Appendix

A: 17. Spriggan An plant with a humanoid body.

18. Sprite A small, magical faerie.

Ancestries
19. Triton An aquatic humanoid.
20. Warg A humanoid who can become a wolf.

Even though humans spread across the entire Ancestry Traits and Languages
known world, they share lands with other peoples, Your ancestry grants you one or more traits, each
some similar to humans, others quite different. of which is defined in the ancestry's description,
Rather that play a human, you can choose different and one or more languages, which are detailed in
ancestry from the options presented in the Chapter 2.
following pages. Each ancestry receives an Senses: Some ancestries have special senses,
overview that places the people in the world and such as Night Vision or Dark Vision. You can find
descriptive elements to help you imagine the rules for using these traits in chapter 2.
character. These peoples have the same range of
personality and behavior types as humans do. You Archon
are free to portray your character in any way you Every archon begins life as an angel, one whose
like. sole purpose is to serve the High One in all things.
A few ancestries belong to the larger community Angels fight on behalf of their deity, bear messages
of faeries, an immortal people who have lived in handed down from on high, safeguard Paradise,
the world long enough to recall a time before and perform other tasks when called upon to do
humans spread across the planet. Changelings, so. Any angels who demonstrate a hint of
elves, hobgoblins, and sprites all count as faeries independence or perform an act of free will are
and their appearance ignores changes incurred branded as corrupted. In some cases, the stigma
from aging past adulthood. Faeries might not need might seem unjust, especially when the angel
to fear death from old age, but violence and acted in the interests of Paradise and the souls
mishap can bring an end to their existence just as housed there, but the laws of the High One make
such events can slay anyone. no exceptions. Any angels branded in this way are
cast out of Paradise, stripped of their wings, and
Random Ancestries doomed to live out their days in the mortal world.
You might prefer to let the dice choose your Aside from their lack of wings, archons look like
ancestry. Roll a d6. On a 4 or lower, you are human. the angels they used to be. In Paradise, an angel's
On a 5 or higher, roll a d20 and find the number skin color denotes its status—soldier (copper),
rolled on the Ancestry table to determine the messenger (silver), or leader (gold). All fallen
ancestry you will play. angels have copper skin and none of them display
any indication of their previous status. Like angels,
ANCESTRIES
all archons stand 6 feet tall and weigh exactly 160
Ancestry Description
1. Archon An angel cast out of Paradise. pounds. Because the High One creates all angels,
2. Cambion A fiendish humanoid. archons have no reproductive organs. Archons do
3. Changeling A faerie shapechanger. not age and do not die of natural causes, although
4. Clockwork A sentient machine. a mishap or an act of violence can still be fatal.
5. Daeva An ancient one reborn into a human After an archon is exiled, it often spends some
body. time casting about for a new purpose to give
6. Dhampir A mortal, living vampire. meaning to its life. Depending on the severity of Its
7. Dragonet A miniature dragon. infraction, an archon might champion the High
8. Dwarf A stout, hirsute humanoid. One as It once did, while one who developed a
9. Elf An aristocratic faerie. strong personality might reject the High One and
10. Faun A humanoid with animal features. oppose its maker in all things. The ethics an
11. Fenoderee A big, hairy brute. archon adopts have nothing to do with their
12. Halfling A lucky person of diminutive size.
former fealty to the High One and nearly all
13. Hobgoblin A sneaky faerie.
subscribe to a moral code independent of divine
14. Marid A humanoid with ties to elemental
magic. decrees.
15. Revenant A human caught between life and Angels fall from grace so infrequently that years
death. might pass before one archon encounters another.
16. Sphinx A leonine humanoid. Archons lack the numbers to establish a city or a
1
nation of their own, so they typically adopt a own now and few, if any, ever refer to their kind by
culture of their liking and integrate themselves their original moniker.
into that society. Archons who pursue evil ends Legends about the cambions tell different
might make servants of mortals, bending them to stories, though all suggest the cambions were
their will through force of personality, magical themselves once human. One story claims these
compulsion, or terrible threats. humans bore witness to the Adversary’s fall and
Sample archon names include Astaphaios, were poisoned and changed by the enemy’s hatred
Elalos, Iao, Paraplex, Saboath, Samael, and Yabei. for the High One. Others claim the gods cursed
Speak in Tongues When you speak, you can them for their wickedness, turning them into the
speak so that any creature that can hear you and devils with whom they held congress. Some have
knows at least one language understands what gone so far as to name them fiends, believing them
you say. You understand all spoken languages. to have escaped Perdition to vex the mortal world.
The cambions once lived in great city-states
ARCHON TRAITS remembered for grave wickedness and tyranny by
Immune asleep, frightened, poisoned
the dreaded arcane cabals that ruled them. When
Angel An archon ignores the effects of deprivation,
exposure, infection, and suffocation the Empire slid into the Devastation, it took with it
Metallic Body Increase your Defense by 2 when you the city-states and sent the surviving cambions
wear light or no armor. fleeing. The subsequent rise of religious
Divine Word (minor; 1/hour) You speak a word of institutions has seen them turned into scapegoats.
power. Each enemy in your zone that can hear you Many had suffered existences of toil, hardship, and
must make a Will roll and, on a failure, grant 1 boon want, but the fall of the Great Kingdom freed them
on all rolls to attack it until the end of your next turn. and they, along with everyone else, might find a
ARCHON DISTINCTIVE FEATURES future free from superstition and intolerance.
d6 Feature It should not surprise anyone that cambions
1 Gold light flickers in your eyes when you must contend with fear and suspicion by their
become angry. looks alone. Cambions have humanoid bodies, but
2 You have a deep scar in the center of your skin color that ranges from bright red to coal
chest. black, though human tones might be present,
3 You have an eye-shaped marking in the palm of though covered with odd patterns. Horns jut out
each hand. from their brows and bright yellow eyes peer out
4 The story of your fall has been carved into your from dark sockets. Further, cambions have
back. backward bending legs and long, muscular tails
5 Markings of animals appear etched in your that might sport spines, hooks, or have scales.
metallic skin and sometimes move across your
Cambions stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and
body in response to happenings around you.
weigh from 100 to 300 pounds based on body
6 You have empty sockets where there should be
eyes, but their absence interferes with your type.
vision in no way. Sample cambion names include Aeshtar,
Apollya, Balaan, Haboreem, Nyhasa, Opach,
Paecca, Rammon, and Tunrida.
Cambion Languages Common, Archaic
It has been more than a thousand years since the
cambions ruled over the empire that would CAMBION TRAITS
crumble into the Devastation. It has been so long Fireborn You take half damage from fire and you roll to
since the Old Empire stood at the center of things resist harmful effects of fire with 1 boon. Finally, you
ignore the effects of heat exposure.
that memory of the ancient cambions is almost
Fiery Step (move; 1/minute) Fire and smoke spill out
entirely in the province of scholars of antiquity from your body. Each creature within reach makes a
alone. At present, time seems to have traveled luck roll and takes 1d6 damage on a failure. Smoke
backward as these diabolical humanoids have obscures your zone until the start of your next turn
begun appearing in the borderlands in greater and and you teleport to an empty space in your zone or an
greater numbers. adjacent one.
The cambions knew themselves as the Azakai,
CAMBION DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
but humans and others named them cambions, an
d6 Feature
old word that indicates the offspring of a mortal 1 You have vestigial wings sprouting from your
and a fiend. While not true cambions, so many shoulder blades.
embraced the word that they recognize it as their
2
2 Your eyes glow in the dark. Languages Common, Sylvan
3 A brimstone stink follows you wherever you
go. CHANGELING TRAITS
4 You have an extra pair of horns growing from Faerie You are immune to infection, but are weakened
your head. while you carry or wear an iron or iron-alloy object.
