Knacks: Mchawi, N’anga, Ngoma, Sei, Soroka

Apprentice Degree: Feel the Magic
Adept Degree: Deny the Magic
Master Degree: Devour the Magic

For centuries, evil Mchawi Sorcerers have proliferated among the Zamara. To remedy this situation, the Kaya Vua Samaki city-states recreated an organization with its roots in the ancient history of the Zamaran people: the Witch Hunters. Zamaran rulers spent years tracking down descendants of the first Witch Hunters, whose families were largely believed to have been eradicated. Along the way, they discovered that some “extinct” bloodlines were perhaps not so extinct after all, and the art of Mganga, Magic-Eating, was resurrected.

Almost all Mganga practitioners are Half-Blooded, limiting the utility of their magic so they are trained in armed combat as well. However, it is rumored that the Witch-Hunters count a few Full-Blooded Magic-Eaters among their ranks. If this is true, the identities of these individuals and their families remain closely guarded secrets, for certainly Mchawi Sorcerers (and perhaps other Sorcerers as well) would hunt them down and destroy them.

At its most basic (i.e., Half-Blooded) level, Magic-Eaters are capable of “feeling” the presence of Sorcery in a place or individual. As their power increases, Magic-Eaters develop the ability to resist, dispel, and even consume Sorcery, gaining strength and wisdom from the Sorcerous powers and effects they destroy.

Magic-Eaters can be identified by their complete lack of hair; even a Half-Blooded Magic-Eater is completely bald. An Adept of Mganga loses most body hair, and as a Master, even a Magic-Eaters eyebrows and eyelashes fall out. It is common for their Zamaran supporters to also shave and/or pluck their body hair so that Magic-Eaters can blend in among them. Likewise, it is common for both Magic-Eaters and their non-Sorcerous cohorts to supplement their appearance with considerable amounts of tattoos, piercings, ritual scars, makeup, and other body modifications (both temporary and permanent).

Apprentice Degree
An Apprentice of Mganga can instinctively sense when someone possessing any kind of Sorcery comes within range, even if he is not using his Sorcery at the time. For Sorceries the Magic-Eater is familiar with (i.e., a Sorcery originating in Tar-Netjer),  the range for this ability is equal to ten feet for every Rank he has in the Knack corresponding to that Sorcery. Similarly, he can sense the presence of a Sorcerous effect (such as a bedeviled Zombi or a Sei Sorcerer with a boon active) within a similar range, even if he cannot see it or it is separated from him by a wall or some other structure.

By spending a Drama Die, the Magic-Eater can also sense if Sorcery has previously been used in the immediate area. If Sorcery has been used within the range of his Apprentice ability in the past hour, he can immediately detect it and the Drama Die is considered spent. If not, the Magic-Eater regains the Drama Die at the end of the Scene.

If a Magic-Eater is familiar with the type of Sorcery that he has sensed, he immediately knows what sort of Sorcery the being has, or what Sorcerous effect is being or has been used. Even if he is unfamiliar with the type of Sorcery in question, he can still sense the presence of a Sorcerer or a Sorcerous effect within five feet, but he will not be able to determine what sort of Sorcery is present or what the effect is intended to do.

Apprentice Degree
An Apprentice of Mganga can instinctively sense when someone possessing any kind of Sorcery comes within range, even if he is not using his Sorcery at the time. For Sorceries the Magic-Eater is familiar with (i.e., a Sorcery originating in Tar-Netjer),  the range for this ability is equal to ten feet for every Rank he has in the Knack corresponding to that Sorcery. Similarly, he can sense the presence of a Sorcerous effect (such as a bedeviled Zombi or a Sei Sorcerer with a boon active) within a similar range, even if he cannot see it or it is separated from him by a wall or some other structure.

By spending a Drama Die, the Magic-Eater can also sense if Sorcery has previously been used in the immediate area. If Sorcery has been used within the range of his Apprentice ability in the past hour, he can immediately detect it and the Drama Die is considered spent. If not, the Magic-Eater regains the Drama Die at the end of the Scene.

