Atri

A Glimpse of Life

Atri is the most ancient of the five kingdoms, and for most of the history of Chaesharin, also the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful. Couched in the ever fruitful delta of two massive rivers, the Black and the Red Lanai, Atri is blessed with regular and bountiful harvests, easy access to the waters of Tai for trade, and endless foothills rich in copper ore and limestone deposits. Of all the five kingdoms, magick is the most public in Atri. While most royal cults keep relics out of the hands of all but the highest classes, classes they also have the most control over, Atri spreads its simplest relics far and wide. Magick powered agriculture, foundries, textiles, mines, food processing, and water mills are all common place in Atri, multiplying its already massive productively. Atri is also the largest employer of slaves which they indiscriminately purchase from all the other kingdoms to labor endlessly in their mines and fields. Atri’s own citizens, largely freed from conventional work, pursue artisanship, mercantile, scholarship, or captaining careers in the army. Otherwise they live comfortable lives of minor nobility, playing at local courts like the major nobility plays at the royal courts. Counting only Atri’s official citizens, Atri is the most well educated, most literate, and longest lived of all the kinds in Chaesharin. Fluency in multiple languages is all but guaranteed, and lives that do not exceed eighty are considered brief.

But prosperity comes at a price. The amount of magick necessary to power Atri’s infrastructure is immense, and in addition to the daipelah, Atri law requires mandatory participation in ecstatic religious festivals twice a month. Each citizen of Atri is also expected to give over their remains after death to the kingdom, to be prepared for eternal slumber in the masram, massive magick battery tombs at the kingdom’s center, which use the dead to coax more ambient magick out of the land. The expansive use of magick also leads to the presence of more demons in Atri than any other land. Though Atri’s major cities are protected against demons and environmental catastrophes by gigantic walls of magick light, the labor camps full of slaves and the outer villages housing peasants are not. The overseers of these father flung places generally see peasants and slaves as easy to replace, and are more inclined to chalk up a death at demon hands as the cost of doing business, rather than something that can be prevented.

Demonic activity and the heavy presence of magick have made Atri’s citizens the most superstitious and mystically inclined of all of Chaesharin’s people. Magic, of the performance kind, is the most popular form of entertainment, and dice and card tricks, illusions and sleight of hand are popular skills for young Atrian children. Magick, of the actual kind, is generally treated with reverence, even if relics themselves are treated in a more utilitarian way. In addition to Amenisis, Atri's dalaihal, the Atrians revere a number of aihalan who serve Atri's royal cult as a loose knit pantheon. Cats, falcons, hyenas, jackals, and crocodiles are all considered to be embodied representatives of these gods, and are bowed to when encountered in daily life. The Atrian day also has four "witching minutes," at 5:59 and 11:59 am and pm, during which time no one in Atri speaks because of a belief that those are the times when the gates to the underworld are open and shadow spirits can enter the world of the living through idle conversation. The sum total of Atri's superstitions is immense, and to outsiders it can seem to be a crushing weight on their social and religious imagination. But the people of Atri embodied their mysticism with pride, keeping it in delicate balance with their advanced learning and treasured place in the world. Only in Atri can such opposites be melded together, yet it is this alloy that gives their souls a unique strength.

Common Kaidir

Atrians observe the use of unique hand prayers when crossing thresholds, when experiencing good or bad luck, when forgetting something, when the weather changes, and when birds fly overhead.

Atrians consider it taboo to defy the will and council of elders, or to express pride in their presence.

Atrians always speak of slaves and other lowers classes in a gender neutral third person.

Atrians abstain from pork and strong drink, but not from hallucinogenic drugs.