5 Your shadow never fully matches your Change Self (minor) Your body flows into a new shape,
movements. letting you appear to be someone else. You keep this
6 You feel hot, feverish to the touch. new appearance until you use Change Self again. If
you become unconscious, you immediately revert to
your natural form.
Changeling Your new appearance can have any features you
That changelings can be anyone and at any time choose, but the form must be humanoid in shape, of
might make poor justification for people’s flesh and blood, and be about the size of a typical
adult human. Although you can appear to be a
aversion to them, but it remains all the same. Even
member of any ancestry that meets this criteria, your
among the faeries, noted for their multifarious ancestry traits remain unchanged regardless of your
forms and natures, give pause when it comes to appearance. You can even assume the appearance of
changelings, since many have played the part of another person, provided you can see them. The
trickster, ne’er-do-well, and spy at times over the change to your appearance applies to your body and
long march of years. But for the changeling, the voice only; any objects you wear or carry remain
reputation thrust upon them might seem unfair, unchanged. If you alter your height or weight
for are they not as free to decide how to act as they dramatically, you might damage or destroy your
are how they will look? clothing, or some of your possessions might fall to the
ground.
Being faeries, most changelings live on the
Startling Change (minor; 1/hour) You contort your
mortal world’s edges, found in the faerie realms features to startle one enemy in your reach. If the
where they might keep company with other enemy is not immune to the frightened affliction, you
faeries or live alone. Like other faeries, notions of make your next roll to attack it with 1 boon before the
community and society have little appeal to end of your turn.
changelings and so they congregate with others or
not as their whims take them. Some changelings CHANGELING DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
d6 Feature
do find their way into the mortal world: infant
1 Regardless of your form, your body sometimes
changelings could start their lives adopting the changes color.
guise of a mortal child whom faeries filched in the 2 Your facial expressions always seem
darkest hours of night only to flee after the truth exaggerated, such that your smile reaches
comes to light. Others infiltrate communities to from one side of your face to the other or your
observe, to hide, or to sabotage. eyes become saucers when you are surprised.
Changelings decide their appearance. They can 3 You can cause a fine coat of fur to cover your
look like young children or old folks standing on body or fall out whenever you want.
death’s door. They might assume a human form or 4 You have a fox tail no matter what form you
one of faerie origins. So long as they adopt a guise adopt.
of flesh and blood, they can be any person they 5 When you speak, your voice doesn’t quite
choose. match the movement of your lips.
But the masks they wear conceal forms some 6 You can make your eyes look in totally
might find strange, perhaps upsetting, for they different directions.
share kindship with other humanoid people in
shape alone. Instead, pale, rubbery skin stretches Clockwork
over thin, spindly bodies. They have overlarge Clockworks first appeared shortly after the Weird
heads with equally large black eyes that sit above Wizard arrived in the New Lands as it was his
the merest suggestion of facial features. While in hands that put them together. These creations
their natural forms, even changelings find it became their maker’s devoted servants and
difficult to discern who is who. In natural forms, undertook construction of the Forbidden City and
changelings stand between 3 and 4 feet tall and cleared the lands all around it of those hostile to
weigh between 50 and 100 pounds. Changelings their master. Later, the clockworks toiled as
can have any gender they choose or none at all. servants and soldiers, each given a specific task
Changelings’ names include Buttons, Coy, Grins, that framed their entire existence.
Malice, Mask, and Spite

3
 The Weird Wizard’s recent disappearance has 2 Your head resembles that of a lion, stag, or
seen many clockworks set aside the tasks for wolf.
which they were made and set out to see the 3 You were made to appear as a short, portly,
world. Before, native peoples looked upon the mustachioed man with spectacles.
clockworks with fear since they most often served 4 You have a thin, spidery appearance and have
eight fingers on each hand and eight toes on
as soldiers who were unswerving in their
each foot.
obedience to their master. Now that the
5 You have a single glass lens mounted in the
clockworks have gained independence, they center of your head and you use it to see.
decide how they will behave, where they go, and 6 You have cobbled together replacement parts
with whom they interact. to repair your broken form. You have a
The means for creating more clockworks have patchwork appearance.
gone with the Weird Wizard, though this fact has
not stopped some from trying to recreate the
methods. Headless of the damage they do, Daeva
deranged engineers hunt clockworks so they can The gods wiped out the ancient nation of Oraldia
take them apart and, perhaps, divine the secrets of long ago, dispensing horrific punishment for what
their making. In dismantling them, though, the they deemed as hubris. The people who lived
mind contained in the mechanical body vanishes there, the daevas, overcame all mortal suffering,
and the person is forever lost. brought peace and prosperity to their lands, and
Clockwork bodies facilitate the tasks for which even found a way to triumph over death. Neither
they were created. Most clockworks stand Lord Death nor the other divinities would tolerate
between 4 and 8 feet tall and weigh as much as such an afford and brought to bear the full weight
800 pounds. All clockworks have humanoid of their wrath, and sent the island nation beneath
shapes, but soldiers tend to have animal heads— the waves.
stags, wolves, and lions being the most common. The daevas prepared for this eventuality,
Clockworks who were servants more closely however, and safeguard their souls in magical
resembled humans, some slim and sleek, others crystals that would survive the ruin. The thought
short and portly. Clockworks are made from base was that their survivors would recover these
metals and their components carry little value crystals and restore them to life. Instead, there
apart from contributing to their existence. were no survivors and thus the daevas remained
Clockworks use strings of numbers for their trapped for thousands of years. Now, only a mortal
names, but might adopt a single numeral, such as who touches the crystal and agrees to bond with
Seven, or nicknames: Gears, Motor, and the spirit can release them. Virtuous daevas might
Rustbucket. form a symbiotic relationship with the mortal
Languages Common souls, allowing those mortals to live out their days
until the normal end, while the cruel and wicked
CLOCKWORK TRAITS simply take the bodies by force.
Immune poisoned Rebirth gives the daevas a chance to live again,
Animated Object You are immune to the effects of but at the expense of their memories and much of
exposure, deprivation, infection, suffocation, as well their identities. Time chipped away at the essence
as to any effect that would transform you.
Sapient Machine Your mechanical body grants you the
contained in the shards so that, for many, only will
following benefits and drawbacks: and purpose remain. Once resurrected, they might
• Increase your starting Health by 2. regain some memories, some knowledge thought
• Increase your Defense by 2 when you wear light or lost, but they might not ever come close to
no armor. reclaiming their full identities.
• You derive no benefit from ingesting anything, The gods watch daevas. Having been challenged
including magical substances. by them once before, the gods have no interest in
• You must be repaired with spare parts to regain seeing these people return in numbers sufficient
lost Health. See "Kits and Tools" in the Chapter 3 to threaten their dominion. For these reason, the
for details.
gods, especially the old gods, sometimes choose
CLOCKWORK DISTINCTIVE FEATURES daevas to be their vessels as a way to blunt their
d6 Feature efforts to challenge them again.
