Page 101 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

The most common slaves are umber hulks. An adult neogi The neogi are like the waterwheel that draws work and energy

is never seen outside its stronghold without at least one umber (profit) from the water without interrupting its flow.
hulk slave in tow. Most of the time, the neogi is carried in a This appears to be a pretty philosophy, but it is typical, self-
special sling high on the umber hulk’s shoulders. serving neogi claptrap. The neogi are predators, not benign
Neogi breed their own umber hulk slaves, rather than facilitators. They buy merchandise only when the price of
capturing them or buying them. The relationship between purchasing is less than the price of stealing or having to

neogi and enslaved umber hulks is almost symbiotic. The fight for it. No one who deals with the neogi does so casually.
umber hulks do not need to be subjected to mental enslave- Caution and a large measure of self-protection are absolutely
ment every day. To an outside observer, they seem to serve necessary.
Under the right conditions, trading with the neogi can be
willingly, but this is not really the case. The umber hulks are
CHAPTER 5 THE SLAVE TAKERS conditioned from birth to believe that servitude is the profitable. “The right conditions” means having the strength

highest aspiration. They are treated surprisingly
to protect what’s yours. It’s certainly possible to bluff the
neogi, because they tend to be cautious in their dealings
well, far better than other neogi slaves. They don’t
serve the neogi for rewards or as mercenaries.
with unknown quantities. It is, after all, safer to pay a little

Because of their conditioning, they genuinely fear
and respect the neogi. Observers have been more than to get into a fight you might lose. It’s smart to
remember, however, that the neogi have
amazed to see a neogi physically punishing ways of making people do things they
an umber hulk with a whip or rod while wouldn’t normally do, and of making
the umber hulk, far larger and many people more agreeable than they
times more powerful than its abuser, might otherwise want to be.
meekly accepts the beating from
its acknowledged master. Other Trading with Neogi
slaves have revolted against neogi At some point, player characters might be forced
overlords, but umber hulks have into buying or selling with neogi. They
might seek a particular magic item,
never risen against them.
Illus. by C. Fix Free umber hulks have no a scroll containing an answer to an
ancient riddle, or the return of a
objections to this arrange-
companion who has been
ment. Fierce and
barbaric, they have
no sympathy for enslaved.
The best way to
those of their handle such ne-
kind that have gotiations is
been domes- through role-
ticated. Free playing, but
umber hulks it helps if
sometimes the DM has
serve neogi a yardstick
as mercenar- to measure
ies for pay. value. When dealing with
They are safe from the neogi, the “going rate”
enslavement because the isn’t always what the
neogi know that umber hulks born book says it is—it’s what
to freedom make intractable slaves. Like- A neogi merchant inspects the neogi thinks it is, especially where slaves
wise, the mercenaries know that umber the merchandise are concerned. A neogi might know of a dis-
hulks born to slavery cannot adjust to life as free barbarians, tant market or have plans for a creature that substantially
so they are happy with the status quo. increases the price at which it will sell. Also, so many of
the neogi’s goods are from alien or inaccessible places
TRADE AND PIRACY that they simply aren’t available from anyone else. In that
Most people distinguish between trade and piracy, but to the case, there is no competition and the neogi can set its
neogi, it is a semantic nicety and little more. Piracy is simply price; the only obstacle is finding an interested buyer with
one more method for acquiring trade goods at the lowest sufficient cash.
possible price. When setting values, begin with the values given for the
That attitude is wrapped up in the underlying neogi phi- same or similar items in Chapter 7: Equipment of the Player’s
losophy that everything did, does, or at some point will belong Handbook. Neogi seldom deal in shoddy items, and much of

to the neogi. Goods are like water—they flow from one place what they carry is of above average to masterwork quality, so

to another, always moving downhill from surplus to deficit. they seldom sell anything for less than its book value and seek
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