What can I do during these festivals that I can't do at other times of the year? What sort of food can I eat during these festivals?
- Probably St. Prigent's Day (in the middle of the dry season) and Coronation (right at the end of wet season). On St. Prigent's day everyone prays to false idols without consequence and eats hot cakes. On Coronation, people dress in masks and beat drums, and the food of choice is sugared meat and fruit wine.
- Where does the oldest dragon lair? What is her name? What does she demand of her vassals?
- Nobody knows where Grandmother Aresa lairs, but those who would seek her favor bring wagonloads of gold sculptures and jewelry.
- What monsters are common and what do we know about them?
- Demons. They're as varied as the animals of Earth in appearance and intelligence. Try to figure out what they want and work from there.
- If we're not sure where to go next, who should we ask?
- The oldest person in town, or the youngest. Ideally ask both and pick.
- How is the moon fucked up?
- Sometimes it's a giant eye! Once every four months, precisely.
- What guilds, orders, or secret societies can I join?
- So many. The Fraternity of the Golden Finger (merchant guild/mafia/secret society) and the Children of Lur Izar (navigators, soothsayers, and scribes) are some of the best known.
- What threatens the peace of the world or the status quo?
- Constant wars and intrigues between nobles, clergymen, and everyone else. Also the occasional giant monster rising.
- What would a traveler from our world recognize as being immediately different?
- Hell is a flat circle ringed by mountains with no sun, just a diffuse ambient light. So that's rather different. Also it's Hell.
But the Illusionists might have some ideas...↩