Elemental Wranglers

Those who use elemental magic to work with animals.

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Chiropterist

Type: Mammalist

A chiropterist is someone who is magically and elementally connected to bats.

To become a chiropterist, one must live among the bats. One must spend more time among bats than people. One must mimic their behavior, learn to eat and live as them, even hanging upside down, echolocating, and consuming bugs and small creatures, even blood. They must become as batlike as possible. They do not merely need to copy movements, but to copy the general behavior of the animal, and for that, they must know about the animals and why they behave the way they do. They do this through intense observation and communion, shared living. It takes time and effort to get a bat to trust you.

After a year and a day of this (at most), the bats will think the chiropterist is one of them. They will then perform a ritual dance with the animal. If they are fully attuned, the bat will follow their movements. At the end of the dance, there will be a magical bond between them. The chiropterist will then take on characteristics of the bat and have magical abilities.

The chiropterist usually bonds to a specific colony of bats, which is usually just one species, but after the first time they do it, it becomes much easier. They can then bond with other bats, bat colonies, or bat species. But never non-bats. They must be wild bats.

They gain some of the following abilities:

• Echolocation: they can release a cry and know where nearby things are without looking.
• Batspeech: they can speak to any bat.
• Night flight: they can fly further and faster at night, and with more STH.
• Enhanced olfactory: their sense of smell is better than average.
• Bat sleep: they can sleep upside down and heal faster.,
• Blood empowerment: they gain stat bonuses temporarily if they consume enough animal blood.
• Intimidate bugs: insects, arachnids, and their corresponding animal folk take low die to resist intimidation from them.
• Bat form: they can take the form of a large bat under the night sky.
• Bat shark repellant: they can spray a shark with a container of this to repel the shark.
• Bat cry: they can call out like a bat and bring a swarm of bats to them.

Some bats give specific abilities:

• [Common] bent-wing bat: fast turning
• Brown long-eared bat: PRS bonuses with bats
• [European] free-tailed bat: resistance to control
• Greater horseshoe bat: bonuses against horses
• [Common] noctule: knowledge of legendary bats
• Northern bat: Name-drain bite
• Parti-colored bat: colorful dance
• [Common] pipistrelle: compassionate empathy
• [Savi's] pipistrelle: bonuses against other pipistrelles
• Pond bat: swimming bonuses
• Soprano pipistrelle: beautiful singing
• Western barbastelle: shadow wings
• Whiskered bat: cave sense

Chiropterists can always spot a vampire in bat form.

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

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Decompositor

Type: Wormer

A decompositor is a person who stands over a grave and magically summons worms to devour the body in order to prevent it from rising again.

Like chiropterists, decompositors bond with worms by mimicking their behavior and habits. They live among them, digging into the ground, sleeping in the dirt, writhing and eating detritus. Though science identifies worms as very different taxons, any animal that is not an insect grub that can be called a worm qualifies - annelids (including leeches and earthworms), nematodes (roundworms and hookworms), platyhelminthes (flatworms), polychaestes (bristleworms), or chaetognaths (arrow worms).

It takes a year and a day to bond to a specific kind of worm, culminating in a writhing dance that the worm mimics in return. Once this is done, the decompositor can bond more easily with similar worms, but if they are different enough, it takes another year and a day. As such, many spend years gaining enough worm bonds to be effective at their task. Most start with earthworms. Because of the disparity in worms, they tend to have a variety of magicks:

• Wormspeech: they can speak to the types of worms they have bonded with
• Worm call: this is their most important magic, which allows them to bring enough worms to destroy a recently dead body.
• Segmentation: if they are bonded to annelids, they can segment their own bodies and separate parts of it without permanent harm.
• Blood empowerment: they can gain stat bonuses temporarily by consuming animal blood.
• Flattened form: if they are bonded to flatworms, they can flatten out their bodies to get through narrow spaces, swim, float, or drift.
• Nutrient drain: they can attach to someone with their mouth and drain nutrients from their bodies.
• Hooks and/or bristles: they can grow hooks or bristles on their body to harm people.
• Planarial split: they can split off certain parts of their body and grow a miniature version of themselves, who will be short-lived but capable.
• Fluking: they can swim like a fluke.
• Worm form: specific to worm type, they can take the form of a worm, briefly and at great risk.
• Waterbreathing: they can swim through many kinds of water without harm or effort.
• Arrow swim: they can rapidly charge at something in water as if they were an arrow worm.
• Sandworm senses: they can sense people walking on the ground near them.
• Venomous sting: they can claw or bite someone and poison them.

Decompositors have a vital role in many elemental villages, but they are still seen as a little off-putting and creepy. Imperials find them disgusting.

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

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Kanatly

Type: Avianist

Kanatlyak are Coleshi nomads (or those trained by them) who commune with the ancestral forms of birds. They grow huge wings, summon ancestral bird spirits, and have other magic from the most ancient species of birds found in the region.

To commune with these ancient, rare, but extant (on Shem) species, they must spend time alone in the wilderness, finding the birds, and drinking rare doses of anumun, the fluid of elemental chaos found in strange places only the Coleshi know how to find. They have profound cosmic visions, dream of birds, and wake to find birds surrounding them. They then feed and roost with the birds, spending a year and a day with them, taking anumun once every nine days. If they survive this, the bird they wish to bond with will come to them, asking them questions in a primal language, then speaking as if they were their actual ancestor, telling them of the evolution of the bird species.

The kanatly then finds their body begins to change. They grow wings, which then turn back into arms, which they can then change back and forth. Their feet may or may not become talons, which can then be changed back and forth. Some grow beaks. Some don’t. They warp and change, chaotically.

They also gain other magical abilities based on the bird they bond with. Some common ancient bird species include the following:

• Ancient hoot owl (intulula tinnipara): tiny hoot owl, about half a foot in height, known to be a guide and for giving warnings of danger.
• Archaeopteryx: a massive ancient bird known for having influence over all birds.
• Brain bird (cerebavis): a medium-sized bird with a sharp sense of smell and depth of cunning.
• Bright conqueror owl (Mioglaux debellatrix): a bright-brown owl about 1.5’ in height, known for its sharp talons and nocturnal dominance.
• Bauxite bird (bauxitornis): a medium-sized bird with long legs and neck and rusty-red feathers, know for its resourcefulness.
• Clay bird (sazavis): a pigeon-sized bird known for its ability to reshape itself.
• Earthyear bird (Zhylgaia): a medium-sized broad-winged shorebird known for its patience and calm.
• Galaxy bird (kuszholia): a colorful, chicken-sized tropicbird with a wonderful white crest, known for its cosmic finery and astral navigation.
• Giant swan: an aptly named bird known for its prowess and defiance.
• Greater gallus: a big chicken known for its ferocity and ability to call other galli to its defense.
• Hiding bird (Mystiornis): a tiny little wren-like bird known for its soft songs and its stealth.
• Inhabitant bird (incolornis): a 5” tall bird, a little brown songbird known for its bowers.
• Lionbird (Lenesornis): a small, maned songbird known for its loud song and puffy displays.
• Masillaraptor: a falcon-like bird known for eating mussels with its sharp beak and talons.
• Miocorvus: a crow-sized corvid known for its dark shadows and silent flight.
• Red sand bird (Kizylkumavis): a 4” little songbird known for its hardiness in the desert.
• Squat dragonbird (balaur bondoc): a 7’ long, 3’ tall, squat-shaped predatory bird with limited flight but great strength, speed, and hunting abilities.
• Well bird (Zhyraornis): a 1.5” long brown and tan bird, like a prehistoric roadrunner, known to live near wells and springs.
• Wellborne bird (Evgenavis): a 15” grey bird known for its long flights and meticulous observations.
• Western welcomer (Asiahespornis bazhanovi): a 3’ tall flightless diving bird with teeth known for greeting sailors with violence, fishing, and running extremely fast.

