THE GREATCITIES more WIP (PDF)

RUIN: The Greatcity
A Fate Core Module for 2-6 players by /u/PawnDreams and /u/Dicelobber

A few quick words, out of character, from the authors (NOTE TO REDDIT: This part needs a lot of work but won’t
get it until the rest is done )
This module wouldn’t have been possible without inspiration from a few places. First and foremost, a debt of
gratitude is owed in perpetuity to Chris, Del1, and Aaron of NPC Cast and their “Campaign Crucible” episodes.
Over and above what you’re about to read, both of us have crucible’ed other worlds as well. Secondly, thanks to the
amazing commentating community of Reddit.com’s /r/FateRPG page for generally being excellent pickers-apart of
what we’ve put together, and encouragers writ large.
Also, Pawndreams specifically wanted to thank Christopher Youd, better known as “John Christopher” for
his four amazing young adult Tripods books. If you don’t know them, they are absolutely worth looking into and, for
adults reading kiddie lit, are a super-quick read. Ruin: The Greatcity wears many of its influences directly on its
sleeve: the Tripods books, A Canticle for Leibowitz, etc.
THE INVOCATION:
The Elders stood before the tribe, on the ceremonial dais at the center of Huvunk. Mother Hualuvunk
addressed the gathering crowd. “Long before we were here, the Sires split the earth and took its metals to make their
dreams come true. They crafted skins to move along the ground, to swim the raging oceans, to fly and touch the
clouds. Their homes were the Greatcities. In the Greatcities are their ghosts. In the Greatcities is the Uetoo, the
living city.”
This beginning of their story was meant to focus the ear, to allow parents time to gather their young to their
space in the story circle, to allow any visitors to know the Huvunk’s roots. The elder turned to look at the giant fire
burning to her left. Its light was warm even as far as it was from her and her other Elders. Mother Hualuvunk
raised a hand, and all came to order. “The Sires were once in darkness and sought the fire of the gods, the fire that
never goes out. The Gods gave them this fire and The Sires then could see. The terror of the night was defeated by
its everburning and the Sires grew brave.
“The Sires used this fire in everything, in every day. They taught it to walk along their ropes. They
discovered how to take it with them,” the Elder gestured to the attendants at her left, who opened ornate boxes.
Inside, a dim golden thread glowed weakly, pinched between two metal clips. The second box showed other, weird
boxes and cylinders, metallic and dull. “The New Fire allowed the Old People to conquer the world.”
A gesture to her right, and the Elder continued. Weak light began to spill from the golden string into smooth
crystals around the dais. “But as the Sires fears receded, as their power over their world grew, they shunned the
Gods. They turned towards only war with each other. And they scarred the lands, they poisoned themselves. As
the Gods grew more distant to them, a final decision to allow the Sires to die came down and their gods abandoned
them.” The golden thread died, and with it the glow from the dais.
“But we know now that there cannot be life without the Gods. We live in the shadows of the Sires’
Greatcities, the standing reminder of the rot that comes when the Gods are forsaken. We, the proud and strong
Huvunk reject this disease and live in commune with the Gods here in our villages. Our sisters the Allou to the west
follow our example, as do our brothers the Jando to the east. We have learned the lessons of our life here from our
parents the Six Wise Owls to the north. And because of this, our lands have healed. You have brought life where
there was only ruin, and built upon the wastes of the Sires.” The crowd roared as the Elders ended this lesson and
began the festival.
Just outside the merriment, scouts from another tribe stood poised. The Greatcity was nearby, and en route?
A ripe village ready to be taken.

1

See, Del? Your “Say me Second” letter campaign worked!

THE WAYS OF THE TRIBES
Determining which of the tribes your group will be representing should be your first order of business.
Generally speaking the tribes nearby, in the lands of Nyash are called the Four Peoples and comprised of the
Huvunk, Allou, Six Wise Owls, and Jando. The Four Peoples acknowledge that the Greatcities are there, but are
wholly uninterested. They see the Ruin as simply that: massive monuments to failure and a stark reminder of
godless hubris. There is nothing there for these tribes: no wonders of the Sires that need rescuing, no magics to be
learned, etc. These peoples put their tribes and the greater good of the tribe first, quashing the childish wonder at
these ancient places.
However, outside the lands of the Four Peoples, and, as the story opens, largely unknown to the Four are the
Quxi. An odd collection of peoples, the Quxi began as learned folk who wanted to preserve the knowledge contained
in the Greatcities. Far from the closest of these ruins, they sent riders in all directions, finding the Sires’ remains
outside Nyash to be the most-likely to continue their studies of these vanished people. Despite this report, the scouts
died en route and were never found. Over time, the resources needed to complete this trek became more and more
sparse and fear of being lost like the original Nyash scouts had been became more pronounced. The Quxi nation split
into the more Ivory Tower Alegin and the decidedly rough-and-ready Norr. Neither can truly exist without the
other: the Norr regard the Alegin as soft, but necessary to pass on the knowledge of crops and law; the Alegin regard
their Norr relatives as the muscle needed to keep them safe in their laboratories and libraries, recreating the magic of
the ancient Sires.
THE FOUR PEOPLES
HC: The Tribe Above All
T: Near the Greatcity, but Unaware of Its Wonders
All members of the Four Peoples tribes may invoke the HC or
compel this trouble. Additionally, each may invoke their Tribal
aspect as below.
 SIX WISE OWLS: Slow and Careful Examiners
 HUVUNK: We have work to be doing
 ALLOU: There are many beasts to hunt.
 JANDO: We will protect you

THE QUXI NATION
HC: The Urge to Expand…
T: …Lacking the Focus to Do So
All members of the Quxi Nation may invoke the HC or compel
this trouble. Additionally, each may invoke their Tribal aspect
as below.
 ALLEGIN: The Readers of History
 NORR: The Takers and Fighters

NYASH
Considered by the learned Allegin to be the seat of many of the
Sires’ wonders, Nyash’s scale is positively staggering. Where
tribal life centers around what can be large villages, the six main
tribes in this module would be able to fit into merely a quarter of
Nyash’s span. Legends terrifying and entertaining surround this
place: it was a center of culture; the focus of the Sires’ hubris;
known and beloved by the entirety of the Sires races; the capital of
commerce and trade; a lonely city that siphoned your soul; a place
where the day never truly ended; home to learning…Nyash seems
to have been a place that represented all of humanity in one place.
Now its rotting structures moan and creak in the wind.
The thaws of spring yearly bring horrible crashing from inside the
city as another structure succumbs to the effects of time and
nature. Allou scouts report in the higher buildings, a society of
cats has flourished, hunting the skittering vermin to be found
aplenty in the understory. There are tales of fast-moving and
unnatural spirits in this place, even some who state that the city of
Nyash itself is alive and aware, with eyes always upon you.
Though it seems impossible to the Four Peoples, rumors of other
tribes living in the decay have persisted since the early days of the
Six Wise Owls’ settlements on the outland of Nyash.

NYASH: The Greatcity
HC: Massive and Labyrinthine
T: Unstable, Dangerous, and Unexplored
A: Buildings that Whisper
A: A Spirit Is Awake
A: Abandoned Only By Mankind