Shanjin, part 1

So, since the session reports for my Skycrawl campaign have moved on from the land of Shanjin, I figured now is a good time to share some of my prep notes for that area. Part of this is to showcase the power of Skycrawl as an inspirational tool, and part of it is to provide some potentially interesting ideas for others to use in their games.

And also part of it is to rationalize my neurotic drive to over-prepare for sessions. I probably have enough material to run several adventures in this place.

Shanjin

"Getting major North Korea vibes, here." -One of my players, I forget who.

Idea: Strip mine, second chance
Shape: Delve. Like a Mountain, but folk live deep inside, not on the surface
Size: IV (explorable in a few weeks, 1k-9k pop., 10-mile dia.)
Gravity: Heavy gravity
Atmosphere: ruins of a shattered land; picturesque clouds
Inhabitants: Phon
Sol: deep rose, indifferent, large
Orbit: Wild
Abundant Resources: Patience, Tack
Scarce Resources: Ships, Trade

(Note: The above entries are mostly what I generated using the random tables in Skycrawl. What follows is my interpretation of it, and the inclusion of hooks and points of interest)

Description

The homeland of the phon, Shanjin is a giant, rotating chunk of rock like a mountain. The outer surface is covered in fields where giant monocultures of grains are grown. The atmosphere around the Sol is filled with smaller floating rocks, many of which have been turned into more small farmsteads. The phon live in mining tunnels that run through the interior.

A typical phon stands between 3’6”-4’6” with a stout build, gray skin, black hair, and a pair of curved horns upon their foreheads. They are intelligent and industrious, but somewhat lacking in culture. They mostly wear uniform gray coveralls with web-belts for tools, with fairly little individual differentiation.

The phon live lives of long toil, constantly running through cramped tunnels at the orders of their handlers. They sleep in overcrowded barracks and own very little personal property. They are a technologically advanced society, and make use of rocketry and complex mechanics in their inventions. They are infamous for getting around with dangerous rocket-propelled jetpacks.

Several hundred years ago, the phon lived in a miraculous floating city on another world until they were displaced by a mysterious magical cataclysm. They found themselves hurtling through the Azure Aetern, until they collided with the mountain that they named Shanjin.

The ruler of the phon is called Governor Jeshun San-O, a cold, calculating and rigidly inflexible ruler. Beneath the governor are several ministers, who manage various districts of Shanjin. The governor nominates the successors to the ministers, and the ministers nominate the governor. The citizenry have no input.

The state religion of Shanjin is a cult of ancestor worship. In fact, the Priesthood of the Cult of the Revered Ancestors has access to a miraculous device called a thanophone that allows them to speak to the dead and guide them towards reincarnation. The phon have bent their every resource to reincarnating their ancestors through breeding programs.

The phon ships are ethanol powered rockets with machine gun turrets, and given their ever-growing population and the conflict between using grain for food and for fuel, they have only 12 operational ships.

Places

• The Temple of the Revered Ancestors – a gilt and gemstone-studded cathedral emblazoned with colorful paintings. Extremely gaudy. Self-important priests in elaborate robes perform mandatory services involving the use of the thanophone to interview revered ancestors.
• The Foreign Quarter – A “hotel” and a few small shops where foreign visitors are required to stay.
• The Nadir Port – A wide open tunnel mouth with several jutting piers extending from the “lowest” point on the mountain.
• The Mines – Where most of the phon work, extracting Heavy Elements and other, baser metals.
• The Unknown Depths – The darkest, least explored tunnels near the core of the mountain.

People

• Governor Jeshun San-O – Male phon, 58. Wears an immaculately pressed gray and black uniform with epaulettes. Cold, calculating, rigidly inflexible. Handsome, if sarcastic. Prone to pompous speeches.
• Captain Washu Cha-Jai – Male phon, 50. A muscular, brutish-looking phon with a face crossed with battle scars. Suspicious of everyone and talks fast.
• Foreign Liaison Tara El-Jo – Female phon, 31. Designated guide for the players
• High Priest Gi Sha-Wan – Male phon, 78. High Priest of the Cult of the Revered Ancestors. Short, even for a phon, and very thin. Has an oiled handlebar mustache and an elaborate priestly robe. Cowardly and sycophantic.
• Olvau Leingythni – Male Ice-Lord, 41. Merchant who peddles weapons and other military equipment. Covered in burn scars and wears a tasteless, obviously fake military-like uniform. Always grumpy and talks too loud.
• Kand Resto – Male Damyana, 33. Big game hunter on his way to somewhere else. Openly hates phons and phon culture. Unusually thin for a damyana, but still loves to eat and drink. Has oiled hair and well maintained hunting clothes. Friendly and outgoing to non-phon and loves to tell stories.
• Karasa Ganilla – Female Ornivir, 44. Merchant who peddles jewelry. Lean and muscular, with many fine examples of jewelry on her person. Affects noble speech, but actually not that successful. Bitter about the phon’s disdain for foreign jewelry.
• Romz deZemler – Male Lirovan, 36. Tall and athletic, with a mane of golden hair. Missing one ear. Wears a fine yet functional vest embroidered with battle scenes. Friendly, if sarcastic and cynical. Actually a smuggler, here to smuggle dissidents out of Shanjin.
• Shem Ong-Ya – Male phon, 25. Leader of the resistance. Muscular, brutish appearance and extremely thick eyebrows over wild-eyes. Wears a fraying and poorly maintained work uniform. Hates the Cult and the Governor, and leads a band of other disaffected youth from their hideout in the tunnels. Actually pretty lazy.
• Li Ing-Shu – Female phon, 20. Resistance messenger. Young, naïve, idealistic. Idolizes Shem. Intelligent, if naïve. Very thin, wiry build. Wears fashionable clothing fit for leisure, and favors wide-brimmed hats.

Seeds

• Dissidents have stolen a ship somehow and taken it somewhere. The phon value their ships, and the dissidents taking them is a horrible embarrassment.
• The resistance contacts the players and asks for their help.
• The lirovan smuggler Romz deZemmler asks the players to help him smuggle out some dissidents.
• Mysterious raiders have been attacking the outskirts of phon airspace. They belong to a yet unknown-race and seem to a part of some bizarre millenarian cult that worships Obscenities.

Design Notes and Closing Thoughts

Shanjin was the first land the players encountered, and as such it set the tone for the campaign and illustrates my approach to designing interesting civilizations. Shanjin is a place where you can resupply and repair your ship, yes, BUT...! I tend to give these civilizations an eyebrow-raising cultural quirk that forms the basis of conflict in the setting and tells the players to be wary.

"Shanjin" is Chinese for "Gold Mountain," according to Google Translate. I subscribe to the George R. R. Martin school of "don't overthink it" when it comes to names. There's a general Chinese/Korean Communist vibe here.

The concept of the "thanophone" was inspired by the time that Thomas Edison actually attempted to build a device to contact the afterlife. That's pretty whack. The whole idea of the cult of ancestor worship, and a whole society dedicated to serving dead people is sort of reminiscent of our own society, where older generations got while the getting was good, and pulled up the ladder after them. That's a Millennial mood, right there.

There's going to be a part 2 where I detail some of the crunchier session prep I did for this area, including a cave crawl, monsters and treasure.