Bodies and Genders

Atrians are tall, six feet in height, with prominent noses, lips, and chins. They have long and lithe muscles, and skin between caramel and mocha in color. Their outer eyes are bright yellow or orange, and their irises are solid black circles. Their hair is black, and men and women both braid it into long and intricate weaves. Around the base of their necks, and up the sides of the back of their heads, Atrians grow colorful feathers up to a foot in length. The feathers, which the Atrians call their crowns, lie flat when they are relaxed, but flare up and out when excited, aroused, or frightened. Atrian men and women are of the same height, the men only slightly heavier in build. Atrians have a rarely occurring third gender, marked by solid white crowns and hermaphroditic genitals. Those born of this gender and said to be marked by Amenisis for his service, and they are entered in the priesthood to become members of the royal cult. On account of Amenisis’s own hyena head and shifting sex, gender relations in Atri are relatively egalitarian. Men and women are of equal political and social power, with deference going to the elderly in most social situations. Men and women, young, old, married or not, wear the same slim fitted tunics and robes. Only pregnant women don separate clothing, wearing low rise skirts and midriff bearing tops to show off their stomachs. Women are not permitted in the regular army of Atri however, and as a consequence there has never been a female general, and so, never a female High Prince to lay claim to the Twilight Throne.

Common Names

Atrian names commonly feature the theophoric elements of their dalaihal, including "am," "ame," "sis," and "isis," as well as the older elements "re" and "eus." Atrian names also incorporate simplified versions of their sacred animal names, including "aya" (falcon), "than" (jackal), "atu" (cat), "anin" (crocodile), and "savo" (hyena). Male names begin with consonants and female names begin with vowels. 3rd gender names begin with W, and no other words in the Atrian language except for those names begins with W.

Examples: Asam, Jame, Esis, Kisis, Wavare, Omeus, Layare, Uthan, Vatu, Wasanin, Asavo.

Views of the Vaishineph

To the Atrians, truth is a matter of power, and the royal cult and its dalaihal are the true priesthood and true god of Atri because they have ruled in power for centuries. Most aihalan are false not because of their natures, claims, or goals, but because they are minor and marginal. Most Atrians assume that if the aihalan were as divine as Amenisis then they would have conquered Atri and enforced their will on the people, as the royal cult has essentially done. Atrians will naturally evaluate anything they hear about the aihalan and vaishineph (or any other supernal being for that matter) on the basis of whether or not it is grand enough and mighty enough to be considered true. On account of the vaishineph preference for subversion over conquering, the Atrians have little faith in them. Not many outside the royal cults remember, but long ago, Atri was called Kaph, and Amenisis was called Reus. The first vaishineph, a legendary figure named Samisa, led a slave rebellion against the cult of Reus and brought ruin to Kaph with her mighty Whispers. On that day, Kaph bowed to a vaishineph and her aihalan, and Atri might again in the present if such power were displayed.

In the present, Atri is the only one of the five great kingdoms that has aihalan who serve the royal cult as a pantheon of lesser gods with Amenisis at their head. Five such aihalan have committed themselves to Atri's royal cult, though as far as anyone knows, they have not raised any vaishineph for their service. The presence of these aihalan in Atri's public imagination contributes even more belief that divinity is a matter of power and deference and that the vaishineph in general are not evil so much as they are not worth the attention or adoration of Atri.

Views of the Other Kingdoms

Deiyeh: “Once, long ago, we were like brothers in this world. But they cast off our elder wisdom and exchanged our god of life for a god of burdens and laws. The Deiyeh are what is left of a man when all joy and mystery has gone out from the world. We will break them, capture them, and remake them in their former glory as our younger siblings, for their own good.”

Isstiliph: “Barbarians. Uncouth, undeveloped, and unworth the blood they spilt as they cut their way into our lands. Like a raging fire, they will burn hot and bright and consume whatever is within reach, and then we will trample down the embers of whatever is left of them and piss on their ruins to put out last of the flames.”

Lisrai: “A new kingdom, slaves to fashionable ideas and fashionable gods. One day they bark at the world for their independence, and the next they yelp for our aid against omens on the eastern horizon. It is unfortunate that the fate of Chaesharin might lie in their hands as they fight to hold the Valley of Broken Mirrors. We will aid them, but only if they sheath their arrogance and recognize our wisdom.