1 You replaced your faceplate with an immobile Daevas appear as light bound to physical form.
porcelain mask. They can control the intensity of their light, such
that they might appear as bright, luminous beings
4
or dim themselves so that they look carved from The vampires control Sanguine, a vast
pale marble. All have chiseled, commanding necropolis under Aegon, former capital of the
features with sculpted physiques. They stand from Great Kingdom, and there do the dhampirs live in
6 to 7 feet tall and weigh from 200 to 400 pounds. the greatest numbers. For their masters, the
Sample daeva names include Ariel, Casiel, Dina, dhampir act as envoys, spies, and protectors of the
Kafziel, and Uriel. ways in and out of the dreadful city. The vampires
Languages Arcane, Common have used the chaos on the surface to emerge from
hiding and hunt the living. The violence and
DAEVA TRAITS bloodshed have seen many dhampirs spread out,
Luminous Body (minor) You can choose to emit faint
some reaching the borderlands, either fleeing
light, dim light, bright light, or no light at all. The
choice remains until you use this trait again. their makers or scouting out new populations on
Blinding Flash (reaction when a creature attacks you; which their masters might feed.
1/minute) You release a blinding flash that imposes 1 Dhampirs always appear human and fall within
bane on the creature’s roll. their typical ranges of height and weight. After
All-Out Effort (1/day) When you make an attribute roll, months go by without feeding, the dhampir pales
you can add 10 to the roll. and appears unhealthy. Body mass, color, and even
DAEVA DISTINCTIVE FEATURES speech changes by denying their thirst. A week of
d6 Feature regular feeding though can restore to them their
1 When you dim your light, black ribbons streak vigor and make them appear at the prime of their
through your body. lives.
2 When you touch something while shedding Dhampirs use typical human names.
bright light, you leave behind a glowing Languages Common
fingerprint that fades a second or two later.
3 While you shine bright light from your body, DHAMPIR TRAITS
brilliant crystals crown your head. Senses Night Vision
4 Your face lacks detail; you have the mere Immune poisoned
Teeth Your teeth are natural melee off-hand weapons
suggestion of facial features.
with the Finesse and Light properties. Your attacks
5 When you emit bright light, the air around you
with these weapons deal 1d6 damage.
becomes a few degrees warmer. When you
Blood Drinker (action) You cause one creature of flesh
emit no light, the air around you becomes a
and blood that you have grabbed or that you are
few degrees cooler. wrestling to lose 1d6 Health. You regain an equal
6 Unlike other daevas, you shine light of a amount of Health. If you regain any Health, you make
particular color. attribute rolls with 1 boon for 1 minute.

DHAMPIR DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

Dhampir d6 Feature
Being undead, vampires lack the means to sire or 1 You never cast a shadow.
bear offspring as they once did before the curse of 2 Reflective surfaces never show your image.
vampirism transformed them into blood-drinking 3 Your eyes shine like a cat’s in dim light.
monsters, but their state between life and death 4 You appear sickly, with bruised eyes and an
does not, all at once, strip away their human unhealthy pallor.
impulses and desires. Many vampires seek the 5 You weep blood instead of tears.
company of friends, loved ones, companions to 6 You have a forked tongue.
ease their passage through an unending roll of
days and when the need grows strong enough, Dragonet
they might spare a human on whom they feed, The dragonets claim kinship to the mighty
allowing their victim to live. dragons, who dwarf them in size, strength, and
Those humans bitten by vampires find sheer destructive potential, but any dragonet and
themselves transformed by a hideous curse. No they’ll tell you that the larger breed is a woeful
longer can they tolerate the sun’s light and, though throwback to a less enlightened time and that they
they must eat and drink as they always did, they remain hopeful that dragons embrace their
also experience an uncanny thirst for blood that cunning and set aside their dreadful tempers to
drives them to distraction. Called dhampirs, these engage the world as they do: in peace. For ages,
vampiric offspring stand in two worlds: one of the the dragonets lived alongside the people of Erth
living and the other of the dead.

5
and have largely succeeded in finding common 3 You have whiskers.
cause with them. 4 You have overlarge, pointed ears.
Their long association with other people makes 5 You have hooded eyes that make you look
dragonets common sights in most urban centers. sleepy all the time.
Only in the most backward, remote communities 6 Tiny horns crown your head and follow your
spine to the tip of your tail.
do dragonets remain unknown. One can find
dragonets in the courts of nobles, performing for
change in the village green, hefting a small Dwarf
knapsack and charging off into the unknown with The Great Kingdom’s founding in the Old Country
other adventures. Many dragonets crave came at the expense of the dwarfs, whose
excitement and seek it out wherever they go. strongholds stood since before the dark times of
Few communities belong exclusively to the the Empire. Rich in precious metals and
dragonets, though most folks know about the Auld gemstones extracted from the bones of the earth,
Wood, where the Dragon Queen holds court over a dwarfs riddled the lands with miles and miles of
shimmering lake in whose depths is said to rest a passages to feed their appetite for treasure. Their
mirror that leads to other worlds. Here, the delving unearthed old horrors, things buried to
ancient regent watches over her children, urging keep them from the light of day, and so while
them to good action and to keep the peace with struggling to contain the monsters they had
other peoples. Under her guidance, the dragonets released, invading humans struck the comprised
avoided conflict with the wargs, faeries, orcs, and strongholds and plundered their vaults and the
countless others; rather than fight tooth and nail, treasure they took would help establish the
they discover their common interests and find kingdom who would rule the continent for
ways to achieve them. centuries.
Dragonets share the same physical traits one Some dwarfs cling to their old kingdoms, as
expects to find in dragons and other dragon-like diminished as they have become, but most quit the
beings, but with small compact bodies that reach mountains of their ancestors to live among the
up to 3 feet long at adulthood and weighing 50 to conquerors, enriching themselves by the mastery
60 pounds. They all have long, prehensile tails that of their people’s trade and custom. Dwarf-forged
serve them as an extra appendage, small wings weapons and armor saw some dwarfs returned to
that let them flutter in the air, and needle-sharp their former wealth, but others refused to deal
teeth and claws. Scales of any color cover their with the treacherous humans or their ilk and cast
bodies and most glitter in the light like jewels. about for new homes or spent their days pining
Dragonets have long, complex names, but for the ones they had lost.
usually go by nicknames such as Coil, Petal, Scales, While exceptions exist, most dwarfs see no
Smoke, and Snarf. The longer names include difference between culture and ancestral identity.
Agonreesilius, Medemexemel, Predacrionus, and Being a dwarf means honoring one’s ancestors,
Trivalanxanthus. even going so far as to pray to them, acting with
Languages Common honor, never forgetting a slight, and making things
that last to inspire those who come after. Dwarfs
DRAGONET TRAITS
value precious metals and gemstones as they are
Winged You can fly while you are not injured.
Prehensile Tail Your tail counts as an extra limb. Like rare materials with which they can display their
your hands, you can use it to grasp small objects and skills and produce wondrous treasures to raise the
even wield weapons, though the weapons must have esteem of their peoples. Some might paint them as
the off-hand trait. Even if you wield weapons in both greedy, vain, and bitter, but dwarfs have pride in
hands and in your tail, you can at most attack with themselves, their people, and their history and
two weapons at a time. never shrink away from telling others what they
Fire Breath (minor; 1/minute) You breathe fire at one have done and can do. And these aren’t boasts.
creature or object in your zone. The target makes an When a dwarf makes a promise or speaks an oath,
Agility roll and, on a failure, takes 1d6 damage.
they never fail to follow through.
