The vaishineph take the stories of the six deceptions to heart. Though opinions about Taitima vary wildly amoung the vaishineph - does she even exist? is she good, evil, neither, both? what is her relationship to the aihalan? - if nothing else the vaishineph collectively admire her ability to undermine the power of the dalaihal. The vaishineph take the six attributes of Taitima's deceptions as their personal mottos and emblems, seeking to cultivate those attributes over all others in the hope that they too might undermine the power of the dalaihal and their mortal servants in the royal cults. Even the wholly irreligious amoung the vaishineph see enduring weaknesses in the world the royal cults have crafted in the stories of Taitima's deceptions. True or not, the stories reflect fears felt by the royal cults, and cracks in the kaidir they impose on their kingdoms. The most cunning vaishineph learn to exploit these weaknesses for their advantage.
Introduction
Attributes are representations of a player character's core abilities and talents. Every player character in The Way of the Earth has the same nine attributes; three greater attributes, three lesser attributes, and three supernal attributes. Attributes have ranks between negative one and six. The higher an attribute's rank, the more potent it is, and the more the player character can achieve when they undertake actions related to the attribute. Different player characters will have differing ranks in their attributes which reflect the character's personal strengths and weaknesses. As player characters increase in level over time their attributes also increase, allowing them to succeed at actions that would have been impossible before.
Attribute Ranks
Attributes have ranks between -1 and 6. The higher an attribute's rank, the more potent and capable the attribute is, and the more likely a player character will be successful on actions that involve the attribute.
-1 = A rank for the young, the weak, the handicapped, or the disadvantaged.
0 = The most common rank for average healthy adults from among the mortal kinds.
0 = The most common rank for average healthy adults from among the mortal kinds.
1 = A common rank for a degree of inborn talent or an attribute favored by a mortal kind.
2 = The rank of attributes developed by professional skills and discipline.
3 = A rank for attributes of elite professional ability.
4 = An attribute rank for masters of a discipline or for animals with ability beyond the mortal kinds.
5 = An attribute of powerful predatory creatures or legendary heroes from myths long past.
6 = An attribute rank for supernal entities, and the highest a vaishineph can hope to achieve.
Greater Attributes
The three greater attributes are beauty, strength, and wisdom, and each of a player character’s greater attributes has a rank between zero and ten. When rolling to resolve a test, an action initiated by a player character, the player adds the most relevant of their character’s three greater attributes to their Light to get their action’s power.
The three greater attributes are so named both because they begin with higher ranks than a player character’s lesser attributes and tend to receive more action power bonuses, but also because greater attributes also indicate a level of proficiency above and beyond the attribute itself. Beauty is both a character’s innate social prowess, and their proficiency with language. Strength is both a character’s physical athleticism, and their proficiency with weapons. Wisdom is both a character’s intellectual power, and their proficiency with common crafts and professional skills. These elements are described in more detail below.
Beauty
A character’s rank in beauty also determines their proficiency with the many languages in Chaesharin. A full description of the languages in Chaesharin can be found on the Kinds, Traits, and Professions page. If a character attempts to use their beauty for a test or save related to a language, and their beauty is too low for them to be proficient with it, then their beauty is treated as if it had a rank of -1.
Beauty 0-2: The character is proficient in speaking their native language but is not literate.
Beauty 3-4: The character is proficient with all of the common languages of Chaesharin and is equally literate.
Beauty 5+: The character is proficient with all of the common and rare languages of Chaesharin and can translate one chosen exotic language at the rate of one text per long transition.
A character's rank in beauty also sets the maximum number of resource threads they can have at one time. Resource threads are described in more detail on the Threads page.
Beauty 0-2: The character can have up to 2 resource threads.
Beauty 3-4: The character can have up to 3 resource threads.
Beauty 5+: The character can have up to 4 resource threads.
