Smuggler

Movers of illicit materials, usually over borders.

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Dashea

Along with the pirates and vigilantes, smugglers were the other major players in the early Blue Grith. They were instrumental in sneaking escaped slaves out of the city, and now they serve that purpose as well as bringing in goods, weapons, and supplies that cannot be gotten legally. The smugglers of the Blue Grith carry special, magical water with them to calm and control the waters they sail.

Dasheas are fully devoted to the cause of the Blue Grith. Their life's work is freeing the enslaved, and they work to bring in supplies for the Blue Grith and take the enslaved to safety far away from Haenor. They all swear an oath upon their own souls to serve in this capacity for their entire lives, and any betrayal of, deviation from, or depature from this will result in the loss of their powers - and their souls. They make this very clear to anyone who wishes to join them in the work, but they also make clear the positive sides of it. Anyone who makes this vow and lives the life is guaranteed "salvation" from the powers of the authorities (and possibly the Beyond). None who do this work may be enslaved or imprisoned, and the waters of the seas obey their commands. However, this only works as long as they are engaged in the work of smuggling for the Blue Grith. While they can engage in other, related work for the Blue Grith, certain powers are not in place when they are not smuggling. The vow they make is sworn on an angel's feather, and if they knowingly lie, they burn.

Any dashea who has sworn their vow must still prove themselves worthy by working for at least a year and a day at smuggling supplies and freeing slaves. After this is done, they are sent to a secret location, alone, in a small boat, where they meet a celestial figure who tests them. If they are found truly worthy, they are given a decanter of celeste water, a pure blue magical water with many powers:

• Droplet of calm: a single drop will calm the seas for 20' around the vessel they are sailing at a power of 14.
• Controlling touch: if they wet their hands with the celeste water, they can place those hands into the ocean and control the currents at a power of 14 for 10 minutes per dose.
• Stream of salvation: a steady stream of the celeste water poured on chains, shackles, bars, or other imprisoning objects at a power of 14.
• Purifying shower: a full shower in the celeste water will wash away infernal energies from anyone at a power of 14.
• Steam of repelling: if boiled to a steam cloud, the steam will repel infernal powers and beings at a power of 14.
• Obscuring wave: if poured out onto the ground or into the water, it will ripple out and cleanse away signs of their passing at a power of 14.
• Celeste icicle: if frozen into a sharp point, it is a dagger of +7/+7 against infernal beings until it melts (usually 2-3 uses).

Other powers may be possible around the themes of salvation. Consult with the GM. Their decanters have 13 doses at a time. They get replenished every night, assuming the dashea has not violated their vow. The number of doses increases the more they work.

Part of the Commitee for Liberation or the Committee for Support.

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

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Ianuan

The energy of the crossroads and threshholds is immensely powerful within the lore, and the Violet Grith knows how to employ these in their smuggling operations.

An ianuan meets a powerful fey at a crossroads and midnight and offers something of great power, and the fey accepts and gives them the power of the crossroads, of threshholds, of transitory places. Usually, they give up an abstract quality such as a memory, a feeling, or a magical power, but it might also be something of notable power or interest to the fey. To meet a fey at the crossroads, however, they must first find an isolated crossroads - the fey won't appear on a busy city street, even at night - and then they must perform a ritual that will bring the fey out. This ritual requires performing a song, sacrificing an animal, invoking a name, and/or burying a body part (theirs or someone else's). Once the ritual is performed, they must answer the fey's questions adequately, then make their agreement.

Once they make their agreement, they gain some of the following powers:

• Crossing: if they are at a crossroads of any kind, they can walk through it and appear at another crossroads within 10 miles.
• Reopening: if they close something, they can reopen to a new location within the same structure - ex. a door that opens into a house may be closed and reopened to a different room within the house, a chest of drawers may be closed and reopened to a different drawer, etc.
• Distant light: they may cause lights to appear in the distance if they are on a lonely road.
• Mystic bridge: they may create a portal to anywhere within 10 miles if they are crossing a bridge.
• New direction: they may create an illusion at a crossroads that makes it seem like the different paths go to the wrong locations, tricking others.

Each of these powers is contingent on being at a specific location. Other powers may be possible on different threshholds, crossroads, or transitory places. Consult the GM.

They use these powers to transport contraband for the Violet Grith.

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

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Rutscher

Smuggling operations are a huge part of the Red Grith's work, and thus, smugglers are wielders of the Cant and the Hooded Shadow. They are called rutschers.

There is an ancient cant, a variation on language, a secret code and a dialect and a pidgin, a set of rhymes and ciphers, that only those who have been pushed outside the law may wield. The Cant derived from the first people who had to steal from other mortals to survive, and it grew into a complex, panlingual cryptological esoteric puzzle. The Cant cannot be understood by anyone who serves the laws of the state that make people criminals, and it gives those who speak it special powers. To access it, one must have committed a crime in a place one has been, knowingly, and one must have done so without other esoteric power. One must have committed this crime for purposes neither related to upholding the oppressive structures nor overthrowing them. The crime must violate a law existing on the books in the place it was broken, and it must be knowingly committed. If the crime is later decriminalized, it will still empower the rutscher. If the crime is unknowingly committed, but the criminal later discovers it was/is illegal, they have a brief window to take advantage before they lose access to the cant (until they commit a crime again). In that brief window, they will see a shadow, and if they follow that shadow, they will begin to see things they never noticed before.

