Appearance and Personality

Humans come in every variety of color and appearance as they do on Earth. The humans of Near, however, tend towards darker skin tones: the lightest skin tone is a light olive, and blonde hair is rare. Exceptionally light-skinned people or blondes are regarded with some suspicion, as these qualities are normally associated with elves. Skin tone varies within nations and cultures, but as a rule, skin tones deepen as one travels north in the world of Near.

Human personalities are very tempered by culture. They are the most aggressive of all the species, though, even the beast-like Ratkin. Their superior numbers and role as the primary mover in Near history have much to do with this, as does a natural-born hubris. Coupled with their aggressiveness is a dangerous catalyst: fear. The Shadow has brought out the worst fears in humanity, and purges against other species, pogroms against their own kind, witch-hunts for "Shadow-touched" and other atrocities have been even more common.

Balancing human aggression is human passion. Humans have love - as we know it, at least - which is unique to their kind. It is, in fact, what makes humans human, and if a goblin or elf finds themselves in this state, they are on the fast track to finding out just how mallable their species identity is.

Religion and Magic

All human religions have some explanation of the Sky-Fire and the Shadow Moon. Most are not favorably inclined to it, and have become dualist good-versus-evil pantheons. The definition of evil is a primary impetus in many of the atrocities described above.

Crunchy Bits

Appearance and Personality

For the most part, elves appear human-like. They create their own bodies from the power of their own self-image, so they can have any appearance they want at creation, but most stick with a similar appearance in each incarnation. Their skin tone, however, is always pale, ranging from bone-white to a very light olive, and their hair is light, ranging from blonde to a sandy brown or golden red. All elves have an aura, a small nimbus of light that shines around them. This aura is slight enough that it only shouts their presence under a pitch-black sky. It is noticeable enough, though, that anyone that does see an elf knows what it is.

Elves tend to be solitary creatures without roots. This is not to say that they are not social; they can be incredibly magnetic. They do not, however, usually settle down in one place and form lasting relationships. It is said that one cannot trust an elf for "whatever good he does, he does for his own purposes."

The Cycle of the Elf

Elves are people who have looked deep within and found only one thing there: the self. Dedicated like a Zen master, they have realized the world is illusory and the only truth is what one thinks of one's self. Upon the death of the body, these souls do not pass on, but return again and again, as a more perfect form.

This sort of worldview kind of shuts the door on most religion. The elf recognizes no god or greater power, only more powerful souls. Strangely, this sort of self-absorption doesn't always lead to evil: many elves roam the world doing good to either appease something inside them or perhaps for amusement. Others strike down anything in their path, realizing the insignificance of others that have not achieved their enlightenment. Whatever the attitude, an elf lives on, seeking to know itself deeper.

Sometimes, an elf strays from this path. They were once human, after all, although it's not too wise to mention that. Any time an elf recognizes another life as greater than his own, he falls from elfhood. If an elf either saves the life of another, dying or becoming mortally wounded in the process, or creates life - elves function sexually as humans - they become somewhat human. (If the elf died for another, he is reborn a last time.) Their aura dims and becomes grey, and they begin to get older like a human: they have entered the Grey Age. Other elves usually despise a Grey One for his weakness.

Elven Magic

The most powerful magic of the elf is the fact that it's immortal. Elves come into this world at maturity, and do not age unless they want to. Most do, over their many incarnations, as their self-image becomes more wizened. They do not catch diseases, although they can be poisoned. Their body is only a shell they have created, and even if struck down, they return to the world of Near.

An elf, if feeling introspective - and when aren't they? - may speak of Heaven. This may be the only religious belief elves have: that when they achieve perfect enlightenment, they will leave Near and enter perfect one-ness, when the illusion of Near disappears for them, and they see it for what it is, their own dream. This Heaven is as horrific of an idea to a human as it sounds - the elf sees himself as the dreamer of everything and everyone else, and he will take his true place in Heaven.

Elven magic manifests itself in other minor forms, however. Elven auras are very powerful and have many special abilities that protect the elf and project its will on others. The long age of an elf seems like magic to other peoples, as well: elves can draw on their many experiences to perform nearly any feat.

The Shadow Moon and the Elf

When the Sky Fire fell to Near, all elves disappeared. Not a single one was seen for over two hundred years. As to where they went, no one knows, not even the elves. Elves' stories are varied: most purport that they were always here and have no memory of leaving or those two hundred years, while others speak of Far, another world they are able to visit.

Whatever happened, elves are loathe to speak of it. Since they have returned, though, it is obvious the Shadow Moon has had an effect on them. Once elves were friendly towards each other, greeting other ones on the path to enlightenment. Once, when an elf was asked about the logical fallacy in two elves both thinking the universe is their dream, he said, "It is not known whether I am dreaming him dreaming the world, or he is dreaming me dreaming the world. Either way, we'd better get along." Now, though, elven friendliness is rare, and most elves despise the sight of another one. The power struggle to see who is truly the master of the dream has become intense. Some old elves blame the younger ones for the Sky Fire and Shadow Moon, claiming too many competing for the dream have threatened to tear it apart.

Crunchy Bits

Appearance and personality

Goblins are infinitely adaptable beings; their "natural" bodies, if you can call them that, manage to resemble demons, dogs, and men at the same time. They are mottled brown, black, green, and grey, and their hair grows randomly, in shape and color. Their bodies have an ability that cannot be explained by many: they evolve to match their environment even as they continue to age, and their offspring carry these same characteristic. Even strong magic and torture can warp their bodies, as many evil wizards have found, creating the dread ur-goblins, bugbears, and Violators from goblin stock. Most goblins are smaller and stouter than humans, although they can come in just about any size.

Goblins' curiosity drives them into all the forgotten places of the earth, and makes them decent apprentices for just about any job: they catch on quickly, but tend to cause as many accidents as they do help. They're easy to keep loyal, though: all goblins have an addiction, which if fed regularly, will make one your best friend. This addiction need not be to a drug: they can be addicted to a certain act, food, drink, or, well, drug. (A tale has been told of goblin divers on the shores of Maldor. These beasts were amazing pearl-finders, and were addicted to the rush of adrenaline they got when their human handler threw them off the cliff-side.)

Goblin society, family, and morality

Left alone, goblin societies resemble anarchy to any outsider, although they tend to grow an alpha goblin among any tribe. Any goblin tribe of more than about two dozen of the animals tends to fall apart without an outside master, usually human. Goblins are actually rather good at organizing to make sure everyone's needs get met, but when they start to threaten each other's resources, tribes quickly split into rivals.

Goblin families are very loose-knit. All goblins are poly-sexual, and any mating between them, whether male-male, male-female, or female-female, can generate offspring. With a month-long gestation period, this doesn't really get in the way of their curious relations. The offspring are born as small, but capable goblins, emerging as little flesh-balls about a foot in diameter. Within an hour of their birth, they grow feet, hands, eyes, and a mouth. Young goblins pick another goblin in the tribe as their parent, randomly, and if that goblin doesn't push them away, they usually learn the same addictions and behaviors.

