Deep Janeen - VotE Remastered Development
origin unknown
The Deep Janeen are spirits of the of the earth. Creaturesof timeless, decadent intelligence, they live deliciously in palaces set downwithin the living stone. (They cannot work their magics on worked stone.The greater the mass of masonry around them, the safer they feel (from otherDeep Janeen).)
Deep Janeen are larger than men, with skin like blueveined marble, an strong, thick-limbed bodies curved like the sides of a vase. Theirvoices are like water being poured into an upturned bell.
Voracious and confident, Deep Janeen take pleasure intheir rank. Lords of Stone, commanding much submission from the earth by magicArt, these master can grant wishes and, it is said, attain all a soulmay dream of, if it pleases them. They might be called half-gods of theUnderworld, were they ever to leave their Mazes and the Courts within. Butleave they rarely do.
Filippo Baratti
The power of a Dao, or Janeen, over stone itself,combined with their many other powers, makes them astonishingly potent in thevolumes of the Veins, where stone is the substance of all things, and where thechallenge of transporting ‘stuff’, of feeding, lighting and sustaining, is soall consuming.
Why then do they not rule the Underworld? And what rolemight they play in the intrigues of adventurers?
To answer this; the logic of the Maze-Court; a grand,expensive, eternal and eternally changing folly, or bower-bird nest, of workedstone, within which the Janeen dwells and to which they dedicate almost all oftheir substantial yet always-perishing wealth.
Culturally and psychologically, the Deep Janeen aretrapped within their mazes and their courts. Economically they are trappedwithin their status and their culture, for a Deep Janeen seen doing usefulwork, and getting gain, by other Janeen, would be mocked, ruined,exiled and destroyed (socially), and this is the worst thing that could everhappen to a Deep Janeen. So they must relentlessly gain resources, yetnever be seen to do so, and must spend even more relentlessly, on highlyvisible luxuries and on their Maze. And so they are poor. They have a lot ofmoney and a lot of luxuries, but they have even more expenses and demands.]
Maze Courts
The Court is a Maze and the Maze is the Court. To reachthe Janeen one must pass through the Maze. The Court lies at the centre of theMaze, or beyond it, or above it looking down. But the Court also interlaceswith the Maze. One is never certain if one has fully left the Maze.
The Maze is always under development, always being workedon. (Not directly by the Janeen, that would be abominable), but byslaves, or, for those of a liberal temperament, employees.
The Maze drifts, moving through the stone ocean ofthe Veins, both via its eternal and continual building and re-building, and throughthe magic of the Janeen, whose maze it is, so it is like a magic island whichmoves slowly about a sea.
These are not just dungeons. The mazes are works of art -works of status in every sense, works of pride and competition. The Court-Mazeis the highest expression of a Janeen’s power, intelligence, style, and anuntranslatable form of potency, of class, of virtu, a transmissibleenergy or spirit which both shapes and displays the vital selfhood of theJaneen. They need not eat, or sleep, and can live for mortal eternities. Theirexistence is a status game. The opinions of others are the truths of their lives.The mazeworks are like riddles: if everyone can understand them then they areworthless; if no-one can, then the same is true. They are set like palaces, atleast in terms of statuary and stone. Water aspects and others will be of aluxurious, (yet lethal), mode, like Turkish baths. Think the Alhambraunderground.
Indeed some Janeen are crowned with Mazes as some surfaceGods were crowned with city walls. A Janeen without a maze is not really aJaneen. Maze-loss creates, not a physical transformation, but apsychological and cultural one so total it may as well be. A Janeen with a poormaze is a Poor Janeen, regardless of how much specie they control. A Janeenwith a stupid Maze is a stupid Janeen. Or an unfashionable maze, or a simpleone, a crude maze or an ugly one… and so on.
Why Seek the Deep Janeen?
The Janeen can answer wishes. To an extent theycan re-make reality, by fair means or foul. And their powers are greatest inthe earth, where we are. Even their lesser powers of change and transport, ofalteration, creation and exchange, are enough to wipe slates clean. If theirfavour can be won.
