Name:

Cara Yisil

A High-Concept:

Oathsworn Devourer of Mantles

Trouble Aspect:

Foreign Magic in the Blood

Description:

House Yisil exists outside the The Kingdom of Kumlar, both geographically and politically, but its Oathsworn have been hired vassals of the Veiled Hand for generations.  They are a powerful House, wealthy in material resources, favors owed, and of course magic.  Despite their power, the secret which rules each of the House's Oathsworn would doom them all were it to escape.  For most of the magic of House Yisil is not their own, but rather the devoured Mantles of power of their enemies and debtors, a price paid in blood and in soul.  Cara's debt to the House is almost insurmountable, given the terrifying strength of the Mantle they consumed when they became Oathbound, and they must master it before it masters them.

Favorite Character:

Oh man, that's like picking your favorite child.  Are you familiar with Invisible Sun?  I have a Goetic (a Summoner), who used to Turn Tales into Reality with the power of their voice alone.  That was, until they woke up in a puddle of their own blood, their throat, jaw, and tongue torn away.  All of the members of the secret society that held reality together with the strength of the stories met similar fates, though only a few survived the experience.  All their power, all their wards, worth less nothing.  The only thing that enabled my character to survive was joining the Xan Weir, a cult who believes the Creator is disgusted with their very existence, and their only recourse is to hide their face behind a mask.  My Goetic does not share the cult's beleifs, but they have found many within who heretically hold not a single thought about the Creator's disgust in their head, and instead only see the power of the mask.  When the mask can be anyone?  That is the real power.  Indeed, that is the power that keeps the Dilettante safe, as they have become.

Heavy into intrigue, secret societies, social networking between various factions and powers, exchanging favors and boons, that sort of thing.

Okay, so let's talk about what I had in mind for Cara here.

What I was seeing for her background was a dynamic of a noble house who operates outside of the traditional power structures, both geographically and politically.

• The House exists outside of Kumlar, but work within it.
• It is a House of Mages, but they aren't College trained.
• They have wealth and privilege within Kumlari society, but exist apart from it.
• Therefor they have power, but don't exist within the typical power hierarchies.

Themes:  Foreignness, fear of unwanted outsiders, economic tensions in an unequal society.

More importantly, the House has not achieved that power through conventional means.  Rather than being a house of College trained Envokers, they had a set of debt and patronage with members of the house and dependents, people who tithe some of their magic to the House in a contract of protection.

This leads to the Central Theme> of the character.  Their power is not their own, their Mantle is not their own.  It is either something that was loaned, or something that was taken by force.  The Lesser Mantle of House Yasil grants its Oathsworn the power to absorb other's magic either through a blood offering (usually willing and temporary), while the Greater Mantle of House Yasil allows another's Mantle to be claimed entirely through blood sacrifice (generally unwilling, as it's rather fatal).



So, what does this do?

First and foremost it creates a Social Mage, one who has to spend a great deal of time investing in their dependents, making the relationship worthwhile for said contacts to keep making Blood Offerings to the House.  Perfect for a game centered on espionage. Potentially, the Oathsworn could stockpile a tremendous amount of power in the form of free Invokes, but they could also completely run out of Evocation magic.  Magic becomes a powerful resource in this regard.  Something to be hoarded and spent sparingly.

Thoughts?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:50, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

Wow, there's a lot to unwrap in there.

I do have some as-yet unpublished ideas about the cultures involve, but they are broad brush-strokes.  And this concept actually dovetails in interesting ways.

Kumlar is a kingdom. But the monarchy is mostly hands-off, beyond a certain amount of tithe.  So, regional and provincial duchies and other holdings are much more involved in the day-to-day laws.  But "the Kings Law" tends to involve some very broad strokes.  Key among them are:

• Human Sacrifice is outlawed
• Slavery is outlawed

I"m sure there's more, but that's kind of the level I'm thinking on...  And this is all so very important because Kharse practices both slavery and human sacrifice.  I'm also guessing sort of supposing that slavery & human sacrifice may be an outgrowth of the conflict that originally set the three kingdoms to war generations ago.

Also, the idea of human sacrifice technically goe against the Edict of Pantheistic Unity, which basically comes down to "so long as it harms none, do what you will"...

Of course, there are all sorts of "what if" arguments... what if the sacrifice is voluntary?  Does this mean that a father cannot donate blood to his child if it means he might die?  What about war-time?  People get killed in war all the time.  So, yeah, there's lots of room to move.  Much of the proclamation and the monarchy's imposition of the Kings Law is necessarily a PR move.  They might well turn a blind eye to Yisil's house practices if it's kept discrete.  They certainly can't do anything if they're not actualyl aware of it.


What I was seeing for her background was a dynamic of a noble house who operates outside of the traditional power structures, both geographically and politically.

