Assassins

Hired killers.

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Amshuar

There are several kinds of assassins and hired killers employed by the Blue Grith. They mete out justice and mercy on behalf of the oppressed, the meek, the exploited.

Those who hunt and stalk their prey to bring violent justice. These treat slaveowners, slavers, and other oppressors as subjects of their hunt, and they gain power by showing respect for their prey, using every piece of them.

To become an amshuar, one must attune to the sacred hunt. The sacred hunt is more than mere survival, more than predator and prey, but rather, hunting with a consciousness, hunting knowing how to show deep respect for the prey, for the cycles of life, and for justice itself. Never over-killing, always using every part of the prey, and killing those among the prey that are a threat to the prey's survival as well. To become an amshuar, one needs to adjust this to the killing of oppressors and exploiters, meaning viewing the world's most destructive, violent people as prey, and then finding a way to respect them. This usually involves understanding how dangerous they really are, and doing nothing to alleviate that before hunting them.

Since the prey of the amshuar wield their power via wealth and property, their wealth and property becomes part of their body in the view of the amshuar. This means that their bodyguards and servants are part of their herd. A true amshuar only kills a bodyguard if they absolutely must, and they never kill a servant, no matter the risk. They kill only their target.

To attune to the sacred hunt, they first train under other amshuar, usually members of the Blue Grith. Once they are deemed fit, they engage in a ritual hunt in which they track and tag their mentor. After succeeding at this, they must shrive themselves of all power, weaponry, and skill, and then return to the world of the oppressed and meek, living a life of deprivation for a year. During this time, they will have visions, assuming they are successful, and in these visions, they will see a child who tells them the rules of the sacred hunt. If they remember and live by these, they will, after a year, their mentor will have a vision confirming it. Then, their mentor will give them their first mission. During this mission, their powers will come to them.

• Unassuming presence: they are seen as unassuming and non-dangerous, +2 PRS.
• Soul marking: if they can see their target, they can mark their soul such that they know where they are at all times, within 10 miles, giving a bonus against target's STH (+6) and to hit (+3 PRO).
• Danger sense: they can sense incoming, imminent danger at AWA +1 in general, giving them +3 to dodge any attack, and +3 to sense sneak attacks.
• Subtle blue: while escaping the scene of a kill, they get +3 STH.
• Respect: in order to respect their prey and "use every part of them", they absorb the energies within their prey upon killing them at a power of WIL+1 against the dying WIL of the target (usually -6 or -9). If they refuse to use this, they will lose their powers. Any energies they absorb in this way will be converted to the energy of the sacred hunt.
• Distribution: all of the energies absorbed via respect must be distributed to victims of the target. This is done either via direct touch, providing either healing or nourishment (as needed), or by channeling it into an object. The object will be made magical and have a use for the victims of the target. This power may not be used to benefit the amshaur.

The Blue Grith employs amshuar to kill slaveowners. They traditionally wield bows and arrows.

Part of the Committee for Liberation.

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

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Blaggard

The Violet Grith is not afraid to mete out death to those who threaten their work. They have two kinds of assassins - those who kill via ritual hunt and those who kill with stories of death.

The power of the the Wild Hunt fuels the blaggards of the Violet Grith. In order to wield this power, they must perform a ritual (with help from a mentor in the Violet Grith) in the dead of autumn, preferably on Eigenihtes, to summon one of the Wild Hunt, then challenge them to a hunting contest. If the blaggard succeeds, they gain powers, and if they fail, they are bonded to serve in the Wild Hunt for seven years. The contest is always a race to catch a difficult target, usually a person in the city who owes the Wild Hunt or some powerful fey being some deep debt. The blaggard has seven hours to succeed. If they do, they gain seven powers. If they wish to have more powers, they may perform the ritual the next autumn and challenge the Wild Hunt again, but it will require a much more difficult hunting contest.