These are all species extinct on Earth but not on Shem, and from the Ranu region. See the end of this entry for other possible birds to choose from.

All kanatlyak have some of these abilities as well:

• Birdspeech: they can speak to any bird.
• Flight: unless they have a flightless bird, they can fly,
• Ancestral altering: they may use anumun on an egg to change the egg's avian species.
• Enhanced hunting: they have bonuses to certain stats as they hunt.
• Chaotic polymorph: they may drink anumun and polymorph into any random bird listed here.

Other possible birds: White-fronted goose, giant swan, Mergellus mochanovi (great sea duck), various large Gallus junglefowl, Perdix palaeoperdix (true partridge), Ibiza rail, Maltese crane, Grus bogatshevi (crane), Maltese pigeon, Maltese vulture, Maltese barn owl, Balaur bondoc (squat dragonbird), Archaeopteryx, Wellnhoferia grandis (grand bird), Evgenavis, Cerebavis (brain bird), Elsornis, Holbotia, Kuszholia (galaxy bird), Catenoleimus, Bauxitornis, Mystiornis, Gobipipus, Gobipteryx, Gurilynia, Abavornis, Exploronis (discovered bird), Incolornis (inhabitant bird), Kizylkumavis, Lenesornis, Sazavis (clay bird), Zhyraornis, Hollanda luceria, Ambiortus, Apsaravis, Plegadis, Brodavis mongoliensis, Judinornis, Asiahesperornis, Messel rail, Mopsitta, Protocypselomorphus, Pumuliornis, Telecrex, Agnopterus, Eurofluvioviridavis, Juncitarsus, Zhylgaia, Scaniornis, Fissuravis, Teviornis, Masillaraptor, Palaeoglaux, Intulula tinnipara, Mioglaux debellatrix, Miocorvus.

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

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Palidulhangar

Type: Hostler

Palidulhangii are hostlers of the horses of death. Psychopomps, spirits of elemental death, and Death Herself are all known to ride magical horses, and the palidulhangii are the ones who stable, groom, and tend them.

To become a palidulhangar, one must be attuned to death and able to see the spirits of elemental death. Most come to this by having a near-death experience that they recover from in a non-magical fashion. They must be a friend of nature and animals, and they must be accepting of death as part of nature. They must never use any magic of undeath, and in fact, must view it as anathema. And they must be very good with horses.

If these conditions are met, they may one day be visited by a psychopomp, spirit of elemental death, or Death Herself, in need of an hostler to care for their horse. This first experience with the horses of death is always a shock, but they tend to take to it, learning the nuances of these special kinds of horses, called cal palid (pl. cai palizi). Then they spend four years learning as new horses are brought by followers of Death Herself. Once their four years are up, they are given a horse of their own.

They may leave at any time, but if they do, they will forget entirely their experiences. If they choose to stay, they are granted special abilities and dispensations. Everyone who knows them except their closest loved ones will think them just a very good hostler. The cai palizi are seen as normal horses, though pale.

The abilities they gain might include the following:

• Soothing cluck: they can soothe any horse with a simple click of their tongue, no matter the effect on the horse, unless some great infernal power is at play.
• Death-defying ride: they can ride a horse through non-infernal certain-death and keep it alive, once per four days. This includes riding over a great ravine, through deep water, or into wildfire.
• Stablegate: they can open any adequate-sized gate and return to the stable they work at with a small white key.
• Saddleless break: they can train a horse without need of saddle, bit, or bridle, but only if the horse is elemental.
• Pale night’s soft: they can, in low moonlight, see when Death is near.

The dispensations they are given:

• Spare loved one: they may grant a loved one a delayed death if the loved one faces a premature, non-infernal death, once.
• Spare stranger: they may grant a stranger a delayed death if the stranger faces a premature, non-infernal death, once.
• Spare self: they themselves may be spared a premature, non-infernal death once.
• Spare horse: a mundane or non-infernal horse may be spared a premature, non-infernal death once.

