Elemental Seekers

Rangers, scouts, hunters, investigators, spies, messengers, and anyone who uses elemental magic in travel, investigation, exploration, ranging, or communication.

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Alpenstocker

An explorer of mountains. The mountains of the colonies are relatively low, ancient mountains, but they are still dangerous to climb and explore. Thus, there are those who guide travelers through them, and those guides often turn to the powers of the mountains themselves for safety and pathfinding. Alpenstockers are mountain guides who have communed with the mountains and gained special powers.

To commune with the mountains of this part of the world, one must be prepared to interact with very ancient elementals, ones who are slow to catch up with the modern world, and ones who resent and distrust outsiders. Many alpenstockers are natives (who use other terms for what they are, but the colonists call them alpenstockers all the same). Those outsiders who gain the trust of the mountains are usually very anti-colonial anyway. While the magic they use is technically illegal in the colonies, the authorities ignore it because traversing the mountains would be impossible without them.

Alpenstockers gain the trust of the mountains first by climbing them using only natural means. This often results in not climbing to a full peak or only going so far, but the effort is the important part. Once they reach the furthest they can go by natural means, they meditate, drinking in the mountain streams, breathing in the mountain air, using the dirt and stone of the mountain as a bed. They live there as best they are able for up to twelve days. The longer they remain, the more trust they gain. Eventually, either because of necessity or after twelve days, they descend. On the way down, the mountain will test them.

The tests will vary, ranging from incredible danger like rockslides and sudden shifts of footing and weather shifts to smaller risks like minor distractions or confusions, like a path being circular for a while. If the alpenstocker passes the tests - not just surviving, but surviving without resorting to technology or acts that harm nature - they are granted a few minor powers. Then, a month later, they must test again. This happens for a full year. If they pass twelve tests and achieve a twelve-day stay, they become a full alpenstocker.

The basic powers they gain are as follows:

• Familiar terrain: all mountains are familiar terrain to them, not just the ones they tested on. They gain +3 AWA to know their way around on a mountain.

• Shape hold: if they are climbing, they can form holds with their bare hands and feet temporarily.

• Deep breath: they can breathe easily no matter how thin the air gets. They can pass this on to those they are guiding by giving them a bit of mountain snow to eat.

• Water cup: they can press their hand into a stone from the mountain and form a cup full of water.

• Cave-finding: if they are on a mountain with caves, they will know where the cave is.

• Path easing: if they are leading a group through the mountains, they can make the way through magically easier (all difficulties rolled against will be automatically -3 to -6, depending on the power of the alpenstocker) for everyone if and only if everyone in the group does not harm nature in any way during the trip.

Greater but limited powers include the following:

• Summon avalanche: once per year, they can, if they are defending the mountains or nature, and if they are in the mountains, create an avalanche of rock, mud, or snow (depending on terrain) of power 35.

• Peak bounding: once per week, they can leap from one mountain peak to another if another is visible to them and if they are atop a peak.

• Mountain speech: once per month, they may commune with a mountain and speak with it.

• High spotting: if a high-flying bird is visible, they can see through its eyes if it is native to the mountains, once per week.

• Valley opening: once per year, they can open a passage into one of the magically hidden valley communities and meet with the fey or elemental beings there.

• Pass shaping: once per year, they can create a temporary pass through the mountains that was not there before. It vanishes after they pass through it or after a week’s time, whichever comes first.

Other powers may be possible. Consult the GM.

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

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Apexian

A hunter who is attuned to predator animals. Apexians tap into the powers of the hunt, of nature's hunters, of wolves, raptors, and other predatory animals native to the colonies. Apexians are primal hunters, often using only their natural powers and weapons.

Apexians attune to the hunt by engaging in ritual hunts wherein they use no weapons but those they were born with, hunt by the light of the moons, and feast upon their prey shortly after killing it, with no preparation. They perform these rituals once a month for seven months to fully attune to the power of the hunt, usually going on short trips outside of the city to do so, being blessed in blood and nature.

