The Gods of Mallus are many and varied; primordial forces of creation and mortals ascendant beyond death, ancient progenitors and faceless vistas of divine obliteration. One of them has decided to foist their kid on an unsuspecting world.
The Gods of Mallus are many and varied; primordial forces of creation and mortals ascendant beyond death, ancient progenitors and faceless vistas of divine obliteration. Each is a being of myth and legend, a font of wisdom and focal point of hierarchies, possessed of their own favoured mortals and their vision for how the world should look in ages to come. Each has sworn allies and immortal enemies, and each counts certain select mortals among their faithful, blessed and guided to carry out their divine sponsor's decrees.
For most, this is enough. They act indirectly, steering the world through blessings and visions rather than direct intervention, elevating certain mortals as their agents in hopes of accomplishing their aims. But others are not content with such limited tools. They perform miracles, empower champions, answer prayers with explicit visions… and, once in a very rare while, they create children.
You are just such a child; a Scion of the Gods.
Of course, what such a title means in practice varies, for there are as many kinds of Scions as there are gods that create them, and likely more besides. Some deities sire or bear their child as a mortal might, taking paramours from among the faithful or those that catch their eye; others adopt, or bestow their blessings on an unwed surrogate, or build their scions directly from earth and clay. Ultimately, the precise way that a Scion was created matters little, at least to the god responsible - so long as they are claimed by a divinity and can demonstrate some mastery of that deity's power, they are a Scion, and that is all that matters.
As all too many parents have found over the years, however, being responsible for creating a child in no way gives you control over them. You owe your power to your divine parent, that much is true, but what you do with it… now that, Scion, is up to you.
What legends will they tell of your deeds?
Welcome to my new quest, born of a lingering idea that wouldn't leave me alone for weeks at a time. You play a Scion in the warhammer world, a child of one of Mallus' many gods, and wield divine power in service to your parent's will… or perhaps your own selfish ambitions. Regardless of your motives, your mere existence will bend the fate of people and nations around your story, and draw hostile attention from any number of quarters, the Dark Gods of Chaos among the most notable.
The first step is to define which pantheon your divine progenitor comes from - each pantheon exalts particular virtues and condemns particular vices in all those who follow its teachings, and each blessings a Scion with a particular set of powers known as an 'innate purview'.
For example, in the baseline Scion setting, children of the Aesir - the norse pantheon - are caught between their inherited virtues of Audacity and Fatalism. They know they are going to die, that Ragnarok cannot be averted, and yet they strive gloriously against the coming dark all the same. For this, they gain access to the purview of 'Wyrd', allowing them to weave prophecies and turn fate to their advantage, at the cost of also inheriting a fated doom that is almost impossible to avoid.
The first choice is being done via APPROVAL VOTING - choose as many of the following pantheons as you like the look of, and the one with the most votes overall will be chosen. Your options are as follows:
The Classical Gods. Worshipped in and around the Old World by the various human nations found there, this pantheon consists of an extended familial group of divinities and several patron gods of different polities and civilisations. Several among them were mortals who made the transition to godhood, and they take an active interest in the descendents of their peers.
Their virtues are Duty and Glory - Scions feel compelled to protect and guide the mortals around them, but also to seek out great deeds and heroic accomplishments of their own that will echo down through eternity.
Their Signature Purview is Devotion - by offering worship and sacrifice to the gods, a Scion may invoke their favour to gain freeform blessings and powerful gifts beyond their normal capabilities, albeit ones that they have limited hand in shaping. A Scion of Sigmar may lead a besieged garrison in prayer and be rewarded by a divine comet smiting the enemy, or by the sudden appearance of Ghal Maraz in their hand.
The Dead Gods of Nehekhara were once a pantheon of divinities bound more closely to their mortal subjects than any pantheon before or since. They suffered for it, their natures twisted by the hand of Nagash even as the Great Necromancer blighted the land, but gods are not so easily slain, nor is their vengeance easily measured by those who have earned it.
Their virtues are Prowess and Fatalism. All things die, even gods and legends, but to reach beyond death with brute strength and enlightened insight was the greatest triumph and ambition of ancient Nehekhara, and modern Scions are no less prone to such hubris.
