Messenger

Starting ability: ✪ Call Wind
Key attribute: Spirit, Strength

Messengers wield the magic of the Rephaim by “calling” its fluid motion to their command, granting them control of the wind. Messengers can glide through the air and blast foes with powerful gales. They’re also attuned to the Rephaim itself, whose flow through the Skysea aligns and interacts with the wind’s flow in complex and mysterious ways.

Messenger-Aligned Lore

When you choose your lore as a starting Messenger, at least one must be from this list, and it must be from your origin.

Ask the Guide:

Can I sense anything strange on the wind?
How's the weather going to be today?
What vibe does the Rephaim in this area have?

Abilities to Learn

Starting Ability

✪ Call Wind

Starting ability

Before using this ability, come up with the word or phrase your character bellows to call the wind. Take -1 strength or -1 spirit. Brace yourself with Compel advantage to summon a protective whirlwind around you.

Gain breath-focus equal to your result.
Lose 1 breath-focus at the start of each subsequent turn as the wind steadily dissipates.

Spells. After Calling Wind, you can immediately cast a Messenger ༄spell you know as a ➟following action with breath-focus. You can also cast a spell on subsequent turns as a normal action (or reaction if the spell allows). You start with 4 spells: ༄Gale Strike, ༄Ride Wind, ༄Shielding Wind, and ༄Windwave.

༄ Gale Strike • 1 breathAs part of casting this spell, make an Attack. A blast of wind follows the attack’s motion: Shove (Brace) the foe with Compel advantage as a ➟following action. If your attack misses, Shove the foe with a -2 penalty.If you lack a suitable ranged weapon or projectile, you can make a harmless Ranged Attack with this spell that carries the gale to a distant foe.
༄ Ride Wind • 1+ breathSpend focus equal to your weight. Wind propels you on high. You can then take a nonmagical ➟following action from on high—or simply Jump-Attack a foe on your way back down (YAAH!) You can also take -1 awareness and cast this spell as a ↻ reaction when you’re about to take fall damage, negating fall damage equal to the focus you spend—but you don’t rise on high and you can’t take a following action.

༄ Shielding Wind • 1 breathAs a ↻ reaction, you inflict Brace disadvantage on an incoming Attack against you or an ally close to you, pushing it away with wind. The attack must be solid or fluid in nature—not light or dark magic.
༄ Windwave • 2 breathYou create a wide surge of wind, brief but strong enough to knock someone off their feet. You can shape the wind to flow in one direction or spiral out in all directions. Shove (Brace) with Compel advantage all characters in the wind’s path who aren’t behind cover. You can also use this spell to cause other practical effects, such as briefly propelling a balloon or skyship forward, extinguishing (or spreading) flames, or deflecting storm winds. Work with the Guide to resolve such effects.

Abilities to Learn

✪ Breath of Life

Mark of SPIRIT

As an endeavor when you rest, Brace yourself with Compel advantage to conjure a gentle, healing breeze. Add your core Spirit. The result is the amount you can heal among yourself and your allies. Lore synergy. If you know the Path of Air lore, you can perform ✪Breath of Life as a second endeavor after ✪Meditation, adding any unspent meditation-focus to your result to heal. Spells. You learn the following two spells: ༄ Bolstering Wind • 4 breathBrace yourself. The result is the amount of grace you can restore among yourself and your allies who are close to you.༄ Steal Breath • 1 breathBrace against a foe in the Fray or above or below you. If you beat their strength, inflict–1 awareness, –1 grace, and –1 strength, and you regain +1 breath-focus.This spell has no effect against Shinarians.

