Unaligned Rogues

Those who use unaligned magic for crime.

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Bandalero

Type: Bandit

Bandaleros are bandits who have a set of skills that complement each other, but which don't work individually. They operate as a team so they can share skills amongst each other.

They engage in a meditative practice called figgum. This begins with the bandits not learning to fight, but to juggle. They practice this for hours a day until they can juggle five knives with their eyes closed, and then they juggle while meditating. The concept they focus on to meditate is that "one skill is all skills". The idea is that if one learns one skill, that skill can be transformed into another. Thus, they focus on a single skill, becoming elite in it, then use the power of figgum to transform that skill into any other needed skill temporarily. The process of achieving this requires them focusing on the circle formed by the act of juggling, then breaking past it via a meditative process called "moving beyond the circle". This process requires such extreme concentration that one must meditate for months at a time to achieve it, hence why few among the poor and oppressed ever achieve it. They do this together with one another, always matching the pace of their least skilled member, to establish a bond.

In-game, this amounts to an ongoing series of rolling juggling skill, WIL, and AWA against increasing difficulties, with a series of bonuses and penalties for successes or failures, culminating in a roll against a difficulty of 25 for juggling, 25 for WIL to focus, and 25 for AWA to see past the circle. If this is achieved, the bandaleros will gain the ability to move their skill points around their character sheet or those of the other six people in their band as they please. There are some caveats to this - they can't move base stats around, for example, nor innate powers. Only learned skills may be adapted. If they alter their skill in juggling, it may affect their ability to use this power, as they must enter the meditative state via juggling to use their power.

Bandaleros borrow skill points from others in their band by willingly giving them that skill by passing a juggling knife to them while meditating. If they do this seven times in a row, they establish a bond that lasts for seven months. After that, they re-establish it. The bandalero must temporarily give the person some of their skill points in order to gain the skill being provided. The skill points the bandalero has can never go above their skill point total.

Some skills cost more than others, however. Magical skills, for example, are not equivalent to basic language skills, nor are elite-level skills equal to low-level ones. There is a scale of equivalence available if you choose to play a bandalero. Once a bandalero band is formed and bonded, they can trade skills no matter how far apart they are or whether they are working together or not.

Bandaleros who lose their juggling knives will lose their powers.

PRO +2 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL / PRS -1 STH +1

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Cardcounter

Type: Gambler

Cardcounters use basic counting to determine the odds on a risk when it comes to card games. They often also use their mathematical skills when it comes to other games of chance or gambling operations. But their skill in numerology allows them to alter the odds as well. Criminal groups recruit those who learn to do this, but rarely trains gamblers themselves.

When numbers change, so does reality. If a cardcounter has the right names, they can make almost anything happen, but they are more skilled at it than an amolast. However, their focus is betting, and they don't often go up against other people. They focus on the subject of their betting. They can change the value of cards, the speed of a horse, the sharpness of a dog's teeth, the strength of an athlete. But they have to do so subtly and well-timed, for if they do so where someone notices, they will face repercussions (usually violence or arrest).

The method of this is to take the name of their target - common name or True Name, though the latter is much more powerful and harder to find - and convert them alphanumerically. Those in Talune use a special alphanumeric formula that is modulo 13, using a 30 letter alphabet. Within base 13, everything is cyclical, so these effects may return to their original state in time.

Letter	Alphanumeric	Our Number	Effect
K	@	11	Magic
L	#	12	Alignment
J	!	10	Circular
Zh	23	29	Destruction
Z	22	28	Neutral luck
Y	21	27	Reversal
X	20	26	Growth
Th	19	22	Identification
T	18	21	Creation
Sh	17	20	Thought or memory
S	16	19	Strength
R	15	18	Change
Q	14	17	Negative emotion
P	13	16	Movement
O	12	15	Division
N	11	14	Analysis
M	10	13	Cyclical
I	9	9	Transformation
H	8	8	Positive emotion
G	7	7	Good luck
F	6	6	Harm
E	5	5	Help
D	4	4	Death or endings
Ch	3	3	Amplification
C	2	2	Combination
B	1	1	Catalyst
U	1!	23	Hard barrier
V	1@	24	Bad luck
W	1#	25	Reflection
A	0	0	Returns all things to their natural order

If a cardcounter has a name, they convert it alphanumerically (add up the letters via the code above). Then, they take the original name (the alphabetical name) and inscribe it into their abacus. They must insert the calculated value onto their abacus, made of borov wood with sacratempite sapphires as the beads (sometimes provided by criminal organizations), then use the counting beads to alter the values to reach the effects they wish to inflict above. If their magic is strong enough, the inscribed alphabetical name will change accordingly, causing the changes they wish. The abacus must be attuned to the cardcounter by being kept in a state of alphanumeric resonance with the cardcounter's name (i.e., the alphanumeric value of their name must be calculated on it and left there) when not in use.