After their seventh hunt, they have a dream of a predator animal, one native to the colonies or the homeland of their ancestors. This animal will guide them, and from this, they gain the following powers:

• Smell prey: if they have identified something as prey, they can smell (+3 olfactory perception) them anywhere within 500', and they can tell what risks the prey poses. If they choose not to hunt this prey, they take -3 to AWA for the next day.
• Quiet step: while hunting prey, they gain +3 STH if they are within 100' of them. If they choose not to hunt this prey, they take -3 to STH for the next day.
• Frightening reveal: if they successfully sneak up on a prey, once they reveal themselves, they gain +3 to intimidate the target.
• Hunter's strike: if they find their prey and choose to attack, once per combat, they may make a called shot killing blow with no penalties.
• Blood mark: if they wound their target, they can mark themselves with the blood of the target to know all of the innate abilities and powers of the target.
• First bite: if they kill the target and choose to eat it, the first bite they take will reduce any wound they have one level (i.e., mortal to deep, deep to normal, etc.).

They will have other powers based on their predator guide.

Because they are so attuned to their predator guide, they often become more and more animalistic as time goes on, resulting in their PRS going down as they gain more powers.

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

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Bawmache

Rangers of the wetlands. Like all rangers, bawmache have a territory they are bonded to. For the bawmache, this is always a wetland of some kind, or part of one. In order to commune with one, they must be accepted as part of it. This requires living in the swamp for a year and a day without causing undue harm or neglecting to fight for it.

Their first vision is brought on as they start their bonding to the wetlands. They will then sleep, unprotected, in the swamp water, and they will have a vision of their territory. They will then awaken, wild and feral, and eat ravenously, inhaling the elemental magic from all around them, and then partake of more fungus and another dream. Their second vision will be a "green dream", a dream-quest to find their animal companion. When they awaken, their companion will be there to protect them.

When they awaken, they will feel everything in their territory all at once. This takes some getting used to, so most go a little mad at this point until it becomes manageable. Once they are in control again, they will be able to exert some influence over the swamp around them. The first thing they will do is form boots from the mud of the swamp. Then they will find in the water where they spilled their own blood a weapon, usually a machete or other short blade. And finally, they will carve their own swamp boat.

Due to living in a swamp and wielding its elemental energies, bawmache usually smell like the swamp. Enemies of the swamp will find it repugnant. Friends of the swamp get used to it.

A bawmache must maintain their powers by leaving an offering or blood sacrifice to the genius loci every year. Powers include but are not limited to

• Fungi speech

• Animal speech

• Plant speech

• Waterwalking

• Quicksand sense/control

• Protector vines

• Ensnaring vines

• Direction sense

• Vegetation maze

• Poisonous breath

• Call swamp beasts

• Immunity to disease

• Insect repellant

• Regenerate in mud

• Waterbreathing

If a bawmache remains steadfast in protecting the swamp, the swamp will help them. Their powers may weaken as they use them, as anyone might get tired, but they can regenerate them without resting by eating local fungi.

PRO +3 ATH +2 STR +1 AWA +4 in swamp, +1 out WIL +1 in swamp, -2 out PRS -2 STH +2 in swamp, -2 out.

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Dowser

A waterfinder who can find water in any terrain. In the wilderness of the colonized lands of Starfall, there are no true deserts, but there are large stretches where water is hard to find. In these areas, certain people who have learned to attune themselves to the land can use dowsing sticks to find water sources.

To wield this power, they must live in or near an area with sparse water resources, and they must use their natural skills and no others to find water there. Then, they must use that water to drink, bathe, and cleanse their shelter at least once a day for a year, all while remaining a friend to nature, helping others who pass through, and constantly communing with the elemental powers of the place via meditation and ritual. If they manage this for a year, they gain special abilities from the elementals of the place:

• Dowsing: using special sticks, they can sense where water is.