Goblins do not understand the human concept of love. It's an alien concept to them. They do understand mutual pleasure, of both the sexual and non-sexual form, and do actively work with each other. The greatest sins in goblin society are not wanting to trade - one goblin's poison is another's pudding - and betraying someone you're working with.

A few goblins have been observed in a bizarre state that resembles love, however. When a goblin is struck with this, known only as "the Affliction" in their rough language, they leave their tribe and travel, their only goals to prove their love or die. (They seem confused by their own emotions, and usually cannot express clearly what they are doing.) A goblin has never been observed in love with another goblin, however; they always choose a member of another species as their object of affection.

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Appearance and Personality

Ratkin resemble nutria, enormous rodents, standing on their hind legs with prehensile thumbs. About three to four feet tall, they have pointed button noses, whiskers, and are covered in either grey, brown, or black fur, with the occasional albino all-white ratkin. Many ratkin are not completely used to bipedal movement, and drop to all fours to run, looking like nothing but a huge rat-dog.

A wandering ratkin will bond with his companions quickly, and is usually quite uncomfortable alone. Their tendency to take the possessions of their friends is well documented, though: they have little comprehension of the idea that you can own anything, except through guarding it. In the same way, they will quarrel with their friends quicker than a human would, but quarrels are forgiven as soon as they end.

One of the Litter

The basic unit of ratkin society is the litter, being the large group the ratkin is born with. Unlike other species, not everything born to a ratkin mother is a ratkin; a typical litter is three or four ratkin and ten to twenty normal rats. At birth, the ratkin are distinguishable only by their forepaws and their size, about one-and-a-half to twice the size of the rats.

Among a litter, you own only what you can fight for: any scrap of food or shiny object quickly results in a scratching, biting ball of chaos as rat and ratkin alike pile on. This is true from birth; the first act of a ratkin's life is to claw a sibling off a teat so it can have a drink. An outsider would wonder how many make it out alive, as sibling altercations are frequent and incredibly violent. Ratkin instinctually know how to hurt their brethren without seriously damaging them, though.

Any outside threat to a member of the litter is met with real violence, though. A predator attacking a lone rat or ratkin will quickly find himself prey to a snarling, vicious wave of fur, tooth, and claw, seemingly coming from nowhere. To a ratkin, an attack on any member of his litter is even worse than a personal attack on him, and requires retribution. Although the bond is not as powerful, this is also true about the horde, the larger family a litter is born into, which can number dozens or hundreds of ratkin, and thousands of rats. For this reason, a ratkin-infested ancient city is a very dangerous place to bring hostilities.

Ratkin do leave their original litter to wander the world of Near, though. The reasons are varied. Some ratkin lose their litter to explorers; some meet outsiders and see a way of life where they do not have to fight for every meal. They do not, though, lose the concept of the litter, and usually find a group of companions to bond with, becoming their new litter.

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The Fingers of Divinity

Zaru is a land broken and divided. Set in a delta at the eastern mouth of the Poison River, she has been conquered by Ammeni, her people enslaved. The only resistance is outcasts, people not welcome in the Zaru communities or worship halls, for they have committed the worst sin of all, the taking of human life, and discovered a dark knowledge the elders cannot bear.

Zaru was once rich. Her soil is extremely fertile and rice, swamp apples, and other crops grow bountifully. Zaru's greatest asset became her downfall, though: the language of zu, the language of creation, spread beyond her borders and infected the world. Zu is not like other languages; it is magical, and anyone hearing it can then use it themselves. Moreover, speaking it actually wills actions, circumstances, and objects into being.

When the knowledge of zu spread, the people of the world misused it, not understanding its power. Many people believe the use of it caused the great Sky Fire, and the subsequent destruction of the old world.

The Language of Zu

Zu is made up of discrete syllables, each with a generalized meaning. There are no specific words; instead, complex ideas are built from combinations. These syllables each have three meanings, based on tone:

• A noun, spoken with no tone
• A verb, spoken with a low tone
• A modifier (what we know as adjectives and adverbs), spoken with a high tone

The syllables, depending on tone, mean each of these things; thus, no syllable exists in zu that cannot be used as a noun, verb, and modifier. Pronouns are implied by context and body language. Sentences, as modern-day speakers think of them, exist by combining these syllables. The last syllable used in a sentence conveys the sentence type. A sentence ending in a noun is a statement of fact, meaning "this exists" or "this is so." A sentence ending in a verb is a command, even if it refers to the speaker: the speaker is stating his action and in essence, commanding himself. A sentence ending in a modifier is different than any modern sentence. It expresses hope or desire for change, meaning "I wish that it was like this."

As mentioned, syllables are general terms, not specific. There is no one syllable for "tiger," for example. "Tiger" would be spoken as "knife-tooth-hunter-beast." Another example would be "sword," which is said as "killing-knife." When designing a syllable to use in the game, try breaking down English words into their most atomic parts. If a zu speaker does not use multiple syllables to be specific, then the most appropriate meaning is assumed. For example, if a speaker says "beast" in a forest, he means "forest animal"; if he were to say the same syllable in a snake pit, he means snake. If he were to say "knife" to a farmer and a hunter, he would again mean different things - most likely a scythe and a hunting knife.

Also as mentioned, each syllable has three forms.

There is one syllable in zu that is not like any other: "zu." "Zu" is an affirmation, an agreement. Originally, there was no opposite, no "no" in zu. (True Zaru never speak in the negative: if there is nothing affirmative to say, they do not speak in zu.) With the first act of murder, however, that changed. The murderer, the destroyer, lost his ability to speak the syllable "zu." Instead, he spoke the syllable "uz," a word of disagreement and destruction. No man can say both "zu" and "uz."

The Power of Zu

Originally, anyone who spoke zu could use it as words of power. Stating that something was so made it so; commanding someone made compelled them; wishing for different circumstances brought them into being. With Hanish's final chant, this changed. He brought all the power of zu into himself, re-creating himself as the First Man. Suddenly, the Zaru lost their power, as their language became ordinary and impotent.

Hanish died that day, but the power of zu did not die with him. Instead, it changed forever. The power of a syllable could be harnessed, but only by one person at a time. Anyone who studies zu can speak it, but only those who are the master of a syllable can use it to enforce their will. Now, Zaru priests, outcasts, and foreigners vie to obtain the knowledge of these words.

In the game, words of power are used like this:

Nouns will things into being. These things, if animate, are not under the speaker's control. The speaker's player must spend a point of Reason and make an unopposed Ability Check using his character's Zu ability. (If the thing summoned is unnatural for the surroundings, a penalty die should be imposed.) If anyone else is present, they can resist, using their Resist ability. The thing will appear near the speaker, and any information about the thing not spoken as a word of power will be determined by the Story Guide.