Strength
Strength is the primary physical attribute. Strength represents a combination of a character’s raw physical power and their talent for exerting a fine and dexterous control over their bodies. Strength also represents a character’s ability to call upon this combination of forces in situations of danger, action, and combat. Characters with high ranks in strength are solid and well-muscled, but move with a smooth and effortless grace. Their immaculate posture and flexible limbs can make them appear much larger than others of their size. When such a character exerts themselves their bodies come alive with an energy and precision that only seems to grow more potent as obstacles are felled before them. They are quick, balanced, and always seem to have the upper hand in physical contests. Characters with high ranks in strength are not always large and weighty slabs of meat, as strength comes in many forms and from many sources. Long and slender muscles or coiled and explosive power can both be used to overcome opponents of much greater size.
A character’s rank in strength also determines what weapons they can reasonably be assumed to be proficient with. If a character attempts to use their strength for a test or save related to a weapon, and their strength is too low for them to be proficient with it, then their strength is treated as if it had a rank of -1.
Strength 0-2: The character is proficient with simple weapons.
Strength 3-4: The character is proficient with weapons or war and mounted combat.
Strength 5+: The character is proficient with their native exotic weapon and with unarmed combat.
A character's rank in strength also sets the maximum number of bags they can carry with them without being encumbered. Encumbered characters can only move slowly, as described on the Time and Space page. Bags and carrying items is described in more detail on the Threads page.
Strength 0-2: The character can carry up to two bags and a belt without being encumbered.
Strength 3-4: The character can carry up to three bags and a belt without being encumbered.
Strength 5+: The character can carry up to four bags and a belt without being encumbered.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the primary mental attribute and the most broad and inclusive of the three greater attributes. Wisdom represents a threefold combination of a character’s analytic, creative, and perceptive powers. Wisdom is used to solve problems, to create things, and to see and understand the world. Wisdom is also the attribute in TWE that used used by characters to move around without being seen, and to detect those who are trying to remain unseen. Characters with ranks in wisdom are able to quickly and accurately perceive the world around them, to respond to what they perceive with creativity and intelligence, and then to learn from what they have perceived and what worked or did not work from how they responded. Wisdom is associated with, but not guaranteed by, age. Wisdom only comes to those with a talent for deep and scathing self-criticism and introspection, and the more one is willing to delve into their own depths, the more wisdom they will be able to strain from their many memories and experiences. When a character with high ranks in wisdom looks out at the world, they see it for what it truly is, and they make that truth their ally.
A character's rank in wisdom also determines what common trade skills they can be assumed to be proficient with. If a character attempts to use their wisdom for a test or save related to a trade skill, and their wisdom is too low for them to be proficient with it, then their wisdom is treated as if it had a rank of -1.
Wisdom 0-2: The character is proficient with common agricultural skills like farming, food preparation, animal husbandry, and minor construction and textiles.
Wisdom 3-4: The character is proficient with common artisanship skills like smithing, woodworking, stone masonry, major textiles, paper making, and arts and crafts.
Wisdom 5+: The character is proficient with monumental skills like large scale construction projects, architecture, shipwrighting, administration, siege works and chariot making.
A character's rank in wisdom also sets the maximum number of resource masks they can have at one time. Resource masks are described in more detail on the Threads page.
Wisdom 0-2: The character cannot have any resource masks.
Wisdom 3-4: The character can have up to one resource mask.
Wisdom 5+: The character can have up to two resource masks.
Knowledge
Traits, feats, and Whispers can all provide a character with knowledge. Knowledge comes in three forms; culture, discipline, and education, and each has ranks similar to attributes. Each form of knowledge adds to one of the greater attributes, but only for the purposes of determining what languages, weapons, or trade skills a character is proficient with. Ranks in culture add to a character's beauty for the purposes of what languages a character is proficient with. Ranks in discipline add to a character's strength for the purposes of what weapons a character is proficient with. Ranks in education add to a character's wisdom for the purposes of what trade skills a character is proficient with. Ranks in a knowledge never add to a greater attribute for the purposes of tests and action power, only to establish proficiency. For example, if a character had a strength of 1, they would not be considered proficient with weapons of war, and their strength would be treated as -1 for tests using those weapons. But if a character had a strength of 1 and a discipline of 2 provided by some trait, feat, or Whisper, then they would be treated as if they had a strength of 3 for the purposes of weapon proficiency, and therefore, able to use weapons of war without suffering a penalty.