DRAGONET DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Typical dwarfs stand 3 to 4 feet tall, but are
d6 Feature strong and tough. They have dense, compact
1 You have glittery, multicolored scales. bodies, weighing upwards of 200 pounds, often
2 Smoke almost constantly spills from your muscled and covered in coarse hair. Facial hair has
nostrils and mouth. always been a point of pride with dwarfs and a

6
well-groomed beard, all silky and soft, plays a overcome their natural amorality, discovering
large part in courtship for both potential grooms empathy and even compassion for others. Of
and brides. Dwarf mothers even carry their course, there are also those who see the lands they
newborn babes in swaddling made from the visit as an opportunity to make mischief and
luxurious growth from their chins. wreak havoc and thus people who do have chance
Sample dwarf names include Beregon, Brata, encounters with the mercurial faeries use caution.
Corfin, Corfina, Dugan, Edga, Ragnar, and Vala. Elves have humanoid bodies with qualities
Languages Common, Runic mortals likely deem striking for beauty and
perfection, and made more appealing by their
DWARF TRAITS juxtaposition against other, stranger physical
Health Increase your Health score by 6.
Senses Night Vision
characteristics. Pointed ears and almond-shaped
Durable Whenever you would become poisoned or eyes might be common, but one could also have
exposed to infection, make a luck roll. On a success, the ears of a rabbit, the legs of a cat, a bushy fox
you are not poisoned or you ignore the infection. tail, butterfly wings, or even be hollow inside.
Rooted When an effect would move you against your Elves stand between 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 feet tall, with
will, you can make a Strength roll. On a success, you slim builds, weighing no more than 130 pounds.
do not move. Sample elf names include Aeron, Ethelren,
DWARF DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Faenor, Gilgorian, Ilmodea, Llorwydon, Maelena,
d6 Feature Nilroth, Pwyla, Rillifan, Senthorina, and Tilwillin.
1 You have a prodigious belly. Languages Common, Sylvan
2 You have a magnificent beard, mustache, or
ELF TRAITS
muttonchops.
Unarmored Defense Increase your Defense by 2.
3 You are as wide as you are tall. Senses Night Vision, Keen Vision, Keen Hearing
4 You don’t seem to have any knees at all. Faerie You are immune to infection, but are weakened
5 You tattooed the names of all those who have while you carry or wear an iron or iron-alloy object.
wrong you and your family. Light Step You make rolls to balance and sneak with 1
6 You are uncommonly hirsute. boon.
Immortal Feat (1/day) When you make an attribute
Elf roll, you can roll an additional d20 and sum the dice.
Few people can claim with honesty to have ever ELF DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
set eyes on an elf let alone exchanged words with d6 Feature
one. The elves have, by and large, been content to 1 You have the ears of a rabbit, a goat, or some
pass their days in the bliss and comfort found in other creature.
the magical kingdoms they created for themselves 2 You have green skin in spring, gold in summer,
and other faeries long ago. Sickened by war and red in autumn, and white in winter.
death, many faeries withdrew from the mortal 3 You have slitted or oblong pupils, or eyes of an
lands and found refuge in that of Faerie, a place unusual color.
4 You have feathers instead of hair, the legs of a
both in the world and out.
grasshopper, bird, or cat, or butterfly or moth
Despite their common predilection toward
wings that flutter when you want, but cannot
idleness and decadence, some elves find the lands lift you off the ground.
beyond and its people intriguing, sometimes 5 You have soft scales on your hands or feet, fur
enough so that the elves might meddle in mortal on your arms or legs, antennae, or the legs of
affairs. As elves have little understanding of the grasshopper.
morality to which humans and others cleave, they 6 Your skin glitters and sparkles. Or, in
thinking nothing of taking what they want from moonlight, glowing motes looking like fireflies
mortals, be it a particularly fetching urn or a dance around your body.
strapping young man whose physique is itself a
work of art.
Most elves, after coming of age, undergo a Time
Faun
In forests dark and dangerous there dwell the
of Wandering, in which they travel the realms of
fauns. According to the sacred hunters, faun
faerie and beyond to see, experience, and learn as
priests of the Horned God, the fauns were made in
much as they can before returning to the paradise
their maker’s likeness and given dominion over
in which all elves dwell. In this time, some elves
the wild places in the world. And there they have
forge friendships with other peoples and might
lived, brooking no trespass into their territory,
7
fierce as they are in the defense of their lands and Leaper You make Agility rolls to jump and leap with 1
people. In recent days, however, something boon. You can run across challenging terrain without
changed in the faun communities and now, more needing to make an Agility roll.
and more, have the fauns emerged from their Wild Camouflage You can hide in wilderness zones
even when you are being observed, but only if the
homelands to treat with other peoples.
zone contains no enemies.
Fomorian attacks against faun communities saw
the change in attitudes toward dealing with other FAUN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
peoples. Many faun leaders realized isolation d6 Feature
would mean extinction and thus the fauns reached 1 You have elaborate tattoos on your face.
out to the wargs, centaurs, and other peoples to 2 Large rams horns grow out from the sides of
form an alliance to fight against the ravagers. This your head, deer antlers, or goat horns.
first step has allowed many fauns to see other 3 You have bone white, forest green, or rust red
skin.
ways of doing things and seeded them with an
4 You have a musical laugh, grace, and alluring
interest in other people that has only recently
smile.
born fruit. Fauns remain rare among the 5 You have large pointed ears or yours ears hang
newcomers and unknown in the free cities, but down to the sides of your face.
more and more they emerge from the woodlands 6 You have odd natural markings on your body
on errands of commerce and peace. that take the form of circles and lines.
Fauns still guard the routes to their
communities and use wild beasts and magic to
conceal the paths they use to come and go.
Fenoderee
Preserving their environment and honoring In ancient times, the trolls cozened the fenoderees
nature play large roles in how they conduct into believing the faeries were their enemies and
themselves in the wild. Fauns believe the Horned in so doing enlisted them in their hateful war for
One gave them license to take what they need, but dominion over Erth. The fenoderees fought with
they know not to test their god’s wrath by taking all their fury and might their bodies possessed, but
his gifts for granted. Respect for the environment, found they could not reconcile the stories about
cultivation, and conservation are the cornerstones the fair folk with what they saw as they fought
to their societies. and, after realizing they had been duped, turned
Most fauns stand between 4 and 5 feet tall on against their masters and helped the faeries bring
backward-bending legs that end in cloven hoofs. them low.
They have spare frames, with typical weight As the faeries withdrew to recover from the
ranging between 90 and 140 pounds. Thick, wiry horrors of this fighting, the fenoderees were left to
fur covers their legs until it reaches their waists, find a place for themselves, free to decide for the
where it gives way to smooth skin. Hair covers first time who they would be and what they would
their arms and grows thickly on their heads. Male do in this war-torn world. A great many
fauns have curling horns growing from the sides of fenoderees turned their efforts toward repairing
their heads and most have facial hair. Fur the damage, to healing the land of the damage that
coloration runs from silver white to black, while magic had done to it. From their labors, new
skin color sees the same shades as one finds forests grew from the ashes of the old, mountains
among humans. Tattooing and scarification tend to regained their heights, and the waters flowed pure
be common, with images and words chosen to once more.
capture important moments in their lives. Now, millennia later, new peoples have spread
Sample faun names include Azyen, Bora, across the lands and use them as they choose,
Cedwena, Dallia, Erek, Finilfan, Goro, Hert, Iowen, plunder the world of its riches to feed their
Lugh, Ophen, and Tuff. ambitions. Fenoderees grieve for the damage done
Languages Common to their charge, but know their time approaches its
end and that soon, there will be no fenoderees left
FAUN TRAITS to preserve the world against future harm. Such
Unarmored Defense Increase your Defense by 2. knowledge has made some fenoderees bitter,
Swift Strides (move; 1/minute) You move to an empty violent even, but most seek to educate the other
space within three zones. This movement does enable peoples, to encourage them to tread lightly and
enemies to make free attacks against you.
preserve what they can. Too bad, then, that many
take a look and attack what they fear for the
message fenoderees bring is good and noble.
