Shores Layout Sample

I’ve been playing around with Scribus for about two weeks on and off. It’s a fairly decent program. I’m definitely still deep in the learning phase with this software, but I have enough under my belt that I’ve started to throw some things together to see how it looks. Here’s a link to a PDF (1.7 MB) if you’re interested in taking a look.

The Shores layout test

Comments are welcome. This is the unedited text, without stat blocks (which I’m still working on), and without full-res graphics, so don’t take this as a final version.

The background texture in the layout test is from http://www.myfreetextures.com/. I’ve been really stunned at the sites I find recently that are actually legit despite their names.

So far I’m happy enough with Scribus that it might be able to replace InDesign for me down the road. Smaller documents like I’m making here will definitely work. They also help me build up to larger documents. It’s a large investment of time to learn new software… but Adobe’s “rental” payment scheme has become an unacceptable monetary outlay for me.

End of the Shores

…and that’s the end of our characters for The Shores. I’ve linked them all together so that you can jump between them more easily.

Just yesterday I got the backer PDF for Exalted 3rd Edition, which will let me write up some simple stats for these characters. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I don’t intend to give these characters complete charmsets, or even a full set of attributes. Instead, my goal is to give you the minimum amount of useful information from which to improvise, and try to avoid anything that could be contradicted by rules that come out years from now. Attributes and other ratings will be done in a simplified form. Magical abilities will have rough costs (cheap/moderate/expensive).

All of that will go into the previous posts, but I’ll also post a new notice here when they’re complete.

New character posts will come in about two weeks when I have more time to write up the people and gods of Red Jade Canyon. Yesterday I finished the writeup for Ieska, Goddess of the Ash Storms. If you thought Alambor’s behavior was too goody-two-shoes, Ieska will be an excellent and frightening counterpoint to him.

I’m also working on a PDF collection. This will likely be my first time using Scribus instead of InDesign, so there’s a bit of a learning curve, but we’ll see how it goes. My goal is to have everything edited and laid out, with art complete, so that this is ready for sale on the same day that Exalted 3rd comes out. Depending on how long that takes, I might get both this and Red Jade Canyon ready, but I won’t rush things.

Four Claws Red, Murderous Ghost

Background

Three years ago Tavar Vaspasian came to the Shores in search of a better life. Unfortunately, it was never to be. He was brutally murdered in a shadowlands north of Phaedros, his blood ripped from him by cultists of Serranos. Serranos saw potential in this act, and bade his worshippers conduct ancient rites that desecrated the young man’s soul. His hun rose from the bloodless body, angry and impotent.

Serranos kept this creature nearby, stoking its rage, enhancing its power, feeding it bits of the living and the dead alike. When he had worked his magic on it, the creature that was once Tavar’s higher soul was almost unrecognizable. Four Claws Red was born instead, and it listened to no one but Serranos.

Four Claws Red has been set against Serranos’ enemies in the hill-towns. Village witches that tried to bar Serranos or lay him to rest were torn apart. Guards who saw cults in operation were killed and dragged off into the woods. Four Claws Red is not subtle, so Serranos uses him as a weapon of fear.

In the past year, Four Claws Red has had only one target: Falqa Waspbane. She is often on the move, and while he has fought her three times, each time she has escaped before the fight could reach its conclusion. The first two times she assumed it was merely a hungry ghost; only during their most recent encounter has Falqa realized that she is being stalked by a single creature.

Appearance

Four Claws Red is a leering, grinning, wild-eyed ghost with dark skin and eyes. True to his name, his hands end in claws that constantly drip a glowing red. The resemblance between him and Otar is easy to see, though the way they carry themselves could not be more different.

Demeanor

Four Claws Red is one step away from being a hungry ghost. He has three modes of operation: restless waiting, utterly silent stalking, and the loud, vicious devouring of his victims. He speaks only when Serranos’ orders require clarification, or to scream angrily at his current target.

Intimacies: “I obey Serranos” (Defining), “I kill with joy” (Positive), “I will end Falqa Waspbane” (Negative), “I do not fear my end” (Major)

Abilities

Four Claws Red is a vicious hunting beast. He can smell blood at a distance of over a kilometer. He is a fearsome combatant, and every swipe of his claws brings him greater power, drawing essence from the blood that was once siphoned from him. Serranos has given him control over the void, allowing him to bend shadow and douse light, and over ash, allowing him to create choking gusts of ash-filled wind or to decay structures with a touch.

