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...So Much Thanks to You All, a Year Later!
Early Dark The Roleplaying Game
In Memory of Chad Anderson, rememerbered in at least one alternate universe as
Amos of Spillwoods
Anthropos Games
Austin, Texas www.anthroposgames.com © 2011 Anthropos Games All rights reserved First published 2011 Library of Congress Publication Data ISBN-13: 978-0-9834848-0-6 (hardback) ISBN-10: 0-9834848-0-6 (hardback) ISBN-10: 0-9834848-1-3 (digital PDF) ISBN-13: 978-0-9834848-1-3 (digital PDF) Printed by Regent Hong Kong Agent: Domini Williams Fonts: Hoefler Text Morpheus, by Kiwi Media Trajan Pro Bradley Hand ITC
Playtesters Michigan Posse: Andrew “Jist” Johns, Tauno Ahonen, Greg Sell, Matt Paden, Michael Anthony Davis Indiana Little Ponies: Steven Jones, Ben Grose, Aaron Harshman, Seth Harshman Many thanks to Mandie and Beth Harshman and Amanda Jones Far Lokod Pharmies: Sam Osborne, Joe Murphy, Nathan Spry, Keegan Bradley Santa Fe Johnnies: Devin Ayers the Long Bleeder, Kay “Kay” Duffy Texas Demand Mayhem: John Wesley Clark, Justin Parker Texas Nirvana: Chris Martin, Margaret Salzer, Chris “Kini” Cooke Texas Sunday Ringers: Rob Ware, Can Aciksoz, Erick “Blackthorne” Bolyard, Chris Heath Joplin Hedrin: Moose Leighton, Kate Ely, Stephen Lynch, Rachael Lynch, Alec Kumbier, Jake Steele Developed and Written by Calvin Johns Additional Development Andrew Johns, Steven Jones, Aaron Harshman, Greg Sell Additional Writing Rob Ware, Ethan Byrd, Chuck Wendig (Two Killers short story) Art Director Chris Heath Cover Illustration Even Mehl Amundsen Interior Illustrations Chris Heath, Ian Kazimer, Even Mehl Amundsen David Nash, Soufiane Mengad, Alex Drummond Mark Hyzer, Sands Gonzaga, Fredrik Dahl Tyskerud Chenthooran Nambiarooran, Paul Abrams Daniel Garcia, Timothy Terrenal, Zhenjie Zhang
Acknowledgement Special and continued thanks to Equipo Chorizo. Before disbanding over passion and principle, many tiresome hours were spent in support of this project. When every step forward seemed followed by two steps back, patience wore thin. But without the support and motivation of Equipo Chorizo the final project in your hands would have been an even longer time coming. A lasting and sincere thank you to the team.
Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Prologue
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Chapter 2 - Atlas
21
History Age of Migrations Age of Structure Second Age The Six-Fronts Wars Present Fold-Out Map Timeline
22 30 56 92 126 136 172-173 174
Chapter 3 - Census
175
Finding a Hero Step 1: Roll Scenario Step 2: Milieu Milieu Charts Step 3: Aptitudes & Traits Trait Chart Step 4: Dice & Arts Dice & Stars Chart Step 5: First Epithet Step 6: Equipment Aspect & Load Charts
176 180 182 186-208 210 213 214 214 216 217 217
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Chapter 4 - Grammar One Mechanic to Bind Them Talking Tacks Checks Difficulty Chart Saves Bouts Penalties Secondary Tacks One Turn, Many Options Combat Elements The Four Ranges Playing A Round How to Spend a Turn How to Attack How to Cast Arcane Magick How to Use Loom Magick How to Make Indirect Attacks How to Defend Hardcore Variant #1 – No Evasion Guard and Defenses Dead or Dropped Out Chart Dealing Damage Hardcore Variant #2 – All Strikes Healing, Rest & Recovery Labor & Traveling Monsters & Encounters
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219 220 223 224 225 226 230 232 234 238 240 241 242 245 247 249 252 254 258 259 260 263 264 265 266 268 270-271
Chapter 5 - Heraldry
273
Experience & Epithets Epithet Page Requirements Chart Narrative Page Amounts Chart Epithet Renown Costs Chart Wounds & Stars Chart Alignments & Renown Followers Swarms
274 274 275 276 276 278 282 283
Chapter 6 - Manual Mundane Arts Mundane Arts Chart Alchemy Ingredients Martial Arts Arcana Arcana Chart Antagony Magick Blood Magick Enchantment Magick Kinesis Magick Manipulation Magick Protagony Magick Summoning Magick Loom Magick
289 290 290-291 293 308 324 324 325 326 329 331 333 335 337 340
Chapter 7 - Poetics
345
Trials Arranging a Campaign Setting up an Encounter Arranging Followers
346 349 351 353
Chapter 8 - Almanac
357
Heroes’ Inventory Source Items Mundane Items Weapon Properties Chart Bestiary Bestiary Classifications Mundane Animals Megafauna Fell Beasts Magickal Creatures
358 360 362 362 363 363 364 367 372 375
Chapter 9 - Appendix
379
Scenario Charts Glossary
380-387 388
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Chapter the First
A Prologue The first chapter lays out some of the motives and strategies behind Early Dark. We try to explain what we want to do with the game, what you might like about it, and how it might be a little different. The game engine is a blend of old-school crunch and new-school character freedom. The world of the Hara Sea is a mixture of real and fictional cultures that marks a shift from traditional fantasy role-playing landscapes. This is the dark fantasy role-playing game we’ve always wanted, and maybe that will tickle your fancy and maybe it won’t. What everyone can get out of Early Dark is a world that changes as you like it. We are committed to building the world according to the activities and designs of the players, fleshing out cities and locales alongside their own campaigns, all without losing the mysterious, episodic feel of a party venturing across an unknown wilderness. If you are familiar with role-playing games and want to jump right into playing Early Dark, then you can probably skip right ahead to Chapter 2 or even 3.
A rakshasa in the rainforest of Ragus is set upon by Neferatha hunters and a fame-seeking Edish adventurer. Their hireling has just been slain by the razor claws of the tiger-like Fell beast, a creature known for its stench and ferocity. In the backwoods of Ragus, where magicks older than the Neferatha lie dormant, myriad dangerous creatures await fearless wanderers.
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Prologue
Foreword Over the last four years, we have developed a game that combines our favorite elements of old-school role-playing games (tactics, uncertainty, minimal crunch) with our favorite aspects of a younger generation of games (freestyle performance, player freedom, various levels of success, qualitative considerations). The resulting role-playing game is, like anything else, a hybrid of what has come before; hopefully we have included the best of both worlds. Tactical Crunch Early Dark has moving parts that allow for a range of strategy and maneuvering. We designed the game to include enough “crunch” to keep players plotting and thinking but not enough that would require them to flip through pages, referencing charts and tables constantly. In our minds, a good player makes a better hero. By playing to Aptitudes and Alignments creatively, talented players can have more fun and dig more deeply into the world of the game. Flexible Encounters Most of the numbers in Early Dark are attached to temperaments and conditions. In other words, they are circumstantial, slaves to the mood of the narrative and the timely need. The particular figures and creatures involved in an encounter, for instance, are less important than the way the Scribe arranges them together and sets up the battle. Though the Bestiary offers some suggested Aptitudes for a terse selection of animals and beasts, there are few fixed features of any individual, let alone fixed characteristics for entire species or broad kinds. By introducing elements of the Fray, an individual beast can be customized and altered even further.
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For example: Kelly, the eager new Scribe of her Early Dark role-playing group, is designing an encounter and wants to include two wild boars. Using the bare stats listed in the Bestiary (364) would make for a rather easy fight: Two beasts each with six Mundane Dice, a few solid Footings, and 3 Rolls per Round. By adding Epithets to the hunted boars, however, Kelly
can improve their Dice and abilities. Coming up with a bit of history and maybe a pair of Followers, Kelly can create quite the interesting encounter in just a few minutes (see 242). We hope this flexible construction does not preclude a sense of consistency. On the contrary, a good Scribe will offer descriptions and settings that hint boldly at what kind of creature might be at hand. It is the situation that will dictate how powerful an enemy might be, not the species or some innate quality. Of course, the sheer size of a Roc, which boasts of a wingspan over ten yards, has certain consequences that cannot be avoided; yet even such a Roc could be quantified in a variety of ways depending on its age, whether or not it is flying, if it is engaged in offense or defense, when it last ate, what time of day it is, etc. Our goal was to avoid any sense of “generic” encounters or “generic” enemies without making every encounter require more prep work than can happen in the middle of a gaming session. Each enemy is situated in a context, and a few considerations are made before the encounter takes place. Deadly Combat Remember when your first-level character got killed by a falling rock that dealt 1d8? We do. The fragility of young characters is what makes veteran characters so exceptional. They are the survivors, the lucky few, the true heroes. Characters in Early Dark are super humans, not superhumans, and we wanted to keep things suspenseful. More than Hit-or-Miss Outcomes Early Dark allows for options beyond the “all or nothing, “hit or miss” pattern of many roleplaying games. Each turn comprises a handful of actions and counteractions, and even a “miss” can result in benefits to your hero. After each roll, players build Primary and Secondary Tacks, small clusters of dice that each represents one action or another. Primary Tacks can be used to damage opponents, cast spells, or take a complicated action. Secondary Tacks
often be less intelligent than their swordswinging sidekicks. They would be disjointed, absent-minded, schizophrenic, unruly, and/ or otherwise nonsensical most of the time. Similarly, those with high Loom Dice would be disinterested in most problems and have difficulty focusing on a world of purposes, desires, and objectives.
Quirks
We wanted to replicate where magick powers are found in most cultures of the world, which is most often among the weird, the outcast, and the abject. To do that, we put everything ordinary and “real” into one Domain. The other Domains include the fantastic and the mythic.
Early Dark is our favorite fantasy role-playing game. We have to admit, however, that we do not know what your favorite RPG is. We do not have thousands of dollars to spend on market research. Sure, we read blogs and attend conventions. Sure, we listen to feedback and play with gamers all over the world. Yes, we spent this last year trying to make Early Dark as inclusive and accessible as possible based on a whole new wave of feedback… But, in the end, we made our idea of the perfect RPG. Well, for the most part: Our one great compromise is discussed in Hardcore Variant #2 on page 265. Some things in these pages are kinda quirky. For example, we do not have a list of weapons and their prices. In fact, different kinds of weapons make little mechanical difference in the game. Following the great martial arts teachers, we believe that anything you’d call a “weapon” could kill a human in a single hit. That is what weapons are made to do, from garrote to gun to grenade. So, in Early Dark, all weapons can kill people. And it might only take a single good hit to do it. Secondly, Early Dark recognizes three Domains: The Mundane, Arcane, and Loom. The Mundane Domain includes all the scholars, rogues, barbarians, soldiers, grifters, healers, and animal handlers of the world. The game roots mental, social, physical, and emotional activities all in a single Mundane realm. The two other realms are used exclusively for two forms of magick. This means magick-users are not necessarily smarter or wiser than their thick-chested barbarian friends. In fact, individuals with high Arcane Dice would
Prologue
allow you to do an assortment of other actions at the same time such as knocking over a table to build a barrier, lighting a fire behind your enemy, or trying that lock again with a different key. You use your roll to make any number of Primary and Secondary Tacks on a given turn, keeping in mind that your opponents are doing the same.
We use the spelling “magick” quite intentionally, following a real-world philosophical tradition that defines “magick” as the force and power of the human will, not necessarily something fantastic or unreal. Because the world of Early Dark aims at gritty realism, we wanted to make magick something that fit within the world as one form of human power among many, not as something wholly alien and exceptional to people. We have heard that some people do not like that spelling. Many apologies, but it lies at the very root of our mission statement and is not an attempt at being weird or unique. An interesting result of this three-fold division, however, is that every player can develop a second or third aspect of his or her character without immediately “cross-classing,” or becoming another kind of character altogether. There are no classes whose toes you can step on. Swordfighters do not need to be strong and burly. Wizards do not need to be smart and erudite. Start expanding your character in a new direction, and you don’t end up becoming more like the other characters in your party. Hopefully, even your familiar abilities start to feel a little different when you boost a new Aptitude or pick up a Raw Art.
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Prologue
The World of Early Dark Many new role-playing games are based on popular intellectual properties with a built-in audience and a ready-made world of characters, environments, and narratives. Properly speaking, Early Dark has the luxury of neither. The missing audience was never a large concern however. We are just a few people in a garage and never expect to take over the market (In the words of Wayne Campbell: Led Zeppelin didn’t write songs everybody liked; they left that to the Bee Gees). But a ready-made world is a huge advantage for players wanting to enjoy a role-playing game, offering concrete details to facilitate the feelings of immersion and pleasure associated with exploring a world. It would be great if our players could have that! Well, for that reason and others, we have always viewed Early Dark as an “alternative history” RPG. Yes, we have magick and an unrecognizable world map, but at heart this project has always used real people, real cultures, real histories as the “ready-made world” behind the game. Great, but what does that mean? Well, the five central civilizations of Early Dark are all mash-ups of real-world cultures. Our hope was to create an interesting, alternative world by matching up five historical cultures valorized by Western literature with five that were often demonized, infantilized, or outright neglected in most fantasy worlds. The five resulting cultures—each a pair of one “good guy” and one “bad guy” from popular history—became the central civilizations of the game. Of course, over years of play and development each of them has expanded in new directions and grown organically within its own history, becoming something totally new and unique. Still, the historic inspirations are there and can hopefully inform new players about the world of the Hara Sea. Following that, we encourage players to read real-world history, mythology, and ethnography to gain additional inspiration for experiencing the world of Early Dark. For the developers, it was a commitment to certain real-world inspirations that helped make the game so fantastic: We felt that we were never
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writing about cartoon fantasy heroes in magick lands but about real, gritty people making due in real, deadly environments. It is exciting to write about a group of hunters facing a twelveton mammoth with ten-foot tusks when you stop to think: People actually did that! Early Dark features the great megafauna of the last ice age, including mammoths, cave bears, and moa birds. We have avoided elves, pixies, and similar mythological creatures for a variety of reasons (see “Human Characters” below). The writers have taken great care to position Early Dark within the low-fantasy genre, with notes of dark and historical fantasy. From the very beginning, we wanted to set our game far outside the Renaissance and Medieval periods, focusing on technologies that would be more at home from 600 BCE to 600 CE. Tip: When digging through history for those “ready-made” inspirations, focus on those time periods.
The Five Cultures What is presented in this book is only part of the world of the Hara Sea. Other cultures sprung up while developing these five strands of history, and many of those are sadly not included or only briefly mentioned. There are many more tales that could be told and histories that could be written, but in trying to prepare this book, we had to make some really hard choices about what to include and what to leave for supplemental material. The Old Empire, which at one point had more than 30 pages written about it, has been instead left to the imagination of the players almost entirely. The Orashi get hardly a mention. The other Nibu people not part of the Neferatha Body are neglected entirely. The cultures of Thulhu and Phanesh are absent. Etc. When we began, we wrote faux-ethnographies, entire treatments of the five civilizations that included details of diet, kinship, religion, art, etc. We soon realized, however, that this new world would only come alive for the players if things were presented with more history and
Far from being “fluff ” or “filler,” the narratives included in this book are intended to demonstrate just what the game is about, how a hero is born. The feedback has been great so far, and many of you have already come up with new heroes, new stories, and new locales that we can include in later releases. We really want this world to be filled up with your characters, and we intend to include as many details of your home campaigns in future products as we can. None of the references to other works of art in this book constitute challenges to the individual copyrights of those works of art. The following references are broad allusions to feels or flavors that we see in common between our work and the work of others, but Early Dark is not based in any way on these works of art nor does the game seek to represent the copyrighted material in any way. The world of the Hara Sea celebrates towering cities as well as tiny farms, infamous kings as well as forgotten kingdoms, the extraordinary as well as the ordinary. Remember the worlds of Conan the Barbarian (Milius 1982) and 10,000 B.C. (Emmerich 2008). Although powerful, cities are few and far between. The majority of people live in villages, many unaware of what kingdom or empire they are now a part of. Knowledge is hard to come by, and the secrets of writing, metallurgy, and masonry are jealously guarded by those who possess them. Although the following pages contain a wealth of information concerning history of heroes, players can assume their characters have access to but a sliver of that information. Everyday farmers and serfs will have no idea if gods are real, which magicks can be trusted, or where the nearby road leads.
Prologue
heroes and less recipes and textile traditions. Many of the details were left out in favor of higher adventure and compelling themes, but all that stuff still exists and will hopefully show up in future publications.
Vayok The Vayok civilization blends the much-loved Norse culture with a culture entirely ignored in Eurocentric fantasy literature, the Inuit. We retained many elements of the Norse in our presentation of the Vayok, including their bravado and technology and role in history, while the basic lifestyle and appearance of the Inuit peoples took the fore. Wolves capture the American imagination easily, but what about walruses? We wanted to make a roleplaying game that made walruses bad-asses too. The Vayok are a culture made up of small settlements based on the unofficial influence and authority of elders. Clan identity is more important than the nuclear family, and there is no coin economy in place. Vayoks use sleds and dogs to hunt large game over the tundra, and prey on animals such as walruses, seals, bears, whales, and caribou. Really, the Vayok took on a life of their own very early in development and have been a favorite of players all over. We encourage you to make up your own clans and histories as well. The 2001 film Atanarjuat (Kunuk) illustrates a beautiful Inuit myth, and plenty of Norse portrayals are out there in Hollywood. We tried to stick to the pre-Viking era, but you can do whatever you like. Anu The Anu take as their central inspiration Han Dynasty China. This beautiful culture is heavily represented in contemporary fantasy films and literature, and players of Early Dark will be familiar with many of the cultural forms present in the Anu world. Plenty of interesting features of that culture, however, have been less visible to many fantasy readers, including the way family was viewed and how extensive the governmental bureaucracy really became. Added to this root is the Olmec culture of Central America, a world rich, imaginative, and largely lost to history. We set out to borrow the architecture, religion, and symbolism of a culture known mainly to archaeologists, and the research was fun. Does it work? Well, for us, the Anu came together rather easily, and the diverse Kuludo Islands, populated with maize
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Prologue
and Flower, took shape alongside the people who would live there. While developing the Anu people, many events in their history began to move the culture in the direction of the Japanese Bakufu, and we just let that happen. Those elements have become a favorite of roleplayers, and we felt no need stifling the natural progression that took shape. We hope you all find the result believable and realistic. The Daughter of the Empire series of novels by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts offers an exotic culture with an Anu flavor. Mix up any of Jet Li’s recent historical movies with a world of rainforests and ziggurats for an Anu vibe. Alagoth The first inspiration for the Alagoths is the hated enemy of Greece, Persia. We took the environment and the basic ethos of Persepolis as the heart of the Alagoths, adding a heavy dose of Celtic structure and religion (La Tene, Halstatt, and British strands). At first, we thought this would be the most difficult mashup, as the cultures are almost exact opposites of one another. The Persians are associated with laws, sand, vast cities, stone architecture, archery, and learning; while the Celts are associated with lawlessness, rainy cold, superstition, small settlements, clan structures, tartans, and sheep. After just a little research, however, the Alagoths came together quite well. The Persians have recently been painted as the anti-Greece, and the later Celts were at one time quite seriously the hated rival of Rome. We made the Alagoths into the perfect enemy for the Greco-Roman fantasy world. As the idea developed, a good deal of Babylonian, Goth, and Hun elements emerged as well. So it goes. Adequate portrayals of ancient Persia are hard to find, but we picked up books on war technologies and costuming off the Internet. There was a considerable amount of Zoroastrian influence that may not have lasted into the final text but is still there somewhere. Celtic technology, clothing, and traditions are a little easier to come by, though films do little justice.
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Neferatha The people of Ugurlu are a blend of one-part classical Egyptian motifs familiar to any fantasy reader and three-parts Indian epic narrative. When you find yourself translating Sanskrit, you put the activity to use mining cool cultural elements from the Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. Most of the cultural inspiration came from the epic literature of South Asia, which is easily available in translation and makes for more intense reading than Greek myth. Some Hellenism came into the Neferatha, which parallels the shared mystery religions of Greece and Egypt. The militarism of the Neferatha state complements the very bureaucratic style of the Anu state. Neither empire is evil, but no such entities can exist without blatant, arbitrary asymmetries in the citizens and servants of the imperial population. Hopefully, at least two flavors of the motives and mechanizations of empire come out in the text that follows. Edish What if a robust Native American culture combined with the remnants of a GrecoRoman culture on the wane? Instead of Goths and Vandals, what if Native Americans sounded the death knell of Rome? We were hooked immediately. It sounded simple but became the most difficult mash-up of the group. We did not want to homogenize the great variety of Native American traditions and cultures, so we focused mainly on Ojibwe research and built up from there as best we could (borrowing from the Great Plains branch for the more nomadic elements). We also wanted to explore what kinds of art and philosophy could develop outside the slave economy that existed in Greece and Rome. In other words: How much wealth does a culture need before the idle elites sit around dreaming up allegories about caves? What other conditions could produce such philosophical speculation? We never really got to tackle that question as we hoped to. With the importance of tribal identities among the Edish and the practice of conquering native Edradan cities came a slave economy reminiscent of Greece.
Another goal we had was to portray totems as representing both ancestors and leaders (or “big men”) more so than simply animal spirits and gods (or a tall wooden pole!). Totemism is an interesting belief system relating cultures to environments, and we hoped to offer an alternative to some of the grade school presentations of totems popular in the United States. At one point, the Edish started to feel rather Rus, an eastward-traveling Viking people portrayed in the film Wolfhound (Lebedev 2007). We tried pulling away from that, but some of the images stuck. Urusla Le Guin’s Earthsea books feel similar to the urban Edish world in regards to non-European technology, philosophy, and culture. Some Roman Britain elements started to arise as well, which may be more understandable.
Heroes and Myth Heroes in Early Dark are cultural heroes in the making, like Perseus, Arjuna, Gaozu, Beowulf, Alexander, Odysseus, or Nanabozho before them. These leaders are rallying icons for people who later venerate and celebrate their lives. Each hero in Early Dark becomes larger than life in a world where history and story overlap. Throughout the game, your hero exists in this tentative world of myth, and changes that occur during role-playing can affect both the past and future of your character (Because everything is in the past when your hero is remembered a thousand years later). This might seem a small change from other role-playing games, but it produces a significant difference during play: If your character earns the epithet King, is this a new rank or has the character been king all along without anyone knowing? You do not just become a more powerful hero; you become the center of a deeper, more important story.
The decision to have humans as the sole playable species fits with Early Dark’s lowfantasy aspirations and further roots the game in a historic, realistic setting. From the very beginning, we wanted to highlight the fantastical elements of myth (magick, monsters, and heroism) with the oft-ignored truisms of real life (disease, filth, family, ignorance, superstition, and identity), We wanted everyday grit mixed with lofty myth.
Each choice can develop either the past or the future of your character. This means players need not spend hours writing a complete backstory for their new characters. Everyone wants to be the long-lost princess that escaped a slaughter in Ugurlu with the aid of handmaidens, but who is willing to purchase an Epithet that makes such a boast true? Everyone hopes to be the promised protector who leads the down-trodden peasants in a glorious revolution, but who purchases an Epithet to set that prophecy in motion? Epithets are the key to fleshing out your character and creating a written record of your hero that can withstand the test of time and trickle all the way into our own bedtime stories.
Character Creation Many games advocate starting the character creation process with a concept for the hero you want to play, and then slowly building a character to fit that vision as best you can. It is the objective of Early Dark, however, to have characters that can be seen as realistic products of their environments and social classes. How could you know what kind of character to create until you know what culture you will be a part of?
No Races in Early Dark Heritage is a good word for describing how pre-modern cultures viewed race. The cultural tradition that formed someone was a large part of who he or she was, his or her race/ heritage. In contemporary social thought, the word “race” is dangerously ambiguous and great debate surrounds its use. If race is a cultural construct that causes so much violence, both physical and symbolic, why maintain its use as a category? If race is removed from discourse,
On Heroes
Prologue
Important to note: Slave economies in the ancient world were starkly different from the historical conditions of slavery in the American context.
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Prologue
however, as in modern day France, what language will people have to speak of racially motivated discrimination? In Early Dark, we handle the concept of race, popular in other role-playing games, with the help of a historical perspective: Ancient civilizations characterized race in vastly different ways than modern folk. In Rome and China, race had more to do with tribal or familial affiliations. In many civilizations, such as the ancient Greeks, language was more important than appearance, and using skincolor as the basis of all racial boundaries was not ubiquitous as it is today’s United States. In most instances, adopting a culture’s norms and ways of living made a person, whatever their appearance, part of that “race” as characterized by outside observers. This is not to say it was always a happy category that everyone agreed upon, but it was broader than it is today. The Heritages in Early Dark at first seem less important than in other games; they offer no immediate bonuses or penalties and do not include any fairytale creatures, only earthy humans. This initial similarity among the “races” aims at revaluing race as something less determinant of a person’s abilities, attributes or personality.
On Aptitudes The Aptitudes of Early Dark represent a move away from attributes that mark fixed features of your hero. Aptitudes represent both what your hero is likely to do and what he or she might be good at. Taken together, the Aptitudes give your hero a temperament, or a mode of behavior. They do not represent strengths and weaknesses per se, or characteristics, or properties. We like to say that they manage verbs, not adjectives.
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For example: Andrew’s Edish magicker, Jist, has a high Labor, which covers how likely Jist is to use his body’s size to get things done, how often he pushes on the environment or moves weight around. At first, this sounds analogous to the Strength attribute common in other games. But Strength measures how
strong a hero is: Characters with a high Strength would be muscular, well-built, and large. A high Labor, on the other hand, might mean such things, but more often than not simply focuses on the temperament of the person more so than the exact features. As it turns out, Jist is a slight but ferocious fighter who uses his fists, knees, and elbows when attacking foes. We can’t be sure what he looks like or what ‘class’ he is by looking at his Aptitudes, but we might be able to guess what he would do if cornered by a nosey aristocrat at a dull party.
On Dealing Damage Like many other games that eschew “hit points,” Early Dark measures physical damage in fewer, larger chunks called Wounds. When slaying enemies, the goal is to roll a Strike that is higher than the Defense Threshold of your enemy, which deals a Wound. When a hero rolls such a Strike, the group narrates together the damage dealt. In many cases, when fighting unimportant or commonplace villains, a single Wound is enough to kill an enemy. In Early Dark, a single Wound is a big deal. A Wound represents one injury or another substantial enough to be recorded in the story of your hero. Many characters in the world only have one such injury remembered by generations past: The moment your hero hits them and kills them. Some enemies will have multiple Wounds because battles waged on for many hours and took surprising twists, making a more interesting story for later poets to orate. Dealing Wounds is the only way to slay an enemy. To make dealing Wounds easier, however, there is a whole range of actions your hero can take. Dealing Fatigue is the most common way: By wearing an opponent down and lowering his or her Guard, it is easier to score that lethal blow. Other actions offer certain Penalties to an enemy, ignore its Armor and defenses, or provide aid to your companions. There may be a few moving parts in the machine, but everything points towards rolling a high Strike and dealing Wounds.
Prologue
We have these grand inspirations and grander conceits, but, in the end, this is just a game. And we are but amateurs. Early Dark is another home-brewed addition to a great hobby and a large canon of more professional recipes. Many humble, sincere thanks to you, fair taster of brew! May you have fun and get rowdy with your friends playing this RPG into the wee hours of the night. There are probably holes here and there. You may need to polish some rough patches. Consider this a toolbox for hours and years of gaming pleasure. We invite you to take ownership of the game, make edits, change rules, adjust things whenever it makes for a better time. These rules are fluid and changing, and your input can be a big part of that. Please let us know what we can do to make a bigger world and a better playing experience. Enjoy!
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Chapter the Second
Atlas of History This is the world of the Hara Sea, an atlas of its history and peoples. The five major cultures roughly correspond to regions in the world, though unknown cultures and vast tracts of wilderness still exist. This chapter will cover roughly 1000 years of history and give you what you need to imagine the day-to-day lives of Edish citizens, Neferatha imperialists, Alagoth warriors, Anu lords, and Vayok hunters. We have focused on the narrative and the broad to maintain a “sandbox” feel for players who do not want a world with every corner charted and each city mapped. What does the Anu honor code look like exactly? When does an Alagoth male lose his place in his father’s lineage? How does an Edish commune with the Fey when gaining a new totem? There are hints and examples in the pages that follow, but a set-in-stone definition will elude you. We feel examples are the best way to learn versus hard and fast rules or mandates. Play the cultures as you feel, and supplemental material will fill out the world as the players inhabit and imagine it. If you want a quick rundown of the cultures, skim for the boxed text throughout the following pages and start reading more closely at the Six-Fronts Wars section on page 126. We backloaded certain information (and a great many images) into that section and beyond for those who want to skip the “fluff ” of the more narrative sections. Keep in mind, however, that useful cultural knowledge is found throughout the chapter, not just “filler” stories and myths. In the later sections you will get quicker, more direct descriptions of the current situations and conflicts of the world of the Hara Sea.
The Janeshka cult from Uranishad opened a temple in Lokod in 881 IC. Many urban Edish, generations lost from their totems and nomadic ancestors, succumbed to the intrigue of esoteric rites and hierarchies at the root of Neferatha religion. The growing use of Anu Flower embedded the cultic practices into the very bodies and cravings of devotees across Ragus and Upper Edrada.
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Histories & the First Age Atlas
A long-dead empire ruled over much of Edrada, Gundrada, and Ragus in centuries forgotten. The capital sat in Lokod, though little else is known of the people. Their cities were designed to mirror the constellations above, and a great knowledge of the Loom must have ordered the state. Of course, all this could be mere legend, and who now alive could verify the claims? By the end of this Age, all the great civilizations of the First Age had vanished. The Hara Sea was lost to history, and many scholars see no evidence of large-scale settlements for almost a thousand years. What came before the founding of Ugurlu? What existed before the Anu landed at Kuludo?
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The Maalthor Mountains pierce the ice at the center of Vaankur, ten immense spires of black rock that jut straight from cracks in the glacial earth. Wandering the flat plains of ice around the mountains for many leagues are giants and spirits, the land dangerous for even the most mighty Vayok hunters. Old structures of stone can be found dotting the plateau even deep into the center of the island, where storms never cease and sun rarely shines, their origins lost in songs forgotten by any human tongue.
The Nature of the World
The deep, aging forest is a thread. Bundled within this thread, twisting against it, swirling around it and over the Tapestry are the ten thousand things that give the forest its life. A thousand threads, each a single tree, twist and stitch over one another. Each tree a thousand leaves, and each leaf a thousand threads. A thousand birds fly over those trees, a thread for each kind, a thread for each life, a thread for each path made through the sky on a night’s flight. All of these woven into shapes and images on the surface of one Great Tapestry. Beneath the green canopy a thousand beasts live and die, a thread for each kind, a thread for each life, a thread for each trail taken among the undergrowth. A thousand threads of grass and stalk and needle give shape and character to the earth. A thousand threads—petals and vines and thorns—reach from the soil up into the trees. All come together to produce a blossom image on the tapestry, a single swirl of green in the shape of a single forest. And the forest itself a single thread among others that give the earth its boundaries and the continents their shape. All things that come to have a name have a thread. All things that can be seen or felt each have a thread, are made of threads, weave into greater threads. And each participates in the coiling images and the singular image of the Tapestry. Nothing can exist without a thread, a trace, a place in the Whole.
The Loom As each thread courses through the Tapestry, so each new shape arises. First the firmaments and the seas weave their courses. Then greener threads, vast tracts of grass and field, extend along the surface. Embroidered above and through these grand patterns, threads weave cavern, crag, and canyon. More threads come together producing bird, beast, and human. More threads, each twisting and bundled with others, produce species and kinds. Springing from each new twist of thread is a new being, a new creature. The pattern grows; layers are added. Life is complex and beautiful. This order is the Loom, the course and pattern of this world.
Atlas
The world is a Great Tapestry. Embroidery upon embroidery, it is both vast and intricate. Each thread woven into this tapestry is a life. Each thread the course of one life, one thought, one element. Each thread the trace of a motion or a moment. Woven together, thread works with thread, forming shapes and larger patterns. The dark mountains, the subtle wind, the living sea—each in itself a single thread, and at the same time each a bundle of many threads, a pattern stitched with thousands of smaller lives and elements. All of history is a single thread, all of time, the emergence and evolution of all life—each a thread, yet each again stitched with countless smaller threads.
The Loom is made as we live it, Things become what they are called. As life and name make course, So the ten thousand things are born across.
Fey Spirits
Everything in nature that has a name has a spirit. Each rock, tree, and flower has one, and so do the mountain ranges, forests, and gardens that contain them. Each grain of sand in the Nameless Desert, as well as the Desert itself. The East Wind that buffets Isa Ragus in spring, and the North Wind that warms the Edradan coast. The Maalthor Mountains and each of the ten peaks therein. The Red River that cuts Gundrada in half, the Megwan Delta at its end, and the Onokiowa Falls that feed it. All and each a spirit: Part of the world, part of each other, related and bundled as the threads that sustain them. No one knows where the idea of names came from, who first spoke them, or how humans came to know them. Those who pursue knowledge of the threads believe that early in
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the life of this world, before the edges of the Tapestry were hemmed and fixed, sound and substance were one. Somehow the Fey live in both worlds, bridging thread and song.
Atlas
Each Fey spirit is a living essence of its Hearth. It is both a part of its Hearth and something other than it: a watcher, a patron, an emblem. Just as the human spirit is both part of the body and yet somehow outside it, so the Fey live within and around their Hearths. The Fey are not bound by time as we humans are; they are as eternal as the nature that births them. Instead, Fey are bound by space. The further a Fey is summoned from its Hearth, the younger and weaker it appears. At a very great distance from its Hearth, a Fey spirit becomes nothing more than a wisp of light at the edge of human vision. It is even possible for the spirit to forget itself entirely, being so disconnected from its Hearth that is loses all self-awareness, so tightly bound is a Fey to its Hearth. Closer to the Hearth, Fey spirits can resemble humans, though more graceful and lithe. It is said that Fey have at times mingled in human settlements, partaking of human affairs and even marrying into human families. The truth of such claims is impossible to say, as the reasons any Fey might have to take an interest in the human world are impossible to guess. No offspring of such unions have been documented. Upon its Hearth, a Fey appearing in our world is supremely powerful, the living force of the threads themselves. Fey wield the Loom beyond the limits of human understanding, washing away time, leveling mountains, reshaping the seas. Shape and Appearance of the Fey Weavers use names when conjuring from nearby Hearths, and upon manifesting a Fey will take on an appearance dictated by its Hearth and the names it echoes. Fey are recorded as having human-like faces on heads and bodies of animal, tree, or sod. The appearance of such creatures has been known to shatter weak minds.
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Understanding the ways of the Fey is impossible. Mercurial beings, they take shape only when summoned or, more mysteriously, through a ripple in the Tapestry caused by other magicks. The human world means little, if anything, to most Fey. They are attached to the fabric of the world, at one with the threads that give shape and life to everything, and somehow beholden to the subtle magicks of the early races, who first invented language and names. When in the presence of Fell creatures, Fey lose much of their power over the Loom. The only verified tales of Fey interacting with humans involve Fey spirits requesting human assistance clearing their Hearths of Fell beasts. If all human life were wiped from the face of the earth, the Fey—those who noticed at all—would give no more than a shrug. What comes and goes is no concern of theirs, as coming and going are both part of the great cycles of the world, the patterns of the Loom. Mages, however, have been known to attract local Fey who spawn when the casters tear and
twist the Tapestry. Great corrective agents, Fey are known to stalk mages and destroy them, bringing order back to the world.
When the world was young, the Tapestry growing and without hemmed edges, the Fray was likewise open and unbound. Beings that arose on the underside were free to enter and roam upon the surface. Many such creatures spawned in the Fray set out to see the face of the Tapestry. Their very nature was chaos, absurdity; there was no place for them upon the face of the world, but there they crept, dragging their unkempt threads through the young fields, marring the pattern of the world.
Atlas
The Tapestry is vast, the surface rich with detail, filled in a collage of images, lives, and shapes. Yet there is an underside to such a tapestry: A place of loose ends; knotted, stunted threads; misshapen images, the distorted reflections of what lie on the reverse; threads cast and stretched about without beauty, without cause. When this underside shows not distortions of the surface beauty and order, it shows inadvertent new shapes, unplanned patterns and beings. This underside is the Fray, a realm of disorder and chaos, the cast off working drafts of the Great Tapestry.
and discord. The Elder Gods are creatures of flesh and blood. They have motives, needs, and will. From wild and chaos they must partially bow to the order of this world to wander within it. These are beings of great power. Forever inside them they carry the chaos of the Fray. They mar the Loom by traversing it, leaving torn and unkempt threads in their wake. An Elder God is the only being capable of truly killing an immortal Fey, erasing its name and history. These Gods of change and flux are far from evil, though many cultures might say that of them. They are pure will, pure desire, the capacity to see beyond the fixed rhythms of the Loom and make their own ways. When an Elder God dies, its body rots through the Tapestry, creating a Barrow, or Fray Mouth. These permanent tears in the Fray taint the surrounding areas, spawning Fell beasts and warping the landscapes. A corpse may take a thousand years to fully decompose, and the resulting Barrow may appear as a narrow shaft in the rock, a wide-mouthed cave, or an enormous crater of steam and ash.
Fray Tyrants When the tapestry was young, still being woven together by the coursing of the threads, the Fray was alive and active. Expanding on the edge of this world was a world of chaos and formlessness. As patterns inevitably emerged in the chaos, creatures were born, and in time, these creatures found their way upon the surface of the tapestry. Without edges, the world was open. No boundary marked the divide between order and chaos. These creatures spawned before the world was fixed are known as the Elder Gods. Elder Gods Called many things by humans countless eons later: Old Gods, Dark Ones, Tyrants, and Fray Gods. They are beings caught on the surface of the Tapestry though their natures are of chaos
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The Boundaries Made
Atlas
After the world was fixed, order was mandated. The Great Loom coursed on, and the Hem of the Tapestry was set. Boundaries were made between the world of order and the world of chaos. Today the Fray is active and alive but separated from our own world, and no easy path exists between the two. As threads change and ripple, however, as people study the Loom and tug on certain strings, gaps emerge. Fray beasts crawl up through the holes in the fabric, taking shapes that are distortions of those found in our own world. They are nightmares and horrors. These are the Fiends and Lesser Gods, beasts who enter our world after the hemming of the Tapestry. They are twisted and cunning, their minds quick to see through human ways and wiles. Nature of the Fray Sages disagree over the true nature of the Fray. Some say it is a natural part of the Loom and should be embraced. Others say that it is but a necessary evil and should be resisted to keep it from spreading. Yet others consider the Fray an
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evil that mars the fine pattern of the Loom, powerful enough to destroy the order and laws our world is based on. There are even those who believe the Fray a mirage, a reflection only with no power of its own outside what is given to it in the minds of humans. Some view the Fray as not frayed at all, holding that both sides of the tapestry are organized according to their own patterns; though we cannot understand the patterns of the Fray, they are natural and quite orderly from another perspective.
The Advent of Humankind
And those who wanted to know the older patterns, the older languages, the first histories—They were set apart from the rest of the settlements, held at the edges of the villages and camps. In these outskirts and frontiers, they stumbled upon those old tears in the Tapestry caused by the decaying gods. Soon these outcasts learned that the Fray Mouths offered power, unpredictable but potent. The outcasts became prophets, bringing those from the villages out into the wilderness, naming the sacred places, teaching the wills of the gods. But the Fray Mouths were only graves, mystical places for sure, but the tombs of dead gods. While a palpable aura emanated from the ancient barrows and fissures, it was the prophets who assumed the real power.
For all their talk of faith and spirits, humans most often worshipped other humans. Those with charisma or the slight advantage readily took positions of official power among young settlements and spread the doctrines of whatever gods they chose. When new kings rose up against old kings and stole the power of state, new gods replaced old gods in the hearts and minds of the less fortunate
Atlas
Humans emerged after the world was fixed. Most of the Elder Gods lay dormant, and the Fey were less numerous in those times. The young race spread and grew, so like—and yet so unlike—the animals that had come before. They heard the echoes of language in the world and began giving their own names. Humans soon uncovered the rich history of the world they inherited, but fast were they making their own histories as well. Through a human lens they saw and taught the patterns of the world, projecting as all animals do their own needs and designs upon nature: Edible foods catch the eye, while inedible plants fade from view; lands capable of supporting humans appear beautiful, while harsh lands are called ugly; the day is seen as the realm of goodness, while the night houses only evil. There was hardly time in a single life to learn both the patterns of nature and the patterns of humanity, and most chose quite unconsciously to study the human order for it offered a map catered to life among the species.
Early Hubs of Magick But rarely. One time in a hundred, a thousand. The fissures in the crust were not Barrows at all, but deep cracks that led down into the roots of the earth and held a sleeping Old One. That true magick existed in the deep places of the earth meant little to peasants and slaves who already had their gods and priests. The power of the priests was real enough, their wills capable of silencing dissenters, meting out justice, or finding cures for the sick. True magick was but one power among many in the world, and few could see it. Few could follow the whispers in the deep tunnels and find the source of magick. But those few soon started learning, uncovering, teaching. In three places the Elder Gods were found: Between two crystal lakes fed by the waterfalls of a mountain range, on an island of black soil and deep caves, at the heart of a sweltering forest tucked against roots of rock. Humans began learning magick. Magick and the Fey Every language carries a trace of the old races and tugs at the nature of the Tapestry. As human languages multiplied, the Fey became numerous and aware. Wrinkles formed in the Loom, summoning spirits and breathing new life into the world. Though difficult to see, the growth of the human world was coeval with the enchanting of nature. But the languages of magick taught by the Elder Gods were more raw, more concentrated. Words from before the world was hemmed had power to alter the order of things, stretch the Tapestry, add patterns they wanted. As the Tapestry buckled
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and warped under the words of the old magick, the Fey became restless and more tangible.
Atlas
The Fey who found themselves wandering the world began teaching a magick of their own. They taught humans how to see the patterns of the stars and planets, how to stitch within and along the Tapestry, how to calm the vibrating Threads, plucked and strummed so ferociously by others.
The Old Edradan Empire Weavers arose, masters of the Loom, individuals spun of strong threads who existed as forces of nature in human form, laws made living. They came, birthed by human parents, to smooth a firm hand over the many creases marring the Tapestry. It is said that forty-one Weavers are predicted in the Loom, written into history. Less than half are accounted for, and rarely will schools devoted to the topic agree. But, it is held by most that into the first age of magick, when humans learned secret arts from gods and Fey, came three such Weavers. The Threads witness history, and scholars have learned to read the past and future in thicker bundles and patterns of the Loom. Most Threads are intangible, visible only to those specially gifted with insight by the Fey. Some Threads, those with grave importance, are so consequential they manifest at the edge of sight in our world. They represent the physical laws we take for granted, the properties of matter and time. It is said that the more directly a Thread connects to an individual, the more tangible it becomes. A small portion of Threads, those that reflect the most fundamental aspects of the Tapestry, point directly at earth. We see them only in cross-section; they appear as small circles of light in the night sky, or as a large, pulsing circle of light in the day. To even the untrained eye, the stars of the heavens are alive with images of the past and future, pulling and directing the earth along its course.
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All patterns came naturally to the Weavers, who saw the comings and goings of nature that bent to neither will nor desire and flowed according to the laws of the Tapestry. Systems, complexes, cause and effect, larger wholes— the realm of the Weaver all. Knowing every consequence of an action without attaching to them any meaning or value, the disinterested Weavers went about smoothing. The First The First Weaver arose in Edrada and is tied to the founding of a great city between the two-color plains. The streets mapped the stars above, and the entire layout reflected the pattern of the Loom, a single city inhabited by a hundred tongues. With a mighty fist and a powerful voice, the First Weaver founded other great cities, each beneath a dense intersection of influential Threads. The recently awoken Elder Gods rebelled against the Weaver’s ordering of the world, and so citadels were constructed as observation towers for the Threads and as fortresses against the minions of the Tyrants. And there were always scattered humans who resisted the Loom and the Weaver as well, those who sought to leave their own marks upon the world, relishing in the power and play of language and magick. It was a time of great violence.
The Second Many credit the Second Weaver with bringing unnatural seasons to Vaankur. Beyond the Maalthor Mountains, the cycles of day and night are disturbed for part of the year, and dancing spirits, green and red, can be seen in the night sky when the equinox is near. A biting cold swirls around the island, chilling the air and freezing the ground, while fifty leagues away on Gundrada the air is warm and the soil fertile. The Thread of the Second Weaver is difficult to interpret, but many poets sensitive to the Loom describe the Sage as an enemy to the giants. The oldest songs say that the frozen ground of Vaankur imprisons the giants below, a seal of ice formed by the Second Weaver.
that arced around the Hara Sea were brought together under a single empire centered in Edrada. Roads connected cities, further tracing the paths of the stars and the coursing of the Threads. The surface of the earth, speckled by evidence of the old magicks, came into alignment under the heavens again. It was not a time of peace for humankind, but the setting of bones is rarely welcomed and a pruned tree is rarely grateful.
Atlas
The Weaver expired, and in time, the united cities began to war with one another. Even the wise can disagree, and all balance is fleeting. Conflicts that began in disagreement ended in bloodshed. Strong kings and queens arose, and powerful warlords united those never welcomed in the gleaming cities. Not all humans gave up studying the arts of the Ancient Ones when the Weaver had ruled, and magickers emerged willing to forge patterns of their own. Some of these came with the kindest hearts, patching holes and healing bodies. Some came with fire.
As the Elder Gods died out, the Fey quieted, and magick waned. Humans forgot, and the Edradan Empire, built in the very image of the heavens, stood a thousand years before crumbling as all things do. Nature took its course, and soon the ruins became part of the land itself.
The Third When all but the last of the Elder Gods were gone, the Third Weaver was born to forge a new era of order. From the warring kingdoms a ruler emerged with a strong hand and a keen mind. Under the guidance of the Third Weaver, the cities
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Age of Migrations
(until 300 IC)
Atlas
One thousand years passed slowly after the first human empire crumbled, and the great Lokod, once steeped in wealth and culture, lay still. It became a desolate and dark corpse amidst a landscape of similar skeletons, the bones of an empire brought to waste by causes unknown. For a thousand years no human footstep disturbed the desolation, and the Hara Sea was lost to history. But humanity had not yet finished with this region, and a new generation of great men and women, strong in magick and wild with ambition, were born into the world by the weft of the Loom. These heroes bore the keys to the future of humanity.
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Great towers aged and withered dot the landscapes of Upper and Lower Edrada, Ragus, and parts of Gundrada. Crumbling and half-covered in foliage, many sit untended and unseen by humans. Entire cities lie hidden beneath forest and soil. Squatters and scavengers have picked clean those structures nearest current settlements, but hundreds still lie buried and hidden, waiting for seekers thirsty for treasure, danger, and secrets of the past.
The Edish Arrive in Edrada
Totems Each animal totem of the Edish peoples represents an ancestor both literal and spiritual. Individuals gather new totems by communing with the spirits, joining new tribes, and slaying rivals, weaving themselves into the family histories of these great ancestors and becoming blood relatives with all others who share the same totem. To take a totem is to join a bloodline and heritage, to tie one’s fate to the fate of the spirit and the group. Edish chieftains, called Hattan, will lead their tribes under the protection of an animal spirit, connecting all babies born into the tribe to the same totem, a totem viewed as both a spiritual and physical ancestor to the newborns. The only areas spared their short, broad blades were the ancient cities scattered across the plains. The hunt was often met with walls of stone and barbs of steel, fierce defenders protecting their lords. In such realms, the Edish found the small villages and trade routes that fed the cities much better targets. Other times, cities were empty of human life, ruins protected by elements far more dangerous than mere steel and flesh. The first Edish to try foraging around such ruins learned tragic, lasting lessons.
As the Hattan vied for power, tribes began to merge, and the strongest thrived and expanded. Soon, Upper Edrada was dominated by very few Hattan, each bearing many strong ancestral totems. The native inhabitants of the plains dwindled in number, resources became scarce, and Edish blades turned on other Edish. Smaller tribes took their hunts south of the Gold Plains, where they encountered aggressive resistance from the large horsemen of Summer Field and Lower Edrada. Caught in the middle, these smaller tribes withered, their totems weakening.
Atlas
Some centuries before present day, great numbers of Edish nomads first emigrated to Upper Edrada from the north, led by the descendants of the captains of a faded empire. Helmed by Hattan of strength and daring, the short blades and minewin songs of the warrior nomads swept across the open spaces of Upper Edrada, exalting in the hunt of man and beast. All indigenous peoples encountered were either absorbed into the lineage of the tribal totem or swept further south or west by the threat of constant raids and violence. The Edish were a strong people, and few across Edrada could stand against them; many hunts were formed, and much glory was won.
But from this certain doom came new hope: three children, gifted in magick all, were born into the Cougar tribe under Hattan Toveo, bearer of three totems. As a gift to his dying father-in-law, Toveo placed his second-born under the totem of the Stag, adding one more life to a fading lineage. The Cougar tribe bore the weakest of the few remaining totems that sought refuge near the Cataract Mountains, yet in these youths the other weary Hattan saw hope. Many years later, as Hattan Toveo breathed his last, all minewin eyes turned to his children and the Cougar tribe. At the Totemflame The twelve remaining Hattan struggling to survive in the Gold Plains came with gifts to Toveo’s funeral ceremony, which would begin with a large hunt. The gathering was held on an island that formed in the river Wanakiowa when it was swollen with the melting snow of the Cataract Mountains. Each Hattan contributed what he or she could to aid the tribe, but spring’s bounty had not yet bloomed fully and the tribes were becoming too weak to challenge even small native villages of the region. Only Toveo’s successor, the grizzled veteran Yongosona, was afforded the luxury of a newly woven tunic. But the fabric hung limp on his frame, which had long since forgotten the strength and bladeskill it had known in youth. Some would hunt while others prepared the feast.
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Atlas
Toveo’s children were too young to participate in the hunt, and they prowled the river’s bank in anticipation of the hunters’ return. When those venturing arrived, all were disappointed. The hunt had tried the walls of a nearby native city, but was repelled, suffering the deaths of Kaeno, bearer of four totems and son of the Falcon, and Hedarn, bearer of four totems and daughter of the Owl. The multitude of beasts taken on the plains were of small consolation, and the feasting and competitions were more muted and subdued than they would have been otherwise. Hedarn was the chief weaver of the minewin gathering, and was to lead the group in song to usher in the new generation of Cougar. Such were the difficulties of the times that no suitable replacement was apparent amongst the other minewin. After the feast, the ceremony began. The assembled Hattan prepared the Totemflame, setting ablaze tinder with a stick and animal sinew and stoking the fire to the height of a man. The minewin Loomists began to weave, singing the song of transferal, and the Hattan and totem-bearing hunters of renown began the ritualistic dance. The eldest of Toveo’s children, Fernedaw, a daughter of the Cougar in her sixteenth year, stood just outside the circle of light. She watched the ceremony with her siblings, Tohoveo of the Stag, a year her junior, and Ondeo, who carried thirteen years. The children were gifted in magick, and the patterns traced by the hands, voices, and dancing of the minewin shaman and Hattan manifested to them as things almost tangible. The motions and sounds carried power; the threads and the blood of all present were affected.
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Clouds of ink swirled from the fire, spiraling in a widening gyre that would soon encompass Yongosona. As the lines of color and thread moved further from the Totemflame, Tohoveo felt a sharp pang in his being. The minewin ways blended magicks of the Tapestry and the Fray, and the boy felt that something in the ritual had torn an opening to the Underside.
The vivid colors of the ink became impossibly dark, and several of the gathered dancers began to stumble in confusion. Eyes widened in the group of minewin; threads were cut and marred by the presence of the Fray. Darkness began to spread from the Totemflame, and—one by one—the members of the singing circle dropped their weaving and fled into the night. As the singers fled, the darkness spread into the spaces their songs were protecting. The children watched in horror as the men closest to the Totemflame, including Yongosona, were unraveled. Many strong hunters were lost. The darkness coalesced into a dozen darkly glistening purple arms, each fully as long as two men. The arms were straining against the earth, pulling some dark Fray beast through Toveo’s burning body toward the Edradan night. On seeing this, Fernedaw leaped toward the Totemflame. “Hattan!” she cried at the sight of her father’s body being so abused. Tohoveo and Ondeo followed her, utterly afraid but unable to leave their sister and Hattan to this fate. The Fray beast struggled to pull itself into the world, but the children were quicker. Even while heroes of many totems fled, the child Ondeo took up the aborted song of the minewin, singing of the hunt and of the strength and trophies of the Cougar. As he sang, his siblings were imbued with the atavistic powers of their shared totem. Swollen with the strength of her ancestors, Fernedaw threw herself into the creature’s arms, wrestling it with the patterns of ritual, moving through minewin forms and stances to subdue the limbs of Fray made flesh. Tohoveo felt the power of Ondeo’s chant filter through his being like a fibrous thing. His shaking hands steadied, and his focus resolved into perfect clarity. Threads only faintly felt now sprang to life before his eyes; the dance of his hands while he wove was even more intricate than that of his sister’s body as she slipped between arms and under grasping Fray talons. Fernedaw kept the beast from emerging further, and half of its arms were broken and useless by the time Tohoveo’s weaving magick
Death of the Cougar The tribe of the Cougar was undone, and its wealth and influence was absorbed by the other Gold Plains tribes, primarily the Owl. The children were entrusted to the care of Hattan Kawayo the Elk, bearer of five totems, and her mate Hotsko the Wolf. The tribe of the Wolf welcomed the orphaned youths, and Kawayo took the children into her personal retinue. The children took the Wolf as their second totem prior to coming of age, a practice not entirely foreign, and for a time the Cougar was truly lost. Children of the Loom The Wolf was a generous and strong tribe. Under the tutelage of its great warriors, the children took the new totem and began to develop their strengths. The Hattan, Kawayo the Elk, and her mate Hotsko were startled at the potential of the youths. Stories had been circulated about the Totemflame but the gifted children still surprised their new tribe. It seemed that fantasy was truth, and the children truly were as powerful as the stories suggested. Young Ondeo showed promise as a companion in the hunt. His atavistic magick was none the weaker for a lack of familiarity with the Wolf, and he channeled his new tribal totem’s power through song and ritual in support of his fellow hunters. The power of his tongue brought great honor to the tribe. Ondeo learned to use the delicate, curved blades favored by Kawayo the Elk, his surrogate mother, rather than the short wide blades used by the men of the tribe. Any
youths of the Wolf who dared ridicule him quickly learned the value of speed and guile over strength and brute force. Ondeo won many feathers, and his crest blossomed into a bouquet of acclaim. The stoic Fernedaw proved her worth domestically and at play. Everyone saw in her a future warrior. Her command of a group was unspoken; all her peers yielded silently to her calm strength, and oftentimes the mood of a hunt could be altered entirely by her presence alone. The cunning of her limbs and strong hips earned her many tokens of accomplishment in competition with the other youths of the Gold Plains tribes. Few in the region could stand against her in unarmed combat, and her crest was swollen with the broken feathers of her peers.
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sewed together the frayed edges of the Loom. The Totemflame expired and the screaming chaos of the Fray was shut away, plunging the clearing into darkness and peace. Gone were the Hattan and minewin shaman caught by the creeping shadow. Gone, too, were the body, paint, and feathers of Toveo. Fernedaw knelt in the clearing’s center, weeping silently for the loss of her Hattan, and her brothers stood on either side of her. Tohoveo’s weaving hands laid still on his sister’s shoulders; Ondeo’s continued song was the only sound to be heard on the small island and either bank of the pregnant Wanakiowa.
Of the three children, Tohoveo showed the most strength in the Loom. His actions at the Totemflame were no fluke, and the minewin shaman of the tribe of the Wolf quickly adopted him into their ranks, becoming the most powerful of the minewin of the Gold Plains by doing so. Though he had many potential mates, Tohoveo was shy and uncomfortable in the highly stylized social interactions of the tribe of the Wolf. He kept most people at a distance, only connecting through competition. Still, his skill with the Loom ensured that his fame would spread beyond the limits of his charisma. Such was the strength of the children that within a year’s time among the Wolf, Kawayo decided that their abilities warranted a hunt for their adult totems. In these three children, the Hattan saw the power to revitalize the Edish of the Gold Plains. The accolades of the siblings meant that they would not be able to join another hunting group. Few adolescents wanted their hunt overshadowed by such greatness. Fernedaw, ever conscious of those around her, reached out to her closest competitor, Kwewu. The youth was a friend whom she fancied as a possible mate. “Kwewu, I go to hunt,” she said. “I would be honored with your company now and going forward.”
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The young man was two years her elder. Before Fernedaw’s arrival, Kwewu had been the strongest wrestler of the tribe. Few bodies could match his in competition, and he broke many feathers of his peers. He had become Fernedaw’s chief sparring partner since no other youth could stand against her, but these last months he had not even been able to bend one of her feathers, while she claimed all of his, each time. “I cannot hunt with you, Fernedaw. The glory of my totem must be diminished were I in the company of one so strong as you. You and your siblings are children of the Loom. The strength of many totems lies in your blood, and hope for the future of the Edish. Men like me do not compare. I will not hunt in your shadow, Fernedaw.” A few tears as the only sign of her pain, the girl returned to the fire of Kawayo and Hotsko. Her siblings were already preparing their points and blades, and she sat down to join them. The nearness of blood soothed her somewhat, and Ondeo sang quietly of the Cougar and the hunt. The three siblings departed early the next morning, with none but each other for company. The Hunt Tohoveo, following the Loom, led them north across the Gold Plains. Each of them had chosen their totem, for Tohoveo, the Cougar of his lost tribe; for Fernedaw, the Bear; and for young Ondeo, the Raven. All three of their paths followed the same threads, and the siblings traveled together.
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Two weeks passed. They trudged on in monotony, thirsty and hungry and nearly asleep on their feet, when suddenly the silent, steep-walled canyon exploded in a frenzy of activity. A cougar sprang with deadly grace from where was once only spindly aspen trees, knocking Ondeo to the stones of the riverbed and bowling over Fernedaw. The girl and beast tumbled through the rocks. The cougar quickly rebounded and was already in flight before either child had regained their footing, but Tohoveo was faster. The animal’s threads
were clear to him as a shining web. His hands were driven by the same instinct he felt at the Totemflame, and ever so deftly his fingers danced, unraveling the beast’s heart. Its gallop slowed to a trot, and then a walk. It approached Tohoveo deferentially, and laid down at his feet, expiring. The cougar was slain; the Cougar was reborn. Ondeo was left incapacitated by the stress of the journey and the fall, so Tohoveo and Fernedaw began the preparation of the cougar’s body alone. The animal was skinned and butchered. Its flesh was consumed and the threads of its totem were tied to Tohoveo, their new bearer. During the rite, a Fell bear, old and gnarled as the mountain itself, awoke in a nearby cave. Drawn by the allure of the magick being practiced near its lair, it descended on the children in hungry excitement, lashing out erratically. Tohoveo was struck first, suffering a mortal blow across the chest. He was thrown into a desiccated pine tree with a sickening thud. Fernedaw’s bow was at the ready, and she quickly drew a bead on the animal. One, two, three arrows were loosed in rapid succession, peppering the Fell bear’s skull but not landing a killing blow. The animal advanced unfazed, a great matriarch of the mountain. Fernedaw tried to slip from its grasp, but the beast was too strong, gripping her sides and biting into her shoulder. Her scream startled Ondeo from sleep under his tunic where they had left him to recuperate. The magick in the air and the proximity of his blood kin gave him strength, and Ondeo struggled to his feet with fetish in hand, calling on the power of his ancestor totems through song. Fernedaw felt the magick enliven her limbs as the Fell brute turned to face Ondeo. She used this moment of distraction to draw her chert blade and drive it repeatedly into the Fell bear’s thick, heavily scarred throat. The bear dropped the girl, and both collapsed. Realizing that his siblings were dying, Ondeo called once more on the power of their shared blood. His fetish was a mere child’s toy, though,
Fetishes and magickal objects of all kinds can be used as Source by magickers. These allow for more potent casting by empowering the caster to wield more energy from the Fray without taking injury. See page 249 for more. Gathering up the fallen body of his totem, Ondeo immediately began the ritualistic chants of the minewin. There was little time to waste. Fortunately, the youth had performed all of the necessary acknowledgements of his totem the night before, so in a mere twenty minutes he had assumed the Raven and harvested its feathers to create a new fetish. Ondeo worked through the night in an atavistic trance. The sun rose unnoticed, only to set again on the singing youth. His song sustained him, and for two days Ondeo struggled to keep his siblings’ threads alive, channeling the power of their new totems. In mere days, and despite their apparent deaths, Fernedaw and Tohoveo had returned from fatal wounds. Finally, when they were sleeping peacefully, Ondeo, too, slept. Rebirth of the Cougar The siblings returned to the fires of the Wolf, where the week-long ceremonies of adulthood were already underway for those who had returned. Indeed, the siblings were the last of the still-living hunters to return, and many of the tribe had feared them dead.
They arrived at night, and approached Kawayo’s fire with their tunics drawn tight to hide their wounds. At the fire, they were surprised to find Kwewu. The young wrestler had been waiting by their Hattan’s fire for five days, keeping the fire that waits for returning hunters burning. He had not even washed the grit of this totem hunt from his body, nor had he received the tattoo of his new totem, the Hawk.
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and had been destroyed by the force required to save Fernedaw. In order to save them, he would need a stronger fetish. As he cast about in desperation, the Loom buckled once more, and a raven shot from the same aspens that had produced the cougar. In two bounds, Ondeo had his sister’s bow drawn with the fletching of one of the arrows they had prepared together tickling his cheek. The boy was still flush with the power of his Blood, and he let fly the arrow guided by the hands of his ancestors, the Cougar and the Wolf. The raven’s wing-beats ceased. It convulsed once against the darkening sky and plummeted into the streambed.
He gave a much-practiced speech: “I have waited for you, Fernedaw. The others feared you dead, but I knew that such strong threads are not so easily clipped from the Loom. I am shamed by my behavior before the totem hunt. My own journey taught me the way I may redeem myself.” He paused. “I see in the three of you the rebirth of a once powerful tribe. Through your strength, the strength of the Gold Plains may also be reborn, and the pains of our ancestors avenged. I will dedicate myself to hunt alongside the Cougar.” Kwewu carried great influence with the youth of the tribe, and many of the young adults followed his lead in supporting the siblings. This group of new hunters gained much honor among the small tribes with many successful forays into the surrounding lands. Both animals and men were felled in abundance, and the wealth and prestige of the tribe of the Wolf began to match that of the Owl. Kawayo recognized that Tohoveo was the true leader of the hunt, and she addressed the tribe during the totem ceremony of the very next year. “Tohoveo has once again brought the Cougar to a place of honor and renown. Many of us remember his meek arrival at the Wolf, young yet full of potential. Now he has blossomed into a strong warrior, already the bearer of three totems. He has revived the thread of his ancestors, and his life is now his own. Tohoveo, stand.” The youth did as commanded. “You are, and have always been, Tohoveo of the Cougar. In your bravery, and that of your siblings, your father’s totem lived on, and does still. Take the wealth you have earned now, and those who would follow you, and set off a new people. I would be a fool to hold you back any longer.
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Your obligation to the Wolf is over. Though I will always call you brother, I recognize you as Hattan of the Cougar.”
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The next morning, the three siblings prepared to split from the camp. They had become beloved of the tribe, and though many were sad at their departure, few were angry. Many of the young warriors, under the leadership of Kwewu, bearer of the Hawk, also took the Cougar with Hattan Kawayo’s blessing. Feasting and celebration consumed the two tribes for many days and nights, and the first games of competition were played between them. With Fernedaw and Kwewu both wearing the feathers of the Cougar, few victories were won by the Wolf. Summer Field and the Red Plains Hattan Tohoveo won ever more renown on the Edradan plains. The number of warriors among the Cougar swelled, and Tohoveo, Fernedaw, and Kwewu all led successful raids against the settled peoples of the Gold Plains and the dangerous Alagoth horsemen of the Summer Field. Soon, the Cougar was the strongest of all the Gold Plains Edish, and the other tribes dwindled more and more. The tribe of the Cougar marched south through Ironwood and crossed the Wanakiowa River into Summer Field. After a short, successful campaign against the horsemen weavers there, Tohoveo led his people east through the Cataract Mountains to the shores of Harp Lake. His sense of the Loom had become unmatched by any Edish in remembered history. As the seasonal currents of the Edradan plains shifted, so moved the tribe of the Cougar. During these migrations, the young Ondeo, bearer now of three totems, became more interested in the great cities, inhabited or otherwise. Whatever mysteries he encountered there were never revealed to others, but he often returned in triumph with some new fetish or artifact clutched against his chest.
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From Harp Lake, the Cougar swept westward, crossing the Essapesh River onto the Red
Plains, a land that few members of the tribe had ever known. Great inroads were made into these plains; the feared strength of the Red Plains Edish fell away before the might of the Cougar. The siblings and Kwewu took ever more totems in raids and the hunt, building their wealth and fame. In a few short years, the Cougar had become the mightiest tribal totem in all of Edrada.
To Lokod The speed of Ondeo’s development into the strongest minewin shaman mirrored the ascension of the Cougar tribe. His power multiplied with the secrets gleaned from the handful of artifacts and fetishes he had recovered. With this power came a growing awareness of an ancient, pulsing presence dwelling at the heart of Lokod, one of the long-abandoned cities of Upper Edrada. As the tribe rode back toward Harp Lake, the youth suggested they winter in the outskirts of the city. Though the city was abandoned, many of the structures were still intact, and Fernedaw oversaw their re-appropriation as housing for the wintering nomads. Scattered throughout Lokod’s sprawling footprint, the tribe encountered small groups of settlers and other nomads resting for winter. These people represented cultures unknown to the Edish, and they taught many new traditions to the nomads in the outskirts of the newly inhabited city. At Ondeo’s insistence, two years passed in this manner. Tohoveo used his weaving and knowledge granted by new settlers to bring irrigation and farming back the lands on their edge of the city. Despite small hostilities, the tribe flourished and grew, attracting ever more nomads as permanent residents to the city and expanding deeper into the ruins. Under a fine layer of earth, a great arena was found. In it, Totemflames and other ceremonies and competitions were held. The strongest warriors and wrestlers were invited from many rival tribes. In time, the arena of Lokod was
the truest test of a warrior’s worth. Much glory was won there, and many spears and feathers broken. Lokod once again had life moving through its streets, albeit on a much smaller scale than was known in ancient times.
Touched by the Fray Few of the Edish knew the skeleton of Lokod better than Ondeo. The youngest sibling, now in his twenty-fourth year and bearing four totems, would often disappear for days into the depths of it. Only Tohoveo and Fernedaw ever accompanied him, and then only for as short a period as the tribe would allow. Lokod was riddled with strange passageways and vast, illfelt chambers. Exploring the city was dangerous for some, but Ondeo did so without fear. After a long absence in the spring of the seventh year of Lokod’s occupation, Ondeo entered Fernedaw’s room late at night. The minewin shaman was changed. He used magick and song to muddle the mind of his concerned sister, seducing her and planting in her the seed of a child. After that night, Ondeo disappeared again into the depths of the city, neither seen nor heard from again. As the pregnancy became apparent, Fernedaw fell into a bottomless, gray humor. This malaise spread through the city. As the young woman faded, a dark power settled over the tribe. Illnesses swept through the occupied section of Lokod and its surrounding farmland. Diseases unknown claimed many. Fields that had just begun to flourish now stood fallow again, and many infants were born without elders to give them totems. The tribal paints were tainted, and the feathers of war-crests wilted. The newly won power of the Cougar faded with Fernedaw’s health. At the appointed time, her infant was born. And just as the child was brought into the world, so too did Lokod birth an Old God from the sleeping catacombs of the city. Burrowing
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After only six years of inhabiting Lokod, the tribe of the Cougar had absorbed many nomadic tribes and now numbered well into the thousands.
up from watery caves, the Dark One rampaged through the settlement, destroying buildings and devouring their inhabitants, growing in size and power with each body it consumed. Some fled the city while devils and imps spawned from the Beast’s growing bulk bit at their faces. Warriors of many tribes fought back, but each hunt dispatched against the Fray Beast only increased its size and power. Over the course of two days, the Dark One had all but destroyed the Edish settlement. Thousands of people were dead or fleeing, and the bulk of the creature pushed on. In a last gambit, Tohoveo used his Loom magick to lead the beast to the arena, away from the fleeing families. Kwewu gathered the ailing Fernedaw and her infant in his arms and escaped the city with the few hundred Edish left alive. He suffered many wounds from the imps, but he protected Fernedaw and the child with his arms and broad back. Kwewu left Fernedaw and her child with a group of survivors far out in the fallow fields. He then returned to the city to search for Tohoveo, but was knocked to the ground by an earthquake before reaching the arena. The Loom tightened around him, and the ground buckled. Regaining his feet, the Hawk charged toward the arena but found nothing. Instead of a series of buildings and the arena itself, there was a great plain of earth and rock. No sign remained of either the Fray Beast or the heroic weaver. The buildings had disappeared, completely erased and replaced with the granite bedrock on which the city was built. Kwewu returned to the survivors and found that in his absence Fernedaw had died. He carried her body himself to the riverbank where he anointed her with tears and oils. Her body drifted out into the waves while he sang the funerary rites and wove an end to her tale. Kwewu took up the child and disappeared into the Edradan night. The thread of the Cougar was lost, and her people scattered across Edrada, taking the warning of the ruins with them.
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The Neferatha Come to Ugurlu
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In the dark woods of southern Ragus, a large network of villages came under the power of a wise but ruthless witch, Crone. Touched with the Fray since childhood, Crone spent her early years as an oracle and healer. Taken by her mother and aunts to villages far from her girlhood home, Crone was welcomed among the Nibu people as a hand of divine comfort amidst the precarious life of the forest folk. She aged the course of a normal human life in this role of councilor and physician, but as her years became unnaturally long, her role grew to that of a local deity. Shaman and magickers from a hundred villages venerated her name and paid homage to her through arcane rites, celebrating her power and adding to it. Word spread that she was no longer human, and three generations grew up under her care. Through her influence, the people of the woods developed a small culture of their own, invested in the local magicks and supported by the bounty of the forest. Crone revealed the moieties, two groups of people prohibited from intermarriage. The Hands and the Feet, she created. The Hands were charged with scientific work, developing the tools of writing and mathematics, and with art. The Feet were formed as farmers and laborers. A small group of magickers became known as the Crowns, representing the very top of the head, the highest locus of energy in the human body. They spent time in meditation and arcane research. The Crowns remained outside the system of moieties and took mates from either group. Together the people discovered their origins in the dark roots of the earth, lower than the roots of tree and mountain, a source touched with the old magick. It was during this time that the people of the wood became known as the Neferatha, “the children/siblings of the root.” Fleeing the Withering It came to pass that two kings went to war in the area, and each sent emissaries to the magickers who lived deep in the woods. The mages came to Crone asking what should be
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done and which king should be given their support. She spoke: “I will visit these kings myself and bring about a resolution to this conflict. War is not the only road to prosperity.” In the guise of a tiger, Crone visited the first king, Djobodhi. His guards fled at the sight of the great beast, and Crone walked on padded paws into the king’s tent. Djobodhi drew his spear and stood firm in the face of the regal beast. Crone spoke from the mouth of the tiger: “What is it you want, king? How far does your hatred spread to the kin of King Dhumastha? If I give you the head of this king, would you spare this region the byproducts of war and take his people as your own sons and daughters?” Djobodhi agreed. In the guise of a broad, white-haired ape, Crone visited King Dhumastha on the same night. His guards stood to fight, and the witch broke their bones with her ape-fists. She walked on worn knuckles into the king’s tent. Dhumastha drew his spear to face her, and Crone spoke: “What is it you want, king? Your petty animosity with King Djobodhi will ruin this region. If I offer you the head of Djobodhi, would you spare these lands your war and take his people as your own?” Dhumastha answered: “I can make no such bargain, witch. His bloodline must end. Join me. Let your magickers aid my army, and I will bring wealth and fertile land to your people.” Displeased with the king’s words, Crone replied: “Your words are weak. Prepare your spear.” Crone and Dhumastha fought for many hours, and although the hag bested the king before morning, it is said that the wounds she suffered from the point of his spear made her body mortal once more. Crone took the spear and its two mates with her when she left the tent, curious at their origins. Some say she learned the limitations of magick that night and learned to respect the power of steel. By this time, one of the Great Trees had grown tall in the middle of the forest. Those in the region called it The Withering because it stole life from the rest of the natural rainforest and foiled any attempts to settle within its shelter.
Some say the Root of the Earth turned against Crone and forsook the Neferatha. Crone spoke to her people and to King Djobodhi about the growing dangers of the Tree: Our people must become one and move.
Crone used the spear of King Dumastha to slay Djobodhi. Let his people fend for themselves.
Coming to Anishad Within a season, Crone led the Hands and Feet of the Neferatha away from The Withering. There were four thousand on the first march. After several months, the Neferatha came to the people of Tath Nagura, an old settlement at the edge of the Parushaya Mountains, a range full of holy places for many rural cultures. The Tath people invited the Neferatha wanderers into their midst and celebrated their arrival. For a time Crone and her followers enjoyed the comforts of Tath Nagura. The Hands taught writing to the young, and the Feet helped dig a new well. It came to pass, however, that certain of the Foot caste went missing each night for some days. Eventually, their bodies were found in the dark temple of the Tath people: cut, gnawed, and ceremonially eaten. Deep in the belly of the mountain, a creature unaware of sunlight had twisted the minds of the Tath priests. Crone called many curses upon their hosts for desecrating the Neferatha Body, for any violence against one of her followers was violence against the whole. The entire city erupted into chaos. Tath women jumped upon
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King Djobodhi refused: “Take your people and flee if you must, witch. My people have grown strong and do not fear this Tree as your lot would. We have not bound our souls to the dark gods as you have, and the changing earth seeks no vengeance against our blood. We would not share your fate and bring our children into the judgment that follows you and yours.”
Neferatha men and bit their ears. Tath children drew blades against their Hand teachers. The central road was flooded with bodies, as Tath families came together into a single mob set against Crone and her people. It was a bloody battle escaping the town, and the Neferatha entered the Nameless Desert without provisions. Although the Neferatha later conquered Tath Nagura and brought the order of the four castes, rumors floated that some of the people who traced their families back to the days before the settling of Ugurlu still practiced magick of flesh and bone. As three thousand beggars, the Neferatha came to the city of Anishad, a beacon on the Wanakiowa coast, polished and cut by royal hands. They took up residence in a poor quarter of the city, building apartments divided by caste in the tenements and maintaining their culture as best they could amongst the mixing peoples who made Anishad home. Crone and her people spent twenty years licking their wounds among the streets of Anishad. The Crowns took positions as healers and alchemists in the hidden corners of the city, while the Hands and Feet earned pay as skilled workers. Over time, certain individuals became more successful than others and married into Anishad society in various degrees. The Neferatha expanded into an urban ethnic group that reached many parts of the city, though members more or less maintained the divisions of caste and respected the leadership of Crone. Hashtani and the New Body Twenty-one years before the death of Crone, the wealthy of Anishad were being pressed hard by the ruling families of Ugurlu, the largest and most powerful city in the world of the Hara Sea. Three rivals for the Anishad monarchy became apparent, two favored by the elites of Ugurlu. Crone knew her time was growing short, and she worked one final plan to ensure the growth of the Neferatha Body and the safety of her people. After healing the young child of a respected soldier, Crone gained an invitation to his estate
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home, where she met Hashtani, a maiden of thirteen and a rival for the throne. Crone spent many weeks impressing and counseling the young heiress in the soldier’s home. She learned during her stay at the estate that Hashtani was being pursued by both of her rivals, both male, who were looking to make of her a wife and thus unite two of the city’s factions against the third. Hashtani came from an old people who first settled Anishad, though their numbers were dwindling. This people counted their numbers in mothers and recorded lineages through matriarchal lines, a tradition the Neferatha too practiced. She was against marrying a man who would try to disempower her. Crone spoke to Hashtani in the house of Melrudha the soldier: “You are right that you cannot be made the puppet of your rivals by marrying one of these filthy dogs and entering their masculine order. Their offers of marriage, however, should not be spurned lightly. We can use their schemes against them. Do they each offer to marry you in secret to prevent the other from interfering?” Hashtani replied: “Yes, both ceremonies are to take place in two weeks time. But I cannot marry one of these men or I will forfeit my own lineage.” Crone agreed, comforting the girl, and continued: “My child, marry them both. Do so in secret. Marry one of them first, but consummate the other first. It would take all the scholars of Anishad to determine which is the rightful husband in
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their eyes. Take them both to your bed as often as you like, and the offspring that result will have no certain father. The lines of your rivals will end, and yours will continue. This city may yet remember the practices of their ancestors.” It came to pass as Crone planned. The city was united for the first time, and Hashtani had the highest throne. The old traditions of her people were remembered, and the precedent existed to defend her claim to supreme authority. Under Crone’s counsel, Hashtani led Anishad to prosper and had many daughters. Move from Anishad The wealthy families of Ugurlu were greatly angered by the rise of Anishad, and fifteen years after Hashtani’s coronation open war was declared between the two cities. To Hashtani’s dismay, the magick of the Crowns revealed that many of the Anishad families had already given their allegiance to relatives in Ugurlu. The city was turning against the old ways again. An army planned to strike from within the city while another from Ugurlu came from without. Crone spoke to Hashtani again, the two as grandmother and child: “These times are troubled, but do not let your daughters live in fear. I have given you this kingdom, but there is a greater kingdom to claim. Forget the dangers that undermine you here in Anishad and take control of the city of Ugurlu itself. Shed this city that strangles your people, and
my lord. These magicks used to assail us are tearing at the Tapestry that binds this world and thinning the wall that separates life from death. To wield our own power in response would surely lead to chaos.” The king bellowed: “So you send us all to our deaths? Without your magick you are a beggar and this city soon a pile of rubble.” Daesoranda then said his last words to King Naehod: “The doom of Ugurlu would be but the first such pile, my lord, for what might awaken in these catacombs would ravage cities from one side of the world to another.”
Before the trap caught Hasthani at home, she had marched a force of ten thousand soldiers against the city of Ugurlu, the Neferatha Body united as a single front. The Crowns who wielded true magick brought forth arcane curses and fire upon the city. Hashtani’s captains slew their enemies four to one. Five years of war surrounded the city, and none sent aid. The traitors in Anishad sent no support, as they were now rid of both their rivals. No other cities cared for the tight fist of Ugurlu either, and so the years of siege continued.
Twisting through the catacombs of Ugurlu, Crone led Mishtani and a small group of guards to the vault that held the last remnants of Ugurlu’s royal families. They cut their way into the dark heart of the city and found the chamber of the king heavily protected. The skirmish was bloody. Mishtani suffered a crippling wound just as her knife slit the throat of the king. All the soldiers on both sides were dead. Only the mages of Ugurlu and the two Neferatha women survived; and the Empress clutched at a wound that would soon take her life. Daesoranda spoke to Crone: “You know what lies beneath this city, and yet you wield such powers so thoughtlessly? Who are your people and from whence do they come? You must teach your followers to forsake the dark magicks and give up the arcane path. No good can come from tearing at the fabric of the world!”
In the Battle of Rams Gate, Hashtani fell by the sword just as the outer walls of the city were breached by the Neferatha army. Always beside Hashtani, Crone held the queen’s body and spoke: “The city falls, my child. You are the victor, the first empress of a kingdom that rules Ugurlu, Anisahd, Uranishad—All the cities of the coast. May you see this kingdom in the next life.” Hashtani died as the first Empress of the Neferatha, her death marking the beginning of the Imperial Calendar. Her daughter, Mishtani, was anointed Second Empress at the age of 19. It took six days to root out the former king of Ugurlu, hidden away in an underground vault. Deep within the city, King Naehod begged his magickers to rise up: “Why have I sent you sacrifices and riches if in my time of need you wield nothing of what you have learned to defend us?” The mages were reluctant, for they had learned well: the old magicks were both dangerous and fickle. Daesoranda, the most powerful magicker of the city, spoke to the king: “This city rests upon a dangerous Barrow,
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join with the Neferatha. At the same time, break the chains that reach from the dark spires of Ugurlu. The Neferatha will now have two Hands. The spear of your daughters will be as my Right Hand just as the stylus of the scribes will be as my Left. May the labor of the Feet and the vision of the Crowns complete the Body of the Neferatha, a body whose spirit grows from the very roots of the earth. Take those loyal to yourself and march on Ugurlu.” Hashtani had known no other counselor since the days of her youth, and Crone’s words won the woman’s heart.
At that moment, the light left Mishtani’s eyes. Crone spoke to the mages through tears: “The Neferatha come from the root of the world, mage. We fear no such magicks for we are its body.” At that time, a contingent of soldiers came into the room, led by Nanthuni, sister of Mishtani. Crone spoke, falling to the floor: “Kill these wizards where they stand. Nanthuni, Third Empress of the Neferatha, protect these walls. This city belongs to none but the Body of the Neferatha Empire now.” Crone died the moment after she anointed the Third Empress in the very bowels of the city, taking the warning of Daesoranda with her.
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The Horde From the Steppe
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When it seemed many peoples were on the move, from the Eastern Steppe came throngs of horsemen, entire cities borne on the backs of horses. Long caravans of settler-warriors fled the “collapsing side of the earth,” conquering by bow and sword in the names of powerful patriarchs and their sons. For generations these horsemen displaced many Edish tribes who had by that time settled in Lower Edrada. These horsefolk gained the name Alagoth (People of the Steppe), and they took little time settling in the fertile areas all around the White Forest. Among the first waves of Alagoths came the mightiest patriarchs.
Doth, Horn-Blower, Father of Chethahan, City-Burner, The Lion Who Tramples Underfoot Doth Ata Hass was an old and tested warrior by the time his people reached the White Forest. In many battles with the scattered tribes that once inhabited the harsh flats, he had proven himself a leader of men and protector of horses. Doth bore the horn of the Roshata clan from an early age and led more than twenty thousand of his kin off the desolate Steppe and into the hills of Lower Edrada. Like a winter storm came Doth Ata Hass into Lower Edrada, cold and relentless. Nomadic peoples fell like broken wheat before him, and his horses covered their land. The first city he sacked, Chethahan, near the Crimson Sea, took only the men of his huol to topple. He came by night, jumping the walls with his horses and slaying half the city as they slept. Doth was the first to arrange his chambers with hanging carpets as dividing walls, a practice he began in the vast, open halls of Chethahan. The Horn Blower spent six years in Chethahan before leaving to conquer other cities. They rarely stayed in one place that long again, and the Alagoths left little lasting impact on the cities they would invade and revel in for a time.
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The brightest of Doth’s hawad, Xareth Ata Jarus, prided himself in his prowess with the bow. He earned the names Straight Arrow and Cousin of the Wind among friends. Xareth won many games and took many horses, making rivals and enemies of cousins within Doth’s camp. Like a rock jutting up from the middle of a river, Xareth began to split the camp. When word reached Doth that a young archer was shaking the settlement, he knew his men had grown restless and petty from life in the city. The halls kept them like caged animals, and many were unfit for domestic routines. The horses lost exercise, and the flocks grew thin with constant feasts and celebrations. Doth sent word through a young servant to invite Xareth to the patriarch’s chambers for a feast, telling the young warrior to bring his closest cousins as well. Goats and sheep were slaughtered, and the entire hawad was invited. Doth’s own daughters performed the customary dances, displaying the local fashions and newer modes of dress. The men sang many songs to their patriarch and played instruments. At last, two days into the festivities, City Burner spoke: “You are my trusted hawad, the men of my heart, my arrow brothers and horse keepers. You are strong, mighty men, pillars of this camp. But the years have made us rich and fat.” With this they both cheered and laughed. “This feast marks my last in the halls of Chethahan,” Doth continued. “Call your cousins in with the flocks; send word this very night. Take your best carpets from the walls and roll them up. Choose your best servants and sons. Ready your horses, fitting them with arrows and spears. Soon we ride to the glory of Rosh! Leave the city to your nephews and daughters.” With this, the hall felt the din of loud cheers and the jangling of metal jewelry. Doth spoke once more: “We leave in two camps before the next moon. I will take the huol and their closest warriors north, and Xareth Ata Jarus will take his kin and any who would ride with him northeast.” With this the roar turned
angry, many in the huol affronted by the prestige given Xareth, a man not even of Doth’s immediate kin. The patriarch spoke, “The camp grows large, and I am not yet old enough to choose my own successors. Let this young archer take his kin and test his fortune.”
Doth and the Roshata pressed along the sea coast, winning wives and horses from the local peoples. Many cities fell before the Lion and his kinsmen. Displacing the nomadic peoples became light sport between sieges. Each new city brought more horses, arms, and wives. Doth’s sister, Haila, shared his mother, Narene. Narene bore only two children to Hass, both in his later days after the great patriarch lost many sons and daughters. In his final years, Doth was struggling with a local king, and the two could come to no peace. King Razhad led a people as unlike the Edish as were the Alagoth, and both men sought control of the lands between the sea and the Summer Field. After many men were killed in a season of skirmishes, Haila was given to Razhad as his second wife in exchange for the disputed lands. Through the sobs of Doth’s wives and daughters, Haila and her servants rode from the camp at night for a moonlit wedding. Settling in Utheranevah, she became an influential and renowned wife to Razhad, mothering three kings of her own.
Iassan, Hoof-Keeper, Taker of the First Horn, Slayer of Pel Odevah, Hunter of Tenah Roc Generations later, as peoples of the world still moved restlessly to new homes, Iassan Ata Hexeter, The Hunter-King, became a
Nabayja Hola Adarex was her father’s fifth daughter and took to the bold Iassan warmly. As the hunter grew in stature among his kin, he would bring loftier and grander gifts to the daughter of Adarex. In her father’s garden, in the presence of her maids and servants, Nabajya and Iassan took many meals together. “If you truly loved me,” teased Nabayja, “you would bring me the horn of a karkadhan. Our clan has never gained such a prize, and my father would most assuredly give me as a wife should you prove yourself so noble.” Her request was rash, impossible, but Iassan felt the heavy burden of her words nonetheless. “Should I bring such a horn, my love, I would need no man’s permission to take which wives I desired.” She felt the sting of his remark for only a moment. Dancers burst into the garden, and before long both youths became taken by the performance of Nabayja’s servants.
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Doth Ata Hass gave Xareth Ata Jarus a finely carved horn to mark his ascension to patriarch of his own clan. And so the Xarethata were born and began to roam the hills west of the White Forest. Ravaging many Edish settlements, they collected a great number of horses and found much green land for their flocks.
great master of horses among the Benarekata clan. When Iassan was very young, he fell in love with a daughter, Nabayja, among the Benarekata huol.
They spoke not a word of the horn-quest for the rest of that day. Before the next sunrise, however, with his closest cousins and two brothers, Iassan took his best horses and rode east toward the flats where roamed the karkadhans. Six days east they came across a watering hole at the edge of the Steppe. Among the twiggy brush, standing taller than a horse with at least four times the weight, an adult karkadhan lifted its many-horned head. Iassan brought an arrow to his bow and pushed Palagon, his lead horse, at a canter toward the game. The karkadhan felt the hooves of Palagon echo through the hard turf and broke in a full run away from the assaulting Alagoths. Iassan let fly the first shaft, its metal head piercing the stony hide of the beast just above its left haunch. The band of kin followed, twelve men and forty-six horses strong. The hunt was born. Iassan’s younger brother, Fahtu Ata Hexeter, tended his brother’s relief horses and rode quickly behind the Hoof Keeper on his own
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famed steed, Moturac. The karkadhan left large swells in the earth beneath its armored toes, slowing the pursuers. Earth Shaker, Horn of the Steppe, the Lion Spike—Iassan’s karkadhan rumbled through the brush. Birds filled the sky, shaken by the tremors; the dark-colored deer of Lower Edrada, skittish but large, bounded in wide arcs away from the chase. Menas Ata Menas took the second and third shots on the beast, neither arrow breaking the gray skin of the karkadhan. His horse, Petu, wore out before another arrow could be fit. Tarah Ata Mervah took many shots on the karkadhan, landing three arrows over the course of the first day. He rode both Helothul and Xenaret, horses he had groomed since youth. Serastherah Ata Mervah spiked the brute with many arrows. He rode his father’s horses in the hunt, Teroh Ata Urh and Xenatheta. As the day wore on, Iassan switched horses twice and renewed his charge. The hunt had lasted over forty leagues already, and on they pushed. Each horse had its quiver filled in turn by Fahtu, a devoted and careful brother; and Iassan dotted the Horn’s rear with shot after shot. By nightfall, half of the men had run out of horses, but onward the karkadhan rode. Iassan switched to Kereli, his sleep-stallion, buckling himself into the cushioned saddle draped across the animal’s broad back. The karkadhan, tireless and exploding dust behind it, slowed its pace only slightly as the pursuers ceased the volley of arrows for the night. Onward the animals ran under the moon. Come morning, only Iassan and Fahtu were left riding the hunt. When the sky was yet gray, however, the second brother fell away suddenly in a cloud of dirt as his final horse, Ekrehad, collapsed beneath him. Iassan panted a quick prayer for his sibling and continued on the ride, hopping from Kereli to the warrior’s final horse, Andulah Ata Neshrevah. This friend, his prized stallion, was Iassan’s final hope at felling the raging karkadhan.
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With over a hundred leagues between them and the watering hole, hunter and quarry were alone on the open Steppe. Midday came and went before the karkadhan showed signs of slowing. Fearing the peerless Andulah might not outlast the Tyrant of the Flat, Iassan drew a spear and readied for an aggressive, final gambit. He rode closer to the horned brute, its size dwarfing the slender equine frame in its shadow. With a forlorn cry, Iassan let fly the spear, piercing the karkadhan in the side. The length of shaft extending from the beast impeded each heavylegged stride. The wound was deep and lucky. The karkadhan fled no more. In a tornado of dust and uprooted grass, the ungulate spun on its hind toes and reared up as the shocked rider sped past. Catching Iassan on the shoulder, the karkadhan dropped the tall warrior from his steed. Andulah felt his load lessen and slowed to a walk, circling and stomping the ground, challenging the gray titan in order to give his master time to stand. The karkadhan paid no attention to the demonstrations of the horse, however, lowering its head toward the Alagoth, brandishing a horn longer than a man’s arm. As its foreleg dug the earth, the breath of aged nostrils shot two trails of dust in opposite directions. Using two spears to help him stand, Iassan climbed to his feet just as the Earth Shaker charged. The two fighters met with a thunderclap. Iassan was thrown back into the dirt, rolling like an empty helmet to the lip of a fissure. His first spear, however, had found the soft underside of the karkadhan’s left shoulder. When the second charge began, Iassan knew which side to favor for a final strike; without falling away, he stared down the fell tyrant. The final spear-point pierced hide, flesh, and heart. With no fight remaining, Pel Odevah, lion among his kind, toppled over where he stood and bled out. In less than a week, Iassan won Nabayja as his first wife and took his kinsmen to form a huol of his own. He bore the horn of the Iassata the rest of his days, founding a strong clan among the Alagoths. Iassan and his sons took the camp on many hunts, collecting horses, wives, and lands.
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As a father and patriarch, Iassan maintained his prowess as a hunter. After six days and fourteen horses, he, along with Fahtu and Andulah, killed Tenah Roc, the giant bird. The great raptor took two horses a day from Iassan’s camp before the hunt was born. Its wings could be seen from leagues away, the span of them wide enough to cover an entire flock of sleeping sheep. Tenah Roc’s talons lifted horses from the ground, breaking them. Iassan, however, met an ignoble end. Nabayja became bitter. She preferred life in her father’s camp and took to tormenting Iassan and his second wife, Teri. As her husband grew too old to hunt, his days became directed by the mechanizations of his first wife. He saw no peace. Nabayja drove Teri from the domestic chambers, planned elaborate feasts and parties, changed the carpets too often, and kept his sons from visiting. She awoke early just to send her husband’s favorite horses out with servants, wearing down the animals before Iassan enjoyed a ride. She kept him close and became jealous of his time. The Taker of the First Horn became the joke of his huol and suffered a shameful death.
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The Forging of the Anu People in Kuludo
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Life of Hataro In the fabled West, far beyond the Ocean, Hataro grew up the son of a criminal. He had eleven brothers and sisters and lived a peasant’s life in a small farming town on the coast of the Unseen Homeland. Despite the mar on his honor, Hataro took a wife and raised children of his own, becoming a leader among the town’s planters and weathersmiths. Under Hataro’s leadership, the town became more profitable and gained a place of prominence among the coastal villages and settlements. He earned the name Friend of the Earth, and many claimed he knew lost secrets of nature. The king of Hataro’s province, Echi, was harsh and greedy. When he noticed the increasing riches of the town, the king increased his demanded tribute, turning the people’s profits into taxes. After many clashes and riots, Hataro was declared an insurrectionist, and a magistrate was sent to manage the town in his place. Forced to flee his home, Hataro hid among the coastal villages, making friends and fomenting resistance to the king. In less than a year, he raised a peasant army. Hataro spent the last night of winter in isolation, and word spread among his men that unnatural sounds could be heard emanating from the tent. At sunrise on the first day of spring, Hataro and his captains assailed the royal city. When the general of the guard sent word to King Echi that the city was under attack, the royal family was found slaughtered in their beds as though a great beast had fed upon the bodies and then made sport of them. The general and his captains fled, fearing whatever had been unleashed in the palace. Many of the guards and house servants fled likewise. No beast was ever seen.
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Outnumbering the king’s remaining forces six to one, Hataro led the peasant army through the streets and into the royal house. The general was caught. He and Echi’s guards were executed publicly, and Hataro took up residence in the palace. He moved his family into the royal city and appointed planters
and weathersmiths throughout the province, making his realm rich among its neighbors. Older kings of the Unseen Homeland became afraid of King Hataro. His popularity was matched only by his growing riches, and resistance to the old royal houses began to spread to other provinces. The nature of Echi’s death also weighed heavily on the other rulers. When the kings learned that Hataro was building a fleet of ships suitable for war, they became desperate: King Nagatoro, whose army was the largest of the thirty-seven kingdoms, sent his soldiers into Hataro’s land at the start of spring. War spread fast. Within a season, Hataro’s sons and wives were killed. Hataro was forced to flee in his newly made ships, taking most of his planters and weathersmiths with him. Thousands set sail over the Ocean with Hataro. From the dock of the largest ship, the exiled king raised his arms in protest: “To the kings who fear me, a gift.” It is said that at that time the waters opened up, a great crevice formed between the parting waves, and a tear opened in the ocean floor. From the crack rose a great Tyrant, an old god of the Fray, a beast not meant for this world. With one look toward the ship that hovered nearby, it made a small bow of the head, and then lurched up the coast toward the cities of the thirty-seven kingdoms. The Tyrant pulled cliffs into the sea, overturned fields, and swallowed entire companies of soldiers. Blood and fire spilled over the Unseen Homeland. Hataro sailed east over the Ocean, the first of his people to see the Kuludo Islands that border the Hara Sea. His settlers encountered many native cultures, learning from them and assimilating their ways. The new lands were rugged and harsh.
The Coming of Gazu A hundred years after the flight of Hataro and the holocaust of the Tyrant, another peasantcriminal became king by his own hand. Gazu
Gazu rose in prominence among the coastal villages as a weathersmith, but local magistrates were careful to curtail his influence. They spread rumors about his character and made sure his pay always ended up light. “Remember what happened last time we let a peasant take leadership,” the magistrates would say. Haunted by the shadow of Hataro, Gazu was given few opportunities to make the most of his ideas and abilities; and the peasants suffered for it. Many of those who relied on Gazu pushed him to raise an army and revolt: “Our enemy is King Nagoya, and with your influence we could make this kingdom our own.” There was much debate among the men and women if such a desperate move was wise. An elder among them prophesied: “Your enemy shall fall, but you will protect his daughters and take them into new lands.” Gazu shared the pain of his people, but to himself he always said, “My greatest enemy is Hataro, whose shame now hangs over me as well.” For many years Gazu avoided raising an army. In time, however, an army was granted him. Despite his best efforts to avoid it, Gazu gathered the support of hundreds, then thousands, and around his powerful presence an army grew. King Nagoya recalled the lessons of the past: If he declared Gazu outlaw, it would only add to his influence and increase his power to mobilize the people. King Nagoya decided instead to make Gazu a general and to grant his army legitimacy as the people’s militia. The soldiers received wages under the king, and the added income helped the villages in times of poor weather. Within a handful of years, Gazu’s force became as feared as the king’s own Guard. When the heaviest of insult was needed, King Nagoya sent his people’s militia to war on
foreign soil, besting armies of trained soldiers with a mob of peasants and criminals, stealing honor from those slain. After a long campaign against King Kyowen, Gazu and his people’s militia sacked the royal city. Kyowen and his Guard were executed, his extended family exiled. When all was put in order, Gazu’s sages pressed him: “Why give up this land to the greedy hands of King Nagoya? Here we have a palace, and a city, and a beautiful domain with talented farmers who would work gladly for you, Gazu.” When Nagoya’s soldiers came to appoint magistrates over the new realm, Gazu’s men set upon them. Gazu was declared king and took up residence in the lands of Kyowen.
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was the son of a murderer and grew into a man along the coast of the Unseen Homeland with precious little honor. The thirty-seven kings had in those days increased their demands on the peasants, and life in the fields was precarious. The villages kept little of the food that was grown, most of the harvest making its way to the royal houses to be used as payment for weapons, finery, and construction projects.
King Nagoya was furious, but he had few options. His Guard had become lazy and unkempt in the years of Gazu’s rise. It was Nagoya’s own fault, however: Proper soldiers were much more expensive to train and house than the militia, and their honor restrained them from using the guerrilla tactics Gazu wielded expertly. Nagoya feared Gazu would soon turn against him in open war, and the old king preferred to keep the mercenary general as an ally if he could. Nagoya settled on a solution. He sent word to Gazu: “There is no reason for bloodshed, honorable Gazu. I would have granted you the lands of Kyowen as your own as reward for your years of service. Please, rule them as you see fit. Moreover, I offer you my own daughter in marriage. Joining with royal blood, you will become noble, father of your own house, a legitimate king in the eyes of all the thirtyseven rulers. May we come to welcome each other as friends and equals.” Gazu agreed but did not enjoy his life as king. Fulfilling the Prophecy In time, the thirty-seven kingdoms were at war. Soldiers fought in every field, and the peasants were enlisted as soldiers when necessary. For over sixteen years, the entire realm saw nothing but bloodshed and death. King Nagoya fell early in the conflict, while King Gazu swallowed kingdom after kingdom.
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Out of loyalty to Nagoya, Gazu saved much of the royal family and brought them up safely. Eventually and by his own hand, Gazu united the realms under his fist, becoming the first Emperor the Unseen Homeland had ever seen. He called his realm the Anu Empire (the Peasants’ Empire) after the peasants for whom it was created. He took up residence in the fertile central region, moving his house and the house of Nagoya to new estates. In seemed the prophecy of many years earlier was fulfilled, and those who had been with Gazu from the beginning celebrated his reign: “You took the daughter of Nagoya those many years ago, and now you have saved his kin and brought them into a new land.” Gazu, however, still felt differently: “My enemy has always been Hataro.” After many years under Emperor Gazu, the merchants and petty nobility became restless. It was harder to make profits under Gazu’s stewardship. He was as brilliant an administrator as he was a warrior and weathersmith. Fewer shortages and lost crops made trade less important and the role of magistrate less lucrative. Without corruption, the small elites had few ways to lord their titles over the peasantry. For some time they did what they could to punish the peasants all the while blaming Gazu: “Like Hataro before him, Gazu has turned against the people. His greed is matched only by his pride.” When Gazu was advised to build a fleet of ships and begin expanding his realm, war came to the Unseen Homeland again. “Look!” cried the wealthy. “He follows Hataro! Once this emperor ruins us all, he will set sail and send a holocaust upon us.” As is often the case, surface similarities and emotional rhetoric swayed the minds of the hard-pressed and poor, who grope for any solution to their plight. As is often the case, it was the wealthy nobility and the petty lords who led the revolt and stood to gain from it.
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Ousted from his palace, Gazu was pushed to his ancestral homeland. His sons and wives were killed in the chase, executed in the presence of rival armies. The emperor himself
made it to the coast and boarded the newly made ships with his army, his planters, and his weathersmiths. The final words Lord Gazu spoke in the Unseen Homeland: “Ever in the shadow of Hataro.” The exiles set sail in the last month of summer and disappeared over the horizon.
Gazu Reaches Kuludo Islands Gazu arrived in the Kuludo Islands almost two hundred years after Hataro. Encountering the native peoples, Gazu and his companions saw many unfamiliar customs and many twisted reflections of life in the Unseen Homeland. The descendants of Hataro, whom Gazu called the Thun (the Remnant), followed an elaborate religious calendar mostly concerned with placating local spirits and dark gods. Many tears exposed the Fray in these new lands, and the old magicks were alive and active across the islands. There could be little conflict among the native peoples because all worked together surviving in the hostile environment. Gazu threw this balance into chaos. His descendants came to be called the H’han (the Conquerors), subjugating the peoples as well as the gods of the new continent. Gazu retained his title of Emperor and spent many years solidifying his power while the Anu and Kuludo cultures merged. Many gods were awoken, and great battles of magick ensued. Gazu brought a new kind of order to the lands, a new kind of safety, surely a stronger arm. His sages and weathersmiths succeeded where those of Hataro had failed, and many of the dark gods were defeated. He set up a powerful state on the island continent. The Imperial Line In his old age, Gazu discovered that the bloodline of Hataro yet existed, preserved and guarded among the Thun because of the magick it contained, the magick that had summoned the Tyrant. Rumor among the people was that a single descendant yet lived, the heir to all of Hataro’s power. Many of the peasant Thun believed it was the power of this heir that protected the islands from the dark
gods, not the sword of the Emperor. Gazu, old and lately possessed of a black mood, felt his spirits brighten at the possibility of proper vengeance against his enemy’s house: “I will snuff out this bloodline and forever crush my greatest enemy, Hataro.”
At the appointed time, the Emperor left his royal palace on Kuludo Island and journeyed personally to this remote village at the center of Kapix’tul (the Wet Island). The people cheered his devotion as the royal litter proceeded down the road. Gazu kept the violence of his plan secret from everyone. He brought along his armor and his sword, his sons and his wives. He dressed in full regalia, his most luxurious robe and headdress. His mood was somber, for the Emperor readied himself to end his own life once his task was complete. The ritual began on the first day of spring. Gazu was to escort the Heiress up the temple steps and stand behind her as the sacrifice was made. Until that time, she would be kept hidden in the catacombs and under-caverns
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The location of the blood descendant, however, was kept hidden, a tightly guarded secret of the Thun religious elite. Emperor Gazu sent spies to look for this descendant. After two years of fruitless searching, with Gazu nearing death, Hataro’s scion suddenly revealed herself: A great confluence of stars approached, and rumors of an eminent cataclysm forced the Heiress to surface in hopes of quieting the growing fears of the people. Gazu was overjoyed at this turn of luck and feigned an interest in the rumored cataclysm: “This is the Anu Empire, an empire for the people. What is important to the people is important to the Emperor. By the sword I have conquered these old gods in the past, but let us now trust the Heiress to bring peace.” At the behest of the Imperial house, a large ritual was planned on the holy site at the center of the island. Millions made the pilgrimage to the temple, and the forest roads flooded with travelers. Support for the Emperor spread across the islands like the monsoon rains. A veritable renaissance occurred as the people celebrated the new face of Emperor Gazu.
of the forest. As the sun rose, Gazu, dressed in newly made ritual garments and his sword, proceeded to the foot of the temple. As the Heiress approached, however, the Emperor’s conviction crumbled: She was beautiful, small, young. Her skin was pale, her frame slight, her gait slowed by fear. She was not the bold, wicked heir of Hataro, but a child, a frightened pawn of the Thun priests who pushed her along before them. Three men in feathers and tight robes of indigo shared the path of the Heiress. One came before her, jerking the child forward by the wrist. Two came behind. Gazu’s heart softened, and his only thought went to freeing the girl from the archaic net of power and ritual that so obviously imprisoned her. “Wait,” the old emperor shouted to himself, his eyes wide. “Was she to be the sacrifice?” Fulfilling the Prophecy Again Gazu attempted to delay the procession up the steps of the temple, but the priests were overtly impatient and pushed them on. Far below, the people cheered as the sun reached higher in the sky. Onward the five climbed, pausing every few
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hundred steps to mutter words of ritual, until they finally reached the summit of the tiered pyramid. By now, the group was far out of sight of the masses below, and Gazu let his warrior’s instincts take him. He drew the blade he had sharpened just that morning to kill the Heiress in an effort to defend her life. Blood splattered as the emperor’s sword slit throat and stomach. The small child looked up at the old man with an expression of both fear and relief: “Why?” Suddenly, and before Emperor Gazu could answer the girl’s question, a great tremor shook the earth. The rite had been marred. The confluence of stars occurred invisibly in the sunny skies above them, and the chosen blood had not been spilled to answer it. In the depths of the earth a great, dark power awoke. Far below the surface, through chambers once decorated, forgotten to all but the trees and the wind, a Tyrant long sleeping took breath once more. Panic and pale terror struck the millions who crowded around the temple. They scattered and ran, thousands of the old and the young trampled under stronger feet that fought to escape the quaking earth. Thousands more died in the first eruption: Bursting from the soil, the Tyrant gathered its bulk onto the surface. Its body was twisted and gruesome, heat and chaos rippling the air around it. The elder beast took a deep breath, and a whirlwind spawned in the new clearing. Hundreds more died. It blinked many eyes, studying the new shape of the land that had changed so much in three thousand years of sleep. The beast exhaled, and poisonous winds like a storm killed hundreds more. The battle was fierce and lasted many days. Gazu’s weavers and weathersmiths cast their magicks at the beast, and the Heiress herself proved a sturdy, resourceful magicker. She took lead of the Emperor’s personal cadre of mages while Gazu commanded his personal Guard, launching ground attacks at the manylimbed monster. The beast died nine days after it awoke in the floodplains of east Kapix’tul. When the chaos ended, the body of the Tyrant was chopped into pieces and sunk deep in the Ocean.
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Gazu took the Heiress as a consort, protecting the daughter of his enemy, bringing her to a new land to live by his side. The Anu state expanded to include more islands and more villages. Kuludo Island The large island in the northwest, marking the boundary with the open ocean is Kuludo Island. Cycling through four even seasons, Kuludo has more diversity than both the warmer Eastern Islands and wetter Kapix’tul. Kuludo forests are more temperate with foliage often dominating even highly mountainous regions. Rice farming and agriculture are successful all over the island. Kapix’tul Island The other Kuludo islands border two sides of the monstrous and vast Kapix’tul Island, the home of the rainforest and the Flower, a soma-like herb popular with shaman and healers since humans settled the land. Kapix’tul floods regularly during monsoon season and washes out or destroys structures built directly on the soil. In the lowland fields and in the thick rainforests, the floods can reach four or five feet high, turning the land each year into a series of marshes, ponds and small lakes. Lowland Anu live in suspended wooden and laminate houses on stilts and grow foodstuffs on vines and dangling plants that require little contact with the soil for sustenance. Higher elevations grow maize, the center of Anu religious and argicultural life. Eastern Islands The Eastern Kuludo Islands are a series of islands mixing the characteristics of the Kapix’tul and the Kuludo mainlands. Dotted with settlements and difficult to police, hundreds of islands have been charted and mapped with hundreds left untouched or unnoted. The Eastern Islands produce no Flower, but rice cultivation is successful, and many unique fruits and produce can be raised along the varied topographies.