8
 Fenoderees might live among other peoples or could be that halflings have a knack for spotting
in small groups in the wilderness, where they use danger and avoid it.
magic to shape their environment without Halflings have never stayed in one place long
destroying it. Their spells can bring forth what enough to create a settlement. No matter how
they need to eat, can shape trees to shelter them much they like the place, the horizon always calls
from the elements, and purify the water to nourish and before they know it, they’ve traveled halfway
them. As peaceful as they are, though, when to wherever they’re feet take them next. So rather
roused to anger, they become terrifying brutes, than have houses and gardens, halfling live out
able to tear others limb from limb if given good their lives from the backs of their colorful wagons,
enough cause. going wherever the road takes them.
Considering their enormous size and stature, it’s Nearly all halfling communities comprise
easy to understand why people fear the fenoderee, several extended and multigenerational families
even though most tend to be peaceful. Fenederee and together they make up one of a hundred or so
stand between 7 and 9 feet tall and weigh as much clans found in the borderlands and in the Old
as 500 pounds. Thick, coarse fur covers their Country. Each family owns a fleet of covered
bodies, being reddish brown, gray, or black. wagons that are more like little homes on wheels,
Curling horns, reminiscent of those found on rams, with sleeping quarters for everyone. When
grow out from the sides of their heads and end in halflings would wed, they work together to build
sharp points. They have broad hands and feet, their own wagon in which to live and raise their
with spatulate digits that end in darkened nails. children. Halfling clans herd livestock, usually
Sample fenoderee names include Alobar, Bisten, goats and sheep, but larger clans might have
Coora, Danwyth, Krunk, Odof, Pugh, Tenten, and cattle. To supplement their diets, they live by
Uben. foraging, scavenging, and trading with others.
Languages Common, Runic One might think the traveling life to be spare,
but halfling communities have produced some of
FENODEREE TRAITS the greatest storytellers, musicians, and thespians
Defense Decrease your unarmored Defense by 3.
the world has known. Generally, each clan has a
Health Your Health score increases by 12.
Great Reach Your melee attacks count as having the specialty to encourage settlements to welcome
Reach property if they don’t have it already. them for a time. They might put on shows, musical
Hulking You make Strength rolls with 1 boon and acts, theater, or offer miscellaneous goods or have
impose 1 bane on rolls against your Strength. You tradespeople to help make repairs, tend to the
grant 1 boon on rolls made against your Defense and sick, and so on.
Agility and you make Agility rolls with 1 bane. No one knows where the halflings came from,
FENODEREE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES but stories about them have been make their
d6 Feature rounds since the days of the Old Empire and most
1 You have bald spots in your shaggy coat. believe they were still traveling before its
2 You have a sour smell that lingers, no matter founding. Many halflings tell stories about the
how often you bathe. Lands of Plenty, a place promised to them by the
3 You drool a lot and strings of slobber hang gods of old, and that one day they will find it. And
from your mouth. when they do, they will gather up all the clans to
4 You’re missing a horn. bring them to their new homes. Whether this
5 You have a stooped, bent posture. place exists or not doesn’t matter to most
6 You wear a thick, metal ring in your nose. halflings, though there are some who say it’s just a
few miles away; life is a journey and there’s no
Halfling direction to go other than forward.
Fate seems to bend to accommodate the halflings. To call halflings small humans would be a
When they toss a coin, it almost always comes up mistake for though they resemble humans in some
in their favor. They kill at dice games, manage to superficial ways, they have a number of qualities
come through the worst scraps without a scrape, that set them apart. For one, halflings stand 3 feet
and situations always seem to go their way. Why plus or minus a few inches and most weigh
are halflings so lucky? Maybe the gods favor them. between 30 and 40 pounds. Halflings have three
Maybe they don’t quite belong in the world, so bad fingers and a thumb on each hand and four toes on
things rarely touch them. Maybe it’s not luck. It each foot. They have large, pointed ears that lack
lobes and have tufts of fur growing from the tips.

9
 Halfling make use of the common names of the ownership; they share everything and contribute
borderland. to the good of their communities with whatever
Languages Common, Ranger Signs skills they have. Many hobgoblins have
considerable skill as artisans and some of the best
HALFLING TRAITS tailors, cobblers, and jewelers in the known world
Lucky (1/minute) When you make a luck roll, you can
use this trait to roll with 1 boon.
happen to be hobgoblins.
Pluck When you become frightened, you can make a Few people ever see hobgoblins, so good are
luck roll. On a success, you do not become frightened. these faeries as disappearing and sneaking.
Hobgoblins have magical means by which they can
HALFLING DISTINCTIVE FEATURES disappear and while invisible, they mute the
d6 Feature sounds they make so that others remain ignorant
1 You fidget all the time, never able to stay still. of their existence. When they do deign to show
2 You have a childlike appearance.
themselves, they appear as little people, between
3 You are missing a finger.
2-1/2 and 3-1/2 feet tall, with rotund bodies and
4 You have especially hairy ears.
5 You have furry hands and feet.
spindly limbs. Hobgoblins weigh between 40 and
6 You are particularly small, even for a halfling. 60 pounds. They have long, pointed noses, small
bright eyes under bushy eyebrows, and large hairy
ears. They have a wide range of coloration, from
Hobgoblin milk white to obsidian black and everything in
Although they have similar names, goblins and between.
hobgoblins have little in common. Goblins Common hobgoblin names include Cumble, Goff,
comprise those faeries who shunned by their own Mikl, Peck, Shimshim, Tounce, and Verge.
kind after following the Goblin King out of the Languages Common, Sylvan
hidden realms to drive mortals from the world and
wreak havoc wherever they can. Hobgoblins, on HOBGOBLIN TRAITS
the other hand, are secretive faeries who often live Senses Dark Vision
among mortal communities, unseen, undetected, Faerie You are immune to infection, but are weakened
while you carry or wear an iron or iron-alloy object.
unless they choose otherwise.
Sneaky When you become hidden, you become invisible
The name hobgoblin means house goblin, a until you use an action, a reaction, or a minor action.
name given to all kinds of household faeries who, While invisible in this way, you move soundlessly
for one reason or other, decide to pitch in with the unless you choose to do otherwise.
chores and labor in return for small gifts of
clothing, baubles, and a bit of cream, which some HOBGOBLIN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
faeries seem to love. The faeries sometimes found d6 Feature
1 You have thick, prolific nose and ear hair.
living under homes, hidden away in small towns,
2 Your eyebrows grow so long that you have to
or in the tunnels under the southern cities have lift them up to see clearly.
come to be called house goblins, even though few 3 You have a grubby, unkempt appearance.
have little interest in mending shoes or milking 4 Your hair grows wild and in all directions.
the cows. 5 Your nose sticks out from your face like a
Instead, hobgoblins form small communities finger.
inside mortal lands. Rather than flee from 6 You have enormous earlobes that hang down
humanity’s spread, hobgoblins employed their to your shoulders.
magical nature to conceal themselves, to stay out
of view, and live by taking what they need from
their mortal neighbors, and leave something that
Marid
Conceptions of the Known World grew to
hobgoblins see as having an equal value behind.