Supporting Characters

• Alik Ten-thumbs, a victim of Four Claws Red who became a ghost himself. Fragmentary, accusatory, stationary.
• Yuuken Jenash, who saw Serranos transform Tavar into what he is now. Fearful, stammering, on the run.
• Ganango Carnelos, Four Claws Red’s handler when Serranos isn’t there. Boastful, daring, terrified.
• Rika Folded-tongue, a village witch trying to stop Four Claws Red. Daring, cautious, powerful.

Questions

• How many people know who Four Claws Red used to be?
• Is there any way to return Four Claws Red to the ghost he used to be, or is it kinder to put him out of his misery?
• What would Four Claws Red do if Serranos were killed?
• How will Otar react to his brother’s plight?

Falqa Waspbane, Dead Hero

Background

When Amilar Valna arrived, she brought three score of veteran soldiers – “heroes,” as she touted them – to help clear the Shores of dangerous creatures. Falqa Waspbane was one of these. Like Valna, she does not discuss why she left the Seventh Legion, saying only that she swore an oath to House Amilar and cannot speak of it.

Falqa earned her name on the day she died, saving her queen from an enormous and terrifying wasp-creature. She was buried with the full military honors that Lookshy would have given her. She was not the first ghost to see her own funeral.

Falqa felt that she had dishonored her queen by dying in her service. For nearly a year she wandered the underworld of the Shore, unwilling to show her face. In the hills to the north she ran into a cult that worshipped Serranos, and she realized the truth – her job was yet unfinished. There was more she could do to protect her queen.

Falqa has constantly harassed Serranos’ forces, and come close to ending his existence once before being driven back by his honor guard. He doesn’t know her true identity. At this point, he has set Four Claws Red upon her for the past year and assumes that will be the end of it.

Ilsadoth knows who and what Falqa is, but not who she’s fighting. He just knows that she helps to keep down the hungry ghost population, and he approves of that, though he has encouraged her to move on to reincarnation. She refuses, convinced that she must earn Valna’s approval once again.

Appearance

Falqa has angular eyes, thick eyebrows, and a small but prominent nose. Her black hair is pulled back in a bun. She wears bright, colorful clothing when interacting with other ghosts, and dark hunter’s garb when in the wilderness. In both cases, a shirt of well-made chain is beneath.

Demeanor

Falqa was trained as a soldier in one of Creation’s finest traditions, and it shows. She’s stoic, orderly, and honorable. Stress rolls off her back like water off a duck. She’s a curt and direct commander, but not without sympathy – she knows that overworked soldiers lose battles.

Drawing Falqa our from this persona is difficult. The dead tend to stay who they were, and Falqa’s time as a professional soldier made a long-lasting mark on her. The fact that she does now in death what she did in life only reinforces that.

Intimacies: “I will see my queen safely to her end” (Major), “Duty binds us beyond death” (Defining), “Ilsadoth is an honorable man” (Positive), “I will end Four Claws Red” (Negative)

Abilities

Falqa is a powerful ghost with a firm control over her own essence and years of fighting experience. She is comfortable with a spear, bow, and knife, but primarily uses a long jagged obsidian blade named Frozen Wave, from which she draws deadly power. She’s a well-trained tracker, with sharp senses and quick reflexes. She’s not introspective.

Frozen Wave holds several powerful evocations that Falqa has learned to draw forth. Despite the effort of learning these, she much prefers them to the arcane powers that ghosts more typically employ. Frozen Wave enhances her fighting prowess, allowing her to cut into armor, slice through inanimate objects, send arcs of concussive force through the air, parry elemental or essence-based attacks, and create a devastating shockwave that throws her opponents in all directions. The sword’s power becomes stronger the longer she fights, but at a certain point that wave of power breaks, leaving her weakened until it rebuilds.

Supporting Characters

• Rona Stonehands, the smith who forged Falqa’s mask and repairs her armor. Businesslike, testy, secretly romantic.
• Utina Fire-eyes, a blind ally of Falqa’s who knows the secret of appearing in Creation during the day. Coarse, compassionate, frustrated.
• Sperdan Quickstrider, one of Ilsadoth’s scouts who brings information to and from Falqa. Curious, quick-witted, professional.
• Mehela Rumino, rival to Falqa, another of Valna’s heroes who ended up a ghost. Coarse, forceful, demanding.