Their Signature Purview is Mantle - as did the Ushabti of old, a scion of the dead gods may invite them into their flesh, gaining great power and immediate guidance from the gods in exchange for loyal service. Mantling Ptra may allow a Scion to see for leagues and call down bolts of fire from the heavens, while one who mantles Tahoth gains his divine wisdom and insight. Of course, convincing them to leave before they are good and ready may be… challenging.
The Ancestor Gods of the Dawi are at once their distant progenitors and their guiding deities, the foundation upon which all of Dwarven culture and civilisation is built. They are regarded as parents and teachers by the dwarves of today, and the clans which rule over the Karaz Ankor each count a particular divinity as a direct progenitor.
Their virtues are Kinship and Justice. The clan is the fundamental building block of Dawi faith and society, to be protected and promoted at every opportunity, but the burning fury to avenge each and every slight done to one's name and ancestry may drive a Scion to rash action in its pursuit.
Their Signature Purview is Obligation. The word of a Dawi is a sacred thing, and a Scion of the Ancestor Gods can draw power from their honour, or lay the burden of such an oath upon another; violating such a sacred charge will inevitably place the oathbreaker in mortal peril sooner or later.
The Cadai (or Cytharai) is the name given by the Elves to their pantheon, though they regard the deities honoured within as both individual beings and fragments of their own psyche and that of the world around them. One who spills blood with vicious artistry worships Khaine, much as one who wields authority with wisdom and restraint worships Asuryan; the two are one and the same.
Their virtues are Balance and Egotism. A true child of the Cadai maintains control over the many conflicting drives of their nature, honouring each of the pantheon in turn, but it is undeniable that those who give themselves over to a single pursuit obtain great power and glory from their fanaticism.
Their Signature Purview is The Mandala. The gods are in all things, and all things are of the gods, which allows a Scion of the Cadai to entreat aid from the natural forces of the world in myriad ways. Perhaps they might convince the mist to veil them from sight, or ask the broken shards of a mirror what sight it last reflected, or simply convince a battered old training sword to adopt the quality of a blade of legend.
The Old Ones are the strange, alien creators of the world as it exists today, simultaneously god and mortal in a way that baffles all who attempt to glean their secrets. Their names and nature are known only to the Lizardmen of Lustria, who offer bloody sacrifice in their honour even as their mage-priests wield staggering magics in pursuit of their masters' inscrutable plans.
The virtues are Idealism and Hunger. Though they were clearly beings of great foresight and wisdom, with great plans that stretched millennia into the future, the Old Ones are also primal forces that hunger for the bloody sacrifice of their endless foes.
Their Signature Purview is Sacrifice. The Old Ones created the world, and they expect their will to be honoured; a Scion of these strange deities can draw great power and insight from the sacrifice and devotion offered by another, performing miracles on their adherent's behalf.
Article:
This first vote is being done via APPROVAL VOTING. Choose any of the following pantheons - later votes will dictate the precise god within each that is your progenitor and what your life was like prior to coming into your inheritance.
[ ] The Classical Gods
[ ] The Dead Gods
[ ] The Ancestor Gods
[ ] The Cadai
[ ] The Old Ones
Note - Different pantheons will exhibit a certain fondness for different types of Scions. The Cadai might create a Scion among any of the Elvish factions but are deeply unlikely to sire a dwarf, while the Old Ones may very well dump a human babe on some very confused lizardmen for safekeeping.
Satiah, The Scion of Asaph Blessed Priestess of Nehekhara
Fatalism - - / - - Prowess
Child of a Dead Land - Born to living parents among the slave-castes of Lybaras, Satiah grew up surrounded by decaying grandeur and under the rule of deathly tyrants. She learned to flourish in a land where water is more precious than gold, and death both inevitable and revered.
Skills: Athletics, Subterfuge, Survival
Twists: Find a source of water, shelter from natural hazards, summon a predatory beast etc
Priestess of the Asp - Taken by the dead at a young age, Satiah was ordained as a priestess of Asaph, goddess of beauty, magic and revenge. Trained in rites and rituals that have not changed in over three thousand years, she learned the safety and power that comes from making the rules of society your own.
