Fey Warriors

Those who use fey magic to fight.

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Bogatyr

Type: Knight

Bogatyrs are knights-errant of Tridesy (their female equivalent are the polianitsas). They are legendary, fairytale knights with many magical powers derived from the many stories about them. Unlike the vazenrytier, they are not under any geas, but they are very exaggerated in their magic. As subjects of legends, they are beings of hyperbole. The more ridiculous the claim, the more probable they can do it, but also the more over-the-top the downside.

To become a bogatyr, one must be accepted into the service of the Thrice-Tenth Tsar, usually because one has performed some great service for him. Some inherit the magic, some are chosen for their skill, strength, or courage, and some are chosen against their will. The stories find them, and they become knights of the tsardom. Some dream of it; some come to it late. But their backstories always involve some kind of tall tale origin.

Once they are made a knight by the tsar, their backstory determines what their exaggerated abilities are. Some of the many options include the following:

Fearlessness: they may be immune to intimidation, fear, or similar effects, but also unable to assess risks properly.
Strength of ten men: they may have incredibly high strength but have very specific weaknesses.
Resounding voice: they may have an enormously loud voice that makes it hard to hide.
Tsardom's favor: they may be nigh-invincible within the tsardom but more vulnerable in lands enemy to it.
Ancient blessing: they may have the specific blessings from ancient spirits that give them the ability to call for a specific effect from stories.
Thrice-tenth ward: they may have the power to protect against enemies of the tsardom, but weak to treachery.
Gigantic form: they may have the ability to temporarily take giant form, but must rest long afterward.
Unimpeachable integrity: they may be supernaturally respected but prone to being lied to.
Slaying blade: they may have a weapon that can instantly kill a specific kind of enemy, but is less effective against certain others.
Yoking the monster: they may be able to trick certain kinds of major or monstrous foes into submission, literally making them plow animals or similar, but also susceptible to other monsters.
Single-handed victory: they may be able to take on major numbers of enemies at once, but bad at group combat.
Ever-outwit: they may have bonuses to find the weakness or trick their goes, but penalties to understand their friends.
Improbable rage: they may be able to do impossible destruction while enraged, but unable to control it.
Unexplained recovery: they may be able to recover from extreme injuries or illnesses without explanation, but weak to very specific things.
Venomous vulgarity: they may be able to injure enemies with vulgar mockery, but also very sensitive to it.
Unerring shot: they may be extremely skilled archers, but have low dodge.
Longswimmer: they may be able to swim for long times or against powerful currents, but slower on land.
Wrestling the mountains: they may be able to wrestle huge foes or improbably large objects, but easily defeated by tiny enemies.
Entrancing music: they may be able to play entrancing music, but unable to stop unless their instrument is damaged.
Impressive diplomacy: they may be able diplomats and courtiers, but awkward with the peasantry. Or vice versa.
Unheeded warnings: they may be able to ignore warnings about specific things but in danger of being cursed for it.
Single purpose enchantment: they may have an object with a hyperspecific purpose that vanishes upon use.
Swiftest squire: they may have a sidekick who embodies speed if they themselves are slow.
Invocation of honor: they may invoke honor to force a magical duel.
Meaningful weapon: they may have a weapon from their backstory with a specific magical purpose, such as killing a specific person.
Chosen foe: they may have a specific enemy they are weak to but must kill to gain greater magic or complete their story.
Untemptable: they may be immune to temptations but weak to pleas for help.
Death's quarry: they may be targeted by death or the Wild Hunt for their defiance of it.

Bogatyrs are figures of legend who often go on long, improbable adventures. A player choosing to be one will pick five of the above features and weaknesses and work with the GM on a backstory with exaggerations, hyperbole, and legendary feats.

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

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Gardaportocalie

Type: Guard

The Prince of Gradina is a fey being who was cursed to turn into a pumpkin. Since being freed of his curse, he still retains magic from those days, and he has made pumpkins part of his great principality. The gardieniportocalii are his personal guards, and they draw magic from his ancient tale.

The story of Trandafiru is thus:

A man had a gourd for a son, cursed to be man by night and pumpkin by day. One day, the gourd asked his parents to ask for the hand of the emperor of Vesturia's daughter. The parents of course were concerned about the emperor's reaction, but the pumpkinson convinced them. They wait until night to present him, and in the form of a man, he woos the princess. She marries him and comes to live with him, knowing of his curse.

One day, the empress visits her daughter after she has announced her pregnancy. She hates the pumpkin prince and convinces the princess to burn him in the oven. When the pumpkin's mother asks what is happening, the princess lies and says she is making bread.