The Vayok Emerge
Origins The origins of the Vayok are spoken of in many songs and tales with little variance. According to the Weshbjorg bards, the Vayok were made by animal gods to be slaves of the giants who live deep below the Maalthor Mountains. Fierce warriors and fisherfolk who strongly resemble the Vayok, however, are depicted in much Edradan artwork in the ruins of the Old Empire. These nameless people who resemble the Vayok so closely were first formidable enemies and later great allies of the Edradan Weaver-Kings. Without knowledge of the ancient language, however, only the Vayok’s own account bears weight among them. In the days of slavery, according to the Vayok bards, their gods were the gods of the giants: Ikar, Rovgar, Shashu. The Vayok were made as a gift to the giants who worshipped Ikar by the animal spirits who inhabited Vaankur. With the giants of the underground appeased, the animal gods made light sport and revelry on the surface of the world.
Gods of Darkness and Stone Ikar is a stupid and wicked god. Ikar, Father of Giants, ten times the size of the largest giant and a hundred times more bloodthirsty. When first the animals gave the Vayok, Ikar tormented and abused them. Vayok believe thunder to be the voice of Ikar, echoing from deep below the mountains, calling down snow and lightning to torment the descendants of his playthings. Few Vayok worship Ikar any longer, though some of the darkest shaman risk drawing upon his power. His name is spoken freely in jests and the boasts of warriors. In art, Ikar is depicted as a giant among giants, with many tusks and a mane of unkempt hair.
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Vankuur is a vast continent of ice plateaus, glaciers and jutting mountains. The southern coast of the island is frosted and harsh but inhabitable and teeming with life. Further north, however, past the great mountains and into the icy desolation at the heart of the continent, only the strongest creatures can survive. Moreover, the coastline is dotted with smaller islands and peninsulas that attract marine life. Game and fish are plentiful, though rocky shoals and high cliffs make docking even small ships or longboats difficult. On the mainland, tundra wolves and white bears are among the most dangerous land predators. The stags and sea mammals exist in numbers great enough to support many more predators than similarly cold regions. Though temperatures are too cold for standing water most of the year, some streams and stray rivers vein the southernmost highlands.
Rovgar is the father of Ikar, unmoving as the earth. Rovgar made the mountains and the tunnels beneath the floating ice that makes up Vaankur. His fingers shape the Maalthor peaks and direct the seasons around them. Vayok believe the heart of the Maalthor Mountains, the head of Rovgar, to be the earth’s axis. All things move in cycles around the pivot of Rovgar. He is given respect and tribute by intellectual Vayok. Since meeting the Anu and discovering the Loom, Vayok credit Rovgar as the father of the weft and the creator of order. He is also feared as a meter of justice and as he who decides when each must die. Shashu is the goddess of the great underground ocean. She is the mother of all sea monsters and storms. Vayok believe there are many fissures beneath the sea that lead back into the realm of Shashu, fissures that allow travel back and forth between the skin and the bowels of the world. Shipwrecks and the souls of dead sailors are said to sink all the way down to the home of Shashu. Only hags and hermits worship Shashu. Sailors fear her and curse her name at every storm.
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Escape from the Darkness After many generations of servitude as miners and diggers, the Vayok became the bulk of all the laborers in the giant world. When the giants went to war, they sent Vayok soldiers to battle. When the giants had disagreements, they sent Vayok negotiators to deliberate. When the giants had chores, they sent the Vayok to complete them. When the giants grew sick, they called for Vayok physicians. In time, many of the giants fell into a deep sleep, leaving their halls in the care of the human servants. It was during the time of the sleeping giants that Hoi’najurat was born. Hoi’najurat was the only human who learned the many labyrinthine tunnels that joined the giants’ halls and connected them to the earth’s surface. When their labors grew too heavy to bear, the Vayok slaves rebelled against their giant masters and escaped into underground tunnels of ice and stone. Hoi’najurat led his kin through leagues of darkness. Along with their freedom, the Vayok stole important secrets from the giants: Language and metallurgy, mining and healing. Awoken by rage, the giants searched high and low through the underground for their servants, causing earthquakes and all kinds of storms on the surface. It was the anger of the giants that made escape possible: A great chasm opened up in the roots of the mountains, and the Vayok emerged from the darkness they had known into life on the turf. The hungry, confused giants pursued their slaves out into the light, covering their eyes and groaning. The earth shuddered and shook in those days, crackling as though troubled by birthing pains. In the sunlight, bloody battles took place between the Vayok and the giants atop the ice and snow. Hoi’najurat cut down many rivals along with his brother, Anawehu, and sister, Ono. Many days passed, and war upon war claimed the lives of many Vayok. In the final battle, a handful of men and women stood side by side wielding spear and axe. On snow red and slushy, their numbers few, the remaining Vayok killed the last of the giant men.
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Ok Hagath, Stone Cutter, was the last giant to fall. Female Vayok are credited with the victory against Ok Hagath, and receive gifts from their male relatives on the anniversary of the final battle. It is believed that the lesser human fighters defeated the awesome giants only because the former allowed women to draw spears alongside their husbands and fathers. Male giants, on the other hand, refused their women the right to war with them, a custom the Vayok still hold as backwards and ignorant. Of all the giants who emerged from the underground ice chambers, only the females now exist on the surface. These few remaining true-giants prolong their numbered days by producing crazed offspring in unnatural unions with unsuspecting human men. They are called Motherings and prey upon injured and isolated males often found on the verge of death deep in the tundra. All the giants encountered by humans on the surface are, then, technically half-giants. Some tales hold that Ikar builds an army of true-giants deep below the glacial ice, preparing for another battle at the end of days. In such songs, Ikar sends spies to the human world to relearn the arts of language and metallurgy, mining and healing. Many Vayok myths depict heroes uncovering and defeating these spies of Ikar, keeping the secrets safe for another generation, forestalling the completion of Ikar’s army. Shashu, the goddess of the great underground ocean, does not feature prominently in current lore, though many believe her to be related to Ikthu Gawa, the Anu god of the Black Earth Sea who brings storms and gives islands shape. The Maalthor Mountains The feature of Vaankur that takes any settler or explorer by surprise is the rock mountain range that juts sharply like so many jagged fingers from the central plateau of ice and storm. These mountains are said to house the most hostile giants and appear black and sharp against the blinding white of the surrounding snow and sky. The foreboding winds and sudden snowstorms keep most humans far
The ten peaks of the Maalthor Mountains are named after the last nine giants slain and the human hero who fell great Ok Hagath, Hoi’najurat. The Vayok rune for “giant” is identical to the rune for “mountain peak,” though those versed in reading the old language pronounce the two differently. In very few versions of the origin myth, Hoi’najurat is spoken of as a giant himself, a betrayer, the only to aid the Vayok in their escape from the darkness. Heroic or physically large Vayok are often said to be part of Hoi’najurat’s bloodline, an allusion to the possibility of his being a giant.
First Days The earliest shaman brought the wandering Vayok to the safety of the warmer coast. Here, grasses and small grains could be grown, enough for beer and hard bread. Hagarok carried the secrets of metallurgy and mining his whole life and was first to encounter Naanusuk near the chasms of Maalthor. Nerunaat bore the healing secrets her whole life, and after many years of talking with the spirits learned from Tekkesetok how to carry them with her. Naanusuk and Hagarok Among the warriors of the first days Hagarok was the most prominent and accomplished. Raised by the feared shaman Norpuk, Hagarok spent many days as a child studying animal carcasses and roaming the mountains in search of the remains of elder beasts. In the service of Norpuk, the boy grew fierce and rugged, testing his strength against the walrus and bear and his wits against the caribou. Hagarok learned of the Fray and the power hidden
below the surface of the earth, the reason the giants grew large and powerful. He learned of the spirits who roamed the tundra unseen, of their names and histories. This was before the Vayok knew of the Tapestry as they do now, but even the oldest songs depict a people in close communication with the Fey who inhabit Vaankur. Hagarok grew large and powerful.
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from even the foothills, but recent years have seen exiles and hermits taking up residence in the frozen rock. Ten peaks are named in story, though more or less may exist in truth, each thought to be one finger of Rovgar’s two hands cracking through the very foundations of the island. Glaciers and ice tundra surround the mountains, giving little warning before the sharp spires break the surface and point heavenward.
During the summer thaw, Norpuk took Hagarok to the Maalthor Mountains in search of ore. Paramount among Haragok’s learning were the arts of mining and metallurgy. Although many of the tools used by the Vayok were fashioned of bone, the greatest weapons and those that slew the giants were made of metal in secret lodges, forged by those with old knowledge. Hagarok and his teacher had many deposits of iron mapped in the mountains and two hidden forges. Hiding the secret of metals from the giants was a serious business, involving many rites and much precaution. A hidden metalshop left unguarded by spirits could easily fall into the hands of a Mothering and her brood. Worse yet, Ikar’s spies might recapture the lore of metallurgy, which would quickly bring the people of the surface to ruin. The two, master and student, tread carefully through the snow. In addition to lurking giants, summer saw the roaming of tundra bears, the greatest predators of Vaankur, capable of besting even a giant if large and hungry enough. It was said they slept for many months and awoke with a ravenous hunger, early summer the most dangerous time to approach their lands. Most feared of all bears was the enormous Naanusuk, Bear Father, First of the Tundra, Blood Maw. Almost as large as the whales Shashu sent to harry sailors, Naanusuk had no equal on land. His kin were wild and untrustworthy, unlike the tundra wolves who were by that time proving capable companions. As the underground rivers swelled and echoed unseen, Norpuk and Hagarok crossed into the plateau from which the black spires of Maalthor grew. They ascended the rock face above a gaping chasm and came to one of the caves that Norpuk and his predecessors had been mining for generations. As they set about
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their work, a great thunder came from deeper within the cave. Hagarok went to investigate the booming, fearing a hole had opened up to the realm of the giants. Bringing fire and a metal-tipped spear, Hagarok descended into the cave. What he encountered in the dark of the cave was a mountain of white fur within an expansive chamber. He recognized the bulk as Naanusuk, Bear Feather, and turned to run. “Wait,” cried the Elder Father. “The thaws have come too soon, and I am stuck high in this cave with no way off the mountain.” Hagarok distrusted the Great Hunter: “Your words are a trick, Bear Father. If I come close, you would swallow me up like so many before.” The bear continued, “That is not so. You are large and strong, Hagarok of the cottage. I will tell you my secret, and you will carry me off this mountain.” Hagarok stepped closer to the spirit beast, brandishing the fire and studying the Hunter: “Speak your secret, and I will decide if I trust it.” Naanusuk had no choice but to share his secret with the human. If he did not eat soon, his strength would fade for good: “Though my hunger unequaled and my ferocity unstoppable, I only attack those who first attack me. Your kind are hunters, Hagarok, and they fear me enough to pursue me over the ice. Leave my kind alone, brave huntsman, and we will leave you in peace as well.” Hagarok put down his fire and his spear and helped Naanusuk toward the mouth of the cave.
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As the two hulks approached the mouth, Norpuk the old hermit saw them and grew chilled with fear. Hearing Hagarok’s groan and seeing the bear’s weight leaning against the human, Norpuk thought his servant in danger. The old shaman reacted quickly, driving his own spear into the great, white hide of the Bear Father. Naanusuk unleashed a thunderclap roar and spun his body toward the shaman, swallowing up the hermit in one move of his broad head. Hagarok leaped aside, drawing a bone knife from his hip. “Careful, hunter. Lay down your blade. You provoke a great enemy in me, and as yet you are
not in danger. Your master struck me first, and his flesh has already brought much of the strength back to my muscles. I can manage from the cave on my own.” Hagarok, shook by grief, dropped his knife and fell to his knees. The Bear Father sprung from the cave mouth, spanning the chasm, and landed on the snow far from the mountain face. Hagarok left the hermit life and became a great hunter and giant-killer among the Vayok. He took every opportunity in his travels to spread the secret of Naanusuk to his people. Tekkesetok and Nerunaat Nerunaat lived in a small lodge far from the bustle of the Three Homes. She collected from nearby camps those sickly children thought to be near death. If the spirits willed, Nerunaat would heal the children and take them to be her assistants. She raised many healers in her long years and sent them out to the growing settlements that spread along the coast. One season came in which many settlements went hungry. The caribou did not come at the appointed time, and Nerunaat ventured farther than usual into the frost to find signs of the herd. Far from the human camps lay the land of giants. Nerunaat wandered deep enough into the tundra to attract the attention of a Mothering giant during a flurry. A beautiful woman of pale skin and long, golden hair approached the old shaman through the storm and spoke to her: “I have a nearby fire, traveler. Come to me and warm yourself. When the storm passes, you may return to your people and your wife.” Nerunaat paid little mind to the words of the Mothering: “You mistake me, foul giantess, and your song finds hard ears because of it. Go haunt those who would better fall prey to your wiles. Better yet, crawl back into the hole from which you came.” The shaman took small steps and passed by the siren unharmed, the giantess discouraged and quieted by the healer’s reprimand. Farther into the tundra in the land of the spirits, Nerunaat came upon Naanusuk, Bear Father, great in size and ferocious in
Still farther into the snow and cold, Nerunaat saw a track of hoof-prints in the icy crust. She followed these despite the waging storm and came upon the top of a pronounced hill. Below were many hundred caribou, and standing just a few steps from the shaman was Tekkesetok, Caribou Father. “Draw your spear, hunter,” spoke Tekkesetok. “Here is your game, and there are many hundred of my kin you might kill.” The spirit was tall and resembled in many ways an old man. His legs were thin and he leaned upon a tall, crooked staff. In addition to his human features, however, Tekkesetok had wide, sprawling antlers that sprung from his caribou head and face. Nerunaat answered the great spirit, “You mistake me, Caribou Father. I am no hunter, nor would I dare kill your kin on their own land. I come on behalf of my people who await the herd in our land.” Tekkesetok saw the sturdy shaman who traveled alone and took pity on her. “You speak with spirits, seer, but you do not know how to carry them with you.” At the top of the hill, in the place called Tekkesulik, Tekkesetok, Caribou Father, taught Nerunaat the secret of the lelakut. Nerunaat went back to her people with a staff of unknown wood, upon which hung the spirits of several animals. Calling upon these spirits, Nerunaat brought the herd back into the land of the Vayok. For many generations the calling worked, and the caribou came each season at the appointed time.
Lelakut Vayok shaman collect small pouches of hide called lelakut (breath pouch) that they use for many kinds of magick. Inside these pouches are tucked the lela (breath) and a few dried relics of a powerful animal. Wise shaman can harvest just a small fragment of an animal’s carcass and bind the entire spirit to the remains. In effect, the shaman is making a partial Hearth (see 375) as well as Source (see 249) from the animal’s remains. Tekkesetok, the Caribou Father, carries a long staff upon which hang hundreds of lelakut, many pouches for each of the various animal-kinds that inhabit Vaankur. He carries these spirits with him, making them hard to find for shaman without their own lelakut.
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temperament. His furry bulk stretched across the tundra before Nerunaat, blocking the path of the quiet seeker. “Draw your weapon, warrior, and try your hand in battle,” growled the enormous bear. Nerunaat knew the secret of the bear and did not let his words provoke her. “You mistake me, Bear Father,” answered Nerunaat. “Go and find those who would chase you across the snow and feel the sting of your tooth and claw. Better yet, go find your brood and keep them from stealing the caribou from my people.” Taking small steps, Nerunaat walked around the squatting bear, who moved but little.
Remnants In the early days, the Vayok went about dismantling citadels and fortresses they found that dotted the landscape. The long-extinct Edradan Empire was unknown to them, and they believed the strongholds they encountered had been built by giants as watchtowers and traps, labyrinths designed as prisons for curious Vayok who ventured within. Every few years another fortress is discovered buried under the frozen tundra, remnants of a time when ice may not have covered the island. No records exist as to the original locations of the largest structures or what happened to the stone that made them up. Most of the material was scattered across the plateau or thrown into chasms near the Maalthor Mountains. Smaller stones were put to use as inuksuk, human-made landmarks of stone used to help travelers navigate the bare tundra. The smallest stones were brought by sled to the coast and used in the construction of vaulted living halls in what would become the Three Home cities.
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Age of Structures (300 - 800 IC) Atlas
Though peoples still migrated into the lands of Upper and Lower Edrada, most of the movement around the Hara Sea settled during the five hundred years known as the Age of Structures. The five civilizations took root and began to grow, suffocating and strangling the local cultures of the region as mighty trees are wont to do. The traditions and structures that took shape during these centuries have been challenged in later years but never quite forgotten. Much as the tales of youth still haunt the aging hero, so too the myths of this age live on among each civilization’s enemies. These are the roots that stretch deep.
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Ugurlu, the Golden City, Capital of the Neferatha Empire: A city of over two million citizens from all over the known world. Ruled by dark women of Nibu origin, the city supports the four castes of the Neferatha along with a host of foreign merchants, laborers, artisans, and slaves. The city is made up of layers, each age building above and over what came before. Deep in the lowest streets, alleyways and grottos that never see the sun, the poor and miscreant vie for survival. High in the many temples and palaces, the wealthy vie for supremacy.
The Edish Strengthen Their Tribes Tenwa of the Porcupine
In these times the Edish fought constantly with one another, and skilled warriors collected totems by slaying the Hattan of rival tribes as much as by communing with the spirits. Even those tribes under the same totem would often clash and strive against one another. The ruins of the lost empire were avoided as places of death, for the dark magicks were still falling asleep in those areas. Three shaman of the minewin walked with the people of Stendeo Porcupine-Kin into the Wilds. Of the three, Erelius was most wise. Erelius sired four sons and daughters under a Porcupine totem in service to Stendeo. They took strong totems in adolescence and brought great respect to their father and mother. As time passed, however, a rift developed between Stendeo and Erelius. The Hattan lost sight of a mammoth herd and spent many weeks searching the chilling fields to no avail. Most of Edish diet consisted of fruits, roots, mushrooms and gathered nuts, but in addition to sustenance meat provided ritual ingredients, camp materials, and a closer connection to the totem. Erelius had a vision one night, feeling his spirit soar over the Wilds and high above Wilderwood. Over a ridge he saw the mammoths, few in number but on the move.
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Hattan Stendeo, of seven totems, spread Edish culture to new lands after leading his tribe over the Red Plains. He took some three hundred through the Tall Forest, and brought a group that had grown to more than five hundred into the Wilds ten years later. As the Edish spread over Upper Edrada, many tribes settled north and west of the Red Plains, following the herds and the seasons. Stendeo was born under a Wolf totem and took the Stag with his true name. In wars and heroism, he gained another five: Salmon, Bear, Rat, Porcupine, and Wolverine. In his later years, he provided for his tribe under the totem of the Porcupine.
When Erelius sent word to Stendeo, the Hattan paid no heed to his shaman. Instead, the great leader followed his own council. When several more weeks passed without meat, Erelius pushed harder on the Hattan. When Erelius’ next son was born, his father placed him under the totem of the Raven instead of the Porcupine, fueling much commotion within the camp. Stendeo worried little about the child and let the insult go unchecked, his mind on the hunt and preparations for the coming winter. The child was given the name Tenwa. Minewin Most of the Edish shaman who belong to the nomadic tribes practice a form of minewin magick. The many faces of the minewin art combine the rites of arcane lore with knowledge of the spirit folk and the order of the Loom. Woven together fluidly, both sides of the Great Tapestry provide direction and power to those who follow the spiritual way. Particularly the healing and summoning arts come naturally to those gifted with the voice. An adult Edish shaman would have at least two tattoos that function as Source at the beginning of a campaign. Because of this dual path, minewin shaman are not quite weavers nor exactly magickers, though most will favor one side of the Tapestry or another. Magickers in urban Edish city-states, though they wear totems like most Edish, would rarely practice minewin and instead focus more closely on the lost powers of the Edradan ruins. Without an attention to the Loom, urban magickers can follow more deeply into the chaos of the Fray. When Tenwa was an adolescent, it came time for him to find his true name and his adult totem. His brothers and sisters had received their totems in the Red Plains and the Tall Forest, taking totems of reasonable station. Tenwa was unsure what animal to take. It was
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custom to choose an animal beforehand that fit one’s place in the tribe and one’s stature among his or her peers. Because Tenwa was born at odds with Stendeo, he had been given few responsibilities among the camp and fewer opportunities to prove himself. This gave him precious few options for taking his adult totem. “Father,” spoke Tenwa to Erelius in private, “I am troubled about the upcoming hunt. In these parts, few options are open to me. We do not know these lands very well; we have seen few suitable totems. I am pressed to take a bird or a mink, though I know there could be more for me.” His father responded to comfort: “Tenwa, it was my boldness that brought you such disfavor from Stendeo. I know your life has been harder because of it. But there are wolves in the wood nearby. Why not make a name for yourself?” Tenwa sighed at his father’s words, saying, “If I were to come back under the Wolf, Stendeo would take that as a challenge and drive me from camp. My very life is already an insult, and such a move might bring danger to you and mother as well. Wolf is a strong ally and a willing hunter. I have not yet proven myself worthy of such a totem, and breaking custom like that would not be taken well by my peers or my betters. Your love for me clouds your wisdom, father, and I need true words this night. None my age has attempted Wolf this season, which would make it even worse for me to do so. A fox maybe. A deer. Perhaps a hawk. But the season is wrong for all of those in these parts. If only we had not traveled so far these last two years.”
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Tenwa’s Hunt When the time came for Tenwa to make his totem hunt, his few friends helped him weave the tunic and sharpen the arrows. He had close friends among the aged dyers and tanners in the camp, though the hunters his own age made little effort to take him in. Preparing the knife took special care, requiring specific charms and
invocations of the appropriate totem spirit. “What have you chosen?” they asked. “I hunt blind, friends. I follow an unseen thread.” A look of pity traveled from face to face around him, but Tenwa shrugged it off. Without a chosen quarry, the preparations required fewer rites and less concentration. His weapons were fashioned and his kit packed with care, but few spirits were called on to protect the hunter. Tenwa spent much time with his mother and sisters in the days of preparation. When he returned to the tribe an adult, he would have less contact with them. After taking a wife, he would make her family his own, cutting all ties with the family of his youth. As a hunter, he would still spend time in the company of his brothers, so most young Edish males spent their final days before the totem hunt in the presence of their female relatives. Though females must perform totem hunts of their own and often become accomplished hunters as well, they stay with their families after marriage and thus required fewer preparations. Tenwa was much loved by his sisters and mother, and they offered him many gifts and tokens to remember them by. Though many his age were planning to hunt together soon, Tenwa was not invited with the group and so set out on his own. Alone and in the wilderness, Tenwa made camp one night long into the hunt. His fire was small, and he prepared for many more nights alone. The thought of flight crossed his mind again, a creeping inclination that had grown louder and louder in his mind in recent days. Suddenly, before darkness had spread completely over the hills, Tenwa heard a soft snap in a nearby gulch, on the far side of an enormous rock. He clutched three arrows in his left hand and grabbed his bow. Lying flat against the rock, he crawled forward slowly, peering down into the gulch. A large buck drank from the icy stream. Tenwa went cold. This is what he needed; his fortune had been made. What comes easily is also lost easily. The first arrow aimed at the standing buck went awry. Tenwa nearly cursed himself. The deer sprang
Had Tenwa not been the son of a minewin shaman, he would not have known the prayers and rites needed to
appease the Mammoth Spirit at the passing of this noble animal. He would need many days to take care of the carcass appropriately and in accordance with tradition, but Tenwa set about doing just that. Making right such a slaying could easily require seven men and three shaman, but Tenwa had good teaching and played many roles. As fear of the spirits subsided a greater fear arose within Tenwa: He could not return to his people under the totem of the Mammoth. No hunter had ever killed such a prize alone. Stendeo would take it as a direct challenge, and considering the circumstances of Tenwa’s birth, a challenge doubly bold. Flight seemed the only option. As he enacted the rites, he made up his mind to leave his tribe and take this totem as his own.
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from the gulch, clambering a little over the loose earth. Tenwa fit his second arrow and let it fly just as the deer hopped the incline. What he heard a moment later was not the soft thud of a falling stag, but the loud crunching of trunk and tree limb. Tenwa hopped from the rock, descended into the gulch, and climbed up the other side. He saw far enough in the twilight to catch sight of the fleeing deer along the treeline, but just in front of him, almost motionless in the grass, lay the body of an adult mammoth. Its thick fur was matted with blood from fresh wounds, and Tenwa surmised the great beast had been separated from its herd by a pack of wolves or a pride of northern lions. The mammoth eventually escaped its pursuers only to be slain by a single arrow through the eye, a mistaken arrow that had missed its true mark.
The Coming of Irawen
While Tenwa still took care of the fallen mammoth, he saw a girl about his own age watching him from the trees. She bore the totems of the Boar, a people Tenwa knew to be enemies of his tribe, and of the Raven, what he guessed to be her adult totem. Despite her few years, then, she was no girl. “I too know the Raven,” called Tenwa to the hiding woman. “And as you can see, I am in no place to harm you. Approach and help me, sister Raven.” Irawen saw that Tenwa had no weapons near and stepped from the trees to examine the totem drawn on his side. “What do your people call the Raven, hunter?” she asked with a careful tongue. “We call the Raven many things, sister: Teacher of Minewin, Field-Finder, Midnight Bird, and Keeper of Secrets,” responded Tenwa. Irawen had fled her people one month earlier and spent many nights roaming the Wilds alone. She was a capable hunter and scout but had lost her last
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kill to a pack of wolves. Her father, the Hattan who wore the totem of the Boar, had promised her to a capable hunter among her people as bride. Irawen knew the hunter to be a proud man, however, and one who sought the office of Hattan himself. Were she to marry him, he would surely claim her father’s place among the people and lead the tribe under his own totem, the Serpent. To avoid the marriage and protect her father’s totem, Irawen fled. The minewin of her tribe, an old woman who bore the Rat and the Cougar, had told Irawen she would find a powerful, ruddy hunter who would marry her and pass on the totem of her family. Meeting Tenwa with the fallen mammoth, Irawen found hope after days of desperation and sadness. Irawen helped Tenwa finish the rites over the next two days, each playing many parts, fulfilling the law and the customs. As Tenwa sang over the skinned and slaughtered animal, he called on the Mammoth Spirit to grant him his true name and become his protector. He relied on the teachings of his father and invoked the spirit with a newfound sense of purpose. If he was to wander alone, he would need a powerful patron, and the Mammoth would make a strong ally among the spirits of the Wilds. Tenwa became an adult in the fashion of the Edish before the Spirit of the Mammoth, and he took the totem as his own. When the final ritual was over, Irawen asked Tenwa, “If you are now an adult, do you plan to take a wife? Your totem is mighty and your bow strong.” Tenwa blushed. “Lie with me, Raven brother,” continued the woman. “Take me as your wife here. We can return to my people, and you will be branded under the Boar as one of us. You will not need to live without a people, and neither will I; It would save us both. Let my father live as Hattan and pass on the totem of the Boar until he dies. When his days are over, you will become Hattan. You may then lead the tribe under whatever totem you wish.” Tenwa could not refuse the soft tongue of the woman and made her his wife in the fashion of the Edish before the Spirit of the Raven, the totem they shared.
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Marriage and Totems For the Edish, a marriage can only take place if the two lovers share a totem that can be invoked for the ceremony. In most cases both halves of a couple are from the same tribe, and so they will have worn the same totem from birth. In other cases, when one half of the couple is from another tribe, the man will relocate to the woman’s tribe. After he takes the brand of the local Hattan, the two will share the tribe’s totem and can be married. Even in the city-states that now attract a good deal of the Edish population, the totems are respected enough to maintain this tradition: A marriage cannot take place unless the spirit of the shared totem is invoked to honor the union. Less often, however, do the rituals of the urban Edish successfully attract the presence of the spirit who is called, the ceremony more pageantry than true communion with the Fey. Tenwa Among the Boar The two returned to the tribe of the Boar, and Irawen confessed her marriage to her father and mother. The Hattan, Daesar, was greatly angered at his daughter’s impetuousness, but the whole tribe was happy to see her return. Tenwa’s rival, Karabus, was enraged. During a feast given in honor of the wedding, Karabus called Tenwa out in an official challenge under the pretense that he felt an animosity between his Serpent totem and the totem of the Raven that needed settling. Irawen was scared, for Karabus was a skilled fighter who often wrestled among the hunters of his tribe. Tenwa accepted, his naturally timid spirit greatly changed by recent communion with the Mammoth Spirit and the true name he was given. The fight was initially set to take place the next day, but Tenwa requested that he be marked with his new totems first. Choosing a great artist among the Boar, Irawen’s own sister, Tenwa bound himself to the Mammoth and then to the Boar, adding the two icons down his torso just below the ill-drawn Raven of
his birth. He spent twelve days healing and learning the ways of his new tribe.
Before the spring’s hunt took place, Karabus branded six newborns under the Serpent totem, building a small following of young hunters eager to challenge Daesar and Tenwa. By the end of the season, however, Karabus and his allies were driven from the tribe of the Boar. The Serpent was declared enemy to the tribe. Through much violence and wife-stealing, Karabus spread his totem of the Serpent and built a strong tribe beneath him. In time, he became a respected Hattan and temperate leader, but the rivalry between the Serpent and the Raven continued for many generations.
The local Edradan cities were still hostile to the incoming Edish, and the desolate ruins were avoided for fear of the old magicks. Many of the tribes still migrating into the region gave up the totems of their people and assimilated into the local populations and cultures. Those who retained their heritage roamed the plains as hunters and raiders. The tribes grew strong despite constant warfare among their numbers and against the local lords.
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When Tenwa fought Karabus, the Unbidden Mammoth bested Boar-Grappler in just a few minutes. Their paint was hardly dry and the songs of invocation hardly ended before the fight was over. Tenwa pinned Karabus the decided number of seconds before a single of his feathers had been broken. Karabus, on the other hand, was lifted from the ground by his brothers with three of four feathers broken in the match. It was decided that the Serpent had been rash to challenge the Raven, and the minewin of the tribe discussed among themselves the consequences of the trial. Karabus, for losing the duel three feathers to none, was to prepare Tenwa’s arrows before every hunt. Karabus was driven to great fits of rage in the days that followed.
Native Cities
Of course, things were not always so clear: some tribes became mercenary armies hired by local cities; some tribes swelled by assimilating the villages and hamlets of the native Edradans; some tribes became agrarian on their own, without settling in the domains of local lords; and some tribes moved into cities without giving up their heritages, becoming healers, trackers, and laborers for the more organized local society. All this movement occurred while the traditional tribal life thrived and continued to develop.
Tenwa among the Mammoth When Daesar passed away, Tenwa brought the tribe under the totem of the Mammoth. With Irawen as councilor, he led his tribe as a sagacious and cunning Hattan. His tribe moved south through the Tall Forest and into the Red Plains following game. He collected many shaman within his fold and taught them the art of his father Erelius. When the shaman spoke, Tenwa listened, and the Mammoth tribe grew strong because of it. In the warmer fields, they were one of the first tribes to domesticate the horse and to breed dogs for war.
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The Expansion of the Neferatha State The Rise of Szedarc Atlas
Centuries after the settling of Ugurlu, the loose Neferatha castes had solidified into four rigid tiers impossible to transgress. Although the majority of Crowns separated themselves from the mundane management of state affairs entirely, running small temples or founding new cults far from the politics of city life, the high caste retained privilege and power over the other Neferatha. As the civilization spread across Ragus, more villages and cities were absorbed into the caste system, the majority relegated to the growing number of Feet needed to till the soil and carry spears. The wealthiest and most influential Crowns stayed in Ugurlu, holding absolute power over state affairs despite the fact that the Empress came only from a dynasty within the Right Hand caste. Although the Empress could issue commands and wage war, a cabal of Stewards chosen from among the Crowns gave the final permission for any important decision. Rarely, however, did the Stewards interfere, content to wield their unlimited power deep in the catacombs of the city toward unknown ends. The Rights acted like most aristocratic bodies; arguing and squabbling among themselves; competing over land, wealth, and influence; and resenting the divine right of those above them. In the 367th year of the Imperial Calendar, Szedarc was anointed Fourteenth Empress of the Neferatha, a people who took many vassals and conquered many cities. The ruins of the Edradan Empire that circled the Nameless Desert, however, were still neglected by expanding armies in these times, most people avoiding any lands with evidence of the darker powers. Szedarc was a young and fiery general when she became Fourteenth Empress. Her mother, Thirteenth Empress Ramasvati, was killed by poison in the royal house in Ugurlu while Szedarc was on campaign in Oldfire, a region far south of Ugurlu.
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Anointing of The Fourteenth Empress The sun rose hot over a camp of weary soldiers. Swarming around three sides of a makeshift platform, fresh bandages speckled with red, the Neferatha infantry stood at attention. From the hills behind the camp a regal procession approached, and the soldiers stood motionless as their general led the train among them. She ascended the steps of the platform adorned in polished armor of bronze and leather, ebony skin oiled, sword at hip and spear in hand. The sword, called Tatkuruki, was Szedarc’s regular blade of battle, and all her men recognized the weapon that daily stood before them in the fray. Likewise, she wore her standard field armor, though attendants had spent the short night repairing and elaborating the plates. The spear, however, called Amper Deshi, was foreign to the eyes of her infantry, most of
whom belonged to the Feet caste and rarely stood so close to the pomp and ritual of State.
Recent wounds hidden from view, Szedarc stepped forward across the platform, which had been erected only hours before, just moments after messengers arrived from Ugurlu with the news: Her mother was dead, and the general would be anointed at sunrise. Two Stewards in robes of crimson and slate followed the white-clad general across the stage, the rest of the train closing the circle begun by the infantrymen. When Szedarc came into view, the men and women surrounding the platform cheered loudly, breaking the decorum of the ceremony and drawing angry gestures from the Stewards. As the company quieted, the Stewards exchanged concerned glances: Szedarc’s fame was growing faster than many of their numbers had foreseen. The public ritual was shortened due to the growing heat and the siege that rumbled on just half a league from the camp, culminating when the tip of Amper Deshi was used to cut Szedarc’s right palm and the blood collected. Two hours after she stepped onto the platform First General of the Neferatha Cardinal Army, Szedarc stepped down from the platform Fourteenth Empress. Szedarc in Ugurlu Before her campaign was fulfilled, Szedarc was brought back to Ugurlu by the Stewards and their retainers. She appointed a new First General via messenger while en route to
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Amper Deshi marked the general as “in contest” for the anointing. Two other spears existed, Amper Vishvara and Amper Hena, to mark others who vied for the title of Empress, though neither had been used since the two sisters, Keli Varuja and Tagathena the Black, split the powerful families over who would become Ninth Empress. For over a hundred years, Amper Deshi alone, half weapon and half scepter, had marked the sole heir during her time of preparation for the anointing ceremony. When the ceremony concluded, the spear would be returned to the imperial treasury until the Fifteenth Empress was sought.
Ugurlu, the Crowns giving her little time to communicate with her men before departure. Once in the capital, a lavish ceremony was given to celebrate the life of the Thirteenth Empress and usher her into the afterlife with appropriate protections. Szedarc was given time to mourn her mother and heal her palm according to custom. A month after the death of Ramasvati, Szedarc moved into the royal apartments with her two husbands. She took up her reign at the age of twenty-two.
Siege of Xeruthan When Szedarc, Fourteenth Empress, was twenty-six years old, elders of several wealthy Right families living in southeast Ragus came to her requesting a declaration of war against the city of Xerutahan. Xeruthan merchants had succeeded in establishing lucrative trade routes with nearby cities and so began increasing prices on exports to the Neferatha cities. Annexing the city would shore up wealth for the locale elite and also provide a valuable port on the far side of the Guna Sea, a place from which to launch a northward expansion over Lower Edrada. A meeting was held with the Empress and her councilors in the capital palace in the presence of three Stewards, who sat on a shadowed dais on the opposite side of the hall. Szedarc and her generals debated whether the time was right for aggression, though many of the Rights in attendance were fond of war and increasing their families’ holdings. As the evening waned, more views were swayed and minds made up: The Cardinal Army would lay siege to Xeruthan in four months. Turning to the dais, Szedarc spoke with open disgust: “And are the three of you okay with this?” No answer came, and the Empress was forced to raise her voice, asking, “Were you even following our colloquy, esteemed ones?” Puravi, High Steward, lifted her head just slightly. She sat on an ornate throne surrounded
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by supplicants and attendants; many mouths kissed her feet and exposed legs. Pulling her hand away from the embrace of a particularly handsome attendant, Puravi gestured toward the Empress: “Yes, we allow it.”
her feet. Szedarc and her councilors exited the meeting hall, declaring their orders to multiple crews of hovering Lefts who followed quickly at their heels down the corridor. Messages were sent, orders given, war brought forth.
Szedarc knew the attendant who sat clutching Puravi’s hand. Rather, she had known him. His name had been Naradha; she did not know what he called himself now, as a slave to the whim and body of Puravi. The Crowns who led powerful temples often gave new names to their personal attendants and favorite devotees. Naradha had been a childhood friend of Szedarc; they were inseparable. No, he was more than that. Six years older than the girl, Naradha was the first man she had lain with. When Szedarc returned home from her first campaign as Second Captain, she had it in her mind to take Naradha as husband. During her two-year absence, however, he had fallen in with Puravi’s sect, an empire-wide cult devoted to the Goddess Rena. Szedarc had chance to speak with him only once that summer. He had already ceased to be Naradha.
The Field of Xeruthan Less than a year later in 372 IC, after a siege of many months, the Neferatha Cardinal Army drew out the forces of Tasseter, King of Xeruthan. Fourteenth Empress Szedarc rode her chariot across the front line of cavalry, blowing her war-horn and throwing crimson flowers on the ground before the bronzearmored horses. First General Kherug rode his chariot before the infantrymen closer to the field, building a roar among the soldiers, giving praise and honor to the best among them.
Puravi continued speaking from the dais, her attention seemingly split between the admiration of her attendants and the needs of the council: “Rena, the Eight-Armed Goddess, Mistress of Winter, demands a sacrifice before this act of war. Three oxen in the customary manner, all from the house of the Empress herself.” Udhula, another of the Stewards present, turned her eyes to the council for the first time all evening: “And Janeshkha, Elephant God, Keeper of Secrets, Stern Brow and Sure Foot, demands the same.” Phelhush, the third Steward, rolled his head around his shoulders as he spoke lazily: “Maghuhan, God of Earth and All that Grows, of the Four-Skilled-Arms, calls for a festival of grain giving in…” His voice trailed for a moment, a thick groan escaping his lips mid-sentence. He resumed, “… in the city of Gunabhim.”
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“And that is all?” asked the Empress. Puravi gave another dismissive gesture with her hand and turned her face back to the attendants at
At the sound of the final horn, Kherug led the first wave of men down into the valley toward the advancing soldiers of Tasseter. The Xeruthan King rode a white horse stained red as blood and fitted with armor of leather and steel. Tasseter cut down Kherug early on the first day, the king’s curved sword cutting through spear-shaft and armor. Kherug fell from his chariot, his driver unable to circle back before Tasseter had staked the general to the ground with a great spear. As Szedarc led the cavalry into the fight, her chariot driver, Anshik, drove the imperial horses hard towards Tasseter. Though born among the lowest caste, Anshik spoke wisdom to his commander and often acted as her confidante. Szedarc met Tasseter in the Field of Crows near the city’s western gate. Growing Arcana Behind Szedarc and the skirmish at the gates, a cluster of Neferatha scholars ascended a hill overlooking the battle. The small cadre of Lefts, commanded by one of Szedarc’s husbands, had been charged with studying ancient texts found deep in the catacombs of Ugurlu. Outside the influence of the Crowns, the scholars sought secrets of magick in service to the Empress. They had been lucky, and two powerful arcana were discovered with minimal casualties.
The fire grew steadily, when suddenly emerald fingers struck out at the circle of men and women on the hilltop. Four of the scholars were eaten by fire; the others scattered. Hashtha suffered burns but ducked away from the raging flames before the worst of it. The backlash of the failed spell yet continued. From the fire emerged a dark shape, a fiend of the Fray who slipped through the tear made by the novice magickers. It felt the weight of flesh and the friction of earth as it stepped from the fire on long, thin legs. Hashtha drew his sword and sprung at the fiend. It took until sunset for the husband of Szedarc to slay the menace, and twelve other warriors lost their lives as the beast cut through the ranks. Szedarc and Tasseter Near the gates of Xeruthan, Empress Szedarc and King Tasseter clashed blades long into the day. Anshik drove the Imperial chariot with expert attention, avoiding the sting of Tasseter and keeping the Empress close alongside her rival. Both swords had a famous lineage and much renown, but Tatkuruki proved stronger. Before sunset, after many thrown spears and sped arrows, the Fourteenth Empress struck down the wise king of Xeruthan. The city fell, and the empire grew one wall stronger. The Rights cut the city into districts and claimed the most splendid estates as their own. Only three noble families of Xeruthan were spared the sword and assimilated into
the Right caste. A famous stateswoman from Anishad named Neshiga became the first governor of Xeruthan.
The Siege of Merekhun Atlas
The cadre’s first test lay ahead of them, and Commander Hashtha, gave the order: Burn the enemy. Two of the scholars began reciting words recorded centuries ago by the extinct mages of Ugurlu. Three of the scholars began making complicated gesticulations and assuming bodily postures one after another, focusing their wills on a small fire set at the center of the hill. Other mages began reciting other stanzas and making other gestures, all present unsure which parts of the elaborate incantation held the power. Hashtha watched as his servants became entranced in the words and movements described by the newly discovered scrolls, and from the small fire at their feet came green fingers of flame.
It came to pass in the eleventh year of the Fourteenth Empress, 378 IC, that many of the wealthy Rights now living in Xeruthan had lost their influence over local trade. Another city-state, Merekhun, was growing a powerful army and pushing against the horsemen settlers who still flooded Lower Edrada. These wealthy Rights pressed their Empress for war. In the palace chambers, a war council met to decide the fate of Merekhun. Most of the women in attendance did not support annexing the city, but Neshiga of Xeruthan proved an influential governor: She promised expanded markets in Merekhun for the Rights of Chekesh, an old and respected district in Ugurlu, who had gained little when Xeruthan was divvied years earlier. Promising new markets for these established houses bought many votes for the war effort. Szedarc followed the council of gathered governors and advisors. She turned to the dais across the hall. “Puravi, do the Stewards ratify this decision for war?” On the other side of the hall, bathed in dancing shadows, the Stewards sat in silence. Puravi lifted her head as though she had forgotten there were others in the room. She took a slow, heavy breath and responded to the Empress: “Yes yes, do what you will.” The other Stewards, whispering together over the last hours, nodded in agreement and quickly went back to their hushed conversation. The Gates of Merekhun The walls of Merekhun were brought down in the 382nd year of the Imperial Calendar. When Szedarc led the cavalry into battle, the Cardinal Army’s infantry had already decimated the defenses. Her men and women soldiers revered their Empress as a clairvoyant seer who shielded them from harm in battle. Her wiles proved victorious at each turn, and this
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campaign had already boosted her fame across Ragus.
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Just as all seemed won, however, from the depths of the earth came a tremor that toppled riders from their mounts and broke the wheels of chariots. A Tyrant unseen since the coast of the Crimson Sea first saw humankind awoke from its slumber in the waters. Waves crashed against the seaside walls of Merekhun, and hundreds of the dead and dying were swept away. The dark god stepped onto shore, shaking the silt and sediment from its joints. Steam rose from its flesh, and fire erupted from its many eyes. Szedarc’s horses fell dead as the beast stepped toward her. The chariot cracked apart. A sound, sharp as swords, pierced the gray sky. Thousands fell to their knees, clutching their ears, which bled over the sides of their necks and shoulders. Szedarc stood frozen, three javelins in her left hand and one in her right. From the front of the chariot, she heard an unexpected voice. Anshik spoke: “Raise your arms, my Empress. This beast cannot be killed with spears alone.” Szedarc looked at her chariot driver quizzically. “Please, Empress. You have trusted me these many years in battle. Trust me yet now.” Szedarc did as Anshik instructed. From his place within the chariot, Anshik wove a spell older than the Tyrant. His fingers moved like spider-legs and clutched at faintly flowing threads. He was a Weaver. Before the thousands of soldiers, the Tyrant began to twitch and writhe as it stood near Szedarc’s upraised arms. In her presence it screamed out in pain and fell to its knees. Out of sight from the soldiers, Anshik unraveled the very fibers of the beast, fixing the blemish in the Tapestry that let such a creature exist on the surface of the world. For a long moment after the disappearance of the Tyrant, there was silence.
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Anshik spoke again: “Do not tell anyone what I have done, Empress. My own reasons for being on this earth are not yet finished, and I care not for obstacles and investigations. Much attention will fall on you because of this, and I fear Puravi will make things hard for you. But you must bear it all forgetting the truth of this day, I beg you. Your place is fixed, and few will
question this power if all believe it came from your hands. Whispers have spoken of your divinity for many years now; just let this be part of those stories.” The Empress saw wisdom in Anshik’s words and agreed, sparing her servant the Crowns’ inquisition and inviting a portion of it on herself. When the dust had settled, Szedarc rode at the head of the parade, and many worshipped her as a divine savior. She herself never made such a claim, but the voice of the masses was clear. Imperial Cult This victory would lead to the founding of the Imperial Cult, a religion controlled by the Right Caste in defiance of the many cults and societies of the Crowns. Each Empress is anointed as a divinity and worshipped as such by many Neferatha, especially soldiers and low-rank state employees. In contrast to the ornate, organic designs of Crown temples, Imperial temples are austere and cold. The Imperial Cult is one of the few direct ways the Right caste can influence the poorer milieus of Neferatha society without the intervening Crowns. Within Merekhun The Neferatha army rode into the city as conquering heroes, freeing the commoners of the city from their hated overlords. As empires go, however, it would not be long before new rulers bent the commoners’ backs and squeezed their pockets. Behind the marching army came throngs of Neferatha settlers charged with the business of assimilating the new city. Crowns from various cults and nearby temples came with their followers, preaching salvation or damnation or both. They erected small platforms and began offering food and supplies to the people who had been held up in the city for almost three years without fresh goods. Rights erected gallows and held nominal trials for the ruling families of Merekhun, accusing the lords of various crimes against the peasantry and
In general, such times are chaotic, but the Neferatha Cardinal Army had become efficient facilitators for imperial expansion. The most concentrated effort of the assimilation came from the Lefts who were in charge of State accounting, for they had to translate all the books of the old city governors into the Neferatha accounting system. In ledgers of papyrus and clay, this was an easy, albeit tedious, feat. In the houses of the city and the farms of the countryside, however, when husbands found their names erased and their wives the sole owners of family wealth, this accounting became much more physical. The Neferatha elite had little patience for unruly husbands, and gallows were made outside the city walls for the singular purpose of executing those men unable to give up their titles. Within the wealthy families this was rarely an issue, for the women would naturally be in charge of house economies and estate management anyway. Servants and offspring were almost always loyal to their matrons explicitly, and the transition was smooth. In the fields and workhouses, however, this would often require more violent coercion. Two new ruins of the Old Edish Empire were discovered near Merekhun, but no one dared investigate.
Pact With the Alagoths For reasons both political and petty, many Rights of the newly conquered cities sought further expansion along the coast of Lower Edrada. Governor Neshiga had risen to great fame among the wealthy of the coastal cities, and hers was a persistent pursuit of power.
She won many friends opening new markets and granting estates to the noble lines of Rights. Even those of the imperial family were being swayed by her position; Szedarc’s own nieces became attendants to the governor and commanded her two private armies in matters of trade across Oldfire and neighboring regions.
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executing them to the cheers of all. Lefts circled around the most important new faces, both Crown and Right, taking notes, keeping accounts, and earning their keep by skimming what they could for their masters off the books. Laborers rebuilt scorched areas of town, mingled with the local commoners, and began emptying the wealthiest estates to make room for the new inhabitants.
In the 403rd year of the Imperial Calendar, when Szedarc was fifty-eight years old, certain factions of the Right Caste came together asking for war. Neshiga led the group of expansionists, while a governor from Anishad, Ibekah, and her cohort resisted. The council lasted many days and became heated. Ibekah spoke, “We have no information about Chethahan, and even their sailors keep tight lips. It is folly to act so quickly.” Neshiga countered: “I have a captain here who recently returned from a scouting mission. If it is information you want, we have it!” The captain was brought forward. He spoke timidly in the presence of the Empress: “I led a large caravan of men and women over the hills east of Chethahan and into the city itself. We were disguised as traders from Phanesh. Although Chethahan refuses to recognize our Empress,” at this point he paused and bowed before continuing, “we have much evidence that they trade with our enemies regularly. My company spent two weeks inside the walls and found no military presence other than a local guard numbering less than four hundred. They rely on walls to protect themselves. My entire company is willing to—“ Puravi interrupted the report with venom on her lips, “You speak in error, Captain.” The room grew still; no Right remembered a Steward speaking of her own initiative in such a meeting, let alone with such fervor. “You lost thirty-two spears traveling the hills east of Chethahan. Nine spies went missing shortly after. Ten soldiers died in their sleep of yet unknown causes as you approached the city. You never made it inside. Fifty-six bodies all told did not return with you, and you expect to fill this room with a tone of victory?” Neshiga stood with her mouth open, shocked and silent. Puravi continued, “You speak against your
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own experience, Captain, though that does not surprise me.” She paused and let the stillness fill the chamber like smoke before continuing, “We will not send an army by land nor sea to Chethahan. The days of sleeping ruins are over! You have had your evidence these twenty years. We Crowns are handling Lower Edrada ourselves. You will expand no further and awaken no more Tyrants. If you petty thieves must take new lands, take the Great Tree Emluk, which you have coveted for so many years.” At this, the stillness was broken with laughter. Neshiga was first to speak: “Emluk is unassailable. Her walls rival those of Phanesh, and her soldiers fight from the sand like insects. The journey itself would be brutal before her trunk were even in sight.” Empress Szedarc agreed, saying, “Even you cannot speak against this, Puravi.” Yet as soon as the words left her lips, she doubted them. None were certain what Puravi knew. The High Steward continued, ignoring the interruption entirely: “Send messengers to the horse-raiders of the Steppe. They travel in clans arranged under fetid grandfathers who blow horns and spill wine. For the price of one hundred horses and one hundred maidservants, you would have two thousand mounted warriors of surprising vigor. Equipped with our steel, a handful of
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their shepherd boys could shake Emluk to the ground. They will be as a spear thrown by your own hand.” Within ten years, Puravi’s prophecy had come true, and the Neferatha employed Alagoth warriors in campaigns all across Ragus and Oldfire. In time, Alagoth warriors became the favored shock troops of Neferatha armies. They were prized mercenaries and eager settlers, working for wealth and wine. Many Alagoth camps moved into Oldfire at the invitation of Neferatha Rights and into cities along the Guna River. Powerful heroes were awarded cities of their own. Patriarchs were born and killed under direct orders of Neferatha generals. A veritable wave of migrations followed in the wake of the expanding Empire, and over the next hundred years regions from Tath Nagura to the Great Steppe became a mixture of Alagoth, Neferatha, native, and incoming cultures. The Empire controlled them all, but Neferatha soldiers were prohibited by the Crowns from venturing into Lower Edrada.
Caste and Society
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Neferatha have a strict caste system as old as written history that maintains life in the complex and sprawling urban environments. The capital city, Ugurlu, is a cosmopolitan nexus of the many cultures of the world, the first and oldest market in the lands surrounding the Hara Sea. Most members of the highest caste lead simple, compassionate lives as temple priests, though a select few act as Stewards and control all trade and production from positions of political authority. The castes that originated with Crone have only become more rigid in the centuries since. Crowns The Crown refers to the top of the head, not a royal diadem. Crowns rule as a semi-divine lineage, and their numbers are kept small on account of this, making up five percent of the total populace. The mixing of castes is unavoidable, the lusts and passions often ignoring culture’s most long-held custom, though the Crowns of the Neferatha are in general more chaste than most elite classes. Crowns are the very voices of the gods, and the many hundreds of gods each have their own temples and settlements spread over the ever-changing sand. Because temples are the center of communities, cities, and much commerce, Crowns exercise unrivaled influence over the masses. Rights The second caste of the Neferatha is made up of the Right-Handed Ones, who constitute one tenth of the Nibu people. These are the fighters and politicians, the warrior elites and barons. The political leaders and orators, philosophers and warmongers of the Neferatha are all Rights. Rights are said to own all the material goods of the realm, and for their enrichment all wars are fought. Lefts The Left-Handed Ones, or more simply the Lefts, began as artisans but quickly became the clerks, accountants, and tax collectors of the Neferatha. They comprise one fifth of Empire cities, though less than three percent of any village population in rural regions. It is illegal and sinister for any caste other than the Lefts to handle coin money, a terrible omen even if the touch is accidental. Coin is solely forged and managed by the Lefts, a method of their own for keeping track of records and accounts. They were formed as one of the original moieties before the Withering pushed Crone from the lands south of the mountains. Lefts are the personal assistants and estate managers of the Neferatha upper classes, care-takers of the goods and resources of their betters. They are also elders and merchants among the rural villages, tracking the crops and expenses. All Lefts are held accountable by the State. Lefts are often literate and highly educated in lore and numbers. They work with their hands in both craft and script. Foreigners are welcome in Neferatha cities and fit between the Left Hands and Feet in the hierarchy. Laws that handle foreigners with disputes or complaints, however, are rarely kind. Feet The vast majority of Nibu people fall into the Foot caste, a caste of skilled and unskilled workers. They are the serfs, near slaves, that toil on the land and harvest the food owned by the Right. They are also pages and assistants. Feet work most days, though many religious festivals dot the calendar, and vast assemblies are held frequently in urban centers or at holy sites. Free time is spent in song and sport, and in times of war the Feet become the bulk of the soldiery. The Feet are the most prevalent caste and end up becoming part of every facet of society, from cleaning the temples or helping transfer relics as cheap guards to becoming war heroes alongside Rights of the realm, from assisting in workshops and smithies to toiling under the sun as harvesters of cotton.
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The Patriarchs and the Masculine Ideal
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Alagoth society is arranged in political ranks founded on successes in war and leadership while traveling across the Great Eastern Steppe. The patriarchal lineages that emerged hundreds of years ago when the Alagoth reached the White Forest have remained relatively stable since, though offshoots and lesser clans may separate physically from their elders to prevent overcrowding. The circulating population of independent camps, some genetically related to other camps and others staunchly autonomous, recognize each other as one people because of a shared language and material culture, though they uphold no common government and few ties from one lineage to another exist. The clans may compete for natural resources, especially lands for use as pasture, but armed conflicts are minimal due to a sense of shared tragedy and the abundance of Empire ruins. Each camp claims broad swaths of territory, often in large tracts stretching from one edge of Lower Edrada to another. Territory itself is not particularly coveted, but the grass growing on it is precious. And while caravans often trek over land not their own, allowing animals to graze in another’s territory is considered a grave offense and rarely goes without retaliation.
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At the head of each family is a patriarch who traces his lineage back to the days of the migration, a time alive only in myth now. His sons will hold the highest honors in the camp and decide whose flocks and herds are granted the best lands for grazing. This first generation of the patriarch is called the huol. Elders of the patriarch and his other relatives, including uncles, brothers, and nephews, all make up the second tier of any settlement and are called the hawad. In the prestige culture of Alagoth society, these males, the huol and hawad, are respected above all and almost always deferred to for judgment in conflicts within the clan, especially when it is a matter of life and death. Each has the power to judge any of his progeny and may even exercise authority over the lesser descendents of his brothers or cousins. Strict rules of courtesy and honor bind the behavior
of these elites, but like any social group of such a size—Alagoth camps can include upwards of a thousand individuals—contestation and political maneuverings are facts of life. Despite the familial language of Alagoth society, the majority of the camp are people not related to the patriarchs by blood. Slaves and servants accompany the families in their travels, and many of these descend from peoples conquered centuries ago during the great migrations or more recently in Lower Edrada, kept as laborers or exotic playthings. Some of these lesser servants are Alagoth prisoners enslaved as punishment for leaving debts unpaid or committing crimes. Rivals for political authority can be stripped of rights by a jealous patriarch and sold alongside common criminals from one camp to another, their names and ancestries forever removed from history. Edish have been more defiant than most to assimilation and often choose death over servitude. Names and lineages are precious to the Alagoth. Epithets are spoken and remembered long after an elder or patriarch dies, invoking his wisdom and empowering his spirit in the afterlife.
Tales of the Patriarchs In the generations that followed the settling of Lower Edrada by the Alagoth clans, a new way of life took root in the hearts and minds of the patriarchs. The constant travel of the Steppe was a distant memory, but wealth and prestige were still measured in horses. The world around the White Forest brought new resources and new ideas to the Alagoths. The system of patriarchs, however, was rigid as ever and focused centrally on the masculine spirit. Male and female Alagoths spent much time in company divided by gender, though Gharun traveled between male and female quarters equally. Men and women were both
seen as emotional and fiery, showing affection and anger readily. Gharun, by contrast, were even tempered, known for being rational as well as unaffectionate.
Particularly wise and cool-headed females, if proven unable to become pregnant, can be recognized as gharun also. This is less common, however. Biological males, it is said, can “become” gharun at some point in their lives, meaning the individual actually changes genders over the course of his life. Biological females who eventually perform the gender, however, are said to “have been gharun all along.” This recognition of the individual’s “natural” gender is then used as grounds for a legal divorce. Most barren women, however, are not fortunate enough to be publicly accepted as gharun. Once recognized as gharun, no stigma is attached to infertile individuals, as gharun are expected to be without offspring and valued as unattached councilors. Gharun take the masculine pronoun.
Patareyu Ata Horas, He Who Greets with Fire, Lion Kin
Among the Alagoths who called Lower Edrada home, Patareyu Ata Horas was a lion. He took no wives and fathered no children; he feared
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Gharun There are three normative genders in Alagoth society, which are not attached strictly to biological sex. The vast majority of gharun are biologically male individuals who, through castration or impotence, have proven themselves unable to sire offspring and thus do not participate in the patriarchy. Gharun are not treated as castrated males, however. They have their own, unique gender norms and identity fully accepted by the culture.
they would make him soft. The only pursuit that brought Patareyu pleasure was war. He and his father, horn bearer of the Horashata, constantly fought and came to no terms throughout their long lives. Like many other clans, the Horashata took no interest in settling in the cities of Lower Edrada. They displaced many Edish, winning many horses and wives, but took little interest in the wealth of the local cultures. Patareyu became proficient with the sword as well as the bow and the spear. He preferred weapons made to kill men than those designed for the hunt. The sons of Horas were revered as skilled wrestlers among the huol, but even Patareyu’s brothers feared him in conflict. His temperament was likened to the hot-blooded mustangs that the Alagoth encountered in Lower Edrada, a rare breed to them. In range conflicts with other clans, Patareyu would kill his opponents but leave their horses on the battlefield. He would accompany his brothers on horse raids against rival clans only to test his mettle as a swordsman against that of the guards, often losing his mounts in the process. Forgoing the collection of horses, Patareyu was a drain on his father’s house. He did not participate in the politics of the warriors in the camp or compete for wives. A life of responsibility and family did not interest the spirited warrior, and he feared a day when he would be forced to count his joys by the number of sons or horses he possessed. Whenever Patareyu found himself in trouble with this father for some violent outburst or another, his response was the same: “My skin itches. It feels not my own. It burns and aggravates me and makes my temper short, father.” Horas felt for the boy but could do little to help. Despite the rank and riches of his father, the fighter felt lost among his own people, as one without a home or as a foreigner among strangers. During a lion hunt at the edge of the dry Steppe, Patareyu found himself on foot near a fissure in the turf. His kin had ridden on, pursuing the pride, and Patareyu himself had
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began to lick Patareyu’s body. Each lick brought rushing pain over Patareyu, and his body writhed and twisted beneath the rough tongue. He screamed in agony and fought to escape, but the maw of the lion hovered over him. Through magicks uncanny, each lick changed one feature of Patareyu’s body into that of a lion. In minutes, his body had a new shape and was covered in tawny fur. Another lick, and a thin ridge of red hair bristled down his back, the beginning of a mane. Another lick, and a tail grew long behind him.
no attendant to bring another horse. Because he spent such little time in the saddle, his own horses were wont to wander. Patareyu cursed his kin and his place among them. From the crack in the earth came an aged and weathered lion, Hadara Keru, King of the Steppe, Voice of Pride, He Who Greets with Tooth. Hadara Keru was an elder lion, grown large and wise from suckling on the corpses of the old gods, whose bodies lay buried deep in the belly of the earth. Patareyu froze before the majestic figure of the lion, his eyes flashing on his face like buried gems. Within the youth, Hadara Keru saw a familiar spark. The fell beast spoke: “You have lost the company of your kin, human.” Patareyu said nothing.
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The lion pounced, pinning the warrior beneath a single, broad paw. As the young man shook in fear, Hadara Keru lowered his ancient head and
Under the guidance of Hadara Keru, Patareyu spent many years in the form of a lion. He roamed the Steppe, he crawled through the fissures, he avoided the eyes of humans. Hunting deer and horse, he ate his fill as one of Hadara Keru’s own pride. He grew in stature, his rusty mane thick and full. And, when the time came, Patareyu left the safety of his patron and took to solitary wandering, searching out a mate and a pride of his own. Far in the northeast, within sight of the Silver Wood, Patareyu caught the pleasing scent of a potential lover. Approaching the pride, he saw many such adolescent males rutting and demonstrating before the many female cats that lounged lazily in the company of a large, shaggy male. The shaggy elder seemed indifferent to the sport of the younger lions, perhaps eager to lose a daughter or two to the youths. In his turn, Patareyu fought with the rival suitors. Despite his time spent with Hadara Keru, the man-lion was no match for the feral power of natural beasts. One brute in particular, a long slender cat, took great pleasure in clawing at Patareyu. As the manlion turned to flee, the cat scratched out at the loser’s hind leg. His body torn and broken, Patareyu was driven by several other males along the edge of the White Forest, back towards the pastures of his human kin. Patareyu spent more years hungry and longed for his old life among the huol of Horas, his father. Starving and crippled since the fight with the suitors, Patareyu eventually came upon a
Patareyu was brought to the chambers of a wealthy patriarch, those of his father Horas. The great patriarch was delighted by the gift and called his healers to tend the animal. He gave Berut, the shepherd, thirty horses to reflect the size and beauty of the lion and made the young man a warrior of the hawad. Horas spent days beside the weary cat, directing his servants to take care of the prized specimen. By this time, Patareyu had spent many years far from the magick of Hadara Keru. One night, in the midst of a deep sleep brought upon by the drugs of his family’s healers, Patareyu changed back into the form of a man. Horas awoke on a pile of carpets embracing not the bloodied body of a lion-prize but that of his own lost son. He awoke his other sons with tears of happiness and called for a feast in honor of the returned offspring, who had been presumed dead for years. Patareyu soon recovered his strength, the only physical reminder of his days as a lion being a scar given him by the rival suitor. And slowly, after a handful of years, his old restlessness returned. Only in private with his father would he speak of his years as a lion. The Horashata had no such magick among them, and the two feared such a tale might frighten the camp. “How do you like your skin now?” asked the father. Patareyu responded, “It seems I will
never find peace. I have worn two skins, father. When I wore a man’s skin so many years ago, half of my body burned while the other felt right. When I wore the skin of a lion, half of my body burned while the other felt peace; but the two halves were reversed. And now, I feel the old burn growing.”
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flock of goats at play in the hilly terrain. He saw no shepherd and, crouching low to the ground, crept closer to the small prey. Suddenly the lion charged, bringing down two of the animals. He moved the carcasses to a sheltered crag that would act as a fitting place for his meal. Before he could finish the second goat, however, Patareyu was startled by the sound of shifting gravel. A net fell over the lion’s head, and he felt the sharp sting of a spear-point in his already raw hindquarter. Patareyu let out a desperate roar as he was wrestled onto his back and bound. “You are lucky, noble beast,” came a voice. “Our patriarch has offered twenty horses to the man who can bring him a lion alive. With you I will leave the life of a poor shepherd behind and try to make my name among the hawad of the Horashata!”
Horas had a gharun attendant, Ettu, who sat always at his side, even in the most private of company. The patriarch turned his close companion, who was familiar with his son’s tendencies: “Ettu, how does this seem to your eyes?” asked the patriarch. Ettu responded in the marked voice of the gharun, “It seems, my master, your son would need to wear both skins at once to make peace in his belly.” Led by the words of Ettu, Patareyu prepared a hunt, his mind set on a single prey. Taking Berut and a small group of cousins, Patareyu dressed four horses of his own and left the camp ready to find his second skin. Riding along the edge of the White Forest, Patareyu led the young hunters over the tracks of a small pride of lions. At the edge of sunset, three female lions pounced from a brushhidden fissure in the earth. Two of Patareyu’s companions fell dead along with their horses. Berut was able to spear one of the lionesses before being dismounted by another. Patareyu erupted as one aflame. Spearing the two remaining cats in one raging leap from his steed, he freed Berut from danger and helped the former shepherd back to his mount. A large, adolescent male cat sprung from the fissure and charged at Patareyu before the fighter could free his spear-points from their targets. Drawing a sword, Patareyu cut down the zealous lion with a loud roar. Two more lionesses emerged from the brush, one killing another of Patareyu’s companions. He removed his spear from a corpse and finished off the man-killer with a single throw. The other lioness spooked Berut’s horse, sending the man onto the turf once more. From the ground, the two growled at one another, shepherd and lioness. Before either could strike, however, Patareyu caught a familiar scent and stepped between cat and man. This was the prized
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lioness from Patareyu’s time in another skin. She observed the bold warrior standing before her, folded her forelimbs, and lowered her feline body into a leisurely repose.
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The short moment of peace was shattered by a paralyzing roar. Atop a rock, rising behind the body of the calmed lioness, rose the silhouette of a tall, slender lion, his waving mane a banner against the red of the sun. Berut was struck dumb and froze. Patareyu dashed to grab a spear. The pride-leader was upon him, however, before his hand reached the shaft of his weapon. The two wrestled over the short grass, and in their fight both recognized a familiar opponent. Patareyu broke free from the grapple and instantly felt his old scar tear open as the lion clawed a matching arc over the back of the man’s thigh. The cat snarled in victory, but Patareyu reached his spear, spun, and struck the lion through the chest. He drew his skinning knife while the cat still twitched. For the rest of his years, Patareyu wore two skins at the same time. Atop his human skin he wore the skin of the lion, weaving the latter into a garment. He took no wives and left no sons. Even in old age he attended hunts, horse raids, and skirmishes with rival clans and Edish riders. He painted his face and took many herbs to maintain his strength. His own hair grew white and shaggy, a mane beneath a mane. He preferred to fight on foot, and trained others to do the same. In many clans throughout Lower Edrada, Alagoths began to follow the two-skin path, some from birth and others after their sons were grown. They put off old age with incantations and fell arts, clinging to a life of violence and the sword. None, however, rivaled Patareyu’s ferocity. In his old age, Patareyu met Hadara Keru again. The two spoke of their years together as teacher and student, but the meeting was not warm. One lion killed the other.
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The Berserker (Two-Skin, or Two-Shirt) Path The life of the two-skin path is rugged and isolated. These Berserker Alagoths are feared warriors and spend most of their lives on the outskirts of the camp, not participating in politics or wife-chasing. Berserkers enjoy few comforts but serve their patriarchs zealously in battle, on horse or on foot. Many take no wives and gather no horses; others become Berserkers late in life when their children are grown or dead. They wear a coarse shirt made from the pelt of a lion and only a small sash that boasts the family pattern. Since the coming of the Duadha, Berserkers have become even more powerful, using the arcane magicks offered by the priestesses of the White Forest to prolong their strength and lives. Some Berserkers hold onto life for two or three generations of their peers. They paint themselves with the blue paint of the Forest, strong dye mixed with metals and blood. Though Berserkers tend no horses, patriarchs will make sure their best Berserkers have trained mounts ready should battle on horseback be in order. Some Alagoths consider it an honor to tend the horse of a famed Berserker, while others avoid the crazed fighters at all costs and afford them no honor.
Razakthet ata Ferus, Eater of Bears, Jeduk Adu, Blood Rage As the clans grew in size and power, a great patriarch arose among the Iassata. He would rise to power twice in one lifetime, and two clans would profit from his strength. In his youth, Razakthet won the horn of the Iassata from an old and troubled patriarch who had lost much spirit alongside a bitter wife. By this time, the Iassata had begun settling in ruined cities like other Alagoths, hanging their carpets from taut cords to make separate chambers within the vast, empty halls. In these cities, several clans would set up camp in the
many half-standing buildings, and conflicts were common. Razakthet made a name for himself as a horse thief in Sethuhan but soon became a famed hunter and warrior as well.
With each new honor, however, came new fear. Razakthet remembered his old patriarch and knew that no matter how high he rose as a warrior there would always be old age before him. He would lose his strength. He would lose his wits. He would end his days in the care of a younger wife who wiped his chin and changed his robes. The higher he rose, the farther he would eventually fall. The fiercest warriors survive every battle and so live to see their ferocity wane. The best are doomed to become the worst. The paradox plagued him. Razakthet hunted down a feared karkadhan that had killed three Benarekata huol a year before. For a time, his heart beat like thunder in his chest, the rush of the kill rippling his body. The pleasure of victory, the elation of risking life, the ecstasy that followed such competition—it darkened his skin and stiffened his muscles. Minutes later, however, the old fear returned: one day this strength would fade. He was gifted two wives and fifty horses by the Benarekata patriarch, and he took much pleasure in them. Over the years, any who challenged Razakthet fell. Word spread of his might from Oldfire to the Cataracts, and soon few set their intentions against his own. Siege of Sethuhan It came to pass that Sethuhan was beset by a strong Edish force riding under the Bear totem. They brought large, short-haired dogs
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Once, soon after Razakthet bore the horn of patriarch, the Iassata faced a large force of heavily armed Edish. Outnumbered and pressed near enough the Wandering Marsh to fear losing the horses, Razakthet led a famous charge of thirteen riders that cut down at least thrice as many Edish. Songs, plays, and dances were made of the “The Marsh Charge,” many spreading into other clans and cities within Razakthet’s own lifetime.
trained to pull riders from their mounts and to spook the empty horses that many Alagoth warriors kept in reserve. Aiding the Edish was a small band of warriors native to Lower Edrada, members of a dwindling culture of seafarers and shell-traders. It was the seafarers who designed the siege engine put to good use by the Edish Hattan. Spewing oil and fire, the Edish machine came at Sethuhan at the front of a well-trained army. Razakthet rode from the city with another patriarch, curved swords slicing through those Edish bold enough to attack on foot. In those days, the Edish had not yet begun wearing metal armor and using heavy swords. They came at the city with bow and spear in hand and cunning tactics. Razakthet and his huol cut their way through man after man before reaching the Edish cavalry. His fellow patriarch was pulled from his horse by a leaping dog, and Razakthet was struck by the mauling that followed. Slowly the Alagoth numbers were thinned by the Edish fighters. Despite the surrounding carnage, Razakthet felt no loss of heart. He lived for the thrills of war, and his body shivered not in fright but in excitement. The Horn of the Iassata fell rider after rider with his bow, making large circles around the fight while he picked his targets and dropped them. He threw spears into the hearts of rival leaders, and slowly closed in on the Bear Hattan who commanded the attack. The battle between the two commanders was like a storm, two mountains bearing down on one another. The Bear Hattan leaped from his horse and toppled Razakthet to the ground. Both men kicked and gripped at the other, until the painted Hattan took the young patriarch by the throat. The Best Son of Ferus felt his vision narrow and blur as he looked up at the awesome foe: The Edish Hattan was covered in tattoos, iconic images of animals inked in neat lines down his torso; the visible skin was smooth, the color of rust. Razakthet groped at the dirt desperately, clutching the first thing that came to hand. With the force of a mule-kick, he swung the
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object toward the Bear’s head. The Hattan went down onto his side, blood spilling from his face. Razakthet dropped the shattered remains of his battle horn as he struggled to his feet. Before his breath returned, however, the Bear had recovered and sprung on him again. Blow after blow thundered against the patriarch’s weary body. Around the warriors, the fighting of lesser men was over. A returning group of young Roshata riders had come upon the siege and scattered the Edish before the walls of Sethuhan were breached. Korachi Ata Testaha, a rival for the Horn of the Iassata, however, kept any men from interfering with the fight of their leader. After hours of grappling, Razakthet took the upper hand. He found a shard of horn and stuck it into the chest of the frenzied Hattan. The Edish fell to his knees, but the wound was not mortal. Before the killing blow could be struck, the patriarch lifted his head to an incoming noise: Three dogs charged through the rows of watching Alagoths and were upon him. The maulers bit at his thighs and forearms, and Razakthet’s blood spilled out over the earth. Quickly, those of the huol pushed Korachi aside and came to aid their kin-leader. Two of the dogs turned on the approaching warriors, however, killing six men. The Roshata riders recognized this moment could be a shift in power that rippled throughout the entire city and sided with Korachi, refusing any more of Razakthet’s kin from helping their patriarch. Fights spread like waves across the already bloodied battlefield. It was Razakthet who eventually slew all three dogs. The pleasure that filled him as he broke their skulls with his hands dizzied him. He had never felt such power as this. As the final canine fell dead at his feet, the Bear Hattan was again upon him; but this time the charging Edish struck what stood like a trunk of oak. Razakthet turned to face the muscled brawler with eyes aflame. In a moment of pure exhilaration, the Bear-Crusher killed his final foe. He called for a knife, his blood still burning within him, and ended his male life.
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Among the Gharun Years later, Razakthet was a wealthy gharun among the Benarekata. The only way he saw to avoid suffering the disgraceful death of an undefeated warrior grown old and weak was to take his future into his own hand. On the battlefield, his body twitching with the highest bliss of victory yet experienced, Razakthet made the cut and began his life as a gharun. His horses and wives were immediately forfeit, and Razakthet was removed from his father’s lineage. No longer fit to be Horn of the Iassata, he sought a new people. Razakthet Ata Ferus took on the life of a shepherd-hermit under a new name, Jeduk Adu. Word of his wisdom spread, and soon Jeduk was taken into the chambers of the Benarekata patriarch. He planned many raids on unfriendly cities and used his military cunning for the benefit of the Sons of Benarek. For the rest of his life, Jeduk worked to become the gharun’s gharun, a jewel on the horn of the patriarch.
HORSE ECONOMY
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The horse is the center of Alagoth culture, and wealth in any Alagoth camp is measured not in houses, not in land, not in finery, but in horses. The Alagoth people traveled for generations westward, and the horse gave them military advantage, speed, and safety for as long as any story remembers. Horses are honored as saving the Alagoths from the beast of the Steppes, the everhungry cave lion. A man who owns a horse is considered an adult and able to meet with elders and warriors of the settlement. Still in the habit of long rides and constant movement, the Alagoths have carved out broad regions between the sea and the forest as their own through the power of a well-armed cavalry. Most princes among the Alagoths travel with several horses, switching a tired mount for a fresh one when necessary. They are said to sleep in the saddle when on march and to feed off the blood of their own mount to avoid slowing to eat. It was by the horse that the Alagoths conquered the steppes, and by the horse they now control the fields of Lower Edrada. Hawad Alagoths may own a few dozen horses each, with the wealthiest of the huol claiming over a hundred each in certain large camps. Numbers this high are more common in mobile camps than in those settlements adapted to life among the ruins at the forest’s edge. Horses are bred and trained for a variety of purposes, combat and burden being the two most profitable to the Alagoths. Combat horses are light and untiring, whereas horses for burden are large and sure-footed. Trade in stallions is uncommon from camp to camp, as most settlements have a variety of bloodlines to choose from when mating horses. Stealing horses from lesser relatives is rare, even for greedy patriarchs, though rustling is a common crime between clans. The penalty for horse theft is always death. Young male Alagoth are first made stewards of a horse, usually one owned by a father or uncle, before they may own a mount outright. Charged with grooming, feeding, and exercising the animal and beginning its training in war commands, successful adolescents are then given their own horse by their elders, usually the animal he has tended and trained in childhood. It is an honor, however, to take care of a horse owned by a local patriarch even if one never comes to own the animal himself. Conferring a horse on a boy fixes him as an adult in the eyes of the community, and the shift in status must be consummated by a special rite: the boy leads the horse to the nearest druidic circle and pays the set fee for that season, granting him access to the glade. Performed for one or several boys at a time, a druid will choose a name for the animal and paint its skin with words in the druidic tongue. At the end of the ceremony, the boy, now a man, takes his horse from the forest and rides back to his people fit for marriage. Girls are encouraged to handle and care for horses at an early age as well, as female Alagoths are often required to ride long distances during caravans from one pasture to another. Widows are not allowed to own horses, but can remain stewards of animals until a buyer is arranged, usually by her former husband’s immediate relatives. Before a male buys the horses, he must vow to take the widow into his home and support her, the woman’s board being part of the price of the horses. That horses make up the majority of Alagoth economy does not mean silver, flocks of sheep, and other livestock are not important. As long as Edish and other people groups supply Alagoths with ample resources through raids and military adventures, however, the horse will remain the central sign of wealth.
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The Birth of the Sabu and Rule by the Sword
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Over many centuries there arose a class of warrior elite among the H’han arranged in Houses who lived by a code of loyalty and face, the Sabu. Originally formed as government armies meant to balance the power of individual regions, the ranks of Sabu swelled. After usurping power from the Imperial family, these warriors supplanted wealthy estate holders and governed by the sword. A strong, isolationist state emerged around the Sabu Houses, and a knotted bureaucracy soon pervaded every level of social life. By the end of the Drunken Raptor Age, seven powerful Sabu Houses controlled all the local governments, the modes and means of production, and every blade on the continent. Time moved slowly as the hierarchy of elites codified and ossified, and an economic system of redistribution grew around the cyclical harvest of maize. Aesthetic life revolved around the Anu Court, a decadent lifestyle of art, politics, and romance that took place in the opulent homes of the House Lords and their favorite relatives. In the presence of the Empress, who was kept prisoner on the Imperial Island far from the peasants who worshipped her, the wealthiest and most stylish Sabu led lives of luxury and contemplation. Their accomplices, the Thun priesthood, enjoyed a privileged existence on the islands as ostensibly independent councilors, arbiters, and local leaders. Stories that characterize the rise of the Sabu have been chronicled by many state historians, and accounts are rigorously edited for errors as well as blemishes.
Growing Diversity & Violence
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The bloodlines of the H’han and the Thun merged in the descendents of Gazu and the Heiress, and two great powers came together. The blood of Hataro, which had summoned the Holocaust Tyrant, became as one with the blood of Gazu, which ran thick with magick of its own. The Emperors of the Anu people were strong and wise, and many lived unnaturally
long lives in the halls of the Imperial family. Changes in the cultural lives of the Anu people, however, proved too volatile for even a sagacious Emperor to control. The continent had many climates, and the various cultures represented by natives, Thun, and H’han became increasingly hostile as economic power centralized around large, H’han-controlled cities. Great Kapix’tul Great Kapix’tul hosted a range of climates and ecologies, which tested any attempts at unifying the populations into a single economic system. The midland plains of the southeast supported the staple crop of the Kuludo islands, maize. The Maize and Rain Spirit played a major role in the religious lives of the Anu people and took on symbolic importance among the wealthy as well as the poor. Local cultures of these midland plains were loyal to the Thun priesthood, and venerated the Dragon God and the Feathered Serpent. By contrast, in the lowland forests and flood plains, the monsoon rains brought torrential floods each year. Houses were built on stilts to keep them above water levels, which fluctuated drastically from month to month. Entire cities were built atop these stilts, individual blocks or sections supported by large stone pillars that doubled as public houses and shrines. Rice was the staple crop in the wetter regions. Religious life was cyclical, based on the changing seasons and on appeasing the Old Gods of the rainforest. The Six Figures were sculpted on pillars and in trunks (see page 83). Some cities of the lowland plains stood as high as twenty feet off the ground on stilts that made up an artificial platform called “the floor.” As rains flooded the lowlands each year, small boats and gondolas were used to travel about from building to building. Respectable citizens wealthy enough to avoid working the rice patties or in the highland fields of maize could spend their entire lives residing above the floor, relegating the area beneath the artificial walkways and platforms to thieves and the
impoverished. Communication between cities during the rainy season was often difficult, and individual urban cultures emerged across the big island.
Eastern Islands The Eastern Islands were hard to police, and indigenous peoples untouched by even Hataro’s descendents still roamed, surviving as pirates and saboteurs. Anu settlers were constantly at risk, and their political needs differed from peasants in other regions. Violence was common. Rice grew in abundance on terraced mountainside patties, though the markets of the rest of the continent favored maize. The climate was cooler and dryer than that of Kapix’tul, though still rainy, and religious life centered on the Shark God and the Dragon God. Old temples dotted the small mountainous islands, though few humans strayed near the haunted structures. Settlements were small and rural, the terrain giving few footholds for urbanized living. Markets of the Eastern Islands produced ore and other natural resources, but locals received few concessions in return from the inchoate state. Kuludo Island Kuludo Island showed the most varied climate and four even seasons each year. Maize and rice grew, though not in the amounts found on Kapix’tul. Anu on Kuludo proper lived in dozens of small cities throughout the island, and markets developed along the easily regulated roads and seaways. Regions became popular for exporting various wares and luxury goods, though many local industries required protections or dispensations from the growing government to continue. Merchant cartels and all forms of corruption spread across Kuludo, and resources from the rest of the continent
Kenji’s Revolt As the rift between the rich and the poor expanded, many of the poorest farming communities in the Kuludo islands became violent. The price of Eastern rice fell as largescale farming operations began on Kapix’tul. Exploding urban populations provided cheap labor for wealthy merchants, and new textile industries focused on cotton drove down the price of Kuludo silk. Rural areas which were at one time reciprocally integrated into urban economies began to feel the strain of such dependence. Landholders and rural officials plunged further and further indebted to urban moneylenders.
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A vast and sprawling city grew to support millions, Preexi Latl, just a few leagues from the Central Temple were Gazu and the Heiress slew the Hurricane Tyrant. Villages across the rest of the island were mostly independent of the cities and produced few goods of market value. Dire inequalities developed among the people, commonly following stark ethnic lines.
quickly found their way toward one metropolis or another on the eponymous island. Even the Imperial family was suffering.
In year 7 of the Sinking Owl Age, a respected lord from a small estate, Kaju Kenji, in the Eastern Islands called for a meeting of local growers. The collective militarized and sent ships to Kapix’tul, salting paddies and attacking several villages on the way to Kelhi, the Raised City. Kenji himself, seven other lords, and two thousand peasants made it to the stilts of Kelhi and set fire to the platform. An army of Imperial loyalists ended the revolt through swift action, killing all involved. Kenji was slain two days later in a cleansing ritual and buried near the Central Temple to appease the spirits. The wealthy merchants petitioned the Emperor for laws to curtail the rights of the peasants, but he did not grant their requests. Hetl Qin’s Revolt On Kapix’tul, in year 22, the charismatic attendant of a remote shrine in the Ende foothills began to develop a loyal following among the poor. Her name was Hetl Qin, and she fomented resistance to the established ethnic order as well as economic injustices. During a seasonal ceremony at a small temple, thirty revolutionaries declaring their allegiance to Hetl Qin disrupted the region’s primary sacrifice for the year. The Qin Sect, as it became known, attacked the estate home of a wealthy merchant and held out against Imperial soldiers for two months before being put
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down by a private mercenary force trained in Rosh Hotl. This was an embarrassment for the Imperial military.
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Formation of the Sabu In the year 31 of the Sinking Owl Age, Emperor Tangu Atl took action to weaken the power of the burgeoning elite class and address the concerns of the peasants. He divided the continent of swirling islands into eight provinces, each composed of eight to twelve districts. In an official ceremony at the Central Temple, eight H’han leaders were anointed Sabu, an honor designating the recipients and their families as military governors. The empire was put under martial law as the eight original Sabu Houses regulated all aspects of Anu life, cutting down insurrectionists, while at the same time seizing lands and distributing much needed aid to the peasant populations.
All state-sponsored historians contend that the Emperor had the interests of the peasants at heart. Though the move reaffirmed H’han dominance in Kuludo, it promised greater legal equality to other ethnicities across the realm. The Sabu answered directly to the Emperor and seized all wealth and resources in the name of the Imperial family. They took over entire industries, ousted wealthy merchant families, and regulated all trade and production within the empire. It was a massive reordering of Anu society. Each province was directed toward the good of the state and the commoners, and an ample bureaucracy took shape to ensure that no region was neglected or ostracized from the markets. Sabu is capitalized when referring to the caste, but written as “sabu” when representing an individual or a group. Advent of Sabu Government For two centuries, goods were distributed among the islands according to the wisdom of the Emperor, but slowly the Sabu realized how absolute their power had become and began to work against the Imperial family for their own benefit. Over time, the Houses became less centralized around their own provinces and began sharing control over various industries, markets, ports, and cities across the continent. Ranking lords held many estates, and their relatives took up houses in many towns.
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HOUSES
Heron – Indigo and Pale Yellow Egret – Dark Brown and Tan Owl (Tiku in Anu) – Gray and White Osprey – Dark Red and Tan Vulture (Karras in Anu) – Black & Yellow Peregrine – Royal Blue and Gray Macaw – Bright Red and Pale Yellow Dove – White and Pale Blue
Each House maintained a presence in all areas of importance, incorporating local wealthy families into their folds. This resulted in each House becoming a corporate collection of several Sabu family lineages.
Imperial Seclusion Sedeku of House Karras was made Lord Sabu over Rosho Do Province, the northern region of Kapix’tul Island, in year 52 of the Lotus Petal Age. By this time, the Eight Houses had become so powerful that the Emperor was little more than a figurehead. After a failed assassination attempt, which remained unsolved, the Lord Sabu of each House declared the Emperor Hendu Fon’s life at risk. An Honor Guard was sent from each House, and Sedeku personally accompanied a contingent of soldiers to escort the entire family to a small island off the coast of Kuludo. The new Imperial Island became the secluded center of Anu political life and the prison of the Imperial family. All Imperial offices were seized by the Sabu, who now controlled every aspect of state life. Peasant resistance was minimal, as the Sabu governed with a tight fist. A special sect of Thun priests, the Order of the Red Petals, was commissioned to attend the Emperor and carry out rituals on his behalf across the continent. When Emperor Hendu Fon died in year 70 of the same age, a ceremony at the Central Temple anointed his youngest daughter, Akigenu Fon as the first Empress of the Anu people in absentia. She was seven years old at the time, and would never leave the Imperial Island for the rest of her life. In fact, it would be over 300 years before any member of the Imperial family ventured off the island.
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Sabu continued to rule by the sword. By year 4 of the Lotus Petal Age, the law stated that no bladed weapon could be carried by any individual who did not hold Sabu title. In year 23, even the Imperial family was prohibited from carrying arms, and the military government expanded without limit into offices once held by Imperial factions.
Court Life The Imperial City, located on an island off the coast of Kuludo, houses the patriarchs of each of the Houses. The Court is alive with continuous activity, day- and yearround. The Khe population of the Court is much more dense than in rural regions, and artisans and performers from all over the Kuludo Islands come to entertain the highest and wealthiest of the lords. Maintaining the extravagance and gaiety of the court becomes the responsibility of lesser lords, and it is not uncommon for more than half of any estate’s resources going to support the patriarch’s lifestyle in the capital, even if the result is an impoverishment of the peasants and lesser relatives. Court life is not completely vapid, however, and many alliances and feuds are made in the highly ritualized proceedings of day-to-day life. Gambling leads to financial shifts and territory exchanges, while offenses and generosities can lead to bloody conflicts or new unions. It is the dream of every Sabu to serve his lord in the Court and eventually end up a participant himself.
The Fall of House Dove In the 61st year of the Age of The Drunken Raptor, a great war erupted among the Houses. Through the marriages of many daughters, Lord Geraki of House Dove had established himself as the most powerful Head of House on the continent. House Dove encompassed families in every major city and leveraged a great deal of economic pressure on the other Houses. Geraki’s eighth daughter was being married to a member of the Jegu family of House Heron, and the couple was to live in a freshly made estate in Xio. The estate bore the Dove colors, and the union would have cemented Geraki’s control over the most contested port in all of Kuludo. On the day of the wedding, the Central Temple was adorned with flowers of all kinds and a grand festival was held in the center
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of Kapix’tul. A holiday was declared across the islands, and all were invited to exchange gifts and celebrate the couple’s wedding. Over a million attendants had traveled to Preexi Latl for the ceremony, a crowd unheard of for any event not involving the Imperial family or meant to appease the dark gods.
commanded to do likewise. The House was made outlaw, and all lands were seized. In the records of the ordering that followed, however, many lineages are omitted. It is uncertain what happened to at least six well-known families who were allied with House Dove at the time of the uprising.
The week following the wedding saw the collapse of House Dove. Breaking with tradition, the actual nuptials were held in Kuludo City, the center of Dove power. The crowds gathered in Preexi Latl, however, did not hear of this until it was announced that the ceremony was set to begin over two hundred leagues away in Kuludo City. The people rioted. The other Houses present, who were also unaware of the actual location of the ritual, took the opportunity to turn the public against House Dove, a move which simultaneously reclaimed their lost power and offered a scapegoat to the masses for the centuries of violent Sabu rule. Messengers were dispatched, and civil war broke out two days after the wedding while riots continued. House Dove was decimated in the uprising: The Dove grounds in Kuludo City were torn apart screen by screen; an army of peasants and sabu from each of the seven Houses set fire to the newlyweds’ estate in Xio, killing all within; riots continued in major cities across the continent as House Dove was targeted in each of its domains.
Birth of the Nunji A sect of assassins and organized criminals grew up in the wake of House Dove’s descent. An invisible war was started among the Houses as each Lord conspired against the other, and a need for espionage artists working beneath the strict honor code of the Sabu spawned the Black Coo (nun meaning “Black” and deji meaning “Coo” or “Dove”). The Nun Deji, or Nunji as they came to be known, do not officially exist, though stories of murder and magick abound. They are considered in folktales the most deadly warriors of the Anu people, ghosts who work for the highest bidder and toward their own dark ends. They are said by many to serve Ikthu Gawa the Shark God.
Four days after the wedding, as the riots against House Dove continued and sabu blades drew sabu blood, two Tyrants awoke on Kuludo Island. It is a mystery what sparked the awakening of these unnatural fiends, and many accounts are offered crediting magickers of rival Houses, the Order of the Red Petals, or a native cult unknown to history. The official narrative is that House Dove was to blame for inviting the ire of the Tyrants by breaking tradition and neglecting the Central Temple. Lord Geraki was captured in his family’s ancestral home in the Eastern Islands. He was forced to commit public suicide atop the Central Temple, and all his relatives were
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Anu Religion The religion of the Anu is focused on rites performed by Thun priests, local shaman or weathersmiths, and important state officials. Holy days are set by the stars, and the Celestial Calendar tracks the constellations across the sky with uncanny precision. Sacrifices of maize and flesh are made in regular intervals to sustain the cycles of nature and the eminence of the state. Smaller, lesser sacrifices are used to appease slumbering gods of the days before the Hemming of the World. Shrines are built in areas that welcome travelers and passersby to perform small rituals on the spot to help maintain the sleep of gods thought to lie buried beneath.
Anu Pantheon
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There are six key figures of the Anu religion, a pantheon in place long before Hataro landed on the Kuludo shores. These figures spiral in dynamic activity to maintain the cycles of the cosmos, though only one is truly a deity in the religious sense. Though equal in power, the six figures are strikingly dissimilar. Some are imagined to be physical, while others are spiritual. Some live in many bodies, while others are limited to one place or no place at all. Some acknowledge humans, while others take no notice of us. The Anu make sculptures of greenstone and jade, usually depicting the heads of these figures. Paintings are made in watercolor and ink across screens and stretched paper, entire walls being covered in religious murals to decorate the wealthy estates. Onca Gawa the Jaguar God To the Anu, Onca Gawa represents on one hand power and prowess and on the other hand the night and the moon. Onca Gawa is a keeper of humankind, and his children the jaguars are always watching us. He gives gifts and bestows boons upon supplicants, acting as an advocate for the Anu people within the cycles of nature. Onca Gawa acts as a patron for the Anu people and is said to take physical shape to speak to his followers. Quetzal Hotl the Feathered Serpent The Feathered Serpent is more a substance than a single being. Quetzal Hotl represents the Khe gender, the wild forests, mystery, and Flower. She takes many forms, including incarnating as the dangerous Quetzal serpents of the forests on Kapix’tul. Quetzal Hotl can also take the form of a flower or of reflections in water. She lives in many shapes at once and inhabits many earthly beings. Akoyo Gawa the Dragon God Akoyo Gawa is a feminine figure that lives deep in the earth. She represents the soil, the rocks and caves, and the inland lakes. It is believed that Akoyo Gawa can be in only one place at a time and lives in a physical form deep under the surface of a lake or marsh. Akoyo Gawa is dangerous to beseech but a powerful ally. It is said she chooses favorites from among the children of men and creates heroes. Maize and Rain Spirit The Maize and Rain Spirit is a feminine deity that is also more of a substance or element than a being. She is found in all sorts of food and organic material and lives in the mist. The Maize and Rain Spirit is depicted as a face or head alone, never with a body. This figure represents rebirth, fecundity, and prosperity. She inhabits maize, rice, and wine. Enudo Gawa the Bird God The Bird God is a masculine god of the sky and the State. He represents authority and power, and the Seven Houses of the Sabu are all named for birds because of this. Enudo Gawa is an untouchable god who takes no physical form. He represents the sun and the daytime. Ikthu Gawa the Shark God The Shark God is a god of the great seas that surround the lands of the Anu. He is a hungry, gluttonous god, who causes storms and shipwrecks. Ikthu Gawa also maintains the boundaries of the Kuludo Islands, giving them their shape and height, lifting them from the waters. The Shark God inhabits many bodies, dark creatures of the sea. He is angered easily, and many ceremonies are required of port cities to keep his temper dormant.
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The Clan Structures of the Vayok People Hunting Routes of the Vayok Atlas
Vayok culture and calendars centered on one thing, the yearly hunt. Each year as the weather warmed, the many clans packed up their warriors and families to launch a vast hunt down the ancestral routes. This hunt would last the greater part of the year, taking the majority of each clan away from the homes and mead halls of the coastal villages along fixed paths through the desolate glacial lands of the north. Each clan closely guarded their routes, the competition for furs and meat being the energy that drove the entire culture. Scouts made minor adjustments based on storms and discovery, but the general paths were maintained throughout the centuries. It was considered gravely unlucky for clans to cross paths in the snow, foretelling an untimely death or great tragedy for one of the clans in the upcoming winter. Men and women participated equally, though dangerous bears and walruses were usually handled by males alone. Both genders worked together building temporary structures from ice, some housing single families and others four or five. Ceremonial food was eaten along the trails, certain clans favoring one dish or another. At nights on the trail, fathers trained sons and daughters equally in hunting, trapping, lore and song; mothers watched over the wolves, precious assets for pulling sleds and carrying supplies during the long treks. Winter months were spent in the warmer south celebrating and sharing stories from the previous year’s hunt. New Year was declared when the final clan returned from its travels to the Three Homes and only varied one or two days each year. On the winter solstice, a month or so into the new year, awards and honors were passed out in large public celebrations. Three months later, when the first birds were seen migrating southward overhead, the clans prepared for another hunt.
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Precious little changed in the centuries of hunts, though the fates of two clans did add unforeseen depth to Vayok society before Vaankur was known to others around the Hara Sea.
The Fate of the Ikshi Oberok curved the short, thin knife over the branch in deliberate, fluid motions. He stared for long moments at the wood in his hands as he envisioned the final product. Every motion and every cut was as specific and purposeful as the last. Not once did he have to start over his process; once a carving was started, it was always finished. Oberok sat next to a small fire, while many men and women bustled past him preparing for the hunt. The camp was alive with commotion. Wolves barked and chirped as they were fed scraps of meat and lashed to heavy sleds of supplies. Children ran about as older siblings chased after them in the falling snow. Spears were sharpened, knives tucked into pockets. Orders were shouted as elders walked from makeshift tents in full regalia. The clan bards sang songs of previous years, the names of heroes rising up toward the vast, overcast sky. None acknowledged Oberok. The camp was growing too large for everyone to be familiar with each other: Wagshigaad, the only permanent settlement of the Vayok, home to clan elders and exiles alike. By now, most were accustomed to seeing this man huddled next to a fire, busy with his hands. He put the final cuts on the wood, and the head of a wolf emerged out of the shavings. After admiring his work for a moment, he fastened a bit of twine through the ears and fit the intricate wolf head on a necklace. A moment later, the necklace sat on the shoulders of a Valhenjorn youth, and Oberok chewed a thick strand of smoked walrus meat near his fire. The same commotion whirling around Oberok was happening all over Vaankur, but in no place
leading the hunt this year, I stayed behind to stir up more hunters and cousins. I have brought them all here to bolster our numbers. We have lost many these last few years, and our elders are afraid we will not survive as a family.” He paused, leaning forward in a chair made of antler and tusk. “If the hunt is not successful this year, we may not have enough youths to continue in the great traditions of our mothers and fathers.”
He bent down to Oberok’s level before continuing. “I also know your talent.”
Oberok looked around the room, counting only a few strong hands among them, many too old to throw a spear and many that never had. The carver spoke to the patriarch: “The Tekthukek and the Valhenjorn are numerous in these parts, as are the Suuka and the Kanaghash. You will suffer neither hunger nor lack of shelter. Or is it shame you fear?”
Oberok looked up and saw that the man was wearing white furs tied with cords, hung with small bags and pouches. He looked old and had a braided beard decorated by many pieces of bone, wood, and metal. It was the metal that caught Oberok’s eye, the giants’ mineral. The man looked Oberok straight in the eye and spoke: “I am Kenderjin, Patriarch of the Ikshi. I offer you cousins among a hearty clan, food, shelter, and the freedom to make what you please.” Kenderjin saw where Oberok’s attention lay and continued, “Out of whatever material you desire. Join us.” Oberok accepted the offer and spent the next months traveling with Kenderjin. They went through Wagshigaad collecting those without kin. They went out to the far settlements where homes were cut of ice and snow, seeking out sons and daughters among the Ikshi cousins who had not joined this year’s hunt. They journeyed to the Maalthor Mountains, gathering those hermits who practiced the arts of metal and ached for a warm fire. The Ikshi Camp In time, their trail-camp grew from few to many, and the group returned to Wagshigaad as the weather turned where Kenderjin welcomed them all to the clan’s hearth at a small meal in a makeshift shelter at the edge of the settlement. Later that night, when most were filled with beer and the meat of fish, Kenderjin took Oberok into his confidence. The patriarch wiped the frozen edges of his beard and spoke: “Our numbers are few, Oberok. Instead of
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was there such chaos as in Wagshigaad. From the crowd, a man approached him and spoke: “I have heard of you, Oberok, and I admire your work. Of what clan are you, cousin?” Oberok did not look up, but the man continued: “I know that you are not claimed by any of the clans here. Do you claim one?” Still silence. “I also know you cannot hunt and that you exchange your art for food. I know how you are treated.”
Kenderjin shook his head, “Let me tell you why I have searched for those like yourself.” He went to a large chest that had been carried by attendants all these long months and kept in the patriarch’s personal tent each night. The elder pulled from the chest a flat piece of wood covered in runes and diagrams. He sat down with the wood in his lap and explained: “We do not need every clan to pursue the yearly hunts. We have enough food among us, and our own clan grows too small to spare all our providers for eight months of the year just to keep up with our cousins. When the New Year begins, I will propose to the elders of the clans that we Ikshi tend to these new homes year round. Look at Wagshigaad! It is a camp unlike any other. It is becoming just what we need, a permanent settlement. A permanent camp would change the way we Vayok live. We have already learned from those who grow short grains and make bread. And beer sustains us on the long trail. What if we used the wood that washes up along the cliffs to—“ He stopped himself. “No, let me show you.” Kenderjin arose, his attendants immediately upon him, covering him in furs and jewelry. Kenderjin led Oberok down the winding paths of Wagshigaad, among the many broken shelters made from ice, sod, wood, and hides. When the hunt was on, few individuals
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remained at the camp. Storms would tear down whatever structures were left behind, snow and ice covering the debris. The camp would be rebuilt upon the hunters’ return.
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But Oberok noticed more activity than he expected as the two men stepped down the worn, muddy walkways and alleys. Many of the shelters stood erect. The sounds of wolves at play and men at work met their ears even at so late an hour. Finally, Kenderjin stopped their hike amidst a tall, stalwart structure. He motioned towards the large hall, built from cut planks of wood not rough trunks and thatch or the more common bone and hide. “We need structures like this.” His eyes shown with starlight. Inside, there were over a dozen men and women dressed in heavy furs huddled around cook-fires fueled by the blubber of sea mammals. They worked at twisting ropes and fashioning tools. Their voices never raised above a whisper, and most did not even notice the visitor. Kenderjin looked over at Oberok, who was visibly shocked by the size of the room, almost ten feet tall and triple that length on all four sides. “Is it like anything you imagined?” Oberok was still gazing around. He asked, “What are we to do with such structures? What about when the weather changes? Will they hold up to storms? Who could make them strong enough?” Kenderjin chuckled, “That is exactly why you are here. Come, let me explain.”
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The patriarch led Oberok to the back of the new hall. He was taken to a door in the very rear of the room. Stepping through, Oberok made out what seemed to be an enclosed garden. Surrounded by wooden walls wet with humidity, the area was a sanctuary for the elders of the Ikshi to relax and converse. There were many workers tending to the plants. Kenderjin beckoned for Oberok to follow him. “When I was given the responsibility of patriarch, this entire region was nothing other than a good hill for camping. Now, we have a settlement
that has been unbroken for almost three years. Since this year’s hunt began, I set some of my younger cousins about creating the hall behind you and this garden.” His hand waved toward all that Oberok had just seen. “Some refuse to visit here,” Kenderjin said with visible disappointment. “And there are those who feel as though I am paying too much attention to Wagshigaad, changing too much. But I am not concerned with them. The elders of the clans will come back with the New Year, and I will let them know all I have done these many months and what the future might hold. Soon, even this hall will be dwarfed.” His tone became animated once more: “In its place, a new hall of wood and stone. We have all seen the ancient watchtowers of the giants scattered across the tundra. Most have been destroyed. But, over the last years, some of these stones have been brought to me, hauled by wolves and sleds. Near the cliff a great pile of cut stones has formed, and there are more towers that can be dismantled. I will build a great hall, a hall that will outlast any living Vayok. Our grandchildren and perhaps even their grandchildren will find shelter in a vast hall of stone, wood, and metal. The two other formidable camps, Hendragaad and Tagorgaad, can be made permanent as well. We need not risk so much so often in these hunts across the ice. Hundreds, maybe thousands of our Vayok kinsmen can stay in these halls year round.” At this point, Kenderjin turned to Oberok deliberately. “And you, carver, will help me build them.” Kenderjin Among the Elders The many clans returned from their hunts at the regular times, all surprised by the state of the camp and the many new structures standing tall. Murmurs spread that Kenderjin had forsaken his duties as patriarch and spent the summer tinkering while his sons led the hunt. Jokes were made and songs whispered at the expense of the Ikshi as the other clans unloaded sleds topped with seal, bear, caribou, and walrus. Kenderjin paced back and forth in his hall, awaiting the coming of the Ikshi retinue.
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They were late. Seven days after the final clan returned, much longer than usual, the elders assembled and declared the New Year. The Ikshi were lost. Najuat of the Glokur spoke to Kenderjin, “We saw your kinsmen halfway through summer near the Point of Keknaasu. They were only twenty strong, and it is sad to see that the Glokur stole the luck. I know yours could have used it, dear Kenderjin.” The cousins shared a meal. The New Year’s celebration began, but the Ikshi had little gladness to give. As food was shared and distributed and new songs sung, Kenderjin brought together his peers, the leaders of the various clans, and held a meeting in his new hall near the center of Wagshigaad. He offered his plan: The Ikshi, worn in numbers, would forsake the hunt and spend the summers working in Wagshigaad. They would maintain the halls amidst the storms, breed wolves, grow grain, and brew beer. They would work to forge a camp that would last forever, a haven for the Vayok of Vaankur. The Fate of the Ikshi In time, Kenderjin and Oberok helped found the Three Homes. What started as hardy camps became permanent settlements dotted with halls of stone and wood, the only cities of the Vayok. Though the vast majority of Vayok still practiced the rituals of the hunt, the Ikshi began a culture of permanence. However, the glory Kenderjin envisioned for his clan never came to pass. Generations came and went, and only in the oldest songs were the Ikshi remembered as a clan at all. They became a population of tinkerers and builders, the servants and sitters of their kin.
The Wikwasha Diminish One year, as the hunters returned to the halls of Wagshigaad, the matriarch of the Tekthukek, Kannasu, offered the largest stag. Wearing layers of white fur, she stepped from an ornate sled with the stag across her broad shoulders. Six wolves tugged at the reins and nipped one another, their sport reflecting the strength and spirit of their master.
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It was a great honor to bring the largest stag to the camp, earning the hunter an award during the solstice celebration. Kannasu was welcomed with cheers and gifts upon her presentation of the beast. The stag had a light blue tint to its coat, and the antlers were the largest on record and would replace her ancestor’s set, which hung from the wall high within the clan hall of the Tekthukek. The Stags of Vaankur Otherwise known as a stag-moose, the stags of Vaankur are a species of deer larger than caribou but less gregarious. They live among the short grasses along the warmer coasts and grow fur that ranges from a grayish brown to a pure white. Kannasu took off her hood and spoke to those who gathered around the returning Tekthukek hunters. “Elders and cousins, this stag was the leader of his kin, and may his strength now be passed on to you.” The meat would be shared among the oldest and wisest of the Vayok in Wagshigaad, a tradition as old as the hunts themselves. Many elders shuffled out of warm halls to visit their clans’ returning hunters. Ikshi stewards opened up rooms and aired out old furs and skins, long in storage. Sleds were unloaded, and meat sorted. From the largest shelter of the Wikwasha came a graying patriarch, Jungaath. He closed the heavy flap behind him and tied his furs close to his chin. He had returned with his own clan two days ago, a sizable stag across his shoulders as well. “Damn.” The sight of Kannasu’s deer was truly impressive. The short-lived glory of the Wikwasha was hard to let go of, but the grizzled man stepped up to the young matriarch and offered his congratulations. As the two exchanged perfunctory praise, Jungaath tried to calculate the change in rations this loss would effect.
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After a couple days, most of the Vayok dispersed, families of various clans getting together and deciding who would settle with whom. Plans were made, and small groups
set out to make camp for the winter. Many of the choices depended on which children were courting or which families had complementary supplies. All would return to the Three Homes in a month for the solstice party, but for now homes had to be made and supplies stockpiled. Wagshigaad had grown to include over four hundred families, and many impressive structures housed the wealthiest and most famous hunters. Jungaath and his family lived in a large house walled with sod and covered in heavy skins. He had a large stone hearth much coveted by wealthier patriarchs and matriarchs. There were nine Wikwasha families left in Wagshigaad, and only two in Tagorgaad. As it went in all the clans, the majority of Wikwasha families still lived in small settlements further from the coast, each camp including a few families from three or four clans. The year had seen great tension between the Wikwasha and Tekthukek of the isolated settlements. Many rivalaries developed among the bold hunters, for though the Wikwasha were small in number, they had ample spirit. Jungaath’s own nephew had injured a prominent Tekthukek archer in a sporting match last winter, and the boy was unable to perform the hunt as a result. The patriarch knew the injured hunter to be one of Kannasu’s most beloved cousins. Things would not go well this winter, he feared. He was right. The Rash Wager Through three months of gossip and aggressive clan politics, the Wikwasha were ostracized from many social events and stripped from several calendars. Feasts were held without sending word to Jungaath, and a meeting of the elders nearly commenced in Tagorgaad without his presence. As the time for the hunt approached, the Wikwasha families were all too eager to get on the trail. Hundreds rushed about Wagshigaad loading sleds and folding up tents. None helped the Wikwasha. As Jungaath made final arrangements with his Ikshi stewards, Kannasu was tying her six wolves to the monstrous sled, carved with the faces of spirits and animals.