If that is not enough, consider these lesser, but stillpractical treasures; a stone-road stave. An iron ring that holds a hero’s soul,bound for seven services. A lantern with a rock-evaporating light. A pet firespirit which will serve you so long as its golden chain is linked. Songs ofUnbecoming. Warping wands. An eye of Lapis Lazuli which terrifies the spiritsof the earth. Crowns of mutable stone and sheaths of living Jade. Maelstrombombs. Tongues of transport. A serpentinite torc that becomes a venom’d swordat your command. Ascension wells. Lithomantic potions. A book of sliver-thinslate with the means to make golems of stone.
origin unknown
Pauper Princes - Why They might meetwith You.
Wreathed in luxury, they are poor. Well.. not exactly. Theyhave resources. However, they are likely in staggering debt. They are inthe red, or at least in the black.
The Maze, the Maze, the Maze costs all, consumes all,absorbs all. The sheer prices involved! You would not believe! The Maze mustgrow, must breathe. The Maze must live so the Court might thrive and theCourt must feed so the Maze might grow. All this requires stone, slaves, foodfor them, logistics, organisation and so on and so on. And that’s just theunending construction, the Court itself requires servants, entertainers,musicians, dancers, illusionists, poets, cooks of various kinds and so on…
Worse, nearly as bad as owning an inferior maze; a Janeencan never be seen doing useful work. They must not toil. They are beingsof Pure Nobility.
Yet, somewhere, somehow, work must be done. They do itthrough shell organisations. They do it in disguise, through other names,through deniable servants. They do it any way but directly and in public view.They all absolutely deny doing it, and they are all doingit, and will mock those seen doing it, while doing it themselves. Such isthe toil of the Deep Janeen.
Conflicting Cultures of the Deep Janeen
Aesthetic Questions rule the scene; Schools on stones andmazes, arguments over treasures, gold and dreams.
The Two Schools of Shadowed Mass; many Deep Janeen lovegloom and the beauty of huge masses of worked stone. The first, Umbral, regardsthe placement of massy shadows of prime importance and arranges all stoneworkto produce precise gradations of shadow and depth. The second, the Lithic,regards the placement of shadowed mass to be the true path to beauty and arrangesall shadows to highlight masses and arrangements of stone. Few but the DeepJaneen can tell the difference between the two schools, though they loathe eachother.
The Six Schools of Maze-Making; Softling, Towered,Monstrous, Braile, Falling and Fincular. Don’t askme what these mean. They seem to have some relation to the styles ofMazes, (of which, more below), but how the theory intersects with built object,and what the borders and definitions of each are, is a source of argumentamongst all Deep Janeen. A “Fincular Crystal Swam Maze, with Softlinginfluence”? Sure.
Schools of Dream interpretation and defence. Musicalstyles. Schools of poetry and aesthetic magic. Argument upon argument. Pointupon position.
Janeen like sculpture but tend to loathe painting,as well as any material that pretends to be what it is not, though thedefinitions of what exactly this means,again, vary deeply. Is a Bernini sculpture acceptable? How about a Trompe ‘dOil painting used as part of a trap to confound rogues in a maze?
They love beauty but only bound. Free beauty is nothingto them, but lock it in an object or trade it as a service and they love it.
Weeks Edwin Lord
To Meet the Janeen
You do not meet the Janeen. Certainly they are not outand about (unless in disguise), and one does not simply challenge a JaneensMaze (unless invited).
You meet their Vizier;
Janeen ViziersTheir forms are many; beautiful golem factotums, lesserspirits of stone, living statues (of the Janeen themselves obviously). Rugweave and tympanum zoom calls (the rug threads shift and change - you can hearthem whispering). A statue of stone containing a caged spirit of air, water orfire. A whisp of salt. A clicking mosaic. A Vampire in Jade. A Mirror Liche – theircorpse dead but its reflection still live and subtle. A Corpulent Immortal or HotUndine. A drifting cobweb golem, its voice that of a certain harp, played by ablind, mute slave. Three stone ladies, one of igneous, one sedimentary and onemetamorphic, (they finish each others sentences), or a big intelligent bird,kind of like a very fancy muppet – it’s not clear who or what it is the‘puppeteer’.
Arclord of Nex - Pathfinder Community
The Vizier - “Behold this value.”
The Vizier writes down a certain number or total, andshows it to you.
“This is a value which shall be two parts and two, thatis, split into equal thirds, and the last third halved so that the totals arethus; one sixth, one third, one third and one sixth, for a total of four partsin these proportions, and in this order.
Do you understand?
The first part, should our speech go well, you shallsurrender to me upon its’ end, in any portable form.
