Fey Wranglers

Those who use fey magic to work with animals.

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Agugerim

Type: Avianist

In some of the other regions of Ansulym, there is a Tradition of counting magpies to know one’s fortune. The agugerims are people who use this ancient magic to commune with the corvids and alter the fortunes and fates of those around them.

To become an agugerim, one must either learn from someone (usually from near Faerie) the counting rhyme and the ancient Traditions, make a deal with a powerful fey, be chosen by magpies, or find another source of the information on the Tradition and learn it. In some rare cases, they were raised by magpies to begin with (having been offered up as part of the bonding of another agugerim). Then they must befriend magpies.

To befriend a magpie starts off easy enough - food and treats will get you started. But to get them to truly work with an agugerim, one must know the Traditional gifts for them. These are hinted at in the rhyme:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it's the devil himself.

So the Traditional methods of bonding with them are to give them teardrops, a moment of happiness, a girl (doll)*, a boy (toy soldier)*, silver, gold, a secret unshared with anyone else, a wish, a kiss, a surprise, healing, and then money. One may also give the magpies something infernal if they wish to have 13 magpies, but this will likely not end well. It is well known among the agugerim to avoid getting a 13th magpie. Most stop after seven. Some stop at two. Players would be allowed to go up to seven to start.

* The regressive gender roles are not prescribed. One may use any toy to represent any gender, but two different toys for two different genders must be presented to the magpie. Or actual children, if you’re evil or just have too many lying around. Children given to the magpies are raised to be agugerims.

Once an agugerim has their flock, they can then send the magpies out as omens. If they wish to bring bad luck or sorrows to someone, they send one to be seen by someone. If they want good luck or happiness to come to someone, they send two. If a person is trying to get pregnant or find a girl/woman to love, they send three. And so on. The rhyme is open to the agugerim’s interpretation, but also the GM’s.

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

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Begumny

Type: Vulpinist

In Ranu, there is an ancient trickster named Kuma Lisa, sometimes called Kumushka Lisa, or Grandmother Fox. She is known for tricking heroes and villains alike, usually outwitting them, and giving magic to those who delight her. Those to whom she gives magic are usually clever in their own right, people she sees herself in, and those who can carry on her legacy of trickery and cunning schemes.

These, she turns into begumnies. A begumny is someone with the cunning and cleverness of a fox, the shrewdness of a grandmother, and the puncturing wit of a trickster. They sometimes do not realize they were enchanted by Kumushka Lisa. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they think it a curse, while sometimes they know it is a blessing. Regardless, they must use their magic to make others think, to make people break out of the rigid prisons of their minds and hearts, and to engage their own cunning and cleverness. They are wielders of ancient fey Lore.

A begumny will have two translucent fox guides - one red, one silver. The silver one is the voice of cunning, providing advice on how to solve a problem; the red one is the voice of trouble, providing advice on how to create a problem. These two guides only appear rarely to the begumny, but when they do, something big will happen. So long as the begumny engages with them and performs a trick when they show up, they maintain their magic. They gain these abilities from the magic of foxes:

• Animalspeech: the begumny can speak to any animal.
• Fog breath: the begumny can breathe out a bank of fog to slip away in.
• Alter landscape: the begumny can alter the land around them in minor ways to help them hide.
• Wolf taunt: the begumny can taunt a wolf or someone the consider a wolf (an arrogant, cruel, or violent person) into suffering or acting rashly.
• Aurora spark: when a begumny runs on snow, an aurora sparks into the sky,
• Escape to the stars: the begumny can turn into an astral form, but if they do this, they are gone until dawn.
• Vulpine messenger: a begumny can send one of the two fox spirits to deliver a message, but it may be garbled
• Foxfire: the begumny can create surprising lights that sparkle around a target.

Begumnies gain magic as they perform their trickery and pranks, especially if it teaches someone a good lesson.

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

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Kaderplaz

Type: Reptilianist

Kaderplazes are riders and wielders of reptiles who can do anything with reptiles if they do it with style. This magical attunement to reptiles is something kaderplazes gain either via a deal with a powerful fey, by training in the Lore, or because they have learned to be just that improbably stylish in the eyes of reptiles.

