Archetypes: G

This archetype is a part of the Gelid Shard artifact.

You know how to draw power from the land around you, no matter the terrain, by attuning your magic to match its mystical properties.

You might be a druid with an elemental focus (such as the flame, stone, or wave orders) or a naturalist with a touch of magic at your disposal. You could concentrate on a single type of terrain to wring every last drop of power from it or choose to wander the land to experience every type of terrain possible.

Your ties to the living world cling to you in death, your unfinished business reducing you to a spirit. Your soul carries on, but your body is gone. Your mind, too, may have changed: though death can impact thoughts and desires in all sorts of ways, most ghosts experience stronger, more volatile emotions and are frequently overcome by their past ties. A need to reconcile the past overwhelms other needs. Motivations can change over time but are always strong. Pragmatism, compassion, and foresight fall before a ghost's fundamental desires.

The warriors of Grarirn frequently contend with lost spirits of the Taumatan people that haunt their shattered lands to this day. These Khudraelal warriors, known as ghost eaters around Bonmu, travel the countless islands of Grarirn and offer their skills to exorcists and priests. When working in such a partnership, ghost eater's main task is to destroy a spirit in order to give their holy comrade time to learn about the individual soul and finally put it to rest.

Ghosts have a wide range of capabilities and features—no two ghosts are exactly alike, as the nature of their abilities depends as much upon who they were in life as on how they died. Haunts, the spectral phenomena remaining in a site of death or powerful emotions, are related to but distinct from ghosts.

The ghost hunter knows that ghosts and haunts share many features. By focusing on these similarities, they can track down, confront, and defeat all manner of unquiet souls, helping them to find peace and move on to the afterlife.

You died from the necrotic disease known as ghoul fever and rose anew as a ravenous ghoul, forever craving the flesh of sapient creatures. While you can temper your hunger with long-dead flesh stolen from ancient graves, you much prefer devouring those who are freshly dead, whether as a scavenger or because you killed the creature yourself to ensure a fresh meal.

Whether they stalk through the graveyards and crypts of Falavririak or work together with other ghouls to build empires in the Veimaikhik, ghouls care most about the consumption of dead flesh. The moment you become a ghoul, your existence focuses upon satisfying this endless craving. Ghouls who go more than a few days without feeding on freshly dead humanoid flesh find themselves in constant pain; those who go for more than a week might be driven to the edge of delirium, becoming bestial in their craving.

When you succumb to ghoul fever and become a ghoul, you don't lose your mind or memories. You keep your personality only to have it warped by the never-ending need to consume flesh. A brave warrior remains brave, but under the curse of the fever, that brave warrior's prime directive is to consume flesh. A rogue might go from finding clever ways to pick pockets to finding ways to waylay opponents and devour them.

Since most societies don't allow cannibalism, ghouls who wish to continue their old lives must satisfy their cravings in secret, finding a way to balance society's rules while feeding the constant gnawing hunger inside them. Some take up professions that allow them to secretly eat dead flesh or create dead bodies to feed upon. There are tales told of ghoul mercenary troops who satisfy their cravings and profit, while ghoul spellcasters can use their magic to procure and preserve flesh.

Ghouls who won't restrain themselves with rules of the living may join or establish ghoul societies. These caste systems base their hierarchy on how much flesh one has consumed and can provide for other ghouls. Hunger and ambition drive ghouls to rise through the ranks, which allows them to feed their hunger even more.

The roar of the crowd and thrill of competitive combat drive you to become the best—and the fame isn't bad either.

If there are sapient creatures observing a combat encounter, and these onlookers are neither engaged in the combat themselves nor allied or affiliated with either side, the combatants have spectators. The GM is the final arbiter.

You've become a xun, a powerful gang enforcer.

You have replaced a portion of your body with artifice of the kind used to create golems, fortifying your flesh with the unyielding might of magical constructs.

The Gray Gardeners are the remorseless executioners of Falumoraekro. Prior to the events of the adventure, the Gray Gardeners are at best sinister (when not actively pursuing evil) as a malevolent monster controls their organization. After the events of Night of the Gray Death, the organization is broken—leadership is in disarray while the rank-and-file members labor to enforce laws and recapture escaped criminals. The Gray Gardeners still command the respect of Falumoraekro's people, however, as their brutal reputation is indelibly etched in the public consciousness over the last fifty years.

The following is suitable for heroes to take after the events of Night of the Gray Death. You might be a member of the old organization who tried to uphold order despite vindictive directives from above, or you might be someone who recently donned a mask to enforce the law in Falumoraekro's new age. Either way, as a Gray Gardener you draw power and authority from being masked and have a reputation for dispassionate justice.

Your vigilante identity is that of a Gray Gardener, and you must be wearing a mask to use any of your vigilante feats or you risk exposing your social identity, as described in the vigilante archetype.

You like a weapon that makes an impression almost as much as you like making an impression.