Verbs are commands, and impose the will of the speaker on another. The speaker's player must spend a point of Instinct and make an opposed Ability Check using his character's Zu ability versus the opponent's Resist ability, with Instinct as the associated pool. Only animate beings can be affected, and a being cannot be compelled to do an impossible task.

Example: Damuzi later says "burn" to an enemy, but the enemy has no way to burn himself, and so ignores it. If Damuzi first started a fire, then his command could take affect.

The target being must be able to hear the speaker.

Modifiers change circumstances or actions. Unlike commands, modifiers can be used against animate and inanimate objects that the speaker can see. Whatever the object is, it must be performing an action, even if it is as simple as the wind blowing. The speaker spend a point of Vigor and must make an Ability Check using his character's Zu ability. If the target is animate and the target can hear the speaker, the Ability Check can be opposed by the target's Resist ability. Difficulty does apply to this Ability Check; the Story Guide can feel free to impose penalty dice for modifying large forces of nature and the like.

The Success Level of the Ability Check is used to impose bonus or penalty dice, depending on how the modifier affects the action. If a messenger is running, and the speaker says "fast," then the runner gets bonus dice to run. If an enemy is holding onto a cliff edge, and the speaker says "fast" to the wind, then the wind will blow faster, and the enemy will receive penalty dice to hang on.

The Theft of Zu

The danger of using zu around other people is that they may steal the knowledge of a syllable. When a zu is spoken, anyone who hears it can engage the speaker in a battle of wills to own the knowledge of that word.

In game mechanics, anyone who hears the syllable, has an advance to spend, and has either the Secret of Zu or the Secret of Uz can steal the syllable. If the thief does not have either Secret, his player can immediately spend an advance to take it. In order to steal a syllable, an opposed Ability Check of the thief's Zu ability is made against the speaker's Zu ability. If the Ability Check is successful, the thief spends an advance and takes the syllable. The speaker loses the syllable, but gains an advance.

A willing gift of a syllable does not require an Ability Check, but does require the expediture of advances. The spending of advances to take zu is like buying a Secret for your character, but is not subject to the normal rules about the order of advances that can be taken.

Life of the Speaking-People

As a people, the Zaru are fairly uniform in appearance. Black hair is virtually homogenous among them, and their skin is dusky, their eyes dark. If they look like a modern-day people of Earth, those people would come straight out of Southeast Asia, complete with loose-fitting clothes and large, flat hats made to keep the burning sun off them when toiling in the fields.

As a nation, Zaru does not exist any longer. Ammeni truly has dominated it, and Zaru villages exist on Ammenite plantations, under the care of foremen. Typical construction is made of bamboo, and communities exist around "speaking halls," long buildings in which the Zaru eat, cook, converse, and often sleep. Only the elders of a community and their adult children have the privilege of living in tiny huts built around the speaking hall. Older villages, pre-Shadow, do exist in Zaru, which are basically larger versions of their slave villages: large speaking halls with family houses built around the central building. These are usually constructed of hard, baked clay around a bamboo center, and are incredibly durable. As insurgency has grown in Zaru, some radical groups have fled to the old towns and formed their bases of operations there.

Families are very important in traditional Zaru culture. They are viewed as "mini-villages," with the eldest person being the leader of that family. (Pre-Shadow Zaru houses bear this out, as they are usually built as a long room spanning the house, with rooms built off of this.) Villages are built around the same structure, with the eldest person in village taking the role of priest and leader, as they have seen more and heard more than anyone else. The Ammenites are well aware of this, and break up families and villages by sending children inland and working the elderly to an early death. One underground movement in Zaru returns babies to their mothers in the dark night, traveling far over land to switch them back.

Land-Thieves, Word-Thieves, and Blood-Thieves

The zu phrase for an Ammenite is "land-thief," an appropriate epithet for a people who have turned Zaru into their personal playground. Even more sinister are the terms "word-thief" and "blood-thief."

"Word-thief" is a term given to a non-Zaru that uses the sacred tongue of zu, especially Ammenite sorcerers. Zaru elders are torn on how to deal with the resurgence of zu and its potent virulence. The majority of them, who remember a time when zu was taken away, agree that it should not be used, thereby keeping it firmly - but uselessly - in Zaru hands. The younger generation doesn't completely agree: there is a strong underground movement to rebel against the Ammenites using any means necessary.

There are several priestly organizations loosing forming in Zaru, all centered around proper zu usage and Zaru unity. One group believes that all zu should be kept firmly in the hands of Zaru, specifically elders, thereby keeping the unwise from using it, and denying their enemies a potent weapon. This group, the Watchers, train young rebels to work as "word-horses," adventurers who steal zu from non-Zaru, or Zaru using it unwisely, and bring those zu back to their priests. This group is committed to the Zaru way of non-violence, but some fringe priesthoods have seen fit to use foreign mercenaries to carry words.

The Sons of Hanish follow a more moderate path. They seek to follow in the path of Hanish and be an active force in the world, while staying true to their beliefs. This group operates in cells, which are based on the family "mini-village" structure, and attempts to change the situation of the Zaru by subtle actions, like using zu to influence a foreman to keep a family together, or causing a crop to do poorly. They have designed a martial arts form, Uptenbo or "life-shield-hand," which is non-lethal but powerful, concentrating on redirection of force and incapacitation.

The Moonmen are the most radical of the Zaru priesthoods, and are the most diverse. While the Sons of Hanish are mainly young and male, and the Watchers older, the Moonmen are made up of brash youngsters, lunatic elderly, calm mothers, and even foreigners. They advocate nothing more than a full unleashing of Zaru power. Non-violence is taken only on a personal basis among them, and they have no real structure. Instead, individual Moonmen tend to upset the cart, often putting the community in a worse situation, and spread their beliefs among those pressured enough to listen. It is said that the Moonmen count among their ranks at least one elf and several goblins. More conservative Zaru call these "blood-thieves," both for their subversion of the normal Zaru structure, and for their willingness to kill.

Zaru Cultural Abilities

Zaru Cultural Secrets

Secret of Swamp Lore

Your character always has a bonus die on Woodscraft or other Ability Checks involving swamp flora and fauna, and can use his Woodscraft skill for navigation in the swamp. He also receives a bonus die to Farming checks in the swamp.

Secret of Kinetic Redirection

When your character is using Uptenbo to defend himself, you can take successes from your defense and add them as bonus dice to your next Uptenbo attack, using the full motion of the attacker to power your move. Cost: 1 Instinct.

Secret of Constant Motion

Your character's body is so well-trained that he can use Uptenbo almost without thought. If attacked, your character can use Uptenbo in Bringing Down the Pain for any action without changing from his true intention.