Lock: “There is no omen more common and less clear than that of a Lockan ship on the wind’s approach. The Lockan seem to roll a madman’s die for every choice they make. They are as quick to pirate you as they are to trade away troves of wealth for a pittance in exchange. Lock worships a flippant god, and their people have followed suit. One would not be surprised if Taitima was their mother, and they were demons in the form of men.”

Kind Trait

Child of Twilight: Atrians are heirs to centuries of accumulated knowledge, technological progress, and masterful feats of artistic and religious exuberance. The Atrians know Chaesharin in ways that the other kinds can only dream of, as their familial and cultural roots drive deep into Hadam's unforgiving soil. Many peoples and kingdoms and gods may rise and fall in the Shadow Crescent, but the Twilight Throne endures the scythe of time.

Child of Twilight grants a starting character +1 Wisdom and +1 Poise.

Advancement Traits

Ageless Magick: Massive currents of emerald magick float through the naked sky in Atri, swirling around the gigantic masram tomb complexes, and settling over the major cities like mists. No land in Chaesharin has as much ambient magick as Atri. It is in the soil, in the water, in the food, and in the air people breath, and over a lifetime it begins to exert a subtle influence over the minds of those it touches.

Requires age 30 and up
Base: Grants +1 Wisdom
Rank 1/2: Grants +1 Magick

Falcon Eye: Mythic stories say that the dalaihal Reus formed the first Atrians from the mud of the great Lanai delta and the blood of the most beautiful dire falcons. The sharp features, crown of feathers, and molten colored eyes characteristic of Atrian-kind testifies to the truth of these stories. And much like the eyes of the dire falcon, eyes created to seek out prey across vast distances, the Atrian's too can strike at their opponents from afar with predatory prowess.

Base: +1 Initiative
Rank 1/2: +1 test vs. far/distant targets

Ivory Crown: All Atrians bear a colorful crown of feathers that protrudes up to a foot in length from the back of their heads and slope of their necks. But those few born of Atri's third gender, a sign that they are destined for service in the royal cult, have feathers of that glow a brilliant ivory shade. A few with the ivory crown learn to manipulate the small muscles that control the feathers, to emphasize their words and their expressions and give them a majestic quality beyond that of mortals.

Requires 3rd gender
Base: +1 Beauty
Rank 1/2: +1 to save vs. refined scripts

Learned: Atri has spent decades investing in its public infrastructure for education. Libraries and specialized schools are common features in Atri's largest urban centers. Even if an Atrian citizen has never spent any time in these places of learning, they passively benefit from being socialized in an environment where education is common place and fluency in languages and literacy is the standard rather than the wealthy ideal.

Base: Grants +1 Wisdom
Rank 1/2: Grants +1 Culture

Lithe of Limb: No one would ever claim that the Atrians are the strongest of the sapient kinds, but there is a certain power and speed in their long and slender limbs. Atrians with the will and the fortitude can leverage their height and long reach to perform extraordinary physical feats when the moment requires it. Atrian soldiers especially can be deadly opponents on account of the range from which they can strike and evade opponents.

Base: Grants +1 Valor
Rank 1/2: Grants +1 save vs. one handed weapon attacks

Mystic Perception: For centuries, the Atrian people have watched relic magick displays and performance magic festivals from infancy to the grave. Every common variety of spell and trick is known to the Atrian people, who discern their sources and natures like others discern the words of their mother tongue. Keen Atrians are extremely difficult to fool, and there is little their yellow eyes do not discover.

Base: Grants +1 Initiative
Rank 1/2: Grants +1 save vs. magickal deceptions

Festival Trouper

Atri's royal cult picks only the finest mimes, acrobats, and poll twirlers to perform in their bimonthly festivals of magick and ecstatic religious celebration. Festival troupers don paper mache animal masks and skintight motley suits and use their extreme agility, inhuman contortions, and elegant pole tricks to amaze crowds with the highest standards. The best festival troupers are indistinguishable from the animals they portray, seeming to take flight like falcons, or leap and pounce like cats.

As vaishineph, festival troupers are supreme actors and social infiltrators. They learn to shift their facility with performance and body language to social conflicts, making them seem primal and larger than life in conversation and argument. When physical conflict is necessary, the festival trouper's dexterity makes them all but impossible to hit and they can strike their opponents from unnatural angles with animalistic techniques or spinning pole-arms.

