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Secrets of the Steppes
Credits Contents
Original Author
John R White
Editor
Charlotte Law
Cover Illustration
Igor Kieryluk
Layout
Will Chapman
Interior Illustrations
Matt Morrow and Gill Pearce
Playtesting
Jim Abbott, Andras Furness
Special Thanks
Lawrence Whitaker & Michael
Moorcock
Additional Thanks
James Biltcliffe, Simon Clements, Charles Green,
Michael Moriarty, Pete Nash, Nick Robinson, Dan
Voyce & Richard Watts
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Secrets of the Steppes 2
Adventures in the Dakwinsi Steppe 3
The Roof of the World 9
Shad 14
Cruel Waters, Harsh Lands 69
Hunters of the Snows 83
Xiombarg’s Children 101
The Green Peaks Forest 118
Copyright Information
Secrets of the Steppes ©2012 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. All other significant characters, names, places,
items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Printed in USA
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i n t ro d u c t i o n
Secrets of the Steppes
;
Secrets of the Steppes is written as a volume that will require only the Legend and Elric
of Melniboné core rulebooks to enable a Games Master to run a series of separate
Young Kingdoms adventures or devise a linked campaign. This volume is intended
to compliment Talons of Winter, a future Mongoose Elric Source Book that will
describe other civilisations of the Dakwinsi Steppe in the Young Kingdoms Northern
Continent. Besides incorporating a variety of scenario seeds it will feature a flexible
‘sandbox’ campaign where material from both books can be utilised.
Other Mongoose books are highly recommended as useful resources. Cults of the
Young Kingdoms expands on the nature and powers of some of the deities covered
in this volume. Cities of the Young Kingdoms: The South, besides being an excellent
source of adventures, has an invaluable guide to the potential range of Non-Player
Character hirelings and professionals, and their skills. Furthermore, it has a detailed
feature on the composition and organisation of trade guilds.
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C H A P T E R O N E
Adventures in the
Dakwinsi Steppe
;
The Talons of Winter Campaign
This volume, although giving information for the general geography and inhabitants
of the Dakwinsi Steppe, does not include a description of the Xanardwys Valley and
its fabled city. Volume Two of the Talons of Winter campaign will provide details of
the city, its local environment and its unusual climate. Besides including some of
Xanardwys most important citizens, it will include generic Non-Player Character
statistics and also a selection of scenario seeds. In addition, a chapter is devoted to
the remnants of a race of giants who dwell amongst the Fire Mountains. A sandbox
campaign titled Revenge Served Cold will be included in the next volume and
features a deadly threat to the existence of Xanardwys. The Adventurers will have the
chance to act as true heroes and hopefully prolong the existence of entire nations and
races, for if the malign crusade that sweeps through the steppe lands is unchecked
then all life in the Northern Continent might face extinction!
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A Games Master wishing to play through the Talons of Winter campaign can decide
to run a series of role-playing sessions using the locations and scenarios in Secrets of
the Steppes as preliminary adventures. Ideally the Adventurers will establish a range
of allies and enemies who can be used by the Games Master to aid, complicate and
frustrate his Adventurers’ activities when they find themselves involved in the mad
schemes of the legendary Snow Hag.
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Given the sparse population of the northern lands above the Sighing Desert it is
quite conceivable that enclaves of other races still exist in these regions, albeit in
obscurity.
Some have already been hypothesised within the Talons of Winter campaign, although
Games Masters might like to consider whether any survivors of the Dharzi can be
found in the reaches of the Dakwinsi Steppe lands. Alternatively a campaign might
utilise other races, possibly ones created by the Games Master himself.
Adventuring to the Northern Coastlands
The Adventurers can be hired to accompany a trader or ambassador to Alofia.
Alternatively, they might be hired by a nation, city-state or perhaps a private
individual to recover a person from the cruel toil of slavery in the mines of the
Yellow Mountain, Worse yet, they might be sent to labour there themselves as
slaves! The cruel, northern weather, or perhaps the activities of pirates or monstrous
beasts, might well force a party voyaging on the Pale Sea to seek sanctuary, or suffer
shipwreck on the coastline of the Northern Continent. A party of Adventurers down
on their luck in Ilmiora might be tempted to take passage with a whaler bound for
the northern waters or else take on a job as guards at a whaling station or the Yellow
Mountain. Long journeys to these realms will typically be undertaken by hiring a
vessel to travel to the shores of Alofia. The few merchant vessels that visit the whaling
stations and Alofian coast are usually from the Ilmioran City State of Shad or the
Kingdom of Tarkesh.
