Artist

Those who use magic to create art.

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Iconographer

Alignment: Unaligned

One who imbues sculptures with their faith. Iconographers create icons of faith in the form of those they worship or beings from their faith, saints, inmortal beings, or other figures. These icons are imbued with the artistry of the iconographer and with their faith, assuming they perform the correct rituals, prayers, or dedications to do so. See Religion for a list of common faiths within the colonies. Depending on their faith, they will have a variety of icons to choose from and different activities they must engage in to remain in the favor of their Divine or other source of faith.

To sculpt an icon, they must have the right tools, materials, and imagery based on their faith, or something unaligned and neutral to the faith (common marble is acceptable in most circumstances, for example). The imagery should be a figure or scene from their faith, and the tools should not be antithetical to their faith (not infernal if they are elemental or celestial, for example).

The mechanics of the factors that determine the power of an icon include the following:

• Sculpting skill: if they are making a statue as a source of power, the difficulty to sculpt it is 1 point per 25 lbs. of weight, plus 3 points per point of faith it adds, plus difficulties based on materials and tools.
• Favor: the favor a Divine or worshiped being is determined by how well the iconographer keeps to the rituals, prayers, and other requirements of the faith. They roll their favor when praying or dedicating their work to see if it imbues it with the power of faith.
• Materials and tools: appropriate materials and tools can raise or lower the sculpting skill and favor, from 1 to 6 in either direction. Broken tools cause penalties. Well made ones give bonuses. Etc.

Once an icon is made, it can either be a source of raw power (a bonus to favor), or it can have a specific purpose. Different purposes are available depending on the faith of the iconographer. Consult the GM to develop a list when making the character.

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

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Meterer

Alignment: Fey

A poet whose style invokes fey magic. Meterers write and perform poetry in a mixture of languages, often including words of the magical First Language and various fey languages.

To do this, they must acquire knowledge of these languages and the different styles of poetry that invoke fey magic. This can be done either through intensive study and practice, which takes decades, or through a deal with a fey being, trading away something abstract but valuable, such as a memory, a skill, a power, or some other quality to them in exchange for the magic.

Different styles evoke different effects. Effects are evoked if someone reads or hears the poem correctly:

• Acrostic: the target understands the subtext of all conversations for the next day (read people+6).
• Blank verse: the target is locked into a rhythm with the meterer, not being able to roll above the meterer's skill or power on any opposed roll, for up to six interactions.
• Cinquain: the target sees vividly the imagery the meterer wishes to convey.
• Conversation poem: the target is locked into a conversation with the meterer until they roll AWA against performance (if performed) or poetry (if written) successfully or until the meterer chooses to end it.
• Cumulative poem: the target adds +3 bonuses to a different communication skill every hour after the poem for a maximum of six hours.
• Doggerel: the target is only able to express nonsense in either spoken, written, or body language.
• Elegy: the target remembers a dead loved one and is filled with sorrow for up to six hours.
• Elevenie: the target's magical powers or abilities gain +1 for 11 minutes.
• Epic: the target is enraptured for the length of the poem, then instilled with a need for adventure.
• Free verse: the target is freed from restraints of communication, including the need to speak aloud, allowing them to convey information at will, for an hour.
• Heroic couplet: the target is deterred from villainous action or inspired to heroic action for six minutes to six hours.
• Limerick: the target is inflicted with or released from a geas of the meterer's choosing.
• Octonary: the target gains eight points across eight different artistic skills (if they do not have eight artistic skills, they have a 1 in as many extra that they need to meet eight) for eight hours.
• Ode: the target is enamored with the subject of the ode for up to six hours.
• Palindrome poem: the target's base stats become palindromic, with their PRO and STH being highest stats and going down one in the middle, with their PRS score being the anchor - so if their PRS is 8, then their stats become PRO 9 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 6 WIL 7 PRS 8 STH 9. This ends after six rolls.
• Persona poetry: the target takes low die on any rolls against the meterer's performance or PRS for the next six interactions.
• Quaternion: the target must complete four riddles or be trapped in a poem for six years.
• Quintain: the target gains +5 in six different stats for six hours.
• Retrograde poetry: the target's stats are reversed (STH becomes PRO, PRS becomes ATH, WIL becomes STR, AWA remains the same, STR becomes WIL, ATH becomes PRS, and PRO becomes STH).
• Roundel: the target repeats the same phrase for the next six minutes no matter what.
• Sestet: the target loses six points in any skill the meterer chooses for the next six rounds.
• Sonnet: the target in inspired to write poetry for the next six years, gaining +3 per year, then losing all skill and inspiration if they do not complete at least sixty poems.
• Stichic: the target is sealed into a static pattern for the next six minutes.

All poems are used up after six uses.

To write a new poem, a meterer must pass six difficulty rolls - first against an 8, then 11, then 14, then 17, then 20, then 23, but every roll gives them a penalty or bonus to the next based on success rate. If they ever find themselves at an impasse, they can go back a level or even start over. If successful, the poem will have a power based on the success rate (tie - 8, normal - 11, special - 14, exceptional 17, critical 20) with +1 per special success, +2 per exceptional, and +3 per critical on the first five rolls. If the player actually writes a poem in the style they are attempting, they gain a +3 or take high die to all rolls in the process.

Meterers will start the campaign with six poems - one of power 16, one of power 13, two of power 10, two of power 8.

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

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Scrievist

Alignment: Fey

A writer who knows the First Language and uses it to write things anyone can understand.