In a group, the festival trouper takes a place on the front lines of conflicts and exploration. While their first feat prioritizes social conflicts, many of their feats are equally applicable to all kinds of conflicts. With their feats, they can deal damage while remaining defensive, and function as a shield for the rest of their allies while still threatening their foes. The trouper's heroic feat gives them a number of options for keeping up with the shifting tides of conflict and pinning down difficult opponents.

Attributes Increases: +1 Beauty +1 Culture

Starting Willpower and Resolve: 1/1

Starting Gear and Garb: Common pole-arm, travelling pack, common chag

Starting Thread: Old Ashre

Script: Exotic Beauty

Skill: High Scaling

Festival troupers routinely incorporate high flying acrobatics into their routines, scaling walls and other sheer surfaces with effortless grace and rapid speed. The troupers are trained to use their spinning poles as bridges, ladders, and hooks, and can climb them unassisted to impressive heights.

So long as a festival trouper has a polearm or spinning pole readied, given a few minutes' time, they can climb anything except for a perfectly flat surface.

Masks within Masks (lvl 1)

The festival trouper knows that all skins are costumes and all costumes are armor against the prying eyes of the world. If the festival trouper is equipped with a costume, they gain two resistance to martial attacks. If the festival trouper is equipped with armor, they gain two resistance to social attacks. Neither of these bonuses stack with normal resistances.

Flurry of Motion (lvl 1)

The festival trouper's fast and twirling style of movement is difficult to follow and even more difficult to gain advantage over. When the festival trouper has a polearm readied, they gain +1 to saves vs. martial attacks, and their successful attacks reduce their own risk by two.

Savage Strike (lvl 3)

The festival trouper can move and attack with animal dexterity, driving back opponents with their savagery. When the festival trouper earns an innocent success on an attack, they stagger the opponent and gain +1 to saves vs. martial attacks until their next action.

Unnatural Poise (lvl 3)

The trouper approaches their targets with an unnerving grace that seems to defy sense and sanity. When the festival trouper earns an innocent success on a defense, they impose a flush damage condition on the attacker in addition to any normal counter attack effects.

Elegant Response (lvl 5)

The trouper's mind has become as flexible as their body, allowing them to react in strength where others might falter. The festival trouper can spend one risk to counter attack with the strike mark even against opponents not in the critical state.

Unbounded Leap (lvl 5)

The speed of the predator is available to the trouper, and they can employ it in the pursuit of targets across surprising distances. The festival trouper can spend one risk to make a Move into Position action and an attack action on their call.

Dive of the Falcon (lvl 7)

The trouper can embody the lightning speed and clawed precision of the diving falcon. The festival trouper can use entangle take against mobs, and gains +1 to saves vs. attacks until their next call when they do. If the trouper imposes a condition on an opponent while entangling, they impose on extra condition of the same type.

Shadow in the Water (lvl 7)

The trouper can emulate the lurking power and sudden striking of the river crocodile. When the festival trouper imposes the strike mark while hidden from their target, they impose one extra condition on their target of the same damage type, and disarms up to two boons from the target as well. Shadow in the Water requires a readied polearm.

Overseer

Governing of Atri's outlying distracts falls to individual overseers, who act as judge, jury, and executioner over huge populations of peasants, criminals, and slaves. Overseers rule through fear and intimidation, equipping themselves with the largest weapons and most fearsome looking armors, but it is often they who are afraid of the constant threat of demons far outside Atri's warded walls. Overseers learn to convert this personal fear into a weapon they can use to maintain order and productivity and to push back against the demons who attempt to claw their way into their distracts.

As vaishineph, overseers often regret what they remember of their former lives, spent lording over the weak and the helpless. Vaishineph overseers repurpose their skills with intimidation and fear-mongering and bring them to bear against oppressive structures that keep people in chains. Overseers continue to prefer the heaviest arms and armors, which they effortlessly wear, and can terrorize battlefields with their dominating cries and earth-shaking strikes.