Skills:Close Combat, Medicine, Occult
Twists: Make people attracted to you, find a friendly serpent, have a convenient supply of poison on hand etc
Herald of Rebirth - Blessed with knowledge of her parentage in an ecstatic vision, Satiah learned that she had been chosen to bring Asaph's message of rebirth and resurrection to the dead lands of her former kingdom. It is a weighty task, but one rich with potential and reward.
Skills: Culture, Empathy, Persuasion
Twists: Cause dead plants to bloom, trigger some subtle sign of divine favour, meet people who have received visions of your coming etc
Creator 1 - Asaph holds all beautiful things as part of her domain, and so Satiah was trained in several artistic and scholarly pursuits as part of her initiation into the serpent goddess' priesthood.
Failure Deed: Design something with an intentional flaw; see your own creation turned against you; accept a commission you know to be beyond your abilities
Knack: Perfect Rendition. Satiah is a master artist, able to illustrate or depict virtually any scene with photoreal quality in a bare handful of seconds. She needs no roll to do this; her artwork is always exquisitely beautiful.
Hunter 2 - Satiah idealises vengeance and the settling of old slights as a religious virtue. It does not matter if retribution comes at the edge of a blade or decades hence from a withering curse; all that matters is that the revenge is known and inescapable.
Failure Deed: Take pity and allow your quarry to escape; realise that vengeance is not worth another's life
Knack: Apex Predator. Whenever a target of lower Tier (at this point, mortal) that Satiah has marked out for judgement attempts to attack or track her, the difficulty of all their stunts increases by one. If Satiah is specifically hunting them, the difficulty is +2.
Knack: Scent the Divine. Satiah is capable of perceiving the winds of magic, can see and interact with immaterial creatures, and instinctively identifies the basic nature and divine heritage of any supernatural creature she encounters (such as vampires or the servants of another god).
Lover 2 - In Old Nehekhara, the priestesses of Asaph served as sacred prostitutes as well as occultists and assassins. While Satiah's duties do not formally include such work, she was trained in the arts of flesh all the same, learning how to use her beauty to twist the will of others around her finger.
Failure Deed: Do something that causes another to reject you; risk the life of a lover for your own gain; cut ties with someone because you cannot reciprocate their feelings.
Knack: I am a Fire. Satiah may stoke the passion one person in her presence has for another, which can include herself, impelling them towards forming some kind of relationship. An attempt is guaranteed, but not necessarily success.
Knack: Centre of Attention. Satiah can twist the flow of a social scene around herself, drawing every eye and tugging on every heart. The effect works automatically on mortals, who will attempt to introduce themselves and listen to her words at a minimum; a roll may be required to attract the attention of a god or other supernatural creature, and the consequences may vary.
Relic 3: Twin Basilisk Fangs.This pair of ritual knives, carved from the teeth of some enormous serpent millennia ago, drip with nerve-wracking venom and imbue their wielder with all the speed and merciless precision of a striking cobra.
Purview: Epic Dexterity. So long as she retains the knives, Satiah gains access to this purview. However, her marvels can only be used to evoke effects in line with the following motif.
Motif: Swift as the Striking Serpent.
Knack: Paralytic Venom. When she strikes a foe with these knives, Satiah may forgo inflicting damage to instead apply a 1-point stunt of 'Paralytic Agony'. Those affected by it cannot move for one turn unless they buy off the two point complication.
Piercing: These knives ignore one point of hard armour and two points of soft armour whenever they strike an opponent. Narratively, anything less than full plate armour might as well not exist.
Drawback: Divine Weapon. The Basilisk Fang Knives only function if Satiah spends a few moments intoning a ritual prayer to Asaph before employing them; otherwise, they function as purely mortal knives.
Guide 4: Khalida Neferher. The Serpent Queen of Lybaras, Chosen of Asaph, She Whose Fury Obscures the Sun, has consented to act as Satiah's guide and mentor for the foreseeable future.
Purview: Beasts (Serpents). So long as she remains in good standing with Khalida, Satiah can make use of this purview.
Stunt: Absolute Dominion. For 1-3 successes, create a feature of similar rating in a given field as the warding magic of Lybaras rises to your aid. Fill a room with venomous snakes, scour a battlefield with a howling sandstorm, or banish the darkness of a tomb with natural sunlight. Once per scene, or twice in exchange for a complication.
