Celestial Wranglers

Those who use celestial or popular magic to work with animals.

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Kanarinac

Type: Avianist

Kanarinacki are guards who bond to canaries or other songbirds in order to be able to warn their allies of coming danger.

A kanarinac uses magical glass to give canaries or other passerines the ability to sense danger, using their song to alert others. To do this, they must be able to find and craft the glass, and they must be able to engage its magic.

The magic of a kanarinac is one of warning and awareness, of protecting others, and of willing sacrifice. A kanarinac knows they are a sentinel, and that the first sign of danger might be violence against them. They do this willingly; one cannot become a kanarinac or use its magic if one is coerced into it.

To become a kanarinac, one must first study waxkam, a celestial form of glass that is said to have fallen from the Supernal Realms. In truth, it comes from many sources, including being made from mundane glass by skilled celestial crafters amongst the people. A kanarinac studies the glass for years, trains as a guard, a sentinel, and an observer. They train to recognize physical and magical dangers.

And they study birds, especially passerines, especially canaries. Canaries were brought to Ranu from islands to the west hundreds of years ago, and they were kept by rich nobles as pets for a long time. In recent decades, workers have found ways to protect and free them. These have become precious to workers, symbols of freedom and resistance. They are uncaged birds. In Vsemy and Jedinstven, it is illegal to cage a canary. So long as the canary remains uncaged, it is a friend to workers.

A kanarinac is a friend to canaries, feeding them, giving them a warm place to stay, protecting them. They do not cage them, but they do keep them. Most keep somewhere between three and twenty, but they know all their names. They can speak and sing with them. And so long as they have learned to wield waxkam, willingly give themselves as a sentinel, and treat the canaries with kindness, they are friends who help one another in their tasks. The canaries are also willing participants in sentinel duty.

Kanarinac put a little bead of waxkam on every canary they keep. This bead allows them to see through the eyes of the canary and use magical abilities through the canaries:

• Birdspeech: kanarinacki can speak to any songbird.
• Birdsong: kanarinacki can sing like canaries or other bonded songbirds, communicating with them or giving joy to others around them.
• Warning call: the kanarinac can sing out such that only allies hear their warning if imminent danger is present.
• Danger sense: the kanarinac can magically sense danger.
• Magic sense: the kanarinac can sense esoteric energies, especially infernal ones.
• Longsight: the kanarinac can see further than should be possible.
• Predictive instinct: the kanarinac can sometimes predict what will happen if it is dangerous or infernal.
• Yellow mantle: if the kanarinac wears a yellow mantle, they can blend in with their canaries despite being much larger.
• Beak pick: the canaries or songbirds of a kanarinac can pick locks with their beaks.
• Tapping alarm: if singing out would be too risky, a kanarinac can tap subtly to spread an alarm.
• Final alarm: if the kanarinac is killed, they can send out a final alarm to any and all known allies within 500 miles.

The canaries of the kanarinac can use any of the above abilities except yellow mantle.

Other songbirds common to Ranu that may be used in place of canaries include the following: alpine accentor, alpine chough, black redstart, bluethroat, carrion crow, crested lark, dunnock, fieldfare, [common] firecrest, goldcrest, [eurasian] golden oriole, hooded crow, house sparrow, [eurasian] jay, [eurasian] magpie, [eurasian] nutcracker, ortolan bunting, pied wheatear, [common] raven, redwing, [european] robin, rook, sand martin, [eurasian] skylark, snow bunting, song thrush, spotted flycatcher, thrush nightingale, tree pipit, wallcreeper, western jackdaw, [eurasian] wren, or yellow-billed chough.

If the player chooses something other than a canary, the beak pick ability will not be present, but the GM will come up with another ability based on the bird, its cultural associations, or an invented backstory.

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

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Kitovayanin

Type: Cetaceanist

The kitovayaniny are special members of clans in Vsemy, Smeshan, and Veturia with blood connections to whales. They live by the sea, bond with one another via blood magic, and consider the whales part of their families. A kitovaynanin is a member of these clans who wields the magic and communicates with the whales.

There are two parts to the magic of the kitovayanin: the blood bonds and the emotional bonds. They form both via special rites. They belong to clans, groups of inter-connected families, who are devoted to protecting each other, especially the children, and they learn from birth the customs, traditions, and magicks that allow this bond between them.