Secret of Zu

This Secret allows your character to speak the words of zu in their full power, although the character does not actually know any words of power besides "zu," which simply means "yes" or agreement. Speaking "zu," and spending a point of Reason, allows you to add a bonus die to an action of anyone within sight. Prerequisite: The character cannot have taken a human life, ever. If the character takes human life, this Secret is immediately lost and the [Secret of Uz] is gained. In addition, the player can only take this Secret when the character is hearing someone use zu as words of power.

Secret of Uz

This Secret allows your character to speak the words of zu in their full power, although the character does not actually know any words of power besides "uz," which simply means "no" or disagreement. Speaking "uz," and spending a point of Instinct, allows you to add a penalty die to an action of anyone within sight. Prerequisite: The character must have taken a human life. In addition, the player can only take this Secret when the character is hearing someone use zu as words of power.

Zaru Cultural Keys

Key of the Collector

Your character is dedicated to obtaining as many zu as possible. Gain 1 XP whenever he obtains information about the location of a zu word. Gain 3 XP whenever he puts himself at risk in order to obtain a zu. Buyoff: Willingly give away a zu.

Key of the Pacifist

Your character has a personal commitment to nonviolence. Gain 1 XP for every adventure in which your character does not commit any violence. Gain 2 XP every time your character does not commit violence even though it causes him minor harm or inconvenience. Gain 5 XP every time your character does not commit violence even though it causes him great harm. Buyoff: Purposefully harm another sentient creature.

Houses of Treachery

Ammeni is a land of beauty and death, exotic foods and terrible poisons, incredible wealth and decimating poverty. It is geographically positioned to be a focal point for trade in northern Near, with its north coast bordering the Sea of Teeth and its eastern shore a wide delta against the ocean. The western and southern borders end at the intersection of the Belhor River and Absolon's Way, although it controls only the eastern portion of that land well, with the west fallen into barbarism and savagery. The primary seats of power run near the River of Vipers, which cuts down from the Sea of Teeth to the Zaru Delta, which Ammeni has captured for its own.

Ammeni, being incredibly hot and wet, is extremely fertile. The majority of the Houses' business is growing rice and fruits and farming fish and water buffalo. These staples, plus the chiles grown further in the west, provide them with an endless source of trade. Their navy is powerful and is used for shipping, not only for Ammeni, but to allied merchants in Maldor, where it makes a tidy profit on the deal. Ammeni is also home to Near's most wondrous drugs and deadliest poisons. A career in death is definitely a lucrative one here. The items Ammeni is most deficient in, yet craves, are metals and jewels. Most of their trade is for these two goods.

Power in Ammeni comes from the seven Houses, plantations with have grown into both tremendous mercantile houses and governmental entities. The "House" refers not only to the ruler of the House, or the business, but also the land that House controls. Within a House, laws are determined by the ruler of that House or his staff, and are usually capriciously enforced. Trade law is created by majority vote among the rulers of the seven Houses, the Council, which are normally embroiled in the covert sabotage and annexation of each other, forming alliances that last only weeks before backstabbing allies. These Houses are seven heads of the same hydra; before the year of Shadow, the seven Houses were seven sons of the same ancient father, who ruled the waterways and fields of Ammeni. Those sons' descendants emerged after the Shadow to divide Ammeni, and quarrel with each other only slightly less than they subjugate the peasantry.

The one cause that has recently joined the Houses is a war on the Ammeni-Khale border. Rumors of a strange substance called "moon-metal" have emerged from Khale, and the Ammenite Houses have thrown their normal caution regarding Khale to the wind in order to control this material, rumored to have powerful properties. This has worked out poorly for both sides of the conflict: the Khaleans strike in small groups and have eradicated every excursion into their land by Ammeni military, although with high losses.

Hordes in the Mouth, Fires in the Belly

The Ammenites collect art of other cultures more than they create their own: the acquisition of art is a hobby for the upper classes. Native Ammenite art is bizarre, focusing on themes of oppression and the inevitability of death. The most famous Ammenite painting is of a rice patty, red with blood, with tall stalks rising to the sky; the most famous book is the story of the last 24 hours of a rich, mad man. Zaru slaves do create art as well, although mostly ritual chants made of gibberish that manage to convey emotion. Their funeral dirges are known to bring even the strongest Ammenites to tears, which brings horrible wrath upon them.

The food of Ammeni, however, is considered a delicacy. Hot and spicy, full of cream, rice, and noodles, as well as odd ingredients such as slugs, uncooked quail eggs, and fish-eyes, it evokes either love or disgust in most people. They make a rice wine that is similar: either astounding or repulsive, depending on the taster, and take large amounts of poiture, the pollen of a gleaming white flower that grows wild in the rice fields of Ammeni. Poiture puts people into a deep relaxed state much like slumber where the sense of time becomes elongated.

The Ammenites eschew religion, worshipping only gold and riches. The Council of Houses has outlawed religious ceremonies in the land, although both the Zaru slaves and members of the Houses often participate in odd cults, especially the Revenant Cult. This cult maintains that the ancient House Father still lives, driven on by a poisonous cocktail, and its members reach for immortality by experimentation, attempting to recreate the Father's mystic brew.

The Taste of Death

Poisons and drugs can have the following mechanical effects:

• One penalty or bonus die to all abilities related to one pool. This can be chosen multiple times to affect one pool more than once or different pools. It is not uncommon for a drug to affect different pools in different ways: the crimson blossoms of blood poiture increase Vigor-based abilities while eroding Reason-based ones.
• Damage. All poisons and drugs do temporary damage to the character taking them, but this provides a real, physical damage. This can also be taken multiple times to increase damage by two points each time.
• Unconsciousness. Drugs and poisons often knock their recipients into a dazed or unconscious state.
• Loss or heightening of a sense. This is really a specialized version of penalty and bonus dice above. In this case, the bonus or penalty dice are increased by two, and all abilities that rely on that sense are affected. However, with this effect, the dice can be reversed by overstimulation. A drug which enhances touch to the point one can read print with his fingertips can result in that character having a major penalty the first time he gets hit.

There is not a definitive list of poisons and drugs in The Shadow of Yesterday. Instead, all can be made from the above list of effects.

To find the materials for drugs or poisons, a successful Herb Lore check needs to be made. The found material can be used as a poison or drug, but it can only have one beneficial effect from the above list. It must have one deleterious effect. In addition, the poison can only be taken orally. To increase its potency, and allow it to be used via other methods, the poison must be distilled. Using the Distill Herbs ability, with bonus dice from the Herb Lore check, extra effects can be added. The first extra effect is free, and others can be gained using Ammenite Secrets. When a poison is distilled, it is made into an infusion, the essence of the poison suspended in liquid, usually grain alcohol. The infusion must be taken orally, injected, or otherwise gotten into the target's bloodstream in order to take effect.

