"Very Well Preserved"

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has offered their comments on my recent post about my House of Worms session reports. Ironically, given its subject matter, that post is now one of the most commented upon posts in recent months, disproving that readers of this blog are disinterested in commenting. If anything, I think, it suggests I need to up my own game by writing posts that better invite reader engagement. In any case, I encourage people to continue offering their thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms. I appreciate them all and hope to learn from them going forward.

To that end, I offer something light and, I hope, amusing from my House of Worms campaign. In a recent session, the player characters returned home to the Tsolyáni colony of Linyaró after an extended absence. Upon returning, one of the characters, Znayáshu, inquired after his wife, Tu'ásha, whom he had left behind to handle affairs of state in absence. (Znayáshu is the vice-governor for internal affairs in the colonial administration.)

What he discovered is that Tu'ásha was no longer in Linyaró, having journeyed in his absence to the Naqsái city-state of Pichánmush as an ambassador. Since the player characters had business in Pichánmush themselves, they assumed it'd be a simple matter to meet up with Tu'ásha there; such was not the case. Upon arrival in the city, they learned from a local government agent that Tu'ásha had been "detained," which is to say, taken prisoner. Naturally, this led to some pointed questions as to why and if she could now be released.

I'm not sure if I'd ever mentioned this before in any of my session reports, but Tu'ásha is undead. More specifically, she's a Shédra, an intelligent type of undead created by the temples of Hrü'ü, Ksárul, and especially Sárku. At the start of the campaign, all the way back in 2015, Znayáshu's player established said character was engaged but that his fiancée died as a result of too diligent practice of the rituals of the Brotherhood of the Amber Coiling (she had starved herself to death). Znayáshu had Tu'ásha's body carefully preserved after her death and intended to have her reanimated as a Shédra once he found someone who could do so. In the meantime, he kept her body in his private quarters at the House of Worms clanhouse in Sokátis.

Eventually, Znayáshu was able to secure the rite needed for Tu'ásha to begin her undead existence (though he did have to negotiate with her own clan for permission to do so). The temples of Sárku and Durritlámish, to which most members of the House of Worms clan belong, think nothing of the undead. In their beliefs, undeath is simply another stage of existence, one that preserves the most important parts of the self – the intellect and the body – so that they might better be able to witness the Coming Forth of Universal Diversification wrought by Lord Hrü'ü, the Supreme Principle of Change. Most other Tsolyáni are not quite so comfortable with the undead and, as a consequence, undead beings generally restrict themselves to the catacombs and underworlds of the empire.

Since Tu'ásha did not intend to confine herself to such darkened places, the decision was made that she would hide her undead status as best she could when traveling abroad. She covered her body as much as possible – unusual for the very hot world of Tékumel – and concealed her face behind a mask of jade. Only Znayáshu, her husband, regularly saw her in her true form. Most others simply believed her to be an eccentric, if frightening, woman in the employ of the governor of Linyaró.

The Naqsái of the Achgé Peninsula have a belief system unlike that of the Tsolyáni. In their worldview, Stability and Change are not separate things but instead two sides of the same coin, both of which are governed by Hánmu, the highest divine principle. As an undead being, the rulers of Pichánmush saw Tu'ásha as an abomination, an attempt to circumvent the natural order over which their god ruled. When she presented herself to them as Linyaró's ambassador, they took it as an affront. Fortunately for her, their longstanding diplomatic alliance with Linyaró stayed their hand; they did not destroy her but only imprisoned her.

When the player characters learned of this and asked for clarification, these facts were explained to them. Further, a local priest explained that Tu'ásha was "one of the soulless" and, therefore, anathema to the Naqsái. In further conversation, he referred to her as a "rotting shell," to which Chiyé, one the characters and a priest of Sárku himself, replied, "That's no way to talk about a man's wife." Znayáshu himself added, "I'll have you know, she's not rotting at all; she's very well preserved." In one of those moments that only makes sense if you were there, we all broke out into laughter. It was an unexpectedly funny release during a potentially tense moment in the session. It was also a good reminder of the kind of fun we regularly have in the campaign.