And their horse may have its own magic:

• Nether ride: the cal palid may enter the Nether Realm if there is need.
• Bearing the dead: the cal palid may guide the souls of the recently deceased to the Nether Realm and away from undeath.
• Hovering hoof: the cal plaid’s hooves do not touch the ground, hovering a half-inch above.
• Sound of approach: the sound of the horse’s hooves approaching (in spite of hovering) foretells death to those who are wielders of undeath.
• Presence of the pale: if the cal palid is in a herd of mundane or elemental horses, the other horses will defer to its leadership.

Palidulhangii will ride to fight the undead if they know the undead are near.

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

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Werewolf / Vukodlak

Type: Zoanthrope

Werewolves are mammalian, non-animal folk individuals from elemental communities who wield lunar magic in order to turn into wolves. They do this to protect their communities, to protect nature, or to enact vengeance against those who have harmed their community or nature. Those who misuse this power are harshly punished by their own people.

The traditions of werewolves have many sources in different parts of the world. In Ranu, the practice was imported from Jorgendheim millennia ago. The ulfeothnar of Jorgendheim were warriors from a wolf cult who took wolf form and honored wolf spirits. This practice evolved in Ranu to be the vukodlak (called vurvolak in Shar), the avengers of nature.

There are many kinds of werewolves, even in Ranu. Most are warriors who trained and use magic given them by moonwitches to transform, but some are cursed, born with, or infected with it.

Those who train to be werewolves must prove themselves friends of nature, followers of the moons, and allies to witches. They must train as warriors, and they must be friends with wolves. Then they must be tested by the witches of their community, blessed with lunar magic, and given special tools to transform with.

Those who are cursed are either cursed by a moonwitch or other elemental being for a crime against nature, forcing them to serve nature to make up for what they did, or they are cursed by an imperial who believes them to be evil for serving nature. Some are cursed by a deity, greater elemental, or other powerful being either for crimes against nature or for religious violations (such as stealing an offering or making the wrong one). Either way, they have less control over their transformations and find themselves in a state of lunacy under a full moon, driven to fight anyone who harms nature.

A subset of the cursed types of werewolves are the revenant werewolves. These are people who died by imperial hands or industrial powers who come back for vengeance. They are not actually undead - they are fully back to life - but they are overwhelmed by lycanthropy and want nothing but revenge. Once they get revenge, they turn into a mundane wolf.

Those who are born with it are usually descended of other werewolves. They are born with a caul, lanugo, or a birthmark, and they grow into their lycanthropy by age seven. They have fewer restrictions on how and when they can use their magic, and they are not necessarily aligned with nature. This inherent lycanthropy can be outgrown or abandoned if they lose their connection with nature, however.

A subset of those born as werewolves are those who gain the magic during infancy or youth. These are usually victims of child abuse who are enchanted by a witch or by the moons themselves with lycanthropy to protect them. They usually grow out of it when they are away from their abusers.

And those who are infected are those whose blood has mingled with the blood of any other kind of werewolf. Their infection will drive them into lunacy under a full moon and make them want to protect nature, but most fight it.

Once someone comes into their full lycanthropy, they gain certain abilities. First is how they take on their wolf form, which can be any of the following:

• Permanent or semi-permanent transformation: some transform into a wolf and never go back, or spend many years only in wolf form.
• Short-period form: some just take wolf form temporarily and for short periods.
• Zoanthropic transformation: some take on a wolf-person form.
• Soulflight: some go into a trance and have their soul leave their body to bond with a wolf.
• Familiar bonding: some bond themselves magically to a real wolf who becomes synonymous with them.
• Spiritual form: some bond with a wolf-spirit who appears when they transform.
• Body swap: some swap bodies with a wolf, either a specific one or just the nearest one.
• Doubling: some create a clone of themselves that becomes their wolf persona.
• Illusory wolf: some do not physically transform, but instead create an illusory form.
• Replacement: some do not transform or swap bodies, but are replaced by a wolf entirely.