When a poison is administered to someone, they must make a resisted Stay Up check. They are resisting an already rolled check - either the Herb Lore check in the case that it is an undistilled poison, or the Distill Herbs check in the case of a distilled poison. (When making these checks, the player should record the result as the poison's potency.)

In the case of an undistilled poison, the character comes to no harm if the Stay Up check is successful, and receives any beneficial effect the poison has. If unsuccessful, all the poison's effects take place, and the character takes damage equal to the poison's potency Success Level. The poison's effects last until the damage wears off. In the case of a distilled poison, the character receives the undistilled effects if the Stay Up check is successful, but takes no damage. The effect wears off in the next scene. If unsuccessful, the poison's full effect takes place, with damage, and does not wear off until that damage is gone.

Ammenite Cultural Abilities

Ammenite Cultural Secrets

Secret of Healing Venom

Your character can distill poisons that have an unusual effect: they shock the body into healing. These poisons still damage the imbiber if his Stay Up check is unsuccessful. If successful, however, the character is healed of damage equal to the poison's potency Success Level. Cost: 2 Reason.

Secret of Metastasis

Your character can increase and add to poisons' effects with great skill. As many effects as you like can be added to drugs and poisons that he distills. Cost: 2 Reason for each extra effect past the first.

Secret of the Serpent Blade

By boiling an infusion down to a sticky substance, it can be applied to any sharp surface, usable indefinitely, until the object actually pierces someone. Cost: 1 Vigor.

Secret of the Fire Fruit

Your character's skill with chiles and other fiery ingredients is so good that he can actually damage others with a successful attempt at cooking. The Ability Check is your cooking ability versus the eater's Stay Up ability, modified by Vigor. Cost: nothing.

Secret of the Iron Stomach

Your character has great ability to consume things that would otherwise harm him. Gain one bonus die to resist any poison or drug taken orally, or to resist the effects of spoiled, overly spiced, or otherwise harmful foods. Cost: nothing.

Ammenite Cultural Keys

Key of the House

Your character is a member of and dedicated to a House, one of the mercantile entities of Ammeni. Being a member of a House has great economic advantages, but requires much of a person. Gain 1 XP every time your character does something to benefit his House. Gain 2 XP every time he does something to benefit his house that causes him discomfort or inconvenience. Gain 5 XP every time he acts to benefit his House at the great risk of his body, reputation, or wealth. Buyoff: Act against the interests of one's House.

Key of the Overlord

Your character owns other people or oversees the ownership of others. Gain 1 XP every time your character makes someone else do something against his will. Gain 3 XP every time your character makes someone else do something that causes harm, pain, or despair to that person. Buyoff: Free a person under your ownership or oversight.

Sample Ammenite Names

• Males: Kaarlo, Philippe, Amoux, Onfroi, Cador, Edmund, Owain, Montaigu, D'anton, Toussnint, Duval, Quennel, Dacian, Piperel, Piperel
• Females: Helene, Galatee, Shalott, Celie, Arleta, Eugenia, Sidonie, Rohais, Ruby, Eleta, Ysabel, Zuria, Marquisa, Damia, Aveline

Sample Ammenite Character Ideas

• a son or daughter in a high-ranking House
• a poisoner in love with a slave
• a Ratkin "Robin Hood," stealing from the Houses and helping the Zaru
• a spy in the employ of one House - or even a double-agent

A Forest Aflame

Across the Border Sea, the deep green peninsula of Khale is an echo of Qek's lushness. Once a stone's throw across the Hungry River from Qek, the earthquakes of the Time of Shadow have split it away as the river was ripped into the much larger Sea of Teeth. It is still close: the Dragon's Mouth is a small strait between Khale and Qek, and is usually much calmer than the sea. Controlling this strait, as well as a mysterious substance called moon-metal, earns Khale the enmity of its southern neighbor, Ammeni, who has attacked the country in a war of attrition for several years.

The forests of Khale are wet and thick, but move from jungle to evergreen woodlands, dappled with sunlight. They are sacred to the people of Khale who live beneath their towering bows. Everything a tribesman could need is found under the forest-top, from fields of mushrooms and plants for medicine and food, to deer to hunt and ride, to fallen tree limbs easily sap-cured into bows and spears. Before the Time of Shadow, great webbed cities connected the forest; since then, the remnants of tribes live only off the land.

Khale is a harsh land in which to live: its many rivers flow with the blood of cousins, as the many tribes fight for control of their own land, and Ammeni pushes its troops further north. The land rumbles as many chieftains try to unite the tribes, but so far, none have been successful.

The Tribe is Family

Khaleans (ka-le-ans) are a hearty and strong people, Caucasian in appearance, with generally black, brown, or red hair, and green or brown eyes. They claim ancient heritage with the people of Qek, although they speak different languages, and maintain good relations with the few Qek that emerge from the jungle.

Khaleans operate in tribes of two to four dozen people and consider all tribe members to be their family, not just blood relations. In fact, blood brothers from different tribes are not considered to be related at all, except in the way that all Khaleans are related. Upon marriage, males join the tribe of their wife, becoming part of a new family. In addition, outsiders, or those with no family, can become part of the tribe through a naming ritual.

Within the tribe, status is very important. While family lines are matriarchal, positions of power are dominated by men. The tribe's chief is almost always male, the husband of the eldest woman in the tribe, and his advisors, usually a bard and his most accomplished warrior, are also men. When two tribes battle, it is Khalean law - that is, tradition as old as Khale - that only the tribe's men can fight. If a woman were found to be fighting for a tribe, it would be a horrible disgrace, and that tribe would more than likely surrender the fight.

Cousins at War

Each tribe governs itself in Khale, making its own laws and staking its own territory. The Year of Shadow scattered the old tribes, and since then, many of the new tribes have made war on each other over parcels of land, each claiming ancestral rights.

Ammeni, however, has declared war on Khale in the past few years. Several tribal leaders have attempted to unite the tribes in order to strike out at the foreign warriors, who are systematically destroying the forests on Khale's southern border. No true leader has emerged thus far, and Khale grows smaller and more fragile each year. One unexpected side-effect of the war with Ammeni is that some women have taken up arms, causing tension within tribes.

The Green World

Inside the forests of Khale, there is another world, a mystic world. This is their greatest secret, and it is forbidden to share it with those not of the tribe. Ancient trees, those with a circumference greater than three men holding hands, can be used as a gateway into the Green World. This Green World is a maze of pathways, some so small that one must crawl through them, and others large enough for five people to stand side-by-side. The walls of these caverns are growing wood, light and grainy, and glow with faint green light. When the Sky Fire came, many Khaleans moved into the Green World to escape, building cities inside its immense caverns. Those cities lie dead now, and are said to be haunted; gnarled trees grow throughout them, with human expressions twisted into their trunks.

