The Tower of Babel

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime [bitumen] had they for mortar.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the Lord said, Behold, the people [are] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

— Genesis 11:1–9

The Bible explains the development of different languages as a curse, an act of God designed to prevent the people of Babylon from building a great tower to touch the sphere of Heaven. They had the materials necessary to construct this impressive structure, and aspired to set themselves upon it like rival gods above the rest of the world. But God caused them to scatter in every direction, each group developing its language in a different way, and even the name of their city, the word bab-ilu that had meant "gate of the god," came to be associated with the term balal, "to confound or mix." From this babble of languages eventually emerged every tongue that is now spoken in Mythic Europe.

Thus, a character interested in tracing the first language back to the time before the folly of the Tower of Babel must discover the roots of that language in contemporary speech. By studying the similarities found in different ancient languages, the character can reconstruct how Adamic must have been spoken.

When the people of ancient Babylon scattered, some of them went west into Israel, some went south into Egypt, and some went north into the mountains of the Caucasus, while others went east and eventually north and west into Europe. This created four different groups of original languages, each with its own distinct structure and vocabulary. These were Semitic, named after Noah's son Shem, from which Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic developed; Hamitic, named after Noah's son Ham, from which Egyptian and Coptic have descended; Scythian, related to the languages spoken by the people who lived in the area between the Black and Caspian seas, descended from Noah's son Japheth, and from which developed the languages of Slavic, Baltic, and Persian; and a fourth language, the language of the nomadic people who traveled around the Caspian Sea into the far north and eventually settled all of Europe, who were the ultimate origin of Greek, Latin, and the Germanic languages. This fourth language has never had a name, but it might be called Cainite after Cain, thought by some to be the ultimate father of these nomadic people.

To discover the Adamic language through research, the character must first become fluent in two of these four ancient languages via linguistic research (see the sidebar), and then develop those two languages to reconstruct the original language they have in common. For most characters, these two languages are likely to be Semitic and Cainite, as it is relatively easy for a character in Mythic Europe to learn Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, and Greek, since there are a great many excellent texts and teachers available.

Before he can research Adamic, however, the character must also become more familiar with ancient Mesopotamia, to gain the required

The process of reconstructing an ancient language from contemporary ones is difficult, but can be done, although it requires a special seasonal activity. This works much like the process of original research, except that instead of performing a magical project in the laboratory, it requires a season of study, during which time the character experiments by matching the words and sentence structure of one language with the other, sounding out what older words might have been like and inventing linguistic notions to describe the similarities and differences between the two. This gives the character two points of Exposure experience in the common language Ability, but the character must be fluent in both derivative languages, and must also be familiar enough with both cultures to understand the conditions that could have caused them to change over time. This is represented by a required Area Lore score of 5 for the birthplace of the common language.

With these requirements met, the character may also experiment with the lost language in the lab as if he were researching a Breakthrough. For every two points or fraction thereof by which the character's score in the related languages exceeds 5, the player may modify the results of the experimentation roll by +1 or –1, to a maximum of +3 or –3, but if he rolls a 0 he must still check for a botch. If the result of this roll is "Discovery," the character receives 15 experience points in the common language, or perhaps enough experience to increase his score to the next level. A botch means that the character has ruined some of his work, by making a faulty conclusion or a mistaken translation, and he both gains no experience that season and loses 15 experience points in the shared Ability — this represents the fact that he must later discover his error and redo his work for that season. Other results, such as "Side Effect" or "Story Event," might give the character experience in a related field like Area Lore or Artes Liberales, or have other appropriate effects at the storyguide's discretion.

As an example, a magus has a score of 5 in Dead Language (Egyptian) and Dead Language (Coptic). He would like to analyze these two languages to discover a working knowledge of Hamitic, the language from which these two other languages developed. He also has Area Knowledge (Ancient Egypt) 5, indicating that he understands how local conditions would have influenced the two languages. Every season he spends examining their similarities he gains two experience points in Dead Language (Hamitic). After only 38 seasons of this careful study, he becomes fluent in the lost form of speech. If he experiments, he has the chance of gaining 15 additional experience points each season, and so it may be more worth his time to risk cutting corners.

Area Lore score of 5 that is necessary to develop his linguistic research, and this probably necessitates a journey to the Levant, since apart from brief mentions in a few tractatus by Roman historians, there have been very few books written on the subject.

In order to gain sufficient knowledge of the culture of Ancient Babylon, to give the characters necessary insight into the mindset of the people who built the great Tower of Babel before they were scattered throughout the world, the characters need to investigate the ruins of the once-great city and explore their

environs. This might involve excavating historical artifacts of the ancient world from beneath the centuries of sand that cover them, or speaking with the loremasters of the region to hear stories and legends, or exploring the land to get a sense of how the people lived in the most ancient times. It takes about 15 seasons of exploring Babylonia to gain a score of 5 in Area Lore (Ancient Mesopotamia) through Practice.

