Knacks: Fangs, Mist, Pack, Senses, Silence

Apprentice Degree: Call the Mist
Journeyman Degree: Predator in the Mist
Master Degree: Man of the Mist

Duman’kir is primarily found within the Kurta-kir (though it is not unheard of to see it manifest among the other tribes), a result of their descent from Dur-Kan. Those of his bloodline are magically connected to the wolves and mist that he came to know so well. The power of Duman’kir allows the Sorcerer to hear, smell, run, and fight like a wild wolf, and to run with a pack of wolves. It also grants him the power to create a mist or fog, which he can use to conceal his comings and goings.

While Duman’kir does not allow the sorcerer to transform himself into a wolf, such rumors have persisted for centuries, and are most likely the cause of legends about horrible shape-shifting monsters called rakshasas. The legends maintain that these beasts never have green eyes, and so cannot be Pyeryem sorcerers. Khorovo bin Lehena was a vicious Twice-Blooded Sorcerer with both Pyeryem and Duman’kir. Three hundred years ago, he tried to claim a small area of land just to the south of the Trade River as his own kingdom, and is most likely the cause for the majority of these legends, especially the ones that mention rakshasas taking a tiger-like appearance.

Apprentice Degree
You have just begun to unlock your magic’s true potential. You know how to call up a fog. You may spend a Drama Die and roll Wits + Mist against a TN of 20 to call this mist. If it is within one hour of dawn, you get a Free Raise to your roll. You also get a Free Raise to your roll if there was rain at your current location within the last twenty-four hours. You may make Raises to this roll to make the mist thicker. This fog makes any vision-based Perception Checks more difficult, requiring one more Raise than the number of Raises you made on your roll. The fog lasts until you dismiss it or an hour has passed, at which time it dissipates entirely. This has no other effect on the weather in the area.

Adept Degree
The magical connection you have with the mist grows deeper. While you are surrounded by fog, your outline seems to blur, making you harder to distinguish from the mist around you. Any Perception Check to see you has its TN increased by your Rank in the Mist Knack. When you are in the mist, your TN to be hit increases by your Rank in the Mist Knack. You also gain a bonus to any Ambush Rolls equal to twice your Rank in the Mist Knack.

You can also try to vanish within the mist. By spending a Drama Die and making a Resolve + Mist roll with a TN of 25, you can move from any one point within the mist to any other, up to one hundred yards away. When you do this, you move silently, instantaneously, and without passing through any of the space in between your starting point and your destination. You take damage from this sudden motion. Roll one die for every ten yards or fraction thereof that you moved, and keep the highest to determine the damage you take. For instance, if you moved 47 yards, you would take 5k1 damage. Your inanimate possessions may be transported with you, but not animals or other people.

Master Degree
You have realized the full power of your magic. You know how to turn yourself into a cloud of mist. You may spend a Drama Die and make a Resolve + Mist roll with a TN of 30 to perform this. You can only transform your own body into a mist. Therefore, any possessions you were carrying, including clothes, weapons, and makeup, fall to the ground when your body becomes a vapor. As a vapor, you are completely intangible, but also cannot make any physical impact with the world. You cannot go through solid objects as a mist, but you can enter through any crack that is large enough to allow air to pass through it. While you are transformed, you cannot be harmed by physical attacks, but your mind can still be affected by anything that influences it directly (such as emotion-influencing Lærdom Knacks). While you are transformed, you follow the same rules for movement or chases as you do in your normal form.

Sorcerous Knacks

Fangs. Just as a wolf has fangs, so do you. By spending a Drama Die, all four of your canine teeth are extendable, and may be made almost twice as long as the rest of your teeth. Your fingernails can also extend to become claws. You can use your claws and fangs by rolling Finesse + Fangs to hit your target. A clawed strike does 0k2 damage and your fangs do 1k1 damage. When you do not wish them to be extended, your claws and fangs retract to their normal levels. If you display your claws or fangs when attempting to make an Intimidation Action, you get a Free Raise. Your extended claws and fangs remain as long as you want them to, and do not require a Drama Die to return to normal.

Mist. This Knack represents your magical connection with the mist. This Knack is used in a variety of ways, each of which is described under your Apprentice, Adept, and Master Degrees.

Pack. Your kinship with wolves causes them to accept you as a member of their pack. Wolves will not attack you unless you deliberately provoke them. You can spend a Drama Die and make a Contested Roll of your Wits + Pack against a wolf’s Resolve to empathically give it an imperative to fulfill. This command cannot be anything that the wolf would not think of doing on its own, so you cannot command it to get a key or retrieve a pistol, but you can tell it to attack someone, or to howl or flee.

Senses. Just as a wolf’s senses of smell and hearing greatly exceed those of a human being, so do yours. Any Perception Check you make using smell or hearing is made using Wits + Senses instead of Wits. You also get a number of Free Raises equal to your Rank in this Knack when you attempt to make a Tracking roll.

Silence. When a wolf stalks its prey, it becomes nearly impossible to hear, and you move almost as quietly as it does. You get a number of Free Raises equal to your Rank in this Knack to any Shadowing or Stealth rolls you attempt. You may add your Rank in this Knack to the result of any Ambush roll you attempt (this is cumulative with your Adept ability).

Game Master’s Secrets
While rakshasas are believed to be the stuff of legend, it is only because they are so few (the Djinn hunted most of them down long ago), and have been hidden in their mountain fortress for so long, that people have nearly forgotten about them. Rather than being the source of the rakshasa myth, this Sorcery is a gift from one of the powerful shapeshifting creatures.

In generations past, rakshasa lords imbued their most trusted servants and protectors with the magic, and it has worked its way through the bloodlines. Like Af’a, Duman’kir is technically a shamanism, and has no effect on the Barrier.

CLICK HERE for more information on the rakshasas.