encompass the Four Kingdoms of the Marid when
For example, a hobgoblin might snatch a fresh-
explorers and merchants landed in the
baked pie from a window sill and leave a bit of
borderlands just a decade ago. Although strange in
ribbon as payment. The hobgoblin believes the
appearance and custom, the marid learned the
ribbon has equal value from the effort it took to
local languages and adapted to what was to them
acquire it.
alien cultures with ease, so much so that many
Hobgoblin communities tend to be tight-packed
question their purpose. Although the marid gave
warrens that spread through tunnels excavated
no cause for animosity and seemed eager to learn
under human settlements and in the borderlands.
all they could of this continent, they kept to
Among themselves, hobgoblins have no sense of
10
themselves for the most part and founded • Water gathers around you and carries you to safety.
settlements outside the walls of the free cities that You can move to any space you choose in your zone
had welcomed them. The marid remain few in or an adjacent one. This movement does not enable
number, being the explorers who traveled across free attacks. Then, for 1 minute, you make Will rolls
with 1 boon.
the ocean and their descendants since arriving
here. MARID DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
The Four Kingdoms grew their fortunes through d6 Feature
trading and having established routes to even 1 You have no body hair.
more distant lands, of which little to nothing is 2 Your skin has a pattern of dots and marking
known, the marid sought to expand their along your arms and legs.
operations into new territory, which prompted 3 Your change color with your moods, becoming
their exploratory mission. The marid have gold to gray when happy, brown when sullen, bright
red when angry and blue when curious.
spend and goods for trading and have set up
4 You have double irises around your pupils, a
trading houses in the Free Cities and in the
sign your people recognize as being blessed
Borderlands.
with good fortune.
The marid have shown interest in local religions 5 You have a soft, doughy body.
and are particularly interested in divine magic, but 6 Your skin remains a dark blue color no matter
few have converted to any religion and instead how old you grow.
continue to honor the nameless elemental spirits
that have come to represent different aspects of
their culture and beliefs. For them, studying and Revenant
mastering elemental magic shows a singular Lord Death gave mortals the gift of death so they
devotion to spirituality as these elements grant could live again in their offspring. Each generation
control over the fundamental forces underpinning dies to give room to the next and anyone who
reality. violates the natural order of things makes an
Marids appear human, and have human heights enemy of the Father of Endings and the cultists of
and weights, but with blue skin that grows lighter the Last Door who serve him. Necromancers,
as they age. Infants, for example, have midnight undead, unbound spirits and worse all offend the
blue skin, while elders are pale blue almost white. dark lord and divine retribution against these who
All marids have white hair, though most adults would cheat the god his due can be swift and
shave their scalps and eschew facial hair. They also terrible. Yet from time to time, Lord Death allows a
all have blue on blue eyes. Most have taken to mortal to remain in the world after death, to live
wear clothing of local fashions, though many on, in a fashion, for some inscrutable purpose.
elders have yet to shed the hooded gray robes they Those given a second chance at life are known as
all wore when they first arrived. revenants.
Typical marid names include Aazim, Aanisha, It is not mercy that stays Lord Death’s hand;
Laela, Milak, Omar, Sinar, and Zara. some other purpose drives this decision. One
Languages Common, Maridian, plus one of your person might die before the time ordained by the
choice. Fates, another could have some crucial task left
unfulfilled, while another still might be destined to
MARID TRAITS accomplish a great work that will serve the greater
Elemental Outburst (reaction when you are harmed; good. Some revenants return to life only to fall
1/minute) You release elemental energy from within dead a few days later and never rise again, while
your body. Choose one of the following effects: others become ancient, hoary things, withered
• Wind blasts each creature within reach. An affected
skin clinging taught to their bones, still drawing
creature makes a Strength roll and, on a failure, is
moved out of your reach. Then, for 1 minute, you breath despite their great age. The seeming
make Agility rolls with 1 boon. randomness about who does and who does not
• The ground trembles around you. Each creature on become a revenant suggests to some that there
the ground in your reach makes an Agility roll and, might be no divine plan, but rather a hitch in the
on a failure, falls prone. Then, for 1 minute, you workings of reality, and the more revenants at
make Strength rolls with 1 boon. large in the world, the more reality frays.
• Fire rushes out from your body. Each creature in Revenants are a people apart from humans and
your reach makes an Agility roll and, on a failure, other mortals, regardless of how much they
takes 1d6 damage. Then, for 1 minute, you make
Intellect rolls with 1 boon.
resemble their kin. Those revenants who crave
society must find it among the living and make
11
places for themselves in the towns and villages. As
their appearance might frighten people, and so
Sphinx
revenants who cannot shake their decaying Across the Sea of Fear, east of the Jungles of Za,
appearance might live and work alone as they there lies a great and mighty nation, the Immortal
pursue the purpose that keeps their souls Kingdom of Aegus, the land of the sphinxes. For
anchored to their flesh. thousands of years, the sphinxes have held this
A typical revenant appears as they did in life, land and thrown back every effort to invade it.
but with a deathly pallor. The skin loses its color, Isolation born from a general contempt of the
hair becomes brittle and might fall out, while the lesser peoples living beyond its boundaries, Aegus
lips draw back to reveal their teeth. Those who secured its borders and made no move to add to
persist for long periods might become gaunt, even its prodigious holdings, seeing no need as their
skeletal, until they become indistinguishable from lands held all that they needed and more.
corpses. Luckily, enough revenants exist that a Something has changed in the last century. The
cottage industry has grown to help revenants rivers dried up, the forests withered, and the
stave off the worst of time’s effects. Special grasslands became desert wastes. Among the
ointments keep the skin soft and pliable, while sphinxes, their already modest birthrate
herbal bundles can be sewn into the flesh to keep plummeted and fewer and fewer young were born.
parasites at bay and mask the odors of the body’s Believing their lands to be cursed, many sphinxes
gradual decline. Revenants have no natural means have left their dying lands to find their futures
for repairing their injuries, so some wear and tear elsewhere. In a great diaspora, sphinxes press into
is normal and it’s nothing to see a revenant with the Jungles of Za, to the Emerald Islands far to the
fine stitching that keeps cuts closed and cosmetics south, and north, across the Sea of Fear, to the
use to cover abrasions and punctures. borderlands and beyond.
Revenants use names common to those found in In Aegus, the sphinxes worshiped the same gods
the borderlands. that make up those of the Old Faith, though their
Languages Common interpretations of these deities and the names by
which they call them differ. It’s held there that the
REVENANT TRAITS Sun God, whom they name Aram, rules the
Senses Night Vision pantheon of gods and his wife, the Orisu, rules
Undead You are immune to the effects of exposure, over the night. Death, called Nekron, hates
infection, and any effect that would transform you. creation and sends his jackals to steal away the
Immune poisoned living to languish in his dark realm.
Undead Resilience While you are not injured, you take
The priests hold substantial power in Aegus and
half damage from weapons. You take half damage
from cold. their chief function is to support the queen who
Divine Doom You make luck rolls with 1 bane. rules as the mortal wife of Aram. When she passes,
Inert Anatomy When you rest, you heal damage and her soul ascends to join the past queens who dwell
regain Health only if you, or someone tending you, in the night skies as stars. The queen’s consorts
has a healer’s kit to sew up your injuries and repair serve as her guards, advisors, and companions,
your damage. and when their queen dies, they follow her into
REVENANT DISTINCTIVE FEATURES death.
d6 Feature Until recently, the only sphinxes people knew
1 You stuff your body with fragrant herbs to appeared as Empire-era sculptures and in old
cover your charnel smell. paintings that offered a stylized interpretation of
2 No one would mistake you for being a living these peoples. In reality, sphinxes fall in the
person. You appear as a walking, talking human ranges of height and weight. They have
corpse. leonine bodies capable of walking upright or on all
3 You have permanent stitches all over your fours, with short, golden fur covering their bodies
body to keep yourself together. from head to feet. They have the tails of lions
4 Your eyes are black pits. extending from the base of their spines and their
5 Beetles and other carrion-eating insects infest facial features suggest some mingling of human
your body. and lion. Males have thick dark manes that extend
6 You appear alive in the prime of your life. from the back of their skulls and necks to form a
collar of sorts. All sphinxes have vestigial
feathered wings extending out from their backs.