At one time, Babylonia encompassed the entire Fertile Crescent, the lands of Mesopotamia that enclose the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and extended as far west as the Mediterranean Sea in Syria and north into Cappadocia. To the east, much of the northern part of the region is mountainous, descending to flat steppes in the southeast, and thick marshland in the south near the confluence of the two rivers and the Persian Gulf.

At the center of the region is the city of Baghdad, which is also the religious and political center of Islam, the seat of the caliphate. The Exilarch, the spiritual leader of all the Jews, also lives there, and there are many Christian colonies in the surrounding area.

The city of Babylon was located about 50 miles south of Baghdad, and in the 13th century the area is almost entirely deserted. There are many dried-up riverbeds throughout the region, signifying that at one time the ground was much less arid than

it is now, and Babylon lies on the plain directly in the path of one of these, which splits from the Euphrates approximately 20 miles northwest. Careful exploration within the region reveals the paths of at least four different rivers throughout the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates. Closer to the Persian Gulf, where the two rivers join and meet the sea, there is evidence that thousands of years ago the shore was about 100 miles northwest of its present position, perhaps because of a rise in water levels subsequent to the Great Flood.

Strange pictures of a manystepped tower may be discovered on the artifacts unearthed throughout the region, including clay tablets, stone cylinders with sunken writing used to officially seal documents, kudurrus or stone blocks ornamented with reliefs and inscriptions, amulets, bas-reliefs, and jars. The Tower of Babel is shown as a great ziggurat that is usually depicted as sacred, often with a sun shining down at the very summit, perhaps indicating that the top of the tower would have surpassed the heavenly spheres. Magi may discover that many of these ancient artifacts contain a pawn or more of Terram vis, if the inscriptions remain readable and the objects have not been disturbed.

It is said that the base of the great unfinished building remained intact for ages, but was completely demolished by Xerxes almost 500 years before the birth of Christ, and that the site was later partially cleared by Alexander the Great. The area of the city itself is often called Babel in the local tongue, and all of it lies in ruins, though streets still extend some 30 miles out from the former palace of Nebuchadnezzar, which can still be seen on the horizon. Local legends tell of a curse upon the place, and say

that the area is infested with snakes and scorpions, but it is also a fine quarry for the people of the valley, and there are plenty of strong, baked bricks still hidden beneath centuries of dust. There is scarcely a house in the entire region that was not built from stones hauled away from that place. The closest settlement is a community of 20,000 Jews who live within about 20 miles of Babel, and perform their worship in the Synagogue of Daniel, a great building said to have been built in antiquity by the great prophet, constructed of the same solid stones and bricks taken from the ruins of the Tower.

Beneath the site of the ancient city is a deep pit in which, according to Muslim legends, two fallen angels named Harut and Marut hang suspended upside down by their feet, necks, and knees. These angels were responsible for teaching magic to the

descendants of Adam and Eve, in accordance with God's wishes, but when God observed that they did not have compassion for humankind, he gave them human emotions and sent them to earth to be tempted as people are. Both angels sinned, and as penance they were given the choice of punishment in this life or the next. They chose the former, and so they hang there until the end of the world.

Rubble and bricks supposedly cover the great rock that blocks the entrance to the pit. It is said that one man once managed to gain entrance, by digging around the edges. He had been warned by his guide not to speak the name of God in the area, but upon beholding the greatness of the two angels he could not help himself, and Harut and Marut became so agitated that they almost broke their chains. The man and his guide fled and never returned again.

In fact, the pit and the two angels are hidden within an Infernal regio of level 3. At the top of the well, there is a level of the regio with an Infernal aura of 1, where the well was once sealed. Although the stone has been broken, at this level the pit only contains thousands of scorpions. On the mundane level, there is only a thick slab of stone, nine by nine paces across, beneath the rubble, and the entire city has a faint Magical aura of 1.

The lands surrounding ancient Babylonia are a very dangerous place to explore in the middle of the 13th century, for there is another power converging upon them: the great army of the Mongols, nomadic invaders

Characteristics: Int –1, Per +1, Pre 0, Com –1, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik +2

Size: 0 Age: 30

Virtues and Flaws: Puissant Ability (Ride), Puissant Ability (Bows), Warrior; Reckless; Disfigured (scars), Infamous

Personality Traits: Brave +3, Reckless +3, Loyal +3

Reputations: Murderous 4 (local) Combat:

Dagger: Init +0, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +4

Composite Bow (mounted): Init +0, Attack +16, Defense +13, Damage +8

Composite Bow (on foot): Init –2, Attack +13, Defense +10, Damage +8

Saber (mounted): Init +4, Attack +14, Defense +12, Damage +7 Saber (on foot): Init +2, Attack +11,

