MAP of KOS (part 1)

LOWDER

Animal, Unintelligent
Omnivore
Found: Everywhere - primarily Caves, Forests
Common Name: LOWDER
Academic Name: BATHO-NOMOUS
Large, vibrantly blue pill-bug-like creature, the size of a toddler (~2 feet long, ~35-40 pounds).  Moves mindlessly in search of small prey and forage.  LOWDERS pack a powerful magic attack that wallops enemies using concentrated sound projected from their thorax.  The sound is deafening and the vibrations sufficiently powerful to cause blunt trauma.  LOWDERS are not aggressive towards humans or other large creatures, but will attack if threatened.  Their carapaces and innards glow brightly in darkness.
AC: 10
HP: 5
Attack: Wallop +0
1d6+1 (Attacks the legs of a normal-sized standing human; optionally: struck creatures may stumble, fall or damage knees/shins/ankle. Generates loud noise.  30% chance of causing deafness)
Deafness duration, 1d6:
1-2. 1d4 turns
3-4. 1d4 minutes
5-6. 1d4 hours
Bio-Luminescence: brightness of a candle.
+8 climb.  Can cling to ceilings and walls.

No. Appearing:
1d6 small swarm
10d3 colony

PEOPLE of KOS

[WARNING: BORING, INDULGENT WORLD-BUILDING POST]

[FEEL FREE TO SKIP]

KOS

People from Kos tend to have dark hair and light eyes.  This trait is most typified in the people of Northern Kos, who tend to be tall, pale-skinned and have very dark hair.  People from Eastern Kos tend to be shorter and darker-skinned, often with brown hair, sometimes with orange hair.  People from Western Kos often have brown hair.  People from Southern Kos tend to be slender, darker-skinned and dark-haired.  The people of South-Eastern Kos are accounted most beautiful, and the people of South-Western Kos are known to create music of incomparable emotion and artistry.  Of course, these are all generalizations, and people of any size and complexion may be found anywhere.
This is the default assumption for Player Characters.
People from Kos cannot survive for long in the Mountain Country.  Something poisons them and causes them to die.
Sometimes, Men of Kos will travel to the Mountain Country when they feel their time has come to die.  They are accorded great honor.


MOUNTAIN-TRIBES
The Mountain-Tribes dwell in the Mountain Country, East of Kos.  They were mostly unaffected by the Cataclysm.  They are hunter-gatherers, noted for their climbing ability.  They trade with the People of Kos (whom they call the River People), and sometimes descend from the East to adventure.  People of the Mountain-Tribes tend to most resemble humans from our world.  They can be any skin coloration, but many have dusty-brown hair and eyes.   Many are tall, but some are also short.  The only main characterization is that they tend to be physically fit - very few Mountain-Folk are fat.

BARBARIANS
Barbarians, or Par-axians, come from Barbarian Par-Axe.  The people of Par-Axe are nomadic herdsmen. Their appearance varies based on which nomadic tribe they come from.  The default assumption is the Dog Tribe, who tend to be of average size, with a medium complexion, bronze hair and an unfortunate predilection towards insanity.
Barbarians worship different Gods than Kossites and may have strange customs.  They tend to have natural  affinity with animals.  Impala People are very short, have very dark skin and very little hair.  Llama People are tall, have medium complexions, dark hair and large noses.  Bison People have dark complexions and very dark or blonde hair.  The Sable People have black hair and tend to be tall, with ruddy or pale skin.  These are just some examples.

HOLY COUNTRIES
About the People of the Holy Countries, nothing is known.  It is said they swathe themselves entirely in shining gems, fabulous silk and pearls of the richest luster, so that it is impossible to see their features.  Other fables are even stranger.  The TRADER JON MITH might know more.

When I ran this segment...

When I ran this segment (KOHLE, the GRAY MAN of the WEST), there were three PCs:
RODERICK, a pathfinder and outdoorsman human from Kos's distant past.  Skilled with spear and sword.
RICKERT, a rodent-man and peddler.  His pockets were numerous and his skill with the spear passable.
SALDER the OX, a huge, strong and very stupid human from Pilgrim's Passing.  He preferred a giant club.

