Die Twice- Shadow's Call

by Honie Jar

  Building Leap

  Able to jump from one building to the other, where it appears to be impossible.

  Art of Covertness

  Escape

  Able to free oneself, run away from predicaments, or slide out of slippery situations.

  Evasion

  Escapee and avoid sticky situations. Master at excuses for why something did not happen.

  Interception

  Ability to listen through walls and from above ceilings to gather information. Able to convince messengers to give you the message rather than the intended party.

  Ventriloquism

  Ability to make a sound or mimic the voice of others. It can throw one’s voice and appear as though someone is talking when they are creating the voice for said person.

  Invisibility

  Make oneself not visible to others.

  Disguise

  Master at pulling together convincing disguises to blend in, masquerade as an authority figure, or conceal oneself when being targeted.

  Multiplicity

  Perform many tasks at once or able to create multiple clones of oneself.

  Concealment

  Able to conceal themselves or an object in plain sight.

  Encryption

  Able to encode and decode messages with ease. Has a cunning use of metaphors, able to use hidden gestures and secret languages to transport messages.

  Fraudulence

  Able to forge a document. Masquerade as another to swindle. Make relationships to take advantage of another. Able to sell fake artifacts.

  Burglary

  Able to infiltrate a premise undetected for the purpose of espionage or lifting an item. Able to creep in the black of night.

  Art of Craftiness

  Husbandry

  Able to communicate with creatures without using words. Calm a domesticated animal, keep a mount from getting spooked, or understand an animal’s intentions.

  Analysis

  Ability to analyze the movements of an enemy and break down their powers and capabilities.

  Memory

  Remember facts and recall specific details. Able to memorize writing and glyphs just by looking at them.

  Trapping

  The ability to set and avoid traps. Able to use various traps and mechanisms on intruders or pursuers. Could also be social traps as well.

  Craftiness

  Shrewd in deception and trickery. Cleverly deceitful at achieving a task at hand. Earn the trust of others quickly, only to take advantage of them. Have little emotional connection to victims.

  Signal

  Able to use signals, signs, writing, hidden messages, and calligraphy, to pass the information on.

  Insight

  Determine the intentions of someone or something. Can search out a lie or predict someone’s next move. Can glean clues from body language, speech patterns, and changes in mannerisms.

  Tactics

  Ability to move efficiently and effectively within units and troops. Able to infiltrate an army with ease.

  Perception

  Spot, hear or detect the presence of something or someone. Measures general awareness of one’s surroundings. Able to hear a conversation through a closed door, eavesdrop under an open window or hear the stealth movement of monsters. Able to spot obscured items.

  Nature

  Knowledge of terrain, plants, animals, weather, and natural cycles to use toward a plan.

  History

  Able to recall lore about historical events, legends, people, ancient kingdoms, past disputes, recent and ancient wars, and lost civilizations to make decisions about the task at hand.

  Art of Conjuration

  Reanimation

  Control and summon creatures from the dead. Bring to life deceased bodies, able to bring forward departed spirits.

  Illusion

  It can create realism and believable illusions to manipulate other’s senses. Sensory deception and trickery.

  Domination

  With a longing look into one’s eye, they are able to command them with the power of suggestion or hypnosis.

  Summoning

  Specifically, summon demons and evildoers from other planes and realms to assist with tasks and missions.

  Conjure Familiar

  Able to produce a ghostly wolf to fight on their behalf for sixty seconds. As the practitioner levels this familiar can be flaming.

  Transportation

  Teleport oneself to an unoccupied space up to thirty feet.

  Transformation

  Able to change parts of one’s body into something else.

  Clairvoyance

  Capable of seeing visions of events in faraway places or in distant past or future.

  Curse

  Summoning the dark arts to curse another and bring misfortune, misery, and disaster upon others.

  Channeling

  Have others come and speak through one’s body. Summon spirits to impart information.

  Possession

  Can head hop into different beings, taking over their bodies and controlling them to do acts against their will.

  The Ascendancy of Unity

  Nafasam Clan—Zamer

  The Shield—Khora

  Assembly of the Dead—Nirim

  The Qurinas—Bakahisar

  The Sacred Band of Çiriş—Çiriş

  Brigade of Torment—Abastan

  Clan of Bahram —Adar

  At one time, there was unity within the Ascendancy of Unity, but the recent events have made it impossible for the clans to come together. Some have religious differences, others differ on who should be in power. However, all of these clans have one thing in common, they have looked inward to change a grievance they see with the world.

  1 Nafasam Clan

  Nafasam Clan

  Asset: Art of Combat

  Description: An organized gang of professional robbers and murderers. Able to swindle and deceive their victims with ease. They particularly target travelers.