Questions

• What bonds hold Falqa to the underworld? Why has she not yet passed into reincarnation or oblivion?
• What happened between Falqa and Rumino that made them contest against one another in the afterlife?

Iselsi Umon, Agent of the Realm

Background

House Iselsi’s fall from grace is well-known across Creation. Their current role is not. Iselsi Umon fits that role to a T. She is a clever, ambitious, gifted daughter of the dragons who, partly through her own actions and partly through circumstance, is on the final mission of her career.

Forty years ago, Umon was an Immaculate monk and a member of the Wyld Hunt. She had been told from a young age that her family was counting on her to restore their honor, and the pressure of that led her to train hard in the martial arts. Her fellow monks felt that she had overcome the stigma of her fallen house, and awarded her efforts with rank and respect. Not quite enough rank to keep her from the front lines of the hunt for Anathema, though – after all, disgrace is disgrace. Still, she managed to gain additional favor through the success of her hunt, and rose to command it.

All of this came crashing down six years ago, when her Hunt found a nest of Lunars. Five of the Realm’s finest and most powerful, plus fifteen trained soldiers, against what should have been two honorless barbarians chosen by the moon. Umon allowed herself to be convinced into the attack by her overeager lieutenants. It should have been safe, or as safe as such things can be. Instead, there were five of the damned moon-children. When the smoke and blood was done, all five of them had escaped, and four of the Realm’s finest were dead on the floor – all of the Wyld Hunt but Umon.

Held in a cell, awaiting execution, she was approached by the All-Seeing Eye, the Realm’s intelligence agency. They gave her the opportunity to restore her rank, in time… if she were willing to do a few favors for them. Their training was swift, intense, and comprehensive, and she showed an unexpected aptitude for it..

Since then, Umon has served the Realm in a new way, reporting on kingdoms in Threshold and occasionally sending certain souls on their way to reincarnation. She comes to the Shores with a mandate to ensure that it could not be a beachhead for the Deathlords. Alimar Valna should ideally make her kindgdom a tributary to the Realm and agree to take steps to close the shadowlands. If not, her reign must end.

Appearance

Iselsi Umon has the dark hair and eyes of the Blessed Isle. She has light skin and stormy blue eyes so dark they are nearly black – the one place that her elemental gift displays itself visibly. She commonly wears clothing that covers her from head to toe, revealing only her beautiful eyes.

Demeanor

As with most spies, few would suspect Umon of being a secret agent. She acts like everything that the Immaculate Order tells people not to become, and lo and behold she is popular. A few simple Charms conceal her true origin, and her role as Kellen‘s “flavor of the month” insures that her beauty is expected rather than surprising.

Umon’s greatest goal in life is the restoration of her honor and her house’s honor. She will do whatever she must to bring House Iselsi respect in the eyes of the other Great Houses. When others speak of the dragon-blooded, she is betrayed not by her expression or her words, but only in that she pays a touch more attention to the conversation.

Intimacies: “I will restore my house’s honor” (Defining), “The Realm is my home” (Major), “I follow the Immaculate philosophy” (Positive), “Those who derelict their duties imperil their souls” (Negative)

Abilities

Iselsi Umon is a skilled spy and martial artist. In addition, her essence flows through her in a dozen different powerful ways.

As a spy, she is a consummate investigator and undercover agent. She can track and shadow even wary individuals. Her memory, excellent since birth, has been sharpened and tuned to collect subtle details. On the rare occasions that she is discovered, she melts away like mist, leaving no trace of her presence. She is also capable of hearing conversations at great distances, and whispering to far-away allies on the winds.

Umon reveals her impressive fighting prowess only in situations where her true role will not be discovered. She is trained in the style of the Water Dragon, which she practices bare-handed. Umon is capable of dodging arrows, hurling opponents with the force of their own momentum, dissipating blows with her anima, escaping bonds and grapples, cancelling charms, stealing essence, and painfully reversing the flow of blood in a body. She is capable of perfect defense, though at painful cost to herself. All of these are still more costly to her now that she serves the Immaculate faith in name rather than in deed, but she has refined her essence for years and has power to spare.