Defense +9, Damage +7 Spear (mounted): Init +4, Attack

+11, Defense +10, Damage +6 Spear (on foot): Init +2, Attack +8, Defense +7, Damage +6

Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6– 10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (20+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 2 (in combat), Bargain 2 (livestock), Bows 5+2 (composite), Brawl 3 (dagger), Craft Bows 3, Hunt 3 (tracking), Living Language Mongolian 5, Ride 3+2 (battle), Single Weapon 5 (saber), Survival 3 (steppe)

Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather halfarmor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)

Encumbrance: 2 (3)

Appearance: A fierce-looking eastern warrior on horseback, his upper body lightly covered by fur-lined leather armor, with an acorn-like metal helmet also fringed with fur. He carries a bow in a quiver on his saddle, a saber, and a short spear with a small hook at the base of the blade.

While there are younger soldiers in the Mongol army, this trooper represents the finest specimen that the characters are likely to encounter, the sort of character who would fight in the van during a group engagement or who might be found singly acting as a scout or guard.

from the Far East. Fierce warriors with lance, bow, and sword; practically raised on horseback; and hardy as the steppes on which they were born, this force has united under the banner of one supreme chieftain named Genghis Khan, Lord of the Earth, a brilliant tactician, a charismatic leader, and a ruthless opponent.

In 1218, the governor of a Persian frontier province seized a Mongol trade caravan, killing the drivers. Genghis sent ambassadors to the shah demanding that the governor be turned over to him for retribution, but these ambassadors were humiliated by the shah and sent back, with the leaders of the deputation put to death for their insolence. The Mongols declared war, and more than 100,000 Mongol horsemen rode westward, obliterating resistance when it was offered and bypassing areas where there was none. The speed and viciousness of

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre +2 (1), Com +1, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik 0

Size: 0 Age: 40

Confidence Score: 2 (5)

Virtues and Flaws: Affinity with Leadership, Clear Thinker, Improved Characteristics, Inspirational, Puissant Ability (Leadership), Puissant Ability (Ride), Self-Confident, Strong-Willed, Warrior; Enemies (Europe); Outsider; Vow (loyalty to Great Khan); Disfigured (scars), Infamous

Personality Traits: Resolute +3, Ruthless +5, Cunning +4 Reputations: Murderous 4 (local)

Combat:

Dagger: Init –1, Attack +7, Defense +4, Damage +3

Composite Bow (mtd.): Init –2, Attack +14, Defense +9, Damage +7

Composite Bow (on foot): Init –5, Attack +11, Defense +6, Damage +7

Saber (mounted): Init +2, Attack +12, Defense +8, Damage +6

Saber (on foot): Init –1, Attack +9, Defense +5, Damage +6

Spear (mounted): Init +2, Attack +9, Defense +6, Damage +5

Spear (on foot): Init –1, Attack +6, Defense +3, Damage +5

Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6– 10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (20+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (in combat), Bows 5 (composite), Craft Bows 3, Brawl 3 (dagger), Folk Ken 2 (nobles), Guile 3 (elaborate lies), Hunt 3 (tracking), Intrigue 3 (alliances), Leadership 6+2 (7) (battlefield), Ride 3+2 (in battle), Artes Liberales 1 (military communication), Craft Siege Equipment 3 (catapults), Single Weapon 3 (saber), Living Language Mongolian 5, Living Language Persian 3 (negotiations), Survival (steppe) 3

Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather half-armor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)

Encumbrance: 3 (3)

The Mongolian generals are experts in strategy and tactics, and most of their successes may be attributed to their superior military intelligence and their ability to quickly assess the nature of the battlefield. They constantly patrol the borders of the Empire and often sent out groups of scouts in every direction, watching their enemies carefully for weaknesses and familiarizing the army with the lay of the land. They also maintain an excellent communication network, using a semaphore system to signal across great distances, and a series of horse posts to keep units of soldiers in contact with their leader.

The army can employ a great many forms of misdirection extremely well, such as a smokescreen across a battlefield with flaming arrows, or riding their horses in fast flanking motions across rugged terrain. They typically have so many spare horses that they can often send out decoy forces of a few men that look like a whole legion. Many of their enemies are fooled by their organized retreat, their finest maneuver, wherein they pull back, drawing their opponents out behind them in a long pursuit, exhausting them, and then suddenly turning around and attacking.

A great part of the military might of the Mongols comes from their unusually strong bows, rarely seen before in the West. These are double recurve composite bows made of layers of sinew, horn, and wood that can have a pull weight of over one hundred pounds. A warrior usually carries two, in special quivers on the saddle of his horse: one

is a short-range bow called a horse bow used for shooting from horseback, and the other is a composite bow with a greater range used for shooting long distances. In addition to extra arrows — usually about 60 for each type of bow — many warriors also carried arrows with specialized purposes, such as armorpiercing arrows, blunt stun-arrows,

flaming arrows, and even whistling signal arrows.