The Green World covers all of Khale, and can be used as a passageway to anywhere else in the land, provided there is a guide. When one ends up is less certain: while experienced travelers have little trouble, those who get lost in the Green World may find themselves exiting into another time entirely. Bards sometime use these passages to go to earlier times and talk to ancient ancestors, although no one has ever been able to travel within one hundred years before the Time of Shadow, or one year after it.

Legends say that King Khale himself still wanders these halls, a large old man with a beard like moss, and hands like wood-knots. Supposedly, he or other great ancestors can guide you to any place and time within these halls, or grant you great boons, provided you perform a quest, usually a re-enactment of a previous adventure of the ancestor. During festivals, tribes will sometimes send their greatest bards and warriors to perform a quest and grant them success over their enemies.

As war envelops Khale from the south, some tribes have moved completely into the Green World, leaving the land of Khale behind. Their great mistake lies in the fact that the Green World does not stand alone: it is formed of the forest of Khale, and as the forest falls, it grows dimmer and smaller.

Moon-metal

After the Year of Shadow, a group of explorers found a forest like no other in northern Khale; metal grew up from the ground, gleaming like bright silver, sprouting branches like trees. This, the only metal in Khale, is said to be a piece of the Shadow Moon fell to earth. Whatever it is, it has taken root and grows in a parody of a natural forest.

Moon-metal is easy to craft, and deadly sharp and strong. If heated over a fire, it responds to the user's wants to form itself into any metal object, which is of superior quality (an automatic +1 weapon or armor.) However, it severs the user's relationship with the Green World. If moon-metal so much as touches you, you receive one penalty die with the ability Tree-Bond. Each day that you are in contact with moon-metal, the penalty dice grow, to a maximum of five. It takes an expediture of five Vigor and five Instinct points to remove one penalty die. (These points need not be spent all at once if a character does not have that many.) One cannot enter the Green World with any moon-metal upon their person.

Khale Cultural Abilities

Khale Cultural Secrets

Secret of the Perfect Chord, Joy

With a successful Music Ability Check, which can be resisted with a Resist Ability Check, your character can evoke swellings of joy in all listeners. Cost: 1 Vigor.

Secret of the Perfect Chord, Sorrow

With a successful Music Ability Check, which can be resisted with a Resist Ability Check, your character can evoke tears of sorrow in all listeners. Cost: 1 Instinct.

Secret of the Perfect Chord, Sleep

With a successful Music Ability Check, which can be resisted with a Resist Ability Check, your character can put all listeners to sleep. Cost: 2 Reason.

Secret of the Forest's Embrace

Your character gains a bonus die to Stealth and Battle when in thick forest. Cost: nothing.

Secret of Forest Transport

Your character may bring others with him when he travels into the Green World, holding the portal open for them. The ancestors, should they live, will hold you responsible for your visitors' actions. Cost: 1 Vigor per person.

Secret of Bough's Bosom

While in the Green World, your character automatically receive a bonus die for any Healing Checks. Cost: none.

Secret of the Moon Heart

Your character has absorbed a quantity of moon-metal, which has bonded with his flesh. You no longer need fire to mold the metal into new forms, and can spend Vigor on a one-for-one basis for bonus dice when forcing the metal to keep its form. You cannot ever enter the Green World, however, and all attacks against you with wooden weapons do +1 damage. Cost: none.

Khale Cultural Keys

Key of the Tribe

Your character's tribe is a great part of his identity. Gain 1 XP whenever your character does something to help the tribe. Gain 2 XP whenever your character defends or helps the tribe even though it brings him ridicule or inconvenience. Gain 5 XP whenever your character defends the tribe in battle. Buyoff: Leave the tribe.

Key of the Lost Child

Your character has no tribe. They are lost to the Green World, or perhaps decimated in battle. It is his duty to carry on the tribe's name. Gain 1 XP every time your character tells a story of his tribe. Gain 2 XP whenever your character defends his tribe's name or lands in words or in battle. Gain 5 XP whenever your character finds a new legend of his tribe. Buyoff: Join another tribe.

Sample Khalean Names

• Males: Pwyll, Nevins, Bowdyn, Gwawl, Aonghus, Morvyn, Dwayne, Kelvin, Keaghan, Brasil, Cathair, Hueil, Donat, Eoghann, Newlyn
• Females: Maeveen, Isolde, Elsha, Aphria, Evelina, Moyna, Deirdre, Jennifer, Wynne, Yseult, Africa, Violet, Donella, Grania, Merna

Sample Khalean Character Ideas

• a shamed warrior, cast out from his tribe
• a bard full of tales and looking for more
• a lost Ratkin adopted into a tribe
• a tribe-less pirate of the high seas

An Empire Fallen

Across the deep waters of Absolon's Way lie the ruins of Maldor, once the grandest empire Near has ever known. Before the Shadow Moon came, Maldor ruled the world, its empire spreading from the Eastern Sea to the frozen waters of the South and the Hungry River of the north. Maldor's most distinctive feature was its tremendous walled cities, giant sealed engines of industry and culture. As the empire fell and shrunk back to the center of Near, many of its cities were ruined as terror and plague eradicated their denizens. These cities, filled with secrets and danger, are a destination for especially foolish or brave adventurers.

Maldor is made up of a variety of geography, from rolling plains stretching to the ocean in the east to forest-covered hills in the west. It once was beautiful. It now looks like someone dropped a bomb on the cover of a sad-eyed-wizard fantasy novel.

The Remnants of Culture

Maldor is in its dark ages; art and culture take second-place to survival. Among the noble classes, art still exists in collections from before the Shadow Moon came. Tapestries, painting, and sculpture are most prized. Artists are employed by lords, but innovation is rare: the artists are called on to make knock-offs of pre-Shadow art more than anything else. Musicians and actors do well if they can find a liege, as owning the better court entertainment is a major point of pride for these cardboard nobles playing at being kings.

Other troubadours wonder the countryside, going from inn to inn to make a few pieces of gold. It is said that one enterprising merchant hired a gang of mercenaries to pillage a fallen city and is now printing books using a press they managed to liberate. From the borderlands, there are stories of commoners banding together to rebuild villages; these communes are said to sponsor community theatres of dubious quality, but high humor.

The food of Maldor is considered bland by the rest of the world, but is hearty and filling. Potatoes are served at every meal, from a commoner's feast to a noble's snack. On the other hand, Maldor's beer is the best in the world.

Let Them Eat War

The Maldor economy can be described as an ever-hungry violent monster, constantly devouring itself to live. Farmers grow grain, corn, potatoes, and other root vegetables and raise goats, sheep, and cattle for milk and food, but it never seems to be enough, especially as the lords take an obscene amount of crops and livestock in land taxes to pay for their wars. Beer and distilled potato liquor make up a large amount of their exports, especially to Goren. Metal is found in the western hills, and what doesn't become an axe or breastplate gets sold to the iron-poor north. Most families have to supplement their income by taking up the sword. The nobles promise good pay in their armies, although plenty of idiot young people end up dying on the end of a sword before payday.