Here's what happened:
Rickert easily crept up on the inattentive Alligator-Man sentry and slaughtered him.  The group crept around the outside of the House, and Roderick climbed up onto the roof.  Using tufts of long grass handed up to him by Rickert, and with the help of some alchemical torches purchased from PIKU in town, he lit a fire atop the roof, and then leapt down.  The trio attempted to hold the exterior door closed in an attempt to burn everybody inside alive.  Screeching and howling gave hints to the pandemonium taking place within amongst the Mauristatia.
Unfortunately, fire burns upwards, so the trade house was mostly only filled with smoke.  KOHLE and the remaining Alligator-Man attempted to force the door open.  When that failed (due to the combined strength of the PCs), they took out their weapons and hacked it down in only a couple of turns.
The trio of PCs formed a semi-circle around the door, and managed to get the drop on the smoke-blinded bandit-gang in the initiative roll.  The Alligator-Man quickly went down to a spear-thrust from Roderick and a skull-crushing blow from Salder's club; Rickert tried to jab KOHLE but his spear slid right off the man's strange skin.
As the maddened Mauristatia attempted to break down the interior door trapping them in the smoke-filled Trade House, KOHLE lashed out with Tulwar and slashed Salder across the chest, doing some damage but failing to put him to sleep.  The trio and the bandit traded blows - Roderick and Rickert gored him with their spears, and KOHLE continued to attack Salder but was unable to connect.  Salder's swings were likewise parried as the two giants went toe-to-toe.
The next round saw KOHLE go down to two well-aimed spear-thrusts by Roderick and Rickert, just as the Mauristatia succeeded in breaking down the interior door and swarmed out into the entrance hallway.
Rickert and Roderick formed a shield-wall in the doorway and set their spears to receive a charge, while Salder stepped back to light some more alchemical torches, hoping the beasts would be afraid of fire.
Rickert sliced open the humped back of one creature with a spear-thrust.  Roderick skewered another beast through the neck, but his weapon became lodged in the creature and this provided a third Mauristat the opportunity to seize the man's arm and bite into it like a leg of turkey.  Meanwhile, Salder, slow and clumsy even under the best of circumstances, failed to get the torches lit.
Roderick bashed the creature gnawing at his arm with his shield, dealing good damage and forcing it to let go in a spew of broken teeth and blood.  Salder finally managed to light the three torches, and Rickert dropped his spear and was handed one.  Roderick left his spear embedded in the thrashing corpse of the Mauristat and drew his sword, his arm bleeding badly but still functional.  Salder hurled the last torch at the horde of the Mauristatia, hoping to scare them, but it had little effect.
The trio elected to execute a fighting retreat - Rickert brandishing his torch, Salder wielding a torch in one hand and club in the other, and Roderick bringing up the rear.  They headed for the River Kos, assuming that the holy waters would prove an effective barrier to the Mauristatia.  With the entrance clear, the Mauristatia quickly flooded out into the countryside - only a few following the wounded heroes, including the several that had been wounded by the party members.  The one that Roderick had smashed in the face charged the group, blood streaming from its nostrils and cracked fangs, but Roderick hacked it to the ground with several savage sword-strokes.

Now began a running battle through the wheat-fields outlying the River Kos, as the party struggled over rough terrain to reach the water, and an unknown number of Mauristatia trailed them.  The party lit several backfires with their torches in an attempt to scare the Mauristatia off; nonetheless, it proved only partly effective and Roderick was scratched and bitten when shrieking lion-rat-ape-wolf monsters lunged out of the wheat and roiling smoke at him.  A few minutes later, another Mauristatia leapt onto Riderick's back, and severely wounded him by a bite to the neck.  Salder attacked it, hoping not to hit his friend in the tumult.  He scored a critical hit, and sent the monster flying through the air, broken and lifeless, before landing with a thud somewhere out of sight.
Finally, after a tortuous 20 or 30 minutes of hit-and-run combat and grueling  physical exertion, the party emerged on the banks of Kos and waded into the water up to their necks.  This measure proved effective - the Mauristatia seemed unwilling to venture into the river, and after some desultory screeching and hurling of stones, they disappeared into the wheat.
The party could hear the beasts howling up and down the countryside, sometimes nearer and sometimes farther.  They began to get cold, and with Rickert in seriously poor condition, decided to make a run for the Old Trade House, where they could fortify their position and care for their wounds.  They took off into the wheat fields, and (luckily) encountered no Mauristatia, although they heard their howls and shrieks all around.  They quickly looted the bodies of KOHLE and his Alligator-Henchman, discovering the key to the iron chest, and taking the sword Tulwar.
They discovered that the roof had caved in during their absence, and quickly set about barricading the structure with pieces of wreckage.  Roderick dragged KOHLE's corpse inside  for reasons that would later become apparent.
They elected to hole up in ROOM 4 and barricade the door.  Using some still-flaming remnants of the ceiling, they heated a knife and cauterized their wounds to prevent infection - all except Rickert, who was teetering on death's door and was deemed too weak to withstand cauterization without the possibility of going into shock.  They dressed their injuries in the cleanest cloth they had, then Roderick left the room to enact his plan.
Fearing a trap in the iron chest, he tied the key into KOHLE's rapidly stiffening hand, then used the corpse's arm to open the lock.  The trap sprang and pricked the hand of its' deceased designer, doing nothing.  Roderick collected the loot and retreated to ROOM 4, where the team licked their wounds until morning.