He approached the young matriarch, pushing through her admirers, and spoke: “I wager the Wikwasha ancestral routes that I will bring back the largest stag, Kannasu.” Silence. Even those of the other clans paused in their work and turned to watch the confrontation. Kannasu responded, “I accept your challenge. If you bring the largest stag to our elders eight months from now, you can take our maps. If you do not, the Tekthukek will own the routes of the Wikwasha.” The wager was unprecedented. The Hunt Wagshigaad was alive with Ikshi activity throughout the summer months. The other Vayok were deep in the storms and ice of the tundra, unaware that the sun shown over the Three Homes now and then. After eight months of hard travel and hunting, the clans returned to the Homes. The Tekthukek came in on the appointed day. Riding her sled, Gronkar, Kannasu held aloft a stag larger even than the bull she retrieved last year. It had antlers so wide Gronkar appeared to have grown a pair of wings on the hunt. Kannasu stood with the stag on her shoulders and stepped from the sled. A parade of cousins welcomed her, families from several clans coming forward to see the offering of Kannasu. There was less jubilation than she expected, however, at the praiseworthy gift she displayed. Earlier than usual, the Wikwasha had returned. Behind him, dragged by twelve wolves, Jungaath brought to camp a deer of unnatural height and girth. As Kannasu flipped the stag from her shoulders, the crowd parted to reveal the fearsome carcass next to Wikwasha’s shelter of sod and hide. The patriarch stepped from his doorway with a wicked smile, catching the eyes of the huntress.
Kannasu froze. The glory of the Tekthukek was lost, their maps forfeit. Immediately, her closest cousins ran to the elders, a great debate arising. The central hall was filled with argument and the roar of conflict. Those from many clans called for the community to strike the wager from the record and disallow such a shift of resources. The change could weaken the entire camp. All night the elders yelled and banged antlers on hard tables.
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She was boasting to her kin about the stag she would retrieve this year. She made sure her voice was loud enough for the nearby patriarch to hear: “No other hunter rivals me. I will find the largest stag once more and bring it home upon these broad shoulders.” Jungaath, a hunter of great pedigree and accomplishment, was enraged.
They were discussing the course of action well into the next day when the Kurikweg clan returned. At the front of the trail-camp came the patriarch, Wakurek. Next to the two butchered carcasses already hanging outside the great hall of the Vayok, Wakurek placed a bull visibly superior to all others. The beast, tainted by the Fray and enormously fattened, tipped all scales available in Wagshigaad. Jungaath had not brought the largest stag and so had lost the wager. The size of Kannasu’s deer was irrelevant. The influence of the Tekthukek went far, and in very little time the elders had called Jungaath forward to release his maps. The Next Year When winter passed, at the next year’s hunt, the Wikwasha set out blind into the tundra. Leaving only their shaman and youngest children behind, Jungaath led his clan out into the ice. They never returned. Since that time, the Wikwasha have become a priestly caste, taking care of rituals and the calendar, living mostly in homes owned by the Tekthukek.
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Clans & Histories
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There exist almost two dozen clans of Vayok, and though some are larger and wealthier than others, very little distinguishes one from another. A clan rich from a productive hunt or successful in a profitable raid will quickly distribute food and loot at the many communal feasts and sporting events that make up the stationary months. In fact, due to competitions in largesse and hospitality among the most productive clans, most Vayok share the same access to foodstuffs, clothing, tools and other everyday goods. The largest practical differences between the clans are the size and function of their buildings, wealthier clans being expected to run shared houses and temples, and who earns exclusive rights to trade with Anu merchants. The many clans of the Vayok have remained relatively unchanged for several generations. As families intermarry and older generations die out, however, new ties and alliances shift the social dynamics from season to season. Youths, sailing further and further from their homeland on raids, bring back new ideas and new modes of living that have at times strained the traditional clan ways but have yet to cause a dramatic rupture in the way most Vayok see themselves and their relatives in relation to other clans. The six largest clans make up about half of the Vayok population, whereas the smallest two may have less than three hundred members together.
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Two of the smallest clans have given up the seasonal life altogether, both becoming specialized segments of Vayok communities that do not participate in sending hunters along routes. The Ikshi clan has become a servant population, living in small family units inside other clan homes as cooks, mead and beer brewers, handymen and estate managers. It is said that their ancestral hunting routes are still kept hidden and shared along the lineage. The Wikwasha clan, which is seldom referred to as a clan, gave up their hunting routes to the Tekthukek clan in ages past and now lives as a small priestly group in the temples owned
by Tekthukek hunters. Wikwasha still retain strong blood, however, and have produced many successful raiders and shaman healers. Tekthukek The largest clan of the Vayok. Tekthukek families build the biggest temples and throw the largest feats, often celebrating family holidays in tandem across the villages, in effect uniting the Vayok in a shared calendar. The oldest stories of the Tekthukek clan surround their founding hero, Gjekthukek, who came from the deep snow to marry his wife in what is now the largest Vayok city. The tale holds that Gjekthukek walked into the city from a storm, carrying six stags of the purist white, their hooves wide enough to fill three palms each, antlers sharp as knives. He is said to have given the bucks to his father-in-law to earn the right to marry the eldest daughter. The annual remembrance of Gjekthukek and Elgafren’s wedding is known as the Stag Feast and happens every year two weeks after the Winter Solstice. Glokur The clan of twins. Glokur Vayok are known for having sets of male-female twins. The matriarch, Eothekur, is said to have the most beautiful eyes in all of Vaankur, and in her old age has become the subject of much song and celebration. Each account of the beauty of her youth expands on the previous. Glokur are known for their bright eyes, their abilities as match-makers, the decorations of their homes, and their faithfulness as spouses. Hikjin The Hikjin Vayok have become wealthy breeding wolves. They tend the widest variety of breeds and often withhold certain bloodlines from breeding into the stock of other clans, protecting the unmatched size and intelligence of their favorite lineages. Kerukur and Kekur, the mythic founders of the clan, were said to have been abandoned as children and raised at the breast of an elder tundra wolf. Hikjin still claim to have “fekrin blood,” a marker they credit with their successful breeds and the close relationships they maintain with their pups.
Valhenjorn The Howling Clan. Valhenjorn Vayok have taken to raiding more than any other clan. Still competitive in the seasonal hunts, Valhenjorn have started training up warriors in the ways of seafaring, weaponry, and armoring. They take their epithet as the Howling Clan from a tale started in the early days of raiding, the account of a beloved patriarch, Hruthkek. As the story goes, the youthful explorers followed a river deep into the Ragus continent and came upon a settlement of farmers. As Hruthkek came charging from his longboat, he uttered such a frightening warcry that the farmers dropped whatever task held their attention and took to the forest. Women, children, everyone. Gone. Even the fastest of the Vayok were unable to catch a single person. Some versions say the folk made not a single noise but acted in unison, others that the villagers screamed themselves. Either way, the warriors waited for three days, emptying the village granary and winepress and sleeping in the villagers’ huts, but none of the farmers returned. Hruthkek, though he had done little more than draw his sword, was given the lion’s share of the loot and returned to Vaankur with the respect of all. Kurikweg The smallest of the Great Clans, Kurikweg Vayok trace their line to the renowned hunter Kurik. The story goes that Kurik felled six tundra bears single-handedly in one season. He
is also the only Vayok officially held to have mated with a Mothering giant. After a crimson encounter with three bears, who slaughtered the others of Kurik’s kinsmen deep in the Frost, at least a mile from the bulk of the clan, Kurik slew the last bear before falling to the ice. It is said that a Mothering then appeared to him, washing his wounds and fawning over his health. Life rekindled, Kurik followed her deep into the frost and possessed her. He returned to his party with three heavy bears and a silken garment unlike any other seen before or since. The head of clan wears the garment, rewoven as a tunic, under his clothes in battle, for it is said the material cannot be cut or pierced easily. Many Vayok tell bedtime stories to their children about “Kurik’s Giant” who, following the myth, will one day bring misfortune to their people.
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Weshbjorg A clan of mead-drinkers and bards. The Weshbjorg Vayok are a robust, lively clan made up of only a few families all settled in one village. After every New Year, hunters and warriors from the Three Homes gather at the Weshbjorg settlement to swap stories and song, hoping that one of their own tales will be included in the yearly records kept by the best Weshbjorg bards and circulated among the villages and homesteads.
Wikwasha The Wikwasha are the professional shrine and temple keepers of the Vayok. Although shaman arise among many clans, the Wikwasha are the trainers and protectors of the culture’s magick, which is heavily distrusted and feared by noninitiates. They are completely dependent on the Tekthukek for food and supplies, and function less as a clan now than a priestly caste. They have no hunting routes of their own, having given the maps and secrets to the Tekthukek. Ikshi Managers, keepers, menders, and smiths. The Ikshi abandoned the hunting cycle many generations back after the schemes of Kenderjin, though they still claim to possess a prized set of route maps should they ever grow large enough to fund another hunt. In the mean time, Ikshi work in the Three Homes yearround, tending to the properties and pets of other clans in exchange for food from the hunt. Ikshi are trustworthy and respected allies and councilors, also regarded as the best builders and handyfolk.
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Second Age (800 - 920 IC) Atlas
The world awoke, and the peoples of the Hara Sea had grown in their places for long enough. Trade and communication increased, buoyed by the rising wealth of the elite in each continent. Isolationism is harder to practice when neighbors come calling with sword and surplus. Learning increased as well, and lore that was once lost was remembered. Magick, also, was found again. The old ones were stirring, and the Tapestry seemed thinner than ever in the old places of worship. The Fey also began arising without summons and staying longer in our world than usual. Magick added an element of chance unwanted by those in power.
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Lokod, Jewel of the North, Capital of Edrada, Tohoveo’s Doom, Ondeo’s Seed: A city-state of almost one million. Many dozen Edish tribes came together to resettle the city and build it up from the ruins. Native cultures and peoples migrating from the north and east have added to its numbers. Within districts shaped like concentric wheels, the streets and major structures once mirrored the constellations above. The Edish settlers have built new districts and erected new walls, building into and onto the best-preserved ruins and dismantling the rest.
The Edish Settle in Cities
At the beginning of the 9th century, fear of the dark gods waned; generations grew up knowing little of magick or the Loom. The ruins that dotted the Edradan countryside looked less foreboding than before. Edish began to live in societies structured as city-states within vast ruins of the extinct Empire. As power became focused in fixed locations and tribes began competing for space, some influential Hattan claimed the moniker Arbiter and conquered or assimilated other tribes passing through contested regions. The nomadic way of life was being challenged by an agricultural society that policed lands around rebuilt settlements. Vassals and lesser chiefs developed as the hierarchy within one domain or another sorted itself out. Nomadic and stationary cultures become increasingly disparate as a feudal way of life developed, freezing many tribes too weak to protect themselves from assimilation into newly forming social classes. Most newly stationary settlements practiced agriculture, domestication of animals, and hunting to feed their members, though trade for specialty goods became common quickly. Different regions became known for various wares and luxury goods. Leadership of these cities centered on the Arbiter, a role more managerial than the lead-by-example Hattan of the nomadic tribes. Power emanated from the Arbiter through his or her relatives and advisors, and many tribes were brought together under the new political system as totems were forgotten or put aside in favor of economic gain. Avoiding conflict and age-old blood rivalries, cities were most often selfsufficient and remote from one another, some Arbiters going so far as to prohibit contact with outsiders entirely.
Urban Life Led by a Hattan of young age, a tribe descending from the Owl of Red Plains led many tribes against a pale-skinned city on the Strait of Uzik in 806 IC. They took control of the region and renamed the city Kelineph, after a fabled Edish ancestor. A nearby city across the Strait was taken the next year and renamed Kelkala, Kelineph’s lover.
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At the close of what would later be referred to as the Second Age, many peoples of Upper Edrada were supported by a robust network of trade and commerce, and wealth was focused in the marketplaces of Therikod and Lokod, cities renowned for the oddities and wonders of foreign lands that could be purchased there. But change slowly came.
Kelineph and Kelkala The two cities that span the Strait of Uzik, Kelineph and Kelkala, were named after famous Edish lovers from the Age of Migrations. When the northern tribes grew strong and chased the Cougar of Toveo from the Red Plains, two lovers caught between warring tribes led a movement to give up the ways of the nomads and the rival ancestors. Together, they promulgated a vision of the ancestors as petty siblings and spread a new religious fervor: Peace is to be found in the Edradan cities. In some variants of the tale, the two lead several tribes to settle in the city now known as Kelkala, being assimilated into the Edradan locals. In other variants, they attempt to settle one of the ruins and are consumed by old magick. In all accounts, the two lovers are portrayed as blonde-haired, a characteristic absent among other Edish. Most scholars believe this a later invention used to highlight the unique philosophies of the lovers. Also, because the only blonde-haired people in all of the Hara Sea live in Kelineph and Kelkala, the tale has become a kind of parable among the Edish as to the origin of such peoples. Hattan Faeran, bearer of six totems, no longer guided her people through the plains in seasonal migrations. The Owl forsook the nomad’s lifestyle, surrendering the hunt for the
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cultivation of agriculture. The Edish tribes had learned from the native cities about wealth and class, and the lifestyle of the powerful city lords was attractive to the weary Hattan. Instead of sustaining themselves through hunting and raids, surplus and profit were sought. As the tribes settled amongst the city, Faeran acted as Arbiter, directing the transition to an economy of agriculture and trade, and protecting the Owl’s growing wealth. The traditions of the minewin were abandoned in favor of the magick arts practiced by the city-dwellers. The tribes lost their connection to the weavers of their past. As with all of the eventual Edish city-states, the importance of the tribal thread faded to a mere symbol and the people of Kelineph found identity in their city-states instead. By 820 IC, the Alagoth of Lower Edrada, long the scourge of the Edish nomads, became trading partners of the new Kelineph elite. Parties of burly horsemen would arrive at the market bearing goods raided from Edish nomads. Instead of being shunned, they were accepted and praised for their wealth. As Kelineph monopolized the land and water over a far radius for agriculture, the nomadic Edish of that region were forced to wander further and acquire less. The tribes soon learned that their way of life was threatened, and the Alagoth raiders benefited yet more from exacerbated animosity among the Edish. A great rift developed between the Edish nomads, led by their Loom-walking Hattan and minewin shaman, and the city-bound Edish of Kelineph—two sides of a single culture.
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Urban life was the only way to produce wealth, a new concept to the Edish, and soon other tribes followed in the example of the Owl, always prompted by a Hattan who promised an easy life and riches. As 830 IC approached, three other native cities had been won for the Edish through a combination of settling, guile, and force. These cities were spread far out in the Edradan plains, and trade between them seeded their rebirth: Lokod, Therikod, and Onkod. Such riches passed through the walls of Lokod that it became known as The Jewel of the North. Lokod was a dark Jewel, however,
divided into districts controlled by strong families, Edish tribes, and small remnants of cultures no longer remembered. It was a place of growing order as well as brutal lawlessness. Such was the chaos of its conflicts that trade routes often went disrupted for weeks, and the budding trade economies of the new Edish citystates could do nothing to calm its tempest.
Praetawa & The Hawk In the summer of 851 IC, Hattan Praetawa, Son of the Hawk, Bearer of Large Totems, Guardian of the Nomads’ Way, had already grown famous raiding the trade caravans that traveled between the cities along the Wanakiowa. He began amassing resources and profit as the rulers of the native cities did. All wealth in the region flowed ultimately through Lokod, and so after many years of successful raids in the south it was toward Lokod that Praetawa next turned the Hawk. With his warrior-shaman, Wekoan of Four Totems, Praetawa led the tribe in pursuit of greater wealth, adopting the greed of the cities and swelling his numbers. Caravan after caravan fell to the lithe warriors of the Hawk tribe. Eventually, the guilds of Lokod feared sending large transports past the nomads that surrounded the city, and the Hawk spread out to establish dominance over all major roads leading to Lokod. As The Jewel became strangled by the nomad’s blockade, soldiers of Kelineph took to patrolling long tracts of road and safeguarding the passage of the caravans there. Using the tales of Praetawa as a boogeyman, strong bonds grew among the city-states and set them more adamantly against the older, nomadic way of life. By 853 IC, Praetawa found himself with fewer opportunities for the hunt as the light spears of the Hawk broke against the steel, Anu-made arms of the pale-skinned troops from Kelineph. A new hunt was called by the
Hawk, and the great warriors met for feast and games to determine the course of the tribe.
“Our ancestors do not deserve this treatment. If we do this, the spirits will abandon us and the tribal totem will unravel. The sacred Hearths will be left behind, forgotten. You have seen the fate of the Owl. They forget their ancestor and mix now with the colorless people of Kelineph. Their ancestors are lost now to us all. Each tribe that abandons the plains weakens those who stay. Enemies of a kind though they may be, this shift should not be furthered by us, the powerful Hawk.” Wekoan felt the truth of their words. He pleaded with Praetawa in private to reconsider his decision, but the young Hattan could not be swayed. The fate of the Hawk was decided. The Storm Praetawa led his tribe from the mouth of the Essapesh River toward Kelkala in a daring longboat crossing of the Strait of Uzik. The longboats approached the Strait under a gathering wall of dark, ominous clouds. All was blanketed by shadow. During the crossing, the clouds erupted. Sheets of violent water beat down on the Edish, more destructive than any storm seen on the Gold Plains. Boats were reduced to tinder; hulls cracked and oars splintered. Great numbers of Edish died, and renowned warriors of many totems were lost below the waves. Into this chaos came a Fell serpent, fully the length of ten men. It was lured from the depths by the chaos of the storm to feast on the Edish
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Praetawa spoke of the coastal cities and villages of Lower Edrada, spreading visions of wealth won by the sea. He wove dreams in the younger hunters about continuing their lives raiding port to port. Though Praetawa emphasized the similarities between the modes of subsistence, all present understood that this would mark a great shift in the nomad’s way, favoring hull and sail over hoof and spear. Though brave and highly honored, many of the warriors were wary of leaving the plains and dells of their birth, and they expressed their concerns to Wekoan.
as they fell from the foundering boats. Enraged by the storm and the destruction around him, Praetawa commanded his rowers to approach the beast where it swirled through the inky water, wrestling with a splintered vessel and the drowning bodies of his people. Praetawa hurled two spears at the serpent. Not heeding if the spears reached their target, the furious Hattan threw himself at the serpent’s coiling mass, his father’s ceremonial chert blade his only weapon. Wekoan had shed his minewin tunic and taken the place of Treo, bearer of three totems and now lost to the sea, at the boat’s oars. From this vantage, he watched as Praetawa disappeared over the ship’s side. Rushing the railing, Wekoan saw Praetawa’s stone blade bite deep into the beast’s slippery side. Though brave and strong, the Hattan was no match for the serpent in the storm-wracked sea, and surely would have died if not for Wekoan’s magick. The minewin shaman froze the beast into a stiffened series of coils while his friend and Hattan yet struggled. Praetawa was pulled back into the boat, and the storm resided. As the passage resumed, Wekoan took stock of the remainder of the fleet. Three dozen ships there were that emerged from the Essapesh, pregnant with the people and wealth of the tribe of the Hawk. Now, a mere seventeen remained. The minewin shaman was mourning the loss, and already singing an end to many threads whose deaths he had witnessed, when Praetawa confronted him in a sullen rage. “I see your heart, magicker. You think to steal my glory by slaying the sea serpent, and by doing so you hope to steal the Hawk.” Wekoan was taken aback. He had only acted in the best interest of the tribe. Praetawa was a mighty warrior and brave. His skills in combat were unequaled, even amongst those formerly of the Owl who now protected Kelineph with steel. losing him in addition to the many other dozens of warriors lost would have been a crippling blow. “I was only protecting you, friend. You know I serve the Hawk.”
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“In your mouth, the word friend has no meaning for me, magicker. Do not cross me again, or you shall learn why I bear the Ram as well as the Hawk.” With this, Praetawa stalked to the aft of the vessel, eyeing grimly the serpent’s dead, frozen mass as it floated among corpses and debris. Crossroads of the Hawk Wekoan, minewin shaman and bearer of four totems, considered well the events of the day: While he fought for the Hawk, Hattan Praetawa fought only for himself. The ways of the city lords had spread to another Hattan as they had to so many before. The brash Hattan worried more for not having slain the sea beast than for having brought about the deaths of so many brave Edish. The loss of life and lifestyle brought about by this voyage was nothing to him. Surely, the ancestor Fey cursed the Hawk with storm and serpent as punishment for abandoning their homes and rituals. On the beach, Wekoan addressed the assembled tribe: “People of the Hawk, hear me now. I speak as bearer of four totems, including the esteemed Hawk, whose brood I entered by winning the love of your own daughter, Muweus, who lies
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among that great number now claimed by the sea. I carry the scars and feathers of many conquests, and my wealth in glory is matched only by that of our many-feathered Hattan.” Praetawa was hurrying up the beach towards the gathering, and Wekoan knew he had a limited time to influence hearts before the Hattan would challenge him. “The Hawk has suffered a terrible loss here. We are punished for abandoning the fields and rituals of our ancestors. Our grandfathers and grandmothers among the spirits have turned against us, and their wrath will injure our hunt at every step if we do not return to our honorable duty on the plains. I intend to do so. It is folly to so upset the balance of things. Please, people of the Hawk, return with me.” Praetawa approached Wekoan, pushing roughly through the assembled survivors. “So you show your colors, magicker. Very well. I shall not let you claim the tribe in so cowardly a way. If you will to wear the torc of Hattan, you shall have to earn it.” In his strong hands, Praetawa broke a still-damp feather of his crest, tossing it aggressively into the minewin shaman’s chest. With this feather, the tribe of the Hawk was broken. Only one could unite it again.
Wekoan stooped slowly to retrieve the feather. The sorrow of his ancestors clouded his brow. “Very well, Praetawa, bearer of five totems.”
The families gradually seated themselves in the sand until only four Edish remained standing, surrounded by a circle of murmuring. Holding either of Wekoan’s hands stood the proud warrior Fitaw, Daughter of the Wolf, and the eldest minewin, Vetronas, Singer of the Flame, bearer of five totems. Praetawa stood alone. “Thank you, my friends,” whispered Wekoan to Fitaw and Vetronas, “but now I go to my death.” The two sat where they stood. The Hattan and the minewin shaman of the Hawk danced through their kin, dueling with blade and magick. Wekoan was careful to avoid causing harm to the others, but Praetawa’s magick and reckless blades met with the flesh of many, including Vetronas, the old minewin. Slowly, Praetawa wore the more cautious Wekoan down. The killing blow was mercifully fast when it landed, and the Hattan stood triumphant over the body of his former friend. “The Hawk is powerful,” cried Praetawa, his blooded knife held aloft. “Neither man nor spirit can stand against it!”
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A night of preparation was taken. Though most of the tribe attended the preparations of Praetawa, many of the strongest and wisest warriors attended to Wekoan. The two combatants were dressed in tunics bearing the totems of their supporters, and atavistic magicks were performed to invoke the blessings of their human ancestors. Dawn broke on an array of painted figures mingling on the beach. Greetings were exchanged and blessings given and received between the two factions. Wekoan circulated among all those of the Hawk, kissing and anointing with oils members of both groups, all of whom were known and respected by him. He promoted his apprentices and recorded what learnings he thought most urgent in songs, taught in a rush to the lesser minewin. In him a great store of wisdom existed yet unknown to any other. Praetawa mocked among his sycophants the busied shaman and remained aloof.
A hunt was made to celebrate the renewal of the Hattan’s authority, and many wild beasts were killed. A great feast was held, and pyres for the dead on shore and at sea burned long into the night. Praetawa offered wergild to Fitaw, which she accepted as a reconciliation between the two factions. The Hawk was whole once more, and set off for Kelkala in the morning.
The Rise of Praetawa In Kelkala, Praetawa and his strongest warriors became corsairs for a captain with one great vessel under his command. The rest of the tribe camped permanently in the hills surrounding the city. In less than two years, the nomadic ways were lost, and the Hawk depended entirely on the loot won by Praetawa in the raids. His name became feared among lords once more. When first they arrived in the area, however, the Hawk were treated as outcasts. Cries of “nomad animal” and worse followed them through the city. Their camp was vandalized and their possessions burned; their children and women were beaten in the streets. After some months serving under the ship’s captain, Praetawa was allowed to bring more of his warriors on the raids. The captain grew fat and wealthy off of the labors of the Hawk, and the tribe’s standing amongst the pirate population increased. Two additional ships were added to the captain’s fleet, and the scope of their raiding expanded to include the Edradan coastlines of the Hara, Wanakiowa, and Crimson Seas. Under his tutelage, Praetawa and Fitaw learned the art of sailing and the secrets of sea fire, with which an enemy vessel could be burned with flames water could not quench, its fires spreading until the boat’s carcass had reached the sea’s floor. While the pirates plundered the coasts, war began among the three largest city-states of Upper Edrada. Without a common enemy, relations between the cities had broken down,
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and each fought against the others. Kelineph and Kelkala remained uninvolved for the time.
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Praetawa The Captain Praetawa grew impatient with the captain’s limited ambitions and feared the spread of war across Edrada. He knew that beyond the water was a rich culture ruled by dark women. The hunts of the Hawk had occasionally encountered them near Lokod, trading a strange, consumable flower called ineo by the Edish who fell under its comforting spell. Though this flower was worthless to him, Praetawa knew that it traveled in the company of a great wealth of goods. In 860 IC, seven years after arriving on the island of Kelkala, Praetawa of the Hawk urged the captain as they set out from Kelkala with the three ships: “The peoples who peddle ineo are weak and their ships unarmored. We could easily take what we would from them. Let us strike at the merchant ships that sail from Ragus led by dark-skinned matrons of submissive geldings.” The vessels were now almost fully manned by the warriors of the Hawk. Only a few experienced seamen from Kelkala remained in the captain’s employ. “With the might of the Hawk, nothing can stand against us.” “Those ‘weak’ women are the Neferatha,” replied the captain. “Never before have the Three Seas witnessed such strength as they possess. It is not through arms but by influence and state that they grow. To rival them is folly. You may steal one such ship, but then a dozen would be set upon you. You are a strong man, nomad, and you have done much in Edrada, but the world is much larger than that. There are forces against which even the mighty Praetawa must fail.” Enraged by his insult, Praetawa killed the man without another word, assuming command of all three vessels. The sailors under the captain’s employ were either absorbed by the Hawk or killed outright, and the ships turned south in pursuit of the wealth of the Neferatha.
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They encountered no ships, as the Neferatha calendar celebrated a large festival in honor of Janeshka that month, and so the greed of the Hawk fell first on a coastal village that came into view early one morning. There was little defense, and the Edish swept through the settlement, looting all they could. Four other villages were raided likewise, and another ship was needed to carry the booty. On the return to the Edradan coast the next week, the Edish encountered a Neferatha merchant ship. Though armed, the ship was outnumbered and out-manned. Its hull succumbed to sea fire and sank burning to the sea floor. The few survivors were sold in the slave markets of Therikod on the way to Kelkala. Much glory was awarded Praetawa on his return to Kelkala, and the Hawk feasted and celebrated for many days. The Hawk amassed power quickly, and soon even the Arbiter of Kelkala treated Praetawa with caution. The city benefited from the
wealth brought to it, so his lawlessness and indiscretions were overlooked.
The Neferatha
“You are Praetawa, leader of the pirates who dared cross waters to our coast of the Wanakiowa Sea. I approach bearing an invitation from Ugurlu, the Chair of Ragus, the center of power within the Five Seas. Ahimsa the Right, Eternal Daughter of the Sun, The Ravi Bacca, knows of your trespasses. You brought her family harsh losses with your ill-conceived gallivant. Against serious urgings from her councilors, however, she offers a proposal. You are to be granted amnesty for your crimes, and you are to receive as a gift this,” the attendant unrolled a map and indicated Lokod and its surrounding lands with an ink-stained finger, “in exchange for service and tribute to The Ravi Bacca and the Empire.” Praetawa scoffed and leaped from his bed, moving past the guards and toward the emissary, a blade already in hand. As he skirted the four soldiers, he felt currents of an intricate magick ripple around him. “You’ll find your childlike weapons quite useless,” said the woman calmly. In his hand, instead of his stone blade, Praetawa found a serpent, desiccated and dead. The smell assaulted his nostrils. Suddenly, a tent flap was lifted and Fitaw entered showing signs of injury. She was shocked to see the Neferatha already within a guarded tent, but spoke with formality: “There is an army at our fires, Hattan.” Reluctantly, and with only a handful of his kin, Praetawa agreed to accompany the emissary back to Ugurlu.
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Less than one month after the Hawk returned to Kelkala, Praetawa was roused in his tent by steel blades held in Neferatha hands. An emissary of the Neferatha, a slightly built woman with one attendant, stood behind four guards. The nervous man at her side carried naught but a rolled scroll, and the entire interaction was efficiently recorded therein. The woman did not offer her name, nor was she armed.
Ugurlu In Ugurlu, Praetawa saw marvels unimagined. The city’s thousands of halls and temples demonstrated a decorated architecture resembling the style of the ruins in Lokod and Therikod, but here such monstrous structures stood alive and intact. What small similarities existed among the stone, however, showed nowhere else. Arches and ceilings painted in gold and indigo shown under each overhang, aqueduct, and suspended walkway. Banners and flags rippled from maintained spires and obelisks. Carven images adorned every wall, depicting gods and heroes with many arms and heads. More striking to the small group of Edish than the buildings were the inhabitants of Ugurlu, people different from anything they had seen before. Praetawa was led through streets thronged with all manner of people. He had seen no cultures outside of the raven-haired Edish, the dusty Alagoth, and the pale-skinned natives of Kelineph. The people in Ugurlu exhibited immense variation in complexion, height, and dress. The Hattan gaped openly. This earned him a number of angry looks and the approbation of his lead escort, the curt woman who had come to him in the fields surrounding Kelkala. Praetawa found comfort from the presence of Fitaw, his closest follower since the death of Wekoan, a full head taller than the escort and well-muscled. She was a fine Edish woman, fearless and fierce. Their course passed through the central marketplace of Ugurlu, and Praetawa was again taken aback. Such was its scale that surely half of Kelkala would fit here alone. Stalls and buildings peddling the wares of the farthest reaches of the Empire stretched into the distance displaying untold wealth. The Ravi Bacca Eventually, Praetawa was led into a great palace hung with tapestries depicting migration, wars, and sex in unsettling abundance. All of it was shot through with scroll-work reminiscent of serpents. Reminded by the tapestries both of his own conquests and of his failure against the Fell sea serpent in the Strait of Uzik, Praetawa’s
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back stiffened and he set his jaw. All feelings of fear and awe left him; he carried the strength of many totems and was determined to overpower this woman of the sun. His failure in the Strait of Uzik would not be repeated against these new serpents. Great golden doors, twice the height of the golden-armored Alagoth guards who stood on either side, swung open into a vast, domed chamber. At its center, a raised dais held an empty golden chair. Scattered about the room were tables and desks where dark-skinned, smooth-scalped people bent over scrolls and thin tablets. Other Nibu, as the ruling ethnic group was known, circulated through the room attired in far richer and more revealing garments. A ripple of activity ran through the wealthy overseers, and from their center a lithe girl emerged wearing little more than golden jewelry. Her figure was fully developed, but only just. To Praetawa’s eyes, she was no more than a few years beyond her totem hunt, yet she bore the grace of age and all present yielded to her will. Youth or not, she stood ornamented with more wealth than the Hawk had accumulated in seven years of piracy. As she approached, Praetawa felt a strange aura. It was not magick, but a preternatural glow that emanated from her form. All in her immediate presence bowed deeply. Only Praetawa and Fitaw remained upright.
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“You are Hattan Praetawa, called Son of the Hawk, and you bear four animal totems marking ancestry.” Her words were not spoken as a question. “You are Fitaw, a warrior and shaman of the minervi magick, who bears five animal totems.” She paused a moment as those around her hurried to transcribe the words in the syllabic script of the Empire. “I am Ahimsa, Eternal Daughter of the Sun, The Ravi Bacca.” All was spoken in a tongue unknown to the Edish, but their guide, still bowing deeply, translated from the ground in whispers. As silence filled the room and all eyes rested on Ahimsa, the Hattan glanced at Fitaw and was suddenly struck by her plainness. She was a strong and handsome woman, bearer of many
totems and much glory. She would have made an excellent Hattan, and had turned away many suitors deemed too weak over the years. Praetawa had even considered taking her as his wife. But the glow of The Ravi Bacca was such that Fitaw appeared faded and inconsequential. The Edish woman, her mouth slightly agape, never took her eyes from the young Neferatha. The Eternal Daughter of the Sun continued: “You will become Arbiter of Lokod, the Edish capital.” Praetawa had no words to explain to her that the Edish were not a people with a capital, each city a mob of conflict to itself. “With your savage kin, who have grown wealthy and numerous, and a contingent of my trained forces, the petty violence of the plains can be quelled. It is a testament to the inferiority of the Edish creature that chaos has been allowed to disrupt trade for this long. You will grow richer while leading Lokod in service to the Empire. That is all you must know at this time. Agree or be executed for your crimes against my family and the Empire.” The girl turned to leave, but then paused, adding dismissively over her shoulder in an Edish tongue, “You have a curious nobility, barbarian, but it wilts under the duress of your animal foolishness.”
Lokod Praetawa left Ugurlu two years later in 862 IC as The Ravi Bacca’s creature. If distance decreased the effect her personal presence had on him, the will of the Neferatha was reinforced by the several warships that transported Praetawa to Lokod. After uprooting the strength of the Hawk from Kelkala and with the help of several phalanxes of Neferatha soldiers, the Hattan was able to march through the crowded, haphazard districts of Lokod a conquering hero. He dealt with all resistance personally, and the ravens of the plains were fatted by hundreds of bodies swinging from hastily erected gallows. Those who fled founded a rival city, Norwikod, the youngest of the new Edish city-states but best protected.
As the city grew in power and profit, the citizens of Lokod began to note with alarm the transformation of their Arbiter. Decades passed from the morning Praetawa came triumphantly to the city’s marketplace. Where before was a strong, proud Hattan, now stood an unaging minister, loyal only to his dark queen. Praetawa’s habits and dress changed to match those of elite Neferatha who visited often with
the Ravi Bacca. His warriors grew soft and weak, while he himself became interested in naught but his mistress. Strange customs and occult practices took hold in parts of the city and spread all over Upper Edrada through the trade routes it dominated. The spread of these practices was buoyed by the wealth amassed in Lokod under the banner of what many Edish viewed as the Neferatha Empress’s pet Arbiter. The Edish of the other powerful cities, Onkod and Therikod, grew wary and distrustful of Lokod, seeing the city as nothing but a Neferatha outpost. The nomads redoubled their attacks on their cousins in the cities.
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Within months, Praetawa had united the factions of Lokod under his fist. Following the guidance of The Ravi Bacca, he and Fitaw oversaw the development of a strong, stable city-state. Though much wealth flowed to Ugurlu, a considerable portion stayed in the hands of Praetawa and the Hawk. In time, however, the totem became less visible among the people, and the values of the city-state replaced those of the plains. The old tribal ties were torn and forgotten, a class of wealthy elite commanding the serfs below them under hollow symbols of the ancestors.
Whatever her rivals thought, such was Lokod’s strength that all commerce entering the great plains was forced to pass through it, and the great arm of Praetawa continued to gain reach across Edrada.
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The Neferatha Stretch Their Fingers
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By 800 IC, the Neferatha Empire had expanded into the heart of Ragus and along the southern coast of the three seas into Oldfire, a region of desert and charred turf. The coffers of the Empire had grown deep and its peoples diverse. No city matched Ugurlu in size, and no state matched the might of the Neferatha. Because of this, as things go, the Empire fell into complacency. Bhilamanhi the 25th Empress was crowned in 814 IC at the age of 30. She was sympathetic to the Crowns, and under her rule the military power of the Neferatha was allowed to wilt. Where once ambition drove expansion and the castes were swollen with the newly assimilated, now the Empire seemed content to rest atop its mountain of wealth and the glorious history of expansion, which had enlightened so many diverse peoples with the culture of the Neferatha. The cults of the Crowns spread beyond the bounds of the Empire. New gods were named and worshipped throughout the urban centers of Upper and Lower Edrada. Growth was reserved for the influence of the Crowns, and the rest of the Empire suffered stagnation for some decades.
A New Direction
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In the year 821 IC, into this age of decline was born to an influential family of Ugurlu Rights a girl named Ahimsa. From an early age, her charisma captivated those around her. She was groomed from a young girl for greatness. Before her eleventh year, she had traveled the three continents, seeing vistas and experiencing cultures that other Rights only dreamed of. Her magickal arts could be rivaled by but few, and she displayed a terrifying, disarming intelligence. When traveling through a region for only a few days, Ahimsa was able to learn the language and travel without escort or guide. By the time she had grown into a young woman, her charisma had blossomed into an aura of commanding presence. She was a
strong woman, loved by the lower castes and foreigners for her integrity, and admired by her fellow Rights for her cunning. In her, the Rights of Ugurlu and Anishad saw a powerful tool whose power might be leveraged against the Crowns. The love and affection of those she served amplified her presence, and her body ceased to show the signs of aging when she was still quite young. The adoration given by the peoples of Ugurlu and of the surrounding regions continued to grow. She curtailed the corruptions of tax collecting temples and used her family’s private army to settle unrest in areas near their holdings. Before she was thirty, small chapels and altars within Imperial temples were dedicated in her name. Her mind was sharp and her ambitions great. At age 29, Ahimsa became the governor of Ugurlu. As helm of the Rights, Ahimsa began working to expand the influence of the Empire across the lucrative cityscapes of Upper and Lower Edrada. “The Crowns can have the barbarians’ hearts,” she told an assembly of the highest-ranking Rights in Ugurlu, “but the Empire will have their wealth.” Her peers cheered. “Surely, the interests of the Neferatha Body as a whole outweigh the wishes of but one part. The Empire can and shall expand into Edrada, though it shall not be through war.” At this, a murmur ran through the assembled Rights. Warfare was the way of the Empire and had always been so. To conquer was to expand, and to expand was to liberate from the captivity of their inferiority the conquered peoples. The aged Empress Bhilamanhi, sitting in on the assembly but silently yielding the floor to her younger counterpart, gestured subtly for silence. At this, the dignified clamor abruptly ceased, and Bhilamanhi’s Chief Minister, Deszara of the Tree City Esvesthi, spoke for her. “Young Ahimsa, your contributions to the Empire have been great already, yet is this expansion you speak of possible? Without
strength of arms, which the Empire has not on the scale of times past, what do you intend to accomplish? Much has the Empire taken, and much does it currently possess. What more could the Neferatha people find abroad?”
Though her ways were typically peaceful and diplomatic, Ahimsa directly briefed a handful of lesser Alagoth clans recruited to root out the Duadha, a culture of guerilla weavers living in the White Forest whose presence impeded the expansion of trade routes in Lower Edrada. The Crowns had long since held a grudge against these painted barbarians, and by weakening them The Ravi Bacca began to earn vocal support from the upper caste.
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“So much more,” replied Ahimsa. The assembly hall erupted into chaos. The Crown Stewards seemed uninterested, but the assembled Rights had long since learned to mistrust their apparent complacency. The stance taken by this young woman could prove dangerous; immediate fissures became apparent in the collection of Rights, who began to scheme and plot against one another as lines were drawn. Deszara was not much older than Ahimsa herself, and all present understood that she was the Crown’s favored successor of the Serpentine Throne. But in Ahimsa, with her charisma and power, a new direction for the Empire had emerged. The balance was tipping against Deszara.
currents of magick. Her aura was so powerful that even rural Crowns believed her divinity made flesh.
Revolt at Emluk In the year 856 IC, when The Ravi Bacca was thirty-five years old, an uprising occurred in Oldfire. A group of Rights of indigenous blood
The Rise of The Ravi Bacca Tales of Ahimsa’s ambitions spread quickly through the Empire, and their effects were apparent in Ugurlu from the very next day. Old Ugurluan soldiers began to polish their equipment again, and complacent youth felt the call of duty. A general sense of invigoration swept through the city as well as its tributary towns and villages, all of it focused on this one young woman. She traveled the Empire for years, governing with a youthful exuberance. Indeed, as the years passed into decades, her body remained the same as it had been when she set herself apart during the assembly in Ugurlu. The love and adoration of the Neferatha people, of which she was more and more the sole recipient, continued to grow. Her Thread was a great, glowing snake, writhing through the Tapestry and fed by the countless millions of Threads that made up the Neferatha Empire. She became known as The Ravi Bacca, or Sun Child, for the warm, glowing aura that emanated constantly from her youthful body, visible to those with some sensitivity to the
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in Emluk asserted their freedom from the Empire. They had grown rich and fat off the new roads of trade afforded by The Ravi Bacca’s push into the White Forest, and now felt they had the power to break away from the Empire. Old gods were reborn in the cult mythology of the Crowns, and under the banner of these returned deities they sought to forge an independent state. The army of Emluk had already been given financial support by the governors of Xeruthan and Merekhun when the Empress Bhilamanhi finally gave orders to respond, appointing Ahimsa to suppress the uprising and restore order. Her command consisted of only a small battalion of the much larger Cardinal Army, and all of her officers knew their force would not be enough. The Empress also asserted, through Deszara, that naval power was so dear that none of the Imperial navy could be spared to transport her soldiers. The army would have to march. Many suspected that the move was purely political: The final effort of a fading faction on behalf of those in the Empire who favored Deszara. Ahimsa’s tendency to avoid conflict was well known, and Deszara had engineered this campaign to be a great failure for the Sun Child, a way to reassert her own ascension to the Imperial Dais and the Serpentine Throne. Despite this, Ahimsa set out from Ugurlu with much fanfare and pomp, accompanied by her woefully inadequate force.
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She traveled the northeastern coast of Ragus, passing through Anishad, Esvesthi, and Tath Nagura, as well as countless villages between. From these cities and villages poured support. Young men and women, eager to join The Ravi Bacca, turned out with the arms of their grandmothers and grandfathers. Merchants in opulent, Western silks led caravans of grain and
supplies in the army’s wake. Local populations lined the road for miles at a time, cheering the army of The Ravi Bacca toward victory and adding to its number. Never before in the history of the Hara Sea had an army marched under such conditions, so eagerly met and well provisioned. By the time she reached Uranishad, Ahimsa sat at the helm of well over nine thousand men and women. The Wrath of The Ravi Bacca The Ravi Bacca’s emissaries to the lords of Emluk were turned away, and the two forces met on the Plain of Salamanders west of the city. The army of Emluk was strong, its number bolstered with Alagoth mounted archers and bands of Edish huntsmen. But the smaller force of The Ravi Bacca drove through its center, scattering it into the path of the flanking movements of her own Alagoth mercenaries. At the head of the charge, outpacing her own force by several dozen meters, rode The Ravi Bacca’s chariot, aflame with the power of the hard woman standing defiantly behind its driver. Ahimsa bore down on the Emluki lines full of unleashed fury, and survivors from both sides described her as the sun made flesh. Not once did she draw a blade. Instead, ribbons of solid flame flew from her fingertips, scything through the ranks of Emluki pikemen. Lightning fell from the
In only a few hours, the army of Emluk was destroyed, and the bodies of the traitorous Rights were arrayed in purple silks and the golden emblems of their houses for funerary rites. In an act sparing all mercy, however, at Ahimsa’s direct order, they were not buried in the tombs of their families. Instead, in the desert sands were they laid to rest in shallow graves. A flame of victory was lit on the central torch of Emluk in the night, marking the end of battle. As she addressed her forces under a starless sky, The Ravi Bacca glowed, her dark, heavily oiled skin as bright as her ageless eyes. After that single day, The Ravi Bacca was known by all as the most powerful woman in the Neferatha Empire, the only possible heir worthy of the Amper Deshi.
Lokod
Four years after the conquest on the fields of Emluk, increased Edish piracy in the northern seas became a cause of alarm for the Empire, and again the Empress turned to The Ravi Bacca for the solution. Using her network of intelligence and foreign ties, The Ravi Bacca located several barbarian “big men” along the Edradan coast who were responsible for much of the increased raiding. Of the eight tribal leaders, all but three died in their sleep, their ships burning in the harbors where they were docked. The remaining three, the three strongest, were invited to Ugurlu to meet with The Ravi Bacca. One of them refused the emissary, Ahimsa’s cousin Thuragi, and suffered execution where he stood, consigning his followers to enslavement.
The first Edish Hattan to visit Ugurlu was a fool. Ahimsa had his body dumped into the Vendhi River. The second Edish to visit, Praetawa of the Hawk, was something else entirely. He sacked several villages during the Festival of Janeshka even as Ahimsa’s spies were investigating his dealings, and afterwards he had the foolhardy arrogance to think his actions entirely without consequence. He was unlike the men of Ugurlu, and in him, Ahimsa saw potential. She was well aware of his hubris and impulsiveness, but was convinced that they could be overcome with careful guidance and a firm hand.
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cloudless sky at her command, tearing great craters in the earth and throwing man and horse alike high into the air. Arrows turned to mist mid-flight as they arced toward her army. Small, fleshy faulvins sprang from the bodies of her victims and ran wildly through the Emluki ranks, clinging to sword arms, beguiling the Emluki magickers, and tearing at the exposed flesh of the still living with their blunt, dirty fingernails.
She decided immediately upon meeting him that he would be used as the instrument to expand the Empire’s markets in Upper Edrada without full military force and to bring enlightenment to the filthy wanderers there. He stayed in Ugurlu two years learning what she fed him, her two husbands jealous of the relationship she forged with the pirate. Ahimsa dispatched Thuragi with a few phalanxes of her personal guard to help the brute unite and secure the factious districts of Lokod. Though many of her own allies doubted this course of action, Ahimsa was again vindicated. Within five months of Praetawa seizing control of Lokod, the funds flowing into Ugurlu from Upper Edrada had more than made up the expense of sending the phalanx. Furthermore, the dependence of Kelkala and Kelineph on the newly formalized power of The Jewel of the North ensured reduced piracy in three of the Five Seas. The Ravi Bacca herself took a personal interest in the success of Lokod, and she frequently visited the city. Under her tutelage, the pirate Praetawa became a noble creature, and the warrior–shaman Fitaw a capable domestic minister. Starting a trend across the rival Edish city-states, Praetawa adopted many Neferatha ways and customs. He eschewed the filthy rag-tunics favored by the wandering barbarians for the delicate cottons, silks, and gold ornamentation of the Empire. His clumsy tattoos were redrawn by The Ravi Bacca’s own artists. Ahimsa took Praetawa and Fitaw as
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lovers while she visited, and her visits became more frequent with passing time. In all these years, she appeared to age not a day.
The Spears of Crone
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During an extended stay in Lokod in the summer of 870 IC, when she was 49 years old, The Ravi Bacca was told of the death of Bhilamanhi, and was summoned to Ugurlu for the anointing of the Twenty-Sixth Empress. En route, she was met by two crimson-robed Stewards and given a silk-wrapped rod, which she knew to contain one of the sacred Spears of Crone. By the shape of its head, revealed through its soft wrappings, Ahimsa recognized Amper Vishvara: There was another in contest for the Throne. It took only three days in Ugurlu for Deszara to forfeit Amper Deshi and concede loss to Ahimsa. During the extravagant anointing ceremony, when the head of Amper Deshi was dragged across The Ravi Bacca’s palm, an audible gasp escaped the lips of many thread-sensitive weavers in attendance. At the spear’s touch, the glow of Ahimsa’s thread, though not diminished, was somewhat changed. The first signs of age would appear on her face after that day, though she had already held onto the body of her youth for over thirty years.
The Empress of the Sun
For two decades following her anointment, The Ravi Bacca toured the Empire, correcting the wrongs that were once out of her control and re-appointing governors as needed to increase the control of the Imperial office. Far flung provinces that had fallen from the Imperial ledger and were beyond her reach as governor of Ugurlu were now visited, their accounts corrected. The Ravi Bacca wielded her army of Lefts with the abilities that her forerunners had used to wield the Cardinal and Expeditionary forces. Trade was expanded in all regions of the world, even into Gundrada and the Kuludo Islands—a feat impossible on strength of arms alone. Her council, led by Thuragi, met with the representatives of the Anu Empress, establishing trade routes with the impassive lords of the islands. Under her leadership, the Empire enjoyed the success of Ugurlu, The Golden City. Ugurlu itself, already the largest and most profitable city in all of the Hara Sea, redoubled its growth. A new era of prosperity was ushered in. The Imperial Cult flourished even abroad, and the myriad deities of the Crowns fell somewhat in the esteem of the people. Resistance to her rule began to manifest itself in the Crowns, and they looked for any way possible to undermine The Ravi Bacca, but all to no avail.
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The Secrets of Lokod In 890 IC, The Ravi Bacca was finally able to return to Lokod. In her absence, she had tasked Thuragi with exploring the unmapped regions of the city. The population was expanding, and would soon occupy all corners of Lokod. Thuragi was to find and safeguard any of the cultural treasures left by the long dead Edradan Empire. And so it was that on her arrival Thuragi presented Ahimsa
with news of great, untouched libraries full of knowledge and artifacts that had lain unused for countless centuries.
As her time in Lokod wore on, many noble families in Ugurlu became wary of The Ravi Bacca’s relationship with the city and its barbarian Arbiter. The two were more and more inseparable. Under Ahimsa and Praetawa, Lokod had become a city of wealth and prestige that might soon rival even the great Ugurlu, and the Rights began to openly question the Empress’s devotion to the Empire. Her manner and personal attire had never quite fit the austere image of the Empress, but now she was living a life of luxury and appetite as though she were one of the Stewards herself. Others among them felt that Lokod and its environs should have been subjugated by the sword, like the other conquests of the Empire, instead of by the non-violent annexation engineered by The Ravi Bacca. There was resentment among them over the wealth being amassed in Lokod. And many of her councilors and peers resented also the absence of their beloved Empress, lost in a barbarian’s bed.
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Many of Praetawa’s strongest magickers had been consumed in flames or madness wrestling with the secrets of these libraries, but The Ravi Bacca found that she could decipher the texts with relative ease. She began spending more and more time in these libraries, and less in the beds of Praetawa and Fitaw. The information she amassed was used to create a center of learning in Lokod that attracted scholars from around the world. This success only served to deepen the divide between Lokod and the other city-states and nomadic tribes of Edish. Many of the traditional Edish felt that Praetawa and his people had abandoned the totems so long ago that they no longer consider Lokod an Edish people at all. Skirmishes between the forces of the various factions became more common, but the arts uncovered by The Ravi Bacca meant that few regional powers could challenge Praetawa.
The Death of The Ravi Bacca In the autumn of 910 IC, though still inhabiting the body of a woman not half her age, The Ravi Bacca began to exhibit symptoms of ill health. She was aware of the advancing affect of time within her body since the day of the anointment, when she had felt Amper Deshi’s edge. Still she remained in Lokod, spending her final days in the depths of the city surrounded by the knowledge of long dead magick that she knew was recorded by those even stronger than her. In 912, Ahimsa died in the arms of Praetawa. In Ugurlu, a more war-minded Empress was anointed, and the people of the Neferatha Empire exhibited a popular hatred of Lokod and more generally of the Edish people. It was said that Praetawa had stolen The Ravi Bacca, and had drained the power of her golden aura to fuel the growth of his city-state, and that all Edish must suffer for this. Not bothering to differentiate between the varied factions of Edish inhabiting Edrada, the Rights pushed for conflict against them collectively. Support for retaliation swelled up from the lower castes, and, finally loosed of The Ravi Bacca’s restraining guidance, the restless machine of the Empire girded itself for a war of vengeance and expansion.
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The Alagoth Learn New Ways
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In the Second Age, many young Alagoth clans acted as vassals of the powerful Neferatha Empire across Oldfire and among the borderlands. Used as shock troops and cavalry, the riders proved priceless to the desert-bred Rights and Crowns. Through the networks of Alagoth patriarchs, the riches and influence of the Neferatha spread over Lower Edrada without the aid of soldiers, challenging the new city-state economies of Upper Edrada. Alagoths were given conquered cities as gifts, urbanizing the typically nomadic horsemen, and Ugurlu became the center of a far-reaching economy. Despite the stark contrast in gender roles, the Neferatha oligarchy tolerated the prosperity of certain Alagoth clans in exchange for a foothold in Lower Edrada. Wealthy Crowns of the Keshava and Bhimavagra cults became particularly interested in rumors of the White Forest that circulated among the Alagoths. As new cities and ruins became available to the Neferatha ambassadors, excavation and research began; word spread within elite circles of Ugurlu that Lower Edrada might one day be worth more than the sheep and goats it then boasted.
Battle of Kevmor Road In 802 IC, accompanied by three Crowns from Xeruthan, an orderly force of Benarekata Alagoth rode along the southern edge of the White Forest, searching near the city of Phessanika for the rumored ruins of a road that led through the dark heart of the forest. Upon finding a structure that may have marked the beginning of a flagstone road, the Crowns ordered their mercenaries to begin exploring within the wood. Kezar Ata Berazar led thirty men past the outer wall of trees and into the forest of ebony wood and silver leaves. From within a covered litter, two of the Crowns muttered ancient spells and looked deep into the White Forest, intent on plumbing the mysteries of the foreign land. The third walked with stave at the ready, her magicks poised to strike.
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From the serene wood came great chaos. As the Crowns whispered their arcane verses, they unknowingly came upon an active Hearth. A Fey spirit awakened in the forest, taking a shape the sight of which brought confusion and panic to the human mind. It did not speak before attacking the group of riders. Among the trees, the Alagoths suffered worse odds than they would have upon the flats outside the mythic forest. The Fey spirit tore apart earth and flesh in huge strokes of its massive limbs. The many eyes darted from warrior to warrior, slaying and crippling with ease. As the Fey slashed to pieces horse and rider alike, Kezar saw a small group of what looked like Edish hermits. The hermits, ghosts among the trees, set upon the Fey spirit with magicks of their own. One of the female Edish summoned a dark Fiend that weakened the Fey considerably. The males beside her worked magick from the Tapestry itself, their fingers strumming silvery threads that glowed lightly and faded out of sight yards away. One of the Crowns had her head removed by the savage claws of the Fey spirit; the other lost three limbs before she fell dead. Thirteen of the Alagoth mercenaries were killed in the battle and twice as many horses. Kezar approached the six Edish woodspeople after the chaos of the battle subsided. The third Crown was being held prisoner by the leader of the group, who introduced his kith as members of the Duadha people. Kezar thanked them for their aid on behalf of all the Sons of Benarek. The Duadha leader, Wakeshwa, spoke: “Let us kill this dark foreigner who taints our holy wood, and we will direct you to the road you seek, which is called Kevmor in the early tongue.” Upon closer examination, the Duadha seemed less Edish to the aged horseman. The Son of Berazar cast a glance at the Crown, her face twisted with indignation. “I am in her service until she finds the location of the road, honorable hermit.” He paused before continuing, “Point out this Kevmor Road to her, and my contract with the Neferatha will be expired. You may then to do her what you
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wish.” Wakeshwa led the Alagoths to the remains of the once-regal road. Upon reaching the overgrown flagstones, Kezar spoke to the Neferatha prisoner: “Well, my task is done. There you have the road, Shehavi.” He looked to the bound Crown with a small laugh, and she spat at him in return. The Duadha priestess killed the Crown known as Shehavi according to the rituals of the living forest. The assimilation of the Duadha into the Alagoth over the next century would become a great source of torment to the Neferatha of Ragus. Phessanika swelled with Alagoth immigrants and became an important hub of art and religion. Tree Religion of the Alagoth The Alagoth’s druidic religion is based on the teachings of the Duadha, which venerate the fertility and strength of the forest. The various clans and caravans of Alagoth all share in this deeply rooted religion, which relies not on dogma or structured beliefs but on a series of rituals focused on the cycles of life and the liminal spaces between humans and preternatural beings. The dense and gnarled Forest, too thick for horses to pass, is the secretive, protected realm of the druids. Rites follow the precession of the constellations and seek to capture the will of the Threads. Priests labor over astrological charts and share a growing knowledge of the Tapestry as marked across the night sky. They erect large stone and wooden installations that measure and track the stars. Clad only in fog-grey cloaks, druids eat no meat and spend much of the daylight hours sleeping in their glades.
It is only deep in the forest that the druids feel truly at home, though their presence in the traveling camps is now expected. The young are taught, and herbs not grown in the White Forest itself are collected. Some druids even live among the crowded urban centers of Alagoth cities. Priestesses deal with local spirits and animal sacrifices. Their magick stems not from the sky but from blood and earth. Almost detached from the male druids, priestesses scour the forests for potent ingredients for their many charms, potions, and rituals. Separate from any lineage, druids form their own settlements, called Circles, and negotiate between the Alagoth people and the spirits of the Forest. It is said the druids hold secret magicks the forest has bestowed upon them, and that they may speak with the forest and tame it with these magicks for the benefit of the patriarchs and their people.
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Although Chethahan and Thulhu retained the native cultures of Lower Edrada and their native aristocratic families, Charzen and Phessanika were subjugated by powerful patriarchs in the early years of the ninth century. Smaller cities such as Rekarek, Xanthek, Vanevah, and Ishtarek all hosted Alagoth kings who settled their buildings and took over their economies. It was in Charzen that the Iassata found much honor. Their patriarch, Nerakbar Ata Mushab, won many wives and horses across the Summer Field and deep in the Bowls, a large valley tucked between the White Forest and the Cataract Mountains. He descended upon Charzen in 834 IC with a band of over three thousand, leading alongside the Iassata riders from the Roshata and Xarethata.
The Might of the Iassata
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It was also during these years that the Alagoth independent of the encroaching Empire began spending more time in the cities of Lower Edrada, many of the patriarchs becoming local kings and warlords. Mixing cultures and new ways of living, however, did not divide the People of the Steppe as urbanization shattered the Edish. The Alagoth economies of pastoral riders and urban merchants were symbiotic, and the entire countryside was one large market where goods and culture circulated. While the Edish chased herds that belonged to the land over hill and dale, Alagoth shepherds tended flocks of their own. Cities had always been important waypoints and trading ports of the Alagoth immigrants, and clans that made urban life their own were still in contact with kin spread across the continent as before.
Over his long life Nerakbar of the Iassata was known to surround himself with an honor guard of druids, gharun, and Berserkers, rewarding their service more generously than the loyalty of his own huol. By sending so much wealth to the empty beds of his ascetic companions, the sons of Nerakbar’s own family had fewer resources with which to plot against their patriarch. For many years Nerakbar starved his competitors among the strong warriors of the Iassata and pushed them to raid and plunder on their own. From Charzen they flew like bees from a nest, proud warriors seeking fame and fortune among the weak villages of the coasts and the Summer Field. Many wives were taken from unknown peoples, and the city of Charzen flourished. Nerakbar Goes to Rushing Lake In the year 841, Nerakbar led a caravan far into the Bowls, coming upon the shore of the Rushing Lake just as summer’s heat grew most fierce. Many of the native cultures in the region were eager to trade with the patriarch, as few Alagoths had traveled this way, fearing the myths of the region. As the camp’s women went to draw water from the rippling lake, they beheld in their reflection a dark vision: A terrible salamander, black and speckled with yellow stars, scurries among the rushes, swallowing
In the tent of the patriarch, there was much commotion and whispering. Word of the vision spread through the camp, and many were ill at ease. The patriarch was likened to the horse of the vision, and many feared the lake would bring destruction to the camp and an end to their prosperity. There were those who refused to drink any water at all, and many pushed for an immediate departure from the region. Nerakbar too was troubled by the portents of the vision, and asked his councilors to offer interpretation. He sent out messengers to the local villages, offering a great reward in horses and wives to any man who could interpret the vision of the women. Six days later, a hermit of strange custom, who lived near a large village at the edge of the White Forest, came to the tabernacle of the patriarch. “How come you here?” asked the patriarch, for the old man arrived on foot and his village was over seven days’ walk from the camp. “I foresaw your coming to the Rushing Lake and the trouble it would cause you many nights ago, Patriarch of the Iassata. Let me tell you what I have envisioned, for my own dream offers the clearer picture.” With that, the old man recounted his dream: A hawk spies two salamanders chasing prey among the rushes. One of the salamanders is fierce and large, chasing men and women over wide tracts of land. The other salamander is slight and small, chasing insect prey among the reeds. The hawk swoops to snatch the
smaller amphibian from the shallow waters and lands high in a nearby tree to eat the creature. It swallows the little salamander and enjoys the meal, growing larger from the meat. Greedy for more, the hawk circles the lake, hoping to now snatch away the larger of the two. As it flies above, however, the monstrous salamander leaps from the waters and catches the hawk in its mouth. Swallowing the bird, it descends to the depths of the water satisfied.
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up the men and women it uncovers. The beast grows to an awesome size and torments all those who approach it. All of a sudden, from dry land, a horse comes and tramples the giant salamander, crushing its body and spreading its slime over the ground. In every direction, the waters of pool and stream turn to blood. After many days, the horse is thirsty and, fearing death, dares to imbibe the bloody water from a nearby pool. Immediately, the horse is struck with pains and falls to the earth, thrashing and kicking. Its body twists and crackles, changing in shape from the majestic equine into the salamander itself. When the body of the horse finishes its metamorphosis, the waters are clear, and the new salamander dives into the lake.
The old man offered an interpretation of both visions: The patriarch had traveled far from his natural home, and although prosperity seemed forthcoming, he would be destroyed by the local god of the Bowls unless he and his camp left the Rushing Lake before sunset on the following day. The druids among Nerakbar’s retinue recognized the clothing and speech of the old man; his people were enemies to the Duadha generations ago and were nearly extinct now. These druids pressured the patriarch to pay no heed to the man’s interpretation, hearing in them a political ploy against the allies of the Duadha, but Nerakbar was too insulted by the warning therein to ignore the hermit’s words entirely. “Stay with the camp, bold hermit,” commanded the patriarch. “If your vision proves true, you may take as a reward all the wealth our demise leaves behind.” His manner was bold, but those who knew him sensed the rattle of nerves in his challenge. The Vision Coming to Pass Nerakbar was quiet the next day, his mind consumed with the interpretation of the vision given by the old hermit. He had never feared the native gods of Lower Edrada, and the region thus far had given up great riches to the benefit of all parties. On the morning after the appointed day of departure, however, when the women went to draw water from the lake, a fearsome salamander as long as ten horses appeared and swallowed up many wives and daughters of the caravan. The warriors of the camp were quick to draw bow and spear, and a great force led by the patriarch himself rode to the edge of the lake.
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The Greater Salamander proved a powerful adversary. Its skin leaked a toxic venom, a thick goo that stuck to ground and blade; its hide was heavy and slippery; its movements were quick for its bulk. Nerakbar lost many of his hawad in the battle as well as his prized stallion, Burahen Ata Phallosh. The fight lasted several days, and each warrior tired many horses. Victory came only after four of the most loyal Berserkers sacrificed their own lives charging the Fell monster on foot. Their jagged spears pinned the forelimbs of the Salamander to the earth, and their swords cut at its tongue and face. Nerakbar led the final assault and slew the beast with his own spear. The loss of many beloved women kept the men of the caravan from tasting a sweet victory that day. Rituals of mourning were followed by all survivors under the guidance of the druids. One month later, in a spirit of renewed vigor, there was a great celebration in the camp to finally revel in the slaying of the Fell Salamander, and the local lords were invited with their daughters for a feast in the tents of Nerakbar. The Plague of Gnats During the feast of the lords, a host of gnats arrived thicker than fog. They filled the storehouses and the tents, spoiling the food and weakening the horses. Their bites left boils upon the skin, and the feast was cut short, all fleeing in torment. Thousands of men and animals were bitten, and the local rulers fled the camp of Nerakbar ill and angered. Huge fires were made on the edge of camp to lure the pests away, but none could sleep or eat well for several days. Nerakbar called the old hermit to his tent: “What manner of curse is this? You mentioned nothing of such a plague in your warning, old wizard.” The hermit responded with rebuke, “You brought this upon yourself, great patriarch. I, Moreshi, gave you warning on behalf of my master, but you did not listen.” At this, the proud patriarch bellowed with laughter. “I squashed your god under my sandal like a fat toad. If this is the extent of his retribution, then we shall bear it.”
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Moreshi responded: “Make no boast, Nerakbar. The Salamander was no great spirit, but a servant like myself. He was known as Olyan to the devoted. By not heeding my words, you have angered our master, Ghorn Duul, the Old One who resides at the bottom of the Rushing Lake. He took much pleasure in the Salamander Olyan, and my premonition of your victory over His pet is what brought me here. I tried to spare yourself as well as my fellow servant this fate, but now there is no future for you whatever your actions. These gnats are simply the salt of Ghorn Duul. He prepares you for his palate!” The druids moved to strike Moreshi down with their large, sickle-shaped blades, but Nerakbar held them back. “Take me to visit your master, Moreshi. One lord to another, I will parlay with him.” Moreshi doubted the intentions of the patriarch, but the hermit reasoned that only a direct confrontation with the Old One Ghorn Duul would break the Alagoth’s spirit. Two days after the men left to walk the circumference of the lake, the gnats dispersed, returning to whence they came. Two days later, Nerakbar entered the camp alone. He made no proclamation regarding the voyage, but ordered the Iassata to make camp at once. They rode back to Charzen directly. Among the druids, it is believed that Nerakbar made a deal with Ghorn Duul, offering himself as a servant to Old One in place of Olyan the Salamander and Moreshi the hermit. Through Nerakbar, the god wielded a greater power over the region. In druid tales, the women’s vision in the lake is given preeminence, and the Nerakbar who returned from visiting Ghorn Duul is considered changed and reshaped in the image of the dark god. Their anecdotal evidence includes Nerakbar’s love of heated spas and nighttime swims, his resilience to the poisons they claim to have slipped him time and time again, and his giving up of wine and meat. The druids distrust the Iassata, especially the descendants of Nerakbar, to this day.
Cities of Lower Edrada Architecture centered on wooden columns and stone capitals. Flower and tree bloomed indoors and out, gardens hanging from timber arboretums in every plaza and palace. Large patios and agoras allowed humid breezes to pass through the many houses and public chambers. The feel of the yurt and the tabernacle of the caravans was somewhat maintained even among the opulent stone buildings. Interior rooms were formed not by permanent walls but by thick, heavy carpets hung on taut cords. Scenes woven on either side decorated the temporary rooms and dictated the uses of the spaces within. Around the king, a base of ministers made decisions that ruled the local horse lords. The traditions of honor that governed the camps became a complex system of laws and ordinances that respected the sovereignty of every patriarch no matter his domain or his wealth in horses. Every Alagoth was trained to ride the horse, shoot the bow, and speak the truth. Philosophy developed among the idle wealthy of substance. Art flourished even within the roving caravans. According to the religion of the trees, death was kept from the earth by exposing the bodies of the fallen to the elements atop sacred towers. After a prescribed amount of time, the bones were retrieved and buried in stone tombs. No part of the body was given back to the soil. The Founding of the King City In the year 829 of the Imperial Calendar, six clans of Alagoth met together in the city
of Phessanika and rode east into the Great Steppe. Lively caravans trailed miles behind the ornately dressed patriarchs on wheel, foot, and hoof. Large pillars of wood and the finest carpets were brought on heavy wagons over the hard earth; artisans from across Edrada and Ragus had been hired at great price; horses stout and strong had been bred for generations for the labor to come. Of the clans present, the Zaneshata were the wealthiest, and the deep yellow tartan of their forefathers covered most of the warriors who bustled in the mixing camps.
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The Prosperous King By 860 IC, Charzen was the most populated of the Free Cities. Nerakbar was the first king of the city-state and ruled over the patriarchs of six clans who used the city as hub and home. He appointed his own son, Ghoreshan, as his successor among the Iassata. The city became the model for most Lower Edradan cities of the next century.
The remains of six patriarchs rode in six stone coffins on a grand barge, six sets of bones neatly tucked in their padded hollows. Guarded by powerful druidic magick and carved with the patterns of stars and the image of the tree, the square coffins proclaimed the heraldry of their charges. This high honor given to the Duadha helped motivate the acceptance of the new religion among many clans and patriarchs. Two hundred leagues into the Steppe a great city was built to enshrine the relics of the Alagoth heroes: King City, a tomb for the mighty who came before and a signpost for the weary still to come, alerting all wanderers of the Steppe to the abundance of Lower Edrada. Pillars of black wood held up stone capitals and vaulted roofs covered in vines of fruit and blossom. The laborers of the six clans erected the entire polis atop a raised platform on a site with no natural protections. It took thirty-seven years to build the platform and the under-chambers, and another forty-eight to finish the palace of the patriarchs in the heart of the camp. By 914 IC, when the second phase of construction had finished, the city housed ten-thousand warriors and eighty-thousand wives and daughters.
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The Anu Explore the Northern World
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After many centuries spent in isolation, solidifying the state and pacifying the local gods, wealthy Anu lords took to exploring further from the Kuludo Islands. Those Houses with large coastal holdings began building ships capable of hauling great quantities of resources and goods. Longer and deeper than the small skiffs and houseboats used to navigate the archipelagos of the Eastern Islands, these ships resembled those ancient vessels that carried Hataro and Gazu in exile from the Unseen Homeland. Such crafts often had five or six sails, colorful banners of silk that bespoke the wealthy Houses and their lords, and room for fifty sailors. Also in the Second Age, trade began with the Neferatha Empire to the southeast. While new goods made it into the Kuludo Islands from abroad, new ideas rarely reached the isolated peoples of the Anu cities and villages. Strict measures were taken to keep the cults and heresies of the Neferatha from influencing the already ritualized lives of commoners and Sabu alike. Hiroto Tokuma the Sailor One of the first to venture beyond the Eastern Islands was Hiroto Tokuma of House Egret. Four broad beige sails each bore the crest of the Egret in dark, earth brown. Two smaller sails of the brightest white made sharp triangles high on the ship’s central masts. Hiroto took a vessel of thirty sailors up the coast of Gundrada (which at this time, the Anu called “Hetix’tul,” the Dry Island) trading silks with the towns he found there in exchange for herbs and furs. The Kuludo Islands provided little in the way of luxurious furs, the coats of jungle cats making poor clothing for the wealthy and used only by priests and hermits.
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Upon returning to Kuludo Island, Hiroto was made a powerful lord. His annual stipend increased from three hundred to three thousand koku of maize, and he married into the most powerful family of the House. His success as a trader spurred other Houses and families to fund voyages far from home.
Wakasin Hotl, Vayok-Friend The second sailor to bring great honor to his House was Wakasin Hotl of House Heron, a lesser brother among his family. His ship had three broad sails of indigo with the pale yellow emblem of the Heron embroidered on the center swath. Two triangular sails, also of yellow, topped the ship’s masts. Wakasin took twenty-four sailors with him: four sabu relatives; two Thun, one priest and one pilot; and eighteen rowers. He loaded the ship with silks, coarse textiles, and spices. A storm kept the party from landing on the desired coast of Gundrada, and Wakasin decided to push forward, his pilot drawing a new chart each time the ship discovered new land. After three weeks of sailing, the weather turned suddenly cold. Like winter in the Kuludo highlands, snow covered the shoreline as far as Wakasin could see. The sailors were hungry and running low on supplies, and the bold among them asked their master if they might take some hunters to shore for game. Wakasin bade them hold off for one more day. He wanted as many men on the oars as the ship could manage, and the motion of the sea convinced him a large island was just over the northern horizon. By morning, Wakasin and his ship had reached the coast of Vaankur, coming aground not far from the cliffs that bore the Three Homes and Wagshigaad. The sailors had little hope for finding game in such a frozen land, the winter animals of Kuludo not generally used for food, and a grumble began to fill the ship. When Wakasin gave the command for the crew to disembark, he met loud resistance. One head fell by Wakasin’s blade in the scuffle, and the rest of the men quickly quieted. The landing party was made, and seven men walked on a thick layer of ice toward the cliffs. They spent an hour hiking along the shore before coming upon a large crevasse in the cliffs that led upward. Built into the side of the crevasse was a
staircase of wood and iron, unrefined of style but expertly fashioned.
Two fires warmed the vast hall from either end, and the walls were decorated with trophies of bone and metal. Furs lined the earthen floor, and furniture of bone and hide were brought near the warm hearths for the guests to sit upon. Wakasin and his cousin did their best communicating with the Vayok elders, displaying samples of the goods they brought and drawing numbers in the dirt, but the elders seemed interested only in serving the Anu a thick, sweet-smelling beverage. After much confusion, Wakasin finished his bowl of wheat beer to the smiles of the Vayok. At this, the doors of the hall were opened and a feast begun.
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The pilot spoke to the entire party by addressing Wakasin: “This is not Hetix’tul, and the people here are unknown to us, my lord. With such wonders of metal, it can be assumed they possess weapons far superior to those of the barbarians on Hetix’tul.” Wakasin agreed, and the group pushed on carefully. At the top of the staircase stood a small structure, wide enough only for a single person to stand inside it. As the party approached, a figure covered entirely in fur darted from the shack and set off running over the snowy turf. At the sudden movement, Wakasin and his sabu companion drew their blades. Three of the sailors fit arrows in their bows. “Let him run,” said Wakasin. “He will let his people know they have visitors. The next few moments will be of utmost importance for our survival and our future fortunes. My cousin is trained in many languages and customs; let him speak for us and put down your weapons.”
seem absent, but so do any recognizable weapons,” responded Lord Wakasin. His men calmed a little. Murmurs and whispers followed the Anu until the entire swarm reached the central building of the city.
Inside the hall, the women and the weapons of the Vayok became visible. “Apparently,” whispered Wakasin to his companions, “both lay hidden under layers of fur.” His men laughed, and all enjoyed the night’s celebration.
Wakasin’s judgment proved wise. The Vayok elders approached the Anu party slowly, over many hours. Magicks were cast and spirits invoked before the icedwellers dared address the Anu directly. At nightfall, near the edge of the cliff and the wood-watcher’s shack, first contact was made between Anu and Vayok through the persons of Wakasin Hotl of House Heron and Grefwren Jerik of the Hikjin clan. The landing party was invited to a great hall of stone managed by the Tekthukek clan in the middle of Wagshigaad. As the slim foreigners were escorted through the flagstone streets, hundreds of Vayok crowded the small group, peeking out from fur hoods. Children climbed onto their parents’ shoulders to gain a better view. “Where are their womenfolk?“ asked one of the sailors. “They do
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Origins of Khazil Labor Late the following day, Wakasin and his cousin finished negotiations with the Vayok, eager to load their ship with beer, furs, and axes. Upon returning to their ship, however, they found only three survivors, the two sabu and the priest. The remaining sailors had fled in the night to find food and never returned. Wakasin unloaded the goods he owed the Vayok, his frustration hardly visible through the carefully practiced countenance demanded by Anu culture: How would we row home without a crew?
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brought to the southern islands. The Anu had many reasons for fearing the underground, but Vayok miners took to life in mountain holes readily. They plumbed new depths and brought forth great riches from the earth. Also, the wolves bred in Vaankur became fashionable pets, powerful war machines, and durable labor animals in Kuludo. Few of these adopted Vayok returned to Vaankur in their lifetimes, spending their years instead as indentured servants and workers in the service of Anu nobility. Khazil The name for the ethnic heritage of the Vayok people is Khazil. All cultures outside Vaankur refer to those of Vayok descent who have emigrated to the Kuludo Islands or Upper Edrada as Khazil. A “true Vayok” to many people is one who participates in the cyclical hunts of Vaankur and maintains strong clan relationships, two practices difficult for those living abroad.
The Vayok who accompanied Wakasin to the boat understood readily and spread word among their relatives. The next morning, a party of eighteen Vayok youths volunteered to row for Wakasin. It became apparent that these rowers were fortune-seekers, experienced sailors eager to seek adventure and wealth in the Kuludo Islands. Payment was to be made to the settlement in exchange for the labor of the rowers. Wakasin left his priest with the Vayok to learn their language and establish a better trade relationship between House Heron and the snow-folk.
Thun Rise
And so the relocation of Vayok labor to the Kuludo Islands began. Initially as rowers and petty laborers and eventually as wolf-trainers and miners, Vayok children as young as nine or ten were purchased from their clans and
Thun suffered under the H’han aristocracy as second-class citizens for centuries, but new opportunities for trade and mobility in an age of expansion brought great fortune to a handful of Thun families. One such family, the
Igotutl, founded the first Thun House and rose high enough to infiltrate Anu court life on the Imperial Island.
Over the course of many years, Sagayu and his allies purchased adjacent lands and built estate homes rivaling those of the most fashionable Houses, Heron and Tiku. Without a kito, however, there was little the coalition of families could do to gain acceptance as a legitimate political House. A kito is a holy stone that marks the authority of a Sabu House. Each House owns one stone, which is typically kept at the center of a vast, labyrinthine garden within a heavily fortified estate. The central estate of each House supports the most important members of the ruling families, though the highest Lord will live on the Imperial Island at Court. There were eight stones originally, uncut blocks of rock that bear the seal of the Imperial Emperor. With the fall of House Dove, one of the stones was brought to the Imperial Island and decorated as a reminder of what happens when one House pursues too much power. In the 42nd year of the Age of the Sleeping Owl, the Quihen Family, the ruling dynasty of House Karras, lost much land in a handful of skirmishes and business deals with the Wex’tutl Family of House Egret. Neither House wanted to support the conflict initially, and so the two families were left to their own devices. The losses quickly added up and crippled the Quihen, however, and House Karras lost much
The families that remained in House Karras pulled together to discuss what might be done to regain their position. Lord Quihen left the Imperial Island and returned to his home estate. His servants warned him that the family was nearing bankruptcy. His army of sabu, however, was well-trained and rugged and, better yet, paid through the end of the year. Other families proved poor in maize but rich in arms as well. The only option seemed a military endeavor.
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Sagayu Igotutl became wealthy building ships. His annual stipend reached one thousand koku before he was made Sabu by marrying into the Tomotuga family. Sagayu promoted many within his family and trained a small army of swordsmen to protect his honor. Most Thun who made Sabu turned their backs on their heritage and lived among the H’han ashamed of their pasts. Sagayu was different. He rallied the wealthy Thun families together and fought for a voice among the Houses.
strength in Court. Many of the Karras families allied themselves with other Houses and kept themselves distant from the shame of the Quihen.
The new, smaller House Karras began to covet the growing riches of its neighboring Thun families. Lord Quihen sent word to his peers: “These Thun families that border our lands bind together to make a place among the H’han in court. They have few allies and little honor, but their riches grow with every passing season. Let us sharpen our swords with their stones and reclaim the H’han maize they grow. We may even gain honor among the H’han Houses for putting an end to this upstart movement.” In one season of war, many families of House Karras sent sabu and saboteur to weaken Sagayu Igotutl and his allies. House Karras under Thun Dynasty Fortune was with the Thun faction, however, and many Karras sons fell before the army of Lord Igotutl. Sagayu and his allies decided to push their advantage, marching their forces toward the Karras estate home. When the defenses of Lord Quihen were all but broken and his allies scattered, Sagayu sent word to the cornered ruler: “You and your allies have nipped at my heels long enough, and now your sons are dead. You will die today, Lord Quihen. To stop that, nothing can be done. I was forced to this action by your own strategy, and I offer no pity. If you care for your lineage, however, I will accept your daughter, Mikimo, to marry my son. She can stay among her estate, and your blood will remain within House Karras.”
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Lord Quihen acquiesced. He was executed along with his sabu in the new Igotutl gardens. Mikimo married Barabunto, eldest son of the Igotutl. Sagayu, Lord Igotutl, took up residence in the old Quihen estate and accepted his place as guardian of the kito of House Karras. Over time, H’han families returned their allegiance to House Karras, and Sagayu took up residence on the Imperial Island alongside his peers. Even a generation before, no Anu could have predicted that one of the Seven Houses would be ruled by a wealthy Thun dynasty.
Flower: Soma & Salve High in the canopy of the forest that covers two-thirds of Kapix’tul, a flower was discovered with unparalleled psychotropic effects. When refined, the seeds of this flower produce a potent opiate. The riches a good source of Flower can provide a family or House become the motive for war, sabotage, marriage, and migration. Vines will often flower in one region of the rainforest canopy while their root structure originates many miles away, which makes protecting the entire length of a vine extremely difficult. Much of the forest also floods for many months out of the year, making passage and exploration a tiresome effort. Inhabitants of the forest build forts and estates several feet off the ground, sometimes around large trunks. The finicky plants are almost impossible to transplant, but harvesting of seeds can help spread a particular strain to other places, mixing it with the native species or founding a new Garden entirely. These Gardens are often protected by local militia and guarded as ferociously as any gold or diamond mine. Many Anu rulers start into politics as a Garden Sabu, looking over the supply of Flower to a higher lord.
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Particularly of interest to the Neferatha, Flower is also the largest export of the Islands. Great ships filled with ochre powder carry the wealth of nations across the Hara Sea, guarded by magicks and men-at-arms from both empires.
Flower: Soma and Salve Grown on vines deep in the rainforests and thickets of many islands within the continent, Flower has become the most precious resource in all of the Empire, rivaling the place of maize in Anu culture. Far from the ground, sometimes a hundred feet high, vines of a particular genus will sprout beautiful flowers in every imaginable color. Flowers are harvested and treated to become a medicinal product treasured for a variety of properties. Most nobly, Flower petals can be made into a healing salve unparalleled by any other herb known to the Anu. The darker side of Flower, however, lies in its properties as an opiate, dulling the senses while expanding the mind. Many of the brothels, dens, and private chambers across the continent harbor Flower-drinkers on a regular basis. Houses hungry for profit and recreation cultivate new strains with unique properties and patent new leaf shapes and color patterns. Because Flower grows in remote places, estate-forts grow up around particularly productive trees and areas. A home or community built around a particular source of Flower is called a Garden. These house the workers and weathersmiths of the plant, tending to the strains and cultivating them, as well as a full militia of guards, sometimes entire companies. Sabu aristocrats who embarrass their families are often sent to more luxurious Gardens as a form of exile, removing them from the play of politics and court.
The Vayok Build Ships
Tundra Wolves The Vayok are proud breeders of Tundra wolves and have developed six distinct breeds over the long history of their culture. The earliest myths contain heroes with loyal lupine companions, and the close relationship between the wolves and humans became taken for granted by both. The smaller breeds, Hukshis, are used to pull sleds and as pets, their body heat helping to warm family shelters and public houses. Medium-sized wolves with fur of pure white are used as hunting companions, scouts, and messengers. The largest of the breeds, male wolves weighing up to 40 stone, are bred for two distinct temperaments. Most of these are used as pack animals and mated for a loyal, industrious temperament. One lineage of large wolves, however, is bred and trained as fighters for sale to the Anu. Vayok themselves never tolerate aggression in the wolves they live and work with, but the economic benefit of raising guard wolves and combatants for the Anu merchants has encouraged many talented breeders to try developing the best lineage. An escaped wolf of that size and temperament, however, would cause great damage to the camp and its inhabitants before being put down.
As populations grew and clans expanded, hunts became crowded and harder to sustain. The amount of food and lodging materials that had to be carried along during the hunting season made travel slow, and conflicts between rival bravados became more common. This led many youths to take to the seas in search of spoils during the warmer months, leaving the honors of the hunt to more established clan leaders. These youths, however, began accruing honors of their own, bringing back useful tools, stronger weapons, and armor from settlements on the Edradan outlands forgotten to their own kind. Though less popular than hunting, raiding became a substantial part of Vayok culture, new generations seeing great advances in seafaring longboats and weapon-smithing.
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Over the next few hundred years, construction was vast, and the remnants of the Old Empire that once dotted the Vaankur coast all but disappeared. Anu merchants looking for slaves, wolves, and precious gems introduced coin and finery to Vayok culture, visiting on routine dates when waters were less treacherous. Raiding parties against isolated Gundradan cities also brought coin, artifacts of precious metal, and war booty of all kinds, giving the Vayok ancestral homes an eclectic mix of international décor. While hunters were praised for their work tracking fish, whales, bears and caribou, raiders were honored for equal bravery and for distributing vast amounts of trophies and looted household goods among the Vayok.
Nanuuruj of the Hikjin, The Tamer After the arrival of the Anu, many Vayok skills once thought mundane became more prestigious and celebrated. The breeders of wolves were sought after by Anu merchants and given significant gifts in exchange for wolf-lore and lessons in training pups as work animals. Of the Hikjin breeders, Nanuuruj was held in the highest esteem. He took to escorting his pups to the Kuludo Islands each year to oversee the integration and early training of the wolves with their Sabu masters. Nanuuruj was a bold, impressive figure among the Anu, invited to many parties and events during his one- or twomonth stays on Kuludo each year. At one such event on Nanuuruj’s sixth visit, a Khe concert held in the estate of House Peregrine, the Vayok met a talented Thun daughter, Fone Wen, in service to House Osprey. She and her father tended the wolves of their lord in the Eastern Islands, and Nanuuruj was taken by her humor, exotic beauty, and gift with animals. The next year, Nanuuruj sold his best pups to House Osprey alone and requested that
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Fone Wen accompany the boats to Vaankur to retrieve the wolves in person. Better than he expected, Lord Rekashen made Fone the official translator and liaison for House Osprey. In Wagshigaad, Fone was to spend a great deal of time learning the Vayok language and studying the techniques of their breeders. Disappointing Lord Rekashen, who had planned several events to show off their new trade partnership, Nanuuruj did not accompany the wolves to Kuludo that year. Instead, he did his best to woo the Anu girl during her stay. The two fell in love before the next year’s boats came to Wagshigaad. Message came from Lord Rekashen that Fone must return home and share her teachings among the workers of his kennels. Fone Wen to Marry Nanuuruj and Fone sailed to Kuludo with light hearts: They would approach her father about the possibility of marriage. The sabu sailors of House Osprey, however, learned of the couple’s intentions while en route to Kuludo and informed their lord immediately upon arrival. Realizing that Nanuuruj could easily re-open trade with the other Houses once he got what he wanted from the Osprey, Lord Rekashen offered his nephew to Fone’s father, Cheda Wen, as a suitor for the accomplished daughter. With his daughter’s marriage to Xanda Rekashen, the entire Wen family would be raised to the rank of Sabu, an undreamed of honor. Cheda set his heart on the union before the young lovers could mention their plans, even orchestrating an engagement ceremony to take place in four days at the family house. Fone was angered with her father’s commitment to Lord Rekashen, but little could be done. The honor such a union would bring the family was impossible to pass over for the indulgence of personal passion. Setting aside her feelings for Nanuuruj, Fone Wen did the honorable service and agreed to marry Xanda Rekashen of House Osprey. She offered what condolences she could to Nanuuruj, but the preparations took much of her time in the following days.
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Nanuuruj was heartbroken. In public and private, Lord Rekashen consoled the Vayok suitor, who had no idea that the lord plotted all this deliberately. Lord Rekashen took Nanuuruj aside and pretended to think up a solution on the spot: So long as Nanuuruj maintained exclusive ties with the Osprey, Lord Rekashen could justify keeping Fone at her post in Vaankur. His advisors would not criticize the expenditure with such a benefit to the House. While her husband lived in the Kuludo Islands, Fone would be free to spend as much time in the arms of Nanuuruj as she desired. Such affairs were not uncommon at all among the Anu, and no dishonor would be done the Wen family. While the Vayok traditionally practiced sexual exclusivity within married couples, the more casual customs of the Anu won Nanuuruj over in the end. He agreed. Two Lives Fone spent half of each year in Tagorgaad with Nanuuruj of the Hikjin. To his people the two were a married couple, and Nanuuruj never disabused them of their assumption. The other half of the year they both lived in the Kuludo Islands, Fone with her husband and Nanuuruj among the regal apartments near Lord Rekashen. Those who worked in the estates knew of the arrangement, as did Fone’s own husband, and the only harm done by the situation was the pain carried during six months of each year in the stomach of Nanuuruj. Try as he may, the Vayok could not learn to view marriage as the Anu did, and the couple often argued when they met as Sabu and servant among the gardens of Lord Rekashen. In many areas of life, the customs of the Anu appeared harsh and unforgiving to the Vayok. The two civilizations had few similarities historically or economically. Though they shared an increasing amount of goods over the following generations, cultural exchanges were few. When ideas or sentiments did slip from one culture to the other, it was usually the Vayok who struggled with the pangs of change.
Fierce Raiding
Attack at Three Waters Camp As Grenjuat aged, he continued his life of raiding and sailing, though most of the Vayok who gained riches abroad in youth eventually took up in adulthood the cyclical hunts in Vaankur. Grenjuat had a true love for the forests of Gundrada and the warm rivers that fed them. He also grew to love the slaughter of the raid, when villages fell to fire and the spear. Grenjuat was more eager than most to find new villages and new treasures, and unlike his kin, he never once sought trade as an alternative to blind raiding.
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When Marahuat was patriarch of the Tekthukek, a group of thirty youths led by the bold Grenjuat of the Kanaghash set sail in three boats from the coast of Vaankur. Rowing to the mouth of the Red River, they navigated down the rushing waters into the heart of Gundrada, reaching all the way to Let Fall Lake. They set up a small camp on the shores of the lake that acted as a hub for further exploration, which soon reached even the shores of Edrada. In time, many Vayok learned of the camp and used it as a waypoint for raiding. Youths would spend four or five months abroad amassing loot before returning up the river to Vaankur. Grenjuat always amassed the greatest booty before returning home each year. Never was
there a mind to settle the area permanently or set up a colony; the raids were always part of the cyclical way of life rooted in the ice of the Vayok homeland.
One summer, as seven trail-camps arrived at Three Waters Camp by boat, a horde of barbarians attacked from the trees. Tired of being the victims of Vayok curiosity and sport, several barbarian warlords had amassed a large band of warriors and enlisted the sorcery of revered shaman to cut down the Vayok before the season’s raiding began. Although constituted by lifelong warriors and heroes, both sides in the battle feared the other as inhuman and savage. The veteran barbarians clashed spears with the young Vayok raiders at the shore of the lake, and many lives were lost on both sides. Suddenly, from the forest came a terrible odor that stopped the battle outright. It wafted over the air and brought many of the Vayok to their knees, clutching their faces and gagging. Following the stench came a roar. Collared and chained, an ogre lumbered from between tall trunks, prodded on by the magicks of witchdoctors bathed in incense. He is called Lekjug, Lake Ogre, The Giant-Sloth, Feller of Trees, in Vayok song. As the ten-foot brute stepped towards the shore, the Gundradans chanted “Je juru, je juru” in unison. When the beast was finally let loose, the barbarians all fled. Only the shaman stayed behind, chanting and casting.
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Lekjug charged through the group of fighters, cracking and chopping their boats as he went. Many of the Vayok were inexperienced in hunting such a beast, but there were a few old hunters among the horde who took to raiding later in life. They led with the knowledge they had, using ropes and spears to surround and tangle the animal. Though Lekjug was no walrus of the ice, he proved a similar prey. Together the clans harried and speared their enemy. In bravery and skill, the aged twins Loshi and Wekishuk of the Glokur fell the rancorous ogre. Many among their family still sing of their victory. Vayok Stranded That so many boats had been destroyed worried the hearts of the surviving Vayok. They were stranded in the hostile land without transport or supplies. Many became desolate and cursed their foolhardy spirits. Grenjuat, however, put them at ease: “I have six strong boats left in the trail-camp of the Kanaghash. If your booty is light, they could each hold twenty men and women on the journey back to Wagshigaad. For half your spoils, I will give any camp that asks a boat.” The Vayok spent the warmer months raiding as usual, never locating the warlords who led the assault against them earlier that year. Much loot was gathered, and many new tools discovered. Almost a dozen swords were found, gifted to only the strongest warriors.
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For a great amount of clothing, weapons, coin, pottery, leatherworking, and jewelry, Grenjuat sold all the Kanaghash boats at the end of the season. When the trail-camps left for Wagshigaad, where festivals to celebrate the returning hunters would follow, Grenjuat stayed behind with his stranded kin. Those cousins who remained with him were strong hunters who had grown famous in Vaankur for revered articles they had plundered. With the formerly bustling camp quiet and still, they went about constructing walls and longhouses in the fashion of the local tribes, preparing the camp for winter.
Three Waters Grows Over the years, the campsite became not a settlement but an outland depot. Grenjuat managed the bunks and peddled in smaller wares among the nearby peoples, acting as a third party to oversee many contracts and treaties. His own prowess as a warrior attracted throngs of followers from among the Gundradans. In the summer months, he made alliances with certain tribes and directed incoming Vayok towards their enemies. In the winter months, when his Vayok kin would return to Vaankur, Grenjuat set about on his own raids, leading bands of mixed heritage deep into the wilderness. Three Waters grew into a bustling nexus of trade and culture, though valor and fighting prowess remained the most valued attributes. Word spread, and many frequented the outpost for reasons other than trade. Able competitors came from all over Gundrada to Three Waters to test their mettle against the warriors of other tribes and peoples. Some claimed that the sport held in Three Waters took the place of fighting and bloodshed for a time. Death of Grenjuat Each year, Grenjuat would set his cousins to building boats, promising them they would return at the end of summer to Vaankur. Each year, Grenjuat sold the boats to raiders for a share of their profits. He managed the outpost and gathered much treasure, always generous but always firm with his followers. One season, the Kanaghash builders fashioned twelve strong, hardy boats, each able to carry thirty spears and much loot. When Grenjuat made the deals to sell off the boats, his kin refused. They demanded that the trail-camp take half the boats and return home with their riches. Grenjuat laughed in response: “All twelve of these ships would not hold half our booty. Any of you may leave when you want, but you’ll gain a greater share if you wait.” Ten of the boats were sold, and two took many of the Kanaghash back to Vaankur with a large helping of artifacts and tools. The amount stunned those who stayed behind, wondering how much truly existed hidden away by Grenjuat. Over the years, however, the strain hit them: More left, few stayed.
Deneraak of the Suuka, Brood-Father, Giant-Kin During a hunt colder than most, the Suuka clan met a large pod of walruses far along the frozen coast. Among the largest bulls was a group of Lesser Walruses long in tusk and thick in hide. Trying to avoid the tainted bulls, a group of hunters set out spearing the smallest of the females at the edge of the pod. The Fell animals at the heart of the herd sensed the violence against their mates and charged at great speed toward the hunters and the hidden trail-camp of the Suuka. The small cluster of hunters, separated from the larger camp, spent their greatest effort keeping the Lesser Walruses away from the children and supplies just behind the ridge. Wolves were let loose, great beasts that nipped and tugged on the fat tails of the sea mammals. The pack tore through one of the walruses, but the other two seemed unstoppable juggernauts of blubber and tusk. Spears pierced hide, but still the walruses trudged through the snow seeking out the trail-camp and trampling hunters that stood in the way. When by luck the walruses pushed through a snowdrift in the wrong direction, Deneraak called orders to the other hunters: “Ready the camp and mush on. I will loose my wolves on these final bulls. Do not look back.” As the party of hunters set off towards the hidden trail-camp, Deneraak rode on in pursuit of the walruses. As the tusks turned to face him, the Vayok drove his own sled straight on toward the charging bulls. His wolves were quickly trampled, but the hunter himself dodged clear.
The charge had ended, and a lone hunter faced two Lesser beasts as the snow began to fall. Deneraak broke many spears on the hides of the two Fell walruses. The Fray that tainted them made them large and powerful, but in the end, pierced and near death, Deneraak cut his way to victory. The trail-camp would be miles away, their tracks already lost to the storm that grew overhead. He looked around. But for the red slush that spread for twenty feet about him, only white and gray spread in all directions.
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Grenjuat died at the age of 80 never having returned to Vaankur. It is said by many that he had a treasure larger than all the riches of his homeland hidden near Three Waters, waiting for him to save enough boats and grow homesick. His greed kept him from taking what he could and becoming the first lord among his kin, for he would not leave behind a single iron weapon or trinket.
The Mothering Deneraak found his toppled sled and added two more coats to his attire, walking off in the direction from which the sled seemed to have come. He marched for hours, realizing quickly that he was not heading for the rocky shore where lay the walrus pod. He was far into the empty waste of snow. Still bleeding, he dropped to his knees as the gray sky and white snow both turned to black. From the snowy horizon came a lithe form. Deneraak rubbed his eyes in disbelief as a Mothering moved into focus with a light gait, stopping just yards from his body. She was pale of skin and clad in a single fine garment, sheer and loose. Her words were warmth for his bones: “Let me lie with you.” Deneraak knew she was a giantess, a siren of the snow, but her words brought such warmth he yearned for her body. After lying with the Mothering, Deneraak felt the spell of sleep coming over his eyes. He was half-buried in snow and no longer clothed. The giantess stepped from the furs and almost skipped over the surface of the snow. He would not let her get away—Just another moment of her warmth and he would be fully rested and healed. Deneraak wrapped the coats of fur over his body and took to drink the thick, sweet paste he bought from the Wikwasha priest in Wagshigaad. It cost him four pairs of the best wolves he had raised himself, and finally would the serum be tested. The paste broke the spell of sleep the Mothering had cast on the lying Vayok and invigorated his limbs.
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Through the falling snow, Deneraak pursued the Mothering, using all this wiles as a hunter. For six days he traveled further into the heart of the ice, knowing not where he was headed or if he would ever return. As the days wore on, Deneraak saw along the horizon in one direction a trail-camp. Along the other horizon he spied the Mothering, her pace slowing as she neared the Maalthor peaks. Forsaking his people forever, Deneraak pursued the siren. He dropped two coats of fur to lighten his load and doubled his pace toward the giantess. By nightfall the Mothering noticed the hunter, her light hair growing fiery in her anger. He was only a hundred yards off and still marching when she abandoned the nook of crag she had chosen as a camp and skipped up into the black Maalthor rocks. The hunter sprinted after her, climbing with hand and foot to reach the siren under the rare light of the stars. The Brood He caught her as the sun rose over the dark mountains. As his hand gripped her delicate wrist, his body reeled in warmth and the sting of his wounds softened. He lay with her again and took her as a hermit’s wife there in the mountains. It is said he fathered a brood of half-giants, teaching them the ways of his people and settling the caves high in the Maalthor mountains where no Vayok dare climb. In the presence of their father, the young giants matured more nobly than those of their kin who grew feral and lonely. Like young mammoths, who need an older bull to keep them from running wild during rut, so the giants are said to have benefited from the strong hand of Deneraak deep in the wilderness. Their numbers may still grow in the hidden tunnels of the Mountains.
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Six-Fronts Wars (circa 920 - 950 IC) Atlas
Almost inevitably, a handful of related wars broke out among the civilizations of the Hara Sea. The two empires never directly engaged one another, but tensions between the ever-expanding Neferatha and the steely Anu were palpable to any political player. Violence had never left the region for long, but this was a scale unknown before or since. The Anu fought the Vayok and Edish for control of foreign resources, while the latter peoples fought amongst themselves. Mirroring this series of battles, the Neferatha fought the Edish and the Alagoth for control of Edrada’s resources, while the latter peoples continued age-old violence.
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The Lake District in Ragus, a region of luxurious estate homes, holiday palaces, and opulent temples. Tucked in the sandy foothills of the Parushaya Mountains on the shore of Bronze Lake, the city of Hastinpiro is the old capital of a forgotten kingdom. Far from the statecraft and subterfuge of Ugurlu, these villages and countryside hamlets serve more directly the personal needs of the ruling elite. In these chambers, the arts of manners and personal manipulation play out on scales grand and small. Violence, however, is not unheard of.
Revolutions in Ragus, Wars in Edrada
Three fronts of conflict arose in Edrada, as the Neferatha Empire launched attacks against the Edish city-states as well as the Alagoths of Lower Edrada. Cities burned and many turned away from trading with the Empire.
The Crimson Front In 919 IC, the common people of Xeruthan revolted against the landed nobles who controlled the city and the Neferatha state at large. After decades of unrest and cultural shift, immigrant populations remained unassimilated into the caste system, which stressed the infrastructure of a city organized around the four recognized castes. Local Alagoth patriarchs, notably Kerhez Ata Jedusha of the Roshata and Adbar Ata Geruveh of the Benarekata, took council from Duadha priests, who always sought to undermine the influence of the Crowns and their Empire. Kerhez and Adbar led two thousand horsemen against the Second Cardinal Army as it came into the city for its annual procession. Peasants followed, even those of the lower castes with Nibu blood. The second-largest army of the Empire was crippled for many years following. In 920, Merekhun revolted as well, but the Empire retaliated swiftly, not wanting the resistance to build momentum. The First Cardinal Army penetrated and occupied the city, and General Aletha used the unrest as an opportunity to clean house for her family, deposing rival Rights “unfit to govern” and appointing her own relatives into the estate homes of Baring Road. Later in the same year, Chethahan severed ties with the Neferatha, relying on trade with the Edish and Alagoths to support the economy. Although the city had never fallen to Neferatha
soldiers and yet retained its own aristocratic lineages, Neferatha culture spread to the region through trade relations and entanglements of state. Chethahan merchants organized mercenaries to oust the residing Rights and tear down the temples of the Crowns.
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The Six-Fronts War was a time of unrivaled conflict around the Hara Sea. Every civilization was involved on more than a single front, and the political landscape was shattered and reshaped.
Fall at Chethahan The 27th Empress, Uma of the Deshpadi family, held a council to decide what could be done about Chethahan. The Crowns had always prohibited the State from sending an army against Chethahan, and so Uma called for a meeting without the Stewards present. In direct opposition to the policies of The Ravi Bacca, Uma declared that it was time Lower Edrada shook under the hooves of Neferathan horses. The Stewards learned of the plan too late. Empress Uma led the First Cardinal Army from Merekhun along the Crimson Sea toward Chethahan, honoring General Aletha with the imperial presence. In the water, a fleet of ships followed, equipped with soldiers and siege weapons. The army never saw the city. From the hills came one of the Old Gods, a dark Tyrant who had been slumbering since the hemming of the world. Human blood spilled over the hills under the cries of dying soldiers. Uma survived due to the cunning of her chariot driver, and made it to one of the fleeing ships. It remains unknown what became of the Old God, who is called The Soul of Chethahan. Local Unrest During the same years, ethnic riots broke out in Ugurlu and other cities of Ragus, as domestic Alagoths suffered persecution from members of the lower castes who had lost relatives in battles near the Crimson Sea. From Ragus tensions spread to Oldfire and Lower Edrada, sparking a generation of battles between Neferatha soldiers and the resettled camps of Alagoth patriarchs, who were forced by blood ties to retaliate. Skirmishes broke out everywhere: within cities, in the Nameless Desert of Ragus, outside the Lake District, and as far west as the Kesava Grasslands. Alagoths
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who had been residing in Ragus for centuries were torn between their current livelihoods and loyalty to their heritage. Older cultures, those made vassals to the Neferatha Empire over many generations, revolted in turn, rebelling against their abject position within the rigid caste structure. The South Treaty Open violence ended in 950 when Empress Uma signed The South Treaty with four Alagoth patriarchs in The Field of Law, a vast plain south of Uranishad. The Neferatha state offered the city of Emluk, a wealthy and powerful trade hub in the Guna Desert, to the four clans in exchange for peace within the State and abroad. The terms of the treaty included the removal of all landed Rights from Emluk but allowed the Crowns to continue supporting temples in the city. This marked both a practical and symbolic shift in the relationship of the two peoples, Emluk being the first city sacked by Alagoth riders under the command of Neferatha generals and for Neferatha profit. Also, a great amount of wealth was offered to the King City in honor of those patriarchs who died helping the Neferatha Empire expand in years past. The patriarchs of the four clans moved their horses and wives to Emluk, securing their dominance of local trade routes and taking up businesses vacated by the Rights. The lower castes were also free to stay, though Alagoth law recognizes no distinction of caste nor allowed women to own property. Emluk still bubbles with cultural tension.
The Essapesh Front
the previous Empress. Lokod, Jewel of the North, was funding many of the revolts along the Lower Edradan coast with both coin and supplies, and Praetawa had become a powerful enemy of the Empire since the death of his consort, Ahimsa. The Neferatha declared war on all Edish city-states, viewing them as a confederation with Lokod at the center, though, in reality, the Edish tribes and cities still lived in almost constant conflict with one another. Gladly would Norwikod have sided with the Neferatha in razing their most hated rival, Lokod. As it went, however, the vision of the Stewards went only so far, and a much larger war was started.
When the First Cardinal Army fell to the Soul of Chethahan, the Stewards of Ugurlu spent little time gloating over the foolhardy mistake of the generals. In 922, High Steward Henashvah recommended the Empress strike Lokod, a city grown rich on charity from
In 923, when ethnic riots disrupted commerce in Ugurlu and beyond, General Kaithani led the singular Cardinal Army by water to the rocky coast of Upper Edrada, landing between the Cataract Mountains and the Essapesh River. The largest city of the Edradan
No fewer than three clans still live in open war with the Neferatha state, though encounters more frequently take the form of raids and sabotage than outright war.
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Kaithani’s army traveled toward Dunbri, cutting down several nomadic tribes on its way. The city was easily occupied, and Kaithani planned to wreak more slaughter before reaching Lokod. While she remained in Dunbri planning an inward invasion of other prominent cities and separating her troops, the Edish were organizing defenses. Edish Unite Under Praetawa Word spread among the Edish that only a united effort could end this threat. Praetawa,
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coast, Therikod, stood on a prominent cliff overlooking the bright water. It took less than a month for the Neferatha army to conquer the city, destroying the walls and structures entirely, erasing a city of some two-hundred thousand from the map. Unlike the hard-won cities of Lower Edrada, which had been built for the purpose of war and defense, the citystates of Upper Edrada were less fortified and well-positioned. Edish tactics of war included raiding supplies, damaging crops, and kidnapping children from rival tribes. The Neferatha aimed not at siphoning resources but at outright destruction.
Arbiter of Lokod, knew the power of the Neferatha firsthand. He also knew firsthand that the city-states would band together if their economic stability were put to the test, his history as a pirate and raider not forgotten. Praetawa sent many extravagant gifts to his rivals in hopes of uniting the cities of the plains and saving their sovereignty. Along with wagons of gold and fine ornaments, he sent message to Gerund of Norwikod and Haedanda of Onkod: “Bring your sons. Empty the manors of sons and swords. Take all who can carry spear and shield and march them to the Hillflame Field.” For a time, the petty rivalries were put aside, and a marshaling of soldiers brought the city-states together. Even the nomadic tribes responded to the call, their minewin convincing all to fight alongside the urban Edish. Threads were followed, and council made. Through a handful of small victories at a great price in lives, the Edish kept the Neferatha within the Gold Plains between the mighty Wanakiowa and the fruitful Essapesh. Eight years later in 931, General Kaithani had neither gained nor lost any footing in the Gold Plains. In 936, a fleet of ships left Kelkala armed with sea-fire and destroyed a large host of Neferatha vessels bringing fresh supplies and soldiers toward Upper Edradan shores. Until this point, the blonde-haired Edish, consumed by a war of their own against the Anu and Vayok peoples, had offered little to the Essapesh Front. Kelkala was already famous for its ships, and the sinking of the Neferatha fleet cemented its reputation. The Battle of Theron Cliff marked a crucial moment of unity for the Edish people.
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The Final Battle In 944, General Kaithani brought her forces back together in Dunbri. Orders had come from Ugurlu that an organized army was needed at home to put an end to the Alagoth-led unrest; the Edish front was lost. Two Stewards, however, accompanied the message to Dunbri with intentions of their own. Gurashanti and Drupadhana used their wiles to sway the weary general: One more attack, pointing all forces at Lokod. Kaithani marched the largest single Neferatha force since the sacking of Dunbri toward the river and the Jewel of the North.