Know this first; The Janeen does not do business.The Janeen does not make deals. The Janeen entertains Right NobleGuests.
Are you such kind?
The Right Nature of Guests
A Right noble Guest is any of the following;
· They are born of Aristocracy and Nobility.
· They have notable gifts of Art, Speech, or Music(not Painting).
· They have great and recognised magical power andskill.
· They are of great and well-attested Wealth, forone who possesses so vast an accumulation of wealth is no longer like othermen.
· They are of personal beauty or charm.
· They Amuse.
Are you such as I have said? If you are not, leave now.”
The Maze-Court
The Forms of the Mazes are many. Maze-Court stye andaesthetic, as well as its nature as a maze and nest of puzzles etc, issomething else that Janeen will argue over and mull over themselves. Some aresever classicists and use one of the below styles only, and that exploited tothe maximum effect with every possible Here are some;
1. FromsoftStyle - trickly 'looped' mazes where the Janeen’s court is visible almostimmediately, but you have to do a lot of fucking about to actually get to themain bit
2. KnightmareStyle - Like a pit dungeon where the Janeen’s court stands above lookingdown on the party - last part is stairs up, so they join the court and they inturn can look down on others
3. TowerStyle - Court is at the top (though the 'tower' itself may be simply aseries of cave or rooms in stone, the 'court' is usually kept somewhat open, inimitation of a real tower, perhaps with a mosaic-view of an imaginarysurrounding land
4. ZzarchovStyle - rooms all the same size, linked by visible and invisible dimensiondoors, locks, keys, riddles and codes. Lots of going back and forth, solving weirdproblems - fucking annoying!
5. GravitationalStyle - Rather normal dungeon/maze design but in places you walk 'up' thewalls and stand on the ceiling. you can look up or down at people or things'above' you, other than that, this is often a pretty standard dungeon (thoughin a Janeen style)
6. Fallingwater- A bathhouse, (artificial) waterfall. Plenty of fountains, a 'water level'with swimming, underwater monsters, mysterious grottoes (artificial),
7. Mazeof Transformations - somewhat Alice in Wonderland style with lots ofshrinking, growing, possibly transforming into animals or other things, withseemingly escher-like arrangements and lots of tricky unfair bullshit mixed in,but often without the clear recursive discipline of the 'Zzarchov' style,where, though the answers may be cryptic, there *is* an answer while in 'Alice'mazes, there may be an answer, but the maze itself may be broken, irregular, orjust perverse.
8. Mazeof Crystal Swarms - the walls made of some swarm or flocking creatures madeof glass or crystal. The actual volume of the maze is not that great but themaze itself reformats around the PCs like the structures of a computer gamewrite themselves into existence as they pass and turn through it, the flock orswarm moving in great clouds and reforming behind. Some Janeen would say thisis more a 'method' than a style. Though it demonstrates incredible wealth, skilland magical power, that doesn't necessarily make the form of the maze as-a-mazethat good, other Janeen, those who can afford a Crystal Swarm, tell them to gofuck themselves.
Steven Craig Hickman hopefully not slop
Meeting the Janeen
Lets say you actually get through the Maze, and to theCourt, (or at least the Court-like parts of the inner maze. This is the DeepJaneen;
TitlesThe
1. Shaker
2. Dreamer
3. Luminator
4. Judicier
5. Composer
6. Navarch
of/in
1. Knowledge
2. Tectonics
3. Sleepingstone
4. TheMountain Metamorphic
5. TheFlawless Fault
6. TheStone Wombs Heart
Face
1. Haughtybut smiling often with the dazzle of a diamond tooth.
2. Alabaster,like a carved youth with the combined cruelties both of youth and of age.
3. Eyesof starry glass and hair a slow stone river woven with gold boats.
4. Apotter's abortion but delicately repaired with gold.
5. Flesh,except the eyes and mouth reveal the skin is shallow stretched on perfectstone.
6. Anegg with a cruel crack smile and glittering blue peridot eyes.
Clothes
1. Skinmarble, dark, and rippled with red. Her robes are black wire, woven subtlyenough to shame silk. They draw the gaze toward her crown of ashen tar, stuckstork and bright frozen peacock feather.
2. Smokeblacked armour, brass cast, etched by vandal artisans with one thousand and onevictories of the Deep Janeen.
3. Ahermit's simple robe or a sacred thinker’s cowl, made from one thousandtorture-sourced silks in the blues, blacks and bruise violets of the sky’sstorms.
