d100 Chagrinspire Rumours

This series seems to be doing well and got me lots of new comments
Comments help me make more stuff so please do

A few other sources of Inspiration:
dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com
The Nightland by William Hope Hodgkinson
The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad
Nomad of the Time Stream
Anomalous Subsurface Environment by Andy Taylor
Dr Who - The War Games
Turnip28 a wargame of apocalypse and mud
Great Weird War my booklet for CoC
Films: Trench 11, Beneath Hill 60
PC Games: Trenches looks sweet

I would say newcomers will be armed as traditional adventurers and fantasy civilisations. Muskets here are a surprise at first but used quite a bit in the villages. More advanced weapons should be alien and hard to fathom. Despite the mention of 19th and 20th-century tech, Napoleonic is the base advanced technology with most of the world between medical and renascence.

d10 Quick Types
1 The Apocalypse War

2 The Black Sphere

3 Cults of the wastes

4 Technology

5 Treasures of the mudlands

6 Flatspur

7 Shankheim

8 Ruins of the wastes

9 Strangers

10 Inside the mountain

d100 Chargrinspire Rumours
01 The apocalypse war ruined the world and established our current age of misery and despair

02 The great war brought all kinds of normally hostile peoples to unity with even angels and devils fighting together against the forces of the Null Sphere

03 The war raged for centuries and civilisation went from an age of magical wonders to enemies hurling rocks at the end

04 The ravaged realm around Charginspire is poisoned by thousands of years of war and the terrible weapons of the ancients

05 During the war every nation sent troops to die in the awful muddy trenches to save all creation from nullification  

06 While the muddy wastelands around Charginspire from the worst of the war remain today, the conflict struck nations around the world with hellfire and ruination

07 The war depopulated the world of intelligent life and many peoples and species never survived the war 

08 The monsters of the world proliferated during the war as many were created to be used as slave soldiers to be slaughtered in the thousand years of bloody conflict

09 Many non-humans remember the war in more detail than humans and they never recovered their numbers and are deeply bitter about it 

10 Did the apocalypse war really end? Or is it starting again? The signs are here 
11 The cult of the Black Sphere was made up of human alchemists and bitter gnomes from the Underland who planned to nullify all existence.  

12 The Null Sphere is still under Chagrinspire and some say it can still be activated and destroy everything that ever existed. Various cults seem still interested 

13 Some say the sphere is working but it just taking its time to destroy everything

14 The great sphere is built in a vast chamber in Chagrinspire but no living persons know have ever seen it 

15 Approaching the sphere causes headaches, hallucinations, bleeding from eyes or ears or nose, diarrhoea and hair loss

16 The presence of the sphere keeps the wastelands poisoned, spawning hideous mutations and insanity

17 Prophets and seers across the world have been seeing visions of the Sphere, just like those that mobilised the world against Chagrinspire long ago

18 The gods fear the Null Sphere but cannot stop it. Its Eldritch power was conceived to kill all gods so they cannot recreate or repair the world. Some say the sphere stops gods from manifesting in person so they can only appear as weaker avatars or act through heroes

19 Some say the Sphere is alive and an evil malignant force tainting all creation

20 The Sphere left this universe after finishing its growth and its true location is another reality

21 Daemon cults with to re-start the apocalypse again but make it last forever rather than end reality and they have aided those for and against the Black Sphere at times

22 The cult of Xor attempts to bring the universe-eating world of flesh to our world to destroy it and the sphere. They say this will save the multiverse

23 Devils will give you terrible powers, teach you wizardry or even wishes if you wage war on the Black Spere's Minions

24 Alchemists Guilds from civilisation send agents to recover lost technology and exotic materials from Chagrinspire. Some claim to be inheritors of the ancient lore of Chagrinspire, most deny this dubious honour

25 The Black Sphere cult of long ago has spawned many imitators all whom claim to be the one true cult and thus must seize the Null Sphere for themselves

26 The Star Brethren commune with star spirits and beings who live in the celestial dome of night. Some of these are abusive star fairies or grey gnomes in their magical vehicles deceiving earthly dupes and kidnapping them for labour

27 Knights of The Black Circle a cult of wizards knights from Auldwood who claim to be a lost millitary force of the Chagrinspire. In centuries they have become a sinister order of masked robber knights and demonologists secretly members of the aristocracy. From caves and ruined castles, they engage in fearsome rivalry and deranged feasts mocking the courts of kings