Because cardcounters aren't fully trained numerologers, they use a handful of equations they know will help them in different situations.

Mechanically, the amolast rolls numerological skill against the difficulty of their spell, which is calculated by how many points different from the original name they have changed (i.e., if the alphanumerical value of the original name is 100 and they changed it to 107, the difficulty is 7; if the original name is 100 and they changed it to 90, the difficulty is 10). They then roll the power of their abacus (usually a 14, if they are n using an abacus) against an appropriate base stat of the target person (if the target is a person) or against the existential value of the target (determined by the digits of their alphanumeric name added together). If any number being rolled (by the amolast or the target) from is prime, the roll gets a +1, +2, +3, or +5 if and only if that will get the value to another prime.

The "name" of inanimate objects is always an difficult to ascertain, but with cards, dice, or other implements of chance, cardcounters rely on proximity to let generic names hit their targets. This sometimes means collateral damage when the Ace of Spades becomes the Two of Clubs at every table near them, but so be it. When you live a life of risk, you live a life of risk. Animals (such as horses, dogs, or chickens, which are often bet upon) usually have a name publicly posted, as do athletes. Other targets of betting vary.

Many gamblers are skilled with rapiers.

They cannot perform their magic without their abacuses, but if someone takes their abacus, they can alter the name on it to harm the cardcounter.

PRO +1 ATH +1 STR -1 AWA +3 WIL -1 PRS +2 STH +1

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Famba

Type: Vagrant

Fambas gain power from movement itself. They gain power by attuning themselves to movement. To do this, they spend days focusing on the rhythm of their steps. They engage in an intricate series of ritual movements every night before sleeping until they can sense every movement of their bodies, down to the blood flowing in their veins and the beat of their heart, every twitch of muscle and organ. If they can achieve this, they become attuned to movement and able to draw power from certain aspects of it. Specifically, as they travel around Endruin (or beyond) by foot, they gain special bonuses or abilities based on those locales or the distance they've traveled.

• 10 square miles traveled: +1 endurance
• 25 square miled traveled: +1 speed
• 50 square miles traveled: +1 constitution
• 100 square miles traveled: +1 ATH
• 500 square miles traveled: +3 reaction
• 1,000 square miles traveled: +3 constituon, speed, or endurance
• 5,000 square miles traveled: +3 survival
• 10,000 square miles traveled: +3 ATH
• 25,000 square miles traveled: +6 dodge
• 50,000 square miles traveled: +6 survival, reaction, constitution, speed, or endurance
• 100,000 square miles traveled: +6 ATH
• 300,000 square miles traveled: +9 survival, reaction, constittuion, speed, endurance, or dodge

Square miles are measured in north/south times west/east.

Furthermore, certain kinds of location give them special abilities:

• Lone inn or waystation: sense shelter, power 8
• Vagrant camp: +1 read people
• Barn or other farm structure: sense food, power 8
• Village (under 500 people): measure capacity for support, power 8
• Town (501 to 10,000 people): +3 persuasion
• City (10,001 to 100,000 people): unsleeping travel, once per week, if used four times in a month, lose -1 ATH permanently
• Metropolis (100,001+ people): sense friend, power 8
• Port city: +1 negotiation/bartering
• Fishing camp: +3 patience
• Mining camp: +1 toughness
• Rail station: understand rail schedules, power 11
• Crossroads: vanish for 30 seconds, once per week
• Mountain road: +3 climbing
• Forest road: +3 scavenging
• Highway: escape teleport, 1 mile, once per month
• Rail tunnel: danger sense
• Open water: +1 sailing
• Underground, 500+ feet: direciton sense
• Underwater, 1,000+ feet: underwater breathing
• Open seas, 10 miles out: waterwalking
• The sky, 5+ miles: cloudwalking
• Borderlands: +1 PRO

If they visit a new instance of each location 50 times, they gain the bonus again or gain +1 to the power it gave them, and this repeats every 50 new instances.

