On the Shield of Achilles

You touched the metal disc on the wall, vast and engraved with scenes you couldn't quite make out. There was a flash: the sun, moon and stars wheeled around you, and you saw one or two constellations you think you could name. Then a voice said With it or on it, return to the waves. 

You found yourself in a new and strange place, inhabited by a people speaking an unknown tongue (so unknown, that translation spells fail). Their eyes gleam like mercury. So does their blood. Clearly, you wish to escape this. Perhaps with something in your pocket for your pains....

Roll 1d10 for where you start, re-rolling 10s, then roll 1d6+3 for the number of scenes you must move through.

Transition between areas is a jumble of low, sunken sandy lanes, winding hillside paths and forests. 

1. A city at night: torches gleam as crowds gather for a prominent wedding. The young dance and the old look on.
   Observing at them solemn feasts, the brides from forth their bow’rs
   With torches usher’d through the streets, a world of paramours
   Excited by them; youths and maids in lovely circles danc’d,
   To whom the merry pipe and harp their spritely sounds advanc’d...
   
2. The gathering of a law-court in a city forum. A murder case is being tried, and masses of onlookers and supporters have gathered before the seated judges and bailiffs, with a bounty for correct judgement.
   The heralds made the people peace. The seniors then did bear
   The voiceful heralds’ sceptres, sat within a sacred sphere,
   On polish’d stones, and gave by turns their sentence. In the court
   Two talents’ gold were cast, for him that judg’d in justest sort.
3. Outside a besieged city, a conference is being held between the various factions of the beseigers. Some wish to sack the city entirely, the others are willing to let it be in return for a goodly share of its wealth.
   Two armies glittering in arms, of one confed’racy,
   Besieg’d it; and a parlè had with those within the town.
   Two ways they stood resolv’d; to see the city overthrown,
   Or that the citizens should heap in two parts all their wealth,
   And give them half.
   
4. The besieged city has sent out a picked band, under the head of two gold-skinned siblings to ambush the armies described in 3. They have chosen a careful spot where they will go to water their cattle. Interlopers will be dealt with promptly and desperately. Those supernaturally gifted will see spirits of slaughter and panic and clash gather in ghostly, ghastly anticipation.
   When those in siege before the town so strange an uproar heard,
   Behind, amongst their flocks and herds (being then in council set)
   They then start up, took horse, and soon their subtle enemy met,
   Fought with them on the river’s shore, where both gave mutual blows
   With well-pil’d darts. Amongst them all perverse Contention rose....
   
5. A peaceful scene, where ploughmen are at work - and sustained in their work by ample wine. Careful examination will reveal that the plough uncovers a wonder: gold with the hue of fresh-turned turf. Highly valuable to a collector of curiosities....
   The soil turn’d up behind the plough, all black like earth arose,
   Though forg’d of nothing else but gold, and lay in show as light
   As if it had been plough’d indeed, miraculous to sight.
6. You enter a harvest scene, where a local prince oversees the gathering of wheat. His huscarls prepare an ox for roasting as the harvesters gather in the sheaves.
   His harvest-bailiffs underneath an oak a feast prepar’d
   And having kill’d a mighty ox, stood there to see him shar’d
   Which women for their harvest folks (then come to sup) had dress’d,
   And many white wheat-cakes bestow’d, to make it up a feast.
7. Glittering in the sun is a great jewellers folly: a vineyard, of a kind. Gold vines hang on silver poles in a tin-fenced yard with a moat of glittering blue enamel. Humanoid constructs guard the vineyard against any intruder; their control unit is sculpted in the shape of a boy with a lyre.
   A silver rail ran all along, and round about it flow’d
   An azure moat, and to this guard, a quickset was bestow’d
   Of tin, one only path to all, by which the pressmen came
   In time of vintage...
8. Bovine automata of tin and gold are being escorted by men and dogs through the meadows. Great lions, envious of the gold hides of the oxen prowl after them, hoping to tear one to bits. (If it comes to it, the mastiffs are ineffectual against the lions).
   ...with high rais’d heads, forg’d all
   Of gold and tin, for colour mix’d, and bellowing from their stall
   Rush’d to their pastures at a flood, that echo’d all their throats,
   Exceeding swift, and full of reeds; and all in yellow coats....
9. In a village strug around with sheep pastures, a party is in progress. Armed muscular youths in silver belts dance in a ring with maidens in floral crowns. Two acrobats do something spectacular at the centre of the circle.
   Fresh garlands too, the virgins’ temples crown’d;
   The youths gilt swords wore at their thighs, with silver bawdrics bound.
   Sometimes all wound close in a ring, to which as fast they spun
   As any wheel a turner makes, being tried how it will run,
   While he is set; and out again, as full of speed they wound,
   Not one left fast, or breaking hands. A multitude stood round...
10. A circling, endless sea. Not a cloud or a bird in the sky. Following the line of the beach along only leads to more sea-shore.
    All this he circled in the shield, with pouring round about,
    In all his rage, the Ocean, that it might never out.
    Escape is achieved by hurling a shield into the sea (your own, or one obtained from any of the locales above). This produces a cloud of steam; when it settles, there is the mouth of a cave in the sea. When you walk into it, all lights are extinguished and darkvision blurs. When you are far enough in that you can no longer see the entrance, there is the sound of a single great hammer-blow and you return to your starting location with the disc on the wall - which may now be touched without fear of dimensional travel. 