Supporting Characters

• Iselsi Honta, Umon’s contact within the All-Seeing Eye. Calm, analytical, distant.
• Viia Cloud-hair, a servant of Kellan’s with whom Umon has made friends. Friendly, exasperated, curious.
• Aphala Sea-Hair, Umon’s current cover identity. Flighty, demure, intense.

Questions

• Does Umon know just how many Iselsi are still in places of power in Threshold? Does she understand the full extent of their ruse?
• Was Umon set on this mission as a final punishment, or does the Realm truly not understand what’s going on here?

Yatna the Yellow, Merchant Queen

Background

When she came to the Shores, Alimar Valna brought with her a small fleet of merchants to restore prosperity to the region. Chief amongst them was Yushoto Yatna, with dreams of profits and power dancing in her head.

When the Shores proved more impoverished than expected, and profits more difficult to obtain, Yatna turned to the Guild for assistance. Goods from the shadowlands of the Shores proved easier to sell through the Guild, and Yatna’s dreams seemed within reach. For several years she rose through the Guild’s ranks.

Unfortunately, Yatna found herself stymied by Valna’s wariness of the Guild and her unwillingness to open more avenues of trade. She considered turning to smuggling, but allies within the Guild convinced her to attempt a different approach: deposing Valna.

Yatna knew she didn’t have the personal charisma to lead the Shores, but she was close friends with Sephra Longhand (now known as Shimmering Hope), mayor of Tsannia, one of the largest cities in the Shores. The two of them hatched a plan to replace Valna as Sovereign of the Shores. However, they knew they’d need supernatural aid to accomplish this, which is where Ixar enters their story.

Yatna keeps mobile, riding her ships as they move from Shimmering Hope’s city to Valna’s capital in Phaedros and back again. She spends a few days in each city as her ships unload.

Appearance

Yatna always wears her signature yellow head-scarf in public. She has a large frame, light brown skin, tawny eyes, and carefully plucked eyebrows. She dresses appropriately for every occasion, taking full advantage of the large wardrobe aboard her ship.

Demeanor

Yatna is brash, loudmouthed, and demanding. She also knows how far she can push these things. She doesn’t care if you find her annoying, but she’ll be more polite if she thinks you’re a customer. Yatna has many hidden depths, but she is always a merchant.

Economical metaphors pepper Yatna’s speech. She’s used to talking about everything as if it were a commodity. She’s fully aware of the irony of this, and enjoys seeing others wince at her puns. Her laughter is both loud and contagious, which makes it all the more cutting when she directs it at some “fool scheme”or “ridiculous idea” that someone brings to her.

Behind closed doors, Yatna is very much the same, save that she smiles more and takes pity more easily. She doesn’t show this side to her employees.

Intimatices: “Everything is for sale” (Defining), “I will attain my rightful place in the Guild” (Major), “It doesn’t need to come to violence”, “Kellen Sky-Eyes” (Positive), “Keep business separate from pleasure”, “Amilar Valna needs to be taken down a notch” (Negative)

Abilities

Yatna is a canny and skilled merchant queen. She commands a fleet of a dozen ships, with extensive reserves of both currency and tradeable goods. She can do figures faster than any of her employees, and knows the most recent price of goods at any port on the Dreaming Sea. Few would call her charismatic, but many refer to her as “commanding” or “assertive.” She is especially good at reading faces and emotions. While she carries a sword, she has no skill in using it, relying on her bodyguard for defense.

She has no command over her own essence.

Supporting Characters

• Ophid Utana, captain of her flagship the Brightly Burning. Sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued, cautious.
• Ophid Rano, Yatna’s bookkeeper and accountant. Pious, thoughtful, secretive.
• Balto the Supplicant, Yatna’s contact with the Guild and the originator of her current plan. Guarded, intense, secretive.
• Zartan of the Dunes, her well-muscled bodyguard. Stern, good memory, loves kittens.

Questions

• Does the Guild truly support Yatna’s bid to control the Shores, or only a few allies? Are they even really allies, or are they trying to undermine her?
• How close it Yatna with Alimbor the Tide King? If her vessel is pursued, will he help her or hinder her?

Shimmering Hope, Would-be Ruler

Background

About a year ago, Shimmering Hope was Sephra Longhand, mayor of the city of Tsannia in the Shores. She was cramped, so to speak – desiring growth but unable to achieve it. Were she born twenty years earlier, perhaps it would have been she who united the Shores, but she was not, and Amilar Valna did so in her place. Sephra blamed Valna’s appearance, but not the woman herself.