4. Albinofurs and pearls carved into linked-up chains. Her shoes, paired slender spiresof colourless gem, stabbing the ground with each purposeful stride.
5. Stoneclothes, carved so expertly it’s difficult to tell except by touch. The gems ineach of his many rings hold maps, impossibly detailed air bubble depictions ofeach architectural triumph.
6. Ametal articulated robe discards a trail of scrolls as it scrapes a furrowbehind her thundering boots. Lackeys pick and continually re-archive herforgotten plans in the robe’s metallic folds.
Manner
1. Pauseslong and whispers more than yells.
2. Crueltiesare always a little kind but kindnesses are without mercy, reason or restraint.
3. Gazeis an extension of its grasp; the Janeen studies to own.
4. Freshskinned gloves finger lists of plans and inventories.
5. Eachhalf stroke of the hour everything is stopped, servants scurry forth, teas,meats, and glistening delicacies arrive. Calm and mild pleasantries rule untilthe last drop of tea.
6. Asmall live animal is presented to be crushed with each and every footstep.
Opulence
1. Slaveswave slow pennants of black velvet in their shadowed wake to intensify theirgloomy majesty.
2. Kebabson silver skewers which they use to pick their teeth, then throw away.
3. Aticking harem of clockwork courtesans in polished ebony and blazing gold.
4. Everystone and tool and fold of cloth enchanted to whisper their praises with eachmove, the air fills with a susurrus of quiet adoration.
5. Zooof surface animals kept petrified when not in use. Awakened and re-petrifiedwith insanely expensive potions sprayed from golden tubes.
6. Lampsare petty fire spirits bound in silvered skulls of Ælf-Adal.
Earth_Djinn from Guild Wars
“…. Noble Guests who adore and respect the Janeen, andwho often bring gifts they hope shall please. Curiosities, which they know theJaneen does not need, and which the Janeen will refuse
But they shall offer again.
The Janeen will, again, refuse.
But, wounded by this, (though not explicitlyso), the guest shall offer a third time.
And this time, purely to avoid offence, and out ofcharity, the Janeen will accept (though a servants hands, they will not touchthe gift themselves).
The value of this gift shall be no less than the value ofthe second part, which was one third of the total value I have shown you.
At this time the entertainments shall begin, which shalllast for no less than eight hours, and during which, it may please the Janeento place an idle bet on this thing or that.
As you know, fortune, at all times, follows virtue, nobility,greatness and courage, and so the luck of the Janeen is uncommonly good.
Do you understand me?
Though it may pass in whatever proportions you wish, inthe course of entertainment, the total shall not be less than that of the thirdpart, which shall be, again, one third of the total I have given you.”
Activities Amusements
1. Smashingin their vaulted roof, slowing it in time, having chained-up poets scribe thefalling stone.
2. Nakedgirls in golden cages locked 1001 times. Each good story earns a key.
3. Tattooingchildren’s backs with idle thoughts, making them run around till sentencesform.
4. Collectedcourt of Clerics of each god, Deep Janeen converts to a new religion everyhour.
5. Archeanorchestra on toxic instruments, so slow it plays one note each hour.
6. Forcingscholars to debate the merits of a grain of sand. Winner rewarded, loserkilled.
Strange Dreams
In their endlessly-rebuilt palaces deep beneath theearth, the Deep Janeen are often troubled by strange dreams. Explaining thetroubling dream in an effective way, without inadvertently insulting the DeepJaneen, can vastly raise you in their esteem.
1. “Istand upon a yellow shore. A silver ship burns. A survivor turns to me andsmiles. ‘Is this ever acceptable?’ he asks.”
2. “Iam a Lion (which I know is good) and eat a ghoul (which is bad). I tastecinnamon and sleep for seven days.”
3. “Acity of glass and shadow. I wait. The dawn comes, but not the dawn star. Why?”
4. “Iam speaking to a giant that crawls around my house tying knots in my columnsand doors; the giant whispers names I cannot hear.”
5. “Icrystallise, memoryless, in the magma chamber under the hill. It will not letme out.”
6. “Iam a souk in a city of brass, merchants trade in my veins, thieving childrenrun across my golden heart, yet I protect them.”
