Unaligned Troupers

Those who use unaligned magic to entertain.

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Difuzor

Type: Bard

A difuzor is an Affarian bard whose music and rhyme has the power to diffuse and dissolve social situations.

To gain this magic, the difuzor must witness the infinite, understand the impossible, and believe nothing. They must rewire their brains to understand concepts and possibilities that others cannot conceive, and to do this requires powerful experimentation and chemicals, extensive education, a lot of money and time, and some weird science.

They are either trained by other difuzori or turned into one by one of the many strange magical mad scientists of Affaria. Difuzori are a tradition there, and in some communities, the lord or other leaders require one, directing their advisers to make one if none is available. Thus, some people end up one under less than consensual circumstances. Most, however, choose to learn the long but relatively easy way and do so of their own free will.

At some point in their training, when they are deemed ready, or during their unwilling transformation, they are drugged with a potent hallucinogen, locked in a chamber, and tested in mathematics, physics, and magic for three straight days. At the end of it, they are given a sedative, allowed to rest for an hour, then awakened with loud noises and asked rigorous questions until they pass out. There are less traumatic ways to do this, but this has become the grim tradition of Affaria. After this, they are shown images via magical devices that show them the wonders of the minuscule. If they leave this experience understanding decay and the tiniest parts of the universe (though through a mystic understanding), they will be able to use the magic in their arts.

The abilities they gain include the following:

• Song of diffusion: they may sing a song that diffuses social tensions but also costs them some of their own emotional capacity.
• Dissolving taunt: they may taunt someone with their magic that causes that person to lose a Relationship motivation, though costing part of one of their own.
• Microbial attestation: they may sense and describe every microbe within a room.
• Decaying verse: they can perform a full poem that itself decays as they recite it, thus causing the hearts of those around them to begin an emotional decline.
• Minuscule alteration: they may make tiny alterations to a social interaction that cause them to drastically change.

Difuzors are rare and prized by the lords of Affaria, and they are often tasked with special diplomatic missions. They also have all the other responsibilities of a court bard.

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

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Glotatel

Type: Circus

A glotatel is a sword-swallower of supernatural skill.

Glotateli are part of the circuses of Smeshan, the main draw, the most impressive act in a spread of incredible acts. They defy reason and reality by being able to swallow massive blades, unusually shaped swords, and anything else someone should not be able to swallow. They use this to entertain crowds, but often they have other strange tricks they can use with their magic for.

The glotateli started hundreds of years ago in small shows in the region. It is said the first of them learned the skills of swordswallowing to hide a weapon from a great lord, so he might assassinate him, and the skill developed later as entertainment as people recreated the event in plays and performances. From there, it turned into a stage act and then a circus act. In current times, the history is only remembered by the glotateli themselves.

They keep their secrets close, only training those who swear an oath, and then only those who show great promise in their athletic ability and performance. Then, they are taught to juggle. The juggling is a meditative exercise, focusing on three knives, which become the magical focus of the globatel. As they juggle, they find an intensity of focus that, after seven years of practice, becomes a supernatural vision of seven points in the arc. This focus then becomes part of their meditative practice for seven months. After this, if they have suitably trained, they will have seven weeks of intense magical training in understanding the energy they have begun tapping into and the knowledge that all skills are one skill.

If they master this, they learn to convert their skill with the juggling knives into any entertainment skill involving the blades, with a special focus on swordswallowing. They become so skilled with their body that they can control their insides to accommodate unusual shapes, sizes, and edges. They can, however, use this magic in other ways, though this is discouraged except in extreme circumstances.

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

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Otabrapalets

Type: Stage

An otabrapalets is a performer of shadow puppets and silhouette performance who wields the power of unaligned shadow magic.

Otabrapalets are a group of criminals masquerading as entertainers, or perhaps the other way around. They rarely agree on which. Having begun their work as a distraction from the authorities, it has evolved over the years to be the core of a traveling performer show. Still, they speak the Cant of shadows and know how to wield it. They can con an audience, pick their pockets, and send them home happy with the show.

The shadow magic comes from their trickery and thievery, from violating the laws of mortal lands knowingly and cunningly, and from the secret of the Cant, the language of thieves and rogues. They use it sparingly in front of others, but between themselves, they speak it all the time. It is the core of their shadow puppetry, the complex plays that tell on themselves - always stories of grifters, liars, murderers, rogues, and thieves - without telling on themselves.

They have a traveling stage with screens and curtains and lights that let them do mundane shadow play, but in every performance, there is a section where the Cant is used to make the shadows do things they couldn’t. As this happens, members of the group slip out and pick a pocket or purse. Others talk quietly with an audience member for “participation” that involves a trinket of value that gets replaced with a replica magically. Others still, if they look like they have money, are hit up for “investments” or “patronage”. In the end, the crowd is lighter of coin than they expected, but most none-the-wiser until far too late.

Otabrapaletsi have certain specific magical abilities:

• Shadow soliloquy: they can let their shadow puppets perform without their involvement for the length of a soliloquy or other direct interaction with the audience.
• Entrancing Cant: they can speak the Cant quietly and entrance a target briefly.
• Silhouette separation: they can let their own silhouette work separate from themselves, making people think they are on stage when they are not.
• Hooded appreciation: they can drape a shadow over their heads and see where the valuables are in the audience.
• Dark charm: they can draw from the Cant and Shadow to increase their PRS once per night.

Obtabrapaletsi are always part of a secret criminal group centered in Smeshan, but they travel the entire region.

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