• Distance sense: in any place with sparse water, they can roll AWA and know how far away water is.

• Waterless endurance: they can go longer without water than others.

• Weightless water: they can carry more water than others because water will have less weight for them.

• Cleanse water: any water they find, they can touch and make pure.

• Last chance spring: if they are truly without water and near death, they can spill blood onto the ground to create a spring.

This does not apply to water in waterskins or other carriers, bodies, or unnatural constructs like sewers, reservoirs, etc.

Other abilities may be possible. Consult the GM.

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

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Luminaire

Luminaires are wielders of elemental light as a source of guidance. They use special lanterns and lamps to control this light.

Their lanterns and lamps are made from magical glass from a realm in the sky with a massive, magical mirror that directs all esoteric energies called the Lesedian Mirror . Those in the colonies usually only know of it from legend, but they have gained the lanterns, lamps, or glass by some remarkable means. Lamps are stationary, massive structures designed for use by whole communities. Their power is to direct the flow of elemental light and magical energies to maximize their powers and protect their location. Luminaires tend them and take elemental light from them. Lanterns are handheld, ranging in size from ones that fit in your hand to large, heavy boxes held by handles, sometimes carried by multiple people at once. Lanterns have special shutters made of elemental, shining metal called bjartharnum that can be opened and closed via a crank or by hand. Fine meshes and filters can be attached to each lens to alter the powers of elemental light flowing from it. It cannot be allowed to go out - if it does, the lantern dies and must be rebuilt.

The following aspects of the light may be adjusted on either lantern or lamp:

• Power: the intensity and power of a lamp or lantern affects how far it reaches and how strong it is when it is used against something. Settings for power are Soft (weak, cold light); Medium (moderate, warm light); Hard (strong, hot light); Luminous (wide, bright, cold); Full (vast area, bright, hot), and Mega (dangerously bright, varies in temperature).
• Type: the type of light is determined by filters on the lenses. Types include but are not limited to Diffuse, Softlight, Ambience, Flickering, Sparking, Flashing, Shine, Glow, Bold, Beam, Orb, Spread, Spotlight, Dazzle, and Focused:
  • Diffuse - soft, weak, cool, just illuminates.
  • Softlight - soft, weak, self-focused only.
  • Ambience - wide range, all-encompassing, but undirected and weak powered.
  • Glow - soft, weak, directed by not focused.
  • Flickering - soft bursts, weak effects, but fast and many.
  • Sparking - hard bursts, moderate effects, but fast and many.
  • Flashing - extended bursts, strong effects, moderate speed and many.
  • Shine - continuous illumination, moderate effects, decent range.
  • Bold - continuous illiminate, strong effects, long range.
  • Orb - very focused, controlled, unnatural in movement.
  • Spread - focused but not tight, moderate to strong.
  • Dazzle - rapid, strong flashing with strong effects.
  • Beam - wide, strong beam, long-distance, small area.
  • Focused - narrow, strong beam, long-distance but no area.
• Volume: the amount of light released is partly covered above, but largely determined by the number and kinds of shutters opened or closed.
• Wick: wick is the amount of fuel; the fuel is raw elemental light elemental magic, but it is often called wick by the luminaires. Wick is measured in candle-hours.

Luminaires spend much of their time oiling their lanterns with moth oil, a substance that attracts moths, who are good luck to luminaires, and keeps the glass and metal tarnish free.