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Adventuring through the Steppe Lands
The presence of Xanardwys is a lure that will draw explorers and traders across the
Dakwinsi Steppe. Adventurers travelling eastwards from the coastline of Alofia or
northwards through the Sighing Desert might be in the employment of a patron with
a private agenda or a trader seeking to gain a fortune at the fabled city. The renowned
explorer, Duke Avan Astran, might well lead such an expedition (Elric of Melniboné Core
Rulebook, page 178). Possibly, a rival cartel of merchants seek to sabotage such a mission.
Another potential lure is the existence of rare and potent herbs which bloom for a
very small period of time in the climes of the steppe or Xanardwys, and which are
avidly sought by alchemists and apothecaries such as Horat Stames who features in
Talons of Winter.

It is conceivable that a party who anger the Alofians might, like Elric, find that the
safest way to flee from their vengeance is to head deep inland and look for shelter with
the nomads ,or else find a trail that leads towards Xanardwys or another civilisation.
Perhaps an ancient enmity against one of the tribes of the Bastanissi festers in the
heart of one of the Council of Six and One Other in Quazhasaat, and a scheming
politician decides to hire or coerce the Adventurers into recovering a coveted
heirloom from one of the Steppe tribes.
The Urging of Priests and the Games of the Gods
Those Adventurers who are pledged to the service of Gods, or who have incurred their
enmity, might find themselves persuaded or compelled to travel to the Dakwinsi Steppe.
Cultists of Mabelode might be sent on a mission to defeat the warriors of Alofia in
challenges of combat. Alternatively, the Goddess Eequor, who despises the cult of
Xiombarg’s Children, sends an agent to subvert the race to her own cause.
The fanatical elements of the cults devoted to the Lords of Law such as Donblas
and Miggea, decide to wipe out the ‘abominable savages’ of Alofia. They proceed
to recruit a force of zealots to embark on a war and pogrom against the Children of
Xiombarg.
KINGDOMS OF THE NORTH
Adventurers might originate from any of the following regions located in the steppe
or on its borders. The city of Shad has been included as, despite its distance from the
Steppe, it has significant trade links with some of these cultures. Further information
relating to creating Adventurers from Alofian, the Dakwinsi Steppe or the Green
Peak Mountains can be found in the chapters covering these locations.
New Professions
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Profession Cultural Background Notes
Beach Comber Civilised, Primitive —
Caravan Guard Barbarian, Civilised, Nomad —
Civic Messenger Civilised Ilmiora only
Coachman Civilised Eshmir, Ilmiora, Valderia
Jockey Civilised Ilmiora or Eshmir
Pilgrim Civilised Lawful nations only
Pirate Civilised —
Whaler Civilised Maritime nation. Not
Melniboné or Pan Tang
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Kingdom Cultures
Alofia Barbarian
Dakwinsi Steppe Nomad
Green Peaks Forest Primitive
Ilmiora, Shad Civilised
Beach Comber
The individual has adapted himself, through necessity or choice, to becoming self
reliant on the shoreline of a sea or lake. The individual might have spent a long
duration involuntarily marooned or might actually have jumped ship at an inviting
and uncivilised location. It also includes successive generations of coastal dwellers
who scavenge along the shore and shallows for food and fuel whilst praying that
their inspection of flotsam and jetsam might yield valued treasures such as amber,
ambergris, precious shells and shipwrecked goods.
Common Skills: Lore (regional) +5%, Perception +5%, Resilience +10%. Select
Two from: Athletics +10%, Combat Style (sling) +10%, Swim +10%.
Advanced Skills: Pick One from Boating, Craft, Culture (other), Survival.
Caravan Guard
The safest way for a merchant to transport his goods overland is usually in the
company of other merchants and travellers. Such an accumulation of wealth is a
temptation for bands of outlaws and raiders. In consequence, it is common for
competent individuals to be hired as scouts and guards for the duration of a journey.
If well paid they can also prove a good deterrent to troublesome slaves and animal
handlers in a caravan.
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Common Skills: Lore (regional) +5%, Perception +10%, Resilience +10%, Ride
+5%.
One Combat Style appropriate to your culture +10%.
Advanced Skills: Select One from: Survival, Track.
Civic Messenger
The City States of Ilmiora maintain a service of mounted couriers who wear bright
tabards in the distinctive heraldry of their particular cities. Generally tasked with
carrying documents, they are also expected to memorise short verbal messages word
perfectly. They must also be able to show due deference or authority in their dealings.
Missions usually require having to travel fast in all weathers and they must be as
hardy and skilled a rider as the herdsmen of their native country. Generally they trust
to the quality of their mounts to evade bandits, rather than risk the interception of
their message.