Red Steel

The Red Steel.

Slagovich and most of the Savage Coast is a brutal land, often plagued by wars. Centuries ago, the riff-raff of the Known World-pariahs, criminals, and unscrupulous adventurers-colonized its shores on a quest for wealth and power. Sometimes, refugees fleeing humanoid invasions and other scourges migrated to the Savage Coast and remained stranded in this un- forgiving land.

Very little law exists there, except as enforced by the nobles or the personally powerful. Often, the law is that of the jungle. Indeed, the forces of good are an exception more than a rule.

What makes this region stand apart from the other places is the fact its land bears a poisoned soil. It affects everything and everybody, from the color of the people's skin to their society, right down to their money. It is the source of wealth and power, but also of rivalry and, ultimately,grief and destruction. This poison is called "seed of cinnabar"

Seed of cinnabar: This poisonous mineral compound exists in everything at varying concentrations, including in food and water. It impairs the mental perform ances of contaminated people, limiting them to Intelligence and Wisdom score of 3d4. A spell-caster is limited to spell levels equal to his appropriate ability score (Intelligence for wizards, Wisdom for clerics) minus 9. The poison also reduces the life expectancy of all life forms by 20%.

Seed of cinnabar is a very slow poison, needing a week of cumulative exposure per point of Constitution to affect game attributes, and a month of exposure per point of Constitution to affect longevity. Native life is automatically affected at birth. Animal and vegetable ecology maintained its balance with quicker proliferation. Effects on mental performance subside within 20 weeks (minus one week . per point of the character's Constitution score) of avoidance of contact with the poison, but the shortened life expectancy is permanent. Seed of cinnabar can be made into a powder and stored in a pouch.

Cinnabryl: The Savage Coast harbors a rare fossil ore deriving from millions of years of awesome telluric pressures and volcanic temperatures applied to seed of cinnabar beds, deep underground. When properly extracted, the ore produces a shiny, red metal, called cinnabryl. Pure cinnabryl has the consistency and weight of lead.

When touched to fully contaminated people, cinnabryI negates the harmful effects of seed of cinnabar. Cinnabryl must be worn directly against the skin, as a bracelet or medal, for example. When wearing cinnabryl, the mind-altering effects of seed of cinnabar recede in 20 weeks, minus one week per point of Constitution. Full life expectancy is restored as long as the metal is worn at least 20 months, minus one week per point of the character's Constitution score. Going more than one week without contact with cinnabryl cancels all accumulated gains and benefits against the poison.

Contact with the skin, however, causes Cinnabryl to slowly lose its properties. Depleted cinnabryl appears as a dull red metal. Some sages say that contact with life energy provokes the oxidation of cinnabryl. Depleted cinnabryl can be forged : into steel with half the weight and three times the value of normal steel. This red steel makes fine weapons permitted only to the local royalty, nobility, heroes, and (sometimes) elite troops.

Undepleted cinnabryl cannot be forged into steel without a clerical or wizard wish. It also is poisonous to people uncon- taminated by seed of cinnabar, causing them to lose one point of Constitution per week of exposure. Death occurs when Constitution reaches zero. Constitution is , otherwise recovered at the same rate if the metal is discarded or depleted. Its depleted form is harmless.

Currency & depletion rate: In the past centuries, people have recognized value of cinnabryl. It became a coveted possession, a source of desire and bitter rivalry, as well as the standard currency on the Savage Coast. Oxidation in the hands of its owners tends to cause it to devalue regularly. This causes chronic economic downturns in the region and a quasi-permanent poverty among the common people.

Currency values are as follows:

1 Bright (Br): This coin is a mixture of 90% silver and 10% undepleted cinnabryl. It takes five weeks of continuous contact with skin to deplete 1 Br (see "1 Dim"). This glowing, pink coin is reserved for royalty or nobility, and is forbidden to commoners and foreigners.

1 Fair (Fr): This coin is a mixture of 98% copper and 2 % undepleted cinnabryl. It takes a week of continuous contact with skin to deplete 1 Fr (see "l Dark"); 5 Fr = 1 Br = 2.5 gold pieces in the Known World (see "Exchange rates").This slightly glowing, reddish-gold coin is the standard currency of the rich.

1 Dim (Dm): This is a depleted Bright; 10 Dm = 1 Fr = 10 silver pieces in the Known World (see "Exchange rates").This is the coin people use most on the Savage Coast. It is light gray with a reddish tone.

1 Dark (Dk): This is a depleted Fair; 10 Dk equal 1 Dm = 10 copper pieces in the Known World (see "Exchange rates"). This brown coin is the smallest currency denomination.

Pure cinnabryl is not minted. If it were a coin-sized quantity of this metal would take over a Known World year (50 weeks) to deplete. In equal quantities, pure and undepleted cinnabryl costs 10 times the value of a Bright coin. Pure cinnabryl metal is abbreviated as Ci, and numerical values of Ci refer to coin-sized amounts. Exchange rates: Precious metals other than silver and copper (e.g., gold and platinum) and precious stones are useless as currencies on the Savage Coast. Merchants will trade them for their ornamental values or to conduct business with foreign powers, but at half the Known World's prices. Conversely, Savage Coast Fair and Bright coins or objects made of pure cinnabryl are traded at half their . values in the Known World. Depleted cinnabryl trades at the value of pure silver in the Known World. Silver ingots are used in most merchant trade. Note that the true value of a Dark coin really is 1.18 cp, but this difference is widely ignored in trade since that coin is used as petty street cash. In the Savage Coast setting, note that jewelry is always listed with its cinnabryl alloy type and value first, followed by other ornamental elements lacking cinnabryl. For example: A crown listed as "10 Ci/500 gp" means that it contains 10 Ci of pure and undepleted cinnabryl, and 500 gp worth of normal metals and ornamental gems.

There is no way to tell how long undepleted currency has been used before it turns dim. For that reason, powerful people use personal talismans or bracelets of cinnabryl. It is customary to handle undepleted coins with a cloth or glove for fear of seeing them turn dim in your very hands! To keep things simple in a game setting, ignore the depletion factor of money unless characters actually use the money to counteract the poison.

Bruce Heard.