Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Great Wen

2104 | The Great Wen | 10,000 | 6 | N | Prospero the Green 11 N MU | Market

The Great Wen sits on a small spit of land jutting out from the northeastern end of the Isle of Cuccagna.  Most visitors find it a surprisingly beautiful sight, especially given its reputation.  Its streets are narrow but clean and they are filled with travelers from the whole of the Mediterranean as well as native Cocknies with in their antiquated and elaborate dress.   The houses and other buildings are commonly stuccoed and painted lurid colors. All manner of goods can be bought in its great market, even - nay, especially - those that the rest of the world find unsavory.

The Great Wen has a reputation for exceptional depravity.  Its citizens are the type that prefers the worldly to the spiritual, and many while away their coins in brothels, gambling houses, and establishments catering to even more outre tastes.  Characters carousing in the Great Wen my spend 1d12 x 250 gp instead of the usual amount.  

Christian and Muslim visitors often find the other temples present in the city a bit disconcerting.  In addition to a Cathedral and Mosque, the Wen also houses temples dedicated to Bacchus, Simon Magus, Pluto, and a host of other gods whose worship was long thought extinguished.  Cocknies are pagan syncretists of the sort that clergy find most vile.

The Ruler of the Great Wen is Prospero the Green, a wizard of considerable power.  He spends most of his time poking his noise into the business of others and fancies himself a schemer without peer.  When not attempting to play the various guilds, cults, and cabals of the Wen against one another, Prospero the Green amuses himself with a range of bizarre turpitudes.  He is particularly fond of games of chance, especially ones of his own design.  The Wizard of the Wen is famed for his ability to brew potions, and he is especially fond of the sort that loosens the will of men and - more importantly - women.

2 comments:

  1. Cool. I like it. Where did the name 'Wen' come from? Just curious.

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    1. Wen is an archaic term for a boil or cyst. The Great Wen is an obscure nickname for London, as is Cockaigne.

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