Cupbearer

A messenger and servant who attends and carries messages for a leader of a parade, often community leaders. They carry a special cup that captures the festivity and stagma produced by the event. In some cultures, cupbearers are of any age, but in many, they are young people.

Be We Fellows of Good Cheer

Stagma is produced by inebriation, a poioumenonic energy that represents the altered imagination. When stories are shared while many people are inebriated, those stories resonate with many forms of poioumenon, including dream energy and poioumenon itself. But the stagma can be captured in a cup of fine metals (gold or silver or some magical metal) and used later.

Toasting

A cupbearer's job is to notice the right moment of a celebration to propose a toast, capturing or wielding the stagma in doing so. To capture the stagma, their special cup must be filled with an inebriant. They then serve drinks from their cupful of stagma to infuse the celebration with its power, giving insights, creativity, and exhiliration to all who drink from it.

Celebrations and Counsel

A cupbearer is a servant as much as anything else. Their role is to protect those they serve during times of heightened emotion and large gatherings as much as it is to ensure the celebration continues. The cup cannot be poisoned, so it is a perfectly safe vessel for the leadership to drink from. Cupbearers are often close with those they serve and are counted on for merry counsel.

Effects of the Drink

The stagma drink produced by a cupbearer has these properties:

• Inebriation: the drink will make any who imbibe merrily drunk, usually without consequence of hangover.
• Preservation: those who drink of stagma remain youthful in appearance longer.
• Exhiliration: the drink will fill those who imbibe with energy, passion, and mirthful exuberance.
• Purification: any vessel the stagma is poured into will be cleansed of poisons, pestilences, and plagues.
• Disinhibition: those who drink will release their inhibitions.
• Clarification: counter to usual inebriation, clarity is gained by those who drink stagma.

As more and more drink, the energies gather and amplify, leading to three different communal properties:

• Extended festivities: the ability of those drinking to engage in festivities grows, giving them endurance so long as the fun lasts.
• Emotional connection: everyone engaged and drinking the stagma gains insights into the emotions of those around them.
• Shared release: everyone engaged and drinking the stagma feel their troubles weaken and flow out.

Violet Eruption

When the party reaches its climax, the emotional release coincides with an eruption of energies that appears as a series of sparkling violet lights, like fireworks or confetti, but full of warm happiness that touches everyone, granting them emotional protection for a few days afterward.

Inventory

The only thing cupbearers require are their cups.

Cups

Cups must be made of a fine metal - gold, silver, tantalum, or platinum - which limits those who engage in cupbearing to the rich and powerful, or their servants, usually, though some rare commoners find ways to do it with iron pyrite. Other potential metals include

• Ambrosium: the most potent metal for cupbearing.
• Argentum: powerful for uses of magic.
• Azure silver: potent with mana.
• Blue gold: subject to the winds of fortune.
• Elevenium: extremely powerful magical metal.
• Fetena: imbued with the power of language.
• Jidhiry: potent for connections.
• Kinzoku: weighted with history.
• Oneirium: filled with dream energy.
• Pelopium: imbued with the power of language.
• Plumbum: filled with mystery.
• Yasada: strong bonding metal.

Variations

There are many cultural variations of the cupbearer:

• Chantez: a Taggaran jali who serves also as a cupbearer.
• Cupániompróir: fey cupbearers who have high rank at court.
• Cześnik: eastern Jesenya or western Ranu court officials who serve kings as cupbearers.
• Hebean: maidens who serve Stayflien priestesses and serve them nectar and ambrosia.
• Pikernes: in the Chrysanthemum Empire, court officials who serve as cupbearers.
• Pohárnokmester: Idangarian court officials who serve as cupbearers.
• Rabshakeh: cupbearers who served the Queen of [Sheba].
• Scancium: officers in the elite guard of the ancient tribes in Danuo [visigoths] who serve as cupbearers to their kings.
• Viehen: nobles in Heligwald who serve as cupbearer to their emperor.

Specializations

Some cupbearers use their powers in specific jobs:

• Carouser: a cupbearer who works on the streets as a busker or other entertainer.
• Cwff: a cupbearer singer who leads drinking songs and merriment.
• Figi: a cupbearer who works as a courtesan or other sex worker, usually using their powers in sexual situations.
• Slob: a cupbearer who works as a common servant or laborer.
• Sod: a cupbearer who serves as an investigator or detective.
• Sosye: a cupbearer witch of the Reever Sea.
• Sot: a cupbearer and street drunk who engages in petty theft.
• Sponge: a cupbearer who keeps a crowd happy at a carnival or sideshow.
• Tanečník: a cupbearer who uses dance to serve out stagma after gathering it.

Merry Gamekeeper

Cupbearers can affect animals with their powers, but this is rarely done as it is more difficult and complicated. However, some, called merry gamekeepers, specialize in it, drawing in animals as their friends in service to their masters.

Street Poet

A homeless drunk who uses stagma to survive. Sometimes called a street bard, street sage, etc. Some ironic name. The God of Wine is known to take care of those who have lost everything, and often, he grants them such powers when no one else will care for them.

Similar Occupations

Other users of stagma:

• Brewer: those who brew various forms of alcohol to create stagma.
• Drunken Master: a martial artist who fights while drunk.
• Joker: a comedian who wields stagma to engage a crowd.
• Jolly Roger: a drunken pirate who wields stagma to keep the crew happy.
• Moonshiner: a brewer who works illegally.
• Parapatima: a drunken archer.
• Vintner: a wine-maker rather than a brewer.
• Whisky Priest: a drunken priest who uses stagma to cheer up their congregation.

Societal Role

Cupbearers usually serve the powerful, thus having their ear and trust, making them powerful agents and servants. Those who do not work in this role are usually scorned by the public for being drunks.

Skills

Common skills include

• Politics
• Advising
• Mixology
• Serving
• Costuming

Stats

Modifiers from base of nation/species:

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