Here are few of the effects lanterns can have:

• Illumination: like regular light, elemental light can be used for illuminating an area.
• Illuminated manuscripts: elemental light can be infused into writing to make it easier to read and understand.
• Brightfire: if elemental light is focused and hot, it can set things aflame and burn them physically and spiritually.
• Luminosity: elemental light can be infused into something to make it glow.
• Revelation: elemental light can be spread over and area to reveal that which is hidden within it.
• Light-walking: if elemental light is imbued into footwear or feet, it may, with a great deal of power, allow the person to walk on light itself.
• Shining aura: luminaires may bask themselves in elemental light to give themselves protective auras.
• Spiritual flow: elemental light can reveal spirits and let a luminaire communicate with them.
• Blinding: elemental light can blind people much as light can, though it hits on a metaphysical level as well.
• Confusion: flashing bright can cause people to lose track of where they are, who they are, or why they are.
• Brightwave: brightwave is taking the waveform of elemental light so one might pass through matter.
• Finding: elemental light may be used to reveal something specific, especially something lost.
• Inner light: elemental light may be used to unleash one's inner light, giving one insights into themself and their own abilities.
• Guidance: elemental light may guide a luminaire to where they wish or need to be.
• Light-self: powerful luminaires may risk becoming light, though they may not be able to return.
• Greater sight: elemental light can improve the vision of someone if used correctly, a softlight bath upon the eyes.
• Bright spark: bright spark is to elemental light as lightning is to light. It is the most potent, dangerous, destructive form of the energy, and only used by those who are in danger of attack.

Other powers exist that are not listed here.

Anyone may pick up a magical lantern or crank a bright lamp, but one becomes a luminaire if and only if they can control the elemental light that comes forth. For this, one needs to face oneself in a fragment of glass from the Lesedian Mirror. There are different ways to do this. The most potent is to look upon it at high noon and somehow see past the blinding lights, but most novices cannot do this. Instead they try under the triple new moon and test themselves against faded distortions of themselves in order to gain a little control that they can build upon over time. True mastery only comes if one faces one's full self, however.

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

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Metapol

Metapoliticians, or more commonly, metapols, are those who can read the flows of elemental water within any moving water by placing a pole within it and meditating upon how the pole moves or pulls.

Metapolitics is the study of the political, social, esoteric, narrative, and other metaphysical currents that affect the world and peoples' lives by using actual currents in water to tap into them and sense them. This is done through a form of meditative, repetitive action and priming with elemental powers. Most water has elemental magic in it. When the water moves, the magic is empowered, intensified, and connected to the world around it. Thus, moving water has more potent elemental magic in it, and therefore, it is possible to connect to the elemental magic in it simply by touching it, as it will naturally connect to the currents that are part of you. Metapolitics is a form of sympathetic magic. The currents of water symbolize the currents in one's life. From the broad scale of class struggle or the winds of fortune to the minuscule level of personal relationships and office politics, the currents can represent anything. A skilled metapol knows how to read these to know what is going on in the rest of the world, likely upcoming events, and the motivations and stories of those connected to them.

A person's feet are most connected to the metaphysical currents in their life, thus they make the best connection to the magic in moving water. Bare feet are best. If a being is not primarily propelled by their feet, the part of their body responsible for that works best. For example, avians may have feet (talons), but wings are their primary means of movement, thus their wings should be in the water instead. Merfolk's fins, lamias' tails, and so on work best. However, this is not enough to sense the currents or analyze them without some tool. Instead, they use poles. The push and pull on the poles tell them much, drew up the magic into their senses. Poles made of wood that does not rot quickly is best, lacquered or treated woods, woods coated in elemental metals, or poles made of special forms of stone work best. Underwater, because merfolk, undines, and other underwater beings do not need poles to propel them through water, they learn metapolitics through their use of other objects, using tridents, which move through the water with less resistance, to connect to the currents. This also allowed them to take control of and command the waters, willing it through the tines of the tridents.