12
 Sample sphinx names include Adalmach, Asir, spriggans might set out to start new groves, carry
Caledius, Egedia, Faesa, Iona, Mezzen, Ozara, and out a mission for their maker, or succumb to their
Yzil. curiosity to discover just what lays beyond the
Languages Common, Sphinx woods.
Spriggans appear as humanoids but in place of
SPHINX TRAITS flesh and blood, they have a thin layer of bark
Nimble You…
• … suffer no drawbacks from running.
covering springy wood that has the same
• … impose 1 bane on rolls to attack from free flexibility and freedom that another creature
attacks. might have. Spriggan eyes shine like green candle
• … lose half as much Health from landing after a fall. flames and they have small gaps for mouths move
• …make the Agility roll with 2 boons when you use a enough to let them speak, but they have no noses
reaction to dodge. nor do they have ears. And in place of hair, they
have a crest of leafy branches that rise from the
SPHINX DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
tops of their heads and sprout in places from their
d6 Feature
1 You have colorful wing plumage. bodies.
2 You have distinctive markings or patterns in While rooted, though, spriggans appear as
your fur. ordinary woody shrubs, with sparse greenery and
3 You have numerous piercings all over your plenty of thorns to dissuade creatures from
body. disturbing them. Although immobile while rooted
4 You have a deep, rasping voice. in place, spriggans remain aware of their
5 You have an extra digit on each hand and foot. surroundings and can pull themselves free to deal
6 You purr when you’re happy and hiss when with any threats.
angered. Sample spriggan names include Hush of
Winter’s Heart, Laughter of the Melting Snow,
Spriggan Morning Dew in the Dawn’s Light, Reaching of
Grandfather Tree strode the lands of Erth and Limbs to the Sky, and Stillness of Night’s Darkest
planted seeds to cover creation with a wondrous Hours, though they often abbreviate their names
garden. The seeds took root and sprouted into for other peoples.
trees, flowers, grasses, vines, and so much more, Languages Common
but they also unfolded from the soil and pulled SPRIGGAN TRAITS
themselves free to become the world’s first Plant As a plant, you nourish yourself by absorbing
spriggans. These sentient plants believe sunlight, and nutrients from the ground. Rather than
themselves to be the offspring of the great green consume provisions to avoid the effects of
god and thus most commit their long lives to deprivation, you can plant your feet in damp earth in
preserving the world’s most garden-like regions a sunlit zone. If you spend at least 1 hour in this zone
from exploitation and ruin. under these conditions, you count as if you become
immune to deprivation from hunger and thirst for 24
Unless spriggans choose to reveal themselves,
hours.
travelers can pass through their groves a dozen Flammable (1/round) When you take damage from
times without suspecting they have done so. Being fire, you take double the damage, lose 1d6 Health, and
plants, albeit mobile ones, spriggans have no need makes a luck roll. On a failure, you catch fire (luck
for shelter, to grow crops or keep livestock for ends).
food. They can nourish themselves by sinking their Claws Your fingers end in claws that are natural off-
feet in the soil and reaching up to absorb the sun’s handed weapons with the Finesse, Keen, and Light
light through their fingerlike branches. And properties. Your claw attacks deal 1d6 damage.
neither rain nor the elements bother them. All a Plant Ally When you use an action to attack with your
spriggan community needs to thrive is a place claws, you can choose your target from any creature
or object in reach or in your zone or an adjacent one
where they can root themselves when they need
provided there are plants in the zone.
and congregate when they want. Plant Strider You ignore the effects of moving across
Having few reasons to interact with the outside challenging terrain caused by plants.
world, makes spriggans rare sights beyond their
forest homes. Spriggans find ready allies in SPRIGGAN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
fenoderees, some wargs, and other woodland folk d6 Feature
and if something threatens their friends, a whole 1 Moss or lichen grows all over your body.
2 You have a particular gnarled and knobby
grove of spriggans might rally to the cause. Other
appearance.
13
3 In lieu of green leaves for hair, you have size of wrens, butterflies, or motes of light that
flowers. float over the ground, looking ever so much like
4 Your arms and legs sprout tender shoots fireflies. Although they can flutter about, they lack
constantly that break off and wither away. the means to attain any kind of real altitude.
5 Birds sometimes make their nests in your head Typical sprite names include Acorn, Berry, Joy,
branches.
Leaf, Ribald, Squirrel, and Wix.
6 Thorns cover the branches that grow from
Languages Common, Sylvan
your head.
SPRITE TRAITS
Sprite Faerie You are immune to infection, but are weakened
while you carry or wear an iron or iron-alloy object.
Sprites, sometimes called the children of the Wild Speech You can communicate with normal
forest, remained in the mortal world when the animals such as cats, dogs, pigs, and horses. You can
other faeries left. They chose to stay for they interpret the noises animals make, as well as their
would not owe a debt to the elves who fashioned body language to get the gist of what they say to you.
these new realms and would instead go their own Wee Form (action) You, along with everything you wear
way. By necessity, sprites have remained hidden in and carry, shrink down until you are three inches tall
the mortal world, leading secretive lives to avoid adopting an appearance of your choosing when you
encounters with the foolish, short-lived peoples gain this trait. You remain at this size until you use a
minor action to return to your normal size. If you
who seem bound and determined to spread
drop an item reduced in this way, the item remains at
everywhere and make a mess of everything. its reduced size until this effect ends. While under the
Sprites build nothing, make nothing that lasts. effects of this trait, you make the following
They have accidental communities where multiple modifications to your character:
gather to frolic and play, love and laugh, all while • You impose 1 bane on rolls to attack you, but you
singing, playing music, and telling outlandish take double damage from attacks.
stories about the people they met, places the visit, • You are Small and harmless. No activity you
and the foolishness they encounter as they explore undertake can directly deal damage, cause loss of
the world. Sprites have a reputation for being silly, Health, or impose an affliction on another creature
or object. You can, however, indirectly harm a
empty-headed faeries without a care in the world,
creature, such as by pushing a rock so that it falls
but for all that they love jesting and play, they on something underneath it.
become quite serious when it matters most. They • You make little noise. When you speak at an
can be stalwart companions, reliable and ordinary volume, your voice carries as a whisper.
courageous. They never make oaths because their • You are too small to move far. If you are in a zone,
word is worthless, but when they feel a bond you can walk to the edge of the zone. If you are on
growing with someone, they do everything they the edge of the zone, you can walk into the adjacent
can to avoid letting them down. zone.