Salder found that he had learned something about using clubs, and Rickert and Roderick also learned how to use spears a little better.  In addition, Roderick gained ability with swords.  Salder also learned to keep a cooler head under pressure, and so gained +1 to Fieldcraft.
Amazingly, none of them suffered from the hallucinogenic effects of Mauristatia saliva!

KOHLE, the GRAY MAN of the WEST

KOHLE is the leader of a small group of monster-folk bandits who inhabit the OLD TRADE HOUSE, which is about one day's travel North of PILGRIM'S PASSING.  He is a giant human or human-like creature with strange powers, and it is rumored he comes from the Holy Countries.  He is feared for his tremendous strength and ability to control a horde of MAURISTATIA.
KOHLE is roughly nine feet tall, and massively muscular.  His skin is a steely-gray color.  He is not easily wounded, and even when cut, he bleeds only a tiny amount of pearl-colored fluid.
Though his exact nature remains a mystery, it is known that he has some method of controlling MAURISTATIA, and uses them to raid caravans.  When a merchant-train passes along the GREAT NORTH ROAD outside his TRADE-HOUSE, he unleashes the Mauristatia to create mayhem and panic.  In the wake of carnage, he and his small band of elite monsterfolk raiders purloin valuables and slaughter any resistance.  Through this method, he has struck fear into the hearts of traders and is slowly but surely isolating PILGRIM'S PASSING from trade.  Fortunately for the inhabitants of the Passing, he seems content to merely waylay passer-by, and has not launched any attacks on the town (perhaps believing the rewards to be beneath his regard).  Nonetheless, his stranglehold over the GREAT ROAD has lead SHERIFF DRONLAN-THREE SWORDS to place a bounty of 35 Gold Wheels on the gray man's giant head.

one square = 5 ft.

The Trade-House is a solid, square building built from gray brick and covered in plaster.  It has weathered the years well, except for some crumbling in the exterior walls.  The ceiling is flat and made of wooden boards.

1. This entry hall is the first bastion of defense.  The exterior doors face out on the NORTH ROAD.  They are of solid, oak construction, reinforced with cross-bucks and iron rivets and attached by old, rusty hinges.  Because they open outwards, they are very difficult to force inwards and are easily barred from the inside.

2. This room is where KOHLE and his two ALLIGATOR-MAN cohorts reside.  The doors are of solid oak construction.  The one that leads to ROOM 3 is normally kept barred and barricaded, to prevent entry from the MAURISTATIA into this room.  The two Alligator-Men are brothers, and prefer to sleep on a nest-like pile of straw, broken wood, branches and old cloth in a corner of the room.  KOHLE sleeps on a massive cot, piled with a mixture of silks and furs, all pilfered from passing caravans.  Near his cot is an iron chest, filled with the ill-gotten gains of the bandit gang.  The chest is locked, and KOHLE wears the key around his neck.  Opening the chest without pressing down on the lid at the same time will cause a needle tipped with poison to spring out from above the lock, pricking the hand of the victim and forcing them to Save vs Poison or else be dealt crippling agony in the form of 1d10+1d6 damage.  Inside are 600 Silver Moons, and an okenite goblet worth 200 Moons, .  KOHLE and the Alligator-Brothers will normally be found here, unless out gathering food, raiding caravans, or attending to other miscellaneous business.