The powers they receive will include seven of the following:

• The power to fade into shadow while hunting as long as it is twilight or night, twice per night.
• Their sense of smell heightens when they are hunting a specific target. If they fail to complete the hunt on the same night, they lose their vision for the next day.
• The wearing of red gives them resistance (+6) against heat and flame.
• If they bind and capture prey, that prey may be offered wholly to the Wild Hunt as a sacrifice (being forced to serve it) to give the blaggard an extra power for a week.
• The blaggard can create a glamour about themselves, taking a form of similar size or one that heightens their own appearance, with a sprinkle of mushroom powder.
• If they wound a prey and spill its blood, they can absorb the blood to gain +3 to a power, +2 to a skill, or +1 to a base stat for seven minutes.
• As they are on the hunt, they have an aura of fear about them that anyone who might stop their hunt must roll against or be forced to flee.
• If they sleep on a hunting night, they may ride through dreams to a different location, once per year.
• If they kill their prey, they have the option to try to steal their soul, which can be traded to the Wild Hunt for an extra power for a week.

Any target of theirs who is soaked in saltwater will be impervious to the blaggard's attacks.

Blaggards serve the Violet Grith as hunters of their enemies, and if they choose to mark and hunt someone as prey who the Violet Grith does not want killed, they will be sold to the Wild Hunt themselves.

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

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Drapare

There are many kinds of assassin working for the Green Grith, wielding different kinds of elemental magic to kill their targets. Drapare freeze their own hearts so they may wield ice magic to kill with.

In the heart of winter, the powers of ice and snow heighten. At this time, those who can tap into that power may draw it within themselves, freeze their hearts and emotions solid, and gain the power to channel the cold as a weapon.

To do this, drapares need to prime themselves emotionally by intentionally dampening, suppressing, or burying their emotions. They must train for years to destroy all feelings within, turning themselves into metaphorical cold-blooded killers before making it more literal. After years of practice, they wait until midwinter, then perform a ritual of diving into the deep, cold river, holding themselves down there for as long as possible while focusing on an emotion and humming a magical song they are taught by a mentor from the Green Grith. They do this over and over again until they have left every emotion at the bottom of the river. Meanwhile, they must avoid warming themselves, for that will return the emotions. This means they must condition themselves to be able to handle the cold as well.

If they are successful, the cold will suffuse them, their hearts and blood will freeze, emotions will vanish, and they will be able to command ice, snow, and cold at will during the colder months. During warmer months, it becomes more difficult, but they can still manage it, but they will need some ice as a focus. They channel the cold and ice by drawing the cold from within themselves and singing softly magical songs, but if they want to unleash greater power, they can cut themselves and use the frozen blood within themselves.

Their powers when it is below 40 degrees:

• Iceblade: a nine-inch long blade of sharp, frozen blood forms in the palm of the drapare's hand. It is a piercing weapon with +6/+6 stun/wound. On exceptional hits, it freezes the blood and flesh of the target at a power of 10; on critical hits, it is 13. This song is a difficulty of 10.
• Freezing touch: the touch of the drapare can freeze solid anything they touch. Freezing power is equal to the difficulty of the song they sing.
• Ice armor: a barrier of ice forms around the drapare, creating armor of +6/+6 around their bodies (song difficulty of 10) or a solid barrier of ice six inches thick in a ring three feet around them (song difficulty of 16).
• Frost aura: an aura of chilled air and frost forms around the drapare, making it so that anyone who comes close to them must roll against a power equal to the song's difficulty or suffer cold damage at the same power.
• Flurry form: the drapare can take the form of a snow flurry and move as if made of wind and snow for 100' over the course of five rounds. Song difficulty of 16.
• Cold wave: the drapare unleashes a wave of freezing cold air at a range of 50' in all directions at a power equal to the song difficuly, minimum of 16.
• Command snow: if there is snow or ice present, the drapare's song can control it with a song. The difficulty is based on the amount of ice or snow being controlled, with 1 being a handful, 4 being a football-sized amount, 7 being an amount equal to a full-sized human, 10 being an amount equal to two full-sized humans, 13 being a horse-sized amount, 16 being a room's worth, 19 being a house-sized amount, 22 being a city block's worth.
• Reflecting ice: a sheen of black ice forms over the drapare, making them difficult to see. Song difficulty is base of 7 for +3 STH, with +3 more for every extra point of STH added above that.