***

• As the title suggests, the inspiration is the Eighteenth Book of The Iliad. Somewhat spur-of-the-moment, and written with reference to the translations of Chapman (see above) and Caroline Alexander. 
• The various scenes suggest a tight selection of social and combat challenges to my mind, though it might be possible to simply sneak through the entire thing. Not quite the action of an Achilles, but perhaps Odysseus would approve.
• It's tempting to place the joined 3. & 4. as the last scene before the sea, but I leave that decision in your hands!
• Presumably, if you dig deep enough in any of the above scenes, everything is made of metal. 

Punth: Ka-Punth Generator

Yoon-Suin inspired a certain amount of Punth: A Primer, notably some of the 'deliberate mystery' regarding the Qryth and their nature and motivations. Following my work reviewing the second edition of Yoon-Suin, it occurred to me that I hadn't applied used the structure of tables in the same way. Punth itself would make for a poor subject for something like the Starting Polity tables for the Hundred Kingdoms: the central regularising element of the Codes rather get in the way. But the fringe tribes of the Ka-Punth might benefit from this. 

Leadership Style

1. Paranoid - the leaders of the tribe are constantly on the look-out for foes within and without, as well as more insidious dangers.
2. Acquisitive - the leaders of the tribe seek more: more territory, more resources, more weapons.
3. Vain - the leaders seek acclaim and flattery.
4. Quietist - the leadership are keenly aware of their relative smallness and seek not to disturb their neighbours.
5. Fanatic - be it grudge, whim, passion, mission or djinn's command, the tribe's leadership have a cause in mind and dedicate themselves wholly to it.
6. Opportunist - the tribe's leadership look to enrich themselves at any opportunity, no matter how slight. 
7. Scholarly - the tribe's leadership seek knowledge: of the Fallen Tower, of the Qryth, of the howling powers of the desert. 
8. Indecisive - these leaders are given to putting off decisions and consulting as many relevant parties as possible.
9. Bloody-handed - the leadership maintain power inside (and project power outside) with spectacular examples of cruelty.
10. Unifier - the leadership seek to pool resources among the Ka-Punth.
11. Scrupulous - the leadership are painstaking about details and proprieties.
12. Client Kings - the leadership owe their rule or prosperity to a foreign power, and will act to benefit that power.

Manner of Rule

1. Shamanic College: An Oligarchy tempered by Fits and Visions - and always open to Talent.
2. Warlord and Comitatus: A Charismatic Warrior and their closest comrades, with succession determined by by impromptu democracy, ritual duals and heavy drinking (or a combination of the above.)
3. Mage-Blooded Lineage: The djinn speak clearest to a particular family line, for reasons of their own. The result is hereditary monarchy, of a kind - with competition for right-hand man status.
4. Kritarchy: Rule by makers of law, precedent and tradition and interpreters of law, precedent and tradition. No-one wants to do something unprecedented around a djinn, or for a djinn to do something unprecedented.
5. Merchant Prince: The tribe is led by a master trader and negotiator who maintains their prosperity in the shifting state of the Punth borderlands. Until they don't.
6. Priest and King: spiritual leadership and temporal power are given to two rulers, who each exercise full authority in their own sphere. The conditions for succession are particular to that sphere.
7. Clan Council: the tribe regularly gathers into a Ka-Punth althing to decide on policy, distribute prizes and determine responsibility.  
8. Daimonocracy: a djinn governs the tribe directly, somehow. 

Relation to Djinn

1. No djinn are in this tribe's orbit.
2. Spirits drift in and out of the tribe's awareness.
3. One particular djinn has made this tribe their own.
4. The tribe maintains careful ties to a number of shades and spirits.
5. Several djinn take a special interest in the tribe.
6. The tribe is fully attached to the djinn as a body.

