Celestial Seekers

Those who use celestial magic to investigate, seek, find, explore, range, hunt, transport, travel, or communicate.

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Curiofoss

Type: Explorer

A curiofoss is an explorer driven and empowered by curiosity and enthusiasm. The more they let their curiosity guide them, the more powerful they become

In order to tap into their curiosity, they must first indulge it by seeking knowledge or experiences that are not harmful to the world. This just means they can't seek out an experience like serial murder or learn about necromancy, to name two examples. As they follow their curiosity, they must not let it waver, but instead, let it continue to grow as they learn. Similarly, they tap into their enthusiasm simply by following it and using it to do their work. If they lose enthusiasm for their work, they weaken. If they stop being curious, they weaken.

Curiosity can be weakened by boredom, contentment, or rote. In order to maintain it, they must change things up occasionally. However, enthusiasm may be dampened by distraction, so changing things up may risk enthusiasm (for their targeted work). Thus, they must find a balance, maintaining focus on their work while engaging with it in different ways as they go. This translates into a roll of AWA to maintain the balance and WIL to maintain focus.

If they do this, they gain bonuses to their work, going from +1 at the start to +9 at their peak over the course of a single work. Failed rolls will lower that bonus; successful rolls will build it. Since their primary work is exploration, this is where their enthusiasm and curiosity and innovation must lead for it to work. Other paths will weaken them.

As they explore, their curiosity may open up other abilities within themselves. Some that they may gain include the following:

• Splintered attention: their curiosity in everything around them allows them to pay full attention to multiple targets.
• Undiminished interest: they may replace sleep for one turn with exploration.
• Bounding enthusiasm: they may convert enthusiasm into an ATH bonus for one action.
• No stone unturned: they may reroll failed perception rolls twice per session.
• Curious guise: they may make others curious about them, drawing their attention.

Their explorations may not be used to empower or otherwise help oppressors, exploiters, abusers, slavers, impoverishers, imprisoners, indenturers, or other evil people. They are, as such, criminalized in colonized lands.

PRO +1 ATH +3 STR +1 AWA +3 WIL / PRS / STH /

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Goodfinder

Type: Seeker

Goodfinders seek helpful goods and resources of any kind in their travels. They have the ability to know what a person needs by listening to them. They gain this ability by living amongst those they serve, usually because they are born amongst them, though this is not a prerequesite. As they live amongst those they serve, they come to know them, giving them mundane insights into them. In order to take that to a magical level, they need a mentor who will each them to listen to unspoken words (and thus, unspoken needs) and to connect to the energy of providing.

Necessity is a powerful force. It drives most living things and many unliving things, and fulfilling it is as potent as appeasing a Divine. Goodfinders learn to connect to necessity by fulfilling it, finding ways to meet the needs of those around them, then seeing the flickers of its power within those moments and capturing it. They capture it in special capsules called thurfas. Their mentors provide them their first thurfas, which they use to capture their first bits of necessity. Eventually, they fill up enough thurfas to begin using them to wield their powers. thurfas can be used for the following:

• Create capsule: though it is possible to create a thurfa without already having one, a full thurfa can make ten empty ones.
• Capture necessity: thurfas fill up after ten minor needs are met or three major needs.
• Deep listening: the ability to hear what someone needs from what they are saying, even if they don't say it. Effectively, read people +6 for that specific purpose.
• Find resource: a goodfinder can sense resources within 20' of themselves with an AWA roll; the more useful, the higher the difficulty.
• Pocket of many needs: a goodfinder gathers many small trinkets and odds and ends, and they may roll to see if they have something random in their pockets that is germaine to any situation.

Other abilities may be possible. Consult with the GM.

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

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Swanwalker

Type: Investigator

To uphold the law is to uphold the will of the ruling class; to uphold true justice requires something greater. Swanwalkers wield the power of lhair, which allows them to sense injustice and mete out true justice. They carry small blades, guns, and lariats.

True justice is not defined by the laws of mortals nor Divines. True justice is about an objective right and wrong based on what represents the survival of a mortal species and the individuals that make up that species. It is the rights of the many over the luxury of the few. The crimes a swanwalker is concerned with are determined by an ancient code called the Code of the Swan. The code of the swanwalker is symbolized by the swan, which their legends say brought them the laws that are above mortal or Divine. The Code specifies the most grievous crimes, the conduct expected of a swanwalker, and guidance on the grey areas. This code is called Hans Kaanoon. There are crimes that are considered unforgivable. These include murder (including genocide or war), rape and sexual assault, enslavement and imprisonment, abuse and torture, exploitation and oppression, polluting the world, and so on. These are crimes often done on mass scale or done by the powerful to the disenfranchised.