In the table on the following page, one asterisk (*) indicates a bow that requires two free hands to load and fire, two (**) indicate that you should add the values of the bow and arrow to determine the final modifier, and three (***) indicate that the arrow deals non-lethal damage.

Characteristics: Int +1 (1), Per –1 (1), Pre +2 (1), Com +1, Str –2 (1), Sta +2 (1), Dex –1 (1), Qik +1 (1)

Size: 0 Age: 55

Decrepitude: 1 (5) Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Wise One; Summoning (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 114); Ghostly Warder (homeland spirit); Puissant Ability (Ride), Warrior; Enemies (Europe); Outsider; Disfigured (scars), Infamous, Vow (loyalty to the Great Khan)

Personality Traits: Resolute +3, Ruthless +5, Discerning +4

Reputations: Murderous 4 (local), Spirit-worshipper 3 (Infernal)

Combat:

Dagger: Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +1

Composite Bow (mounted): Init –1, Attack +12, Defense +10, Damage +5

Composite Bow (on foot): Init –3, Attack +9, Defense +7, Damage +5

Saber (mounted): Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +9, Damage +4 Saber (on foot): Init +1, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +4

Spear (mounted): Init +3, Attack +7, Defense +7, Damage +3

Spear (on foot): Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +3

Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6– 10), –5 (11–15), Inc. (20+)

Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (in combat), Bargain 3 (spirits), Bows 5 (composite), Craft Bows 2, Brawl 2 (dagger), Faerie Lore 2 (spirits), Guile 2 (elaborate lies), Hunt 2 (tracking), Infernal Lore 3 (spirits), Leadership 2 (battlefield), Magic Lore 3 (spirits), Penetration 4 (spirits), Ride 3+2 (in battle), Single Weapon 3 (saber), Living Language Mongolian 5, Living Language Persian 3 (negotiations), Survival (steppe) 3

Arts: Summoning 22

Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather halfarmor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)

Encumbrance: 3 (3)

A few of the Mongols in the army are tribal shamans versed in the power of the spirit world, and can summon spirits to aid them in scouting out the area, attacking supernatural enemies, and spying on their opponents. More complex rules for summoning spirits in this way are found in Realms of Power: The Infernal, Chapter 11: Ars Goetia, but for the sake of simplicity you may assume that the shaman can easily summon an appropriate Faerie, Magical, or Infernal spirit of Might 30 or less and bargain with it to convince it to do his bidding. These spirits might agree to be bound to a weapon, creating a sort of enchanted device, or commanded to perform a task for the shaman. The shamans employ whatever sort of spirit is convenient to help them accomplish their objectives, even demons.

All shamans have a personal familiar spirit, usually an ancestor spirit associated with their homeland that follows them and aids them. For examples of these sorts of beings and the powers they have at their command, see The Mysteries Revised Edition or Realms of Power: Magic.

Ability	Init	Atk	Def	Dam	Range	Str	Load	Cost
Bow	–2	+4	0	+7	30	–1	2	Exp.
Bow	–2	+5	0	+8	15	–1	2	Exp.
Bow	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Std.
Bow	–1	–1	0	+2	–15	+1	0	Exp.
Bow	–1	–1	0	+2***	0	0	0	Exp.
Bow	–4	–1	0	+1	–15	0	0	Exp.
Bow	–1	–1	0	–3	+10	0	0	Exp.
		Mongolian Bow, Continued

the attack caught the shah and his troops completely by surprise, and soon all of Persia was in utter chaos.

It is said that the caliph of Baghdad, who was hostile to the shah, sent Genghis a regiment of Christian prisoners taken in the Crusades as a show of support. The Mongol army had no need for infantry, however, and these men were released. Those of them who made it back to the Holy Land eventually carried the first descriptions of the Mongol invaders to Europe. Thus, characters researching the local area lore might hear of them and prepare themselves.

By 1221 the shah flees for the Caspian Sea, but is pursued and soon caught by the Mongol army, which swells to nearly 200,000. Then, while Genghis hunts down the shah's son — for the Mongols always seek to destroy any nobles to whom their enemies might rally — his great general Subatei secures the region and begins to scout out their surroundings, sending a force of 40,000 horsemen on a reconnaissance mission into the Caucasus.

For the next fifteen years, all of western Persia is a military staging area and heavily guarded camp, as the Mongols first advance tentatively into Europe and then later invade it with their full strength. Constant patrols of mounted scouts watch the western border of the Empire carefully for threats to their army and signs of easy conquest. Information-gathering sorties periodically make their way through Mesopotamia, and overt displays of magic or heavily armed soldiers certainly attract their attention, perhaps even altering the course of Europe's history if the Mongols are forced to respond.