Legendary Title: Queen of Serpents. While she remains Khalida's student, Satiah may invoke her liege's title as though it were her own to perform feats of scale and other miracles.
Deus Ex Machina. Once per story arc, Satiah may invoke her mentor's bond to vastly increase her own power. She rises to Demigod tier for a scene and gains access to an additional boon appropriate to the situation.
Legend: 1 - Satiah is new to her power, elevated above mortality but not yet equal to the true monsters of the world. She is known in Lybaras and the surrounding territories, but not beyond.
Pantheon Motif: The Gods of Nehekhara may grant boons to those who make pacts with them and act in their name. Beasts Motif: Cold-Blooded Purpose.
Purview: Mantle - The Ushabti of old would dedicate themselves wholly and entirely to one of the many gods of Nehekhara's pantheon, letting them dwell in their flesh in exchange for divine boons. Satiah can invite any deity into her flesh, but must negotiate each term in its own right. (Innate)
Innate Power: Satiah can see at a glance if someone is possessed or otherwise influenced by a divine or supernatural being. She can attempt to exorcise such possession with a clash of wills, rolling Presence+Legend against Resolve+Legend.
Boon: Wear the Mantle. By imbuing a point of legend at the end of a scene of careful ritual, Satiah can invite one of her deities into her flesh. She gains access to one of their Purviews for the duration, gaining its innate power and marvels, while the god shares her senses and can communicate with her (but lacks control).
Purview: Passion - Asaph holds dominion over the hearts of mortal kind, and defines beauty as that which stokes the emotions of those that behold it. Satiah has inherited her mastery of emotions, and can use them to manipulate the feelings and beliefs of others with supernatural skill. (Innate)
Innate Power: Satiah can automatically tell if anyone in her sight holds a bond to someone else, as well as its nature. She gains +3 enhancement on attempts to read people's current emotional state and intent.
Boon: Irresistible Impulse. With a word and a look, imbuing legend, Satiah can cause any one target to immediately experience overwhelming emotion of a kind she specifies: they might be furious, lovestruck or terrified, at her whim. Actions opposed to this emotion suffer +3 difficulty: this condition is removed once the target indulges the emotion in some meaningful way.
Purview: Beasts (Serpents) - Asaph is goddess of serpents, and by extension all traits and qualities symbolically associated with them in Nehekharan mythology, such as their sacred insight and murderous patience. (Guide - Khalida)
Innate Power - Satiah will never be harmed or inconvenienced by an animal unless it is magically controlled or a legendary creature in its own right.
Limited Purview - Asaph is solely goddess of serpents, not all animals, and Satiah can only use this purview to invoke that narrow slice of the animal kingdom. In exchange, she gains an additional motif which she can invoke with any purview.
Purview: Epic Dexterity - As a child of Asaph, Satiah is every bit as swift and graceful as the serpents that her patron holds sacred. (Relic - Twin Basilisk Fangs)
Innate Power - As long as Satiah is in motion towards a particular destination, she can walk, run and leap with effortless grace. She exerts no more weight than a feather on any surface, and can ascend or traverse vertical surfaces without the need for handholds.
Other Stats
Health:
Bruised [ ] [ ]
Injured [ ]
Maimed [ ]
Taken Out [ ]
Nehekhara, the Blessed Land, Beloved of the Gods. Once the cradle of civilisation, rivalled in its antiquity solely by the silken lands of Far Cathay, Nehekhara's legacy stretched out unbroken for millennia on end. They developed medicine, studied astronomy and chemistry, and had metallurgical crafts that enabled them to great great flying machines and animated statuary for use in siegecraft. Bound to their gods by Sacred Covenant, the Nehekharans lived extended lives full of learning and leisure, masters of every field and art save death itself... and even there, the Mortuary Cult made great strides with every passing year.
And then, in the city of Khemri, a man named Nagash was born to the ruling line of priest-kings that held dominion over the land. Given to the priesthood by his father, denied the throne he thought was his by rights, the young noble's endless thirst for power and authority led him down a dark path indeed. History remembers Nagash as the Great Necromancer, the first man to ever develop that foul brand of magic, and by his hand the golden lands of Nehekhara rotted and died by inches. The fields became deserts, the rivers turned to poisonous sludge, and the dead clawed themselves free of the grave in uncounted number. Though eventually brought down and destroyed by Alcadizzar, Last King of Khemri, the Accursed One had his vengeance on the land that denied him; to this day, nothing lives within the bounds of Nehekhara save scuttling insects and ragged tufts of grass on the tombs of the mighty.