PRO / ATH +4 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL +1 PRS +1 STH +1

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Hectrist

Type: Brawler

Hectrists are brawlers who have the ability to alter themselves by performing great feats. They achieve this ability by passing an initial trial of impossibility. This usually takes years of training, during which they will focus on one specific impossible feat, usually one of strength, like lifting something too big to be lifted or pushing something to heavy to be moved. They train in doing this not to achieve it, but to strive, for it is known that if you strive to outrun the wind, one day you might not outrun the wind, but you will outrun horses. Thus, one day, the hectrist will be able to achieve a feat of strength beyond normal mortal capability.

How this translates is that they will one day succeed on a roll that is 9 above their STR. They must do this without use of any tokens, narrative fiat, etc. Once it is done, they will unlock the energy within them that allows them to continue to be altered by feats, and any subsequent critical successes will cause them to gain permanently bonuses to STR or alterations to their bodies within reason. Hectrists tend to alter themselves to be big and intimidating. The opposite is also true, however - any critical failure (failure by 9 or more) will result in the loss of a power, bonus, or other feat-empowered feature.

They tend to prefer to use their fists.

PRO +2 ATH +1 STR +5 AWA -1 WIL -1 PRS -2 STH -3

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Hottupali

Type: Torturer

Hottupalis know how to extract someone's organs without killing them instantly. Their methods allow a person who has lost an organ - even a heart - live for up to six hours. They like to show their victims the organs as they torture them. Hottupalis are not nice people. They are employed by various organizations to extract information from or simply bring agony to their enemies. They're also called "the organ-grinders", though this is not an accurate description of what they do.

They use special diet and exercise in order to access their magic. Their special diet is regular consumption of magical grains, spices, and milk mixed into a cereal called nimusti. This may vary by species, however. Usually, the organization they work for provides this to their hottupalis, who eat it along with a heavy diet of bloody meat. The special exercises vary by body and intention, but most hottupalis seek to be strong and intimidating. Normal exercises may get them such a body, but the special exercises, which involve excessive amounts of lifting, punching, and push/pull ups, allow them to eventually control their body magically. Part of the exercises are meditations that allow them to know their body inside and out. If they can achieve this and keep to their diet, after months of work, they begin to gain full control. They gain a point of body magic skill per six months they keep to their routine and diet for the first eight points (0-8), then it extends to one point per year for the next three (9-11), then one point per three years for the next three (12-14), then one point per five years for the next three (15-17), then one point per seven years for the next three (18-20), then one point per ten years for the next three (21-23), then one point per twelve years for the next three (24-26). It continues to extend in length after that.

There are different ways to wield body magic once it is possessed:

• Via physical strike (slap, punch, kick, tackle) with skin-to-skin contact to affect another person negatively.
• Via sheer will power to affect one's own internal processes.
• Via self-harm if they intend to alter their own form.

In order to practice their grim trade, hottupalis also feed their victims a mixture of magical grain alcohol, spices, and raw meat, called malucarne. This mixture is ground up (which is where the "grinders" pejorative comes from) and forcefed to the victims. Then they use their body magic skills to alter their bodies temporarily, beating them such that their organs come out of their mouths, but their bodies temporarily bypass that function for up to six hours. During this time, the victims are questioned with the promise of getting their organs back. They don't always give them back.

PRO +3 ATH +1 STR +3 AWA / WIL +1 PRS -6 STH -2

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Pilferer

Type: Thief

Pilferers are extremely skilled thieves who wield the Cant and the Hooded Shadow.

There is an ancient cant, a variation on language, a secret code and a dialect and a pidgin, a set of rhymes and ciphers, that only those who have been pushed outside the law may wield. The Cant derived from the first people who had to steal from other mortals to survive, and it grew into a complex, panlingual cryptological esoteric puzzle. The Cant cannot be understood by anyone who serves the laws of the state that make people criminals, and it gives those who speak it special powers. To access it, one must have committed a crime in a place one has been, knowingly, and one must have done so without other esoteric power. One must have committed this crime for purposes neither related to upholding the oppressive structures nor overthrowing them. The crime must violate a law existing on the books in the place it was broken, and it must be knowingly committed. If the crime is later decriminalized, it will still empower the pilferer. If the crime is unknowingly committed, but the criminal later discovers it was/is illegal, they have a brief window to take advantage before they lose access to the cant (until they commit a crime again). In that brief window, they will see a shadow, and if they follow that shadow, they will begin to see things they never noticed before.

