TEXT: Cavaliers of Mars 
  City-States 
   
  Illium 
  High on the Radium Plateau rises many-spired Illium. Illium, city of learning and commerce… 
  and of war. Broad, well-paved streets thread their way throughout the city, and the nights are lit 
  by radium lamps. High white walls encircle the city, but do not rise as high as the towered homes 
  of the aristocracy. 
  Great machines pump water from the canal below the plateau, through a labyrinth of caves 
  whose layout is a closely guarded secret. The caves also hide Illium’s wondrous reclamation 
  systems, which allow the people of the city to live with an almost unheard-of abundance of 
  water. In Illium, there are fountains in every square, and baths in every neighborhood. The 
  University of Illium is widely considered the greatest remaining seat of learning on Mars. 
  Yet plentiful water is not the true wonder of Illium. That honor belongs to the magnificent sky 
  navy, a hundred ships buoyed by a mysterious anti-gravity element. The sky navy, docking at 
  Illium’s highest towers and spreading forth across all of Mars, gives Illium nearly unmatched 
  power in trade and war. Of the other city-states, only Illium’s rival Zodiac possesses the secret of 
  flight. 
  A term of two years’ service in the army or navy is compulsory for citizens of Illium. Slaves may 
  be emancipated in exchange for military service, but must serve until honorably discharged. 
  Such discharges are usually granted only for old age. 
  The dead are processed for their water, and then laid to rest in the upper cave complexes. The 
  mummies of Illium figure heavily in the scare-stories other Martians tell their children. 
  The Princess Invincible and her Council of Judgment rule Illium. The word of the Princess is 
  law, and disobedience is punishable by death in the Ray Chamber. The people of Illium believe 
  the Princess wise beyond measure… for if they thought otherwise, they might see that they live 
  and die at the whim of an all-powerful and unaccountable goddess. 
   
   
   
  
  Locations 
  The Fortress Invincible 
  The Fortress Invincible may be the most heavily-defended place on Mars. Here, in her shining 
  palace that reaches into the heavens, the Princess Invincible rules unequivocally. In the Moon 
  Chamber, her Council of Judgment decides the fates of citizens and the shape of the city’s future. 
  In the Ray Chamber, those who dare defy the Princess perish, disintegrated to ash in the searing 
  heat of a First Martian weapon of devastating power. From its pier atop the Fortress’ highest 
  spire, her own personal skyship — Horizon’s Terror — scatters these ashes on the wind over the 
  city as a reminder to all. In the Sun Chamber, the Princess mounts her silver throne and 
  dispenses wisdom to the people. When Illium goes to war, she draws her blade and takes to the 
  sky with her soldiers. The sight of her ship alone has been known to send hardened troops 
  scurrying to surrender. 
   
  Hooks 
  1. One of the characters turns out to look nearly identical to the Princess Invincible. They 
  receive a myriad of proposals and offers — everything from impersonating the Princess 
  for gain, to acting as her official body double at boring society functions, to posing with 
  noble children for portraits. 
  2. The characters are called in by the Council of Judgment, ordered to provide testimony for 
  a crime they are meant to have witnessed. The only problem is, they didn’t witness it. Is 
  this all a misunderstanding, or has someone embroiled them in a sticky situation on 
  purpose? 
  3. While attending the Princess in the Sun Chamber, the characters hear the plea of a family 
  that lives out on the Radium Plateau, asking for soldiers to protect their village from 
  roving bandits. The Princess refuses and sends them away, giving no reasons. 
  4. Someone the characters know is innocent is arrested and dragged to the Fortress, destined 
  for the Ray Chamber. Do they dare intervene, risking the same fate for themselves? Can 
  they gather enough evidence to convince the Council before the deed is done? 
  5. The characters receive an offer: go to the Sun Chamber and copy down what the Princess 
  says into a specific book, word for word, in exchange for payment. The offer is too 
  generous to be on the up-and-up, but the task seems so innocuous. What’s so important 
  about this book? Why hire strangers to do such a small thing? 
  6. While exploring elsewhere in the city, the characters come across a door that should lead 
  into a storeroom, but instead leads into the Fortress’ extensive cellars. What treasures 
  might such a place hold in store, if they can avoid getting caught? How did such a 
  passage come to be? 
   