  They mostly reside in the caves and caverns outside of Bakahisar, the capital city of Kazeveh in a small town called Zamer.

  Members are brought into the clan mostly by inheritance. They begin the recruitment of their members at age ten.

  They are governed by the code never to harm women and children or the terminally ill, however, they sometimes do to eliminate witnesses.

  This sect of assassins tend to be of lower class and poorer than the other clans, yet their expertise in thievery has brought their clan riches. Despite their wealth from ill-gotten gains, they usually were once a member of the lower class in Bakahisar before going through their death and reincarnating as an assassin.

  The weapons of choice for the Nafasam Clan are the noose, usually made from a silk scarf worn around their hand and the dagger.

  Mission: The dissolution of Druheqir. They want nothing more than the death of the High Priest. The Nafasam Clan are the lone members of the Order of the True Prophet.

  Rival Clan: Clan of Bahram

  2 The Shield

  The Shield

  Asset: The Art of Contraption

  Description: The Shield is a large organization of devout members of the Church of the Sinless who protect travelers who come to the Khora, the Holy Land of Kazeveh. They also carry out other military operations based on the work on their church.

  They are a wealthy group with an unknown and mysterious benefactor who funds their missions.

  This funding has lead to their military prowess and their advancements in the Art of Contraptions.

  The have sworn to remain chaste for the duration of their lives. Likewise, prayer is essential to their daily life.

  Despite their clan’s wealth, they themselves have sworn an oath of poverty, to remain chaste, and obedient. They also do not drink, gamble or swear.

  Three things make The Shield enraged, the current King of Kazeveh, the proponents of Druheqir as the national religion of Kazeveh, and the unclean Assembly of t
he Undead who had ventured to Hell and have now returned.

  Mission: To restore the Church of the Sinless as the official religion of Kazeveh.

  Rival Clan: The Assembly of the Undead

  3 Assembly of the Undead

  Assembly of the Undead

  Asset: Art of Control

  Description: These assassins have nothing left to lose, already venturing to the underworld they have returned to this one with one mission on their mind, to get retribution for their unjust execution. All of these assassins have been tried, sentence, and put to death as innocent men, only to return to kill the King of Kazeveh. Rather than being zombies that are losing control of being human, these assassin remain in control, and not giving into insanity.

  Outcasts by their undead nature, they hide in the village of Nirim on the border of Bakahisar in an underground shelter hidden by an abandoned house.

  They have unmistakeable characteristics of torn flesh and wounds from their execution. They were executed in various ways. Some were decapitated with a shamshīr, others were hung, their necks still showing the strangulation marks. The Assembly of the Undead seek vengeance for their wrongful execution from the King of Kazeveh.

  Mission: To seek vengeance on the King of Kazeveh.

  Rival Clan: The Quirnas

  4 The Qurinas

  The Qurinas

  Asset: Art of Covertness

  Description: Specializing in poisons, these female assassins were used by the King of Kazeveh to destroy his enemies. These damsels kill their targets by seducing them and poisoning their drinks or using their bodies as weapons.

  These girls were recruited by the King of Kazeveh because their horoscopes indicated that they were destined to become widowed at a young age. They now see the King of Kazeveh as their husband and will kill for him.

  The King of Kazeveh has been adding extremely small amounts of poison to their food since they were young to ensure they would be immune against poison, thus creating a highly poisonous and toxic woman in the process. They were given many different types of poisons two ensure their immunity to all types of poisons and making their bodies highly toxic. One kiss from one of these ladies could mean an instant death.

  Sometimes given as a trophy to an unsuspecting enemy of the King, these Quirnas are more like a Trojan horse, who were essentially human weapons.

  The Quirnas live in the Palace of Kazeveh with their King, only leaving when given as a temporary gift or angling for a target.

  Mission: To protect the throne of the King of Kazeveh while Kazeveh is at war with Çiriş.

  Rival Clan: The Sacred Band of Çiriş

  5 The Sacred Band of Çiriş

  The Sacred Band of Çiriş

  Asset: Art of Conspiracy

  Description: In Çiriş, a sacred band of brothers formed as a way to sway politics. This brotherhood kept their personal lives private, but held several high-ranking and affluent positions in the society of Çiriş.

  Meanwhile in secret, they meet, organizing the political undercurrents of society to their gain. Occasionally they steal and kill, however, their biggest asset resides in their ability to influence society.

  Çiriş had become an occupied territory of Kazeveh, where it was once an independent nation. The Sacred Band wants nothing more than to help the overthrown King of Çiriş regain control of his fallen kingdom.

  One other nemesis lurks in the shadows, waiting for their chance to pounce on the wounded Çiriş, and that is the Brigade of Torment.