Yatna the Yellow, one-time friend of Valna, heard of Sephra’s unrest and sought her out. She hoped to change the status quo of the land to one more amenable to profit – hers, of course – and she knew that many found Sephra to be a more palatable alternative to a dragon-blood whose family might start a dynasty.

Together, they hatched a plan. Yatna took Sephra first to the Wyld-witch Ixar. Among other gifts, her body was made proof against the assassin’s blade, and her mind proof against the words of the Chosen. Second, she was brought to meet with representatives of the Guild, who approved this plan and gave her the wealth to accomplish it. And third, she was brought to the people of her land, that she might understand that they were still under the thumb of a foreign ruler. Sephra knew that Yatna was manipulating her, but that didn’t mean she was wrong.

Sephra took on her new identity as Shimmering Hope. Reluctantly, with a heavy heart, Shimmering Hope looks to prove to Valna that the people are not truly hers. If that means a rebellion, so be it.

Appearance

Shimmering Hope has the wood-brown skin common among Eastern citizens. She has a round face, short hair, and a large figure. She wears clothing in a variety of colors and patterns, and enjoys those with interconnected abstract shapes. When acting in an official capacity, she wears a hat that signifies her station as mayor. She often wears jewelry.

Demeanor

Shimmering Hope is reasonable and cordial. She is friendly, but not overly so, keeping her authority and station between herself and the common folk. Many folk see her as a natural leader.

Amongst her friends (who are few but close), Shimmering Hope is a thoughtful individual who discusses all manner of topics from the practical to the philosophical. She loves a good joke, but leans toward clever wordplay and irony rather than pratfalls and low humor. The barrier of propriety that she maintains in public never keeps her from connecting in private.

Intimacies: “I will bring freedom to my people” (Defining), “Yatna is a true friend and a good advisor” (Positive), “Do good, that the dragons may judge you well” (Major), “The dead should move on to their final rest” (Negative), “I repay my debts”

Abilities

Shimmering Hope is a charismatic politician with an excellent understanding of how to strike a bargain or a balance. Thanks to the Guild’s coffers, she is very rich. She has a keen sense for who is truly in power in any given situation, and an excellent intuition for how that power is maintained. She does not navigate bureaucracies well, and so surrounds herself with those who do. She has never trained with a weapon.

Ixar’s gifts make Shimmering Hope exceptionally resilient, both mentally and physically. She can absorb punishment that would break her ten times over before succumbing. Moreover, she can share her mental resilience with others in her presence, and is also aware of any magical attempts from another individual to usurp her authority over such individuals. The one exception is, of course, Serranos, whose influence she subtly spreads each time she does donates her strength. This mastery of blood, bone, and void come at a price that is slow to rise.

Supporting Characters

• Propaisas, chamberlain and mayor pro-tem in Sephra’s place. Smart, efficient, relaxed.
• Ophiuka, Sephra’s dead mother, who haunts her on bright moonlit nights. Silent, sad.
• Yala Clever-toes, sometime lover of Sephra who has seen subtle changes in her in the last year. Coy, thoughtful, clever.
• Etina Silvertongue, who encourages people to follow Shimmering Hope and carries word of her to other towns. Brave, loyal, outspoken.

Questions

• Why does Shimmering Hope’s mother linger as a ghost?
• What changes will Serranos’ gifts inflict on Shimmering Hope? How long will it be before they are noticeable?
• How will Valna deal with Shimmering Hope when she finds out?

Ixar, Priestess of Chaos

Background

Ixar, witch-woman of the villages. Ixar, sage of chaos and voice of the Fair Folk. Ixar, who sold her second name for power. Her title is whispered in many places throughout the Shores, though never in front of the royal family. Let people go to their local barbers and witch-doctors when they need a poultice or a love potion. Ixar provides respect. Ixar provides power. Ixar gives you revenge.

As a young woman, some sixty years ago, Ixar’s family came the the Shores from an island deep in the Dreaming Sea. Her consciousness had been touched by the Wyld during the journey, and was open to its influence still. As she laid sick in her bed, Wyld-born Serranos waited no time opening the gate in her mind. He whispered to her of the glory and beauty of the Fair Folk, and his voice near wept as he told her of the wonders that could be hers. Still sick from her passage, harried by memories of the Wyld and lured by a honeyed voice, young Ixar reached for glory.