The Wanakiowa Front
Patrolling tribes of the Gold Plains, descendants of the Bear and Rat, harried the army early in its journey and made time for Arbiter Praetawa to plan the defense of Lokod. Through strategy and deception, the Neferatha army was diverted from its path and pushed toward Onkod. It is spoken that Praetawa led the army towards his old rival on purpose. Close on Neferatha heels, Praetawa pinched the foreign invaders between a rowdy army of horseman and a towering city of three-hundred thousand.
In 946, after the destruction of Onkod and the Neferatha Cardinal Army, two Alagoth patriarchs from Charzen rallied many of the nomadic hill clans and launched a raid across the Gold Plains, slaying tribes of rural Edish on their way to Lokod. Two totems were all but plucked from the Tapestry in the massacres that summer, and much magick was wrought across the plains. In a final act of Edish solidarity, the Alagoth horde was routed in the Battle of Swallow Dale, pushed hard against the walls of Ironwood, and chased over the Wanakiowa.
What happened next is still fogged in mystery. From Harp Lake came a Fey spirit with no equal. Some say the Duadha summoned the beast; others that it awoke of its own accord to stop the magicks of the Neferatha and Edish from calling something even more foul from the depths of the earth. As it was, the Elder Fey swallowed three armies along with the city. Onkod was extinguished like the flame of a candle, blown out by the cry of the Fey. Praetawa and Haedanda were both lost. Kaithani and the two Stewards of Ugurlu were never seen again. The Treaty of Edrada In 947, Empress Uma offered the Treaty of Edrada to the Arbiters who remained, fearing a counterattack might follow the chaos at Onkod. The treaty was signed in the Hillflame Field near Lokod by High Steward Bhimandi and Gerund of Norwikod. Dunbri was rebuilt after the war a much more cosmopolitan city, heir to the trade routes of absent Therikod.
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The Edish, united in efforts of war despite their own animosities, struck at the Alagoths in Summer Field and The Bowls in the 930s. Many patriarchs remained loyal to the riches of the Neferatha, and the city-states of Onkod and Norwikod pushed hard against them. Relations between the Edish and Alagoths had become strengthened through trade, but the chance of war rekindled much of the old hatred, which had never settled too far below the surface.
Despite much destruction, the Edish had finally cleared their lands of two foreign armies. When the two treaties were signed by the Neferatha, the Edish city-states went back to competing amongst themselves, and wars between the patriarchs and the Arbiters quieted once more.
North by Northwest Bloodshed
All told, the northern fronts paralleled the southern conflicts in many ways. By the end of the war, Khazil nationalists in the Kuludo Islands had created a semi-autonomous state in the Eastern Islands and Vaankur was open to trade where it pleased.
The Marg Barok Front After a century of trade and growing cultural relations, the Vayok decided they had little further need for Anu imports. The cyclical hunts were still maintained by powerful hunters in Vaankur, and venturing abroad was increasingly popular among youth in the icebound settlements as well as the Three Homes. New trinkets and trophies were spreading across the ice from camp to camp, and Anu goods lost much of their luster. In the 24th year of the Age of the Bleeding Dragon, after Vayok cities turned away Anu trading vessels for the third year in a row, the Anu responded in force: Lord Hado Xian of House Egret landed four ships in Gundrada and burned several waypoint camps the Vayok used to muster resources before shipping them back to Vaankur. Causes for the sudden outburst from the Anu trading lords included tensions at home regarding the role of merchants in Anu society, the fear of Vayok goods reaching foreign markets directly, and a longstanding issue with the Vayok’s disinterest in economic gain. The Anu sought to make vassals of those living on Vaankur and to regulate the production of the weapons, beer, garments, and tools as everything else in the Anu life was regulated.
The Anu violence created a new spirit among the Vayok, who until that time had always approached disagreements in a sporting, jocular manner. After the burning of the trade ports along the coast of Gundrada, Vayok raiders sharpened spear-points not for sport but for war. The elders of Tekthukek and Hikjin were especially proud to send out their young raiders against the Anu.
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The Anu, dubbed the Celestial Empire by rivals in Ugurlu and Edrada, spearheaded aggression across Gundrada and the Hara Sea while the Neferatha sent armies over Ragus and Edrada. The conflict stemmed from the Anu’s desire to maintain exclusive trade rights with the Vayok, who were beginning to venture beyond Gundrada and into the Hara Sea.
The waters around Vaankur were too dangerous to approach that time of the year, and the Kuludo Islands were too heavily guarded for foreigners to reach. Thus, conflicts occurred in regions of land and sea caught between. Warriors from both cultures feared neither death nor injury more than lost honor: The bloodlust and ferocity displayed in any one of the many battles that dotted the Gundradan coast over the next thirty years would have weakened the heart of the toughest Neferatha general. The Anu took to hiring local barbarians to harry Vayok warriors as well as those adventurers on missions other than war. As the violence dragged on, the Anu gained control of the Gundradan coast, severing thousands of Vayok raiders and warriors from their homeland. Gundradan Barbarians The barbarian peoples of Gundrada comprise small tribes of hunters ruled by warlords and wizards. Although similar to the Edish in some respects, the barbarian clans respect no totems and speak a myriad of languages and dialects. They use long, heavy swords and little armor, building wooden cities that house up to three thousand inhabitants. Few unions exist between the diverse bands of barbarians, and foreign powers have learned to make use of the constant conflict. Many new kinds of seafaring vessels were developed on either side, and battles often took place in the turbulent, deep waters of the
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ocean. Shashu, the sea god of the Vayok, was said to take great joy in the many offerings fed to her in those years.
great fear and panic as the Thun priesthood struggled to maintain the calendar of religious life without the presence of the spiritual head.
By the 30th year of the Age, the Anu had become the dominant side. A small fleet of Anu ships positioned in the Marg Barok Sea had isolated Vaankur completely. The cut-off populations of Vayok warriors were hiding out in Gundrada and beginning to war on the Edish. Life on Vaankur was anxious without the normalcy of the hunts, and the missing youths and many deaths weighed heavily on the families left behind. To protect the camps and the Three Homes from threatened siege, the hunts had to be curtailed or abandoned in passing years, and traditional life was hard to maintain.
Not surprisingly, the two civilizations came together again quickly after the end of aggressions. The Anu effectively forfeit all claims to Gundrada and even helped rebuild the warehouses used by Vayok raiders in years past. Many Anu scholars even claimed the war between the two cultures only strengthened their bond, and an entire district of Wagshigaad was constructed to house Anu ambassadors, sailors, and merchants. Although the increased prejudice against those of Khazil heritage still lingered among the lower classes of Anu, as many as three heroic Khazil native to Kuludo gained the rank of Sabu for services during the wars against the Edish.
All the while, however, many of the connections between the two cultures did not cease, and trading in wolves and servants still took place. Both cultures were able to divorce the honor-bound war from other aspects of interaction, though tensions were high and many voyages that began under commercial orders ended in violence. Within the Anu state, growing prejudice against Khazil servants inspired retaliatory political action. Through strikes, religious offerings, and political maneuvering, the Khazil population, which had almost no ties to its Vaankur kin, set up a semi-autonomous state within the Kuludo Islands, taking for itself the mountainous regions in the Eastern Islands with high elevations and deep caves. This state was governed by elders of new clans and lay outside the system of stipends awarded by the Sabu. All goods were produced within the islands themselves or bought through coin. The Khazil formed a wealthy trading state composed of wolf-breeders, mercenaries, miners, and craftspeople.
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When the Empress went missing from the Imperial Island in the 54th year of the Bleeding Dragon Age, the Anu abandoned the blockade in the Marg Barok Sea. All Sabu returned to the Kuludo Islands under the grave omen. The plight of the Anu people manifested in
The Red River Front
The Vayok’s war with the Anu, however, changed their raiding practices. As surviving in Gundrada became more difficult, the cut-off
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Vayok began raiding Upper Edrada as far back as the Age of the Drunken Raptor, the late 7th century of the Imperial Calendar. Villages and seafaring communities were struck hard, and Vaankur raiders collected many trophies and weapons unavailable in their homeland. Raiding became an expected and regular source of luxury goods for the Vayok people over many generations. The Edish response was minimal, as most of the communities targeted lacked strong relations with the more powerful citystates.
Vayok raiders spent more time in Upper Edrada and the Hara Sea. The villages and nomadic tribes of the Wilds and the Tall Wood felt both the sting and the burden of the stranded Vayok. Raids took on a decidedly more violent air as skirmishes grew from voluntary trophy-hunts into necessary supply-runs. The most remembered attack has become an atrocity of legend among the Edish, when six boats of Valhenjorn Vayok massacred the remote city of Melut at the edge of the Wilds. The city housed only a small number of Edish among its diverse peoples, but word spread fast that the Vayok had for the first time remained after the attack to make camp. With the increase in lost resources and lives and the threat of stable Vayok settlements in the area, the nearby Edish city-states finally responded. Leadership came from Kelkala and Kelineph, who retaliated by sending soldiers out into the countryside and equipping boats for sea battles against the roving raiders. Direct attacks began in Melut, Edish soldiers quickly pursued many Vayok trail-camps out of Edrada and onto the open sea. Great battles took place over the Hara Sea for an entire summer before the violence found its way to Gundrada. With the help of trained soldiers from Kelineph, the native tribes began organizing larger acts of resistance as well. The city of Ras was founded within a uniquely well-preserved cluster of ruins by Edish tribes who followed the Vayok over the Hara Sea. Two tribes hunting under the protection of the Cougar and another under the Raven took up urban life after the model of Kelineph. Edish tribes made up the dominant portion of the city’s political realm, while a handful of impressionable barbarian leaders brought their clans into the city as craftspeople and shepherds. In 920 IC, the city-state elected its first Arbiter, Boradeshu of the Raven, who had been trained as a soldier in Kelineph years earlier before returning to life among the plains.
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The Hara Front
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The Edish became aware of the Anu people only within the lifetime of Praetawa. Without large-scale, unified trade efforts on behalf of the Edish, there was little to bring the two civilizations together. Kelineph and Kelkala had traded spices and cotton for Anu steel as early as 830 IC, but little was known of the island-dwellers. Many argue that the shipbuilding of both cultures advanced through shared contact, though such stories are likely the stuff of local lore and fraternal boast.
Ras was built strong and wide, a unique city of mixed heritage. The barbarians of Gundrada had for many years struggled against the Vayok, but no infrastructure had arisen to organize the resistance. Ras accepted all those with scars left by Vayok axe and spear, and the city grew rapidly as both a military and cultural hub. The Vayok were then caught between expanding Anu forces on the northern coast of Gundrada and a formidable Edish colony to the south. Most of the violence surrounded Ras and Red River, a campaign centered on competition for Gundradan resources valuable to both cultures. The war between the Edish and the Vayok was soon a conflict contained far from Edrada. Aggression ended slowly as a kind of order took shape. When tension between the Vayok and Anu ended, the Vayok left Ras behind and regrouped around Vaankur. The raiding efforts dwindled but did not cease completely in Gundrada and Upper Edrada, though city-states of organized Edish were avoided.
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After the fall of Therikod in 923 IC, while most of Upper Edrada fought the roaming armies of Neferatha, the cities of Kelineph and Kelkala offered supplies but few soldiers. The two cities had traded with the Alagoths and the Neferatha for centuries, and were spared direct attacks from either people. They had little motivation to join in the bloody conflict. The spreading violence, however, eventually affected all peoples and markets of Upper Edrada. With trade uncertain throughout the plains and a freeze affecting all business with the Neferatha and Alagoths, Kelkala was forced to look elsewhere for resources, its wealthy families having grown reliant on trade and foreign markets. The pirates of Kelkala were equally desperate for new markets, and a large fleet led by a veteran captain took to roaming north and east into the Hara Sea. Moving down the coast of Gundrada, Captain Neron, who bore two totems in honor of his heritage among the plains, encountered the Eastern Islands of the Anu people in 930 IC, the 34th year of the Bleeding Dragon Age. Although the Orashi cultures of western Gundrada were far different from both the Edish and Anu cultures, the
Within a year, the House Lords of the Anu identified Neron and his pirates as Edish from Kelkala. They reasoned that the Edish were an expanding people: Ras had already proven troublesome, and now more of the savage Edradans had pushed toward the sacred islands. The Anu had cornered the Vayok easily enough in the previous years by keeping a small fleet of ships between Gundrada and Vaankur, and the Edish peoples proved the perfect new target for the war effort. By this time, many more pirates had moved into Gundrada and the Eastern Islands, using Ras as a port.
and set sail on the first day of spring in the 49th year of the Age of the Bleeding Dragon. Bypassing Ras entirely, the thirty-two ships sailed toward Upper Edrada, and a force of over one thousand sabu alighted near Wilderwood in 945 IC.
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seafaring peoples turned to the Sabu for help when pirates began vying for power in the trade waters. An Anu fleet led by Sabu Lixin Po of House of Macaw clashed with Neron in the Eastern Islands in late summer, just before the monsoon rains began. Lixin was en route to Ras with an armada when the Orashi elders petitioned his vessels for aid. Protecting the Po family honor, Lixin sent two ships to engage the fleet of pirates. House Macaw suffered the loss of over 100 swords in the following three days.
The sabu authored a dark carnage upon the Edish peoples. Entire cities were slaughtered, and the marching army suffered no hardships covering the flat, navigable plains of Upper Edrada. For years the sabu made sport of the Edish. Though the allied city-states felt little of the sting, a great hatred grew up between the two civilizations. In 950 IC, suddenly and without warning, the sword-masters of the Anu disappeared. When the final Anu ship left Upper Edrada, the plains north of Tall Wood were dotted with burned villages and bloodstained Thun shrines. Many Khazil soldiers were discharged from House armies due to domestic politics and forced to stay in Upper Edrada.
A popular son of Lord Ushin Tagotl, Hazohano, became commander of the Macaw fleet just after his marriage in the early months of 35th year of the Age. Hazohano’s flagship, the Winter Blossom, was heavily armed for open sea combat and became the scourge of the Edish pirates. After many years of conflict in the Hara Sea, Hazohano sent word to his father on Kuludo Island that routing the pirates, however effective, only dealt with the symptom of the sickness. The Edish were almost indistinguishable from the Gundradan barbarians to the civilized eye of the Anu, but Hazohano had learned that the pirates were from a more organized people and that their strength in ships came from far away in Upper Edrada. An unparalleled armada designed by the best engineers of House Peregrine was commissioned for construction by the first unanimous council ever held on the Imperial Island. It took seven years to build. Sabu from all the Seven Houses boarded thirty-two ships
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Present Day (957 IC) Atlas
The loss of the Empress halted the aggression of the Anu against the Vayok and Edish, and the treaties forced on the gluttonous Neferatha quieted the violence of Ragus and Edrada. A hush fell over the region of the Hara Sea, though tensions had not abated. The two empires stood next to each other tired but not exhausted, and armies were not altogether disband. The wars did, however, put into place infrastructures for travel and learning. Maps were shared and soldiers relocated. Contacts were made. Large numbers of Khazils from both Vaankur and the Kuludo Islands stayed in Upper Edrada. Embassies were established, and trade became common.
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Anu Gardens exist to cultivate and protect the blossoming Flower. Also called ineo, Flower is a striking feature on the economic landscape of the Hara Sea. Sabu lords can rise and fall, taking entire Houses with them, over the success of a single Garden fort tucked away secretly in the vast rainforest of Kapix’tul Island. The ochre powder produced by the blossoms is used as an opiate across the known world, and major players in Ugurlu, Charzen, and Lokod all watch carefully the Anu Houses and who controls the Flower.
The Edish After Praetawa The Edish are a people divided. Most still roam over the plains of Edrada in tribes led by the heroic Hattan. A growing number, however, live in city-states each led by an Arbiter and a landholding senate. Between the two ways of life there is now little overlap and much animosity, though the Edish people still share a history that has proven capable of bringing rivals together when needed.
Nomadic Tribes
Edish city-states trade among themselves, with Edish coin, textiles, and material goods reaching across Edrada, Ragus, and Gundrada. Though the wealthy rely on this trade to increase their stores, each city-state is relatively self-sufficient. Slaves, indentured serfs, and farmers, for example, rarely utilize foreign goods. Manor estates rich with farmland, orchards, mines, and flocks reach out into the countryside around city-states protected by private and public armies.
Though much technology and knowledge has been lost in the region, slash-and-burn horticulture is practiced where possible as well as domestication of nomadic sheep and small cattle. The Edish tribes exhibit much inter-tribe diversity, though intra-tribe heritage is starkly homogeneous. Outsiders are only tolerated as merchants, traveling artisans, or messengers. The Edradan plains are home to countless peoples from the north and east, including survivors from countless plagues since the Old Empire crumbled and refugees from other areas being taken over by the Alagoths.
The Edish are aware of the five regions around the Hara Sea, though they deal infrequently with Anu. Alagoths have been resettling Edish lands in the Summer Fields for many generations, and the powerful Neferatha prevent any migrations of Edish tribes without proper tribute. Vayok raid Edish settlements in the Wilds, though since the Wars of the Six Fronts these “raids” involve less violence and resemble more commercial trade.
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The outlying tribes are communal and distribute wealth and food along kinship lines. The Hattan acts as the leader and is held responsible for providing game and sport. Hattan are valued as generous, gregarious leaders of the hunt, and often enjoy the fewest material resources in a tribe, gaining prestige and status by giving more than they keep.
The tribes have powerful histories and mythologies, each claiming patron ancestors from among a complex pantheon. A series of totemic lineages originating with local fauna construct the unique identities of the tribes, centered on the person of the Hattan.
Cities The 9th century marked the advent of a new cultural strain in Upper Edrada, a way of life characterized by Edish tribes coming together and urbanizing in the image of the local Edradan kingdoms. These city-states operated more democratically than the local kingdoms they replaced, with a large and diverse ruling class holding much of the political power. The eclectic mix of cultures gives the Edish a wide variety of both talents and beliefs. Most fight with spear and bow and shield. They use horses extensively, though less often in war than the Alagoths. Wealthy warriors use both short and long swords forged by blacksmiths of esoteric arts. Only the most powerful warlords and Arbiters wear armor of metal, higher in quality than armor fashioned by any other people save the Khazil. Edish often shepherd a variety of domesticated animals and so make clothes and linens from combined fabrics, seeking high prices in trade abroad.
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Lokod The Jewel of the North is a thriving city led by the Arbiter Cadolus and his wife, Lady Ara. With over 600,000 inhabitants, Lokod is the largest city in Edrada and the high point of Edish culture. The city was built as the capital of the Edradan Empire thousands of years ago, though it lay empty for over a millennium and was only recently reoccupied in the 9th century of the Imperial Calendar by Edish nomads seeking shelter and agriculture. Many lords and totems come together within the high walls, while the surrounding countryside is divided into manors owned by the wealthy and worked by those less fortunate. Religious life focuses abstractly on a distant relationship to the Hawk and Cougar totems, resembling little the communal rites practiced by the minewin of the tribes. In fact, many Neferatha cults have taken over the city with gods and spirits multiplying each season, and the influence of the Crowns is impossible to ignore.
Norwikod The youngest of the Upper Edradan cities, Norwikod was settled in 862 IC by the urbanized Hattan of Lokod who fled the rise of Praetawa. Almost a century later, Norwikod looks hardly distinguishable from Lokod visually or politically. Hated rivals, the two city-states demonstrate similar dress, food, and everyday customs. Trade between them is minimal, though merchants are known to find ways around local laws and high tariffs. Norwikod celebrates the Bear totem above others, the religious life of the city focusing on the Arbiter, Laetos. Totems are prayed to in homes and at small shrines spread over the city, but Norwikod lacks the temples and organized priesthood of Lokod. The city boasts the highest walls in Upper Edrada and the most formidable battlements. The military focuses on defense and relies on a number of stone structures spread out over the farmlands and manors. Although the holdings of Norwikod encompass less than 100,000 inhabitants, the walls of the city and the many forts spread about, if taken together, could protect and support more individuals than those of Lokod. Dunbri Occupied by the Neferatha for a generation, Dunbri has become a cosmopolitan city more diverse than any in Upper Edrada. While Lokod boasts a high culture influenced by Ugurlu, Dunbri houses several districts inhabited by immigrants from foreign places far and near. A large quarter of the city is given over to Phanesh immigrants and laborers. Built beyond the old walls of the city is a ghetto for Lower Edradan natives displaced by Alagoths during the siege of Charzen. A district to the north houses Neferatha artisans much-hired but illtreated. Many Khazil work as blacksmiths and miners in the city, craftspeople sought after by the wealthy of Upper Edrada.
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The city is protected mainly by the Hareshata clan of Alagoths who make camp outside the walls in a tabernacle of expensive wood and lush carpets. The Arbiter of Dunbri, Jendrew,
With a large poor population and many merchants who reside in the city only during certain months of the year, Dunbri has a small senate relative to its population and influence.
Ras Formally founded in 920 IC when the first Arbiter took office, Ras is a young town of order on the Edish frontier. The city has built into the ruins, forging a strong port city and large sphere of influence over the Gundradan coast, all the way to the Eastern Islands and the Orashi people, who live outside the Anu state but exhibit many of their customs. The current Arbiter of Ras, Lady Induesh, is still offering great lands and holdings to Edish settlers willing to brave the Hara Sea and take up a new life.
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fought many battles against the Neferatha alongside the Hareshata before the death of their patriarch, Maneran Ata Xoshek. The clan has yet to settle on a new patriarch, with Jendrew filling the role unofficially. The Edish leader even allowed his daughters to marry members of the late Maneran’s huol, buttressing his unofficial position.
Kelkala & Kelineph The twin cities that straddle the Strait of Uzik house the only blonde-haired people in all of the Hara Sea and represent a powerful alliance within Upper Edrada. The Edish of Kelkala and Kelineph exhibit a maritime culture based on fishing, shipbuilding, and textile trade. Kelineph soldiers are feared by rival city-states, and the Kelkala navy is unmatched in the Hara Sea. Many Hattan live in the two cities, holding unofficial power among those still connected to tribal totems. More citizens seek ancestors among the animal pantheon than in other citystates, and few of the Neferatha cults have emerged. This gives the region a decidedly traditional flavor, and the two cities are much less hostile to the nomadic tribes than the other metropoles. The Cities of The Lovers practice less agriculture than the other city-states and thus contain the smallest populations of slaves and poor. This rests most of the political power in the hands of a few wealthy merchants who control trade, relegating the senate and Arbiter to lesser concerns. A single Arbiter, Ekedacia, leads a single senate over both cities. She is known as a ruthless general and keen diplomat abroad, though her influence at home is mitigated by the alliance of the six merchants. It is widely known that since the Six-Fronts Wars, most of the pirates residing on the island of Kelkala have been assimilated into the navy in one way or another: Controlled by the merchant oligarchy, the navy of Kelkala is a formidable foe in the competition of world markets.
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The city is also attracting the interest of other speculators, including the rival families of Edrada. Luxurious estates are being built far from the harbor, and the enslavement of locals is common practice. The Vayok still raid from time to time, though merchants in Ras are apt at telling apart the small groups of raiding longships from larger trade vessels sent from Three Waters on strictly commercial business. The presence of well-preserved ruins has also drawn many Crowns to settle the area, and temples to various gods of the Neferatha pantheon are beginning to pop up in the city and its protected environs.
Lands
Across the sea from Ragus and Edrada lies Gundrada (West Plains). This region marks the northwestern limits of known civilization. Mostly in ruins now, Edish have sparsely settled there in recent times. The plains resemble Edrada, though they are warmer and more arid. A high wall of mountains keeps exploration limited; most inhabitants hug the low coast in large fishing or trade cities. Gundrada is both a bustling frontier and a region of criminals, exiles, and secessionists. Tribes in these parts remain relatively unconcerned with the wars and political maneuverings of their Edradan counterparts. Warships remain forgotten knowledge, and so the wide Hara Sea keeps most conflicts confined to the continent that spawns them. Kelkala, a much-navigated and heavily trafficked area, is a large island separated from the Edradan mainland by the Strait of Uzik. Fish, including cod, salmon and halibut fill the waterways feeding into the channel and are staple foods for area Edish. The island houses ruined castles and battlements throughout, the southern coastline dotted with watch towers and wall fragments, suggesting that at one time almost one-third of the entire coast was circled by stone walls. Superstition surrounds Kelkala, and only one city of Edish inhabit its shores.
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North of the plains and lowlands lie the Wilds. The Wilds are harsh lands of cold and crags, the western edge a high plateau with mountainous peaks that overlook the basin sweeping eastward. Storms circle through the area regularly, with tornadoes and lightning storms frequent in warmer months and blizzards reshaping the landscape with ice and snow during winter. Ogres have been seen in the highest elevations, though numbers are becoming frequent just south of the plateau as well, encroaching on the foothills that broach the plains. The Wilds harbor many Fell creatures and represent the very edge of human settlements. The whole region reeks of magick gone wrong. All maps blur at the Wilds, and incursions led by even the most intrepid scouts have never been seen again. Frequent, unpredictable storms from the Wilds can cover the Lowlands suddenly, spooking local animals and sending many into frenzy. Domesticated animals brought to the region are often injured or killed during these storms, and they generally handle the area much less successfully than indigenous species. This keeps modern Edish from settling the area in great numbers, and most of those living in the region are exiles, explorers, or hermits. The furs and foodstuffs of the forests can be sold for healthy sums in the warmer plains and western highlands, but even merchant companies are wary to set up permanent hubs within reach of storms leaking from the Wilds.
Origins The Edish are commonly thought to be descendants of and take their name from a long-dead empire that ruled much of the known world. Edish have tawny or copper skin and dark, straight hair. Their eyes are dark and colorful, with hues less intense than neighboring peoples. Edish represent a mix of disparate tribes and heritages, so they exhibit less similarities than communities of other regions. Only the old families of Kelkala and Kelineph exhibit the blonde hair now famous around the Hara Sea for its exoticism.
The Neferatha Still a Force
The Neferatha state encompasses most of the Nibu people of Ragus, who have skin often black like ebony, but sometimes bronze or polished brown. Eyes are colorful but dark, including rich yellows, ambers, blues and greens. The original four castes were all of Nibu heritage, though the many vassal states and conquered cities include all peoples of the world. Desert-dwelling Neferatha practice whole-body depilation, removing all their hair save the eyelashes.
Vendhi Delta Ugurlu, the Golden City, the Capital of the World, the oldest city in existence, stretches back into history further than even those cities known only in myth. Sprawled out over miles of fertile soil at the mouth of a dark river, Ugurlu has been populated for millennia, building layer upon layer of homes, temples, palaces, and public houses. The city is part of nature, as old as the desert that encroaches on it, as old as the river that feeds it, as old as the Hara Sea upon which it rests. Below the current city lie catacombs immeasurable, vast systems of streets and structures long-buried below the bustling life on the surface. Below even the catacombs lie untold mysteries. The beginning of the Imperial Calendar marks the claiming of Ugurlu by the newly enriched Neferatha Body. The First Empress Hashtani and her two daughters, Mishtani and Nanthuni, fought alongside Crone to conquer the powerful city and found an empire. As they took control of Ugurlu, the Neferatha began their rise. Since the Six-Fronts Wars, the city has grown no less proud or spirited.
Ugurlu The City The city itself is surrounded by high, thick walls and advanced battlements. Architecture of domed roofs, spires, and obelisks shimmers under the hot sun, over the dark, hairless heads of the castes. Many bridges span the Vendhi River. Some are large enough for an army to cross upon; others, made of worn stones arranged in narrow arches, are taken only by messengers and peddlers. The roads are twisted and winding, some three floors deep. Staircases bring the uneven ground together, growing like barnacles over the buildings.
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Ragus, the large continent south of Edrada, includes a sweeping desert, the five Great Trees, a fertile coast reaching out from the delta of the Vendhi River, the Parushaya Mountains, and a sprawling jungle. The continent is the largest of the known world, yet much of it remains wilderness unseen by human eyes.
Temples dedicated to the gods are ornate, covered in reliefs of many sizes. Hundreds of cults exist, where the lives of the gods are taught and celebrated in ancient rites. Statues and large public sculptures fill the city, and many plazas bear the names of the works of art that reside in them. The only bare buildings are the slope-walled temples of the Imperial Cult. Shaped like large trapezoids, the temples narrow slightly as they rise, giving the impression of even greater height. Unadorned and austere on the outside, Imperial Temples house many chapels given over to the empresses who have ruled since the days of Crone. The largest altar is generally given to Szedarc, while a shrine dedicated to the current empress takes a prominent position near the temple’s center. Ahimsa and Hashtani are also revered in most cities. There are a handful of temples given over to a single empress, usually in her hometown or funded by her descendants.
The Nameless Desert A vast desert stretches from the coast of the Hara Sea all the way to the Parushaya Mountains, the very heart of Ragus. The desert is both rock and sand, showing dune after dune in the southern and eastern regions, with rocky flats and steppes reaching west toward the forested foothills. The Great Trees sprung up less than three thousand years ago but have
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been hacked and cut into terraces, allowing for stonework to be suspended off the trunk like oyster mushrooms. The cold, north-facing side of the tree houses two ghettos and the Tanners Field. A large sliver of the city never sees the sun, the grand bulk and canopy of Tian Das blocking all exposure. The walls of the city extend only around part of the circumference of Tian Das, and a large palace dedicated to the Vasuvedhi family tucked in the heart of the Tree’s base boasts higher spires and thicker stone. Many new people arrive in Tiantip each generation, the city a bubbling cauldron of new ideas and art. Emkadhi and Esvesthi are less populated cities, though the trees at their hearts are almost as large as Tian Das. Esvesthi is known for its position as a trade route at the edge of the Parushaya Mountains, a meeting place for caravans of the Desert and goods from Oldfire.
already strangled the life from all but the very edges of the desert. It is not known whether the Trees or the Cursed Wind came first, but it is said that both are the result of dark magicks brought into being when the Loom was first discovered by ancient humans. Threads crisscross the region, amplifying the heat of day and cold of night. Three Tree Cities Three of the five Great Trees lie inside the Nameless Desert: Tiantip, Emkadhi, and Esvesthi. Tree cities have a culture somewhat their own. Mosses are eaten quite regularly and become a staple, much like bread or maize for other climates. Grapes grow on vines that creep around the roots and trunk of the Trees, producing a strange wine, tart but potent.
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Tiantip is large and dark, the city an unruly blend of Nibu, Alagoth, and native peoples. Semi-complete structures found leagues away were dragged by slaves on rollers to build a pastiche of stonework at the foot of the tree, which is anthropomorphized as Tian Das by locals. At a few places, the face of the tree has
Karesh The fourth-largest city in Ragus, Karesh has always been an important military waypoint. The Second Expeditionary Army uses Karesh as a base as well as several smaller contingents used for keeping the peace along the coast. Although the region is much less fertile than Ugurlu, Karesh lacks the political and commercial distractions that characterize the capital. Industries include all those focused on training, equipping, and entertaining Neferatha soldiers. All armies are trained in Karesh, and most generals retire there. It is a military city to the very core, the last six governors being former officers in the First Cardinal Army. Since the Six-Fronts Wars, the Expeditionary forces have been pushing further west and south, and Karesh has slowed little in manufacturing soldiers for the Empress.
Lake District At the southern edge of the nameless desert The Bronze Lake feeds a thriving ecosystem. The Lake is an oasis of unexplained origins, the harsh winds of the desert falling short
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of the broad, leafy trees. All kinds of animals inhabit the dense treecovered shoreline, encircling a crystal blue pool of unknown depth. A lush savannah of grasses and tall trees stretches beneath the Lake far down the foot of the Mountains, providing for a diverse range of flora and fauna. Hastinpiro Long a destination of leisure and luxury for the wealthy Rights of Ugurlu and Anishad, Hastinpiro was in older times the capital of a prosperous kingdom. In 327 IC, the 12th Empress, Radhepan of the Tathagan family, laid siege to the capital, tearing down its walls and razing the fortresses there. Surrounded in all directions by natural boundaries, the remote city required few defenses during the rise of the Neferatha. When armed skirmishes with the many clans of relocated Alagoths began, Hastinpiro suffered for its years of serenity: For almost a generation, the roving patriarchs took turns raiding its granaries and dismantling its summer homes. In recent years, Hastinpiro has become once more a city of spas and wine.
Oldfire
A region of charred earth and little growth, Oldfire marks the edge of Neferatha expansion. Local cultures are resilient and hardy, and the cities of Phanesh and Emluk have dominated the region for untold centuries. Those trees that do survive in Oldfire form large forests of thin trunks and high leaves. Underbrush burned away in a legendary wildfire a thousand years ago never returned, and the forests’ canopies rise high above the hard, cracked ground. Visibility in a forest such as this is clear for miles but for the spindly, twisting trunks of dark wood.
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Oldfire is alive with the old magicks, and many mages are wary of what could lie undiscovered in the ruins buried by sand and scrub. The Crowns have less influence in Oldfire than they would like, and exploration is limited by the presence of the Neferatha’s oldest enemy.
the large trading halls and luxurious public houses. Newer buildings illustrate the standard architecture of the Alagoths, featuring open chambers hung with heavy carpets. Older districts display eclectic constructions of stylized woodwork.
Phanesh The central rival of Ugurlu and at one point surrounded by the reach of the Empire, Phanesh rebuffed seven siege attempts and never fell. Fed by a large well and many tunnels, even attempts to starve the city failed. The people of Phanesh are not of Nibu stock but share many qualities with peoples of the region. They are dark-skinned and regal in appearance, but shorter and honor no castes. Phaneshi soldiers are feared across Oldfire and have been known to aid those seeking to harm the Neferatha Empire. They wear black armor scored and painted to diminish the shimmer of the well-made metal plates.
Material Culture
The current King of Phanesh, Xar Edrek the Broad, has recently re-divided the lands that support the thriving city, solidifying his base and rewarding local lords. The walls of Phanesh are said to be protected by seven Fey spirits whose Hearths have been built into the battlements. Emluk A city of wealth and historical significance, Emluk surrounds the venerated tree called Emshell by native people. Alagoth rulers refer to the tree as The Royal Oak, though no evidence that Emshell is related to the oaks of Lower Edrada exists. Behind the walls of Emluk, the Alagoths have recently begun building projects resembling those of King City. Four clans vie for dominance among
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The Empire trades with everyone it has not conquered. Sailing large, multi-mast ships across the seas, Neferatha seek foreign ports in Edrada, Gundrada, and the Kuludo Islands, called the Lands of the Wet Sun. The Neferatha recognize the Khazil of the Eastern Islands, calling them Dvar’havs after the shape of their axes; trade focuses mainly on metals and premade armors. Daily Life Neferatha share clothing styles among the castes. Crowns and Right Hands wear white silks and cottons draped over the shoulder or wrapped at the waist. Gold jewelry embedded with precious gems is common. Headdresses marking rank and lineage are also common. Right Hands also always carry a sword on their person; the wealthy sport curved, ornate blades, while the majority don “swords” the size of knives along with their spears and javelins. Archers of the Right are especially rare, but their weapons are skillfully made as well. Neferatha levy taxes on villages and entire areas, not individuals or families, and so the Foot and lower castes are brought together in toil and tribulation. They raise sheep in more remote locales, the fertile valley hosting a range of domesticated cattle good for eating and burden.
Present Day Quarry City, Fah’t Ghabbi Atlas
While she appreciated the strain inherent in such labor, Ghabbi, as Fah’t, could not excuse the lack of focus apparent in the work of her fellow Lefts. “These errors are unacceptable, Heomar. Their frequency has become an issue.” “Ghabbi,” laughed the young man, rubbing his tired eyes, “Surely a measurement of tons does not require the accuracy of ounces.” Heomar was a slender man, his stature belying the success of the Right whose enterprises and wealth he played a role in managing. Ghabbi’s body was more indicative of that success. The cotton straps of her traditional sarong pressed into her olive skin, always free of any body hair, and the softness of her cheeks gave her expression an artificial air of pleasantness. Heomar knew better, however: the Fah’t was cold and thorough in a way considered excessive even among their peers. He was the only Left who addressed her without her honorary, and even he would never do so were they not alone. The other Lefts had long since been dismissed for the night, and the two of them labored on with only a single guard present. The methodical ticking of her stylus on the ledger reminded him of the small music box gifted to Ghabbi by Mandhava, the Right who now governed much of this region. The box would chime a short tune by way of some artful Khazil mechanism, which was brought to life by turning a small key protruding from the object’s side. The nature of it was foreign to Heomar, as was the soft, lilting song it produced. He was puzzled every time he heard the music, finding it grossly at odds with the harsh, cold metal used in the construction of the box, but enjoying it nonetheless. He rose from his chair and approached the shelf where Ghabbi had left the music box. In their years of travel together it was one of few personal possessions that she carried with her from house to house, city to city, continent to continent. Always they were moving, always counting and partitioning, dividing the spoils left in the wake of Mandhava’s forces and attempting to manage the chaos inevitably left behind. This one item, much like the presence of Ghabbi herself, had been a reassuring constant in his life throughout this tumultuous period. He had thought the Two Treaties would have slowed the machine of war, but the generals only pointed their soldiers further south and west, looking for new cities and pushing old boundaries. Currently, they were in a city somewhere south and east of the Guna Sea, the white shoreline of which he last saw six months ago. The traveling was more enjoyable when they were based in the Kuludo Islands of the Anu, handling trade ledgers. Ghabbi’s talents had brought them to the attention of Dhrughavi, a Crown who frequented that region and showed an unusual interest in the Flower trade there. The two Lefts had enjoyed the Crown’s patronage, and she had even instructed Ghabbi in some magickal arts. He had fond memories of their offices in the port city Kelhi, and of the occasional trips as part of Dhrughavi’s retinue to Wo, Kuludo, and the extravagant Xio. Though the work was often as tedious and time consuming as their current employ, the comforts afforded by Dhrughavi’s grace and the Anu culture made the hardship easier to bear. But now, across the world from that Anu hospitality, Heomar could not name this current city nor locate it on a map, having arrived just two nights ago and worked steadily at the ledger ever since. He and Fah’t Ghabbi were transferred from the Kuludo Islands after the Wars to the Guna Desert and the foothills of the South Iron Mountains, owing to Ghabbi’s abilities and, no doubt, some intrigue between Dhrughavi and Mandhava. They were brought to this current, nameless city on the heels of the Third Expeditionary, and their convoy passed through the very field on which the city was won. During this
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passage, the sounds of the dying were all around them, and Heomar was disconcerted and upset in the palanquin in which he travelled with Ghabbi and the ledgers. He caught occasional glimpses of the carnage through the covered palanquin’s flap, which was held aloft by one of Third General Lesha’s lieutenants while Heomar and Ghabbi documented the officer’s reports of the battle’s toll even as they passed across the field on which it took place. They were carried straight to this manse, former home of a high-ranking municipal officer by its looks, and had been working ever since. Heomar readily admitted that he was beginning to make mistakes, but they did seem quite trivial in light of the volume of materials they were processing and their pending departure in a day’s time to the next site, to the next new addition to the Empire. One can simply not be expected to keep up with such a demanding schedule without Ghabbi’s magickal training to sustain and aid the work. Her powers so impressed that he sometimes suspected that she could manage the whole operation without a single physical ledger. Heomar turned the key in the music box. He was comforted by the familiar tune, which always called to mind the presence of Ghabbi’s soft bulk. He faintly detected her smell, and closing his tired eyes imagined that one night in Xio, when Ghabbi’s mechanical nature disappeared for once, and she revealed her true self to him. Memories of that night often maintained him now, and the song always revived them. He glanced over his shoulder at her while the machine chimed, but she was focused on the ledger to the exclusion of all else. A second stylus had begun dancing independently across the ledger, apparently under the influence of Ghabbi’s arts. He longed to touch the smooth, olive skin of her scalp, to smell her body. The song ended. “Perhaps you should retire.” At the sound of Ghabbi’s voice, Heomar snapped awake, realizing that he had drifted off on his feet, the now silent music box still in his hands. “You seem to have reached your limit, and I can carry on for a time alone.” “Of course you’re right, Ghabbi, you know that I cannot maintain this pace. I’ll only require a few hours before I’m back at my best. I’ll sleep in the palanquin.” With this, Heomar gently set the music box on the table, next to his abandoned stylus, and turned to go. “Heomar.” He turned, and was surprised to meet her eyes. Ghabbi rarely looked away from the ledgers when there was work to do. “Thank you.” Heomar smiled at this rare moment of connection, feeling all the better knowing that she never shared such moments with anyone else. Perhaps there was hope that they would someday revisit that space created for one night in Xio. “Of course, Ghabbi. I’ll return in a few hours.” Ghabbi had already returned to the ledger before the door was closed behind him. She worked on for a few minutes in silence. “Habdun,” she said suddenly, not pausing in her calculations. The guard standing by the door stepped forward, squaring his broad shoulders to his mistress and waiting silently.
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Habdun had been a soldier in a garrison city taken by the Third Expeditionary several years ago in the arid waste of the Guna desert. This city was the key element of defense in the region, and the defenders had held out for months before Ghabbi’s arrival from the Kuludo Islands. One of Ghabbi’s first acts on being appointed Fah’t was to orchestrate the bribe that prompted Habdun to open a side gate during the night. The city fell to Third General Lesha’s forces within hours. Despite his contributions to the advance of the Empire, Habdun was a base brute and considered unfit for elevation to any caste above Foot. As such, he appeared destined to share the fate of so many other assimilated soldiers. They were organized into under-equipped regiments that Third General Lesha was known to use as sacrificial elements, often tying up enemy forces with them and then slaughtering the lot with her mages from afar. Ghabbi saved Habdun from this fate by enlisting him as a personal guard for the ledger. Through her magick, Ghabbi had become fluent in Habdun’s language in a matter of hours. She now found it useful to keep a strong sword arm near that only she could communicate with, and she found his simple mind easy to manipulate with the arts taught to her by Dhrughavi. Habdun was a brute and a murderer, but he was hers. “The employment of that Left no longer contributes positively to the Empire. End it.” Habdun left silently, his strange, short dirk already drawn. Ghabbi would have to manage the ledger and the other Lefts by herself until a more capable replacement could be found for Heomar, but his position was too important for such errors. She imagined that perhaps the time would come when her abilities too would fail. There was great political pressure on the Third Expeditionary to maintain its string of successes since the Empire had lost so much influence in Edrada with the Two Treaties. Any failures or setbacks in the disbursement of spoils tended to be ascribed to the Fah’t, and the Rights demanded harsh punishment. Such thoughts rarely distracted Ghabbi for long, though; her focus returned quickly to the work at hand. Reaching across the table, she moved the music box off of Heomar’s ledger and amended his calculations on the tonnage of wheat required for the daily maintenance of the Third Expeditionary, adjusting the number down by a few ounces, one less mouth to feed. The other stylus, animated by her magick, continued its mechanical scratching unabated, recording the inevitable advance of the Neferatha Empire.
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The Alagoth Patriarchs and Kings
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Little is known about the Alagoths before they entered Lower Edrada. What can be gathered from their accounts encompasses the mythic past, long before their appearance near the White Forest, and many stories conflict with one another. But if the majority of the tales are to be believed, the Alagoths spent countless generations migrating in separate, isolated caravans across the Great Eastern Steppe, developing and refining their reliance on and reverence for the horse, moving their livestock from one patch of short grass to the next, and using eagles to scout safe routes away from the prides of cave lions that inhabited the fissures and savannahs there. Even the oldest stories of the Alagoth say little about the time before the migrations. Many scholars among them wonder if this was not by design, the cause of so many years of movement a self-imposed exile. There is the chance that, as a people, they simply forgot where they came from over generations of travel, stories of their homeland one by one becoming lost in the darkness of time. Whatever the case, the Alagoth have retained a multitude of stories about the patriarchs themselves, and these stories pass from one generation to the next, changing as the world around them changes.
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Oral tradition among elders states that the Alagoth emerged from the Steppe six hundred years ago and began settling near the White Forest in the plains and rolling hills of Lower Edrada. Stories hold that their horse caravans were halted at the edge of the White Forest, the speed and power of their venerated animals availing them little among such thorny thickets and dense trunks. Slowly they moved along the forest’s southern edge, displacing and assimilating those they encountered. Eventually they crossed into the fertile valleys of the coast and spent over a hundred years clearing the region of Edish villages, setting themselves up as powerful gatekeepers to the East. As more and more caravans arrived out of the Steppe, lands were shared in the fertile hills and a new way of life alongside the Forest and amidst the Old Empire ruins emerged.
Alagoths are the largest people of the Hara Sea, though the Edish are on average taller. Their skin is a range of browns, with black and rust- colored hair often bleached or dyed with natural plants. They wear large folded cloaks knitted in the heirloom patterns of their clans. These intricate geometric patterns are, like a great number of Alagoth textiles in general, dyed bright yellows, deep blues, and wild reds. Distinguishing one clan from the next, such tartans can usually been seen peeking out from under a family members’ cloak and other vestments. Their dress is always ready for horse riding, so cloaks can be tucked or folded away from the legs at a moment’s notice, and although hoods are uncommon when riding, they have become normal dress in the many cities and temples. Camps and cities alike are also known for their ornaments and finely made silver jewelry. Wealthy Alagoths decorate themselves with rings, earrings, torcs, necklaces, charms, and pendants. Even cloaks and cloth for everyday garments are inlaid with silver and embroidered with gems. Smooth stones, agate, amethyst, and amber are worked into even the heavy weaves of battle clothes.
Mobile Camps of the Patriarchs All Alagoths descend from the same horse culture birthed in the far east, and the majority of their population is scattered among autonomous clans, each having its own patriarch and tartan. Some clans comprise many individual camps ruled by wealthy and masculine sons of the huol, several caravans sharing a single tartan and name; other clans are much smaller and encompass only a single caravan, including as few as forty males. Each clan has few official ties to any other, though ranging groups of Alagoth meet up often for trade and socializing. It is said only the druids, the religious power base in Alagoth society, keep track of all the patriarchs, the camps, and their territories.
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The warrior-shepherds travel in vast hordes of livestock and horses across the steppes of the east and range over the grasslands and hills of Lower Edrada. These hordes contain a robust assemblage of Alagoth culture including druids, warriors, councilors, artisans, women, slaves, and children all managed by a single patriarch and his family. Each horde constitutes a veritable mobile city, and few of these camps remain stationary long. Inhabiting the fields and foothills between an impassable forest on the one side and a dangerous coast on the other, Alagoth settlements act as the central waypoints for travelers in that part of the world. In recent years, a new wave of migrating clans has begun to build, with many new patriarchs entering the lands around King City and causing much confusion. Roads are now being built in Lower Edrada for the first time in many centuries, carrying chariots, war-wagons, and other refugees into fields near Phessanika and the Forest. There is much speculation among the incumbent Alagoth about the causes for this new migration. Old ways are mixing with new and tensions are rising. Popular Edish ruminations say the new Alagoth are still fleeing the collapsing side of the world, a catastrophe the Edish claim the Alagoth themselves caused.
Urban Ecologies The Free Cities of Lower Edrada are large, fortified urban centers that pay no tribute to the Neferatha Empire. Thick walls protect many layers of kings, princes, bureaucrats and native noble families. Patriarchs in these cities are wealthy merchant-lords and businessmen. Outside the walls, their sons and nephews run trade-caravans and work as mounted patrollers. Kings rule over the internal affairs of the city and levy taxes on all clans that use the trading halls, stables, and public buildings and on all those that travel private roads.
Prowess in war is still important among the urban Alagoth, and those men who compete for wives and horses are still warlike and proud. Horse raids are the most common source of violence, and hunts are made for leisure over necessity. Coin is obviously important, but nowhere is any piece of metal worth more than a prized stallion. Young men are feeling the strain of the new environment on their access to symbols of power, however: Horses and families require land and resources, both of which are harder to acquire in a stationary settlement. As in the autonomous camps, one’s lineage, personal prestige, and wealth in horses are the root of power and influence. Charzen An old city of Lower Edrada, Charzen was taken by the Alagoths in 834 IC by Nerakbar Ata Mushab of the Iassata. Nerakbar built a powerful, wealthy city, becoming the first of the Alagoth kings of Edrada. Before Praetawa
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took control of Lokod in 862 IC with the help of a Neferatha legion, Charzen was the richest city in Edrada. The city has always been a dark horse historically, attracting little attention since the Iassata settled but amassing influence and wealth. Phessanika & King City People settled in the valley near Phessanika when the Kevmor Road still onnected one side of the White Forest to the other. Over many years of turmoil and migrations, all but the Gate was forgotten. It was long after the Alagoth had raided the city that any patriarch took an interest in what lore may have been lost in the violence. Since the discovery of the Duadha, Phessanika has grown in size and importance, becoming the central base of all the druids outside the White Forest. Phessanika is the only city to have permanent druid residents unattached to a patriarch or his family, and the flats near the city house several henges of sod and stone. From Phessanika, the six clans traveled into the Steppe to build King City. Construction was complete in 914 IC and a substantial gift was given to the city at the signing of the South Treaty some years later. The city attracts migrant horsemen from the Steppe each summer, swelling enough to double its size in warmer months, but shrinking again when the cold winds start. The current king of the city descends from the feared riders of the Zaneshata and bathes in riches sent by distant patriarchs who hope to one day gain the honor of being buried in a tomb on the East-facing slope, called the King’s Mark.
A Rich Culture
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Preferring to fight and raid on horseback, Alagoths use bows, spears, and circular shields in combat. Slightly curved swords are becoming increasingly popular as Alagoths who once fought for Neferatha armies return to Lower Edrada. When traveling, Alagoths reside in elaborate tabernacles constructed of dark black wood from the White Forest and heavy carpets
hung as walls. Tents take on very different shapes depending on the use, and expert designers are always ready to add or enlarge rooms with minimal inconvenience to the residents. These carpets, sometimes two inches thick, are often covered in scenes of conquest and consumption. They can take upwards of twelve months to weave, requiring dozens of slaves and many artisans. Alagoth carpets offer the greatest detail, most vibrant colors, most intricate patterns, and the best craftsmanship seen in any textile in and around the Hara Sea. When taking up residence in Empire ruins, tapestries are hung from the walls to replicate the aesthetic of the tent. Carpets are soft and lavish, and floors are covered with many rugs at overlapping angles. Alagoth rugs are sought after the world over and provide a symbol of luxury for the wealthy of the Kuludo Islands, the Vendhi Delta, and Upper Edrada. In the presence of the mighty Forest, the Alagoths absorbed a nature religion and honor esoteric rites emphasizing the druids’ teachings on astrology and cycles of growth. The White Forest offered a kind of safety unimagined by early generations, who spent the majority of their lives in the flat, unsheltered spaces of the Steppe. The ever-present fear of lions faded as the Forest gave cover and building supplies to the camps. The eagles of the steppes proved equally useful at infiltrating the forest to locate prey as they had in the grasslands at spotting predators, and many Alagoth retained their skill as falconers. New foods entered the Alagoth diet as new game and vegetation became available, and the roots, herbs, and spices of the White Forest, first considered delicacies soon became commonplace in Alagoth cooking. Within a short time, the Alagoth became skilled forest dwellers, though few actually wandered far into the dangerous wood. Sex and Gender Alagoths recognize three genders: male, female, and gharun, the eunuch or barren gender. Gharun are treated equally whatever sexual characteristics they exhibit. Male heads-ofhousehold have authority over their wives and their offspring, though their patriarch exerts absolute authority over the entire camp.
Gharun are respected as useful viziers and councilors. They are trusted above all others in a patriarch’s home, often above even the huol. Without property or a family of their own, gharun have no political power and thus nothing to gain from betrayal. Gharun are known for being ascetic and cool tempered, and for wearing plain robes of brown or blue that do not reflect the family patterns. While druids act as political and spiritual advisors, a patriarch’s gharun fill the roles of confidantes, assistants, and personal retainers.
Eagles take a smaller role in Alagoth symbolism, but were as vital to life in the Eastern Steppe as they were in the forests of Lower Edrada. Because they combine images of eagle and lion, the griffin pique the Alagoth imagination, becoming symbols of immense power. Many tales relay the adventures of young heroes against such winged beasts.
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Males are permitted to have more than one wife, with two or three being common. Concubines are allowed in a small harem, if the man’s wives permit it. Concubines take over the household chores of the wives and are permitted no offspring themselves. Wives who give their lives to art or song often allow husbands to accept concubines to manage the caravans and servants, but this does not mean tensions are abated. As in any inclusive living arrangement, the deep bonds of familial relationships are aggravated and tested by shared intimacy.
After these three animals defined Alagoth society for untold generations, the tree took root in their mythology as well. A symbol of homecoming, fertility, strength, and protection, the tree came to represent the epitome of stationary, homebound life. Although most Alagoths still routinely move through the lands they settle, these paths are now generally circular and seasonal, following grass as flocks increase in size and need new pasture. The hills of Lower Edrada are felt to be home, and it is through the symbol of the tree that Alagoths share this new sense of belonging and safety.
Iconography Central to the iconography of the Alagoth are the symbols of the horse and the lion. Alagoth depended upon the horse to move their livestock, families, and supplies across the arid steppes, and came to rely on the horse to escape the tooth and claw of the cave lions that roved the plains. The wide-open steppes offered little in the way of shelter or protection from the large cats that hunted human and animal alike, and the Alagoth were always at risk of an attack. These two natural forces collide in the iconography: For the Alagoth, the horse represents the power that comes from wisdom and discipline, and the lion the power birthed in aggression and instinct. As a result, much of Alagoth material culture, including architecture, textiles, and art features horses and lions in various forms, often with human heads replacing their own.
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The Anu Without an Empress
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Anu exhibit an elaborate and aesthetic Court life dominated by grace, wit, and style. Elite Sabu compete in areas of taste, and fads are common each season as a new beautiful daughter is introduced to the Court or an especially flashy marriage is remembered. Highland Anu wear layers of silks and cottons, fur being an element of status in gloves, hats and leggings. Anu often decorate with feathers and fine, metallic strands of woven chain. In the lowlands and forests, less clothing is required, but ornamental feathers and jewelry still dominate outfits. The wealthy wear mostly short skirts, and styles resemble those of the Court. Serfs working in maize fields or in the vine cultivation of Kapix’tul decorate attire with feathers as well, though furs and jewelry are less common. Anu bathe regularly and have a vast amount of soaps, perfumes and brushes. Mirrors are popular in highland estates. Anu live on a continent of many islands, some more remote than others, covering a range of environments and climates. The three most distinguishable ways of life are split evenly among the total population. One third of Anu live in forested regions on Kapix’tul and the Eastern Islands, one third live in the highlands of Kuludo and the Eastern Islands, and one third live in the lowlands of Kapix’tul. Despite these different ecologies, the Anu are at the same time a strikingly homogeneous culture, and many elements of everyday life are shared across the various topographies. In fact, much of the struggle of Anu social etiquette is aimed at following and establishing a status quo that permeates the entire empire. Of course, poor Anu without ties to the populated urban areas tend to live life without any concern for what goes on at Court. Behind the aesthetic connection, a strong, centralized government and a common religious life bind the various localities together.
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Most Anu wealthy enough to own land live as extended families in estate homes in or near a commercial city. In the forests, these homes consist of multi-tiered buildings on stilts wrapped around the trunks of tall, straight
trees. Elaborate fortresses and travel-ways connect the visible estates across miles of rainforest, as canopy palaces often open high above the foliage. Some remote settlements, however, are hidden from mapmakers and enjoy no such lavish modes of travel. Highland Anu build estates of many connected structures and courtyards elevated only a few feet from the ground. Lowland Anu inhabit vast wetlands fertile enough for many crops and agriculture, building stilted cities of stone and wood. In all cases, interior walls are often constructed of many folded screens, thin wooden blinds painted on either side with ink and dye. Anu armor is usually laminated wood, and helmets are almost always carved into animal shapes. House colors are painted onto the wood before layer after layer of stiffening polish is added. Helmets curve outward down the neck and shoulders to deflect blades, and shoulder armor is overlapped and bulky. Due to the speed and quality of most Anu swords, armor is rarely worn all over the body. The armor of the head and torso serves to protect from the largest blades, which can only be swung in an overhead manner down on opponents. The terrain being severely adverse to open combat, maintaining agility is essential to survival. And heavy armor would weigh down a fallen swordsman in the rushing waters of monsoon season.
Missing Empress
On the last day of spring in the 54th year of the Age of the Bleeding Dragon, Empress Chan Tzi, Heiress of Hataro, Heavenly Daughter of Gazu, disappeared from her chambers on the Imperial Island. It was discovered immediately, but no trace could be found. The Order of the Red Petals, the priests who personally attended the Empress at the behest of the Sabu Lords, had failed in their sole charge. All priests above the rank of Novitiate have been arrested and are imprisoned in seven jails across Kuludo Island. The lowest-ranking
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The Seven Houses contest with one another now more than ever, and the rising stakes of the political game have claimed many surprising victims in the last seven years. Lords thought above reproach have lost their influence, generals considered untouchable have died in their own quarters, and even the estate of a wealthy Khe firm was seized by House Heron under charges of plotting an insurrection.
Anu Economy
members of the Order scattered, though many retain their wine-colored robes and continue performing rites to protect the Empress, wherever she may be. The Sabu keep a watchful eye on any suspicious activity while they interrogate the leaders of the Order with the many means at their disposal. Without the center of the Empire in place, the stewards fight like unchained dogs. Lords grab for power, hoping to marshal enough resources to weather the coming storm. Bloody skirmishes between House militias are more common now than before the Wars abroad, and the Sabu press a firmer hand over those of the lower classes. Anu society demands that such enemies maintain close social connections, the tension among the noble families palpable at all functions of state.
The economy is centralized, with the Seven Houses controlling all trade, both inter- and intra-realm. Anu are relatively isolationist and more so since the Wars; little concern is spent on affairs not directly relating to the islands. Local areas grow maize and rice and send the vast majority of the crop to families and Houses who legally own the land the peasants live on. The lords then distribute maize throughout their realms in koku, one koku enough to feed one immediate family for one year. Each officer, servant, and peasant earns a set amount. Rice is sold on open markets, which are influenced but not entirely controlled by the House lords. Anu coins are valued highly in urban areas, though most villages have little use for coin. Other goods are distributed from the center of the aristocracy, and from year to year certain goods become regulated more or less heavily at the whim of the powerful families. Contact with the Vayok provides servants, animal products such as oil and furs, and wolves, which are used as guard dogs and war beasts in the cooler areas. Breeding of the tundra wolves has been less successful in the hotter climates, where the offspring never reach the size or vitality of their parents. New breeds have been established as pets and work dogs. Pure wolves, fresh from Vaankur, are outfitted in laminate armor, decorated in House colors and sometimes fit with tusks and other offensive weapons. Wolves accompanying sword-masters into battle will often carry two or three extra blades, the longest swords of Anu warriors often too large to carry on the back in a scabbard.
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The Kuludo Islands
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The Kuludo islands begin in the west with both large and small archipelagos spindled about a series of active volcanoes. The seas are rough and stormy throughout most of the year as activity below the earth’s surface frequently sends waves and quakes through the region. The largest of the islands was the last to be conquered, but now much of Anu culture revolves around the rainforests of Kapix’tul Island. The lush islands are covered in mountains, dense jungle, dark volcanic beaches and exotic wildlife. For thousands of years, tribes and villages have explored the labyrinthine straits and channels, hopping from coast to coast to discover new land. Charts have been made but dangers untold still exist in the open seas and seemingly quiet waterways. Kuludo City Although the Imperial Island hosts the Empress and the noble House Lords, the true capital of the Kuludo Islands is Kuludo City. Here the richest families have their estates, and from the offices and public buildings of Kuludo City the Sabu administer and expand their holdings.
Tall towers overlook the hills that slope away from the city walls. A citadel of stone rises from the eastern wall of the city, looking toward the Harbor Road. It has been two hundred years since House Peregrine launched an attack on the city, which at the time was governed by an unlikely alliance of Egret and Owl families. Harbor Gate was never rebuilt after the explosions that began the siege, so decidedly final was the eventual victory of the incumbents. House Egret runs the local government currently, a tight network of legal and illegal players making sure the capital stays at the center of Anu commerce and politics. Kuludo City enjoys the mildest weather in all of the Kuludo Islands, a truly superlative city of grand scale and beauty. Other Highland Cities Although foreigners often find Xio more beautiful, the Anu consider viewing Wo City from Takorei Hill a sacred spectacle. The two highland cities are similar in most respects: Neither rest on tall stilts, the marker of all lowland settlements; both are large port cities that display the wealth brought by heavy taxes and welcome bribes to local governors; and both have remained relatively neutral in the many wars among the Houses.
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Nex’ Hotl adjoins the coastal cliffs by means of a platform and scaffolding. It grows out from the rock face over the water on stilts, making the entire city resemble a wharf. The warmest of the cities on Kuludo Island, Nex’ Hotl is a leisure and medicinal destination.
The city is known for its baths, most of which are cut deep within the rock, and its exotic foods. Standing over the quiet waters of Ying Na Bay, the city is one of the cleanest while at the same time most industrial of the Anu cities.
Atlas
Eastern Islands Surrounding the Black Earth Sea are Khazil blacksmiths living in highland crags or mountain caves with elaborate ventilation systems. Mines of precious metals, arcane metals stronger than iron and more luminous than platinum, are fought over above most other resources by wealthy Anu. Warfare in the crags and mountains of the mines is almost a day-to-day activity, rival Houses controlling many professional militias that roam the frontier islands. Lowland Cities The sweltering city of Preexi Latl, the Second Capital, City of the Wet Sun, lies at the heart of Kapix’tul Island. A morning’s walk from the Central Temple, Preexi Latl is the soul of the Anu people, the center of the Thun priesthood, and the most ethnically diverse Anu city. It is considered by most accounts the second-largest city of the Hara Sea and has the fastest-growing population. Counting its visitors, pilgrims, and transient poor, the city sees more unique individuals each year than Ugurlu. Every day thousands of people pass through each of the city’s nine gates, the roads congested with bodies, livestock, muck, and market goods. The Sabu who live in or near Preexi Latl consider it a necessary evil, viewing the whole city as a marketplace of politics and loyalties. A dozen roads cut through endless maize fields to reach the city, though even the most cheaply bought messenger or spy would know another dozen paths in or out. Rosh Hotl and Kelhi are similarly congested, the lowland cities much denser than the sprawling highland estates, but the height of their stilts offers much cleaner air. House Osprey has large holdings in Kelhi, being the dominant players in much of the southern lowlands.
Religion
The Thun priesthood has two central tasks: Maintain the slumber of the Tyrants and protect the harvest of maize. More so than any other people of the Hara Sea, the inhabitants of the Kuludo Islands know and fear the power of the Dark Ones. A poor harvest of maize one year might be the groan of an Elder near waking; a storm that catches many ships out of port may be traced to an Elder said to sleep beneath a nearby island; two children die in a single village, and the priests consult their charts calculating the nearest known Barrow or fissure. Many spirits aid in the growth and harvest of maize, and every field houses more shrines than scarecrows.
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A Day in the Life
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Zu awakened in his bamboo lean-to with a start. The rain running of the roof at his back made it difficult to hear his master’s wife calling from the house. Even the clanging of the bell was muffled in the sound of sunrise monsoon. He hopped up from his mat and muttered a perfunctory prayer, offering thanks to the Maize and Rain Spirit for another life-giving morning downpour. He tied his pants up around his waist and donned the reed apron and hat that would protect his silks from the rain. A deep breath and a sprint across the mud to the porch. He sat quickly to wipe off his feet and tie on his sandals, before winding his way around the large estate home to his mistress’s private chamber. “Good morning, Zu,” offered his mistress as the scout hunched over, panting before her. He bowed his head, giving a short groan in recognition. Two Thun servants fitted a garland of fine silver leaves across her scarlet robe. “The turkeys got out last night, and Gatu is nowhere to be seen. I need at least three of them back by midday.” Zu stood, his eyes wide in protest. “I know,” Mistress Kayo offered, “There are three edhi in it for you, kintin Zu.” She was both generous and polite, but chasing stray turkeys was quite beneath his station as his master’s best fowler. “You are very kind, my lady. Thank you.” Zu turned to leave just as his master’s second son sprang from behind a painted screen depicting Ikthu Gawa swallowing ships in a storm. The boy held a toy bow fitted with an arrow that looked a portion too dangerous for a child of six. “My,” said the young mother, looking to Zu, “I think you should be worried of little Hatzi here. He seems to have been touched by Akoyo this morning.” Indeed, the boy was quite the image of a hero, his face painted in whiskers and teeth. Lady Kayo’s mention of the hero-maker was not far off, as many in her birth family were revered soldiers. Most of the servants imagined that fact the central reason Medhozu pursued Kayo so ardently, to make up for his own lack of martial valor. Zu dodged the arrow with a roll, which set Hatzi giggling, but the man did not have time to play. He whispered another prayer, this time to Akoyo Gawa for his unborn son. Maybe one day the Anxai family would sire a soldier instead of a folwer. Zu bowed once more to the Lady and turned, already at a trot, his sandals sliding on the polished wood as he rounded the house. Four covered bridges and another short sprint in the rain brought him to the bird coops. Gatu’s brood shared a lean-to with two other Thun families: They were all in charge of preparing the animals for the kitchen. Zu was a sportsman, and a H’han, and he would never be caught wringing the neck of a caged, wing-clipped bird. The fowler kicked at a huddle of youngsters sleeping under a mat, rousing them with his heel. He barked a few orders and set about looking through the main building for a decent piece of rope. As he rummaged through the heavy chests, all locked tight against the humidity of the season, a pair of priests entered the shack. They addressed Zu formally, recognizing him at once as H’han, and asked after the week’s offering: Two cockerels and a young capybara. He replied, “I have no idea where the cockerels might be in this mess of coops, but I would take it that capybara chewing through the post out front is for you.” He could not guess what the cockerels were for, but the capybara was for last night’s storm. Ikthu Gawa demanded attention, and only blood shed on the altar would suffice. The cockerels may have been for young Hatzi’s half-birthday, which Zu believed to be tomorrow. No, Lord Medhozu was entertaining visitors today from Kuludo City. The cockerels would be for Endu Gawa, in honor of the Seven Houses and the wisdom of the State. Zu found a length of rope and stepped out into the rain, tying the reed hat tightly against his brow. He rubbed the jade figurine in his pocket: Onca, the Helper of Men. It would be a chore finding these turkeys, but three extra endhi this month could mean a new robe and a new sash. He smiled, fingering the stone jaguar through his thin pants, and set off down the path.
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The Vayok at Home and Abroad
Khazil Heritage Vayok are stout, capable hunters, inventive fisher-folk, and feared warriors. Thick beards and long hair are common, with braids and hair decorations popular markers of status and valor. The culture is the origin of the Khazil heritage that has, since the Wars, spread over the Kuludo Islands and Edrada. Khazil have eyes that are generally bright and colorful, with much superstition and colloquial groupings created by eye color. The eyes are small, however, so color is not always immediately noticeable. Featuring well-muscled bodies of short stature, Khazil are still quick and dexterous, their broad frames adapted both to supporting heavy weights on loose snow and to swimming easily in the icy sea.
Three Homes The southern coast of Vaankur is an area of minimal agriculture where the Vayok spend the coldest months. The three centers for social life are called the Three Homes, and all Vayok settlements and homesteads have a connection to one or another of the Homes. Mead halls, temples, large kennels, tanners, ports, smithies—all the necessities of a flourishing city are present at the Homes, though the close-knit nature of the Vayok people makes most comparisons of the Homes to cities rather slim. There are no strangers, nor vagabonds. If each Vayok does not know every other, they would surely find a common relative or shared friend easily enough upon meeting. The Homes, more like extensive villages, offer a variety of warm accommodations and sport. The great festivals bring Vayok from all reaches of Vaankur to one or another Home for celebrations and reunions, as the last hundred years have seen a vast expansion of people across the warmer coast.
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The Vayok live on the cold, northern island of Vaankur and have adapted to hazards common in the frozen tundra that would mean death for other cultures. Most Vayok live in mobile settlements for the greater part of the year, following fish and large game along seasonal routes both near shores and deep into the glacial plateaus. The age-old routes vary according to clan, and the earliest songs of Vayok history recount hunting victories and the founding of successful routes by ancestral heroes. These mobile Vayok return to rebuild homes in the warmer coastal highlands during the coldest months of the year, bringing stores of meat, fur, gems, metals, and story. Some Vayok dwell in these more permanent communities year-round, tending to common-owned groups of domesticated wolves and running trade with merchants. Three permanent settlements exist, known collectively as the Three Homes, and much of the Vayok calendar centers on activities taking place in Wagshigaad, the only true city. Larger clans have guards, chiefs and families in the Three Homes at all times, while smaller clans hire keepers who perform the appropriate ceremonies and mend structures on family land for payment from the year’s hunt.
Material Culture Vayok dress in heavy layers of furs and skins. Tools are commonly of wood, stone, antler or tusk construction. Metal weapons used by Vayok raiders are more often than not procured through raiding, as blades made by native smiths in the old ways exact far too high a price in payment and status for the common warrior to afford. Khazil blacksmiths in other areas are renowned for the secret arts they use to produce weapons of unparalleled quality. Jewelry is worn in the hair more commonly than anywhere else, with shells, gems, precious metals and trinkets of foreign origin the most popular choices. Male and female Vayok are indistinguishable to outsiders during the colder months due to the shared dress, though in warmer times and in the Three Homes, men wear more jewelry and cover their faces and hands less often than women. As a matter of style, females tend to stay covered from the wind, even in warmer weather, and wear lighter, more decorated parkas and furs.
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Kinship Vayok marry across family lines, sharing sons through traditional arrangements of giving and receiving, making the Vayok culture a matrilocal society. Clans intermarry with small formality, marriages usually cementing a contract or agreement between the two social groups. Smaller clans with excess children will trade off youngsters to Anu merchants as well, sending them away to seek fortune among a foreign land. It is not well known among the Vayok exactly what these “adopted” children encounter after leaving the frozen islands, as Vayok rarely have reason to travel to the lands of the Anu. Aggression & Bravery The frozen climate and deeply communal life of the Vayok create no room for crime or open war, though conflicting bravados are common. When enough rivalries or grudges become apparent in a community, the lot of them is handled by open competitions in raiding, sport, or wrestling. In this way, the troubles of twosomes are taken up and resolved in communal activity, holding all accountable to the health and success of the camp. The foundation of Vayok society is the collaborative effort toward survival in the tundra and freedom from the giants; any behavior putting the camp in danger is taken seriously. Though the Vayok have no formal laws, the wisdom of the clan elders is steadfast. Grievous offenses or violence against an elder result in forced labor or deportation as slaves to Anu merchants.
Vayok Abroad
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Inhabitants of Vaankur established contact with neighboring peoples almost two hundred years ago but created few settlements themselves outside the territory encompassing the cyclical hunting season. These early contacts led to trading relationships between prominent Vayok clans and merchants of the Anu people but developed into less civil relationships with the remaining settlements of Edish in Gundrada and Upper Edrada.
Younger Vayok engage in raiding when trailcamps on the cyclical hunts grow too large. Longships land on the Gundradan coast or navigate the deep waters of Red River before reaching the Hara Sea and Upper Edrada. The scope of Vayok exploration is sorely underestimated: Phanesh traders have been hawking Vayok-made axes since as early as 680 IC. Many tales of unknown attackers that haunt the coasts Lower Edradan coast could well be tied to Vayok raiders in search of handsome goods and adventure. Settlers A rough semblance of Vayok culture exists in the many ethnic villages of Khazil spread over Edrada and the Eastern Islands. Those in Edrada are former soldiers, earning their keeps as mercenaries or skilled laborers, though there are likely those who enjoy tending a bit of farmland and the chance of starting a family.
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As the two men turned the corner, they met a rush of fleeing bodies. The Elder Giant towered over the warehouses of the wharf, debris of wood and stone flying in the wake of each swing of its powerful arms. It must have clung to the underside of their boat the entire journey from Vaankur, thought Onoltet. He damned himself for leaving his armor on board while they searched for the delinquent dock-master, finding the handle of his father’s sword with his fingers. At least he carried Hentl Bon, Slayer of Spirits, The ThoughtForge. Across from the sabu, Nanuuruj hefted the angled hand-axe gifted him by a Khazil elder of the Eastern Islands. Nanuuruj, too, had left his armor on board. He had been eager to shed the final layer of clothing before stepping into the balmy Kuludo streets. Onoltet stood firm against the wave of screaming Anu, eyeing his foe. Nanuuruj gave a whistle. If the Vayok trainer’s wolves had survived the giant’s resurfacing, they would soon be near to aid their master. The two men agreed, it would be a good battle.
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Basalt cliffs line the western coast of Edrada for many unbroken miles between Kelineph and The Wilds, restricting access to the depths of the continent to those few breaks in the black wall large enough to accommodate a port village. Despite the number of small coastal towns, most foreign goods still enter Upper Edrada through Kelineph. This is due in no small part to the Kelkala vessels that patrol the northeastern bulge of the Hara Sea. Though the cities’ Arbiter assures all who will heed her that the vessels sailing under The Owl do so as protectors of the Sea and her passengers, the small coastal towns under their protection feel that the navy raids and plunders as many ships and port towns as it safeguards. Additionally, all goods passing through these waters are subject to a steep tax in order to support this ‘security’. Smuggling in this area is a lucrative endeavor, and rumors of sabotage and aggression between Kelkala’s merchant oligarchy and the fractious ports to the west buzz constantly across the waves of the Hara Sea.
The interior of Edrada is riddled with ruins of an empire long dead and nearly forgotten. The indigenous peoples encountered by migrating Edish and Alagoth know naught but fantastical stories of the horrors and wonders lurking in the remains of structures left behind, which are often no more than a broken rib cage of columns or a subtle mounding of the earth where a building once stood. Looters and scholars vie for control of the secrets lying dormant in these ruins. Much wealth may be found, but much danger also looms for those foolish enough to seek, who discover something altogether more terrible than trinkets of wealth left by a forgotten people. 163
The scout walked at a quick pace over the swaying bridge high in the canopy, a solitary stretch of boards almost two-hundred feet long connecting the small Macaw estate to the higher floors of Rosh Hotl. The sabu in charge of the estate, Lord Etzu, was in a stern mood brought on by his recent lack of Flower. The scout, though dressed for rain, lengthened his stride as the drops began to fall, keeping his eyes open for snakes in the lush walls of leaves that grew over the bridge. If he did not return with a clutch of ochre powder before the other Macaw guests arrived, he would be made an example of.
The Nunji are rarely seen. They stealth below the floor on errands of murder and sabotage, and any who spot their mischief soon feel the cold of steel. They master a set of tools known only to themselves: climbing claws, sickles and hooks fastened to the ends of thin chains, pronged blades designed for piercing specific organs, and many kinds of poison. Rarely seeing the sun, they survive on Flower and the rituals of their Order, training ceaselessly until finally summoned for their mission. 164
Emkadhi grows out from under the smallest of the Great Trees. A handful of temples and a single palace jut from sand and root, the same sand and root that go on for a hundred leagues in all directions. Of the three thousand people who live in Emkadhi, more than three-fourths have never lost sight of the Tree: Not once in their whole lives. The other fourth are Crowns and Rights from the Coast, most of them exiled to Emkadhi for a spell. The city has no walls, but the Nameless Desert is protection enough, a sea of sand no boat can cross. Yet, somehow, the tax collectors of the Empire find their way through it.
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In 861 IC, a sickly yet ambitious young Alagoth named Aduth Ata Xanun traveled to Lokod in search of ancient magicks. He penetrated the depths of the ruins alone, avoiding the Edish who now inhabited the safer parts of the city, delving into a realm few magickers would dare approach unaided. Of particular interest to Aduth were texts and images describing the ogre’s ability to assimilate living matter. Through reading and fieldwork, he furiously studied the genealogy of creatures birthed from ogres’ paunches. After some years, the son of Xanun was certain he had discovered a formula whereby the traits and abilities of ogre-spawn could be bred selectively. The Alagoth retreated into the wilderness, roaming far into The Wilds before taking up residence in a ruined tower. There, he conducted several decades of experiments with ogres and goblins captured in the surrounding plains. It is said that, in a bid to inherit the strength that his human body lacked, Aduth Ata Xanun fed himself to an ogre, hoping to be reborn as a magickal brute. None can say if he succeeded, but an old tower was found settled in Alagoth carpets deep in the stormy cold. And it is rumored that two ogres inhabiting the plains wear half-eaten harnesses and silver chains of Alagoth make hanging from their terrifying bulks.
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Where the seasonal floods strike most severely on Kapix’tul Island, entire cities are built atop stilts from two to seven yards tall. Large stone towers erected against the erosive effects of the water act as anchor-posts for wooden platforms that constitute the floor, the artificial ground-level of a raised city. Within these stone towers are shrines and guardhouses, the gear-works of Khazil-designed lock systems, and storage chambers. Districts of cities are often named after the gates and towers that support them, and canals are arranged to allow travel through the flooded city during high waters. Beneath the floor lies the domain of the smuggler and miscreant. Much like the back alleys and forgotten nooks of an Edradan city, the pathways beneath the floor in an Anu city house the lawless and the poor. Even when waters are low, respectable Anu do not travel beneath the floor, keeping to platforms, suspended walkways, and bridges high above the ground. Travel between cities is easiest when waters are high enough to support the weight of boats or absent enough to leave dry ground capable of supporting wheels and hooves. Many cities, however, are positioned in regions that remain for some months out of the year in a condition of limbo, surrounded by mud too thick for either form of transport. Out of necessity, Anu engineers have developed a system of cable transport that relies on gondolas and pulley technology to reach such cities. This cable system also exists within cities isolated by dense rainforests, which also suffer high floods during the monsoon season.
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Ankrigi, a Khazil from the Eastern Islands, kept his hood low to shield his eyes from the cutting wind. Though he had not visited the frozen expanse of Vaankur before his 22nd year, the Khazil had become quite familiar with its fickle nature over the past eight winters. Soon, the storm would break, and the crystalline expanse of ice-encrusted tundras would sparkle into the distance.
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Over the howl of the storm, Ankrigi heard a different noise, distinctly inhuman yet still somehow familiar, as though it were a voice speaking a tongue that he could almost understand. The source of the sound gradually materialized in the wall of frozen sleet, a man-sized shadow shambling with an awkwardly stiff gait. The tundra is no place for hesitation, and Ankrigi struck the figure down immediately: The man was frozen and should have died long ago. It appeared that something had eaten his lips and tongue away, too, leaving exposed teeth and a masticated stump. More shadows loomed; more strange murmurings sounded. Ankrigi began jogging away from them and their chilling voices.
Eta hesitated for a moment as the priest drew a sword and doffed his sacred plume. Why had Lord Ketl sent him to stop this sacrifice? What was the boy to him? Killing the priest would be easy enough, though House Karras had always maintained good relations with the Thun who kept the Calendar and tended to the Elder Gods who lie sleeping beneath the black earth. Eta hated the politics of Court: They made him feel insignificant. Maybe the Empress was truly missing and all these sudden moves and feints were the best efforts of ignorant Lords. They keep her as a prisoner on an island all her life, out of sight, and then when she finally does go missing, they scramble about without any idea at all what to do. Eta chuckled to himself as he adjusted his matte-black armor, the livery of House Karras. Placing his toe deliberately on the stone before him, he gauged the steps of the now charging priest: The holy man would die before he took four more, maybe five, but dead soon enough either way. Of the other two priests, one would fight; he looked steely. The third, already shaking, would run. And then the boy would need to be attended. Sigh. Go.
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[ Fold-Out Map From Hardcover Available Online ] 173
Edish Neferatha Alagoth Anu Vayok
Life of Hataro The Siblings of the 0 IC Cougar 0-Neferatha Take Ugurlu Life of Gazu
“Emerge”
Age of Migrations 300
Patriarchs arrive in Lower Edrada
Life of Tenwa 327 -Hastinpiro 329-Keni’s Revolt 344-Hetl Qin’s Revolt 353-Sabu Founded 372-Xeruthan 382-Merekhun 404-Emluk 404-Raid Emluk for Neferatha
Age of Structures
Exploration
620-Imperial Seclusion 711-Fall of House Dove 800 802-Battle of Kevmor Road 821-Ahimsa born 829-King City begun Second Age 834-Iassata in Charzen 850-Ahimsa governor 853-Praetawa of Ugurlu the pirate 862-Praetawa 864-Thun Dynasty takes Lokod 870-Empress Ahimsa 914-King City complete 920 923-Therikod destroyed 944-Onkod destroyed 950-Emluk won
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Three Waters
Meet Anu
950-Empress Disappears
[ Fancy Timeline From Hardcover Available Online ]
Chapter the Third
Census of Heroes Creating a hero is the first step of inhabiting the world of the Hara Sea. In Early Dark, each player gets to role-play a hero who springs up from among a people. This organic hero is not a detached wandered but an individual bound to a culture for better or worse. The glory is grand indeed for the hero who wins a following, but the longevity of any legend depends not just on the feats of the hero but on his or her relationship to those who come after. The following chapter will include all the steps necessary to build a character in Early Dark, though information on choosing Arts will be the bulk of Chapter 6 and improving your character through experience makes up the content of Chapter 5.
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Finding A Hero in Myth Creating a character in Early Dark does not start with classes or archetypes. You do not swing a sword because you are a warrior; you become a warrior because you swing a sword. In Early Dark, players begin the campaign as characters in medias res, not as unattached vagabonds with weapons and spells but no individual history.
Census
Overview
Step 1: Roll Scenario Step 2: Milieu Step 3: Aptitudes & Traits Step 4: Dice & Arts Step 5: Back Story Epithet Step 6: Equipment Relax. You will create a unique, fullycustomized character by following steps familiar to any gamer, but Early Dark asks you to do so in a different way: imagine that you are not building a character from scratch, but rather finding one among a populace, within a world. Imagine you are donning a hero who already has a life, a place, a past. In Early Dark, you will not roll or buy stats and then invent a fitting backstory to justify your choices. To create a group of heroes, players roll up a setting and scenario and then flesh out the individuals best fit for such a geography, culture, and situation. “Best fit” individuals are already on their way to becoming heroes. In this way, character creation is not before the game, but part of the game. Because Early Dark is set within the myth and legend of the world around the Hara Sea, all that a character does and says throughout the game is in some way always-already part of one long back story, the oral history of a hero passed on from generation to generation. Just as the modern human is a complex collection of drives, interests, ambitions, and memories produced by living and learning in context, so too a mythic hero is the product of
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a narrative tradition and a historical situation that needed a good story. If a group is making a few or several characters in one evening, all characters will share the same Setting and Scenario. The first rolls decide where your story begins, the Setting. Different regions have unique ways of life, economic classes, and social climates available for your characters. After zooming in on a specific region of the world, players roll up one Scenario that gives an immediate context for the characters’ birth in story. All of the following steps in the character creation process bring those heroes to life within a specific time and place, populating the scenario with interesting, fleshed-out characters. The Characteristics, Aptitudes, Arts, Initial Epithets, Traits, and Equipment should be chosen with attention paid to how that character exists within his or her culture, milieu, and past.
She was up there, somewhere. Kalis’atha caught sight of her earlier this morning, hours ago—and then, nothing. Just the occasional rustle of brush, the faint vibration of a branch, and a few drifting pale leaves (each like snow of white gold, each bleached in the coming of Autumn). A nagging feeling gnawed at his gut. Maybe I shouldn’t have come all this way alone. He’d cast off his servants one by one: Charna back at Ugurlu, Rollick in the Lake District, and Wren back at the start of the White Forest. He didn’t need them. They slowed him down. They complained. They balked. To hell with them—at least, that’s what he’d thought at the time.
Census
Now he felt exposed. Vulnerable. He hadn’t seen anyone in days, hacking his way through the curling thorns and dark knotted wood, and now he caught wind of someone following him. A woman. By her dress, one of the Edish. Irritating. Of little concern, really. A hungry fly looking to sup a little blood. He flexed his left hand: inhuman knuckles, ogre knuckles, popped like rat skulls under a heavy boot. His right hand was human. His feet: also ogre. Some of his flesh was the flesh of a fell creature, stitched across his body and held fast with magick, like gray leather sewn across horsehide. He was still Neferatha in heart, soul and mind—but some of his body was no longer his own. It helped him. Gave him size. Gave him focus, even. He took another step— Above him, a creaking branch. A whorl of white leaves circling down, orbiting him like moths until they drift to the ground. She’s here. “I grow weary of this,” he said aloud, his voice low and slow and given over to a rheumy rumble. With but a thought and a sweep of his hands, he cast a mighty wave of searing air—through it, the world shifting, distorting—and set fire to the trees around him, a ring of fire, a circumference of flame. The air burned. The smoke smelled good, though; clean, bitter, bright. It awoke him. Then: movement. The air shimmered. More leaves—these smoldering, like true fireflies—drifting. Then she was upon him. Her feet planted hard on his collarbones as she dropped upon him. If his calves and feet were not that of a stalwart ogre he might’ve toppled, but he held firm. He reached up to grab her but she was already gone, far too fast for him, a cricket leaping. She handplanted on the ground and now he saw her... and worse, recognized her. She’d been following him all this time. He remembered her. From the Lake District. Back when he cast Rollick aside and he saw her at the margins, watching. And he was right. She’s Edish, he thought. Dark nettled hair, a nest over pale skin: Feckless scavengers, worthless tribes of— Her foot pivoted, shot up and snapped hard into his jaw. He bit his tongue. It ended his thought.
177 Two Killers by Chuck Wendig, throughout the text and concluding on page 386.
Then—a cartwheel, and she was on her feet, dancing around him. Her hands lashed out, and in them: two blades, each curved, each gleaming like they had been cleaned and kept in their sheaths, reserved for just this moment, just for this trick. “Enough,” he growled, and as she swiped a blade at his throat he cast a heavy breath of concussive air underneath her feet, lifting her up above his head. Her blade slashed open space, and he then used his magick to return her to the earth. She crashed hard. Gasping. Hitching for air.
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He laughed. Stupid girl. He stood over her and reached down to crush her delicate windpipe. It would be so simple. Like pinching off a reed. • • • They ran in the grass and the weeds, the green as high as their hips, the two Edish children laughing and thwacking each other with long swatches made from bamboo. “Neferatha vulture!” the boy, Ellas, cried. “Khazil dog!” the girl, his sister, Nela, shouted. They clashed—two bamboo reeds whacking together. She danced around Ellas (who was the bigger and older of the two) darting this way and that. “You’re like a sneaky ermine,” he said. “Quit squirming around!” She just laughed and ducked into the grass, rising again only when she was behind him. She brought the bamboo hard against his ear. He howled and dropped his own weapon, bending over and holding his hand to his ear. “Ow! You hurt my ear, Nela.” She waved him off. “Quit whining, you big baby.” “I’m not whining! I hear a ringing sound.” “So it goes,” she said, shrugging. She poked him in the rear with the bamboo prod. “Life is hard, big brother.” Once more, she laughed. And in her laughing, she failed to notice who had come up behind her. A heavy hand fell on her shoulder. It squeezed. Pain shot through as the fingers pulled up on the muscle bridging her neck and shoulder. “The sheep need shearing,” said their patron, Arnon. Arnon was liaison to Arbiter Orlin, who had many years ago helped to unite a handful of tribes in a new settlement cut among the ruins of a long dead city.
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“You’re hurting me,” Nela said. “And your lack of responsibility hurts me,” Arnon said with a smirk. He pinched harder. The girl cried out. Ellas, the brother, clenched his teeth and in a fast movement snatched up his bamboo from the grass and brought it hard against the man’s side. It did nothing, of course. Like trying to chop down a tree with a buzzard’s tailfeather. Arnon just laughed and backhanded the boy to the ground. He let the girl drop, too. “Get back to work,” he said, leaving the two siblings lying there in the field.
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“One day,” the boy said, “I’m going to leave this city. Maybe I’ll find a Hattan who will take me, and I can live like our father did. I hate it here.” “When you leave I’ll come find you.” “Oh?” “I’ll always come find you, big brother. Somebody has to take care of you, after all.” • • • Nela felt his hands around her neck. The darkness came fast, bleeding in at the edges of her vision like a pool of spreading ink. The pulse-beat in her neck thumped like a line of Edish drums, like a stampede of Highridge Cattle, like the footsteps of war. Her grip felt soft, mushy, uncertain. The face above her—a certain abomination, half-Neferatha, half-creature, this the first time she had seen the grotesque visage so close—leered, triumphant. But she was not one for giving up. Her fingers tightened and she jerked her hand backward... ...plunging one of her blades into the back of her assailant’s leg. Right in the crook of the knee. He screamed, and let go. Nela drew a saving breath and slid out from under the monster. • • • “No one escapes you,” Rollick said. A grinning idiot. Little, too, like a stunted donkey. A cackling clown of the Anu courts, a giggling imp with a heavy pack on his pack. Kalis’atha stopped walking. A breeze—unusual even for this paradise oasis—kicked up and cast a few sand devils swirling around their feet as if a response to Kalis’atha’s unpleasant presence. “I’m tired of you,” Kalis’atha said. It was how he spoke, most times: proclamations, decisions, firm certainties. “You must go now.”
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Step 1: Roll Scenario Finding the Scenario requires two preliminary rolls, which can be made on the chart below. The third and final roll is made in the Appendix among the numerous Scenario charts.
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Region The first roll determines the Region in which your story begins. There are five dominant civilizations around the Hara Sea, each with a Region of influence. After rolling once for the entire group of players in the campaign, write the same Region on each character sheet in the party. Local Culture The second roll determines within which Local Culture the story is set. Each culture represents a particular setting and way of life within the broader Region and civilization. Though a dominant political structure may reach throughout the region, local customs, modes of dress, and material culture can vary greatly from one area to another. Different cultures within a single region will have different social expectations, prejudices, and struggles.
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4-5: 6-7: 8-9: 0-1: 2-3:
Roll once for the entire group of players, and record the same Local Culture on each player’s character sheet. Scenario The Scenario is the final roll to determine a complete setting for the myth’s beginning. Each campaign begins from a premise or snapshot that acts as a prelude to the campaign— the starting action that introduces the characters, brings them together, and begins their journey toward eternity in the annals of myth. After rolling for a Scenario, the Scribe and the players flesh out the scene and begin developing a story together, tentatively shaping the world they will share for the remainder of the campaign. The group only rolls one scenario for all to share. This scenario will take shape and change over the entire character creation process, as players come up with new ideas for each other’s characters. The scenario does not need to be recorded on the character sheet; it is the lens through which the entire character creation process is viewed.
Upper Edrada, the plains of the Edish hunters 0-2: City-States, within the ruins of a former Empire the Edish build new life 3-4: Lowland Forests, the glades and woods of the temperate climate 5-7: Vast Plains, where the nomads follow herds 8-9: Gundrada, a remote continent settled during the Six-Front Wars Ragus, fertile valley of the Neferatha castes 0-4: Coastal Cities, the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, home to many cultures 5-7: Tree Cities, bustling ports that dot the desert, inhabited by scoundrels 8-9: Bronze Lake Region, where the affluent Nibu live, tucked away from conflict Lower Edrada, where the Alagoth live among the horses 0-4: Camps of Patriarchs, bands of raiders and shepherds, traders of the Alagoth 5-9: Free Cities, the sprawling urban centers of Alagoth civilization Kuludo, home of the Anu Lords 0-2: Kuludo Island, the wealthy estates and manors of Anu Houses 3-6: Lowland Wetlands, the stilt-borne cities of Kapix’tul 7-9: The Rainforests, where both rich and poor mingle in tree homes Vaankur, where the Vayok hunt tundra bears in the frost 0-6: The Three Homes, the cities that host the clans during the warmer months 7-9: Clan Settlements, the glacial tundra where the Vayok hunt and feast
The Scenario ensures each character is different but relatable and offers a ground from which to build the heroes and their relationships to one another. Check in the Appendix (380-387) for the chart that contains your Region and Local Culture and roll a Scenario now.
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These scenarios are merely suggestions for bringing player characters together. By no means must an entire campaign be launched from the hooks provided. The conflict stated in the Scenario might follow through several sessions in the narrative, bleed through only a few sessions as momentum builds toward the central campaign, or be wrapped up in just a few minutes with some quick roleplaying before starting the Scribe’s original adventure. Smaller, less studied cultures exist in the uncharted and borderland areas of the world, and upcoming supplemental materials will explore and open up these other regions. If you are running a fully custom campaign, try coming up with ten Scenarios that could possibly lead into the adventure and let the characters roll on an original, DIY chart. This generation process assumes a group of characters being made together. If only a single character is needed, play through these rolls as part of the character’s past. Work through the full resolution and have the character meet up with the current party as soon after the Scenario event as possible. Alternatively, work with a current situation the party finds itself in as though that were the Region, Local Culture, and Scenario for the newcomer. Work the new character into the narrative as a stranger coming across the group in medias res.
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Step 2: Milieu
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With the Scenario in mind, players now go about finding a potential hero among the scene. Will you be the anxious parent whose child is a potential sacrifice? Are you a corrupt scout selling out his own people? Maybe you are the “beast” let loose from its cage on the wharf, a feral loner experiencing humid city streets for the first time. Players need not stick to those characters mentioned explicitly in the scenario; any number of other people would be involved in the complex situations behind-the-scenes. Stunned passers-by, thieves watching from the dark, local officials presiding over the area— the possibilities are indeed limited only by the imagination of the group. Whomever the player decides to be, he or she will have to choose a Milieu. Every human community and local culture contains more than one way of life; societies are often arranged as amalgams of overlapping networks and smaller subcultures. In tribal groups, it is easy for each individual to know every other individual in the community. In larger settlements, such as cities, there are often different social circles at play that hardly overlap at all. These larger societies may be divided along lines based on class, occupation, heredity, or gender. The particular group or social circle that shapes the character’s values and habits is his or her Milieu. Characters do not need to share a Milieu, and players who want to play as foreign characters may select milieus from different civilizations. Either way, your character most likely has a home, friends, and a family somewhere. Nobody comes from nowhere. Each of the five civilizations of Early Dark offers a handful of Milieus available to new characters. These represent the social circles that give the character his or her values, outlook on life, sense of purpose, routines, and beliefs.
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For example: A wealthy sabu in Anu culture would have a very different definition of what it means to be Anu than an equally wealthy merchant, even
though they may live on the same street and spend a good deal of time together each day. Their positions in society affect how they see even the most mundane interactions and social events. Or: In Ragus, each of the four castes have a unique way of looking at their home and the world. Rights tend to view the caste system as a responsibility, a necessary infrastructure that helps society manage itself and run smoothly. Feet tend to view the same system as no less necessary, but as a burden to be carried by the strong. No Milieu, however, is completely homogeneous, and there will always be groups of individuals who display subversive or challenging ways to look at the world and live in it. Is the character part of the political game? On the streets with the criminals and destitute? Living with other soldiers in a military barracks? The Milieu represents the physical environments familiar to the character as well as what clique the character associates with, where his or her contacts and friends will be found. The Aptitudes listed in the Milieu Charts that follow are for heroic characters that typify those social contexts. Everyday nonplayer characters created by the Scribe do not need to follow the Aptitude guidelines given. The Alignments, however, would be fitting for any and all characters who participate in that Milieu, even non-player characters created on the spot.
Characteristics Within each Milieu are options for Gender, Age, and Heritage. Following along the charts, each player decides which paths to take and records them on the character sheet. Every Milieu will have certain expectations and requirements, training up some parts of the individual and devaluing others. To reflect this, the character’s Milieu itself will fix one
Aptitude in place. Likewise, Gender, Age, and Heritage will each set one Aptitude. None of these four Aptitudes may be changed during the remainder of the character creation process, ensuring that every character begins with at least one weakness (a 1 in at least one Aptitude) and one strength (a 5 in at least one Aptitude).
Gender Gender is a product of cultural values, and different cultures have historically defined gender in vastly different ways. This selection represents a character’s acceptance of his or her culture’s idea of gender and his or her success in portraying that gender in the social field. As is often the case, some genders or heritages are prohibited by custom to gain certain positions of power, or relegated to certain forms of labor. Different Milieus will restrict certain Gender or Heritage options for characters, reflecting that social class’s norms and expectations. In Ugurlu, for example, a foreigner could never become a priest without first becoming embraced by the Crown caste and recognized as related to the Nibu people. Alagoth society practices strict gender segregation, and Edish peoples of the plains are more apt to exclude outside ethnicities than their city-dwelling relatives. Heritage Heritage is a good word for describing how many pre-modern cultures viewed difference. The cultural tradition that formed someone defined who he or she was, not some ostensibly biological racial type as some people today hold.
The Edish, for example, are the most ethnically diverse civilization. Many ethnic identities have remained over time. Kelineph contains a density of blonde-haired individuals, though all other Edish have dark hair. Though all Edish have a ruddy skin color, some have bright eyes.
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Appearances can be deceiving: The Milieu does not force four Aptitudes on you. While finding out where your hero belongs, you are the one choosing which Gender, Age, and Heritage fit. If you want a high Cunning, select the option that affords a high Cunning. Or, select an option that does not mention Cunning at all; you can always give it a 4 later when divvying up the rest of your Aptitude points.
In some locales the Heritages of Early Dark have been mixing and intermarrying for centuries, and strict lines between them have become harder to discern. In other regions ethnic purity is a valued practice not often transgressed.
Age Age is handled differently in different cultures. Do we measure age in solar years, lunar cycles, the number of battles fought, the presence of wisdom, sexual or marital rituals completed, or social authority achieved? Some cultures value youth, others age. Adulthood may commence at age twelve, when the individual marries, or after a certain ritual.
Alignments The Milieu of each character will require of him or her at least one Alignment, which should be recorded on the front of the Character Sheet and filled in with as much detail as the group feels necessary. Alignments are important ways for characters to acquire goods and receive crucial bonuses to interactions inside and outside combat. In many places, Alignments are what take care of the character’s basic needs, the means to avoid sleeping on the streets. Such precarious lodging often leads to significant Shock penalties that lower a hero’s potential Guard. The Investment for starting Alignments is always 1 Renown (See the Heraldry for how Alignments are used to advance your character). Characters with a high Relate can take their Alignments further than heroes with a low Relate, giving them access to more authority and social power. Having a high Investment in a handful of Alignments gives players an advantage earning Renown each playing session.
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The Six Alignments Membership Patronage Profession Romance Rivalry Quest
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Look at your hero’s Alignments as fundamental aspects of who and what your character is. Why would a story about you be told and remembered unless those still living feel deep connections with your hero? Think of the campaign you are about to begin as a chance for your character to become the cultural hero of future generations. Each Alignment is a way to define and describe what kinds of people those future generations are. Are you a hero to your people of origin? Or are you a hero to a tribe far away you saved from tragedy? Does your name spread terror in a city you all but destroyed, while it is all but forgotten in a city you protected? Are you remembered as a lover, a patron, a leader, a servant? All of these foundational questions are answered in your character’s Alignments. These are why you stand out from all those wouldbe heroes who rise and fall in the history of a people. It is from the Renown gained by “playing to” Alignments that each hero unlocks new Epithets. In other words, you must be popular among the people before they can fill their legends with your deeds. Gaining popularity involves building and sustaining relationships with other people, often through routine interactions and daily communication. The more deeply involved you are in the mundane social life of your community, the more likely you are to transcend that mundane life and be remembered as someone slightly more than human.
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Membership Heroes can have memberships to a clan, family, house, or other group. These Alignments represent the cohesion of such groups,
the shared values and goals, and the sense of identity that comes from belonging to something. Memberships often require the hero to put aside his or her own good for the good of the group. This includes the hero’s safety first and foremost, but can also include honor, reputation, possessions, or opinions. A membership is the broadest Alignment and can be “played to” in many ways. Any time the hero makes a decision for the good of the group, he or she earns the Invested amount of Renown. Looking to his or her own needs first or tarnishing the honor of the group will garner a tax. Patronage Either side of the patronage fills out this Alignment, whether you are the benefactor or the beneficiary. A patronage is a one-on-one relationship with a clear hierarchy. Patronages can demonstrate any of various forms of authority: political, religious, or scholarly. The patron is expected to take care of the underling, passing on support, knowledge, material goods, or wisdom. The beneficiary then owes his or her services and labor to the patron. A patronage “plays out” whenever either side performs one of the socially expected duties for the other. Taxes come when either side ignores his or her duties or breaks the formal social expectations of the relationship, maybe asking too much or pushing the relationship beyond what that culture expects from a patronage. Profession Professions are more than jobs, they are lifestyles and life-worlds. Skills and knowledge do not come easily in dark ages, and a hero must walk a path alongside others to master any trade. Knowledge is produced within social circles unevenly, and finding knowledge requires building relationships with masters, travel to far-off places, and passing knowledge on to the next generation. A profession can take many shapes: scribe, smith, councilor, scientist, artisan, scout. “Playing to” a profession requires using, learning, or teaching the appropriate skill.
Players must take care of their heroes’ reputations as masters and authorities in whatever crafts they employ. Taxes come from failing crucial Checks, missing a chance to use the skills learned in the profession, or ignoring ways to learn more. Building an Epithet without care for the character’s profession is a sure way to suffer a healthy tax.
A hero “plays to” a romance not just by wooing and securing a mate. The failures of love are just as important as the victories. Any action that makes for a better romance in that culture counts, whether impressing the mate’s father, angering the mate’s father, or slaying the mate’s father. Taxes are levied when the hero ignores the romance or takes lovers outside the bounds of cultural expectations. Rivalry A rivalry is the center of many world stories. Taking a rivalry gives the hero a chance to earn Renown competing with a fellow. Rivals can be beloved kin or hated enemies, so long as the ever-rising stakes and dangers progress the lives of both. Champions need villains, and heroes can take rivalries in beasts as well as humans.
Quest Quests are temporary Alignments that bind the hero to a course of action. These represent many kinds of missions or greater goals, and Scribes can introduce quests to give players a chance to win Renown for progressing the greater narrative. Following along in the quest, solving the mystery, seeking out a resolution-- all of these actions work better with motivated players.
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Romance Many heroes are known for their romances. A romance offers a grand motive for heroes beyond the epic and transcendental. The play of love, relationships, and sex is a big part of mythology, and your hero has a chance to influence future generations by living the model love.
A hero “plays to” a rivalry by competing with the rival and winning. It is your tale we are telling after all. Boasting, sporting, seeking out, humiliating--the relationship can take many forms. Taxes come when the hero puts aside differences or loses a competition.
The best way to “play to” a quest is to follow the course of events. This should not be a heavyhanded coercion from the Scribe, but instead a simple motivation. Delaying or leaving the quest may be necessary for any number of reasons, but a tax will follow. For more on “playing to” Alignments and being taxed, check out sections in Chapter 5, Heraldry. Each group of players will develop their own norms and traditions for awarding Renown and maintaining the Alignments of their heroes.
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Edish Milieus: Nomadic Tribe Settlement
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Nomadic Living- 5 Touch Gender Male- 1 Guile Female- 1 Labor Age 2 Relate Youth- Adult- 2 Thrive Heritage Hattan Totem- 4 (Choose Tribe, 191) Alignments Membership (Tribe) Rivalry Membership (Minewin) Edish who live in the tribal settlements are nomadic hunters and horticulturists. All individuals in a tribe are connected by a tribal totem chosen and worn by the Hattan, representing one of many animal spirits related to the human leader. Animal patrons are said to protect and jealously guard their descendents, especially the Hattan who lead their people. An individual with many totems is part of a large family of animal spirits, related by blood and breath to the spirits of the Plains. Tribal Edish honor resourcefulness and wisdom above all else. Living peacefully with others in the tribe while showing ferocity to outsiders makes up the two-fold path of the tribal hero. Alignments The only Alignment needed by tribal Edish is a Membership to the tribe. For an Investment of 1, all members, male and female, are valued and respected as equals among the tribal settlements, and each individual has equal access, according to the leadership of the Hattan, to food, shelter, supplies, weapons, and clothing. Each adult is granted a horse by the community. Magicks For any character to begin the game with Arcana or Arcane Talents, he or she must take a Alignment in a Rivalry with another member of the group. This Alignment will often be at odds with the required Membership, and characters will feel the tension between the conflicting commitments. Beginning the game with Loom Insights requires no further Alignment.
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Later in the campaign, however, any Edish character can take up the art of the minewin if the hero has at least one Insight and one Arcanum. This can be chosen as a Membership and offers the shaman an amount of Source equal to the Alignment’s Investment.
Edish Milieus: Urban Arcanist 5 Thrive 4 Guile 4 Move 1 Touch 1 Labor 2 (Choose Tribe, 191)
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Magicker- Gender Male- Female- Age Adult- Elder- Heritage First Totem- Alignments Profession Patronage
Edish Magickers are the hermits, wizards, and dark artists of Edish city-states. Magickers are generally distrusted and persecuted by Edish society, though many are kept in secret by wealthy nobles in the burgeoning urban settlements and multiplying fiefdoms spread over the Edradan plains. Alignments A Profession is required to give the arcanist a small income and a place in Edish urban life. For an Investment of 1, a magicker is said to make a living in a way unrelated to his or her dark arts or may choose to be supported by a host noble. Magicks In the city-states of the Edish, ruled by powerful Arbiters and wealthy landowners, magick is a dangerous thing. The ruins of the Lost Empire prove fickle hosts, and tampering with the borders of the Tapestry can bring unrest from buried spirits as well as legal punishment. Using magicks in public is a grave offense, and Edish magickers require a Patronage to a powerful lord to avoid persecution from the start. Even Loom Insights would disturb the consciences of city dwellers and require a Patronage to avoid snitches, conspirators, and inquisitive authorities. Higher Investments can cover more visible acts of magick.
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Edish Milieus: Urban Landowner
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Elites- 1 Touch Gender Male- 4 Fight Female- 4 Guile Age 5 Thrive Single- Married- 5 Labor Heritage Family Totem- 2 (Choose Tribe, 191) Alignments Membership (City-State) Membership (Family) Landowning Edish are those influential members of the city-states and fiefdoms who have say in local decisions. They are the voting citizens and lesser vassals who form political bodies and manage laborers. Lords are generally respected patricians who reside in family houses in particular districts. Arbiters and their families live off the labor of others. They rely on strength in war and a supply of warriors from their constituents. Landowners command the serfs and merchants in their areas, direct the communes and cottage industries, and lead the warbands. Alignments Landowners must choose two Alignments, a Membership in their city-state to represent involvement in the local political body as well as a Membership in a particular family lineage to represent their heritage. These leaders rise into position as defenders of lands and farms or as elite members of merchant troupes or mercenary armies. For 1 Investment, the first Membership provides income, peers, contacts, food, shelter, and basic supplies. In bigger citystates, landowners have family wealth in land spread out in the neighboring countryside, animals maintained by paid serfs, and access to servants. In the more feudal fiefdoms that spring up outside ruins, much the same arrangements exists, but riches are more often gained through conquest than inheritance.
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Elite Edish landowners must also select a family lineage. For an Investment of 1, characters have a family identity that offers them esteem among their peers. Families provide characters with relatives and histories. Famous names can gain elite honor outside their own settlements, most often among the wealthy Alagoths and Neferatha. Without a family name to rely on, the Edish landowner could garner no respect nor access any trade from foreign merchants.