   
  
  Characters 
  1. Captain Kromis, Red Martian second-in-command of Horizon’s Terror (Decorated 
  Soldier X, Right Hand of Justice X, Ships Are Better than People X; Trouble: Criminal 
  Past) 
  2. Vestai of Black Sand, Red Martian noble seeking the Princess’ favor (Irresistible Good 
  Looks X, Victory Is Worth Any Price X, Fancy Footwork X; Trouble: Glory Hound) 
  3. Sebaste the August, Red Martian member of the Council of Judgment (Brood of Many 
  Scions X, Weighty Words X, Smells a Rat X; Trouble: Hard of Hearing) 
  4. Trif, Red Martian Sun Chamber petitioner (Impetuous Entrepreneur X, If Wishes Were 
  Horses X, Lights Up the Room X; Trouble: Empty Purse) 
  5. Dinni, Skarrut Ray Chamber guard (Pole Sling Master X, Heart of Stone X, Eyes of Steel 
  X; Vitality X; Trouble: Gambling Habit) 
  6. Rhes, Red Martian Moon Chamber messenger (Swift Feet X, Sixth Child of a Noble 
  House X, Fly on the Wall X; Trouble: Sibling Rivalry) 
   
  Hazards 
  1. When the Ray Chamber would create a martyr or grant too quick a demise, the Princess 
  Invincible challenges the criminal to a duel to the death. No one has ever defeated her. 
  2. The Sun Chamber is a battlefield of words, where each question posed is an army’s 
  advance and each careful greeting a tactical maneuver. 
  3. Drunken beastmasters boast of a vicious, many-fanged beast with wings of enormous 
  span that lives beneath the Fortress, kept by the Princess as a last resort against invasion 
  or siege. (Aerial Mobility X, Toothy Maw X, Doesn’t Take Orders X) 
  4. Servants at the Fortress murmur that those who wander where they shouldn’t come under 
  a curse of confusion, doomed to forget everything they knew. 
  5. Anyone who tries to stow away on Horizon’s Terror must contend with the ship’s 
  tenacious and loyal crew. 
  6. The wide plaza stretching out before the Fortress gates is prime real estate for traders 
  hawking souvenirs and street fare with booming voices and tantalizing deals. Beware, all 
  who planned to leave with any coin. 
   
  Sky Navy Port 
  The Pride of Illium, the Moonrise Fleet, the Living Storm — all of Mars knows the city’s 
  majestic sky navy by these names, and many others besides. Its twin flagships, Scythe of Phobos 
  and Lance of Deimos, cut distinctive and awe-inspiring figures against the sky. When the armada 
  comes home to roost, its ships dock atop the gleaming spires of Sky Navy Port, a vast forest of 
  towers, radium beacons, and barracks. Its shipyard is guarded fiercely day and night, protected 
  by a high barricade and restricted to only the most trusted personnel. The fixers and builders who 
  work on the sky navy’s ships are celebrities, and always travel with assigned bodyguards lest 
  
  their secrets fall into foreign hands. The navy’s highest ranks are reserved for those of 
  aristocratic blood, and feuds break out over promotions and medals given to rivals. 
   
  Hooks 
  1. By chance, the characters stumble upon a well-hidden group of dissidents among the 
  navy’s ranks who have grown disillusioned with the Princess Invincible’s omnipotent 
  wisdom, and plan to enlist like-minded souls to overthrow her. 
  2. The navy recruits volunteers for a mission to take down infamous sky pirate and Illium 
  deserter Cosmalia Crimson. Once the characters join up, they realize that details of the 
  plan don’t fit together quite right. Why would the navy need volunteers to hunt pirates? 
  What’s really going on? 
  3. An admiral gives a rousing speech and the characters are part of a massive crowd 
  assembled to hear it. As they listen, they notice that the admiral speaks oddly, as though 
  hidden between the lines might be an encoded message. Can they decipher it? 
  4. Reports of an approaching invasion force reaches the navy, and they mobilize for war. 
  Citizens are expected to participate, and many are rounded up for emergency training at 
  the port — including at least one of the characters. 
  5. A prisoner from Illium’s last battle, kept for interrogation, escapes. The soldiers patrol 
  the city relentlessly looking for the escapee, who approaches the characters and begs for 
  help. 
  6. The sky navy holds an auction for a newly-retired ship. While attending, the characters 
  discover that a merchant consortium has rigged the outcome in its favor and intends to 
  sell the ship’s technology to a foreign broker without the Princess’ permission…for an 
  awful lot of money. 
   