For a pilferer, their first crime should be any act of theft. It will mark them as a potential pilferer. If they follow the shadow, it will lead them to the closest wielder snatcher or other wielder of Cant, who, if they are recognized as someone exposed to the shadow, will recruit them. From there, they will be trained in the Cant, and eventually tested in the work of the crime family. If they pass, they will be initiated into the Hooded Shadow, the power of concealment from the law and empowerment of crimes. Their initiation will be stealing from a rich, well-defended mansion.

• Identify: the shadow covers the eyes, allowing the wielder to only see what object they seek. This costs 1 shadow point per 15 seconds of use, giving +6 AWA to finding the target for that time period.
• Appraise: the shadow fills the mind, allowing the wielder to know the wealth of those they are observing. This costs 1 shadow point per 15 seconds of use, giving +6 AWA to gathering value for that time period.
• Unseen: the shadow subtles the movements and enshrouds the body, making it harder to see the wielder. This costs 1 shadow point per 2 points of STH, lasting an hour.
• Distract: the shadow spreads around, distracting the target or those chasing the wielder. This effecitvely gives the wielder +3 STH per 1 shadow point used for 15 seconds per point.
• Grab : the shadow forms a hidden hand to pick the pocket. This costs 10 shadow points for a small object, 16 for a medium one, 22 for a large, 28 for an object impossible to take without being noticed (i.e. the clothes the target is wearing).
• Swap: the shadow frames two objects, switching their places. This costs 16 shadow points for small objects, 20 for medium ones, 25 for large, 32 for objects impossible to take without being noticed.
• Backstab: the shadow enables the wielder to strike behind someone from any location within 10'. This costs 8 shadow points for +3 to hit, with another 3 for every +1 to hit.
• Escape : the shadow opens a path to escape. This effecitvely gives the wielder +3 STH per 2 shadow points used for 1 minute per point.

In order to wield it, the pilferer must use the correct canting rhymes. They must maintain the Hooded Shadow by remaining outside the law, never cooperating with the authorities, and never going straight. This does not mean never following any law, but rather, never betraying other criminals, never giving back what is stolen wtihout permission, never ratting out other criminals, and never surviving off anything but criminal gains. Any violation will destroy the Cant immediately. The more crimes they knowingly commit, the higher the score they have in the shadow, but any use depletes it, meaning they have a limited amount of shadow to use. Furthermore, each pickpocketing or shoplifting only counts as one crime, even if it results in multiple charges, unless a more serious crime (murder, for example) is committed. Rape and sexual assault do not generate the Hooded Shadow, as these are infernal acts.

PRO +1 ATH +3 STR -2 AWA +2 WIL / PRS / STH +4

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Ploronki

Type: Fence

Ploronki are trained them in the art of mercatism. This is the creation of magical contracts that allow for esoteric exchanges. To do this, a person must understand value. Real value. Objective value. Value as derived from both the objective utility of something and the subjective willingness of someone to pay or provide for it. This understanding must be inward and outward. Once understood, they must write a contract with themself that weighs their value against the power they seek, and imbue it with four parts of themself, an offering of their blood, of something of emotional value, of something they have learned, and of something they have experienced. These are their collateral, and any violation of the contract will take one of these from them.

To protect themself, they may make contracts with others. Their first contract will be with another ploronki, who will place their life against their loyalty to their mentor.

They are also trained in the buying and selling of any kind of good, but especially stolen ones of high value. They are excellent appraisers, and they know when they have someone they can reel into a contract. For every contract they make, they must pay something also to their mentor, so contracts often have clauses that force contractees to do favors for or pay their mentor.

They have a lot of connections and know who owes them what.

Any violation of their contracts will cause them to lose their powers. If someone captures their contract and alters it, there can be dire consequences.

PRO -1 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +3 WIL +1 PRS +2 STH /

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Putrablast

Type: Saboteur

Putrablasts are those who can sabotage machines, vehicles, buildings, or more with the magic of the decay of reality.

To wield this magic, they must witness the infinite, understand the impossible, and believe nothing. They must rewire their brains to understand concepts and possibilities that others cannot conceive, and to do this requires powerful chemicals, extensive education, a lot of money and time, and some weird technology. They are either trained in a guild as an apprentice or in some kind of university. At some point in their training, when they are deemed ready, they are drugged (sometmes consensually, sometimes not) with a potent hallucinogen, locked in a chamber, and tested in mathematics, physics, and magic for three straight days. At the end of it, they are given a sedative, allowed to rest for an hour, then awakened with loud noises and asked rigorous questions until they pass out. There are less traumatic ways to do this, but the imperials who control the guilds and universities prefer the dangerous efficiency of this.