So, as a foreigner, we'd need t make a distinction as to whether she's in a diplomatic role (which would give her some legal protection, so long as she's discrete) or not (which, well, wouldn't).

The House exists outside of Kumlar, but work within it.
SO, like, they have trade-agreements and the like?  Perhaps some sort of political agreement.  The Tarenti Riders of the Norhtern Plain (nominally part of Kumlar, but very lightly populated) have a political agreeemnt of alliance and mutual defense.

Given the potential for human sacrifice involved in the magic, would it make sense for Cara to be from Kharse?   Kharsians are not vilified.  Those farthest from teh borders and fartherst from the Scar (former Khadid) may be a little more fearful and provincially racist, but that's a distance thing.  There is currently NOT a state of unusual tension with Kharse.  That, of course, will probably change over the course of the game.

It is a House of Mages, but they aren't College trained.
Easy enough.  The primary concern of the College of Mages is the safe control of evocation-powers.  If a evocateur is able to prove that tehy are not an undue risk to those around them... it's no big deal.

The other concern of the College is the policing of magic use.  Which involved investigating magical crimes and the pursuit and removal of "unsafe" ritual tomes.   Since ritual magic is common, there is nothing to prevent the formulation of great rituals to curse an entire land or an entire people...  These kinds of rituals will naturally take a lot of time and resources.  And the College has convinced the monarchy that it is in it's best interest to remvoe such written works from the general populace.

They have wealth and privilege within Kumlari society, but exist apart from it.
Sorry.  I'm having trouble parsing this.  They have wealth & privilege but exist apart from their wealth and privilege?  Or they have wealth and privilege, but exist apart from Kumlaren society?    Each read will have very different associations.


Therefor they have power, but don't exist within the typical power hierarchies.
What does this power look like?




Rather than being a house of College trained Envokers, they had a set of debt and patronage with members of the house and dependents, people who tithe some of their magic to the House in a contract of protection.

An interesting set-up.   If you're not interested in pursuing a Kharsian background, then perhaps a smaller holding in some region of former Khadid.   Exposure to the... things from the Scar would certainly be justificvation for people wanting such protection.  Not to mention bandits, and political incursions from both Kharse and Kumlar.


Possible Mechanics

The First Boon:  Someone makes a donation of blood, enough to leave them woozy for a day or two. 
Fair enough so far.  This practice could easily by a foundation for many Kumlaren's distrust of Kharse, if you were to choose to go Kharsian.    Is there anything that prevents Cara or any other in the house from just kidnapping people and forcibly ex-sanguinating them to harvest their powers against their will?

If not, I imagine that the "taste" of the magic would be different if the blood was given voluntarily versus against one's will.  I actually kinda like that.  I would allow for another distinction between House Yisil and others... if they do the act only voluntarily, there is a sort of "fine line" they observe, and it sets them apart from how some others might act.


The Oathsworn
Like the title.  What is nature the oath they've sworn?  I think I missed that in the process.


Potentially, the Oathsworn could stockpile a tremendous amount of power in the form of free Invokes, but they could also completely run out of Evocation magic.  Magic becomes a powerful resource in this regard.  Something to be hoarded and spent sparingly.

That seems to play along nicely with how I see magic...  It should allow a great many things, but all magic should have a cost involved, and evocation even more directly.

There's a lot oof new stuff in my responses too... so I'm going to copy some of it to the world threads...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:24, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

House Yisil

Alright, let's get into it!

I do believe that the House itself would have official diplomatic status within the Kingdom, but its individual Oathsworn do not.  This would give you the Storyteller the freedom to, most of the time, have Cara not have any specific protections.  But, you'd be able to have the Queen tag an aspect of DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY onto her whenever you had a fancy party or diplomatic function that you needed her to be at in an official capacity.

Before we get into if they are Kharsian or not I think we should define the Boons more.

The First Boon

In theory, yes.  You could just abduct someone, keep them chained up in your basement, and bleed them on a regular basis.  I imagine there are houses that do just that.  Hell, House Yisil may do just that.  One of the central Aspects of the House itself will be THE HOUSE ALWAYS COMES FIRST.

But what happens when a House gets a reputation for doing that?  Who the hell would want to work with them?  Hell, keeping Envokers contained, people who by definition are capable of spontaneous magic?  Not just one, but multiple Envokers?  That's a recipe for disaster of the highest order.  A powerful House liek Yasil might be able to keep one or two Envokers with particularly valuable Disciplines locked away in the basement somewhere, but enough to keep the magic of the House topped up all the time?  Especially if there are multiple Houses, that just isn't feasible.  So instead they establish this complicated system of debts, dependents, and patronage.  Envokers who the House provides services to, material resources, protection, possibly even shelter.  They might not all be entirely cooperative, there may be a small amount of coercion involved, but in general these contributions of blood and power need to be voluntary and even beneficial for the people making them.  An aspect like DEBT OWED TO THE HOUSE captures it nicely.  It's voluntary, but it's something owed.