Edish Milieus: Traveling Merchant
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Merchant- 5 Guile Gender Male- 2 Labor Female- 2 Touch Age 1 Move Young- Adult- 1 Thrive Mature- 1 Fight Heritage Edish- 4 Relate Foreigner- 4 Cunning Alignments Patronage Membership (Guild) Merchants make up important go-betweens for Edish leaders and have grown in prominence since the years of the Six-Front Wars. As trade with outside cultures grows, only the merchant class enjoys enough flexibility and mobility to capitalize on new structures. With the growth of the merchant class, Edish society changes as well. Hated by the Arbiters of Edish city-states, merchants are becoming necessary to convert land and animals into coin (a precious resource in world markets), so they inhabit a relatively secure niche in Edish culture, both in the larger cities and among the fiefdoms. Merchants live on the road, often conflicting with the nomadic Edish, though many merchants have developed professional relationships with tribal camps. Alignments Merchants must choose a Quest which is the main source of their income: Produce profit. For 1 Investment, the merchant is part of a new culture focused on surplus and profit. Merchants rub elbows with the elites, but survive by trading manufactured goods rather than by living off raw materials and natural resources. Optionally, the Merchant may have a Membership in a Guild. Merchants in Guilds maintain contacts outside their own places of residence. For an Investment of 1, the Merchant receives contacts and news from other locales, access to trade secrets and magicks, and other resources from his or her peers. He or she would know a number of clients who provide him or her with contacts, goods, and services sold for coin. Magicks Merchants spend much of their time leading caravans across the wilderness. All is fair in love and war... and profits.
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Edish Milieus: Indentured Serf
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Serf- 4 Labor Gender Male- 5 Move Female- 5 Touch Age 1 Cunning Adult- Elder- 1 Fight Heritage Edish- 2 Thrive Foreigner- 2 Relate Alignments Profession Membership (Guild) Serfs are the artisans and laborers of Edish city life. They are the farmers, smiths, shepherds, and masons of the manorial fiefdoms and the tailors, shopkeepers, guardsmen, and bakers of the citystates. The life of the serf resembles something between slave and employee. Although they have no voice in the politics of the city-states, some will live within the walls. Most, however, inhabit farmlands surrounding the readily protected cities or manor fortresses. Alignments Serfs must have a Profession. For an Investment of 1, they receive income enough to sustain themselves and a small family. Magicks Performing magick within the walls of a city-state is considered a subversive practice, and trying the same within the villages and hamlets can also lead to persecution. Edish serfs may optionally be a Member of a Guild. Guilds offer Serfs much needed access to higher-class education, rare goods, and magicks. For an Investment of 1, the character is an Initiate in a Guild that matches his or her profession and has a faction that will protect a caster from public accusations.
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Edish Tribe Listing The nomadic tribes of the Edish take their names from totem ancestors associated with the powerful men and women who lead their groups. Rather than directly worshipping certain animals, the Edish embrace a animals as ancestors both physical and spiritul. A pantheon of animal spirits exist, and most Edish interpret dramatic events in their lives as the influence and play of one animal or another. Through ancient rituals that tie individuals to the threads of various animals, Edish adults develop a family lineage of animal ancestors and tie themselves for good or bad to the fates of those animals. This is a spiritual and also a physical connection. Totems are generally tattooed onto the bodies of the Edish, one of the few practices that shows up in one way or another in all of the scattered, dissimilar tribes.
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Bear (Labor, Thrive, Fight) The Bear is a powerful ancestor with a robust thread-life. Many tribes connected to the Bear exist, most notably the Bear of the Red Plains founded by Kwewu in honor of his lost love Ferndedaw. Other famous Bears include the Cave Bear tribe of the Wilds; the Bear of Uzik, a tribe of powerful hunters who raid coastal city-states with ardor; and the Golden Bear tribe famous in the Summer Field for violence against Alagoth traders. Cougar (Move, Cunning, Relate) A Totem of agility and intelligence. Heroes from the Essapesh to the Northern Strait have made names for themselves by mixing blood with the family of the Cougar, a popular thread. Raven (Guile, Move, Touch) The Rave Totem is associated with both trickery and wisdom. Many tribes have been led under her banner, and many shaman join the bloodline of the Raven. At least two branches exist within the family of the Raven, and those from the east have proven more powerful magickers in recent years. Boar (Fight, Labor) A thread-family popular in the warmer regions near Kelineph and Dunbri, in marshes and dense forests. Hunters aligned with the Boar are thought lucky in sport and romance. Mammoth (Thrive, Relate, Labor) Since the days of Tenwa, the Mammoth has supported many powerful Hattan and long-lived tribes. The Red Mammoths are the descendents of Tenwa today, while the Mammoths of the Marsh are a younger tribe at conflict with the Wolf and Boar. Other Mammoth tribes arise from time to time with less endurance. Stag (Cunning, Relate, Touch) Wolf (Fight, Relate) Hawk (Move, Thrive) Badger (Fight, Guile, Labor) Rat (Thrive, Cunning, Touch) Serpent (Move, Guile) Owl (Cunning, Guile, Touch)
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Neferatha Milieus: Crown Caste
Census
Crown- Gender Female- Male- Age Youth- Adult- Heritage Nibu- Alignments Membership (in Patronage
1 Touch 4 Cunning 4 Thrive 2 Relate 2 Move 5 (Choose Cult, 197) Caste)
Crowns are named for the apex of the head, the very top of the human body. They are the opulent priestly caste of Neferatha society. Whether venerated or hated by the other castes, they are rarely challenged. They work in thousands of cult temples and palaces spread over Ragus, which are more ornate and decorated than the austere Imperial temples residing in Ugurlu and Hastinpiro. The Stewards are the most elite Crowns and rule over the state from behind the shoulders of the Empress. Many Neferatha frequent several shrines for seasonal and incidental reasons throughout their lives, each dedicated in various degrees to a handful of personal deities among the sprawling pantheon. Crowns generally wear colorful robes to mark their caste, with ornate jewelry and personal ornamentation common. As in the other castes, females enjoy noticeable privilege over males. Alignments Crown characters must select a Membership in their caste. For an Investment of 1, characters receive food, shelter, basic supplies, and access to a temple. No mentors or masters are available at this Investment level. Crowns can also ask for any donation from a Right or Left at or below their rank. Feet of any rank must offer a Crown whatever he or she asks. Crowns are forbidden to interact with Untouchables. Most Crowns run and lead the cults centered on their temples of worship. In other words, the caste Membership slightly overlaps with the duties of running the sect. Heroes may, however, take a Patronage to control a small cadre of followers.
192
Magicks The Crowns control access to the dark bowels of Neferatha cities. Though open use of magick would lead to public outcry, Crowns have the most social power and could rarely be tried for such offenses. Getting away with such acts, however, may “push on” the caste Membership (see 278).
Neferatha Milieus: Right Caste Cunning Touch Relate Move Fight Guile (Choose Cult, 197)
Census
Right Hands- 4 Gender Female- 2 Male- 2 Age 5 Young- Adult- 5 Mature- 5 Heritage Nibu- 1 Alignments Membership (in Caste) Membership (Family) Profession
Right Hands are the aristocracy, generals, and philosophers of Neferatha society. They are the landowners, the lords of everyday life. And while they profit from the work of others, they are not often lazy themselves. Rights can be birthed on the battlefield or in the library, and either way they follow a strict code of decorum when in public. Rights most often wear glittering white robes, and, like all Neferatha, practice complete depilation of bodily hair. Alignments Right characters must choose to be a Member of the Right Hand caste. For 1 Investment, characters are respected as Rights and given all privileges accorded to the caste. This involves no income, however, as Rights must earn their keep in society. Characters must also select a family Membership. Rights live off the wealth produced in family estates that dot the fertile coast of Ragus far beyond the walls of Ugurlu. For an Investment of 1, characters receive housing, food, shelter, and an array of common and rare goods. Optionally, the player may select a Profession to further enrich his or her character. For an Investment of 1, the character has clients and contacts in the city and access to the coins of underling Lefts. In this case, at least two or three Lefts serve as merchants directly under the Right.
193
Neferatha Milieus: Left Caste
Census
Left Hands- Gender Female- Male- Age Young- Adult- Mature- Heritage Nibu- Foreigner- Alignments Membership (in Profession Patronage
5 Guile 2 Touch 2 Cunning 4 Move 4 Labor 4 Thrive 1 (Choose Cult, 197) 1 Relate Caste)
Lefts are the merchants, clerks, and accountants of Neferatha culture. They are the only caste allowed by law to handle coin. All transactions among the Right families are handled by the mechanisms of the Lefts. As their numbers increase, Lefts are also often seen as shopkeepers, tailors, bakers, and common folk of Neferatha city life. Alignments Lefts must choose a Membership in their caste. For 1 Investment, characters are granted the privileges and rights given to all Lefts in Neferatha society. This offers no income or housing but allows them access to Foot labor and dealings with Untouchables. Lefts can choose a Profession to secure income. For an Investment of 1, characters have a trade that earns them a modest income and allows them access to housing, food, supplies, and contacts among the higher castes. Magicks Magick is strictly illegal outside official state business, much like violence: The Empire has sole right to magick and other means of force. Within the Imperial Cult, Lefts are employed as magickers outside the watchful tutelage of the Crowns. The hero’s Profession may offer a government job that allows the use of Arcane magick. Alternatively, both Arcana and Insights can be employed legally to any Left with a Patronage to a powerful, government-bred member of one of the higher castes. For an Investment of 1, the hero has such a tie.
194
Neferatha Milieus: Foot Caste 2 Fight 1 Move 1 Cunning 4 Labor 4 Touch 5 (Choose Cult, 197) 5 Relate
Census
Feet- Gender Female- Male- Age Adult- Elder- Heritage Nibu- Foreigner- Alignments Membership (in Patronage
Caste)
Feet are the serfs, farmers, and shepherds of Neferatha society. They make up the vast majority of the population throughout the countryside, as well as in the large cities and Lake District. Feet can own no property or possessions, handle no coin, nor wear any jewelry. They can, however, become soldiers and friends of Rights and Crowns. Feet often make up petty guards, house servants, and messengers among the elite. They can perform any job that requires no handling of coin (reserved for the Left) or unclean objects (reserved for the Untouchables). Alignments Feet, like all castes, must purchase a Membership to fit into Neferatha society. Without belonging to a caste, the character would be ostracized and nearly invisible. For an Investment of 1, the Foot receives no income or access to goods, but is part of the culture and recognized as human. Characters may choose a Patronage to secure income, housing, and access to goods. This patron is of a higher caste and employs the Foot on a stipend. For an Investment of 1, the hero has such a tie. The vast majority of Feet are farmers, but Feet make up the most flexible and versatile of the castes. Magicks Feet employed by a government representative can use magick according to local laws. Because Feet back up the bulk of soldiers in times of war, many are adopted by cults and cadres of Crowns to be trained as magickers and apprentice alchemists.
195
Neferatha Milieus: Untouchables
Census
Untouchables- 2 Gender Female- 4 Male- 4 Age 1 Adult- Elder- 1 Heritage 5 Nibu- Foreigner- 5 Alignments Patronage
Cunning Touch Fight Thrive Labor (Choose Cult, 197) Move
Untouchables have no caste and therefore no place in Neferatha society. They belong to secret cults and worship alongside the wealthiest of persons but enjoy no access to contacts outside temple halls. Untouchables are most often poor foreigners or disinherited members of other castes. They must wear black at all times and would be hard-pressed to wear jewelry or carry weapons in front of a Right or Left without having such possessions stripped from them. Untouchables have no rights under the law and live on borrowed land and borrowed time. Untouchables hired as servants cannot interact with Crowns and so are much less valuable than Feet employed in the same service. Aggressive Untouchables often form roving bands of brigands or mercenaries, since they already live outside Neferathan law and social structures. Their only legal trades are butchers, tanners, and grave-diggers, though even these tasks go unpaid and are regarded as part of the poor’s religious duties to the temples that sustain them. Alignments Untouchables must choose a Patronage. Whatever network of contacts the community of Untouchables has, they all live off donations from temples unattached to the Imperial Cult. When individuals of the Untouchable caste seek food and resources from countryside temples in great numbers, the swelling congregation increases the power and prestige of the cult at large. For an Investment of 1, the character has access to a temple, from which he or she receives alms.
196
Neferatha Cult Listing
Census
There are literally hundreds of different cults in Neferatha society, all save one run by factions of Crowns. They act as mystery religions, professional guilds, sources of arcane power, social clubs, aesthetic hubs, and political parties of the people. Some are allied and others at odds. Many have deep connections to the hidden powers that ebb and flow beneath Ugurlu’s great halls and spires. Most pretend to such things whether true or not. Secret rituals, details of which are protected by threat of death or worse, fill meetings and follow regular calendars. Some of these calendars may belong to only a single cult, the seasons and holidays shared by none outside the private members. The echo of chants and the fog of incense envelop catacombs that host such colloquies, a barrage to the senses, both stimulating and intoxicating. Crowns maintain their power through these cults, tugging strings, purchasing loyalties, and spreading their spies, all while capturing the hearts and imaginations of the Neferatha populace. What dark powers do lie hidden beneath the cities are desired above all else, the cults always embroiled in political struggling and scheming. Keshava Cult (Fight, Cunning, Guile, Thrive) A powerful cult based in Ugurlu, run by a cadre of twisted and half-withered Crowns. The cult leaders and ranking priests meet in what was once a stepwell in an older incarnation of the city. The lesser members and initiates meet around the city and in places as far off as Oldfire. Few know what arcane secrets are held by the Crowns, or what further secrets are pursued. Rikesha Cult (Cunning, Guile, Move, Relate) An ancient cult grown in dark caves from the Kesava Grasslands to the Parushaya Mountains. They worship feral monkeys of the more lush regions near Kesava and the Lake District, often taking monkeys as pets and including them in cult rituals. One of the less secretive cults. Parwami Cult (Thrive, Labor, Touch, Relate) Focused on the cycles of the Vendhi River, this cult has spread surprisingly far from its natural origin. Parwami Crowns exert influence across Upper Edrada, although the largest hub of devotees existed in the watery catacombs of Onkod, now destroyed. A very wealthy and secretive cult, the Parwami are rumored to be favored by the current Stewards of Ugurlu. Janeshkha Cult (Cunning, Thrive, Move, Touch) The Elephant God, a wise teacher, playwright, and minstrel. Janeshka imbues his followers with creativity, fertility, and wisdom. The central cult devoted to Janeshka meets in chambers beneath the city of Uranishad, near the southern rivers. Imperial Cult (Fight, Guile, Labor, Relate) Created under the reign of Szedarc, the Fourteenth Empress, the Imperial Cult is the only sect ruled by the Right caste. Temples are austere, decorated with smooth, four-sided obelisks instead of ornately carved spires. Bhimavagra Cult (Fight, Labor, Move, Touch) Followers of Bhimavagra, the Giant-Brother, Guardian of Anishad, Slayer of Vadu, are warlike and violent. Cult rituals are bloody, often involving close relatives of the most powerful cult leaders. Bhimavagra is a cult of betrayal and fratricide as old as the city of Anishad with roots older than the Nibu people.
197
Alagoth Milieus: Druid Circle (Duadha)
Census
Druid- Gender Male- Female- Age Young- Adult- Mature- Heritage Duadha- Parsi- Alignments Membership (in
4 Cunning 5 Touch 5 Thrive 1 Fight 1 Relate 1 Labor 2 Move 2 Guile Circle)
Druids live in isolated Circles within the White Forest where they function as oracles and seers, tending to the spiritual and preternatural well-being of the Alagoth people. The bold few may travel with patron Alagoth families in nomadic settlements as holy men, priestesses, and counselors. Male druids tend to have a greater mastery of the Threads, and thus concern themselves with the stars, esoteric wisdom, and fate. Female druids on the other hand have a greater propensity for the Arcane arts, and can usually be found performing sacrifices, devouring a tome, or communing with spirits of the Fray. Druids function outside the rigidly patriarchal Alagoth social hierarchy and are more or less accepted by the many prominent families despite their sometime unsettling practices. When druids are found in urban environments, they usually downplay their heritage and busy themselves with clerical duties for pay. All druids draw their power from the White Forest and make pilgrimages to renowned holy sites as often as they can. Alignments Druids begin the game with a Membership related to their particular Circle. Most Circles are named after a tree and a color. New characters with an Investment of 1 can expect benefits related to friends and professional contacts. Few benefits are maintained outside the immediate environs of the Circle. Magicks Druids and other Alagoths can perform all kinds of magick allowed by any given patriarch or camp leader.
198
Alagoth Milieus: Warrior 5 Fight 1 Guile 2 Labor 2 Relate 2 Cunning 4 Move 4 Touch 4 Thrive
Census
Warrior- Gender Male- Age Young- Adult- Mature- Heritage Parsi- Edish- Foreigner- Alignments Membership (in Membership (in
Camp or City) Clan)
The vast majority of Alagoth males fall into the warrior milieu. Archers, berserkers, skilled horsemen, and talented swordsmen-- When the Alagoth settled the foothills and forests of Lower Edrada, when they survived the centuries of migration over the Steppe, it was credited to the skill, flexibility, and power of their warriors. The powerful patriarchs in their mobile caravans, the lesser sons and nephews with undying loyalty to their families, and the hired riders who have sworn allegiance to one family or another are all part of the warrior Milieu in Alagoth society. Warriors command respect and obedience from those below them in the family hierarchy and manage their own lesser relatives and servants while serving He Who Bears the Horn. Alignments Warriors begin the game with a Membership in their clan group. Each clan has a family tartan worn on cloaks and sashes, identifying members. A clan fits the Warrior into Alagoth history as a part of one Patriarch or another’s lineage. For an Investment of 1, Warriors own a single horse and may take a single wife. At an Investment of 2, the hero commands a handful of horsemen and a stable of horses under his care. As the Investment increases, Warriors gain renown as a male of the hawad and finally the huol, granting them more servants and lesser relatives. This Alignment grants the male access to the competition for wives and horses, but does not include any income or equipment. Alagoth warriors also begin a campaign with a Membership in their particular camp or city. An Investment of 1 grants the character access to food, relatives, everyday supplies, and a household of his own. In cities, this membership most often assumes income from shepherding and routine merchant trips. Warriors with many horses who hail from notable clans can also enter into Alagoth political life and engage in the world of intrigue and sabotage that determines the power balance among clans sharing a city.
199
The gathered Rights on the extravagant streets of the Lake District all turned their heads to see this fellow Neferatha—if he could be called that, given the pastiche that formed his flesh—chide his servant. “But, no, wait—“ Rollick said, pleading. “I’m good for you! I carry things. I make you laugh.” “I do not laugh.” “On the inside,” Rollick clarified. “On the inside, I meant!”
Census
“Leave.” “But who will carry your pack now that Charna is gone and Wren is off procuring supplies?” Kalis’atha shrugged. “Leave the pack here. I should learn to travel lighter.” “...here? But I could at least carry it a few more days for you.” Rollick reached up only to touch Kalis’atha’s arm, just a light touch, just a reassuring Surely, we’re friends touch. Kalis’atha charged a numb rush of magick into his hand, grabbed Rollick’s wrist, and snapped it at a sharp angle. The bone jutted out. Fresh blood ran into the sand. Rollick keened like a banshee and rolled onto his back: a kicked puppy. “You’ve done me no good,” Kalis’atha seethed. It was a lie, a ruse: Rollick had done him plenty of good, and was doing him well right now. He spoke loudly so that all could hear: “Have you found me the Alagoth diplomat? The one known as Ikazamir? No. You have not. The liar remains at large. Thus you have failed me, and thus I must look for someone else to show me the way.” He offered one last profane gesture to Rollick, who had crumpled in upon himself like an abused pillbug. Then he strode away. • • • Later, Rollick huddled between two tents. In the air hung a scent of rotting cardamom, candy-like and cloying. A shadow descended upon him. “You did well,” Kalis’atha said. “An old man came to me. Said that the Alagoth had come through here but had gone. Likely onto one of the tree cities, away from the Lake’s edge.” He took a pouch pregnant with coin and pressed it into Rollick’s one good hand. The pale Rollick blanched and bleated his response: “Are you sure you don’t want me to follow you still? We... we make a good team.” “I have Wren,” Kalis’atha said. He glanced down at Rollick. In his gaze was nothing but shame and embarrassment for this little man. “Besides. Your wing is broken, little gull. I do not need a broken-winged gull to hop after me.” And those were Kalis’atha’s last words to Rollick.
200
Alagoth Milieus: Lesser Relative 2 Fight 5 Relate 5 Touch 5 Thrive 4 Guile 4 Cunning 1 Move 1 Labor
Census
Lesser Relative- Gender Female- Gharun- Male- Age Youthful- Elder- Heritage Parsi- Foreigner- Alignments Patronage Profession
Domestic servants and lesser relatives make up a third social milieu in Alagoth society. Poor female domestics are maids, cooks, seamstresses, and messengers. Wealthy females need be nothing more than an important daughter, wife, or mother. Males unfit for horsemanship can be shepherds, performers, and artists. Gharun are respected advisors and strategists. They all have a place below the ranking males of the clan. Alignments Lesser relatives can take a Patronage to a host patriarch or other important male. For an Investment of 1, lesser relatives gain access to shelter, food, reasonable protection, and travel supplies. These characters, however, are beholden to a superior male. Alagoth religious life and common philosophy provide all relatives respect, rights under the law, and a certain autonomy. Domestics who do not take a Patronage must choose an Alignment in a Profession. Professions offer unattached domestics basic needs and a small income. For an Investment of 1, Domestic characters can live in a city and know a trade. Trades may often require Arts to support them.
201
Anu Milieus: Sabu Caste
Census
Sabu- 5 Fight Gender Male- 4 Cunning Female- 4 Thrive Age 1 Relate Young- Adult- 1 Move Mature- 1 Touch Heritage H’han- 2 Guile Other- 2 Labor Alignments Membership (in Caste) Membership (in Family) Anu society is arranged around a rather rigid class system, but prestige rather than wealth is the mark of class. Most Anu live according to a set stipend of maize. A koku is enough maize to feed one immediate family for one year. Sabu are the most prestigious class and have certain rights over the other ranks of society, but a low-ranking sabu can make less koku each year than a renowned courtesan or successful merchant. Sabu belong to families and Houses based on kinship and kinbased alliances. Alignments Each Sabu character must choose two Alignments. One is to be a Member of the Sabu class, which offers the character benefits in prestige and a yearly stipend of at least 20 koku. For an Investment of 1, the sabu has a sword and a household with however many servants and lesser relatives he or she can afford (a single servant costs 1 koku, but that gives the Sabu rights to make servants of the entire family). Sabu characters must also choose a family Membership. The prominent families of Anu court life are continually embroiled in alliance and rivalry, intrigue and maneuvering. Each House is made up of several families. Those Sabu who live outside a family are branded Roji and are prohibited from receiving official stipends. They become wandering mercenaries or bandits, if they attempt to retain Sabu honor at all. For 1 Investment, the character belongs to an established family with ties to a respected House.
202
Magicks Arcane magicks among Sabu are seen as evidence of a powerful spirit or anima. Less wealthy Anu magickers generally have to join the priesthood to make use of their skills. Weavers of the Loom are respected as “weathersmiths” whatever their abilities and are frequently hired by local villages and lords alike.
Anu Milieus: Independent Khazil Labor Fight Cunning Move Touch Relate
Census
Independent Khazil- 5 Gender Male- 4 Female- 4 Age 1 Adult- Elder- 1 Heritage 2 Khazil- Alignments Profession Membership (in Clan)
The descendents of Khazil children who were sold to Anu merchants in centuries past are now paid as indentured laborers and servants in the Kuludo Islands, though some have forged a semiautonomous state of their own in the Eastern Islands, Hatzilotl. Following a cultural revival within Khazil communities and the political changes of the Six-Fronts War, many Khazil workers were set free from a bonded way of life. Because they are not Sabu, they accrue no stigma from being Roji. Many of these Khazils migrated to the Eastern Islands and set up a new state of their own, arranged by clans and elders. These Khazil are miners, mead brewers, and metalsmiths who have grown obsessed with the riches of the earth. Gems and precious metals line their pockets, and knowledge of metallurgy and the Arcane arts make them very useful to the Anu who hire them. Alignments Khazils must choose a Profession. For an Investment of 1, the Khazil has a trade that supports him or her with basic needs, food, clothing, and shelter. Optionally, the Khazil may choose a to be a Member of a clan in Hatzilotl. Though inspired by the clans of their childhoods in Vaankur, the Khazil living in the Kuludo Islands have forged their own clans and fictive ancestries. Some clans have spent a dozen generations in Kuludo and know nothing of the frozen continent at all. For an Investment of 1, characters gain contacts, relatives, and a clan identity. Only Khazil in prominent families are respected by the Sabu, who value heritage and nobility. Magicks Khazils are part of the Anu culture and value magick in similar ways to the H’han and Thun that surround them.
203
Anu Milieus: Khe
Census
Courtesan- Gender Khe- Age Young Adult- Elder- Heritage H’han- Other- Alignments Membership (in Profession
5 Relate 4 Guile 2 Thrive 2 Fight 1 Labor 1 Cunning Caste)
Khe Courtesans and entertainers to the Sabu court are their own class among the Anu. The class includes all those of the khe gender, which contains both biologically male and female individuals. Khe are creators of beauty and sought after councilors and teachers among Sabu and wealthy citizens. All khe children are recruited to the Courtesan class and raised as professional performers, aesthetes, and escorts. When young children show a favoring of the left hand, they are regarded as of the khe gender and given to a firm or trained privately among the family. All khe are left-handed, and all left-handed Anu are khe. They take the feminine pronoun. Alignments A Membership in the class is required of all Courtesans. For an Investment of 1, the Courtesan is a trained entertainer with a series of clients and access to food and shelter. Clothing appropriate for a Courtesan, however, must be purchased with coin. The khe lives in a household with other Courtesans and works to sustain the community house or lives on retainer on a wealthy Anu estate. Courtesans can also choose a Profession, which supplies them with coin. For an Investment of 1, the Courtesan is semi-autonomous and may leave her house un-chaperoned. Khe may develop their own clients and business dealings, even rising to the status of Keeper, one who runs a house of khe Courtesans. Khe are not property kept in brothels or used as objects by lecherous Anu. They are a gender considered natural and biologically ordained. Khe are the artists, musicians, and performers of the Anu and often run their own affairs as part of a firm.
204
Anu Milieus: Citizen 1 Thrive 4 Move 4 Touch 2 Fight 2 Labor 2 Guile 5 Relate 5 Cunning
Census
Citizen- Gender Male- Female- Age Young- Adult- Elder- Heritage Thun- Other- Alignments Profession Patronage
Citizens are the artisans, servants, farmers, and merchants of Anu society. Servants live and work in Sabu households and are more often than not connected to a particular Family for generations. The vast majority of Anu are Citizens. Citizens make up over seventy percent of the Anu population and can be wealthy or poor, urban or rural. Alignments Most Citizen Anu choose a Patronage to work for a particular House in exchange for a yearly stipend of maize. Additionally, or instead of a Patronage, Citizen Anu may choose a Profession. Servants with a Profession can become more valuable to their lords and gain additional income to their Patronage tie. In Anu society, merchants are not a separate class of wealthy guild members. Merchants are shopkeepers, food sellers, and wandering salespeople who sell goods and services for coin instead of koku stipends. Merchants are those citizens with a Profession but no Patron.
205
Vayok Milieus: Urban (Three Homes)
Census
Urban- Gender Male- Female- Age Young- Adult- Mature- Heritage Khazil- Foreigner- Alignments Membership (in Profession
5 Relate 1 Thrive 1 Fight 4 Move 4 Cunning 4 Labor 2 Guile 2 Touch Clan)
Most Urban Vayok live in Wagshigaad, the largest Vayok settlement and the only port on the Vaankur continent. The other permanent camps, Tagorgaad and Hendrgaad, are much less populated. Wagshigaad is the only place on Vaankur where Vayoks live outside the culture of the ritual hunts and raids and is one of the Three Homes. Vayok of Wagshigaad may be merchants, smiths, boat makers, city officials, or foreign workers, but even in this more modern environment, Vayok still maintain their Clan identity and ties. Alignments Urban Vayok characters may begin the game with a Membership in a family Clan. For 1 Investment, characters gain access to food, relatives, supplies, and wolves. These characters work as traders and laborers for their Clan on the docks and in the city at large. Foreigners cannot usually have a Clan identity. Characters may instead or additionally choose an Alignment in a Profession. For an Investment of 1, the character has a trade that supports him or her in the Wagshigaad economy. The player may need to choose an Art to support this Profession. Magicks Magick is not feared by the Vayok. In fact, more than any of the other cultures surrounding the Hara Sea, the Vayok embrace the manifold arts of magick. Although wicked shaman exist and witchcraft has risen in popularity since the Six-Fronts Wars, Vayok still cultivate deep connections with the Fey of Vaankur and the Old Gods who walk among the animals in the frozen plateaus.
206
Vayok Milieus: Clan Settlements 1 Guile 2 Cunning 2 Relate 4 Sense 4 Fight 4 Thrive 5 labor (Wikwasha 5 Touch)
Census
Settlements- Gender Male- Female- Age Young- Adult- Mature- Heritage Khazil- Alignments Membership (in Membership (in
Clan) Settlement)
Vayok who live in the outlying settlements practice a way of life that has changed little in centuries. These Vayok hunt the great animals of the tundra, raise wolves, raid the shores of Edrada and Gundrada, and celebrate both the triumphs of such undertakings, and the sorrows, in song. They are mead brewers, robust hunters and fighters, and tinkerers of magick. The harsh conditions of living in the Vaankur wilderness require two complementary Alignments for all characters. Alignments Vayok in the settlements must choose a Membership in a family clan to belong to. The Clan provides identity and access to food, supplies, relatives, and shelter. Without a Clan, a Vayok would have no place in settlement society. Settlement Vayok must also choose an Alignment in a Membership to a Settlement. For an Investment of 1, characters get access to other Clans, foreign goods, friends, and rivals. Being a member of a settlement also gives the character much more knowledge of the outside world, access to the knowledge of elders, and use of communal spaces such as shrines and longhouses.
207
Vayok Milieus: Shaman
Census
Shaman- Gender Male- Female- Age Youth- Elder- Heritage Khazil- Alignments Patronage Profession Family Clan
5 Touch 2 Move 2 Labor 4 Guile 4 Cunning 1 Fight
Shaman are the medicine men and women and the spiritual guides of the Vayok. Priests and magickers, however, do not need to be shaman and may flourish in other Milieus as well. Both Arcane and Loom magicks are used in Vayok traditions, and many Shaman wield them in equal measure. Shaman live within the settlements as well as the cities, though some are hermits who come only when directed or sought after. At such times they perform everyday rituals, heal the sick, create charms for hunters and travelers, and offer support in times of danger. Alignments Shaman must begin the game with a Patronage that connects them to their mentor. New characters are apprentices to the Shaman of yesterday and must learn their skills from an older relative. Characters must also choose either a Profession or a Family Clan to support themselves. Professional Shaman generally live in one of the Three Homes, and Shaman attached to a particular Clan live in the tundra settlements. Magicks Shaman practice many kinds of magick, serving under mentors or the spirits themselves. It is not unknown for shaman to take up relationships with motherings in exchange for Arcane lore, though such a bond would forsake the shaman’s relationship to his or her people forever.
208
He met Wren by the Lake’s edge. Light glittered on the blue water like a handful of diamonds cast across cerulean tile. Around them, the tents and trees, the smell of opium, the cries of distant monkeys. “Is it done?” Wren asked. She was a tough thing, more like a wild hog than a little bird, thus making her name more ironic than anything. Kalis’atha nodded. “It is. Rollick did well for what Rollick does.”
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It was then that he saw her. The girl with the two knives. Standing by a crimson pergola, the dark red wood thrust deep into the sand. She was watching them. He didn’t think much of it; the piercing gaze of vigilant stares was part and parcel of the Lake District, watchful faces eager for a taste of gossip, a dollop of salacious rumor to fall sweet upon the tongue. In fact, Kalis’atha expected it. It was useful to him. They told one another of the strange Crown looking for Ikazamir, and word got around. Still. It tickled at the back of his neck. But soon he’d forget. He’d forget until the White Forest. • • • The knife in the back of his leg shot a lightning’s bolt of pain up into his hip and down into his foot. He danced around, almost falling, but still managed to wrench the blade free from the back of his knee. An arc of blood spattered the ground. And all around him, the trees burned. Smoke rose. Great clots of it. It stung his nose. His eyes. Something moved. He couldn’t see the girl. He cast a heaving wind toward the smoke and cleared a path, but if she had been in that spot she wasn’t there now. He held her knife—still dripping his own blood—tight in his inhuman grip. He decided to do something unusual. Unusual for him, anyway. He decided to talk. Or, even stranger, to ask. He declared. He stated. He never asked. Still. The fire around him. His leg oozing blood. He had to know. Had to get this over with. “Why?” he called out, his voice loud so as to drown out the snap and crack of burning branches (calling to mind pig-fat popping in a hot pan). He wanted this over. He was in a hurry. The question was the only way. She answered him, then. As a whisper in his ear. “Because you killed my brother,” she hissed. Her other knife plunged deep behind his shoulder blade.
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Step 3: Aptitudes & Traits Early Dark is built around eight Aptitudes that simplify and summarize the myriad ways a living organism can approach a challenge. The Aptitudes represent how an animal could respond to its environment and how likely it is to use one particular drive or instinct over another. Using Aptitudes instead of attributes, the game focuses on what a person is good at, not what is good about the person. Every action in Early Dark combines two of these Aptitudes.
This Aptitude encompasses all manner of tasks requiring mental acuity, whether through a good a memory, a collection of notes, experience and training, the ability to visualize events unfolding, or innovation. Humans forge plans as much as they forge iron, and Cunning is useful both in and out of combat. Beavers build dams; chimpanzees use sticks and tools to catch ants; otters use rocks to break open clams; snakes use rattles to warn other animals away instead of fighting them.
How would the sword-master respond to being locked up in a cell and forgotten? How would the sage react to the charge of a bloodthirsty giant? How would the destitute rogue go about earning a little coin? That is the art of the game: Making choices, not raising statistics.
Fight combat, melee, spirit, tenacity, aggressiveness
Aptitudes
After choosing a Milieu and assigning the Aptitudes related to the categories, each player has 12 more points to allocate among the remaining four Aptitudes. For starting characters, each Aptitude is limited to 5, and the sum of all Aptitudes is limited to 24. The four Aptitudes fixed from the Milieu cannot be changed at this point, but Epithets can improve any part of your character in the future (see Heraldry, 273). The absolute limit for any Aptitude is 7. Distribute 12 points among the remaining Aptitudes. You cannot change the four already set, and no Aptitude can start higher than 5. This ensures each hero begins with both strengths and weaknesses.
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This Aptitude encompasses both an organism’s willingness to provoke open combat with another creature and its potential to cause physical damage. Whether reliant on strength, size, speed, training, bravado, or luck, the Fighting Aptitude represents all that would make someone more likely than her opponent to get what she wants from physical confrontation. Fighting covers strength, training, reflexes, battle experience—all the potential factors that make one human more capable of surviving body-to-body conflict than another—but also the natural weapons and armor of animals. Humans fight with weapons, and their knowledge of weapons and other technologies of war is part of what makes them human. The Fighting Aptitude includes human weapons along with the stalking habits of the tiger, the pack formation of the wolf, the powerful shoulders and neck of the ram, and the teeth of the crocodile. Relate socialize, empathy, bond, charisma, presence
The Aptitude of Relate is essential to the human animal. Socializing and building relationships and societies are substantial elements of human evolution and present Cunning day-to-day life. Relate represents a character’s creativity, intelligence, ingenuity, memory ability to form bonds with other people and animals, to feel a connection and capitalize The Aptitude of Cunning represents the on it. This bond could stem from charisma, character’s reliance on quick thinking, physical appearance, authority, or a sense of resourcefulness, and creative problem solving.
humor. Relate can be used both to flatter a ruler and to indoctrinate an underling. The ability to manipulate others is a key to political power, while a capacity for love and affection leads to peace of mind and emotional fulfillment. Relate also includes feeling the vibe or energy of a situation, knowing what manners to display and what social expectations are made by others.
Thrive Move willpower, resolve, change, grow, adapt flexibility, speed, balance, agility, reflexes The Aptitude Thrive is basic to all life. This is the most primal and essential of all living drives. Some call this the conatus, the force that pushes animals to self-preservation and reproduction. This Aptitude encompasses the ability to adapt and change direction when needed but also perseverance and the wherewithal to commit resolutely to a course and follow it through. Thrive is best illustrated in the roots of the tree, growing ever longer either around the rock or through it. Life will find a way. Thrive also covers the abilities to relax, endure, heal, and meditate.
Move represents a character’s capacity for rapid and even movement. Mobility is necessary for animals to avoid predators, find food and potential mates, mark out a territory, and seek shelter. Covering ground is important, but so is remaining flexible and well-balanced without moving one’s feet. The Move Aptitude encompasses the character’s ability to stay in one place while dodging potential blows as well as the ability to speedily retreat if danger should prove overpowering. Whether speed or balance is needed, the Aptitude for Move is used. It comes into play when covering ground quietly, taking less damage during a fall, keeping the body upright in the water, Touch or protecting the face when moving at high awareness, sensitivity, feel, finesse, artistry speeds. The Aptitude of Touch encompasses all the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, but includes other connotations of the
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word as well. To sense is to feel and recognize, to perceive as either friend or foe, danger or advantage. Touch covers a character’s use of all her senses, including preternatural abilities long thought dead in the human mind. The sensitivity of an organism to change in the environment is also important: feeling the wind change direction, noticing a drop in air pressure, feeling the vibrations of advancing horses. Touch also includes skills at drawing, artistry, and handicrafts. Guile stealth, trickery, feign, hide Labor bulk, productivity, inertia, stubbornness Guile is necessary for the survival of many animals. The lioness stalks close to the antelope without proclaiming her proximity; the angler The Labor Aptitude represents the ability to fish lures prey near her mouth with a flashing modify the world around one. Elephants tear light; insects of all kinds resemble other things, down trees to create space; spiders build webs; whether bird, stick, leaf, or bark. Even the male herds of cattle clear the grasslands. Whether lion grows a thick mane to deceive his rivals intentional or accidental, physical or mental, into thinking he is bigger than he actually is, conscious or unconscious, Labor encompasses saving his energy for more important conflicts. all that would change the world into something The Guile Aptitude covers all trickery and different. This Aptitude reflects on the size of dishonesty, from lying and espionage to moving the animal involved along with how much space without sound and launching an attack from it takes up. Labor rolls usually include some the dark. Guile is not merely social but also physical object or environment that is being physical in its manifestations. handled or otherwise affected.
Calculating Your Traits
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Each Trait corresponds to one Aptitude and includes any Augments purchased by the player in Epithets. Augments can change the Rank of a Trait without affecting the underlying Aptitude. This allows characters the bonuses of a particular Trait without requiring the investment needed to raise an Aptitude. Also, though Aptitudes are capped at 7, enough Augments can be purchased to raise Trait Ranks up to 11, and enchanted objects can push Traits up to 13. The Rank of a Trait is calculated by adding the corresponding Aptitude to any Augments. Enchantments or magickal equipment the character has can also impact the overall Rank of a Trait. Because characters start a campaign with no Augments or magickal objects, the Rank of each Trait will start identical to the corresponding Aptitude. Building Augments into your Epithets and finding magickal items that offer Trait Modifiers allow you to improve a character’s performance without having to increase his or her Aptitudes. Fill in the Ranks and Traits for each Aptitude. Leave the Augment and Modifier fields blank for starting characters. Tacks per Turn (TPT) This determines how many Tacks a player can articulate from the results of a single roll. See 223 and 238 in the following chapter for how to make the most of your hero’s Tacks per Turn. Damage per Die (DPD) This is the amount of Fatigue dealt per die when a hero uses a Primary Tack to Fatigue an opponent with or without a weapon. Load bonuses are often added to this product. Check out “Dealing Damage” on page 264 for more information on using a character’s Damage per Die Trait.
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Upkeep Discount The Upkeep Discount allows your hero to gather and command Followers more easily. The discount reduces the number of Renown you spend keeping Followers loyal and committed. See Heraldry, 282. Investment Renown Limit (Lim.) Your Investment Page Limit allows your hero to invest more Pages into Alignments. Characters with a high Investment Limit climb social ladders more quickly and expand their influence more broadly than their peers. Earning more Pages for playing to Alignments allows a hero to purchase Epithets more quickly. See Heraldry, 278. Initiative Bonus (Ini.) The Initiative Bonus is added to the 1d10 Initiative roll when deciding the order of combat. Initiative not only determines the order of the combat, but also allows those with higher initiatives to establish Range on those with lower rolls. For more information, see “Establish Ranges” on page 243. Guard The character’s Guard is re-rolled every time the hero goes “on guard” and becomes ready for combat. Also, Guard is rolled each time the hero suffers a Wound. For more information, see “Guard and Defenses” and “Dealing Damage,” 260-265.
Ranks & Traits
Ground The Ground Trait represents a character’s overall size, toughness, and ability to sustain damage, the cornerstone of defense against receiving Wounds. See how Ground works in combat in “Guard and Defenses” on page 260. Rolls Per Round (RPR) The Rolls Per Round Trait indicates how many rolls a character can make in a single round of combat. These include offensive and defensive rolls as well as any Checks or Saves the Scribe requires. For more information, see “Playing a Round” on page 242.
Secondary Trait
Each Hero has a Vest Capacity and a Total Capacity. The Vest Capacity is equal to a hero’s Ground and represents how much can be worn as dead weight during combat or physical exertion without discomfort. This includes armor and combat items carried “ready at hand” directly on the hero’s person (arrows, throwing knives, Resins, etc.). If a character enters combat or performs strenuous labor carrying more Load than his or her Vest permits, he or she suffers Exertion Fatigue once per Round or at the Scribe’s discretion (see 268).
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Rank TPT DPD Upkeep Lim. Guard Ini. Ground RPR 1 3 1 0 3 15+ 0 5 3 2 16+ +1 6 3 4 17+ +2 7 4 18+ 8 4 5 5 2 -1 19+ +3 9 4 6 20+ 10 7 -2 5 22+ 8 24+ 11 9 6 3 -3 26+ +4 5 10 28+ 12 11 6 30+ +5 12 32+ 13 13 7 4 -4 7 34+ +6 14 6 Weapons that are being wielded in combat (i.e. not carried as dead weight) do not count against a hero’s Vest during combat. They would, however, count as a hero’s Vest if worn on the back or hip during heavy labor. Think of the hero’s Vest Capacity as the amount of weight that can be worn comfortably when working or fighting. Bags that can be dropped or otherwise easily set down need not be counted against a character’s Vest. Unless the sack or item is held as baggage (i.e. dead weight) during combat or labor, it would not count as part of the hero’s Vest. It is smart for heroes to keep smaller bags separate from “ready at hand” items needed in combat. To keep track of how things are carried, the character sheet provides separate boxes within the space allotted for Inventory. The Total Capacity, set at twice the hero’s Ground, is the absolute maximum amount of weight any hero can carry. All weapons, armor, items, and equipment carried on his or her person count against a hero’s Total Capacity. Think of the Total Capacity as the amount of weight that can be lugged around during normal walking, idling about, or riding. As a hero’s Labor increases, so will his or her Ground, and thus his or her Capacities as well.
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Step 4: Dice & Arts Before selecting Arts, the players must arrange their characters’ Domain Dice.
Domain Dice
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The Mundane Domain is the realm of everyday life, and most Checks and Saves will require rolling Mundane Dice. Both physical and mental actions take place in the Mundane realm. Loom dice represent the character’s knowledge and experience with the Great Loom that guides all life. The Weft is the path of all things, their comings and goings, their pasts and futures all arranged and represented in the fabric of reality. One who reads the Weft can shape matter and time with the pull of a thread or the snipping of a lifeline. Knowledge of the Loom is both a science and an art. Those versed in weaving within the Great Tapestry that reflects and renders the material world see the connections between the will and the body more clearly than others. Arts in the Arcane Domain are called Arcana and mechanically differ from both the Mundane and Loom Domains. To specialize in the Arcane is to live in another world, to focus the will on another way of living that necessarily mitigates the individual’s competence in day-to-day activities. The aim is to take one foot out of this world and place it another, more stormy realm, where the power lost in mundane life is regained five, ten, or twenty fold. (see page 249 in the Grammar for more about the mechanic of the Arcane domain)
Dice
Cost in Stars
Heroes all start with 4 dice in each Domain. Players spend 7 further Stars to purchase additional Dice according to the chart at the bottom of the page. begin the campaign with: 4 Raw Arts 2 Talents (Mundane or Arcane) 4 Wounds (or an agreed, smaller amount) 3 Guard Dice 4 Each Domain Dice (7 Stars) Create Unarmed Fighting Style (it takes the Light Aspect) Record Arts on the character sheet with the connected Footings, Domains, and Effects.
Arts Each Art is a cultural artifact, a body of knowledge passed on for generations that makes available different Attacks and Talents. In this way, heroes do not “have” or “use” Arts; they simply bring the Arts into play by acting in the relevant Footing and using the skills they have gathered from those cultural traditions. Arts are lifestyles and ways of being. Arts will teach your hero skills and abilities, and attacks. Think of these abilities or attacks as all the things your hero can do with “a Tack” of dice. Attacks include a variety of skills, natural abilities, and know-how. Each hero will learn the stages of an Art from Raw, to Low, and then to High. These must be purchased in order, with each stage increasing in cost. Talents desired from an Art can be
Common Distributions
5-7 1 Mundane 9 8 8 7 7 8-9 2 Arcane 4 5 6 5 6 10-13 3 Loom 4 5 4 7 6
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purchased in any order, heroes pursuing each tradition as far as needed. Heroes can use Attacks and Talents only when their Footing matches that of the Art. It is important to remember that most Mundane actions do not require an Art to perform at all. That is, the character does not need Hacking Blade to swing a sword. Arts represent what the character has focused mental energy on, what the character has made an effort to improve, and where his or her tricks and special abilities lie. Characters who do not want to master a particular weapon can still carry one and wield it skillfully in combat. No Art needed. Arcana, on the other hand, must be gained through apprenticeship, read on a scroll or tablet, or otherwise learned before they may be cast. Touching the Loom also requires Arts, called Insights, which are learned through
The new character can choose Mundane Talents that accompany an Art, or Arcane Talents, which unlock a Family of Magick (324). That is to say, before any Arcana can be chosen, the basic Talent for the entire Family must be selected. In the future, Arcana of a new Family cannot be purchased in the same Epithet that includes the Talent for that Family. Magickers must plan ahead, purchasing Family Talents in one Epithet and the desired Arcana in later Epithets.
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The young magicker had been spotted, a trail of light following the fluid motions of his hands as he ran through the dark streets. There was no mistaking a fissure in the Tapestry: The light refracting through space, the vacuum of sound—common signs of the arcane arts. He ducked into an alley behind the temple just as the pair of bruisers rounded the last corner. They were cousins of the brew-master Marrus had struck dead a minute ago. He would collect the second half of his pay under the East Hawk Bridge and get out of Lokod by morning. A sound. They had him. Four thick hands gripped his upper-body and tossed it to the ground. Feet booted with leather stomped his stomach and chest. A stone blade pulled from beneath a belt stabbed for his side, but by then Marrus had regained his guard: Fire crackled from his fingers again, blinding and burning the men who stood around him. They screamed in agony. Attracting more attention, Marrus thought. Leaving them near death, he sprinted toward the bridge in the most indirect route he could think up.
experience without special instruction or outside help.
Blood Magick cannot be learned unless the character selects the Arcane Talent associated with Blood Magick and a stage in the Mundane Atavism Art. Without such an atavism, the hero would not have Fell blood in his or her body to fuel the magick. Heroes do not gain the benefits of a new Epithet at the time it is created. They must wait until the Epithet is appropriated, i.e. purchased with Renown, before gaining the abilities within. For more on Epithets, see the following section and 274. Blood Your character’s Blood is a measure of his or her magickal resistance and power. Blood acts as a Defense against many Arcane spells and as a buffer against Drain. All spells cost Blood, and wise magickers will find better ways to pay the price of wielding powerful energies than spilling their own. For more information on the two-fold use of Blood, see “Guard and Defenses” (260) and “Arcane Magick” (249) in Grammar. A hero’s Blood is set at twice his or her Arcane Dice. Whenever more Arcane Dice are purchased, the Blood is automatically raised alongside them. Blood equals 2 X Arcane Dice. Armor and Aura generally begin at 0 but can be augemented with equipment and Arts.
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Step 5: First Epithet
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Each player chooses a starting Epithet that covers the life of his or her character “up ‘til now.” Is the foreign H’han a refugee, visiting scholar, or wealthy merchant? How is she known in the social context of the scenario? This Epithet sets up whatever hook, mystery, or tragedy the player hopes to weave into the character’s past. This is not the only time an Epithet can re-texture a character’s past, but this step is a key place to solidify how players see their heroes fitting in. Everyone has some hook for the character, some talent or secret that makes for an interesting hero. Now is your chance to make that unique back story official. This Epithet is unlocked but not completed. Players will assign Augments, Aptitudes, Arts (Raw, Low, and High), and Talents up to 50 Renown as prescribed in the Heraldry (276). The hero must then save up 50 Renown by playing to Alignments before purchasing/ appropriating the bonuses of the Epithet. You can now make firm each hero’s roll in the Scenario, deciding who, where, when, and why the suggested meeting takes place. Is anyone related? How do the characters know each other? What brings each person to the event? Work as a group to fill in how each character ended up in the scenario, fleshing out back stories on foreigners and explaining what happened earlier that day, earlier that week, or earlier that year. Choose a Name for each character and record it on the character sheet. Imagine the appearance of your face.
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Many starting players decide to make the backstory Epithet reflect the character’s involvement in the Six-Fronts Wars. What was your hero up to during the thirty years of conflict that reshaped the borders of the world and lessened just a handful of years ago?
Step 6: Equipment Characters begin the game with any weapons or items suitable to their Milieus and Professions. Scribes are encouraged to flesh out the characters’ material goods according to their social situations and the immediate circumstance of the Scenario.
Load An item’s Load is not only its size and weight, but also a measure of how awkward it would be to carry. A swath of cloth a few yards wide may be incredibly light, but it would still be awkward and cumbersome to carry. Though they may be both light and small, carrying a priceless heirloom, ancient artifact, or glass jar may be difficult to carry safely; and so such objects would earn a high Load value. The Load of a weapon is used as a damage bonus on all Fatigue attacks.
Common Loads 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
Heavy purse, one day of food, 2 Resins Pillow, extra clothes, helmet, 1 vial Glass container, medium shield, Sack of potatoes, delicate wooden artifact, large shield, Soft Armor jacket Delicate ornament, tent Sack of melons, chest, average Hard Armor Camping supplies and tent Carrying an average adult, good Armor
Aspects An Aspect is a set of Penalties based on the ideal Range of a weapon or an object used as a
The ideal Range of each Aspect offers no Penalties, while other Ranges will offer [-1] or [-2] Penalties depending on the distance from the opponent. An “X” in any Range means that weapons of that Aspect cannot be wielded at such a Range at all. Use the following chart to determine the Aspects of all weapons and objects wielded as weapons in the game:
Aspects & Ranges
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All objects in Early Dark have a Load, and, when used by a human as a weapon, an Aspect. Load is the weight of the object and how difficult it is to carry. Aspects represent the utility of an object and how it is best used in combat. Weapons of war designed specifically to inflict damage on other humans or animals like swords, bows, knives, and flails also have a Balance, representing the weapon’s design and quality.
weapon. There are four Aspects, representing the ways different kinds of weapons are used in combat.
Grapple Reach Melee Long
Heavy [-2] [-1] Short Light [0] Ranged X
[-1]
[0]
X
[0]
[-1]
X
[-1]
[-2]
X
X
X
[0]
For a detailed description of each Range and how they are qualitatively defined, see “Ranges” in the Grammar on page 241. Balance Balance represents the quality and utility of a well designed weapon. A high Balance reflects careful craftsmanship, longevity, and ease of maintenance. Natural objects do not have a Balance. A weapon’s Balance can also be used to assess its overall quality and how much it might be worth in gems or coins. The Balance of a weapon should not be thought of as simply an inverse of its Load, although light, finely wrought weapons will generally have a higher Balance than heavy or clunky armaments. Most attacks will use a weapon’s Balance as a Strike bonus in combat. Check out the Almanac for a list of weapons and their basic properties, 362.
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Chapter the Fourth
Grammar of Rules Creating a hero is the first step of inhabiting the world of the Hara Sea. In Early Dark, each player gets to role-play a hero who springs up from among a people. This organic hero is not a detached wandered but an individual bound to a culture for better or worse. The glory is grand indeed for the hero who wins a following, but the longevity of any legend depends not just on the feats of the hero but on his or her relationship to those who come after. The following chapter will include all the steps necessary to build a character in Early Dark, though information on choosing Arts will be the bulk of Chapter 6 and improving your character through experience makes up the content of Chapter 5.
Two Alagoths of the Benarekata and two Edish nomads traveling under the totem of the Hawk awaken a Fiend amidst the ruins of an ancient city. For many centuries, the ruins of Edrada were avoided as dangerous places of magick and death. As the landscape quieted and the spirits fell back to sleep, humans began to resettle the many scattered cities.
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One Mechanic to Bind Them The singular mechanic of Early Dark consists of players rolling pools of ten-sided dice set by a Domain and in a particular Footing, and then building Tacks of various sizes from the result. Every in-game roll follows this format, from attacking and defending to shape-shifting and studying.
Grammar
Domain The Domain sets the number of dice a player rolls by fixing the nature of the character’s action as Mundane, Arcane, or Loom. Every character and creature in the world of Early Dark has a certain number of dice in each Domain. More dice are gained as the hero advances by earning Epithets. The distribution of dice reflects the character’s attachment to and investment in the various aspects of the Grand Tapestry. Everyday activities reside in the Mundane Domain. These include feats of strength, dexterity, and mental figuring. Tangible actions such as throwing, running, and hiding as well as intangible actions such as thinking, planning, and remembering occur as Mundane actions. Characters sneaking in the dark, haggling over prices, wielding a sword, fashioning a canoe, or navigating a sailing vessel are all attempting actions in the Mundane Domain. These events can occur naturally within the established pattern and limits of the Tapestry. Heroes with high Mundane Dice may be witty or strong, charming or crooked. Whatever their strengths, they are grounded in the here and now with both feet planted firmly in this world.
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The Arcane Domain includes all actions that draw power from the Fray, the tangled and distorted underside of the Tapestry. Attempting actions in the Arcane Domain requires knowledge of ancient and nigh-forgotten arts that disturb the natural order of this world. Every human has the ability to feel the dark presence of the Fray on the fringes of reality, but only trained mages can wield the powers of chaos at will. With each casting, the magicker tears open a window into the Fray, grappling with unkempt threads in order to distort and
alter our world. Every casting is dangerous, and mages who fail to contain the chaos that floods through fresh tears in the Tapestry are at great risk. Characters who habitually act as conduits for the chaos of the Fray will often develop physical maladies. Characters can steal memories from an enemy, unleash flame from their fingertips, create sigils of power for other magickers, alter their bodies into bestial shapes, and even summon creatures from the Fray itself with powers rooted in the Arcane Domain. Heroes with high Arcane Dice live disturbed lives, showing symptoms of schizophrenia, absent-mindedness, or other mental unbalance. They operate in our world but live detached from natural laws and cultural norms. When targeted by many forms of Arcane magick, defenders will be required to roll their Arcane Dice to resist (see Direct Bouts, 251). Also, using Arcana requires the player to make a Wager, which reflects the danger of channeling the Fray. Actions that partake of and draw from the universal pattern of the threads fall within the Loom Domain. Reading and manipulating the Loom is considered a magickal ability, though the source of Loom magick is entirely different from that of Arcane casting. Drawing from the Loom is not considered unnatural, but instead represents the sage’s understanding of her very real, natural connections with all other things. This does not mean that tapping into the power of the threads is without danger, and sages must be careful not to lose themselves in the vast oneness of the Tapestry. Insights provided by a true knowledge of the world’s order and flow allow the steady-minded to absorb qualities from the nature around them, entangle opponents in their own threads, and even change the topography of the very earth upon which they stand all by understanding the Loom. If your hero has high Loom Dice, she is in tune with the natural progression of time and the movement of space. She may
find herself growing indifferent to the hustle and bustle of human emotion and planning as her will bends to match the great flow of the Tapestry.
For example: Andrew declares that his magicker, Jist, will “dart over the city wall, stepping up on the crates and wagons before clearing the stone enclosure with a final hop.” Jist has six Mundane dice, and the action seems perfectly natural for this world. The group agrees that the Footing for Jist’s maneuver would best include the Move and Labor Aptitudes, which for Jist are 4 and 3, respectively, giving a Limit of 7. So, we say the Footing for Jist’s action is “Move-Labor” and that Andrew is rolling 6 dice against a Limit of 7, or “6 into 7.” The Footing not only sets the quantitative Limit of the action players will roll against; it must reflect qualitatively the shape and character of the action within the shared narrative. Beyond merely setting the Limit for a roll, Footings are also important strategic elements in combat, making certain Arts and Talents available on a turn and precluding others. Tacks After determining your action’s Domain and Footing, roll the dice and form Tacks. A Tack is a group of dice that add up to a sum less than or equal to the Limit. Because of this, we say that every Tack must “fit the Limit.” In Early
Oftentimes—whether Check, Save or Bout— only a single Tack is needed, and the roll will be measured by the number of dice in its largest possible Tack. This is called the Force of a roll. Most rolls that do not involve combat or a dangerous trap will be settled by determining Forces, one Tack alone counting toward the outcome. For example: Andrew rolls his six Mundane dice, scoring 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9. Because he is making a simple Check, Andrew needs to form only a single Tack. In most cases, when only a single Tack is needed, the player tries to build the largest Tack possible. The largest Tack Andrew’s roll can create is a Force of 3 because however he arranges the resulting dice, he can fit no more than 3 of them into a Tack equal to or less than 7 (2 + 2 + 3 ≤ 7). Even though five of the dice rolled have values equal to or less than 7, Tacks are made by “fitting” the sum of as many dice as you can into the Limit, not by counting how many are below the Limit individually.
Grammar
Footing The Footing of an action relays which two Aptitudes are coming into play. Every word, thought, spell, and deed in Early Dark utilizes two of the eight Aptitudes, no action stemming from one Aptitude alone. Adding the two Aptitudes of the Footing together gives the player the target number, or Limit, for that attempted action.
Dark, a Tack is the basic unit of meaning and represents one effect that the character can cause on his or her Turn. A single Tack/effect may be tied to any number of movements or actions in the narrative, whatever fits the mood and pace of the scene.
Andrew’s Roll:
Tack ≤ 7 (Force of 3)
Tack ≤ 7 (Extra 1-Tack)
Tack ≤ 7 (Extra 1-Tack)
Tack > 7 (Doesn’t Fit the Limit)
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Or: Tauno’s thief, Heyu, runs through the turbulent crowd gathered around the Wenhagi temple, evading three sentries who witnessed the rogue escape their master’s estate just moments ago. The Scribe, Kelly, calls for a Save: “Your Alagoth stands out in the mostly Edish crowd. Roll a Guile-Move Save at a Difficulty of 3 to work through the crowd and escape undetected.” Heyu has a 4 Guile and a 6 Move, so Tauno rolls his nine Mundane Dice against a Limit of 10.
Grammar
Tauno’s Roll:
Tack ≤ 10 (Force of 2)
Tack ≤ 10 (Extra 2-Tack)
Tack ≤ 10 (Extra 2-Tack) Tack ≤ 10 (Extra 1-Tack)
Tack ≤ 10 (Extra 1-Tack) Tack ≤ 10 (Doesn’t Count; he only has 5 Tacks Per Turn) Heyu doesn’t “pass” the Save. Or: Kelly could initiate a Bout with Tauno instead of setting a Difficulty: “Hanif gazes over the crowd from an adjacent balcony, calling for a Direct Bout in Guile-Move.” In Direct Bouts, both players roll in the same Footing. They then each build the largest Tack possible with the results, and compare Forces to see who wins.
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Now, if the Force of Tauno’s roll is higher than the Force of Kelly’s roll for the Sentry, Heyu gets away. If the two tie, then the result maintains the status quo.
In complex Saves and when your hero rolls Bouts in combat, your turn will require you to build multiple Tacks from a single roll. In these cases, there are often many arrangements of Tacks possible, and players must decide precisely how they will arrange the result of a roll depending on the circumstance. For example: Erick’s feisty mage, Vuul Hara, is being attacked by a pair of ogres. The first Fell beast rolls to attack the slight hero in Fight-Labor, giving it a Limit of 11.
Kelly rolls the ogre’s ten Mundane Dice:
^(4- Tack)
(2-Tack) (1-Tack)
(1-Tack) The remaining two dice cannot be used because the ogre has only 4 Tacks per Turn (see 242 for more on TPT). Kelly could have arranged these Tacks differently (see 238). For more information on rolling in combat, see 247. For an in-depth look at the strategy involved in arranging Tacks, see 238. Checks, Saves, and Bouts will be explained in more detail in the following sections. These categories, however, are purely heuristic. During play, it will not often matter whether any particular roll is a Check, a Save, or a Bout. Most rolls outside combat will become strange hybrids, with creative Scribes demanding unique or creative rolls to progress the narrative.
Talking Tacks Outside combat, in Checks and simple Saves, the exact arrangement of the roll is often less important than the single, largest Tack. In complex Saves and Bouts, however, multiple Tacks are needed. We organize those Tacks into the following classes:
Secondary Tacks
Advantage (Tack of 1 Die) There is a set list of five Advantages. Any character can attempt an Advantage at will so long as a proper contextual explanation can be given. Throughout this book, when players are arranging Tacks in combat, a “1Tack” is always referred to as an Advantage. For a listing of the five Advantages and how to use them, see 234. Talent (Tack of 2 Dice) Talents are acquired by gaining Epithets and learning the various Mundane Arts. Using a Talent may or may not require a particular context, but the player must always give a qualitative description of how the Talent takes place within the narrative to avoid a Balk. Talents represent tricks, moves, or maneuvers your hero relies on in conflict and exhibit a wide range of effects and uses.
Pprimary Tacks
Primary Tacks have 3 or more dice and are used to attack opponents in combat. Heroes, commoners, and monsters alike need no training to deal Fatigue with any Tack of 3 dice or more that lands in a Bout. There is no limit to the size a Tack can reach, and powerful heroes could potentially deal five, six, or more dice of Fatigue in a single hit.
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Tacks that include 1 or 2 dice are deemed Secondary Tacks. In combat they are used to deploy Advantages and Talents. They cannot be used to Fatigue opponents directly as Primary Tacks can, although some Talents do involve one form of damage or another.
complete information on designing and implementing Trials, see 346. Throughout the examples in this book, we will refer to “2-Tacks” as Talents unless an explicit Trial is involved.
Attack Attacks include all Strike rolls and any special combat abilities (such as Quickdraw, 322) that heroes master by studying Arts. The highest Tack in each Bout can be rolled as a Strike whenever a hero has a weapon or dangerous object (or when he or she studies Martial Arts). As heroes learn Arts, they will develop special, more deadly tactics and learn new Attacks to deploy in battle.
Hit (Tack of 2 Dice) When engaged in a Trial, players will be attempting to score Hits within a series of related Checks, Saves, or Bouts. They can often build these 2-Tacks within roles that serve another purpose entirely, such as making an attack or a Save. For an introduction to Trials, see 227; for more
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Checks A Check is the simplest deciding roll in Early Dark. Checks occur when players are curious about the concrete consequences of generally routine actions, or when a player declares an action with a dramatic or uncertain outcome. When calling for a Check in response to a player’s suggested action, the Scribe is in effect saying, “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s see if it works.”
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Checks do not require multiple Tacks. The number of dice in the largest possible Tack determines the overall Force of the roll. The Force is then used as a qualitative guide for how successful an exploratory action is or, in the case of “pass or fail” Checks, the Force is compared to a Difficulty set by the Scribe to determine if a risky action succeeds.
Checks Without Difficulties How good does Hirtha look in her new feather dress? How impressed is the local shaman with Zefr’s knowledge of charms and talismans? How does the party get by using a tone of familiarity with the powerful priest? These are questions of a qualitative nature that players and Scribes may be interested in settling. There is no question whether the action occurs or not, and the focus of the roll is more on how well it succeeds or whether any useful, material consequences arise. In such cases, the Scribe does not set a rigid Difficulty, but instead judges the effect of the action based on the Force of the player’s roll. Qualitative Guides Turning a numerical answer into a qualitative mood or feel is easy: A Force of 1 means Hirtha looks nice enough in her dress; a Force of 2 means Zefr does a solid job impressing the shaman; a Force of 3 means the party gets away with casual banter and invites the priest to respond in kind. In some instances, these rolls are purely for fun. Players get curious and come up with rolls to perform just to see what will
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happen, or to see if their ideas can trigger some unforeseen outcome. Good players will be acting out what they think their characters would be doing regardless of the mechanical consequences. That is to say, they will be role-playing(!). If the roll remains purely qualitative, the best a Scribe can do is give the result narrative value based on the force of the roll: The results set the dynamic or momentum of the following scene in the story. Men start giving Hirtha sidelong glances and winks. The shaman fumbles over his words, intimidated by Zefr’s wisdom. The priest is convinced by their friendly demeanors that he has met the party members before. In this case, the roll gives everyone an idea of how smoothly their characters perform, how “successful” in the broadest sense. The group may go an hour without another roll. These results can be major factors in influencing what happens next, and in the end the point of a role-playing game is to make an interesting, enjoyable story that everyone has a hand in. Concrete Effects Checks can also be made into something more substantial by building tangible rewards or penalties into them. Early Dark encourages every roll to have a concrete, practical effect determined in advance. Let the roll set a mood or feel for the narrative, sure, but why not include a strategic consequence as well? For each die in Hirtha’s largest Tack, she will attract two opportunities to seduce favors from patrons of the festival later on. The Force of Zefr’s roll against the shaman sets how far he can reduce the Difficulty of later rolls against the shaman. For each die the party members share against the priest, there will be five less guards standing by should they cause trouble. The Force of the roll offers some kind of definitive result or effect, doing the real work of the game. Adding concrete results to a roll increases the drama just before the player lets fly the dice and converts a roll that started
out “just for fun” or “just to role-play” into the stuff of strategy. Gambling potential bonuses or opportunities on a roll raises the stakes and allows for clever characters to be tactical while being creative. There is no need to value one approach—narrative or mechanical—over the other if both can be used to engage players and develop the story. For example: Brandon’s Edish lord, Kleitos, wants to strike fear in the stomachs of his underlings and rolls in Fight-Thrive just to see what happens. With a Force of 5, Brandon is eager for a large effect. Kelly decides that five of the serfs will now act as tattles and fill the lord in on any less scrupulous workers.
Checks With Difficulties Some Checks are less exploratory than the above examples and take on a “pass or fail” dynamic. These Checks begin to resemble Saves, but Checks more often result from player-initiated actions and less often handle direct physical danger.
Difficulty Levels
One: Hard to Miss Two: Easy Three: Uncertain Four: Risky Five: Hard Six: Heroic Seven: Legendary
Or: Tauno’s rogue, Heyu, wants to fashion a rope ladder from discarded bed linens to aid in his rescue of the merchant’s niece. Kelly suggests a Cunning-Labor Check at a Difficulty of 3. Tauno builds a Force of 4, easily crafting a suitable ladder for the girl to use.
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If Scribes called for a Check each time a player took an action, very little would be accomplished each session. Depending on the pace of the scene or the potential drama attached to a particular action, a Scribe may forgo calling for a roll in one instance when a similar situation on another night may have demanded three or four separate rolls. This variation is all for the benefit of the group and the story, though a good Scribe will nevertheless create a predictable world for characters to inhabit, cultivating in the players a sense of consistency. Such consistency is at the root of an enjoyable story at one level, and the foundation for player strategy on another.
Scoring a Force larger than the Difficulty results in victory for the player.
For the sake of simplicity, ties also count as success for the player. For example: Kinny’s Valhenjorn tracker, Ishwan, wants to find the trail of a wounded giant retreating from the previous night’s battle through morning snowfall. She says, “I look for tracks in the fresh snow, squinting my eyes as I scan the horizon for slight contrasts of white on white, noticing where drifts or swells are damaged.” Kinny declares a Footing appropriate for her Tracking Art, Touch-Move. In response, Kelly sets the Difficulty at 3. Kinny rolls Ishwan’s seven Mundane Dice against a Limit of 7, resulting in a Force of 3. She “passes” the Save, her Tack of 3 enough to counteract the Difficulty of 3. When heroes cannot build a Tack large enough to tie or overcome the Difficulty, they “fail” the Check. For example: Jist is searching the cold battlefield for a small amulet lost by one of his companions in a recent clash of arms. Kelly sets the Difficulty for finding the item at 4. Andrew rolls six Mundane Dice in a Touch-Labor Footing (a Limit of 6) for Jist: 4, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9. He cannot build a Force larger than 1 and fails to find the amulet.
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Saves Saves in Early Dark represent risk or imminent danger that characters must roll to avoid. When your rogue has to swing over a spiked fence in the dark to avoid being a latenight snack for the palace guard dogs, you have to make a Save. The drama of uncertainty, the thrill of chance, the strategy of risk—these are what make a role-playing game a game and not an improvisational theater group, though successful role-playing sessions are often similar to improv.
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Actions in Early Dark such as strolling across the street, chatting with a vendor about the newest imported carpets, or rolling over in bed are uninteresting and ordinary. These actions might be important to the story, but they are free and require no roll to decide success or failure; the outcome is easily established by the players and Scribe role-playing the situation. Crossing the street as a stampede of cattle crashes through the small town is a little more hazardous (Cunning-Touch at a Difficulty of 4). Rolling off the altar just as the sacrificial blade drops from above introduces more drama (Touch-Move at a Difficulty of 3).
Simple Saves Saves that most closely resemble Checks are called “simple” Saves. These have Difficulties set by the Scribe, and are settled by the Force of the player’s roll. If the Force of the player’s roll ties or outscores the Difficulty, the character “passes” the Save.
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For example: Zefr trips over a hidden string in the entranceway to an aged tower. Kelly says, “An arrow flies toward you, dust and ash making a small cloud around the slot that housed it. The trap snaps with a Difficulty 2.” John decides on a Thrive-Move Footing for his defense: “Zefr, who was in the process of tripping anyway, continues rolling downward,
ducking off to the side of the door.” John’s roll has a Force of 3, and Zefr avoids the arrow. If the Force of the player’s roll is less than the Difficulty, the character “fails.” For Example: Ben’s character, Dhelest, is caught in a rockslide. Kelly sets a Difficulty of 5 for the brawny hero to escape unharmed. Ben says, “I grit my teeth and lean into the barrage of rocks, resisting and fighting through them like so many enemies. Fight-Labor, please.” Kelly looks startled: “You aren’t dodging out of the way with Move?” Ben shakes his head: “I’m pushing through!” Kelly figures Dhelest is a rather large warrior and allows it. Ben’s roll, however, results in a Force of 4, and Dhelest is hit with a heavy bit of damage. For rules on taking and dealing damage, see 264.
Complex Saves Saves that require the player to arrange multiple Tacks are labeled “complex,” and begin to look like Bouts. Complex Saves do not have a singular Difficulty and demand a collection of Tacks from player-characters. They, in effect, have multiple simultaneous Difficulties. In real life, there is rarely one thing happening at a time. Furthermore, the problem or hurdle a hero faces is rarely cut-and-dry. Because every situation is a multi-layered event with many forces at play, many possible outcomes, many moving parts—because life is complicated— this complexity is present in the system.
For example: Ishwan, Kinny’s Vayok tracker, is taking a boat across the Hara Sea. When her vessel is set upon by pirates, Kelly demands a Fight-Relate Save: Escort the aging pilot into his cabin at a Difficulty of 3, Collect two fellow sailors as a single Minion for the duration of the battle at a Difficulty of 3, Protect any individual guest on deck at a Difficulty of 2, intimidate the incoming pirates and reduce the number who board by two at a Difficulty of 2. Kinny makes the Fight-Relate roll and begins arranging her Tacks, deciding on which actions she can take just before the clash of swords. Or: Another trap springs on the adventurers exploring the ancient tower. Two iron wheels roll out of slots high on the walls and fall down on the intrepid party at the bottom of the winding staircase like two coins in a cup. Kelly demands a Save with two Difficulties of 3. The heroes may avoid one, both, or neither of the spiked wheels. Checks can also take complex forms. Each individual task may or may not build on the previous at the Scribe’s discretion.
Trials A Trial in Early Dark is an ongoing task or competition that requires multiple rolls to completely overcome. In a Trial, players attempt to score a set number of Hits (unanswered Tacks of 2 dice) in a set number of rolls or before suffering a set number of Hits in return. Trials are good ways for the Scribe to create extended or elaborate challenges for player-characters, and usually take place within a series of related rolls. Because Trials require players to form multiple Tacks, they potentially turn Checks and simple Saves into complex Saves.
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In a complex Save, each Tack represents one particular aspect of the Save, and characters can pass or fail each aspect individually. Scribes who use complex Saves well push players to set priorities and assume responsibility for the outcome of their roll. They also make a richer, more dramatic story possible by offering more than simple “Yes or No” responses to each event or challenge.
For example: John’s bumbling magicker, Zefr, is hoping to levitate a torn rope-bridge back into place, giving his party members and him a chance to escape the pack of elder wolves only moments away from the cliff ’s edge. Because the chasm is wide Kelly begins with a Difficulty Level of 2 in mind for the Check. Taking into account the fact that six people have to run across the bridge as it floats in place, Kelly makes the Check more complex. If John gets a 2-Tack, the bridge is in place but too fragile to support much weight. A 3-Tack would let his party members escape. Another 2-Tack would allow Zefr to secure his own crossing.
For example: Margaret’s Anu estate manager, Kechu, wants to find a spy in her master’s estate. Kelly says that Margaret will have to score 5 Hits total over three rolls to detect the corrupt servant. The first two rolls take place during an event held on the estate grounds in the Kuludo highlands: When Kechu makes Cunning-Relate Checks to motivate her staff (Difficulty of 1) and impress the guests (Difficulty of 3), she must build small 2-Tacks on the side to score Hits in the ongoing Trial. Maybe scoring Hits in the Trial will become more important than passing the otherwise routine Check of motivating her staff. Could she afford a boring party if she got one or two steps closer to identifying the spy in her midst? The final roll comes when an intruder is spotted but lost in the estate gardens. Kelly calls for a complex Cunning-Guile Save: Catch the intruder at a Difficulty of 2, and know the intruder’s intent at a Difficulty of 1. Can Kechu afford losing the intruder
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Fixed Footings are all about targeting specific aspects of the player-characters, whether those are strengths or weaknesses. Scribes know just how to make a challenge interesting by deciding ahead of time which Aptitudes will be tested. Saves may target any Footing that fits the narrative, and players will often find themselves thrust outside their familiar, “stand by” Footings by a wily Scribe.
to finally ascertain the probable spy, maybe the intruder’s contact on the inside? The better Margaret rolled on the first two Saves, the easier it will be on the final roll. Maybe Margaret valued throwing a good party too highly and now cannot build the Tacks necessary to protect her master’s estate from within. Trials can also occur in combat, taking place within and alongside the various Bouts. An entire section in Poetics is devoted to coaching Scribes through designing and implementing Trials (346).
Saves With Fixed Footings
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There are two ways to find the Footing for a Save. In some cases, the Scribe will set the required Footing, creating a specific hurdle or challenge crucial to the story. At other times, the oncoming danger will be described qualitatively, and players will have to respond by coming up with their own Footings on the fly.
For example: Kinny’s character, Ishwan, is traveling alongside the Red River of Gundrada. Kelly says, “The ground beneath you begins to warp and buckle. Loam and sod tear up from the earth in large patches, hover momentarily, and fly towards you. You have to keep an eye on each clump of earth and dodge them all. Roll Cunning-Move against a Difficulty of 3 to avoid all harm.” Ishwan’s companions will all roll the same Footing to defend as well, the Save itself dictating the way it needs to be overcom.
Saves Without Fixed Footings When a Save comes up in the narrative organically, the Scribe may not have a Footing planned in advance. In these cases, the Scribe explains what is happening around the heroes, and players respond by creating suitable reactions or defenses of their own. In all instances the Scribe has final say as to whether a declared action fits the declared Aptitudes, but disagreements are inevitable. By developing their own style and expectations, gaming groups will settle on different “common laws” for determining what kinds of actions fall into which Aptitudes. Some groups will play strict, and others loose, and Early Dark has been designed for such flexibility. For example: When the staircase carrying the party to the top of the tower crumbles, Kelly demands each player to make a Save or fall thirty feet in the collecting rubble.
Tauno calls out quickly for his character: “Heyu figures the nearby chandelier will hold his weight and makes a leap. The rope holding up the chandelier may prove a better way up the tower than the brittle stairs anyway. I’m rolling Cunning-Move.” Kelly nods. John describes a reaction hoping to target ThriveMove again. Tauno and Andrew reply that so far in their campaign Thrive-Move works best for deliberate or continuing motion such as reducing damage from falling, to maintain balance, and to “go with the flow” of situations. For outright dodges, Fight-Move has been the go-to Footing. John cannot think of anything creative so he rolls Fight-Move.
Moving from “Role to Roll” means that the way a player first describes his or her action determines the Footing of the upcoming roll. In other words, your role-playing determines your roll. Players are all adding to one story, and each turn of phrase counts. Once a descriptive image of what is happening has been given, try keeping the roll in line. This reflects one of the primary goals of the Early Dark mechanic: make any imaginable action easily fit within the system. It also reflects the flow and flavor of the game, with players thinking and strategizing in the qualitative realm before thinking of numbers and math. Just do whatever you want and worry about the numbers later! Of course the novice player will work backwards at first, choosing a mechanically strong Footing and then thinking up a way to implement it. That possibility is always there. But as players become more experienced, they will get to know their characters. They will role-play responses that fit the characters’ past successes, motives, and experiences. Built into the Aptitudes of each hero is an implicit personality or way of living. For example: When Brandon was a new player, he would look at Kleitos’ high Fight and Move Aptitudes and try to create actions to make the most of his mechanical strengths. After a few sessions
“Role to Roll” will also heighten the urgency of dire situations, players watching their tongues and being creative on their feet. Of course, Scribes can decide to play as tough or as lenient as they want with these suggestions for generating drama. For Example: The Scribe tells her players that the roof of the withered tower upon which the party stands begins to collapse underfoot.
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Role to Roll
playing Early Dark with his friends, however, he began to know Kleitos. Now, Brandon role-plays Kleitos as an aggressive, agile fighter who likes to confront people and compete. Brandon no longer attempts to work backwards to target his high Fight or Move; he now knows how to play his character’s personality and style consistently, which will in turn naturally target the highest Aptitudes.
Tauno blurts, “Heyu leaps toward the stone walls of the tower!” He then picks up his nine Mundane dice and declares his roll for Cunning-Move. “Wait a minute,” Kelly interrupts, “A calm leaping and hoping might be Thrive-Move; a desperate leaping and hoping might be Fight-Move. I don’t see Cunning involved in Heyu’s action.” In the previous example, Tauno did a better job playing to Heyu’s high Cunning by moving from “Role to Roll,” describing how Heyu used Cunning in leaping toward the chandelier. In this case, however, he blurted out a quick response and did not adequately play to the Footing he desired. Consider this the “Golden Rule” of Early Dark. Players can use “Role to Roll” as a guideline for all rolls that follow a character’s declared action. Built into the Aptitudes is an implied style for your hero, a hint at what he or she will do in certain situations and what will work.
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Bouts A Bout is any conflict involving two sides in opposition, one against the other. Whereas Checks and Saves pit the players against Difficulties decided on by the Scribe, Bouts require both sides of a situation to roll. This is most often found in combat (combat being at root a specialized series of Bouts), but outside combat Bouts also make for interesting gaming and allow the Scribe to bring more chance and strategy into events.
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Bouts work best when the players are attempting actions that are opposed by other characters in the game, rolling against NPCs or creatures with stats of their own. Outside combat, these could be arguments, conversations, ruses, seductions, foot races, or contests of any sort. For example: Chris Gunning wants his character, Taron, to convince a Neferatha magistrate that the taxes being collected from a nearby village are hindering their ability to plant sufficient seed. He rolls a Bout in Relate-Touch against the Scribe who rolls Relate-Guile for the magistrate. Highest Tack wins.
Double Blind Early Dark implements a “double blind” system for arranging Tacks during Bouts, which means each player articulates his or her Tacks in secret (behind a screen or folded hand) before both reveal simultaneously. Players are forced to judge what they know of their opponent’s style and available Attacks and Talents to come up with a winning hand. Reducing & Settling Bouts Figuring out how a complicated Bout boils down to a dramatic and cinematic event takes just a few simple steps. Reducing the roll refers to how Tacks are cancelled out. Settling the roll covers the creative process of turning the leftover Tacks into productive, dramatic actions in the narrative. When rolls are reduced, all Tacks cancel out one to one: 4-Tacks cancel out only other 4Tacks, 3-Tacks cancel out only other 3-tacks, 2-Tacks cancel out only other 2-Tacks, etc.
For example: Andrew’s wizard, Jist, is fighting a powerful Edish soldier outside the White Forest. Andrew scores a 4-Tack and two Advantages. The soldier’s defending roll has one 3-Tack, one Talent, and one Advantage. Kelly reduces the Bout: Two Advantages cancel out, one of Jist’s and one of the soldier’s; Jist lands the 4-Tack and his second Advantage; The soldier lands a 3-Tack and a Talent on the wizard.
Andrew’s Roll, “Seven into 8”
Kelly’s Roll, “Six into 7”
< Both Land >
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< Both Land >
< Cancel Out >
< Doesn’t Fit the Limit
Or: After a good Roll for Opportunity Erick decides to launch an attack on two ogres with his character, Vuul Hara. He rolled well, but intentionally spreads his dice out into multiple Tacks, aiming to land a very important Talent. He forms five Talents from his roll. The ogre forms a 5-Tack and two Talents. Reducing the Bout: The ogre scores a 5-Tack that deals a hefty sum of damage; Vuul lands three Talents, more than enough!
Erick’s Roll, “Ten into 9”
Kelly’s Roll, “Nine into 12”
< Both Land >
< Lands
< Lands
< Cancel Out >
< Cancel Out >
Settling Bouts qualitatively can often be tricky. Whose Talent lands first? How do I take into account the massive damage of the blow while giving the victim a chance to deploy his Advantage? Is it okay if the player invents a nearby object to use as a distraction? The best places to look for direction are the mood of the scene and the immediate needs of the narrative. For example: Together, Kelly and Andrew settle the previous roll. Andrew rolls a Strike with the 4-Tack, enough to deal a Wound to the soldier. He says, “My sword slices up the inside of his leg, and--” Kelly interrupts with 1d10 from the soldier’s Talent, “He cries out and drops to one knee, suddenly lunging upwards at you with a dagger, the tip glancing your jaw.” She also deals the nominal damage from the 3-Tack as though the soldier kicked, and Andrew replies with his Advantage to take Range, “I leer at him and rub the fresh scratch on my chin before kicking the same leg I cut and tossing him backwards. The Melee Range I’d already set takes priority.”
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Or: Kelly and Erick settle the Bout against the ogre. Kelly narrates the massive Fatiguing blow landed by the ogre with his 5-Tack, “He reaches down to grab you with both hands, twisting your body in his fists and he raises you off the ground. After shaking you furiously, he slams you to the ground.” Erick winces, but responds with cool confidence, “I can take it. As he beats his chest in victory over my humbled body, I stab my dagger into his knee and pull it to the ground. With my other hand, I drive another dagger through his calf, pinning it to the ground as well. I used my Talent, Pin, twice to land two [-2] Durable Penalties, so he’ll be struggling for the next few rolls.” Erick cannot think of any way to use the third Talent, which he did not expect to land, so he Balks. His pals congratulate him on taking one for the team and putting the ogre at [-4] for the next roll or two at least. To fit the narrative and maintain consistency, Vuul can’t use his daggers again until the Penalties are overcome by the ogre.
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Penalties Penalties are simple modifiers that determine a number of dice the player must discard before making his or her roll. A Penalty represents a conditional hindrance or physical obstacle in the way of the character, something limiting or obstructing the chosen action.
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Penalties said to hinder a character remove one die from his or her pool, and are written as “[-1]” in shorthand. More severe Penalties represent obstacles or effects that confine a character and remove two dice from his or her pool, a [-2] penalty. No single Penalty can exceed [-2], though multiple Penalties are cumulative and can stack up to any amount. Scribes offer Penalties when conditions interfere with or restrain a character’s action. A simple way of deciding when—and which—Penalties are appropriate is built into the naming system. When the object or condition hinders a character’s chosen action, [-1] is suitable. If a part of the character’s body generally needed for the action is actually confined by the obstacle or circumstance, [-2] is appropriate. Keep in mind that intangible or psychological obstacles can be just as real to a fighter on the battlefield. Penalty or a Higher Difficulty? Set the Difficulty based on the task itself, and include Penalties that derive from environmental, physical, or intangible conditions that interfere with the task. Penalties are also distinguished by how long they last, with two categories of duration. Momentary Penalties Momentary Penalties affect the character for only one roll. Once the character suffers the Penalty to perform his or her action, he or she is said to have overcome the obstacle.
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For example: Howard’s character, Deklak, is fighting a wood wolf. Early in the fight, the wolf loses a critical Bout but manages to score an Advantage that offers a [-1] Momentary Penalty (see 234 for all that your hero can do with Advantages). Kelly declares, “The wolf feels the sting of your blade piercing his shoulder. During the scuffle, he grips the top of your boot in his mouth, offering a [-1] Momentary Penalty for you on whatever your next roll is.” Once Howard discards the Penalty, which could be in a Bout against a different enemy, he is said to have broken free from the wolf ’s grip.
Once Andrew rolls the first evasion at a Penalty, however, Jist is said to be up and on his feet again. It is assumed that suffering the Penalty represented the effort it took for Jist to get up off his back. Further rolls to avoid the incoming arrows will not offer a Penalty. Durable Penalties Durable Penalties represent lasting conditions or limitations that require the character’s direct efforts to be overcome. Durable Penalties last as long as the condition causing them lasts, so a character cannot avoid the Penalty without taking direct action against the cause. Depending on the nature of the Penalty, more or less effort might be needed to overcome the obstacle. Advantages and certain Talents can be deployed to overcome smaller Durable Penalties set by opponents in combat. More intense Penalties may require a Trial to overcome. Certain Durable Penalties caused by the environment or pervasive social conditions may be impossible to overcome. For example: As Vuul Hara attempts to translate etchings in the trunk of a withered tree, his party sets to laughing and singing in the camp. Instead of changing the Difficulty of the Cunning-Touch Check, Kelly decides to give a [-1] Durable Penalty to account for the boisterous company. Even after Erick
Or: As Howard continues the bloody duel with the wood wolf, his canine foe lands a Talent: Pin. The wolf pins Deklak, offering a [-2] Durable Penalty. Howard will discard two dice before each and every roll until he secures an Advantage in another Bout to overcome the penalty (see “Overcome a Durable Penalty” on 235). This Advantage may or may not need to land in a Bout against the wolf, depending on the Scribe’s decision and the creativity of the player. Or: Because there is a heavy rain falling, Kelly adds a Durable Penalty of [-1] for all Checks involving Move. Unless one of the party members can control the weather, there is no way to overcome this Penalty aside from getting indoors or being careful with Footings! Maybe the character can use an Advantage to get under an awning or tree, leaving his or her opponent in the storm.
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Or: Jist sneaks over the rooftops of Lokod. After failing a Guile-Move Save, he falls to a lower roof and lands on his back. As the guards shoot arrows in Jist’s direction, Kelly gives him a [-2] Momentary Penalty on his evasion roll for being prone (good consequence for failing the Save).
rolls the Check once, the Penalty remains and will impact future rolls until something is done about the distraction.
Range Penalties Range Penalties in combat function similarly to Durable Penalties and require an Advantage to overcome (see “Take Range” on 237). Range Penalties occur when a character uses a weapon in less than perfect circumstances. All weapons in Early Dark have an Aspect that represents how the weapon is used and at which Range it works best. If the character is in the ideal Range of the weapon, there is no Penalty suffered. In other Ranges, however, a particular weapon may suffer a [-1] or [-2] Penalty. For more on Aspects and the four Ranges, see 217. For example: In combat, the fighter with the higher Initiative “takes priority” and sets the Range of the Bout. When Stephanie Takemoto’s Alagoth rider, Kiwaki, is using a long spear in combat, a weapon with a Heavy Aspect, she prefers Melee Range. If she sets Range against an opponent wielding a short blade, a weapon with the Short Aspect, her opponent would suffer a [-1] Range Penalty for that Bout. Should a character who takes Range on Kiwaki set Grapple, Stephanie would suffer a [-2] Range Penalty with the spear. Ranges in combat are dynamic and ever-changing, so the Range represents not where someone is in general during a battle but where they are at the moment the Bout takes place.
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Secondary Tacks Secondary Tacks are the bedrock of tactics and teamwork in Early Dark. Arranging the dice into Tacks represents what actions your character is attempting in response to the current environment; oftentimes the situation will demand more than one action. Deployed by building additional Tacks of one or two dice alongside Primary Tacks, Secondary Tacks allow characters to use special skills or disrupt opponents in a variety of ways.
Grammar
Characters are always limited by their Tacks per Turn Trait and cannot form more than the allotted number of Tacks in a single roll even outside of combat. See the following sections for more on TPT.
Advantages Even the smallest Tacks can be used to tip the scales of combat. Each of these represents taking a momentary, circumstantial advantage through quick thinking or swift maneuvering. If a player deploys a single die that fits the Limit, his or her Character may take an Advantage in any of the following ways: Five Ways to Use an Advantage Disrupt Footing Offer [-1] Momentary Penalty Overcome a Durable Penalty Simple Actions Take Range
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Advantages can be used in combat, conversations, and competitions as long as the player is creative enough to explain how the Advantage takes effect. Physical confrontation, for example, is not the only time a character can disrupt an opponent’s Footing. Sometimes a long-winded reply, a convoluted list of
instructions, or a discouraging word can have the same effect. All Advantages determine a concrete effect in combat. Whatever narrative description represents that effect is fair, so long as a fitting description is possible and given. If the player who rolled the Advantage cannot adequately explain how the character produces such an effect in the game’s context, the opportunity is lost. In some cases, the context will simply not allow heroes to take Range. In other situations, heroes may not be able to think of a good way to overcome a deadly Durable Penalty. So it goes. Disrupt Footing Characters can undermine or sabotage a particular opponent’s momentum by preventing their enemy from using a particular Footing of the winner’s choice. Disrupt Footing works like a Momentary Penalty, taking effect on the next roll only. Regardless of who the target rolls against next, whether offensively or defensively, the disruption prevents him or her from using the Footing selected by the winner when this Advantage landed. For example: Deep in the jungles south of the Nameless Desert, Ben’s character, Dhelest, is being hunted by a Fey spirit. The wraith takes shape just in front of him, stealing Initiative and Rolling for Opportunity in a Fight-Guile Footing. Ben responds in Fight-Labor, trusting his heavy blade to protect him, but lands only an Advantage. Alongside its winning Primary Tack, the wraith lands a Talent, giving Dhelest a [-2] Durable Penalty on his next roll. With his Advantage, Ben decides to disrupt the Wraith’s Footing so it cannot use FightGuile again (or the Talents associated with Trick Blades) on the next roll. Momentary Penalty A character may use an Advantage to give a [-1] Penalty to his or her opponent, making the most of the situation to temporarily Hinder
the adversary. Because the Penalty takes effect on the opponent’s next roll, this type of Advantage often sets up another character to more easily damage the foe. For example: At the crossroad tavern, a drunk runs at Steven’s character with a knife. Steven defends in a Fight-Move Footing. Both the Scribe and Steven form Primary Tacks of 3 dice that cancel out, but Steven’s character, Shivjagant, also lands an Advantage. Taking a step back, Shivjagant manages to kick a nearby chair at the feet of the inebriated brawler, giving the lout a [-1] Momentary Penalty on whatever his next roll is.
They decide on the stakes: “For each Hit you take, Erick, a guardsman will arrive to respond to your rival’s indignation at catching you,” says Kelly. “For each Hit you score,” she continues, “you have another twenty minutes before he notices it missing.” Erick builds a single Hit and an Advantage alongside it. Kelly reveals three Hits. Erick knows two guards will be showing up any minute, and blurts, “As he grabs my wrist halfway into his cloak, I lash out with my dagger and cut his belt open. Keeping his pants up costs him a [-1] Momentary Penalty that will hopefully help me out in the combat about to start.” Overcoming a Durable Penalty The character may remove any Durable Penalty that fits the nature of the Bout, regardless of whether or not this Bout was rolled against the opponent who originally offered the Penalty. For example: When fighting a skilled martial artist and his cronies, Tauno’s character Heyu falls victim to a Hold Talent. Heyu suffers a [-1] Penalty even when rolling against opponents who did not land the Talent. Enough is enough. In a Bout against one of the cronies, Tauno lands an Advantage, which he uses to overcome the [-1] Durable Penalty caused by the martial artist’s Hold.
Durable Penalties last as long as the conditions causing them last, which means an Advantage can only be used to overturn the Penalty if the direct cause is close at hand. In every instance, the Scribe decides whether or not a player can use a single Advantage to remove broad, intangible conditional Penalties set earlier in the encounter.
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Or: Vuul Hara is attempting to steal a small vial of cursed blood from the pocket of an old Rival. Kelly calls for a Save at first, but quickly decides this act of thievery is important enough to demand a small Trial.
If a player is suffering from a [-2] Durable Penalty, landing an Advantage will remove the entire Penalty. If a player suffers from two [-1] Durable Penalties, two Advantages will be required to remove them completely. Each Advantage can overcome a single Penalty of either severity.
For example: Andrew’s character Jist is arguing with a brewer in King City over shipping ales with a foreign caravan. Everyone in the village suspects Jist of defacing a statue near the Raining Well, and so the Scribe has set a [-1] Durable Penalty for any Relate rolls Andrew makes against the locals. During the Bout with the brewer, Jist rolls at [-1] and lands an Advantage. Andrew asks Kelly, “Can I use that Advantage to overcome the conditions in town that have conspired against me?” Kelly shakes her head, “It would take passing a specific Trial to overcome the prevalent distrust that circulates among the people. You could, however, give the brewer a [-1] Momentary Penalty to help you out if you roll against him later.” Andrew decides to settle the Bout by intimidating the brewmaster with his superior knowledge of alelore, offering a [-1] Momentary Penalty on their next altercation. Or: A powerful idol offers any characters in the vicinity who are uninitiated into the local cult a [-1] Durable Penalty on all rolls. Ben scores an Advantage in a Bout against one of the deranged cultists. He wants to use his Advantage to kick over the idol and overcome the Penalty.
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of 3 dice and forming two Advantages. Kelly rolls for the goblins, getting one Talent and one Advantage. Two Advantages cancel out, but Greg has one left. He uses the Advantage for a Simple Action: “I kick over the cask of liquid, lining the inside of the otherwise empty wagon behind me with a thin coat of oil.”
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Or: Shivjagant scores two Advantages in a Bout against the same horde of goblins. Steven asks, “Can I use a Simple Action to throw one of the creatures up into the wagon?” Kelly responds, “Normally, moving an enemy is significant enough to require a short Trial.” Steven nods, “Okay, then I use the first Advantage as a Simple Action, pulling one of the nearby torches out of the ground. I’ll use the second to swing the flames in their direction. Can fear of the flames offer them a [-1] Momentary Penalty?” Kelly agrees. Simple Actions can also be used to put something “on the record,” bringing an otherwise narrative element into play mechanically or officially.
Kelly decides that desecrating the placement of the small idol would be enough to counteract its magickal influence and allows Ben to remove the Penalty from play. This effect helps out Dhelest’s companions as well, his Advantage bordering on a Simple Action. Simple Actions Player-characters can also use Advantages to accomplish small tasks in the middle of a Bout. Simple actions such as using an item, covering ground, untying a companion, overturning a table, or giving a command are easy enough outside a Bout, but during the chaos of combat require an Advantage. For example: Greg’s character, Serseus, attacks a flock of goblins with her quarterstaff, scoring an Attack
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For example: Tauno’s character, Heyu, wants to keep the enemies around him from breaking through a door to his rear. Kelly had already setup a Trial for the invaders, requiring 5 Hits to completely break down the door. Tauno uses an Advantage to put his defensive positioning “on record.” From now on, each time one of the enemies attempts to spend a turn progressing the Trial, he “initiates a Bout” with Heyu as well. Or: Three heroes are invited to a sophisticated dinner. The host initiates Bouts throughout the meal, insulting their attire and tricking them into revealing more about themselves than planned. One of the smarter heroes scores an Advantage in a Cunning-Guile Bout against the impassive host. She announces to the Scribe, “For the record, I’m keeping an eye on the servant girl who seems awfully attentive for a slave.” Kelly discloses after another exchange that the girl’s lips move along with those of the host, an unnatural bond between the two revealed.
For example: Seth’s character, Thulghad, is using a heavy blade but has been stuck in Grapple Range with a cave lion for a couple turns. While rolling at a [-2] Range Penalty, he scores an Advantage and takes considerable damage. Seth decides to use his Advantage to take Range: “The lion bites at my limb and tosses me around, pushing me out into Melee Range.” From now on, the Range Thulghad set at the beginning of the Round takes priority in all Bouts between him and the lion. Taking Range does not change the order of Initiative established for the Round. Instead, the Range already chosen by the character who scores the Advantage “takes priority,” becoming the Range used for future Bouts between those two characters. In all cases, there must be enough room available for the character to move freely when establishing certain Ranges. The Scribe will decide in any situation if particular Ranges are impossible or require conditions to change. As alluded to above, different Advantages such as Simple Actions and Taking Range can be stacked to accomplish more complicated feats in the middle of combat. If enemies were loosing arrows at your character from across a gorge, using Take Range alone would not be enough. It may require scoring a Simple Action
or two (one to lower the bridge, and another to cross it) to close the gap before a third Advantage secures the new Range. These may occur in a single Bout, or across a few Turns.
Talents Talents function in the same way as Advantages, though Talents require a Secondary Tack of two dice and can be used only when the appropriate Footing is in play. The Arts a character learns from and refines will unlock Talents that must be individually purchased in Epithets. The description of each Talent will explain how to use it in play.
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Taking Range Characters may use an Advantage to close in or back off from an opponent, establishing a new Range. This change in position can help get your character out of an opponent’s ideal Range or into an ideal Range of your own, depending on the Aspects at play in the fight. Taking Range does not represent merely moving toward or away from an opponent. Both you and your opponent will be constantly moving in the swirl of combat already. Taking Range means that you out-maneuver or corner your opponent in a particular way to overcome his or her defenses and secure a better field position to fight from. Basic movement and changes in position are better handled with Simple Actions and do not guarantee the establishment of a new Range.
Whereas Advantages can be used any time the player can adequately include them in the narrative, some Talents will work only in specific contexts. If a player cannot offer a suitable description of how a Talent or Advantage takes place, he or she is said to Balk. Calling a Balk can infuriate players, but Scribes must hold everyone (including themselves) accountable to the narrative. In Early Dark, the narrative and mechanical will always occur in tandem. For example: Margaret’s Sabu, Kechu, is fighting two bandits. One of the bandits is suffering from Kechu’s Pin already. Margaret is rolling Fight-Move against the other bandit now. She scores a Primary Tack of 3 dice and forms a Talent and an Advantage. The bandit’s roll has a Primary Tack of 4 dice and forms an Advantage. The two Advantages cancel out, and the bandit will be rolling a Strike. Margaret says, “I want to Pin this bandit as well,” Kelly looks at Margaret cooly, “Well, you’ve already got the other guy against the wall. How do you intend to Pin this one?” Margaret hesitates. Ten seconds go by. Kelly declares the opportunity a Balk.
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One Turn, Many Options Each turn in Early Dark has at least two layers of strategy, two fundamental ways players can outsmart their opponents and use creativity to progress the game instead of high numbers. These layers are small puzzles in themselves, offering myriad options for the player on every turn.
Footing
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Before the Roll for Opportunity, the player must declare a Footing. Choosing the Footing for a turn sets the stage for what is to come, determining which Arts are in play, what defenses are available to opponents, and how creative each player has to be to make the most of his or her roll. Let us take each of these in turn. Ben’s character Dhelest faces a small army just outside the Wolf Gate of Lokod. A powerful shaman blames the local council for the destruction of his village at the hands of Alagoth raiders, and he seeks justice accompanied by a band of heavily armed warriors. Addressing the closed gate, the shaman calls for the head of at least one senator to be thrown from the wall. Dhelest, a mercenary general for the city, stands alone between the painted warband and the oak portal. The shaman’s cadre charge, and soon it is Dhelest’s turn to attack.
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Before deciding on a Footing, Ben weighs Dhelest’s strengths, considering both the mechanical and the qualitative. Mechanically, Ben likes his Fight-Labor Footing: It gives him a Limit of 9, and his Hacking Blade Art offers a good selection of Attacks and Talents. Thinking qualitatively, however, Ben asks himself a few questions: Does he really want to stand there and fight a dozen warriors? Can he be a little creative with Indirect Attacks and get this fight over with more quickly, settling the issue with a Trial that favors his strengths instead of runof-the-mill combat? He asks a few questions of the Scribe to get a better image of the surrounding area: Are there any cliffs? Is there fire anywhere? Is there anything large he can use indirectly as a weapon or net?
These narrative elements are readily converted into strategic elements when the right ideas surface in the right situations. The Scribe tells Ben that a cart loaded with small wire coops fit for transporting birds has driven off the road nearby, the driver waiting for the skirmish at the gate to resolve before attempting to enter the city. Without trying to come up with a plan, Ben recognizes that getting to and using the crates would probably require Move or Guile or both, Aptitudes Dhelest does not play to often. In addition to considering his own strengths and weaknesses, Ben has to imagine what Footing the warriors might take in Defense. After some guesses, Ben decides that he does now know these enemies well enough to target their weaknesses. He opts for his trusty FightLabor for the time being.
Arranging Tacks Linig up his Roll for Opportunity, Ben declares his Domain and Footing and shakes eight dice in his fist. At this time, the Scribe declares the Domain and Footing of the warrior’s defense roll just as Ben declared Dhelest’s Domain and Footing when attacking. Both combatants will now know what they are up against. Ben rolls: 0, 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 8, 9. He keeps the results secret from the Scribe, and behind his cupped hand he arranges the dice into Tacks. After the Scribe rolls, the players arrange their Tacks in secret. Ben calculates which actions he will attempt, factoring in what he imagines his adversary will try in defense. Every roll is limited by the hero’s Tacks Per Turn Trait. In Dhelest’s case, this is 4. Depending on the hero’s abilities and how the Scribe plays the warrior, the following arrangements show a selection of strong options for Dhelest’s attack:
expect a large 4-Tack coming his way with “counterattack” written all over it. If this is the case, both of these 3-Tacks would land, dealing considerable damage. Dhelest would take damage in return, but he might rely on his high Guard to outlast the squad blow for blow. Again, the Advantages are icing and may or may not land. The Technician’s Attack Four Talents: (0 + 9), (1 + 8), (3 + 4), (4 + 4)
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If all Dhelest needs to do is land powerful Talents, this arrangement would almost guarantee that a couple of them take effect. If the warrior Dodges the attack, Ben would not have to worry about suffering counterattack damage for keeping his Tacks small. If Dhelest ever thinks up an Indirect Attack and starts a Trial with the warriors, this technical approach would be a great setup for taking an early lead. The Big Talent One 3-Tack, two Talents, and one Advantage: (1 + 3 + 4), (0 + 8), (4 + 4), (9)
The Aggressive Attack One 4-Tack, one Talent, and two Advantages: (0 + 1 + 3 + 4), (4 + 4), (8), (9) In this scenario, Ben hopes to land the 4-Tack and deal significant damage to his opponent. He does not expect the single Talent to land, but he would welcome an opportunity to use his Clearing Swipe on the other warriors if it does. The two Advantages are just icing on the cake, and Ben reckons he would use them to offer Penalties. This would be a smart, aggressive arrangement against unknown enemies, playing to Dhelest’s strength as a heavy hitter. The Clever Feint Two 3-Tacks and two Advantages: (0 + 4 + 4), (1 + 3 + 4), (8), (9) If the Scribe declares a Counter and rolls a similar number of dice, Ben might
This arrangement sets up a Clearing Swipe well, one of Dhelest’s best weapons against a group of weaker enemies. Ben could use one of the Talents to deploy a Clearing Swipe, putting the 3-Tack in place to damage multiple foes. When fighting groups, spreading a 3-Tack over multiple enemies also uses up more Rolls per Round on the opponents’ side. The second Talent gives him a better chance of landing the Clearing Swipe, and, if both land, may be used to deal additional damage to one of the targets. The Advantage covers his back and might even get him a little bonus in the next Bout.
On Defense Arranging Tacks in defense is only a little less strategic. Just building the largest Tack is not always the smartest move when tying an incoming Tack is enough to avoid damage. Players need to keep in mind the abilities of their enemies and whether or not a crippling Penalty arising from a sneaky Talent is worse than taking a few dice of Fatigue.
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Combat Elements What makes combat different from other series of Bouts are the pressing nature of time and the tactical importance of who is where. Combat is a dynamic, complicated situation, with many things happening at once and many actors fighting over the same ground. Early Dark handles this complexity by offering a system of Rounds and Ranges that transposes the chaos of real life-and-death combat into a manageable, turn-based series of Rolls for Opportunity. The following are short introductions to these core elements of combat in Early Dark.
Grammar
Roll for Opportunity When characters attack in combat, rolls are said to be “Rolls for Opportunity.” Each roll represents the character spying the field, looking for openings, and checking for possible attacks. This is because the hero is not fully in control of what actions are available to him or her; combat is about playing to advantages and capitalizing on openings that you yourself may not have made. The Footing or mode is decided on to show how the hero will perceive the environment. Players declare their intents before a roll is made, determining whether or not a Bout will be initiated and what Penalties will take place on the roll. Exactly what actions occur throughout the Bout, however, is not decided until after the roll is made and defended against. This makes the roll less an attempt “to hit” and more a representation of how the hero sees his or her immediate context and what ideas spring to mind. Multiple hits might take place, with combatants fatiguing one another equally. Maybe the attacker never even swings, but finds a way to move closer and set up a future attack. Players declare a Footing for the turn and then roll to see what lies ahead. Once the dice are cast, the player decides what actions his or her character will attempt or whom the character will attack within the confines of that Footing.
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Rounds Combat is arranged as a series of Rounds, which are themselves comprised of a series of turns. A Round could represent one to three minutes of combat, roughly the time it takes for every contestant in a battle to move, defend, and counter-move. Everything that occurs within a single Round of combat can be said to happen all at once, with the effects of one turn spilling into the next, characters dodging one blow as they swing to land another. This is why Penalties that land four or five turns ago can take effect when they do. Once each character or group of characters has taken a turn in the order prescribed by the Initiative roll, those with leftover Rolls per Round take additional turns, retracing the order of Initiative until all Rolls per Round are spent. Characters will use up one Roll per Round each time they roll, whether offensively or defensively. When a character has no Rolls per Round remaining, they can take no turns and defend with Evades only. When each combatant’s Rolls per Round are spent, the Round is over. Effects lasting through that Round are cancelled (such as disrupted Footings, Durable Penalties, and unused Momentary Penalties), and the Scribe updates characters on any changes in the overall battle conditions. The next Round begins with players rolling Initiative again, changing the order of turns each Round.
Ranges The four Ranges in Early Dark represent not only distance but positioning and context as well. The Range your character chooses will decide roughly how far away from your opponents you are, sure, but also how you are situated in the skirmish, what interactions are possible, and how much attention you are
paying to each person. In other words, Ranges do not measure exact distance, but instead describe how your character navigates the shifting ground of battle. The four Ranges set in combat do not represent statically where each character is on the field, but dynamically where Bouts will take place among the fighters. Characters will be moving and dodging as the narrative dictates, but the Ranges set at the beginning of the Round fix where opportunities will arise for exchanges between fighters to take place.