Kaderplazes do everything with style. They are very charismatic. They know how to dress well (but never in reptile skins). They are performers, storytellers, and musicians, and they know what people like. They make a habit of it. Some have sold part of themselves to the fey for this, and others come by it through training and life. Most have some level of wealth to back it up, though some are from poorer backgrounds and just make it work.

Every kaderplaz has an experience where they first impress a reptile. That is not a sentence I ever expected to write, and I think my life decisions have now proven to be the right ones. Anyway, a kaderplaz will usually inadvertently impress a reptile and find it follows them everywhere thereafter. This will be their constant companion. Depending on what it was, they may gain new abilities. But this will begin their journey, and they will gain special magic over reptiles thenceforth.

The commonest reptiles this may affect are as follows:

• Aspic viper: poisonous smile.
• [European] blind snake: unseen charm.
• Dice snake: dance-on-water
• [Mediterranean] house gecko: interior decorating+3.
• [European] pond turtle: steady listening.
• [Common] wall lizard: wall climb.
• Zalmoxes: big presence edge. -2 STH, +2 PRS when attracting attention.

Though the player may choose any reptile native to Eastern Europe, with GM’s permission.

They also gain the following abilities:

• Charm reptile: any reptile they look into the eyes of can be charmed by them.
• Cold-blooded intimidation: they can lower their body temperature with focus over the course of an hour to make themselves more intimidating and less susceptible to emotional magic or manipulations.
• Deceptive coloration: if they wear certain colors, it makes people make assumptions about them.
• Sinuous persuasion: they reroll persuasion if they take the low die on the second roll.
• Removable tail: they can make a quick costume change if they give up a small part of their body while doing so.

If a kaderplaz ever wears reptile skin, harms a reptile, or doesn’t speak up for a wrongly accused reptile, they lose their magic.

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

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Mogut

Type: Zoanthrope

A mogut is a zoanthrope who is bonded to certain animal forms via the ancient fey Tradition. "Mogut" is the generic name. There are those who use other names for this occupation who refer to those who have a specific animal form rather than being able to take multiple animal forms.

To become a mogut, one must either make a deal with a powerful fey or spend years studying the arts of spirit-sending to connect to animals. The latter is very difficult and comes with the risk of losing one's essence, but the former requires a deep price to the fey. Either way, the moguti are part of their community's defense against demons, undead, bad weather, and other unpleasantness.

A mogut sends their spiritual essence out of their body while in a deep trance, seeking an animal, and when they find it, they take over the animal, using its body to observe or act. While this is happening, the mogut's body and soul are vulnerable. Most moguti connect with bulls, dogs, or boars, but any animal is possible if in the area.

Variations on this exist in different areas, each connecting to a specific animal:

• Brgant: ram
• Kombal: wolverine
• Krsnik: corvid
• Legromant: boar
• Obilnjak: mink
• Strigun: owl
• Vedomec: bull
• Vischun: wolf
• Vremenjak: dog

All variations gain the following fey abilities:

• Spiritsending: sending consciousness via soul essence, a lesser version of soulflight
• Ward for fields: a ward that protects fields from bad weather and blights.
• Ward against infernal: a ward against infernal magicks.
• Ward against celestial: a ward against celestial or popular magicks.
• Repel storm: a spell to send a storm away.

They can only use these while their spirit is in an animal. Most end up having some kind of animal feature related to the animal they first connect with. They often end up fighting for territory with others like them or with the vukodlaki.

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

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Shibret

Type: Rainmaker

Shibrets are magic users who invoke the unsolved and unresolved questions of the world to draw out inexplicable phenomena - specifically, they make it rain unexpected things. Mostly frogs.

It always starts with frogs.

The last thirteen recordings of inexplicable rains of non-water things in the area of Shar were in 1354, 1331, 1329, 1320, 1313, 1306, 1299, 1287, 1284, 1271, 1257, 1255, and 1248. There have been other non-water rains which were explicable, and other water rains that were inexplicable. But these were the ones that fit all the criteria.

Anyone who has lived to observe one of these has been marked by it. Most just have a vivid memory of it. Some found religion because of it. Some became obsessed and sought answers. And some did what should never be done and ate some of it. These latter become shibrets.

