SepticGentleman

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

Vendors

_{Figure: An artist's illustration of a common, human-sized Vendor.}

Throughout the land, travelers have occasionally encountered strange beings seemingly made of clay, draped in simple garbs. Their sizes, colors, and aesthetics vary, but there are a few consistencies - heads resembling vases which only darkness can be seen within, and multitudes of tentacles taking the places arms and legs. Vendors earned their name when, after some investigating, their intentions were discovered - they are wandering prize givers.

When someone comes across a Vendor, it will approach them and stand idle, waiting for them to initiate the process. The person will have between one to five minutes (varies), before the Vendor loses interest and continues along its prior path, to offer at least one piece of any suitable currency via tossing it into the Vendor's vase-head. Larger Vendors will usually lower themselves into a suitable position to make this step easier. Any amount of currency may be given, and it has become apparent through extensive testing by scholars that the more currency is offered, the higher the quality of the received item. Once currency has been given, and after a brief moment of pause - in which time gurgling and crunching sounds can be heard within the Vendor's body - the Vendor will proceed to regurgitate a random object of varying form and function. Some examples include:

- Weapons. These may range from common daggers to extremely well-crafted blades rivaling that of even the most renowned blacksmiths' make.
- Random household objects, such as dinner plates and silverware, paintings (occasionally depicting rather bizarre events), and even entire pieces of furniture.
- Various fruits, vegetables, and other food items in varying condition.
- Eggs belonging to various creatures, and occasionally live infants of said creatures.
- Fully grown horses with well-prepped saddles.
- Clothing items, as well as armor of varying make and quality.
- Gemstones which are often worth much more than whatever amount of currency was initially offered.

To add, some individuals have attempted to offer Vendors items other than currency in exchange for a random item in return. In this event, all they will receive is the same item, albeit in a heavily damaged state. This action does not appear to incur any hostility from Vendors, who will not return any attacks against them. If a Vendor is killed, cutting open their body will reveal nothing but a hollow interior, with no riches to be pilfered.

It is currently unknown where Vendors originated from, but the etchings on their clay-like skin imply they were sculpted by someone or something in the past. Scholars' attempts to locate such a being have, alas, produced no results.

Following are several accounts of random travelers' encounters with Vendors.

"I met one while on my way to the next town over to deliver a parcel. Mates down at the tavern said you should always spare a coin or two if you get the chance, so I tossed in three coppers into its... vase... head... thing. Moment later, it reached in and pulled out a nice pair of shoes, handed 'em to me, and went on its way. Very comfy shoes, been using them ever since."

"During my travels, my horse at the time was struck dead by a bandit's arrow, but I was fortunate enough to escape with my life. Luck shined on me not an hour later, and a Vendor standing some ten feet tall happened along my path. I offered it thirty pieces of gold - as I was rather desiring of something, anything useful - and the damn thing up and spat out a horse. A whole clean mare, brown fur, black mane, and with a bloody saddle on it to boot! Wasn't even a tiny bit bothered about having been vomited out by a creature of clay. Horse has been with me for months now - named her Maela."

"Met one. Gave it a few gold pieces. Got a cup in return. A nice silver cup, but still - just a bloody cup. Waste of money if you ask me. Although it did make a nice gift for me nan."

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

@Mokley Honestly I was just gonna leave the details of their/the items' origins ambiguous. And they stroll through very small towns sometimes, but never larger settlements - as if they are aware of the risk of getting swamped with people looking to draw a prize.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

Vendors

_{Figure: An artist's illustration of a common, human-sized Vendor.}

Throughout the land, travelers have occasionally encountered strange beings seemingly made of clay, draped in simple garbs. Their sizes, colors, and aesthetics vary, but there are a few consistencies - heads resembling vases which only darkness can be seen within, and multitudes of tentacles taking the places arms and legs. Vendors earned their name when, after some investigating, their intentions were discovered - they are wandering prize givers.