✪ Call Flame

Mark of SPIRIT

Take -1 spirit or strength and Compel yourself to call a bright flame around your hand or an object you’re holding. Gain flame-focus equal to your result. Limit. You can only hold as much flame-focus as the size of your Compel Die. For example, if you have a d10 Compel die, your max flame-focus is 10. While you have at least 1 flame-focus, you can wield the flame much like a torch, illuminating a dark area or setting flammable things alight by holding it against them for a few seconds. The flame is not strong enough to inflict extra damage, but can be empowered by spells.Duration. The flame persists until you run out of flame-focus or it’s quenched by rain or submerged in water. You can also freely dismiss it. Lore synergy. The following lore types provide additional benefits:

Dance: You have Maneuver advantage when you Call Flame, and you can hold as much flame-focus as the size of your Maneuver Die.
Path of Air: You can convert your meditation-focus to flame-focus, 1-for-1.
Solar Circle: You can spend 3 sun-focus to ✪Call Flame instead of -1 spirit.

Spells. You learn the ༄Flame Strike and ༄Flame Lash spells, along with all of the spells in the following table for which you have the required lore. If you learn a listed spell’s required lore later, you automatically learn the spell at the same time.After you Call Flame, you can immediately cast one of these spells as a following action. But you can’t cast these spells if it’s raining or the target is submerged in water.

༄ Flame Lash • 1 flameMake a special Attack to whip a long tongue of flame at a foe. The foe can be above or below you, but can’t be beyond the Fray or behind cover. Only armor and shields can guard against this attack, and it can’t be countered.Damage: –1 grace, or –6 grace on a lethal hit. Burn: On a hit, ➟Brace to break all flammable armaments the foe carries. The foe suffers an extra –2 grace for each armament burned. Multiple lashes. You can make two Lash attacks for 2 focus and a -2 penalty on the Attack rolls, or 3 attacks for -3 focus and a -3 penalty on the Attack rolls. (The second and third attacks are following actions.) ༄ Flame Strike • 1 flameMake an Attack as part of casting this spell. As you strike, your weapon, launched projectile, or fist bursts into flame. Damage: Inflict the attack’s normal damage, plus an extra –1 grace, or an extra –5 grace on a lethal hit. Burn: On a hit, ➟Brace to break the defending armament if it’s made of wood. If it burns, the foe suffers an extra –2 grace. ༄ Eternal Flame • 4 flameRequires Lord Adod, Solar Circle, or Wisdom of Adod. You imbue a small object with a gentle flame that can never be extinguished. Nor does the flame spread. It simply burns forever, emanating a pleasant light and warmth, and never consuming the object into which it’s been imbued. The object must be small enough to hold with one hand.༄ Exhalation • 1+ flame and 1+ breathRequires Path of Air or Song. Spend an equal amount of flame and breath-focus as you inhale and gather the secret flame within yourself—then exhale a stream of fire. Attack with Compel advantage against a foe or group of foes in the Fray with you who are close to one another (roll once for all). This attack can’t be countered and can only be guarded by armor and shields. Damage: On a lethal hit, inflict grace damage equal to the total focus you spent. On a blocked hit, inflict half this damage. Burn: On any hit, ➟Brace to break any wooden armaments the foe carries and add your core Spirit to the result. The foe suffers an extra –2 grace for each armament burned.

༄ Flame Dance • 1 flameRequires Dance. As part of casting this spell, Outflank a foe (and take -1 awareness to do so). If you succeed, you dance around the foe and encircle them in a ring of fire.

Inflict -2 grace and -1 awareness before your following Attack.
You can cast ༄Flame Lash or ༄Flame Strike as your following Attack without spending additional flame-focus.

༄ Pillar of Flame • 12+ flame and 5+ breathRequires ✪Call Storm AND ✪Heart of Flame. You must cast this spell immediately after you ✪Call Wind. You cause the vortex you conjured with Call Wind to burst into flame, becoming a whirlwind of death and destruction. This pillar of flame is wide enough to encompass the Fray around you. Its narrow eye is empty of fire and wind, so you and allies who huddle close to you escape its destruction.

Everyone else in the Fray suffers –12 grace each turn, plus an extra –2 grace for each flammable armament they carry (which are incinerated).
The pillar melds with your wind vortex from Call Wind, which now consumes 5 breath-focus each turn, not 1.
The pillar can be maintained over multiple turns (no action required), so long as you have breath-focus to spend.

