The Lost Kingdom of Shinar

Start with: ✪ Vessel, +2 Armor
However: Your Agility is locked at 0.
Language: Shinarian, Common

The Skysea has no surface, no bottom. When you fall, you simply fall forever. The light fades, the air gradually condenses into liquid, and the pressure crushes your body to a pulp—if you don't suffocate first. The dark depths of the Skysea are called the Sea of Death, or the Realm of Mot, the death-god whose vast maw swallows all.

But the Sea of Death is not empty. Suspended in Mot’s dark realm are the ruins of Shinar, an enormous island that once floated just beyond the boundary of Tel-Kanan, whose citizens transferred their souls into bodies of clay. Shinar sank beneath the clouds hundreds of years ago, and no one alive knows why.

At its height, Shinar was the most powerful nation in the known Skysea, ruled by Amurah, the Clay King. Amurah’s Code forms a major magical tradition, containing the secrets of transferring souls into clay bodies. Legend has it that the Kananites descended from flesh-and-blood Shinarians who fled or were driven out of their realm by the Clay King’s insane regime.

The only survivors of this troubled realm are moss-covered statues—newly awoken after lying dormant for hundreds of years.

Playing a Shinarian

You’re made of clay. Your “skin” has a yielding fleshlike texture, while your “bones” are hardened ceramic. Your face can be as blank or detailed as you like, but your mouth doesn’t move when you talk, and your eyes are hollow circles that glow with pale light. Unless you’re heavily cloaked, everyone in Tel-Kanan easily recognizes you as a Shinarian.

You don’t eat food, but you do need fresh water, which flows through your body’s intricate internal canal system—and "bleeds" out if you’re sliced open. You also need to “breathe” air in order to think and speak.

Time has eroded most of your memories. You’ve been slumbering in your statue body for centuries. You remember little of your past life.

Additionally, note the following changes and limits to your stats:

You start with 2 Armor.
Your Agility is 0. You’re slow and cumbersome.
You can start with a higher Strength score than others origins: up to 4, rather than 3.

Finally, you gain the following ability:

✪ Vessel

Your body’s Stamina and Spirit are connected. At the start of your turn, before you act, you can shift 1 point of Stamina to your Spirit pool, or vica versa. You can’t exceed either pool’s maximum with this ability. Studying the Code of the Clay King lore grants more abilities tied to your Vessel body.

Shinarian Names

Pick one: Ashur, Atrasis, Azu, Banipal, Bel, Dumuzi, Enkidu, Etana, Gibil, Gilgamesh, Igigi, Ilu, Istar, Kingu, Kishar, Lugal, Nebuchadnezzar, Ningal, Ninurta, Sargon, Sin, Zana, Zu.

Or invent your own. Names from the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia—the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians—can inspire your imagination.

Shinarian Keepsakes

Choose or roll once or twice from the table, or invent your own.

Ability to Learn

Some Shinarian bodies are inhabited by more than one soul. You can spend XP to learn this ability and discover a second soul within you.

✪ Second Soul

Make a new character. This character must be Shinarian. The new character can have any Will, Intellect, lore, calling, and ideals you wish. They must share your original character’s Strength and belongings, however, and do not gain starting equipment from their lore choices. As a rest activity, you can switch between the two souls inhabiting your body. When you switch, your current Life and Defense values carry over to the other soul (but can’t exceed the other soul’s maximum values). Even though you’re technically two characters, you acquire the same amount of XP as a single character. You must choose to spend XP to progress either one soul or the other—with the exception of modifications to your body’s Strength, available through the Code of the Clay King lore. These apply to both souls. When you create your second soul’s character, you can come up with their relationship to your original character. For example, some married Shinarians chose to inhabit a single body out of true love. Powerful Arbiters sometimes absorbed the souls of wayward adepts, or even of their hated enemies. You can also leave the details of this relationship to your Guide—or decide that neither character remembers and their relationship is lost to time (for now).

← Mazr ✧ Zordin →

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