Which means, wherever House Yisil is located?  It needs to be a very, very dangerous place to live.

Is that Kharsia?

The Oathsworn

The oath is sworn to the house, ping THE HOUSE ALWAYS COMES FIRST here.  The House is taking people who do not have Evocation magic, and through House techniques empowering them.  Empowering them with this vast network of power, wealth, influence, and most importantly magic.  The Oathsworn owe everything to the House, and they are expected to behave as such.

Ping DEBT OWED TO THE HOUSE.

So, back to the House...

House Yisil

They have wealth and privilege, but exist apart from Kumlaren society.  Removed from its laws and customs.  Everyone would know that they have massive stockpiles of magic that they are able to draw upon, but no one really knows how.  They are foreigners, outsiders, and the fact that they are rich outsiders means that the common folk probably don't like them much.  Add to that their magic is unregulated?  They aren't college trained and monitored, who knows what they get up to?  The common folk probably have all sorts of rumors about where their magic comes from, so the system of Patronage probably has to be a secret.  If the average Kumlari knew that the House was getting their magic and wealth from blood?  The rumors alone would instantly get out of control.

"Those outsiders, they bleed our babies dry for their magic!"

So the system of blood patronage needs to be a secret.

It means that Cara is going to have to build an extensive network of friends, blackmail victims, debtors, and other people that she has either potent alliances with or extensive leverage over in order to fuel her magic.  If she can build that?  She'll be incredibly powerful.  If she can't?  She's in trouble.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:07, Sat 21 Mar 2020.

Did my Mantle.

Really like it.  Really, really like it.

Saw it.  Considering it.

Trying to find angles to break it or figure out how it could be abused.

Not seeing a whole lot other than one you've already acknowledged... the potential to stockpile massive amounts of potential power...  And I think it's nicely balanced out by the social contracts you've associated with it.

So, let's give it a shot.

We might revisit it later if some sort of issue comes up, btu so far, I'm pretty good with it.  It's not overwhelming, and it can work within the scope of our setting.  So awesome stuff.

Woo!

I'll get cranking on my character sheet.

Dependent Expertise, Duelist Wizard, Enchanted Item, and Safehouse are all lifted directly from Dresden Accelerated, so I figured I was safe there.

I'm going to take Enchanted Item as my freebie, and then with your permission use one Refresh to take.

Shapeshifter: (Requires: Transform discipline) When you transform into another creature, you may choose a skill. All actions taken with that skill, while you remain in that form, now gain a +2.

Linking it to the shapeshifting of The Final Boon rather than to the Transform discipline, to represent her absorbing some of the skills of the Mantles she devours.  That Stunt is lifted directly from High Fantasy Magic under Fate Core.

CARA YISIL
MANTLE
Oathsworn of House Yisil

ASPECTS
High-Concept:  Devourer of Mantles.
Trouble:  Foreign Magic in the Blood.
Personal:  Another debtor, another debt to be paid.
Personal 2:  I know a guy, but you're not going to like the price.
Induction:Archmage Artov of the Veiled Hand has a rival he needs investigated discreetly.

SKILLS

UNIQUE CONDITIONS

Burned Out (Fleeting): [ ] Mark this condition to gain +2 to all magical actions for the rest of the scene. Afterward, chose the First Boon Aspect that was utilized the most during this scene.  Remove that Aspect from your sheet, and unmark this Condition.  If there is a tie, the GM picks which Aspect Boon is lost.

Dependents (sticky): [ ][ ][ ] This condition uses three boxes to represent the House of Yisil's significant social capital, which translates to a limited supply of House Dependents who can and will offer aid, up to and including the First Boon. Mark a box when you draw on your Dependents for this mantle’s stunts. Recover this condition by waiting (one box per session) or by spending a scene to meet with your Dependents and offering to provide them assistance. The House Dependants (via the GM) will inform the Oathsworn of a problem necessitating correction.

Disfavored (sticky): [ ] Violating the House's trust marks this condition. While Disfavored the Oathsworn may no longer use any of the abilities associated with their Mantle.  Recover Disfavored when the Oathsworn has made restitution with their House, per the GM.