Lesser Attributes
The three lesser attributes are poise, valor, and initiative, and each of a player character’s lesser attributes has a rank between zero and six. When rolling to resolve a save, an action initiated by a non-player character or environmental challenge against a player character, the player adds the most relevant of their character’s three lesser attributes to their Light to get their action’s power.
Individual lesser attributes have a natural (but not fixed) relationship with individual greater attributes. Poise and beauty are both primarily social in nature, valor and strength are both primarily physical in nature, and initiative and wisdom are both primarily mental in nature. By default, a lesser attribute is used for saves in the same sorts of circumstances that the related greater attribute would be used for tests. But The Way of the Earth's mechanics also allow more room for flexibility on saves than for tests, and so the lesser attributes can be used outside their "natural" circumstances if it makes sense for the character and the situation.
Poise is related to beauty and is generally the most appropriate lesser attribute for social situations. Poise represents a character's authentic self-control and moral force of will, as well as their ability to make themselves appear authentic and morally forceful. The poise attribute does not make a distinction between the two, as the general culture in Chaesharin values the performance of sincerity and the avoidance of social shame above and beyond any deep or hidden quality within a person's heart. Characters with high ranks in poise always appear to be in the right, always appear to be immune to temptation, stress, and the withering effects of corruption, and always appear to be beyond reproach. Whether or not they are, or whether or not they have simply mastered the relevant social conventions, is left up to the player. Poise can be used on saves related to willpower, temptation, social face, respectability, and moral constitution.
Valor is related to strength and is generally the most appropriate lesser attribute for physical situations. Valor represents a character's courage under fire, and the ability to perform at peak physical ability even in the midst of pain and suffering, fatigue and fear. To a certain degree, valor can be feigned. Incredible skill or physical might could make a character appear competent in even the most desperate of circumstances even if their hearts and minds were shaken, but in general, unlike poise, valor is assumed to be real by default. Characters with high ranks in valor only increase in physical prowess in the face of danger. Their reflexes are heightened, adrenaline floods their veins with power, they have a second, and third, and fourth wind, and no obstacle appears to great to them to overcome. Valor can be used on saves related to physical endurance, martial defense, pain tolerance, and resistance to terror.
Initiative is related to wisdom and is generally the most appropriate lesser attribute for intellectual or perceptive situations. Initiative represents a character's ability to quickly and strategically react to the world around them on the basis of intuition and a few sharp glances. Where wisdom is sustained, deep, and thoughtful, initiative is fast, rough, and as physical as it is mental. Characters with high ranks in initiative are all but impossible to surprise, deceive, or sneak past. Their sight and other senses are finely tuned, and they can make decisions on the basis of their awareness with calculated efficiency. As a result, such a character often appears confident and controlled, as they are working with more information than those around them and they know it. Initiative can be used on saves related to traps and ambushes, lies and disguises, and, to a limited degree, combat reflexes and social observation.
Individual lesser attributes have a natural (but not fixed) relationship with individual greater attributes. Poise and beauty are both primarily social in nature, valor and strength are both primarily physical in nature, and initiative and wisdom are both primarily mental in nature. By default, a lesser attribute is used for saves in the same sorts of circumstances that the related greater attribute would be used for tests. But The Way of the Earth's mechanics also allow more room for flexibility on saves than for tests, and so the lesser attributes can be used outside their "natural" circumstances if it makes sense for the character and the situation.
