D100 Non-Combat City-State Encounters

DMs may use this chart to liven up the PCs stay in a city state. Some of these may work for larger client villages, or trade forts as well. 

Roll 1 D100

001: A procession is approaching. The Sorcerer King or Queen is moving through the city.

002: A templar and their guards want to arrest a player character, for crimes real or imagined. The crime should be serious, such as murder or sedition.

003: A man fleeing the templars bumps into one of the characters and slips something small into their pouch, backpack, or hand. The person then flees and is killed by the templars moments later.

004: The player characters see the templars arresting someone they know. Preferably someone close to them.

005: A young noble, seeking to make a name for themselves or showing off for their friends, challenges one of the player characters to a duel. The noble is a psionicist and will use this to their advantage.

006: A slaver will offer to buy the shoddiest dressed player character from the other characters.

007: A merchant offers to sell the group a cure for poison, or disease, at a reasonable rate. They should be very charismatic. There is a 50% chance that the cure is fake and the merchant, a charlatan. A 25% chance that the cure is fake, but the merchant did not know it was fake. And a 25% chance that the cure is real and the merchant, honest.

Session Sevety-Nine: All Your Money Won't Another Minute Buy

The group continued down the path. Julius climbed a tree, to get a good vantage point. He saw forest stretching for miles. He climbed back down and informed the group that the forest stretched for miles. No one could believe that that many trees existed in one place.
The group briefly discussed if they should explore the forest, but decided to follow the path instead. Strangely and suddenly, the treeline broke. In front of them was a desert landscape. This made no sense. Julius had seen forest here only a few minutes earlier.
On the edge of a cliff was a twenty foot tall statue of a wild dog. There were strange symbols on the coyote, along with some script written in the ancient ogre language. The legible portion of the writing indicated that the rest of the script needed to be decoded, using a riddle to do so. The group solved the first riddle easily and translated the rest of the script.

The Id Fiend and the Erdlu - A Dark Sun Fable

An id fiend had been hurt in a fight with a kirre and was unable to move. He hadn't had food or water in a few days and was nearing unconsciousness. A wild erdlu passed by and the id fiend called out to him.
"Please get me a drink of water," The id fiend begged. "Then, I might be able to regain enough strength to get myself some solid food."
"Solid food!" Replied the erdlu, "That means me! If I bring you water, you will only use it to wash me down your throat."
The wise erldu moved on and the injured id fiend died the next day.

Secrets of the Dead Lands Review, Chapter 7

Athas.org recently released Secrets of the Dead Lands. The book is a D&D 3.5 version of an unfinished manuscript, originally for AD&D 2nd edition. Although, most of the information is system neutral and can be used for any rule system. The original draft was written by Timothy Brown, co-creator of the Dark Sun setting. 

I will not be comparing the Athas.org version with the original manuscript. I will give my opinions on the completed Secrets of the Dead Lands. I have decided that I will break down the review into separate parts, by reviewing it chapter by chapter. I will not criticize the artwork or maps, as this is a free book, that was put together by fans. Although the artwork and maps have been surprisingly good.
The review of Chapter 1. 
The review of Chapter 2.
The review of Chapter 3.
The review of Chapter 4.
The review of Chapter 5.
The review of Chapter 6.

Chapter 7 - The Eastern Reaches and the Crunch
This chapter begins with a section about Chol. Chol is a vast smooth plain, with savage undead marauding clans. The section continues with a description of three of the clans. It is insinuated that there are more.
The first clan is The Black Thunder. These marauders have little to drive them, except survival. Seeing that undead survive with no need of physical nourishment, they must believe that in order to survive, they must fight the other undead. It does mention the leader of this group taking booty, but aside from corpses to raise as his minions, I do not understand what else he would take.

Athasian Hygiene

Here on Earth, we use water to keep clean. With water being a precious resource on Athas, you might ask, "How would an Athasian keep clean?" Like most things on the desert world, it breaks down to location, money, and social status.

Soap

Athasian soaps vary from city-state to city-state. Tyr creates soap made from animal fat and wood ash, while Urik creates soap from animal fat, vegetable oils, and alkaline salt. Balic uses a liquid soap mainly crafted from olive oil.

Cleaning Sand
Sand is used to clean clothes and some people. This sand is very fine and mixed with salt. This mixture bonds to dirt and sweat, then is brushed away with a cleaning brush, scraper, or rag. Clothes cleaned with cleaning sand are often scrubbed and then hung outside and beat with a rod, to remove residual dust and dirt.

Cleaning Tools

The most common cleaning implement used among all social classes is the cleaning brush. Cleaning brushes are made of a bone, wood, or metal base and stiff bristles. The bristles are generally made from stiff carru or aprig hair. These brushes are made for the sole purpose of cleaning dirt and grime from bodies or clothing. They may be used to clean other surfaces as well.
In addition, there are other tools used to keep clean. In Urik and Raam, pumice stone is used to clean the body, in all, but the most sensitive of areas. In Balic, a strigil is used to remove olive oil from the skin, taking dirt and dead skin with it. A strigil is a thin, wide, blunted hook, made of wood, bone, or metal.
Other scrapers are used by other city-state residents as well. These scrapers come in various sizes and shapes, but are all used in the same way. Before or after a bath, or any cleaning time, these scrapers are used to removed unwanted dirt and grime. After using cleaning sand, soaps, oils, or salts, the scraper is rubbed across the skin.
The common person almost always uses wood or bone cleaning tools, while wealthy individuals use metal tools. The wealthiest individuals often plate their tools in precious metals and embed them with gemstones. Simple cleaning tools can be purchased from any market, but fancy tools must be custom ordered.