Wax & Wane

Welcome to Prism

Dearest traveller, my name is Caron Hal'belion and I'll be your guide to our city. Walkways dart and twist among homes hewn into gemstones, crowded spires of bursting colour rising out of the rock bed of our floating Geode. Beyond the towering rim of the city lies the endless wax sea, but within the walls thrive a people as colourful as the Glowing Hour itself, from the intellectual pinnacles of the gemmed colleges to the underground caverns where Carvers mine and make merry. The two may never meet, as our society is bisected by tradition and hierarchy ... unless perhaps one night they venture together on the solidified wax, catching some air and placing a lantern for the other half, two citizens dropping breadcrumbs into the void. 

Perhaps that void is from whence you came; we have yet to meet a citizen from without our walls.  Welcome, stranger, to Prism. 

A unique setting for your next campaign

Wax & Wane is a system-agnostic setting zine for you to role play in. It describes Prism, a city in a geode floating in a sea of wax. Intellectualism has given rise to hierarchical social order, splitting the gemmed academic castes from those who work in the physical world and remain ungemmed.  While the algorithms governing the city keep things running smoothly, and the city is too small for open hostilities, there are tensions that run through, ready to be plucked and tangled to create your own story amidst the crystals. 

In the zine

In addition to descriptions of Prism's castes and guilds, plus their ceremonies and rituals, you'll find 

• Characters - short interviews with gemmed and ungemmed members of the society 
• Geography - important locations on the Geode
• Fault lines - tensions to help you find the drama in your story
• Refractions - variations on our setting that might fit your campaign goals
• Quick Play Rules - a no-prep, gm-less way to explore a fault in Prism

Zine is 36 pages, full colour, fully illustrated.  

Wax & Wane was created by Albert Hill and Owen Forgione Hill.

Owen and Albert hard at work

This zine was originally Kickstarted during Zine Quest 3.  Thanks to all 50 of our backers who made it possible!