First, they begin to see things others can’t. Then they hear things others can’t. Many are killed or institutionalized, but those who aren’t eventually follow the inexplicable and find a frog. It always starts with frogs. This frog they meet will test them. If they are willing to accept the inexplicable without any want of explanation, and if the frog is feeling nice about it, they will be given the power to invoke the unsolved, unanswered questions of the universe.

It always starts with frogs. They gain the power to ask an unanswered question, and in response, a rain of frogs falls. It must always be the same question. As time goes on, they may gain other questions and other rains.

If their question is ever answered (accurately), the magic will go away. All of it. Below are some of the things they can call down inexplicably:

• Rain of frogs: thousands of frogs (and maybe toads, hell maybe even a newt or two) will cascade from the sky. The frogs will distract, harm, poison, confuse, give hallucinations, and stick to anything within range.
• Rain of fish: thousands of small fish will come down. The fish will flop about, slap, slash, kiss, slip, splatter, and smell bad to anything within range.
• Rain of blood: like regular rain, but blood instead of water. It gets immediately sticky, stinks of death, spreads disease, ruins crops (unless they are special kinds of crops), and makes it hard to notice if you yourself are bleeding.
• Rain of meat: chunks of red meat splatter about. The chunks smell awful, are raw, and are very slippery, bloody, and gross. They spread disease, cause vomiting, and attract vermin.
• Rain of jelly: star jelly is a milky, translucent jelly substance that has a range of bizarre properties, from healing to granting visions to merging two kinds of life to alleviating the effects of gravity.
• Rain of spiders: they gently float down on web umbrellas, dance about, and repair any torn garments nearby. One in a thousand of the falling spiders are poisonous and will bite someone.

The player will choose two of these to start with. They automatically start with rain of frogs, because it always starts with frogs.

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

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Strazhcachrob

Type: Coleopterist

Strazhcachrobs know which beetles are omens of death, endings, or other aspects of ancient tales, and they know how to wield them to direct that magic. Most learn this by making a deal with a powerful fey, some study the Tradition for years to learn it, and others learn it by having a near-death experience and being filled with fey beetles, coming alive somehow with the knowledge of beetle omens.

The latter happens if they notice four omens in the form of beetles and ignore them, nearly die, then accept their end. In that moment, the four beetles they noticed will gather and enter their bodies, stitching them back together or healing them in an incomplete way. Those who study the Tradition to gain this magic must emulate this to wield it. They will come back slightly wrong, alive but mortally wounded, and have these magical abilities:

• Beetlespeech: they can speak to any kind of beetle.
• Coleopteric omen: when they look around and see beetles, they know what omens those beetles represent.
• Invocation of omen: if they have seen a coleopteric omen, they may invoke it and force its outcome by drawing blood from their wound and feeding it to a beetle.
• Correlative count: every four beetles counted has a meaning.
• Final beetle: they may call upon the final beetle at the cost of their lives, killing someone.

Every strazhcachrob will have four of these beetles living in their body:

• Ambrosia beetle: omen of a religious or spiritual ending.
• Blue mint beetle: omen of a coming judgment.
• Copper peacock beetle: omen of an ending by legal means.
• [Mellet's] downy-back beetle: omen of a kind ending.
• Dune scarab beetle: omen of fever.
• Fir engraver beetle: omen of a painful ending.
• Graciliella beetle: omen of grace.
• Greater stag beetle: omen of strength.
• Grooved ground beetle (rhysodes sulcatus): omen of a natural ending.
• Hide beetle: omen of hard ending.
• [Mediterranean] leaf beetle: omen of an ending in the wild.
• Long-horned beetle: omen of a traumatic and punishing end.
• Noble chafer beetle: omen of a political ending.
• Orange leaf beetle [Orsodacne cerasi]: omen of a truthful ending.
• Rose chafer beetle: omen of a beautiful ending.
• [Pannonian] tiger beetle: omen of an ending of stars.
• Violet oil beetle: omen of a metaphysical ending.

Which four determine the way they nearly died and are the most powerful omens they may evoke. Evocation of omens may inflict an ending on someone, or it may simply cause something to happen briefly thereafter, depending on how powerfully it is invoked.

These are common in Belasar.

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