28 Lords of the Outer Void serve the old ones with subgroups following the hungry horrors beyond creation who await the time they may plunge into our world to devour everything. Even they seek to destroy the Chagrinspire for it would deprive their gods of food and existence. They also feel betrayed as some secrets of making the Null Sphere came from their forbidden books

29 The Plague Horde fester in the wasteland because their old gods were summoned in the Apocalypse war and most were killed or banished from our world. A cult seek to spread sickness and famine. Their stinking cauldrons of pestilence kill plants and farm beasts and humans. Cultists have disgusting plague mutations they use to kill for their god

30 The Cult of Chaos have opened portals and called daimon and demons to serve them. Mutagenic weapons and mutant cultists thrive in the wastes and alchemy-polluted wastes. They don't agree on why they are here but they do wish to sew disorder in any grand schemes in the region. Humiliating order and grinding down civilisation are the main vague goals
31 Gunpowder was invented in the Apocalypse war by deep gnomes and then dwarves but now humans have discovered the lost art by digging in the ruins around  Chargrinspire

32 The ancients drove horseless carriages and flying machines

33 The ancients used weapons that killed cities and turned survivors into mutants

34 The arts of alchemy in the cities of the world are remnants of the alchemists who helped wreck the world in the apocalypse war

35 The ancients had various golem-powered machines in their homes working as servants, stoves and water carriers. These devices made heat or water on command. Other homes used captured elementals or demons

36 The great rusted hulks on the mud fields were once mobile vehicles with terrible weapons that could walk through castle walls unharmed, Some even flew or burrowed in the earth or underwater 

37 By the end of the war improved muskets could shoot hundreds of bullets or explosive pellets of burning metal or liquid fire. The last great weapons were terrible rays that could slice metal war machines in half or kill soldiers with a touch from hundreds of yards 

38 Many ancient machines and devices were powered by weird poisonous minerals created by alchemists that left tainted soil and water and air. These materials were mostly depleted halting the war machines of the ancients and their factories. After machines went backwards

39 The ancients didn't just make strange machines they made monsters and people to be slaves and soldiers. They made slimes, killer plants and fungus and even mechanical troops and other horrors still swarming around the world

40 The grey gnomes of the deep were masters of magic machines and had already the seeds of Chagrinspire's strange machines. Some say they not only flew and sailed under the sea but gnomes also explored other dimensions, the moon and invaded the celestial cities of the star spirits to plunder their secrets of the universe. Some say they even came from the moon or colonised it

41 Even metal scrap from the ancients is purer steel than living people can make and is of value to civilisation

42 Beware digging in the mud for the perils of ancient traps like explosive mines or unexploded bombs

43 If you can find the alchemist's fuel source of their machines you will become rich

44 Muskets are common finds and gunpowder can be made from minerals in the wastes. The more advanced firearms are rarer and intact ammo for them is quite rare 

45 Some collectors want ancient uniforms, helmets, medals and other trinkets of the war

46 Digging in the wastes risks exposure to poison, disease and its best to cover your face with at least cloth to reduce exposure from even the dust. Some old scrappers die horribly or even become mutants

47 Any documents of the past can be valuable relics but many were just empty propaganda for the troops and filled with lies. The ancients invented imaginary leaders and enemies to motivate other vat grown soldiers who believed they were defending their homeland

48 Some have managed to operate briefly some ancient machines but their fuel cells are mostly depleted or exploded long ago. Intact ones would be worth a kings ransom

49 Lost relics of many heroes who vanished in the war can be found and their homelands may pay well for them

50 When scavenging dress to blend in and its best to hide of flee. You are unlikely to meet friendly or trustworthy people. Even other scavengers you don't know are possibly monsters or bandits
51 Flatspur is growing and now with farmers and some order may grow into a proper community. There are opportunities to grow with it

52 The priests of the Church of Light have helped protect the town from evil infiltrators and the worst scum who usually go to Shankheim

53 Best behave in Flatspur as if you are banished you will have no safe place to explore from

54 Mudhogs are all around the Flatspur are always wallowing and eating the awful weeds and bitter gourds that grow in the region. Their flesh has a muddy taste a good cook can remove this taint  

55 Farmers who moved to Flatspur were desperate outcasts from the old empire and fled the mad ruler. They are wary of strangers but welcome money. If you commit some crime gold can make things better 

56 The cabbage beer of Flatspur makes you flatulent and the turnip wine gives terrible headaches 

57 Sometimes scavengers lose everything but those who gave to the Church of Light can expect some charity like a floor to sleep on and some turnip porridge