Repositioning the pillar. Instead of causing the pillar to inflict damage on your turn, you can instead move it to a new location. The pillar takes one round to move. During this time, characters in that space can see the pillar of cloud descending upon them, and may be inclined to Rush out of the way. If you reposition the pillar upon an airborne conveyance—and its crew is inclined to avoid it—you must Maneuver yourself with Compel advantage on your turn after it moves to aim its descent. If you beat a threshold—3 for a typical balloon, 5 for a fast skyship, or some other threshold set by the Guide—the pillar strikes the target. Destruction. The pillar burns anything flammable in its area—all wooden armaments carried by characters, along with any buildings not made of brick or stone. Balloons and small skyskiffs are incinerated instantly; larger ships suffer terrible damage but may take one or two additional strikes with the pillar to be destroyed completely.

✪ Call Names

Mark of SPIRIT

When you catch your breath or otherwise have a few minutes of calm, take -1 spirit AND -1 or more awareness to call forth partly-formed names from the Rephaim, which you hold in your mind as an interplay of breath and thought. For each point of awareness you spend, gain 2 name-focus. For example, if you take -1 spirit and -3 awareness, you gain 6 name-focus. Keeping these names in your head is distracting: you can’t regain awareness while you have any name-focus. Nor can you Call Names in the midst of battle or storm.Spells. You learn the ༄Name of Soul and ༄Name of Wind spells, along with all of the spells in the following table for which you have the required lore, ideal, or ability. If you learn a listed spell’s required lore, ideal, or ability later, you automatically learn the spell at the same time.

༄ Name of Soul • 1 nameSpeak a character’s name and Compel them with Brace advantage to tear their attention away from the surroundings and to your voice that fills their soul with strange resonance. If you beat their spirit, inflict –2 awareness and –1 grace. Excess grace damage from this spell becomes spirit damage, not life damage.The name you speak must be the name the character is most commonly referred to by others. If you don’t know someone’s name, you can’t cast this spell on them. Nor can you cast it on creatures without names, like most monsters, wraiths, and Shinarians whose names have been forgotten. ༄ Name of Wind • 2 nameSummon a wind wraith with life equal to the focus you spend, and Persuade (Compel) it to act as you desire. The Guide controls the wraith, which is friendly—but the creatures are not known for their constancy or obedience.༄ Name of Adod • 1 nameRequires Lord Adod or Wisdom of Adod. Speak a sentence to Adod, who answers with a sentence of his own, booming in archaic Shinarian. How you cast this spell depends on your conception of what Adod is. The Wisdom of Adod holds that Adod is an enormous cyclone, whose patterns and complexities grant its Rephaim a kind of nebulous collective sentience. Followers of Lord Adod believe this sentience is a god, who responds to and perhaps is even shaped by the beliefs and prayers of his subjects. ༄ Name of Death • 1 nameRequires Death or Glory. Call the name of a person, and the name of their death, and speak a sentence or ask a question. You must speak in Chthonic. After a ponderous delay, a dead soul may respond with a sentence of their own, emanating up from the Sea of Death, in moaning Chthonic.If you don’t accurately say both pieces of information—the person’s name and the name of their death (that is, the essential manner of it)—the Rephaim may respond in the guise of a false soul. ༄ Name of Dream • 1 nameRequires Dream. Call the name of a being you’ve seen in your dreams and speak a sentence or ask a question. From somewhere in the Chaos, the being answers in whispered Antediluvian. Describe this being to the Guide as you cast this spell. The being may be real, unreal, or somewhere in-between, as determined by the Guide.