While studying the currents, a metapol senses things happening elsewhere, similar to clairvoyance. Though they do not get in-depth information directly, the waves of sensations and experiences that hit them, a thousand upon a thousand impressions, form a mosaic of information that they learn to read over time. The information comes in the form of the five senses (or more, if the being has more, such as empathy or psionics):

• Sight: visions last less than a second, giving brief glimpses of what is going on in the world. Usually these go by so fast they do not consciously process them.
• Hearing: sounds can sometimes last long enough to form whole syllables or even short words, but they rarely have any obvious meaning.
• Smell: aromas reach the nose and fade quickly, but due to the nature of odors, they may linger longer than others. Usually they are too common to have much direct value.
• Taste: flavors fill the mouth and vanish, though the intensity of them can vary such that strong flavors are more clearly sensed. They do not on their own amount to much, however.
• Touch: sensations are felt in the fingers, as if lightly brushed. They generally are not valuable as stand alone data.

Metapols take in the information gained from the senses during their connection to the currents, and they interpret it. A skilled metapol will turn the impressions they got into distinct, even specific information sometimes.

The kind of water and where it is has an imapct on the effectiveness of the metapolitical connections and on the nature of them.

• Saltwater vs. Freshwater: Saltwater requires less intense movement to give a strong read, but freshwater, if running fast, comes through clearer.
• Vapor vs. Liquid: Liquid water works absolutely best, but vapor, if it is moving, can sometimes work. Clouds, fogs, mists, and so on can be tapped into, but they are very hard to read.
• Oceans and Seas: Oceans and seas are the most potent sources. The constant movement within them generates massive amounts of elemental water and excites it intensely. They are good for general information on just about anything.
• Rivers, Streams, and Creeks: Fast moving rivers are the next best to oceans and seas. The deeper one can send their pole into the river, the better. Streams, creeks, and other smaller water flows are therefore less potent. Rivers are best sources for information on places along their banks.
• Bayous and Wetlands: Bayous and wetlands of any kind are very slow moving and generally do not generate as much excitement in the elemental waters. Furthermore, interplay with other forms of elemental magic causes them to be less clear. However, the waters of wetlands are richly connected to the world itself, and one can learn much about the elemental currents of the world and of all life through them.
• Lakes, Ponds, and Pools: The stiller the body, the less potent it is. Larger lakes often have significant systems of currents and can be nearly as good as a strong river. Ponds and pools tend to be very weak. These weak waters can be used, however, to generate currents artificially by having several people get in and move the water about. In doing so, they can be used to read the connections between those people.
• Tides: The tides, pulled by the moons, have an intensity of movement that is poetic and graceful, and therefore they produce powerful elemental water. Though the tides push and pull the waters all over the world and create many currents, the splash and spray of waves on beaches is where they are most pronounced. A major wave or a neap tide can give some of the strongest reads, but they do not last as long. Tides give very strong reads on world events.
• Geysers: A very brief source of current, geysers are dangerous for obvious reasons. They also often involve distortion from other elemental magics. But they can be used particularly to find out information about upcoming disasters.
• Waterfalls: The constant torrents of a waterfall create a lot of excited elemental water, but it moves on very quickly. Therefore, it's much more rapidfire in its delivery of information, which can be very confusing. However, it can be used to get a lot of information quickly, if one is skilled enough to sort through it.
• Maelstroms: Maelstroms and whirlpools are extremely powerful currents that generate the best elemental water in the world, especially in the oceans. They are also very dangerous, and getting into one to sense anything is almost impossible, even for the most powerful undines.
• Floodwaters: Floodwaters quickly become corrupted by misfortune or other dangerous energies that can make them unreliable. Using them in their most intense moments can bring dramatic blasts of information, but that comes with obvious dangers. When they have stilled, they are almost useless.
• Rains: Rainstorms can, if the torrential downpour is strong enough, bring information from all over the world. However, the majority of rainstorms are too chaotic and confused to give good information. Only the very best can read them.
• Subterranean Waters: Flows of water underground often get distorted by kazaddarean, but this can be used to make special connections to things that are less fluid if one knows what one is doing.
• Sewers: Sewers are notoriously murky, aside from being disgusting to interact with. They are also full of polluted waters. Toshers and some others who often dwell or have long contact with them learn how to read them, however, often combining with other energies such as gemtkhereg. Most cannot read them very well.
• Islands: Waters near to islands, especially in archepelagos, often has ikehua lyua pele within it as well, making it useful for sensing tectonic flows, if need be.
• Mud: Mudslides are extremely dangerous and almost impossible to read. One would have to be desperate or stupid to try it, but it is theoretically possible.
• Blood: The flow of blood can be read by extremely skilled metapols, but it requires they put their poles into the flow (meaning creating a large wound). It will give extremely intimate information about the person whose blood it is.
• Tubs: One may get a strong sense of one's own currents by using a tub full of water and making it move rapidly, but it has limited range.
• Ice: Solid, unmoving ice is impossible to read, but glaciers do have some current in them. However, it is so slow that one must wait for years to get even a little bit of information. That information would be very profound, however.
• Polluted Waters: Polluted waters turn elemental water into brown aether, an imperial energy, which not only destroys any possibility of reading the currents, it could kill the metapol.
• Aridity: A metapol in an arid environment, such as a desert or an airless moon, will not only be powerless, they will feel stunted, frustrated, and blinded.