In a group, an overseer is best positioned near the center of a conflict where their presence can be felt and the fear they spread can reach the most opponents. Overseers can both deal and take a lot of chaos damage, making them exceptional at removing non-player character mobs as threats in martial and social conflicts, but also making them prone to instability and in need of some protection by allies.

Attributes Increases: +1 Strength +1 Discipline

Starting Willpower and Resolve: 0/2

Starting Gear and Garb: Common heavy melee weapon, set of restraints, common chag

Starting Thread: The Dawning Path

Script: Demagogue

Skill: Organize Labor

Whatever else the overseer was, they were an efficient and creative organizer of labor. Brutal though they may have been, with a constant lack of proper resources and burdensome quotas to be met, successful overseers manage to create progress out of nothing.

With a few minutes' time and willing participants, the overseer can organize heavy labor or a construction project for several hundred individuals, and achieve in a few hours what would take others a day or more to do, or achieve in a day what would take others a week to do.

Executioner's Stance (lvl 1)

The overseer's closest friend and ally is a massive, terrifying weapon, which they wield with surprising speed and accuracy. The overseer gains +1 to all attacks with a readied weapon with the heavy edge, and whenever they impose a condition with that weapon, they impose one extra condition of the appropriate damage type.

Towering Visage (lvl 1)

Intimidation can be an art form, full of nuance and subtlety, but sometimes simply looking dangerous works just as well. The overseer is unaffected by the attack penalty imposed by heavy armor, and when they impose a flush damage condition on an opponent while they have heavy armor equipped, they impose on extra condition of the same type.

Dominate Others (lvl 3)

Anyone can spark a flash of fear in another, but the overseer can inject horror into their opponents like a poison that slowly and inevitably eats away at their hearts. When the overseer earns an innocent success on an attack, they impose a flush condition on their target.

Fueled by Fear (lvl 3)

The overseer themselves knows fear more keenly than others, as it is both their weapon, and their constant companion in demon infested lands. When the overseer earns an innocent success on an martial attack, they can take one of the bashing conditions they have, remove it, and impose it on their target.

Demon Guard (lvl 5)

Overseers lord over their peasant charges, but at the same time they must be willing to strike at anything that threatens them in the blackened wilds outside civilization. When the overseer Holds Ground they can spend one risk so that any opponent who attacks them or the ally they are defending has a flush condition imposed on them.

Painful Demonstration (lvl 5)

The overseer always acts with the knowledge that their power over others is a performance meant terrify those looking on, so that they too will stay in their places. When the overseer imposes the force or entangle takes, or chase mark on an opponent, they can spend one risk so that all nearby opponents also have one flush condition imposed on them.

Face of the Monster (lvl 7)

The overseer knows screams in a way no one else can, and when their will is up to the task, and when their fury has reached its peak, they can let out a terrifying cry that shatters the hearts of all who hear it. When the overseer imposes a strike mark or a check on an opponent, all nearby opponents are weakened.

Put Down (lvl 7)

Sometimes it is necessary for an overseer to be an incarnation of Atri's authority to exercise capital punishment, and it is a duty they execute with ruthless efficiency. If the overseer imposes a strike mark on an opponent with a martial attack, and the opponent has two or more flush conditions, the strike mark becomes a execute or scar check instead.

Physician

Of all the five kingdoms, Atri has the most extensive knowledge of sapient anatomy and medicinal practice. Centuries spent worshiping Reus as a jester-like god of death and the afterlife gave the early Atrian's a profound appreciation of their dead and the causes of illness. Atri has long maintained palaces of medical learning where physicians are trained in the latest methods of treating injury and illness and its by physician hands that the noble dead are mummified and prepared for burial in the massive masram tomb complexes.

Vaishineph physicians find themselves in a strange situation, given that their own bodies and the bodies of their allied vaishineph are so radically different from the bodies of mortal sapients. With manna for blood and little in the way of conventional needs, vaishineph physicians infrequently need to apply their skills to themselves, though they are happy to ply their trade for those in need. Nevertheless, vaishineph physicians quickly discover that their knowledge of anatomy gives them certain advantages in martial conflicts, able to strike opponents in their vital points and cripple them with paralyzing maneuvers.