Poise
Valor
Valor is related to strength and is generally the most appropriate lesser attribute for physical situations. Valor represents a character's courage under fire, and the ability to perform at peak physical ability even in the midst of pain and suffering, fatigue and fear. To a certain degree, valor can be feigned. Incredible skill or physical might could make a character appear competent in even the most desperate of circumstances even if their hearts and minds were shaken, but in general, unlike poise, valor is assumed to be real by default. Characters with high ranks in valor only increase in physical prowess in the face of danger. Their reflexes are heightened, adrenaline floods their veins with power, they have a second, and third, and fourth wind, and no obstacle appears to great to them to overcome. Valor can be used on saves related to physical endurance, martial defense, pain tolerance, and resistance to terror.
Initiative
Initiative is related to wisdom and is generally the most appropriate lesser attribute for intellectual or perceptive situations. Initiative represents a character's ability to quickly and strategically react to the world around them on the basis of intuition and a few sharp glances. Where wisdom is sustained, deep, and thoughtful, initiative is fast, rough, and as physical as it is mental. Characters with high ranks in initiative are all but impossible to surprise, deceive, or sneak past. Their sight and other senses are finely tuned, and they can make decisions on the basis of their awareness with calculated efficiency. As a result, such a character often appears confident and controlled, as they are working with more information than those around them and they know it. Initiative can be used on saves related to traps and ambushes, lies and disguises, and, to a limited degree, combat reflexes and social observation.
Supernal Attributes
The three supernal attributes are blood, dream, and manna, and each of a player character's supernal attributes has a rank between zero and six. When rolling to resolve a test or a save involving a Whisper, the player adds the most relevant of their character's supernal attributes to their Final Truth to get their action's power. Instead of the most relevant attribute being determined by the type of action involved, as it is with greater and lesser attributes, the most relevant supernal attribute for a roll involving a Whisper is chosen by the player when they choose which substance to power their Whisper with. Each of the supernal attributes corresponds to one source of power and any given Whisper can be powered by any of the three substances, and therefore, any of the three supernal attributes. Though, as discussed on Whisper Basics page, there are unique limitations and dangers associated with each substance.
The blood attribute represents a character's talent for channeling the innate power residing within the freshly spilled blood of animals and sapient kinds. All animals and sapient kinds in the world of Hadam bear the mark of their creation at the hands of the gods. This mark is impressed upon the blood of living things, and is seen as a testament to the gods' ownership of mortal creatures. When blood is spilled in accordance with divine will, it is a pure and holy thing, returning to the gods what was always theirs. When blood is spilled against kaidir, it is a treacherous and thieving action, as if the one doing the harm was stealing from the gods themselves by their actions. In either case, there is power and signifiance in blood. When using freshly spilt blood to power a Whisper, a vaishineph's veins bulge and darken beneath their skin. When a vaishineph brings the full force of their power to bare through the substance of blood, their veins radiate crimson light, their faces become dark and monstrous, and shadows wreathe the vaishineph like a cloak. Erring while casting a Whisper powered by blood causes the vaishineph to be overwhelmed with a lust for violence. The vaishineph ceases to distinguish friend from foe and lashes out at anyone they can with the most lethal means at their disposal. Being knocked unconscious, or made totally safe, can dispel the effect, as can a mighty act of will on the part of the vaishineph. But failure to quickly end the frenzy can cause the vaishineph to permanantly transform into a hideous, blood hungry monster.
The dream attribute represents a character's talent for manipulating the invisible currents of power that are produced in small amounts by all of nature, and intensely by the reverence and piety of the sapient kinds. The dreaming power was the first of the great powers to exist, being called into being in mythic times by the imaginations of the gods, and then pooling in the unconscious minds of the sapient kinds. This power is gathered by the ayinal, the god's eyes, in the culthouses spread across Chaesharin, and concentrated into liquid magick that is used to fuel the royal cults' relics. But the vaishineph can dip their hands into these currents where they are thick and stir them for their own advantage, drawing upon the power like a bucket draws at a well. When using the dream to power a Whisper, a vaishineph's eyes glow a soft veridian if the effect is subtle, or a blindingly bright teal if the effect is raw and devastating. Erring while casting a Whisper powered by the dream causes the vaishineph's body to temporarily dissolve into the currents they seek to tap into. The vaishineph experiences excruiting pain as they become ethereal and mist-like, unable to interact with the world of objects. Only through an intense act of will can the vaishineph withdraw themselves from the currents and reassemble their own body again. Failure to do so results in the vaishineph being sweapt away and obliterated in the dreaming currents.