When a Round begins, each character chooses a single Range. This represents the Range they desire to be at when attacking enemies as well as the Range an enemy must come into before attacking that character. When two characters interact, whichever character has the higher Initiative that Round is the one whose Range is used for the Bout: We say that his or her Range “has priority.” This means that winning Initiative is the key to setting at which Range you attack and at which Range attacks coming at you are settled. These Ranges are for within skirmishes only, and are not absolute or universal. Shooting an arrow from more than twenty yards away would dictate a Trial, not a Bout. If an attacker is using a Ranged weapon outside of combat, is surprising an unsuspecting foe, or is shooting from a distance further than twenty yards, use a Trial. From farther away, the attacker is not really in a skirmish with the opponent (who may or may not even know the attacker is there) at all.
Reach represents opponents that are within direct reach of each other’s weapons. If you can swing around in a circle and connect with another combatant, you are said to be within Reach. Fighting in ranks is a good example of Reach, although those in the front lines can slip into Grapples easily. Fighters with short blades are usually best suited for Reach Range, where targets will be only a yard or so away.
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For example: The ogre bashing Vuul Hara sets Melee Range each Round in combat. Although the beast steps on Vuul and frequently picks up and slams the fragile magicker onto the ground, each Bout in which the ogre’s Range “takes priority” begins with the fighters engaged at Melee Range. They may be closer or further apart for a time, but each new initiative or exchange, each deep breath or new idea, occurs at Melee.
The Four Ranges Grapple represents attacks that happen in a very close proximity, either in a grapple or within arm’s reach. Grapplers use their entire bodies in a Bout, keeping close enough to enemies to use any part of the body as a weapon. Opponents at Grapple can land punches, elbows, knees, and holds on each other. Most martial arts weapons and knives are used in Grapple, a Range that puts longer weapons at a severe disadvantage.
Melee represents combatants that are a few steps from one another. A good image of Melee fighting is a loose arrangement of fighters who switch targets often, making wide arcs with their blades as they step through the battlefield. Heavy weapons that require a solid swing and pole-arms that rely on keeping an opponent distant are best suited for Melee attacks. Fighters established at Melee keep a little distance between one another, anywhere from one to four yards. Long Range represents opponents who are too far apart from each other to engage in close combat, but close enough for projectile attacks. Long Range can be imagined as a distance of anywhere from seven to twenty yards. Most Long Range attacks force the defender to Dodge.
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Playing a Round Minor scuffles and physical contests are often handled outside of combat, either in a series of simple Bouts or an ad hoc Trial. Scribes can use any of several options to setup conflicts in engaging, dramatic ways. Times arise, however, when true combat is unavoidable. Judgment must be meted out. Revenge can be postponed no longer. Rage shudders off decorum and must be unleashed. One hero must remain standing when all others fall. So it goes.
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Summary The following structure of combat has been designed for quick, deadly encounters. Wade through the following descriptions to become familiar with the entire process before worrying about the specifics of each option. Several of the proceeding sections will discuss how to take turns in more depth.
Order of Combat
Step 1: Set the Scene Step 2: Initiative Step 3: Establish Ranges Step 4: Take Turns in Order Step 5: Update Conditions and Return to Step 2 Step 1: Set the Scene Combat can start in myriad ways. The most important responsibility of the Scribe when combat begins is to sufficiently set the scene, giving every player a solid description of the party’s environment and any relevant elements in play. Nothing ruins an exciting battle faster than players missing out on a crucial piece of information that leaves them feeling cheated or tricked later. There are fair surprises and unfair surprises, and a good Scribe will avoid walking the line between them, remaining firmly in the “fair” camp.
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Artistic description aside, Scribes must set the scene with mechanics in mind: Who gets the first swing? How many are on each side? Was anyone caught unaware? Are there conditional Penalties
in play that will affect player decisions? Are these multiple enemies or a single enemy with Minions? Answering these questions is crucial. For example: Three veteran heroes come upon a pair of hostile Lesser Boars, each with one goblin Minion. Kelly describes the heat of the day and the thorns in the underbrush, how the Boars look up from rooting in the briars, how the Goblins scurry out from under the ample bellies of the swines. She explains that the goblins are Minions of the Lesser beasts and that both sides will roll Initiative as normal. No conditional Penalties arise from the setting. An encounter in Early Dark can be set up in any number of ways. The Scribe has a great deal of control over how enemies are mechanically represented: Who is the leader? Are there Minions or Familiars? Do these three Goblins act as a swarm? Is the enemy caught “off Guard” in the attack? See 346 for more on setting up encounters from the Scribe’s perspective. Step 2: Initiative When combat or a new Round begins, each player rolls Initiative. After adding any appropriate bonuses, each player announces his or her total Initiative score. The Scribe rolls independently for each individual foe, unless Followers such as Minions or Retainers are in play. This means the order of Initiative can be staggered between opposing parties. The Scribe jots down on the record sheet the order in which characters will take their turns, highest to lowest. For example: In the battle staged above, Margaret rolls Initiative for Kechu and adds her Initiative Trait bonus, scoring an 8. Greg scores 11 for Serseus. Kelly has to roll twice, once for each Boar, resulting in a 4 and a 9. She does not roll for the Minions, which do not have their own slots in the Initiative order and come into play only on their leaders’ turns. Some combat begins by catching people unawares. In most cases, surprising a group of enemies gives Initiative to the party who does the surprising. Everyone rolls Initiative
as normal to determine the order within each party, but all members of the startled party are placed below those in the other on the list. This is the easiest way to begin a combat that starts with one side unprepared or at a disadvantage.
Step 4: Take Turns Each character takes a turn in the order established by the Initiative rolls. In most cases, players will begin a turn by declaring a Footing and Rolling for Opportunity.
In extremely uneven combat, one party may be caught “off Guard” and begin the combat Grounded for a set number of Rounds. Cases of ambush generally result from a player using Tactics. The Scribe may allow ambushes to occur in other situations, though a Trial and some clever role-playing on the part of the heroes would be required.
After each character takes a turn, return to the top of the Initiative list and run through the order again. Every time a character takes a turn, the Scribe crosses out one Roll per Round from the record sheet. Many defensive rolls and Saves mandated by the Scribe will also expend one Roll per Round each.
For example: Kelly announces that “Boar 1” sets Grapple Range for itself. Margaret sets Reach for Kechu, who will be using a short Anu blade in the fight. Predictably, “Boar 2” also chooses Grapple. Greg sets Long Range so Serseus has room to use her Arcana. Kelly writes all the Ranges down next to the names on the record sheet. At this time, Scribes can write down the number of Rolls per Round each character has next to his or her name and take note of any conditional Penalties offered by the environment.
IIII I I I I I I I I I I I I I
Serseus Boar 2 / Goblin Kechu Boar 1 / Goblin
Long Grapple Reach Grapple
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Step 3: Establish Ranges After the order of turns is set, each player must establish Range. Starting from the position that lost Initiative, lowest to highest, playercharacters and the Scribe declare what Range each actor is attempting. The Scribe then jots these down next to each character’s name in the Initiative order. Because the character who lost Initiative declares his or her Range first, the winners get a chance to react, choosing their own Ranges with the advantage of that information. This represents the “telegraph” or “tell” that characters give when losing Initiative.
For example: Because he won Initiative, Serseus goes first. Greg decides to blast Arcane Bolt at Boar 2. Because Greg won Initiative, Serseus’ Range “takes priority” against all other fighters at the moment. Greg Wagers low to conserve energy and scores a Primary Tack of 3 dice on offense. The Arcanum can only Strike, and Greg does not roll high enough to overcome the Guard of the Minion—Strikes never reduce an opponent’s Guard, but try to overcome the remaining Guard to score a Wound. Boar 2 is forced to Dodge, since it has no Long Range options. It lands an Advantage while Dodging, and Kelly decides to Take Range on Serseus. Now, the Boar’s Grapple will take priority against Serseus in future Bouts. Kelly crosses out one Roll per Round for each of these two combatants. On its turn, now at Grapple, Boar 2 Wounds Serseus and lands a Pin Talent that offers a [-2] Durable Penalty on the magicker. Kelly also marks off another two Rolls per Round on the record sheet. See Figure 1 on next page. On her first turn, Margaret rolls in Fight-Move, which brings the Skill Blades Art into play. She attacks Boar 1 so her Reach Range takes priority— whoever has the higher Initiative sets the Range for the Bout. Boar 1 suffers a Primary Tack of 3 dice, and Kechu rolls a high enough Strike to Wound the Goblin. Because the Goblin has only one Wound as the Boar’s Minion, this single Strike is enough to kill the creature. The Boar will lose the extra Mundane Die offered by the Goblin immediately. Kelly crosses out a Roll per Round for each of these two. See Figure 2 on next page.
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Figure 1
II II I I II II I I I I I I I I I I I
Serseus Boar 2 / Goblin Kechu Boar 1 / Goblin
Long Grapple Reach Grapple
lost
Range to Boar 2, [-2]
Serseus Boar 2 / Goblin Kechu Boar 1 / Goblin
Long Grapple Reach Grapple
lost
Range to Boar 2, [-2]
lost
Minion
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II II I I II II I I II I I I I I I I I
I
I
Figure 2
A few turns pass, more Rolls per Round are spent, and Boar 1 deals a Wound to Kechu before suffering a Wound itself at the end of the Round. Wounds and Fatigue are kept track of at the top of the record sheet in the boxes provided. These boxes allow Scribes to arrange the enemies in an encounter, track damage, and note any unique properties or weapons. There is a copy of the record sheet located at the back of this book and online. Step 5: Update Conditions and Return to Step 2 After all Rolls per Round are spent, the Round is over. Durable Penalties and unused Momentary Penalties are erased. Any ad hoc Trials left incomplete are considered failures. At this time, Scribes can update the players on changes in the combat environment: the roof caving in, reinforcements arriving, a storm brewing above, the entire room slowly rising into the air, etc.
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For example: Kelly notes that Boar 1 lost its Minion and will have one fewer Roll per Round now. The Pin on Serseus is removed. Kelly also announces that the hunting party pursuing the two women will arrive at this spot in three Rounds.
Any summoned Followers arrive on the Round following their summons. Also, when Minions are killed in combat, the master loses any extra dice immediately but retains any added Rolls per Round until the next Round starts.
How to Spend a Turn
Some Scribes may establish time limits for player turns. A variety of sandy timekeeping devices exist, and players may find themselves with sixty, ninety, or three hundred seconds to Roll for Opportunity and declare intent. You have been warned.
Direct Attack Most turns in combat will be spent directly attacking foes. Anytime the character uses a weapon, wields a foreign object, kicks, or barges into an enemy, he or she is making a direct, Mundane attack. Attacks in Early Dark can look like pretty much anything, but they all share one quality: Every attack “initiates a Bout” with one or more opponents. By now, you know how to roll and settle Bouts, and many of the examples earlier in the book have illustrated attacks in combat. Attacks begin with the player declaring an intent, choosing a Footing, and Rolling for Opportunity. Players do not have to choose what each Tack will do until after the rolls, and by that time it is too late to engage in a new Check or start up a Trial from scratch.
Use Magick Magickers and sages will often spend turns using magick. Some Arcana and Insights require rituals or a significant amount of time to cast, making them impossible to use in combat. The majority, however, were designed to be cast in a flash. Arcane magick demands that the player make a Wager. The Wager represents the amount of energy the caster is attempting to wield from the Fray. It sets the total number of dice allowed to land after the Bout reduces, restricting the power of the roll to what was predicted ahead of time. On the side, after settling the Bout with the enemy, the player who cast the magick must then roll Drain to see how much Fatigue the casting cost (251).
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Characters take their turns in the order set by the Initiative list, but what those turns look like will be different for every group of gamers. Some tables will have lots of commotion and “table talk” as players set up their moves and call out strategies regardless of whose turn it is. Other tables will crack down on chatter and outlaw communications among players that are not happening between characters in the story (maybe it takes a Simple Action to exchange ideas in the middle of combat). Whatever your style, there are a handful of ways a player will spend his or her character’s turn in combat. These broad definitions and the following demonstrations are presented to give players an idea of what they can do and how to do it, nothing more. The following sections will offer step-by-step demonstrations of the different options below.
Loom magick draws on the nature of physical reality itself. Sages cast spells based on the Insights they gather from quiet observation and meditation. The more myth, science, and history the sage experiences, the better she understands the intangible Threads that make up time and space. Sages can increase the number of Loom Dice they roll by learning local lore in Saves and simple Trials (see 252).
Complex Action Players are not forced to initiate a Bout with an enemy on every turn. Making a Check to interact with the environment or a Save to progress an important Trial are often wise ways to spend the turn. Checks and Saves in combat play out exactly as they do outside of combat. Complex actions can include progressing Trials or attempting anything too elaborate for a simple Advantage. The Scribe dictates whether an action is too complicated to attempt during combat and if any Penalties are appropriate. For example: Vuul Hara is attempting to unlock the crypt door, a chore that includes solving an intricate
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system of small, mechanical puzzles that cover a tall block of marble set in the wall. Erick’s party is beset by undead corpses on the crypt floor just yards away, but Vuul spends his turns in combat focused on the bronze-coated door. Although he must expend one or two Rolls per Round in defense, Erick works through a separate Trial on his own turns.
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Move an Opponent Smart players will find themselves in situations where moving an enemy into the right place is more productive than taking another swing. In such cases, the Scribe creates an ad hoc Trial appropriate to the size and gait of the enemy. If heroes do not complete the Trial in a single Round, they will have to start over again in a subsequent Round. The Scribe can decide that certain Trials aimed at moving an enemy can take place only within Bouts of direct attacks, thus bringing counterattacks back into the picture. So it goes. For example: Heyu wants to knock an assassin off the roof of an Anu palace high in the mountains of Kuludo Island. Though three other assassins fell quite easily to Heyu’s blade earlier tonight, this fellow has proven much more resourceful than his peers. Kelly announces that Heyu will have to score six Hits before the assassin scores five to win the Trial. Keeping the numbers close makes sense because the two are roughly the same size, and a goal of six Hits would be equivalent to Heyu dealing considerable damage. Kelly gives the assassin one fewer because of the severity of the outcome. Tauno does not have to declare that his 2-Tacks will be Hits instead of Talents until after the Bout reduces. Or: A party of heroes is attempting to back a frenzied giant into a cave. If they get the giant within the mouth of the cave, a heavy grate can be triggered to slide down and imprison the Fell humanoid. Kelly mentions that the sturdy footing of the giant would make it more difficult to move, though having an entire party harrying him might make directing him a little easier.
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She settles on a Trial of Bouts that requires the party to score 10 Hits: “If the group can score 10 Hits on him in a single Round, then you can move him back into the cave. You will have to explain your movements
and Footings carefully if you want your rolls to count, though.” Players may forgo damaging the giant to score Hits in the Trial, but because Kelly required Bouts, the giant can counterattack as normal. For more on creating exciting Trials, see 346. Recover Guard A player may expend one Roll per Round to recover 1d10 to their Guard. This can only happen once per Round, but there is no limit to how solid a fighter’s Guard can become when slowly bolstered over many Rounds.
Indirect Attacks Players can also use a Check in combat to indirectly attack an enemy. Interacting with the environment in clever ways can shake things up and force your adversaries into difficult Saves. Making a Check that forces someone else into a Save is not quite the same thing as initiating a Bout. Most importantly, the Force of your Check is not necessarily the Difficulty of the Save. This means the hero could roll a rather simple Check but force the enemy to roll a very difficult Save! Also, because you are not directly engaging the enemy, counterattacks are not in play.
How to Attack Most attacks will play out through a handful of organized steps. The following demonstrates what happens during concrete Mundane attacks, step by step. This is probably the most common action during combat.
Steps in a Mundane Attack Step 1: Declare Intent Step 2: Discard Penalties Step 3: Roll for Opportunity Step 4: Both Parties Form Tacks Step 5: Reveal and Settle Rolls Step 6: Roll Damage
For example: After tossing his opponent in the previous Bout and setting Melee Range, Ben’s character, Dhelest, steps toward the young assassin. Ben declares, “I’m rolling Fight-Labor,” and picks up his eight Mundane Dice. “My sword has a Heavy Aspect, so Hacking Blade is in effect.” Hearing that Ben’s intent initiates a Bout, Kelly picks up seven Mundane Dice in defense for the female assassin: “The assassin eyes the open window, and thinks of running. Years of conditioning, however, take control of her limbs, and she steps forward to intercept the weapon.” Because the Assassin knows Martial Arts, she will defend the Fight-Labor attack with Fight-Move.
Using an Art
If an appropriate Footing is chosen and the right context exists, Arts may be brought into play. Each Art is tied to one Footing. If a character suffers from a disrupted Footing, for example, the Art attached to that Footing is prevented from coming into play. Each combat-specific Art will designate what kind of weapon Aspect must be used.
For example: Dhelest won Initiative and set Melee Range for the Round. He has no Penalties using his large sword. The assassin is unarmed, using the Unarmed Aspect, and suffers a [-2] Penalty in Melee.
Fighting Unarmed
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Step 1: Declare Intent The attacker must announce his or her Domain and Footing. Direct attacks will “initiate a Bout” with an opponent, inviting the adversary to roll in response. If the defender is out of Rolls per Round, then he or she can attempt only an Evade.
Step 2: Discard Penalties All Bouts take place at the Range that has Priority, and one or both opponents in a Bout may suffer Range Penalties. If either combatant has Durable or Momentary Penalties, these are factored in atop any Range Penalties in play. Injuries can also add Penalties to a roll. Players discard the allotted number of dice before rolling.
There are no unique penalties for unarmed characters fighting armed opponents. The Unarmed Aspect may offer Range Penalties against certain weapons, however. Additionally, unarmed combatants cannot Strike their opponents unless they know Martial Arts or pick up an object. Step 3: Roll for Opportunity The attacker makes a Roll for Opportunity, eyeing the field and searching for openings. The number of dice rolled is set by the Domain of the Footing. After rolling, the player studies the result and decides how to spend the turn. For example: Ben tells the table, “Dhelest raises the two-handed sword above his head as he steps toward the criminal. Feeling the worn handle in his fists, he imagines the weight of the blade as the sword’s own soul, willing itself downward, down toward her neck.” He rolls and begins scanning the result. Kelly rolls only five dice, losing two from the Range Penalty: “The assassin fights back!” Step 4: Form Tacks Players involved in the Bout form their Tacks in secret, Scribes behind their screens and players behind cupped hands and lowered heads. The number of Tacks is always limited by the character’s Tacks per Turn Trait.
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Step 5: Reveal and Settle Rolls Both players reveal their Tacks. All Tacks of similar size cancel out on a one-to-one basis. For example: Ben shows a 4-Tack, a 3-Tack, and an Advantage. Kelly reveals two Talents and a single Advantage. The two Advantages cancel out. Ben declares, “I hammer her with my sword handle using the 3-Tack, and then my blade down at her with the 4-Tack.” Kelly deploys the assassin’s Arcane Will Talent to use her Blood as Defense. Her other Talent deploys as a Joint Strike, which adds a side Strike attempt.
Ben’s Roll, “Eight into 9”
Kelly’s Roll, “Five into 8”
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< Both Land >
< Both Land >
< Cancel Out >
Everyone creatively narrates the effects of the Tacks that landed. The order of the action is not always essential, and creativity and flair are always welcome when settling rolls. Step 6: Roll Damage How damage is rolled depends on what Attacks each character knows. The highest Primary Tack left after rolls are Reduced can be used as a Strike. Other Primary Tacks on either side will deal Fatigue and are most often settled before the Strike is said to take place. If one player has two Primary Tacks that tie as the highest, both can be deployed as Strikes. Fatigue damage will lower the enemy’s Guard, whereas Strikes will roll against the enemy’s total Defense in hopes of dealing a Wound. For example: Ben calculates the Fatigue from the 3-Tack. The Load of the sword counts as the DPD due to his Hacking Blade, resulting in a Fatigue of 20 (5 per die + 5 from the usual Load bonus). Kelly reduces the assassin’s Guard from 27 to 7.
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Ben then rolls four dice to Strike his furtive foe. The Arcane Will Talent allows her to add her Blood to the Threshold. The assassin has a remaining Guard of 7, a Blood of 8, and a tattoo across her chest that offers an Aura of 2: a total Defense Threshold of 17.
With four damage dice (26) and the Balance of his heavy sword (2), Ben scores 28. This is enough to deal two Wounds to the rogue because the 28 is more than double the Threshold. Had the assassin not used her Arcane Will Talent, her total Defense Threshold would have been only 9, and Ben’s Strike would have dealt 3 Wounds (9 x 3 < 28)! Kelly rolls the Joint Strike as well, resulting in 14. This is not enough to Wound Dhelest, who has a high Guard remaining. Mundane attacks ignore Blood unless a specific Talent such as Arcane Will is in play. Certain Arts can teach characters to ignore their opponents’ Armor and Aura with Mundane attacks as well.
How to Cast Arcane Magick When using Arcana, the caster decides how powerful the attack will be as he begins the spell, how dangerous both for himself and his target. Tearing at the fabric of the mundane world, playing with powers and forces unnatural—a magicker fears not these things. But wary he must be, for every softly spoken magick spell and each sinister gesture pushes the mage closer to the sting of a darker realm.
Steps in Casting Spells
Wager Magickers in Early Dark decide ahead of time the power of the spell they will cast, which is called the Wager. This is the amount of energy they aim to manifest and manipulate from beyond the natural realm. The Wager sets the total number of dice the caster can land in the roll, and can be any number equal to or less than the caster’s Arcane Dice. The Wager must include all Primary and Secondary Tacks the caster hopes to land after the Bout reduces. Later in the turn, the caster will have to roll a number of dice equal to the Wager to see how much Drain the spell caused. Drain deals Fatigue to the magicker, representing the toll Arcane magicks take on the body. The mage’s Blood buffers the effects of Drain (see below). The magicker can form more Tacks than the Wager allows, but he risks suffering Backlash (see below). Magick Items To mitigate the dangers of high Wagers, casters can rely on Source. Various kinds of objects can function as Source, from weapons and clothing to dried organs and living familiars. Source reduces the number of dice required
For example: Andrew’s caster, Jist, is firing an Arcane Bolt at a nearby party of Anu nunji. The city burns around them, the heavy rain unable to quench the flames. Andrew Wagers 8 dice, hoping for a 4-Tack and some accompanying Talents to deal Fatigue. When it comes time to roll Drain, however, Andrew will roll only 3 dice because Jist carries a Fire Stave that offers +2 Antagony Source, a belt made from the hide of a Lesser Stag that offers +1 Antagony Source, and a twisted ring that offers another +2 Antagony Source.
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Step 1: Declare Spell and Make Wager Step 2: Roll to Cast Step 3: Target Rolls Defense Step 4: Roll Drain Step 5: Roll up Damage or Effect
to “cover the Wager,” each rank of Source removing one die from the Drain roll that accompanies the Wager.
This reliance on trinkets and charms can become a fetish for magickers, who regularly hoard Source items to protect themselves from the tiring consequences of casting magick. Stripping a mage of his staff and jewelry is often an effective way of weakening his efficacy in combat. Scribes should note the importance of Source for casters and keep in mind where such items will come from. In the world of the Hara Sea, many natural and humanmade objects would function quite easily as Source, from lucky charms to historically significant relics. In many cases, the weirdness of an object alone might render it useful as Source. Anything with a touch of the Fray can work, and the world is populated with the blood and vestiges of the older frayed races. Sigils are symbols, either written or spoken, that act as Source. Instead of power coming from the presence of an object, the sign itself works as a conduit of Fray energy. Spoken Sigils last for one Round of combat, whereas written Sigils last as long as the sign stays recognizable. For example: Later in the battle, now spreading across the rooftops of Preexi Latl, the nunji have Jist and his companions cornered against a rising tower. Early in
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the Round, Jist casts Restore Object to fix a rotting staircase that may act as an escape route later. During the cast, Andrew builds 2 Talents and decides to use the Sigil Talent attached to all Protagony Magick. He chooses to speak a word of power that will give him another +2 Antagony Source. Wards are items that disrupt a rival caster’s Source. The power of Wards is increased by the fact that the enemy caster may not immediately detect them. Each Ward can counteract Source items tied to one specific Family of magick.
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Wards work by proximity, thus their presence will hinder any and all casting in the corresponding Family of magick. This means the bearer of the Ward and his or her allies are affected also. Wards only counteract Source and do not actually raise a rival caster’s Wager, just as Source does not technically lower the Wager. Use the difference between the ranks to decide how much Source is still available to the original caster. If the rank of the Wards exceeds the total Source and/or Wager, no extra dice of Drain are forced on the original caster. For example: After Jist and his fellow combatants fight through the band of nunji, they stand face to face with a Sabu mercenary in full armor. The Anu warrior crackles with power, drawing a long, curved sword from a polished scabbard at his back. Andrew wins Initiative for the Round and decides to unleash another Arcane Bolt; he Wagers 6. After the Bout, Andrew picks up one die to roll Drain (his Wager of 6 minus the 5 Antagony Source of his Fire Stave, belt, and ring). Kelly stops him: “The Sabu wears a dark, blood-soaked amulet that acts as a Ward against Protagony Magick. It has a rank of 3, which is enough to counteract three dice of Source items.” Andrew must roll four Drain Dice to cover his Wager. Some objects could act as Source for one Family and Ward against another. Stacking and collecting various magickal objects (some partially canceling what others offer) will allow magickers to most effectively wield the chaos of the Fray.
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Step 1: Declare Spell and Make Wager
The beginning of the turn is spent choosing a Footing and a spell to cast. The player sets a Wager equal to or less than his Arcane Dice. This limits the total number of dice that can be present in his Tacks after the Bout reduces. For example: Zefr has eleven Arcane Dice when attacked by a group of stealthy warriors sent from a nearby Edish camp (they will function as a single enemy: one leader with three Minions). After losing Initiative and getting caught in Grapple Range, John begins his turn: “Zefr grimaces as the band of painted men encircle him... Hmm... I’ll Wager 7 with my Shock Wave to push them off.”
Step 2: Roll to Cast Casters roll their Arcane Dice in the appropriate Footing for the spell and form Tacks according to the nature of the Arcanum. Multiple Tacks can be articulated as in a Mundane Bout. For example: After John sets the Wager at 7, he lets loose his eleven Arcane Dice in a Move-Fight Footing: “I close my eyes for a moment as the unarmed savages clutch and tug at me—A crushing wind erupts from my skin.” John forms two 3-Tacks and an Advantage. Backlash Casters can push their luck and build Tacks that include more dice than the Wager allows. The player would do this expecting some of the Tacks to cancel out. If the caster ends the Bout with too many dice in play, however, he suffers Backlash from the Fray. When Backlash occurs, Blood is not used to buffer the Drain roll. This penalty is only the beginning, however, and Source objects can often have Backlash of their own. Backlash from Source items can take many forms, from the smallest Shock penalty to forging a new Alignment that marks the hero as indebted to a dark god of the Fray (see 360).
If more than one Source object is in play, all of them can take effect, each offering its own particular Backlash. Spells that Backlash still hit the Target, making them potential final gambits.
Step 3: Target Rolls Defense The defender rolls against whatever Tacks the caster arranges. There are two ways to defend against Arcana, either Dodging or Resisting, though magickers who find themselves the target of offensive spells have the option of Countering as well.
Step 4: Roll Drain Mages can be truly powerful enemies, but this power comes at a cost. The caster must now roll a number of dice equal to the Wager and add them up to determine the Fatigue cost of wielding magick of the Fray. A magicker’s Blood Defense is used as a buffer against Drain. After rolling Drain, subtract the character’s Blood from the amount scored. Some magickal items will offer bonuses to a caster’s Blood Defense, which allows him to buffer more Drain, thus making higher Wagers less risky. The resulting Drain becomes Fatigue on the caster. Any Drain left over after the caster is “Grounded” immediately becomes Shock.
For example: The men around Zefr are struck by the gust of wind churning up around the caster. Kelly declares, “The skeletons lean against the wind, clawing their feet against the dirt and grabbing at you to keep from being thrust backward,” and rolls a Mundane Dodge for the bone-painted men in a Fight-Thrive Footing. Because the band of warriors is functioning as one enemy, Kelly rolls once for the entire unit: Seven Mundane Dice against a Limit of 6. Kelly forms three Advantages.
For example: Zefr wears a charmed bracelet that offers +2 Kinesis Source and a matching choker that awards another +2 to the same Family. These reduce the Drain dice John rolls from a high seven to a less risky three. John rolls the three dice against himself (24) and reduces that amount by his total Blood (22), leaving him to suffer 2 points of Fatigue.
Resist Arcana that require a Resist, also called a Direct Defense, will generally do something other than damage, causing unique effects on or within the target instead. Defenders roll their Arcane Dice in the same Footing but do not have to make Wagers. This “double standard” between casters and defenders makes casting such spells on other magickers an uphill battle. Many Arcana that dictate a Resist defense will resemble small Trials.
Reduce and Settle the roll as normal. When forcing a Dodge, a spell functions in much the same way as a Mundane Attack.
Counter If the target of the spell is a magicker who knows the same Arcanum (at the same level or higher), the defender may decide to Counter. This plays out much like a Mundane Bout,
Resist If the spell requires a Direct Defense, the effect is most often determined by the number of Hits scored. A few Arcana will take effect only if the highest Tack lands, however.
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Dodge Dodges can take any Mundane Footing so long as the role matches the roll. Defenders who Dodge a spell can use Advantages as normal (see 234).
though both parties must make Wagers and roll Drain according to the rules of magick.
Step 5: Roll Damage or Effect
For example: John landed both 3-Tacks against the skeleton-painted warriors. Shockwave deals Fatigue damage only, which makes winning the highest Tack less important. Because Zefr has Low Shockwave, each die of his Primary Tacks does normal Fatigue, which for Zefr is 3 DPD, dealing 18 Fatigue total. Kelly uses the Advantages to offer [-1] Penalties.
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How to Use Loom Magick The Great Loom contains and binds us all in a web of paths, courses, and interconnections. Each star is the cross-section of a Thread pointing directly at Earth. These are seen by all, for the force of those Threads is felt by all. Other Threads cannot be seen by the untrained eye, but true sages see the ever-present Threads running through all surfaces and spaces.
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Sages roll Loom Attacks with a number of dice equal to their own Loom Dice plus any bonuses from their knowledge of local lore. Players can keep track of known lore in the Source section of their character sheets.
Steps For Using Loom
Step 1: Declare Intent Step 2: Roll to Cast Step 3: Defender Rolls Step 4: Settle Damage or Effect When two weavers are in combat, both attacker and defender can use lore to increase the number of dice they roll. Many forms of Attack will initiate a Trial that will last the remainder of the Round. Each Insight will mention what kind of defense it requires. Gaining Lore Bonuses The sage reads the comings and goings of self, season, and circumstance, tapping into the Threads that sustain her world. Depending on her knowledge of local lore and history, the sage may gain additional Loom Dice for future rolls. Mastery of the relevant lore comes from roles made intentionally by the player for this purpose. The lore mastered by a Loom sage is measured in Epithets. If the sage knows one Epithet of a particular location, target, animal, or region, she receives one extra Loom Die on all rolls dealing with that entity. Knowing additional or overlapping Epithets can raise the total Loom bonus any amount.
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For example: Thulghad knows an Epithet for this particular region of the forest. “In days past,” Seth explains, “the people called this place the Thinning Wood.” He also knows an Epithet for a particular kind of tree growing in this area of the forest, the Toad Bark. If Thulghad were to Provoke Nature using a Toad Bark tree, he would receive two extra Loom Dice because of the overlapping Epithets (one from the forest and another from the specific tree). Simple names and titles do not count as Epithets. An Epithet is tied to a narrative, more specifically, a myth. The Epithet carries weight and manifests within the physical nature of the entity. The flavor of the Epithet will be palpable when interacting with the person, object, or region. For example: The Toad Bark is also called the Spotted Oak, but the latter is a common use-name and does not count as an Epithet. Were Thulghad to summon a Fey spirit from the tree, its shape would be thin and withered due to the “Thinning Wood” and toad-like due to the “Toad Bark.” Because Fey have no natural form in this world, they will manifest differently at different times, all depending on the proximity and nature of their Hearth and on how much knowledge of them the weaver possesses. Scribes can create unique Checks or Trials to teach sages specific Epithets or information. Arts such as Lore, Canvass, and Speechcraft can all help weavers increase their knowledge of the world around them. For example: Thulghad came to the area knowing his journey would push him deep into the woods. At a small settlement, Seth decided to target an elder and learn some of the local tales about the nearby forest. Kelly set up a complex Check to give Seth some options: Thulghad can learn a general Epithet about a region of the forest at a Difficulty of 4, an Epithet about a local spirit for a Difficulty of 3, and/or an Epithet about a specific species of plant at a Difficulty of 2.The more specific the information, the easier to learn.
Step 1: Declare Intent The first step to use a Loom Insight on your turn is declaring the Footing and intent of your action. All Insights initiate a Trial of some sort. Some are rolled against a target in Bouts, and others are set up by the Scribe on an ad hoc basis, as a complex Check.
Or: Stephanie Takemoto’s hero, Kiwaki, is in the middle of combat and seeks to unravel a particularly strong Lesser Cave Lion. Kiwaki speaks, “I find the glowing thread attached to the Lion and begin to draw it into my hands, twisting and knotting the cord, tugging it out from within the beast.” She knows an Epithet of this particular Lion, “He Who Greets With Fire,” giving him one extra Loom Die. Kiwaki has initiated a Bout with the Lion, which will roll its Loom Dice in Fight-Touch to Resist. Look to the individual Insights for ways to construct Trials and what factors might raise or lower the difficulty of certain actions. Keep in mind that every roll will represent a certain amount of time, and even simple tasks become challenging when in a hurry or under pressure. Step 2: Roll to Cast The sage rolls a number of dice equal to her Loom Dice plus any lore bonuses. Penalties are removed as normal, and Tacks are articulated according to the nature of the Insight. Insights that instigate an independent Trial (Osmosis, Terraform, Fey Summon, Provoke Nature) will require a set number of Hits determined by the Scribe or the intended action, whereas Insights rolled against a target (Entangle, Unravel, Thread Stalk) will ask the weaver to score as many Hits as possible in a proper Bout.
Or: Stephanie rolls nine Loom Dice against a Limit of 10: (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8). Because the Lion is forced to Resist, Kiwaki does not have to worry about Counters and builds only Secondary Tacks of two dice each: (1, 8) (1, 7) (2, 7) (3, 6). Step 3: Defender Rolls If a defender is rolling in a Bout with the sage, he or she will always be attempting to Resist the attack. This means the defender’s Footing and Domain must match those of the attacking weaver.
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For example: Seth’s weaver, Thulghad, wants to terraform a piece of earth, building a bridge of stone across a dangerous gorge. He declares his TouchLabor Footing and adds two extra dice to his base Loom Dice of 10: one for knowing the sole Epithet of the river being crossed, “The White Whisper,” and another for knowing an Epithet of the region this particular canyon is in, “The Red Earth of Ajenaz.” Kelly sets the required number of Hits for the Trial at 8 and gives Thulghad two turns to score all 8.
For example: Seth rolls twelve dice against a Limit of 9: (0, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8). He can articulate 4 Hits: (0, 8) (3, 6) (4, 5) and (4, 5). Seth is on his way to complete the Trial in the next roll.
For example: Kelly rolls for the Lesser Cave Lion, four Loom Dice against a Limit of 11: (3, 5, 5, 9). With this roll, it can score no more than a single Hit. In certain cases, the Scribe may let a defending sage roll a Counter in the same Footing as the attack. In a duel, two weavers would make quite the display of deadly, preternatural magicks. Step 4: Settle Damage or Effect The number of Hits scored by the weaver will determine whether the action succeeds or not. In the case of a Bout, each Hit will have an effect set by the Insight level: Raw, Low or High. For example: Seth declares to the table, “I outstretch my arms, fingers tickling the threads, taut and swirling, all around us. I tap into their coursing, feeling them align with my fingertips, becoming extensions of myself, flowing through my arms and body. Tugging upward and in with my all my might, the rock at the cliff ’s edge begins to quake and stretch. A small shard forms and grows over the expanse, nearing the other side. In a few more minutes, I will have a secure footbridge for crossing to the other ledge.” His Low Terraform allows him to manipulate 10 tons of earth. Or: Kiwaki secures 3 Hits of Unravel on the Lion, dealing a hefty amount of Shock. Because she has Low Unravel, each Hit deals 4 Shock. In effect, this attack lowers the Lion’s Guard 12 points each Wound.
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How to Make Indirect Attacks Actions in combat such as cutting the rope that anchors a chandelier, setting fire to a building, or scaring a flock of seagulls into the enemy’s face are indirect ways of attacking. At its root, an indirect attack is one character using a Check that forces another character to make an immediate Save. In most cases, the defender will make a Save as though beset by a trap or natural disaster. It is important to note that indirect attacks are not Bouts: One character rolls a Check against a particular feature of the environment, and another character is forced to roll a Save against the same or a related environmental feature.
Grammar
For example: Heyu is caught in a hard place. Unarmed and weary, his only recourse in a brawl with three starving hunters is to use the environment against them. On Heyu’s next turn, Tauno Rolls for Opportunity in Cunning-Labor and decides to tackle the pole supporting the weight of the large tent. Kelly sets the Difficulty of the maneuver at 3, easily covered by a Primary Tack in Tauno’s roll. The hunters are caught under falling beams and canvas, and Kelly creates a complex Save for them: Avoid Fatigue damage from the poles at a Difficulty of 2, avoid getting stuck under the tent (a [-2] Durable Penalty) at a Difficulty of 2, and help one of his friends escape the tent at a Difficulty of 3. Two of the three avoid damage but remain under the cloth.
The third suffers 14 Fatigue (the sum of the tent’s Hardness of 4 and Load of 10) but makes his way out from under the canvas. Think of Indirect Attacks as traps being set and sprung in the same moment, or one person springing a latent or environmental trap on another. The Difficulties given to the attacker include how hard the action would be while maintaining Guard in combat. It may be more difficult to flip over a heavy table in the middle of a brawl than in an empty room. It may also be more difficult when the hero is avoiding swords and thrown objects as part of maintaining his Guard. The Difficulties given to the defenders measure how hard it would be to pass the Save completely unscathed and without expending much energy. The Fatigue a defender suffers can represent the energy it takes to avoid the indirect attack as often as it might represent being hit by it. These can happen inside or outside combat. Within combat, Range or other narrative-based restrictions might come into play, depending on the nature of the attempted Indirect Attack. When inside combat, Scribes may have players Roll for Opportunity before declaring the Indirect Attack. Outside combat, Role to Roll may guide the chosen actions. For example: While stuck in Grapple with an Archaic Ape, Ishwan might not be able to attempt a complex, acrobatic Indirect Attack. If Jist is Pinned by an enemy, cutting the rope on the other side of the room might prove impossible. The Scribe decides.
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The Difficulty of the enemy’s Save comes from the nature of the environmental action, not from the Force of the attacker’s roll. It becomes a Save like any other, and the Scribe sets the Difficulty accordingly. Also, because no actual Bout takes place, Secondary Tacks formed by either side do not directly engage
the other. Counters are likewise prohibited, again, because no Bout is taking place. Clever fighters, however, may be able to turn complex Checks for them into very tricky, complicated Saves for their opponents. For example: After wriggling from his restraints, Derek’s Vayok, Runnaw, finds himself in combat deep in the belly of a ship. Armed with nothing but a red-hot branding iron, Derek declares a Guile-Labor Footing and Rolls for Opportunity. Runnaw can easily light the straw on fire, but it will be a hard Save for those trying to escape the flames.
Step 1: Declare Intent and Decide Check Step 2: Roll for Opportunity Step 3: Decide Effect and Declare Save Step 4: Defender Rolls Save Step 5: Figure Damage or Effect Step 1: Declare Intent and Decide Check Most turns will begin with declaring intent and deciding on a Footing for the attempted action. Players and the Scribe can work out what the Check will look like and what Difficulty it will take. For example: Chad’s Edish warrior, Amos, is fighting an entire room of guards and dazed cultists. In a lastditch effort to secure an advantageous position in the room and cause a little mayhem, Chad plans to tip over the large cauldron of boiling human limbs. Chad declares, “I squat behind the dark, iron cauldron and heave with all my might, my groan echoing in the chamber and filling the hearts of the cultists with fear!” Kelly alerts Chad that knocking over the cauldron would require a great deal of physical strength. The Difficulty is set at 6. Amos has 10 Mundane Dice and uses a Thrive-Labor Footing that takes a Limit of 11. This could potentially become a long, boring process for those not involved in the Bout. Scribes who do not set time limits for player turns may decide to limit the number of
Some Checks will take on Difficulties unknown to the hero. As in any Check, the Scribe may decide to withhold the exact Difficulty until the action is officially undertaken. Step 2: Roll for Opportunity The player removes any Penalties from his or her pool and rolls in the prescribed Footing.
Grammar
Steps in an Indirect Attack
Checks a player can inquire about on a single turn. In other words, if the player asks how hard it would be to tip over the statue and gets a frustrating response, he or she cannot continue listing other ideas indefinitely. It may take some in-game time for heroes themselves to assess the Difficulty of an action, so a limit on the player’s questioning seems appropriate.
For example: He fits six dice into a Tack, his Force tying the Difficulty and passing the Check. Step 3: Decide Effect and Declare Save After the Check has been officially passed, the Scribe narrates the action. Some Checks will have no formal Difficulty and require some qualitative gauging on the part of the Scribe; the Force of the roll is then used to inform the Scribe’s description of the resulting Save. On the other hand, Checks could have one or a number of Difficulties to overcome before initiating the Save. However things go down, the hero directs all his or her energy toward an element of the environment, and the Scribe describes what happens as a result. Any Saves that result from the Check are declared to the joy of all. For example: Kelly decides that the spilling gruel and disembodied parts will force a Save from all those in the path of the sludge, including two of the guards and the whole group of cultists. It was a dramatic, cinematic event, and Kelly wants to raise the stakes for the defenders involved. She makes it a Complex Save: “Enemies who come into contact with the gruesome concoction can avoid suffering Fear at a Difficulty of 2; they can avoid losing an additional RPR at a Difficulty of 3; and they can avoid taking damage from the caustic substance at a Difficulty of 3 as well.”
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Using the Force of the Check
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In some cases, the Difficulty of the enemy’s Save does match the Difficulty or Force of the hero’s Check. If the result of a particular Check follows directly from the hero’s Force, using the same Difficulty for the attacker’s Check and the defender’s Save makes sense because it avoids putting the Scribe in a place to decide on the Save arbitrarily. Also, the Provoke Nature Insight will always set the Hits of the sage’s roll as the target’s Difficulty directly because the sage is literally creating the environment that becomes the dangerous trap. In this case, the attacker is directly responsible for the potency of any resulting Saves. For example: Stephanie Takeomoto’s Alagoth, Kiwaki, rolls Provoke Nature on an area of grass around some feeding goblins: “I tug the individual Threads with both arms, shooting hundreds of blades of grass at the disgusting humanoids like a spray of quills from the earth.” Kiwaki rolls 4 Hits with her Loom Dice, and the goblins are given a complex Save with four separate Difficulties of 2 each. No Primary Tacks or Advantages deploy, since Kiwaki is rolling against the grass and not the goblins themselves.
Step 4: Defender Rolls Save Defenders generally move from “Role to Roll” coming up with adequate responses to the environmental danger befalling them. In some circumstances the Scribe will set a fixed Footing. Remember that these kinds of attacks are indirect, which means the two opponents are not rolling against one another in a Bout. Both attacker and defender are rolling against the environment. For example: Kelly rolls for each of the two guards separately and for the group of cultists as a single enemy.
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The first guard rolls in Fight-Move (“He leaps back as the green sludge spills down the marble stairs and into the pack of startled devotees”), suffering the damage and Fear. The roll is not Reduced, taking the form of any regular Save.
The second guard tries to scramble up the room’s central pillar, rolling Thrive-Move. He ends up avoiding the damage but suffers the Fear and the lost RPR. The cultists roll as one in Touch-Move (“Each member of the group, still under the influence of the drug they’ve imbibed, has trouble even recognizing what’s happening”). Lost in wanton stupor, the cultists avoid the Fear and the lost RPR but suffer the damage. Step 5: Figure Damage Calculating the damage for Indirect Attacks can be a little tricky, but just use common sense to figure out where the damage is coming from. How does the Scribe decide environmental damage? In most cases, the Scribe can use the Hardness of the matter plus its Load as the DPD. If the damage is harsh enough, the Scribe can decide to first attempt a Strike. If the Strike misses, the environment will deal Fatigue of the same amount. Keep in mind that Indirect Attacks may ignore Armor, Aura, Blood, or Guard depending on the nature of the attack. For example: Kelly decides that the sludge will ignore Armor and Aura. She sets the Hardness of the sludge at 4 because of its caustic nature and bits of flesh. Overall, the Load of the gruel is decided to be 4. Attempting the Strike: Kelly calculates 8 damage per die, for a total of 24, and checks it against the Thresholds of the first guard (25) and the cultists (7). The cultists take 3 Wounds, but the guard none. Then the Fatigue: Kelly then subtracts that same amount from the defender’s Guard, a hefty hit of Fatigue, and announces that he is “Grounded.” She crosses out the “25” on his Defenses Row. Natural Hardness Chart 1- Grass, Paper, Cloth 2- Leather, Still Water 3- Earth and Sod, Most Wood 4- Heavy wood, Rushing Water 5- Stone, Metals
Ellas pulled his oily hair taut behind him in one callused fist, and wound a fraying thread around it to bind it. He then let his hand fall to the sword at his hip. Nela sat on a rock outcropping. Below them, their fledgling city burned. “I never thought you’d choose to be a soldier,” she said. He shrugged. “Me neither.” “A thief, maybe. A mercenary.” She smirks. “Or a pig-breeder.” Ellas isn’t interested in jokes. “They’re burning our home,” he says.
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“Khazil dogs,” she answers, an echo of another time. “I have to. I leave to find my totem tonight. I will join the others marching south within a fortnight.” “You don’t have to do anything. We’re not obligated to this place. Orlin can trip on a log and drown face-down in a puddle of mud and sheep dung for all I care.” He spit. “Those are still our people. You never did think the way you should.” “I don’t think that’s true.” “You always choose to stand alone. But for me, that’s not a choice. Never was. I remember the days before Orlin, before this city. Out in the fields.” She stood. Above, gray skies crept in at the margins, a gray that matched the color of the billowing smoke below. Somewhere, thunder tumbled across the hills and valleys. “Fine,” she said. “I suppose this is goodbye, then. Go your way. Become a man.” She said this last word with no small spite. “You won’t be able to speak to mother anymore. Or to me. Not in the way you used to. Not like a brother. Not like a son.” “Goodbye, little sister.” “Be well, big brother.” They did not embrace. It wasn’t their way. He just put his hand on her arm, and hers on his. Then he drew his blade, and walked—not ran—toward the group of men at the forest’s edge.
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How to Defend There are a few different options for defenders as well. Any time a character initiates a Bout against your hero, you will be forced to defend. Saves and Checks can use up RPR, but they are handled outside combat under the now familiar rules discussed earlier. You cannot roll a Check or a Save to avoid harm if an attacker has initiated a Bout already. Defending in combat is the mirror image of attacking, with Tacks cancelling out .
Ways to Defend Grammar
Counter Dodge Resist Evade
Counter Most defenses involve coming face to face with an adversary. In such encounters, either fighter could gain the upper hand. If the defender has an Aspect that allows him or her to roll in the Range that takes priority, he or she is considered to be Countering all incoming attacks. In Counters, both parties in the Bout can use the Attacks appropriate to their Footings as well as Talents and Advantages that fit the context. As the basic form of defense in Early Dark, Counters blur the line between attacker and defender. For example: Clyde’s Edish necromancer, Amyntas Num, is defending himself from the slashing blade of a sand giant. The giant attacks with a 5-Tack and a Talent, while Amyntas defends with a 4-Tack and three Advantages. Each of the Tacks lands, all of them taking effect according to the narratives offered by Clyde and the Scribe.
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Dodge If a defender is forced to move his or her body aside to avoid the danger (or if he or she does not have an Aspect that allows a Counter), he or she is said to be Dodging. Dodges represent using all the energy available to get out of the way of harm.
Dodging can be attempted in any Range and ignores all Range Penalties. Because the hero is not attempting to strike the attacker in return, there is no Aspect brought to bear. When a character Dodges, Primary Tacks and Talents are both forfeit. Advantages, however, can be deployed. In a Dodge, the defender can avoid all damage by winning the Bout. This means that the defender can use the highest Primary Tack to avoid the effects of all lesser Primary Tacks. Because the hero is attempting to literally leap out of the Bout, winning the highest Tack permits the character to ignore all those lesser Tacks that would normally deal Fatigue. Talents and Advantages, however, must be cancelled out one-to-one as in any other Bout. For example: A gnarled ogre swings a broken wagon at Brandon’s Edish scout, Kleitos. Brandon decides to Dodge, and chooses a Fight-Move Footing. The ogre scores two 3-Tacks and two Talents. Brandon arranges his roll into one 4-Tack, one Talent, and one Advantage. By winning the Bout, Brandon’s 4-Tack prohibits either of the ogre’s 3-Tacks from dealing any kind of damage, Fatigue or Strike. One of the ogre’s Talents still lands, and Kleitos can use his Advantage. Brandon deals no damage even though he won. Note that the Dodge is the only time Tacks do not cancel out one to one directly. This is the rare power of giving up your chance at a Counter. Resist In a Resist, the target rolls in the same Domain and Footing as the attacker to represent an active or passive resistance to the attacker’s actions. Resists are also frequently used to decide whether characters can detect or uncover covert schemes. These generally occur as Bouts outside combat but come up as a defensive strategy in combat because of Arcana.
As trite as it may sound, it often “takes one to know one.” In other words, resisting the wiles of a charismatic confidence man is easier if the target is a little cunning and wily as well. To spot the signs of trickery, a target would need to be familiar with such forms of trickery. As it happens, honest people are easier to lie to because they do not live in a world of lies themselves. Many Bouts outside combat that involve Relate or Guile, for example, will mandate a Resist defense for this reason. Resists do not include a counterattack because resisting a person’s influence is not the same as influencing him or her in return, but they may deploy Secondary Tacks if context allows.
Resists are also made concrete in detection rolls. If a player wants to pick up on the intentions or schemes of another, Resists allow for this. Scribes can call for detection rolls at any time, or expect careful players to make detection rolls of their own initiative. For example: Derek’s Vayok, Runnaw, is sneaking up on a group of camping Anu of House Tiku. He rolls Guile-Move to sneak, and Kelly rolls Guile-Move for the party to detect him. Or: Clyde’s magicker, Amyntas Num, is rolling a Cunning-Touch Check to listen in on a nearby conversation. The chatters would roll Cunning-Touch to become aware of the eavesdropper. Resists in combat may take up one RPR, though Resists can often be rolled passively or when no RPR remain at the Scribe’s discretion. Evade A player who has expended all his or her Rolls per Round can roll defensively, but all Tacks are used only to cancel out those of the attacker.
Evading characters can roll a number of dice equal to their Guard Dice. Humans generally have 3 Guard Dice, though heroes and many animals will have more. Characters without remaining RPR may or may not be allowed to roll Saves during combat at the Scribe’s discretion. Following, Indirect Attacks may or may not be immediately effective against such targets.
Grammar
For example: Andrew’s character, Jist, is using Speechcraft to gain access to the city guard’s exclusive armory. He rolls six Mundane Dice in a Footing of Cunning-Guile. The poor doorman is not trying to trick Jist in return, and his defense is at root an attempt to become aware of what the attacker is doing. Those are great conditions for a Direct Defense, and Kelly rolls in a Guile-Cunning Footing for the guard.
The defender can take no actions and is considered harried or “off balance.” Characters cannot Evade in an attempt to conserve RPR for later attacks. If RPR remain, any attempted defense will fit into one of the above categories and expend one RPR.
For example: Benjamin’s Glokur Vayok, Kantuush, stands injured and weary among a pride of ferocious Lesser mountain lions in the Wilds. He has been fighting the beasts for hours, and his legs are covered in his own blood just as his arms are covered in the blood of the cats. With no RPR remaining, Benjamin rolls 3 dice in any fitting Footing to defend against the six rolls coming his way before the end of the Round. He can only cancel out Tacks; he can do no damage; and he can deploy no Secondary Tacks.
Hardcore Variant #1: No Evasion If the group wants a combat experience that gives stronger parties more time to overpower and quickly finish off weaker enemies, the Scribe may decide to outlaw any Evade defenses. In this case, when a character runs out of RPR, he or she is a “sitting duck,” who can suffer any number of hits at the hands of opponents. Each fighter in the battle gets only his or her allotted RPR, and every roll is precious. This works best if the group does not mind a few repetitious turns at the end of a Round where the characters with higher RPR get to roll multiple attacks at once on slower foes.
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Guard and Defenses Early Dark allows heroes to wear down and injure their adversaries in a variety of ways. The vitality system imagined here is less a reservoir of “hit points” than a measure of the character’s overall capability to avoid and endure damage. Many factors go into keeping a warrior alive and aware, including as much speed and willpower as physical strength. As the Aptitudes represent the broad drives of a hero, so too the vitality system in Early Dark represents a broad range of ability that keeps a character on her feet and pushing forward.
Grammar
The vitality box on the character sheet can be seen as three rows of simple math. On top, the Recovery Row calculates how a player sets a new Guard after becoming alert or suffering a Wound. It is a matter of simple addition. Each player rolls his or her Guard Dice (generally 3d10) and adds the bonus appropriate to the character’s Guard Trait. The current Shock level is then subtracted from this sum. The result is written in the next row in the large space provided for the hero’s current Guard. The Defense Row on the character sheet shows each player how to come up with his or her overall defense to any incoming Strikes. Each Strike will dictate which Defenses are appropriate, and the player simply adds along the row to arrive at the fitting Threshold. For example: Most Mundane Strikes will ignore Blood; and certain Attacks can ignore Armor, Aura, or both. The Injury Row records how many Wounds the hero currently suffers from and the Recovery Row
Add to set Guard Defense Row
Add to find Threshold Injury Row
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Add to find Penalties
Penalties that result from being injured. To determine the hero’s overall Penalty due to injury, players simply add along the row. Injury Penalties can take effect on Saves and Checks outside combat. Within combat, Range and condition Penalties are added atop these. The thrust of the vitality system is this: Fatigue an opponent to wear down her Guard. After reducing her to her Ground or getting close to it, Strike to deal Wounds. If she has high Defenses, offer Penalties to land blows and inflict Shock to weaken later Guards. Guard A hero’s vitality is measured in the quality of the character’s Guard. A good Guard represents not only being tough and resilient to damage, but also being a hard target to hit in the first place. A hero’s footwork, sturdiness, and overall stamina are all part of her Guard. As are her desire, resolve, and willpower. Surprising an opponent may result in the attacker ignoring his or her target’s Guard in a Strike. Your Guard is set by rolling your Guard Dice and adding the result to the Guard Trait tied to your Thrive Aptitude. Heroes recover their Guard each time they become aware of danger or suffer a Wound. In most cases, Guard is re-rolled completely whenever the character goes “on Guard.” Note that this means a hero re-rolling Guard in the afternoon may have a lower Guard than he or she had in the morning without suffering damage. Each time the character goes “off Guard” a new roll
Forcing a New Guard
Sometimes big events in combat can give heroes a chance to re-roll Guard automatically. If the floor falls in, a wall topples over, or a horse-cart crashes through the room—all of these instances may result in the characters being discombobulated or disoriented enough to drop Guard. In these instances, all characters would have to reroll their Guards once they regain awareness of their surroundings.
is required to regain an alert stance. Shock reduces the amount of Guard recovered when re-rolling for any reason. Fatigue suffered in combat or from strenuous labor (or by discovering traps the hard way) will reduce a hero’s Guard. When a character’s Guard is lowered by taking Fatigue, it becomes easier for opponents to move in for a more vital attack. For example: Andrew’s character, Jist, has a Guard of 32. In forced combat with a pack of hungry dogs, he loses a sloppy Bout, suffering 4 dice of Fatigue. Kelly adds up 3 DPD plus the dog’s Natural Weapon Load bonus of 6, resulting in: 18. Andrew crosses out the “32” in the Guard box of his Defense Row and writes “14” next to it. You will not need to keep track of the initial Guard you roll up when recovering. When suffering Fatigue, simply erase or cross out the current amount and lower it by the amount of damage sustained. Support will always have you add to your current Guard or re-roll it completely, so remembering what you started out at is not important.
Grammar
Ground A hero’s Ground represents his or her most basic physical size and resistance to damage, regardless of energy or will. The hero’s Guard can never drop below his or her Ground. Recorded in the Defense Row on the character sheet, Ground has its own Trait, connected to the Labor Aptitude. No attack will ever ignore Ground when Striking. For example: After losing another Bout to the pack of canine killers, Jist suffers more Fatigue. Kelly lands a 3-Tack and rolls damage: 11. Andrew crosses out the “13” in his Guard box and looks at Jist’s Ground of 7. He writes “7” not “2” because his Guard can never drop below his Ground. Also, Andrew announces, “I’m Grounded.” Further Fatigue will have no effect on Jist, though Strikes will roll against Jist’s Defenses as normal. Once Jist rests or takes a Wound, his Guard will be re-rolled and he will be able to suffer Fatigue again. A character is “Grounded” when his or her Guard is reduced all the way to the Ground. He or she must announce that the hero is “Grounded” but does not have to reveal the exact number. The hero is now immune to Fatigue, being already worn down. The character may be visibly slowed or simply caught in a bad position, open to attacks. Shock Whenever a character re-rolls Guard, the sum of the 3d10 roll is reduced by any Shock he or she is afflicted by. Shock is durable, representing both physical and mental aggravation and influencing every recovery roll
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until it is healed. The best way to heal Shock is to find a good resting place, although those versed in field medicines can help alleviate Shock as well. Shock is recorded in the Recovery Row of the character sheet. Shock can even reduce a new Guard to a number lower than the Trait set by the Thrive Aptitude if the roll was low enough.
Grammar
Some forms of Shock will “linger” on even after the character rests. Festering wounds, ailments, and poison will all stick around until dispelled or healed. The individual items, Arts, Arcana, and Insights that cause lingering Shock will offer instructions on how it can be healed.
Defenses The three Defenses are what protect a hero from receiving Wounds in combat. All appropriate Defenses are added to the remaining Guard of the hero along the Defense Row for each incoming Strike to come up with the total Threshold for that Bout. Armor The Armor rating is determined by the Load and quality of a character’s Armor and his or her skill in Armoring. Soft Armor is made of leather, cloth, or other natural fibers and offers 1 point of protection for every 2 points of Load. Hard Armor, made with metal, offers 1 point of protection for every point of Load. A target in good Armor can be difficult to Wound. For example: Jist has a remaining Guard of 7 and 2 points of Soft Armor, making his Defense Threshold 9. The dogs will roll Strikes against a Threshold of 9. To represent their metal armaments and ferocity, however, Kelly gave the dogs Gore, a Talent that ignores Armor. If the dogs land Gore while Striking, they would ignore Jist’s Armor and roll against a Defense Threshold of 7.
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Aura Aura represents any of a variety of factors that make a target harder to hit. Flying enemies, for example, will have an Aura that represents the
difficulty of striking enemies circling above. Fearsome creatures may have an Aura that represents the terror they cause in their foes. Large enemies or enemies on mounts may have an Aura that represents the risk of being trampled when moving in for a Strike. Spikes on a chariot, for example, would increase the vehicle’s Aura, making it harder for a hero to hit safely. Painting a gruesome face on a chariot could also increase its Aura, preying on the hearts of its attackers. Auras may be intangible or psychological, but they are all experienced bodily, i.e. they are physical, not spiritual effects. Scribes can also set an Aura penalty when players aim at certain parts or objects on an enemy. Striking an amulet worn by a wizard outside his clothes, for example, might (through commonsense) ignore the Armor of the wizard but take an Aura of 20 decided on by the Scribe. Successful Strikes would hit the item, then, not the wizard. Blood Blood acts as a magicker’s natural buffer against the Drain that comes from casting spells. Whenever the magicker rolls Drain, he subtracts his Blood from the roll before deducting the difference from his Guard. Drain that reduces a caster to his Ground will begin to cause Shock. For example: Later in the fight with the attack dogs, Jist has a Guard of 9. Using Flash Fire to attack the canines, he Wagers 4. He then rolls four dice of Drain against himself (22) and subtracts his Blood (16) from the result: 6. The Drain lowers Jist’s Guard by 2, Grounding him at 7, and deals 4 Shock. The powerful flames dealt massive damage, but at a cost. Wizards can often overextend themselves, and most powerful magicks will be dangerous options unless the wizard has an impressive collection of Source materials or Sigils. This reliance on material objects helps offset the power of magick characters and makes for good narrative: “His staff. I told you to take the wizard’s staff!”
Mundane attacks ignore Blood the vast majority of the time. Only if a character uses a specific Arcanum or Talent can Blood protect him from Mundane attacks.
Wounds Fatigue lowers a character’s Guard, but only Strikes can deal real injuries to a character. Heroes in Early Dark begin a campaign with the ability to sustain four Wounds before being incapacitated.
If a Strike exceeds the defense Threshold set by adding along the Defense Row, the character suffers a Wound. Keep track of Wounds by crossing out boxes along the Injury Row of the character sheet from left to right. When a hero has marked off all the allowed Wounds, he or she drops out of the fight. A non-hero character who has “dropped out” is generally considered dead. In other words, they are no longer part of the narrative; the myth does not mention them again. Minions that are scattered by suffering a Wound are most likely dead, but the Scribe may make them literally scatter, fleeing out into the woods where a future battle or Trial awaits (see 347). If the party survives the encounter, the player who fell incapacitated will need to be rescued and brought to a safe place. For each “full day’s rest” the character takes the player rolls on the following chart:
0-2: Awaken with 1 Wound healed. 3-6: No change. Roll tomorrow. 7-8: 1 Permanent Shock. Roll tomorrow. 9: Dead Physicians and alchemists can add to an injured hero’s Dead or Dropped Out roll. Powerful enemies and some magick weapons may subtract from the roll. In either case, falling incapacitated in combat does not necessarily mean death for the hero, but it is a very dangerous condition to experience. Penalties from Injury After two Wounds are sustained by a hero, he or she will suffer a conditional Penalty that represents the weakening effect of being injured. The stronger a hero becomes, the more Wounds he or she can take. Injury Penalties will increase with every two Wounds suffered. The Injury Row keeps track of how many Penalties the hero is suffering from.
Grammar
Wounds are narrative devices in Early Dark. The Scribe can decide arbitrarily how many Wounds any enemy has. The toughness of the adversary is recorded in his or her Aptitudes, Dice, and Arts. Wounds are simply a measure of how important to the narrative the character or monster is. How many major wounds can the beast take? How many arrows stick from the hero’s chest before he falls to his knees dead? How many blows that would kill a lesser fellow can the cult leader take before expiring? Wounds are major injuries, the things that come back to haunt a hero in old age. Each should be described with violence and grit as important parts of the narrative.
Dead or Dropped Out
Eryn tucked the stolen idol into the satchel tied tightly to her lower back. It was heavy, but the weight sat at a manageable height; she would not be slowed down. Suddenly, a crash. The ceiling of the cellar collapsed on her, shattering the many casks of wine and turning the small chamber into a pile of rubble. Eryn felt the hooked spears of the guards lifting her up by the armpits. She landed atop the rubble and rubbed the dust and ash from her eyes. She had not caused the explosion, and these guards seemed as confused as her: Another intruder was in the temple. Just her luck. Darting from a nearby hallway a rival prowler took the chance to escape. He offered a small tip of his head toward Eryn as he saw her being shackled and beaten by the sentries.
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Dealing Damage Early Dark handles all physical damage with a system of Fatigue and Striking. Strikes are used to deal Wounds by overcoming the defender’s total Defenses. Fatigue attacks come from Primary Tacks that aim to wear enemies down, lowering their Guards.
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The highest Primary Tack in each Bout is rolled as a Strike after all other Tacks have settled. Other Primary Tacks that land deal Fatigue before the Strike is attempted. If the Strike fails, the dice are used to calculate Fatigue as normal. If one combatant has two Primary Tacks that tie as the highest, both can be rolled as Strikes. The target, however, will have the opportunity to re-roll Guard between the Strikes. Alternatively, one of the winning Tacks can be used to Fatigue before the other is rolled as a Strike. Fighters may wish to forgo a Strike on one turn in hopes of dealing multiple Wounds on another. This is allowed, and the Primary Tack reserved for the Strike will simply be deployed to deal Fatigue as any other. Ranged Attacks roll Strikes for every Primary Tack that lands, but misses do not deal consolation Fatigue.
Attacking With a Weapon Attacking directly with a weapon or fist is the most common form of attack. The Load and Balance of the weapon will come into play. After reducing the Bout, the highest Primary Tack is reserved for the Strike while others can be used to mark Fatigue. Strikes deal the Wounds needed to put down enemies, but these often work only after the opponent is Fatigued. For example: Amos rolls a Guard of 21 when a hungry ogre waylays him along the road to Lokod.
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Amos dismounts to fight the Fell brute and loses Initiative. Early in the encounter, the ogre swings at him with a cudgel and lands a 3-Tack and a 4-Tack. The Ogre Fatigues with the lesser Primary Tack... Fatigue reduces a character’s Guard, making him or her easier to Strike and Wound later. If a character is already Grounded, he or she cannot suffer any further Fatigue. Such attacks are wasted on Grounded foes. Kelly calculates the damage as the ogre’s DPD (4) times the number of dice in the Primary Tack (3 X 4 = 12) and adds the Load of the cudgel (5): a total of 17. Chad crosses out the “21” in his Guard box. Amos has a 9 Ground, which means the ogre dealt 12 Fatigue only. The other 5 points of Fatigue are wasted, and for now Amos takes no Wounds. Chad does not need to write a new Guard in place because the Ground is already written and visible. He announces, “I am Grounded.” The Ogre rolls to Strike with the highest Primary Tack... When Striking, the player picks up the highest Primary Tack that landed and re-rolls the dice. These are added together with any appropriate Balance bonuses, and the total is measured against the target’s defense Threshold for the Strike. A Defense Threshold is calculated ad hoc for every attack, equal to the sum of the Guard and all appropriate Defenses (Blood, Aura, and/or Armor). Some attacks will ignore one or more of these Defenses. Mundane attacks ignore Blood, for example. If the total of the Strike roll is equal to or higher than the character’s Defense Threshold, a Wound is done. If the Strike roll multiplies the remaining Threshold, multiple Wounds can be dealt with a single Tack. Kelly rolls 1d10 per die, picking up the entire 4-Tack and re-rolling it (23), and adds the Balance of the cudgel (1): a total of 24. Amos has 9 Guard left and an Armor Defense of 2. The ogre’s Strike of 24 beats the total defense Threshold of 11, doubling it, and so the attack deals two Wounds. Had Amos two more
points of Armor or the Ogre rolled slightly less, the Strike would have dealt only one Wound. As it is, Chad marks the Wounds on his Injury Row and makes a Guard Recovery roll to determine Amos’ new Guard. Consolation Fatigue If a Strike rolled is less than the Threshold, the character misses his or her opportunity to Wound the opponent. After a failed Strike, however, the Tack is used to deal Fatigue as normal.
Some characters will be very good at dealing Fatigue and others very poor at it. Creative parties will find ways to plan attacks that efficiently wear down larger foes before the skilled Strikers attempt Wounds.
This is one of the oldest house rules in the Anthropos Games headquarters. We tried to build a game in which all Primary Tacks that remained after the Bout reduced could be used to Strike the opponent... But the testers, almost unanimously, did not like the idea of “winning” a Bout and still suffering damage in return. Again and again we heard players take issue, and so we listened. In response, we adjusted the standard rules of Early Dark so that only the highest Primary Tack can Strike, relegating other Primary Tacks that land in a Bout to Fatigue only.
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For example: Zefr is fighting the bullish sentry of a Neferatha brothel and lands a 3-Tack with his kukri. John rolls the Strike with 3d10 (18) and adds the sword’s Balance (4): a total of 22. The Threshold of the sentry is his Guard (28) plus his Soft Armor (4): a total of 32. Zefr’s Strike is not powerful enough to Wound the large foe. Bummed, he nevertheless calculates the resulting Fatigue of the swing, adding his DPD for each die (2 X 3 = 6) and the kukri’s Load (2), for a total of 8 Fatigue. Kelly crosses out the “28” Guard of the sentry and replaces it with “20.”
Hardcore Variant #2: All Primary Tacks Strike
This rule variant, however, returns the game to all its no-such-thing-as-a-cleanwin splendor. Each and every Primary Tack that lands can be rolled as a Strike, and if the Strike misses, Fatigue is dealt as consolation. In this case, the Fatigue represents the effort it took the defender to parry or dodge the incoming blow. When settling Bouts, always move from the smallest Tacks to the larger Tacks. This means that a 3-Tack would roll Strike and take effect before a 4-Tack. The result? A well-timed 3-Tack might kill your opponent before he or she rolls that big 5-Tack at you. For example: When Benjamin’s Vayok, Kantuush, enters a deadly grapple with a Fiend of the Fray, he rolls in Fight-Labor to tear the monster apart. The Dark One rolls a 4-Tack and a 3-Tack. Benjamin rolls a 5-Tack and some Secondaries. Kelly rolls two Strikes from the Dark One, dealing massive Wounds, before Kantuush Strikes. In the narrative, Advantages can still be added at the end: A good kick to the stomach is nice way to end a Bout that can offer a [-1] Momentary Penalty; after the slash deals a Wound, the toss across the room to Take Range is a nice finishing touch; etc.
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Healing, Rest & Recovery Because each hero’s Guard represents not a pool of “hit points” but an ability to avoid and resist damage, there is no way a hero can “heal” his or her Guard. Whenever a player uses an item (such as Resins) or a Talent to increase a hero’s Guard, he or she is “bolstering” or “supporting,” not “healing” the character. This small semantic difference frames the way Early Dark represents the physical body and reflects the way characters interact in combat.
Recovering Guard Grammar
An alchemist may not know of a potion that magickally erases cuts and bruises on your body, but he may be able to concoct a substance that will help you see your surroundings more clearly, giving you a brief glimpse of where danger lies and where it intends to strike. These items will increase your hero’s Guard without making any of the pain in his or her bones dissipate. The potency of a Resin comes from whatever drug in contains, raising the hero’s awareness and making him or her more alert. Most of these cause a minimal amount of Shock to the character’s system, and some can be habit forming. Talents that support a companion’s Guard most often represent physical maneuvers or tactics that give the target an opportunity to regain his or her feet or shake off a headache. Sometimes the opportunity to take one slow breath is all that is needed to boost your Guard and get you back into the fight.
Recovering From Shock
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Shock represents some condition or another that keeps heroes from performing at their best. To recover from any amount of Shock, the hero needs one full day’s rest (see below). This is the best way to heal Shock and is available to all characters (including animals and monsters). Drugs and magicks can also help a hero recover from Shock, though other side effects may occur.
Lingering Shock is any Shock that cannot be healed by rest alone. Each item and magickal Art that causes lingering Shock will delineate how the hero can recover from it. For example: Benjamin’s Glokur, Kantuush, slays the pack of Lesser mountain lions, but the teeth of the Fray-tainted felines caused Lingering Shock. The 13 Shock Kantuush now suffers from cannot be healed by rest alone. The Scribe says that untained lion blood is needed to heal the Shock. Once Kantuush finds a Resin or Vial made with the Rare ingredient of Lion Blood, he is set.
Healing Wounds Heroes can heal one Wound per day through each of the following means. Faster healing can be very strenuous on the body and often triggers drastic results: Rest Recovering from Shock and healing a single Wound both take a “full day’s rest” in Early Dark. A full day’s rest refers to an entire day and night with no meaningful activity from the hero. This means no leisurely trips to the smith, no conversations over strategy, and no studying in the library. Whenever the players want to spend a day resting, just skip ahead to the future. No other actions on behalf of the heroes are allowed. No rolls are permitted. If the scenario can afford a 24-hour pause, then by all means let them have it. Any sleep that results in Shock does not count as rest. Resting heroes can receive medicinal or magickal healing as normal since accepting aid requires no rolls. However, any characters who roll to heal a companion spend the day taking care of the wounded, not healing themselves. For example: Heyu, Jist, and Zefr are bruised and sore after two encounters with Gryn Thul, an ogre of Spillwoods. Zefr has mediocre healing abilities as a magicker, but if he rolls to heal one or both of his companions, he cannot heal his Wound or recover from Shock with the “full day’s rest” himself. The
Medical Arts Physicians and alchemists can help heroes heal one Wound per day, though costs could be high. Certain medical abilities can increase this number so long as the needed materials and environment can be assured. Check out the Medics Art on page 310 and Alchemy on page 292. For example: Clyde’s hero, Amyntas Num, feels the sting of Gelek Yudor’s tainted sword-edge in a crucial battle near Emluk. His physician Familiar rolls eight Mundane Dice in a Fight-Thrive Footing to heal Amyntas. Because Amyntas is suffering from two Wounds, the Difficulty is set at 4. The healing saps one RPR from Amyntas and his physician each. Rolling a 4-Tack, the Familiar narrowly passes the Check. He uses 8 doses of Common Ingredients to make the roll because he was not able to build a Talent on the side to deploy Efficiency. This is all
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party decides that everyone should heal up. Kelly says, “Okay. Zip. Next day.” No role-playing takes place, and each character heals one Wound and erases all Shock. If anything traumatic were to occur in that 24-hour period, Kelly would have interrupted the down time and let the heroes respond at the risk of forfeiting their rest.
the healing Amyntas can accept this day. Mundane medical treatment causes no Shock. Or: Derek’s Vayok, Runnaw, seeks an alchemist from whom to purchase two Recovery Resins. Together, they take up 1 Load. In combat, Runnaw can use a Resin with an Advantage, giving him 1d10 Guard. A Health Resin he also purchaes will heal a single Wound and deal Shock according to the solvent used in its creation, in this case Black Oil. Magick Arts Heroes can enjoy magickal healing once per day, whether in combat or out. The healing of extra Wounds is possible with High Heal, though straining the body in such a way results in Lingering Shock of one kind of another. For example: Stephanie Takemoto’s character, Kiwaki, seeks healing from a wizard. Outside combat, the magicker rolls Cunning-Relate at a Difficulty of 4. Easily enough, Kiwaki heals the single Wound, though this is her second of the day. She suffers an amount of Lingering Shock equal to the spell’s Wager. The Scribe sets a method of healing that fits the nature of the Wound and the Source of the casting: Kiwaki must receive a blessing from someone using the Chant Art before healing the Shock with rest.
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Labor & Traveling Traveling the world of Early Dark is a risky undertaking. Away from areas densely populated by humans, dangers lurk both unchecked and unknown. To make things worse, the tiring effects of covering ground often combine with the weakening effects of sleeping on the road. Spending nights outdoors is rarely a routine Matter in a world where nightfall comes early and morning fog lingers late.
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Many heavily traveled roads cut through regions where, not ten yards from the trail, wilderness unseen by human eyes for centuries lingers. Not all who wander are lost to predators fierce and myriad, but no wise traveler diverts from the road lightly. Maps are often crude and mistaken. They aid in traveling from one place to another by representing common journeys and landmarks geometrically. The shapes drawn on such maps rarely follow anything close to the lay of the land, and a map can rarely be used for anything other than the particular voyage it was made to depict.
Strenuous Labor Heroes can often come upon tasks unrelated to combat. Feats of strength or dexterity, trials of endurance, battles of wits—these could all be actions that drain a hero’s energy. The cost of performing such labors is rarely a bleeding Wound, but tiring the body could be equally dangerous should trouble arise when the hero craves rest. Exertion Damage: An amount of Shock the hero suffers from strenuous activity, equal to his or her Labor Aptitude. Most activity that tires the hero will deal an amount of Shock equal to his or her Labor. When pushed to the edge, however, players could suffer as much as their Labor Aptitude plus any amount of Load they are carrying. This, of course, is at the Scribe’s discretion.
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Scribes may use Exertion as part of any laborious or significantly arduous Check. This
is also good for tasks that take less than an entire day, such as climbs, short sprints, and other physical contests. Adding elements of Exertion to an otherwise simple Check or Save is a common way to build something more complex or costly. For example: Chris Gunning’s Edish swordsman, Taron, wants to scale the high tower in Dunbri in hopes of reaching the lord’s emprisoned half-brother. The Scribe calls for Exertion Damage as Taron reaches the top, even though he passed the Trial. Exertion damage can also be used as a punishment for failing Saves without holding back the narrative. This can be used to add risk to Saves that will nevertheless result in “passing” the assigned task. For example: Brandon’s caster, Kleitos, has to leap from one high tower to the next, chasing down Taron. The Difficulty of the leap is set at 4, but Brandon rolls only a Force of 3. To keep the narrative moving, the Scribe demands Exertion damage for Kleitos to grab a window part-way down the tower.
Traveling Characters cover ground on foot according to their Move Aptitude. Over level grassland, characters can cover a number of leagues up their Move Aptitude in a single day without exerting themselves. This means a hero with a Move of 3 could march three leagues (about 9 miles) in a day without suffering the next morning. Any time a character covers a number of leagues more than his or her Move Aptitude in one day (up to twice that amount), the character takes Exertion as described above. This represents the sore muscles and worn out lungs a day’s worth of work invites. For example: A character with a Move of 3 and a Labor of 6 would suffer no Shock whenever he covers three leagues or less in a single day. The same character, covering six leagues (about 18 miles) in a single day, would suffer 6 points of Shock plus a point for each Load he was carrying.
Or: A party of five adventurers marches over the Summer Field, crossing into Lower Edrada from the foothills of the Cataract Mountains. The party’s fastest hero has a Move of 6; three members have a Move of 3; and the slowest hero has a Move of 2. They are stalking the Meris Horde, a clutter of Goblins that has been terrorizing the countryside of Meris for two generations. The fewer nights the party spends outdoors, the better, and so the group decides to march at a rate of 4 leagues per day (limited by the slowest character). The first hero suffers no Shock from the brisk hike; the other four members all suffer Exertion according to their respective Labor Aptitudes because they are pushed beyond their normal levels.
Roads Sticking to roads can dramatically increase travel time. Roads, although human constructions, are the standard for travel rates in Early Dark. See page 271 for the dangers associated with traveling along a road. Wilderness Traveling over wilderness is more dangerous and slower going. Scribes can use the following chart to limit the speed with which parties cover certain terrain. Terrain Road:Terrain Travel Ratio Grassland: 1:1 Rolling Hills: 2:3 Sharp Hills: 1:2 Crags, Forest: 1:3 Dense Forest, Marsh: 1:4 Mountains: 1:5 For example: A party that must travel 2 leagues through a marsh would determine Exertion as though covering 8 leagues in the day.
As a basic guideline, allow the animal to move up to twice its Move Aptitude in leagues per day without any Exertion. Pushing the animal harder would be at the discretion of the Scribe.
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Shock is generally healed after a full day’s rest (not just a night’s sleep). The Scribe, however, is the final arbiter of how quickly heroes recover from Shock. Multiple days of marching, for example, may compound Shock exponentially.
Riding Mounts and vehicles can cut down on travel times, but riding steeds and piloting vehicles will still take a toll on the hero’s (and the transporter’s) energy levels. Scribes can determine when heroes must roll Exertion damage because of a day spent in the saddle or at the helm. Use the Move Aptitude of the mount or vehicle to determine the maximum distance one can travel in a day just as you would with a human. The speed of the transportation is another matter entirely, with averages determined by the particular mount.
Camping & Sleeping Whenever the party sleeps away from the normal comforts of beds and shelter, they suffer Shock penalties similar to Exertion. The Scouting Art can reduce or eliminate this penalty. In most cases, sleeping on the street, in a hallway, out of doors, or while in transit will result in a small penalty that heals after one day’s rest. Rough climates affect even those groups blessed with a scout. Unless the scout has a certain Mastery to combat the particular extreme climate, the party suffers the entire penalty below. These are, in other words, “all or nothing” penalties. Torture or forced labor can increase these penalties, and most dungeons are specifically designed to offer the greatest possible penalties to Guard Recovery rolls. Though these penalties will come into play any time the character sleeps outside “normal conditions,” each gaming group may define those boundaries individually.
Shock Penalties for Camping Outdoors, Street Extreme Climate, Siege Torture, Forced Labor
1d10 2d10 3d10
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Monsters & Encounters The world of the Hara Sea hosts a wide range of animals, beasts, and monsters. Most “monsters” are Fell creatures of some kind, ogres of one strain or another who exist not as members of a natural species but as the twisted byproducts of Blood Magick. Powerful mundane animals, however, can be equally as dangerous; inhabiting the lands that surrounding the Hara Sea are all kinds of megafauna, large, prehistoric animals long dead in our own time.
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And, deadliest of all to your heroes are rival humans. Every hero acts toward the interests of one tribe or people and against the interests of others. We are a species familiar with turmoil, though the rare hero may bring rival factions and peoples together, acting against the voices of oppression and war, finding a way to forge new alliances and birth new cultures. The Scribe can decide how the location of the party would factor into the charts below. For example, if the party is camping just outside a small village, would they roll on the “Town, Village” table or the “Charted Wilderness” table? In most cases, the Scribe is the best one to make the decision. It may be useful to keep in mind that cities would provide a larger radius of settled land than a village. Cities may have a circle of Charted Wilderness fifty leagues across, whereas a remote town may have a radius only a single league across. Use these for random encounters, as a deterrent for groups who naively visit the seedy underbellies of certain environments, or as bases for building more significant encounters. When groups travel through especially dangerous areas or scurry about at night, Scribes may decide to add a 1, 2, or 3 to the number rolled ahead of time. For more on building complete encounters, see the various sections of Poetics (345 and onward). Use the following charts to determine the frequency of encountering random hostiles in the world of Early Dark:
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Urban This category covers the regular probabilities of encountering thieves and other enemies in cities. Urban environments are densely populated, and old cities generally build more up than over, stacking new structures atop old structures more often than next to them. Many cities develop vertical layers of activity: the rooftops for thieves; the canopies for the wealthy, terraced houses; lower levels for servants and commoners; hollows, corners, and alleyways for less desirables; and undersprawls or catacombs for the darkest and most monstrous of the residents. 0-2- Nothing 3- Single Thief 4- Swarm of Young Animals 5- Gang of Thugs 6- Pack of Adult Animals 7- Official Guards or Sentries Attack 8- Adult Beast Escapes its Keeper 9- Greater Beast from Beneath Awakens
Town, Village Towns and small villages would have different dangers than a city. These dangers represent the kinds of hostile situations a party could find itself in when staying in a rural or lightly settled area. These encounters could occur within the town itself or just outside the camp in nearby environs. 0-3- Nothing 4- Magicker with Minions 5- Warrior with Magickal Familiars 6- Group of Bandits 7- Pack of Young Animals 8- Pack of Adult Animals 9- Greater Animal
Uncharted Wilderness Uncharted wilderness represents those places that may not have seen a human visitor for a generation or more. Some regions, even in the areas that surround the Hara Sea, may not have heard the step of human feet in centuries. These places are particularly dangerous because the environment is likely hostile to the disturbance and almost certainly mysterious.
0- Desperate Bandit 1- Desperate Adult Animal 2- Dishonest Merchant 3- Honest Merchant 4- Patrolling Guards for the Local Authorities 5- Bandit Lord with Minions 6- Bandit Lord with Magickal Familiars 7- Greater Animal with Minions 8- Adult Fell Beast with Magickal Familiars 9- Caught between Rival Adult Fell Beasts
0-1- Nothing 2- Adult Animal 3- Pack of Adult Animals 4- Greater Animal 5- Adult Fell Beast 6- Pack of Greater Animals 7- Pack of Adult Fell Beasts 8- Greater Fell Beast 9- Greater Fell Beast with Magickal Familiars
Charted Wilderness Charted wilderness represents those areas frequently traveled by humans without a strong permanent settlement. Large fields, marshes, rivers, and forests could all be considered Charted Wilderness. The party will be sleeping outside, but could expect to come across a traveler or two on the journey. These would be the pathways of scouts and merchants, even if no road has been constructed.
Ruins This table can be used when rolling for random encounters inside the ruins of the Empire. Whether below the catacombs of Ugurlu or in an overgrown temple found deep in the forest, ruins are extremely foreboding places, the tombs and burrows of creatures long feared and long avoided.
0-2- Nothing 3- Desperate, Hostile Human 4- Hostile Band of Humans 5- Pack of Adult Animals 6- Adult Fell Beast 7- Greater Animal 8- Pack of Adult Fell Beasts 9- Pack of Greater Animals
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Road Roads bring special dangers with them. Thieves are common, as are the less predictable raiders and animal predators. Use this table when the party travels along a stretch of landscape dominated by the presence of the road. A strip almost a mile wide would straddle the road, creating this particular atmosphere of danger. Beyond that, the Scribe can decide if the region is Charted or Uncharted as below.
0- Single Tomb Raider 1- Pack of Young Fell Beasts 2- Group of Tomb Raiders 3- Adult Fell Beast 4- Adult Fell Beast with Minions 5- Adult Fell Beast with Magickal Familiar 6- Pack of Adult Fell Beasts 7- Greater Fell Beast 8- Caught Between Rival Greater Fell Beasts 9- Elder Fell Beast
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Chapter the Fifth
Heraldry of Names People change over time, and so do heroes. In the following chapter you will learn about the two-fold system for improving and upgrading your hero in Early Dark. This system incorporates Pages (awards for accomplishing heroic deeds and completing quests) and Renown (your hero’s popularity and fame among the people). Pages are used to unlock upgrades, which are then bought with Renown points. This chapter also covers Followers and how to attract helpers. Without the occasional aide, heroes could not last as long on the forefront of conflict. All of experience in Early Dark focuses on the Epithet, a new title or moniker your hero earns by being great.
The Hikjin Vayok of Wagshigaad settle around the fire for a song. The visiting Weshbjorg bard begins with a game for the children, who nestle a newly weaned wolf cub. The summer months are chilly, but enough sun hits the island to grow short grains for flat bread and beer. The rest of the Vayok diet consists of meat from the hunts.
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Experience & Epithets
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Early Dark accounts for learning and experience with a system of Renown, Pages, and Epithets. Because the game takes place in the realm of myth and story, heroes increase their powers and abilities by inspiring narratives their forebears will tell and by gaining new names and titles for which they will be remembered. Cultures all over the world use epithets or alternative titles to represent key heroic figures in their mythic texts, and no true hero goes through life with only one name. 51 An Epithet is a name that a character gets for accomplishing or proving him or herself, thus gaining renown. The people one encounters in myth and story are remembered for the feats they accomplish; it is what they do that decides what we call them and how they are remembered. “Keeper of the Flame,” “Slayer of Madu,” and “She Who Set the River”—it is these kinds of Epithets that etch places for these people in the pages of history. In Early Dark, Epithets are the only way to refine and acquire new Arts, increase Aptitudes, learn new Talents, gain additional Wounds, and increase Domain Dice. As characters come into contact and interact with more influential and popular artifacts, places, and people, Pages will be written about the superhuman deeds displayed. New Epithets will be created to remember the heroes of these tales. Characters must then spend the Renown earned during play to appropriate those new Epithets, attaching them to their heroes, spreading the word that it was indeed they who accomplished these feats. In this way the Epithet system functions in much the same way as leveling-up does in other games, but aspires to do so in a more organic and narrative way.
Creating Epithets: Pages
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Pages measure a particular story’s fame and growing audience, estimating how many scrolls and parchments will eventually hold the various versions of one tale or another. Acts of heroism
large and small can build marvelous stories that eventually fill thousands of Pages. New Epithets are created for a hero only when a suitable heap of Pages is gained all at once. To construct a new Epithet one hero or another hopes to gain, these Page thresholds must be met by a single quest, tale, or narrative. This means that in order to increase in power and ability, heroes must continually reach new heights of influence and exposure, generating bigger myths and more worthy legends. The following chart shows the Page requirements for each new Epithet the hero will build. Notice that the “Back Story Epithet” has no Page requirement because heroes begin the game with this Epithet “unlocked” already. Keep in mind that the rewards associated with every new Epithet transfer to the character only after 50 Renown is spent to appropriate that new title or name. That is to say “unlocking” an Epithet and “appropriating” that Epithet are two different moments of development. The first moment happens just after the quest is completed when the player decides what new bonuses to claim, while the second moment happens later when the player spends 50 Renown to actually gain the bonuses described.
Epithet Page Requirements Back Story Epithet 0 Second Epithet 100 Third Epithet 250 Fourth Epithet 500 Fifth Epithet 1000 Sixth Epithet 1500 Seventh Epithet 2000 Eighth 2500 Ninth 3000 Tenth 3500 The chart opposite is an aid for Scribes. Arranged along four axes, this chart sets up
Axis Page Amounts
25 People Peasant Artifacts Heirloom Places Village Enemies Guard
50 Minstrel Local Fetish Manor Adult Beast
200 Chief Named Blade City Lesser Beast
how to assign a Page estimate to particular scenes or actions in the campaign. Any given scene may include one axis or all four, depending on the significant elements of the scene or story being told. Not only must players work hard to raise themselves to new heights with each Epithet, Scribes have to come up with bigger and broader narratives to give heroes a chance to gain more fame, renown, and fortune.
For example: Heyu, Zefr, Serseus, and Amos save the merchant’s daughter (Person 50) from the clutches of a monstrous arcane spirit (Enemy 200) underneath the city of Ugurlu (Place 500) while wielding the Blade of Reanimation (Artifact 1000). Kelly asks herself: Will this be written in the daughter’s biography? Probably so, she thinks. 50 Pages so far. Will this be told in the tales of that particular spirit? Of course, at the very end of each telling. 250. Will this be remembered in the records of Ugurlu? Probably not, since the scope of the scene did not influence a large part of the city. Still only 250 so far. Will the Blade of Reanimation be remembered as the blade that slew the beast? Again, probably not, since the sword has already done much grander deeds with much grander heroes. So, the overall scene offers 250 Pages.
1000 Kings & Queens Empire Relic Imperial Court Lesser Dragon
That is enough for players with only two Epithets to create a third based on the tale. If players already have three or more Epithets, then something a little more epic needs to be undertaken to earn them later names and titles. As soon as the heroes complete the narrative that births a new Epithet, they should set about fleshing out the new Epithet as they did during character creation, fitting 50 Renown worth of rewards and bonuses into each (see below). Although the party will unlock Epithets together (since they engage in the same adventures) they do not need to choose similar Epithets at all. The best Epithets will somehow reflect both the conflicts that generated them and the unique personalities of the heroes involved.
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After each scenario, quest, or event, the Scribe measures the party’s influence along each axis on the Page chart above. The question she asks herself for each axis is simple: Will this particular scene be written in the history of this object? In the biography of this person? In the records of this city or region? In the tales and fables of this beast? The highest applicable level along each axis is then awarded to the players.
500 Hero Magick Blade Ugurlu Greater Beast
For example: In the above scenario, the 250 Pages estimated are enough to unlock Jist’s third Epithet. Andrew chooses “Tender of the Darkest Flames” for Jist. This reflects the consuming ball of fire Jist used to extinguish the wicked spirit’s life as well as the dark cult that the merchant belonged to, The Darkest Sons, the reason his daughter was in the hands of an ancient evil in the first place. Specific characters, objects, or places can take individual Page values along their respective axis. These might come up in a quest of the Scribe’s design or in supplemental materials released by Anthropos Games. For example: The city of Chethahan may be a Place worth 200 Pages (the standard value for a city), whereas Lokod could be worth 350 (somewhere between Chethahan and Ugurlu). A city designed by the Scribe might be worth 700 Pages (a mythic city with a million inhabitants all lost to history).
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Filling Out an Epithet Epithets are the new names, titles, and monikers of your heroes. They represent plateaus of experience, levels that reflect processes of slow growth and noticeable breakthroughs. Characters advance by earning new names as their fame spreads across the world. Every Epithet is filled with a combination of Arts, Talents, Augments, and Aptitudes. Each is appropriated as a whole with 50 Renown. No remainders are allowed, and no Epithet can be expanded or contracted to fit a particular progression or need.
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Arts must be purchased at each level, in three different Epithets. The Raw Art can be included in an early Epithet for 10 Renown. The Low Art must be purchased in a later Epithet for 20 Renown. Finally, the High Art can be fit into a later Epithet at 30 Renown. Also, two of the same Augment cannot be placed in a single Epithet. Raw Art, Augment Low Art, Talent High Art, Aptitude
10 Renown 20 Renown 30 Renown
For example: Jist’s newest Epithet, Tender of the Darkest Flames, offers him a small set of rewards and new abilities. He upgrades his Flash Fire from Low to High for 30 Renown, adds a +1 Augment to his Ground Trait, and picks up Raw Martial Arts so he can start using his Arcane Dice in unarmed combat. He receives none of these rewards, however, until he spends 50 Renown purchasing the entire package at once. After Andrew purchases the bundle, he will decide what to do with the two Stars.
Stars: Dice & Wounds Each Epithet, once purchased, also makes available two Stars for the hero. Stars are used to increase a hero’s Dice and Wounds. Since some Stars will be saved for later and not spent right away, Stars that are spent need to be marked as such. Whenever a Star is spent, the player should fill in the white shape next to the Epithet. Purchase upgrades according to the following chart:
Dice
Cost in Stars
5-6 1 7-9 2 10-13 3 14+ 4
When heroes acquire new Epithets, either during character creation or after a particularly worthy scene or narrative, they do not gain the uard ie 4 rewards right away. The Epithet is “unlocked,” but each must then be “appropriated” ound 2 individually with Renown. This represents the time it takes to make the new title familiar as part of the hero’s personal tale. Wolf tongue As soon as the Epithet is created, players may begin Low Flash Fire, Summoning Talent, Raw Restore Object referring to themselves by the alternate name or title. Once it is purchased, commoners He Who Smokes the Caves and kings alike will be able to recognize the character by his Raw Summon Fiend, +1 DPD & TPT Aug., Disarm or her Epithet alone.
G W
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Jist’s First Three Epithets
D
Keeper of the Darkest Flames High Flash Fire, +1 Ground Aug., Raw Martial Arts
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Option: Establishing a Pace A point of Renown is the basic unit of experience in Early Dark. At the beginning of each campaign, the group may decide on a fixed amount of Renown that will be available during each session of play. This is a simple way to decide how much role-playing is required to “play to” Alignments (see the next section) and how closely the characters need to follow their social roles. This also adds an element of competition among the players. Considerations on how much Renown should be awarded each session might include how often the group hopes to meet, how fast players want their characters to advance, and how long the campaign will last. In-game factors could include what kind of myth the group has decided to tell and who the main characters are, the style of play the group hopes to embody, and what kinds of heroes the setting or conflict requires (fresh faces, or seasoned veterans). This works by each player “bringing along” a certain amount of Renown to each session. The total pot of Renown is then up for grabs, with players competing to gain as much as they can from the pot. This number can be any amount but works best somewhere between 10 and 20 per player. An average player might take four or five sessions to purchase an Epithet, whereas a skilled player with rich Alignments may take only three. All Renown taxes paid during the session, go back into the night’s pot, the points continually circulating. For example: Kelly and the players chat as characters are created, deciding that each gaming session will be worth 10 Renown per player. Some characters will earn more or less than 10 Renown each meeting, depending on how the session goes. With five players in a campaign that hopes to meet once a week, the Scribe is handing out an Epithet worth (50 Renown) per night!
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Alignments & Renown Alignments are the only way to gain Renown in Early Dark. They are the basis of character development and growth. Rather than your hero being tied to a set of abstract principles or beliefs, he or she is aligned with a particular group, faction, or relationship. It is through these Alignments to real people that your hero gains values and motives to act. Each character is enmeshed in a complicated, organic network of people and places; ideas and principles are secondary, derived from one group’s interests and goals. This network of relationships to others takes shape out of the various Alignments your character takes.
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Alignments and Followers are earned through role-playing and do not need to be purchased in Epithets. Maintaining such relationships, however, requires time and energy: Alignments require an Investment, and Followers demand Upkeep.
ALIGNMENTS At the beginning of the campaign, each hero will have a small number of Alignments (set by the particular Milieu selected) all with an Investment of 1 Renown. When characters fulfill their Alignments, they gain Renown and influence. When they disappoint or violate their Alignments, they lose Renown. Wagering on and “playing to” Alignments are the only ways heroes earn Renown in Early Dark.
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Gaining Renown Each relationship, whether to a Membership, Profession, Quest, Patronage, Rivalry, or Romance demands an Investment from the hero. Each time the hero “plays to” one of his or her Alignments, the character receives an amount of Renown equal to the Investment. A simple common law might be used to determine when a character has successfully “played to” one of his or her Alignments: He
or she rolls at least one Check, one Save, and one Bout; and the player engages in a little roleplaying. If the character fails one or more of the rolls but continues with the process, he or she should still get the Renown. This will offer an incentive for trying heroic deeds that push characters beyond certain victory. For example: Heyu has a Membership in a local thieves guild in Lokod with an Investment of 3. Each time Heyu undertakes a dangerous heist, he has a chance to earn 3 Renown. Early in the night, Tauno makes a Burgling Check at a Difficulty of 4 to case a prominent merchant’s estate. Heyu slips in and retrieves some small pieces of art to fence while scanning for larger vaults or heavily guarded areas. A few days later in game, Heyu rolls a Bout against one of the merchant’s servants in hopes of gaining extra information but fails. Two hours of role-playing and some skirmishes with city guards later, Heyu makes a Clamber Save slipping into the merchant’s backyard. Kelly gives Tauno 3 Renown even though the heist is still underway. Or: Chris Gunning gave his Edish swordmaster, Taron, a high Investment in the Neferatha Imperial Cult, 4. He works as a mercenary and middle-rank member. Taron gains 4 Renown for “playing to” this Alignment when he alerts a spy for the cult in Dunbri that a large shipment of gold is being sent to a rival cult in Anishad. He raids the shipment for his cult. Losing Renown Whenever a hero falls out of line, ignores, or plays against one of his or her Alignments, the character is taxed an amount of Renown equal to his or her Investment. Furthermore, whenever a hero “pushes on” an Alignment, stressing or putting pressure on the relationship, he or she is also taxed the Invested number of Renown. For example: Although the two are friends, Jist has a Rivalry with Serseus. Andrew has fueled this personal vendetta with an Investment of 2. After Jist and Serseus successfully slaughter Englos, the centuryold troll of Spillwoods, Serseus is deified in the eyes of the locals while Jist is pushed aside. Andrew decides not to pursue the Rivalry with an open duel and
suffers a tax of 2 Renown against his Alignment. He bides his time, however, and plans more than one scheme at Serseus’s expense to earn him that Renown back. Or: Kiwaki, Stephanie Takemoto’s Alagoth runaway, loses 3 Renown when she “pushes on” her Patronage to the Fey spirit of Eter Rock. Kiwaki petitions the spirit to supply a mount from among the wild horses of the Bowls, asking a favor and paying a tax.
Note that the access and power granted by Alignments are often more useful than coin money. When your hero needs something rare or costly, it is most readily gained by “playing to” or “pushing on” the relevant Alignment. A small settlement will be unlikely to sell a magick object used by its elders or an especially fine spear shared by its hunters. What good is money outside the city that coined it? The economy of a dark age is based more on authority and tradition than on any amount of shiny metal. Wagering Renown Another popular way to gain or lose Renown in Early Dark is through individual wagers with the Scribe. The player decides on a task or action that falls within the boundaries of one Alignment or another and stakes the Invested amount of Renown on the outcome. This lets the players decide how important an action is for each Alignment and whether or not there would be consequences in the life of the hero regarding its success or failure.
Or: While at the ancient estate home of House Heron in the Kuludo Highlands, Derek’s Khazil hero overhears a conversation among sabu about the poor craftsmanship of their new blades. Derek offers Kelly a wager: “Can I wager along two Alignments at the same time? If I can make a sword to impress these guys, I want to count that toward my Profession as a swordsmith (Investment of 2) and my Membership in the Hashuka Clan (Investment of 3), since I would potentially gain favor for my clan over whichever clan currently forges blades for these sabu.” Kelly agrees, the wager being worth 5 Renown. Derek needs to score some great Craft rolls and do a little selfmarketing to win over the Sabu critics.
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Or: Howard’s character Deklak has a Profession as a smith with an Investment of 1. When Deklak needs a rare piece of equipment for his next adventure, Kelly lets Howard know that a smith would have to draw on personal favors and convince many townsfolk of the quest’s necessity to cover the cost to the village. Howard pays a 1 Renown tax, “pushing on” his reputation as a smith, and receives the equipment from a reluctant elder. As soon as Deklak “plays to” his smithing, by crafting or repairing a weapon for example, he can earn back that Renown in the eyes of the town.
For example: John’s awkward magicker, Zefr, has a Membership in his Crown Caste with an Investment of 3. He is a respected Crown with quite a few underlings that work at his temple of residence in Tiantip, the Tree City. Traveling over the foothills of Lower Edrada, John is attacked by a caravan of Alagoth merchants with an accompanying druid, hated enemies of the Neferatha Crowns. John offers, “I’ll wager 2 Renown I can kill that Loom-monkey druid in two Rounds” Kelly responds, “I wasn’t planning on making him all that combative, but I can offer him a few Augments and let you try that out.” John nods.
Or: Kleitos’ Romance with the Edish Lady Keliwael (Investment of 2) keeps him around the environs of Lokod. When news is spread that her family is taking a trip across the Sea to Gundrada, Brandon offers Kelly a wager: “Can I get 2 Renown for signing up as a bodyguard on the trip?” Kelly responds, “Well, to make it a wager, there would need to be some risk. How about you attempt to become captain of the guard for the journey? You’ll have to outsmart or out-sword the current captain.” Brandon agrees. Kelly makes the “try out” process a few Bouts with the competing mercenary and a Save or two that allow Kleitos’ companions to follow. This begins to resemble “playing to” the Alignment anyway. Depending on the spirit of the group, wagering could become the primary way Renown is distributed during play.
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Scribes can also offer Renown wagers throughout the course of a campaign, tugging on the strings of a hero’s social relationships and affinities. Ignoring the requests of those connected to your Alignment often results in a tax on that relationship. For example: When Kantuush’s party finds itself knee-deep in snow, fourteen leagues into the Vaankur wilderness, Kelly rolls up an Adult Fell Beast on the Random Encounter Table (271). She decides to hit the party with a Giant. She declares that all the Khazil heroes can gain Renown equal to the Investment in their Clan Membership by killing the giant in three Rounds, winning fame and protecting nearby settlements. The majority of the party votes to sneak around the brute, giving the Khazil heroes no chance to attempt the challenge. The wager is not taken, so neither a reward nor a tax occurs.
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Or: Vuul Hara, Erick’s ambidextrous cutpurse-mage, has an Investment of 5 in his Patronage with the dark Fray beast, Alishwari Anushi. When the nighimmobile beast speaks through the wind to the young magicker, Vuul hears: “I require a fresh body, my servant. Find me a new shape that I might assimilate and fill with my lifeblood. Can I trust you to complete this task, little pet?” Erick has plans for the 5 Renown this new assignment could earn him. Although in the middle of another quest with his party, he asks the players, “Hey, can we keep an eye out for an adequate sacrifice? I will cover any costs we incur following the tangent.” The players agree, and Erick accepts the wager. Conflicting Alignments It is possible that a hero could develop Alignments that will, at times, conflict with one another. The more Alignments in play, the more often conflict will arise. In these instances, the player has to decide which Alignment takes precedence.
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For example: Rob’s Sabu officer, Mefun Doja of House Tiku, has an Alignment to his Sabu Caste and to his Doja Family. When his cousin is convicted of war crimes in Edrada and Mefun is sent to capture him, Rob must choose between his conflicting Alignments. Mefun helps his cousin, earning the 2 Renown from his Family Membership but losing the 4 from his Membership to the Sabu Caste.
Changing an Investment Each session, players can raise or lower the Investment of one Alignment by 1 Renown through role-playing. The Investment rank of any one Alignment is always limited by the hero’s Investment Limit Trait, which is attached to the Guile Aptitude. Increasing your character’s Investment in a particular Alignment represents not only the hero’s growing attachment to that group or pursuit. Investments also measure how much the group relies on and values the hero. Promotions in the group hierarchy come alongside higher Investments, which offer the hero more resources and more social power. To gain these promotions, heroes would need to be engaged with the Alignment and role-play a suitable path to the higher position. For example: On the hunt for his runaway cousin in Upper Edrada, Mefun begins to questions his allegiance to the Sabu. All the wars, the petty honor disputes... After choosing to aid his cousin against the wishes of his commanding Tiku offier, Rob lowers Mefun’s Sabu Caste Alignment by 1. Forging New Alignments Hero’s can take on a new Alignment with the prescribed tax of 1 Renown. This could take a great degree of in-game role-playing, however. An Alignment represents the connections and shared paradigm of a group of people, and these are rarely forged lightly. The collective would have to accept the hero as one of them, and the hero would have to be both consciously and unconsciously shaped by the new Alignment. For example: Runnaw, Derek’s Hashuka Vayok, finds himself wandering the wastelands of Gundrada, hunting a legendary Red Stag. He comes across a village and has the opportunity of becoming their patron. It sounds interesting, so Derek agrees. Now, Runnaw feels obliged to protect the people while he resides in the area, and he’ll be gaining Renown. Also, they will be fulfilling their end and supporting him. Losing an Alignment Turning your back on a network that has given you a worldview, a system of values, and a way of life can be traumatizing. If a hero does lower
an Alignment to zero, functionally erasing it, the Scribe may decide to offer a stigma or lasting effect. An especially secret or intimate group may not let one of its flock leave easily, and the grueling trials of initiation rites are surpassed only by the trials of cutting ties with the faction. Ending a Romance, for example, may result in a Rivalry. Leaving a Membership may give the hero a Quest to get free from the group.
Renown & Followers
For example: Taron, Chris Gunning’s Edish bearing the Hawk and the Cougar, relinquishes his ties to his Profession. Taron rarely works as a sculptor any longer, and Chris does not want to put effort into raising Taron’s Craft and Artistry Arts. When Taron finally reduces the Investment to zero, he and the Scribe role-play a falling out with Taron’s latest client. No longer does the Edish swordmaster hold onto his roots as a citizen, a lawful life. He no longer views the world as a finely-tuned work of art. Instead, the world seems cold; the frivolties of day-to-day life among the citizens of Dunbri are forgotten. The lost Alignment is a total change in worldview.
For example: Clyde pays a tax for his animal Minion at the beginning of the night’s session of Early Dark. If the Minion is lost in combat and new Minions are hired to pick up the slack, Amyntas Num would be charged a Renown tax for appropriating the new Followers as well (even though he had paid just a moment ago for the animal that died quickly).
Yes, these methods for winning and losing Renown are both qualitative and broad. At the same time, these methods are unavoidably social and self-regulating. The group itself will decide how to define “playing to” and “pushing on” Alignments. Wagers are decided publicly, drawing input from the Scribe and every player assembled. The debates and discussions that emerge from handling Alignments and settling wagers will define what kind of game is being played and how everyone wants to play it. Reward bravado and humor if you like. Reward subtlety and role-playing prowess if that is what the game is about for you. It should be up to you, the players, how difficult it is to advance your heroes and how careful everyone must be building and sharing the world of the narrative. Common laws, guidelines, and rhythms will inevitably develop within a group that govern how Renown is dispensed.