The nature of their transformation may also vary:

• Involuntary: some cannot control when they transform, and the change is triggered by something specific like the full moon, the smell of imperial blood, the sight of harm to nature, specific words or spells, or
• Voluntary: some can control their transformation, but there may be limitations on it.

There are many methods to transform, but every werewolf has one they use. The player must choose from this list:

• Group transformation: the werewolf transforms when their communities does, operating as a pack activity. This is not involuntary, but it is limited as at least three members of the group must be present and all must transform together. Some examples include tribes that transform for seven days a year only,
• Herbal transformation: use of magical herbs and poisons can be the transformation trigger.
• Territorial transformation: some werewolves must be in their own territories to transform, simply willing the transformation while in a place that is theirs. This has led to some associating pissing in a circle with transformation.
• Moonwitch spell: some are given a spell or charm by a moonwitch that will transform them. This must be recharged or otherwise re-upped by a moonwitch periodically.
• Skin exchange or changing: some take off their normal clothing and replace it with a wolfskin to transform.
• Magic belt or cloak: some wear a belt of wolf fur or a cloak of wolfskin to transform, not requiring a clothing change.
• Timed transformation: some change only a night, only under a full moon, only for a specific period of time, once a week or once a year,
• Ointment or salve: some use an ointment or a salve rubbed all over their body to transform.
• Special beer and recitation: some drink a special beer while reciting a special formula to transform.
• Sleep transformation: some sleep under full moon on a summer Wednesday or Friday with the moonlight touching their face to transform.
• Elemental bond: some werewolves transform by forming a bond with a lunar elemental being.
• Arch transformation: some have to walk under an arch of birchwood with a wild rose's spine to transform.

Other abilities they may have include the following:

• High jump: in wolf form, they gain +6 to jump thrice per transformation period or rest.
• Superspeed: in wolf form, they gain +9 to speed for short bursts.
• Difficult-to-kill: werewolves cannot be killed permanently without the use of special magic or extreme means of killing (decapitation, burning, etc.). If they suffer damage that would kill another mortal that is not extreme enough to kill a werewolf, it still takes a long time to recover from this, but that can be mitigated by eating flesh or blood.
• Heightened smell and hearing: their senses are heightened, especially in wolf form.
• Wolfspeech: they can speak to wolves and dogs.
• Howling: they can howl and call wolves or other werewolves to them.
• Wolf sending: they may send a wolf spirit to bring a message to someone thrice per month.

There are many magical limitations a werewolf might have. The player will choose two of these. Some of these are implied by transformation method and must be chosen. If the player opts to choose more than two, so long as they are not contradictory, the GM will reward the player with extra tokens to start the game.