58 The walls of Flatspur are made from junk and machines of the ancients and are constantly growing as the village grows

59 There are plenty who lost their parties of scavengers you can hire as guides or followers in Flatspur

60 Items like food or beer from civilised lands or quality weapons are overpriced and often unavailable in Flatspur
61 Shankheim was started by murder hobos who were tamed when the guild arrived to take control. None dare cross the Guildmaster

62 Any who offend the guild of Shankheim can expect to be murdered or enslaved

63 If the guild offers to lend you money you will be their slaves for life

64 The guild takes all salvage to study and secure and forbids any from hoarding or studying found relics. They will offer money for them and you had better take it 

65 The only healer in Shankheim is a witch who fled Auldwood and has a price on her head. The guild protect her 

66 If you stay here you'd better like eating rat and crow. Some say the cabbage beer made here causes diarrhoea and gassy bloat. Stick to imported foods is best

67 At least in Shankheim there is a whorehouse and drugs are available everywhere

68 If you really get the guild mad they will give you to rat farmers as feed for their giant rodents 

69 You can always make money as a pit fighter in Shankheim and possibly it is safer. If the guild master says throw a fight you'd better obey

70 Cults thrive in Shankheim and monsters infiltrate occasionally. The village lacks walls as the guild make deals with local monsters. The guild often employs orcs to keep the peace but many troublemakers are found stabbed in the back
71 Burried trenches often have long buried dugouts but beware undead soldiers trapped for centuries in them

72 Many intact ruins are occupied by gangs or monsters and have been well picked over. You can still find hidden treasure or dig for scrap in them once inhabitants driven off

73 Buried buildings are often intact with treasures of the ancients

74 Ancient wards and magical traps keep many ruins intact but expendable livestock or prisoners can be driven in to set these traps off

75 Cults often occupy sites they believe have clues or documents they find of interest

76 Its best to grab what you can carry and get out quick as you won't take everything. Occupying the ruins as a base is possible but you will need to fight to hold it

77 Sometimes when digging you find buried buildings or tunnels you could be lost in forever

78 If the ruins are smoking they are occupied

79 Some of the ruins are flooded which is bad but also unlooted already if you can make the effort

80 Many ruins contain vast machines nobody can fathom the use of
81 Hooded strangers come daily from civilised lands seeking occult secrets 

82 Famous bandits from Auldwood or the Empire come to hide here and prey on explorers and scavengers. They often use ruins as a base 

83 Adventurers come to plunder the ruins more and more but most just die 

84 Scholars come seeking relics and documents to study but beware they don't have secret agendas

85 Spies come here to watch the progress of scavengers and villages reporting to distant rulers. Some seek to detect any threats of ancient powers or actions obtaining dangerous weapons

86 Traders come for relics and ancient steel and guns but some have ulterior reasons

87 Many dangerous shapeshifters, evil spirit folk and mutants try to infiltrate settlements and guards may demand strangers are searched for plague, mutations or other signs

88 Many who live in waste have resorted to cannibalism and eating anything they can catch. I guess rat gets boring quickly

89 Strange peoples from Underland kingdoms have been appearing on the surface and often they have cruel alien customs and attitudes 

90 There are shifty strangers who offer money for information and regular informants. Its free money who knows why they want to know stuff?
91 There is part of a plateau against the mountain of Chagrinspire with ancient ruins intact and a broken aqueduct releases a river from inside the mountain forming a fog-shrouded lake

92 One of the lesser mountains next to Chagrinspire is Mount Slime and some say is a vast machine spawning oozes and contains imprisoned gods

93 The mountain is a vast dungeon complex and somewhere is the vast chamber of the Null Sphere which is dangerous to be near

94 Gnomes in the mountain have advanced guns, automatons and vehicles. Their flying machines are sometimes seen over the mountain

95 The mountains are riddled with shrines to the old ones the ancients exploited to create the sphere. These attract cults who resent the abuse of their horrible gods

96 Machines with bound demons and elementals can be found beware you don't release them when taking treasure

97 Very few adventurers have returned from the mountain but hundreds have gone missing

98 Some of the vast tunnels under the wastes connect to the mountain complex

99 Passages deep under the mountain are still linked to Underland gnome civilisations

100 The wizards of the outer void and the alchemists in the old order of the black sphere died off long ago but the grey gnomes still live and are near immortal survivors of the Apocalypse war. Their underground cities and lunar colony helped them survive the massacres of the apocalypse war. Maybe this was their plan all along to outlive their former allies