To be a kitovayanin, one must accept one’s role in the clan. One must hold the values of the clans. And one must never act against the clan or harm a child or a non-threatening whale.

The values of the clans are antithetical to the noble ruling classes who have long oppressed them. They reject the imperial powers of Vesturia and the wider world and bond together as families (through actual genetic connection or as chosen or found family bound by blood rite) for protection against oppression and hatred and prejudice. They are seen as a separate, lesser race and often insulted as being little better than animals. Their bonds are a form of self-preservation. Their values are both sincere and from their own traditions and a reaction to the prejudice, violence, and cruelty they faced.

The whale clans reject abusive and coercive power structures. There is egality among them. They share all necessary property, such as food, shelter, and land. They protect children and whales. They honor the seas. They are fishers and sailors. They believe their love for one another supersedes imperial laws. And they believe that they have a right to live as they please, not taking in the culture of Vesturia’s ruling class.

Their customs are mostly related to their lives as fishers and farmers, their love of the whales who protect their ships, and their belief in sharing amongst each other. Common mundane occupations among them are fishing, netmending or making, sailing, sailmaking, shipwright, farmer, and so on.

The kitovayaniny are a special role in the clans, being the ones to perform the blood rites and emotional magic that bonds every member of the clan together. They are raised in the culture of the clans, but only once they are aware enough to consciously seek the magic are they trained in it. This age varies, but often starts when they are children. They are taught by the older kitovayaniny, and when they are of age and trained enough, they are initiated via a powerful blood rite. Once this happens, they learn the other rites and gain certain magicks:

• Rite of Whalesblood: the rite that connects them to the whales, sharing blood with one specific whale.
• Rite of the Leaping Whale: a rite involving riding a whale leaping out of the ocean.
• Rite of the Diving Whale: a rite involving holding onto a whale diving deep into the ocean.
• Rite of the Crashing Tail: a rite involving riding a whale’s tail as it crashes into the ocean’s surface.
• Rite of the Spray and Spume: a rite involving standing above a blowhole.
• Rite of Whalesong: a rite of singing with the whales.
• Rite of Beaching: a funerary rite for one lost on land.
• Rite of Whalefall: a funerary rite for one lost at sea.

They gain these abilities as a kitovayaniny:

• Blood bonding: they can perform a blood ritual to bond to any whale of the species their clan associates with or anyone they love as family, giving them the magic to share strength or emotions with them.
• Whalesong: they can sing such that any member of their clan can hear them, over vast distances.
• Whale empathy: they can sense what clan members or whales are feeling.
• Tailcrash: they can bring down a staff or similar object and cause land, sea, or air to respond as if struck by a whale’s tail.
• Wave roll: they can stand amidst the waves and be unaffected.
• Diving breath: they can hold their breath for 60 minutes.
• Whaleleap: they can leap gracefully like a whale jumping out of the ocean, whether they are in ocean or not, and land without harm.
• Whaleskin: they can toughen their skin or the skin of any in their clan with a touch.
• Spray signal: they can spit into the air and signal other members of their clan even if the members could not reasonably see them.
• Cleansing maw: they can eat almost anything organic and not be poisoned or sickened by it.
• Cold resistance: they take less harm from the cold than others.
• Whale form: rare and powerful kitovayaniny can take the form of a whale, but there is a great risk they will not be able to turn back.
• Calf’s heart: they know where the children of the clan are at all times because they can sense their heartbeats.
• Calf’s pain: they can take the wounds of any child of the clan at will, suffering the pain and damage for them.

A kitovayanin’s clan will be associated with a specific whale native to the region. Each comes with its own magic:

• Beaked whale: shared meals - anything the clan eats, the kitovayanin is nourished by.
• Beluga: calf’s laughter - if the children of the clan are happy, the kitovayanin is resistant to emotion magic.
• Blue whale: bluesong - the kitovayanin’s song empowers others.
• Bowhead whale: frigid blood - the kitovayanin can make their own blood freeze, protecting everyone from heat, cold, and piercing damage within a certain range or if they are clan.
• Fin whale: barnacle armor - the kitovayanin can gather barnacles and have them latch onto them to make natural armor.
• Grey whale: mother’s wrath - the kitovayanin can take bonuses to PRO and STR when protecting children.
• Humpback whale: wave slap - the kitovayanin can spin with their arms out and create a wave of water or air that drives people away.
• [Common] minke whale: ritual of surfacing - the kitovayanin can perform a ritual in any body of water in which they surface repeatedly in a special pattern, giving them an oracular vision.
• Narwhal: tooth spear - the kitovayanin can wield the tooth of a narwhal as a celestially powered spear.
• Orca: hunting instincts - the kitovayanin gains hunting and fishing bonuses,
• [North Atlantic] right whale: whaleship - the kitovayanin can ride inside a right whale and bring members of their clan with them. But it must be at a specific time, as no one wants to be in the right whale at the wrong time. Yes this ability is designed entirely around that joke. I make no apologies.
• Sperm whale: cetacean rage - the kitovayanin can enter a state of animalistic rage and attack anyone who has harmed their clan.

Note that while dolphins and porpoises are cetaceans, they are not considered whales for the purposes of this occupation.

If the player chooses a kitovayanin, they must work with the GM to come up with the major NPCs of their clan.

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

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Konjtelj

Type: Rider

Konjtelji are those who form a communal bond with horses. They do this by making the horses part of their broader community, usually a nomadic band of some kind, but sometimes a small town or farming community. The horses are always central to their culture.

To be a konjtelj, one must have a sense of true belonging to a community, and have a shared culture, history, language, and values with that community. The values and culture must not be imperial or class-based, but borne out of love for one another, mutual care, and shared resources. And they must identify as a member of the community with compassion and action.

Then one must be taught, usually by older konjtelj, the ritual dances and songs that bond the people of the community together. These are call-and-response rituals, very musical and rhythmic, and they always involve special clothing, instruments (usually drums of some kind), and shared work. Because the konjtelji consider horses part of their communities, the horses are treated as equals, brought into the dances, given special clothing, and share in the work as beasts of burden or steeds. But they are never mistreated, forced to participate, or persuaded with harm.

The konjtelji learn from their teachers for years before they are allowed to lead a ceremony themselves. At their first ceremony, they lead the community in dance, in sharing work, in eating a meal, and then they go with the horses to the nearest river, where they all bathe together. As they bathe, one of the horses will choose the konjtelj and become their constant companion. From then on, the konjtelj will have magical abilities:

• Horsespeech: they can speak to horses.
• Herd mentality: they gain bonuses if they and others in their community or herd work in unison.
• Call-and-response: they can send points in any score, substat, or ability they have to another in their community, but the one they send it to must send them something back.
• Windswept run: they can run or ride faster if they are running or riding with others of their community.
• Rhythm of the people: if they play a drum beat, they can synchronize the actions of their community to gain bonuses.

They know the following ceremonies:

• Dance of gathering: this dance helps with foraging.
• Dance of the river: this dance helps with bonding and cleaning.
• Dance of the feast: this dance makes meals more nourishing and makes it so no one goes hungry.
• Dance of the hunt: this dance helps with hunting.
• Dance of the ride: this dance helps with riding.
• Dance of hooves: this dance is for the horses, bringing them in and giving them bonuses.
• Dance of feet: this dance is for the people, bringing them in and giving them bonuses.
• Dance of hooves and feet: this dance connects horses and people.

Konjtelji are demonized in imperial society, but they are the core of many villages in and around Jedinstven.

If a player chooses to play a konjtelji, they must work with the GM to describe the major NPCs of their community.

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

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Manylegs

Type: Arthropodist

A manylegs is a team of nine people who bond together via acts of resistance to fight tyranny. In doing so, they become like a centipede or millipede, merging into a single person with many legs (hence the name), surviving the tyranny and violence they face for resisting.

To play a manylegs is to play multiple beings merged magically into one body. This is an extremely rare thing, and only those who have fully immersed themselves in resisting oppression and exploitation can achieve it. The magic it requires is strange and deadly and requires great sacrifice on the part of several people.

The first step is to find oneself in an imperial society fighting against the powers-that-be. The next step is to find nine like-minded people who are also fighting against the powers-that-be. The third step is to be someone who studies and understands myriapods (centipedes and millipedes). And the fourth step is to dream of liberation.