Their powers when it is above 40 degrees:

• Frost dart: six small frozen darts made of frozen blood fly from the drapare's palms, with damage rating of 10/16/22. Song difficulty is 12.
• Chilling touch: the touch of the drapare can lower the temperature of what they touch. Chilling power is equal to the difficulty of the song -2.
• Frozen flesh: their flesh freezes in an area they choose to add at least +3 toughness. Song difficulty is 12, plus +3 more per extra point of toughness added.
• Gelid pulse: a pulse of freezing air flows out from the drapare, a gust of cold, cold wind that flows out 25' in all directions at a power equal to the song difficulty -2, minimum of 14.
• Skin rime: a rime of frost forms over the skin of the drapare, making them painfully cold to the touch at a power of song difficulty -2.

Drapares seek these powers out of devotion to the cause of the Green Grith. When they lose their emotions, they risk losing their motivations and becoming dangerous, ruthless killers with no compass. If this happens, they are targeted by the Green Grith for extermination.

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

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Dunmharfoir

The Violet Grith is not afraid to mete out death to those who threaten their work. They have two kinds of assassins - those who kill via ritual hunt and those who kill with stories of death.

Pronounced "duarfor". These assassins are elites in the Violet Grith, taking their powers from ancient tales of death, using magical omens to kill rather than attacking someone physically. To gain the powers to do this, they study the ancient lore for years, and on a blustery midwinter night, they must perform a ritual in which they offer first their blood, then their memories, then their feelings, then their soul to Death Herself. If she accepts any of these, they simply die. If she refuses all four, they are given four years to prove themselves worthy of her magic. During that time, they must perform four quests in her name, bringing back blood, a memory, a feeling, and a soul to her. If they succeed, she gives them four powers:

• The power to enter a domicile via a window without opening or closing it.
• Sealing someone in a room by tying a black ribbon to the door.
• The power to terrify someone by mimicking the keen of the bean sidhe.
• The power to end a life by stopping the nearest clock.

They drive a shadowy coach at night, wearing a cloak to hide their face and head, and arrive at the house of those they wish dead. They enter through a closed window, seal the target in a room, warn them with the wail, then stop the nearest clock to kill them. They gain a new power for every four people they kill in this way.

This only works on those the Violet Grith allows them to target. Otherwise, they must rely upon other skills and powers. Thus, they train as a mundane assassin as well.

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

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Merciful

There are several kinds of assassins and hired killers employed by the Blue Grith. They mete out justice and mercy on behalf of the oppressed, the meek, the exploited.

The merciful are those who bring death as a mercy to the victims of the iniquitous - not killing the victims, but their oppressors, bringing mercy by slaying the iniquitous. These assassins wield power granted to them by living a lifestyle that embodies mercy - they don't even kill insects if they can help it; they help those in pain and in need; and they do their best to live a life that alleviates suffering. And from this, they gain the power to kill those who cause suffering.

In order to gain the power to kill, they must be exemplary in their merciful ways, and they must make a vow to always live mercifully. They must prove it every day, and their vow must be made upon something sacred to them - and at risk of losing that. (And it may not be the life of another, though it may be their own life.) Their oath must be heard by someone who also lives a life of mercy or by someone of equal power within the Blue Grith (one who lives by a virtue or one who draws power from one of the celeste waters, flames, stone, metal, beast, wood, or winds). Then, they prove their mercy by being tested with a vision that comes in their sleep. This vision will inevitably require them to choose a merciful action. If they succeed, they awaken with a feeling of compassion and mercy in their hearts.

This feeling can be transferred into any weapon they choose. It is tradition within the Blue Grith for them to select a rapier.

If they fail in living a life of mercy at any point, they will weaken. If they make an egregious error or intentional renouncement of a life of mercy, they lose their powers completely.

Because they are filled with the sense of mercy, they tend to have a very calm demeanor that makes people underestimate them as a threat. The power of mercy means that even a normal wound has a chance of killing the iniquitous. And they are protected against infernal powers, and they gain special senses.

• Celeste demeanor: any rolls to detect their intentions or otherwise read them face an extra +3 PRS because they will be seen as harmless and kind.
• Merciful strike: if they choose, they may channel their mercy into an attack, forcing anyone who receives a normal wound or better to roll WIL against the power of mercy or die instantly.
• Hallowed aura: any infernal power directed at them rolls against an extra +3 on either STR or WIL.
• Detect cruelty: they gain a +3 to PRS or AWA to sense if someone is a source of suffering for others.