The Code has room for mercy and redemption. Even the most egregious crimes can be redeemed, but they require the perpetrator be willing to spend their life fighting against the injustices they used to inflict, profit from, or champion. When a swanwalker shows mercy, they expect a devotion to redemption. When a swanwalker metes out justice in the form of death, they must have ascertained there is no hope for redemption, no value to mercy for the perpetrator, then side with mercy for the aggrieved. In many cases, swanwalkers will capture even the worst perpetrators and bring them back to face judgment by the magistrates. In the field, there are times when someone's life is in danger when a swanwalker must pass judgment themselves, and there are times when a crime is so egregious judgment is too clear to ignore. But most, even some of the worst, are captured and brought in. If a swanwalker metes out judgment of death, they must return to the magistrates to prove it was justified. If they mete out other judgment but show mercy, they must return and ensure the perpetrator is truly seeking redemption. If the perpetrator fails, the swanwalker will often bring them in for judgment before the magistrates.

Those who are chosen to be swanwalkers must be those who have experienced deep injustice. They must feel its evil in their bones, it is said. Swanwalkers are always called within their hearts and driven to seek out justice, true justice, in the face of grievous injustice. As such, they gain compassion for others who suffered injustice. When a swanwalker is called within their heart, they often find themselves visited by agents of justice, usually swans, which challenge them. If they are found worthy by these agents, they are sent via a vision to find a swanwalker to be their mentor. Many, many swanwalkers come from other law enforcement groups that work for ruling classes. Often times they are true believers in justice who conflate it with law and order or the authority of the king or president. Eventually, they see the truth and become disillusioned with the lies of the powerful. Many such simply quit or suffer through, but some few who experience or witness grievous injustice find it in themselves to become true fighters for justice. However, if they have spent much time serving injustice, they must redeem themselves first with a quest. A potential swanwalker seeking redemption for former crimes (be they disillusioned former law enforcement or others who have done harm before) must go on a quest either to confront the powers that once commanded them or to pay resitution to their victims. If neither is applicable or possible (or simply too big to be reasonable), they are sent to confront unrelated evil.

The swans, or other agents of justice, who test swanwalkers test them three times: once when they are first called, once when they finish training, and once when they seek to become an independent swanwalker:

• Calling: an internal trial wherein they face their own fears, regrets, and shame.
• Deputization: once they finish training, they are deputized and face their mentor in several tests of knowledge, combat, tracking, and ethics.
• Matriculation: after a year or so, they are tested again to see if they are ready to work on their own, this time facing a independent mission as a trial.

At each trial, they gain new powers as yellow light suffuses their bodies.

Once someone is an independent swanwalker, they are able to conduct their own investigations into any injustice they sense or are told about. They are aided in their investigations by having both PRS bonuses (+1 as deputy, +3 as swanwalker) only during investigation. If the target of their investigation flees or seeks to escape somehow, they gain temporary tracking abilities of 13 or +3 if they have a 13 or more already.

Individual swanwalkers have powers that are usually circumstantial:

• Sensing injustice: their bones resonate when active injustice is played out near them and as a faint buzz when they are near major, ongoing injustices. Because within class societies, injustice is everywhere, many swanwalkers learn to ignore the buzz.
• Deputizing: swanwalkers can temporaily deputize others for up to 25 hours, granting them faint injustice sense and bonuses to tracking, reaction, and prowess.
• Rallying: when in desperate danger, when in most need, swanwalkers can call other swanwalkers who are within range of rescuing them.
• Steed: many swanwalkers form an emotional bond with their mounts and can speak to them rudimentarily, call them if they are in range, and move gracefully with them.
• Stunning rope: if a target is caught in their rope and is truly believed to be a source of injustice, their rope will stun them into insensibility at command.
• Speed draw: swanwalkers can give themselves higher reaction, but it will slow them down later, depending on the bonuses they apply. The higher the bonus, the quicker the come down, capping at +6 for one round of combat, -6 the next.
• Swansong: if a swanwalker is about to die, they can sing to the swans and call upon a flock from anywhere in the world to continue their present fight.

Collective powers are less circumstantial, but require a number of swanwalkers working together:

• Yellowflare: a brief flare of yellow energy stuns all alleged perpetrators within 30 yards of a group of three swanwalkers working together to invoke this power.
• Blackrope: a single rope becomes as long as the ropes of all swanwalkers within 30 yards and has the stun and entangling power of all ropes together.
• True invocation: 12 or more swanwalkers together may place hands upon a target and invoke the truth, forcing them to speak honestly.
• Speaking the Code: 12 or more swanwalkers together may speak the Code, word for word, in unison, to make it the binding law of a place delineated by their riding around it.
• Red badge: a single swanwalker's badge glows red, giving its wearer major protections from infernal powers, if seven or more swanwalkers place their power in the chosen swanwalker.
• Blue star: a single swanwalker's badge glows blue, giving its wearer major bonuses to combat against infernal powers, if seven or more swanwalkers place their power in the chosen swanwalker.
• Light of justice: 12 or more swanwalkers together may call upon the light of justice to burn the unjust within 30 yards.

In the colonies, the local grouping of the swanwalkers is called the Swans of the Coast.

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

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Trueseeker

Type: Journalist

A journalist who reports only the truth, thus generating celestial truth magic, which allows them to sense truths and garner trust.