Characteristic Customs

1. This tribe wear ornate woven sashes to identify themselves.
2. This tribe are 'born in the saddle' and form strong bonds with their mounts.
3. This tribe has an excellent knowledge of Punthite Codes, frequently used for parody.
4. This tribe are known as leaping, twisting, remarkable dancers.
5. This tribe practices ritual scarification; whether or not the scars are displayed depends on the reason and placement of the scar.
6. This tribe are known to use bizarre, difficult to master weapons.
7. This tribe has a vivid and fascinating epic poem detailing an episode in their history committed to memory by some of their members (and often quoted by the rest).
8. Many members of this tribe have a photographic memory.
9. This tribe regards a certain animal as not just symbolic, but positively sacred. If domesticated, they will adorn them and their cages; if wild, they will leave offerings by their lairs.
10. This tribe is either: a. Highly matriarchal, b. Highly patriarchal, c. alternate between a. and b. with the generations or d. Suspiciously egalitarian. 
11. Members of this tribe endure physical hardship and other such trials with great forbearance. 
12. This tribe is widely regarded as cursed.
13. This tribe go veiled at all times, as far as anyone on the outside can tell.
14. This tribe are very keen on falconry. This has very little use in war, but everyone thinks it's pretty cool.
15. This tribe regards raiding as not just a pleasant occupation to be practiced when opportunity presents, but as a way of life.
16. This tribe are staunch Chauvinists.
17. Perhaps as a result of living so near to the followers of the Codes, this tribe are terrifyingly literal.
18. This tribe are known to be forthright and dramatic, and are given to monologuing.
19. This tribe really want to hear about your god or gods and add them to their pantheon.
20. Members of this tribe are known as being insatiably curious.

Size

1. A Company.
2. A Regiment.
3. A Brigade.
4. A Division.

Relationship with the nearest power

(The nearest powers being: Punth, The Nirvanite Empire, the River Kingdoms of the South, the Eight Vales of Marikylo to the east, the Hydraulic Dwarves of the Dividing Mountains and - occasionally - the League of Civic Etiquette from across the sea).

1. The tribe fear and avoid the nearest power.
2. The tribe frequently raid the nearest power.
3. The tribe have been implacable foes of the nearest power for untold generations.
4. The tribe benefit from an unspoken understanding with the nearest power that preserves their lands as a buffer.
5. The tribe are maintain active and profitable relations with the nearest power.
6. The tribe are in a formal alliance with the nearest power.
7. The tribe are being employed as proxies by the nearest power for their own ends.
8. The tribe are being employed as proxies by the nearest power and actively wish to cease this arrangement.
9. The tribe are very eager to gain the protection and resources of the nearest power.
10. The tribe are attempting to draw the nearest power into conflict with their enemies, to maintain their own independence.

Assets

1. A series of concealed cisterns and watering-places.
2. A small stable of successfully tamed and broken Qryth beasts.
3. A number of interpreters who have a well-developed understanding of the speech and script of pre-Qryth Punth.
4. Control of a shady canyon that serves as a meeting-place and trade hub for Ka-Punth tribes.
5. More gold (or other portable wealth) than the tribe knows what to do with, and far more than anyone suspects.
6. A hidden, wondrously fertile valley.
7. Control of an entrance to ruins of the fallen tower.
8. Possession of an ancient Qryth device.
9. A major pilgrimage site (be it for another tribe, many other tribes or a regional power) lies in this tribe's territory.
10. A sect of talented healers and hedge-wizards bolster the tribes capabilities.
11. A group of some of the swiftest and most secret couriers in all Punth.
12. A surprisingly large and extensive library; the tribe's leadership probably know far more about the outside world than they are letting on.

Problems

1. There is broad, popular discontent among the many of the tribe.
2. There is discontent and conspiracy among the tribe's elite.
3. There is strong evidence of a witch among the tribe, cursing them and employing sorcery for their own selfish ends!
4. Disease ravages the tribe (if there are talented healers in the assets above, it's an especially potent plague).
5. Famine or drought ravage the tribe (again, if there is a wondrously fertile valley in the assets above, it is a very bad famine indeed!).
6. A deep-seated feud within the tribe has bubbled into new and fervid life.
7. Infiltration by a regional power or simply another tribe threatens one of the tribe's assets - or the tribe itself.
8. On account of war or depression or disaster, trade through this tribe's territory has slowed.
9. A key resource - arms, mounts, coin, salt, ritual cauldrons - is in dangerously short supply. 
10. There is a power vacuum at the head of this tribe, no obvious successor has yet stood up to direct it and no-one wants to take major decisions until they do.

***

Notes

• Some prompts for this also come from the Khanates and March of Empire tables for The Wicked City.
• As before, Punth has a lot of Near Eastern or Middle Eastern elements that can be whittled down by those using the Primer. This extends to the Ka-Punth. If you want to move away from the obvious Bedouin or Tuareg influences (or, indeed, Fremen - that is, Dagestani...), by all means do. Perhaps Bornu cavalry are an option. Or the Comanche.