Part of the Commitee for Warfare.

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

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Obligant

The Red Grith is not shy about killing those who cross them. Their hired killers are obligants, those who kill in devotion to a Divine power (usually one of the seven Divinities who patron the Red Grith).

Obligants are assassins sworn to the service of one of the deities of the Red Grith. They gain power by remaining in their deity's favor, which they do by living up to the values of their Divine. Depending on their deity, they may gain different skills and powers. All obligants may invoke the favor of their deities via prayer or ritual, asking for almost anything, and roll their favor score to see if they receive it. Success or failure results in loss of favor points.

Obligants of the Hooded Lady are sworn to a life of living outside mortal laws. They are not necessarily punished for obeying a mortal law, but they are rewarded for violating them if and only if they do so either for personal gain or for the sake of survival. She rewards cunning and planning. She punishes those who snitch, those who write or uphold laws, or those who choose death, suffering, or punishment by mortal hands over violating a mortal law.

Her rewards come in the form of the Hooded Shadow, the power to slip into shadows no matter where one stands, to see within dark spaces, to know the value and the risks of a situation, and the vulnerabilities of a target. She also allows her obligants to speak the Cant, the secret language of criminals. Their preferred weaponry are small, easily hidden weapons like knives or darts.

Those she targets for death are authorities and their willing and knowing servants.

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

Obligants of the Five-Headed God are sworn to follow the principles of the Dragon: discipline, power, majesty, territory, and accumulation. They must maintain a disciplined lifestyle with regular exercise and good diet, meditation and study, and constant training. They must keep their mind and body strong. They must be well mannered and maintain social graces. They must keep their own space and not violate that of others. And they must accumulate objects pleasing to their god, which in this case is either currency or magical items.

They are rewarded with access to dragonfire, dragonwill, dragonmight, dragonaura, dragonsense, and draconic accumulation. Dragonfire operates similar to that wielded by drakignites (see above under Arsonist), but obligants carry a holy symbol (a five-headed symbol) instead of a dracutrem. Dragonmight is the ability to increase STR by 6 temporarily (for ten minutes) once per day, and dragonwill is the same but for WIL. Dragonaura is the ability to increase PRS by 3 temporarily (for ten minutes) once per day. Dragonsense is the ability to perceive everything within their territory (usually their home) for three minutes once per day. Draconic accumulation is the ability to absorb esoteric energies directed at them, converting them to favor from the Five-Headed God.

Their preferred weapons are koshes, clubs, or claws, with dragonfire as a common addition.

The Five-Headed God calls for sacrifices of those who violate his territory, steal from his hoard, interrupt his training, insult his majesty, or challenge his power.

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

Obligants of the Dust Collector are sworn to never waste anything useful. They keep things they think they may need one day, unless they find a better home for it. They view everything as a resource, and they view it as a sin to throw things away if they can be used somehow. They are rewarded for resourcefulness, inventiveness, and orderliness. They are punished for waste.

They are rewarded with raw menab'e, a reddish kind of coal that is raw resource. It can be converted to points for any of their stats, skills, powers, or abilities, so long as those are something they use regularly. Menab'e burns out after they use the stat (etc.) they spent it on, but can be easily reacquired if they are devout.

Their resourcefulness often translates to scavenging skills in the city. Their preferred weapons are improvised weaponry.

The Dust Collector targets the wasteful and indulgent for death.

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

Obligants of the Great Huntress believe in the sanctity of the hunt. They believe in respecting their prey, in using all parts of that which they kill, and not killing except for food or survival... except those the Great Huntress marks for death. They are rewarded both for respecting the hunt and for being good at it. They are punished for disrespecting the hunt.

Their rewards take the form of blessings to their hunting implements, greater endurance or determination, sharper senses, or animal companions. Blessings to their hunting implements (either weaponry or clothing) take the form of bonuses to hit, bonuses to STH, or bonuses to stun/wound (max +3). Endurance and determination bonuses are upwards of +3 to either (endurance being a substat of STR or ATH, determination being a substat of WIL). Sharper senses give upwards of +3 to sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch (substat of AWA). Animal companions are animals fitting to the setting.

Ritual sacrifice of prey (or parts thereof) can also gain these obligants favor.