Having bound themselves tightly to the land and its people, the Gods of Nehekhara suffered greatly from this desecration. Poisoned by the toxic backlash of Nagash's great ritual, they turned withered and monstrous, starving corpses clad in the robes of the divine. Organised worship and murderous will allowed them to restore themselves, but the blasphemy left its mark, and to this day each of the Dead Gods is distinctly different in some subtle but undeniable way when compared to their glorious past. Their bitter hatred has only grown over the millennia, mirroring the murderous vendetta of the Tomb Kings who honour them, and when it finds a target the vengeance of the gods is terrible indeed.
Who is your divine progenitor? This vote is again being done via APPROVAL VOTING - absent a single overwhelming favourite, a follow-up vote will be held to choose from between the most popular options. Note that there are considerably more gods that just these ones in the Nehekharan pantheon; these are just the ones that I feel would work as interesting parental figures for the quest.
Asaph, Goddess of Beauty and Vengeance, was often depicted as an asp in Nehekharan artwork. Serpents are held to be sacred to her, being beautiful animals possessed of a deadly poisoned bite, and archers the land over would pray to the goddess to guide their arrows to the throats of their enemy. In Nehekharan cosmology, it was Asaph who persuaded the other gods to grant mankind the Blessed Land for their own, and she was widely venerated in exchange.
Djaf, God of War and Death, could wear the form of a man or a jackal as it pleased him. His domain was the act of death itself, be it by natural causes or amid the violence of the battlefield, and most Nehekharans would offer sacrifices in his name in hopes that they might stave off the executioner's blade for another day. Those who worshipped him for his dominion over war were those who regarded the battlefield as nothing more than a charnal yard, bereft of artistry or beauty, and were often among the most fearsome killers of their age.
Geheb is the God of Earth and Strength, a union of domains that some scholars have suggested might have come from the Dawi kingdoms that warred and traded with Nehekhara across the millennia. His animal is the Lion, and those who worshipped him tend to be all those for whom great strength and endurance are an asset; principally warriors and labourers, but also architects and sculptors, who revered the god for showing man how to work stone into more pleasing forms.
Khsar is the Faceless God of the Desert Winds, and among all the gods of the Nehekharan pantheon lacks anything in the way of a physical form or recognised avatar. Much beloved of bandits and cavalrymen, and held as patron by the city of Bhagar which was often both, Khsar was said to have sired great lineages of divinely blessed horses to bear its chosen people swiftly across the burning sands. The vengeful wrath of Khsar was feared for its indiscriminate nature as much as its power, for the Faceless God would not hesitate to scour an entire city for the sins of a few within its walls.
Neru, Goddess of Love and the Moon, was revered as queen of the gods and beloved first wife of Ptra. When her husband was absent or slumbered beneath the earth, it was Neru that stood silent vigil over the lands of their children, illuminating them with her kindly silver glow and protecting them from the terrors of the void. Patron of lovers and all those whose duties involved the protection of another, she represents the idealised form of the Nehekharan mother, standing between her children and the cold night beyond.
Phakth, God of the Sky and Justice, is at once a man and a great hawk with azure wings. As his patron animals see all from their lofty position across the sky, so too is Phakth revered as the ultimate judge of mortal kind, the one who records their virtues and their sins and weighs their soul after death. Famously incorruptible, it was held as an act of blasphemous folly to offer sacrifices to Phakth in hopes of a favourable judgement for ones soul; instead, his worshippers asked him to guide them across unknown lands, or to aid them with his peerless insight into the hearts of others.
Ptra, the Great Father, is King of the Gods and master of the Sun. His is the domain of glory and immortality, and of all forms art that mankind pursues in hopes of creating for themselves a legacy worthy of the name. Alone among the gods he has no animal form, but instead always appears as a tall and handsome human male, with all the stars in the cosmos shining in his infinite gaze. Gold is believed to be favoured by him, and only nobility may ride in the divine chariots he bestowed upon mankind.