CORE STUNTS

The First Boon:  An Evoker other than the Oathsworn makes a donation of blood, gaining the Exhausted Aspect.  The Oathsworn marks down an Aspect that includes a Mantle Stress track, one of the donator's Disciplines, and a free Invoke.  The Oathsworn now has the ability to perform any of the four basic actions with spectacular magical effects as Evocations using the marked Discipline. Their actions may have scale at the GM’s discretion.  When the Stress Track is exhausted the Aspect and its associated Discipline are lost, as is the free Invoke if it hasn't already been spent.  This stunt may be used repeatedly, gaining a new Aspect, Stress Track, Discipline, and free Invoke each time.  However, it cannot be used on the same donator unless they have recovered from the Exhausted aspect. If used on the same donator, then the Oathsworn may either refresh the Stress Track on an existing Aspect and Discipline while gaining another free Invoke (even if the previous Invoke was unspent), or gain a new Aspect tied to a different Discipline of the donator with its own Stress Track and free Invoke.

If desired, the Oathsworn who has an active Aspect may push themselves to increase the spell’s effect as follows:

• Mark a stress box for +2 on any one magical action.
• Mark a stress box to replicate any action they might be able to perform by marking a Mana stress box.
• Mark Burned Out for +2 to all magical actions for the rest of the scene.

The Final Boon: Requires the death of the victim.  The Oathsworn of House Yasil commits a point of Refresh, absorbing one of the Mantles of their victim into their own.  This imparts one of the Core Stunts of the Mantle upon the Oathsworn, as if it were their own.  The Refresh does not return until the Mantle is released, and if it is said Mantle is gone forever.  Additionally, the Oathsworn can assume the previous holder's physical form (+2 to Deceive attempts to impersonate them), and has access to some of their surface memories (can spend Fate points to know key information that only the victim would have known).

ADDITIONAL STUNTS

Enchanted Item: The House always possesses a number of useful items—potions or other magical gadgets. Once per session, the Oathsworn may describe one of these items and create an ad hoc stunt effect related to its function, which they may use for the rest of the scene. Work with the GM to determine the specifics according to the rules. If the effect desired is powerful, the GM may charge a fate point for its use, at their discretion.  The Oathsworn may lend this item to another character, allowing them to use this stunt in their stead. This stunt may be taken more than once; each time grants an additional use per session.

Intimidating Reputation Attacking you has consequences.  One should consider carefully before committing.  For those aware of Cara's reputation, until she makes a physical attack in a scene, characters must overcome a Will:3 obstacle to make their own physical attack.

• Those who fail cannot attack (fail) or miss on their first attack (succeed at cost)
• This may be dependent on what's been written so far and when the dice roller is invoked.
• Those who tie may attack, but with a minor cost (take a fleeting aspect reflecting the trepidation of attacking)
• Those who succeed, succeed
• Those who succeed with style get a boost out of it (fleeting aspect in their favor)

Unapproachable: It’s difficult to try to manipulate someone when you’re constantly reminded of how scary they are. You may use Provoke instead of Will to provide defend against create advantage actions made with Deceive, Empathy, or Rapport. (adapted from Spirit of the Century SRD, §6.16.1)

STRESS
Refresh 1/1,
Mental Stress (Will)       [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
Physical Stress (Physique) [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
Mana (Lore)                [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:31, Thu 26 Mar 2020.

ASPECTS

High-Concept:  Reluctant Devourer of Mantles.

Cara's Mantle sets her up perfectly to be an assassin.  She can murder and impersonate low level guards and functionaries, use it to get close to high level Mages and politicians, and take them out.  She serves the House in the ways that she is trained, but she yearns to not be dependent upon the blood of others for her power.  She believes it is possible to learn to consume the Mantles of those long dead, from bones and graves, from Necromancy, and wants to dedicate herself to developing these techniques.  Yet her House keeps making demands of her, and she has no choice but to obey.

Trouble:  Foreign Magic in the Blood.

Cara is a foreigner in a strange land, and she is not used to the magic of this place.  It tastes different, it acts different, and it erupts in surprising ways.  Tag this to have her absorbed magic behave unexpectedly, or have her fail to understand some cultural trope of Kumlari society.

Personal:  Another debtor, another debt to be paid.

Her life and power are dependent upon debts, boons, and favors owed to her and the House.  She is constantly maneuvering for position, making sure that her Dependents remain so.  This involves helping some, keeping others in line, blackmailing one over here, loaning a great sum of money to that one there, acquiring a position at the College of Mages for another.  It also involves her own oaths and debts to the House.

Personal 2:  I know a guy, but you're not going to like the price.

Representing both her extensive network of contacts, and the somewhat bizarre costs associated with doing business with House Yisil.  Tag this to add esoteric costs to literally anything she does, the stranger the better.

Induction:Archmage Artov of the Veiled Hand has a rival he needs investigated discreetly.

She's got some considerable clout with House Yisil, and she's cashing in on that favor now to have another member of the Veiled hand, the Necromancer Derris, investigated.  She thinks he might be involved in some underhanded business, and wants it made public if true.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:56, Thu 26 Mar 2020.

The big question for me is, is Cara Kharsia?