Many of these powers and abilities are similar to that of Slayers, such as their skills in hunting and tracking, survivalist skills, and so on. They prefer to use bow and arrow.

The Great Huntress marks for death those who disrespect the hunt. Poachers, sport hunters, polluters, and those who are wasteful in their kills are all prime targets.

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

Obligants of the Humble Trader believe in making good deals. They gain favor almost entirely from bargaining with their deity, offering up sacrifices or dedicating works or services to see if he approves. In general, the Humble Trader likes honest dealing, seeing the real value and utility of things, though "market forces" still influence him. He will punish cheating, going back on a deal, or contract violations. Obligants begin their service by writing a contract with the Humble Trader, wrapping it around a valuable coin, then burning the contract. If the coin also burns, the contract is accepted.

Rewards given these obligants vary by contract. Any bonus or skill can be put into the contract, so long as the obligant makes a fair offer for it and lives up to it. This can be anything from magical powers, skill bonuses, stat bonuses, knowledge or information, or immunities. They cannot write something into a contract that affects someone else ("make my enemies go blind"). Though they can contract for any kind of weaponry or skill, they have a tendency to use small firearms.

Targets are those the obligant is contracted to kill.

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

Obligants of the Traveler's Friend are committed to supporting those on the road. The Traveler's Friend requires followers to get out of their own comfort zones, to move about, and therefore, many are not always in Haenor. They are rewarded for supporting the travels of others, for traveling themselves, and for learning from those experiences. They are punished for stasis.

Rewards given include speed, endurance, and skills needed for a successful journey - languages, local knowledge, geography, and so on. If they have a means of travel they commonly use - train, horse, airship - their chosen vehicle may receive a blessing as well. The catch is that they must gain momentum. If they are rewarded in one way, they will continue to be rewarded (because they are building momentum) in that stat until it is maxed out (which is a 42 for mortal beings). This leads to super-specialization. The only way they can change their course is by getting punished, and some obligants intentionally do so in order to avoid being faster than a train in their day to day life.

They tend to use walking staves as weapons.

Targets include those thay prey on travelers.

PRO +1 ATH +5 STR / AWA +1 WIL / PRS / STH +1

Obligants of the Corpus must respect their own bodies. The Corpus is a deity of the body itself, of the flesh and blood, the bones and hair, the humors and the viscera. If a being has a body that isn't flesh and blood, the equivalents they have count - i.e., crystal folk's bodies are, obviously, crystal; green folk have plant bodies with sap or nectar, petal or bark; etc. The Corpus rewards those who optimize the lifespan of their body. This does not mean that they never indulge in something "bad" for them, but that they generally speaking do not damage it. One need not be an athlete to gain favor, and indeed, some athletes engage in such violent sport that it has a negative effect. There is a balance sought by the followers of the Corpus, typically. However, obligants need to be in physical condition that allows them to effectively murder people, so they skew toward a more athletic frame.

Rewards are entirely bodily. They range from raw STR and ATH to substats like toughness, endurance, constitution, agility, fine motor skills (which translates to PRO). They can also improve very specific functions, such as making their heart more efficient or their liver more resistant (something they might do if they need to drink a lot of alcohol for a job) or making a specific bone unbreakable temporarily. They can also adapt their body beyond its natural limits, giving themselves wings (if they don't have any to begin with), extra limbs, greater or lesser height or weight or mass, altered shape, etc., but these are much more difficult to achieve and require extreme levels of favor. Perhaps the most common reward, however, is healing.

They tend to resort to unarmed combat.

Targets of the Corpus are always those who cause harm to the bodies of others on a large scale.

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

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Sicarian

The Red Grith is not shy about killing those who cross them. Their hired killers are sicarians who can convert one skill to another magically as needed.

Sicarians are assassins whose focus is honing their skills to an elite level. Only a few are in the Red Grith, as few have the resources to achieve this ability. Those that do are sponsored by the Red Grith after showing promise as precision killers.

They engage in a meditative practice called figgum. This begins with the assassin not learning to kill, but to juggle. They practice this for hours a day until they can juggle five knives with their eyes closed, and then they juggle while meditating. The concept they focus on to meditate is that "one skill is all skills". The idea is that if one learns one skill, that skill can be transformed into another. Thus, they focus on a single skill, becoming elite in it, then use the power of figgum to transform that skill into any other needed skill temporarily. The process of achieving this requires them focusing on the circle formed by the act of juggling, then breaking past it via a meditative process called "moving beyond the circle". This process requires such extreme concentration that one must meditate for months at a time to achieve it, hence why few among the poor and oppressed ever achieve it.