༄ Name of Flame • 2+ name and 2+ flameRequires ✪Call Flame. Spend an equal amount of name- and flame-focus to summon a flame wraith and Persuade it to act as you desire. The wraith’s life equals the total focus you spend to cast this spell. The Guide controls the wraith, which is wary—but the creatures are often susceptible to flattery.༄ Name of Friend • 1 nameRequires Wisdom of Adod or Fellowship. Call the name of a friend and speak a sentence to them. The friend can be anywhere in the Skysea. This friend must know your name, and they must consider you as their friend as well. The friend hears what you say clearly and can speak a sentence in reply; the spell carries their voice back to you. Your voices travel at the speed of sound and can reach anywhere in the Skysea—but not above the Sea of Heaven. ༄ Name of Dream • 2+ nameRequires Song. Call the name of a song. Spend focus equal to ½ the size of a Spell Die—for example, 2 focus for a d4, 3 for a d6, and so on. Then roll the Spell Die. The song you called does one of the following:

The song inspires you. On a 4 or higher, you and up to 6 allies gain +1 overflow spirit. You can only benefit from this effect once between rests.
The song annoys and confuses any characters who hear it. If the Spell Die result beats their spirit, they suffer -1 awareness; if they listen for the full song (about 5 minutes), they also suffer -1 spirit. (Allies you designate are not affected, nor are characters who plug their ears).

༄ Name of Stone • 1 nameRequires The Stone. Call the name of a floating island as it has been known by its inhabitants over time, and speak a sentence to it. You must be physically touching the island. The island’s name answers.If an island has had multiple names, the soul conjured by this ability is only represented by the subset of the inhabitants who called it by the name you speak. How the island answers depends on how the inhabitants who named the island interacted and conceived of its essence. ༄ Name of Storm • 4+ name and 4+ flameRequires ✪Call Storm. Spend an equal amount of name- and storm-focus to summon a storm wraith and Persuade it to act as you desire. The wraith’s life equals the total focus you spend to cast this spell. The Guide controls the wraith, which is wary at first—but groveling is said to appeal to the creatures.

✪ Call Storm

Mark of SPIRIT

As an endeavor when you rest, Brace yourself with Compel advantage to lift up the Sea of Clouds around you and shape it into a storm. Gain storm-focus equal to your result. (If you’re below the Sea of Clouds when you Call Storm, you swirl the clouds into a pattern that you control.) While you have at least 1 storm-focus, the storm hovers above and around you. If you wish, rain falls from the stormclouds, quenching any open flames outdoors and suppressing fire magic.Duration. The storm-focus lasts until you expend it or rest again. The storm dissipates within a few minutes after you run out of focus. Lore Synergy. The following lore types provide additional benefits:

If you engage in an endeavor from Lord Adod, Path of Air, or Song, you can Call Storm as a second endeavor.
If you know Lord Adod, you can convert lord-focus to storm-focus, 1-for-1.

Spells. You learn the ༄Lightning Bolt and ༄Thunder Strike spells, along with all of the spells in the following table for which you have the required lore. If you learn a listed spell’s required lore later, you automatically learn the spell at the same time.

༄ Lightning Bolt • 2+ stormYou gesture to the heavens with your hand or weapon, then point at a foe you can see who is not under a roof—and call down lightning upon them. Spend up to 10 storm-focus. You gain a Spell Die equal to twice the focus you spend—for example, 3 focus yields a d6. Spending 7, 8, or 9 focus yields a d12.Make a Ranged Attack, rolling the Spell Die instead of your Move Die. This attack has the standard ranged penalty (-2 or more for distant targets) but cannot be blocked by any means. Metal attraction. If the foe wields armaments or wears armor made primarily of metal, add the guard value of these items to your Attack result. Damage. On a hit, inflict –10 life, –2 awareness, and grace damage equal to the storm-focus you spent. If the lightning reduces either the foe’s grace or their awareness to zero, they drop whatever they’re holding.
༄ Lightning Bolt • 1 storm or 2 breathMake a non-ranged Attack as part of casting this spell. On a hit, the impact explodes in a deafening blast of thunder: ➟Brace against the foe—and anyone close to them—as a following action with Compel advantage. On a success, inflict –3 grace and –1 awareness. If you cast this spell with a mace and the foe blocks your attack, following ➟Brace (with advantage) also serves as the break roll.
༄ Deluge • 2 stormRequires Ancient Cylinder or Lord Adod. You gather water into a wide wave that you send surging at your foes. You can send the deluge in one direction, or outward from a circular boundary, like a ripple in a pond. The deluge floods rooms, compartments, and caves in its path: Brace with Compel advantage against all characters standing in the deluge’s path. If you beat their strength, you inflict –3 grace and –1 awareness. Casting with breath. If there is a large body of water in the Fray with you, you can pull and shape the water to cast this spell, spending 4 breath-focus instead of storm-focus.

