DMing Chemistry

 Inhabited by humans, bronze elves , and some even stranger creatures, the Southlands of Kheb is home to many tribes and small settlements. It lies to the south even from the lands of the reptilians , and ends at the slopes of the jungle mountains, that must surely demarcate the edge of the world itself.  While its inhabitants know not of bronze-working, the southern mountains are full of gold and precious stones, which they mine and trade for with the cattle-herders who live in the grasslands to the north of the mountains. These riches are then put on caravans and traded with the reptilians for bronze, wine, and other products of the industries of the reptilians. In order to facilitate this trade, the people of Kheb have recently finished a grand undertaking: the domestication of camels. While they are slower than horses, they can carry much more cargo, and they have much less trouble navigating the challenges of the deserts separating Kheb from the lands of the reptilians. W...

 There are three God-Spider sisters who weave the tapestry of fate in pale silk. Their names are Naru, Nefalla, and Niktar. One is responsible for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. One is the size of a coin, one is the height of a human, and one is so massive, her webs are wide enough to stand on. Nobody knows which one is which. They live in the deepest parts of the Underworld , away even from the other Underworld deities, who are usually more than happy to give them their space. Occasionally however, all sorts of creatures turn up at their doorstep looking for answers. This is rare, because only the truly desperate decide to brave the Underworld for such knowledge, but for those who are prepared to pay any price, no source of information can be more valuable. Despite their fearsome appearance, the three are quite nice, and are usually willing to entertain any guests for a bit. They will even serve tea, although they have an unnerving tendency to sound just li...

  Out of the many monsters that crawled up from the Underworld to take Enki , most were slain, and the survivors scattered across the face of the world. One of them, the great black serpent Nekerat, fled all the way to the deserts of the Reptilians , where she found her new home. While she mostly spends her time sleeping under the sand, she is sometimes unearthed by the winds, which wakes her and sends her on a hunt through the sands and oases. Her maw is great enough to swallow a cart whole, and she often devours entire caravans when she feels like it.  Whenever she feels truly hungry, she lunges after Hath-Ur  herself, and sometimes even catches her. However the violent flames of Hath-Ur burn her mouth fiercely, and she always ends up spitting her back out. This is the reason for some solar eclipses. When not sleeping, and after she has fed, she is, according to the priests of the desert tribes, quite reasonable, and willing to bargain. She is delighted by music, espec...

Throughout the known world, great empires require educated individuals to read, write, copy and otherwise take care of documents, letters, laws, and other forms of written texts. These people are generally referred to as scribes, even though simply copying text is not their only responsibility. Their exact duties vary from empire to empire, but they usually encompass dealing with logistics and other fields that require the use of mathematics as well. Training scribes is not easy or cheap, so usually the people who decide to become scribes come from already wealthy families. In some cultures, such as in the lands of the Reptilians , the position of a scribe is hereditary, and only the children of scribes may become scribes themselves. Scribes are usually trained in temples, and are often priests themselves or acolytes who ultimately failed to become priests. Most empires on the other hand maintain schools independent of the priesthoods as well, as demand for scribes often outpaces the a...

 Neker-ti are species of azhdarchid pterosaurs large enough to prey on humans. Unlike most flying creatures, Neker-ti are also adept burrowers, and will dig places to roost sometimes even into rock. They also like to take over natural caves, or the burrows made by ground sloths, tunnel beasts , giant aardvarks , or other large burrowing creatures. Their unusually flexible necks allow they to unleash a devastating barrage of quick jabs with their beak-like mouths, which in the cramped hallways of their burrows is almost impossible to dodge. Truly there are few opponents more terrifying than a Neker-ti which is defending its nest.  Neker-ti have one more strange capability, the ability to almost perfectly mimic sounds they hear. They use this during mating displays, but also to hunt. Many learn not just the calls made by large herbivores, but to mimic speech as well. It is not unusual for people who live in or near their territories to ignore any cry for help coming from inside ...

 Hashti-Namur has perhaps the most important job of any Underworld deities. He is the one keeping track of all people, when and how they should die, whether or not their soul was received into the Underworld on time, and home much time they still need to wander it, after their memories are gone, and their soul can safely be released. Thankfully Hashti-Namur works hard every day to keep the world functioning as it should. He keeps extensive records of all mortals and even of other deities, so when there is a disagreement between the gods, he is often asked as an impartial judge, or at least he is asked to allow the others to peer into his collection of tablets and scrolls, so they know what really happened. His chief power is that his left eye looks constantly at the past, while his right eye looks to the future. Unfortunately this leaves him blind to the present, which is why the first system of writing he developed was the cuneiform, so that he could feel the words on the tablet ...