Inside the oven, Trandafiru the Pumpkin curses his wife not to give birth to their child until he lovingly embraces her again. Then, he is whisked away by friendly fey to a realm where he is recognized as royalty.

After grieving for her lost prince, the princess placed an iron band around her belly to endure the pain of her over-long pregnancy. She sets off on a quest, regretting what she has done.

On the quest, she finds three great day spirits - Midweek, who gives the princess a golden distaff and sends her onward; Endweek, who gives the princess a golden reel but knows not what else she can do; and Beginweek, who gives her a golden hen with golden chicks, then tells the princess her lost husband's location and advises her to stand by a marble fountain with her golden gifts. She is told to use the golden gifts, which are touched by the sun, to bribe the prince's new bride (the princess's mother in disguise) for a night in Trandafiru's bedchamber.

The princess does this for three nights with her husband. She is let in, and the fey bride gives Trandafiru a sleeping potion the first two nights. So on the third night, Trandafiru tricks her by pretending to already be asleep. He leaps up when his wife enters, embraces her, and she immediately gives birth to two golden children. He then leaves, slays the evil empress, and crowns his princess as his true bride.

There are some variations to this story. Sometimes the empress is not the new bride, sometimes the princess fails, sometimes Trandafiru must fight his way out of the Hells. But the gist of it remains the same.

The gardaportocalie are chosen by Trandafiru personally. They are to guard his golden children, his wife, and his principality. They are to cultivate the fairy gardens, patrol the borders, stand the walls, and protect the realm. They are trained extensively in both combat and magic. Once they are trained, they are given a test of a vigil of three nights and three days. During this time, they may not sleep, though they will be tempted by gold, slumber, and illusions. If they pass, they are granted special abilities:

• Golden senses: they always know where the royal family is and other wards.
• Iron immunity: unlike other wielders of fey magic, they are not only not weak to iron, they are immune to it.
• Night form/day form: they all have a different gourd which they can turn into during the day to rest.
• Orange shield: if they are holding a gourd, they can turn it into a magical shield.
• Pumpkin light: if they are holding a gourd, they can turn it into a magical light.
• Sleepless night: they can stay awake for three days and three nights without worrying about exhaustion.

The gardieniportocalii are elite guards, and some are given special quests by their prince. If a player chooses to be one, they will be one of these.

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

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Vazenrytier

Type: Knight

The knights of Belasar are fairytale knights. They have the shining armor. They rescue princess, They are known as heroes of romantic tales. They are chivalrous and gentlemanly and charitable.

And they are all weighted with a geas that prevents them from taking off their armor. Ever. For any reason.

They can open certain flaps for biological reasons we won’t go into, but it doesn’t help them sleep much. While they may have a helmet, it is not part of the armor. The armor is torso, arms, legs, and midsection. Boots, helmet, and gloves are optional and not bound to the vazerytier. And it proves very uncomfortable over time. It is difficult to clean, difficult to maintain. And if it breaks, they die.

This geas is part of their oath to serve the Knez of Belasar. They take this oath in exchange for magical abilities and feudal titles and power. They have property, lands, income. They have influence. They are seen as dashing figures. But up close, they tend to smell bad because of how hard it is to bathe.

Some take the oath because of family expectations. Some take it because they are desperate. They need money, medicine, or miracles from the powerful fey ruling Belasar. Some take it not fully understanding it. Some take it for the promise of power. And some take it because they believe in the romantic tales and legends. But they all agree to serve for a number of years, and if they die in service to the Knez, their families are taken care of. If they survive, they retire to their lands.

Part of their oath is to uphold the image of the knighthood, which means following a chivalrous code and performing heroic feats. They are not, however, necessarily religious and definitely not holy. Their power comes from stories, not faith. The GM will provide more information on this if a player chooses to be a vazenrytier. Upon their oath, they gain the following magicks:

• Chivalric invocation: they may invoke the chivalric code to perform a specific deed with high die.
• Romantic figure: they gain PRS bonuses when dealing with people who believe in stories.
• Weapon of tales: their primary weapon will gain magical properties every time they complete a deed in combat that fits the tales of knights.
• Weighted armor: the armor they can never take off is very powerful, fey magical, and has three special magicks: vanish +1/day, minor glamour or glamour bonus, temporary riding bonus.
• Storied steed: if they tell tales of their steed, their steed will bond to them over time.
• Courtly manners: so long as they maintain their courtly manners, they are resistant to one type of damage (emotional, mental, fire/heat, cold/ice, electrical, falling, poison, disease/infection, fungi, or drowning).
• Gentleman’s ballad: they may sing a ballad of love to soothe the heart of anyone in distress (though they most often use it for “damsels”), protecting them from trauma or emotional damage temporarily.
• Oath-bound heart: so long as they are under their oath and true to it, they may choose one loved one to take wounds for.
• Slighted honor: if someone insults them, they may issue a challenge to a duel or joust with a slap of a glove, magically enforcing it.