When someone comes across a Vendor, it will approach them and stand idle, waiting for them to initiate the process. The person will have between one to five minutes (varies), before the Vendor loses interest and continues along its prior path, to offer at least one piece of any suitable currency via tossing it into the Vendor's vase-head. Larger Vendors will usually lower themselves into a suitable position to make this step easier. Any amount of currency may be given, and it has become apparent through extensive testing by scholars that the more currency is offered, the higher the quality of the received item. Once currency has been given, and after a brief moment of pause - in which time gurgling and crunching sounds can be heard within the Vendor's body - the Vendor will proceed to regurgitate a random object of varying form and function. Some examples include:

- Weapons. These may range from common daggers to extremely well-crafted blades rivaling that of even the most renowned blacksmiths' make.
- Random household objects, such as dinner plates and silverware, paintings (occasionally depicting rather bizarre events), and even entire pieces of furniture.
- Various fruits, vegetables, and other food items in varying condition.
- Eggs belonging to various creatures, and occasionally live infants of said creatures.
- Fully grown horses with well-prepped saddles.
- Clothing items, as well as armor of varying make and quality.
- Gemstones which are often worth much more than whatever amount of currency was initially offered.

To add, some individuals have attempted to offer Vendors items other than currency in exchange for a random item in return. In this event, all they will receive is the same item, albeit in a heavily damaged state. This action does not appear to incur any hostility from Vendors, who will not return any attacks against them. If a Vendor is killed, cutting open their body will reveal nothing but a hollow interior, with no riches to be pilfered.

It is currently unknown where Vendors originated from, but the etchings on their clay-like skin imply they were sculpted by someone or something in the past. Scholars' attempts to locate such a being have, alas, produced no results.

Following are several accounts of random travelers' encounters with Vendors.

"I met one while on my way to the next town over to deliver a parcel. Mates down at the tavern said you should always spare a coin or two if you get the chance, so I tossed in three coppers into its... vase... head... thing. Moment later, it reached in and pulled out a nice pair of shoes, handed 'em to me, and went on its way. Very comfy shoes, been using them ever since."

"During my travels, my horse at the time was struck dead by a bandit's arrow, but I was fortunate enough to escape with my life. Luck shined on me not an hour later, and a Vendor standing some ten feet tall happened along my path. I offered it thirty pieces of gold - as I was rather desiring of something, anything useful - and the damn thing up and spat out a horse. A whole clean mare, brown fur, black mane, and with a bloody saddle on it to boot! Wasn't even a tiny bit bothered about having been vomited out by a creature of clay. Horse has been with me for months now - named her Maela."

"Met one. Gave it a few gold pieces. Got a cup in return. A nice silver cup, but still - just a bloody cup. Waste of money if you ask me."

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

@SepticGentleman This is wonderful and unsettling -- a sentence far more frightening than prison. I'm imagining what sort of community would send people there, and for what range of delinquency -- and whether that community might have an alarming population of half-mites, if the halfway house is such a reliable, easy "fix" for the less desirables.

@Mokley

The villagers are threatened into regularly sending people to the Halfway House, regardless of their criminal records, by Mother Izaazs and her underlings. They have some half-mites toiling for them, but prefer to not keep so many around.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

The Halfway House Over Hoddard Hill

Somewhere out in the wilderness, there exists a field of hilltops, over the largest of which floats the Halfway House Over Hoddard Hill. A small residential building - resembling a rectangular, two-story estate made of standard materials, and in rather poor condition - suspended in the air and anchored to the earth via several massive chains. How it got there is an enigma, and no one has been able to get any answers from exploring the building. There is little confusion surrounding its supposedly intended purpose, however.

The Halfway House exists to pacify, recondition, and reintroduce to society those whom the populace deem criminals, malcontents, and troublemakers. When one is tethered to the building and raised up through its dilapidated underside, they will subsequently become trapped within its confines for anywhere between three weeks to five years. Some, actually, never leave the Halfway House - presumably because they were deemed by its master to be completely unfit for everyday life.