༄ Mistwall • 1 storm or 2 breathRequires Dance, Dream, Path of Air, Song, or Wisdom of Adod. You blanket an area around you with a swirling, soupy mist. Maneuver with Compel advantage against all characters in the Fray beyond a point or boundary you choose (for example, beyond a circle bounding you and your allies). If you beat the characters’ awareness, you inflict -1 awareness, and you become hidden from them. The mist serves as cover for your hidden status; your allies can also benefit from this cover to Evade and hide themselves. Duration. You can expend 1 breath-focus on subsequent turns to maintain the mistwall; otherwise, it disperses and your cover is lost.
༄ Pillar of Cloud • 2+ storm and 3+ breathRequires ✪Cloudshaper AND ✪Heart of Storm. You must cast this spell immediately after you ✪Call Wind. Spend 3 breath-focus and all your remaining storm-focus to summon a funnel cloud which distends from the storm above and encompasses the protective vortex you conjured with Call Wind. This pillar encompasses the Fray around you. Its narrow eye is calm, so you and allies who huddle close can escape its destruction.

Everyone else in the Fray suffers grace damage equal to half the storm-focus you spent to cast this spell (round down), unless they are completely behind and underneath cover.
The pillar melds with your wind vortex from Call Wind, which now consumes 3 breath-focus each turn, not 1.
The pillar can be maintained over multiple turns (no action required), so long as you have breath-focus to spend.

Repositioning the pillar. Instead of causing the pillar to inflict damage on your turn, you can instead move it to a new location. The pillar takes one round to move. During this time, characters in that space can see the pillar of cloud descending upon them, and may be inclined to Rush out of the way. If you reposition the pillar upon an airborne conveyance—and its crew is inclined to avoid it—you must Maneuver yourself with Compel advantage on your turn after it moves to aim its descent. If you beat a threshold—2 for a typical balloon, 4 for a typical skyship, or some other threshold set by the Guide—the pillar strikes the target. Destruction. The pillar’s terrible wind sweeps away anything not rooted to solid ground, felling trees, destroying small houses, and dismasting skyships. Balloons and skyships struck by the pillar are flung far away with great force and likely sink deep into the Sea of Clouds before their crew can regain control and set them right.

✪ Cloudshaper

Mark of GRACE

Requires ✪Call Storm. This ability yields two benefits:

When you Call Storm, add your core Grace.
You learn the spell ༄Cloud Chariot.

༄ Cloud Chariot • 1+ storm Take -1 spirit and -1 awareness and Compel the clouds to swirl together and take the shape of a chariot and a pair of creatures (horses, lions, or any cloud-beasts you choose) to pull it. Gain chariot-focus equal to your result.

Spend 1 storm-focus per 5 talents (Weight) of passengers or heavy cargo you wish the chariot to carry, including yourself.
The chariot must carry you, and only you can drive it.
You can’t regain awareness while you have any chariot-focus.

As part of casting this spell, you step inside the chariot and take the reins, and the chariot’s cloud-beasts immediately pull it airborne, on high. Any passengers who join you must stand close to you in the chariot, which holds weight but is otherwise insubstantial and does not provide cover. Spend 1 chariot-focus on a subsequent turn to do any of the following while driving the chariot:

Take any action while holding the reins
Evade with Compel advantage (your result applies to all passengers)
Land safely at a point you designate

If you don’t spend focus, the chariot continues circling or flying straight, as long as you continue holding the reins. Duration. After about an hour, or if you lose all your chariot-focus, the cloud chariot suddenly dissipates—and you and any passengers fall. You can extend the chariot’s duration by casting the spell again while driving it.