Sakhmet, the Green Witch, was Goddess of Magic and the Outcast. Honoured as Ptra's second wife and murderous left hand, she was feared by much of traditional Nehekharan society, even as she was venerated by those who did not quite fit in. Those who pleased her would be blessed with the secrets of magic and great skill at intrigue, but far more stories were dedicated to those who inadvertently incurred her ire, and the spiteful punishments she wrought upon them.
Tahoth, the Silver Iblis, is God of Learning and Wisdom. The Nehekharans defined themselves as a civilised people, and knowledge of letters and other scholarly pursuits was one of the many ways that a man might mark himself out as more civilised than his neighbour. Thus, most of Tahoth's adherents were as much courtiers as they were scholars, blessed with both a keen intellect and the social nuance to use it in the pursuit of one's own ambitions.
Usirian is the sinister god of the underworld in Nehekharan cosmology. Unlike Khsar he is known to have a physical form and servants in the form of owls, but it was considered foolish and blasphemous to directly depict either in paint or stone. While his brother Phakth is the one who evaluates the souls of the slain, it is Usirian who guides them to their final destination, beyond the sight of all other gods. Stories abound that it is possible to negotiate with the God of Death for reconsideration and a more favourable afterlife, a view that only grew stronger with the rise of the Mortuary Cult.
Article:
Choose your progenitor - whether they are your mother, father or sculptor will be decided upon later. This is an APPROVAL VOTE - choose as many as you like, and the top three will go forwards to a more in-depth run-off vote, which will also include details on the precise kinds of magic you can inherit from each.
The divine abilities of Gods and their Scions are divided up into two broad areas: their callings and their purviews. Generally speaking, a calling refers to the character and capabilities of the deity in question, while the purview speaks to the areas of the world that they hold dominion over; you might well be a fearsome combatant and personal champion of the battlefield, gaining the Warrior calling, but without a grasp of tactics and strategy and the leading of armies it is unlikely that your Purview is one of War.
Each god has three Callings; one of these will be shared by their Scion, while others will be decided by the origin and backstory votes. Callings have several major effects, but the only one relevant right now is that they grant access to Knacks - unique, personal-scale abilities reflecting individual capability.
A Scion of Asaph who inherited their mother's calling of Hunter might be able to move with perfect silence, or become utterly impossible to outrun or escape. A Scion of Phakth who inherited the Judge calling might be able to compel total honesty from someone else, or bind them to a sacred oath with dire consequences for failure.
Each god also has a number of Purviews, usually between three and five, which reflects the miracles they can create and the areas of the world that they hold dominion over. A Scion will typically have one of these as an 'innate' purview, needing to rely on guides and relics for access to others. Each purview grants a passive benefit and a series of possible boons - having the Beasts purview prevents any animal from willingly harming you, for example, while the Sky purview includes the Boon of Flight.
You will not be choosing callings or purviews as part of this vote: they are included in order to give you a better idea of the scope of your divine parent's nature and capabilities, so that you can make an informed decision. Similarly, there are at least three knacks and boons associated with each calling and purview, which I will not be meticulously detailing in advance.
The Gods of Nehekhara were bound together in a unified society under the domain of their king, Ptra, and connected to the humans who worshipped them via the strictures of the Great Covenant. Each holds dominion over a specific aspect of the world, a sacred charge bestowed upon them by their liege, and draws power from that domain and the worship of mortals who honour them for it.
Asaph, Goddess of Beauty and Vengeance, was often depicted as an asp in Nehekharan artwork. Serpents are held to be sacred to her, being beautiful animals possessed of a deadly poisoned bite, and archers the land over would pray to the goddess to guide their arrows to the throats of their enemy. In Nehekharan cosmology, it was Asaph who persuaded the other gods to grant mankind the Blessed Land for their own, and she was widely venerated in exchange.
Khsar is the Faceless God of the Desert Winds, and among all the gods of the Nehekharan pantheon lacks anything in the way of a physical form or recognised avatar. Much beloved of bandits and cavalrymen, and held as patron by the city of Bhagar which was often both, Khsar was said to have sired great lineages of divinely blessed horses to bear its chosen people swiftly across the burning sands. The vengeful wrath of Khsar was feared for its indiscriminate nature as much as its power, for the Faceless God would not hesitate to scour an entire city for the sins of a few within its walls.