If a Magic-Eater is familiar with the type of Sorcery that he has sensed, he immediately knows what sort of Sorcery the being has, or what Sorcerous effect is being or has been used. Even if he is unfamiliar with the type of Sorcery in question, he can still sense the presence of a Sorcerer or a Sorcerous effect within five feet, but he will not be able to determine what sort of Sorcery is present or what the effect is intended to do.

Adept Degree
As an Adept, the Magic-Eater’s ability to sense Sorcery expands. His range for sensing a familiar Sorcery is increased to twenty feet per Rank in the relevant Knack, or to a total of ten feet for a Sorcery he is not familiar with. He may sense the past use of Sorcery within this range going back to the previous sunrise or sunset (whichever occurred last).

He also gains a degree of resistance to the Sorceries of Tar-Netjer; the TN to target him directly with a Sorcerous effect is increased by two for every Rank the Magic-Eater has in the relevant Knack (e.g., if a Zombi Cultist attempts to use zombi powder against a Magic-Eater with a Rank of four in Mchawi, the TN to affect him is increased by eight). The increase in TN only applies against Sorcery that directly affects the Magic-Eater, such as a Sei Sorcerer’s Might attack. Sorcery that affects someone else, such as a Sei Sorcerer’s boons, are not hindered by this resistance, (e.g., if a Magic Eater is attacked by a Sei Sorcerer with the Fury boon in effect, this resistance would not apply). Should a Sorcerous effect target both the Magic-Eater and someone else at the same time, the Sorcerer’s innate resistance may protect him from the effect, but anyone else targeted by it would still be affected.

In addition, the Magic-Eater may attempt to thwart the use of any Sorcerous Knack or cancel an existing Sorcerous effect that comes into range  by spending a Drama Die. The Magic-Eater must roll Resolve + Knack vs. a TN equal to ten times the Rank of the effect being dispelled (e.g., in the above example, if the Zombi Cultist has a Rank of three in Zombi Powder and the Magic-Eater wishes to completely dispel the magic in the powder the Cultist has created, his TN for success is thirty). Sorcerous effects are completely nullified; to activate or create the effect again requires another use of the Sorcery.

A Magic-Eater may also attempt to prevent or cancel a Sorcery with which he is not familiar. This attempt is made using Resolve alone (Keeping all dice Rolled), and the TN for success is equal to fifteen times the Rank of the Knack being dispelled. For example, An Adept Magic-Eater with a Resolve of three attempting to close a portal created by a Master Porté Sorcerer (Rank 5 in Walk) would spend a Drama Die and roll 3k3 against a TN of 75!

Master Degree
A Master Magic-Eater can sense Sorcery at even greater ranges: thirty feet per Rank in the relevant Knack for a familiar Sorcery, or a total of fifteen feet for a Sorcery he is not familiar with. In addition, he may sense the past use of any Sorcery that has occurred within range in the previous twenty-four hours.

The Master of Mganga also has the capacity to develop familiarity with any Sorcery he encounters in his travels, not just those originating in Tar-Netjer. His first encounter with a Fate Witch, for example, would effectively give him a Rank of zero in the Sorte Knack. He may increase his Rank in this Knack through the expenditure of Experience Points. The Magic-Eater must have directly encountered the new Sorcery or, at the GM’s option, have studied it extensively prior to encountering it.

Masters of this Sorcery can choose not just to dispel a Sorcerous effect, but to consume it and channel the power into healing energy. For each voluntary Raise he takes on his roll to cancel an effect, he heals one die (1k1) of Flesh Wounds. Rather than reducing his current number of Flesh Wounds, the Master may make a “Wound Check” against the number of Flesh Wounds he would have healed. If he “fails” this check, he heals one Dramatic Wound, plus one additional Dramatic Wound for every ten by which he “failed.”