A cloud chariot moves about as fast as a helicopter, with a similar range of motion. Not much else in the Skysea is faster or more maneuverable over short distances. But unlike skyships or balloons, a cloud chariot isn’t suitable for long-range travel: even extending the spell’s duration won’t make it last long enough to fly between the Skysea’s far-flung floating islands.

✪ Heart of Flame

Mark of SPIRIT

Requires ✪Call Flame. This ability yields two benefits:

Your max Life increases by 3.
As a reaction to a flame-based spell, attack, or effect, take -1 awareness and Maneuver yourself. Reduce the flame’s damage by your result. If you reduce the damage below zero, absorb the excess as flame-focus.

✪ Heart of Storm

Mark of SPIRIT

This ability yields two benefits:

Your max Life increases by 3.
You gain a +3 bonus each time you heal or use ✪Breath of Life.

✪ Listen

Mark of AWARENESS

Requires ✪Call Names. You learn the following 4 spells: ༄ Hear Danger • 1+ nameExpend all your remaining name-focus and regain all of your awareness. You can cast this spell at any point in time—for example, pre-empting a Maneuver against you to turn a success into a failure. ༄ Hear Language • 1 nameYou can understand and speak a language you don’t ordinarily understand or know how to speak for about an hour. ༄ Hear Name • 1 nameTake -1 awareness along with the focus cost of this spell. Speak a name, but in your own mind, not aloud. The name doesn’t have to be a person, but it must be a proper noun. For the duration of this spell, you clearly hear anyone who speaks this name. You know roughly where they are in the Skysea, and you can continue listening to their conversation until they move a stone’s throw away from the location where they spoke the name. Duration. The spell can last as long as you remain conscious, and you can have multiple Hear Name spells active. However, you can’t regain awareness while you are Hearing any name. ༄ Hear Without Listening • 2+ nameCompel a group of characters whose voices you can hear. Choose which characters you target, spending 1 focus for each. If you beat a character’s spirit, they cannot understand what anyone says. They hear the words, but can’t grasp their meaning.Duration. Once a character goes somewhere out of your earshot and speaks a word, this spell ends on them.

✪ Speak

Mark of AWARENESS

Requires ✪Call Names and Wisdom of Adod. You learn the following spells, which are actually soul-magic spells—described in the Wisdom text—that you’ve adapted to cast with name-focus and the sound of your voice. 𐎺 My Speech is Fire • 2 nameCompel a single foe to feel as though they’re being burned alive. If you beat their spirit, inflict grace damage equal to your core Spirit + their Weight. Inflict an additional -1 awareness and -1 spirit to Shinarians or other characters who have suffered deathmarks from being burned.This spell has no effect on creatures who don’t understand spoken language. 𐎺 My Voice is Deluge • 2 nameCompel all foes who can hear your voice to feel as if a great wave smashes into them. If you beat a foe’s spirit, inflict –1 awareness and –3 grace. This spell has no effect on creatures who don’t understand spoken language.

✪ Wind's Finesse

Mark of GRACE

You have Maneuver advantage when you Call Wind.
You learn the spell ༄Circling Wind.

༄ Circling Wind • 1 breathAs part of casting this spell, Outflank a foe with Move advantage, spending breath-focus instead of this action’s usual -1 awareness cost.

✪ Wind's Might

Mark of STRENGTH

While you have at least 1 breath-focus, your Attacks inflict an additional -1 life on a lethal hit.
You learn the spell ༄Steadying Wind.

༄ Steadying Wind • 3 breathAs part of casting this spell, Stand Fast with Move advantage, spending breath-focus instead of this action’s usual -1 strength cost.

✪ Wind's Vigilance

Mark of AWARENESS

When you’re attacked, you can take -1 spirit to cast ༄Shielding Wind as a reaction instead of the spell’s normal cost of breath. You can do this even if you haven’t Called Wind.
You learn the spell ༄Seeking Wind.

༄ Seeking Wind • 1 breathCompel yourself to extend your senses on the wind. Gain awareness equal to your result, with excess becoming overflow awareness. You lose any overflow awareness generated from this spell at the start of your next turn.

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