  Characters 
  1. Novian, Red Martian illegitimate child of nobility (Hardworking Young Soldier X, 
  Standard Issue Blade X, I Will Win a Title X; Trouble: Seeks Acceptance) 
  2. Volca (aka Qaysa), Red Martian Zodiac spy and navy infiltrator (Hoarder of Secrets X, 
  Friend to Birds X, Crack Shot X; Trouble: Hidden Identity) 
  3. Vestai of a Thousand Lights, Red Martian naval astrologer (Enigmatic Horoscope Reader 
  X, Always on Course X, Night Owl X; Trouble: Incorrigible Dreamer) 
  4. Marchai of the Valiant Horn, Red Martian admiral (Survived Ten Feuds X, Voice of 
  Command X, Mentor to All X; Trouble: Secret Fatal Illness) 
  5. Kaesii, Red Martian naval shipwright (Anti-Gravity Expert X, Bon Vivant X, Flock of 
  Admirers X; Trouble: Common-Blooded Narcissist) 
  6. Kismet, Red Martian soldier and ex-slave (Hears Everything X, Daring Maneuvers X, 
  Born in a Far-Off Land X; Trouble: Wants Freedom and Peace) 
   
  
  Hazards 
  1. An accident at the shipyard causes the gravity in this whole area of the city to fluctuate 
  out of control. 
  2. One of the anti-gravity platforms that transports passengers up and down the tall towers 
  malfunctions, leaving the characters stranded high above the ground. 
  3. The sky navy has adopted the Princess’ dueling traditions but (usually) stops short of 
  death. Insulting a naval officer, even by accident, is grounds for a challenge. 
  4. Reports say a disturbingly large amount of photonic sand has been stolen from the 
  armory. Whoever stole it could strike at any time. 
  5. An enthusiastic shipwright asks the characters to help test an experimental weapon, but 
  most of the kinks have yet to be worked out. 
  6. A damaged ship on its way back to port is about to crash — right into the square where 
  the characters happen to be, along with dozens of others. 
  7.  
  University of Illium 
  Would-be students travel from all over Mars to the sprawling University of Illium, where if they 
  prove themselves well enough (or they know the right people) they can study with venerated 
  scholars of all fields: science, astrology, history, language, music, and even the secrets of the 
  adepts. A complex, towering fountain with many levels and radium lights twinkling from within 
  its waters graces the inner plaza. The central spire stands like an anchor around which the rest of 
  the campus radiates in areologically-significant patterns, with lofty sky bridges connecting the 
  structures. The spire was originally all there was to the university, one of the first buildings of 
  Illium. Over time, it expanded to embrace the many Martians flocking to its learned halls. Today, 
  it’s one of the few places where one might see a Roundhead and a Pale Martian sitting side by 
  side — even if it’s only to see who can impress the Master more. 
   
  Hooks 
  1. The university clock tower has run continuously since the founding of the city ages ago, 
  chiming the hours in perfect synchronization with the world’s turning. Now it’s stopped. 
  No one knows why, but everyone knows that if it doesn’t chime the swiftly-approaching 
  hour, something terrible will happen. 
  2. The abandoned tower on the west side of campus is boarded up day and night, said to be 
  the site of monstrous crimes in the distant past. It’s been empty as long as anyone can 
  remember — but the characters could swear they saw someone peering down at them 
  from the topmost window. 
  3. The university is holding a city-wide competition for musicians of all kinds to prove their 
  performing prowess. The winner is granted a significant sum of money — and perhaps 
  more importantly, a personal audience with the Princess Invincible herself. 
  4. A group of advanced students claims to have discovered, through data collected and 
  analyzed over time, an ancient storm still writhing and thundering, raining water into a 
  
  faraway canyon on the other side of the Radium Plateau. They need someone to visit the 
  place to confirm their findings, and bring back samples. 
  5. The university guards catch an assassin trying to kill one of Illium’s most renowned 
  Masters. As the characters witness the arrest, or perhaps the intended punishment, one of 
  them sees that the assassin is someone from their past. 
  6. Only the top performers in each scholarly field win invitations to the Floating Study, an 
  anti-gravity pavilion that takes students into the sky and away from the city. What they 
  learn there remains a mystery, but some intrepid busybodies have dared everyone they 
  know to sneak in and find out. 
   