ALLIGATOR-MEN

They are swathed in ragged cloaks and a mixture of hides, leather, chain and layers of cloth.  They wield a cleaver-like weapon with a long haft for two-handed use.

AC 14

HP 11, 14

Attacks: Cleaver +2

1d8+3 damage, +10% chance of infection from dirty blade

3. This large room is where KOHLE keeps the Mauristatia confined when they are not hunting and he has no use for them.  The doors open inwards, and are barred by KOHLE and his Alligator-Man cronies when the Mauristatia are inside.  They are of similar construction to the main entry doors, and very difficult to force. There is an uberous quantity of Mauristatia waste in the room (dung, gnawed bones, loose fur) but nothing of value.  Unless KOHLE has released them, the pack of Mauristatia will be found here.  There are 12 of them, and they will be frantically eager to escape and eat anything in their path under most circumstances.
Mauristat
AC 10
HP 12
Attacks: Bite +2
Damage: 1d6+1, 10% chance of causing hallucinations, +10% chance of infection

4. This room is where KOHLE stores more bulky items that he and the Alligator-Men have little use for.  They can only access this room when Mauristatia are out hunting.
The door is of similar construction to the ones in ROOM 3.
Contents:
150 pounds of dried Carnivorous Goat meat.  KOHLE and his Alligator-Men have been subsisting off this for some time.  The gnawed-on nature of these jerkies render them worth about 20 Lunars for the whole load.
80 pounds of hides - mostly Fanged Impala and Great Llamas, but one Leopard skin worth 10 Gold Wheels by itself.  The remainder is worth 90 Lunars.
2 large rugs from Southwest Kos or possibly the Holy Countries, worth 10 Wheels each.  Each weighs about 50 pounds.
40 pounds of iron ore, worth 80 Lunars
A 40-pound basket mostly filled with catlinite finished goods - cups, bowls, jugs, etc.  Worth perhaps 50 - 60 lunars.  Most valuable are several limestone idols of the major gods, tucked in protective cloth wrappings, worth about 10 lunars each or more.




KOHLE
He wields a massive, shining sword.  He clads himself in leather armor along with a strange turban bearing a blue beryl gem in the center.
AC: 16
HP: 21
Attacks: Tulwar +3
1d8+4, 10% of causing victim to faint for 1d8 turns

TULWAR is a magic sword, with a white blade of tirulium that is feared for its ability to make enemies faint.  KOHLE believes he is invincible so long as he holds it.

KOHLE'S other most prized possession is his TURBAN of MAURISTATIA CONTROL.  The wearer of this magical turban can force up to 12 Mauristatia to obey orders, at the cost of one Spell Point per command.  Commands must be fairly simple - "come here calmly"; "attack those men"; etc.  A character with no Spell Points will be unable to use this item.  KOHLE uses it twice per day - when the sun sets, he orders the Mauristatia to "be calm and go outside to hunt", then unbars the doors and allows them to file mindlessly past.  At daybreak, he uses it again to order them to "be calm and come back inside the Trade House", then waits until they have all filed into ROOM 3 and bars the doors.  The rest of the time, he meditates and rests to regain his Spell Points.  When a caravan or travelers come by, he orders the Mauristatia to attack them and unbars the doors.  When the attack is over, he orders them back inside.

KOHLE has 4 Spell Points, but knows no spells.
Were the Mauristatia ever to break free from their confinement, they would happily attack KOHLE and his Alligator-Men, given the opportunity.

KOHLE'S TACTICS
KOHLE is over-confident and feels he has nothing to fear from attackers.  He usually posts one of the Alligator-Men somewhere along the road, to watch for caravans.  The Alligator-Men are not particularly attentive and have +0 to Notice.
If KOHLE is alerted to the presence of a small group, he will not immediately bother to use the Magic Turban but will instead charge into combat, followed by the Alligator-Men.  Only if things turn against him will he release the Mauristatia, using them as cannon-fodder.  If he is killed and the Turban does not find a new owner, the Mauristatia will roam freely over the countryside and will probably have little interest in continuing any ongoing battle unless sufficiently enraged.