Individual lords in Maldor supplement their coffers by trading priceless artifacts and antiquities to foreigners. The Ammenite Houses are the major buyers of these objects. There is good pay in Maldor for a seasoned explorer; the ruins of many great cities are filled with arms and art, as well as fierce Ratkin unlikely to appreciate pillagers.

The Three-Corner Academy

When Maldor reigned supreme, Emperor Absolon sponsored a great academy of magic, built as a giant triangle-shaped fortress hidden in the western hills, drawing his advisors from the best of their ranks. Strangely, no one knows exactly where the academy is today: many adventurers claim to have seen it, but all directions given to it end up nowhere. Most reports of it say that strange white Ratkin swarm its halls.

In its zenith, the Three-Corner Academy pressed its own philosophy of magic, based off two inter-locking triangles, the Day Triangle and Night Triangle. It trained students from all over Near within its walls, and the remnants of its learning can still be found in pockets spread over the world.

In this time, Three-Corner magic is more common in Maldor than anywhere else in Near, but any sort of magic is more feared. Many nobles have court magicians that act as diviners and advisors. The combination of these powerful rulers and rumors of the Shadow Cult put fear in the hearts of superstitious commoners, who often flee from a magician's path, or in large numbers, burn the witch.

Philosophy of Three-Corner Magic

Like many mystic philosophies, Three-Corner Magic revolves around the connection between body, mind, and spirit, or Vigor, Instinct, and Reason, in this case. For each of these, there is one Day focus and one Night focus, with the Day focus being considered more benign. Students were generally not taught the Night focus until their masters thought they had become adept with the Day focus. Now, with the school scattered and third-generation knowledge being passed down, training has lost a lot of structure. The Night foci are more widely taught; they also are believed to be evil by many, instead of being capable of being used for evil, a distinction held in the old days.

The foci are:

Creation and Destruction are the simplest foci, being merely making physical constructs or tearing them down. Enhancement is making something even more itself than it already is; Transformation focuses on making it different, changing its identity. Divination is seeing the truth; Enthrallment clouds the minds of others and hides the truth.

The Laws of Three-Corner Magic

There are a few laws that are always in place, unless a Secret alters them, when using Three-Corner magic.

• The target of a magical effect must either be the caster, or something or someone the caster is touching.
• Only one target can be affected with a magical effect.
• A magical effect, except Destruction, is either instantaneous or lasts one hour. (Destruction is instantaneous, but the damage remains.)
• Every magical effect done to a target can be resisted, if the target desires. Usually, a Resist Ability Check is done by the target opposing the player's Ability Check with his character's magical ability.

Three-Corner Magic Abilities

Three-Corner Magic Secrets

Secret of the Invisible Hand

Normally, your character must touch a target to affect it with magic. With this Secret, he can affect any target he can see or have the effects of his magic occur anywhere he can see. Cost: 1 point from the associated attribute.

Secret of the Invisible Arm

Your character can physically manipulate objects through telekinesis. This power is not as strong or coordinated as his normal body: all actions take a penalty die, although pools can be spent as normal to alleviate this. Cost: 1 Vigor. Prerequisite: Secret of the Invisible Hand.

Secret of Magical Contagion

Normally, your character's magic affects one target. You can spread his magic over a group of targets by spending points from the associated attribute.

Cost:

• A small group of targets (around 5) can be affected for 1 point.
• A large group of targets (25 or less) can be affected for 3 points.
• A crowd of targets (100 or less) can be affected for 6 points.
• A horde of targets (all that the caster can see) can be affected for 10 points.

Secret of Magical Persistence

Normally, your character's magic can last for a maximum of one hour. With this Secret, you can extend the duration by spending from the associated attribute.

Cost:

• For 1 point, you can extend until sundown (or sunrise if used at night.)
• For 3 points, you can extend until the end of one moon phase (end of the week).
• For 6 points, you can extend until the next eclipse (end of the month).
• For 10 points, you can extend until one complete sun cycle (either solstice).

Secret of Magical Effect

You can increase the Success Level of a successful Three-Corner Magic Ability Check by 1. Cost: 1 associated attribute point.

Secret of Sympathetic Magic

If your character has an item of the target he is attempting to affect with magic, you gain a bonus die on your Ability Check. Cost: None.

Spells

Spells are defined usages of Three-Corner magic, crafted by players or Story Guides. When a character performs something with magic that he would like to do again in the future, he may write up exactly how the magic worked as a spell, and then take that spell as a Secret. The advantages to this are that the spell costs one less pool point than it would normally. In addition, a spell may be taken multiple times as a Secret in order to further reduce its cost.

Characters that do not have the Secrets that make up a spell can still take the spell, although they cannot make new spells that rely on Secrets they do not have. In this case, they must be taught the spell by someone else. This is a good option for a character that focuses on something besides magic, but wants to be able to use a few pre-defined magical effects.

Maldorite Cultural Abilities

Maldorite Cultural Secrets

There are no unique Secrets to Maldor outside of Three-Corner Magic.

Maldorite Cultural Keys

Key of the Revolutionary

Your character is dedicated to overthrowing a ruling class, party, or government. Gain 1 XP every time he speaks out against the rulers, or breaks a minor law. Gain 2 XP every time he acts directly against the rulers. Gain 5 XP every time he puts himself in great danger in order to damage the status quo. Buyoff: Accept any favor from the rulers in order for your quietude or complicity.

Key of the Manipulator

Your character works behind the scenes, manipulating others in order to be a shadow ruler. Your character must work for or be an advisor of someone in a position of power. Gain 1 XP whenever your character exerts his will over his ruler, even over minor matters - especially over minor matters. Gain 2 XP whenever the ruler accepts your character's advice over others. Gain 5 XP whenever your character's influence makes the ruler make a policy change or establish a new policy that works in your character's favor. Buyoff: Accept the mantle of power for one's self.

Sample Maldorite Character Ideas

• a peasant infantryman
• a Ratkin explorer of ruined cities
• a reclusive elven magician
• a knight seeking to unite the Maldor people
• a consort of lords, gaining knowledge for her own purposes

A Jungle at the Top of the World

Qek is the northernmost known land in Near, and one of the most forbidding. Filled from coast to mountain with thick rainforest and jungle, Qek is a place of mystery and legend. It is the borderlands of the world and the north coast of the Sea of Teeth.

This hot jungle-land might well be left alone, were it not for the copious amounts of jewels found in its caves. There are no cities, no centers of civilization, only the smallest of villages along the coastline.

The people of Qek live among the jungle in small family units. Short, thin, and brown, the Qek (as they call both themselves and their land) hunt wild birds, boars, and reptiles and gather wild fruits for their sustanence. The people of inner Qek are generally unknown to outsiders; the families along Qek's shores that live on fishing are the few that generally speak with non-Qek. The boats of these people are legendary - small one-man kayaks made of jungle wood that they use to surf on top of the waves of the Border Sea, easily outrunning any other ship.