In-game, this amounts to an ongoing series of rolling juggling skill, WIL, and AWA against increasing difficulties, with a series of bonuses and penalties for successes or failures, culminating in a roll against a difficulty of 25 for juggling, 25 for WIL to focus, and 25 for AWA to see past the circle. If this is achieved, the sicarian will gain the ability to move their skill points around their character sheet as they please. There are some caveats to this - they can't move base stats around, for example, nor innate powers. Only learned skills may be adapted. If they alter their skill in juggling, it may affect their ability to use this power, as they must enter the meditative state via juggling to use their power.

Sicarians may also borrow skill points from others if someone willingly gives them that skill by passing a juggling knife to them while the sicarian is meditating. The sicarian must temporarily give the person some of their skill points in order to gain the skill being provided. The skill points the sicarian has can never go above their skill point total.

Some skills cost more than others, however. Magical skills, for example, are not equivalent to basic language skills, nor are elite-level skills equal to low-level ones. There is a scale of equivalence available if you choose to play a sicarian.

As sicarians are assassins, their skill focuses are relevant to their work, but like all who engage in the art of figgum, they often learn other skills in order to have more points to move around. Common relevant skills include disguise, stalking, tracking, personal research, poisons, and weapon skills. Their juggling knives are their primary weapons, though they often keep them poisoned.

Sicarians who lose their juggling knives will lose their powers.

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

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Slayer

The Red Grith is not shy about killing those who cross them. Their hired killers are slayers, who hunt their targets ruthlessly.

Slayers are hunters of people. They gain special abilities by engaging in a ritual hunt. While ritual hunting magic is common in many societies, among the Red Grith, it has been adapted to urban living, criminal activity, and assassination rather than hunting for survival in a nomadic community.

Slayers are trained by the Red Grith for seven months as an assassin before they begin the ritual hunt. Their first hunt is always a trial in which they must find and tag their mentor or trainer, during which the mentor or trainer does their very best to avoid detection or being touched. The tagging is simply a normal wound hit. If the mentor or trainer is harmed more than this, the hunt is a failure, for part of the trial is control and precision.

After the slayer succeeds in their "first hunt", they must live as prey for another seven months. During this time, they must live on their own and avoid being caught by their mentor or trainer. During this time, they must engage in rituals that leave them vulnerable, often meditative practices in public spaces. During these meditations, they will see a vision of a symbol that will come to define them. This can be an animal, plant, or other living thing, or it can be a weapon or other object, a color, a shape, anything. They will take to wearing this symbol in some form thereafter.

The next step is their first actual kill. They are given a target and told to find and kill them. This target is always an enemy of the Red Grith. During the mission, the slayer will find their magical abilities start to manifest if they have done the rest of the ritual correctly. They must during this mission learn to honor their target and to become one with the killer within themselves. They must enter a moving meditative state, seeing within and without at the same time, and find their target. They must be wearing their symbol and understand its meaning to them. And they must successfully and efficiently kill their target without getting caught or killed. If they are successful, they emerge as a true slayer.

The powers they gain are as follows:

• Disguise: they gain the ability to magically disguise themselves by invoking their symbol. If they are wearing their symbol, they may simply touch it and will themselves disguised, and they will blend in to their environment temporarily for a STH bonus. This lasts as long as they keep their hand on their symbol or for five minutes, whichever is shorter.
• Patience: slayers need great patience to hunt and kill their targets. They gain magical bonuses to their WIL when on the hunt, needing less food and water and less rest during this time. If they have the chance to kill their target without detection and forgo it, however, while in this state, they lose their bonuses and receive equivalent penalties for the length of time they spent with the bonuses.
• Stalking: if slayers have a target, they may gain the ability to sense and stalk that target within three miles of the target if they gain even a tiny piece of the target or their property. It can be a strand of hair, a piece of cloth, even a discarded piece of food. But once they have it, they will know where their target is if they are close enough.
• Alertness: slayers have a mild form of danger sense that allows them to know when police or agents of the authorities are near. This is a substat of AWA that is active passively.
• Blood: if a slayer is harmed during combat with a target, their blood will have magical power to it. This blood can be smeared on themselves to null pain, smeared on weapons to make them stronger, or smeared on tools such as lockpicks to make them more effective. This blood can be wielded by others who know how to use the power of the Hunt as well. They cannot intentionally spill their own blood or allow it to be spilled intentionally to gain this effect, however; any intentionally spilled blood must be left where it falls as a sacrifice to the Hunt or they will lose all powers temporarily.