The art of truespeaking is more than simply telling the truth. It is a dedication to being truthful. It is avoiding not just lying, but as many forms of deception as possible, and being forthright and earnest in all communication. It means not omitting inconvenient information, not manipulating, not rephrasing, not engaging in spin. It also does not mean "brutal honesty," but rather, compassionate honesty; that is to say, trueseekers do not wield the truth to hurt others when at all possible, nor do they engage in lies to protect others. In order to wield the powers of a trueseeker, one must engage in honest, truthful communication for seven years without fail, repenting for past lies along the way. Once they have achieved seven years of truthfulness, they earn their powers, which grow over time as they retain their truthfulness. Any failure on their part means immediate loss of powers.

Repenting for lies in order to make up for past lies or to repair their powers means engaging in the four steps of reparation:

• Repent: admit to the lies to those to whom you lied or in a public space if the former is not available.
• Reveal: reveal the truth to those to whom you lied or in a public space if the former is not available.
• Reconcile: offer service or repayment or other forms of reconciliation with the aggrieved or engage in public service.
• Restore: restore trust between yourself and the wronged parties if possible, or engage in public service to gain trust of others.

Once these are complete, the trueseeker will have earned or regained their powers. Given that no one will remember every lie they ever told, general repentence is possible through acts of general admission to lies, but the more hurtful lies one has told must be atoned for in as direct and open way as possible. Becoming a trueseeker requires an act of witnessing. This means speaking a profound, difficult truth in a manner that has consequences. The most common version of this is speaking truth to power - denouncing the lies of a bad ruler, for example - but it can be something personal, religious, or philosophical. Truespeaking is an art practiced entirely on a personal level, so it is different for everyone.

Trueseekers work as journalists. They exist across cultural boundaries - they have many names in different cultures - but there is a loose network of them operating around the world. They teach each other how to be trueseekers and instill the values of honesty and truthfulness in each other. They also keep watch on one another. They have a strict code of how much they can charge for their services, which is based on the weight of the truth they must bear and the resources of those they choose to serve. They will not serve those who are deceptive and dishonest - i.e., imperial or colonial governments, for example - and see themselves as servants of the people.

Trueseekers are not held accountable for speaking lies they do not know to be lies unless they could reasonably have ascertained otherwise and unless they SHOULD reasonably ascertain otherwise. Though it is hard to lie to a trueseeker, ignorance is more difficult to detect. A scientist cannot prove their theories by having a trueseeker speak them; if the trueseeker reasonably believes their theories true, they will be able to speak them. Furthermore, if a trueseeker has no reason to doubt something, they are not required to check on the truth of it. If someone asks them to speak "My brother did not kill his wife," the trueseeker should, if possible, try to verify this before speaking it. But if they are asked to speak "The house key is under the rose bush" and there is no context that makes this controversial, they have no obligation to check. Statements about things that are liable to change quickly are considered true if the trueseeker believes to the best of their ability that it is true - i.e., "the sky is blue" is considered true so long as the trueseeker has not witnessed it change to grey before speaking it, even if they do not check, unless there is context to suggest it unlikely the trueseeker would still believe it, such as nightfall or a loud storm.

Trueseekers do not engage in dishonest honesty. They do not seek loopholes, such as saying something as a question in order to avoid speaking a lie, nor do they omit information or phrase things in a way to twist the truth. They speak the truth as fully and openly as possible. Anything otherwise is a deception unworthy of them.

Trueseekers must be their true selves in order to be fully truthful. For this reason, actual trueseekers are very rare, as it is very difficult in many cultures and societies to remain true to oneself. In fact, it can be outright dangerous. Most, of course, do not know their true selves, and therefore, they must seek it. If a trueseeker is on a journey of discovery, this counts as being their true selves, so long as they are honest about it.

Trueseekers gain several powers once they have attained seven years of true living:

• Truesense: the ability to sense the truth. This does not mean they can sense objective truths about the universe, but rather that they can tell when someone is lying and they can tell when there is something intentionally hidden nearby. Sensing more profound, greater truths or sensing when someone speaks ignorance rather than intentional deception is only possible for the most powerful trueseekers, and even then, it is difficult for them.
• Trustyworthy air: trueseekers gain a trustworthy air about them that exists independent of their reputation. People trust them instinctively. Breaching this trust is a major violation of their honesty.
• Repeating: repeating is the ability to repeat a truth they have been told verbatim from memory. This is the power they have to speak true messages.
• Sending: trueseekers can, once every seven weeks, send a message of truth by projecting their consciousness and an image of themselves up to seven miles away.
• Commanding truth: a trueseeker can command another to speak the truth once every seven months.
• Denouncing: after 14 years of honesty, a trueseeker can reveal a deceiver once every seven years with absolute authority. This means that they can reveal a lie told by someone of note once every seven years and be irrefutably believed.
• Revealing: after 49 years of honesty, a trueseeker may speak a truth to someone that they did not know about themselves. They must look them in the eye (or equivalent primary sense), sense a truth the person does not know of themself, then speak it aloud.

Players would be a trueseeker with at least seven years of experience but not 49 unless they consult the GM.

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