  Characters 
  1. Flint, Red Martian university servant (Reformed Thief X, Entrance Exam Junkie X, 
  Cheating Is Wrong X; Trouble: Not Very Bright) 
  2. Master Lipita, Roundhead scholar of antiquities (Undisputed Cydonian Expert X, 
  Valuable Pottery Collection X, Polyglot X; Trouble: Despises Students and Strangers) 
  3. Headmaster Marchai of Nebulae, Red Martian university leader (Pleasantly Cunning X, 
  Master of Commerce X, Let’s Make a Deal X; Trouble: Overprotective Parent) 
  4. Rubica, Red Martian university student (Library Addict X, Secret Stash of Relics X, 
  Problem Solver Xl Trouble: Two Left Feet) 
  5. Rezzan, Pale Martian university student (Knows Sacrifices to Every God X, Fits in 
  Everywhere X, High Fashion X; Trouble: Tempted by Corruption) 
  6. Theonin, Red Martian university student (Child of a Vestai X, Money Enough for 
  Anything X, Tall but Meek X;  Trouble: Disastrously Untalented Adept) 
   
  Hazards 
  1. Two rival Masters recruit volunteers for their research, performing increasingly strange 
  and unsettling experiments. Eventually, they turn dangerous. 
  2. Hordes of large rodents called radium rats haunt the university’s alleys. Their eyes glow a 
  dull crimson, their teeth are sharp, and they spread a radiation sickness. 
  3. Students notice a bizarre shift in behavior and habits in their favorite Master, and they 
  suspect he’s been replaced by someone — or something — else. 
  4. The university claims to have one library, but in fact it has two. The second is sealed and 
  hidden away, a prison that holds a powerful and dangerous adept. 
  5. Everyone loves the new Master. Even people who just yesterday expressed the opposite. 
  Soon, the few people on campus who don’t love the new Master know something’s 
  wrong. 
  6. A student from Zodiac enrolls with the Headmaster’s blessing. The Illium natives don’t 
  trust or care for this turn of events, and soon things get ugly. 
   
  
  Plateau Caves 
  Beneath the city, another world stretches its fingers deep into the earth. Far from the clash of 
  blades and chatter of markets is a subtler noise: the distant, muted rush of water gilding the 
  silence of the tomb. Catacombs line the upper cave system for miles, where the husk-dry 
  mummified corpses of Illium’s dead are interred after their water is removed and returned to the 
  reclamation systems for processing. Those with money or prestige enough are buried in ornate 
  caskets with the weapons they wielded in life, while others are simply lined up in plain stone 
  boxes or even wrapped only in oilcloths, if stone is too rich for their family’s blood. Deeper still 
  than Illium’s necropolis runs the elaborate network of pipes, pumps, and reclamation machines 
  that connect the canal below to the city above and transform the fluids of the dead into clean, 
  usable water. A spare few know how to navigate these caves, and even fewer know how to 
  operate the machines. 
   
  Hooks 
  1. Somewhere inside the catacombs is a door that only seldom exists. Its surface is carved 
  with unrecognizable runes and it vanishes unpredictably, only to return with equal 
  capriciousness. Where does it lead? When it’s gone, where does it go? And what happens 
  if someone is inside when it disappears? 
  2. A trader from Vance persuades the characters to make their way down into the caves and 
  study one of the reclamation machines. She calls it a “cultural exchange” and promises 
  they’ll be rewarded handsomely for a thorough report. 
  3. The characters purchase a rare and extravagant weapon, only to discover that the 
  salesman was a fence pawning off stolen grave goods from the tomb of an influential 
  Illian family. The family is well-known for its sorcerous ties and the characters soon 
  realize that the weapon is cursed. 
   
  Characters 
  1. Mystras, Red Martian catacomb tour guide (Illium History Buff X, Unafraid of the Dark 
  X, Trusty Dagger X; Trouble: Morbid Curiosity) 
  2. Kaniklai of Three Circles, Red Martian adept (Deadspeaker X, Renowned Mystic X, 
  Loyal Pet Eora X; Trouble: Blind) 
  3. Oea, Red Martian reclamation system engineer (Clever and Resourceful X, Down to 
  Mars X, Tough and Muscular X; Trouble: Blunt Speech) 
   
   
   
  
  Hazards 
  1. One area of the cave system doesn’t function within the normal three spatial dimensions. 
  Tunnels don’t lead where they should, and objects (or people) tossed down a hole fall 
  back down from above. 
  2. In the dark of the catacombs, people have been known to vanish without a trace, and 
  some others say they hear the footsteps of the walking dead just like in the children’s 
  tales. 
  3. It’s easy to get lost under the city without a map, and maps are notoriously difficult to 
  come by. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/_GM Books/Bestiaries/Cavaliers_of_Mars_City_States_Illium.pdf