  This assassin crew has bigger sights. Not only do they want to restore Çiriş to the original people, they seek to infiltrate and take over Abastan, where the Brigade of Torment reside.

  Mission: To assist Çiriş in the defeat of the King of Kazeveh.

  Rival Clan: The Brigade of Torment

  6 Brigade of Torment

  Brigade of Torment

  Asset: Art of Conjuration

  Description: One interesting thing about the Brigade of Torment is there are only nine members. No one knows who these men or women are, as their identities are kept a secret, even from the Ascendancy of Unity.

  The only known fact, besides that there are nine of them, is they are extremely influential and hold high positions in society.

  They hold their home land, Abastan very dear and want to see it thrive.

  It is rumored that one of the children of the unknown nine was slaughtered by the Nafasam Clan, and they seek the vengeance of the murdered child.

  The Brigade of Torment rely on ritual and occult practices as a means for members to move from one level of prestige to another within the organization. With Conjuration as their asset, they are masters at manipulating this plane as well as others.

  The general philosophy of the group was a belief in esoteric principles and practices as a method of realizing one’s true potential. They credit their high status with their devotion to the occult and the Art of Conjuration. In addition, this clan is wicked beyond comprehension.

  Mission: To avenge the death of a member’s murdered child by the Nafasam Clan and to protect Abastan, an independent providence in Kazeveh.

  Rival Clan: Nafasam Clan

  7 Clan of Bahram

  Clan of Bahram

  Asset: Art of Craftiness

  Description: The most well-rounded of all the clans, living in the territory of Adar, a providence in Kazeveh under the rule of the King. They are devote practitioners of Druheqir and seek to overthrow the King and restore the High Priest as the leader of Kazeveh like he once was.

  This clan hides in plain sight, members of society, seeking to restore sovereignty to their religion. Most have families, some are high-ranking noblemen in Adar. Others pretend they are high ranking, but really have no claim to riches or property.

  Some live at their headquarters, while others tend to their families and come to the gated mansion on meeting nights.

  They loathe The Shield’s proclamation that Khora is the Holy Land, when the true holy place is Adar, where the High Priest resides in the mountains. They also constantly search for the next prophet of Dalios and know that the true descendant of Dalios will one day reveal himself.

  They yearn to overthrow the King of Kazeveh and to spread the message of Dalios to each horizon.

  They install their master not by hereditary right, but only by virtue of merit and is known as the High Justicar, since he is the one that renders justice by deadly missions.

  Early during the turn of the century, the High Priest died without naming an heir to the throne of Kazeveh. A fierce struggle for leadership arose, as the different factions who were once united in the Ascendancy of Unity were now divided.

  The absence of power, the confusion, and the divide allowed the King to storm the palace and take control, relegating the new High Priest to hide in the mountains of Adar, under protection of the clan.

  The King of Kazeveh made the religion of Druheqir cryptic and symbolic, and only taught through a strict hierarch. This infuriated the Clan of Bahram as the teachings and sacred words of Druheqir were now hidden and mystified, making the interpretation of the sacred book esoteric.

  The Clan of Bahram never thought they would wage a war about an established religion, but they are faced with restoring order over Kazeveh and getting back to the way society used to be. The first priority is restoring the High Priest in the Palace of Bakahisar. Next, to wage the Holy War with the most pretentious clan in all the land, The Shield.

  Mission: To restore the High Priest, the entrusted guardian of Druheqir to the throne of Kazeveh.

  Rival Clan: The Shield

  Kazeveh

  1 Bakahisar

  The capital city of Kazeveh, located in the center of the the middle of the territories. The Palace of the King of Kazeveh is located here, which is also the place where the Qurinas reside.

  Kazeveh is known for its elaborate architecture and busy souks. The souks are packed with vendors and their stalls, selling handicrafts, spices, and fres
h produce. Just about everything could be found there.

  Temples are plentiful in Kazeveh as they are to provide places of worship for the new religion of the land, the Congregation of the Five Gods. During the reign of the High Priest, mosques were in place where the temples are now.

  2 Çiriş

  Çiriş is a coastal town that has a duality in its class structure. Housing the wealthiest of all the land right next to the poor, Çiriş is built on the port that it surrounds. Çiriş is north of Bakahisar located on a peninsula that juts out to the sea.

  The port town has a representative that keeps the wishes of the King in place as this once was an independent territory before the King claimed it under Kazeveh’s rule.

  Merchants are the most prevailing class in Çiriş, but there are a vast number of nobles that reside there as well. The center of Çiriş has a square that is bordered by the Church of the Sinless and a temple for the Congregation of the Five Gods. There is also a vacant mosque where the Druheqir religion was once practiced. It is rumored that Druheqirian monks still worship there unbeknownst to the rulers in Çiriş.