SLITHE

Bleed-Through from Between-Worlds (low level)

Common Name: SLITHE

Academic Name: PHLOGISTON

SLITHES are a substance or creature from the Gap Between that has assumed a semi-corporeal existence in the material world.  They are believed to be a very basic manifestation of that realm, or perhaps part of the realm itself.  Like all Bleed-Throughs, they are antithetical to all physical matter; in the case of SLITHES, they "eat" it away by touch.  In the material realm, their state seems to act something like a liquid, which will move downhill unless otherwise arrested.  Thus, they are often found in pits or water sources.  They are drawn to organic creatures, and will move towards them.  They eat away all materials, but more solid, dense material seems to take longer to dissolve.  They can lie on stone, for example, for years without significantly damaging it.  Water also seems mostly insoluble with their nature.  Substances dissolved by a SLITHE will break down in fractal patterns as the component molecules cease to exist.  A creature wounded by a SLITHE will not suffer burning or abrasion; the portion that touched the SLITHE will simply cease to exist, revealing a perfect cross-section of veins, muscle-fiber, fatty tissues, bone, etc.  They are nearly invisible on land, and appear only as a blurry, mostly transparent smear of dark gelatin.  In water, they are visible by the water that they displace.  They can also be detected by the smell of ozone that accompanies them.  They are plainly visible as faintly glowing, amorphic plasmic shapes to those with Witchsight.  They cannot be harmed by physical means - any weapon used to attack them will pass right through and be eaten away.  Only magic can harm them, or abjuration by a cleric.  They're totally amorphous, but occupy a volume roughly equal to 2 or 3 gallons of water.

HP: 5

AC: None (Magic Missiles and such will automatically hit)

Creatures being attacked by a SLITHE must make a Skill save to avoid touching it.  The first time it touches the creature, it will dissolve whatever armor they wear.  The second time and each time thereafter, it will deal 4d4 damage.

No. Appearing: Solitary, or 1d3

Every once in a while, a huge congregation of 10d12 will be found oozing across the landscape (very rare)

FROG-DOG

Animal, Semi-Sapient
Carnivore
Found In: Forest, Wasteland, Mountains, Caves, Swamp
Common Name: FROG-DOG, CAVE-TOAD
Academic Name: BUBO

FROG-DOGS are voracious predators.  They have a tendency to swallow whole and think later.  Despite this, some of them are actually alarmingly intelligent, and capable of setting up ambushes and coordinating group attacks.  It is unknown if they have any societal structure or culture to speak of.  They have extremely strong jaws.  They mostly subsist on lizards, giant insects, and small mammals, but will readily go after larger prey.
FROG-DOGS do not mate as normal animals do.  They are born from eggs lain by FROG-DOG QUEENS, which are enormous and corpulent.  Not all FROG-DOG colonies have a queen, but all large ones will.  FROG-DOGS will fight to the death to protect their queen, whereas otherwise they are inclined to withdraw when severely wounded.
FROG-DOGS who have been "spayed" by having their spear-tongues and fangs removed are sometimes kept as pets.
They're the size of a very fat and oddly shaped large dog (~3 - 4 feet long, ~60-75 pounds, with some large specimens growing up to 6 feet and well over 100 pounds)
HP: 11
AC: 13
Attack: Spear-Tongue +1(10 foot range) or Bite +2
Spear-Tongue 1d6+1, Bite 1d10+2

Special
BUBOES have an 8-foot tongue coiled within their cavernous mouths, which is tipped with a barbed piece of cartilage.  They can extend this to attack foes, and if it hits, they can pull the foe towards their mouth, Scorpion-"Get-Over-Here"-style.  The target must make a Violence Power check at -3 or be dragged 5 feet closer to the FROG-DOG each turn.  The tongue can be severed to break the character free; it has an AC of 15 and 1 HP.  If the tongue is severed, obviously that toad can make no more attacks with it.
BUBOES are naturally camouflaged and receive +4 to hide when lurking amongst rocks or in underbrush.
BUBOES have sticky-padded "hands".  +8 climb, can cling to ceilings and walls with ease.


No. Appearing:
Small colony - 1d4
Medium colony - 1d8, 15% chance of QUEEN
Large colony - 2d10 + QUEEN