Once an exile or other troublesome sort has completed their ‘rehabilitation’, they are gently lowered from the Halfway House and allowed to roam free once again. All who have returned who were once worthless bums and ne'er-do-wells, present themselves as upstanding, god-fearing, ready-to-contribute members of the community. Disturbingly so, in fact. These ‘half-mites’, as they are colloquially referred to as, exhibit very subservient personalities, constantly desiring to perform labor, and becoming very irritable when no task is given. They will often resort to self-harm coupled with incoherent babbling until they are given an order, or they die. For this reason, most half-mites are simply done away with, or given extremely long-term, constant jobs to perform.

A half-mite was once subjected to torture by a group of rather ruthless scholars in an effort to gleam details of the Halfway House’s interior and operations. This proved, for the most part, terribly ineffective. The half-mite in question only ever responded with the phrase, “I stay my tongue at the order of Mother Izaazs.” The entity known as Mother Izaazs has never been referred to in any other fashion, so her true nature is completely unknown. Most believe her to be a Ruse of some form, but that is uncertain, as any who break into the Halfway House are either expunged as half-mites, or never seen again.

---

No picture yet. Will doodle something later.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

@Arawak My brain keeps coming back to your creatures, haha. Especially a legendary city that no one can find because it's on this thing's back. Any interest in developing them further? ;)

@SepticGentleman Perfect, of course! Certainly they should make random, offhanded appearances in several unrelated articles. *nods sagely*

@Mokley

If at any point any character in any happenstance is wearing a hat or some other sort of easily removable headgear, a Gutterfolk will surely attempt to steal it.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

<Snipped quote by SepticGentleman>

Karma. Best answer ever.

But are these the only ones? Do they reproduce? Do they die? Do they split themselves into two now and then? Or maybe one hibernates in a trash heap and three come out in spring?

@Mokley

I figured they'd breed like fowl or insects in some bizarre reproductive evolution and randomly shit out pseudo-egg-like lumps to be fertilized, and then out come the little ones to scatter and eat whatever's in sight.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

@SepticGentleman Hahaha this is an awesome twist on an otherwise tragic disaster. The best kind.

Maybe there could be more to that tragedy that turned the original villagers this way. Hmmm.

If ya poke this over to the characters tab we can totally canonize it!

@Mokley

Gotcha.

Maybe whatever Ruse caused the disaster isn't around anymore because he/she/it turned the only people who acknowledged it into tiny, cackling troglodytes, who don't even know what Ruse are anymore.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

Gutterfolk

_{Figure: Two Gutterfolk trying on various clothes.}

Gutterfolk are small, genderless, humanoid creatures that reside in nearly any environment with sufficient trash, refuse, or similar elements. They are non-aggressive, energetic beings with a strange affinity for collecting manmade clothes and wearing them at all times. Gutterfolk are believed to have first originated as a result of a Ruse - or collective of multiple Ruse - condemning an entire village into a massive sinkhole, burying its inhabitants beneath the heaps of garbage that had accumulated there. Following thus, Gutterfolk began to emerge from the trash heap and spread about the land. Nowadays, people mostly consider them to be a nuisance equatable to rats, only larger. On rare occasions, however, they are kept as companions/pets.

Gutterfolk breed similarly to insects and fowl, occasionally laying what appear to be separated egg sacks in secure piles of refuse, to be fertilized later by another specimen (imagine a water balloon with a fetus in it). They will produce anywhere around a dozen or two dozen offspring at a time, and it is common for mercenaries and exterminators to be hired to clear out nests before they can become overpopulated with Gutterfolk.

YOWL: a worldbuild collaboration

Gutterfolk.

Gutterfolk are small, genderless, humanoid creatures that reside in nearly any environment with sufficient trash, refuse, or similar elements. They are non-aggressive, energetic beings with a strange affinity for collecting manmade clothes and wearing them at all times. Gutterfolk are believed to have first originated as a result of a Ruse - or collective of multiple Ruse - condemning an entire village into a massive sinkhole, burying its inhabitants beneath the heaps of garbage that had accumulated there. Following thus, Gutterfolk began to emerge from the trash heap and spread about the land. Nowadays, people mostly consider them to be a nuisance equatable to rats, only larger. On rare occasions, however, they are kept as companions/pets.