Merely writing the words of the First Language generates some power, but to truly capture that power and wield it, one must use it in such a way as to not only communicate something, but to do so in such a way that conveys more than is said. Poetry, subtlety, irony, clarity, wordplay, metaphor, and so on are all potent. Most scrievists are masters of figurative language, of theme and narrative. It is imperative that the idea is conveyed.

The artistry of language is critical to the use of the First Language. Every word has its own unique power, and every word has power related to other words. Sentences, paragraphs, stanzas, verses all have meaning and power. The obscurity of words gives them power, as does their commonality. Some words, however, do not have the power to affect their targets. A common, simple word ("the") has no effect on most mortal beings; a complicated, ancient word conveying meanings long forgotten may affect even the Divine. Even skilled scrievist will struggle to find the latter words.

What can be done with the First Language varies by user, but the typical meli'ikitenya can profoundly alter those they speak to. Some common effects include

• Increased understanding: the listener will gain points in a skill or lore based on what they are told.
• Disrupted understanding: the listener will cease understanding something, or everything, temporarily, losing points in a skill or lore.
• Delayed understanding: the listener will come to understand what they were told in a deeper way later.
• Lateral connection: the listener will learn something from what is unsaid by making a lateral logical leap.
• Barrier removed: the listener will understand despite not knowing the language, or the words, or some other barrier.

Lies can be written, but lies in the First Language have their own power (disrupted understanding). These effects cannot be undone, even by other uses of the First Language. Furthermore, the reader may interpret differently than the speaker intends, altering the power of the Language upon them - but only the most nimble minds can do this (AWA vs. the power of the words). A lack of ability to comprehend the First Language can also be an impediment. Though the language can break past barriers, some are impenetrable (notably, an inability to understand language at all). An unliving rock will never be affected by the language. Some beings are beyond the reach of the First Language, but most are not if they are alive. It just takes finding the right words, and the right words are sometimes very hard to find.

The skill a scrievist has in writing the First Language is determined by their research and study of it. Finding sources to learn it is very difficult. Scrievists do not speak it - they have likely never heard it spoken and have no idea how to pronounce it correctly - but they are skilled in its writing.

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

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Visionary

Alignment: Celestial

A visionary is one who recognizes when celestial light has touched them and wields it to create special works of art. Once they have created something, they can store some of it to use for their next work.

The two forms of art created by visionaries are those created to attract celestial light (focal art) and those created to release it. The former is very specific, requiring special ingredients and forms, while the latter is unhindered and can be almost anything.

Focal art is made of celestial materials, which are rare and restricted, but not impossible to find, make, or acquire. The universal truth in focal art is that it cannot be used to promote oppressive ideas, nor can it depict anything infernal. Visionaries use any form of art in which they are trained to do this, including but not limited to architectural, beading, ceramics, culinary, dance, drawing and sketching, fashion, mosaics, music, painting, performance, poetry, printing, sculpture, textile and fabric, theatre, and writing and prose. Consult the GM if you wish to specialize in one not listed.

Once a piece of focal art is made, the visionary must spend time focusing on it as it draws in celestial light. They will know it worked because it actually glows (a full rainbow aura will form around it). Once this happens, they must spend time meditating on it until they have a vision and are filled with inspiration. What they create next will have one of these special powers:

• Blinding: agents of infernal powers or oppressive authorities will be blinded by the work.
• Breathtaking: agents of infernal powers or oppressive authorities will literally lose their breath for a short period of time (effectively stunned).
• Clarifying: those who are lost and confused may suddenly understand what they are feeling and what they truly want in the world.
• Inner beauty: those who see it are better able to see the beauty and goodness in the world around them, and how to combat the evils out there.
• Inspiring form: everyone who experiences their art takes a bit of celestial light with them, inspired to act, to think, to express, to create, thus inspiring others.
• Mirrored images: those who see it see into themselves in a new, insightful way that inspires them to change themselves for the better or better accept who or what they are.
• Reawakening: jaded or dishearted people are renewed in their inspirations, hopes, creativity, goals, dreams.

Other powers around the theme of inspiration may be possible. Consult the GM.

The power of a work of art is equal to how well it is crafted. The visionary will have a score or scores in their relevant artforms and roll when creating their focal art. The higher they roll, the more power their focal art has to draw in celestial light. They will roll against a difficulty based on how much celestial light they want to draw in - for every point of celestial light they want to use for their inspiring piece, there is a point of difficulty. The success level determines how powerful the focal art is:

Roll	Effect
Critical failure	-12 power
Exceptional failure	-9 power
Special failure	-6 power
Normal failure	-3 power
Tie	-1 to power
Special success	+3 power
Exceptional success	+6 power
Critical success	+9 power
Normal success	Equal power

If the power is 0 or negative, the art does not attract celestial light. Once the focal art is made, the visionary must spend 20 minutes with the work of art for every point they absorb, capping at the full power of the art. If the art is not physical (i.e., it is a performance), they must roll during the performance or time it exists to absorb it (art skill vs. the power of the work-6). If others are present with the focal art, they may also try to absorb the celestial light if and only if they are not infernal or oppressors.

Once they have the celestial light, they roll to create a new work at the power level of the celestial light they absorbed added to their art skill. The difficulty is the power level they are aiming for. How well they roll determines the power of the work:

Roll	Effect
Critical failure	-12 power
Exceptional failure	-9 power
Special failure	-6 power
Normal failure	-3 power
Tie	-1 to power
Normal success	Equal power
Special success	+3 power
Exceptional success	+6 power
Critical success	+9 power

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