Callings: Guardian, Liminal, Warrior
Purviews: Epic Stamina, Fire, Journeys, Wild
Phakth, God of the Sky and Justice, is at once a man and a great hawk with azure wings. As his patron animals see all from their lofty position across the sky, so too is Phakth revered as the ultimate judge of mortal kind, the one who records their virtues and their sins and weighs their soul after death. Famously incorruptible, it was held as an act of blasphemous folly to offer sacrifices to Phakth in hopes of a favourable judgement for one's soul; instead, his worshippers asked him to guide them across unknown lands, or to aid them with his peerless insight into the hearts of others.
Callings: Judge, Leader, Sage
Purviews: Beasts (Birds of Prey), Death, Order, Sky
Article:
Who is your divine progenitor? Choose One:
[ ] Asaph, Goddess of Beauty and Vengeance
[ ] Khsar, Faceless God of the Desert Winds
[ ] Phakth, God of Justice and the Sky
Ask any parent and they will tell you, there is more than mere inheritance that goes into shaping the development of a child's life. Their background, birthplace and circumstances all play a significant role, and the same is no less true for the children of the gods themselves. By decree of Ptra, no mortal may reside in the heavens regardless of their blood, and so you were born and raised among the living and the dead.
As a Scion, your life experience has a stronger impact on your future than most would expect - the Paths that you have walked define you as both a person and a legend in the making. Fate bends around you, the world conspiring to make you relevant in ways that other people simply cannot match. One who walks the path of war might always be able to lay their hands on a weapon, or might find old comrades conveniently in town when they are most in need of saving.
What was your origin?
[ ] Servant of the Dead. The dead rule Nehekhara, but that does not mean they are all that resides there. Whether servant, slave or trophy, you were born to living parents in a land where nothing living should ever grow, and you grew to maturity under the cruel gaze of tyrants who rule from beyond the grave.
[ ] Sunset Orphan. The kingdoms of Araby count themselves places of prosperity and learning, but without clear parentage you had little enough of either. You survived by being useful, by honing your skills and changing your demeanour to suit the needs and preferences of others, and by destroying those who might think to lay claim to what is yours.
[ ] Wandering Soul. The desert is not kind to those who linger, and so your people are nomads, wandering between trade hubs and isolated oases. The elders say you are descended from the people who once lived in a now-dead land, but you don't much care. The tribe is your family, and that is enough.
Behold, Lybaras! A beautiful jewel in the crown of Nehekhara, a glittering paradise of art and learning on the shores of the Shining Sea! See it's many pyramids clad in gold, it's rank of statues wrought with inhuman artifice in honour of the gods, it's beautiful palaces filled with luxuries from the far corners of the world!
See, now, how it has been ruined. Feel the bitter wind against your skin, taste the stench of death upon the air. The walls have cracked, the temples have been plundered, the far flung outposts have been buried by the sands or beneath the choking grasp of the southern jungles. Though Nagash never managed to claim Lybaras in his twisted crusade, the city played a key part in his defeat, and so his vengeance scoured it to the bone. Plague claimed the population and sorcerous onslaught its walls, and what little remained died of starvation or fled across the seas and never looked back.
When the dead rose, they claimed Lybaras for their own as they did all other cities in the Once-Blessed Land, dead kings and rotten princes warring with one another for supremacy over a land that each had owned in life. In Lybaras the victor was High Queen Khalida, a contemporary of Nefereta slain for the threat she posed to the dark lady's plans, a fierce and honourable warrior beloved of the Asp Goddess. With sharp blades and silken words she bound her fractured people into something approximating a unified whole, and with the mark of Asaph's favour so clearly evident upon her marble-hard flesh she found few willing to stand in her way for long.
The Restoration of Lybaras has been a work of centuries, a labour that only the tireless determination of the undead renders possible in any meaningful timeframe. Buildings have been repaired, the jungle pushed back, the myriad threats afflicting the land hunted down and slain by legions of animate dead. And, most critical of all, a population has been reestablished. Founded by captured slaves and honoured foes, fed and watered by provisions wrenched from sea and jungle by unliving hands, the people of Lybaras have been schooled and trained and sculpted over the course of generations until they resemble at last the people that once sheltered within these towering walls.