After this, they are shown images via super-powerful microscopes that show them the wonders of the minuscule. If they leave this experience understanding decay, they will be able to use the magic to inflict rapid decay on things. They can do this in several ways:

• Putrebomb: the putrablast can throw a mixture of spit, blood, and metal that explodes in a cloud of decay.
• Aura of decay: the putrablast can sacrifice some of their own soul to create an area of decay around themselves.
• Dissolving solution: the putrablast can sacrifice some of their emotions into a vial of water to create a solution to dissolve materials.
• Effusive touch: the putrablast can turn their own skin on any part of their body into a point of decay, making anything they touch with it decay rapidly, but they cannot turn it on and off - it lasts as long as it lasts.
• Dematerial countdown: the putrablast can sacrifice part of their mind to completely dematerialize a single small to medium object in a given amount of time.

The cost of doing any of these is that their mind, body, heart, and soul will also decay.

PRO +1 ATH +1 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL +2 PRS -3 STH +1

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Raglaw

Type: Gangster

A raglaw is taught the Cant and given the power of the Hooded Shadow. They gain this power by being criminals.

There is an ancient cant, a variation on language, a secret code and a dialect and a pidgin, a set of rhymes and ciphers, that only those who have been pushed outside the law may wield. The Cant derived from the first people who had to steal from other mortals to survive, and it grew into a complex, panlingual cryptological esoteric puzzle. The Cant cannot be understood by anyone who serves the laws of the state that make people criminals, and it gives those who speak it special powers. To access it, one must have committed a crime in a place one has been, knowingly, and one must have done so without other esoteric power. One must have committed this crime for purposes neither related to upholding the oppressive structures nor overthrowing them. The crime must violate a law existing on the books in the place it was broken, and it must be knowingly committed. If the crime is later decriminalized, it will still empower the raglaw. If the crime is unknowingly committed, but the criminal later discovers it was/is illegal, they have a brief window to take advantage before they lose access to the cant (until they commit a crime again). In that brief window, they will see a shadow, and if they follow that shadow, they will begin to see things they never noticed before.

For a raglaw, their first crime should be a violent one. It will mark them as a potential gangster. If they follow the shadow, it will lead them to the closest wielder raglaw or other wielder of Cant, who, if they are recognized as someone exposed to the shadow, will recruit them. From there, they will be trained in the Cant, and eventually tested in the work of the crime family. If they pass, they will be initiated into the Hooded Shadow, the power of concealment from the law and empowerment of crimes. They will be initiated into the family and given a series of tasks, most illegal, to perform, ranging from picking up a payment to selling drugs to intimidating or killing someone to running a front business. As they do this, they will be taught new uses of the Hooded Shadow to help them.

• Intimidation: a wreath of shadow forms around the raglaw, adding to their intimidation score. This costs 1 shadow point per 2 points of intimidation per use.
• Laundering: money gained through criminal means becomes enshadowed, making it harder for authorities to track or see it. This costs 3 shadow points per 10,000 coin for complete enshadowing, 2 per for partial, 1 per for minor.
• Assault: the weapon of the raglaw becomes harder ot see because of the shadow, giving them bonuses to hit. This costs 1 shadow point per 1 bonus point to hit per use.
• Distribution: while selling contraband or running a front business, the raglaw is harder to detect by authorities. This costs 1 shadow point per 2 points of STH per use, lasting an hour.
• Vengeance: if wronged, the shadow can be sent to attack those who did it. This costs 25 shadow points for a shadow attack capable of killing a target with average base state score of 10, +3 points per average base stat score above 10, -3 per average base stat score below 10.

Any other criminal activity tasked to the raglaw by the Family can be enabled, empowered, or otherwise supported by the shadow. Consult with the GM for other potential uses.

In order to wield it, the raglaw must use the correct canting rhymes. They must maintain the Hooded Shadow by remaining outside the law, never cooperating with the authorities, and never going straight. This does not mean never following any law, but rather, never betraying the Family, never operating a legitimate business without criminal activity, and never surviving off anything but criminal gains. Any violation will destroy the Cant immediately. The more crimes they knowingly commit, the higher the score they have in the shadow, but any use depletes it, meaning they have a limited amount of shadow to use. Furthermore, some crimes only count as one instance even if prolonged - i.e., running a chain of twelve front businesses is one instance of a crime, not twelve instances of it. They must be broken up with other crimes in-between. Rape and sexual assault do not generate the Hooded Shadow, as these are infernal acts. Only criminal acts tasked by the family generate shadow.