The information gained by a metapol varies by their intention and the other energies present. Consult the GM.

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

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Psychopomp

A psychopomp is a guide of the dead. They show the souls of the dead where to go and how to get there after they die. They wield the elemental magic of death in order to nudge, coerce, or otherwise send these souls onward. If a soul lingers in the Spirit Realm longer than it should, they send them along as well. They hate the undead and will seek them out to destroy them. While most psychopomps are beings who exist for this purpose, many mortals, especially those who worship Death Herself also take up the work.

The Nether Realm is where the dead go after they die. They all must traverse its strange wildernesses, temples, cities, and unexplainable phenomena in order to get to their final repose or their next cycle. Psychopomps assist the souls of the dead through the Nether Realm. Those beings who exist for the purpose of being psychopomps simply dwell in or around the Nether Realm, but mortals who take up the craft must use a method called beyonding. If a living mortal enters the Nether Realm physically, they will die very quickly without very potent protections.

In order for a mortal to safely enter the Nether Realm, they must send their soul through a form of metaphysical projection called beyonding. To beyond for the first time, one must meditate upon one's own mortality for four straight days and nights, drinking nothing but water, eating nothing at all, and especially not killing anything. As they meditate, they will become conscious of their own soul, which will allow them to release it from its bonds and head, temporarily, into the Nether Realm. This is extremely difficult, only possible in special places, under guidance of an experienced psychopomp. Once someone is used to it, they can do it more easily. It is also very dangerous, for their body and their soul are exposed. As such, powerful protections are placed on the body. The soul must be trained to defend itself.

In the Nether Realms, grey mists leak in from the Grey Lands, the plane of the undead, consuming souls and turning them into the undead. It is the most dangerous thing in the Nether Realm. Special tools protect psychopomps from these mists, such as symbols of their faiths or magical elemental keys. The Nether Realm has also deep, dangerous forests, vast white deserts, and ancient mountain ranges full of strange beings. There are also vast seas, lakes, and rivers of nether waters that must be crossed. The waters will trap any soul that falls into them, and they can only be released if pure silver coins fall into their hands. Psychopomps often station themselves on ferries to help the souls of the dead to cross these bodies of waters. These ferrymen are very powerful and combine other magical arts with their work. They often charge silver to living psychopomps who wish to use their services, dropping the silver into the waters to release trapped souls.

Once a psychopomp is in the Nether Realm, they are free to go as they please. If they are part of a group, they will usually be given a territory to cover. They must search out wandering souls and offer them guidance. In order to do this, they must be able to sense souls, and they must know their way in the Nether Realm. This latter is attained through years and years of study.