Fear of SleepThe Janeen fear sleep and the power of the Aelf-Adal. Dueto this they avoid sleep and are often insomniac, and some would say,irrational. Many Janeen employ a Dream Guard or Praetorian of Sleep whosepurpose is to protect them even while they dream.
Fear of PlotsThe Janeen is convinced everyone around them is plottingagainst them and while this is never completely true, it is still largely true.
Petulant Rages
Intervening in the murderous and easily-triggered ragesof the Deep Janeen can be deadly; so can not intervening in them.
1. Constructionsof anything but stone. The existence of ‘plaster’ and ‘wall-paper’. Deep Janeenhas never seen them but hates them.
2. “Thereis a forged coin somewhere in this room. Find it! By the stones of the abyssyou will bleed fire till it is found!”
3. “YouIfrit Fuck!” Deep Janeen thinks the fire in a lamp is laughing at them. Huntsand smashes lamps, lights and flames till it is found.
4. DeepJaneen convinced reflection in a particular pearl exhibits a single flaw.Curses pearls, casts them aside then hunts through them, demands larger andlarger pearls.
5. DeepJaneen stricken by violent self-loathing over inferiority of own mazework.Believes counter-arguments proof of secret contempt.
6. Universaland malignant incompetence of inferiors. Demands your agreement then turns onyou. Demands agreement of others re – your worthlessness, then turns on them.
Secrets of the Janeen Hidden Economic Engines
The Janeen is making money some how, though they donot wish anyone to know exactly how, they do wish everyone to know there ismoney being made… somewhere.
1. Theyare a River Trader
2. Theycontrol and organise transport between Realms of reality.
3. Theyare in mining.
4. Theyscout mines for other powers.
5. Amercenary company or similar.
6. MassGolem Construction.
7. Writingsaucy novels on the side
8. Silkweavingsweatshop
9. Manufacturingdimensional transport which makes underground economy possible -bags of holdingetc
Deals They Must Make... Now! (But Must Not Be Seen To....)
The Janeen has a secret, desperate need, but the PCsdon’t necessarily know about it, or even know that it exists (the Janeendesperately tries to keep this from them, without also revealing it).
The Need
1. Silk
2. Gold(its amazingly heavy stuff)
3. Slaves(they keep dying)
4. Politicalcover in some elemental political situation.
5. Endthe Tariff!
6. Dolphins(don’t ask why)
7. MiningRights
8. Migrationrights
From;
1. Aelf-Adal
2. KnotsmanLord
3. RayMen
4. dErO
5. Archeans
6. OlmClan
7. Dvargir
8. FunginidMentality
Clues/Evidence PCs might stumble into
1. SingingFish
2. BellMusic Notation Code
3. Wordformshadow elemental
4. OpalBat Snitch
5. ActualLetter from...
6. GracefulGolem Courtesan
7. WhistledCode from Bird
8. WakingDream
Pathfinder, creator not known
“It does, at times, occur, in these hours of intimatediversion, (but never before the fifth hour, or beyond theseventh), that the intimates of the Janeen, in the course of conversation.
In the course of conversation, you understand?
May confess to this or that trouble, or disappointment,be it in this thing or that, which afflicts them, and, in the course ofconversation, they might discuss with the Janeen, their Intimate Lord andnearly-friend, potential cures and alterations to their sad state, and theJaneen may reply "How terrible! Surely something must be done!"or words to that effect.
There the matter shall rest, and no more shall be said ofit.
When the entertainments come to a natural close the Intimatesof the Janeen will part Joyously with the Janeen.
Now, after a certain time, it may be that thecircumstance or amelioration so desired by you shall be attained, thoughvarious means, perhaps obvious or unknown.
When this should occur, the Intimates shall send viasecure and trusted means, another gift, to the value of the total of the fourthpart, which was one sixth of the value I have given you - to the Janeen, viamyself, with a fulsome and full-hearted written thanks for any efforts theJaneen, may or may not, have taken or ordered to be taken on their behalf inthe mater which happened to pass between them as Intimates at that time whenthey were guests of the Janeen, and if the Janeen themselves took no visible orprovable action in the matter, no doubt it was the great fortune which attendsto the Janeen and all that they do, which did mark the weave of fate in thismatter, in which case even greater thanks are given (though the value of theenclosed git need not be greater, (but should be no smaller) than I have said).
The matter shall then considered to be closed, and nofurther contact either accepted or desired"