You are one of them; not quite a slave, not quite free, you were born to parents you no longer remember and taken by the dead at a young age to be trained in one of the many arts that their ancient sensibilities suggested was necessary for a functioning civilisation to truly flourish. Mentored and commanded by the dead, regarded with respect and fear by the living, you lived a life of strange privilege quite unique in all the world.
You were trained as a…
[ ] Champion
The dead monarchs of Lybaras are as prone to rivalry and vendetta as any living creature, but by decree of the High Queen are forbidden from marching against each other in open war. Living champions were chosen as an appropriate compromise; kept in luxurious apartments and trained in all the traditional forms of Nehekharan weapons, retainers such as you duel one another for the pleasure of your unliving masters. You have drawn blood in the name of law, tradition, personal honour and simple entertainment, and are as much a status symbol as a personal combatant. (Hunter calling)
[ ] Envoy
Afflicted by the Curse of Nagash, Lybaras cannot sustain itself or its people alone, and even if it could there are matters of empire to consider. The presence of a living human is taken as a comfort by those mortal traders who dare do business with the dead, and as a sign of wealth by other princes of Nehekhara. You have brokered deals and hosted meetings for dignitaries and potentiates from a hundred different nations, some of them far afield from Lybaras itself. You know a dozen languages and have a passing mastery of as many trades and schools of thought, the better to represent your patron's cause. (Lover calling)
[ ] Priestess
The High Queen is a pious woman, even millennia in the grave, and it pleases her to see the temples of Asaph flourishing in the shadows of her immortal reign. Chosen for your beauty as much as your artistic skill, you conduct the rituals of a goddess whose faith has remained largely unchanged for millennia, and the demands of your training have made you an artisan, assassin and courtesan by turns, each trade honed and polished to mastery. Asaph will not tolerate the ugliness of the merely average, after all. (Creator calling)
Though ignorant of your true heritage, you've never been able to really blend in with the common masses of humanity. Something about you has always stood out, some mark of quality or good breeding that sets you apart from the common man. This is perhaps something of a mixed blessing, since it was your unique potential that saw the dead take you from what family you might have otherwise held and elevate you into service, but you know better than to shun it entirely. The dead rule with absolute dominion, and it is only such factors that let you exert even a modicum of control over your own fate.
What is it that makes you particularly noteworthy, in the eyes of others and yourself?
[ ] Might. You have always been strong of limb, possessed of a powerful charisma and blessed with unmatched genius, all qualities that make you best suited to resolving your problems with direct action and unwavering personal quality. You are not a subtle person, but neither have you ever met a challenge beyond your ability to overcome.
[ ] Finesse. You are fast and graceful in body, possessed of an appreciation for the subtle arts of social manipulation and quick-thinking adaptation. You prefer to go around obstacles when they appear, and rely on your ability to improvise on the fly when confronted with unexpected challenges.
[ ] Resilience. Your health and stamina are beyond reproach, enough to keep you going when other weaker souls would have failed, and your commitment to your ideals is infamously unshakable. You might not be prone to flashes of genius, but you have found that methodical care and persistence will wear down everything in your way all the same.
Article:
This is the last of the CharGen votes; the next update will begin the story that brings you to the attention of your divine mother, Asaph, and makes you aware of your heritage. I will not be putting names or appearances up to a vote, but if anyone has any particularly interesting ideas I would love to hear them.
To clarify; Might is "overwhelming applications of power, presence, and inspiration". Finesse is "deft applications of skill, perception, and cunning". Resilience is "unyielding applications of endurance, discipline, and willpower". They're not "physical, social, mental", but are a question of how we approach problems. In a fight, Might lays out the enemy with a powerful punch, Finesse aims for a tricky counter-strike, and Resilience rope-a-dopes until a vulnerability presents itself. Faced with a puzzle, Might solves it with a perfect burst of inspiration, Finesse looks for a clever shortcut or clue, and Resilience eliminates false possibilities and red herrings. They're all applicable in all arenas.
Winning option for what you do is "Priestess of Asaph", and it seems you favour the finesse approach.
I'll be taking suggestions for names etc if anyone has any - Nehekhara is incredibly egyptian, albeit with certain words and names mispelled a bit to avoid being 100% a carbon copy.