The more souls they guide on to the next realm, the more poarta builds up within their souls. This gives them different powers as they gain the elemental magic of death:

• First soul: soul-speech - allows communication with any soul
• Fourth soul: soothe afterlife trauma - alleviates the pain of being dead and lost
• Eighth soul: veil-making - makes it easier to craft nether veils.
• Sixteenth soul: key-making - makes it easier to make mictlanium keys.
• 32nd soul: direction sense - only works within the Nether Realm.
• 64th soul: soul-shield mark - mark an ankh on the souls of the dead in order to give them protections from the Nether Realm's dangers.
• 128th soul: commune with ancient dead - allows user to speak to the dead even if they have gone to their afterlife
• 256th soul: rally souls - calls souls to the user.

Other powers may be gained through other means of building up the elemental magic of death:

• Soul-kill - permanently kills a soul.
• Nether-flame - a flame made from gates energy that can harm souls and things of the Nether Realm.
• Nether-lightning - a bolt of gates energy that can harm souls and things of the Nether Realm and can kill the living
• Soul dance - a communal dance with the dead within a many miles wide radius that calls them to the user and allows the user to wield their power
• Reaping - the power to be there at the moment of death and carry a soul Nether Realm, the power to kill with a touch of your blade, the power to command souls
• Soul sensing - to sense the souls of the dead within the Nether Realm, psychopomps use special veils made of nether cloth, which is cloth made from fibers from within the Nether Realm. These veils must be worn on their actual bodies, and thus will appear on their souls. Through these veils, they can see souls as if they give off a form of heat. Veils are made from nether cloth, made into a fine gauze, crafted by the psychopomps themselves. They do not let anyone else touch it once they have started making the veil, as it connects to their souls.
• Talismans - many psychopomps wear or carry talismans which are powerful symbols of protection against esoteric energies.
• White garb - all psychopomps wear white while they are working, for it is a powerful color of protection in the Nether Realm. It is known to distract the great nether worms that devour lost souls.
• Death masks - in the Nether Realm, the beings that dwell there have very good memories. If they remember your face, they will assume you are one of the lost dead, and they will prey upon you. If they do not recognize your face, they will be more likely to believe you are alive. One must change masks frequently in order to not be recognized. Masks and veils can be combined.
• White keys - psychopomps carry large, white keys made of mictlanium metal. These keys allow them to open special gates in thin air that will draw the dead through to closer to their destinations. In the mortal realm, these keys will open portals to the Nether Realm that will act as blackholes, sucking in the souls of the dead and any undead.
• Servitor-talking - servitors (invisible servants of the DIvine) are commonly found in the Nether Realm and are often helpful or at least sympathetic. Psychopomps develop the skill of speaking their language in order to be better guides.
• Sending - any psychopomp will destroy any undead they come across, but some psychopomps specialize in hunting the undead. They have the power to send the undead. This is the act of driving the undead into the afterlife. It is usually done by directing the elemental magic of death at them or opening portals with keys. To direct this magic, a psychopomp must have a special weapon, such as a bow or crossbow made of ash wood, a dagger of silver, a flail made of mictlanium, a hammer to drive in stakes, reaping scythes, or annointed whips.

In the mortal realm, psychopomps often spend time in graveyards in order to make sure the dead are moving on from them. Graveyards and all burial grounds are sacred to them, and they will fight to the death to protect them from desecration. Pyramids and other great tombs are especially potent. If a psychopomp attends a funeral, they will perform a ceremony in order to make sure the soul moves on. Their own funerals are complex and often obscure due to the rituals they request ot protect their souls.

When a mortal psychopomp dies, their death is attended by Death Herself in order to make sure the enemies they made in life do not seek to harm them after death. Thus, a psychopomp may seek to defeat an undead enemy of great power by killing themself. This is, however, a last resort, and it does not always work - sometimes Death Herself will not deign to involve herself in the conflict, merely sending the soul on. Life is sacred to psychopomps, as it is what defines the souls they protect.

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