While most knights are men due to the stories mostly being about men (because patriarchy), if a player wishes to be of a different gender, they may. But it will get them many odd looks and sexist remarks from the less goodly folk and any imperials.

The downsides of having to wear armor all the time are many. Difficulties in sleeping and bathing, risks of infection and rawness, and an unpleasant smell are among them. Thus, the vazenrytier must maintain a routine of maintenance or begin to suffer. To play one will require rolls every in-game day to maintain. Failure will result in consequences to health or PRS, at the least.

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

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Yeraz

Type: Morrigan

The yerazi are women who have succumbed to the power of their subconscious mind and become vessels of violence. They seek this out, allowing themselves to find the inner parts of their mind, and finding within it capabilities they never imagined.

In Tridesy, the yerazi are feared above all other warriors. They are embodiments of the stories of frenzied women who would rend their foes to pieces; they are drawn from people’s subconscious fears and instincts. To tap into this, the yerazi use hallucinogens, meditation, dreams, and deep training to find their reflexive system, their deepest thoughts and processes, and come to control them.

After a year and a day of training and visions, they are bathed in fey waters, taken to a deep wood, and given three days and three nights to return. If they return mundanely, they have failed. If they find their frenzy and return via the subconscious pathways of the mind, they have succeeded.

If they manage this, they gain special magical abilities:

• Frenzied state: they can enter a state of frenzy while in combat that gives them bonuses to fight but lowers their PRS and STH.
• Wildest imagination: the most primal images they can imagine may be made real if they use the blood of one of their victims, summoning a horrible illusion.
• Subconscious delving: they can choose to meditate while taking hallucinogens instead of sleeping, attuning to their deeper subconscious, giving them bonuses the following day to their magic but penalties to mundane activities.
• Reflexive response: they can invoke this thrice per combat to respond to an attack without succeeding a parry roll, giving them a counterattack to any attack.
• Instinctual attack: they can draw on this twice per combat, allowing them to make a called shot without penalties.
• Intuitive movement: they can draw on this once per combat, allowing themselves to dodge an attack without rolling.

They are special warriors of the Thrice-Tenth Tsar, the warriors he calls upon when he wishes to avenge himself upon someone. They often travel in small groups.

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

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Zapletkar

Type: Lancer

Zapletkari are wielders of spear and lance who draw magic from the plot of the story they are in.

To become aware of the story one is in is something very rare and strange. Some stumble upon it, realizing its familiarity from stories they have heard often or maybe once long ago. Some realize it in a dream or vision, sometimes magical, sometimes brought on by powerful substances. Some learn of it from a powerful mentor or teacher. And some find out as part of a pact with a powerful fey. But once they are aware of this, they can sometimes draw upon it for magical energy.

A zapletkari is either a spear-wielder who finds this magic, or someone who finds this magic who chooses to wield it via spears. But either way, they are a warrior who senses the central conflict of the story they are in, magically, and draws from its power to make themselves greater warriors. Some train in the Lore and Tradition to do this, others make deals, many are soldiers in fey armies, but they must spend time learning how to wield it.

Most zapletkari grow in magical power as their story continues, but most find themselves forgotten in the background of a larger story. Some of these may force themselves forward via magic, but most end up as foot-soldiers for powerful figures. Those who find a way forward or who are closer to the center of a story gain abilities as they continue on the path of the story:

• Storywise: they are wise to their story and recognize when they are on its path and when they are not.
• Lance of conflict: they can turn their weapon into a magical fey weapon temporarily, gaining bonuses or high die against certain foes, and giving the weapon a temporary effect from a list of metanarrative trickery provided by the GM.
• Primary antagonist: if they recognize the primary antagonist of their story, they take the high die when attacking them “if it is time”.
• Plot armor: thrice per story, they may invoke this defense against an attack that would otherwise be exceptional or critical.
• March of the narrative: so long as they continue on the path of their story, they require less rest, food, and other necessities. The parts of the story that rarely make it to the page are less a requirement for them.

Those who complete their story may either find a new one or retire with a fraction of their magic.

If a player chooses to be a zapletkar, they may choose to be a central figure in a story, a secondary character, or a nameless foot-soldier in a larger story. They will, of course, end up central to the campaign as well, but the story they choose to be part of will be woven into the plot of the game.

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