For a rutscher, their first crime should be smuggling or some crime useful to a smuggler or even something involving merely hiding an item (even shoplifting counts). It will mark them as a potential rutscher. If they follow the shadow, it will lead them to the closest wielder snatcher or other wielder of Cant, who, if they are recognized as someone exposed to the shadow, will recruit them. From there, they will be trained in the Cant, and eventually tested in the work of the crime family. If they pass, they will be initiated into the Hooded Shadow, the power of concealment from the law and empowerment of crimes. Their initiation will be a smuggling run.

• Conceal: an object is enshadowed, making it hard to detect. This costs 2 shadow points per STH, lasting an hour, for a small object, going up by 2 shadow points per level of size, capping at 20.
• Evade: the shadow traces the wielder's vehicle, giving them speed or stealth as needed. This costs 3 shadow points per point of speed or STH, lasting 5 minutes.
• Unseen: the shadow subtles the movements and enshrouds the body, making it harder to see the wielder. This costs 1 shadow point per 2 points of STH, lasting an hour.
• Identify: the shadow covers the eyes, allowing the wielder to identify an object. This costs 1 shadow point per 30 seconds of use, giving +6 AWA to understanding the target for that time period.
• Appraise: the shadow fills the mind, allowing the wielder to know the wealth of those they are observing. This costs 1 shadow point per 15 seconds of use, giving +6 AWA to gathering value for that time period.
• Terrain: the terrain being traversed becomes easier for the wielder to cross because shadows guide them.
• Obfuscate: a contraband object or objects are enshadowed to make them not register to authorities.

Any other criminal activity tasked to the snatcher by the Red Grith can be enabled, empowered, or otherwise supported by the shadow. Consult with the GM for other potential uses.

In order to wield it, the rutscher must use the correct canting rhymes. They must maintain the Hooded Shadow by remaining outside the law, never cooperating with the authorities, and never going straight. This does not mean never following any law, but rather, never betraying the Red Grith, never giving up contraband without permission, never ratting out the Red Grith, and never surviving off anything but criminal gains. Any violation will destroy the Cant immediately. The more crimes they knowingly commit, the higher the score they have in the shadow, but any use depletes it, meaning they have a limited amount of shadow to use. Furthermore, each pickpocketing or shoplifting only counts as one crime, even if it results in multiple charges, unless a more serious crime (murder, for example) is committed. Rape and sexual assault do not generate the Hooded Shadow, as these are infernal acts. Only criminal acts tasked by the Red Grith generate shadow.

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

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Sailcutter

The Green Grith runs an extensive smuggling operation to bring in weapons, magical materials, and other supplies that they cannot get easily. Their smugglers use the elemental magic of water to protect their ships and boats.

Sailcutters gain the power to control elemental water by communing with it. They submerge themselves in the river and the sea, tying an iron jug to their bodies to weigh them down, letting the waters fill their lungs, and release themselves to it. Members of the Green Grith are there to help them if they fail, but if they succeed, engaging in a deep trance while drowning, they become one with the waters. They are trained for years to learn how to do this, and many are severely injured in the process. Only the most devoted choose this path.

The sailcutters have a long history of smuggling in illicit materials, including most of the rare materials used in elemental magic, and smuggling out the drugs and alcohol the Green Grith produces. They use their powers to enhance their ability to move these, improving their ships and boats, hiding spaces, and defenses. Because so much of their magic requires touching the waters, many of them are practiced in hanging off the side of the vessel while others do the sailing. They carry iron jugs of water called lungenceac to pour out and use, which they need even if they are using their touch to alter bodies of water. They must always have the jug on them to use their magic. If they are wielding their powers with the lungenceac, they cannot mix water types within it, so if they wish to use their magic on freshwater, they need a lungenceac with freshwater, and if they wish to use it on saltwater, they need a lungenceac with saltwater.

• Shift current: their touch makes the current beneath their vessel turn, slow down, speed up, or reverse.
• Rippling splash: a quick slap to the water, will cause both the water and the sound to ripple outward, making the sound seem like it is coming from far away.
• Murky waters: by shaking up the water in a bottle or other object, they can turn it dark, then wash it over an object to make it less noticeable.
• Turbulent wake: churning the waters in the wake of the vessel with their hands creates a disruptive, dangerous wake that others must take precaution to sail through.
• Rising swell: striking the water with a fist will create a large wave that heads off in the direction of the strike.
• Quiet tide: sprinkling water from the jug into the waters ahead of the vessel while approaching the shore will mask the sound of their approach.
• Diluvian wall: pouring a gallon of water in a out around them creates a flood going in all directions, waters rising 6" per round, leaving only a circle of 10' of dry ground around the sailcutter.

Other powers may be possible. Consult the GM.

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