“ 'Yn these landes, theye do ryde upone greate flowtinge beastes alike as those thate ye fyshermen do calle nawtilus; Ande these beastes, callede 'pyky-pyky' because of ye noises thate the beastes make, are troubelsome ande beastlye mountes, withe fowle temperes.' -Telliamed ap Ynris, 'Ye Westerne Landes'.
(A levitating giant nautilus that makes a noise like 'piki-piki' and is thus called a Great Piki-piki.)”
“ A race of beings actually IS invunerable while in adolecence. They age, but cannot be killed. A miniority of the race (1 in 20) does not become invunerable, but rather becomes immortal at some point in thier adolecence, and ceases aging while being vunerable to death in all the normal ways. Another minority (also 1 in 20) Permanatly becomes invunerable after adolecence, but ages twice as fast as the race normally does. There is no known way to test for which of the three traits an individual manifests and the three traits cannot mix, as they are tied to the same gene, as it were.”
“ The Mad Pope is a wandering mercenary. He is very well deranged as he considers himself to be the pontiff of the dominant faith. His robes are tattered, his mitre has seen better days and there are surely lice in his long ratty beard. What sets him apart from most addle-pated would be holy men is that he has armor under his robes and carries a large crossbow and several one-handed swords. While many would discout him as just another lunatic, for some reason, he inspires others around him and has demonstrated the ability to lay on hands and heal the wounded.”