In a group, a physician plays a supporting role, using their feats to disable threats to the group and expose their opponents weaknesses for their allies to capitalize on. A physician can be an invaluable asset to a group when it comes to dealing with critical wounds, as the physician can treat and heal them more rapidly than time alone would allow. Cunning parties can parlay this advantage not only into a defensive ability, used in emergency situations, but an offensive ability, allowing for more aggressive strategies.

Requires age 30 and up

Attributes Increases: +1 Wisdom +1 Education

Starting Willpower and Resolve: 1/1

Starting Gear and Garb: Medical supplies, writing supplies, common kutuv

Starting Thread: The River Warrens

Script: Patient Study

Skill: Treat Wounds

Physicians spend years studying the most advanced techniques for preserving the health of Atri's citizen elite. Even with the changes to a vaishineph's body many of the things the physician mastered long ago continue to be of use, and while manna can cure all things the physician can aid in the process.

Given a short and restful transition between scenes, and access to medical supplies, the physician can heal one wound on up to two different allies, or one wound on one ally without medical supplies.

Precision Wounds (lvl 1)

Physicians have the steady and accurate hands necessary for surgery, but those hands can also be used for precise attacks on the vitals of adversaries as well. When the physician uses martial attacks with a readied weapon with the light edge, they can ignore up to two resistance granted to their target by armor and shields.

Read Body (lvl 1)

With a glance a physician can pick up on tiny details in the way an opponent is moving, breathing, and carrying their weight, and with some agility, capitalize on the information with deft attacks. So long as the physician is not wearing heavy armor, the physician gains a +2 bonus to an attack the call after they use the Move into Position or Hold Ground action.

Sage Maneuver (lvl 3)

No physician is young, but even they are wise beyond their years, as constant study and discipline has seen to. With agility of the mind, they are able to neutralize threats before they even begin. When the physician earns an innocent success on an attack, the opponent is disarmed.

Stilling Strike (lvl 3)

The physician knows where the weakest junctures are in the body of all the sapient kinds, and they can target these places to bring their opponents to a halt. When the physician earns an innocent success on a martial attack, the opponent is staggered and unable to maneuver until their next action.

Litany of Blood (lvl 5)

The physician has seen wounds of all kinds, and is familiar with the damage metal can cause when left too long in the bodies of those it strikes. When the physician imposes a mark with a readied weapon with the light edge, they may spend one risk and disarm themselves of the weapon in order to impose two extra lethal conditions on the target.

Oath of Healing (lvl 5)

The physician's presence and gentle touch is enough to restore some measure of health to those they aid. When the physician Holds Ground, they may spend one risk to remove a bashing or flush condition from an ally they are defending.

Death Blow (lvl 7)

Those who have learned to sustain the flame of life can also extinguish it with a breath. On the call after an action spent Moving into Position or Holding Ground, the physician can attempt a martial attack against an opponent with a readied weapon with a light edge at a -1 penalty. If the attack is successful, the opponent is checked.

Unstoppable (lvl 7)

The physician has mastered medicine to the degree that they can quickly administer life saving care even under fire, and then support their charge and carry them to safety. If the physician is willing to spend one call doing nothing tending to an ally with one or more bashing or lethal conditions, the physician can Lift and Carry the ally at no penalty to themselves or the ally, and the ally can ignore their bashing and lethal conditions for the rest of the scene. The ally must cling to the physician with one arm, and can only maneuver as the physician does, but they may otherwise act freely. The physician must be equipped in order to use Unstoppable.

Street Magician

Atri's mysticism and love for magic knows no limits, and the dream of many Atrian youths is to become a wandering street magician, performing dazzling tricks and sight defying illusions for gathered crowds of the lower classes. But competition amoung magicians is fierce and while Atrian crowds are sympathetic audiences, only those with charisma and genuine talent ever last for long. Those that do can become famous and wealthy and their signature tricks become the stuff of popular legends.