A great many sprites cause trouble for mortals. • If you are not injured, you can fly, though if you fly
more than one zone above the ground, you fall until
They steal, rile up horses, free livestock, lead
you are one zone above the ground once more.
children astray, leave insulting messages, pull on • Unless a creature is specifically looking for you, you
hair, and more, but they might take pity on some count as if you were invisible.
mortals, being moved by their grief and suffering. Wild Escape (reaction when harmed; 1/hour) You gain
This is why many sprites have come out of the a move which you must use immediately or lose it.
wilds to help the newcomers become settled in the Your movement does not enable enemies to make free
borderlands, for they see in their faces, loss, pain, attacks against you.
and sorrow, and no sprite likes those things, not in
SPRITE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
others and especially not in themselves. d6 Feature
In their normal forms, sprites stand 2 feet tall 1 You have the legs of a grasshopper, frog, or
and weigh about 20 pounds. They have slim ant.
bodies and appear in all the colors of the rainbow. 2 You have the head of a bird, mouse, or frog.
Sprites make their clothes from found things, a 3 You have flowers instead of hair.
scrap of cloth, a garland of flowers, a skirt of 4 Your eyes look like jewels.
woven grasses, but have little interest in wearing 5 You have a pair of butterfly wings. You can
the skins of dead animals. cause them to flutter, but they cannot bear
Sprites have natural magic that lets them change your weight unless you are in wee form.
their shapes. They can become small birds, the 6 You have fine fur all over your body.

14
Triton serrated teeth. Gills cut across their chests,
allowing them to draw air from water.
Old salts still warn sailors embarking from the At sea, tritons forgo clothing, but they recognize
mainland to steer clear of the towers of land-dweller customs enough to don loose,
Shangrana, structures of corkscrewing coral comfortable robes. Tritons avoid restrictive
believed to rise from the sunken city on the clothing as it makes swimming more difficult,
seafloor. Too many galleons and cogs found their though they do cover their bodies in sharkskin
way to the bottom of the sea after drifting into the armor (as leather) when at war.
waters the sea-dwelling tritons control to risk Sample triton names include Festooth,
their ire. Accords with the kingdoms of the Old Malabrath, Ooshala, Shesh, Thurith, Weesha, and
Country put a stop to the tritons’ coastal raids, but Yaah.
any trespass into their territory arouses their Languages Common, Triton
anger and the sea positively boils with activity as
they launch strikes against the intruders. TRITON TRAITS
The Book of Trials tells the story of the tritons’ Senses Night Vision
origins, explaining that the gods had made them in Amphibious You can breathe when submerged in
their likeness, but condemned them to harsh lives water.
of want and toil. They rose up against their gods Swimmer You move one additional zone when you
swim, ignore the effects of swimming on your
and fought for their freedom. Their uprising
attribute rolls and on rolls made against your
resulted in the collapse of the heavenly realm into Defense, and you make rolls to swim with 1 boon.
the deep waters and freed the tritons to live as Fluid Moves When you use a reaction to dodge and the
they chose. roll to attack you results in a failure, you impose 1
Being amphibious, the tritons could have spread bane on rolls against your Defense and Agility until
out and settled the coastlines, but they feared the end of your next turn.
reprisals from the old gods and thus stayed under
TRITON DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
the waves where they would remain out of view. d6 Feature
The tritons might also have escaped contact 1 You have iridescent scales.
with other peoples, but the sailors’ navigation 2 You have a large fin that starts between your
techniques improved enough that they could sail eyebrows and follows the contour of your skull
beyond sight of land. Old Country ships started and down to the middle of your back.
crossing the Sea of Fear and the tritons defended 3 You have a nasty scar somewhere on your
their territory by sinking the ships and drowning body from a shark bite.
the crews. When the ships kept crossing, the 4 Your scales have a color different from most
tritons starting raiding coastal settlements. The other tritons, being pink, green, brown, or
fighting continued until the surface nations’ black.
envoys agreed to use prescribed sea lanes to make 5 You have barbels growing from the sides your
the crossings and avoid triton waters and, in face and chin.
return, the tritons would halt their raiding. 6 You have striped or spotted scales.
Before war broke out in the Old Country,
attitudes among the tritons toward the land- Warg
dwellers had softened to the point that the tritons The warg tribes living in the borderlands fled
had begun trading with the settlements they had persecution of the Old Country when a they were
raided just a generation before. While many deemed a plague on humanity. The first wargs
tritons have their doubts about the air-breathers, were those afflicted with a strange disease called
a few have taken to making forays inland to see lycanthropy and who spread their affliction to
the lands and gain a better understanding of their others through their bites. This disease, which
people. Thus, tritons are in no way common sights behaved much like a curse, caused them to shed
in the known world, but they are not the strangers their human forms and become wolves whenever
they once were either. the light of the full moons shown upon the land
Tritons have tall, lean, willowy bodies covered in and under the influence of this bewitching light
a fine mesh of silvery blue scales. They have the werewolves ran amok, killing and spreading
smooth piscine faces, with globular eyes over their affliction to all they could.
which snap special membranes to protect them The Church of the High One called for a great
from silt and grit. They lack noses, but have purging of the afflicted and anyone deemed to be
nostrils and small mouths equipped with sharp, afflicted, whether they were or not, found
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themselves tortured and executed on great pyres. • You increase your Health by 6.
Faced with such a horrible end, the afflicted fled • Your teeth count as a natural one-handed weapon
east for the untamed wilds and there they have that has the Finesse property. They deal 2d6
remained these long years, hidden from their damage.
Aggressive (reaction when you see an enemy and no
enemies and in this time, they overcame the
enemy is within your reach; 1/minute) Gain a move
disease of the body and mind, but retained its and can use it immediately.
transformative power. Thus were a new people,
the wargs, born into this world. WARG DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
For years, the warg tribes lived in peace by d6 Feature
avoiding the faeries and finding in the fauns 1 You have bright, yellow eyes, like those of
kindred spirits. But the Weird Wizard’s arrival and many wolves.
2 You have extensive, thick body hair.
subsequent founding of the Forbidden City saw
3 Your nails grow long and thick, almost like
the wargs drawn into conflict once more. The
claws.
tribal leaders saw the interloper as a dire threat 4 You have pointed ears and large canines.
and offered proof in the strange things that crept 5 You issue a deep, rumbling growl when
and crawled across the land, horrors created by angered or threatened.
his reckless experimenting. The wargs pitched 6 You have tattoos and scars all over your body.
themselves against the Weird Wizard; they hunted
his creations, destroyed his mechanical soldiers,
and caused endless trouble for and interference
with his designs.
Their enemies’ sudden absence brought an end
to the hostilities, but then the refugees began
entering the borderlands, bringing with them
what the wargs saw as a false god and its
murderous peddlers. The tribes, of which there
are now many, stand divided about what to do
with these newcomers. The wargs of the Silver
Fang tribe have leant aid and deal peacefully with
the refugees, while the wargs of the Three Moons,
Blood Howl, and Shadow Runners have been
working to drive them off.
Once human, wargs, in their humanoid form, can
pass as such, but the disease or curse that led to
their creation saddled them with fierce features,
hairy bodies, and gleaming, golden eyes. When
they choose, they can transform into the form of
enormous wolves with fur matching their hair
color. Comfortable in either form, wargs shift
between them as their needs demand.
Common warg names include Balan, Calden,
Ema, Frath, Gesh, Medderek, Needrak, and Sead.
Languages Common
WARG TRAITS
Senses Night Vision, Keen Scent
Wolf Form (action) You and everything you wear and
carry transform into a wolf. The effects of your
transformation last until you become incapacitated or
until you return to your human form as a minor
action. While in this form, you use your normal rules,
except as follows:
• You cannot speak.
• You cannot use any equipment that transforms
with you. Furthermore, you lack the hands required
to make attacks with manufactured weapons.
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