Wardens
Wardens are the sacred guardians of the people, each archetype holds an important role in their society. A Warden carries many tools, which they use sparingly and only against specific threats.
As a Warden you hold a special role amongst the people, though, through most days you are a fellow member of the community partaking in hunts, gatherings, preparations and crafting, but when the shadows grow long and omens appear, you must don the mantle of Warden yet again.
Each Warden carries a Relic which is the symbol of their role
This Sacred Relic have been handed down through the ages. In the Hands of the Warden the Sacred Relic thrums with dormant power, wielded correctly it becomes a symbol of a wardens role in the community and is used as focus in all rites that they perform.
They are burdened with Sacred Knowledge which is theirs to know, and only theirs.
This Sacred Knowledge is passed down from warden to warden, and only they may know the sacred ways. Nothing is of greater power than knowledge, and through it the Wardens protect their people and keep them unburdened by the dread things.
Wardens are empowered by Rites that show their skill and wisdom.
These Sacred Rites are inherited from Elder Wardens who keep their workings hidden from unworthy eyes. These mystical incantations are performed by the Warden to Invoke boons for their people to ensure their prosperity and safety.
Wield the Hallowed Spear to protect your people from the hungry beasts or shambling monsters.
Wander through the wilds, keep the paths of old, rediscover and make solid that which once was lost.
Meditate on the anchor and enter deep dreamlike trances that lets you traverse the dreaming wilds and protect your people.
Choosing Wardens Multiple players can choose the same Warden, but we recommend to not exceed two wardens of the same type to balance out the group.
Spear Sage
Protecting your people is your highest calling and you would do anything to protect them from the hungry beasts or shambling monsters.
The Hallowed Spear
This Spear has been passed down for generations, none knows whence it came from.
A mystical long spear which is said to guide its bearer to protect their people, to stop the spread of Rot and rebuke the monsters of the night. Rot impaled by the Spear is stopped in its tracks, and by the will of the Sage the rot itself is cleansed.
Boon: 1 Bonus dice on reactions that protect.
Mystic Boon: Impale rot to stop it spreading.
Howling Moon thrust the Hallowed Spear into the abdomen of the rotting god and gave of herself to awaken its fury and cleanse the god of its affliction.
Spear Rites
These Rites are your shield against the accursed and rotten beasts
Rite of Courage
Perform a rite where you encase your heart with courage so that the hollow beasts do not strike fear into you.
Boon: The affected may ignore any temporary burdens connected to fear.
Duration: For a day and a night.
Howling Moon meditated on what awaited her, injury, suffering, death, and she looked upon the faces of her people and knew her actions would save them. She was prepared to face death and remain steadfast with her spear in hand.
Rite of Restraint
Perform a rite where you draw a line or a circle which a chosen beast cannot cross.
Duration: Until dawn breaks
With ancient movements Howling Moon carved at the earth with the Hallowed Spear and spoke sacred words that completed the rite, no monster may cross this threshold she proclaimed.
Rite of Revelation
Perform a rite where you compel the beast to reveal itself and cast of its veil.
Duration: Until the beast has been revealed.
Flames crackled and danced, Howling Moon held the tip of the Hallowed Spear deep within the flames until the incantation was spoken. She pointed it towards the accused, and they burned with anguish as the spear compelled the beast to reveal itself.
The Rot
This Knowledge is secret and is your burden to bear.
From wounds in the wilds they form, the Rot, also known as the blood curse. A strange sickness upon the land which cares not what it infects, be it man, creature, stone, water or wind. It is a dreadful thing that slowly rots one from within, leaving a haunting monstrous thing behind which moves and acts as if driven by an otherworldly will.
The Rot can take many forms, often it is unseen by ordinary eyes, only the keen eyed, young or very old see it spreading, other times it can take on the form of a crimson blanket that covers all it touches, as if a great fungus moves to consume the entire world.
Any creature taken by the rot slowly wastes away, and in time will become a nest from which the Rot spreads further on. There are remedies that can banish the rot, but what has been lost can never be regained, if one has wasted away too far, one shall never recover.
Your kin found the right ingredients to brew remedies to stand against this rot, and the rites that rattle the rotted, you have inherited this knowledge and must protect your people if the Rot ever arises again.
Wild Walker
The Wilds are your true home, it calls to you when you are amongst the people, it is the only place you find true peace. As the Wild Walker you are the one to keep the paths of the people well trod so they don’t wander and vanish.
The Carving Knife
This Relic was hewn from the remains of a fallen star.
A mystical Knife which is said to guide its bearer through the wilds, cutting through the wildest of thickets, hardest of woods and even carving through thresholds between the waking and the wandering wilds. Signs and symbols cut by the carving knife have an anchoring effect making those places who are signed less likely to wander.
Boon: Bonus dice on traversal rolls in the Waking Wilds
Mystic Boon: Impale earth, stone or wood to anchor the current location.
Burning Sky pushed the Carving Knife into the centre of the ritual circle causing the air to burst into multicoloured flames. Slowly he cut through the air and a threshold to another place appeared before them.
