R is for Rumors

Porto Liure is one of the signature towns of the DARK•HERITAGE setting, and I envision many if not most of my potential games will take place there.  It is also extremely cosmopolitan, being both a destination and a refuge for all kinds of folks from all over the region, due to its policy of not asking many questions.

The following are rumors that can be heard in and around Porto Liure, and (mostly) have to do with local affairs, although some really bizarre expatriate rumors do make the rounds from time to time.  The truth of most of these will have to reside with the discretion of any particular game master (although for my money, most of them are mostly true.  Mostly.)

When (or if) players are specifically looking to hear rumors, or if they're in a position where they might, feel free to use this table.  Roll 1d20 as many times as you need to determine which rumors they will be hearing.

1. Baronette Montazin de Galard is a witch, and has designs on the Lord's throne.
2. One of the guards at the Lord's palace is a spy for a band of pirates.
3. The Lord's chief contender for the title of Lord-Consort, Segnore Bonolva, is land-poor and his family is nearly penniless.
4. The Lord's chief contender fo the title of Lord-Consort, Segnore Bonolva is immensely wealthy, with an unguarded fortune tucked away in the cellars of his house here in town.
5. The owners of the Dog & Drake tavern are former assassins, and still have connections if you need to hire one.
6. The clergy at the cathedral in Low Tide plaza have been infiltrated by demon-worshippers.
7. A guard at a warehouse in Foghorn Park dropped dead a few days ago during a scuffle in a tavern with two local, well-known ne'er-do-wells.  But... I saw the guard again the next day, and the bodies of the two scalawags were found on the edge of town, slashed and burned to death!
8. I once saw a butcher in Qazmir Park fire a shower of flame out of his hand right into a thief's face!  The poor ruffian fell over into the street, dead.
9. A child was bitten and killed by a gigantic rat near the well in the center of the square in White Stones.
10. The Emperor in Terrasa is really a vampire, in thrall to overlords from Tarush Noptii.

11. I once saw what looked like a walking, talking human skeleton down by the docks, directing the unloading of a casket that looked suspiciously like a coffin!
12. This town isn't nicknamed the Port of Ghosts for nothing!  Beware the ghost of Black Maria, the drawn and quartered daughter-in-law of Jacobo Bernat, the founder of the city.
13. The dead walk the land near Rocky Hill, outside of town.
14. I have seen the archbishop of Terrasa come to town himself on occasion!  I don't know why he'd be in Porto Liure.  He was traveling incognito, but when he saw me looking, he covered his face and gestured to his plain-clothes guards.  I beat it quick before they could rough me up.
15. Something weird is going on up north.  Refugees from the far northern cities of the old Baal Hamazi lands have been fleeing southwards.
16. The Condor Cliffs is a haven for bandits.  Watch yourself in the woods outside of town.
17. The woods around Bald Top Hill is a common camp ground for folks who prefer the woods and are not bandits.
18. There is a pack of fierce, hyena-like animals with dark fur and glowing red eyes that wander the woods to the south of town.
19. I couldn't believe my eyes.  There he was; larger than life--Dog, drinking from a stream, near the Rockswaddles.  Then he sauntered into a small, hidden defile in the rocks, and disappeared.  I think it might be his mysterious den!
20. The banks of Pebble Creek is a safe place to make camp if you're ever in the area on the island, outside of town.