With a high Upkeep Discount Trait, players can reduce the tax of all Followers to zero. The Trait works on all Followers as a group, not on each individual Follower. Higher Discounts can make more powerful Followers available to the hero, a good use of the Relate Aptitude.
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Outrageously Qualitative
Followers require Upkeep, which takes the form of a tax paid in Renown by the hero each session such Followers are in play. Upkeep could be envisioned as a kind of mini-Alignment. This tax represents the hero sharing his or her fame with Followers and balances out the benefits of having extra hands in combat.
Gaining Followers All new Followers are gained through roleplaying, and many in-game factors would decide how hard or easy it is to gain a Follower. Some Minions come quite easily to the hero, requiring the player to pay the Upkeep tax and little else. Others would demand coin payment or certain actions from your hero. For example: Kiwaki, Stephanie Takemoto’s Alagoth weaver, has been traveling with a group of druids for many months. She has become friends with many among the Circle, and asks to convert one of them into a Retainer. Stephanie pays 2 Renown, one for each Attack she wants: Thread Stalk and Unravel. She can deploy the druid as a Minion, Retainer, or Familiar depending on the situation each session. Advancing Followers When a player values a particular Follower highly, he or she can set the Follower up for advancement. This is as easy as giving an Alignment to the Follower and letting it participate in the daily competition for Renown.
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Followers Followers come in three forms: Minions, Retainers, and Familiars. Minions represent battle-ready followers that provide important support during combat. Retainers cover sidekicks, helpers, and creatures who have a few important strengths but are otherwise dependent on the hero. Familiars have a lasting bond with the hero, often require an independent character sheet, and take their own turns in combat.
Details
These rules are for Mundane Followers. Arcane Followers, such as Elementals and Fiends, may function differently than the following.
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Without Animal Kinship or appropriate Arcana, heroes take only human Followers. All Rolls per Round are set at the beginning of a Round. Should Followers die during a Round, Die bonuses and special abilities are immediately forfeit by the leader, but RPR changes will not take effect until the beginning of the next Round. Each individual human counts as one Follower. Swarms are allowed only with the Lead Art. Each Follower has an Upkeep, a Renown tax that is charged each session the Followers are in play. Players can decide each day’s session whether or not any Followers present in the party are “in play” for that gaming session and available to offer bonuses. For example: Amyntas Num has a hired Minion, Gubar, but Clyde does not believe he will need the extra boost Gubar provides in combat this session. Although Gubar takes actions in the narrative and maintains his presence in the story, he does not offer the +1 RPR and +1 Die because Clyde decided not to make him mechanically functional this session.
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Some Followers can offer benefits to out-ofcombat rolling as well. If the hero has paid the Renown tax, sharing his or her fame with the Follower, then that Follower can function in whatever capacity fits the narrative. For example: Jist has a Minion hireling he keeps around to offer himself a Mundane Die boost and a little protection in combat. Outside combat, when Jist spends an afternoon searching a small dell in the Red Plains for some herbs, Kelly allows Andrew to roll an extra Mundane Die on the Cunning-Touch roll because of the hireling’s presence. “He has an extra set of eyes, so it makes sense you would get the bonus,” says Kelly. Or: Kinny’s character, Ishwan, has a Retainer she uses for making Loom attacks in combat. Outside combat—so long as Kinny counts the ability as part of the Retainer’s Upkeep cost for that session—Kinny can use the sage Follower to make Thread Stalking Checks as well. Some Followers will function as little more than pack animals or torch-bearers. If that is the case, they still have a mechanical effect (a Capacity) and must be paid for with Upkeep. Perhaps the players can work out a deal to decide who will pay for the hireling who carries everyone’s coins around in a heavy, locked chest each day.
Minions Minions come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and numbers, but all Minions’ primary purpose is to increase the hero’s potency in combat. When protecting a village, laying siege to a fortress, or leading others through the dense forest, heroes will naturally attract groups of less experienced fighters who will follow their lead. Minions are usually kept for only a battle or two, and rarely follow the hero off on a journey. Upkeep For Minions, the Upkeep equals the number of Guard Dice rolled and added to the Guard Trait when the Minion goes “on Guard.”
Benefits +1 RPR, +1 Die (most often Mundane), +1 Wound set by Minion Minions are followers who act as extensions of the leader’s own body. Each minion has no stats of its own but instead modifies the stats of the leader. A powerful Minion may add 1 Die to two or three Domains. This means, however, that Minions do not require Aptitudes or Traits or other Abilities. They are basically body shields. When the Wound that represents the Minion is struck, the Minion is dead. Die bonuses are lost immediately, but the Roll per Round modifier is not corrected until the beginning of the next Round.
When the wolf suffers the Wound, Kantuush loses the +1 Mundane Die but the RPR stays until the next Round begins. Benjamin then rolls on the “Dead or Dropped Out” Chart to see if the wolf is still alive and able to be healed. Or: Chris Gunning’s character, Taron, finds himself face to face with an Alagoth druid in the White Forest. Winning Initiative, Kelly rolls to Summon Elemental Minion on the druid’s first turn, rolling two 3-Tacks and drawing two Minions (See 339 for details). The Minions appear at the beginning of the next round, when Kelly adds 2 to the druid’s RPR and Mundane dice. Following, when a hero tries to attack his or her target, he or she must fight through the Minions first. Scribes should qualitatively handle how Minions play out in fights. They mostly represent the thugs that must be dealt with before attacks on the leader can be made. Minions make it easy to avoid Balking on an Advantage, becoming obvious causes for Momentary Penalties and Disrupted Footings for example.
A Swarm is any group of individual bodies that functions as a single Wound in combat. They often function as Minions of more powerful adversaries, but they can also “stack” to become powerful adversaries in their own right. Mechanically, a Swarm always functions as a single unit. Some animals naturally exist as Swarms in combat because they offer little danger to humans in small numbers (e.g. rats, bats, insects). The stats listed in the Almanac for such creatures will note a Swarm Rank, the number of physical bodies needed to make up one viable Wound in combat. All of the Aptitudes and Attacks listed represent not the stats of one individual creature, but how powerful a Swarm of 1 Wound would be. If heroes encounter a smaller number of such creatures, not enough to make up a Swarm and thus form even a single Wound, a small Trial would be the best way to handle destroying the foes.
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For example: Benjamin’s powerful Vayok, Kantuush, gathers a Lesser tundra wolf Minion. It costs Benjamin 5 Renown each session because the wolf has five Guard Dice. The wolf offers Kantuush a formidable extra Wound in combat, another Mundane Die, and +1 RPR each Round the canine is in play.
Swarms
For example: Whereas one powerful hero might have six Wounds in combat, it takes a cluster of six rats to form an enemy with just a single Wound. The stats listed in the Almanac represent the capabilities of a group of six rats. If a hero successfully Strikes the single Wound, all six rats would be considered neutralized. A nest of rats with three or four Wounds would function as a single enemy with multiple Minions. One Swarm stands in as the leader (see thief example on next page), and each additional Swarm offers another Die, Wound, and RPR. Alternatively, the Scribe could create a more substantial enemy, such as a Lesser Rat, to function as the leader of the nest. In that case, each Swarm of six mundane rats would be a single Minion of the more powerful Fell rodent. See “Arranging Followers” on page 353 for more information on constructing enemies.
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2 Wounds). The battle would take too long, and Kelly has big plans for the players later that night. Instead, Kelly creates two units of enemies. Each unit has three thieves (one leader and two Minions). The resulting combat takes place against these two units (each with 5 RPR and 4 Wounds) as opposed to six individual thieves (a total of 18 RPR and 12 Wounds). The trade-off for making the flock of thieves grouped as two, more manageable units, however, is that each of those units begins with 2 more Mundane Dice than any of the thieves would have had individually. See page 353 in Poetics for more detailed information on arranging Followers strategically in combat.
Retainers
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Retainers are important for any hero wanting to cover his or her weaknesses. Retainers will have a few Aptitudes or Arts stronger than those of the hero. Players can then choose to make any attack or defense roll from the stats of the hero or those of the Retainer.
Turning a Group into a Single Enemy with Minions Many groups of enemies that seem homogeneous will function best as a single leader with a handful of Minions. If you want to create an encounter with multiple similar enemies, you can avoid long Initiative lists by letting one enemy act as the leader and forming the others into Minions. There will always be one individual who functions as the center around which the others will gather. If all their stats are the same, then it does not matter which individual is picked.
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For example: The party comes across a group of six thieves living in the foothills around Guna Sea. The Scribe does not want to make a battle that includes six thieves on the Initiative List (each with 3 RPR and
Upkeep Set by the number of Attacks available to the leader. Retainers will not have complete freedom to use all their stats and attacks at any time; when determining Upkeep for the gaming session, the player decides which aspects of the Follower are available and counts out the number of Attacks wanted. Different sessions, the player may spend more or less Upkeep on the Retainer, choosing to include only those Attacks that he or she deems necessary. Benefits Use Retainer’s Aptitudes, Attacks, and Talents; +1 RPR; +1 Wound set by Retainer Retainers are Followers who have their own stats, at least partially. Unlike Minions, which simply add a buffering wall around leaders, Retainers offer their own abilities and skills. Securing a Retainer with a different distribution of Dice as well as complementary Aptitudes comes in very handy.
For example: If a hero with a low Labor wants to move a heavy log, his Retainer can make the roll instead. This works on turns in combat and also some checks. The Retainer is basically a servant with stats to offer. Wizards can summon allies and use the summoned creatures’ attacks instead of their own. The Retainer uses up the leader’s turn, however, so only one roll can be made. Scribes decide whether or not the Retainer can roll defense for the leader. In many cases, this is totally fine and adds to the usefulness of the Retainer. Retainers may only have a few stats, or can be completely fleshed out. The Retainer is like a body double, an ally that can take a turn in place of the hero. In effect, Retainers function as “special abilities” or “special attacks” at the command of the leader, tools ready at hand.
Familiars are the highest form of Follower and function as true companions. Upkeep Familiars require an Upkeep equal to the number of RPR they offer in combat. This amount cannot exceed the Familiar’s own RPR limit set by the Trait.
Familiars require full Aptitudes and Traits, Arts, Dice, and equipment. They take up a slot in the Initiative order and function as any other individual hero. The player takes his or her hero’s turn as normal as well as the Familiar’s turn. Because Familiars have limited RPR, they are often targeted by enemies early in the Round. The smart player will find ways of protecting a Familiar in combat. Many Followers will require coin or other payment that is not covered in the Upkeep cost. Upkeep, the tax in Renown paid per gaming session for use of a Follower, can never be subsidized by other methods, as the Upkeep represents not the resources a Follower demands but the space they take up in the myths written about your hero. If a Follower demands pay, no amount of Upkeep can get the hero out of paying the bill.
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Familiars
Benefits Full Character in combat, RPR limited by Upkeep, 1 Wound of its own
Killing Followers All Followers have a single Wound only in combat. Enemy Followers that suffer a Wound are said to “scatter” from the leader, moving out of play but not necessarily dying. If the hero wants to pursue and destroy the Follower, he or she would have to engage the Follower in a combat in which the Follower is now considered an independent enemy (this could be a later combat, or a simple Trial tacked on at the end of the current battle). When heroes’ Followers are struck down, however, they must roll on the Dead or Dropped Out table after the conflict, 263. Some Followers require Upkeep only when they roll on this chart (see the Lead Art, 306).
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The pain tore through him. It was bad. But it wasn’t enough to drop him. Kalis’atha reached back and grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped her forward, throwing her into a burning tree. She twisted her body in time to take the hit as well as she could, but even still it jarred her shoulder out of his socket. Worse, the fire across her arm left her with a flashing burn, a blistering patch that felt like the bites of a thousand angry fire ants. She tried to stand, and just managed to—only to be met by a chest-cracking fist of air that punched the air right from her lungs. Kalis’atha stomped toward her. He grabbed her once more by the throat. He lifted her high. The breath had already gone from her lungs, and now he was closing off her throat, ensuring that life could not easily return to her. This would be over fast. “You say I killed your brother?” he asked through gritted teeth. Weakly, she nodded.
Heraldry
“I’ve killed many. What was his name?” She tried to speak. It came out only as a breathless gurgle, naught but a whimper. He growled and loosened his grip. Not to let her go. Just to let her speak. He had to know. “Ell—“ she tried, then again: “Ellas.” He grunted. “No. I do not know Ellas.” “Liar.” Even choking she gave that word a bitter potency. He shrugged. He felt the blood on his leg, and down the center of his back. She thrashed her body in his grip, but it was a futile effort. She was like a kitten writhing in the mouth of a bear. “I do not lie,” he said. “I speak truth. Truth few rarely want to hear. Even after all this, I might spare you if you can help me, though I doubt you can. Tell me this. Do you know someone named Ikazamir?” Her brow furrowed. A glint of recognition—though incomplete—flashed in her eyes. He let her speak. Nela said, “Ikazamir was the one who told me about you executing my brother.” In that moment, it started to come together for him, then. A picture formed swiftly. This girl’s
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brother was that Edish brute he’d sentenced to death. Wasn’t there a complication; did it matter? What mattered was that Ikazamir had seen an opportunity, hadn’t he? He saw his chance to set this girl—clearly a gifted combatant, and surely a more than competent assassin—on his trail, knowing that one day their paths would converge. And when that happened, the result would be one of two: Either she would kill him, or he would kill her. And in each scenario, Ikazamir won. In the first, he would no longer live in a world where Kalis’atha was left to hunt him and expose him for the fraud and the clumsy weaver of the Loom that he was. In the second, he’d no longer be a target of the assassin girl, and she would no longer be a thorn in his side, and whatever the situation was with the brother, Ellas, it would all be swept under a braided Neferatha mat. So perfect, it almost made him appreciate Ikazamir. He liked to think that maybe the bastard learned this from him, but that wasn’t true, he knew. Ikazamir was always a scorpion, his barb ever-venomous and forever-sharp.
Heraldry
But what Ikazamir never figured on was the revelation of truth. A third option. The unexpected path. Neither dead. Both working together to hunt the same man. He could pay her. To work for him. To share the burden. Kill the same man. It had a nice ring to it. Kalis’atha smiled and tasted smoke as the forest burned. “We are the victims of deception,” he said to the girl he held by the throat—he dared not drop her, not yet, not lest she reveal a hidden dagger and slit his throat as she landed. “Ikazamir is the perpetrator. He lied to you. And he flees from me. Together, we can—“ She reached down to her thigh—a smaller knife lay concealed there, too small for most battles, but this close, with his neck only inches from hers— Then: A sound from above. A terrible wrenching—a cracking like a god’s bones broken. He looked up. So did the girl. A fiery branch—massive, heavy, knobbed and knotted in twists of ironwood—fell hard and fast and there was a whorl of smoke and a blur of light—
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Chapter the Sixth
Manual of Artistry The following pages cover all of the Arts, Arcana, and Insights of Early Dark. Arts are mundane skills that heroes can use to accomplish unique objects in the world of Early Dark. If you want your hero to be sneaky try Stealth or Suggestion. Bold characters can learn the Arts of Lead, Presence, and Speechcraft. Each Footing is connected to a single Art so try matching up your hero’s strengths to the skills that will make the most of them. Talents and Masteries can be bought that correspond to various Arts after the Arts themselves are purchased. Arcana encompass the abilities of wielding the Fray. There are two Arcana for each Footing because one Aptitude will be the primary root of the Arcanum. For instance, Fight-Cunning matches one Arcanum (Arcane Bolt), while Cunning-Fight matches another (Healing). Insights are Arts attached to the Loom Dice. To use magick, the hero must first purchase the Talent that unlocks the Family; this is the reverse of how Mundane Talents work.
The Duadha of the White Forest became among the Alagoth the Druids. Their magicks sustain the peoples of Lower Edrada and emanate from a faithful study of the Loom and its many patterns. Male and female Druids explore both sides of the Great Tapestry, some circles even venturing into the husbandry of Fell beasts.
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Mundane Arts Arts are cultural forms, traditions of knowledge passed on through generations. Different cultures will have diffferent arts and technologies, but the following list represents those skills found in all of the societies surrounding the Hara Sea to a greater or lesser degree. In some ways, these are “sciences” as well, clouds of knowledge that help humans solve problems or accomplish work more easily. We use the term “art” because each listing includes a broad assortment of styles, methods, and skills. Archers in Lower Edrada, for example, would use shorter bows than those in Upper Edrada. The former would regularly fire from horses in small skirmishes, while the latter would use bows more often for hunting on foot or in largescale warfare. Each Art listing contains the necessary information to help Scribes and players make the most of each tradition.
Cunning
Manual
Cunning Fight Relate Guile Thrive Touch Labor Move
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Description Each Art is given a qualitative description so players can get an idea what kind of practices and knowledge go into the skill. Some Arts will have specific meanings in Early Dark that might not be obvious at first. Effects These include the practical, mechanical uses of an Art: How the skills learned from the Art will function in the game, what rolls are necessary, what parameters contrain use, and how to determine success. Attacks & Abilities Each Art contains an Attack or a set of Abilities: Raw, Low, and High. These must be learned in order, and each escalating level includes the bonuses of the previous levels. When refining your hero’s Arts, you must include each new stage in separate Epithets.
Fight
Relate
Guile
Thrive
Armoring
Speechcraft
Burgling
Alchemy
Mounted Fighting
Trick Blades
Medics
Grift
Lead Suggestion
For example: Raw Archery adds the Balance of the arrow to the Attack’s Strike roll. Low Archery ignores Armor and also adds the Balance of the arrow to Attacks. Talents These can be used whenever a 2-Tack lands in a Bout (so long as the context fits). Talents can either stand alone or augment other Tacks. Talents that add to or improve a Primary Tack will work only when that Primary Tack also lands in the Bout. Masteries These are extra effects that can be learned or added to the Art’s basic functionality. Masteries expand the parameters of an Art or offer new skill-sets entirely. Masteries are purchased the same way Talents are, but they do not require a separate Tack to deploy; they take effect every time the Art is rolled in the prescribed context. Most Masteries offer a slight bonus (+1 to the Force of a roll) when a particular context exists.
Labor
move
Lore
Craft
Tactics
Archery
Hacking Blade
Skill Blade
Animal Kinship
Presence
Riding
Canvass
Sabotage
Stealth
Chanting
Atavism
Clamber
Artistry
Scouting
Another system used to show increased abilities in multiple Arts represents wealth. A purse includes however much wealth an individual can hold on his or her person. It may also include a particular object or item that is carried with the same level of secrecy and care as a money-purse might be. A household worth of wealth includes all the items one might keep physically in a single place. Again, this might not represent literally an entire household of goods. A single object, kept in a safe and hidden in a cellar, might reflect a household of wealth; it is protected by an entire household and represents more wealth than one would carry on his or her person, regardless of actual size or weight. The largest scale of wealth is a network. Networks of wealth include the investments, properties, and shared items connected to a person. A “family fortune,” for example, would most often be regarded as a network as far as theives are concerned. This can often represent intangible wealth. Keep in mind that much economic power comes from the social institutions of rank and title; and these cannot be stolen outright (they can, however, be grifted or impersonated).
Manual
Touch
Levels The effects of some Arts are based on broad categories or levels that increase as the Art is refined. Two of those systems are used to explain multiple Arts. One of these scales represents different mental states. An idea, for example, represents one fact or piece of information that could be transmitted easily in a short phrase or as a “yes” or “no” answer. A motive represents a broader mental state than an idea. Motives are drives, goals, or intentions. The highest level of mental state is a habitus, which represents an entire outlook, disposition, set of motives, mode of being, or paradigm. Each Alignment, for example, comes with a habitus, or way of being in the world.
Piloting
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Alchemy (Cunning-Thrive) measure, mix, add, boil, drink, identify
Alchemy is an art that relies on mixing natural elements to discover the essence of life. The art thrives on the plains of Edrada and across the frozen expanse of Vaankur; however, since the power used stems from outside of the practitioner, some of the more urbane cultures look down on it as a low art only practiced by primitive charlatans with no true power of their own. Alchemists in cities such as Ugurlu and Lokod are relegated to the back alleys and less reputable areas. Despite this, their services are often sought in secret by those of higher caste or class. In the comical Anu epic The House of Moa, the patriarch of House Moa, Lord Enaho Quena, is made to look foolish by unwittingly employing a Khazil alchemist as a chef. In the hopes of saving face, Quena orders the man killed on learning the truth, losing the immense benefits he receives from his “cooking.”
Effect Alchemists may make the following Resins without requiring a Mastery: Recovery, Curse, and Caustic. Further concoctions will require unique recipes found in the narrative or a Mastery. Masteries gained by the alchemist improve automatically alongside the Art itself. See page 362 in the Almanac for more on using Resins and other products of alchemy. Ingredients both rare and common are required before any rolls can be made. The number of dice rolled for any common ingredient determines how much of it is used. For example, one dose of Red Herb is used up for each die rolled in the preparation of a Recovery Resin. Only one dose of any rare ingredient is needed per Resin or concoction. Vials are more potent but harder to carry safely.
Manual
Abilities Raw Low High
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Resins require 3 Hits to produce, Vials 4 Hits. Alchemists can make rolls to locate and harvest their own ingredients. They can use rare ingredients in Resins/Vials if recipe is known or found. The alchemist can make the following new Resins: Heal, Combustion, and Frenzy.
Talents Healer’s Hands Arcane Elements
Recovery and Heal Resins made with water deal no Shock. Heal Resins made by the alchemist can count as Arcane healing instead of Mundane healing. This must be decided during the production of the Resin, and the rare ingredient must be Fell in nature.
Masteries Productivity Spawn Homunculus Charm Shape Change
Resins are made with only 2 Hits, and Vials with only 3. Low: Minion. High: Familiar. Raw: Implant Idea. Low: Implant Motive. High: Implant Habitus. Raw: Can borrow 3 Aptitudes from new shape. Low: Can borrow 4 Aptitudes from shape. High: Can borrow 6 Aptitudes from shape.
Solvent Effect Water (Common) Oil (Common) Black Oil (Common) Fell Saliva (Rare) Fell Blood (Rare)
+5 Shock on all Resins +4 Shock on all Resins +3 Shock on all Resins +2 Shock, Body Resins gain +1 to Effect +4 Shock, Body Resins gain +2 to Effect
Resins
Type Ingredients Effect
Recovery Caustic Curse
Health Damage Body
2C 4C 4C
1d10 Guard Recovery Acts as object of 1 Load, 3 Hardness [-1] Durable Penalty** Heals 1 Wound Acts as an object of 3 Load, 5 Hardness +1 DPD
Poison Body Antidote Body Known poison Unknown poison Growth Body Focus Body Tongue Body Fungus Body
2C, 1R
3 Lingering Shock
2C, 1R (the poison) 2C, 3R 2C, 2R 2C, 1R 2C, 2R 1C, 3R
Counters one poison Counters most poisons +1 Ground Modifier* +1 TPT Modifier* +1 Force on all Relate Rolls* +1 Force on all Touch Rolls*
6C, 4R 3C, 3R 2C, 4R
See Art See Art See Art
Homonculus Charm Shape Shift
Body Body Body
Manual
Heal Health 3C, 1R Combustion Damage 4C, 1R Frenzy Body 2C, 2R
Details 2 Resins count as 1 Load 1 Vial counts as 2 Load (and adds +2 to Effect) The Effects of Body Resins are not cummulative * Lasts one Round or Hour ** Lasts one Round or Hour and Vial creates three separate [-1] Penalties Ingredient Names The Scribe and players decide what each ingredient is according to their own knowledge of alchemy, medicines, and herbal lore. Common (C) ingredients range from colored herbs and animal remains to eyes of newts and toes of toads. Rare (R) ingredients range from crushed Quetzal beak and Roc feathers to Withering bark and mushrooms from a Fell Barrow.
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Animal Kinship (Relate-Touch) enlist, call, send, ask, direct, sic
In a world where humans are the minority, fortunate is the hero who enjoys a special connection with animals. All cultures treat animal kinship differently. The Vayok are known for taming and breeding creatures like the white weasel and Tundra Wolves, and more than one of the present day’s strongest clans were originally lifted from obscurity by such a breeder. House Tiku, a prominent Anu house that has spawned heroes both famous and infamous, owes much of its power to the reputation of its formidable Moa knights. These warriors are selected at a young age for strong kinship abilities. The connections they foster with their mounts make them nigh unstoppable, and their presence caused untold destruction during the recent decades of war in Edrada.
Effect Animals Resist a hero’s roll in a Fight-Touch Footing using their Mundane or Arcane Dice (whichever is higher). The Guard Dice of a creature will determine how many Hits must be scored in a Trial to establish communication with the beast. Basic effects include retrieving information or aid from the animal, calming its hostility, or taming it into a Follower. Scribes may create further, alternative Trials in the process of winning a Familiar as well. The Scribe will set how many Hits the animal must score to resist the connection. Hostile animals will generally require only a single Hit to resist the hero’s communication. Friendly animals may require three or four.
Manual
Only those with Animal Kinship can make Followers of nonhuman agents. Animal Followers are earned just as human Followers. The Scribe will orchestrate a Trial, deciding how many rolls can be made and how many Hits the hero needs.
Abilities Raw Low High
Can communicate with Young and Adult animals. Can secure kinship animals as Retainers. Can communicate with Lesser creatures and secure familiar animals as Minions. May communicate with Greater animals and make Familiars of animals. Elder creatures are not considered “animals” and behave more like sapient beings; these can speak with humans already, and those with Animal Kinship receive no special bonus.
Masteries Kindred Adds 1 Hit to all rolls made against a particular family of Animal. Trust Gives Retainers and Familiars one extra Mundane Dice when rolling.
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Archery (Fight-Touch) draw, send, loose, nock
The role of archery manifests in myriad ways across the cultures of the Hara Sea. The Alagoth, despite their formidable size, employ short, delicate bows during their horse-borne raids. The easy draw of such weapons allows them to pepper the hastily erected fortifications of their victims from horse back, closing for the kill when the time is right. The shorter Vayok favor much longer weapons of impossibly strong gualacum wood. The stiffness of these bows gives a loosed missile immense force—enough to slay great bears, stag moose, and even pierce the hide of the mighty Mammoth. The Edish employ bows of all sizes in between, with the pale Kelinephites favoring long bows and the nomadic plainsmen of Upper Edrada relying on shorter, lighter weapons. The haughtier Sabu of some Anu Houses eschew archery altogether, insisting on meeting the enemy with the honesty of blades. Uses: Short bows, long bows Note that the Unarmed Aspect as well as the Aspects of most weapons prohibit use in Long Range. This means that characters must generally Dodge to avoid arrows and thrown weapons. The Archery Art teaches those using bows to force their opponents into Dodging, which seems redundant. However, this prohibits archers from Countering each other in combat. Should a weak enemy use a bow without any specific Art in Archery, he or she could well be Countered on a turn.
Effects Manual
Must use weapons with the Ranged Aspect. Each Primary Tack that lands counts as one arrow.
Archery Attack Raw Add the Balance of the arrow to Strike rolls. All Strikes force Dodge. Low Ignore Armor. High Ignore Aura. All successful Strikes deal 4 Shock per Wound scored. Talents Grazing Shots Peg Draw Speed
High Ground Eagle Eye
Allows Primary Tacks that miss deal consolation Fatigue as normal this Bout. Offers a [-2] Momentary Penalty. If this Talent lands in a Bout, the archer can select one Primary Tack to initiate Bouts with all other enemies in Long Range (one arrow per target). The archer must divvy up other Secondary Tacks among the multiple targets. Durable condition: The archer steals Initiative next Round unless someone uses an Advantage this Round to knock him or her out of the high ground. Add twice the Balance of the bow for Strike rolls this Bout.
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Armoring (Fight-Cunning) wear, upgrade, decorate, fit, lighten, protect
Few cultural identifiers are as readily apparent on the battlefield as armor. Be it the delicately lacquered, Khazil-made armor of an Anu lord or the overlapping series of heavily etched plates denoting a Neferatha officer of the Imperial Cult, a seasoned warrior will know at one glance the heritage of her opponent. Master armorers often incorporate details like this in their craft to appeal to the lords of culture and intimidate foes, earning wealth and renown. There is something to be said for simplicity, though. Many an aspiring hero owes his life to the functional, fur-lined breastplates of the Vayok smiths of the West, and many a purse is more full for its owner having chosen such protection.
Effect Without this Art, characters can wear only Soft Armor, which has a Load to Armor Rating ratio of 2:1. Armorers can dress in and customize Hard Armor, which begins with a Load to Armor Rating ratio of 1:1. Each time they purchase, adjust, or add to a set of armor, armorers make a “fitting roll” as a small Trial. Each Hit subtracts 1 from the overall Load of the armor. The Armor Rating, however, is not lowered along with the Load. Also, no suit of armor can be reduced to less than half its original weight.
Abilities Manual
Raw Low High
Can dress in and customize Hard Armor at a 1:1 ratio (Load:Armor Defense). Add 4 to a hero’s Vest Capacity and 8 to his or her Total Capacity. Armorers can make an additional Armoring roll for each suit of armor they purchase, augment, or add to.
Talents Barbed Armor
Decorated Armor
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In an Armoring roll, a 2-Tack can be used to add a +1 modifier to the hero’s DPD. These Talents, then, cannot be used to also lower the Load of a suit during the Armoring roll. A 2-Tack can be used to add 1 Aura to the suit of Armor instead of lowering the Load by 1.
Artistry (Labor-Touch) sing, dance, prepare, play, entertain, decorate, teach
Many of the cultural practices and traditions of the Hara Sea region find expression through Artistry. Minewin shaman of the Edrada plains and Crown cultists of the Neferatha Empire rely on Artistry to foster an atmosphere suitable to their rituals. Other practitioners of Artistry might include anyone from a travelling Vayok gleeman performing songs and sleight of hand for village children during a harvest festival to a Neferatha Left preparing a fantastically appointed Ugurluan fête in support of his mistress’s bid for the the Amper Deshi. Music, performance, setting, décor, and so much more fall under the purview of Artistry.
Effect Artists are capable of creating situations or ambience that influence the performance of others. Artistry is rolled as a Trial, and each Hit affects one future roll made by those under the influence of the artistic performance. That is to say, the number of Hits determines the duration of the influence. For example: Margaret’s character Kechu wants to help her group swindle horses from an Alagoth merchant. Her group decides to host a party to influence the merchant’s decisions and to distract him from what agreements he makes. Kechu has only Raw Artistry, so they decide to target his Cunning and Relate Aptitudes. Anytime the merchant rolls in a Footing of Cunning-Relate, he suffers [-2].
Manual
Castles, palaces, temples, and other strongholds can be expected to enjoy the benefits of being decorated to protect the owners or inhabitants, not the visitors. Because of this, heroes may find themselves suffering critical Penalties when encountering a villain on his or her “home turf ” due to effective use of Artistry. Manipulative and charismatic foes may even be able to turn entire towns into orchestrated stages set against the intentions of the heroes. Parades, rallies, statues, public executions-- the possibilities are limitless.
Abilities Raw
Targets suffer a [-2] conditional Penalty when they roll in one particular Footing chosen in advance by the artist. Low The artist chooses three Aptitudes to cover with the performance (three Footings). Any Footing that uses two of those Aptitudes suffers the [-2] Penalty. High The artist chooses four Aptitudes to cover with the performance (six Footings). Masteries Dancing Singing Decoration/Design Etiquette Instrument Seducing
Each Mastery adds an additional [-2] Penalty to the victims’ rolls.
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Atavism (Thrive-Labor) curse, discover, unlock, inherit, unleash
Some heroes enjoy the blessings of their ancestors through inherited aptitudes. The strength of their forebears clamours in their blood, magnifying the magick therein and granting Atavistic heroes gifts. With their respect for ancestral totem threads, many of Edrada’s Edish nomads praise and welcome such features. Other cultures are less tolerant, however. Many an outcast has left her people in shame, the bearer of some mutation or distinguishing mark, to end her life in shameful ignominy. Still others have learned to co-exist with their unique Atavism, employing its bequeathed gifts in pursuit of glory or profit.
Effects
Atavism allows the hero to develop inherited powers hidden in his or her bloodline. The player and Scribe negotiate an appropriate source for the atavism, whether a clan heritage, family curse, childhood mutation, etc. These are effect-based and manifest in a variety of ways. Narrative consequences of freakish atavisms should be expected, and all atavisms will be in some way visible on the character.
Manual
Abilities Raw Low
High
Character has Fell blood and can use Blood Magick after purchasing the initial Talent. Fell blood offers +2 Aura, Armor, or Blood. Hero can buy Raw Arts in alternate Domains. For example, the Fell blood may allow a hero to purchase Raw Curse with his or her Mundane Dice, or purchase Raw Grift with Arcane Dice. These “powers” must work in the narrative, and the Scribe has final say on whether a particular idea is right for the current campaign. Aptitude bonus appropriate for the bloodline (plus 2 to one Aptitude, minus 1 in another). Hero can upgrade “powers” to Low. Fell Blood offers an additional +1 Aura, Armor, or Blood.
Consider a Power are any Art, Arcanum, or Insight that swaps Domains.
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Burgling (Cunning-Guile) pickpocket, steal, lockpick, open, pattern finding, searching
A tradition of tales featuring heroic outlaws has taken root in some nomadic Edish tribes. In these tales, certain charismatic heroes use cunning of mind and stealth of limb to burgle wealth from the lords of the city and distribute it to the plains people, redressing the harm wrought on them by the traitorous agrarian Edish and their Alagoth goons.
Effect Rolls can be used to plan or execute a heist, however, the hardest part of burgling is reading any locale well enough to know what to do with the goods once they are stolen. Anyone can break into a house and steal something, but it takes the Art of Burgling to make use of what is stolen, to find out how to convert it into cash or favors without alerting the authorities. There are also many situations outside simple thievery in which Burgling may come in handy, including setting up criminal organizations, smuggling, or extortion. For example: In dark ages, coin money does not rule, and many things are simply not for sale. Tauno’s theif, Heyu, pilfers a holy relic from the Hasharam temple... Now what? If he shows anyone the relic or brags about stealing it, the information will eventually get back to the priests. There is no way to sell it straight up. Is it even worth money to anyone? Tauno can roll Burgling at a Difficulty set by the Scribe to convert the relic into cash or favors.
Abilities Manual
Raw Low High
Can burgle one purse worth of wealth, and know where to fence it. Can burgle one household or wagon worth of wealth, and know where to fence it. Can burgle the shared wealth of a network, guild, or community. This may take the form of embezzlement, misdirection, or any form of illegal swindling.
Masteries Picking Locks Picking Pockets Detecting Traps or Guards Organized Crime Each Mastery adds 1 to the Force of any roll made in the particular arena.
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Canvass (Guile-Touch) talk, investigate, reason, infer, converse
The clever hero relies not on strength of arms alone. Conversations can be as fraught with conflict as combat, and only a fool ignores the value of information. The ability to glean information from an unsuspecting simpleton is useful to an adventurer, but true masters of Canvassing use their art to read portents in all aspects of a person, village, city, or culture, gleaning insights that might escape even the knowledge of the target itself. Canvassers are held in particularly high esteem among the courtiers of Kuludo. Many an Anu lord owes a rise to (or decline from) power to knowledge obtained by such artists.
Effect Canvass is most often defended with a Resist, though Scribes may set Difficulties in certain situations. Social situations, recent events, and local prejudices may act as Penalties on any given roll. If the hero is looking for specific information, delicate or otherwise private, the Scribe may increase the Difficulty or the number of required Hits.
Abilities
Manual
Raw Low High
300
The hero can choose any one idea or fact to retrieve from the target. The hero can retrieve all ideas or facts about a single topic that the target knows. The hero can retrieve ideas and facts from the target that the target him- or herself is not even aware of. If the conversation lasts long enough, heroes with High Canvass can retrieve all the ideas and facts about a single topic that the target and all of the target’s close acquaintances know.
Talent Fallback
When rolling on High, a Low success is guaranteed. When rolling on Low, a Raw success is likewise guaranteed.
Mastery Intuition
Add 1 to the Force of any roll made against a specific category of person.
Chant (Thrive-Touch) Meditate, sing, inspire, impress
All cultures of the Hara Sea share a common respect of the spoken word, and its power is dismissed only by those without the experience of a traveler. The recitation of the exploits of heroes past and powerful raises the ambitious youth of today to greater heights than they might otherwise reach. Chanting was once the sole vehicle for the history of a people. The tradition’s weighty tones still ring out over clash of arms on the ships of the three seas and crackle of friendly hearth on the Edradan plains, inspiring the events of which tale will be told in the future.
Effects Used in combat once per Round to offer Aura bonuses to allies and temporarily increase magickers’ Blood. A single chant has both effects simultaneously, and magickal characters receive both bonuses. The chanter, however, does not receive either of the benefits of the chant. If the chanter is Wounded, the effect is cancelled immediately.
Abilities Raw Low High
Each Hit in the roll offers +1 Aura for allied characters within hearing range until the end of the Round and +1 Blood to magickers Each Hit offers +2 Aura and +2 Blood. Each Hit offers +3 to Aura and +3 to Blood.
Manual
Mastery Ballad
Chanters can learn powerful ballads, each with a unique title, that can be used to offer different kinds of bonuses. When used in combat, the hero decides what bonus each Hit will grant the party: +1 DPD to all allied characters within range. +1 Source for one particular form of magick.
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Clamber (Move-Thrive) jump, run, climb, spin, move, land, roll, vault
Clambering manifests in cultures across the Hara Sea, ranging from the stout acrobats of Vaankur to the lithe, graceful dancers of the Crown cultists. The bodies of those so gifted move with a greater fluidity, accuracy, and grace than those without. This physical intelligence translates well into combat: a skilled clamberer uses feints and dodges to hinder an opponent’s movements or artfully avoid injury or conflict altogether. Many a great warrior, brimming with strength and bluster, has been made to look the fool by such means.
Effect Clamber can only be used to cover ground, whether climbing, leaping, free running, or otherwise moving efficiently through space. It is most effective when the conditions for normal modes of movement are hindered by penalties or obstacles. Any character may attempt to climb or be acrobatic, but she could suffer Durable Penalties related to danger or conditions as well as Momentary Penalties related to obstacles. The Clamber artist ignores such Penalties. For example: Erick’s assassin, Vuul Hara, is engaged in a Bout with a Fiend summoned with the sole task of slaying the rogue. The Fiend lands two Advantages, deploying them both as [-1] Momentary Penalties. Kelly says, “The warped creature knocks a cabinet towards Vuul for one Penalty and rolls a barrel at him for the other.” On the next turn, when the Fiend attacks, Erick rolls Move-Thrive as a Dodge and ignores both Penalties because of his Low Clamber Art.
Manual
Abilities Raw Low High
Ignores Durable and Momentary Penalties related to terrain or obstacles when covering ground. Ignores Penalties when covering ground even in combat, using Move-Thrive as a Dodge. Can use Clamber offensively in a Bout to directly Fatigue opponents. This can also work as an Indirect Attack.
Talents Creative Touch Stumble Block
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A trick step, or cheap shot that deals 1d10 Fatigue to pursuers. Can be used in an escape Bout or loaded into the trail for later pursuers. Offers a [-2] Momentary Penalty to pursuers. Can be used in an escape Bout or set into the terrain for later pursuers.
Craft (Cunning-Labor) make, craft, repair, salvage, design, create
The creation and improvement of objects, tools, and technologies falls under the purview of Crafting. The most renowned crafters of the Hara Sea region include the Khazil smiths of the West, the Alagoth cloth weavers, and the Neferatha gold smiths of Ugurlu. Though less glamorous, the practical use of Crafting made by the sailors of the four seas and the nomads of Edrada have enabled generations of growth, expansion, and trade. Some crafters explore a relatively new magick, that of force and leverage. The Vayok engineer Unach is a true pioneer of such art. The stories of the objects he can craft, metal trinkets whose parts move and play music without the touch of hand or magick, seem unbelievable. Most who hear such tales doubt that such a man or object even exists.
Effect Crafting is the art of tool-makers, smiths, and tinkerers. All rolls require appropriate tools and supplies, and Scribes set the Difficulty and administer Penalties based on the material being used and the circumstances of the crafting. The Difficulty must be met, but extra Hits can be used to improve the task.
Abilities Raw
High
Talents Efficiency Speed
The number of dice rolled does not set the amount of supplies used. Instead, the Force of the roll determines how much is used. Ignore any Penalties based on rushed or quick jobs.
Mastery Forte
Add 1 Force to all smithing rolls toward a particular Aspect.
Manual
Low
Characters may roll Craft to repair any technology of Load 4 or smaller they are familiar with. Rolls can be used to add Balance to natural objects. Each Hit offers 1 Balance in addition to the Primary Tack needed to overcome the Difficulty of the roll. Can make two Craft rolls on a single object, refining the item. Craft can be used on items of Load 6 or smaller. Characters may now create innovative, elaborate technology. Objects can be up to an 8 Load, and smiths can make four Craft rolls on a single item.
303
Grift (Guile-Relate)
con, scam, lie, misrepresent, take advantage of, oust In the comical Anu epic The of House Moa, Lord Enaho Quena receives an ailing distant aunt, Genya Dotl, from mysterious circumstances abroad, housing her at the apartments of Moa in the heart of Kuludo for many years. The woman’s taste is expensive, and she keeps a household of young attendants to care for her ailments. Her high born appetites and the unique talents of her retinue cost House Moa many koku, threatening to drain the House’s coffers altogether. It isn’t until the aunt’s strange death under violent circumstances in a back alley of Kuludo, just after the dawn of what was assumed to be her 124th year, that Lord Quena discovers the truth: Genya Dotl was actually a Neferatha man masquerading as an Anu matriarch to live off of the wealth of Moa, and the attendants were his lovers and accomplices.
Effect Grift differs from Burgling in that the deal is handled in the open. Whereas burglars steal from targets unawares, grifters actually convince targets to willingly give up their goods. Burgling someone’s keys, for example, may be much easier than grifting someone out of his or her keys. On the other hand, grifting a gullible merchant into “investing” in your business may be much easier than stealing from him. Most Grift rolls are made as Direct Bouts, against the target’s Guile-Relate, though some situations may set Difficulties instead.
Manual
Grifting is based on impersonation and disguise, gaining the confidence of the target or otherwise entangling him or her in a plot of some sort. The Scribe can arrange elaborate Trials to thicken the plot of the grifter.
Abilities Raw Low High
Hustle one favor or task from the target, up to one purse of wealth. Hustle target to play role in a one plan, swindling up to one household of wealth. Identity theft. The grifter can completely dupe and replace the target, taking on that person’s entire network of wealth and influence.
Talent Fallback When rolling on High, a Low success is already guaranteed. When rolling on Low, a Raw success is likewise guaranteed. Mastery Alias May create a named, recurring alias or alter-ego to function as. All rolls made in this alias have +1 Force.
304
Hacking Blade (Fight-Labor) chop, rend, power, crack, stab, bludgeon, hammer
When diplomacy and guile fail, many a warrior has learned firsthand the value of a heavy weapon and the brute strength required to wield it. Hacking Blade finds expression throughout the land and history of the Hara Sea region. Be it the sweep of a giant’s great mace through ranks of Vayok during the Emergence or the wall of short, broad blades favored by the Neferatha expeditionary forces, few denizens of the Hara Sea region can defend against such force for long. The adventuring lovers Leetayo, bearer of seven totems, and Varunasa Hodhi, who fled her place in the Left caste of Anishad, fought in tandem. Leetayo would bludgeon aside their enemies’ defenses and underlings with his great halberd while Varunasa finished them off with her skillful blade work. Uses: Axes, great swords, halberds, short swords, maces, mauls, flails.
Effects Must use weapons with the Heavy Aspect.
Hacking Blade Attack Raw Low High
Use the weapon’s Load as your DPD when figuring Fatigue. Can attack all targets at a single Range. Secondary Tacks can only be used defensively to cancel out those of the defenders. This Hacking Blade Attack causes a Durable Disrupt Footing and deals 1 Shock per die of Fatigue dealt.
Positioning Cleave Berserker Knockdown
Manual
Talents Threshing Floor
The hero ignores the Guard of Minions, rolling directly against their Grounds and Defenses. The hero can choose any one ally to Take Range against the target and deals 1d10 Fatigue to the opponent. Add twice the weapon’s Balance (total) to the Strike roll of a Primary Tack. Hero adds 1d10 to Fatigue rolls so long as the current Footing is continued. The hero offers a [-2] Momentary Penalty
305
Lead (Thrive-Relate) impress, enlist, order, control, protect
The history of the Hara Sea region was shaped by the actions of countless people, but certain heroes wielded disproportionate power by amassing followers, armies, and empires. Notable Leaders who have changed the pattern of the tapestry include Kannasu of the Tekthukek clan; Razakthet, Eater of Bears; and The Ravi Bacca, 25th Empress of the Neferatha Empire. Leadership exists on smaller scales, of course, and a hero may always find value in an underling to assist in combat—or to sacrifice to an overwhelming foe in her stead!
Effect Leaders are capable tacticians or fighters who naturally draw Followers. The Lead Art offers ways to get around the normal Upkeep charges for keeping Followers in the service of your hero and ways to draw even greater benefits from those who serve. Those with Lead can also take Swarms as Followers, including entire crews, bands, or groups. Leaders can make a Check against a Difficulty set by the Scribe to avoid the intial Upkeep cost of gaining a new Follower.
Abilities
Manual
Raw
Low High
306
In addition to the above reward, leaders only spend Upkeep on ad hoc Minions after the Minions serve in combat. If the hero wants to give the Minion a chance to roll on the Dead or Dropped Out table, he or she may spend Upkeep to do so. If the player is alright letting the Minion die for the cause, no Upkeep is charged at all. Letting certain Minions die may “push on” an Alignment, however. The hero can receive an Aura bonus equal to the Force of a Lead roll for each Follower present at the time of the roll. The Aura bonus wanes as each Follower is Wounded. In combat, such a roll requires one RPR. Each Minion and Retainer offers one additional RPR to the hero. Familiars gain an additional RPR beyond the Upkeep charge.
Talent Inspiration
Followers receive an Aura bonus of 4 per Hit in Lead Checks once per Round.
Mastery Empathy
Add 1 to the Force of all rolls affecting a particular class of Follower.
Lore (Cunning-Touch) remember, understand, read, write, solve, infer
So much knowledge lies dormant in the unexplored depths of Edrada’s ruins, and the small amount that has been gleaned to date was done so by those lore-masters who have come before. Their students are now spreading beyond the Hara Sea to other cultures, surviving on wit and cunning. In their travels, they might encounter practitioners from other cultures, including the masterful poets of the Anu courts of Kuludo and the thoughtful historian Lefts of the Neferatha. In some areas, the power to read is a jealously guarded secret, used as a weapon to maintain control over a local populace.
Effect Characters who study Lore are considered literate. No character can become literate beyond simple runes or symbols without one of the appropriate Arts (Lore or Piloting). Keep in mind that literacy is not a fundamental skill in dark ages and instead exists only as a niche ability used to store esoteric information within a profession, class, or tradition. Writing is not so much a way to communicate new information as much as a way to record old information. Words, either in print or spoken, can be considered Source. Sound is a material thing just like wood, stone, or metal. In Early Dark, a “magick word” is simply a sound that, for whatever reason, can act as Source to assist arcane magickers.
Raw Low
High
Manual
Abilities The hero can read his or her native languages and translate texts. Lore Checks can be made to appraise or identify strange objects. The hero may roll a Lore Trial to learn new languages quickly (reading and writing). Mages may select two Families of magick that receive an additional +1 Source when the Source item is based in text (this includes Sigils). Lore Checks or Trials can be made to identify one Epithet of an object or environment through reflection alone. Adds +1 Source to text-based items for all Families of magick. Multiple Epithets can be discovered through Lore Checks through reflection alone.
307
Martial Arts (Fight-Move) headbutt, punch, kick, clinch, leglock, armbar
Carefully choreographed patterns of movement involving both defense and attack, when practiced ad infinitum, allow the martial artist to fight, injure, and kill attackers with little more than their fists and other appendages. In such circumstances, muscle memory takes over and the martial artist uses his instincts and training to visualize and respond to everything that is going on around him. Martial Artists spend many long years in the training room to perfect their skills, but when used properly, devastating and seemingly impossible attacks are possible. Uses: Fists, knees, elbows, head, feet, shins.
Effects The only Art that uses Arcane dice without Wagering, Martial Arts allows characters to Strike and wound with their hands, shins, knees, elbows, legs, feet, and head.
Attacks Raw Low High
Unarmed attacks may Strike opponents without weapons. Unarmed Strikes ignore Armor. Can attack all foes at Grapple Range in a single Bout. Secondary Tacks can be used only to cancel out those of the opponents. Create Secondary Unarmed Style: Heavy Aspect.
Manual
Talents Joint Strike
Disarm
Blood Strike
Arcane Will Wonder Palm
308
The martial artist can use 2-Tack as Strikes. These receive no bonuses. The opponent loses his or her weapon and cannot retrieve it without landing an Advantage against the martial artist. Use the hero’s Blood as the Strike for one Primary Tack instead of rolling. Blood becomes a Mundane Defense for this attack. Primary Tacks that deal Fatigue also deal 2 Shock per die.
“I know what people say about you.” His palms brushed over the uncut stone beneath his bended knees. “I know what they say about the blood spilled over you in the many seasons of war that stole the grass from you. That it was you who spilled it.” He lowered his face closer to the ground, fingertips learning the rough surface of the stone. His body close to the exposed limestone, he closed his eyes. The nearby juniper, the fig, the seaside filled his nostrils. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he squatted over the ground, trailing his hands through the gravel and dust as he waddled. The surrounding area was dry but alive, covered by the shade of trees and the nettles of brush. But the small mount lay exposed. Not far from the road but up and out of the way. “You were here long before the road,” he coaxed. “You know of men and women this road has never seen.” His words were soft, flattering. Their feet tapped on the rock as they shielded their eyes from the sun. “How long does this take?” the larger one asked. A resigned chortle was the only response. He stood up, spinning suddenly to feel the breeze, arms wide. “I know what people say about you,” he shouted. “I know about the blood spilled here in generations gone.” He continued to spin, taking wide steps and waving his arms. He felt the familiar weight catch at his fingertips, like cobwebs, lighter than cobwebs. They saw the thin strands of light trailing behind his spinning arms. “Has he found it? Finally.”
Manual
“I know about the blood!” Suddenly, a cord a little heavier than the rest, His cord. He stopped spinning and furrowed his brow. Eyes still closed, his fingers moved slowly, carefully, almost twitching. He whispered, “And I know it was you who spilled it.” The thread vibrated at the edge of touch, the edge of human feeling. His hand jerked up suddenly, a great angler springing his trap. His arms worked and flew, first like those of a sculptor, then like those of a seamstress, again like those of a fisherman, chasing a single fish through a vast net. They saw his odd gesticulations and readied their arms. They watched two dozen silver threads reach taut from his fingertips down to the ground, up to the sky, out into the forest. Tighter than bowstrings the cords tugged him. His face grimaced. They watched with white knuckles. “And I summon you to spill blood again!” The hundred threads converged toward a point deep below the ground, twisting him to his knees. His arms jerked forward, separating his shoulder and laying him prostrate as though before royalty. Silence and sunlight. And then He erupted from the limestone hilltop with the force of a landslide. Threads vanished as gravel and earth exploded into the air. The ground shook, and the sky filled with dust. They could not tell if He was a man or an animal. They could not tell where they were. He had four legs like trees but His body was that of an enormous lion. Many eyes dazzled on a human-like face. The voice was a wind blowing out from a dark cave: I am Mount Grimmark the Elder, the Hill of Three Deaths, the Mount of Red Juniper, Old Crossing Field, He With the Forest Crown, the Lamentation Stone. I am come. What is it you wish of me, impetuous summoner?
309
Medics (Fight -Thrive) splint, bandage, salve, heal, poultice
On the occasions that arms and skill fail an aspiring hero, it pays to have acquaintance with a practitioner of medics. Many wounds that would otherwise prove fatal have been mended through the artful application of salves, curatives, bandages, and a salubrious touch. The use of medics is not limited to humans, however: some cultures place great value in healers with a touch for animals. There are Alagoth tribes that relegate their finest practitioners to work with horses alone. Such healers are forbidden from practicing their art on another human, regardless of the circumstances.
Effects This is used in or out of combat. Medics works outside combat to revive falling comrades, stop bleeding, and stabilize injuries. Most medical Checks will require raw supplies of some kind, one dose of a Common ingredient ready at hand per die rolled. Most Mundane healing deals no Shock.
Abilities Raw Low
Manual
High
Medics can use an Advantage to give an ally a Recovery Resin in the midst of combat so long as no barriers are in the way. When medics are present, resting characters receive a +1 on the Dead or Dropped Out chart. Medics can heal an ally’s Wound in or out of combat with appropriate supplies. The Difficulty for such a healing roll is 2 plus the total number of Wounds the target is suffering from. Any hero who successfully heals a Wound in combat must expend one Roll per Round to take the aid. The Primary Tacks of any Medics roll can be split among allied characters. Medics can treat the same hero twice in one day, but the second Wound requires a Solvent (see 293) and deals double the Shock.
Talents Efficiency Masteries Bedside Manner
310
Medics rolls use up a number of supplies equal to the Force of the roll, not the total number of Dice rolled. Resting characters receive a +3 bonus on the Dead or Dropped Out table.
Mounted Fighting (Fight-Relate) charge, hack, decapitate, slice, spear
The landscape of war in the Hara Sea region has yet to produce a mundane force more powerful than the mounted warrior. The most feared examples include burly Alagoth horsemen and the mythic Moa knights of the Kuludo Islands. These intimidating warriors are not without weakness, however, and many an Alagoth raider has met his end at the hands of an Edish plainsman once his mount was laid low. In addition to skills in riding and fighting, a bond is needed to build trust between mount and rider. Animals can sense if a person is not equipped to handle them, emotionally or otherwise, and a certain amount of willpower will be necessary to adequately master the animal. Once formed, such relationships are typically long lasting and beneficial for both parties. Uses: Spears, katanas, scimitars, cutlasses, long swords, axes, maces, mauls, flails
Effect Heroes must equip weapons fit for use on a mount. The Mounted Aspect overrides the natural Aspect of any weapon used: [x, -1, 0, -1]. The first Wound a hero takes in combat also dismounts the hero from his or her steed.
Mounted Attack Raw Low
Talents Warcry Trample Knockdown Clearing Swipe Duel
Manual
High
Add the steed’s Labor to the hero’s Fatigue damage (per Tack) and the hero’s Aura. All Steeds function as a Minion (+1 Mundane Die, +1 RPR, a fitting Guard). When the Steed is Wounded, the hero is dismounted and the player does not roll on the Dead or Dropped Out Chart unless the mount is attacked directly thereafter. All offensive attacks force Dodge and deal 1 Shock per die of Fatigue dealt. Offers a [-1] Durable Penalty A heavy blow that adds the mount’s Labor to a Strike roll. Offers a [-2] Momentary Penalty Hero can initiate Bouts with all enemies in a single Range. Secondary Tacks only cancel incoming Secondary Tacks. Ignore Minions: The target of the hero loses any die bonuses from Minions, and all attacks land directly on the target.
311
Piloting (Move-Labor) operate, sail, ride, maneuver, escape, ram
Capable pilots are much in demand among the cultures of the Hara Sea region. The expansion and movement of states and peoples has relied on this art throughout the region’s history, and its uses include such things as captaining a great vessel, operating an engine of war, driving a goods-laden cart to market, or charting the routes that make travel possible. Szedarc, Fourteenth Empress of the Neferatha, famously relied heavily on her pilot, Anshik. Though he drove her chariot well, he was perhaps even more skilled at guiding her through the pitfalls of royalty.
Effects Piloting acts as a combination of Ride and Mounted Fighting for vehicle pilots. Vehicles do not have Aptitudes. They do, however, have a Hardness and Load and may even function as weapons in some contexts. A vehicle could have Armor and potentially an Aura. Each design would sport its own Aspect. Most vehicles are suited to only one mode of travel. For instance, carts require a road and boats require water.
Abilities
Manual
Raw May make Checks, Saves, and Bouts to pilot a craft or vehicle. Pilots ignore Penalties associated with moving vehicles and vessels. For instance, a pilot would suffer no penalties fighting on a boat or the back of a wagon. Pilots are also considered literate. They can make charts or maps to fetch a high price. Piloting is a highly respected Art. Low Can learn to manage new machines through exposure. Machines and vehicles can be made into Minions much like a steed (see 311). Pilots can make Indirect Attacks with machines or vehicles. High When on vehicles or in vessels, pilots have an Aura corresponding to the speed at which they are moving or the perceived danger of falling from the vessel. Their ease of travel is intimidating to those unaccustomed to such machines. Pilots can also keep a crew as a single Familiar.
312
For example: Benjamin’s Vayok, Kantuush, spent years along the coasts of Gundrada, learning Piloting from the local pirates. When on land, riding a wagon pulled by six Fell caribou in the icy Far Wilds, Kantuush faces four raiders in combat. The wagon is the size of a small shack, and everyone else on board suffers a [-2] conditional Durable Penalty. Kantuush ignores this Penalty and receives an Aura of 10 for the speed of the wagon. This Aura represents how others are hesitant to Strike because a lively swing would forfeit the attention paid to keep their feet stable.
Presence (Labor-Relate) impress, seduce, joke, intimidate, emote
Reputation can carry as much weight in combat as actual skill. Only a fool would match arms with an Alagoth bearing the horn of a Karkhadon or an Edish Hattan with the hunt totem of a Steppe Lion. These effects also extend beyond combat into the realms of society and statehood. Few individuals known to history have exhibited the presence of The Ravi Bacca, Twenty-Fifth Empress of the Neferatha Empire. Without uttering a word, she could quell arguments and inspire acquiescence. Even the mighty horse lords of the Alagoth found themselves intimated by this slight woman and her radiant aura, and entire regions of people from Ragus to Edrada saw divinity in her.
Effect Players make a Presence roll after spending a suitable amount of time in game influencing, impressing, or intimidating the target. This may take only a momentary warycry or many days of other rolls and role-playing. Presence rolls are always Direct Bouts, meaning the defender rolls the same Footing in defense. The Bout competes for the highest Primary Tack, though each Hit scored by the attacker counts for one extra Round that the effects last (or one day if narrative role-playing is at stake). Hits scored in defense set the number of days the defender is resistant to any repeated Presence rolls by the attacker. If the target’s Primary Tacks win the Bout, the hero cannot try Presence on this target again.
Abilities Intimidated targets cannot use Advantages against you in or out of combat for the duration of your influence. Targets cannot use Talents or Hits against you. Targets suffer a [-2] conditional Penalty against you for the duration of the influence.
Talents Fearsome Aversion
Manual
Raw Low High
The hero earns a +4 Aura against the target. Add 1 Force to all Presence rolls against a specific class of target.
313
Riding (Move-Relate) travelling, calling, jumping
The finest riders in the Hara Sea region hail from the Alagoth clans of the East. The ability of the best among them to move as one with an animal, navigating obstacles and terrain, is unmatched. This is not to say that Riding is unique to that people. Each culture and region has developed the technique, and the types of creatures mounted varies from the modest donkeys employed by agrarian peasants to the sleek stallions that denote rank and privilege in stratified states.
Effect Characters without an Art in Riding can use mounts as a normal individual would for travel but cannot make Checks, Saves, or Bouts while riding without dismounting or being forced from the animal.
Abilities Raw Low
Manual
High
Riders may make Checks, Saves and Bouts while riding a mount. This includes simple stunts, jumps, and handling rolls. The mount functions as a Retainer when making rolls but can only be used to Dodge in combat. Riders can make Checks to hide tracks, move quietly, or choose a mount from a herd. The steed ignores terrain Penalties when covering ground. Riders cover ground as though on a road at all times (pace and ease of travel). Any tame mount, familiar to the rider or not, functions as a Retainer and may have a unique Aspect. They also gain the ability to break and saddle Anomalous Mounts, magickal beasts and animals without a history of domestication as mounts. These can be made into Followers of any kind.
Talents Obstacle
Riders can offer a [-2] Momentary Penalty to pursuers when covering ground.
Masteries Familiarity Rider adds 1 to the Force of any Riding rolls with a particular family of mount.
314
Sabotage (Guile-Labor) trap, set-up, lift, snip, wrench, break, dismantle
Similar to those with the art of Crafting, the saboteur has a knack for manipulating the objects and features in her environment. Benign uses include fishing and hunting with traps and snares—arts long valued by the peoples of the Hara Sea region. Sabotage can also be put to less reputable, yet more valuable, uses. The Anu House Macaw was reduced to a fraction of its former strength when, while parading its Edradan spoils through the canals of Wo City, all of its ships of war simultaneously sunk. Great wealth and prestige were lost, and House Macaw has only just recovered. The ships were later salvaged, and each hull was found to have been Sabotaged with a clever use of waxed paper and tar that was just strong enough to hold out until the parade was well under way. The culprits have yet to be found.
Effects Cannot be used in combat. Saboteurs lay traps in their surroundings, which function as remote Indirect Attacks that can be triggered in any number of ways. The better the saboteur, the more deadly the trap. Rolling Sabotage against a vehicle or machine allows the saboteur to deal one Wound of damage to the object for each Hit scored regardless of the object’s Load, Hardness, or Ground.
Abilities Raw
High
For example: Expert saboteur Kleitos rolls to set a spring-loaded dart trap (Hardness of 5, Load of 1) in a canyon. Brandon picks up his nine Mundane Dice and rolls in a Guile-Labor Footing. He decides to “fix” the Save at Cunning-Move. Brandon rolls a Force of 5.
An unsuspecting hunter comes along the canyon, searching for Kleitos. Springing the trap, the hunter must roll a Save against the 5-Tack. The Scribe rolls a Force of 4 in defense. For the Strike, Brandon calculates 6 damage per die, resulting in 30. It catches the hunter “off Guard” and attempts to beat a total Defense Threshold of 8 (the hunter’s Guard of 7 plus 1 Armor). Kleitos deals 3 Wounds to the hunter, killing him.
Talents Piercing Trap
Manual
Low
The saboteur can arrange a trap with a Save Difficulty equal to the Force of his or her roll. The trap functions as a normal Indirect Attack up to a Load of 3. The saboteur can “fix” the Footing required to defend against the trap. Traps can be made with materials up to a Load of 5. Traps affect a wide area, with the total Load split among a chosen number of targets. Secondary Tacks can be used to make the Save complex.
The trap ignores Armor.
315
Scouting (Move-Touch)
tracking, finding, seeing, listening, feeling, reading, traveling The Edish scouts of the nomads of Edrada are almost legendary for their abilities to guide the seasonal movements of their tribes. They must understand the ebb and flow of nature’s bounty in each surrounding region, reading the movements of animals and the patterns of rainfall to ensure that the tribe never goes without. The imperial cultures of the Hara Sea region also use scouts to gauge populations and military strength of settlements and peoples encountered during a campaign. For most travelers, however, the presence of a master of Scouting means the difference between sleeping on a hard, lumpy surface and enjoying a night on the soft turf of a hidden clearing.
Effects Making a secured, guarded, rest-giving camp that allows a Guard recovery roll without penalties requires a scout. Marching speed for a group is ordinarily the pace of the slowest person in the party, but scouts can push travelers beyond their normal limits.
Abilities Raw
Manual
Low
High
With a successful Check at a Difficulty set by the Scribe, the party suffers no 1d10 Shock penalties when sleeping outdoors or in the street (see chart on page 269). Scouting rolls are made to track targets well enough to infer their direction. The entire party can travel at a pace set by the Scout, slower characters not limited to twice their Move Aptitude. Exertion Fatigue may still occur, however (see “Traveling” on 268). Can infer the direction and speed of a quarry as well as one idea about the target. Subtract 2 from all rolls for Random Encounters in a region (see chart on page 270). Can locate nearby settlements, predict population density and hostility, and intuit current natural events in any region. Can track well enough to infer a motive or thought process from the signs left by a quarry. With a successful Check, the party suffers no 2d10 Shock penalties when sleeping through a siege or in harsh climates (see the chart on page 269).
Talents Fallback Masteries Ranger Hinterlander
316
When rolling to track on High, a Low success is guaranteed. When rolling on Low, a Raw success is likewise guaranteed. Alleviates the heavy penalties of one extreme climate or terrain. Party cannot be Ambushed when the scout is in the process of tracking.
Skill Blade (Fight-Move) slice, spin, stab, scissor, whirl, cut
Among the nobles of the Kuludo Islands, few arts will earn a young soldier as much praise as skill with the graceful Sabu Blade. The weapon is a deadly symbol of a Sabu’s cultural standing, and the art with which it is used is often a direct metaphor for the art in which a Sabu engages in the politicking of his class. So accurate and graceful is this art that a duel between two skill blade masters may appear to an observer as nothing more than a stylized dance, with the combatants feinting and twirling around both their blade and their opponent’s. This impression is quickly dispelled when the first blow is landed, and such is the skill of these warriors that the first blow is often the last. Uses: Short swords, cutlass, katana, scimitars, spears.
Effect Must use weapons with the Short Aspect.
Skill Blade Attack Raw Low High
The fighter can use a 2-Tack as a Strike even if other Primary Tacks Strike as well. This counts as an Attack, but is canceled out as any other 2-Tack. Such Attacks do not deal Fatigue if they miss and use no bonuses of any kind. Add an off-hand weapon’s Balance to Strikes and Load to the hero’s Armor Defense. The most refined Skill Blades Attack ignores Armor.
Flurry Diversion Footwork Disarm
Manual
Talents Positioning
The hero can choose any one ally to Take Range against the target and deals 1d10 Fatigue. Add 1d10 Strike to all Skill Blade rolls as long as the current Footing is continued. The hero gives up Range on the target, but all his or her allies Take Range against the target. The hero durably disrupts one Footing of his or her target. This lasts until the target scores an Advantage to overcome the Durable condition. The opponent loses his or her weapon and cannot retrieve it without landing an Advantage to overcome the Durable condition.
317
Speechcraft (Cunning-Relate) reason, bargain, haggle, appeal, argue, convince
Not all denizens enjoy a commanding aura or strength of arms with which they might influence others. Where intimidation or overwhelming force fail, rhetoric and debate may act as a substitute. Speechcraft produces masters at influencing and confusing with words, and the halls of leadership across the Hara Sea region are littered with its practitioners. From the markets of Edrada to the war summits of Ragus and the courts of Kuludo, few corners of the world have been unaffected by Speechcraft.
Effects Speechcraft only affects ideas or motives that are already present in the individuals or groups with whom the character is conversing. This Art changes the targets’ minds through argumentation and persuasion. Most Speechcraft rolls are Direct Bouts, and deeply held beliefs may take a unique Trial to manipulate. For example: Clyde’s necromancer, Amyntas Num, is caught between rival priests in a private library buried near Hastinpiro. He has little change of fighting his way out and decides to use Speechcraft. The Art allows characters to convince others to act according to the target’s already-existing Alignments, motives, or ideas. Clyde asks if winning a Bout with the priests would force one or both of them to play off their Rivalry with violence, giving him a chance to sneak away. The Scribe agrees, and three rolls are made for the highest Tack.
Manual
Abilities Raw Low High
Force someone into acting in a particular direction based on a habitus, or change a person’s mind about one idea. Force someone into acting in a particular direction based on a motive they possess. Force someone into a particular action based the presence of a single idea.
Talents Fallback Masteries Influence
318
When rolling on High, a Low force is guaranteed. When rolling on Low, a Raw force is likewise guaranteed. Add 1 Force to rolls against a specific class of person.
Stealth (Move-Guile) sneak, hide, tail, blend, detect
A blade alone is not the answer to all situations a hero encounters; often times, some stealth is required in order to facilitate the blade’s use. In instances where a hero’s blade may not suffice, Stealth can be used to make an intelligent withdrawal. Kurodjin of the Weshbjorg, the storied traveler of the frozen North, is said to have once received free passage across the Hara Sea by evading detection for three weeks aboard an Edish merchant ship. Stealth is perhaps best exemplified by the feared Anu nunji, who ply their trade from the shadows beneath the Floor and melt away as silently as they appear.
Effects Stealth can be rolled when heroes are looking to hide themselves or detect hidden others. The stealth radius is the distance at which the hero must begin rolling Checks to conceal him- or herself and the proximity at which the target has a chance of noticing the hero. Scribes will set the Difficulty of moving closer at this time. Beyond this radius, the character is essentially invisible. When two characters with Stealth are encountering each other, however, Bouts will mainly decide the outcome.
Abilities Raw
High
Talents Cloak Dagger
Manual
Low
Targets without Stealth themselves attempting to detect the hero roll at a [-1] Condition Penalty at any distance. The stealth radius extends about 10 yards from the target, equivalent to many Long Range attacks. Heroes are detected by rolls at a [-2] Penalty, and allies hiding/stalking with the hero are detected at a [-1] Penalty. Enemies with a Stealth Art themselves, however, can still detect heroes and allies without Penalty in Direct Bouts. The stealth radius extends about 3 yards from the target, equivalent to many Melee Range attacks. With a successful Stealth Check, heroes can essentially Ambush a target at Melee Range (an attack that ignores Guard). The hero functions as a Retainer, making Stealth rolls for his or her allies. The hero can Ambush at Grapple Range after getting close to a target.
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Suggestion (Guile-Thrive) elicit, bring-up, question, react, emote
Influencing others with a simple mention takes a level of skill and timing not present in the average human. Through sophistry, questioning motives, emotional reactions, and emotive responses the art of suggestion allows characters to affect those around them and implant their own ideas and motives.
Effect Suggestion can only work to implant ideas in minds where no directly opposing idea already exists. Suggesting a guard leave his post would rarely work, for even if the idea arose in the guard’s mind, he has a vested interest in ignoring such an idea and remaining at his post. Suggestion is most often a Direct Bout, but Scribes can also set Difficulties in certain cases, such as rolls against an entire group of targets. All suggestions may require many rolls or a Trial to take effect at the Scribe’s discretion.
Abilities Raw
Manual
Low High
The hero can implant any one idea into the mind of the target, who will feel as though the idea were his or her own and believe it within reason. The hero can implant a durable motive in the mind of the target. The hero can implant a new habitus, or worldview, into the heart of the target, altering values, beliefs, and long-held opinions. This could take an elaborate Trial.
Talents Fallback Masteries Influence
320
When rolling on High, a Low success is guaranteed. When rolling on Low, a Raw success is likewise guaranteed. Adds 1 Force to rolls against a specific class of person.
Tactics (Cunning-Move) arrange, ambush, conceal, form-up, assault
Two hundred years ago, a promising young Neferatha commander led a small expeditionary force into the White Wood. The prize was to be the rediscovery of a safe passage through the dense woodlands. At the forest’s edge, the Neferatha were met with a small ambush from the Duadha, who then quickly withdrew. Full of hubris and confident in his force’s superiority, the young commander forged on in pursuit of the smaller force of Duadha, falling victim to countless ambushes and traps, but always certain that his dwindling contingent was on the verge of catching and annihilating the crafty druids. After several days of one-sided skirmishes, the crippled Neferatha force was finally surrounded and destroyed. As there were no survivors and the Duadha do not deign to record such events, this conflict is known only to the ancient trees who witnessed it and the artifacts left scattered them by the dead.
Effects Tactics is always rolled outside of combat, often just before. The Scribe sets a Difficulty to implement the tactical maneuver, though Tactics rolls can sometimes take the shape of a Direct Bout. Ambush ability secures Initiative for the party and catches the targets “off Guard.” An Ambush requires prior knowledge of the target’s movements and pathways.
Manual
For example: Clyde’s necromancer, Amyntas Num, passes a Tactics Check to secure an ambush on a group of hungry goblins clambering through the crags near the Cataract Mountains. For the first Round on combat, all characters must choose Long Range, and the goblins are all considered “off Guard.” Most of the characters are unable to attack, but the archers in Amyntas’ party deal considerable Wounds. During the Round, Clyde rolls again to secure another Round of ambush.
Abilities Raw Low
High
Tacticians can plan and execute an Ambush given reasonable time and terrain at Long Range. The tactician can also swap any two allied characters on the Iniative list at the beginning each Round. The effects of an Ambush can last for two Rounds in combat (another roll is required during the first Round at the same Difficulty). This still only works for Long Ranged attacks. The tactician can, instead of swapping allied characters, move any one allied character up two slots on the Initiative list. The tactician can roll against leaders to scatter Minions as a turn in combat as a Direct Bout (each Hit can scatter one Minion, and the tactician must win the Bout). Ambushes can happen at Melee Range. Swarms may require more than a single Hit to scatter.
Talents Formation Fortify
One character allied to the tactician may not be attacked for the duration of the Ambush. Offers a [-1] Durable or [-2] Momentary Penalty to targets for the one or two Rounds of combat created by the Ambush.
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Trick Blade (Fight-Guile) shiv, finesse, garrote, sneak attack
Stately lords with graceful swordsmanship and large, axe-wielding brutes have fallen prey with similar ease to the delicate touch of Trick Blades. The speed in combat of tricksters is preternatural; the slightest hesitation or misstep against such a foe can prove fatal. Even armor and retinues pose no challenge to such artists. To’xian, heir apparent to House Heron, was famously assassinated by one knife-wielding beggar in the broad daylight of Kuludo’s main market while fully armed and with an escort of his finest lieutenants. The prince was dead before any of the crowd or soldiers were able to react. Uses: Daggers, short swords, throwing knives, darts, and stars.
Effect Must use weapons with the Light Aspect.
Abilities Raw
Tricksters can implement a Quickdraw Attack (the Strike ignores Guard) once per Round on any target in Grapple Range. This must be declared when the Attack is initiated. The opportunity is lost whether or not the attack lands. Low On one turn per Round, the assassin can ignore all his or her Penalties. High Assassins can make Quickdraw Attacks in Reach and Melee Ranges.
Manual
Talents Pin Disarm Redraw Garrote Field vision
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Offers a [-2] Durable Penalty The opponent loses his or her weapon and cannot retrieve it without landing an Advantage. If the Talent lands, the hero may Quickdraw the loser of this Bout later this Round, even if the assassin has already used his or her Quickdraw. The hero ignores Armor for this Attack. The hero will steal Initiative in the next Round unless an opponent uses an Advantage later this Round to counteract this Durable condition.
Many Arts could make stalking a Quetzal like the one below a less foolhardy quest. A day spent Canvassing in the small village could lead to clues. Scouting, Stealth, and Tactics work together to locate and set upon the elusive serpent. Maybe the party has time to use Sabotage to increase the potency of an Ambush, setting up a fence around one side of shrub. A sensitive weaver among you might attempt Animal Kinship on the beast, the Scribe requiring extra Hits in the Trial due to the animal’s magickal nature. An Elder Quetzal may even respond to Speechcraft or Suggestion. If battle begins, Archery would offer an eagle-eyed hero a way to ignore the 7 Armor and 8 Aura of the Quetzal, giving solid Strikes a better chance to deal multiple Wounds. Hacking Blade can wear down the 6 Guard Dice of the creature, while a rogue trained in Trick Blades uses knives to Pin the serpent’s wings to a nearby tree. A resourceful leader might Chant, bolstering the resolve of her comrades, while the party’s brute makes a Presence Check against the Quetzal after a few Bouts.
Manual 323
Learning Arcana Purchasing Arcana in Epithets works a little differently than purchasing Arts and Insights: A Talent that corresponds to the Magick Family must be bought before any particular levels within the individual Arcana are available. When creating new characters, players may choose one or two magick Talents instead of the traditional Mundane Talents. They may likewise choose up to four Arcana within Families of Magick that have been opened up by those Talents. Even if a character has no particular Arcana within a Family, the Talent can be used on its own. Using Talents Alongside the Primary Tacks of the spell, Family Talents can be used when applicable. Each Family has one effect tied to stray Talents such as these. Magickers can use these as any other Talents if they land during a Bout. Non-hero characters may have a Family Talent without any corresponding Aracana. Turns can be spent using the Family Talent against a target without attempting a Primary Tack at all (This would resemble a small Trial, the attacker rolling for 2-Tacks only). For example: A shaman without formal training in Arcane arts has a Family Talent in Antagony magick. The shaman rolls in a Fight-Guile Footing while in combat with Stephanie’s Alagoth, Kiwaki. He lands 2 Talents in the Bout and rolls them both to deal 2d10 Fatigue to Kiwaki. Though he cast no official spell, he manipulated the Fray to cause harm to the visiting Alagoth.
Cunning
Protagony
Manual
Cunning
Antagony Fight
Summoning Relate
Manipulation Guile
Blood Magick Thrive
Enchanting Labor
Kinesis
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Move
Fight
Relate
Guile
labor
move
Barrier
Heal
Mind Trick
Restore Object
Beacon
Flash Fire
Drain Life
Raze
Martial Arts (Like Mundane)
Summon Doppelganger
Summon Fiend
Bind Spirit
Illusion
Invisibility
Assimilate
Shadow Shape
Arcane Bolt Summon Minion
Summon Retainer
Elemental Image
Pillage Memory
Command
Frenzy
Curse
Raise Undead
Shapeshift
Enchant Item
Telepresence
Tattoo
Disguise Object
Shockwave
Slow
Haste
Kinetic Charge
Animate
Levitate
Antagony Magick (Fight) Antagony magick includes those Arcana designed to damage the caster’s enemies. Drawing from the Fray, the caster manipulates otherworldly forces into orbs or waves of glowing energy, pure chaos and flux. Family Talent: Common Source: Euphemisms:
A 2-Tack can be used to deal 1d10 Fatigue Damage as a Talent Amulets, staves, belts and jewelry. Wizard, mage, warlock
Arcane Bolt
Flash Fire
A ball of magickal energy (flames, wind, gas, ice) grows within the palms of the caster...
Arcane energy ripples from around the caster, engulfing foes in flames...
Footing: (Fight-Cunning) Range: Long Defense: Dodge
Footing: (Fight-Relate) Range: Varies Defense: Dodge
Raw
Low High
Raw Strikes enemies within Grapple Range. Misses can deal Fatigue. Low Works at Reach Range and ignores Armor. High Works at Melee Range.
Absorb Life
Raze
The caster draws from the target the very energy and vitality that sustain life...
the caster summons tremors from the earth to raze structures to the ground...
Footing: (Fight-Guile) Range: Grapple, Reach, Melee Defense: Direct
Footing: (Fight-Labor) Range: Long, Melee Defense: None
Raw Low High
The magicker replenishes Guard at a rate of 2 per Hit, dealing the same amount of Shock to the target. Absorbs at a rate of 4 per Hit. Absorbs at a rate of 6 per Hit.
Raw Low High
Manual
Blasts Strike without offering consoluation Fatigue on misses. The Mundane Dice of the caster act as a Strike bonus. Blasts ignore Armor. Blasts ignore Aura and deal Fatigue on misses.
Each Hit crumbles up to one ton of material in a structure regardless of Hardness. Each Hit crumbles three tons of material. Each Hit can raze up to ten tons of material.
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Blood Magick (Thrive) Blood Magick stems from the Thrive Aptitude much in the same way using the Loom monopolizes Touch. The oldest form of arcane power, Blood Magick contains arts that twist and transform the body. Family Talent: Commn Source: Euphemisms:
Each Hit deals 2 Lingering Shock that can be healed only through magickal means, acting as a mysterious ailment or malaise... Dried organs, creatures, vials of blood, petrified remains, bones. Sorceror, Fell blood, arcanist, necromancer, the mark
Assimilate Footing: (Thrive-Labor) Duration: Permanent Effect Assimilation requires a donor that possesses Blood Magick, usually a slain enemy. Assimilation rolls begin when the sorcerer butchers the corpse of a donor and attempts to graft a new organ onto his body. A sorcerer can steal only one organ per donor. The organ chosen offers an effect, which sets the required number of Hits for the graft to assimilate successfully. Assimilation can be rolled once per day in game. When learning an Art is part of the assimilation, each level must be purchased in turn with a different organ. Each assimilation also adds +1 Aura to the sorcerer, reflecting the awesome appearance of new flesh.
Manual
Raw Low High
Can assimilate Trait Modifiers and Raw Arts. Can assimilate Source, Low Arts, Talents, and Blood. Can assimilate Ground, Armor, Natural Weapons, High Arts, and Aptitudes.
Trait Modifier of 1: 30 Hits to assimilate Resulting in Raw Art: Donor has the Art, 30 Hits
Ground +1: Donor has at least 5 Guard Dice, 60 Hits
Resulting in Low Art: Donor has at least 3 Guard Dice and the Art, 40 Hits
Natural Weapon: Donor has at least 5 Guard Dice and the weapon, 70 Hits
+1 Source to one Family of magick: Donor has at least 3 Guard Dice, 40 Hits
Resulting in High Art: Donor has at least 5 Guard Dice and the Art, 60 Hits
Extra Blood of 1: Donor has at least 4 Guard Dice, 50 Hits
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Natural Armor +1: Donor has at least 5 Guard Dice and Natural Armor, 70 Hits
Aptitude +1: Donor has at least 6 Guard Dice and a 7 in the Aptitude, 70 Hits
Curse
Frenzy
Footing: (Thrive-Cunning) Range: Special Duration: Varies Defense: Resist
Footing: (Thrive-Fight) Range: Reach to Long Duration: Begins and ends on the next combat Round Defense: Resist
Effect Curses can occur in combat at any Range. Outside combat, curses can be cast on any physical piece of the target’s body, usually a lock of hair or drop of blood. Bouts are rolled for the highest Primary Tack. Raw Low High
A [-1] conditional Penalty that lasts until the target heals a Wound. A [-2] Penalty Lasts until the caster heals a Wound. Three separate [-1] conditional Penalties that each last until the caster heals a Wound.
Effect The caster can induce a frenetic state in targets, slowing their wits but increasing their instincts and aggression to preternatural levels. Frenzy causes 1d10 Shock on the target. Frenzied characters cannot be healed or attended to by allies in any way; they would not recognize their own friends. Raw Low High
Frenzy offers +1 RPR and +2 DPD to the target on the next Round. Targets of Frenzy are not affected by Momentary Penalties or Penalties from injuries. Frenzy offers +2 RPR and +3 DPD and deals 2d10 Shock.
Manual
Raise Undead Footing: (Thrive-Relate) Range: Varies Duration: Undead ghouls last until touched by sunlight or killed. Effect This cannot be cast in combat, as raising the undead requires much time and concentration. Ghouls may function as Familiars of the necromancer if combat begins after the dead have been summoned. These would require Upkeep like any other Familiar to determine RPR. Multiple Ghouls would then act as Minions of this initial Ghoul. Raw Low High
Necromancers can raise visible corpses as Ghouls (see 377). The number of individual corpses that can be sustained by the necromancer at any given time is limited by his Arcane Dice. Caster can raise rotten or buried corpses from beneath ground that is within sight. A number of individuals up to twice the caster’s Arcane Dice can be risen at once. Caster can raise corpses in areas that are familiar to the caster even if out of sight. Ghouls risen out of sight of the caster will not recognize the magicker who spawned them, however, and cannot be used as Familiars. Necromancers can have summoned a number of individuals up to five times their Arcane Dice.
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Shadow Shape
Shape Shift
Footing: (Thrive-Move) Duration: Varies
Footing: (Thrive-Guile) Duration: Varies
Effect The caster takes a quasi-material form that works only in shade, shadow, or darkness. When made of shadow, a magicker’s Blood Defense applies to incoming Strikes and any Fatigue he suffers deals 1 Shock per die instead of the normal damage.
Effect The magicker takes the shape of a different animal. Shifters can never take the shape of unnatural or Fell beings. The shape confers upon the caster a number of Aptitudes the real animal or beast would possess. Thrive and Guile Aptitudes cannot be altered. Shifters must become familiar with the animal in nature before they can assume its shape. This familiarity manifests as an Upkeep of 1.
Raw
Low
Manual
High
328
The caster can remain in shadow for one minute per Hit. Shadow Shape cannot begin during combat, and any rolls made in combat will immediately cancel the spell’s effect. Caster can roll Shadow Shape as a Dodge in combat. In this case, he must make a Wager as normal, but all Drain over the Blood is suffered immediately as Shock. The sorcerer can travel from shadow to shadow immaterially, impossible to detect while covering ground. Casters can roll Shadow Shape to Strike in combat, however the target’s Blood Defense applies. Such attacks cannot deal Fatigue. Movement through shadow and darkness occurs at ten times the character’s running speed, making evasion easy.
Raw
Low
High
Sorcerers can familiarize themselves with any Young or Adult animals by spending time with the creature in nature. The assumed shape confers 3 Aptitudes and any Natural Weapons on the caster. Each Hit offers one minute (or Round) to the shape’s duration. The assumed shape confers 4 Aptitudes on the caster. Each Hit offers one day (or Round). The magicker can familiarize himself with Young, Adult, and Lesser animals on sight. The assumed shape confers 6 Aptitudes on the caster. Each Hit offers one week (or Round). The magicker can familiarize himself with Greater or smaller animals through contact with relics of the beast.
Enchantment Magick (Labor) The arts of Enchantment are used to bless and blight objects of the material world. Mages use this Family of Magick to create powerful artifacts, spy on adversaries, or help friends. Family Talent: Common Source: Euphemisms:
2-Tacks can be used to give an object a simple, mundane task Fetish, amulet, weapon, sharpening stone, gems The blessing, enchanter, the touch
Animate
Disguise Object
Footing: (Labor-Move) Duration: Until magicker is Wounded
Footing: (Labor-Guile) Defense: Resist Duration: Until magicker is Wounded
The magicker raises his hand, whispering words of power from an unknown language, the sounds powerful though the meanings are lost to him. Across the room, behind a locked door, the haggard wizard sees a statue through the bars... It begins to shiver. Dust erupts from cracks in the stone, as the manyarmed goddess comes to life before him. She writhes, and Amyntas Num snickers, his outstretched fingers twitching in exertion. Six arms reach toward the door, gripping the bars of iron with stone fingers. The crackle of power hits Amyntas’ ears as the cage shatters before him.
Raw
Low
High
Animated objects must be a smaller Load than the caster’s Labor. Animated objects can be used as Minions in combat. Animated objects can be ten times the size of the caster and play out their role or entelechy. Animated objects can function as Retainers in combat. Animated objects can be 100 times the size of the caster and play out their role or entelechy once animated. They can act as Familiars in combat.
Raw Low
High
Manual
Effect Scribes will create a Trial for animating objects based on the complexity of the target. All objects brought to life through Animate will play out their entelechy, the role or natural course of the object. Mops, for instance, will mop. Statues will move as though it were the thing being depicted.
Effect The caster can mask an object from sight, making it look like something else. Each person who encounters the object immediately rolls a Save against the Force of the caster’s roll to notice the disguise. Masked objects will be revealed as soon as any unique effect of the object appears. If a sword is disguised as a quill, for example, a person handling the weapon will see through the mask as soon as she tries to dip the quill in ink or feels the blade pierce her skin. Any one object small enough for the caster to carry physically can be masked. A house-sized object or inanimate entity can be disguised. The caster can use Secondary Tacks to demand complex Saves from observers. Non-physical objects such as networks and institutions can be hidden, even entire cities.
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Enchant Item
Tattoo
Footing: (Labor-Fight) Duration: Until the object is destroyed
Footing: (Labor-Relate)
Effect The magicker enchants an item by giving it an Epithet that grants the owner increased Traits. Whether a ring, amulet, belt, or sword, the enchanted item offers Modifiers recorded along with the Traits on the character sheet. No magicker can enchant the same item twice. Rolls are made at a Difficulty of 3, and each Hit adds a +1 Modifier to a different Trait. Raw Low High
Enchanters can add a single Epithet to any normal object. Enchanters can add a second or third Epithet to an already-enchanted item. Enchanters can add a fourth, fifth, or sixth Epithet to objects.
Using calligraphic techniques and compositional principles like repetition and balance, the runic master is able to harness the power of form, language, and nature in carved, embroidered, or otherwise written signs. Effect A bare subject can receive a tattoo at a Difficulty of 3, with additional Hits offering the Modifiers. Each additional tattoo raises the Difficulty by 1. No enchanter can give the same hero two magickal tattoos. Raw Low High
Each Hit offers +1 Modifier to a different Trait of the bearer. Each completed Tattoo offers +1 Blood or Aura. Each tattoo offers +2 Aura or Blood.
Telepresenece Manual
Footing: (Labor-Cunning) Range: Touch Effect The magicker enchants an object with the ability to perceive its own surroundings. At a set number of times in the future, the magicker can then retrieve certain stored information from the object no matter the distance. At higher levels, magickers can retrieve more and more varied information from the object. Raw Low High
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For each Hit scored, the magicker can retrieve one idea or fact at a later time from the item. Alternatively, a particular trigger can be set ahead of time, the object then alerting the caster as an alarm. Each Hit can be used to retrieve one entire scene from the item at a later time. Each Hit represents one channeling session during which the item works as a direct extension of the magicker’s senses in real time. Magickers can also send their own voices or thoughts through to the object. Each session lasts as long as the caster wishes, though his material body will be unconscious while in the trance.
Kinesis Magick (Move) Casters can levitate objects by channeling the chaos of the Fray. Other powers of Kinesis Magick including warping time and charging objects with enough kinetic energy to cause combustion. Family Talent: Levitate objects to cause [-2] Momentary Penalty Common Source: Rings, amulets, bracelets Euphemisms: The force, the push, telekinetic, kineser
Haste
Kinetic Charge
Footing: (Move-Relate) Duration: Begins and ends on the next Round Defense: Resist, if desired
Footing: (Move-Guile) Range: Special, Melee Defense: Dodge
Effect The caster increases the speed of nearby targets. To be successful, the caster must score a number of Hits equal to the Guard Dice of the targets.Targets that resist can roll a Direct Defense.
Effect The caster charges up objects he touches with kinetic energy, causing them to combust after a few seconds or when thrown at enemies. Part of the Arcanum includes charging the object in a direction, aiding in the guidance of the object toward its target.
Raw Low
The explosion deals damage as an object with a Hardness of 3 and a Load set by the object. Raw
Low
High
An object of Load 1 can be charged with kinetic energy in the hands of the magicker, and is considered five times as large (Load of 5) when determining damage. The object can be set down or thrown at Melee Range quickly. Casters can charge stationary objects up to Load 3, with objects combusting as though five times as large (Load 5, 10, or 15). Only Load 1 objects can be thrown. Casters can charge stationary objects up to Load 5 for Indirect Attacks. Only Load 1 objects can be thrown. All objects combust with a Hardness of 5.
Manual
High
The spell increases a single target’s RPR by 1 for the Round. The caster can target multiple individuals in a single roll, casting Haste on an area of targets. Willing targets use up a number of Hits equal to their Guard Dice. The spell speeds up targets enough to add 2 RPR to them.
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Levitate
Slow
Footing: (Move-Labor) Defense: None
Footing: (Move-Cunning) Duration: Begins and ends on the next Round Defense: Resist
Effect The caster can levitate inanimate objects or structures. Damage can only be indirect and would be caused by the Load and Hardness of the material levitated. Levitated objects do not move at a speed fast enough to be used in combat as projectiles. Raw Low High
Can move any item the caster is capable of physically carrying. Can levitate an object 10 times the caster’s total Capacity. Can levitate an object 100 times the caster’s total Capacity.
Shockwave Manual
Footing: (Move-Fight) Range: Grapple, Reach, Melee Defense: Mundane combat defense allowed Effect The caster manifests a concussive force of wind or energy that deals damage to all targets at a single Range. Raw Low High
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Shockwaves deal 2 DPD. Shockwaves deal 3 DPD. Shockwaves deal 4 DPD.
Effect The caster slows the target. Outside combat, the missed Rolls per Round may result in missed turns or other less precise slowing effects. Multiple castings do not have cumulative effects, and each target requires a number of Hits equal to its Guard Dice for the spell to take effect, which may require a small Trial or a few rolls in combat to overcome. Raw Low High
The spell reduces a target’s RPR for the Round by 1. The caster can Slow multiple targets, each requiring a number of Hits equal to their Guard Dice. The spell slows targets enough to steal 2 RPR from them.
Manipulation Magick (Guile) Magickers gifted with the Voice are experts at bending the wills of others. The smallest gesture, the softest word, a look-- mages who wield charisma birthed in the Fray are masters of trickery and deceit. Family Mastery: Common Source: Euphemisms:
The caster can use Arcane Dice (and a Wager) for any social interaction using Guile. Jewelry, piercings, clothing, other finery The voice, the word, silk-tongue, charisma, the gift
Command
Elemental Image
Footing: (Guile-Relate) Range: Grapple, Reach, Melee Defense: Resist Trial
Footing: (Guile-Cunning) Defense: Direct Duration: Until caster heals a Wound
Effect The caster controls the mind of the target by scoring a number of Hits equal to the target’s Guard Dice in a small Trial (in our out of combat). The entire duration of the charm lasts only until the caster heals or until the target suffers one Wound. Commanded opponents cannot, then, be forced to commit any action that would deal more than one Wound.
Effect The magicker takes a fearsome image in the eyes of the target. This only works on enemies that recognize Aura.
Low
High
In combat, commanded subjects would function as Retainers if deployed and would “scatter” after taking one Wound. In combat, commanded subjects would function as Minions if deployed and would “scatter” after taking one Wound. Target is completely beguiled by the caster and develops a temporary Alignment connected to the caster, becoming a Familiar in combat.
Low High
The spell causes Fear, and each Hit gives the caster +2 Aura in the eyes of the target. Each Hit gives the caster +3 Aura in the eyes of the target, who can no longer use Secondary Tacks against the caster. The spell causes Terror, +5 Aura per Hit.
Manual
Raw
Raw
333
Illusion Footing: (Guile-Labor) Defense: Direct Duration: Until caster or target suffers a Wound or moves out of sight Effect This cannot be cast within combat, though combat may start while the target hallucinates (see below). The roll is made for the highest Primary Tack and a Strike is attempted against the target’s Blood Defense and Guard, a successful Strike causing the target to hallucinate according to the whims of the illusionist. The caster cannot mask his own presence, however. Each minute (Round) spent inside the hallucination, both caster and target suffer 3 Shock. Raw Low
Manual
High
Invisibiliy
Pillage Memory
Footing: (Guile-Move) Duration: Wager sets the duration in minutes or Rounds.
Footing: (Guile-Fight) Duration: Until caster dies Defense: Resist
Effect The caster can go invisible when out of sight of anyone.The caster is invisible only so long as he remains calm, meaning he cannot use Fight in a Footing. Each minute (or Round) spent invisible in combat deals 4 Shock.
Effect The magicker steals one memory from his target. Targets may be able to get around losing a memory completely if other evidence and memories still support whatever fact or scene is pillaged. This makes chosing the exact memory very important. Cannot be cast in combat.
Raw
Low High
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Caster can project one idea, image, or fact into the mind of the target, and the target responds totally committed to the reality of the object. Any fears or phobias present can offer appropriate Penalties. Casters can project one scene or small environment into the mind of the target. Target suffers 3 Shock per minute (Round) hallucinating. The caster projects an entire fantasy world into the mind of the target. Target suffers 5 Shock per minute (Round).
All detection rolls are at a [-2] Penalty, though detection through vision alone is impossible. Caster can take his total Capacity into invisibility along with him. Caster can bring another person into invisibility. Invisibility can be used with Footings that include Fight, offering a [-2] Penalty to all enemies using sight and an additional [-2] Penalty to those who rely on sight as their primary sense (which includes all humans).
Raw Low High
The spell steals one fact or idea from the target, which is completely forgotten. The spells steals one scene or motive, now forgotten by the target. The target suffers from amnesia, and one Alignment is erased from the target’s memory. If the target is convinced of the Alignment later, he or she must begin from the bottom with an Investment of 1.
Protagony Magick (Cunning) The Protagony Family of Magick covers those arcana used for aiding a hero’s allies. Mages who have the Gift are as often quiet healers as lively adventurers. Family Talent: Common Source: Euphemisms:
Speak Sigil (offers a +2 Source in one Family of magick for the Round). Staves, robes, bracelets, relics, scrolls Mage, the gift, healing touch, hands, medisher
Barrier
Beacon
Footing: (Cunning-Fight) Range: Special Duration: Instant
Footing: (Cunning-Move) Duration: Special
Effect Barrier works by generating a defensive force field that works similar in effect to a Dodge (Highest Primary Tack cancels multiple lesser Primary Tacks; Talents are forfeit; Advantages are deployed as usual). Raw
High
Raw
Low
High
Manual
Low
Caster can defend any Long Range attacks with Arcane Dice, making a Wager as normal. Barrier can defend against Melee Range attacks in combat. Barrier can defend against Reach and Grapple Range attacks.
Effect Beacon allows the caster to travel through space instantly. This effectively amounts to teleportation. The caster must be physically present in a given place to mark a Beacon. At a future time, magickers make a roll whenever they attempt to teleport back to the Beacon. Failed rolls have no effect but expend one of the uses stored in the Beacon (per intended participant). Hits can be used to take extra participants along, one a piece. Casters can mark one Beacon, which can be used only once. Teleporting to the mark requires a roll. Each league from the Beacon raises the Difficulty of the roll by 1. Casters can mark a number of Beacons equal to their Arcane Dice (or charge a single Beacon with more than one use, which must be done ahead of time when marked). Every ten leagues from the Beacon raises the Difficulty of the roll by 1. Beacons are permanent and can be used indefinitely. Every thirty leagues from the Beacon raises the Difficulty of the roll by 1.
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Heal
Restore Object
Footing: (Cunning-Relate)
Footing: (Cunning-Labor)
Effect The caster can heal others in his party. To heal a Wound in combat, targets must expend 1 RPR.
Effect Restore works to heal or rejuvenate inanimate, material objects of human construction. This can be used to reverse the passage of time or to fix acts of destruction, but cannot be used to affect nature or organic growth.
Raw Low
High
The caster can roll to bolster allies’ Guard by 1d10, one target per Hit. The caster can heal a single Wound in an ally in or out of combat at a Difficulty of 3 but borrows the Injury Penalties suffered by the target for the roll. Multiple Tacks can be used to heal multiple targets. Healers can heal the same hero twice in one day, dealing 10 Shock as a cost. When bolstering Guard, the caster can direct two Hits at a single target.
Mind Trick
Manual
Footing: (Cunning-Guile) Duration: Until new information is brought to light Defense: Resist Effect This Arcanum works only outside combat and on targets that are not overtly hostile to the caster. A successful roll requires a winning Primary Tack. The spell would take effect on Followers and leaders if rolling as one unit. Raw Replace one current idea with another entirely. Low Replace one current motive with another entirely. High Can cast on a group of targets who have their attention given to the caster; each individual or unit would make a Resist roll independently.
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Raw Low High
Restores 1 ton of material up to one year per Hit. Restores 3 tons of material up to five years per Hit. Restores 10 tons of material up to 20 years of age per Hit.
Summoning Magick (Relate) The arts of Summoning allow mages to call on the spirits and beings of another world. These spirits are given earthly shape and bound to our domain by the willpower and arcane knowledge of the magicker. From cracks into the Fray writhing shapes of darkness and void grow into flesh and blood. Chained to the whim and command of the caster, summoned creatures have no wills of their own. They are manifestations of chaotic spirits from the Underside, though most summoned creatures act as extensions of their master’s body while caught on the surface of the Tapestry. All summoned agents appear at the start of the next Round in combat. Family Talent: Common Source: Euphemisms:
Each Hit allows one idea to be shared telepathically to any number of persons. Relics of Fell beasts (teeth, bones) Summoner, the call, witch, warlock, possessed, holds spirits
Bind
Summon Doppelganger
Footing: (Relate-Move) Duration: Until killed or caster heals a Wound
Footing: (Relate-Guile) Duration: Hits set the number of hours (or Rounds)
The Load and Hardness of the object are used to determine damage the Familiar deals and its own toughness. Moreover, the Hardness sets the Ground of the object, and the Load sets the total Guard. Raw
Familiars have a 3 for all Aptitudes and are limited to a Load of 10. Low Familiars have 4 in all Aptitudes, and each roll is limited to a Load of 20. Hits can be split among targets. High Each Familiar has a 5 in all its Aptitudes, and each roll is limited to Load of 30.
Effect The caster can create a flesh and blood double of themselves, and eventually other living things. This summoned “Doppel” functions as a Familiar equal to the target in Aptitudes and Dice but without any Arts. All Doppelgangers have 1 Wound already Grounded and require Upkeep only to save from death. Creating a Doppel cannot take place in combat. Emotionally and personally, Doppels act as other dark Familiars and do not share thoughts or senses with the caster. The Doppel is not spawned clothed or equipped. Raw Low
High
The caster can create a Doppelganger of himself. The summoner can create a Doppelganger of any human individual whom he has shared some time with. If the caster has rolled a handful of Bouts against or alongside the individual, sufficient familiarity exists. The Doppel has the same Arts as the target, including Arcane and Loom abilities.
Manual
Effect The caster summons an unruly spirit from the Fray to inhabit a nearby object, which grows organic flesh and blood within the object, twisted and messy. The object then functions as a Familiar in combat and is good for little else. The summoning is a small Trial, and each Hit equals 1 RPR and one Mundane Die for the object. Upkeep is only charged if the summoner wishes to keep the Familiar around after it suffers the Wound.
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Summon Fiend Footing: (Relate-Labor) Duration: Until killed or purpose fulfilled Fiends are non-player characters of formidable power, called from a darker realm and made manifest on the edges of our world’s reach. They are the most powerful of the nether creatures, spirits and demons feared by humans as long as we have known both dark and light. Fiends hate Fey creatures and will break off from their purpose to pursue and hunt Fey spirits encountered. The twisted powers that keep a Fiend in our world emanate from the beast and disrupt nearby Fey spirits, preventing them from using Loom powers: Fey beings cannot cast any Loom Insights on Fiends, though human weavers can.
Manual
Effect Six rolls are required to summon a Fiend along with the occasional ingredient (see “Material Components” below). All Fiends have 3 Loom Dice and 3 Wounds (unless summoned as a Familiar, which has only 1 Wound). Raw Low
High
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Can summon Young and Adult Fiends. Can summon Lesser Fiends. Young Fiends may become Familiars and require Upkeep appropriate to their RPR. Can summon Greater Fiends. Summoners can make Familiars of Adult Fiends.
Roll 1: Nature Hunter (Difficulty 6) Guardian (Difficulty 5) Retriever (Difficulty 4) Slave (Difficulty 3) Familiar (Difficulty 3 after Low) Roll 2: Material Components Sacrifice (Difficulty 3) Land (Difficulty 4) Food (Difficulty 5) Ceremony alone (Difficulty 6) Roll 3: Force sets Guard Dice Roll 4: Force sets Mundane Dice Roll 5: Force sets Arcane Dice Roll 6: Natural Weapons (Complex Check) Per Attack Type (Difficulty 1) Raw Art, Talent (Difficulty 2) Low Art, New Aspect (Difficulty 3) High Art (Difficulty 4) Aptitude Ranges Young (1-4, total 20) Adult (2-5, total 26) Lesser (3-6, total 32) Greater (3-7, total 40) The Nature and Material Components of summoning Fiends is a qualitative affair. The Scribe controls the Fiend, which is a spirit of will and guile, so the caster’s control is limited to setting the Nature. Sending a Fiend out to hunt down a target solo sets the Hunter Nature. Guardians will protect a specified target. Retrievers find objects and return. Slaves do labor and offer support. The Material Components are more narrative than anything. Infamous Fiends may require particular sacrifices, and Scribes are encouraged to make some summoning more difficult than others depending on the narrative.
Summon Minion
Summon Retainer
Footing: (Relate-Fight) Duration: Until killed or caster heals a Wound.
Footing: (Relate-Cunning) Duration: Until killed or caster heals a Wound
Effect The summoner calls forth Minions to aid in combat starting in the next Round. These will take the shape of twisted Fell creatures, animallike but unnatural and quasi-formed. Each Minion is summoned at a Difficulty of 3 and comes already Grounded at 10 Guard. Hits can be used to add “properties” to a single creature as noted below. Upkeep is charged only after a Wound is suffered to save the Minion from death (by rolling on the Dead or Dropped Out chart). Raw Low
Raw Low High
Aptitudes total 20, with none higher than 4. Retainer knows 1 Raw Art. Aptitudes total 25, with none higher than 5. Retainer knows 2 Low Arts. Aptitudes total 32, with none higher than 7. Retainer knows 2 High Arts.
Manual
High
Casters can summon one Minion. Extra properties available: Arcane Die bonus instead of Mundane, +1d10 Guard. Minions arrive Grounded at 15 Guard. Multiple Minions can be summoned, but only in a single roll. Extra property: +1d10 Armor. Minions arrive Grounded at 20 Guard. Extra properties: +1d10 Aura, Elemental Aspect.
Effect The caster summons from the underside of the Great Tapestry a Follower for use in combat as a Retainer. These fiends will take a twisted shape, growing into whatever elements and materials are available. The Force of the roll sets the Guard Dice of the Follower. As always, Retainers add 1 RPR to the caster and can attack or defend in place of the summoner. Upkeep equals the number of available Attacks.
Air:
Deals 1d10 Fatigue to any attacker who launches a Long Range attack at the Minion Ether: Can act as +3 Source for any Arcane magicks Water: Can spend a turn in combat adding 1d10 to all allies’ Guards once per Round Earth: Adds the Wager of the summons roll to the Minion’s Guard Fire: Deals 1d10 Fatigue to any attacker who launches a Grapple or Reach Range attack at the Minion
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The Nature of Loom Magick The Aptitude for Touch governs one of the domains of magick in Early Dark. Touch is the ability to control the world by tapping into the nigh-invisible Threads connecting all things. Much like light is both a particle and a wave, so too the threads are neither truly tangible nor intangible. Loom sages study the great rhythms and patterns of nature through an understanding of the Threads. All individuals, collectives, events, and stories are themselves assemblages of various Threads. Some Threads represent time, some ideas, others space. Some shapes and forms, others motives or feelings. The stars, the music of the celestial spheres, the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Actions that draw power from the Loom are rolled the same way Mundane attacks are rolled, and each Insight will specify what defense is appropriate, a Resist or a Save. Additional Loom Dice can be rolled to improve an attack by learning Epithets of locations, opponents, or objects relevant to the roll. Family Talent:
Manual
Euphemisms:
Hits can be used in Trials to learn Epithets. The number of required Hits to learn a single Epithet is set by the Scribe and can be augmented by the Lore Art (see 307). Sage, scholar, weaver
Entangle
Fey Summon
Footing: (Touch-Move) Defense: Direct Range: Melee or Long
Footing: (Touch-Relate) Duration: Until killed or purpose fulfilled
Effect The weaver manipulates the Threads of space around a target, entangling and hindering the victim in matter both tangible and intangible. The result of losing a Bout to Entangle, sets up a Durable condition of “becoming entangled” on the victim. Subsequent attacks can wrap up the victim more and more, layering more entanglements on the target. These “becoming entangled” effects must be overcome one at a time with Advantages on the part of the target. For each “becoming entangled” left on the target at the end of the Round, the following takes place at the start of the next Round:
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Raw -1 on the Initiative roll, 2 dice of Fatigue, [-1] Momentary Penalty Low -2 on the Initiative roll High -3 on the Initiative roll, -1 RPR
Reaching into the realm of the Fey, the sage creates from another Domain a spirit in this world. These beings, bound by space as humans are by time, exist just out of eyesight, just out of earshot, in the corners and reflections of our own world. Born when the earth was young, these creatures now exist indifferent to our own history, sometimes watching, rarely interfering. Effect Upon summoning, the sage offers the Fey spirit a single motive. Once this motive has played out, the spirit will fade. All Fey spirits are bound by space and will change form depending on their proximity to their Hearth. Should a spirit’s form exceed the capacity of the weaver, it is immediately dismissed. Keep the Hearth in mind as spirits travel with humans.