As vaishineph, street magicians find many points of natural agreement between their former lives and their new. As consummate tricksters and wooers of crowds, street magicians employ their skills deceiving the royal cults and their allies, and inspiring the oppressed commonfolk wherever they go. When conflict is pressed upon them, street magicians use their abilities to control the attention of others to confuse and disorientate their opponents and to set up windows of opportunity for decisive strikes.

In a group, the street magician's mastery of deception, performance, and concealable pyrotechnics makes them very capable at distracting or disabling large groups of opponents in all kinds of conflicts. The street magician can take point in social encounters, charming their way into hearts and conniving their way out of danger, then slip into the back lines when iron is drawn to break down the enemy's strategy from a distance.

Attributes Increases: +1 Beauty +1 Culture

Starting Willpower and Resolve: 2/0

Starting Gear and Garb: Travelling pack, common javi, magician's tools

Starting Thread: The Cabal

Script: Irreverent Chorus

Skill: Thieving

Being capable of quick and subtle movements, and being experts in hiding and producing items from seemingly nowhere, all street magicians are also accomplished pickpockets. It's a skill that street magicians commonly use to surprise and delight crowds, but put to other ends, it can be used just as easily to take a few things here or there.

Given a few minutes time in a crowd of moderate size, the street magician can move about pick-pocketing items in common pockets and packs, or taking a single item from a secured pouch or case.

Misdirection (lvl 1)

Street magicians can use the glamour and mystique of their appearance and gestures to distract from their true aims. The street magician can use their Beauty attribute to save against both martial and social attacks, and so long as they are not wearing armor that imposes an attack penalty, they gain +1 on those saves when they do.

Sleight of Hand (lvl 1)

The street magician can combine manual dexterity with physical subterfuge to move their hands in ways that cannot be seen or understood. The street magician can ready an weapon, even weapons with the heavy edge, as a minor action, and use the weapon on the same call as they ready it. Additionally, the street magician gains +2 to any attack action they take on their first call in any conflict.

Illusionary Strike (lvl 3)

The street magician's movements have become so difficult track, that opponents lose sight of them even when they are being struck. When the street magician earns an innocent success on an attack in a martial conflict, they hide from their opponent.

Mass Hypnosis (lvl 3)

With a few softly spoken words and arcane gestures, the street magician can render an entire crowd lax and susceptible to surprise. When the street magician earns an innocent success on an attack and they impose the weaken take on their target, all targets within a small area are weakened as well.

Coin Trick (lvl 5)

Street magicians always carry around a number of small items they can use to perform tricks with; cards, dice, coins, small toys. Many street magicians can juggle and palm these items, but a few can also throw these objects with remarkable accuracy and power. Once per call, the street magician can spend one risk to reduce a nearby opponent's action power by one as they attack themselves or an ally. The street magician must be equipped in order to use Coin Trick.

Cloak and Shadow (lvl 5)

With careful timing and bold confidence, the street magician can twirl their cloak or clothing to parry an incoming attack. So long as the street magician is not equipped with an armor that imposes an attack penalty, they may spend one risk when they receive a bashing or lethal condition to convert the condition into a flush condition. The street magician cannot use Cloak and Shadow if they have three or more flush conditions.

Devouring Smoke (lvl 7)

Street magicians often have minor knowledge of alchemical processes, enough to concoct small explosives and smoke producing pellets which they can use to disappear right before the eyes of onlookers. Whenever the street magician imposes the hide mark on an opponent in a martial conflict, they may also hide up to two of their allies in a small area. The street magician must be equipped to use Devouring Smoke.

Fireworking (lvl 7)

There is only a small difference between a dazzle or color and burst of sound, and a deafening blast and wave of fire. With a small alchemical adjustment and an aggressive throw, the street magician can create a short lived tempest of heat to strike their enemies. Whenever the street magician imposes the chase or strike marks, or a check on an opponent in a martial conflict, all opponents within a small area are blinded. The street magician must be equipped to use Fireworking.