PRO +2 ATH +1 STR +2 AWA +1 WIL / PRS / STH +1

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Scelestian

Type: Criminal

These master-of-all-crimes are multitalented criminals who have spent decades or more practicing the arts of the Cant and the Hooded Shadow. These are the most elite criminals who exist in the shadows and do what they must to keep control of their city.

There is an ancient cant, a variation on language, a secret code and a dialect and a pidgin, a set of rhymes and ciphers, that only those who have been pushed outside the law may wield. The Cant derived from the first people who had to steal from other mortals to survive, and it grew into a complex, panlingual cryptological esoteric puzzle. The Cant cannot be understood by anyone who serves the laws of the state that make people criminals, and it gives those who speak it special powers. To access it, one must have committed a crime in a place one has been, knowingly, and one must have done so without other esoteric power. One must have committed this crime for purposes neither related to upholding the oppressive structures nor overthrowing them. The crime must violate a law existing on the books in the place it was broken, and it must be knowingly committed. If the crime is later decriminalized, it will still empower the scelestian. If the crime is unknowingly committed, but the criminal later discovers it was/is illegal, they have a brief window to take advantage before they lose access to the cant (until they commit a crime again). In that brief window, they will see a shadow, and if they follow that shadow, they will begin to see things they never noticed before. This will lead them to the closest wielder of Cant, who, if they are recognized as someone exposed to the shadow, will recruit them.

From there, they will be trained in the Cant, and eventually tested via a series of criminal activities. If they pass, they will be initiated into the Hooded Shadow, the power of concealment from the law.

The Hooded Shadow empowers them in any criminal activity, and scelestians train in so many criminal activities, they learn to apply it to any or all of them. They can empower flames to be unseen to better engage in arson, ensuring a structure burns. They can hide their manipulations of people to better their skills as a conspirator. They can use the shadow to make themselves more intimdiating as an extortionist, or they can use it to become practically invisible as a spy, thief, or assassin. Any criminal activity, they can empower with it.

The most powerful can steal intangible things like a person's feelings, their abilities, or even parts of their lives. They can wield the Hooded Shadow consume people's souls, turn flame into shadow, or alter their own forms. They are true masters of the Hooded Shadow, able to do anything they need to with it to commit the crimes they choose to commit.

In order to wield it, the scelestian must use the correct canting rhymes. They must maintain the Hooded Shadow by remaining outside the law, never cooperating with the authorities, and never going straight. This does not mean never following any law, but rather, never betraying criminals they work with and never surviving off anything but criminal gains. Any violation will destroy the Cant immediately. The more crimes they knowingly commit, the higher the score they have in the shadow, but any use depletes it, meaning they have a limited amount of shadow to use. Furthermore, some crimes only count as one instance even if prolonged - i.e., selling drugs to a dozen people is just "selling drugs", not twelve instances of it. They must be broken up with other crimes in-between. Rape and sexual assault do not generate the Hooded Shadow, as these are infernal acts.

It takes them decades to master all forms of crime, but once they do, they become major players within any criminal organization. Only a handful have ever existed.

PRO +3 ATH +3 STR +3 AWA +3 WIL +3 PRS +3 STH +6

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Tarat

Type: Pusher

Tarats operate similar to ploronki, but they operate on a much more informal and weaker basis. They are trained in the art of mercatism, but with a very narrow focus. This is the creation of magical contracts that allow for esoteric exchanges, but they do this without making an actual contract. Instead, they make an offer that creates a magical debt, which they draw from.

To do this, a person must understand value. Real value. Objective value. Value as derived from both the objective utility of something and the subjective willingness of someone to pay or provide for it, which becomes very clear while dealing drugs. This understanding must be inward and outward. Once understood, they must write a contract with themself that weighs their value against the power they seek, and imbue it with an offering of their blood. Their blood is their collateral, and any violation of the contract will take strength from them.

To protect themself, they may make informal contracts with others. They give a little bit of drugs or some other small thing - a favor, a bit of money - to create a debt with someone, and as long as that debt exists, they can draw a little strength from it to further their work as a pusher. As they do more of this, they gain more power which they can apply to other powers, abilities, and stats. If someone pays off a debt, they are sure to have others to make up for it. Most tarats have dozens of debts to draw from.

They are also trained in the effects and uses of the drugs they sell, though they are discouraged from using it. They have a lot of connections and know who owes them what.

Any violation of their contracts will cause them to lose their powers.

PRO +2 ATH +1 STR +1 AWA +1 WIL / PRS +1 STH /