Since then, Ixar has brought many into the secret worship of the Fair Folk, and of Serranos in particular. She has received nothing but wonder, beauty, and influence from Serranos over the years, and if there had been pain and madness at some time, those were merely more memories to sell to him. She is his high priestess. He is her mad, beautiful god.

Ixar does request certain actions of her cult members. Most of them serve to weaken Creation in various ways. She presumes that this will allow Serranos the Fair to someday manifest his glory in Creation. That may or may not be true.

Recently, Yatna the Yellow introduced Ixar to Shimmering Hope, with the goal of empowering Hope to stand against Alimar Valna. Ixar was glad to comply, imbuing Hope with power from Serranos. Yatna assumed that the price for such empowerment would be paid in mere money. This will not turn out to be the case.

Appearance

Ixar seems to be a beautiful young woman with fair skin and golden hair. Her eyes have the appearance and shimmer of of mother-of-pearl. She is confident of her beauty, and enjoys teasing others with it or pretending to modesty.

Demeanor

Most people think that the person they meet is not actually Ixar. Ixar, the witch who has served the Shores for threescore years, could not be this beautiful, exotic young woman. Surely this enchanting, clear-voiced maiden could never wield such power. This one must be a go-between. She only works the front counter. Ixar must be a warted crone the back room.

Ixar does little to disabuse them of this notion, referring to “Ixar the great” and “all-powerful Ixar” as if she were a different person. Her mind is a house of a thousand rooms, and she lives in one while entertaining guests in another. In a closet, somewhere, the woman she once was weeps.

When she walks the Shores, Ixar is a social chameleon. She mimics those around her to blend in, often taking on a servile or deferential role. She never mentions her true work. When stressed or confronted, her persona slams into place all the more firmly, and she looks for a scapegoat. She is not above pretending at helplessness, crying to escape and laughing about it later.

Ixar’s relationship with Serranos is dysfunctional as best.

Intimatices: “Fools deserve to have someone take advantage of them” (Major), “They’re all fools” (Negative), “There is no morality save power” (Defining), “The Fair Folk are the rightful rulers of Creation” (Positive)

Abilities

Ixar is an intelligent, crafty cult leader. She has little charisma, but a great sense of showmanship. A little smoke, a few mirrors, and her beauty does the rest. She does have some knowledge of herbs and the nature of the elements, but she has relied on Serranos’ gifts so long that this knowledge is rusty.

Ixar has bargained much of herself and her soul away to Serranos. (He, who could give his gifts for free, laughs at this in his quiet hours.) In return she has many endowments that others would envy. Her body will be young and beautiful until the day she dies, and that day is far off. She can hear the influence of creatures and powers from beyond Creation, such as ghosts and the Fair Folk. She can smell blood, and thus living beings, at great distances. When threatened (or merely insulted) she can call forth pyre-flame from her gullet and burn the offending individuals to ash.

Supporting Characters

• Jekk Ironmind, magical assistant and unsubtle spy. Shifty, belligerent, silent.
• Terais Broken-reed, the leader of Ixar’s cult in Phaedros. Worldly, high-class, deceptive.
• Raethos the Boatman, who ferries Ixar about in the evenings. Strong, reliable, mute.
• Inkos Longstride, who has infiltrated the Phaedros guards. Observant, loyal, needy.

Questions

• What might make Ixar turn on Serranos?
• How many people has Ixar gifted with Serranos’ power?

Serranos, the Ancient Evil

Background

Here on the shores of the Dreaming Sea, the Fair Folk invasion rewrote the fabric of the world like a tide. In its advancing and receding, the Wyld left pools behind. It was then, after the victory of the Scarlet Empress, as these last touches of chaos left the land and drifted back toward the Dreaming Sea, that Serranos rose to power among the Fair Folk of the Shores.

Power-hungry, charismatic, and desperate, Serranos led his people to a crafty assault on the Shores. Dozens of Fair Folk infiltrated the local population, taking on the form of refugees from distant lands. Within days they struck, murdering thousands and leaving hundreds more as dreamless drones before they were finally routed by local forces.