If he wishes, the Master Magic-Eater may also attempt to consume Sorcerous power directly from an opponent. To do this, the Magic-Eater must have the opponent in a grapple (or be grappled by the opponent), spend a Drama Die, and make a Contested Roll of his Brawn + the appropriate Knack (e.g., Brawn + Mchawi to affect a Zombi Cultist) vs. the opponent’s Resolve + Knack being drained (e.g., Resolve + Zombi Powder). Success indicates that the Magic-Eater has drained one Rank of that Knack from the opponent, plus one additional Rank for every two Raises he took on his roll. Lost Knacks are gone permanently but may be regained through the expenditure of Experience Points. This loss of Sorcerous power is represented by the Magic-Eater stripping away memories, lessons, and experiences from the opponent and takin them into himself; thus, for every Rank drained in this manner, the Magic-Eater gains one Experience Point which he may immediately spend however he likes.

Sorcerous Knacks

Mchawi. This Sorcery, purview of the Zombi Cultists, is equal parts necromancy and physical augmentation. Sorcery directed specifically at the Magic-Eater (e.g., zombi powder created by the appropriate Knack) can be resisted. The Cultist’s physical manifestations of his god (Eyes of Zombi, Fangs of Zombi, et al.) can be dispelled or consumed, but not resisted, even if the augmentations are used directly against the Magic-Eater.

N’anga. This Sorcery is known among all the tribes of Tar-Netjer and is based on the worship of elemental spirits. These spirits provide a diverse set of abilities to those who worship them, from minor boons to fearsome powers. It is very similar to Taramonde from the Midnight Archipelago.

Ngoma. Ngoma Sorcerers are capable of weaving magic from the very air using a talking drum. Their powers are entirely focused on affecting others, in either beneficial or harmful ways. Using either type of effect on a Magic-Eater must contend with his resistance to Ngoma Sorcery, and of course, he can cancel, dispel, or consume Sorcerous effects created by Ngoma.

Sei. This Sorcery descends from the legendary drachen (simply called “dragons” in Tar-Netjer) and grants some of their attributes to its users. A Magic-Eater’s resistance to Sorcery does not apply to most of these abilities, but those that would affect him directly (e.g., a Sei Master’s Might attack, as described above) are subject to the Magic-Eater’s resistance.

Soroka. The poison-and-shadow Sorcery practiced by the Kitunusi servants of the Mwanga on the Island of Shadow has very few effects that would be hindered by the Magic-Eater’s innate resistance. However, Soroka is fully susceptible to the Magic-Eater’s ability to nullify or destroy Sorcerous effects: a good thing, because Soroka is a very dark, dangerous art.

Note that, as mentioned above, a Master of Mganga may gain Ranks in unique Knacks for any type of Sorcery he encounters, whether it is from mainland Théah, the Midnight Archipelago, or another continent entirely.

Game Master Secrets
It is probably obvious that Mganga is a counter-magic to the Bargainer Sorceries, intended to protect the Barrier instead of destroying it. Rather than strengthening the Barrier directly the way Glamour and Cheimónas do, it removes threats to the Barrier by destroying Sorcery that might harm it or by removing a Sorcerer’s ability to use those powers at all.

To that end, Magic-Eating is less effective than it could be if it had arisen on Théah, as there are fewer Tar-Netjer Sorceries that affect the Barrier. This is not a “design flaw” in the Sorcery. It was given to mortals by the dragons of Tar-Netjer to help protect the Barrier…so that the Dragons may rest without interruption.

Unlike Cathayan dragons, which are generally seen as beacons of goodness and take at least a semi-active role in the lives of mortals, the dragons of Tar-Netjer are old, temperamental, and flat out lazy, capable of sleeping for hundreds of years (or more) at a time and rather…moody…if they are disturbed. They want the Barrier protected so that they are not inconvenienced by its fall.

However, these dragons are also inscrutable, and driven by compacts. They granted this Sorcery to the distant ancestors of the Zamaran people, ostensibly to protect them, but also with the understanding that these mortals (and their descendants) would leave them alone. It also created an obligation: should one of the dragons wake from its slumber and have the urge to take an active role in Tar-Netjer, it will expect the Magic-Eaters to flock to its banner and serve its whims. That was the nature of the compact: the mortals gained protection from fell magic in exchange for loyalty to the dragons, expressed by either leaving them alone or serving them directly. Should one of these compacts be broken by the mortals (for a dragon is incapable of breaking a compact), the dragons’ ire would be terrible to behold.