Spirit-talkers

Some Qek, through birth or training, find themselves walking the path of the walozi, or sorcerer. These people can speak to the dead, get rid of evil spirits, and even bind sasha and zamani to new bodies. The Qek are no strangers to magic, and do not fear it, but walozi cannot be part of any family once they contact their first spirit. They are ejected to live on their own.

Conversing with roho and sasha is considered fine magic to use, and families will often consult walozi to contact their loved dead. Consorting with zamani, however, is dark magic, indeed, and any walozi known to do so is shunned. These necromancers will live deep within the jungle, performing their dark rites.

Roho can be:

• Contacted. The spirit of a living thing can be spoken with. The spirit knows nothing that the person or animal would not normally know, but if a person is in conflict, their spirit might just be spiteful, and give information they would not. Contacting the roho of a person or animal without their consent is difficult, and cannot be done without trapping them.
• Severed. To sever one's roho is to render their body will-less and barely alive. As long as the roho lives, the body will as well, but will only act on command from the walozi who severed the spirit. This is definitely considered a black art.

Sasha can be:

• Contacted. A walozi can easily speak with the half-dead. Their answers are up to them.
• Given form. A walozi can let a sasha take spectral form and move freely. They can perform no physical act upon the tangible world, and cannot be harmed by physical means.
• Bound. Sasha can be bound into their original bodies. The body must either be in good health, or ritually prepared. This same ritual is used to restore a severed roho to its body.
• Severed. With this ritual, one can get rid of a spectral or bound sasha.

Zamani can be:

• Given form. An evil walozi can give the zamani spectral form. They have few real features, appearing as withered, hungry ghosts.
• Bound. Zamani can be bound into dead bodies, either fresh dead or ritually prepared. Unlike sasha, these do not have to be their original bodies, and can even be animal bodies.
• Controlled. Zamani are bitter, hateful things with no want except to kill their summoner and return to death. A walozi can impose his will upon them with this ritual.
• Severed. The beloved ritual of the zamani, this returns them to their sleep.

Sasha and Zamani

When sasha or zamani come into the living world, either as a spirit or bound to a body, there are limits to their abilities.

Sasha start as they were in life, but have half of their normal pools, and their ability scores are capped at twice the Success Level of the Ability Check used to summon them. The number of combined Secrets and Keys they can have are capped at the Success Level. Success Level 6 grants full restoration, including pools and Secrets. If bound to a dead body, they are automatically severed when broken.

Zamani can have no Keys. They start with abilities like beasts with two in each ability, and have no pools. They have advances equal to twice the Success Level of the Ability Check used to summon them. Half of these advances are spent by the player, if a player's character has summoned a zamani; the other half are spent by the Story Guide. If bound to a dead body, they are automatically severed when bloodied.

Qek Cultural Abilities

Qek Cultural Secrets

Secret of the Walozi

Either through an unusual birth or training, your character has the power of the walozi. He knows the rituals for contacting spirits, and can attempt this by spending one Vigor and using the Pray ability. This ritual takes about fifteen minutes to perform.

Ritual of Spectral Form

This ritual gives form to a sasha or zamani spirit upon a successful Create Ability Check. This ritual takes about half an hour to perform. Cost: 1 Vigor and 1 Instinct. Prerequisite: Secret of the Walozi.

Ritual of Binding

The walozi with this ritual can bind a spectral sasha or zamani spirit to a body. This requires no Ability Check, and costs one Vigor. However, an unwilling spirit can make a Resist Ability Check. If successful, the walozi must spend a number of Vigor points equal to the spirit's Success Level. This ritual takes at least an hour to perform. Cost: 1+ Vigor. Prerequisite: Secret of the Walozi.

Ritual of Severance

Using this ritual, a walozi can sever a spirit with a successful Dueling Ability Check. This has no cost, but the walozi has a penalty die unless his roho is separated from his body. Speaking of that, a walozi can use this ritual to separate his roho from his body, severing himself. He can rejoin with his body simply by having his roho touch it and willing it so, but rival walozi might take advantage of this situation. Note that sasha and zamani might well have this ritual and fight back if one is spectral. This ritual takes one minute to perform if bound to one's body; if spectral, it's instantaneous as the two spirits fight. Prerequisite: Secret of the Walozi, or be a sasha or zamani.

Ritual of Zamani Control

This ritual allows the walozi to convince a zamani given form to do something besides destroy blindly, given a successful Sway Ability Check. Their need for destruction is so great that normal social interaction will not work. This ritual requires nothing more than special intonation and a hand signal. Prerequisite: Secret of the Walozi.

Ritual of Vessel Preparation

By removing all organs and applying powders, stuffing, and wax, one can prepare a dead body to accept a spirit with a successful Fine Crafts Ability Check. This not only allows a long-dead sasha to inhabit their old body, but has the added advantage of making the body much less vulnerable to physical harm. The body cannot be bloodied, and no penalty die is taken when the first Stay Up roll is failed. Instead, after a second Stay Up roll is failed, the spirit is automatically severed. What can make a ritually prepared vessel even more powerful is combining this ritual with the Secret of Imbuement.

Qek Cultural Keys

Key of the Death-Hunter

Your character fulfills a strange role in Qek society: he consorts with the zamani in order to make sure they can find their final rest. He dabbles in forbidden knowledge solely to put that knowledge to sleep. Gain 1 XP whenever your character is in a scene with zamani. Gain 2 XP whenever he sends zamani off to the Final Death. Gain 5 XP whenever he defeats a walozi that summons up zamani. Buyoff: Summon up a zamani.

Key of the Astral Traveler

Your character is dedicated to a world outside his body, taking hallucingens in order to change his perception. Gain 1 XP every time your character takes a drug purported to change his reality. Gain 3 XP every time your character separates his spirit from his body. Buyoff: Shirk away from an opportunity to see a situation from an altered perspective.

Sample Qek Character Ideas

• a jungle monster-hunter
• an elven explorer
• a fierce fisherman of the untamed Border Sea
• a reclusive walozi on a quest for knowledge
• a warrior whose family has been killed by jewel thieves
• a wild monkey-like goblin

Sample Names

• Male: Ahexotl, Camaxtli, Cocoza, Ecatzin, Guacra, Hobnil, Huemac, Itzcoatl, Maxtla, Mutex, Ocelopan, Rimac, Pusca, Tangaxoan, Tlaloc, Yaotl, Zoltan
• Female: Atzi, Centehua, Chantica, Cusi, Itzel, Ixchell, Malinche, Metztli, Nhutalu, Ocllo, Quispe, Runti, Tlaco, Xoco, Ysalane, Zafrina