Wild Rites
These Rites guide you and your people through the wilds
Rite of Passing
Perform a rite where you ask for a swift, safe or soft passage through the lands of gods and spirits.
Boon:
- A swift journey allows you to halve the travel time.
- A safe journey ensures no danger on the journey.
- A soft journey vanishes your tracks behind you.
Duration: Until the journey has ended
Burning Sky presented the offering at the edge of the forest under moonlight. He had carved the animal with the Carving knife and spoken the right words, tomorrow they would travel swiftly if the spirits obliged.
Rite of Hunting
Perform a rite where you ask for guidance on the hunt, to sense the prey and seek it well.
Boon: The Hunters are undaunted by terrain, weather and injury when engaging with the prey.
Duration: Until the prey is caught
Blood poured into the great basin, Burning Sky spoke the words of the hunt and smeared it across the faces of the hunters to be, tomorrow the great prey would be theirs.
Rite of Vigor
Perform a rite where you fill the body and mind with strength for the coming ordeal, allowing one to carry twice the weight, or to move over twice the distance without need for rest.
Boon: The affected do not gain any exhaustion for the duration of the boon.
Duration: Until night falls
The Wandering Wilds
This Knowledge is secret and is your burden to bear.
The wilds are changing. Paths, creatures and even entire lands wander away and are forgotten by the world until they are remembered. These Wandering Wilds may return without forewarning, changing the landscape.
A valley may appear where previously there were a mountain, a grand river may have vanished entirely or been reduced to a trickle. This is known as the shifting and only wild walkers have the knowledge to see the signs before it occurs.
If misfortune hangs upon a person or creature they may find themselves lost in the Wandering Wilds, cut of from the world and unable to return. Sometimes they become victim to unknown lands and a lack of resources, other times they are hunted down by strange creatures, spirits and monsters who thrive within the Wandering Wilds, using it as their hunting grounds. It is known amongst Wild Walkers that there are ways both in and out known as Thresholds, but they appear and disappear at the most inopportune of moments.
A Threshold appears most often between perfectly entangled or aligned things. They are never obvious and are indistinguishable from normal by common folk, which is the reason so many are lost to the Wandering Wilds. It is believed that gods and spirits can create their own Thresholds, and that some may even simply wander to and fro.
The best way to avoid the Wandering Wilds and the Shifting is to keep paths well trod and marked, and to never stray too far from the path.
Dream Watcher
Meditate on the anchor of dreams to enter waking trances where you gaze beyond the veil into the Dreaming Wilds. Protect your people and ward off nightmares. Seek out those lost in dreams and help them find their way back.
The Veiled Anchor
This Relic was found within ancient dreams and brought back to the people.
An Anchor that grounds its wearer in the dreaming wilds, allowing them to shape dreams and traverse as they wish through the dreaming wilds. The anchor also leads them home, no matter how deep they dream. By offering their memories, the Watchers can bring back the lost or solidify places in the dreaming wilds, making them fixtures of the dream.
Boon: Bonus Dice on Traversal Rolls in the Dreaming Wild.
Mystic Boon: Halt Dream, Set your Anchor up in the sky and it will hover and make it so that nothing may change.
Dream Rites
These Rites are your tools for wandering the dreaming wilds
You can perform Sacred Ceremonies where you focus on your Anchor to enter a deep trance, allowing you to peer into the dreaming wilds, entering shared dreams or protecting the sleeping from the nightmares.
Rite of Visions Perform a rite where you bind yourself to your dreams, allowing you to seek out the people or places that you dream of. When you awake there is a pull which you can follow.
Boon: You sense the general direction of the subject no matter where you are.
Duration: Until the subject has been found or until night falls.
Rite of Warding Perform a rite where you serve as guide to the sleeping, keeping them on the true path, not falling into nightmares.
Boon: The affected may not fall into nightmares.
Duration: Until dawn breaks.
The villagers thrashed and suffered, unable to awaken, their spirit slowly fading. Moonsinger stood above the dreamer and with ethereal song she slowly guiding them out of their nightmares and back to the waking wilds.
Rite of Wandering Perform a rite where you delve into the dreams of others to guide them or seek what troubles them.
Boon: You are free to wander into the dreams of another and commune with them.
Duration: Until dawn breaks.
The Dreaming Wild
This Knowledge is secret and is your burden to bear.
There is a realm beyond our waking eyes, the land of dreams and nightmares: The Dreaming Wilds. We all wander through it in sleep, unwillingly swept away by visions of yore, imagined lands and things wholly strange and unknown to us in the Waking Wilds.
Like a river it is forever changing, a strange flow only the wisest of us know how to traverse. For one cannot tame the flow, only halt it momentarily. Those of us with sacred knowledge can walk in dreams, unfettered by the flow, able to peer beneath the surface.
But all is not well within the Dreaming Wilks, there are malicious spirits and forces that hunger to feast on the dreaming, the most dire of all being Nightmares. Rotting dreams that capture the dreamers and hold them trapped in unnatural and confusing caves, forests and endless plains. Slowly the nightmares drain the spirit of the trapped, or even worse - a monster of dreams may use it as their hunting ground and consume you whole.