Serranos himself escaped… but he escaped alone. He lived, if one could call it that, huddled in a tiny pocket of Wyld beneath a broken manse in the northern Shores, too weak to survive on his own, too terrified of his ancient kinfolk to brave the Dreaming Sea. He created pale, weak shapes that were the shadows of those he had known before, and treated them as compatriots, the way a child might speak to a puppet.

Five years ago, Serranos made another bid to conquer the Shores, driving his puppets before him as if they were a great war-host. They were not. The effort was doomed to failure from the first; he may even have known that. Amilar Valna and her consort Ilsadoth scattered his pathetic forces and put an end to him in a shadowlands, and that was that.

Or it should have been.

Serranos’ shade rose five days later in the underworld. He struggled – oh, how his existence has been defined by strife and struggle – but his struggle has borne fruit. Ixar leads a cult that funnels him essence and the goods of the grave. He has followers and supplicants, such as Shimmering Hope, who allow his dark essence upon their souls all unknowing. Victory is all but assured. Now he need only watch from his lair beneath a crumbled manse and wait for the Shores to come tumbling down.

Appearance

Serranos wears a silver mask with elaborate engravings that draw the eye. Some of his clothing is black; the rest displays all the range of a colorful bruise. His hair, constantly in motion, flies out wildly from behind the mask.

Demeanor

Serranos is, at heart, a walking stereotype. He is the cackling villain: plotting, pacing, ranting, lashing out. Those who would secretly observe him in his home would see a monster in human form. He cares for nothing but power over others, and it shows in how he treats those who serve him.

However, before Ixar, his other cultists, and any whom he feels might be a threat, he is a portrait of magnanimous reason. Soft yet firm, daring yet reasonable. He reveals his madness only when he grants power to his followers, a strange anima flaring around him and echoing his mad laughter. For this reason, he does this only in private, or when surrounded by loyal servants.

Serranos cannot abide mention of Ilsadoth by name. In his particular religion, that despised ruler is The Repulsive One, and his consort in the land of the living is The Murderess.

Intimatices: “I will rule Creation from a throne of pain” (Defining), “Ilsadoth and Amilar Valna shall be my slaves” (Negative), “None must know my of coming before I am ready” (Major), “Reward fools; they are easier to control” (Positive)

Abilities

Serranos is a master manipulator. His soft words and canny observations worm their way into his targets’ minds without the need for essence. He is physically weak and has little to no skill in combat, relying on his followers extensively for travel and protection. He believes that he understands much about the underworld, but in truth he has only power, not knowledge.

That power is enough, though. Serranos can “gift” individuals – both living and dead – with powerful mutations to their bodies and minds. Gifting power leaves Serranos weakened for an hour or so. Those whom he makes grow strong and swift often have visible manifestations of this power, such as bulging muscles and shimmering dark outlines behind them as they move. Those who are granted more esoteric capabilities, such as control over the elements of death (blood, bone, ash, pyre-flame, and void), show only the slightest physical indications of their new-found glory. Instead, the power twists their minds, letting Serranos nudge them in subtle ways, and eventually take over their minds in total. Even with Ixar he is far from this level of command, but only because she does not yet feel worthy to join with her god.

Serranos is not truly a ghost. Necromancy, at least at its lowest rank, has no hold on him. He is still more of the Wyld than of the underworld, though that may change in time if his existence continues.

Supporting Characters

• Jun and Sav, the interchangeable footmen who carry him about on his litter. Silent, stoic, suicidally brave.
• Kra, an undead raiton with a glimmer of human intelligence, who advises Serranos from atop his throne. Loud, sarcastic, cowardly.
• Fu Efa, ash-breathing bodyguard. Suspicious, needy, brutal.
• Zeni, swift ghostly messenger who brings Serranos’ word across the Shores. Confident, clever, laughing.

Questions

• Where does the power than Serranos grants come from? Is he as powerful as he believes, or is he someone else’s puppet?
• Is Ixar the only priestess of Serranos, or does he command others?
• What treasures and artifacts has Serranos obtained from his cults?

Otar Vaspasian, Chosen of the Sun

Background

The Vaspasian family is famous in certain regions of the South as merchants, traveling along the southern edge of the Dreaming Sea and out toward the endless dunes. They trade cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and a wide variety of other spices, but they also trade in slaves.