• Betrayal by loved one: if a close loved one betrays a werewolf they will not be able to return to non-wolf form.
• Silver: werewolves suffer greater damage when harmed by silver.
• Wolfsbane: wolfsbane is extremely toxic to them.
• Hunger for blood: the werewolf must drink blood or eat bloody raw meat before they turn back into their non-wolf form.
• Hunger for flesh: some werewolves must eat a certain amount or type of flesh to maintain their magic, such as imperial flesh, burnt flesh, .
• Prohibition of flesh: some werewolves must NOT eat any kind of mortal flesh or they will be stuck in wolf form or lose their magic. This prohibition has a set time limit (no mortal flesh for nine years being the most common) before the punishment is lifted if it is a variant wherein they are trapped in wolf form.
• Timed transformation: the werewolf has specific times or triggers for an uncontrolled transformation, even if they otherwise control their form.
• Necessary object: a werewolf who uses a belt, cloak, skin, ointment, salve, herbal concoction, beer, or other object to transform will be powerless to transform without it and may need it to turn back.
• Everyday clothing: some werewoleves cannot return to their non-wolf form without having the clothes they were in before they changed.
• Lunar connection: all werewolves are affected by the phase of the moon, but some have it to such extremes that they cannot help but transform under a full moon and are powerless under a new moon.
• Surgical alteration: some werewolves can be surgically turned back into a non-wolf form and lose their werewolf powers permanently.
• Exorcism: some werewolves can lose their powers if subjected to an exorcism ritual by imperials that will drive the elemental magic out of them.
• Imperial knife ritual: some werewolves can lose their magic if an imperial strikes their forehead and scalp with a kind of knife.
• Nailing of hands: some werewolves can be bound into their non-wolf form if someone drives nails through their hands.
• Imperial Name invocation: some werewolves can lose their magic if they were given an imperial name and an imperial invokes that name thrice. (Equivalent of a Christian name.)
• Conversion to Imperial Faith: some werewolves will lose their magic if they convert to an Imperial Faith. This is true of all werewolves if they convert to Gyrnesianism.
• Saintly invocation: some werewolves can lose their magic if an imperial invokes the imperial St. Hubert's power.
• Decapitation ritual: some imperials believe werewolves can only be killed if you cut off their heads and throw it in running water. While all werewolves would die under these circumstances, some werewolves might be susceptible to the magic of this ritual killing into their communities and bloodlines.
• Sheep addiction: some werewolves are addicted to eating sheep while in wolf form.
• Territorial or locational limitation: some werewolves may only transform in their own territory or in a specific location, such as a magical marsh.
• Night limitation: some may only transform at night and will be trapped in a form during the day, or will lose magic if they do not return to their non-wolf form by dawn or before the cock crows.
• Repercussion: any werewolf who uses a doubling, familiar, soulflight, or other method of tranformation that involves a separate entity, they will always share wounds with the animal.
• Scolding: some werewolves will have to roll WIL or PRS against the PRS of someone who scolds them like a dog or be forced to respond as if they were a bad dog being scolded.
• Vampire lore weaknesses: some werewolves are subject to the same weaknesses vampires have due to confusion of their stories.
• Group abandonment: some cannot become werewolves if their tribe or group casts them out.

All werewolves suffer weakness after returning to human form. Some become depressed as well. All werewolves want to fight for nature against industrial powers. All werewolves will lose their magic if they use it too often, as their bodies will become too exhausted to transform.

In many cultures, there is a mass retirement ritual wherein, during the winter, older werewolves gather together, strip off their wolfskins or other transformation adornments, then take the wolfskins or adornments of others and burn them. This ends the magic and allows them to rest. Usually this is followed by a feast of desserts and heavy drinking.

All werewolves end up taking on certain physical features in non-wolf or wolf form that mark them as werewolves:

• Meeting of both eyebrows at bridge of nose
• Curved fingernails
• Low-set ears
• Swinging stride
• Hirsute
• Fur under skin
• Bristles under tongue
• No tail
• Larger than average wolf size
• Non-wolf eyes and voice in wolf form
• Running on three legs and extending a rear leg to pretend it is a tail

Werewolves are heavily persecuted in imperial lands. They are demonized, associated with evil, and accused of eating people. They are targets of witchfinders, seen as adjacent to witchcraft or a product thereof. There are also those called wolfssegen in certain western areas who practice apotraic magic against werewolves on behalf of non-elemental societies. These are usually wielders of imperial magic.

Usually, werewolves are accused of eating mortal flesh or killing children. This is a special crime above common murder or uncommon cannibalism charges. Werewolfery comes with special punishments.

Most elemental communities have rules about how and when a werewolf my act against imperial powers in order to mitigate backlash from the better armed and numbered imperials.

There are imperial forces known as the Hounds of God who use imperial magic to mimic the abilities and magic of werewolves in order to infiltrate their communities. These are a special kind of witchfinder. While unplayable by players, they are mentioned here because if you play a werewolf, they will absolutely come into the campaign.

Note: this description is of the werewolves in the regions of Ranu. Other zoanthropics who use wolf forms might have different sources of power or characteristics.

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