Blood
The blood attribute represents a character's talent for channeling the innate power residing within the freshly spilled blood of animals and sapient kinds. All animals and sapient kinds in the world of Hadam bear the mark of their creation at the hands of the gods. This mark is impressed upon the blood of living things, and is seen as a testament to the gods' ownership of mortal creatures. When blood is spilled in accordance with divine will, it is a pure and holy thing, returning to the gods what was always theirs. When blood is spilled against kaidir, it is a treacherous and thieving action, as if the one doing the harm was stealing from the gods themselves by their actions. In either case, there is power and signifiance in blood. When using freshly spilt blood to power a Whisper, a vaishineph's veins bulge and darken beneath their skin. When a vaishineph brings the full force of their power to bare through the substance of blood, their veins radiate crimson light, their faces become dark and monstrous, and shadows wreathe the vaishineph like a cloak. Erring while casting a Whisper powered by blood causes the vaishineph to be overwhelmed with a lust for violence. The vaishineph ceases to distinguish friend from foe and lashes out at anyone they can with the most lethal means at their disposal. Being knocked unconscious, or made totally safe, can dispel the effect, as can a mighty act of will on the part of the vaishineph. But failure to quickly end the frenzy can cause the vaishineph to permanantly transform into a hideous, blood hungry monster.
Dream
The dream attribute represents a character's talent for manipulating the invisible currents of power that are produced in small amounts by all of nature, and intensely by the reverence and piety of the sapient kinds. The dreaming power was the first of the great powers to exist, being called into being in mythic times by the imaginations of the gods, and then pooling in the unconscious minds of the sapient kinds. This power is gathered by the ayinal, the god's eyes, in the culthouses spread across Chaesharin, and concentrated into liquid magick that is used to fuel the royal cults' relics. But the vaishineph can dip their hands into these currents where they are thick and stir them for their own advantage, drawing upon the power like a bucket draws at a well. When using the dream to power a Whisper, a vaishineph's eyes glow a soft veridian if the effect is subtle, or a blindingly bright teal if the effect is raw and devastating. Erring while casting a Whisper powered by the dream causes the vaishineph's body to temporarily dissolve into the currents they seek to tap into. The vaishineph experiences excruiting pain as they become ethereal and mist-like, unable to interact with the world of objects. Only through an intense act of will can the vaishineph withdraw themselves from the currents and reassemble their own body again. Failure to do so results in the vaishineph being sweapt away and obliterated in the dreaming currents.
Manna
The manna attribute represents a character's talent for tapping into their own personal supply of manna running through their veins. When a aihalan first creates a vaishineph and returns them from the dead, they gift the mortal with some of their own divine essence. The manna they endow the vaishineph with is small in amount and pale in color, but as the vaishineph harnesses the power of the Whispers, this supply of manna multiplies and thickens, suffusing their every organ, bone, fiber of muscle, and pore with its vaporous power. When using manna to power a Whisper, a vaishineph is brushed by gentle wind that seems to come from nowhere. Intense uses of manna cause a fiery blue and silver aura to ignite around the vaishineph, and strands of vaporous energy to fill the air at the vaishineph's beckoning. Erring while casting a Whisper powered by manna causes the vaishineph to temporarily forget themselves, as the manna which holds their reclaimed memories goes wild. A vaishineph thus affected will be unable to remember their present purpose, or the significance of what they see in front of themselves. They forget their skills and their power to Whisper, and they are flooded with anxiety as everyone around them appears to be a suspicious stranger. Time repairs the damage done, but so can the gentle prompting of the vaishineph's nearby allies, who can calm them by reminding them of who they are.
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