In their dreams, those who resist tyranny will dream of a massive rainbow myriapod called the Arcopede. The Arcopede will task them with specific quests, and as they attend these quests, they begin to build magic in resisting tyranny, culminating in a moment where they unite with others who have been experiencing the same dreams. In this moment, they will have a choice - merge minds, bodies, hearts, and souls into one being to fight tyranny, or continue operating on their own. Those who choose to unite, if there are nine of them, become a manylegs.

What this means is that they merge into one being. The being can take on the appearance of any of the nine people merged. The rest do not age and exist in a blissful state of dreaming, but the innate magical powers they have are accessible by the manylegs if they do not require physical features not present in the form the manylegs is in. In other words, a manylegs can use a psionist’s mind reading magic, but not a merfolk’s waterbreathing, since the latter requires they have gills, unless the manylegs is in a form with gills.

A manylegs gains special magic from myriapods:

• Segment swap: this is the ability to swap out which person is visible.
• Manylegged dance: this dance allows them to use stats of multiple people at once.
• Rainbow stretch: they can stretch out their forms and teleport over an arc of rainbow light.
• Iridal venom: they can sting or bite an infernal being and poison them.
• Myriapodal armor: they can summon myriapods to swarm over their body and form a writhing armor.
• Horde of many legs: they can call a horde of myriapods to help them.
• Skittering: they can run extremely fast, using the legs of everyone at once.

Each individual within the manylegs has a specific color they represent and magic that goes with it:

• Crystal: the one with crystal (white) light wields the power of inspiration.
• Scarlet: the one with scarlet flame wields the power of bravery.
• Fulvous: the one with fulvous (orange) lightning wields the power of defiance.
• Saffron: the one with saffron (yellow) wind wields the power of wisdom.
• Emerald: the one with emerald (green) song wields the power of harmony.
• Sapphire: the one with sapphire (blue) heart wields the power of love.
• Lavender: the one with lavender (violet) water wields the power of joy.
• Ebon: the one with ebon (black) shadow wields the power of hope.
• Iridal: the one with iridal (rainbow) dreams wields the power to empower others.

If the manylegs dies, they lose the person whose form they were in when they died, but the others continue on, meaning a manylegs has nine lives.

To play a manylegs, the player must choose nine different characters to merge into one. This means nine backstories. They can make this easy by having this be an entire family, or it can be complicated by making it nine diverse characters united together into one magical transformation hero.

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

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Ubostipanula

Type: Apiarist

An ubostipanula is a beekeeper whose constant care for their hive borders on the supernatural. They have the virtue of constance, and they live it. They are the most reliable person imaginable and someone who does not change at the whims of the powerful. They remain themselves, steady, and strong. And from living this reliable and constant life, they gain magical abilities.

To reach a state of constance that gives them magic, an ubostipanula must live up to the virtues of constance, dependability, reliability, diligence and hard work, trustworthiness, and honesty. To embody constance, one must keep their promises, always do their work, and be dependable to the point that it is assumed they would do something without even asking sometimes.

Those who embody constance are rewarded with the WIL to keep going. They are given STR when necessary to complete tasks they are relied upon for, and they find those around them gain what is needed to be depended upon as well. Their unwillingness to break a promise or fail to meet a responsibility might sometimes conflict with their lives in other ways, but their reward often grants them clemency when they find themselves in such conflicts. Eventually, they gain the ability to anticipate the needs of others.

An ubostipanula draws from their constance to keep their bees. They are such a constant caretaker of their hives that the bees see them as one of their own. They rely upon one another; the ubostipanula becoming dependant on the bee’s honey and hard work, and the bees needing their keeper’s service. Eventually, the ubostipanula finds they understand the hives.

From this, they gain certain magicks:

• Bee-speech: they can speak to any kind of bee.
• Hive mind: they can sense the thoughts, feelings, and actions of their hives.
• Strong sting: they can strike someone and stun them as if it were a bee sting.
• Dependable workers: they can call upon their bees to do minor tasks.
• Reliable hum: they can hum like a bee while doing a task and make it easier to do if it is a mundane and/or rote task.
• Promise of honey: they can evoke a promise of honey from the hives to ensure a good harvest.

Ubostipanuli are members of small communities, usually part of a farm, and their hard work is always appreciated by others whom they support and exploited by ruthless noble lords.

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