Slayers always have a specified territory; slayers of the Red Grith's territory is that of the Red Grith itself. While in their own territory, they have advantages due to their knowledge of the area. This translates into hunting and stalking bonuses within this region, alertness bonuses, and STH bonuses (+1 each).

Slayers must follow the rules of the Hunt or sufer for it. Though they are not hunting animals for survival, the rules still apply - do not kill mothers with small children or anyone pregnant, do not kill small children, do not kill during mating season (if applicable), and do not over-kill any specific species in their territory. Do not harm an unintended target without good cause. Take good care of your tools. Don't kill within the territory of another without permission. Any violation of these rules results in penalties to their skills.

They use bows and arrows, knives, and rifles as weapons.

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

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Ucigash

There are many kinds of assassin working for the Green Grith, wielding different kinds of elemental magic to kill their targets. The ucigash are whiteclad devotees of Death Herself who kill those who deserve it.

Death is a part of nature, and thus, there is an element of death. Death Herself is a deity who is the ultimate psychopomp, the gatherer of souls, and the force of death itself deified. Her followers view natural death as sacred and unnatural death as an affront to their goddess. Furthermore, they view those who avoid natural death by infernal means - especially the undead - as anathema. Thus, some of her followers devote themselves to enforcing nature's intentions and avenging those who died unnaturally. These are called the ucigash, elite assassins who wear white (the sacred color of Death Herself) and know when death is coming.

Unnatural death is death at the hands of other mortals (other than acts of self-defense or accident), in an avoidable circumstance. Avoiding a natural death by infernal means refers to necromancy, demonic contract, exploitative magicks such as feeding on blood or slaves, or other similar powers. Mass death events like genocide, war, intentional famines or droughts, negligent responses to natural disasters, impoverishing or enslaving people, poaching and over-hunting, and so on, but mostly, it means intentional plagues and pollution. Avoiding a natural death does NOT include using medicine, avoiding or fleeing an attack or disaster, feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, or other natural acts of support.

To become an ucigash requires years of study. They learn the religion of Death Herself, the science and mysticism of death, and the arts of killing. And in order to fully wield their power, they must face death, walk through the Beyond, and aide the souls of the deceased for a year and a day, before returning to the world of the living. Once they have completed this impossible journey, they are granted a white key that contains the powers of death and the afterlife. They can open invisible metaphysical gates by placing the key into an imaginary keyhole and opening, creating one of these effects:

• Gate of the Eye: soulsight, the ucigash can see the souls of anyone within line-of-sight, gaining a +6 read people.
• Gate of the Hour: the ucigash knows the hour (not the day, not the year, not the moment, but simply the hour of the day) someone within line-of-sight will die.
• Gate of the Moment: the ucigash knows how someone died if their body or soul is within line-of-sight.
• Gate of the Intention: the ucigash knows how someone who should have died if they are undead or otherwise infernally empowered to not die.
• The Locked Gate: if the ucigash closes all gates in the area, no one may die within range of them (usually 44').
• Gate of the Shroud: the ucigash's body fades into the Nether Realm, making them partially in the Spirit Realm, but invisible to those there.
• Gate of the Banisher: all undead within 44' of the gate must roll against it or be destroyed.
• Gate of the Ending: the ucigash's target rolls against the power of the gate if they are within line-of-sight, and if they fail, they die.
• Gate of the Beyond: the ucigash opens a gate into the Beyond or the Nether Realm, or a returning gate to the Spirit Realm.

Note: the world of Shem is in the Spirit Realm.

Ucigash join the Green Grith if they are instructed by Death Herself to do so. As such, they are often outsiders or temporary members. They are very devoted to their faith.

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