Five rolls are required to summon a spirit. All spirits have no Arcane Dice, and any Arcanum that demands a Resist defense will have no effect on a Fey spirit. Roll 1: Nature Hunter (Difficulty 6) Guardian (Difficulty 5) Retriever (Difficulty 4) Slave (Difficulty 3) Familiar (Difficulty 3 after Low) Roll 2: Force sets Guard Dice Roll 3: Force sets Mundane Dice Roll 4: Force sets Loom Dice Roll 5: Natural Weapons (Complex Check) Per Attack Type (Difficulty 1) Raw Art, Talent (Difficulty 2) Low Art, New Aspect (Difficulty 3) High Art (Difficulty 4)
Raw Low
High
Can summon Young and Adult Fey spirits as above. Can summon Lesser spirits as above. Young Fey may become Familiars and require Upkeep appropriate to their RPR. Can summon Greater spirits as above. Summoners can make Familiars of Adult Fey.
Footing: (Touch-Thrive) Duration: Until weaver heals or is Wounded. Effects begin on the next combat Round. Effect Sages take on the physical qualities of touched objects. The character grips the object, structure, or piece of earth and actually absorbs what qualities she desires from the target. Raw
The weaver receives a +1 bonus to any Aptitude appropriate to the material absorbed and an Aura bonus equal to the number of Hits scored. Low The weaver receives a +1 bonus to any two Aptitudes appropriate to the material and an Aura bonus equal to the number of Loom Dice rolled. High The weaver receives a +2 bonus to any two Aptitudes appropriate to the material, the Aura bonus, and takes on one quality from the element absorbed: air, ether, water, earth, or fire. Air: Deals 1d10 Fatigue to any attacker who launches a Long Range attack at the sage Ether: Can act as +3 Source for any Arcane magicks Water: Can spend a turn in combat adding 1d10 to all allies’ Guards once per Round Earth: Adds number of Dice the sage rolled to her Ground Fire: Deals 1d10 Fatigue to any attacker who launches a Grapple or Reach Range attack at the sage
Manual
Aptitude Ranges Young (1-4, total 20) Adult (2-5, total 26) Lesser (3-6, total 32) Greater (3-7, total 40)
Osmosis
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Provoke Nature
Terraform
Footing: (Touch-Guile) Defense: Any suitable Save, Direct* Range: Varies Duration: Attack
Footing: (Touch-Labor) Duration: Permanent Range: Varies
The weaver evokes the long dormant wrath of surrounding nature, drawing the Threads into a pattern hostile to the weaver’s intended victims. This can be used to turn grass into blades, leaves into razors, dirt into tar, or breezes into gales. Even in combat, weavers can create webs of hostility to potentially damage opponents. Allied characters are immune to the trap, as weavers have complete control over what happens.
Manual
Effect Provoke Nature functions similarly to an Indirect Attack, however the Difficulty of the resulting Save is set by the Force of the sage’s roll because the sage actually creates and manipulates the environmental feature that attacks the victim. Complex Saves can be forced if multiple Primary Tacks land on the sage’s roll. Raw Damage is determined by the Hardness of the natural object +2. The sage manipulates an amount of nature up to a Load 8. Low Damage is determined by the Hardness of the natural object +3. The sage manipulates an amount of nature up to a Load 12. High Damage is determined by the Hardness of the natural object +4. The sage manipulates an amount of nature up to a Load 16.
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Like pulling the loose thread that unravels the sweater, it has been said that skilled thread magicians can find the keystone weave of a landform, be it mountain, cliff, valley, river, or island and use it to manipulate the land itself. Such modifications are usually reductive; that is, it is much easier to flatten a mountain than to build it up, just as it is easier to destroy the sweater than to weave it, but nevertheless constructive modes have been claimed, if not proven definitively. Effect The Scribe sets a Difficulty for the Check. Terraforming works on nature as a whole. That is to say, all of the consequences of an action must be taken into account when calculating how much earth or time is manipulated. Two tons of rock underneath a three thousand ton castle, for example, cannot be dissolved if the whole castle will fall. Thread magick always deals on a cosmic level, and all of the consequences of an action are factored into each spell. Raw The weaver can make changes to the environment at any distance beyond Long Range. The formation’s scope can create or dissolve up to 1 ton of earth and move time up to 1 year forward or backward for organic material. These changes can offer [-2] Penalties to those in the terrain. Low Weavers can alter, create, or dissolve up to 10 tons of earth and up to 10 years of time on organic material at any distance beyond Melee Range. Changes can disallow one particular Aptitude High: Weavers can manipulate 100 tons of earth and pull organic material through 100 years of time. Changes prohibit the use of 2 Aptitudes to those caught.
Thread Stalk
Unravel
Footing: (Touch-Cunning) Range: Touch to cast Defense: Resist Duration: Until the target moves out of range.
Footing: (Touch-Fight) Range: Varies Defense: Resist, Trial Duration: Until target rests
As every life affects the world around them in a multitude of ways, both humans and other creatures leave footprints in the fabric of life wherever they go. The nature of such affectations or their systematic repercussions are not yet fully understood, but it is said that skilled thread magicians can use these clues to track prey that leave little to no mark upon the physical world. Through water, air, or land such thread stalkers can read the threads of life which the prey has affected or touched, or indeed the very thread that connects them to the world and follow it to their quarry, even across continents.
The sage finds a single Thread connected to her opponent and slowly tugs, unraveling the very fabric of the enemy. She watches as her steady drawing on the Thread pulls the body in front of her apart.
Raw
Low
High
Each Hit adds 100 yards to the effective range of the Thread stalk. Sages can locate their target easily within this range and read one idea or fact about their target from the Thread. Each Hit adds one mile to the effective range of the stalk, in which the sage can trace each past movement of the target. Sages can also read the motives and attitudes of their target. Each Hit adds 10 miles to the range of the stalk, in which the sage can predict the motions of her target into the past and future. Sages can read one scene from around the target per roll.
Raw Unravel works at Reach or Grapple Range and deals 3 Shock per Hit. Low Unravel works at Melee Range and deals 5 Shock per Hit. High Unravel works at Long Range and deals 7 Shock per Hit.
Manual
Effect The Stalk lasts until the target moves out of range or until the sage wills. At any time, the sage may only “tap into” a number of Threads equal to her Loom Dice. The complexity of the idea, motive, or thoughts that can be read through the Threads sets a Difficulty for the sage to overcome in subsequent rolls. After “tapping in” with Hits, Checks can be made to read further information from the Thread.
Effect Unravel deals Shock with each Hit that can go unnoticed until the foe makes a Guard recovery roll. Rolled as a Trial Bout against the target.
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Chapter the Seventh
Poetics of Play This chapter includes tips and further information about making the most of Early Dark and running a smooth game. It highlights certain aspects of the system that might not be immediately apparent and shows what tricks Scribes can use to develop campaigns and stay a step ahead of their players. Don’t think of these as advanced or optional rules; they are simply examples and troubleshooting tips for utilizing the basic mechanics discussed in Chapter 4. You will learn about Trials and how to solve just about any encounter or problem with them. You will also gain insight into arranging a group of enemies to best challenge and excite your players. This chapter also includes examples of equipment and weapons carried by heroes in Early Dark. Because there is no universal economic system, any item can cost just about anything depending on where you buy it. In this chapter we cover special items and how a hero might come about finding them.
A vizier from Uranishad of Alagoth descent is caught in the grasslands of Lower Edrada near the Summer Field by a pack of hungry wolves. He summons a Fey spirit from the ground, calling on the ancient history of the Field and the fears of the wolves that now harry him. Touching the Threads of time and matter, the aged vizier calms his spirit and becomes at one with the coursing of fate.
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Trials Sometimes characters must perform tasks that take more than a moment’s effort to accomplish, such as rebuilding a bridge, scaling a very high wall, or seducing an Alagoth priestess. In these cases, rolls are made as often as the Scribe allows, and the number of Hits is added up until the project is finished. Trials can take the form of Checks, Saves, or Bouts, depending on how complex the Scribe and players decide to make the situation. The result is the same: A certain number of Hits (unanswered 2-Tacks) is needed by one side or the other to result in the desired effect. Often, the Trial will be restricted to a set number of rolls as well. Many Trials will take the form of one player racing against time. For example: Chad’s character Amos is rebuilding a bridge on Isa Ragus. Kelly declares that the chore will take 20 Hits to complete and that Chad can make one roll each in-game day, each roll representing a solid eight hours of labor. Each time a day passes in game on the island, Chad rolls a Cunning-Labor check for the day’s work, subtracting his number of Hits from whatever remained from the day before. This seems like a dull task to keep track of, but if Amos knows a group of cavalry coming to aid his cause will arrive in 5 days and needs the bridge ready by then, he will be paying close attention to how long his construction takes and whether he can work nights.
Poetics
Some Trials may offer not a time limit, but a roll limit. The hero has only a certain number of opportunities to score Hits in the Trial. For example: Andrew’s unscrupulous magicker, Jist, seeks to hide the entrance to a Barrow he discovered in the Kuludo highlands. Kelly gives him only two rolls, one per hour, before Jist has to return to the hunting party that hired him. If he scores 8 Hits, the Fray Mouth will be hidden from view and Kelly will not roll to see if it is discovered by other seekers. Trials can also be competitive. Instead of a single participant, one character might vie with another to win the Trial or complete it first.
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For example: Greg’s character Serseus is chasing Tauno’s character Heyu up a wall. Kelly decides that whichever player scores five Hits first wins. If Greg wins, Serseus drags Heyu down the wall. If Tauno wins, Heyu escapes over the wall without leaving a trace. Greg describes Serseus’s climb appropriately for a Move-Touch roll, a Limit of 6. Tauno sends Heyu up the wall with a declaration targeting Move-Thrive. They roll Bouts against each other, tallying the number of Hits scored by the winner, until one of them reaches 5 Hits. Or: When Margaret’s character, Kechu, is negotiating trade contracts with Khazil ironsmiths, Kelly gives her four rolls against the elder of the mining community. Whoever has more Hits at the end of the four rolls (one to take place at each phase of the negotiation) sets the terms of the deal. The Trial may contain a “failure condition” that dictates when the extended challenge is over. In these cases, the Scribe allows the player to keep rolling and scoring Hits until the condition takes place. The Trial may then be counted simply as a failure, or some more concrete fallout could occur. For example: Zefr is working closely with an Alagoth priestess while he and his friends infiltrate the camp. Over the course of a night’s session, John will have to roll many Relate-Guile, Guile-Thrive, and RelateTouch rolls in different situations to get close to her and gain her trust. Kelly sets the necessary number of Hits at 6. Zefr has to wait for appropriate situations to make his moves during a few weeks in game. If John ever fumbles an attempt (scoring no Hits at all in a Bout with the priestess), the priestess picks up on his scheme. Maybe the severity of her anger will be determined by how many Hits John scored earning her trust before the revelation is made. Trials can be created by the Scribe to reflect a challenging environment or ongoing event. For example: The party is fighting a Lesser Fiend at the top of a high, dilapidated tower. A storm rages overhead, the clouds black and booming. Through unknown arcane magicks, the bottom half of the tower crumbles, leaving the upper storey and the flat
roof floating in the air. The wind is ferocious, and the magick that keeps the platform aloft does not stop the structure from shaking and tipping. Kelly declares that each fighter must score 2 Hits each Round to stay on the rocking platform and not fall off. Or: Chad’s hero, Amos, makes his way through the Wandering Marsh haunted by a pack of small, carnivorous theropods. As Amos stalks his own prey, he must score 4 Hits each day to keep himself away from the small reptiles that circle and stalk him. A Trial could also be used to handle a brief act of violence instead of setting up proper combat. For example: Deep in the rainforest of Kapix’tul Island, Dhelest and his companions are spotted by a scout hiding in the canopy. The scout turns to flee through the branches. Ben decides to pursue the scout. Kelly creates a small Trial to manage the pursuit: Dhelest needs 6 Hits before the scout lands 5. The uneven number represents the scout’s head start. The two will roll in Bouts with appropriate Footings. Ben wins the Trial, but now what?
Or: A flock of trained raptors is sent to frustrate the party’s pursuit of the Edish shaman. Kelly has stats for the birds (a Swarm with 3 Wounds). To make the encounter quick and painful, she decides to make a small Trial instead of proper combat. The birds will roll once against each hero in turn. Each Hit scored on either side results in a Wound sustained. Even if the birds are not killed, they will flee after rolling against every player.
Each roll is a chance for players to be creative and develop their characters. A good Scribe will work in rewards for good role-playing on behalf of the players. Whether the players’ smart ideas seek to gain future advantages or mitigate future disadvantages, they require the Scribe’s immediate attention to take effect. Future Concrete Implications Creating concrete narrative outcomes from routine Checks and Saves is a good way to keep the stakes high for otherwise purely qualitative actions. This section will build on earlier suggestions for making the most of routine rolls (see 224). Any Check that begins “just for fun” or just to sate some individual curiosity can be quickly turned into a moment of drama and significance by offering a solid reward for a good roll. Any time the player comes up with a roll, make sure it gives a mechanical, concrete benefit. There are any number of rewards that can be offered to players for coming up with interesting, creative Checks and Trials; and it is through this deep, imaginative role-playing that games become memorable and immersive. For example: The party is preparing to explore a fabled ruin outside Lokod. They are seeking a relic from an estate house thought to exist near the center of the old city. Kelly has prepared a map for an old-fashioned dungeon crawl, and the party is very apprehensive of the danger ahead. What can the party do to prepare?
Poetics
Kelly offers, “You both fall from the branches onto the flooded floor of the forest.” Ben replies, “I want to drown the poor guy in a puddle.” Kelly opts out of making a full combat from the maneuver (it’s just a scout who turned up unexpectedly, and the party reacted responsibly). She declares, “He pulls a knife on you. If you score 4 Hits, he is dead in the water. For every Hit he scores, you suffer 3 Shock from minor cuts.” The arrangement is a little makeshift, but Ben agrees. He drowns the scout readily enough.
Enriching Rolls
Clyde comes up with a plan: “If I still have access to those drawings rumored to be maps of the city, I want to study them again. Can I roll a Cunning-Touch Check to memorize some features?” Kelly nods. But what would “memorizing features” translate into mechanically? The Scribe declares, “For every Hit you score, you can recognize one room in the ‘dungeon’ later. Whenever you come upon a room, you can decide if you want it to be one of the rooms your character would now recognize based on the drawings. I’ll tell you the room’s original purpose or title.”
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Or: Kiwaki and her party are traveling through a dangerous region near the Wilds. They come upon a small village early in the day’s hike. Stephanie decides to roll Canvass to gather information about the local villagers. Kelly asks, “What information do you want?” Stephanie responds, “I guess I’m not sure… What can I get?” This kind of situation arises often: The player knows that collecting information is a smart thing to do, but she does not have a clear idea what is needed. Stephanie is thinking ahead, and so Kelly wants to turn this roll into something useful. Kelly offers a complex Check: “For each Tack of 3 or more, you can learn the name of a ‘reputedly trustworthy’ person in town.” Or: Brandon wants his character, Kleitos, to use Grift to enter Tiantip under the pretense of nobility. Why? Because he purchased Grift and has not had a chance to use it yet. Kelly knows this kind of experimentation often leads to meaningful character development, and wants to give Brandon a reward for attempting something new. She says, “For each Hit scored in your Grift roll, Kleitos is above suspicion in the city for one day; he’ll get the royal treatment without worry.” Brandon is excited about the access and respect his character will gain in Tiantip, the experience augmented by the new social position Kleitos will occupy.
Poetics
Rolls that sound dull or routine can be spiced up if the Scribe adds floating repercussions later in the campaign. This long-term planning can build suspense and offer a single, cumulative reward or punishment as the result of many smaller interactions. For example: Each day the party stays at the estate of Kerijad Ata Hadim, Kelly calls for a Guile-Touch roll at a Difficulty of 4 to impress the host. Kelly keeps track of who passes and who fails each day; if a character fails the roll three times, he or she will be thought weak by Kerijad and challenged to a public contest of some sort.
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Or: The party plans to rob Kerijad Ata Hadim blind, the prize of the heist being his family’s Karkadhan horn, “The Victory Quake.” Kelly notifies the players that throughout their stay in the camp, they can
accumulate Hits during any and all rolls. Each Hit represents one tremor of intimidation that ripples through the family of Kerijad. Unknown to the players, later in the campaign when the cousin of Kerijad comes to seek vengeance on the party, each Hit previously scored will reduce the size of his warparty by one rider. Kelly starts the number at 40. If enough Hits are scored during the swindle, the warparty could be eliminated entirely.
Preemptive Footings
Players may begin to offer preemptive Footings: They describe their every action in terms that play to one Aptitude or another just in case a Save pops up. This way they have a stronger claim for relying on a certain Aptitude should something dangerous arise. For example: When Andrew’s character, Jist, opens the door to the vault, he declares, “Jist leans into the heavy door slowly, keeping his ears open for sounds from the other side. He feels a breeze of stale air on his cheek as the portal quakes open, expecting trouble.” Now, if a trap suddenly triggers, Andrew has already laid the groundwork for a defense that uses Cunning, his preferred Aptitude. Or: Kantuush moves into the shadows and while his party is walking behind the walls of Lokod: “Kantuush keeps his back to the wall, walking softly in the shadows and staying out of the light of the hanging braziers.” If attacked or set upon, Kantuush is in a position to flee with Guile-Move instead of relying on a more straightforward Fight-Move response. When every word matters, creativity and thick description become mechanically useful.
Arranging a Campaign The art of the Scribe is difficult to put into words. As much as different groups appreciate and enjoy different styles of play, it feels inappropriate (and arrogant) for us to offer universal tips or suggestions on setting up a campaign. Keeping that in mind, the few topics below are designed as suggestions that specifically fit the “life within narrative” theme of Early Dark. Just as characters in the game are said to exist already in the stories told about them (why we measure quests in Pages and experience in Epithets), the campaigns designed by the Scribe can borrow strategies from narrative.
Thinking in Chapters Construct the campaign as a series of chapters in a longer tale. How do chapters work in a book? What function do they serve? Oftentimes, a chapter break serves as a pause in the action, the natural caesura between critical moments in the plot.
Sometimes one chapter skips ahead in the lives of the characters, marking a significant passage of time or skipping over a time of development or change. How could a Scribe put that into play? Could there be gaps between one gaming session and the next that surprise characters with new situations or take place years in the future? For example: Wamae Scribes a campaign set among the Eastern Islands. The players spend three sessions hunting down Zhartari, an arcanist bent on awakening a centuries-old Tyrant. Thursday’s game
Each character, Wamae relays, can take a new Epithet and create a “back story” to fill in the decade spent under the rule of the oppressive magicker. Friday’s session begins with the heroes meeting at a small temple, brought together by an Anu lord who seeks their aid. How does the order of the chapters reflect the order of the narrative? Does everything always progress chronologically? Maybe Scribes could find a way to play through a narrative backwards or make one gaming session act as a “flashback” or “flash-forward” in the greater narrative arc of the campaign. For example: Weeks later in Wamae’s campaign set in the Eastern Islands, he tries another twisty session break. On Friday night, the aged heroes trail a shipment of Flower, hoping to uncover where Zhartari has hidden the Anu lord’s only son. The night ends with the party arriving in rural Teki Village, high in the mountains of a small, almost unknown island.
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For example: The players finish Tuesday’s session with a climactic battle. When Friday night arrives, the Scribe decides to let the players begin fully rested in a nearby village, skipping the travel back from the mountain top to Quarry City. Friday night’s session begins a couple weeks after the battle when a messenger arrives from a village in the South Iron Mountains. This provides an episodic feel and saves game time for quests rather than the day-to-day routines of the heroes.
night ends on Shentul Island with a grand battle, the arcanist escaping at the last minute. Come Friday night, Wamae tells his players that the story leaps ahead twelve years: The tyrant was awakened, and Zhartari has ruled many populated islands with a fiery fist for the last decade; the heroes were scattered after the battle and have spent the interim years in hiding, nursing broken spirits, considered failures.
The next week, when the group meets on Thursday night, Wamae hands out new character sheets. “These are another group of young heroes who were hunting down Zhartari twelve years ago,” he says. “You will be taking part in a small adventure tonight that occurred at the same time your younger heroes were battling the power-hungry arcanist on Shentul Island.” He points to the new character sheets: “These heroes were involved in a struggle across remote islands, and how well they performed will have a great effect on what Teki Village looks like twelve years in the future when your central heroes arrive.” The players spend three hours as these young heroes, establishing a small order in Teki Village dedicated to stopping the spread of Old Magicks across the Kuludo
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Islands. When Wamae concludes the short “flash back” adventure, the group resumes playing as their original heroes just as the party enters Teki Village. The first characters to welcome the heroes are familiar to the players, non-player characters who were part of the “flash back” just completed. What if the players spent one session or half of one session as different characters, ancestors to their heroes, playing through an event that could have a dramatic effect on the world of the central narrative in which the players are regularly involved?
Living Environments and Backdrops Adding a dynamic, interesting backdrop to the central narrative of a campaign enriches the story by bringing into play the many textures of the world surrounding the Hara Sea. Help your players get to know the world by experiencing it in action. A cross-current narrative taking place behind the arc of the party can highlight themes present in the heroes’ journey or simply add a sense of change and growth to the world.
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For example: Behind the campaign centered on Zhartari directly, Wamae adds a revivalist religion spreading among the indigenous farmers. He alerts the players, saying, “Zhartari dominates a cluster of islands outside the control of the Sabu lords and plans to invade the protected Kuludo islands soon, but permeating the peasant population is a religious fervor focused on salvation.” Throughout the campaign, Wamae narrates incidents of conversions and introduces zealous characters to play off the heroes’ own story of failure and redemption.
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Worlds are not “settings” that wait patiently for a group of heroes to arrive; they are living “environments” that change and act outside and apart from the presence of the party. Check online for updates to the world of the Hara Sea, and stay active on the Anthropos Games Forums to let your party’s adventures have an impact on the world other groups play in.
Conflict What kind of conflict could take place behind the narrative of the party? The party does not have to get involved, or maybe they outright cannot. They are already embroiled in conflicts of their own, but adding something more explosive than “change and growth” into the background can help the group of players see their heroes in context. For example: While the group of heroes is seeking the Anu lord’s son, larger conflicts are erupting all around them. Skirmishes between Zhartari’s minions and spying sabu are common. War seems inevitable as building tensions turn villages against one another and steal the lives of many youth. Maybe there is another group of heroes, younger and more powerful, hunting Zhartari himself, who cross paths with the aged heroes from time to time.
Dramatis Personae At the beginning of the campaign, hand out an annotated list of the important non-player characters. Heroes begin a campaign already experienced in the social worlds they inhabit, and players should be able to capitalize on their heroes’ previous knowledge. Who are the local hot-heads? The local busybodies? How old are the Arbiter’s sons? Who has the reputation for being a terrible liar? This adds instant color to a campaign as well as strategically useful information. Fill your players in on old war heroes living in the area; offer a few rumors about the hermit who lives in the nearby hills; mention what each of the non-player characters did during the War of Six Fronts; give basic family backgrounds or kinship charts. Many epic-scale books provide a list of the key figures at the front to aid readers. These act as useful reference sections during the unfolding narrative. Why not borrow this feature for your campaign? Who knows how important some of these quick-and-rough characters could turn out to be?
Setting up an Encounter There are many ways to create the mechanical structure of any given combat situation. When multiple enemies exist, deciding which are leaders and which are Followers poses the first question. Other questions arise quickly, however, and start to add up. Do any of the enemies exist as swarms? Will there be Trials hidden inside an important encounter? Is fighting to the death the only option? Are there stages built in to add dynamism and avoid monotonous slashing? These concerns must be addressed, at least in part, when the encounter is created.
area. Kelly arranges a series of Bouts against the commander of the raiders, and players are given the opportunity to reason with him. Each time the players win a Bout of conversation, more of the raiders calm down and leave the band. If the commander wins a Bout, combat begins.
Translating a single narrative encounter into different mechanical variations will drastically change how the combat progresses, how difficult it will be for characters, and how long it will take. Before the heavy question, however, Scribes need to decide on a few things.
For example: When set upon by a pompous bandit in the woods, the party asks to roll a Cunning-Guile Bout to swap wits with the rogue. Kelly likes the idea: If the party wins the Bout, the rogue will fight without his lumbering Minion. If the party loses the Bout, hidden thieves will become emboldened and step out to join the fight.
Initiative or Ambush The first choice covers how the combat will begin. If one party has Ambushed the other, the losing side will not be able to roll Guard for the first Round. This is a big disadvantage, so offer up Ambushes only when players roll to set them up or when they are crucial to the flavor of the encounter.
For example: When a band of raiders approaches the walls of an Upper Edradan village, the party steps outside to negotiate. The players are committed to avoiding a fight because nearby spirits are becoming more and more powerful with each death in the
These rolls keep the action dependent on the choices and successes of the players and keep immediate combat from being taken for granted or expected at every turn.
Combat by Trial Even if the conflict escalates to armed conflict, a Trial could oftentimes be used instead of a proper battle to settle the encounter. This can be used as a time-saving device (when combat would consume too much of a night’s playing time) in the interest of the players or the Scribe. If the players are apprehensive about a particular encounter, they might welcome a chance to truncate the potential beating with a Trial that risks suffering only a Wound or two. For example: After rolling a Greater Beast on their Wandering Monster Chart, the players groan in unison. Kelly decides to represent the combat more quickly with a chase scene. A thirty-foot long Greater Serpent shatters furniture as it slithers into the large chamber from a crawlspace below. Kelly says, “Each Hit you score as a team moves one of the characters closer to safety. You can swap or share Hits if you
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Conflict Without Combat Many conflicts can be resolved without physical combat. Negotiations can take the place of violent skirmishes in a world where even enemies have a sense of self-preservation and realistic motivations. Encountering a stranger on the road would more often result in a shared meal than a fight to the death, and Scribes should role-play the various denizens of the world surrounding the Hara Sea as though they (more often than not) have more important things to do than clash swords with a party of heroes.
Even when hostile enemies cross paths with heroes, there can be more to the story than an immediate fight to the death. Scribes can set up rolls that take place before a fight to either avoid the combat entirely or augment the conditions of the fight.
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want, but each hero requires 3 Hits to get out of the building and away from the Fell Serpent. Each Hit from the Serpent gets rolled as a Strike against your ‘off Guard’ hero.”
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The character with the highest Move scores a few Hits on each roll, allowing his allies to escape while taunting and distracting the Serpent. By the end of the combat, three of the heroes have suffered one Wound each. Everyone agrees they got off easy.
Building “Boss” Battles
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Sometimes the Scribe will want the beast to be fearsome and powerful without adding Minions. A beast that needs help does not seem as scary. Adding Trials around larger battles is one idea (see 369). Another is to make conditions or circumstances function abstractly as Minions.
For example: Wamae wants to make a mundane Boar more threatening without adding inconsistent Minions in the form of goblins or other animals. He decides to make the Boar “enraged,” a condition that will function as a Minion. The “enraged” Boar gets +1 Mundane Die and +1 RPR due to the crazed bucking and goring spasms it suffers. After suffering a Wound, the Boar is partially subdued, losing its bonuses and taking on the stats of a standard Boar. Or: A zmey is a truly merciless adversary for a group of heroes, but Wamae wants to up the risk. He decides to add an abstract Minion in the form of a “flying” condition. The dragon receives an extra Die and RPR until it suffers a Wound. Once injured, the beast is no longer said to be “flying” and loses the bonuses. These kinds of abstract Minions can be overlapped with Trials to produce unique and complex encounters that challenge and stimulate players. The possibilities are truly as open as the imagination of the Scribe.
Arranging Followers And here we have the central question of the encounter: How are the enemies arranged into the opposing force? Early Dark was designed to make managing Followers a large part of the strategy for Scribes. This follows two particular approaches to the roles of difficulty and combat within a campaign. Some Scribes will plan out a campaign to include a series of enemies that escalate in difficulty. The benefit of this approach is that the players are always engaging in challenging, exciting combats. They are forced to improve their heroes carefully to best address the kinds of enemies they are facing, and they are guaranteed that the Scribe has made some kind of success possible. The drawback of this approach is that it lacks a certain shade of realism; some situations in the world could be expected to be too difficult or numbingly easy for the heroes.
For example: Let us say they party approaches a clearing in the White Forest. Two ogres and two druid priestesses are busy butchering a fallen stag. A twig snaps… Through the use of Followers, Scribes can play Early Dark in either mode (or as a fruitful, enjoyable blend of both). If the Scribe happens to take the first approach to running a campaign, she can use Followers on the fly to tailor an encounter to the exact level of the players. Without having to predict ahead of time exactly how powerful the heroes will
For example: Kelly wanted a challenging fight for the party at this stage in the narrative. She set up the priestesses with some powerful Arcana and left open the exact formation of the crew in the clearing. She could opt to make both ogres the Minions of one of the priestesses (setting up the solo priestess as an easy target), or she could avoid having one unit that powerful by splitting the ogres up. If the party picked up some non-player characters along the way, Kelly might let each of the four enemies stand alone in combat. She may even highlight the equipment and powers of the ogres by making the priestesses their Retainers (the ogres’ stats would be used, and the priestesses function simply as magick backup). All these decisions are made just before the fight starts. If the Scribe follows the second approach mentioned above, she can sustain the realism of the narrative without giving up control over how difficult a particular situation is for the players. Should heroes step onto a battlefield sorely out-numbered, the Scribe can fiddle with the mechanical setup of the encounter and avoid relying on a deus ex machina to save the heroes from their misstep. For example: Kelly knew that two ogres and two priestesses would be present in the clearing should the party happen upon them. Unfortunately, the group of heroes is injured and fretfully unprepared for this battle. Kelly would not feel comfortable “saving” the players from the precarious outcome of their choice by making the priestesses unrealistically kind or weak at this point. She could solve the dilemma, however, by arranging the ogres as Minions. As Minions, the power of the ogres is downplayed, and they are said to “scatter” after suffering only a single Wound each (see “Minions” in HERALDRY on page 282). Killing the beasts would prove difficult, but getting them to flee their Alagoth masters would be both realistic and mechanically easier for the players.
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Another approach is to adhere to a strict realism. If the heroes travel through a dangerous forest, they risk encountering a Greater Boar much too powerful for them to defeat. The players are responsible for ensuring that their characters encounter enemies and challenges that are exciting but passable. The Scribe has the job of creating realistic responses to the movements and choices of the characters in a complex and dangerous world. The benefit is the feeling of realism and responsibility. The drawback of this approach is that a single mistake could cost the heroes their lives.
be at each step in the narrative, the Scribe can prepare meaty enemies without hours of research and then augment them with Followers when the time comes.
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Considering Rolls per Round The first step to arranging a fun encounter is deciding on how balanced the RPR should be. When one side has notably more Rolls per Round, those characters will be able to end the Round with a number of attacks that can only be Evaded (see 259). Also, the side with more RPR will spend more rolls without suffering Penalties and the other debilitating effects of enemy Talents and Advantages. For example: With three members in the players’ party, their side ends up with 9 RPR. On the surface, the party of ogres and druids would have 12 RPR (4 for each priestess and 2 for each ogre). Kelly can limit the efficacy of the Fell foes by arranging Followers, however. If one ogre (RPR 2) acts as a Minion for one of the priestesses (RPR 4), the resulting unit would have only 5 RPR (the priestess’s 4 plus 1 additional RPR for taking a Minion). If the priestess acted as a Minion or Retainer for the ogre, on the other hand, the resulting unit would have only 3 RPR (the ogre’s 2 plus 1 additional RPR for taking a Follower). In this way, Kelly can balance the RPR of the two sides to avoid one side grinding at the end of the Round.
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The most blatant control the Scribe has over RPR is to consider one enemy or another a Familiar. Familiars take their RPR from the Upkeep paid to them. The Scribe can then assume any amount of Upkeep on behalf of the leader and limit the Familiar’s RPR accordingly. Another consequence of this, however, is that once the leader is killed, the Familiars would immediately attempt to flee the combat. For example: Kelly can consider the priestesses Familiars of the ogres, the Fell beasts devout mistresses. The mechanical consequences of this are that she can dictate exactly how many RPR the druids have (up to their maximum of course). To balance out the RPR on each side, Kelly could decide each priestess has only 3 RPR. Should the ogres be defeated, however, the priestesses would “scatter” and flee combat.
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Notice how the arrangement of Followers can change the flavor or the dynamic of the party. Are the ogres slaves to the whims of the priestesses who feed and harbor them? Or are the priestesses followers of the Fell brutes,
devotees who protect and dote upon the arcane creatures? The mechanical arrangement then constructs a little story of its own, a potential spark for future drama or intrigue. Considering Dice Another concern is the resulting power of the enemies. If a foe has too many dice in one particular Domain, it could end up seriously harming unprepared heroes. That is not always to be avoided, but it is the Scribe’s responsibility to make a fun, engaging story that lets the players feel heroic at least most of the time. For example: Ogres of such a size would have at least 11 Mundane Dice a piece. Is that too powerful for the heroes? Turning the ogres into Minions would avoid setting the player-characters up against such mighty foes directly. Moreover, arranging the ogres as Minions might result in a much needed Mundane boost for the priestesses (+1 Die a piece). Considering Arts and Powers Depending on the Arts present in the group of enemies, Scribes may arrange one as a Retainer of the other to keep the Arts of both in play. For example: If Kelly makes a priestess a Minion, all of the druid’s Arts are forfeit; Minions have no ability to attack on their own (see 283). The priestess would be reduced to a Mundane or Arcane Dice bonus for the sake of buffing up the ogre’s own attacks. This could make for lackluster combat, and players would miss out on the priestess being a character with engaging Arts and abilities (more so than the Ogre’s repeated bashing and barging). Alternatively, a priestess could function as a Retainer, allowing the female druid to make attacks as part of the Ogre-Priestess unit (see 284). On any given turn, the priestess can roll an Arcane attack “over the Ogre’s shoulder” or defend an incoming attack with her staff. She does not offer the Ogre a boost in Dice (as a Minion would) but does make her Arts available for use offensively and defensively. As a Familiar of the Ogre, the priestess would have her own slot on the Initiative list, her own RPR (up to 4), and her own stats.
Or: Kelly could make the Ogre a Retainer for the priestess. This would allow the Ogre to roll offensively as well as defensively for the unit without bringing into play the brute’s incredible endurance (many Wounds with high Guards and a very high Ground). Players are introduced to the power of the Fell Ogre without having to cut him down completely.
Throwing in the Minions Small adjustments can be made by throwing an extra Minion into the mix at the last minute. This can be done on either side of the equation. Passers-by taking interest, hirelings who until now merely carried luggage being brought into the skirmish unwillingly, hidden enemies surprising the heroes, pets springing to aid their masters, third parties showing up at just the right moment—there are unlimited possibilities for adding needed Minions to a fight.
For example: The party comes across a single Lesser Bear hunting near Elbus River. The Bear is a fearsome foe for sure, but with only 4 RPR on its own, the fight could be rather dull. As combat is starting up, Kelly adds, “As the towering ursine lifts its head and turns to face the party, three extra bundles of fur crawl out of a nearby log. Each cub acts as a Minion, giving the Lesser Bear 7 RPR and three extra Mundane Dice.”
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These random little sparks are often the stuff of future drama. “Riffing” on the random and the happenstance is often the most exciting part of a role-playing session. All players, especially the Scribe, need to be open to letting the improvisational performance that is roleplaying take on a life of its own. These “happy accidents” are commonly more fulfilling than the best laid plans of Scribes and heroes because of their unexpected nature. There is pleasure in riffing and going with the flow, making the most of small details, and allowing the narrative room to grow organically.
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Chapter the Eighth
Reference Almanac This field guide offers a quick look at the denizens of the world around the Hara Sea. Take these as suggestions, as any animal may come in a variety of forms. You will learn how to convert mundane beasts into Fell spawns, adding magickal powers to especially old and fearsome predators. Scribes will also see a collection of animals with their natural abilities and Aptitudes. Remember, no individual has a fixed number of Wounds. Wounds are narrative devices used to record how many critical hits a body will take in this particular scene before dying. Depending on the scenario or situation, a Scribe may give something small quite a few Wounds and something larger only one. Wounds are for drama’s sake, while the Aptitudes and Guard of a species will be more constant from individual to individual.
Two Alagoths of the Benarekata and two Edish nomads traveling under the totem of the Hawk awaken a Fiend amidst the ruins of an ancient city. For many centuries, the ruins of Edrada were avoided as dangerous places of magick and death. As the landscape quieted and the spirits fell back to sleep, humans began to resettle the many scattered cities.
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Heroes’ Inventory The following are descriptions of two heroes and their loot. Items can be purchased, but many are obtained through Alignments.
Jist, Keeper of the Darkest Flame Jist is a powerful magicker played by Andrew. Born among the Edish under the Wolf totem but driven from his tribe by minewin shaman who feared his power, Jist grew into adulthood on the streets of Lokod. He earned many names as an adventurer and tomb-robber before deciding to take a true totem, the Cave Lion, late in life. Known for starting lethal duels with former traveling companions, Jist now wanders the regions of Oldfire seeking deep arcane lores. Obsidian-Edged Shortsword Jist claimed the sword from a fallen companion after a fight with an aggressive ogre in the Red Plains. He took a tax on his Tribal Alignment to bury the fallen warrior without the weapon. Innate Talent: A Talent can be used to allow a single Primary Tack to ignore Armor. Load: 3 Balance: 3
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Short Dagger Jist purchased a small dagger from an Alagoth merchant in the arid hills of Lower Edrada. As Jist traveled around the Crimson Sea, Andrew refined his magicker’s Skill Blades Art and sought a secondary weapon for combat. The dagger cost him seven Lokod coins, a price higher than he expected but fitting considering their distance from Upper Edrada. In the hands of Jist, the blade offers light and much needed Armor as well as a significant Strike bonus. Load: 1 Balance: 4
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Gloves of Sun Calling Powerful magickal clothing woven from a semi-precious metal found only in the Eastern Islands of Kuludo.
Source: +3 Antagony, +2 Kinesis, +2 Enchanting Backlash: Summons an Adult Fiend Load: 1 Fire Stave This magickal item is a metal rod adorned with gold and gems. Jist could possibly sell the stave as a scepter for the value of its precious metals. There would be no way to purchase such an item from anyone who knew what it was, however, unless he or she were in dire straits. Any Source object in the hands of a commoner would be revered as a fetish or charm. Properties: Any Elemental Minion summoned by a magicker wielding the stave takes on a Fire Aspect regardless of the available material (see 341). Source: +2 Antagony, +2 Summoning, +2 Kinesis Backlash: Caster suffers 4 Shock from an eruption of flames Load: 3 Balance: 1 Tenmen Pendant A simple Source item found while digging through a chest of artifacts hidden away under some ruins west of Oldfire. Source: +2 Kinesis, +2 Enchanting, +1 Protagony Load: Negligible Lower-Back Satchel Like many Edish, Jist carries a satchel that straps across his abdomen and opens on either side of his lower-back. He requested the article from his Edish relatives by “pushing on” his Tribal Alignment. Andrew stores items in the satchel that Jist uses in combat, using the bag to keep track of items specifically counted in Jist’s Vest Capacity. The design of the satchel allows Jist to fit 4 Load worth of small items into the bag with a resulting Load of 3; even empty, however, the satchel has a Load of 3. Load: 4/3 Inside the satchel, Jist stores four Recovery Resins (Load 2) and four Combustion Resins
(Load 2). He traded a small tunic of Soft Armor for the Recovery Resins to an alchemist in a nondescript village near the Crimson Sea. The Combustion Resins were found in the underchambers of an Empire ruin. Rope Jist purchased 10 yards of rope from a market in Lokod for two local coins. He uses it for climbing and for apprehending fugitives. He stores the rope in a shoulder-sack that Andrew uses to keep track of objects not counted in Jist’s Vest Capacity. The sack itself has no effective Load and acts simply as a tool for storing other items. Load: 2
Grafwar, the Long Bleeder Grafwar grew up in the Kuludo Islands trained from birth to be a mercenary Khazil. He fought in the great wars against the Edish in Upper Edrada, spending six long years slaughtering the tribes of the Red Plains. He returned to the Kuludo Highlands a decorated fighter with many titles. Despite the birth of the Khazil state, Grafwar works for Lord Dao of House Tiku on Kuludo Island. He has a Thun wife and three children.
Twine Crown Devin searched the corpse of an Edish shaman after a grueling battle and found this twisted crown of twigs and twine. Grafwar wears the uncomfortable headdress as a reminder of the stain upon his soul drawn by the blood he shed on the Edradan fields. Properties: +1 Ground Modifier, +1 DPD Modifier, +2 Aura Load: 1 Jeweled Beard Rings Grafwar keeps his beard in two long braids, collected at the ends with jeweled rings of precious metal. The two golden bands act as a set and both must be worn for the character to receive the enchantments listed. Devin went out looking for some enchanted clothing to modify Grafwar’s Ground, and he came upon these rings while on a quest in the Eastern Islands. By accepting a temporary Alignment with the enchanter, Grafwar was able to earn the fellow’s trust and eventually receive the beard rings as payment for service. Properties: +1 TPT Modifier, +1 Ground Modifier, +1 Upkeep Discount Modifier Load: 1
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Heavy Khazil Axe Purchased with a full pouch of Anu coin from an independent smith of the Khazil state, the axe has become Grafwar’s prized possession. Commissioned weapons and many luxury items cost a fair amount of coin in most places. Food and shelter can be gained with a simple exchange of labor or even a smile, but weapons made of metal will always be expensive. Only those of the Sabu caste can carry metal weapons in Kuludo, and Grafwar earned that title during the war. Each session, Devin pays a Tax on his Sabu Alignment for wielding the fearsome axe instead of the noble Anu blade (though he does own a sword gifted him by Lord Dao). Innate Talent: One Talent per Bout may deal Fatigue. Load: 5 Balance: 2
Anu Hard Armor Grafwar wears laminated armor in the fashion of House Tiku, gray and white. The crest of the Dao Family adorns both shoulders and the Tiku emblem is carved boldly on the front of the breastplate. Devin began the campaign with the armor and “plays to” his Patronage Alignment to Lord Dao each time Grafwar wears the bold armor instead of dressing in disguise. If Grafwar does not wear the armor in battle, he would dishonor his patron, suffering a Tax. Devin made two Armoring rolls against the suit, lowering its Load from 11 to 6 (no armor can be reduced to less than half its normal Load). Properties: +2 Aura Load: 11/6 Armor Rating: 11
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Source Items There are many kinds of Source items, each having its own story. Many magickal items will also have a unique Backlash built in, a strange side-effect that occurs when casters tear into the Fray irresponsibly. Simple Backlash properties could be lingering Shock, temporarily reduced Blood, a Durable Conditional Penalty, extra Fatigue, or penalties on future Dead or Dropped Out rolls. The following forms of Backlash are suggestions for creative Scribes to edit and explore as they see fit. An individual item can offer any amount of Source, depending on how meticulous the Scribes and players want to be about recording lists of items. A weak item might offer +1 or +2 to one or a few families of magick, whereas a powerful Source item could offer +4. Objects with especially high Source values would have Epithets to represent their histories and fame. Moreover, they may be stalked or sought after by other magickers, making it difficult for the player’s character to find peace. Stacking Source items and finding the right combination for all the families known by the caster makes for a good lesson in resource management.
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Summoning A common Backlash to build into useful Source objects is the inadvertent summoning. It makes sense that an object created to draw and contain power from the Fray could accidentally invite a spirit from the underside of the Tapestry into our world.
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For example: Weakened but cornered, Jist gets gutsy. Forming a wild sphere of flame at his fingertips, he uses the Gloves of Sun Calling (+3 Antagony magick) and his Fire Stave (+2 Antagony Magick), Wagering 9 on an Arcane Bolt attack. He rolls 12 Arcane Dice, making a 5-Tack and 3 Talents, expecting one of the Talents to cancel out as the Bout reduces. Andrew expects to roll 5d10 Drain (His 9 Wager minus 5, the combined rank of his Source) against his Blood of 26, which seems a small price to pay for the unleashed hellfire. During the Bout, however, the third Talent
does not reduce, and Jist has drawn too much chaos from the Fray. He ended the Bout with more dice than his Wager allowed: This means Backlash. Andrew reels back in anger! He rolls 31 on the five Drain dice and does not use his Blood to buffer the result, Grounding Jist and even dealing Shock. The more severe Drain is not the only result of the spell’s Backlash. The Gloves of Sun Calling also have a special Backlash built in: Whenever the Gloves are used in a Bout that ends in Backlash, an Adult Fiend is summoned. The Fiend begins to materialize and will, at the beginning of the next Round, join the battle, fighting as a third party against Jist. The Fiend will attack no other target, though Jist’s companions may attack the Fiend to protect the weakened caster. Suffering an Affliction Any odd curse, ailment, or affliction can be given to a caster who draws Backlash from the Fray. Decide on a lingering condition with a suitable cure or method of healing and slap it onto the Source object. For example: Tunde’s Neferatha witch, Naghi , wears a vestment knit from the dried hide of an archaic ape. The hide offers +2 Blood Magick, +2 Summoning, and +2 Antagony. The benefits of the garment, however, are matched by the danger of its unique Backlash: The caster changes shape into an archaic ape. The transformation acts as a Low Shapeshift, offering 4 new Aptitudes and any Natural Attacks to the magicker from the ape. Tunde chooses the Aptitudes and plays Ghabbi as an ape, which means no weapons or items. This lasts until the caster drinks the blood of a true archaic ape… Let the hunt begin. Forging an Alignment A bold form of Backlash could be binding the caster directly to a Fray spirit (maybe a freshly summoned beast or a dark, lingering god who stalks the hero from beneath the Tapestry). For summoned beasts, this could mean the caster becomes a Minion or Familiar of the Fray beast for a time. For beasts who remain in the netherworld, the caster may become a physical pawn or servant of the spirit. In either case, if the mage does not obey the commands of the beast, he suffers the appropriate Tax on the new Alignment.
Another way for Backlash to manifest as a new Alignment could be spiritual possession. What if a spirit from the Fray attaches to the caster as a parasite on a host? Voices inside the mage’s head would push him to certain actions, and any disobedience results in physical pain and the Alignment tax. Remember, any creature who has power in the human realm must also have a body: Fray spirits could manifest physically as a tumor or literal parasite. The Scribe could decide to have the Alignment last until the Source object is discarded or until a certain ritual can take place. Maybe the companions must now stalk the Fray beast and destroy it to free their friend from the relationship. Switching Aptitudes Something big to hit casters with could be a Backlash that changes his or her personality. Changing the personality and demeanor of a character will have effects that ripple through the hero’s Aptitudes. For example: Justin’s magicker, Kando of House Osprey, has a Sorrow Ring carved from the bone of a long-dead Greater Mammoth. It offers +3 Summoning and +2 Protagony Magick. Its unique Backlash property is that the ring hardens the heart of its bearer (-1 Relate and +1 Fight). A caster could suffer the effects of the Sorrow Ring only minimally before its use as Summoning Source would dwindle.
Keru’s Relics +4 Blood Magick +3 Summoning +3 Enchanting Keru Echi was the first sorcerer to spawn Fell beasts in the Kuludo Islands. It is said that he learned the dark art from a demon caught in a panther-trap deep in the forest. In exchange for its release, the demon divulged the secret of creating life from the corpses of humans and Greater beasts. Keru, Ogre-Father, Scourge of the H’han, Demon-Mate-- he led a handful of Fell spawn against the army of House Quail, spilling the blood of a thousand men before dying himself at the hands of Lord Quail. The sorcerer’s body was then cut into pieces and buried in seven graves spread across the islands. A goat’s bladder contains the shriveled remains of two of Keru’s graves. Sixteen wrist and finger bones rattle inside the bladder alongside three dried organs: liver, stomach, and colon. Backlash Any sorcerer who uses Keru’s Relics is at risk of summoning a powerful and gruesome demon, the Teacher of Keru, Litzu Ik’wana. Promised the soul of Keru at their initial meeting, and giving the Ogre-Father his own sister as a bride, Litzu is bound to the remains of his pupil. Should the sorcerer using Keru’s Relics suffer Backlash, Litzu himself will grow out of the Relics, destroying them. Litzu is enraged and will fight every human in sight, focusing on the sorcerer and his allies. He spares animals.
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If Litzu is summoned into the presence of single human alone, however, he will offer to spare the opponent at a price: one soul. If the human accepts the bargain, he or she immediately develops an Alignment at an Investment of 4, which cannot be raised or lowered as normal. The human is now bound to the voice of Litzu. Obeying the voice counts as “playing to” the Alignment, while disobedience results in a tax. Litzu is cruel and bloodthirsty, and he will command humans to perform twisted and brutal atrocities about once a week.
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Mundane Items Alchemical Items Ingredients All ingredients for the alchemical arts fit into two families: common and rare. Exactly what ingredient is used for reach Resin or Potion will vary depending on the culture that wrote the recipe, the geography of the area, and the skill of the alchemist. Scribes are encouraged to come up with interesting recipes and ingredients to keep their players cringing. Resins Most of the concoctions created by alchemists will take the form of a Resin, a small, waxy wad of medicinal or caustic ingredients. Often wrapped in a small paper sleeve, Resins are more functional than glass bottles filled with liquids. Resins can resemble sticky tobacco strips used as chew or powdered snuff made into a paste. Two Resins have 1 Load. The general effect of any particular Resin is determined by the recipe or Mastery of the alchemist, with the base solvent used determining extra effects. Vials Vials fit the more traditional image of fantasy alchemy, though carrying glass containers in battle proves difficult. Vials are each 2 Load but add +2 to the Effect any recipe in Resin form.
Nela awoke. She blinked away tears and tasted ash. The fires had stopped, though everything still smoldered. The ogre-man, the one named Kalis’atha, lay dead before her, crushed beneath the branch and pinned there as the fires—the fires he began—consumed him. She staggered away, first pausing to retrieve her knives, the blades charred with carbon.
Mundane Weapons Weapons in Early Dark all serve a single purpose, to kill an opponent in a single hit. Some tools can be useful in combat as well, tools such as shields and chains, which offer added Armor or useful Talents, respectively. In most places, the poor would rarely have specially made weapons, instead using their own daily tools to fend off predators or attackers: axes, machetes, spears, and clubs. Swords have an interesting history, and in many cases they served more ceremonial than combative purposes. Add Epithets to any weapon to raise its Balance or make it higher quality. Offer Talents to especially legendary weapons or any with special properties.
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Common Weapons And Their Properties
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Weapon Aspect Load Balance Possible Talents Dagger Light 1 4 ??? Chain Light 2 3 Pin, Disarm Shortsword Short 2-3 4 ??? Small Axe Short 4 2 ??? Battle Axe/Halberd Heavy 5 1 Ignore Armor 3 Staff/Hammer Heavy 4-5 ??? 3 Largesword Heavy 4 ??? Longsword Heavy 5 2 ??? 3 Ignore Armor Throwing Knives Ranged 1 (for 5) 3-5 4 Bow Ranged ???
Bestiary: Classifications Any animal in the following bestiary can be customized with Epithets. If everyday encounters include animals with one Wound, the Scribe might choose to add one Epithet for each extra Wound she gives an especially important creature.
All Fell animals and beasts use their own unhemmed blood as Source and roll no Drain. Arts purchased with Assimilations can be Arcana or Insights. Gaining Atavisms with assimilated parts can compound the influence of the Fray.
For example: An Adult Roc could not avoid having gained Epithets by humans who spotted the creature. Maybe “The Roc of Summer Field” uses the Epithet to learn a Raw Lead Art and attract a Swarm of Followers. The great bird could also improve an Aptitude, and take a Trait Modifier.
Lesser Lesser animals or beasts are mundane creatures who have been slightly tainted by the Fray. This can come from direct exposure to the blood of fallen Fell beasts, a magickal presence in the area, or an atavistic bloodline that becomes expressed during the life of the animal. Lesser creatures would show visible signs of Fray tainting and can grow up to three times the size of mundane animals of the same species. To form a Lesser beast, give an Adult animal 2 Raw or Low Assimilations and +1 to each kind of Dice (see the Arcanum on page 326).
Or: More mundane animals would take an Epithet any time they caused trouble in local areas. Wild bears and sharks, for instance, are often labeled “mankillers” once they take down their first human victim. Local areas rally to exterminate the beast. The Scribe can use the Epithet “man-killer” to offer an Adult Lion a +1 Fight, a +2 Augments for DPD (bending the usual rules of one Trait per Epithet) and 2 extra Dice (using the two Stars). Remember that Wounds are narrative devices, and enemies should be given a number of Wounds equal to their importance in the heroes’ tale. Young A Young animal or beast is the juvenile form of the creature. To form a Young enemy, use the Aptitudes and characteristics given for the Adult but reduce all Dice (Mundane, Arcane, Loom, and Guard) by 1.
See Templates for Aptitudes and Attacks.
Elder The most powerful form of any creature is the Elder shape. Elder creatures, those that were once natural animals as well as those forever tainted by the Fray, are fearsome enemies that will challenge even the most powerful heroes. They can be up to ten times the size of natural animals of the same species and take any of a number of twisted shapes. Many Elder creatures are capable of human speech and act as fully sapient beings. Form an Elder beast by adding to the Adult animal 5 Raw, Low, or High Assimilations and +4 to each kind of Dice.
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Adult The Adult form is the standard list of Aptitudes and abilities for all mundane animals and beasts. Important creatures may have Epithets offered by townsfolk or legends, and Scribes can alter any stats to fit the unique nature of the enemy being faced. Adult creatures will have Natural Attacks and Abilities, but nothing resembling Arts or Arcana. Only those beasts with a Fell aspect sport such capabilities.
Greater The Greater form of a creature represents a powerful presence of Fray blood. For any beast to grow into a Greater shape, it would need sustained contact with Fell blood, through constant interaction with a god’s corpse or through taking up residence in a Barrow. Greater creatures can be very powerful and up to six times larger than mundane animals of the same species. They may have extra limbs, eyes, or mouths, representing the chaotic nature of the Fray. To form a Greater beast, give an Adult animal 3 Raw, Low, or High Assimilations and +2 to each kind of Dice.
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Bestiary: Mundane Animals Bats Flying mammals that subsist mostly on insects, fruit, and smaller animals like frogs and fish. Some species also feed on the blood of larger animals. These blood drinkers are valued by Blood magickers as fetishes for enhancing their art. Dried bat carcasses and limbs often adorn the clothing and person of such magickers.
3 2 3 4 3 4 1 4 8
4 1 0 4
5
2
5
Bite (F-M): +3 Strike Scratch (G-M): +2 Strike 17 Talents: Blood let: 1 Shock 2 per die of Fatigue S warm: -1 RPR next 5 Round
3
4
Swarm Rate: 8 Guard Dice: 2
0
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4 1 0 3
5
4
2 6
4 8
0
4
Bite: +2 Strike Talons: +2 Strike
17
Swarm Rate: 2 Guard Dice: 3
2 5 2 1 4 2 6 3 0
Birds Birds are plentiful in the lands surrounding the great seas. Many cultures find significance in birds’ apparent freedom, and some peoples grant them specific qualities in myth and legend. In Edish totem lore, the raven is popularly considered a trickster.
3 3 2 2 3 4 2 5
Bears Bears are large, omnivorous mammals that live in a range of climates. Certain peoples of Edrada have exalted bears for their strong individualism, wearing their skin and claws. In some remote areas of Edradan wilderness, great Fell bears, remnants of ages past, still live in solitude.
3 2 0 3
6
4
4
Bite: +4 Strike Charge (M): +1 DPD Talents: 18 Bear Hug: 2 Shock per die of Fatigue
1
10
3 8
Guard Dice: 5
0
Boars Some wild pigs in the Far Wilds are fabled to weigh more than a horse. Boars are fast and aggressive, making them popular targets for sporting expeditions. Adult males develop large tusks, which are worn as ornaments by warriors and employed as magickal fetishes.
1 5 2 3 4 3 5 4 0
3 2 0 3
6
5
3
Charge (F-M): +2 DPD (Once per Round) T alents: 18 Gore: Ignore Armor
2 9
3 10
2
Guard Dice: 4 Thick Hide Armor
Canines Canines can vary immensely, with wolves and dogs exhibiting a range of shapes and features. Canines are primarily pack-based animals, hunting and living in wild groups or as members of human communities.
Felines The Felidae family houses a variety of animals, ranging from the domesticated tabby cat to the noble Steppe Lion, males of which species can reach heights of 7’ at the shoulders and weigh over one hundred stone.
The Vayok have taken to breeding Tundra Wolves, the largest known canines, for a variety of purposes. Trainers of Vaankur have recently encouraged more aggressive lines to trade with the Anu. Those who have seen the animals in the wild, would never agree to such a thing.
Cats are independent hunters, and the larger great cats are sought out and challenged by Edish and Alagoth hunters to prove their merit. Certain aristocratic classes in the Anu and Neferatha culture maintain these same dangerous cats domestically—often at the expense of their underlings’ lives and limbs. Lord Goryo of House Osprey has raised two black panthers that spend their lives at his heels, following him on most of his state business.
4 3 5 3 4 6 3 4 0
4 1 -1 3
6
4
5
Bite (F-L): +4 Strike Scratch (F-M): +2 Strike 18 Talents: Pin: [-2] Durable
3
7
0 10
3 8
0
3 5 1 4 4 5 4 5
4 2 0 4
6
5
5
Bite (F-L): +4 Strike Claws (F-M): +2 Strike 18 Talents: Gore: Ignore Armor 3 Pin: [-2] Durable 8
4 0
Guard Dice: 4
Guard Dice: 3
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Horses Horses are athletic, hooved mammals typically raised for transportation and labor. The Edish and Neferatha are fond of eating horse meat, though other cultures find such practices barbaric. Many ways of life depend on the speed and endurance of horses, but none more so than the Alagoth. The strength of Alagoth patriarchs and clans is measured by the number and quality of their horses, and heroes of the Alagoth tradition are often remembered less for their feats and more for the wealth of their stables. Horses take names and sire lineages just as the warriors who ride them.
Rodents Resilient and widespread, rodents are present throughout the world of the Hara Sea. Though not typically considered a direct threat to humans, rodents can transmit diseases and act as magickal familiars. The Vayok have bred a mink-like rodent to act as companions and helper animals. These animals are often trained to respond to voice commands, and are kept secreted on the owner’s person in a pouch or pocket.
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4 1 0 3
6
5
3
Talents: Disease: 1 Shock per die of Fatigue 16 Scramble: [-1] Durable Penalty
1 5 3
10
0
Swarm Rate: 6 Guard Dice: 2
1 2 4 1 3 4 5 5 0
3 1 0 3
5
3
4
If it wins Initiative: Charge: +1d10 Aura
17 See:
2
Ride, Mounted Fighting
9
4 6
Guard Dice: 4
0
Snakes Few animals enjoy the artistic and mythological attention of snakes. The stories of the Alagoth people cast snakes as villainous and treacherous, while Edish totem lore confers guile and wisdom on those who bear the mark of the serpent. Neferatha art employs snakes as symbols of sexuality, often mixing serpentine iconography and form with images of sex.
4 3 1 4 2 5 1 4 0
4 1 0 3
6
6
2
Bite (F-M): +5 Strike Poison: Successful 16 Wound deals 8 Lingering Shock 3 Talents: Pierce: Ignore Armor 5 Disarm: Durable
3
12
0
Swarm Rate: 10 Guard Dice: 2
Bestiary: Megafauna Megafauna are vestiges of prehistoric times, remnants of an age before humans evolved on the Tapestry. Megafauna are powerful and feared but not necessarily tainted with the Fray. Scribes can create Lesser, Greater, and Elder versions of Megafauna by adding Arcane powers to these already awesome foes. Archaic Apes The archaic apes are tail-less primates that forage and hunt in the forests and hill regions of Ragus. They are much less gregarious than typical apes, as it seems many of them are the sole survivors of their tribes. In rare instances, they may travel in small groups, with one fully mature male and two or three female apes of child-bearing age. Female groups with children may be encountered also. All archaic apes are to be considered hostile. Tale is told in many cultures that they are the distant offspring of fallen magickers, the cursed remnants of a lost cult who became too hungry for power, whose bodies and minds became twisted by their own greedy machinations. Most cultures circulate a variant of this history.
4 4 5 4 4 2 5 3 0
4 1 -1 4 18
1 9 3 12
0
8
6
6
Talents: Bite: Can Strike Pin: [-2] Durable Beat (F-L): +1 DPD
Swarm Rate: 6 Guard Dice: 4
Flesh out encounters with archaic apes by adding Minions of younger apes or hostile birds such as ravens or eagles. Alternatively, birds can act as Retainers with high Auras to deflect early blows and a longer Range. Apes make excellent Followers for powerful human enemies as well. Magickers can use them as Familiars or trusted Retainers in battle, an ape more cunning than the common ogre and much more loyal to a compassionate master.
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Karkadhan Karkadhans are the approximate size and density of a small fortress, weighing as much as two dozen mighty war stallions and standing nearly as high as a mammoth. This bulk is wrapped in a neutral-toned hide that gnarls and thickens with age, folding and stiffening into overlapping plates of organic armor that render the elder members of the species all but impervious to the conventional weapons of humans. Karkadhans are quite violent tempered, and will rush into conflict with an aggression matched only by the bravest of human warriors. There are tales, however, of a rampaging Karkadhan suddenly become passive and submissive when confronted with a young, virginal girl, apparently under the child’s complete control.
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The Karkadhan is featured in Alagoth heroic mythology more than any other Megafauna, and it enjoys no fewer than twenty-five epithets among those people. Each animal bears a single horn of bone among several sets of keratin horns. Carrying the horn of such a beast is
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among the highest possible honors of Alagoth culture, and stories abound of impossibly strong men with hundreds of champion stallions in their stables who gamble all against the legend of the Karkadhan--and most often lose. The Karkadhan is commonly used in fables as a cautionary tale, warning aspiring warriors of the dangers of unchecked hubris.
2 4 2 1 3 3 7 4 0
3 1 0 3
8
6
4
Charge: If win Initiative +10 Aura Talents: 17 Gore: Ignore Armor Kick: Can Strike 2 Trample (F-M): +1 DPD
10 3 12 10
Guard Dice: 6 Thick Hide Armor
A true Karkadhan hunt begins by chasing down the charging beast. Wearing down the powerful runner enough to begin throwing spears is often half the challenge, and Scribes are encouraged to preface a headto-head fight with the Trial of cornering the behemoth. Such animals are majestic roamers of the Steppe and deserve a multistage combat experience. Stage One: Avoid Stampede Keep the Karkadhan from startling and running straight through hunters, brush, or obstacles. Make players engage in a small Trial to sneak up on the Karkadhan or to arrange a path for it to follow ahead of time. Roll passively for the Karkadhan in Cunning-Touch to resist the ploys of the player-characters. Each player must score five Hits before the Karkadhan wins a Bout. If you fail, the beast starts to run...
Moa Moa are large, flightless birds that are found only in the Kuludo Islands. Their lack of flight is made up for by their powerful legs, which allow them to maintain speeds equal to that of the fastest Alagoth horse for several minutes. Despite their impressive sprinting ability, Moa have a very slow walking speed and a remarkably lazy disposition. In the wild, the birds are not aggressive, and will almost always flee confrontation—even at the loss of their eggs or young. Because of these passive tendencies, wild Moa have become more and more uncommon due to predation and over-hunting. They are also popularly held as symbolic of ignorance, foolishness, or stupidity in Anu culture. This estimation is best embodied in the comical epic House of Moa, a multi-generational, unfinished poem documenting the haplessness of a fictional line of Anu nobility.
Stage Two: Wear Down It takes great endurance to outlast the running Karkadhan. Have players make a number of rolls at increasing Difficulty to avoid taking Exertion Damage while tiring the brute. Include a Trial on the side of these rolls to avoid being side-swiped by the Karkadhan. If the player does not score six Hits during the exertion rolls, he or she is toppled by the immense bulk of the beast.
Stage Four: Battle Set the number of Wounds according to the fame of the Karkadhan and the number of Epithets it has accrued in a long life on the Steppe. How many Rounds before the beast charges again? Is there an ongoing Trial to keep the animal surrounded?
1 2 3 1 2 4 4 5 0
3 1 0 3
8
4
5
Charge: If win Initiative +10 Aura Talons (F-L): +4 16 Strike Talents: 2 Pin: [-2] Durable
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Stage Three: Spearing Set the Guard of the Karkadhan at an appropriate level, taking into consideration the duration of the chase so far. Have players take turns attempting to deal the first Wound. This may require special spears or other scarce resources (carrying more would raise the Exertion Damage suffered in the previous Stage).
8 4
8
2
Guard Dice: 5 Scaled Armor
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Quetzal Quetzal are great, feather-winged serpents that live shrouded in mystery in the Kuludo Islands. They are not territorial creatures, nor do they apparently value any one region or locale more than another. Instead, they seem to roam endlessly, capriciously rewarding, destroying, or ignoring altogether any humans they may encounter. They are rumored to have some Loom abilities, but encounters are so rare that this cannot be confirmed. The serpentine body of a Quetzal is sheathed in transmutable scales. The colors and patterns exhibited there shift and shimmer into complex patterns, loops and whorls, and chaotic intertwinings that many have likened to those of the Tapestry. Because of this, Quetzal are often ascribed the powers of Weaving, and certain traditions amongst the older cultures of the world hold that they represent the remains of the great Weavers of the centuries beyond recorded time. The Weavers of these legends achieved such power that they became a Thread themselves, and now dance endlessly through the Loom.
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8
5 1 0 3
8
8
Any 2 Insights on Low Bite (F-M): +4 Strike 18 Constrict (F-L): 2 Shock per die of 3 Fatigue
10
4 16
7
4 4 1 1 5 5 7 5 12 10
Guard Dice: 6 Scaled Armor
See Illustration on Page 323.
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8
Roc The Roc is a fantastically large avian creature that has been known to carry away livestock in pairs, one in each great talon. Many a shepherd’s flock has disappeared completely over the course of a week in a Roc-infested region, and with the advent of a Roc’s nest in nearby mountains, many a village and town has suffered the same fate. There are otherwise lush and healthy valleys and plains that remain desolate of human activity for fear of the beasts. The devastation and fear these Megafauna inflict on entire regions often make them subject to high bounties for any heroes brave enough to challenge them.
4 1 0 3
8
5
5
Dive (F-M): +2 DPD Launch: If win Initiative 19 grab & drop, ignoring Armor & Aura
3
10 4 4
Guard Dice: 9 Scaled Armor
Zmey Large, powerful creatures, Zmey exhibit any number of features in seemingly endless combinations. Some have multiple heads, some have wings, and some have multiple limbs—but no two are exactly alike. Many Zmey have scales, resembling colossal serpents, while others have a hide similar to that of a Karkadhan, and are adorned with thick manes of fur. Their intelligence typically exceeds that of humans, and they carry in their powerful frames first-hand knowledge of the unknowable history of the Tapestry. Some Zmey, referred to collectively by Anu scholars as Aizdaija, have a debatable level of intelligence. Popular opinion holds that they are mindless beasts, capable only of the most basic thoughts and driven primarily by instinct and reaction to their environments. However, a popular new school of Anu thought, heavily influenced by the translated writings of the Neferatha scholar Mehran, is gaining notoriety for its suggestion that Aizdaija are
6 7 1 5 7 6 7 5
5 2 0 4 22 3 10 4
12 18 12
9
9
6
Bite (F-M): +7 Strike Grip (F-L): +1 DPD Command (C-G): same as Arcanum
Guard Dice: 7 Scaled Armor
the oldest and most intelligent of the Zmey. These scholars claim that their age, knowledge, and power mean that Aizdaija experience the world in a way so foreign to humans that their motivations and thoughts cannot even be imagined.
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Bestiary: Fell Beasts The following entries are three families of humanoids bound to the Fray. Each contains a handful of more specific kinds, and Scribes can take liberties forging new and exotic creatures from the possibilities below. Fell beasts cannot exist in natural forms and will always smell of the Tapestry’s underside.
Giant Giants on the surface of the world are not true giants at all, but half-giants. They are the offspring of a “mothering,” which is a beautiful, siren-like female who seeks out heroic human males to mate with. These motherings are pale, platinum-haired women. They lure powerful men away from society or find them near death and offer succor. After copulation, female giants give birth to monstrous giants of folklore, who are technically asexual but commonly referred to as male. Depending on the place of origin, giants can have small tusks, bluish or frosted skin, hair in a variety of colors, and/ or claws. While motherings, as true giants, are highly intelligent, their gigantic offspring are only semi-intelligent creatures that fashion the most rudimentary tools and wear simple coverings. Most giants live in small groups of one mothering and two to four sons. Legend has it that after reaching a certain age, sons frenzy and storm from their wilderness homes, each drawn somehow to his father. According to the tales, once reaching a settlement or city occupied by the human male
who sired the beast, the giant will rampage until put down. Humans then argue over who might be the sire who attracted the giant. The origins of these myths are often tied up in the politic of scapegoating, which might argue against the truth of such a cause for attacks. See Illustration on page 124-125.
1 5 2 3 3 2 7 3 0
3 2 0 3 17
1
8
6
4
May have 2 Raw Arts if trained by Mothering Can use weapons
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Guard Dice: 6 May wear armor
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Adult and older Giants travel alone, while Young Giants may travel in broods of up to six. All broods will be accompanied one-third of the time by a Mothering. Motherings resemble a human in Aptitudes and abilities, each individual knowing different Arts and carrying different equipment. Motherings are, however, true giants and have five Guard Dice. An interesting encounter might consist of a Mothering with a handful of very powerful Minion and Retainer offspring. Equip the giants as you see fit and let them all bolster and complement the attacks of the Mothering, be they Mundane or Arcane abilities. Motherings work well with a few Arcana from the Manipulation or Enchantment families of magick, and one could argue that the more sensitive sons offer Arcane Dice benefits instead of the typical Mundane.
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Or, alternatively, prepare a powerful giant with his Mothering as a Retainer. The heaviest blows will land against the brute, while the Mothering makes magick attacks available and changes up the dynamic a bit. Maybe this is a Greater Giant serving the Mothering on a quest of hers...
Ogre Ogres are giant, bloodthirsty humanoids standing on average seven to ten feet at the shoulder who descend from the earliest human experiments with the arcane arts millennia ago. Ogres take on the qualities of whatever they eat, and any individual creature will look more or less animalistic depending on its diet. The term “ogre” covers a broad range of lineages, including monsters commonly referred to as bugbears, goblins, yetis, and boogeymen. Each ogre is its own species, either a mage’s creation or a distant descendent of an earlier ogre; each a unique beast with its own properties and appearance. Mages spawning such beasts would never refer to the creature as “ogre” and instead grant it a unique pet name, treating the beast as a freshly evolved being. Likewise, humans plagued by an ogre taking up residence in a nearby wood would rarely refer to the beast as simply “an ogre” and instead develop a name, possibly Epithets, and a folklore surrounding the creature.
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3 2 0 3 18
7
6
4
May borrow abilities from assimilated animals
2
9
3 12
0
Guard Dice: 5 May wear armor
After feeding on prey, ogres digest and assimilate the flesh in their oversized paunches. Over the course of a few years, an ogre will grow a single “baby” in the womb-like pouch near its stomach. When this youngling is fully developed, a unique product of Fell blood and the mixing flesh of many meals, the parent ogre regurgitates the new individual out into the world.
Dwarf ogres are called goblins and are both physically and mentally inferior to natural-sized ogres. They are said to result from an ogre eating only human children and are often tolerated as Followers by older, larger ogres.
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Ogres have no language and no technology, but can use human weapons and clothing if available. They are as smart as many apes though prove rather difficult to train. Ogres are solitary, extremely hostile, and very unsociable with other creatures. Two ogres meeting in the wild will always fight to the death, and only the most careful and powerful masters can keep two ogre followers from attacking one another.
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Troll Trolls are organic creatures whose flesh grows into their surroundings. The term covers a variety of creatures with similar features, though their origins could be quite dissimilar. Trolls have roughly humanoid shape and stand an average of eight to sixteen feet at the shoulder. Trolls of the forest would be covered in roots, shrubs, grasses, mushrooms, bark and branches. They still have flesh and blood, eyes and teeth, but their appearance can be almost tree-like in certain regions. Growing up in mountainous regions, in contrast, trolls absorb minerals and rock into their hides, sometimes growing crystals or metals. In caves, trolls would appear as gray, featureless humanoids of large proportions and small eyes. Various ecosystems will create unique lineages of trolls.
Almanac
Trolls hibernate for eight months out of each year, and during this time their flesh is most absorbent. Trolls are the least violent of the three humanoid families. They are hermaphroditic and reproduce sexually, but neither individual carries a baby. The resulting goo of their copulation is deposited in its surrounding and grows into a fleshy troll over the course of several decades. Trolls, though not naturally violent, are ferociously territorial and will attack those who linger too long in their domains. Trolls have no language or technology and would appear the least intelligent of the humanoids, almost animal like. At the same time, they have a certain wisdom about them and a connection to their surroundings.
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Despite the average size listed, trolls continue growing their entire lives. A troll 400 years old may be closer to 40 feet tall at the shoulder, though it would be very difficult for the creature to locomote due to the amount of debris and organic matter grown into its hide.
2 4 1 2 7 7 5 4 3
3 1 0 3 22 3 9
8
3
2 Loom Insights based on elemental surroundings Absorb Life: Same as Arcanum
3 6
4
6
Guard Dice: 5 Armor based on Elements
Bestiary: Diverse Magickal Creatures Fey Beings Beings of the Fey do not exist outside our world in a realm of their own. They take shape only when summoned or through random acts of nature and have no life before nor after their time on this world. Unlike the spirits of folklore who live in vast kingdoms of fairies and pixies, the Fey of Early Dark are instead beings tied to language and the perceived order of the cosmos. They represent the power of language and naming, the essence of a thing, the very substance of what makes any thing the thing it is. Young Fey appear as wisps and sprites of light, whereas Elder Fey take fearsome appearances often beyond human ken. These beings, however, cannot be said to age, as the Fey experience the passage time as we humans experience moving across space. This being the case, the Fey grows older as it moves closer to its Hearth and younger as it moves away.
Fey beings can appear in Lesser, Greater, and Elder forms as they move closer to their Hearths. This is not, however, the result of Fell Blood as is the case with all over creatures who take on magickal aspects. Use Insights instead of Arcana when creating Fey spirits and consider the assimilations entirely natural. Spirit Guides Some Fey, however, have become permanent residents of our world, locked into semi-physical existence through powerful magicks or an unexplained ripple in the Tapestry. Scribes are encouraged to create their own pantheons of Fey creatures for local regions in their campaigns. Tekkesetok and Naanusuk of Vayok lore are such bound Fey spirits who have now spent centuries in earthly form. The Totem animals of the Edish and at least three gods of the Anu are others.
Genius Recently, a new form of Fey spirit has been acknowledged by sages.
Almanac
Wardens Some of the most feared and mysterious Fey spirits are the Wardens. A Warden is a Fey spirit whose Hearth is a Mouth into the Fray. Such beings are tortured and unstable, and only two have been named in legend. Though the Fray lies beyond the order of this world, a mouth, being a tangible part of the Tapestry surface, can have a name like any other thing. Fey spirits forced to reside near mouths are constantly at odds with seekers of the arcane and creatures tainted with Unhemmed blood.
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Humans alone among creatures can add to and shape the Loom into art. When a human artist carves a new shape, the creation can, if flawless, give birth to a new spirit. The work of art itself becomes other than the materials used to make it. This was accepted for many hundreds of years. Recently, however, sages believe the Fey spirit to already exist in the potential of the Loom. These spirits whisper to the artist and direct his or her craft.
The Walls of Phanesh It has been imagined that human industry can harm the Fey, though what harm might look like to immortal beings is hard to fathom. The masons of Phanesh swear that their quarries worked so fast harvesting live rock from the Adelphus Hills that the Fey spirits of the stone were left behind. After the city walls were built and consecrated, local boys tending flocks in the hills would go missing. Hunting parties turned up nothing. Dogs found no scent. Horses covered the breadth of the region but found no sign of young shepherds. For twenty years this went on, and all was credited to restless spirits. Nothing could be done.
Almanac
When the Neferatha Empire set siege to Phanesh, the treasure of the Oldfire Coast, in year 311 of the Imperial Calendar, local sages from the region were captured and imprisoned in the old quarry. One of those sages, the story goes, saw twinkling lights within the caverns attached to the quarry. His name was Herus, and he became quite enamored of the glowing wisps of light that seemed to appear just on the edge of twilight. The other sages feared the caverns, knowing the stories of the missing shepherds, and bade him put the lights out of his mind, but Herus was enchanted by the swirl and cadence of the pulsing glow.
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One day, at twilight, Herus followed the dancing orbs deep into the heart of the rock. There he met a fierce and angered Fey spirit. The spirit told Herus that these wisps were once great spirits like himself until one spring, many years ago, when their Hearths were snatched from the hard earth. His friends
and kinsmen, said the spirit, became mindless sprites, beacons whose only impulse was to lure humans deep within the caverns to their deaths. Herus spoke with the spirit, telling him of the grand walls that yet protected Phanesh from the forces of the Neferatha general, Ganasthi, and where the stone was taken from. In supplication, he begged the spirit to free him and his fellows from the quarry, and in return he would take the wisps back to their Hearths. So it was done. As Herus came closer to the city with the escaped sages and the despondent spirits, the wisps took the shapes of men. They spoke with Herus and thanked him for his plan. Arriving behind Ganasthi’s camp at dawn, the spirits beheld their Hearths, now cut and carved into the decorated walls of Phanesh. As engine and arrow barraged the city, the spirits wailed in lament. They charged forth like a torrent, growing and changing as they ran. Cutting through the Empire’s army like chaff, the spirits reached the walls as giant statues of stone. Etched across their angled surfaces were glowing maps of the constellations above. Small faces with wide, circular eyes shown from enormous heads shaped like the statues that lined the city walls. They slew six thousand soldiers that day, reducing Ganasthi’s company to a red sludge. Over thirteen thousand men and women were killed upon the walls in the next two years. It is believed the city of Phanesh is still protected by the seven spirits who reside within its walls. The city has never been successfully breached in all its days since the Summer of Herus.
Fiends
Undead
A Fiend is any creature from the Fray that takes physical shape in our world. There are many kinds of fiends, and the family includes all sorts of twisted, semi-magickal beings from imps to demons. A Fiend could take any imaginable shape or temper.
The vital property of undead creatures in Early Dark is their existence as beings outside the order of the Threads. All undead creatures have had their threads clipped and walk the surface of the world unattached to the natural rhythms of age, growth, and death. They are quite literally not alive and yet not able to die and pass on. Animals in touch with the Fray can also dissolve their threads and become undead. Lich Occasionally, a denizen of the world may have the misfortune of losing their thread but keeping their life. Such creatures are no longer attached to the Loom, will never grow old, and will not die of natural causes. Referred to as a lich, vampire, or the unsleeping, they are immune to the affects of Weaving and cannot wield or interact with threads in any way. Liches are sentient immortals and may develop a bitter, malevolent temperament over decades and centuries of lonely existence. Some people, hungry for power, choose to become a Lich by clipping their own thread, surrendering their humanity for a chance to eternally pursue the Magickal secrets of the world.
Almanac
Ghoul Ghouls are the product of Necromancy. These are the remains of people and animals whose lives have already ended, but who have been re-animated without a thread. Though ghoul is the broad, encompassing term, they are also referred to as zombies, skeletons, shamblers, and the lost. They are often assigned a task upon re-animation, and will act single-mindedly toward that end until the task is completed or their physical form is destroyed. In many cases, a ghoul or group of ghouls may survive long after their creator is no more, causing terror and mayhem in pursuit of a forgotten aim. Create undead creatures by augmenting living forms of humans of animals. Many of their abilities would be treated as Powers (see 298) and utitlize Mundane Dice despite the appearance of Arcane learning.
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Chapter the Ninth
All Things Appendix This chapter includes the list of Scenarios that are a critical part of character creation. Refer to this chapter while starting a campaign or to come up with ideas for a random encounter (these Scenarios can work alongside the Wandering Monster charts on pages 270-271 to give Scribes a quick jolt of inspiration). Also, a small glossary of terms follows. Every term capitalized throughout the book (other than proper nouns) can be found in the glossary. Page numbers are included when appropriate. Sorry, but this is as close as we can get to an index, though the Table of Contents at the beginning of the book is a good place to go for page numbers, as we have tried to name each section after the information included within.
A dark-haired Edish Hattan of the Hawk tribe crumbles the highest tower of a Thulhu fortress. Hidden inside the upper rooms of the tower is a cadre of Alagoth mages using Kinesis magick to levitate the upper vault. Hawk warriors storm the city, looking for horses and grains. The Hawk of the Gold Plains have long been one of the most aggressive Edish tribes, though their cousins in the Red Plains are known for being tolerant of Parsi traders.
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0-1: UPPER EDRADA
Appendix
0-2: City-States Representatives from the largest thieves’ guilds in the city meet to 0: discuss territory claims for the upcoming festival. 1: A landowner’s daughter is out for a ride through the country when set upon by foreign warriors. She dispatches of them just as... 2: A Hattan of the plains on business in Lokod notices that she is being shadowed and ducks into an alley to spy on her followers. 3: Three friends decide to plunder a small merchant ship on the Kelkala waterfront, believing the vessel empty. 4: The public house is crowded when three foreigners enter, looking for information about a local merchant. A fight breaks out. Rangers from the plains take up residence in an old temple in a 5: deserted sector of the city. A new religion starts to form. Apprentice blacksmiths share notes, comparing their two masters, 6: against the rules of both schools... A local Hattan meets with his family to decide whether or not to 7: move his tribe into the growing urban economy. Alchemists take up residence in an old armory and begin producing 8: weapons for an unknown buyer. 9: Digging near an ancient well, dry for many generations, young opportunists find an artifact long thought destroyed. 3-4: Lowland Forests A group of merchants hire a skilled builder to construct a stone 0: trading post, but their motive seems suspect. Storms from the Wilds send local animals into frenzy, and three marsh 1: cats storm a small trading post. 2: Explorers encounter a group of unusually civilized wildermen and make some unusual trades. 3: Three friends find a man recently sentenced to death in a crossroad cage. He pleads to be set free, offering them... 4: A local hunter goes missing weeks before his body is found by two students of a cranky hermit. 5: Two woodsmen come across a baby in a floating basket as tribal warriors examine the river upstream. The woodsmen are spotted and... A guarded transport takes the fast road through the forest, fearful of the 6: dark creatures said to live there but in a dreadful hurry. A couple must travel from their rural village to the nearest large town to 7: acquire a fertility drug foreign to Edrada. Two rival tribes put down their differences for a moment to organize 8: games of skill in horsemanship, archery, and sport. Three spiritual seekers encounter a Greater woodland creature and are 9: invited to meet with the Elder spirit.
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5-7: Vast Plains 0: Three Alagoths arrive unannounced, peacefully offering trade while secretly wanting to explore a forgotten tomb. 1: Two thieves steal a daughter and several horses from a wealthy Hattan in the middle of the Bowls. 2: Four hunters stalk a herd of range bison when a horde of mounted riders comes over the ridge and starts a stampede. 3: A barbarian leader from the Wilds burns the head-high grass to find a group of fleeing slaves, but the fire gets out of control. 4: A tornado rips through the small nomadic village killing all but a few young survivors. 5: A war hero from a rival tribe joins a new camp, allying himself with the young Hattan and upsetting the balance of power. 6: Raiders clutch at a man’s cloak as he clambers up the wooden wall and turns from his perch to see... 7: Three women plan an ambush on farmers from a rival village who come out into the wilderness to hide their wealth in a secret cave. 8: Nobody hears him scream, the Parsi wizard covering his mouth as the dagger strikes. An apprentice stands watch. 9: A rival tribe launches a vast assault on the inhabited ruins of a large shrine, attempting to kill a wise elder hiding there.
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Appendix
8-9: Gundrada 0: A dark sorcerer dismantles the corpse of a Greater Bear, coveting the menacing claws, just as a group of hunters comes upon her. 1: An old mason cleans his workshop to prepare for a special project while his daughters sharpen their blades and practice. 2: Four explorers land a boat near the dark cliffs of the west with precious cargo, coming into view of the local hermit’s cottage. 3: Riding west, four explorers find a ruined outpost, once marking the furthest reaches of the Edish Empire. It seems to be inhabited. 4: An alchemist in a small city hires orphans to collect a rare herb deep in the arid hills. What they find could be worth money. 5: An aged Hattan sends several of his best men to hunt the distant ruins for supplies and potential arms. 6: Three Edish scouts are sent by their Hattan to find an outlaw holed up in the mountains. They find the outlaw, but... 7: The Arbiter of Ras sends a band of trusted underlings to hijack a vessel of Flower passing near the settlement’s coast. 8: A group of travelers must brave terrible conditions and ferocious beasts on a pilgrimage to the mountain shrine. 9: Three friends stumble across a hermit in the foothills who sends them on a treasure hunt for a forgotten relic of the old Empire.
2-3: RAGUS
Appendix
0-4: Coastal Cities Some friends decide to make money by playing middleman for a Flower 0: dealer in the inner city. 1: A lazy Left decides to betray his master and steal the house’s gems but is forced to part with some of his treasure when... 2: A group of streetwise investigators is hired by a dangerous cult to find those responsible for the death of a high-ranking priest. 3: Three Feet are slighted by several Alagoths looking for a fight in the winding streets of the East District in Uranishad. Several Edish city-dwellers decide to rob a crooked Right’s estate at the 4: edge of the Hill District in Ugurlu. 5: A procession of war heroes on elephants parades through the streets, dragging captives. Cultists seize an elephant and attack. Feet scurry through the dark hall, worried their master will not be happy 6: that his favorite pet has escaped the lower chamber. A shadowy figure watches a politician enter a brothel in Anishad and 7: returns to his master with the news. A band of thieves attempts to rescue a friend from his guild8: sanctioned execution for stealing from a fellow member. A local merchant asks two adventurers to investigate his family 9: tombs, a labyrinth filled with unfriendliness. 5-7: Tree Cities A Crown sends his servant deep into the tree to retrieve some of freshly 0: grown jade moss for study in his laboratory. Several friends embark on a journey to find a way to the top of the tree 1: and investigate rumors of a humanoid race living in the highest reaches. Wealthy Right businessmen hire several fighters to guard their 2: storehouses near the trunk, afraid of a local priest. Two sisters find out a local Left has a powerful potion recipe and decide 3: to steal it from his home. 4: An Edish exile hires several bounty hunters to kidnap his son from the land of his birth many leagues to the Northwest. A party of injured desert raiders sneaks into a temple by night, 5: contaminating local healing waters and stealing supplies. A murderer escapes from her escort of guards and slips into the custody 6: of brothel managers. 7: Two wizards, their master dead, stumble into the city parched and faint, each clutching a small piece of scroll. Four Nibu Crowns walk among the filthy streets of the North Slum in 8: Esvesthi, looking for a particular thief. A local temple holds a vigil for the equinox, expecting the coming of 9: Shivu, the god of destruction. The cult’s true patron emerges...
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8-9: Bronze Lake Region 0: A Crown priest sends some slavers northwest to catch a band of renegade Edish and Neferatha fighters roaming the coast. 1: A Right enlists the help of three friends to help him fake his death, the pressures of his fellow cult members growing too high. 2: Several Feet are caught grave-robbing and must flee the city. 3: A mixed group of people awaken on a floating luxury ship to find that it has been hijacked. 4: Something has been disturbing a nearby ancestral tomb and a Crown sends a party of Rights to investigate. 5: Artists finish dressing the new bedroom of a royal consort, just as her lover slips into the window early. 6: Three guards witness the death of their master but turn their heads and smile... 7: A Nibu Right starts a fight with three Feet in a tavern because one of them is wearing armor that was stolen from him earlier. 8: A female Crown takes a dip in the placid lake at night, something about her stirring the waters at that time awakening a... 9: Six Lefts are hired to explore a local cavern to see if it connects to the underground current of the Inji River.
Appendix
383
4-5: FOOTHILLS OF LOWER EDRADA
Appendix
0-4: Patriarch Camps 0: Several Alagoths are enlisted by an Edish farmer to get rid of some feral cats that have been eating his livestock. 1: A small band of Edish tribesmen attack the scouting party for an Alagoth caravan transporting prized horses. A young lover enlists the help of a friend to kill a fearsome beast in order 2: to impress his muse. Young Alagoths catch a traitor helping the local Edish herders by 3: supplying them with weapons. 4: A family of Alagoths ally with an Edish Arbiter against a Hattan of the Summer Fields moving his herds into their shared fields. 5: A druid astrologer predicts doom on the new settlement if sacrifices are not made before sunset. 6: Six children are selected to serve as priestesses in a new shrine settlement far from their parents, but guards lost them on the way. 7: Edish warriors attack an important druidic glade, cutting down venerated trees and inviting the wrath of local spirits. 8: Rustling horses from a smaller caravan, four rogues lose something more valuable than what they are stealing. 9: A shaman of the Edish ways challenges the guards of a druidic shrine to a public duel, three on one. 5-9: Free Cities 0: Several female thieves are preying upon desperate men in the area, angering the men’s heirs. 1: Treasure hunters discover an undisturbed ruin and decide to investigate, bringing Edish guides. 2: A famed patriarch asks a couple of his best fighters to assassinate a nearby city’s Arbiter so he can take control of the city’s water. An Alagoth must prove his strength to an Edish man to gain his 3: daughter’s hand in marriage, her powers needed as a priestess. 4: Alagoth bodyguards must protect their leader from an assassination attempt by Edish scouts sent by their Arbiter. Political strife arises when the old Patriarch dies without a clear 5: successor. Two spies send word to a neighboring city. The daughter of a prominent consort in the patriarch’s house takes up 6: swordplay and studies with local masters. 7: Rebuilding the city walls becomes less arduous when a local Greater beast is coaxed into the task. 8: Visiting warriors hunt local beasts nearly to extinction, and apprentice druids make a formal accusation with the leader. 9: A large citadel collapses, killing hundreds and awakening a Greater creature deep below the surface.
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6-7: KULUDO ISLANDS 0-2: Kuludo Island A lord’s head servant calls the house staff together to discuss the new 0: season’s duties and schedules. 1: Five wives meet to decide whose son will marry the daughter of a powerful local lord. 2: A wealthy merchant docks his barge of Khazil children, when two tundra wolves escape, unleashing a rampage on the port. 3: The local shrine, bent on political gain, demands that three women from each estate in the area take up the ascetic life. 4: Two former friends meet on the battlefield, their armies waiting behind them as they, House Lords, clash swords and charge. 5: A Lord catches word of rebellion in his farms to the west and sends a squad to assess the causes and report back to him. As the religious festival begins, an army of Fiends rushes into the temple, 6: slaughtering and devouring dozens before help arrives. 7: The Khazil wolf-keeper of a lord’s estate must send his daughter to her marriage on a merchant ship bound for Ugurlu because... 8: On the rooftops of a vast estate, two thieves cross paths, starting a scuffle that alerts the guards. 9: The House Lord chooses a successor from her deathbed as a battle unlike any in a century rages outside the fortifications of the estate.
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Appendix
3-6: Lowland Wetlands A blacksmith finishes a devastating blade, but it is stolen from his 0: shop just as the Lord comes to claim his purchase. A caravan of merchants parades through the streets after a 1: journey, while a guild of assassins launches a very public attack. Minstrels play in a dark brothel, while wealthy politicians make 2: wagers on how the spectacle before them will turn out... Thun farmers work in the rice paddies as a small group of 3: fighters flee from a large troop of the Emperor’s personal guard. Thun serfs pool their resources to secure a private home in the 4: city’s posh district, causing a prejudiced fuss on moving day. A shipment of Flower goes missing and three guards come to a 5: small town to investigate. A local girl is chosen for this season’s sacrifice, but an elder of the 6: village has an objection... This year’s harvest is bleak, and so a group of villagers is sent to 7: raid a neighboring fief for supplies. The province’s liege lord, a powerful Sabu, visits a small village 8: to inspect his maize crops, just as the local elder skims off the top. H’han masons measure ground in a vast maize field to begin plans 9: for a new temple, challenging the local lord’s sovereignty.
7-9: Rainforest Cities and Estates 0: A wealthy merchant goes to a temple in the wilderness to fetch a talisman for his upcoming caravan’s safety. 1: A hunting party splits up to look for a missing member only to come across earlier victims of their dangerous prey. A remote estate house has been abandoned for two generations, but 2: lately thieves have been squatting there, unaware of... 3: The lake is wide, and a military unit traveling around its perimeter finds trouble when a band (herd, pack, group) comes to drink. 4: A group of servants are sent by their master to seek an advantage over his enemies in the hut of a dark hermit. 5: Three trained guards catch saboteurs setting fire to their master’s Flower vines below the Floor. 6: In the canopy, tending Flower goes wrong when the fertilizer begins to deteriorate the vines. The local alchemist is blamed. 7: Above the Floor, Sabu mercenaries plan to attack a neighboring vineyard. A sound is heard outside... 8: An estate house catches fire deep in the woods. Two explorers stop to help. 9: Two warrior scouts from rival clans pass each other cautiously on a narrow path in the canopy. Out in the White Forest, days later, dazed, Nela saw something in the distance. A shadow, a Tower, rising up over everything, hidden behind whitening leaves. And then, a voice called to her. A voice she found familiar. The voice of a ghost. “Little sister!” Her heart lifted.
Appendix
Ellas.
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8-9: VAANKUR 0-6: Three Homes Two brothers argue over a newly discovered artifact during the yearly 0: festival following a long hunting season. 1: A hunting party sets off, and several younger members of the tribe follow in secret. 2: A fight breaks out in the longhouse during a storyteller’s performance, and a precious heirloom is stolen in the confusion. 3: A thief gets caught stealing the jewels decorating the beard of a sleeping patriarch when someone walks in. Three friends discover an ancient ice cave after one falls into a crevasse. 4: 5: Two rival dock masters send representatives to a meeting in order to discuss a possible alliance against a third, stronger merchant. Three siblings of a simple brewer come home to find raiders have burned 6: their village and killed their father. Four Vayoks plan to assassinate the local shaman in an effort to stop a 7: marriage that involves one of their friends. 8: Returning from a raid, two longboats capsize and spill their loot. Months later, young Vayoks swim out to retrieve the spoils... Ikshi shaman find an injured giant and begin incantations to steal its 9: strength.
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Appendix
7-9: Clan Settlements 0: A group of foreign merchants inspecting a new mine are awed when their hired mercenaries dispatch a tundra bear with ease. 1: A fatherly ascetic begins teaching a young orphan how to read and write, when the old man’s hut is attacked... An incredulous caravan loaded with rare gems and metals meets an old 2: man living comfortably all alone in the mountains. Explorers looking for new routes and passes find a huge, abandoned 3: tower at a very high altitude. A Hikjin elder prepares his son to trek into the icy waste looking for… 4: 5: A group of wardens is attacked by a pack of Valhenjorn raiders coming to free one of their own from isolation in the mountains. 6: Exploring the jagged rock, young Glokurs are startled to find a pair of giants sharpening rocks into hand axes. 7: A Parsi family sent into exile seeks shelter in a hermit’s cottage near the dire cliffs, unbeknownst to the shaman himself. 8: During a long hunt, a clan is decimated by tundra bears. Survivors flee to the mountains and encounter an old blacksmith. 9: Following an unknown thread, two Edish weavers wander into the dark cliffs, their guides hesitant to follow.
Glossary of Terms Advantage – Secondary Tacks made of one die. Advantages are the smallest maneuvers possible in combat, skills that are known and open to all characters. Alignment – There are six forms of Alignments that represent the heroes’ motives, values, and beliefs: Profession, Romance, Patronage, Quest, Membership, or Rivalry. Rather than abstract ideals or laws, Alignments in Early Dark represent connections to very real social circles and groups of people. Alignments require an Investment measured in Renown. Aptitude – The eight aspects of any human or beast that gives the being its temperament and mode of behavior. Fight, Cunning, Relate, Guile, Thrive, Touch, Move, Labor. Arcana – The various magickal Arts tied to the seven families of Arcane magick: Antagony, Protagony, Kinesis, Enchantment, Blood, Summoning, and Manipulation. The word “spell” refers to the token casting of an Arcanum. Arcane – One of the three Domains. Magickal actions stemming from the Fray. Outside the Manipulation Talent, rolling Arcane Dice often represents tangible gestures and sounds on behalf of the caster. Both weavers and magickers can sense when the Tapestry has been torn. Art – A cultural form that represents a particular skill, ability, or artistic tradition. The Arts of Early Dark cover a broad range of such forms. Beginning players start a campaign with four Raw Arts. Aspect – Weapons and objects used as weapons have an Aspect, which represents how the weapon is used in combat and at what ideal Range the weapon strikes. Aspects offer penalties based on the form, weight, and utility of the object. The farther from the ideal Range of the weapon, the bigger the Penalty. Augment – A +1 boost to the Rank of a Trait that comes in an Epithet at the cost of 10 Renown. The highest any Rank can reach is 13. Backlash – When a caster’s roll Reduces and there are more Dice in play than the Wager allows, the spell is said to Backlash. Blood is not used to buffer Drain, and Source objects may trigger further mishaps. The player rolls a number of dice equal to those in play, not the original Wager. Balance – The quality of the construction and materials of a Weapon. The more the material, form, and design of an object suit its purpose, the higher the Balance.
Appendix
Confined – When a situation or Talent confines or immobilizes a part of the character’s body generally needed for a chosen action, the character suffers a [-2] Penalty. Defense Threshold – The total of the applicable Defenses (Guard, Armor, Aura, and/or Blood) used to measure the Strike of an opponent. The Threshold is the number players must meet or exceed with their Strikes to deal a Wound. In some instances any or all of these Defenses may be undermined; only add what is applicable for the nature of the Strike.
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Defense Row – Shows the character’s Defenses: Aura, Blood, Armor, and Guard. Add along the row when calculating a Defense Threshold. Drain – The effect of Arcane magicks on the humans wielding them. Drain lowers Guard (Subtract the caster’s Blood from any non-Backlash Drain rolls to buffer the Fatigue). If Grounded, Drain begins to cause Shock at the same rate. Durable Penalty - A penalty that lasts until the character does something about it, actively using a Tack to change something, or until conditions themselves change. Elder Gods (Old God, Dark One, Tyrant) – Those beings who came from the Fray to the surface of the Tapestry before the world was hemmed. Upon dying, an Elder God leaves behind a corpse with rots and pollutes the Tapestry with Fell blood. When the body is fully decomposed, a Barrow emerges, a mouth into the Fray through which beings can cross. Epithet – A name, title, or moniker of a hero, beast, or locale. Characters advance by earning new Epithets, which represent plateaus of experience and memorable deeds of the hero. Quests and scenarios that lead to more Pages unlock new Epithets. Exertion – Exertion damage is an amount of Fatigue damage equal to the character’s Labor Aptitude, which is accrued during rapid travel. In some cases, the Fatigue is increased by the total Load being carried by the hero. Familiar – A long-term Follower that requires an Upkeep ta equal to the RPR it uses in combat. Familiars can take their own turns in combat and may require more, in-game payment than a Renown tax. Fatigue – Attacks that wear down and tire opponents are measured in Fatigue. Fatigue is always subtracted from the character’s Guard until the character is Grounded. Once Groudned, no more Fatigue can be dealt. A lower Guard makes for a lower Defense Threshold. Follower – Any Retainer, Minion, or Familiar. A character or creature that accompanies the character and requires a Renown tax to supply a mechanical advantage. Humans without Animal Kinship may take only human Followers. Those with Lead may create Swarms as Followers. Footing – The two Aptitudes involved in any one roll, which are added together to determine the Limit of the action. All actions require a Footing, no move stemming from a single Aptitude alone. Force – The number of dice in the largest Primary Tack of a Check. When only a single Tack is needed, the largest Tack that can be made offers the Force of the roll.
Ground – The bottom limit of a hero’s Guard. The Ground represents the character’s final line of defense against Strikes. “Grounded” targets are open and cannot be Fatigued any further.
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Appendix
Grapple – The closest Range in combat. Grappling represents a distance that allows for constant contact: grabbing, punching, rolling, holds, etc. Unarmed attacks and weapons with a Light Aspect take Grapple as the Ideal Range.
Guard – Incorporating awareness, endurance, and agility, a character’s Guard is not his or her resilience to damage, but how hard the character is to hit. Guard is recorded in the Defenses Row on the character sheet. When a hero suffers Fatigue, the Guard is lowered. The Guard can never lowered below the hero’s Ground, however. Hardness – The way Early Dark measures the damage inflicted by a dangerous environment or trap in combat. All materials have a Hardness that represents how easily it can harm a person. When attacking with the environment, use the Hardness chart on page 256 to assess damage. Hindered – A [-1] Penalty represents a situation wherein a part of the character’s body generally needed for the chosen action is, in the general sense, hindered or partially blocked for use. Initiative Bonus – A number added to the 1d10 Initiative roll at the beginning of any Round of combat. When giving your Initiative to the Scribe, declare the total Initiative, including the bonus. Scribes cannot be held accountable for adding up your bonuses for you. Injury Row – The row of the health bar that keeps track of the character’s Wounds and Injury Penalties. Add along the row each [-1] Penalty to find the total Injury Penalty for any roll. These go atop any Range or Conditional Penalties in play as well. Investment – The Investment represents the number of Renown earned for “playing to” an Alignment, and also the Tax paid in Renown for “pushing on” or neglecting an Alignment. Investment Renown Limit – The Trait that sets the maximum depth of Investment your hero can commit to any single Alignment. Players with high Investments can gain Epithets faster, but each misstep is demands a dearer cost.
Appendix
Limit – The established target number used for building Tacks in every roll of the game. The Limit is always the sum of two Aptitudes, called the Footing. Load – Load represents how hard something is to carry or lift. This includes how much an object weighs, its fragility, its size, and how awkward it would be to carry.
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Long – A combat Range that represents being close enough to a target to suffer melee attacks but still far enough away to use bows and throwing weapons. A bow can fire an arrow at a target from well outside Long Range, but in those cases, when battle is not surrounding the archer, using a Trial is better than working within the confines of Range and Rounds. Loom – The Domain of the Threads and the Great Tapestry. Magickal actions that require a knowledge of and ability to manipulate the Threads, through which all life is connected, require Loom dice. Mastery – Masteries do not require a Tack to deploy as Talents do. Rather, they take effect whenever a particular context is at hand, altering or expanding the normal limitations of an Art. Melee – The Range in combat that represents the distance a spear or polearm can keep between striker and foe. Heavy weapons such as swords and axes also use Melee as their ideal Range, requiring a few steps to setup a crippling blow. Milieu – The social class or local culture that gives a person his or her values, opinions, sense of identity, and opportunities. Milieus change and grow as people do, but they represent durable circles that have a tendency to reproduce themselves. Minion – A temporary Follower or Swarm of Followers that boosts the character’s RPR and Domain die. Each Minion has a single Wound set by its own Guard Dice. Momentary Penalty – A Penalty that takes effect once, on the very next roll the penalized character makes. Once the roll is made, the character is said to have overcome the Penalty (narratively and mechanically). No Penalty can be higher than [-2], though Penalties can stack up to any amount. Mundane – Non-magickal actions use Mundane Dice, tangible and intangible: talking, moving, looking, hearing, sensing, understanding, etc. Page – The way Early Dark measures the scope and grandeur of your heroes’ quests and accomplishments. Every scenario earns an amount of Pages according to the chart on page 275. By meeting bigger persons and finding bigger treasures, the heroes leave a longer record of written words in their wake. Rank – A number between 1 and 13 that represents a character’s relative strength in the given Trait. The Rank is affected by the Aptitude connected to that Trait, any Augments bought by the hero, and Trait Modifiers offered by enchanted items or assimilated organs. The Rank will set the exact result of the Trait according to the chart on page 213.
Recovery Row – Shows how to calculate the character’s Guard. It includes a d10 roll, the Guard Trait connected to the Thrive Aptitude, and any penalties from Shock.
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Appendix
Reach – The combat Range that represents a distance of about a yard between attacker and defender. Reach extends to the tip of the attacker’s sword, an arc encompassing anything immediately within reach of the weapon.
Renown – The fame of a Hero. Earn Renown by “playing to” Alignments, participating in the local cultures of the world and impressing your peers. Each Milieu offers a few Alignments, and heroes can take on new Alignments as they grow. Retainer – A more substantial Follower that offers Aptitudes and Arts to the hero in combat or on Checks and Saves outside combat. Retainers can be used in lieu of the hero when rolling defense as well. Retainers require an amount of Upkeep equal to the number of abilities in play that gaming session. Rolls per Round – The number of rolls a character may make in a given Round of combat. This includes all attacks, defenses, and Saves. An Evasion is allowed when all RPR are expended, giving the defender a chance to roll his or her Guard Dice to cancel incoming Tacks. Round of Combat – A series of rolls consisting of several characters taking turns along an order of Initiative. A Round ends only when every character has expended all of their Rolls per Round. After a Round, all effects are cancelled and Durable Penalties removed; a new Initiative is rolled before commencing the next Round. A Round lasts about a minute in game. Shock – Shock represents trauma dealt to the body and psyche of the hero. Every time the hero rolls up a new Guard, the total is reduced by the amount of Shock being suffered. Resting eliminates Shock, while many forms of damage and hard labor increase it. Source – Any magickal item that allows a magicker to “cover” his Wager. The more Source a mage carries, the less Drain dice are rolled when casting spells. Source is always connected to a given Family of magick.
Appendix
Strike – A pointed, timed, and aimed attack intended to directly kill or injure an enemy, breaking his or her Guard and hitting the body. Strikes are measured against the character’s Defense Threshold. If the Strike is equal to or above that number, a Wound is done. If the Strike multiplies the Threshold, extra Wounds can be dealt proportionally. Swarm – A group of creatures that functions as a single Wound in combat. One Swarm makes up a single Wound of many Followers, and Swarms can be stacked to produce larger groups of critters.
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Tack – The basic unit of meaning in Early Dark, where narrative and mechanics meet. A Tack is a group of rolled dice that, when added up, has a sum less than or equal to the Limit. Each Tack is a single effect, though Tacks may appear in-game as a series of actions or maneuvers. Tacks per Turn – The maximum number of Tacks a player may articulate from the result of any single roll. Each Primary and Secondary Tack count against the TPT, and players up against very cunning adversaries will soon learn the advantage of being able to build more Tacks on every roll. Talent – Maneuvers in combat specific to the Mundane Arts. Talents are of a higher order than Advantages and require a Secondary Tack of two dice to deploy. Also, each Family of magick is unlocked by first purchasing a Talent, which can be rolled by itself or alongside any Arcanum within that Family. Tax – Any payment of Renown, usually resulting from “pushing on” an Alignment or bringing a Follower into play for the session. Trait – The eight combat statistics based on Aptitudes that help define the mechanics of fighter interactions in Early Dark: Tack per Turn (TPT), Damage Per Die (DPD), Investment Renown Limit (Lim.), Upkeep Bonus, Guard, Initiative Bonus (Ini.), Ground, and Rolls per Round (RPR). Upkeep - The number of Renown that must be paid per session for a particular Follower. In addition to the Renown tax, certain Followers may require in-game payment as well. Upkeep Discount - A number of Renown subtracted from the Upkeep of a Follower, lowering the number of Renown that must be paid per session for that Follower. Upkeep cannot be reduced to zero, but each Follower is given the discount independently. Ward – A magickal item that reduces the Source of other casters. Wards work just like Source but in reverse. A powerful Ward, however, cannot raise a rival caster’s Drain dice above the Wager no matter how potent. Wound – A marked injury to a character that acts as a narrative device, representing one nearlethal blow sustained by a hero or monster. Wounds are recorded on the Injury Row. Wounds offer Penalties, heal according to specific rules, and represent serious damage.
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