Otar and his brother Tavar found this distasteful; all the more so as they grew older. Perhaps it was their stepfather’s influence, brought to the family from a distant land. Perhaps it was their friendship with a child they later saw sold. Regardless of the source of the feeling, the two of them agreed that they could not be part of this – they would leave their family as soon as they were able. Otar’s brother left four years ago across the Dreaming Sea. This past year, Otar followed his path, hoping to find him.

The passage was nearly complete, and land just within sight. The Lord of the Tides appeared, a sign of good luck, to guide them to the shore. Suddenly a terrible beast leapt from the depths, snapping at the vessel and demanding tribute. It was at that very moment that Otar was chosen by the Sun. Blazing with solar glory, he defeated the serpent with nothing more than his bare fist and a harpoon that had been left on the deck. The battle terrified and exhilarated him as he remembered snatches of strategy from past lives. Realizing the peril he was in when he reached shore, Otar swore the sailors to secrecy. Terrified, they agreed.

Now Otar is in Phaedros, seeking his lost brother, and hoping that the sailors do not talk too much when they’re drunk. His hopes are not high. He has heard rumors of a “Shining Hope,” and wonders if she might be Solar as he is. He has also heard of ruined manses to the north, and is considering traveling there, in the hopes that he will find something to point toward Tavar… or toward the legacy that now burns in Otar’s mind.

Appearance

Otar is a young, slim man with brown skin and short-cropped hair. He wears simple clothing, tending toward off-white pants and an open shirt. His left arm ends in a stump at his wrist, and has since his birth.

Demeanor

Otar is naturally friendly and enjoys jesting. When he has his leisure, Otar can be both carefree and careless.

However, right now Otar is on the run and trying to hide. He’s awful at it. He hangs out in shady bars, where he sticks out badly. He tries to cover his face, then ends up with his hat brim so low that he can’t see where he’s going. He would have been robbed blind the day he arrived if not for a strange instinct that guides his hands to slap away pickpockets. He’s polite, bumbling, overwhelmed, and barely holding together. He’s never sure whose words will come out of his mouth – his, or that of an older self. He’ll avoid just about any social situation. Naturally, that isn’t helping him track down his brother.

Don’t try to defend cruelty or slavery in front of him, though. He remembers enough of that from this life, and the memories from the First Age just cement how he already feels. If a loud sermon is all you get, consider yourself lucky.

Intimacies: “Darkness must be purged” (Defining), “Slavery is wrong” (Negative), “I will find my brother” (Positive), “I will understand what’s happening to me” (Major)

Limit Trigger: Hearing others defend injustice – even something that Otar himself did wrong – and being either unable to change their mind or unwilling to take the time to argue.
Typical Virtue Flaw: Belligerent Argument. Otar will turn to violence to “win” the argument. He won’t kill intentionally, but he will use potentially dangerous force and channel his essence in ways that can draw unwanted attention.

Abilities

Otar’s upbringing taught him to read, write, do figures, dance, and trade. He’s resilient and stalwart. He’s perceptive, if not overly clever. He and his brother learned how to fight from the family bodyguard.

Otar is also a Dawn-caste Solar, and his awakened essence guides him in a multitude of ways. He can deflect blades and teeth with his hands and wrestle wild animals. He can speak with captivating energy. Supernatural coercion has little hold on him, especially when he pursues his beliefs. Finally, Otar is able to see patterns in mercantile or criminal behavior, especially when it’s directed toward him.

He will become stronger quickly as time goes on, and the personalities of his prior incarnations will meld more smoothly into his present self. Until then, he’s still a little confused. He’s much better when operating on instinct than when he tries to puzzle things through.

Supporting Characters

• Rhanod White-eyes, an old man who has given Otar a room in exchange for work. Kindly, slow, stubborn.
• Perra Waterfoot, a young woman who makes nets on the dock and has eyes for Otar. Diligent, outgoing, poor.
• Gapha the Minstrel, whom Otar pays for news each morning. Flashy, garrulous, mercenary.
• Ibiqa Resha, a fellow southern traveler who came on the boat. Brash, clever, worried.

Questions

• Who will recruit Otar first? Will someone else change his mind?
• Is the sea serpent that he fought still out there waiting for him?
• Who has Otar’s family hired to track him down?
• Who and what was Otar in his past life? Does he remember being hunted down by the Wyld Hunt during prior incarnations?